BurmaNet News, December 19, 2007

Editor editor at burmanet.org
Wed Dec 19 13:12:01 EST 2007


December 19, 2007 Issue # 3366

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Opposition upset over stalled dialogue
Mizzima News: Security remains tight in Ngwe Kyar Yan despite release of
abbot
DVB: KNLA ambush passenger truck in Karen state
DVB: Taunggok NLD members harassed by authorities
Irrawaddy: Monks refuse documentary team to film in Monastery
Irrawaddy: Reading between the Lines
Mizzima News: Blood donation in memory of September protesters
DVB: Female migrants vulnerable to abuse
DVB: Mandalay monks decline junta offering

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Legal action to follow Karenni refugee camp clash
Bangkok Post: Shooting prompts transfer of camp chief

REGIONAL
Khonumthung News: Chin women meet Indian MPs in New Delhi
Irrawaddy: Exiles, opposition hope for stronger Thai stand on Burma
Irrawaddy: Burma – aid in a tight space

INTERNATIONAL
Independent UK Online: Burma's girls are victims of China's one-child policy
Irrawaddy: US Senators call for arms embargo against Burma
Agence-France Press: Myanmar refugees face wretched existence
Irrawaddy: Laura Bush lashes out at junta again
Irrawaddy: Gambari faces tough questions on his Burma missions
Xinhua: China, EU officials meets on Myanmar issue

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima News: Gandhi is applicable in today's Burma
Telegraph UK: Internet winners of 2007 – News and politics
Time Magazine “Person of the Year” issue: People who mattered: Burmese monks

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 19, Mizzima News
Opposition upset over stalled dialogue - Mungpi

Burma's main opposition party the National League for Democracy said the
ruling junta should not prolong the process of dialogue but should start
meetings with detained party leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for the early
initiation of the process of national reconciliation.

Nyan Win, spokesperson of the NLD, Burma's main opposition party said by
stalling the meetings between the government's Liaison Minister Aung Kyi
and party secretary Aung San Suu Kyi, the national reconciliation process
is being delayed.

Nyan Win said, "The preparation for the process of dialogue needs to
conducted faster and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should be given the opportunity
to meet her party leaders to discuss the developments leading to the
negotiation."

Expressing signs of desperation, Nyan Win, however, said there are so far
no signs from the ruling junta which hints at a meeting between
pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Aung Kyi, the junta's Labor
Minister.

The 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate, who has spent 12 of the past 18 years in
Burma in solitary confinement, on November 19, met for the third time the
government appointed Liaison Minister.

While details of the meetings remain undisclosed, Aung Kyi during a press
briefing in early December in Burma's new jungle capital, Nay Pyi Taw,
said the talks were progressing.

"The first meeting was aimed at gaining an understanding between us. The
second meeting was to discuss the framework for the future. The third
meeting was to discuss the facts that should be included in the
framework," Aung Kyi told a rare press conference on December 3.

But Nyan Win said, with no indication of any meetings in the near future,
the talks do not seem to show any sign of progress.

Ground Situation

Despite the junta's claim of normalcy returning, critics said with the
economic situation worsening, another protest could erupt anytime in the
near future.

David Steinberg, Director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University, who
visited Burma's news capital, Nay Pyi Taw in October, said the situation
on the ground, particularly the economic situation, remains bad.

"Unless there are changes in society, there will be other demonstrations
at some time triggered by some incident but based on these deeper issues,"
Steinberg told Mizzima.

Following the September protests, activists, particularly youths, in
Rangoon and other parts of Burma have formed satellite groups and have
been conducting activities in defiance of the ruling junta.

An activist in Rangoon, who wished not to be named told Mizzima, that they
have urged the people to join them in a 'non-cooperation' movement against
the ruling junta by boycotting the use of government run buses or buying
things from stores run by the junta or its business cronies.

Refuting the junta's claim that normalcy has returned in Burma, the NLD
spokesperson Nyan Win said, "I do not believe things have changed on the
ground. It is only getting worse with the rise in the prices of essential
commodities."

Sean Turnell, Associate professor in the Department of Economics in
Australia's Macquarie University, said, "Since the fuel rise, oil price
has increased even more in international markets. There is nothing to
suggest the [Burmese] regime's fiscal position has improved since the
unrest."

"Matters remain dire, and it's hard to be confident about Burma's
immediate future," Turnell told Mizzima in an email interview.
Turning a deaf ear

Despite increasing international and domestic pressure for changes, the
Burmese military junta seems to be turning a deaf ear to the calls and is
determined to continue with its planned seven-step roadmap, which critics
said will enshrine the role of the military in the future constitution.

The junta's Information Minister Kyaw Hsan during the press meeting on
December 3, announced that work has begun by the 54 member committee, who
were selected to draft the actual constitution based on the principles
agreed at the National Convention.

Kyaw Hsan clearly indicated that the government is determined to continue
with its planned road map and excluded opposition groups including Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi's party National League for Democracy (NLD), which flouts
the suggestion of the international community including the United
Nations.

Gambari, the UN special envoy to Burma, who visited the country twice
after the junta brutally cracked down on protesters in September, said
during his meeting with government officials he had urged for an all
inclusive process of dialogue that will include all political stake
holders including the NLD and ethnic groups.

Win Min, a Burmese analyst based in Thailand, said "the Burmese junta is
not interested in talks and are using the 'talks strategy' to ward off
international pressure. So, we can expect the next round of talks will
come about when there is another wave of pressure that hits the junta
hard."

Meanwhile, the United States first lady Laura Bush, who met the United
Nations special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, on Monday, said the
Burmese junta has made no serious efforts to meet and talk with opposition
groups to resolve the political crisis in Burma.

Mrs. Bush, in her statement released on Tuesday after her meeting with
Gambari, said, "The junta has made no meaningful attempt to meet and talk
with democratic activists. Instead it has continued to harass and detain
them."

Forged normalcy

The military junta, which suppressed popular protests led by monks in
September resorting to violence, said peace and normalcy, had been
restored after 'bogus monks' and 'destructive elements', showing
dissidence, had instigated public unrest in September.

Kyaw Hsan, at the press conference on December 3, said normal life has
returned in Rangoon and other parts of Burma and several monks and
protesters, who were arrested in connection with the protests, have been
released.

However, with reports suggesting the closure of monasteries in Rangoon, a
Thailand based activist group, Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners (AAPP) said, at least 700 monks and protesters still remain in
detention.

Bo Kyi, secretary of the AAPP said, "Though the junta has released several
monks and protesters, there are at least 700 or more who continue to be
detained."

"By releasing a few now and then, the junta is trying to show that it is
responding to international calls," added Bo Kyi.

Talks still the best option

Gambari, the UN special envoy to Burma, has urged the ruling junta to take
'bold steps' in implementing an all inclusive process of national
reconciliation, which is the only genuine approach to solve the country's
political, social and economic problems.

Gambari, speaking to reporters after briefing the UN General Assembly on
Tuesday, said it is very important for Burma not to slide backwards or
stay still but to move forward and take "very bold steps" to address the
political crisis in the country.

