US defendant in Suu Kyi case hospitalised in Myanmar
Tue Aug 4, 1:17 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – The American man on trial in Myanmar for trespassing at Aung San Suu Kyi's home was taken to a city hospital overnight after having convulsions in prison, a hospital worker told AFP Tuesday.
John Yettaw, 54, who has epilepsy and other health problems according to his lawyer, was taken from Insein prison to Yangon General Hospital on Monday night, the worker said, and was recovering after treatment.
"Mr Yettaw was hospitalised since last night. He is getting better now," the hospital worker said on condition of anonymity.
Yettaw was taken to the hospital by police after having a fit, and has been kept under guard away from other patients, the source said, adding that his condition was not serious. The source did not provide any further details.
The US embassy in Yangon and Yettaw's lawyer, Khin Maung Oo, said they were not yet aware of the incident.
Khin Maung Oo said Yettaw had been staying at the prison's hospital during his trial, where he had been receiving treatment for diabetes, epilepsy and a heart complaint by doctors from the health ministry.
"(But) when I met him for the verdict date on July 31 he said he was fine," the lawyer told AFP.
Yettaw, a former military veteran from Missouri, is on trial alongside opposition leader Suu Kyi and two of Suu Kyi's female aides after he donned homemade flippers to swim to her home in May.
The devout Mormon said he embarked on his mission to warn Suu Kyi of a vision he had had that she would be assassinated.
He faces charges of abetting Suu Kyi's breach of security laws, immigration violations and a municipal charge of illegal swimming. All four defendants face up to five years in prison.
Yettaw was arrested just days before the most recent, six-year spell of Suu Kyi's house arrest was due to expire in the military-run nation.
Suu Kyi is accused of breaching the terms of her house arrest by giving Yettaw refuge at her house, but critics say the charges have been trumped up to keep her locked away until after elections scheduled for 2010.
A verdict in her case had been expected last week but judges postponed their pronouncement until August 11, saying they needed time to review the case.
Tue Aug 4, 1:17 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – The American man on trial in Myanmar for trespassing at Aung San Suu Kyi's home was taken to a city hospital overnight after having convulsions in prison, a hospital worker told AFP Tuesday.
John Yettaw, 54, who has epilepsy and other health problems according to his lawyer, was taken from Insein prison to Yangon General Hospital on Monday night, the worker said, and was recovering after treatment.
"Mr Yettaw was hospitalised since last night. He is getting better now," the hospital worker said on condition of anonymity.
Yettaw was taken to the hospital by police after having a fit, and has been kept under guard away from other patients, the source said, adding that his condition was not serious. The source did not provide any further details.
The US embassy in Yangon and Yettaw's lawyer, Khin Maung Oo, said they were not yet aware of the incident.
Khin Maung Oo said Yettaw had been staying at the prison's hospital during his trial, where he had been receiving treatment for diabetes, epilepsy and a heart complaint by doctors from the health ministry.
"(But) when I met him for the verdict date on July 31 he said he was fine," the lawyer told AFP.
Yettaw, a former military veteran from Missouri, is on trial alongside opposition leader Suu Kyi and two of Suu Kyi's female aides after he donned homemade flippers to swim to her home in May.
The devout Mormon said he embarked on his mission to warn Suu Kyi of a vision he had had that she would be assassinated.
He faces charges of abetting Suu Kyi's breach of security laws, immigration violations and a municipal charge of illegal swimming. All four defendants face up to five years in prison.
Yettaw was arrested just days before the most recent, six-year spell of Suu Kyi's house arrest was due to expire in the military-run nation.
Suu Kyi is accused of breaching the terms of her house arrest by giving Yettaw refuge at her house, but critics say the charges have been trumped up to keep her locked away until after elections scheduled for 2010.
A verdict in her case had been expected last week but judges postponed their pronouncement until August 11, saying they needed time to review the case.
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Thailand to import gas from Myanmar's M9 late 2013
Tue Aug 4, 2009 6:08am EDT
BANGKOK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Thailand plans to import natural gas from offshore Block M9 in the Gulf of Martaban in Myanmar in late 2013, Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul said on Tuesday.
Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) PTTE.BK was expected to sign a gas sales agreement with parent company PTT PCL (PTT.BK) by the fourth quarter of this year, Wannarat told reporters.
"The two sides will discuss some details and then propose the issue to governments of both countries for approval," he said.
PTTEP is expected to supply an initial 300 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) from M9, of which 240 mmcfd would be delivered to Thailand and the rest to Myanmar, Wannarat said.
PTTEP's subsidiary owns 100 percent of Block M9, located about 300 km (185 miles) south of Yangon.
It is expected to have petroleum reserves of 1.5 trillion cubic feet per day and needs at least $1 billion for investment, he said.
Tue Aug 4, 2009 6:08am EDT
BANGKOK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Thailand plans to import natural gas from offshore Block M9 in the Gulf of Martaban in Myanmar in late 2013, Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul said on Tuesday.
Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) PTTE.BK was expected to sign a gas sales agreement with parent company PTT PCL (PTT.BK) by the fourth quarter of this year, Wannarat told reporters.
"The two sides will discuss some details and then propose the issue to governments of both countries for approval," he said.
PTTEP is expected to supply an initial 300 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) from M9, of which 240 mmcfd would be delivered to Thailand and the rest to Myanmar, Wannarat said.
PTTEP's subsidiary owns 100 percent of Block M9, located about 300 km (185 miles) south of Yangon.
It is expected to have petroleum reserves of 1.5 trillion cubic feet per day and needs at least $1 billion for investment, he said.
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Koirala seeks Suu Kyi's release
STAFF WRITER 16:34 HRS IST
Kathmandu, Aug 4 (PTI) Voicing concern over the deteriorating health of Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, former Nepalese Premier Girija Prasad Koirala has appealed to Yangon's military regime to immediately release her from detention.
"It has been a matter of widespread concern for the supporters of human rights and democracy around the world that Suu Kyi's long-term house arrest has led to deterioration of her health. So, I appeal to the government of Myanmar for her immediate release," Koirala, the President of the Nepali Congress (NC), said in a statement.
Noting that UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon and other rights defenders are worried about Suu Kyi's health, the veteran Nepalese politician urged the Myanmar government to respect the international community's call and take the side of democracy.
STAFF WRITER 16:34 HRS IST
Kathmandu, Aug 4 (PTI) Voicing concern over the deteriorating health of Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, former Nepalese Premier Girija Prasad Koirala has appealed to Yangon's military regime to immediately release her from detention.
"It has been a matter of widespread concern for the supporters of human rights and democracy around the world that Suu Kyi's long-term house arrest has led to deterioration of her health. So, I appeal to the government of Myanmar for her immediate release," Koirala, the President of the Nepali Congress (NC), said in a statement.
Noting that UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon and other rights defenders are worried about Suu Kyi's health, the veteran Nepalese politician urged the Myanmar government to respect the international community's call and take the side of democracy.
*********************************************************
Brisbane Times - Nuclear watchdog urged to seek answers from Burma
Anne Davies Herald Correspondent in Washington
August 5, 2009
AMERICAN non-proliferation experts have called on the international nuclear watchdog to seek clarification from the Burmese Government over its nuclear program after a Herald report that quoted defectors claiming there was a secret military nuclear program.
The report, based on interviews by Professor Desmond Ball of the Australian National University and a journalist, Phil Thornton, said the country had been developing a secret nuclear program. It revealed Burma was building a secret reactor, with North Korea’s assistance, at Nuang Laing, close to Mandalay.
The report has prompted intense interest among US security experts, particularly in the light of comments by the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in Thailand.
She said there had been ‘‘co-operation between North Korea and Burma in the past’’ and that North Korea had provided Burma with high-technology materials barred by the United Nations Security Council.
She made the remarks while praising Burma for having co-operated in the enforcement of UN resolution 1874, which is designed to prevent North Korea from shipping nuclear materials to other nations.
A North Korean ship turned back after being shadowed by the US Navy en route to Burma last month.
Daryl Kimball, of the Arms Control Association, told the Nelson Report, an influential online security report, that although there had been no evidence of a Burmese nuclear-weapons quest, whatever the North Koreans were doing must be made a priority by the International Atomic Energy Agency, of which Burma is a member.
‘‘The report is probably enough cause for the IAEA director-general [and Russia] to seek clarification from Myanmar [Burma] and request a special inspection,’’ Mr Kimball said.
Russia is said to have agreed in 2007 to provide the Burmese with a small, civilian light-water reactor, which would be subject to agency inspections, although the project’s exact status is disputed.
David Albright, the head of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, which monitors nuclear proliferation said: ‘‘There’s no hard evidence, just suspicions right now. We are watching it.’’
He pointed out visits to Burma by executives from the North Korean firm, Namchongang Trading Corporation, which is under sanctions for its role in trading nuclear technology. Western officials say it channelled equipment and material for the nuclear reactor in Syria, which was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in September 2007.
Mr Albright also pointed to sales of technology used in ballistic missile manufacture from North Korea to Burma.
On Monday the Institute for Science and International Security posted links to photos on the YaleGlobal site, which show extensive tunnel construction in Burma overseen by North Korean engineers. They are understood to be separate to tunnelling related to the nuclear program referred to by the defectors.
Anne Davies Herald Correspondent in Washington
August 5, 2009
AMERICAN non-proliferation experts have called on the international nuclear watchdog to seek clarification from the Burmese Government over its nuclear program after a Herald report that quoted defectors claiming there was a secret military nuclear program.
