Trade unions: rights violations worsened in 2009
Union group: 100 trade unionists died in 2009; Latin America most lethal for union activists
Stephanie Fleming, Associated Press Writer, On Tuesday June 8, 2010, 6:01 pm EDT
BRUSSELS (AP) -- At least 100 trade unionists were killed defending workers rights in 2009 -- up from 76 the previous year, the International Trade Union Confederation said in its annual survey Wednesday.
Latin America was the most lethal region: 48 trade unionists died in Colombia alone -- 22 were senior union leaders, of whom five were women.
It was followed by Guatemala (16), Honduras (12), Mexico and Brazil (4 each), the confederation said.
It also listed murders in Bangladesh (6), the Dominican Republic and the Philippines (3 each) and one each in India, Iraq and Nigeria.
Additionally, the confederation reported 10 attempted murders of union workers, "35 serious death threats," mostly in Colombia and Guatemala, and hundreds of imprisonments.
The group said the onset of the global financial and economic crisis in 2008 led to the loss of tens of millions of jobs and worsened violations of workers' rights.
"In many countries ... public authorities and companies have continued to use the crisis as a pretext to weaken and undermine trade union rights," it said.
Disregard of internationally recognized labor standards has eroded job security and put half of the global work force in "precarious" jobs, said the confederation, which represents 176 million workers in 155 countries.
The survey details numerous cases of strike-breaking and violence against striking workers in every region of the world.
Thousands of workers demonstrating to claim wages, denounce harsh working conditions or the harmful effects of the global financial and economical crisis have faced beatings, arrest and detention, including in Algeria, Argentina, Belarus, Burma, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Honduras, India, Iran, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan and Turkey, the confederation's report said
The group's general secretary, Guy Ryder, said defending workers rights in Colombia is "a death sentence," but elsewhere in Latin America matters improved a bit: El Salvador's government made it easier for workers to organize and Argentina's high court increased trade unionists rights.
Union group: 100 trade unionists died in 2009; Latin America most lethal for union activists
Stephanie Fleming, Associated Press Writer, On Tuesday June 8, 2010, 6:01 pm EDT
BRUSSELS (AP) -- At least 100 trade unionists were killed defending workers rights in 2009 -- up from 76 the previous year, the International Trade Union Confederation said in its annual survey Wednesday.
Latin America was the most lethal region: 48 trade unionists died in Colombia alone -- 22 were senior union leaders, of whom five were women.
It was followed by Guatemala (16), Honduras (12), Mexico and Brazil (4 each), the confederation said.
It also listed murders in Bangladesh (6), the Dominican Republic and the Philippines (3 each) and one each in India, Iraq and Nigeria.
Additionally, the confederation reported 10 attempted murders of union workers, "35 serious death threats," mostly in Colombia and Guatemala, and hundreds of imprisonments.
The group said the onset of the global financial and economic crisis in 2008 led to the loss of tens of millions of jobs and worsened violations of workers' rights.
"In many countries ... public authorities and companies have continued to use the crisis as a pretext to weaken and undermine trade union rights," it said.
Disregard of internationally recognized labor standards has eroded job security and put half of the global work force in "precarious" jobs, said the confederation, which represents 176 million workers in 155 countries.
The survey details numerous cases of strike-breaking and violence against striking workers in every region of the world.
Thousands of workers demonstrating to claim wages, denounce harsh working conditions or the harmful effects of the global financial and economical crisis have faced beatings, arrest and detention, including in Algeria, Argentina, Belarus, Burma, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Honduras, India, Iran, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan and Turkey, the confederation's report said
The group's general secretary, Guy Ryder, said defending workers rights in Colombia is "a death sentence," but elsewhere in Latin America matters improved a bit: El Salvador's government made it easier for workers to organize and Argentina's high court increased trade unionists rights.
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MYANMAR: Shelter issues and land rights frustrate resettlement
YANGON, 9 June 2010 (IRIN) - Two years after Cyclone Nargis devastated the delta region, more than 100,000 families remain without adequate shelter due to a lack of funding and knowledge about land laws, says the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) country manager, Srinivasa Popuri.
The total funding gap for all sectors in the post-Nargis recovery effort, including shelter, is US$150 million, according to the Recovery Coordination Centre responsible for tracking Nargis aid.
Some 67,000 new shelters have been built - 30,000 by the government and 37,000 by the international community - against 752,299 homes affected.
The monsoon rains – which typically begin in mid-May and last for up to four months – make the situation worse, especially for the half-million delta residents belonging to the most vulnerable groups such as the disabled, elderly, or expectant and new mothers.
Scarce funding in the two years following Myanmar’s most devastating natural disaster in recorded history is only a part of the problem.
Moving to illegal land
Land rights have now become a pressing concern for the delta’s internally displaced persons (IDPs). After Nargis, many families never returned to their devastated villages.
“Many of the beneficiaries didn’t want to return to their homes. They felt unsafe in their old villages,” said Norwegian Refugee Council’s Chris Bleers.
They moved instead to higher ground, areas classified by Myanmar law as “agricultural land”. Myanmar land law allows people to settle only on “village land”, and violators face up to six months in prison. Structures built in unlawful areas are destroyed. According to government figures, only 1.39 percent of land in the delta is village land.
But most IDPs have little or no knowledge of the law.
“Land here belongs to the state, and the collective right of use is given to a group or to villagers, depending on how the land is classified. The land is virtually free; you just have to go through the process to gain a certificate for right of use. Information is not readily available, and people don’t know who can help them,” Popuri said.
The total number of landless people in the delta is unknown; while townships record newly arrived families in villages, no comprehensive data exists for the region.
Government assistance
The UN has partnered with U Myint Thein, deputy director of the settlement and land record department at the Ministry of Agriculture, who provides technical support on land laws to local authorities and NGOs, to address the issue. He has met people in several townships in the most affected areas.
“They’re unfamiliar with land laws, and are generally village elders nominated to be leaders. They voice problems, and I suggest solutions,” U Myint Thein told IRIN.
While raising awareness about land laws, U Myint Thein has helped obtain rights for and negotiate the legal resettlement of 3,349 families – almost half the affected people.
YANGON, 9 June 2010 (IRIN) - Two years after Cyclone Nargis devastated the delta region, more than 100,000 families remain without adequate shelter due to a lack of funding and knowledge about land laws, says the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) country manager, Srinivasa Popuri.
The total funding gap for all sectors in the post-Nargis recovery effort, including shelter, is US$150 million, according to the Recovery Coordination Centre responsible for tracking Nargis aid.
Some 67,000 new shelters have been built - 30,000 by the government and 37,000 by the international community - against 752,299 homes affected.
The monsoon rains – which typically begin in mid-May and last for up to four months – make the situation worse, especially for the half-million delta residents belonging to the most vulnerable groups such as the disabled, elderly, or expectant and new mothers.
Scarce funding in the two years following Myanmar’s most devastating natural disaster in recorded history is only a part of the problem.
Moving to illegal land
Land rights have now become a pressing concern for the delta’s internally displaced persons (IDPs). After Nargis, many families never returned to their devastated villages.
“Many of the beneficiaries didn’t want to return to their homes. They felt unsafe in their old villages,” said Norwegian Refugee Council’s Chris Bleers.
They moved instead to higher ground, areas classified by Myanmar law as “agricultural land”. Myanmar land law allows people to settle only on “village land”, and violators face up to six months in prison. Structures built in unlawful areas are destroyed. According to government figures, only 1.39 percent of land in the delta is village land.
But most IDPs have little or no knowledge of the law.
“Land here belongs to the state, and the collective right of use is given to a group or to villagers, depending on how the land is classified. The land is virtually free; you just have to go through the process to gain a certificate for right of use. Information is not readily available, and people don’t know who can help them,” Popuri said.
The total number of landless people in the delta is unknown; while townships record newly arrived families in villages, no comprehensive data exists for the region.
Government assistance
The UN has partnered with U Myint Thein, deputy director of the settlement and land record department at the Ministry of Agriculture, who provides technical support on land laws to local authorities and NGOs, to address the issue. He has met people in several townships in the most affected areas.
“They’re unfamiliar with land laws, and are generally village elders nominated to be leaders. They voice problems, and I suggest solutions,” U Myint Thein told IRIN.
While raising awareness about land laws, U Myint Thein has helped obtain rights for and negotiate the legal resettlement of 3,349 families – almost half the affected people.
*****************************************************
FOXNews.com - New Tempests Over Burma as U.N. Aid Rolls In
By George Russell
Published June 08, 2010
The United Nations, which is quietly planning a major aid program to North Korea despite U.N. sanctions against the regime, also intends to ship hundreds of millions of dollars to Burma, another brutal Asian dictatorship, despite allegations that the country also known as Myanmar is trying to acquire nuclear weapons technology.
At least one U.N. organization, the United Nations Children's fund, or UNICEF, has now found the Burma issue too thorny to tackle — for the moment.
