BurNet News, April 13, 2004

[Editor]

April 13, 2004 Issue # 2455

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Two senior opposition members released in Myanmar
Shan: Opposition hemmed in
RSF Asia: “Sunny” Khin Maung Win freed after seven years in prison
DVB: SPDC to beef up security measures against Rohinja
Xinhua: ARF senior officials meeting ends in Myanmar
Xinhua: Myanmar celebrates water festival to greet new year

BUSINESS / MONEY
Xinhua: Myanmar, Philippines agree to strengthen bilateral cooperation

REGIONAL
Shan: Follow-up on the Upstream Salween dam projects

INTERNATIONAL
Seattle Post Intelligencer: Hearing set for Unocal human rights case

OPINION/ OTHER
DVB: Interview with Paulo Pinheiro
Taipei Times: Water festival washes away sins

STATEMENT
WLB via Shan: Ongoing state violence against women renders SPDC National
Convention meaningless

MEDIA RELEASE
Burma Campaign UK: Kuoni go back to burma


INSIDE BURMA
_____________________________________

April 13, Agence France Presse
Two senior opposition members released in Myanmar

Two senior members of Myanmar's democratic opposition, Aung Shwe and U
Lwin, were released from house arrest Tuesday after nearly a year in
detention, a party official said.

"Yes, they are free but we have not seen each other yet," Than Tun, a
member of the opposition National League for Democracy's central executive
committee, told AFP.

NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and party vice chairman Tin Oo remained
confined to their Yangon homes, after being taken into detention during
political unrest last May 30 which triggered a crackdown on the party.

There are hopes that Aung San Suu Kyi will be released before a national
convention to draft a constitution, which begins on May 17.

Aung Shwe, the NLD chairman, and party secretary U Lwin were considered
more likely to be freed first because of their participation in the
original convention, which collapsed in 1995 after the NLD withdrew.

The two have been issued official invitations to attend the May forum.

Party sources said officials of the ruling military junta went to Aung
Shwe's and U Lwin's houses in Yangon at 8:00 am and told them they were
free to leave their homes.

U Lwin was seen Tuesday taking his exercise inside his residence's
compound but family members said he was not prepared to talk with
reporters.

Aung Shwe too was at home but unavailable as he was in meditation, a
relative said.

Members of the party's central executive committee have stressed that the
decision-making body's nine members including Aung San Suu Kyi would need
to meet to decide whether to attend the convention.

To date none of the executive committee has been allowed access to Aung
San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, but party sources said a meeting was
expected "in the next couple of days" between her and the committee.

"We hope Aung San Suu Kyi will be released also," the NLD source said.

"If they do not meet at one time or another, they cannot come up with a
decision" about attending the convention, he added.

Since announcing the date of the convention late last month, Myanmar's
ruling generals have come under pressure from the United States, the
United Nations, and many other countries and rights groups to free Aung
San Suu Kyi before it begins.

Analysts said the convention would be completely discredited if it were
held while Aung San Suu Kyi and other top party officials remained
confined, although they stressed it was unlikely the democracy leader
would be present for the forum's deliberations.

The release of Aung Shwe and U Lwin comes as Myanmar celebrates its
traditional new year, which is accompanied by a water festival which draws
thousands of revelers into the streets.

On Monday veteran politicians and former freedom fighters appealed to the
ruling State Peace and Development Council to release Aung San Suu Kyi and
all other political prisoners to mark this week's "Thingyan" festival.

"It is Buddhist custom and tradition during New Year to set free birds,
animals and fish," the politicians said in a letter to the government,
adding it would be even more appropriate to free people from jail.

The group also called on the junta to begin a national reconciliation
dialogue involving the generals, the democratic opposition, and ethnic
political parties.

_____________________________________

April 13, Reporter Sans Frontieres/Reporters Withouth Borders
”Sunny” Khin Maung Win freed after seven years in prison

Reporters Without Borders today welcomed the release on 9 April of
photographer and cameraman Khin Maung Win, also known as ³Sunny,² who had
served a seven-year sentence.

Sunny worked for the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). He
was arrested on 13 June 1997 along with four other NLD members after
filming an interview with Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD leader and Nobel
laureate, and sending the interview abroad.

While expressing satisfaction at his release, Reporters Without Borders
regretted that it did not take place earlier. The organisation also voiced
concern about the physical and mental health of the 11 journalists still
in prison and reiterated its call for press freedom to be part of the
³roadmap to democracy² proposed by the ruling junta.

