BurmaNet News, January 30, 2008

[Editor]

January 30, 2008 Issue # 3391

INSIDE BURMA
BBC News: Burma's Suu Kyi meets colleagues
Reuters: "Prepare for worst," Suu Kyi tells Myanmar
Al-Jazeera.net: Myanmar monks remain defiant
DVB: U Gambira charged under Unlawful Associations Act
Narinjara News: Forced labor used in Lake construction in Southern Arakan
Irrawaddy: UN report accuses regime, armed ethnic groups of recruiting
children
Irrawaddy: NLD to sponsor essay competition on ‘National Reconciliation’

ON THE BORDER
DVB: Thai authorities arrest 300 illegal Burmese migrants
Epoch Times: Recollections of Burma

ASEAN
Bangkok Post: EU wants Thai help with Burma

REGIONAL
Telegraph UK: Long-necked tribe 'held captive in human zoo'

INTERNATIONAL
DVB: UN secretary-general urges more action on child soldiers
DVB: US condemns charges against activists
Irrawaddy: A Fight for Dignity

PRESS RELEASE
Burma Campaign UK: Burma is increasing the number of child soldiers on
frontline, UN must not be duped yet again
SPEAK: The SPEAK Network Launches its Campaign for Effective Arms Export
Controls


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 30, BBC News
Burma's Suu Kyi meets colleagues

Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been allowed to meet
political allies for the second time since last year's bloody crackdown.

Officials took Ms Suu Kyi to a military guest house to meet seven top
members of her National League for Democracy.

She last left house arrest to meet colleagues in November 2007.

That meeting followed sustained international pressure on Burma's leaders
after troops used violence to end anti-government protests.

At least 31 people died in the crackdown and thousands were detained.
Hundreds of people are thought to remain in custody.

After the violence, the United Nations called for greater dialogue between
the ruling military junta and the Suu Kyi-led pro-democracy movement.

A government liaison, Aung Kyi, was appointed to negotiate with Ms Suu Kyi.

The two have since held four meetings, but it remains unclear whether they
are yielding any progress.

Ms Suu Kyi was also meeting Aung Kyi, reports from Burma said.

The NLD won elections in 1990 but has never been allowed to take power. Ms
Suu Kyi has spent 12 of the last 18 years under house arrest in Burma's
commercial capital, Rangoon.

____________________________________

January 30, Reuters
"Prepare for worst," Suu Kyi tells Myanmar – Aung Hla Tun

Detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is frustrated at a
lack of talks on political reform with the ruling military junta since
last year's bloody crackdown on dissent, her party said on Wednesday.

After a rare meeting between the Nobel peace laureate and leaders of her
National League for Democracy (NLD), spokesman Nyan Win said Suu Kyi held
out little hope that unprecedented international pressure on the generals
would bear fruit.

"Let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst," he quoted her as
saying, adding she worried that Wednesday's 90-minute meeting, and another
immediately afterwards with junta liaison minister Aung Kyi, might give
rise to "false hope."

Suu Kyi, who has been in prison or under house arrest for more than 12 of
the last 18 years, also passed on details of her fourth and last encounter
with Aung Kyi on January 11.

Nyan Win said she had told Aung Kyi, appointed as go-between after the
September crackdown, that talks must include representatives of Myanmar's
many ethnic groups, which have been struggling for autonomy or
independence for five decades.

Suu Kyi also told her colleagues she feared she was being strung along by
the junta, a group of generals who have turned promise-breaking into an
art form, not least by ignoring their humiliating 1990 election defeat.

"She is not satisfied with meetings with Aung Kyi and with the lack of any
time frame," Nyan Win said.

In another sign of junta intransigence, NLD number two Tin Oo, who like
Suu Kyi has been under house arrest since May 2003, was barred from
attending the meeting, held at a government guest house under heavy armed
guard.

Ever since the crackdown, in which the United Nations says at least 31
people were killed, diplomats from Beijing to London to Washington have
been pushing the junta to hold talks with Suu Kyi about moving towards
civilian rule.

Despite admitting U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari twice, the generals
have failed to embark on any sort of program of negotiations, and human
rights groups say they are continuing to arrest dissidents and democracy
activists.

Police arrested a popular political blogger, Nay Phone Latt, at a Yangon
Internet cafe on Tuesday, a local journalist who asked not to be named
told Reuters.

The U.N.'s Gambari, who wanted to return to Myanmar before the end of
2007, is still waiting for a visa.