The report, based on interviews by Professor Desmond Ball of the Australian National University and a journalist, Phil Thornton, said the country had been developing a secret nuclear program. It revealed Burma was building a secret reactor, with North Korea’s assistance, at Nuang Laing, close to Mandalay.
The report has prompted intense interest among US security experts, particularly in the light of comments by the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in Thailand.
She said there had been ‘‘co-operation between North Korea and Burma in the past’’ and that North Korea had provided Burma with high-technology materials barred by the United Nations Security Council.
She made the remarks while praising Burma for having co-operated in the enforcement of UN resolution 1874, which is designed to prevent North Korea from shipping nuclear materials to other nations.
A North Korean ship turned back after being shadowed by the US Navy en route to Burma last month.
Daryl Kimball, of the Arms Control Association, told the Nelson Report, an influential online security report, that although there had been no evidence of a Burmese nuclear-weapons quest, whatever the North Koreans were doing must be made a priority by the International Atomic Energy Agency, of which Burma is a member.
‘‘The report is probably enough cause for the IAEA director-general [and Russia] to seek clarification from Myanmar [Burma] and request a special inspection,’’ Mr Kimball said.
Russia is said to have agreed in 2007 to provide the Burmese with a small, civilian light-water reactor, which would be subject to agency inspections, although the project’s exact status is disputed.
David Albright, the head of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, which monitors nuclear proliferation said: ‘‘There’s no hard evidence, just suspicions right now. We are watching it.’’
He pointed out visits to Burma by executives from the North Korean firm, Namchongang Trading Corporation, which is under sanctions for its role in trading nuclear technology. Western officials say it channelled equipment and material for the nuclear reactor in Syria, which was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in September 2007.
Mr Albright also pointed to sales of technology used in ballistic missile manufacture from North Korea to Burma.
On Monday the Institute for Science and International Security posted links to photos on the YaleGlobal site, which show extensive tunnel construction in Burma overseen by North Korean engineers. They are understood to be separate to tunnelling related to the nuclear program referred to by the defectors.
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Korea Herald - U.S. concerns over N.K.-Myanmar military cooperation
2009.08.04
The United States Monday reiterated concerns over military cooperation between North Korea and Myanmar, but fell short of elaborating on what kind of cooperation the two reclusive regimes are seeking, according to Yonhap News.
"We do have concerns about the nature of cooperation between both Burma and North Korea, and North Korea and any other country,"
Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of state for public affairs, told a daily news briefing. "I think, over time, we would like to clarify with Burma more precisely the nature of its military cooperation."
Crowley was responding to reports that Myanmar has an underground nuclear facility built with the help of North Korea.
Myanmar was formerly known as Burma.
The spokesman recalled U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent remarks that she "was encouraged that Burma said that it would abide by its responsibilities, you know, under the sanctions that were recently passed by the U.N."
Clinton last month expressed "growing concerns" over "military cooperation between North Korea and Burma, which we take very seriously," but said that Myanmar has also joined international efforts to sanction North Korea.
She was apparently referring to a North Korean cargo ship that was possibly heading to Myanmar, but returned home recently after being pursued by U.S. Navy vessels. The vessels were operating under an interdiction mandate imposed by a resolution adopted by the U.N. Security Council for North Korea's nuclear test on May 25, the second since its first test in 2006.
The resolution bans North Korea from conducting any further nuclear and ballistic missile tests while imposing an overall arms embargo, financial sanctions and an cargo interdiction on high seas to prevent proliferation of North Korean missiles, nuclear weapons and any other weapons of mass destruction.
Pyongyang responded by saying it will boycott six-party talks on ending its nuclear programs for good, and demanded that Washington deal with Pyongyang bilaterally to resolve the standoff over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
The U.S., however, said it will have bilateral negotiations only within the six-party framework.
2009.08.04
The United States Monday reiterated concerns over military cooperation between North Korea and Myanmar, but fell short of elaborating on what kind of cooperation the two reclusive regimes are seeking, according to Yonhap News.
"We do have concerns about the nature of cooperation between both Burma and North Korea, and North Korea and any other country,"
Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of state for public affairs, told a daily news briefing. "I think, over time, we would like to clarify with Burma more precisely the nature of its military cooperation."
Crowley was responding to reports that Myanmar has an underground nuclear facility built with the help of North Korea.
Myanmar was formerly known as Burma.
The spokesman recalled U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent remarks that she "was encouraged that Burma said that it would abide by its responsibilities, you know, under the sanctions that were recently passed by the U.N."
Clinton last month expressed "growing concerns" over "military cooperation between North Korea and Burma, which we take very seriously," but said that Myanmar has also joined international efforts to sanction North Korea.
She was apparently referring to a North Korean cargo ship that was possibly heading to Myanmar, but returned home recently after being pursued by U.S. Navy vessels. The vessels were operating under an interdiction mandate imposed by a resolution adopted by the U.N. Security Council for North Korea's nuclear test on May 25, the second since its first test in 2006.
The resolution bans North Korea from conducting any further nuclear and ballistic missile tests while imposing an overall arms embargo, financial sanctions and an cargo interdiction on high seas to prevent proliferation of North Korean missiles, nuclear weapons and any other weapons of mass destruction.
Pyongyang responded by saying it will boycott six-party talks on ending its nuclear programs for good, and demanded that Washington deal with Pyongyang bilaterally to resolve the standoff over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
The U.S., however, said it will have bilateral negotiations only within the six-party framework.
*********************************************************
JoongAngIlbo - Opinion: North Korea and Myanmar
August 05, 2009
There are increasing suspicions that North Korea has been assisting Myanmar with a nuclear arms program. The United States media reported that North Korean engineers were actively working in the Southeast Asian nation in 2003, and the U.S. Senate focused on the alleged nuclear cooperation between the two countries in hearings held in 2006.
These suspicions were discussed once again in the U.S. Senate in June, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her concerns about the matter at the Asean Regional Forum last month.
An Australian newspaper recently reported that Myanmar is building a nuclear reactor for arms development with the help of North Korea, citing defectors from Myanmar. The report said the reactor is slated to be completed in 2014.
The alleged nuclear connection between the North and Myanmar has yet to be confirmed, but it appears convincing, given previous incidents involving Pyongyang.
It has already been confirmed that North Korea cooperated with Iran and Pakistan on missile and nuclear arms development. Evidence also supports allegations that the North supported Syria’s construction of a nuclear reactor. It has also been revealed that the North has acquired uranium-enrichment technology and equipment from Pakistan.
There could be many reasons why Pyongyang would assist Myanmar. It may be hoping to receive food in return for nuclear technology or it may be trying to provoke Washington by fueling nuclear proliferation suspicions.
The biggest concern is the possibility that the North is trying to build additional bombs indirectly through Myanmar.
The North has already tested plutonium-based bombs, but the explosives need to be retested after a decade due to the peculiar scientific nature of the material.
However, the North’s production of weapons-grade plutonium has not been steady because its Yongbyon facilities have deteriorated. The country may be hoping it can resolve the problem by assisting Myanmar with its nuclear program.
It is also possible the North will cooperate with Myanmar to produce highly enriched uranium-based nuclear bombs, which are easy to build and for which a detonation test is unnecessary. The uranium-based bombs can also be stored for a long time.
If the North is cooperating with Myanmar on a uranium-based bomb program, it is a direct threat to us. Myanmar is in close proximity to Thailand, Laos, China, India and Bangladesh, and nuclear arms development by the authoritarian dictatorship would likely pose a serious threat to Asia’s security and stability.
The government must exchange intelligence with the international community to monitor the movements of the North and Myanmar.
If a nuclear connection is confirmed, Seoul must be prepared to react through retaliation and disarmament, something that will only be possible through cooperation with the international community.
The South must never let the North become a center of global nuclear proliferation.
August 05, 2009
There are increasing suspicions that North Korea has been assisting Myanmar with a nuclear arms program. The United States media reported that North Korean engineers were actively working in the Southeast Asian nation in 2003, and the U.S. Senate focused on the alleged nuclear cooperation between the two countries in hearings held in 2006.
These suspicions were discussed once again in the U.S. Senate in June, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her concerns about the matter at the Asean Regional Forum last month.
An Australian newspaper recently reported that Myanmar is building a nuclear reactor for arms development with the help of North Korea, citing defectors from Myanmar. The report said the reactor is slated to be completed in 2014.
The alleged nuclear connection between the North and Myanmar has yet to be confirmed, but it appears convincing, given previous incidents involving Pyongyang.
It has already been confirmed that North Korea cooperated with Iran and Pakistan on missile and nuclear arms development. Evidence also supports allegations that the North supported Syria’s construction of a nuclear reactor. It has also been revealed that the North has acquired uranium-enrichment technology and equipment from Pakistan.
There could be many reasons why Pyongyang would assist Myanmar. It may be hoping to receive food in return for nuclear technology or it may be trying to provoke Washington by fueling nuclear proliferation suspicions.
The biggest concern is the possibility that the North is trying to build additional bombs indirectly through Myanmar.
The North has already tested plutonium-based bombs, but the explosives need to be retested after a decade due to the peculiar scientific nature of the material.
However, the North’s production of weapons-grade plutonium has not been steady because its Yongbyon facilities have deteriorated. The country may be hoping it can resolve the problem by assisting Myanmar with its nuclear program.
It is also possible the North will cooperate with Myanmar to produce highly enriched uranium-based nuclear bombs, which are easy to build and for which a detonation test is unnecessary. The uranium-based bombs can also be stored for a long time.
