BurmaNet News, November 9, 2006

[Editor]

November 9, 2006 Issue # 3084

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Gambari urged to seek ‘tangible’ reforms
Mizzima News: Min Ko Naing, four others charged under 5J: 88 leaders
AP: Top U.N. official visits Myanmar; expected to meet with Suu Kyi
New Light of Myanmar: People can make complaints about malpractices of
personnel of Ministry of Home Affairs
Xinhua: Myanmar top leader urges USDA members to build democratic nation

BUSINESS / TRADE
BBC Worldwide Monitoring: Burma, China sign agreement on forestry
promotion, cooperation
Asian Plus: Indian govt to move cautiously on import of pulses from Myanmar

REGIONAL
Mizzima: Thai embassy tightens regulations for Burmese

INTERNATIONAL
IPS: More uncertainty lies ahead
Irrawaddy: Tourism’s catch-22 in Burma

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Tangled ties – Aung Zaw
Nation: Urgent action needed on rights in Burma - David Scott Mathieson

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 9, Irrawaddy
Gambari urged to seek ‘tangible’ reforms - Aung Lwin Oo

Burma’s main opposition party, ethnic politicians and activists have
called on a top UN diplomat arriving in Burma on Thursday to take
substantial steps to push the country’s military rulers towards reform,
echoing statements from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that the trip
should produce “tangible steps forward.”

UN Under Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari arrived in Burma on Thursday to
meet top junta leaders and opposition party members. This trip follows his
first visit in May, during which he met detained Nobel laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi, and the UN Security Council’s decision to put Burma on its formal
agenda.

“Now that the UN Security Council has become involved, it has to find a
resolution and Gambari’s role will be crucial,” said U Lwin, secretary of
the main opposition part National League for Democracy.

Cin Siang Thang, chairman of the ethnic Zomi National Congress party said:
“We want the UN to make haste in facilitating national reconciliation in
the country.” He added that the process requires the immediate release of
key opposition leaders, including democracy icon Suu Kyi, jailed Shan
politicians and former student leaders, who were arrested in late
September.

Burma’s military regime has consistently been reluctant to cooperate with
UN efforts to bring democratic reform to the country. Following aggressive
lobbying by the US, the Security Council voted last December to include
Burma on its formal agenda, despite objections from member countries,
including China and Russia.

US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns on Wednesday held talks with
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on key global issues, including
Burma.

Annan’s office said on Tuesday that Gambari is expected to meet with
“senior officials and with actors from across the political spectrum,
including all those with whom he met during his first visit in May.”

The NLD, ethnic politicians and the 88 Generation Students group,
comprising former political prisoners and student leaders, said they have
requested meetings with Gambari, during which they aim to raise the issue
of swift intervention by the UN Security Council.

The junta’s Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan said last week Gambari
had not requested a meeting with Suu Kyi, but the UN’s top diplomat was
invited to visit the government-sponsored National Convention, being held
on the outskirts of Rangoon.

The invitation has drawn criticism from opposition groups, who say that
the junta has made little or no progress on its so-called “roadmap to
democracy,” the first step of which is the constitution-drafting National
Convention.

Rangoon-based ethnic politician Cin Siang Thang warned that Gambari’s
presence at the junta’s assembly could be misrepresented as the world
body’s approval of the convention, which he says does not truly represent
the people of Burma.

“Mr Gambari and the UN as a whole should be aware of the genuine will of
Burmese people,” said Mya Aye, a leading member of the 88 Generation
Students group.

He added that Burmese authorities on Monday had charged five leading
activists in absentia—detained since their arrest in late September—in a
local court in Rangoon’s Bahan Township under section 5-j of the Emergency
Provisions Act.

____________________________________

November 9, Mizzima News
Min Ko Naing, four others charged under 5J: 88 leaders

More than a month after their disappearance, the five arrested 88
generation student leaders were charged under the Emergency Provision Act
in absentia at a court in Rangoon on Monday, according to their
colleagues.

"We received the information yesterday morning and confirmed it. The
authorities went to Bahan township court on November 6 but did not produce
our friends," said Ko Mya Aye, a 88 generation student.

The prominent student leaders were charged under article 5J of the
Emergency Provision Act, a tool frequently used to send dissidents to
jail. They were remanded for 14 days and have to face trail again on
November 19.

