BurmaNet News, November 10, 2005

[Editor]

November 10, 2005 Issue # 2842

INSIDE BURMA
Asian Tribune: Burmese human rights activist Aung Myint Thein dies in custody
DVB: Burma junta grabs lands from farmers to build offices at Pyinmana
Irrawaddy: UN fears Pyinmana effect as government loses touch
Irrawaddy: Student leader faces harassment
IMNA: Villagers forced to join as militias in Kaw-zar-town

DRUGS
Thai Press: Thai drug authorities locate ‘speed’ factories near Thailand’s
northern border

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Indian companies asked to explore Mekong region

OPINION / OTHER
New Light of Myanmar: Wipe out interference and invasion using force

STATEMENTS
RYDF: Statement on the long term imprisonment to Shan leaders
KNU: KNU statement on sentencing of Shan leaders to long jail terms

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 10, Asian Tribune
Burmese human rights activist Aung Myint Thein dies in custody

A Burmese human rights activist, Aung Myint Thein, died in custody in the
notorious Insein Prison. He is the fourth political prisoner to have died
in the short span of seven months.

At 2 pm on the sixth of November, Aung Myint Thein died in the Insein
prison after suffering from severe lung disease. His suffering was
compounded by the lack of health care in the prison. The intentional lack
of health care and the deliberate neglect of the prison conditions
aggravate the suffering of political prisoners to such a degree as to
qualify in many cases as torture. Such was the case with Aung Myint Thein
according to a version by the Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners (Burma) an NGO that monitors the political prisoners of Burma in
the notorious prisons all over Burma.

It was alleged that State Peace Development Council (SPDC), which
sanctions the health care administered in the prisons, is directly
responsible for Aung Myint Thein's death.

Prior to his arrest, Aung Myint Thein was a human rights activist based in
Rangoon. He collected information on the human rights situation in Burma.
He did so at great risk to his personal safety, and with the knowledge
that his actions could lead to his arrest.

On August 28, 2005, the Burmese authorities held a press conference in
which they announced that ten people had been arrested, including Aung
Myint Thein. They reported that Aung Myint Thein, ' former employee of
Industy-1,' was 'given training on the world's labor disputes,
employer-employee issues and participated in a mass organizational course
for three days.' These activities were deemed a threat to the rule of the
SPDC. The regime also announced that Aung Myint Thein's 70 year old
father, Thein Lwin Oo, was being detained at that time. He remains in
Insein prison to date.

The number of deaths in custody since 1988 is now approaching 100.
However, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma ) (AAPP) in
a statement reveals that collecting information regarding deaths in
custody is extremely difficult as the data collectors themselves often
find themselves imprisoned and even killed, as was the case with Aung
Myint Thein. The number of deaths in custody is believed to be far higher
than the more than 90 cases known.

According to AAPP, as long as the regime continues its practice of torture
and denies basic health care and adequate prison conditions, creating a
situation in which the prisoners live in a constant state of torture,
political prisoners will continue to die at the hands of the authorities.

AAPP emphasized that the torture of political prisoners must end
immediately and the health care and prison conditions must be brought in
line with international standards.

Furthmore AAPP pointed out , “All incidents of death in custody, including
Aung Myint Thein's death, should be investigated in a prompt, impartial
and effective manner, and the perpetrators of torture and ill-treatment
brought to justice in accordance with the rule of law. Impunity in such
cases must end.”

_____________________________________

November 9, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma junta grabs lands from farmers to build offices at Pyinmana

Burmese military authorities have been confiscating homes, farmlands and
paddy fields belonging to the villagers of Kyetpyay areas, Pyinmana
Township in central Burma.

The authorities are planning to build offices for government departments
recently moved to the areas, army barracks, residential homes for civil
servants on the confiscated lands and only a small amount of money was
paid to the villagers as compensations through the local authorities who
keep some of them for their own use.

A local resident of Pyinmana told DVB that the new administrative town is
still under construction and the civil servants who were forcibly
relocated from Rangoon are camping out in the open with no proper
facilities such as drinking water. Another resident told DVB that some
farmers have been forced to move to the rundown suburbs of Pyinmana.
_____________________________________


November 10, Irrawaddy
UN fears Pyinmana effect as government loses touch - Clive Parker

UN officials in Rangoon today said they fear the ongoing relocation of
government ministries to Pyinmana may further encroach on their ability to
work effectively in Burma, as they lose touch with Burmese civil servants.

