BurmaNet News, March 13, 2008

[Editor]

March 13, 2008 Issue # 3421

INSIDE BURMA
Narinjara News: Monastery set ablaze after bulldozing
Irrawaddy: Burma’s democracy movement turns 20
Irrawaddy: Stopping the flow of information
Mizzima News: Burmese activists disappear mysteriously
Mizzima News: Junta appoints poll booth officers in Mandalay
Mizzima News: Rangoon in grips of security alert
DVB: Political detainee collapses at court hearing

ON THE BORDER
Narinjara News: Migrant boat sinks, 115 missing

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: More overseas job agencies get licenses

REGIONAL
AFP: Hundreds in Japan demonstrate against Myanmar junta

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima News: Human rights inside Burma continue their slide
Bangkok Post: Empty-handed but undeterred

OPINION / OTHER
Reuters: Gold has grip on Myanmar - in more ways than one - Ed Cropley
Irrawaddy: A fight for a free Burma - Aung Zaw

INTERVIEWS
Mizzima News: Interview with Dr. Nay Win Maung

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 13, Narinjara News
Monastery set ablaze after bulldozing

A monastery in Kyauktaw Township was set on fire after being bulldozed by
army authorities because the abbot of the monastery was involved in the
recent Saffron Revolution.

The 79-year-old abbot, Tilawka, told Narinjara News about the incident
soon after he arrived in Bangladesh from Burma.

"The army authority set fire to my monastery after bulldozing it for two
reasons. The first reason is that I was involved in the Saffron Revolution
and the second reason is that I accepted four monks, who were also
involved in the revolution, to take shelter in my monastery," the abbot
said.

The monastery that was razed was the Theik Thapon monastery in Theik
Thapon Khami Village near the ancient Mahamuni temple in Kyauktaw
Township, 80 miles north of Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State.

The abbot said, "We all escaped from arrest by the army as we received
information early, before an army platoon reached our monastery. When they
reached the monastery, they bulldozed it and set it on fire angrily
because they could not arrest any monks from there."

After the incident, the abbot left the area for Bangladesh to seek refuge.
The monk's journey to Bangladesh took nearly six months, and he luckily
arrived on Bangladesh soil on 8 March, 2008.

"It was impossible for me to come here wearing my robes, so I came to
Bangladesh dressed as a layperson, but Nasaka forces were looking for me
at several monasteries in Maungdaw," the monk said.

A local resident in Maungdaw said that the man who secretly ferried the
monk to Bangladesh in his row boat, Bo Thein Dan, was arrested by
authorities in Aung Bala ward of Maungdaw by authorities on 10 March.

Tilawka has been a monk for 13 years, and is now staying in Bangladesh to
seek asylum with the UNHCR office in Dhaka.

____________________________________

March 13, Irrawaddy
Burma’s democracy movement turns 20 - Wai Moe

Marking the 20th anniversary of Human Rights Day in Burma on March 13, the
military junta tightened security around the country with whispers of a
fresh anti-junta movement circulating Rangoon.

Burmese pro-democracy groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the
National League for Democracy (NLD), proclaimed March 13 as  “Burmese
Human Rights Day” in 1989, a year after the supposed birth of the
democracy movement in the country. The date is a memorial to honor the
students, particularly the then senior students of Rangoon Institute of
Technology, who were gunned down by the Burmese security forces on March
13, 1988.

Burma’s late dictator, Ne Win, who led the Burma Socialist Program Party
(BSPP) at that time, ordered the crackdown in March 1988 which led to the
deaths of students Phone Maw and Soe Naing.

Inside Burma, any talk about Phone Maw, whose death at Rangoon Institute
of Technology set off a chain reaction of demonstrations that led to the
pro-democracy movement in March 1988, or of Human Rights Day is regarded
by the authorities as a form of treason, and anyone caught can be charged
under a state emergency act and sentenced to a lengthy imprisonment.

Burma has one of the worst human rights records in the world. According to
a recent United Nations’ report, some 1,850 political prisoners are behind
bars. The report on Wednesday said: “Rather than stop unlawful arrests,
the government had accelerated them.”

Meanwhile, Rangoon residents told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that soldiers
and riot police in uniform, accompanied by the junta-backed militia, Swan
Ah Shin, were positioned at the corners of streets and junctions in the
city, while others patrolled Rangoon, including university campuses in the
outskirts of the city.

“This morning, I saw about five trucks loaded with riot police patrolling
the city,” said a man who lives in downtown Rangoon. “There’s more
security than in previous days and members of Swan Ah Shin are also on the
streets.”

Witnesses also said that military and police trucks, along with two fire
engines, were placed at City Hall, adding that members of Swan Ah Shin and
the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) were holding
walky-talkies and taking positions around the city.

“Since the early morning, soldiers, riot police and members of the USDA
and Swan Ah Shin have been standing around crowded areas,” said a woman
from North Okkalapa Township.

Meanwhile, people in Rangoon say that there was a murmur around the
neighborhoods that monks and students would re-launch an anti-military
movement in advance of the referendum on the new constitution in May.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) and the Forum
for Democracy in Burma (FDB) launched the "Free Burma's Political
Prisoners Now!" campaign on Thursday in Thailand to mark Burma’s Human
Rights Day.

The groups jointly demanded the release of 1,873 political prisoners in
Burma and condemned the use of systematic torture, the failed judicial
system and the targeted harassment of political prisoners’ families. Ms
Sunee Chairod, commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
of Thailand, was among the main speakers at the campaign.

