BurmaNet News, August 1, 2007

[Editor]

August 1, 2007 Issue # 3258

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: The Censorship board cracks down on Rangoon media
AP: Myanmar activists pray for release of South Korean hostages in
Afghanistan

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Ten Burmese migrants dead in ferry sinking

BUSINESS / TRADE
Khonumthung News: Burma Army into timber felling and trade for revenue
Narinjara News: Decrease in fish exports from Burma to Bangladesh

HEALTH / AIDS
Reuters: Bird flu strikes again in Myanmar – FAO
DVB: Rangoon residents launch dengue fever awareness campaign
Irrawaddy: Cholera outbreaks continue on Thai-Burmese border

ASEAN
Irrawaddy: Asean rights body should prompt guarded optimism
Mizzima News: U.S. praises proposed ASEAN Charter

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: New Delhi rally protests Kachin dam construction

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Burma appoints ambassador to North Korea, China
VOA: New Zealand voices concern about human rights in Burma

PRESS RELEASE
NCGUB: NCGUB urges junta to reconsider its 'brinkmanship policy'

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 1, Democratic Voice of Burma
The Censorship board cracks down on Rangoon media

Publishers and editors of more than 10 weekly newspapers and Magazines in
Rangoon were reportedly summoned to the press scrutiny office late last
month and warned over violating censorship guidelines.

The Press Scrutiny and Registration Division under the Ministry of
Information has also reportedly devised 28 more rules for publications,
including new guidelines on the content of advertisements, the editor of a
Rangoon magazine told DVB.

The new rules dictate that only Burmese and English-language
advertisements to be allowed, wedding announcements between Burmese
nationals and foreigners will no longer be allowed and that images of
women are to be banned from alcohol advertisements.

Many editors believe that the new crackdown on print content has resulted
from the decision by Danish satirical art group Surrend to place a fake ad
in the weekly Myanmar Times newspaper last month containing the word
“Ewhsnahtrellik”, which was later revealed by the group to be ‘killer Than
Shwe’ spelt backwards.

Editors and publishers have reportedly been told that if a similar
incident were to happen again, the offending publication would have its
publishing license revoked.

U Sein Hla Oo, a banned journalist and former political prisoner, told DVB
that Surrend had put work of many important Burmese news publications in
jeopardy.

“It’s easy for the Danish group to do what they did. But for us here it is
a different matter because our government doesn’t respect what the people
want. Now we are all being put under more pressure,” U Sein Hla Oo said.

“Now more restrictions are being laid on our already difficult publishing
environment,” he said.
____________________________________

August 1, Associated Press
Myanmar activists pray for release of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan

Pro-democracy activists in military-ruled Myanmar yesterday held prayers
for the safe release of the remaining 21 South Koreans held captive by the
Taliban in Afghanistan, an activist said.

Some 20 Myanmar activists prayed for the hostages in their weekly meeting
at the famous Shwedagon pagoda, where they normally gather to call for the
release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political
prisoners in Myanmar. Two South Korean hostages have already been killed.

"Apart from praying for the release of ... Aung San Suu Kyi, we prayed for
the earliest release of the South Korean hostages," said Naw Ohn Hla, a
former member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.

Naw Ohn Hla said it was the 161st weekly gathering to call for Suu Kyi's
release.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi has been detained by the government for
12 of the past 18 years. Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 election, but the
ruling generals refused to let it take power.

The Taliban on July 19 kidnapped 23 South Koreans riding on a bus on a
highway, the largest group of foreign hostages taken in Afghanistan since
the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. The body of the second slain South Korean
hostage was discovered yesterday.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

August 1, Irrawaddy
Ten Burmese migrants dead in ferry sinking - Saw Yan Naing

Ten Burmese migrant workers died after the small ferry boat they were on
was overturned by heavy surf off the coast of southern Thailand’s Ranong
Province, according to sources in the area.

The ferry and its 25 passengers—including the captain—left the Burmese
border town of Kawthaung and made its way illegally toward Ranong on
Monday night.

“Eight people died before we could get to the ferry,” a resident of Ranong
who assisted in the rescue of the ferry passengers told The Irrawaddy on
Wednesday. “Two others, a mother and child, died after their rescue.”

The resident said the ferry might have capsized because it left so late at
night but added: “The ferry was also overweight and the weather was not
good when they left.”

The small ferry normally carries on 10 to 15 passengers when crossing from
Kawthaung to Ranong, the source said.

