BurmaNet News, December 11-13, 2004

[Editor]

December 11-13, 2004, Issue # 2618

"Those of us who have been privileged to receive education, skills, and
experiences and even power must be role models for the next generation of
leadership. In this regard, I would also like to appeal for the freedom of
my fellow laureate Aung San Suu Kyi so that she can continue her work for
peace and democracy for the people of Burma and the world at large."
- Wangari Maathai Nobel Lecture, Oslo, December 10, 2004
Link to full speech:
http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/2004/maathai-lecture.html


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: At least 11 dissidents among thousands of prisoners freed in Myanmar
AFP: Myanmar release of 5,070 inmates complete: state media
Xinhua: Myanmar leader: Participate in political roadmap to democracy
AFP: Freed Myanmar dissident who urged Suu Kyi into politics bows out of
struggle
AP via the Mercury (Australia): Thousands flee Burma crackdown
AFP: World Buddhist conference closes in Myanmar amid criticism by clergy
Irrawaddy: Bo Mya still holds position

BUSINESS
Mizzima: Indian companies reluctant to invest in Burma
Xinhua: Myanmar to privatize more state-owned factories

REGIONAL
AP: Thai leader calls Myanmar's reasons for detaining Suu Kyi 'reasonable'

INTERNATIONAL
AP: Settlement in works over human rights case involving Unocal

ANNOUNCEMENT
Still looking for the perfect holiday gift? Don’t forget the two-CD set
"For the Lady", which is dedicated to the world's only imprisoned Nobel
Peace Prize recipient, Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma.  The two-CD set costs
$19.98 and includes 27 songs by Paul McCartney, Pearl Jam, Bonnie Raitt,
Eric Clapton, R.E.M., Matchbox Twenty, Avril Lavigne, and more.  Anyone,
regardless of whether they know about Burma, would like the two-CD set.
When you order the CD through US Campaign for Burma at
www.uscampaignforburma.org, they receive between $9 and $12 for their work
promoting freedom and democracy in Burma.  You can also buy the CD in
major music stores but then they receive only $5.50 per copy.

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 13, Agence France Presse
At least 11 dissidents among thousands of prisoners freed in Myanmar

Yangon: Military-ruled Myanmar has released at least 11 dissidents among
more than 5,000 prisoners freed in its latest mass release, opposition
parties and officials said Monday.

The tally brings to 50 or more the number of political prisoners freed by
the junta since mid-November, when it began ordering the release of
thousands of people who may have been wrongly jailed by a military
intelligence unit.

"Altogether seven from our party have been freed so far this time,"
spokesman U Lwin of the main opposition National League for Democracy
(NLD) party told AFP.

They included an NLD executive committee member from a township north of
the capital Yangon, he said.

The junta announced on state radio late Monday that "all 5,070 prisoners
have been released from various prisons around the country".

The latest figure brings to 14,318 the number of prisoners, mainly
believed to be petty criminals, the junta says it has set free since
November 18.

On Sunday the junta also freed two prominent opposition leaders, Democracy
Party vice chairman Htwe Myint, 76 and an early confidante of detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and the party's chairman Thu Wai, also
in his seventies.

The two had been on the lists of prisoners of conscience compiled by
international human rights groups. Two other dissidents were freed Sunday
as well, U Lwin said.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International, which says 1,350 political
prisoners remain imprisoned in Myanmar, cites Htwe Myint and Thu Wai as
serving seven-year jail terms for distributing leaflets in 1995 and having
had their sentences extended in 2002.

Htwe Myint was instrumental in introducing Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace
laureate and the head of the NLD, to politics in the 1980s, but he said
Monday after his release that his days of political activism were over.

"I will live now as an ordinary person," he told AFP in an interview.

"I have no intention of making political activities again, whether the NLD
party invites me to or not."

Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in May last year and is under her third
stint of house arrest. The NLD announced late last month that authorities
had extended her detention by another year.

