BurmaNet News, July 20, 2007

[Editor]

July 20, 2007 Issue # 3250

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: NLD marks Martyr’s Day with calls for inclusive dialogue
Mizzima News: 88 students under hawk's eye
Irrawaddy: Regime invites opinions about three major state-run newspapers

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Border authorities agree to cooperate on trade, illegal drug
suppression
Mizzima News: Mandalay-Moreh bus service cleared
Irrawaddy: Uncertainty over Rohingyas’ fate in Thailand

BUSINESS / TRADE
The Telegraph: Precious stone trade booms in Burma; foreign buyers
contribute to oppression

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: India cosies up to Burma to suppress Naga movement

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Gambari to visit Russia next week to discuss Burma

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: The only game in town
Asia Times: India eyes military favors for Myanmar oil - Siddharth Srivastava
Boston Globe: Diplospeak vs. human rights

PRESS RELEASE
CSW: Burma army continues to rape and kill as national convention re-convenes

ANNOUCEMENT
UNITAR & OHCHR: 2007 Human Rights Fellowship Programme for Students from
Least Developed Countries

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 20, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD marks Martyr’s Day with calls for inclusive dialogue

The National League for Democracy marked Martyr’s Day yesterday with calls
for dialogue with the Burmese military and a more inclusive National
Convention process.

The NLD also repeated calls for the release of party leader Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi and detained Shan leader Khun Htun Oo. In a statement, the NLD
also said the military should pay attention to the draft constitution of
general Aung San—one of Burma’s martyr’s—as they prepare to compose a
draft of a new Burmese constitution.

“We should take the historical lessons that general Aung San, the
architect of our independence, and other leaders pointed out by
sacrificing their blood and sweat to be able to shape a democratic union
and a national union,” the NLD said.

The statement then called on the ruling State Peace and Development
Council to reopen opposition offices closed around the country, release
all detained political leaders unconditionally and hold inclusive
political discussions with political parties from all ethnic groups in the
country.

“Immediate dialogue between the [SPDC] and the [NLD] should be held,
followed by talks with the ethnic groups,” the NLD statement said.

____________________________________

July 20, Mizzima News
88 students under hawk's eye - Ko Dee

In a move by the Burmese military junta, which is becoming more and more
blatant, Burma's prominent student democracy activists are being
constantly watched by unidentified people astride motor cycles.

Former student leaders said since May 27 till date, groups of people on
two wheelers have been hanging out around their residents and stalking
them. They are keeping a beady eye on their movements from dawn to late at
night.

"Even today they were following me. It happens every day. They sit not too
far from my house and keep a close eye on me. They came on three to four
motor cycles and some don't even have a number plate," said Pyone Cho, an
88 generation student leader.

Pyone Cho said he was followed on nine motorbikes on Thursday while
returning from the Martyrs' Day ceremony held at the National League for
Democracy head office. He reported it to local authorities.

Mya Aye said, the people who have been monitoring their movements come in
civilian clothes, and do not disclose which organization they belong to.
They revealed that they had been ordered to keep a watch on the students
against their wishes.

"I stopped one of the guys on a bike and asked him, whether he was not
tired of following us. He said he was tired and left without another
word," Mya Aye told Mizzima over telephone.

But Min Zeya, another 88 generation student leader, expressed concern and
said that with unknown people keeping a close watch and stalking them till
dusk it posed a big threat to their security.

"I am concerned about our security, because we don't know who they are and
have never seen them before. In the event of their pulling us into an
alley and beating us, we would not know where to report for action," said
Min Zeya.

The students said, the people, whom they believe to be members of local
law enforcing agencies, had started following them since May 27 and have
been disturbing them constantly.

____________________________________

July 20, Irrawaddy
Regime invites opinions about three major state-run newspapers - Saw Yan
Naing

The Myanmar News and Periodicals Enterprise under the Burma's Ministry of
Information have invited opinions and suggestion from readers of the three
main state-run daily newspapers.

According to sources in Rangoon, opinion forms were inserted into each
newspaper on Friday asking for criticism and suggestions with cash prizes
to be awarded to the winners.

The first prize winner will receive 300,000 kyats (US $240), second prize
will receive 200,000 kyats (US $150), and third prize will receive 100,000
kyats (US $78). A consolation prize of 50,000 kyat will be awarded.

The opinion survey is aimed at improving the content and design of the
leading state newspapers: two Burmese language newspapers—The Myanma Alin
and The Mirror—and one English language newspaper, The New Light of
Myanmar.

