Nobel winners push for Myanmar regime to face court
By Michelle Nichols – Wed Mar 3, 4:24 pm ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Rutha was pregnant when she was forced to serve as a porter at a military camp in Myanmar. There, she was raped nightly and her father killed when he refused to allow soldiers to take his 22-year-old daughter.
Rutha's story was told to Nobel Peace Prize winners and rights campaigners, who meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday to push for Myanmar's leaders to be referred to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
"The soldiers raped me at night after I portered for them during the day," said Rutha, whose family has since left Myanmar. "A soldier came to get me and took me to a room.
I told him I was pregnant and begged him not to do any harm, but he did not listen. ... I could only cry."
Rutha's story was one of 12 heard by the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women of Burma, a panel formed by the Nobel Women's Initiative -- a group created by six female Nobel Peace Prize Winners -- and the Women's League of Burma.
Along with acts of sexual violence and forced labor, there were stories of imprisonment, torture and forced relocation.
The panel of Jody Williams, who won the 1997 Peace Prize for her work to ban land mines, Shirin Ebadi, who won the prize in 2003 for promoting rights in Iran, and rights campaigners Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand and Heisoo Shin of South Korea, said the world needs to increase pressure on Myanmar.
"Your searing testimonies of unimaginable brutalities, including sexual violence, break the silence on behalf of thousands upon thousands of Burmese women," Williams told a news conference on Wednesday. "You all cry out for justice but have been met with impunity."
Myanmar has signed international conventions and treaties but has consistently failed to honor pledges to improve its human rights record or carry out democratic reforms.
The Myanmar mission to the United Nations was not immediately available to comment.
MINORITIES PERSECUTED
Myanmar has long been the focus of global pressure for holding pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Rights groups say there are more than 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar, but the country's regime says they are not political.
The Myanmar junta has also been accused of persecution of the country's ethnic minorities, sparking a continuing exodus. Some 140,000 refugees live in camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
The full list of recommendations made by the panel to Myanmar, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations can be seen a www.nobelwomensinitiative.org.
Myanmar was formerly known as Burma and has been under military rule since 1962.
Another story heard by the panel was that of Chang Chang, who was 17 when she was practicing songs at a local karaoke shop with three of her friends and a group of soldiers forced them to leave and took them to a military base.
"They came in one by one to rape me. I begged the soldiers not to rape me and I pushed them back to protect myself. But, they forced themselves on me and took off my clothes and they raped me all night," she said in a statement to the tribunal.
"It was very dark, so it was hard to know exactly how many soldiers raped us. I remembered seven of them. ... Seven raped me. There were many of them," she said. "I could only cry."
By Michelle Nichols – Wed Mar 3, 4:24 pm ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Rutha was pregnant when she was forced to serve as a porter at a military camp in Myanmar. There, she was raped nightly and her father killed when he refused to allow soldiers to take his 22-year-old daughter.
Rutha's story was told to Nobel Peace Prize winners and rights campaigners, who meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday to push for Myanmar's leaders to be referred to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
"The soldiers raped me at night after I portered for them during the day," said Rutha, whose family has since left Myanmar. "A soldier came to get me and took me to a room.
I told him I was pregnant and begged him not to do any harm, but he did not listen. ... I could only cry."
Rutha's story was one of 12 heard by the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women of Burma, a panel formed by the Nobel Women's Initiative -- a group created by six female Nobel Peace Prize Winners -- and the Women's League of Burma.
Along with acts of sexual violence and forced labor, there were stories of imprisonment, torture and forced relocation.
The panel of Jody Williams, who won the 1997 Peace Prize for her work to ban land mines, Shirin Ebadi, who won the prize in 2003 for promoting rights in Iran, and rights campaigners Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand and Heisoo Shin of South Korea, said the world needs to increase pressure on Myanmar.
"Your searing testimonies of unimaginable brutalities, including sexual violence, break the silence on behalf of thousands upon thousands of Burmese women," Williams told a news conference on Wednesday. "You all cry out for justice but have been met with impunity."
Myanmar has signed international conventions and treaties but has consistently failed to honor pledges to improve its human rights record or carry out democratic reforms.
The Myanmar mission to the United Nations was not immediately available to comment.
MINORITIES PERSECUTED
Myanmar has long been the focus of global pressure for holding pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Rights groups say there are more than 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar, but the country's regime says they are not political.
The Myanmar junta has also been accused of persecution of the country's ethnic minorities, sparking a continuing exodus. Some 140,000 refugees live in camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
The full list of recommendations made by the panel to Myanmar, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations can be seen a www.nobelwomensinitiative.org.
Myanmar was formerly known as Burma and has been under military rule since 1962.
Another story heard by the panel was that of Chang Chang, who was 17 when she was practicing songs at a local karaoke shop with three of her friends and a group of soldiers forced them to leave and took them to a military base.
"They came in one by one to rape me. I begged the soldiers not to rape me and I pushed them back to protect myself. But, they forced themselves on me and took off my clothes and they raped me all night," she said in a statement to the tribunal.
"It was very dark, so it was hard to know exactly how many soldiers raped us. I remembered seven of them. ... Seven raped me. There were many of them," she said. "I could only cry."
********************************************************
U.S. presses Myanmar to stop buying N. Korean arms
Denver Post Wire Report
Posted: 03/04/2010 01:00:00 AM MST
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, concerned that Myanmar is expanding its military relationship with North Korea, has launched an aggressive campaign to persuade Myanmar's junta to stop buying North Korean military technology, U.S. officials said.
Concerns about the relationship — which encompasses the sale of small arms, missile components and technology possibly related to nuclear weapons — in part prompted the Obama administration in October to end the Bush-era policy of isolating the military junta, said a senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Denver Post Wire Report
Posted: 03/04/2010 01:00:00 AM MST
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, concerned that Myanmar is expanding its military relationship with North Korea, has launched an aggressive campaign to persuade Myanmar's junta to stop buying North Korean military technology, U.S. officials said.
Concerns about the relationship — which encompasses the sale of small arms, missile components and technology possibly related to nuclear weapons — in part prompted the Obama administration in October to end the Bush-era policy of isolating the military junta, said a senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
********************************************************
Washington Post - U.S. increasingly wary as Burma deepens military relationship with North Korea
By John Pomfret
Thursday, March 4, 2010
The Obama administration, concerned that Burma is expanding its military relationship with North Korea, has launched an aggressive campaign to persuade Burma's junta to stop buying North Korean military technology, U.S. officials said.
Concerns about the relationship -- which encompass the sale of small arms, missile components and technology possibly related to nuclear weapons -- in part prompted the Obama administration in October to end the George W. Bush-era policy of isolating the military junta, said a senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Senior U.S. officials have since had four meetings with their Burmese counterparts, with a fifth expected soon. "Our most decisive interactions have been around North Korea," the official said. "We've been very clear to Burma. We'll see over time if it's been heard."
Congress and human rights organizations are increasingly criticizing and questioning the administration's new policy toward the Southeast Asian nation, which is also known as Myanmar. Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and generally a supporter of the administration's foreign policy, recently called for the administration to increase the pressure on Burma, including tightening sanctions on the regime.
"Recent events have raised the profile of humanitarian issues there," Berman said Friday. "Support is growing for more action in addition to ongoing efforts."
Thus far, the engagement policy has not yielded any change in Burma's treatment of domestic opponents. On Friday, Burma's supreme court rejected opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's latest bid to end more than a decade of house arrest. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate's National League for Democracy won elections in 1990, but the military, which has ruled Burma since 1962, did not cede power.
In recent months, the junta has also ramped up repression against political dissidents and ethnic groups, although it has released one aging dissident -- U Tin Oo -- after almost seven years in detention. Thousands of people have fled Burmese military assaults, escaping to China, Bangladesh and Thailand, in the months after the U.S. opening.
A report issued this week by the Karen Women's Organization alleged that Burmese troops have gang-raped, killed and even crucified Karen women in an attempt to root out a 60-year-old insurgency by guerrillas from that ethnic minority.
On Feb. 10, a Burmese court sentenced a naturalized Burmese American political activist from Montgomery County to three years of hard labor; he was allegedly beaten, denied food and water, and placed in isolation in a tiny cell with no toilet. Burma recently snubbed the United Nations' special envoy on human rights, Tomás Ojea Quintana, denying him a meeting with Suu Kyi and access to Burma's senior leadership.
"The bad behavior has increased," said Ernest Bower, an expert on Southeast Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Nevertheless, U.S. officials argue -- and Bower and others agree -- that talking with Burma remains the best way forward, especially given the concerns about its deepening military relationship with North Korea. It is also important to keep talking with Burma, said Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), because China is more than willing to replace U.S.
influence in that country and throughout Southeast Asia. Webb's trip to Burma in August -- the first by a member of Congress in a decade -- has been credited with giving the Obama administration the political cover to open up talks with the junta.
Underlining the administration's concerns about Burma is a desire to avoid a repeat of events that unfolded in Syria in 2007. North Korea is thought to have helped Syria secretly build a nuclear reactor there capable of producing plutonium. The facility was reportedly only weeks or months away from being functional when Israeli warplanes bombed it in September of that year.
"The lesson here is the Syrian one," said David Albright, president of the nongovernmental Institute for Science and International Security and an expert on nuclear proliferation. "That was such a massive intelligence failure. You can't be sure that North Korea isn't doing it someplace else. The U.S. government can't afford to be blindsided again."
Burma is thought to have started a military relationship with North Korea in 2007. But with the passage of a U.N. Security Council resolution last June banning all weapons exports from North Korea, Burma has emerged "as a much bigger player than it was," the senior U.S. official said.
In a report Albright co-wrote in January, titled "Burma: A Nuclear Wannabe," he outlined the case for concern about Burma's relations with North Korea. First, Burma has signed a deal with Russia for the supply of a 10-megawatt thermal research reactor, although construction of the facility had not started as of September.
Second, although many claims from dissident groups about covert nuclear sites in Burma are still unverified, the report said that "there remain legitimate reasons to suspect the existence of undeclared nuclear activities in Burma, particularly in the context of North Korean cooperation."
By John Pomfret
Thursday, March 4, 2010
The Obama administration, concerned that Burma is expanding its military relationship with North Korea, has launched an aggressive campaign to persuade Burma's junta to stop buying North Korean military technology, U.S. officials said.
Concerns about the relationship -- which encompass the sale of small arms, missile components and technology possibly related to nuclear weapons -- in part prompted the Obama administration in October to end the George W. Bush-era policy of isolating the military junta, said a senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Senior U.S. officials have since had four meetings with their Burmese counterparts, with a fifth expected soon. "Our most decisive interactions have been around North Korea," the official said. "We've been very clear to Burma. We'll see over time if it's been heard."
Congress and human rights organizations are increasingly criticizing and questioning the administration's new policy toward the Southeast Asian nation, which is also known as Myanmar. Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and generally a supporter of the administration's foreign policy, recently called for the administration to increase the pressure on Burma, including tightening sanctions on the regime.
"Recent events have raised the profile of humanitarian issues there," Berman said Friday. "Support is growing for more action in addition to ongoing efforts."
Thus far, the engagement policy has not yielded any change in Burma's treatment of domestic opponents. On Friday, Burma's supreme court rejected opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's latest bid to end more than a decade of house arrest. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate's National League for Democracy won elections in 1990, but the military, which has ruled Burma since 1962, did not cede power.
In recent months, the junta has also ramped up repression against political dissidents and ethnic groups, although it has released one aging dissident -- U Tin Oo -- after almost seven years in detention. Thousands of people have fled Burmese military assaults, escaping to China, Bangladesh and Thailand, in the months after the U.S. opening.
A report issued this week by the Karen Women's Organization alleged that Burmese troops have gang-raped, killed and even crucified Karen women in an attempt to root out a 60-year-old insurgency by guerrillas from that ethnic minority.
On Feb. 10, a Burmese court sentenced a naturalized Burmese American political activist from Montgomery County to three years of hard labor; he was allegedly beaten, denied food and water, and placed in isolation in a tiny cell with no toilet. Burma recently snubbed the United Nations' special envoy on human rights, Tomás Ojea Quintana, denying him a meeting with Suu Kyi and access to Burma's senior leadership.
"The bad behavior has increased," said Ernest Bower, an expert on Southeast Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Nevertheless, U.S. officials argue -- and Bower and others agree -- that talking with Burma remains the best way forward, especially given the concerns about its deepening military relationship with North Korea. It is also important to keep talking with Burma, said Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), because China is more than willing to replace U.S.
influence in that country and throughout Southeast Asia. Webb's trip to Burma in August -- the first by a member of Congress in a decade -- has been credited with giving the Obama administration the political cover to open up talks with the junta.
Underlining the administration's concerns about Burma is a desire to avoid a repeat of events that unfolded in Syria in 2007. North Korea is thought to have helped Syria secretly build a nuclear reactor there capable of producing plutonium. The facility was reportedly only weeks or months away from being functional when Israeli warplanes bombed it in September of that year.
"The lesson here is the Syrian one," said David Albright, president of the nongovernmental Institute for Science and International Security and an expert on nuclear proliferation. "That was such a massive intelligence failure. You can't be sure that North Korea isn't doing it someplace else. The U.S. government can't afford to be blindsided again."
Burma is thought to have started a military relationship with North Korea in 2007. But with the passage of a U.N. Security Council resolution last June banning all weapons exports from North Korea, Burma has emerged "as a much bigger player than it was," the senior U.S. official said.
In a report Albright co-wrote in January, titled "Burma: A Nuclear Wannabe," he outlined the case for concern about Burma's relations with North Korea. First, Burma has signed a deal with Russia for the supply of a 10-megawatt thermal research reactor, although construction of the facility had not started as of September.
Second, although many claims from dissident groups about covert nuclear sites in Burma are still unverified, the report said that "there remain legitimate reasons to suspect the existence of undeclared nuclear activities in Burma, particularly in the context of North Korean cooperation."
