BurmaNet News, March 11, 2008

[Editor]

March 11, 2008 Issue # 3419

INSIDE BURMA
Reuters: Burma's monks still seething
IMNA: Mon students, youth and monks oppose referendum
Irrawaddy: Observers split over junta’s constitution
Irrawaddy: Is Mon leader negotiating disarmament?
Irrawaddy: Gambari’s visit linked to internet slowdown
Mizzima News: Junta turns to bribery to bolster ranks
Mizzima News: Naypyitaw fire leaves two injured, destroys 300 houses
DVB: Farmers forced to relocate to villages
DVB: NLD women’s wing marks International Women’s Day

BUSINESS / TRADE
IPS: Junta untroubled by EU sanctions
Christian Science Monitor: Who's buying Burma's gems?
AFP: Myanmar rejects Bangladesh request for gas: Dhaka

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: India, Burma conclude secretary level talks

INTERNATIONAL
IPS: Gambari gets the snub
AFP: UN visit shows momentum slipping on Myanmar: analysts
Irrawaddy: Bush says US will not abandon Burma

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Burma’s generals drunk on political power - Kyaw Zwa Moe
Mizzima News: Pride and honor; promises on an Olympic scale - May Ng
Mizzima News: U.N.'s impotency exposed

PRESS RELEASE
Burma Campaign UK: 35th UN Envoy visit fails - now Ban Ki-moon must go to
Burma
Human Rights Documentation Unit: Bullets in the Alms Bowl - New Report by
NCGUB
CSW: Thousands of Karen civilians displaced in fresh attacks as UN envoy
visit fails

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 11, Reuters
Burma's monks still seething - Ed Cropley

Beneath the veneer of serenity and religious devotion, Burma's
maroon-robed Buddhist monks, the engine of the protests six months ago
against the ruling junta, are seething with rage.

Some talk impetuously of revolution. Others even say they are ready to lay
down their lives in a repeat showdown between the monkshood, the former
Burma's highest moral authority, and the raw might of the military.

Buddhist monks wait for evening prayers on a wooden bridge in Mandalay.
(Photo: Reuters)
But pro-democracy campaigners and even some monks admit the regime's
bloody crackdown on the September marches has broken the clandestine
network that, albeit briefly, turned the country's 500,000 Buddhist monks
into a potent political force.

Even the approach of the numerologically auspicious August 8, 2008—the
20th anniversary of the brutally suppressed 8-8-88 anti-junta
uprising—looks unlikely to precipitate another challenge to 46 years of
unbroken army rule.

"There are no plans being made because most of the active monks are in
prison or have fled," a leading member of the pro-democracy underground
told Reuters at a safe house in Rangoon, the former capital.

Among the 80 people the junta says it is still holding after the protests
are 21 monks, including 27-year-old U Gambira, a leader of the All Burma
Monks Alliance which played a prominent role in the marches.

Human rights group Amnesty International said in January that 700 people
arrested in the crackdown remained behind bars.

TINDERBOXES

Despite the arrests, Burma's monasteries, some of which are home to as
many as 3,000 mainly young men at any one time, remain political
tinderboxes that could re-ignite at the slightest provocation.

At least 31 people were killed when the junta sent in troops to crush the
marches in September, but this United Nations death toll does not include
any monks, despite reports of several beaten to death when soldiers
stormed monasteries in Rangoon and elsewhere.

Dissident Web sites also posted pictures of mutilated corpses of what
appeared to be monks, spurring the deepest possible outrage amongst clergy
and lay people alike.

No monks interviewed by Reuters in the religious centers of Rangoon,
Mandalay and nearby Sagaing said they had lifted their ban on accepting
alms from members of the military junta or their families.

Known as "patam nikkuijana kamma" or "turning over the alms bowl" in Pali,
the ancient language of the Theravada Buddhist priesthood, the
2,500-year-old rite is similar to the Christian notion of excommunication
and is taken very seriously.

It can be rescinded at any moment if the perceived wrong-doers apologize
and mend their ways—something the generals have steadfastly refused to do.

"If they do not apologize, we will start our movement," a young monk from
the coastal city of Sittwe told Reuters, claiming to lead a network of
1,000 monks and students wanting an end to falling living standards and
galloping inflation.

"People are getting angrier and angrier. Their suffering is worsening day
by day and they cannot tolerate it any more," he told Reuters from a
secret location in Rangoon.

"If there is another uprising, the soldiers will shoot to kill and there
will be another bloodbath. But I am prepared to go to prison or be
killed."

Others have no more stomach for a fight.

"I hope it doesn't happen again. The country is peaceful now," one
Mandalay monk said.

MONASTERIES RE-FILLING

Although many monasteries were closed at the height of the crackdown and
thousands of monks disappeared either to prison or back to their home
towns and villages, most have been allowed to reopen.

However, three dissident establishments in Rangoon remain locked and in
Mandalay, Burma's religious heart, monks at several large monasteries said
numbers were 20-30 percent lower than before the crackdown.

The junta has also called in scores of senior abbots, telling them to keep
in check their young charges.

"Our abbot told us not to protest again. He told us that they'll shoot and
we'll die. What can we do? We have no arms," a 23-year-old at a large
Mandalay monastery said. "But if we get the chance, we will do it again.
This government is no good."

In the central town of Pakokku, where heavy-handed treatment of monks by
soldiers and pro-junta thugs in early September triggered the nationwide
monastic revolt, the regime appears to be taking steps to ensure against a
repeat.

Regime agents are undercover in the monasteries and a reviled local gang
leader known as "Mr 2 by 1", after the 2-inch thick wooden baton with
which he beat monks and protesters, is behind bars to avoid inciting
protests, one resident said.

____________________________________

March 11, Independent Mon News Agency
Mon students, youth and monks oppose referendum - Loa Htaw

Mon university students, youth and monks have started distributing
pamphlets opposing the Burmese military junta's referendum in Moulmein,
Mon state, said local residents.

Spreading the word the dissidents are encouraging people to oppose the
draft constitution without fear, said a township civil society youth
leader.

"The pamphlet advocates opposing the referendum. If we do not oppose the
referendum, the regime will continue in power and oppress the people. The
government will be provided a license to repress the people further if the
constitution is approved through a referendum," he said.

The pamphlets also urged the military regime to stop perpetrating violence
and abusing people, he said.

The pamphlets have been distributed among monks, students and youth. But
the distribution is not wide spread enough yet, he added.

The New Mon State Party (NMSP) has not supported the Burmese military
government's constitutional process either. The regime had announced that
the referendum will be held in May this year while elections would be held
in 2010. The constitution effectively excludes ethnic groups and rules out
a federation.

The NMSP believes Burma's political problems can only be solved through a
tripartite dialogue which includes ethnic and opposition parties as well
as the Burmese military government.

The Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) which contested in the Burma 1990
election also said the ensuing referendum and election is just to prolong
and extend the junta's grip on power.

____________________________________

March 11, Irrawaddy
Observers split over junta’s constitution - Wai Moe

The majority of Burmese people, whether at home or abroad, regard the
military government’s constitution as a door shut in the face of national
reconciliation. However, views vary on how to approach the current
political situation.

In a confidential e-mail distributed among Burma observers and recently
obtained by The Irrawaddy, Dr Nay Win Maung, publisher of Living Color
magazine and The Voice weekly in Rangoon, wrote that the crucial decision
for Aung San Suu Kyi is whether to offer Snr-Gen Than Shwe a way out of
the deadlock.

By Suu Kyi saying no to the referendum, it shows a lack of willingness to
let Than Shwe escape—it’s somehow like boxing him “into the corner,” wrote
Nay Win Maung in the email message on February 23.

“Again, this may lead to another political deadlock,” he warned.

Nay Win Maung belongs to the so-called “Third Force” in Burma—a group
founded during the International Burma Studies (IBS) conference in
Singapore in mid-2006 that is neither pro-junta nor pro-opposition. The
group includes Dr Khin Zaw Win, a former political prisoner. They advocate
engagement and a business-friendly policy with the junta, and are
anti-sanctions.

He also said that regardless of whatever the outcome of the referendum, it
was certain that the constitution would ultimately be rectified.

This takes us “back to square one,” said Nay Win Maung. Everyone should
understand that Than Shwe will not accept any deal, or way out, offered by
Suu Kyi or her party, the National League for Democracy.

“This time Burmese people should be smart enough and set their emotions
aside, so as not to [create] another deadlock,” he said.