"This is the first time to survey the readers' opinion," an editor of a
Rangoon-based magazine told The Irrawaddy. "Some people are interested in
it. But I suspect whether they really want to listen to the readers.”

Media critics, however, say the three state-run newspapers have a lack of
journalistic ethics, pointing out that they usually use photographs and
stories from international media without giving credit.

According to the News and Periodicals Enterprise, the The Mirror has a
circulation of more than 200,000, The Myanma Alin more than 100,000 and
the The New Light of Myanmar more than 10,000.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

July 20, Irrawaddy
Border authorities agree to cooperate on trade, illegal drug suppression -
Khun Sam and Sai Slip

Thai and Burmese authorities have agreed to cooperate in the suppression
and prevention of illegal drug trafficking and to work to solve trade
issues, following a meeting of the Township Border Committee in Mae Sot in
northern Thailand’s Tak Province.

The 27th round of the meeting between the two groups discussed a range of
border issues, including border security, trade and drug trafficking.

Col Padung Yingpaiboonsuk of the 17th Regiment Infantry Task Force, who is
also chairman of the TBC (Thailand) attended the meeting with his Burmese
counterpart TBC chairman Lt-Col Win Ko Ko.

Col Padung Yingpaiboonsuk said Thailand and Burma agreed to establish "a
cooperation center" for drug prevention and suppression, which would focus
o­n tracking the movements of suspected drug traffickers, according to a
report by Thailand’s National News Bureau.

He said Burmese authorities urged Thai authorities to coordinate movements
directed at a small island in the middle of the Moei River near the
Friendship Bridge at Myawaddy, Burma, and Mae Sot, Thailand. The island is
ambiguously located between the two countries’ boundaries. Thai
authorities claim illegal drug activities operate from the island.

Burma asked Thai officials to coordinate actions directed at the island
through the Burmese border committee in advance.

Mae Sot-based Burmese activist Ko Chin said bilateral trade in the area
was also discussed, especially the Burmese authorities' ban on some Thai
export products.

"Thai authorities were keen to solve problems about trade because the
Burmese side bans Thai exports, such as rice, monosodium glutamate and
other commodity goods,” Ko Chin said.

Burma bans such exports at the official trade gate, said Ko Chin, but
businessmen on both sides use other entry routes controlled by ethnic
armed groups such as the Karen National Union and the pro-Rangoon
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) to move the banned products.

“Thai goods always cross via the KNU and DKBA controlled areas," he said.
"Inside Karen State, they are transported with the DKBA’s help.”

Mae Sot-based Thai STV reported that the two sides will hold a 10-year
anniversary ceremony at the Myawaddy-Mae Sot Friendship Bridge next month.

____________________________________

July 20, Mizzima News
Mandalay-Moreh bus service cleared - Subhaschandra M

A direct bus service between Indian border town Moreh and Burma's second
largest city, Mandalay is in the offing. This was announced by Manipuri's
Transport Minister on Friday.

Speaking to reporters, Manipur Transport Minister Langpoklakpam
Jayantakumar said in order to give a leg up to bilateral trade relations
both India and Burma will give the go ahead to the direct bus service.

"The concerned authorities have cleared the project," said the Minister
adding that the bus link will be a historic milestone for trade between
the two nations.

Though the Indian Commerce Minister Jairam Ramesh, during his visit to
Moreh in September 2006, gave the green signal to the proposed bus
service, the project got mired as Burmese authorities failed to respond to
India's proposal then.

The bus service, which is part of the proposed Trans-Asia Highway and
Trans-Asian Rail link, would take Burmese traders and tourists from
Mandalay only 12 hours to reach the Indian border town, the Minister
added.

The Minister also said in order to work out a detailed programme, a
meeting will be held in Manipur's capital Imphal on July 23, where Indian
officials including security personnel and traders would participate.

"We will identify the number of stoppages along the route and other pros
and cons of the bus service at the meeting," said Jayantakumar adding that
the resolutions would be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Surface
Transport in New Delhi for approval.

Responding to a question by Mizzima, the Minister said a ministerial team
along with officials will be visiting Mandalay shortly to study the ground
situation.

"Hopefully we're planning to go next month" he added.

The Moreh-Mandalay bus service has been one of the major demands of the
Indo-Myanmar Border Traders' Union.

"It is encouraging as it's going to attract tourists as well as traders,"
said Yumnamcha Dilipkumar, President of IMBTU.

