BurmaNet News, December 1, 2004

[Editor]

December 1, 2004, Issue # 2611


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Weeklies ordered to report diplomats meet Min Ko Naing
Japan Economic Newswire: Myanmar ethnic group pledges continued support
for junta

DRUGS
Thai Press Reports: Thailand-Myanmar pledge closer cooperation to stamp
out drugs

HEALTH / AIDS
Xinhua: Over 338,900 HIV infections estimated in Myanmar
Narinjara: Fake and epired pharmaceuticals being imported from Bangladesh

REGIONAL
AP: Sources: Southeast Asian countries came close to criticizing Myanmar,
but Thailand sabotaged plan
AFP: ASEAN lawmakers condemn extension of Suu Kyi's house arrest
AFP: UN combs Malaysian jungles for refugees ahead of crackdown

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: UN head leads complaints over new detention of Myanmar opposition leader
AFP: US may boycott ASEAN meetings when Myanmar takes over helm in 2006
AFP: Myanmar prison releases a "smokescreen": media group

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Asean may be digging its own grave

ANNOUNCEMENT
Report Announcement: Burma Refugees in Delhi

A new report, "Razor's Edge: Survival Crisis for Refugees from Burma in
Delhi, India” is now available from Project Maje, at the website:
www.projectmaje.org

Project Maje is an independent information project on Burma's human rights
and environmental issues, founded in 1986. The brief report outlines the
plight of the refugees, based on meetings and interviews in October 2004,
and contains suggestions regarding the UNHCR role, community involvement,
and third country resettlement.

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 1, Irrawaddy
Weeklies ordered to report diplomats meet Min Ko Naing - Kyaw Zwa Moe

Several publications in Burma are being forced to run news stories about
meetings between Rangoon-based western diplomats and the recently released
former student leader Min Ko Naing, as well as with the main opposition
party, according to journalists in Rangoon.

Details of embassy cars visiting Min Ko Naing’s home and the headquarters
of the National League for Democracy, or NLD, were carried in reports
appearing in recent issues of a number of publications, said a freelance
journalist in Rangoon, who requested anonymity.

The order to the publications to carry details of the movements of embassy
vehicles is the first made by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Board,
or PSRB, since the October purge. The PSRB is responsible for monitoring
and censoring every publication in Burma.

The journalist said that identical reports on embassy vehicle movements
were carried on Monday and Tuesday by the weeklies Pan Tha Tinn, 7 Days
News, Pyi Myanmar, Good News (Kaung Tha Tinn), under the byline Ahtoo Tha
Tinn Htaut (“special reporter”).

The reports said cars from the American, British, German, French,
Australian and Japanese embassies entered the NLD headquarters compound,
noted who was inside the vehicles, when they arrived and when they left.
They reported that the diplomats met NLD spokesman U Lwin, the journalist
said.

A car from the United Nations Development Program, or UNDP, also figured
in the reports.

Good News reported on Monday that Min Ko Naing was invited for lunch on
November 22 by a senior US embassy official. The report even gave details
of conversations between the official and Min Ko Naing, quoting the
diplomat as expressing happiness and appreciation on the former student
leader’s release, the journalist said.

Min Ko Naing, “Conqueror of Kings”, was released on Nov 19 after serving
16 years in jail for his leadership role in the 1988 pro-democracy
uprising.

Journalists and political activists in Rangoon say they have no idea why
the military government is publicizing the meetings between Min Ko Naing
and the diplomats in this way. News about opposition movements is normally
banned from Burmese journals.

_____________________________________

December 1, Japan Economic Newswire
Myanmar ethnic group pledges continued support for junta

Yangon: Myanmar's Wa ethnic group, one of 17 rebel organizations that have
entered cease-fire with the military government, has pledged continued
support for the junta, saying it will take part in the National Convention
to be resumed next February, state-run newspapers reported Wednesday,
quoting a statement from the group.

