BurmaNet News, May 15, 2007

[Editor]

May 15, 2007 Issue # 3204


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: More rights advocates arrested in Rangoon
Reuters: Activists arrested before prayers for Suu Kyi release
Irrawaddy: Burma to close local NGOs, says secret Home Affairs memo
AFP: Bomb fears prompt Myanmar to ban remote-control toys: report

ON THE BORDER
The Guardian: Burma's bloody battle for power

INTERNATIONAL
AP: 59 former heads of state demand release of Myanmar pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi
Inter Press Service: Historical date adds pressure to Suu Kyi's potential
release
Reuters: Russia to build nuclear reactor in Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
The Washington Post: Letter to Burma
The Nation: Burma must free Suu Kyi

OPEN LETTER
Open letter to Than Shwe from 59 former heads of state

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 15, The Irrawaddy
More rights advocates arrested in Rangoon - Htet Aung

A score of Burmese pro-democracy activists led by a prominent human rights
defender were forcefully stopped during a demonstration march and arrested
Tuesday morning in Insein Township, according to witnesses in Rangoon.

Su Su Nway, the winner of the John Humphrey Freedom Award, and about two
dozen pro-democracy activists encountered special branch police officers
and members of the government-backed Union Solidarity and Development
Association as they marched to Kyauk Taw Gyi pagoda in Insein Township, a
source told The Irrawaddy. More than one hundred USDA members and police
in plain clothes blocked the group.

During the arrest, Kyaw Kyaw Min, a law student, was beaten by police and
USDA members, who confiscated a camera from the demonstrators.

Su Su Nway and other activists launched a one-month campaign on May 1 in
Burma to free democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house
arrest since May 2003. The demonstration Tuesday was part of a series of
visits to pagodas around Rangoon to pray for the release of the democracy
icon.

Another dozen activists taking part in a similar campaign were arrested in
Hlaing Thar Yar Township earlier Tuesday.

Su Su Nway, 35, a National League for Democracy youth leader, was
imprisoned for 18 months following her efforts last year to bring local
authorities in her village to justice for forcing her and her neighbors to
repair a road without compensation. Her campaign received worldwide
attention.

Aung Shwe, the chairman of the National League for Democracy, sent a
letter to Sen-Gen Than Shwe, the head of the military government, on May
10 calling for the release of Suu Kyi.

____________________________________

May 15, Reuters
Activists arrested before prayers for Suu Kyi release

Yangon: Police in army-ruled Myanmar arrested 39 activists on Tuesday
before they could reach Buddhist temples to pray for the release of
democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, friends and witnesses said.

The two groups of activists were picked up in the commercial capital
Yangon two weeks before Suu Kyi's latest term of house is due to expire on
May 27.

"Twenty eight activists led by Su Su Nway were arrested on their way to
Kyauktawgyi Temple," one organiser said, referring to the labour activist
who has emerged as a prominent leader of young human rights campaigners.

Su Su Nway was jailed for nine months after she helped to prosecute two
officials from her village in 2005 for using forced labour, a practice
that is officially outlawed but believed to still occur in the army-ruled
former Burma.

Another 11 activists were arrested in Yangon as they prepared to march to
the city's famed Shwedagon Temple early on Tuesday, the activist said.

Su Su Nway and members of Suu Kyi's opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) have organised prayers for her release at Buddhist temples
since the start of May.

The NLD sent a letter to regime leader Senior General Than Shwe on May 10
calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the Nobel Peace
Laureate, who has spent more than 11 of the past 17 years under some form
of detention.

The military, which has ruled Myanmar in various guises since 1962,
ignored international calls for her release on May 27 last year and
extended her detention for another 12 months.

On Monday, more than 50 former heads of state and government -- including
former U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush and Bill Clinton and
former Polish and South Korean presidents Lech Walesa and Kim Dae-jung --
appealed for Suu Kyi's release.

____________________________________

May 15, The Irrawaddy
Burma to close local NGOs, says secret Home Affairs memo - Yeni

Some of Rangoon's leading non-political and non-profit associations are
likely to be closed by the Ministry of Home Affair, according to an
internal memo obtained by The Irrawaddy from a source close to the
ministry.