********************************************************
The Huffington Post - Q&A: Burma VJ so Powerful a Documentary it Garners an Oscar Nomination
Brad Balfour
Veteran Interviewer and Pop Culture Chronicler
Posted: March 3, 2010 01:56 PM
When Danish documentarian Anders Østergaard took on the challenge to make Burma VJ, he had no idea how much he would advance the cause of citizen journalism. A collective of 30 anonymous and underground video journalists (VJs) called the Democratic Voice of Burma recorded the 100,000+ protestors (including thousands of Buddhist monks) who took to the streets in 2007 to protest the repressive junta that has controlled the country for over 40 years.
Since foreign news crews were barred from Mynamar (as the regime renamed Burma), the internet was shut down, and domestic reporters were banned unless employed by the state, they used handycams, or cellphones, to document these historic and dramatic events; they then smuggled the footage out of the country. Broadcast worldwide via satellite, these VJs risked torture and imprisonment to show the brutal clashes with the military and undercover police -- even after they themselves became targets of the authorities.
Using this smuggled footage offered for free usage to the international media, this 40-something filmmaker tells the story of those 2007 protests and briskly shows how the Burma VJs stopped at nothing to make their reports with dramatic results. As the director assembled this raw footage, made on cell phones and other digital devices -- and sent through these clandestine electronic channels -- they marked a new step in freedom of expression and he has stirred a media pot that is now percolating in other global trouble spots such as Iran. The protestors there also captured the unvarnished images and reports of their actions and their government's violent reaction through digital channels.
Previously Østergaard had helmed films about pop culture covering such subjects as the Scandinavian rock band Gasolin' and the Belgian cartoon classic Tin Tin. Ironically, with Burma VJ he covered another pop culture expression -- the use of digital technology to create user-generated content -- to document a major political act of defiance. The results have paid off in various accolades from a 2009 Sundance Grand Jury prize to an Oscar nom for Best Feature Doc.
In fact, this exclusive interview itself was done through the cutting edge technology of Skype -- so once again the digital domain advances another journalistic expression.
BB: The human rights abuses in Burma don't seem to be on the radar like some other issues. Are you a little surprised that the film has garnered this support? What do you think made it click?
AO: I think the uniqueness of the material that these reporters gathered. This unique access and this very dramatic portrait of an uprising which they've managed to pass on to the world. I also think some of our own decisions play a role; our deliberate decision to tell this story as a suspense story, using all the cinematic tools needed for that, which I think was a good choice for the film.
BB: How did you contact the Burmese people? Was there someone who was your liaison, or was it someone you knew from Denmark? What was the connection?
AO: It was pretty straightforward. Once we decided that we wanted to work with this we got in touch with the Democratic Voice of Burma in Oslo, which is basically a satellite tv and radio station, and explained our interest and they were very forthcoming. They needed the attention, I guess they trusted us, so they sent us to Bangkok to meet 12 of those reporters who were coming out of training.
BB: Are they paranoid that someone might be an agent of the government?
AO: They're used to this. I think their biggest worry is that one of their recruits would be an agent. They deal with this all the time and I'm sure they made their investigations.
BB: When you made this film what was your hope or your original expectations for it? Do you think you can change society with it?
AO: Oh absolutely not. I wasn't too focused on purpose as such. I tend to go so deep into the storytelling in itself that that's what really drives me and I don't think too much about the function afterwards.
Of course, I can see from the old pictures that I tried to say that I wanted to make the Burmese condition tangible, so that you could feel it and smell it, and I guess that was my ambition, to take it beyond the abstract interest in some other country and just be there. And that was what I was totally committed to when I put the film together; I didn't speculate too much on the aftermath of what might come out of this politically.
BB: You had so many different people involved; who did you consider your critical liaison? Who was the one gentleman that you had with you in the States that was working with you from Burma?
AO: That was very obvious to me when I met Joshua, because first of all he wasn't scared. Understandably, most of these guys would be already very paranoid about what they were doing, so having a foreign film crew on top of that was just too much, obviously. Joshua had this kind of fearless attitude to everything, and he also had an intuitive understanding of how to explain Burma; he's an excellent communicator.
And he has also a mix of qualities that intrigued me. He was on the one hand this cheeky young guy looking for challenges and really enjoying his cat and mouse game with the police sometimes. And on the other hand, kind of a reflective, philosophical guy, who could also look back and explain the Burmese condition in a very deep way. So I was just intrigued by his qualities as a storyteller.
Q: How did you and producer Lise Lense-Møller define your roles? You obviously have the directing experience, so how did she come in as producer?
AO: Very much in the European tradition, I would say, in pretty much keeping hands off the creative business but making sure to give solid financial support. For instance, we needed some extra time, and she had the guts to let that happen even though she was under considerable economic pressure. So her contribution is mainly securing the financial circumstances. Creatively, she would be less involved than some other people.
BB: Were there moments when you were worried that this wouldn't happen? It must have been touch-and-go as to whether you had enough stuff that would make a film, and whether it would look right. Was there a point where anybody was in danger?
AO: Security of course was a big issue all the time and made some restrictions to what we could do. We tried to work creatively with that; we tried to make a virtue out of necessity. How can we work with people when we can't see their faces? That led us to phone conversations as a leading tool for the film. Otherwise, just sorting out the chaos; the material came in a pretty confused way where we wouldn't know who'd shot what and when, so we had to piece all that together first before we could start telling the story.
Q: When did you know you had a movie that would work?
AO: I think I was struck quite early on by the uniqueness of the material, the very straightforward demonstration of the regime's brutality. But also the happy moments, the optimism of the early days of the uprising, when everybody was coming out in the streets, I think they managed to capture that beautifully, if you consider the circumstances. These were guys who could barely pay for the bus ticket.
BB: How much information did you decide to put in or not put in? how much do you reveal or not reveal about the regime and Burma's history? How much do you assume that people know, understand or are passionate about?
AO: Much of these decisions are made by instinct, by the kind of director you are, the kind of storyteller you are. And as I said before, the number one thing for me was to make people experience the Burmese condition, to feel it, to sense it, the whole visceral thing about it. So that led obviously to me being very, very restrictive about me spending time on history, on more than just the absolutely necessary information.
BB: Do you hope some day you'll be able to go to Burma without having to be under scrutiny?
AO: That would be the greatest strength.
BB: Of the many people you've talked to, what are their expectations?
AO: Well interestingly, in my experience the most optimistic people are the Burmese, and that's a curious thing. I don't know if it's because of their Buddhist education, but they seem to be the most patient and the most convinced that some day that this regime will fall. The uprising of 2007 was a tragedy, but it was also a reminder of what people are actually able to do and how they're able to battle their own fears.
BB: Was there any one person in the film that you consider the key to getting the film?
AO: Joshua, meeting Joshua. That was a critical thing, to have somebody who was able to give his voice to this, and to bridge any cultural gaps and make it such a smooth and happy collaboration, to me that's a crucial thing. And also, some of the other guys also had these qualities actually. So basically the VJs.
BB: Do you know of anybody that had a chance to speak to Aung San Suu Kyi?
AO: We'll see; there are some complications to that.
BB: How did making this film affect you personally?
AO: Well it made me very busy. Putting a film together like this, first of all is hard work, and you're so focused on doing it right that you really don't spend much time feeling a lot of stuff. Just dealing with this huge responsibility really takes up most of your energy. But of course, I think what made the biggest impression on me was to watch the uplifting footage, the hopeful early days, this moves me just as much as it seems to have moved the audience.
BB: In your one week in Burma what did you see there that you hope tourists will one day be able to see?
AO: It's a gem; it's one of the most beautiful countries in the East. Also actually, ironically, because of the regime things have been preserved in a way quite different from, for instance, Thailand. It also is in terrible decay, but the millions of pagodas, the lush green trees of Rangoon. First of all the people are very mild mannered and gentle and they're wonderful people.
BB: Have you had an interest in other countries in South East Asia?
AO: Not too much. I'm not an expert on Burma or on Asia as such. I've done a little bit of traveling in Indonesia, but nothing that would really put me in a special position. I came to this as a filmmaker more than anything else.
Q: I've met a number of the Burma refugees here in the States. It's a tough struggle. I don't know who has it worse; the Tibetans or them.
AO: It's pretty bleak for both of these peoples. It's a good fortune that they're both Buddhists because it helps them a lot, clearly.
BB: One other really fascinating aspect to the film is your exploitation of the contemporary technology. Your movie couldn't have existed a few years ago. When you step back and think abut the implications of that, that must have interesting ramifications in your head.
AO: Sure.
BB: What are your thoughts on this.
AO: Of course a film is not just about Burma, it's also a celebration of citizen journalism as such. And telling people that technology is not always a bad thing; there's a tendency to think that cameras or something that's going to watch you, that Big Brother is going to watch you. But it actually can also be Little Brother watching the tyrants, which I think is a positive note. Basically, I'm every optimistic about technology, I believe in that kind of thing, I believe in progress through technology, so I'm happy it's a celebration of that too.
BB: You obviously have to be emotionally committed when you make a movie like this but at the same time where do you draw the line as to how you continue to be committed or not. Obviously, you're going to go on to do other things after the Oscars, but then you say to yourself, "Well, do I need to come back to it, to continue to worry about what's going on in Burma?" Where do you draw the line?
AO: Well I draw it just around the Oscar, actually. I hope this will be the end of my story with this at least. Of course personally I will always be attached to the issue on some level; you don't just quit that. I made a lot of friends in Burmese circles and so on. But professionally, I expect this to be the finale of almost one and a half years of touring with this film.
BB: Of all the people you've met from Sundance on, who's been most exciting to you?
AO: To be honest I think what made the greatest impression on me was going to places like 10 Downing Street and being welcomed. It felt very natural to be there and to present this film, and that people connected to it so easily, that was great.
BB: Did you meet President Obama?
AO: No, I never met Obama. But of course this leaves a huge impression. Otherwise, what touches me most about this, is when I get, for instance recently I got a picture from New Delhi, from a open-air screening on a street corner in New Delhi organized by some local Tibetans. So they were sitting there in the street watching "Burma VJ" and the street was packed. Traffic stopped; they were all just sitting there and totally engulfed with it. They tell me that this has helped to bring Tibetan and Burmese exiles more together in India and those are the stories that really touch you.
BB: Are you looking forward to the Oscar parties? Whether you win or lose you get to go to the Oscar parties.
AO: I guess so. I don't know what to look forward to but it seems to be pretty intense.
BB: When you've gone to Oscar events like the nominees' lunch, there's got to be somebody you're really excited to meet. Give me a fan moment.
AO: It was a great moment to say hello to Danny Ellsberg. Even though it's not my country's history that was nice. Otherwise, I wouldn't say meeting any specific person, but what I really enjoyed about that lunch was this kind of collegial atmosphere, like we were making this class photo. There was a sense that superstars would mingle with other members of the film industry without any sense of difference. Everybody knew that film is hard work and we share this hard work, we share this effort, and we share this commitment to the medium. So that was very pure and nice, the atmosphere.
BB: What's next?
AO: I've barely had a chance to build up a new film because I've been so busy with this for a long time. So that's actually what I'm hoping to get started thinking about once this is finished.
BB: It will be something stylistically different?
AO: Oh yeah it might be entirely different. I just follow whatever story fascinates me.
Brad Balfour
Veteran Interviewer and Pop Culture Chronicler
Posted: March 3, 2010 01:56 PM
When Danish documentarian Anders Østergaard took on the challenge to make Burma VJ, he had no idea how much he would advance the cause of citizen journalism. A collective of 30 anonymous and underground video journalists (VJs) called the Democratic Voice of Burma recorded the 100,000+ protestors (including thousands of Buddhist monks) who took to the streets in 2007 to protest the repressive junta that has controlled the country for over 40 years.
Since foreign news crews were barred from Mynamar (as the regime renamed Burma), the internet was shut down, and domestic reporters were banned unless employed by the state, they used handycams, or cellphones, to document these historic and dramatic events; they then smuggled the footage out of the country. Broadcast worldwide via satellite, these VJs risked torture and imprisonment to show the brutal clashes with the military and undercover police -- even after they themselves became targets of the authorities.
Using this smuggled footage offered for free usage to the international media, this 40-something filmmaker tells the story of those 2007 protests and briskly shows how the Burma VJs stopped at nothing to make their reports with dramatic results. As the director assembled this raw footage, made on cell phones and other digital devices -- and sent through these clandestine electronic channels -- they marked a new step in freedom of expression and he has stirred a media pot that is now percolating in other global trouble spots such as Iran. The protestors there also captured the unvarnished images and reports of their actions and their government's violent reaction through digital channels.
Previously Østergaard had helmed films about pop culture covering such subjects as the Scandinavian rock band Gasolin' and the Belgian cartoon classic Tin Tin. Ironically, with Burma VJ he covered another pop culture expression -- the use of digital technology to create user-generated content -- to document a major political act of defiance. The results have paid off in various accolades from a 2009 Sundance Grand Jury prize to an Oscar nom for Best Feature Doc.
In fact, this exclusive interview itself was done through the cutting edge technology of Skype -- so once again the digital domain advances another journalistic expression.
BB: The human rights abuses in Burma don't seem to be on the radar like some other issues. Are you a little surprised that the film has garnered this support? What do you think made it click?
AO: I think the uniqueness of the material that these reporters gathered. This unique access and this very dramatic portrait of an uprising which they've managed to pass on to the world. I also think some of our own decisions play a role; our deliberate decision to tell this story as a suspense story, using all the cinematic tools needed for that, which I think was a good choice for the film.
BB: How did you contact the Burmese people? Was there someone who was your liaison, or was it someone you knew from Denmark? What was the connection?
AO: It was pretty straightforward. Once we decided that we wanted to work with this we got in touch with the Democratic Voice of Burma in Oslo, which is basically a satellite tv and radio station, and explained our interest and they were very forthcoming. They needed the attention, I guess they trusted us, so they sent us to Bangkok to meet 12 of those reporters who were coming out of training.
BB: Are they paranoid that someone might be an agent of the government?
AO: They're used to this. I think their biggest worry is that one of their recruits would be an agent. They deal with this all the time and I'm sure they made their investigations.
BB: When you made this film what was your hope or your original expectations for it? Do you think you can change society with it?
AO: Oh absolutely not. I wasn't too focused on purpose as such. I tend to go so deep into the storytelling in itself that that's what really drives me and I don't think too much about the function afterwards.