Suu Kyi and the NLD won an election landslide in 1990 but were denied
power by the military, which has ruled in one form or another since a 1962
coup. During that time, the once-promising economy has collapsed.

____________________________________

January 30, Al-Jazeera.net
Myanmar monks remain defiant

The crackdown by Myanmar's military rulers has left few monks in the
monasteries of Sittwe. The monasteries in Sittwe are half empty, only the
children remain.

Last August it was in this coastal city in the northwest of Myanmar that
the monks led the first protests against the military government.

The protests quickly spread to across the country and to Myanmar's largest
city, Yangon, before the military turned its guns on the demonstrators.

 Now those who took part in last year’s anti-government protests are
scattered and on the run.  But despite the crackdown, the dissident monks
are preparing for another showdown.

At a secret location Al Jazeera met the 24-year-old monk who organised the
first protest.
"There will be another demonstration," he says. "Monks became men after
the demonstration and they are angry and depressed after the arrests."

He says the monks hopes had been buoyed by the international attention
last year's protests received and he is ready to spread the word again
once the protests resume.

"I had a small generator in my village and I sold it to buy a second-hand
camera," he told Al Jazeera. "If the chance comes again, I can record what
happens."

"Eventually, our own people will have to decide our own future"

For now though, he is in hiding. When he went to his village after the
protests were crushed by the military the local authorities already had
his picture and an arrest warrant.

His friends who tried to escape across the border to Bangladesh were
arrested on the way. Footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows some of those
arrested being paraded in front senior clergy who support the government.

Activists allege some prisoners were abused and where they are now remains
unclear.

"Those who were arrested were tortured in prison," one activist told Al
Jazeera.

"Political prisoners are beaten and killed, and we heard that even though
they provided rice it was mixed with lead. It’s a kind of torture, isn’t
it?"

Hundreds of protesters have been rounded up and tortured, activists say. 
Other dissident leaders believe that the monks' actions last year have
already weakened the government.

As a result a loose alliance has developed between different groups
opposed to the military regime - among them, members of the student-led
uprising in 1988 when Myanmar was known by its former name, Burma.

Al Jazeera met the acting leader of the "88 Generation" group of
activists, known by his code name Phoenix.

"The problem here is not that the government are strong but that we the
opposition are not strong enough," he says.

"Eventually, our own people will have to decide our own future. There will
be time when all people, all the citizens of Burma, will stand up and say
something against the government. There will be time, I believe."

The challenges confronting Phoenix and his colleagues are enormous.

There are different types of surveillance – government informers in every
street and people fear that the walls have ears.

Even inside their families, people cannot talk aloud because of the fear
of informers, members of the government militia and other forms of
surveillance.

On the surface life seems normal, but you can feel the constant fear
everywhere.

Many people that Al Jazeera spoke to seemed deeply depressed by the brutal
suppression of what has been called "the saffron revolution".

Now Myanmar's democrats must rebuild and start again.

____________________________________

January 30, Democratic Voice of Burma
U Gambira charged under Unlawful Associations Act – Aye Nai

U Gambira, the leader of the All-Burmese Monks Alliance who is currently
being held in Insein prison, has been charged under the Unlawful
Associations Act, according to family members.

U Gambira was arrested on 4 November in Sintgaing township, Magwe
division, for his role in instigating the monk-led protests in September
last year.

He has been charged with violating section 17/1 of the Unlawful
Associations Act, which carries a maximum sentence of three years’
imprisonment for membership of an unlawful association, attending meetings
or fundraising.

A member of U Gambira’s family said she had found out about the charge on
28 January when she visited him in prison.

U Gambira’s younger brother Ko Aung Kyaw Kyaw, who is secretary of the
National League for Democracy in Pauk township, Magwe division, was
arrested on 17 October and will face the same charge.

Ko Aung Kyaw Kyaw’s wife Ma Thandar said that the two brothers were being
held separately.

“U Gambira is now in a special detention area of Insein prison and Ko Aung
Kyaw Kyaw has been in the main ward,” Ma Thandar said.

“They have both been given court appointments on 4 February, but we don’t
know yet whether this will be at Insein prison court or outside.”

____________________________________

January 30, Narinjara News
Forced Labor Used in Lake Construction in Southern Arakan

People in two villages in Thandwe Township of Arakan State have been
forced by township authorities to work on the construction of lakes if
they are unable to contribute financially to the project, reports a social
worker from Thandwe.

He said, "The authority ordered two villages to contribute 3.5 million
kyat to dig two lakes for drinking water reservoirs, but people are unable
to comply with this demand due to poverty. So authorities have forced
villagers to work on the lakes' construction."

