BurmaNet News, December 15, 2005

[Editor]

December 15, 2005 Issue # 2865


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: UNICEF appeal to help Burmese refugee children
DVB: Where are two detained Shan leaders?
DVB: 88 generation student Mya San released by Burma junta

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: New program will enhance Burmese refugee education
AFP: Eight killed in Myanmar crackdown on Indian separatists: rebels

ASEAN
New Straits Times: Delegation may visit Myanmar next month
AFP: ASEAN push won't secure quick Suu Kyi release: UN envoy

REGIONAL
Thai News Agency: Thailand backpedals hosting 2nd 'Bangkok Process' on
Myanmar political reform
AFP: Malaysian party accuses police of roughing up protesters
Mizzima: Activists to protest Indian oil and gas investments in Burma

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima: Annan will not give Security Council briefing
DVB: Burma junta use courts to silence peaceful dissent

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: UN’s Annan should seize this chance – Aung Din

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 15, Irrawaddy
UNICEF appeal to help Burmese refugee children - Louis Reh

A Rangoon-based official of the UN agency UNICEF appealed to Burma and
Thailand yesterday to adopt legal procedures to register Burmese children
who had fled their homes and were now stateless.

Jason Rush, UNICEF’s communications officer in Burma, said the Rangoon
government should do more to keep children from fleeing, such as providing
adequate access to education, health and other social services.

Rush was speaking after the release yesterday of a UNICEF report saying
“hundreds of millions of children are suffering from severe exploitation
and discrimination, and have become virtually invisible to the world.”

The report did not name Burma, but an official of the Committee for
Protection and Promotion of Child Rights (Burma) said today that at least
4,000 children had fled to Thailand from Burma so far this year. The CPPCR
was trying to register the child refugees in order to protect them from
being trafficked or exploited, said Ko Chinn, the organization’s
secretary.

The flow of child refugees would only increase as long as the present
political system lasted in Burma, Ko Chinn said.

The CPPCR estimates that at least 500,000 children have been born to
refugees from Burma and migrant workers on the Thai-Burmese border. The
majority have no valid birth certificates or identity papers, the CPPCR
says.

____________________________________

December 14, Democratic Voice of Burma
Where are two detained Shan leaders?

Burmese lawyers for two prominent Shan leaders who were given lengthy jail
terms with seven others including Shan Nationalities League for Democracy
(SNLD) chairman Khun Htun Oo, are unable to proceed with preparations for
their appeals because the authorities are not telling them where the two
are being detained.

The two, Sai Myo Win Tun and Sa Tha Oo were reported to be transferred
from Rangoon Insein Jail to Mandalay Prison in central Burma, but none of
their loved ones know where they are being detained at the moment.

Myint Than of New Generation – Shan State and Tun Nyo are being detained
at Sandoway (Thantwe) and Buthidaung Prisons in western Burma’s Arakan
State respectively. Sai Nyi Moe, who is detained at Pakokku Prison, was
allowed to see his family members within last week, according to lawyers
of National League for Democracy (NLD) who are trying to help them.

Four out of nine leaders, Htun Oo detained at Puta-O Prison in northern
Burma, Sai Nyunt Lwin at Kalemyo Prison in northwest Burma, Sai Hla Aung
and Nyi Moe, had been allowed to see their families at the prisons.
Lawyers are also desperately trying to track down and see the remaining
five leaders including Shan State Army – North (SSA-N) patron Gen Hso Ten
to procure ‘power’ letters from them so that they could lodge appeals on
their behalves.

All nine Shan leaders were arrested in February and secretly tried at
Insein Jail with having access to lawyers of their choice and they were
given lengthy prison terms up to 106 years on 3 November.

____________________________________

December 14, Democratic Voice of Burma
88 generation student Mya San released by Burma junta

A Burmese student leader of the 1988 generation, Myat San, was released
from the notorious Rangoon Insein Jail on 13 December.