UNICEF has discreetly postponed approval of a four-year plan starting next January to spend $198.5 million, including $115 million in additional donated funds, for its programs in the country at least until the fall — while the nuclear weapons concerns have a chance to die down.
UNICEF's plans, prepared in close collaboration with the Burmese government, were originally intended for approval at a four-day meeting of the organization's 36-nation supervisory Executive Board, which ended June 4.
According to a UNICEF spokesman, Christopher de Bono, the plan won't be formally approved until the Board's next meeting, probably in September.
The Burmese bomb-making program was allegedly developed with help from nearby North Korea — whose own nuclear weapons program became enmeshed in scandals involving U.N. aid programs.
Just three years ago, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) closed its offices in North Korea amid allegations — later confirmed by an "independent investigative review panel" — that it had handed over hard currency and sensitive equipment to the bellicose Kim Jong Il regime while it was successfully circumventing international sanctions sparked by its own nuclear weapons program.
The UNDP office in North Korea is in the process of reopening, after making changes in its procedures.
In the case of Burma, a dissident organization known as the Democratic Voice of Burma late last month released a documentary summarizing what it called a five-year investigation of the military regime's clandestine nuclear quest. It included claims by an alleged defector from the nuclear program who says the regime wants "nuclear warheads."
When Fox News asked the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, for comment, IAEA spokesperson Gill Tudor replied: "The Agency has seen the media reports and continues its analysis of information on, as it does with information on other countries."
The UNICEF program aims to support infant vaccinations and feeding supplements, bolster clinical care for children and expectant mothers, expand water and sanitation networks (especially in schools), fight the spread of AIDS and bolster early childhood education. The programs also include hefty amounts for "communication activities promoting and engaging child participation" and awareness of childrens' rights, plus extensive funding to help the Burmese regime collect social and health data.
As is common with U.N. agency in-country plans, the execution of the plans will largely be in the hands of the government and its various branches. The current UNICEF in-country staff of 220 international and local personnel would be expanded to support and monitor the programs through 10 field offices, but the bulk of the work would be carried out by government doctors, educators and other officials.
"I have been worried about Myanmar for years," says John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under George W. Bush, and a longtime critic of how — and how much — the U.N. spends. "UNICEF needs to be clearer about its obligation not to be manipulated by governments for their own ends." (Bolton is also a Fox News contributor.)
When it comes to monitoring whether the programs actually are implemented as planned, however, UNICEF sounds confident of its abilities. A spokesman says that official permission is required to monitor "certain parts of the country," but he adds that "we have no recent experience of permission being denied."
Hundreds of millions of dollars of other U.N. program aid also hangs in the balance in Burma and the issue of monitoring what the government does with the money has been very much at issue in the immediate past.
Case in point: some $320 million in aid from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis (GFAMT), a public-private venture based in Switzerland that gets funding from Bill and Melinda Gates and from a variety of governments — including the U.S., which kicks in 28 percent of the Fund's budget.
The applicant for the five-year Global Fund grants is a "country coordinating mechanism" in Burma that includes, along with representatives of the regime's health services, representatives of the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO), UNDP, the U.N. Joint Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), as well as the British government's foreign development agency.
The recipient, if the grants get their final sign-off, is another U.N. agency, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), which according to its website provides "technical and administrative support" to other U.N. agencies.
But "none of these grants are signed yet," says Global Fund spokesman Jon Liden, because the Fund got badly burned once before by the Burmese government — precisely on the issue of monitoring what was going on with Fund money.
In July 2005, just months after the Global Fund had spent nearly $10 million of anti-AIDS, anti-malaria and anti-TB funding worth $98.4 million over five years, the Fund abruptly bailed on the program.
It charged the Burmese regime with reneging on its written agreements to allow Global Fund staff, U.N. personnel and non-government organizations unimpeded access to areas where programs were supposedly underway.
The government also put new barriers in the way of Global Fund review of supply procurement for the programs, meaning the Fund could no longer be sure the government was buying what it said it was buying in the way of medicines, among other things.
After the Fund left, the programs went ahead anyway, thanks to support from yet another outside donor known as the Three Diseases Fund, which was created in 2006 by, among others, the governments of Australia, Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden, plus the European Commission. UNOPS managed the fund.
But in November 2009, Burma and the U.N. organizations working there came back to the Global Fund for more. Whether they will get it is still unclear.
At the time, says Lidon, "The Global Fund reiterated that none of our procedures or requirements had changed and that they would not in any way be relaxed" if Burma reapplied. Grant negotiations, he added, "are ongoing."
That by no means exhausts the amount and variety of U.N. agency activity in Burma. UNOPS, for example, also manages another $100 million fund known as LIFT — Livelihoods and Food Security Trust — provided by European donors.
For its part, UNDP in January extended its separate, three-year "Human Development Initiative" in Burma by an extra year, meaning it will have spent another $65 million by the end of 2011. The organization currently aims to present a successor program to its executive board in either June or September of next year. According to a UNDP spokesman, "The details and budget estimate will be developed over the coming months."
A lot has happened in Burma since the Global Fund last cut off its medical grants in 2005, including Cyclone Nargis, the horrific typhoon that devastated the country in 2008 and left at least 138,000 dead.
In response to that disaster, the world sent hundreds of millions in aid to the stricken country via the U.N. and other institutions, without much thought for what other uses the regime might have for the money.
The official recovery from the Nargis calamity is supposed to end this year.
Now, with the alleged help of the dangerously unstable North Korean regime, a different kind of catastrophic threat might be in the offing.
And how the U.N. — and the Burma regime — accounts for its money might have everything to do with the outcome.
George Russell is executive editor of Fox News.
By George Russell
Published June 08, 2010
The United Nations, which is quietly planning a major aid program to North Korea despite U.N. sanctions against the regime, also intends to ship hundreds of millions of dollars to Burma, another brutal Asian dictatorship, despite allegations that the country also known as Myanmar is trying to acquire nuclear weapons technology.
At least one U.N. organization, the United Nations Children's fund, or UNICEF, has now found the Burma issue too thorny to tackle — for the moment.
UNICEF has discreetly postponed approval of a four-year plan starting next January to spend $198.5 million, including $115 million in additional donated funds, for its programs in the country at least until the fall — while the nuclear weapons concerns have a chance to die down.
UNICEF's plans, prepared in close collaboration with the Burmese government, were originally intended for approval at a four-day meeting of the organization's 36-nation supervisory Executive Board, which ended June 4.
According to a UNICEF spokesman, Christopher de Bono, the plan won't be formally approved until the Board's next meeting, probably in September.
The Burmese bomb-making program was allegedly developed with help from nearby North Korea — whose own nuclear weapons program became enmeshed in scandals involving U.N. aid programs.
Just three years ago, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) closed its offices in North Korea amid allegations — later confirmed by an "independent investigative review panel" — that it had handed over hard currency and sensitive equipment to the bellicose Kim Jong Il regime while it was successfully circumventing international sanctions sparked by its own nuclear weapons program.
The UNDP office in North Korea is in the process of reopening, after making changes in its procedures.
In the case of Burma, a dissident organization known as the Democratic Voice of Burma late last month released a documentary summarizing what it called a five-year investigation of the military regime's clandestine nuclear quest. It included claims by an alleged defector from the nuclear program who says the regime wants "nuclear warheads."
When Fox News asked the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, for comment, IAEA spokesperson Gill Tudor replied: "The Agency has seen the media reports and continues its analysis of information on, as it does with information on other countries."
The UNICEF program aims to support infant vaccinations and feeding supplements, bolster clinical care for children and expectant mothers, expand water and sanitation networks (especially in schools), fight the spread of AIDS and bolster early childhood education. The programs also include hefty amounts for "communication activities promoting and engaging child participation" and awareness of childrens' rights, plus extensive funding to help the Burmese regime collect social and health data.
As is common with U.N. agency in-country plans, the execution of the plans will largely be in the hands of the government and its various branches. The current UNICEF in-country staff of 220 international and local personnel would be expanded to support and monitor the programs through 10 field offices, but the bulk of the work would be carried out by government doctors, educators and other officials.
"I have been worried about Myanmar for years," says John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under George W. Bush, and a longtime critic of how — and how much — the U.N. spends. "UNICEF needs to be clearer about its obligation not to be manipulated by governments for their own ends." (Bolton is also a Fox News contributor.)
When it comes to monitoring whether the programs actually are implemented as planned, however, UNICEF sounds confident of its abilities. A spokesman says that official permission is required to monitor "certain parts of the country," but he adds that "we have no recent experience of permission being denied."
Hundreds of millions of dollars of other U.N. program aid also hangs in the balance in Burma and the issue of monitoring what the government does with the money has been very much at issue in the immediate past.
Case in point: some $320 million in aid from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis (GFAMT), a public-private venture based in Switzerland that gets funding from Bill and Melinda Gates and from a variety of governments — including the U.S., which kicks in 28 percent of the Fund's budget.
