BurmaNet News, February 15, 2007

[Editor]

February 15, 2007 Issue # 3143

INSIDE BURMA
AP via Irrawaddy: Junta hopes to complete constitution drafting this year
DVB: NLD slams military for extending deputy leader’s detention
Irrawaddy: Gang rape by soldiers reported in Kachin State

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Thai authorities target Burmese migrant workers
AFP: Myanmar, India hold security talks
Khonumthung: Chin Council hosts dinner for Martin Luther King Peace laureate
SHAN: Shan named as Burmese officer

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Myanmar to hold gems emporium soon

REGIONAL
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Myanmar refuses to give timetable of release Suu Kyi
Japan Economic Newswire: Indonesia to offer training for Myanmar military
officers

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Burma an issue in Asean-EU trade talks

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 15, Associated Press via Irrawaddy
Junta hopes to complete constitution drafting this year

Military-ruled Burma hopes to finish drafting its constitution by the end
of this year, the country's foreign minister was quoted as saying
Thursday.

Burma’s junta has said that drafting a constitution is the first of seven
steps in a so-called roadmap to democracy that will culminate in free
elections. Critics say the process is a sham because it does not involve
democracy activists such as Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains
in detention.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirajuda said his visiting Burmese
counterpart, Nyan Win, told him that Burma "hopes to finish drafting the
constitution by the end of the year."

"If that really happens, it will be progress in a process that many people
say is going too slow," he told reporters after meeting with Nyan Win. "It
would be step forward."

Along with some other countries in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is losing
patience with the slow pace of reform in Burma. Europe and the United
States, which view Burma as a rogue nation, are urging its neighbors to do
more to force change.

Burma has been without a constitution since 1988, when the existing 1974
charter was suspended after the military violently suppressed mass
pro-democracy protests.

The junta first convened a constitution-drafting National Convention in
1993, but its work was aborted in 1996 after delegates belonging to Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy party walked out in protest, saying
the military was manipulating the proceedings.

The convention was resurrected in 2004, although Suu Kyi's party is not
taking part.

____________________________________

February 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD slams military for extending deputy leader’s detention

The National League for Democracy today slammed the Burmese military’s
decision to extend the house arrest of party deputy U Tin Oo by one year.

Reports emerged from Rangoon yesterday that the authorities notified U Tin
Oo of the extension at his home on Tuesday.

NLD spokesperson U Nyan Win said U Tin Oo’s current period of detention,
which started directly after the infamous Depayin incident, had been
illegal from the start.

“This detention has been outside the law from the beginning . . . This
unjust act and this detention despite the fact that no crime was committed
is very ugly indeed,” U Nyan Win told DVB.

Both U Tin Oo and NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi have been incarcerated
since May 2003 when their motorcade was attacked by a pro-junta gang in
northern Burma. U Tin Oo’s detention was also extended by 12 months in
February 2005 and February 2006.

“We have never been told under which law he is being imprisoned . . . we
have to take action according to what we can do under the law,” U Nyan Win
said.

____________________________________

February 15, Irrawaddy
Gang rape by soldiers reported in Kachin State - Khun Sam

Four school girls were allegedly gang raped by Burmese army soldiers in
Putao Township, Kachin State in early February. Relatives of the alleged
victims are seeking more compensation than was paid by the army, according
to a local source.

The army paid 300,000 kyats (US $232) in compensation, but the families
consider the amount too low, the source said. The family is seeking 2
million kyats ($1,550) to be divided by the four girls.

The case was not reported to local police, the source said, because of a
fear of reprisals.

“The army officials have told the parents to clam down and not to report
it to any other authority, saying they had already compensated for the
case,” the source told The Irrawaddy.

The family claimed that seven soldiers from the military regime’s Infantry
Battalion-138 stationed near Putao approached four school girls on
February 2 and invited them to go to a Karaoke shop. Later, the girls were
taken to a military camp where the soldiers gang raped them, the source
said.

