Myanmar regime trying to influence court case: Suu Kyi
By Aung Hla Tun – Fri Jan 29, 3:18 am ET
YANGON (Reuters) – Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said a government minister's comment that she would be freed in November could be contempt of court as she appeals her sentence.
Home Minister Major General Maung Oo told a January 21 meeting of local officials the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner would be released in November, a month after many observers expect the country to hold its first parliamentary elections in two decades.
Suu Kyi said the minister should not have made the remark since the Supreme Court was processing her appeal, Nyan Win, one of her lawyers and a senior official from her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, told Reuters.
"She feels that his remark is tantamount to attempts to influence the legal trend and the court's decision," Nyan Win said, a day after meeting with Suu Kyi at her lakeside home.
Suu Kyi, detained for 15 of the past 21 years, was sentenced to a further 18 months of house arrest last August for harboring an American who swam uninvited to her home.
That incident took place in May 2009, just before an earlier period of house arrest was due to end. Taking into account the three months she spent in a prison guesthouse after the incident, her 18-month sentence would end in November.
The guilty verdict sparked an international outcry, with critics dismissing it as an attempt to keep her in detention ahead of elections.
The planned election would be the first since 1990, when Suu Kyi's party scored a landslide victory that the country's junta refused to recognize.
The military junta has not set a date for the poll but has promised the vote would be free, fair and inclusive.
But the plan is derided by opponents as a sham designed to let the army retain real power.
Some observers said the court's decision to hear Suu Kyi's appeal would make no difference and she would be released only if it suited the junta leaders.
The United States and others are reviewing policy toward the former Burma after years of sanctions and trade embargoes failed to get the junta to improve its human rights record or relax its grip on power.
Obama has offered Myanmar the prospect of better ties with Washington if it pursued democratic reform and freed over 2,000 political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
By Aung Hla Tun – Fri Jan 29, 3:18 am ET
YANGON (Reuters) – Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said a government minister's comment that she would be freed in November could be contempt of court as she appeals her sentence.
Home Minister Major General Maung Oo told a January 21 meeting of local officials the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner would be released in November, a month after many observers expect the country to hold its first parliamentary elections in two decades.
Suu Kyi said the minister should not have made the remark since the Supreme Court was processing her appeal, Nyan Win, one of her lawyers and a senior official from her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, told Reuters.
"She feels that his remark is tantamount to attempts to influence the legal trend and the court's decision," Nyan Win said, a day after meeting with Suu Kyi at her lakeside home.
Suu Kyi, detained for 15 of the past 21 years, was sentenced to a further 18 months of house arrest last August for harboring an American who swam uninvited to her home.
That incident took place in May 2009, just before an earlier period of house arrest was due to end. Taking into account the three months she spent in a prison guesthouse after the incident, her 18-month sentence would end in November.
The guilty verdict sparked an international outcry, with critics dismissing it as an attempt to keep her in detention ahead of elections.
The planned election would be the first since 1990, when Suu Kyi's party scored a landslide victory that the country's junta refused to recognize.
The military junta has not set a date for the poll but has promised the vote would be free, fair and inclusive.
But the plan is derided by opponents as a sham designed to let the army retain real power.
Some observers said the court's decision to hear Suu Kyi's appeal would make no difference and she would be released only if it suited the junta leaders.
The United States and others are reviewing policy toward the former Burma after years of sanctions and trade embargoes failed to get the junta to improve its human rights record or relax its grip on power.
Obama has offered Myanmar the prospect of better ties with Washington if it pursued democratic reform and freed over 2,000 political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
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Myanmar journalist jailed for 13 years
Fri Jan 29, 6:15 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – A Myanmar court has handed down a 13-year jail term to a journalist for working for exiled media, his legal counsel said Friday, as the ruling junta continues its crackdown on dissent.
Ngwe Soe Lin was sentenced Wednesday after being arrested for working for the Myanmar exile broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma, based in Norwegian capital Oslo, lawyer Aung Thein told AFP.
"Ngwe Soe Lin was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Wednesday at a special court in Insein prison," Aung Thein said.
There was no immediate confirmation of the sentence from authorities in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which remains under tight US and EU sanctions because of its human rights records.
Aung Thein added that Ngwe Soe Lin would appeal the ruling, which sentenced him to 10 years in jail for violation of the country's Electronics Act and another three years under the Immigration Emergency Provisions Act.
Aye Chan Naing, the head of Democratic Voice of Burma, told AFP that he believed the junta was attempting to seize greater control over media ahead of national elections planned for later this year.
"It has to be seen in connection with the upcoming election. The regime wants to impose even stricter rules against the freedom of expression and information," Aye Chan Naing said.
"They are arresting one journalist after the other. This was not the case before. They have arrested journalists in the past but not that frequently," he added.
A Myanmar court in December handed 25-year-old freelance video reporter Hla Hla Win a 20-year jail term on similar charges after it ruled she had worked for the Democratic Voice of Burma.
Analysts said convicting journalists of working for exiled media was part of a continued crackdown on those involved in anti-junta protests led by Buddhist monks in September 2007.
Myanmar has handed heavy jail terms to scores of activists, monks, student leaders and journalists for their alleged roles in the protests and for helping victims of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, and its tightly controlled state media often accuses foreign news organisations of stirring trouble within the country.
An election this year would be the country's first since 1990. Pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's party won the last ballot by a landslide but was never permitted to take office.
The military regime has defied persistent international appeals by keeping Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for most of the past two decades.
Fri Jan 29, 6:15 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – A Myanmar court has handed down a 13-year jail term to a journalist for working for exiled media, his legal counsel said Friday, as the ruling junta continues its crackdown on dissent.
Ngwe Soe Lin was sentenced Wednesday after being arrested for working for the Myanmar exile broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma, based in Norwegian capital Oslo, lawyer Aung Thein told AFP.
"Ngwe Soe Lin was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Wednesday at a special court in Insein prison," Aung Thein said.
There was no immediate confirmation of the sentence from authorities in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which remains under tight US and EU sanctions because of its human rights records.
Aung Thein added that Ngwe Soe Lin would appeal the ruling, which sentenced him to 10 years in jail for violation of the country's Electronics Act and another three years under the Immigration Emergency Provisions Act.
Aye Chan Naing, the head of Democratic Voice of Burma, told AFP that he believed the junta was attempting to seize greater control over media ahead of national elections planned for later this year.
"It has to be seen in connection with the upcoming election. The regime wants to impose even stricter rules against the freedom of expression and information," Aye Chan Naing said.
"They are arresting one journalist after the other. This was not the case before. They have arrested journalists in the past but not that frequently," he added.
A Myanmar court in December handed 25-year-old freelance video reporter Hla Hla Win a 20-year jail term on similar charges after it ruled she had worked for the Democratic Voice of Burma.
Analysts said convicting journalists of working for exiled media was part of a continued crackdown on those involved in anti-junta protests led by Buddhist monks in September 2007.
Myanmar has handed heavy jail terms to scores of activists, monks, student leaders and journalists for their alleged roles in the protests and for helping victims of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, and its tightly controlled state media often accuses foreign news organisations of stirring trouble within the country.
An election this year would be the country's first since 1990. Pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's party won the last ballot by a landslide but was never permitted to take office.
The military regime has defied persistent international appeals by keeping Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for most of the past two decades.
***********************************************************
Asian countries pledge to double tiger population
Fri Jan 29, 9:10 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Representatives from 13 Asian countries on Friday pledged to double the number of wild tigers by the year 2022 and called for protection of habitats to save the animals from extinction.
The declaration, announced in a press statement by officials at the first Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation, in Thai coastal resort of Hua Hin, was hailed by conservation groups at the meeting.
"Let us join together boldly to save the wild tiger," Suwit Khunkitti, Thailand's minister of environment and natural resources, said in the statement.
The global wild tiger population is estimated to be at an all-time low of 3,200, down from an estimated 20,000 in the 1980s and 100,000 a century ago.
The declaration to preserve the animals will be considered for approval by heads of the 13 states when they meet in a Tiger Summit in September in Vladivostok, Russia, hosted by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"We look forward to seeing their pledges turn into firm actions in Vladivostok," said Michael Baltzer, from the conservation agency WWF, adding he was "delighted to see a ray of hope for the tiger".
The 13 countries who attended the Hua Hin conference were Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The meeting, which began Wednesday, was organised by Thailand and the Global Tiger Initiative, a coalition formed in 2008 by the World Bank, US-based the Smithsonian Institute and dozens of conservation groups.
A recent WWF report blamed infrastructure developments, such as forests being cut up by roads and converted into commercial crop plantations, for destroying tigers' habitats.
The report also cited growing demand for tiger body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine as a major factor endangering wild tiger populations.
Fri Jan 29, 9:10 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Representatives from 13 Asian countries on Friday pledged to double the number of wild tigers by the year 2022 and called for protection of habitats to save the animals from extinction.
The declaration, announced in a press statement by officials at the first Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation, in Thai coastal resort of Hua Hin, was hailed by conservation groups at the meeting.
"Let us join together boldly to save the wild tiger," Suwit Khunkitti, Thailand's minister of environment and natural resources, said in the statement.
The global wild tiger population is estimated to be at an all-time low of 3,200, down from an estimated 20,000 in the 1980s and 100,000 a century ago.
The declaration to preserve the animals will be considered for approval by heads of the 13 states when they meet in a Tiger Summit in September in Vladivostok, Russia, hosted by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"We look forward to seeing their pledges turn into firm actions in Vladivostok," said Michael Baltzer, from the conservation agency WWF, adding he was "delighted to see a ray of hope for the tiger".
The 13 countries who attended the Hua Hin conference were Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The meeting, which began Wednesday, was organised by Thailand and the Global Tiger Initiative, a coalition formed in 2008 by the World Bank, US-based the Smithsonian Institute and dozens of conservation groups.
A recent WWF report blamed infrastructure developments, such as forests being cut up by roads and converted into commercial crop plantations, for destroying tigers' habitats.
The report also cited growing demand for tiger body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine as a major factor endangering wild tiger populations.
***********************************************************
Jan 30, 2010
Asia Times Online - How Myanmar's opium grows
By Brian McCartan
BANGKOK - The controversy over the scale of Myanmar's opium production took another turn with the release of a new report that claims cultivation has surged in territories where the military government has recently taken control. The report draws more extreme conclusions than recent research released by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), whose Bangkok-based representatives declined an invitation to attend the new report's release.
Entitled "Poisoned Hills: Opium cultivation surges under government control in Burma", the report was released by the Palaung Women's Organization (PWO), a non-governmental organization based in Mae Sot, Thailand. The new research corroborates the findings of previous reports about the drug trade in Myanmar, also known as Burma, published by the Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN), which unlike the UNODC relies on an extensive network of sources inside the Shan state for its data.