Most passengers were ethnic Mon returning to their jobs at a rubber
plantation in Hat Yai city in Songkhla Province after visiting their homes
in Mon State.

A resident in Kawthaung said the ferry passengers were followed by Burmese
soldiers stationed in the area after they suspected illegal activity.

Local Thai authorities are now looking for the surviving 15 passengers,
who the source in Ranong said are hiding in the area.

In June, about 200 Burmese migrant workers—mostly Chin nationals trying to
get to Malaysia to look for work—were arrested by Burmese soldiers after
the launch of an anti-human trafficking program in Kawthaung.

Local sources say an estimated 500 Burmese migrant workers illegally cross
the border everyday from Kawthaung, a major point of departure for Burmese
migrants trying to find work in neighboring countries such as Thailand and
Malaysia.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 1, Khonumthung News
Burma Army into timber felling and trade for revenue

In Burma the military junta's ban on logging of hardwood is being
blatantly flouted by army personnel in Chin state with the regime turning
a blind eye. Troops are into rampant felling of trees. They then sell the
hardwood in the domestic markets for extra revenue for the Burma Army.

Recently, soldiers of the LIB (268) station in Falam town, Chin state
allegedly felled pine and other hardwood trees for extra revenue to
compensate for insufficient ration provided by the army. The State Peace
and Development Council authorities in Chin state have turned a blind eye
to the violation of the ban, Chin local said.

Army personnel are logging pine and other hardwood trees that are used for
building construction and furniture in Ranthlo area in Falam, added a
local.

On daily basis, the army sells the felled timber for Kyat 3000 (US $
2.380) a cubic feet and transports it by army trucks to Falam and Hakha,
capital of Chin state.

In May this year, as part of forest conservation drive the Home Department
prohibited logging in Chin state. The announcement on forest conservation
also warned locals that action would be taken on those flouting the ban.

Ironically, the ban seems to be only for the people because the army
personnel are into brisk business in timber after felling trees despite
the ban.

"It is intentionally done by the authorities. They allowed soldiers to cut
trees to their hearts content while people keep watching," complained a
local.

The ban on felling trees affects the life of people in Chin state as they
traditionally used wood as fire wood for cooking and natural fuel for
lighting in place of electricity.

In 2003, the military authorities began collecting tax on the locals for
felling trees on the hillside for farming and fire wood. However, from
this year, it imposed a total ban on logging under the pretext of forest
conservation.

____________________________________

August 1, Narinjara News
Decrease in fish exports from Burma to Bangladesh

Burma's fish exports to Bangladesh have decreased since Bangladesh
authorities found the chemical formalin in some fish in the country couple
months ago.

An official from the fishery department in Cox's Bazar said Burma was
previously exporting about 90 to 100 tons of fish to Bangladesh daily
through the Teknaf Trade Zone but is currently exporting only about 40
tons of fish daily.

"The export of Burmese fish has decreased since Burmese fish was brought
under suspicion by the use of the chemical formalin," the official said.

Bangladesh authorities previously suspected Burmese fish contained
formalin, but they did not find any formalin in Burmese fish that was
tested during the first week of February.

After conducting the round of testing, Bangladesh authorities allowed fish
to continue to be exported to Bangladesh as it had been, without any
additional regulations.

Since then however, the amount of fish being exported from Burma has gone
down.

U Ko Aung Than, a fish trader from Chittagong said the main reason that
fish exports have decreased is that consumers are wary of buying the
Burmese fish after rumors spread that it contained formalin.

On 30 July 2007, a team of fish experts from Chittagong and Cox's Bazar
visited the Teknaf trade zone jetty to inspect fish being imported from
Burma to determine if formalin had in fact been used.

The inspection team announced that Burmese fish does not contain formalin
as suspected, and that it is safe for people to consume.

Bangladesh has received significant revenue from Burmese fish imports.
Burma exports between 23,000 and 25,000 tons of fish to Bangladesh yearly,
which equals one-third of the total amount of fish consumed in the
country.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

August 1, Reuters
Bird flu strikes again in Myanmar – FAO

Myanmar found its second bird flu outbreak in July on a farm northwest of
the commercial capital Yangon, the U.N. food agency said on Wednesday.

"About 3,800 chickens have been culled as part of the measures to control
the situation," Tang Zhengping, country representative of the Food and
Agriculture Organisation, told Reuters.