Min Ko Naing, Min Zeya, Ko Ko Gyi, Htay Kywe and Pyone Cho, all supporters
of Aung San Suu Kyi were arrested in September by the police from their
homes while they were planning to attend the 18th anniversary of Aung San
Suu Kyi's party the National League for Democracy.

Burma watchers believe that putting student leaders on trail would send a
bad signal for people who want national reconciliation.

"I'm worried that that the student leaders are going to be charged and
jailed after Gambari's visit, rather than being released," said Win Min, a
Thailand based analyst.

In a press briefing early this month, the Burmese police chief, Brigadier
General Khin Yi said that 88 generation student leaders were linked with
student organisations in exile and were getting help from Western
embassies.

"This is not believable. We only stand for national reconciliation and not
violence. But you know they (the junta) said at a press conference, that
our friends can be put in jail any time. It totally depends on the
government," said Mya Aye.

Meanwhile, the four-day trip of the United Nation’s Undersecretary-General
for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari to Burma, starts today. This is his
second visit to the country this year. Gambari will meet Burmese military
junta leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for more
than 4,000 days and her party the National League for Democracy leaders.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Gambari’s visit is "part
of a process of dialogue that could lead to strengthened cooperation
between the United Nations and Myanmar," referring to the country whose
name has been changed by the military junta.

____________________________________

November 9, Associated Press
Top U.N. official visits Myanmar; expected to meet with Suu Kyi

A senior U.N. official arrived Thursday in Myanmar for a widely watched
visit that the United Nations has said will include a meeting with
detained Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

U.N. Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari, who was
granted a rare opportunity to meet with Suu Kyi during his last visit in
May, was also scheduled to meet Myanmar's leaders for talks on human
rights during his four-day visit to the military-ruled nation.

Suu Kyi has been kept in near solitary confinement at her lakeside home in
Yangon, and is generally not allowed outside visitors or telephone
contact. Western nations and the United Nations have repeatedly called for
Suu Kyi's release.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he wants Gambari's visit to produce
"tangible steps forward" on human rights, democratic reforms and national
reconciliation in Myanmar, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

While Myanmar's secretive leaders have not confirmed a meeting with Suu
Kyi, Dujarric said Gambari was expected to meet with "senior officials and
with actors from across the political spectrum, including all those with
whom he met during his first visit in May of this year.

Asked whether that includes Suu Kyi, Dujarric said "he met with Aung San
Suu Kyi in the past and that would include her.”

"Gambari is also scheduled to meet representatives of U.N. agencies and
the ministers for foreign affairs, labor and national planning and
development. He will be flown to the new administrative capital,
Naypyidaw, 250 miles north of Yangon to meet the country's leader, senior
Gen. Than Shwe.

Gambari will also observe meetings of the National Convention, which is
establishing guidelines for the country's long-awaited new constitution
the first step in a seven-stage "road map to democracy" that is supposed
to culminate in free elections at some unspecified point in the future.

The United Nations has been one of the louder voices calling for
democratic reforms in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and the junta has
responded by barring U.N. special envoys from the country. The last one,
Razali Ismail, resigned in frustration shortly after a 2004 visit.

Gambari was the first foreigner to visit with Suu Kyi since Razali in
March 2004.Suu Kyi has spent 11 of the last 17 years in detention, mostly
under house arrest.

Myanmar's military rulers seized power in 1988 after violently crushing a
pro-democracy movement. The junta called elections in 1990 but refused to
hand over power when the vote was won by the party of Suu Kyi, who won a
Nobel peace prize in 1991.

____________________________________

November 8, New Light of Myanmar
People can make complaints about malpractices of personnel of Ministry of
Home Affairs

Nay Pyi Taw: In accord with the guidance of the Head of State, Remove the
practices of colonial period and safeguard the interest of the State and
the people, the Ministry of Home Affairs has been serving the interest of
the State and the people after forming the Minister's Office, General
Administration Department, Myanmar Police Force, Bureau of Special
Investigation and Prisons Department. The ministry is responsible for
undertaking the tasks for security of the State, prevalence of law and
order, community peace and tranquillity and community welfare services.

