Myanmar court agrees to hear Suu Kyi appeal
Mon Dec 21, 5:50 am ET
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar's Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear an appeal against the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sentenced in August to a further 18 months in detention for breaking a security law.
No date was set to hear the appeal, although Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win, said he expected to present the case within a month.
The Nobel laureate was sentenced to three years in prison last August for allowing an American intruder to stay at her lakeside residence for two nights
The court said that broke a law protecting the army-ruled state from "subversive elements" and breached the terms of her house arrest.
The sentence was immediately commuted to a further 18 months of house arrest by the junta, as a gesture of respect for her late father, independence hero Aung San. Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the past 20 years in some form of detention.
Her legal team has argued that the law she was charged under can no longer be applied because it was part of the 1974 constitution, which was replaced last year.
The guilty verdict sparked an international outcry, with critics dismissing it as an attempt to keep the charismatic Suu Kyi in detention ahead of next year's elections, the first in the former Burma for two decades.
Some observers said the court's decision to accept the case would make no difference and she would be released only if it suited junta supremo Than Shwe.
"It's a purely political issue and the order to free her will come from Senior General Than Shwe, not from the Supreme Court," said a retired senior civil servant from Yangon, who declined to be named.
"I think her release will come when the regime feels confident enough."
Mon Dec 21, 5:50 am ET
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar's Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear an appeal against the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sentenced in August to a further 18 months in detention for breaking a security law.
No date was set to hear the appeal, although Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win, said he expected to present the case within a month.
The Nobel laureate was sentenced to three years in prison last August for allowing an American intruder to stay at her lakeside residence for two nights
The court said that broke a law protecting the army-ruled state from "subversive elements" and breached the terms of her house arrest.
The sentence was immediately commuted to a further 18 months of house arrest by the junta, as a gesture of respect for her late father, independence hero Aung San. Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the past 20 years in some form of detention.
Her legal team has argued that the law she was charged under can no longer be applied because it was part of the 1974 constitution, which was replaced last year.
The guilty verdict sparked an international outcry, with critics dismissing it as an attempt to keep the charismatic Suu Kyi in detention ahead of next year's elections, the first in the former Burma for two decades.
Some observers said the court's decision to accept the case would make no difference and she would be released only if it suited junta supremo Than Shwe.
"It's a purely political issue and the order to free her will come from Senior General Than Shwe, not from the Supreme Court," said a retired senior civil servant from Yangon, who declined to be named.
"I think her release will come when the regime feels confident enough."
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China gets Myanmar assurances on pipeline, border
By Ben Blanchard – Mon Dec 21, 12:34 am ET
BEIJING (Reuters) – Myanmar has given China political assurance over an important crude oil pipeline and promised to maintain stability along the border after unrest in August pushed thousands of refugees into the Chinese side.
The pledges were made during a weekend visit by Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping to the military-run former Burma, treated as a pariah by the West for alleged human rights abuses and the detention of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
China is Myanmar's main foreign backer and an important military supplier. China's overriding concern is a stable Myanmar to give its landlocked southwest access to the Indian Ocean, as well as oil, gas and timber to feed its booming economy.
A crucial part of that relationship has been the long-mooted construction of oil and gas pipelines to China, a project aimed at cutting out the long detour oil cargoes take through the congested and strategically vulnerable Malacca Strait.
China's top oil and gas firm CNPC has now received exclusive rights to build and operate the China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline, CNPC said in a report on its website (www.cnpc.comc.cn), in a deal signing witnessed by Xi.
The Myanmar government will guarantee pipeline safety and the ownership and franchise right of the pipeline, the report said.
CNPC, parent of PetroChina, started building a crude oil port in Myanmar on October 31, part of the 771-kilometre pipeline scheme.
Xi, seen as frontrunner to succeed President Hu Jintao, assured Myanmar of China's continuing support.
"Developing friendly and cooperative relations between China and Myanmar is an important part of Chinese foreign policy, and this will not change," China's Foreign Ministry
paraphrased Xi as telling Myanmar's reclusive leader, General Than Shwe.
STRAINED TIES
But the relationship has not been as smooth of late.
In August, Myanmar's military overwhelmed and disarmed the Kokang group, the weakest of many ethnic armies which, in some cases, have based themselves for decades along the Chinese border.
That triggered an exodus of more than 37,000 refugees across the border and strained ties with China, Myanmar's only real diplomatic ally.
Than Shwe, meeting with Xi in the country's new jungle capital of Naypyidaw, said they would ensure border stability.
"Myanmar will, as always, and working hard with the Chinese, preserve the peace and stability of the border areas," China's Foreign Ministry paraphrased Than Shwe as telling
Xi, in a statement carried on the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn).
"China and Myanmar share a long joint border, and Myanmar deeply understands and knows that maintaining peace and stability on the border is extremely important to both countries," added the general, who rarely meets foreign leaders.
Myanmar's army has maintained a sizable presence over the past few months in Shan State, where rebel militias are braced for an offensive that could turn into a protracted conflict, creating another refugee crisis for China.
The junta wants ethnic groups to take part in a general election next year and has told local militias to disarm and join a government-run border patrol force or be wiped out, according to activists in Shan State.
Xi added that China felt "happy" at Myanmar's "road map" to democracy, roundly dismissed by rights activists as a sham.
"China hopes and believes that Myanmar will peacefully resolve these problems through dialogue and consultations," Xi said.
By Ben Blanchard – Mon Dec 21, 12:34 am ET
BEIJING (Reuters) – Myanmar has given China political assurance over an important crude oil pipeline and promised to maintain stability along the border after unrest in August pushed thousands of refugees into the Chinese side.
The pledges were made during a weekend visit by Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping to the military-run former Burma, treated as a pariah by the West for alleged human rights abuses and the detention of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
China is Myanmar's main foreign backer and an important military supplier. China's overriding concern is a stable Myanmar to give its landlocked southwest access to the Indian Ocean, as well as oil, gas and timber to feed its booming economy.
A crucial part of that relationship has been the long-mooted construction of oil and gas pipelines to China, a project aimed at cutting out the long detour oil cargoes take through the congested and strategically vulnerable Malacca Strait.
China's top oil and gas firm CNPC has now received exclusive rights to build and operate the China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline, CNPC said in a report on its website (www.cnpc.comc.cn), in a deal signing witnessed by Xi.
The Myanmar government will guarantee pipeline safety and the ownership and franchise right of the pipeline, the report said.
CNPC, parent of PetroChina, started building a crude oil port in Myanmar on October 31, part of the 771-kilometre pipeline scheme.
Xi, seen as frontrunner to succeed President Hu Jintao, assured Myanmar of China's continuing support.
"Developing friendly and cooperative relations between China and Myanmar is an important part of Chinese foreign policy, and this will not change," China's Foreign Ministry
paraphrased Xi as telling Myanmar's reclusive leader, General Than Shwe.
STRAINED TIES
But the relationship has not been as smooth of late.
In August, Myanmar's military overwhelmed and disarmed the Kokang group, the weakest of many ethnic armies which, in some cases, have based themselves for decades along the Chinese border.
That triggered an exodus of more than 37,000 refugees across the border and strained ties with China, Myanmar's only real diplomatic ally.
Than Shwe, meeting with Xi in the country's new jungle capital of Naypyidaw, said they would ensure border stability.
"Myanmar will, as always, and working hard with the Chinese, preserve the peace and stability of the border areas," China's Foreign Ministry paraphrased Than Shwe as telling
Xi, in a statement carried on the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn).
"China and Myanmar share a long joint border, and Myanmar deeply understands and knows that maintaining peace and stability on the border is extremely important to both countries," added the general, who rarely meets foreign leaders.
Myanmar's army has maintained a sizable presence over the past few months in Shan State, where rebel militias are braced for an offensive that could turn into a protracted conflict, creating another refugee crisis for China.
The junta wants ethnic groups to take part in a general election next year and has told local militias to disarm and join a government-run border patrol force or be wiped out, according to activists in Shan State.
Xi added that China felt "happy" at Myanmar's "road map" to democracy, roundly dismissed by rights activists as a sham.
"China hopes and believes that Myanmar will peacefully resolve these problems through dialogue and consultations," Xi said.
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Myanmar pledges stability on China border
Mon Dec 21, 2009 2:12am GMT
BEIJING (Reuters) - Myanmar has promised China that it will maintain stability along their long and remote shared border after unrest in August pushed thousands of refugees into the Chinese side, angering Beijing.
The former Burma's reclusive leader, General Than Shwe, made the pledge during a meeting with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in the country's new jungle capital of Naypyidaw over the weekend, according to China's Foreign Ministry.
"Myanmar will, as always, and working hard with the Chinese, preserve the peace and stability of the border areas," Than Shwe was paraphrased as saying in a statement on Monday on the Chinese Foreign Ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn).
"China and Myanmar share a long joint border, and Myanmar deeply understands and knows that maintaining peace and stability on the border is extremely important to both countries," added the general, who rarely meets foreign leaders.
In August, Myanmar's military overwhelmed and disarmed the Kokang group, the weakest of many ethnic armies which, in some cases, have based themselves for decades along the Chinese border.
That triggered an exodus of more than 37,000 refugees across the border and strained ties with China, the military government's only real diplomatic ally.
Myanmar's army has maintained a sizable presence over the past few months in Shan State, where rebel militias are braced for an offensive that could turn into a protracted conflict, creating another refugee crisis for China.
The junta wants ethnic groups to take part in a general election next year and has told local militias to disarm and join a government-run border patrol force or be wiped out, according to activists in Shan State.
Xi, seen as frontrunner to succeed President Hu Jintao, assured Myanmar of China's continuing support.
"Developing friendly and cooperation relations between China and Myanmar is an important part of Chinese foreign policy, and this will not change," the ministry quoted him as saying.
He added that China felt "happy" at Myanmar's "road map" to democracy, roundly dismissed by rights activists as a sham.
"China hopes and believes that Myanmar will peacefully resolve these problems through dialogue and consultations," Xi said.
China's overriding concern is a stable Myanmar to give its landlocked southwestern provinces access to the Indian Ocean, as well as oil, gas and timber to feed its booming economy.
China's CNPC started building a crude oil port in Myanmar in October, part of a pipeline project aimed at cutting out the long detour oil cargoes take through the congested and strategically vulnerable Malacca Strait.
Mon Dec 21, 2009 2:12am GMT
BEIJING (Reuters) - Myanmar has promised China that it will maintain stability along their long and remote shared border after unrest in August pushed thousands of refugees into the Chinese side, angering Beijing.
The former Burma's reclusive leader, General Than Shwe, made the pledge during a meeting with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in the country's new jungle capital of Naypyidaw over the weekend, according to China's Foreign Ministry.
"Myanmar will, as always, and working hard with the Chinese, preserve the peace and stability of the border areas," Than Shwe was paraphrased as saying in a statement on Monday on the Chinese Foreign Ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn).
"China and Myanmar share a long joint border, and Myanmar deeply understands and knows that maintaining peace and stability on the border is extremely important to both countries," added the general, who rarely meets foreign leaders.
In August, Myanmar's military overwhelmed and disarmed the Kokang group, the weakest of many ethnic armies which, in some cases, have based themselves for decades along the Chinese border.
That triggered an exodus of more than 37,000 refugees across the border and strained ties with China, the military government's only real diplomatic ally.
Myanmar's army has maintained a sizable presence over the past few months in Shan State, where rebel militias are braced for an offensive that could turn into a protracted conflict, creating another refugee crisis for China.
The junta wants ethnic groups to take part in a general election next year and has told local militias to disarm and join a government-run border patrol force or be wiped out, according to activists in Shan State.
Xi, seen as frontrunner to succeed President Hu Jintao, assured Myanmar of China's continuing support.
"Developing friendly and cooperation relations between China and Myanmar is an important part of Chinese foreign policy, and this will not change," the ministry quoted him as saying.
He added that China felt "happy" at Myanmar's "road map" to democracy, roundly dismissed by rights activists as a sham.
"China hopes and believes that Myanmar will peacefully resolve these problems through dialogue and consultations," Xi said.
China's overriding concern is a stable Myanmar to give its landlocked southwestern provinces access to the Indian Ocean, as well as oil, gas and timber to feed its booming economy.
China's CNPC started building a crude oil port in Myanmar in October, part of a pipeline project aimed at cutting out the long detour oil cargoes take through the congested and strategically vulnerable Malacca Strait.
******************************************************************
Myanmar's Suu Kyi party needs new blood: analysts
by Rachel O'Brien – Sun Dec 20, 1:30 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi faces an urgent challenge to shake up her party's ranks, analysts say, after a rare meeting with her colleagues exposed a weak and ageing leadership team.
Faced with national polls next year and their leader still in detention, members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) also need to resolve ideological differences within the party, they said.
