Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Burma Wants Freedom and Democracy (Weblog)
PROOF: BURMA'S MILITARY JUNTA LIED TO THE IAEA
Please forward widely
By Roland Watson
The Democratic Voice of Burma has published photos and other documentation from their source, Sai Thein Win, about the SPDC's nuclear ambitions.
Former IAEA Director Robert Kelley has examined this evidence and concluded that the ruling generals have “a clandestine nuclear program.”
Mr. Kelley also graciously noted that the new evidence confirms what groups such as Dictator Watch have previously revealed, albeit without tangible backing.
After being asked by the IAEA on June 14th to explain itself, the SPDC responded on June 19th that it did not have such a program:
“... the allegations made by the international media against Myanmar regarding the nuclear programme are groundless and unfounded; that no activity related to uranium conversion, enrichment, reactor construction or operation has been carried out in the past, is ongoing or is planned for the future in Myanmar...”
Dictator Watch is now in a position to prove that this is a bald-faced lie. We have secured hard evidence that confirms, and from a completely different direction, that the SPDC has nuclear designs. Evidence of this has actually been piling up for years, but our new documentation makes it incontrovertible.
We have obtained lists of the 660 students who constitute 2009's Batch 9 of the SPDC's State Scholar Program to Russia, and who are enrolled at a total of 14 different universities; as well as a list of 50 more students, we suspect from Batch 8, at one of the universities.
The lists give each student's name, passport number (for one institute we even have images of their passport ID page), rank in the Burma Army (for many), area of study, and, most importantly, the SPDC project for which they are being trained and their detailed educational specialties.
From Batch 9, 111 of the students, or 17%, are assigned to the "Nuclear" project. Some individuals assigned to other projects also have nuclear related specialties.
We have previously published information that the total State Scholar population, since its inception in 2001 (when Burma reached an agreement to purchase a nuclear reactor from Russia), is as high as 5,000 people.
The figure for Batch 9 makes this estimate appear completely reasonable.
Without doubt, hundreds and hundreds of people have been trained since 2001 for the Nuclear Project.
Some of the identified specialties are also quite revealing:
- Production of uranium
- Purification of uranium
- Nuclear power plant and installation
- Nuclear reactor control system
- Spent fuel reprocessing
Under a project called HRD, we find production of uranium metals, and zirconium cladding for enriched uranium fuel; under Computer Control, data processing in nuclear experiments; and under Rocket, fabrication of uranium plutonium mixed nitride.
While no one is openly being trained in “bomb-making,” the skills being taught in Russia would certainly prepare some of the students for the basics of atomic weapons manufacture. Also, as we have previously reported, a smaller group of Burmese students has studied in North Korea.
We have further learned that teams of North Korean and Chinese experts are now in Burma, although their precise activities are unclear: The Chinese technicians may be working on conventional heavy weapons, not nuclear.
An open question is where all of the nuclear specialists are being employed. Such a large group implies that there are many different facilities in operation. It also likely means that the Nuclear Project is broader than what seems apparent from the documentation of Sai Thein Win. There clearly remains a lot of investigation to do.
Indeed, we believe a close review of the lists will enlighten technically informed readers of many elements of the SPDC's overall military modernization program. If you know the general projects, and the specific areas of study, you should be able to deduce much about what is planned if not already underway.
The projects listed include:
Nuclear,
HRD, Rocket,
Tunnel,
various computer including Super Computer,
Aero,
Air Base,
Navy Base,
Hydro,
Geology,
Road and Bridge, and
Medical.
In light of all of this, it is an outright lie for the SPDC to say that it does not have a nuclear program. The IAEA and the International Community should reject the junta's statement and instead pursue the most vigorous steps to unveil, and counteract, its efforts to develop or otherwise obtain atomic weapons.
PDF LIST:
Moscow State Pedagogical University passports
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MGPUpp.pdf
Moscow State Pedagogical University
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MGPU.pdf
Moscow State University
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MSU.pdf
State Technical University – MADI
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MADI.pdf
Moscow Aviation Institute
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MAI.pdf
Moscow Institute of Aviation Technology
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MATI.pdf
Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MIET.pdf
Moscow State University of Railway Engineering
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MIIT.pdf
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MIPT.pdf
Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MISA.pdf
Moscow Power Engineering Institute
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MPEI.pdf
Moscow State Mining University
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MSMU.pdf
Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MUCTR.pdf
St. Petersburg State Marine Technical University
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/SMTU.pdf
Moscow State University of Technology – Stankin
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/Stankin.pdf
Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology - suspected Batch 8
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MIET8.pdf
DICTATOR WATCH
www.dictatorwatch.org
June 28, 2010
Burma Wants Freedom and Democracy (Weblog)
PROOF: BURMA'S MILITARY JUNTA LIED TO THE IAEA
Please forward widely
By Roland Watson
The Democratic Voice of Burma has published photos and other documentation from their source, Sai Thein Win, about the SPDC's nuclear ambitions.
Former IAEA Director Robert Kelley has examined this evidence and concluded that the ruling generals have “a clandestine nuclear program.”
Mr. Kelley also graciously noted that the new evidence confirms what groups such as Dictator Watch have previously revealed, albeit without tangible backing.
After being asked by the IAEA on June 14th to explain itself, the SPDC responded on June 19th that it did not have such a program:
“... the allegations made by the international media against Myanmar regarding the nuclear programme are groundless and unfounded; that no activity related to uranium conversion, enrichment, reactor construction or operation has been carried out in the past, is ongoing or is planned for the future in Myanmar...”
Dictator Watch is now in a position to prove that this is a bald-faced lie. We have secured hard evidence that confirms, and from a completely different direction, that the SPDC has nuclear designs. Evidence of this has actually been piling up for years, but our new documentation makes it incontrovertible.
We have obtained lists of the 660 students who constitute 2009's Batch 9 of the SPDC's State Scholar Program to Russia, and who are enrolled at a total of 14 different universities; as well as a list of 50 more students, we suspect from Batch 8, at one of the universities.
The lists give each student's name, passport number (for one institute we even have images of their passport ID page), rank in the Burma Army (for many), area of study, and, most importantly, the SPDC project for which they are being trained and their detailed educational specialties.
From Batch 9, 111 of the students, or 17%, are assigned to the "Nuclear" project. Some individuals assigned to other projects also have nuclear related specialties.
We have previously published information that the total State Scholar population, since its inception in 2001 (when Burma reached an agreement to purchase a nuclear reactor from Russia), is as high as 5,000 people.
The figure for Batch 9 makes this estimate appear completely reasonable.
Without doubt, hundreds and hundreds of people have been trained since 2001 for the Nuclear Project.
Some of the identified specialties are also quite revealing:
- Production of uranium
- Purification of uranium
- Nuclear power plant and installation
- Nuclear reactor control system
- Spent fuel reprocessing
Under a project called HRD, we find production of uranium metals, and zirconium cladding for enriched uranium fuel; under Computer Control, data processing in nuclear experiments; and under Rocket, fabrication of uranium plutonium mixed nitride.
While no one is openly being trained in “bomb-making,” the skills being taught in Russia would certainly prepare some of the students for the basics of atomic weapons manufacture. Also, as we have previously reported, a smaller group of Burmese students has studied in North Korea.
We have further learned that teams of North Korean and Chinese experts are now in Burma, although their precise activities are unclear: The Chinese technicians may be working on conventional heavy weapons, not nuclear.
An open question is where all of the nuclear specialists are being employed. Such a large group implies that there are many different facilities in operation. It also likely means that the Nuclear Project is broader than what seems apparent from the documentation of Sai Thein Win. There clearly remains a lot of investigation to do.
Indeed, we believe a close review of the lists will enlighten technically informed readers of many elements of the SPDC's overall military modernization program. If you know the general projects, and the specific areas of study, you should be able to deduce much about what is planned if not already underway.
The projects listed include:
Nuclear,
HRD, Rocket,
Tunnel,
various computer including Super Computer,
Aero,
Air Base,
Navy Base,
Hydro,
Geology,
Road and Bridge, and
Medical.
In light of all of this, it is an outright lie for the SPDC to say that it does not have a nuclear program. The IAEA and the International Community should reject the junta's statement and instead pursue the most vigorous steps to unveil, and counteract, its efforts to develop or otherwise obtain atomic weapons.
PDF LIST:
Moscow State Pedagogical University passports
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MGPUpp.pdf
Moscow State Pedagogical University
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MGPU.pdf
Moscow State University
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MSU.pdf
State Technical University – MADI
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MADI.pdf
Moscow Aviation Institute
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MAI.pdf
Moscow Institute of Aviation Technology
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MATI.pdf
Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MIET.pdf
Moscow State University of Railway Engineering
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MIIT.pdf
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MIPT.pdf
Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MISA.pdf
Moscow Power Engineering Institute
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MPEI.pdf
Moscow State Mining University
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MSMU.pdf
Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MUCTR.pdf
St. Petersburg State Marine Technical University
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/SMTU.pdf
Moscow State University of Technology – Stankin
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/Stankin.pdf
Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology - suspected Batch 8
http://www.dictatorwatch.org/images/MIET8.pdf
DICTATOR WATCH
www.dictatorwatch.org
June 28, 2010
*****************************************************
Rare white elephant captured in Myanmar jungle
Tue Jun 29, 8:11 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – A rare white elephant has been captured in the jungles of northwestern Myanmar, a mostly Buddhist country where the animals are considered good omens, state media reported Tuesday.
