BurmaNet News, January 12, 2007

[Editor]

January 12, 2007 Issue # 3120


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar ruler returns home after medical check
DVB: Burma needs change, not words: Min Ko Naing

DRUGS
AFP: Myanmar migrant workers high on 'ASEAN'

ASEAN
New Straits Times (Malaysia): Myanmar urged to co-operate with Asean
AP: Military coups would be rejected in proposed ASEAN charter, officials say

INTERNATIONAL
AP: U.S. softens resolution on Myanmar

AP: Bush administration eases anti-terrorism restrictions on asylum, legal
residency –

OPINION / OTHER
Washington Post: A Test on Burma
Irrawaddy: UN Security Council should honor Burmese people’s wishes

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 12, Agence France Presse
Myanmar ruler returns home after medical check

Singapore: Myanmar's aging junta leader Senior General Than Shwe returned
home on Friday after medical checks in Singapore, an embassy official told
AFP.

"He just left," said the official who asked not to be identified. "I think
he must have arrived in Myanmar already now."

Asked if he has plans to return to Singapore for additional medical
checks, the official said, "No, not that I know of."

Airport sources in Yangon said earlier that Than Shwe, 73, left his
country on December 31 for medical treatment in the city-state,
accompanied by his wife Kyaing Kyaing.

The embassy official said Tuesday that despite "a lot of speculation"
about the leader's health he was "very much OK" after the checkup at the
Singapore General Hospital.

Than Shwe had been staying at a local hotel after completing his checkup,
the official said.

Officials rarely speak on the record in military-ruled Myanmar, for fear
of repercussions by the junta which runs the isolated Southeast Asian
nation with an iron fist.

Than Shwe has ruled Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, since 1992, but
Thailand-based analysts have said his health is weakening and he is
considering handing more power to his trusted protege, Shwe Mann.

Myanmar's military regime is facing mounting international pressure over
human rights abuses, the ongoing house arrest of opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and its slow progress on democratic reforms.

____________________________________

January 12, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma needs change, not words: Min Ko Naing

88 Generation Students group leader Min Ko Naing told DVB in an interview
after his release from prison yesterday that Burmese people needed more
than empty political promises.

The well-known activist and former student leader said government slogans
and statistics on development were not enough and that the public wanted
real change.

“[The public] just wants a way out of all these various hardships. They
want a change. They want to overcome this situation which is going no
where with these political words,” Min Ko Naing said.

“We do understand that's the true will of our people . . . we vow here
that we will continue working putting all physical and intellectual
efforts we can,” he said.

Five members of the 88 Generation Students group—Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi,
Htay Kywe, Min Zaya and Pyone Cho—were released by the Burmese military in
the early hours of yesterday morning after more than three and-a-half
months detention.

The five men were not charged and were released unconditionally, according
to Ko Ko Gyi who told DVB in a separate interview that he was encouraged
by the results of several political campaigns launched by the 88
Generation Students during his time in prison.

“The importance is, as those [campaigns] search for the peaceful ways
where the public can peacefully join in politics, it’s the exact same
attitude we all had, since before our detention,” Ko Ko Gyi said.

Min Ko Naing said he was “very satisfied” with the results from the recent
Signature, Open Heart and Tuesday Prayer campaigns and said he felt deep
appreciation for everyone who participated.

“We feel so happy to hear all those people and organizations from
different places put in their effort . . . We would like to say we
appreciate and thank their work,” he said.

Before they were arrested, the five men had been repeatedly accused by
authorities of plotting terrorist attacks in Burma. All five had spent
time in prison previously.

While analysts have said the men were clearly detained to stop them
continuing their political activities, there has been some debate over
whether internal or external political pressure led to their release.

____________________________________
DRUGS

January 12, Agence France Presse
Myanmar migrant workers high on 'ASEAN'

Bangkok: Myanmar migrant workers in southern Thailand have begun
concocting a new homemade drug that they call "ASEAN", made of heroin,
amphetamines and milk, Thai police said Friday.