The PWO report said that "amounts [of opium grown] are far higher than reported in the annual surveys of the [UNODC], and are flourishing not in 'insurgent and ceasefire areas,' as claimed by the UN, but in areas controlled by Burma's military government". The report described how Myanmar authorities systematically extort fees from opium poppy farmers and file false eradication reports. The group concluded that "unless the regime's militarization strategies are challenged, international funding will make little difference to the drug problem in Burma".
Those findings contrast sharply with the UNODC's own survey of opium production in Southeast Asia, which was released on December 14 to a large crowd of UN representatives, embassy officials and Thai and Western counter-narcotics officials, none of whom were present for the PWO's report's release. That's potentially because the UNODC relies on exclusive cooperation with Myanmar's military and government ministries and departments for its information and ground surveys, some analysts suggested at the PWO's report release.
The PWO report's findings are consistent with SHAN claims that the spread of opium poppy cultivation is directly related to the spread of government-backed and -trained militias in the area. According to SHAN editor Sai Khuensai Jaiyen, a long-time observer of the narcotics trade in Myanmar, Shan State areas that have fallen from insurgent to government control have seen a marked increase in the opium production.
At a press conference on Tuesday, he characterized that surge as a "balloon effect", wherein ceasefire groups that have banned cultivation in their own territories have seen it spread to new adjacent areas - all of which is under government control. By 2006, all known major drug-producing groups in Shan State had declared their areas free of poppy cultivation.
The National Democratic Alliance Army in northeastern Shan State made the claim in 1997; the Kokang in northern Shan State in 2002; the United Wa State Army, which is known to have diversified into methamphetamine production, in 2005; and the Loi Maw area in northern Shan State, the birthplace and one of the former operating areas of notorious drug lord Khun Sa, in 2006.
Although opium is no longer grown in these groups' controlled areas, Sai Kheunsai and sources close to Thai counter-narcotics officials say they are still involved in purchasing raw opium from growers and refining it into heroin. Much of the opium and heroin is then sold in the Golden Triangle region of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand to buyers from Hong Kong, from where it is often trafficked into China.
Drug-dealing militias
Since 2004, the junta has encouraged the formation of militias as an armed hedge against increasingly recalcitrant ceasefire armies. The trade-off is that the militias are allowed to engage in business activities, both legal and illegal, to support their operations. Members of community organizations representing ethnic Shan, Palaung, Kachin, Lahu and other groups in Shan State have claimed in interviews with this correspondent that government-backed militia commanders are involved in the cultivation, purchase and processing of opium in their controlled areas.
"The situation now is not unlike the Ka Kwe Yay time," said Sai Khuensai, referring to the historical period between 1963 and 1972 when government-recognized militia groups were allowed to trade in opium in exchange for fighting against various rebel groups then active in the Shan State.
Because many of the militia groups were more interested in the narcotics trade than fighting and eventually struck their own deals with rebels, the program was disbanded. By then, the program had spawned several now notorious druglords, including former Mong Tai Army leader Khun Sa and narcotics trafficker-turned-businessman and regime confidante Lo Hsing Han.
Curiously, the UNODC's 2009 opium survey for Myanmar makes no mention of these militia groups or their possible role in opium production. It does, however, note "indications that ceasefire groups are selling drugs to buy weapons and moving stocks to avoid detection". The leaders of those same groups, including Peng Jiasheng of the Kokang, Bao Youxiang of the UWSA and Lin Minxiang of the NDAA, were until recently lauded by the military government as "national race leaders" (ethnic group representatives) and their opium eradication efforts were praised by the generals as well as some counter-narcotics experts.
The UNODC has maintained a presence in Wa areas since 1998 and has facilitated other UN agencies and development organizations to establish programs in Wa and Kokang areas. The UN agency has also promoted programs in crop substitution and rural development. While the regime praised leaders such as Peng and Bao and the UNODC worked with them on development and opium eradication projects, little was said about their continued purchase of raw opium and its refinement into heroin.
Nor did the UNODC acknowledge some groups' switch to large-scale amphetamine production, which has helped to cover profits lost from opium eradication. The UNODC's 2009 opium survey says, "In 1996, the surrender of the notorious drug trafficker Khun Sa, leader of the Mong Tai Army, resulted in the collapse of armed resistance movements and led to the negotiation of a series of truce agreements with most breakaway factions."
Analysts note that the end of large-scale warfare in the Shan State occurred seven years earlier, when the factions of the former Burmese Communist Party that mutinied in 1989 agreed to ceasefires with the government. All of these groups were given tacit approval to continue their activities in the narcotics trade in exchange for ceasefire agreements.
In order to pressure ceasefire groups to transform their armed wings into military-controlled border guard forces, ahead of general elections planned for this year, the junta has recently condemned certain ceasefire group leaders. That includes the junta's publicizing of UWSA involvement in producing amphetamine shipments that have recently been seized along the Thai-Myanmar border.
A search for drugs sparked the crisis that culminated in last August's offensive against former national race leader Peng Jiasheng and his Kokang ceasefire army. (See Border war rattles China-Myanmar ties, Asia Times Online, September 1, 2009)
Since the late 1980s, the military regime has increased the number of battalions stationed in northern Myanmar. Currently over 150 battalions are based in Shan State alone. Rather than improve the security situation and end opium production, the increased military presence has resulted in rampant corruption.
The PWO report describes in detail the extortion money - which authorities refer to as "taxes" - demanded by the government and military on opium farmers. The unofficial levies are similar to those human-rights groups such as the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) and others claim are imposed on farmers for both legal and illegal crops across the country.
Corruption-riddled statistics
Corruption also makes official eradication figures, frequently quoted by the UNODC, suspect. The PWO found in its research that only 11% of poppy fields in two townships they investigated were destroyed during the 2008-2009 growing season - and most of this was only in areas that were easily visible. It also noted that while the police claimed in their reports - which the PWO obtained - that 25% of fields were destroyed in the 2008-9 growing period, the actual figure was closer to 11%. Many of the fields that were reported as destroyed were actually left intact after the unofficial fees were paid and collected.
Despite the many reports detailing official corruption in Myanmar, the UNODC has relied heavily on government eradication reports, as well as ground surveys carried out by authorities, to verify its satellite imagery-produced data used to produce its yearly survey. In one telling contradiction, the PWO found that in the two townships of Mantong and Namkham 963 hectares were under opium cultivation during the 2006-2007 growing season, 1,458 ha in 2007-2008 and 4,545 ha in 2008-2009.
In contrast, the UNODC's survey claimed that 390 ha, 800 ha and 1,600 ha were under opium cultivation for those same years in all 23 townships in northern Shan State. The discrepancy in data raises questions about how a group of local women using researchers based in their own areas and on a limited budget where able to derive seemingly more comprehensive figures than the UNODC.
Part of the reason for the increase in opium production can be blamed on economic mismanagement and poorly planned crop substitution programs. Farmers across the country have been hard hit by rising prices. In addition, traditional crops such as tea for the Palaung and the growing of leaves for cheroots by the Pa-O have seen drastic drops in price. At the same time, money must be found to pay the legal taxes and extortion fees by military units, police and government officials.
Failures of substitution crops such as rubber and sugar have also impacted farmers. As the UNODC's opium survey noted, many farmers who had stopped opium cultivation for more than two years could not land upon adequate means of substituting for their lost income. Other farmers have been hit by the high costs of fertilizers and seeds for crops meant as opium poppy substitutes, such as maize and improved rice varieties from China. To pay for these inputs, many farmers have been forced into debt. The result, say researchers in Shan State, is many would rather risk farming opium and paying the unofficial "taxes".
With the money being made from opium "taxes", the spread of opium-peddling government-backed militias and the tacit allowance of ceasefire groups to process opium in their areas, it is no wonder that the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is behind on its 15-year eradication plan. According to Sai Khuensai, only 13 of 51 townships in Shan, Kachin, China and Kayah States targeted by the government have after 11 years become opium-free.
He and other observers claim that in the meanwhile, opium cultivation has spread into areas of the country that had never previously grown poppies, including in Mandalay, Magwe and Sagaing divisions, as well as Arakan, Kayah and Chin States. Notably, none of those areas of the country was surveyed in the UNODC's 2009 survey report.
At the root of the problem, say local groups such as PWO and SHAN as well as independent drug trade observers, is a dire need for political reform. Instead of taking the government's figures at face value and calling for an increase in international development assistance for the junta's flawed eradication efforts, the UNODC should push for more input from community-based organizations to improve the accuracy of its surveys.
That would be a tough sell as curtailing the drug trade would cancel many of the incentives for ethnic leaders to form and lead militias loyal to the regime. It would also require vast new outlays from the central treasury to supply and equip much of the army which currently survives on revenues it collects from extortion fees. And more local-level collaboration with the UN agency would ultimately expose the regime's relations with drug trafficking organizations and the role the drug trade plays in perpetuating military rule.
Brian McCartan is a Bangkok-based freelance journalist. He may be reached at brianpm@comcast.net.
Asia Times Online - How Myanmar's opium grows
By Brian McCartan
BANGKOK - The controversy over the scale of Myanmar's opium production took another turn with the release of a new report that claims cultivation has surged in territories where the military government has recently taken control. The report draws more extreme conclusions than recent research released by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), whose Bangkok-based representatives declined an invitation to attend the new report's release.
Entitled "Poisoned Hills: Opium cultivation surges under government control in Burma", the report was released by the Palaung Women's Organization (PWO), a non-governmental organization based in Mae Sot, Thailand. The new research corroborates the findings of previous reports about the drug trade in Myanmar, also known as Burma, published by the Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN), which unlike the UNODC relies on an extensive network of sources inside the Shan state for its data.
The PWO report said that "amounts [of opium grown] are far higher than reported in the annual surveys of the [UNODC], and are flourishing not in 'insurgent and ceasefire areas,' as claimed by the UN, but in areas controlled by Burma's military government". The report described how Myanmar authorities systematically extort fees from opium poppy farmers and file false eradication reports. The group concluded that "unless the regime's militarization strategies are challenged, international funding will make little difference to the drug problem in Burma".
Those findings contrast sharply with the UNODC's own survey of opium production in Southeast Asia, which was released on December 14 to a large crowd of UN representatives, embassy officials and Thai and Western counter-narcotics officials, none of whom were present for the PWO's report's release. That's potentially because the UNODC relies on exclusive cooperation with Myanmar's military and government ministries and departments for its information and ground surveys, some analysts suggested at the PWO's report release.
The PWO report's findings are consistent with SHAN claims that the spread of opium poppy cultivation is directly related to the spread of government-backed and -trained militias in the area. According to SHAN editor Sai Khuensai Jaiyen, a long-time observer of the narcotics trade in Myanmar, Shan State areas that have fallen from insurgent to government control have seen a marked increase in the opium production.
