BurmaNet News, August 21, 2007

[Editor]

August 21, 2007 Issue # 3271

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Key activist goes underground before famine-like protest in
Burma
DVB: Protests over gas prices spread
Irrawaddy: Junta targets opposition members amid tension over fuel hike
Mizzima: Editors of Burma's leading media group interrogated
Irrawaddy: SPDC commander trying to divide ethnic groups, KIO says
Mizzima News: Junta tightens noose on northern Karen state
KNG: NDA-K, RRF exchange gunfire over desertion in northern Burma

ON THE BORDER
Kaowao News: Mon refugees forced out of Umpium camp
Khonumthung News: Curfew imposed on Indo-Burma border after arrest of 15
Rohingyas
DVB: NLD official sacked for stealing prize money

BUSINESS / TRADE
DVB: Thousands of Irrawaddy farms ruined as rains continue

ASEAN
AP: Asean lawmakers urge China, India to withdraw support Burma
Bernama: Regional Human Rights Commission can influence Myanmar's military
junta

REGIONAL
The Times of India: Detained Myanmar men not Qaida terrorists: Official
Irrawaddy: Arakanese activist receives Yayori award
Xinhua: Myanmar to increase news, information exchange with China: minister

OPINION / OTHER
The Independent (London): Gordon Brown's strange silence on Burma - Jared
Genser

PRESS RELEASE
Shwe Gas Movement: The Shwe Gas Movement condemns Burma’s domestic fuel
price hikes while junta

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 21, Mizzima News
Key activist goes underground before famine-like protest in Burma

An activist, who has called for a nationwide mass demonstration in Burma
against the sudden fuel price hike, has gone missing. His compatriots
believe he has gone underground to evade arrest and harassment by the
junta. The protest demonstration is slated for Wednesday.

Htin Kyaw and the Myanmar Development Committee (MDC) vowed last week to
orchestrate a mass protest, unless the military rulers rolled back the
unannounced petroleum price hike in a week. The hike triggered an increase
in bus fares and prices of other essential commodities.

The resentment gaining ground in the wake of skyrocketing prices of
essential commodities in Burma, in the wake of the increase in prices of
petroleum products, seems somewhat reminiscent of the 'famine
demonstration'.

Following the group's announcement on August 17, Ko Htin Kyaw went
missing, said Thein Aung Myint, member of the MDC and a close friend of
Htin Kyaw.

"I last saw him on August 17. He was really determined to protest, but I
never saw him again. And we cannot contact him as he does not have a
telephone," Thein Aung Myint told Mizzima.

Thein Aung Myint, however, said Htin Kyaw must have deliberately hidden
himself to avoid uncalled for harassment or threats by the authorities.
Htin Kyaw was arrested thrice in the recent past for protesting against
the steady rise in the prices of essential commodities in Rangoon.

The group is to organize a nationwide protest against the recent fuel
price hike on Wednesday, according to the MDC's announcement. While Htin
Kyaw remains unreachable, Thein Aung Myint said the group will go ahead
with its planned protest tomorrow.

"We believe he [Htin Kyaw] will contact one of us tomorrow and join the
activity," Thein Aung Myint added.

Ko Thein Aung Myint, while not wanting to mention the place and time of
the protest, said several people have approached him and are keen to join
the protest.

Meanwhile, sources in Rangoon said authorities have warned high school
students to stay away from any public gathering or protest.

Thein Aung Myint confirmed such warnings by school authorities and said
some schools in north Okkla have declared a holiday on Wednesday.

"My niece [studying in the ninth standard] told me that the teachers had
declared a holiday tomorrow," said Thein Aung Myint.

Meanwhile, another group of activists known as 'Committee for Peaceful
Protest Against Famine' has declared to hold a public protest gathering on
Thursday in downtown Rangoon .

The group, which has not disclosed its identity, said the protest
gathering would begin at 1 p.m. in front of the downtown Rangoon city
hall. There will be speeches by a famous film director, a veteran
journalist, a monk, a high school student and a house wife.

Protest march and rallies against the recent fuel price hike have become a
little more frequent under repressive military rule in Burma, since it was
first staged on Sunday by former student leaders, the 88 generation
students' group.

On August 14, the military junta, which grabbed power in a coup in 1988,
secretly hiked the price of fuel – petrol, and diesel to 100 percent and
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to 500 percent – throwing people into immense
consternation as the fuel hike triggered an increase in bus fares and
other commodity prices.

