BurmaNet News, June 15, 2004

[Editor]

June 15, 2004, Issue # 2496


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Political Prisoner Dies in Detention
Myanmar Times: German NGO fights scourge of malaria in southern Wa region

DRUGS
S.H.A.N.: Dope seized, occupants unscathed

BUSINESS / MONEY
Irrawaddy: Three Co-operative Banks Merge

REGIONAL
AFP: Indonesia concerned after US renews Myanmar sanctions
Myanmar Times: Thailand gives green light for $100m preferential loan package

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: US Congress passes resolution renewing import ban on Myanmar
AFP: Amnesty, RSF urge Euro 2004 campaign to free Myanmar reporter

PRESS RELEASE
AI/RSF: Euro 2004 in Portugal: Support Burmese sports journalist Zaw Thet
Htwe sentenced to three years in prison


INSIDE BURMA
______________________________________

June 15, Irrawaddy
Political Prisoner Dies in Detention - Shah Paung

A political prisoner died in detention of heart disease at the weekend,
according to a statement issued by the Assistance Association for
Political Prisoners (Burma), or AAPP, yesterday.

Min Thu, a lawyer and native of Lashio in Shan State, passed away at age
50 on Saturday at the Insein Township hospital in Rangoon where he was
recently transferred to receive treatment for coronary thrombosis. A
funeral service was held today in the Burmese capital.

Min Thu was arrested along with several others in April 1998 for helping
to write a book about the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, which
opposes military rule in Burma. He had served six years of his seven-year
sentence.

His litany of health ailments—gastritis, partial blindness, bone disease
and a heart problem—were all treatable and resulted from poor medical
treatment while in custody, said Ye Maw Htoo, who shared a cell with Min
Thu in Insein Prison.

Min Thu was the ninetieth political prisoner to have died in detention
since the junta took power in 1988 and about 50 others are suffering from
critical illnesses, said the AAPP statement. An estimated 1,500 prisoners
are under detention in Burma for their political beliefs.

______________________________________

June 14-20, Myanmar Times
German NGO fights scourge of malaria in southern Wa region - Nwe Nwe Aye

A malaria control project in the southern Wa region has been successful in
creating greater awareness about the dangers of the disease among the
50,000 people living in the area, said Dr Michael Pastoors, the country
representative of a German non-government organisation, Malteser.

One of the factors which motivated Malteser to launch the project a year
ago was a pledge by the authorities in the region to phase out opium
cultivation by 2005.

Malaria is endemic in the region and reducing the incidence of the disease
before opium cultivation is halted will help to ease concerns among the
population about financial and health issues.

“People will give up poppy growing after 2005 and will have less income
available for food and medical care,” said Dr Rene Spallek, the project’s
manager and medical coordinator.

Dr Spallek said the project faced a number of challenges posed by the
region’s rugged terrain, the standard of its health facilities and roads,
and its diverse range of national groups, which include the Wa, Shan,
Lahu, Akha and Aku.

“They speak different languages which sometimes makes it difficult to
communicate when we go from one village to another,” Dr Spallek said,
adding that many villages were so remote they were difficult to reach.

Two months after the project was launched last July Malteser began sending
a mobile clinic every five days to communities in the area around Mong
Pauk to treat patients and provide health education. The clinic visits the
communities on market days which helps to ensure it reaches the most
number of people.

Dr Pastoors said the mobile clinic initially faced difficulties because
the people were not used to receiving treatment from foreigners.

He said people had previously relied on traditional healers to treat malaria.

He said a decline in malaria rates had enabled Malteser to gain greater
community acceptance.

“The success of the treatments has given us credibility,” Dr Pastoors said.

Malteser treats about 1000 patients a month for a range of illness, though
its focus is on malaria. About half the patients have malaria, Dr Pastoors
said.

He said Malteser has laboratories at Mong Pauk, as well as Ho Taung, Mong
Phyan, Nam Pai and Mong Kar, which is in a valley where former poppy
farmers from mountain areas are being resettled.