Of course, I can see from the old pictures that I tried to say that I wanted to make the Burmese condition tangible, so that you could feel it and smell it, and I guess that was my ambition, to take it beyond the abstract interest in some other country and just be there. And that was what I was totally committed to when I put the film together; I didn't speculate too much on the aftermath of what might come out of this politically.
BB: You had so many different people involved; who did you consider your critical liaison? Who was the one gentleman that you had with you in the States that was working with you from Burma?
AO: That was very obvious to me when I met Joshua, because first of all he wasn't scared. Understandably, most of these guys would be already very paranoid about what they were doing, so having a foreign film crew on top of that was just too much, obviously. Joshua had this kind of fearless attitude to everything, and he also had an intuitive understanding of how to explain Burma; he's an excellent communicator.
And he has also a mix of qualities that intrigued me. He was on the one hand this cheeky young guy looking for challenges and really enjoying his cat and mouse game with the police sometimes. And on the other hand, kind of a reflective, philosophical guy, who could also look back and explain the Burmese condition in a very deep way. So I was just intrigued by his qualities as a storyteller.
Q: How did you and producer Lise Lense-Møller define your roles? You obviously have the directing experience, so how did she come in as producer?
AO: Very much in the European tradition, I would say, in pretty much keeping hands off the creative business but making sure to give solid financial support. For instance, we needed some extra time, and she had the guts to let that happen even though she was under considerable economic pressure. So her contribution is mainly securing the financial circumstances. Creatively, she would be less involved than some other people.
BB: Were there moments when you were worried that this wouldn't happen? It must have been touch-and-go as to whether you had enough stuff that would make a film, and whether it would look right. Was there a point where anybody was in danger?
AO: Security of course was a big issue all the time and made some restrictions to what we could do. We tried to work creatively with that; we tried to make a virtue out of necessity. How can we work with people when we can't see their faces? That led us to phone conversations as a leading tool for the film. Otherwise, just sorting out the chaos; the material came in a pretty confused way where we wouldn't know who'd shot what and when, so we had to piece all that together first before we could start telling the story.
Q: When did you know you had a movie that would work?
AO: I think I was struck quite early on by the uniqueness of the material, the very straightforward demonstration of the regime's brutality. But also the happy moments, the optimism of the early days of the uprising, when everybody was coming out in the streets, I think they managed to capture that beautifully, if you consider the circumstances. These were guys who could barely pay for the bus ticket.
BB: How much information did you decide to put in or not put in? how much do you reveal or not reveal about the regime and Burma's history? How much do you assume that people know, understand or are passionate about?
AO: Much of these decisions are made by instinct, by the kind of director you are, the kind of storyteller you are. And as I said before, the number one thing for me was to make people experience the Burmese condition, to feel it, to sense it, the whole visceral thing about it. So that led obviously to me being very, very restrictive about me spending time on history, on more than just the absolutely necessary information.
BB: Do you hope some day you'll be able to go to Burma without having to be under scrutiny?
AO: That would be the greatest strength.
BB: Of the many people you've talked to, what are their expectations?
AO: Well interestingly, in my experience the most optimistic people are the Burmese, and that's a curious thing. I don't know if it's because of their Buddhist education, but they seem to be the most patient and the most convinced that some day that this regime will fall. The uprising of 2007 was a tragedy, but it was also a reminder of what people are actually able to do and how they're able to battle their own fears.
BB: Was there any one person in the film that you consider the key to getting the film?
AO: Joshua, meeting Joshua. That was a critical thing, to have somebody who was able to give his voice to this, and to bridge any cultural gaps and make it such a smooth and happy collaboration, to me that's a crucial thing. And also, some of the other guys also had these qualities actually. So basically the VJs.
BB: Do you know of anybody that had a chance to speak to Aung San Suu Kyi?
AO: We'll see; there are some complications to that.
BB: How did making this film affect you personally?
AO: Well it made me very busy. Putting a film together like this, first of all is hard work, and you're so focused on doing it right that you really don't spend much time feeling a lot of stuff. Just dealing with this huge responsibility really takes up most of your energy. But of course, I think what made the biggest impression on me was to watch the uplifting footage, the hopeful early days, this moves me just as much as it seems to have moved the audience.
BB: In your one week in Burma what did you see there that you hope tourists will one day be able to see?
AO: It's a gem; it's one of the most beautiful countries in the East. Also actually, ironically, because of the regime things have been preserved in a way quite different from, for instance, Thailand. It also is in terrible decay, but the millions of pagodas, the lush green trees of Rangoon. First of all the people are very mild mannered and gentle and they're wonderful people.
BB: Have you had an interest in other countries in South East Asia?
AO: Not too much. I'm not an expert on Burma or on Asia as such. I've done a little bit of traveling in Indonesia, but nothing that would really put me in a special position. I came to this as a filmmaker more than anything else.
Q: I've met a number of the Burma refugees here in the States. It's a tough struggle. I don't know who has it worse; the Tibetans or them.
AO: It's pretty bleak for both of these peoples. It's a good fortune that they're both Buddhists because it helps them a lot, clearly.
BB: One other really fascinating aspect to the film is your exploitation of the contemporary technology. Your movie couldn't have existed a few years ago. When you step back and think abut the implications of that, that must have interesting ramifications in your head.
AO: Sure.
BB: What are your thoughts on this.
AO: Of course a film is not just about Burma, it's also a celebration of citizen journalism as such. And telling people that technology is not always a bad thing; there's a tendency to think that cameras or something that's going to watch you, that Big Brother is going to watch you. But it actually can also be Little Brother watching the tyrants, which I think is a positive note. Basically, I'm every optimistic about technology, I believe in that kind of thing, I believe in progress through technology, so I'm happy it's a celebration of that too.
BB: You obviously have to be emotionally committed when you make a movie like this but at the same time where do you draw the line as to how you continue to be committed or not. Obviously, you're going to go on to do other things after the Oscars, but then you say to yourself, "Well, do I need to come back to it, to continue to worry about what's going on in Burma?" Where do you draw the line?
AO: Well I draw it just around the Oscar, actually. I hope this will be the end of my story with this at least. Of course personally I will always be attached to the issue on some level; you don't just quit that. I made a lot of friends in Burmese circles and so on. But professionally, I expect this to be the finale of almost one and a half years of touring with this film.
BB: Of all the people you've met from Sundance on, who's been most exciting to you?
AO: To be honest I think what made the greatest impression on me was going to places like 10 Downing Street and being welcomed. It felt very natural to be there and to present this film, and that people connected to it so easily, that was great.
BB: Did you meet President Obama?
AO: No, I never met Obama. But of course this leaves a huge impression. Otherwise, what touches me most about this, is when I get, for instance recently I got a picture from New Delhi, from a open-air screening on a street corner in New Delhi organized by some local Tibetans. So they were sitting there in the street watching "Burma VJ" and the street was packed. Traffic stopped; they were all just sitting there and totally engulfed with it. They tell me that this has helped to bring Tibetan and Burmese exiles more together in India and those are the stories that really touch you.
BB: Are you looking forward to the Oscar parties? Whether you win or lose you get to go to the Oscar parties.
AO: I guess so. I don't know what to look forward to but it seems to be pretty intense.
BB: When you've gone to Oscar events like the nominees' lunch, there's got to be somebody you're really excited to meet. Give me a fan moment.
AO: It was a great moment to say hello to Danny Ellsberg. Even though it's not my country's history that was nice. Otherwise, I wouldn't say meeting any specific person, but what I really enjoyed about that lunch was this kind of collegial atmosphere, like we were making this class photo. There was a sense that superstars would mingle with other members of the film industry without any sense of difference. Everybody knew that film is hard work and we share this hard work, we share this effort, and we share this commitment to the medium. So that was very pure and nice, the atmosphere.
BB: What's next?
AO: I've barely had a chance to build up a new film because I've been so busy with this for a long time. So that's actually what I'm hoping to get started thinking about once this is finished.
BB: It will be something stylistically different?
AO: Oh yeah it might be entirely different. I just follow whatever story fascinates me.
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March 04, 2010 19:42 PM
Myanmar To Introduce Passport Of International Optical Bar-code System Next Month
YANGON, March 4 (Bernama) -- Myanmar will introduce passports of international bar-code OCRB system for its citizens starting next month to replace handwritten ones in line with the demand of International Aviation Organisation, reports China's Xinhua news agency.
The organisation called for stopping the use of the hand-written passports, according to the passport issuing authority under the Ministry of Home Affairs Thursday.
Such machine readable passports will be issued on April 1, the sources said, adding that the OCRB passport-readable machines will also be installed at the Yangon International Airport for the move as well as to facilitate the OCRB passport holders from the international.
Over the period when the new measure is taken, matters related to Myanmar passport extension and renewal in foreign countries, where Myanmar embassies are located, will be suspended for one month from April 1 to 30, the local Biweekly Eleven said.
Myanmar has diplomatic ties with 92 countries around the world with embassies set up in 30 countries.
Myanmar To Introduce Passport Of International Optical Bar-code System Next Month
YANGON, March 4 (Bernama) -- Myanmar will introduce passports of international bar-code OCRB system for its citizens starting next month to replace handwritten ones in line with the demand of International Aviation Organisation, reports China's Xinhua news agency.
The organisation called for stopping the use of the hand-written passports, according to the passport issuing authority under the Ministry of Home Affairs Thursday.
Such machine readable passports will be issued on April 1, the sources said, adding that the OCRB passport-readable machines will also be installed at the Yangon International Airport for the move as well as to facilitate the OCRB passport holders from the international.
Over the period when the new measure is taken, matters related to Myanmar passport extension and renewal in foreign countries, where Myanmar embassies are located, will be suspended for one month from April 1 to 30, the local Biweekly Eleven said.
Myanmar has diplomatic ties with 92 countries around the world with embassies set up in 30 countries.
********************************************************
March 04, 2010 12:14 PM
Myanmar Cooperates With International In Combating Animal Diseases
YANGON, March 4 (Bernama) -- An animal-influenza-related workshop is being held in Myanmar's Yangon to discuss plans for animal disease surveillance, China's Xinhua news agency citedthe state newspaper New Light of Myanmar as saying Thursday.
Organised by the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department ( LBVD) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation ( FAO), the two-day workshop, which began on Wednesday and involves veterinarians from both sides, shared experiences on blood test of ducks and laboratory experiments, and discussed plans for recruiting new rural veterinarians and bird control measures.
The workshop groups technicians from southern Myanmar and another similar workshop, which is for technicians from northern Myanmar, is scheduled for next week.
Meanwhile, Myanmar has also been paying attention to combating trans-border animal diseases, cooperating with neighboring Thailand in the move under a sub-regional economic cooperation strategy programme.
Under the Ayeyawaddy-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) program, tasks relating to development of livestock breeding in villages along the Myanmar-Thai border and joint combating of trans-border animal diseases by the two countries are being implemented since late 2008 under a three-year project.
The program also included establishment of animal quarantine laboratories in areas such as Tachilek-Maesai, Myawaddy-Maesot and Kawthoung-Ranong to fight trans-border animal diseases.
The Myanmar side offers building and health workers, while the Thai side provides technical knowhow and materials.
Moreover, Myanmar has also introduced similar animal quarantine laboratories in border trading areas with other neighbor of China.
Under an agreement between the LBVD of Myanmar and the Agriculture Department of China's Yunnan Province reached in 2006, animal quarantine labs in border trading areas such as Muse, Lashio, Kengtung and Myitkyina have also been built.
These labs help transfer information speedily and test the safety of live animals and animal byproducts intended for export and import through border trade, experts said.
In December 2007, under an agreement signed between the LBVD and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the latter will provide aid worth of 102 million Japanese yens (about US$829,000) to Myanmar to help the country fight five animal diseases including avian influenza by setting up laboratories, exchanging information and conducting refresher courses for the diseases control.
Earlier in late 2003, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding to help Myanmar fight foot and mouth diseases by setting up five free zones of the diseases in order to boost trade in hoofed animals and their products between Myanmar and the two countries.
Myanmar Cooperates With International In Combating Animal Diseases
YANGON, March 4 (Bernama) -- An animal-influenza-related workshop is being held in Myanmar's Yangon to discuss plans for animal disease surveillance, China's Xinhua news agency citedthe state newspaper New Light of Myanmar as saying Thursday.
Organised by the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department ( LBVD) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation ( FAO), the two-day workshop, which began on Wednesday and involves veterinarians from both sides, shared experiences on blood test of ducks and laboratory experiments, and discussed plans for recruiting new rural veterinarians and bird control measures.
The workshop groups technicians from southern Myanmar and another similar workshop, which is for technicians from northern Myanmar, is scheduled for next week.
Meanwhile, Myanmar has also been paying attention to combating trans-border animal diseases, cooperating with neighboring Thailand in the move under a sub-regional economic cooperation strategy programme.
Under the Ayeyawaddy-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) program, tasks relating to development of livestock breeding in villages along the Myanmar-Thai border and joint combating of trans-border animal diseases by the two countries are being implemented since late 2008 under a three-year project.
The program also included establishment of animal quarantine laboratories in areas such as Tachilek-Maesai, Myawaddy-Maesot and Kawthoung-Ranong to fight trans-border animal diseases.
The Myanmar side offers building and health workers, while the Thai side provides technical knowhow and materials.
Moreover, Myanmar has also introduced similar animal quarantine laboratories in border trading areas with other neighbor of China.
Under an agreement between the LBVD of Myanmar and the Agriculture Department of China's Yunnan Province reached in 2006, animal quarantine labs in border trading areas such as Muse, Lashio, Kengtung and Myitkyina have also been built.
These labs help transfer information speedily and test the safety of live animals and animal byproducts intended for export and import through border trade, experts said.
In December 2007, under an agreement signed between the LBVD and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the latter will provide aid worth of 102 million Japanese yens (about US$829,000) to Myanmar to help the country fight five animal diseases including avian influenza by setting up laboratories, exchanging information and conducting refresher courses for the diseases control.
Earlier in late 2003, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding to help Myanmar fight foot and mouth diseases by setting up five free zones of the diseases in order to boost trade in hoofed animals and their products between Myanmar and the two countries.