If any service personnel of any rank who are from the Ministry of Home
Affairs commit malpractices involving money, property and opportunity and
oppress the people in administrative and economic and social affairs,
making improper use of the rights which are not in conformity with the
existing laws and procedures, those who suffer personally can complain to
the minister (phone 067-412040, fax 067-412016), the deputy minister
(phone 067-412072) and the deputy director-general (phone 067-412069, fax
067-412439), the Ministry of Home Affairs, Office No 10, Nay Pyi Taw and
e-mail: ddg.gad at gad.gov.mm.

Investigation will be made by the inspection team legally formed by the
Minister's Office. The people are urged to make true complaints and the
ministry guarantees not to cause people's grievance.

____________________________________

November 9, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar top leader urges USDA members to build democratic nation

Myanmar top leader has urged members of the Union Solidarity and
Development Association (USDA) to continue to build the future nation on
the firm foundation being built with momentum, the official newspaper New
Light of Myanmar reported Thursday.

Senior-General Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and Development
Council and also patron of the USDA, made the call when addressing an
annual general meeting of the USDA in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw
Wednesday. He urged the USDA members to make efforts to successfully
implement the government's seven-step roadmap to democracy for the
emergence of a peaceful, modern and developed democratic state with
flourishing discipline.

To practise democracy effectively and systematically, he emphasized the
need to fulfill three requirements based on the experiences gained from
the political incidents that occurred in the post-independence period,
outlining the three requirements as restoring stability of the state and
peace, strengthening the economy of the state and the people and promoting
the education standard of the nation.

He noted that in addition to implementing the roadmap to democracy,
development tasks are also being carried out, saying that achievements
have been made in the development of some sectors such as agriculture,
industry, transport, electric power, health and education. He stressed the
need for strengthening the already achieved good foundations which he said
the state and the people are enjoying. The USDA, which stands as the
largest social organization in Myanmar with some other state leaders as
its members of the central panel of patrons, was set up in 1993 and its
membership has developed to over 22 million as of 2005, according to
statistics.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

November 9, Burmese radio via BBC Worldwide Monitoring
Burma, China sign agreement on forestry promotion, cooperation

Text of report by Burmese radio on 7 November

Chinese deputy minister and Gen Aung Thein signed a MoU in Naypyidaw on 7
November (MRTV 7 Nov 06) Brig-Gen Thein Aung, minister of forestry,
received a nine-member Chinese delegation led by Madam Jiang Zehui,
vice-minister of the State Forestry Administration of the People's
Republic of China, in the reception room of the Ministry of Forestry in
Naypyidaw on 7 November.

In the ministry's meeting hall, the minister and the Chinese delegation
discussed the promotion of the timber industry and matters relating to
timber products between the two nations as well as investment in setting
up wood-based industries, the production of bamboo and cane value-added
products, the exchange of technical methods, and travel by professional
experts.

Following the discussions, the minister and the Chinese deputy minister
signed and exchange a MoU.

____________________________________

November 9, Asia Plus
Indian govt to move cautiously on import of pulses from Myanmar

Despite skyrocketing prices of urad and moong pulses in the domestic
market, the government wants to move cautiously regarding the import of
pulses from Myanmar.

India is finding it difficult to negotiate import of pulses from Myanmar
as the market in the neighbouring country is dominated by private traders
and no government agency is involved, a government official said.

Private traders in Myanmar tend to increase prices whenever they become
aware that the Indian government is seeking to import pulses, the source
said. However, the government still hopes to find a solution, the official
said.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 9, Mizzima News
Thai embassy tightens regulations for Burmese

The Royal Thai Embassy in Burma has all of a sudden imposed restrictions
on visa applicants. It has also limited the number of people entering the
embassy compound along with asking for more documents as of Tuesday.

Only 5 people are allowed to enter to embassy compound at a time and
unlike earlier Burmese need to submit more documents for a tourist visa –
an invitation letter from Thailand, statement of bank accounts, job
description and recommendation letters need to be shown in order to apply
for a tourist visa.

A woman in a queue of over 200 people at the embassy told Mizzima that "I
am here since 4 a.m."

Zaw Zaw in the queue who travels to Thailand said "The numbers have
increased because the people who were asked for full recommendations came
again to reapply."

An embassy staff from the Royal Thai embassy in Dagon Township, Rangoon
said that the restriction on visa applicants is due to "security reasons".

He said at least 50 people can be issued visas a day despite the restriction.