Nay Win Maung did offer six suggestions to Suu Kyi and the NLD. He urged
Suu Kyi to endorse the constitution. He also requested the NLD to focus on
the election, essentially to make sure the NLD are not “disenfranchised.”

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should provide a goodwill gesture in [giving Than
Shwe a way out] by saying yes to the constitution,” he said.

In his fourth suggestion he said that in order to ensure a free and fair
election and a strong opposition, the NLD must declare that they are only
going to contest half of the seats in both chambers—in a way, sending a
signal to the regime that their objective is to be merely the opposition.

He also suggested that Suu Kyi “learn to differentiate between genuine
opposition politics and confrontational politics,” so she can build a
shadow government.

In his final comment, Nay Win Maung said that Suu Kyi could strengthen her
organization while serving in the opposition for five years.

Nay Win Maung’s e-mail was sent to several prominent politicians,
including ethnic leaders in exile.

Nay Win Maung was not available for comment when The Irrawaddy called his
office on Tuesday.

Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political commentator living in exile, told The
Irrawaddy that this approach is an option to break through the deadlock in
the country.

“We have to stop living in the past,” he said. “It only prolongs the
deadlock and conflict.”

Meanwhile, Win Min, a Burmese political analyst in Thailand, said that Suu
Kyi and the NLD should endorse the constitution on the condition that the
generals lift the ban on Suu Kyi from running in the upcoming election. He
said that even if the NLD is prepared to act as opposition, the junta may
still not tolerate having a strong opposition in the country.

Win Min also said that although the constitution is the junta’s own draft,
other parties will get 75 percent of the people’s parliament. “The junta
wants to be ‘old wine in a new bottle’; then they will legitimize their
repression of the Burmese people. If the junta wants the opposition to
endorse their rule, they must compromise for national reconciliation,” he
said.

One of the secretaries of the National Council of the Union of Burma, Aung
Moe Zaw, said, “Some experts think endorsing the constitution is better
than nothing. But people will not see it like this. People want to see a
long-term guarantee for their future—real democracy and freedom.”

“If the NLD endorses this unjust constitution, people in Burma will
object,” he added. “People will go their own way.”

____________________________________

March 11, Irrawaddy
Is Mon leader negotiating disarmament?

The army chief of the ethnic Mon ceasefire group, the New Mon State Party
(NMSP), has recently engaged in disarmament talks with the Burmese
military government, according to Mon sources.

Gen Aung Naing was supposedly visiting Rangoon for medical treatment, said
a Mon source close to the NMSP who spoke to The Irrawaddy on condition of
anonymity. However, it is believed that Aung Naing was holding meetings
with junta officials.

The source added that Gen Aung Naing is an influential leader in the NMSP,
but doesn’t agree with the political stand his party has taken against the
junta’s planned referendum in May.

The military government announced a referendum on its draft constitution
in May, followed by national elections in 2010.

Gen Aung Naing, aged 67, became the leader of the Mon National Liberation
Army, the military wing of the NMSP, in 2006.

One of his close colleagues quoted him as saying, “We were weak, so we
cannot fight the military government with guns. The political issues can
only be solved through talks at the table.”

Nai ong Ma-nge, a spokesperson for the NMSP, told The Irrawaddy on
Tuesday: “He told us he was going to Rangoon for health reasons. However,
we lost communication with him on February 4. We don’t know where he is.
We heard some rumors among the Mon community that he is secretly
negotiating disarmament with the Burmese government, but we can’t confirm
it.”

Nai Santhorn, the chairman of the Mon Unity League (MUL), based in
Thailand, said: “He may be looking out for himself. The government may
give him some incentive—that would be the main reason for him to give up
arms.”

There are 32 central committee members in the NMSP. Within the executive
committee, there are eight members including Gen Aung Naing. He joined the
NMSP in 1967. His family lives in Sangkhlaburi, Thailand.

Mon political analysts are worried that the party could be weakened if
such an important key player gave up arms and that it could impact the
unity of the party and its army.

The NMSP signed a ceasefire agreement with the military government in
1995. In spite of this, there have been no political advancements in over
a decade and the regime has continued a campaign of human rights abuses in
Mon State.

In 2003, the party attended a national constitutional convention held by
the regime, but left after a proposal to federalize Burma was rejected.
Later the party simply sent observers to the convention.

The group released a statement against the junta’s referendum in early
March, citing fears that the process would strengthen the regime by giving
it the veneer of democracy without resulting in any actual changes.

____________________________________

March 11, Irrawaddy
Gambari’s visit linked to internet slowdown – Min Lwin

A media-rights group based in Bangkok has reported that Internet
connections in Burma slowed during the recent visit of the United Nations’
special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, according to the International Freedom of
Expression Exchange (IFEX).

On its official Web site, IFEX reported that the Southeast Asia Press
Alliance (SEAPA), a member of its global network, had noted “slower or
unreliable Internet connections and abnormal telecommunications problems”
during Gambari’s five-day mission to Burma, which ended on Monday.

Internet café users in Rangoon. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)
Observers in Rangoon said they suspected the slowdown was caused by the
ruling junta’s efforts to restrict access to information about the
high-level diplomatic mission, although they were unable to confirm that
this was the case.

A woman working at an Internet cafe in Hledan, in Rangoon’s Kamaryut
Township, said that she called an employee of Myanmar Info-Tech, the
former capital’s main Internet provider, to ask why connection speeds were
so slow. “The employee blamed it on damage to the servers and then hung up
without providing any details,” she said.

During last year’s crackdown on monk-led protests last September, the
Burmese regime severed the country’s Internet connections to prevent a
flood of photographs, videos and news reports by “citizen journalists”
from reaching the international media. The week-long suspension of service
was blamed on technical problems.

According to sources in the Myanmar Information and Communication
Technology (MICT) Park, Internet connection speeds are controlled by the
Myanmar Info-Tech, which is located in the MICT Park on Rangoon
University’s Hlaing Campus.

Internet users in Rangoon say that most of the city’s Internet cafés have
been closed since Gambari arrived in the country on March 7 because of
slow connections.

“When I went to the Cyber Internet café on Sule Pagoda Rd, I wasn’t able
to use Gmail because the connection was down,” said a regular Internet
user on Tuesday. “Only [the government-controlled] mail4U and BaganNET
email services can be used right now,” he added.

Gmail and other Web-based email services are “are technically banned in
Burma, but remain popular as Internet-savvy Burmese use proxy servers and
other technical strategies to get around government firewalls,” according
to the IFEX report.

In late January, Burmese authorities arrested one of the country’s best
known bloggers, Nay Phone Latt, who is also the owner of three Internet
cafés in Rangoon. His friends believe he was probably arrested because of
political content on his site.

____________________________________

March 11, Mizzima News
Junta turns to bribery to bolster ranks - Maung Dee

In an apparent move to gain popularity with the people, the Burmese junta
backed civil organization, Union Solidarity and Development Association
(USDA), has begun distributing loans to its members.

Local residents in the Rangoon suburb of Dagon Myothit said the Township
USDA office has offered loans to its members, tempting people with
monetary incentives to join its ranks.

A local resident, who spoke to Mizzima on condition of anonymity, said the
USDA has been handing out loans of 30,000 to 50,000 Kyats ($27 to $45),
with the understanding that only those enlisting with the USDA are
entitled to such disbursements.

"With most people living in poverty, many people are starting to accept
the loan. It is a kind of lure for those who want to take the loan," the
resident commented.

Meanwhile, sources said the junta-backed civil organizations Myanmar
Maternity and Child Welfare Association (MMCWA) and Myanmar Women Affairs
Federation (MWAF) have also begun providing loans to its members.

While providing loans to members in the impoverished Southeast Asian
nation may seem a noble act, critics said the junta's puppet organizations
– USDA, MMCWA and MWAF – might be used to bait people into becoming
members and support the junta's upcoming constitutional referendum in May.

A local resident of Dagon Myothit expressed his concern that the
organizations might have a hidden agenda – say to support the referendum –
behind the seemingly noble act.

He added that besides providing loans there are instances in Dagon Myothit
where USDA officials threaten people into seeking membership.

USDA officials, who control the water supply in the east of Dagon Myothit
Township, have threatened local residents with the possibility of losing
their water supply unless they register themselves as members of the
organization, continued the resident.

"The officials threatened the people, saying that if they are not members
of the USDA they will cut off the water supply," the local remarked.