"The crisis is real and must be resolved or mitigated before other
violence breaks out for whatever ostensible reason," Steinberg said

____________________________________

December 18, Mizzima News
Security remains tight in Ngwe Kyar Yan despite release of abbot - Phanida

Junta authorities continue to maintain tight security around the Ngwe Kyar
Yan Monastery in Rangoon, though the abbot of the monastery U Yewata and
50 monks, arrested for the September protests have been released, local
residents said.
Even though the abbot of Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery, Sayadaw U Yewata along
with 50 monks were released on December 14, people going into the
monastery for prayer said they were only allowed to enter the monastery
after strict security check by members of junta-backed civil organization
– Swan Arr Shin (SAS) and Union Solidarity an Development Association
(USDA).

"There are at least 15 SAS and USDA members in the monastery. At the
moment, if we want to go into the monastery we are first checked. And the
security see to it that there are no more than 50 monks in the monastery,"
a local, who reside close to the monastery said.

Another local resident said, security was tightened in the monastery after
several people visited the monastery to meet the recently released abbot
and the monks.

"We as followers are extremely happy that Sayadaw has been released and
Sayadaw in turn recited Metta for peace of the community. And every one of
us happily went to the monastery to meet Sayadaw. We want to see national
reconciliation happening in our country," added the local resident.

However, the local said, the monks, living in the monastery, are being
closely watched and are followed when ever they move out of the monastery.

Authorities on September 26 raided the Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery and
arrested over 90 monks as the junta began cracking down on protesters. The
abbot of the monastery was arrested on December 27.

According to local residents, the abbot was put under house arrest at Kaba
Aye pagoda while the rest of the monks were detained at the Institute of
technology in Insein Township .

However, Mizzima could not independently confirm this information with the
Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery, as telephone lines to the monastery remained
disconnected.

"In the morning (of December 14), authorities came to the monastery with
motorcycles and cleaned up the monastery," A local resident, who witnessed
the return of the monks to the monastery said.

"And later, the monks were brought in vehicles in batches of five or six.
All together there were 51 monks who returned to the monastery," added the
local.

Following their return, the monks distributed the left over rice, which
they had before they were arrested, to local residents in Thingan Kyun
township, north of Rangoon.

____________________________________

December 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
KNLA ambush passenger truck in Karen state – Htet Yazar and Saw Kanyaw

A Democratic Karen Buddhist Army-run ferry truck travelling between
Kawkareik and Myawaddy towns in Karen state was ambushed by the Karen
National Liberation Army yesterday, reportedly leaving eight dead.

The KNLA claimed its brigade (6) battalion (18) was responsible for the
attack, which took place at around 8:30am.

A witness said that the attack took place just outside Kawkareik township.

"The KNLA troops appeared and started firing on the truck. The fired
machine guns down from the mountains as well,” said the witness.

“Most of the people hit were passengers. I saw seven people killed on the
spot – two females, two males, a young child, and two DKBA personnel."

The witness said that the driver of the truck was also hit on his shoulder.

An official from KNLA brigade (6) said that the attack was in retaliation
for DKBA’s actions on behalf of the ruling State Peace and Development
Council.

"The DKBA comes into our territory and burns down villages. Instead of
protecting its own people, the DKBA is acting as the SPDC's tool and
kicking people out of villages, leaving the locals displaced,” the
official said.

“This ambush is to show that we can fight as much as they can."

The official claimed that four DKBA officers were killed in the attack.

A DKBA official said he could not confirm the story.

"We have not yet confirmed whether the truck ambushed was one of ours.
Some of the trucks are just registered under the DKBA's name. There are so
many groups operating in this area," the official said.

The KNLA ambush followed an attack on Ta-au Khee village by troops from
SPDC Light Infantry Battalion-210 and DKBA battalions 907, 906, 902 and
333.

Late on Monday evening, the troops came into the village and set fire to
rice storage facilities, causing the villagers to flee, according to a
villager who is now at the Thai-Burma border.

As they ran away, four villagers were injured when they stepped on
landmines planted outside the village.

Following this incident and prior to yesterday’s attack, the KNU issued a
statement warning people not to use the ferry trucks.

According to the KNU, the KNLA and DKBA have clashed over 100 times in
2007 alone, including at least three ambushes.

__________________________

December 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Taunggok NLD members harassed by authorities – Aye Nai

The deputy chairman of Taunggok township National League for Democracy, U
Than Pe, has accused local authorities of victimizing party members and
blaming them for anti-government campaigns.

Than Pe claimed that NLD members have been called in for questioning by
police following a poster campaign targeted against the government.

"Our party member U Htun Kyi and two others were summoned to the township
police station on Monday afternoon and they were interrogated for about
three hours on whether they had involvement in the recent poster and
graffiti campaigns in town," he said.

Than Pe said he was also questioned in connection with the investigation
into the campaign.

"Later in the evening it was my turn. They wanted to know if I knew
anything about the campaign or if I was behind it,” he said.

“I told them I don't know anything and that I had nothing to do with it."

A fifth party member was summoned to the police station for questioning
yesterday.

The campaigns have consisted of anti-government messages on posters and
walls, and leaflets have been distributed threatening the government with
a national uprising and call on people to join in.

The People’s Movement Leader Committee has claimed responsibility for the
campaigns.

The PMLC is an umbrella group which was formed on 27 September and
includes the All-Burmese Monks Alliance, the 88 generation students and
the Ethnic Youth Cooperation Group.

Than Pe complained that NLD members were being blamed for all
anti-government activities in the township.

"The Taunggok township authorities are treating our NLD members like
criminals. Whenever there is a problem in town, we are the first ones to
be questioned,” said Tha Pe.

We have tried to tolerate this disrespectful behaviour for a long time.
But it is getting a bit too much now," he said.

"We are starting to feel like there is no security and privacy for us
anymore. I have been questioned four times since I was released from
detention on 25 September."

____________________________

December 19, Irrawaddy
Monks refuse documentary team to film in monastery – Saw Yan Naing

A documentary team, led by Zin Yaw Maung Maung, one of Burma’s best-known
film directors, was denied permission to take footage of Burmese minister
Aung Thaung making an offering to monks by the resident monks of a
monastery in Mandalay on Tuesday.

Buddhist monks at the Maha Gandayon monastery in Amarapura Township of
Mandalay refused the documentary team, claiming that they were funded by
the pro-junta group, the Union Solidarity and Development Association,
according to sources.

A source close to the monks said: “The monks didn’t allow the group to
take any footage. However, Zin Yaw Maung Maung tried to film it. The monks
finally convinced the documentary group to leave and closed the gate. The
group left the monastery at about 2:30 p.m.”

Zin Yaw Maung Maung has produced several films in the past promoting the
propaganda of the military government. In 1996, he produced a documentary
celebrating the anniversary of the USDA.

The source added that the senior monks urged their members not to accept
offerings from Aung Thaung, Minister of Industry-1, who is believed to
serve as one of the regime’s hardliners, earning the trust of junta chief
Snr-Gen Than Shwe.

Buddhist monks staged a patta ni kozana kan, meaning a refusal to accept
alms from members of the armed forces and their families, in September.
Following their activities against the junta, many monasteries were raided
and monks were brutally tortured.

Meanwhile, a 76-year-old Buddhist monk, Ashin Tay Zaw Bartha, is now
staying at his daughter’s home after being forced out of the Klayani
monastery in Pegu Division by the security forces, said sources.

Ashin Tay Zaw Bartha staged a solo protest against the military government
at Rangoon City Hall in September and was subsequently arrested. He went
missing for 15 days after his release on October 25. After being sent to
his daughter’s home in South Okkalapa Township in Rangoon on Monday, he
was told by the authorities not to go back to his monastery, said sources.