The memo was signed by Kyin Lin—the general secretary for registrations in
the ministry’s central control board—and dated April 11 of this year. It
was addressed to the director of Rangoon’s general administrative
department of the ministry and includes the names of 24 social welfare
associations, including the the Free Funeral Services Society, a
non-profit, non-governmental and apolitical group.

The confidential memo states that the ministry recommends the closure of
the listed organizations and officials may need “to take necessary action
in accordance with the registration law of forming associations.”

A senior member of the free funeral society told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday
that the organization had not received any official announcement to close
and would continue to operate as normal until they did.

In response to a question about their annual registration for the
association, a spokesperson said: “We have already applied for renewal of
our registration, but the authorities have not yet replied.”

Representatives for Burma’s Ministry of Home Affairs were not available
for comment on Tuesday.

Burma’s military government has come under increasing criticism for their
attempts to control non-profit and non-governmental organizations
operating in the country, as well as their support of government-backed
social organizations such as the Union Solidarity and Development
Association.

____________________________________

May 15, Agence France Presse
Bomb fears prompt Myanmar to ban remote-control toys: report

Yangon: Myanmar banned the sale of remote-controlled children's toys
because of fears they could be turned into detonators for bombs, a local
weekly journal reported Tuesday.

Toys such as model motor cars, planes and robots have been banned in
Yangon since the first week of May, the Weekly Eleven journal said,
quoting shop owners in the commercial capital.

The toys in question were mostly imported from neighbouring countries, the
paper said, and the authorities would take action against anyone selling
them.

Myanmar's military leadership have in the past accused dissidents of
"terrorism", and claimed that exiled pro-democracy groups were plotting
attacks in Myanmar.

Twenty-three people were killed in May 2005 when three bombs hit two
shopping centres and a convention centre in Yangon, an attack the junta
blamed on a dissident student group.

The authorities have provided no evidence linking them to the blasts.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 15, The Guardian
Burma's bloody battle for power: Civil war: Villagers killed, homes
destroyed as junta seeks to control natural resources - Ian MacKinnon

Ee Thu Hta Camp, Burma: Spent tea leaves were etched into the raw blisters
on his face when they found him. Villagers believe the urn of scalding tea
the Burmese soldiers tipped over Mu Kay's head killed him. But the betel
nut farmer, 57, more likely bled to death, shot point-blank in both
thighs.

He died in agony. The 150 soldiers who surprised the remote hamlet waited
over his dying body for two days before leaving. When the villagers
emerged from hiding they buried him in a shallow grave and left their
homes for good.

The farmer's grim death is not unique. Many have been slain in the biggest
Burmese military offensive in a decade - all under the guise of
"development", to clear the way for four vast hydro-power dams - which
began more than a year ago.

It is the latest bloody chapter in the world's longest- running civil war
that has lasted nearly 60 years and sent millions fleeing into Thailand.
The conflict also displaced 500,000 people in Burma. But the newest
offensive, out of sight in the jungle, is driven by the Burmese junta's
aim to control resource-rich eastern Burma by enslaving some villages and
destroying others - killing, forcibly relocating or driving out the
inhabitants.

The prize is a bonanza of foreign currency from gems, gold, logging and
hydro-electricity that will bolster the repressive regime. The largest and
most lucrative project is a series of four dams on the Salween river
generating cheap power, mostly for export to Thailand.

"The regime uses development as an excuse for clearance," said Mark
Farmaner, of the UK-based advocacy group, the Burma Campaign. "The
generals say these are 'development projects', but they're cash projects.
They invest massively in things like the dams and the revenues go straight
to the dictatorship."

In the past year, the Thailand Burma Border Consortium that works in the
refugee camps estimates troops destroyed 232 villages in the country's
east and drove 82,000 from their homes. It is one development-driven
conflict highlighted in a report this week by Christian Aid, Human Tide:
The Real Migration Crisis, which predicts another one billion people
worldwide will be driven from their homes between now and 2050 as climate
change exacerbates conflicts, natural disasters and development projects.

