September 10, 2004 BurmaNet News

[Editor]

September 10, 2004, Issue # 2556

INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar junta: claims of rape by soldiers "baseless"
Irrawaddy: KNU Proposes Date for Talks
DVB: Burma junta still hampering NLD activities
DVB: NLD member sent to prison for peaceful activities

ON THE BORDER
AP: Myanmar borders need global aid despite junta record -grp

HEALTH / AIDS
Myanmar Times: Plan finalised to improve reproductive health
Health & Medicine Week: HIV prevalence is high in drug users and
commercial sex workers in Myanmar

REGIONAL
Reuters: Myanmar prime minister to visit Singapore
Bangkok Post: Trade with Burma/Telecom project row; Govt blasted for
'junta figure' loan

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 10, Associated Press
Myanmar junta: claims of rape by soldiers "baseless"

Yangon: Myanmar's ruling junta has dismissed renewed allegations that its
soldiers are raping ethnic women in the war against insurgents, calling
the charges "baseless" and a fabrication aimed at undermining the
military.

In a statement issued late Thursday, the Foreign Ministry responded to a
Thai newspaper article quoting a report alleging that soldiers sexually
abused ethnic women in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

The report by the Women's League of Burma details dozens of alleged abuse
cases, including gang rape and sexual slavery, in Myanmar's ethnic states
and central areas, mostly in 2003 and 2004.

"These allegations are found to be baseless and totally devoid of truth,"
the Foreign Ministry statement said. "Rape is considered a serious crime
and accordingly, severe action is taken against those who commit rape in
accordance with the existing law."

It said the WLB was an illegal organization established outside Myanmar,
and that the allegations were "merely fabrications to degrade the
integrity of the government and the armed forces."

Myanmar's military junta rules with an iron fist and most opposition
groups operate from outside the country.

Similar reports by other women's organizations have surfaced in recent
years, prompting denials by the Myanmar regime.

In April, a report by the Karen Women's Organization, a group based along
the Thai-Myanmar border, said soldiers had raped hundreds of women "to
terrorize and subjugate the Karen people, to completely destroy their
culture and communities."

The report claimed there were 125 cases of rapes, including gang rapes,
between October 2002 and March 2004.

The Karen are an ethnic minority in eastern Myanmar. A Karen guerrilla
group fighting for autonomy is the largest remaining insurgent group in
the country, but is currently engaged in peace talks after declaring a
provisional truce last year.

A report by another group in June 2002 documented cases of rape and sexual
violence by Myanmar troops against girls and women from the Shan ethnic
minority, triggering an international outcry. The U.S. State Department
backed that report's conclusions, although Myanmar's junta denied it.

____________________________________
September 10, Irrawaddy
KNU Proposes Date for Talks

The Karen National Union, or KNU, has said it hopes to meet with
representatives from Burma’s military government during the first week of
October to continue ceasefire negotiations, which began in November. They
also said they would like to meet in the Karen State capital of Pa-an or
in the Burmese capital, Rangoon. KNU foreign affairs secretary David Taw
said the proposal was sent to the ruling generals this morning and that he
expects a reply in a few days. He also said the KNU would send a
seven-member delegation to the talks, including five senior members and
two brigade commanders.

____________________________________

September 9, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma junta still hampering NLD activities

The authorities of Burma’s military junta, State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) are still hampering and intimidating National League (NLD)
members in their peaceful signature collecting campaign calling for the
release of all political prisoners in the country.


At Kyaukpandaung Township, Mandalay Division in central Burma, U Thaung
Han was summoned by the local authorities and warned him not to continue
the campaign, and they confiscated a message certifying his endeavours –
signed by NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself which was sent to him
recently.

The authorities also sent out informers to threaten those who volunteer to
sign the petition with unpleasant things.

Despite all the intimidations and harassments, NLD leaders and members
throughout Burma vow to continue with the campaign they are told to stop
by their leaders.

The campaign is not only revitalising political awareness among Burmese
people, but also encouraging all the family members of political prisoners
to keep on hoping against hope.

NLD member sent to prison for peaceful activities
Ko Kyaw Aung , a National League for Democracy (NLD) member was sent to
prison by Burma’s military junta, State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) authorities for taking part in the NLD signature collecting
campaign calling for the release all political prisoners including Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi.

____________________________________

September 9, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD member sent to prison for peaceful activities

Ko Kyaw Aung alias Ko Aung Myint Tun from Thayagon Village, Mawkyun
Township, Irrawaddy Division in southern delta region of Burma had been
actively taking part in the campaign when he was arrested on 13 August
along with his father in law, U Wan Khin.

They were charged with the failure to register themselves as guests, and
tried and sentenced to seven days in prison on 27 August.

U Wan Khin was sent to Myaungmya Prison and Ko Kyaw Aung has also been
charged with breaking additional acts.