In late November, Buddhist monks were forcefully removed from Maggin
Monastery in Rangoon by the authorities and the monastery was ordered to
close. Nine monks, two laypersons and six HIV/AIDS patients were expelled
from the monastery to unknown locations, said sources.

The Burmese junta has reported that 13 protesters were killed during the
crackdown on September’s uprising; however, UN Special Rapporteur on Human
Rights Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said at least 31 people were killed, while
dissidents claimed the death toll was much higher.

As a result of the crackdown, sanctions on Burma have been enforced by
several Western countries, led by the US government. A freeze on arms to
Burma was also reportedly imposed by the Indian government.

To ease international pressure at that time, Than Shwe announced he would
conditionally meet with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

One month later however, Than Shwe shelved the talks, concentrating
instead on his own agenda, including a series of ceremonies invariably
bestowing high praise on the soldiers who carried out his shoot-to-kill
orders during the pro-democracy demonstrations.

The main opposition party in Burma, the National League for Democracy,
said that it did not see any signals of dialogue between Than Shwe and its
leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Nyan Win, a spokesperson for the NLD, said: “The meeting between Than Shwe
and Suu Kyi should not take long to hold. It should be accelerated. The
authorities should also allow us [NLD leaders] to meet with Aung San Suu
Kyi whenever necessary.”

In a move supposedly associated with initiating dialogue between the two
parties, the junta recently appointed a liaison minister, Aung Kyi, to
deal with the pro-democracy leader.

The latest meeting between the regime’s liaison minister and Suu Kyi was
held on November 19. No meeting has been held since, said the party’s
spokesperson.

____________________________________

December 19, Irrawaddy
Reading between the Lines – Wai Moe

The front pages of Burma’s state-run newspapers are dominated this week by
coverage of the travels of junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe. Observers say
the extensive reports could be part of a public relations exercise,
intended to show that the junta is functioning well and to squash rumors
that Than Shwe is ill.

Than Shwe’s itinerary began on December 14, with a graduation ceremony at
the Defense Service Academy (DSA), outside Maymyo.

Thakin Chan Tun, a former Burmese ambassador to China, said Deputy Snr-Gen
Maung Aye usually attended the graduation ceremony at the DSA. Than Shwe
replaced him this year.

Sein Hla Oo, a veteran journalist in Rangoon, said the junta evidently
wanted to show the international national community and the Burmese
military that it’s working hard for the good of the country.

Another reason for the coverage, said Sein Hla Oo, could be that,
following rumors that Than Shwe is not well, “he wanted to show he is
still strong and in control.”

Nothing has changed, then, since the days of Burma’s late dictator, Ne
Win, whose movements were also given blanket coverage, with the similar
aim of sending a message to the military that those in power were active
and doing their best for the country.

“All reports in the state newspapers have a hidden agenda,” said Sein Hla Oo.

Another Rangoon-based journalist, requesting anonymity, told The Irrawaddy
on Wednesday that the junta wanted to show the country and the
international community that stability and peace reigned after the
September uprising.

“When the junta’s officials met with foreign diplomats in Burma or at
Asean meetings, they said a similar thing,” said the journalist. “I think
they also wanted to show the September uprising is over.”

He also thought the junta’s latest “public relations exercise” in its
newspapers was aimed at an international audience rather than at the
Burmese people.

Than Shwe and his high-ranking officials say Burma’s development is
increasing, in response to the international community’s demand for an
improvement of the Burmese people’s low living standards.

Than Shwe claimed recently again that every sector of the economy has
improved under the junta’s rule. If that’s the case, people ask, why is
Burma’s commercial capital, Rangoon, still plagued by power cuts?

Thakin Chan Tun said the top generals were unable to see the reality of
the situation. They relied on aides, feeding them false information, he
said.

Advances are also being scored in the education sector, according to
Minister of Science and Technology U Thaung, who is said to be one of Than
Shwe’s closest aides. He told teachers in Pyin Oo Lwin in Mandalay
Division that the junta is creating a good education environment and
opportunities for success for students, reported The New Light of Myanmar
on Wednesday.

____________________________________

December 18, Mizzima News
Blood donation in memory of September protesters – Maung Dee

In memory of those killed during the September protests in the Burmese
military junta's brutal crackdown, students, family members of political
prisoners and at least 49 residents in Rangoon today donated blood at the
Rangoon hospital.
In order to avoid commotion and rush at the hospital, the donors today
went to Rangoon hospital's national blood bank in batches of four and five
and donated blood on Tuesday morning, the organizer of the blood donation
programme told Mizzima.

"We are donating blood in memory of those killed during the protests and
to our brothers and sisters who are still being held in various jails
across Burma," Yut Thit, organizer of the blood donation programme told
Mizzima.

While the group had planned to donate blood at private clinics from early
December but as private clinics do not accept blood donation in groups,
they had go to the Rangoon general hospital. They donated blood without
mentioning the cause they were donating for, Yut Thit added.

While at least 70 people recorded their names for the blood donation, only
49 people turned up until Tuesday afternoon, he added.

Though the organizers were unable to provide any supplementary food to the
donors, the Rangoon hospital provided them with egg and milk as a token of
gratitude.

"We are not doing this as an organization. We, who have the privilege of
freedom, are doing this in solidarity with those who are detained and to
those who have sacrificed their lives. We cannot offer anything to the
donors, so the least we could do was arrange vehicles for them to head
back to their homes," added Yut Thit.

He also urged all the people of Burma to express their solidarity to those
who are detained and to those who have sacrificed their lives for the
cause of freedom by donating their blood.

___________________________________

December 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Female migrants vulnerable to abuse – Maung Too

Migrant women and girls continue to face discrimination in their host
countries and are particularly at risk of abuse, according to a report
launched today by the Burmese Women’s Union.

The report, which was released to coincide with international migrants’
day yesterday, is based on interviews with female migrants working in
Thailand and China.

Entitled Caught Between Two Hells, the report highlights the double
discrimination faced by women and girl workers due to their lack of legal
status as well as their gender.

“This double marginalization means female migrant workers face grave
security concerns as they regularly experience threats of sexual
harassment and violence while working in host countries,” BWU said in a
press release.

BWU chairperson Mi Sue Pwint said that said that little had changed since
the organisation’s last report on migrant workers.

“BWU did a report on the situation of migrant workers in 2000. Now, seven
years later, we are releasing another one because we don’t think anything
has improved since then,” she said.

The report describes the experiences of women and girls working in “dirty,
dangerous and demeaning” jobs with few rights and serious risk of abuse,
with the aim of raising awareness of their situation and giving a voice to
the women themselves.

“It is the BWU’s hope that by writing about these brave migrant women and
girl workers’ sacrifices, hardships, perseverance, and their future hopes,
their voices will be heard by others and advocates will work to ensure
that migrant workers’ human rights will be protected,” the group said.

The report calls on the Burmese regime and governments of host countries
to protect the rights of migrants in accordance with international human
rights law and provide redress when those rights are violated.

____________________________________

December 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Mandalay monks decline junta offering – Aye Nai

The majority of monks at Maha Gandhayon monastery, a lecturing monastery
in Mandalay, refused to accept a food offering from minister for
industry-1 Aung Thaung yesterday.

Aung Thaung went to the monastery to offer a meal to the monks, but only
100 of the 1000 monks in the monastery came to eat the meal, according to
one of the monks.

“Only around 100 monks came to the meal, while the others went out to
collect alms around the town instead,” the monk said.