If the North is cooperating with Myanmar on a uranium-based bomb program, it is a direct threat to us. Myanmar is in close proximity to Thailand, Laos, China, India and Bangladesh, and nuclear arms development by the authoritarian dictatorship would likely pose a serious threat to Asia’s security and stability.
The government must exchange intelligence with the international community to monitor the movements of the North and Myanmar.
If a nuclear connection is confirmed, Seoul must be prepared to react through retaliation and disarmament, something that will only be possible through cooperation with the international community.
The South must never let the North become a center of global nuclear proliferation.
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EarthTimes - Myanmar fascinates with its play of light and shadow
Posted : Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:08:45 GMT
Yangon - Gazing down upon the visitors to the temple complex at Bagan in Myanmar, formerly Burma, is a very mysterious Buddha figure. The 10-metre-high statue in the southern niche of Ananda temple smiles benevolently on everyone who approaches, but as you approach the statue its facial expression changes with every step. When you stand just in front of the Buddha and look up you see a very serious face. The change is due to a play of shadow and light but the optical illusion could be emblematic of the entire country.
Standing in Myanmar's lighter side are its history and culture that stretch back more than a millennia while in the shadow stands its military dictatorship which has ruled the country since 1962.
Its temples and pagodas stand in stark contrast to the regime's torture prisons, its mostly unobtrusive people to the army who force children to take up weapons and suppress minorities.
Is it right to travel to such a country? It is true that some hotels and airlines are in the hands of the regime's henchmen, but people like taxi drivers, travel guides, gardeners, and chambermaids survive on income from tourists.
Contact with guests is also one of the few gateways to the outside world that people have, says one guide.
Anyone who makes the long journey from Bangkok or Singapore to the port city of Yangon enters another world. The country is steeped in Buddhism as can be seen from the countless small and large Buddha statues the lie or stand around the country or from the magnificent buildings such as the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon. Its 100-metre-high Stupa is the city's emblem.
Visitors to the pagoda can be seen in prayer or engaged in ritual washing while all around a special atmosphere is created by the light chimes of a thousand small bells and the deep tone of gongs.
"Anyone who strikes a bell three times does so for Buddha, his teachings and his followers. If you strike a bell five times you include your parents and teacher," explains a guide.
The people of Myanmar easily and quickly switch between prayer and their everyday lives. One example was a young man wearing a white shirt and serious expression who extorted a dollar from a tourist who wanted to strike a bell. By chance he happened to be standing in the right place as the tourist looked for help. Yet anyone may strike a bell and there are no temple officials asking for money.
Yangon's market in Chinatown is a festival both for the eyes and nose because of its colours and aromas. Fish are presented to customers on tablets, meat on wooden stands. From the early hours of the day the market's streets are bustling with women balancing their purchases on their heads.
Yangon's Kandawgyi Lake is popular for jogging, strolling and playing games. Teenagers can also be found here performing break-dance shows.
A few streets away newspaper delivery people are preparing for their working day. The newspaper titles have promising names such as "Flower News" but the most exciting stories these state-controlled publications can produce are along the lines of "New Bridge Opened in Province XY."
Mandalay is about 700 kilometres north of Yangon. The city is home to the Mahmuni Pagoda, Myanmar's most important pilgrimage site next to the Shwedagon Pagoda.
The Mahmuni Buddha is four-metres-high but beneath its chin it has been deformed into a shapeless clump of gold thanks to the gold leaves placed there by pilgrims over the last 150 years.
Mandalay is Myanmar's traditional place of learning. In 1993 abbot U Nayaka founded the monastic school Phanung Daw Oo which today has 700 students.
The words "Children can come to happily learn here without having to pay" are inscribed on a sign at the school. The school receives support from western donors and visitors are welcome to call by.
Located on the school grounds is a large kitchen, a workshop for training, and lodgings for both boys and girls.
Bagan is what could be described as a Buddha paradise thanks to its 2,700 pagodas. It is a stunning site on a par with Cambodia's temple complex at Angkor Wat.
Until the mid-1990s people lived in huts between the temples. The military authorities drove them away "in order to protect the structures." Today, some of the country's best hotels can be found in prime positions along the Irrawaddy river. Some of them even have pagodas on their grounds.
The most contemplative way to explore Bagan is to travel between cotton fields and sand paths with a horse drawn carriage.
Each pagoda has its own unique story. The largest is the Dhammayangyi Temple which was built in 1167 by King Narathu. According to legend Narathu was a strict ruler. If he could place a needle between blocks in the temple's wall that meant death for the mason.
Another highlight on a trip to Bagan is Ananda Temple, built in 1105, with its sometimes friendly, sometimes serious looking Buddha. If you leave the temple by its southern gate and cast a glance over your shoulder you will see the kindly face.
Posted : Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:08:45 GMT
Yangon - Gazing down upon the visitors to the temple complex at Bagan in Myanmar, formerly Burma, is a very mysterious Buddha figure. The 10-metre-high statue in the southern niche of Ananda temple smiles benevolently on everyone who approaches, but as you approach the statue its facial expression changes with every step. When you stand just in front of the Buddha and look up you see a very serious face. The change is due to a play of shadow and light but the optical illusion could be emblematic of the entire country.
Standing in Myanmar's lighter side are its history and culture that stretch back more than a millennia while in the shadow stands its military dictatorship which has ruled the country since 1962.
Its temples and pagodas stand in stark contrast to the regime's torture prisons, its mostly unobtrusive people to the army who force children to take up weapons and suppress minorities.
Is it right to travel to such a country? It is true that some hotels and airlines are in the hands of the regime's henchmen, but people like taxi drivers, travel guides, gardeners, and chambermaids survive on income from tourists.
Contact with guests is also one of the few gateways to the outside world that people have, says one guide.
Anyone who makes the long journey from Bangkok or Singapore to the port city of Yangon enters another world. The country is steeped in Buddhism as can be seen from the countless small and large Buddha statues the lie or stand around the country or from the magnificent buildings such as the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon. Its 100-metre-high Stupa is the city's emblem.
Visitors to the pagoda can be seen in prayer or engaged in ritual washing while all around a special atmosphere is created by the light chimes of a thousand small bells and the deep tone of gongs.
"Anyone who strikes a bell three times does so for Buddha, his teachings and his followers. If you strike a bell five times you include your parents and teacher," explains a guide.
The people of Myanmar easily and quickly switch between prayer and their everyday lives. One example was a young man wearing a white shirt and serious expression who extorted a dollar from a tourist who wanted to strike a bell. By chance he happened to be standing in the right place as the tourist looked for help. Yet anyone may strike a bell and there are no temple officials asking for money.
Yangon's market in Chinatown is a festival both for the eyes and nose because of its colours and aromas. Fish are presented to customers on tablets, meat on wooden stands. From the early hours of the day the market's streets are bustling with women balancing their purchases on their heads.
Yangon's Kandawgyi Lake is popular for jogging, strolling and playing games. Teenagers can also be found here performing break-dance shows.
A few streets away newspaper delivery people are preparing for their working day. The newspaper titles have promising names such as "Flower News" but the most exciting stories these state-controlled publications can produce are along the lines of "New Bridge Opened in Province XY."
Mandalay is about 700 kilometres north of Yangon. The city is home to the Mahmuni Pagoda, Myanmar's most important pilgrimage site next to the Shwedagon Pagoda.
The Mahmuni Buddha is four-metres-high but beneath its chin it has been deformed into a shapeless clump of gold thanks to the gold leaves placed there by pilgrims over the last 150 years.
Mandalay is Myanmar's traditional place of learning. In 1993 abbot U Nayaka founded the monastic school Phanung Daw Oo which today has 700 students.
The words "Children can come to happily learn here without having to pay" are inscribed on a sign at the school. The school receives support from western donors and visitors are welcome to call by.
Located on the school grounds is a large kitchen, a workshop for training, and lodgings for both boys and girls.
Bagan is what could be described as a Buddha paradise thanks to its 2,700 pagodas. It is a stunning site on a par with Cambodia's temple complex at Angkor Wat.
Until the mid-1990s people lived in huts between the temples. The military authorities drove them away "in order to protect the structures." Today, some of the country's best hotels can be found in prime positions along the Irrawaddy river. Some of them even have pagodas on their grounds.
The most contemplative way to explore Bagan is to travel between cotton fields and sand paths with a horse drawn carriage.
Each pagoda has its own unique story. The largest is the Dhammayangyi Temple which was built in 1167 by King Narathu. According to legend Narathu was a strict ruler. If he could place a needle between blocks in the temple's wall that meant death for the mason.
Another highlight on a trip to Bagan is Ananda Temple, built in 1105, with its sometimes friendly, sometimes serious looking Buddha. If you leave the temple by its southern gate and cast a glance over your shoulder you will see the kindly face.
*********************************************************
2 powered schooners sunk by strong wind in Myanmar
www.chinaview.cn 2009-08-04 14:59:13
YANGON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Two powered schooners have sunk and six people gone missing due to strong wind which struck Myanmar's western Rakhine state over the past week, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday.
Of the two powered schooners, the prior sank in Gwa township leaving five people missing, while the latter in An township with one helmsman swept away, the report said.
Meanwhile, flood, triggered by torrential rain over the past week, has also forced over 300 households in two townships of Thandwe and An in the same Rakhine state to be displaced to safer places.
Some sections of An-Sittway and An-Tutaung motorways were submerged, earlier report said.
Relief measures are being taken for flood victims in the areas.
Moreover, the water level of Myanmar's Thanlwin River at Hpa-anarea, the Shwegyin River at Shwegyin area and the Sittoung River at Madauk area has reached its danger level in the last weekend.