Myat San was involved in the 1988 pro-democracy nationwide uprising and
became a personal bodyguard of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as a
member of Thone Yaung Che (Three Colours) student group. He was arrested
in 1991 for staging a celebratory demonstration for the winning of Nobel
Peace Prize by Aung San Suu Kyi. His release came after spending exactly
14 years of his life in prison.

In 2000, he was released from prison after serving 8 years and six months
of his life sentence, only to be told at the gate of the prison that he
was to be continued to be detained with Act – 10A by the prison governor.

He has been suffering from chronic illnesses including gastric complaints.
Before he was released, he was warned that he would be rearrested and
prosecuted if he breaks the oppressive laws of the junta enshrined in the
so-called “Our Three Duties”.

He sadly acknowledged the changes which have happened within the 14 years
of his imprisonment and hoped that there would be a realistic chance for
the national reconciliation. But he doesn’t seem to have much faith in the
ongoing constitution-drafting ‘National Convention’ of the ruling military
junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), to solve the problems
of Burma as Aung San Suu Kyi is still under house arrest.

Nevertheless, he expressed his undying hope for a free, peaceful and
prosperous Burma, and his old colleagues including Ko Ko Gyi and Pyone Cho
expressed their joy at Mya San’s release and thanked all the individuals
and organisations who have been working hard for his release.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

December 15, Irrawaddy
New program will enhance Burmese refugee education - Shah Paung and Sai Silp

Thai authorities have agreed to provide a Thai language program for
Burmese refugee children in nine camps along the Thai-Burma border.

Bunchuay Samak, an official from the Department of Non-Formal Education,
told The Irrawaddy today that the plan was first discussed by government
officials during cabinet meetings in early September.

The proposed plan will benefit refugee children in the camps—and immigrant
children across Thailand—who do not have Thai citizenship.

“I am writing the annual plan for the program, to be proposed to the UNHCR
[UN High Commissioner for Refugees], and their representative said in a
meeting last week that they are willing to support the project,” Bunchuay
said.

The full program is expected to launch in April 2006 in nine refugee camps
located in Kanchanaburi, Tak, Ratchaburi, and Mae Hong Son provinces.
Teaching materials will be provided by Thailand’s education department,
while teacher salaries will probably be funded by other sources.

Program materials will include televisions, satellite receivers,
computers, solar power generators and textbooks.

Officials from the Karen Education Department, which overseas educational
curricula in the border refugee camps, said that the Thai language
instruction will target high school-level students. The program is
designed specifically to enhance students’ communication skills.

Educational programs in the camps have traditionally been funded by
non-governmental organizations, such as ZOA Refugee Care, and courses are
largely conducted in English. Thai officials hope that the new language
program will facilitate better communication between refugees and
government officials, as well as providing them with a certificate of
completion for educational studies that was previously available only to
Thai citizens.

According to a November 2005 update by the Karen Refugee Committee, there
are more than 117,000 refugees living in camps along the Thai-Burma
border, many of whom are waiting for resettlement to a third country
through the UNHCR. Some 10,000 refugees have been resettled in 2005.

____________________________________

December 15, Agence France Presse
Eight killed in Myanmar crackdown on Indian separatists: rebels

Guwahati: Three Indian separatist rebels and five Myanmar soldiers were
killed in a military offensive to evict the militants from bases in
Myanmar, rebel leaders said Thursday.

Myanmar began an offensive nearly two weeks ago to drive the rebels out of
northern Sagaing Division, which borders India's Nagaland state, the
separatists said.

"Heavy fighting is continuing inside Myanmar between our guerrilla
fighters and the junta," said Kughalo Mulatonu, a senior leader of the
main faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland which is
fighting for an independent tribal homeland in Nagaland.

"So far we have lost three of our cadres and three more wounded. They also
managed to capture some of our weapons in the offensive," he told AFP by
telephone from an undisclosed location near the India-Myanmar border.

"We have also shot dead five Myanmarese soldiers in counter-attacks," he
said adding two of their bases had been destroyed in the operation.

The rebels have used bases in neighbouring Myanmar where they are reported
to have at least 50 camps with some 7,000 guerrilla fighters entrenched in
fortified bunkers.