A source from Thanwe said that the government had allocated 3.5 million
kyat from state revenues to construct two lakes at two villages - Greataw
and Kauk Kyi - and also ordered the two villages to contribute 3.5 million
kyat for the construction.

However the villagers are unable to comply with the government's demanded
money, so the authority has used instead used them as forced labor to make
up the difference.

All villagers from the two villages, located 20 miles away from Thandwe
district town, are now working on the lake construction, with the lakes
scheduled to be finished before this forthcoming rainy season.

In Arakanese traditions, people strongly believe that if they contribute
their wages and souls to public works such as reservoir and bridge or road
construction, they will gain great merit for their lives.

The authorities have now taken advantage of this belief in forcing people
to work on the construction of the lake reservoirs without compensation,
said the social worker.

____________________________________

January 30, Irrawaddy
UN Report Accuses Regime, Armed Ethnic Groups of Recruiting Children –
Lalit K Jha/United Nations

A United Nations report released on Tuesday accused the Burmese armed
forces, the country’s Tatmadaw, and armed ethnic groups of recruiting
children to serve as soldiers.

The groups named in the report are the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA), Karen National Union-Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council;
Kachin Independence Army (KIA); Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA),
Karenni Army (KA), Karenni National People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF),
Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Shan State Army-South
(SSA-S).

This is more than double the number of armed ethnic groups named in last
year’s “Children and Armed Conflict” report, which listed only three—the
KNLA, KA and United Wa State Army.

In the 45-page report, submitted to the UN Security Council and General
Assembly, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon alleged that the Burmese armed
forces have also been responsible for killing and maiming children and
denying humanitarian access.

Besides Burma, the report said child soldiers were being recruited in
recruitment in Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, the Central African Republic,
Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nepal, the Philippines,
Somalia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Uganda.

The report recommended the use of a range of measures, including bans on
military aid and travel restrictions, against parties to armed conflict
who continued to systematically commit grave violations against children.

It also urged the Security Council to refer violations against children in
armed conflict to the International Criminal Court.

The report said that, despite regime denials, reliable reports from UN
partners indicate that attempts to recruit children forcibly for Tatmadaw
service were still occurring. “It is difficult to systematically verify
the extent of recruitment or the number of children in military camps
owing to access limitations,” it added.

The report said the UN had not received any reports of new recruitment of
children by the KNLA, KA or KNPP in the period under review.

However, the limitations imposed by the junta on UN access to areas of
operations and on dialogue with the KNLA and KA hampered efforts to verify
whether those groups had in fact stopped recruiting children.

Reports had been received indicating that a breakaway faction of the KNU,
the KNU-KNLA Peace Council, had recruited children from the Mae La refugee
camp and villages in the border areas.

“Sources suggest that several boys were deceived into crossing the border
by promises of pay and participation in celebrations but were subsequently
coerced into joining the armed group,” the report said. “While most of the
children have returned, four boys are reportedly still missing. It is not
known whether the KNU-KNLA Peace Council continues recruitment, and the UN
has not been able to verify the reports of recruitment.”

Reports had been received of a “one child per family” recruitment policy
by the KIA. In early 2007, the UN verified a report of a 15-year-old girl
recruited by the KIA when she returned to her home village from school in
Myitkyina, Kachin State. “To date, the girl remains with KIA,” the report
said.

Eyewitness accounts had been received of children serving with the United
Wa State Army in northern Shan State, despite the UWSA’s recent statement
to the UN special representative that no children had been recruited since
the ceasefire agreement reached by the group with the Burmese regime.

“There are reports of Shan State Army-South recruiting children as part of
a new mandatory recruitment policy,” the report said. “Children are also
recruited and used by Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (Kokang)
in northern Shan State.”

Information had also been received that children were serving with the
KNPLF and DKBA. “However, in-depth monitoring is hampered by access
limitations to areas of operations of these groups,” the report said.

Meanwhile Maj-Gen Thura Myint Aung, who heads a panel charged with ending
the practice of forcing minors into the army, told that from 2002 to 2007,
officials had returned 792 children from the military to their parents.

The junta's mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar quoted him as saying the
authorities had "taken action" against 43 military personnel, including
some officers. The paper, however, gave no details on the punishments.

____________________________________

January 30, Irrawaddy
NLD to Sponsor Essay Competition on ‘National Reconciliation’ – Wai Moe

Burma’s main opposition political party, the National League for
Democracy, plans to launch an essay competition on national
reconciliation, party officials say.

