BurmaNet News, May 25, 2007

[Editor]

May 25, 2007 Issue # 3212


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar junta extends detention of democracy leader Suu Kyi by a year
Irrawaddy: Junta still targeting Suu Kyi supporters
DVB: Location of arrested activists still unknown
SHAN: Junta displays tanks on day of peace parley
DVB: U Nu book banned by censorship board
Khonumthung News: Merlin to operate in Chin State

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: Bomb explodes in Nanpharlone market

HEALTH / AIDS
AP: Burma battling to contain polio outbreak

ASEAN
Mizzima: Philippines activists urge ASEAN to discuss Burma

REGIONAL

INTERNATIONAL
AP: US criticizes Myanmar's human rights record, says flow of refugees a
burden to region -
Religious Intelligence: Britain to challenge Burma foreign minister over
human rights record

PRESS RELEASE
NCGUB 'deeply disappointed' by 'shortsighted decision' of Burmese Generals

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 25, Associated Press
Myanamr junta extends detention of democracy leader Suu Kyi by a year -
Aye Aye Win

Yangon: Defying an outpouring of international appeals, Myanmar's military
government Friday extended the house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi by another year, a government official said.

The official confirmed that a car seen entering her home Friday afternoon
carried officials presenting her with a new detention order, which will
keep her confined to her residence for a fifth straight year.

The official asked that neither he nor his agency, which is concerned with
security affairs, be named, because he is not authorized to speak to the
press. The government normally makes no official public announcement of
such actions.

Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has spent 11 of the past 17
years in detention, and is not even allowed any telephone contact either
with the outside. Her current one-year detention order was due to expire
on Sunday.

The extension had been widely expected, although many international groups
and dignitaries had called for Suu Kyi's freedom.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the U.N.'s independent expert on human rights in
Myanmar, called it a "very regrettable decision."

"I think this is very counterproductive in terms of making a transition to
democracy," he told The Associated Press by telephone from Cape Town,
South Africa. "They say they are moving ahead. But they continue to hold
1,200 political prisoners, including the main members of the opposition."

Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party,
said the organization had not yet been able to confirm the government
action.

"However, if the detention is extended despite demands by the
international community, this is a very uncivilized action," he said.

The first sign of the extension came when a silver-gray Toyota Hi-Ace car
with tinted windows was seen by neighborhood residents entering Suu Kyi's
compound at 3:55 p.m.

The identity of the people in the vehicle was unknown, though they were
almost certain to have been officials because she is allowed no visitors.
They stayed for about 10 minutes. The detention order takes effect when it
is read out to the person concerned.

Suu Kyi has been held continuously since May 30, 2003, when her motorcade
was attacked by a pro-junta mob during a political tour of northern
Myanmar. The government considers her a threat to public order.

The ruling junta turned a deaf ear to the appeals for her freedom from
abroad, and harassed and detained her local supporters, who have been
holding prayer vigils for her release.

On Wednesday, the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or
ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a member, broke with its policy of
noninterference to urge the country's generals to free Suu Kyi and speed
up democratic reforms.

They joined former world leaders, a group of female U.S. Senators and
pro-democracy activists around the world who have recently pressed for an
end to her detention.

In a letter last week to Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the junta's chief, 59
former world leaders including former U.S. Presidents George H. W. Bush,
Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and former British Prime Ministers John
Major and Margaret Thatcher urged Suu Kyi's release.

"There's no doubt that Aung San Suu Kyi is not going to be released from
house arrest," Larry Jagan, a journalist based in Bangkok, Thailand who
specializes in Myanmar, said earlier this week.

Jagan and others predict Suu Kyi's status won't change until at least the
National Convention finishes drafting a new constitution and probably not
until a referendum on the constitution and elections are held a period of
three or four more years.

The convention is the first step on the ruling junta's seven-stage "road
map to democracy," which is supposed to culminate in free elections at an
unspecified future date.

The junta took power in 1988 after crushing vast pro-democracy
demonstrations in Myanmar, then known as Burma. It refused to hand over
power when, on May 27, 1990, Suu Kyi's party won a general election by a
landslide, insisting the country first needed a new constitution. The
military has continued to rule while persecuting members of the
pro-democracy movement.

The United Nations, the European Union and the U.S. government regularly
call for the release of Suu Kyi along with more than 1,200 other political
prisoners.

