BurmanetNews, March 31, 2004

[Editor]

March 31, 2004 Issue # 2447

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: National Convention to Reconvene, Opposition Not Yet Invited
BBC Monitor: Burmese opposition radio reports 26 monks jailed for refusing
generals' alms
WMA: Formation of National Convention Gives Direction to Myanmar's Roadmap
to Democracy

DRUGS
Asian Times: Drug trade booms on China-Myanmar border

BUSINESS / MONEY
Mizzima: Burma Trade Delegates will visit Northeast India

REGIONAL
Nation: Burma forum should advance reconciliation
AFP: Thai court acquits Karen suspect in 2002 school bus shooting

INTERNATIONAL
AP: Hopes for Suu Kyi release raised after junta takes first step in road
map to democracy

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima: Road Map to Discipline-flourishing Democracy in Burma:

PRESS RELEASE
ALRC: Statement on 'Food scarcity in Myanmar' received by Commission on
Human Rights
AI: Myanmar: Respect human rights during the National Convention


INSIDE BURMA
___________________________________

March 31, Irrawaddy
National Convention to Reconvene, Opposition Not Yet Invited - Kyaw Zwa Moe

Burma’s main opposition party and several ethnic groups have yet to be
invited to attend the National Convention, despite a junta announcement
yesterday that the convention would reconvene on May 17, opposition and
ethnic representatives said today from Rangoon.

The National Convention to draft a new constitution is the first step of
Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt’s seven-step road map to democratic reform
in Burma. The convention was first convened in 1993 but adjourned in 1996,
shortly after the National League for Democracy, or NLD, opposition party
walked out, calling the proceedings undemocratic.

Without the NLD, the landslide winner of the 1990 election, the convention
could not be considered successful.

An NLD central executive member and a top ethnic leader said on the phone
this afternoon from Rangoon that they had not received any invitation from
the junta to attend the convention.

The junta’s statement read that "invitations will be sent to the delegates
to the convention in time."

"They [the military leaders] have said, when visiting foreign countries,
that the NLD will be involved in the convention," said Nyunt Wai, one of
nine NLD central executive members.

Even if the junta invites the opposition, it is not certain if it would
attend, said Nyunt Wai. He added that the executive committee, including
Aung San Suu Kyi, will have to discuss the matter first. He also said that
without the NLD, the landslide winner of the 1990 election, the convention
could not be considered successful.

Yesterday, the US said that without the release and full participation of
Suu Kyi and other detained members of her party it could not endorse the
convention.

Western diplomats suggest we participate in the convention and quit only
if we find out that the convention is the same as before. —Hkun Htun Oo

Four top NLD members, including Suu Kyi and vice-chairman Tin Oo, have
been detained since a government-orchestrated mob attacked their convoy in
May at Depayin, Sagaing Division.

UN envoy to Burma Razali Imail said recently that Suu Kyi could be
released in mid-April. Hkun Htun Oo, chairman of the Shan Nationalities
League for Democracy, or SNLD, agreed, saying she could be released after
the Burmese New Year, in just over two weeks.

Hkun Htun Oo did not comment on the convention or whether the SNLD would
attend, but said he would wait until Suu Kyi is released before reaching a
decision. He added that ethnic groups in Rangoon have not yet received any
invitation to the convention.

Some Western diplomats in Rangoon have encouraged opposition groups to
attend the convention. "They suggest we participate in the convention and
quit only if we find out that the convention is the same as before," Hkun
Htun Oo said.

He cautioned, however, that his participation is contingent upon the junta
changing the proceedings of the convention which favor the military.

_______________________

March 31, BBC Monitor
Burmese opposition radio reports 26 monks jailed for refusing generals' alms

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 29 Mar 04

It has been learned that 26 monks from more than 100 monks of Gandayone
monastery in Rangoon who were arrested in December 2003 were given 18-year
prison terms recently. Sources close to Rangoon lawyers' circle told DVB
Democratic Voice of Burma they were sentenced by a court in Insein jail in
early February but the family members were informed only recently. The
monks were arrested for refusing to accept alms and donations from the
SPDC State Peace and Development Council generals last year during the
Kathina festival period usually from mid October to mid November while
many monks were expelled from the teaching monasteries. Those given
18-year prison terms included one monk and 25 young novice monks. The
leader monk's name is Ashin Sandazawthi. Most of the novice monks came
from the districts to pursue Buddhist scripture studies in Rangoon. Some
of the 25 novice monks have been transferred to Tharawaddy jail while
those remaining at Insein jail were allowed to meet with their family
members.