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iStockAnalyst - Int'l organization to stop cyclone-related housing project in Myanmar
Wednesday, March 03, 2010 11:27 PM
YANGON, Mar. 4, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM), based in Myanmar, has announced that it will stop its housing project in the country's cyclone-hit delta area if failing to get a proposed 17 million U.S. dollars' fund until May this year, the local Myanmar Newsweek reported Thursday.
Houses are needed for 100,000 homeless households before the monsoon season starting June, and if the fund is not available in time, the reconstruction project in the cyclone-hit region will come to an end, the IOM was quoted as saying.
During the cyclone Nargis, which swept in May 2008, 450,000 houses were destroyed, of which 350,000 were totally devastated, it said.
Since October 2008, IOM has been carrying out Nargis relief and resettlement projects and healthcare services for the cyclone victims.
Meanwhile, Myanmar has set an ultimatum for private construction companies to complete all their cyclone shelter projects underway in cyclone-hit areas by March this year, according to earlier report.
A total of 18 disaster-resistant shelter buildings are being built in cyclone hard-devastated Laputta, Bogalay, Phyapon and Dadaye in Ayeyawaddy division and Kungyangone in Yangon division by some local companies -- Yuzana, Htoo, Max Myanmar, Asia World, Shwe Taung, Adin, Wah Wah Win and Ayeyar Shwewah since last year.
These cyclone shelter buildings, designed to accommodate up to 500 people each, will be used not only as shelters when cyclone strikes but also as schools for children normally.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and May 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
During the storm, more than 4,106 schools or 56.6 percent in Ayeyawaddy and Yangon divisions were destroyed, of which 1,255 schools or 30.6 percent totally collapsed, official figures indicated.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010 11:27 PM
YANGON, Mar. 4, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM), based in Myanmar, has announced that it will stop its housing project in the country's cyclone-hit delta area if failing to get a proposed 17 million U.S. dollars' fund until May this year, the local Myanmar Newsweek reported Thursday.
Houses are needed for 100,000 homeless households before the monsoon season starting June, and if the fund is not available in time, the reconstruction project in the cyclone-hit region will come to an end, the IOM was quoted as saying.
During the cyclone Nargis, which swept in May 2008, 450,000 houses were destroyed, of which 350,000 were totally devastated, it said.
Since October 2008, IOM has been carrying out Nargis relief and resettlement projects and healthcare services for the cyclone victims.
Meanwhile, Myanmar has set an ultimatum for private construction companies to complete all their cyclone shelter projects underway in cyclone-hit areas by March this year, according to earlier report.
A total of 18 disaster-resistant shelter buildings are being built in cyclone hard-devastated Laputta, Bogalay, Phyapon and Dadaye in Ayeyawaddy division and Kungyangone in Yangon division by some local companies -- Yuzana, Htoo, Max Myanmar, Asia World, Shwe Taung, Adin, Wah Wah Win and Ayeyar Shwewah since last year.
These cyclone shelter buildings, designed to accommodate up to 500 people each, will be used not only as shelters when cyclone strikes but also as schools for children normally.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states -- Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and May 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
During the storm, more than 4,106 schools or 56.6 percent in Ayeyawaddy and Yangon divisions were destroyed, of which 1,255 schools or 30.6 percent totally collapsed, official figures indicated.
********************************************************
Mar 5, 2010
Asia Times Online - Ban tells it like it is
By Ian Williams
NEW YORK - When Ban Ki-moon went to Myanmar last July, he was the first United Nations secretary general to enter since his Asian predecessor, U Thant, whose body was taken home after he died in New York in 1974. On that occasion, the military dictatorship of Ne Win provoked massive riots with its funereal disrespect for the country's most famous international figure.
South Korean Ban, 66, came under criticism for speaking to Ne Win’s successors, but was praised for his courage in risking a likely snub. In an interview with Asia Times Online, Ban said his visit was the first in 42 years for a living head of the UN, and he considered it well worthwhile. "I was able to speak to the general public there in an open dialogue. I was told it was the first time that any foreign dignitary had been able to speak to the diplomats, citizens, students of Myanmar."
He added, "I gave them the same message I left for the generals and the rest of the leadership - and hope they will implement it. I am still working very hard: most recently I have communicated again with Senior General Than Shwe, I left a strong message for those leaders. The release of the number two in Aung San Suu Kyi's party was very encouraging, but they must do much more to ensure the credibility of the electoral process," said Ban, in reference to the release last month of U Tin Oo of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. The leader herself remains under house arrest.
"This year there will be an election and it is extremely important, crucial, [that it is an] inclusive, transparent and credible one, for that we are working very hard to get Aung San Suu Kyi released and all political leaders released," said Ban.
The junta has said there will be elections this year as a part of a so-called roadmap to democracy, but no date has been set.
Ban's visit to Myanmar summed up his distinctive approach. Despite his low-key public delivery, he claims - and others who have witnessed him do too - that he is firm and principled in private when meeting leaders, whether Sudanese, Israeli or Burmese. "My meetings with those leaders have been quite straightforward and very vocal, and the record will show,'' Ban said. "Most of my senior advisors were quite surprised by how outspoken I was - because I was speaking from my own conviction.''
Ban, who assumed office on January 1, 2007, said: "Normally, diplomatically speaking one should be nice and indirect, but I believe in being straightforward with leaders who are very difficult to deal with, regardless of whom, but I am still able to maintain a relationship with them. Because you know what, I was speaking officially, but at the same time I was trying to tell them of my own experience, what I have witnessed of the Korea experience of the transition to democracy, and the process of economic development from the ashes of the Korean War [in the early 1950s]. And so I have been able to establish some working relationships with those leaders, but I am always straightforward."
So he can talk to President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir of Sudan, even while welcoming the International Criminal Court's 2008 warrant for Bashir's arrest on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. Ban can secure "reimbursement" from Israel for damage to UN property in Gaza and issue statements calling for an end to the blockade of Gaza, while still having his calls answered in Israel - and getting calls to answer.
Indeed, he is about to stick his head into another potential hornet's nest - North Korea. "The last visit from my predecessors to Pyongyang was in 1993 by Boutros Ghali. Before him, it was 1979. This is not desirable. I looked through this historical chronology, and I think we need to have stronger and better relations with North Korea. That is why I dispatched Lynn Pascoe [the UN special envoy] to Pyongyang to open a high-level dialogue where they touched upon all aspects of UN/DPRK relations. If I am invited, I will be prepared to go ... [if] I feel that there is a role I can play.''
It would be interesting to hear what he would say to Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, but it would be in Korean and in private. The UN-imposed sanctions on North Korea after its long-range missile test and then nuclear tests last April and May. Six-party denuclearization talks remain stuck on North Korea's insistence on conditions that have no immediate chance of acceptance, including the demand for a Korean War peace treaty.
Ban has grown beyond the suspicions of some that his orientation is, well, Oriental, although he confesses he began his diplomatic career thinking, "What should I do for my country, totally devastated by war and very poor?'' He said he thought he could help enhance the status and prestige of Korea. "And so my major in college was in international affairs.''
Ban received a bachelor's degree in international relations from Seoul National University in 1970 and earned a Master of Public Administration from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1985.
"It came to our attention that when SG [secretary general] Kofi Annan's term was over [in December 2006], that it was Asia's turn,'' Ban added. "So the Korean government considered the possibility of a Korean being elected, and at the time I was FM [foreign minister] and I was regarded as one of the most suitable.''
Ban was a suitable candidate not only because he was foreign minister. He had worked in Korea’s UN mission as director of the UN department and as chef de cabinet for the Korean president of the General Assembly from 2001 to 2002.
"The dream came at a late stage,'' he said. "But I really believed in the enormous work of the United Nations and its mission and what it could do for world peace and security."
The UN, he says, "Has been and continues to be a beacon of hope. It was the United Nations which really saved Korea. Sixteen countries came to the aid of Korea when North Korea attacked [South Korea in 1950].'' As an aside, he adds, "It was the first enforcement action under the UN charter. The first after only five years of existence."
Indeed, it is often forgotten that technically the Korean War was fought under UN auspices and the flag that flies at Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas is the UN’s blue flag. "It still does," Ban said, pointing out that "the United Nations command does not report regularly to me, but to the Security Council".
Former secretary general Dag Hammarskjold risked big problems with the US by going to Beijing in the 1950s, when Taipei represented China in the UN. Had Ban considered now going to Taiwan to help negotiate, since possibly the biggest threat to peace in Asia is the confrontation over the strait?
A visit by him would be unnecessary, he said. "I know that there is tension between China and Taiwan but I am also encouraged by what China has been doing by encouraging exchanges and cooperation, trying to free [up] investment both ways. Through these exchanges and cooperation I am more or less optimistic that there will not be too much mounting tensions.'' Reminded that the mainland showed no sign of moving its missiles, Ban was understandably unwilling to be drawn. "I hope they will overcome this problem,'' he said.
He is equally unwilling to be drawn on the question of whether he would expect a second term when his five-year spell runs out in two years. "I have been working very hard over the last three years because I believe in the ideals and mission of the United Nations. I will continue to do that, but now we at the UN are facing unprecedented challenges, multiple challenges facing us all at once,'' he said. "So I am very much preoccupied in trying to coordinate the UN’s response. In time I will have an opportunity to consider this issue."
When asked if his answer appeared to be him reverting to his alleged "slippery eel" mode of evading a question, he countered, "First I have to work harder and harder'' before giving thought to a second term. "I am very humbled every day by knowing that there are so many challenges facing us, and I know I am one of the world leaders that has to work very, very hard in close coordination with the others to address those issues. So I begin every day as if it is the first day of my mandate.''
Ian Williams is the author of Deserter: Bush's War on Military Families, Veterans and His Past, Nation Books, New York.
Asia Times Online - Ban tells it like it is
By Ian Williams
NEW YORK - When Ban Ki-moon went to Myanmar last July, he was the first United Nations secretary general to enter since his Asian predecessor, U Thant, whose body was taken home after he died in New York in 1974. On that occasion, the military dictatorship of Ne Win provoked massive riots with its funereal disrespect for the country's most famous international figure.
South Korean Ban, 66, came under criticism for speaking to Ne Win’s successors, but was praised for his courage in risking a likely snub. In an interview with Asia Times Online, Ban said his visit was the first in 42 years for a living head of the UN, and he considered it well worthwhile. "I was able to speak to the general public there in an open dialogue. I was told it was the first time that any foreign dignitary had been able to speak to the diplomats, citizens, students of Myanmar."
He added, "I gave them the same message I left for the generals and the rest of the leadership - and hope they will implement it. I am still working very hard: most recently I have communicated again with Senior General Than Shwe, I left a strong message for those leaders. The release of the number two in Aung San Suu Kyi's party was very encouraging, but they must do much more to ensure the credibility of the electoral process," said Ban, in reference to the release last month of U Tin Oo of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. The leader herself remains under house arrest.
"This year there will be an election and it is extremely important, crucial, [that it is an] inclusive, transparent and credible one, for that we are working very hard to get Aung San Suu Kyi released and all political leaders released," said Ban.
The junta has said there will be elections this year as a part of a so-called roadmap to democracy, but no date has been set.
Ban's visit to Myanmar summed up his distinctive approach. Despite his low-key public delivery, he claims - and others who have witnessed him do too - that he is firm and principled in private when meeting leaders, whether Sudanese, Israeli or Burmese. "My meetings with those leaders have been quite straightforward and very vocal, and the record will show,'' Ban said. "Most of my senior advisors were quite surprised by how outspoken I was - because I was speaking from my own conviction.''
Ban, who assumed office on January 1, 2007, said: "Normally, diplomatically speaking one should be nice and indirect, but I believe in being straightforward with leaders who are very difficult to deal with, regardless of whom, but I am still able to maintain a relationship with them. Because you know what, I was speaking officially, but at the same time I was trying to tell them of my own experience, what I have witnessed of the Korea experience of the transition to democracy, and the process of economic development from the ashes of the Korean War [in the early 1950s]. And so I have been able to establish some working relationships with those leaders, but I am always straightforward."
So he can talk to President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir of Sudan, even while welcoming the International Criminal Court's 2008 warrant for Bashir's arrest on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. Ban can secure "reimbursement" from Israel for damage to UN property in Gaza and issue statements calling for an end to the blockade of Gaza, while still having his calls answered in Israel - and getting calls to answer.
Indeed, he is about to stick his head into another potential hornet's nest - North Korea. "The last visit from my predecessors to Pyongyang was in 1993 by Boutros Ghali. Before him, it was 1979. This is not desirable. I looked through this historical chronology, and I think we need to have stronger and better relations with North Korea. That is why I dispatched Lynn Pascoe [the UN special envoy] to Pyongyang to open a high-level dialogue where they touched upon all aspects of UN/DPRK relations. If I am invited, I will be prepared to go ... [if] I feel that there is a role I can play.''
It would be interesting to hear what he would say to Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, but it would be in Korean and in private. The UN-imposed sanctions on North Korea after its long-range missile test and then nuclear tests last April and May. Six-party denuclearization talks remain stuck on North Korea's insistence on conditions that have no immediate chance of acceptance, including the demand for a Korean War peace treaty.
Ban has grown beyond the suspicions of some that his orientation is, well, Oriental, although he confesses he began his diplomatic career thinking, "What should I do for my country, totally devastated by war and very poor?'' He said he thought he could help enhance the status and prestige of Korea. "And so my major in college was in international affairs.''
Ban received a bachelor's degree in international relations from Seoul National University in 1970 and earned a Master of Public Administration from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1985.
"It came to our attention that when SG [secretary general] Kofi Annan's term was over [in December 2006], that it was Asia's turn,'' Ban added. "So the Korean government considered the possibility of a Korean being elected, and at the time I was FM [foreign minister] and I was regarded as one of the most suitable.''
Ban was a suitable candidate not only because he was foreign minister. He had worked in Korea’s UN mission as director of the UN department and as chef de cabinet for the Korean president of the General Assembly from 2001 to 2002.
"The dream came at a late stage,'' he said. "But I really believed in the enormous work of the United Nations and its mission and what it could do for world peace and security."