At a press conference on Tuesday, he characterized that surge as a "balloon effect", wherein ceasefire groups that have banned cultivation in their own territories have seen it spread to new adjacent areas - all of which is under government control. By 2006, all known major drug-producing groups in Shan State had declared their areas free of poppy cultivation.
The National Democratic Alliance Army in northeastern Shan State made the claim in 1997; the Kokang in northern Shan State in 2002; the United Wa State Army, which is known to have diversified into methamphetamine production, in 2005; and the Loi Maw area in northern Shan State, the birthplace and one of the former operating areas of notorious drug lord Khun Sa, in 2006.
Although opium is no longer grown in these groups' controlled areas, Sai Kheunsai and sources close to Thai counter-narcotics officials say they are still involved in purchasing raw opium from growers and refining it into heroin. Much of the opium and heroin is then sold in the Golden Triangle region of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand to buyers from Hong Kong, from where it is often trafficked into China.
Drug-dealing militias
Since 2004, the junta has encouraged the formation of militias as an armed hedge against increasingly recalcitrant ceasefire armies. The trade-off is that the militias are allowed to engage in business activities, both legal and illegal, to support their operations. Members of community organizations representing ethnic Shan, Palaung, Kachin, Lahu and other groups in Shan State have claimed in interviews with this correspondent that government-backed militia commanders are involved in the cultivation, purchase and processing of opium in their controlled areas.
"The situation now is not unlike the Ka Kwe Yay time," said Sai Khuensai, referring to the historical period between 1963 and 1972 when government-recognized militia groups were allowed to trade in opium in exchange for fighting against various rebel groups then active in the Shan State.
Because many of the militia groups were more interested in the narcotics trade than fighting and eventually struck their own deals with rebels, the program was disbanded. By then, the program had spawned several now notorious druglords, including former Mong Tai Army leader Khun Sa and narcotics trafficker-turned-businessman and regime confidante Lo Hsing Han.
Curiously, the UNODC's 2009 opium survey for Myanmar makes no mention of these militia groups or their possible role in opium production. It does, however, note "indications that ceasefire groups are selling drugs to buy weapons and moving stocks to avoid detection". The leaders of those same groups, including Peng Jiasheng of the Kokang, Bao Youxiang of the UWSA and Lin Minxiang of the NDAA, were until recently lauded by the military government as "national race leaders" (ethnic group representatives) and their opium eradication efforts were praised by the generals as well as some counter-narcotics experts.
The UNODC has maintained a presence in Wa areas since 1998 and has facilitated other UN agencies and development organizations to establish programs in Wa and Kokang areas. The UN agency has also promoted programs in crop substitution and rural development. While the regime praised leaders such as Peng and Bao and the UNODC worked with them on development and opium eradication projects, little was said about their continued purchase of raw opium and its refinement into heroin.
Nor did the UNODC acknowledge some groups' switch to large-scale amphetamine production, which has helped to cover profits lost from opium eradication. The UNODC's 2009 opium survey says, "In 1996, the surrender of the notorious drug trafficker Khun Sa, leader of the Mong Tai Army, resulted in the collapse of armed resistance movements and led to the negotiation of a series of truce agreements with most breakaway factions."
Analysts note that the end of large-scale warfare in the Shan State occurred seven years earlier, when the factions of the former Burmese Communist Party that mutinied in 1989 agreed to ceasefires with the government. All of these groups were given tacit approval to continue their activities in the narcotics trade in exchange for ceasefire agreements.
In order to pressure ceasefire groups to transform their armed wings into military-controlled border guard forces, ahead of general elections planned for this year, the junta has recently condemned certain ceasefire group leaders. That includes the junta's publicizing of UWSA involvement in producing amphetamine shipments that have recently been seized along the Thai-Myanmar border.
A search for drugs sparked the crisis that culminated in last August's offensive against former national race leader Peng Jiasheng and his Kokang ceasefire army. (See Border war rattles China-Myanmar ties, Asia Times Online, September 1, 2009)
Since the late 1980s, the military regime has increased the number of battalions stationed in northern Myanmar. Currently over 150 battalions are based in Shan State alone. Rather than improve the security situation and end opium production, the increased military presence has resulted in rampant corruption.
The PWO report describes in detail the extortion money - which authorities refer to as "taxes" - demanded by the government and military on opium farmers. The unofficial levies are similar to those human-rights groups such as the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) and others claim are imposed on farmers for both legal and illegal crops across the country.
Corruption-riddled statistics
Corruption also makes official eradication figures, frequently quoted by the UNODC, suspect. The PWO found in its research that only 11% of poppy fields in two townships they investigated were destroyed during the 2008-2009 growing season - and most of this was only in areas that were easily visible. It also noted that while the police claimed in their reports - which the PWO obtained - that 25% of fields were destroyed in the 2008-9 growing period, the actual figure was closer to 11%. Many of the fields that were reported as destroyed were actually left intact after the unofficial fees were paid and collected.
Despite the many reports detailing official corruption in Myanmar, the UNODC has relied heavily on government eradication reports, as well as ground surveys carried out by authorities, to verify its satellite imagery-produced data used to produce its yearly survey. In one telling contradiction, the PWO found that in the two townships of Mantong and Namkham 963 hectares were under opium cultivation during the 2006-2007 growing season, 1,458 ha in 2007-2008 and 4,545 ha in 2008-2009.
In contrast, the UNODC's survey claimed that 390 ha, 800 ha and 1,600 ha were under opium cultivation for those same years in all 23 townships in northern Shan State. The discrepancy in data raises questions about how a group of local women using researchers based in their own areas and on a limited budget where able to derive seemingly more comprehensive figures than the UNODC.
Part of the reason for the increase in opium production can be blamed on economic mismanagement and poorly planned crop substitution programs. Farmers across the country have been hard hit by rising prices. In addition, traditional crops such as tea for the Palaung and the growing of leaves for cheroots by the Pa-O have seen drastic drops in price. At the same time, money must be found to pay the legal taxes and extortion fees by military units, police and government officials.
Failures of substitution crops such as rubber and sugar have also impacted farmers. As the UNODC's opium survey noted, many farmers who had stopped opium cultivation for more than two years could not land upon adequate means of substituting for their lost income. Other farmers have been hit by the high costs of fertilizers and seeds for crops meant as opium poppy substitutes, such as maize and improved rice varieties from China. To pay for these inputs, many farmers have been forced into debt. The result, say researchers in Shan State, is many would rather risk farming opium and paying the unofficial "taxes".
With the money being made from opium "taxes", the spread of opium-peddling government-backed militias and the tacit allowance of ceasefire groups to process opium in their areas, it is no wonder that the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is behind on its 15-year eradication plan. According to Sai Khuensai, only 13 of 51 townships in Shan, Kachin, China and Kayah States targeted by the government have after 11 years become opium-free.
He and other observers claim that in the meanwhile, opium cultivation has spread into areas of the country that had never previously grown poppies, including in Mandalay, Magwe and Sagaing divisions, as well as Arakan, Kayah and Chin States. Notably, none of those areas of the country was surveyed in the UNODC's 2009 survey report.
At the root of the problem, say local groups such as PWO and SHAN as well as independent drug trade observers, is a dire need for political reform. Instead of taking the government's figures at face value and calling for an increase in international development assistance for the junta's flawed eradication efforts, the UNODC should push for more input from community-based organizations to improve the accuracy of its surveys.
That would be a tough sell as curtailing the drug trade would cancel many of the incentives for ethnic leaders to form and lead militias loyal to the regime. It would also require vast new outlays from the central treasury to supply and equip much of the army which currently survives on revenues it collects from extortion fees. And more local-level collaboration with the UN agency would ultimately expose the regime's relations with drug trafficking organizations and the role the drug trade plays in perpetuating military rule.
Brian McCartan is a Bangkok-based freelance journalist. He may be reached at brianpm@comcast.net.
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Global Security Newswire - Study Warns of Myanmar's Nuclear Activities
Friday, Jan. 29, 2010
A study released yesterday called for greater attention to the nuclear activities of Myanmar (see GSN, Oct. 5, 2009).
The report by the Institute for Science and International Security acknowledges that though there is no concrete proof that the Southeast Asian nation is seeking "secret nuclear reactors or fuel-cycle facilities," there is enough worrisome evidence to encourage heightened scrutiny of the country also known as Burma.
"[The Myanmar] military regime's suspicious links to North Korea, and apparent willingness to illegally procure high technology goods, make a priority convincing the military government to accept greater transparency," the report says.
Recent reports have suggested that Myanmar might be looking to develop nuclear weapons. Proof of such an effort -- based primarily on photographic images and claims from defectors -- "are not in general confirmed," according to the ISIS authors. The nation joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1992.
"The evidence supports that the regime wants to develop a nuclear capability of some type, but whether its ultimate purpose is peaceful or military remains a mystery," according to the study.
Myanmar for the last 10 years has made efforts to acquire a nuclear research reactor, and is still waiting on Russia to build such a plant under the terms of a 2001 deal.
Meanwhile, Myanmar and North Korea re-established official military ties in 2007. There is reason to believe the two states have considered atomic collaboration, but whether that has led to actual construction of nuclear facilities is not confirmed, the report says.
"Nonetheless, no one can ignore the possibility of significant North Korean nuclear assistance to this enigmatic, military regime. Because North Korea secretly sold a reactor to Syria, a sale which the world’s best intelligence agencies missed until late in the reactor’s construction, no one is willing to turn a blind eye to the possibility of North Korea selling nuclear equipment, materials, or facilities to Burma," the authors wrote. (see GSN, Nov. 18, 2009). "North Korea’s past proliferation activities and the failure to promptly detect the Syrian reactor cannot but lead to more scrutiny over whether North Korea might sell Burma a reactor or other nuclear industrial equipment and facilities, or the means and guidance to manufacture nuclear facilities"
The study warns that Myanmar might be supporting North Korean efforts to acquire materials for its nuclear operations and suggests that it could serve as a transshipment point for items intended for the North's own uranium enrichment program.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that two Pakistani nuclear scientists traveled to Myanmar in 2001, though the Burmese government has denied hosting them, according to the report.
This past summer, Myanmar officials told visiting U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) that it was not illicitly pursuing a nuclear capability (see GSN, Aug. 18, 2009).
The authors noted that past illicit nuclear development activities in Syria, Pakistan and Iran "were all enabled in large part because of the failure of the international community to halt the illicit sale of nuclear-related technology."
As Myanmar is purchasing a broad range of dual-use products abroad, "governments and companies need to be more vigilant in examining Burma's inquiries, or requests for equipment, whether via Burmese government entities, Burmese trading companies, or other foreign trading companies," the report advises (Institute for Science and International Security report, Jan. 28).