Dear listeners, as the time of the monks' sentencing to long prison terms
coincided with the ongoing religious examinations, voices of discontent
have been growing among the monks and the religious. An abbot from Magwe
Division, who wished to remain anonymous, gave the following opinion:

Unidentified abbot Regarding the long prison terms, as long as there is no
political stability these things will occur. If there is no political
change, there will always be unrest instigated either by the monks or the
students. Well, the monks are born of the people, so the monks and the
people rely on each other. The lay people revere and venerate the monks
while the monks on the other hand rely on the people for the propagation
of the faith. As the monks themselves are suffering under the burden of
politics, it is impossible for the monks to be separated from politics.
They will always be associated. End of recording

That was an abbot from Magwe Division. When asked whether there is any
sangha monk organization that will help gain freedom for the detained
monks, he replied:

Unidentified abbot There is no such support organization. It is quite
simple, if you make your bed you lie in it. Even the NLD National League
for Democracy has its own legal team to assist the NLD members in legal
matters but we monks have nothing, no teams. I believe you could not have
a legal team. Plainly speaking, you could not even meet with them jailed
monks let alone have legal assistance. I have an abbot friend who told me
that two monks from his monastery were arrested during the Thingangyun
riot. He went to Rangoon recently to inquire about them and he came across
a dead end. You see, it is not easy. End of recording

That was an explanation by a Magwe Division abbot. When DVB asked U Nyan
Win, member of the NLD Legal Support Group, whether the group is in a
position to give assistance, he answered:

U Nyan Win They should contact the NLD CEC Central Executive Committee .
Like in the case of the detained nuns, the CEC gave the group the
responsibility to pursue the case so we pursued it. If they contact the
CEC and if we were given the responsibility, we would follow up the case
with a suitable legal expert. Furthermore, we learned about these
incidents only when the ball is over because these are not open courts. As
such, it is difficult even to know about it. The news appeared after
everything is done. At least the judicial system should be transparent and
the court proceedings should be carried out in public. The hearings were
made at the special court in Insein Jail which they claim is a public
venue. We objected to their claim because it is not public since no one
could enter the court. This is the most important thing and we could not
even get that. End of recording

According to the latest news report, Police Director General's Office in
Rangoon has ordered prominent abbots from monasteries in various states
and divisions to submit detailed particulars to the Religious Affairs
Department as soon as possible. The particulars include the abbot's
religious name, title, age, years of monkhood, years of being an abbot,
condition of his reverence in the locality, why he is being respected by
the people, whether the abbot is friendly with the local authorities or
with the opposition politicians, and his view of the prevailing political
situation.

_______________________

March 31, World Markets Analysis
Formation of National Convention Gives Direction to Myanmar's Roadmap to
Democracy - Elizabeth Mills

The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) yesterday announced
that it would hold its much-vaunted National Convention on 17 May. The
forum is expected to discuss moves towards the implementation of
democracy, the first step of which is to draft a new constitution. The
authorities have been working to secure the involvement of the country's
ethnic and opposition parties for several months, because the whole
process will be seen as flawed without their participation. The main
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) has refused to confirm
whether it will attend, arguing that such a decision can only be made once
its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is released from house arrest. This has
renewed speculation that her release is imminent, a move that would
counter international criticism.

Significance: The timing of the convention is very interesting. Although
it was touted as being held sometime in 2004, its timing is much earlier
than had been expected, particularly in a country where moves towards
democracy are incremental at best. Two factors are likely to have spurred
the SPDC into action; firstly, it was announced this week that a second
round of talks concerning the country's democratic reforms will be held at
the end of April, in the Thai capital Bangkok. The junta will need to
prove that it is making progress, and the timetabling of the National
Convention's first meeting will satisfy this. Secondly, the US is
scheduled to consider the renewal of damaging economic sanctions against
the regime in May. The logic behind renewal will be undermined if Myanmar
is seen to be making progress, particularly if Suu Kyi has been released
and is willing to attend the National Convention.


DRUGS
_____________________________________

March 31, Asian Times
Drug trade booms on China-Myanmar border - Naw Seng

RUILI, China - To make money by selling potentially lethal heroin is
forbidden by their religion, yet desperately poor and persecuted Muslims
from Myanmar have often turned to the drug trade. And with increased
profits have come increased risks.

Kyaw Hein, a Myanmar national, is a former trafficker who now helps
Chinese authorities crack down on the importation of heroin from his
country into China via this border town. He says heroin comes from Muse, a
Myanmar town opposite Ruili, and then goes on to Kunming, or goes from
Ruili to Kunming via Dali. Further still, it can go from Panghsang,
located in territory controlled by the United Wa State Army, to Kunming
via Simao, also in Yunnan. But the Ruili route lately has shrunk due to a
heavy crackdown by Chinese police.

Bushi, now a fruit vendor, is one former trafficker who has broken away
from the trade despite its lucrative nature. At one time, Bushi had dozens
of aides and spent more than 5,000 yuan (US$600) per day in drug earnings.
"I understand heroin kills people," he says. But in those days he had no
choice. Now he does. "I don't want that hell."

As China's western border with Myanmar is now the main transit point for
heroin, several Myanmar Muslim traders have taken to the trade. Many
Myanmar Muslims in Ruili - there are some 1,000 here in this busy border
town - are economic migrants because of political and economic
discrimination by Myanmar authorities.

That discrimination has roots in history, and at certain points resulted
in riots between the Buddhist majority and the Muslim minority, instigated
by military authorities (see Myanmar's Muslim sideshow, October 21, 2003).
Eighty-nine percent of Myanmar's more than 50 million people are Buddhist,
Muslims and Christians comprise 4 percent, and various others make up the
rest.