The four Kachin Rawang girls, between 14 to16 years old, are students of
Duk Dang High School in Putao.

The girls' parents and relatives reported the incident to the battalion
commander, Lt Col Soe Win. The relatives reportedly identified Maj Zaw Min
Thet, Capt Win Myint Oo and Capt Kyaw Ze Ya as among the abusers. Others
who may have been involved in the incident could not be identified,
relatives said, because of a lack of cooperation from the army.

The incident follows a recent report by a human rights group that accused
the Burmese military of killing, raping and torturing ethnic Karen women
as part of its battle against minority groups.

The report issued on Monday by the Thailand-based Karen Women’s
Organization cited cases of 959 women and girls in Myanmar’s eastern Karen
State who have reported abuses over the past 25 years.

“Rape has been and continues to be used as a method of torture to
intimidate and humiliate the civilian population, particularly in the
ethnic states. Women and children are subjected to forced labor and are
displaced from their homes,” the report said.

Similar allegations detailing widespread sexual assaults against women of
the Shan ethnic group, always denied by the Burmese regime, have been made
in recent years.

Leonard Shinra Chan, a native of Putao who now works for the
Thailand-based All Kachin Students and Youth Union, told The Irrawaddy
that girls and women have become more vulnerable since more Burmese
military battalions have been deployed in the Putao region in northern
Burma.

“It’s just a few cases that media groups have heard of because of
communication problems, but many rape and forced labor cases have taken
place there," he said. "Many, many women are raped."  Women have nowhere
to report abuses, he said, because the area is largely controlled by the
military.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 15, Irrawaddy
Thai authorities target Burmese migrant workers - Shah Paung

Thai military and police authorities arrested nearly 500 Burmese migrant
workers on Thursday in the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot in Tak
Province, a Burmese labor rights group said.

Moe Swe, head of the Mae Sot-based Yaung Chi Oo Burmese Workers
Association, said the arrests were made at four garment factories on the
outskirts of the city by members of the Thai army and police. He added
that while some of the detained workers did not have valid papers, many
did possess valid work permits.

Authorities are said to have rounded up an unknown number of workers from
multiple locations in the crackdown, from which they separated those with
papers and those without them.

One of the arrested workers who had a work permit and was later released
said authorities raided the factory where she worked at about 6 a.m. and
detained 300 migrants.

The detained migrants were taken to a nearby field and separated according
to those who had valid documentation and those who did not. The woman said
nearly 100 in her group produced work permits and were released after
about two hours. But she was concerned about rumors that the illegal
workers would be sent back to Burma.

According to the Public Relations Department of Thailand, more than 100
soldiers from the Thai army’s Infantry Division 17 on Thursday arrested
another 215 illegal Burmese migrant workers near Ban Rungraeng Learning
Center in Mae Sot Municipality.

The workers were charged with illegal entry to Thailand and sent to a
local immigration office for deportation.

Moe Swe said the recent crackdown may be the result of efforts by
authorities to pressure employers to renew work permits, but that such
efforts are unfair to workers.

“The authorities are taking action only against migrant workers with no
permits, but they never target employers,” he said. “They should take
action against factory owners,” who, Moe Swe said, are responsible for
acquiring permits for their workers.

According to the Chiang Mai-based Migrant Assistance Program, 27,253
Burmese migrant workers renewed their work permits in June 2006.

____________________________________

February 15, Agence France Presse
Myanmar, India hold security talks

Military-run Myanmar and neighbouring India have held security talks
following the junta's major crack-down on Indian separatist rebels last
month, state media said Thursday.

Security officials discussed "preventive measures" on border security and
drug-trafficking, the official New Light of Myanmar daily said, without
giving further details.
The countries share a 1,600-kilometre (1,000-mile) unfenced border that
New Delhi says helps separatist rebels to make quick getaways to Myanmar
after mounting attacks in India's tea, timber and oil-rich north-east.