'The Wa peace group will continue to support the government and cooperate
in the promotion of peace and development in the country,' the statement
said.

It also said the group 'will continue sending delegates to the National
Convention until its successful conclusion.' The National Convention is
tasked to draft a new constitution.

In November, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, chairman of the National Convention
Convening Commission, said the convention, which has been in recess since
July 9, will resume in February.

The National Convention, the first step in the junta's seven-stage 'road
map to democracy,' resumed in May despite a boycott by the opposition
National League for Democracy, which is led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who
remains under house arrest.

The Wa group also pledged to wipe out narcotic drug cultivation.

'The Wa peace group will completely cease the 100-year-old tradition of
opium cultivation in the region by the end of June 2005, as declared
earlier, and will make all efforts for the permanent stoppage of opium
cultivation,' the statement said.

The Wa group in Shan State, one of the major ethnic states in Myanmar,
administers the autonomous special region.

_____________________________________
DRUGS

December 1, Thai Press Reports
Thailand-Myanmar pledge closer cooperation to stamp out drugs

Thailand and Myanmar agreed to cement cooperation to stamp out the drugs
trade, with Myanmar promising to extradite drug suspects to face legal
action in Thailand.

Myanmar's comments were made during a 50-minute meeting this morning
between Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Myanmar counterpart Gen.
Soe Win, both of whom are in the Laotian capital of Vientiane to attend
the 10th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leadership summit,
scheduled for 29-30 November.

Topping the agenda of the informal talks was the issue of narcotics
suppression, with Gen. Soe Win promising close cooperation with Thailand
in stamping out the drugs trade.

According to Government Spokesman Jakrapob Penkair, the Myanmar premier
promised that any drug suspects who fled across the border into Myanmar
would be returned to Thailand to face legal action.

The two prime ministers also agreed to boost security cooperation through
the exchange of information and intelligence, while speaking of the
'extremely good' relationship between the two nations, despite the recent
political change in Rangoon.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra reiterated his insistence that Thailand
not interfere in Myanmar's internal affairs although it was notable that
he questioned Gen. Soe Win on reports that opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi would remain under house arrest for a further year, a rumour that the
Myanmar premier refused to either confirm or deny.

Nonetheless, Gen. Soe Win promised to keep Thailand informed of any major
political changes, and thanked Bangkok for ceasing its support of minority
groups fighting the Rangoon regime.

_____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

December 1, Xinhua General News Service
Over 338,900 HIV infections estimated in Myanmar

Yangon: A total of 338,911 people in Myanmar were estimated to have been
infected with HIV as of this year, according to a latest figures disclosed
by the Ministry of Health.

The survey was jointly conducted with United Nations agencies and
non-governmental organizations, the sources at the ministry said.

Myanmar has been implementing a three-year joint program (2003- 05) to
fight HIV/AIDS. The program, involving the three parties, has been
developed to strengthen the enabling environment and supporting capacity
for prevention and cure of the disease in the country.

Stressing the role of women in HIV/AIDS prevention and control, the
authorities warned that it is not only the risk of HIV infection in women
and girls is far higher than that of men but also the impact of the
disease is more obvious among women and girls compared to men.

In combating HIV/AIDS, Myanmar has introduced two programs of promoting
100 percent condom use and preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission,
having expanded the programs to over 50 townships and 22 townships
respectively from 44 and 12 in 2002.

According to the National AIDS Program (NAP), Myanmar has also carried out
a survey of sexual behavior of people aged between 15 and 49 with the
assistance of UNAIDS and UN Children's Fund, and the finding would be used
to tailor HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention program to make them more
effective.

Meanwhile, the NAP has also been drafting guidelines for voluntary testing
for HIV and voluntary counseling for those contracting the virus and the
draft is due to complete this year.

According to earlier government survey, 68 percent of AIDS cases in the
country resulted from heterosexual contract, while 30 percent was caused
by injecting drug use and the remaining percent was due to mother-to-child
transmission.

