BurmaNet News, September 28, 2005

[Editor]

September 28, 2005 Issue # 2812


INSIDE BURMA
SHAN: Junta paves the way for disciplined democracy
SHAN: Junta troops shoot a villager to death
AFP: Myanmar worries as rappers upstage traditional xylophones

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Complaints of bad food at refugee camps

GUNS
Mizzima: Russian arms dealer to open office in Burma

INTERNATIONAL
Yonhap (South Korea): Next UN chief should be Asian: S. Korean envoy

OPINION / OTHER
International Herald Tribune: Overdue in Myanmar
Irrawaddy: Forcing China’s hand
Bangkok Post: Burma: What national reconciliation?

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 28, Shan Herald Agency for News
Junta paves the way for disciplined democracy

Authorities in northern Shan State has since 2 September been reshuffling
the headmen of neighborhoods in each town in preparation for the upcoming
constitutional referendum and the ensuing general elections next year,
report sources from the border:

The reorganization in Muse, Namkham and Kutkhai municipalities has largely
been completed. In 3 other districts, namely, Lashio, Kyaukme and Kunlong,
the work has just begun. It is not known whether Laokai (Laukkai), the
predominantly Kokang district, is included in the scheme.

The new batch of headmen will be attending a meeting in Lashio sometime
next month to receive their orders, according to a source in Muse.

"Their main job, of course, is to canvass and/or force support from the
local populace for whatever the military leaders have in mind," commented
a local businessmen.

With the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) of Hkun Htun Oo
and its ally, the NLD of Aung San Suu Kyi, by and large subdued by the
arrests of their leaders, the generals are now set to win any future
polls. "The referendum and the elections," scorned a ceasefire group
officer, "will only be a matter of form."

The officer, who requested his identity be withheld, also added that,
according to Chinese intelligence sources, all the ceasefire groups,
particularly the Shan and Kachin, will be demanded to give up their arms
early next month. The news coincided with a separate report from southern
Shan State earlier that the order would be issued on 6 October.

According to sources in Rangoon, the next National Convention, due to be
held before the end of the year, will be the final session, where the main
constitutional principles will be approved. The draft would then be laid
out to the public in a referendum for ratification. "The elections will
follow, and the military will be leading the country once more wearing a
different garb," said a long-time Shan resident in Rangoon.

____________________________________

September 28, Shan Herald Agency for News
Junta troops shoot a villager to death

A  Burmese patrol from Light Infantry Battalion 246 based in Kunhing
township, Southern Shan State, led by Sergeant Aung Kyaw Moe, shot a
villager to death in Laikam on July 3, said a source from Kunhing.

The troops reportedly went to old deserted villages in the area to hunt
for a cow or two for meat. One of the two boys who were herding their
cattle, by the name of Waling, 16, was soon spotted by the troop and shot
on the head. The other boy, Sai Awng, 12, was accused as an insurgent spy
and threatened to be killed. He then was ordered to catch a cow for them.

The boy, pretending to be looking for a cow in the nearby area, fled to
his village and informed about Waling's death to his parents and the
village headman. But no one dared to file complaints about the murder to
the authorities.

____________________________________

September 28, Agence France Presse
Myanmar worries as rappers upstage traditional xylophones

Yangon: An enigmatic smile appears on his wrinkled face and his faded eyes
shine brightly as his fingers caress the ivory keys of the one musical
instrument he truly loves, his piano.

The melodious music which comes out grabs the attention of those nearby.

"We cannot stop people's interest in music ... it is something inherent in
humans. Everyone has enjoyed listening to music since they were young,"
says Gita Lulin U Ko Ko, a 77-year-old professional pianist.

The old musician, whose name translates as "a youth who adores music", has
spent his life preserving and teaching traditional Myanmar music, which he
has adapted to perform on European instruments like his piano.

But Myanmar's military government is becoming increasingly worried about
younger musicians' efforts to adopt modern Western styles, fearing the
rising popularity of local hip-hop bands is destroying traditional
culture.

"Traditional music is the only long term symbol for the country. So it
should be the state's own music," says Gita Lulin U Ko Ko, who has
practiced traditional music since age he was 11 and is considered a
xylophone expert.

The junta holds an annual arts festival, due this year in the first week
of October, to stage competitions in music, song composing, puppetry,
drama, dance and singing.

But young people are increasingly allured by the temptation of western pop
culture that still seeps into this isolated nation through pirated videos
and CDs, as well as on satellite music stations.