Surprisingly, the military regime, which is infamous for its brutal
crackdown on even the slightest activity of its opponents, had on Sunday
allowed the protestors to march through the city without intervening.

____________________________________

August 21, Democratic Voice of Burma
Protests over gas prices spread

Hundreds of protestors marched through Rangoon and clashed with government
supporters today in a series of separate demonstrations against the
military’s decision to raise gas prices last week.

Members of the National League for Democracy and the 88 Generation
Students group, who marched from Tamwe township’s Shwe Baho clinic to the
NLD headquarters on Shwegondine road, were threatened by men armed with
slingshots and sticks.

A woman who joined the protest march told DVB that the men followed the
demonstrators, shouting abuse and ordering them to take public transport.

“A pack of thugs followed us all the way to the Six Storey pagoda and
harassed us. They threatened to beat us up. They also tried to force us to
take buses,” the woman said on condition of anonymity.

The chairman of the NLD’s Yankin branch, U Myo Khin, and six other NLD
members said that when they arrived in Tamwe to join the start of the
protest march, they were physically forced onto a bus by a group of about
50 men.

“We arrived in front of the Tamwe plaza and saw about 40 to 50 people
sitting there. When we passed them they got up and grabbed weapons they
had hidden in a nearby truck. It was quite a scene in front of the
bystanders,” U Myo Khin said, adding that after the activists were forced
onto the bus they got off at the next stop and started walking.

Another group of NLD members were also harassed outside Tamwe plaza in a
separate incident. Ma Nemo Hlaing, an NLD youth member, said as she
approached the building with four colleagues, a group of about 90 men
threatened to kill her if she joined the protests.

“They threatened to beat us to death on the spot if we continued to walk
and told us to get into a car. We refused and told them they could do
anything they wanted to us but we would keep walking . . . eventually they
let us go,” Ma Nemo Hlaing said.

Students were also seen handing out leaflets outside the Western and
Eastern Rangoon universities and the Hlaing Tharyar bus station today,
encouraging people to join protests against the gas prices over the next
week.

A bus passenger who was given a leaflet said that he was determined to
join protests led by the students in Rangoon tomorrow.

“On the leaflet is said that the activists were demanding lower commodity
prices . . . We welcome this as we have been waiting for that day for so
long. We will join them,” the man told DVB.

A group of shoe factory workers from Hlaing Tharyar also released a
statement today saying that they would join public protestors tomorrow if
the government failed to lower the gas prices and refused to respond to
their demands for better working conditions.

The NLD said yesterday that if the government continued to refuse to
address the deepening economic crisis in Burma it could expect widespread
unrest.

“[The increased gas prices] have caused the prices of all commodities to
rise . . . and this has forced the people into a greater state of poverty.
It is the government’s responsibility if public unrest spreads,” the NLD
said.

____________________________________

August 21, Irrawaddy
Junta targets opposition members amid tension over fuel hike - Shah Paung

Members of a pro-government organization and a paramilitary group in
Rangoon on Tuesday made threats against six members of the opposition
party National League for democracy, according to one of the six NLD
members.

88 Generation Students group led peaceful protest over sudden unannounced
hike of fuel prices Myo Khin, the chairman of the Yankin Township branch
of the NLD, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that he and five other members
were accosted on their way to their township headquarters by a group of
about 60 members of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development
Association and the paramilitary group Pyithu Swan Arr Shin.

The group of USDA and PSAS members—carrying catapults and sharpened bamboo
sticks—followed the NLD members as they walked to their office and later
stopped to question them at a bus queue near Tamwe Plaza.

The NLD members were then called terrorists and told to leave the area or
they would be beaten to death, according to Myo Khin, who said he and his
fellow NLD members tried to explain that they were simply walking to work
because they could not afford fuel for their cars.

The pro-junta mob then forced the men onto a bus, while instructing other
passengers not to talk to them. The NLD members got off the bus at a later
stop and continued walking to their headquarters, Myo Khin said.

Tuesday’s confrontation follows other violence on Sunday, when a suspected
government supporter shot a catapult at the car of Amyotheryei Win Naing,
the leader of a new democratic opposition organization called the National
Politicians Group who was returning from distributing rice to the poor in
Thaketa Township.

Tensions have been rising since Burma’s military government increased fuel
and natural gas prices on August 15, leaving many residents in the former
capital unable to afford fuel for their cars or fares for buses, which
have risen in response to the fuel price hike.