The previous day, film director Zinyaw Maung Maung and his crew had
visited the monastery to make a video funded by the Union Solidarity and
Development Association.

The video was intended to be broadcast on state television showing the
monks having a meal and accepting alms.

But when the monks became aware of the planned video shoot, they refused
to come out of the monastery.

The film crew waited until the afternoon but eventually had to leave
without any footage after the monks locked the gates.

One member of the film crew who went into the monastery told DVB that he
saw writing on the walls of the toilet calling on the monastery’s monks
not to accept Aung Thaung’s meal offering and saying that those who
attended the donation would be regarded as traitors.

This is the second time that Aung Thaung’s alms offering has been
rejected, after an attempt to give food to Seittabala monastery in
Kyaukpadaung township Mandalay on 4 December met with the same response.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

December 19, Irrawaddy
Legal action to follow Karenni refugee camp clash – Shah Paung

Karenni refugees from a camp in Northern Thailand and local Thai
authorities are to appeal to a court to settle a dispute over a clash in
which a young Karenni died and several official vehicles were destroyed.

The violent clash occurred last weekend when residents of Karenni Camp 1
in Northern Thailand’s Mae Hong Son Province staged a protest march.
Authorities say they were forced to fire into the air to break up the
demonstration, and a 20-year-old refugee died in the standoff.

Two vehicles and about 30 motorcycles were destroyed in the clash, and the
authorities say they will be seeking financial restitution. A Bangkok Post
report on the incident quoted the head of camp security as saying the
damage amounted to 2 million baht (US $55,000).

Representatives of the Karenni refugees say they will counter claim,
seeking redress for the death of one of their community.

Phedu, chief editor of the Karenni newspaper Kantarawaddy Times, said the
refugees wanted a third party, such as the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, to look into the case and examine the causes of
the tension existing between them and the Thai authorities.

Security personnel at the camp have meanwhile been replaced by Thai
soldiers and border police.

____________________________________

December 19, Bangkok Post
Shooting prompts transfer of camp chief – Cheewin Sattha & Kultilda
Sammabuddhi

The Muang Mae Hong Son district chief has been transferred after a
17-year-old Karenni boy was killed and another injured during a brawl with
Interior Ministry security guards at Ban Nai Soi refugee camp. Wachira
Chotiroserani, who is also the refugee camp commander, was moved to an
inactive post at the provincial hall to allow for an investigation into
the death of Aie Oo, a secondary school student at the camp, Mae Hong Son
governor Thongchai Wongrianthong said yesterday. Aie Oo died on Saturday
after he was shot in the face.

The camp, the biggest in the province, houses around 17,000 refugees,
mostly from the Karen and Karenni ethnic groups. It is located about 30
kilometres west of Mae Hong Son town and 2km from the Thai-Burmese border.

According to an account compiled by the Mae Hong Son-based Karenni media
organisation, Aie Oo was shot by an Interior Ministry security volunteer
while the youths at the camp were celebrating student sports day.

They said the students were upset by the ministry's security guards tight
inspection at the event.

They also accused a guard of punching one student who was dancing at a
concert and disturbing their activities by firing gunshots into the air.

The students asked the security team to leave, but the guards reacted
impolitely, they said. Outraged by the guards' actions, more students came
to the scene and encircled the guards who tried to flee and return to
their base.

As the students followed them, a gunshot was heard and Aie Oo collapsed.
His blood-soaked body was taken to the camp committee office where he
later died.

Following the teenager's death other students went to the security
volunteers' base and destroyed their belongings and living quarters.

Mae Hong Son governor, police and doctors entered the camp on Monday to
investigate the case and conduct an autopsy on the victim's body.

The authorities told the refugees that they would complete the
investigation within a week.

Mr Wachira, the district chief and also the camp commander, said he had
not seen the transfer order and had nearly completed a fact-finding report
on the incident.

''I want to ensure that both the refugees and my men are treated fairly in
this case,'' he said, adding that the student was possibly killed ''by
accident''.

Mr Wachira said the guards' personal belongings and state assets,
including 29 motorcycles and two cars worth about two million baht, had
been destroyed by the refugees.

The camp commander conceded that tension between the Ban Nai Soi refugees
and the Interior Ministry's security volunteers arose after the ministry
decided to intervene in the camp management for security reasons.

Tar Gay, an editor of the Mae Hong Son-based Karenni newspaper
Kandarawaddy Times, said disputes had erupted between the volunteers and
camp residents several times.

''Refugees were abused by the security volunteers in different ways
including harassment to young women, torture and abuse of power but the
problem has never been solved, leading to rising tension at the camp,'' he
said.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

December 19, Khonumthung News
Chin women meet Indian MPs in New Delhi

A delegation of the Women's league of Chinland met Members of Parliament
in India yesterday and gave a detailed account of the human rights
situation in Chin state, Burma and the plight of Burmese refugees in
Mizoram state, northeast India.

"We, the WLC, want the people of India to know the updated information
about human rights abuses and military oppression which are still
occurring in ethnic areas in Burma. Much of these do not appear in the
media, especially after the 'saffron revolution' that occurred in
September in Burma", said Cherry Zahau, coordinator of WLC, explaining the
purpose of meeting the Indian MPs.

"We also want to expand our networking with political and civil society
groups in India. Only after we get support from Indian people, will the
Indian government pay heed to the voice of the people and change its
policy of support towards the military junta in Burma," she said.

"The people of India are standing with you in the cause of democracy and
promotion of human rights in Burma. Wherever there is injustice human
beings suffer, it includes Indian citizens as well. Injustice causes
economic, social and political problems everywhere. It is a matter of how
exactly we will put our hands together", Nirmala Deshpande, a member of
Rajya Sabha was quoted as saying by WLC's press release yesterday.

Former Defence Minister of India Goerge Fernandez said, "The UNSC should
take serious steps on Burma and the governments around the world should
deprive the regime from everything. India does not want to discuss Burma
and no one can question the policy on Burma in parliament".

WLC's press release expressed unhappiness over healthy ties between the
Indian government and the Burmese military junta and urged India to review
its economic engagement with the Burmese regime.

WLC also called on India to discuss Burma issues with its neighbouring
countries such as China and Thailand in the interest of long-term economic
stability in the whole region, including India's North-East.

Chin women blamed the Burmese regime for its refusal to usher in
democracy, mismanagement of state economy and human rights abuses in
ethnic areas in Burma. This is forcing the people to flee their own land.
It urged the Indian government to adopt a proper policy that will help
Burmese refugees in India.

The Campaign for Democracy Movement in Burma (CDMB) based in Mizoram
state, northeast India on November said that around 80,000 unrecognized
Burmese refugees are taking refuge in Mizoram as a result of the
deteriorating social, political and economic situation in Burma.

____________________________________

December 19, Irrawaddy
Exiles, opposition hope for stronger Thai stand on Burma – Violet Cho

Burmese living in Thailand and Burma’s opposition National League for
Democracy share a common hope that a stronger foreign policy stand on
Burma will be adopted by the democratic government that will take power in
Bangkok following this Sunday’s general election.

Each of the two main parties contesting the election has indicated it will
address the Burma issue if it wins enough seats to form a government.

Kraisak Choonhavan, former chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs
Committee and an active member of Thailand’s Democrat Party, told The
Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the Burma issue had a high priority in the
party’s political agenda. The Democrats, Thailand’s oldest political
party, had long been considering the adoption of a new foreign policy on
Burma, Kraisak said.