In mid-last month, tornado hit two townships in Ayeyawaddy delta, blowing off roofs and walls of some houses and buildings inHainggyingyun and Einme townships.
A woman was killed and some others injured by the tornado.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-08-04 14:59:13
YANGON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Two powered schooners have sunk and six people gone missing due to strong wind which struck Myanmar's western Rakhine state over the past week, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday.
Of the two powered schooners, the prior sank in Gwa township leaving five people missing, while the latter in An township with one helmsman swept away, the report said.
Meanwhile, flood, triggered by torrential rain over the past week, has also forced over 300 households in two townships of Thandwe and An in the same Rakhine state to be displaced to safer places.
Some sections of An-Sittway and An-Tutaung motorways were submerged, earlier report said.
Relief measures are being taken for flood victims in the areas.
Moreover, the water level of Myanmar's Thanlwin River at Hpa-anarea, the Shwegyin River at Shwegyin area and the Sittoung River at Madauk area has reached its danger level in the last weekend.
In mid-last month, tornado hit two townships in Ayeyawaddy delta, blowing off roofs and walls of some houses and buildings inHainggyingyun and Einme townships.
A woman was killed and some others injured by the tornado.
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The Age - Burma's suffering is also ours
Desmond Tutu
August 4, 2009
The world can and must hold the country’s leader and his regime accountable for atrocities against the Burmese.
I THINK of my sister Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi every day. Her picture hangs on the wall of my office, reminding me that, thousands of miles away in Asia, a nation is oppressed. Every day I ask myself: have I done everything I can to end the atrocities being committed in Burma? And I pray that world leaders will ask themselves the same question. For if they did, the answer would be ‘‘no’’, and perhaps their conscience will finally force them to act.
Humankind has the ability to live in freedom and in peace. We have seen that goodness has triumphed over evil; we have witnessed political transitions in South Africa and elsewhere, evidence that we live in a moral universe. Our world is sometimes lacking wise and good leadership or, as in the case of Burma, the leadership is forbidden to lead.
Aung San Suu Kyi has now been detained for more than 13 years. She recently passed her 5000th day in detention. Every one of those days is a tragedy and a lost opportunity. The whole world, not just the people of Burma, suffers from this loss. We desperately need the kind of moral and principled leadership that Suu Kyi would provide. And when you add the more than 2100 political prisoners who are also in Burma’s jails, and the thousands more jailed in recent decades, the true scale of injustice, but also of lost potential, becomes heartbreakingly clear.
Like many leaders, Suu Kyi has had to make great personal sacrifices. The generals try to use her as leverage to make her submit to their will. They refused to allow her husband to visit one last time when he was dying of cancer. She has grandchildren she has never even met. Yet her will and determination have stayed strong.
More than anything, the new trial and detention of Suu Kyi speaks volumes about her effectiveness as a leader. The only reason the generals need to silence her clarion call for freedom is because she is the greatest threat to their continuing rule.
The demand for human freedom cannot be suppressed forever. This is a universal truth that Than Shwe, the dictator of Burma, has failed to understand. How frustrated must he be that no matter how long he keeps Suu Kyi in detention, no matter how many guns he buys, and no matter how many people he imprisons, Suu Kyi and the people of Burma will not submit. The demands for freedom grow louder and echo around the world, reaching even his new capital hidden in central Burma. Words, however, are not enough. Freedom is never given freely by those who have power; it has to be fought for.
The continuing detention of Suu Kyi and Burma’s other political prisoners is an indictment on an international community that often substitutes the issuance of repeated statements of concern for effective diplomacy. The UN treats the situation in Burma as if it is just a dispute between two sides, and they must mediate to find a middle ground.
The reality is that a brutal, criminal and illegal dictatorship is trying, and failing, to crush those who want freedom and justice.
Change is overdue to the framework within which the international community approaches Burma. Twenty years of trying to persuade Burma’s generals to reform has not secured any improvement. Forty visits by UN envoys have failed to elicit any change. The warm embrace of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) did not improve the behaviour of the regime towards Burma’s citizens whether Christian, Buddhist or Muslim.
Suu Kyi and her supporters have time and again offered a path of reconciliation and non-violent transition. Even as Suu Kyi stood before the regime’s sham court, facing five years’ imprisonment, we heard her voice loud and strong. She said: ‘‘There could be many opportunities for national reconciliation if all parties so wished.’’
Burma’s generals must now face the consequences of their actions. The detention of Suu Kyi is as clear a signal as we could get that there will be no chance of reform and that the regime’s ‘‘road map to democracy’’, including the call for elections in 2010, is an obstacle to justice.
Crimes in Burma, a new report from Harvard Law School commissioned by some of the most respected jurists in international law, has used the UN’s own reports to highlight how Burma’s generals have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Than Shwe should be held accountable for abominable atrocities: his soldiers rape ethnic women and children, they torture, mutilate and murder at will. In eastern Burma, more than 3300 ethnic villages have been destroyed, more than in Darfur. Civilians are deliberately targeted and shot on sight.
Than Shwe spurned those willing to provide help after cyclone Nargis. Instead, he conducted a referendum and declared his undemocratic constitution the victor while victims perished from the cyclone’s devastation. The UN must establish a commission of inquiry, with a view to compiling evidence for prosecution of Than Shwe and the rest of the generals. Failure to do so amounts to complicity with these crimes.
Those countries supplying arms to Burma are facilitating these atrocities. Countries across the world must declare their support for a global arms embargo, making it impossible for China to resist such a move at the Security Council.
Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma deserve nothing less than our most strenuous efforts to help them secure their freedom. Every day we must ask ourselves: have we done everything that we can? I pledge that I will not rest until Suu Kyi, and all the people of Burma, are free. Please join me.
Desmond Tutu is the former archbishop of Cape Town. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
Desmond Tutu
August 4, 2009
The world can and must hold the country’s leader and his regime accountable for atrocities against the Burmese.
I THINK of my sister Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi every day. Her picture hangs on the wall of my office, reminding me that, thousands of miles away in Asia, a nation is oppressed. Every day I ask myself: have I done everything I can to end the atrocities being committed in Burma? And I pray that world leaders will ask themselves the same question. For if they did, the answer would be ‘‘no’’, and perhaps their conscience will finally force them to act.
Humankind has the ability to live in freedom and in peace. We have seen that goodness has triumphed over evil; we have witnessed political transitions in South Africa and elsewhere, evidence that we live in a moral universe. Our world is sometimes lacking wise and good leadership or, as in the case of Burma, the leadership is forbidden to lead.
Aung San Suu Kyi has now been detained for more than 13 years. She recently passed her 5000th day in detention. Every one of those days is a tragedy and a lost opportunity. The whole world, not just the people of Burma, suffers from this loss. We desperately need the kind of moral and principled leadership that Suu Kyi would provide. And when you add the more than 2100 political prisoners who are also in Burma’s jails, and the thousands more jailed in recent decades, the true scale of injustice, but also of lost potential, becomes heartbreakingly clear.
Like many leaders, Suu Kyi has had to make great personal sacrifices. The generals try to use her as leverage to make her submit to their will. They refused to allow her husband to visit one last time when he was dying of cancer. She has grandchildren she has never even met. Yet her will and determination have stayed strong.
More than anything, the new trial and detention of Suu Kyi speaks volumes about her effectiveness as a leader. The only reason the generals need to silence her clarion call for freedom is because she is the greatest threat to their continuing rule.
The demand for human freedom cannot be suppressed forever. This is a universal truth that Than Shwe, the dictator of Burma, has failed to understand. How frustrated must he be that no matter how long he keeps Suu Kyi in detention, no matter how many guns he buys, and no matter how many people he imprisons, Suu Kyi and the people of Burma will not submit. The demands for freedom grow louder and echo around the world, reaching even his new capital hidden in central Burma. Words, however, are not enough. Freedom is never given freely by those who have power; it has to be fought for.
The continuing detention of Suu Kyi and Burma’s other political prisoners is an indictment on an international community that often substitutes the issuance of repeated statements of concern for effective diplomacy. The UN treats the situation in Burma as if it is just a dispute between two sides, and they must mediate to find a middle ground.
The reality is that a brutal, criminal and illegal dictatorship is trying, and failing, to crush those who want freedom and justice.
Change is overdue to the framework within which the international community approaches Burma. Twenty years of trying to persuade Burma’s generals to reform has not secured any improvement. Forty visits by UN envoys have failed to elicit any change. The warm embrace of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) did not improve the behaviour of the regime towards Burma’s citizens whether Christian, Buddhist or Muslim.
Suu Kyi and her supporters have time and again offered a path of reconciliation and non-violent transition. Even as Suu Kyi stood before the regime’s sham court, facing five years’ imprisonment, we heard her voice loud and strong. She said: ‘‘There could be many opportunities for national reconciliation if all parties so wished.’’
Burma’s generals must now face the consequences of their actions. The detention of Suu Kyi is as clear a signal as we could get that there will be no chance of reform and that the regime’s ‘‘road map to democracy’’, including the call for elections in 2010, is an obstacle to justice.
Crimes in Burma, a new report from Harvard Law School commissioned by some of the most respected jurists in international law, has used the UN’s own reports to highlight how Burma’s generals have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Than Shwe should be held accountable for abominable atrocities: his soldiers rape ethnic women and children, they torture, mutilate and murder at will. In eastern Burma, more than 3300 ethnic villages have been destroyed, more than in Darfur. Civilians are deliberately targeted and shot on sight.