Bo Kyi, a human rights advocate with the AAPP (Burma), said that after 20
years of Burma’s people demanding human rights and democracy, “there is
still no important improvement on human rights.”

A former student leader of the 1988 uprising who spent 16 years in prison
told The Irrawaddy on Thursday: “Although the human rights record is
becoming more and more repressive in Burma, the struggle for democracy is
still alive.”

“I appreciate that people who were involved in the movement in March 1988
are still involved in our contemporary history,” he added. “Some people
left the movement at a stop on the road to democracy. But those people who
keep walking are finding more concrete ground for democracy.”

However, he said, it is not enough because the movement has not reached
its goal and there is a lack of “common strategy.”

“Therefore, we the pro-democracy supporters should review our work as
well,” he said. “Then we can learn the lessons from our recent history and
move forward.”
Kyi Wai contributed to this article from Rangoon.

____________________________________

March 13, Irrawaddy
Stopping the flow of information - Violet Cho

Burma’s military regime plans to monitor the flow of all information in
and out of the country by registering all public Internet cafés.

Myanmar Info-Tech Corporation Ltd announced earlier this month a plan to
compile and update a list of Internet cafés throughout Burma. The list
will be given to local authorities, include police, so they can closely
watch every Internet facility in the country. Apart from distributing the
list to the authorities, the corporation affirmed that it would not be
involved in any legal action arising from the licensing process.

Myanmar Info-Tech was founded to implement Burma’s information and
communication technology projects and became the license provider for
government-recognized Internet cafés in 2005. Since then all Internet café
owners seeking a “Public Access Centers” [PAC] license have had to apply
to Myanmar Info-Tech and pay the company a signing-on fee plus a monthly
fee.

According to a report in the Myanmar Times, the corporation’s general
manager, Sein Win, said that all Internet cafés with licenses that are
expired have until March 25 to renew them. Those who miss the deadline or
decide not to renew their license will be erased from the list of Internet
café licenses, he said.

He estimated that there are more than 1,000 Internet cafés operating in
Rangoon without PAC licenses, noting that there was no mechanism to
prevent the Internet cafés from being a threat to national security.

The Internet has played an important role in Burma recently. In September,
Buddhist monks, students, activists, citizen journalists and bloggers all
made use of the worldwide network to send information and images of the
uprising to the outside world.

The military government enforces strict laws on cyber café owners, telling
them when and how they have to record details about customers who come to
use the Internet. Café owners are instructed to copy information—such as
date, time, screen shots and URLs—then download it all onto CDs before
sending it to Info-Tech to be checked.

According to a cyber café owner in Rangoon, they do not need to send
reports to Info-Tech as all Internet cafés pay bribes and make informal
agreements with government employees. “It will be difficult for us to
continue working if the government restricts us and keeps a close eye on
this,” he said.

The Burmese regime also strongly forbids people in the country to view
politically related Websites.

“The government is really afraid of political motivation among the public,
so they do everything to stop people from getting to the truth,” said
another Internet café owner in Rangoon.

Burmese Internet users already contend with extremely slow Internet
connections. Although most systems were down for the past couple of days,
they appear to be back online again now.

A representative of Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), a media
watchdog based in Bangkok, said that slow or unreliable Internet
connections and the abnormal telecommunication problems coincided with UN
Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s five-day mission into Burma.

Web-based email services such as Gmail and Yahoo, and voiceover IP
services such as Gtalk and Skype, are banned in Burma, but remain popular
among the Burmese public. Burmese people use proxy servers and other
technical strategies to get around the government firewalls.

____________________________________

March 13, Mizzima News
Burmese activists disappear mysteriously - Maung Dee

In yet another instance of mysterious disappearance, three Burmese
activists in Rangoon have been missing since Wednesday evening, close
friends said.

Families and friends believe that Kyaw Kyaw belonging to the clandestine
activist group, the Generation Wave (GW), Thiha and Yan Naing Thu from the
People's Union, who have been conducting poster campaigns, distributing
banned political VCDs and DVDs, have been arrested by the police.

"I heard that many were arrested from their meeting place. And when family
members called Yan Naing Thu, an elderly man replied saying 'don't worry,
we will tell him to call you back'. But when family members called back,
the cell phone was switched off," a close friend of Yan Naing Thu told
Mizzima.

While Thiha and Yan Naing Thu were believed to have been arrested on
Wednesday night, family members said Kyaw Kyaw might have been arrested in
the afternoon.

"They were being watched everywhere as their work was visible. It seems
the authorities finally spotted their meeting place," added the friend.

However, the whereabouts of the activists and details of their alleged
arrests could not be independently verified.

Family members and friends, however, said they are worried about their
well-being, as the Burmese authorities have a tradition of severely
torturing when interrogating detainees.

Another activist, who has experienced severe torture in Burmese detention
centres said, "We are made to sit the whole day on sharp stones, sometimes
burnt with cigarette butts and hit hard on our backs with batons. I wasn't
even a leader, but since they are leaders, they are likely to be severely
tortured."

Friends and colleagues said authorities had recently arrested four members
of the GW. And the authorities might have interrogated and tortured them
to know the whereabouts of Kyaw Kyaw and his friends.

____________________________________

March 13, Mizzima News
Junta appoints poll booth officers in Mandalay

Burmese authorities have secretly appointed poll booth officers in
Mandalay, the country's second largest city, for the forthcoming
constitutional referendum.