The military junta, which has ruled Myanmar with an iron fist since 1962, allowed the democracy icon to leave her prison home Wednesday to pay respects to three ailing senior members of her political party, and she used the opportunity to ask their permission to ring in changes.
Party chairman Aung Shwe, 92, secretary Lwin, 85, and central executive committee (CEC) member Lun Tin, 89, approved Suu Kyi's unprecedented request to "reorganise" the CEC, Lwin said.
At 64, Suu Kyi is the youngest of the 11-member committee, while nine are in their 80s and 90s and most of them are said to be in bad health. Related article: China's vice president in Myanmar for talks
The old guard have disagreed with younger members over party policies, including whether or not to contest polls scheduled for 2010, with many of the new generation favouring a more pragmatic approach.
"It's a make or break point for the NLD," said a Bangkok-based European diplomat on condition of anonymity. "There are obviously many hardliners in the committee who are perhaps looking to the past more than the future."
The party is yet to decide if it will take part in the elections, which critics fear are a sham designed to legitimise the junta's grip on power.
But the diplomat said the latest development showed Suu Kyi "has given her signal that she wants them to reorganise and she wants the party to get ready".
"At the moment there's an amazing lack of vision and knowledge when it comes to the economic situation, the ethnic issue -- all the key Burma challenges," the diplomat said, using Myanmar's former name and referring to tensions with minority groups.
Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 20 years in detention and calls for changes have been coming ever since her first period of freedom 14 years ago, said Derek Tonkin, chairman of the UK-based Network Myanmar.
"Since then a lot of people say she ought to have applied herself to the reorganisation of the party more than political campaigns," he said.
But Win Min, an activist and scholar in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, said new membership had been stifled by fear of the authorities.
"It may be difficult to recruit new blood at the grassroots level because of the restrictions and intimidation by the military," he said.
In August, following a prison trial, Suu Kyi was ordered to spend another 18 months in detention.
The sentence sparked an international furore as it effectively keeps her off the stage for the 2010 elections, which will be Myanmar's first since 1990, when the junta refused to recognise the NLD's landslide win.
Following moves in recent months by the United States and European Union towards a policy of engagement with Myanmar, Suu Kyi has pursued greater dialogue with the government.
She has written twice to junta chief Than Shwe, once offering her help in getting sanctions lifted and later seeking a meeting with him, while she has been allowed three meetings with the government liaison officer since October.
But her plea for talks with the other CEC members, which would be necessary to implement changes to the party, has not yet been granted.
One member, 68-year-old Khin Maung Swe, told AFP a place would be kept for loyal senior colleagues.
"It is certain that we will reorganise the committee, but we cannot say the time-frame.... We cannot neglect our senior CEC members if they want to serve," he said.
Although the NLD's fate largely remains in the hands of the junta, the Bangkok-based diplomat said the party members are partly to blame for their "incapacity to rejuvenate themselves".
"If they don't get this right they will be remembered for being full of good intentions but all their sacrifices will be in vain, and I think Aung San Suu Kyi had grasped that," he said.
by Rachel O'Brien – Sun Dec 20, 1:30 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi faces an urgent challenge to shake up her party's ranks, analysts say, after a rare meeting with her colleagues exposed a weak and ageing leadership team.
Faced with national polls next year and their leader still in detention, members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) also need to resolve ideological differences within the party, they said.
The military junta, which has ruled Myanmar with an iron fist since 1962, allowed the democracy icon to leave her prison home Wednesday to pay respects to three ailing senior members of her political party, and she used the opportunity to ask their permission to ring in changes.
Party chairman Aung Shwe, 92, secretary Lwin, 85, and central executive committee (CEC) member Lun Tin, 89, approved Suu Kyi's unprecedented request to "reorganise" the CEC, Lwin said.
At 64, Suu Kyi is the youngest of the 11-member committee, while nine are in their 80s and 90s and most of them are said to be in bad health. Related article: China's vice president in Myanmar for talks
The old guard have disagreed with younger members over party policies, including whether or not to contest polls scheduled for 2010, with many of the new generation favouring a more pragmatic approach.
"It's a make or break point for the NLD," said a Bangkok-based European diplomat on condition of anonymity. "There are obviously many hardliners in the committee who are perhaps looking to the past more than the future."
The party is yet to decide if it will take part in the elections, which critics fear are a sham designed to legitimise the junta's grip on power.
But the diplomat said the latest development showed Suu Kyi "has given her signal that she wants them to reorganise and she wants the party to get ready".
"At the moment there's an amazing lack of vision and knowledge when it comes to the economic situation, the ethnic issue -- all the key Burma challenges," the diplomat said, using Myanmar's former name and referring to tensions with minority groups.
Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 20 years in detention and calls for changes have been coming ever since her first period of freedom 14 years ago, said Derek Tonkin, chairman of the UK-based Network Myanmar.
"Since then a lot of people say she ought to have applied herself to the reorganisation of the party more than political campaigns," he said.
But Win Min, an activist and scholar in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, said new membership had been stifled by fear of the authorities.
"It may be difficult to recruit new blood at the grassroots level because of the restrictions and intimidation by the military," he said.
In August, following a prison trial, Suu Kyi was ordered to spend another 18 months in detention.
The sentence sparked an international furore as it effectively keeps her off the stage for the 2010 elections, which will be Myanmar's first since 1990, when the junta refused to recognise the NLD's landslide win.
Following moves in recent months by the United States and European Union towards a policy of engagement with Myanmar, Suu Kyi has pursued greater dialogue with the government.
She has written twice to junta chief Than Shwe, once offering her help in getting sanctions lifted and later seeking a meeting with him, while she has been allowed three meetings with the government liaison officer since October.
But her plea for talks with the other CEC members, which would be necessary to implement changes to the party, has not yet been granted.
One member, 68-year-old Khin Maung Swe, told AFP a place would be kept for loyal senior colleagues.
"It is certain that we will reorganise the committee, but we cannot say the time-frame.... We cannot neglect our senior CEC members if they want to serve," he said.
Although the NLD's fate largely remains in the hands of the junta, the Bangkok-based diplomat said the party members are partly to blame for their "incapacity to rejuvenate themselves".
"If they don't get this right they will be remembered for being full of good intentions but all their sacrifices will be in vain, and I think Aung San Suu Kyi had grasped that," he said.
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US lawmakers urge Myanmar release detained American
(AFP) Saturday, December 19
WASHINGTON — More than 50 US lawmakers urged Myanmar's military rulers in a letter released Friday to immediately free US citizen Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, from prison amid health worries.
"We urge you in the strongest possible terms to immediately and unconditionally release Mr Aung and allow him to return to the United States," they wrote in the message to Myanmar junta leader Than Shwe.
The lawmakers said the charges against Aung were a pretext to hold him and that his "longstanding non-violent activities in support of freedom and democracy" in Myanmar were the real reason for his imprisonment.
"The detention of an American citizen under these circumstances has caused alarm among many members of the United States Congress, and raises serious doubts about your government's willingness to improve relations," they said.
The letter was crafted by Democratic Representative Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Dissident groups from Myanmar, still known in Washington 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 September 3.
His lawyers say he was deprived of food, sleep, medical treatment and US consular access in his first two weeks of detention.
His fiancee and his Washington-based lawyer have said that US diplomats have been prohibited from seeing Aung, and that his health has been deteriorating.
(AFP) Saturday, December 19
WASHINGTON — More than 50 US lawmakers urged Myanmar's military rulers in a letter released Friday to immediately free US citizen Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, from prison amid health worries.
"We urge you in the strongest possible terms to immediately and unconditionally release Mr Aung and allow him to return to the United States," they wrote in the message to Myanmar junta leader Than Shwe.
The lawmakers said the charges against Aung were a pretext to hold him and that his "longstanding non-violent activities in support of freedom and democracy" in Myanmar were the real reason for his imprisonment.
"The detention of an American citizen under these circumstances has caused alarm among many members of the United States Congress, and raises serious doubts about your government's willingness to improve relations," they said.
The letter was crafted by Democratic Representative Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Dissident groups from Myanmar, still known in Washington 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 September 3.
His lawyers say he was deprived of food, sleep, medical treatment and US consular access in his first two weeks of detention.
His fiancee and his Washington-based lawyer have said that US diplomats have been prohibited from seeing Aung, and that his health has been deteriorating.
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San Francisco Chronicle - Myanmar state press says no charter change for now
Sunday, December 20, 2009, 02:26 PST
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar's new constitution, adopted last year despite criticism it is undemocratic, cannot be changed before next year's planned elections, the country's state media said in a commentary Sunday.
The article, which appeared Sunday in the New Light of Myanmar and other newspapers, appeared to be warning the National League for Democracy party of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi that its complaints will not be heeded.
The party has not yet committed itself to taking part in the polls because it claims the new charter is unfair. It is seeking a dialogue with the military government.
Commentaries in state-run media normally reflect the view of the military government, or sometimes take more extreme positions to test public and international reaction without the regime officially committing itself.
Sunday's commentary confirmed the government's previously stated position that it will not change the terms of the charter, which guarantees 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military and allows the president to hand over all power to the military in a state of emergency.
It also has clauses that and would bar Suu Kyi from holding office.
The article also said that the constitution can only be amended by the new parliament that will emerge from the 2010 election.
Myanmar's military government has said it will hold a general election next year, but has not yet set an exact date or passed the necessary laws. Suu Kyi's party won the last election in 1990, but the military refused to allow it to take power.
"The demand for amendment to the constitution through discussions and a dialogue with them is beyond fulfillment," said the commentary. "A group of people has no exclusive right to amend the constitution that has been approved in a democratic way."
The article did not mention any group or individual but Suu Kyi's party and several other democratic groups have charged that the constitution was illegally approved by force, and urged the government to review it.
Suu Kyi recently asked for a meeting with junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe but did not mention anything about the constitution, saying only that "she wanted to explain how she can cooperate with the junta in the interest of the country."
The commentary said the constitution was approved by the people and that ambassadors and military attaches in Myanmar were allowed to observe the voting and the result has been recognized.
Myanmar's generals claimed the constitution received the approval of more than 92 percent of voters in last year's referendum, conducted in the wake of devastating Cyclone Nargis.
Sunday, December 20, 2009, 02:26 PST
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar's new constitution, adopted last year despite criticism it is undemocratic, cannot be changed before next year's planned elections, the country's state media said in a commentary Sunday.
The article, which appeared Sunday in the New Light of Myanmar and other newspapers, appeared to be warning the National League for Democracy party of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi that its complaints will not be heeded.
The party has not yet committed itself to taking part in the polls because it claims the new charter is unfair. It is seeking a dialogue with the military government.
Commentaries in state-run media normally reflect the view of the military government, or sometimes take more extreme positions to test public and international reaction without the regime officially committing itself.
Sunday's commentary confirmed the government's previously stated position that it will not change the terms of the charter, which guarantees 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military and allows the president to hand over all power to the military in a state of emergency.
It also has clauses that and would bar Suu Kyi from holding office.
The article also said that the constitution can only be amended by the new parliament that will emerge from the 2010 election.
Myanmar's military government has said it will hold a general election next year, but has not yet set an exact date or passed the necessary laws. Suu Kyi's party won the last election in 1990, but the military refused to allow it to take power.
"The demand for amendment to the constitution through discussions and a dialogue with them is beyond fulfillment," said the commentary. "A group of people has no exclusive right to amend the constitution that has been approved in a democratic way."
The article did not mention any group or individual but Suu Kyi's party and several other democratic groups have charged that the constitution was illegally approved by force, and urged the government to review it.
Suu Kyi recently asked for a meeting with junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe but did not mention anything about the constitution, saying only that "she wanted to explain how she can cooperate with the junta in the interest of the country."
The commentary said the constitution was approved by the people and that ambassadors and military attaches in Myanmar were allowed to observe the voting and the result has been recognized.
Myanmar's generals claimed the constitution received the approval of more than 92 percent of voters in last year's referendum, conducted in the wake of devastating Cyclone Nargis.
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EarthTimes - Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping meets Myanmar junta chief
Posted : Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:45:59 GMT
Yangon - Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met with Myanmar's two top military chieftains Sunday in the junta's capital of Naypyitaw before he flew on to Cambodia, government officials confirmed. Xi met with State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) chief Senior General Than Shwe Sunday after holding talks with his counterpart Vice Senior General Maung Aye, number-two in the military regime that had ruled Myanmar since 1988.
The content of their discussions was not immediately disclosed.
After the talks, Xi departed from Naypyitaw Airport, 350 kilometres north of the old capital of Yangon, for Siem Reap, Cambodia, where Xi will visit the famed temples of Angkor Wat before traveling on Monday to Phnom Penh where he was scheduled to hold talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Xi arrived at Yangon Saturday from South Korea on the second leg of a four-country Asian tour that is to take him to Cambodia next.
