BurmaNet News, September 29, 2006

[Editor]

September 29, 2006 Issue # 3056


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Aung San Suu Kyi's party calls for release of arrested student activists
Irrawaddy: Karen rebels plan peace talks with junta
Kaladan: Nasaka officer to relocate mosque and madrasa

ASEAN
Mizzima: UNSC should act immediately on Burma: AIPMC

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: UN urges junta’s release of activists

OPINION / OTHER
New York Times: Don’t force democracy in Burma - Thant Myint-U

ANNOUNCEMENT
Dispatches: New Burma documentary airing in the UK on Channel 4, October
2, 8 – 9 pm, details below

PRESS RELEASE
Human Rights Watch: Burma: UN Security Council must press for reforms

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 29, Associated Press
Aung San Suu Kyi's party calls for release of arrested student activists

Yangon: The party of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on
Friday called for the immediate release of three prominent student
activists arrested earlier in the week on the 18th anniversary of Suu
Kyi's movement.

Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kywe three supporters of Suu Kyi were
picked up Wednesday at their homes by the military and have not been seen
since, said a statement from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

"We demand that the three student leaders who have been arbitrarily
arrested be released immediately," said the statement, which called the
arrests, "inappropriate and against the government's democratic process."

Myanmar's military junta has pledged to implement a seven-step road map to
democracy that is supposed to lead to free elections though no timetable
has been set to complete the task.

The three activists helped lead pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and
had served lengthy prison sentences of at least a decade before being
released with hundreds of dissidents in late 2004.

Min Ko Naing and other former student leaders call themselves the "88
Generation Students Group," which has been accused by the government of
trying to destabilize the country.

Myanmar's junta took power in 1988 after crushing the democracy movement.
In 1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won a
landslide election victory.

Suu Kyi has spent nearly 11 of the last 17 years in detention, mostly
under house arrest, despite worldwide calls for her freedom along with
hundreds of other political prisoners.

____________________________________

September 29, Irrawaddy
Karen rebels plan peace talks with junta - Shah Paung

A delegation from the ethnic opposition group Karen National Union is
preparing to hold talks with Burma’s military government in an attempt to
reach a peace accord, a move that has sparked disputes among the group’s
leadership.

The four-member delegation from the KNU’s military wing, the Karen
National Liberation Army, was expected to leave for Burma on Friday,
according to David Taw, head of the KNU foreign affairs office. The
delegation includes four senior military officials: Col Paw Doh, Lt-Col
Jonny, Maj Yin Nu and Maj Shwe Ro.

Details of the trip are not known, but the meeting is expected to take
place in the new capital Naypyidaw.

The junta earlier rejected a proposed trip by a six-member civilian and
military delegation and insisted on the talks taking place only between
military, not civilian, leaders, KNU sources say. Burma’s ruling junta
preferred to speak with leaders of KNU Brigade 7, deployed in Pa-an in
Karen State, according to David Taw.

Senior members of the rebel group held two-day talks that ended on Friday,
during which disputes arose over the selection of delegates.

The planned talks in Naypyidaw follow several earlier attempts to
establish dialogue with the Burmese regime. KNU officials met Col Myat
Htun Oo of Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council on June 21
in Myawaddy, opposite Mae Sot in Thailand. Col Myat Htun Oo is also
reported to have met Brig-Gen Htain Maung, head of Brigade 7, during which
the junta representative expressed his preference for “army-to-army”
talks.

Some members of the KNU are concerned that negotiations between military
leaders will lead to an agreement without the consent of other civilian
members, according to David Taw. “The delegation that travels to Burma are
from Brigade 7, so we’re not sure whether they represent the KNU or their
own interests,” he said.

Col Myat Htun Oo met briefly with ailing Karen leader Gen Bo Mya in Mae
Sot on July 15—a meeting reportedly arranged by the general’s son, Ner Dah
Mya, who is said to have arranged it with Burmese embassy officials in
Bangkok on June 28.

Tensions have increased since December 2005 between the group’s executive
committee members and military leaders from Brigade 7, who at that time
met Burma’s military attaché, Col Tin Soe, without first consulting KNU
executive committee members.

____________________________________

September 29, Kaladan News
Nasaka officer to relocate mosque and madrasa

Buthidaung, Burma: With no let up in religious persecution, the commander
of the Nasaka Sector No.9 visited a village in northern Buthidaung
Township to relocate a mosque and a madrasa (religious school), which have
become eyesores for the SPDC authorities, said a village leader,
requesting anonymity.