The leader of the front-running People’s Power Party, Samak Sundaravej,
recently proposed that Thailand should host an international summit on
Burma, similar to the six-party talks on North Korea.

Aung Moe Zaw, an exiled Burmese political dissident living in Thailand for
many years, said that although a democratically-elected Thai government
would be “a good thing for the region,” he remained skeptical whether it
would change the present policy on Burma.

He did not expect any kind of Western-style sanctions to be taken by a new
Thai government against the Burmese regime.

“Of course, the Democrat Party will have a strategic interest and policy
on Burma but they [a new Thai government] will never take any serious
actions like Western governments, that have taken strong action against
the military regime by imposing economic sanctions on Burma.”

Thailand adopted a tough policy on Burma when the Democrat Party leader
Chuan Leekpai headed the Thai government in the 1990s. Chuan refrained
from visiting Burma and publicly expressed support for Burma’s
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the national reconciliation
process in Burma.

During Chuan’s second term in office, from 1997 to 2001, serious border
skirmishes broke out along the Thai-Burmese border and relations with
Burma went into tailspin.

In Rangoon, Nyan Win, official spokesman of the opposition National League
for Democracy, said the NLD hoped that a new, democratic Thai government
would help to bring about the restoration of democracy in Burma.

Nyan Win told The Irrawaddy: “I believe the Thai people, including the
beloved Thai King, believes in democracy, so a new government will
exercise democratic principles.

“As it is, I hope that a new Thai government will also help bring
democracy in neighboring countries like Burma.”

A leading member of Burma’s government in exile, Dr San Aung, Labor
Minister of the National Coalition Government of Union of Burma (NCGUB),
shared his view. “We hope a winning Thai political party will believe in
democracy and will have sympathy for the country and Burmese people,” said
San Aung, who was elected in the 1990 parliamentary election in Burma.

Many Burmese dissidents in Thailand pin their hopes on a Democrat Party
win in Sunday’s election, while some Thai commentators say the Democrats
have the best record in pushing for democracy in Burma.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and
International Studies, at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Political
Science in Bangkok, recently wrote in The Bangkok Post: “If Bangkok is to
make a difference on Asean's Burma conundrum, a Democrat-led foreign
policy team holds much promise”.

Political observers say the Democrat Party has some strong and able
candidates to lead the foreign policy team. They include M R Sukhumbhand
Paribatra, who served as deputy foreign minister during Chuan’s second
term, and Kraisak Choonhavan.

Surin Pitsuwan, the incoming Asean Secretary General, is from the Democrat
Party. He proposed a policy of ''flexible engagement'' to prod change in
Burma when he was foreign minister.

Thailand has always had a close relationship with the Burmese military
regime. The government of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra,
pursued a policy of economic engagement, providing a massive loan to
Burma. The interim government that took over following last year’s coup
retained a lucrative natural gas deal with Burma.

____________________________________

December 19, Integrated Regional Information Networks via Irrawaddy
Burma: Aid in a tight space

Burma, with a population of some 52 million, is one of the poorest
countries in Asia, yet international aid had been negligible until
recently.

Aid flows are rising, despite the isolation of the regime, a tense
political environment and limited humanitarian space, according to the
former top UN official in the country.

In September 2007, peaceful anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks
were followed by a government crackdown attracting major international
attention and diplomatic condemnation.

The former UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Burma, Charles
Petrie, was obliged to leave his post in early December at the request of
the Burma government.

In a show of support for UN efforts in Burma, Ban Ki-moon, the UN
Secretary-General, met the Burma UN country team on 10 December during a
visit to neighbouring Thailand. He warned that the international community
was “running out of patience” with Burma’s government.

“The people of Burma have suffered from isolation for such a long time and
it is high time now for the Myanmar [Burmese] authorities and people to be
able to enjoy genuine democracy and genuine integration in the
international community,” he said.

“Mistrust”

Since September, day-to-day operations of most aid projects have not
become much more difficult than they already were, Petrie said. However,
he said levels of mistrust had increased, and engaging with the regime
remained difficult.

“We are in a period of trying to protect the gains we have made,” said
Petrie. “We have a regime that is now starting to look at us—focusing on
us—and we are trying to push back their attempts to confine us.”

Those gains include an increase in international aid to the country,
despite qualms among donors and multilateral organizations about the
government’s human rights and governance record. In mid-2003 international
aid was less than US $70 million, or less than $1.50 per capita—far less
per capita than the assistance pouring into nearby Cambodia, Laos or
Vietnam, according to Petrie.

However, over the last three years, international aid has nearly tripled
to around $200 million, Petrie told IRIN.

Petrie was forced to leave Burma after his release of an October 24
statement publicly linking the September 2007 protests to widespread
frustration at the hardships of day-to-day living and a “deteriorating
humanitarian situation.”

Petrie insists the UN had a “moral obligation” to state what it saw as an
inescapable truth about the country’s worsening socio-economic situation.

Burma is not yet in the throws of a classic humanitarian crisis, Petrie
says. But malnutrition and poverty are pervasive and conditions are
worsening, with growing displacement from land seizures and conflict. “The
crisis of Burma is not a humanitarian emergency,” he says. “It’s a poverty
emergency that is leading towards a humanitarian crisis.”

Aid through non-state structures

Reluctant to channel aid through state structures, aid agencies and donors
have struggled to deliver assistance in ways that are consistent with
humanitarian principles. They mainly work through non-state structures,
such as religious groups, and national staff. The UN’s national staff
number around 3,000 people.

Nearly $100 million has been pledged to a special fund to fight HIV/AIDS,
TB and malaria in Burma; the World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up; and
the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is running micro-credit and community
empowerment projects.

“The challenge of Burma is that it is a situation that is getting worse .
. . defined by a regime that is basically embargoed,” said Petrie. “It’s a
deteriorating situation from which the aid community is not allowed to
work with the existing administrative structures to address the
situation,” he added, saying: “The challenge on the assistance front is
how to respond outside existing structures and how do you do it in an
effective manner?”

Government guidelines

Efforts to regulate foreign aid workers have intensified since early 2006,
when a range of new controls were declared by the government. “They
decided we were too intrusive,” Petrie said. “There was a faction within
the regime that saw aid as a political tool to support the opposition,
support dissention, and empower groups against the regime.”

“They tried to co-opt our operations,” said Petrie, “but when they saw it
wasn’t possible they just tried to marginalize us and constrain our
activities.”

The government requires foreign aid workers to notify the authorities at
least two weeks in advance of any plans to travel outside Rangoon.

The 2006 guidelines, strongly opposed by the aid community, imposed
requirements that the authorities vet all Burmese staff hired by
international organizations, that foreign aid workers be escorted by
government officials on any trips outside Rangoon, and that aid agencies
work with the government-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development
Association on projects.

While the travel controls are generally enforced, said Petrie, the UN
insisted on its independence in hiring staff, and also made it clear that
it could not work in the manner indicated with the USDA. Subsequently,
humanitarian sources say, international agencies faced greater
administrative harassment, such as delays or denials of passport renewals
for Burmese UN staff, and denials or revocation of permission to hold
meetings.

The Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA)

Headed by a general who is a member of the ruling junta, the USDA is a
mass organization that many in Burma are required to join in order to
obtain services or retain government jobs. It carries out some government
projects including, for example, the building of schools. It also
organizes pro-regime rallies. The USDA is expected to be converted into a
pro-junta political party that will contest future elections, after the
regime adopts a new constitution.