Four university students who formed a new hip-hop group called Examplez
have taken Yangon by storm with their unique style that mixes pop, rap and
sometimes traditional songs, making them one of Myanmar's top bands.

"Examplez's music is our own musical creation coming from our hearts,
something that people our age can relate to. We have to follow the
trends," says Examplez singer Tun Tun.

"It would be like insulting the country and our national dress if we wore
sarongs while singing hip-hop. We don't envy foreign performers. We are
always proud to be from Myanmar," adds the 21-year-old.

Phyo Maung Maung, 22, says his parents scolded him for being in the band
at first.

"They could not listen or accept what I sing. So we tried singing old
songs with our group's new style. Now the elders understand our style,
even my parents.

"I am crazy about the music."

But it is the way they and their fans look as much as how they sound that
worries the censors, for whom the sight of local youths dressing up like
sex gods on satellite TV is a shock.

"The behaviour and attire of some of the girls are unacceptable. They act
like they are in a foreign country. The authorities should stop them from
dressing so decadently," says Thandar, 27, an office worker who likes
going to the concerts.

She worries that the T-shirts and mini-skirts draw unwanted attention from
men, who could see the young women as easy targets for sexual assault.

"Young people like to wear fashionable clothes when they go to a concert,
but I think they want to enjoy the show more than anything else," Nan Nan,
a 15-year-old high school girl says.

But the members of Examplez say authorities don't need to worry about
western values dominating Myanmar's culture.

"You can't say that western music is influencing our country. Music is
just music. We have to work according to current trends," says Htoo Kyaw,
21, another member of the group.

"We study musical ideas from other countries, through video CDs and MTV,
but we like to create our own," says Thet Aung, 21, the group's fourth
member.

"Other countries have all sorts of machines that bands need. They have
better technology than us," he says.

Gita Lulin U Ko Ko says he sympathises with younger musicians.

"Youths are the majority of Myanmar population. We cannot stop their
interest in other music from other countries, or from watching the trends.
Who's to say whether western culture has penetrated Myanmar, or if it was
welcomed out of self interest," he says.

"I do not think Western music could ever completely influence our country.
Every country has faced this situation before, but we must help the next
generation carry traditional Myanmar music into the future."

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 28,  Irrawaddy
Complaints of bad food at refugee camps

The Thai-Burma Border Consortium has promised to monitor closely the
rations it hands out in border refugee camps following complaints that
some canned food had exceeded its “sell-by date” and had perished.

TBBC field coordinator Paul Taylor said complaints had come from two
camps, the Karenni Camp 2 near Mae Sariang and the Karen camp at Mae Ra
Moe in Tak province.

The Karenni camp committee secretary, Kloe Htoo Doe, said: “Some of the
canned fish has been found to be rotten because its (sell-by) date had
expired.”

Taylor said tinned fish and beans were imported from Burma and conceded
some of the goods may have exceeded their “sell-by” date. Sub-standard
supplies would be replaced and rations would be closely monitored in
future, he said.

_____________________________________
GUNS

September 28, Mizzima News
Russian arms dealer to open office in Burma - Alison Hunter

Russia's biggest arms trader, Rosoboronexport, is planning to open an
office in Burma before the end of the year according to a company source.

The state-owned company announced their intention to have an office in
Burma for the first time in November last year when Director General
Sergei Chemezov told reporters new offices in Belgium, Burma, Italy and
Venezuela were on the cards.

"This will help us to expand our influence on world arms markets. We open
representations in the countries that show direct interest in procurement
of Russian weapons," Chemezov said.

"Wherever we see such interest, we send our representative there
immediately to establish relations with the Defense Ministry or other
uniformed agencies, offering our technical and commercial projects and
informing of the Russian armament and military hardware."

Rosoboronexport has offices in several south-east Asian countries
including Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam.

A company source told Mizzima today there was no office in Burma yet but
one would be opened this year, possibly even next month.

"We will have an office very soon," he said.

The Russian embassy in Rangoon said they had no knowledge of
Rosoboronexport's plans for an office in the country and said it was the
company’s decision whether or not to cooperate with the embassy.

Burma has a long history of arms trading with Russian companies, buying
fighter jets and hand-held weapons from a variety of Russian dealers.

Plans for a nuclear research facility, to be built by the Ministry for
Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation, or Minatom, in Kyaukse were
shelved early this year after Russian officials said the Burmese generals
could not afford the project.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 28, Yonhap (South Korea)
Next UN chief should be Asian: S. Korean envoy

New York: South Korea's top envoy to the United Nations said Tuesday that
the next head of the world body must come from Asia.