The majority of Myanmar's Muslims live in the western part of Arakan
state, on the border with Bangladesh, and come under restrictions in
marriage and fertility. Many feel they do not have the same opportunities
as other communities.

Bushi started out in Ruili as a small jade trader, then found selling
drugs a better way to get rich quick. "I would be left behind if I rode a
cart to follow cars," he explains. He reckons that almost half of the
Myanmar Muslims in China are in the drug trading business.

Trafficking in heroin and using ill-gotten money of this sort are
forbidden under Islam. "This is haram [forbidden] money," Bushi says. "We
shouldn't" live on it.

But this has not stopped many jade traders from turning to the poppy in
the past decade. Despite the fact that, "only a few people benefit from
the drug business," Bushi says. "Many are in jail."

Bushi has never been arrested, but some of his men were jailed last year
for heroin possession. The seizure made Bushi a poor man, but in general
he had no problem smuggling heroin to Kunming, the capital of China's
southwestern province of Yunnan. "I have many ways of getting [heroin]
around," he says.

These include putting heroin inside dairy tins, human rectums and female
reproductive organs. But Bushi knew his luck would eventually run out.
"Even the big chief will get arrested some day," he adds.

A few traffickers can get and stay rich, but many serve long sentences in
Chinese prisons or suffer the death penalty. Even so, the temptation is
often irresistible. In any case, traders say, Chinese and Myanmar
authorities are not above taking bribes to close their eyes.

Ruili residents call heroin traffickers kya kya kala - kya kya is slang
for "heroin" in Ruili, and kala is a term Myanmar nationals use to refer
to Westerners or Indians.

Some former kya kya kala or those in the heroin business collaborate with
Chinese police to crack down on the trade. Kyaw Hein is one. His work is
to investigate the Myanmar heroin mafia.

Kyaw Hein stopped trafficking after Chinese police caught his
brother-in-law in possession of a large amount of heroin. But his
experience as a trafficker immediately landed him a job. He continues to
earn drug money, but this time in the form of payments made by his former
friends to the police, who give him 20 percent of seized cash in return
for his information.

Kyaw Hein gives detailed reports of trafficking activities to Chinese
police, who have been trying to clamp down on a social ill that has
resulted in worrisome drug-use rates along the border since it opened to
the region in the 1980s.

On an average day, Kyaw Hein will hang around town, play cards and chat
with friends. Only a few of them know that he is an informer, but everyone
who works in Ruili's heroin trade is known to him.

Although he prefers this job over trafficking because it is "safer", he is
aware of the threat from the traffickers themselves. "I know the death
knell will sound for me one day," he says, "but I'm not afraid."

Interviews here showed that even active kya kya kala are stumped as to
where the heroin goes from Kunming, but they believe that it enters the
international market via several routes.

Last April, more than half a tonne of heroin en route to Kunming was
seized by Chinese authorities outside Ruili.

According to Jane's Intelligence Review, heroin from Myanmar reaches
eastern China and Hong Kong, to be eventually exported to Southeast Asia,
Australia and North America.

Nearly 200 Myanmar Muslims are in Chinese jails, an estimate given by both
Bushi and Kyaw Hein. According to Chinese law, the penalty for drug
trafficking is execution. But the penalty is not imposed on Myanmar
nationals, who serve a maximum of 15 years. Some traffickers who can
afford to bribe police can reduce their jail terms to a few months, or
avoid jail altogether, according to talk that goes around here.

Kyaw Hein says a group of Myanmar Muslims are moving to the area close to
Panghsang for the coveted white powder. "All 'tigers' here move there
[Panghsang]," he says.

Bushi has no interest in becoming a tiger again, preferring to live
tranquilly with his family in Ruili. But he does want to spread the word
about the damage heroin has done to his community and to the name of
Allah. "I dare to die for the truth," Bushi says. "People may exit the
trade, but it will continue to affect the world."

(Inter Press Service)


BUSINESS / MONEY
_____________________________________

March 31, Mizzima
Burma Trade Delegates will visit Northeast India - Surajit Khaund

In a bid to explore the trade potential in northeast India, a delegation
from the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
will visit various places in the region soon. The delegation would hold a
series of discussions with the traders of northeast India to expand trade
between India and Burma.

The Industry Minister of Assam of northeast India, Bhubaneswar kalita told
this correspondent that the visit of the trade body of Burma would help
the traders of northeast India. "This region has already developed a huge
volume of trade with Burma, hence the (Burmese) traders are keen to
explore more in the region", he added.

Assam Industry Minister, along with a 20-member trade delegation, visited
Rangoon recently. According to him, the Burmese traders are now willing to
focus on tourism and the plywood sector in the region, for which the dying
plywood industry in the northeast is likely to receive a shot in the arm
soon.

"We are expecting a 20-member delegation from (Burma), and they are
probably coming in the next two months. "We are planning to create a
tourism circuit in the region by involving Burmese traders, for which a
feasibility study would be carried out,” he informed. In this context, he
revealed that he has been demanding that the Burma government remove visa
restrictions on the road, so that the traders of both the countries can
freely run their businesses.

Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)


REGIONAL
_____________________________________

March 31, The Nation
Burma forum should advance reconciliation

Thailand will host the second discussion on Burma’s democracy and national
reconciliation roadmap next month, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai
said yesterday.

“I believe the upcoming meeting will push the National Convention [in
Burma] to announce the drafting of a constitution,” Surakiart said.

Representatives from 16 countries will attend the forum, dubbed the
“Bangkok Process,” including Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China,
Laos, Australia, Germany, France and Italy.

The United States, a long time critic of Burma’s ruling military junta,
has not been invited.

Matthew Daley, a senior US State Department official, said earlier that
the ”Bangkok Process” would fail.

Burmese Prime Minister Khin Nyunt announced in August a sevenpoint roadmap
towards national reconciliation and democracy following growing foreign
pressure, including sanctions, over the detention of opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi. The democracy campaigner is still under house arrest.

Thailand held an international forum to discuss the roadmap in mid
December, in which the Burmese foreign minister told participants from 12
nations that the government planned to instruct the National Convention to
draft a new constitution this year.

“I believe that Aung San Suu Kyi should be released soon,” Surakiart said
yesterday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow said that next month’s
meeting was meant to give Burma the chance to update the international
community on the drafting of a constitution as well as peace talks with
armed minority groups and the National League for Democracy.

If Burma shows the international community that “tangible progress” is
being made, this could be a precondition for other countries to resume
humanitarian assistance to Burma, he said.

The Burmese government and the country’s largest ethnic insurgent group,
the Karen National Union, signed a verbal ceasefire agreement in January
but minor fighting still continues in some areas. Also heading to Bangkok
for the latest round of talks are Norway, Austria, India, Bangladesh and
Switzerland. UN special envoy to Burma Razali Ismail has also been
invited.

_________________________

March 31, Agence France Presse
Thai court acquits Karen suspect in 2002 school bus shooting

A Thai court on Wednesday acquitted an ethnic Karen man from Myanmar
accused of involvement in a deadly 2002 attack on a school bus, citing
insufficient and conflicting evidence.

Jo Bee, 35, was cleared of charges of murder and attempted murder, but the
Ratchaburi provincial court convicted him on illegal entry and sentenced
him to 12 months in jail, a court official said.

"The court considered there were suspicious points in witness testimony
and evidence, and so the judges dismissed the case to give the suspect the
benefit of the doubt," a court official told AFP.

Jo Bee was arrested in August 2002 amid a massive manhunt to find the
culprits behind the June 4 attack in southwestern Ratchaburi province,
some 20 kilometres (13 miles) from the Thai-Myanmar border, which killed
three schoolchildren and wounded 12 others.

At the time of the arrest Thailand's police chief said he believed three
Karen men carried out the shooting, and that Jo Bee had admitted to
robbing buses in the past.

Senior army investigators had said they believed cadres of the Karen
National Union (KNU) were responsible for the brutal assault aimed at
inflaming tensions between Thailand and Myanmar.

The rebels condemned the attack and denied any involvement.

Thai authorities eventually moved away from theories that ethnic rebels
had conducted a politically-motivated attack on the bus and said they were
focusing on the bus driver and his business links in the region.

The brutality of the ambush, in which gunmen raked the open-air bus with
automatic rifle fire, shocked the Thai nation, and Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra ordered authorities to capture the culprits "dead or alive".


INTERNATIONAL
_____________________________________

March 31, Associated Press
Hopes for Suu Kyi release raised after junta takes first step in road map
to democracy – Aye Aye Win

Hopes are increasing that pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be
freed from house arrest following the government's pledge to reconvene a
body to draft a constitution, diplomats said Wednesday.

Myanmar's military government on Tuesday said it will restart the National
Convention in Yangon on May 17 - the first major step on its
self-proclaimed "road map" to democracy.

Although it did not say if Suu Kyi or her opposition National League for
Democracy party would be invited, the announcement showed a thawing in the
junta's hardline stand, said diplomats.

"I expect a sequence of events to take place before the resumption of the
National Convention. One of the events could be the release of Aung San
Suu Kyi," said one diplomat on condition of anonymity.

Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel peace laureate, has been under detention and
subsequent house arrest since last May following a clash between her
supporters and a pro-junta mob in northern Myanmar.

Her arrest provoked widespread international criticism, and even Myanmar's
sympathetic Southeast Asian neighbors called for speedy democratic
reforms. Western nations have long shunned the ruling junta, in power
since 1988, for its failure to hand over power to a democratically elected
government.

"The game has just begun. We have yet to see a string of announcements by
the SPDC," said another diplomat, using the acronym of the junta's formal
name, the State Peace and Development Council.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, does not currently have a constitution. The
junta first organized a National Convention to draft one in 1993, but
suspended it in 1996 after the NLD walked out, saying it was being forced
to rubber stamp the junta's decisions.

The NLD's participation is considered crucial for its success, but it has
not shown any inclination to attend even if invited.

The NLD declined comment Wednesday on the junta's move, but acting party
spokesman Nyunt Wei reiterated a call for Suu Kyi's release.

"It appears that they (junta) have completed their preparations on their
own. We have not received any intimation or information," he said.

Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 general election, but the military refused to
step down, instead jailing and harassing members of the pro-democracy
movement.