There also has been no indication that her deputy Tin Oo has been freed.

A government official who declined to be named told AFP that "more than 20
political prisoners were included" in the latest release.

The junta said Saturday the prisoners were freed due to "National
Intelligence Bureau (NIB) irregularities", referring to a military unit
accused by the regime of abusing its powers in arresting thousands of
citizens.

The NIB was disbanded in October in a purge that saw the sacking of its
former head premier General Khin Nyunt -- who favoured limited talks with
Aung San Suu Kyi -- and his house arrest on corruption allegations.

The small number of dissidents set free has come as a blow to the NLD
which had been hoping for freedom for 400 in the first set of releases
alone.

Among those hoped to be let go was 74-year-old journalist Win Tin, a key
opposition figure and NLD member who has spent the last 15 years in
prison, but he remains behind bars.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962 despite a landslide election
victory by the NLD in 1990 that was never recognised.

______________________________________

December 13, Agence France Presse
Myanmar release of 5,070 inmates complete: state media

Yangon: All 5,070 Myanmar prison inmates promised freedom under the
military regime's third mass release programme in under a month have been
let out of jail, the government announced Monday.

"All 5,070 prisoners have been released from various prisons around the
country on December 12," the junta said on state radio, citing
"irregularities" in arrests by a since-disbanded military intelligence
organisation.

The latest figure brings to 14,318 the number of prisoners, mainly
believed to be petty criminals, the junta says it has set free since
November 18.

There has so far been no accurate independent verification of the numbers
released.

More than two dozen trucks carrying at least 1,000 prisoners were Sunday
driven out of the gates of Myanmar's largest prison, Insein, on the
outskirts of the capital Yangon, to be released at other locations, an AFP
correspondent witnessed.

About 50 dissidents are now believed to have been freed by the junta in
the three releases, according to opposition parties including the National
League for Democracy (NLD).

The low percentage of dissidents among the freed prisoners represented a
blow to the NLD which had been hoping for 400 in the first set of releases
alone.

Included among those freed Sunday were two prominent dissidents, Democracy
Party vice chairman Htwe Myint, 76 and an early confidante of detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and the party's chairman Thu Wai, also
in his seventies, relatives and an NLD official said.

Among those hoped to be let go was 74-year-old journalist Win Tin, a key
opposition figure and NLD member who has spent the last 15 years in
prison, but he remains behind bars.

>From the beginning of the releases in November the junta has acknowledged
that the inmates may have been wrongly imprisoned by the powerful National
Intelligence Bureau.

The NIB was disbanded in October in a purge that saw the sacking of its
former head, premier General Khin Nyunt, and his house arrest on
corruption allegations.

Khin Nyunt was seen as a pragmatist who favoured limited talks with Aung
San Suu Kyi.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International said in its 2004 report that 1,350
political prisoners remain imprisoned in Myanmar

The military has ruled Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, since 1962
despite a landslide election victory by the NLD in 1990 that was never
recognised.

_____________________________________

December 13, Xinhua News
Myanmar leader: Participate in political roadmap to democracy

Yangon: Myanmar leader Lieutenant-General Thein Sein has called on his
people to participate in every step of the government's seven-point
political roadmap to democracy and building of a discipline-flourishing
democratic nation.

Thein Sein, First Secretary of the State Peace and Development Council,
made the call here on Sunday, state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar
reported Monday.

Thein Sein, who is also Chairman of the Education Committee, said "the
government is taking the most fundamental specific steps for emergence of
a democratic nation the people desire," however warning that "Such a
nation cannot be created immediately. It is natural that only when there
are political, economic and social foundations needed will such a nation
emerge."

He also urged the audience to make concerted efforts for successful
implementation of national education projects.

He called on them to train a new generation of youths that can face
various kinds of challenges in the changing world with application of
modern science and technology.