China is one of Myanmar's few political allies in the international arena, where the regime is widely condemned for its poor human rights record and refusal to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest along with 2,100 other political prisoners.
For its part, China is known to be keen to gain access to Myanmar's rich offshore natural gas reserves with plans to build an overland pipeline to deliver the gas to its Yunnan province.
"The cooperation between China and Myanmar will broaden in the future," said Ye Dabo, Chinese ambassador to Myanmar.
On Saturday, Xi visited the Gem Museum and Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.
According to Chinese embassy sources, ten memoranda of understanding and treaties were signed during Xi's visit, but details were not immediately available.
China is Myanmar's fourth-largest foreign investor with a total investment of 1.3 billion dollars. Bilateral trade between the two bordering countries reached 2.6 billion dollars in 2008.
Posted : Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:45:59 GMT
Yangon - Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met with Myanmar's two top military chieftains Sunday in the junta's capital of Naypyitaw before he flew on to Cambodia, government officials confirmed. Xi met with State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) chief Senior General Than Shwe Sunday after holding talks with his counterpart Vice Senior General Maung Aye, number-two in the military regime that had ruled Myanmar since 1988.
The content of their discussions was not immediately disclosed.
After the talks, Xi departed from Naypyitaw Airport, 350 kilometres north of the old capital of Yangon, for Siem Reap, Cambodia, where Xi will visit the famed temples of Angkor Wat before traveling on Monday to Phnom Penh where he was scheduled to hold talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Xi arrived at Yangon Saturday from South Korea on the second leg of a four-country Asian tour that is to take him to Cambodia next.
China is one of Myanmar's few political allies in the international arena, where the regime is widely condemned for its poor human rights record and refusal to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest along with 2,100 other political prisoners.
For its part, China is known to be keen to gain access to Myanmar's rich offshore natural gas reserves with plans to build an overland pipeline to deliver the gas to its Yunnan province.
"The cooperation between China and Myanmar will broaden in the future," said Ye Dabo, Chinese ambassador to Myanmar.
On Saturday, Xi visited the Gem Museum and Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.
According to Chinese embassy sources, ten memoranda of understanding and treaties were signed during Xi's visit, but details were not immediately available.
China is Myanmar's fourth-largest foreign investor with a total investment of 1.3 billion dollars. Bilateral trade between the two bordering countries reached 2.6 billion dollars in 2008.
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Gospel for Asia helps Myanmar fight plague
Allie Martin - OneNewsNow - 12/21/2009 5:30:00 AM
Workers with Gospel for Asia (GFA) are helping famine victims in Myanmar, a southeast Asia country formerly known as Burma.
The famine is caused by a natural phenomenon that takes place every half century when a certain species of bamboo plants blooms. That bloom is eaten by rats, which increases their fertility and causes an explosion in the rat population. The latest episode began three years ago and has resulted in rats stripping bamboo plants of fruit and seeds while the rodents plow their way through crops such as grain, corn, and rice.
Daniel Punnose of GFA says that while Myanmar's military junta is denying international aid from organizations that want to bring in assistance, ministry workers were already in the country before the plague hit.
"We do have churches on the field, in the places where it's been hit the hardest," he explains. "We have the infrastructure to be able to distribute food and water and help the people to kind of make it through this very harsh season of their life. The country still does not allow much outside help. International aid does want to come in, but they're not allowing it, which by God's grace, we're already there."
The rat plague is wiping out much of the progress made in recovery from Cyclone Nargis.
Allie Martin - OneNewsNow - 12/21/2009 5:30:00 AM
Workers with Gospel for Asia (GFA) are helping famine victims in Myanmar, a southeast Asia country formerly known as Burma.
The famine is caused by a natural phenomenon that takes place every half century when a certain species of bamboo plants blooms. That bloom is eaten by rats, which increases their fertility and causes an explosion in the rat population. The latest episode began three years ago and has resulted in rats stripping bamboo plants of fruit and seeds while the rodents plow their way through crops such as grain, corn, and rice.
Daniel Punnose of GFA says that while Myanmar's military junta is denying international aid from organizations that want to bring in assistance, ministry workers were already in the country before the plague hit.
"We do have churches on the field, in the places where it's been hit the hardest," he explains. "We have the infrastructure to be able to distribute food and water and help the people to kind of make it through this very harsh season of their life. The country still does not allow much outside help. International aid does want to come in, but they're not allowing it, which by God's grace, we're already there."
The rat plague is wiping out much of the progress made in recovery from Cyclone Nargis.
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CNPC gets exclusive operating rights of China-Myanmar oil pipeline
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-21 16:24:20
BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the country's biggest oil and gas producer, announced on Monday it has signed an agreement with Myanmar's Energy Ministry to receive exclusive rights to build and operate the China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline.
The deal has granted operating concession of the pipeline to the CNPC controlled South-East Asia Crude Oil Pipeline Ltd., said CNPC.
The pipeline company will also enjoy tax concessions and customs clearance rights, said a report on the CNPC website.
The agreement stipulates the Myanmar government should guarantee the company's ownership and exclusive operating rights, as well as the safety of the pipeline.
In June, CNPC and the Myanmar government signed a memorandum of understanding, agreeing that CNPC would be responsible for the design, construction, and operation of the pipeline, the statement said.
The 771-kilometer pipeline, extending from Maday island, in western Myanmar, to Ruili, in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, is expected to carry 12 million tonnes of oil a year initially.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-21 16:24:20
BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the country's biggest oil and gas producer, announced on Monday it has signed an agreement with Myanmar's Energy Ministry to receive exclusive rights to build and operate the China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline.
The deal has granted operating concession of the pipeline to the CNPC controlled South-East Asia Crude Oil Pipeline Ltd., said CNPC.
The pipeline company will also enjoy tax concessions and customs clearance rights, said a report on the CNPC website.
The agreement stipulates the Myanmar government should guarantee the company's ownership and exclusive operating rights, as well as the safety of the pipeline.
In June, CNPC and the Myanmar government signed a memorandum of understanding, agreeing that CNPC would be responsible for the design, construction, and operation of the pipeline, the statement said.
The 771-kilometer pipeline, extending from Maday island, in western Myanmar, to Ruili, in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, is expected to carry 12 million tonnes of oil a year initially.
CNPC in late October started construction of a port in western Myanmar as part of the China-Myanmar Crude Pipeline project, said the company.
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China, Myanmar to further traditional friendship
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-20 23:29:19
NAY PYI TAW, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met here on Sunday with Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar, pledging to upgrade the two countries' traditional friendship.
Xi said both countries are linked by mountains and waters. The people of the two countries have enjoyed a relationship of brotherhood dating back to ancient times.
The two have maintained frequent high-level contacts. In recent years, both sides have also comprehensively expanded cooperation in economy, trade, energy, culture and people-to-people exchanges and have closely coordinated on international and regional affairs, he said.
Xi also expressed appreciation for the strong support of Myanmar on the issues concerning Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang.
"Developing friendly and cooperative relations with Myanmar is an important component of China's foreign policy, and this will not change," he said.
Xi said the two countries are facing a fresh start and a rare opportunity for the relationship between the two countries. Both sides should give full play to the complementary advantages of each other to promote fruitful cooperation of mutual benefits.
He said China has always respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Myanmar, and supported the efforts of Myanmar government to safeguard the country's unification and national unity.
Xi sincerely hoped Myanmar would maintain political stability, economic development and national reconciliation.
"China believes the Myanmar side would settle the relevant problems through peaceful ways such as dialogues and consultations so as to guarantee the stability in its border area with China," he said.
Than Shwe said Xi's visit is significant for deepening Myanmar-China ties.
He appreciated China's long-term support to Myanmar's social and economic development.
Myanmar and China share a long borderline. The Myanmar side recognized the importance of safeguarding peace and stability in the border area. The peace and tranquility in the border area between China and Myanmar is a demonstration of the good neighborly friendship and cooperation, added Than Shwe,
He also pledged to continue working with China to ensure peace and development in the border area.
Xi arrived in Yangon on Saturday to start a visit to Myanmar, the third leg of his four-nation Asian tour.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-20 23:29:19
NAY PYI TAW, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met here on Sunday with Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar, pledging to upgrade the two countries' traditional friendship.
Xi said both countries are linked by mountains and waters. The people of the two countries have enjoyed a relationship of brotherhood dating back to ancient times.
The two have maintained frequent high-level contacts. In recent years, both sides have also comprehensively expanded cooperation in economy, trade, energy, culture and people-to-people exchanges and have closely coordinated on international and regional affairs, he said.
Xi also expressed appreciation for the strong support of Myanmar on the issues concerning Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang.
"Developing friendly and cooperative relations with Myanmar is an important component of China's foreign policy, and this will not change," he said.
Xi said the two countries are facing a fresh start and a rare opportunity for the relationship between the two countries. Both sides should give full play to the complementary advantages of each other to promote fruitful cooperation of mutual benefits.
He said China has always respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Myanmar, and supported the efforts of Myanmar government to safeguard the country's unification and national unity.
Xi sincerely hoped Myanmar would maintain political stability, economic development and national reconciliation.
"China believes the Myanmar side would settle the relevant problems through peaceful ways such as dialogues and consultations so as to guarantee the stability in its border area with China," he said.
Than Shwe said Xi's visit is significant for deepening Myanmar-China ties.
He appreciated China's long-term support to Myanmar's social and economic development.
Myanmar and China share a long borderline. The Myanmar side recognized the importance of safeguarding peace and stability in the border area. The peace and tranquility in the border area between China and Myanmar is a demonstration of the good neighborly friendship and cooperation, added Than Shwe,
He also pledged to continue working with China to ensure peace and development in the border area.
Xi arrived in Yangon on Saturday to start a visit to Myanmar, the third leg of his four-nation Asian tour.
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China puts forward four-point proposal to further ties with Myanmar
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-20 22:47:06
NAY PYI TAW, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping put forward a four-point proposal to upgrade relations with Myanmar during talks with Vice-Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar Maung Aye on Sunday.
The proposal includes maintaining high-level contact, deepening reciprocal cooperation, safeguarding peace and prosperity of the border area, and strengthening coordination on international and regional affairs.
As good neighbors, China and Myanmar have advocated the five principles of peaceful co-existence, Xi said.
The recent years have witnessed closer exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in various fields, which has brought tangible benefits to their peoples, he said.
Xi expressed appreciation for Myanmar's support on issues concerning China's core interests such as Taiwan and Tibet.
Stressing that China has always valued relations with Myanmar, Xi said China would like to work with Myanmar to expand their ties as the year 2010 marks the 60th anniversary of Sino-Myanmar ties. He said China would continue to provide aids to Myanmar.
Xi said China is happy to see Myanmar moving towards democracy and national reconciliation, and is confident that the Myanmar government would realize its political targets and achieve national stability and growth.
Maung Aye said Myanmar was among the first countries to have recognized the People's Republic of China when it was founded in 1949, and the two sides have always supported and respected each other. He expressed gratitude for China's long-term assistance and aid to Myanmar.
He said Myanmar hopes to take the chance of the 60th anniversary of the China-Myanmar ties to push forward their high-level exchanges and substantial cooperation.
After the talks, the two leaders attended a signing ceremony for cooperative deals covering trade, finance and electricity.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-20 22:47:06
NAY PYI TAW, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping put forward a four-point proposal to upgrade relations with Myanmar during talks with Vice-Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar Maung Aye on Sunday.
The proposal includes maintaining high-level contact, deepening reciprocal cooperation, safeguarding peace and prosperity of the border area, and strengthening coordination on international and regional affairs.
As good neighbors, China and Myanmar have advocated the five principles of peaceful co-existence, Xi said.
The recent years have witnessed closer exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in various fields, which has brought tangible benefits to their peoples, he said.
Xi expressed appreciation for Myanmar's support on issues concerning China's core interests such as Taiwan and Tibet.
Stressing that China has always valued relations with Myanmar, Xi said China would like to work with Myanmar to expand their ties as the year 2010 marks the 60th anniversary of Sino-Myanmar ties. He said China would continue to provide aids to Myanmar.
Xi said China is happy to see Myanmar moving towards democracy and national reconciliation, and is confident that the Myanmar government would realize its political targets and achieve national stability and growth.
Maung Aye said Myanmar was among the first countries to have recognized the People's Republic of China when it was founded in 1949, and the two sides have always supported and respected each other. He expressed gratitude for China's long-term assistance and aid to Myanmar.
He said Myanmar hopes to take the chance of the 60th anniversary of the China-Myanmar ties to push forward their high-level exchanges and substantial cooperation.
