Opium farming surges in northern Myanmar: group
AP - Wednesday, January 27
BANGKOK (AP) – Opium cultivation in Myanmar is increasing rapidly in areas under the control of the military government, an ethnic minority organization said Tuesday.
Myanmar is the world's second-biggest producer of opium, which is the main ingredient in heroin, though it trails Afghanistan by a large margin. The ruling junta has vowed to eliminate the drug.
However, opium cultivation in Shan State — the major production area — has tripled in certain areas over the past three years in Myanmar, also known as Burma, according to a report by the Palaung Women's Organization. The Palaung are an ethnic minority in the northern state.
Researchers found cultivation in two townships under government control rose from 2,380 acres (964 hectares) in 2007 to 11,230 acres (4,545 hectares) in 2009.
"The number of villages growing opium has tripled from 2006 to 2009," Lway Aye Nang, an executive committee member for the organization, said at a news conference Tuesday in Bangkok.
The areas had been under the authority of the rebel Palaung State Liberation Army, but the insurgent group ceded control in 2005 after laying down its arms.
Soldiers, local officials and pro-government militiamen were profiting by extorting opium farmers, said Palaung researcher Lway Dang Jar. The report said drug addiction in the area was increasing with "devastating" impact.
Critics of the military regime have accused it of abetting or turning a blind eye to the illicit drug trade.
Myanmar officials were not immediately available for comment.
A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime survey of opium poppy in Myanmar released in December 2009 found cultivation increased to a total of 78,330 acres(31,700 hectares) throughout the country, an 11 per cent rise from 2008.
The U.N. agency would not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AP - Wednesday, January 27
BANGKOK (AP) – Opium cultivation in Myanmar is increasing rapidly in areas under the control of the military government, an ethnic minority organization said Tuesday.
Myanmar is the world's second-biggest producer of opium, which is the main ingredient in heroin, though it trails Afghanistan by a large margin. The ruling junta has vowed to eliminate the drug.
However, opium cultivation in Shan State — the major production area — has tripled in certain areas over the past three years in Myanmar, also known as Burma, according to a report by the Palaung Women's Organization. The Palaung are an ethnic minority in the northern state.
Researchers found cultivation in two townships under government control rose from 2,380 acres (964 hectares) in 2007 to 11,230 acres (4,545 hectares) in 2009.
"The number of villages growing opium has tripled from 2006 to 2009," Lway Aye Nang, an executive committee member for the organization, said at a news conference Tuesday in Bangkok.
The areas had been under the authority of the rebel Palaung State Liberation Army, but the insurgent group ceded control in 2005 after laying down its arms.
Soldiers, local officials and pro-government militiamen were profiting by extorting opium farmers, said Palaung researcher Lway Dang Jar. The report said drug addiction in the area was increasing with "devastating" impact.
Critics of the military regime have accused it of abetting or turning a blind eye to the illicit drug trade.
Myanmar officials were not immediately available for comment.
A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime survey of opium poppy in Myanmar released in December 2009 found cultivation increased to a total of 78,330 acres(31,700 hectares) throughout the country, an 11 per cent rise from 2008.
The U.N. agency would not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Mekong tiger population at 'crisis point': WWF
Tue Jan 26, 2:18 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Governments must act decisively to prevent the extinction of tigers in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region, where numbers have plunged more than 70 percent in 12 years, the WWF said Tuesday.
The wild tiger population across Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam has dropped from an estimated 1,200 in 1998 -- the last Year of the Tiger -- to around 350 today, according to the conservation group.
The report was released ahead of a landmark three-day conference on tiger conservation which opens Wednesday in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin, with ministers from 13 Asian tiger range countries attending.
It said the regional decline was reflected in the global wild tiger population, which is at an all-time low of 3,200, down from an estimated 20,000 in the 1980s and 100,000 a century ago.
"Today, wild tiger populations are at a crisis point," the WWF said, ahead of the start of the Year of the Tiger on February 14, according to the Chinese lunar calendar.
It cited growing demand for tiger body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine as a major factor endangering the region's Indochinese tiger population.
Infrastructure developments were also blamed by the report for fragmenting tigers' habitats, such forests being cut up by roads and converted into commercial crop plantations.
"Decisive action must be taken to ensure this iconic sub-species does not reach the point of no return," said Nick Cox, coordinator of the WWF Greater Mekong tiger programme.
"There is a potential for tiger populations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to become locally extinct by the next Year of the Tiger, in 2022, if we don't step up actions to protect them."
Although Indochinese tigers were once found in abundance across the Greater Mekong region, the WWF says there are now no more than 30 tigers per country in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
The remaining populations are mainly found in mountainous border areas between Thailand and Myanmar. But the WWF is calling on the ministers in Hua Hin to take action to double the numbers of wild tigers by 2022.