Than Shwe spurned those willing to provide help after cyclone Nargis. Instead, he conducted a referendum and declared his undemocratic constitution the victor while victims perished from the cyclone’s devastation. The UN must establish a commission of inquiry, with a view to compiling evidence for prosecution of Than Shwe and the rest of the generals. Failure to do so amounts to complicity with these crimes.
Those countries supplying arms to Burma are facilitating these atrocities. Countries across the world must declare their support for a global arms embargo, making it impossible for China to resist such a move at the Security Council.
Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma deserve nothing less than our most strenuous efforts to help them secure their freedom. Every day we must ask ourselves: have we done everything that we can? I pledge that I will not rest until Suu Kyi, and all the people of Burma, are free. Please join me.
Desmond Tutu is the former archbishop of Cape Town. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
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MCOT - UN development partnership with Myanmar to assist rural economy
BANGKOK, Aug 4 (TNA/UNESCAP) – Bangkok-based United Nations experts will help Myanmar’s government assign more resources to the country’s agricultural sector, and UN statistical experts will visit the country later this month to conduct a training workshop to better enable the process.
A United Nations statement said the training resulted from last week’s official visit by Dr Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of UNESCAP, the highest ranking UN official in the Asia-Pacific region at the invitation of Myanmar Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation Htay Oo.
During the six-day visit, July 26 to August 1, Dr Heyzer met Prime Minister Thein Sein and met nine cabinet ministers and deputy ministers, as well as mayors and local officials.
ESCAP, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, was asked by Minister Htay Oo and the minister of planning and economic development to jointly organise national seminars on development partnerships.
Prime Minister Thein Sein asked Dr Heyzer for ESCAP’s assistance in building the country’s statistical capacity for building a system of accurate national accounts and MDG reporting. The Executive Secretary accepted the requests for ESCAP’s assistance and assured the Myanmar authorities that ESCAP would extend the country all possible help in revitalising its rural economy.
As an immediate response to the request by the Prime Minister to undertake statistical capacity building, the Executive Secretary informed him that ESCAP was sending a team of experts this month to organise a training workshop on national accounts, MDG reporting and computing human development indicators.
Agriculture Minister Htay Oo said ESCAP can “pave the way in diverting the resources back to agriculture, ensuring that food and agricultural producers, particularly small farmers, have the support they need to grow the food the world needs today.”
In accepting the request to jointly hold national seminars on development partnership, Dr Heyzer called for rural debt relief and an agricultural stimulus package as options for revitalising Myanmar’s rural economy.
She also said that developing a supportive and enabling policy environment for the agricultural economy, including rice production, needed urgent attention by policy makers.
BANGKOK, Aug 4 (TNA/UNESCAP) – Bangkok-based United Nations experts will help Myanmar’s government assign more resources to the country’s agricultural sector, and UN statistical experts will visit the country later this month to conduct a training workshop to better enable the process.
A United Nations statement said the training resulted from last week’s official visit by Dr Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of UNESCAP, the highest ranking UN official in the Asia-Pacific region at the invitation of Myanmar Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation Htay Oo.
During the six-day visit, July 26 to August 1, Dr Heyzer met Prime Minister Thein Sein and met nine cabinet ministers and deputy ministers, as well as mayors and local officials.
ESCAP, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, was asked by Minister Htay Oo and the minister of planning and economic development to jointly organise national seminars on development partnerships.
Prime Minister Thein Sein asked Dr Heyzer for ESCAP’s assistance in building the country’s statistical capacity for building a system of accurate national accounts and MDG reporting. The Executive Secretary accepted the requests for ESCAP’s assistance and assured the Myanmar authorities that ESCAP would extend the country all possible help in revitalising its rural economy.
As an immediate response to the request by the Prime Minister to undertake statistical capacity building, the Executive Secretary informed him that ESCAP was sending a team of experts this month to organise a training workshop on national accounts, MDG reporting and computing human development indicators.
Agriculture Minister Htay Oo said ESCAP can “pave the way in diverting the resources back to agriculture, ensuring that food and agricultural producers, particularly small farmers, have the support they need to grow the food the world needs today.”
In accepting the request to jointly hold national seminars on development partnership, Dr Heyzer called for rural debt relief and an agricultural stimulus package as options for revitalising Myanmar’s rural economy.
She also said that developing a supportive and enabling policy environment for the agricultural economy, including rice production, needed urgent attention by policy makers.
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August 4, 2009, Tuesday
Borneo Bulletin - Five participants from Asean join VTET programme
By James Kon
Survey research is a suitable professional development for VTET (Vocational and Technical Educator Training), which allows teachers and administrators to prepare themselves to be agents of change and to be extra resourceful in their working environments. The main characteristics of research is collecting and analysing data systematically and scientifically in response to current issues and problems.
This was raised by the acting director, Dr Paryono, who spoke on behalf of Haji Awang Yussof bin Haji Awang Mohamad, Director of SEAMEO VOTECH regional centre, Brunei Darussalam, at yesterday's opening ceremony for the 'Survey Research in VTET' training programme.
He added, "As we are aware, this kind of research initiative is still lacking in our region, especially in the area of vocational education and training. We have observed that much of our policies and practices are still based on intuition and follow what others are doing when in actuality it should be based on research findings and innovative thinking.
"In an era of knowledge, information and the quality of human resources are extremely important for society. We should prepare ourselves with the appropriate tools to enable us to actively contribute to our society," he added.
"The main characteristics of this era of knowledge that we are experiencing right now is that there is a shift from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge based economy. In term of human resources, there is a shift from production workers to knowledge workers. In term of deliveries, there is a shift from tangible products to intangible products.
This era is very challenging but at the same time if we are ready, there are a lot of opportunities."
Therefore, he said, "I strongly believe that preparing our VTET practitioners and policymakers with relevant levels of competence will allow us to generate knowledge through the conduct of research. This will be very meaningful for the future of all individuals, countries and the region."
In another speech by the guest of honour, Mr Thura Thet-OO Maung, the Ambassador of Myanmar to Brunei Darussalam, he stated "Today's changing world is marked by rapid technological advancement and the fast pace of globalisation, which has affected our economies, therefore to overcome them, we have to adapt, learn and deal with them efficiently.
"Therefore, it is the educational system that faces multifarious demands and opportunities. For institutions to brace themselves with such tremendous challenges, means the courage and resilience to implement viable solutions for welfare of their constituents"
A total of five participants from Asean member countries joined the programme, which will end on August 15.
Among the objectives of the programme are the identification of researchable topics in survey research, development of various data collection techniques, administration of data collection, analysis of the data, interpretation of all research findings and the writing of a brief report of the study.
Borneo Bulletin - Five participants from Asean join VTET programme
By James Kon
Survey research is a suitable professional development for VTET (Vocational and Technical Educator Training), which allows teachers and administrators to prepare themselves to be agents of change and to be extra resourceful in their working environments. The main characteristics of research is collecting and analysing data systematically and scientifically in response to current issues and problems.
This was raised by the acting director, Dr Paryono, who spoke on behalf of Haji Awang Yussof bin Haji Awang Mohamad, Director of SEAMEO VOTECH regional centre, Brunei Darussalam, at yesterday's opening ceremony for the 'Survey Research in VTET' training programme.
He added, "As we are aware, this kind of research initiative is still lacking in our region, especially in the area of vocational education and training. We have observed that much of our policies and practices are still based on intuition and follow what others are doing when in actuality it should be based on research findings and innovative thinking.
"In an era of knowledge, information and the quality of human resources are extremely important for society. We should prepare ourselves with the appropriate tools to enable us to actively contribute to our society," he added.
"The main characteristics of this era of knowledge that we are experiencing right now is that there is a shift from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge based economy. In term of human resources, there is a shift from production workers to knowledge workers. In term of deliveries, there is a shift from tangible products to intangible products.
This era is very challenging but at the same time if we are ready, there are a lot of opportunities."
Therefore, he said, "I strongly believe that preparing our VTET practitioners and policymakers with relevant levels of competence will allow us to generate knowledge through the conduct of research. This will be very meaningful for the future of all individuals, countries and the region."
In another speech by the guest of honour, Mr Thura Thet-OO Maung, the Ambassador of Myanmar to Brunei Darussalam, he stated "Today's changing world is marked by rapid technological advancement and the fast pace of globalisation, which has affected our economies, therefore to overcome them, we have to adapt, learn and deal with them efficiently.
"Therefore, it is the educational system that faces multifarious demands and opportunities. For institutions to brace themselves with such tremendous challenges, means the courage and resilience to implement viable solutions for welfare of their constituents"
A total of five participants from Asean member countries joined the programme, which will end on August 15.
Among the objectives of the programme are the identification of researchable topics in survey research, development of various data collection techniques, administration of data collection, analysis of the data, interpretation of all research findings and the writing of a brief report of the study.
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The New Kerala - Thailand investigating suspected North Korea-Myanmar nuclear link
Bangkok, Aug 4 : The Thai government is investigating suspected nuclear collaboration between Myanmar's military regime and North Korea following media reports here that Myanmar is building a secret nuclear reactor with Pyongyang's help.
However, Thai National Security Council chief Thawil Pliensri said a probe by national intelligence agencies has not yet found any indication that the reports were true.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vimon Kidchob said the Thai embassy in Myanmar had not found any evidence of nuclear collaboration between North Korea and Myanmar.
Ms Vimon said Bangkok believed that Myanmar would adhere to the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (SEANWFZ) agreement which came into force in 1997 after being signed by all members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
''I am confident that all members of the SEANWFZ are adhering to this principle,'' she said.