About 3,500 Myanmar soldiers are involved in the operation against them,
the separatists said.

"The government troops were using machine guns and weapons like the AK
series rifles although we have seen their armies bringing in mortars and
other heavy weapons for the assault," said P. Tekhak, another rebel
leader.

Besides the Nagaland rebel faction, at least four other rebel groups from
India's northeast -- where numerous tribal and ethnic groups are fighting
for demands ranging from greater autonomy to independence -- have training
camps in northern Myanmar's thick jungles.

Myanmar has repeatedly assured New Delhi that the junta would not let
Indian rebels operate from its soil.

Last week, Myanmar soldiers captured three Nagaland rebel leaders as part
of the current crackdown, the rebels said.

Myanmar, which shares a 1,640 kilometer (1,000 mile) unfenced border with
India, said in January that its troops killed at least 20 rebels, most of
them from the Nagaland faction in the same area.

There has so far been no confirmation of the military offensive from
Myanmar and Indian intelligence officials.

The Nagaland rebel faction has observed a ceasefire with New Delhi since
2001 although peace talks are yet to begin.

The rebels say they are seeking to protect their ethnic identities and
allege the federal government has exploited the resources in this mineral,
tea, timber and oil-rich region.

More than 50,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in the
northeast since India's independence in 1947.

____________________________________
ASEAN

December 15, New Straits Times (Malaysia)
Delegation may visit Myanmar next month - Syed Nadzri

The proposed visit of an official Asean delegation to Myanmar to study the
pace of its democratic reforms could take place next month.

That's what Myanmar officials were saying yesterday, informally in some of
the sessions and privately to people close to them.

It is understood that Myanmar has indicated that the military Government
was willing to receive the delegation, which is to be headed by Malaysian
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar in his capacity as chairman of the Asean
Standing Committee, as soon as possible.

News and views from the Myanmar camp during the Asean Summit and its
related meetings have been as scarce ever, despite much of the spotlight
being on this country and its military Government that is gaining
notoriety for its poor human rights record and the continued detention of
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Unlike the Press briefings and conferences offered by the other
participating countries, neither Nyan Win, Prime Minister Soe Win nor any
of their officials came out openly to comment on the brickbats reportedly
received.

Inside sources said the two Myanmar leaders seemed uncomfortable replying
to comments or statements "simply because they do not carry a full
mandate" from the military junta led by supreme commander Than Shwe.

It is understood, however, that Nyan Win did convey a message to the
delegates that Yangon would welcome the visit by the Asean delegation. And
he reportedly told them this would "dispel any notion held by foreigners
that the Myanmar Government is repressive".

It is also understood that Myanmar officials have been told that many
Asean leaders were against the idea of the US asking the UN Security
Council to put Myanmar on its agenda for the first time due to its
deteriorating human rights record.

____________________________________

December 15, Agence France Presse
ASEAN push won't secure quick Suu Kyi release: UN envoy

Kuala Lumpur: Southeast Asia's new campaign for the Myanmar junta to
release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is unlikely to be successful
any time soon, United Nations envoy Razali Ismail said Thursday.

Razali welcomed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
decision to send their own envoy to the military-run state to check on the
progress of promised democratic reforms and push for the release of
political prisoners.

"It's a wonderful decision and it's good that the ASEAN countries have
been able to persuade Myanmar to make this visit and I hope it will be a
very meaningful visit which will clarify all aspects," he told AFP.

But Razali, the representative of UN chief Kofi Annan, warned that
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar was unlikely to achieve any
coups when he carries out his mission to Yangon, expected next month.

"There is a lot of expectation that commitments given by Myanmar to ASEAN
will be lived up to and...the release of Aung San Suu Kyi is one of the
commitments given," he said on the sidelines of a peace forum here.

"But I don't think it's something that can happen just like that," he
said. "We'll have to allow the leaders of the military regime there to
work something out, but it's not going to happen instantaneously."

Razali said the fact that Myanmar's ruling generals had agreed to the
visit was positive.