"I want to visit my sister in Bangkok but they asked for the invitation
letter from Bangkok. So I have to go and use the internet to ask for an
invitation letter from my sister," said a tourist visa applicant.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 8, Inter Press News
More uncertainty lies ahead - John Feffer

Burma is in the middle of a national convention that its military leaders
claim is the first step in a sevenfold path toward democracy. But what mix
of toughness and engagement the international community should use on the
country remains an open question, one that has drawn some comparison with
North Korea.

Observers remain divided over the prospects for political change in the
South-east Asian country, the degree of threat that Burma poses to its
neighbours, and the most effective measures that the international
community can adopt to encourage greater freedom within the country.

The example of North Korea hung over a recent discussion, organised by the
Sasakawa Peace Foundation on international policy toward Burma and the
utility of current sanctions against the Burmese junta and the elements of
a package deal that could the country out of its relative isolation.

"As someone said of North Korea, it doesn't respond to pressure, but also
doesn't respond without pressure. The same can be said of Burma," pointed
out Michael Green, senior advisor at the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies at the discussion.

As with North Korea, the assembled experts spoke of the frustrations of
inducing change in Burma and the difficulty of acquiring information about
the state of the government and the conditions on the ground.

Unlike North Korea, however, Burma's military government (which refers to
the country as Myanmar) faces a significant opposition movement. Likewise,
the military junta, which has failed to recognise the 1990 elections won
by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), appears to be on
the threshold of reintroducing some measure of democracy.

Although opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest and
the NLD has boycotted the national convention, the 1,000- plus delegates
at the convention plan to complete a new constitution by year's end as
part of the government's "seven-stage path to democracy."

The government promises to put the new constitution to a vote in a
national referendum followed by multiparty elections that reserve a
certain portion of seats in the new parliament for the government party.

The NLD and ethnic minorities in the country favour a federal constitution
that permits greater decentralisation of power. "All the minorities and
the NLD have talked about a federal system," said David Steinberg,
director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University. "To an American,
federalism makes a lot of sense. But frankly, I don't see the military
agreeing to that. The convention was tightly scripted and the military
will remain in control."

"Will the NLD compete in these (multi-party) elections -- even if some of
the constitutional framework conditions were decided in their absence and
probably with the idea to limit their voting appeal? But the outcome of
those elections may be that Myanmar gets a constitutional government,"
argued Peter Christian Hauswedell, former director general for Asia and
the Pacific region for the German foreign ministry.

"Even if that government will be heavily controlled and influenced by the
military, its formation may be an improvement over the present situation,"
he explained. “So the NLD will have to think about the consequences of a
continued total rejection of the government's plans and the
non-participation in that election."

The proposed political changes are not the only signs of ferment in the
country.

The Burmese government has been busy moving the capital from Rangoon to
Naypyidaw, a new city in the interior that is off-limits to foreigners and
journalists.

Meanwhile, video footage of the wedding between Burmese leader Gen. Than
Shwe's daughter and a major in the military, recently leaked to the press,
depicted an extravagant event marked by luxurious gifts. The leak of this
video and the moving of the capital "on the basis of a soothsayer,"
speculated Mike Green, suggested "evidence of serious doubt of Gen. Than
Shwe" and weakness in the "legitimacy of the leadership".

Meanwhile, critics of the regime describe a dismal human rights situation.
Human Rights Watch has cited the regime for the detention of 1,300
political prisoners, the killing of protesters, and the use of 70,000
child soldiers, which is the largest concentration of under-18 conscripts
in the world.

According to Jeremy Woodrum of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, "over a
million refugees, most of them from eastern Burma along the border with
Thailand and China, are fleeing because the regime has burned down 3,000
villages over the last 10 years" as part of an effort to target civilian
populations in areas that provide a base for ethnic armies.

This flow of refugees, as well as drug trafficking and the spread of
infectious diseases, has made it very difficult for Asia to ignore Burma.
These problems extend beyond the region as well. "Burma presents a serious
security threat to the region and requires attention from the United
States and the U.N. Security Council," argued Green, citing how the
Security Council is moving forward to address Burma's rights record.

Hauswedell disagrees. "The Security Council debate on Myanmar was an
attempt to raise international attention for developments in Myanmar and
bring pressure on its government. But the pretext of that discussion, that
Myanmar was becoming a threat to its neighbours, is a bit farfetched. If
you would ask Myanmar's neighbours India, Bangladesh, Laos, Thailand, and
China whether they see Myanmar as a threat, they would not affirm this.
Rather, India, China, and Thailand compete for the country's raw materials
and resources and refrain from criticising Myanmar."