This week eight British MPs from the international development committee
are visiting the Thai-Burmese border to assess the Department for
International Development's efforts for refugees and those displaced by
years of fighting.

The Burmese army adopts grisly tactics to extend its writ. Villagers are
given just days to move to "relocation sites" in ceasefire areas where
ethnic rebel groups have signed peace pacts. They are often forced to
build roads unpaid. Remote villages of no military value are shelled and
torched, their rice stores destroyed. Landmines are sown on farm tracks.

Villagers encountering army patrols in "black zones", where the Karen
National Union holds sway, are shot on sight, or worse. "The soldiers
torture them," said Naw Ler Htoo, of the Karen Teachers' Working Group
that trains in the camps. "They cut off the ears and cut out their eyes.
Then they leave their bodies, to terrorise the other villagers."

Naw Phaw Phaw, 34, suffered the Burmese military's wrath. Struggling since
her husband was killed three years ago by a landmine, she was forced to
flee when her village in Karen state's Papun district was razed in March.
"They burned down all 10 houses and the three rice stores," she said,
nursing her son and daughter. "The KNU still controls the area and warned
troops were near, so it might be dangerous. We left immediately and came
back to find everything destroyed. We stayed for a few weeks, but it was
impossible. There was nothing to eat and we left."

In Burma an estimated 95,000 people teeter on the brink of starvation,
hiding in the jungle. The ranks of refugees in camps in Thailand have
swelled to 153,000. Naw Phaw Phaw staggered into Ee Thu Hta camp exhausted
and hungry late last month. The camp was set up by the Karen authorities a
year ago when Thailand blocked new refugees. Bamboo shelters house 3,000,
but there is no electricity or running water. The camp squats next to the
Salween river on the border with Thailand. There are three Burmese army
posts within two hours' walk, leading to constant fear of attack.

Damming the Salween for hydro-power has been the focus of countless
studies over the years. But a flurry of agreements signed by Chinese and
Thai companies over the past 18 months moved preparations into top gear.
They spell the end for the Salween as south-east Asia's last free-flowing
large river.

Details of the projects remain secret.But the Salween Watch pressure group
says work started in April on a hydro-power plant and dam at Tasang in
central Shan state, where an offensive between 1996 and 1999 displaced
380,000 people. The Burmese government and the Thai power producer MDX
signed a £3bn deal in April last year to build the 7,110-megawatt project,
with most power destined for Thailand to feed a prospective Asian grid.

Thai academics also recently conducted an environmental impact assessment
study, guarded by Burmese soldiers at the southernmost Hat Gyi dam site, a
£500m, 600-megawatt project due to start in months and funded by the
state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) and a
Chinese firm, Sinohydro Corporation.

But areas around two other dam sites, at Wei Gyi and Dar Gwin, remain
beyond Burmese control. The army is focusing its 61 battalions on killing,
subjugating or driving out the population to guarantee the contractors'
safety.

The flooding of vast areas will drive another 73,000 people from their
land in Burma and 10,000 in Thailand. Environmentalists say the Salween's
ecosystem will be devastated, jeopardising 235 animal species. But the
biggest fear is for the populace.

"These dam projects will just mean more and more forced labour, either on
roads or the construction itself," said Nay Tha Blay, of Karen Rivers
Watch. "Yet the Karen people will get no benefit from the dams. Only the
(State Peace and Development Council) will get the money and the Thais the
cheap electricity to sell to the rest of Asia."

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 15, The Associated Press
59 former heads of state demand release of Myanmar pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi

Oslo: Nearly 60 former heads of state including three ex-American
presidents demanded Monday that Myanmar's military regime release Nobel
peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

Suu Kyi has been in and out of detention, mostly house arrest, since her
pro-democracy movement won a landslide election in 1990 and the military
refused to hand over power. She won the Nobel Peace in 1991.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter all
signed the letter to the dictatorship's top leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe.