ICRC restricted

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) too faces
restrictions. The ICRC, which until late 2005 had been visiting prison
inmates, was forced to suspend such visits, due to the government’s
insistence that ICRC staff be accompanied by USDA members in prison
interviews—a violation of the ICRC’s principles of confidentiality.

"From 1999 until the end of 2005, ICRC delegates carried out regular
visits to detainees in prisons and labour camps but since 2006 the
authorities have not permitted the organization to continue this activity
according to its standard procedures applied worldwide," according to the
ICRC website.

Aid controversy

Aid to Burma remains controversial and is scrutinized among others by
vocal, exiled Burmese dissidents, who have tended to see foreign aid as a
prop for the regime; they question whether help can be delivered
effectively without benefiting the government. Charles Petrie insists that
it can.

“What we are doing in-country is using humanitarian principles of
independence, neutrality, and impartiality to provide the space necessary
to bring assistance,” he said.

Regardless of the pressure from both the regime and its critics, the
former UN resident/humanitarian coordinator in Burma said the
international community must not be deterred by his expulsion from pushing
for greater space and freedom to help Burma’s needy.

“We need to maintain traction and momentum,” he said, to ensure the
growing humanitarian needs of the Burma people are met.

(The Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) is a news service
that forms part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA). But this report does not necessarily reflect the views of
the United Nations.)

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 19, Independent UK Online
Burma's girls are victims of China's one-child policy – Paul Vallely

No one ever expected it to be the young girls of Burma who would become
the unintended victims of the one-child birth control policy in China. But
two decades on, children as young as 10 are being trafficked across the
border from Burma into China as child brides. They are sold into a future
of high uncertainty.

Faced with the prospect of having only one child many Chinese families
have insisted on a son. A boy was more useful on the farm, they reckoned.
A son was better able to provide for parents when they grew old; daughters
in China tended to become part of their husband's family and were
traditionally unable to inherit.

Cases of abandonment of girl babies and selective abortion followed. There
are now 30 million more men than women in China. Those near the Burmese
border have begun to buy girls as young as 10 to become the brides of men
old enough to be their fathers or even grandfathers.

"There are millions of men with no chance of marrying," says Andrew
Kirkwood, the Burma programme director for Save the Children – one of the
three charities supported by the Independent Christmas Appeal. "Brothers
sell sisters, fathers sell daughters, across the border. It's hard to
determine how much they know about what the fate of the girls will be."

Anti-child trafficking work is a major plank in the agency's programme.
Together with support for schools, clinics and work to control the spread
of HIV/Aids, it constitutes one of the biggest programmes of work Save the
Children undertakes anywhere in the world. It is also working with the
Chinese government to address the issues raised in China by trafficking.

"We employ 484 local people in programmes that help 750,000," says Mr
Kirkwood. But little is ever heard of the work because it operates quietly
behind the scenes of one of the world's most ruthless and authoritarian
governments. "People assume our operating context is next to impossible
because of the political situation. But there is a lot we are able to do."

Certainly the Burmese government is not doing it. The military regime
spends just 10 pence per person on health care – that's just 0.4 per cent
of the country's GDP. The World Health Organisation says that it takes
between £20 and £30 per head to provide a minimally functioning health
service. The picture on education is not much better.

"Health and education are chronically underfunded. By the government's own
statistics they are in the bottom five countries in the world," Mr
Kirkwood said. "A third of the population lives below the poverty level.
Among the poorest rural people, where we work, 50 per cent are landless
labourers. A family of five lives on less than £200 a year. As much as 90
per cent of their income is spent on food. It leaves very little for
school fees or for medicine if a child falls ill. Most illnesses go
untreated."

Which is why one in 10 children die before their fifth birthday. One in
three suffers from malnutrition. Fewer than half complete their primary
education.

The response of Save the Children is to spot and treat malnutrition and
diarrhoea and combat diseases such as pneumonia and malaria. "Two pence
worth of antibiotics and a teaspoon can buy a child enough time to get
them to a clinic," Mr Kirkwood said.

The mood has changed in Burma since the pro-democracy protests by Buddhist
monks three months ago, "though exactly how is hard to explain", Mr
Kirkwood says. "But one thing is certain: children living on the edge do
not have time to wait for a political solution... It is vital for us to be
here."

____________________________________

December 19, Irrawaddy
US Senators call for arms embargo against Burma – Lalit K Jha

As many as 48 Senators from both the Republican and the Democrat parties
on Tuesday urged US President George W Bush to push the UN Security
Council to impose an international arms embargo against the Burmese
military junta.

The move comes a day after the US House of Representatives passed a
unanimous resolution to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Burmese
democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. The Congressional Gold Medal is the
highest US civilian award.

“We write urging the US permanent representative to the United Nations to
immediately press the UN Security Council to impose an international arms
embargo against Burma,” said the letter signed by 48 Senators, led by Dick
Durbin (D-IL) and John McCain (R-AZ).

Terming the non-binding Security presidential statement on Burma in
October as “not enough,” the senators stated: “It is time to halt the flow
of arms to the Burmese military—arms that directly contribute to its grip
on power.”

Observing that an international arms embargo is supported by various human
rights groups and enjoys broad bipartisan support in the US Congress, the
letter from the senators noted that the EU and many other countries have
already imposed their own arms embargoes against Burma.

Recent media reports have said that India has temporarily halted the
supply of small arms to Burma.

“We believe you (Bush) could elicit their strong support for a
comprehensive international arms ban,” the letter said.

Referring to the arrest of thousands of Buddhists monks in September for
peacefully protesting against price rises, the senators stated: “The
Burmese military government violently suppressed the peaceful protests,
ignoring the overwhelming demands for reform issued by its own people and
by the global community.”

The senators said: “No responsible nation should provide weapons to a
regime as reprehensible as the one found in Burma. The junta uses its
weapons against its own people to enforce a climate of fear and
oppression. Torture, forced labor, rape and arbitrary imprisonment are
widespread, and the regime has continued its brutal tactics year after
year despite ongoing global condemnation.”

The powerful US lawmakers said that the US must continue its support of
thousands of Burmese monks and people who have raised their voices against
the military authorities and have demanded change in the country.

____________________________________

December 19, Agence-France Press
Myanmar refugees face wretched existence in Malaysia

Living in miserable camps not far from the glittering Petronas Twin
Towers, Myanmar refugees in Malaysia are some of the most wretched of the
hundreds of thousands who have fled their homeland.

"We are living here like prisoners, we cannot go out anywhere because we
are frightened," says 35-year-old James Munerlian, a Christian pastor from
Myanmar's Chin state who fled persecution by the military regime.

Munerlian is the leader of a 100-strong group of men, women and children
who live a precarious existence in a secret encampment in one of the
patches of jungle that still remain among Kuala Lumpur's suburbs.

The half-hour trek there takes a visitor past an almost completed luxury
housing project, over hilly and mosquito-infested terrain, through an
illegal rubbish damp and across a riverbed reeking with sewage.

In a clearing, the Chin refugees huddle into eight huts made with sheets
of zinc and cardboard, and draped with pieces of plastic.

They escaped Myanmar on foot in the hope of finding a better life, but
instead are exploited by unscrupulous employers and harassed by Malaysia's
controversial volunteer security corps which hunts down illegal migrants.