Under its recently deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand
indeed did not press for change inside Burma. Thaksin stands accused of
profiting from his own telecommunications business investments inside
Burma.

The military coup that ousted Thaksin has raised hopes among some that
Thailand will change its policy. "The new Thai leader is known for his
toughness against the Burmese oppression of minorities living along the
border and his criticism of Burma pushing drugs into Thailand," explained
Pavin Chachavalpongpun, the author of 'A Plastic Nation: The Curse of
Thainess in Thai-Burmese Relations'.

"The United States has already suspended military aid given to Thailand
and is using the military suspension to urge a return to democratic rule
and new elections and to push Thailand to toughen up its position toward
Burma," he added.

Whether the use of the stick has in fact influenced the behaviour of the
Burmese junta since the eighties is open to question.

"I don't think the leaders of the Myanmar military regime are necessarily
receptive or sensitive to outside voices," argued Shigeru Tsumori, Japan's
ambassador to Myanmar from 2000 to 2002.

"We have seen 16 years of sanctions and unfortunately they have not
achieved their aim of restoring and securing democracy in Myanmar,"
Hauswedell maintained. "The sanctions are not universal and are not
supported by Myanmar's Asian neighbours. They were meant to hurt the
military government but on balance, they have rather contributed to the
economic misery of the common people in the country."

"It is very cynical of us to tolerate this as unavoidable but still
legitimate the 'collateral damage' of our sanctions. Rather than isolating
Myanmar, the Western sanctions have isolated the West from Myanmar and
deprived it of influence over the country's development," he pointed out.

But Jeremy Woodrum believes that the sanctions, which the Burmese
opposition has continued to endorse, have been effective. And, absent the
sanctions that the United States imposed in the late 1990s, Woodrum
argues, "the regime would have been much wealthier and much more of
Burmese natural resources would have been sold off".

Hauswedell advises a different approach to the country. "In our dealings
with Myanmar we should be more imaginative and use our soft power," he
said. "We should not discourage tourism because every tourist is an agent
of change and a source of income not only for the government, but for many
individuals involved in tourism. It was a mistake to include the children
of the Myanmar elite on our visa ban list because this prevents them from
studying at Western universities."

Given these differences in emphasis between relative engagement and
relative isolation, the question remains whether all countries need to
approach Burma with the same policy.

Tsumori believes that "all countries don't have to put the same pressure
on Myanmar to the same extent. It depends on the individual country.
Japan, with its particular history, should use different pressure from the
United States. Coordination is, however, indispensable."

Such coordination, Green believes, could lead to a grand bargain. In
exchange for improving its human rights record and moving toward
democracy, Burma would receive humanitarian assistance, official
recognition of the country's name as Myanmar, and the gradual lifting of
sanctions.

____________________________________
November 9, Irrawaddy
Tourism’s catch-22 in Burma - William Boot

Bangkok: The Burmese marketing team at the World Travel Market in London
has been putting on a brave face this week. They attracted curious
onlookers to their stand, but no big takers for their new packages—billed
as “the ultimate adventure of a lifetime.”

“The Burmese delegation is frankly wasting their money,” said Anna
Roberts, campaigns manager at the Burma Campaign UK, which has been
monitoring the major global tourism promotion event. “They failed to
persuade any major tour operator to start offering holidays in Burma,”
added Roberts, who is spearheading an “I’m Not Going to Burma”
anti-tourism campaign.

That’s not a view shared by others who argue that tourism in Burma is
developing and better for the Burmese than isolating boycotts. But
independent statistics on tourism in Burma are hard to obtain—as even
Roberts admitted to The Irrawaddy.

This was supposed to be the year of the big push by the Myanmar Tourism
Promotion Board to try to lift the number of tourists visiting the “Golden
Land” to 1 million, compared to last year when the official figure reached
660,000.

By the standards of the regional bloc Asean, the 2005 figure was paltry.
Only tiny oil sultanate Brunei, with a population of 375,000, attracted
fewer visitors (127,000) than Burma last year among the ten member
countries of Asean.

Neighboring Thailand drew the lion’s share, 11.5 million, out of the
overall 51 million Asean-country tourists.

