BurmaNet News June 14, 2005

[Editor]

June 14, 2005 Issue # 2739

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar's junta opens trial of former premier
DVB: NLD members given life sentence by Burma junta
Irrawaddy: More government ministries and media to leave Rangoon
Irrawaddy: Shan group denies regime allegation
Narinjara: Burmese authority surveys the Hindu population in Arakan state

ON THE BORDER
Thai Press Reports: Thai-Myanmar Border Committee meeting kicks off

REGIONAL
AFP: Thai FM sees Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi freed early next year

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima: Crying need for new blood in NLD

OPEN LETTER
Nobel Peace Laureate Open Letter on the Occasion of Aung San Suu Kyi's
60th Birthday

PRESS RELEASE
US Campaign for Burma: Leading member of the U.S. Congress to lead protest
at Burmese Embassy

ANNOUNCEMENT
US Campaign for Burma: Nominate Aung San Suu Kyi to be ABC News’ person of
the day:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/PersonOfWeek/story?id=64509.

JOB POSTING
BBC Burmese Service: Seeking radio journalists/producer based in London.
For more information please visit www.bbc.co.uk/jobs and type in reference
number 77940. Deadline July 1, 2005.

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 14, Agence France Presse
Myanmar's junta opens trial of former premier

Yangon: Myanmar's Supreme Court has begun hearing the junta's case against
former premier and military intelligence boss Khin Nyunt, who was sacked
in October and accused of corruption, legal sources said Tuesday.

"His legal proceedings in the Supreme Court have started," one lawyer
following the case told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Supreme Court officials declined to comment.

The court heard the charges against the once-powerful general in a secret
hearing Monday, but the sources could not detail the crimes laid against
him or say if he had been allowed a lawyer.

Further hearings were not expected for at least one month, one lawyer
close to the case said.

Khin Nyunt, who announced military-ruled Myanmar's "road map to democracy"
in 2003, had been expected to face charges including high treason, abuse
of power and graft.

He was seen as favoring limited dialogue with detained opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi. He was replaced by junta hardliner General Soe Win.

Opening the case at the Supreme Court was an unusual step, possibly taken
because of Khin Nyunt's status as a former prime minister, legal experts
said.

Some 300 people linked to the former premier, including two of his sons,
are standing trial at secret tribunals set up inside Insein prison.

About 40 of them have already been tried and convicted, mainly for
economic crimes.

The trials of Khin Nyunt's two sons began in mid-May at the secret Insein
tribunals. Their sentencing had been expected on Monday but was delayed
without explanation, a lawyer close to their trials said.

Ye Naing Win was charged with 33 counts, while his brother Lieutenant
Colonel Zaw Naing Oo was charged with 10 counts including export-import
violations, possession of public property, bribery and corruption, lawyers
said.

The junta arrested hundreds of people during the October purge described
as a crackdown on corruption that toppled Khin Nyunt and resulted in the
dismantling of his powerful military intelligence network.

Khin Nyunt had been held under house arrest since he was sacked, but a
source close to the junta said Saturday that the former premier had been
taken from his home to Insein prison in preparation for his trial.

Military leaders declined to comment on the case at a press conference
Sunday, saying only that his trial had not then begun.

Legal experts said the junta might hold Khin Nyunt at a third location,
neither his home nor Insein, during his trial.

In October authorities abolished the National Intelligence Bureau, the
body that gave widespread powers to military intelligence officers.

The intelligence wing was believed to control much of the black market and
drug money in Myanmar -- the world's second largest opium producer -- and
was a bitter rival of hardline army factions loyal to the junta
leadership.

The military has ruled the country since 1962. Aung San Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy won elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take
power.

Reconciliation talks supported by Khin Nyunt between Aung San Suu Kyi and
the generals ground to a halt after her arrest and detention in May 2003,
when a junta-backed mob launched a deadly assault on her convoy.

Political tensions have heightened dramatically following a series of bomb
blasts in Yangon on May 7 that left at least 23 people dead and 150
wounded.

Authorities blamed the attacks on an alliance of ethnic rebel groups,
pro-democracy organizations and student groups, who have denied
involvement.

This month the junta made unusually conciliatory remarks toward the
leading opposition party, urging the Nobel laureate to cooperate with the
junta.