The name "ASEAN" -- after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
which is meeting in the Philippines this weekend -- caught on among the
Myanmar migrants, although police were at a loss to explain why.

The exact recipe varies, but ASEAN is sold in small bottles for about 30
baht (80 US cents) and can include extra ingredients ranging from cough
syrup to crushed mosquito coils, police said.

The cocktail is found mainly in the southern province of Ranong, where
fishermen drink it to keep up their energy during long journeys on their
trawlers, police said.

"They would not sell this to Thai people," a police official told AFP by
telephone, on condition of anonymity.

"I've seen them sip it, and then they can work tirelessly until the drugs
run out. Most are workers on fishing trawlers," the official said.

People working long hours on the boats will drink up to two bottles a day,
he added.

Up to 50,000 registered Myanmar migrant workers live in Ranong, on the
Andaman Sea.

____________________________________
ASEAN

January 12, New Straits Times (Malaysia)
Myanmar urged to co-operate with Asean - Lokman Mansor

After being snubbed on several occasions, Asean is taking a more cautious
approach to Myanmar's political problems.

Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said Asean was
prepared to help in Myanmar's reconciliation and democratisation process,
but wanted the ruling junta to promise there would be measurable changes
and to give its full co-operation to Asean.

"As part of the Asean family, Myanmar must show its readiness to share
with us its problems and give Asean a role to play. We tried to do that
before, but Myanmar was not forthcoming," he said here on Wednesday night.

Syed Hamid and his Asean counterparts had earlier attended a working
dinner as part of the 12th Asean Summit, where they discussed regional and
international peace and security, including Myanmar, the Korean peninsula,
and the Middle East.

He said there was useful and frank discussion on the Myanmar issue, in
particular, its inclusion on the agenda of the UN Security Council, where
the US has introduced a resolution saying the situation in Myanmar "poses
serious risks to peace and security in the region".

"Myanmar has requested that (Asean) defend them, that Myanmar is not a
security threat. We agreed to that. We also believe if Myanmar doesn't
want the issue to be internationalised, then they should allow Asean to
play a role in the reconciliation," he said.

"Finally we decided that whatever step Asean wants to take depends very
much on Myanmar itself. We don't want it to be like before. We will help
where we can, but we don't want our credibility to be affected."

Myanmar previously had also agreed to Asean mediation between the military
leaders and the pro-democracy movement, but in the end attempts by several
officials, including Syed Hamid, to meet with detained Nobel peace
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi were unsuccessful.

On North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, he said Asean was concerned
that the six-party talks had not made any progress in finding a peaceful
solution and hoped to discuss the issue further during the Asean + 3
(China, Japan, South Korea) meetings.

On the proposed agreement on Asean co-operation on counter-terrorism, one
of several documents to be signed at this year's summit, he said Asean
should also call for a comprehensive solution to conflicts in the Middle
East, Palestine, and the continued occupation of Iraq.

Speaking on trade, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri
Rafidah Aziz said Asean has set a July deadline to conclude its free trade
agreement (FTA) negotiations with India.

"If there is still no progress, we will decide whether to suspend or call
off the talks," she said.

Asean-India FTA talks were first suspended for six months in 2004, when no
progress was made after India came to the table with an exclusion list of
more than 1,400 items. The list was later brought down to 560 items, and
now 490 items.

"We will go through this list carefully to see whether the items are
reasonable or not. They should not include items of import interest to
Asean, such as crude palm oil, coffee, tea and pepper," she said
yesterday.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi flew in here at
6.15pm yesterday.

____________________________________

January 12, Associated Press
Military coups would be rejected in proposed ASEAN charter, officials say
- Jim Gomez

Cebu: Southeast Asian nations would reject military coups under a proposed
regional charter, government-appointed advisers said Friday.

Coups and other extraconstitutional ways of changing a government are
among several acts that could be liable for still-unspecified sanctions in
the future by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the advisers
said.

