BurmaNet News, September 29, 2004

[Editor]

September 29, 2004, Issue # 2569


INSIDE BURMA
Reuters: NLD hails UN rights report
Xinhua: Myanmar strives for education development under new special plan
by Yunfei
Mizzima: KIO factions likely to reunite
SHAN: Shan commander: Army goes on rampage

ON THE BORDER
Thai News Service: Mae Hong Son on alert for bird flu

REGIONAL
M2 Presswire: ICFTU calls on Indonesian authorities to protect detained
Burmese seafarers

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: U.N. envoy says rights violations continue in Myanmar
AP: Myanmar gives no indication it will release democracy leader

OPINION / OTHER
NY Times: Warehouses for refugees

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 29, Reuters
NLD hails UN rights report

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party on Wednesday welcomed a new
UN report that criticized the country’s junta for jailing hundreds of
political dissidents.

U Lwin, spokesman and secretary of the National League for Democracy, or
NLD, said the party endorsed the report, which was released Tuesday by
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the special investigator for Burma on the UN
Commission on Human Rights.

“It is not only the country’s human rights situation that has not
improved. The country’s political, economic and social situation has even
worsened in the past 30 years,” U Lwin told the AP.

Pinheiro last visited Burma in November 2003 and had not been allowed to
enter the country since. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special envoy
to Burma, Razali Ismail, also has not been permitted to visit Burma since
early this year.

The junta hardened its position after putting Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize winner, in detention in May 2003 following a violent clash
between her followers and government supporters. After a period of
imprisonment she was put under house arrest.

The European Union has given Burma until October 8 to release her or face
further sanctions. It has already imposed a travel ban on Burma’s military
leaders and frozen their financial assets in Europe.

“So far there have been no indications when Aung San Suu Kyi will be
released,” Pinheiro said in his report. He said he is also concerned that
only a small number of the more than 1,300 political dissidents, described
as security detainees, have been freed.

Suu Kyi’s party won a massive victory in the 1990 general election but was
not allowed to take power by the junta, which seized control in 1988 after
brutally suppressing mass pro-democracy protests.

Pinheiro said that since the start of the year, he has received several
reports “about continuing arrests and harsh sentences for peaceful
political activities” in Burma.

___________________________________

September 29, Xinhua
Myanmar strives for education development under new special plan by Yunfei

YANGON, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has been implementing another new
four-year short-term special education promotion plan since the current
2004-05 academic year in a bid to keep pace with the education standard of
the Southeast Asian countries, latest official reports said.

A master plan is being worked out for higher education learning which
includes upgrading of educational facilities through exchange of
syllabuses, study tours and students with universities internationally.

Under the master plan, cooperation programs between Myanmar's Pathein
University and Japan's National Institute of Technology and Evaluation on
biological research, and between the country's Myitkyina University and
Japan's Tokyo University on other research are being carried out.

Besides, Myanmar and Thailand are also cooperating for the first time in
the education sector with the Siam University of Thailand offering Myanmar
students to study in the institution for higher learning.

The move helps globalization educationally and will also help Myanmar
students keep pace with the international education standard.

Under the new four-year special plan, Myanmar is projected to upgrade
nearly 6,000 basic education schools and add over 21,000 more teachers
following the successful implementation of the previous national education
promotion special four-year plan which lasted from 2000-01 to 2003-04.

As a result of that plan, the education gap between urban and rural
regions and between border and remote areas can be narrowed down markedly.
During that four-year plan period, a total of 4,788 post primary schools
have been opened and 1,257 basic education schools upgraded.

Ever since 1988, the government has been placing emphasis on education
sector development. Thanks to its efforts, the number of universities and
basic education schools has respectively increased to 154 and 40,505 now
from 32 and 33,747 in 1988, while the number of university students and
basic education ones has respectively grown to 900,000 and 7.55 million
from 138,000 and 5. 24 million.

The teacher strength for university registered 17,000 now, while that of
basic education schools 224,000.

Meanwhile, the schooling program for school-going-age children has also
been implemented since 1999-2000 and the school enrollment rate has risen
from 91 percent then to 96.56 percent in the whole country this year and
97.6 percent of 233 projected townships, figures show.