Without prior consent, the appointees are being summoned to Township Peace
and Development Council (PDC) offices and informed that they have been
appointed as poll booth officers, local residents said.

"These appointments are not being openly done and have not yet reached our
Ward. They previously compile a list of those to be appointed and then
just inform those assigned to the job. The appointees have no prior
knowledge of such appointments," a local resident from Maha Aung Myay
Tharsan Ward said.

"The appointees are not willing to do this job but are forced into
assuming the responsibility. They are not government servants, just
civilian businessmen. They are honest and hard working businessmen," he
added.

"They learn of their appointment only after the authorities invite them to
their office. It is thought that the compiling of the list of would-be
poll booth officers was prepared by Ward-level PDC members," he
speculated.

Appointed poll booth officers are then met by Township level law officers
and PDC members.

"Law officers tell the poll booth officers to try to get 'YES' votes in
the referendum so that the constitution can be approved. This is what is
asked of them," another local resident remarked.

Meanwhile, the Central Referendum Convening Commission met with the
Mandalay Division Referendum Convening Commission on the 7th of this
month.

"This meeting appeared on TV. It was attended by District PDC and Township
PDC members, totaling about fifty in all. This meeting was between the
Central level and its subordinate tiers down to the Township level, it has
not yet reached the Ward and Village levels," he elaborated.

According to today's state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar, Union of
Burma Referendum Convening Commission members U Tin Maung and U Sai San
Tin held a coordination meeting last week with the Mandalay Division
Referendum Commission Chairman and District and Township Referendum
Commission members on the 7th at 11 a.m.

Within a few days of that meeting the first appointments of Township level
poll booth officers were revealed.

____________________________________

March 13, Mizzima News
Rangoon in grips of security alert

Authorities in Rangoon have reportedly tightened security, with several
truckloads of soldiers and police stationed at junctions and key locations
throughout the city, eyewitnesses say.

"In front of City Hall there are about ten military trucks and two fire
trucks loaded with riot police and soldiers," an eyewitness told Mizzima.

City Hall is located in the heart of Rangoon across from famous Sule
Pagoda, and has served on several occasions as a gathering point for
protestors in Burma's major demonstrations.

An eyewitness said soldiers and police, in groups of three or four, are
taking up positions near Sule Pagoda.

"Several soldiers and police can be seen taking up position at Sule Pagoda
as well as at traffic points," the eyewitness said.

Another eyewitness said about four army trucks have arrived in front of
the National League for Democracy office, Burma's main opposition party
led by detained Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, in west Shwegondine

Also, soldiers and police with red scarves, a sign that marks them as
Special Forces, can be seen patrolling major streets, including the
Pansodan flyover, with wooden barricades ready for deployment.

"What is interesting is that in many places police and soldiers are seen
with members of Swan Arrshin and the Union Solidarity and Development
Association, who are sitting by the roadside and keeping watch," the
eyewitness added.

USDA and Swan Arrshin are two civil organizations formed and run by the
ruling junta and are infamously known as puppets of the generals bidding.

While the reason for this almost unprecedented heightening of security
remains unknown, there are several speculations among residents of
Rangoon.

One of the eyewitnesses said, "It could be because of the rumor about the
death of Than Shwe."

On Wednesday, a rumor ran amok in Rangoon and spilled over to the exile
Burmese community that Burma's military leader Senior General Than Shwe
died in a local hospital as a result of cancer.

However, an official at the junta's ministry of information denied the
rumor saying Than Shwe is in good health.

Another theory focuses on the Burmese opposition, particularly students
both in exile and inside. They are marking today, March 13, as Human
Rights Day for Burma, in commemoration of the first student shot dead in
the 1988 student-led revolution.

The junta feels the need to suppress any kind of movement or event at this
critical point in time, as it counts down the days before May's referendum
polling.

____________________________________

March 13, Democratic Voice of Burma
Political detainee collapses at court hearing

A political detainee fainted twice at court yesterday when he and four
others were brought from Insein prison to Kyauktada township court for a
hearing, the group’s lawyer said.

Ko Aung Zaw Oo, Ko Kyaw Kyaw Lin, Ko Kyaw Zin Win, Ma Kyi Kyi Wah and one
other person were brought to Kyauktada township court yesterday to face
charges of unlawful association and of illegal border crossing under
section 13/1 of the Immigration Law.

The group’s defence lawyer U Khin Maung Shein said that Ko Aung Zaw, who
suffers from a weak heart, fainted first while in the holding cell and
then again in the corridor on the way to the courtroom.

“Aung Zaw Oo collapsed in the holding cell of Kyauktada township court,
and we had to call in a doctor,” Khin Maung Shein said.

The doctor could not give Aung Zaw Oo an injection because of his
condition, but gave him some tablets instead, the lawyer said.

“On bringing him in to the courtroom he collapsed again at the staircase
at around 3.30pm,” Khin Maung Shein said.

Khin Maung Shein said that everyone in the group seemed to be in poor
health, with Aung Zaw Oo in the worst condition.

After the court hearing, Khin Maung Shein tried to have Aung Zaw Oo sent
to hospital, but the authorities would not let him go, despite a letter
from the doctor.