Figures of the country's National Drug Center in Yangon also show that
about one percent of the blood donors have HIV infections.

HIV/AIDS stands as one of the three priority communicable diseases in
Myanmar. The others are malaria and tuberculosis.

_____________________________________

December 1, Narinjara News
Fake and epired pharmaceuticals being imported from Bangladesh

Taknef: Bangladesh is exporting fake and expired pharmaceuticals into
Burma at a reduced price, according to border sources.

Through the long border between Burma and Bangladesh and via the seas, the
local drug industry is cashing in on the drug shortages in Burma.

Inside Bangladesh, in the regions bordering Burma, there are more than 500
drug businesses some of them without a licence, and they are smuggling
fake pharmaceuticals into Burma.

Public healthcare is not available for the Burmese people who live in
adjacent areas to Bangladesh, hence they have to rely on the private drug
industry and they fall victim to the fake pharmaceuticals.

A local newspaper reporter, Mr Abdula Teepatuu from Taknef said that
Taknef, Nila, Okira, Muresa are the centres of the drug smuggling.

Those who are operating the drug businesses in these towns and villages do
not have certificates to deal with the drugs and do not understand the
danger of fake and expired drugs.

In Bangladesh, a pharmacist has to be matriculated and trained at the
School of Pharmacy, but most of those pharmacists operating in the border
areas are not qualified personnel.

The main drug items that are smuggled into Burma are Paracetamol,
Jasoquine, Ampicilline, Dexmethasone, Nikerthamine (Ampoules), Diclofanac,
B1, B12, Hismice, Anoxyl, Depol, Dextro sodium and syringes, and most of
them are fake or expired.

Due to the shortage of the drug supply and the high price of drugs
imported from other countries like Thailand and India, the cheap and
dangerous drugs from China and Bangladesh are used in Burma.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

December 1, Associated Press
Sources: Southeast Asian countries came close to criticizing Myanmar, but
Thailand sabotaged plan - Jim Gomez

Vientiane, Laos: Southeast Asian countries came close to issuing a
critical statement on the Myanmar military government's treatment of
detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at their summit, but the
plan was shot down by Thailand, sources said Wednesday.

Senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which
includes Myanmar, drafted a statement expressing concern over the decision
by the country's junta to extend Nobel laureate Suu Kyi's house arrest,
said two diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity.

They said the statement, which was to have been issued Tuesday at the end
of the annual summit of ASEAN leaders in the Laotian capital, also would
have urged Myanmar's military regime to stick to its pledges to move
toward democracy.

The planned statement, although stillborn, is a reflection of the deep
frustration among Southeast Asian countries with Myanmar's junta, which
has failed to fulfill any of its pledges to restore democracy in the
country or to free Suu Kyi, who has been detained since last May.

Many regional diplomats feel that Myanmar is tainting ASEAN's reputation.

The Myanmar statement was drafted by senior diplomats of ASEAN's 10 member
countries for approval of their leaders on Tuesday. However, it was
abandoned after Thai officials "expressed reservations," the diplomats
said. As expected, Myanmar also opposed it.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow said Wednesday in
Bangkok that no such statement was proposed to the ASEAN leaders.

Senior diplomats of Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore who initiated
the move then made an alternative proposal - each government would issue a
separate statement criticizing Myanmar, but that plan was also not
carried, the diplomats said.

At least one government - the Philippines - went as far as preparing a
draft statement, a copy of which was seen by The AP. It used strong
language in expressing concern about Suu Kyi's continued detention and the
eroding credibility of ASEAN.

Several diplomats privately expressed disappointment over the reported
extension of Suu Kyi's house arrest, saying they had tried to hold back on
criticisms because of Myanmar's promise to democratize. But with promises
coming to naught, there is a feeling of betrayal among ASEAN countries,
one of the diplomats said.

"When they came here we were promised that the roadmap (to democracy) is
on, they're moving toward democracy, they will do everything possible, so
that's why everybody has taken a positive way," Malaysian Foreign Minister
Syed Hamid Albar said Tuesday.