In its education development endeavors, Myanmar has also paid attention to
wiping out illiteracy. According to the latest development in the sector,
Myanmar's literacy rate has grown higher so far this year through a summer
literacy campaign, attaining 93.3 percent with more than 255,000
illiterates becoming literates during the year.

Myanmar's literacy rate had grown from 91.4 percent in 2001 to 91.8
percent in 2002 and then to 92.2 percent in 2003, while its average school
enrollment rate increased from 92.5 percent in 2001 to 93.7 percent in
2002 and then to 95.05 percent in 2003, according to official statistics.

Myanmar targets to attain a literacy rate of 95.5 percent in the next
three years through literacy programs which mostly cover remote border
areas where many ethnic groups were denied for many years access to having
the skill to read and write.

Besides the short-term education promotion programs, Myanmar has also been
implementing a 30-year long-term plan for basic education starting 2001-02
in six phases each lasting for five years, aiming at bringing about rapid
development of qualified human resources to meet the challenge of the
present knowledge age.

___________________________________

September 29, Mizzima News
 KIO factions likely to reunite - Tun Naing

There are prospects of the two factions of the Kachin Independence
Organisation (KIO) to be reunited, according to a Christian pastor who
attended negotiations held on September 9.

The negotiations – between the KIO led by Lamung Tujai and the faction led
by Colonel Lasang Awng Wa have been progressive said Pastor N Hkun Dwela
who attended the meeting held on the Sino-Burma border.

He said, "General N' Ban La will resign from being the supreme military
commander of Tujai's faction" due to his ill health.

According to a local resident, officials of the two factions will jointly
call a mass meeting today and will explain their stand to the people.

The two factions held a negotiation meeting on September 25 at the New
Democratic Army – Kachin controlled Pang Wa area. The NDA-K in the past
has tried to facilitate negotiations but on this occasion progress was
made.

Col. Lasang Awng Wa the head of Security and Defense Department of the KIO
fled to China after accusations that he tried to stage a coup. His
colleagues Pastor Dwela, KIO Vice-President Brig-Gen Hpuayam Tsam Yan and
Lt-Col Padip Gam Awng were detained at headquarter of KIO in Laiza for six
months.

Observers believe that the two factions had different views on attending
the military government sponsored National Convention.

The KIO and the SPDC signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

_____________________________________

September 29, Shan Herald Agency for News
Shan commander: Army goes on rampage

The Burma Army has been on the loose for the past week raiding villages,
turning things upside down and making life miserable in general for all
the residents in the area he is operating, claims a brigade commander from
the Shan State Army 'South':

Lt-Col Moeng Zeun, Commander of the SSA's 758th Brigade that is active in
the northeastern sector of southern Shan State, pleaded with S.H.A.N.,
"Couldn't somebody do something for our people?"

According to him, 4 battalions:

Light Infantry Battalion 332, based in Mongpan, commanded by Lt-Col Pe Thein
Light Infantry Battalion 520, based in Mongpan
Light Infantry Battalion 525, based in Langkher
Light Infantry Battalion 577, (not available)

have, since 23 September, been descending on the villages in the area,
which is east of the Loilem-Mongkerng road and north of the Loilem-Takaw
road, telling the inhabitants they were looking for the rebels and their
sympathizers together with any weapons, documents or articles they might
have entrusted to them. "Even children herding cattle and elderly people
were not spared," he said. "Many people, including women, were tied up and
flogged, while undergoing their interrogations. Others were even slashed
with knives to extract information."

Six villagers, 5 men and 1 women from Loilam, were still going through the
agonies in Tartmawk at the time of his reporting (11:30). "They also use
tricks like pretending to come across cartridges left behind by us in the
villagers' homes, when in fact they were the cartridges they have brought
with them, in order to extort money from the villagers," he added.

One of them, he said, is a villager from Lin Leng, near Tartmawk, who was
forced to pay 80,000 kyat $ 80) to extricate himself from the charge of
having lethal articles illegally in his possession.

More than 50 people have been victims to the Army's excesses, he declared.
"I am not making up stories," he assured, "I'll send the evidences to you
soon so you can put your mind at ease."

S.H.A.N. however has not been able to obtain confirmation from others
sources.

The Burma Army has been charged by several rights and activist groups as
the worst offender of human rights and Rangoon has steadfastly dismissed
them as "baseless".

_____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 29, Thai News Service
Mae Hong Son on alert for bird flu

Local officials are checking all transported fowls within the province and
across the Thai-Myanmar border.