"This region has huge potential to increase tiger numbers, but only if there are bold and coordinated efforts across the region and of an unprecedented scale that can protect existing tigers, tiger prey and their habitat," said Cox.
Worldwide political efforts to secure the tiger's future will culminate in a Tiger Summit in September in Vladivostok, Russia, hosted by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"There is an unprecedented opportunity to galvanise political will and action to turn the tide on wild tiger numbers," said Mike Baltzer, head of WWF's global tiger initiative.
"But to do this, we must stop the trade in tiger parts, rampant poaching, and secure the tiger's habitats."
Tue Jan 26, 2:18 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) – Governments must act decisively to prevent the extinction of tigers in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region, where numbers have plunged more than 70 percent in 12 years, the WWF said Tuesday.
The wild tiger population across Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam has dropped from an estimated 1,200 in 1998 -- the last Year of the Tiger -- to around 350 today, according to the conservation group.
The report was released ahead of a landmark three-day conference on tiger conservation which opens Wednesday in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin, with ministers from 13 Asian tiger range countries attending.
It said the regional decline was reflected in the global wild tiger population, which is at an all-time low of 3,200, down from an estimated 20,000 in the 1980s and 100,000 a century ago.
"Today, wild tiger populations are at a crisis point," the WWF said, ahead of the start of the Year of the Tiger on February 14, according to the Chinese lunar calendar.
It cited growing demand for tiger body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine as a major factor endangering the region's Indochinese tiger population.
Infrastructure developments were also blamed by the report for fragmenting tigers' habitats, such forests being cut up by roads and converted into commercial crop plantations.
"Decisive action must be taken to ensure this iconic sub-species does not reach the point of no return," said Nick Cox, coordinator of the WWF Greater Mekong tiger programme.
"There is a potential for tiger populations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to become locally extinct by the next Year of the Tiger, in 2022, if we don't step up actions to protect them."
Although Indochinese tigers were once found in abundance across the Greater Mekong region, the WWF says there are now no more than 30 tigers per country in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
The remaining populations are mainly found in mountainous border areas between Thailand and Myanmar. But the WWF is calling on the ministers in Hua Hin to take action to double the numbers of wild tigers by 2022.
"This region has huge potential to increase tiger numbers, but only if there are bold and coordinated efforts across the region and of an unprecedented scale that can protect existing tigers, tiger prey and their habitat," said Cox.
Worldwide political efforts to secure the tiger's future will culminate in a Tiger Summit in September in Vladivostok, Russia, hosted by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"There is an unprecedented opportunity to galvanise political will and action to turn the tide on wild tiger numbers," said Mike Baltzer, head of WWF's global tiger initiative.
"But to do this, we must stop the trade in tiger parts, rampant poaching, and secure the tiger's habitats."
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EarthTimes - Opium cultivation up in northern Myanmar, addiction problem grows
Posted : Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:26:12 GMT
Bangkok, Thailand - Opium cultivation has increased as much as fivefold in some parts of Myanmar's northern Shan State the past three years, and addiction is a growing problem in local communities, a non-governmental organization said Tuesday. Where Myanmar's ruling military government is in control, local authorities, army and pro-government militia are profiting by taxing opium farmers, the Palaung Women's Organization (PWO) said.
Official "anti-drug teams" are extorting large sums from local farmers and leaving the crop intact instead of eradicating poppy fields, the group said Tuesday on releasing their report "Poison Hills: Surging Opium Cultivation under Government Control in Burma."
When the Palaung State Liberation Army (PSLA) controlled the region, they outlawed poppy cultivation. But cultivation and addiction started increasing after the PSLA signed a ceasefire with the government in 1992, and grew worse after their surrender in 2005.
Government forces with the help of local militia have since taken control and file false poppy eradication data with police, the report said.
"Today more of the regime's troops and militias are everywhere. For us this has meant more drugs and more addiction" said Lway Nway Hnoung, principal researcher of the report.
Global demand for opium, which heroin is made from, has driven farmers to supply the product for decades, if not centuries. But the local Palaung drug problem is relatively new, said Lway Aye Nang with PWO, which was established in 2000 to empower and advance the social status of Palaung women.
"In 1992 (before the ceasefire) there was one drug user in my village. Now, in that village of a bit more than 1,000 people, there are 66 drug users," she said, adding the story is similar across most of her area in northern Shan state.
There are a bit more than 1 million Palaung in Shan State, which borders China, Thailand and Laos and has a total population of about 6 million, she said.