Two Burmese workers groups and a student organization from Dagon
University have been distributing pamphlets in several townships—including
Tamwe, Shwegondine and the Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone—condemning the
high cost of fuel.

The pamphlets call for worker’s rights and for the public to demand a
reduction in fuel costs, which have previously been heavily subsidized by
the government.

According to local residents, government officials have stepped up
security in several Rangoon townships.

Also on Sunday, more than 400 people—led by the 88 Generation
Students—demonstrated against the government increase in fuel costs, which
they say has also led to increases in the price of essential commodities
such as rice.

The protesters marched from Shwegondine Township to the Kyauk Myaung
Market in Tamwe Township.

Myint Thein, a spokesperson for the NLD said the party released a
statement on Monday that said residents face unnecessary hardships because
of the fuel hike, and that the government must take responsibility for the
needs of the people.

“The government should solve the current problem in the right way instead
of oppressing the people,” he added. “Solving problems by using violence
is not the correct way.”

Meanwhile, the Rangoon-based Myanmar Development Committee released a
statement saying a second demonstration against rising commodity prices is
set to take place on Wednesday.

The demonstration will be led by Htin Kyaw, a member of the group, who was
jailed in February for staging a solo protest about high commodity prices.

____________________________________

August 21, Mizzima News
Editors of Burma's leading media group interrogated

Editors of Eleven Media, one of Burma's leading media group, were summoned
by the Special Branch of the police in Rangoon for interrogations as of
last night, sources in Rangoon said.

While the male editors were called-in for interrogation, the Special
Branch conducted an in-house interrogation to the women editors at their
living quarters, added the source.

While the reason for the interrogation is still unknown, sources said the
editors of the media group have been accused by the Military Affairs
Security, which replaced Burma's former Military Intelligence Service, of
being pro-National League for Democracy, Burma's largest opposition party.

Wai Phyo, one of the editors-in-charge of the Eleven Media, however,
flatly denied that there had been any interrogation and said, "I have not
even heard about it."

____________________________________

August 21, Irrawaddy
SPDC commander trying to divide ethnic groups, KIO says - Khun Sam

An ethnic ceasefire group, the Kachin Independence Organization, said on
Tuesday it believes Maj-Gen Ohn Myint, the Burmese junta's northern
commander, was behind an anonymous Shan letter expressing opposition to
proposed KIO amendments to the constitution.

KIO sources said they believe Ohn Myint is behind an effort to get local
groups to express opposition to the KIO amendments.

“The [opposition] letter is written by unknown Shan people but without a
signature. It incites conflict among ethnic people in Kachin State,”
Kumhtat Gam, the KIO Myitkyina-based liaison officer told The Irrawaddy.

“This happened [the letter] under the administration of the northern
commander," he said. "He is responsible for this letter, and he has
responsibility to this case.”

On Friday, a meeting between the KIO, Ohn Myint and Burmese officials was
held at the Burmese army’s North Command Headquarters in Myitkyina at a
time when relations between the army and the KIO have grown tense.

KIO vice chairman Nban La read a statement explaining the KIO
constitutional amendments were designed to create a better foundation for
the country's constitution.

The KIO's proposed amendment contains 19 articles that were submitted to
the National Convention during its final session which opened on July 19.
The KIO supports a "union" which shares power between a central government
and constituent states.

The government-backed constitution promotes a “unitary system” that gives
the government sole control over the affairs of constituent ethnic states.

Ohn Myint said he would report the KIO statement and concerns to the
Naypyidaw government, officials said.

____________________________________

August 21, Mizzima News
Junta tightens noose on northern Karen state

In the northern Karen District of Toungoo, the Burmese Army is pushing
forward in its efforts to force Karen villagers into government controlled
areas through a comprehensive program threatening both the food and
physical security of local residents.

The report, "Landmines, Killings and Food Destruction: Civilian Life in
Toungoo District" by the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), released today
states the Burmese Army is deliberately targeting the food supplies of
recalcitrant communities in an effort to force the villagers to relocate
to "peace villages," as the SPDC refers to settlements under government
control.

However life in the "peace villages" has proven anything but peaceful for
the hapless residents, as the Burmese Army is said to exploit the
population for its own needs, including frequent incidences of forced
labor, while continuing to disrupt the normal pattern of village food and
material procurement.

"Civilians in Toungoo must therefore choose between a situation of
impoverishment and subjugation under SPDC rule, evasion in forested hiding
sites with the constant threat of military attack, or a relatively stable
yet uprooted life in refugee camps away from their homeland," states the
report.