An irrigation project developed as part of the resettlement scheme, which
is a joint effort by the Minister of Home Affairs’ Central Committee for
Drug Abuse Control and the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime, has
resulted in rice and other crops being grown in the Mong Kar valley.

Dr Pastoors said some people from mountain areas were reluctant to be
resettled because malaria was endemic in the valley.

“People from the mountains are not used to the disease,” he said.

“People got sick and died some days after they came down to the valley; a
lot of children under 10 die from malaria since they are not resistant to
malaria,” said Dr Pastoors.

“That is the reason why a lot of people in the mountains are hesitant to
go down the valley in spite of the fact that the economic life in the
valley is better,” he said.

“People who grow opium on the mountains are much poorer than people in the
valley.”

Malteser has distributed 6000 insecticide-treated mosquito nets in the
region, most of which have gone to communities far from health centres, Dr
Pastoors said.

“We plan to distribute another 3000 during this rainy season,” he said.

The success of the project has prompted Wa leaders to invite Malteser to
expand it to include the northern Wa region, which has a population of
about 250,000.

Dr Pastoors said discussions were continuing with Wa leaders on the
expansion proposal.

He said that in collaboration with a French non-government organisation,
Aide Medicale Internationale, Malteser had provided short-term health care
courses for 50 villagers.

Malteser was also planning to provide long-term health care training for
villagers who would provide treatment in communities which could not be
reached by car.

Another Malteser project in the planning stage was to establish emergency
teams to respond to localised malaria epidemics.

Dr Pastoors said Malteser would start a program next month in Pang Kan, a
town between the southern and northern Wa regions, to treat malaria,
tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV-AIDS.


DRUGS
______________________________________

June 15, Shan Herald Agency for News
Dope seized, occupants unscathed

State-run report on one of the biggest drug seizures ever made by
government forces last year had failed to disclose the identities of the
guilty party who were allowed to go free, according to informed sources in
northern Shan State. Hawkeye reports:

On 13 August 2003, Myanmar News Agency reported on a raid of a refinery
launched in Kutkhai township, 31 July - 1 August. Seizures included 62.45
kg of heroin, 36.4 kg of raw opium and 4 arms, among others. "Action is
being taken under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law," MNA
concluded.

Sources however said occupants under the command of Lapa, Commander of the
Kachin Independence Army's Battalion 8, whose base in near Nam Sawngkay,
some 20 miles northwest of the township seat, had submitted themselves to
the besiegers without a fight. The combined force from Kutkhai-based
Infantry Battalions 45 and 242 and Kunlong-based Light Infantry Battalion
312, together with a special anti-drug squad of Khun Myat, then found a
heroin factory on the premises, just 25 meters away from the Kachin
commander's quarters.

The raiders were reported to have come across 560 kg of heroin, several
barrels of chemicals, 2 pistols and 2 M21 automatic rifles. "It took 12
tolajis (farm tractors) to haul all the loot toKutkhai," claimed one
source who took part in the raid. "Even the area commander Col San Shwe
Tha, who personally directed the operation, exclaimed, 'This is certainly
second only to Mongkoe'."

The Army's operation against a Kokang splinter group, Mongkoe Defense Army
of Mong Sala, in October 2000, had captured a refinery that turned out
both heroin and methamphetamine.

One of the people who went scot free was said to be Ho Zeshan, 45, an
ethnic Chinese from Panglaw, north of Nam Sawngkay, who owned the factory.
"He got away as he was dressed up in the KIA uniform," said a source. The
raiders were said to have been tipped off by Naw Mai a.k.a Lao Wang, 46, a
deserter from the KIA.

Dr Tuja, Vice Present of Kachin Independence Organization, the KIA's
political arm, later admitted that the said refinery had connections to
some of its members, reported Radio Free Asia on 6 April.


BUSINESS / MONEY
______________________________________

June 15, Irrawaddy
Three Co-operative Banks Merge - Naw Seng

Burma’s three cooperative banks merged and opened five new branches on
Tuesday said the new entity’s CEO. The institutions are owned mainly by
various regime-affiliated cooperative societies that come under the
overall supervision of the Ministry of Cooperatives.