Forestry officials found the animal Saturday, acting on a tip, in the jungles of Maungdaw township in northwestern Rakhine state, the New Light of Myanmar reported, describing the elephant as about 38 years old and 7 feet and 4 inches (2.2 meters) tall.
White elephants, actually albinos, have for centuries been revered in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and other Asian nations. They were normally kept and pampered by monarchs and considered a symbol of royal power and prosperity.
The elephants are not necessarily white. They can look similar to other elephants except for certain features like fair eyelashes and toenails, light-colored hair or a reddish hue to the skin.
The newspaper did not say where the elephant would be housed. It will be the fourth white elephant held in captivity in Myanmar. The three others are at the Mindhamma Hill park, in suburban Yangon, where they live in an enclosure with spiraled pavilions, a manmade waterfall, ponds, trees and vegetation.
Soraida Salwala, of the Thailand-based Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation, said the group normally objects to placing elephants in captivity but stopped short of criticizing the capture of white elephants. In Thailand, all white elephants are traditionally handed over to the country's revered king.
"The white elephant is a sign of great blessings and fortune for the land," she said, adding that traditional Myanmar and Thai beliefs are similar on the subject.
Previous white elephants transported from the jungles have been heralded in lavish ceremonies where the Myanmar's military leaders sprinkle them with scented water laced with gold, silver and precious gems.
A war was fought in the 16th century between Thailand and Myanmar, then Siam and Burma respectively, over disputed ownership of four white elephants.
Tue Jun 29, 8:11 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – A rare white elephant has been captured in the jungles of northwestern Myanmar, a mostly Buddhist country where the animals are considered good omens, state media reported Tuesday.
Forestry officials found the animal Saturday, acting on a tip, in the jungles of Maungdaw township in northwestern Rakhine state, the New Light of Myanmar reported, describing the elephant as about 38 years old and 7 feet and 4 inches (2.2 meters) tall.
White elephants, actually albinos, have for centuries been revered in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and other Asian nations. They were normally kept and pampered by monarchs and considered a symbol of royal power and prosperity.
The elephants are not necessarily white. They can look similar to other elephants except for certain features like fair eyelashes and toenails, light-colored hair or a reddish hue to the skin.
The newspaper did not say where the elephant would be housed. It will be the fourth white elephant held in captivity in Myanmar. The three others are at the Mindhamma Hill park, in suburban Yangon, where they live in an enclosure with spiraled pavilions, a manmade waterfall, ponds, trees and vegetation.
Soraida Salwala, of the Thailand-based Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation, said the group normally objects to placing elephants in captivity but stopped short of criticizing the capture of white elephants. In Thailand, all white elephants are traditionally handed over to the country's revered king.
"The white elephant is a sign of great blessings and fortune for the land," she said, adding that traditional Myanmar and Thai beliefs are similar on the subject.
Previous white elephants transported from the jungles have been heralded in lavish ceremonies where the Myanmar's military leaders sprinkle them with scented water laced with gold, silver and precious gems.
A war was fought in the 16th century between Thailand and Myanmar, then Siam and Burma respectively, over disputed ownership of four white elephants.
*****************************************************
Jun 30, 2010
Asia Times Online - Deception and denials in Myanmar
By Bertil Lintner
BANGKOK - Myanmar's military government issued pro-forma denials after al-Jazeera aired an investigative report by the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) alleging that Myanmar is attempting to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. But as the international community weighs the evidence, the regime could soon face United Nations-imposed sanctions for its military dealings with North Korea.
On June 11, a week after the television network showed the program, Myanmar's Foreign Ministry issued a statement claiming that "anti-government groups" in collusion with the international media had made the allegation with the goal of "hindering Myanmar's democratic process and tarnishing the political image of the government". Myanmar "is a developing nation" which "lacks adequate infrastructure, technology and finance to develop nuclear weapons", the statement continued.
The North Koreans issued a similar denial, blaming the United States for the report. Ten days after the Myanmar denial, the official Korean Central News Agency reported: "The United States is now making much fuss, floating the sheer fiction that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [North Korea] is helping Myanmar in its 'nuclear development', not content with labeling the DPRK 'provocative' and 'bellicose'."
In its next sentence, the report denounced US State Department spokesman Philip J Crowley for what Pyongyang seemed to consider an equally serious crime. Crowley, the KCNA stated, had been "making false reports that the DPRK conducted unlicensed TV relay broadcasts about the World Cup matches".
While the North Korean statement could be dismissed as comical, the Myanmar Foreign Ministry's denial is more revealing. It did not mention Myanmar's program to develop ballistic missiles or the extensive network of bunkers, culverts and underground storage facilities for the military that has been constructed near the new capital Naypyidaw and elsewhere where the North Koreans have reportedly been active.
More intriguingly, the Foreign Ministry found it necessary to deny reports that a North Korean ship that docked in Myanmar on April 12 this year was carrying military-related material. The ship, the ministry said, "was on a routine trip to unload cement and to take on 10,000 tons of Myanmar rice".
However, if carrying only innocuous civilian goods, as the statement maintains, there would seemingly have been no reason for authorities to cut electricity around the area when the Chong Gen, a North Korean ship flying the Mongolian flag of convenience, docked on the outskirts of Yangon.
According to intelligence sources, security was tight as military personnel offloaded heavy material, including Korean-made air defense radars. The ship left the port with a return cargo of rice and sugar, which could mean that it was, at least in part, a barter deal. On January 31 this year, another North Korean ship, the Yang M V Han A, reportedly delivered missile components also at Yangon's Thilawa port.
Rogue ties
In November 2008, General Shwe Mann, the third-highest ranking member of the ruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council, paid a visit to North Korea. It was supposed to be a secret trip, but the visit was leaked to Myanmar exiles and reports of his rounds appeared on several Internet news sites. During the visit, Shwe Mann was taken to a missile factory and an air defense radar facility and a memorandum of understanding was signed to outline the nature of cooperation between the two countries, which only recently reestablished diplomatic relations.
However, the full extent of the North Korean presence in Myanmar is still a matter of conjecture. The first report of a delegation from Myanmar making a secret visit to Pyongyang dates to November 2000, where the two sides held talks with high-ranking officials of North Korea's Ministry of the People's Armed Forces. In June 2001, a high-level North Korean delegation led by Vice Foreign Minister Park Kil-yon paid a return visit to Yangon, where it met Myanmar's Deputy Defense Minister Khin Maung Win and reportedly discussed defense-industry cooperation.
In 2003, the first group of North Korean technicians were spotted at naval facilities near the then-capital Yangon. North Korean planes were also seen landing at military airfields in central Myanmar. Three years later, North Korean tunneling experts arrived at Naypyidaw, and Myanmar military sources began to leak photographs of the North Koreans as well as the underground installations they were involved in digging under and near the new capital.
On June 24, the DVB reported that a new radar and missile base had been completed near Mohnyin in Myanmar's northern Kachin State. It is not clear in which direction the installations are pointed, as Mohnyin is located on the railway line that cuts through Kachin State and is approximately equidistant between the Indian and Chinese borders.
Work on similar radar and missile bases has been reported from Kengtung in eastern Shan State, 160 kilometers north of the Thai border town of Mae Sai. Since Myanmar is not known to have imported radars and missile components from any country other than North Korea, the installations would appear to be one of the first visible outcomes of a decade of military cooperation.
Until recently reports of such cooperation were met with skepticism among analysts because Myanmar had severed diplomatic relations with North Korea in 1983 after three secret agents planted a bomb at Yangon's Martyrs' Mausoleum and killed 18 visiting South Korean officials, including then-deputy prime minister So Suk-chun and three other government ministers. But the two pariah states seem to have built a bond around their common antagonism with the United States.
Expert confirmation
The DVB investigative report shed new light on the nature of this secretive cooperation and of Myanmar's nuclear ambitions. Photographs and documents smuggled out of the country by a defector from the Myanmar army, Major Sai Thein Win, were scrutinized by international arms experts and found to be credible.
Among the experts was Robert Kelley, a former Los Alamos weapons scientist who was a director with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2001 to 2005. Now based in Vienna, he conducted weapons inspections in Libya, Iraq, and South Africa, as well as compliance inspections in Egypt, Turkey, South Korea, Taiwan, Syria, Tanzania, Pakistan, India, and Congo, among others.
Kelley concluded after a careful study of material produced by Sai Thein Win and other Myanmar military defectors: "Our assessment of multiple sources is that Burma [Myanmar] is really developing nuclear technology, that it has built specialized equipment and facilities, and it has issued orders to cadre to build a program."
It remains to be proven that the North Koreans are involved in Myanmar's fledgling nuclear program. Even if they are, it is not clear how advanced Myanmar's program may be. Many skeptics assume the project is an illusion of grandeur bordering on megalomania among Myanmar's ruling generals.
North Korean involvement in Myanmar's missile program is more certain, but even so it is unclear that the country's largely unskilled technicians would be able to produce a missile that works. One intelligence source described it as more of a "phallic fantasy", a large projectile that Myanmar's generals would like to show off at the annual March 27 Armed Forces Day parade. "Just imagine how proud they would be to see a truck towing a big and impressive missile past the grandstand," the source said.