Now aged 44, Sonny told the Democratic Voice of Burma radio station on
leaving prison that he was in good health but needed time to rebuild his
life. As regards prison conditions, he complained above all that he had
been held in turn in four different prisons in the four corners of the
country (Rangoon, Kalay, Loykaw and Khan-tee), which made it hard on its
family on the few occasions they were allowed to visit him.

Both a photographer and cameraman by profession, Sonny joined the NLD at
the start of the 1990s. His videotape of the interview with Aung San Suu
Kyi was shown at a press conference during a summit of the Association of
South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) taking place at the time.

Two weeks after his arrest, the head of the Military Intelligence
Services, Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, accused Sunny of belonging to a group that
was collaborating with anti-government activists abroad and with militants
at home who were bent on destroying the country. He was given a summary
trial and had no chance to defend himself.
_____________________________________

April 13, Shan
Opposition hemmed in

With some European countries favoring participation by the opposition in
the upcoming military-organized National Convention, opposition parties
are increasingly being left to go it alone, according to an opposition
source.

"We're in a fix", wrote an insider source from the Shan Nationalities
League for Democracy, the party that had won in the Shan State in 1990
elections to S.H.A.N. on 5 April. "So are the peacocks (National League
for Democracy of Aung San Suu Kyi). They (the European countries) want us
to attend it and try our utmost there before deciding it's pointless.

"But, these guys, they've never been there. If there are no preliminaries
and the military refuses to mend its Procedural Code of the Convention
first, we will only be playing ourselves into its hands."

The source, an Executive Committee member, added, "We've also learned the
military has decided that out of the 15 chapter headings (chosen by the NC
Convening Work Committee during the second session in 1993), six had
already been discussed and resolutions passed. Accordingly, they would not
allow any attempt to re-consider them but would go on with the remaining 9
headings."

The chapter headings are: Preface; The Union; Formation of the Union; Head
of the Union; Legislation; Administration; Judiciary; The Armed Forces;
Government employees; Citizenship, Rights and Duties of Citizens; Flag,
Seal, National Anthem and the Capital; Political Parties; General
Elections; Emergency Provisions; and Miscellaneous.

According to Analysis of SLORC's National Convention, a report by Burma
Lawyers Council, April 1995, many delegates were disappointed when the 15
headings were adopted because their suggestions and proposals were
ignored.

Also in accordance with the National Convention Procedural Code, issued by
the National Convention Convening Commission (NCCC) on 1 January 1993,
which was not made known to either "the common people of Burma or the
international community (but) kept as a state secret", every speech must
be approved beforehand and a delegate may only read out the edited speech
or paper. Thus, when Sai Nood a.k.a Sai Nyunt Lwin, Acting General
Secretary of the SNLD, turned out saying, "It is very important that we do
not become History's culprits," the very words that were edited out, he
was severely reprimanded by the chairman, says the report.

In addition, the Code stipulates that all news relating to the National
Convention "be kept secret before it is released by the National
Convention Convening Work Committee, which is responsible for all press
release relevant to the NC."

On top of all these, all the delegates are required to stay together in
one place so "the tasks of the NC can be completed smoothly and in time"
where they are allowed to leave temporarily "with valid reason" and "with
the (prior) permission of the NCCWC".

"It means the whole show will be run by the generals at their own chosen
pace, time and terms," commented Sao Sengsuk, exiled Shan leader in
Thailand and Chairman of the Shan State Constitution Drafting Commission.
"It also means we must do everything we can in order to obtain independent
and timely information on the proceedings so the whole thing can be
exposed as a complete farce."

The insider source however was not optimistic. "Right now, the generals
are playing their cards close to their hearts," he said. "Four out of five
telephones of Khun Tun Oo, the SNLD leader, have been laid useless since
our EC meeting (8-9 January 2004). As for Sai Nood, he can make a call to
you using his phone, but you won't be able to reach him by his number."

During the last National Convention, held 1993-96, only 99 out of the
total of 702 delegates were elected representatives. Its six aims which
included, "Participation of the military in the leading role of future
national politics" and the 104 constitutional principles were adopted in
spite of the protests made by the parties. The NLD and the SNLD were later
called in and given stern warnings, says the BLC report.