The 59 former leaders urged Myanmar, also known as Burma, to release Suu
Kyi when her latest term of house arrest ends May 27.

"Suu Kyi is not calling for revolution in Burma, but rather peaceful,
nonviolent dialogue between the military, National League for Democracy,
and Burmas ethnic groups," said the letter, coordinated by former
Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik's Oslo Peace Center.

The letter noted that the United Nations, the European Union and many
countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan,
have also demanded Suu Kyi's release.

Those signing the letter also included ex-British Prime Ministers John
Major and Margaret Thatcher, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir
Bhutto, former French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, and former Canadian
Prime Minister Martin Brian Mulroney.

____________________________________

May 14, Inter Press Service
Historical date adds pressure to Suu Kyi's potential release - Marwaan
Macan-Markar

This year the chorus of voices calling for her freedom will include a new
list of heavyweights on the global political stage. Former presidents and
prime ministers from the developing and developed world figure on this
list, according to information received by IPS.

No less than 14 United Nations officials set the tone this week for a
fresh international campaign by releasing a signed statement in Geneva
calling on the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as the junta is
officially known, to free the Nobel peace laureate from house arrest. They
included Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the U.N. human rights envoy for Burma,
Hina Jilani, the U.N. secretary-general's envoy to protect human rights
defenders, and Ambey Ligabo, the U.N. envoy for the right to freedom of
opinion and expression.

''The U.N. human rights experts believe that the stability of Myanmar is
not well served by the arrest and detention of several leaders,'' declared
the statement, referring to the name by which the junta now calls Burma.
''(Suu Kyi's) tireless commitment to non-violence, truth, and human rights
has made her a worthy symbol through whom the plight of all people of
(Burma) may be recognised.''

The 61-year-old Suu Kyi has spent over 11 of the last 19 years as a
prisoner of the junta; the current phase beginning end of May 2003, after
she and her political supporters were attacked by goons linked to the SPDC
and then arrested.

Yet, Burma watchers have no reason to feel sanguine that the military
regime will depart from its policy of shutting Suu Kyi from public view
despite the international pressure. ''The military is not showing any
signs that she will be released this month,'' Aung Naing Oo, a Burma
political analyst exiled in Thailand, said in an interview. ''They are
keeping her in detention because of what she can do and what she
represents.''

There is another reason why the regime may be reluctant: her name is
associated with May 27 of another year, 1990, a date awash with symbolism
for Burma's pro-democracy movement. It was on that day 17 years ago that
Suu Kyi led her opposition party, the National League For Democracy (NLD),
to a thumping victory at the first parliamentary elections in over 28
years. Her party secured 81 percent of the 485-member Constituent
Assembly, while the pro-junta National Unity Party won a paltry two
percent of the seats.

But the junta -- which had crushed a pro-democracy uprising on the streets
of Rangoon in 1988, killing thousands of students in a hail of gunfire --
refused to recognise the results. Newly-elected parliamentarians, NLD
sympathisers and student activists were arrested and thrown into the
capital's notorious Insien prison. Suu Kyi was also kept captive, marking
her first phase as a political prisoner.

''The regime has stymied itself by giving added meaning to May 27 through
Suu Kyi's detention,'' says Debbie Stothard of the Alternative ASEAN
Network on Burma (ALTSEAN), a regional human rights lobby. ''It is loaded
with symbolism. Releasing her on that day will be seen as a two-fold
triumph over the regime.''

To that one can add how increasingly vulnerable the SPDC has become over
the last year, Stothard explained in an interview. ''The morale is getting
low because of problems within the army.''

A hint of disenchantment within sections of the military was confirmed in
a report released in early April by 'Jane's Defence Weekly,' the respected
publication that monitors armament trends across the world. During the
four-month period preceding a September 2006 meeting of top military
officers, 9,497 troops were dismissed from service, states the study,
'Myanmar army document spotlights low morale'. That was an eight percent
increase in desertion rates over the same period in 2005, when 8,760
Burmese troops left the service.