U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that while he had not read the study, "we do have concerns about certain activity and the potential ... risk to the global nonproliferation agenda (Lalit Jha, Irrawaddy, Jan. 29).
Friday, Jan. 29, 2010
A study released yesterday called for greater attention to the nuclear activities of Myanmar (see GSN, Oct. 5, 2009).
The report by the Institute for Science and International Security acknowledges that though there is no concrete proof that the Southeast Asian nation is seeking "secret nuclear reactors or fuel-cycle facilities," there is enough worrisome evidence to encourage heightened scrutiny of the country also known as Burma.
"[The Myanmar] military regime's suspicious links to North Korea, and apparent willingness to illegally procure high technology goods, make a priority convincing the military government to accept greater transparency," the report says.
Recent reports have suggested that Myanmar might be looking to develop nuclear weapons. Proof of such an effort -- based primarily on photographic images and claims from defectors -- "are not in general confirmed," according to the ISIS authors. The nation joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1992.
"The evidence supports that the regime wants to develop a nuclear capability of some type, but whether its ultimate purpose is peaceful or military remains a mystery," according to the study.
Myanmar for the last 10 years has made efforts to acquire a nuclear research reactor, and is still waiting on Russia to build such a plant under the terms of a 2001 deal.
Meanwhile, Myanmar and North Korea re-established official military ties in 2007. There is reason to believe the two states have considered atomic collaboration, but whether that has led to actual construction of nuclear facilities is not confirmed, the report says.
"Nonetheless, no one can ignore the possibility of significant North Korean nuclear assistance to this enigmatic, military regime. Because North Korea secretly sold a reactor to Syria, a sale which the world’s best intelligence agencies missed until late in the reactor’s construction, no one is willing to turn a blind eye to the possibility of North Korea selling nuclear equipment, materials, or facilities to Burma," the authors wrote. (see GSN, Nov. 18, 2009). "North Korea’s past proliferation activities and the failure to promptly detect the Syrian reactor cannot but lead to more scrutiny over whether North Korea might sell Burma a reactor or other nuclear industrial equipment and facilities, or the means and guidance to manufacture nuclear facilities"
The study warns that Myanmar might be supporting North Korean efforts to acquire materials for its nuclear operations and suggests that it could serve as a transshipment point for items intended for the North's own uranium enrichment program.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that two Pakistani nuclear scientists traveled to Myanmar in 2001, though the Burmese government has denied hosting them, according to the report.
This past summer, Myanmar officials told visiting U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) that it was not illicitly pursuing a nuclear capability (see GSN, Aug. 18, 2009).
The authors noted that past illicit nuclear development activities in Syria, Pakistan and Iran "were all enabled in large part because of the failure of the international community to halt the illicit sale of nuclear-related technology."
As Myanmar is purchasing a broad range of dual-use products abroad, "governments and companies need to be more vigilant in examining Burma's inquiries, or requests for equipment, whether via Burmese government entities, Burmese trading companies, or other foreign trading companies," the report advises (Institute for Science and International Security report, Jan. 28).
U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that while he had not read the study, "we do have concerns about certain activity and the potential ... risk to the global nonproliferation agenda (Lalit Jha, Irrawaddy, Jan. 29).
***********************************************************
The Progressive - A Ray of Hope for Burma?
By Amitabh Pal, January 29, 2010
The New Year brings a slender ray of hope for a benighted part of the world. But in Burma, every silver lining has alongside it a dark cloud.
The ultrarepressive military junta that has ruled the country since 1962 (and has unilaterally renamed it Myanmar) recently announced that it will free in November that global symbol of nonviolent resistance, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. But there’s a catch here: The release will take place a month after a sham election will probably be held, barring Suu Kyi from participating.
Suu Kyi was sentenced to a further eighteen months of house arrest in August after a bizarre episode in which the Burmese military accused her of conspiring with an American who swam to her home. Suu Kyi has been kept in custody for fourteen of the past twenty years.
Interestingly, the announcement comes in the wake of a reorientation of U.S.-Burma policy over the past year. After a nine-month review, the Obama Administration said that it would engage with the junta while simultaneously maintaining the sanctions regime put into place by President Clinton. To this end, it has held two round of talks with the dictatorship.
But is the Obama approach working? Depends on whom you ask. Nehginpao Kipgen, a U.S.-based Burmese activist, commends the change in policy and asks that the Obama Administration go further down that path.
“Though there is still much uncertainty surrounding Burma's political future, it is important that the U.S. government continues to engage,” Kipgen writes. “A meaningful dialogue between the military leader, Senior General Than Shwe, and the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, must be encouraged, with the ultimate goal of paving the way to national reconciliation.”
On the other side, Nick Cohen of the London Observer condemns the Obama Administration’s silence about the solitary confinement of Burmese-American Nyi Nyi Aung as capitulation to a pathetic regime in the name of engagement.
“As Mark Farmaner from the Burma Campaign UK group says, European and Asian countries which don't give a damn about human rights and just want to make money aren't feeling any pressure from Washington to blacklist the [Burmese] regime,” Cohen writes. “The hope that Burmese democracy campaigners felt at Obama's election has long gone.”
In some sense, this is a continuation of a debate that has raged within the Burmese democracy movement for ages. Suu Kyi, the global symbol of the democracy struggle in Burma, has called for international isolation of Burma. Her position has been contested by the grandson of another Burmese icon, Burmese-American Thant Myint-U, whose grandfather was U Thant, the U.N. Secretary-General from 1961 to 1971.
The true test of the Obama Administration’s new Burma policy will be if anything does indeed change for the better in that nation by the end of the year. For the moment, one can only be bleakly optimistic.
By Amitabh Pal, January 29, 2010
The New Year brings a slender ray of hope for a benighted part of the world. But in Burma, every silver lining has alongside it a dark cloud.
The ultrarepressive military junta that has ruled the country since 1962 (and has unilaterally renamed it Myanmar) recently announced that it will free in November that global symbol of nonviolent resistance, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. But there’s a catch here: The release will take place a month after a sham election will probably be held, barring Suu Kyi from participating.
Suu Kyi was sentenced to a further eighteen months of house arrest in August after a bizarre episode in which the Burmese military accused her of conspiring with an American who swam to her home. Suu Kyi has been kept in custody for fourteen of the past twenty years.
Interestingly, the announcement comes in the wake of a reorientation of U.S.-Burma policy over the past year. After a nine-month review, the Obama Administration said that it would engage with the junta while simultaneously maintaining the sanctions regime put into place by President Clinton. To this end, it has held two round of talks with the dictatorship.
But is the Obama approach working? Depends on whom you ask. Nehginpao Kipgen, a U.S.-based Burmese activist, commends the change in policy and asks that the Obama Administration go further down that path.
“Though there is still much uncertainty surrounding Burma's political future, it is important that the U.S. government continues to engage,” Kipgen writes. “A meaningful dialogue between the military leader, Senior General Than Shwe, and the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, must be encouraged, with the ultimate goal of paving the way to national reconciliation.”
On the other side, Nick Cohen of the London Observer condemns the Obama Administration’s silence about the solitary confinement of Burmese-American Nyi Nyi Aung as capitulation to a pathetic regime in the name of engagement.
“As Mark Farmaner from the Burma Campaign UK group says, European and Asian countries which don't give a damn about human rights and just want to make money aren't feeling any pressure from Washington to blacklist the [Burmese] regime,” Cohen writes. “The hope that Burmese democracy campaigners felt at Obama's election has long gone.”
In some sense, this is a continuation of a debate that has raged within the Burmese democracy movement for ages. Suu Kyi, the global symbol of the democracy struggle in Burma, has called for international isolation of Burma. Her position has been contested by the grandson of another Burmese icon, Burmese-American Thant Myint-U, whose grandfather was U Thant, the U.N. Secretary-General from 1961 to 1971.
The true test of the Obama Administration’s new Burma policy will be if anything does indeed change for the better in that nation by the end of the year. For the moment, one can only be bleakly optimistic.
***********************************************************
NTDTV - Lawyer Says "No National Reconciliation" If Suu Kyi Released After Elections
2010-1-28 11:4694
This is file footage of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She’s now under house arrest here in Rangoon. Last week, the military junta that rules Burma promised it would release her—but most likely only after the national elections in November. And her lawyer says that if that’s the case, the elections won’t mean much.
[Nyan Win, Aung San Suu Kyi’s Lawyer]:
“If it means Aung San Suu Kyi will be released after the election, we think there will be no national reconciliation.”
In 1990, Suu Kyi ran for Prime Minister. Her party won in a landslide—but the military junta prevented her from taking office. They’ve kept her in detention or under house arrest for 15 of the last 21 years.
This year, the Burmese junta plans to hold the first parliamentary elections in two decades.
Suu Kyi’s lawyers have lodged an appeal against her house arrest with the Supreme Court. But they don’t expect a rapid decision—or even necessarily a fair one.
[Nyan Win, Aung San Suu Kyi’s Lawyer]:
“I suspect that the Supreme Court could make a decision effectively, or not. It will depend on the home minister’s words.”
Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, has not yet said whether it would take part in the elections. Burmese military generals are portraying the elections as a step towards multi-party democracy. But opponents call it a sham designed to let the military retain real power.
Burma put a new constitution into effect in 2008. But Human Rights Watch said in a report earlier this month that the new constitution, “entrenches military rule and limits the role of independent political parties.”
2010-1-28 11:4694
This is file footage of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She’s now under house arrest here in Rangoon. Last week, the military junta that rules Burma promised it would release her—but most likely only after the national elections in November. And her lawyer says that if that’s the case, the elections won’t mean much.
[Nyan Win, Aung San Suu Kyi’s Lawyer]:
“If it means Aung San Suu Kyi will be released after the election, we think there will be no national reconciliation.”
In 1990, Suu Kyi ran for Prime Minister. Her party won in a landslide—but the military junta prevented her from taking office. They’ve kept her in detention or under house arrest for 15 of the last 21 years.
This year, the Burmese junta plans to hold the first parliamentary elections in two decades.
Suu Kyi’s lawyers have lodged an appeal against her house arrest with the Supreme Court. But they don’t expect a rapid decision—or even necessarily a fair one.
[Nyan Win, Aung San Suu Kyi’s Lawyer]:
“I suspect that the Supreme Court could make a decision effectively, or not. It will depend on the home minister’s words.”
Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, has not yet said whether it would take part in the elections. Burmese military generals are portraying the elections as a step towards multi-party democracy. But opponents call it a sham designed to let the military retain real power.
Burma put a new constitution into effect in 2008. But Human Rights Watch said in a report earlier this month that the new constitution, “entrenches military rule and limits the role of independent political parties.”