____________________________________

June 13, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD members given life sentence by Burma junta

Four National League for Democracy (NLD) members and one pro-democracy
activist from Rangoon have all been given life sentence by Rangoon’s
Insein jail special court on 13 June, according to their family members.

Ahlon Township NLD chairman U Ba Myint and member U Ba Tint, Kamayut
Township NLD members Ko Aung Myo San, Ko Khin Kyaw and Ko Thet Naing Aung
have been detained since December 2004.

The five have never been allowed to see their family since they were
arrested and none of them were given access to legal representatives.
Their family members attempted to see them at the notorious Insein Jail
but they were never allowed to see their loved ones.

The families only found out about the sentence when the defendants shouted
out that they were given life sentence at the court, according to Kyaw
Khin’s wife Ma Thandar who went to the “special” court.

____________________________________

June 14, Irrawaddy
More government ministries and media to leave Rangoon - Clive Parker and Yeni

The Burmese government will move at least five of its ministries and
almost all state media north from Rangoon to Pyinmana, in Mandalay
Division, according to sources in Rangoon. The army headquarters are
already widely believed to be moving there.

The government order, which was sent to the departments concerned on
Monday, had been officially rubber-stamped by the cabinet of the ruling
State Peace and Development Council, a Rangoon civil servant said. It
means all ministry staff concerned must relocate to a site four miles west
of Pyinmana before October.

Surprisingly, the civil servant said plans have been in place for the move
since 2001, meaning the junta has successfully kept the move secret for
four years. The plan is for the ministries of Agriculture, Energy,
Information—including the Myanmar News Agency and MRTV—and at least one
other unknown government department to join the Ministry of Defence at the
new site. As a result Myawaddy, a TV station, will be the only remaining
state media organ in Rangoon, because government-controlled newspapers are
also thought to be moving with the Information Ministry.

Ministry sources say all construction has already been completed by a
consortium of Rangoon-based construction companies and will include a
hospital with 1,000 beds.

The decision has caused confusion and even anger among a number of
employees of the ministries and media involved, the sources say. “We don’t
understand why they are moving there,” said one source close to MRTV
staff.

He said all members of the staff have been told they will be fired unless
they agree to relocate. Employees at the television station would not say
how they felt about the decision, only confirming that it would go ahead
shortly and that a new office had already been built at the new site near
Pyinmana.

A civil servant at the Ministry of Agriculture said he was surprised by
the decision and had no idea how he was expected to resettle in the short
time given.

News of the decision adds weight to recent speculation in Rangoon that the
military regime plans to relocate the entire capital. One journalist in
Rangoon said the current thinking is that the junta is keen to move
important government departments inland to safeguard against what the
generals view as a potential military threat from the sea.

____________________________________

June 14, Irrawaddy
Shan group denies regime allegation - Nandar Chann

The ceasefire group Shan State National Army denied on Monday allegations
by the regime that the SSNA merged with another Shan rebel group because
it feared legal action for alleged misuse of funds intended for regional
development.

At a press conference held in Rangoon on Sunday, the junta charged that
Col Sai Yai, leader of the SSNA, misused funds earmarked by the government
for regional development. Furthermore, the junta claimed, Col Sai Yai
secretly contacted Shan State Army-South leader Col Yawd Serk to request
assistance in purchasing weapons. According to the junta’s allegations,
Col Sai Yai established a merger with the SSA-S only after Rangoon learned
about his activities.

Sai Win Ngwe, a liaison officer for SSNA, denied that Col Sai Yai had ever
misused funds and dismissed the claims of arms smuggling. He also disputed
the idea that the junta provided funding specifically for regional
development.

In contrast to the Burmese government’s allegations, Sai Win Ngwe stated
that the SSNA merged with the SSA-S because the government demanded that
they disarm.

Minister of Information Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan told reporters at the press
conference on Sunday that no move has been made to force any groups to
disarm. “Neither the government nor the tatmadaw [armed forces] put
pressure on, or intimidated Sai Yai of SSNA or any other armed ethnic
group to give up their arms.”

Sai Win Ngwe, who recently fled Lashio for the Chinese border, said that
Maj-Gen Myint Hlaing, northeast commander, put pressure on him to persuade
Col Sai Yai to disarm.