The northeast is home to dozens of ethnic groups, as well as several
separatist insurgent movements.

Myanmar, under military rule since 1962, has repeatedly assured New Delhi
that it will not let Indian rebels operate from its soil.

Last month the junta burnt down the headquarters and two camps held by the
S.S. Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland
(NSCN-K) in a major military offensive in northern Myanmar, according to
the rebels.

The NSCN-K, fighting for an independent homeland for Naga tribal peoples
in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, has at least 50 camps with
some 5,000 guerrilla fighters in northern Myanmar.

The group has been observing a ceasefire with New Delhi since 2001, though
formal peace talks are yet to start.

The rebels say they are protecting their ethnic identity and accuse New
Delhi of exploiting the resource-rich northeast.

____________________________________

February 14, Khonumthung News
Chin Council hosts dinner for Martin Luther King Peace laureate

The Chin National Council based on the Indo-Burma border hosted a dinner
in honour to Martin Luther King Peace Prize winner, Dr Lian Hmun Sakhong
yesterday.

The Global peace group from Sweden awarded the prize to Dr Sakhong for his
steadfast struggle for national reconciliation and peace in Burma. He is
remarkable among those who are working for peace and justice across the
world, according to Thomas Thang No, president of CNC.

"He is worthy of the award since he has won the admiration of the
international community. The Chins should also proud of him," Thomas Thang
No was quoted as saying.

Martin Luther King laureate Dr Sakhong expressed his views during the
dinner on the Indo-Burma border.  He said that the peace prize awarded to
him is not only meant to be an individual recognition but was meant for
people who are being oppressed and tortured.

Peace groups including the Baptist union in Sweden awarded the Martin
Luther King prize to Dr. Lian Hmung Sakhong, General Secretary of the
Ethnic National Council, for his relentless effort to restore peace and to
establish federal democracy in Burma.

The Martin Luther King prize was established to honour the noble work of
those who are relentlessly striving for peace around the world.

Martin Luther King laureate Dr. Sakhong is the author of books such as 'In
Search of Chin Identity', 'A Study in Religion, Politics and Ethnic
Identity in Burma'.

Dr. Sakhong is General Secretary of the Ethnic National Council (ENC),
United National League of Democracy in exile (UNLD) and Chin National
League of Democracy (CNLD). He has also been enlisted in the panel of the
presidential board of CNC.

Dr. Sakhong was arrested by the Burmese junta for being involved in the
mass uprising in 1988 and fled Burma in 1990. He took political asylum in
Sweden in 1999.

____________________________________

February 13, Shan Herald Agency for News
Shan named as Burmese officer

A retired Shan resistance officer has been selected by the film crew
shooting Rambo IV: In the Serpent's Eye, starred and directed by Sylvester
Stallone, to play the role of a barbarous Burmese commander, reports
Hawkeye:

Sai Mawng, 40, a native of Namkham, who used to serve with Lt-Col Khun
Kyaw, Commander of the Shan State Army (SSA) South's 241st Brigade,
currently languishing in a Burmese prison, after being forced to surrender
in January 2006, was chosen from among 2-300 applicants, said one of his
close friends. "He speaks Burmese fluently and looks nasty enough," he
added. "He'll be shot in the head towards the end of the movie."

The film crew had been looking for a "Burmese male, 32-40,
military-looking man, character face, unlikable," according to its wanted
announcement.

The film is being shot in Keudchang, a village tract in Mae Tang, 30 km
north of Chiangmai, since 27 January, according to Khao Sod, a local
newspaper.

Apart from Sai Mawng, many Shan migrants have offered themselves to play
as Burmese soldiers in exchange for 300 baht ($ 8.6) per day plus meals
for 2 months.