The applicant for the five-year Global Fund grants is a "country coordinating mechanism" in Burma that includes, along with representatives of the regime's health services, representatives of the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO), UNDP, the U.N. Joint Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), as well as the British government's foreign development agency.
The recipient, if the grants get their final sign-off, is another U.N. agency, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), which according to its website provides "technical and administrative support" to other U.N. agencies.
But "none of these grants are signed yet," says Global Fund spokesman Jon Liden, because the Fund got badly burned once before by the Burmese government — precisely on the issue of monitoring what was going on with Fund money.
In July 2005, just months after the Global Fund had spent nearly $10 million of anti-AIDS, anti-malaria and anti-TB funding worth $98.4 million over five years, the Fund abruptly bailed on the program.
It charged the Burmese regime with reneging on its written agreements to allow Global Fund staff, U.N. personnel and non-government organizations unimpeded access to areas where programs were supposedly underway.
The government also put new barriers in the way of Global Fund review of supply procurement for the programs, meaning the Fund could no longer be sure the government was buying what it said it was buying in the way of medicines, among other things.
After the Fund left, the programs went ahead anyway, thanks to support from yet another outside donor known as the Three Diseases Fund, which was created in 2006 by, among others, the governments of Australia, Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden, plus the European Commission. UNOPS managed the fund.
But in November 2009, Burma and the U.N. organizations working there came back to the Global Fund for more. Whether they will get it is still unclear.
At the time, says Lidon, "The Global Fund reiterated that none of our procedures or requirements had changed and that they would not in any way be relaxed" if Burma reapplied. Grant negotiations, he added, "are ongoing."
That by no means exhausts the amount and variety of U.N. agency activity in Burma. UNOPS, for example, also manages another $100 million fund known as LIFT — Livelihoods and Food Security Trust — provided by European donors.
For its part, UNDP in January extended its separate, three-year "Human Development Initiative" in Burma by an extra year, meaning it will have spent another $65 million by the end of 2011. The organization currently aims to present a successor program to its executive board in either June or September of next year. According to a UNDP spokesman, "The details and budget estimate will be developed over the coming months."
A lot has happened in Burma since the Global Fund last cut off its medical grants in 2005, including Cyclone Nargis, the horrific typhoon that devastated the country in 2008 and left at least 138,000 dead.
In response to that disaster, the world sent hundreds of millions in aid to the stricken country via the U.N. and other institutions, without much thought for what other uses the regime might have for the money.
The official recovery from the Nargis calamity is supposed to end this year.
Now, with the alleged help of the dangerously unstable North Korean regime, a different kind of catastrophic threat might be in the offing.
And how the U.N. — and the Burma regime — accounts for its money might have everything to do with the outcome.
George Russell is executive editor of Fox News.
*****************************************************
VOA News - US Senator Calls For Investigation of Alleged Burmese Nuclear Program
08 June 2010
A senior U.S. senator is calling on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to investigate reports that Burma is working with North Korea to develop a nuclear program.
Jim Webb canceled a planned visit to Burma last week because of the allegations from the Norway-based group, Democratic Voice of Burma. That group says an army major who defected from Burma worked on the nuclear program and brought documents supporting his claim.
The United Nations' nuclear agency said Monday it is assessing the report and, if necessary, will "seek clarification" from Burma.
Webb also called on the Obama administration to appoint a special envoy to Burma. He recommended Eric John, who currently is the ambassador to Thailand.
Webb is the chair of the East Asia subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
He traveled to Burma last year, holding talks with military leader Senior General Than Shwe and securing the release of John Yettaw, an American man who swam uninvited to the lakeside Rangoon home of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Yettaw had been sentenced to seven years in prison for secretly visiting the opposition leader.
08 June 2010
A senior U.S. senator is calling on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to investigate reports that Burma is working with North Korea to develop a nuclear program.
Jim Webb canceled a planned visit to Burma last week because of the allegations from the Norway-based group, Democratic Voice of Burma. That group says an army major who defected from Burma worked on the nuclear program and brought documents supporting his claim.
The United Nations' nuclear agency said Monday it is assessing the report and, if necessary, will "seek clarification" from Burma.
Webb also called on the Obama administration to appoint a special envoy to Burma. He recommended Eric John, who currently is the ambassador to Thailand.
Webb is the chair of the East Asia subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
He traveled to Burma last year, holding talks with military leader Senior General Than Shwe and securing the release of John Yettaw, an American man who swam uninvited to the lakeside Rangoon home of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Yettaw had been sentenced to seven years in prison for secretly visiting the opposition leader.
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U.S. Department of State - Press Releases: Special Envoy for Burma
Question Taken at the Daily Press Briefing on June 8, 2010
June 9, 2010
Philip J. Crowley
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
Q: Will the State Department appoint a Special Envoy for Burma? If so, when will the appointment be made?
A: The Administration plans to fill this position soon.
Question Taken at the Daily Press Briefing on June 8, 2010
June 9, 2010
Philip J. Crowley
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
Q: Will the State Department appoint a Special Envoy for Burma? If so, when will the appointment be made?
A: The Administration plans to fill this position soon.
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SYS-CON Media - Amnesty International USA and Other NGOs Hold Demonstration and Panel Calling for the Release of Suu Kyi
Event commemorates Suu Kyi's 65th birthday on Friday, June 18 across from the UN
By: PR Newswire
Jun. 8, 2010 03:10 PM
WASHINGTON, June 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Amnesty International along with Burma Point and other non-governmental organizations' members and activists will be calling for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all the political prisoners of Myanmar (Burma) on Friday, June 18, 2010 at Ralph Bunche Park (across from the United Nations) in New York City.
Amnesty International members and other activists will be holding signs urging the Myanmar government to immediately and unconditionally release Suu Kyi and all prisoners of conscience. After the demonstration, there will be a panel discussion with T. Kumar, director of international advocacy at Amnesty International USA and Mo Chen from Burma Point, among other experts.
Aung San Suu Kyi, co-founded the National League for Democracy (NLD), a pro-democracy political party that sought to counter the military junta that had reigned over Myanmar since 1962. In 1990, the NLD won over 80 percent of the parliamentary seats in a general election. Surprised at the landslide victory, the military junta refused to transfer power to Suu Kyi and the NLD, and jailed scores of political activists.
For 14 of the past 20 years, Suu Kyi has endured unofficial detention, house arrest and restrictions on her movement. She continues to be held under house arrest in Yangon.
Details are below:
What: Demonstration to release Aung San Suu Kyi & Panel Discussion
Who: Amnesty International USA members and other activists
Date: Friday, June 18th
Time: Demonstration at 12pm - 1pm; Panel Discussion at 1pm
Location: Demonstration: Ralph Bunche Park across the street from the UN
(1st Ave and 43rd St); Panel Discussion: 777 UN Church Center Plaza (44th St and 1st Ave)
For more information, please contact the AIUSA media office or visit www.amnestyusa.org.
SOURCE Amnesty International
Published Jun. 8, 2010
Event commemorates Suu Kyi's 65th birthday on Friday, June 18 across from the UN
By: PR Newswire
Jun. 8, 2010 03:10 PM
WASHINGTON, June 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Amnesty International along with Burma Point and other non-governmental organizations' members and activists will be calling for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all the political prisoners of Myanmar (Burma) on Friday, June 18, 2010 at Ralph Bunche Park (across from the United Nations) in New York City.
Amnesty International members and other activists will be holding signs urging the Myanmar government to immediately and unconditionally release Suu Kyi and all prisoners of conscience. After the demonstration, there will be a panel discussion with T. Kumar, director of international advocacy at Amnesty International USA and Mo Chen from Burma Point, among other experts.
Aung San Suu Kyi, co-founded the National League for Democracy (NLD), a pro-democracy political party that sought to counter the military junta that had reigned over Myanmar since 1962. In 1990, the NLD won over 80 percent of the parliamentary seats in a general election. Surprised at the landslide victory, the military junta refused to transfer power to Suu Kyi and the NLD, and jailed scores of political activists.
For 14 of the past 20 years, Suu Kyi has endured unofficial detention, house arrest and restrictions on her movement. She continues to be held under house arrest in Yangon.
Details are below:
What: Demonstration to release Aung San Suu Kyi & Panel Discussion
Who: Amnesty International USA members and other activists
Date: Friday, June 18th
Time: Demonstration at 12pm - 1pm; Panel Discussion at 1pm
Location: Demonstration: Ralph Bunche Park across the street from the UN
(1st Ave and 43rd St); Panel Discussion: 777 UN Church Center Plaza (44th St and 1st Ave)
For more information, please contact the AIUSA media office or visit www.amnestyusa.org.
SOURCE Amnesty International
Published Jun. 8, 2010
*****************************************************
People's Daily Online - South Korea to train Myanmar agricultural experts
21:42, June 09, 2010
The South Korean government will help Myanmar train agricultural experts as part of its Seamaul Undong Set Model for Foreign Countries Program, according to the Myanmar agricultural authorities Wednesday.
