BurmaNet News, July 22, 2008

[Editor]

July 22, 2008 Issue #3517


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: NLD releases Martyrs’ Day statement
Irrawaddy: Burmese MPs urge UN to reject new constitution
Mizzima News: UN Humanitarian chief visits Burma to assess post-cyclone
situation
Mizzima News: Naw Ohn Hla severely injured in car accident
Kaladan: WFP distributes rice and salt to pregnant women and children in
Maungdaw
IMNA: Burmese army orders replant seedlings in rows

ON THE BORDER
Bangkok Post: Nobel laureate meets Burmese women
DVB: CNF blocks trade route to protest tax rise

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Charcoal price hike leads to more firewood use

ASEAN
Aljazeera: Myanmar denies Suu Kyi release
AP: Myanmar opposes investigative powers

REGIONAL
Bangkok Post: Burmese receive 35,000 baht in suffocation cases

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: EU welcomes Myanmar's commitment to democracy
AFP: Millions in Myanmar cyclone aid still to be released
Irrawaddy: UN Says Burma faces 'second emergency'

OPINION / OTHER
Time: ASEAN turns blind eye to Burma rights
The Nation (Thailand): Burma makes us all look like fools again
Irrawaddy: Burma: A human rights supporter?


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 22, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD releases Martyrs’ Day statement – Maung Too

The National League for Democracy has reiterated its demands for
parliament to be convened and political prisoners to be released, in a
statement issued by the party to mark Martyrs' Day.

The NLD called on the ruling State Peace and Development Council to
immediately convene the people’s parliament with representatives elected
by the people.

The party also urged the military regime to immediately and
unconditionally release NLD leaders Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo,
Shan ethnic leaders including Shan state NLD chairman Khun Htun Oo and
secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin, and all other political prisoners including
members of the 88 generation students group.

A recent article in the Burmese state media said that the enactment of the
new constitution had rendered the 1990 election results obsolete and
challenged the NLD to contest the 2010 election.

The NLD's Martyrs' Day event on Saturday was attended by about 600 people
including diplomats from six foreign embassies in Rangoon and veteran
politicians.

NLD spokesperson Dr Win Naing said the celebration was held under the
watchful eyes of the authorities who blocked entrances to the road leading
up to the NLD headquarters with military and riot police trucks.

____________________________________

July 22, Irrawaddy
Burmese MPs urge UN to reject new constitution – Lalit K Jha

Reflecting a growing sense of frustration, Burmese parliamentarians who
were elected in the 1990 general elections urged UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon and members of the UN Security Council to declare that a new
constitution adopted by the country’s military junta through a “sham
referendum” is not legitimate.

Spokesperson to the secretary-general, Michelle Montas, told reporters at
UN headquarters in New York that the UN chief had received a letter from
five parliamentarians calling for the declaration. The issues raised by
these parliamentarians are being discussed, Montas said in response to a
question.

The letter comes before a planned consultation in the Security Council on
Burma later this week and an expected visit to the country by Ibrahim
Gambari, the UN special envoy on Burma, to meet with members of the ruling
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in mid-August.

“Now is the time for the United Nations to declare that the seven-step
road map of the SPDC is no longer relevant and the constitution is not
legitimate,” the parliamentarians said. Copies of the letter have also
been sent to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US First Lady,
Laura Bush.

The letter also called on the UN to exert greater effort to support
reconciliation talks among Burma’s major political forces “by instructing
the SPDC, with a binding resolution, to abandon its road map and start
negotiating with the [opposition National League for Democracy] and ethnic
representatives immediately for a negotiated political settlement within a
specific timeframe.”

Two permanent members of the Security Council—China and Russia—have
threatened to veto any attempt to pass a binding resolution on Burma,
after having rebuffed similar efforts in the past by the United States,
France and Britain.

Referring to the secretary-general’s recent strong statements on Zimbabwe,
the Burmese parliamentarians said they hoped he would take a tougher
position on Burma, too. “We expect that secretary-general will also stand
for the rights of the people of Burma/Myanmar, who were unable to express
their real aspirations in the referendum conducted by the SPDC,” the
letter said.

On June 30, the secretary-general said that the outcome of a run-off
presidential election in Zimbabwe did not reflect the true and genuine
will of the country’s people or produce a legitimate result.

“We applaud the courage of the secretary-general and his expression of
moral authority, defending the right of the people of Zimbabwe to choose a
legitimate government in a free and fair election,” said the letter.

Referring to the unilateral steps being taken by the Burmese military
junta, despite requests made by the international community, the
parliamentarians said the regime’s seven-step roadmap is no longer
relevant.