"Though there is an atmosphere to pick a qualified figure regardless of
regional background, as the UN needs reform, our position is that an Asian
should become the next secretary general," Ambassador to UN Choi Young-jin
told lawmakers at the parliamentary inspection.

Choi's remarks were made amid a mood of consensus that an Asian should
assume the top UN job late next year when the current UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan leaves his post.

Under the UN Charter, the Secretary-General is appointed by the General
Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

The United States has yet to announce its support for any one candidate,
but China and Russia have already expressed their support for an Asian
candidate.

Two high-profile Asian figures -- Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai and Sri Lanka's former UN disarmament expert
Jayantha Dhanapala -- have already declared their candidacies.

Outgoing Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski has also hinted at his
candidacy to the job.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon is also tipped to be
considering running for the top UN job.

Ban's possible bid appears to be gaining support in South Korea after
former South Korean ambassador to the U. S., Hong Seok-hyun, who had
openly expressed his intention to run for the UN job, resigned last week
over his involvement with illegal political donations ahead of the
country's 1997 presidential election.

A career diplomat, Ban served as South Korea's top envoy to the world body
from 2001 to 2003 while working as the chief secretary to former president
of the UN General Assembly, Han Seung-soo.

If an Asian is appointed to head the U. N., it would not be the first
time. The late U Thant of Burma (now called Myanmar) served as UN
secretary general from 1961-1971.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 28, International Herald Tribune
Overdue in Myanmar

The former Czech president Vaclav Havel and the retired archbishop Desmond
Tutu of South Africa last week hailed a report they had commissioned on
the ways in which Myanmar's military junta threatens peace and security
beyond its borders. The painstakingly factual report makes a persuasive
case that Myanmar under the military regime is as much in need of UN
Security Council intervention as were Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Haiti,
Rwanda and Cambodia, where the council acted to resolve internal conflicts
and preserve peace.

This is a call for action that will test the relevance of the United
Nations as a defender of peace and democracy. If ever there was a place
where a peace-seeking, healing UN mission is justified, it is Myanmar
under the generals.

The report, compiled by the international law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray
Carey, asks not for sanctions but for engagement by the Security Council
and the UN secretary general. It proposes not the use of force but
dialogue. The course of action would be multilateral, not unilateral.

The Havel-Tutu report concludes that Myanmar suffers from every one of the
factors that have caused the Security Council to exercise the mandate
given it by the UN Charter to intervene in a country to "safeguard peace
and security." These factors include the overthrow of an elected
government, armed conflicts with ethnic minorities, widespread internal
human rights abuses, substantial outflows of refugees and the export of
enormous quantities of methamphetamine and heroin as well as the related
spread of the AIDS virus among needle users along the drug routes.

The Security Council resolution proposed in the report would ask the
secretary general to work vigorously with the junta to implement a plan
for national reconciliation and restoration of the government that was
elected in 1990 with 82 percent of the seats in Parliament - the
government of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her
party, the National League for Democracy. The unconditional release of Suu
Kyi and all prisoners of conscience would be demanded in such a
resolution.

Despite the risk to their members inside Myanmar, Suu Kyi's party has
called on the United Nations to pass the resolution proposed in the
Havel-Tutu report. After years of fruitless UN efforts to cajole the junta
into opening a dialogue with Suu Kyi and her party, the Security Council
will appear frivolous if it does not undertake a sustained campaign to
rescue Myanmar and its neighbors from one of the world's vilest
dictatorships.

_____________________________________

September 28, Irrawaddy
Forcing China’s hand - David Fullbrook

Bangkok: Worried that North Korea’s heated nuclear row with the US could
end in war, sending millions of refugees across its border, China nudged
its Stalinist ally to the negotiating table. Burma, even less stable,
could cause China similar trouble. It is already costing restless, inland
China jobs by blocking trade to India. Economic necessity and fear of
western intervention will drive China to push for change in Burma.

Though China professes no interest in other countries’ affairs, its
actions suggest otherwise. It brokered a deal bringing peace to Cambodia
in 1990 including not only the Cambodian protagonists but also Thailand
and Vietnam. That multilateral experience perhaps paved the way for a sea
change in Chinese diplomacy from favoring bilateral engagement to
multilateral diplomacy that began to make its mark from 1995.