Dozens of Myanmar experts working with the Agriculture and Irrigation Ministry will be trained in the East Asian country from June 14 to 23, it said.
It will be the first time for Myanmar agricultural experts to be trained in South Korea since the South Korean government introduced such program in 1970.
According to the sources, a total of 70 countries in the world benefited from the program.
Meanwhile, under the Japanese human resources development aid project, a total of 25 Myanmar government employees will be sent to the East Asian country for study in the present 2010-2011 project year, an earlier report said.
The Myanmar trainees include those from the ministries of education, national planning and economic development, foreign affairs and agriculture and irrigation,
The trainees will study master degree for over two years in Japan with such major subjects as public policy and administration, law, economic, business administration, international relation, agricultural policy, information, communication and technology.
21:42, June 09, 2010
The South Korean government will help Myanmar train agricultural experts as part of its Seamaul Undong Set Model for Foreign Countries Program, according to the Myanmar agricultural authorities Wednesday.
Dozens of Myanmar experts working with the Agriculture and Irrigation Ministry will be trained in the East Asian country from June 14 to 23, it said.
It will be the first time for Myanmar agricultural experts to be trained in South Korea since the South Korean government introduced such program in 1970.
According to the sources, a total of 70 countries in the world benefited from the program.
Meanwhile, under the Japanese human resources development aid project, a total of 25 Myanmar government employees will be sent to the East Asian country for study in the present 2010-2011 project year, an earlier report said.
The Myanmar trainees include those from the ministries of education, national planning and economic development, foreign affairs and agriculture and irrigation,
The trainees will study master degree for over two years in Japan with such major subjects as public policy and administration, law, economic, business administration, international relation, agricultural policy, information, communication and technology.
*****************************************************
China, Myanmar celebrate 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties
English.news.cn 2010-06-09 00:49:18
BEIJING, June 8 (Xinhua) -- China and Myanmar on Tuesday celebrated the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.
The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the Myanmar Embassy in China jointly hosted a reception in Beijing to mark the event.
Addressing the reception, Chen Haosu, president of CPAFFC, said China and Myanmar are good neighbors and that the two peoples maintain a profound brotherly friendship.
Cementing and promoting the traditional friendship between China and Myanmar not only serves the common interests of the two nations and the two peoples, but helps regional peace and development, Chen said.
Chen said China hopes to work with Myanmar to push forward bilateral ties to benefit the two peoples.
Visiting Myanmar foreign minister U Nyan Win said Myanmar will join China to promote the traditional brotherly friendship between the two peoples.
Sun Jiazheng, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), met with U Nyan Win before the reception.
Sun and U Nyan Win agreed China and Myanmar will make concerted efforts to take the opportunity of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties to boost cooperation between the two nations.
English.news.cn 2010-06-09 00:49:18
BEIJING, June 8 (Xinhua) -- China and Myanmar on Tuesday celebrated the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.
The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the Myanmar Embassy in China jointly hosted a reception in Beijing to mark the event.
Addressing the reception, Chen Haosu, president of CPAFFC, said China and Myanmar are good neighbors and that the two peoples maintain a profound brotherly friendship.
Cementing and promoting the traditional friendship between China and Myanmar not only serves the common interests of the two nations and the two peoples, but helps regional peace and development, Chen said.
Chen said China hopes to work with Myanmar to push forward bilateral ties to benefit the two peoples.
Visiting Myanmar foreign minister U Nyan Win said Myanmar will join China to promote the traditional brotherly friendship between the two peoples.
Sun Jiazheng, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), met with U Nyan Win before the reception.
Sun and U Nyan Win agreed China and Myanmar will make concerted efforts to take the opportunity of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties to boost cooperation between the two nations.
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Spero News - INDIA – MYANMAR A silent international community faces Myanmar’s nuclear ambitions
For the past ten years, Myanmar’s military junta has been involved in a secret nuclear weapons programme with the cooperation of North Korea. ASEAN and SAARC are doing nothing to stop the military regime in accordance with the principle of non-interference. “It is time for the world to act,” exiled ...
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
By Asia News
New Delhi – Myanmar’s military junta is trying to develop nuclear weapons and long-range missiles with the assistance of North Korea, this according to documents collected by the Norway-based group Democratic Voice of Burma. Nonetheless, Myanmar’s generals remain far from achieving their objective.
In the past, the military regime has always denied accusations that it sought a nuclear capability; however, back in May, United Nations experts monitoring North Korean nuclear tests said that Pyongyang was involved in nuclear activity in Iran, Syria and Myanmar.
If this were true, Myanmar would be the first nation in South-East Asia to entertain nuclear ambitions. In turn, this would radically change the geopolitical equation in a region where many players like Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand are close US allies.
AsiaNews spoke about it to Tint Swe, a member of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), a government-in-exile set up by Myanmar refugees following the victory by the National League for Democracy in the 1990 parliamentary elections, whose results were never accepted by the military junta.
He has lived in New Delhi since 21 December 1991 after escaping to India the year before.
From time to time, Burma draws media attraction with news about military coups, popular uprisings, news of Aung San Suu Kyi, and more. Its gross human rights violations, state-sponsored forced labour practices and the use of child soldiers are not however appealing enough to create outside attention. Condemnations and resolutions by world bodies do not make the headlines either. However, the last piece of news is like volcanic ashes covering this year’s unfair election.
The 37-page Nuclear Related Activities in Burma report by Robert E. Kelley and Ali Fowle could stir responsible media and the United States. A planned second visit by a US senator was cancelled because of that news.
Neighbouring countries, which could be within missile range, have not yet made any statement. However, the region’s big nuclear powers know very well what kind of complications and compulsions being nuclear can entail.
Experts are now calling for an independent assessment of the information received by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), an Oslo-based radio and TV broadcasting station run by Burma’s pro-democracy movement.
The writers of the report have urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IATA) to look into the claims.
Undoubtedly, for the people of Burma it is clear that the military leaders will do everything to hold onto power.
For the authors of the report, Myanmar’s junta has no political philosophy other than greed and are scared of losing power and their ill-gotten wealth, which they want to pass on trusted friends and relatives. What is more, the report mentions unrealistic attempts at molecular laser isotope separation, unprofessional engineering drawings and crudely conducted work.
Sadly, for many countries today international relations mean bypassing the real situation as told by suppressed peoples. Government-to-government relations are all that matters. Foreign ministers say that foreign policy is essentially about pragmatism, that nothing needs to be done if a neighbour goes nuclear.
Myanmar’s regime wants nuclear weapons to ensure its immunity because of the repeated crimes it committed against its own people.
The Association of South-East Asia Nations (ASEAN), whose members jointly signed the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty in 1995, can be proud of the nuclear ambitions of one of its members. Even though the junta continues to violate the human rights of its people, the other nine members uphold the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states.
ASEAN is not alone in this. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has embraced the junta.
Information gathering started five years ago. It reveals that a secret plan was started a decade ago. Yet, the junta’s nuclear ambitions were already known, years ago, but no one believed it. Now it is time for the world to act and stop the junta.
When nuclear experts from Pakistan travelled to Burma ten years ago, no one thought it was true.
When the unholy alliance between Burma and North Korea came to light, Burmese language radios reported it.
A suspicious North Korean ship, the Kang Nam I, docked at the port of Thilawa, whose shipyard was built by the China National Constructional and Agricultural Machinery Import and Export Co (CAMC) in early 2002. Only the United States took some steps against the North Korean ship. Materials from North Korea, Russia, Germany, Singapore, and Europe are already there, at Thabeikkyin, Pyin Oo Lwin, Myaing, and maybe at other unknown sites.
This credible report is the latest leak from classified information from the junta. Before, pro-democracy groups received leaked information that includes secret reports on a number of high profile visits; they include an official visit by General Maung Aye, the junta’s second in command, to Russia in April 2006 on the invitation of the prime minister of the Russian Federation; one by the regime’s number 3, General Thura Shwe Mann, who made a secret visit to North Korea in November 2008, as well as the minutes of a meeting between Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam and Burmese Senior General Than Shwe on 6 March 2006.
In January of this year, Major Win Naing Kyaw and U Thura Kyaw, a Foreign Ministry official, were sentenced to death for revealing state secrets. U Pyan Sein, a civilian, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The new hero, Major Sai Thein Win, has to be hiding somewhere on the planet if he does not want to become a second Mordecai Vanunu, a former Israeli nuclear technician who spent 18 years in prison for revealing details of Israel’s nuclear weapons programme in 1986. In
The constitution the junta adopted unilaterally last year during Cyclone Nargis is part of the military’s strategy.
Having nuclear ambitions means that the generals cannot share power with lawmakers form Aung San Suu Kyi’s party. They can only keep her under detention and eliminate the National League for Democracy.
The upcoming election is but another way to keep Burma’s nuclear nightmare alive.
For the past ten years, Myanmar’s military junta has been involved in a secret nuclear weapons programme with the cooperation of North Korea. ASEAN and SAARC are doing nothing to stop the military regime in accordance with the principle of non-interference. “It is time for the world to act,” exiled ...