In some areas, battalions had less than 20 percent of their numerical
strength, while some military units during the same period, prior to
September 2006, could only count on about 15 soldiers, which was less than
two percent of the expected numbers, adds the report.

In February this year, further signs of cracks within the ranks emerged,
when the junta forced 800 low and mid-ranking officers to retire, bringing
to1,350 the number of mid-level officers forced to quit since 2007 began.

Burma's politics has been dominated by the military since a 1962 coup,
with the ruling generals refusing to share power with a civilian political
leadership. The military has maintained its grip through its numbers,
currently estimated to be over 400,000-strong. Close to 20 percent of this
south-east Asian nation's gross domestic product, or 2.8 billion US
dollars, goes for military expenses. The Stockholm International Peace
Research Institute ranks Burma among the leading 15 military spenders in
the world.

The spiralling cost of living, a mismanaged economy, spreading public
disenchantment in Rangoon and growing international condemnation,
including Burma being placed for the first time at the U.N. Security
Council this year, have also added to the regime's discomfort since May,
2006.

It is a milieu that has forced Gen. Than Shwe, Burma's strongman, to be
more vigilant. ''Releasing Aung San Suu Kyi now will only expose the
generals to problems that were not there last year,'' Win Min, a Burma
researcher at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand, told IPS. ''They
will drag this on. They have no exit plan.''

____________________________________

May 15, Reuters
Russia to build nuclear reactor in Myanmar - James Kilner

Moscow: Russia's atomic energy agency said on Tuesday it had signed a deal
to build a nuclear research reactor in Myanmar, whose military rulers have
been criticized by the West for repressive and undemocratic practices.

"This agreement provides for cooperation in the design and construction in
Myanmar of a centre for nuclear research," Rosatom said in a statement.

The centre will include a 10 megawatt nuclear reactor with low enriched
uranium consisting of less than 20 percent uranium-235, the agency said.

It said the research centre would be under the control of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Russia, along with China, has become a major supporter and supplier of
arms to Myanmar's junta since the West imposed sanctions in late 1988.

Last year China and Russia vetoed a U.S-drafted U.N. Security Council
resolution urging Myanmar to stop persecution and release political
prisoners.

Myanmar has recently repaired ties with North Korea, damaged when a North
Korean bomb in 1983 killed South Korean ministers visiting Myanmar. The
United States considers North Korea a rogue state and wants it to abandon
its nuclear arms program.

Russia is already building a nuclear power station in Iran, suspected by
the United States of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Russia says Iran
has a right to civilian nuclear power.

A 2004 research paper by the Australian National University said Myanmar
had asked Russia in 2000 for help in starting a nuclear civilian program
but that Moscow backed out of the plan in 2003.

No Myanmar government officials were available for comment but an Asian
diplomat in the main city of Yangon said original negotiations between the
two countries over Myanmar's nuclear program had fallen through because
they could not agree on payment details.

"With a billion dollar annual trade surplus for the last few years, the
regime now seems to be able to pay in cash," he said. "And that is what
the Russians demanded."

Yangon has suffered from power black outs over recent years as Myanmar's
economy shows signs of creaking under what observers say has been 45 years
of economic mismanagement by the military.

But 385 km (240 miles) north of Yangon, the junta's newly built capital
Nay Pyi Taw is basking in light.

The military has run Myanmar since 1962, ignoring a 1990 landslide
election victory by Aung San Suu Kyi, opposition leader and Nobel Peace
Prize winner, who has been under house arrest ever since.

(Additional reporting by Aung Hla Tun in YANGON)

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

May 15, The Washington Post
Letter to Burma

The world's senior statesmen call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

It's a remarkable list: 59 former presidents and prime ministers, from
countries ranging from Mongolia to Chile and from Argentina to Zambia.
They are Hindus and Muslims, Catholics and Buddhists, socialists and
right-wingers.

