Lawmakers worldwide urge Myanmar probe
December 11, 2009 2:42 a.m. EST
(CNN) -- More than 400 lawmakers from around the world have urged the United Nations to investigate Myanmar's military junta, accusing it of committing crimes against humanity.
In a letter sent to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, the lawmakers -- from 29 countries, including France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States -- also pressed for a global arms embargo against the regime.
"For too many years, the Security Council has ignored widespread and systematic crimes carried about by Burma's military regime, including the destruction of over 3,300 ethnic minority villages, widespread rape of ethnic women, the forced displacement of over 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons, the recruitment of tens of thousands of child soldiers, and the prolific use of modern-day slave labor," the letter says.
"The longer the council waits, the more people in Burma will die," the letter concludes.
The military junta has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962.
After years of refusing direct talks with Myanmar, the United States has indicated a possible re-engagement with the military regime.
In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, U.S. President Barack Obama named Myanmar, Congo and Darfur as governments that "violate international law by brutalizing their own people," and said there must be consequences.
He also praised Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a fellow Nobel Peace laureate.
Myanmar's military junta has kept Suu Kyi under house arrest for about 14 of the past 20 years. Obama called for her release and that of other political prisoners when he spoke in Singapore at a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations economic alliance in November.
December 11, 2009 2:42 a.m. EST
(CNN) -- More than 400 lawmakers from around the world have urged the United Nations to investigate Myanmar's military junta, accusing it of committing crimes against humanity.
In a letter sent to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, the lawmakers -- from 29 countries, including France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States -- also pressed for a global arms embargo against the regime.
"For too many years, the Security Council has ignored widespread and systematic crimes carried about by Burma's military regime, including the destruction of over 3,300 ethnic minority villages, widespread rape of ethnic women, the forced displacement of over 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons, the recruitment of tens of thousands of child soldiers, and the prolific use of modern-day slave labor," the letter says.
"The longer the council waits, the more people in Burma will die," the letter concludes.
The military junta has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962.
After years of refusing direct talks with Myanmar, the United States has indicated a possible re-engagement with the military regime.
In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, U.S. President Barack Obama named Myanmar, Congo and Darfur as governments that "violate international law by brutalizing their own people," and said there must be consequences.
He also praised Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a fellow Nobel Peace laureate.
Myanmar's military junta has kept Suu Kyi under house arrest for about 14 of the past 20 years. Obama called for her release and that of other political prisoners when he spoke in Singapore at a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations economic alliance in November.
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INO News - Dissident Groups Urge UN Not To Recognize 2010 Myanmar Election
Fri Dec 11, 5:25 am ET
(RTTNews) - The United Nations and the international community have been urged not to recognize the Myanmar elections scheduled for for 2010 unless all political prisoners including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi are released by the country's military junta.
On the occasion of International Human Rights Day (December 10), three dissident Burmese groups--All Burma Monks' Alliance, 88 Generation Students, and All Burma Federation of Student Unions--in a joint statement have asked the international community not to recognize the forthcoming elections in 2010 and to put more pressure on junta leader to hold a meaningful dialogue with the democratic opposition.
"We urge the international community not to recognize the 2010 election, if there is no release of all political prisoners, including the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, no sustainable political dialogue with democratic opposition and ethnic minorities, and no national reconciliation first," they said in the joint statement.
It was on December 10, 1948, when the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to observe the day as International Human Rights Day to remind the people that all human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms.
Fri Dec 11, 5:25 am ET
(RTTNews) - The United Nations and the international community have been urged not to recognize the Myanmar elections scheduled for for 2010 unless all political prisoners including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi are released by the country's military junta.
On the occasion of International Human Rights Day (December 10), three dissident Burmese groups--All Burma Monks' Alliance, 88 Generation Students, and All Burma Federation of Student Unions--in a joint statement have asked the international community not to recognize the forthcoming elections in 2010 and to put more pressure on junta leader to hold a meaningful dialogue with the democratic opposition.
"We urge the international community not to recognize the 2010 election, if there is no release of all political prisoners, including the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, no sustainable political dialogue with democratic opposition and ethnic minorities, and no national reconciliation first," they said in the joint statement.
It was on December 10, 1948, when the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to observe the day as International Human Rights Day to remind the people that all human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms.
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American on hunger strike in Myanmar jail: lawyer
14 mins ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) – A US citizen jailed in military-run Myanmar has gone on a hunger strike and is in deteriorating health, his overseas lawyer said Friday.
Myanmar-born Kyaw Zaw Lwin, alias Nyi Nyi Aung, stopped taking food on December 4 to demand better conditions for political prisoners, said Beth Schwanke, his Washington-based international counsel.
US diplomats have not been allowed to see him and the court cancelled a hearing that had been scheduled Friday citing health reasons, she said.
"We are extremely concerned," she told AFP. "We've received reports that his health is very seriously deteriorating, but we don't have very much information because the US embassy has been denied access."
Dissident groups from Myanmar, earlier known as Burma, have said Nyi Nyi Aung is a democracy activist and was hoping to see his ailing mother, herself detained over political activities, when he was arrested on September 3.
A court charged him with fraud and forgery related to a Myanmar identity card and of failing to declare currency at customs.
He denies the charges, with Schwanke saying he was arrested before even reaching customs at the Yangon airport.
Schwanke said Nyi Nyi Aung went on a hunger strike to demand equal treatment for all political prisoners, not simply his own conditions.
"Ironically, he is receiving slightly better treatment than probably most political prisoners because he is American. He was allowed to recently put a blanket on his wooden plank to help his bed sores," she said.
But lawyers say he was deprived of food, sleep, medical treatment and US consular access in his first two weeks of detention.
14 mins ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) – A US citizen jailed in military-run Myanmar has gone on a hunger strike and is in deteriorating health, his overseas lawyer said Friday.
Myanmar-born Kyaw Zaw Lwin, alias Nyi Nyi Aung, stopped taking food on December 4 to demand better conditions for political prisoners, said Beth Schwanke, his Washington-based international counsel.
US diplomats have not been allowed to see him and the court cancelled a hearing that had been scheduled Friday citing health reasons, she said.
"We are extremely concerned," she told AFP. "We've received reports that his health is very seriously deteriorating, but we don't have very much information because the US embassy has been denied access."
Dissident groups from Myanmar, earlier known as Burma, have said Nyi Nyi Aung is a democracy activist and was hoping to see his ailing mother, herself detained over political activities, when he was arrested on September 3.
A court charged him with fraud and forgery related to a Myanmar identity card and of failing to declare currency at customs.
He denies the charges, with Schwanke saying he was arrested before even reaching customs at the Yangon airport.
Schwanke said Nyi Nyi Aung went on a hunger strike to demand equal treatment for all political prisoners, not simply his own conditions.
"Ironically, he is receiving slightly better treatment than probably most political prisoners because he is American. He was allowed to recently put a blanket on his wooden plank to help his bed sores," she said.
But lawyers say he was deprived of food, sleep, medical treatment and US consular access in his first two weeks of detention.
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International Trade Union Confederation
Global Unions - Burma : “Burma’s Children, a Generation Sacrificed”, the new ITUC report
Brussels, 11 December 2009: The Burmese military junta is to organise “elections” in 2010, but the Constitution, whose adoption it organised in 2008, leaves no doubt as to the army’s desire to stay in power after the ballot. The ITUC’s new report shows that the generals currently in power have no intention of showing any more interest in the population than their predecessors have over the last 47 years of military dictatorship. Without a return to real democracy and the respect of all human rights, including trade union rights, the next generation of Burmese children will never get to sit in a classroom and will be forced to perform all kinds of work, including the very worst.
The new ITUC report highlights the link between the abuse of human rights, including trade union rights, and the catastrophic situation of Burmese children. Crushing all forms of opposition the Burmese military junta spends at least 40% of the State budget on the army, even though the country is not facing any external military threat, and leaves only crumbs for such important sectors as education and health care. As a result, less than 55% of Burmese children complete primary school education, and every day hundreds of thousands work for long hours, sometimes in forced labour imposed by the authorities. The forced recruitment of child soldiers by different army groups is still frequent in Burma, despite repeated promises by the junta to put an end to it.
The report sheds light on the very difficult situation faced by Burmese teachers, who have no trade union rights and no possibility therefore of negotiating their salaries. What they earn today is only a small percentage of what is needed to support a family. Many Burmese teachers encourage children to take private lessons with them, but not all parents can afford to pay for them, given all the other costs they already have to face for their child’s education (materials, forced donations to schools...). This system exists at every level of education, forcing tens of thousands of children out of school every year and into exploitation at work.
Interviews carried out in the country for this report illustrate the distress of these children growing up under military dictatorship. “I work 7 days a week,12 hours a day, for a salary of 8.60 dollars a month,” says a child of 11 working in a tea room in Rangoon. “Other children only earn 6 dollars a month. My boss gives me two meals a day and I can sleep in a small room, but there are a lot of us all squeezed into one very hot room. I am always tired during the day because I don’t sleep enough. We are constantly busy serving customers, cleaning the cups, the floor...”
As the military dictatorship will not tolerate any criticism, it is extremely dangerous to discuss anything to do with social rights, human rights or children’s rights inside Burma. The junta’s censorship prevents the Burmese media from publishing any reports about the real situation in the country. According to the Association to help political prisoners in Burma (l’Association d’aide aux prisonniers politiques birmans), over 2,100 political prisoners are being held in the country. They include about 30 trade unionists, sentenced to between five years and life. Despite this repression, the Federation of Trade Unions – Burma, FTUB, affiliated to the ITUC but banned in Burma, continues to help workers in Burma and support schools in different regions of the country.
Global Unions - Burma : “Burma’s Children, a Generation Sacrificed”, the new ITUC report
Brussels, 11 December 2009: The Burmese military junta is to organise “elections” in 2010, but the Constitution, whose adoption it organised in 2008, leaves no doubt as to the army’s desire to stay in power after the ballot. The ITUC’s new report shows that the generals currently in power have no intention of showing any more interest in the population than their predecessors have over the last 47 years of military dictatorship. Without a return to real democracy and the respect of all human rights, including trade union rights, the next generation of Burmese children will never get to sit in a classroom and will be forced to perform all kinds of work, including the very worst.