He said Malaysia is seriously concerned about what is happening in
Myanmar, and if Suu Kyi's detention was really extended "then I think it
is not good," he said.

The junta has been in power since 1988 and has refused to hand over power
to Suu Kyi's party, even after it won general elections in 1990.

In keeping with ASEAN's noninterference policy, Myanmar's politics were
not discussed in formal sessions during the summit in Laos, but have been
raised in informal talks.

Some ASEAN leaders discussed the issue during one-on-one meetings with
their Myanmar counterpart, Gen. Soe Win, where delicate topics could be
raised.

Soe Win told the leaders that he did not have information about Suu Kyi's
continued detention because he is not in touch with officials back home.
He did not, however, deny it and assured ASEAN partners that the junta is
committed to restoring democracy.

ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

_____________________________________

December 1, Agence France Presse
ASEAN lawmakers condemn extension of Suu Kyi's house arrest

Kuala Lumpur: A group of ASEAN lawmakers on Wednesday condemned the
decision by Myanmar's military junta to extend the house arrest of
democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

"We condemn the action of the ruling junta. We want her to be released
immediately," said Malaysian MP Zaid Ibrahim, who is interim president of
the newly formed ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar.

Zaid described Aung San Suu Kyi's continued detention as "cruel and
totally unjustified."

"Unless there is pressure from the international community and in
particular ASEAN, she is doomed to be detained for a long time," he added.

Last week the caucus, which includes lawmakers from Cambodia, Indonesia,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, said Myanmar should be
suspended from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) unless
it makes progress towards democratic reforms.

Aung San Suu Kyi's first period of house arrest started in 1989, and
although she led the National League for Democracy to a landslide election
victory in 1990 from her confinement, the military rulers refused to
accept the result.

Aung Sang Suu Kyi was released in July 1995, but detained again in 2000.
She was released in May 2002 but growing tensions saw her back under house
arrest only a year later.

Opposition Malaysian lawmaker Lim Kit Siang, a member of the grouping,
said the Myanmar military had been let off easily at the Vientiane ASEAN
summit this week without having to account for its failure to show
progress in political reforms.

"What is even more galling is the cocky stance of the junta to administer
a public slap-in-the face of the other ASEAN leaders by timing the release
of information on the extension of Aung Sang Suu Kyi's house arrest" which
coincided with the summit, he said in a statement.

_____________________________________

December 1, Agence France Presse
UN combs Malaysian jungles for refugees ahead of crackdown

Kuala Lumpur: Mobile teams will be deployed in an urgent effort to
register refugees hiding in the jungles on the fringes of Malaysian cities
ahead of an imminent government crackdown on illegal immigrants, the UN
refugee agency said Wednesday.

It is feared that asylum seekers from military-ruled Myanmar and the
strife-torn Indonesian province of Aceh will be swept up along with
hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants, Volker Turk, head of the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia, told AFP.

"It is urgent and it is our priority now to register the asylum seekers,
especially from Myanmar and Aceh, so that they are protected from police
raids and from being detained," Turk said.

The UNHCR says that in one case, hundreds of asylum seekers live in
makeshift camps in the jungle outside Putrajaya, the gleaming new
administrative capital about 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of Kuala
Lumpur.

Many of them found work on Putrajaya construction sites like thousands of
other illegal workers and often share camps in the jungle, making them
vulnerable to arrest when the crackdown begins in January, Turk said.

A trial run on the effectiveness of the mobile teams registering refugees,
who fear going into the cities to register, was a success in Penang last
month where 600 people from Aceh were documented, he said.

But Turk expressed fears that not all the refugees, totaling some 29,000
people, could be registered before the start of the crackdown which begins
after an amnesty ends this month.

The government has announced that it will deploy more than half a million
members of volunteer neighbourhood security groups to track down and
detain the estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants in the country, mainly
from Indonesia and the Philippines.