Locals must pay a tax to support the local militia and government forces in the area, and have increasingly turned to poppies as the best-paying crop to do it with, the report said.
The price of tea, which is the area's traditional cash crop, is controlled by the government and has fallen in recent years, while the price of opium has increased, Lway Aye Nang said.
The PWO said the increase in opium cultivation was greater than the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said in a report late last year.
After years of crop-substitution and development projects that reduced the acreage under cultivation in the region, including Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, the UN office acknowledged in December a "worrisome" trend towards increased cultivated in the illicit crop since 2006.
The PWO said resolving the issue depends on ending Myanmar's civil war and political reform in the country controlled by a military dictatorship.
"As long as this regime remains in power, drugs will continue to poison people in Burma and the region," Lway Nway Hnoung said.
Posted : Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:26:12 GMT
Bangkok, Thailand - Opium cultivation has increased as much as fivefold in some parts of Myanmar's northern Shan State the past three years, and addiction is a growing problem in local communities, a non-governmental organization said Tuesday. Where Myanmar's ruling military government is in control, local authorities, army and pro-government militia are profiting by taxing opium farmers, the Palaung Women's Organization (PWO) said.
Official "anti-drug teams" are extorting large sums from local farmers and leaving the crop intact instead of eradicating poppy fields, the group said Tuesday on releasing their report "Poison Hills: Surging Opium Cultivation under Government Control in Burma."
When the Palaung State Liberation Army (PSLA) controlled the region, they outlawed poppy cultivation. But cultivation and addiction started increasing after the PSLA signed a ceasefire with the government in 1992, and grew worse after their surrender in 2005.
Government forces with the help of local militia have since taken control and file false poppy eradication data with police, the report said.
"Today more of the regime's troops and militias are everywhere. For us this has meant more drugs and more addiction" said Lway Nway Hnoung, principal researcher of the report.
Global demand for opium, which heroin is made from, has driven farmers to supply the product for decades, if not centuries. But the local Palaung drug problem is relatively new, said Lway Aye Nang with PWO, which was established in 2000 to empower and advance the social status of Palaung women.
"In 1992 (before the ceasefire) there was one drug user in my village. Now, in that village of a bit more than 1,000 people, there are 66 drug users," she said, adding the story is similar across most of her area in northern Shan state.
There are a bit more than 1 million Palaung in Shan State, which borders China, Thailand and Laos and has a total population of about 6 million, she said.
Locals must pay a tax to support the local militia and government forces in the area, and have increasingly turned to poppies as the best-paying crop to do it with, the report said.
The price of tea, which is the area's traditional cash crop, is controlled by the government and has fallen in recent years, while the price of opium has increased, Lway Aye Nang said.
The PWO said the increase in opium cultivation was greater than the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said in a report late last year.
After years of crop-substitution and development projects that reduced the acreage under cultivation in the region, including Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, the UN office acknowledged in December a "worrisome" trend towards increased cultivated in the illicit crop since 2006.
The PWO said resolving the issue depends on ending Myanmar's civil war and political reform in the country controlled by a military dictatorship.
"As long as this regime remains in power, drugs will continue to poison people in Burma and the region," Lway Nway Hnoung said.
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Rice Only Asian Crop at Risk From El Nino, DTN Says (Update1)
By Luzi Ann Javier
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Rice is the only crop in Asia at risk of potential damage from El Nino as the weather phenomenon, which reduces rainfall, weakens and may spare coffee, palm oil, rubber and sugarcane output, an agricultural meteorologist said.
Drier-than-normal weather has affected rice crops in Myanmar, Thailand, northern Philippines and northern Malaysia, Bryce Anderson, chief agricultural meteorologist at Telvent DTN Inc., an agricultural weather news and information provider, said in a phone interview today.
“If there’s going to be a problem, it would be in terms of rice in that particular region,” Anderson, who has been an agricultural meteorologist for 30 years, said in a phone interview from Omaha, Nebraska. While the weather pattern is easing, “the effects of El Nino are still going to be hanging around for a while,” he said.
Drier weather in Malaysia and Myanmar may add to global rice supply concerns and push prices higher after governments in Thailand, the world’s biggest exporter, and the Philippines, the biggest importer, warned that their production will drop this year as El Nino parches crops, Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services Pty., said by phone from Sydney today.
Rice production in the Philippines may drop 1.7 percent to 7.25 million metric tons in the first half as lower rainfall caused by El Nino prompted farmers to reduce acreage, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics Office said Jan. 20.
‘Supply Issue’
The weather pattern may affect 543,000 hectares of rice land, which may push the country to buy more of the grain overseas, Agriculture Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla told reporters in Manila today. The government has so far bought 2.2 million tons from overseas suppliers for delivery this year.