The new ITUC report highlights the link between the abuse of human rights, including trade union rights, and the catastrophic situation of Burmese children. Crushing all forms of opposition the Burmese military junta spends at least 40% of the State budget on the army, even though the country is not facing any external military threat, and leaves only crumbs for such important sectors as education and health care. As a result, less than 55% of Burmese children complete primary school education, and every day hundreds of thousands work for long hours, sometimes in forced labour imposed by the authorities. The forced recruitment of child soldiers by different army groups is still frequent in Burma, despite repeated promises by the junta to put an end to it.
The report sheds light on the very difficult situation faced by Burmese teachers, who have no trade union rights and no possibility therefore of negotiating their salaries. What they earn today is only a small percentage of what is needed to support a family. Many Burmese teachers encourage children to take private lessons with them, but not all parents can afford to pay for them, given all the other costs they already have to face for their child’s education (materials, forced donations to schools...). This system exists at every level of education, forcing tens of thousands of children out of school every year and into exploitation at work.
Interviews carried out in the country for this report illustrate the distress of these children growing up under military dictatorship. “I work 7 days a week,12 hours a day, for a salary of 8.60 dollars a month,” says a child of 11 working in a tea room in Rangoon. “Other children only earn 6 dollars a month. My boss gives me two meals a day and I can sleep in a small room, but there are a lot of us all squeezed into one very hot room. I am always tired during the day because I don’t sleep enough. We are constantly busy serving customers, cleaning the cups, the floor...”
As the military dictatorship will not tolerate any criticism, it is extremely dangerous to discuss anything to do with social rights, human rights or children’s rights inside Burma. The junta’s censorship prevents the Burmese media from publishing any reports about the real situation in the country. According to the Association to help political prisoners in Burma (l’Association d’aide aux prisonniers politiques birmans), over 2,100 political prisoners are being held in the country. They include about 30 trade unionists, sentenced to between five years and life. Despite this repression, the Federation of Trade Unions – Burma, FTUB, affiliated to the ITUC but banned in Burma, continues to help workers in Burma and support schools in different regions of the country.
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Bali forum plans more activities to enhance democracy
Ary Hermawan and Desy Nurhayati , The Jakarta Post , Nusa Dua, Bali | Fri, 12/11/2009 10:27 PM | World
The second Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) ended Friday with Asian countries expecting Indonesia to organize more activities in addition to the annual meeting at the resort island to strengthen democracy in the region.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said one of the ideas proposed during the two-day meeting was to launch an election visit program in which participating countries could learn from each other through close study. The idea was floated by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who co-chaired the forum.
“We’ll study and identify which of the proposals we need to prioritize,” Marty said after closing the meeting, attended by 48 countries, including observers Italy, Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Spain.
“We’ll later outline the form of such cooperation.”
Hatoyama’s proposal raised the suggestion that the BDF could later facilitate the involvement of the international community in making a success of the 2010 elections in Myanmar, in which opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, still under house arrest, is expected to take part.
Marty did not deny the possibility, but made clear the initiative should come from Yangon.
“Whether through the BDF or any other forums, we would like to see constructive elections [in Myanmar],” he said.
“If Myanmar considers it necessary to have [foreign involvement] in order to hold a successful election, [the BDF will facilitate it].”
Ary Hermawan and Desy Nurhayati , The Jakarta Post , Nusa Dua, Bali | Fri, 12/11/2009 10:27 PM | World
The second Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) ended Friday with Asian countries expecting Indonesia to organize more activities in addition to the annual meeting at the resort island to strengthen democracy in the region.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said one of the ideas proposed during the two-day meeting was to launch an election visit program in which participating countries could learn from each other through close study. The idea was floated by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who co-chaired the forum.
“We’ll study and identify which of the proposals we need to prioritize,” Marty said after closing the meeting, attended by 48 countries, including observers Italy, Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Spain.
“We’ll later outline the form of such cooperation.”
Hatoyama’s proposal raised the suggestion that the BDF could later facilitate the involvement of the international community in making a success of the 2010 elections in Myanmar, in which opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, still under house arrest, is expected to take part.
Marty did not deny the possibility, but made clear the initiative should come from Yangon.
“Whether through the BDF or any other forums, we would like to see constructive elections [in Myanmar],” he said.
“If Myanmar considers it necessary to have [foreign involvement] in order to hold a successful election, [the BDF will facilitate it].”
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Thaindian News - 12th Ministerial meet of BIMSTEC begins in Myanmar
December 11th, 2009 - 1:34 pm ICT by ANI
Nay Pyi Taw (Myanmar), Dec 11 (ANI): The inaugural session of the 12th ministerial meet of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) nations has begun in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital city of Myanmar.
The Prime Minister of Myanmar, General Thein Sein, addressed the inaugural session.
On the sidelines of the Inaugural Session of BIMSTEC, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had informal talks with General Thein Sein.Krishna said cooperation between BIMSTEC nations to counter terrorism would help in dealing with this menace as also the Convention on Counter Insurgency.India also handed over the chairmanship of BIMSTEC to Myanmar formally that it had held since 2004.
Nay Pyi Taw, the new capital of Myanmar, means ‘Great City of the Sun’.
BIMSTEC comprises India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Krishna also held parleys with his counterparts from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Earlier, interacting with reporters on board his aircraft to Myanmar, Krishna said all regions attach a considerable importance to the BIMSTECD deliberations.
“(I am pleased) to be heading towards Myanmar to participate in the 12th BIMSTEC ministerial meeting. We attach a considerable importance to it,” Krishna said.
He also said all countries have identified 14 areas of cooperation, which include health, energy, technology, human resource development, trade, tourism and culture.
During the summit, the seven countries are expected to finalise a regional convention and related norms to expand counter-terror cooperation and promote trade, connectivity and popular contacts in the region.
The pacts to be signed during BIMSTEC include one on creating an Energy Centre, a hub for weather and climate details, a cultural industries observatory and cultural industries, besides enhancement for cooperation against international crime. (ANI)
December 11th, 2009 - 1:34 pm ICT by ANI
Nay Pyi Taw (Myanmar), Dec 11 (ANI): The inaugural session of the 12th ministerial meet of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) nations has begun in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital city of Myanmar.
The Prime Minister of Myanmar, General Thein Sein, addressed the inaugural session.
On the sidelines of the Inaugural Session of BIMSTEC, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had informal talks with General Thein Sein.Krishna said cooperation between BIMSTEC nations to counter terrorism would help in dealing with this menace as also the Convention on Counter Insurgency.India also handed over the chairmanship of BIMSTEC to Myanmar formally that it had held since 2004.
Nay Pyi Taw, the new capital of Myanmar, means ‘Great City of the Sun’.
BIMSTEC comprises India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Krishna also held parleys with his counterparts from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Earlier, interacting with reporters on board his aircraft to Myanmar, Krishna said all regions attach a considerable importance to the BIMSTECD deliberations.
“(I am pleased) to be heading towards Myanmar to participate in the 12th BIMSTEC ministerial meeting. We attach a considerable importance to it,” Krishna said.
He also said all countries have identified 14 areas of cooperation, which include health, energy, technology, human resource development, trade, tourism and culture.
During the summit, the seven countries are expected to finalise a regional convention and related norms to expand counter-terror cooperation and promote trade, connectivity and popular contacts in the region.
The pacts to be signed during BIMSTEC include one on creating an Energy Centre, a hub for weather and climate details, a cultural industries observatory and cultural industries, besides enhancement for cooperation against international crime. (ANI)
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India hands over BIMSTEC chair to Myanmar
Malaysia News.Net
Friday 11th December, 2009 (IANS)
Handing over the chairmanship of BIMSTEC to Myanmar, India Friday said the seven-nation organisation is 'a bridge' linking South and Southeast Asia with India's northeastern states and underlined the need for greater regional economic integration.
'We see BIMSTEC as an important vehicle to promote regional cooperation and economic integration in a range of areas,' External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said in the Myanmar capital Nay Pyi Taw while handing over the chairmanship of BIMSTEC to his Myanmarese counterpart U. Nyan Win.
'We also see BIMSTEC as a bridge linking South and South East Asia with the North East region of our country,' he said at the 12th ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
India is pushing for greater trade and connectivity between the seven countries comprising BIMSTEC and its northeastern states.
BIMSTEC comprises seven countries which ring the Bay of Bengal namely India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. India hosted the second BIMSTEC summit last year.
Underlining India's commitment to bolstering cooperation with the BIMSTEC region, Krishna called for more collaborative efforts to reap full dividends of intra-regional cooperation.
'We would like to see BIMSTEC develop as a vibrant organisation. For the last three years of our chairmanship of BIMSTEC, we have been striving towards this goal,' he said.
BIMSTEC has identified 14 areas of cooperation which include health, energy, technology, human resource development, trade, tourism and culture.
Malaysia News.Net
Friday 11th December, 2009 (IANS)
Handing over the chairmanship of BIMSTEC to Myanmar, India Friday said the seven-nation organisation is 'a bridge' linking South and Southeast Asia with India's northeastern states and underlined the need for greater regional economic integration.
'We see BIMSTEC as an important vehicle to promote regional cooperation and economic integration in a range of areas,' External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said in the Myanmar capital Nay Pyi Taw while handing over the chairmanship of BIMSTEC to his Myanmarese counterpart U. Nyan Win.
'We also see BIMSTEC as a bridge linking South and South East Asia with the North East region of our country,' he said at the 12th ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
India is pushing for greater trade and connectivity between the seven countries comprising BIMSTEC and its northeastern states.
BIMSTEC comprises seven countries which ring the Bay of Bengal namely India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. India hosted the second BIMSTEC summit last year.
Underlining India's commitment to bolstering cooperation with the BIMSTEC region, Krishna called for more collaborative efforts to reap full dividends of intra-regional cooperation.
'We would like to see BIMSTEC develop as a vibrant organisation. For the last three years of our chairmanship of BIMSTEC, we have been striving towards this goal,' he said.
BIMSTEC has identified 14 areas of cooperation which include health, energy, technology, human resource development, trade, tourism and culture.