____________________________________

July 20, Irrawaddy
Uncertainty over Rohingyas’ fate in Thailand - Sai Silp and Saw Yan Naing

Muslim Rohingya refugees from Burma who arrive in Thailand are reportedly
being urged to return home, despite official Thai assurances that they
will be helped to resettle in third countries.

Thailand’s supreme military commander, Gen Boonsang Niampradit, said o­n
Friday that his country’s interim government was prepared to help in the
resettlement of not o­nly Rohingya refugees but Hmong people from Laos. He
warned, however, that “limited resources” and the large numbers of
arriving refugees posed problems for the government.

As the general spoke, more than 100 Rohingya refugees living in the
Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot were reportedly being urged to return
to Burma.

Tin Maung Thet, chairman of the All Burma Muslim Union, told The Irrawaddy
o­n Friday: “They [the Thai authorities] said that if they accept all
newcomers in their country, they are not able to cope with the burden and
they ordered those [Rohingyas] to go back where they came from.”

Tin Maung Thet said Rohingya refugees in Mae Sot had been camping out o­n
the town’s football pitch, but the ABMU were now helping them with food
and accommodation.

The Rohingyas included groups who had left Burma’s Arakan coast by open
boat and landed in southern Thailand after failing to reach Malaysia. The
Thai newspaper Matichon quoted Gen Boonsang o­n Friday as saying the
troubles in Thailand’s Muslim-dominated southern provinces made third
countries wary about accepting them.

Thailand’s Hmong refugees include 7,000 living in a temporary camp in the
country’s Petchaboon province. They fled to Thailand from Laos, and the
Lao government is currently discussing with Thailand the possibility of
accepting them back.

International rights groups maintain the Hmong refugees would face
intimidation and persecution by the Lao government if they had to return.
Many living in the Petchaboon camp claim they fought with the US Central
Intelligence Agency against the Communist Pathet Lao before the fall of
Vientiane in 1975.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

July 20, The Telegraph
Precious stone trade booms in Burma; Foreign buyers contribute to oppression

In the car park of a Rangoon auctioneer, jewellers set out their precious
wares as they prepare for the arrival of the rich and powerful buyers.

Hundreds of blocks of rough-hewn jade are laid out for perusal before
bidders compete for a gem that is growing in demand throughout the world
and helping Burma's junta get rich.

The Special Gem Auction held in Rangoon this week used to be a yearly
event, but with sales higher than ever it is now held every three months.

Posing as a jeweller, a Telegraph reporter was denied entry to the sale
room without a formal invitation, but as officials searched for the name
there was time to get a good look at the list.

It showed most of the more than 2,000 delegates came from China, Burma's
principal trading partner, but there were also five from Britain and 35
from America. The U.S. jewelry industry has exemption from its country's
trade embargo against Burma for stones that are cut outside the country.

The overseas buyers come in search of not just of jade, but also rubies.

More than 90 per cent of the world's rubies come from Burma's mines, and
the rare stones are worth more than diamonds. Jade, highly prized in
China, is found almost nowhere else. The ground also holds other gems,
including sapphires and diamonds.

"The chances are, if you go down any high street in the UK and there are
rubies on sale then they are from the regime and the proceeds have been
used to repress the people," says Mark Farmaner, of the Burma Campaign UK.

All mining companies are government joint enterprises. The government is
one of the most oppressive in the world, guilty of human rights abuses
from razing villages to forced labour. People live in fear of informers
and secret police.

But those in favour can make fortunes. Just away from the harbour are
luxury modern villas.

Through an open gate two new Ferraris were visible. This is the house of
Te Za, a major arms dealer and the junta's favourite tycoon, who has been
granted jade mining concessions in the north of Burma, where whole
villages have been displaced to make space for his operations. According
to a source, Te Za also has a major interest in Myanmar Gem Enterprises,
which organizes the sales for foreign buyers.

Burma's gem mines are closed to foreign visitors and information is hard
to come by. However, in northern Thailand, the Telegraph met two exiles
with recent experience of the ruby mines. They described a
26-square-kilometre area where hillsides have been deforested and rivers
polluted.

One estimated there are hundreds of thousands of miners. Accidents are
common and mines often fall into one another in the sandy ground. "When it
collapses they don't have time to save themselves," she said.

Some mines pay a daily wage of 87 cents, while others pay miners for what
they find.

The mines operate in 12-hour shifts around the clock. A 25-year-old
smuggler who grew up in the town claimed: "The bosses mix methamphetamine
with the drinking water to give the workers more power. It's common."