District officials are also explaining to villagers how to protect
themselves from the infection.

They are especially targeting fighting cock owners who closely handle
their fowls.

Senior regional officials keep the provincial governor regularly informed
on the situation, especially any patients admitted to hospital with high
fever and influenza symptoms, a senior health official, Dr Suwat
Kittidilakul told TNA on Tuesday.

Any patient suffering from these symptoms should be treated with
anti-viral medicines within 48 hours, otherwise they may die, he said.

The authorities fear that an outbreak of bird flu is likely in the
forthcoming winter season, as the disease lives longer in freezing
temperatures.

The government has confirmed that two people, a mother and her daughter,
have died from bird flu in the country's northern province of
Kampaengphet.

The Public Health Ministry and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have
launched a joint investigation into whether the second patient contracted
the virus from her daughter, with whom she had had close contact.

If this is the case, it will be the first human-to-human transmission in
Thailand.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Sudarat Keyuraphan, the Public Health Minister, said she
believed the H5N1 strain of bird flu virus has not mutated as feared.

''From our preliminary reports, I believe that it has not mutated and
become more lethal as we all fear. But we have to wait for a confirmation
from our epidemiologists and WHO's experts,'' she said.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 29, M2 Presswire
ICFTU calls on Indonesian authorities to protect detained Burmese seafarers

Brussels (ICFTU Online): In a letter to Indonesian President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, the ICFTU has called upon the Indonesian government to
protect the rights of six seafarers of Burmese origin, currently being
held by Indonesian immigration authorities on the island of Tual. The case
has also been raised by the ICFTU with United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees Ruud Lubbers.

The six seafarers, Kyaw That Naing, Kyaw Khaing, Ko Myo, Ah Chai, Tin Soe
and Ye Yan Naing, are members of the Seafarers' Union of Burma (SUB),
affiliated to the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF,
London) and the Federation of Trade Unions - Burma (FTUB).

The six SUB members had Thai passports and Seamen's books, as they had
been recruited by agents in Thailand. After arriving in Tual, they were
arrested by the local police on 22 August 2004, for not being able to
present valid passports. Their passports had been confiscated before they
came ashore by, it is understood, representatives of the owners of the
Thai fishing vessels on which they were working.

The international trade union movement is concerned that the six seafarers
risk being repatriated to Thailand, or even to Burma. On past occasions,
Burmese trade unionists and democracy activists have been repatriated from
Thailand into the hands of the Burmese military junta, which is notorious
for the maltreatment, including torture, of opponents of the military.

The ICFTU has requested the Indonesian authorities to allow the six to
avail themselves of Indonesian protection, until such time as political
developments in Burma allow their safe return, or that they can be
re-settled in another country.

The ICFTU represents 148 million workers in 234 affiliated organisations
in 152 countries and territories. ICFTU is also a member of Global Unions:
http://www.global-unions.org.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 29, Reuters
U.N. envoy says rights violations continue in Myanmar

Bangkok: A top U.N. rights envoy condemned on Wednesday the arrest and
jailing of opposition activists in military-ruled Myanmar and said he had
received credible reports of rights violations in border areas.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, denied entry to the former Burma earlier this year,
said the dismal human rights situation in Myanmar had not improved despite
the junta's pledge to work towards national reconciliation last year.

"Since the beginning of this year, the Special Rapporteur has received
several reports about continuing arrests and harsh sentences for peaceful
political activities," Pinheiro said in his latest report.

"All political prisoners must be released immediately and unconditionally,
and no further arrests or punishment for peaceful activities should take
place."

The Brazilian academic said he had received "credible and detailed
reports" of rights violations in border areas where government forces are
battling ethnic rebel groups.

He gave no further details.

He said there was no sign of when democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi would be
freed from house arrest, or curbs lifted on her opposition National League
for Democracy (NLD).

Last week, four NLD officials were jailed for seven years after a closed
trial inside Yangon's Insein prison. The two men and two women were
charged with sending NLD statements to dissident groups on the Thai
border.

NLD lawyers said there was no hard evidence against their clients, adding
that they confessed under interrogation by military intelligence
officials.

In his report, Pinheiro highlighted the case of two NLD members -- Than
Than Tay and Tin Myint -- arrested in June and accused of communicating
with groups on the border.