Han Thar Myint, a NLD spokesperson, told The Irrawaddy that an open essay
competition will be held on February 6, based on the title “2008: The Year
of National Reconciliation.” The competition is open to all age groups.

“In past years, the NLD has held essay competitions,” he said. “But this
time, the theme is National Reconciliation,” he said. “The NLD has already
told the authorities about the essay competition, but they have not yet
responded.”

In Burma, holding an assembly or competition without the permission of
authorities is illegal.

The NLD will also hold public talks on Burma’s Union Day on February 12,
as well as Bogyoke [Gen] Aung San’s birthday on February 13. February 13
is also Children’s Day, and the group will sponsor activities for
children.

“The talks on February 13 will be on the history of Children’s Day and
Bogyoke Aung San,” said Han Thar Myint. “Bogyoke Aung San is
unforgettable, and new generations must know about him.”

T-shirts with Aung San and Suu Kyi photos will also be available, he said.

Aung San, the father of Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, was
martyred and is a hero of the nation’s independence movement. He was
founded the tatmadaw (the armed forces).

The NLD youth group published a news bulletin, called Ah-yoan-thit  or
“Dawn,” on January 4, the anniversary of Burma’s independence. The
bulletin carried articles about the September crackdown.

The regime’s censorship board warned the NLD on January 14 that the
publication violated the state publication act because it was printed
without a press registration work permit.

NLD sources said youth members want the news bulletin to continue.

“But we will publish it under a different name, not Ah-yoan-thit,” said a
member of the NLD’s information committee, who speak on condition of
anonymity.


____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

January 30, Democratic Voice of Burma
Thai authorities arrest 300 illegal Burmese migrants – Saw Kanyaw

Three hundred illegal Burmese migrant workers were arrested by Thai
immigration on Monday in a raid on a garment factory in Bangkok, according
to migrant sources.

Thai immigration conducted a surprise raid on Lai Ling garment factory in
Mahachai district, which employs around 2000 Burmese migrants.

Ko Khine Zaw Linn, a Burmese migrant worker at the factory, said that many
of the workers tried to flee the factory when the authorities arrived.

"First they blocked all the exits including the fire escape around the
back of the factory to stop us escaping. Then six lock-up trucks arrived
and they started busting people," said Khine Zaw Linn.

"Some people hurt themselves jumping from high floors in a desperate
attempt to flee the factory and about four people were admitted to
hospital for their injuries."

Those who were arrested are now being detained at a police station in
Mahachai district.

Most of the workers had no proper legal documentation, while others had
Thai labour cards but had not extended their registration in 2007.

Khine Zaw Linn also expressed concern about his wife, Ma Moe Myint Khin,
who was arrested during the raid.

"My wife is in detention now and will be there for 45 days. She'll be sent
somewhere far away like Mae Sot [on the Thai-Burma border] after that," he
said.

U Kyaw Thaung, coordinator of the Mae Sot-based Yaung Chi Oo Burmese
migrants’ association, said that hordes of Burmese migrants were still
entering Thailand, despite the ongoing crackdowns on illegal immigrants.

"They come to Thailand despite knowing about the situation here because
they cannot earn enough money in Burma to make a living," said Kyaw
Thaung.

"The State Peace and Development Council's mismanagement of Burma has
turned the country into a factory making slaves for its neighbouring
countries."

____________________________________

January 30, Epoch Times Australia
Recollections of Burma – Peta Evans

Nwe Ni Tun carrying the Human Rights Torch last year. Burmese communities
around the world joined the rally in protest of Beijing's support of the
military junta ruling Burma.

Nwe Ni Tun was a 17-year-old student in southern Burma during the 1988
student-lead pro-democracy uprising that was crushed by the Burmese
military. Thhousands of university students were killed. Following the
crackdown, Nwe Ni, like many others, became a refugee and fled her
homeland.

"When I went to Thay Baw Bow border, and I saw the children, the refugee
children. I saw that they did not have school, they lived in the jungle,
and they did not have enough food, they were malnourished," said the
36-year-old who now lives in Melbourne.
Nwe Ni joined the Thay Baw Bow Camp on the Burma side of the Thai-Burma
border and quickly became part of the All Burma Students Democratic Front
(ABSDF), basically, a barefoot resistance student army. There, she spent
most of her time helping in the camp's medical clinic. Though the camp was
eventually over-run, Nwe Ni and her fellow students maintained this camp
as best they could. However Malaria constantly overtook the young
students, there was little medication and not much food.