The U.N.'s Pinheiro said it was disappointing that Myanmar extended the
house arrest despite appeals from all over the world. He also criticized
the junta for "refusing humanitarian appeals" concerning prisoners serving
sentences as long as 70 years.

"It's completely unacceptable," he said.

____________________________________

May 25, The Irrawaddy
Junta still targeting Suu Kyi supporters - Htet Aung

Burmese authorities on Friday launched fresh attacks on supporters of Aung
San Suu Kyi who were praying for her release at a Rangoon pagoda,
according to witnesses.

The confrontation took place on Friday morning at the Chauk Htat Gyi Paya,
or Six Story Pagoda in Rangoon as some 30 members of the opposition party
National League for Democracy assembled at the pagoda.

A group of about 15 members of the Union Solidarity and Development
Association—a junta-backed pseudo-social organization—and the Phythu Swan
Arr Shin, a paramilitary group, joined the petitioners at the pagoda
wearing T-shirts depicting Suu Kyi and her late British husband Michael
Aris.

The group interrupted the prayers by shouting anti-Suu Kyi slogans and
praying out loud for the destruction of “destructive elements,” one youth
member told The Irrawaddy by phone on Friday.

When the NLD group—led by youth members from the party’s Tarmwe township
office—tried to leave the pagoda, they were met by a second group of USDA
and Phythu Swan Arr Shin members.

“During the attack, a Buddhist monk from Chauk Htat Gyi pagoda intervened,
and some of the NLD members already in the custody of the mob were
released,” said the youth member.

Burmese authorities have arrested more than 40 activists since a prayer
campaign seeking the release of Suu Kyi began in early May.

Su Su Nway, a leading pro-democracy activist, was arrested on May 15 in
Rangoon during a similar prayer campaign. She has since been admitted to
the Muslim Free Hospital in Rangoon’s Kyauktada township, according to a
hospital staff member who wished to remain anonymous.

“Su Su Nway is under close watch by about five police women,” said Myint
Thein, a spokesperson for the NLD.

Khin Htun, another NLD youth member from Rangoon, was arrested on Monday
after visiting Su Su Nway at the hospital.

Authorities in Rangoon have stepped up security on the eve of two
anniversaries: the the Depayin attack on May 30, 2003, during which dozens
of Suu Kyi supporters were killed by a junta-backed mob, and the
expiration of Suu Kyi’s current term of house arrest.

Security boxes and personnel have recently been deployed in some areas of
Rangoon, according to one local resident.

____________________________________

May 25, Democratic Voice of Burma
Location of arrested activists still unknown

The whereabouts of high-profile activist Ko Htin Kyaw and seven other
protestors arrested by the military on April 22nd are still unknown
according to their friends and families.

Protestors who were with the group when they were detained told DVB
yesterday that they had reportedly been transferred from the Aung Thabyay
interrogation centre to a facility in the Kyaikkasan area of Rangoon.

“We heard that they are still being interrogated . . . The authorities do
not disclose any information about the detainees to their family members
who have tried to see them,” an activist close to Ko Htin Kyaw said.

“The authorities say they don’t know anything about the group and they
won’t let their family members meet with them . . . We have also heard
that four people who remain in custody have been ill,” the source said on
condition of anonymity.

The group of protestors were handcuffed by special police and led away on
April 22nd after they staged a demonstration calling for lower commodity
prices and 24-hour electricity in Thingangyun township.

It was the third time Ko Htin Kyaw had been arrested since he led a
similar protest near Sule pagoda in February. The military has not
released information on the reasons behind the recent arrests or the
charges faced by the group.

____________________________________

May 25, Shan Herald Agency for News
Junta displays tanks on day of peace parley

Three mounted amphibians were seen positioned  near Tachilek's Shwe Dagon
pagoda replica on Wednesday, 23 May, the day Burma's military authorities
were to meet representatives from the Shan State Army (SSA) South,
according to sources on the border.

"They were moved back to Light Infantry Battalion 331 post, where they
have been stationed since 2001 during the Thai-Burma confrontation," said
a long-time resident.

"Dishonest people don't trust others", commented another. "They are always
in fear of being double crossed."