According to the story line posted by the film crew, Rambo is hired by
Christian missionaries while working as a snake hunter in Thailand to
deliver medical and religious supplies to the persecuted Karens of Burma.
The missionaries are captured and Rambo is saddled with the job of
rescuing the surviving missionaries.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 15, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to hold gems emporium soon

Myanmar will hold a 13-day gems emporium here in March in a bid to boost
foreign exchange earning, according to Thursday's state-run newspaper New
Light of Myanmar.

Domestically produced quality gems, jade, pearl and jewelry  will be
displayed and sold through competitive bidding and at  fixed prices at the
44th annual gem show set for March 8-20 at the Myanmar Gems Mart and
Myanmar Convention Center, the report said  without disclosing the value
of gem items to be put on sale.

In March last year, the 11-day 43rd annual Myanmar gems  emporium broke
sale record since it was introduced 42 years ago  with 101 million U.S.
dollars, attended by 2,380 gem merchants  including 1,484 of 423 companies
from 16 countries and regions,  mostly from China, China's Hong Kong and
Thailand. The number of attendants was two times more than expected.

Myanmar started to hold gem shows annually in 1964 and since  then the
country has earned a total of over 600 million dollars  from such events
including the mid-year ones introduced since 1992 and the special sale
since 2004, according to official statistics.

Myanmar, a well-known producer of gems in the world, possesses nine gems
-- ruby, diamond, cat's eye, emerald, topaz, pearl, sapphire, coral and a
variety of garnet tinged with yellow.

There are three famous gem lands in Myanmar -- Mogok in Mandalay division,
Mongshu in Shan state and Phakant in Kachin state.

To develop gem mining industry, Myanmar enacted the New  Gemstone Law in
1995, allowing national entrepreneurs to mine,  produce, transport and
sell finished gemstone and manufactured  jewelry at home and abroad.

Since 2000, the government has started mining of gems and jade in joint
ventures with 10 private companies under profit sharing basis.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

February 15, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Myanmar refuses to give timetable of release Suu Kyi

Jakarta: Myanmar's military junta on Thursday refused to give a timetable
for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other
political prisoners, Indonesia's foreign minister said.

Hasan Wirajuda said he raised Suu Kyi's detention with his counterpart,
Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win, who was on an official visit to
Indonesia, during a close-door morning meeting.

Wirajuda said he also asked whether progress had been made on the junta's
repeated promises to create a new constitution and hold elections as part
of a "roadmap to democracy."

"The Myanmar government cannot guarantee when the political detainees,
including Suu Kyi, will be released," Wirajuda told a press conference.

But he said Nyan Win had "assured" Indonesia that doctors would continue
to be allowed to periodically visit Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, who has
been under house arrest at her lakeside Yangon home since July 2003.

Myanmar, a member of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), is facing increased international isolation for its refusal to
relinquish power to a civilian government, as well as for gross human
rights abuses and alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

Indonesia, ASEAN's unofficial leader, has been trying to nudge the ruling
generals in Myanmar, also known as Burma, to step up the pace of
democratic reforms. Indonesia was under a military-backed dictatorship for
three decades but is now moving toward democracy, and hopes to share its
experience with the junta.

Myanmar's military seized power in a coup in 1962 and has since violently
crushed various democratic uprisings. The generals agreed to an open
election in 1990, but when Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won,
they refused to accept the results and locked up hundreds of members of
her party.

During their talks on Thursday, U Nyan Win expressed confidence that an
ongoing special convention would complete the draft of a new constitution
this year, which is an important element of a possible power-sharing
agreement between the military and civilian political parties, Wirajuda
said.

Nyan Win was leading a delegation for two days of bilateral talks and he
and Wirajuda signed the "Agreed Minutes of the Indonesia-Myanmar Joint
Commission Meeting," aimed at strengthening relations between the two
nations.

The countries also agreed on various economic, political and cultural
cooperation efforts, and Indonesia offered to invite Myanmar military and
police officers to Jakarta to undergo training.