On September 23, Major San Win Khine --- Commander of Nasaka Sector No.
(9), of Buthidaung Township accompanied by eight Nasaka personnel reached
upper Kyaungdaung village under Nasaka Camp No. (23), in a boat, at around
10: a.m. There, they discussed with villagers about the relocation of the
mosque and madrasa, which are situated near Nasaka camp No.23, according
to official sources.

Earlier, the Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) ordered villagers of
upper Kyaungdaung village to relocate the existing mosque and madrasa
built many years ago. But, the villagers did not comply with the order.

Now the Nasaka authorities are trying to relocate the mosque and madrasa
to other places by using tactics such as discussions with villagers, and
indirectly threatening them.

Recently, the SPDC authorities began preparing lists of mosques and
madrasas across northern Arakan. Later, some of the mosques and madrasas
were demolished though the structures were built many years ago after
acquiring necessary permission from the authorities. But, by mistake,
villages did not acquire all the necessary documents from the authorities,
said a religious leader of the locality.

Earlier, regarding the Kyaungdaung village mosque and madrasa, the
commander of camp No 23 informed the higher authorities that, “The
existing mosque and madrasa of the Rohingya people near our camp is an
eyesore. It is also a source of danger for us, if terrorists attack our
camp from the madrasa, the camps will be an easy target. So, it is
suitable if we build an outpost in place of the mosque for our camp’s
security,” according to official sources.

The commander also told higher authorities that, “The mosque and madrasa
are ancient buildings. We have discussed with the committee members of the
mosque and madrasa about its relocation. They agreed with us, provided the
concerned authorities provide them a new place and a permit to construct
the building.”

So, the Sector Commander Major San Wine Khine visited the village to
relocate the mosque and madrasa from the existing place to other places
whether the villagers agree or not, said the villagers.

According to villagers, the ruling junta is always trying to build camps
and model villages near religious buildings and cemeteries or on it after
destroying or relocating them. It is one of the strategies of the Burmese
junta to colonize the Arakanese Rohingya people.

_____________________________________
ASEAN

September 28, Mizzima News
UNSC should act immediately on Burma: AIPMC - Mungpi

Southeast Asian parliamentarians today urged the United Nations Security
Council to adopt a binding resolution on Burma as the junta continues to
violate human rights and defy efforts by the international community for
reforms in the country.

ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus or AIPMC today in a statement,
released ahead of the first Security Council consultation on Burma, urged
the Council to adopt a resolution that will guarantee the restoration of
democracy in Burma.

"UNSC must perform its duty – in its entirety – by now adopting a peaceful
and binding resolution requiring the restoration of democracy in
Burma/Myanmar," said the release.

With a briefing by the UN undersecretary for political affairs Ibrahim
Gambari on the latest situation on Burma, the United Nations Security
Council, which successfully voted Burma to its agenda on September 15, is
to hold the first consultation on Burma on Friday.

While the AIPMC welcomed the UNSC's move to include Burma on its agenda,
it urged the adoption of a substantial resolution as the ruling junta
continues to violate the rights of its citizens.

The re-arrest of three prominent student leaders on Wednesday by the
authorities is purely a sign of defying the international community
including the UN's efforts to bring changes in Burma, said the AIPMC.

"We strongly urge UNSC members to expediently adopt a comprehensive
resolution that will ensure such blatantly unjustifiable acts by the junta
no longer occur," said the AIPMC in light of the arrest of the three
student leaders.

Spokesperson of the AIPMC, Roshan Jason said, "the council is openly aware
that the atrocities in Burma has been way too long
 the spread of
refugees, HIV/AIDS, and drugs are all posing threat to regional and
international security."

The Burmese military junta, however, rejected all accusations and claimed
that Burma's problems are internal and slammed the Security Council member
countries of ganging up against Burma by putting it on the council's
agenda.

"It was quiet clear in the report commissioned by former Czech Republic
President Haval and Bishop Desmond Tu Tu, that Burma falls on the criteria
that pose a threat to other countries
 despite the generals denying it,"
said Jason.

Meanwhile, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in
Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro today condemned the Burmese junta for
arresting the three student leaders –Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, and Htay
Kywe – who were earlier released after serving long prison terms.