Last August, following intense international pressure, Prime Minister Khin
Nyunt revealed a seven-step road map beginning with the National
Convention, but provide no timetable for its implementation.

It is supposed to lead eventually to a general election and a new government.

On Wednesday, Hkun Tun Oo, the chairman of the ethnic Shan Nationalities
League for Democracy, said no ethnic political parties have been invited
to the convention.

He also reiterated a call for a tripartite meeting among the junta, ethnic
groups and the NLD before the national convention resumes.

When the convention, which started with 700 delegates, was suspended in
March 1996, it had already adopted six chapters of a new charter, covering
fundamental principles, the structure of the state, the head of state, the
legislature, the judiciary and the administration.

It is not known whether the new convention will use these chapters or
start its work from scratch.


OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

March 30, Mizzima
Road Map to Discipline-flourishing Democracy in Burma - Zin Linn

Commander-in-Chief of the Burmese junta Senior General Than Shwe,
delivered an address on 27 March at the 59th Anniversary Armed Forces Day
Parade in the Resistance Park on U Wisara Road in Rangoon. The junta's
leader says the country is moving towards democracy, but he has given no
date for the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi or the
reconvening of a national convention which is a key stage of the junta's
seven-step road map programme, including to draft a new constitution,
which would culminate in free and fair elections, election of State
leaders and the formation of the Government to lead the nation into a
bright future.

In his speech on Armed Forces Day, Senior General Than Shwe told seven
thousands of armed-forces that the troops must support the implementation
the junta's "road map to democracy", which critics have dismissed as a
tactical ploy to prolong taking an iron grip on power.

"It should be noted that nation-building efforts that consolidate peace,
modernization and development are being made to fulfill the fundamental
requirement for the emergence of a disciplined democracy," Than Shwe
pronounced on 27 March at the 59th armed-forces day ceremony in Rangoon.

He said, '' History has taught us that, in order to protect and safeguard
our independence and sovereignty, which was regained at a great cost paid
in blood, sweat and lives, it is imperative for the country to possess a
modern Tatmadaw (armed-forces). Only when a nation possesses a modern
defense capability, will it be possible to ensure the full protection of
its sovereignty. Thus, it can be seen that in every nation of the world,
patriotic leaders and experts who hold sovereignty dear, have the sense of
responsibility to contribute to the strengthening and modernization of the
Armed Forces.''

According to the old politicians in Rangoon, the road map of the junta is
no more than a good magic show for Burmese people as well as international
community, trying to trick us into thinking that such a convention may
lead to an emergence of a democratic reform in Burma. The symbolism of
what Than Shwe's speech means is not emergence of democratic Burma, but
emergence of a modern Tatmadaw or armed forces, which becomes an
oppressive apparatus upon its own people.

The military regime has used persuasive language, getting support from
some armed and ceased-fire ethnic groups to join a reconvened national
convention, which has not yet a fixed date for the convention. Moreover,
it has also failed to recognize the role of Aung San Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy (NLD).

The convention was suspended in 1996 after the NLD walked out accusing the
military regime of practicing undemocratic means and manipulating the
process to prolong its illegal power. In his speech, Than Shwe made no
mention of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been
detained since the May 30th clash between her supporters and the junta's
followers that took approximately hundred innocent lives, including
villagers from the local area. She remains under house arrest at her
lakeside residence in Rangoon, despite strong international calls for her
immediate release.

Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition, the National League for Democracy (NLD),
marked the day, March 27th, as Anti-fascist Resistance Day, which
commemorates '' 27 March 1945 '' when Burma's Independence Hero General
Aung San (father of Aung San Suu Kyi) launched a call to arms against the
Japanese wartime fascism, with a call to fight for democracy and human
rights in the military ruled country at the risk of their lives.

Over 700 NLD members, supporters, students and veteran politicians
gathered at the home of U Than Tun, an NLD executive committee member to
celebrate the day. The Central Executive Committee of NLD issued a
five-page statement calling for the immediate release of all political
prisoners and the restoration of democracy and human rights.

"The NLD shall strive - at the risk of lives, blood and sweat - for the
interests of the people, based on the principles of national
reconciliation, transition to democracy, and resolving political problems
through political dialogue," the statement said.

The UN Special Rapporteur, Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said on 26
March 2004, he hoped Aung San Suu Kyi would be released in mid-April, and
said that to play a political role she must be free. Professor Pinheiro
said the military junta must also allow the NLD and other political
parties to function.

After completing his 12th visit to Burma, the U.N. special envoy Razali
Ismail predicted Suu Kyi and other NLD officials might be freed by April
16th, the Burmese New Year.

"That is the date most people are expecting. I hope that this will happen.
It is very important that Aung San Suu Kyi be released, but the release is
not sufficient," Pinheiro told a news conference in Geneva.

While Burma's political impasse has been at its climax, Chinese Deputy
Prime Minister Wu Yi, who headed a 40-strong business delegation, arrived
in Rangoon on 23 March 2004 on a five-day visit to promote trade and
investment. It was a well-planned visit more than a coincidental one.