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
By Asia News
New Delhi – Myanmar’s military junta is trying to develop nuclear weapons and long-range missiles with the assistance of North Korea, this according to documents collected by the Norway-based group Democratic Voice of Burma. Nonetheless, Myanmar’s generals remain far from achieving their objective.
In the past, the military regime has always denied accusations that it sought a nuclear capability; however, back in May, United Nations experts monitoring North Korean nuclear tests said that Pyongyang was involved in nuclear activity in Iran, Syria and Myanmar.
If this were true, Myanmar would be the first nation in South-East Asia to entertain nuclear ambitions. In turn, this would radically change the geopolitical equation in a region where many players like Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand are close US allies.
AsiaNews spoke about it to Tint Swe, a member of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), a government-in-exile set up by Myanmar refugees following the victory by the National League for Democracy in the 1990 parliamentary elections, whose results were never accepted by the military junta.
He has lived in New Delhi since 21 December 1991 after escaping to India the year before.
From time to time, Burma draws media attraction with news about military coups, popular uprisings, news of Aung San Suu Kyi, and more. Its gross human rights violations, state-sponsored forced labour practices and the use of child soldiers are not however appealing enough to create outside attention. Condemnations and resolutions by world bodies do not make the headlines either. However, the last piece of news is like volcanic ashes covering this year’s unfair election.
The 37-page Nuclear Related Activities in Burma report by Robert E. Kelley and Ali Fowle could stir responsible media and the United States. A planned second visit by a US senator was cancelled because of that news.
Neighbouring countries, which could be within missile range, have not yet made any statement. However, the region’s big nuclear powers know very well what kind of complications and compulsions being nuclear can entail.
Experts are now calling for an independent assessment of the information received by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), an Oslo-based radio and TV broadcasting station run by Burma’s pro-democracy movement.
The writers of the report have urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IATA) to look into the claims.
Undoubtedly, for the people of Burma it is clear that the military leaders will do everything to hold onto power.
For the authors of the report, Myanmar’s junta has no political philosophy other than greed and are scared of losing power and their ill-gotten wealth, which they want to pass on trusted friends and relatives. What is more, the report mentions unrealistic attempts at molecular laser isotope separation, unprofessional engineering drawings and crudely conducted work.
Sadly, for many countries today international relations mean bypassing the real situation as told by suppressed peoples. Government-to-government relations are all that matters. Foreign ministers say that foreign policy is essentially about pragmatism, that nothing needs to be done if a neighbour goes nuclear.
Myanmar’s regime wants nuclear weapons to ensure its immunity because of the repeated crimes it committed against its own people.
The Association of South-East Asia Nations (ASEAN), whose members jointly signed the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty in 1995, can be proud of the nuclear ambitions of one of its members. Even though the junta continues to violate the human rights of its people, the other nine members uphold the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states.
ASEAN is not alone in this. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has embraced the junta.
Information gathering started five years ago. It reveals that a secret plan was started a decade ago. Yet, the junta’s nuclear ambitions were already known, years ago, but no one believed it. Now it is time for the world to act and stop the junta.
When nuclear experts from Pakistan travelled to Burma ten years ago, no one thought it was true.
When the unholy alliance between Burma and North Korea came to light, Burmese language radios reported it.
A suspicious North Korean ship, the Kang Nam I, docked at the port of Thilawa, whose shipyard was built by the China National Constructional and Agricultural Machinery Import and Export Co (CAMC) in early 2002. Only the United States took some steps against the North Korean ship. Materials from North Korea, Russia, Germany, Singapore, and Europe are already there, at Thabeikkyin, Pyin Oo Lwin, Myaing, and maybe at other unknown sites.
This credible report is the latest leak from classified information from the junta. Before, pro-democracy groups received leaked information that includes secret reports on a number of high profile visits; they include an official visit by General Maung Aye, the junta’s second in command, to Russia in April 2006 on the invitation of the prime minister of the Russian Federation; one by the regime’s number 3, General Thura Shwe Mann, who made a secret visit to North Korea in November 2008, as well as the minutes of a meeting between Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam and Burmese Senior General Than Shwe on 6 March 2006.
In January of this year, Major Win Naing Kyaw and U Thura Kyaw, a Foreign Ministry official, were sentenced to death for revealing state secrets. U Pyan Sein, a civilian, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The new hero, Major Sai Thein Win, has to be hiding somewhere on the planet if he does not want to become a second Mordecai Vanunu, a former Israeli nuclear technician who spent 18 years in prison for revealing details of Israel’s nuclear weapons programme in 1986. In
The constitution the junta adopted unilaterally last year during Cyclone Nargis is part of the military’s strategy.
Having nuclear ambitions means that the generals cannot share power with lawmakers form Aung San Suu Kyi’s party. They can only keep her under detention and eliminate the National League for Democracy.
The upcoming election is but another way to keep Burma’s nuclear nightmare alive.
*****************************************************
KanglaOnline - India-Myanmar officials meet held at Tamu
The Imphal Free Press
From Our Correspondent
Moreh, Jun 8: An Indian delegation led by Srinivash Prasad (Councillor, Embassy of India,Yangoon) held a meeting with the Myanmarese counterpart regarding arrest of four Indian by the Mynamar Military from Ukhrul are on March 8, 2009.
The meeting was held at the Recreation Hall of Myanmar Police force located at Tamu today.
The Indian side also accompanied by SP Chandel-K.Radhashyam & SDPO Moreh/Imigration Officer (India) M.Rameshwor while the Myanmar side was led by Tamu Town Chairman Kaung Sang Oo, Deputy Director Imigration, Myanmar and OC of the Tamu Police Station (Myanmar).
Sources said the Myanmarese government is likely to release all the four Indian national arrested by its military and today’s talk was concentrated on the matter.
The Imphal Free Press
From Our Correspondent
Moreh, Jun 8: An Indian delegation led by Srinivash Prasad (Councillor, Embassy of India,Yangoon) held a meeting with the Myanmarese counterpart regarding arrest of four Indian by the Mynamar Military from Ukhrul are on March 8, 2009.
The meeting was held at the Recreation Hall of Myanmar Police force located at Tamu today.
The Indian side also accompanied by SP Chandel-K.Radhashyam & SDPO Moreh/Imigration Officer (India) M.Rameshwor while the Myanmar side was led by Tamu Town Chairman Kaung Sang Oo, Deputy Director Imigration, Myanmar and OC of the Tamu Police Station (Myanmar).
Sources said the Myanmarese government is likely to release all the four Indian national arrested by its military and today’s talk was concentrated on the matter.
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Assam Tribune - Crisis-hit Manipur to import rice from Myanmar
Surajit Khaund
GUWAHATI, June 8 – To overcome the food crisis due to the economic blockade called by various Naga groups, the Manipur Government will import 1000 MT of rice from Myanmar.
Manipur Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) which is engaged in promotion of small-scale industries and border trade, has been asked by the State Government to import the rice.
“We have submitted a proposal to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and we are waiting for its green signal,” highly-placed sources told this correspondent today. They further added that last year drought had severely affected rice production in the State and therefore the Government decided to import rice from Myanmar to meet the daily demand.
An indefinite economic blockade enforced by various Naga tribal groups to protest the Manipur government’s decision not to allow separatist leader T Muivah to visit his birthplace has literally brought the state to a halt.
According to available statistics, Manipur produces nearly 5.18 lakh MT rice annually against the demand 6.21 lakh MT. But last year the State produced only 2.50 lakh MT.
To speed up the process of rice import, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between North East Federation of International Trade (NEFIT) and Union of Myanmar Border Trade Chamber of Commerce, Tamu and Kaley at a meeting in Manipur recently.
Providing feedback on the MoU, M Chandra Kishore Singh, vice president of NEFIT informed that Myanmar Government was keen on expanding trade ties with the North-east.
“U San New Win, Director of Myanmar Border Trade who was present at the meeting laid emphasis on increasing bilateral trade by way of involving traders of both the nations,” he said.
It may be recalled that the Commerce Ministry has already granted permission to the Manipur Government to import 50,000 MT of rice from Myanmar annually. Myanmar is said to be the rice bowl in Asia and its three varieties-ayemin, sanshei and pasan are very popular in Manipur.
Singh informed that Indo-Myanmar border trade was still in the nascent state due to poor participation of the North East traders. “Though Myanmar is a big market for the North East traders, we are yet to reap the benefit. To create awareness among the traders, we are going to organise meets across the region soon,” he said.
Surajit Khaund
GUWAHATI, June 8 – To overcome the food crisis due to the economic blockade called by various Naga groups, the Manipur Government will import 1000 MT of rice from Myanmar.
Manipur Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) which is engaged in promotion of small-scale industries and border trade, has been asked by the State Government to import the rice.
“We have submitted a proposal to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and we are waiting for its green signal,” highly-placed sources told this correspondent today. They further added that last year drought had severely affected rice production in the State and therefore the Government decided to import rice from Myanmar to meet the daily demand.