"The arrests lead to serious questions regarding the will of the
government of Myanmar to resume an effective dialogue with the various
stakeholders who should be associated to the National Convention,"
Pinheiro said in the statement released today.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 29, Irrawaddy
UN urges junta’s release of activists - Aung Lwin Oo

The UN joined Burmese opposition groups, Western government officials and
international rights organizations in calling for the Burmese military
government’s immediate release of three prominent activists on Thursday.

In a released statement, UN Special Rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
called for the release of Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kywe—three
members of the 88 Generation Students Group who have been in police
custody since Wednesday, when they were taken from their homes by police
and later held in Special Branch offices at the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“The arrest leads to serious questions regarding the will of the
government of Myanmar [Burma] to resume an effective dialogue with the
various stakeholders who should be associated with the National
Convention,” Pinheiro said. In his latest report, which was submitted to
the new UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, Pinheiro highlighted the
lack of political development in Burma, including the continued detention
of more than 1,000 political prisoners in the country’s numerous prisons.

Although the reason for the arrests—as well as formal charges—remain
unknown, the move coincided with the 18th anniversary of the founding of
the main opposition party National League for Democracy, which the
activists were scheduled to attend. The NLD on Friday also issued a
statement calling for the immediate release of the three activists.

“They are helping national reconciliation, which is much needed in the
country to solve the current political crisis,” said Nyan Win, an NLD
spokesperson. “The act is contrary to the government’s claim to commitment
to democratic reform in the country.”

State-run media reported in August about the activities of the trio as
inappropriate acts of “political agents,” which included their meeting
with the new British ambassador.

The 88 Students Generation group—comprising former political prisoners and
student activists—on Thursday urged the military regime for an explanation
of the detention of its leaders and for their immediate release. Some
members of the group have begun planning a signature campaign for the
freedom of their detained leaders if authorities fail to release them by
Sunday, according to the group.

Several other rights groups and activists, including the London-based
Amnesty International and New York-based Human Rights Watch, condemned the
arrest and called for their freedom.

The UN statement said that Pinheiro “is extremely worried” with the
regime’s latest move as he has received numerous reports of rights abuses
in pre-trial detention over the past seven years. Meanwhile, the UN
Security Council is to discuss Burma on Friday. The 15-member body voted
10 to four in favor, with one abstention, to put the issue of Burma on the
council’s formal agenda on September 15.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 29, New York Times
Don’t force democracy in Burma - Thant Myint-U

This afternoon, the United Nations Security Council will hold its
first-ever meeting on Myanmar, also known as Burma. The American
ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, has pushed hard for this
meeting, arguing over Chinese and Russian objections that the situation in
Myanmar constitutes a threat to international peace and security and
warrants urgent attention.
Skip to next paragraph
Jordin Isip

Recent reports warn of severe human rights abuses, ethnic violence and a
looming humanitarian emergency. An intransigent military regime seems
unwilling to begin even the first steps toward a democratic transition,
and calls from advocates for tougher sanctions and censure of all kinds
have become more strident.

But will any of this work? What outside pressure can bring about
democratic change? And why, after nearly two decades of boycotts, aid
cutoffs, trade bans and diplomatic condemnation, are Myanmar’s generals
apparently more in charge than ever before? Are we really looking at
Myanmar — a country of some 55 million people — in the right way?

Though interest and concern over Myanmar has mushroomed in recent years,
few really understand its history. There is, for example, the myth that
Burma emerged, at its independence from Britain in 1948, a rich and
promising country only to descend into poverty and violence under the
present military regime.

In fact, Burma in 1948 was already at war with itself, a bloody civil war
that became one of the longest-running armed conflicts in the world. For
more than four decades the Burmese Army battled communist insurgents as
well as an array of ethnic rebels and drug warlord militias.

In the course of this civil war, the army learned from the United States,
Britain, Australia, Israel and other countries, becoming ever more
professional, growing in size and eventually, in 1962, overthrowing the
civilian government, in part to prosecute the war without interference
from politicians and party politics. Once numbering only 2,000, the
Burmese Army is today, at more than 400,000 soldiers, among the biggest
and most experienced in the world.