“We feel that given the weather concerns, we could have a supply issue,” Barratt said. “We’re actually thinking that rice has an upside. We’re looking to go long rice.”
Rough rice futures have advanced 26 percent on the Chicago Board of Trade from last year’s low. The export price of 100 percent grade-B Thai white rice, the benchmark in Asia, has risen 13 percent from its October low as the Philippines accelerated purchases after storms destroyed at least 1.3 million tons of domestic crops. Concern that India may become a net importer after a drought also lifted prices.
Rice for March delivery added as much as 0.6 percent to $14.195 per 100 pounds in after-hours electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade and was at $14.15 at 2:08 p.m. Singapore time.
‘Much Uncertainty’
“Prospects for world rice prices in the next few months are subject to much uncertainty,” the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization said in a report released last week. “A subsiding of the recent price strength is unlikely to be witnessed before March/April when more will be known about the size of the new crops heading to the market.”
Malaysia, the world’s sixth-largest importer, was forecast to buy 850,000 tons this year, while Myanmar, Southeast Asia’s third-largest shipper, was estimated to sell 1 million tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Jan. 12.
“There may be some interruption of supply,” Anderson said. “I want to be optimistic there’s going to be some improvement as we go forward from here,” he said, noting that El Nino did not create “complete region-wide issues.”
During the first half of January, the temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean were 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than normal, down from 1.9 degrees in December, when average temperatures were the warmest since 2002, Anderson said, citing Telvent DTN data. El Nino is characterized by a warming of the Pacific.
In Decline
“This is a sign to us that the El Nino has reached its peak and is probably going to decline as we head into the rest of the northern hemisphere winter and into the spring,” Anderson said.
Apart from parts of Southeast Asia, the rest of Asia is in a “favorable situation,” with soil moisture in some parts of northeast China at close to 90 percent, making rice “supply conditions manageable,” Anderson said.
“The way things are appearing, I don’t think we are going to have a real threat to production” of coffee, palm oil, sugarcane and rubber, he said. Those crops require less water than rice.
By Luzi Ann Javier
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Rice is the only crop in Asia at risk of potential damage from El Nino as the weather phenomenon, which reduces rainfall, weakens and may spare coffee, palm oil, rubber and sugarcane output, an agricultural meteorologist said.
Drier-than-normal weather has affected rice crops in Myanmar, Thailand, northern Philippines and northern Malaysia, Bryce Anderson, chief agricultural meteorologist at Telvent DTN Inc., an agricultural weather news and information provider, said in a phone interview today.
“If there’s going to be a problem, it would be in terms of rice in that particular region,” Anderson, who has been an agricultural meteorologist for 30 years, said in a phone interview from Omaha, Nebraska. While the weather pattern is easing, “the effects of El Nino are still going to be hanging around for a while,” he said.
Drier weather in Malaysia and Myanmar may add to global rice supply concerns and push prices higher after governments in Thailand, the world’s biggest exporter, and the Philippines, the biggest importer, warned that their production will drop this year as El Nino parches crops, Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services Pty., said by phone from Sydney today.
Rice production in the Philippines may drop 1.7 percent to 7.25 million metric tons in the first half as lower rainfall caused by El Nino prompted farmers to reduce acreage, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics Office said Jan. 20.
‘Supply Issue’
The weather pattern may affect 543,000 hectares of rice land, which may push the country to buy more of the grain overseas, Agriculture Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla told reporters in Manila today. The government has so far bought 2.2 million tons from overseas suppliers for delivery this year.
“We feel that given the weather concerns, we could have a supply issue,” Barratt said. “We’re actually thinking that rice has an upside. We’re looking to go long rice.”
Rough rice futures have advanced 26 percent on the Chicago Board of Trade from last year’s low. The export price of 100 percent grade-B Thai white rice, the benchmark in Asia, has risen 13 percent from its October low as the Philippines accelerated purchases after storms destroyed at least 1.3 million tons of domestic crops. Concern that India may become a net importer after a drought also lifted prices.
Rice for March delivery added as much as 0.6 percent to $14.195 per 100 pounds in after-hours electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade and was at $14.15 at 2:08 p.m. Singapore time.
‘Much Uncertainty’
“Prospects for world rice prices in the next few months are subject to much uncertainty,” the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization said in a report released last week. “A subsiding of the recent price strength is unlikely to be witnessed before March/April when more will be known about the size of the new crops heading to the market.”
Malaysia, the world’s sixth-largest importer, was forecast to buy 850,000 tons this year, while Myanmar, Southeast Asia’s third-largest shipper, was estimated to sell 1 million tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Jan. 12.