USDA, MMCWA and MWAF, formed to support the ruling junta, are the only
civil organizations allowed in Burma. And critics say these organizations
are manipulated by the government and are used as tools to suppress any
dissident movement.

Htay Aung, a Thailand based Burmese analyst and researcher at the Network
for Democracy and Development, said there have been other instances where
the junta-backed organizations provided loans to its members, but all such
offerings came with a hidden agenda.

"This time it could be to gain support for the junta's referendum," Htay
Aung told Mizzima.

Burma's ruling junta has announced that it will hold a referendum on a
draft constitution in May followed by a general election in 2010 as part
of its planned "roadmap to democracy."

However the United Nations as well as much of the international community
has joined Burmese opposition groups, including Burma's main political
party – National League for Democracy, led by detained Nobel Peace Prize
Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi – in calling the junta's upcoming referendum a
sham, as it lacks independent third party monitoring.

But the ruling junta, who has plainly rejected the international
community's call for independent monitoring of the referendum, has
indicated it is determined to complete its planned roadmap as scheduled.

Htay Aung said the junta, as declared, is using various means to ensure
that it gains the necessary votes in the referendum to support its
constitution.

"The junta will do everything to ensure they get what they want. All plans
are underway and they will try to post a kind of 'free and fair' label on
the polling," Htay Aung prospered.

He added that by the actual polling day the junta hopes to have ensured
that all its supporters are voting in favor of the referendum. But in the
event that the requisite number of votes are not secured the junta still
will not let the referendum fail.

____________________________________

March 11, Mizzima News
Naypyitaw fire leaves two injured, destroys 300 houses - Than Htike Oo

A devastating fire broke out in three wards of Leway, Naypyitaw on March 9
at 2 p.m. injuring two and destroying 325 houses. Half the town was razed
to the ground before the blaze could be brought under control.

The fire started from the household of Daw Khin Nyo in No. 5 Ward, Leway
Township, Mandalay Division. Then it spread north to No. 6 Ward and Inbu
Ward. It was brought under control at about 4:20 p.m.

Twenty fire tenders from Pyinmana, Leway, Tatkon, Swa, Myohla and Thargara
Townships rushed to the scene and extinguished the fire.

This is the first ever fire after government offices were shifted to the
new capital city. The Naypyitaw regional command commander and Minister of
Progress of Border Areas & National Races & Development Affairs Col. Than
Nyunt arrived at the scene later.
Naypyitaw comprises three townships -- Pyinmana, Leway and Tatkon.

"The fire tenders in Leway are out of order. About 20 fire tenders from
Naypyitaw arrived in Leway after the fire had destroyed almost half of the
town. One of the fire tenders in Leway is out of order. Another fire
tender had no water and had to be pushed to the site of the fire. The
situation is worse than it should be," a local resident in Naypyitaw said.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that the relief centres were
opened at Sasana Beikman in No. 3 Ward and in a primary school in No. 6
Ward. But local residents said that some fire victims are living in
makeshift huts built in the rice fields and the meal packages are being
sent to them by well wishers from other wards in the township.

____________________________________

March 11, Democratic Voice of Burma
Farmers forced to relocate to villages

Local authorities in Rangoon division’s Hle Gu township have forced
farmers who live in huts on their farmlands to relocate to villages,
leaving them unable to continue tending their crops, locals said.

A Hle Gu local said about 300 farmers from Shan Tal Gyi and Ma-au villages
have been ordered to move back to their villages by their village
authorities, who claimed it was for security reasons.

“The authorities made the farmers to sign an acknowledgement of their
relocation to the villages,” the local said.

“It said that the farmers will be responsible for the consequences if they
remain on their farmlands.”

The authorities’ order to relocate will cause major difficulties for the
farmers, who need to stay on their farms during the cropping season to
monitor their crops.

“They need to stay on their farms to do the necessary maintenance on their
crops,” the Hle Gu local said.

“The farmers were very sad after hearing the authorities’ order to move
back to the villages.”

Hle Gu township authorities were unavailable for comment.

____________________________________

March 11, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD women’s wing marks International Women’s Day

The National League for Democracy women’s wing held a belated celebration
for International Women’s Day on Monday at the party headquarters in
Rangoon.

International Women’s Day is marked every year on 8 March, but the NLD
event was held two days later because of public holidays, Daw Leh Leh from
the women’s wing said.

The celebrations started at around 12 noon and were attended by women from
different townships in Rangoon division and by elected representatives Daw
Khin Htay Kywe from Mon state, Daw Nan Khin Htway Myint from Karen state
and Daw Hla Hla Moe from Min Hla township.

Daw Leh Leh and women’s wing coordinator Daw Myint Myint Sein gave the
keynote speeches to open the event, followed by speeches from the elected
representatives with women’s wing member Aye Aye Mar acting as master of
ceremonies.

In her speech, Daw Leh Leh called on the women of Burma to keep themselves
informed about the government’s upcoming referendum in May.

“We women should all open our eyes and ears and be aware of things that
are happening in our environment,” she said.

“The time is coming to have our say in the upcoming referendum, and we
women should clearly express our opinion on whether or not this
constitution can bring the democracy we have always wanted.”

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

March 11, Inter Press Service
Junta untroubled by EU sanctions - David Cronin

Economic sanctions imposed by the European Union on Burma are unlikely to
have any effect on its military junta, a former Singaporean diplomat has
said.

After Burmese authorities used force to break up peaceful protests by
Buddhist monks in the capital Rangoon, EU governments decided to ban
imports of gemstones, timber and metal from the country in October last
year.

Barry Desker, Singapore’s chief negotiator in international trade talks
during the 1990s, suggested the sanctions are primarily designed to salve
the conscience of some European policy-makers.

Speaking to IPS, he said the measures will probably not have any impact on
the military, which has ruled Burma since overthrowing a civilian
government in 1962. This was because EU leaders have decided to
"grandfather the most important investment" in the country, he added,
referring to the contracts signed by the French energy giant Total to
exploit the Yadana gasfield in southern Burma.

Although French president Nicholas Sarkozy announced in 2007 that there
will be no fresh investments by companies from his country in Burma,
contracts already signed by Total are unaffected by sanctions.

Desker, now dean of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in
Singapore, claimed that the strong public stances on Burma of the EU and
the U.S. were largely taken for what he described as "feel good" reasons.
He also dubbed Burma (officially called Myanmar) an "easy target" for the
West.

In terms of respect for human rights and democracy, "you would probably
see Saudi Arabia, ranking lower than Myanmar," he said. "Yet nobody is
taking action against Saudi Arabia."

The reality, he added, is that foreign countries, including Burma’s fellow
members of the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN), have little
influence as "the Myanmar leadership is suspicious of the world outside",
yet has been able to cushion itself against external pressure.

"Foreign exchange reserves (in Burma) are the highest they have ever been
since 1950," he said. "There is a myth that Myanmar has banked money in
Singapore, Liechtenstein and Hong Kong. In reality, most of its money has
been invested back in Myanmar. Once -- in the 1980s -- there was a shared
poverty between the leadership and the rest of the population. But today,
there is a gap emerging between a small elite and the rest of the
population, which has become poorer and poorer and is on the lowest rung
within South-East Asia."

Desker took part in a seminar in Brussels on Monday, addressing the main
challenges facing ASEAN, which celebrated its fortieth anniversary during
2007. The seminar was hosted by the European Policy Centre, a think-tank
based in the Belgian capital.

Seamus Gillespie, head of the European Commission (EC)’s department for
relations with South-East Asia, took issue with Desker’s claims that
sanctions against Burma are proving ineffective.

Gillespie said he would be "very surprised if the (Burmese) government is
100 percent insensitive" to international criticism. "I do feel that some
message is getting through, even if it might not be with sufficient force
at the moment to change things," he added.

Gillespie argued that punitive measures against Burma were warranted
because of the continued arrest of Aung Saan Suu Kyi, whose National
League for Democracy party won a huge majority in a 1990 election that the
junta decided to annul.

On human rights, he said, the EU "often has different approaches to
different situations".

"This allows questions to be raised about inconsistency of approach. But
few countries have democratic elections held and then put the leader in
prison and house arrest for many long years and brutally suppress their
own religious people. This is something quite unique."

Still, he maintained that "sanctions are just one instrument in the
toolkit of a more balanced policy".

"We are trying to engage with the authorities in Burma-Myanmar. This is
not just a question of sanctions, though it may be that for some
decision-makers sanctions may make them feel good."