What could possibly unite them? Dismay that Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel peace
laureate and fighter for democracy, remains under house arrest in her
Southeast Asian homeland of Burma (also known as Myanmar). The 59 signed a
letter, released yesterday by Norway's former prime minister Kjell Magne
Bondevik, calling for her freedom. "Aung San Suu Kyi is not calling for
revolution in Burma, but rather peaceful, nonviolent dialogue," the former
leaders noted. They urged Burma's "senior general," Than Shwe, to take her
up on the offer.

Indeed, Aung San Suu Kyi has been amazingly consistent in her support of
nonviolence and democracy through nearly two decades of provocation and
oppression from Burma's dictators. In 1990, her National League for
Democracy won more than four out of every five parliamentary seats in a
free election, but the junta imprisoned many of the winners and refused to
cede power. Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 11 of the
subsequent 17 years and in solitary confinement since 2003. The corrupt
regime meanwhile has driven its resource-rich nation of 50 million people
deeper and deeper into poverty. It has burned 3,000 villages in campaigns
of ethnic cleansing; used rape and forced child labor to decimate ethnic
groups on its enemy list; and forced 1 million refugees into neighboring
countries.

Not long ago a majority of the U.N. Security Council voted to deplore such
tactics in a resolution that was vetoed (not surprisingly) by China and
Russia and opposed (more surprisingly) by South Africa. No former leader
from those three countries signed the letter. But three U.S. ex-presidents
did: Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. And it's a mark of
Burma's growing isolation that the signatories included so many respected
leaders from Asian countries that until recently argued against any form
of pressure: Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia,
Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, Corazon Aquino
and Fidel Ramos of the Philippines, not to mention leaders from India,
Pakistan, Thailand and more. Gen. Than Shwe should read his mail carefully
today.

____________________________________

May 15, The Nation
Burma must free Suu Kyi

Thailand also needs to shake off its complacency and take an active role
in pushing Rangoon for reforms

Former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik was right when he
said Aung San Suu Kyi has been a remarkable source of inspiration for the
Burmese people as well as other people around the world. The proof of this
widespread feeling was the letter he initiated calling on the Burmese
government to release Suu Kyi immediately, which was signed by 59 world
leaders. It is clear that these leaders want the Nobel Peace Prize
laureate freed from house arrest.

Among the signatories was former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
who was instrumental in Burma's admission into Asean in 1997. Back then,
he argued against all conventional wisdom about the need to include Burma.
Now he has had second thoughts. Last year, he called for the expulsion of
Burma from Asean following news of abuse and oppression in the country.

The letter was released to coincide with the end of the incarceration
period as pledged by the junta leaders. They have to decide if her term of
incarceration will be extended. By the end of this month, she would have
served a total of 14 years under house arrest. Despite pledges to free
her, the junta has consistently broken its promises. This time, the weight
of the international community and world leaders has brought the Burma
issue and Suu Kyi's fate into focus once again. Beyond these leaders'
call, other leading nations must chip in.

Three countries in particular - China, India and Thailand - play a crucial
role in bringing pressure to bear on Burma. China and India are the top
supporters of Burma these days. Their strategic and mutual interests with
Burma have dictated their policies and actions.

China has refused to discuss the Burmese situation with any other country.
Beijing has vetoed any call for debate on Burma at the UN Security
Council, and it is an open secret that China is in a win-win situation
because the current regime is almost totally dependent on Beijing's
generosity in terms of assistance. There have been some small shifts in
China, as some Western diplomats have noted. It is now urging Burma to
work toward economic progress and liberalisation. But more than pressure
is needed to make changes. In the case of the Darfur crisis, China showed
that it could go the extra mile if its interests are at stake - in that
case next year's Olympics. While the Burmese situation does not have the
kind of human drama and genocide of the Darfur crisis, it remains a
serious problem. Since 1988, millions of Burmese have been relocated
internally and externally. Most of them have fled to neighbouring
countries, especially Thailand and Bangladesh.

India was a late comer in dealing with the Burmese regime, but its support
has proved lethal. By abandoning its democratic principles, New Delhi has
knowingly backed a regime that has repeatedly perpetuated injustice and
committed human rights violations. Certainly India has to protect its
national interests and contain the insurgency along its eastern border but
it can do that without acting as an accomplice of the junta as it is now.
It is a shame. The international community has had false hopes concerning
India. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has failed the international
community. Competing with China over Burma is not productive and in the
long run will damage the country's reputation and global interests. As it
is now, India is being used as a pawn by the military junta.

