Myanmar Elections Must Include Suu Kyi, UN’s Ban Says (Update2)
By Paul Tighe
March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar’s elections scheduled for this year must include detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.
Political prisoners must be released so that “all of them can take part in elections,” Ban said in New York. “That would make the elections inclusive and credible.”
Ban commented as official newspapers in Myanmar began publishing details of new election laws, the Associated Press reported. The legislation establishes rules such as how long campaigning will last and conditions for parties contesting the ballot, AP said.
The UN and U.S. have dismissed the election as a bid by the military, which has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since 1962, to hold onto power. The ballot will take place under a constitution approved in a 2008 referendum that includes a clause effectively barring Suu Kyi from holding office.
Ban said he wrote to Senior General Than Shwe, the junta leader, last month emphasizing that the election must be held in a “transparent manner” and calling on the junta to issue new election laws.
“I repeatedly emphasized that, without the participation of Daw Aung Suu Kyi and all key political prisoners, the elections would not be inclusive,” he said. The junta is holding an estimated 2,100 political prisoners, according to the U.S.
Details of five new election-related laws will be released in official newspapers in the next few days, AP said, citing state radio and television. A report today said one law will establish a five-member commission to oversee the ballot, it said.
Appeal Rejected
Suu Kyi, 64, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, had her house arrest order extended for 18 months in August after a court found her guilty of violating her detention terms, a decision that would ensure her being excluded from the elections. Myanmar’s Supreme Court last month rejected her appeal against the extension.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party hasn’t decided whether to take part in the elections. The government hasn’t set a date for the ballot.
“We don’t know what’s in the laws,” AP cited Nyan Win, a spokesman for the NLD as saying yesterday in Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar. “If elections are held this year, it won’t be fair because political parties are not given enough time” for registration and campaigning.
The U.S. has repeatedly called on the junta to release political prisoners before the election. President Barack Obama is pursuing a policy of engaging with the military leaders while maintaining trade and financial sanctions that are aimed at pressing the junta to make democratic changes in the country of more than 48 million people.
By Paul Tighe
March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar’s elections scheduled for this year must include detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.
Political prisoners must be released so that “all of them can take part in elections,” Ban said in New York. “That would make the elections inclusive and credible.”
Ban commented as official newspapers in Myanmar began publishing details of new election laws, the Associated Press reported. The legislation establishes rules such as how long campaigning will last and conditions for parties contesting the ballot, AP said.
The UN and U.S. have dismissed the election as a bid by the military, which has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since 1962, to hold onto power. The ballot will take place under a constitution approved in a 2008 referendum that includes a clause effectively barring Suu Kyi from holding office.
Ban said he wrote to Senior General Than Shwe, the junta leader, last month emphasizing that the election must be held in a “transparent manner” and calling on the junta to issue new election laws.
“I repeatedly emphasized that, without the participation of Daw Aung Suu Kyi and all key political prisoners, the elections would not be inclusive,” he said. The junta is holding an estimated 2,100 political prisoners, according to the U.S.
Details of five new election-related laws will be released in official newspapers in the next few days, AP said, citing state radio and television. A report today said one law will establish a five-member commission to oversee the ballot, it said.
Appeal Rejected
Suu Kyi, 64, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, had her house arrest order extended for 18 months in August after a court found her guilty of violating her detention terms, a decision that would ensure her being excluded from the elections. Myanmar’s Supreme Court last month rejected her appeal against the extension.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy Party hasn’t decided whether to take part in the elections. The government hasn’t set a date for the ballot.
“We don’t know what’s in the laws,” AP cited Nyan Win, a spokesman for the NLD as saying yesterday in Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar. “If elections are held this year, it won’t be fair because political parties are not given enough time” for registration and campaigning.
The U.S. has repeatedly called on the junta to release political prisoners before the election. President Barack Obama is pursuing a policy of engaging with the military leaders while maintaining trade and financial sanctions that are aimed at pressing the junta to make democratic changes in the country of more than 48 million people.
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Myanmar junta to hand-pick election body
Tue Mar 9, 8:45 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's ruling junta will appoint a body to oversee the country's first elections in two decades, state media said on Tuesday, sparking anger from rights groups at new laws for this year's polls.
State-run newspapers published the details of the first of five long-awaited laws governing the historic vote, which is expected in October or November, although the military regime has still given no firm date.
The last elections, in 1990, were won by Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) but the junta annulled the results and has kept her under house arrest for 14 of the intervening years.
After the government enacted the new laws on Monday, state media Tuesday printed the two-page text of the first of the new edicts, the "Union Election Commission Law," signed by junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe.
The law will "form a union election commission to supervise the practising of the Union of Myanmar people's rights to elect or stand for election as well as the political parties," the text said.
But it said that the junta, officially known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), would itself appoint the commission, which will have at least five members.
All members must be over 50 and "shall be deemed by the SPDC to be an eminent person, to have integrity and experience, to be loyal to the state and its citizens and shall not be a member of a political party".
The commission would have the "final and conclusive" say on all electoral matters, it added.
Critics say the elections are a sham designed to legitimise the ruling generals' grip on power while Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi languishes in detention. Her house arrest was extended by 18 months in August.
"It obviously does not bode well for the credibility of the elections," activist Debbie Stothard, a Bangkok-based activist and coordinator of the ALTSEAN-Burma (Myanmar) network, said of the electoral commission laws.
A Myanmar official said the date for this year's polls was expected to be set by the election commission, not by the government.
"I think that the election commission will have to announce the election date as it is their duty to hold elections. We cannot say anything right now except to wait for the election commission," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Another official said that political parties "will get about six months to lobby for elections after election laws come out."
But activists pointed to the fact that the commission will be able to postpone and abolish "elections of the constituencies where free and fair elections cannot be held due to natural disaster or due to the local security situation," the law said.
This provision could be used to cancel elections in border areas where the government is still fighting its decades-long campaign against ethnic minority rebel groups, they said.
"Basically, the laws will formalise what is already a repressive system leading up to the election," said David Mathieson, a Myanmar expert at Human Rights Watch.
The NLD has not yet said whether it will participate in this year's promised elections, saying it will wait until it sees the full details of all the election laws.
Details of the law for the registration of political parties are expected to be released on Wednesday.
A new constitution agreed in a May 2008 referendum, just days after a devastating cyclone that killed up to 138,000 people in Myanmar, effectively bans Suu Kyi from standing in the polls.
It also reserves a quarter of all parliamentary seats for members of the military.
The UN rights envoy to Myanmar said after visiting in February that the polls would be neither fair nor free if Suu Kyi and another 2,100 political prisoners were kept in detention.
Than Shwe warned citizens in January to make "correct choices" at the elections, without elaborating.
Tue Mar 9, 8:45 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's ruling junta will appoint a body to oversee the country's first elections in two decades, state media said on Tuesday, sparking anger from rights groups at new laws for this year's polls.
State-run newspapers published the details of the first of five long-awaited laws governing the historic vote, which is expected in October or November, although the military regime has still given no firm date.
The last elections, in 1990, were won by Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) but the junta annulled the results and has kept her under house arrest for 14 of the intervening years.
After the government enacted the new laws on Monday, state media Tuesday printed the two-page text of the first of the new edicts, the "Union Election Commission Law," signed by junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe.
The law will "form a union election commission to supervise the practising of the Union of Myanmar people's rights to elect or stand for election as well as the political parties," the text said.
But it said that the junta, officially known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), would itself appoint the commission, which will have at least five members.
All members must be over 50 and "shall be deemed by the SPDC to be an eminent person, to have integrity and experience, to be loyal to the state and its citizens and shall not be a member of a political party".
The commission would have the "final and conclusive" say on all electoral matters, it added.
Critics say the elections are a sham designed to legitimise the ruling generals' grip on power while Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi languishes in detention. Her house arrest was extended by 18 months in August.
"It obviously does not bode well for the credibility of the elections," activist Debbie Stothard, a Bangkok-based activist and coordinator of the ALTSEAN-Burma (Myanmar) network, said of the electoral commission laws.
A Myanmar official said the date for this year's polls was expected to be set by the election commission, not by the government.
"I think that the election commission will have to announce the election date as it is their duty to hold elections. We cannot say anything right now except to wait for the election commission," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Another official said that political parties "will get about six months to lobby for elections after election laws come out."
But activists pointed to the fact that the commission will be able to postpone and abolish "elections of the constituencies where free and fair elections cannot be held due to natural disaster or due to the local security situation," the law said.
This provision could be used to cancel elections in border areas where the government is still fighting its decades-long campaign against ethnic minority rebel groups, they said.
"Basically, the laws will formalise what is already a repressive system leading up to the election," said David Mathieson, a Myanmar expert at Human Rights Watch.
The NLD has not yet said whether it will participate in this year's promised elections, saying it will wait until it sees the full details of all the election laws.
Details of the law for the registration of political parties are expected to be released on Wednesday.
A new constitution agreed in a May 2008 referendum, just days after a devastating cyclone that killed up to 138,000 people in Myanmar, effectively bans Suu Kyi from standing in the polls.
It also reserves a quarter of all parliamentary seats for members of the military.
The UN rights envoy to Myanmar said after visiting in February that the polls would be neither fair nor free if Suu Kyi and another 2,100 political prisoners were kept in detention.
Than Shwe warned citizens in January to make "correct choices" at the elections, without elaborating.
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Myanmar refugees 'starving to death' in Bangladesh
by Cat Barton – Tue Mar 9, 5:34 am ET
DHAKA (AFP) – Bangladesh is waging a campaign of arbitrary arrest, illegal expulsion, forced internment and starvation against Muslim refugees from neighbouring Myanmar, according to a report released Tuesday.
Tens of thousands of unregistered Rohingya refugees, many of whom have lived in Bangladesh for decades, have been forced into makeshift camps where they are being left to starve to death, the report by Physicians for Human Rights says.
"It is unconscionable to leave this vulnerable population stateless and starving," said Richard Sollom, PHR director of research and investigations.
"Haiti after the recent earthquake had an acute child malnutrition rate of six percent, in the Rohingya camps the rate is 18.2 percent -- three times higher but with no aid," he added.
Described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities on Earth, thousands of Rohingya from Myanmar's northern Rakhine state stream across the border into Muslim-majority Bangladesh every year.
Bangladesh recognises 28,000 Rohingya as registered refugees, who live and receive aid at an official UN camp in Kutupalong. This figure is a fraction of the 200,000 to 300,000 unofficial refugees, according to government estimates.
The report said the crackdown is an apparent attempt to dissuade any more refugees fleeing to Bangladesh ahead of elections in Myanmar later this year.
The police are "systematically rounding up, jailing or summarily expelling these unregistered refugees across the Burmese (Myanmar) border in flagrant violation of the country's human rights obligations," the report said.
Up to 10,000 unregistered Rohingya, many of whom have lived in Bangladesh for years, have moved to the makeshift camps since January, local police say.
The crackdown has "quarantined" the unregistered refugees in the camps, which surround the official UN-run facility, and the report said they were effectively "an open air prison."
"This confinement, coupled with the Bangladeshi government's refusal to allow unregistered refugees access to food aid, presents an untenable situation: refugees are being left to die from starvation," it said.
The PHR report follows two other reports, one by lobby group the Arakan Project and one by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), which also criticised the crackdown.
"The European Union is very concerned at the humanitarian situation. For those with no access to any food programme, the situation is grim," MEP Jean Lambert, who led a recent visit to the refugee camps, told AFP.
The Bangladeshi government on Sunday dismissed media reports relating to undocumented Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh as "baseless and malicious."
It views the Rohingya as economic migrants and maintains they must be repatriated.
"We are arresting illegal Rohingya and pushing them back over the border. It is an ongoing operation," said Rafiqul Islam, chief of the local police in Kutupalong, on the Myanmar border.
by Cat Barton – Tue Mar 9, 5:34 am ET
DHAKA (AFP) – Bangladesh is waging a campaign of arbitrary arrest, illegal expulsion, forced internment and starvation against Muslim refugees from neighbouring Myanmar, according to a report released Tuesday.
Tens of thousands of unregistered Rohingya refugees, many of whom have lived in Bangladesh for decades, have been forced into makeshift camps where they are being left to starve to death, the report by Physicians for Human Rights says.
"It is unconscionable to leave this vulnerable population stateless and starving," said Richard Sollom, PHR director of research and investigations.
"Haiti after the recent earthquake had an acute child malnutrition rate of six percent, in the Rohingya camps the rate is 18.2 percent -- three times higher but with no aid," he added.
Described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities on Earth, thousands of Rohingya from Myanmar's northern Rakhine state stream across the border into Muslim-majority Bangladesh every year.
Bangladesh recognises 28,000 Rohingya as registered refugees, who live and receive aid at an official UN camp in Kutupalong. This figure is a fraction of the 200,000 to 300,000 unofficial refugees, according to government estimates.
The report said the crackdown is an apparent attempt to dissuade any more refugees fleeing to Bangladesh ahead of elections in Myanmar later this year.
The police are "systematically rounding up, jailing or summarily expelling these unregistered refugees across the Burmese (Myanmar) border in flagrant violation of the country's human rights obligations," the report said.
Up to 10,000 unregistered Rohingya, many of whom have lived in Bangladesh for years, have moved to the makeshift camps since January, local police say.
The crackdown has "quarantined" the unregistered refugees in the camps, which surround the official UN-run facility, and the report said they were effectively "an open air prison."
"This confinement, coupled with the Bangladeshi government's refusal to allow unregistered refugees access to food aid, presents an untenable situation: refugees are being left to die from starvation," it said.
The PHR report follows two other reports, one by lobby group the Arakan Project and one by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), which also criticised the crackdown.
"The European Union is very concerned at the humanitarian situation. For those with no access to any food programme, the situation is grim," MEP Jean Lambert, who led a recent visit to the refugee camps, told AFP.
The Bangladeshi government on Sunday dismissed media reports relating to undocumented Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh as "baseless and malicious."
It views the Rohingya as economic migrants and maintains they must be repatriated.
"We are arresting illegal Rohingya and pushing them back over the border. It is an ongoing operation," said Rafiqul Islam, chief of the local police in Kutupalong, on the Myanmar border.
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Myanmar provides details of first election law
Mon Mar 8, 9:45 pm ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar's ruling junta will appoint the commission that will have final say over the country's first elections in two decades, state-run newspapers announced Tuesday as the country's military rulers began unveiling the laws that will govern this year's balloting.
There are growing fears among pro-democracy groups that the election — a date for which has not been announced — will be weighted in favor of the military and its supporters, and the first of five election-related laws to be published is likely to increase that unease.
The laws enacted Monday will set out the mechanisms and rules for the election and campaigning, and the conditions under which parties may participate. Details were to be released in the state-run media over the coming days.
The first explained was the Union Election Commission Law, signed by junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe. It stipulates that the junta will appoint a Union Election Commission with a minimum of five members including the chairman. Decisions of the body would be final.
Members, who cannot be members of political parties, must be persons "deemed prominent and reputable" by the junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council.
Myanmar's military government announced in early 2008 that elections would take place sometime in 2010. A 1990 election was won by the National League for Democracy party of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, but the military refused to hand over power.
The party of Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest until November, has not yet committed itself to taking part in the polls because it claims the new constitution of 2008 is unfair. It has clauses that would ensure that the military retains a controlling say in government and bars Suu Kyi from holding office.