For further information, please contact S.H.A.N. at: Shan Herald Agency
for News, Phone: 66-1-5312837 e-mail: shan at cm.ksc.co.th
_____________________________________

April 8, Democratic Voice of Burma
SPDC to beef up security measures against Rohinja

The War Office of Burma’s military junta, State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) in Rangoon yesterday ordered the Western Military Command
to impose strict security measures in Maungdaw and Buthidaung Townships in
Akyab District of Arakan State, western Burma where the majority of
Rohingyas reside.

Buthidaung-based Infantry Battalion No 13 and two Zwe militia battalions
under the Military Operations Management Command No 15 were especially
ordered to collectively perform emergency inspection procedures in the
Muslim-majority wards of the region.

The order also instructed to arrest and immediately interrogate suspected
persons, to perform thorough search for weapons and explosives, and to
increase security measures at the airport, seaports, and bus depots.

Furthermore, soldiers are ordered to perform mine clearing operations
daily and beef up security at post offices, companies, government offices,
and important buildings in Arakan State.

According to a source close to military officials, the Rangoon War Office
Order has also instructed the Western Military Command not to allow any
Rohingya Muslim from travelling out of state without any substantial
reason.

Recently, three Rohinja Muslims burnt down the Burmese embassy in the
Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur with petrol bombs and attacked the staff
with machetes and axes after a dispute broke out between them on whether
they are Burmese citizens or not. The junta regards Rohinja Muslims as
aliens and they are not allowed to hold Burmese identity cards.

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 8 Apr 04

_____________________________________

April 13, Xinhua
ARF senior officials meeting ends in Myanmar

The Intersessional Support Group Meeting of ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on
confidence-building measures ended here Tuesday, adopting the summary
report of the co-chairs.

The second annual meeting for the year 2003-04, co-chaired by the Foreign
Ministries of Myanmar and China, was attended by foreign and defense
officials of 22 ARF members out of 23 including the 10-member Association
of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) and its dialogue partners --China,
Japan and South Korea as well as Australia, Canada, the European Union,
India, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.

At the meeting, the participants exchanged views on the current
international and regional security situation and cooperation in
non-traditional security aspects as well as future development direction
of the ARF.

The meeting also proposed a series of projects on confidence-building
measures and continued enhancement of cooperation in the ARF.

The Chinese delegation pledged to adhere to a policy of good neighborly
and friendly cooperative ties in active coordination and cooperation with
each member in the region and promote with real action the stability and
prosperity of the region.

The ARF, established in 1994, is the main official multilateral dialogue
channel on political and security issues in the region and the
intersessional support group's meeting is held biannually.

_____________________________________

April 13, Xinhua
Myanmar celebrates water festival to greet new year - Zhang Yunfei

Some two dozens of beautiful girls in colorful festive dresses are
performing traditional dances on an open-air stage at the city center,
while a long queue of motor vehicles carrying groups of revelers are
passing by in front of the water-throwing platform beside the stage.

It is a scene that portrays a pattern of Myanmar's Thingyan water
festival, signifying the ushering in Myanmar people's traditional new
year, accompanied by waves of joy, especially of the children.

There are over 300 big and small water-throwing pandals set up in the
capital of Yangon with the Yangon Mayor's Pandal as the biggest one which
was inaugurated on Monday.

A series of non-stop entertainment programs are being presented by the
noted vocalists and dancers who drew large crowds of smiling people
especially youngsters.

Water is a symbol of cleanliness and auspiciousness. Myanmar people
believe that celebration of the water festival can wash away evils and
sins accumulated in the old days and prepare for the new one, bringing the
people into a happy new year.

The water festival stands as the most popular, raucous and colorful
celebration of the year for more than 52 million people who are relaxing
themselves and giving up any thoughts of work.

In the old days, Myanmar people used to sprinkle water gently with leaves
on one another as a traditional way of holding the festival, but it has
developed for a long time into a way that people are throwing water and
splashing with water-gun and even with plastic pipes being joined to water
pumps.

There also emerged that foreign diplomats and tourists joined local people
to mark the occasion. A rare scene that drew people's attention was that a
visiting cultural troupe of China's Yunnan Xixuangbanna was among groups
exchanging with throwing of water.