Like most people in the country, UN and foreign aid organizations heard of
the news through the Rangoon rumor mill on Sunday, as trucks full of civil
servants made their way nearly 400 km north of the capital to southern
Mandalay Division.

Humanitarian organizations and foreign missions were only officially
informed on Monday afternoon, courtesy of Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw
Thu, while Minister of Information Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan announced the move
at a press conference.

“We’re still not sure exactly how we will be able to continue interacting
with our counterpart ministries during this period and afterwards,” UN
Resident Coordinator in Burma Charles Petrie told The Irrawaddy today.

“As a result we are not really sure how we need to organize ourselves to
ensure minimum disruption. We fear a period of complication that will
probably delay things.”

The World Food Programme said it is yet to be affected because the two
ministries it deals with—the Ministry of Progress for Border Areas and
National Races and Development Affairs and the Ministry of Population and
Immigration—are not due to move until next month.

“Having said that, I am worried [about] how we can maintain effective
communication between those two line ministries and WFP in the future,” a
Rangoon-based representative of WFP said.

For the UN and international humanitarian organizations, the move creates
evident problems given that government permission is required to do
anything from send personnel to border regions to importing medical
supplies.

In a country with a limited and unreliable telecommunications system,
corresponding with an area that is still being developed is likely to pose
challenges for the foreseeable future.

An additional problem is that despite Kyaw Hsan’s assurance that the
government has “made arrangements to fulfill
 requirements for the
convenience of the government servants,” sources close to those relocating
say Pyinmana still lacks fully functioning amenities including water,
suggesting the priority in the short term remains setting up the
administrative base rather than dealing with Burma’s network of
humanitarian groups.

Sources also say that civil servants will not be allowed to leave the
Pyinmana compound for three months after arrival, although this is yet to
be confirmed.

Of the nine ministries that are reported to have moved so far, three are
regular points of contact for the various UN operations in Rangoon—the
ministries of foreign affairs, national planning and home affairs. Only
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued contact details, meaning the
remaining ministries are presently incommunicado.

The move to Pyinmana is the latest in a series of setbacks for the UN in
Burma in 2005, including death threats against International Labour
Organization officials and the Ministry of Labor’s reported desire to
withdraw from the Geneva-based organization.
International humanitarian groups, including the UN, have only recently
re-established effective links with the government after Khin Nyunt’s
Military Intelligence apparatus was disbanded following his ouster last
October.

This year almost all UN agencies and NGOs have experienced delays and
restrictions in receiving permission to send personnel to sensitive
regions or import necessary materials, the main reason Global Fund gave
for its decision to withdraw from Burma, claiming it was unable to ensure
the effectiveness of its work.

WFP recently reported that it had taken more than three months to gain
access to areas of Arakan State, where people were reported to be on the
brink of major food shortages.

Aid workers now fear the situation may be about to deteriorate further as
an indirect result of the junta’s decision to move inland—a process it is
understood will continue into next year.

The UN, for the meantime, is adopting a wait-and-see approach, Petrie
said, and will therefore not decide whether to relocate personnel to
Pyinmana until the situation settles. He suggested the least disruptive
solution would be for the government to set up a liaison office to deal
with international aid agencies, an option WFP said it heard was likely.

“However, it is not the same when you are in proximity and [can] meet with
counterparts at short notice,” the organization’s representative added.

____________________________________

November 10, Irrawaddy
Student leader faces harassment - Aung Lwin Oo

Prominent Burmese student leader Min Ko Naing is being subjected to
increasing harassment from the government and state-run media, according
to sources in Rangoon.

Security near Min Ko Naing’s residence in the capital has been stepped up
over the last few days, a friend of the charismatic student leader told
The Irrawaddy today, with undercover Military Intelligence operatives
watching the leader’s every move.

Min Ko Naing, who has remained under surveillance since his release last
year after more than 15 years in prison, is a founding member of the “88
Generation Students,” an activist group that aims to encourage development
in the country. Following the August withdrawal of financial support from
Global Fund, the world’s largest funding body, the group has tried to draw
international attention to the crisis in Burma and called on all domestic
parties, including government and opposition forces, to work together on
solving Burma’s problems.