“There may be some interruption of supply,” Anderson said. “I want to be optimistic there’s going to be some improvement as we go forward from here,” he said, noting that El Nino did not create “complete region-wide issues.”
During the first half of January, the temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean were 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than normal, down from 1.9 degrees in December, when average temperatures were the warmest since 2002, Anderson said, citing Telvent DTN data. El Nino is characterized by a warming of the Pacific.
In Decline
“This is a sign to us that the El Nino has reached its peak and is probably going to decline as we head into the rest of the northern hemisphere winter and into the spring,” Anderson said.
Apart from parts of Southeast Asia, the rest of Asia is in a “favorable situation,” with soil moisture in some parts of northeast China at close to 90 percent, making rice “supply conditions manageable,” Anderson said.
“The way things are appearing, I don’t think we are going to have a real threat to production” of coffee, palm oil, sugarcane and rubber, he said. Those crops require less water than rice.
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The Wall Street Journal - Burma is a Mere Pawn of China
JANUARY 26, 2010, 12:06 P.M. ET
Regarding Kelley Currie's op-ed on Indian foreign policy toward Burma ("India Can Move the Needle on Burma," Jan. 19):
The Burmese arms buildup is not the dream child of a megalomaniac or errant general. It is a carefully orchestrated move by the Chinese to have an offensive front against India, using Burma as a proxy. There is no other reason for Burma to arm itself with offensive or defensive weapons, as neither its Association of Southeast Asian neighbors, India nor Bangladesh harbor any territorial ambitions there. For authoritarian control of its population or quelling civil revolts, conventional weapons are more than adequate.
China periodically rakes up the border issue with Delhi because it's not content with China's "illegal" occupation of Tibet and millions of square miles of India's Himalayan territory in the 1960's. China has laid claim to India's northeast state of Arunachal Pradesh. If Burma were fully armed and backed by China, India would have to fight on many fronts. As it is, India is already dealing with its own Maoist insurgency in its eastern states.
India has no reason to trust Burma or China. Zhou Enlai betrayed Jawaharlal Nehru's trust and the Pansheel principles almost 50 years ago. Since then, Beijing has not given India any reason to trust Beijing further. But India's own leadership, headed by the pacifist Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, spends more effort in talking and complaining than reassuring Indians that our future is safe.
Sydney Prabhu
Samutsakorn, Thailand
JANUARY 26, 2010, 12:06 P.M. ET
Regarding Kelley Currie's op-ed on Indian foreign policy toward Burma ("India Can Move the Needle on Burma," Jan. 19):
The Burmese arms buildup is not the dream child of a megalomaniac or errant general. It is a carefully orchestrated move by the Chinese to have an offensive front against India, using Burma as a proxy. There is no other reason for Burma to arm itself with offensive or defensive weapons, as neither its Association of Southeast Asian neighbors, India nor Bangladesh harbor any territorial ambitions there. For authoritarian control of its population or quelling civil revolts, conventional weapons are more than adequate.
China periodically rakes up the border issue with Delhi because it's not content with China's "illegal" occupation of Tibet and millions of square miles of India's Himalayan territory in the 1960's. China has laid claim to India's northeast state of Arunachal Pradesh. If Burma were fully armed and backed by China, India would have to fight on many fronts. As it is, India is already dealing with its own Maoist insurgency in its eastern states.
India has no reason to trust Burma or China. Zhou Enlai betrayed Jawaharlal Nehru's trust and the Pansheel principles almost 50 years ago. Since then, Beijing has not given India any reason to trust Beijing further. But India's own leadership, headed by the pacifist Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, spends more effort in talking and complaining than reassuring Indians that our future is safe.
Sydney Prabhu
Samutsakorn, Thailand
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The Nation - Thai freighter sinks off Taiwan; 9 rescued, 1 dead, 10 missing
January 26, 2010
Taipei - Nine people were rescued after a Thai freighter sank off the west coast of Taiwan Tuesday, but one crew member was found dead and 10 were missing.
The 6,000-ton Sea Angel sank in bad weather about 3 am (1900 GMT Monday) in the Taiwan Strait 20 nautical miles, or nearly 40 kilometres, off Yunlin, the National Search and Coordination Centre said.
A passing foreign freighter alerted Taiwan authorities to the sinking about 8 am, and a sea and air search was launched about two hours later.
Kao Hui-jung at the Sea Angel's agent, the Wimax Maritime Shipping Co, said by phone that the ship was sailing from Malaysia to China when it sank and most of its crew were Thais with the rest coming from Indonesia and Burma.
The rescued crew members, who survived thanks to life savers, were sent to two hospitals for treatment.
The search and rescue operation was continuing, the coast guard's Chan Hsiu-jung said.