The virus was detected on July 26 on a poultry farm in Letpadan Township,
about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Yangon, he said.

The OIE, the global organisation for animal health, reported an outbreak
among chickens in Mon State in southern Myanmar on July 24.

India, which shares a 1,600-km (1,000-mile) border with the former Burma,
said this week it had stepped up surveillance to stop poultry smuggling
from its neighbour.

The H5N1 strain remains largely a bird virus but experts fear it might
mutate into a form that easily passes between people, setting off an
influenza pandemic in which millions could die.

The virus is known to have infected at least 319 people worldwide since
2003 and has killed at least 192, according to the World Health
Organisation.

____________________________________

August 1, Democratic Voice of Burma
Rangoon residents launch dengue fever awareness campaign

Residents from New Dagon township said yesterday that they had started an
awareness campaign on the deadly hemorrhagic dengue fever that has claimed
the lives of hundreds of Burmese children in the past month.

The grassroots campaign was started by Daw Thet Nwe, whose daughter Ma
Thazin Wai died from the disease at the age three last week. Daw Thet Nwe
said a group of residents had agreed to reproduce and distribute leaflets
on the causes and symptoms of the disease published by UNICEF.

“We have copied all the leaflets . . . and have spread them around to
parents in the neighbourhood so that they can prevent what happened to our
daughter from happening to theirs,” Daw Thet Nwe said.

“We didn’t know the right way to deal with the fever and ended up losing
our baby girl . . . if we had seen the leaflets earlier we could have
prevented her death,” she said.

Daw Thet Nwe said that the group also planned to distribute copies of the
leaflets around schools and in public areas such as market places. Daw
Khin Win Khaing, another leader of the awareness group, said that the
government’s failure to address outbreaks of the disease had put children
across the country at risk.

“We are just doing the work that the authorities should have done but
didn’t,” Daw Khin Win Khaing said.

____________________________________

August 1, Irrawaddy
Cholera outbreaks continue on Thai-Burmese border - Shah Paung and Sai Silp

Ten people have been diagnosed with cholera and admitted to the hospital
in the Mae La Refugee Camp on the Thailand-Burma border, according to a
camp official.

Nee Hser, the director of the Mae La Hospital, told The Irrawaddy on
Wednesday that two of 10 recent patients were children, ages 8 and 12
years old.

Since June 29, 46 patients in Mae La have been hospitalized suffering from
cholera. Currently, 24 remain hospitalized, including the most recent
cases, he said.

He said the patients include some Thai villagers and refugees who work
outside the camp.

“We worry about our camp because the number of patients suffering from
cholera is increasing,” Nee Hser said. “We are now trying to control the
disease, including providing health education on cholera to the public.”

He said cholera cases also have been reported in several Thai villages in
Tak Province, including Mae Ramat near the Mae La camp.

Meanwhile, about 30 Burmese with cholera have been admitted to Mae Sot
Hospital, the Thai language newspaper Manager reported on Sunday.

Dr. Prat Boonyawongvirot, the permanent secretary for Public Health, on
Monday visited a Muslim community in the affected area in Mae Sot
District. He said the disease was brought to the area by Burmese migrants.

He ordered Tak Province public health officials to work to control the
situation, including providing sanitary food and drink.

“The public health officials could control the situation, but the movement
of migrants from the neighboring country makes it reoccur in Thailand," he
said.

Another 10 people suspected of suffering from cholera have been admitted
to hospital, but their cases have not been confirmed.

Dr. Patjuban Hemhongsa, a Tak Province public health doctor, said on
Sunday that officials have found more than 300 cases of cholera in five
border districts of Tak Province in about two months, almost all involving
Burmese migrant workers who crossed the border daily.

____________________________________
ASEAN

August 1, Irrawaddy
Asean rights body should prompt guarded optimism

Caution is needed before celebrating the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations’ decision to form a human rights commission.

In fact, any functioning rights body remains a long way off. Asean will
have to reach a consensus to include the proposed commission in its new
charter in November. That process could likely face Asean’s well-known
practice of foot-dragging, many analysts and editorialists have warned.

The move to form a human rights commission met with strong objections from
the regional bloc’s most problematic member, Burma.

The country’s military leaders reportedly instructed the Burmese
delegation at the Asean foreign ministers meeting in Manila this week to
oppose the formation of a rights body and as well as any provision in the
charter that would allow sanctions and punishment of Asean members.