Restrictions placed on movement by the Army have further aggravated the
food situation while leading to an increased threat to physical security.

Villagers, according to the report, are forced to violate the restrictions
on movement in a desperate attempt to tend to fields and crops, which risk
otherwise going unharvested. However the strategic placement of landmines,
also said to be placed in the vicinity of churches, in conjunction with
the Army's shoot-on-sight policy, have meant that too often hungry
stomachs have turned into dead bodies.

The report documents 38 known Army murders of Karen villagers, ranging in
age from 7 to 60 and often said to be a result of violations on the
restriction of movement, since the start of the calendar year.

The potential for encounters with Army units, according to KHRG, has only
grown now that the rainy season has taken hold and villagers are forced to
venture out and tend to their crops.

The danger and scarcity in procuring food has forced the hand of many
villagers, who no longer find any existence in their native homeland a
tenable option.

A Karen villager, referred to as Saw J in the KHRG report, gives credence
to the grim situation existing in much of the District when he says: "We
don't want to go to a refugee camp, but we have no choice because we can't
get food any other way. Now that we live here we're unable to plant rice."

In addition to the above documented abuses by the Burmese Army, army units
are also held responsible for the extensive confiscation, looting and
destruction of existing food stores.

"The increasing militarisation of Toungoo District has lead to increasing
poverty, malnourishment and a deepening humanitarian crisis for both those
communities living under SPDC control and those in situations of
displacement," concludes the report.

____________________________________

August 21, Kachin News Group
NDA-K, RRF exchange gunfire over desertion in northern Burma

Gunfire was exchanged between two Kachin armed groups the NDA-K and RRF
three days ago over desertion from the NDA-K in Kachin State, Northern
Burma, local sources said.

The warning gunfire was resorted to near Hkawnglang Hpu areas in Putao
District of northern Kachin State when the New Democratic Army-Kachin
(NDA-K) tried to stop its soldiers with weapons deserting the 4th
battalion to join the Rebellion Resistance Force (RRF), said NDA-K
sources.

In the last week, about eight soldiers with their weapons like M-21, M-22,
G-4, G-3 and G-2 guns from NDA-K's 4th battalion joined the RRF led by
Tanggu Dang (Ahdang), a NDA-K source told KNG today.

According to NDA-K, Ahdang told his former organization - NDA-K that he
had to persuade all Rawang soldiers in NDA-K to join the RRF in keeping
with the instructions from the ruling junta's Kachin State's Commander,
Maj-Gen Ohn Myint.

Ahdang is very close to Maj-Gen Ohn Myint and the RRF has been supported
with funds and weapons by the ruling junta since early 2006, local sources
said.

All the deserters are from the Rawang Tribe of Putao and some of them
detained by the NDA-K said that they were systematically invited to join
RRF by the leader Ahdang. RRF comprises of people from only the Rawang
tribe, NDA-K officials said.

The NDA-K may fight the RRF if the ruling junta keeps supporting the
Rawang militia group in order to deplete the ranks of the, NDA-K officials
added.

The junta backed RRF was formed in Hkawnglang Hpu areas early last year
after 20 Rawang soldiers with their weapons from NDA-K led by Ahdang,
former Deputy Chief of Economic Department in the NDA-K split from the
organization.

The RRF leader Ahdang is a well-known Rawang businessman in Kachin State. 
He owns the Mali Hka Recording Studio in Myitkyina, some jade mines in
Phakant areas and also has other business interests in Kachin State, said
a trader in Myitkyina.

With the ruling junta's special offer to Ahdang, about eight of Ahdang's
men are attending the Officer Training School run by the junta in Pyi Oo
Lwin whereas another four have been sent to Russia to study IT and nuclear
technology, said local sources.

In Putao District, there are four main native people - Rawang, Lisu,
Kachin and Shan. The Rawang people had tried to take control of Putao as
their own land many times in the past.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

August 21, Kaowao News
Mon refugees forced out of Umpium camp

A group of Mon refugees have been forced to leave the Umpium refugee camp
near Maesot, Tak Province by Thai authorities.

Ougkar Mon, a social worker from Maesot said, 89 Mon refugees including
women and children were forced to vacate the Umpium refugee camp. They are
temporarily staying in Maesot in miserable conditions.  Since they had no
other place to go to, the group entered the camp again but was forced out
by the camp authorities on August 1, 2007.

The refugees include former members of HRP (Honsawatoi Restoration Party)
which split from the New Mon State Party and fought against the Burma Army
in southern Ye.