Cooperative Bank, Cooperative Farmers Bank and Cooperative Promoters Bank
are now CB Bank Plc. The three pre-merged institutions between them had
only eight branches. That number has now increased to 13 with the new
branches.

CEO of CB Bank, Khin Maung Aye, said the action is aimed at strengthening
the three co-operative banks. “Greater capital base means more strength
and more bank branches,” he told The Irrawaddy by telephone from Rangoon.
“Everything will be okay and more transactions will be made.”

He said the capital base of CB Bank is about 1.5 billion kyat (US
$1,630,000) and that total deposits amount to over 20 billion kyat. The
three merged banks had originally been scheduled to come together in the
first week of May, but the date was postponed for unexplained reasons.

Previously, the three institutions were under the direct supervision of
the Ministry of Co-operatives. Khin Maung Aye was originally seconded from
the ministry to run Cooperative Bank. He said there was no direct order
from the government for the merger, but it suggested that the three banks
combine.

CB Bank has been registered as a public company, which means, according to
Burmese law, that it must disclose a lot more financial information than
an entity registered as a private company. But in a country where not even
corporate registration details are open to public scrutiny, this point
probably means little.

The three cooperative banks were registered after the Central Bank of
Myanmar liberalized bank license issuance in 1992.

In February 2003 Burma’s banking sector went into crisis after the
collapse of a number of high-profile ponzi-type scams prompted a run on
the banks by depositors. The Central Bank ordered all financial
institutions to halt all significant withdrawals.

Khin Maung Aye said the CB Bank’s three component merger parties had no
big problems even during the banking crisis that put the industry into
paralysis.


REGIONAL
______________________________________

June 15, Agence France Presse
Indonesia concerned after US renews Myanmar sanctions

Jakarta: Indonesia on Tuesday expressed concern about the United States'
renewed ban on imports from military-ruled Myanmar, saying sanctions would
likely not bring positive results.

"Indonesia and ASEAN have never believed in the utility of imposing
sanctions and other punitive actions against Myanmar. We believe dialogue
and engagement is more likely to bring a positive outcome," said
Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa.

Indonesia holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of the
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, although
Natalegawa was speaking primarily for Jakarta.

The US House of Representatives Monday passed a resolution renewing the
one-year ban on all imports from Myanmar for abuse of human rights and
repression of the democratic opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

An identical resolution in the Senate is expected to be voted on soon.

Myanmar has come in for international criticism, including from Indonesia
and other Asian neighbours, for holding a convention to draw up a national
constitution without Suu Kyi's party.

The European Union Monday cancelled two upcoming meetings with Asian
partners over Myanmar's attendance -- a finance ministers' meeting next
month of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) dialogue in Brussels and a
September meeting of ASEM economy ministers in Rotterdam.

Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen said the two sides would not likely
reach agreement on enlarging ASEM, to take in 10 new EU members and the
three newest members of ASEAN, before the October summit in Hanoi.

Natalegawa said he was not aware of the cancellation.

"But the ASEAN position is clear, that the enlargement should include the
three ASEAN countries as a package," he said, referring to Myanmar,
Cambodia and Laos.

______________________________________

June 14-20, Myanmar Times
Thailand gives green light for $100m preferential loan package - Thet Khaing

Thailand is reported to have agreed to provide Myanmar with a four billion
baht (about US$100 million) preferential loan as part of a four-nation
economic cooperation strategy launched last year.

The Bangkok Post newspaper said the loan package was announced on June 4
during a visit to the Thai capital by the Prime Minister, General Khin
Nyunt.

The package follows a pledge by Thailand to provide about US$250 million
to Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia under the economic cooperation strategy,
agreed at a meeting of prime ministers from the four countries in Bagan
last November.

Thailand is to provide assistance for 58 economic and infrastructure
development projects in Myanmar as part of the strategy, which provides
for cooperation in five strategic sectors, including industry and
agriculture.