Burma’s strong objection is understandable. The country’s prisons are full
of political prisoners. According to Amnesty International, about 1,100
political prisoners have been serving long jail terms in Burma while the
regime continues to harass activists and civil society groups inside the
country.

A week before the Asean meeting, Myint Naing, a human rights defender in
Henzeda Township, was sentenced to eight years in prison for “inciting
unrest.”

Before their detention, Myint Naing and several colleagues were severely
beaten by pro-regime thugs. The crime? They were conducting human rights
training among villagers in Henzeda.

Five villagers who were arrested along with Myint Naing also received
four-year prison sentences. Myint Naing and his colleagues now join the
growing number of political detainees in Burma’s gulag.

More bad news is in the pipeline. There have been reports that the
International Committee of the Red Cross, which has been barred from
visiting prisons since 2005, may pull out of Burma soon.

The ICRC closed down some of its offices outside Rangoon this year, citing
restrictions imposed by the regime. Now, there are unconfirmed reports
that the ICRC may close its Rangoon office due to further restrictions
that have made the organization incapable of fulfilling its mandate.

Threats of arrest, detentions and the intimidation of activists still
working in Rangoon are on the rise, according to 88 Generation Students
Group.

This news coincidences with reports that Burmese authorities recently
cleared the main jail in Insein Prison—a sign that the regime may put more
pressure o­n dissidents and, if they face resistance, may be ready to make
even more arrest in the coming months.

While Burma has audaciously objected to the proposed human rights
commission, some Asean members have expressed doubt about whether the
regional bloc could really implement such a body.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said he does not expect
discussions for the establishment of the commission to be easy but
stressed that the regional grouping has already taken an important first
step.

"From the start, we thought it's going to be a very thorny issue, a
difficult issue," he told a press conference in Manila.

"This is the first step," he added. "The next step is getting it formed.
Let us cross the bridge when we come to it. I'm not saying that it is
easy."

As it is, members of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar [Burma] Caucus
cautiously welcomed Asean’s agreement to create a regional human rights
commission, but they expressed doubt about the impact such a body might
have o­n human rights in Burma.

“If what we have in mind is a meaningful human rights mechanism, then it
should have a minimum of powers to ensure that all Asean governments
uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Lim Kit Siang, the
chairman of the Malaysian opposition Democratic Action Party and a member
of the Malaysian Parliament, told The Irrawaddy. “Unless such human rights
law can be upheld, then the human rights mechanism for Asean would not be
meaningful.”

The decision to set up a human rights commission is just a preliminary
step toward the creation of the rights body. Many obstacles to its actual
creation lie ahead.

Authoritarian rulers in the region will not welcome the creation of a
human rights commission, but the citizens of Asean countries will embrace
it as a forum for the numerous untold stories they have to share.

____________________________________

August 1, Mizzima News
U.S. praises proposed ASEAN Charter

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte today offered strong
support and encouragement for pronounced decisions and recommendations
toward the ASEAN Charter, reserving special approval for the decision to
include a human rights commission along with the continued pursuit and
support of democratic principles.

Negroponte singled out "strengthened democratic values, good governance,
the rule of law and respect of human rights and freedom," as recommended
objectives of the Charter worthy of commendation.

While acknowledging the importance of an economic focus and ties in the
ASEAN-U.S. relationship, Negroponte gave notice that "Our common interest
is not just economic."

Though appreciative of the growing support for democracy by ASEAN, he
urged the body to strive even harder for the realization of democratic
governance throughout the region.

Negroponte is to discuss the United States Plan of Action, originally
brought forth by Secretary Rice last year, in upcoming meetings in Manila.

The Plan of Action incorporates cooperation in several spheres outside of
economics, including health, information and communication technology,
transportation, disaster and environmental management.

Negroponte, speaking at the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Meeting in Manila, is
representing the United States in the absence of Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice.

This is the second high profile ASEAN conference that Rice has missed, the
first, in 2005, in protest to the scheduled ascension of Burma to the
ASEAN Chair.

Her absence on this occasion, amidst concern that it demonstrates a low
U.S. priority toward the region, the State Department attributes to
pressing matters in the Middle East.

ASEAN reports that, in 2006, economic activity between ASEAN countries and
the U.S. totaled 168 billion dollars.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 1, Mizzima News
New Delhi rally protests Kachin dam construction

Over 50,000 inhabitants will become homeless if the Burmese military junta
forges ahead with the construction of a series of dams on the confluence
of the Maykhah, Malikhah and the Irrawaddy rivers in collaboration with
China, ethnic Kachin activists said.