Following the successful implementation of its previous four- year special
national education promotion plan which lasted from 2000-01 to 2003-04,
Myanmar has introduced another new four-year similar plan beginning the
current 2004-05 academic year in a bid to keep pace with international
education standard.

Meanwhile, the government's political roadmap to democracy, announced in
August last year, was outlined as resuming the constitutional national
convention as the first step, followed by undergoing a national referendum
on draft of the constitution, holding a general election to produce
parliament representatives and forming a new democratic government.

_____________________________________

December 13, Agence France Presse
Freed Myanmar dissident who urged Suu Kyi into politics bows out of struggle

Yangon: An ageing adversary of Myanmar's military rulers who was among the
first to encourage Aung San Suu Kyi to enter politics, said Monday that he
would abandon the struggle as he did not want to go to jail again.

Htwe Myint, the vice chairman of the Democracy Party which was shut down
by the generals, was released Sunday after nine years in prison -- two
years longer than his sentence for handing out pro-democracy leaflets.

"I will live now as an ordinary person," Htwe Myint told AFP in an
interview at his daughter's house in Yangon.

"I have no intention of making political activities again, whether the
National League for Democracy (headed by Aung San Suu Kyi) invites me to
or not," he said.

"I'm 76 years old already and I don't want to go to jail again," he said,
appearing in the company of relatives.

Htwe Myint was freed in the third batch of mass releases since
mid-November totalling 14,318 people who the junta acknowledged may have
been wrongly imprisoned by a military intelligence unit.

He was convicted of high treason and sentenced to death in 1972 but
released in 1980.

Analysts say he was then instrumental in persuading Aung San Suu Kyi, who
at the time lived in England with her British husband, to join the
struggle against the military regime that had ruled the country, then
known as Burma, since a 1962 coup.

"Authorities and others understand that I introduced her" to politics, he
said.

The charismatic Suu Kyi, daughter of the nation's independence hero Aung
San, had returned to Yangon to tend to her ailing mother when she was
swept up in the pro-democracy movement.

After mass student demonstrations demanding an end to military
dictatorship were brutally crushed in 1988, authorities permitted the
registration of political parties and Aung San Suu Kyi formed the National
League for Democracy (NLD) which won a landslide victory that the junta
has ignored.

>From 1989 she spent nine of the subsequent 15 years under house arrest,
and was awarded the Nobel peace prize.

Htwe Myint said he remains fond of Aung San Suu Kyi but would not wish to
join her movement.

"If Aung San Suu Kyi is released, I wouldn't want to cooperate with her on
political activities," he said. "We might have friendly personal relations
but no more political activities."

Htwe Myint said top officials had met him just before his release and
warned him to toe the line.

"The minister of home affairs and the chief of police came to the prison
and told me to abide by the law," he said.

Last month the junta released the country's second most prominent
dissident, famed student protest leader Min Ko Naing, after 16 years in
prison, and he told AFP he was unsure if he would continue with the
pro-democracy struggle.

____________________________________

December 13, AP via The Mercury (Australia)
Thousands flee Burma crackdown

Burma's military government has launched attacks on its own population
with more than 8000 villagers fleeing into refugee camps in neighbouring
Thailand.

And nearly 5000 are hiding in dense jungle in the nation's mountainous
state of Karen.

Burmese soldiers have burned ethnic Karens' barns and rice stocks in
attacks since mid-November but the violence has intensified in recent
days.

The Government's tough stand is primarily against pro-independence groups,
says the Free Burma Rangers, a group of western Burmese and Karen
volunteers who provide medical aid to the displaced.

"The people in hiding are now beginning to suffer dysentery and
respiratory infections because of their being crowded into small hiding
places with limited water supplies," the group said in a statement to
worldwide media.

The Karen have sought autonomy in Burma for more than half a century in
what is one of the world's longest-running insurgencies.

Decades of conflict have uprooted hundreds of thousands of Karen,
including about 140,000 now in refugee camps in Thailand.

The main rebel group, the Karen National Union, has been holding ceasefire
talks with the Government since late last year.