Former Singapore Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar, one of the advisers to the
drafting of the charter, said that under the proposals, unconstitutional
political changes would be forbidden "because we consider that an
important principle."

ASEAN would promote stability in the region by "a rejection of
unconstitutional and undemocratic changes of government," a summary of
recommendations that the advisers have proposed for the new charter said.

The leaders have agreed to write a charter to create a more formalized
regional bloc, according to a draft of their final statement obtained by
The Associated Press on Friday.

It is expected to be formally endorsed during a summit on Saturday and
Sunday in the central Philippine city of Cebu, where the leaders are
meeting.

A recent coup in Thailand and several attempts by renegade soldiers to
seize power in the Philippines in recent years have tarred the entire
region's reputation.

The Philippines, who is hosting the summit of ASEAN leaders, continues to
be periodically hounded by debilitating coup rumors.

ASEAN, formed in 1967, has sought to transition into a more rules-based
organization with better bargaining power in international negotiations
and more muscle to discipline erring members.

It has long been criticized for failing to effectively deal with burning
issues such as human rights violations in military-ruled Myanmar, also
called Burma, which Western governments have condemned for political
repression.

Myanmar has become a source of embarrassment to ASEAN, largely because the
country's government has failed to fulfill promises to restore democracy
and free political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi.

ASEAN would also be asked to deal more sternly with serious breaches of
the group's principles and agreements by suspending member's rights and
privileges under the proposed charter, the advisers said.
In rare cases, he said, ASEAN leaders could resort to expulsion.

The advisers also are recommending that ASEAN relax its style of decision
by consensus which allows just one member to stymie any proposal and adopt
more flexible decision-making.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 12, Associated Press
U.S. softens resolution on Myanmar - Edith M. Lederer

The United States softened a U.N. resolution urging Myanmar's military
government to release all political prisoners and take speedy steps toward
democracy ahead of an expected Security Council vote on Friday. Washington
faces an uphill struggle to win council approval of the draft because of
opposition from China and Russia, both veto-wielding council members. The
council decided to put Myanmar on its agenda on Sept. 15 over objections
from Beijing and Moscow.

China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya and Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly
Churkin both contend that the Security Council is not the proper place to
discuss Myanmar because the Southeast Asian country does not pose a threat
to international peace and security.

A revised text circulated by the United States late Thursday dropped a
statement in its initial draft that would have the Security Council
express "its gravest concern that the overall situation in Myanmar has
deteriorated and poses serious risks to peace and security in the region."

The new draft substitutes a statement that would have the council
underline "the need for tangible progress in the overall situation in
Myanmar in order to minimize the risks to peace and security in the
region."

Whether that change would keep China or Russia from using its veto remains
to be seen.

The Security Council scheduled consultations on the resolution Friday
afternoon ahead of a formal meeting where the draft is expected to be put
to a vote. In order to be adopted, the resolution needs the support of
nine of the 15 council members and no veto.

"We don't think that any action taken by this council will be conducive to
promote any solution of the Myanmar issue," China's deputy U.N. ambassador
Liu Zhenmin said Tuesday.

Indonesia and South Africa — both new council members elected to two-year
terms — voiced similar objections.

Former Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent Undersecretary-General for
Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar in May and November to talk
to government leaders, who allowed him to meet pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.

During his visit, Gambari appealed to the government to release all
political prisoners, open its political process to all political parties,
stop hostilities against ethnic minorities and allow unhindered
humanitarian access.

Myanmar's junta took power in 1988 after crushing the democracy movement
led by Suu Kyi. In 1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's
party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide election
victory. Since then, Suu Kyi has been in and out of detention, kept in
near-solitary confinement at her home.

A National Convention, which suspended work in late December, is drafting
guidelines for a new constitution, the first of seven steps outlined in a
"roadmap to democracy" which the junta says will culminate in free
elections. But no timetable has been announced for completion of the
process, and the United Nations does not view it as "all-inclusive"
because Suu Kyi's party is not included.