The party has said the election laws will help it determine whether it will participate.
The remaining four laws are said to cover the polls for the Pyithu Hluttaw, or House of Representatives; the polls for the Amyotha Hluttaw, or House of Nationalities, the other house of parliament; the polls for Region and State parliaments; and the Political Parties Registration Law.
The national and regional legislatures will all include military personnel nominated by their commander in chief.
The 440-member House of Representatives will have 330 elected civilians and 110 military representatives; while the 224-member House of Nationalities will seat 168 elected candidates and 56 nominated by the military chief.
Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years. The Supreme Court last month dismissed her latest appeal for freedom. She was convicted last August of violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside home, and sentenced to a term of house arrest to end this November.
The sentence was seen as a ploy to effectively keep Suu Kyi locked up during any election campaign.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment Monday that Suu Kyi's appeal was rejected, adding that the legitimacy of the elections rests on the freedom of political prisoners.
"Most importantly, all the political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, should be released as soon as possible, so that all of them can take part in elections," Ban said.
Ban said he wrote Than Shwe about 10 days ago "first of all expressing my concern about the lack of progress and also emphasizing the importance of the election ... to be (held in) a most credible, inclusive and transparent manner."
Mon Mar 8, 9:45 pm ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar's ruling junta will appoint the commission that will have final say over the country's first elections in two decades, state-run newspapers announced Tuesday as the country's military rulers began unveiling the laws that will govern this year's balloting.
There are growing fears among pro-democracy groups that the election — a date for which has not been announced — will be weighted in favor of the military and its supporters, and the first of five election-related laws to be published is likely to increase that unease.
The laws enacted Monday will set out the mechanisms and rules for the election and campaigning, and the conditions under which parties may participate. Details were to be released in the state-run media over the coming days.
The first explained was the Union Election Commission Law, signed by junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe. It stipulates that the junta will appoint a Union Election Commission with a minimum of five members including the chairman. Decisions of the body would be final.
Members, who cannot be members of political parties, must be persons "deemed prominent and reputable" by the junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council.
Myanmar's military government announced in early 2008 that elections would take place sometime in 2010. A 1990 election was won by the National League for Democracy party of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, but the military refused to hand over power.
The party of Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest until November, has not yet committed itself to taking part in the polls because it claims the new constitution of 2008 is unfair. It has clauses that would ensure that the military retains a controlling say in government and bars Suu Kyi from holding office.
The party has said the election laws will help it determine whether it will participate.
The remaining four laws are said to cover the polls for the Pyithu Hluttaw, or House of Representatives; the polls for the Amyotha Hluttaw, or House of Nationalities, the other house of parliament; the polls for Region and State parliaments; and the Political Parties Registration Law.
The national and regional legislatures will all include military personnel nominated by their commander in chief.
The 440-member House of Representatives will have 330 elected civilians and 110 military representatives; while the 224-member House of Nationalities will seat 168 elected candidates and 56 nominated by the military chief.
Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years. The Supreme Court last month dismissed her latest appeal for freedom. She was convicted last August of violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside home, and sentenced to a term of house arrest to end this November.
The sentence was seen as a ploy to effectively keep Suu Kyi locked up during any election campaign.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment Monday that Suu Kyi's appeal was rejected, adding that the legitimacy of the elections rests on the freedom of political prisoners.
"Most importantly, all the political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, should be released as soon as possible, so that all of them can take part in elections," Ban said.
Ban said he wrote Than Shwe about 10 days ago "first of all expressing my concern about the lack of progress and also emphasizing the importance of the election ... to be (held in) a most credible, inclusive and transparent manner."
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Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune - Mass. human rights doctors group faults Bangladesh on treatment of Burmese refugees
By RUSSELL CONTRERAS , Associated Press
Last update: March 8, 2010 - 11:01 PM
BOSTON - Tens of thousands of Burmese refugees are being forced into makeshift camps in Bangladesh and face widespread starvation unless they receive more humanitarian aid, according to an international human rights organization's report released Tuesday.
The Physicians for Human Rights, based in Massachusetts, faulted Bangladesh authorities for "arbitrary arrests, illegal expulsion, and forced internment" of Burmese refugees as neighboring Myanmar prepares for elections later this year. Since the 1990s, thousands of the refugees have made their way to Bangladesh from Myanmar, which had experienced unrest resulting from its military junta.
The report, "Stateless and Starving: Persecuted Rohingya Flee Burma and Starve in Bangladesh," also called the makeshift camps for unregistered refugees "open-air prisons" where children face severe malnutrition due to a lack of food aid and restricted movement outside of camps.
"The government of Bangladesh is absolutely ignoring it. They are sweeping it under the rug," said Richard Sollom, director of research and investigation for the group based in Cambridge, Mass. "Basically, it's the policy of the government that they simply want (the refugees) to disappear."
In addition, Sollom said Bangladesh authorities are preventing outside humanitarian aid to get to the refugees.
Abdul Momen, Bangladesh's representative in the United Nations, called that charge "totally false" and said government officials just have to make sure that any aid isn't coming from terrorist groups.
"Bangladesh always stands by human rights," said Momen. "(But) we are the victims. The Burmese people have been kicked out of their country and we gave them shelter. We are an impoverished country, and in spite of that, we tried to help them as best we can."
Momen said the influx of refugees in Bangladesh is putting pressure on the country, roughly the size of Massachusetts, since it is already overcrowded with a population of 160 million.
Momen said there may be one or two "sporadic incidents," but denied that there was widespread abuse.
"We are trying our best to keep them in good humor," said Momen.
Last weekend, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni called for the repatriation of Burmese refugees back to Myanmar. She called media reports about the ill treatment of refugees "baseless and malicious."
However, several international aid groups have protested against the treatment of the Rohingya in Bangladesh. Medecins Sans Frontieres-Holland said last month that a violent crackdown against Rohingya is forcing thousands to flee their homes, fearing local authorities and citizens who are trying to force them to go back to Myanmar.
"MSF is treating victims of beatings and harassment, including people the Bangladeshi Border Force has attempted to forcibly repatriate to Myanmar. As camp numbers continue to swell, conditions pose a significant risk to people's health," the group said then in a statement.
A Birmingham, U.K.-based aid group, Islamic Relief Worldwide, also pulled out of a makeshift refugee camp in southern Bangladesh on Feb. 28 because the government did not permit them to work with nearly 13,000 unregistered Rohingyas receiving services there, according to the U.N.'s humanitarian news service, IRIN.
The Burmese refugee population in Bangladesh is estimated between 200,000 to 400,000, according to Physicians for Human Rights. The Bangladesh government and the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees jointly administer two recognized camps with 28,000 registered refugees.
The group issued its report after Sollom and a team visited camps last month in Bangladesh and surveyed 100 refugee families.
The government of Bangladesh needs "to cease immediately from arbitrary arresting and forcibly expelling legitimate refugees and they do not have an administrative framework for determining refugee status as do most countries," Sollom said.
"They need to allow the international humanitarian organizations full and unobstructed access because they are obstructing access right now," Sollom said.
Physicians for Human Rights, founded in 1986, mobilizes health professionals to research conditions in war zones, U.S. prisons, immigration detention centers and others, according to its Web site. The group pushes policymakers to do something if they find unhealthy conditions.
By RUSSELL CONTRERAS , Associated Press
Last update: March 8, 2010 - 11:01 PM
BOSTON - Tens of thousands of Burmese refugees are being forced into makeshift camps in Bangladesh and face widespread starvation unless they receive more humanitarian aid, according to an international human rights organization's report released Tuesday.
The Physicians for Human Rights, based in Massachusetts, faulted Bangladesh authorities for "arbitrary arrests, illegal expulsion, and forced internment" of Burmese refugees as neighboring Myanmar prepares for elections later this year. Since the 1990s, thousands of the refugees have made their way to Bangladesh from Myanmar, which had experienced unrest resulting from its military junta.
The report, "Stateless and Starving: Persecuted Rohingya Flee Burma and Starve in Bangladesh," also called the makeshift camps for unregistered refugees "open-air prisons" where children face severe malnutrition due to a lack of food aid and restricted movement outside of camps.
"The government of Bangladesh is absolutely ignoring it. They are sweeping it under the rug," said Richard Sollom, director of research and investigation for the group based in Cambridge, Mass. "Basically, it's the policy of the government that they simply want (the refugees) to disappear."
In addition, Sollom said Bangladesh authorities are preventing outside humanitarian aid to get to the refugees.
Abdul Momen, Bangladesh's representative in the United Nations, called that charge "totally false" and said government officials just have to make sure that any aid isn't coming from terrorist groups.
"Bangladesh always stands by human rights," said Momen. "(But) we are the victims. The Burmese people have been kicked out of their country and we gave them shelter. We are an impoverished country, and in spite of that, we tried to help them as best we can."
Momen said the influx of refugees in Bangladesh is putting pressure on the country, roughly the size of Massachusetts, since it is already overcrowded with a population of 160 million.
Momen said there may be one or two "sporadic incidents," but denied that there was widespread abuse.
"We are trying our best to keep them in good humor," said Momen.
Last weekend, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni called for the repatriation of Burmese refugees back to Myanmar. She called media reports about the ill treatment of refugees "baseless and malicious."
However, several international aid groups have protested against the treatment of the Rohingya in Bangladesh. Medecins Sans Frontieres-Holland said last month that a violent crackdown against Rohingya is forcing thousands to flee their homes, fearing local authorities and citizens who are trying to force them to go back to Myanmar.
"MSF is treating victims of beatings and harassment, including people the Bangladeshi Border Force has attempted to forcibly repatriate to Myanmar. As camp numbers continue to swell, conditions pose a significant risk to people's health," the group said then in a statement.
A Birmingham, U.K.-based aid group, Islamic Relief Worldwide, also pulled out of a makeshift refugee camp in southern Bangladesh on Feb. 28 because the government did not permit them to work with nearly 13,000 unregistered Rohingyas receiving services there, according to the U.N.'s humanitarian news service, IRIN.
The Burmese refugee population in Bangladesh is estimated between 200,000 to 400,000, according to Physicians for Human Rights. The Bangladesh government and the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees jointly administer two recognized camps with 28,000 registered refugees.
The group issued its report after Sollom and a team visited camps last month in Bangladesh and surveyed 100 refugee families.
The government of Bangladesh needs "to cease immediately from arbitrary arresting and forcibly expelling legitimate refugees and they do not have an administrative framework for determining refugee status as do most countries," Sollom said.
"They need to allow the international humanitarian organizations full and unobstructed access because they are obstructing access right now," Sollom said.
Physicians for Human Rights, founded in 1986, mobilizes health professionals to research conditions in war zones, U.S. prisons, immigration detention centers and others, according to its Web site. The group pushes policymakers to do something if they find unhealthy conditions.
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EarthTimes - Myanmar opposition party to have 60 days to register for polls
Posted : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:30:09 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar's main opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) - is to have 60 days to register to contest a general election planned this year or face "invalidation," government sources said Tuesday. The country's ruling junta on Monday announced five new laws to regulate a general election some time this year, the first polls the military-run country has seen since 1990.
Details of the laws are due to be published in the state-controlled press this week.
On Tuesday, the Myanmar-language state media ran copies of the law on the election commission that is to oversee the polls.
The commission is to be run by five appointed members who must be "esteemed figures" in the eyes of the ruling junta.
A new law on political party registration, to be published in the local press on Wednesday, is to allow the NLD only 60 days to decide if it is to contest the upcoming polls, sources said.
"Political parties which are officially standing now according to the previous party registration law have to reapply again within 60 days from the issue date of the new law," said a government official who requested anonymity.
"If they don't reapply for registration within 60 days, they will be automatically invalidated," the source said.
The NLD has demanded in the past that the junta release its leader Aung San Suu Kyi and 2,100 other political prisoners before it would contest the polls.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, is currently serving an 18-month house detention sentence. She has spent 14 of the past 21 years under house arrest.
The NLD, which won the country's last general election in 1990 by a landslide but has been denied power for the past 20 years, has also called for amendments to the military-drafted 2008 constitution as a pre-condition for contesting the upcoming polls.
Myanmar's junta refused to transfer power to the NLD, claiming the country needed a new constitution before power could be handed to a civilian government.
A military-drafted charter was pushed through and approved by a plebiscite in May 2008. The new constitution cements the military's control over any elected government through the National Parliament, primarily an appointed body that has veto power over all legislation.
Posted : Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:30:09 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar's main opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) - is to have 60 days to register to contest a general election planned this year or face "invalidation," government sources said Tuesday. The country's ruling junta on Monday announced five new laws to regulate a general election some time this year, the first polls the military-run country has seen since 1990.
Details of the laws are due to be published in the state-controlled press this week.
On Tuesday, the Myanmar-language state media ran copies of the law on the election commission that is to oversee the polls.
The commission is to be run by five appointed members who must be "esteemed figures" in the eyes of the ruling junta.
A new law on political party registration, to be published in the local press on Wednesday, is to allow the NLD only 60 days to decide if it is to contest the upcoming polls, sources said.
"Political parties which are officially standing now according to the previous party registration law have to reapply again within 60 days from the issue date of the new law," said a government official who requested anonymity.
"If they don't reapply for registration within 60 days, they will be automatically invalidated," the source said.
The NLD has demanded in the past that the junta release its leader Aung San Suu Kyi and 2,100 other political prisoners before it would contest the polls.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, is currently serving an 18-month house detention sentence. She has spent 14 of the past 21 years under house arrest.
The NLD, which won the country's last general election in 1990 by a landslide but has been denied power for the past 20 years, has also called for amendments to the military-drafted 2008 constitution as a pre-condition for contesting the upcoming polls.
Myanmar's junta refused to transfer power to the NLD, claiming the country needed a new constitution before power could be handed to a civilian government.
A military-drafted charter was pushed through and approved by a plebiscite in May 2008. The new constitution cements the military's control over any elected government through the National Parliament, primarily an appointed body that has veto power over all legislation.
********************************************************
More foreigners study Abhidhamma Buddhism in Myanmar
English.news.cn 2010-03-09 19:09:01
YANGON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- More foreigners are studying Abhidhamma Buddhism at the International Institute of Abhidhamma ( IIA) in Myanmar after the religion-related English language course was introduced, sources with the institution said on Tuesday.
Nearly three dozens of trainees from Vietnam, Thailand, India, Cambodia, Laos, Bangaladesh, the United States, France and Denmark are attending the IIA, up from last year, the sources said.
The IIA, established in June 2007, was admitted as an associate member of the Association of Theravada Buddhist Universities in March last year.
Myanmar is a country with a majority of its population (about 80 percent) believing in Buddhism. It is estimated that there are over 420,000 monks and over 60,000 nuns within nine sects in Myanmar which have been unified at different levels under the leadership of the government's religious committee.
For nearly 1,000 years, the country has kept Theravada (Little vehicle) Buddhism pure and intact. Buddhist scripture learning centers and other monastic education schools were set up here long ago.
There are five Theravada Buddhist universities and institutes in Myanmar.
English.news.cn 2010-03-09 19:09:01
YANGON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- More foreigners are studying Abhidhamma Buddhism at the International Institute of Abhidhamma ( IIA) in Myanmar after the religion-related English language course was introduced, sources with the institution said on Tuesday.