The Washington-based US Committee for Refugees, which estimates there are
more than 600,000 internally displaced people in eastern Burma, said the
new attacks were of a larger scale than ever before.

It puts great doubt on the likelihood of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi being released from house arrest any time in the near future.

____________________________________

December 11, Agence France Presse
World Buddhist conference closes in Myanmar amid criticism by clergy

Yangon: A world Buddhist summit ended Saturday in military-ruled Myanmar,
hailed as a great success by the country's premier but derided as a sham
by some of the nation's senior monks.

The three-day meeting ended with the ringing of 108 bells, chanting by
some 500 assembled monks and messages delivered by the prime ministers of
Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Myanmar's premier, Lieutenant General Soe Win, said some 2,600 monks and
Buddhist observers had attended the summit aimed at bringing "peace and
prosperity to the world".

The meeting was a great success and would help "put an end to extremism,
intimidation and armed conflicts" around the globe, he said in an
unscheduled speech to close the proceedings.

The Venerable Silalanda, a senior Myanmar monk, told the closing ceremony
that the summit would continue to bring about peace and prosperity in the
world "by spreading the Buddha's sublime message of loving kindness".

The summit ended with representatives from 17 countries signing a joint
declaration calling for the greater promotion of Buddhism through
teaching, cooperation and the restoration of the faith's monuments.

While not mentioned specifically in the declaration, debate has swirled
over whether to rebuild two massive centuries-old stone Buddhas destroyed
by Afghanistan's Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime in 2001.

Some local monks who did not attend the summit dismissed it as a farce.

A senior monk in Yangon, who did not want to be named, told AFP the
meeting was intended merely to promote the junta among the international
community and had little to do with promoting the faith.

"Most monks go to jail when they refuse to submit to the cruel
government," he said, adding the summit "is not sincere".

In addition to guest appearances by the premiers of Thailand, Sri Lanka
and Laos, delegates were mainly from Asia but included representatives
from the United States, Britain, and Australia.

Many delegates said they were aware of controversy surrounding the summit
after the withdrawal of a key sponsor, but maintained they were opposed to
the mixing of religion and politics.

Japan's Nenbutsushu sect, which has held the summit every two years in a
Buddhist nation, withdrew its sponsorship after the sacking in October of
then-premier Khin Nyunt, who was put under house arrest for corruption.

A main organiser of the event, superior monk Ashin Nanisara, said
Nenbutsushu's absence made Yangon's role more prominent.

"It's very good for us," that the sect was not involved, he told
reporters. "Free, free from other interference."

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thailand-based
rights group, had called for a boycott of the summit because of the
continued detention of an estimated 300 monks by the regime.

Myanmar's outlawed Young Monks' Association supported the boycott amid
concerns that the junta could use the event for political grandstanding.

Monks played an important role alongside students during 1988 protests
against military rule, which were bloodily suppressed.

The Venerable Silalanda, who is also director of the International
Theravada Buddhist Missionary University in Yangon, may have inadvertently
highlighted the junta's restrictions, particularly those on monks.

"We are grateful to the government of Myanmar for allowing us to use the
Internet. Without that, the summit would not have run so smoothly," he
told the summit's closing session.

A diplomat who did not want to be named told AFP that a request from the
regime had been sent to embassies asking for letters of praise for the
summit and that some diplomatic missions had declined to send them.

The military has ruled Myanmar since a 1962 coup despite Aung San Suu
Kyi's political party winning elections in 1990 by a landslide.

____________________________________

December 13, Irrawaddy
Bo Mya still holds position - Shah Paung

The Karen rebel leader Gen Bo Mya is still playing a leading military role
in the Karen National Union, or KNU, although he has abandoned the
position of vice-chairman due to poor health, according to a Karen leader.

Last week, it was reported that Bo Mya had retired from the positions of
vice-chairman and department head of defense and that he had been granted
the honorary title of “patron” of the KNU. The news emerged during the
KNU’s thirteenth congress, held from November 18 to December 8 in Karen
State, close to the Thai border.