An indefinite economic blockade enforced by various Naga tribal groups to protest the Manipur government’s decision not to allow separatist leader T Muivah to visit his birthplace has literally brought the state to a halt.
According to available statistics, Manipur produces nearly 5.18 lakh MT rice annually against the demand 6.21 lakh MT. But last year the State produced only 2.50 lakh MT.
To speed up the process of rice import, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between North East Federation of International Trade (NEFIT) and Union of Myanmar Border Trade Chamber of Commerce, Tamu and Kaley at a meeting in Manipur recently.
Providing feedback on the MoU, M Chandra Kishore Singh, vice president of NEFIT informed that Myanmar Government was keen on expanding trade ties with the North-east.
“U San New Win, Director of Myanmar Border Trade who was present at the meeting laid emphasis on increasing bilateral trade by way of involving traders of both the nations,” he said.
It may be recalled that the Commerce Ministry has already granted permission to the Manipur Government to import 50,000 MT of rice from Myanmar annually. Myanmar is said to be the rice bowl in Asia and its three varieties-ayemin, sanshei and pasan are very popular in Manipur.
Singh informed that Indo-Myanmar border trade was still in the nascent state due to poor participation of the North East traders. “Though Myanmar is a big market for the North East traders, we are yet to reap the benefit. To create awareness among the traders, we are going to organise meets across the region soon,” he said.
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The Malay Mail - Myanmar arrested for child abuse
Submitted by pekwan
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 12:56:00
KUALA LUMPUR: Police yesterday arrested a 40-year-old Myanmar in Sentul for allegedly abusing his 11-year-old daughter.
He was remanded today and the case has been classified under Section 31(1)(a) of Child Act.
Police sources close to the investigation said the man, who worked as a labourer, was picked up in the evening, a few hours after his daughter was found wandering aimlessly in the Batu Muda housing area by two schoolboys.
She told them she had run away from home because she could no longer tolerate her father’s constant beatings. They also found bruises and scars on her body. The boys then alerted the police.
Initial investigations revealed the victim’s two siblings were also abused by her father. It is learnt the debt-ridden suspect would abuse his children and wife every time creditors came knocking.
He would lash out at his family whenever he is unable to pay up. Source said there is a previous police report against him.
He was released with a warning after his wife retracted the report and pleaded with police for leniency as he was the family's sole breadwinner.
This time, however, he is expected to be charged. The 11-year-old and her siblings are now staying with their mother.
Submitted by pekwan
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 12:56:00
KUALA LUMPUR: Police yesterday arrested a 40-year-old Myanmar in Sentul for allegedly abusing his 11-year-old daughter.
He was remanded today and the case has been classified under Section 31(1)(a) of Child Act.
Police sources close to the investigation said the man, who worked as a labourer, was picked up in the evening, a few hours after his daughter was found wandering aimlessly in the Batu Muda housing area by two schoolboys.
She told them she had run away from home because she could no longer tolerate her father’s constant beatings. They also found bruises and scars on her body. The boys then alerted the police.
Initial investigations revealed the victim’s two siblings were also abused by her father. It is learnt the debt-ridden suspect would abuse his children and wife every time creditors came knocking.
He would lash out at his family whenever he is unable to pay up. Source said there is a previous police report against him.
He was released with a warning after his wife retracted the report and pleaded with police for leniency as he was the family's sole breadwinner.
This time, however, he is expected to be charged. The 11-year-old and her siblings are now staying with their mother.
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Japan Today - Tokyo court gives refugee status to woman from Myanmar ethnic minority
Wednesday 09th June, 05:19 AM JST
TOKYO — The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday nullified a state decision not to grant refugee status for a woman from Myanmar’s ethnic Chin minority. The court accepted the request from the 29-year-old woman who argued that she would likely face persecution if she returns to Myanmar because of her role in the campaign against the country’s military junta.
Presiding Judge Kazuhiro Yagi recognized that the woman supports the Chin National Front in its anti-government activities. She overstayed beyond the validity of her visa after coming to Japan in 2003 and had her request for refugee status, which was made in 2007, rejected.
Wednesday 09th June, 05:19 AM JST
TOKYO — The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday nullified a state decision not to grant refugee status for a woman from Myanmar’s ethnic Chin minority. The court accepted the request from the 29-year-old woman who argued that she would likely face persecution if she returns to Myanmar because of her role in the campaign against the country’s military junta.
Presiding Judge Kazuhiro Yagi recognized that the woman supports the Chin National Front in its anti-government activities. She overstayed beyond the validity of her visa after coming to Japan in 2003 and had her request for refugee status, which was made in 2007, rejected.
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The Irrawaddy - PM's Party Granted Registration
By SAW YAN NAING - Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein's Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) was approved by the Election Commission to contest in the upcoming general election, the state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported on Tuesday.
Thirty-two of the 33 new parties which have applied for registration have been approved, and the remaining party is under consideration, said the report.
The USDP was founded by Prime Minister Thein Sein along with 26 ministers and senior officials on April 29. All are members of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a junta-backed civic group.
The USDA was formed by the Burmese military regime in 1993. It claims to have more than 24 million members across Burma.
On Monday, the USDA pulled down its branch office signs in several townships in Rangoon Division, according to sources.
The removal of the signs was witnessed by residents in at least five townships including Kyauktada, Mingalar Taung Nyunt, Yankin, Ahlone and Tamwe.
There was no official explanation over the removal of the USDA signs. One source in Rangoon, however, said that the association had planned to remove its signs after approval by the Election Commission of the USDP.
According to a recent survey by The Irrawaddy, many people believe that the USDP will win a majority of seats in the upcoming election. That view was supported by 418 out of 450 people surveyed; the survey included government workers, military officers, army veterans, university students and civilians.
The majority of people said, however, said the USDP would be unlikely to win if the election were free and fair.
The USDP is now engaged in voting campaigns in many townships that include “incentives” such as lending money, drilling water wells, arranging for citizen ID cards, free tuition classes, and free medical treatment to people who agree to vote for party candidates, according to sources.
By SAW YAN NAING - Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein's Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) was approved by the Election Commission to contest in the upcoming general election, the state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported on Tuesday.
Thirty-two of the 33 new parties which have applied for registration have been approved, and the remaining party is under consideration, said the report.
The USDP was founded by Prime Minister Thein Sein along with 26 ministers and senior officials on April 29. All are members of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a junta-backed civic group.
The USDA was formed by the Burmese military regime in 1993. It claims to have more than 24 million members across Burma.
On Monday, the USDA pulled down its branch office signs in several townships in Rangoon Division, according to sources.
The removal of the signs was witnessed by residents in at least five townships including Kyauktada, Mingalar Taung Nyunt, Yankin, Ahlone and Tamwe.
There was no official explanation over the removal of the USDA signs. One source in Rangoon, however, said that the association had planned to remove its signs after approval by the Election Commission of the USDP.
According to a recent survey by The Irrawaddy, many people believe that the USDP will win a majority of seats in the upcoming election. That view was supported by 418 out of 450 people surveyed; the survey included government workers, military officers, army veterans, university students and civilians.
The majority of people said, however, said the USDP would be unlikely to win if the election were free and fair.
The USDP is now engaged in voting campaigns in many townships that include “incentives” such as lending money, drilling water wells, arranging for citizen ID cards, free tuition classes, and free medical treatment to people who agree to vote for party candidates, according to sources.
*****************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Army Increases Surveillance of Possible Defectors
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Security and surveillance surrounding possible defectors in the Burmese army has increased in the aftermath of a report disclosing the army's intent to acquire a nuclear program and missiles, according to Burmese military sources.
Military personnel in at least three secret sites in the country either related to tunnel construction or a possible nuclear program are now being questioned in regard to their loyalty and for any possible connection with Burmese army defector Maj Sai Thein Win, who disclosed information about an alleged nuclear program.
A source close to Rangoon Military Affair Security (MAS) said that more documents and photographs about a possible nuclear reactor and missile projects could be leaked.
Military headquarters has issued instructions to collect all leaked documents and photographs relating to secret tunnel and nuclear programs from the Internet websites of foreign media and foreign embassies.
“After leaks of more and more information about secret military projects to the outside world recently, we are now wondering if there will be another defector,” said an officer in Naypyidaw's military region command.
The defector, Maj Sai Thein Win, was believed to have had a personal relation with Maj-Gen Thein Htay, the deputy-chief of Defense Industries, who played a key role in modernizing equipment for the army and who supported the idea of a missile program.
Military sources said that Thein Htay had earned the trust of Snr-Gen Than Shwe and was involved in improving military facilities including tunnels for missiles, aircraft and even naval ships.
The Myanmar [Burma] Defense Industries, which consists of 13 major factories, manufacturers modern armaments, in addition to small arms, ammunition, mines and spare parts. Sources said MDI was interested in acquiring or making surface-to-surface missiles, in addition to nuclear weapons.