Nearly three dozens of trainees from Vietnam, Thailand, India, Cambodia, Laos, Bangaladesh, the United States, France and Denmark are attending the IIA, up from last year, the sources said.
The IIA, established in June 2007, was admitted as an associate member of the Association of Theravada Buddhist Universities in March last year.
Myanmar is a country with a majority of its population (about 80 percent) believing in Buddhism. It is estimated that there are over 420,000 monks and over 60,000 nuns within nine sects in Myanmar which have been unified at different levels under the leadership of the government's religious committee.
For nearly 1,000 years, the country has kept Theravada (Little vehicle) Buddhism pure and intact. Buddhist scripture learning centers and other monastic education schools were set up here long ago.
There are five Theravada Buddhist universities and institutes in Myanmar.
********************************************************
Mar 10, 2010
Asia Times Online - 'Bless you Mr Obama' on Myanmar
By Stanley A Weiss
MANDALAY - In September 1952, Russian dictator Joseph Stalin and Chinese foreign minister Chou Enlai convened an extraordinary meeting to discuss the future of Southeast Asia. As recorded in the book, Mao: The Unknown Story, Chou talked about the region "as if its fate were to be entirely decided by Peking".
He explained that China's strategy was to "exert peaceful influence without sending armed forces", offering up the examples of Burma (Myanmar) and Tibet. Stalin wryly replied, "Tibet is part of China - there must be Chinese troops deployed. As for Burma, you should proceed carefully." Then, he confirmed, "It would be good if there was a pro-China government in Burma."
Nearly 60 years later, it is striking how well Chou's hopes have been realized. Chinese influence can be seen everywhere across the Southeast Asian nation. Locals quip that Mandalay, once home to Burmese kings, should now be renamed the "Capital of Yunnan", China's nearest province. In this city made famous for its white marble carvings, it is telling that 80% of all new orders are not to carve Myanmar-style statues, but rather Chinese-style Buddhas.
Less obvious is the Chinese presence in the remote northern regions, often hidden from Western eyes. The fabled jade mines of Kachin State, off-limits to most foreigners, host thousands of Chinese miners who send jade directly to China. Not far away, an environmentally damaging hydroelectric plant has been built by China, as one prominent business owner told this writer, "to cloak huge illegal clear-felling of forests by the Chinese". Timber is moved along two highways that run directly from Myanmar to China, constructed in secret since 2004.
"The educated people of [Myanmar] know that China is looting their country of valuable resources and giving nothing in return," a long-time Western observer of the country said. "They would love to have an alternative trading partner."
But the West, through economic boycotts and sanctions, "has basically dealt itself out of the game", says Thant Myint-U, grandson of former United Nations secretary general U Thant. China has rushed to fill the void with billions in aid and weapons sales to Myanmar's junta, which has ruled under different generals since 1962.
But increasingly the feeling here is that the days must end for the United States treating Myanmar as a "boutique" issue (as one Barack Obama surrogate memorably said during the 2008 US presidential campaign) focused solely on human rights and the fate of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Three recent developments have shined a spotlight on US security interests in Myanmar, which sits significantly at the crossroads between China and India.
Strategic concerns
First, there is a pipeline. In November, China announced it was constructing a 675-kilometer (480-mile) oil pipeline from China through Myanmar to the Indian Ocean. As the world's second-largest oil user, China has long faced the "Malacca Strait dilemma" - that 80% of its oil flows through the narrow strait between Malaysia and Indonesia which a hostile power could choke off in a conflict.
The new pipeline will help China avoid the Malacca Strait and give it access to the Indian Ocean. Its a move that US ally India clearly fears. New Delhi announced days after China revealed the plan that it would add 40 warships and new fighter jets to its Indian Ocean arsenal. It is a potential flashpoint the US does not need.
Second, there are Myanmar's nuclear ambitions. In 2002, the junta confirmed plans to build a nuclear research reactor with Russian support. Army officers have since undergone training in Moscow. Recent reports about a stealth deal between Myanmar and North Korea to develop underground nuclear facilities have led some to dub Myanmar "the next North Korea". "The nuclear issue," Myanmar scholar Morten Pedersen says, "must be weighing heavy on minds in Washington - and must be addressed."
Third, there is the spread of radical Islam in neighboring Bangladesh, where the "astronomical growth of Islamists in the military", as scholar Sajeeb Wajed Joy has written, has leapt from 5% in 2001 to 35% today. As crackdowns against journalists and political opponents in Dhaka increase, the last thing the world needs is for Myanmar to become a Pakistan on the Irrawaddy that allows terrorist groups sanctuary in its remote northern regions.
The Obama administration has sought to begin a new conversation with Myanmar, conducting the highest-level talks with the generals in more than a decade. But aside from Senator James Webb - who visited Myanmar in 2009 - the US Congress is not listening. "It's the usual congress full of ignorants, arrogants and self-righteous fools," says Ma Thanegi, who spent three years in prison after working as Suu Kyi's assistant. "Their tactics are helping to starve our people. Bless you, Mr Obama."
Myanmar's parliamentary election scheduled for this year - the first since 1990 - is an opportunity, as Pedersen says, "to change the overall thrust of US policy, to broaden its agenda in [Myanmar] to include peace-building and economic reform." It is, adds Myanmar expert Robert Taylor, "a chance for the US to counter-balance the growing power of China in Asia and the world."
Stanley A Weiss is the founding chairman of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), Washington, DC.
Asia Times Online - 'Bless you Mr Obama' on Myanmar
By Stanley A Weiss
MANDALAY - In September 1952, Russian dictator Joseph Stalin and Chinese foreign minister Chou Enlai convened an extraordinary meeting to discuss the future of Southeast Asia. As recorded in the book, Mao: The Unknown Story, Chou talked about the region "as if its fate were to be entirely decided by Peking".
He explained that China's strategy was to "exert peaceful influence without sending armed forces", offering up the examples of Burma (Myanmar) and Tibet. Stalin wryly replied, "Tibet is part of China - there must be Chinese troops deployed. As for Burma, you should proceed carefully." Then, he confirmed, "It would be good if there was a pro-China government in Burma."
Nearly 60 years later, it is striking how well Chou's hopes have been realized. Chinese influence can be seen everywhere across the Southeast Asian nation. Locals quip that Mandalay, once home to Burmese kings, should now be renamed the "Capital of Yunnan", China's nearest province. In this city made famous for its white marble carvings, it is telling that 80% of all new orders are not to carve Myanmar-style statues, but rather Chinese-style Buddhas.
Less obvious is the Chinese presence in the remote northern regions, often hidden from Western eyes. The fabled jade mines of Kachin State, off-limits to most foreigners, host thousands of Chinese miners who send jade directly to China. Not far away, an environmentally damaging hydroelectric plant has been built by China, as one prominent business owner told this writer, "to cloak huge illegal clear-felling of forests by the Chinese". Timber is moved along two highways that run directly from Myanmar to China, constructed in secret since 2004.
"The educated people of [Myanmar] know that China is looting their country of valuable resources and giving nothing in return," a long-time Western observer of the country said. "They would love to have an alternative trading partner."
But the West, through economic boycotts and sanctions, "has basically dealt itself out of the game", says Thant Myint-U, grandson of former United Nations secretary general U Thant. China has rushed to fill the void with billions in aid and weapons sales to Myanmar's junta, which has ruled under different generals since 1962.
But increasingly the feeling here is that the days must end for the United States treating Myanmar as a "boutique" issue (as one Barack Obama surrogate memorably said during the 2008 US presidential campaign) focused solely on human rights and the fate of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Three recent developments have shined a spotlight on US security interests in Myanmar, which sits significantly at the crossroads between China and India.
Strategic concerns
First, there is a pipeline. In November, China announced it was constructing a 675-kilometer (480-mile) oil pipeline from China through Myanmar to the Indian Ocean. As the world's second-largest oil user, China has long faced the "Malacca Strait dilemma" - that 80% of its oil flows through the narrow strait between Malaysia and Indonesia which a hostile power could choke off in a conflict.
The new pipeline will help China avoid the Malacca Strait and give it access to the Indian Ocean. Its a move that US ally India clearly fears. New Delhi announced days after China revealed the plan that it would add 40 warships and new fighter jets to its Indian Ocean arsenal. It is a potential flashpoint the US does not need.
Second, there are Myanmar's nuclear ambitions. In 2002, the junta confirmed plans to build a nuclear research reactor with Russian support. Army officers have since undergone training in Moscow. Recent reports about a stealth deal between Myanmar and North Korea to develop underground nuclear facilities have led some to dub Myanmar "the next North Korea". "The nuclear issue," Myanmar scholar Morten Pedersen says, "must be weighing heavy on minds in Washington - and must be addressed."
Third, there is the spread of radical Islam in neighboring Bangladesh, where the "astronomical growth of Islamists in the military", as scholar Sajeeb Wajed Joy has written, has leapt from 5% in 2001 to 35% today. As crackdowns against journalists and political opponents in Dhaka increase, the last thing the world needs is for Myanmar to become a Pakistan on the Irrawaddy that allows terrorist groups sanctuary in its remote northern regions.
The Obama administration has sought to begin a new conversation with Myanmar, conducting the highest-level talks with the generals in more than a decade. But aside from Senator James Webb - who visited Myanmar in 2009 - the US Congress is not listening. "It's the usual congress full of ignorants, arrogants and self-righteous fools," says Ma Thanegi, who spent three years in prison after working as Suu Kyi's assistant. "Their tactics are helping to starve our people. Bless you, Mr Obama."
Myanmar's parliamentary election scheduled for this year - the first since 1990 - is an opportunity, as Pedersen says, "to change the overall thrust of US policy, to broaden its agenda in [Myanmar] to include peace-building and economic reform." It is, adds Myanmar expert Robert Taylor, "a chance for the US to counter-balance the growing power of China in Asia and the world."
Stanley A Weiss is the founding chairman of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), Washington, DC.
********************************************************
Eurasia Review - India And Myanmar: Treacherous Frontier - South Asia Intelligence Review
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Sandipani Dash for SATP
Myanamar – one of India’s strategic neighbours on her Northeastern frontier – shares a 1,643 kilometer long border abutting the Indian States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. This South East Asian neighbour now remains the lone safe-haven for militant groups operating in India’s Northeast, since their alternative refuge in Bangladesh was shut down by the Shiekh Hasina regime (camps in Bhutan were shut down earlier, in a military campaign in 2003). Aggravating the problem is rising evidence of Chinese mischief in supplying arms to insurgent groups operating across the Myanmar corridor.
India and Myanmar have a clearly demarcated – though indiscernible – border across mountainous and densely forested terrain. There has always been considerable cross-border movement down the entire length of the border between consanguineous tribes that straddle the frontier region. Naga armed groups, especially the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K), retain strong affinities with Kachin tribals in Myanmar. The border regions offer safe haven to a number of insurgent groups in India’s Northeast, and provide bases for illicit trade, including arms- and drug-running. There is large-scale ingress or egress of men and material, substantially controlled by insurgent groups, across the India-Myanmar border, which takes advantage of the 10 kilometers zone within which free movement is permitted on both sides of this border.
Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, addressing the Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security in New Delhi on February 7, 2010, said that the almost unchecked trans-border movement of Indian insurgent groups and the continued existence of their camps in Myanmar constituted a real threat to internal security of Manipur and the Northeast region:
It is no secret that most arms and ammunition used against our Security Forces (SFs) and the State Police Forces are smuggled in from Myanmar. It is also known that whenever our Army, Assam Rifles and the State Police launch operations, the militant groups seek and find shelter in neighbouring areas of Myanmar… Another serious angle is the active involvement of these insurgent groups in smuggling of huge quantities of narcotics like heroin. The proceeds are being used to finance the procurement of sophisticated weapons and maintaining their leaders in foreign countries and their cadres in India.
Meanwhile, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 3 Corps, Lieutenant General N.K. Singh, responsible for counter-insurgency (CI) operations in the Northeast, declared that there were approximately 40 to 50 camps of Northeast-based militant groups in Myanmar. Of these, he indicated further, 25 to 30 were identified as bigger camps or of established nature, while the remaining were ‘temporary’. Confessional revelations by arrested cadres of various armed groups operating in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland consistently indicate that militant training remains an ongoing process in the camps located in Myanmar territory.
While there were a number of militancy related incidents reported along India-Myanmar border in 2009, the major (incidents involving three or more fatalities) among these included:
March 16: Three suspected militants were shot dead by the Assam Rifles personnel near Kwatha village while trying to infiltrate into Chandel District in Manipur from the Myanmar side of the border, along with weapons.
June 20: At least 10 cadres of an unspecified militant outfit were killed in a clash in Manipur along the India-Myanmar border.
December 24: Six suspected People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) cadres were shot dead by the Assam Rifles personnel at Sajik Tampak area of Chandel District in Manipur along the India-Myanmar border.
There has been a perceptible move by the Northeast militants to shift their bases from Bangladesh to Myanmar in the wake of the crackdown by Dhaka. The Inspector General of the Border Security Force (BSF) for the Assam-Meghalaya, frontier Prithvi Raj, expressing concern over an exodus of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) militants to Myanmar to escape the ongoing operations by the Bangladeshi Security Forces, in December 2009, stated, "It is quite natural that the militants look for new pastures to continue their future activities." An ULFA cadre, Gobin Ojha alias Kiran Jyoti Gogoi (29), while surrendering at BSF headquarters in Shillong in Meghalya, disclosed, "Myanmar continues to be a safe haven for the ULFA cadres after the ongoing crackdown on militants by the Bangladeshi security forces." Ojha said three camps of the ‘28th battalion’ of the ULFA were in Myanmar, located adjacent to the camps of the NSCN-K. There were 110 ULFA cadres in the three camps and, among the prominent leaders housed there, were Konkon Gohain, Bijoy Chinese, Myanmar camp ‘commander’ Bijoy Das and Montu Saikia, he said. He also disclosed that new cadres had to trek several days to reach the camps set up in a forest area in Myanmar.
Subsequently, another ULFA militant, Jatin Shaw alias Alput Thapa (25), while surrendering before the BSF in Shillong, confessed that the NSCN and ULFA were operating collectively in the forests of Myanmar, adding further that some 20 to 25 cadres from Arunachal Pradesh were also undergoing training at different camps there. Army intelligence sources had indicated earlier that ULFA had set up camps at Kachin in eastern Myanmar, jointly with the Manipur-based People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and United National Liberation Front (UNLF). One SF source commented, "It is back to square one for ULFA. During its initial days, the outfit had its training camps in Kachin but later shifted to Bangladesh. Now, the outfit is back to Kachin, which is indeed disturbing news for us."