"We very much appreciate Indonesia's help to train our officers," said
Nyan Win, who refused to answer questions from journalists after the
meeting.

ASEAN continues to support engagement with Myanmar, despite strong
criticism from Western countries, such as the US and European Union, which
have slapped sanctions on the junta and dismissed its democracy roadmap as
a sham.

In January, Indonesia, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council,
abstained on a US proposal to debate Myanmar within the council and
discuss possible sanctions. The proposal was blocked by Russia and China.

The Indonesian government hopes that the abandonment of its military's
role in politics could serve as a model for Myanmar to ease its transfer
from military to civilian rule.

____________________________________

February 15, Japan Economic Newswire
Indonesia to offer training for Myanmar military officers

Indonesia will provide training for Myanmar military officers which may
lead to a joint military exercise in the future, Foreign Minister Hassan
Wirajuda said Thursday.

"We made an offer and it was welcomed," Wirajuda told a press conference
after meeting with Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win.

"Training will be provided for Myanmar military officers in Indonesia's
military commanding schools using the educational and training system of
the Defense Force, and it will not be impossible that we will hold a kind
of joint exercise in the future," he said.

The military cooperation is included in the Agreed Minutes signed by the
two ministers, Wirajuda said.

Asked whether the offer will raise international criticism due to
Myanmar's human rights record, Wirajuda said, "If it is agreed, it will
not, of course, create a problem."

In January, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met with Myanmar Prime
Minister Soe Win on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit and
suggested that the military-ruled country learn from the Indonesian
military's experience to promote democracy.

After the fall of Suharto in 1998, the Indonesian military abandoned the
long-held doctrine of a dual political and defense function which allowed
the military to interfere with politics.

In Thursday's meeting, Nyan Win also told Wirajuda that the Myanmar
government "is optimistic enough" about completing the process of drafting
a new constitution this year.

"If the constitution can really be completed this year, I think, it will
be good progress," Wirajuda said.

Asked when pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political
prisoners will be released, Nyan Win told Wirajuda that Myanmar "cannot
provide any exact time," the Indonesian minister said.

Suu Kyi has been under house arrest since May 2003 and has spent 10 of the
last 17 years in confinement.

The National League for Democracy led by Suu Kyi won the 1990 general
election by a landslide but was blocked by the junta from taking power.

The Myanmar foreign minister arrived in Indonesia on Wednesday for a
two-day visit.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 15, Irrawaddy
Burma an issue in Asean-EU trade talks - Sai Silp

Burma's lack of progress in promoting democracy and human rights is
looming to be a stumbling block in upcoming free trade negotiations
between Asean and the EU, scheduled for May.

Chana Kanaratanadilok, the deputy-director general of the Thai Department
of Trade Negotiations, said that in the Economics Officials Meeting in the
Philippines in late January, officials said the EU would not conduct
negotiations at a regional level.

“The current problem with the negotiation is political, not economics," a
source familiar with the negotiations said.

The EU reportedly will negotiate only with countries that can "commit and
implement" the trade agreement. Officials expressed concern that Burma was
not ready to participate in free trade talks with European nations.

In a joint-statement released on Tuesday, officials from the two blocs
said the FTA “should be ambitious, balanced and comprehensive and should
consider the differing levels of development” within the 10-member Asean
nations.

Asean nations have received widespread criticism in the West for their
lack of effort to push Burma's military government to move faster towards
democracy. Asean countries have been reluctant to criticize a fellow Asian
nation.

If the EU and Asean can not agree on a negotiating framework for trade
talks, the scheme could be postponed, and the EU could conduct
negotiations at a bilateral level with selected Asean countries.

Areas of proposed trade cooperation include trade and services, trading
facilities, customs, investment, trading competition policy and plants and
animal hygienic measures.

The EU is one of Asean's top trading partners, with bilateral trade
totaling €116 billion (US $150 billion) in 2005.