There also appeared some pandals specially erected by private companies on
their own cost, offering entertainment programs and facilities for
water-throwing to attract people in one way to advertise their products on
the occasion. Such pandals are dominated by the Myanmar Beer Company's,
followed by those of TOTAL oil company of France, Sedona Hotel of
Singapore and Nikko Hotel of Japan.

Competitions of songs and dances were also held in some pandals with prize
money presented.

This year's Myanmar water festival took place in the capital of Yangon in
a civilized manner with polite approach by people in water-throwing under
the influence of the call made by the authorities to prevent undesirable
accidents out of drink and quarrel.

The festival will continue for four days after which the first day of the
new Myanmar calendar year will fall on Saturday when Myanmar people will
spend the new year day by doing deeds of merit such as washing heads of
elderly people with scented water and setting animals free, for example,
bird and fish.

It can be said that among the 12 traditional and seasonable festivals of
Myanmar, the water festival is the merriest one.


BUSINESS/MONEY
___________________________________

April 13, Xinhua
Myanmar, Philippines agree to strengthen bilateral cooperation

Myanmar and the Philippines have held a minister-level meeting here,
agreeing to strengthen the two countries' bilateral cooperation, official
newspaper the New Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday.

The first meeting of the Myanmar-Philippines Joint Commission for
Bilateral Cooperation (JBC), held on Monday afternoon, was chaired by
Myanmar Foreign Minister U Win Aung and his visiting Philippine
counterpart Delia Domingo Albert who arrived earlier on that day.

There are few links between Myanmar and the Philippines in recent years
except having minor trade ties.

According to official statistics, Myanmar exported about 6 million US
dollars' goods to the Philippines annually in the last few years but
imported almost none from that country which stands as Myanmar's trading
partner with the least amount among the five members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations with which Myanmar has trade ties, namely
Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The Philippines' investment in Myanmar has reached 146 million dollars
since the latter opened to foreign investment in late 1988.


REGIONAL
_____________________________________

April 13, Shan
Follow-up on the Upstream Salween dam projects

Following S.H.A.N. report, Dam activists win first round, 3 April, A.P.
has put out the following report, Officials say the know of no change,
dated 9 April.

Friday April 9, 1:11 PM
China's premier reportedly orders restudy of controversial dam, but
officials say they know of no change

China's premier reportedly has ordered the government to reconsider
controversial plans for a dam on a river shared with Thailand and Myanmar,
but the official in charge of the project said he knew of no decision to
cancel it.

Any decision to scrap plans for the dam on the Salween River would delight
environmentalists who have lobbied against it and please Thailand and
Myanmar, which are planning their own dams and object to the Chinese
project.

The Salween plans are the latest in a series of dozens of dams across
China designed to harness water for a developing country of 1.3 billion
people that is racing to provide its fast-growing cities with the water
and electricity they need.

Premier Wen Jiabao sent the plan back to lower-level officials, noting
that such projects "cause great concern in society," the newspaper Ta Kung
Pao in Hong Kong reported. The newspaper, which has close ties to the
Beijing government, didn't say what changes Wen told the officials to
make.

But the director of the Nu River Power Bureau, Li Yunfei, said he was
still working on the project and had not heard of any changes. The Salween
is known in Chinese as the Nu.

"The premier's viewpoint on the project is 'scientific research, proper
development,' as far as we know," Li said.

Officials of the National Development and Reform Commission, which in
August recommended approving the project, couldn't confirm the report. The
press office of China's Cabinet declined to comment, and other offices
contacted in Beijing did not respond to inquiries.

The Salween is one of three great rivers that originate in the Himalayas
and traverse China's southern borders with Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Its Chinese name means "Angry River."

The other two are the Mekong and the Yarlung Zangbo. The Salween and the
Yarlung Zangbo are the last two major rivers in China that haven't been
dammed for hydroelectric projects. China is building six generating
stations on the Mekong.

The Three Rivers National Park, which covers parts of China, Thailand and
Myanmar, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site last year.

Environmentalists say the area is one of the last pristine sections of
wild ecology in overpopulated, fast-developing China. The government says
the area has some of the richest biodiversity in the world and is home to
unique species of plants and animals, including the Yunnan snub-nosed
monkey, Asian elephants and wild oxen.

The area also is popular with whitewater rafters.

Ta Kung Pao said Wen's comments about the dam raised expectations that
Beijing might reconsider ambitious hydroelectric plans, despite chronic
power shortages in many parts of China.