The UN, he says, "Has been and continues to be a beacon of hope. It was the United Nations which really saved Korea. Sixteen countries came to the aid of Korea when North Korea attacked [South Korea in 1950].'' As an aside, he adds, "It was the first enforcement action under the UN charter. The first after only five years of existence."
Indeed, it is often forgotten that technically the Korean War was fought under UN auspices and the flag that flies at Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas is the UN’s blue flag. "It still does," Ban said, pointing out that "the United Nations command does not report regularly to me, but to the Security Council".
Former secretary general Dag Hammarskjold risked big problems with the US by going to Beijing in the 1950s, when Taipei represented China in the UN. Had Ban considered now going to Taiwan to help negotiate, since possibly the biggest threat to peace in Asia is the confrontation over the strait?
A visit by him would be unnecessary, he said. "I know that there is tension between China and Taiwan but I am also encouraged by what China has been doing by encouraging exchanges and cooperation, trying to free [up] investment both ways. Through these exchanges and cooperation I am more or less optimistic that there will not be too much mounting tensions.'' Reminded that the mainland showed no sign of moving its missiles, Ban was understandably unwilling to be drawn. "I hope they will overcome this problem,'' he said.
He is equally unwilling to be drawn on the question of whether he would expect a second term when his five-year spell runs out in two years. "I have been working very hard over the last three years because I believe in the ideals and mission of the United Nations. I will continue to do that, but now we at the UN are facing unprecedented challenges, multiple challenges facing us all at once,'' he said. "So I am very much preoccupied in trying to coordinate the UN’s response. In time I will have an opportunity to consider this issue."
When asked if his answer appeared to be him reverting to his alleged "slippery eel" mode of evading a question, he countered, "First I have to work harder and harder'' before giving thought to a second term. "I am very humbled every day by knowing that there are so many challenges facing us, and I know I am one of the world leaders that has to work very, very hard in close coordination with the others to address those issues. So I begin every day as if it is the first day of my mandate.''
Ian Williams is the author of Deserter: Bush's War on Military Families, Veterans and His Past, Nation Books, New York.
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Economic Times - Burma pulses deal failure to cost India dear
4 Mar 2010, 0133 hrs IST, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: The government may have to import pulses through small tenders after it officially scrapped plans to procure three quarter million tonnes of pulses from Burma. The plan, approved by an empowered group of ministers (EGoM) in late 2009, was meant to urgently ease domestic retail prices for dals, which had soared to a high Rs 100/kg.
Government-to-government commodity purchases work out much cheaper than other routes but Myanmar was ready to sell more pulses to India than the quantum the latter wanted.
The deal being discussed was over import of urad, moong and tur “at reasonable rates.” However, the regime at Rangoon had insisted on an advance non-US dollar cash payment of over Rs 2 billion for the imports.
The Centre was keen on using the balance of trade route, instead, especially since advance cash payment violates G2G deal terms.
The urgency over clinching the G2G pulses import deal with Myanmar was higher after a recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices after which food/farm minister Sharad Pawar committed that the government would encourage pulses imports expeditiously from anywhere in the world. However, relying on private sector imports alone would have meant not only importing in small quantities compared to the big buys that could be made through a g2g agreement, but also being highly vulnerable to a significant jump in global prices for pulses, a commodity that is traded very minimally in the world market compared to grains such as wheat. India is not only the world’s largest consumer and importer of pulses, but domestic demand for pulses outstrips production of around 15 million tonnes yearly by around three million tonnes. Myanmar produces 2.7 million tonnes of pulses annually while the domestic consumption is only 0.5 million tonnes, making it an ideal exporter to a pulses-thirsty India, even at a relatively shorter notice than if they were to imported from, say, Canada, Australia, Tanzania or the USA.
Moreover, Myanmar’s pulses do not trade prominently or regularly in the global market, leaving them comparatively impervious to sudden sentiment-driven hikes and dips in prices. Now, though, the Centre will not only have to rely on imports through parastatals such as PEC, STC and MMTC and private trade.
Last month, food minister Sharad Pawar asserted that resolving the pulses demand-supply problem in India may be near impossible and that imports would continue to be the key route for more than a decade hence.
According to an Assocham report, the aggregate annual growth rate of pulses has increased by 1.4% over the last two decades and the population rose by 1.8%. This in turn has resulted in the decline of the per capita availability of pulses from 16 kg a year to only 12.7 kg.
A Central Statistical Organisation study has said that the per capita income has grown by a CAGR of 6% in the past 10 years alone leading to change in food habits of Indians and that pulses had become the key commodity for protein consumption. Making matters worse is the sharp increase in vegetable prices over the last several weeks, which in turn has increased the demand for pulses.
4 Mar 2010, 0133 hrs IST, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: The government may have to import pulses through small tenders after it officially scrapped plans to procure three quarter million tonnes of pulses from Burma. The plan, approved by an empowered group of ministers (EGoM) in late 2009, was meant to urgently ease domestic retail prices for dals, which had soared to a high Rs 100/kg.
Government-to-government commodity purchases work out much cheaper than other routes but Myanmar was ready to sell more pulses to India than the quantum the latter wanted.
The deal being discussed was over import of urad, moong and tur “at reasonable rates.” However, the regime at Rangoon had insisted on an advance non-US dollar cash payment of over Rs 2 billion for the imports.
The Centre was keen on using the balance of trade route, instead, especially since advance cash payment violates G2G deal terms.
The urgency over clinching the G2G pulses import deal with Myanmar was higher after a recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices after which food/farm minister Sharad Pawar committed that the government would encourage pulses imports expeditiously from anywhere in the world. However, relying on private sector imports alone would have meant not only importing in small quantities compared to the big buys that could be made through a g2g agreement, but also being highly vulnerable to a significant jump in global prices for pulses, a commodity that is traded very minimally in the world market compared to grains such as wheat. India is not only the world’s largest consumer and importer of pulses, but domestic demand for pulses outstrips production of around 15 million tonnes yearly by around three million tonnes. Myanmar produces 2.7 million tonnes of pulses annually while the domestic consumption is only 0.5 million tonnes, making it an ideal exporter to a pulses-thirsty India, even at a relatively shorter notice than if they were to imported from, say, Canada, Australia, Tanzania or the USA.
Moreover, Myanmar’s pulses do not trade prominently or regularly in the global market, leaving them comparatively impervious to sudden sentiment-driven hikes and dips in prices. Now, though, the Centre will not only have to rely on imports through parastatals such as PEC, STC and MMTC and private trade.
Last month, food minister Sharad Pawar asserted that resolving the pulses demand-supply problem in India may be near impossible and that imports would continue to be the key route for more than a decade hence.
According to an Assocham report, the aggregate annual growth rate of pulses has increased by 1.4% over the last two decades and the population rose by 1.8%. This in turn has resulted in the decline of the per capita availability of pulses from 16 kg a year to only 12.7 kg.
A Central Statistical Organisation study has said that the per capita income has grown by a CAGR of 6% in the past 10 years alone leading to change in food habits of Indians and that pulses had become the key commodity for protein consumption. Making matters worse is the sharp increase in vegetable prices over the last several weeks, which in turn has increased the demand for pulses.
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Human Rights Watch - Justice for the Burmese
by Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch
Published in: The International Herald Tribune
February 28, 2010
Stanley Weiss ("A first step toward democracy?" Views, Feb. 23) demonstrates the triumph of cynicism over principle in discussing Burma's planned elections.
If Burma's ruling generals stage elections in 2010 "without violence or repression," it will be a step forward, Mr. Weiss argues. He has an odd definition of repression, which apparently does not include an election "stage-managed by the military."
If Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy "chooses not to participate," it will surely be because the N.L.D., which won Burma's last elections in 1990 but has suffered repression since, determines the election will be rigged. To pretend that violence will not be part of the process is disingenuous, since its threat by an army with a very bloody record is something all Burmese have to consider before joining an opposition party or taking to the streets.
Here's the reality: Peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks in 2007 were crushed with extreme violence. The 2008 constitutional referendum was rigged. More than 2,100 political prisoners languish in horrific prisons. The junta has refused to engage in serious dialogue with the opposition. And without concerted international pressure, particularly from China, there will be no meaningful change.
Mr. Weiss argues that bogus elections and an end to sanctions will lead to a new Burma. But why a regime wallowing in cash from selling the country's natural resources - while most Burmese live in poverty - would relax its grip if sanctions ended is a mystery. Instead, the United States, the European Union, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations should finally implement serious targeted financial sanctions. And the United Nations should tell the generals that if they don't reform quickly it will authorize an inquiry into decades of massive human rights abuses by the military.
International justice should be on the international agenda. That would get the generals' attention.
by Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch
Published in: The International Herald Tribune
February 28, 2010
Stanley Weiss ("A first step toward democracy?" Views, Feb. 23) demonstrates the triumph of cynicism over principle in discussing Burma's planned elections.
If Burma's ruling generals stage elections in 2010 "without violence or repression," it will be a step forward, Mr. Weiss argues. He has an odd definition of repression, which apparently does not include an election "stage-managed by the military."
If Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy "chooses not to participate," it will surely be because the N.L.D., which won Burma's last elections in 1990 but has suffered repression since, determines the election will be rigged. To pretend that violence will not be part of the process is disingenuous, since its threat by an army with a very bloody record is something all Burmese have to consider before joining an opposition party or taking to the streets.
Here's the reality: Peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks in 2007 were crushed with extreme violence. The 2008 constitutional referendum was rigged. More than 2,100 political prisoners languish in horrific prisons. The junta has refused to engage in serious dialogue with the opposition. And without concerted international pressure, particularly from China, there will be no meaningful change.
Mr. Weiss argues that bogus elections and an end to sanctions will lead to a new Burma. But why a regime wallowing in cash from selling the country's natural resources - while most Burmese live in poverty - would relax its grip if sanctions ended is a mystery. Instead, the United States, the European Union, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations should finally implement serious targeted financial sanctions. And the United Nations should tell the generals that if they don't reform quickly it will authorize an inquiry into decades of massive human rights abuses by the military.
International justice should be on the international agenda. That would get the generals' attention.
********************************************************
March 04, 2010
EURSOC - The Earls of Burma
EURSOC Three on a former British protectorate
It was once, Burma. But today it is known as Myanmar. The capital was once known as Rangoon. Now it is Yangon.
They are having a small bit of trouble in this former British protectorate.
It was conquered by Earl Mountbatten of Burma, for Empire, during the Second World War. (Against Japanese occupation, which ended in surrender in 1945). (British rule in Burma lasted from 1824 intil 1948).
In that bygone era, much of the fertile region surrounding Rangoon was pleasant, and the people were known to be kindly.
The renowned author, William Somerset Maugham wrote a classic story of his stay in the capital in the late 1930s: "The Gentleman in the Parlour:; A Record of a Journey to Rangoon". He enjoyed staying in the sumptuous 'Grand Hotel' in downtown Merchant Street.
As of this moment, it is a dilapidated Bermese version of 'Fawlty Towers'.
The English translation of Rangoon is: "End of Strife".
Right now, there is a lot of strife.
This correspondent, with the aid of two visa documents on his British passport, was 'allowed' to visit repression in Myanmar - which was given its new name in the 1980s.
Former Burma is a captive nation; ruled by quite harsh generals. Its only competitor in terms of degradation is North Korea.
This country is a 'gulag' with more than 2,100 'political prisoners' in Munipur. (Former name, Imphal). ('Ethnic minorities' are locked-up in jails in remote regions. (Very remote). The exact number is impossible to record, according to the 'hated' Amnesty International, a 'human-rights' watchdog.
Geographically, the country is sandwiched between Bangladesh and Thailand. South of the Bay of Bengal.
The current junta has promised to hold a general election this year to give the nation a semi-resemblance of 'civilian-rule'. But there is no 'poll-date' organised and no rules for opposition political parties who will want to protest.
There are also reports from colleague correspondents of torture in prisons and extra-judicial killings.
Buddhist monks have lately been brave in taking to the streets, in Burma, in protest against the repressive regime.
Where are they now ?
Somewhere in Imphal, not so far from Mandalay.
EURSOC - The Earls of Burma
EURSOC Three on a former British protectorate
It was once, Burma. But today it is known as Myanmar. The capital was once known as Rangoon. Now it is Yangon.
They are having a small bit of trouble in this former British protectorate.
It was conquered by Earl Mountbatten of Burma, for Empire, during the Second World War. (Against Japanese occupation, which ended in surrender in 1945). (British rule in Burma lasted from 1824 intil 1948).
In that bygone era, much of the fertile region surrounding Rangoon was pleasant, and the people were known to be kindly.
The renowned author, William Somerset Maugham wrote a classic story of his stay in the capital in the late 1930s: "The Gentleman in the Parlour:; A Record of a Journey to Rangoon". He enjoyed staying in the sumptuous 'Grand Hotel' in downtown Merchant Street.
As of this moment, it is a dilapidated Bermese version of 'Fawlty Towers'.
The English translation of Rangoon is: "End of Strife".
Right now, there is a lot of strife.
This correspondent, with the aid of two visa documents on his British passport, was 'allowed' to visit repression in Myanmar - which was given its new name in the 1980s.
Former Burma is a captive nation; ruled by quite harsh generals. Its only competitor in terms of degradation is North Korea.
This country is a 'gulag' with more than 2,100 'political prisoners' in Munipur. (Former name, Imphal). ('Ethnic minorities' are locked-up in jails in remote regions. (Very remote). The exact number is impossible to record, according to the 'hated' Amnesty International, a 'human-rights' watchdog.
Geographically, the country is sandwiched between Bangladesh and Thailand. South of the Bay of Bengal.
The current junta has promised to hold a general election this year to give the nation a semi-resemblance of 'civilian-rule'. But there is no 'poll-date' organised and no rules for opposition political parties who will want to protest.
There are also reports from colleague correspondents of torture in prisons and extra-judicial killings.
Buddhist monks have lately been brave in taking to the streets, in Burma, in protest against the repressive regime.
Where are they now ?
Somewhere in Imphal, not so far from Mandalay.
********************************************************
BURMA: Amid Threats, Women Dissidents Stick to Political Beliefs
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Mar 4, 2010 (IPS) - While Aung San Suu Kyi remains the most widely-known woman suppressed for her political views in Burma, the jails in that military-ruled country continue to be filled by lesser-known women dissidents being held on a range of questionable charges.