January 26, 2010
Taipei - Nine people were rescued after a Thai freighter sank off the west coast of Taiwan Tuesday, but one crew member was found dead and 10 were missing.
The 6,000-ton Sea Angel sank in bad weather about 3 am (1900 GMT Monday) in the Taiwan Strait 20 nautical miles, or nearly 40 kilometres, off Yunlin, the National Search and Coordination Centre said.
A passing foreign freighter alerted Taiwan authorities to the sinking about 8 am, and a sea and air search was launched about two hours later.
Kao Hui-jung at the Sea Angel's agent, the Wimax Maritime Shipping Co, said by phone that the ship was sailing from Malaysia to China when it sank and most of its crew were Thais with the rest coming from Indonesia and Burma.
The rescued crew members, who survived thanks to life savers, were sent to two hospitals for treatment.
The search and rescue operation was continuing, the coast guard's Chan Hsiu-jung said.
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The Irrawaddy - Burma Media Gagged on Haiti Relief Effort
By WAI MOE - Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Burma's state-run media have been banned from reporting the US army's involvement in the Haitian earthquake relief effort, according to journalists in the country.
News coverage of the Jan. 12 disaster in Haiti has been muted in Burma in comparison to most other countries, and all mention of the 16,000 US troops and other Western forces deployed in the humanitarian effort has been banned by the state censorship board, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), the sources in Rangoon and Mandalay said.
Instead, Burmese newspapers highlighted China’s relief work in the Caribbean nation.
“The state-run newspapers did not report on the thousands of American troops conducting a relief mission in Haiti,” a reporter with a private journal in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.
Burmese journalists said the PSRD routinely rejects any news reports deemed “sensitive” to national interests or state policy. Burmese media were recently prohibited from reporting news of salary increases for government staff and the ongoing war of words between the Chinese government and Internet provider Google.
Both Burma and Haiti are failed states and have suffered from massive natural disasters recently. Southwestern parts of Burma were devastated on May 2-3, 2008, by Cyclone Nargis, which took an estimated 140,000 lives and affected more than two million people.
After Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, the military junta rejected international relief offers and denied the world press access to the affected region. Similar to the Haitian disaster, the US and other Western nations offered Burma humanitarian aid and deployed naval vessels close to its coast.
However, the junta declined the offers due to what is widely perceived to be a fear of foreign intervention in Burmese affairs. The Burmese authorities finally allowed foreign civilian relief workers into the devastated delta region more than a month after the cyclone hit.
Haiti held an international conference on the earthquake disaster in Canada on Monday, less than two weeks after the catastrophe. In Burma's case, it was nearly one month before the military government hosted an aid conference.
Meanwhile, it is feared that several Burmese NGO workers may be among the estimated 150,000 dead in Haiti after a Burmese national's death was reported by a UN source.
The UN source, who requested anonymity when he spoke to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, said that a Burmese identified only with the first name “Aung” was among the victims of the deadly earthquake. “There were believed to be some Burmese staff with INGOs or UN agencies in Haiti before the earthquake, and they could be among the dead or missing,” he said.
Several Burmese blogs said dozens of Burmese NGO workers were reportedly in Haiti before the disaster. Freedom News Group blog cited a Burmese physician, Myat Thu, as missing, quoting another Burmese national in Port-au-Prince who survived the disaster.
By WAI MOE - Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Burma's state-run media have been banned from reporting the US army's involvement in the Haitian earthquake relief effort, according to journalists in the country.
News coverage of the Jan. 12 disaster in Haiti has been muted in Burma in comparison to most other countries, and all mention of the 16,000 US troops and other Western forces deployed in the humanitarian effort has been banned by the state censorship board, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), the sources in Rangoon and Mandalay said.
Instead, Burmese newspapers highlighted China’s relief work in the Caribbean nation.
“The state-run newspapers did not report on the thousands of American troops conducting a relief mission in Haiti,” a reporter with a private journal in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.
Burmese journalists said the PSRD routinely rejects any news reports deemed “sensitive” to national interests or state policy. Burmese media were recently prohibited from reporting news of salary increases for government staff and the ongoing war of words between the Chinese government and Internet provider Google.
Both Burma and Haiti are failed states and have suffered from massive natural disasters recently. Southwestern parts of Burma were devastated on May 2-3, 2008, by Cyclone Nargis, which took an estimated 140,000 lives and affected more than two million people.
After Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, the military junta rejected international relief offers and denied the world press access to the affected region. Similar to the Haitian disaster, the US and other Western nations offered Burma humanitarian aid and deployed naval vessels close to its coast.