She met head of Burma's military regime senior general Than Shwe and Prime
Minister Khin Nyunt and oversaw the signing of 21 trade and economic
cooperation agreements on 24 March 2004. The actual meaning of this visit
is to show a strong support for the Burmese junta's road map to
militarism.

China has often denounced Western sanctions imposed on Burma as meddling
in other's internal affairs. The United States and the European Union has
imposed stricter sanctions after the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi was assaulted and detained last May. At the same time, China takes
advantage by all means and always seeks to boost trade and influence in
the rogue state. Burmese people's main concern is that the Chinese
population inside Burma is increasing with alarming rapidity as the
junta's corrupted officers allow the illegal flows of Chinese mass
migration without knowing the consequences.

But, up to everyone's surprise, Wuyi said that the international community
should respect Burma's sovereignty and stay away from its internal
affairs. It's up to the Burmese regime and its people to resolve their
internal affairs said a Chinese embassy official who attended the meeting.
She accused unnamed foreign countries of meddling in Rangoon's internal
affairs.

The bilateral economic and trade relations between Burma and China
continued to develop in recent years, attributing to being deepened by
China's policy of good neighborliness and friendly cooperation with its
neighbors, including Burma. According to official statistics, Burma and
China’s bilateral trade, including border trade, exceeded up to US$1
billion in 2003, with Burma's exports to China amounting to about US$ 170
million and its imports from China US$ 900 million.

The U.N. special envoy Mr. Razali Ismail, has urged Beijing repeatedly to
take a bigger role in resolving Burma's political troubles. But, according
to Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Wu Yi's words, China is going against the
United Nations' goodwill for Burma, as well as the Burmese peoples’ wishes
towards democracy that was shown in May 1990.

China's backing has caused the Burmese junta to be arrogant and boastful.
It occasionally boasts of having very good neighbors, such as China, India
and ASEAN who all oppose the U.S. and EU's sanctions supporting a
political dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"There is no evidence that we are worried about sanctions. Not that we
want them, but we are not afraid of them either because we have lived for
26 years on our own before, and we have very good neighbours around us and
we can simply trade and exchange relations with our close, good
neighbours," Kyaw Win told Burma's ambassador to Britain on June 5 2003,
just after the May 30th premeditated ambush.

"We have the two largest countries of the world on either side who are
happily trading and exchanging all kinds of technical, transportation,
security measures (with Burma) and we are living in harmony with all of
them," Kyaw Win told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

The Burmese military, in power since 1962, has ignored the 1990 election
results by the National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Important senior
NLD leaders have been under detention, and party offices across the
country closed, since May 30th of last year. Currently, the legitimate
Burmese democratic leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate still
remains under house arrest, approximately 1600 democracy activists,
including 18 Members of Parliament are also languishing in the junta's
jails.

During these years, several members of parliament have been languishing in
junta's prisons and many of them passed away in jails. Many died due to
old age while trying to restore democracy and human rights in their
country. Up to date, a total of 79 people's representatives passed away
under the inhumane military dictatorship in Burma.

The general socio-economic situation is rapidly deteriorating as a result
of mismanagement, corruption, incompetence and human rights violation of
the ruling military regime. According to 2003 November Report of the
Global IDP Project of the Norwegian Refugee Council,'' Between 600,000 and
one million people remain internally displaced in Burma because of the
military regime's brutal policies to control border areas populated by
ethnic minorities. Exposed to ongoing violence and systematic human rights
abuses at the hands of government troops, these people are without
protection from either their government or the international humanitarian
community.''

There are also an estimated 130,000 Burmese refugees in camps of
neighbouring Thailand. All these miserable outcomes are the products of
the Burmese military dictatorship.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has announced that Aung San Suu Kyi's
detention has completely derailed Burma's moves toward democracy.

In such a situation, Than Shwe shouted loudly on 27 March, '' it should be
noted that nation-building efforts that consolidate peace, modernization
and development represent the fulfilment of the fundamental requirements
for the emergence of a disciplined-flourishing democracy in the nation.''

It was very similar to an ancient Greek fable in which the fox invited the
stork for dinner and offered him soup on a plate in the purpose of making
a mockery of him. Even though, the neighboring countries are still firm
believers in the junta's road map, they are supporting the carrots, while
the Burmese people are claiming for a bigger stick.

No alien can afford to understand the Burmese generals' inner mind than
the Burmese people. In reality, the military regime's road map is '' soup
on a plate for the sole purpose of making a mockery of us'.”

_______________________

PRESS RELEASE

March 30, Asian Legal Resource Centre -- ALRC
Statement on 'Food scarcity in Myanmar' received by Commission on Human
Rights

Food scarcity in Myanmar

1. The Asian Legal Resource Centre has, over a number of years, brought
credible reports of food scarcity in Myanmar to the attention of the
Commission (most recently at its fifty-ninth session, E/CN.4/2003/NGO/84).
Hunger persists in Myanmar not due to natural disaster or causes otherwise
beyond human control, but rather because of the policies and practices of
the Government of Myanmar, which deny people's right to food.