"We were there until 1990, then our camp was invaded by the Burmese
military. So we had to run."

The Moei River forms the natural borderline between Burma and Thailand.
With no likely alternative, Nwe Ni crossed the Moei, leaving her homeland
and family behind.

"We joined the refugee camp there. During my time there, I was teaching
the children, because ABSDF established a school, so I became a volunteer
for the children. It was very heart touching," she said.

There are 135 ethnic groups that make up Burma's population, so when we
refer to our Burmese Australian's, they are actually of different
ethnicities, such as Burman, Karen, Shan, Rakhine, Mon, Chin, Kachin and
other minorities.
The Burmese communities in Australia are well established, regularly
involving themselves in local activities and festivities, while at the
same time, maintaining their own culture as much as they can.
Respectfully, the parents wish their children to have a knowledge and
understanding of their homeland and cultural roots; therefore Burmese
language and culture classes for the children are often self-run within
the communities here. Nwe Ni initiated one of these schools in Melbourne.

Continuous lobbying to the Australian government and other national and
international bodies, and the latest staging of human rights protests,
show that our Burmese-Australian citizens are determined to restore
democracy and human rights to Burma, and dearly want to put an end to the
ongoing turmoil and instability there, due to which, migrant arrivals from
Burma are expected to continue.
"If you live in the city, you never get this sought of experience. There
was no meat in their lunch; they had no materials for their learning; they
didn't have enough clothes, you know they might have had a top, but pants
they might not."

Nwe Ni moved to another area along the border to teach migrant worker
children who were not allowed to go to school in Thailand. One year later
she had her only child, and change was upon her again.

"Then finally when I had my son, I was really passionate to do something
for the country. I realised if I want to help people, I need an education
too... So envisioning a future of a democratic Burma, I knew they needed
more educated people."

With their baby son, Nwe Ni and her husband left for Bankok in 1992, where
she began to study English. Three years later, she was granted a
scholorship by the Australian Government to complete a degree in
accounting. She then moved to Melbourne.

There are approximately 14,000 Burmese living in Australia. Half of them
reside in Western Australia, 3500 in NSW, and 1700 in Victoria. Most were
living in refugee camps before arriving here, and many of them, especially
the newly arrived, were living in one or more of the nine major camps
along the Tai-Burma border for over a decade.

For the past 12 years, Nwe Ni has been a strong voice for the people of
Burma especially last September when a second uprising lead by Buddhist
Monks was brutally suppressed by the Burmese military.

"As long as the military is in Burma, we're not going back," she said of
herself and her fellow Burmese activists. "We don't want to support the
military, we will only go back to Burma if it gains democracy."

____________________________________
ASEAN

January 30, Bangkok Post
EU wants Thai help with Burma

European Union special envoy for Burma Piero Fassino, right, and outgoing
Foreign Affairs Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram meet before attending a joint
press conference yesterday.

The European Union is banking on Thailand, which will chair the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations in July, to play a greater role in
international efforts to end political problems in Burma. EU special envoy
for Burma Piero Fassino told outgoing Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram
that the EU considered Asian countries to be key players in the Burma
issue as the EU strategy is to promote dialogue between all parties in
Burma _ the ruling junta, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and
representatives of Burma's ethnic minorities.

''We consider Thailand's government to play a very important role, not
only because Thailand is the neighbour of Burma but because Thailand plays
an important and strategic role in the region. After this July, Thailand
will be the chairman of Asean; we consider Asean can play a positive role
in Burma ,'' said Mr Fassino.

The EU wanted to cooperate with the Thai government to promote positive
solutions in Burma, he added.

The diplomat visited China before coming to Thailand. He will visit
Indonesia next month and go to India, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and finally
Japan in March to seek common plans to put pressure on Burma to solve its
political problems.

Mr Fassino, a former Italian justice minister, also supported United
Nations special envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari's visit to Burma in
November that has produced a positive result, and hoped the UN envoy would
revisit the country next month on a mission to bring about national
reconciliation in that country.

He hoped Mrs Suu Kyi could be freed as soon as possible, and that the
Burmese government could open talks with her soon after she said she was
ready for talks conditions.

Mr Fassino urged Asian countries, including Thailand and China, to use
economic ties to influence the Burmese military regime to hold talks with
its political rivals.

Mr Nitya said Thailand, like other countries, wanted to see democracy and
human rights restored in Burma, and supported the UN special envoy
visiting Burma again.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

January 30, Telegraph UK
Long-necked tribe 'held captive in human zoo' – Matthew Moore

British tourists to Thailand are being urged to boycott visits to a tribe
of long-necked women, amid allegations that they are being held against
their will in a "human zoo".