***********************************************************
Asian Tribune - Drug Politics of Burma
Sat, 2010-01-30 01:34 — editor
By - Zin Linn
Opium poppy cultivation in Burma is swelling all over again in areas controlled by the military regime or the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), according to a report just published by the Paluang Women's Organization (PWO). Shockingly, number of drug addicts is increasing rapidly in Shan state where opium is now being grown.
At the same time as the rising of poppy growing is also killing the traditional tea cultivation in northern parts of the country.
PWO says opium cultivation in Burma's northern Shan State has increased five-fold in recent years. The actual areas of opium cultivation in Northern Shan State documented by PWO is much higher than the areas given by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).During 2008-9 season, the acreage of 2 out of 23 townships in Northern Shan State found by PWO was nearly 3 times the total estimation recorded by UNODC for the 23 townships.
UNODC’s assessment for 2008-9 acreage of opium in 23 townships is 1,600 while PWO’s survey on 2 townships alone shows 4,545 acres. In the township of Man Tong, the group says, about 85 percent of males over the age of 15 are addicted to opium or heroin.
In the report - Poisoned Hills - issued on 26 January 2010, the organization accuses Burmese authorities, army leaders and pro-government militia of profiting by extorting funds from opium farmers. Luway Daug Jar, a coordinator with the organization, says the increased opium production hurts the local economy, by reducing tea crops and a growing number of drug addicts.
Luway Daug Jar said that Paluang people are growing opium in order to pay enough tax, in order to feed those militias and those soldiers who are in command of exploiting the local economy. At the same time those drugs are destroying the young generation and the region’s future. So the drug question in the Paluang areas is just like a vicious cycle.
In the “Poisoned Hills”, field assessments were conducted of opium growing over three seasons in two main areas: Mantong and Namkham. The Report says, “It was found that the number of villages growing opium in the targeted survey area of Mantong Township has tripled from 2006 to 2009. PWO surveyed 75 villages in Mantong. During the 2006-7 season only 24 of these villages grew opium. This increased to 35 villages in the following season. By the 2008-9 seasons all of the villages were growing opium.”
It continued that poppy cultivation has increased six fold from 2006 to 2009, from 1,568 acres (635 hectares) to 9,707 acres (3,928 hectares).
Moreover, the Golden Triangle is the still partially unexplored and unhandled region that unites the very Southern tip of China with northern Burma and Laos. The impenetrability of that topography and the restrictions on state power, especially in Laos and Burma, made it easier said than done for state or trans-state agencies to make a way into the region and monitor the growth of opium. Particularly in Burma, the government has been quite incapable to be in charge of those border regions which are dominated by dissenter ethnic minorities and, in some cases, by criminal warlords.
Debbie Stothardt, the spokeswoman for the Burma rights group the Alternative ASEAN Network, says UNODC officials did not rely on the proficiency of local organizations in Burma.
"UNODC and international agencies do not even have the guts using the information collected by these brave natives, because they do not want to criticize the military authorities of Burma who have shaped this situation that make communities to grow opium and perpetuate the situation of economic deficiency and the dawdling of those areas," she said.
Most analysts on drug issue pointed out poverty as a major reason for Shan State’s continuing drug problem. Opium crops only need a short time to grow and promptly generate income for impoverished farmers. To stop growing poppy, an alternative through cash crop substitution programs must be provided. According to some political analysts, poppy growing and opium production in Shan State have increased over the past two years due to political volatility in Burma and growing economic despondency caused by cronyism, corruption and unprofessional conduct of the junta.
The Paluang Women's Organization says that political reforms, improved security and stronger economic growth are needed to shift farmers away from growing opium and to cut drug addiction.
The making of illicit drugs in Burma has considerable international, regional and national end results. At the international level, the opium and heroin produced in the country are consumed in Asia distributed through China and Thailand as well as the rest of Asia, reaching destinations as far away as Australia, North America and Europe.
At the regional level, drugs are at the root of many problems facing the countries of the Golden Triangle today, including the spread of HIV/AIDS fuelled by injecting drug use, corruption of border officials and the large influence of criminal elements seeking on undermining the rule of law and further instability in the border areas. Many of these effects are also felt at the national level, particularly the spread of HIV/AIDS due to injecting drug use.
Likewise, the continuation of wide-ranging crime and its resultant network of lawlessness and insecurity, both locally and regionally, enrich criminals and their cronies. In contrast, those with the potential and desire to change the country’s political path towards transparency and accountability are further marginalized.
Beyond this, the drug trade supports the country’s informal economies, which conform to a political status quo.
Burma is the second largest opium producing nation after Afghanistan, as said by the United Nation. Burma’s Minister for Home Affairs and Chairman of the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control, Maj-Gen Maung Oo said the drug eradication program had effectively brought down the cultivation of opium in the country. But observers of the drug issue in Burma speak out that there is very little progress.
PWO’s document says that the SPDC is allowing poppy to be grown in areas under its control. In addition, the military regime has been allowing local authorities to extort tariff from growers, traffickers and addicts. It is also in the process of expanding militia security units which actually are engaged in the drugs trade. Thus, the junta is pursuing a strategy of military buildup in the Shan state to keep up control and crack down the ethnic resistance movements instead of entering into political dialogue.
It seems that unless the strategies of militarization of SPDC are challenged, drugs trade will take place ad infinitum, as if the drug is a kind of weapon for SPDC to grab hold of the sovereign power. Thus, a negotiated resolution of the root cause of civil war in Burma is immediately needed so as to tackle the drug question which intertwined with the country’s long-lasting political conundrum.
The Burmese public feels it is time for the world body to raise this half-century-long political conflict in the U.N. Security Council. They hope for a global arms embargo against Burma's military junta, and an investigation into crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the military regime.
Several of such crimes were deeply connected with drugs businesses manipulated by the SPDC.
Sat, 2010-01-30 01:34 — editor
By - Zin Linn
Opium poppy cultivation in Burma is swelling all over again in areas controlled by the military regime or the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), according to a report just published by the Paluang Women's Organization (PWO). Shockingly, number of drug addicts is increasing rapidly in Shan state where opium is now being grown.
At the same time as the rising of poppy growing is also killing the traditional tea cultivation in northern parts of the country.
PWO says opium cultivation in Burma's northern Shan State has increased five-fold in recent years. The actual areas of opium cultivation in Northern Shan State documented by PWO is much higher than the areas given by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).During 2008-9 season, the acreage of 2 out of 23 townships in Northern Shan State found by PWO was nearly 3 times the total estimation recorded by UNODC for the 23 townships.
UNODC’s assessment for 2008-9 acreage of opium in 23 townships is 1,600 while PWO’s survey on 2 townships alone shows 4,545 acres. In the township of Man Tong, the group says, about 85 percent of males over the age of 15 are addicted to opium or heroin.
In the report - Poisoned Hills - issued on 26 January 2010, the organization accuses Burmese authorities, army leaders and pro-government militia of profiting by extorting funds from opium farmers. Luway Daug Jar, a coordinator with the organization, says the increased opium production hurts the local economy, by reducing tea crops and a growing number of drug addicts.
Luway Daug Jar said that Paluang people are growing opium in order to pay enough tax, in order to feed those militias and those soldiers who are in command of exploiting the local economy. At the same time those drugs are destroying the young generation and the region’s future. So the drug question in the Paluang areas is just like a vicious cycle.
In the “Poisoned Hills”, field assessments were conducted of opium growing over three seasons in two main areas: Mantong and Namkham. The Report says, “It was found that the number of villages growing opium in the targeted survey area of Mantong Township has tripled from 2006 to 2009. PWO surveyed 75 villages in Mantong. During the 2006-7 season only 24 of these villages grew opium. This increased to 35 villages in the following season. By the 2008-9 seasons all of the villages were growing opium.”
It continued that poppy cultivation has increased six fold from 2006 to 2009, from 1,568 acres (635 hectares) to 9,707 acres (3,928 hectares).
Moreover, the Golden Triangle is the still partially unexplored and unhandled region that unites the very Southern tip of China with northern Burma and Laos. The impenetrability of that topography and the restrictions on state power, especially in Laos and Burma, made it easier said than done for state or trans-state agencies to make a way into the region and monitor the growth of opium. Particularly in Burma, the government has been quite incapable to be in charge of those border regions which are dominated by dissenter ethnic minorities and, in some cases, by criminal warlords.
Debbie Stothardt, the spokeswoman for the Burma rights group the Alternative ASEAN Network, says UNODC officials did not rely on the proficiency of local organizations in Burma.
"UNODC and international agencies do not even have the guts using the information collected by these brave natives, because they do not want to criticize the military authorities of Burma who have shaped this situation that make communities to grow opium and perpetuate the situation of economic deficiency and the dawdling of those areas," she said.
Most analysts on drug issue pointed out poverty as a major reason for Shan State’s continuing drug problem. Opium crops only need a short time to grow and promptly generate income for impoverished farmers. To stop growing poppy, an alternative through cash crop substitution programs must be provided. According to some political analysts, poppy growing and opium production in Shan State have increased over the past two years due to political volatility in Burma and growing economic despondency caused by cronyism, corruption and unprofessional conduct of the junta.
The Paluang Women's Organization says that political reforms, improved security and stronger economic growth are needed to shift farmers away from growing opium and to cut drug addiction.
The making of illicit drugs in Burma has considerable international, regional and national end results. At the international level, the opium and heroin produced in the country are consumed in Asia distributed through China and Thailand as well as the rest of Asia, reaching destinations as far away as Australia, North America and Europe.
At the regional level, drugs are at the root of many problems facing the countries of the Golden Triangle today, including the spread of HIV/AIDS fuelled by injecting drug use, corruption of border officials and the large influence of criminal elements seeking on undermining the rule of law and further instability in the border areas. Many of these effects are also felt at the national level, particularly the spread of HIV/AIDS due to injecting drug use.
Likewise, the continuation of wide-ranging crime and its resultant network of lawlessness and insecurity, both locally and regionally, enrich criminals and their cronies. In contrast, those with the potential and desire to change the country’s political path towards transparency and accountability are further marginalized.
Beyond this, the drug trade supports the country’s informal economies, which conform to a political status quo.
Burma is the second largest opium producing nation after Afghanistan, as said by the United Nation. Burma’s Minister for Home Affairs and Chairman of the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control, Maj-Gen Maung Oo said the drug eradication program had effectively brought down the cultivation of opium in the country. But observers of the drug issue in Burma speak out that there is very little progress.
PWO’s document says that the SPDC is allowing poppy to be grown in areas under its control. In addition, the military regime has been allowing local authorities to extort tariff from growers, traffickers and addicts. It is also in the process of expanding militia security units which actually are engaged in the drugs trade. Thus, the junta is pursuing a strategy of military buildup in the Shan state to keep up control and crack down the ethnic resistance movements instead of entering into political dialogue.