However, the junta declined the offers due to what is widely perceived to be a fear of foreign intervention in Burmese affairs. The Burmese authorities finally allowed foreign civilian relief workers into the devastated delta region more than a month after the cyclone hit.
Haiti held an international conference on the earthquake disaster in Canada on Monday, less than two weeks after the catastrophe. In Burma's case, it was nearly one month before the military government hosted an aid conference.
Meanwhile, it is feared that several Burmese NGO workers may be among the estimated 150,000 dead in Haiti after a Burmese national's death was reported by a UN source.
The UN source, who requested anonymity when he spoke to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, said that a Burmese identified only with the first name “Aung” was among the victims of the deadly earthquake. “There were believed to be some Burmese staff with INGOs or UN agencies in Haiti before the earthquake, and they could be among the dead or missing,” he said.
Several Burmese blogs said dozens of Burmese NGO workers were reportedly in Haiti before the disaster. Freedom News Group blog cited a Burmese physician, Myat Thu, as missing, quoting another Burmese national in Port-au-Prince who survived the disaster.
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The Irrawaddy - Two Cases Highlight Burma's Unfair Legal System
By ARKAR MOE - Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Legal experts and human rights activists are concerned about two legal cases in Burmese courts involving a Burmese-born American citizen, Kyaw Zaw Lwin, and Burmese poet Saw Wai.
Poet Saw Wai was arrested in January of 2008, after his poem titled “February 14” was published in the “Ah Chit (Love)” journal. The first letters of words in all the lines spelled out “Power Crazy Snr-Gen.Than Shwe'” which provoked the authorities to arrest him and sentence him to two years in prison in May 2008 on a charge of “inducing a crime against public tranquillity.”
Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the sentence started on the day he was sentenced, and he was not given credit for time in custody starting on the date of his arrest.
“He was held for four months unfairly. There are many cases in Burma like it.”
Aung Thein, a prominent Rangoon lawyer, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, “There is no clear rule about counting days under arrest in Burma. Sometimes, Burma courts consider the custodial period as starting from the commencement of the trial.”
“Actually, courts should count from the day of the arrest. The courts do not count custodial period in some cases, especially if they involve politics or human rights activists. ”
A well-known democracy activist, Kyaw Zaw Lwin (aka Nyi Nyi Aung), was arrested on Sept. 3, 2009. A Burmese-born American citizen, he was arrested in Rangoon when he was attempting to visit his mother, an imprisoned democracy activist who has cancer. He was accused of using a forged Burmese identity card and illegally importing currency into the country.
The final argument in his trial will be heard in a special court in Insein Prison on Friday.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Thein Oo, the chairman of the exiled Burma's Lawyers Association (BLA), said, “I think they will sentence Ko Nyi Nyi Aung severely, although the charges were baseless. The junta wants to set an example for other activists.”
The state-run The New Light of Myanmar newspaper claimed that he had links with dissident monks and members of the opposition National League for Democracy. The newspaper article said he exchanged information, provided financial assistance and instigated public arrest. None of those allegations were included in the charges against him.
Thein Oo, chairman of the BLC, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, “There is no doubt that the Burmese judicial system has deteriorated.”
Fellow lawyer Aung Thein, said, “In fact, legal rights have suffered. The Burmese courts cannot control the prosecutors. The courts should obey and respect legal procedures. There must be checks and balances between the executive and judiciary.”
On Dec. 18, 53 US congressmen wrote a letter to Snr-Gen Than Shwe calling for Kyaw Zaw Lwin's release. Sen. Jim Webb, who traveled to Burma earlier this year to secure the release of US citizen John Yettaw, also urged the regime to grant Kyaw Zaw Lwin all rights guaranteed under international law.
Thein Oo said, “Dictators are only concerned about their own power and interests. They will not take action until they are really challenged strongly. The international community should step up the pressure to take effective action to pressure the judiciary system.”
By ARKAR MOE - Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Legal experts and human rights activists are concerned about two legal cases in Burmese courts involving a Burmese-born American citizen, Kyaw Zaw Lwin, and Burmese poet Saw Wai.
Poet Saw Wai was arrested in January of 2008, after his poem titled “February 14” was published in the “Ah Chit (Love)” journal. The first letters of words in all the lines spelled out “Power Crazy Snr-Gen.Than Shwe'” which provoked the authorities to arrest him and sentence him to two years in prison in May 2008 on a charge of “inducing a crime against public tranquillity.”
Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the sentence started on the day he was sentenced, and he was not given credit for time in custody starting on the date of his arrest.
“He was held for four months unfairly. There are many cases in Burma like it.”
Aung Thein, a prominent Rangoon lawyer, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, “There is no clear rule about counting days under arrest in Burma. Sometimes, Burma courts consider the custodial period as starting from the commencement of the trial.”