Ko Kyaw Aung has been living with his wife, the daughter of U Wan Khin for
nearly a year in the village, and his arrest has nothing to do with him
breaking the law but a blatant attempt to vilify him because he is an
active NLD member, according to local villagers.

Naing Ngwe Ya, a lawyer defending political prisoners inside Burma also
urged Burmese people to report and consult with good lawyers when they are
unfairly treated by the military authorities.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 10, Associated Press
Myanmar borders need global aid despite junta record -grp

Bangkok: Despite its aversion to Myanmar's oppressive military government,
the West must provide aid to the country's impoverished border areas to
lay the foundation for democracy, an international group said.

The border areas are desperately poor, even though they are geographically
linked to some of the world's fastest-growing economies and have most of
the country's natural resources, and more than a third of its population.

"The prospects for Myanmar's peace, prosperity and democracy are,
therefore, closely tied to the future of these regions and their mainly
ethnic minority populations," said the International Crisis Group in a new
report.

The remote, mountainous areas along Myanmar's borders with Thailand, Laos,
China, India and Bangladesh have long suffered from war and neglect. They
are largely populated by ethnic minorities.

"Foreign aid for the border areas should be seen as complementary to
diplomatic efforts to restore democracy," the International Crisis Group's
Asia program director, Robert Templer, said in a statement Friday.

Much of the Western world refuses to deal directly with Myanmar's junta
due to its undemocratic ways.

If the international community "can overcome its distaste somewhat and at
least agree to work with local authorities to a limited extent, the
outside world can play a very positive, perhaps even catalytic, role
inside this particular region of Myanmar," Templer said.

The country has been military-ruled since 1962, and the current regime
came to power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy movement. It refused
to hand over power to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy party when it won the 1990 elections.

Suu Kyi is under house arrest, and about 1,000 other dissidents are in
prison. Free speech isn't allowed, and the military constantly faces
accusations of using forced labor and rape in a war against ethnic rebels
in border areas.

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group describes itself as an
independent, nonprofit, multinational organization that aims to prevent
and resolve global conflicts.

_____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

September 6 - 12, Myanmar Times
Plan finalised to improve reproductive health - Sandar Linn

A five-year strategic plan to improve reproductive health was finalised at
a meeting attended by representatives from the Ministry of Health, United
Nations agencies and national and international non-government
organisations in Yangon last week.

About 100 people from the ministry, the World Health Organisation, the
United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Childrens Fund and
the NGOs attended the meeting at the Hotel Nikko Royal Lake from August 31
to September 1.

The plan, which is being funded by the UN Population Fund and the WHO,
will be implemented once it is approved by the Health Ministry.

The WHO country representative, Dr Agostino Borra, told Myanmar Times on
the sidelines of the workshop that the aim of the plan was to achieve big
reductions in the maternal mortality and to increase the quality of basic
reproductive health care.

"Maternal mortality and abortion are still quite a large problem here,"
said Dr Borra.

He said that most maternal deaths arise from complications during childbirth.

He said the WHO's role in the plan would involve training programs,
including those for midwives.

"Midwives are important for the success of the plan they reach the
community," Dr Borra said.

Dr Borra said that the plan would also involve non-government
organisations such as the Myanmar Red Cross Society and the Myanmar
Maternal and Child Welfare Association.

Dr Paul F.A Van Look, the director of the Department of Reproductive
Health and Research at the WHO's headquarters in Geneva told the workshop
that improving reproductive health was important to help alleviate poverty
and to achieve the UN's Millenium Development Goals. The goals, agreed in
2000, seek to achieve a range of health care, education and poverty
alleviation targets by 2015.

Dr Van Look acknowledged that reproductive health was a sensitive issue
which many people found difficult to discuss.

However, reproductive health education was becoming an increasingly
important issue throughout the world because of the challenges posed by
changes in society.

Dr Van Look said adolescents were becoming more exposed to issues
involving sexuality in the media and more people were marrying later,
resulting in increased opportunities for premarital sexual relations.

A consequence of this trend was that more young people were at risk of
acquiring the virus that causes AIDS.

Dr Van Look said that throughout the world, young people aged between 15
to 24 accounted for half of the new AIDS infections caused by sexual
contact.

Dr Monir Islam, the director at the Department of Family and Community at
the WHO's Southeast Asian headquarters in New Delhi, told Myanmar Times
that providing reproductive health education was a right as well as a
service.

"We need to broaden our views and ideas," Dr Islam said.

"Giving sexual information to adolescents does not mean that we are
encouraging [sexual behaviour] but making them more responsible. They may
take wrong decision if they don't have information," he said.

Dr Islam also highlighted the need for further spending on health care as
the population grows.

_____________________________________

September 13, Health & Medicine Week
HIV prevalence is high in drug users and commercial sex workers in Myanmar

According to recent research published in the journal AIDS Education and
Prevention, "Myanmar has a diverse population, 70% of whom reside in rural
areas. These factors, along with limited resources, create a challenge for
monitoring and controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic."