The government-backed Myanma Ahlin newspaper slammed the activists’
efforts on Thursday, accusing them of exploiting the country’s troubled
health and education sectors to whip up public support. The paper also
dismissed the Civil Courage Prize recently awarded to Min Ko Naing by the
New York-based Northcote Parkinson Fund as an example of US interference.

Min Ko Naing, who is usually outspoken in the media, was today unavailable
for comment on the newspaper’s claims. A close friend revealed: “The group
has been advised [in a friendly manner] by low-ranking officials to keep a
low profile.”

Authorities are understood to be watching the “88 Generation Students”
carefully, reportedly photographing and videotaping the student leader’s
43rd birthday celebrations from neighboring houses on October 18.

____________________________________

November 10, Independent Mon News Agency
Villagers forced to join as militias in Kaw-zar-town

Villagers have been ordered to work as militias for their village by the
Military Tactical Commander in Southern Ye Township in Kaw-zar-town area.

The Tactical Commander under the Military Operation Management Command
No.19 ordered people from 15 villages in Kaw-zaw-town area to work as
militias for their village and forced the villagers to do so by a system
of lottery.

"If you get a lottery number you have to work as a militia for your
village. If you don't want to work just cough up 200,000 Kyat to
commander, Col. Myit Aung immediately," a villager said.

According to villagers, at least 10 men from a village were forced to work
as militias. Because they hated to work as militias many youth from the
area escaped from their village. Some have fled to Ye town and Thailand.

"I don't want to leave my village. If I get the lottery number, I will
serve," said a villager from Yin-Ye village that has less than 10 young
people.

According to a villager people wanted to avoid working as militias because
village headmen and militias have been known to be killed by both Burmese
troops and Mon rebels.

Village headmen and militia groups in the area were arrested regularly by
the military government if there was fighting in the village.

Another tactical commander, Col. Tan-Toe also ordered villagers in the
area to fence their village as protection against Mon rebels.

In Kaw-Zar-Town area, the government launched military operations against
Mon rebels that controlled the area in 2003-2004. Currently troops control
the area having changed Kaw-zar village to a town.

During the military operation villagers in the area faced serious human
rights violations by the troops.

____________________________________
DRUGS

November 10, Thai Press Reports
Thai drug authorities locate ‘speed’ factories near Thailand’s northern
border

Five factories producing methamphethamine, heroin and other drugs have
been found in border areas inside neighbouring Myanmar, Thai drug
officials announced Tuesday.

Office of Narcotics Control Board secretary general Pol. Lt. Gen. Krisana
Pol-anand, who flew by helicopter to inspect the Thai-Myanmar border, said
the drug factories are located inside Myanmar territory across from Mae Fa
Luang district of Chiang Rai.

Methamphethamines -- 'speed' -- are being manufactured in some cases by
groups which formerly grew opium poppy and produced heroin.

Drug traffickers believed to be connected with alleged drug lord Chaiwat
Pornsakulpaisal, alias Lt. Col. Yi Sey, had apparently changed smuggling
routes fromThailand's Northern region to the Northeast via the Lao PDR.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Krisana said an anti-drug agency team is scheduled to visit
Yangon next week to ask Myanmar authorities to arrest major
drug-trafficking suspects inside its borders.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

November 10, Xinhua
Indian companies asked to explore Mekong region

With 200 billion US dollars worth of external trade annually, the Mekong
region in southeast Asia offers unexplored opportunities to the Indian
industry that can be exploited for mutual interest, experts said at a
seminar here Thursday.

Areas like transport, energy and tourism, especially offer great
opportunities, even as fields like nutrition and healthcare are also
waiting to be tapped by Indian entrepreneurs, the experts maintained at
the seminar.

Rakesh Mohan, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India said that
India's share in Mekong region's external trade worth 200 billion US
dollars was a mere 1.3 percent.

"This is unforgivable and we should have woken up much earlier, " he said
at the daylong event co-organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry
and attended by participants from Cambodia, Laos, China, Vietnam, Myanmar
and Thailand.