There has been an increase in gun-running across the India-Myanmar border, due to the steady procurement of arms by Northeast militants from the common neighbor, China, over the years. Sources indicate that a major modernization drive in the Chinese Army has released vast quantities of old weapons, some of which are being offloaded to arms dealers, to reach militant groups. Weapons, including AK series and M-15 rifles, LMGs and ammunition, discarded by the Chinese Army, are still good enough for militant groups. The managers of the Chinese State-owned weapons’ factories are reportedly involved in such clandestine arms supply. There is official confirmation of frequent visits by Northeast Indian militant leaders to China. The ULFA ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Barua had been traced to Ruili in the Yunan Province of China, bordering Myanmar. Military sources indicate, "Most of the arms deals are struck at Ruili and from there the Chinese arms are brought to Bamo in Myanmar, from where they are routed to different places, mostly through the Irrawaddy and its tributaries. ULFA and other militant outfits of the northeast also bring their arms and ammunition through this route… Since the Myanmar junta and… (Myanmarese) rebel groups are in ceasefire, the Indian insurgent outfits, like NSCN-K, ULFA, and Meitei groups of Manipur, have found safe haven in the areas under control of the Kachin and Wa rebels (in Myanmar)." Sources mentioned, further, that after the Bangladesh Government had stepped up action against the ULFA, Barua shifted base to the China-Myanmar border and also set up camp in rebel-administered areas in Myanmar's Kachin territory.
The United Wa State Army (UWSA), a Chinese speaking ethnic warring group in north Myanmar, has acted as a broker for Chinese-produced arms, as well as to sell weapons from their own arms factory near Panghsang bordering China. A Jane's Intelligence Review report in 2008 detailed UWSA’s involvement in trafficking weapons to Myanmar and Indian insurgent groups. While the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), based in the same northern part of Myanmar, claims to have severed ties to insurgents in India, it is still believed to retain these linkages, and could be another possible conduit for weapons. Confirming KIA’s persisting alliance with the NSCN-K during the course of the Naga group’s recruitment drive in Arunachal Pradesh, an unnamed senior Police official, in December 2009, disclosed that newly recruited NSCN-K cadres had undergone training under the guidance of the KIA in the Sagaing region of Myanmar: "NSCN-K has turned to the Kachin Independent Army for logistical help to build up bases in the twin Districts of Arunachal Pradesh — Tirap and Changlang — and heavily armed KIA fighters have already entered these two Districts along the Indo-Myanmar border." Armed KIA cadres also venture into the Northeast region. For instance, on May 9, 2009, a KIA cadre was shot dead by Assam Rifles personnel during an encounter at Sekmaijin in Thoubal District in Manipur. One AK 56 Rifle with magazine, one grenade launcher, one M-97 rifle, US made 40-mm Springfield armoury pistol, 15 live rounds of AK-56, three 40-mm live ammunition, and three fire cases were recovered from the possession of the slain Kachin insurgent.
Chinese weapons in significant numbers are finding their way into the Northeastern States through five major routes, most of which pass through Myanmar territory. A senior intelligence official in Moreh, on February 21, 2010, revealed, "Around 80 per cent of the weapons seized or recovered from the militants in recent years have 'star' mark on them, which means they were manufactured in China." Over four dozen militant groups are active along the India-Myanmar border and they smuggle traditional weapons like AK series rifles, grenades, pistols, cartridges and bombs into India through four land routes and one sea route. Most of the weapons are brought from southwestern China's Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar, the official said. The weapons are smuggled into India via Ukhrul, Moreh in Chandel, and Churachandpur, the Districts of Manipur bordering Myanmar, and some parts of Mizoram. The sea route involves Bangladesh's Chittagong port, from where the weapons are sent to militants in the Northeast. Though some weapons are of other origin, the majority of them are Chinese, he added: "Militants have their camps just inside the Myanmar territory at a distance of few kilometres from the Indian border. Some camps are as close as three-four kilometres from the international border."
The paramilitary Assam Rifles is deployed for CI and border guarding role on the India-Myanmar border. Out of a sanctioned strength of 46 battalions, 31 battalions are for CI and 15 are for the border guarding role. Nevertheless, the Assam Rifles is too pre-occupied with the CI operations to attend to the Myanmar border.
Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) sources indicate that the reconnaissance survey and trace cut (RSTC) of the border fencing between border pillar (BP) Nos. 79 and 81 at Moreh in Manipur is under way for preparation of the detailed project report (DPR). The work on the construction of the fencing would start after approval of the cost estimates/DPR by the Technical Committee and the High Level Empowered Committee. Meanwhile, the Manipur Government has asked the MHA to erect fencing on the Manipur side of the border for a distance of another 10 kilometers between BP Nos. 79 to 81. Manipur Director General of Police Y. Joykumar said that activities of militant groups and other insurgency related problems in the State would be reduced by 80 per cent, if the neighbouring border of Myanmar is effectively sealed. He also stated that the successful plugging of the porous border would enormously increase the possibilities of finding a solution to the problem of insurgency within the succeeding two to three years. With regard to the fencing of border areas in Nagaland, GOC, 3 Corps, Lt. Gen. N.K. Singh indicated that the Government had failed to demonstrate any keenness to fence off the Nagaland-Myanmar borders so far.
There have been several declarations for strategic cooperation and co-ordination across the India-Myanmar border, but progress at the follow up level to concretise the joint CI operation on a sustained and priority basis has been slow paced. A piecemeal approach to the border safeguards mission, consequently, persists. The existing insecurity that has, for years, permeated this strategic frontier region, consequently can be expected to persist in the foreseeable future.
Sandipani Dash is a Research Associate for the Institute for Conflict Management, which publishes the "South Asia Intelligence Review" of the South Asia Terrorism Portal. This article is reprinted with permission.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Sandipani Dash for SATP
Myanamar – one of India’s strategic neighbours on her Northeastern frontier – shares a 1,643 kilometer long border abutting the Indian States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. This South East Asian neighbour now remains the lone safe-haven for militant groups operating in India’s Northeast, since their alternative refuge in Bangladesh was shut down by the Shiekh Hasina regime (camps in Bhutan were shut down earlier, in a military campaign in 2003). Aggravating the problem is rising evidence of Chinese mischief in supplying arms to insurgent groups operating across the Myanmar corridor.
India and Myanmar have a clearly demarcated – though indiscernible – border across mountainous and densely forested terrain. There has always been considerable cross-border movement down the entire length of the border between consanguineous tribes that straddle the frontier region. Naga armed groups, especially the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K), retain strong affinities with Kachin tribals in Myanmar. The border regions offer safe haven to a number of insurgent groups in India’s Northeast, and provide bases for illicit trade, including arms- and drug-running. There is large-scale ingress or egress of men and material, substantially controlled by insurgent groups, across the India-Myanmar border, which takes advantage of the 10 kilometers zone within which free movement is permitted on both sides of this border.
Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, addressing the Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security in New Delhi on February 7, 2010, said that the almost unchecked trans-border movement of Indian insurgent groups and the continued existence of their camps in Myanmar constituted a real threat to internal security of Manipur and the Northeast region:
It is no secret that most arms and ammunition used against our Security Forces (SFs) and the State Police Forces are smuggled in from Myanmar. It is also known that whenever our Army, Assam Rifles and the State Police launch operations, the militant groups seek and find shelter in neighbouring areas of Myanmar… Another serious angle is the active involvement of these insurgent groups in smuggling of huge quantities of narcotics like heroin. The proceeds are being used to finance the procurement of sophisticated weapons and maintaining their leaders in foreign countries and their cadres in India.
Meanwhile, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 3 Corps, Lieutenant General N.K. Singh, responsible for counter-insurgency (CI) operations in the Northeast, declared that there were approximately 40 to 50 camps of Northeast-based militant groups in Myanmar. Of these, he indicated further, 25 to 30 were identified as bigger camps or of established nature, while the remaining were ‘temporary’. Confessional revelations by arrested cadres of various armed groups operating in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland consistently indicate that militant training remains an ongoing process in the camps located in Myanmar territory.
While there were a number of militancy related incidents reported along India-Myanmar border in 2009, the major (incidents involving three or more fatalities) among these included:
March 16: Three suspected militants were shot dead by the Assam Rifles personnel near Kwatha village while trying to infiltrate into Chandel District in Manipur from the Myanmar side of the border, along with weapons.
June 20: At least 10 cadres of an unspecified militant outfit were killed in a clash in Manipur along the India-Myanmar border.
December 24: Six suspected People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) cadres were shot dead by the Assam Rifles personnel at Sajik Tampak area of Chandel District in Manipur along the India-Myanmar border.
There has been a perceptible move by the Northeast militants to shift their bases from Bangladesh to Myanmar in the wake of the crackdown by Dhaka. The Inspector General of the Border Security Force (BSF) for the Assam-Meghalaya, frontier Prithvi Raj, expressing concern over an exodus of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) militants to Myanmar to escape the ongoing operations by the Bangladeshi Security Forces, in December 2009, stated, "It is quite natural that the militants look for new pastures to continue their future activities." An ULFA cadre, Gobin Ojha alias Kiran Jyoti Gogoi (29), while surrendering at BSF headquarters in Shillong in Meghalya, disclosed, "Myanmar continues to be a safe haven for the ULFA cadres after the ongoing crackdown on militants by the Bangladeshi security forces." Ojha said three camps of the ‘28th battalion’ of the ULFA were in Myanmar, located adjacent to the camps of the NSCN-K. There were 110 ULFA cadres in the three camps and, among the prominent leaders housed there, were Konkon Gohain, Bijoy Chinese, Myanmar camp ‘commander’ Bijoy Das and Montu Saikia, he said. He also disclosed that new cadres had to trek several days to reach the camps set up in a forest area in Myanmar.
Subsequently, another ULFA militant, Jatin Shaw alias Alput Thapa (25), while surrendering before the BSF in Shillong, confessed that the NSCN and ULFA were operating collectively in the forests of Myanmar, adding further that some 20 to 25 cadres from Arunachal Pradesh were also undergoing training at different camps there. Army intelligence sources had indicated earlier that ULFA had set up camps at Kachin in eastern Myanmar, jointly with the Manipur-based People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and United National Liberation Front (UNLF). One SF source commented, "It is back to square one for ULFA. During its initial days, the outfit had its training camps in Kachin but later shifted to Bangladesh. Now, the outfit is back to Kachin, which is indeed disturbing news for us."
There has been an increase in gun-running across the India-Myanmar border, due to the steady procurement of arms by Northeast militants from the common neighbor, China, over the years. Sources indicate that a major modernization drive in the Chinese Army has released vast quantities of old weapons, some of which are being offloaded to arms dealers, to reach militant groups. Weapons, including AK series and M-15 rifles, LMGs and ammunition, discarded by the Chinese Army, are still good enough for militant groups. The managers of the Chinese State-owned weapons’ factories are reportedly involved in such clandestine arms supply. There is official confirmation of frequent visits by Northeast Indian militant leaders to China. The ULFA ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Barua had been traced to Ruili in the Yunan Province of China, bordering Myanmar. Military sources indicate, "Most of the arms deals are struck at Ruili and from there the Chinese arms are brought to Bamo in Myanmar, from where they are routed to different places, mostly through the Irrawaddy and its tributaries. ULFA and other militant outfits of the northeast also bring their arms and ammunition through this route… Since the Myanmar junta and… (Myanmarese) rebel groups are in ceasefire, the Indian insurgent outfits, like NSCN-K, ULFA, and Meitei groups of Manipur, have found safe haven in the areas under control of the Kachin and Wa rebels (in Myanmar)." Sources mentioned, further, that after the Bangladesh Government had stepped up action against the ULFA, Barua shifted base to the China-Myanmar border and also set up camp in rebel-administered areas in Myanmar's Kachin territory.
The United Wa State Army (UWSA), a Chinese speaking ethnic warring group in north Myanmar, has acted as a broker for Chinese-produced arms, as well as to sell weapons from their own arms factory near Panghsang bordering China. A Jane's Intelligence Review report in 2008 detailed UWSA’s involvement in trafficking weapons to Myanmar and Indian insurgent groups. While the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), based in the same northern part of Myanmar, claims to have severed ties to insurgents in India, it is still believed to retain these linkages, and could be another possible conduit for weapons. Confirming KIA’s persisting alliance with the NSCN-K during the course of the Naga group’s recruitment drive in Arunachal Pradesh, an unnamed senior Police official, in December 2009, disclosed that newly recruited NSCN-K cadres had undergone training under the guidance of the KIA in the Sagaing region of Myanmar: "NSCN-K has turned to the Kachin Independent Army for logistical help to build up bases in the twin Districts of Arunachal Pradesh — Tirap and Changlang — and heavily armed KIA fighters have already entered these two Districts along the Indo-Myanmar border." Armed KIA cadres also venture into the Northeast region. For instance, on May 9, 2009, a KIA cadre was shot dead by Assam Rifles personnel during an encounter at Sekmaijin in Thoubal District in Manipur. One AK 56 Rifle with magazine, one grenade launcher, one M-97 rifle, US made 40-mm Springfield armoury pistol, 15 live rounds of AK-56, three 40-mm live ammunition, and three fire cases were recovered from the possession of the slain Kachin insurgent.
Chinese weapons in significant numbers are finding their way into the Northeastern States through five major routes, most of which pass through Myanmar territory. A senior intelligence official in Moreh, on February 21, 2010, revealed, "Around 80 per cent of the weapons seized or recovered from the militants in recent years have 'star' mark on them, which means they were manufactured in China." Over four dozen militant groups are active along the India-Myanmar border and they smuggle traditional weapons like AK series rifles, grenades, pistols, cartridges and bombs into India through four land routes and one sea route. Most of the weapons are brought from southwestern China's Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar, the official said. The weapons are smuggled into India via Ukhrul, Moreh in Chandel, and Churachandpur, the Districts of Manipur bordering Myanmar, and some parts of Mizoram. The sea route involves Bangladesh's Chittagong port, from where the weapons are sent to militants in the Northeast. Though some weapons are of other origin, the majority of them are Chinese, he added: "Militants have their camps just inside the Myanmar territory at a distance of few kilometres from the Indian border. Some camps are as close as three-four kilometres from the international border."
The paramilitary Assam Rifles is deployed for CI and border guarding role on the India-Myanmar border. Out of a sanctioned strength of 46 battalions, 31 battalions are for CI and 15 are for the border guarding role. Nevertheless, the Assam Rifles is too pre-occupied with the CI operations to attend to the Myanmar border.
Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) sources indicate that the reconnaissance survey and trace cut (RSTC) of the border fencing between border pillar (BP) Nos. 79 and 81 at Moreh in Manipur is under way for preparation of the detailed project report (DPR). The work on the construction of the fencing would start after approval of the cost estimates/DPR by the Technical Committee and the High Level Empowered Committee. Meanwhile, the Manipur Government has asked the MHA to erect fencing on the Manipur side of the border for a distance of another 10 kilometers between BP Nos. 79 to 81. Manipur Director General of Police Y. Joykumar said that activities of militant groups and other insurgency related problems in the State would be reduced by 80 per cent, if the neighbouring border of Myanmar is effectively sealed. He also stated that the successful plugging of the porous border would enormously increase the possibilities of finding a solution to the problem of insurgency within the succeeding two to three years. With regard to the fencing of border areas in Nagaland, GOC, 3 Corps, Lt. Gen. N.K. Singh indicated that the Government had failed to demonstrate any keenness to fence off the Nagaland-Myanmar borders so far.
There have been several declarations for strategic cooperation and co-ordination across the India-Myanmar border, but progress at the follow up level to concretise the joint CI operation on a sustained and priority basis has been slow paced. A piecemeal approach to the border safeguards mission, consequently, persists. The existing insecurity that has, for years, permeated this strategic frontier region, consequently can be expected to persist in the foreseeable future.
Sandipani Dash is a Research Associate for the Institute for Conflict Management, which publishes the "South Asia Intelligence Review" of the South Asia Terrorism Portal. This article is reprinted with permission.