The United States has voiced concern over alleged clandestine military collaboration between Myanmar and North Korea in international media reports.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conveyed Washington’s views on reported Myanmar-North Korea military cooperation to the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting in Phuket last month.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip Crowley told newspersons in Washington early today that the US was trying to find out the nature of the military cooperation between Myanmar and North Korea.
''We do have concerns about the nature of cooperation between both Burma North Korea, and any other country. I think, over time, we would like to clarify with Burma more precisely the nature of its military cooperation,'' Mr Crowley was quoted as saying.
However, Washington has been encouraged by Myanmar’s apparent collaboration with international efforts to penalise Pyongyang following North Korea's second nuclear test earlier this year.
The US official referred to the recent turning back of a North Korean ship that was reported headed towards Myanmar.
''There was this North Korean ship. There were reports that it was headed to Burma. But eventually the ship turned around, and we noted that the Burmese at the time had pledged that they would fully implement the UN sanctions,'' the US official said.
''It's hard to say whether that Burmese decision had something to do with the ship turning around, but it turned around,'' Mr Crowley told reporters.
Bangkok, Aug 4 : The Thai government is investigating suspected nuclear collaboration between Myanmar's military regime and North Korea following media reports here that Myanmar is building a secret nuclear reactor with Pyongyang's help.
However, Thai National Security Council chief Thawil Pliensri said a probe by national intelligence agencies has not yet found any indication that the reports were true.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vimon Kidchob said the Thai embassy in Myanmar had not found any evidence of nuclear collaboration between North Korea and Myanmar.
Ms Vimon said Bangkok believed that Myanmar would adhere to the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (SEANWFZ) agreement which came into force in 1997 after being signed by all members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
''I am confident that all members of the SEANWFZ are adhering to this principle,'' she said.
The United States has voiced concern over alleged clandestine military collaboration between Myanmar and North Korea in international media reports.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conveyed Washington’s views on reported Myanmar-North Korea military cooperation to the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting in Phuket last month.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip Crowley told newspersons in Washington early today that the US was trying to find out the nature of the military cooperation between Myanmar and North Korea.
''We do have concerns about the nature of cooperation between both Burma North Korea, and any other country. I think, over time, we would like to clarify with Burma more precisely the nature of its military cooperation,'' Mr Crowley was quoted as saying.
However, Washington has been encouraged by Myanmar’s apparent collaboration with international efforts to penalise Pyongyang following North Korea's second nuclear test earlier this year.
The US official referred to the recent turning back of a North Korean ship that was reported headed towards Myanmar.
''There was this North Korean ship. There were reports that it was headed to Burma. But eventually the ship turned around, and we noted that the Burmese at the time had pledged that they would fully implement the UN sanctions,'' the US official said.
''It's hard to say whether that Burmese decision had something to do with the ship turning around, but it turned around,'' Mr Crowley told reporters.
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Thaipr.net - UN top official requested to initiate development partnership and assessment of the rural economy in Myanmar
August 4, 2009 09:51
A team of statistical experts from the United Nations will be sent to Myanmar this month in order to organize a training workshop on national accounts, development goals reporting and computing human development indicators. The training is as a result of an official visit from the highest ranking UN official of the Asia Pacific region.
At the invitation of Mr. Htay Oo, Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation, Government of Myanmar, Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP concluded a six -day field visit to Myanmar from 26 July to 1 August 2009. Dr. Heyzer called on H.E. Mr. Thein Sein, the Prime Minister, and met nine Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers as well as numerous mayors and local officials during her visit.
The ESCAP Chief was requested by the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation and the Minister of Planning and Economic Development to jointly organize national seminars on development partnerships. The Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation observed that ESCAP “will be able to pave the way in diverting the resources back to agriculture, ensuring that food and agricultural producers, particularly small farmers, have the support they need to grow the food the world needs today.” In accepting the request to jointly organize the national seminars on development partnership, the Executive Secretary called for rural debt relief and an agricultural stimulus package as options for revitalizing the rural economy of Myanmar. Dr. Heyzer also pointed out that developing a supportive and enabling policy environment for the agricultural economy, including rice production, also needed the urgent attention of the policy makers.
The Executive Secretary’s journey traversed the vast and dusty central dry zone of Myanmar, covering more than 1250 kilometres across several townships and villages. Travelling by road, the Executive Secretary stopped to speak to farmers, farm workers, shopkeepers, small village artisans and agricultural extension officials to gain first hand knowledge about Myanmar’s agricultural economy in the arid zone. She also visited irrigation works, seed banks, commodity exchange, paddy and corn fields, coffee plantations, agricultural machinery factories, small livelihood projects and village craft industries. During her journey through the dry zone, she held extensive discussions with the high officials of different departments of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, forestry officials, agricultural extension workers and the farmers on various aspects of the rural economy of the central plains of Myanmar and offered her own insights and suggested options to the challenges they faced. Several issues were highlighted as requiring urgent attention, including the provision of a better financial and banking system, adequate and sustainable agricultural credit, better prices for agricultural produce, improved supply chain management, improved pre- and post-harvest technologies including for harvesting, processing, storing and transporting agricultural products, better marketing facilities and access to information on agricultural prices. Immediate policy initiatives were also needed for increased investments in rural infrastructure, rural employment schemes particularly during dry periods, and improved health, sanitation and educational facilities for the farming community.
The Government of Myanmar requested the assistance of ESCAP in developing a more coordinated and comprehensive inter-ministerial approach in revitalizing the agricultural economy. ESCAP was also requested to assist in conducting an economic and social assessment of Myanmar’s rural economy and carrying out Myanmar’s agricultural census in 2010. The Prime Minister asked Dr. Heyzer for ESCAP’s assistance in building the country’s statistical capacity for building a system of accurate national accounts and MDG reporting. The Executive Secretary accepted the requests for ESCAP’s assistance and assured the Myanmar authorities that ESCAP would extend the country all possible help in revitalizing its rural economy. As an immediate response to the request by the Prime Minister to undertake statistical capacity building, the Executive Secretary informed him that ESCAP was sending a team of experts this month to organize a training workshop on national accounts, MDG reporting and computing human development indicators.
Dr. Heyzer expressed her appreciation for the high priority accorded to water management and irrigation for small farmers in Myanmar. She noted that Myanmar was among the lowest recipients of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) in the region, and called for an increase in ODA to supplement the efforts of the national government in this area.
August 4, 2009 09:51
A team of statistical experts from the United Nations will be sent to Myanmar this month in order to organize a training workshop on national accounts, development goals reporting and computing human development indicators. The training is as a result of an official visit from the highest ranking UN official of the Asia Pacific region.
At the invitation of Mr. Htay Oo, Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation, Government of Myanmar, Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP concluded a six -day field visit to Myanmar from 26 July to 1 August 2009. Dr. Heyzer called on H.E. Mr. Thein Sein, the Prime Minister, and met nine Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers as well as numerous mayors and local officials during her visit.
The ESCAP Chief was requested by the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation and the Minister of Planning and Economic Development to jointly organize national seminars on development partnerships. The Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation observed that ESCAP “will be able to pave the way in diverting the resources back to agriculture, ensuring that food and agricultural producers, particularly small farmers, have the support they need to grow the food the world needs today.” In accepting the request to jointly organize the national seminars on development partnership, the Executive Secretary called for rural debt relief and an agricultural stimulus package as options for revitalizing the rural economy of Myanmar. Dr. Heyzer also pointed out that developing a supportive and enabling policy environment for the agricultural economy, including rice production, also needed the urgent attention of the policy makers.
The Executive Secretary’s journey traversed the vast and dusty central dry zone of Myanmar, covering more than 1250 kilometres across several townships and villages. Travelling by road, the Executive Secretary stopped to speak to farmers, farm workers, shopkeepers, small village artisans and agricultural extension officials to gain first hand knowledge about Myanmar’s agricultural economy in the arid zone. She also visited irrigation works, seed banks, commodity exchange, paddy and corn fields, coffee plantations, agricultural machinery factories, small livelihood projects and village craft industries. During her journey through the dry zone, she held extensive discussions with the high officials of different departments of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, forestry officials, agricultural extension workers and the farmers on various aspects of the rural economy of the central plains of Myanmar and offered her own insights and suggested options to the challenges they faced. Several issues were highlighted as requiring urgent attention, including the provision of a better financial and banking system, adequate and sustainable agricultural credit, better prices for agricultural produce, improved supply chain management, improved pre- and post-harvest technologies including for harvesting, processing, storing and transporting agricultural products, better marketing facilities and access to information on agricultural prices. Immediate policy initiatives were also needed for increased investments in rural infrastructure, rural employment schemes particularly during dry periods, and improved health, sanitation and educational facilities for the farming community.
The Government of Myanmar requested the assistance of ESCAP in developing a more coordinated and comprehensive inter-ministerial approach in revitalizing the agricultural economy. ESCAP was also requested to assist in conducting an economic and social assessment of Myanmar’s rural economy and carrying out Myanmar’s agricultural census in 2010. The Prime Minister asked Dr. Heyzer for ESCAP’s assistance in building the country’s statistical capacity for building a system of accurate national accounts and MDG reporting. The Executive Secretary accepted the requests for ESCAP’s assistance and assured the Myanmar authorities that ESCAP would extend the country all possible help in revitalizing its rural economy. As an immediate response to the request by the Prime Minister to undertake statistical capacity building, the Executive Secretary informed him that ESCAP was sending a team of experts this month to organize a training workshop on national accounts, MDG reporting and computing human development indicators.