It seems that unless the strategies of militarization of SPDC are challenged, drugs trade will take place ad infinitum, as if the drug is a kind of weapon for SPDC to grab hold of the sovereign power. Thus, a negotiated resolution of the root cause of civil war in Burma is immediately needed so as to tackle the drug question which intertwined with the country’s long-lasting political conundrum.
The Burmese public feels it is time for the world body to raise this half-century-long political conflict in the U.N. Security Council. They hope for a global arms embargo against Burma's military junta, and an investigation into crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the military regime.
Several of such crimes were deeply connected with drugs businesses manipulated by the SPDC.
***********************************************************
ReliefWeb - Myanmar: Increasing displacement as fighting resumes in the east
Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Date: 29 Jan 2010
Displacement as a result of armed conflict and human rights violations continues in Myanmar. Between August 2008 and July 2009, an estimated 75,000 people from ethnic minority communities in eastern Myanmar were forced to flee their homes. In several areas it is impossible to estimate the number of internally displaced people (IDPs). In October 2009, it was estimated there were at least 470,000 IDPs in rural areas of eastern Myanmar. Here, conflict between the Tatmadaw (the Myanmar Armed Forces) and ethnic insurgent groups has intensified since June 2009, as a result of government plans to transform armed opposition groups which have agreed ceasefires into Tatmadawcommanded Border Guard Forces in the run-up to planned 2010 elections.
During 2009, displacement was most prevalent in the Shan and Kayin/Karen States, where the IDP populations were reportedly 135,000 and 125,000 respectively. In several parts of Myanmar, coercive measures such as forced labour and land confiscation, often part of state-sponsored development initiatives, have also caused displacement.
IDPs living in conflict-affected areas of Myanmar are vulnerable and in need of security, food, shelter, health and education. With the exception of the Ayerarwady/Irrawaddy delta, devastated by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, humanitarian access remains tightly controlled. International awareness of the nature and extent of conflict-induced displacement remains limited.
Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Date: 29 Jan 2010
Displacement as a result of armed conflict and human rights violations continues in Myanmar. Between August 2008 and July 2009, an estimated 75,000 people from ethnic minority communities in eastern Myanmar were forced to flee their homes. In several areas it is impossible to estimate the number of internally displaced people (IDPs). In October 2009, it was estimated there were at least 470,000 IDPs in rural areas of eastern Myanmar. Here, conflict between the Tatmadaw (the Myanmar Armed Forces) and ethnic insurgent groups has intensified since June 2009, as a result of government plans to transform armed opposition groups which have agreed ceasefires into Tatmadawcommanded Border Guard Forces in the run-up to planned 2010 elections.
During 2009, displacement was most prevalent in the Shan and Kayin/Karen States, where the IDP populations were reportedly 135,000 and 125,000 respectively. In several parts of Myanmar, coercive measures such as forced labour and land confiscation, often part of state-sponsored development initiatives, have also caused displacement.
IDPs living in conflict-affected areas of Myanmar are vulnerable and in need of security, food, shelter, health and education. With the exception of the Ayerarwady/Irrawaddy delta, devastated by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, humanitarian access remains tightly controlled. International awareness of the nature and extent of conflict-induced displacement remains limited.
***********************************************************
ReliefWeb - Myanmar's agricultural sector has huge potential for growth
Source: Office of the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar
Date: 27 Jan 2010
Investing in livelihood and agricultural development will benefit the rural poor and contribute to overall economic growth and poverty reduction. This was a key message from the Myanmar Humanitarian Partnership Group meeting held in Yangon on 26 January.
Yangon, 27 January - The agricultural sector in Myanmar has considerable growth potential and should be prioritized in programmatic responses to the current economic challenges within Myanmar. This view emerged at the Myanmar Humanitarian Partnership Group meeting, a monthly meeting attended by donors, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations and other members of the humanitarian community in Myanmar.
"Economic growth and poverty alleviation will depend on improvements in productivity and growth of agricultural crops, fisheries and livestock. Over 70 percent of the population live in rural areas, and all indicators suggest that the agricultural sector has considerable growth potential," said Shafique Rahman, Policy Advisor for UNDP, in a presentation on behalf of the UN/INGO Working Group on Food Security on the topic Economic Overview - Challenges, Opportunities and Programmatic Reponses.
"At the same time, with high landlessness in the rural area, the landless poor must depend on non-farm economic activities. In essence, what is needed is a scaled-up and holistic support to the agrarian rural economy," said Mr. Rahman.
The meeting, attended by over 70 experts, heads of missions and agencies, diplomats and aid workers, highlighted a number of challenges that would need to be addressed within areas like rural credit, market access, non-agricultural economy and infrastructure. Its focus on economic policy and programmatic responses was inspired by recent events, including the visit in December by Professor Joseph Stiglitz.
A concern brought forward was an evident gap in funding for microfinance projects. Estimates suggested that demand for microfinance is in the range of US$340 million to US$470 million. The seven international organizations and a few local organizations and banks providing microfinance are meeting a mere 10% of the potential demand, forcing millions of rural poor to resort to high cost loans from money lenders resulting in increased indebtedness.
The largest microfinance project in Myanmar is run by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project, introduced in 1997, is operational in 4,645 villages in 22 townships, assisting 350,000 households across the country. The project offers assistance to farmers and families with less than five acres of land and provides them with the means to invest and expand.
"There is a huge demand which we are unable to meet with the current level of funding available," said Fahmid Karim Bhuiya, Country Representative for PACT Myanmar, who is implementing UNDP's microfinance project in 22 townships.
According to the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Representative in Myanmar, Bishow Parajuli, microfinance projects and other innovative community-based interventions are still at an early stage in Myanmar.
"But organizations and agencies working within this field has successfully demonstrated that microfinance can be an effective tool for poverty reduction and rural development," said Mr. Parajuli, who also noted that there is a huge potential to do more to stimulate the overall rural economy.
"Challenges can be overcome, and opportunities clearly exist in terms of providing a much-needed response to the needs of the rural poor and at the same time support to the longer-term economic recovery efforts," said Mr. Parajuli.
For more information, please contact:
Esben Q. Harboe
Special Assistant to the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator
Tel: +951 542 910/919 - ext 430
Mob: +95 (0)9507 4853
Source: Office of the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar
Date: 27 Jan 2010
Investing in livelihood and agricultural development will benefit the rural poor and contribute to overall economic growth and poverty reduction. This was a key message from the Myanmar Humanitarian Partnership Group meeting held in Yangon on 26 January.
Yangon, 27 January - The agricultural sector in Myanmar has considerable growth potential and should be prioritized in programmatic responses to the current economic challenges within Myanmar. This view emerged at the Myanmar Humanitarian Partnership Group meeting, a monthly meeting attended by donors, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations and other members of the humanitarian community in Myanmar.
"Economic growth and poverty alleviation will depend on improvements in productivity and growth of agricultural crops, fisheries and livestock. Over 70 percent of the population live in rural areas, and all indicators suggest that the agricultural sector has considerable growth potential," said Shafique Rahman, Policy Advisor for UNDP, in a presentation on behalf of the UN/INGO Working Group on Food Security on the topic Economic Overview - Challenges, Opportunities and Programmatic Reponses.
"At the same time, with high landlessness in the rural area, the landless poor must depend on non-farm economic activities. In essence, what is needed is a scaled-up and holistic support to the agrarian rural economy," said Mr. Rahman.
The meeting, attended by over 70 experts, heads of missions and agencies, diplomats and aid workers, highlighted a number of challenges that would need to be addressed within areas like rural credit, market access, non-agricultural economy and infrastructure. Its focus on economic policy and programmatic responses was inspired by recent events, including the visit in December by Professor Joseph Stiglitz.
A concern brought forward was an evident gap in funding for microfinance projects. Estimates suggested that demand for microfinance is in the range of US$340 million to US$470 million. The seven international organizations and a few local organizations and banks providing microfinance are meeting a mere 10% of the potential demand, forcing millions of rural poor to resort to high cost loans from money lenders resulting in increased indebtedness.
The largest microfinance project in Myanmar is run by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project, introduced in 1997, is operational in 4,645 villages in 22 townships, assisting 350,000 households across the country. The project offers assistance to farmers and families with less than five acres of land and provides them with the means to invest and expand.
"There is a huge demand which we are unable to meet with the current level of funding available," said Fahmid Karim Bhuiya, Country Representative for PACT Myanmar, who is implementing UNDP's microfinance project in 22 townships.
According to the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Representative in Myanmar, Bishow Parajuli, microfinance projects and other innovative community-based interventions are still at an early stage in Myanmar.
"But organizations and agencies working within this field has successfully demonstrated that microfinance can be an effective tool for poverty reduction and rural development," said Mr. Parajuli, who also noted that there is a huge potential to do more to stimulate the overall rural economy.
"Challenges can be overcome, and opportunities clearly exist in terms of providing a much-needed response to the needs of the rural poor and at the same time support to the longer-term economic recovery efforts," said Mr. Parajuli.
For more information, please contact:
Esben Q. Harboe
Special Assistant to the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator
Tel: +951 542 910/919 - ext 430
Mob: +95 (0)9507 4853
***********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Jailed 88 Generation Activist Calls for Blanket Amnesty
By WAI MOE - Friday, January 29, 2010
An imprisoned leader of the dissident 88 Generation Students group has called for a blanket amnesty for Burma's political prisoners before this year's election and an inclusive political process as two of the cornerstones of the group's election policy.
In a letter written by Hla Myo Naung from Mandalay Prison in October, he said that he had discussed the policies with other detained activists from the 88 Generation group in prison during their trial in 2008. He said in his letter that the activists had decided upon the two provisions after much discussion and heated argument.
Hla Myo Naung said that the issue of ethnic minorities was the main obstacle to the ruling junta announcing an electoral law.
“Unless the issue of the armed ethnic groups is resolved, there cannot be any party registration law [for the election],” he said in the letter, adding that, for the ruling generals, the ethnic issue is more critical than the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD)’s role in the election.
Hla Myo Naung’s wife, Aye Mar, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that she got the letter from her husband in October during a regular visit and that the letter was originally meant for his friend Thein Tin Aung, a pro-election campaigner in Rangoon, who had apparently requested Hla Myo Naung's opinion on the 88 Generation group's policy for the upcoming election.
“A few days after I delivered the letter to Ko Thein Tin Aung, two officials from the SB [special branch police] came to me and asked about the letter,” said Aye Mar. “They told me that their senior officials were considering the topics discussed in the letter.”
Commenting on the letter, a former colleague of the 88 activists, Bo Kyi, who is now joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), a human rights group based in Thailand, said that the letter was essentially Hla Myo Naung’s own opinion.
But he confirmed that calling for the release of political prisoners and an inclusive political process in the election is the policy of the 88 Generation Students group. “They agreed on those two demands while they were in Insein Prison,” he said.