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MCOT - Fukuoka court admits man from Myanmar ethnic minority as refugee
FUKUOKA, March 9 (Kyodo) - The Fukuoka District Court on Monday accepted the request of a man from Myanmar to be granted refugee status as he fears persecution if he returns to the junta-controlled country, nullifying a state decision not to grant him refugee status.
Presiding Judge Masaya Ota recognized that the 37-year-old man residing in Tokyo, a member of the Kachin ethnic minority, had been fighting against the military-controlled government of Myanmar by gathering information and securing food for the Kachin Independence Army, which is seeking autonomy for the minority group.
''The military junta may detain him and torture him to obtain information (if he is deported to the country),'' Ota said.
According to the ruling, the man fled Myanmar fearing arrest by the junta and entered Japan in July 2004. He applied for refugee status in November 2005 but his application was turned down. (Kyodo)
FUKUOKA, March 9 (Kyodo) - The Fukuoka District Court on Monday accepted the request of a man from Myanmar to be granted refugee status as he fears persecution if he returns to the junta-controlled country, nullifying a state decision not to grant him refugee status.
Presiding Judge Masaya Ota recognized that the 37-year-old man residing in Tokyo, a member of the Kachin ethnic minority, had been fighting against the military-controlled government of Myanmar by gathering information and securing food for the Kachin Independence Army, which is seeking autonomy for the minority group.
''The military junta may detain him and torture him to obtain information (if he is deported to the country),'' Ota said.
According to the ruling, the man fled Myanmar fearing arrest by the junta and entered Japan in July 2004. He applied for refugee status in November 2005 but his application was turned down. (Kyodo)
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Alibaba News Channel - Vietnam to grow rubber in Myanmar -newspaper
Published: 08 Mar 2010 18:25:40 PST
HANOI, March 9 - Vietnam, the world's fourth-largest natural rubber exporter, plans to grow 200,000 hectares (494,200 acres) of rubber in Myanmar, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday, as it faces land limits at home.
A memorandum was signed last week when Vietnamese Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat visited Myanmar, the Agriculture Ministry's Nong Nghiep Vietnam newspaper said. It did not give any details on timing.
Vietnamese rubber firms have planted rubber trees in Cambodia and Laos in the past three years but a plan to plant in Vietnam's Central Highlands coffee belt is going slowly as the region is running out of land for new crops.
Vietnam Rubber Group, the country's top producer, is to cultivate rubber in South Africa as it seeks to expand production area to 520,000 hectares by 2020 from 160,000 hectares now, Chief Executive Tran Ngoc Thuan told state media last week.
It takes five years for rubber trees to become productive.
Vietnam, which ranks after Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia in rubber exports, expects to increase shipments of the commodity by 3.3 percent to 750,000 tonnes this year, an industry official told Reuters in January.
Published: 08 Mar 2010 18:25:40 PST
HANOI, March 9 - Vietnam, the world's fourth-largest natural rubber exporter, plans to grow 200,000 hectares (494,200 acres) of rubber in Myanmar, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday, as it faces land limits at home.
A memorandum was signed last week when Vietnamese Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat visited Myanmar, the Agriculture Ministry's Nong Nghiep Vietnam newspaper said. It did not give any details on timing.
Vietnamese rubber firms have planted rubber trees in Cambodia and Laos in the past three years but a plan to plant in Vietnam's Central Highlands coffee belt is going slowly as the region is running out of land for new crops.
Vietnam Rubber Group, the country's top producer, is to cultivate rubber in South Africa as it seeks to expand production area to 520,000 hectares by 2020 from 160,000 hectares now, Chief Executive Tran Ngoc Thuan told state media last week.
It takes five years for rubber trees to become productive.
Vietnam, which ranks after Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia in rubber exports, expects to increase shipments of the commodity by 3.3 percent to 750,000 tonnes this year, an industry official told Reuters in January.
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AsiaOne - Myanmar vote unfair but hope for change remains: analysts
Tue, Mar 09, 2010
By Danny Kemp
BANGKOK, March 9, 2010 (AFP) - Myanmar's election laws have raised new concerns about fairness, but this year's polls are a step in the right direction and could still be a catalyst for change, analysts and activists say.
State newspapers Tuesday revealed that the country's military junta itself will handpick the new electoral commission, lending fuel to critics who say the polls are a sham aimed at entrenching the ruling generals' power.
But analysts said that despite regime leader Than Shwe's iron grip on his position, the vote is creating glimmers of instability in the political system and may even herald a shake-up in the regime's hierarchy.
"The election itself will be all that people fear it will be, but I've been surprised at the degree to which there is doubt and uncertainty (in the regime)," Sean Turnell, a Myanmar expert at Australia's Macquarie University, told AFP.
The playing field for the polls promised by the generals is already tilted, thanks to a new constitution passed in 2008, just days after devastating Cyclone Nargis killed 138,000 people in Myanmar.
A clause barring anyone from standing for election if they are married to foreigners rules out Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained head of the National League for Democracy, which won the last polls in 1990.
Her husband, British academic Michael Aris, died of cancer in 1999.
The regime has also extended Suu Kyi's house arrest until February 2011, keeping her in detention past the expected election date in October or November.
The constitution furthermore reserves around a quarter of all seats in Myanmar's new parliament for the military.
Activists said the first of the new electoral laws unveiled Tuesday consolidated the ruling government's position.
The law says the junta will choose each member of the electoral commission and each should be an "eminent person, to have integrity and experience, to be loyal to the state and its citizens and shall not be a member of a political party."
"It doesn't come as a surprise. In the short term I don't see any sort of meaningful change or improvement," Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar expert, told AFP after the details were unveiled.
"Certainly in the medium to long term almost any kind of change from the status quo has to have some kind of positive element to it, just because it's difficult to imagine, from a human rights point at least, just how much worse things could get," Zawacki said.
He said the regulations were getting "undue attention" that should be focused on the plight of more than 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
But other analysts said that even if the elections are fixed it is still a big step for a country that has been without the slightest semblance of democracy for two decades.
"All in all this is a new experience for Burma, so an election is an important step," said Aung Naing Oo, a Myanmar political analyst based in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.
"Elections are important in the sense that we haven't had any for 20 years and it's important for the Burmese to learn to exercise their right. We won't get democracy overnight for sure, but it will be an important step nonetheless."
Analysts said the elections also cast some doubt over the future of the junta's top figures.
The constitution says the the State Peace and Development Council ? the junta that Than Shwe heads ? must hand over power to a new national assembly after the elections.
Than Shwe may take over the new presidential position provided for by the constitution to maintain his hold on power, but previous junta leaders have ended up in jail or under house arrest.
"We are in an interesting period in the lead-up because there is a lot more uncertainty than anyone really expected. There do seem to be some people (in the regime) jockeying around," said Macquarie University's Turnell.
Tue, Mar 09, 2010
By Danny Kemp
BANGKOK, March 9, 2010 (AFP) - Myanmar's election laws have raised new concerns about fairness, but this year's polls are a step in the right direction and could still be a catalyst for change, analysts and activists say.
State newspapers Tuesday revealed that the country's military junta itself will handpick the new electoral commission, lending fuel to critics who say the polls are a sham aimed at entrenching the ruling generals' power.
But analysts said that despite regime leader Than Shwe's iron grip on his position, the vote is creating glimmers of instability in the political system and may even herald a shake-up in the regime's hierarchy.
"The election itself will be all that people fear it will be, but I've been surprised at the degree to which there is doubt and uncertainty (in the regime)," Sean Turnell, a Myanmar expert at Australia's Macquarie University, told AFP.
The playing field for the polls promised by the generals is already tilted, thanks to a new constitution passed in 2008, just days after devastating Cyclone Nargis killed 138,000 people in Myanmar.
A clause barring anyone from standing for election if they are married to foreigners rules out Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained head of the National League for Democracy, which won the last polls in 1990.
Her husband, British academic Michael Aris, died of cancer in 1999.
The regime has also extended Suu Kyi's house arrest until February 2011, keeping her in detention past the expected election date in October or November.
The constitution furthermore reserves around a quarter of all seats in Myanmar's new parliament for the military.
Activists said the first of the new electoral laws unveiled Tuesday consolidated the ruling government's position.
The law says the junta will choose each member of the electoral commission and each should be an "eminent person, to have integrity and experience, to be loyal to the state and its citizens and shall not be a member of a political party."
"It doesn't come as a surprise. In the short term I don't see any sort of meaningful change or improvement," Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar expert, told AFP after the details were unveiled.
"Certainly in the medium to long term almost any kind of change from the status quo has to have some kind of positive element to it, just because it's difficult to imagine, from a human rights point at least, just how much worse things could get," Zawacki said.
He said the regulations were getting "undue attention" that should be focused on the plight of more than 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
But other analysts said that even if the elections are fixed it is still a big step for a country that has been without the slightest semblance of democracy for two decades.
"All in all this is a new experience for Burma, so an election is an important step," said Aung Naing Oo, a Myanmar political analyst based in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.
"Elections are important in the sense that we haven't had any for 20 years and it's important for the Burmese to learn to exercise their right. We won't get democracy overnight for sure, but it will be an important step nonetheless."
Analysts said the elections also cast some doubt over the future of the junta's top figures.
The constitution says the the State Peace and Development Council ? the junta that Than Shwe heads ? must hand over power to a new national assembly after the elections.
Than Shwe may take over the new presidential position provided for by the constitution to maintain his hold on power, but previous junta leaders have ended up in jail or under house arrest.
"We are in an interesting period in the lead-up because there is a lot more uncertainty than anyone really expected. There do seem to be some people (in the regime) jockeying around," said Macquarie University's Turnell.
********************************************************
Eastern Panorama - Opposing China’s Shwe project in Burma
Nava Thakuria
Voices against the foreign intrusion in Burmese economy are increasing. The pro-democracy Burmese activists and their supporters have come out with various programmes opposing a China sponsored multibillion dollar oil and gas pipeline project inside Burma (Myanmar). The dual pipelines are designed to transfer oil and gas from a Burmese state to a Southwestern Chinese province.
The initial point of the proposed oil and natural gas pipeline project will be the offshore Shwe gas fields of Arakan (or Rakhine) state. The 980 km dual oil and gas pipelines would then cross the span of Myanmar touching over 20 townships.
The project will be used to pump the oil, taken by waterways from the Middle East and African countries and also natural gas from the Shwe gas fields of Myanmar to the Yunnan province of China.
The government media of China disclosed that the construction work of the pipeline project was started at Burma’s Maday Island in the Indian Ocean during November 2009.
The Chinese officials, who were quoted in the news item, however did not make any comment on the completion period of the project. An unconfirmed source reveals that the oil pipeline will be ready for use within the next two years.
The most populous Communist country of the globe preferred to ignore the concerns expressed by various human rights and Burma solidarity groups. It is worth mentioning that, Beijing is heavily dependent on imported oil (almost 85%) from the Middle East and African nations to meet its huge energy needs. The country has increased its trade ties with Burma and has lately signed an agreement to become the sole buying authority of the Shwe gas reserve of Burma. Under this agreement, Beijing took the responsibility to construct a trans-Myanmar (oil and gas) corridor to feed its robust economy.
The State-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) holds a 50.9 per cent stake in partnership with the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) in the construction of the dual oil and gas pipelines. The project is understood to have the capacity to pump nearly 12 million tonnes of oil and 12 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
The estimated project cost is expected to be around US$2.5 billion. On the other hand, the Myanmarese government would receive $29 billion over 30 years from the deal.
“The military rulers of Myanmar, which is otherwise facing heavy economic sanctions by the United States and many European countries, keep themselves alive with the royalty earned from selling the natural resources to other countries. But all this money is hardly used for any public welfare activities,” said M. Kim, an exiled Burmese living in India.
Speaking to this writer from New Delhi, Kim (who is associated with Myanmar Centre, Delhi) also pointed out that the present group of Generals (collectively called the State Peace and Development Council) have learnt the art of ignoring the concerns of international communities about the worst human rights record and also luring the neighboring countries (China, India and Thailand) into forging trade ties with them.
Once the rice bowl of Asia, Myanmar is today one of the poorest countries on the globe, but the military junta of Nay Pie Taw (new capital of Myanmar) spends over 40 per cent of its national budget on the defense sector. Shockingly, the dictators spend only 2 per cent of the budget on health and education (of 50 million Myanmarese people).
The Southeast Asian country has been ruled by the military generals since the early sixties. The present regime is headed by Senior General Than Shwe, who has developed a kind of enmity towards the pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. The leader of the main opposition party (National League for Democracy), Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for more than a decade now. Under pressure from international communities, the Myanmarese government had recently declared a roadmap for democracy and an election is scheduled this year. But the Than Shwe government is yet to be committed to the release of thousands of political prisoners including the Nobel laureate Suu Kyi before the polls.
The exiled Myanmarese and many other sympathetic groups had recently raised their voices against the Chinese pipeline project inside Myanmar. Over 120 organizations based in 20 countries came out with the demand that Beijing should halt the construction of the proposed oil and gas pipeline project. Led by the Shwe Gas Movement, a Thailand based oil-gas watchdog and rights group; the movement submitted a memorandum to the Chinese government on the Global Day of Action (on October 28).
In the letter which was addressed to the President of the People’s Republic of China and which was sent through the Chinese Embassies in various countries like India, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, UK etc., the campaign group not only expressed serious concern at the probable threats to the environment and common Myanmarese but also asked President Hu Jintao to stop its construction immediately.
“We are gravely concerned about the thousands of communities living along the planned 980 km pipeline corridor. Based on experiences in Myanmar, partnerships with the MOGE on infrastructure development projects invariably leads to forced displacement, forced labour and loss of livelihoods. The escalation of abuses around a project when Myanmar army soldiers provide security is well documented by UN agencies and NGOs,” stated in the letter.
The initiative was supported by a number of organizations like, All Arakan Students’ and Youths’Congress, Arakan Oil Watch, and Shwe Gas Movement (India). “What is more awful is that the local communities, who will be affected by the project, are still unaware of it and they are not being consulted. At the same time, neither the military authority nor the CNPC had initiated any environmental and social impact assessments before launching the pipeline project,” said Wong Aung, the coordinator of Shwe Gas Movement.
Speaking to this writer from Chiang Mai (Thailand), the young activist also revealed that over 10, 000 Myanmarese soldiers had already been deployed along the pipeline route. He apprehended that the number (of soldiers) would be increased in the days to come and it would simply add to the number of incidents of human rights abuses along the route of the pipelines.
“Past experiences have shown that the pipeline construction and maintenance in the country always involves forced labour, forced relocation, land confiscation, and other kinds of abuses by the soldiers engaged in the project area,” added Wong Aung. In a book titled ‘Corridor of Power: China’s Trans-Myanmar Oil and Gas Pipelines’, the Shwe Gas Movement came out with strong voices that the extraction of the Shwe natural gas deposit must be postponed until the local people in western Myanmar could participate in the decision making process about the use of the resources.
It also added that the concerned neighboring countries and also the oil companies must stop all kinds of trades with the military junta and refrain from further investment until there is a democratically elected government in the country.