Three Kayan villages in the north of the country have long been a major
draw for foreign visitors.

For a £4 entry fee tourists may approach and photograph the tribeswomen,
who wear brass coiled neckrings from the age of five to give them a
giraffe-like appearance.

Originally from Burma, around 500 Kayan people have fled across the border
to Thailand in the last 20 years, along with tens of thousands of other
refugees.

Their striking appearance has ensured they have always been able to eke
out modest livings outside the camps set up to house those fleeing
persecution in Burma.

But a United Nations agency is now alleging that the Thai authorities are
preventing 20 of them from leaving the country, possibly in order to
protect the local tourist economy.

 "We don't understand why these 20 are not allowed to start new lives,"
Kitty McKinsey, UNHCR's regional spokeswoman, told the BBC.

"The Thai authorities are treating them in a special way."

Ms McKinsey went on to suggest that the situation was so serious that
tourists should consider boycotting all trips to the Kayan villages.

"It's absolutely a human zoo," she said. "One solution is for tourists to
stop going."

The 20 Kayan were offered new homes in New Zealand in 2005 under a UNHCR
scheme to help victims of the instability in Burma, but the Thai
authorities insist that as they do not live in refugee camps they are
ineligible and cannot leave.

Two years on, the paperwork that would allow them to start new lives in
the West has still not been signed.

"They absolutely are refugees," said Ms McKinsey. "It comes as a great
surprise that the Thai authorities are criticising them for living outside
the camps, when it was the Thai authorities who wanted them to live
[outside]."

The brass coils worn by Kayan women do not actually stretch their necks,
but push down their ribcages and shoulders to give the impression of
elongation. Every year while they are growing the women are given a new,
longer coil. Mature women generally wear coils with around 25 rings.

The tradition is thought to have been started around 200 years ago, but
some Kayan women are now removing their coils in protest at their
treatment by the Thai authorities.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 30, Democratic Voice of Burma
UN secretary-general urges more action on child soldiers – Siân Thomas

United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon urged further measures to
combat child military recruitment yesterday, which he said continues to
take place in more than 12 countries including Burma.

In a report submitted to the UN Security Council, the secretary-general
recommended that the Council consider bans on military aid and travel
restrictions targeted at those who systematically exploit children in
armed conflict.

Ban Ki-moon also called for violations to be referred to the International
Criminal Court, citing as precedents arrest warrants issued by the ICC in
Uganda and convictions for child recruitment at the Special Court for
Sierra Leone.

The secretary-general also named Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, the Central
African Republic, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nepal,
the Philippines, Somalia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Uganda as countries where
child recruitment is taking place.

But the Burmese regime continues to deny the prevalence of child
recruitment in the country.

In an article in Burmese state media today, the chair of the government’s
Committee for Prevention against Recruiting Minors into Army,
major-general Thura Myint Aung, said there had been “only very few cases
of recruiting minors”.

Thura Myint Aung claimed that laws against the practice, combined with
workshops on prevention and supervision by the committee to ensure
compliance, had reduced incidences of child recruitment.

He also claimed that Burma has complied with its international obligations
on child recruitment and worked together with the UN and other
organisations to end the practice.

Thura Myint Aung went on to accuse “expatriate national traitors” and
foreign media of exaggerating reports of child recruitment in order to
discredit the Burmese regime.

International rights group Human Rights Watch said in a report last year
that staffing shortfalls in the military were leading to forced
recruitment of children, and criticised the regime’s efforts to prevent
child recruitment.

“The government’s senior generals tolerate the blatant recruitment of
children and fail to punish perpetrators. In this environment, army
recruiters traffic children at will,” said HRW’s Jo Becker in a statement.

HRW claimed that the government’s committee had been ineffective and had
done little except refute outside reports on the prevalence of child
soldiers.

The group has also called on the Security Council to impose military and
financial embargoes against the regime.

____________________________________

January 30, Democratic Voice of Burma
US condemns charges against activists – Sian Thomas

The US State Department has condemned the Burmese government’s decision to
charge 88 generation student leaders Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi and eight
other activists.

In a statement released yesterday, deputy spokesperson Tom Casey said that
the ten activists were being charged “for the peaceful expression of their
political beliefs”.

The statement said the decision to press charges demonstrated that the
regime was not serious about moving towards democratic transition and
genuine engagement with democracy activists.