____________________________________
REGIONAL

July 20, Mizzima News
India cosies up to Burma to suppress Naga movement

India and Burma cosying up in a bilateral relationship has had an adverse
impact on the Naga movement for self-determination, a Naga human rights
group said on Thursday.

Speaking to Mizzima on the sidelines of a conference held in New Delhi,
Dr. N. Venuh, Secretary General of the Naga Peoples' Movement for Human
Rights, said increasing Indo-Burmese bilateral relationship has had a
negative impact on the Naga's movement for autonomy and self
determination.

"This is India's policy. They want to suppress the [Naga] movement. That's
why it has forged a relationship with the Burmese junta," Dr. Venuh said.

Venuh said India's policy of building bridges with the military rulers of
Burma is part of its strategic plan to crush movements in northeast India
states.

Besides bilateral trade, India and Burma, in recent years, have stepped up
military cooperation with India supplying military hardware and providing
technical expertise.

In exchange for armament, India has demanded Burma flush out Indian
insurgents operating from northwestern Burma.

On Monday, Amnesty International said India plans to supply Burma Advanced
Light Helicopters, which is made up of components from European Union
member countries. AI said India's plan threaten the EU's arms embargo on
the military ruled Southeast Asian country.

However, Venuh said, the Naga movement, encompassing Nagas living in
northwestern Burma, will continue a step at a time.

"We are one, so once we achieve this side [the Indian side] we are not
going to leave them [Nagas in Burma] to fend for themselves," said Venuh.
However, he admitted that there are difficulties in launching a movement
under military rule and that has to come phase by phase.

Nagas, an ethnic minorities living both in Burma and India have long
struggled to create an independent state that will include parts of India
and Burma . The move for independence has been led by the National
Socialist Council of Nagalim, which waged an armed insurgency.

However, in the late 1980s the NSCN split into two factions, with the
Isak-Muivah led NSCN leading the struggle in India and Khaplang led NSCN
leading it in Burma.

In August 1997, the NSCN I-M entered into a ceasefire agreement with the
government of India and launched a peace process to end India's longest
running insurgency.

With the decade long ceasefire agreement expiring this month, Naga civil
society groups are concerned over the prospects between the outfit and
government of India.

Speaking at the "Convention on Indo-Naga Political Dialogue", held in New
Delhi, Naga civil societies voiced their concerns and agreed to have a
more sustainable and cohesive networking and enlarging a pressure group
for progress in Indo-Naga peace talks.
Meanwhile, the NSCN in a statement issued on Thursday asserted its
opposition to any idea, programme, policy or ideology which leads to
disintegration of the Naga homeland in any way, whether as a 'union
territory' or a separate state.

It states, "
all Nagas are totally against all artificial boundaries
including the so-called international boundaries between Myanmar [Burma]
and India."

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 20, Irrawaddy
Gambari to visit Russia next week to discuss Burma - Lalit K Jha

The US Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Burma, Ibrahim
Gambari, is scheduled to visit Russia next week as part of an on-going
process to consult various nations considered to have influence in
military-ruled Burma.

Diplomatic sources in the UN told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that Gambari
will go to Moscow next week to hold a wide range of discussions on various
issues related to restoration of democracy in Burma and protection of
human rights.

The visit is considered to be crucial, because Russia, along with China,
vetoed a UN Security Council the Burma resolution sponsored by the US and
Britain at the Security Council in January early this year. If passed, the
resolution would have urged Burma to ease repression and release all
political prisoners.

Two months ago, Russia announced an agreement with the military junta to
construct a 10-megawatt nuclear research reactor.

Gambari’s trip to Russia comes soon after he concluded a visits to China,
India and Tokyo last week to consult on the Burma issue.

 “Gambari had detailed and open discussions o­n how best the United
Nations and the countries he visited can continue to work together to
support Myanmar's [Burma's] efforts in implementing relevant General
Assembly resolutions,” the spokesperson of the UN Secretary General said.

A report of his visit was submitted to Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon on
Thursday. Asked about the report, an official said, “It is an internal
document and is not available.”

The consultation are being carried out because the UN believes positive
change in Burma requires not only direct dialogue with the government and
its people, but also with all the countries that can help the UN in its
endeavor, said Marie Okabe, deputy spokesperson for the secretary-general.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

July 20, Irrawaddy
The only game in town

Burma’s military government has reopened the National Convention for what
it claims will be its final session, at which the drafting of the new
constitution will be completed.

The delegates are handpicked and freedom of discussion is severely
limited. The military leaders’ original intentions when they first
convened the National Convention are quite clear: to prolong their stay in
power.