It may be mentioned that a number of international corporations are engaged in the petroleum production activities in Myanmar including Daewoo International (South Korea, 51 per cent of shares in Shwe Gas Consortium), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC Videsh, India, 17 per cent of shares in Shwe Gas Consortium), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL India, 8.5 per cent of shares in Shwe Gas Consortium), The China National Petroleum Corporation (purchaser of the gas and builder of the pipelines),
PetroChina Company Ltd etc. In fact, Myanmar’s western coast, which is rich in oil and gas reserves, has become the battle ground for Beijing and New Delhi in recent years.
“The western companies showed reluctance in investing in Myanmar, but both China and India continued their mission and battle over the Myanmarese oil and gas,” said an editorial of the Shwe Gas bulletin. It also added that at the time when China and India were exploiting the resources of Arakan to enhance their energy and economic security, over four million people living in the state were facing human rights abuses and economic hardship. Debbie Stothard, coordinator to Alternative ASEAN Network on Myanmar, argues that a number of projects in Burma had resulted in the displacement of thousands of poor Burmese from their own localities and they were exposed to various forms of abuse by the military.
Speaking to this writer from Bangkok, Debbie added that the Shwe pipeline project would have a heavy impact on the people living along the route and it would end up adversely affecting the entire region.
However, none of this appears to matter to the Chinese, the governments surrounding Myanmar, or any of the countries wishing to buy Myanmar’s rich natural resources.
Nava Thakuria
Voices against the foreign intrusion in Burmese economy are increasing. The pro-democracy Burmese activists and their supporters have come out with various programmes opposing a China sponsored multibillion dollar oil and gas pipeline project inside Burma (Myanmar). The dual pipelines are designed to transfer oil and gas from a Burmese state to a Southwestern Chinese province.
The initial point of the proposed oil and natural gas pipeline project will be the offshore Shwe gas fields of Arakan (or Rakhine) state. The 980 km dual oil and gas pipelines would then cross the span of Myanmar touching over 20 townships.
The project will be used to pump the oil, taken by waterways from the Middle East and African countries and also natural gas from the Shwe gas fields of Myanmar to the Yunnan province of China.
The government media of China disclosed that the construction work of the pipeline project was started at Burma’s Maday Island in the Indian Ocean during November 2009.
The Chinese officials, who were quoted in the news item, however did not make any comment on the completion period of the project. An unconfirmed source reveals that the oil pipeline will be ready for use within the next two years.
The most populous Communist country of the globe preferred to ignore the concerns expressed by various human rights and Burma solidarity groups. It is worth mentioning that, Beijing is heavily dependent on imported oil (almost 85%) from the Middle East and African nations to meet its huge energy needs. The country has increased its trade ties with Burma and has lately signed an agreement to become the sole buying authority of the Shwe gas reserve of Burma. Under this agreement, Beijing took the responsibility to construct a trans-Myanmar (oil and gas) corridor to feed its robust economy.
The State-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) holds a 50.9 per cent stake in partnership with the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) in the construction of the dual oil and gas pipelines. The project is understood to have the capacity to pump nearly 12 million tonnes of oil and 12 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
The estimated project cost is expected to be around US$2.5 billion. On the other hand, the Myanmarese government would receive $29 billion over 30 years from the deal.
“The military rulers of Myanmar, which is otherwise facing heavy economic sanctions by the United States and many European countries, keep themselves alive with the royalty earned from selling the natural resources to other countries. But all this money is hardly used for any public welfare activities,” said M. Kim, an exiled Burmese living in India.
Speaking to this writer from New Delhi, Kim (who is associated with Myanmar Centre, Delhi) also pointed out that the present group of Generals (collectively called the State Peace and Development Council) have learnt the art of ignoring the concerns of international communities about the worst human rights record and also luring the neighboring countries (China, India and Thailand) into forging trade ties with them.
Once the rice bowl of Asia, Myanmar is today one of the poorest countries on the globe, but the military junta of Nay Pie Taw (new capital of Myanmar) spends over 40 per cent of its national budget on the defense sector. Shockingly, the dictators spend only 2 per cent of the budget on health and education (of 50 million Myanmarese people).
The Southeast Asian country has been ruled by the military generals since the early sixties. The present regime is headed by Senior General Than Shwe, who has developed a kind of enmity towards the pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. The leader of the main opposition party (National League for Democracy), Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for more than a decade now. Under pressure from international communities, the Myanmarese government had recently declared a roadmap for democracy and an election is scheduled this year. But the Than Shwe government is yet to be committed to the release of thousands of political prisoners including the Nobel laureate Suu Kyi before the polls.
The exiled Myanmarese and many other sympathetic groups had recently raised their voices against the Chinese pipeline project inside Myanmar. Over 120 organizations based in 20 countries came out with the demand that Beijing should halt the construction of the proposed oil and gas pipeline project. Led by the Shwe Gas Movement, a Thailand based oil-gas watchdog and rights group; the movement submitted a memorandum to the Chinese government on the Global Day of Action (on October 28).
In the letter which was addressed to the President of the People’s Republic of China and which was sent through the Chinese Embassies in various countries like India, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, UK etc., the campaign group not only expressed serious concern at the probable threats to the environment and common Myanmarese but also asked President Hu Jintao to stop its construction immediately.
“We are gravely concerned about the thousands of communities living along the planned 980 km pipeline corridor. Based on experiences in Myanmar, partnerships with the MOGE on infrastructure development projects invariably leads to forced displacement, forced labour and loss of livelihoods. The escalation of abuses around a project when Myanmar army soldiers provide security is well documented by UN agencies and NGOs,” stated in the letter.
The initiative was supported by a number of organizations like, All Arakan Students’ and Youths’Congress, Arakan Oil Watch, and Shwe Gas Movement (India). “What is more awful is that the local communities, who will be affected by the project, are still unaware of it and they are not being consulted. At the same time, neither the military authority nor the CNPC had initiated any environmental and social impact assessments before launching the pipeline project,” said Wong Aung, the coordinator of Shwe Gas Movement.
Speaking to this writer from Chiang Mai (Thailand), the young activist also revealed that over 10, 000 Myanmarese soldiers had already been deployed along the pipeline route. He apprehended that the number (of soldiers) would be increased in the days to come and it would simply add to the number of incidents of human rights abuses along the route of the pipelines.
“Past experiences have shown that the pipeline construction and maintenance in the country always involves forced labour, forced relocation, land confiscation, and other kinds of abuses by the soldiers engaged in the project area,” added Wong Aung. In a book titled ‘Corridor of Power: China’s Trans-Myanmar Oil and Gas Pipelines’, the Shwe Gas Movement came out with strong voices that the extraction of the Shwe natural gas deposit must be postponed until the local people in western Myanmar could participate in the decision making process about the use of the resources.
It also added that the concerned neighboring countries and also the oil companies must stop all kinds of trades with the military junta and refrain from further investment until there is a democratically elected government in the country.
It may be mentioned that a number of international corporations are engaged in the petroleum production activities in Myanmar including Daewoo International (South Korea, 51 per cent of shares in Shwe Gas Consortium), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC Videsh, India, 17 per cent of shares in Shwe Gas Consortium), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL India, 8.5 per cent of shares in Shwe Gas Consortium), The China National Petroleum Corporation (purchaser of the gas and builder of the pipelines),
PetroChina Company Ltd etc. In fact, Myanmar’s western coast, which is rich in oil and gas reserves, has become the battle ground for Beijing and New Delhi in recent years.
“The western companies showed reluctance in investing in Myanmar, but both China and India continued their mission and battle over the Myanmarese oil and gas,” said an editorial of the Shwe Gas bulletin. It also added that at the time when China and India were exploiting the resources of Arakan to enhance their energy and economic security, over four million people living in the state were facing human rights abuses and economic hardship. Debbie Stothard, coordinator to Alternative ASEAN Network on Myanmar, argues that a number of projects in Burma had resulted in the displacement of thousands of poor Burmese from their own localities and they were exposed to various forms of abuse by the military.
Speaking to this writer from Bangkok, Debbie added that the Shwe pipeline project would have a heavy impact on the people living along the route and it would end up adversely affecting the entire region.
However, none of this appears to matter to the Chinese, the governments surrounding Myanmar, or any of the countries wishing to buy Myanmar’s rich natural resources.
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Iranian Students' News Agency - ISNA
ISNA - Iran and Myanmar to expand multilateral cooperationService: Foreign Policy
03-09-2010, 16:37:39
ISNA - Tehran
Service: Foreign Policy
TEHRAN (ISNA)-Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Myanmar's Deputy Foreign Minister met and conferred on the expansion of political, commercial and cultural interrelations.
Meeting Boomang Myth, Mottaki emphasized on more functional cooperation and said, joint economic commission, tourism and fundamental agreements for common investment are steps to take for improving of the level of interrelations.
Iran and Myanmar are to expand bilateral relations on different fields including energy, oil, gas, and agricultural products as well as technical, scientific and academic cooperation.
Deputy of Myanmar's Foreign Minister, on his part, expressed Myanmar's will to expand political, commercial and cultural cooperation with Iran.
ISNA - Iran and Myanmar to expand multilateral cooperationService: Foreign Policy
03-09-2010, 16:37:39
ISNA - Tehran
Service: Foreign Policy
TEHRAN (ISNA)-Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Myanmar's Deputy Foreign Minister met and conferred on the expansion of political, commercial and cultural interrelations.
Meeting Boomang Myth, Mottaki emphasized on more functional cooperation and said, joint economic commission, tourism and fundamental agreements for common investment are steps to take for improving of the level of interrelations.
Iran and Myanmar are to expand bilateral relations on different fields including energy, oil, gas, and agricultural products as well as technical, scientific and academic cooperation.
Deputy of Myanmar's Foreign Minister, on his part, expressed Myanmar's will to expand political, commercial and cultural cooperation with Iran.
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Six Myanmar Nationals free of murder charge
Bernama - Wednesday, March 10
KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (Bernama) -- Six Myanmar nationals were acquitted and discharged by the High Court here today for the murder of their countryman three years ago.
Judge Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, in his judgment, said the identification of the six accused was most unsatisfactory and therefore, it was not safe to call them for defence.
"The prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case against all the accused and, therefore, they are acquitted and discharged without calling for their defence," he added.
In the dock were Van Duh Chung, 26; Hassan Ali Juhar, 21; Mohd Abbas Mohd Hussain, 22; Nur Alan Hussain, 24,; Yusof, 36, and Kokoo Ibrahim, 22.
The were alleged to have committed the offence at a house at Jalan Batu Hampar, Taman Batu View, Jalan Ipoh, about 5am on Dec 25, 2007.
Deputy public prosecutor Yaacob Cik appeared for the prosecution, while lawyers K. Vikneswaran and Ameenuddin Ibrahim represented all the accused.
Bernama - Wednesday, March 10
KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (Bernama) -- Six Myanmar nationals were acquitted and discharged by the High Court here today for the murder of their countryman three years ago.
Judge Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, in his judgment, said the identification of the six accused was most unsatisfactory and therefore, it was not safe to call them for defence.
"The prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case against all the accused and, therefore, they are acquitted and discharged without calling for their defence," he added.
In the dock were Van Duh Chung, 26; Hassan Ali Juhar, 21; Mohd Abbas Mohd Hussain, 22; Nur Alan Hussain, 24,; Yusof, 36, and Kokoo Ibrahim, 22.
The were alleged to have committed the offence at a house at Jalan Batu Hampar, Taman Batu View, Jalan Ipoh, about 5am on Dec 25, 2007.
Deputy public prosecutor Yaacob Cik appeared for the prosecution, while lawyers K. Vikneswaran and Ameenuddin Ibrahim represented all the accused.
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The Nation - China brushes off accusation on dams' effect
Published on March 9, 2010
Senior Chinese and Thai officials brushed off claims yesterday that Chinese dams had dried up the Mekong River, saying China had only a small proportion of water flowing into Southeast Asia's longest river.
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue told Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva during a meeting at Government House that Chinese dams on the upper Mekong in Yunnan province made no significant impact on water flow into the lower part of the river, according to an official at the meeting.
Beijing and local administrators paid a lot of attention to drought within the region and China would not do anything to damage mutual interests with neighbouring countries in the Mekong, Hu was quoted as telling Abhisit.
The PM told Hu people living in the lower Mekong region were worried about the drought as they had no clear information about the dams in China. It would be useful if there was a forum for experts to share information, he said.
"China plays a significant role in regional development and I believe China does not want to see people in the lower Mekong basin in difficulties," Abhisit was quoted as saying to Hu.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, who met Hu separately, said countries in the lower Mekong should not blame China for the drought since 35 per cent of the river's water supply came from rain in Laos. The dams in China held only 4 per cent of total water in the Mekong, he said.
"We should not blame each other but should find ways to cooperate with China for water management of the Mekong," Kasit told reporters.
Natural Resource and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti said separately that Chinese dams were not a big contributing factor to the drought in the Mekong basin. There are many other factors in the region that could have caused the river's low water level, he said.
"It is difficult to blame China, as it shares only some 15 per cent of the water flow. Water supply to the river from Thailand and Laos is more than half of the total," he said.
However, the Mekong River Commission would invite representatives from China and Burma, to meet as dialogue partners of the commission, to discuss the issue at a meeting next month, he said.
"The problem is that we don't have sufficient information about water in Chinese dams and we also have a problem of water management," he said.
"We have to find better solutions for water management otherwise we will face drought in the dry season and flood in the wet season," Suwit said.
China has been blamed for controlling water flow into the Mekong since it began operating three hydropower dams with a combined reservoir capacity of three billion cubic metres on the mainstream of the Mekong in Yunnan province.
A fourth dam is under construction at Xiaowan and due for completion in 2012. With a height of nearly 300 metres, the Xiaowan dam, if completed, will be the world's highest dam, with a reservoir capable of holding 15 billion cubic metres of water.
The Mekong River Commission said recently river levels in southwest China were at their lowest in 50 years, with water flowing at only half the level that would be considered normal for February.
Published on March 9, 2010
Senior Chinese and Thai officials brushed off claims yesterday that Chinese dams had dried up the Mekong River, saying China had only a small proportion of water flowing into Southeast Asia's longest river.
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue told Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva during a meeting at Government House that Chinese dams on the upper Mekong in Yunnan province made no significant impact on water flow into the lower part of the river, according to an official at the meeting.
Beijing and local administrators paid a lot of attention to drought within the region and China would not do anything to damage mutual interests with neighbouring countries in the Mekong, Hu was quoted as telling Abhisit.
The PM told Hu people living in the lower Mekong region were worried about the drought as they had no clear information about the dams in China. It would be useful if there was a forum for experts to share information, he said.
"China plays a significant role in regional development and I believe China does not want to see people in the lower Mekong basin in difficulties," Abhisit was quoted as saying to Hu.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, who met Hu separately, said countries in the lower Mekong should not blame China for the drought since 35 per cent of the river's water supply came from rain in Laos. The dams in China held only 4 per cent of total water in the Mekong, he said.
"We should not blame each other but should find ways to cooperate with China for water management of the Mekong," Kasit told reporters.
Natural Resource and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti said separately that Chinese dams were not a big contributing factor to the drought in the Mekong basin. There are many other factors in the region that could have caused the river's low water level, he said.
"It is difficult to blame China, as it shares only some 15 per cent of the water flow. Water supply to the river from Thailand and Laos is more than half of the total," he said.