Western intelligence sources are aware of the current presence of 30 to 40 North Korean missile technicians at a facility near Minhla on the Irrawaddy River in Magwe Division. At least some of the technicians reportedly arrived overland by bus from China, to make it appear as if they were Chinese tourists.
According to a Myanmar source with knowledge of the area: "There are several defense industries, DI, around Minhla. More importantly, these are not very far from the Sidotara Dam and suspected DI-20, Pwintbyu and Myaing. In other words, there are many military activities in that area."
In power-starved Myanmar, it is logical that defense production facilities have been situated near a power-generating dam. Myaing is where Sai Thein Win worked as deputy commander of a top-secret military factory before he defected earlier this year. While Myanmar authorities have denied his testimonies publicly, intelligence agents swooped on his home town of Kyaukme in Shan State soon after the DVB report was aired internationally. His family has been interrogated, but so far no one has been arrested.
On the contrary, the Shan Herald Agency for News, an exile-run news group in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, reports that Sai Thein Win has become somewhat of a local hero since he went public with his revelations. "Among the security officials who visited Kyaukme, one was also reported to have said that he admired Sai's courage and his 'well done expose'," the news group reported.
If accurately reported, that sentiment would reflect one reason why Sai Thein Win decided to defect: Myanmar's experiments with nuclear technology and missiles amount to little more than a waste of money in a country that desperately needs more funds dedicated to public health and education.
Meanwhile, the regime's budding cooperation with North Korea threatens to cost the country more internationally. US Senator Jim Webb, a staunch advocate of engagement with Myanmar's ruling generals, was forced to cancel his scheduled visit to the country when he learned al-Jazeera would air the DVB report while he was there.
As it becomes increasingly apparent that both countries have violated United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874, which bans North Korea from exporting all types of weapons, Myanmar could soon be penalized with more international sanctions. The prospect of that happening - and already deep dissatisfaction over the close relationship with a pariah regime like Pyongyang, which is even more isolated than the one in Naypyidaw - is reportedly stoking resentment among the Myanmar officer corps.
Other officers like Sai Thein Win may therefore be waiting in the wings for an opportunity to defect and shed more light on Myanmar's deep and dark nuclear secrets.
Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review and the author of Great Leader, Dear Leader: Demystifying North Korea Under the Kim Clan. He is currently a writer with Asia Pacific Media Services.
Asia Times Online - Deception and denials in Myanmar
By Bertil Lintner
BANGKOK - Myanmar's military government issued pro-forma denials after al-Jazeera aired an investigative report by the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) alleging that Myanmar is attempting to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. But as the international community weighs the evidence, the regime could soon face United Nations-imposed sanctions for its military dealings with North Korea.
On June 11, a week after the television network showed the program, Myanmar's Foreign Ministry issued a statement claiming that "anti-government groups" in collusion with the international media had made the allegation with the goal of "hindering Myanmar's democratic process and tarnishing the political image of the government". Myanmar "is a developing nation" which "lacks adequate infrastructure, technology and finance to develop nuclear weapons", the statement continued.
The North Koreans issued a similar denial, blaming the United States for the report. Ten days after the Myanmar denial, the official Korean Central News Agency reported: "The United States is now making much fuss, floating the sheer fiction that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [North Korea] is helping Myanmar in its 'nuclear development', not content with labeling the DPRK 'provocative' and 'bellicose'."
In its next sentence, the report denounced US State Department spokesman Philip J Crowley for what Pyongyang seemed to consider an equally serious crime. Crowley, the KCNA stated, had been "making false reports that the DPRK conducted unlicensed TV relay broadcasts about the World Cup matches".
While the North Korean statement could be dismissed as comical, the Myanmar Foreign Ministry's denial is more revealing. It did not mention Myanmar's program to develop ballistic missiles or the extensive network of bunkers, culverts and underground storage facilities for the military that has been constructed near the new capital Naypyidaw and elsewhere where the North Koreans have reportedly been active.
More intriguingly, the Foreign Ministry found it necessary to deny reports that a North Korean ship that docked in Myanmar on April 12 this year was carrying military-related material. The ship, the ministry said, "was on a routine trip to unload cement and to take on 10,000 tons of Myanmar rice".
However, if carrying only innocuous civilian goods, as the statement maintains, there would seemingly have been no reason for authorities to cut electricity around the area when the Chong Gen, a North Korean ship flying the Mongolian flag of convenience, docked on the outskirts of Yangon.
According to intelligence sources, security was tight as military personnel offloaded heavy material, including Korean-made air defense radars. The ship left the port with a return cargo of rice and sugar, which could mean that it was, at least in part, a barter deal. On January 31 this year, another North Korean ship, the Yang M V Han A, reportedly delivered missile components also at Yangon's Thilawa port.
Rogue ties
In November 2008, General Shwe Mann, the third-highest ranking member of the ruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council, paid a visit to North Korea. It was supposed to be a secret trip, but the visit was leaked to Myanmar exiles and reports of his rounds appeared on several Internet news sites. During the visit, Shwe Mann was taken to a missile factory and an air defense radar facility and a memorandum of understanding was signed to outline the nature of cooperation between the two countries, which only recently reestablished diplomatic relations.
However, the full extent of the North Korean presence in Myanmar is still a matter of conjecture. The first report of a delegation from Myanmar making a secret visit to Pyongyang dates to November 2000, where the two sides held talks with high-ranking officials of North Korea's Ministry of the People's Armed Forces. In June 2001, a high-level North Korean delegation led by Vice Foreign Minister Park Kil-yon paid a return visit to Yangon, where it met Myanmar's Deputy Defense Minister Khin Maung Win and reportedly discussed defense-industry cooperation.
In 2003, the first group of North Korean technicians were spotted at naval facilities near the then-capital Yangon. North Korean planes were also seen landing at military airfields in central Myanmar. Three years later, North Korean tunneling experts arrived at Naypyidaw, and Myanmar military sources began to leak photographs of the North Koreans as well as the underground installations they were involved in digging under and near the new capital.
On June 24, the DVB reported that a new radar and missile base had been completed near Mohnyin in Myanmar's northern Kachin State. It is not clear in which direction the installations are pointed, as Mohnyin is located on the railway line that cuts through Kachin State and is approximately equidistant between the Indian and Chinese borders.
Work on similar radar and missile bases has been reported from Kengtung in eastern Shan State, 160 kilometers north of the Thai border town of Mae Sai. Since Myanmar is not known to have imported radars and missile components from any country other than North Korea, the installations would appear to be one of the first visible outcomes of a decade of military cooperation.
Until recently reports of such cooperation were met with skepticism among analysts because Myanmar had severed diplomatic relations with North Korea in 1983 after three secret agents planted a bomb at Yangon's Martyrs' Mausoleum and killed 18 visiting South Korean officials, including then-deputy prime minister So Suk-chun and three other government ministers. But the two pariah states seem to have built a bond around their common antagonism with the United States.
Expert confirmation
The DVB investigative report shed new light on the nature of this secretive cooperation and of Myanmar's nuclear ambitions. Photographs and documents smuggled out of the country by a defector from the Myanmar army, Major Sai Thein Win, were scrutinized by international arms experts and found to be credible.
Among the experts was Robert Kelley, a former Los Alamos weapons scientist who was a director with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1992 to 1993 and again from 2001 to 2005. Now based in Vienna, he conducted weapons inspections in Libya, Iraq, and South Africa, as well as compliance inspections in Egypt, Turkey, South Korea, Taiwan, Syria, Tanzania, Pakistan, India, and Congo, among others.
Kelley concluded after a careful study of material produced by Sai Thein Win and other Myanmar military defectors: "Our assessment of multiple sources is that Burma [Myanmar] is really developing nuclear technology, that it has built specialized equipment and facilities, and it has issued orders to cadre to build a program."
It remains to be proven that the North Koreans are involved in Myanmar's fledgling nuclear program. Even if they are, it is not clear how advanced Myanmar's program may be. Many skeptics assume the project is an illusion of grandeur bordering on megalomania among Myanmar's ruling generals.
North Korean involvement in Myanmar's missile program is more certain, but even so it is unclear that the country's largely unskilled technicians would be able to produce a missile that works. One intelligence source described it as more of a "phallic fantasy", a large projectile that Myanmar's generals would like to show off at the annual March 27 Armed Forces Day parade. "Just imagine how proud they would be to see a truck towing a big and impressive missile past the grandstand," the source said.
Western intelligence sources are aware of the current presence of 30 to 40 North Korean missile technicians at a facility near Minhla on the Irrawaddy River in Magwe Division. At least some of the technicians reportedly arrived overland by bus from China, to make it appear as if they were Chinese tourists.
According to a Myanmar source with knowledge of the area: "There are several defense industries, DI, around Minhla. More importantly, these are not very far from the Sidotara Dam and suspected DI-20, Pwintbyu and Myaing. In other words, there are many military activities in that area."
In power-starved Myanmar, it is logical that defense production facilities have been situated near a power-generating dam. Myaing is where Sai Thein Win worked as deputy commander of a top-secret military factory before he defected earlier this year. While Myanmar authorities have denied his testimonies publicly, intelligence agents swooped on his home town of Kyaukme in Shan State soon after the DVB report was aired internationally. His family has been interrogated, but so far no one has been arrested.