Mid-February saw the latest group of female political activists thrown into jail with a two-year prison term, including hard labour, for a "crime" they committed four months ago – donating religious literature to a Buddhist monastery, an act that the junta deemed as "disturbing the peace."
At the time of their arrest in October 2009, Naw Ohn Hla, Myint Myint San, Cho Cho Lwin and Cho Cho Aye had also been conducting regular prayers at the landmark Shwedagon pagoda in Rangoon, the country’s former capital, to secure the release of opposition leader Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for over 14 of the last 20 years.
"These women were very persistent with their religious activity no matter the risks they faced, any oppression," says Khin Ohmar, vice chairwoman of the Burmese Women’s Union (BWU), a network of democracy activists exiled in Thailand. "It is a sign of their determination and political beliefs."
"Jailing female political activists is not going to silence them," she revealed in a telephone interview from Mae Sot, a town along the Thai-Burmese border. "The military authorities keep repeatedly making this mistake."
The four women prisoners bring to nearly 190 the number of female activists among the estimated 2,200 political prisoners now in Burmese jails. The women who are paying a steep price for their political beliefs include Buddhists nuns, journalists, labour rights activists and members and sympathisers of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party that Suu Kyi heads.
Nilar Thein, a former university student leader, is among them. She was condemned to a 65-year prison sentence in November 2008 for her prominent role in a peaceful protest movement in September 2007 that saw thousands of Buddhist monks come on the side of the oppressed and launch street protests.
Hla Hla Win was given a 20-year-prison sentence on Dec. 31 last year for her work as an "undercover journalist" who fed information from inside Burma, or Myanmar, as it is also known, to the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), an Oslo-based news organisation of exiled Burmese journalists.
Others such as the 54-year-old Cho Mar Htwe, who was released in September 2009 after languishing in jail for 11 years, was condemned for something more simpler – bringing to the NLD office a faxed letter from Japan that called for the release of Suu Kyi and all political prisoners.
The trauma of a long jail term has not dimmed Cho Mar Htwe’s commitment to remain politically engaged. "Even though I have been in prison for 11 years, I want to be involved in politics," she said through a translator from Mae Sot, the Thai town she had fled to a month after being freed. "Other female political activists I left behind feel this way. They want to make a change even if there is a threat of jail."
Women in the border areas of the South-east Asian nation, which are home to the country’s ethnic minority communities, have displayed a similar spirit and have paid a heavy price for it, revealed the global rights lobby Amnesty International (AI) in a recent report.
Buddhist nuns in western Rakhine State, a female activist protesting against the flawed May 2008 referendum to approve the new constitution in the eastern Karenni State and girls from the northern Kachin State accused of having informed the international media about being raped by Burmese soldiers are among the victims of repression, stated Amnesty in its February report.
"A young Karenni woman told Amnesty International how she and her friends in the Kayan New Generation Youth group were arrested by the authorities for their peaceful anti-referendum activism on May 10 (2008)," notes the 66-page report, entitled ‘The Repression of Ethnic Minority Activists in Myanmar’.
"We documented accounts of women in these ethnic areas taking a leading role in political activity," says Benjamin Zawacki, the Burma researcher for AI. "And there is evidence of these women activists being repressed for it."
A woman from the Kachin minority was arrested after she led a signature campaign against the construction of a dam in the Kachin State, Zawacki said in an interview. "They (the junta) are not soft on women."
The prospect of more women going public with their political passions is expected to rise in Burma as the regime has promised a general election this year. It will be the first poll to be held since a 1990 vote that the opposition parties won with a huge mandate, but which the junta refused to recognise.
"The level of political activism among women is on the rise," says Zawacki. "Leadership among women is also increasing."
This emerging trend comes even as the women know that a jail term brings with it particular forms of abuse used against jailed female activists. "Verbal and mental torture is the most common. The guards abuse us with bad words," 35-year-old Lae Lae, who served a four-year term as a political prisoner, told IPS. "We are also not given our needs when we are menstruating and they humiliate us at such times."
Some women have indeed suffered worse during their menstrual cycle in Burmese jails, says Khin Ohmar of BWU. "There have been cases of prison authorities forcing women to stand with their stretched legs apart and then kicking them in the abdomen."
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Mar 4, 2010 (IPS) - While Aung San Suu Kyi remains the most widely-known woman suppressed for her political views in Burma, the jails in that military-ruled country continue to be filled by lesser-known women dissidents being held on a range of questionable charges.
Mid-February saw the latest group of female political activists thrown into jail with a two-year prison term, including hard labour, for a "crime" they committed four months ago – donating religious literature to a Buddhist monastery, an act that the junta deemed as "disturbing the peace."
At the time of their arrest in October 2009, Naw Ohn Hla, Myint Myint San, Cho Cho Lwin and Cho Cho Aye had also been conducting regular prayers at the landmark Shwedagon pagoda in Rangoon, the country’s former capital, to secure the release of opposition leader Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for over 14 of the last 20 years.
"These women were very persistent with their religious activity no matter the risks they faced, any oppression," says Khin Ohmar, vice chairwoman of the Burmese Women’s Union (BWU), a network of democracy activists exiled in Thailand. "It is a sign of their determination and political beliefs."
"Jailing female political activists is not going to silence them," she revealed in a telephone interview from Mae Sot, a town along the Thai-Burmese border. "The military authorities keep repeatedly making this mistake."
The four women prisoners bring to nearly 190 the number of female activists among the estimated 2,200 political prisoners now in Burmese jails. The women who are paying a steep price for their political beliefs include Buddhists nuns, journalists, labour rights activists and members and sympathisers of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party that Suu Kyi heads.
Nilar Thein, a former university student leader, is among them. She was condemned to a 65-year prison sentence in November 2008 for her prominent role in a peaceful protest movement in September 2007 that saw thousands of Buddhist monks come on the side of the oppressed and launch street protests.
Hla Hla Win was given a 20-year-prison sentence on Dec. 31 last year for her work as an "undercover journalist" who fed information from inside Burma, or Myanmar, as it is also known, to the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), an Oslo-based news organisation of exiled Burmese journalists.
Others such as the 54-year-old Cho Mar Htwe, who was released in September 2009 after languishing in jail for 11 years, was condemned for something more simpler – bringing to the NLD office a faxed letter from Japan that called for the release of Suu Kyi and all political prisoners.
The trauma of a long jail term has not dimmed Cho Mar Htwe’s commitment to remain politically engaged. "Even though I have been in prison for 11 years, I want to be involved in politics," she said through a translator from Mae Sot, the Thai town she had fled to a month after being freed. "Other female political activists I left behind feel this way. They want to make a change even if there is a threat of jail."
Women in the border areas of the South-east Asian nation, which are home to the country’s ethnic minority communities, have displayed a similar spirit and have paid a heavy price for it, revealed the global rights lobby Amnesty International (AI) in a recent report.
Buddhist nuns in western Rakhine State, a female activist protesting against the flawed May 2008 referendum to approve the new constitution in the eastern Karenni State and girls from the northern Kachin State accused of having informed the international media about being raped by Burmese soldiers are among the victims of repression, stated Amnesty in its February report.
"A young Karenni woman told Amnesty International how she and her friends in the Kayan New Generation Youth group were arrested by the authorities for their peaceful anti-referendum activism on May 10 (2008)," notes the 66-page report, entitled ‘The Repression of Ethnic Minority Activists in Myanmar’.
"We documented accounts of women in these ethnic areas taking a leading role in political activity," says Benjamin Zawacki, the Burma researcher for AI. "And there is evidence of these women activists being repressed for it."
A woman from the Kachin minority was arrested after she led a signature campaign against the construction of a dam in the Kachin State, Zawacki said in an interview. "They (the junta) are not soft on women."
The prospect of more women going public with their political passions is expected to rise in Burma as the regime has promised a general election this year. It will be the first poll to be held since a 1990 vote that the opposition parties won with a huge mandate, but which the junta refused to recognise.
"The level of political activism among women is on the rise," says Zawacki. "Leadership among women is also increasing."
This emerging trend comes even as the women know that a jail term brings with it particular forms of abuse used against jailed female activists. "Verbal and mental torture is the most common. The guards abuse us with bad words," 35-year-old Lae Lae, who served a four-year term as a political prisoner, told IPS. "We are also not given our needs when we are menstruating and they humiliate us at such times."
Some women have indeed suffered worse during their menstrual cycle in Burmese jails, says Khin Ohmar of BWU. "There have been cases of prison authorities forcing women to stand with their stretched legs apart and then kicking them in the abdomen."
********************************************************
The Nation - Ex-Im not affected by loan to Burma
By Chularat Saengpassa
The Natio, Vientiane
Export-Import Bank of Thailand President Apichai Boontherawara insisted that the bank has so far witnessed no loss from the Bt4 billion loan to Burma.
At a press conference in Vientiane on Thursday, he said the bank is studying the Court's ruling and it would tell next week if the loan has caused any damage to the state-owned bank.
"For now, we can't determine if the loan caused any damage. But I can say that we shoulder no loss from the loan," he told reporters.
He noted that all Ex-Im Bank staff had complied with the the law and the government's policy.
Burma has disbursed Bt3.946 billion since the loan was approved in 2004, and it has paid Bt795 million as interest and principal. The bank has also won Bt338 million compensation from the government, for the loans of which interest rates are lower than funding cost. Due to better cost management, it expects to ask for compensation during the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years.
Ex-Im Bank approved the loan to Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank, having Burma's ministry of finance as the guarantor. The loan is to finance Burma's purchases of Thai goods, and it was considered to be within the bank's power. Though, as the loan amount was high compared to the bank's capital fund and the interest charge was lower than the bank's funding cost, the the Cabinet endorsed the compensation on rate differential.
Apichai also defended that all staff complied with the law in approving the loan to Burma. The Supreme Court ruled last week that the loan extension caused financail damage to Thailand.
By Chularat Saengpassa
The Natio, Vientiane
Export-Import Bank of Thailand President Apichai Boontherawara insisted that the bank has so far witnessed no loss from the Bt4 billion loan to Burma.
At a press conference in Vientiane on Thursday, he said the bank is studying the Court's ruling and it would tell next week if the loan has caused any damage to the state-owned bank.
"For now, we can't determine if the loan caused any damage. But I can say that we shoulder no loss from the loan," he told reporters.
He noted that all Ex-Im Bank staff had complied with the the law and the government's policy.
Burma has disbursed Bt3.946 billion since the loan was approved in 2004, and it has paid Bt795 million as interest and principal. The bank has also won Bt338 million compensation from the government, for the loans of which interest rates are lower than funding cost. Due to better cost management, it expects to ask for compensation during the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years.
Ex-Im Bank approved the loan to Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank, having Burma's ministry of finance as the guarantor. The loan is to finance Burma's purchases of Thai goods, and it was considered to be within the bank's power. Though, as the loan amount was high compared to the bank's capital fund and the interest charge was lower than the bank's funding cost, the the Cabinet endorsed the compensation on rate differential.
Apichai also defended that all staff complied with the law in approving the loan to Burma. The Supreme Court ruled last week that the loan extension caused financail damage to Thailand.
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REGIONAL POLITICS
Bangkok Post - Opinion: Young take little interest in Burma poll
Published: 4/03/2010 at 08:57 AM
Online news: Opinion
Burma is in the grip of election fever, even though a date for the polls has yet to be announced. Most analysts and diplomats are now tipping October or November as the election date.
The electoral and political parties laws, which will govern the process, are expected to be published in May. But for the time being at least everything to do with the election is shrouded in secrecy, though potential pro-junta candidates have aleady hit the campaign trail.
Potential candidates, who hope to challenge the military government's contenders, are urging every Burmese to take the elections seriously _ and not boycott them.
``People don't like the current government of Burma,'' the leader of the newly formed but unregistered Democrat Party, U Thu Wai said. ``Now we have a chance to change it by voting in the forthcoming elections.''
``Everyone in Burma is talking about the elections,'' said the Australian MP and Burma expert Janelle Saffin after a private visit to the country earlier this year. ``But everyone is split on whether it's a good thing and whether they should particpate _ even businessmen are divided.''
There is also growing nervous tension and anxiety amongst many average Burmese, especially in Rangoon, because of the uncertainty surrounding the elections, according to doctors and psychologists inside Burma.
But young people are less than enthusiastic, and remain apathetic towards the elections, said the social researcher and former political prisoner, Khin Zaw Win. ``They are less aware and less interested than their counterparts 20 years ago, who were at the forefront of the movement for democratic change.''
People under 25 could care less about the elections _ they are more interested in getting jobs and spending time on the internet, said a young Burmese student visiting Bangkok recently.
Undaunted, the military regime is now quietly preparing for the forthcoming elections, selecting candidates and launching its unoffical electoral campaign. ``State controlled media _ newspapers and television _ are full of reports and photographs of government ministers inaugurating community and development projects, shaking hands with local leaders and handing out financial asssitance,'' observed a Rangoon-based diplomat. ``Clearly the military are now trying to win the hearts and minds of the people,'' an Asian diplomat dealing with Burma said.
Little is being said publicly by the regime, though the junta's top leader is clearly setting the ground rules for the election.
``Democracy in Burma today is at a fledgling stage and still requires patient care and attention,'' Burma's senior general Than Shwe told the country almost a year ago in his annual speech to mark Armed Forces Day.
``Plans are under way to hold elections in a systematic way this year,'' he said in January. ``In that regard, the entire people have to make correct choices.''
The UN special rapporteur for human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, tried to discuss these matters with senior representatives of the regime when he visited last month but with little success. All they would say was that the legal framework was being worked out and they would be finished in time, he told the Bangkok Post.
Curiously, the attorney general who is in charge of drafting the election and political parties law was no longer involved, he confided to the envoy. ``That can only mean they are finished and sitting in Than Shwe's in-tray,'' said a western diplomat who was briefed by Mr Quintana at the end of his mission to Burma.
Until the election laws are made public, there is little potential political players can do but bide their time. Until then no-one knows how the election will be conducted, and more importantly who will be competing.
Officially there are no political parties registered to stand candidates in the election _ this can only happen after the political parties' law is passed and an electoral commission established to oversee the campaign and the polls.