“The regime’s decision to charge the ten activists for crimes that carry
lengthy prison sentences is further evidence that the regime is rejecting
all efforts to promote dialogue and national reconciliation,” the
statement said.

Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi were charged under section 17/20 of the
Printers and Publishers Registration Law, having been detained without
charge since August 2007 for their role in protests over commodity prices.

Ko Jimmy, Ko Mya Aye, Ko Marki, Ko Aung Thu, Ko Min Zeya, Zaw Htet Ko Ko,
Ko Aung Naing and Ko Tin Htoo Aung were charged with the same offence and
remain on remand in Insein prison.

____________________________________

January 30, Irrawaddy
A Fight for Dignity – Aung Zaw

I recently met a group of influential monks from Burma. I immediately
asked them about the monk-led uprising in September.

One respected monk said the demonstrations were not entirely about the
hike in fuel prices or the economic hardships.

It was also not only about the fight for the democracy. There was one
underlying cause that pushed the people to take to the streets, he said.

“It was the fight for dignity. People want to restore the dignity we have
lost,” he said.

Under the military regime, the country is demoralized and lacks respect in
the eyes of the international community, he said.

The monk continued, “I don’t think our problem is about the economy and
poverty alone. I think many people in Burma have lost their dignity and
self-respect. Burma is becoming a morally bankrupt society. It is a very
dangerous trend.”

I could not agree more. Burma could have been one of Asia’s economic
tigers in the 1950s and 1960s, but its leaders didn’t take advantage of
the opportunities.

After regaining independence under the late Prime Minister U Nu, the
country lost its way. U Nu lacked a clear vision and was a weak leader.

Then strongman Gen Ne Win, a member of the Thirty Comrades who were
trained by the Japanese, entered the political scene. Compared to U Nu, Ne
Win was an outgoing and charismatic leader, but he had no interest in
seeing Burma prosper and become a part of the global community. With the
support of the army, he quelled the rebels and insurgents in the
mountains. But then, he put Burma under lock and key. It was a nation cut
off from the rest of the world.

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s elder statesman, met with Ne Win several times
and encouraged Ne Win and his cabinet members to open up the country and
develop tourism. Ne Win was not interested.

And then events began to take control. Ne Win once told journalists that
ruling the country was like catching hold of a tiger’s tail. There was
nothing he could do but hang on to it. Under Ne Win, Burma became a failed
state.

Lee continued to engage other military leaders, who were protégés of Ne Win.

After the Western economic sanctions and visa bans imposed by the United
States and the European Union, Singapore has remained a destination for
Burmese generals and their family members. But I wonder what do the
generals learn from the city-state?

Lee continued to urge the leaders to open up the country. Among them, he
said, he was impressed by Gen Khin Nyunt, the former intelligence chief.

“He's the most intelligent of the lot,” Lee once said of Khin Nyunt, who
was purged in October 2004 and is now under house arrest serving a 44-year
suspended prison sentence.

Previously, Singapore invested millions of dollars into Burma’s tourism
industry, but the hotels and resorts never really prospered and tourism
has floundered.

Recently, Lee changed his tune about the generals, speaking out more
honestly. After the crackdown in September, he said, “These are rather
dumb generals when it comes to the economy.”

“How can they so mismanage the economy and reach this stage when the
country has so many natural resources?”

That question is constantly asked by Burmese at home and abroad.

At a recent dinner hosted by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in
Singapore, Lee said the Burmese generals are "people with very fixated
minds—quite convinced that they will have the natural resources to weather
any sanctions."

On the regime’s decision to build a new capital in Pyinmana, Lee said, "I
mean, [building a] new capital from ground zero? I ask myself, what
rational government would do this?"

Lee predicted, “We will see how it is, but whatever it is, I do not
believe that they can survive indefinitely.”

Many Burmese now living and working in Singapore got the message, but not
Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his junta.

The Burmese community in Singapore may not like Singapore’s draconian laws
and authoritarian government, but they admire the Lion City’s economic
success.

It is quite common to hear Burmese say that Singapore is not a democracy,
but they would like Burmese leaders to develop an open market economic
policy like Singapore.

If Burma could achieve economic success like its neighbors Singapore,
Thailand and Malaysia, the generals might not need to lock up Aung San Suu
Kyi and dissident leaders anymore. But Than Shwe is no Lee Kuan Yew.

Than Shwe, officially at age 75, has no interest in seeing Burma become an
economic tiger. It is too late for him to change his direction. He too has
caught hold of a tiger’s tail and will hang on to it to the end.