For many on the outside, the story of Myanmar’s last 20 years has been one
of a pro-democracy movement held down by repression. But the generals see
it as a civil war finally coming to an end with the collapse of the
communist insurgency in 1989 and the cease-fire agreements, in the late
1980’s and early 1990’s, between the army and 17 of its remaining
battlefield opponents. For the generals, the near conclusion of the war is
the very beginning of a long state-building exercise (on their terms),
rather than a time to hand over power to the politicians they distrust.

We incorrectly see Myanmar as a “democracy transition” problem, sort of a
Velvet Revolution gone wrong. But it actually represents a post-conflict
challenge, more like Afghanistan or the war-torn societies of sub-Saharan
Africa — and therefore incredibly complex.

And what of sanctions? In 1962, the military’s chief, Gen. Ne Win, and his
Revolutionary Council sealed off the country, banning almost all external
trade and investment, kicking out foreign aid programs, nationalizing
businesses, expelling ethnic Indian communities and shutting the door to
all tourism. The result was disaster for an already impoverished economy.

And then, in the early 1990’s, a new generation of army officers, while
shunning meaningful democratic change, wanted an end to the country’s
international isolation and allowed market-oriented economic reforms,
hoping to attract tourism and foreign investment for the first time in
decades.

But this was a hesitant move. Some believed the market-oriented reforms
were going too far, that the country was opening up too fast. In this
context, Western sanctions and boycotts have strengthened the hand of
those who oppose even these tentative measures, rather than acting as
pressure for more basic political change.

Myanmar is also a country emerging only cautiously from more than 30 years
of self-imposed isolation, with a tough military machine and a society
brutalized from generations of war. The cease-fires could still unravel,
state structures (other than the armed forces) are nearly nonexistent and
millions of poor people, long denied access to foreign aid, might soon
face more dire conditions. Only the army will do well with more
international isolation.

This is all not to say that Myanmar shouldn’t be a democracy. Far from it.
Only liberal democracy can bring long-term stability to a country as
ethnically and culturally diverse as Myanmar. The question is how to go
from here to there, leave behind the rhetoric and look for practical
measures based on a better understanding of the country’s past. As the
Security Council takes up Myanmar for the very first time, it would be
good to be mindful of Burmese history.

Thant Myint-U is the author of the forthcoming“The River of Lost
Footsteps: Histories of Burma.”

_____________________________________
ANNOUNCEMENT

Dispatches: Burma’s Secret War
In the UK: playing on Channel 4 on Monday, October 2, 8 – 9 pm

In Burma’s Secret War, Dispatches exposes the new surge in violence
inflicted on the Burmese people by their own regime. Enslaved by a brutal
military dictatorship which wields absolute power, Burma is a secretive
state where suppression reigns and dissent is not tolerated. It is a
country where the democratically-elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi is kept
under lock and key while the junta prospers from international trade and
tourism.

In this film, journalist Evan Williams, who is banned from entering the
country after reporting on Burma for more than 10 years, goes undercover
to investigate the mass ethnic cleansing, forced labour and vicious
clamping down of political opposition which characterise the dictatorship.

Williams spends a month in the Burmese jungle with the Free Burma Rangers,
Christian medics who are part of the Karen guerrilla movement which has
spent more than 50 years fighting for democracy. The rangers take aid to
villages which have been attacked by the army.

Williams treks for two weeks with one group across gruelling terrain
peppered with landmines, dodging army patrols to reach one village which
has been burnt to the ground by the army. There he meets the former
inhabitants, now camped out in the jungle, who describe witnessing the
murder of their neighbours and loved ones. He soon discovers these
villagers are not alone in their suffering as he meets further refugees
fleeing the most savage assault against the ethnic minority Karen people
for 10 years.

But it’s not just ethnic minority communities at risk in Burma. Williams
investigates the extreme methods employed by the regime to suppress any
opposition. He poses as a tourist to meet secretly with the underground
activists operating under fear – speaking to journalists and members of
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party who have been imprisoned and
tortured. He also investigates the death of one pro-democracy activist -
one of over 120 who have died in police custody since the junta took
power.

Williams discovers that the junta also make use of their military might by
imposing systematic forced labour on hundreds of men, women and children.
He meets the secret cameramen who risk their lives to film evidence of
people forced to work in appalling conditions, under the threat of death.

Williams examines Britain’s role in trade and investment with Burma. He
also discovers how forced labour has contributed to the burgeoning tourist
trade in Burma and the way in which British tourists are indirectly
supporting the regime.