Wen and other top Communist leaders recently have begun promoting a more
"people-oriented" concept of economic development. They say resource and
transport shortages suggest the breakneck growth rates of recent years are
not sustainable.

But a rejection of the Salween River projects would be especially
significant, countering China's feverish pace of dam building as part of
plans to shift away from polluting coal as a source of power.

The 13 dams proposed for China's section of the Salween River would have a
total generating capacity of 21.32 million kilowatts, according to state
media.

That would surpass the Three Gorges Dam in central China, which is the
world's biggest hydroelectric project and is due to have a capacity of
18.2 million kilowatts when finished in 2009.

Conservation groups and others in China have agitated against such
gargantuan projects.

But the Three Gorges went ahead despite such widespread opposition and
dissent within China's legislature, which usually routinely approves
policies of the Communist leadership.

China has promoted the Salween River dams as a chance to reduce poverty in
the remote region, inhabited mainly by ethnic minorities such as the Lisu,
Miao and Yi.

Thousands of workers will be needed to build roads and bridges as well as
the dams.

"Our government, together with the 490,000 Lisu minority people living in
the canyon, are looking forward to a chance to becoming well-off, just
like the rest of the country," said Li, of the Nu River Power Bureau.He
argued that smaller dams already built on tributaries of the Salween had
caused little damage.

"Even if the plan for the 13 power stations was denied, I don't think we
should give up," Li said. "We just have to find a balance between
conservation and improving people's lives."

For further information, please contact S.H.A.N. at: Shan Herald Agency
for News.
Phone: 66-1-5312837, e-mail: shan at cm.ksc.co.th, http://www.shanland.org


INTERNATIONAL
_____________________________________

April 12, Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Hearing set for Unocal human rights case – Paul Chavez

Los Angeles -- A Superior Court judge Monday scheduled a hearing in June
to determine if the long-running human rights case involving Unocal Corp.
and a pipeline project in Myanmar should continue.

The case hinges on whether El Segundo, Calif.-based Unocal or its overseas
subsidiaries, which were not named in the lawsuit, can be held liable for
human rights atrocities allegedly carried out by the Myanmar military in
the 1990s to aid the $1.2 billion Yadana pipeline project.

Judge Victoria Gerrard Chaney this week is expected to finalize her
January oral ruling in which she concluded after the trial's first phase
that Unocal was not the "alter ego" of subsidiaries that built and operate
the pipeline. Plaintiffs' lawyers had argued that was the case and that
Unocal should be held liable for rape, murder and torture allegedly
carried out by the Myanmar military.

Daniel Petrocelli, Unocal's lead trial lawyer, said the case should be
dismissed because of the court's ruling.

To continue the case would render the first phase of the trial, which was
held in December and January, "an academic and pointless exercise,"
Petrocelli said.

Dan Stormer, a lawyer for the villagers suing Unocal, said that "alter
ego" was just one of several "legal hooks" that could be used to hold
Unocal accountable. Stormer said his team will purse alternate theories to
hold Unocal accountable, by arguing that the subsidiaries acted as its
agents or were in a joint venture with the parent company.

Arguments and evidence regarding the alleged human rights abuses were
excluded from the first phase of the trial, but could be introduced if the
case continues.

The ongoing trial consolidates two separate cases that date to 1996, when
the plaintiffs first filed federal and state claims in federal court. A
judge found Unocal had no liability and dismissed the federal case, which
prompted the plaintiffs to pursue their claims under state law in Superior
Court.

The federal case was reinstated in 2002 by a three-judge panel of the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals.

Unocal argued last June before the full 11-judge panel that the case
wrongly relies on the 1789 Alien Tort Claims Act and should be dismissed.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a separate case, is considering the
applicability of the obscure statute and a ruling is expected this summer.


OPINION/ OTHER
___________________________________

April 6-7, 2004, Democratic Voice of Burma
Interview with Paulo Pinheiro

A UN special rapporteur on Burma, Mr Paulo Pinheiro has called for release
of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma.

Now, although the SPDC has set the date to begin the National Convention,
prospect for release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other prisoners are still
not clear. Mr Pinheior says it is impossible to begin the transition to
democracy while many political activists are in prison. And he was denied
to visit Burma before the current UN Commission on Human Rights meeting in
Geneva.

DVB news editor Moe Aye talks to Mr Paulo Pinheior on current situation in
Burma.