After the talks, the two leaders attended a signing ceremony for cooperative deals covering trade, finance and electricity.
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Thaindian.com - India to improve road links with Bangladesh, Myanmar
December 20th, 2009 - 6:26 pm ICT by IANS
Agartala, Dec 20 (IANS) India will invest Rs.1,666 crore (Rs.16.66 billion) to develop highways in Tripura and Mizoram to improve connectivity of the landlocked northeastern states with Bangladesh and Myanmar, an official said here Sunday.
“The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) gave clearance for four-laning of the National Highway 44 (from Shillong) up to Tripura’s southern most border town of Sabroom,” a senior government official tols IANS.
The distance between Sabroom and Chittagong international port in southeast Bangladesh is just 75 km.
The official said: “The high powered committee (HPC) of the union government, set up to finalise the projects in the northeast, has also sanctioned a new highway from Mizoram to Myanmar border.”
The new 100-km highway, from Lawngtalai in eastern Mizoram to Myanmar border at an estimated cost of Rs.650 crore, would provide linkage to the under-construction Sittwe port in Myanmar.
India is developing the Sittwe port in Myanmar at a cost of Rs.5.4 billion and the port on the Kaladan river would be a gateway for the northeastern states to the rest of the world. The Kaladan river connects Mizoram to the Bay of Bengal.
“After the completion of the project in 2012, Mizoram would be a gateway for international trade,” the official said.
“Sittwe project will provide an alternate route between the landlocked northeast region and the rest of the world. Goods from northeast can reach southern India through the Bay of Bengal via Sittwe,” the official told IANS.
“We can also bring goods from Sittwe to any Indian port by using sea routes as the distance between Kolkata and Sittwe is just 600 km,” he said.
“The two ambitious projects were approved three days back,” the official said.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, addressing a seminar here Friday, said: “The railways is also extending tracks up to Sabroom and then it would be very easy to connect with the Chittagong port.
“After the development of the national highways and extension of railway line, Tripura and the entire northeast would be linked with Southeast Asia,” Sarkar said.
Under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North Eastern Region (SARDP-NE), an expenditure of Rs.390 crore would be incurred and the union ministry of road transport and highways would also spend a similar amount on four-laning the 330-km Assam-Agartala National Highway 44.
An allocation of Rs.236 crore is also available for pre-construction and land acquisition activities.
“The NH-44 will provide easy connectivity to Tripura with East-West Corridor being developed up to southern Assam,” the official pointed out.
The 7,300-km (four to six lanes) North-South and East-West Corridors (NS-EW) is the largest ongoing highway project in India.
It is the second phase of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) expressways connecting Srinagar, Kanyakumari, Porbandar and Silchar in southern Assam at a cost of $12.317 billion.
December 20th, 2009 - 6:26 pm ICT by IANS
Agartala, Dec 20 (IANS) India will invest Rs.1,666 crore (Rs.16.66 billion) to develop highways in Tripura and Mizoram to improve connectivity of the landlocked northeastern states with Bangladesh and Myanmar, an official said here Sunday.
“The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) gave clearance for four-laning of the National Highway 44 (from Shillong) up to Tripura’s southern most border town of Sabroom,” a senior government official tols IANS.
The distance between Sabroom and Chittagong international port in southeast Bangladesh is just 75 km.
The official said: “The high powered committee (HPC) of the union government, set up to finalise the projects in the northeast, has also sanctioned a new highway from Mizoram to Myanmar border.”
The new 100-km highway, from Lawngtalai in eastern Mizoram to Myanmar border at an estimated cost of Rs.650 crore, would provide linkage to the under-construction Sittwe port in Myanmar.
India is developing the Sittwe port in Myanmar at a cost of Rs.5.4 billion and the port on the Kaladan river would be a gateway for the northeastern states to the rest of the world. The Kaladan river connects Mizoram to the Bay of Bengal.
“After the completion of the project in 2012, Mizoram would be a gateway for international trade,” the official said.
“Sittwe project will provide an alternate route between the landlocked northeast region and the rest of the world. Goods from northeast can reach southern India through the Bay of Bengal via Sittwe,” the official told IANS.
“We can also bring goods from Sittwe to any Indian port by using sea routes as the distance between Kolkata and Sittwe is just 600 km,” he said.
“The two ambitious projects were approved three days back,” the official said.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, addressing a seminar here Friday, said: “The railways is also extending tracks up to Sabroom and then it would be very easy to connect with the Chittagong port.
“After the development of the national highways and extension of railway line, Tripura and the entire northeast would be linked with Southeast Asia,” Sarkar said.
Under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North Eastern Region (SARDP-NE), an expenditure of Rs.390 crore would be incurred and the union ministry of road transport and highways would also spend a similar amount on four-laning the 330-km Assam-Agartala National Highway 44.
An allocation of Rs.236 crore is also available for pre-construction and land acquisition activities.
“The NH-44 will provide easy connectivity to Tripura with East-West Corridor being developed up to southern Assam,” the official pointed out.
The 7,300-km (four to six lanes) North-South and East-West Corridors (NS-EW) is the largest ongoing highway project in India.
It is the second phase of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) expressways connecting Srinagar, Kanyakumari, Porbandar and Silchar in southern Assam at a cost of $12.317 billion.
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BusinessGhana - Italy donates hospital equipment to Myanmar
News Date: 19th December 2009
The Italian government has donated some hospital equipment as well as one ambulance to a monk hospital in Myanmar's former capital of Yangon as part of its aid to the country in the health sector, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Saturday.
The 22 items of equipment, which worth about 195,000 U.S dollars, were handed over to the Jivitadana Sangha Hospital under the program of Support the Vulnerable Population Myanmar Aid, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the Italian government has earlier agreed to provide 5.28 million U.S. dollars for use in rehabilitation and paddy cultivation work in
Myanmar's cyclone-hit areas through the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The aid will be used in implementing three projects on sustainable small-scale fisheries and aquaculture livelihood in coastal mangrove
ecosystem, support to special rice production and support to the immediate rehabilitation of farming, coastal fisheries and aquaculture livelihood in the Nargis-affected areas. A total of over 32,000 poor fishermen in cyclone-hit Ayeyawaddy division will be benefited, it said.
News Date: 19th December 2009
The Italian government has donated some hospital equipment as well as one ambulance to a monk hospital in Myanmar's former capital of Yangon as part of its aid to the country in the health sector, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Saturday.
The 22 items of equipment, which worth about 195,000 U.S dollars, were handed over to the Jivitadana Sangha Hospital under the program of Support the Vulnerable Population Myanmar Aid, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the Italian government has earlier agreed to provide 5.28 million U.S. dollars for use in rehabilitation and paddy cultivation work in
Myanmar's cyclone-hit areas through the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The aid will be used in implementing three projects on sustainable small-scale fisheries and aquaculture livelihood in coastal mangrove
ecosystem, support to special rice production and support to the immediate rehabilitation of farming, coastal fisheries and aquaculture livelihood in the Nargis-affected areas. A total of over 32,000 poor fishermen in cyclone-hit Ayeyawaddy division will be benefited, it said.
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Union of Catholic Asian News
MYANMAR Church faces fallout from drug-use epidemic
December 18, 2009 | MY08410.1580 |
MYITKYINA, Myanmar (UCAN) -- The Catholic Church in Myitkyina, northern Myanmar, is battling a sharp rise in HIV/AIDS infections due to an epidemic of intravenous drug-use among the young.
There are around 300,000 drug users in the country, according to the United Nations, but some NGOs believe there could be as many as 500,000.
At least 35 percent are HIV positive and in some areas the rate is as high as 80 percent, the government says.
The Church is coping with the fall-out by both giving practical assistance to patients and fighting prejudice against them.
The Karuna Social Services of Myanmar (KMSS) runs programs around the country as well as training to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS and the discrimination affected people face.
The Church runs the home-based "Hope" center on the outskirts of Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State.
It provides medical treatment, three meals a day, warm clothes in winter as well as jobs training. The center runs a livelihood program teaching how to rear pigs, cows and buffaloes.
One of the patients being helped in Myitkyina, Naw (not his real name) said injecting heroin had left him homeless.
Baptist pastors tried to help him but he ran away from them three times. He finally stopped drugs but then discovered he was HIV-positive.
"After I was infected with HIV, I found I couldn't eat much for two months," he said. "I was severely ill." Naw was taken to the Catholic Hope center by NGOs working in the area. Now he is one of its staunchest advocates.
"I witness to others at World AIDS Day events and other gatherings about my life," he told UCA News. "I'm ready to help other HIV patients at the Hope center when my health condition improves."
He said he recommends reading the Bible as the most effective means of kicking the drug habit.
Seng Nu, in charge of the HIV/AIDS prevention program of Myitkyina Karuna, the diocesan social service agency, said it is important to allow patients to share their experiences so that other youths will be aware of the pitfalls of drug use and other risky behavior such as unprotected sex.
MYANMAR Church faces fallout from drug-use epidemic
December 18, 2009 | MY08410.1580 |
MYITKYINA, Myanmar (UCAN) -- The Catholic Church in Myitkyina, northern Myanmar, is battling a sharp rise in HIV/AIDS infections due to an epidemic of intravenous drug-use among the young.
There are around 300,000 drug users in the country, according to the United Nations, but some NGOs believe there could be as many as 500,000.
At least 35 percent are HIV positive and in some areas the rate is as high as 80 percent, the government says.
The Church is coping with the fall-out by both giving practical assistance to patients and fighting prejudice against them.
The Karuna Social Services of Myanmar (KMSS) runs programs around the country as well as training to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS and the discrimination affected people face.
The Church runs the home-based "Hope" center on the outskirts of Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State.
It provides medical treatment, three meals a day, warm clothes in winter as well as jobs training. The center runs a livelihood program teaching how to rear pigs, cows and buffaloes.
One of the patients being helped in Myitkyina, Naw (not his real name) said injecting heroin had left him homeless.
Baptist pastors tried to help him but he ran away from them three times. He finally stopped drugs but then discovered he was HIV-positive.
"After I was infected with HIV, I found I couldn't eat much for two months," he said. "I was severely ill." Naw was taken to the Catholic Hope center by NGOs working in the area. Now he is one of its staunchest advocates.
"I witness to others at World AIDS Day events and other gatherings about my life," he told UCA News. "I'm ready to help other HIV patients at the Hope center when my health condition improves."
He said he recommends reading the Bible as the most effective means of kicking the drug habit.
Seng Nu, in charge of the HIV/AIDS prevention program of Myitkyina Karuna, the diocesan social service agency, said it is important to allow patients to share their experiences so that other youths will be aware of the pitfalls of drug use and other risky behavior such as unprotected sex.
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Bangladesh to ask Myanmar to stop pushback
Sat, Dec 19th, 2009 1:40 pm BdST
Dhaka, Dec 19 (bdnews24.com) -- Bangladesh will put pressure on Myanmar to stop pushback of Rohingya people across border at the upcoming foreign secretary level talks, foreign secretary said Saturday.
Bangladesh foreign secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes will receive his Myanmar counterpart U Maung Mynt on December 28 for a two-day bilateral talks.
"We will talk on repatriation of Rohingya refugees and stopping pushback by Myanmar," Quayes told reporters at a press briefing at the foreign ministry.
"In addition to 29,000 refugees living in the camps, some 300,000 people have intruded into Bangladesh over the past several years."
"We will stress on improving the situation in Myanmar so that exodus of the people stops," the foreign secretary said.
Repatriation of Rohingya refugees has remained a major issue for discussion between the two countries since 1992 when over a million people from Myanmar's Northern Rakhain state from crackdown on its Muslim Rohingyas in the bordering Bangladesh.
The two neighbours with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees repatriated most of the refugees, but about 29,000 people have refused to go back to their homes in Myanmar fearing further repressive actions by the military.
According to the government officials, most of the "repatriated" Rohingya refugees returned to Bangladesh as human rights and economic situation has not improved in their ancestral homes.
Quayes also said a Myanmar delegation was scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on the second week of January to discuss the maritime boundary demarcation disputes with Bangladesh.
He, however, said besides the bilateral talks, Dhaka will continue with its legal fight in the UN tribunal to settle the maritime disputes with India and Myanmar.
Bangladesh and Myanmar have claims on overlapping offshore blocks in the Bay of Bengal. India and Myanmar have counter claims on 19 out of total 27 sea blocks of Bangladesh. Dhaka has been in negotiations with the two countries for years, but the bilateral talks ended with no tangible results.
The Awami League led government a few months back went to the UN tribunal to settle the maritime disputes. The government hopes that the issue will be resolved through the UN tribunal in four to five years.
"Certainly, we will be discussing the issues of trade, investment and banking facilities between the two countries," said Quayes, in reply to a question.