Since then China has joined hands with other states in regional
organizations like the Asean Regional Forum, Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It also took a
multilateral approach to trade talks, working towards a free trade deal
with Asean.

China has also acceded to numerous UN conventions on human rights,
children’s and women’s rights. Though laws and people’s rights are
improving there is still a long way to go, as senior officials admit.

In the face of much huffing, puffing and sword waving by the US about
North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, China walked off the sidelines into
the thick of the dispute. It brought reclusive ally North Korea and the US
to the table, and accepted Japanese and Russian involvement.

China was not simply trying to protect an ally, but trying to save itself
from more trouble that would burden its economy. It is already struggling
under the weight of thousands of North Korean refugees fleeing starvation
and brutality. A conflict or collapse of North Korea could well send
millions splashing across the Yalu River into China’s depressed northeast.

Burma, though not posing a serious nuclear threat, yet, is another
wildcard on the border of China, a state that prizes stability above all
else. Burma, with its superstitious generals, deep ethnic fissures and
smoldering jungle wars, is a more complex and less predictable problem
than homogenous North Korea and its leadership cult.

Even to China, nominal friend and leading weapons supplier, Burma remains
inscrutable. Its hard work currying favour with Prime Minister Khin Nyunt,
who also headed Military Intelligence, apparently went to waste when the
army purged him in a coup and disbanded his despised spy agency last
October.

Khin Nyunt’s plunge starkly highlights the rivalries, suspicions and
jealousies within the military. They are a recipe for conflict. That is
both a lesson and warning of Burma’s impenetrable intrigue and inherent
instability. Chaos is a constant spectre in the lands of the Irrawaddy.

Indeed such tensions have been the Achilles heel of many a third-world
military, leading to collapse and civil war. Should that come to pass,
Burma will resemble Afghanistan or Congo, with at least one sure result:
straggly refugees heading for the relative safety of China and Thailand.

Western intervention, perhaps through the UN, though unlikely right now,
certainly cannot be ruled out later. It was not so long ago that
intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq was unthinkable.

Calls for action by South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Czech
president Vaclav Havel on September 20 followed a closed-door Burma policy
review by the British government. Burma, clearly, is an issue of growing
concern to many in the West.

China will struggle to let Western intervention pass given the almost
certain loss of its strategic listening post and ports for its navy. Their
loss would be inconvenient but not a catastrophe. Confronting the West
would be risking a military showdown and damage to China’s economy which
would probably cost jobs.

Intelligence stations and ship replenishment do not create jobs, crucial
to easing social unrest. Creating jobs and raising wages have kept the
communist party in power. Employment is a security issue.

Like a landlocked country, inland China’s economy suffers because it is
far from ports and export markets. Despite government incentives and
encouragement, investors still prefer the booming east coast, to remote
central and western provinces. Opening roads and railways across Burma to
India, and sea routes from Burma’s ports to the West, would cut shipping
costs and time, boost trade, draw investment and create jobs.

Such routes are clearly on the minds of planners in Beijing. At Ruili, a
Chinese trading post on the Burma border, a broad customs and immigration
checkpoint already awaits an expressway, along with a railway, part of a
new nationwide network announced early this year.

But going beyond Ruili to the coast and India requires peace and security,
something Burma’s junta, despite its 400,000 strong army and huge military
spending, is unable or unwilling to impose.

Sooner rather than later economic necessity will push China to take the
initiative to bring peace and stability to Burma. That means forcing
Burma’s rulers to change their policies, or changing the rulers—almost
certainly in coalition with concerned states, especially India, and
Burmese opposition groups. Either way, taking the lead will give China a
greater chance to shape what follows.

_____________________________________

September 28, Bangkok Post
Burma: What national reconciliation?

Many political analysts agree that Burma's conflict seems intractable -
Toe Zaw Latt

In recent months, international and regional leaders have blown a lot of
hot air concerning progress towards reconciliation in Burma. But now is
the time for action, not hot air. People must stop using the word
``reconciliation'' for political power play. The recent meeting between
Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin and US President George W Bush resulted
in a joint statement stressing their common objectives on this matter.

The statement stressed their ``shared objectives of promoting democracy
and national reconciliation in Burma'' and emphasised that ``both sides
[to the conflict] must agree to have closer consultation on this matter''.

The question we might ask at this juncture is how dare Mr Thaksin speak of
reconciliation in Burma, when he is not truly committed to seeing it
happen?

Mr Thaksin has particular and significant interests in keeping the
generals in power.