"Many of us came from southern Mon State and Ye area.  We are scared of
being sent back and we don't want to resettle in Halockhanee and Bang Tom
Yang refugee camps because it is very close to the New Mon State Part
(NMSP) area and we don't feel safe there," said Hongsar, a former member
of Nai Hloin group that operated in southern Ye.

Overseas Mon organizations in Australia, Canada , Europe and the United
States wrote a letter to Ms. Elizabeth Kirton, UNHCR Officer in Maesot,
Thailand to follow up the case.

"We urgently request your office to provide much needed humanitarian
assistance and protection to the Mon refugees," said Nai Pon Nya Mon,
Chairman of Monland Restoration Council (MRC) based in the USA.

"We, the Mon community around the world, are writing to request your
further assistance in response to the current situation of Mon refugees. 
We are deeply concerned for the safety and poor living conditions of over
80 Mon refugees including women and children who were forced out of the
Umpium by the camp authority," the petition letter read.

According to the UNHCR office in Maesot, the office has taken up the
matter with the local Thai authorities to urge them to allow the Mon
refugees to enter the camp. But no date was given when they would be
allowed into the camp.

____________________________________

August 21, Khonumthung News
Curfew imposed on Indo-Burma border after arrest of 15 Rohingyas

The Assam Rifles has imposed curfew restricting movement of people from 4
p.m. to 7 a.m. in Moreh town, Manipur state, northeastern India on the
Indo-Burma border after its arrested 15 people believed to be Rohingyas
from Arakan state, Burma last week.

Suspecting them of having of having links with the Al Qaeda, Assam Rifles
raided the locality of the Muslim community in Pangal Basti ward (2) in
Moreh and rounded up 15 Rohingya from Burma on August 17.

"They (the detainees from Burma) were transferred to Imphal west police
for further interrogation yesterday and will be produced in court today",
said a source in Imphal.

There has been no announcement about how long the curfew will be in force,
said a Burmese national in Imphal town, Manipur.

"Many people know that the arrested Rohingyas were working in Nanphalong
market in Moreh. I don't think they are linked with the Al Qaeda," he
added.

So far there is no evidence to connect the group to the Al Qaeda but they
may have links with other terror groups, said Major General B.K Chengappa
of the Assam Rifles. He said that one among the 15 detainees has a work
permit card from Thailand.

Till now no Rohingya from any Burmese organization in exile has made a
statement relating to the arrest of the Rohingyas.

The arrested people were said to have crossed over from Bangladesh having
come from Burma to Moreh through Tripura, Silchar in Assam and Imphal in
Manipur.

____________________________________

August 21, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD official sacked for stealing prize money

A foreign affairs coordinator with the National League for
Democracy-Liberated Area in India has been sacked for stealing more than
US $2000 awarded to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

A statement released by NLD-LA India chairman U Cho late last week said U
Ramjit Verma had been fired for misusing the money that was awarded to Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi along with the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International
Deshprem prize in March this year.

U Cho said that U Ramjit Verma had accepted the money on behalf of Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest, but that he had lied to
the NLD’s regional committee about receiving it and had failed to answer
questions on the location of the cash.

The NLD-LA's India deputy chairman U Ohn Maung told DVB that the group was
deeply upset by the incident.

“[This award] was given to Daw Suu for her sacrifice and support for the
achievement of democracy in Burma. Now the money has been all used up by
one person and this is so shameful,” U Ohn Maung said.

“This is the first award the Chandra Bose Foundation has ever given. We
are so ashamed we want to cut our own faces,” he said.

But U Ramjit Verma told DVB last week that he had not spent the money and
was keeping it in a bank account until Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released.
He claimed that the NLD leader was the only person he would be willing to
hand the money over to.

“I will transfer the money to her when the time comes,” he said.

U Ramjit Verma was also forced to leave his position as chairman of the
National Health and Education Committee in India five years ago after he
was accused of misusing more than 400,000 rupees, according to the NHEC.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 21, Democratic Voice of Burma
Thousands of Irrawaddy farms ruined as rains continue

Thousands of people from the Irrawaddy townships of Bassein, Henzada,
Ma-Ubin, Panataw were left homeless last week after a dam near the swollen
Irrawaddy River broke.

Residents told DVB yesterday that flooding caused by the dam break had
submerged thousands of acres of farm land and had forced most families off
their property.

People were also reportedly forced to flee villages in Pathwe, Ma-mwepin,
Daw Wartawsal and Nat Swe last week after the local authorities opened a
section of the Inn Chaung irrigation channel and flooded the area.