On the contrary, the Shan Herald Agency for News, an exile-run news group in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, reports that Sai Thein Win has become somewhat of a local hero since he went public with his revelations. "Among the security officials who visited Kyaukme, one was also reported to have said that he admired Sai's courage and his 'well done expose'," the news group reported.
If accurately reported, that sentiment would reflect one reason why Sai Thein Win decided to defect: Myanmar's experiments with nuclear technology and missiles amount to little more than a waste of money in a country that desperately needs more funds dedicated to public health and education.
Meanwhile, the regime's budding cooperation with North Korea threatens to cost the country more internationally. US Senator Jim Webb, a staunch advocate of engagement with Myanmar's ruling generals, was forced to cancel his scheduled visit to the country when he learned al-Jazeera would air the DVB report while he was there.
As it becomes increasingly apparent that both countries have violated United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874, which bans North Korea from exporting all types of weapons, Myanmar could soon be penalized with more international sanctions. The prospect of that happening - and already deep dissatisfaction over the close relationship with a pariah regime like Pyongyang, which is even more isolated than the one in Naypyidaw - is reportedly stoking resentment among the Myanmar officer corps.
Other officers like Sai Thein Win may therefore be waiting in the wings for an opportunity to defect and shed more light on Myanmar's deep and dark nuclear secrets.
Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review and the author of Great Leader, Dear Leader: Demystifying North Korea Under the Kim Clan. He is currently a writer with Asia Pacific Media Services.
*****************************************************
The Huffington Post - The Burmese Elections: Prolonging the Misery and Postponing the Inevitable
Cynthia Boaz
Asst. Prof. of Political Science, Consultant on Nonviolent Action and Strategy
Posted: June 28, 2010 10:13 PM
Burma (aka Myanmar) is of the world's most brutal regimes and unfortunately, it is also amongst the least well understood. In terms of trade and communications, the country is as closed as North Korea and nearly as isolated as Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Its human rights abuses are widespread and increasing. The junta has one of the worst images in the world. It has very few friends and even it's powerful regional allies (China and India) keep a safe public distance so as not to catch any of the generals' political cooties.
Although the monk-led nonviolent Saffron Revolution, which hit a peak of public activity in the fall of 2007, has failed thus far to bring an end to the repression, the movement (which was a continuation of the student-led uprising from 1988) still persists. Brave activists risk their lives every day to move information in and out of the country, hoping to give global audiences a glimpse of the horrifying truth behind the veil.
The junta is holding elections sometime later in the year (best guesstimates are for October 10- which would make the date 10/10/10, a date consistent with the paranoid generals' fixation on numerology and superstition), but Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy party, which won 81% of the seats in the 1990 parliamentary elections (before the junta declared the victory fraudulent), has been imprisoned or under house arrest for most of the past 22 years and has been banned by the junta from participating in the elections. In protest, the NLD has also withdrawn from the elections. Which means that the people will have very little means constructive means through which to channel their discontent and hope for a free and democratic Burma unless the pro-democracy movement can organize an opposition force within the next three months, a feat that would be daunting even in an open society that permitted freedom of speech, association and movement.
So the conventional wisdom is that the junta will "win" the election and that this will "reinforce their power." This is a dangerous presumption, based on a common and deeply-embedded misconception that violence equals power. The generals will probably win the election because they have beaten, killed, imprisoned and otherwise bullied their competition out of the running. And where the process is corrupted, the result can not be legitimate. So the election will not reinforce the junta's power. It will simply reinforce the lie that the junta has real power.
Political legitimacy can be understood as the situation where the regime still stands even when the threat of force is removed. If the junta in Burma allowed for a fair and competitive election, they would lose. Resoundingly. Which means that the election is nothing more than a farce, designed to placate the increasingly global community with a show of "legitimacy." Because these particular tyrants seem even more removed from reality than many of their counterparts around the world, it is likely that their margin of victory will be enormous (in a healthy democratic election, it is very unusual to get a margin of victory of more than 10 percentage points, and where the incumbent party gets more than 70% in a national election, more times than not it is an indicator of corruption or fraud.)
The purpose of a democratic election is to 1) ascertain the best social choice, and 2) bestow legitimacy on the legislative/executive authority. If the process is manipulated so that neither of these things can happen, the outcome is meaningless. Understanding this, it is disappointing to think that any legitimate media observers take this farce of an election to be anything but a pathetic demonstration to the world that the generals can still repress their own people with the worst of them.
With their brutality against Buddhist monks- the soul of Burma- the junta gave away their last bits of moral authority. And this farce election is evidence that their last shreds of political legitimacy have evaporated. The international community has an obligation, at the very least, to recognize this inevitable "victory" for what it is- the last gasp of a decaying system. Sadly, the generals have demonstrated that they do not intend to go down alone. They'll spread the misery as far and wide as possible. But each act of brutality girds the people's will to resist them, and while the junta may again stretch out their tenure, these elections should be viewed not as a beginning, but as the beginning of the end.
Follow Cynthia Boaz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cynthiaboaz
Cynthia Boaz
Asst. Prof. of Political Science, Consultant on Nonviolent Action and Strategy
Posted: June 28, 2010 10:13 PM
Burma (aka Myanmar) is of the world's most brutal regimes and unfortunately, it is also amongst the least well understood. In terms of trade and communications, the country is as closed as North Korea and nearly as isolated as Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Its human rights abuses are widespread and increasing. The junta has one of the worst images in the world. It has very few friends and even it's powerful regional allies (China and India) keep a safe public distance so as not to catch any of the generals' political cooties.
Although the monk-led nonviolent Saffron Revolution, which hit a peak of public activity in the fall of 2007, has failed thus far to bring an end to the repression, the movement (which was a continuation of the student-led uprising from 1988) still persists. Brave activists risk their lives every day to move information in and out of the country, hoping to give global audiences a glimpse of the horrifying truth behind the veil.
The junta is holding elections sometime later in the year (best guesstimates are for October 10- which would make the date 10/10/10, a date consistent with the paranoid generals' fixation on numerology and superstition), but Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy party, which won 81% of the seats in the 1990 parliamentary elections (before the junta declared the victory fraudulent), has been imprisoned or under house arrest for most of the past 22 years and has been banned by the junta from participating in the elections. In protest, the NLD has also withdrawn from the elections. Which means that the people will have very little means constructive means through which to channel their discontent and hope for a free and democratic Burma unless the pro-democracy movement can organize an opposition force within the next three months, a feat that would be daunting even in an open society that permitted freedom of speech, association and movement.
So the conventional wisdom is that the junta will "win" the election and that this will "reinforce their power." This is a dangerous presumption, based on a common and deeply-embedded misconception that violence equals power. The generals will probably win the election because they have beaten, killed, imprisoned and otherwise bullied their competition out of the running. And where the process is corrupted, the result can not be legitimate. So the election will not reinforce the junta's power. It will simply reinforce the lie that the junta has real power.
Political legitimacy can be understood as the situation where the regime still stands even when the threat of force is removed. If the junta in Burma allowed for a fair and competitive election, they would lose. Resoundingly. Which means that the election is nothing more than a farce, designed to placate the increasingly global community with a show of "legitimacy." Because these particular tyrants seem even more removed from reality than many of their counterparts around the world, it is likely that their margin of victory will be enormous (in a healthy democratic election, it is very unusual to get a margin of victory of more than 10 percentage points, and where the incumbent party gets more than 70% in a national election, more times than not it is an indicator of corruption or fraud.)
The purpose of a democratic election is to 1) ascertain the best social choice, and 2) bestow legitimacy on the legislative/executive authority. If the process is manipulated so that neither of these things can happen, the outcome is meaningless. Understanding this, it is disappointing to think that any legitimate media observers take this farce of an election to be anything but a pathetic demonstration to the world that the generals can still repress their own people with the worst of them.
With their brutality against Buddhist monks- the soul of Burma- the junta gave away their last bits of moral authority. And this farce election is evidence that their last shreds of political legitimacy have evaporated. The international community has an obligation, at the very least, to recognize this inevitable "victory" for what it is- the last gasp of a decaying system. Sadly, the generals have demonstrated that they do not intend to go down alone. They'll spread the misery as far and wide as possible. But each act of brutality girds the people's will to resist them, and while the junta may again stretch out their tenure, these elections should be viewed not as a beginning, but as the beginning of the end.
Follow Cynthia Boaz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cynthiaboaz
*****************************************************
Four new Myanmar private banks to open in new capital next month
English.news.cn 2010-06-28 20:56:38
YANGON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Four new Myanmar private banks will open in Myanmar's new capital of Nay Pyi Taw next month for business operation, the bankers circle said on Monday.
The four new private banks, namely the Asia Green, Leader Myanmar, Amera and Ayeyarwaddy, are respectively owned by four giant entrepreneurs -- U Tay Za (Htoo trading company group), U Zaw Zaw (Max Myanmar Co.Ltd), U Nay Aung (IGE) and U Chit Khine ( Ayedin Co. Ltd).
Based in Nay Pyi Taw, each of these banks will further establish 10 branch banks across the country later, the sources said.
There are 15 private banks in operation in Myanmar, 13 of which are located in the former capital city of Yangon.