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Deepika - CCEA nod for participation in Myanmar Natural Gas Project
New Delhi, Dec 10 (UNI) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved participation by ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) in the Upstream and Offshore Midstream sections of the Blocks A-1 and A-3, Myanmar Natural Gas Development Project. It also authorized OVL to make investments up to an aggregate amount of 173.85 million dollars in Blocks A-1 and A-3 by OVL from its own resources and/or by borrowings from the domestic and/or international markets until the Field Development Plan (FDP) is finalized and a comprehensive proposal for the investment is approved by the Government. The investment is expected to provide additional reserve accretion of hydrocarbons and facilitate production and marketing of Natural Gas from the Blocks A-1 and A-3 having participating interest of OVL and GAIL. As per operator Daewoo the likely expenditure till March 2010 is about 869.25 million dollars in respect of Block A-1, Block A-3 and Offshore Midstream PIPECO-I. Thus, OVL’s share of expenditure at 20 per cent will be 173.85 million dollars.
New Delhi, Dec 10 (UNI) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved participation by ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) in the Upstream and Offshore Midstream sections of the Blocks A-1 and A-3, Myanmar Natural Gas Development Project. It also authorized OVL to make investments up to an aggregate amount of 173.85 million dollars in Blocks A-1 and A-3 by OVL from its own resources and/or by borrowings from the domestic and/or international markets until the Field Development Plan (FDP) is finalized and a comprehensive proposal for the investment is approved by the Government. The investment is expected to provide additional reserve accretion of hydrocarbons and facilitate production and marketing of Natural Gas from the Blocks A-1 and A-3 having participating interest of OVL and GAIL. As per operator Daewoo the likely expenditure till March 2010 is about 869.25 million dollars in respect of Block A-1, Block A-3 and Offshore Midstream PIPECO-I. Thus, OVL’s share of expenditure at 20 per cent will be 173.85 million dollars.
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Sydney Morning Herald - Doing business with Burma violates human rights
DEBBIE STOTHARD
December 9, 2009
Today is International Human Rights Day. This year, the Burmese military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), continued to commit widespread and systematic human rights abuses against its own people with total impunity. Military offensives against ethnic nationalities in Eastern Burma's Shan and Karen states forced 37,000 civilians to flee to China and more than 6000 to Thailand in the past six months alone.
Earlier this year, the regime orchestrated a bogus trial to sentence Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to another 18 months of imprisonment. The SPDC's ongoing crackdown on freedoms in Burma led to the imprisonment of more than 80 dissidents, including pro-democracy activists, Buddhist monks, relief activists, and journalists. As a result of this persecution, the number of political prisoners has reached an all-time record of about 2200.
In their quest for basic rights and in the face of this crushing oppression, the people of Burma continue to resist in their own way – with grace, dignity and even compassion for their oppressors. Diverse voices have been raised to strengthen the movement, bring unity to their cause, and inspire solidarity across the globe.
How should Australia respond to the courage of human rights defenders from Burma in a meaningful way? By understanding how their oppressors have remained standing for so long. The military dictatorship is in power because of its vast financial resources, estimated to be $US5 billion. Most of this income has come from Burma's oil and gas industry. It funds and grows their military arsenal, and fuels their delusions of control.
The Australian business community, and its regulators, must face the fact that flows of money from the West are not only going into the pockets of the military dictators of Burma, they are also allowing these criminals maintain the oppressive infrastructure that prevents the people of Burma from enjoying food security and their basic freedoms.
Against this backdrop, Australia's Twinza Oil is investing in Burma's oil and gas industry - Twinza's project alone will earn the military dictatorship an estimated $US2.5 billion.
Investment in the oil and gas industry requires a certain amount of infrastructure. This should have beneficial flow-on effects to those in agriculture, with increased access to markets following the construction of roads, and maybe even increased mechanisation.
However, in Burma, trade is restricted within the country; many farmers are forced to grow cash crops for the regime instead of food for themselves, others are forced to pay interest rates ranging from 7 per cent to 17 per cent on "assistance" loans. They are the lucky ones – many others lose their land at gunpoint while others are conscripted as forced labour on infrastructure projects. Women and children are marched through the jungle and forced to manually break up rocks into gravel for roads. Their villages and land are destroyed to make way for dams and gas pipelines.
Many in the democracy movement in Burma and human rights advocates have called on foreign investment to be suspended, to be deferred in favour of future, democratic, state-partners. Sanctions have been criticised by some for their impact on the general population. However, this overlooks the institutional characteristics of the Burmese economy. The informal sector, which is largely village-based, focuses on subsistence agriculture and represents the vast majority of the population, has little connection to international trade. In contrast, the formal sector, which is dominated by the regime and concentrated in highly lucrative sectors such as mining, petroleum, logging, manufacturing, finance and banking, is more reliant upon access to the international market.
It is no accident that human development indicators in Burma have plummeted as the regime's income from oil and gas ballooned: There are an estimated 70,000 children currently enlisted in the army, the largest number in the world. One in 10 children die before their first birthday, and many more are impoverished, abused and orphaned by military actions. The military uses rape as a weapon to terrorise communities. These crimes against humanity and war crimes have also involved the military's destruction of more than 3300 ethnic villages.
Australia, like the US and EU, has financial sanction and travel bans targeting senior members of the regime and their business partners. However, they suffer from a lack of consistent implementation. Further action needs to be taken to ensure that sanctions impact on the regime's ability to earn foreign income.
It is time that the Australian Government reviewed and strengthened its targeted financial sanctions and visa bans on Burma, and subjected current projects with Australian interests in Burma to greater scrutiny. The Australian business community needs to live up to its corporate responsibilities and end their trade with Burma, as QBE Insurers and Downer EDI already have. Will Australia be contributing to greater protection or violations of human rights in 2010?
Debbie Stothard co-ordinator of the Southeast Asia-based ALTSEAN-Burma. ALTSEAN-Burma (Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma) is a network of organisations and individuals based in ASEAN member states working to support the movement for human rights and democracy in Burma.
DEBBIE STOTHARD
December 9, 2009
Today is International Human Rights Day. This year, the Burmese military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), continued to commit widespread and systematic human rights abuses against its own people with total impunity. Military offensives against ethnic nationalities in Eastern Burma's Shan and Karen states forced 37,000 civilians to flee to China and more than 6000 to Thailand in the past six months alone.
Earlier this year, the regime orchestrated a bogus trial to sentence Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to another 18 months of imprisonment. The SPDC's ongoing crackdown on freedoms in Burma led to the imprisonment of more than 80 dissidents, including pro-democracy activists, Buddhist monks, relief activists, and journalists. As a result of this persecution, the number of political prisoners has reached an all-time record of about 2200.
In their quest for basic rights and in the face of this crushing oppression, the people of Burma continue to resist in their own way – with grace, dignity and even compassion for their oppressors. Diverse voices have been raised to strengthen the movement, bring unity to their cause, and inspire solidarity across the globe.
How should Australia respond to the courage of human rights defenders from Burma in a meaningful way? By understanding how their oppressors have remained standing for so long. The military dictatorship is in power because of its vast financial resources, estimated to be $US5 billion. Most of this income has come from Burma's oil and gas industry. It funds and grows their military arsenal, and fuels their delusions of control.
The Australian business community, and its regulators, must face the fact that flows of money from the West are not only going into the pockets of the military dictators of Burma, they are also allowing these criminals maintain the oppressive infrastructure that prevents the people of Burma from enjoying food security and their basic freedoms.
Against this backdrop, Australia's Twinza Oil is investing in Burma's oil and gas industry - Twinza's project alone will earn the military dictatorship an estimated $US2.5 billion.
Investment in the oil and gas industry requires a certain amount of infrastructure. This should have beneficial flow-on effects to those in agriculture, with increased access to markets following the construction of roads, and maybe even increased mechanisation.
However, in Burma, trade is restricted within the country; many farmers are forced to grow cash crops for the regime instead of food for themselves, others are forced to pay interest rates ranging from 7 per cent to 17 per cent on "assistance" loans. They are the lucky ones – many others lose their land at gunpoint while others are conscripted as forced labour on infrastructure projects. Women and children are marched through the jungle and forced to manually break up rocks into gravel for roads. Their villages and land are destroyed to make way for dams and gas pipelines.
Many in the democracy movement in Burma and human rights advocates have called on foreign investment to be suspended, to be deferred in favour of future, democratic, state-partners. Sanctions have been criticised by some for their impact on the general population. However, this overlooks the institutional characteristics of the Burmese economy. The informal sector, which is largely village-based, focuses on subsistence agriculture and represents the vast majority of the population, has little connection to international trade. In contrast, the formal sector, which is dominated by the regime and concentrated in highly lucrative sectors such as mining, petroleum, logging, manufacturing, finance and banking, is more reliant upon access to the international market.
It is no accident that human development indicators in Burma have plummeted as the regime's income from oil and gas ballooned: There are an estimated 70,000 children currently enlisted in the army, the largest number in the world. One in 10 children die before their first birthday, and many more are impoverished, abused and orphaned by military actions. The military uses rape as a weapon to terrorise communities. These crimes against humanity and war crimes have also involved the military's destruction of more than 3300 ethnic villages.
Australia, like the US and EU, has financial sanction and travel bans targeting senior members of the regime and their business partners. However, they suffer from a lack of consistent implementation. Further action needs to be taken to ensure that sanctions impact on the regime's ability to earn foreign income.
It is time that the Australian Government reviewed and strengthened its targeted financial sanctions and visa bans on Burma, and subjected current projects with Australian interests in Burma to greater scrutiny. The Australian business community needs to live up to its corporate responsibilities and end their trade with Burma, as QBE Insurers and Downer EDI already have. Will Australia be contributing to greater protection or violations of human rights in 2010?
Debbie Stothard co-ordinator of the Southeast Asia-based ALTSEAN-Burma. ALTSEAN-Burma (Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma) is a network of organisations and individuals based in ASEAN member states working to support the movement for human rights and democracy in Burma.