Stressing the importance of connectivity in countries of the region, he
said this could become a fertile ground for investment as telecom
connectivity and better transportation could result directly in reduction
of prices of farm products.

"Regional cooperation and economic integration are the keys to unlocking
Asia's tremendous potential for sustained economic growth and prosperity,"
said Liqun Jin, vice president of the Asian Development Bank, the event's
co-hosts.

He said that the importance of cooperation among the countries of Asia
could not be diluted, as geographically and demographically it accounted
for 30 percent of the world's land and three-fifths of population.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

November 9, New Light of Myanmar
Wipe out interference and invasion using force – Aung Ze Min

In the time of the Myanmar Socialist Programme Party, the US got along
with Myanmar, and even it provided some assistance for her. However, all
of a sudden, it has had a bias against Myanmar since she started to
introduce the market-oriented economic system and the multi-party
democracy system. The US, a capitalist and democratic country, should
welcome and extend a helping hand to a developing nation that is
transforming socialism into the market economy and multi-party democracy
system. Instead, it has imposed economic sanctions, cut off humanitarian
aid, and interfered in the internal affairs of Myanmar. The US becomes
biased against Myanmar because of the following points.

(1) It is no longer an authentic capitalist nation but is now
simultaneously practising feudalism and capitalism, (2) It sticks to
monopolization, hegemonism and invasion of weak nations with the use of
superior force in line with the feudal system, and (3) It is anxious to
install a puppet government in Myanmar that exists at a geographically
strategic point between the Republic of China and the Republic of India.
Its accusations against Myanmar such as human rights, narcotic drugs,
forced labour, and forced recruitment of minors do not work at all. So,
again it has launched attacks on the nation in a different way.

It forced ILO to take action against Myanmar. It made the group of the
Global Funds for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria leave Myanmar, and
supported all the blame put on Myanmar. The broadcasting stations under
its domination are exaggerating groundless news stories designed to create
inflationary effects of price rises and destabilize the nation.

The group that got involved in the 1988 mass demonstration released a
statement with a call on international community to provide assistance for
Myanmar because the health and education sectors in the nation are
terribly desperate. The statement was intended to accuse Myanmar of poor
conditions in the health and education sector, and to deceive the people
into supporting it through international assistance for Myanmar.

Recently, Vaclav Havel and Desmond Tutu issued an exaggerated report on
Myanmar affairs with a call on the UN Security Council to act against
Myanmar. The US government supported the report and said it would deal
with it in cooperation with international community. The groups under the
influence of the US presented a civilian hero award to the person who got
involved in the 1988 mass demonstration, so as to present him to the
public.


>From 6 pm to 6.30 pm on 12 October 2005, VOA broadcast the news on prize

presentation ceremony of the US and local news stories at the same time.

ASEAN representatives are voicing their support of Havel and Tutu to
incite instability in the nation.

Indeed, these acts took place at the instigation of the western masters.
If western masters have rights to interfere in the affairs of an
independent sovereign nation at will, the world nations will be deprived
of their sovereignties. If so, the global nations will be hovering on the
brink of falling back to colonialism.

The attitude of the People’s Republic of China is totally different from
that of the US.

China said that for a long period in the activities on human rights under
the authority of UN, the nation has been protesting strongly against any
nations that call on other nations under the pretext of human rights to
practise their views, thoughts, political norms and development types
especially that harm sovereignty and dignity of developing countries by
interferring in their internal affairs. In this regard, China in
collaboration with developing countries voiced its stand, it remained
truthful to justice, and stood by justice. In essence the problem of human
rights is the concern of a nation’s internal administrative affairs. It
consistently assumes that recognition of sovereignty of a nation and
non-interference, that are international norms, should be practised in
maintaining international relations. So, they are to be exercised
concerning human rights.

Today, ASEAN member nations strictly practise the policy of
non-interference, and so do Myanmar’s neighbours and Asian nations. They
adhere to the five principles of peaceful co-existence. Recognition of and
respect for sovereignty, and non-aggression are prescribed in the UN
Charter. Nevertheless, in the world today is a conflict between certain
countries and their minions that practise interference in the internal
affairs of other nations and invasion of weak nations with the use of
force on one side, and some nations, peoples and groups that recognize
sovereignty of other nations and uphold the principles of equality, and
non-aggression on another.