Sat, Dec 19th, 2009 1:40 pm BdST
Dhaka, Dec 19 (bdnews24.com) -- Bangladesh will put pressure on Myanmar to stop pushback of Rohingya people across border at the upcoming foreign secretary level talks, foreign secretary said Saturday.
Bangladesh foreign secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes will receive his Myanmar counterpart U Maung Mynt on December 28 for a two-day bilateral talks.
"We will talk on repatriation of Rohingya refugees and stopping pushback by Myanmar," Quayes told reporters at a press briefing at the foreign ministry.
"In addition to 29,000 refugees living in the camps, some 300,000 people have intruded into Bangladesh over the past several years."
"We will stress on improving the situation in Myanmar so that exodus of the people stops," the foreign secretary said.
Repatriation of Rohingya refugees has remained a major issue for discussion between the two countries since 1992 when over a million people from Myanmar's Northern Rakhain state from crackdown on its Muslim Rohingyas in the bordering Bangladesh.
The two neighbours with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees repatriated most of the refugees, but about 29,000 people have refused to go back to their homes in Myanmar fearing further repressive actions by the military.
According to the government officials, most of the "repatriated" Rohingya refugees returned to Bangladesh as human rights and economic situation has not improved in their ancestral homes.
Quayes also said a Myanmar delegation was scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on the second week of January to discuss the maritime boundary demarcation disputes with Bangladesh.
He, however, said besides the bilateral talks, Dhaka will continue with its legal fight in the UN tribunal to settle the maritime disputes with India and Myanmar.
Bangladesh and Myanmar have claims on overlapping offshore blocks in the Bay of Bengal. India and Myanmar have counter claims on 19 out of total 27 sea blocks of Bangladesh. Dhaka has been in negotiations with the two countries for years, but the bilateral talks ended with no tangible results.
The Awami League led government a few months back went to the UN tribunal to settle the maritime disputes. The government hopes that the issue will be resolved through the UN tribunal in four to five years.
"Certainly, we will be discussing the issues of trade, investment and banking facilities between the two countries," said Quayes, in reply to a question.
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Saturday, 19 December 2009
Ceylon Daily News - Locals rescue stranded Myanmar fishermen
Rafik Jalaldeen
Three Myanmar nationals lost in the sea off Tangalle and rescued by local fishermen were handed over to police yesterday morning.
Police spokesman SSP I.M. Karunaratna said fishermen observed a Vallawam with foreign nationals on Thursday night in the Tangalle area.
"The stranded Myanmar nationals were rescued by local fishermen and handed over to the Tangalle Navy Base," he added.
The Myanmar nationals were handed over to police for further investigation.
Ceylon Daily News - Locals rescue stranded Myanmar fishermen
Rafik Jalaldeen
Three Myanmar nationals lost in the sea off Tangalle and rescued by local fishermen were handed over to police yesterday morning.
Police spokesman SSP I.M. Karunaratna said fishermen observed a Vallawam with foreign nationals on Thursday night in the Tangalle area.
"The stranded Myanmar nationals were rescued by local fishermen and handed over to the Tangalle Navy Base," he added.
The Myanmar nationals were handed over to police for further investigation.
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Dec 22, 2009
Asia Times Online - Weapons seizure hits North Korea hard
By Brian McCartan
BANGKOK - The detention in Thailand of a cargo plane transporting weapons and the arrest of its crew remain shrouded in mystery. The destination of the weapons and identity of their buyers is uncertain. American officials and analysts believe, however, that the intervention dealt a blow to North Korea's arms sales.
The Air West flight's outbound journey was normal enough. After leaving Ukraine, the aircraft stopped to refuel in Azerbaijan, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bangkok before landing in Pyongyang. After picking up the cargo in North Korea, the crew told authorities, the flight was scheduled to stop in Bangkok, Sri Lanka, the UAE and finally Ukraine. What they haven't told investigators is where they planned to offload the weapons.
Thai authorities are baffled about why the plane stopped in Bangkok on the return trip since Thailand is known for close ties to the United States. A more direct route would have been over China, stopping in Lashio or Mandalay in Myanmar to refuel. Another flight from North Korea in November 2008 took this route in an attempt to take cargo to Iran that American authorities feared could be related to weapons of mass destruction. That flight was blocked when India refused to allow the plane to fly through its airspace. The Air West flight's scheduled stop in Colombo, Sri Lanka, was likely an attempt to avoid a repeat.
A search of the plane's cargo after a tip-off from US intelligence sources found 35 tonnes of crated weapons inside the fuselage, according to Thai authorities. The haul included large numbers of rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), man-portable surface-to-air missiles, and two mobile multiple-rocket launchers, either M-1985 or M-1991's, capable of firing 240mm rockets. The weapons were removed by the Thai military to Takhili Air Force base in central Nakhon Sawan, north of Bangkok. Thai authorities estimated the value of the cargo at around US$18 million. The crew, who are likely to be telling the truth, said they believed they were carrying heavy equipment for oil operations.
The next step is for the weapons to be inventoried and reported to the UN's North Korea Sanctions Committee, which is mandated to investigate violations of the sanctions. Under UN resolutions, the weapons should then be destroyed, although there is some debate in Thailand about whether the weapons will be kept for its armed forces.
The crew, four from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus, are all men in their 50s and former members of the Soviet air force. Mikhail Petukhov, the Belarusian pilot, served in the Soviet air force for almost 20 years. Kazakh Communications Ministry Civil Aviation Committee chairman, Radilbek Adimolda, said the Kazakh pilots were on leave from East Wind, a Kazakh private airline.
International trafficking networks make extensive use of former Soviet pilots and planes, researchers say. The planes are notorious for being under-serviced and in violation of safety standards. The pilots, often without work for months, are willing to fly unsafe aircraft to obscure destinations and to look the other way on the cargo. The people behind the networks are rarely identified.
Thai authorities are holding the men in Klong Prem prison on charges of falsifying information on their cargo declaration and transporting weapons. If convicted the men could face up to 10 years in Thai prison. Requests for bail were rejected.
All the men were working on contract to Air West, a company registered in the Republic of Georgia and holding the registration for the Ilyushin IL-76 freighter seized in Bangkok. The IL-76 was designed to carry heavy machinery to remote areas of Russia. Its ability to land on rough airstrips in remote regions makes it an ideal aircraft for transporting illicit cargoes.
The aircraft allegedly has a long involvement in transporting shady cargos. According to sources in the airfreight business, planes frequently change hands and registration numbers. The IL-76 detained in Bangkok was previously owned by a private Kazakh company, East Wing, then bought by Kazakh airline Beibers, which in turn sold it on to Air West, Georgia, in October, according to the Kazakh Transportation and Communications Ministry. Air West was registered in Batumi, Georgia in 2008 and its office is in the Ukraine.
For this flight, the plane was leased out to SP Transport Limited, a Ukrainian company. New Zealand authorities are also investigating a company with the same name. Both companies have a Lu Zhang listed as their director. The New Zealand company's shares are held by VICAM (Auckland) Ltd, which in turn is owned by Vanuatu-based GT Group.
Security analysts and freight operators say this type of paper trail is par for the course. Companies are shut down after being identified as trafficking in weapons or other illicit items or violation of air safety regulations, then open under different names. Aircraft similarly change registration, or are sold on or leased to other freight companies to disguise their business.
The detention of plane and crew in Bangkok may scare off would-be customers for North Korean arms. It is the second time a large weapons shipment has been interdicted since the imposition of UN Resolution 1874, passed in response to Pyongyang's refusal to stop its uranium enrichment program and ballistic missile tests held earlier this year. The resolution bans the transfer of heavy weapons as well as missiles and spare parts from North Korea and calls on countries to "inspect and destroy" those weapons.
Resolution 1874 is non-binding and relies on the resolve of member countries to enforce. However, in contrast to the rare seizure of North Korean weapons in years prior to the resolution, several actions have taken place since June to interdict stop North Korean arms shipments. A North Korea-registered vessel believed to be carrying weapons for Myanmar was forced to turn back in July after that country declared it would not allow the ship to dock. United Arab Emirates authorities in August seized a Bahamian-flagged ship, the ANL-Australia, which was found to be carrying North Korean military equipment destined for Iran and listed in the ship's manifest as oil-related. India has stopped at least two more North Korean vessels in its waters waters, although neither was found to be carrying weapons.
A halt in weapons sales would be a heavy blow to cash-starved North Korea, especially combined with the cutting-off of South Korean handouts that have kept the country's economy going. Arms are one of North Korea's biggest earners of foreign currency earners. Analysts say the regime earns more than $1 billion a year through arms sales, often to other rogue regimes or to rebel groups, many connected to gross human rights abuses. Its biggest sales are ballistic missiles to Iran and other Middle Eastern countries and possibly to Myanmar. Some security analysts claim the Bangkok seizure could even force the reclusive regime back into nuclear disarmament talks in order to win much-needed aid.
US envoy Stephen Bosworth was in Pyongyang days before the plane was detained, on a mission to persuade North Korea to rejoin six-nation disarmament talks. North Korean pulled out of the talks a year ago before concluding a deal with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the US that would have ended its nuclear program, and its pariah status, in exchange for international aid. Pyongyang in April proclaimed the talks "dead" in April after international criticism of its nuclear and missile tests.
North Korea and the US had reached a "common understanding" Bosworth said after the talks, giving hope that talks could begin again sometime next year. He said he emphasized the benefits North Korea would receive as a part of the present US administration's policy of engagement.
The envoy's visit marked the first high-level contact between the Barack Obama administration and the regime. Obama wrote a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in conjunction with the effort to bring the country back to the table. Although its contents have not been revealed, the letter was reportedly delivered in early December.
The US praised Thailand for its help in interdiction the weapons shipment. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in Washington two days after the arrest, "We are very pleased to see strong action taken by the Thais and it would not have been possible without strong action of the United Nations." The US Embassy has refused to confirm or deny an American role in the incident, although Thai officials have repeatedly cited American intelligence tipping them off to the shipment.
This is the second time in two years that Thai authorities have supported American efforts against international arms trafficking. In March 2008, US intelligence and law enforcement agencies carried out a sting in Bangkok that resulted in the arrest of international arms merchants Viktor Bout. Bout is accused of arranging shipments of millions of dollars worth of weapons to rebel and terrorist groups and governments around the world and has been indicted in New York on four charges related to terrorism. He maintains the charges against him are false. An attempt by the US to have him extradited was blocked by the Thai courts in August.
Although Bout is not believed to have had a role in the shipment of arms detained in Bangkok, there are some curious links to his trafficking network. The weapons plane had been registered to three companies previously identified by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control as owned by Bout. Beibers, the Kazakh company which sold the plane to Air West has been linked to alleged Serbian arms trafficker Tomislav Damnjanovic.
The facilitators and buyers of this shipment so far remain a mystery. The winding paper trail and fly-by-night companies involved make shipments such as these difficult to trace. Initial speculation was that the shipment was destined for Sri Lanka, Pakistan or the Middle East. In a commentary published in the Washington Post on Friday, Dennis Blair, the US director for national intelligence, gave a better indication of where the weapons had been destined to go. "Teamwork among different agencies in the United States and partners abroad just last week led to the interdiction of a Middle East-bound cargo of North Korean weapons," he wrote.
Whatever the intended destination for the weapons, the seizure of the plane and crew reiterates American resolve to isolate North Korea and force it back to the negotiating table. It also shows its ability to call in favors from friends to achieve this aim. For international arms merchants and their customers it may be time to look for a different source of product.
Brian McCartan is a Bangkok-based freelance journalist.
Asia Times Online - Weapons seizure hits North Korea hard
By Brian McCartan
BANGKOK - The detention in Thailand of a cargo plane transporting weapons and the arrest of its crew remain shrouded in mystery. The destination of the weapons and identity of their buyers is uncertain. American officials and analysts believe, however, that the intervention dealt a blow to North Korea's arms sales.
The Air West flight's outbound journey was normal enough. After leaving Ukraine, the aircraft stopped to refuel in Azerbaijan, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bangkok before landing in Pyongyang. After picking up the cargo in North Korea, the crew told authorities, the flight was scheduled to stop in Bangkok, Sri Lanka, the UAE and finally Ukraine. What they haven't told investigators is where they planned to offload the weapons.
Thai authorities are baffled about why the plane stopped in Bangkok on the return trip since Thailand is known for close ties to the United States. A more direct route would have been over China, stopping in Lashio or Mandalay in Myanmar to refuel. Another flight from North Korea in November 2008 took this route in an attempt to take cargo to Iran that American authorities feared could be related to weapons of mass destruction. That flight was blocked when India refused to allow the plane to fly through its airspace. The Air West flight's scheduled stop in Colombo, Sri Lanka, was likely an attempt to avoid a repeat.