Private banks were once nationalized in Myanmar in 1963 during the previous government but after the country started to adopt the market-oriented economic system in late 1988, private banks were allowed to operate again since 1992.
There are also four state banks in addition to the 15 private ones in Myanmar which are all governed by the government's Central Bank.
English.news.cn 2010-06-28 20:56:38
YANGON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Four new Myanmar private banks will open in Myanmar's new capital of Nay Pyi Taw next month for business operation, the bankers circle said on Monday.
The four new private banks, namely the Asia Green, Leader Myanmar, Amera and Ayeyarwaddy, are respectively owned by four giant entrepreneurs -- U Tay Za (Htoo trading company group), U Zaw Zaw (Max Myanmar Co.Ltd), U Nay Aung (IGE) and U Chit Khine ( Ayedin Co. Ltd).
Based in Nay Pyi Taw, each of these banks will further establish 10 branch banks across the country later, the sources said.
There are 15 private banks in operation in Myanmar, 13 of which are located in the former capital city of Yangon.
Private banks were once nationalized in Myanmar in 1963 during the previous government but after the country started to adopt the market-oriented economic system in late 1988, private banks were allowed to operate again since 1992.
There are also four state banks in addition to the 15 private ones in Myanmar which are all governed by the government's Central Bank.
*****************************************************
Dengue fever kills 6 in 1st 5 months of 2010
English.news.cn 2010-06-29 20:14:35
YANGON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of six people were killed by dengue fever out of 910 people infected with the disease in Myanmar's Yangon in the first five months of 2010, a statistical report the Yangon City Development Committee said on Tuesday.
Noting that the disease occurrence rate is growing higher as the rainy season set in June, a disease sensitive month, 88 people have been infected with the disease in the first week of the month, it said.
According to earlier report, the number of people infected with dengue fever in the whole of 2009 amounted to 3,129 with 37 deaths registered.
Meanwhile, the health authorities have been stepping up preventive measures against dengue fever in the Yangon municipal area targeting a coverage of every township
starting this year by introducing abate medicine with better effect.
In June last year, dengue fever once broke out in two populated suburban townships of Dagon Myothit (North and South) and Hlaingtharya in Yangon division affecting children of five years of age and above.
The Myanmar health department, in cooperation with U.N. organizations and domestic non-governmental organizations, then launched a 700,000-US-dollar anti-dengue-fever campaign in 11 townships in Yangon and Ayeyawaddy divisions.
Dengue fever once reached a critical stage of level-3 in 2007 killing 100 out of 15,000 people infected with the disease, said anti-malaria department, adding that such occurrence happened once a decade.
Dengue fever usually breaks out in Yangon, Bago, Sagaing, Ayeyawaddy, Mon and Mandalay divisions and states especially in the rainy season which falls in the months of June, July, August and September.
The health authorities have occasionally advised people to take necessary measures to prevent and control the disease, including hygienic use of drinking water, combating larvae, week-end sanitation activities and education talks on the dengue fever, which is analyzed as being spread by a species of mosquito active during the day.
English.news.cn 2010-06-29 20:14:35
YANGON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of six people were killed by dengue fever out of 910 people infected with the disease in Myanmar's Yangon in the first five months of 2010, a statistical report the Yangon City Development Committee said on Tuesday.
Noting that the disease occurrence rate is growing higher as the rainy season set in June, a disease sensitive month, 88 people have been infected with the disease in the first week of the month, it said.
According to earlier report, the number of people infected with dengue fever in the whole of 2009 amounted to 3,129 with 37 deaths registered.
Meanwhile, the health authorities have been stepping up preventive measures against dengue fever in the Yangon municipal area targeting a coverage of every township
starting this year by introducing abate medicine with better effect.
In June last year, dengue fever once broke out in two populated suburban townships of Dagon Myothit (North and South) and Hlaingtharya in Yangon division affecting children of five years of age and above.
The Myanmar health department, in cooperation with U.N. organizations and domestic non-governmental organizations, then launched a 700,000-US-dollar anti-dengue-fever campaign in 11 townships in Yangon and Ayeyawaddy divisions.
Dengue fever once reached a critical stage of level-3 in 2007 killing 100 out of 15,000 people infected with the disease, said anti-malaria department, adding that such occurrence happened once a decade.
Dengue fever usually breaks out in Yangon, Bago, Sagaing, Ayeyawaddy, Mon and Mandalay divisions and states especially in the rainy season which falls in the months of June, July, August and September.
The health authorities have occasionally advised people to take necessary measures to prevent and control the disease, including hygienic use of drinking water, combating larvae, week-end sanitation activities and education talks on the dengue fever, which is analyzed as being spread by a species of mosquito active during the day.
*****************************************************
Myanmar to take part in DPRK film festival
English.news.cn 2010-06-29 20:00:36
YANGON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will take part in a world film festival scheduled for September in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to introduce some quality Myanmar films, sources with the Myanmar Motion Picture Association said on Tuesday.
At the eight-day film festival taking place in DPRK's capital of Pyongyang from Sept. 17 to 24, five Myanmar movies will be screened, namely Satdagan, Leiwat Taw Hnin, Myaw Lint Chin Myar Swar, Kyo Tan and Al Take Ka Al Yiek.
The films will be the first of Myanmar on the screens in DPRK.
In February this year, Myanmar presented seven film academy awards for 2008 to winning artists.
Of the seven film awards scrutinized out of 12 movies produced during 2008, "A Myar Nint Ma Thet Sai Taw Thu" received the best film award.
Since 1952, Myanmar has presented a total of 319 domestic academy awards to successful artists in the country up to now.
English.news.cn 2010-06-29 20:00:36
YANGON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will take part in a world film festival scheduled for September in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to introduce some quality Myanmar films, sources with the Myanmar Motion Picture Association said on Tuesday.
At the eight-day film festival taking place in DPRK's capital of Pyongyang from Sept. 17 to 24, five Myanmar movies will be screened, namely Satdagan, Leiwat Taw Hnin, Myaw Lint Chin Myar Swar, Kyo Tan and Al Take Ka Al Yiek.
The films will be the first of Myanmar on the screens in DPRK.
In February this year, Myanmar presented seven film academy awards for 2008 to winning artists.
Of the seven film awards scrutinized out of 12 movies produced during 2008, "A Myar Nint Ma Thet Sai Taw Thu" received the best film award.
Since 1952, Myanmar has presented a total of 319 domestic academy awards to successful artists in the country up to now.
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People's Daily Online - Myanmar, Thailand to carry out environmental conservation on southern archipelago
22:02, June 29, 2010
Myanmar and Thailand will carry out environmental conservation tasks on Myeik archipelago in southern Tanintharyi division, a local weekly Pyi Myanmar reported Tuesday.
The two neighbors, which are members of the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME), has planned to start the project during this year which involves water resources preservation and national environmental preservation works.
Participating in the implementation of the project will be oceanographers from the Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation Association (FREDA), and the Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA).
With over 800 islands, the Myeik archipelago are rich with many valuable tin mines, oil palm plantation, rubber plantation and evergreen forest.
Myanmar joined BOBLME in 2006 which also comprises Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
22:02, June 29, 2010
Myanmar and Thailand will carry out environmental conservation tasks on Myeik archipelago in southern Tanintharyi division, a local weekly Pyi Myanmar reported Tuesday.
The two neighbors, which are members of the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME), has planned to start the project during this year which involves water resources preservation and national environmental preservation works.
Participating in the implementation of the project will be oceanographers from the Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation Association (FREDA), and the Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA).
With over 800 islands, the Myeik archipelago are rich with many valuable tin mines, oil palm plantation, rubber plantation and evergreen forest.
Myanmar joined BOBLME in 2006 which also comprises Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
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Mesnac inks US$69.83-mln order with Myanmar Economic Corp
Jun. 29, 2010 (China Knowledge) - Mesnac Co Ltd<002073> on Jun. 26 announced that it has signed a contract worth US$69.83 million with Myanmar Economic Corp to annually supply 855,000 tires and to be responsible for the tires' installation and debugging.
The Shenzhen-listed firm, which is principally engaged in equipment manufacture and software industries, said that contract value accounted for 42% of its revenue in 2009 and will have an active impact on the fiscal results of 2010 and 2011.
Established with a registered capital of US$100 million, Myanmar Economic is a provider of steel, electricity, cement and rubber.
Reportedly, Great Wall Financial Leasing Co Ltd will purchase RMB 79.5 million worth of products from Mesnac to lease these products to Good Friend Tyre Co Ltd.
Jun. 29, 2010 (China Knowledge) - Mesnac Co Ltd<002073> on Jun. 26 announced that it has signed a contract worth US$69.83 million with Myanmar Economic Corp to annually supply 855,000 tires and to be responsible for the tires' installation and debugging.
The Shenzhen-listed firm, which is principally engaged in equipment manufacture and software industries, said that contract value accounted for 42% of its revenue in 2009 and will have an active impact on the fiscal results of 2010 and 2011.
Established with a registered capital of US$100 million, Myanmar Economic is a provider of steel, electricity, cement and rubber.
Reportedly, Great Wall Financial Leasing Co Ltd will purchase RMB 79.5 million worth of products from Mesnac to lease these products to Good Friend Tyre Co Ltd.