DVB : You are not allowed to visit Burma this time. Why is that?

Mr Pinheiro : Since, I was appointed in the end of Dec 2000 as a special
rapporteur; I have regularly visited Burma before the Commission on Human
Rights. This time, the government did not invite me to the country and
therefore, I could not visit.

DVB : Why is it this time?

Mr Pinheiro : Well, I can just take note of what the government informed
to me that they have other visitors and other missions and they informed
me that they have accepted to my visit but that will discuss at natural
convenience.

DVB : When do you think you could go to Burma, then?

Mr Pinheiro : I have proposed them to go to Burma in May or June before I
finished the report to the general assembly.

DVB : What is your main focus of your report to the commission?

Mr Pinheiro : My report was mainly on the road map and the civil and
political rights. In my report as well as in my speech, my comments were
in the sense that for a successful political transition process, it
necessary that some basic political freedom are being placed. Another main
issue is about political prisoners. I expressed with the authority in the
country that it will be very difficult to have political transition with
the so high number of political prisoners.

DVB : But there is no sign of releasing political prisoners. As a special
rapporteur, how do you expect for the future of political prisoner.

Mr Pinheiro :I can say that the ball is completely on the site of the
government. In my report, I was suggesting that the government could
consider political amnesty because you have so many prisoners. Probably
around 600 political prisoners have been released in 2002. But last year,
very few were released and you have a lot of detention because of Depayin
incident. I have expressed in my speech that during the up coming
Bangkok's meeting, they should convey to the government of Myanmar that it
is very important that some basic freedom will be immediately implemented
and also the need for release of the political prisoner. There will be
next meeting in April in Thailand before the date settle by the government
to the national convention.

DVB : If they don't release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political
prisoners before national convention, what would you like to say as a
special rapporteur?

Mr Pinheiro : I think it is very important that she will be released and
the NLD and other parties to be able to operate freely before the opening
of the national convention. Another aspect that I have discussed with the
authority, in my speech and in my report is how the delegates will be
selected for national convention. Until now this aspect is still not clear
for me.

DVB : You also ask for independent enquiry commission on Depayin incident.

Mr Pinheiro : For the time being, the government has no answered to my
proposal. I also reminded them about my offer to do the investigation on
sexual violations in Shan State and now on the Depayin incident. I have
repeated that in my report and my speech. But for the time being, I
haven't received any answer from the government.

DVB : How do you consider the current human rights situation in the country?

Mr Pinheiro :At very this moment, you don't have any basic freedom, any
political freedom and it is very difficult to operate political transition
in such an environment. Every political process in the world to transition
to democracy was accompanied by implementation (even gradually) of parties
to operate to hold meeting and publish documents. How can you have an open
debate at the national convention if the political parties are not allowed
to publish anything?

DVB : United Nations Commission on Human Rights has passed many
resolutions on Burma in the past but the human rights situation in Burma
has not improved. What is your comment on that as a special rapporteur?

Mr Pinheiro : I think that the responsibility for the absent of follow up
of the resolution is with the 53 member states of the commission. It is
not the fault of the United Nations. The responsibility is of the member
states. Precisely, those member states are participating in the Bangkok
initiative. They have great responsibility for the implementation of the
resolution of the commission on human rights.

DVB : Everybody wants to know what is Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's position on
Depayin incident. You had a chance to meet her. What did she tell you
about Depayin incident?

Mr Pinheiro : Her position was that it is necessary that the investigation
must be made on the incident. It is the same message that she conveyed to
the special of the Secretary-General, Ambassador Razali in March. I think
it is the same ideas that requesting the investigation but this request
cannot be interpret as an obstacle for dialogue for moving ahead political
transition toward democracy.

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 6-7 Apr 04

___________________________________

April 13, Taipei Times
Water festival washes away sins

The celebration is called Songkran in Thailand, Chaul Chnam Thmey in
Cambodia, Thingyan in Myanmar and Pimai in Laos. Getting wet is what they
have in common

Elephants spray water on Thais celebrating the Songkran festival in the
lead-up to the Thai New Year in Ayutthaya, 80km north of Bangkok.The
Songkran festival is also known as the ``water festival'' which is
believed to wash away bad luck.

Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos today begin three days of exuberant,
water-soaked celebrations marking the traditional new year, refusing to be
deterred by historically low levels on the Mekong which connects them.