“The major challenge facing the top leaders is how to prevent their own people from going against them,” according to a source close to military units in Naypyidaw. “Now top leaders are more worried about the internal situation within the army than about how it is perceived by the outside world.”
In January, ex-Major Win Naing Kyaw and other two people were sentenced to life and long-term imprisonment in a special court in Insein prison for leaking military secrets to outside of the country.
Win Naing Kyaw is a former staff officer with the State Peace and Development Council Secretary-2, the late Lt-Gen Tin Oo.
Sources said that during the past few years, as many as 200 military officials have defected, many with overseas training. A military source outlined three major factors in the rise in army defectors: lack of strong connections with the regime's leadership, an extremely rigid bureaucracy and low pay.
The regime’s state-run TV and newspapers have not responded to the allegations broadcast by international media involving a nuclear reactor, tunnel building or missile manufacturing.
The video footage used by the Democratic Voice of Burma and Al-Jazeera about Burmese missile expert defector Maj Sai Thein Win is said to be popular among soldiers and officers in Burma, according to several military sources.
A military officer told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that many Burmese military personal acquired the news from foreign-based radio and TV stations.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Security and surveillance surrounding possible defectors in the Burmese army has increased in the aftermath of a report disclosing the army's intent to acquire a nuclear program and missiles, according to Burmese military sources.
Military personnel in at least three secret sites in the country either related to tunnel construction or a possible nuclear program are now being questioned in regard to their loyalty and for any possible connection with Burmese army defector Maj Sai Thein Win, who disclosed information about an alleged nuclear program.
A source close to Rangoon Military Affair Security (MAS) said that more documents and photographs about a possible nuclear reactor and missile projects could be leaked.
Military headquarters has issued instructions to collect all leaked documents and photographs relating to secret tunnel and nuclear programs from the Internet websites of foreign media and foreign embassies.
“After leaks of more and more information about secret military projects to the outside world recently, we are now wondering if there will be another defector,” said an officer in Naypyidaw's military region command.
The defector, Maj Sai Thein Win, was believed to have had a personal relation with Maj-Gen Thein Htay, the deputy-chief of Defense Industries, who played a key role in modernizing equipment for the army and who supported the idea of a missile program.
Military sources said that Thein Htay had earned the trust of Snr-Gen Than Shwe and was involved in improving military facilities including tunnels for missiles, aircraft and even naval ships.
The Myanmar [Burma] Defense Industries, which consists of 13 major factories, manufacturers modern armaments, in addition to small arms, ammunition, mines and spare parts. Sources said MDI was interested in acquiring or making surface-to-surface missiles, in addition to nuclear weapons.
“The major challenge facing the top leaders is how to prevent their own people from going against them,” according to a source close to military units in Naypyidaw. “Now top leaders are more worried about the internal situation within the army than about how it is perceived by the outside world.”
In January, ex-Major Win Naing Kyaw and other two people were sentenced to life and long-term imprisonment in a special court in Insein prison for leaking military secrets to outside of the country.
Win Naing Kyaw is a former staff officer with the State Peace and Development Council Secretary-2, the late Lt-Gen Tin Oo.
Sources said that during the past few years, as many as 200 military officials have defected, many with overseas training. A military source outlined three major factors in the rise in army defectors: lack of strong connections with the regime's leadership, an extremely rigid bureaucracy and low pay.
The regime’s state-run TV and newspapers have not responded to the allegations broadcast by international media involving a nuclear reactor, tunnel building or missile manufacturing.
The video footage used by the Democratic Voice of Burma and Al-Jazeera about Burmese missile expert defector Maj Sai Thein Win is said to be popular among soldiers and officers in Burma, according to several military sources.
A military officer told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that many Burmese military personal acquired the news from foreign-based radio and TV stations.
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DVB News - N Korea specialist eyed as Burma envoy
By FRANCIS WADE
Published: 9 June 2010
The US must appoint an envoy to Burma “without delay” in light of allegations that the pariah state is developing a nuclear weapons programme and has traded military hardware with North Korea, a senior US senator has said.
In a letter yesterday to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Jim Webb, who last week cancelled a trip to Burma after the allegations surfaced, called on Washington to examine “objectively and factually…and in a timely manner” the allegations.
He said that the appointment of an envoy was a requirement of the 2008 Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act, but that the position remained empty. An envoy, he said, would promote “multilateral sanctions, direct dialogue with the [Burmese junta] and democracy advocates, and support for nongovernmental organizations operating in Burma and neighbouring countries”.
The US ambassador to Thailand, Eric John, was given a “strong recommendation” by Webb as someone fit for this role, largely for his knowledge of East Asian affairs, which includes “long experience in dealing with the North Korean regime on issues that might be similar to those we will be facing in Burma”.
The US appears to take the warming relationship between Burma and North Korea as a real threat, but has remained coy about the extent of its knowledge on the relationship: Webb mentioned in his letter reports about a weapons shipment from North Korea to Burma this year, which the US is believed to have known about, but added that the state department was yet to publicly clarify the details.
State department spokesperson Philip Crowley told reporters yesterday that he and Clinton hadn’t yet seen the letter, but asserted that Burma remains a country “of significance” to the US. However he declined to answer whether the appointment of an envoy was a viable option for the US, saying only that Washington was “watching closely” the relationship with North Korea.
Part of the reason for US concern is its waning influence in Southeast Asia, which has allowed China to strengthen economic and political ties with, among others, Burma and North Korea. Huge gas sales to China have largely financed Burma’s weapons programme and have supported clandestine trade with Pyongyang, which appears to have evaded a tight UN arms embargo.
In his letter, Webb lamented the silence from the state department regarding recent weapons exports from North Korea to Burma; it is alleged that a ship offloaded cargo at a Rangoon port around April this year, although more specific details have not been released.
He said that he and his staff “worked for weeks to seek public clarification of this allegation, but the State Department provided none”. But as the results of a five-year investigation by DVB into Burma’s nuclear ambitions and its ties with North Korea began to surface last week, Webb cancelled what would have been his second visit to Burma.
By FRANCIS WADE
Published: 9 June 2010
The US must appoint an envoy to Burma “without delay” in light of allegations that the pariah state is developing a nuclear weapons programme and has traded military hardware with North Korea, a senior US senator has said.
In a letter yesterday to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Jim Webb, who last week cancelled a trip to Burma after the allegations surfaced, called on Washington to examine “objectively and factually…and in a timely manner” the allegations.
He said that the appointment of an envoy was a requirement of the 2008 Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act, but that the position remained empty. An envoy, he said, would promote “multilateral sanctions, direct dialogue with the [Burmese junta] and democracy advocates, and support for nongovernmental organizations operating in Burma and neighbouring countries”.
The US ambassador to Thailand, Eric John, was given a “strong recommendation” by Webb as someone fit for this role, largely for his knowledge of East Asian affairs, which includes “long experience in dealing with the North Korean regime on issues that might be similar to those we will be facing in Burma”.
The US appears to take the warming relationship between Burma and North Korea as a real threat, but has remained coy about the extent of its knowledge on the relationship: Webb mentioned in his letter reports about a weapons shipment from North Korea to Burma this year, which the US is believed to have known about, but added that the state department was yet to publicly clarify the details.
State department spokesperson Philip Crowley told reporters yesterday that he and Clinton hadn’t yet seen the letter, but asserted that Burma remains a country “of significance” to the US. However he declined to answer whether the appointment of an envoy was a viable option for the US, saying only that Washington was “watching closely” the relationship with North Korea.
Part of the reason for US concern is its waning influence in Southeast Asia, which has allowed China to strengthen economic and political ties with, among others, Burma and North Korea. Huge gas sales to China have largely financed Burma’s weapons programme and have supported clandestine trade with Pyongyang, which appears to have evaded a tight UN arms embargo.
In his letter, Webb lamented the silence from the state department regarding recent weapons exports from North Korea to Burma; it is alleged that a ship offloaded cargo at a Rangoon port around April this year, although more specific details have not been released.
He said that he and his staff “worked for weeks to seek public clarification of this allegation, but the State Department provided none”. But as the results of a five-year investigation by DVB into Burma’s nuclear ambitions and its ties with North Korea began to surface last week, Webb cancelled what would have been his second visit to Burma.
*****************************************************
DVB News - Burma elections ‘similar to Singapore’
By HTET AUNG KYAW
Published: 9 June 2010
The lengthy and arterial process of registering for elections in Burma this year mirrors that of Singapore, one of Burma’s principal economic backers, a prominent would-be candidate has said.
Political parties in Burma continue to await confirmation from the government-proxy Election Commission as to whether they can participate. The National Democratic Front (NDF), comprised of members of the now-disbanded National League for Democracy (NLD) party, expect to get a response by the end of the week.
But there are several hurdles that parties must conquer before being permitted to run: an application for party registration must be submitted; upon approval, a policy guideline must then be approved before a second phase of party registration takes place. Once this is granted, parties can erect a signboard and set out on the campaign trail.