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Manila Bulletin - Dignitaries want to hold bilateral talks with Aquino
By MADEL R. SABATER
June 29, 2010, 5:04pm
Some heads of delegation have expressed willingness to hold bilateral talks with new Philippine President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III after his inauguration.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Chief of Protocol Eduardo Pablo Maglaya said they include heads of delegation from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) except for Myanmar, China, and Timor Leste.
Members of the ASEAN include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The bilateral meetings are expected to be held in Malacañang on July 1.
According to Maglaya, a total of 21 countries will be sending special envoys for the inauguration. There are a total of 110 confirmed members of foreign delegation, including 84 resident and non-resident ambassadors to the Philippines.
The first high-level delegation to arrive in the country for the inauguration was Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta. He is also the only head of state who will be attending the historical event as he has close ties with the Aquino family, even attending former President Corazon Aquino’s burial in August last year.
Other high-level delegation which had already arrived in the country include those from Thailand, South Korea, China, Singapore, Cambodia, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia (arrived on a private aircraft); and Vietnam.
The Spanish delegation was expected to arrive at 5 a.m. Wednesday.
“For me, as long as they send one of Minister rank, that’s pretty high up in the ladder,” Maglaya said.
“There’s a sizeable [number of foreign dignitaries] attending, we’re happy with the height of interest we have received,” DFA spokesman J. Eduardo Malaya added.
Asked why there is only one head of state who will be attending the inauguration, Maglaya said, “It’s the day of that president,” explaining that based on protocol, the Foreign Minister represents the head of delegation.
By MADEL R. SABATER
June 29, 2010, 5:04pm
Some heads of delegation have expressed willingness to hold bilateral talks with new Philippine President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III after his inauguration.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Chief of Protocol Eduardo Pablo Maglaya said they include heads of delegation from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) except for Myanmar, China, and Timor Leste.
Members of the ASEAN include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The bilateral meetings are expected to be held in Malacañang on July 1.
According to Maglaya, a total of 21 countries will be sending special envoys for the inauguration. There are a total of 110 confirmed members of foreign delegation, including 84 resident and non-resident ambassadors to the Philippines.
The first high-level delegation to arrive in the country for the inauguration was Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta. He is also the only head of state who will be attending the historical event as he has close ties with the Aquino family, even attending former President Corazon Aquino’s burial in August last year.
Other high-level delegation which had already arrived in the country include those from Thailand, South Korea, China, Singapore, Cambodia, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia (arrived on a private aircraft); and Vietnam.
The Spanish delegation was expected to arrive at 5 a.m. Wednesday.
“For me, as long as they send one of Minister rank, that’s pretty high up in the ladder,” Maglaya said.
“There’s a sizeable [number of foreign dignitaries] attending, we’re happy with the height of interest we have received,” DFA spokesman J. Eduardo Malaya added.
Asked why there is only one head of state who will be attending the inauguration, Maglaya said, “It’s the day of that president,” explaining that based on protocol, the Foreign Minister represents the head of delegation.
*****************************************************
Amnesty International USA (Press Release) - That’s Totally Lame
Asia, Individuals at Risk |
Posted by: Govind Acharya, June 29, 2010 at 10:58 AM
So the Government of India claims that its approach towards its human rights violating neighboring Myanmar (aka Burma) is all swell as the dickens.
Um, no.
In fact, as Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s most famous prisoner of conscience and Nobel laureate languishes in prison for another year, India has been totally lame in its approach towards the Myanmar This is especially the case as Myanmar is set to hold elections widely seen as not conducive to promotion of human rights.
With Myanmar’s first elections in two decades approaching, the three freedoms – of expression, association and peaceful assembly – essential for people to freely participate in the political process, are increasingly being denied. Daw Suu Kyi is one of some 2,200 political prisoners in Myanmar. None of them will be able to participate in this year’s elections under new election laws – laws that the Indian government has failed to condemn.
What was particular lame was India’s decision to cop out of condemning Myanmar’s pretty horrible human rights record at the UN Human Rights Council. Not only that, but India is even considering selling weapons to this odious regime. That’s not only lame, that’s jhol.
As the Myanmar elections approach India needs to do the right thing and to publicly call for the three freedoms – of expression, association and peaceful assembly – to be guaranteed throughout the election period. This is the time to show true human rights leadership as befits a key regional player – and not the time for silence.
In other words, India, stop being totally lame about the way you deal with Myanmar.
Asia, Individuals at Risk |
Posted by: Govind Acharya, June 29, 2010 at 10:58 AM
So the Government of India claims that its approach towards its human rights violating neighboring Myanmar (aka Burma) is all swell as the dickens.
Um, no.
In fact, as Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s most famous prisoner of conscience and Nobel laureate languishes in prison for another year, India has been totally lame in its approach towards the Myanmar This is especially the case as Myanmar is set to hold elections widely seen as not conducive to promotion of human rights.
With Myanmar’s first elections in two decades approaching, the three freedoms – of expression, association and peaceful assembly – essential for people to freely participate in the political process, are increasingly being denied. Daw Suu Kyi is one of some 2,200 political prisoners in Myanmar. None of them will be able to participate in this year’s elections under new election laws – laws that the Indian government has failed to condemn.
What was particular lame was India’s decision to cop out of condemning Myanmar’s pretty horrible human rights record at the UN Human Rights Council. Not only that, but India is even considering selling weapons to this odious regime. That’s not only lame, that’s jhol.
As the Myanmar elections approach India needs to do the right thing and to publicly call for the three freedoms – of expression, association and peaceful assembly – to be guaranteed throughout the election period. This is the time to show true human rights leadership as befits a key regional player – and not the time for silence.
In other words, India, stop being totally lame about the way you deal with Myanmar.
*****************************************************
Foreign Policy In Focus - Burma's Junta Built to Last
By Russ Wellen, June 29, 2010
In the aftermath of the apparent transfer of nuclear technology and know-how from North Korea to Burma, the latter, reports Bertil Lintner at Asia Times Online, could soon be penalized with more international sanctions.
The prospect of that happening -- and already deep dissatisfaction over the close relationship with a pariah regime like Pyongyang . . . is reportedly stoking resentment among the Myanmar officer corps. Other officers like Sai Thein Win [who provided the Democratic Voice of Burma with photographs and documents] may therefore be waiting in the wings for an opportunity to defect and shed more light on Myanmar's deep and dark nuclear secrets. [To them] Myanmar's experiments with nuclear technology and missiles amount to little more than a waste of money in a country that desperately needs more funds dedicated to public health and education.
But don't elections scheduled for October offer hope of reform? In a review of a biography of the junta's leader, Gen. Than Shwe, elsewhere at Asia Times Online, Lintner writes . . .
A new generation of pundits. … believe a hitherto unknown generation of Young Turks and other supposed closet liberals within the military will come to the fore and push the country in a more democratic direction. … In all likelihood, however, foreign pundits will be proven wrong yet again. Benedict Rogers' highly readable new book [Than Shwe: Unmasking Burma's Tyrant] shows why Myanmar's military, even with Than Shwe's imminent retirement, has no intention of giving up power any time soon.
At Irrawaddy, Aung Zaw explains.
In an interview with a US television journalist on April 14, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong predicted that Burma's ruling generals will not easily give up power. … "If they are out, it's not just that the country and the government have changed, bu 'Where do I go and which jail would I be in and [what about] my children and my jewels and my billions?'" he said. ... [Than Shwe's] real concern is likely to be the loyalty of young army officers [who] may come to the fore in reshaping Burma as their roles change between being members of the armed forces or parliament. … [He] must ensure that his most trusted lieutenants take over the reins of both the new government and the armed forces so that his family and fortune will be protected.
Lintner sums up. "Whether Myanmar holds elections this year, next year, or never, all the structures he put in place signal that the military is geared to remain in power for the foreseeable future."
By Russ Wellen, June 29, 2010
In the aftermath of the apparent transfer of nuclear technology and know-how from North Korea to Burma, the latter, reports Bertil Lintner at Asia Times Online, could soon be penalized with more international sanctions.
The prospect of that happening -- and already deep dissatisfaction over the close relationship with a pariah regime like Pyongyang . . . is reportedly stoking resentment among the Myanmar officer corps. Other officers like Sai Thein Win [who provided the Democratic Voice of Burma with photographs and documents] may therefore be waiting in the wings for an opportunity to defect and shed more light on Myanmar's deep and dark nuclear secrets. [To them] Myanmar's experiments with nuclear technology and missiles amount to little more than a waste of money in a country that desperately needs more funds dedicated to public health and education.
But don't elections scheduled for October offer hope of reform? In a review of a biography of the junta's leader, Gen. Than Shwe, elsewhere at Asia Times Online, Lintner writes . . .
A new generation of pundits. … believe a hitherto unknown generation of Young Turks and other supposed closet liberals within the military will come to the fore and push the country in a more democratic direction. … In all likelihood, however, foreign pundits will be proven wrong yet again. Benedict Rogers' highly readable new book [Than Shwe: Unmasking Burma's Tyrant] shows why Myanmar's military, even with Than Shwe's imminent retirement, has no intention of giving up power any time soon.
At Irrawaddy, Aung Zaw explains.