The SSA was also attacked on the same day by a 70-strong Burma Army
column, commanded by Lt-Col Soe Win, commander of Kengtung-based Light
Infantry Battalion 314, according to rebel sources. The column, they say,
was on its way to stage a surprise attack on the SSA's patrol Maj Moon
Mai, when it ran into another SSA patrol led by Captain Htawn at 11:50.
During the 10-minute fight, 4 of the Burma Army men, including Soe Win,
were seriously wounded. "One of them died on the way, according to local
villagers," said a senior SSA officer.

The clash took place northeast of Mong Inn, Kengtung township. SHAN
however has not been able to obtain confirmation for the report.

The planned meeting between the Burma Army delegation led by Lt-Col Than
Tut Thein and the SSA delegation led by Maj Lao Hseng on 23 May was called
off after the two sides disagreed on the choice of venue. The latter had
proposed a neutral ground, meaning Thailand, while the former insisted
that it should be in Burma Army controlled Tachilek.

____________________________________

May 25, Democratic Voice of Burma
U Nu book banned by censorship board

A biography of Burma’s former late prime minister U Nu, timed to be
released on what would have been his 100th birthday today, has been banned
by the censorship board.

The book’s author Than Win Hlaing, who recently finished a seven year
prison sentence for writing about independence hero general Aung San, said
he was told by the government that now was not the time for a book on U
Nu.

“It took about three months to put together the information. Then it was
submitted to the censor board. They told me that even though the
information was correct, the book would have to be referred to the central
censorship unit because the situation is not right at the moment,” Than
Win Hlaing said.

“They said it might take one or two years for the central unit to review
it. I assume that means that it hasn’t been passed,” he said.

Than Win Hlaing said that if he was not allowed to publish the book in
Burma then he would try to have it published outside the country. He said
it contained information on U Nu’s detention in Insein prison after the
1962 coup led by general Ne Win.

“The most important thing is to write it, not to have it published.
History can not be changed,” Than Win Hlaing said.

U Nu’s autobiography, The Saturday Son, has also been banned in Burma
despite selling well in the international market.

____________________________________

May 25, Khonumthung News
Merlin to operate in Chin State

Merlin, the UK based international health NGO has announced that it will
begin health and relief work in Chin state Myanmar this year following a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Health.

The Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin) has set up a project
coordinator's office in Thantlang town Chin state. Recently, Merlin
advertised a vacancy for the post of a project health coordinator to
implement the project which will focus mainly on malaria.

Merlin will help Chin people who are suffering from malaria and other
health related problems along with those facing problems because of
natural disasters.

"We have to watch if the new health agency (Merlin) will work effectively
for the people in the border areas," said local from Thantlang town.

In Chin state, UNDP and UNICEF also function in health, education,
agricultural sector and breeding of domestic animals. But they can run
their projects in limited areas allowed by the military authorities for
reasons of safety. Most UNDP and UNICEF projects are operational in the
towns and the villages near the towns in Chin state.

Chin Backpack, Chin Health Programme and other health related
organizations outside Burma also impart health education and medical
assistance in the region out of reach of the UNDP and UNICEF.

Merlin in 'Relief web' stated that a few international NGOs operate in
Chin State where the Ministry of Health's support to health infrastructure
in remote areas is limited.

Merlin set up in 1993, operates worldwide and deals in vital health care
and medical relief for vulnerable people caught in natural disasters,
conflicts, diseases and health system collapse.

Merlin provides medical relief and health care services to more than 15
million people in up to 20 countries worldwide.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 25, Mizzima News
Bomb explodes in Nanpharlone market

A bomb exploded in the Nanphalong border market in Tamu Township close to
the India-Burma border on Friday.

An unknown number of people were seriously injured after the bomb exploded
in front of the 'You and Me' teashop in Tamu, Sagaing divison in western
Burma at 3:30 p.m.

"The injured were carried by two and three-wheeled cars to the hospital.
Military personnel cordoned off the area immediately," a resident of Tamu
told Mizzima.

Soon after the bomb blast, Burmese military authorities shut down the
border check point No.2. Burmese vendors fled back to Burma through the
border fencing as security was tightened.

Yesterday, Ali Hussein, a 37-year old Indian citizen was gunned downed by
three unknown men who came from Burma near the border checkpoint No.3 in
Moreh town in Manipur state.

Ali Hussein was reportedly a former member of PREPAK, an Indian rebel
outfit based in Sagaing divison. He had later surrendered to the Indian
Army.

Indian rebel outfits fighting the central government of India like the
United National Liberation Front, The People's Liberation Army (PLA), and
the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak are reportedly based in
Mintha Township, Sagaing division in Burma.