Three other people held over the same case, Ko Zarni, Ko Ye Thway and Ma
Htet Htet Aung, were released around two weeks ago.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

March 13, Narinjara News
Migrant boat sinks, 115 missing

Cox's bazar: 115 migrants went missing and five were rescued after their
boat sank in the Bay of Bengal on Monday. The boat sank after taking on
water, according to a report of the Daily Ajkerdish bidesh, a local Cox's
Bazar newspaper, on 12 March.

It was reported that the boat was overloaded with 120 migrants, both
Bangladeshis and Burmese Muslims, and sank in the Bay of Bengal on 8
March, 2008, two days after it departed from a jetty in the Bangladesh
border town of Teknaf.

After sinking, five people were rescued from the water by a local fishing
boat, but the other 115 passengers remain missing.

The five individuals who were rescued have been identified as: Mr. Zaw Fo
Alum, 35 years old, Abu Tahail, 28 years old, Muhammad Islam, 25, Zaw Fol,
25, and Abuto Sar Laong. All five are from Teknaf Township in Cox's Bazar
District.

Abuto Sar Laong was quoted as saying that those on board the boat had to
pay 20,000 taka each to a local agent to travel to Malaysia by sea, but
the boat was old not properly sealed, so it sank in the Bay of Bengal
after taking on too much water.

Despite the report, there has been no official comments from Bangladesh
regarding the sinking of the boat.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

March 13, Irrawaddy
More overseas job agencies get licenses - Min Lwin

Burma’s Ministry of Labor has issued licenses to forty employment agencies
that will now be permitted to arrange to provide their clients with jobs
overseas.

According to sources at several employment agencies in Rangoon, the move
comes following a meeting between the deputy minister of labor, Brig-Gen
Tin Tun Aung, and the operators of the forty agencies on February 28.

“Before there were seventy employment agencies licensed to provide jobs
overseas,” said a woman working at one company in Rangoon. “Each one has
to send at least 25 workers overseas each month. If they can’t, their
license will be canceled by the Ministry of Labor,” she added.

Most of the new agencies are close to high-ranking officials, and each one
had to pay two million kyat (US $1,824) to get a license, said a manager
who attended the February 28 meeting.

The government will retain its exclusive rights to some of the most
profitable business in the growing overseas employment industry, he added.

“Among the employment agencies, the military-owned Shwe Innwa Agency has a
monopoly on jobs in South Korea,” the manager said, speaking to The
Irrawaddy by phone on Thursday.

Around 50,000 Burmese go abroad each year in search of work. Agencies send
workers to Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and the Middle East.
Japan and South Korea have been popular since the 1990s, but at present,
Malaysia is the most common destination, say people in the business.

Unemployment is high in Burma, especially among the young, forcing many to
seek opportunities abroad. The decision to allow more companies to send
workers overseas may fuel this growing trend.

Aung Myint, a 39-year-old Burmese worker in Kalang, Malaysia, welcomed the
news. “The government has allowed more companies to provide overseas jobs,
so agent’s fees should go down,” he said.

But he added that the outlook for Burmese going abroad still looks grim.
Prospective employees who sign contracts in Rangoon receive no guarantees
once they reach their new place of work. Salaries and other compensation,
such as health insurance, often turn out to be very different from what
they expect, and many lose their jobs because of injury, he said.

“Some Burmese workers in Malaysia get less than half the salary they were
offered before they came here. Burmese workers have to depend on their
luck, not their agencies,” he said.

Although Burmese employees have to pay the government 50,000 kyat before
they can go abroad, they can’t expect help from Burmese embassies,
according to many Burmese who are working overseas.

There are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of young Burmese in
Malaysia, working in restaurants and factories or on construction sites
and rubber plantations. Each pays around one million kyat ($912) for the
chance to earn a living in the country. For the seeking employment in
Japan, the price is ten million kyat ($9,124).

At the meeting with the deputy labor minister, the newly licensed
companies were told that they would have to arrange for overseas workers
to vote in May’s constitutional referendum, according to the manger
attended the meeting.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 13, Agence France Presse
Hundreds in Japan demonstrate against Myanmar junta

Hundreds of Myanmar nationals marched through Tokyo on Thursday demanding
the release of political detainees including opposition democratic leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.

Activists called demonstrations in Tokyo and other major cities around the
world to mark the 20th anniversary of the incident that set off a 1988
uprising, which the military crushed killing more than 3,000 people.

Some 400 protesters, mostly those who fled junta-ruled Myanmar, marched to
Yangon's embassy in Tokyo where they held portraits of leaders including
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 12 of the last 18 years under house
arrest.

Demonstrators held up banners reading: "Myanmar needs a binding
resolution" and "The Japanese government must put more pressure on the
junta."

The military regime in September again broke up major anti-government
protests in which the United Nations estimates at least 31 people were
killed.

Myanmar has since announced plans for a constitutional referendum in May
designed to pave the way for elections in 2010.

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.

"We are against the constitution," said Phone Myint Tun, a demonstrator
and refugee from Myanmar. "It is a constitution to select people and make
laws favoured by the junta government."

"We want to see the Japanese government cut down its economic and
political aid to the military government further," he said.

Japan maintains aid and cordial diplomatic ties with Myanmar, in a rare
break from its Western allies, which are pressing for further punishment
of the regime.

But Japan cancelled nearly five million dollars in grants as a protest
after September's crackdown in which a Japanese journalist was shot dead
in Yangon.

____________________________________

March 13, Xinhua
Myanmar, South Korea to build bio-research center

Myanmar and South Korea will cooperate to build a bio-research center and
implement a biofuel-substitute project in Myanmar soon, the Yangon Times,
one of the leading weekly journals reported Thursday.