In an interview with a US television journalist on April 14, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong predicted that Burma's ruling generals will not easily give up power. … "If they are out, it's not just that the country and the government have changed, bu 'Where do I go and which jail would I be in and [what about] my children and my jewels and my billions?'" he said. ... [Than Shwe's] real concern is likely to be the loyalty of young army officers [who] may come to the fore in reshaping Burma as their roles change between being members of the armed forces or parliament. … [He] must ensure that his most trusted lieutenants take over the reins of both the new government and the armed forces so that his family and fortune will be protected.
Lintner sums up. "Whether Myanmar holds elections this year, next year, or never, all the structures he put in place signal that the military is geared to remain in power for the foreseeable future."
*****************************************************
CARE International UK (Press Release)
Floods in Myanmar
29 June 2010
Floods have hit the Northern Rakhine State in Myanmar (Burma).
Torrential rain, which began on 14 June, has caused serious flooding and mudslides. More than 2,000 people were forced to leave the region. Sixty-three people are reported dead, an estimated 77,000 people are affected, and an undetermined number of people remain displaced. It’s the worst flooding to hit the area in 20 years.
Damage includes loss and damage of homes, collapse of major access roads and bridges, loss of seed stocks and stored food, salination of water sources, loss of livestock, loss of official documentation and damage to schools.
CARE has responded by starting food distributions and dispatching essential items, such as tarpaulins, blankets and cooking and hygiene items.
Floods in Myanmar
29 June 2010
Floods have hit the Northern Rakhine State in Myanmar (Burma).
Torrential rain, which began on 14 June, has caused serious flooding and mudslides. More than 2,000 people were forced to leave the region. Sixty-three people are reported dead, an estimated 77,000 people are affected, and an undetermined number of people remain displaced. It’s the worst flooding to hit the area in 20 years.
Damage includes loss and damage of homes, collapse of major access roads and bridges, loss of seed stocks and stored food, salination of water sources, loss of livestock, loss of official documentation and damage to schools.
CARE has responded by starting food distributions and dispatching essential items, such as tarpaulins, blankets and cooking and hygiene items.
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The Burmese regime should be put on trial at ICC, People’s Court verdict
Tuesday, 29 June 2010 23:46 Salai Han Thar San
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The People’s Court sitting in Japan passed its verdict on Monday to put the Burmese military regime trial at International Criminal Court (ICC) for its crime against women in Burma.
The mock trial sitting at Aoyama University, Tokyo, Japan, heard the testimonies of 4 victims from Burma and arguments given by prosecution and defence counsels, the 5-member judge panel passed its verdict like that.
“The judges passed eight verdicts at the court including the military regime is found guilty for committing crime against women based on the testimonies given by the victims and they should be put on trial at ICC”, Women of League of Burma (WLB) Presidium Board member Thin Thin Aung said to Mizzima.
The judge panel consists of Japanese former Chief Justice Mr. Hamada, Japan Chiba University Law Professor Ms. Goto, Aoyama University Law Professor Mr. Nikura, International pro-democracy lawyers association Secretary Ms. Shikida and lawyer Mr. Kobori.
In the eight verdicts passed by People’s Court, the Burmese military regime is obviously found guilty for crime against humanity and urged UN to form a commission for investigating these crimes.
After getting sound and valid incriminating evidences against the military regime on these crimes, the case should be transferred to ICC to put the regime on trial and the international community including Japan should do their concerted efforts to stop these heinous crimes, the verdicts say.
Kyi Kyi Khin, Pu Sein, Tin Tin Nyo from WLB on behalf of Naw Sunset and WLB representative Mra Yar Zar Lin gave their testimonies at the People’s Court conducted its court proceedings from 1 to 5:30 p.m. on last Sunday. Five lawyers represented the prosecution and three lawyers represented the defense side.
All these lawyers are Japanese and the court conducted mock trial.
“I gave my testimony at the court by telling them how I was put in the dark cell during the interrogation by intelligence personnel and other gross human rights violations in prisons that I experienced during my detention and serving the sentence”, former political prisoner Kyi Kyi Khin said.
The military regime arrested former NLD party member and ‘All Burma Federation of Student Unions’ (ABFSU) member in 1990 for distributing pamphlets commemorating 7th July massacre at Rangoon University in 1962 and she was underwent brutal questioning and interrogation at detention centre of Military Intelligence (MI) No. 4 for 28 days in dark cell and suffered inhumane tortures.
She was then sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment and released from prison in May 1992.
The lawyers representing the military regime gave their argument and defended the case at the trial, Cho Cho Aye, organizer of this mock trial said. Cho Cho Aye is the representative of Burma Women Union (BWU) Japan Branch.
“The defence counsels questioned the testimonies, evidences and exhibits presented at the court. They also questioned on responsibility by Than Shwe (junta chief) for the crimes committed by ranks and files of army in their cross examinations and argument”, she said.
The first ever mock trial of People’s Court conducted in Japan is organized by WLB and Japan based Human Rights Now. Over 300 Japanese and Burmese attended the trial.
The similar mock trial was organized by WLB and Women Nobel Prize winners – Nobel Women’s Initiative, in New York, US in early March this year too. At that trial, 12 Burmese human rights violation victims gave their testimonies on the crimes committed by the military junta and their own experiences of such crimes.
“We shall continue our campaign in international community until we can put Burmese regime trial at ICC. This campaign can stop and warn the junta leaders from committing their crimes against people and humanity in fear of facing trial at ICC in future”, Thin Thin Aung said.
ICC, founded on 17 July 1998, is funded by provincial parties, international governments, international organizations and individuals. ICC is the independent international legal organization and based in Netherlands.
ICC usually indicts and gives verdict on genocides being committed across the world, serious international crimes, crime against humanity and war crimes by exercising Rome Law conceded by international countries.
The organizers of this trial will present the court’s verdicts to Japanese government and will urge them not to recognize the general election result unless the regime releases the political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi.
Moreover the UN Special Rappoteur for Human Rights in Burma Mr. Quintana will urge UN to form a UN enquiry commission to examine and investigate inhumane crimes and gross violation of human rights committed by junta that were presented in his report to UN, it is learnt.
Tuesday, 29 June 2010 23:46 Salai Han Thar San
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The People’s Court sitting in Japan passed its verdict on Monday to put the Burmese military regime trial at International Criminal Court (ICC) for its crime against women in Burma.
The mock trial sitting at Aoyama University, Tokyo, Japan, heard the testimonies of 4 victims from Burma and arguments given by prosecution and defence counsels, the 5-member judge panel passed its verdict like that.
“The judges passed eight verdicts at the court including the military regime is found guilty for committing crime against women based on the testimonies given by the victims and they should be put on trial at ICC”, Women of League of Burma (WLB) Presidium Board member Thin Thin Aung said to Mizzima.
The judge panel consists of Japanese former Chief Justice Mr. Hamada, Japan Chiba University Law Professor Ms. Goto, Aoyama University Law Professor Mr. Nikura, International pro-democracy lawyers association Secretary Ms. Shikida and lawyer Mr. Kobori.
In the eight verdicts passed by People’s Court, the Burmese military regime is obviously found guilty for crime against humanity and urged UN to form a commission for investigating these crimes.
After getting sound and valid incriminating evidences against the military regime on these crimes, the case should be transferred to ICC to put the regime on trial and the international community including Japan should do their concerted efforts to stop these heinous crimes, the verdicts say.
Kyi Kyi Khin, Pu Sein, Tin Tin Nyo from WLB on behalf of Naw Sunset and WLB representative Mra Yar Zar Lin gave their testimonies at the People’s Court conducted its court proceedings from 1 to 5:30 p.m. on last Sunday. Five lawyers represented the prosecution and three lawyers represented the defense side.
All these lawyers are Japanese and the court conducted mock trial.
“I gave my testimony at the court by telling them how I was put in the dark cell during the interrogation by intelligence personnel and other gross human rights violations in prisons that I experienced during my detention and serving the sentence”, former political prisoner Kyi Kyi Khin said.
The military regime arrested former NLD party member and ‘All Burma Federation of Student Unions’ (ABFSU) member in 1990 for distributing pamphlets commemorating 7th July massacre at Rangoon University in 1962 and she was underwent brutal questioning and interrogation at detention centre of Military Intelligence (MI) No. 4 for 28 days in dark cell and suffered inhumane tortures.
She was then sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment and released from prison in May 1992.
The lawyers representing the military regime gave their argument and defended the case at the trial, Cho Cho Aye, organizer of this mock trial said. Cho Cho Aye is the representative of Burma Women Union (BWU) Japan Branch.
“The defence counsels questioned the testimonies, evidences and exhibits presented at the court. They also questioned on responsibility by Than Shwe (junta chief) for the crimes committed by ranks and files of army in their cross examinations and argument”, she said.
The first ever mock trial of People’s Court conducted in Japan is organized by WLB and Japan based Human Rights Now. Over 300 Japanese and Burmese attended the trial.
The similar mock trial was organized by WLB and Women Nobel Prize winners – Nobel Women’s Initiative, in New York, US in early March this year too. At that trial, 12 Burmese human rights violation victims gave their testimonies on the crimes committed by the military junta and their own experiences of such crimes.
“We shall continue our campaign in international community until we can put Burmese regime trial at ICC. This campaign can stop and warn the junta leaders from committing their crimes against people and humanity in fear of facing trial at ICC in future”, Thin Thin Aung said.
ICC, founded on 17 July 1998, is funded by provincial parties, international governments, international organizations and individuals. ICC is the independent international legal organization and based in Netherlands.