The new draft expresses "deep concern at the slow pace of tangible
progress in the process towards national reconciliation." It calls on the
government "to begin without delay a substantive political dialogue, which
would lead to a genuine democratic transition, to include all political
stakeholders, including representatives of ethnic nationality groups and
political leaders."

The latest draft also calls on the government "to cease military attacks
against civilians in ethnic minority regions" and to end human rights
violations against ethnic minorities "including widespread rape and other
forms of sexual violence carried out by members of the armed forces."

It urged the government to allow humanitarian organizations to operate
without restrictions and to cooperate with the International Labor
Organization and its representatives in the eradication of forced labor.

____________________________________

January 12, Associated Press
Bush administration eases anti-terrorism restrictions on asylum, legal
residency - Suzanne Gamboa

Washington: The Bush administration is shifting policy to allow foreigners
who have aided armed groups not considered terrorists to seek asylum or
resettle in the United States.

Hundreds of foreigners already in the country, including some who have
been held for months or years in detention, claim to have been forced to
help violent groups. Many are fleeing violence from the groups they were
forced to help.

Tens of thousands of others, living abroad in refugee camps and elsewhere,
also would be affected by the plan to ease restrictions set after the
Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The applicants will have to show that they were forced to provide the
support or did so "under duress" to be granted asylum or legal permanent
residency. They must pass other intelligence and background checks as
well.

Human rights, refugee and conservative groups drew media attention to
refugee cases affected by the anti-terrorism laws after Sept. 11. The USA
Patriot Act and REAL ID law, for example, prohibited asylum for a Sri
Lankan fisherman who paid a $500 (euro385) ransom to the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam, who had kidnapped him.

The policy changes "will take care of a number of the most heart-wrenching
cases," said Paul Rosenzweig, acting assistant Homeland Security secretary
for international affairs. "It will take care of, for example, the case of
women caught in the civil war strife in Africa, who under threat of or
actually after having been raped and threat of death, did laundry for the
military opponents of her tribe."

Rosenzweig said the administration decided to shift the policies after
struggling with the "unintended consequences" of anti-terrorism laws. The
new policy was worked out by the Homeland Security, Justice and State
departments. The restrictions do not apply to people who have helped
groups such as al-Qaida.

In a related change, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could waive the
material support restrictions as early as Friday for certain ethnic
groups, which would allow them to come to the United States as refugees.
Members of those groups already in the United States would be allowed to
seek asylum or legal permanent residency. She issued similar waivers in
May and October for resettlement of Karen refugees from Myanmar, also
known as Burma, who have been living in refugee camps in Thailand.

Ethnic groups that could benefit from the latest round of waivers would
include the Karen in the Tham Hin refugee camp in Thailand whose villages
were burned and whose members endured rapes and forced labor.

Rice's action will help other ethnic groups who resisted the Myanmar
military, such as the Chin, and helped two older organizations, the
Mustangs, a Tibetan group and alzadas of Cuba, as well as the Hmong and
Montanards, southeast Asian ethnic groups that assisted the U.S. in
Vietnam.

Rosenzweig said the administration also is proposing legislation to change
a law that prohibits people of certain ethnic groups who participated in
armed combat from seeking asylum or legal status. The law has separated
some families because a father might have used arms to defend a family.
The family members could apply to resettle in the United States, but the
father could not.

"We're convinced after working this very hard, this will not create any
appreciable risk to the national security or homeland security of the
United States and at the same time allow us to provide the traditional
humanitarian relief that the United States is known for," he said.

Eleanor Acer, director of refugee protection for Human Rights First, said
the changes would still leave many refugees at risk.

"If indeed DHS does finally set up a process for refugees to be exempted
from these provisions, it will be a welcome step forward. It is, however,
a long overdue step and a step that fails to cover many of the most
vulnerable refugees," Acer said.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

January 12, Washington Post
A Test on Burma

Will China and Russia side with the dictators?