Started in 1993, after the military held free and fair elections in 1990
and then refused to hand over power to the landslide election winner, the
National League for Democracy, the convention is roundly denounced by the
international community and Burmese at home and abroad as a sham process.

Burma’s generals, intent on keeping for themselves a leading role in
future politics, are nevertheless determined to push on with the process,
despite boycotts by the NLD and ethnic groups.

The final session is in effect nothing more than farce, intended to
confirm guidelines for a new constitution but leaving people in the dark
about what happens then. Fourteen years have been spent on drawing up
guidelines in National Convention sessions where free discussion was
banned.

Any amendments to those guidelines were ruled out by the regime this week,
although Lt-Gen Thein Sein, the chairman of the convention’s convening
committee, said in June that some amendments, additions and nullifications
relating to some points in the guidelines were indeed necessary to ensure
the constitution is free from flaws and weakness. His speech gave a faint
hope to some delegates and ethnic groups attending the convention.

Since then, Thein Sein has changed his tune, urging delegates not to try
to amend points previously agreed to. "Since this is the last session,
delegates are asked to review the principles...without deviating from the
already agreed guidelines," he said this week.

Despite the appeal, delegates of the Kachin Independence Organization say
they will submit a list of suggested amendments to a draft constitution.

Some ethnic delegates who had approached the National Convention in a
positive frame of mind, determined to work and fight from within its
framework, were disappointed at finding themselves barred from free
discussion of central issues related to autonomy, a federal state and
culture rights.

A careful study of the regime’s “seven-point road map,” introduced in
2004, shows that it is naïve to expect the military to implement democracy
in Burma.

The convening of a national convention was the first step in that process.
So far, so good. But steps two and three are vaguely defined.

Stage two, for instance, is to be a “step-by-step implementation of the
process necessary for the emergence of a genuine and disciplined
democratic system.” No one knows what that means and how long will it
take.

Stage three envisages the “drafting of a new constitution in accordance
with basic principles and detailed basic principles laid down by the
National Convention.”  This implies that it will take many more years
before a new constitution emerges. Then what?

A national referendum is to be held, followed by elections. Those
elections are followed by stage six, the convening of Hluttaws, or
legislative bodies, filled by Hluttaw members in accordance with the new
constitution. Finally, stage seven: to build a modern, developed and
democratic nation by the state leaders elected by Hluttaw, and the
government and other central organs formed by the Hluttaw.

It’s clear that the regime is buying the necessary time it needs to
install its handpicked government. Democracy has no place in this plan.

So optimism about the work and outcome of the current session of the
National Convention is understandably slim, in spite of its description by
regime’s apologists as “the only game in town.” The game is only to
legitimize the military in power.

____________________________________

Jul 20, Asia Times
India eyes military favors for Myanmar oil - Siddharth Srivastava

It appears that India is not going to make it easy for China to extend its
influence in Myanmar to get a share of that country's rich gas resources.
While recent oil negotiations have faltered between India and Myanmar,
increased military cooperation might be New Delhi's second-best option to
obtain favor and influence in the secretive Southeast Asian country.

Amnesty International this week quoted "credible sources" saying New Delhi
has plans to sell military helicopters to Myanmar that will undermine a
European Union arms embargo on the military-ruled country.

India's proposed sale of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) made by
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, and which includes components from Britain,
Germany, France, Sweden, Italy and Belgium, may harm the EU's almost
20-year restriction on such sales, whether "directly or indirectly", the
London-based group said. However, India has denied Amnesty's assertions,
and a Foreign Ministry spokesman in New Delhi called them "completely
baseless".

But despite New Delhi's denial of the Amnesty report, there is reason to
believe that India will not take China's influence in the area lying down.
Indeed, official sources say there is a possibility that an India-Myanmar
counterinsurgency-cooperation project could shift from independent tactics
to joint operations on Myanmar's territory. New Delhi believes that
insurgent groups in India's northeast derive support from Myanmar rebel
groups.

Apart from terror strikes, Indian insurgents have been running kidnapping
and extortion rackets in northeastern states such as Nagaland, Assam and
Manipur. Recently, a kidnapped senior official of an oil company was
killed in crossfire between the police and United Liberation Front of Asom
militants in Assam.

Recently, India's Ministry of External Affairs scolded the Petroleum
Ministry and its Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) for failing to secure
the Myanmar government's initial offer of gas from two offshore blocks
where two Indian state-owned companies hold 30% equity. At a recent
meeting called by the Prime Minister's Office, Foreign Secretary Shiv
Shankar Menon said the Oil Ministry and GAIL did not make "concerted
efforts" and did not act on a letter of intent from Myanmar issued in
February 2004.