Press Contact: Marion Bentley: 020 7306 3747/mjbentley at channel4.co.uk
Picture Publicity: Rob Fuller 020 7306 8251/rfuller at channel4.co.uk
Reporter: Evan Williams
Prod/Dir: Sarah MacDonald
Exec Prod: David Henshaw
Prod Co: Hardcash
Comm Ed: Kevin Sutcliffe

_____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

September 29, Human Rights Watch
Burma: UN Security Council must press for reforms

China, Russia Must Not Block Council Discussion

New York: Discussion of Burma in the United Nations Security Council must
result in a call for democratic reform and respect for human rights, Human
Rights Watch said today. Tomorrow, for the first time, the Council will
discuss Burma in a “private meeting” as part of its formal agenda.

Three days before the meeting, Burma’s military junta, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) signaled that it was hardening its position
when on September 27 it arrested three prominent student activists – Min
Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, and Htay Kywe – for advocating action by the Security
Council.

“The Security Council must act on the human rights situation of a country
where violence and repression from the military are an everyday fact of
life,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The military
doesn’t allow a free press, independent civil society organizations or
opposition parties, and it arrests and tortures those who speak out. These
are the issues the Council must address.”

With the political support of China, Russia, India and Thailand, the SPDC
has become increasingly intransigent. Two permanent members of the
Security Council, China and Russia, have repeatedly opposed moves to place
Burma on the formal agenda. Both have close commercial relations with the
SPDC, including arms sales that enable the Burmese military to commit
abuses and stay in power.

Yet the tide of international opinion is turning. The Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has dropped its cherished
“non-interference” policy and has spoken out against the lack of reform
and moves toward democracy. The Secretary-General of ASEAN, Ong Keng Yong
said in July, “ASEAN has a lot of other things to do. But now Myanmar
[Burma] seems to be always there and clouding the other issues out of the
way.”
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In addition, Indonesia’s foreign minister, Hassan Wirajuda, said in
August, “Our view on Myanmar is that it should be more forthcoming in its
interaction with its own ASEAN family, otherwise there is nothing much we
can do when the United Nations through its Security Council decides to
make its own moves on the question of Myanmar.”

“China is increasingly out of step with Burma’s neighbors, which see the
Burmese military junta as an embarrassment to ASEAN and want reforms to
start immediately,” said Adams. “If China wants to be taken seriously as a
respected member of the international community, it needs to stop
protecting the Burmese generals who provide neither security nor
development for their people.”

Human Rights Watch called on the Security Council to start discussion on a
resolution on Burma that requires the SPDC to take immediate steps toward
democratic and civilian rule, including free and fair elections. The
Council should also insist on the unconditional release of “the Nobel
Prize-winning” opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and an estimated 1,200
other political prisoners, and an end to the junta’s brutal military
tactics against ethnic minorities in Karen state and elsewhere.

The Security Council should also establish a UN Commission of Inquiry to
investigate the longstanding dire human rights situation in Burma and the
possibility that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been
committed.

Human Rights Watch said that Burma should become a regular topic for
discussion on the Council agenda to pressure the SPDC to respect basic
freedoms of its citizens and continue to inform Security Council members
of its progress. Security Council Resolution 1674 on the protection of
civilians in armed conflict states that “peace and security, development
and human rights are the pillars of the United Nations and the foundations
for collective security.”

“If concrete steps are taken, Council action on Burma could be a strong
development after years of General Assembly resolutions that were ignored
by the junta,” said Adams. “Burma is a test case to see if the Security
Council is serious about the ‘right to protection.’”

Burma remains one of the most repressive countries in Asia, despite
promises for political reform and national reconciliation by its
authoritarian military government. The SPDC restricts the basic rights and
freedoms of all Burmese. It continues to attack and harass the winner of
the 1990 elections, the National League of Democracy, and its leader Aung
San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest.

Burma’s military government continues to commit systematic, widespread and
well-documented abuses in ongoing conflicts with ethnic minority rebel
groups, including extrajudicial executions, rape, torture, the forced
relocation of entire villages, and forced labor. More than half a million
people are internally displaced in eastern Burma alone, and more than 250
villages have been destroyed, relocated or abandoned since 2002. Some 2
million Burmese have fled to Thailand, including 145,000 refugees living
in camps.