Michael Boak Tun Thang, a 26-year-old farmer from northern Chin state,
came to Malaysia in early 2006 and has been hiding in various jungle camps
ever since.

"The junta came to my village with rifles. Because there were only a few
men, they ordered all the boys and also the women to become porters and
carry their foods and boxes," he says.

"They raped all the women, even my sister, but I could not do anything. We
carried the heavy things but they never paid us or gave us any meals."

Late one night, Tun Thang was freed by men from a nearby village, but the
last time he saw his sister she was a walking skeleton and he has not
heard from her since.

Refugee advocates say the camp is just one of hundreds in the capital and
around the country that have sprung up in patches of jungles, near
agricultural plantations and on the fringes of coastal villages.

Some luckier ones have managed to find cheap housing, and live packed a
dozen to a room.

"Malaysia has become one of the worst places for Burmese asylum seekers
because of the way the government and its enforcers have brutalised and
abused refugees," says Debbie Stothard from human rights group Altsean
Burma.

"Large groups of refugees are in hiding around the country and they are
penniless and desperate," she adds, using Myanmar's former name.

United States data in 2006 listed Myanmar as the world's third largest
source of refugees after Afghanistan and Iraq, with at least 700,000
people having fled the country.

"Ten years ago, Burmese refugees were unheard of in most Asian countries
with the exception of Thailand which shares a very porous border with the
country," Stothard says.

"But today, the situation is so bad that there are large numbers of
refugees escaping to China, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.

"Many of these refugees end up being illegal migrants because the Burmese
government does not provide passports to most of its people and refuse to
recognise them as citizens if they leave the country illegally."

The Malaysian government says there are about 25,644 Myanmar
asylum-seekers in the country but refugee groups believe the real figure
is more than double that.

The majority are Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar's Rakhine state while the
rest are Christian Chins, Karens and Shan.

In the Chin jungle camp, they knew nothing of the massive September street
protests, led by Buddhist monks, in Myanmar's main city Yangon which were
violently suppressed by the regime, triggering international outrage.

Chin Refugee Centre coordinator Paul Lian says most Myanmar refugees in
Malaysia work illegally on building sites or plantations and face
beatings, extortion and exploitation from employers.

"The groups are in very bad shape as they have no money, no food and fear
for their safety," he says, adding that as they have no rights they are
either not paid at all or given a pittance.

Another camp dweller, 43-year-old Peter Thant Tum who has been on the run
for the past three years, just wants a chance at leading a normal life.

"If the Malaysia government has consideration, please give us legal
documents and allow us to work, to earn money and eat, our lives will be
more happy," he says.

However, Malaysia is already fending off a mass influx of Indonesian
workers -- both legal and illegal -- and has no intention of allowing
Myanmar refugees to make their home here too.

"The impact on our country in many terms will be great if we open our
doors and declare these foreigners as refugees," Parliamentary Secretary
for Foreign Affairs Ahmad Shabery Cheek was quoted as saying recently.

"If we provide illegal immigrants... with jobs, our own people will lose
out in employment opportunities."

Crackdowns on illegal migrants are carried out by the volunteer RELA
corps, a notorious uniformed brigade accused of rampant human rights
abuses.

"We don't have any security, our brothers they go to the market but then
the RELA men, they stop us and they demand money," Thant Tum says.

"They don't want to arrest us because they know they will have to feed us
and take care of us so they only demand money from us and beat us very
badly."

Just days after speaking to AFP, Thant Tum says RELA officers stopped him
at a market and demanded the money he had on him -- 100 ringgit (30
dollars) -- which was the camp's weekly food budget. He refused and was
beaten senseless.

"It is outrageous and tragic that many of these refugees who fled
brutality and torture in Burma should now have to put up with extortion
from RELA. How can we accept this?" asks Stothard.

RELA's Kuala Lumpur director Mohammad Aminuddin Mohammad Yusof says the
force does not condone acts of brutality and corruption.

"Our men are there to help immigration authorities detain illegal
immigrants and overstayers so our first duty is to detain these
individuals, not extort money from them," he told AFP.

"There might be such cases of abuse because RELA is a volunteer force but
give us evidence of these corrupt acts and details and we will investigate
and prosecute the offenders."

____________________________________

December 19, Irrawaddy
Laura Bush lashes out at junta again – Lalit K Jha

The US first lady, Laura Bush, on Tuesday lashed out at the Burmese
military junta for failing to meet the “minimal expectations” of the
international community and having made no “meaningful” effort to hold
talks with pro-democracy leaders.

The strongly worded statement from Laura Bush, who has taken an
exceptionally keen interest in the country, comes a day after she was
briefed by UN Special Envoy on Burma Ibrahim Gambari in the White House on
December 17.

The White House issued the statement by Laura Bush later in the evening
only after Gambari had briefed the members of the UN General Assembly in
New York, following which he briefly addressed the media outside the
Security Council.

“It is clear from the briefing that I received from UN special advisor
Ibrahim Gambari yesterday, followed by his report to the United Nations
General Assembly today, that Burma’s General Than Shwe and his associates
are failing to meet even the minimal expectations set out by the unanimous
membership of the UN Security Council on October 11, 2007,” Laura Bush
said.

Through the presidential statement, the Security Council had called on the
government of Burma to take all necessary measures to address the
political, economic, humanitarian and human rights issues that are the
concerns of its people.

It had also stressed the need for the Burmese government to create the
necessary conditions for a genuine dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and all
concerned parties and ethnic groups in order to achieve an inclusive
national reconciliation with the direct support of the UN. The Security
Council also emphasized the importance of the early release of all
political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi.

Laura Bush, who has issued several statements on the issue of Burma in the
last few months, said the military junta has made no meaningful attempt to
talk with democratic activists.

“Instead, it has continued to harass and detain them,” she charged,
adding: “The junta leaders continue to sell the country’s natural
resources to enrich themselves.”

“While they reject international calls for a democratic transition, they
have put Burma in a shambles and placed its people in a perilous state,”
she said.

Children are being trafficked and subjected to forced recruitment into the
military; citizens are fleeing the country to seek work and basic
healthcare; meanwhile, infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and
malaria, continue to spread unchecked, said the US first lady.

____________________________________

December 19, Irrawaddy
Gambari faces tough questions on his Burma missions – Lalit K Jha

The UN Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, says he is “very
concerned” that demands he made to the Burmese junta following September’s
demonstrations had not been heeded.

Facing hard questioning by reporters following a briefing he gave on
Tuesday to the UN General Assembly, Gambari said he had no information on
new arrests of Burmese activists. Arrests of monks and pro-democracy
activists continued during both of Gambari’s recent visits to Burma, in
September and November, and at least one monastery has been closed since
then.

When asked by one reporter whether he had information of further arrests,
Gambari replied testily: “Can you give me some numbers?” When the question
was put again, he replied: “Please do not put words into my mouth.”

He then added: “I make it clear that all arrests of people would be
counterproductive to the process of national reconciliation
and this
should be discontinued.”

Another reporter persisted: “Do you or do you not have any information on
recent arrests apart from opinion? You have the information about
releases; do you have information about if there have been any new
arrests?”

Gambari replied: “I cannot say that there are no new arrests, but I have
not had recent report of arrest as I had about the recent release, which
is only yesterday [Monday].”

Gambari reiterated earlier appeals to the Burmese junta: “What we would
like to see is the inauguration of the launch of a substantive dialogue
with Aung San Suu Kyi that is time bound, that is substantive, that she
should be allowed to meet the members of the executive committee more than
once.