Than Shwe doesn’t trust the Burmese people, and he cares nothing about
their dignity.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

January 30, Burma Campaign UK
Burma is increasing the number of child soldiers on frontline, UN must not
be duped yet again

The Burma Campaign UK today dismissed as total nonsense claims by the
regime ruling Burma that it is taking action on child soldiers. State run
newspaper New Light of Myanmar is claiming that hundreds of children have
been returned to their families in recent years.

Members of the Burma Campaign UK have just returned from a trip to Karen
state in Eastern Burma where eye-witnesses described increasing numbers of
child soldiers being sent to the frontline to take part in attacks on
ethnic Karen civilians. The regime¹s battalions in Karen state are under
strength, reportedly due to increasing difficulties recruiting, high
numbers of desertions, and heavy losses fighting the Karen National
Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union.

³The commitments on human rights that this regime has given the UN have as
much credibility as Hitler¹s signature on the Munich agreement², said Mark
Farmaner, Director of the Burma Campaign UK. ³For almost 20 years the
dictatorship has lied to the UN over and over again, and the UN has let
them get away with it.²

Last year the regime gave the UN a commitment to take action on child
soldiers. At the same time reports from Human Rights Watch and
organisations in Burma indicated that the regime was stepping up
recruitment of child soldiers. The regime has also recently broken
commitments to the UN on forced labour, and on the arrests of activists
who took part in the September 2007 uprising. UNESCO has described Burma
as the child soldier capital of the world.

The timing of the announcement by the regime is probably linked to United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) discussions on children in armed conflict,
expected 12th February 2008. In July 2005 the UNSC adopted resolution 1612
that established monitoring and reporting mechanisms on violations against
children in armed conflict. A working group can make recommendations on
action against countries violating children¹s rights, including a
resolution. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has suggested that the
Security Council could consider sanctions against countries violating
children¹s rights.

The regime ruling Burma is known to be extremely concerned about the
Security Council passing a binding resolution demanding reform.

³We can expect the regime to spin and play for time, as it always does²,
said Mark Farmaner. ³The question is, will the UN keep letting them get
away with it? The Security Council should pass a binding resolution which
includes demands for an end to recruitment of child soldiers and an end to
attacks on civilians in Eastern Burma.²

For more information contact Mark Farmaner on 09741239640.

_______________________________

January 30, SPEAK
The SPEAK Network Launches its Campaign for Effective Arms Export Controls

Burma’s military government, the SPDC, has according to reports from the
UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch and the BBC, killed unarmed
civilian protesters, recruited child soldiers, tortured, raped and
enslaved its citizens and razed 3000 villages to the ground in the past 10
years.

SPEAK, a UK based prayer & campaigns network of students and young adults
has today launched its campaign for effective arms export controls. Its
goals are strengthened UK arms export legislation and the creation of EU
legislation to ensure that arms produced in the UK and other EU countries
are not exported or re-exported to countries in which oppressive regimes
will use them to inflict suffering on their people.

In the summer of 2007, due to the hard work of a group of NGOs spearheaded
by Saferworld, India’s plans to export military helicopters to Burma based
on European components was brought to the public eye. Subsequent pressure
by the European Council of Ministers, Commission and Parliament led to
India’s agreement to cease all arms sales and transfers to Burma. The
SPEAK Network do not accept that the re-export of arms to embargoed
countries should be left to the discretion of third states.

Taking the supply of weapons to Burma as their case study, SPEAK are
calling for the UK Foreign Office to be proactive in the ways it enforces
the UK Export Control Act, especially where the re-export of arms is
concerned. The SPEAK Network seeks the implementation of ‘no re-export
without permission’ within UK legislation as this would remove the
possibility of arms being sold to regimes like Burma’s SPDC.

The European Parliament have emphatically voted in favour of introducing
legally binding arms export regulation in the form of the European Code of
Conduct for Arms Exports. The SPEAK Network is calling on the Council of
Ministers to pass the Code of Conduct for Arms Exports as a Common
Position without lifting the EU’s arms embargo against China, which should
remain in place.

“The Burmese people have suffered repeated human rights abuses under
successive military regimes, for this reason, we quite rightly have an
arms embargo against Burma. The SPDC is only able to continue its
repression by the force of arms; we must not allow it to use our military
technology against its own people.” - Greg Butera, Campaigns Officer for
SPEAK

For more information, contact SPEAK:

Web: http://www.speak.org.uk/
Email: campaigns at speak.org.uk
Or call Greg Butera: 0161 234 0936