The question of Burma overshadowed the most recent summit of ASEAN’s 10
government leaders, held in Singapore in November.

During that meeting, the governments endorsed a charter designed to
strengthen the body’s institutions. The charter will put its summits on a
more formal footing and require each member state to send an ambassador to
liaise with ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta.

Desker acknowledged that Burma’s acceptance of the charter, which contains
a commitment to promoting human rights, will give "the region a
credibility problem when seeking to address humanitarian concerns around
the globe’’.

Although the EC does not give official development aid to the Burmese
authorities, it approved a package of humanitarian assistance worth 15.5
million euros (24 million dollars) in 2006 aimed at meeting some of the
population’s medical needs. Its move followed a report by the World Health
Organisation that – in per capita terms – Burma has the third lowest rate
of health expenditure in the world (after Congo and Burundi).

David Fouquet, director of the Asia-Europe Project in Brussels, said that
such humanitarian aid is "very useful and appreciated". But Fouquet added:
"Many people in ASEAN are not comfortable with the relationship with and
the presence of Burma-Myanmar as it is now".

Last month the Burmese authorities announced that a referendum on a new
constitution will be held in May, paving the way for a general election in
2010. These steps will be part of what Burma calls a "roadmap to
democracy", though the government’s critics have expressed doubts about
whether opposition figures will be allowed contest the election.

Fouquet contended that there is a "lot to be done" in ensuring that the
announcement leads to tangible reforms. "ASEAN should be more engaged in a
positive way, assisting without becoming an accomplice to the roadmap to
guided democracy," he said. "That would be extremely helpful."

____________________________________

March 11, Christian Science Monitor
Who's buying Burma's gems? - Danna Harman

It's the last hour of the last day of the gems auction in Rangoon, and
tired buyers are fanning themselves with worn auction catalogs, and making
their final bids.

Over the past five days, jade, rubies, sapphires, and close to $150
million have passed hands here, according to the Union of Myanmar Economic
Holdings Ltd., the consortium that dominates Burma's gemstone trade and is
owned by the defense ministry and a clutch of military officers.

Who's buying? China, India, Singapore, and Thailand are scooping up
Burma's stones. US first lady Laura Bush's efforts at a global boycott of
Burma's gems seem to have done little to reduce China's appetite for
Burmese jade to make trinkets and souvenirs to sell at the Summer
Olympics.

At this recent auction, 281 foreigners attended, leaving behind
much-needed foreign currency and generally turning the auction into a
resounding success, according to the state-run New Light of Myanmar
newspaper.

Mrs. Bush - and human rights campaigners - would not be pleased.

The first lady has taken on the military regime in Burma (Myanmar), urging
jewelers not to buy gems from a country where the undemocratic rulers and
their cronies amass fortunes selling off the country's stones, as well as
many of the county's other natural resources - such as minerals, timber,
gold, oil, and gas - but keep Burma's citizens in abject poverty.

She has urged UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to act more forcibly on
Burma and stood beside President Bush on several occasions recently as he
announced the growing list of US sanctions on the country. And, on
International Human Right's Day this past December, Mrs. Bush added her
voice to those seeking a global boycott on gems from Burma.

"Consumers throughout the world should consider the implications of their
purchase of Burmese gems," she said in a statement from the White House.
"Every Burmese stone bought, cut, polished, and sold sustains an
illegitimate, repressive regime."

According to Human Right's Watch (HRW), Burma's junta owns a majority
stake in each of the country's mines - many of them sitting on land
confiscated from local communities - sanctioning both unsafe working
conditions and forced and child labor. The European Union passed rules in
November banning imports of Burmese rubies and jade, and Canada and the US
Senate followed suit in December.

Worried about being associated with the junta's practices, some of the
world's biggest names in precious stones - including Frances' Cartier,
Italy's Bulgari, and the US-based Tiffany & Co., and Leber Jeweler Inc. -
have announced their own bans on Burma's gems.

But, clearly, not everyone has joined the bandwagon. At this January's
auction in Rangoon, according to the New Light of Myanmar, 600 lots of
jade were sold - a third more than at the last auction held in November.
By some estimates, jade alone now accounts for about 10 percent of Burma's
yearly export earnings. Rubies, in turn, remain Burma's gem of choice; the
country is reportedly the source of close to 90 percent of the world's
supply. And Burma also exports diamonds, cat's- eyes, emeralds, topaz,
pearls, sapphires, coral, and yellow garnet.

The government's Myanmar Gem Enterprise - Burma's third largest export
company after the state-run oil and timber companies - has said gem sales
have increased by 45 percent every year for the past three. The gem
auctions, held once or twice a year since 1964, are becoming more
frequent. All told, the official trade in Burma's gems, according HRW, was
valued at $297 million in fiscal year 2006-2007, but is estimated to
actually be much higher when factoring in unofficial sales.

Why haven't Western sanctions on Burma's gems - and the country's other
products - been more effective, even after so many years?

"The only sanctions that would work would be Chinese," asserts Robert
Rotberg, a professor of public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy
School. "The Chinese ... supply all the weapons and much of the investment
[to Burma]."

And, while gems are clearly a part of the problem, stresses Mr. Rotberg,
they are only the very tip of the iceberg. "The role of gems is not huge
... compared with oil and gas, and opium smuggling," he says. Overall,
China, Thailand, and India reportedly spend about $2 billion a year here
on electricity, natural gas, oil and timber.

"China is the culprit here," explains Thai social critic and frequent
Burma commentator Acharn Sulak Sivaraksa. "Burma is supported by China.
End of story. We need to liberate that country not only from its own
military junta but also from the imperialist Chinese."

Pressure on China - and to a smaller extent on India and Thailand - to
assume a more constructive role in Burma is mounting.

"It is in all our interests to address the poor governance that can give
birth to conflict and instability," British Foreign Secretary David
Miliband told students at the elite Peking University on a trip to China
last month. "When the incentives of global engagement do not work, there
will be cases for applying pressure," he said. "Burma is on your border.
You know it well," and outlined Britain's view that Burma's military
government is "brutal."

His carefully chosen words echoed those of Mrs. Bush: "President Bush and
I call on all nations - especially Burma's neighbors - to use their
influence to help bring about a democratic transition," she said,
addressing China in a December teleconference.

Recently, several Burmese human rights and opposition groups have begun
linking China's Burma policy to the upcoming Olympics - a particularly
unwanted development for Beijing. The Burmese "88 Students Generation"
group issued a call two weeks ago appealing to people around the world not
to watch the sports events on TV, and the Washington-based US Campaign for
Burma has called on athletes to boycott the games.

Linkage between Burma policy and the Olympics would be "inappropriate and
unpopular," responded Liu Jingmin, vice president of the Beijing Olympics
organizing committee, at an October press conference.

But whether or not it's the specter of the Burma issue mushrooming into a
rallying call of similar proportions to that the campaign linking China's
role in Sudan's Darfur region to the Olympics - such pressure on China
seems to be having some effect.

While there is no indication China will sanction Burma or even
dramatically change its basic working relationship with the country -
China is famously averse to interfering in other country's internal
affairs - there are nonetheless small signs that Beijing's patience with
the military junta next door is waning and an eventual policy shift is
possible.

"We sense China is changing its attitude," says U Han Than, a spokesman
for the Burmese opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). "We have
heard that high-ranking Chinese officials were here and told the military
generals they are not happy."

China's official news service did report, in November, that a special
envoy, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, had been in Burma and
asked the military "to resolve the pending issues through consultations so
as to speed up the democratization process."

"China is trying harder to be constructive," says a Western diplomat in
Rangoon, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They don't care about
democracy or a political opening up, but they care about their investments
and the Olympics and don't want the sort of instability that resulted from
the September blunders of the government. They want an economic opening
up, which is not a bad start."

____________________________________

March 11, Agence France Presse
Myanmar rejects Bangladesh request for gas: Dhaka

Myanmar has rejected a request to sell gas to Bangladesh to help the
country meet its growing energy crisis, saying India and China are its top
priorities, a senior Dhaka official said Tuesday.

Bangladesh's foreign secretary made the request during a visit Myanmar
last month, deputy energy minister M. Tamim said.

"They said they would sell their gas to India and China but cannot export
gas to Bangladesh at the moment. Myanmar would consider selling gas to
Bangladesh only after new discoveries are made," he said.

The decision is a blow to Bangladesh which faces a daily shortage of at
least 100 million cubic feet (three million cubic metres) of gas. It needs
the fuel to help feed its economy which expanded by a strong 6.6 percent
in the last financial year to June 2007.