A search of the plane's cargo after a tip-off from US intelligence sources found 35 tonnes of crated weapons inside the fuselage, according to Thai authorities. The haul included large numbers of rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), man-portable surface-to-air missiles, and two mobile multiple-rocket launchers, either M-1985 or M-1991's, capable of firing 240mm rockets. The weapons were removed by the Thai military to Takhili Air Force base in central Nakhon Sawan, north of Bangkok. Thai authorities estimated the value of the cargo at around US$18 million. The crew, who are likely to be telling the truth, said they believed they were carrying heavy equipment for oil operations.
The next step is for the weapons to be inventoried and reported to the UN's North Korea Sanctions Committee, which is mandated to investigate violations of the sanctions. Under UN resolutions, the weapons should then be destroyed, although there is some debate in Thailand about whether the weapons will be kept for its armed forces.
The crew, four from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus, are all men in their 50s and former members of the Soviet air force. Mikhail Petukhov, the Belarusian pilot, served in the Soviet air force for almost 20 years. Kazakh Communications Ministry Civil Aviation Committee chairman, Radilbek Adimolda, said the Kazakh pilots were on leave from East Wind, a Kazakh private airline.
International trafficking networks make extensive use of former Soviet pilots and planes, researchers say. The planes are notorious for being under-serviced and in violation of safety standards. The pilots, often without work for months, are willing to fly unsafe aircraft to obscure destinations and to look the other way on the cargo. The people behind the networks are rarely identified.
Thai authorities are holding the men in Klong Prem prison on charges of falsifying information on their cargo declaration and transporting weapons. If convicted the men could face up to 10 years in Thai prison. Requests for bail were rejected.
All the men were working on contract to Air West, a company registered in the Republic of Georgia and holding the registration for the Ilyushin IL-76 freighter seized in Bangkok. The IL-76 was designed to carry heavy machinery to remote areas of Russia. Its ability to land on rough airstrips in remote regions makes it an ideal aircraft for transporting illicit cargoes.
The aircraft allegedly has a long involvement in transporting shady cargos. According to sources in the airfreight business, planes frequently change hands and registration numbers. The IL-76 detained in Bangkok was previously owned by a private Kazakh company, East Wing, then bought by Kazakh airline Beibers, which in turn sold it on to Air West, Georgia, in October, according to the Kazakh Transportation and Communications Ministry. Air West was registered in Batumi, Georgia in 2008 and its office is in the Ukraine.
For this flight, the plane was leased out to SP Transport Limited, a Ukrainian company. New Zealand authorities are also investigating a company with the same name. Both companies have a Lu Zhang listed as their director. The New Zealand company's shares are held by VICAM (Auckland) Ltd, which in turn is owned by Vanuatu-based GT Group.
Security analysts and freight operators say this type of paper trail is par for the course. Companies are shut down after being identified as trafficking in weapons or other illicit items or violation of air safety regulations, then open under different names. Aircraft similarly change registration, or are sold on or leased to other freight companies to disguise their business.
The detention of plane and crew in Bangkok may scare off would-be customers for North Korean arms. It is the second time a large weapons shipment has been interdicted since the imposition of UN Resolution 1874, passed in response to Pyongyang's refusal to stop its uranium enrichment program and ballistic missile tests held earlier this year. The resolution bans the transfer of heavy weapons as well as missiles and spare parts from North Korea and calls on countries to "inspect and destroy" those weapons.
Resolution 1874 is non-binding and relies on the resolve of member countries to enforce. However, in contrast to the rare seizure of North Korean weapons in years prior to the resolution, several actions have taken place since June to interdict stop North Korean arms shipments. A North Korea-registered vessel believed to be carrying weapons for Myanmar was forced to turn back in July after that country declared it would not allow the ship to dock. United Arab Emirates authorities in August seized a Bahamian-flagged ship, the ANL-Australia, which was found to be carrying North Korean military equipment destined for Iran and listed in the ship's manifest as oil-related. India has stopped at least two more North Korean vessels in its waters waters, although neither was found to be carrying weapons.
A halt in weapons sales would be a heavy blow to cash-starved North Korea, especially combined with the cutting-off of South Korean handouts that have kept the country's economy going. Arms are one of North Korea's biggest earners of foreign currency earners. Analysts say the regime earns more than $1 billion a year through arms sales, often to other rogue regimes or to rebel groups, many connected to gross human rights abuses. Its biggest sales are ballistic missiles to Iran and other Middle Eastern countries and possibly to Myanmar. Some security analysts claim the Bangkok seizure could even force the reclusive regime back into nuclear disarmament talks in order to win much-needed aid.
US envoy Stephen Bosworth was in Pyongyang days before the plane was detained, on a mission to persuade North Korea to rejoin six-nation disarmament talks. North Korean pulled out of the talks a year ago before concluding a deal with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the US that would have ended its nuclear program, and its pariah status, in exchange for international aid. Pyongyang in April proclaimed the talks "dead" in April after international criticism of its nuclear and missile tests.
North Korea and the US had reached a "common understanding" Bosworth said after the talks, giving hope that talks could begin again sometime next year. He said he emphasized the benefits North Korea would receive as a part of the present US administration's policy of engagement.
The envoy's visit marked the first high-level contact between the Barack Obama administration and the regime. Obama wrote a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in conjunction with the effort to bring the country back to the table. Although its contents have not been revealed, the letter was reportedly delivered in early December.
The US praised Thailand for its help in interdiction the weapons shipment. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in Washington two days after the arrest, "We are very pleased to see strong action taken by the Thais and it would not have been possible without strong action of the United Nations." The US Embassy has refused to confirm or deny an American role in the incident, although Thai officials have repeatedly cited American intelligence tipping them off to the shipment.
This is the second time in two years that Thai authorities have supported American efforts against international arms trafficking. In March 2008, US intelligence and law enforcement agencies carried out a sting in Bangkok that resulted in the arrest of international arms merchants Viktor Bout. Bout is accused of arranging shipments of millions of dollars worth of weapons to rebel and terrorist groups and governments around the world and has been indicted in New York on four charges related to terrorism. He maintains the charges against him are false. An attempt by the US to have him extradited was blocked by the Thai courts in August.
Although Bout is not believed to have had a role in the shipment of arms detained in Bangkok, there are some curious links to his trafficking network. The weapons plane had been registered to three companies previously identified by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control as owned by Bout. Beibers, the Kazakh company which sold the plane to Air West has been linked to alleged Serbian arms trafficker Tomislav Damnjanovic.
The facilitators and buyers of this shipment so far remain a mystery. The winding paper trail and fly-by-night companies involved make shipments such as these difficult to trace. Initial speculation was that the shipment was destined for Sri Lanka, Pakistan or the Middle East. In a commentary published in the Washington Post on Friday, Dennis Blair, the US director for national intelligence, gave a better indication of where the weapons had been destined to go. "Teamwork among different agencies in the United States and partners abroad just last week led to the interdiction of a Middle East-bound cargo of North Korean weapons," he wrote.
Whatever the intended destination for the weapons, the seizure of the plane and crew reiterates American resolve to isolate North Korea and force it back to the negotiating table. It also shows its ability to call in favors from friends to achieve this aim. For international arms merchants and their customers it may be time to look for a different source of product.
Brian McCartan is a Bangkok-based freelance journalist.
******************************************************************
POLITICS: Nobel Laureate’s Burma Visit: ‘Moment of Hope’?
By Stanislaus Jude Chan
SINGAPORE, Dec 21 (IPS) - To activists more accustomed to working against Burma’s military junta than with it, any engagement with the recalcitrant regime will amount to nothing. But to 2001 Nobel Prize winner Josepth Stiglitz, it is a window of opportunity for a country that has known only poverty and repression.
At a press conference organised here Monday by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Stiglitz expressed optimism over the prospects for change in Burma’s rural economy. "In general, there is the hope that this is the moment of change for the country," Stiglitz said.
The former chief economist of the World Bank was in Burma last week to meet with the state’s Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Maj Gen Htay Oo and National Development Minister Soe Tha. He was part of a mission organised by ESCAP aimed at assessing and improving Burma’s rural economy.
ESCAP held a wide-ranging dialogue with the South-east Asian state to boost the country’s agricultural sector and to help it reclaim its status as the rice bowl of Asia. It was a "moment of hope," said Stiglitz.
"This is the moment of change for the country," opined the noted economist. "And it would be a mistake to miss this moment."
But some are sceptical about the changes that Stiglitz and ESCAP expect to bring to a country still ruled by a regime notorious for its oppression and secrecy. "The same as the junta’s sucker bait," charged one irate member of the audience, as he marched up to Stiglitz after the conference. The colloquial phrase suggests a scheme to deceive the ignorant.
To some observers, however, it is precisely this softer, non-confrontational approach that has seen ESCAP make some headway toward improving the economic conditions of the rural poor in Burma, also known as Myanmar. Some 75 percent of the country's estimated 57 million people live in rural areas and make up the largest slice of the country's poor. Malnutrition is rampant and affects over a third of the country's children.
Burma is still reeling from the effects of Cyclone Nargis, which tore through the rice-growing Irrawaddy Delta in May last year, killing more than 140,000 people.
"The effects of a cyclone last long after the cyclone itself," said Stiglitz, adding that disaster had devastated the credit system in Burma, affected the supply of fertilisers, and destroyed the livestock.
The long-term impacts of the disaster combined with the effects of the global economic crisis and climate change on Burma have put the country in an even more precarious state. Thus, Stiglitz believes this is an appropriate time for the United Nations regional body, headed by Dr Noeleen Heyzer, to engage with one of Asia’s most oppressive regimes to hasten the country’s development.
"Even a country that is not integrated in the global economy is affected by the global recession," said Stiglitz. There is increased realisation within the regime that "the world is changing, and you have to change even if nothing else is going on," he added.
"It is my hope these ideas and analysis will open a new space for policy discussion and a further deepening of our development partnership," Heyzer said at the event held in Burma’s administrative capital, Naypidaw.
"These development objectives can only be achieved through the successful engagement of local experts and people who know what is happening on the ground. This development partnership, requested by the Government of Myanmar, provides a unique platform for eminent international scholars and local researchers to exchange experiences and ideas with government agencies and civil society," Heyzer added.
Based on his talks with farmers during his visit to Burma, Stiglitz identified the high cost of credit in the rural areas, with interest rates of at least 10 percent a month, as one of the issues Burma will have to overcome.
"Irrigation has increased the potential for productivity, but because many could not get credit to buy fertiliser and for hydro-electricity, the full potential could not be reached," he said.
He urged the Burmese government to promote access to appropriate agricultural financing, to boost access to seeds and fertilizers as well as spending on health and education, and create well-paid jobs in rural infrastructure construction in order to stimulate development and raise incomes and spending.
"If you don’t renew your human capital, it depreciates, just as fiscal capital depreciates," Stiglitz said as he urged the country to do more to bridge the demographic gaps in education in the country.
Stiglitz also noted that well-functioning institutions were critical to success, and that Burma could learn from the mistakes of other resource-rich countries. "Revenues from oil and gas can open up a new era, if used well. If not, then valuable opportunities will be squandered," he said.
"Economics and politics cannot be separated," Stiglitz added. "For Myanmar to take a role on the world stage and to achieve true stability and security there must be widespread participation and inclusive processes. This is the only way forward for Myanmar."
By Stanislaus Jude Chan
SINGAPORE, Dec 21 (IPS) - To activists more accustomed to working against Burma’s military junta than with it, any engagement with the recalcitrant regime will amount to nothing. But to 2001 Nobel Prize winner Josepth Stiglitz, it is a window of opportunity for a country that has known only poverty and repression.
At a press conference organised here Monday by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Stiglitz expressed optimism over the prospects for change in Burma’s rural economy. "In general, there is the hope that this is the moment of change for the country," Stiglitz said.
The former chief economist of the World Bank was in Burma last week to meet with the state’s Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Maj Gen Htay Oo and National Development Minister Soe Tha. He was part of a mission organised by ESCAP aimed at assessing and improving Burma’s rural economy.
ESCAP held a wide-ranging dialogue with the South-east Asian state to boost the country’s agricultural sector and to help it reclaim its status as the rice bowl of Asia. It was a "moment of hope," said Stiglitz.
"This is the moment of change for the country," opined the noted economist. "And it would be a mistake to miss this moment."
But some are sceptical about the changes that Stiglitz and ESCAP expect to bring to a country still ruled by a regime notorious for its oppression and secrecy. "The same as the junta’s sucker bait," charged one irate member of the audience, as he marched up to Stiglitz after the conference. The colloquial phrase suggests a scheme to deceive the ignorant.