Meanwhile, irked by the delays in implementing the
Myanmar-Bangladesh-India pipeline and buoyed by China's strategic support
at international forums, Myanmar recently signed a memorandum of
understanding with PetroChina to supply 6.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of
gas from Block A of the Shwe gas fields in the Bay of Bengal for more than
30 years.

The decision came as a major blow to India's bid to tap gas from its
eastern front. Myanmar's gas resources were estimated at 18tcf in 2005.
Myanmar and China have also agreed on a project to build a pipeline to
transfer oil to southern China.

GAIL has also been looking to exit from the A-1 and A-3 blocks in the
Rakhine Offshore area over what it claims has been the "difficult"
attitude of the Myanmar government toward India's attempts to secure gas.
India's largest explorer, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), also holds a
stake.

Indeed, the thinking in New Delhi seems to be that India, beyond just the
economics of buying gas, will have to extend strategic support to Myanmar
to stand a chance to outwit China. Official Indian delegations have
visited Yangon periodically to convey New Delhi's concerns.

With a pipeline through Bangladesh more or less ruled out because of the
intransigent attitude of Dhaka over trade issues and domestic problems in
the country, the only other options are to avoid Myanmar by building a
longer, more expensive pipeline or to use ships to transport the gas.

Indian intelligence agencies cautioned New Delhi this year about the
possible shutting out of Indian interests in Myanmar by Russian and
Chinese oil firms. The agencies argued that the decision by oil-savvy
Russia and China to veto a US-led move in the United Nations Security
Council to address the Myanmar junta's human-rights violations was a
critical move in the evolving relationship with Russian and Chinese
companies now in the Southeast Asian country.

Now it is apparent that India is also prepared to dirty its hands over
Myanmar.

India's gas problems

This is especially true in light of the government's recent dramatic
reduction in the estimated amount of domestic gas reserves that were
initially announced with much fanfare.

This month, ONGC and the Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) announced
that finds at blocks off India's east coast were much lower than initially
projected. ONGC cut its estimate of the Krishna Godavari basin find to
2tcf from the enormous 21tcf that was initially announced last December.
GSPC has also lowered its estimates from the 20tcf first announced in June
2005 to 1.38tcf.

Observers have been saying for long that the Indian government should
tighten the norms for announcing oil and gas discoveries to prevent
exploration companies from over-reporting or drawing economic and
political capital from new finds. And, of course, the latest revised
projections cast doubt on New Delhi's recent claim that India will be a
gas-surplus nation in the near future.

Last month, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora announced that India would
source 1.25 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Algeria by
2009. India's Petronet will source the gas from Sonatrach, which will add
to the supplies from Qatar. ONGC has also kicked off negotiations with the
ExxonMobil consortium for importing 8 million tonnes of LNG from the
Sakhalin gas fields in Russia.

India, Iran and Pakistan have been trying to sort out pricing, transit and
security issues related to the US$7.5 billion Iran-Pakistan-India
pipeline. Tehran has said that it hoped to send gas to India by 2011.
However, until the deal is finally inked, there is no certainty.

The latest twist in the pipeline negotiations has seen India and Pakistan
saying they are opposed to the draft agreement submitted by Tehran that
would allow it to revise the price at any time during the contract period.
Some observers add that kinks have developed in the Indo-Iranian energy
dealings because of US pressure on New Delhi to shun Tehran on all energy
matters.

Siddharth Srivastava is a New Delhi-based journalist.

____________________________________

July 19, Boston Globe
Diplospeak vs. human rights

Diplomats do at times have sound reasons for speaking in euphemisms or for
veiling their meaning in ambiguity. But sometimes diplospeak makes its
practitioners look like dupes or deceivers. This is what has happened to
the United Nations' special envoy on Burma, Ibrahim Gambari. After recent
visits to China, India, and Japan, he spoke of "positive steps" in the
direction of democracy by the murderous military junta ruling Burma.

What makes Gambari's rosy version of Burma's plight particularly
far-fetched is that it comes just after the International Committee of the
Red Cross took the unusual step of denouncing the junta's human rights
abuses. Not since the ICRC shed its carefully cultivated neutrality to
decry the Rwanda genocide in 1994 has that discreet organization taken
such a strong stand against a government.