“Between 5000 and 10,000 acres of farm land has been destroyed so far . .
. I had about 60 acres of crops planted and about 40 of those acres are
still underwater,” one farmer from the area said.

“We invested a lot of money into those crops. I think it will take us
about three years to recoup the costs,” the farmer said.

A number of serious landslides caused by heavy rains have also hit
townships in Irrawaddy division with residents of Panataw township’s South
Paypin, North Paypin and Khanwepho villagers forced to evacuate the area
yesterday.

“Villagers from those places where landslides occurred are now dismantling
their houses. There were about 500 to 600 families living in each
village,” one resident of Panataw said.

But the Irrawaddy Divisional Peace and Development Council office in
Bassein told DVB yesterday that reports of widespread damage had been
exaggerated.

“We have no plans to evacuate residents for the moment,” officials said.

____________________________________
ASEAN

August 21, Associated Press
Asean lawmakers urge China, India to withdraw support Burma - Sean Yoong

Burma's military rulers will ignore demands for restoring democracy as
long as China, India and Southeast Asian countries keep supporting them,
regional lawmakers said Monday.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations should form a "triangle of
influence" with China and India to exert political and economic pressure
on Burma's junta, which "has broken its promises to Asean many times
before about implementing genuine reforms," said Charles Chong, a
Singaporean member of Parliament.

"All of us—Asean, China and India—will suffer if Myanmar's [Burma's]
situation continues to deteriorate," Chong said at a gathering of more
than 20 national legislators from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines and Singapore to discuss Myanmar's politics.

Problems sparked by the Burmese military's grip on power have hurt the
region, sending refugees to Thailand and Malaysia, producing illegal drugs
that spill over to China and wrecking Asean's efforts to be seen as an
influential grouping, Chong said.

Some lawmakers at the meeting called for the region's public and private
sectors to pull investments out of Burma, adding that they would submit a
petition to the Chinese and Indian governments to exercise more moral
courage in tackling Burma.

"With Beijing as its 'godfather," the (Myanmar government) has been
emboldened to act with impunity and contempt for the concerns of its
immediate neighbors," the lawmakers said in a statement.

Chong acknowledged it would be tough to coax China to withdraw its
diplomatic support for Burma's junta and crucial investments in oil, gas
and minerals.

"Not even the US and the EU can compel China to do something it doesn't
want to," he said. "But China wants to be respected globally, and we know
that responsible global leaders would not support a regime that inflicts
such suffering on its own people."

Burma's current junta, which took power in 1988, held general elections in
1990 but refused to cede power after a landslide victory by the National
League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

____________________________________

August 20, Bernama
Regional Human Rights Commission can influence Myanmar's military junta

The effort to create a regional human rights commission under the Asean
Charter is a right move towards influencing Myanmar's military junta to
advocate political and economic reforms, Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar
Caucus chairman Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said today.

He said that although the progress in solving the issue of human rights
violation in Myanmar had been slow, there had been some progress on the
issue lately, especially in the perception of Asean leaders over the human
rights situation in Myanmar.

"Ten years, ago they were not willing to talk about the issue but now the
leaders are saying something and there are also transformation and
awareness of the problem even at the highest level," he said.

He told a news conference this after a seminar on Asean & Myanmar's
Democracy held here on the sidelines of the 28th Asean Inter-Parliamentary
Assembly conference.

Zaid said that now Asean leaders talked more about integration by
accommodating more guidelines, rules, charter and human rights commission
and although it was not known whether these are binding, nevertheless,
they were moving foward in the right way in realising reforming Myanmar.

"I think that the creation of an Asean Charter with regional human rights
commission in it will create a positive impact in correcting the human
rights violation situation in Myanmar.

"After having adopted all these principles of human rights and setting up
a commission it would be difficult for Asean leaders to ignore human
rights violation in Myanmar, he added.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 21, The Times of India
Detained Myanmar men not Qaida terrorists: Official

Imphal/Guwahati: There is no evidence to link the 15 Arakanese Muslims
from Myanmar, who were arrested on Friday in Manipur’s border town of
Moreh, with the Al-Qaida, a senior Assam Rifles official said.

The statement came even as security agencies were trying to ascertain if
the Myanmarese have ties with any Indian, Myanmarese or international
terror groups.