The energy shortage would become acute after 2009 if new gas finds are not
made, Tamim said.

"Now our industries are expanding quickly and we have huge investments in
gas-based power plants. We're facing a growing energy crisis," Tamim said.

Bangladesh has daily demand for 1,800 million cubic feet of gas but the
country's 23 gas fields can provide only 1,700 million cubic feet as lack
of investment in new exploration since late 1990s has outstripped supply.

"Since 1999, there was hardly any investment in new gas discoveries as the
companies did not see any market for gas here," Tamim said.

The southeastern city of Chittagong is home to the country's largest
gas-guzzling industries such as fertiliser and steel and is running short
of gas.

"I've told the Chittagong-based companies not to hope too much. Some big
companies which want to expand are now suffering and the situation may
continue for a while," Tamim said.

In an effort to step up future supply, the country's military-backed
government has already invited bids from foreign oil companies to explore
for gas and oil in the hydrocarbon-rich Bay of Bengal.

In addition, companies such as Chevron, Total, Cairn Energy and
Bangladesh's state-owned Bapex have started exploring for oil in their
onshore and offshore blocks, Tamim added.

Bangladesh has proven recoverable gas reserves of 14 trillion cubic feet
according to the latest survey, the deputy minister said.

The reserves are expected to last until 2022 if no new discovery is made,
he said.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 11, Mizzima News
India, Burma conclude secretary level talks

New Delhi - In yet another sign of warming up to each other in terms of
bilateral relations, India and Burma on Monday concluded a secretary level
talk in New Delhi.

Both India and Burma, during the 14th National Level Meeting, agreed to
strengthen cooperation in areas of security and border management along
the common border.

The Burmese delegation to the meeting was led by Deputy Minister for Home
Affairs Brig. General Phone Swe and the Indian delegation was led by Union
Home Secretary, Shri Madhukar Gupta.

During the meeting, both sides discussed various issues of mutual concern
including security, drug trafficking and border management, according to a
press statement released by Indian Ministry of Home Affairs.

India and Burma have regularly held bilateral meetings on various levels
including head of the state meetings, since the visit by Burmese head of
state and military supremo Snr. Gen Than Shwe to New Delhi in October
2004.

According to India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Burma's second
military strongman Vice Snr. General Maung Aye will visit New Delhi in the
first week of April to sign an agreement with India to build a multi-modal
transport project in western Burma.

Sources at the MEA said India will invest a US $ 100 million for the
Kaladan multimodal project, while Burma will contribute US $ 10 million
and free land.

Despite criticism by the west, particularly the US and EU, which has
imposed stern financial and economic sanctions on the Burmese junta, India
continues to engage the Burmese generals under the banner of its 'Look
East policy' and 'national interest'.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

March 11, Inter Press Service
Gambari Gets the Snub - Marwaan Macan-Marker

United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s third visit to Burma has
ended in failure, an outcome expected after he was informed on arrival
that the junta was in no mood to change its political battle plans.

By all accounts Gambari had a rough time between his arrival in Burma on
Thursday and departure on Monday.

Leading the attack on Gambari was Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan,
who met the Nigerian diplomat the day after he flew into Rangoon, the
former capital. It is "impossible" to amend the new draft constitution,
Gambari was told Friday of the charter that had been shaped by a body
handpicked by the generals.

The prospect of a meaningful dialogue between the junta and the currently
detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who heads the opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD) party, was quashed, likewise. Kyaw
Hsan accused the Nobel Peace laureate of being the stumbling block, saying
that the country’s leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, would meet her if she gave
up her "confrontational attitude," including her continued call for
sanctions against the junta.

But Kyaw Hsan had more verbal bullets in store, with Gambari as the
target, too. He accused the envoy of taking sides, being partial to Suu
Kyi’s cause and taking a "Western" view, and warned that Gambari’s neutral
role as an "adviser" would be challenged.

Such a stance by the rulers of Burma is the toughest since Gambari began
his mission following a bloody crackdown last September of tens of
thousands of peaceful, unarmed street protests led by Buddhist monks. The
first visit followed an international outcry, prompting Burmese strongman
Than Shwe to meet the envoy. On the second visit, the junta gave
assurances that suggested the spirit of compromise was in the air.

Little wonder why Burmese political activists living in exile have begun
to write off any future attempts by Gambari. "They gave him a tough time
during his third visit. He cannot be successful now," Zaw Min, spokesman
for the Democratic Party for a New Society, a political party banned in
Burma, told IPS. "The Burmese government wanted to show that it is a
sovereign country and does not need UN involvement."

It was a view echoed by a London-based group championing for political
freedom and human rights in the South-east Asian country. "It is clear
that the Burmese junta does not respect UN envoys," Mark Farmaner,
director of the Burma Campaign in Britain, said in a statement released
Monday. "It is time the UN tried a new approach. The Secretary-General
himself should lead the UN effort, and he should have the backing of a
binding Security Council resolution.’’

Gambari’s third mission came shortly after the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), as the junta is officially known, raised the political
stakes in the country. It revealed plans to conduct a referendum in May to
seek approval for Burma’s third constitution. Plans were also announced
for a general election to follow in 2010, for which the widely popular Suu
Kyi has been banned from participating.

Burma has been ruled by successive military dictators since 1962, when the
army grabbed power following a coup. In 1990, following a pro-democracy
uprising, which was brutally crushed, the country held general elections.
The winner, on that occasion was the NLD, securing a thumping majority.
But the junta refused to respect the verdict of that poll, subsequently
mounting a repressive campaign that targeted all political opponents.

The UN entered the fray soon after, hoping to address the widespread human
rights violations in the country and to help engineer political reform,
with a functioning democracy as a goal. Since 1992, the country has had
three UN human rights envoys and three special political envoys, the
latest of whom is Gambari. But none of them could stem the flow of
oppression.

Consequently, the junta’s appears set to unveil its "developed
discipline-flourishing democratic state" as part of its seven-step roadmap
toward political reform, where the generals are to gain legal power
through a constitution to dominate the future political landscape.

Such a prospect, and the strident tone of the junta to install its
political program, is giving rise to a view that the generals have got the
blessings of the Chinese government, a key supporter of the SPDC. "We
think that China is backing the SPDC from behind. Without China’s support,
the SPDC will not dare confront the world body as it did during Mr.
Gambari’s visit," says Zin Linn, a spokesman for the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma, the democratically-elected Burmese
government in exile.

"The junta is now feeling confident that it can get away with its game and
not come under pressure at the UN," he added during an interview. "China
needs Burma because of its many natural resources, like gas."

But such a defeat of the UN’s efforts at the hands of a military
dictatorship will bode ill for the oppressed peoples of the world, says
Myint Wai, deputy director of the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in
Burma, a Bangkok-based non-governmental organization. "Other oppressive
regimes will also use this example and not take the UN seriously."

"We cannot let the dignity of the UN be damaged," he told IPS. "The entire
world will stand to lose, then."

____________________________________

March 11, Agence France Presse
UN visit shows momentum slipping on Myanmar: analysts - Charlie
McDonald-Gibson

UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari's seeming failure to press the Myanmar junta
toward reform has underlined the loss in diplomatic momentum since last
year's bloody crackdown on protests, analysts say.

Gambari arrived in Myanmar last Thursday hoping to persuade the regime to
include detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in plans for a
constitutional referendum in May designed to pave the way for elections in
2010.

But with support from regional allies such as China and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the generals have pressed on with a
"roadmap to democracy" that the West has decried as a sham.

"What the Burmese military has done is what the Chinese and ASEAN and even
the Indians wanted to see in Burma -- the continuation of the roadmap, and
for the first time in 20 years there is a timeframe," said Thailand-based
Myanmar expert Aung Naing Oo, referring to the nation by its former name.

Gambari left Myanmar late Monday having twice been rebuffed by the junta
on his third visit there since pictures of last September's violent
crackdown on Buddhist monk-led street protests went around the world.

The generals refused to amend the constitution and rejected an offer of UN
technical assistance and foreign observers during the referendum.

At least 31 people died last September, according to the United Nations,
although Human Rights Watch has put the toll at more than 100, and the
world outcry was swift and unified -- a consensus that has since
fractured.

While China, Russia and some Southeast Asian nations call the referendum a
step in the right direction, the United States and other Western countries
say it aims to entrench the military's role.