The mutually-benefited project will be jointly implemented by the
state-run Myanmar Industrial Crops Enterprise and the Haejohyub Bio Energy
Myanmar Corporation of South Korea under a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) reached recently, the report said.

According to the MoU, the research center will be set up in Yangon
division's Lay Daung Kan area, while the biofuel substitute project will
be launched using more than 300,000 work force to grow over 150,000
hectares of Jatropha physic nut plantations to substitute diesel.

Myanmar has projected a sharp increase of biofuel output this year from
the Jatropha physic nut, according to the Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture
and Irrigation.

Up to 3.24 million hectares of the plants will be grown to realize the
projected increase of the biofuel up to 20 million tons a year, the
ministry-run industrial crops enterprise said.

Jatropha physic nuts were being planted on 648,000 hectares mainly in
three dry zones of Mandalay, Sagaing and Magway divisions, it said.

Official statistics show that Myanmar yielded about 90 million gallons
(405 million liters) of diesel a year while importing more than 200
million gallons (900 million liters) annually to meet its domestic demand.

According to the enterprise, Myanmar has about 6.41 million hectares of
land suitable for growing Jetropha plants.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

March 13, Mizzima News
Human rights inside Burma continue their slide

The latest UN report accuses Burma's generals of being unwilling to
confront a deteriorating human rights situation inside the country.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN's Special Rapporteur for human rights in
Burma, is due to address the UN's Human Rights Council today, in Geneva,
on the current situation of human rights inside Burma.

According to the text of an advanced version of the Special Rapporteur's
report, "there have been marked signs of deterioration in the economic and
social sectors, which could aggravate the humanitarian situation,"
including the apparent lack of a primary level education for over half of
the country's children.

Far from painting a picture of an improving climate for human rights, the
UN report stipulates that following "the increased army deployment in
certain ethnic areas and the implementation of major development projects"
new possibilities for the further abuse of rights are coming to the fore.

Pinheiro last briefed the Council on the situation in Burma in November
2007, following the last opportunity he had to visit the country.

With May's constitutional referendum firmly on the horizon, the report
makes clear that, "For democracy to be sustainable any draft constitution
must be broadly representative of the views of all the people of Myanmar."
The continuing existence of over 700,000 stateless residents designated as
Rohingyas, is but one piece of evidence that all voices are currently not
being heard.

Impunity is said to be one of the major obstacles facing any attempt at
redressing the ills in Burmese society. Pinheiro points out that "the
judiciary lacks independence and that it has provided a legal basis for
abuses of power, arbitrary decision-making and exoneration of those
responsible for human rights violations."

Persistent abuses of military power in predominantly ethnic regions of the
country are also highlighted; with the increasing militarization of rural
areas exacerbating an already poverty-stricken populace, of whom the
military is said to rely on to provide supporting services.

Even when an improvement in human rights inside Burma is acknowledged, the
revelation comes with a dark caveat.

"The main significant development has been that the authorities are
apparently no longer requisitioning labor for major national
infrastructure projects. However, forced labor continues to be widely
imposed by local authorities for public infrastructure and services work,"
reads the draft text.

As a sign of good faith, the Special Rapporteur calls on the military
regime to release the nearly 1,900 political prisoners now said to be held
in custody. The regime has previously denied the existence of any
political prisoners in the country.

UN Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, will likely address the
Security Council early next week on his recently concluded trip to Burma.
Pinheiro encourages all groups to continue working with UN initiatives in
trying to construct a credible dialogue between opposing Burmese blocs.

____________________________________

March 13, Bangkok Post
Empty-handed but undeterred - Larry Jagan

"There has been no progress on any of the substantive issues raised by the
envoy," a western diplomat in Rangoon said after the UN's special adviser
to Burma Ibrahim Gambari left Rangoon. "There is no other interpretation
possible. This visit was an abject failure."

Mr Gambari immediately flew to Senegal to brief UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon.

The fact he went directly to see the UN chief certainly suggests the
mission is in trouble.

"This probably means the end of Mr Gambari's efforts to mediate in Burma's
reconciliation process," a diplomat said.

But Mr Ban has already tried to counter this obvious conclusion.

"There was some progress but we have not been able to achieve as much we
had hoped," he said.

His departure has also left the UN and international community in a
quandary over how to deal with the junta.

The UN envoy arrived in Burma with hopes of discussing the military
regime's proposed plans for political change and encouraging them to be
more inclusive. But he was brutally rebuffed.

Mr Gambari was only allowed to meet relatively junior ministers in the
regime.

Information Minister Kyaw Hsan was the highest in the hierarchy to greet
him. He was, though, permitted to meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi twice during his visit.

The fact Mr Gambari did not see any of the top generals, including Than
Shwe, speaks for itself. All his meetings this time were confined to
Rangoon and not the new capital Naypyidaw.

Mr Gambari's top priority on this trip was to press the regime to include
Mrs Suu Kyi and the pro-democracy opposition in the political process.

"I will continue to press the [Burmese] government to engage with Aung San
Suu Kyi in a substantive dialogue in order to produce a positive outcome
that will promote an all-inclusive and transparent process," he said.

The envoy's trip followed the Burmese government's completion of the
country's new constitution and its announcement that it planned to hold a
referendum in May and new multi-party elections in 2010.