Therefore, the entire world people are exhorted to be united in warding
off interference and invasion with the use of force so as to restore
international security, peace, friendship and development.

______________________________
STATEMENTS

November 10, Rohingya Youth Development Forum
Statement on the long term imprisonment to Shan leaders

The Rohingya Youth Development Forum (RYDF) strongly condemns the secret
trials and lengthy sentence to eight Shan political leaders. A court of
Rangoon announced 106 years of prison terms to Maj-Gen Hso Ten, the
group's supreme leader and 93 years to Hkun Htun Oo, Chairman of the Shan
National League for Democracy (SNLD) with six other including 3 youth
leaders to 75 years of imprisonment.

These leaders have been endeavoring for the emergence of national unity,
democracy, genuine federation and true peace. Sentencing and arrest of
these leaders are a matter of totally illegal and injustice. These actions
demonstrate that the regime’s so-called “Roadmap to Disciplined Democracy”
and “national unity”.

The acts of the SPDC leaders are entirely against the spirit of their
slogans that they have been shouting of “Non-disintegration of the Union”,
“Non-disintegration of national unity” and the “Rule of law” etc. Their
acts will negatively affect on national unity in their continuous acts
with the cruel manner.

On July 29, 2005, the regime sentenced U Kyaw Min (alias) Mohammed Anwarul
Haque, to 47 years of prison terms, while his wife and two young children
were given 17 years of imprisonment each. It is the first time lengthy
sentence of SPDC to political leaders. He is an an ethnic Rohingya leader,
elected MP from Buthidaung constituency No. 1 of the National Democratic
Party for Human Rights (NDPHR) and a member of Committee Representing for
People’s Parliament (CRPP).

 The Rohingyas are maltreated by various means even their rights to
citizenship is denied. Now, they are de facto stateless and their causes
are not rightly interpreted in the opposition field.

It may be mentioned that the junta has started to gain courage to acts
against humanity, sentencing Rohingya leader, while watching to the ethnic
conflict among the ethnic groups of Burma and mismanagement of democratic
forces to the equity and equality rights of minorities. Of them, the
Rohingya are mostly neglected as they are situated in western border of
Burma, where there is no more international agencies.

In this reason, we solemnly call upon the SPDC to release Aung San Suu
Kyi, U Tin Oo, Hkun Htun Oo including U Kyaw Min and all other political
prisoners immediately and unconditionally and cease its arbitrary acts and
maltreatment against the people to allow their full participation in a
meaningful political dialogue leading to genuine national reconciliation
and the establishment of democracy. We request to the all Burmese
Democratic Forces to ensure the status and rights of minority groups such
as Kuki, Naga, Pao, Palong, Rohingya and etc. and to priorities their
issues for the cause of people and country.

 We also appeal to the UN, EU, ASEAN and International Community to take
the issue Burma seriously to act against the regime for the democratic
changes in Burma, no later than 2006.

Central Executive Committee

Rohingya Youth Development Forum (RYDF)

______________________________

November 10, Office of the Supreme Headquarters Karen National Union,
Kawthoolei
KNU statement on sentencing of Shan leaders to long jail terms

We, the Karen National Union (KNU), issue statement as follows with regard
to the SPDC military regime’s sentencing to long jail terms of Shan
leaders Khun Tun Oo to 92 years, Sai Hso Ten to 106 years and others,
including Sai Nyunt Lwin, to 75 years.

The Shan leaders are those who have been endeavouring for the emergence of
national unity, democracy, genuine federation and true peace. As the
arrest and giving long jail sentences to them are a matter totally off the
track of legality and justice, we protest the act.

Meting out such unjust penalties to the Shan leaders lays bare the true
character of the SPDC’s so-called policy of national unity. Though the
SPDC leaders have been shouting the slogans of “Non-disintegration of the
Union”, “Non-disintegration of national unity” and the “Rule of law” etc.,
their acts are entirely against the spirit of their slogans. If they
continue to act in this manner, their acts will adversely affect national
unity.

For that reason, we solemnly call upon the SPDC to immediately cease its
arbitrary acts, rescind long jail sentences given to the Shan leaders,
including Khun Tun Oo, release unconditionally all the political prisoners
at the same time and initiate meaningful dialogue right away.