"So far, we have not found any proof of their links with Al-Qaida. Their
affiliation to any terror group is yet to be confirmed. We believe they
have some links with a hawala racket," IGP (south) of Assam Rifles Maj Gen
B K Chengappa told TOI on Monday.

The 15 Arakanese Muslims, belonging to Myanmar’s Rohingya community, has
been fighting against the military junta, alongside the Buddhists, for a
long time.

Assam Rifles sources said these men had come to Moreh from Myanmar's
Arakan province via Bangladesh, Tripura and south Assam's Silchar several
times in the past two months.

Assam Rifles personnel caught the Arakanese during a raid on a Muslim
locality after they aroused suspicion. The arrests were made on grounds of
non-possession of travel documents. On Saturday, the Rohingyas were
brought to Imphal. One of them was carrying some documents from Thailand.
According to an official, the Rohingyas said they came to Moreh to earn
their livelihoods.

____________________________________

August 21, Irrawaddy
Arakanese activist receives Yayori award - Saw Yan Naing

An ethnic Arakanese human rights activist in Bangladesh has been named the
third Yayori Award recipient by Japan-based women’s rights groups.

Saw Mra Raza Linn, the chairperson of the Rakhaing (Arakan) Womens Union
and a member of the Women’s League of Burma was awarded the prize for her
consistent contributions to and energetic support of peace and democracy
in Burma, and her efforts to oppose human rights violations and violence
towards women and children.

“I’m satisfied with the award and it encourages me to continue my work in
the future, such as further empowering women and researching Arakanese
literature,” Raza Linn told The Irrawaddy. “I also hope that I can help
achieve democracy in Arakan state.”

The Yayori Award is given to women activists, journalists, and artists
(individuals or groups) who work at the grassroots level with socially
marginalized peoples to create a 21st century free from war and
discrimination against women throughout Asia. The award is given by the
Women’s Fund for Peace and Human Rights and the Asia-Japan Women’s
Resource Center, both in Tokyo.

Award recipients also receive 500,000 yen (US $4,367.19). A ceremony will
be held in Tokyo to deliver the prize, according to Raza Linn, who added
that she will use the prize money to buy new Arakanese literature and
curriculum books, to continue empowerment programs and to address the
issues of health and education for women and children.

Previous recipients include Nepalese photojournalist Usha Titikshu and
Korean activist Ko You Kyong.

Raza Linn has conducted nonviolent protests against local government
officials in Arakan State and has traveled extensively in the region to
promote the inclusion of diverse religious groups in Burma’s democracy
movement. She has also made efforts to address ongoing violence against
women—particularly rape—and has effected the release from prison of
numerous local political detainees.

In 1988, Raza Linn led thousands of people in pro-democracy marches during
that year’s nationwide democracy uprising.

She later fled Arakan State for Bangladesh and spent several years hiding
in the border jungles before resuming her political activism on behalf of
Arakanese women and children.

____________________________________

August 21, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to increase news, information exchange with China: minister

Myanmar wishes to increase news and information exchange and cooperation
with China to boost the development of the two countries' bilateral ties,
said Myanmar Minister of Information Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan here
Monday evening.

Kyaw Hsan made the remarks while meeting with Xue Yongxing, director and
editor-in-chief of the Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau of the Xinhua News
Agency based in Hong Kong, China.

Kyaw Hsan also briefed Xue on Myanmar's ongoing constitutional national
convention and its integration into the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN).

Noting that China and Myanmar are friendly neighbors, Xue said the
increased exchange and cooperation in the sector of news and information
contributes to promoting the growth of the two countries' neighborly and
friendly ties.

Xue arrived in Yangon on Friday for a four-day trip to Myanmar as part of
his tour of four ASEAN countries, which has already taken him to Cambodia,
Vietnam and Laos, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the founding
of ASEAN.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 21, The Independent (London)
Gordon Brown's strange silence on Burma - Jared Genser

Today, halfway around the world, a 62-year-old woman sits alone in her
home, as she has for years. Her telephone line is disconnected. Her
doorbell never rings because visitors are forbidden. There is no mail.
There is no news.

For Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratically elected leader of Burma and
world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, there is almost
complete isolation. She has spent more than 12 of the past 17 years under
house arrest since her National League for Democracy and its allies won a
landslide 82 per cent of the seats in Burma's 1990 parliamentary
elections. They were never allowed to take power.

This month marks the 19th anniversary of Burma's democracy uprising, when
thousands of people took to the streets demanding freedom and democracy.
The regime responded with bullets, and thousands were massacred, ushering
in an era of even worse repression.