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EarthTimes - Chinese vice president to visit Myanmar
Posted : Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:28:05 GMT
Yangon - Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is to visit Myanmar this month, perhaps to consult the ruling junta on its election plans for 2010, diplomatic and government sources said Friday. "He will visit Myanmar from December 19 to 20. Before Myanmar, he will visit Japan, the Republic of Korea and Cambodia," said a source with close ties to the Chinese embassy in Yangon.
Government officials who requested anonymity confirmed the visit but refused to give further details.
Xi Jinping is seen as a likely successor of President Hu Jintao.
Although details of his visit were not available, he was expected to meet with Myanmar junta chief Senior General Than Shwe in the military's capital of Naypyitaw, 350 kilometres north of Yangon.
China is one of Myanmar's few international allies.
"I think Xi Jinping's visit to Myanmar is quite significant because it coincides with preparations for the 2010 election," a political observer in Yangon said.
Myanmar's military regime has promised to hold a general election some time next year as part of its seven-step road map to democracy.
The junta has yet to announce regulations on party registration, election procedures and the exact date of the polls, sparking speculation that it may be postponed.
Posted : Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:28:05 GMT
Yangon - Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is to visit Myanmar this month, perhaps to consult the ruling junta on its election plans for 2010, diplomatic and government sources said Friday. "He will visit Myanmar from December 19 to 20. Before Myanmar, he will visit Japan, the Republic of Korea and Cambodia," said a source with close ties to the Chinese embassy in Yangon.
Government officials who requested anonymity confirmed the visit but refused to give further details.
Xi Jinping is seen as a likely successor of President Hu Jintao.
Although details of his visit were not available, he was expected to meet with Myanmar junta chief Senior General Than Shwe in the military's capital of Naypyitaw, 350 kilometres north of Yangon.
China is one of Myanmar's few international allies.
"I think Xi Jinping's visit to Myanmar is quite significant because it coincides with preparations for the 2010 election," a political observer in Yangon said.
Myanmar's military regime has promised to hold a general election some time next year as part of its seven-step road map to democracy.
The junta has yet to announce regulations on party registration, election procedures and the exact date of the polls, sparking speculation that it may be postponed.
*************************************************************
Baltimore Jewish Times - Jews Of Burma March On
December 11, 2009
Rangoon, Burma
Sammy Samuels - Special to the Jewish Times
Jewish life in Burma today is quite different from what it was during colonial times, which lasted until World War II. Before the war, it still was the case that “the sun never set” on the British Empire, including in Southeast Asia.
Jewish merchants, who migrated originally to Burma in the late 1800s, served as a natural conduit between the British colonial rulers and the export–import community abroad. The Jewish community of approximately 2,500 people was a respected presence in business and a valued part of local society. During this “Golden Age,” Jewish influence within the government and society as a whole grew rapidly.
Jews were incorporated into the life of the country and played a prominent part in various fields. In tropical Rangoon, Jews owned ice factories and bottling plants. Some dealt in textiles and timber, while others were customs officials and traders. Jews held a designated seat on the Rangoon Municipal Committee.
The Jewish community in Burma was so influential, in fact, that in the first years of the century, Rangoon and the smaller city of Bassein had Jewish mayors, and Judah Ezekiel Street in downtown Rangoon was named to honor a Jew. The Sofaer family donated the iron gates to the Rangoon Zoo, and another Jew, Mordechai Isaac Cohen, donated the beautiful cast-iron bandstand in Bandoola Square. Both are still standing tall today.
In the center of downtown Rangoon (now Yangon) stood Musmeah Yeshua, the grand synagogue with its soaring ceiling and graceful columns.
Musmeah Yeshua, one of 188 sites on the list of Yangon Heritage Buildings, was constructed in the 1890s. The Jewish cemetery, with more than 600 gravestones, and the synagogue with its 126 silver sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls) and Jewish school for over 200 students, proclaimed Jewish affluence and comfort in this lush land.
As Jewish wealth grew in those early days, Jewish philanthropy grew as well. The community donated large sums for local schools, libraries, hospitals, and helped local Burmese in many different ways. The Burmese were very appreciative of this aid and the country was a welcome and tolerant home for Jews for many years.
The golden days of Jewish life in Burma came to a close when the Japanese invaded in 1941. Japanese occupation forced most of the Jewish community, along with most of the British colonial population, to flee to other countries. Some Jews returned after the war, but they soon realized that the beautiful life they remembered was no more and their homes and wealth were gone.
Even so, there were promising relations between postwar Burma and the new State of Israel. Burma and Israel both achieved their independence in 1948 and Burma recognized the State of Israel in 1949; it was the first Asian country to do so. Burmese Prime Minister U Nu was the first foreign head of state to visit the newly independent State of Israel, in 1955.
In 1961, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion spent two weeks in Burma. President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, and Shimon Peres also visited Burma.
Despite these cordial relations, Jews found it difficult to regain their lives and re-establish their businesses in Burma after World War II. The Jews of Burma scattered—to Israel, Australia, England, and the United States. Since then, the Burmese Jewish community has continued to decrease in population.
Today, only a handful of Jews live in Burma. For more than 35 years, my family has taken care of the synagogue, cemetery, and what remains of the community. Burma and the Jewish community is always our home and history since 1890s or even early when my great-grandparents left Baghdad to start a new life in the vibrant city of Rangoon. During World War II, my grandfather, Isaac Samuels, risked his life for the synagogue; today, we still revere the same building and its history, which encompasses Jewish life in Burma.
Every day, my father sits in the quiet synagogue, waiting to greet Jewish visitors and to share with them this rich and unique history of the Jewish community of Burma.
Every Friday, my father and I would wait at the synagogue for Jewish visitors until we could gather the minyan (requisite 10 people) to begin services. My father posted this sign on the front door of the synagogue: “A tree may be alone in the field; a man alone in the world, but a Jew is never alone on his Holy Days.”
It is my father’s belief that no Jew should be alone during the holidays—and yet most of the time, only the two of us can be found in the synagogue. Even if only he and I present, I always feel the echoes of the many Shabbat services that took place in this beautiful synagogue and hear the melodies of the songs our ancestors sang when the community was at its peak.
We may not be able to return to the glorious days of Jewish life, but the community believes that, through tourism, we will be able to make a difference in keeping the Jewish spirit alive in Burma.
In 2005, we started the travel agency Myanmar Shalom, with the goal of linking Jews around the world to our small community and enabling visitors to explore and experience this beautiful country about which Rudyard Kipling wrote “This is Burma and it will be quite unlike any land you know.”
Through years of isolation, the country has managed to retain many of its cultural traditions and preserve much of its historical heritage—making it one of the few remaining places on earth that truly can bring a visitor back in time to experience the Asia of old. Whatever the politics of visiting Burma, the tourist will find a nation of gentle folk and smiling people, rich archaeological sites, glittering pagodas, colorful bazaars, and joyous festivals.
Among many other programs, Myanmar Shalom hosted its unique “Southeast Asia through Jewish Eyes” with Lotus Travels brought more than 30 participants led by Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, creator of “Journeys through Jewish Eyes,” and one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Asian Jewish experience.
For many years, the synagogue has not had a local minyan, so the group visit makes a difference to this small community—once again filling the Rangoon synagogue with joy and song.
I often think about the history of the Jewish community in Burma—from its “golden days” before World War II, when the synagogue was filled with more than 300 people for all congregational activities, the Jewish holy days, the weddings and bar/bat mitzvah ceremonies.
No matter where the descendants of Jews from Burma now live, the Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue always will remain an important landmark of Jewish history in Southeast Asia for all of us and a reminder of the very vibrant and lively community that once lived in Burma.
Today, only a few of us are left in Burma, but our Jewish spirit is still alive and our prayer services still continue. I hope that through tourism the Jewish community may begin to revive and that our beautiful synagogue once again will be filled with joy and song as we continue our historic role in the life and welfare of the country.
For more information about Jewish Community of Burma, read “Almost Englishmen: Baghdadi Jews in British Burma” by Dr. Ruth Fredman Cernea and visit http://www.myanmarshalom.com.
December 11, 2009
Rangoon, Burma
Sammy Samuels - Special to the Jewish Times
Jewish life in Burma today is quite different from what it was during colonial times, which lasted until World War II. Before the war, it still was the case that “the sun never set” on the British Empire, including in Southeast Asia.
Jewish merchants, who migrated originally to Burma in the late 1800s, served as a natural conduit between the British colonial rulers and the export–import community abroad. The Jewish community of approximately 2,500 people was a respected presence in business and a valued part of local society. During this “Golden Age,” Jewish influence within the government and society as a whole grew rapidly.
Jews were incorporated into the life of the country and played a prominent part in various fields. In tropical Rangoon, Jews owned ice factories and bottling plants. Some dealt in textiles and timber, while others were customs officials and traders. Jews held a designated seat on the Rangoon Municipal Committee.
The Jewish community in Burma was so influential, in fact, that in the first years of the century, Rangoon and the smaller city of Bassein had Jewish mayors, and Judah Ezekiel Street in downtown Rangoon was named to honor a Jew. The Sofaer family donated the iron gates to the Rangoon Zoo, and another Jew, Mordechai Isaac Cohen, donated the beautiful cast-iron bandstand in Bandoola Square. Both are still standing tall today.
In the center of downtown Rangoon (now Yangon) stood Musmeah Yeshua, the grand synagogue with its soaring ceiling and graceful columns.
Musmeah Yeshua, one of 188 sites on the list of Yangon Heritage Buildings, was constructed in the 1890s. The Jewish cemetery, with more than 600 gravestones, and the synagogue with its 126 silver sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls) and Jewish school for over 200 students, proclaimed Jewish affluence and comfort in this lush land.
As Jewish wealth grew in those early days, Jewish philanthropy grew as well. The community donated large sums for local schools, libraries, hospitals, and helped local Burmese in many different ways. The Burmese were very appreciative of this aid and the country was a welcome and tolerant home for Jews for many years.
The golden days of Jewish life in Burma came to a close when the Japanese invaded in 1941. Japanese occupation forced most of the Jewish community, along with most of the British colonial population, to flee to other countries. Some Jews returned after the war, but they soon realized that the beautiful life they remembered was no more and their homes and wealth were gone.