“We generally understood that the [system] is similar to that of Singapore – to put the political parties under control by the law – which in reality will cause difficulties,” said Thein Nyunt, head of the NDF.
Analysts also claim that Singapore’s election commission is controlled by the prime minister’s office, while parliamentary seats are allocated to cronies prior to balloting: similar accusations have been levelled at the Burmese elections, the country’s first in 20 years.
Several parties have complained that election rules are severely restricting their progress in terms of establishing themselves within the election realm. Ohn Lwin, from the registered National Political Alliances party, said that parties must inform township and division-level authorities of their activities.
“If [the Election Commission] was not satisfied with our conditions and we do not qualify [to be a party] then why not just deny our registration? It’s not right to restrict us after approving the registration,” he said.
“Now different townships…are swarming with [government] intelligence people and locals are scared to attend our meetings or to join the party after seeing them. When we asked [intelligence] why they were there, they said that they were just collecting information assisting in case we needed help from them. But people are afraid of them.”
Thu Wei, head of the Democratic Party, a member of Burma’s ‘third force’, allied to neither opposition nor incumbent, said that the ruling junta had made sure there “wouldn’t be any worries for them” in elections this year.
“So I think they will make the elections free and fair. It doesn’t matter who gets hold of the power…[because] even if some other party has won, they will still transfer [the power].”
Additional reporting by Khin Hnin Htet
By HTET AUNG KYAW
Published: 9 June 2010
The lengthy and arterial process of registering for elections in Burma this year mirrors that of Singapore, one of Burma’s principal economic backers, a prominent would-be candidate has said.
Political parties in Burma continue to await confirmation from the government-proxy Election Commission as to whether they can participate. The National Democratic Front (NDF), comprised of members of the now-disbanded National League for Democracy (NLD) party, expect to get a response by the end of the week.
But there are several hurdles that parties must conquer before being permitted to run: an application for party registration must be submitted; upon approval, a policy guideline must then be approved before a second phase of party registration takes place. Once this is granted, parties can erect a signboard and set out on the campaign trail.
“We generally understood that the [system] is similar to that of Singapore – to put the political parties under control by the law – which in reality will cause difficulties,” said Thein Nyunt, head of the NDF.
Analysts also claim that Singapore’s election commission is controlled by the prime minister’s office, while parliamentary seats are allocated to cronies prior to balloting: similar accusations have been levelled at the Burmese elections, the country’s first in 20 years.
Several parties have complained that election rules are severely restricting their progress in terms of establishing themselves within the election realm. Ohn Lwin, from the registered National Political Alliances party, said that parties must inform township and division-level authorities of their activities.
“If [the Election Commission] was not satisfied with our conditions and we do not qualify [to be a party] then why not just deny our registration? It’s not right to restrict us after approving the registration,” he said.
“Now different townships…are swarming with [government] intelligence people and locals are scared to attend our meetings or to join the party after seeing them. When we asked [intelligence] why they were there, they said that they were just collecting information assisting in case we needed help from them. But people are afraid of them.”
Thu Wei, head of the Democratic Party, a member of Burma’s ‘third force’, allied to neither opposition nor incumbent, said that the ruling junta had made sure there “wouldn’t be any worries for them” in elections this year.
“So I think they will make the elections free and fair. It doesn’t matter who gets hold of the power…[because] even if some other party has won, they will still transfer [the power].”
Additional reporting by Khin Hnin Htet
*****************************************************
DVB News - Burma to fix gas prices
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 9 June 2010
Some 250 privatised petrol stations will open across Burma tomorrow with an apparent fix on prices at 2,500 kyat ($US2.5) per gallon.
But analyst Aung Thu Nyein believes the price fixing is more about security than economics, with fuel price hikes prompting both the 1988 uprising and the September 2007 ‘Saffron Revolution’.
The Weekly Eleven magazine in Burma said that the government will distribute the fuel at 2,350 kyat ($US2.35) on the gallon and forbid retailers from selling above the 2,500 kyat mark.
The problem of fluctuation of gas prices is compounded by Burma’s limited refining capabilities, which have degraded steadily since independence in 1948 through lack of investment and upkeep. As a result, the country is reliant upon imports of refined petrol or diesel – the process of refining crude oil is responsible for around 28 percent of the cost of the finished product.
At present crude prices are relatively low, but the trend over time, particularly with the rapid growth of the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China), means that prices are liable to rise. As a result, the oil producing cartel OPEC could increase steadily the cost on the barrel. If a country has the capability to refine oil, pump price can to an extent be controlled.
While international gas price increases will affect this, so will a country’s lack of foreign currency reserves needed to buy refined petroleum products. Many suspect this was the cause of the 2007 price rises in Burma in which both natural gas and petrol rose by around 500 percent, with no official explanation provided.
Australia-based Burma economics expert Sean Turnell points out that much of the Burmese government’s foreign reserve earnings are burrowed away in Singaporean banks in order to hide them from the public accounts, while the ruling generals can also utilise the discrepancy between official and real exchange rates.
But if the junta is unable to make use of the vast profits accrued from natural gas sales at realistic exchange rates, it is liable to run low on foreign exchange reserves. This issue is particularly concerning for them given the stringent US and EU sanctions on Burma that increase costs for business people trading outside the country.
Burmese citizens are also watchful of fuel price fluctuations given their reliance on power generators during the country’s frequent electricity blackouts. Electricity shortages were compounded by a leak on a gas pipeline used to generate electricity on 2 June which left the commercial hub Rangoon some 300 megawatts short of sufficient electricity supply.
A nation like China meanwhile enacts export limitations to control the price of commodities. The lack of a global market for raw materials keeps prices low and in turn keeps the economies higher up the chain flourishing; this is something that both the US and the EU have been heavily critical of.
In the case of Burma, export limitations on natural gas or crude oil, given greater refining capabilities, would help the nearly two billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves in Burma work for the Burmese economy, but at present such a provision seems a pipe dream.
Meanwhile the Burmese government’s foreign currency supervising commission has made what appears a welcome liberalisation by allowing foreign earnings to be used for imports, breaking from previous stipulation that only export earnings could officially be utilised to make imports. This could increase the flow of foreign currency into the nation, with such speculation causing the unofficial rate on the kyat to rise against the dollar.
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 9 June 2010
Some 250 privatised petrol stations will open across Burma tomorrow with an apparent fix on prices at 2,500 kyat ($US2.5) per gallon.
But analyst Aung Thu Nyein believes the price fixing is more about security than economics, with fuel price hikes prompting both the 1988 uprising and the September 2007 ‘Saffron Revolution’.
The Weekly Eleven magazine in Burma said that the government will distribute the fuel at 2,350 kyat ($US2.35) on the gallon and forbid retailers from selling above the 2,500 kyat mark.
The problem of fluctuation of gas prices is compounded by Burma’s limited refining capabilities, which have degraded steadily since independence in 1948 through lack of investment and upkeep. As a result, the country is reliant upon imports of refined petrol or diesel – the process of refining crude oil is responsible for around 28 percent of the cost of the finished product.
At present crude prices are relatively low, but the trend over time, particularly with the rapid growth of the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China), means that prices are liable to rise. As a result, the oil producing cartel OPEC could increase steadily the cost on the barrel. If a country has the capability to refine oil, pump price can to an extent be controlled.
While international gas price increases will affect this, so will a country’s lack of foreign currency reserves needed to buy refined petroleum products. Many suspect this was the cause of the 2007 price rises in Burma in which both natural gas and petrol rose by around 500 percent, with no official explanation provided.
Australia-based Burma economics expert Sean Turnell points out that much of the Burmese government’s foreign reserve earnings are burrowed away in Singaporean banks in order to hide them from the public accounts, while the ruling generals can also utilise the discrepancy between official and real exchange rates.
But if the junta is unable to make use of the vast profits accrued from natural gas sales at realistic exchange rates, it is liable to run low on foreign exchange reserves. This issue is particularly concerning for them given the stringent US and EU sanctions on Burma that increase costs for business people trading outside the country.
Burmese citizens are also watchful of fuel price fluctuations given their reliance on power generators during the country’s frequent electricity blackouts. Electricity shortages were compounded by a leak on a gas pipeline used to generate electricity on 2 June which left the commercial hub Rangoon some 300 megawatts short of sufficient electricity supply.
A nation like China meanwhile enacts export limitations to control the price of commodities. The lack of a global market for raw materials keeps prices low and in turn keeps the economies higher up the chain flourishing; this is something that both the US and the EU have been heavily critical of.
In the case of Burma, export limitations on natural gas or crude oil, given greater refining capabilities, would help the nearly two billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves in Burma work for the Burmese economy, but at present such a provision seems a pipe dream.
Meanwhile the Burmese government’s foreign currency supervising commission has made what appears a welcome liberalisation by allowing foreign earnings to be used for imports, breaking from previous stipulation that only export earnings could officially be utilised to make imports. This could increase the flow of foreign currency into the nation, with such speculation causing the unofficial rate on the kyat to rise against the dollar.
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