Water is at the heart of the mid-April festival in the four
Buddhist-majority countries, signifying the washing away of sins and
rancor, and refreshing the region as it is embraced by scorching summer
weather.

"It will be a symbolic cleansing and washing away of sins accumulated
during the old year and to prepare for the new one," a Buddhist scholar in
Myanmar said of the ancient ceremony.

The water festival represents the most popular, raucous and colorful
celebration of the year for more than 120 million people who will abandon
any thoughts of work and bring their nations to a standstill.

Cambodia and Laos are both entering year 2548 of the Buddhist era, while
Thailand will do so on Jan. 1 after adopting the Gregorian calendar.
Myanmar is only passing into the year 1366 according to its numbering
system.

The celebration is called Songkran in Thailand, Chaul Chnam Thmey in
Cambodia, Thingyan in Myanmar and Pimai in Laos but at street corners
everywhere, everyone can expect to be splashed with icy cold water.

>From basic plastic buckets to high-tech pump-action water pistols which
allow revellers long-range, high-precision soaking, every type of
container is deployed to throw water, sometimes laced with talcum powder,
colored flour, charcoal, mud and ice cubes.

City-dwellers embark on a massive exodus to the countryside for family
reunions punctuated by visits to pagodas, offerings to monks, ancestor
worship, traditional games and dances, sports competitions, gift-giving to
parents and symbolic bathing of elders -- all to acquire "merit" in the
Buddhist tradition.

The new year is also a highlight of the tourist season, for visitors who
are lucky to see splendid processions of monks wrapped in saffron robes
who remain composed amid the revelries in Luang Prabang, the former royal
capital of Laos.

In Cambodia, small sand pagodas are built along the banks of the Mekong,
while newly ordained monks are paraded on elephants deep in northern
Myanmar, and music shows are staged in platforms on the rivers of northern
Thailand.

The festival is also an occasion for people to wear new clothing, give
Buddha statues and their houses a thorough washing, and even to donate
blood.

The governor of Phnom Penh has asked residents to scrub the city clean
with vast amounts of water, despite the region's drought which has helped
reduce the once-mighty Mekong to a trickle in some stretches.

The effort "is to welcome the upcoming traditional Khmer New Year ... by
making Phnom Penh more and more clean and create a better environment,"
Keb Chuktema said.

Thingyan has taken on political dimensions in Myanmar this year. As it is
customary to release birds from cages at this time, many hope opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi could be freed from house arrest at the dawn of
the new year.

In Thailand, the explosive situation in the Muslim south is overshadowing
Songkran. A heavy security presence has been deployed in fear that Muslim
extremists who have killed 60 people this year could mount a major attack.

In all four countries, traditional New Year's day also is also well
lubricated with alcohol, usually cheap local whisky or rice alcohol which
fuels rampant drink-driving and carnage on the roads.

Authorities in Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Yangon and Vientiane have once again
issued urgent warnings and bans to try to curb the problem.

In Thailand, where 20,000 police officers have been mobilized,
blood-alcohol tests will be carried out at checkpoints. Last Songkran,
more than 800 people were killed on the roads, 70 percent due to
drunk-driving.

Water-throwing is prohibited after 6pm and parents have been warned they
face up to three months in jail if their offspring use the festivities as
an excuse to sexually harass women. The young women themselves have been
asked not to wear "provocative" clothing like miniskirts.

In Myanmar, the official press noted: "It is important that people take
part in the festival in line with Myanmar tradition and avoid behaviors
and wearing clothes that are foreign to our culture."

In Yangon, hundred of makeshift wooden structures have been thrown up as
platforms for water-throwing, especially around the capital's Inya Lake --
although revelries are banned near Aung San Suu Kyi's home.

In Cambodia, where the new year is rung in at precisely 5:36pm on Tuesday,
newspapers have published official directives against "theft and other
crimes, especially gambling" and security forces have been warned they
will "will have to work very hard" according to a city official quoted by
Cambodge Soir.

In Laos, the authorities noted that last year, "Pimai saw hundreds of
people driving drunk or involved in pick-up wars which resulted in loss of
life" and encouraged citizens to meet on the banks of the Mekong and leave
their cars at home.