The move has been described as "ominous" by Human Rights Watch. The
volunteers would receive minimal training and would get cash rewards for
each migrant arrested, the rights group said, urging the government to
drop the plan to avoid "vigilantism".

But Home Minister Azmi Khalid told AFP Monday there would be no change in
the plan, saying those heading the civilian groups were skilled and
experienced as they were former military and police officials.

Turk, however, expressed concern about whether the volunteers were trained
"to distinguish the documents the refugees hold".

The UNHCR says there are about 11,000 refugees from Aceh, 10,000 Muslim
Rohingyas from Myanmar and some 8,000 Myanmarese from various other ethnic
groups.

It has welcomed the government's recent decision to give temporary stay
permits to the Rohingyas, but says the status of the others "is yet
unclear".

Human Rights Watch has also expressed concern that refugees and victims of
human trafficking could be caught up in the sweep and deported instead of
receiving protection.

The crackdown could also give rise to the use of excessive force during
raids and the prolonged detention of migrants in unsanitary conditions,
Human rights Watch said.

The Indonesian government has begun setting up shelters and support
services for returning migrants, but it is unclear whether the
arrangements will be enough to avoid the deaths and other abuses that
occurred in a similar deportation operation in 2002, Human Rights Watch
said.

Azmi said only about 111,000 illegal migrants had left the country since
the amnesty began on October 29 and he did not foresee a major exodus
before it expired despite tough punishment including jail terms and a
whipping for those who overstay.

The illegal immigrants, who face poverty and unemployment in their own
countries, are drawn to relatively prosperous Malaysia by jobs in
construction, plantation work and services.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 1, Agence France Presse
UN head leads complaints over new detention of Myanmar opposition leader

Bangkok: UN secretary-general Kofi Annan led international demands for the
swift release of Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose house
arrest has been extended for another year by the military regime.

Governments, including the US, former colonial ruler Britain and Germany
have condemned the extension.

The news broke during a summit of Southeast Asian nations in Laos as the
leaders welcomed Myanmar's release of more than 9,000 inmates from jail.

Annan said her detention "is not in the interest of the process of
national reconciliation and democratization in Myanmar" and called for her
to be freed as soon as possible, the UN chief's spokesman Fred Eckhard
said in a statement on Tuesday.

The UN chief said the junta should "seize the momentum" created by the
release of the 9,248 detainees by freeing Aung San Suu Kyi and other
political detainees as soon as possible.

The morale of the democracy leader remains high, according to sources
close to her party, and she had anticipated the extension of her period of
detention at her sprawling lakeside home in Yangon.

The United States warned Tuesday it might boycott meetings of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) when Myanmar takes over the
chairmanship of the 10-nation grouping in 2006, unless the regime improves
its human rights record.

"The US has made clear that the situation in Burma has complicated our
dealings with ASEAN," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said,
using Myanmar's previous name.

The United States has repeatedly criticised the junta's human rights
record and imposed trade and investment sanctions against the impoverished
nation.

The ASEAN chairman traditionally hosts a series of official and
ministerial-level meetings with the 10-member grouping's key trading
partners, including the United States and the European Union.

ASEAN also has committees conducting foreign relations in 15 world
capitals and cities including New York and Washington.

At the Vientiane summit, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and
Indonesia's foreign ministry expressed concern at the latest developments.
But the ASEAN leaders made no formal statement about the situation in
Myanmar, which joined their grouping in 1997.

Britain, which governed Myanmar until its independence in 1948, said it
was "deeply disturbed" at the news of the detention extension.

"Her continued detention is completely unjustified and unacceptable, both
to the people of Burma and to the international community," said junior
Foreign Office minister Douglas Alexander.

"Aung San Suu Kyi and the democratic movement have a key role to play in
national reconciliation in Burma."

Germany called for her release along with all other political prisoners.