2. In the past year, the Asian Legal Resource Centre announced the launch
of the Permanent People's Tribunal on the Right to Food and the Rule of
Law in Asia. In its introduction to the Tribunal, which comprises a number
of eminent Asian jurists and activists, the Asian Legal Resource Centre
observed that the Tribunal comes at a time when many governments still
falsely assert that economic and social rights can be addressed separately
from civil and political rights. In fact, political equality among human
beings can be guaranteed only when the right to food is adequately met.
However, apart from people in a few industrialised countries, the
populations of the world are yet to know even the most rudimentary
equality, evidenced daily by the billions denied access to adequate and
safe food and water. Such inequality affects the organization of all
societies, including those in Asia. Authoritarian rule has an explicit
link to inequalities relating to food and water. It is not possible for a
government to win popular consent until it has satisfied its people's
basic nutritional needs. Therefore, societies where large numbers of
people are going hungry are inevitably ruled without popular consent and
participation.

3. Legal equality is also intrinsically connected to the right to food.
Equality before law has little meaning when adequate food and water are
denied. In fact, law enforcement agencies often become instruments to
suppress aspirations to equality, and in so doing commit gross violation
of human rights. The aggressive nature of the police in many countries
arises from inequality and efforts to sustain it. This includes inequality
in the distribution of food and water. The willingness to ignore or
suppress the rule of law goes hand in hand with the willingness to ignore
basic economic rights. To maintain inequality in the distribution of food
and water requires state-managed violence. Torture is used to keep people
hungry. Fear is instilled to deprive people of basic economic rights and
retard their capacity to react. Detention and extra-judicial killings
become normalised. This denial of the right to food, then, is accompanied
by a breakdown in the rule of law. Therefore, the fight against torture,
illegal detention, extrajudicial killing and other violations of civil and
political rights is essential to create and maintain the space necessary
to struggle for adequate food and water.

4. The Permanent People's Tribunal on the Right to Food and the Rule of
Law in Asia is the successor to the earlier People's Tribunal on Food
Scarcity and Militarization in Burma (Myanmar). That Tribunal, which
operated from 1996 to 2000, researched and analysed the relationship
between hunger and military rule in Myanmar. It found that despite a
stated commitment to food security, the government there was inimical to
the food needs of its people. One impetus for the new Permanent People's
Tribunal has been the stream of reports coming from Myanmar indicating
that in the period since the previous People's Tribunal completed its
work, food conditions in that country have not improved. Indeed, many of
these reports suggest a marked deterioration in conditions. The
recommendations of the People's Tribunal too have not been implemented.
These included calls on the Government of Myanmar to guarantee the food
security of its people, and to the international community to take steps
to ensure that this be achieved. While the government has insisted that it
does in fact respect the right to food, and does all it can to achieve it,
this stated commitment is not borne out by evidence. Furthermore, while
the international community has responded to the Tribunal's call, to date
its reaction has remained limited and far short of what could be achieved.
In particular, there remains the Tribunal's important conclusion that as
"the Government of Myanmar is largely responsible for food scarcity [it]
may be considered guilty of a crime against humanity, punishable under
international law." In establishing the justiciability of the right to
food, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food is just now hinting at
this eventual possibility.

5. Reports received by the Permanent People's Tribunal in 2003 indicate
that food-related crime (rice theft, raiding of storehouses) is
continuing. The system of compulsory paddy procurement is still widely
implemented by local authorities, despite official announcements to the
contrary. Farmers are arrested and sometimes tortured for failing to
provide the amount of paddy ordered.

Similarly, land confiscations and forced relocations by the army and local
authorities, particularly in remote areas of the country where farmers may
not have documents indicating legal title and may lack any legal recourse,
continue unabated.

6. In particular, during October 2003, the Permanent People's Tribunal
received the important "Reclaiming the Right to Rice: Food Security and
Internal Displacement in Eastern Burma" report of the Burmese Border
Consortium. The report consists of a range of statements by persons and
groups concerned with the right to food in the east of Myanmar describing
a litany of food-related problems earlier captured by the report of the
People's Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarization in Burma (Myanmar).
These include the destruction of crops, land confiscation, rampant
inflation due to trade restrictions, ongoing sporadic armed conflict,
forced labour,
and environmental damage--including deforestation caused by uncontrolled
logging, and construction of small hydroelectric dams.  Some features of
the 2003 report linking food insecurity to government policies and the
lack of security and rule of law for persons in these areas include the
following:

a. In northern Shan State the Government of Myanmar issued orders that in
2003 only a foreign strain of paddy (DU.527 Sin Shwe Li) could be
cultivated. Villagers had to destroy paddy crops that had already been
planted or risk having their lands confiscated. Rather than recycling
their indigenous seed, farmers had to buy the new seed at 11,000 kyat per
basket (US per 32 kilograms) as well as chemical fertiliser so that the
crop would grow. The farmers were also ordered to sell their paddy harvest
back to the government at the standard rate of 400 kyat per basket (US.40
per 32 kilograms). If farmers could not sell back the required amount,
they had to pay 3,000 kyat per basket (US per 32 kilograms) in cash.

b. For women from displaced communities in contested areas, tending to
remote fields and searching for food in the forest place them at risk of
sexual violence. For example, in April 2003 a woman who was gathering
bamboo shoots near her village in eastern Shan State's Tachilek township
was gang raped by government troops. Similarly, in central Nam Zarng
township during June 2003, five girls under the age of 16 were detained by
government troops while tending to a soya bean field and were raped over a
period of two days and nights.

c. A nutrition survey of 632 children in one region near the border by the
Backpack Health Workers Team found that over 11 per cent of the children
were seriously malnourished, with large numbers eating no meats, eggs or
beans.