There are currently at least 2,177 political prisoners in Burma’s prisons, according to AAPP’s latest report.
Prominent activists from the group who had been convicted for participating in the 1988 uprising, such as Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, were released from prison in 2005. During their short period of relative freedom, the group's leaders reformed the strategy and policy of their movement.
Most of the 88 Generation leaders were then re-arrested on Aug.21, 2007, after they had led peaceful demonstrations two days earlier to protest the military government's unannounced fuel price hike that sparked mass demonstrations in September 2007.
Fourteen leading activists, including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Phyoe Cho, Htay Kywe, Jimmy, Ant Bwe Kyaw and Hla Myo Naung, of the 88 Generation Students group were sentenced to 65-year jail terms for their participation in the non-violent protests. Four days after the verdict, in November that year, most of the detained activists were transferred to remote prisons hundreds of miles from their hometowns.
Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi were moved to two prisons in southern Shan State; Phyoe Cho was sent to Kaw Thaung Prison in southern Burma; and Htay Kywe was transferred to Buthidaung Prison in western Burma.
Hla Myo Naung was transferred Myitkyina Prison in Kachin State. However, he was transferred back to Mandalay Prison to get medical treatment for his eyes in 2009. Although the NLD is yet to say whether it would join the election, Hla Myo Naung said in his letter that Aung San Suu Kyi's party will take part.
By WAI MOE - Friday, January 29, 2010
An imprisoned leader of the dissident 88 Generation Students group has called for a blanket amnesty for Burma's political prisoners before this year's election and an inclusive political process as two of the cornerstones of the group's election policy.
In a letter written by Hla Myo Naung from Mandalay Prison in October, he said that he had discussed the policies with other detained activists from the 88 Generation group in prison during their trial in 2008. He said in his letter that the activists had decided upon the two provisions after much discussion and heated argument.
Hla Myo Naung said that the issue of ethnic minorities was the main obstacle to the ruling junta announcing an electoral law.
“Unless the issue of the armed ethnic groups is resolved, there cannot be any party registration law [for the election],” he said in the letter, adding that, for the ruling generals, the ethnic issue is more critical than the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD)’s role in the election.
Hla Myo Naung’s wife, Aye Mar, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that she got the letter from her husband in October during a regular visit and that the letter was originally meant for his friend Thein Tin Aung, a pro-election campaigner in Rangoon, who had apparently requested Hla Myo Naung's opinion on the 88 Generation group's policy for the upcoming election.
“A few days after I delivered the letter to Ko Thein Tin Aung, two officials from the SB [special branch police] came to me and asked about the letter,” said Aye Mar. “They told me that their senior officials were considering the topics discussed in the letter.”
Commenting on the letter, a former colleague of the 88 activists, Bo Kyi, who is now joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), a human rights group based in Thailand, said that the letter was essentially Hla Myo Naung’s own opinion.
But he confirmed that calling for the release of political prisoners and an inclusive political process in the election is the policy of the 88 Generation Students group. “They agreed on those two demands while they were in Insein Prison,” he said.
There are currently at least 2,177 political prisoners in Burma’s prisons, according to AAPP’s latest report.
Prominent activists from the group who had been convicted for participating in the 1988 uprising, such as Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, were released from prison in 2005. During their short period of relative freedom, the group's leaders reformed the strategy and policy of their movement.
Most of the 88 Generation leaders were then re-arrested on Aug.21, 2007, after they had led peaceful demonstrations two days earlier to protest the military government's unannounced fuel price hike that sparked mass demonstrations in September 2007.
Fourteen leading activists, including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Phyoe Cho, Htay Kywe, Jimmy, Ant Bwe Kyaw and Hla Myo Naung, of the 88 Generation Students group were sentenced to 65-year jail terms for their participation in the non-violent protests. Four days after the verdict, in November that year, most of the detained activists were transferred to remote prisons hundreds of miles from their hometowns.
Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi were moved to two prisons in southern Shan State; Phyoe Cho was sent to Kaw Thaung Prison in southern Burma; and Htay Kywe was transferred to Buthidaung Prison in western Burma.
Hla Myo Naung was transferred Myitkyina Prison in Kachin State. However, he was transferred back to Mandalay Prison to get medical treatment for his eyes in 2009. Although the NLD is yet to say whether it would join the election, Hla Myo Naung said in his letter that Aung San Suu Kyi's party will take part.
***********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Despite Discomfort, Suu Kyi Stays Busy
By BA KAUNG - Friday, January 29, 2010
Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed her lawyer Nyan Win with an ice-cream. “I made it myself,” she said. “Eat it up quickly before it melts.”
Making ice-cream and baking cakes is one of the ways Suu Kyi fills the long hours of her enforced detention in her dilapidated home on Rangoon's Inya Lake.
“She spends a good deal of time working out how to strengthen the party [the National League for Democracy],” said Nyan Win after a visit to Suu Kyi's home on Thursday.
Reporting on the visit, Nyan Win said he found the 64-year-old NLD leader in good health and “vigorous.”
The lawyer told The Irrawaddy he and Suu Kyi had discussed how to pursue a final appeal against her current term of house arrest, the expansion of the NLD and her frustrated efforts to repair her house.
Suu Kyi also spends her time reading Buddhist religious texts, travel and history books, including ones written in French, listening to the radio and watching television which can only receive state-run channels, Nyan Win said.
The lawyer said he is allowed to give Suu Kyi censored copies of the magazines Time and Newsweek. He also gave her 20 French books she had requested.
“She asked me for many 'international' books,” Nyan Win said. “But I am not always allowed to give them to her.” However, on Thursday, he managed to present to her a book as a gift from Nobel Economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz who visited Burma in December. During the trip, Stiglitz asked Nyan Win to give his book Globalization and Its Discontent to Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi is serving an 18-month term of house arrest, reduced from an original sentence of three years' hard labor pronounced by a court in Insein Prison last August. At the end of the farcical trial, Home Affairs Minister Maj-Gen Maung Oo appeared in court with a special order from junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe stating that as Suu Kyi is the daughter of national hero Gen Aung San, her sentence should be halved and the rest suspended.
Maung Oo also read out a puzzling clause stating that if she behaved “well” at her Inya Lake home under the restrictions imposed on her, Suu Kyi would be granted amnesty before her suspended sentence expired.
Suu Kyi has been detained for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, mostly under house arrest. Analysts generally concur that the trial was a political showcase and that the military junta want to keep her under arrest ahead of the elections in 2010.
Suu Kyi has already served almost half of her 18-month house arrest period which began in May, 2009. In view of Maung Oo's hint of her release in November, the regime's message to Suu Kyi appears to be that she is not behaving well and needs to serve the full sentence.
Suu Kyi has described Maung Oo's indication that she will be released in November as totally “unfair.” According to Nyan Win, Suu Kyi believes the comment is obstructing the awaited court ruling over her final appeal.
Asked if Suu Kyi could expect to be released in November when her 18-month house arrest expires, Nyan Win said: “It would not be unusual if a person is released at the end of his or her punishment.”
Using a Burmese proverb, Nyan Win added: “But, if she is not really released at that time, then they [the Burmese rulers] would look like swallowing their own vomit.”
“What is good behavior after all?” Nyan Win asked. “We assume that she has been behaving well because she does not break the terms of the restrictions on her.”
Suu Kyi and the NLD were reprimanded by the state-run media last month, however, for making public the text of letters she wrote to Than Shwe.
“The leak of Aung San Suu Kyi's letters to the media before they were received by the leader of the government is intended to damage the image of the ruling government, and this might delay the processes of the other side [the military government],” said an article carried by state-run newspapers.
Suu Kyi's life in detention has been made even more uncomfortable by the official obstruction of her attempts to repair her home, which has fallen in disrepair. Her piano also needs to be repaired. Work on repairing the house was halted after objections were lodged by her brother and other relatives.
The building is now in an unsafe condition, according to Nyan Win.
The author Alan Clements, who wrote the book Voice of Hope, based mainly on interviews with her after she was released her first house arrest in 1995, told The Irrawaddy her life in detention had become progressively more difficult.
“The most prominent features I remember were her serenity and sincerity,” Clements said. “I did not detect a moment of ill will or vindictiveness towards anyone, including her oppressors.
“To the contrary, she would often remark how she genuinely wishes for the day that we can all be friends, how much better it would be for the entire country.”
By BA KAUNG - Friday, January 29, 2010
Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed her lawyer Nyan Win with an ice-cream. “I made it myself,” she said. “Eat it up quickly before it melts.”
Making ice-cream and baking cakes is one of the ways Suu Kyi fills the long hours of her enforced detention in her dilapidated home on Rangoon's Inya Lake.
“She spends a good deal of time working out how to strengthen the party [the National League for Democracy],” said Nyan Win after a visit to Suu Kyi's home on Thursday.
Reporting on the visit, Nyan Win said he found the 64-year-old NLD leader in good health and “vigorous.”
The lawyer told The Irrawaddy he and Suu Kyi had discussed how to pursue a final appeal against her current term of house arrest, the expansion of the NLD and her frustrated efforts to repair her house.
Suu Kyi also spends her time reading Buddhist religious texts, travel and history books, including ones written in French, listening to the radio and watching television which can only receive state-run channels, Nyan Win said.
The lawyer said he is allowed to give Suu Kyi censored copies of the magazines Time and Newsweek. He also gave her 20 French books she had requested.
“She asked me for many 'international' books,” Nyan Win said. “But I am not always allowed to give them to her.” However, on Thursday, he managed to present to her a book as a gift from Nobel Economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz who visited Burma in December. During the trip, Stiglitz asked Nyan Win to give his book Globalization and Its Discontent to Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi is serving an 18-month term of house arrest, reduced from an original sentence of three years' hard labor pronounced by a court in Insein Prison last August. At the end of the farcical trial, Home Affairs Minister Maj-Gen Maung Oo appeared in court with a special order from junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe stating that as Suu Kyi is the daughter of national hero Gen Aung San, her sentence should be halved and the rest suspended.
Maung Oo also read out a puzzling clause stating that if she behaved “well” at her Inya Lake home under the restrictions imposed on her, Suu Kyi would be granted amnesty before her suspended sentence expired.
Suu Kyi has been detained for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, mostly under house arrest. Analysts generally concur that the trial was a political showcase and that the military junta want to keep her under arrest ahead of the elections in 2010.
Suu Kyi has already served almost half of her 18-month house arrest period which began in May, 2009. In view of Maung Oo's hint of her release in November, the regime's message to Suu Kyi appears to be that she is not behaving well and needs to serve the full sentence.
Suu Kyi has described Maung Oo's indication that she will be released in November as totally “unfair.” According to Nyan Win, Suu Kyi believes the comment is obstructing the awaited court ruling over her final appeal.