“Maj-Gen Myint Hlaing gave me pressure to call U Sai Yai to his office
three times,” said Sai Win Ngwe by telephone from the China border. “He
said that they [the junta] will give two million kyats (US $2,000) per
person to the battalion commanders if they [SSNA] deposit their arms.”

The SSNA signed a ceasefire agreement with Rangoon in 1995, but tension
grew between the SSNA and the military regime after the arrest of
prominent Shan leaders, including the SSNA’s leader Maj-Gen Sao Hso Ten,
earlier this year.

Following the arrests, the junta reportedly pressured the SSNA to hand in
their arms; and in April 2005, about 100 SSNA troops—led by Lt-Col
Ganna—surrendered to government authorities. About 200 more SSNA troops
are reported to have surrendered the following month. In the wake of these
surrenders, SSNA leader Col Sai Yai and his remaining forces joined the
SSA-S, officially declaring the merger on May 21, 2005.

____________________________________

June 14, Narinjara News
Burmese authority surveys the Hindu population in Arakan state

Akyab: Burmese authorities recently surveyed the population of Hindu
people in Arakan state, but other communities were excluded from the
survey, reported a Hindu community leader from Akyab.

The district administrators from four districts of Arakan state conducted
the survey during the past few weeks as per the Rangoon authority’s
instructions.

But there is no detailed information as to why the Burmese military
government conducted the survey only on Hindus, said a Hindu goldsmith.

The authorities collected a list of about 5000 Hindus living in Arakan
state. The Arakanese Hindus originally hailed from India and most of the
Hindu people in Arakan are working in the gold trade and general stores.

Hindu people entered into Arakan state while under British rule
(1825-1948).  They entered from India across Bangladesh, which at that
time was also a part of the British Empire, said a Hindu leader.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 14, Thai Press Reports
Thai-Myanmar Border Committee meeting kicks off

Thai military officers yesterday travelled across the border to Myanmar
for the 41st meeting of the local Thai-Myanmar Border Committee (TBC), in
which Thailand requested Myanmar to assist with the repatriation of
Myanmar refugees and in the fight against the cross-border narcotics
trade.

In a meeting that was said to have preceded smoothly, a delegation led by
Col. Somsak Nilabanjertkul, commander of the local army division, met the
Myanmar delegation led by the governor of Myanmar's Thachilek Province.

On the agenda were measures to assist the repatriation of illegal Myanmar
immigrants, the prevention of cross-border smuggling, and the provision of
identity documents for Myanmar nationals crossing the border to receive
hospital treatment in Thailand.

The two sides, who met in Thachilek's Golden Triangle Hotel, also agreed
to host join sports contests to foster local cross-border relations.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

June 14, Agence France Presse
Thai FM sees Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi freed early next year

Phayao: Myanmar's detained Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi could be
released early next year after the military junta finishes drafting a new
constitution, Thailand's foreign minister said Tuesday.

The ruling generals were likely to resume a stalled national convention to
help draft the new constitution in November, and the work was expected to
be completed by early 2006, minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said.

"We expect that after finishing the draft, Aung San Suu Kyi will be
released. There are some signs showing she will be freed after that time,"
Kantathi told reporters before a special cabinet meeting in northern
Thailand.

He did not elaborate on the signals the secretive junta had given to
suggest that restrictions would be lifted on the pro-democracy leader, who
turns 60 on Sunday and has spent the last two years under house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, which won a
landslide election victory in 1990 but was never allowed to rule, has
boycotted the convention, which is the first step in the junta's
seven-point roadmap to democracy.

The United Nations and Western governments have rejected the convention as
a sham.

In early 2004, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Kantathi's
predecessor Surakiart Sathirathai wrongly predicted that Aung San Suu
Kyi's release was imminent.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

June 11, Mizzima
Crying need for new blood in NLD

Sections of youth members and intelligentsia of Burma of late have been
vociferous in their demand for radical changes in the party leadership of
the National League for Democracy.

Their opinion is that the central committee members of the NLD are
helpless bereft as they are of the party secretary Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
who is under house arrest.