7. As noted above, the recommendations of the People's Tribunal on Food
Scarcity and Militarization in Burma (Myanmar) have to date gone unheeded,
as have those recommendations made to the Commission by the Asian Legal
Resource Centre at its annual sessions. In its "Reclaiming the Right to
Rice" report, the Burmese Border Consortium too has recommended that the
Government of Myanmar should invite the Special Rapporteur on the right to
food and Special Representative of the Secretary General on internal
displacement to investigate thoroughly the existing situation in Myanmar.
While the Asian Legal Resource Centre concurs with these suggestions,
realistically, they are unlikely to eventuate any time soon. The
pretensions of the Government of Myanmar to have an interest in the
wellbeing of its people--beyond the modicum necessary for it to ensure its
continued authority--have consistently proven fraudulent. That this is
certainly the case was most recently demonstrated by its orchestrated
attack on a civilian political convoy in May 2003, on which the Asian
Legal Resource Centre has this year made a separate written statement to
the Commission. An effective response to the massive rights violations
committed as a matter of routine by the Government of
Myanmar requires far more than the mere scheduling of periodic visits by
the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights there. It will
require active interventions, the use of considerable resources, and above
all, strong will from the United Nations system to see that genuine and
lasting change is in fact begun in Myanmar without further delay. Those
who are hungry cannot afford to wait.

_______________________

March 31, Amnesty International
Myanmar: Respect human rights during the National Convention

The human rights situation in Myanmar remains serious, a new report
published by Amnesty International today reveals.  There are an estimated
1300 -- 1400 political prisoners, many of them prisoners of conscience;
and political arrests continue in the run-up to the National Convention.

"Arbitrary arrests; torture and ill-treatment during incommunicado
detention; unfair trials; and laws which greatly curtail the rights to
freedom of expression and assembly are major obstacles to any improvement
in Myanmar's human rights record," Amnesty International said.

Last year for the first time in its history Amnesty International was
allowed to visit the country, most recently in December.

Myanmar: The administration of justice -- grave and abiding concerns
reflects information gathered from meetings with government officials,
interviews with political prisoners and discussions with members of
Myanmar civil society.

Ahead of the National Convention, due to be held this year, Amnesty
International continues to call for all prisoners of conscience to be
released and for  State Peace and Development Council (SPDC, Myanmar's
military government)  to ensure that human rights are protected both
during the National Convention and in the  new Constitution.

"In particular the SPDC must ensure that the rights to freedom of speech
and association are guaranteed during the Convention and that no one is
arrested for exercising those rights. Similarly it is vital that human
rights safeguards be incorporated in the draft constitution."

Many legitimate participants in a constitution-drafting process are
imprisoned or held under de facto house arrest.  These include members of
parliament-elect from several political parties; young political leaders;
and other prominent members of civil society.

Arrests, surveillance, and intimidation of members of opposition political
parties continue in the lead-up to the National Convention. Members and
leaders of these parties have been followed, interrogated, and intimidated
for attempting to engage in legitimate and peaceful political activities.
Some have been arrested for their non-violent protests, for example,
calling for all political prisoners to be released.

"Such developments do not foster an environment in which participants in
the National Convention feel able to take part in a free and open manner.
Legitimate participants still in prison must be released and political
arrests must stop immediately," Amnesty International said.

At the time of the last National Convention process from 1993 -- 1996,
some delegates were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for expressing
criticism about the process.  The Convention is now being reconvened by
the SPDC as part of a seven step "roadmap" to political
transition.

The new report also expresses extensive and ongoing concerns about the
arrest and pre-trial detention process for political detainees.  These
include arbitrary arrest by Military Intelligence (MI) personnel;
prolonged interrogation accompanied by torture and ill-treatment;
incommunicado pre-trial detention, including denial of access to lawyers,
families, and adequate medical care; and the inability of the accused to
challenge the legality of their detention.  Political trials are often
summary and fall far short of international standards, where detainees are
routinely denied the right to legal counsel, the right to be presumed
innocent, and the right to cross-examine witnesses,

"Torture and ill-treatment of political detainees continue to occur in
Myanmar. It is vital that the SPDC ensure that the police force and
Military Intelligence personnel do not  hold political detainees in
prolonged incommunicado detention, a practice which facilitates torture.

"To demonstrate their commitment to all all-inclusive, transparent
National Convention Process, the SPDC must release all prisoners of
conscience immediately and unconditionally.  Selective release of a few
individuals will not dispel an atmosphere of fear and repression that
could undermine the process.  Reform of the criminal justice system
including reform of legislation which has long been used to stifle
political dissent should also be given priority with the transition
process," Amnesty International concluded.

Public Document
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London WC1X 0DW.
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