However, Padoh Mahn Sha, the KNU general secretary, on Monday denied the
reports. Mahn Shah asserted that Bo Mya still holds the position of
department head of defense, although he has in fact given up the
vice-chairmanship to Gen Tamla Baw.

In addition, Mahn Sha said that bestowing the “patron” title on Bo Mya was
discussed at the congress, but a consensus could not be reached.

As head of the Karen delegation to the second round of talks between the
KNU and the Burma Army, held January in Rangoon, Bo Mya was instrumental
in forging the “gentleman’s ceasefire” between the two sides.

Nonetheless, Bo Mya suffers from severe diabetes, which prevented him from
attending the thirteenth congress.

The congress also witnessed Saw Ba Thein Sien re-elected as KNU chairman.

____________________________________
BUSINESS

December 11, Mizzima News
Indian companies reluctant to invest in Burma - Surajit Khaund

Even as the Burmese Government seeks Indian Companies to investment in the
country, Indian companies remain somewhat reluctant to investment in Burma
at the present time. Instead, they favour conducting a detailed market
survey in Burma for future investment.

In a recent meeting with Mizzima, the heads of some leading Indian
companies explained they required more time to explore investing in Burma.

Rajiv Dubey, vice president of Tata Motors, India's leading automotive
manufacturer, told Mizzima that the company did not have any immediate
plans to invest in Burma. Rather, Tata would focus more on European
countries. "We require a detailed survey on the present conditions of the
country before taking any final decision," Dubey said in an exclusive
interview with the correspondent.

Burma's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) chairman, Senior
General Than Shwe, during his recent visit to India in October, asked
Indian companies to invest in the country and assured them of providing
incentives.

Commenting on General Than Shwe's invitation, Dubey revealed that several
automotive companies are eyeing ASEAN's emerging economy and Tata wanted
to be a part of that move. However, investment in Burma would require more
time.

Meanwhile, Mr Raghu Pati Singhania, director of JK Tyre, said that to
invest in Burma the company would need to make a study.

Mr Singhania said that for JK Tyre to set up a production unit in Burma,
the company needs more security from the Government. "We have to study the
present market for taking any final decision, but we do not have an
immediate plan," he added.

Mr Singhania, however, has welcomed the move of the Indian Government to
opening trade links with Burma. Burma has a good demand for tyres and to
meet current demand, tyres are smuggled into the country through border
points, particularly from the Tamu-Moreh point.

It has been learnt that several IT companies have sought proper security
and good markets to sell their products despite incentives of the Junta to
set up IT industries. On the other hand, oil companies are very keen to
explore their options in Burma.

____________________________________

December 13, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to privatize more state-owned factories

Yangon: The Myanmar government will privatize a dozen more state-owned
factories in the country under its privatization plan, the local Business
Tank reported in its latest issue.

These factories under the Ministry of Industry-1 include wheat mill,
garment, soya bean sauce and vinegar, biscuit, tile factories, most of
which situated in Yangon and some in Mon and Shan states, the government's
Privatization Commission was quoted as saying.

Myanmar has since January 1995 been implementing a privatization plan for
its state-owned economic enterprises including those nationalized in the
1960s in an effort to systematically turn them into more effective
enterprises.

The plan, which has been implemented by the commission, is carried out by
auctioning and leasing or establishing joint ventures with local and
foreign investors.

These enterprises include rice mills, saw mills, cinemas, hotels, biscuit
and garment factories, timber shops and land plots.

It is estimated that since the privatization program started, over 100
such state-owned enterprises have been reportedly privatized.

According to official statistics, there are over 53,000 factories in
Myanmar, of which 1,600 are state-owned, while over 50,000 are private-run
with the rest being cooperative-operated ones.