``The political parties and election laws will be revealed at the last minute even though we understand they have been completetd for some time,'' said Win Min, a Burmese academic based at Chiang Mai University.
``They want to keep any potential opposition wrong-footed and not allow them time to organise.''
While the main opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy (NLD) which convincingly won the last elections in 1990, insists it will wait for the electoral laws to be revealed before deciding whether to field candidates or not, the Democratic Party leader U Thu Wai is adamant that preparations need to be made now.
``The election is important, and if we don't seize the opportunity now, it will be too late. We must decide before the law is passed and prepare,'' he said. He confided that after their inaugural meeting last year the authorities warned him not to do it again, without prior permission, as the law prohibits a gathering of five or more people _ the penalty is up to seven years in jail.
In frustation, Mr Quintana left the regimes' top people involved in preparing the ground rules for the forthcoming election _ the attorney general, the interior minister and the chief justice _ a copy of the UN's handbook on democratic elections.
``It was a vain hope _ they would not discuss the elections in detail with him _ so he made the gallant gesture,'' said a diplomat at Mr Quintana's briefing in Bangkok.
``I don't think he even thought they would open it, let alone read it.''
But it is the regulations controlling the electoral process that will be critical if the election is to be free and fair.
``We cannot speak freely, we cannot meet freely and we cannot discuss freely,'' said Khin Zaw Win. ``That would have to change if the election is fair.''
But the signs of this happening are far form encouraging. Diplomats and senior UN officials who have had contact with senior memers of the regime have been categorically
told that people cannot be allowed to say anything they want as that would be anarchy not democracy.
``Barring an election law that marks a radical departure from its past and present laws and practices, it is more than likely that the Myanmar [Burma] government will not allow political parties to participate fully _ and meaningfully _ in the election process,'' said Benjamin Zawacki, the South-east Asia researcher for Amnesty International based in Bangkok.
Meanwhile the political activists in Rangoon who intend to run in the elections believe it is too early to dismiss them as a farce yet.
``Than Shwe has promised free and fair elections,'' U Thu Wai said. ``So we should take his words at face value because we don't know what will happen in reality.''
``Darkness has already covered us,'' said Khin Zaw Win. ``We have already lost more than 20 years and the people will only suffer more if we miss this opportunity.
Bangkok Post - Opinion: Young take little interest in Burma poll
Published: 4/03/2010 at 08:57 AM
Online news: Opinion
Burma is in the grip of election fever, even though a date for the polls has yet to be announced. Most analysts and diplomats are now tipping October or November as the election date.
The electoral and political parties laws, which will govern the process, are expected to be published in May. But for the time being at least everything to do with the election is shrouded in secrecy, though potential pro-junta candidates have aleady hit the campaign trail.
Potential candidates, who hope to challenge the military government's contenders, are urging every Burmese to take the elections seriously _ and not boycott them.
``People don't like the current government of Burma,'' the leader of the newly formed but unregistered Democrat Party, U Thu Wai said. ``Now we have a chance to change it by voting in the forthcoming elections.''
``Everyone in Burma is talking about the elections,'' said the Australian MP and Burma expert Janelle Saffin after a private visit to the country earlier this year. ``But everyone is split on whether it's a good thing and whether they should particpate _ even businessmen are divided.''
There is also growing nervous tension and anxiety amongst many average Burmese, especially in Rangoon, because of the uncertainty surrounding the elections, according to doctors and psychologists inside Burma.
But young people are less than enthusiastic, and remain apathetic towards the elections, said the social researcher and former political prisoner, Khin Zaw Win. ``They are less aware and less interested than their counterparts 20 years ago, who were at the forefront of the movement for democratic change.''
People under 25 could care less about the elections _ they are more interested in getting jobs and spending time on the internet, said a young Burmese student visiting Bangkok recently.
Undaunted, the military regime is now quietly preparing for the forthcoming elections, selecting candidates and launching its unoffical electoral campaign. ``State controlled media _ newspapers and television _ are full of reports and photographs of government ministers inaugurating community and development projects, shaking hands with local leaders and handing out financial asssitance,'' observed a Rangoon-based diplomat. ``Clearly the military are now trying to win the hearts and minds of the people,'' an Asian diplomat dealing with Burma said.
Little is being said publicly by the regime, though the junta's top leader is clearly setting the ground rules for the election.
``Democracy in Burma today is at a fledgling stage and still requires patient care and attention,'' Burma's senior general Than Shwe told the country almost a year ago in his annual speech to mark Armed Forces Day.
``Plans are under way to hold elections in a systematic way this year,'' he said in January. ``In that regard, the entire people have to make correct choices.''
The UN special rapporteur for human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, tried to discuss these matters with senior representatives of the regime when he visited last month but with little success. All they would say was that the legal framework was being worked out and they would be finished in time, he told the Bangkok Post.
Curiously, the attorney general who is in charge of drafting the election and political parties law was no longer involved, he confided to the envoy. ``That can only mean they are finished and sitting in Than Shwe's in-tray,'' said a western diplomat who was briefed by Mr Quintana at the end of his mission to Burma.
Until the election laws are made public, there is little potential political players can do but bide their time. Until then no-one knows how the election will be conducted, and more importantly who will be competing.
Officially there are no political parties registered to stand candidates in the election _ this can only happen after the political parties' law is passed and an electoral commission established to oversee the campaign and the polls.
``The political parties and election laws will be revealed at the last minute even though we understand they have been completetd for some time,'' said Win Min, a Burmese academic based at Chiang Mai University.
``They want to keep any potential opposition wrong-footed and not allow them time to organise.''
While the main opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy (NLD) which convincingly won the last elections in 1990, insists it will wait for the electoral laws to be revealed before deciding whether to field candidates or not, the Democratic Party leader U Thu Wai is adamant that preparations need to be made now.
``The election is important, and if we don't seize the opportunity now, it will be too late. We must decide before the law is passed and prepare,'' he said. He confided that after their inaugural meeting last year the authorities warned him not to do it again, without prior permission, as the law prohibits a gathering of five or more people _ the penalty is up to seven years in jail.
In frustation, Mr Quintana left the regimes' top people involved in preparing the ground rules for the forthcoming election _ the attorney general, the interior minister and the chief justice _ a copy of the UN's handbook on democratic elections.
``It was a vain hope _ they would not discuss the elections in detail with him _ so he made the gallant gesture,'' said a diplomat at Mr Quintana's briefing in Bangkok.
``I don't think he even thought they would open it, let alone read it.''
But it is the regulations controlling the electoral process that will be critical if the election is to be free and fair.
``We cannot speak freely, we cannot meet freely and we cannot discuss freely,'' said Khin Zaw Win. ``That would have to change if the election is fair.''
But the signs of this happening are far form encouraging. Diplomats and senior UN officials who have had contact with senior memers of the regime have been categorically
told that people cannot be allowed to say anything they want as that would be anarchy not democracy.
``Barring an election law that marks a radical departure from its past and present laws and practices, it is more than likely that the Myanmar [Burma] government will not allow political parties to participate fully _ and meaningfully _ in the election process,'' said Benjamin Zawacki, the South-east Asia researcher for Amnesty International based in Bangkok.
Meanwhile the political activists in Rangoon who intend to run in the elections believe it is too early to dismiss them as a farce yet.
``Than Shwe has promised free and fair elections,'' U Thu Wai said. ``So we should take his words at face value because we don't know what will happen in reality.''
``Darkness has already covered us,'' said Khin Zaw Win. ``We have already lost more than 20 years and the people will only suffer more if we miss this opportunity.
********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Women Sent to Remote Prisons
By KYAW THEIN KHA - Thursday, March 4, 2010
Three women political activists sentenced to jail terms during the recent visit of UN Human Rights Envoy to Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, were transferred from Rangoon's Insein Prison to remote upcountry prisons at the weekend, according to a source close to the prison.
Naw Ohn Hla, a former member of the National League for Democracy and a prominent woman activist in Burma in her late fifties, was transferred to Taungoo prison. Cho Cho Aye was sent to Yamethin prison, and San San Myint went to an unidentified prison, the source told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
The prison authorities did not inform family members of the transfers, the source said. Meanwhile, their lawyer, Kyaw Hoe, confirmed the women were transferred to remote prisons but he did not know the details.
The activists were arrested when they returned from a Rangoon monastery last year and charged with creating unrest.
Prior to their arrest, the women had made a weekly routine of praying for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners at the Shwedagon pagoda in Rangoon, Burma's holiest shrine.
A court sentenced them to two years in jail in February, when Quintana was visiting the country to study human rights conditions in Burma ahead of the polls.
The Burmese regime has transferred many political dissidents to remote prisons, making it difficult for family members to visit them.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, there are 2195 political prisoners in Burma.
By KYAW THEIN KHA - Thursday, March 4, 2010
Three women political activists sentenced to jail terms during the recent visit of UN Human Rights Envoy to Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, were transferred from Rangoon's Insein Prison to remote upcountry prisons at the weekend, according to a source close to the prison.
Naw Ohn Hla, a former member of the National League for Democracy and a prominent woman activist in Burma in her late fifties, was transferred to Taungoo prison. Cho Cho Aye was sent to Yamethin prison, and San San Myint went to an unidentified prison, the source told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
The prison authorities did not inform family members of the transfers, the source said. Meanwhile, their lawyer, Kyaw Hoe, confirmed the women were transferred to remote prisons but he did not know the details.
The activists were arrested when they returned from a Rangoon monastery last year and charged with creating unrest.
Prior to their arrest, the women had made a weekly routine of praying for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners at the Shwedagon pagoda in Rangoon, Burma's holiest shrine.
A court sentenced them to two years in jail in February, when Quintana was visiting the country to study human rights conditions in Burma ahead of the polls.
The Burmese regime has transferred many political dissidents to remote prisons, making it difficult for family members to visit them.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, there are 2195 political prisoners in Burma.
********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Troop Buildup Continues as BGF Deadline Passes
By WAI MOE - Thursday, March 4, 2010
RUILI, China — Burma’s ruling junta is deploying a force of about 70,000 troops in Shan State to confront more than 30,000 troops of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) if hostilities break out over the regime's Border Guard Force (BGF) plan, according to sources close to military officials in the Burmese border town of Muse.
The regime set a Feb. 28 deadline for ceasefire groups, including the UWSA, to agree to turn their armed forces into a Border Guard Force. The plan has run into wide resistance.
The Muse sources said that before the expiry of the Feb. 28 deadline the regime had sent light infantry battalions to Shan State from other areas under the “One Nation, one Army” provisions of the 2008 Constitution.
As the biggest state of Burma and a potential conflict area, Shan State is home to three regional military commands. At least 133 battalions of government troops are based in the north and northeast.
The number of government troops based in Shan State could exceed the 70,000 now being deployed there, according to Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese military analyst with close contacts to ethnic armed groups.
At the moment, he said, the policy of the UWSA and its close ally, the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) in Mongla, eastern Shan State, is to await a reply by the junta’s top negotiator, Lt-Gen Ye Myint, following meetings last week with the Wa and Mongla groups in Shan State. The Wa and Mongla leaders had explained to Ye Myint their stands on the BGF plan.
According to Burmese and Chinese experts on Burma’s ethnic issues, ethnic groups are resisting the BGF plan because they are concerned about their political and military roles in the absence of a political resolution.
Since November, 2009, the UWSA has been pressing for the Wa’s three strategic townships— two in northern and one in southern Shan State— to be included within the Wa self-administrative region.
Faced with the possibility of hostilities over the proposed BGF, the Burmese government is using other tactics to win over ethnic armed groups who oppose the plan.
On Thursday, the state-run-newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported that in 2009-2010, the government destroyed 13,139 acres of poppy plantation. From Feb.21-27 alone, 251 acres were destroyed in Shan State, near areas controlled by ethnic forces, such as Tangyan.
Meanwhile, Lt-Gen Tha Aye, the Burmese army’s chief of the Bureau Special Operation-1, which oversees the north, northwest and central regional military commands, has been holding meetings in Kachin State, where the Kachin Independence Army is resisting the BGF plan. Tha Aye was accompanied by Maj-Gen Soe Win, the commander of the North Regional Military Command.
The possibility of conflict in the Sino-Burmese border region is being viewed with concern in Beijing, which has reportedly appealed to all sides to resolve their differences peacefully.
Experts say Beijing wants to see stability, development and national reconciliation in Burma. Chinese leaders, including Vice President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao explained their government's Burma policy at official meetings in 2009.
Fresh in Chinese minds is the Kokang crisis, when the Burmese army launched an offensive against the Kokang armed group, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, causing thousands to flee to China. Chinese businessmen are still counting the cost of the offensive, and demands for compensation are mired in Burmese officialdom.
By WAI MOE - Thursday, March 4, 2010
RUILI, China — Burma’s ruling junta is deploying a force of about 70,000 troops in Shan State to confront more than 30,000 troops of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) if hostilities break out over the regime's Border Guard Force (BGF) plan, according to sources close to military officials in the Burmese border town of Muse.
The regime set a Feb. 28 deadline for ceasefire groups, including the UWSA, to agree to turn their armed forces into a Border Guard Force. The plan has run into wide resistance.
The Muse sources said that before the expiry of the Feb. 28 deadline the regime had sent light infantry battalions to Shan State from other areas under the “One Nation, one Army” provisions of the 2008 Constitution.
As the biggest state of Burma and a potential conflict area, Shan State is home to three regional military commands. At least 133 battalions of government troops are based in the north and northeast.
The number of government troops based in Shan State could exceed the 70,000 now being deployed there, according to Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese military analyst with close contacts to ethnic armed groups.
At the moment, he said, the policy of the UWSA and its close ally, the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) in Mongla, eastern Shan State, is to await a reply by the junta’s top negotiator, Lt-Gen Ye Myint, following meetings last week with the Wa and Mongla groups in Shan State. The Wa and Mongla leaders had explained to Ye Myint their stands on the BGF plan.
According to Burmese and Chinese experts on Burma’s ethnic issues, ethnic groups are resisting the BGF plan because they are concerned about their political and military roles in the absence of a political resolution.