The projects include the development of three industrial zones in Myanmar.

The two governments have begun talks on developing the zones, at Myawaddy
and Hpa-an in Kayin State and near the Mon State capital, Mawlamyine.

The Bangkok Post also reported that General Khin Nyunt had given approval
for Thailand’s partly state-owned Krung Thai Bank to open a branch in
Yangon “to manage the soft loan as well as to help trade and investment
between the countries”.

General Khin Nyunt’s trip to Bangkok was in line with a tradition within
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for government leaders to visit
other member states as soon as possible after taking office.

It came three days after General Khin Nyunt launched his round of visits
with a trip to Kuala Lumpur.

General Khin Nyunt was welcomed to Bangkok at a ceremony hosted by his
Thai counterpart, Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, who later underscored the close
relationship between the neighbouring countries. “I am proud to say with
confidence that at no other time in recent history have we witnessed
better and closer relations between Thailand and Myanmar,” Mr Thaksin said
at a luncheon after the welcoming ceremony.

He said Thailand was aware of the complexities surrounding Myanmar’s
transition to democracy under the seven-stage road map unveiled by General
Khin Nyunt last August soon after he was appointed prime minister.

The luncheon was followed by talks chaired by the two prime ministers
which discussed cooperation in economic development and the eradication of
narcotics.

General Khin Nyunt headed a delegation that included the Foreign Minister,
U Win Aung, and the Home Affairs Minister, Colonel Tin Hlaing.


INTERNATIONAL
______________________________________

June 15, Agence France Presse
US Congress passes resolution renewing import ban on Myanmar - P.
Parameswaran

Washington: The US House of Representatives in a landslide vote Monday
passed a resolution renewing a one-year ban on all imports from
military-ruled Myanmar as part of sanctions for abuse of human rights and
repression of democratic opposition.

The resolution, jointly introduced by the ruling Republican party's New
York representative Peter King and opposition Democratic party
representative Tom Lantos from California, was adopted by an overwhelming
vote of 373-2.

An identical resolution has been introduced in the Senate and is expected
to be voted on soon.

The Bush administration has called for passage of the resolution to
pressure Yangon to hold talks with the democratic opposition led by Aung
San Suu Kyi.

She is currently under house arrest and her National League for Democracy
(NLD) party's activities have been curtailed.

The NLD won overwhelmingly in Myanmar's 1990 elections, considered free
and fair by the international community, but was not allowed to govern.

The US Congress vote on Monday comes amid a growing international chorus
of condemnation of Myanmar's military junta, which has reneged on its
promise of reform including allowing all groups in the country to
participate in discussions to frame a national constitution.

The NLD boycotted the forum after its call for the unconditional release
of Aung San Suu Kyi was turned down by the junta. The United States, the
United Nations and human rights groups have condemned the process as a
sham.

The United States Campaign for Burma, a Washington-based activist group,
praised US congressional leaders for continuing their tough stance against
Myanmar's military regime. Burma is Myanmar's old name.

"This vote shows stalwart support for Aung San Suu Kyi and the democracy
movement in Burma," said Aung Din, co-founder of the group and a torture
survivor and former political prisoner under the military.

Jeremy Woodrum, another official of the group, said pressure was
crystallizing against the junta from the United States and Europe as well
as some of Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbours, which are beginning to
see Myanmar as a "major embarassment."

A group of Malaysian government and opposition parliamentarians came
together in a rare cross-party caucus last week to demand free and fair
elections in Myanmar.

President George W. Bush last month renewed for another year a set of
sanctions against Myanmar, including a ban on new investments.

The European Union on Monday cancelled two upcoming meetings with its
Asian partners because of a rift over the attendance of Myanmar.

The two sides had hoped to reach agreement on enlarging their Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM) dialogue, to take in 10 new EU members and the three newest
members of the Southeast Asian bloc.

Myanmar's partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
had insisted that if the EU wanted to bring along its 10 new states, the
military junta be represented along with the two other most recent
additions to ASEAN, Cambodia and Laos.