ICC usually indicts and gives verdict on genocides being committed across the world, serious international crimes, crime against humanity and war crimes by exercising Rome Law conceded by international countries.
The organizers of this trial will present the court’s verdicts to Japanese government and will urge them not to recognize the general election result unless the regime releases the political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi.
Moreover the UN Special Rappoteur for Human Rights in Burma Mr. Quintana will urge UN to form a UN enquiry commission to examine and investigate inhumane crimes and gross violation of human rights committed by junta that were presented in his report to UN, it is learnt.
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DVB News - Norinco ‘sold Burma arms’ pre-copper deal
Published: 29 June 2010
The Chinese weapons manufacturer recently awarded a contract to operate Burma’s lucrative Monywa copper mine had sold Burma heavy artillery prior to the deal, military sources have revealed.
Weeks before the contract between the Burmese government and China North Industries Corp (or Norinco) was agreed, senior officials from the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) travelled to China to “check on the shipments” of SH-1 155mm howitzer cannons, military sources have told DVB.
The hardware was transported to Burma from China via sea-routes, mirroring a similar alleged weapons drop by a North Korean ship to Rangoon in April this year. It appears to corroborate allegations by campaign groups that the copper deal was sweetened by arms sales to Burma.
It is still unclear how the payment was made for the howitzers, which the Burmese army has previously bought from Serbia. China is Burma’s biggest weapons supplier, followed by Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Israel and Ukraine; Norinco has previously sold 150 Type 90 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to Burma.
Calls for a global UN arms embargo on Burma have so far gone unheeded, and Burma has in recent years found a new arms supplier in North Korea, which has felt the wrath of a UN blockade.
Military analysts speculated that the Burmese government may be bartering copper for the weapons: financial details of the Monywa deal have been vague, but at its peak the mine had been producing some 39,000 tonnes of copper per year, and was among Burma’s most profitable assets.
A statement last week on the website of Norinco, which also bills itself as an engineering company, said that the Monywa deal had been overseen by Burmese prime minister Thein Sein, and was one of around 15 trade agreements struck between the two countries during a top-level Chinese visit to Burma in mid-June.
The Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB), an Ottawa-based campaigning group, said shortly after the mining contract went public that it appeared to be an “arms-for-copper deal”.
Norinco was sanctioned by the US in 2003 for its ongoing weapons sales to Iran, with the White House calling the company a “serial proliferator”. GlobalSecurity.org claims that Norinco’s “main business is supplying products for the Chinese military”, and has a registered capital of US$30 billion.
But the Monywa deal has attracted other controversies: villages close to the site in Sagaing division in central Burma are rumoured to be set for relocation, with one man claiming that Norinco officials and local Burmese authorities were inspecting the area around Latpadaung mountain, close to Salingyi town, where the mine will be built.
“The villages are located at the foot of the mountain and in the nearby area so they are in the project vicinity,” he said. “[There are rumours] that villagers will be given land elsewhere as compensation, but some say that’s not true and that they will be given around 3.5 million kyat to 4.5 million kyat [US$3,500 to US$4,500] worth to buy a piece of land.”
Published: 29 June 2010
The Chinese weapons manufacturer recently awarded a contract to operate Burma’s lucrative Monywa copper mine had sold Burma heavy artillery prior to the deal, military sources have revealed.
Weeks before the contract between the Burmese government and China North Industries Corp (or Norinco) was agreed, senior officials from the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) travelled to China to “check on the shipments” of SH-1 155mm howitzer cannons, military sources have told DVB.
The hardware was transported to Burma from China via sea-routes, mirroring a similar alleged weapons drop by a North Korean ship to Rangoon in April this year. It appears to corroborate allegations by campaign groups that the copper deal was sweetened by arms sales to Burma.
It is still unclear how the payment was made for the howitzers, which the Burmese army has previously bought from Serbia. China is Burma’s biggest weapons supplier, followed by Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Israel and Ukraine; Norinco has previously sold 150 Type 90 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to Burma.
Calls for a global UN arms embargo on Burma have so far gone unheeded, and Burma has in recent years found a new arms supplier in North Korea, which has felt the wrath of a UN blockade.
Military analysts speculated that the Burmese government may be bartering copper for the weapons: financial details of the Monywa deal have been vague, but at its peak the mine had been producing some 39,000 tonnes of copper per year, and was among Burma’s most profitable assets.
A statement last week on the website of Norinco, which also bills itself as an engineering company, said that the Monywa deal had been overseen by Burmese prime minister Thein Sein, and was one of around 15 trade agreements struck between the two countries during a top-level Chinese visit to Burma in mid-June.
The Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB), an Ottawa-based campaigning group, said shortly after the mining contract went public that it appeared to be an “arms-for-copper deal”.
Norinco was sanctioned by the US in 2003 for its ongoing weapons sales to Iran, with the White House calling the company a “serial proliferator”. GlobalSecurity.org claims that Norinco’s “main business is supplying products for the Chinese military”, and has a registered capital of US$30 billion.
But the Monywa deal has attracted other controversies: villages close to the site in Sagaing division in central Burma are rumoured to be set for relocation, with one man claiming that Norinco officials and local Burmese authorities were inspecting the area around Latpadaung mountain, close to Salingyi town, where the mine will be built.
“The villages are located at the foot of the mountain and in the nearby area so they are in the project vicinity,” he said. “[There are rumours] that villagers will be given land elsewhere as compensation, but some say that’s not true and that they will be given around 3.5 million kyat to 4.5 million kyat [US$3,500 to US$4,500] worth to buy a piece of land.”
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DVB News - Jailed car crash ‘rescuers’ denied appeal
By KHIN HNIN HTET
Published: 29 June 2010
A husband and wife jailed on charges of ‘disturbing government officials’ after they assisted the victim of a Rangoon car crash have been denied appeal.
The couple, both members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party who are now reported to be in poor health, have been held in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison since their sentencing in early May.
They were arrested after becoming embroiled in an argument with a doctor at the hospital in Tontay township, in southern Rangoon division, following the hospital’s refusal to treat the car crash victim, Thidar Win. The hospital had demanded Thidar Win pay the cost of fuel for a generator to power the x-ray machine, which she claims she could not afford. She was the kicked out of the hospital.
The husband, Zaw Min Htun, was charged under Act 353 of disturbing a government official on duty, and given a one-year sentence. His wife, Sandar, was given an additional charge of ‘intimidation’ and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Both have now had an appeal over their sentencing rejected by a district court, their daughter, Thaint Thaint Thu, said. Judges told them at a hearing on 25 June that they will serve their full terms.
“They both are in poor health,” Thaint Thaint Thu told DVB. “[Zaw Min Htun] has stomach problems and [Sandar] has liver and heart problems and she is kept alone in a jail cell.”
The accident happened in November last year. Thidar Win’s family attempted to sue the hospital, but the case was rejected. The victim said she was then coerced into joining the prosecution team as a witness, but defected to the defence side during the initial trial in February.
She said that she was then threatened by Tontay’s deputy police chief, Naing Linn Htun, after her statement at the court in February. “[Police] said the couple were political activists rebelling against the state and that I would be imprisoned if I see the couple again,” she said. “Naing Linn Htun said he had put me under surveillance.”
Their daughter, Thaint Thaint Thu, said she will now take the appeal to Rangoon divisional court. The Burmese government often uses spurious charges to clamp down on NLD members, while courts in Burma have been accused of being puppets of the ruling regime.
By KHIN HNIN HTET
Published: 29 June 2010
A husband and wife jailed on charges of ‘disturbing government officials’ after they assisted the victim of a Rangoon car crash have been denied appeal.
The couple, both members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party who are now reported to be in poor health, have been held in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison since their sentencing in early May.
They were arrested after becoming embroiled in an argument with a doctor at the hospital in Tontay township, in southern Rangoon division, following the hospital’s refusal to treat the car crash victim, Thidar Win. The hospital had demanded Thidar Win pay the cost of fuel for a generator to power the x-ray machine, which she claims she could not afford. She was the kicked out of the hospital.
The husband, Zaw Min Htun, was charged under Act 353 of disturbing a government official on duty, and given a one-year sentence. His wife, Sandar, was given an additional charge of ‘intimidation’ and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Both have now had an appeal over their sentencing rejected by a district court, their daughter, Thaint Thaint Thu, said. Judges told them at a hearing on 25 June that they will serve their full terms.
“They both are in poor health,” Thaint Thaint Thu told DVB. “[Zaw Min Htun] has stomach problems and [Sandar] has liver and heart problems and she is kept alone in a jail cell.”
The accident happened in November last year. Thidar Win’s family attempted to sue the hospital, but the case was rejected. The victim said she was then coerced into joining the prosecution team as a witness, but defected to the defence side during the initial trial in February.
She said that she was then threatened by Tontay’s deputy police chief, Naing Linn Htun, after her statement at the court in February. “[Police] said the couple were political activists rebelling against the state and that I would be imprisoned if I see the couple again,” she said. “Naing Linn Htun said he had put me under surveillance.”
Their daughter, Thaint Thaint Thu, said she will now take the appeal to Rangoon divisional court. The Burmese government often uses spurious charges to clamp down on NLD members, while courts in Burma have been accused of being puppets of the ruling regime.
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