"Than Shwe's decision to set a time-table for the road map was a strategic
move to block both Maung Aye, his deputy, and the international community,
especially Gambari, from playing a role in the process," said the
diplomat.

The UN envoy knew he faced a daunting task trying to persuade the regime
to heed the international community's concerns, but remained undeterred
when he spoke on the eve of his visit.

"I will continue my consultations in Burma and follow up on a number of
recommendations I left with the government during my last trip in November
2007," he said. "These include immediate steps to address the human rights
situation, progress on time-bound dialogue between the government and Aung
San Suu Kyi, the forthcoming referendum and the electoral process,
economic and humanitarian issues and a more regularised process of
engagement with [Mr Ban's] good offices," he explained.

Among the recommendations he made last time he was in Rangoon was the
appointment of a government liaison minister to meet regularly with Mrs
Suu Kyi to be allowed to meet other members of her National League for
Democracy (NLD) party, especially the central executive committee. These
suggestions were virtually ignored, though Labour Minister Aung Kyi was
appointed to meet the opposition leader. There have been few meetings
between the two and only two meetings between Mrs Suu Kyi and other NLD
leaders since Mr Gambari's last visit.

Mr Gambari had also asked the junta for permission to set up an office in
Rangoon with regular contact with Mrs Suu Kyi.

But instead of Mr Gambari making any fresh headway on these issues, he
found the regime totally intransigent and unprepared to listen to him, let
alone make any concessions.

In two meetings with the government spokesman, General Kyaw Hsan
effectively humiliated the envoy.

In the first meeting the minister chided him for not being impartial and
being a stooge of the west.

At the same time he dismissed the envoy's recommendations as pointless and
unnecessary, especially the need for the UN to have its own liaison office
in Rangoon.


____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

March 13, Reuters
Gold has grip on Myanmar - in more ways than one - Ed Cropley

There is an old joke in Myanmar that the country's problems stem from two
sources, and they are both called Shwe: junta supremo Than Shwe, and Aung
Shwe, chairman of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).

Anger at 75-year-old Senior General Than Shwe is easy to grasp -- he sits
at the top of a military machine that has run the former Burma with a
mixture of brutality and incompetence for the last 46 years.

That "shwe" means "gold" in Burmese only sweetens the pun.

But the dig at Aung Shwe, a retired brigadier-general who will be 90 in
May, reflects growing disillusionment with the top ranks of the NLD since
last year's monk-led protests against the junta and its handling of the
economy.

With NLD figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest and incommunicado
for 12 of the last 18 years, the party that won an election landslide in
1990 has been in the hands of a grey-haired executive committee known
semi-affectionately as "the uncles".

As with Aung Shwe, who was purged from the army in 1961 before going into
the diplomatic corps, many have a past in the military or as ministers in
previous military governments.

They see themselves as caretakers in Suu Kyi's absence, but diplomats and
non-NLD activists say they are more an autocratic cabal that has
suppressed new blood or ideas and that appears unable or unwilling to
challenge the status quo of army rule.

"There's tremendous frustration with the uncles. The younger ranks of the
party want to do more but the uncles won't approve it," one Yangon-based
diplomat said. "I would love to see them as some kind of solution to
Burma's ills, but they're not."

Exasperated by rules such as a ban on party members under 35 making policy
suggestions, its lower ranks are defecting into a proliferation of
splinter groups, non-NLD activists say.

"Most of the politically active people in the NLD, those who are
politically interesting, have no power," one leading member of the
pro-democracy underground in Yangon told Reuters.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win denied any rifts, saying all party members
respected the uncles, whom he described as "experienced".

"The young members are very emotional," he said. "But we all understand
the situation so there are not too many differences."

"SMALL PROTESTS"?

The uncles' shortcomings were exposed most starkly in the fuel price
protests last year that evolved into the biggest challenge to the junta
since a 1988 student-led uprising.

In a radio interview in their early stages in late August, NLD secretary U
Lwin -- a former deputy prime minister now well into his 80s --
highlighted how small the demonstrations were and declared they were no
way to solve Myanmar's problems.

His comments, and the NLD leadership's refusal to take part even as its
rank and file organized rallies in the provinces, sparked rare criticism
from the usually supportive exile community.

"It's odd and sad to hear negative and discouraging comments from the
leadership of the NLD, which committed itself to restore democracy and
work for the welfare of the people," the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine
wrote in an August 29 editorial.

"Most of them are in their 70s and 80s. They have strong commitment to the
movement. But to be frank, this does not qualify them to be seen as
leaders of the party," it said.

The magazine even broached the taboo of suggesting the party was nothing
without Suu Kyi -- a Nobel peace laureate and, more important, daughter of
independence hero General Aung San.

MONOPOLY ON OPPOSITION

Despite constant junta harassment, the uncles like to see themselves as
having a monopoly on opposition, as shown by the cool reception they gave
"88 Generation Students" leader Min Ko Naing on his release from 15 years
in prison in 2004.

The party's response to the junta's surprise announcement in February of a
referendum and election timetable also stood in stark contrast to that of
the "88 Generation", named after the brutally crushed 1988 uprising.

Even though most of its leaders are in jail, hiding or exile, the "88
Generation" managed to issue a call for a "no" vote in May's
constitutional referendum within 24 hours of its announcement.

By its own admission, the NLD was caught flat-footed and when Aung Shwe
gave a big party speech two days afterwards he studiously avoided the
subject.