The constitution would bar Aung San Suu Kyi from elections because she was
married to a foreigner, while a new law limits her party's ability to
campaign by criminalising public speeches and leaflets about the
referendum.

Aung Naing Oo said the split has left Myanmar holding all the cards, with
the United Nations empty-handed.

"I honestly don't have any hope in the UN's intervention," he added. "The
Burmese junta know they have the Chinese protecting them at the UN
Security Council."

The apparent snubs to Gambari, who was also accused on this visit of being
biased in favour of the opposition, also show the junta is increasingly
immune to the fickle demands of the international community, said Zarni, a
visiting fellow at Britain's Oxford University who goes by one name.

"The last thing the regime would want to do is appear to be appeasing the
international community, be it the Chinese or the Americans," he told AFP.

"These guys draw inspirations from such regimes as Cuba, Venezuela, Iran,
North Korea etc, which stand up to what they all consider as
'neo-imperialist' West."

Gambari did, however, meet Aung San Suu Kyi twice during his visit, a rare
contact with the outside world for the Nobel peace prize winner who has
spent 12 of the last 18 years under house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy party to a storming
election victory in 1990, but the military -- which has ruled Myanmar in
some form since 1962 -- refused to recognise the result.

But the envoy was denied access to senior junta figures, with junta leader
Senior General Than Shwe inaccessible in the isolated capital Naypyidaw.

Win Min, a Thailand-based analyst attached to Chiang Mai University, said
the only way to bring genuine democratic reform to Myanmar was for the
United Nations Security Council to take harsh action unanimously.

"Only then the regime will listen," he told AFP.

However, he said, Myanmar was no longer top of the world's agenda.

The West's sanctions were simply angering the regime without affecting the
top leadership, he added, while China was not keen on forcing Myanmar on
to a path to democracy that they themselves did not follow.

"The only silver lining in all this is the regime is not declaring this UN
engagement process, whatever it's worth, dead or unwelcome," he said.

____________________________________

March 11, Irrawaddy
Bush says US will not abandon Burma - Lalit K Jha

President George W Bush said on Monday the United States would continue to
work till the “tide of freedom reaches the Burmese shores.”

Bush, addressing a meeting honoring Women’s History Month at the White
House with his wife, Laura Bush, said, “America honors women like Aung San
Suu Kyi of Burma.”

US President George W Bush (C) signs a proclamation honoring Women's
History Month during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in
Washington, DC. Bush paid tribute to women who have defied the governments
of Belarus, Cuba and Burma, promising US help as they "stand up for the
freedom of their people." (Photo:AFP)
Praising Suu Kyi for her courage and commitment to the people of Burma,
Bush said: “Her only crime was to lead a political party that enjoys the
overwhelming support of the Burmese people. During the long and lonely
years of Daw Suu Kyi's imprisonment, the people of Burma have suffered
with her.” Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18
years.

“Her courage and her writings have inspired millions, and in so doing,
have put fear to the hearts of the leaders of the Burmese junta,” Bush
said.

Bush noted that the military regime has called a referendum in May to
ratify a dangerously flawed constitution—one that bars Suu Kyi from
running for political office.

Bush said: “Aung San Suu Kyi has said to the American people: ‘Please use
your liberty to promote ours.’ We're doing all we can, and we will
continue to do so until the tide of freedom reaches the Burmese shores and
frees this good, strong woman.”

The US has imposed a series of economic sanctions against the military
junta in the last seven months.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also praised the Burmese leader on the
occasion of International Women’s Day.

“We acknowledge the bravery of Aung Sung Suu Kyi in Burma,” Rice said.

Along with Suu Kyi, Bush also honored the wife of jailed Belarus
opposition leader Alexander Kozulin, Irina Kozulin, who died of cancer
last month; and ailing Cuban dissident Marta Beatrmz Roque Cabello.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

March 11, Irrawaddy
Burma’s generals drunk on political power - Kyaw Zwa Moe

The United Nations has offered the Burmese junta a political cocktail that
could have given the embattled country a way out of its political
deadlock.

The ingredients were simple: The UN special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, urged
the junta to allow opposition groups a role in creating a draft
constitution, allow independent monitors to observe a constitutional
referendum and offer an inclusive, fair election representing all
political views.

The junta declined.

In fact, the generals have already brewed up their own political cocktail
and are offering it to the Burmese people in the constitutional referendum
in May:

—A rigged draft constitution designed to enshrine the military as rulers
in a “democratic” Burma.

—No guarantees to a fair and inclusive election in 2010 and the power to
nullify the constitution at any time.

The Burmese people know the junta’s political cocktail is poison.
“It is impossible to review or rewrite the constitution which was drawn up
with the participation of delegates from all walks of life,” Information
Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan told Gambari on Friday in Rangoon, according
to the state-run media.
What he failed to mention was that all the delegates were handpicked by
the junta. Pro-democracy and ethnic opposition groups were not allowed to
participate.

The military government also rebuffed the idea of independent poll
observers as an infringement on “state sovereignty.”

The junta took the gloves off on Gambari’s last visit, telling him coldly
that he was biased in favor of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years and is
barred from running in the election.

Kyaw Hsan told Gambari that Burma has no political prisoners and that Suu
Kyi was detained because she tried to disrupt the stability of the
country. Actually, there are about 1,800 political prisoners in Burma.

The minister also criticized Gambari for his trips to other countries to
seek support for political reform in Burma.

“Sadly, you went beyond your mandate,” he was told. “Hence, the majority
of people are criticizing it as a biased act.”

Finally, in effect dismissing Gambari’s future usefullness, Kyaw Hsan said
that if Gambari continued to encourage the junta to meet Western calls for
reform, “We are concerned that your task of offering impartial advice may
be undermined.”

Gambari departed Burma on Monday and will soon brief UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon. Whatever that briefing says, one thing is clear: the generals
are in a state of denial.

In fact, Gambari’s mission is over diplomatically. The junta has stacked
the political deck. Domestic events will have to play themselves out
now—for good or bad.

In reality, the UN has no further role to play in Burma. There’s no hope
of reconciliation talks; no hope for broader political participation by
the people. Sadly, there may be no hope of avoiding another civil uprising
and more bloodshed and arrests.

You can see the sad state of events in Burma as the ending of an era going
back to the 1988 uprising, in which the National League for Democracy
(NLD) played such an important role. The NLD won the 1990 elections by a
landslide, nullified by the generals. The NLD leadership has run out of
energy and failed to come up with a new political vision.

So far, the NLD has failed to take a clear stand on the constitutional
referendum and elections, perhaps partly because it doesn’t even know if
it will be allowed to participate in the election.

In the 2007 uprising, the Burmese people, in effect, became the leaders of
the political opposition, guided by a dedicated group of activist monks
from across the country.

The Burmese people seem to sense that it’s up to them now. The tragedy is
that if they express any critical views about the draft constitution, the
elections or the regime, they may be imprisoned. Without any means to
influence the junta, there are really only two options: political protests
and courage.

The constitutional referendum in May could be a flash point. Will the
people feel they have been allowed to cast their votes freely and fairly?

Any attempt by the junta or its affiliated political and civic groups to
steal the referendum will spark a clash between the military and the
people more dangerous than the 2007 uprising.

If the election is free and fair, the Burmese people will reject the
junta’s poisonous political cocktail, knowing it will poison their
national pride and be a death sentence for Burma’s future generations.

The generals are clearly living in self-denial, drunk on their own power,
in total denial of even the most basic principles of fairness and
democracy.

But like all drunks, there will come a day—perhaps in May—when they may be
awakened by the Burmese people and forced to face reality.

____________________________________

March 11, Mizzima News
Pride and honor; promises on an Olympic scale - May Ng

Like the phrases "I do" in an exchange of wedding vows, "I accept" in a
constitutional referendum is a 'contract'. A Constitution is not merely a
text but a deed--"a constituting"-- wrote Yale Constitutional Scholar,
Akhil Reed Amar.

Constitution is a contract people agreed to under the personal and
sovereign rights to create a government. A constitution cannot be created
by the government on its own. A legitimate government emerges from the
constitution drawn by the people, not the other way around.

In response to the external pressure, the Myanmar generals are calling for
a constitutional referendum in May. But even the most stubborn generals
must know that, this wedding with only the groom without the bride and a
legitimate marriage contract will plunge Burma deeper into political
chaos.

By calling a constitutional referendum in May without the 1990 election
winners, after the people have overwhelmingly rejected military rule in
1988, Myanmar junta is trying to create 'a new government of the army, by
the army, and for the army.'