Even so, there were promising relations between postwar Burma and the new State of Israel. Burma and Israel both achieved their independence in 1948 and Burma recognized the State of Israel in 1949; it was the first Asian country to do so. Burmese Prime Minister U Nu was the first foreign head of state to visit the newly independent State of Israel, in 1955.
In 1961, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion spent two weeks in Burma. President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, and Shimon Peres also visited Burma.
Despite these cordial relations, Jews found it difficult to regain their lives and re-establish their businesses in Burma after World War II. The Jews of Burma scattered—to Israel, Australia, England, and the United States. Since then, the Burmese Jewish community has continued to decrease in population.
Today, only a handful of Jews live in Burma. For more than 35 years, my family has taken care of the synagogue, cemetery, and what remains of the community. Burma and the Jewish community is always our home and history since 1890s or even early when my great-grandparents left Baghdad to start a new life in the vibrant city of Rangoon. During World War II, my grandfather, Isaac Samuels, risked his life for the synagogue; today, we still revere the same building and its history, which encompasses Jewish life in Burma.
Every day, my father sits in the quiet synagogue, waiting to greet Jewish visitors and to share with them this rich and unique history of the Jewish community of Burma.
Every Friday, my father and I would wait at the synagogue for Jewish visitors until we could gather the minyan (requisite 10 people) to begin services. My father posted this sign on the front door of the synagogue: “A tree may be alone in the field; a man alone in the world, but a Jew is never alone on his Holy Days.”
It is my father’s belief that no Jew should be alone during the holidays—and yet most of the time, only the two of us can be found in the synagogue. Even if only he and I present, I always feel the echoes of the many Shabbat services that took place in this beautiful synagogue and hear the melodies of the songs our ancestors sang when the community was at its peak.
We may not be able to return to the glorious days of Jewish life, but the community believes that, through tourism, we will be able to make a difference in keeping the Jewish spirit alive in Burma.
In 2005, we started the travel agency Myanmar Shalom, with the goal of linking Jews around the world to our small community and enabling visitors to explore and experience this beautiful country about which Rudyard Kipling wrote “This is Burma and it will be quite unlike any land you know.”
Through years of isolation, the country has managed to retain many of its cultural traditions and preserve much of its historical heritage—making it one of the few remaining places on earth that truly can bring a visitor back in time to experience the Asia of old. Whatever the politics of visiting Burma, the tourist will find a nation of gentle folk and smiling people, rich archaeological sites, glittering pagodas, colorful bazaars, and joyous festivals.
Among many other programs, Myanmar Shalom hosted its unique “Southeast Asia through Jewish Eyes” with Lotus Travels brought more than 30 participants led by Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, creator of “Journeys through Jewish Eyes,” and one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Asian Jewish experience.
For many years, the synagogue has not had a local minyan, so the group visit makes a difference to this small community—once again filling the Rangoon synagogue with joy and song.
I often think about the history of the Jewish community in Burma—from its “golden days” before World War II, when the synagogue was filled with more than 300 people for all congregational activities, the Jewish holy days, the weddings and bar/bat mitzvah ceremonies.
No matter where the descendants of Jews from Burma now live, the Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue always will remain an important landmark of Jewish history in Southeast Asia for all of us and a reminder of the very vibrant and lively community that once lived in Burma.
Today, only a few of us are left in Burma, but our Jewish spirit is still alive and our prayer services still continue. I hope that through tourism the Jewish community may begin to revive and that our beautiful synagogue once again will be filled with joy and song as we continue our historic role in the life and welfare of the country.
For more information about Jewish Community of Burma, read “Almost Englishmen: Baghdadi Jews in British Burma” by Dr. Ruth Fredman Cernea and visit http://www.myanmarshalom.com.
*************************************************************
Australia urged to blacklist MOGE
by Salai Pi Pi
Friday, 11 December 2009 22:05
New Delhi (Mizzima) – A Sydney-based campaign group on Thursday urged the Australian government to include the state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) in its list of sanctions.
Burma Campaign Australia (BCA) in a statement released on Thursday said Australia should include the MOGE in its financial sanctions list, to stop Australian companies from dealing with the enterprise.
“In the interest of the people of Burma, we urge the Australian Government to place the MOGE on the Australian financial sanctions list and stop Australian companies from providing billions to the regime through this agency,” Zetty Brake, spokesperson of BCA, said in the statement.
“Not only is Burma’s oil and gas industry providing the regime with the financial resources to brutally oppress the population, it is also linked to human rights abuses,” she added.
BCA’s statement said energy sector projects in Burma have been extensively linked to human rights abuses, such as confiscation of farmlands and housing, forced labour, forced relocation of villages and abuses by security battalions including rape, sexual violence, torture and extra-judicial killings.
Australia, which has strongly urged the Burmese regime to promote human rights and to go for genuine democratic reforms and national reconciliation, had imposed visa restrictions and arms embargo against the Burmese generals.
In 2007, the financial sanctions list was revised to include members of the Burmese regime, their families and associates and supporters.
So far, Australia had included a number of managing directors of Burmese military-owned companies including Bandoola Transportation Co., Myawaddy Trading Co., Myanmar Brewery Ltd, Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEHL), Myanmar Land and Development and Hsinmin Cement Plant Construction Project in its sanctions list.
Debbie Stothard, director of a regional campaign group Alternative Asean Network on Burma (Altsean-Burma) said on Friday that Australia’s sanctions on the Burmese regime will not be effective if the MOGE, which is a fully state-owned enterprise and acts to oversee and reap profits from oil and gas and deals with foreign corporations, is not included in the sanctions list.
“It is important that sanctions need to improve against the Oil and Gas sector. Then, they will seriously pay attention to sanctions because it seriously hurts them. SPDC’s main income is from Oil and Gas,” she added, referring to the Burmese junta by its official name – the State Peace and Development Council.
The Burmese regime will continue to ignore international pressures as long as sanctions are not effective and does not hurt them, she added.
In September, BCA said Australian companies Twinza Oil and Jetstar are financing the Burmese regime. The group said the Burmese junta could support 48,000 annually with revenues earned from its cooperation with Twinza.
by Salai Pi Pi
Friday, 11 December 2009 22:05
New Delhi (Mizzima) – A Sydney-based campaign group on Thursday urged the Australian government to include the state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) in its list of sanctions.
Burma Campaign Australia (BCA) in a statement released on Thursday said Australia should include the MOGE in its financial sanctions list, to stop Australian companies from dealing with the enterprise.
“In the interest of the people of Burma, we urge the Australian Government to place the MOGE on the Australian financial sanctions list and stop Australian companies from providing billions to the regime through this agency,” Zetty Brake, spokesperson of BCA, said in the statement.
“Not only is Burma’s oil and gas industry providing the regime with the financial resources to brutally oppress the population, it is also linked to human rights abuses,” she added.
BCA’s statement said energy sector projects in Burma have been extensively linked to human rights abuses, such as confiscation of farmlands and housing, forced labour, forced relocation of villages and abuses by security battalions including rape, sexual violence, torture and extra-judicial killings.
Australia, which has strongly urged the Burmese regime to promote human rights and to go for genuine democratic reforms and national reconciliation, had imposed visa restrictions and arms embargo against the Burmese generals.
In 2007, the financial sanctions list was revised to include members of the Burmese regime, their families and associates and supporters.
So far, Australia had included a number of managing directors of Burmese military-owned companies including Bandoola Transportation Co., Myawaddy Trading Co., Myanmar Brewery Ltd, Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEHL), Myanmar Land and Development and Hsinmin Cement Plant Construction Project in its sanctions list.
Debbie Stothard, director of a regional campaign group Alternative Asean Network on Burma (Altsean-Burma) said on Friday that Australia’s sanctions on the Burmese regime will not be effective if the MOGE, which is a fully state-owned enterprise and acts to oversee and reap profits from oil and gas and deals with foreign corporations, is not included in the sanctions list.
“It is important that sanctions need to improve against the Oil and Gas sector. Then, they will seriously pay attention to sanctions because it seriously hurts them. SPDC’s main income is from Oil and Gas,” she added, referring to the Burmese junta by its official name – the State Peace and Development Council.
The Burmese regime will continue to ignore international pressures as long as sanctions are not effective and does not hurt them, she added.
In September, BCA said Australian companies Twinza Oil and Jetstar are financing the Burmese regime. The group said the Burmese junta could support 48,000 annually with revenues earned from its cooperation with Twinza.
*************************************************************
Does Burma need another UN envoy?
by Mungpi
Friday, 11 December 2009 22:57
New Delhi (Mizzima) - With several United Nations special envoys failing to facilitate a process of democratic change in Burma, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should now consider handling the matter personally instead of appointing or re-appointing envoys to represent him, a campaign group said.
Burma Campaign UK, a group advocating democratic change in Burma, said Ban Ki-moon must think of a different approach towards Burma and should stop appointing another envoy to replace Ibrahim Gambari.
Last week, Ban named his special advisor and envoy Gambari as the lead envoy of the UN-African Union (UN-AU) peace keeping force to Darfur. The World Body leader also indicated that he would soon find a replacement for Gambari to carry on with his good offices role in Burma.
But Mark Farmaner, Director of the Burma Campaign UK, argues that it would not be a wise decision to find a replacement for Gambari and strongly suggested that Ban Ki-moon should personally handle Burma with a different approach, so that the junta can no longer continue with its dilatory tactics.
“Experience of the past 20 years has proved that UN special envoys did not achieve anything. It shows that the Burmese regime does not want to respond to envoys. So, we need a higher level with a different approach to deal with the junta,” Farmaner said.
Ban Ki-moon, instead of appointing another envoy, should handle the matter personally and get a stronger back-up of the UN Security Council to pressure the junta, he added.
Gambari, whose new job to lead a peace force to Darfur will be effective from January 1, 2010, had visited Burma eight times since 2006 during his tenure as the special envoy. While he was able to have talks with the junta officials and detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, he failed to facilitate a process of political dialogue between the junta and the opposition.
During his last visit in August, he was not allowed a meeting with the junta’s military supremo Senior General Than Shwe and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi refused to meet him.