“Actually, courts should count from the day of the arrest. The courts do not count custodial period in some cases, especially if they involve politics or human rights activists. ”
A well-known democracy activist, Kyaw Zaw Lwin (aka Nyi Nyi Aung), was arrested on Sept. 3, 2009. A Burmese-born American citizen, he was arrested in Rangoon when he was attempting to visit his mother, an imprisoned democracy activist who has cancer. He was accused of using a forged Burmese identity card and illegally importing currency into the country.
The final argument in his trial will be heard in a special court in Insein Prison on Friday.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Thein Oo, the chairman of the exiled Burma's Lawyers Association (BLA), said, “I think they will sentence Ko Nyi Nyi Aung severely, although the charges were baseless. The junta wants to set an example for other activists.”
The state-run The New Light of Myanmar newspaper claimed that he had links with dissident monks and members of the opposition National League for Democracy. The newspaper article said he exchanged information, provided financial assistance and instigated public arrest. None of those allegations were included in the charges against him.
Thein Oo, chairman of the BLC, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, “There is no doubt that the Burmese judicial system has deteriorated.”
Fellow lawyer Aung Thein, said, “In fact, legal rights have suffered. The Burmese courts cannot control the prosecutors. The courts should obey and respect legal procedures. There must be checks and balances between the executive and judiciary.”
On Dec. 18, 53 US congressmen wrote a letter to Snr-Gen Than Shwe calling for Kyaw Zaw Lwin's release. Sen. Jim Webb, who traveled to Burma earlier this year to secure the release of US citizen John Yettaw, also urged the regime to grant Kyaw Zaw Lwin all rights guaranteed under international law.
Thein Oo said, “Dictators are only concerned about their own power and interests. They will not take action until they are really challenged strongly. The international community should step up the pressure to take effective action to pressure the judiciary system.”
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Treason convicts transferred to remote prisons
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 22:20 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Prison authorities in Rangoon’s Insein prison have transferred three people tried and sentenced for leaking confidential documents to remote jails across the country.
Sources close to Insein prison authorities said retired Major Win Naing Kyaw was transferred to Tharyawaddy prison in Pegu Division, Foreign Ministry clerk Thura Kyaw (a.k.a. Aung Aung) to Shan state and Byan Sein (a.k.a. Ahsi) to Mandalay prison on January 23rd.
On January 7th the Northern Rangoon District Court sentenced Win Naing Kyaw and Thura Kyaw to death under a wide-ranging security law including the Emergency Provision Act, while additionally handing down 20 and 15-year terms, respectively, on charges of violating the Electronic Act.
Byan Sein, a civilian, was sentenced to 15 years for offences under the Electronic Act.
“All three were taken from Insein prison on January 23rd at about 1 p.m. (local time). They were transferred to jails in remote areas on the same day,” the source told Mizzima.
The three were arrested, tried and sentenced for allegedly leaking pictures and documents relating to overseas trips by senior Burmese officials, including visits to China and North Korea.
While China is among Burma’s stronger diplomatic allies, North Korea is also said to be supplying military hardware to Burma’s generals.
Defense counsels Tun Aung, Myo Aung and Khin Maung Myint are reportedly preparing to file an appeal over the death sentences handed down to their clients.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 22:20 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Prison authorities in Rangoon’s Insein prison have transferred three people tried and sentenced for leaking confidential documents to remote jails across the country.
Sources close to Insein prison authorities said retired Major Win Naing Kyaw was transferred to Tharyawaddy prison in Pegu Division, Foreign Ministry clerk Thura Kyaw (a.k.a. Aung Aung) to Shan state and Byan Sein (a.k.a. Ahsi) to Mandalay prison on January 23rd.
On January 7th the Northern Rangoon District Court sentenced Win Naing Kyaw and Thura Kyaw to death under a wide-ranging security law including the Emergency Provision Act, while additionally handing down 20 and 15-year terms, respectively, on charges of violating the Electronic Act.
Byan Sein, a civilian, was sentenced to 15 years for offences under the Electronic Act.
“All three were taken from Insein prison on January 23rd at about 1 p.m. (local time). They were transferred to jails in remote areas on the same day,” the source told Mizzima.
The three were arrested, tried and sentenced for allegedly leaking pictures and documents relating to overseas trips by senior Burmese officials, including visits to China and North Korea.
While China is among Burma’s stronger diplomatic allies, North Korea is also said to be supplying military hardware to Burma’s generals.
Defense counsels Tun Aung, Myo Aung and Khin Maung Myint are reportedly preparing to file an appeal over the death sentences handed down to their clients.
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