Meanwhile, the private sector has set up 19 industrial zones across the
country to enhance industrial production.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

December 11, Associated Press
Thai leader calls Myanmar's reasons for detaining Suu Kyi 'reasonable'

Bangkok: Myanmar's military junta has reasonable and convincing reasons
for continuing to keep pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house
arrest, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Saturday.

Speaking on his weekly radio broadcast, Thaksin said he asked Myanmar's
leaders about the Nobel Peace laureate's detention on a trip Thursday to
the Southeast Asian nation. The response from the ruling generals was that
political instability caused by Suu Kyi's release could lead the country
to break up, he said.

More than 100 different ethnic groups exist in Myanmar, the junta told
Thaksin, and unless stability was assured, all would want to have their
own states.

"(Myanmar) will be torn apart into many different countries," Thaksin
quoted the junta as saying. "(The) country will be a mess, nothing will be
left.

"These are the reasons they gave (for holding Suu Kyi), which are
reasonable enough and convincing, because I have witnessed many things in
their process," said Thaksin, without elaborating.

ASEAN members such as Malaysia and Indonesia - after patiently backing
Myanmar's ruling generals for years - have recently expressed frustration
at the failure to make appreciable progress toward restoring democracy
there.

Among other things, they are seeking the release of Suu Kyi, who has been
under house arrest in Yangon since she was detained in 2003 following a
clash between her followers and government supporters. Western countries
and the United Nations also have issued strong calls for her freedom.

Last month Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party said the junta
officially extended her house arrest until at least next September, under
a law that allows detention without trial. The military government has not
made any public announcement on the move.

Thaksin made a half-day trip to Myanmar on Thursday, attending an
international conference of Buddhists as well as meeting with junta
members.

His visit came as relations have cooled between Myanmar and some of its
fellow member countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been in a political deadlock since the
National League for Democracy party won a 1990 general election, but the
military refused to hand over power.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 13, Associated Press
Settlement in works over human rights case involving Unocal - Paul Chavez

Los Angeles: Oil giant Unocal Corp. has reached an agreement in principle
to settle human rights lawsuits involving allegations of enslaved labor
during a 1990s pipeline project in Southeast Asia, a company spokesman
said.

The lawsuits maintained that El Segundo-based Unocal should be held liable
for the alleged enslavement of villagers by soldiers during construction
of a natural gas pipeline in the 1990s in Myanmar, an isolated country
also known as Burma.

The full panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had been scheduled
to hear arguments on the case Monday afternoon in Pasadena, but the
hearing was canceled at the request of both parties, Unocal spokesman
Barry Lane said Sunday night.

Human rights lawyers representing 14 anonymous villagers also alleged in
the lawsuits that Myanmar soldiers murdered a baby, raped women and girls
and forced people out of their homes to clear the pipeline's route. The
lawyers sued the company, claiming it should have known about the alleged
abuses by Myanmar soldiers.

The lawsuits against the oil and gas giant have been considered a key test
for human rights activists seeking to hold multinational corporations
responsible in U.S. courts for alleged atrocities committed abroad.

Discussions to settle the lawsuits were ongoing and no details were being
immediately released, Lane said.

Unocal has consistently denied that any human rights violations occurred
during the construction of the $1.2 billion Yadana pipeline.

Rick Herz, litigation director for EarthRights International, which
represents the plaintiffs, declined to comment and Daniel Stormer, another
lawyer for the plaintiffs, did not immediately return a telephone call. A
telephone call made to Unocal lead attorney Daniel Petrocelli was not
immediately returned.

The case was first filed in Los Angeles federal court in 1996. A federal
judge dismissed it, prompting the plaintiffs to pursue their claims in
state court.

The federal case, which relies on the 1789 Alien Tort Claims Act that was
originally enacted to prosecute pirates, was reinstated in 2002 by the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled that
certain types of cases involving violations of international law could be
pursued in federal courts under the obscure act.

A Superior Court judge presiding over the state case had set a June 2005
trial date.