NLD rank and file had to wait a full week for the uncles' first formal
response, and even then they failed to indicate clearly how people should
vote in the referendum.

(Editing by Michael Battye and Megan Goldin)

____________________________________

March 13, The Nation (Thailand)
Going nowhere in Burma

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's visit to troubled neighbour Burma today
should not be merely an introductory trip; it must be seen as a chance to
address imperatives in our relations and to end the political deadlock in
the military-ruled county.

The visit took place only days after the UN special envoy, Ibrahim
Gambari, ended a five-day visit empty handed, having not achieved anything
toward national reconciliation and democracy in the country. The
international community expects Thailand, as Burma's immediate neighbour
and the next chair of Asean, to do more. During last year's Asean meeting,
Thai ministers were bombarded by questions as to why Thailand, which has
big business interests in Burma, has not done more to push the junta
toward democracy and human rights protection. Tough action from Bangkok
sometimes backfires, souring relations between the two neighbours. But
this reality should not prevent the government from taking action to move
Burma in the right direction.

The Thai government has to use a calculated and delicate approach, to
ensure that it balances the interests of the people against international
calls for intensifying pressure on the junta. The newly announced policy
of "neighbourly engagement" with the junta, to balance the extreme
approaches of sanctions and full engagement, should be seen as a mechanism
to push things forward. However, the Asean tradition of "non-interference"
is actually a policy to maintain the status quo.

The government wants to see "all inclusiveness" in Burma's political
process but declined to say if opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi should
be allowed to participate. Such a stance will ensure nothing changes. If
this elected government really believes in democracy for Thailand, it
should also believe that democracy will be a good thing for Burma. It's
good to know that Samak will share information about the Thai
constitution. The Burmese  junta will hold a referendum to endorse the
military sponsored constitution in May. But the PM, who is bitter at the
current Thai constitution, should know that the text of a constitution is
more important than the referendum process. The military-drafted
constitution, which bars Aung San Suu Kyi from participating in the
political process, is absolutely undemocratic. If the prime minister feels
the prohibition of 111 Thai politicians from politics is unfair, the same
logic should apply to the disbarring of  Aung San Suu  Kyi.

Samak wanted to concentrate on business talk with the Burmese generals -
on investment protection and energy cooperation. This is fine for
relations, but he shouldn't forget that doing pure business with Burma is
impossible. Good diplomats know that business is an effective tool to
achieve political goals. Let the prime minister, who claims to love
democracy, exercise his ideology and skill to bring about democratic
change in our neighbour. That will be the only sustainable way to improve
relations with Burma.

____________________________________

March 13, Irrawaddy
A fight for a free Burma - Aung Zaw

As I entered the campus of the Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT), I
saw dozens of sandals stained with blood and encountered tearful eyes and
angry faces.

The night before, a 23-year-old student, Phone Maw, was gunned down by
riot police during a protest.

It was March 13. In the weeks and months that followed, the streets of
Rangoon would be filled with student demonstrators and riot police and
soldiers. A fight for regime change had begun.

On March 12, a brawl that broke out in a teashop turned into an
anti-government demonstration that finally led to nationwide
demonstrations.

It was a quarrel between students and locals who argued over which song to
play at the Sandar Win teashop, a popular hangout near RIT.

Ironically, Sandar Win was also the name of the favorite daughter of Gen
Ne Win, who was then chairman of the ruling Burmese Socialist Program
Party. Sandar Win was allegedly involved in the crushing of student-led
demonstrations in August and September of that year. She is, like many
prominent Burmese figures, now under house arrest.

RIT students wanted to play a song by the recently deceased Shan singer,
Sai Htee Saing but a young local preferred a song by Kaizar. A brawl broke
out and a student was reportedly injured. But it quickly turned into a
street demonstration. The regime sent in riot police, killing students.

In the following days and weeks, we were out on the streets. Rangoon had
become a killing field.


>From the day I visited the RIT campus, my life was changed. I also saw the

lives of many of my contemporaries dramatically altered.

We were constantly on the road after that—running, hiding and operating
clandestine missions. We were on the road to freedom in Burma.

To achieve change, many student activists from those heady days in 1988,
including those forced to live in exile, have continued their struggle.

But they also realize that it is not an easy fight.

Some of our colleagues remain in prison, and those who enjoyed brief
freedom were brought back to detention centers. But I hardly see anyone
saying it’s time to give up.
Twenty years is not too long for a political struggle to continue, but it
can seem a very long time when you see that change is not coming. It is
painful to see Burma miss many great opportunities to reconcile its
divided forces and rebuild a country that is in a shambles.

I noticed the dynamic of movement has changed.

In 1988, there was no one behind the activist students pulling the strings
or telling us how we should conduct the movement. Many of us volunteered
wholeheartedly in the movement and there were no obligations on any of us.

When the current regime seized power, it accused the communists of
involvement in the push to topple the Ne Win government in 1988.

The accusation was partially correct: I had some colleagues who were part
of “48/28”— the code name of an underground operation by the Communist
Party of Burma—during the 1988 uprising. They were leftwing, progressive
students and former activists from the 1970s and 60s who played a
supportive role in 1988.

I remembered some were boastful, as they told me they had been planning
such an uprising since 1985. I knew they didn’t have sat-phones, laptop
computers, email accounts or, most importantly, big budgets.

Today, the struggle for democracy, human rights and “regime change” has
been brought to wider audience.