"I'm hopeful that the foreign minister of Malaysia will be able to express
the collective sense of impatience and concern about the Myanmar issue
discrediting ASEAN, and hopefully this will have an impact on the Myanmar
leaders to want to do something."

Razali said that although he has not been able to visit the country since
March 2004, the United Nations was "happy" to continue its efforts to
engage with Myanmar.

But he stressed that the world body would increasingly depend on regional
nations to exert whatever influence they could on their neighbour, which
has earned pariah status for refusing to end four decades of military
rule.

ASEAN aired its new stand on Myanmar at this week's summit in the
Malaysian capital, demanding progress on political reforms and the release
of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who has spent 10 of the last 16
years in detention.

Myanmar's regime earlier this month confirmed that the current house
arrest restrictions against her had been extended by six months.

Debbie Stothard, from the pressure group Alternative ASEAN Network on
Burma, welcomed the regional bloc's "long overdue" change of tack, which
was a major departure from its policy of non-interference in other
members' affairs.

"It's not going to be an easy job but we are hoping that if Syed Hamid
Albar is backed by the rest of ASEAN then the regime will respect what
he's representing and what needs to be done," she said.

Stothard said that rather than just securing the release of political
prisoners, ASEAN should demand a genuine reconciliation dialogue between
the pro-democracy opposition, ethnic leaders and the regime.

Otherwise, when the mood turned sour in Myanmar the generals would simply
retrace their steps and haul all their opponents back to jail.

"Burma (Myanmar) has a habit of recycling political prisoners. They have
this revolving door where they release people after a lot of pressure and
re-imprison them later on when they think no one else is looking," she
said.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

Dec 14, Thai News Agency
Thailand backpedals hosting 2nd 'Bangkok Process' on Myanmar political reform

Bangkok: Thailand is not ready to host the second international meeting on
Myanmar as the neighbouring country failed to inform Thailand on its
latest progress towards democracy, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai said on Wednesday.

"Thailand feels uneasy about not being kept informed about the latest
political movement in Myanmar," Dr. Surakiart said, "not even the
relocation of its capital."

Thailand was unable to respond meaningfully to international queries
regarding its neighbour's political direction and how the process should
be pushed forward by ASEAN.Therefore, he said, Thailand may not be able to
host the 2nd 'Bangkok Process' meeting.


Dr. Surakiart reiterated Thailand's stance that Myanmar opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi should be released from house arrest and real progress
toward democratic reform should take place in the neighbouring country.

"The latest move by Myanmar to allow a fact-finding trip by Malaysia as
current ASEAN chair to observe its latest political movement is considered
as a positive sign," Dr.Surakiart said, expressing hope that the Myanmar
government would be willing to give more information to the delegation.

____________________________________

December 15, Agence France Presse
Malaysian party accuses police of roughing up protesters

Kuala Lumpur: A Malaysian opposition party on Thursday demanded punishment
for police officers whom it said had used excessive force in dispersing a
protest by pro-Myanmar democracy activists.

Tian Chua, the information chief of Malaysia's Keadilan party who was
among those who arrested Wednesday, told AFP that demonstrators had been
roughed up by police near the venue of the East Asia Summit.

"Even before we could start our protest, they bundled 19 of us into the
police truck. There was excessive use of force," Tian said.

"At the police station, a police officer came into the truck and attacked
me. He punched my face, pulled my hair and attempted to knock my head on
the seat," Tian said.

Tian also demanded police return the 60 doves that protesters planned to
release at the Petronas Twin Towers near the summit building, to signify
their demand for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political
detainees.

"What happened is a shame to the leadership of Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi," he said.

"ASEAN is trying to put Myanmar on the track to democracy. But at home
here, there is blatant police abuse. We can only imagine what is happening
in isolated Myanmar," he said. Police denied anyone had been beaten.

Fourteen people including Tian were freed after a few hours, but five
Myanmar citizens without travel documents were still in detention on
Thursday.

Southeast Asian leaders took an unprecedented stand against fellow member
Myanmar at this week's ASEAN summit, making it clear they had lost
patience with the pariah state for stalling on promises to end four
decades of military rule.