Tourism is becoming an increasingly important source of foreign income for
Asean nations; collectively they have enjoyed a 25 percent increase over
the last five years. Even poverty-stricken Cambodia, still recovering from
the Khmer Rouge years of terror and isolation, is now attracting well over
1 million tourists a year.

Burma’s Ministry of Hotels and Tourism says the country earned over US
$100 million from tourism in 2005. But this week’s expensive promotional
effort in London is ending the Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board’s year the
way it began—with a whimper.

Last January, Rangoon hosted the Asean Tourism Forum, which generated
about as much interest as a ping pong tournament between Bangladesh and
Brunei would. “The Asean event was a flop and a shambles. Rangoon should
never have been chosen, but that’s the way Asean works, moving round the
membership,” said a manager with a tourism company in Singapore, who spoke
on condition of anonymity.

Singapore will host the next Asean forum in January. The Singaporeans
might have hoped for better results in London this week. Since last July,
the city state’s Nanyang Institute of Management has been running training
courses in Rangoon with the aim of aiding Burma’s tourism industry.
Singapore has been the biggest single foreign spender in hotel-resort
construction and ownership in Burma, with $580 million invested over the
last 15 years.

“I don’t have [hotel] occupancy figures for 2006, but tourist arrivals
have not increased dramatically,” insists Roberts. “The fact is that a
large number of the official tourist arrivals in Burma are cross-border
day-trippers and business people, not holiday makers staying in hotels.”

The day-trippers Roberts refers to are mostly Thais crossing the border to
gamble in the smart, illegal casinos that have been built with Bangkok
business capital just inside Burma.

Roberts says it is “rare to see a Western face” on the streets of Rangoon.
“The fact is there really is no significant tourism industry to destroy,”
she said. But that might be because Western tourists are pushing into more
remote up-market destinations such as Malikha Lodge in the far north of
Kachin State, being started up by Bangkok-based Diethelm Travel Asia.

The subsidiary of Swiss group Diethelm Keller Holding will offer three- to
seven-day “luxurious wilderness lodge” packages, at up to $2,190 per
person, starting in December.

John Watson, CEO of Diethelm, which recently won a World Travel Award for
excellence—an industry “Oscar”—told The Irrawaddy: “Diethelm does not
engage in politics, but supports its 75 staff in Burma who, without
tourism, would not have jobs. The best way to help Burma is to flood it
with tourists to encourage better understanding and support for the people
there.”

And other niche markets aimed at foreign visitors are opening up, like the
Myanmar Vineyard Management Company, a winery and restaurant with plans
for holiday bungalows in the hills near Taunggyi, the capital of Shan
State. “In this country there is nobody, including us Westerners, who
thinks that this [boycotting] is an effective tool to trigger a change,”
said vineyard boss Bert Morsbach.

He employs local people in the production and bottling of his wine, with
sales last year of 35,000 bottles.

Melbourne, Australia-based Lonely Planet, the only major international
travel guide publisher to continue producing a Burma book, devotes 10
pages of the new edition to a debate with itself about whether tourists
should go or stay away. It quotes detained opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi’s call not to visit, and cites examples of forced labor on tourism
development. But it concludes that tourism is better than nothing for
Burma.

“Tourism remains one of the few industries to which ordinary locals have
access in terms of income and communication,” Lonely Planet says. “The
vast majority of locals want you there. Human-rights abuses are less
likely to occur in areas where the international community is present.”

But Roberts countered to The Irrawaddy: “Burma’s desperate economic
situation is not because of the tourism boycott but the regime's own
mismanagement and corruption. Investment in Burma, including from tourism,
has enabled the regime to double the size of the army and step up the
crackdown on democracy activists and ethnic groups.”

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

November 09, Irrawaddy
Tangled ties - Aung Zaw

Thailand is now ruled by a military junta, which has handpicked the
country’s interim prime minister. Does that mean Thailand and Burma are on
an equal footing? I hope not.

If the two countries embark on a race for political reform,
democratization and the drafting of a new constitution, Thailand will
certainly cross the finishing line first. Burma’s military leaders, who
took power in the bloody coup of 1988, just mark time. That’s for sure.

The good news is that, unlike in former times, the two juntas are not
ready to embrace each other. Maybe they won’t do so. Burma was embarrassed
to learn that democracy- minded army leader Gen Surayud Chulanont was
chosen as Thailand’s new prime minister. I still remember when Gen
Suchinda Kaprayoon and Gen Sunthon staged a military coup in 1991, formed
the National Peace Keeping Council and were hurriedly congratulated by
Burma’s then ambassador to Thailand, Nyunt Swe.