To some observers, however, it is precisely this softer, non-confrontational approach that has seen ESCAP make some headway toward improving the economic conditions of the rural poor in Burma, also known as Myanmar. Some 75 percent of the country's estimated 57 million people live in rural areas and make up the largest slice of the country's poor. Malnutrition is rampant and affects over a third of the country's children.
Burma is still reeling from the effects of Cyclone Nargis, which tore through the rice-growing Irrawaddy Delta in May last year, killing more than 140,000 people.
"The effects of a cyclone last long after the cyclone itself," said Stiglitz, adding that disaster had devastated the credit system in Burma, affected the supply of fertilisers, and destroyed the livestock.
The long-term impacts of the disaster combined with the effects of the global economic crisis and climate change on Burma have put the country in an even more precarious state. Thus, Stiglitz believes this is an appropriate time for the United Nations regional body, headed by Dr Noeleen Heyzer, to engage with one of Asia’s most oppressive regimes to hasten the country’s development.
"Even a country that is not integrated in the global economy is affected by the global recession," said Stiglitz. There is increased realisation within the regime that "the world is changing, and you have to change even if nothing else is going on," he added.
"It is my hope these ideas and analysis will open a new space for policy discussion and a further deepening of our development partnership," Heyzer said at the event held in Burma’s administrative capital, Naypidaw.
"These development objectives can only be achieved through the successful engagement of local experts and people who know what is happening on the ground. This development partnership, requested by the Government of Myanmar, provides a unique platform for eminent international scholars and local researchers to exchange experiences and ideas with government agencies and civil society," Heyzer added.
Based on his talks with farmers during his visit to Burma, Stiglitz identified the high cost of credit in the rural areas, with interest rates of at least 10 percent a month, as one of the issues Burma will have to overcome.
"Irrigation has increased the potential for productivity, but because many could not get credit to buy fertiliser and for hydro-electricity, the full potential could not be reached," he said.
He urged the Burmese government to promote access to appropriate agricultural financing, to boost access to seeds and fertilizers as well as spending on health and education, and create well-paid jobs in rural infrastructure construction in order to stimulate development and raise incomes and spending.
"If you don’t renew your human capital, it depreciates, just as fiscal capital depreciates," Stiglitz said as he urged the country to do more to bridge the demographic gaps in education in the country.
Stiglitz also noted that well-functioning institutions were critical to success, and that Burma could learn from the mistakes of other resource-rich countries. "Revenues from oil and gas can open up a new era, if used well. If not, then valuable opportunities will be squandered," he said.
"Economics and politics cannot be separated," Stiglitz added. "For Myanmar to take a role on the world stage and to achieve true stability and security there must be widespread participation and inclusive processes. This is the only way forward for Myanmar."
******************************************************************
Monday, Dec. 21, 2009
READERS' FUND
The Japan Times - Refugees struggle to survive funding cuts
Groups try to provide a lifeline for people cut off from vital services
By MARIKO KATO, Staff writer
Since the government last May changed the way it distributes funds to asylum-seekers, nonprofit organizations have had to deal with an influx of callers in critical situations.
The office of the Japan Association for Refugees in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, sometimes gets 15 to 20 visits a day from refugees who have been cut off from government aid, according to Mika Sakurai, a staff member of the NPO.
"Until spring most people could just about survive, but now their minimum living standards are not being supported and they don't have anywhere to live," she said.
The number of applicants seeking refugee status in Japan this year is approaching last year's unusually large figure of 1,599, Sakurai said. Two years ago it was half that size.
In a bid to dole out limited funds efficiently, the government has shifted priority to the neediest refugees, including pregnant women and those with serious illnesses. But this has left more than 100 people without a home or food, and many are out of work, Sakurai said.
With the support of The Japan Times Readers' Fund, JAR helped three refugees, including a Nepalese man whose government support was cut off in April. He faced a gap of three weeks when he had no money, and as a diabetic also needed medical help, Sakurai said.
Many of the refugees who no longer receive government aid are waiting two or three months just to have their situation reassessed through interviews, she added.
The majority of asylum-seekers who contact JAR are from Myanmar, although this year saw an increase in Sri Lankan callers, Sakurai said.
"We also have a great number of calls from African people, because they don't yet have a community established in Japan where they can go to for support," she said.
With the economy slamming the labor market, foreign workers have been hit particularly hard, according to Ajia Yuko-no Ie (the Friendly Asians Home), another nonprofit organization in Shinjuku Ward.
"They're being sacked just because they're foreign, or their work hours are being reduced so much that it's like they're being killed slowly," said Taeko Kimura, managing director of the family-run NPO.
FAH, partly through support from The Japan Times Readers' Fund, helps refugees with infectious diseases and foreign students who graduated from college here but are unable to find work.
The majority of people seeking help are from Myanmar, although the NPO is determined to remain neutral on the junta-ruled country and the political stances of the refugees.
"If we don't help these people they would die from hunger. It's a matter of life and death," Kimura said.
One of FAH's most earnest missions is to ensure accurate reports about Myanmar are being spread among the refugees, who have different political stances and ethnic backgrounds. To help with this, the NPO has taken the rare step of installing the computer font needed to provide news in the refugees' native language.
"We want to eliminate the contradictions that come from accurate information not being spread," Kimura said.
But this new project cannot be completed without a donation of new computers because the group's current PCs are so old that some pages cannot be read, according to Kimura.
FAH also wants to correct misconceptions about Myanmar held by those Japanese who see the country only in terms of the conflict between the junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, said Kazuo Kimura, Taeko Kimura's son and director of the NPO.
For example, security measures and transport systems run by local governments or private companies, rather than the junta, are secure and run smoothly, he said.
"And though telephone systems are not well-established, Myanmar people actually have a sophisticated use of the Internet and access it frequently on their cell phones," he added.
READERS' FUND
The Japan Times - Refugees struggle to survive funding cuts
Groups try to provide a lifeline for people cut off from vital services
By MARIKO KATO, Staff writer
Since the government last May changed the way it distributes funds to asylum-seekers, nonprofit organizations have had to deal with an influx of callers in critical situations.
The office of the Japan Association for Refugees in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, sometimes gets 15 to 20 visits a day from refugees who have been cut off from government aid, according to Mika Sakurai, a staff member of the NPO.
"Until spring most people could just about survive, but now their minimum living standards are not being supported and they don't have anywhere to live," she said.
The number of applicants seeking refugee status in Japan this year is approaching last year's unusually large figure of 1,599, Sakurai said. Two years ago it was half that size.
In a bid to dole out limited funds efficiently, the government has shifted priority to the neediest refugees, including pregnant women and those with serious illnesses. But this has left more than 100 people without a home or food, and many are out of work, Sakurai said.
With the support of The Japan Times Readers' Fund, JAR helped three refugees, including a Nepalese man whose government support was cut off in April. He faced a gap of three weeks when he had no money, and as a diabetic also needed medical help, Sakurai said.
Many of the refugees who no longer receive government aid are waiting two or three months just to have their situation reassessed through interviews, she added.
The majority of asylum-seekers who contact JAR are from Myanmar, although this year saw an increase in Sri Lankan callers, Sakurai said.
"We also have a great number of calls from African people, because they don't yet have a community established in Japan where they can go to for support," she said.
With the economy slamming the labor market, foreign workers have been hit particularly hard, according to Ajia Yuko-no Ie (the Friendly Asians Home), another nonprofit organization in Shinjuku Ward.
"They're being sacked just because they're foreign, or their work hours are being reduced so much that it's like they're being killed slowly," said Taeko Kimura, managing director of the family-run NPO.
FAH, partly through support from The Japan Times Readers' Fund, helps refugees with infectious diseases and foreign students who graduated from college here but are unable to find work.
The majority of people seeking help are from Myanmar, although the NPO is determined to remain neutral on the junta-ruled country and the political stances of the refugees.
"If we don't help these people they would die from hunger. It's a matter of life and death," Kimura said.
One of FAH's most earnest missions is to ensure accurate reports about Myanmar are being spread among the refugees, who have different political stances and ethnic backgrounds. To help with this, the NPO has taken the rare step of installing the computer font needed to provide news in the refugees' native language.
"We want to eliminate the contradictions that come from accurate information not being spread," Kimura said.
But this new project cannot be completed without a donation of new computers because the group's current PCs are so old that some pages cannot be read, according to Kimura.
FAH also wants to correct misconceptions about Myanmar held by those Japanese who see the country only in terms of the conflict between the junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, said Kazuo Kimura, Taeko Kimura's son and director of the NPO.
For example, security measures and transport systems run by local governments or private companies, rather than the junta, are secure and run smoothly, he said.
"And though telephone systems are not well-established, Myanmar people actually have a sophisticated use of the Internet and access it frequently on their cell phones," he added.
******************************************************************
Bangkok Post - Burmese sell speed pills to fight junta
MINORITIES RAISING FUNDS FOR BATTLE, FLOOD OF SMUGGLED DRUGS PICKED
Published: 20/12/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
CHIANG MAI : Drug authorities have been alerted to a mass influx of methamphetamine pills across the border from Burma next month as ethnic groups aim to raise cash for weapons.
It is thought that elements among the Kokang and Wa people will step up drug production as a way to earn money and fight off pressure form Burma's junta as it tries to create an "electorate" for next year's much-maligned elections.
Thailand's concern was underlined after drugs police seized about 500,000 pills from United Wa State Army soldiers last month in two separate raids.
Militia soldiers were taken for questioning and admitted the money obtained from the drug trade would be spent in a war between them and Burmese forces.
"The Burmese government continues fighting drug trafficking. We believe they will carry out heavy suppression against these ethnic minority groups next year," said Adithep Panjamanont, commissioner of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau.
Some minority groups living along the Thai-Burma border adjacent to Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son provinces have set up about 50 drug refineries, according to sources.
Thai officials have worked with their Burma counterparts to destroy the factories and combat cross-border drug trafficking.
Pol Lt Gen Adithep said the situation of methamphetamine pill manufacturing and trafficking in the border region remained a worry despite heavy suppression by authorities of the two countries. Children aged 13 were found to have been addicted to the pills, he added.
Pol Lt Gen Adithep's comments came as Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban launched an expanded, royally-initiated project to eradicate opium plantations in Ban Khun Tuen Noi in Omkoi district, Chiang Mai.
The project is one of 10 in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son provinces which has been recently approved.
In the past 40 years, Thailand has reduced opium plantations from 112,000 rai to 1,319 rai, and an area about 700 rai has just been found in Omkoi district.
The cabinet recently approved a budget of 1.9 billion baht under the Thailand: Investing From Strength To Strength project to eradicate opium plantations.
The four-year campaign, starting next month, is aimed at encouraging Karen people to grow crops such as coffee, bean and rice.
At Ban Khun Tuen Noi, Mr Suthep called on officials to respect the rule of law and integrate their work to cope with the possible increase in drug trafficking next year.
"We expect to reduce drug trafficking and illegal drug use by 50% next year," said Mr Suthep.
MINORITIES RAISING FUNDS FOR BATTLE, FLOOD OF SMUGGLED DRUGS PICKED
Published: 20/12/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
CHIANG MAI : Drug authorities have been alerted to a mass influx of methamphetamine pills across the border from Burma next month as ethnic groups aim to raise cash for weapons.
It is thought that elements among the Kokang and Wa people will step up drug production as a way to earn money and fight off pressure form Burma's junta as it tries to create an "electorate" for next year's much-maligned elections.
Thailand's concern was underlined after drugs police seized about 500,000 pills from United Wa State Army soldiers last month in two separate raids.
Militia soldiers were taken for questioning and admitted the money obtained from the drug trade would be spent in a war between them and Burmese forces.
"The Burmese government continues fighting drug trafficking. We believe they will carry out heavy suppression against these ethnic minority groups next year," said Adithep Panjamanont, commissioner of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau.
Some minority groups living along the Thai-Burma border adjacent to Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son provinces have set up about 50 drug refineries, according to sources.
Thai officials have worked with their Burma counterparts to destroy the factories and combat cross-border drug trafficking.
Pol Lt Gen Adithep said the situation of methamphetamine pill manufacturing and trafficking in the border region remained a worry despite heavy suppression by authorities of the two countries. Children aged 13 were found to have been addicted to the pills, he added.
Pol Lt Gen Adithep's comments came as Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban launched an expanded, royally-initiated project to eradicate opium plantations in Ban Khun Tuen Noi in Omkoi district, Chiang Mai.
The project is one of 10 in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son provinces which has been recently approved.
In the past 40 years, Thailand has reduced opium plantations from 112,000 rai to 1,319 rai, and an area about 700 rai has just been found in Omkoi district.
The cabinet recently approved a budget of 1.9 billion baht under the Thailand: Investing From Strength To Strength project to eradicate opium plantations.
The four-year campaign, starting next month, is aimed at encouraging Karen people to grow crops such as coffee, bean and rice.