Last Friday the House of Representatives of Indonesia has rejected a new
Myanmar ambassador until democracy is established in Burma. Philippines
President Gloria Arroyo said on Sunday that, "a central pillar of
democracy is a free and fair election and outside observers are not a
threat to any nation's sovereignty. It is not too late for the Burmese
government to accept the proposal by the UN".

After the 1990 election was ignored and countless people were killed or
imprisoned for their political belief, the people in Burma have nothing
more to lose, and are boiling with anger underneath. U Awbata, a monk
leader who participated in the September Saffron Revolution has told an
international audience that, "I cannot forget or erase the sight that I
saw on the eastern side of the Shwedagon Pagoda where three monks were
shot at, and when they fell down the soldiers used their boots and stomped
on the heads of the wounded monks and beat them with batons."

According to the most recent report by the Free Burma Rangers, over 2,200
people were forced to flee their home by the military as the UN envoy Mr.
Gambari was going to Burma. Over 1,700 villagers in Northern Papun
district in eastern Burma fled after being fired upon by Burma Army
mortars. In another area nine houses were burnt while 85 people fled their
homes. An additional 400 may have fled the area to join the increasing
number of internally displaced population, out of reach from outside help.
The US Campaign for Burma has condemned the attacks.

Adding insult to injury the regime has announced its intention to revoke
the voting privileges from the country's venerated monks, members of the
political oppositions and the exiled community. At the same time the
Myanmar generals are handing out temporary citizenship to anyone who will
vote for the army's constitution, regardless of their legal status inside
Burma.

Burma Lawyers' Council has recommended in 2005 that every citizen of
Burma, who loves human rights and democracy-- and supports the
establishment of liberty and justice--has the responsibility to prevent
the deterioration of the country by stopping the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC)'s constitution, the product of a sham National
Convention.

All Burma Monks Alliance has unequivocally rejected what they deem to be
illegitimate and unjust constitution to prolong the cruel military
dictatorship in Burma. The ABMA said that, to help overcome the economic
hardship and humanitarian catastrophe they are determined to continue
opposing the military rule, together with other democracy forces in Burma.

The 2007 new Generation Wave students have called for an inclusive, open,
and fair, constitutional vote. They are organizing the entire nation to
resist the one-sided military constitution in Burma.

The late Karen National Union (KNU) secretary general Mahn Sha Lar Phan,
who was murdered, said before his death that the army-drafted charter will
enslave the Burmese people indefinitely. Ethnic nationalities, including
the ceasefire organizations, continue to criticize the proposed
constitution's lack of credibility, fairness and transparency.

The International Burmese Monks Organization (IBMO) is holding Myanmar
military to the promise of transferring power to the civilian government
after the 1990 election. The monks have declared the military's plan for
constitution and election as unfair, unjust and illegitimate. They believe
that the junta's plan to force through such a plan will create a greater
political conflict and push Burma to the brink of catastrophe.

Since 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi has sacrificed her family and her marriage to
become the mother of Burma who is entirely wedded to the country's
democratic cause. She has given up everything to give democracy a chance
in Burma. Her father has promised democracy and equality to the people of
Burma, at the time of independence.

Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of General Aung San, the founder of
Burma's army. The well known '88 student leader Moethee Zun, and the
imprisoned monks' leader, Ashin U Gambira, are also children of the
military personnel who have served in the Myanmar Tatmadaw. Moethee Zun
has called on the entire political opposition to mobilize against the
junta's constitutional referendum in any possible way they can.

Without the cooperation of Aung San Suu Kyi, ethnic nationalities, and the
democratic oppositions, it is unlikely for the military junta to find
peace in Burma. As ordinary soldiers suffer the same hardship with the
rest of the country, a handful of top generals continue to control Burma
at gunpoint, from fear and insecurity.

The fate of General Ne Win and General Khin Nyunt is proof that the
military generals can never feel safe for themselves, or for their
families, without a legitimate and credible political system in Burma. If
the generals insist on making the army rule permanent, Burma will continue
to edge towards total devastation.

Asian countries, especially China and India, often lament the Burmese
democratic opposition's reliance on the western democracies for support;
while, they, China and India, continue to sell weapons to Myanmar junta
and help kill more Burmese people. Contrary to their rhetoric, China and
India have not shown respect for Burma's sovereignty, and have clearly
interfered in Burma's internal affairs by sending arms to one side of a
bitter political conflict there.

But Myanmar Tatmadaw cannot forever remain the foreign proxy army of India
and especially China. It is urgent for Burma to find a middle ground where
the titanic split between the generals and the people of Burma can be
reconciled.

It will be 20 years on 8 August 2008, the opening day of the Olympics,
since the people of Burma have decided to end the military dictatorship.
But, because of India and China's military support for the dictators,
hopes for freedom have been dashed in Burma.

Making anew the promises of freedom is no doubt an Olympic scale challenge
in Burma. But it is only a question, of honouring the promises made at the
1990 elections by the Myanmar general; and of taking pride in acting
responsibly as rising global powers by China and India.

May Ng is from the Southern Shan State of Burma. She is NY regional
director of Justice and Human Rights in Burma.

____________________________________

March 11, Mizzima News
U.N.'s impotency exposed

With Monday evening's departure from Rangoon of U.N. Special Envoy to
Burma Ibrahim Gambari, the curtain has been drawn on what should be the
final scene of the U.N.'s latest attempt to play a constructive role in
healing Burma's wounds.

This, the Envoy's third visit to Burma since September 2007's Saffron
Revolution, arguably served no purpose other than to allow the
international community to see Gambari in the company of Aung San Suu Kyi,
twice. This appears the only reason the junta saw in bringing the Nigerian
diplomat back, and it is almost without question the only thing the Envoy
accomplished.

Why did the mission of the U.N. fail?

Ultimately, confronted with a situation such as prevails in Burma, the
potential impact of Gambari's initiatives are severely hampered by a lack
of any meaningful enforcement mechanism at his disposal.

Obviously Gambari had no threat of violent reprisal to hold over the heads
of Burma's generals, but the use of force is only one example of an
enforcement mechanism. Within the U.N. system, conventions, treaties and
Security Council Resolutions are also commonly grouped as enforcement
mechanisms. However, all of these tools are reliant on willingness toward
compliance on the part of the party standing accused. Without such an
appreciation, these approaches are but paper tigers, as there then exists
no established means of redress when conventions, norms, treaties and
resolutions are violated.

Sanctions are an example of a negative enforcement mechanism, obviously
highly favored by some as a hoped for effective tool against the Burmese
junta. Yet the generals have used the existence of sanctions as an
argument for their not adopting suggestions put forth through the U.N.
Why?

Critically, at least in the estimation of the junta, negative enforcement
measures are not being balanced by positive enforcement mechanisms. And to
achieve a workable balance between the two, one must consider the relative
power of the parties collectively and individually.

The lack of effective enforcement mechanisms has long been a recognized
shortfall in the U.N. system and is directly related to a further reason
why Gambari's mission was doomed from the onset. Though the United Nations
conjures up ideals of one world, sharing common norms, values and laws,
ours is in truth very much a world of individual interests and actors.

It is in the interest of states not to grant effective enforcement powers
to the U.N. Nationalists, dominant states and individual interests
naturally tend toward a world respective of the primacy of state power.

While nations across the world voiced common support for Gambari's
initiatives, the truth is the acceptable results of his undertakings
drastically varied – from those who looked for nothing short of the
ousting of the generals to those that sought primarily economic reform.
Too many nations not united, is the story of the United Nations and Burma
at the end of the day.

What can the U.N. do for Burma?

If Gambari continues his mission, the only role for the U.N. is one to
work within the parameters of the junta's road-map. And the Special
Envoy's involvement in the process will be seen by many as lending an air
of legitimacy to the military's efforts. Such a scenario would, with
respect to Burma, only make the divide in the international community
deeper and more visible.

Is there then even a role for U.N. in Burma?

Gambari, on behalf of the U.N., approached Burma's generals through
language and ideals of a vastly different battlefield to that of the men
in Naypyitaw. The Special Envoy came as a representative, in actuality or
otherwise, of an interconnected world operating in accordance to universal
human rights, respect for conventions and international norms. The
generals, on the other hand, inhabit a finite arena, beholden to
nationalism and calculations of relative power, not to mention
interpreting the U.N. as a mouthpiece for Western ambitions. As early as
1974, U Thant, the Burmese Secretary General of the U.N. from the early
sixties to seventies, was refused honors by Burma's generals upon his
death.