Prime Minister Surayud has not yet visited Burma, although Thai foreign
ministry sources suggest he may do so in the middle of this month and may
be looking for a suitable date. Surayud and his foreign minister, Nitya
Pibulsonggram, hinted to the foreign press in Bangkok this week that a
Burma visit was in the pipeline but did not say when. "Whether or not we
will go to Myanmar [Burma], the answer is yes," Nitya said.

Shortly after his appointment on October 1, the Thai prime minister toured
the region, visiting Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the
Philippines and China, but not Singapore, Brunei and Burma. This week he
was visiting Brunei and Singapore, but Burma is still off his schedule. In
China, he met Burmese Prime Minister Gen Soe Win.

Surayud commands respect among Burmese ethnic minorities because of the
sympathy he is known to harbor for them and for his recognition of the
plight of refugees along the volatile border. Some ethnic leaders who took
refuge in Thailand reportedly sent congratulatory message to Surayud on
his appointment as prime minister.

When he was army chief in the late 1990s, he adopted a tough stance
towards Burmese cross-border incursions and stemmed the flow of drugs
coming from Burma’s Wa hills and Shan State. Relations between the two
countries hit a bad patch as troops massed around the not yet demarcated
border, leading to serious skirmishes. He also initiated military
exercises along the border with Burma, resulting in angry protests by
Burmese leaders. Against this background, Surayud might well be thinking
twice before undertaking a visit to Burma.

He was noticeably reluctant to visit Burma and shake hands with military
leaders there while he was Thailand’s army chief. Other Thai military
leaders regularly paid courtesy visits to Burma and forged friendly
relations with Burmese leaders. Surayud is no friend of the regime in
Burma, and Burmas’s top brass feel the same way about him.

Nevertheless, as prime minister, Surayud may have to play a diplomatic
game with the regime leaders.

At his meeting with the foreign press in Bangkok earlier this week, he
said his government would maintain the policy followed by the previous
government towards Burma. According to AFP reports, Surayud said: "I can
say on a broad policy of Thailand and Burma that we still carry on what
the previous government has committed with the Burmese on the bilateral
issues."

But he also said that his government had a timeline to draft a new
constitution and return to democracy, while observing that no sign of such
a development was visible in neighboring Burma. He is correct. Surayud is
well aware of the political landscape in Burma, in contrast to Thai
politicians who have a poor understanding of Burmese politics or who lack
the ability to comprehend them.

This may be a broad departure from previous Thai governments, not only the
one headed by ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra but also those
others who were prepared to deal with the Burmese regime.

There have been increasing calls from human rights organizations, NGOs,
and the international community for the Thai government to look into the
situation of Burmese refugees and migrant workers living in Thailand. As
fighting between Burmese troops and ethnic insurgents continues unabated,
increasing numbers of internally displaced persons are seeking refuge in
the jungle and along the Thai-Burmese border. Thailand’s answer to that
problem is the installation of a better government in Burma.

Ethnic leaders, former activists, Burma-support groups and NGOs working
and living in Thailand have long memories of the contortions of Thai-Burma
relations. They are cautious and acknowledge the existence of an
unpredictable Thai policy towards Burma. They have witnessed how many Thai
politicians and successive governments defended the Burmese regime in the
face of condemnation by the UN and the international community. They have
seen how Burma’s leaders used Thailand as a shield to deflect outside
pressure.

But don’t get me wrong. Because Surayud is at the helm, I don’t want to
see any fireworks along the border. It is important to maintain good and
cordial relations with Burma and the suffering Burmese people. Yet it must
be said that any hasty meeting between members of Thailand’s new
government and Burma’s Snr-Gen Than Shwe will send a wrong signal.

____________________________________

November 9, The Nation
Urgent action needed on rights in Burma- David Scott Mathieson

The recently released report by the UN human rights rapporteur for Burma,
Paulo S้rgio Pinheiro, detailed how the world has witnessed a
regression in the already besieged safety and livelihood of Burma's 54
million people living under one of the world's most repressive military
governments.