Nowadays, the word ``reconciliation'' is trendy, especially in Asian
politics.

The proliferation of National Reconciliation Commissions across the
region, such as in Thailand, Aceh Indonesia, East Timor, Sri Lanka, and
the recent UN-sponsored reopening of war crime trials in Cambodia.

Civil society evidence suggests that many victims are still neglected and
reconciliation processes remain under heavy criticism.

There is, as yet, no good example of such a process in Asia yet, and the
term continues to roll off politicians' tongues.

It is, in fact, Mr Thaksin's autocratic approach to solving the problems
of the troubled South that resulted in the escalation of violent conflict
there.

The recent establishment of a National Reconciliation Commission in
Thailand is in reality aimed at hosing down international concerns over
the issue, rather than providing a means to address the causes of the
conflict and providing redress for those harmed.

How can Mr Thaksin handle the issue in a fair manner when his regard for
the law is problematic?

In addition, Mr Thaksin's one-sided attachment to the Burmese generals
makes for a vulnerable process.

Reconciliation means bringing together conflicting parties and requires
those advancing the process to have good relations with both sides.

Does Mr Thaksin have good relations with the main Burmese opposition
group, the National League for Democracy?

If he really wants to help the Burmese reconciliation process, it is not
too late to start developing a relationship with the NLD and ethnic
minority groups. Perhaps he just needs to be given their phone numbers?

Regarding the meaning of ``reconciliation'', there is no one common
interpretation of the term.

In Asia, reconciliation is more like the story of the six blind wise men.
Six blind men try to figure out what an elephant looks like by touching
one. One wise man touches the elephant's ear and says an elephant is like
a fan. Another touches its tail and says an elephant is like a rope, and
so on.

This story reflects the process of national reconciliation in Burma. Can
blind men lead a reasonable reconciliation process in Burma?

Prime Minister Thaksin and President Bush are not the only leaders who are
concerned about Burma. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has
proposed to achieve change in Burma by 2006.

Yet, all the UN has done is dispatch a special envoy, Razali Ismail, to
initiate `'secret talks'' between the generals and Daw Aung San Su Kyi.
This got us nowhere. Mr Annan should join ex-Czech President Vaclav Havel
and Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace laureate, in their urgent call
for the UN Security Council to consider applying pressure to bring genuine
reform and national reconciliation in Burma.

In Burma, reconciliation is interpreted in starkly different ways by the
ruling State Peace and Development Council, religious groups _ both
Buddhist and Church-based non-governmental organisations _ and the
opposition, particularly the NLD.

On the one hand, the SPDC is achieving ``national unity'' under military
tutelage. Its strategy has included a politically exclusive National
Convention and a weakly conceived `'road map'' to a more disciplined form
of democracy.

In fact, plans are afoot to finalise this process by November.

On the other hand, two senior Buddhist figures have appealed to both sides
to be flexible and to end the suffering of the Burmese people. They are
Sayadaw U Zawtipala, abbot of Kyakhatwaing Monastery in Pegu, and Ashin
Kundalabiwuntha of Mahaghandharon Monastery in Mandalay.

Meanwhile, the NLD has released a statement calling for thin-bone-kyay
(meaning ``amnesia'' or `'forgetting''), in which they define their goal
of national reconciliation as about finding ``ways to condone each
other''.

Whatever the differences in interpretation, all parties seeking national
reconciliation should consider each other's positions and work out some
common ground, or points of convergence.

It is time to establish a proper process comprising the UN, SPDC, NLD,
religious leaders and ethnic nationality leaders. Fifty-two million
Burmese people are waiting.

As I have suggested above, in bringing national reconciliation to Burma,
everybody has a role to play.

Mr Kofi Annan should encourage the UN Security Council to discuss Burma's
situation. President Bush should stand firm on the Burma issue and support
the adoption of Burma onto the UN Security Council agenda. Mr Thaksin can
start to develop open relations with the NLD and revive the ``Bangkok
Process'' initiative.

Recently, I met a Burmese medical doctor on a World Health Organisation
fellowship programme in a Western country, and asked him about the
situation in Burma.

He replied that whoever actually is brave enough to bring a genuine
reconciliation process which can produce tangible, ``visual outcomes''
will win the hearts and minds of the people.

Burmese people desperately want peaceful change. And now is the time to
start a genuine `'inclusive'' national reconciliation process in Burma.

Toe Zaw Latt is a research associate with The Burma Fund