It is thus debatable, given the current international scene and domestic
climate inside Burma, what constructive role the U.N. can play as an
intermediary between the wider international community and Burma's junta.

For years the prevailing sentiment among politically aware persons on
Burma's streets is that the U.N. has little to offer Burma. This held true
even before last September and the recent efforts of Gambari. Gambari, and
his predecessor Razali Ismail, are commonly held to be too soft on the
generals. But then again, what effective options of enforcement are at
their disposal?

Further, owing to several factors of Burma's post-independence history,
there is a broad lack of education among Burma's citizens as to what the
U.N. is, what it can do and what it has been sent to do in Burma – from
visions of blue helmets marching through downtown Rangoon to inquiries as
to, 'What is the Security Council?,' there is a gross lack of information
available to most Burmese. This fact prevents the advent of a coherent
domestic voice as to the expectations of U.N. initiatives.

Perhaps this is what Aung San Suu Kyi meant by her cautionary words for
the Burmese people in January of this year: "hope for the best and prepare
for the worst." Namely, that without a legitimate enforcement mechanism to
back up the diplomatic efforts of the U.N., no matter how well
intentioned, the only option available was to "hope" that the junta had a
sudden and dramatic change of heart. They didn't.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

March 11, Burma Campaign UK
35th UN Envoy visit fails - now Ban Ki-moon must go to Burma

The Burma Campaign UK today called on United Nations Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon to take over UN efforts to restore democracy to Burma, following
the failure of Ibrahim Gambari to achieve any breakthrough on his latest
visit. It is the 35th visit to Burma by a UN envoy, and not one has
achieved a single reform in the country.

"It is clear that the Burmese junta does not respect UN envoys," said Mark
Farmaner, Director of the Burma Campaign UK. "After 18 years of failure it
is time the UN tried a new approach. The Secretary General himself should
lead the UN effort, and he should have the backing of a binding Security
Council resolution."

Human rights abuses have increased dramatically since Gambari took over as
UN envoy in May 2006 and said the regime had turned a new page with the
international community. In addition to the brutal crackdown on peaceful
pro-democracy protesters last year, resulting in more than 700 new
political prisoners, there has been a significant escalation of attacks on
ethnic minorities in Eastern Burma.

In February 2008 the regime announced it was ignoring Gambari's
reconciliation efforts and going ahead with a referendum on its own
constitution that guarantees continued military rule. It has not kept any
of the commitments it has given to the international community regarding
human rights, political prisoners, and holding talks with Aung San Suu
Kyi.

"The United Nations needs to understand that this regime does not want to
reform and does not want democracy," said Mark Farmaner. "Eighteen years
of playing softly softly with this regime has failed. Ban Ki-moon taking
over the process would ensure the regime gets the message that things have
changed, that it can't continue to defy the Security Council and UN
General Assembly. It would also ensure the UN gives the crisis in Burma
the attention it deserves."

The Burma Campaign UK is calling on the UK, USA and France to start work
on a new Security Council resolution on Burma. Although China and Russia
vetoed a previous resolution, they did agree to a Presidential Statement
by the Security Council following the crackdown on the democracy uprising,
and this could be used a base for any future resolution.

For more information contact the Burma Campaign UK on 02073244710.

____________________________________

March 10, Human Rights Documentation Unit
Bullets in the Alms Bowl - New Report by NCGUB

Bullets in the Alms Bowl now available online.  New report on Burma's
September 2007 "Saffron Revolution" provides new insight into a
premeditated campaign of brutality and the cover up designed to hide the
extent of that brutality.

On Monday, the Human Rights Documentation Unit (HRDU) released Bullets in
the Alms Bowl, a new 190-page report representing the most comprehensive
publication detailing the events leading up to, during and following the
September 2007 "Saffron Revolution" protests in Burma thus far produced to
date, and the first such report to be produced by a Burmese organization.

Bullets in the Alms Bowl, based on over 50 detailed eyewitness
testimonies, presents new information on crackdowns thus far not covered
in other reports.  A detailed analysis of the existing economic climate
and prevalent systems of structural violence within the country serves to
contextualize the protests along with an analysis of the interdependence
of Burma's monastic and lay communities and the relationship existing
between the Sangha and the SPDC.

The campaign of continuing arrests, judicial procedure and the conditions
of detention are also dealt with in considerable detail, including
information and firsthand testimonies on persons being arrested for
harbouring those sought by the authorities, those arrested in lieu of
others, the collective punishment of entire neighbourhoods, and over 20
deaths in custody.

A detailed analysis of the tactics and actions employed by the SPDC and
its agents during the crackdowns is then provided highlighting a
premeditated strategy of brutalization which relied on the use of minimal
restraint and a concomitant calculated attempt to suppress information so
as to cover up the extent of that brutality and ultimately the number of
fatalities.

While the SPDC have stated that 15 persons died during the protests, the
UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro asserts that more
than double this number died in Rangoon alone.  Meanwhile, the Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners in Burma (AAPPB) today maintains that
at least 72 persons still remain unaccounted for.  Still, these numbers
are conservative, and with protests staged in no fewer than 66 towns and
cities across the country – many of which lack reliable information,
coupled with the systematic removal of the dead and wounded from the site
of each crackdown, and the disposal of the bodies during secret night time
cremations, the number of fatalities may well be as high as a hundred. 
Sadly, though, just as had happened following the 1988 protests, we may
never know the true human toll.

The HRDU is the research and documentation department of the National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB).  The HRDU was formed
in 1994 to comprehensively document the human rights situations in Burma,
in order to protect and promote the internationally recognised human
rights of those persons in the country.  The HRDU is also responsible for
the production of the annual Burma Human Rights Yearbook.

Please click here
http://www.ncgub.net/mediagallery/media.php?s=200803100000223 to view
Bullets in the Alms Bowl in PDF format (190 pages / 4.75 MB).  For more
information, please visit our website at http://www.ncgub.net/. 
Questions, comments and requests for further information may be forwarded
to the HRDU via email at enquiries.hrdu at gmail.com.

____________________________________

March 11, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
BURMA: Thousands of Karen civilians displaced in fresh attacks as UN envoy
visit fails

The Burma Army has launched fresh attacks on civilians in northern Karen
State this month, causing the displacement of over 2,100 villagers.

According to the Free Burma Rangers, a relief organisation working in the
conflict areas of eastern Burma, the attacks are “the largest against
civilians in northern Karen State since the Burma Army completed the
re-supply of its camps and construction of roads at the end of 2007.” Over
30,000 people are displaced in northern Karen State, and it is estimated
that there are over one million internally displaced people (IDPs) in
Burma altogether.

The Burma Army attacked several villages in northern Papun District, Karen
State, on 4 March, according to the Free Burma Rangers. Nine homes and
three farm houses were burned down in Ga Yu Der village. The Burma Army
also fired eight mortar rounds into Tay Bo Kee village. In both cases
villagers fled before the troops came, and are now on the run in the
jungle. The Free Burma Rangers report that the Burma Army is pursuing
those who fled, “seeking out villages and pockets of IDPs and destroying
homes, food and property.”

These latest reports follow the recent visit of the UN Special Envoy
Ibrahim Gambari to Burma. The ruling military regime, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), rejected the envoy’s proposals to amend the
draft constitution to allow Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, currently
under house arrest, to contest elections. Mr Gambari failed to meet the
SPDC’s Senior General Than Shwe, and the regime refused to allow UN
monitors to observe the planned referendum on the constitution in May.

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW),
said: “The regime’s brutal offensives against civilians in Karen State,
the continuing gross violations of human rights throughout the country,
and the failure of the UN envoy’s visit to bring any change at all mean
that the time has come for the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to take
personal charge of efforts to address the crisis in Burma. He should visit
Burma as a matter of urgency to facilitate meaningful dialogue between the
regime, the democracy groups and the ethnic nationalities, with the
backing of a binding Security Council resolution. We call upon the UN
Security Council to impose a universal arms embargo on Burma and to refer
the Burmese regime to the International Criminal Court to investigate
crimes against humanity. We also urge the EU to strengthen its Common
Position on Burma next month, by imposing targeted banking sanctions on
members of the regime and their cronies. The regime has proven that it is
not interested in dialogue or reform, and so it is imperative that the
international community now act.”

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

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

Notes to Editors:

For more information about the Free Burma Rangers see
www.freeburma.rangers.org