“She should be released. She is regarded as a partner in this dialogue and
then release the restrictions of her to start with without any further
delay.”

Gambari urged the junta to open up the constitution-drafting process to
include all parties. He also appealed to the regime to address the
economic grievances of the Burmese people.

Asked about Asean’s involvement in Burma, Gambari said: “I draw two
conclusions from the fact that Burma said Asean countries should not be
involved.

“One is that Burma authorities have chosen the UN as interlocutor of
choice. They have to make that interlocutor process give a tangible
result. Number two the fact that Burma should not be involved as Asean
does not refrain individual Asean members from using their influence in
sending the right signals, messages to the authorities in Burma to do the
right thing.”

Gambari said he expects to visit Burma again next month. He also plans to
visit China and India.

____________________________________

December 19, Xinhua
China, EU officials meets on Myanmar issue

Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Central Committee
of Communist Party of China (CPC), met here on Wednesday with Piero
Fassino, the EU Special Envoy for Myanmar.

According to a press release, the two exchanged views on the current
Myanmar situation and briefed each other's standpoint on the issue.

Wang said China wanted to see stability, democracy, development and
reconcilement achieved in Myanmar. It was willing to continuously make
constructive efforts for the issue.

He also urged the international community to make efforts to enhance
mutual trust and push forward dialogue with Myanmar.

Fassino said the EU appreciated China's contribution to maintaining a
stable situation in Myanmar. He hoped to keep close communication and
collaboration with China and other Asian countries.

The Italian, who was appointed the EU's special envoy on November 6, was
on an Asian tour that started with China to discuss the Myanmar issue. He
was also expected to visit India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and
Vietnam.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 19, Mizzima News
Gandhi is applicable in today's Burma – Dr. Sein Myint

The question "Is Gandhi applicable in today's Burma ?" has been raised by
a writer from the Shan Herald Agency for News. In the nonviolent struggle
against the Imperial British colonists in South Africa and in British
India, Gandhi told his followers not to take 'an eye for an eye' but to
take 'blows from the adversaries, to make them feel guilty for their cruel
actions.'

Shan Herald's author pointed out that Gandhi was not fighting against
'lawless power' as in present day Burma, for both South Africa's apartheid
regime and the British were known as 'apostles to the Rule of Law.' And
when Life's Margaret Bourke-White asked Gandhi if he believed that he
could use nonviolence against someone like Hitler, Gandhi's response was,
"When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and
love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and, for a
time, they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of
it always." The Shan Herald's writer seems to have agreed.

Certainly, the writer from Shan Herald is not the first person; this
question has been on the mind of many people from the Burmese democratic
opposition for quite some time now. The question is very relevant to our
cause in the struggle for freedom from the military tyranny in Burma.

Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent struggle has always been an inspiration for
all freedom fighters including Burma 's democracy icon, Daw Aung San Su
Kyi, who is an ardent believer and practitioner of this doctrine. Her
father, the late Bogyoke Aung San, however, relied on more conventional
methods, using all or any available opportunities in his struggle for
Burma's independence from the British and later from the Japanese.

In the movie, Thirteen Days, about the Cuban Missile crisis in October,
1962, the United States President JF Kennedy boldly applied a naval
blockade on Cuba while confronting incoming USSR ships loaded with long
range nuclear missiles. At the same time he pressured Soviet Premier
Khrushchev to withdraw the existing short and medium range nuclear
missiles from Cuba. The drama intensified as the Soviet ships approached
the blockade and the prospect of the Third World War III increased.

The world narrowly escaped from the brink of nuclear holocaust when the
Soviet ships decided to turn around and avoided the confrontation. Nikita
Khrushchev was the first to blink in this nuclear showdown with President
Kennedy, and subsequently paid the price and lost his job. Next year
President Kennedy was allegedly assassinated by a lone assassin, a
communist sympathizer Lee Harvey Oswald, in Dallas, Texas.

The question is what might have happened if Khrushchev had not backed down
but decided to order his ships to continue sailing into the American naval
quarantine zone and ordered Soviet nuclear submarines accompanying the
cargo ships to retaliate, once the US navy destroyers fired upon the
Soviet ships.

At the same time the Soviet medium and short range nuclear missiles were
already aimed at the east coast of the United States, including Washington
DC, the US was standing by at Defcon-2 level, with B-52 strategic bombers
loaded with nuclear bombs up in the air, and the ICBM silos in the Midwest
were opened-up ready for firing. It could have been the beginning of a
nuclear war followed by a holocaust.

"Did President Kennedy make the right move by calling Khrushchev's bluff
and ordering a naval blockade on Cuba ?" Everyone in the While House was
extremely nervous and tense during the showdown and was quite relieved
once they heard that the Soviet ships had turned back. Did meeting the
'force' with 'force' pay off?

It is a total reverse from offering the other cheek to your enemy. But to
answer the question, first it is essential for us to examine and
understand everything about our adversary; i.e. their strengths,
weaknesses, culture, belief, attitude, mentality, up-bringing, and all
other prevailing circumstances that are likely to change with time. And
compare notes with all relevant historical background before we decide on
the best possible action.

For example, the attitude and mentality of the late 19th century
Imperialist British Raj and 21st century Burmese military dictator cannot
have been the same, although there could be some similarities on the
methods applied to quell and control demonstrations against them. And in
the prevailing political circumstances supporting and influencing the
decisions of both regimes are not the same.

Therefore the decisions by the Governor-General in British India against
the nonviolent Indian Congress could not be the same as the decisions by
the Burmese military junta against the nonviolent Buddhist monks and
activists.

Hence, the short answer to the question of whether nonviolent methods will
work against the hard-line military dictators in Burma is, 'yes' it will
work in the end, but when is the end? This is an important question, for
the end may come next year or in ten years. But, one thing for certain is
that many people inside the country will have to endure much more
suffering before they obtain the fruit of freedom. Anyhow, our Lord Buddha
taught us that Life itself is 'suffering.'

[Dr. Sein Myint serves as Director for Policy Development with Justice for
Human Rights in Burma (JHB).]

____________________________________

December 19, Telegraph UK
Internet winners of 2007: News and politics – Matthew Moore

The Burmese resistance movement

It seems counter-intuitive to propose the Burmese opposition as winners of
anything in 2007, given the military junta's bloody repression of
anti-government protests. But events in September clearly showed that the
Internet is key to the future success of the Burmese pro-democracy
movement, and liberation groups across the globe.

Despite the best efforts of Burma's censors, who have long blocked email
sites like Yahoo and Hotmail, opposition groups were able to get photos,
videos and first-hand accounts of the demonstrations and subsequent
government crackdown onto blogs.

The information was picked up my newspapers and broadcasters across the
world, providing rare evidence of the secretive junta's brutality and
shaping international media coverage. The junta responded by cutting off
most of the country's internet access. The protests failed, but Burma's
rulers are now more isolated than ever.

____________________________________

December 19, Time Magazine “Person of the Year” issue
People who mattered: Burmese monks – David von Drehle

The military despots of Burma know a lot about raw power, but for a few
hopeful days their tyranny was exposed by unarmed men in cinnamon-colored
robes. An uprising of monks took to the streets to demand liberty as news
of their courage spread via the internet. And though the army quelled the
protest with beatings, arrests, and an online crackdown, the world
absorbed a timely reminder of the power of moral authority.



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