The Bush administration is pressing the U.N. Security Council to vote,
possibly as early as today, to condemn one of the world's worst human
rights violators: the military regime of Burma. The resolution doesn't
call for sanctions or other punitive measures; it would simply make clear
that the most august assembly of nations finds Burma's behavior
unacceptable and will press for change. Nonetheless, China and Russia are
threatening a veto. How it turns out should provide, at least, a moment of
clarity in global affairs.

Burma's government is not only one of the world's most repressive; it's
also a rare case of a dictatorship that can't even pretend to legitimacy.
That's because in 1990 the generals permitted a reasonably free election.
The overwhelming winner was Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Burma's
independence hero, and her National League for Democracy. The junta
refused to cede power; it has kept Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize
winner, under house arrest for most of the years since the election while
locking up many of her colleagues. The generals have waged terrible war
against various nationalities in the hills of their lush Southeast Asian
nation, displacing more than 1 million people; led the world in the use of
rape and forced labor as military weapons; and draped a blanket of fear
over their 50 million subjects.

The U.N. resolution stems from a 2005 report commissioned by retired
archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and former president Vaclav Havel
of the Czech Republic that made the case that Burma's internal failures
end up threatening neighboring states, by means of refugee flows, drug
trafficking and the spread of HIV, among a number of factors. But Burma is
also, as Undersecretary of State Nicholas R. Burns argues, "a classic case
of a country about which the Security Council needs to speak out" --
especially since the newly created U.N. human rights committee has proven
to be such a disappointment. "The onus is going to be on China or Russia,
if they do veto," Mr. Burns said. "It will be very clear that they have no
regard for what is really a deplorable situation within that country."

A U.N. resolution by itself won't bring change. But a resolution as part
of a concerted international campaign might. Just this week, hoping to
head off a vote, Burma released five political dissidents from prison
(leaving about 1,100). From deep in her enforced isolation, Aung San Suu
Kyi has gotten word out that she and other courageous democrats are aware
of, and strengthened by, efforts to stand by them. Those efforts include
first lady Laura Bush's drawing attention to her plight. A vote for human
decency in her country shouldn't be a hard call.

____________________________________

January 12, The Irrawaddy
UN Security Council should honor Burmese people’s wishes

One day before the UN Security Council is scheduled to vote on Friday on a
US resolution to condemn Burma’s military regime and push it towards
democracy, the main opposition National League for Democracy, which won
the 1990 election by a landslide, has urged all council members to
univocally support the US draft.

The resolution doesn’t demand sanctions or other tough actions. It just
wants to make clear that Burma’s undemocratic and oppressive behavior is
unacceptable and demands a genuine reform.

The special statement by the NLD also said that since the resolution
doesn’t include sanctions but focuses on peaceful means to achieve
national reconciliation, all Security Council members should support it.

However, the disagreements that emerged among Security Council members
when the council put Burma on its agenda last September are still there.

China and Russia are threatening to use their power of veto. They insist
that the Security Council doesn’t need to discuss Burma since it doesn’t
pose a threat to international peace and security.

Asean countries and Burma’s neighbors also haven’t said Burma poses a
regional threat, although they are quite upset with the country’s military
government. Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, with the support
of other Asean countries, has warned the Burmese military regime to take
concrete steps towards democracy.

Burma is unquestionably one of the world’s most repressive countries. For
decades, the regime has oppressed its own people and locked opposition
groups out of the political process.

Until now, the junta has detained more than 1,100 political prisoners. NLD
leader Aung San Suu Kyi is still under house arrest.

Prominent former student leaders who were released on Thursday also
welcomed the US draft resolution. Min Ko Naing, the group leader, said: “I
believed it’s for the good, but it is also important that action, not just
words, must follow.”

The demands of the NLD and the student leaders really come from the heart
of the people, and Security Council members should not ignore them. If
China and Russia do veto the resolution, it means they are taking sides
with the ruthless military leaders by ignoring the wishes of 50 million
Burmese people.

It is high time for the UN Security Council to push Burmese military
leaders firmly to change their undemocratic behavior and oppressive
policies.