Dr. Heyzer expressed her appreciation for the high priority accorded to water management and irrigation for small farmers in Myanmar. She noted that Myanmar was among the lowest recipients of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) in the region, and called for an increase in ODA to supplement the efforts of the national government in this area.
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The Irrawaddy - Broken Dreams
By KO HTWE, Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Nang Kham was a 14-year-old girl when she left her native town of Lashio in northern Shan state, eastern Burma.
Dreaming of a better life and a brighter future, she came to Thailand in 1996 and worked for nearly 10 years as a maid for a Thai family at a daily rate of 14 baht [US $0.40].
Nang Kham was promised 1,500 baht [$43] per month by the couple who employed her, but they told her they would not give her the money in hand each month, saying they would save it for her.
Nang Kham agreed to the arrangement, and after nearly a decade of work, the sum she was owed as wages amounted to 48,000 baht [$1,403].
“Her employers refused to let her leave the house, even for a visit to her hometown after she had been working for several years,” said Rujisanwee Pim, a coordinator for the domestic worker campaign run by the Migrant Assistance Program (MAP), a Chiang Mai-based non-governmental organization.
Unable to bear the increasing physical and mental harassment, Nang Kham appealed to friends and relatives for help, but no one dared intervene.
When her boss found out she had made contact outside, they changed phone numbers and destroyed all her phone contacts, Nam Kham told Pim.
Nang Kham finally decided to escape when her employers offered her 10,000 baht ($292) for her decade’s wages.
Through friends, Nang Kham was able to contact MAP, who helped her negotiate with her former employers and Thailand’s Department of Labor Protection and Welfare.
Nam Kham’s employers were made to pay the 48,000 baht they owed, but they were able to deduct household expenses and the cost of her work permit, said Pim.
“She [Nang Kham] was so sad at the way they deceived her,” Pim told The Irrawaddy.
“After a decade of abuse all she wanted to do was get home as quickly as possible. She was lucky she wasn’t raped as well,” she said.
According to Thailand’s Board of Investment, the minimum daily wage ranges from 148 baht to 203 baht [$4.72 to $5.79], depending on province. In Chiang Mai it is currently set at 168 baht [US $4.79], but domestic workers will seldom get this rate.
Ma Moe, a former civil servant working for the Burmese government who has been a domestic worker in Thailand for 4 years, said: “Living standards are better here than in Burma. We come here because we have little choice.
“When I started my first job, my boss agreed to pay me 800 baht [$23.35] per month, but in reality I only got 500 baht [$14.60]. My neighbors told me my employer had relatives who were in the police, and they said other people working there before hadn’t been paid at all.
“I’m lucky I got paid,” she said.
Ma Moe described how one of her sisters, who currently works at the home of a lieutenant-colonel in the Thai police, has to work at any hour demanded, is rarely able to get out of the house, and is restricted in what she can eat.
Ma Moe currently works at the home of a foreigner, who, she says, treats her well, but she said her former boss, another foreigner, was rude.
“He got angry with me when he couldn’t find something and would accuse me of taking whatever it was he had lost. It was humiliating,” she said.
Mai Mai, who works as a rights campaigner with MAP, said: “Many domestic workers in Thailand are illegal, which puts them under psychological pressure. Abuse from their employers makes things worse.”
Jackie Pollock, the director of MAP, said: “Most governments don’t consider domestic workers as labor, and they neglect their rights. Next year, the International Labor Organization will discuss the rights of domestic workers for the first time.”
MAP is marking a regional “International Day of Solidarity with Domestic Workers” on August 28 by supporting a campaign to send postcards to the Thai Ministry of Labor demanding recognition and protection of domestic workers’ labor rights and the right to a guaranteed one day of paid leave per week.
MAP is distributing 10,000 postcards and has already circulated 5,000 [More details on the campaign can be found under on the MAP website].
Ma Par Lay, a maid who has got to know Mai Mai, brightens up at mention of the campaign.
With a lively voice that belies her wearisome appearance she asks everyone she meets to join the postcard campaign.
“It can help us achieve a better future,” she said.
Ma Par Lay and hundreds of domestic workers like her are trying to change things so that young girls who come to Thailand to work won’t end up like Nang Kham and go home with broken dreams.”
By KO HTWE, Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Nang Kham was a 14-year-old girl when she left her native town of Lashio in northern Shan state, eastern Burma.
Dreaming of a better life and a brighter future, she came to Thailand in 1996 and worked for nearly 10 years as a maid for a Thai family at a daily rate of 14 baht [US $0.40].
Nang Kham was promised 1,500 baht [$43] per month by the couple who employed her, but they told her they would not give her the money in hand each month, saying they would save it for her.
Nang Kham agreed to the arrangement, and after nearly a decade of work, the sum she was owed as wages amounted to 48,000 baht [$1,403].
“Her employers refused to let her leave the house, even for a visit to her hometown after she had been working for several years,” said Rujisanwee Pim, a coordinator for the domestic worker campaign run by the Migrant Assistance Program (MAP), a Chiang Mai-based non-governmental organization.
Unable to bear the increasing physical and mental harassment, Nang Kham appealed to friends and relatives for help, but no one dared intervene.
When her boss found out she had made contact outside, they changed phone numbers and destroyed all her phone contacts, Nam Kham told Pim.
Nang Kham finally decided to escape when her employers offered her 10,000 baht ($292) for her decade’s wages.
Through friends, Nang Kham was able to contact MAP, who helped her negotiate with her former employers and Thailand’s Department of Labor Protection and Welfare.
Nam Kham’s employers were made to pay the 48,000 baht they owed, but they were able to deduct household expenses and the cost of her work permit, said Pim.
“She [Nang Kham] was so sad at the way they deceived her,” Pim told The Irrawaddy.
“After a decade of abuse all she wanted to do was get home as quickly as possible. She was lucky she wasn’t raped as well,” she said.
According to Thailand’s Board of Investment, the minimum daily wage ranges from 148 baht to 203 baht [$4.72 to $5.79], depending on province. In Chiang Mai it is currently set at 168 baht [US $4.79], but domestic workers will seldom get this rate.
Ma Moe, a former civil servant working for the Burmese government who has been a domestic worker in Thailand for 4 years, said: “Living standards are better here than in Burma. We come here because we have little choice.
“When I started my first job, my boss agreed to pay me 800 baht [$23.35] per month, but in reality I only got 500 baht [$14.60]. My neighbors told me my employer had relatives who were in the police, and they said other people working there before hadn’t been paid at all.
“I’m lucky I got paid,” she said.
Ma Moe described how one of her sisters, who currently works at the home of a lieutenant-colonel in the Thai police, has to work at any hour demanded, is rarely able to get out of the house, and is restricted in what she can eat.
Ma Moe currently works at the home of a foreigner, who, she says, treats her well, but she said her former boss, another foreigner, was rude.
“He got angry with me when he couldn’t find something and would accuse me of taking whatever it was he had lost. It was humiliating,” she said.
Mai Mai, who works as a rights campaigner with MAP, said: “Many domestic workers in Thailand are illegal, which puts them under psychological pressure. Abuse from their employers makes things worse.”
Jackie Pollock, the director of MAP, said: “Most governments don’t consider domestic workers as labor, and they neglect their rights. Next year, the International Labor Organization will discuss the rights of domestic workers for the first time.”
MAP is marking a regional “International Day of Solidarity with Domestic Workers” on August 28 by supporting a campaign to send postcards to the Thai Ministry of Labor demanding recognition and protection of domestic workers’ labor rights and the right to a guaranteed one day of paid leave per week.
MAP is distributing 10,000 postcards and has already circulated 5,000 [More details on the campaign can be found under on the MAP website].
Ma Par Lay, a maid who has got to know Mai Mai, brightens up at mention of the campaign.
With a lively voice that belies her wearisome appearance she asks everyone she meets to join the postcard campaign.
“It can help us achieve a better future,” she said.
Ma Par Lay and hundreds of domestic workers like her are trying to change things so that young girls who come to Thailand to work won’t end up like Nang Kham and go home with broken dreams.”
*********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Total Chief: Critics Can ‘Go to Hell’
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The CEO of the French energy giant Total said critics of the company’s operations in Burma “can go to hell,” according to an interview published by Newsweek magazine on August 3.
“I am bringing gas to Thailand. Bangkok was the world’s most polluted city. They switched from oil fuel to gas. Bangkok is clean now. We are proud of being part of this,” Christophe de Margerie, CEO of Total, told the US weekly magazine.
Thailand pipes about one billion cubic feet of gas per day from Burma’s offshore reserves in the southeastern Andaman Sea through the controversial Yadana gas pipeline, which human rights campaigners say has been a site of widespread abuses since its inception.
Total has been involved in the Yadana project since the 1990s, working in partnership with the US-based Unocal (now a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron), Burma’s state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Co.
Total and its partners have long been accused of turning a blind eye to serious human rights abuses committed by Burmese security forces guarding the pipeline, including forced labor, land confiscation, forced relocation, rape, torture and murder.
A brutal crackdown on monk-led protests in 2007 and the current trial of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi have brought renewed pressure on investors in Burma’s gas and oil sector, the single largest source of hard currency for the ruling regime. Burmese pro-democracy activists say energy companies should think twice about their investments in Burma.
“Today, [rights campaigners] are trying to tell us you have no right to speak. They can go to hell. If you want to ask somebody, don’t ask Total. Ask the government of Thailand, which buys Burmese gas,” de Margerie said.