In January 2006, two bombs exploded in the Namphalong market and one
person was killed.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

May 25, Associated Press
Burma battling to contain polio outbreak

Health authorities are working to contain a polio outbreak in Burma that
has afflicted three toddlers, the latest case confirmed this week, the
World Health Organization said Friday. All three cases—affecting children
between 15 and 23 months old—were reported in the Maungdaw District on the
border with Bangladesh, prompting authorities to launch a cross-border
vaccination campaign. "We have three cases confirmed in Myanmar [Burma]
near the Bangladeshi border," Oliver Rosenbauer, a spokesman for the WHO's
Polio Eradication Campaign, told The Associated Press. "The cases in
Myanmar were an importation from Bangladesh. It's genetically linked to
that." The outbreak in Burma has prompted authorities to launch the first
of three synchronized immunization campaigns early this month in
Bangladesh and Burma that is expected to cover 2 million children under
age 5, Rosenbauer said.

The second campaign will be launched in early June and the third campaign
in July, he said. "The challenge will be reaching every child," Rosenbauer
said. "The thing we have going is that both countries have relative strong
routine immunization services. We are not seeing explosive outbreaks as we
saw in Indonesia." Burma’s first polio case since February 2000 was
detected last June in a 19-month-old boy in central Burma. The latest
outbreak has no connection to that case. Two other suspected cases in
Burma have yet to be confirmed in lab tests, Rosenbauer said.

____________________________________
ASEAN

May 25, Mizzima News
Philippines activists urge ASEAN to discuss Burma - Lemyao Shimray

Activists in Philippines called on the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) to
include the Burma issue on its agenda and staged a protest today demanding
the unconditional and immediate release of Burma's democracy icon Aung San
Suu Kyi. The ARF is meeting in Philippines this week.

Members of the Free Burma Coalition-Philippines and Asia Pacific
Solidarity Coalition held a rally outside the Shangrila Plaza Hotel in
Makati City, Philippines.

The demonstrators claimed that senior ministers of ASEAN have side-stepped
the Burma issue, including the continued detention of pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, during a series of meetings it is holding this week.

Egoy Bans spokesperson of the FBC--Philippines raised a loaded query about
the time and space that were used as an excuse for the dilatory tactics.
"Again, excluding the Burma issue from the agenda of ARF shows that ASEAN
is not doing enough to compel the junta to initiate significant reforms in
the country."

"It has been a decade since the ASEAN adopted Burma, thinking that its
membership in the regional grouping would bring the military regime into
the mainstream but nothing significant happened since 1997. We agree that
it takes time building a nation, but may we remind the ASEAN that it takes
only a second of passivity for dictatorship to destroy a nation and its
people" he said.

The detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, who will turn 62 on June 19, will be
reviewed on May 27 by the Burmese military regime. She has spent 11 of the
last 17 years under house arrest in Burma.

Dubbing the protest as, "Drink a Coffee! Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi",
protesters offered the ARF delegates coffee served in mugs printed with a
picture of an imprisoned Aung San Suu Kyi. Protesters also wore "aprons"
and raised slogans like "Help Free Aung San Suu Kyi."

Philippines Foreign Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio said the human rights
issue in Burma is not on the agenda of the ASEAN senior officials meeting
set to conclude on Wednesday and the Regional Forum on Friday.

Meanwhile, the US Assistant State Secretary Christopher Hill expressed his
concern during a meeting of senior officials from the 26-country ASEAN
Regional Forum, which includes Washington and Burma . He stated that
Burma's human rights record and a huge flow of refugee that it has created
is a disturbing issue that has attracted world attention. The US State
Department again called on Burma's ruling junta to release Suu Kyi.

Amidst increasingly vocal international demands for her immediate and
unconditional release, she has been under detention since May 2003, with
no contact with the outside world. Her party, the National League for
Democracy won the 1990 elections, but was never allowed to assume power.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 25, Associated Press
US criticizes Myanmar's human rights record, says flow of refugees a
burden to region - Teresa Cerojano

Manila: The U.S. scolded Myanmar for its poor human rights record Friday,
and expressed concern that the exodus of hundreds of thousands of people
from the Southeast Asian nation has created a region-wide refugee crisis.