"Their whereabouts appear to be unknown and they potentially face
long-term imprisonment," he said.

The junta is holding more than 1,300 political prisoners and Pinheiro
called for the immediate release of 50 detainees he said were in poor
health.

A democratic transition under the junta's "roadmap to democracy" would be
impossible unless Myanmar's generals improved human rights and eased curbs
on the opposition, he said.

"If the government wishes to promote a genuine process of political
transition, fundamental human rights requirements have to be fulfilled,"
Pinheiro said.

A constitution-drafting National Convention, which opened in May with most
of its 1,088 delegates handpicked by the junta, is expected to reconvene
in November.

Critics say the process has no credibility without Suu Kyi and the NLD,
which refused to take part while she remained under house arrest.

source: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BKK278078.htm

_____________________________________

September 29, Associated Press
Myanmar gives no indication it will release democracy leader

United Nations: Myanmar's military junta continues to hold more than 1,300
political detainees and has shown no indication it will release
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, a U.N. official
said.

The European Union has given Myanmar until Oct. 8 to release Suu Kyi or
face further sanctions. It has already imposed a travel ban on Myanmar's
military leaders and frozen their financial assets in Europe.

"So far there have been no indications when Aung San Suu Kyi will be
released," Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights'
special investigator for Myanmar, said in a report made public Tuesday.

Pinheiro said he is also concerned that only a small number of the more
than 1,300 security detainees have been freed.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been in detention since May 2003,
when the military cracked down on her party after a violent clash between
her followers and government supporters.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in a 1990
general election but was not allowed to take power by the junta, which
seized control in 1988 after brutally suppressing mass pro-democracy
protests.

Pinheiro said that since the start of the year, he has received several
reports "about continuing arrests and harsh sentences for peaceful
political activities" in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 28, The New York Times
Warehouses for refugees

The starvation and disease stalking the refugee camps near the Darfur
region of Sudan are a reminder that for many refugees, conditions where
they land are not much better than the conditions they flee. The world has
12 million refugees, and 7.4 million of them have been living in camps or
settlements for more than 10 years. Many are prohibited from traveling or
working, confined to crowded, squalid tents, at the mercy of marauding
gangs, and utterly dependent on handouts of food insufficient to ward off
hunger and on health care that does not prevent cholera and dysentery.
Some people have lived in such camps for generations.

Half a million refugees from Myanmar, for example, have lived in camps in
neighboring countries for 20 years, with no right to work or travel. The
same is true of about 140,000 Somalis, who have lived since 1991 in closed
camps in northern Kenya.

The camps are often established quickly to deal with refugee emergencies
and never get dismantled. The original goal -- allowing refugees to return
home when conditions improve -- has had the perverse effect of preventing
them from establishing new lives in a new country. Countries like
Pakistan, Zambia and Chad, which end up accepting the vast majority of
refugees from troubled countries on their borders, would rather quarantine
them than integrate them into their societies.

It is time to rethink warehousing, and refugee groups and the United
Nations high commissioner for refugees have recently begun to explore how
to help refugees become more self-reliant. Refugees who learn skills or
earn money can be an asset to their war-torn homelands when they return.
Moreover, there are ways to open up refugee camps without angering host
populations. Zambia, for example, has given Angolan refugees land to farm.
The food they grow has turned sleepy villages into trading centers,
fueling local commerce.

Wealthy countries need to absorb more people for permanent resettlement.
Europe, shamefully, accepts only a handful. The United States has become
far less welcoming over the last 10 years, and particularly since the
terrorist acts of Sept. 11, 2001. In 1992, the United States accepted
132,531 refugees; last year it was 28,422, although this year that number
will almost double.

The security concerns about accepting refugees from the camps are
unfounded. No terrorist would want to spend years in squalid camps and
then undergo a long and uncertain vetting process simply to infiltrate the
United States.

Indeed, the security threat comes from the camps' concentration of idle,
frustrated, resentful young men. Warehousing itself can breed terrorism;
Afghanistan's Taliban movement was born in the refugee camps of Pakistan.

Initially, reducing warehousing will require commitment from wealthy
countries with the wherewithal to provide land, training and microcredit.
That will cost more than doling out a weekly ration of rice and cooking
oil. But it could reduce costs later, and it is a way to create a more
promising future for millions.