"The involvement of all political and social players in Myanmar is an
indispensable condition for a successful process of democratisation," said
junior foreign minister Kerstin Mueller in a statement.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy, began
her latest period under house arrest in May 2003 following a violent clash
between her supporters and a pro-junta mob. Her party said on Monday her
arrest had been extended for another year.

It is the Nobel peace laureate's third period of house arrest since she
took up the democracy struggle in 1988. She has spent a total of more than
nine years in detention.

The NLD won 1990 elections in Myanmar but was never allowed to rule by the
military, which has held power since 1962. The party's offices have also
been shut down.

_____________________________________

December 1, Agence France Presse
US may boycott ASEAN meetings when Myanmar takes over helm in 2006

Washington: The United States has warned it might boycott ASEAN meetings
when Myanmar takes over the chairmanship of the Southeast Asian grouping
in 2006, unless the military-ruled state improves its human rights record.

"The US has made clear that the situation in Burma has complicated our
dealings with ASEAN," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said
Tuesday in a written statement using Myanmar's previous name.

He was responding to questions at a media briefing on US policy when
Myanmar takes over the helm of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) in 2006-2007.

The ASEAN chairman traditionally hosts a series of official and minister
level meetings with the 10-member grouping's key trading partners,
including the United States and the European Union.

The United States has condemned the Myanmar military junta's human rights
abuses, particularly the continued detention of democracy icon Aung San
Suu Kyi, and has imposed trade and investment sanctions against the
impoverished nation.

The ASEAN chairmanship is rotated annually among members Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam.

"The Secretary of State will have to decide whether it is appropriate to
participate at senior levels in meetings in Burma, based on the situation
that exists at the time in 2006-2007, while that country holds ASEAN's
chairmanship," Boucher said.

The US stand was announced just as ASEAN leaders ended annual talks in the
Laotian capital Vientiane on Tuesday, with Myanmar's immediate neighbor
Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra urging Yangon to reform
before it takes over the ASEAN leadership.

ASEAN's biggest member Indonesia and the Philippines also voiced concern
over Myanmar's seemingly mixed signals about reform but got no firm
answers from Yangon.

Boucher said that ASEAN should do more to push Myanmar to embrace
democratic reforms.

"We think that more attention to the progress of democracy in Burma is
appropriate from the nations of the region, and we have certainly been in
touch with them in connection with the summit," he told the briefing.

Myanmar has been a lingering embarrassment for ASEAN ever since it joined
the grouping in 1997.

Just as the ASEAN leaders met this week, news emerged that Aung San Suu
Kyi's house arrest has been extended for another year.

The move has been condemned by UN chief Kofi Annan and many governments,
including in the United States, Britain and Germany.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained since May 2003 following a violent
clash between her supporters and a pro-junta mob. It was the Nobel peace
laureate's third period of house arrest since taking up the democracy
struggle in 1988.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) won 1990 elections but was never
allowed to rule. The party's offices have also been shut down.

Boucher said the United States had repeatedly called on Myanmar's
leadership to take steps to promote "genuine national reconciliation and
democracy, engage in meaningful dialogue with members of the political
opposition and ethnic groups, release all political prisoners and respect
the fundamental human rights of its citizens."

_____________________________________

December 1, Agence France Presse
Myanmar prison releases a "smokescreen": media group

Bangkok: Press freedom groups on Wednesday dismissed Myanmar's prison
release programme of more than 9,000 inmates as a "smokescreen" and said a
cameraman was the only one of 13 detained journalists freed.

Ko Sein Ohn was released on November 26 after serving more than eight
years of a 10-year jail term for filming and distributing a video of a
speech by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi that had not been approved by
officials from the military-run regime, according to Reporters Without
Borders and the Burma Media Association.

A total of 9,248 people were released in eight days from November 18
although only about 40 of them were political prisoners, according to
democracy campaigners.

The prisoners were released after a power struggle at the heart of
government that resulted in the sacking of premier Khin Nyunt in October
and a purging of his allies from the powerful military intelligence branch
that he headed for two decades.