___________________________________

STATEMENT

April 12, Women’s League of Burma via Shan
Ongoing state violence against women renders SPDC National Convention
meaningless

The SPDC army has been using sexual violence and other forms of violence
as a weapon of war against ethnic women until today. The fact that the
perpetrators continue to go unpunished proves that the SPDC has taken no
serious measures to eliminate violence against women.

Even during the ongoing cease-fire talks between the Karen National Union
and the SPDC, women in Karen State have been raped by SPDC soldiers. These
cases have been documented in detail in the new report, "Shattering
Silences" released by the Karen Women's Organization on April 2nd, 2004.

Instead of taking serious measures to stop the military rape of ethnic
women, the SPDC has continued to insist to the international community
that the rape reports are "false." On April 5, 2004, the SPDC
representative made a statement at the 60th Session of the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights, rejecting again the contents of "Licence to
Rape", jointly released by the Shan Women's Action Network and the Shan
Human Rights Foundation in June 2002.

Yet, despite the denials, evidence of state violence against women in
Burma continues to mount. A new report, "Women's Political Prisoners in
Burma", jointly produced by the Burmese Women's Union and the Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), exposes how women directly or
indirectly involved in the human rights and democracy movement have been
unjustly imprisoned and tortured by the SPDC authorities for their
political belief.

According to the report, out of the 1,500 political prisoners because of
their connections to democracy movements in Burma, over one hundred,
including Aung San Suu Kyi, are women. These political prisoners are
facing gender-based violence in the prisons.

Without releasing all political prisoners, and without taking serious
measures to eliminate violence against women in Burma, the announcement
made by the SPDC to reconvene the National Convention on May 17, 2004, the
first step of its "roadmap," is absolutely meaningless.

WLB believes that women in Burma will not be safe unless genuine democracy
is restored and basic human rights are protected.

Therefore, WLB demands that the SPDC immediately implement a nationwide
ceasefire, withdraw their troops stationed in the ethnic states,
immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, and
begin tripartite dialogue towards national reconciliation in Burma.

Media contact:
Nang Hseng Noung Tel: +66 1 884 4963 Email: wlb at womenofburma.org
Thin Thin Aung Tel: + 91 989 125 2316  Email: thinaung at mizzima.com

"Women's Political Prisoners in Burma" can be viewed at:  (www.aappb.net)
and "Shattering Silences" at: (www.womenofburma.org)

___________________________________

MEDIA RELEASE

April 13, Burma Campaign UK
Kuoni go back to burma

The Burma Campaign UK today condemned travel firm Kuoni for planning to
resume tours to Burma. The Burma Campaign UK has learnt Kuoni plans to
resume tours in 2005. Kuoni received widespread praise when it withdrew
from Burma last year. The company had stated it did not
expect to return until democracy was restored.

"We are very angry that Kuoni have broken their word", said Yvette Mahon,
Director of the Burma Campaign UK. "Than Shwe, the dictator of Burma, will
be delighted by this news. Money from the tourists Kuoni takes to Burma
will go straight into his pockets."

Burma, ruled by one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the
world, is the subject of a tourist boycott following calls by Aung San Suu
Kyi, leader of Burma's democracy movement, for tourists to stay away.
Tourism provides the generals with an important source of foreign
currency, and slave labour has been widely used to build tourist
infrastructure.

Kuoni's decision to return to Burma is also a snub to British government
policy on Burma. In February this year Foreign Office Minister Mike
O'Brien renewed his call for travel companies to pull out of Burma,
telling the House of Commons: "Several UK travel agencies still promote
tourism to Burma. We are encouraging them to cease to do so, because many
hotels and other tourism-related activities in Burma are linked to the
military regime. Because there are kickbacks and investments by generals
in hotels and other parts of the tourism industry, people who go on
tourist trips to Burma are in a sense actively supporting the regime and
enabling those generals
to receive financial advantage from it."

"Kuoni must cancel its plans to return to Burma", says Yvette Mahon. "They
should not be funding a regime that uses rape, torture and murder against
its own people."

Kuoni will be added to the 'Dirty List' of companies funding the regime in
Burma. The Burma Campaign UK and other European Burma campaign groups are
also considering further action against Kuoni, including an international
boycott campaign.

For more information contact Mark Farmaner, Media Officer, on 020 7324
4713, mobile 0794 123 9640. --

Mark Farmaner, Media and Campaigns Officer, Burma Campaign UK
28 Charles Sq, London, N1 6HT