But the EU has a visa ban in place against the Myanmar regime.

EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said the regime had
overseen a "calamitous" deterioration in the life of its deeply
impoverished people, and had failed to deliver on promises of political
reform.

ASEM groups the EU, seven members of the 10-nation ASEAN, plus China,
Japan and South Korea.

______________________________________

June 15, Agence France Presse
Amnesty, RSF urge Euro 2004 campaign to free Myanmar reporter

Bangkok: Amnesty and Reporters Without Borders on Tuesday called on
journalists to campaign for the release of imprisoned Myanmar sports
editor Zaw Thet Htway during the European Football championships.

Zaw Thet Htway, the editor of Myanmar sports magazine First Eleven, was
sentenced to death by the ruling military regime last year for "high
treason", but in May the penalty was commuted to three years'
imprisonment.

"International pressure helped to contribute to the commutation of his
sentence. With your help we could secure his full release," the rights
organisations said in a statement.

"(We) believe that he is a prisoner of conscience, arrested for exercising
his right to freedom of expression. He had reportedly taken the risk of
exposing irregularities on the part of Burmese sports officials."

The London-based Amnesty and press rights watchdog Reporters Without
Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres - RSF) also appealed for help for seven
law students who were detained last June, presumably because they set up a
student sports union in their university without permission.

They said the group, among some 1,350 political prisoners in Myanmar, were
sentenced to terms of between seven and 15 years' imprisonment and
reportedly ill-treated after their arrest.

Amnesty and RSF called on journalists to urge Euro 2004 viewers, radio
listeners and newspaper readers to sign an on-line petition calling for
the release of the prisoners and to write letters campaigning for their
freedom.

Zaw Thet Htway was arrested last July after the publication of a story
alleging misuse of a 4.0 million dollar international grant to promote
football in Myanmar.

Shortly afterwards, the magazine also published an article on a fine
imposed by the organisers of the Asian Champion Club tournament on a
Myanmar football team for its failure to participate.

Decisions to overturn sentences for political crimes are rare in Myanmar,
but the journalist's case attracted widespread media attention.


PRESS RELEASE
______________________________________

June 15, Amnesty International / Reporters without Borders
Euro 2004 in Portugal: Support Burmese sports journalist Zaw Thet Htwe
sentenced to three years in prison

Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders are calling on sports
journalists to give their support to imprisoned Burmese sports editor Zaw
Thet Htwe and seven law students during the European Football
Championships in Portugal.

Zaw Thet Htwe is the editor of a popular Burmese sports magazine First
Eleven. He was initially sentenced to death in November 2003 but his
sentence was reduced to three years imprisonment on 12 May 2004.
International pressure helped to contribute to the commutation of his
sentence. With your help we could secure his full release.

The military junta accused Zaw Thet Htwe of involvement in a "conspiracy"
against the government and charged him with "high treason". However
Amnesty International and Reporters without Borders believe that he is a
prisoner of conscience, arrested for exercising his right to freedom of
expression. He had reportedly taken the risk of exposing irregularities on
the part of Burmese sports officials.

The seven law students, who have been in detention since June 2003, are
believed to have been arrested because they set up a student sports union
in their university without official permission. Aung Gyi, Aung Ko Lwin,
Kyaw Maung, Myo Myint Tun, Myo Than Htut, Nang Siang None and Win Htut
Lwin were sentenced to terms of between seven and fifteen years'
imprisonment and were reportedly ill-treated after their arrest.

They are among more than 1,350 political prisoners detained in Myanmar,
many of whom have been arrested for their peaceful political activities.

How can you help win freedom for Zaw Thet Htwe and the 7 students?

1. By calling on Euro 2004 TV viewers, radio listeners and newspaper
readers to sign an on-line petition calling for their release on the
following websites: www.rsf.org and to write letters on the following
website: http://asiapacific.amnesty.org. A special page will be devoted to
their case throughout Euro 2004. 2. By urging sports journalists'
organisations to collectively sign the petition.