The ruling junta said thousands had been improperly jailed by intelligence
officials.

Ko Sein Ohn said military intelligence originally accused him of filming a
ceremony at the home of a high-ranking police officer, the two press
groups said.

But after finding no evidence, the military authorities then accused him
of filming Aung San Suu Kyi, although he said he had permission from the
military. He was jailed after a sham trial, the groups said.

Twelve journalists remain behind bars including one of Myanmar's
best-known journalists, Win Tin, 74, a prize-winning writer and a member
of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), who was jailed
for 20 years in 1989.

"The massive release of prisoners has just been a smokescreen," the two
organisations said in a statement.

They called on the European Union to "maintain sanctions until all
prisoners of conscience including journalists are freed and prior
censorship is abolished".

Amnesty International in its 2004 report said more than 1,350 political
prisoners remained imprisoned in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Aung
San Suu Kyi herself has been confined to her home since May last year, her
third period of house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi was told at the weekend that her period of house arrest
had been extended by another year, drawing international criticism from
the United Nations, the United States and Myanmar's former colonial ruler
Britain.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962 even though the NLD won a
landslide election victory in 1990.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 1, The Irrawaddy
Asean may be digging its own grav

The Asean summit in Vientiane has ended, without doing anything to make
Burma’s leaders more accountable and their policies transparent.
Disappointingly, Asean leaders failed to make any formal resolution on
Burma.

One encouraging sign, however, is that Asean leaders are reluctant to
defend the unpredictable generals in Rangoon.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said in a statement she had urged
Burmese Prime Minister Soe Win, during talks she had with him, to include
Aung San Suu Kyi and her opposition party in the political reform process.

"Having welcomed Myanmar to Asean, we want to ensure that the Asean vision
of a vibrant and democratic community will be realized," Arroyo said.

"I reiterated that we have to answer to our own Asean community and to the
international community."

Defending the generals can, in effect, be like digging your own grave.
During the summit, Burmese authorities extended Suu Kyi’s house arrest.
She has been confined to her home under tight security regulations for
more than one year, and now she faces at least another year of the same
treatment.

The news of the house arrest extension puzzled Asean leaders. On the eve
of the summit, Burma had released 9,000 prisoners (though few political
prisoners) and won praise from some Asean officials.

Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra raised the issue of Suu Kyi when he
met his  Burmese counterpart prime minister Lt Gen Soe Win during the
summit.

According to Thaksin, Burma's Prime Minister Soe Win would not confirm the
reports that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest had been
extended for one year.

"The Myanmar prime minister did not confirm the news report yesterday that
the period of house arrest for Aung San Suu Kyi would be extended for one
year, but (he said) that he would check and keep Thailand informed,"
Thaksin said.

It’s perhaps understandable that the man accused dissidents of being
behind the ambush attack that resulted in Suu Kyi’s detention is reluctant
to tell the truth.

While Asean leaders held their summit, a three day workshop was in Kuala
Lumpur also considered the Burma situation.

The workshop was organized by pro-democracy groups in Asia and within the
Malaysian Parliament.

They were joined by parliamentarians from Thailand, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Cambodia and Singapore, officials from some Asean countries
and Burmese parliamentarians in exile.

Participants agreed that Asean governments had been "too soft for too
long" with Burma.

Interim president Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said continuing the soft approach
towards Burma would not solve the situation there.

Burma has certainly exploited Asean’s political legitimacy to hide its
crimes and human rights abuses. Since its accession to Asean in 1997,
Burma has contributed little to the regional grouping. In two years’ time,
when it is due to take the Asean chair, it can create even more problems
for Asean.

Asean leaders are hoping Burma will embark on the path towards democracy
before then and forestall any trouble.

"I think one year from now on, some things must be improved," said Thaksin.

Critics and pundits alike warn that Asean’s credibility is at stake.

If Asean continues to put its credibility into question by remaining soft
on Burma, the organization could well be digging its own grace.