At Ban Khun Tuen Noi, Mr Suthep called on officials to respect the rule of law and integrate their work to cope with the possible increase in drug trafficking next year.
"We expect to reduce drug trafficking and illegal drug use by 50% next year," said Mr Suthep.
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Narinjara news - Tradition Oil Wells Seized for Junta Partnership Company
12/21/2009
Man Aung: The Burmese military authority has seized many traditional hand-dug oil wells owned by locals in Man Aung Township in Arakan State for the Asia World Company, which won concessions to explore for oil and gas in the area, said an owner of one oil well.
"The oil wells were confiscated by Man Aung Township authority on the high authority's instruction. Local villagers have lost over 100 hand-drilled oil wells in the confiscation. The authority confiscated the wells for Asia World Company, but has not given any compensation," he said.
The confiscated oil wells are located in the villages of Bu Daung Kwe, Nga Pa Gon, Min Site, Pyin, Inn Sanay, and Naga in Man Aung Township.
"As far as I know, 28 oil wells from Bu Daung Kwe, 22 oil wells from Nga Pa Gon, 30 oil wells from Min Site Pyin, 18 wells from Inn Sanay, and 20 oil wells from Naga Village have been confiscated. Over 100 hand-drilled wells in total were confiscated," he said.
The confiscation began on 1 December 2009, and authorities are still seizing oil wells located on lands near the site that is to be explored.
"Township Mayaka Secretary Aung Htin Lin and some officials from Asia World Company came to our village to do the confiscation of locally-owned oil wells. They also brought a notification letter signed by Township Chairman Nyi Nyi Lwin to show us," he added.
After the confiscation, many villagers lost their sole livelihood, and some workers in the area left to look for jobs elsewhere.
According to a local source, local people have been producing crude oil from the wells using traditional drilling methods for an unknown number of generations. They sold the oil in local markets after refining the crude oil themselves. This was often their sole source of income and means of survival.
Asia World Company, owned by Tun Mying Naing, son of drug-lord Lo Hsing Han, is now preparing to explore for oil using heavy machinery in the area.
The military authority also confiscated many traditional oil wells in Kyauk Pru Township on Rambree Island in Arakan for the benefit of China National Offshore Oil Company last month.
12/21/2009
Man Aung: The Burmese military authority has seized many traditional hand-dug oil wells owned by locals in Man Aung Township in Arakan State for the Asia World Company, which won concessions to explore for oil and gas in the area, said an owner of one oil well.
"The oil wells were confiscated by Man Aung Township authority on the high authority's instruction. Local villagers have lost over 100 hand-drilled oil wells in the confiscation. The authority confiscated the wells for Asia World Company, but has not given any compensation," he said.
The confiscated oil wells are located in the villages of Bu Daung Kwe, Nga Pa Gon, Min Site, Pyin, Inn Sanay, and Naga in Man Aung Township.
"As far as I know, 28 oil wells from Bu Daung Kwe, 22 oil wells from Nga Pa Gon, 30 oil wells from Min Site Pyin, 18 wells from Inn Sanay, and 20 oil wells from Naga Village have been confiscated. Over 100 hand-drilled wells in total were confiscated," he said.
The confiscation began on 1 December 2009, and authorities are still seizing oil wells located on lands near the site that is to be explored.
"Township Mayaka Secretary Aung Htin Lin and some officials from Asia World Company came to our village to do the confiscation of locally-owned oil wells. They also brought a notification letter signed by Township Chairman Nyi Nyi Lwin to show us," he added.
After the confiscation, many villagers lost their sole livelihood, and some workers in the area left to look for jobs elsewhere.
According to a local source, local people have been producing crude oil from the wells using traditional drilling methods for an unknown number of generations. They sold the oil in local markets after refining the crude oil themselves. This was often their sole source of income and means of survival.
Asia World Company, owned by Tun Mying Naing, son of drug-lord Lo Hsing Han, is now preparing to explore for oil using heavy machinery in the area.
The military authority also confiscated many traditional oil wells in Kyauk Pru Township on Rambree Island in Arakan for the benefit of China National Offshore Oil Company last month.
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Detained Burmese-American thrown into dog-cell
Monday, 21 December 2009 21:48 Myint Maung
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Detained Burmese American, Kyaw Zaw Lwin a.k.a Nyi Nyi Aung, has been shifted to a separate room, called military dog-cell, inside the notorious Insein prison, his aunt said.
Khin Khin Swe, who was allowed to meet Nyi Nyi Aung on Monday for a brief 20 minutes, told Mizzima that her nephew had been transferred to a dog-cell since December 7.
“I met him for about 20 minutes. He is thinner though in good health. He told me he wants to meet his lawyers and an official from the US embassy,” Khin Khin Swe said.
“We could not talk to him freely during his last court appearance on Friday. He said he had called off his hunger strike protest on December 15,” she added.
Nyi Nyi Aung, began a hunger-strike on December 4, in protest against the treatment of prisoners and demanding prisoner’s rights. But on the third day of the strike, prison authorities transferred him to the dog-cell, about an 8 feet square cellar where dogs are usually kept.
“He is not allowed to see or talk to anyone. And also not allowed to read newspapers. He said he was hooded when he was transferred to the dog-cell,” she added.
Nyi Nyi Aung’s aunt said, during their brief meeting with her nephew, prison security officials were busy listening and taking notes of their conversation.
Meanwhile, on Friday, 53 US Congressmen including US Congress Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Howard Berman, Mr. Frank Wolf and Human Rights Commission Joint-Chairman Mr. Tom Lantos sent a letter to Burmese Military Supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe asking him to immediately release Nyi Nyi Aung.
The United States Lawmakers, in their letter dated December 18 and addressed to Than Shwe, said Nyi Nyi Aung’s arrest is in violation of the Vienna Convention and is against domestic and international laws.
Besides, the pro-democracy activist have been deprived of his right to adequate healthcare, food, rest and an independent judiciary and is subject to torture, the letter accused.
The letter also said, Nyi Nyi Aung’s charges and trial has caused alarm among US lawmakers and raises serious doubts about the Burmese government’s willingness to improve relations with the US.
“We urge you in the strongest possible terms to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Aung and allow him to return to the United States,” the U.S. Congressmen told Than Shwe in the letter.
Nyi Nyi Aung, a naturalised US citizen, was arrested by Burmese authorities upon his arrival from Bangkok at the Rangoon Mingalardon airport on September 3.
The junta’s mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper accused the Burmese-American of having entered Burma eight times in the past and instigating public unrest by supporting underground activists in Rangoon.
But the charge-sheet filed against him, however, did not include any of the accusations made against him in the newspaper. He has been charged with forgery, holding a fake national identity card, cheating, and violation of foreign exchange regulations.
But the defendant’s international lawyer, Beth Swanke told Mizzima over telephone that the charges are ‘sham’ and the reason behind his arrest was his activism in promoting democracy and human rights in Burma.
Nyi Nyi Aung was an active student involved in the 1988 democracy uprising. He was forced to flee to the Thai-Burmese border along with several other students as the military junta began brutally cracking down on protestors.
He later migrated to United States and naturalised as a citizen.
Monday, 21 December 2009 21:48 Myint Maung
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Detained Burmese American, Kyaw Zaw Lwin a.k.a Nyi Nyi Aung, has been shifted to a separate room, called military dog-cell, inside the notorious Insein prison, his aunt said.
Khin Khin Swe, who was allowed to meet Nyi Nyi Aung on Monday for a brief 20 minutes, told Mizzima that her nephew had been transferred to a dog-cell since December 7.
“I met him for about 20 minutes. He is thinner though in good health. He told me he wants to meet his lawyers and an official from the US embassy,” Khin Khin Swe said.
“We could not talk to him freely during his last court appearance on Friday. He said he had called off his hunger strike protest on December 15,” she added.
Nyi Nyi Aung, began a hunger-strike on December 4, in protest against the treatment of prisoners and demanding prisoner’s rights. But on the third day of the strike, prison authorities transferred him to the dog-cell, about an 8 feet square cellar where dogs are usually kept.
“He is not allowed to see or talk to anyone. And also not allowed to read newspapers. He said he was hooded when he was transferred to the dog-cell,” she added.
Nyi Nyi Aung’s aunt said, during their brief meeting with her nephew, prison security officials were busy listening and taking notes of their conversation.
Meanwhile, on Friday, 53 US Congressmen including US Congress Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Howard Berman, Mr. Frank Wolf and Human Rights Commission Joint-Chairman Mr. Tom Lantos sent a letter to Burmese Military Supremo Snr Gen Than Shwe asking him to immediately release Nyi Nyi Aung.
The United States Lawmakers, in their letter dated December 18 and addressed to Than Shwe, said Nyi Nyi Aung’s arrest is in violation of the Vienna Convention and is against domestic and international laws.
Besides, the pro-democracy activist have been deprived of his right to adequate healthcare, food, rest and an independent judiciary and is subject to torture, the letter accused.
The letter also said, Nyi Nyi Aung’s charges and trial has caused alarm among US lawmakers and raises serious doubts about the Burmese government’s willingness to improve relations with the US.
“We urge you in the strongest possible terms to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Aung and allow him to return to the United States,” the U.S. Congressmen told Than Shwe in the letter.
Nyi Nyi Aung, a naturalised US citizen, was arrested by Burmese authorities upon his arrival from Bangkok at the Rangoon Mingalardon airport on September 3.
The junta’s mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper accused the Burmese-American of having entered Burma eight times in the past and instigating public unrest by supporting underground activists in Rangoon.
But the charge-sheet filed against him, however, did not include any of the accusations made against him in the newspaper. He has been charged with forgery, holding a fake national identity card, cheating, and violation of foreign exchange regulations.
But the defendant’s international lawyer, Beth Swanke told Mizzima over telephone that the charges are ‘sham’ and the reason behind his arrest was his activism in promoting democracy and human rights in Burma.
Nyi Nyi Aung was an active student involved in the 1988 democracy uprising. He was forced to flee to the Thai-Burmese border along with several other students as the military junta began brutally cracking down on protestors.
He later migrated to United States and naturalised as a citizen.
******************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Foreigners Banned at Naga New Year Festival
By ARKAR MOE - Monday, December 21, 2009
Foreign tourists have been banned from attending the Naga New Year's festival this year by the Burmese military government, according to Rangoon-based tour companies. No reason was given for the ban.
Travel agencies in Rangoon which has provided tours to the festival for years told The Irrawaddy on Monday that tourists will not be allowed to attend the festival this year. Well-known S. S. T Tourism company also said it has cancelled its tour for foreign travelers.
“Even the number of in-bound tourists for the beginning of the 2009-10 season is up over the previous year," an employee said. "Most were allowed to visit Pagan, Inlay lake and Mrauk-Oo.”
The festival is one of the best opportunities for foreign travelers to visit the remote Naga region, located near Indian-Burma border, and to experience one of Asia's last authentic traditional culture events.
The Naga are part of the Tibetan-Burman group and live throughout the northwest region of Burma. After harvesting their crops, the Naga celebrate with a New Year's festival to welcome in the next season. The festival is a social event to exchange experiences from the previous year and to make plans for the coming year. Prayer are made for abundant crops, domestic animals and good weather.
Annually Naga festival is held from Jan. 11 to 17.
According to the “Weekly Eleven” journal in Rangoon, 36 foreign tourist visited the festival in Lashi Township in 2001. In 2004, 176 tourists attended the festival.
By ARKAR MOE - Monday, December 21, 2009
Foreign tourists have been banned from attending the Naga New Year's festival this year by the Burmese military government, according to Rangoon-based tour companies. No reason was given for the ban.
Travel agencies in Rangoon which has provided tours to the festival for years told The Irrawaddy on Monday that tourists will not be allowed to attend the festival this year. Well-known S. S. T Tourism company also said it has cancelled its tour for foreign travelers.
“Even the number of in-bound tourists for the beginning of the 2009-10 season is up over the previous year," an employee said. "Most were allowed to visit Pagan, Inlay lake and Mrauk-Oo.”
The festival is one of the best opportunities for foreign travelers to visit the remote Naga region, located near Indian-Burma border, and to experience one of Asia's last authentic traditional culture events.
The Naga are part of the Tibetan-Burman group and live throughout the northwest region of Burma. After harvesting their crops, the Naga celebrate with a New Year's festival to welcome in the next season. The festival is a social event to exchange experiences from the previous year and to make plans for the coming year. Prayer are made for abundant crops, domestic animals and good weather.
Annually Naga festival is held from Jan. 11 to 17.
According to the “Weekly Eleven” journal in Rangoon, 36 foreign tourist visited the festival in Lashi Township in 2001. In 2004, 176 tourists attended the festival.
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