The Nigerian diplomat often came under fire from critics saying he had failed to achieve his principle objective and had been manipulated by the Burmese junta to their liking.
Win Tin, a senior member of the Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, said, the junta had no intention of making any effort to implement changes suggested by the special envoy and had smartly manipulated him to its benefit.
“All his trips to Burma had been planned by the junta and in his later visits he was not even allowed meetings with the top leaders of the regime. He was used by the junta to ease international pressure,” Win Tin told Mizzima.
In June, Ban Ki-moon paid a rare second visit to the Southeast Asian nation to talk to the Burmese junta’s Chief Sen. Gen Than Shwe. While he not only failed to convince Than Shwe to start a process of dialogue, he was also refused a request to meet Aung San SUu Kyi, who at the time was facing trial in a special court inside the notorious Insein prison.
Farmaner said Ban’s failure to convince Than Shwe and his failure to meet Aung San Suu Kyi are classic examples that the junta does not take the UN seriously as its “soft-soft” approach is not hurting or threatening its stand.
“The UN needs to change its approach by mobilizing the international community and getting a stronger backup of the Security Council because unless the junta feels the pressure they are not going to respond,” he added.
While the Burmese regime does not seem to take the UN seriously, Farmaner said, it is serious about the United States, which has long imposed sanctions on the regime, and is keen to re-establish diplomatic relations.
In September, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that a policy review on Burma was completed and that the US has decided to directly engage the regime while maintaining the existing sanctions, which are subject to change depending on the improvements in the junta’s behaviour.
“In the US-Burma relationship, it was the regime that showed its willingness to talk. That is because they feel the pressure of sanctions. It also shows that the junta does respond to pressure,” Farmaner said.
But Derek Tonkin, a former British ambassador to Thailand, who had closely monitored political developments in Burma, said sanctions had caused unnecessary hardship for the general Burmese people, while it failed to dent the coffers of the Generals, who rule the country.
While having no objections on sanctions that impact the military regime and their supporters, Tonkin said, “on the evidence of the last 21 years, none of the sanctions imposed has had any measurable material impact on those against whom they are supposedly targeted.”
On the other hand, he said, the Burmese people generally have been affected by specific sanctions - such as the denial of bilateral development aid and of assistance from international financial institutions like the IMF, ADB and World Bank.
“The West needs to accept that the economy in Burma is so debilitated, so dysfunctional and the regime so incompetent that sanctions as a policy tool to induce political and human rights reforms are bound to be ineffective and indeed counterproductive, making the regime more recalcitrant, more inward-looking and more resentful,” Tonkin added.
He added that Western sanctions would leave Burma open for other countries, mostly in the region, to promote their own interests.
“It seems to me that the West really has no choice but to re-engage with the countries of the region, including Burma,” Tonkin added.
But Win Tin said, while the UN special envoys to Burma have failed to achieve any tangible results, the United Nations should not give-up but continue its efforts to persuade the regime to implement changes.
“We are very much thankful to the UN for their continued engagement with Burma but the UN needs to have a stronger stand on the regime and its envoys should stand up against the junta’s manipulations,” Win Tin said.
by Mungpi
Friday, 11 December 2009 22:57
New Delhi (Mizzima) - With several United Nations special envoys failing to facilitate a process of democratic change in Burma, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should now consider handling the matter personally instead of appointing or re-appointing envoys to represent him, a campaign group said.
Burma Campaign UK, a group advocating democratic change in Burma, said Ban Ki-moon must think of a different approach towards Burma and should stop appointing another envoy to replace Ibrahim Gambari.
Last week, Ban named his special advisor and envoy Gambari as the lead envoy of the UN-African Union (UN-AU) peace keeping force to Darfur. The World Body leader also indicated that he would soon find a replacement for Gambari to carry on with his good offices role in Burma.
But Mark Farmaner, Director of the Burma Campaign UK, argues that it would not be a wise decision to find a replacement for Gambari and strongly suggested that Ban Ki-moon should personally handle Burma with a different approach, so that the junta can no longer continue with its dilatory tactics.
“Experience of the past 20 years has proved that UN special envoys did not achieve anything. It shows that the Burmese regime does not want to respond to envoys. So, we need a higher level with a different approach to deal with the junta,” Farmaner said.
Ban Ki-moon, instead of appointing another envoy, should handle the matter personally and get a stronger back-up of the UN Security Council to pressure the junta, he added.
Gambari, whose new job to lead a peace force to Darfur will be effective from January 1, 2010, had visited Burma eight times since 2006 during his tenure as the special envoy. While he was able to have talks with the junta officials and detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, he failed to facilitate a process of political dialogue between the junta and the opposition.
During his last visit in August, he was not allowed a meeting with the junta’s military supremo Senior General Than Shwe and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi refused to meet him.
The Nigerian diplomat often came under fire from critics saying he had failed to achieve his principle objective and had been manipulated by the Burmese junta to their liking.
Win Tin, a senior member of the Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, said, the junta had no intention of making any effort to implement changes suggested by the special envoy and had smartly manipulated him to its benefit.
“All his trips to Burma had been planned by the junta and in his later visits he was not even allowed meetings with the top leaders of the regime. He was used by the junta to ease international pressure,” Win Tin told Mizzima.
In June, Ban Ki-moon paid a rare second visit to the Southeast Asian nation to talk to the Burmese junta’s Chief Sen. Gen Than Shwe. While he not only failed to convince Than Shwe to start a process of dialogue, he was also refused a request to meet Aung San SUu Kyi, who at the time was facing trial in a special court inside the notorious Insein prison.
Farmaner said Ban’s failure to convince Than Shwe and his failure to meet Aung San Suu Kyi are classic examples that the junta does not take the UN seriously as its “soft-soft” approach is not hurting or threatening its stand.
“The UN needs to change its approach by mobilizing the international community and getting a stronger backup of the Security Council because unless the junta feels the pressure they are not going to respond,” he added.
While the Burmese regime does not seem to take the UN seriously, Farmaner said, it is serious about the United States, which has long imposed sanctions on the regime, and is keen to re-establish diplomatic relations.
In September, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that a policy review on Burma was completed and that the US has decided to directly engage the regime while maintaining the existing sanctions, which are subject to change depending on the improvements in the junta’s behaviour.
“In the US-Burma relationship, it was the regime that showed its willingness to talk. That is because they feel the pressure of sanctions. It also shows that the junta does respond to pressure,” Farmaner said.
But Derek Tonkin, a former British ambassador to Thailand, who had closely monitored political developments in Burma, said sanctions had caused unnecessary hardship for the general Burmese people, while it failed to dent the coffers of the Generals, who rule the country.
While having no objections on sanctions that impact the military regime and their supporters, Tonkin said, “on the evidence of the last 21 years, none of the sanctions imposed has had any measurable material impact on those against whom they are supposedly targeted.”
On the other hand, he said, the Burmese people generally have been affected by specific sanctions - such as the denial of bilateral development aid and of assistance from international financial institutions like the IMF, ADB and World Bank.
“The West needs to accept that the economy in Burma is so debilitated, so dysfunctional and the regime so incompetent that sanctions as a policy tool to induce political and human rights reforms are bound to be ineffective and indeed counterproductive, making the regime more recalcitrant, more inward-looking and more resentful,” Tonkin added.
He added that Western sanctions would leave Burma open for other countries, mostly in the region, to promote their own interests.
“It seems to me that the West really has no choice but to re-engage with the countries of the region, including Burma,” Tonkin added.
But Win Tin said, while the UN special envoys to Burma have failed to achieve any tangible results, the United Nations should not give-up but continue its efforts to persuade the regime to implement changes.
“We are very much thankful to the UN for their continued engagement with Burma but the UN needs to have a stronger stand on the regime and its envoys should stand up against the junta’s manipulations,” Win Tin said.
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The Irrawaddy - Obama Warns Dictators of 'Consequences' in Nobel Acceptance Speech
By LALIT K JHA - Friday, December 11, 2009
WASHINGTON — Even as his administration begins a new policy of engagement with Burma's junta, US President Barack Obama warned in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech on Thursday that oppressive regimes face “consequences” if they violate the rights of their own citizens.
In his speech, delivered in Oslo, Norway, Obama specifically mentioned Burma as one of the countries where there is systematic abuse of human rights by the government and honored opposition leader and fellow Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi for her commitment to democratic reform.
Acknowledging that he has adopted a policy of engagement with the Burmese junta, Obama said that “sanctions without outreach—and condemnation without discussion—can carry forward a crippling status quo. No repressive regime can move down a new path unless it has the choice of an open door.”
However, he also warned that the world could not afford to ignore threats to peace from regimes that menace their neighbors or their own citizens.
“Those who seek peace cannot stand idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war. The same principle applies to those who violate international laws by brutalizing their own people,” he said.
“When there is genocide in Darfur, systematic rape in Congo, repression in Burma—there must be consequences,” he added.
“Yes, there will be engagement; yes, there will be diplomacy—but there must be consequences when those things fail. And the closer we stand together, the less likely we will be faced with the choice between armed intervention and complicity in oppression.”
Obama also rejected the notion that governments must chose between promoting human rights and narrowly pursuing national interests, noting that “neither America's interests nor the world's are served by the denial of human aspirations.”
Peace, he said, “is unstable where citizens are denied the right to speak freely or worship as they please; choose their own leaders or assemble without fear.”
“America will always be a voice for those aspirations that are universal,” said Obama.
“We will bear witness to the quiet dignity of reformers like Aung Sang Suu Kyi; to the bravery of Zimbabweans who cast their ballots in the face of beatings; to the hundreds of thousands who have marched silently through the streets of Iran,” Obama said.
“It is telling that the leaders of these governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation. And it is the responsibility of all free people and free nations to make clear that these movements—these movements of hope and history—they have us on their side.”
On Oct. 9, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee announced that it had awarded the prize to Obama for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
Obama said in a statement soon after the announcement that he would accept the award as “a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.”
“To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize, men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace,” Obama said at the time.
Meanwhile, Obama's National Security Adviser, James Jones, said in an statement issued on International Human Rights Day that the Obama administration would continue to call attention to the repression in Burma and Iran.