Since 1996, the junta has destroyed more than 3,000 villages in a
relentless campaign of killing, torture and rape against ethnic
minorities. More than one million refugees have fled the country and
600,000 internally displaced people struggle to subsist in jungle
conditions. Some 800,000 people are used as forced labour and the country
has tens of thousands of child soldiers. Even worse, as Burma
disintegrates, its decay - including heroin, methamphetamines and strains
of HIV - seeps into neighbouring countries.

With the atrocities mounting, the international community has, in fits and
starts, tried to press for peace in Burma. Unfortunately, however, there
has been no unified approach and the military junta has exploited this
reality to preserve its tenuous grip on power.

In recent years, the UK has played a leading role in pressing for
democratic change in Burma, in close partnership with the US. Yet in the
three months since Gordon Brown has become Prime Minister, he has been
quiet on the topic of Burma. No doubt his focus has been on other things.
But in just a few weeks in office, French President Nicholas Sarkozy's
government managed to both secure the release of the six Bulgarian medics
from Libya and announce its intention to press for the release of Aung San
Suu Kyi.

Mr Brown's silence is especially surprising because one would hope that
his admiration for Suu Kyi - in his book Courage: Eight Portraits, he
described her as a true hero for our times - would be accompanied by
tangible support for her cause. Thankfully, Mr Brown has time to act, but
he needs to act now. British leadership is necessary to break the
international stalemate on Burma.

First, he should speak out publicly and repeatedly about the need for
action in Burma - freedom for Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners,
national reconciliation, and action by China and India to play a
constructive role in resolving the conflict - rather than leaving this
task to more junior ministers. One cannot underestimate the importance
that this rhetorical support would provide to Burma's embattled democrats
and people inside the country.

Second, to ensure that rhetoric is matched by action, the British
Government should embrace and support the strong recommendations of the
Commons Select Committee on International Development's report on aid to
Burma. Specifically, the Committee noted Burma is one of the least-aided
countries in the world by Britain. It recommended support should be
quadrupled to £35.2m per year by 2013. In addition, the Committee also
recommended the Department for International Development begin funding
human rights groups that work across the border to gather evidence on the
conditions in the country such as forced labour and rape of ethnic
minorities.

And finally the British Government should work closely with the US and
France to press for the UN Special Envoy on Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, to
brief the Security Council on his recent trip to Asia. Following that
briefing, the British Government should press for specific benchmarks to
be set by Mr Gambari for progress to be achieved. For years, the Burmese
junta has been blessed by a divided international community. The UK is
well positioned to try and bring the international community together to
give the Burmese junta no option but reconciliation and a restoration of
democracy.

World leaders such as Mr Brown have always been good at praising Aung San
Suu Kyi. That is important. But it is also time they listened to what she
says: "Please use your liberty to promote ours."

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

August 21, Shwe Gas Movement
The Shwe Gas Movement condemns Burma’s domestic fuel price hikes while
junta profits from record natural gas exports

The Shwe Gas Movement condemns the sudden doubling of key fuel prices in
Burma while the regime is earning a record $2.16 billion from natural gas
exports. Despite the growing civil discontent over the price hikes, the
regime is steamrolling ahead to further export major new gas finds.

Currently the regime’s largest single income source is the 9.7 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields that it sells
to Thailand. The recently discovered Shwe Gas fields off the coast of
western Burma are estimated to hold a further 10 trillion cubic feet of
gas worth an estimated US$40billion. The Burma regime plans to sell this
new gas to China.

Wong Aung from the Shwe Gas Movement in Thailand says, “instead of
generating profits for the corrupt generals, Burma’s gas could be used to
generate electricity, develop local industries and subsidize
transportation costs. Energy policies should be made with the peoples’
needs in mind.”

According to Kim from Shwe Gas Movement in India, “these price hikes are
unacceptable given that Burma has its own wealth of energy resources.
Continued power by the incompetent military regime will make the prices
spiral further out of control.”

On August 15, without an official announcement by the regime, the prices
of petrol increased by 70% and diesel by 100% at state run petrol
stations. The price of compressed natural gas for cooking and Rangoon
buses increased by 500%. In response, prices of bus fares have doubled
leading also to increases in food prices. Peaceful street protests have
since then taken place in the capital Rangoon.

Media Contact: Wong Aung (Thailand) +66-85 032 2943;
Kim (India) +91-9810476273,
Soe Lunn (Bangladesh) +880-1710939498
www.shwe.org




Ed, BurmaNet News