However, the Mekong River Commission would invite representatives from China and Burma, to meet as dialogue partners of the commission, to discuss the issue at a meeting next month, he said.
"The problem is that we don't have sufficient information about water in Chinese dams and we also have a problem of water management," he said.
"We have to find better solutions for water management otherwise we will face drought in the dry season and flood in the wet season," Suwit said.
China has been blamed for controlling water flow into the Mekong since it began operating three hydropower dams with a combined reservoir capacity of three billion cubic metres on the mainstream of the Mekong in Yunnan province.
A fourth dam is under construction at Xiaowan and due for completion in 2012. With a height of nearly 300 metres, the Xiaowan dam, if completed, will be the world's highest dam, with a reservoir capable of holding 15 billion cubic metres of water.
The Mekong River Commission said recently river levels in southwest China were at their lowest in 50 years, with water flowing at only half the level that would be considered normal for February.
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The Irrawaddy - Ramos-Horta Launches Burma Petition
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN - Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has launched a worldwide petition for democracy in Burma, which also calls for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of the election due sometime in 2010.
Speaking at Bradford University in the UK, as part of the university’s PeaceJam event, Nobel Peace Prize laureat Ramos-Horta said that Burma's political divisions should be resolved by dialogue between all relevant parties and not through sanctions that penalize the people of the country.
His comments come after a recent controversy in which the Timor-Leste ambassador to the UN was apparently fired after voting in favour of a General Assembly resolution condemning the human rights situation in Burma.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy last month, Timorese Foreign Minister Zacarias da Costa said that the ambassador was replaced as his term of office had expired, an account disputed by Timor-Leste's main opposition party, Fretilin.
Timor-Leste is currently seeking Asean membership, with a view to 2012 accession. All 10 Asean member-states, including Burma, would have to agree.
Ramos-Horta has in the past been an outspoken critic of the military government in Napyidaw. No Asean member-states voted in favor of a December 2009 resolution condemning rights abuses in Burma.
The Timorese president is currently in Ireland on the second leg of a four-country tour that takes him to Switzerland and Japan next week. He will address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 13. This comes two days before UN Special Rapporteur on Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana presents his third report on the human rights situation in the country, after his February visit.
Ramos-Horta survived an apparent assassination attempt in 2008, the details of which remain a mystery. Last week, courts in Dili sentenced rebels to prison for their role in the attacks on Ramos-Horta and Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.
However Marcelo Caetano, who was accused of shooting the president twice in the back, was found innocent, after Australian police evidence suggested that the bullet fragments taken from Ramos-Horta's back during surgery in Australia did not come from Caetano's gun.
On Wednesday, hours before the verdict, Ramos-Horta said that he thought Caetano had shot him.
Maj. Alfredo Reinado, the rebel leader implicated in the plot to kill Ramos-Horta and Gusmao, was gunned down at the scene. However, the Dili court found that claims by presidential guard Francisco Lino Marcal that he shot Reinado from a distance were false, with forensic pathologist Muhammad Nurul Islam concluding he was shot at close range, suggesting an execution.
The verdict also exonerated Reinados' girlfriend, Angelita Pires, who had been vilified as a Lady Macbeth type-figure by many in the Timorese political elite, since the attacks on the president and prime minister.
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN - Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has launched a worldwide petition for democracy in Burma, which also calls for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of the election due sometime in 2010.
Speaking at Bradford University in the UK, as part of the university’s PeaceJam event, Nobel Peace Prize laureat Ramos-Horta said that Burma's political divisions should be resolved by dialogue between all relevant parties and not through sanctions that penalize the people of the country.
His comments come after a recent controversy in which the Timor-Leste ambassador to the UN was apparently fired after voting in favour of a General Assembly resolution condemning the human rights situation in Burma.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy last month, Timorese Foreign Minister Zacarias da Costa said that the ambassador was replaced as his term of office had expired, an account disputed by Timor-Leste's main opposition party, Fretilin.
Timor-Leste is currently seeking Asean membership, with a view to 2012 accession. All 10 Asean member-states, including Burma, would have to agree.
Ramos-Horta has in the past been an outspoken critic of the military government in Napyidaw. No Asean member-states voted in favor of a December 2009 resolution condemning rights abuses in Burma.
The Timorese president is currently in Ireland on the second leg of a four-country tour that takes him to Switzerland and Japan next week. He will address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 13. This comes two days before UN Special Rapporteur on Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana presents his third report on the human rights situation in the country, after his February visit.
Ramos-Horta survived an apparent assassination attempt in 2008, the details of which remain a mystery. Last week, courts in Dili sentenced rebels to prison for their role in the attacks on Ramos-Horta and Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.
However Marcelo Caetano, who was accused of shooting the president twice in the back, was found innocent, after Australian police evidence suggested that the bullet fragments taken from Ramos-Horta's back during surgery in Australia did not come from Caetano's gun.
On Wednesday, hours before the verdict, Ramos-Horta said that he thought Caetano had shot him.
Maj. Alfredo Reinado, the rebel leader implicated in the plot to kill Ramos-Horta and Gusmao, was gunned down at the scene. However, the Dili court found that claims by presidential guard Francisco Lino Marcal that he shot Reinado from a distance were false, with forensic pathologist Muhammad Nurul Islam concluding he was shot at close range, suggesting an execution.
The verdict also exonerated Reinados' girlfriend, Angelita Pires, who had been vilified as a Lady Macbeth type-figure by many in the Timorese political elite, since the attacks on the president and prime minister.
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The Irrawaddy - Party Registration Laws Set NLD a Deadline
By BA KAUNG - Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has 60 days from the enactment of the regime's election laws in which to decide whether or not to accept the terms of the party registration laws set by the regime.
The NLD and other currently legal parties would automatically cease to exist as legal entities if they fail to apply for registration to the election within that time, according to a copy of the party registration laws obtained on Tuesday by The Irrawaddy. A copy of the laws is expected to be released to the public on Wednesday.
The party registration laws would also impose the junta's “genuine, disciplined multi-party democratic system” on all political parties contesting the 2010 election.
“A political party is defined as one which is convinced of 'disciplined multi-party democracy' on the basis of a political ideology,” specifies Article 2/d of Chapter 1 of the party registration laws.
NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi would also be barred from leading her party at the polls if she is not released before the election because the laws stipulate that those convicted by a court and serving a jail term are not eligible to found a political party.
Suu Kyi is currently serving an 18-month sentence of house arrest, which is due to expire in November, while speculation is growing that the election will take place in October.
The NLD has not yet decided whether or not to take part in the election. The party's demand for a review of the Constitution has been ignored by the regime.
Analysts say that the Constitution is constructed around a theory of “disciplined democracy,” with 25 percent of the bicameral parliament comprised of military representatives—a maneuver intended to avoid a repeat of the 1990 election in which the opposition party won a landslide victory.
The Constitution guarantees the military 110 out of 440 seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw (People’s Parliament) and 56 out of 224 seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw (Nationalities Parliament). Military officials will also hold the same share in state and region Hluttaws, as well as in the leading bodies of self-administrative areas.
Even though it has only 25 percent representation in parliament, the military becomes the dominant block in the legislative process, because a constitutional amendment or legislative bill requires the approval of more than 75 percent of parliament members.
State-run newspapers on Tuesday carried the details of the Union Election Commission Law, saying the military regime will select members of the election commission which will supervise the parliamentary polls and the political parties. The regime will appoint as members of the election commission “persons which it views as distinguished and reputable.”
According to a report which The Irrawaddy cannot yet verify, Burma's police chief, Gen Khin Yi, said on Tuesday that the election will be held in October, leaving the parties five months in which to campaign.
He disclosed the month of election at a local gathering near Naypyidaw, according to sources in the capital. Khin Yi reportedly said party registration would begin soon and the parties would be given a pre-election campaign period.
He also said that security units would be formed to counter “internal and external destructive elements.” They would receive training in clearing landmines and riot control.
In his speech on the Armed Forces Day last year, Snr-Gen Than Shwe said that parties that carry out "mature party organizing work will receive the blessing of the government," and that the country should not expect a "well-established democracy" overnight.
On Monday, the Burmese military regime announced the enactment of the elections laws, although it still has to announce the date for the election, scheduled to take place this year. Details of the laws were released on Tuesday and further details are also to be made available to the public in the coming days.
According to Rangoon residents, there was a run on Tuesday's edition of state-controlled newspapers, whose price jumped from 100-150 kyat (US $0.10-0.15 ) to 200-250 kyat ($0.20-0.25).
“Newspapers sold out today, but I don't think many people are excited about these laws, only those interested in politics.” said a Rangoon resident.
By BA KAUNG - Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has 60 days from the enactment of the regime's election laws in which to decide whether or not to accept the terms of the party registration laws set by the regime.
The NLD and other currently legal parties would automatically cease to exist as legal entities if they fail to apply for registration to the election within that time, according to a copy of the party registration laws obtained on Tuesday by The Irrawaddy. A copy of the laws is expected to be released to the public on Wednesday.
The party registration laws would also impose the junta's “genuine, disciplined multi-party democratic system” on all political parties contesting the 2010 election.
“A political party is defined as one which is convinced of 'disciplined multi-party democracy' on the basis of a political ideology,” specifies Article 2/d of Chapter 1 of the party registration laws.
NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi would also be barred from leading her party at the polls if she is not released before the election because the laws stipulate that those convicted by a court and serving a jail term are not eligible to found a political party.
Suu Kyi is currently serving an 18-month sentence of house arrest, which is due to expire in November, while speculation is growing that the election will take place in October.
The NLD has not yet decided whether or not to take part in the election. The party's demand for a review of the Constitution has been ignored by the regime.
Analysts say that the Constitution is constructed around a theory of “disciplined democracy,” with 25 percent of the bicameral parliament comprised of military representatives—a maneuver intended to avoid a repeat of the 1990 election in which the opposition party won a landslide victory.
The Constitution guarantees the military 110 out of 440 seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw (People’s Parliament) and 56 out of 224 seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw (Nationalities Parliament). Military officials will also hold the same share in state and region Hluttaws, as well as in the leading bodies of self-administrative areas.
Even though it has only 25 percent representation in parliament, the military becomes the dominant block in the legislative process, because a constitutional amendment or legislative bill requires the approval of more than 75 percent of parliament members.
State-run newspapers on Tuesday carried the details of the Union Election Commission Law, saying the military regime will select members of the election commission which will supervise the parliamentary polls and the political parties. The regime will appoint as members of the election commission “persons which it views as distinguished and reputable.”
According to a report which The Irrawaddy cannot yet verify, Burma's police chief, Gen Khin Yi, said on Tuesday that the election will be held in October, leaving the parties five months in which to campaign.
He disclosed the month of election at a local gathering near Naypyidaw, according to sources in the capital. Khin Yi reportedly said party registration would begin soon and the parties would be given a pre-election campaign period.
He also said that security units would be formed to counter “internal and external destructive elements.” They would receive training in clearing landmines and riot control.
In his speech on the Armed Forces Day last year, Snr-Gen Than Shwe said that parties that carry out "mature party organizing work will receive the blessing of the government," and that the country should not expect a "well-established democracy" overnight.
On Monday, the Burmese military regime announced the enactment of the elections laws, although it still has to announce the date for the election, scheduled to take place this year. Details of the laws were released on Tuesday and further details are also to be made available to the public in the coming days.
According to Rangoon residents, there was a run on Tuesday's edition of state-controlled newspapers, whose price jumped from 100-150 kyat (US $0.10-0.15 ) to 200-250 kyat ($0.20-0.25).
“Newspapers sold out today, but I don't think many people are excited about these laws, only those interested in politics.” said a Rangoon resident.
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The Irrawaddy - Burmese Battalions Breach NMSP Area
By LAWI WENG - Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Two Burmese government battalions have been sent into areas under the control of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) despite a longstanding agreement between both parties that Burmese troops would not enter the area while the 1995 cease-fire remains intact.
One Burmese battalion of about 200 soldiers from Management of Military Command No. 8, based in Tavoy District, Tenasserim Division, was sent to set up base last week in Kyar Inn Seik Gyi Township, southern Karen State, which is under NMSP control.
The other battalion, comprising about 50 troops from Southeast Command, was stationed near Three Pagodas Pass in February.
A source close to the NMSP told The Irrawaddy that Nai Hang Thar, the secretary of the NMSP, had told him that he believed the battalions had set up base in NMSP area as a test to see if the Mon army would retaliate against them.
The party's leaders have reportedly put their troops on alert, but warned them not to open fire unless the government troops shoot first.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy recently, Nai Htaw Mon, the chairman of the NMSP, said, “We will not break the cease-fire. But we need to talk with the Burmese commanders to find out how long they intend to stay in our area.”
There are 12 areas under NMSP control that are prohibited to Burmese government forces under the terms of the 1995 cease-fire agreement. This in the first time in 15 years that the Burmese military has set foot in the area.
The Burmese regime proposed in June that the NMSP join a border guard force under Burmese army command. There has been mounting tension between the NMSP and the Burmese military in recent months since the Mon rejected the plan.
“Our people have told us they don’t agree with our troops serving as border guard forces,” said Nai Htaw Mon, “We have already told the junta what our people are saying.
“If they continue to put pressure on us or use force or terrorize us, we have to fight. But, we will maintain the cease-fire agreement as long as they do not attack us first,” he added.
Reports are circulating that Naypyidaw intends to declare that armed cease-fire groups such as the NMSP are illegal organizations if the groups continue to resist the regime's border guard force plan.
Meanwhile, the NMSP is holding a meeting at their headquarters to discuss the recent developments, according to the sources. The party has reportedly invited all local army officials to join the month-long meeting.
By LAWI WENG - Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Two Burmese government battalions have been sent into areas under the control of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) despite a longstanding agreement between both parties that Burmese troops would not enter the area while the 1995 cease-fire remains intact.
One Burmese battalion of about 200 soldiers from Management of Military Command No. 8, based in Tavoy District, Tenasserim Division, was sent to set up base last week in Kyar Inn Seik Gyi Township, southern Karen State, which is under NMSP control.
The other battalion, comprising about 50 troops from Southeast Command, was stationed near Three Pagodas Pass in February.
A source close to the NMSP told The Irrawaddy that Nai Hang Thar, the secretary of the NMSP, had told him that he believed the battalions had set up base in NMSP area as a test to see if the Mon army would retaliate against them.
The party's leaders have reportedly put their troops on alert, but warned them not to open fire unless the government troops shoot first.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy recently, Nai Htaw Mon, the chairman of the NMSP, said, “We will not break the cease-fire. But we need to talk with the Burmese commanders to find out how long they intend to stay in our area.”
There are 12 areas under NMSP control that are prohibited to Burmese government forces under the terms of the 1995 cease-fire agreement. This in the first time in 15 years that the Burmese military has set foot in the area.
The Burmese regime proposed in June that the NMSP join a border guard force under Burmese army command. There has been mounting tension between the NMSP and the Burmese military in recent months since the Mon rejected the plan.
“Our people have told us they don’t agree with our troops serving as border guard forces,” said Nai Htaw Mon, “We have already told the junta what our people are saying.
“If they continue to put pressure on us or use force or terrorize us, we have to fight. But, we will maintain the cease-fire agreement as long as they do not attack us first,” he added.
Reports are circulating that Naypyidaw intends to declare that armed cease-fire groups such as the NMSP are illegal organizations if the groups continue to resist the regime's border guard force plan.