Finally, Thailand, which shares a common border of 2000 kilometres with
Burma, has to come clean about its policies. The current government's
policy towards Burma is to do nothing about the situation there.

For many, that was a huge improvement from the previous government. When
Thaksin Shinawatra was in power, he was a staunch supporter of the Burmese
junta because of his huge commercial interests. While the current
government does not have this kind of abattoir, it is still not courageous
enough to call for an overhaul of Thailand's Burma policy. That explains
why vested interests from the last government have been trying to
undermine the ongoing policy toward Burma. Many cooperation ventures have
been put on hold pending further investigations and recommendations.
Thailand should be doing more.

____________________________________
OPEN LETTER

May 15, 2007

Senior General Than Shwe
Naypyidaw
Burma

Dear Senior General Than Shwe:

We are writing this public letter to call for the immediate release of the
world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.  Her
most recent term of house arrest is scheduled to end on May 27, 2007.

On January 8, 2007, new United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
called on you to release Aung San Suu Kyi.  May 27, 2007 affords an
excellent opportunity to respond to his request.

Indeed, the UN General Assembly, former UN Commission on Human Rights,
ASEAN, European Union, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Japan,
and many other countries have all called for Aung San Suu Kyi’s immediate
release.

The 2006 UN General Assembly resolution on Burma, which passed
overwhelmingly, expressed “grave concern” at “the extension of the house
arrest of the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, Aung
San Suu Kyi” and strongly called upon your government to “to release all
political prisoners immediately and unconditionally, including National
League for Democracy leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo.”

Aung San Suu Kyi is not calling for revolution in Burma, but rather
peaceful, nonviolent dialogue between the military, National League for
Democracy, and Burma’s ethnic groups.  The UN General Assembly resolution,
and 15 previous resolutions also support this approach.

We strongly urge you to respond to the United Nations and countless other
countries and regional groupings around the world by releasing Aung San
Suu Kyi before May 27th and committing to participate in peaceful,
tripartite dialogue as outlined by the General Assembly.

Sincerely,

1.	The Honorable Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín
	Former President of Argentina (1983-1989)

2.	The Honorable Marí Bin Amude Alkatiri
	Former Prime Minister of East Timor (2002-2006)

3.	The Honorable Sadiq Al-Mahdi
	Former Prime Minister of Sudan (1966-1967, 1989-1989)

4.	The Honorable Halldór Ásgrímsson
	Former Prime Minister of Iceland (2004-2006)

5.	The Honorable Corazon C. Aquino
	Former President of the Philippines (1986-1992)


6.	The Honorable Benazir Bhutto
	Former Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988-1990)

7.	The Honorable Kjell Magne Bondevik
	Former Prime Minister of Norway (1997-2000, 2001-2005)

8.	The Honorable Gro Harlem Brundtland
	Former Prime Minister of Norway (1981, 1986-1989, 1990-1996)

9.	The Honorable George H.W. Bush
	Former President of the United States of America (1989-1993)

10.	The Honorable Jerzy Buzek
	Former Prime Minister of Poland (1997-2001)

11.	The Right Honourable Kim Campbell
	Former Prime Minister of Canada (1993)

12.	The Honorable Jimmy Carter
	Former President of the United States of America (1977-1981)

13.	The Honorable Joaquim Alberto Chissano
	Former President of Mozambique (1986-2005)

14.	The Honorable William J. Clinton
	Former President of the United States of America (1993-2001)

15.	The Honorable Fernando Henrique Cardoso
	Former President of Brazil (1995-2003)

16.	The Honorable Chuan Leekpai
	Former Prime Minister of Thailand (1992-1995, 1997-2001)

17.	The Honorable Jacques Delors
	Former President of the European Commission (1985-1995)

18.	The Honorable Philip Dimitrov
	Former Prime Minister of Bulgaria (1991-1992)

19.	The Honorable Elbegdorj Tsakhiagiin
	Former Prime Minister of Mongolia (1998, 2004-2006)

20.	The Honorable José María Figueres
	Former President of Costa Rica (1994-1998)

21.	The Honorable Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
	Former President of Iceland (1980-1996)

22.	The Honorable César Augusto Gaviria Trujillo
	Former President of Colombia (1990-1994)
	Former Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (1994-2004)
23.	The Honorable Luis Alberto Lacalle Herrera
	Former President of Uruguay (1990-1995)