“Or ask the government of India why they have companies investing in Burma, when we froze investment. Why is South Korea, ally of the United States of America, investing in Burma? Why Total?” he added.
However, de Margerie’s claims that Total has been unfairly singled out ignores actions taken against other major investors in Burma’s energy industry.
Recently, US-based NGO EarthRights International (ERI) filed a 43-page complaint to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) calling for an investigation of the South Korean government’s respect for OECD guidelines.
The complaint, made on behalf of the Shwe Gas Movement and nine Korean-based organizations, is related to investments in Burma by Daewoo International and the Korea Gas Corporation.
Complaining that “Total is a punching bag while other companies invest without criticism is simply untrue,” said ERI project coordinator Matthew Smith, speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.
“He (de Margerie) claims that Total is proud to provide natural gas to Bangkok but at the same time he tries to deflect negative criticism to Thailand. This strategy is consistent with the way Total has handled most of the negative outcry about its presence in Burma: deny and reject any and all negative criticism.
“Total’s project has generated billions of dollars for the military regime from the peoples’ natural resources. It’s dubious at best to claim that is a positive thing for the country,” Smith said.
“Elsewhere Total has touted respect for fiscal transparency but at the same time it has not published the payments it has made to the Burmese regime—that raises serious questions,” he added.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The CEO of the French energy giant Total said critics of the company’s operations in Burma “can go to hell,” according to an interview published by Newsweek magazine on August 3.
“I am bringing gas to Thailand. Bangkok was the world’s most polluted city. They switched from oil fuel to gas. Bangkok is clean now. We are proud of being part of this,” Christophe de Margerie, CEO of Total, told the US weekly magazine.
Thailand pipes about one billion cubic feet of gas per day from Burma’s offshore reserves in the southeastern Andaman Sea through the controversial Yadana gas pipeline, which human rights campaigners say has been a site of widespread abuses since its inception.
Total has been involved in the Yadana project since the 1990s, working in partnership with the US-based Unocal (now a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron), Burma’s state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Co.
Total and its partners have long been accused of turning a blind eye to serious human rights abuses committed by Burmese security forces guarding the pipeline, including forced labor, land confiscation, forced relocation, rape, torture and murder.
A brutal crackdown on monk-led protests in 2007 and the current trial of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi have brought renewed pressure on investors in Burma’s gas and oil sector, the single largest source of hard currency for the ruling regime. Burmese pro-democracy activists say energy companies should think twice about their investments in Burma.
“Today, [rights campaigners] are trying to tell us you have no right to speak. They can go to hell. If you want to ask somebody, don’t ask Total. Ask the government of Thailand, which buys Burmese gas,” de Margerie said.
“Or ask the government of India why they have companies investing in Burma, when we froze investment. Why is South Korea, ally of the United States of America, investing in Burma? Why Total?” he added.
However, de Margerie’s claims that Total has been unfairly singled out ignores actions taken against other major investors in Burma’s energy industry.
Recently, US-based NGO EarthRights International (ERI) filed a 43-page complaint to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) calling for an investigation of the South Korean government’s respect for OECD guidelines.
The complaint, made on behalf of the Shwe Gas Movement and nine Korean-based organizations, is related to investments in Burma by Daewoo International and the Korea Gas Corporation.
Complaining that “Total is a punching bag while other companies invest without criticism is simply untrue,” said ERI project coordinator Matthew Smith, speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.
“He (de Margerie) claims that Total is proud to provide natural gas to Bangkok but at the same time he tries to deflect negative criticism to Thailand. This strategy is consistent with the way Total has handled most of the negative outcry about its presence in Burma: deny and reject any and all negative criticism.
“Total’s project has generated billions of dollars for the military regime from the peoples’ natural resources. It’s dubious at best to claim that is a positive thing for the country,” Smith said.
“Elsewhere Total has touted respect for fiscal transparency but at the same time it has not published the payments it has made to the Burmese regime—that raises serious questions,” he added.
*********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Su Su Nway Put in Solitary
By LAWI WENG, Tuesday, August 4, 2009
A prominent Burmese labor rights activist, Su Su Nway, was placed in solitary confinement for three days after participating in a ceremony to mark the 62nd anniversary of Martyrs’ Day on June 19 in Kalay Prison, in Sagaing Division, according to her sister.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, her sister, Htay Htay Kyi, said, “She was put in solitary confinement because she stood up and sang an independence anthem composed by Min Ko Naing to mark Martyrs’ Day.”
Htay Htay Kyi said she visited her sister on July 21 when she delivered medicine to Su Su Nway who said she had been denied medical care by the prison authorities.
Su Su Nway, 37, suffers from hypertension and heart disease.
In 2006, she won the John Humphrey Freedom Award for promoting human rights.
She was arrested together with two colleagues after they pasted anti-government posters on a billboard in downtown Rangoon during the monk-led uprising of 2007. She was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison.
Su Su Nway is among other 2,100 political prisoners who are currently being detained by the Burmese military authorities.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in July called on the Burmese junta to release all political prisoners before the national elections in 2010.
Burmese permanent representative at the UN, Than Swe reportedly told Ban that Burma will release prisoners before the election; however, he did not specify if political dissidents would be among the prisoners released.
By LAWI WENG, Tuesday, August 4, 2009
A prominent Burmese labor rights activist, Su Su Nway, was placed in solitary confinement for three days after participating in a ceremony to mark the 62nd anniversary of Martyrs’ Day on June 19 in Kalay Prison, in Sagaing Division, according to her sister.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, her sister, Htay Htay Kyi, said, “She was put in solitary confinement because she stood up and sang an independence anthem composed by Min Ko Naing to mark Martyrs’ Day.”
Htay Htay Kyi said she visited her sister on July 21 when she delivered medicine to Su Su Nway who said she had been denied medical care by the prison authorities.
Su Su Nway, 37, suffers from hypertension and heart disease.
In 2006, she won the John Humphrey Freedom Award for promoting human rights.
She was arrested together with two colleagues after they pasted anti-government posters on a billboard in downtown Rangoon during the monk-led uprising of 2007. She was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison.
Su Su Nway is among other 2,100 political prisoners who are currently being detained by the Burmese military authorities.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in July called on the Burmese junta to release all political prisoners before the national elections in 2010.
Burmese permanent representative at the UN, Than Swe reportedly told Ban that Burma will release prisoners before the election; however, he did not specify if political dissidents would be among the prisoners released.
*********************************************************
Mizzima News - Burmese sailors of bankrupt ship await remuneration
by Mungpi
Tuesday, 04 August 2009 18:04
New Delhi (Mizzima) - Twenty three Burmese sailors on board a Liberian-flagged ship, Annapurna, suddenly found themselves unemployed and stranded at a port in Auckland, New Zealand, after creditors seized the ship, when the owners, Eastwind, declared bankruptcy.
Even as some of them are yet to receive a year’s pay and while many of them have been deprived of three to four months’ of pay, the Burmese sailors, are desperately waiting for their remuneration.
“There have been several occasions, where owners of the ships or companies try not to pay their sailors their due payments,” Garry Parsloe, National Vice-President of the Maritime Union Auckland Seafarers Branch said.
Parsloe, who also represents the International Transport Workers Federation (ITWF), told Mizzima on Tuesday, that he had been in negotiation with the ship’s agents so that the Burmese sailors receive their rightful remuneration.
“We had discussed with the agents about the plight of the sailors and the agents had given us positive signals that they would consider the wages of the sailors as a priority, once the ship was sold,” Parsloe said.
He also said, the agents had supplied provisions for the sailors, including telephones, so as to allow the sailors to communicate with their families. Parsloe said, sailors including Burmese were not so often lucky. There were often problems with "flag of convenience" ships and the treatment of their crew around the world. Often the crew ends up not getting their wages and stranded and jobless.
“We have asked the Burmese sailors to remain on the ship until they get paid,” he added.
However, for the 23 Burmese sailors, Parsloe said his organization was working to ensure that the sailors get their wages and fly back home or continue to stay and look for re-employment, as per their choice.
by Mungpi
Tuesday, 04 August 2009 18:04
New Delhi (Mizzima) - Twenty three Burmese sailors on board a Liberian-flagged ship, Annapurna, suddenly found themselves unemployed and stranded at a port in Auckland, New Zealand, after creditors seized the ship, when the owners, Eastwind, declared bankruptcy.
Even as some of them are yet to receive a year’s pay and while many of them have been deprived of three to four months’ of pay, the Burmese sailors, are desperately waiting for their remuneration.
“There have been several occasions, where owners of the ships or companies try not to pay their sailors their due payments,” Garry Parsloe, National Vice-President of the Maritime Union Auckland Seafarers Branch said.
Parsloe, who also represents the International Transport Workers Federation (ITWF), told Mizzima on Tuesday, that he had been in negotiation with the ship’s agents so that the Burmese sailors receive their rightful remuneration.
“We had discussed with the agents about the plight of the sailors and the agents had given us positive signals that they would consider the wages of the sailors as a priority, once the ship was sold,” Parsloe said.
He also said, the agents had supplied provisions for the sailors, including telephones, so as to allow the sailors to communicate with their families. Parsloe said, sailors including Burmese were not so often lucky. There were often problems with "flag of convenience" ships and the treatment of their crew around the world. Often the crew ends up not getting their wages and stranded and jobless.
“We have asked the Burmese sailors to remain on the ship until they get paid,” he added.
However, for the 23 Burmese sailors, Parsloe said his organization was working to ensure that the sailors get their wages and fly back home or continue to stay and look for re-employment, as per their choice.
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