"The first HIV-infected individual was identified in 1988, and the first
AIDS case was reported in 1991. The National AIDS Control Program and the
National AIDS Committee were established in 1989. Sentinel surveillance
was begun in 1992," M. Thwe and colleagues wrote.

Thwe continued, "A cumulative total of 45,968 HIV/AIDS cases have been
reported through 2003. UNAIDS and the government of Myanmar estimated that
there were 177,279 persons living with HIV/AIDS in Myanmar in December
2001.

"High prevalence rates of HIV have been identified in injection drug users
(IDUs), commercial sex workers (CSWs), and men attending sexually
transmitted disease clinics."

"Levels of HIV in all groups appear to have leveled off," investigators
reported, "but the prevalence remains high in IDUs and CSWs. A 100%
targeted condom promotion program was implemented in 2001.

"Political commitment to control HIV/AIDS has been established through the
leadership of the government and establishment of AIDS committees
extending down to the township and rural health center levels."

"An increased understanding of the problems that Myanmar faces in
controlling HIV transmission and increased support from international
agencies and nongovernmental organizations can play an important role in
facilitating more intensive intervention activities," the authors
concluded.

Thwe and colleagues published their study in AIDS Education and Prevention
(HIV/AIDS education and prevention in Myanmar. Aids Educ Prev, 2004;16(3
Suppl. S):170-177).

For additional information, contact M. Thwe, Department Hlth, National
AIDS STD Control Program, Yangon, Myanmar.

The publisher's contact information for the journal AIDS Education and
Prevention is: Guilford Publications Inc., 72 Spring Street, New York, NY
10012 USA.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 10, Reuters News
Myanmar prime minister to visit Singapore

Bangkok: Myanmar Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt will pay a working
visit to Singapore on Monday to meet the island's new prime minister, Lee
Hsien Loong, and other leaders, the Singapore government said on Friday.

Khin Nyunt has visited several Southeast Asian countries in recent weeks
in the run-up to October's Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) as a furor over
Myanmar's attendance has threatened the summit.

Last week the EU agreed to a deal under which Yangon will be represented
at a lower level to satisfy British-led concerns about the human rights
record of Myanmar's military government.

"During his visit, Prime Minister Khin Nyunt will make a courtesy call on
President S.R. Nathan and hold discussions with Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong," a Singapore government statement
said.

A Yangon-based Asian diplomat Khin Nyunt is leaving for Singapore on
Sunday and would stay until Sept. 17 as a private visitor.

He will travel with a large delegation including Myanmar's ministers of
industry, commerce, foreign affairs and finance, the Singapore statement
said.

State-owned Myanmar newspapers have reported that Khin Nyunt would visit
Singapore "in the near future" at the invitation of his Singaporean
counterpart Lee Hsien Loong.

It will be the first meeting between Khin Nyunt, who became prime minister
in August last year, and Lee, who took over the job last month.

Since Myanmar allowed foreign direct investment at the end of 1988,
Singaporeans have invested more than $1.5 billion in the military-ruled
country despite sanctions imposed by the United States and the European
Union for its poor human rights record. (Additional reporting by Reuters
in Singapore).

_____________________________________

September 10, Bangkok Post
Trade with Burma/Telecom project row; Govt blasted for 'junta figure' loan
- Surasak Tumcharoen

Democrat lawmakers yesterday lambasted the Thaksin administration for
endorsing a 600-million-baht telecom project benefiting Shin Satellite
Corp and a Burmese firm allegedly run by the son of a leading military
junta figure.

MP Nipit Intarasombat of Pattalung and MP Alongkorn Ponlabut of Petchaburi
charged the Thaksin administration with giving a government guarantee for
a four-billion-baht soft loan provided by Thailand's Exim Bank to the
Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank.

An estimated 600 million baht of this has been allocated for a broadband
satellite system in the country, Mr Nipit said. "The interests of the
country involved in the broadband satellite project in Burma obviously
overlap with those of Shin Satellite Corp which is owned by the prime
minister's family.

"For the government to have the Finance Ministry guarantee the Exim Bank's
loan to the Burmese provides Shin Satellite with a solid safeguard," said
Mr Nipit.

Mr Alongkorn claimed Bagan Cybertech Corp, the Burmese telecom firm that
will run the broadband satellite project, is owned by the son of Burmese
Prime Minister Gen Khin Kyunt.

Democrat MP Korbsak Sabavasu said Burmese people hardly even use the
ordinary Internet, let alone high-speed systems while Rangoon's financial
credibility is low. "The world's major banks, including the US Exim Bank,
the IMF, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank no longer loan the
Burmese government money, given its complete failure in financial
matters," Mr Korbsak said.

Nevertheless, Deputy Finance Minister Warathep Rattanakorn said Burma had
decided to use Shin Satellite Corp's broadband satellite system due to the
firm's outstanding record in the telecom industry.

"Any abuse of the prime minister's power just to award his family's firm
the satellite project in Burma is completely out of the question," Mr
Warathep said.