Meanwhile, the NMSP is holding a meeting at their headquarters to discuss the recent developments, according to the sources. The party has reportedly invited all local army officials to join the month-long meeting.
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Burma bans imprisoned dissidents from up-coming elections
Tuesday, 09 March 2010 15:47 Mizzima News
Chaing Mai (Mizzima) - In preparation for the upcoming national election set to take place this year, Burma's military regime has issued a political party registration law which severely restricts the rights of political parties. Mizzima has received an advanced copy of the law, which the regime will officially announce later today or tomorrow.
The law bans anyone serving in jail from forming political parties or even becoming a member of a political party. There are presently more than 2100 political prisoners in jails across Burma. This clause effectively bars a large number of the regime's political opponents – many of whom were arrested after the 2007 monks led popular uprising – from taking part in the election. The 2008 sham constitution also bans anyone serving a prison sentence from running for office.
The law does not specifically mention if those under house arrest can take part. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is presently serving 18 months house arrest after her 3 year jail sentence was “commuted” in August last year by junta Supremo Than Shwe. Aung San Suu Kyi however is barred from holding office under a clause of the new constitution because she was married to foreigner.
According to the political party registration law, those who can form parties are citizens, guest citizens and those “holding temporary identity cards”. Burma’s citizenship law does not specify what “temporary identity cards” are. Earlier this year in Arakan state however the Burmese regime gave members of the Muslim Rohingya minority “temporary identity cards”, in a move widely seen as relating to the election.
The new political party registration law excludes anyone who has an association with “outlawed organizations” from taking part in the national election. Many Burma pro-democracy organizations based in exile are regarded as outlawed organizations by the regime. The "outlawed organizations" clause as its written could bar the vast majority people belonging to Burma's democracy movement, both inside and outside the country. The law also bans parties from receiving external assistance from groups outside Burma.
The law also forbids organizations that are presently fighting the Burmese regime with armed struggle from taking part. It also forbids parties from using property or funds that belong to the Burmese state. The law also excludes monks and other religious servants from joining political parties.
On Monday, the Burmese regime announced that it would soon be issuing new election laws. On Tuesday Burmese state controlled media published the law for the Union Election Commission and it is expected that over the next few days the details of several new election related laws will be released. The government however has yet to announce when the election will actually happen.
Tuesday, 09 March 2010 15:47 Mizzima News
Chaing Mai (Mizzima) - In preparation for the upcoming national election set to take place this year, Burma's military regime has issued a political party registration law which severely restricts the rights of political parties. Mizzima has received an advanced copy of the law, which the regime will officially announce later today or tomorrow.
The law bans anyone serving in jail from forming political parties or even becoming a member of a political party. There are presently more than 2100 political prisoners in jails across Burma. This clause effectively bars a large number of the regime's political opponents – many of whom were arrested after the 2007 monks led popular uprising – from taking part in the election. The 2008 sham constitution also bans anyone serving a prison sentence from running for office.
The law does not specifically mention if those under house arrest can take part. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is presently serving 18 months house arrest after her 3 year jail sentence was “commuted” in August last year by junta Supremo Than Shwe. Aung San Suu Kyi however is barred from holding office under a clause of the new constitution because she was married to foreigner.
According to the political party registration law, those who can form parties are citizens, guest citizens and those “holding temporary identity cards”. Burma’s citizenship law does not specify what “temporary identity cards” are. Earlier this year in Arakan state however the Burmese regime gave members of the Muslim Rohingya minority “temporary identity cards”, in a move widely seen as relating to the election.
The new political party registration law excludes anyone who has an association with “outlawed organizations” from taking part in the national election. Many Burma pro-democracy organizations based in exile are regarded as outlawed organizations by the regime. The "outlawed organizations" clause as its written could bar the vast majority people belonging to Burma's democracy movement, both inside and outside the country. The law also bans parties from receiving external assistance from groups outside Burma.
The law also forbids organizations that are presently fighting the Burmese regime with armed struggle from taking part. It also forbids parties from using property or funds that belong to the Burmese state. The law also excludes monks and other religious servants from joining political parties.
On Monday, the Burmese regime announced that it would soon be issuing new election laws. On Tuesday Burmese state controlled media published the law for the Union Election Commission and it is expected that over the next few days the details of several new election related laws will be released. The government however has yet to announce when the election will actually happen.
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NLD will stick with Shwegondaing Declaration, says Win Tin
Tuesday, 09 March 2010 20:27 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Win Tin, senior leader of Burma's main opposition party the National League for Democracy told Mizzima today that although Burma's military government has begun issuing laws concerning this year's national election, his party will maintain its stand that the regime must recognize that the NLD won Burma's last election.
"The result of the 1990 election must be recognized. That was one of the resolutions from the Shwegondaing Declaration. The result has to be recognized by one way or another. Our political stand and demand is the same as mentioned in the declaration", said Win Tin who is also a member of NLD's Central Executive Committee.
The Shwegondaing Declaration issued by the NLD on the 29th April 2009 demands that the Burmese military regime release all political prisoners, recognize the results of the 1990 election, review the 2008 constitution and begin dialogue with NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Burma's ruling military regime ignored the NLD's demands and instead is moving forward with this year's planned election. Today the regime issued a potentially restrictive Election Commission law that would severely limit the ability of main opposition party NLD to participate in elections. The regime has also indicated that over the next few days they will issue more election related laws.
The law for the election commission also abolished the previous election commission that oversaw the 1990 elections. Win Tin maintains that the result of the 1990 election, in which the NLD won 392 parliamentary seats out of a total of 485 seats, is not changed by the new law.
According to Win Tin, the NLD will decide whether or not to take part in this year's election if the military regime recognizes the result of the 1990 election. Win Tin, now 81-years old was released in September 2008 after serving 19 years in prison, much of the time spent in solitary confinement.
According to Thailand based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners - Burma (AAPPB), there are more than 2100 political prisoners presently jailed in Burma, including more than 430 members of Win Tin's NLD.
Mizzima has received an advanced copy of the law for the registration of political parties that will likely be released tomorrow. The law bans anyone serving in jail from forming political parties or even becoming a member of a political party. This clause effectively bars a large number of the regime's political opponents. The party registration law also stipulates that national party must have at least 1000 members and 15 founding members. Regional Parties must have at least 500 members.
Under the law a political party must be registered with the election commission within 60 days of the March 8 national election commission law's official proclamation. A party also must contest at least three parliamentary seats in order to avoid de-registration.
Dr Tuja, leader of the Kachin State Progressive Party, which has agreed to take part in the 2010 election, believes that when the Burmese government issued a new Election Commission law the results of the 1990 election were automatically voided.
"This newly promulgated law for Election Commission has abolished the SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council)'s Election Commission that was promulgated in 1988. It automatically abolishes the NLD's demand to recognize the 1990 election result", Dr Tuja told Mizzima.
Others observers strongly disagree, Naing Tin Aung from the Mon Democracy Party, argues that irrespective of the new election laws the Burmese military government needs to release all political prisoners and amend the 2008 constitution.
"We will consider whether to participate in the elections or not only after necessary preparations are met. An election can be held only after the constitution is amended based on democratic norms. A majority of people do not accept the constitution in its present form", he told Mizzima in a phone interview.
The new constitution which guarantees a permanent role for the military in national affairs was approved by what many agree was a sham referendum held just a few days after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma's delta areas and Rangoon in May 2008. Independent observers and political opponents of the regime widely criticized the constitution as "undemocratic" because it ensures that 25 % of the seats in parliament are reserved for military personnel appointed by the military's supreme commander. The constitution also contains a clause that would prevent Aung San Suu Kyi from serving in government because she was married to a foreigner.
Tuesday, 09 March 2010 20:27 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Win Tin, senior leader of Burma's main opposition party the National League for Democracy told Mizzima today that although Burma's military government has begun issuing laws concerning this year's national election, his party will maintain its stand that the regime must recognize that the NLD won Burma's last election.
"The result of the 1990 election must be recognized. That was one of the resolutions from the Shwegondaing Declaration. The result has to be recognized by one way or another. Our political stand and demand is the same as mentioned in the declaration", said Win Tin who is also a member of NLD's Central Executive Committee.
The Shwegondaing Declaration issued by the NLD on the 29th April 2009 demands that the Burmese military regime release all political prisoners, recognize the results of the 1990 election, review the 2008 constitution and begin dialogue with NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Burma's ruling military regime ignored the NLD's demands and instead is moving forward with this year's planned election. Today the regime issued a potentially restrictive Election Commission law that would severely limit the ability of main opposition party NLD to participate in elections. The regime has also indicated that over the next few days they will issue more election related laws.
The law for the election commission also abolished the previous election commission that oversaw the 1990 elections. Win Tin maintains that the result of the 1990 election, in which the NLD won 392 parliamentary seats out of a total of 485 seats, is not changed by the new law.
According to Win Tin, the NLD will decide whether or not to take part in this year's election if the military regime recognizes the result of the 1990 election. Win Tin, now 81-years old was released in September 2008 after serving 19 years in prison, much of the time spent in solitary confinement.
According to Thailand based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners - Burma (AAPPB), there are more than 2100 political prisoners presently jailed in Burma, including more than 430 members of Win Tin's NLD.
Mizzima has received an advanced copy of the law for the registration of political parties that will likely be released tomorrow. The law bans anyone serving in jail from forming political parties or even becoming a member of a political party. This clause effectively bars a large number of the regime's political opponents. The party registration law also stipulates that national party must have at least 1000 members and 15 founding members. Regional Parties must have at least 500 members.
Under the law a political party must be registered with the election commission within 60 days of the March 8 national election commission law's official proclamation. A party also must contest at least three parliamentary seats in order to avoid de-registration.
Dr Tuja, leader of the Kachin State Progressive Party, which has agreed to take part in the 2010 election, believes that when the Burmese government issued a new Election Commission law the results of the 1990 election were automatically voided.
"This newly promulgated law for Election Commission has abolished the SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council)'s Election Commission that was promulgated in 1988. It automatically abolishes the NLD's demand to recognize the 1990 election result", Dr Tuja told Mizzima.
Others observers strongly disagree, Naing Tin Aung from the Mon Democracy Party, argues that irrespective of the new election laws the Burmese military government needs to release all political prisoners and amend the 2008 constitution.
"We will consider whether to participate in the elections or not only after necessary preparations are met. An election can be held only after the constitution is amended based on democratic norms. A majority of people do not accept the constitution in its present form", he told Mizzima in a phone interview.
The new constitution which guarantees a permanent role for the military in national affairs was approved by what many agree was a sham referendum held just a few days after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma's delta areas and Rangoon in May 2008. Independent observers and political opponents of the regime widely criticized the constitution as "undemocratic" because it ensures that 25 % of the seats in parliament are reserved for military personnel appointed by the military's supreme commander. The constitution also contains a clause that would prevent Aung San Suu Kyi from serving in government because she was married to a foreigner.
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DVB News - Burma to call time on Wa army
By NAN KHAM KAEW
Published: 9 March 2010
Burma’s largest ethnic army could be declared ‘unlawful’ by the ruling junta if it continues to refuse to transform into a border guard force.
A United Wa State Army (UWSA) official told DVB that the Burmese government had threatened to use force against the group, but added that the Wa would refuse to bow to its demands.
The conflict stems from the junta’s proposal to assimilate ethnic armies into the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) army command by designating them as Border Guard Forces (BGF). Under the proposal SPDC commanders would have control of BGF forces at battalion level.
Although the initial deadline for transformation expired at the end of last month, it has been extended until 10 March. During a meeting between former intelligence chief Ye Myint and UWSA leader Bao Youxiang, the SPDC reportedly warned that if they continued to refuse, they would face military action.
The meeting however ended with neither side able to agree on the issues of sovereignty pertaining to the border guard force and UWSA territory.
The UWSA had offered a nine-point counter proposal to the government last year, but the Wa official said this wasn’t accepted.
“Recently, we reduced our demands down to two and we are not getting any response either, so have prepared for the worst,” he said.
The last meeting between the two sides had preceded by several rejections of proposed talks in the town of Lashio, in Wa-controlled territory of Burma’s northeastern Shan state.
Bao Youxiang is said to be unwell, but there are also suggestions that he was concerned he would be assassinated if he met with the junta. On attending the 26 February meeting the Wa leader reportedly brought around 100 soldiers with him for security.
The former joint general secretary of the National Democratic Front (NDF) and Wa ally, known only as Mr Long, confirmed the escalating tension and told DVB that the Wa were ready to fight. “Now it is not only about defence,” he said.
Meanwhile, tension is also rising between the Burmese army and the Shan-based National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) after its chairman, Le Min Chin, failed to show for a meeting with Ye Myint on 25 February.
The NDAA’s secretary, Min Ein, was shot dead by unknown gunmen on 27 January.
Meanwhile, Kachin nationals have said that the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), which has also refused the border guard proposal, is stepping up military preparations on mountains and hills in their region.
A Wa official in Shan state’s Pangshang said that the Burmese junta wishes to clean off ceasefire groups along the China-Burma border by use of military force however, although this has not been approved by China.
By NAN KHAM KAEW
Published: 9 March 2010
Burma’s largest ethnic army could be declared ‘unlawful’ by the ruling junta if it continues to refuse to transform into a border guard force.
A United Wa State Army (UWSA) official told DVB that the Burmese government had threatened to use force against the group, but added that the Wa would refuse to bow to its demands.
The conflict stems from the junta’s proposal to assimilate ethnic armies into the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) army command by designating them as Border Guard Forces (BGF). Under the proposal SPDC commanders would have control of BGF forces at battalion level.
Although the initial deadline for transformation expired at the end of last month, it has been extended until 10 March. During a meeting between former intelligence chief Ye Myint and UWSA leader Bao Youxiang, the SPDC reportedly warned that if they continued to refuse, they would face military action.
The meeting however ended with neither side able to agree on the issues of sovereignty pertaining to the border guard force and UWSA territory.
The UWSA had offered a nine-point counter proposal to the government last year, but the Wa official said this wasn’t accepted.
“Recently, we reduced our demands down to two and we are not getting any response either, so have prepared for the worst,” he said.
The last meeting between the two sides had preceded by several rejections of proposed talks in the town of Lashio, in Wa-controlled territory of Burma’s northeastern Shan state.
Bao Youxiang is said to be unwell, but there are also suggestions that he was concerned he would be assassinated if he met with the junta. On attending the 26 February meeting the Wa leader reportedly brought around 100 soldiers with him for security.
The former joint general secretary of the National Democratic Front (NDF) and Wa ally, known only as Mr Long, confirmed the escalating tension and told DVB that the Wa were ready to fight. “Now it is not only about defence,” he said.
Meanwhile, tension is also rising between the Burmese army and the Shan-based National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) after its chairman, Le Min Chin, failed to show for a meeting with Ye Myint on 25 February.
The NDAA’s secretary, Min Ein, was shot dead by unknown gunmen on 27 January.
Meanwhile, Kachin nationals have said that the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), which has also refused the border guard proposal, is stepping up military preparations on mountains and hills in their region.
A Wa official in Shan state’s Pangshang said that the Burmese junta wishes to clean off ceasefire groups along the China-Burma border by use of military force however, although this has not been approved by China.
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