To protest against the junta's proposal to construct the dams, Kachin
activists, yesterday staged a rally in New Delhi. It demanded that the
junta immediately put a halt to its planned hydro-project in Kachin state,
northern Burma.

In May 2007, China Power Investment Corporation and the South China Grid
Corporation signed an agreement to jointly develop hydropower projects on
the confluence and along the Maykhah, Malikhah and the Irrawaddy Rivers .

Over 100 Chinese workers have been brought into Kachin state and work on
the project has begun, according to Kachin activists.

"At least 50,000 villagers around the area of the dam sites will be
displaced because their villages will be inundated," Z. Dilla, a Kachin
activist told Mizzima.

Besides, there are plans to bring in at least 40,000 labourers from China
to work on the project, said Z. Dilla.

"This threatens the local population as the area is already full of
Chinese. Kachin state will be overrun with Chinese resulting in
demographic changes," Z. Dilla added.

According to a Kachin woman activist, Lumnan, the junta in collaboration
with the two Chinese companies is planning to construct a series of dams
on the three rivers where the expected power generation will be 3,000
Megawatts, to be sold to China.

The Burmese junta has lately gone on a dam construction spree with more
than six dams proposed to be constructed on the Salween River in eastern
Burma's Shan and Karen states with help from China and Thailand.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 1, Irrawaddy
Burma appoints ambassador to North Korea, China

Burma’s military regime appointed a Burmese ambassador to North Korea for
the first time since 1983, according to a state-run newspaper. The
ambassador will serve concurrently as ambassador to China.

Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the chairman of the State Peace and Development
Council, has appointed Thein Lwin to represent Burma's interest in both
countries, The New Light of Myanmar said o­n Wednesday.

Burma resumed its diplomatic ties with North Korea after signing an
agreement with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong Il during his
official visit to Burma in late April.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry welcomed the two country’s bilateral ties.

Burma suspended diplomatic relations with North Korea following an
assassination attempt in 1983 on then South Korean President Chun Doo-Hwan
by North Korean agents during an official visit to Rangoon.

____________________________________

August 1, Voice of America
New Zealand voices concern about human rights in Burma

New Zealand's foreign minister has voiced concern about human rights
conditions in Burma during a meeting with his Burmese counterpart in
Manila.

Winston Peters told Burma's Foreign Minister Nyan Win on Tuesday that New
Zealand is "deeply concerned" about the political and human rights
situation in the military-led country.

Peters also expressed concern about what he said is Burma's lack of
genuine reform. He urged the Burmese government to implement steps to move
toward democracy.

Peters said restoring democracy would help Burma to rebuild its economy.

The two foreign ministers are in Manila for meetings of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.

The remarks by Peters come as ASEAN is trying to do more to engage
fellow-member Burma and find new ways to push it to reform.

Burma has long been a problem for the 10-nation group because of its poor
human rights record and its detention of activists, including Nobel peace
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

August 1, National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
NCGUB urges junta to reconsider its 'brinkmanship policy'

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) was
established with the primary objective of restoring democracy and human
rights and supporting the democracy movement in Burma.

The current trend of the convention being hosted by the Burmese generals
indicates that the state constitution which will emerge from that
convention is neither going to install or nurture democracy in the long
run nor restore human rights.  What is even worse is that it will actually
deepen the socioeconomic and political crises that the country is
currently facing.

The military junta's "basic principles" and "detailed basic principles"
which it insists must be incorporated into the constitution only
legitimize and perpetuate military rule -- the main source of all problems
plaguing the country.

Unless many of the controversial constitutional principles are annulled
and the constitution-making process changed to make it more inclusive by
inviting election winning parties, representatives of the ethnic
nationalities, and all stakeholders, any outcome derived from the National
Convention will be unacceptable to the people of Burma, including the
NCGUB.

In this regard, the NCGUB understands and supports the statement of the
Committee Representing People's Parliament about the constitution drafting
process.  We, therefore, urge the Burmese generals to seriously reconsider
their self-interested brinkmanship policy which goes against rational
thinking and in defiance of world opinion and to take proper steps to
correct the situation in the interests of the people and the nation.

The NCGUB is constituted and endorsed by representatives elected in the
1990 elections in Burma

Tel: (301) 424-4810
Fax: (301) 424-4812