Jakob Kellenberger, president of the ICRC, went public at the end of last
month, describing the junta's "numerous acts of violence" against men,
women, and children in Burma. Among these were murder, arbitrary arrest
and detention, and the press-ganging of civilians to serve as porters for
the military. Many of the villagers forced into servitude by the military
suffered "degrading treatment." Some were exposed to armed conflict or
driven to exhaustion. Others were simply killed.

The junta's egregious violations of international law were documented
"during private interviews with thousands of civilians and detainees,
mainly between 2000 and 2005," Kellenberger said. Since then, the generals
have prevented the Red Cross from visiting places where the detained are
held or from delivering humanitarian aid. This refusal to permit the ICRC
to do its work in Burma, along with the junta's denial of any dialogue
with the organization, finally impelled Kellenberger to report to the
world on the horrors of Burma under the generals.

If the Red Cross picture of those horrors is insufficient to cast doubt on
Gambari's claims of progress under the junta, then a statement this week
from Human Rights Watch surely should. It condemned a constitutional
convention staged by the junta as a transparent facade. Human Rights Watch
described how the generals handpicked the 1,080 delegates for a rigged
process that has been in the works for 14 years. The generals excluded the
National League for Democracy, which won over 80 percent of seats in
Parliament in 1990, and have imprisoned the party's leader, Aung San Suu
Kyi, for most of that time. The generals "have engineered the outcome to
ensure the military remains in control and excluded the people of Burma
from the process," Human Rights Watch said.

Gambari should brief the UN Security Council on his recent trips to Asia.
He needs to explain which positive steps Burma's military dictators are
taking, because he is the only one who sees any.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

July 19, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Burma army continues to rape and kill as national convention re-convenes

Rape, torture, forced labour and killings continue in Burma as the
military regime this week re-convened its National Convention to draft a
constitution for the country.

According to the latest report from the Free Burma Rangers, a relief
organisation working in the conflict areas of eastern Burma, the Burma
Army’s offensive in Karen State has continued throughout May and June. In
Mon Township, Nyaungelbin District, six villagers were killed on 2 June.
Three weeks later, in P’Na Ner village, the village headman was captured
by Burma Army troops who slit his throat. Since the beginning of the year,
the Burma Army have constructed at least 10 new military camps in
Nyaunglebin District alone.

Two young women, aged 18 and 22, from Takehder village in Luthaw Township,
Papun District, were captured while they were gathering vegetables in the
jungle. According to the Free Burma Rangers, they were raped, their
breasts and ears were cut, and then they were killed by Burma Army
soldiers. The exact date of the attack is not known.

On 23 June, the Burma Army murdered an entire family of five people in
Htee K’bler village, including two children, Kyaw Eh Wah, aged 4, and Saw
Pa Heh Soe, aged 13, and their grandmother, Naw Pler Poe, aged 65.

On 18 July, the military regime, the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) opened the final session of the National Convention. The
overwhelming majority of delegates are handpicked by the regime. In
elections held in 1990, nine pro-democracy parties won 90 per cent of the
parliamentary seats, but all are excluded from the constitution-drafting
process. The ethnic nationality groups are also excluded. Questioning or
criticising the National Convention and communicating with international
media about the process are crimes under the regime’s Order 5/96 and carry
a 20-year jail sentence.

The Constitution, which is expected to be completed by this final session
of the National Convention, is based on the regime’s “104 principles”.
These include a requirement that the President of the country “shall be a
person who has been residing continuously in the country for at least 20
years” with “political, administrative, military and economic experience”
and whose spouse, children and spouses of children are not citizens of
another country. The President should also have at least 15 years of
military service. These requirements automatically disqualify Burma’s
democracy leader, Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose deceased husband
was British, from becoming President. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the
National League for Democracy (NLD), won over 80 per cent of the
parliamentary seats in 1990. She is now in her 12th year of house arrest.

Stuart Windsor, National Director of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW),
said: “The National Convention is a complete sham designed to entrench and
extend the military regime’s power. The exclusion of the major democracy
and ethnic groups, combined with the military’s continuing crimes against
humanity in the ethnic areas, is surely proof enough that the regime is
not sincere about reform. The international community should give
absolutely no credence to this process, and should increase pressure on
the regime to enter into meaningful dialogue with the NLD and the ethnic
nationalities.”

For more information, please contact Penny Hollings, Campaigns and Media
Manager at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on 020 8329 0045 / 07823 329
663, email pennyhollings at csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

CSW is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom,
works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and
promotes religious liberty for all.