____________________________________

December 15, Mizzima News
Activists to protest Indian oil and gas investments in Burma - Nem Davies

Burmese democracy activists and lobby groups will protest Indian oil and
gas investment in Burma on Saturday morning at a rally in Janta Manta
Park, New Delhi.

Kaung Mrat, a joint coordinator for the Shwe Gas Campaign-India, told
Mizzima activists would demand the Indian government stop state-run
groups, the Oil and Gas Corporation and GAIL from investing in Burma.

Most Burma-focused NGOs say foreign investment in Burma does not benefit
its peoples but
puts cash in the pockets of the military's generals, helping them stay in
power.

Kaung Mrat said ethnic groups do not see any of the financial returns for
the gas projects in Arakan state.

" . . . the native people in Arakan area would not get any benefits in the
sense that they
become the most suffering indigenous people and victims of human rights
violation, force
labour and sexual exploitation of women by the junta," he said.

He said one Arakan woman and Mathupi Chin woman were raped by soldiers on
duty in project areas and that forced labour is often used for
construction.

On October 3, OCG and GAIL signed an agreement with Daewoo International
and the Korea
Gas Corporation to explore gas prospects in Arakan states block-A 3.

OCG and GAIL have 20 percent and 10 percent stakes in the project
respectively. The Burmese, Indian and Bangladesh governments signed
agreements on the exploration of gas in the area
in January.

The Shwe Gas Campaign has twice launched mass demonstrations in front of
Daewoo International Offices and Embassies in South Korea and across the
continent.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 15, Mizzima News
Annan will not give Security Council briefing - Jessicah Curtis

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan will not be giving the
briefing on Burma to the Security Council on Friday morning in New York, a
spokesman for the Secretary General's office told Mizzima.

Robert Sullivan confirmed the briefing would be held in private on Friday
morning but said a deputy secretary general, possibly Ibrihim Gambari,
would deliver the speech.

While the US mission to the UN and activists across the world were hoping
Annan would give with briefing personally, Mark Farmaner from the Burma
Campaign UK said the fact that the briefing would happen at all should be
considered a triumph.

Farmaner said the fact that Annan would not do the briefing should not,
"take away the significance that the UN Security Council is finally
addressing the situation in Burma and the significance that it has been .
. . agreed to do so by consensus."

". . . people have been saying for years, 'Oh there's no point in the
Security Council trying to deal with Burma because China will just veto
and object to anything that goes on', but we have seen here that China has
actually supported the briefing taking place," Farmaner said.

It is unclear whether or not Annan will be present at the meeting, which
activists say would lend weight to the arguments for Burma's inclusion on
the Security Council agenda.

____________________________________

December 14, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma junta use courts to silence peaceful dissent - Amnesty

According to the latest report of London-based Amnesty International (AI),
issued just before the regional forum in Kuala Lumpur, the human rights
situation in Burma deteriorated during 2005, with the Burmese authorities
increasingly using the justice system as a tool to stifle peaceful
dissent.

The report, “Myanmar: Travesties of Justice – Continued Misuse of the
legal system”, details human rights abuses carried out by Burma’s ruling
military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), and
pinpoints the way with which it has been carrying them out.

AI also recommended scores of points on how to improve the situation, but
they are likely to be ignored by the junta as its authorities are
continuing to carry out human abuses including forced labour and wrongful
detention, despite recent promises given to the international community by
the junta's Foreign Minister Nyan Win.

AI also urged the regional forum the Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) which Burma claims Burma as member and other governments
to use their influence with the junta to effect real change in a situation
which has seen no significant improvement for seventeen years.

A spokesperson of AI told DVB that people are even being prosecuted for
reporting human rights violations and talking to journalists, and lengthy
prison sentences are handed down to political figures for engaging in
political discussion, and the worse being, people dying in suspicious
circumstances in prisons citing the deaths of NLD member Aung Hlaing Win,
Mon national Min Tun Wai and Karen schoolteacher Saw Stanford as examples.