"We've raised concerns, first of all, about Myanmar's human rights
record," U.S. Assistant State Secretary Christopher Hill said during a
meeting of senior officials from the 26-country ASEAN Regional Forum,
which includes Washington and Myanmar.

"We will also be raising our concern that it's representing a kind of
regional problem as well because Myanmar has created a huge flow of
refugees," he said. "This is quite a burden to the region."

Decades of fighting between Myanmar's military regime and ethnic
minorities have sparked massive internal displacement as well as an influx
of refugees to neighboring Thailand.

An estimated 700,000 refugees have flooded out of Myanmar, Hill said.

He did not specifically address the issue of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi's continued house arrest during his brief remarks to the media.

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday again called on Myanmar's ruling
junta to release Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 11 of the last 17 years
either in prison or under house arrest. Her current sentence expires
Sunday.

As Hill spoke at Manila's Shangri-la Hotel, about 20 protesters holding
coffee mugs bearing Suu Kyi's picture gathered outside the hotel to
condemn the pro-democracy leader's continued detention.

Egoy Bans, spokesman of the Free Burma Coalition, said they hoped the
protest would encourage the forum to press for the release of Suu Kyi and
other political prisoners.

"They are delaying the move to pressure the Burmese junta," Bans told The
Associated Press. "Burma should be made to adhere to the democratic ideals
of ASEAN." Myanmar is also known as Burma.

Some of Myanmar's fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations appealed to the Myanmar government on Tuesday, urging that Suu Kyi
be released.

Suu Kyi's troubles began after her National League for Democracy won
elections in 1990 and was not allowed to replace the junta.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta took
control in 1988, allowed the elections two years later and cracked down
hard after Suu Kyi's resounding victory.

____________________________________

May 25, Religious Intelligence
Britain to challenge Burma foreign minister over human rights record - Sam
Forrest

The British Government is to raise the plight of Burma’s persecuted Karen
minority at a meeting with the Burmese Foreign Minister next week.

Speaking in the House of Lords, Foreign Minister Lord Triesman said that
the Government had been at the forefront of international efforts to
highlight human rights abuses in the country and will continue this at
next week’s Asia-Europe meeting of Foreign Ministers in Hamburg.

He added that international discussions are taking place over what form of
crime against humanity is currently going on in Burma (Myanmar).

He went on to condemn the continuing house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi,
whose party won an election in 1990, but was then arrested by the current
regime.

Lord Triesman told Lord Alton that he hoped her period of detention would
not be increased when it expires this weekend.

Baroness Cox, who has long campaigned for the Karen people, said that in
the past year 27,000 civilians in the Karen state, as well as 59,000 in
other states, had been displaced and were now in hiding. She called for
further action to bring the government there to account.

Lord Howell of Guildford said the level of atrocities suffered by the
Karen people were on a par with the horrors of the Nazi era. There are
seven million Karen in Burma and another 400,000 in Thailand, and he said
that 40 per cent of them were Christians.

He wanted reassurance that “their plight and our efforts to carry on with
the initiatives that he described are continually to the forefront in his
department and in government policy.”

Lord Avebury hit out at the lack of action from other Asian countries. He
pointed out that at the recent ASEAN meeting in Manila the question of
Burma “was not even on the agenda”.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

May 25, National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
NCGUB 'Deeply Disappointed' By 'Shortsighted Decision' of Burmese Generals

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma is deeply
disappointed with the Burmese military regime for extending the unlawful
detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by another year.

We are disappointed because the Burmese generals remain ignorant of the
fact that they need Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as an ally to rebuild unity and
reconciliation, particularly now when socioeconomic and political crises
are worsening in the country. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the only person that
is accepted as a national icon by the people of all nationalities in Burma
and she can help bring national reconciliation and resolve many of the
country's problems.  In fact, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi may be the only sincere
and sympathetic friend the military has in the country.

But, oblivious to national conditions, the Burmese generals have made a
shortsighted decision and continue to treat her as an enemy by defying the
will of the people of Burma and opinion of the international community.

The decision by the generals will deservedly bring international
condemnation, aggravate national problems, and give momentum to the rising
tide of mass activities in the country.  It will give birth to more
national heroes and heroines like Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who are dedicated
to democracy through peaceful means.

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma vows to continue
its endeavors internationally as well as dedicate itself to working in
tandem with the efforts being undertaken by the emerging national heroes
and heroines until democracy is restored in the country.