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, also said that the world needed US leadership to deal with human rights abuses noting that violations and genocide continue without resolution in Darfur, while in Burma, Suu Kyi still languishes in detention.
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the US must never lose sight of the plight of those living under dictatorial regimes in China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe, and elsewhere.
By LALIT K JHA - Friday, December 11, 2009
WASHINGTON — Even as his administration begins a new policy of engagement with Burma's junta, US President Barack Obama warned in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech on Thursday that oppressive regimes face “consequences” if they violate the rights of their own citizens.
In his speech, delivered in Oslo, Norway, Obama specifically mentioned Burma as one of the countries where there is systematic abuse of human rights by the government and honored opposition leader and fellow Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi for her commitment to democratic reform.
Acknowledging that he has adopted a policy of engagement with the Burmese junta, Obama said that “sanctions without outreach—and condemnation without discussion—can carry forward a crippling status quo. No repressive regime can move down a new path unless it has the choice of an open door.”
However, he also warned that the world could not afford to ignore threats to peace from regimes that menace their neighbors or their own citizens.
“Those who seek peace cannot stand idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war. The same principle applies to those who violate international laws by brutalizing their own people,” he said.
“When there is genocide in Darfur, systematic rape in Congo, repression in Burma—there must be consequences,” he added.
“Yes, there will be engagement; yes, there will be diplomacy—but there must be consequences when those things fail. And the closer we stand together, the less likely we will be faced with the choice between armed intervention and complicity in oppression.”
Obama also rejected the notion that governments must chose between promoting human rights and narrowly pursuing national interests, noting that “neither America's interests nor the world's are served by the denial of human aspirations.”
Peace, he said, “is unstable where citizens are denied the right to speak freely or worship as they please; choose their own leaders or assemble without fear.”
“America will always be a voice for those aspirations that are universal,” said Obama.
“We will bear witness to the quiet dignity of reformers like Aung Sang Suu Kyi; to the bravery of Zimbabweans who cast their ballots in the face of beatings; to the hundreds of thousands who have marched silently through the streets of Iran,” Obama said.
“It is telling that the leaders of these governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation. And it is the responsibility of all free people and free nations to make clear that these movements—these movements of hope and history—they have us on their side.”
On Oct. 9, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee announced that it had awarded the prize to Obama for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
Obama said in a statement soon after the announcement that he would accept the award as “a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.”
“To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize, men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace,” Obama said at the time.
Meanwhile, Obama's National Security Adviser, James Jones, said in an statement issued on International Human Rights Day that the Obama administration would continue to call attention to the repression in Burma and Iran.
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, also said that the world needed US leadership to deal with human rights abuses noting that violations and genocide continue without resolution in Darfur, while in Burma, Suu Kyi still languishes in detention.
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the US must never lose sight of the plight of those living under dictatorial regimes in China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe, and elsewhere.
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The Irrawaddy - Chinese, Burmese Military Leaders Discuss Border Security
By WAI MOE - Friday, December 11, 2009
A senior Chinese army officer traveled to the Burmese capital, Naypyidaw, this week for talks that were reported to center on efforts to ensure stability on the Sino-Burmese border.
The Chinese officer, Lt-Gen Ai Husheng, is chief of staff of the Chengdu Military Region of the People’s Liberation Army. He met his Burmese counterpart, Lt-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, chief of the Bureau of Special Operations (BSO)-2.
News of the meeting was carried by Burma's state-run media on Friday, one day after Ai Husheng concluded his Naypyidaw visit.
As the chief of BSO-2, which oversees the Northeast, East and Triangle Regional Military Commands of Burma's armed forces, Min Aung Hlaing is responsible for security along the Sino-Burmese border. He commanded the military offensive against the Kokang army in August.
The offensive heightened the border tensions that have arisen because of the Burmese regime's proposal for armed ceasefire groups to reconstitute themselves as a border guard force.
Most of the larger groups are resisting the proposal, which was put forward by the regime in April.
Even before the proposal was announced, Kachin and Wa leaders wrote to the Chinese government in Dec. 2008 appealing for Beijing's support for Burma's ethnic minorities in their demands for autonomy.
Because of the opposition to the border guards force proposal, the Burmese regime has postponed on several occasions the deadline for accepting it. The latest deadline expires at the end of December.
Ceasefire groups in north and northeast Burma last met government negotiator Lt-Gen Ye Myint in November. Ye Myint, who is also chief of Military Affairs Security (formerly known as the Military Intelligence) failed to secure agreement to the border guard force from groups such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
Some four months after the Kokang clashes, the situation in the region has returned almost to normal, according to local aid workers in the capital, Laokai. During the conflict, about 37,000 Kokang- Chinese refugees fled to China. Most have now returned to Burma.
International organizations including UN agencies have also resumed their work in Kokang areas after withdrawing to the northern Shan State town of Lashio because of the conflict. Maj-Gen Aung Than Htut, commander of the Northeast Regional Military Command, reportedly guaranteed their security if they returned.
During his five day stay in Burma from Dec. 5 to Dec.10, Ai Husheng also traveled from Rangoon to the Golden Triangle town of Kentung, headquarters of Burma’s Triangle Regional Military Command and strategically located near Burma's borders with three neighboring countries—China, Laos and Thailand.
The UWSA and its allies, the Mong-La army and National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), and a non-ceasefire group, the Shan State Army (South), are mobilizing in the region. The UWSA and the NDAA are still engaged in talks on the border guards proposal.
During the meeting with Ye Myint in November, the UWSA and the NDAA reportedly accepted the proposal provided the Wa and Mong-la political leadership retained control of their troops. The compromise was reportedly rejected by the regime, however.
Ai Husheng also visited Mandalay and the Defense Services Technological Academy in Phin Oo Lwin, the state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported on Friday.
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Burma in the near future, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday. Xi Jinping was invited by the Burmese junta's No.2, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye. The Chinese leader will also visit Japan, South Korea and Cambodia.
By WAI MOE - Friday, December 11, 2009
A senior Chinese army officer traveled to the Burmese capital, Naypyidaw, this week for talks that were reported to center on efforts to ensure stability on the Sino-Burmese border.
The Chinese officer, Lt-Gen Ai Husheng, is chief of staff of the Chengdu Military Region of the People’s Liberation Army. He met his Burmese counterpart, Lt-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, chief of the Bureau of Special Operations (BSO)-2.
News of the meeting was carried by Burma's state-run media on Friday, one day after Ai Husheng concluded his Naypyidaw visit.
As the chief of BSO-2, which oversees the Northeast, East and Triangle Regional Military Commands of Burma's armed forces, Min Aung Hlaing is responsible for security along the Sino-Burmese border. He commanded the military offensive against the Kokang army in August.
The offensive heightened the border tensions that have arisen because of the Burmese regime's proposal for armed ceasefire groups to reconstitute themselves as a border guard force.
Most of the larger groups are resisting the proposal, which was put forward by the regime in April.
Even before the proposal was announced, Kachin and Wa leaders wrote to the Chinese government in Dec. 2008 appealing for Beijing's support for Burma's ethnic minorities in their demands for autonomy.
Because of the opposition to the border guards force proposal, the Burmese regime has postponed on several occasions the deadline for accepting it. The latest deadline expires at the end of December.
Ceasefire groups in north and northeast Burma last met government negotiator Lt-Gen Ye Myint in November. Ye Myint, who is also chief of Military Affairs Security (formerly known as the Military Intelligence) failed to secure agreement to the border guard force from groups such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
Some four months after the Kokang clashes, the situation in the region has returned almost to normal, according to local aid workers in the capital, Laokai. During the conflict, about 37,000 Kokang- Chinese refugees fled to China. Most have now returned to Burma.
International organizations including UN agencies have also resumed their work in Kokang areas after withdrawing to the northern Shan State town of Lashio because of the conflict. Maj-Gen Aung Than Htut, commander of the Northeast Regional Military Command, reportedly guaranteed their security if they returned.
During his five day stay in Burma from Dec. 5 to Dec.10, Ai Husheng also traveled from Rangoon to the Golden Triangle town of Kentung, headquarters of Burma’s Triangle Regional Military Command and strategically located near Burma's borders with three neighboring countries—China, Laos and Thailand.
The UWSA and its allies, the Mong-La army and National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), and a non-ceasefire group, the Shan State Army (South), are mobilizing in the region. The UWSA and the NDAA are still engaged in talks on the border guards proposal.
During the meeting with Ye Myint in November, the UWSA and the NDAA reportedly accepted the proposal provided the Wa and Mong-la political leadership retained control of their troops. The compromise was reportedly rejected by the regime, however.
Ai Husheng also visited Mandalay and the Defense Services Technological Academy in Phin Oo Lwin, the state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported on Friday.
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Burma in the near future, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday. Xi Jinping was invited by the Burmese junta's No.2, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye. The Chinese leader will also visit Japan, South Korea and Cambodia.
*************************************************************
British govt launches innovative Burma campaign
Dec 11, 2009 (DVB)–The British government has teamed up with two prominent rights groups to highlight the story of Burma’s political prisoners in a bid to pressure the ruling junta as it prepares for elections next year.
Each week the British foreign and commonwealth office (FCO), in collaboration with Burma Campaign UK (BCUK), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), will tell the story of one of Burma’s 2,100 political prisoners.
“It's a sobering thought that there are so many prisoners of conscience in Burma that it would take over forty years to profile them all,” the FCO website said.
Foreign office minister Ivan Lewis said in a statement that the intention is to make country’s detained activists, lawyers, journalists and religious figures “more than a number.
Elections in Burma will have no credibility or legitimacy until these prisoners are released.”
Burma’s most famous political prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also the world’s only imprisoned Nobel laureate, recently marked her fourteenth year under house arrest.
The wife of the Burmese-born US citizen, Kyaw Zaw Lwin, a former activist who is currently standing trial on spurious charges of fraud, today demanded that UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon taken action to free Burma’s political prisoners.
The deputy head at the FCO’s Southeast Asia division, Gill Lever, told DVB that the campaign’s use of digital media, such as Facebook and Twitter, will take it to an international level.