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also said that Burma
is sixth place in the world in 2005, in terms of number of journalists
detained. The most prominent journalist being Win Tin, who has been
detained since the early 1990s in the notorious Rangoon Insein Jail.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 15, Irrawaddy
UN’s Annan should seize this chance - Aung Din

When the UN Security Council is briefed by the UN on Burma, as it is about
to be, it will be the first time the issue has been brought before the
Council in the 17 years since a new military regime came to power in
Rangoon, after a huge pro-democracy protest had been brutally suppressed
in Burma. While China and Russia—who both voted against the move in the
UNSC—have said the briefing will be only a one-time event, and only an
"informal consultation as a whole," the US, Britain, the Philippines,
Romania and others in the majority who voted in favor are working to
ensure the Council offers its support for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
to move on Burma.

The success of this briefing and any subsequent efforts of the
international community, such as the Asean Summit early this week, to
press the Burmese regime to democratize and respect human rights now
depends a great deal on Annan himself. It’s not clear whether Annan will
give the briefing himself.

Most observers expect the secretary general to at least attend the
briefing and offer his own comments, as well as answer the Council’s
questions. All Council members, except the regime's allies, hope that he
will ask the Council to empower him in his efforts to bring about national
reconciliation in Burma. If he does, however, he must first make it clear
to the doubtful Council members —China, Russia, Japan, Brazil and
Algeria—that the situation in Burma justifies UNSC involvement.

Encouragingly, in his report to the UNSC on December 9 on the protection
of civilians in armed conflict, he said that "The emerging crisis in ...
Burma highlights other concerns for the protection of civilians. In these
cases humanitarian access and the ability to protect the civilian
population from the long-term social and economic consequences of conflict
are denied ..."

He also mentioned in the report that these conflicts lead to the forced
recruitment of child soldiers through abduction, kidnapping, enslavement
and coercion or intimidation of their parents or guardians. We believe
that he is well aware of the claim by regime critics that an estimated
70,000 child soldiers have been drafted into the Burmese military in this
way. He also highlighted forced displacement of rural communities as one
of the most disturbing features of conflict. He added that there are 15
million refugees and 25 million internally displaced persons through
conflicts worldwide. We believe that there are more than 2 million Burmese
refugees, and 650,000 IDPs hiding in eastern Burma, who are within this
category of violence.

In his report, Annan also highlighted the use of sexual violence against
women and girls as a deliberate method of warfare that has become more
horrifying in recent years. Although his examples of sexual violence were
from conflicts in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, we hope he
is also aware of the Burmese military’s use of rape as a weapon in
conflicts with ethnic insurgencies. The use of sexual violence as a weapon
of war by the Burmese army has been reported by UN rapporteur on the human
rights situation in Burma Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, and has also been
included in the texts of many consecutive resolutions of the UN General
Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights.

The ball is now in Annan's court, whether he briefs the Council or not.
His mandate on Burma could well be strengthened, as called for by detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and
other Burmese. Judging from his report, we feel he may well use this rare
opportunity effectively, and take seriously the plight of the people of
Burma, for whom he has shown a lot of concern during his tenure as the
secretary general.

Now is Annan's chance to ask the powerful UNSC for the authority he needs
to negotiate a peaceful and non-violent national reconciliation for the
Burmese people. Although several countries have worked to get this far at
the Council, the West and allies alone cannot provide this mandate.

In his report to the October opening session of the UN General Assembly on
the human rights situation in Burma, Annan demanded the Burmese regime
resume dialogue with representatives of all ethnic groups and political
leaders as soon as possible, release all political prisoners, lift
remaining constraints on all political leaders, allow reopening of the
offices of the opposition NLD and include these groups in the generals’
proclaimed road map to democracy. He said he hoped to see these steps
implemented by the first half of 2006.

The majority of countries on the Security Council have handed Annan a
golden opportunity. We hope he will seize the moment to ask for the
Council’s blessing in handling Burma. This would strengthen his mandate on
Burma, and maybe help him to fulfill his earlier demands.

Aung Din, a former political prisoner in Burma, is co-founder and policy
director of the Washington-based US Campaign for Burma.