24.	The Honorable Václav Havel
	Former President of the Czech Republic (1990-2003)

25.	The Honorable Thorbjørn Jagland
	Former Prime Minister of Norway (1996-1997)

26.	The Honorable Lionel Jospin
	Former Prime Minister of France (1997-2002)

27.	The Honorable Kim Dae-jung
	Former President of South Korea (1998-2003)

28.	The Honorable Junichiro Koizumi
	Former Prime Minister of Japan (2001-2006)

29.	The Honorable Aleksander Kwaśniewski
	Former President of Poland (1995-2005)

30.	The Honorable Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar
	Former President of Chile (2000-2006)

31.	The Honorable Árpád Göncz
	Former President of Hungary (1990-2000)

32.	The Honorable Kenneth Kaunda
	Former President of Zambia (1974-1991)

33.	The Honorable Lee Hong-Koo
	Former Prime Minister of South Korea (1994-1995)

34.	The Honorable Paavo Lipponen
	Former Prime Minister of Finland (1995-2003)

35.	The Honorable Mahathir Mohamed
	Former Prime Minister of Malaysia (1981-2003)

36.	The Right Honourable Sir John Major, KG CH PC
	Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland (1990-1997)

37.	The Honorable Megawati Sukarnoputri
	Former President of Indonesia (2001-2004)

38.	The Honorable Rexhep Meidani
	Former President of the Republic of Albania (1997-2002)

39.	The Honorable Benjamin William Mkapa
	Former President of Tanzania (1995-2005)

40.	The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney
	Former Prime Minister of Canada (1984-1993)

41.	The Honorable Davíð Oddsson
	Former Prime Minister of Iceland (1991-2004)

42.	The Honorable Andrés Pastrana Arango
	Former President of Colombia (1998-2002)

43.	The Honorable Göran Persson
	Former Prime Minister of Sweden (1996-2006)

44.	The Honorable Fidel V. Ramos
	Former President of the Philippines (1992-1998)

45.	The Honorable Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
	Former Prime Minister of Denmark (1993-2001)

46.	The Honorable Mary Robinson
	Former President of Ireland (1990-1997)

47.	The Honorable Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé
	Former President of the Republic of Bolivia (2005-2006)

48.	The Honorable Petre Roman
	Former Prime Minister of Romania (1989-1991)

49.	The Honorable Amos Claudius Sawyer
	Former President of Liberia (1990-1994)

50.	The Honorable Chandra Shekhar
	Former Prime Minister of India (1990-1991)

51.	The Honorable Vishwanath Pratap Singh
	Former Prime Minister of India (1989-1990)

52.	The Honorable Mário Soares
	Former President of Portugal (1986-1996)
	Former Prime Minister of Portugal (1976-1978, 1983-1985)

53.	The Right Honourable Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven
	Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland (1979-1990)

54.	The Honorable Alejandro Toledo
	Former President of Peru (2001-2006)

55.	The Honorable Jorge Quiroga
	Former President of Bolivia (2001-2002)

56.	The Honorable Ung Huot
	Former Prime Minister of Cambodia (1997-1998)
57.	The Honorable Casam Uteem
	Former President of the Republic of Mauritius (1992-2002)

58.	The Honorable Abdurrahman Wahid
	Former President of Indonesia (1991-2001)

59.	The Honorable Lech Wałęsa
	Former President of Poland (1990-1995)

cc: 	UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

	Members of the UN Security Council

	U Aung Shwe, Chairman, National League for Democracy