Many activists often travel to other countries in the region or beyond,
talking about the need for change in Burma. They can no longer count the
number of times they have traveled and held talks about the need for
change.

They repeatedly explain to neighbors and Westerners, including diplomats,
officials and donors, why they want to see change—why it is important that
the international community pay more attention to the plight of Burma.

However, it has not been easy. Why is this so?

After twenty years in the movement, they have fatigue and
frustration—additional bonuses from the 1988 uprising.

I keep hearing from colleagues about foreign activists turned “Burma
experts” or consultants, telling them what to do and how the “revolution”
should be conducted.
I myself sometimes encountered offensive comments, like the words of a
young and energetic former Western ambassador who once told me that
“exiled forces are no longer relevant.”

Didn’t she know that Burmese activists were forced to live in exile? Was
it their choice?
But negative feelings vanish when you meet committed people who have great
understanding about your country, who come without an agenda and really
listen, instead of lecturing. When you meet them, they give you so much
energy.

The energy also came from a veteran journalist in Burma. “In the entire
history of the world, there has never been a dictator who willingly gave
up power once he had it firmly in his hands,” Ludu SeinWin said in a
message from Rangoon.

He added, “There are no countries in the world which have gained
liberation through the help of the United Nations.”

Living under the repressive regime, often wearing an oxygen mask just to
survive, his courage to speak the truth is admirable. He brought me back
to the streets in Rangoon in 1988, when we enjoyed so much freedom to
speak.

The spirit of freedom that Sein Win and many Burmese are fighting to enjoy
is a fine lesson to many people.

____________________________________
INTERVIEWS

March 13, Mizzima News
Interview with Dr. Nay Win Maung: Only a positive program can provide a
solution - Nem Davies

Dr. Nay Win Maung, the 45-year old publisher of The Voice Journal and CEO
and Policy Director of the monthly Living Color magazine, recently
distributed a 6-point proposal among his friends, colleagues and
politicians via the Internet. The missive analyzed the current tension
between the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the military regime
and prospered ideas as to how the climate for dialogue may be improved.
The paper was subsequently leaked to the press.

He encourages the NLD to support the regime's constitution and to contest
any election, but he also proposes that they contest only half of the
total seats; instead bidding opposition and NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi to
concentrate on consolidating and strengthening her party with an eye to
again compete in elections in some five years time.

Q: Can you elaborate on the six suggestions of your email?

A: I wrote a lot, but in brief I suggested first showing magnanimity, by
all who can, with a focus only on resolving the crisis. In this way, if
the roadmap is an important matter, I suggest to endorse it. Frankly, I
thought about it from the position of Daw Suu [Aung San Suu Kyi], and
asked what shall I do? And I decided I shall follow the road-map first.
This is the crucial issue for the military government and I should
therefore follow it to lessen tensions and ultimately resolve the current
crisis.

The second point is the importance of good relations. If I were in their
[NLD] shoes, I would say I will contest only half of the total seats. This
will show I'm not seeking political power through any indecent means and
further prove I'm not hostile to the regime.

Daw Suu should indicate very early that she is not seeking any political
power by contesting only 165 of the 330 seats. If it were me, I would just
want to serve in the rebuilding of the country in any way I can. But I
would tell the government that they have to release all political
prisoners to build unity toward a prosperous and happy country. She should
decide to stand resolutely as a strong opposition figure.

Q: What inspired you to make put forth these six points?

A: Basically I'm a political animal. I'm familiar with it. I wish for this
circle of hostility and hatred between the two sides to cease. This is the
main point. I know well how the people are suffering. I'm a part of the
suffering too. I firmly believe that only a positive attitude and a
magnanimous program can provide a solution to the current crisis.

Q: What responses did you receive to your ideas? Do you think your
suggestions will be accepted?

A: I've got no feedback yet. I don't think they will be accepted by the
people. The current political stalemate is due to the emotions of both
sides. If they were not working based on emotion, and if they did not
think only of win-lose solutions, this stalemate would have been solved a
long time ago.

But this is not a matter of win-lose, this is a matter of the daily life
of the entire people irrespective of whoever wins, either the military
government or Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The crisis will prolong as long as we
think of win-lose solutions.

Q: Did you give this suggestion to the government too?

A: Leave it here.

Q: How should your suggestions be implemented in Burma today?

A: It's very simple. Those who can show magnanimity should first take the
bold step of showing their magnanimity. Then the situation will become
what it should be. Our way of thinking shouldn't be 'If you are good, I
will not be bad.' This creates a problem. In our Buddhist teachings too,
we must give genuine positive input to get a positive result. If we give
negative input, we can only get a negative result.

Q: How do you see the forthcoming constitutional referendum? Can it be
free and fair?

A: According to the referendum law enacted and announced by the
government, it will be a free and fair referendum. There will be only one
question, YES or NO. If the question will encourage the people to express
their desire freely and bravely, it must be said fair.

Q: Please tell me about the 'Third Force'.

A: There is no 'Third Force'. We are just sharing information among
friends. There is no such organization. If there was an organization, we
wouldn't hide it from the people and there must be a certain political
objective. I have no political objective even if I am a political animal.
And also I don't want to be in partisan politics and power politics. And I
won't run for election.

Q: Have you got involved in political movements before?

A: I've been in the politics of being a citizen for my entire life.
Everything I write in Living Color is about politics, but it is not about
political power. I've been engaged in this sort of politics since I was a
student.