Suggestions have been thrown up that all the elderly office bearers retire
and pave the way for a new generation of leaders. The demand reflects the
growing concern that the NLD will wear out gradually. There is a severe
lack of political space given the NLD's inability to spearhead the
movement for democracy without Suu Kyi where permission to open a branch
office or organise a campaign requires the sanction of the military junta.

Interestingly the military rulers have not loosened their stranglehold on
the main opposition group, the NLD which has weathered all storms and
stood firm. The military dictators have kept a wary eye on the activities
of the NLD and have resorted to various methods to wipe out the party.
Doubts persist, that groups or individuals are functioning from the
underground. But this does not necessarily mean that the Burmese people
have the same attitude towards those above the ground and those under it.
Though there exist critics who believe that the NLD cannot engage in any
political activities it ought to be noted that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has
been welcomed by thousands despite threats and restrictions on her
movement during her recent political tour.

Apprehensive that the popularity of the NLD was gaining ground the
military junta attacked the unarmed Suu Kyi and her colleagues in the NLD
in the incident that is infamous as the "Depayin Massacare." The junta has
been wanting to wipe out the NLD since the 1990 general elections. It has
been arresting and detaining not only elected Members of Parliament but
party members and supporters. The junta by arresting and threatening
representatives of the party and the people has tried to create a fear
psychosis among those who support the NLD.

If the ruling junta justifies this as the way of dealing with the
opposition then it is a blatant violation of the law. If this is
Realpolitik then what is in evidence is injustice and the law of the
jungle.
The NLD at this juncture has two options. It can either face all odds and
continue to spearhead its movement or maintain the status quo and continue
to wait for the government to start negotiations. Should the NLD go for
option one the junta will declare the party unlawful. It is just possible
that the generals have begun to finalize what they will say at the press
conference when they announce that the NLD is unlawful and ban it. And how
long will the NLD last as an underground organization? The military regime
will have the upper hand.

Questions will be raised on how to move ahead. Here it is vital to point
out that the NLD need not necessarily be involved in every activity in
order to continue to spearhead the movement. What is important is that
there be an understanding between all groups.

A make over in the party leadership will be useful if it is done without
damaging the unity and integrity of the movement. If solidarity is not
maintained there is only destruction at the end of the road.

_____________________________________
OPEN LETTER

June 13, Nobel Peace Laureate Open Letter on the Occasion of Aung San Suu
Kyi's 60th Birthday

We wish to use this opportunity, on the occasion of Aung San Suu Kyi's
60th birthday, to reaffirm our solidarity with the people of Burma and
their legitimate struggle for democracy, human rights and civilian rule.

Our sister Laureate has spent almost 15 years under house arrest.  Her
determination and courage inspire us.  We offer to her our heartfelt
congratulations on this auspicious day.

Many of us have witnessed sweeping political changes in our own countries.
 We know that change will come to Burma, too.  The illegal military junta
that rules through force and fear will yield to the power of justice.  The
people of Burma will control their destiny again.  But we also know from
experience that tyranny does not crumble by itself.  Freedom must be
demanded and defended, by those who have been denied it and by those who
are already free.

Many people and nations around the world have seen the suffering in Burma
and looked for a way to help.  The best way to do so is to stand with the
people of Burma, not with the regime that is the cause of their suffering.
 We call upon the international community to maintain pressure against
Burma's military junta.  We applaud those countries that have imposed
sanctions to deny the regime the wealth it craves to sustain itself.  
Such measures accord with the wishes of the National League for Democracy
and the ethnic nationalities, who suffer egregious human rights abuses,
including torture, arrest, forced labor, force relocation, and rape.  They
remind Burma's military leaders that they cannot reconcile with the world
until they reconcile with their own people.

With its extraordinary human and natural resources, Burma will one day be
a leader in its region.  But that day cannot come until Burma has a
government that truly speaks for its people.  We encourage those countries
in Southeast Asia that have begun a campaign to deny Burma's military
regime leadership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in
2006.  Burma was admitted to ASEAN to lift its people up, not to drag the
organization down.

All should join in urging the Burmese government to release, immediately
and unconditionally, the nearly 1,500 political prisoners it holds, to end
its brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against the minority peoples of
Burma, and to begin a transition to genuine democracy.  That is the only
hope for Burma's future, and the only outcome Burma's friends in the world
should accept.