Since November, 2009, the UWSA has been pressing for the Wa’s three strategic townships— two in northern and one in southern Shan State— to be included within the Wa self-administrative region.
Faced with the possibility of hostilities over the proposed BGF, the Burmese government is using other tactics to win over ethnic armed groups who oppose the plan.
On Thursday, the state-run-newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported that in 2009-2010, the government destroyed 13,139 acres of poppy plantation. From Feb.21-27 alone, 251 acres were destroyed in Shan State, near areas controlled by ethnic forces, such as Tangyan.
Meanwhile, Lt-Gen Tha Aye, the Burmese army’s chief of the Bureau Special Operation-1, which oversees the north, northwest and central regional military commands, has been holding meetings in Kachin State, where the Kachin Independence Army is resisting the BGF plan. Tha Aye was accompanied by Maj-Gen Soe Win, the commander of the North Regional Military Command.
The possibility of conflict in the Sino-Burmese border region is being viewed with concern in Beijing, which has reportedly appealed to all sides to resolve their differences peacefully.
Experts say Beijing wants to see stability, development and national reconciliation in Burma. Chinese leaders, including Vice President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao explained their government's Burma policy at official meetings in 2009.
Fresh in Chinese minds is the Kokang crisis, when the Burmese army launched an offensive against the Kokang armed group, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, causing thousands to flee to China. Chinese businessmen are still counting the cost of the offensive, and demands for compensation are mired in Burmese officialdom.
********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - US Navy in Bay of Bengal
By KO HTWE - Thursday, March 4, 2010
The US and Bangladeshi navies on Tuesday began a three-day joint training exercise in the Bay of Bengal close to Burmese waters, according to Dhaka-based The Daily Star.
The USS Ingraham docked on the Bangladeshi island of Kutubdia––situated just offshore between Cox's Bazar and Chittagong––on Monday with 200 US naval personnel, including 25 officers, led by Commander Adam J Welter, the report said.
After the three-day program, the 453-foot frigate is due to continue to Singapore. In September, the USS Ingraham was involved in relief efforts in American Samoa after an earthquake struck the region.
Addressing reporters, Commander Adam said that the objective of the program is to strengthen relationships, mutual cooperation and understanding between the two countries. He said the naval exchange would also help strengthen anti-terror vigilance by the Bangladeshi navy within its territorial waters.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Mrat Kraw, the editor of the Bangladesh-based Arakanese news agency Narinjara News, said, “Bangladesh is showing that it is prepared to cooperate with the US. At the same time, an American company is drilling for gas in the Bay of Bengal, so the US government is demonstrating that it will defend the territorial waters of Bangladesh. In the end, the Americans will benefit.”
Bangladesh and Burma share a 320-kilometer [200-mile] border with disputed boundaries. Tensions between the two nations have increased in recent years over offshore hydrocarbon exploration in the Bay of Bengal authorized by the Burmese military government. In October, Bangladesh called on the UN Arbitration Court to resolve the dispute.
In January, Burma's Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint and Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Khurshid Alam held a meeting to discuss the territorial dispute.
By KO HTWE - Thursday, March 4, 2010
The US and Bangladeshi navies on Tuesday began a three-day joint training exercise in the Bay of Bengal close to Burmese waters, according to Dhaka-based The Daily Star.
The USS Ingraham docked on the Bangladeshi island of Kutubdia––situated just offshore between Cox's Bazar and Chittagong––on Monday with 200 US naval personnel, including 25 officers, led by Commander Adam J Welter, the report said.
After the three-day program, the 453-foot frigate is due to continue to Singapore. In September, the USS Ingraham was involved in relief efforts in American Samoa after an earthquake struck the region.
Addressing reporters, Commander Adam said that the objective of the program is to strengthen relationships, mutual cooperation and understanding between the two countries. He said the naval exchange would also help strengthen anti-terror vigilance by the Bangladeshi navy within its territorial waters.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Mrat Kraw, the editor of the Bangladesh-based Arakanese news agency Narinjara News, said, “Bangladesh is showing that it is prepared to cooperate with the US. At the same time, an American company is drilling for gas in the Bay of Bengal, so the US government is demonstrating that it will defend the territorial waters of Bangladesh. In the end, the Americans will benefit.”
Bangladesh and Burma share a 320-kilometer [200-mile] border with disputed boundaries. Tensions between the two nations have increased in recent years over offshore hydrocarbon exploration in the Bay of Bengal authorized by the Burmese military government. In October, Bangladesh called on the UN Arbitration Court to resolve the dispute.
In January, Burma's Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint and Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Khurshid Alam held a meeting to discuss the territorial dispute.
********************************************************
Junta forcibly acquires relocation consent for Myitsone dam
Thursday, 04 March 2010 22:38 Salai Han Thar San
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Villagers in Tan Hte village near the hydropower project site at the confluence (Myitsone) of May Kha and May Likha, tributaries of Irrawaddy River, the main waterway and lifeline of Burma, have been forced to give their consent to relocate by signing on a consent paper by Myitkyina township officials, a Kachin social group said.
The Kachin Democratic Network Group (KDNG) said that Myitkyina Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) members forced Tan Hte Village PDC Chairman U Aung Bahn to give his consent to be relocated by signing on a consent paper on February 7.
"Myitkyina TPDC members told him that they acting on the orders of the Home Ministry. He was threatened him with arrest and imprisonment if he refused. He signed," KDNG Chairman Awng Wah told Mizzima.
This happened even as local authorities are preparing to relocate about 60 villages from the Myitsone Hydropower Plant project site in Kachin State.
Twenty two village elders from Tan Hte village signed and sent a 10-point proposal including the right to choose their relocated site and right to compensation on 28 September last year to Kachin State PDC Chairman.
"They rejected our demand and forced us to sign the consent paper. The villagers have said that they will not abide by the relocation programme in this way. The elders are extremely wary of moving from where they have lived for many years," he said.
The hydropower project will be implemented by China Power Investment (CPI) in collaboration with domestic company Asia World, which built quarters for project workers in early December 2009 and conducted hydrology and water survey tests in downstream Irrawaddy River. They also built houses near Kyin Khan Lone Ka Zwap village, over 20 miles upstream from Myitkyina, for relocated villagers.
Over 1,000 people living in over 200 houses in the villages of Tan Hte, Myitsone, Kyein Kharan, Dawn Pang, Pa Khan Bu are to be relocated.
"This is gross violation of human rights. There is a way of getting consent from locals. Forced relocation will have negative consequences later for the project," Awng Wah said.
The CPI signed an agreement with junta's No. 1 Electric Power Ministry in May 2007. The proposed dam site is in May Kha and May Likha confluence, 27 mile upstream from Myitkyina.
This project alone will generate 3,600 MW of electricity of a total of seven dams –five on May Kha and two on May Likha tributaries.
Anti-dam activists estimate that about 20 villages between Myitsone and Myitkyina downstream from the site will be flooded if the dams collapse.
Many Kachin people at home and abroad, Kachin Student Union, Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and Kachin in exile are protesting against the massive and dangerous dam project.
Kachin people in exile signed a petition protesting against the dam project and appealing to halt it on 28 January and sent it to Chinese Prime Minister Wan Jia Bao through Chinese embassies in Thailand, India, Singapore, Britain and New Zealand.
Only the Chinese embassy in Singapore responded saying that itwould forward the petition. There has been no response from Chinese PM Wan Jia Bao and other embassies.
The agreement between junta's No. 1 Electric Power Ministry and CPI is to build a total of seven hydro projects in Kachin State including the Myitsone project. State owned 'New Light of Myanmar' has reported that the total power generated will be 13,360 MW from these power projects.
The other six power projects are Chi Bwe (2,000 MW), Pa Shi (1,600 MW), La Kin (1,400 MW), Phi Zaw (1,500 MW), Khau Galan Phu (1,700 MW) and Lai Zar (1,560 MW).
The Myitsone hydropower project is the biggest in Burma and the second largest will be the proposed dam site in Tasan in Shan State, which is expected to generate 7,100 MW of electricity.
The investment in the Myitsone hydropower project is not known yet but may touch about USD 3.6 billion. The power generated is likely to be sold to China and can earn about USD 500 million per annum, a KNDG report released in October 2007 said.
The World Commission on Dams estimated that 40 to 80 million people were relocated against their will because of worldwide dam building projects.
The tributaries of Irrawaddy River, May Kha and May Likha, originated from the Himalayas. Irrawaddy is the biggest waterway in Burma and is about 1,450 miles long. Endangered river dolphins live in the river.
Thursday, 04 March 2010 22:38 Salai Han Thar San
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Villagers in Tan Hte village near the hydropower project site at the confluence (Myitsone) of May Kha and May Likha, tributaries of Irrawaddy River, the main waterway and lifeline of Burma, have been forced to give their consent to relocate by signing on a consent paper by Myitkyina township officials, a Kachin social group said.
The Kachin Democratic Network Group (KDNG) said that Myitkyina Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) members forced Tan Hte Village PDC Chairman U Aung Bahn to give his consent to be relocated by signing on a consent paper on February 7.
"Myitkyina TPDC members told him that they acting on the orders of the Home Ministry. He was threatened him with arrest and imprisonment if he refused. He signed," KDNG Chairman Awng Wah told Mizzima.
This happened even as local authorities are preparing to relocate about 60 villages from the Myitsone Hydropower Plant project site in Kachin State.
Twenty two village elders from Tan Hte village signed and sent a 10-point proposal including the right to choose their relocated site and right to compensation on 28 September last year to Kachin State PDC Chairman.
"They rejected our demand and forced us to sign the consent paper. The villagers have said that they will not abide by the relocation programme in this way. The elders are extremely wary of moving from where they have lived for many years," he said.
The hydropower project will be implemented by China Power Investment (CPI) in collaboration with domestic company Asia World, which built quarters for project workers in early December 2009 and conducted hydrology and water survey tests in downstream Irrawaddy River. They also built houses near Kyin Khan Lone Ka Zwap village, over 20 miles upstream from Myitkyina, for relocated villagers.
Over 1,000 people living in over 200 houses in the villages of Tan Hte, Myitsone, Kyein Kharan, Dawn Pang, Pa Khan Bu are to be relocated.
"This is gross violation of human rights. There is a way of getting consent from locals. Forced relocation will have negative consequences later for the project," Awng Wah said.
The CPI signed an agreement with junta's No. 1 Electric Power Ministry in May 2007. The proposed dam site is in May Kha and May Likha confluence, 27 mile upstream from Myitkyina.
This project alone will generate 3,600 MW of electricity of a total of seven dams –five on May Kha and two on May Likha tributaries.
Anti-dam activists estimate that about 20 villages between Myitsone and Myitkyina downstream from the site will be flooded if the dams collapse.
Many Kachin people at home and abroad, Kachin Student Union, Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and Kachin in exile are protesting against the massive and dangerous dam project.
Kachin people in exile signed a petition protesting against the dam project and appealing to halt it on 28 January and sent it to Chinese Prime Minister Wan Jia Bao through Chinese embassies in Thailand, India, Singapore, Britain and New Zealand.
Only the Chinese embassy in Singapore responded saying that itwould forward the petition. There has been no response from Chinese PM Wan Jia Bao and other embassies.
The agreement between junta's No. 1 Electric Power Ministry and CPI is to build a total of seven hydro projects in Kachin State including the Myitsone project. State owned 'New Light of Myanmar' has reported that the total power generated will be 13,360 MW from these power projects.
The other six power projects are Chi Bwe (2,000 MW), Pa Shi (1,600 MW), La Kin (1,400 MW), Phi Zaw (1,500 MW), Khau Galan Phu (1,700 MW) and Lai Zar (1,560 MW).
The Myitsone hydropower project is the biggest in Burma and the second largest will be the proposed dam site in Tasan in Shan State, which is expected to generate 7,100 MW of electricity.
The investment in the Myitsone hydropower project is not known yet but may touch about USD 3.6 billion. The power generated is likely to be sold to China and can earn about USD 500 million per annum, a KNDG report released in October 2007 said.
The World Commission on Dams estimated that 40 to 80 million people were relocated against their will because of worldwide dam building projects.
The tributaries of Irrawaddy River, May Kha and May Likha, originated from the Himalayas. Irrawaddy is the biggest waterway in Burma and is about 1,450 miles long. Endangered river dolphins live in the river.
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Zoya Phan inducted as a 'Young Global Leader'
Mar 4, 2010 (DVB)-Zoya Phan, a Karen exile and daughter of the late KNU leader Pado Mahn Sha has been chosen as a 'Young Global leader'(YGL) by the World Economic Forum; The same organisation that hosts the annual meeting of world and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland.
Ms. Phan, who is also the international coordinator for the Burma Campaign UK (BCUK), was amongst as many as 200 young people who are chosen each year by the World Economic Forum for; “their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.”
Speaking to DVB, Zoya Phan said; “We are bringing more international attention to Burma's situation via campaigns through the BCUK as well as Karen organisations."
"I was chosen to be honoured [as a YGL] for my work in highlighting human rights violations and the SPDC army's offences in Karen state and campaigning to seek international action [on the Burmese junta] with the use of media.”
The YGLs convene at an annual summit – this year it will be in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from the 2-7 May 2010, the first time the gathering is to be held in Africa. It will also be the largest ever gathering of YGLs.
Reporting by Nan Kham Kaew
Mar 4, 2010 (DVB)-Zoya Phan, a Karen exile and daughter of the late KNU leader Pado Mahn Sha has been chosen as a 'Young Global leader'(YGL) by the World Economic Forum; The same organisation that hosts the annual meeting of world and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland.
Ms. Phan, who is also the international coordinator for the Burma Campaign UK (BCUK), was amongst as many as 200 young people who are chosen each year by the World Economic Forum for; “their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.”
Speaking to DVB, Zoya Phan said; “We are bringing more international attention to Burma's situation via campaigns through the BCUK as well as Karen organisations."
"I was chosen to be honoured [as a YGL] for my work in highlighting human rights violations and the SPDC army's offences in Karen state and campaigning to seek international action [on the Burmese junta] with the use of media.”
The YGLs convene at an annual summit – this year it will be in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from the 2-7 May 2010, the first time the gathering is to be held in Africa. It will also be the largest ever gathering of YGLs.
Reporting by Nan Kham Kaew
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