____________________________________
ANNOUCEMENT

July, 2007: United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) &
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
2007 Human Rights Fellowship Programme for Students from Least Developed
Countries

Background and Objectives

The Human Rights Fellowship Programme for Students from Least Developed
Countries (LDC) is jointly organized by the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations
Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

The overall objectives of this project are:

•  To increase the understanding of the LDC fellows of current human
rights issues at the international level and give them an insight into the
work of the United Nations and OHCHR; and

•  To provide OHCHR and the United Nations human rights mechanisms with
the assistance and contribution of outstanding students or graduates from
LDCs.

Qualifications Required

To qualify for the fellowship, candidates from the LDCs listed below must
be graduate students or holders of a graduate degree in a discipline
related to the work of the United Nations (e.g. international law,
political science, social sciences, history or other related topics).
Experience with or a specialization in human rights will be considered an
asset. Candidates should be less than 30 years old at the time they send
their candidature. The 2007 programme will be run in English. Selected
participants will be requested to submit proof of fluency in English.

Least Developed Countries

The 2007 fellowship is open to candidates from LDCs:

Afghanistan , Angola , Bangladesh , Benin , Bhutan , Burkina Faso ,
Burundi , Cambodia , Cape Verde , Central African Republic , Chad ,
Comoros , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Djibouti , Equatorial Guinea
, Eritrea , Ethiopia , Gambia , Guinea , Guinea-Bissau , Haiti , Kiribati
, Lao People's Democratic Republic , Lesotho , Liberia , Madagascar ,
Malawi , Maldives , Mali , Mauritania , Mozambique , Myanmar , Nepal ,
Niger , Rwanda , Samoa , São Tomé and Principe , Senegal , Sierra Leone ,
Solomon Islands , Somalia , Sudan , Timor-Leste , Togo , Tuvalu , Uganda ,
United Republic of Tanzania , Vanuatu , Yemen , Zambia .

Content and Methodology

The Programme will consist of both training and practical exposure to the
work of OHCHR. The training will be conducted in the form of seminars and
debates that will allow for a maximum exchange of views. A significant
part of the training will also be devoted to practical skills exercises
that will strengthen the fellows' professional skills and abilities and
help them to better adapt to the multicultural and international working
environment of OHCHR. Once the training segment is completed, the fellows
will be assigned to an OHCHR Branch. Upon the completion of their
fellowship both the supervisor and the fellow will be required to complete
a final report describing what was achieved during the fellowship. At the
end of the Programme, every fellow will be requested to complete an
evaluation questionnaire on his/her assignment and to share his/her
feedback with the organizers.

The training curriculum will include the following topics:

•  Introduction to the structure and functioning of the United Nations
Organization and System;

•  The main challenges facing the United Nations today;

•  The United Nations Agenda for Reform;

•  The United Nations System in Geneva ;

•  Briefings on OHCHR and selected human rights topics.

•  New Information and Communication Technologies;

•  United Nations report writing techniques;

•  Structure, retrieval and use of United Nations and OHCHR documentation;

•  Study visit to the « Cyberspace » and to the library of the United
Nations Office at Geneva ; and

•  Guided tour of the Palais des Nations;

Venue, Date and Language

The 2007 Programme will be run in English at the offices of OHCHR in
Geneva, Switzerland . It is expected to start on 1 October 2007 and end on
31 January 2008.

Financial and Logistical Arrangements

The travel costs of the fellows will be covered by the Programme. In
accordance with policies and procedures governing the administration of
United Nations fellowships, participants will receive a stipend to cover
their living expenses in Geneva. Visa arrangements, accommodation, health
and accident insurance will also be provided by the Programme.

Resource Persons and Training Material

The training faculty will comprise experts from the academic and private
sector as well as from international circles, including practitioners from
both within and outside the United Nations system. Every participant will
receive a set of training materials at the beginning of the Programme.

Application Procedure

To apply for the Programme, please read the instructions on the
application form carefully, complete the form legibly and ensure that it
arrives before the deadline of 20 August 2007. Applications arriving after
the deadline will not be considered.

Applicants should submit the following documentation:

•  A covering motivation letter stating the reason for applying to the
Programme, indicating the benefits that are expected to be derived from
the training and career goals;

•  A duly completed and signed application form;

•  One recommendation letter. Please see page 5 of the application form.

Address for Applications

The application form, recommendation and motivation letters should be sent
to:

Mr. Rabih El-Haddad
Programme Officer
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Tel.: +41 (22) 917 86 40
Fax: +41 (22) 917 80 47
E-mail: rabih.haddad at unitar.org
www.unitar.org/diplomacy