“In some areas of the world the Burma issue will have greater resonance than others, so our particular emphasis is on Europe and the Asia-Pacific area; the countries of influence in Burma’s region,” she said.
“This is particularly resonant now with the elections coming up in Burma next year, and with the EU and UN calling for the release of all political prisoners.”
Out of the 2,173 political prisoners in the country’s 44 prisons, 178 are women, 251 are monks and 21 are cyclone relief workers, and 12 are lawyers, according to AAPP. Around 130 are thought to be in poor health.
“We also feel that part of the narrative on Burma is the waste of human potential and talent, and how much more successful Burma would be if the talented people and people who have got things to bring to Burma were released,” said Lever.
Reporting by Francis Wade
Dec 11, 2009 (DVB)–The British government has teamed up with two prominent rights groups to highlight the story of Burma’s political prisoners in a bid to pressure the ruling junta as it prepares for elections next year.
Each week the British foreign and commonwealth office (FCO), in collaboration with Burma Campaign UK (BCUK), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), will tell the story of one of Burma’s 2,100 political prisoners.
“It's a sobering thought that there are so many prisoners of conscience in Burma that it would take over forty years to profile them all,” the FCO website said.
Foreign office minister Ivan Lewis said in a statement that the intention is to make country’s detained activists, lawyers, journalists and religious figures “more than a number.
Elections in Burma will have no credibility or legitimacy until these prisoners are released.”
Burma’s most famous political prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also the world’s only imprisoned Nobel laureate, recently marked her fourteenth year under house arrest.
The wife of the Burmese-born US citizen, Kyaw Zaw Lwin, a former activist who is currently standing trial on spurious charges of fraud, today demanded that UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon taken action to free Burma’s political prisoners.
The deputy head at the FCO’s Southeast Asia division, Gill Lever, told DVB that the campaign’s use of digital media, such as Facebook and Twitter, will take it to an international level.
“In some areas of the world the Burma issue will have greater resonance than others, so our particular emphasis is on Europe and the Asia-Pacific area; the countries of influence in Burma’s region,” she said.
“This is particularly resonant now with the elections coming up in Burma next year, and with the EU and UN calling for the release of all political prisoners.”
Out of the 2,173 political prisoners in the country’s 44 prisons, 178 are women, 251 are monks and 21 are cyclone relief workers, and 12 are lawyers, according to AAPP. Around 130 are thought to be in poor health.
“We also feel that part of the narrative on Burma is the waste of human potential and talent, and how much more successful Burma would be if the talented people and people who have got things to bring to Burma were released,” said Lever.
Reporting by Francis Wade
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US citizen was ‘visiting cancer sick mother’
Dec 11, 2009 (DVB)–The Burmese-born US citizen standing trial in Burma on charges of fraud had flown to the country to visit his mother, who is sick with cancer, his wife wrote today in The Nation newspaper.
In a heartfelt plea to the international community to step up pressure on the Burmese junta to release the country’s 2,100 political prisoners, the wife of Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, wrote of her pain at learning of his arrest in early September.
“I felt sick, but not surprised - although Nyi Nyi has always been a non-violent activist, the junta will say anything to justify its actions,” she said.
The story draws parallels with that of the husband of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who in 1997 was denied entry to Burma to visit his wife after learning that he had prostate cancer.
Kyaw Zaw Lwin was arrested upon arrival at Rangoon International Airport on 3 September, with initial speculation that the government would try him on terrorism charges.
The terrorism charges have been dropped, but he now faces charges of fraud and possession of excessive amounts of the Burmese currency, which together carry a maximum sentence of 17 years.
“The courts in Burma are tools of the junta, and there is little doubt that he will be convicted. The only question is what will happen next,” his wife wrote.
She followed with a direct plea to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, whom Kyaw Zaw Lwin had demanded in June use action, not words, to release all political prisoners in Burma.
“So now, I must speak for Nyi Nyi, as he has so often spoken for others. Nyi Nyi's arrest, detention and treatment has been condemned by the United States and the international community,” she wrote. “And so I say: your words show you take this issue seriously. But what will you do?”
A known political activist with former links to the All Burma Student Democratic Front (ABSDF), Kyaw Zaw Lwin had sought asylum in the US in 1993 where he went on to gain a university degree in computer science.
His aunt, Su Su Kyi, revealed on Monday that the 40-year-old was staging a hunger strike in his cell in Rangoon’s Insein prison, where the majority of political prisoners are held. The US embassy in Rangoon told Su Su Kyi in September that he had shown signs of having been tortured whilst in detention.
The US government has made the release of all political prisoners one of a number of prerequisites for lifting sanctions on Burma, which have been in place since 1997.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), of the 2,173 political prisoners in the country’s 44 prisons, 178 are women, 251 are monks and 21 are cyclone relief workers. Around 130 are thought to be in poor health.
Reporting by Francis Wade
Dec 11, 2009 (DVB)–The Burmese-born US citizen standing trial in Burma on charges of fraud had flown to the country to visit his mother, who is sick with cancer, his wife wrote today in The Nation newspaper.
In a heartfelt plea to the international community to step up pressure on the Burmese junta to release the country’s 2,100 political prisoners, the wife of Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, wrote of her pain at learning of his arrest in early September.
“I felt sick, but not surprised - although Nyi Nyi has always been a non-violent activist, the junta will say anything to justify its actions,” she said.
The story draws parallels with that of the husband of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who in 1997 was denied entry to Burma to visit his wife after learning that he had prostate cancer.
Kyaw Zaw Lwin was arrested upon arrival at Rangoon International Airport on 3 September, with initial speculation that the government would try him on terrorism charges.
The terrorism charges have been dropped, but he now faces charges of fraud and possession of excessive amounts of the Burmese currency, which together carry a maximum sentence of 17 years.
“The courts in Burma are tools of the junta, and there is little doubt that he will be convicted. The only question is what will happen next,” his wife wrote.
She followed with a direct plea to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, whom Kyaw Zaw Lwin had demanded in June use action, not words, to release all political prisoners in Burma.
“So now, I must speak for Nyi Nyi, as he has so often spoken for others. Nyi Nyi's arrest, detention and treatment has been condemned by the United States and the international community,” she wrote. “And so I say: your words show you take this issue seriously. But what will you do?”
A known political activist with former links to the All Burma Student Democratic Front (ABSDF), Kyaw Zaw Lwin had sought asylum in the US in 1993 where he went on to gain a university degree in computer science.
His aunt, Su Su Kyi, revealed on Monday that the 40-year-old was staging a hunger strike in his cell in Rangoon’s Insein prison, where the majority of political prisoners are held. The US embassy in Rangoon told Su Su Kyi in September that he had shown signs of having been tortured whilst in detention.
The US government has made the release of all political prisoners one of a number of prerequisites for lifting sanctions on Burma, which have been in place since 1997.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), of the 2,173 political prisoners in the country’s 44 prisons, 178 are women, 251 are monks and 21 are cyclone relief workers. Around 130 are thought to be in poor health.
Reporting by Francis Wade
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Two farmers handed 7-year sentence
Dec 11, 2009 (DVB)–Two farmers involved in a land dispute in Burma which was taken up by the International Labour Organisation were yesterday given seven-year prison sentences.
A relative of Nyan Myint and Thura Aung, father and son from Aunglan in central Burma’s Magwe division, said the two were sentenced on charges of misappropriation and damages to public property.
Their case had been taken up by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Rangoon, which has a mandate to deal with land dispute cases in Burma.
The Burmese army in 2007 confiscated farmland belonging to the two farmers, but following intervention from the ILO, it was returned earlier this year.
In August, however, the two were accused of cutting down a eucalyptus tree on the land, and subsequently arrested. According to the relative, who spoke to DVB on condition of anonymity, the trees had however already been damaged.
He said that it was likely the sentencing stemmed from complaints the two filed to the ILO. The ILO has acknowledged that, despite having an agreement with the Burmese government that complainants will not be harassed, there is a risk of retribution.
In October, 12 farmers who filed complaints to the ILO regarding land confiscation were sentenced to up to five years with hard labour.
“The government leaders made an agreement with the ILO not to jail and subject people to forced labour,” said the relative. “But now the lower level authorities are framing cases against them and sending them to prison.”
An ILO report released last month said that “there is a serious ‘disconnect’ between the desire of the central government authorities to stop the use of forced labour and the behaviour of the local [civilian and military] authorities”.
According to the relative, the family of Nyan Myint and Thura Aung will not appeal the sentencing.
“This is the ILO’s job to deal with and we believe they will carry on with what they need to do – we are not filing the appeal,” he said.
Reporting by Naw Noreen
Dec 11, 2009 (DVB)–Two farmers involved in a land dispute in Burma which was taken up by the International Labour Organisation were yesterday given seven-year prison sentences.
A relative of Nyan Myint and Thura Aung, father and son from Aunglan in central Burma’s Magwe division, said the two were sentenced on charges of misappropriation and damages to public property.
Their case had been taken up by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Rangoon, which has a mandate to deal with land dispute cases in Burma.
The Burmese army in 2007 confiscated farmland belonging to the two farmers, but following intervention from the ILO, it was returned earlier this year.
In August, however, the two were accused of cutting down a eucalyptus tree on the land, and subsequently arrested. According to the relative, who spoke to DVB on condition of anonymity, the trees had however already been damaged.
He said that it was likely the sentencing stemmed from complaints the two filed to the ILO. The ILO has acknowledged that, despite having an agreement with the Burmese government that complainants will not be harassed, there is a risk of retribution.
In October, 12 farmers who filed complaints to the ILO regarding land confiscation were sentenced to up to five years with hard labour.
“The government leaders made an agreement with the ILO not to jail and subject people to forced labour,” said the relative. “But now the lower level authorities are framing cases against them and sending them to prison.”
An ILO report released last month said that “there is a serious ‘disconnect’ between the desire of the central government authorities to stop the use of forced labour and the behaviour of the local [civilian and military] authorities”.
According to the relative, the family of Nyan Myint and Thura Aung will not appeal the sentencing.
“This is the ILO’s job to deal with and we believe they will carry on with what they need to do – we are not filing the appeal,” he said.
Reporting by Naw Noreen
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