Over the past three years, Burma's ruling State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) has attempted to cover up the dire state of human rights in
the country. Having been denied access to Burma since November 2003,
Pinheiro has spent the last year consulting with governments in Southeast
Asia and compiling information received from exiled Burmese political and
human rights groups. They have clearly told the envoy that state
repression has increased, including wide-scale forced labour, land
confiscation, arrest of dissidents and the alarming unchecked use of
sexual violence by Burmese troops. Most of these abuses occur with
official support or are never investigated, further institutionalising the
climate of impunity by the Burmese government.

Abuses of basic rights remain rampant. Of particular concern to the
rapporteur is "the criminalisation of the exercise of fundamental freedoms
by political opponents, human rights defenders and victims of human rights
abuses." The report outlines systematic abuses against dissidents,
including the extended house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and the imprisonment of nearly 1,200 activists, with freedom of assembly,
movement, expression and the press sharply restricted. Reporters Sans
Fronti่res last week moved Burma further down its annual list of
media freedom to 164 in the world (five from the bottom).

In the most strongly worded report of his six-year tenure as the UN's key
envoy to Burma, Pinheiro contended that the SPDC has no intention to
engage in a genuine democratic transition. Things have got worse because
the military government has become more draconian and has stepped up its
campaign of crushing peaceful resistance. Several noted dissidents have
been arrested in the past month for supporting the UN Security Council
debates, and many people have been ordered to join the Union Solidarity
and Development Association (USDA), the government's mass-based political
movement, which many believe will eventually be the civilian face of the
military if it ever steps back from formal governance.

Pinheiro expressed little hope that the long drawn out National Convention
to write a new constitution would be sufficiently democratic and
inclusive, stating the process "has been marked by a lack of
transparency". The convention resumed on October 10 and has already
elicited widespread criticism from delegates who have little space for
discussion or disagreement, let alone their own ideas. One of the more
repressive tools of the National Convention is Law No. 5/96, which
prohibits people from criticising the convention or suggesting
alternatives. It is this statutory deterrent that has seen many
participants arrested or compelled to flee the country for their own
safety since the stage-managed forum began in 1993. Open dissent of the
convention has been voiced by ethnic leaders who have bravely spoken up in
recent weeks on how controlled the process is. There are few who would now
dare to take seriously the military's promises of democratisation and
national reconciliation, which some optimists in the international
community took far too seriously three years ago.

Pinheiro called on the UN system to take "urgent measures" to end the
Burmese army's ten-month counter-insurgency operation in Northern Karen
State, which has displaced tens of thousands of civilians and led to the
destruction of 232 villages. This scorched-earth campaign to punish
civilians is the largest Burmese military operation in ten years, drawing
in tens of thousands of troops and has included extra-judicial killings,
torture and forced displacement as villages are literally burned to the
ground. There are grave concerns about the situation of many people in
these areas, as the army has moved in thousands of additional soldiers as
the annual harvest approaches. The army routinely destroys fields and food
stocks to drive out civilians from declared free-fire zones to deny
support to ethnic armed groups. Pinheiro's report stated that "terrorising
or displacement of civilians is often part of a deliberate strategy".

Starting in late 2005, the UN Security Council began debating the
situation in Burma. Pinheiro's report makes clear that Security Council
action could "offer an opportunity to speed up the process of transition
towards democracy". This message and the overwhelming reality of continued
abuses and impunity by SPDC forces, should be the primary talking point
for the upcoming visit by UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs
Ibrahim Gambari in November. Unlike his last visit, when he expressed
unfounded optimism that the "door was opening", Gambari must be
unequivocal about what is expected of the generals running the country.

The increase in repression outlined in Pinheiro's report shows the SPDC's
disregard for any international standards of behaviour, or concern for
their population. The intransigent generals who rule Burma must be
informed in blunt terms that they can no longer continue with their abuse
against their people. They must know that years of patient diplomacy and
appeasement have come to an end.

Gentle diplomacy, operated through high-level visits and persuasions, will
not work in Burma. If it had any record of success, all persons concerned
about the plight of the Burmese people would be huge advocates of
engagement. But, judging by Asean's complete failure to make progress
through its policy of constructive engagement, there is no reason for the
UN or others to waste time dreaming that high-level visits will make a
difference. They won't. Only consistent pressure from the rest of the
world, and in particular Burma's neighbours and chief allies, will result
in change for Burma's beleaguered people.

David Scott Mathieson is Burma consultant for New York-based Human Rights
Watch.