Asked if Suu Kyi could expect to be released in November when her 18-month house arrest expires, Nyan Win said: “It would not be unusual if a person is released at the end of his or her punishment.”
Using a Burmese proverb, Nyan Win added: “But, if she is not really released at that time, then they [the Burmese rulers] would look like swallowing their own vomit.”
“What is good behavior after all?” Nyan Win asked. “We assume that she has been behaving well because she does not break the terms of the restrictions on her.”
Suu Kyi and the NLD were reprimanded by the state-run media last month, however, for making public the text of letters she wrote to Than Shwe.
“The leak of Aung San Suu Kyi's letters to the media before they were received by the leader of the government is intended to damage the image of the ruling government, and this might delay the processes of the other side [the military government],” said an article carried by state-run newspapers.
Suu Kyi's life in detention has been made even more uncomfortable by the official obstruction of her attempts to repair her home, which has fallen in disrepair. Her piano also needs to be repaired. Work on repairing the house was halted after objections were lodged by her brother and other relatives.
The building is now in an unsafe condition, according to Nyan Win.
The author Alan Clements, who wrote the book Voice of Hope, based mainly on interviews with her after she was released her first house arrest in 1995, told The Irrawaddy her life in detention had become progressively more difficult.
“The most prominent features I remember were her serenity and sincerity,” Clements said. “I did not detect a moment of ill will or vindictiveness towards anyone, including her oppressors.
“To the contrary, she would often remark how she genuinely wishes for the day that we can all be friends, how much better it would be for the entire country.”
***********************************************************
Plight of political prisoners deteriorates in 2009
Friday, 29 January 2010 23:16 Mizzima News
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The political prisoners population in military-ruled Burma increased to 2,177 over the course of 2009, with over 120 are reportedly suffering from illness due to deplorable prison conditions, claims a new activist group report.
The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPPB), in its annual report, said while the ruling junta released a few hundred political prisoners it also arrested several more, resulting in an overall increase of 15 concerning the number of those imprisoned for their political beliefs as compared to a year previously.
The report also said that at least 48 political prisoners in 2009 reported fresh symptoms of illness, bringing the total number of ill health political prisoners to 129.
Bo Kyi, Joint-Secretary of AAPPB, on Friday said the increase in the number of political prisoners suffering from ill health is mainly due to poor prison conditions and a lack of proper medical treatment.
“Like in Kham Htee, most prisoners suffer from malaria, and when the illness is not given timely and proper treatment, the illness gets severe. Many political prisoners have now reported having neurological problems as well as poor eyesight,” Bo Kyi said.
AAPPB said 2009 was a very difficult year for political prisoners, with torture, prison transfers, and denial of medical treatment continuing unabated.
The transferring of prisoners to remote areas far from their families makes it more difficult for prisoners to receive care packages from families, as it is often too expensive or too far for families to visit their loved ones.
“As part of the junta’s widespread crackdown on political dissidents, prison authorities systematically denied numerous political prisoners their right to family visits,” the report said.
“In many cases authorities denied family members the right to see their loved ones even after they had travelled hundreds of miles to remote jails at great expense, leading to psychological hardship for both prisoners and their families and additional health problems, as political prisoners rely on family members for supplementary food and medicines,” found AAPPB.
“Healthcare is only done in namesake, political prisoners are not given timely medical care. For example, those requiring an operation would only be granted such a procedure after the illness has well passed the operation stage,” one family member of a political prisoner told Mizzima.
The AAPPB said comedian and activist Zarganar was perhaps the most high profile of prisoners denied regular access to their family in 2009.
Meanwhile, 88-generation student leader Min Ko Naing, detained in northern Burma’s Putao jail, is suffering from high blood pressure and Ko Ko Gyi, imprisoned at Mai Sat prison in Shan state, is suffering from Hepatitis B.
In January 2009, as a result of inadequate medical treatment, 23-year old Kay Thi Aung suffered a miscarriage in prison, according to the political prisoner watchdog group.
Similarly, U Gambira, leader of the All Burma Monk’s Association during the September 2007 protests, suffered from various illnesses during 2009 as a result of torture and two prison transfers, the group said.
The venerable monk, after staging a hunger strike, contracted malaria in November 2009, further adding to his health woes.
The AAPPB reports that ethnic Shan leader Khun Htun Oo, detained at Putao prison in northern Burma’s Kachin state, suffered from hypertension, complications stemming from diabetes, bladder distention and a peptic ulcer throughout the year, but was still denied medical attention outside the prison.
“A majority of prisoners in remote prisons are suffering from malaria, and the overall conditions of the prisons have contributed to the further health deterioration for many detainees,” concludes the AAPPB.
Reporting by Myint Maung, writing by Mungpi
Friday, 29 January 2010 23:16 Mizzima News
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The political prisoners population in military-ruled Burma increased to 2,177 over the course of 2009, with over 120 are reportedly suffering from illness due to deplorable prison conditions, claims a new activist group report.
The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPPB), in its annual report, said while the ruling junta released a few hundred political prisoners it also arrested several more, resulting in an overall increase of 15 concerning the number of those imprisoned for their political beliefs as compared to a year previously.
The report also said that at least 48 political prisoners in 2009 reported fresh symptoms of illness, bringing the total number of ill health political prisoners to 129.
Bo Kyi, Joint-Secretary of AAPPB, on Friday said the increase in the number of political prisoners suffering from ill health is mainly due to poor prison conditions and a lack of proper medical treatment.
“Like in Kham Htee, most prisoners suffer from malaria, and when the illness is not given timely and proper treatment, the illness gets severe. Many political prisoners have now reported having neurological problems as well as poor eyesight,” Bo Kyi said.
AAPPB said 2009 was a very difficult year for political prisoners, with torture, prison transfers, and denial of medical treatment continuing unabated.
The transferring of prisoners to remote areas far from their families makes it more difficult for prisoners to receive care packages from families, as it is often too expensive or too far for families to visit their loved ones.
“As part of the junta’s widespread crackdown on political dissidents, prison authorities systematically denied numerous political prisoners their right to family visits,” the report said.
“In many cases authorities denied family members the right to see their loved ones even after they had travelled hundreds of miles to remote jails at great expense, leading to psychological hardship for both prisoners and their families and additional health problems, as political prisoners rely on family members for supplementary food and medicines,” found AAPPB.
“Healthcare is only done in namesake, political prisoners are not given timely medical care. For example, those requiring an operation would only be granted such a procedure after the illness has well passed the operation stage,” one family member of a political prisoner told Mizzima.
The AAPPB said comedian and activist Zarganar was perhaps the most high profile of prisoners denied regular access to their family in 2009.
Meanwhile, 88-generation student leader Min Ko Naing, detained in northern Burma’s Putao jail, is suffering from high blood pressure and Ko Ko Gyi, imprisoned at Mai Sat prison in Shan state, is suffering from Hepatitis B.
In January 2009, as a result of inadequate medical treatment, 23-year old Kay Thi Aung suffered a miscarriage in prison, according to the political prisoner watchdog group.
Similarly, U Gambira, leader of the All Burma Monk’s Association during the September 2007 protests, suffered from various illnesses during 2009 as a result of torture and two prison transfers, the group said.
The venerable monk, after staging a hunger strike, contracted malaria in November 2009, further adding to his health woes.
The AAPPB reports that ethnic Shan leader Khun Htun Oo, detained at Putao prison in northern Burma’s Kachin state, suffered from hypertension, complications stemming from diabetes, bladder distention and a peptic ulcer throughout the year, but was still denied medical attention outside the prison.
“A majority of prisoners in remote prisons are suffering from malaria, and the overall conditions of the prisons have contributed to the further health deterioration for many detainees,” concludes the AAPPB.
Reporting by Myint Maung, writing by Mungpi
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UN rights envoy to visit Burma in February
Jan 29, 2010 (DVB)–Tomas Ojea Quintana, United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma, is planning to make a visit to the country in February.
During an interview with DVB, Mr Quintana said the Burmese government has accepted his request for a visit to the country from 15 to 20 February, to assess human rights situation there.
“I requested to meet with Madam Aung San Suu Kyi and other representatives of political parties,” he said. “And at the same time, I also requested to go to a state, to Yakhine (Arakan) state… particularly to assess the situation of the Muslim community.”
He particularly expressed his concerns for persecuted Rohingya Muslim community in Arakan state near Bangladesh, and added that human rights situation in Burma has not improved.
“My job is to try to improve, somehow, the situation,” he insisted. “The main objective of the main mission for me is to continue assessing the problem with the authority, to try to see if some of them are willing to implement my recommendations for the improvement of human rights. At the same time, for me, (it is) important also to collect firsthand information.”
He said he will make a report on his findings to the UN Human Rights Council after the visit.
Mr. Quintana who replaced Paulo Sergio Pinhero in 2008 made his first official visit to the country in August 2008.
He was allowed to visit it a second time in February 2009 – meeting political prisoners in former capital Rangoon’s Insein jail and Karen State in eastern Burma.
But his request for a subsequent visit was rejected by the ruling generals of the State Peace and Development Council in October that year.
He called on the junta to sign and ratify core international human rights instruments, to establish accountability for systematic and widespread human rights violations and to release political prisoners before the planned 2010 election – amongst other recommendations.
Reporting by Nay Htoo
Jan 29, 2010 (DVB)–Tomas Ojea Quintana, United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma, is planning to make a visit to the country in February.
During an interview with DVB, Mr Quintana said the Burmese government has accepted his request for a visit to the country from 15 to 20 February, to assess human rights situation there.
“I requested to meet with Madam Aung San Suu Kyi and other representatives of political parties,” he said. “And at the same time, I also requested to go to a state, to Yakhine (Arakan) state… particularly to assess the situation of the Muslim community.”
He particularly expressed his concerns for persecuted Rohingya Muslim community in Arakan state near Bangladesh, and added that human rights situation in Burma has not improved.
“My job is to try to improve, somehow, the situation,” he insisted. “The main objective of the main mission for me is to continue assessing the problem with the authority, to try to see if some of them are willing to implement my recommendations for the improvement of human rights. At the same time, for me, (it is) important also to collect firsthand information.”
He said he will make a report on his findings to the UN Human Rights Council after the visit.
Mr. Quintana who replaced Paulo Sergio Pinhero in 2008 made his first official visit to the country in August 2008.
He was allowed to visit it a second time in February 2009 – meeting political prisoners in former capital Rangoon’s Insein jail and Karen State in eastern Burma.
But his request for a subsequent visit was rejected by the ruling generals of the State Peace and Development Council in October that year.
He called on the junta to sign and ratify core international human rights instruments, to establish accountability for systematic and widespread human rights violations and to release political prisoners before the planned 2010 election – amongst other recommendations.
Reporting by Nay Htoo
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