Dr. Wangari Maathai - (2004)
Shirin Ebadi  (2003)
John Hume - (1998)
David Trimble - (1998)
Jody Williams -  International Campaign to Ban Landmines (1997)
Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo - (1996)
Prof. Joseph Rotblat -  (1995 )
Rigoberta Mench Tum - (1992)
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama - (1989)
Prof. Elie Wiesel  - (1986)
Bishop Desmond Tutu -(1984)
Adolfo Perez Esquivel  - (1980 )
Betty Williams  -  (1976)
Mairead Corrigan  -  (1976)

_____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

June 14, US Campaign for Burma
Leading member of the U.S. Congress to lead protest at Burmese Embassy

For More Information, Contact: Lynne Weil, (202) 225-6735 Office of
Congressman Tom Lantos Jeremy Woodrum (202) 246-7924 US Campaign for Burma

Tom Lantos, Top Democrat on International Relations Committee, To Deliver
6,000 Birthday Cards Demanding Release of World's Only Imprisoned Nobel
Peace Prize Recipient Aung San Suu Kyi

(Washington, DC)  Tom Lantos (D-CA), the ranking member on the House
International Relations Committee, will lead a protest in front of the
Embassy of Burma on June 17th to demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,
the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient.  He will attempt
to deliver 6,000 birthday cards sent by individuals and organizations
around the world commemorating Suu Kyi's 60th birthday.

The visual protest will coincide with protests at one dozen Burmese
embassies around the world, including in London, Japan, Malaysia, South
Korea, and South Africa.

The event is modeled on a global effort in 1988 to free then-imprisoned
South African leader Nelson Mandela called "Mandela at 70".  Governments,
organizations, and individuals around the world are organizing action to
demand the release of Suu Kyi.  In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair will
discuss action on Burma with a prominent women's delegation.  Across the
United States, 60 groups plan to "arrest" themselves and hold educational
events for 24 hours in solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi, who is imprisoned
in her home.  The cities of San Francisco, Ithaca, and Portland have
declared June 19th Aung San Suu Kyi day.

Leading Irish musician Damien Rice plans to release a new song and music
video dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi entitled "Unplayed Piano".  Further,
in a move reminiscent of musicians playing at the Berlin Wall during the
1980s, music superstars R.E.M. plan to broadcast a portion of their
concert on Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday inside Burma via satellite,
reaching at estimated 10 million people inside the authoritarian country.

In Southeast Asia, a groundbreaking caucus of elected members of
parliament throughout Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the
Philippines plan a public display of support for Aung San Suu Kyi.  The
newly formed caucus represents the first time regional leaders have
organized a concerted push for Suu Kyi's freedom over the past decade.

At the protest in Washington, DC scores of supporters will demonstrate
across the street from the embassy beginning at 10:00 am.  At
approximately 10:15, Congressman Lantos will give a speech and then
proceed to cross the street with several of the birthday cards. 
Organizers do not know if the embassy will accept the birthday cards.

Aung San Suu Kyi leads Burma's vibrant democracy and human rights
movement. Her political party, the National League for Democracy, won an
estimated 82% of seats in parliament in Burma's last election, but the
ruling dictators ignored the results. Her overwhelming popularity among
the Burmese people and her commitment to justice and democracy has led her
to become known as the "Nelson Mandela of Asia".

Aung San Suu Kyi has won over 70 major international awards for her work
on behalf of the people of Burma, including the Nobel Peace Prize,
Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament, and the US Presidential Medal
of Freedom.  She has called on individuals, organizations, and governments
around the world to support Burma's democracy movement, stating, "Please,
use your liberty to promote ours."

Tom Lantos serves as the ranking member on the House International
Relations Committee.  He was 16 years old when Nazi Germany occupied his
native Hungary. As a teenager, he was a member of the anti-Nazi
underground and later of the anti-Communist student movement. He is the
only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in the U.S. Congress.  In 1983 he
co-founded the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, and he continues to
serve as its Co-Chairman.

Location: Embassy of Burma, 2300 S St, NW Washington, DC 20008 Date and
Time: Friday, June 17th, 10:00 AM