“The referendum was a sham, the constitution is illegitimate and we
continue to call for the SPDC to establish a meaningful and time-bound
dialogue with the NLD and the ethnic nationalities,” the letter said.

“As we are the ones who will have to decide the future of our country, we
have decided not to recognize the constitution and not to join in the
SPDC’s process,” wrote the parliamentarians.

Reflecting deep frustration over the UN’s inability to get things moving
in Burma, they added: “When we are faced with the military regime, which
has never been reluctant to crush any peaceful activity by brutal and
excessive force, we expect the United Nations would be able to change the
murderous behaviors of the SPDC by diplomacy and pressure.”

“At the very least, we don’t want the United Nations siding with the
dictators, and forcing the people of Burma/Myanmar into an untenable
position,” they wrote.

Expressing confidence in the UN and the Secretary General, the
parliamentarians indicated that their patience was running out.

“We trusted the secretary-general, his good offices role, and his special
envoy and hoped that the secretary-general, with the support of the
Security Council, would be able to persuade the SPDC to make the road map
process credible and include the NLD and ethnic representatives,” they
wrote.

“We have expected that under the facilitation of the secretary-general and
his special envoy, the seven-step roadmap would become the venue of a
meaningful political dialogue and an all-party inclusive process.
Therefore, we agreed to support the mission of the secretary-general and
prepared ourselves to work with the SPDC within the seven-step road map
framework,” they said.

____________________________________

July 22, Mizzima News
UN Humanitarian chief visits Burma to assess post-cyclone situation – Solomon

John Holmes, United Nations Humanitarian relief chief, on Tuesday arrived
in Rangoon and immediately left for Bogale town in cyclone-hit Irrawaddy
delta to survey post-cyclone humanitarian assistance, a UN spokesperson in
Rangoon said.

Laksmita Noviera, spokesperson of the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Burma said, "He [Holmes] is already here
and he has left for Bogale and he will return to Rangoon later this
afternoon."

Holmes, who is in Burma on a three-day visit, will meet Burmese Minister
for National Planning and Economic Development and Minister for Social
Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Noviera said.

Holmes is visiting Burma a day after overseeing the release of the
UN-spearheaded latest report on the post-cyclone situation in Burma's
Irrawaddy and Rangoon division.

On Monday, the Tripartite Core Group, consisting of the UN, members of
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Burmese military
government released a new report by the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment.

The report said the damage wrought by Cyclone Nargis that lashed
military-ruled Burma on May 2 and 3 is about US$ 4 billion and will
require at least US$ 1 billion for reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Dr. Anish Kumar Roy, Special Representative of the ASEAN Secretary
General, Surin Pitsuwan, in Burma said, the report helps the donor
countries to understand the extent of devastation caused by the cyclone.

"Now the donor community knows exactly what is needed. That is important,"
Dr. Roy said.

While the new report on Monday does not include fund raising, Dr. Roy
said, donors can now use the report as a credible document to view the
extent of damage and start donating for the reconstruction.

Noviera said so far the UN has been able to raise a total of 39.6 per cent
or US$ 187 million out of the revised appeal of US $ 481 million made on
July 10.

____________________________________

July 22, Mizzima News
Naw Ohn Hla severely injured in car accident

A prominent Burmese political activist Naw Ohn Hla was severely injured in
a car accident on Monday afternoon and is admitted to the Rangoon General
Hospital (RGH) Emergency Ward, a fellow activist said.

Naw Ohn Hla, who regularly held prayer meetings on Tuesdays for the
release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, was severely injured in
a car accident and was reportedly admitted as in-patient at RGH Surgical
Ward, at about 4 p.m. on Monday.

"She was severely injured in the head and received 17 stitches. And her
left collar bone and rib bone is broken. She was brave enough to talk to
NLD members who visited her at the hospital," a member of Burma's
opposition party – National League for Democracy - who visited her, told
Mizzima.

According to the fellow activist, who took her to the hospital, Naw Ohn
Hla was traveling on a Toyota Hylux light truck, Pa/8679, which is used as
public bus on the Taikyi-Rangoon bus Route, at about 2 p.m. on Monday. She
was heading to Aung San village in Hmawbe Township in Rangoon division for
her usual Tuesday prayer meeting and to offer Waso robe and alms to the
monks for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

But the unfortunately, the bus overturned before reaching Aung San
village, her fellow activist said.

Naw Ohn Hla and another passenger are currently treated as in-patients at
RGH Emergency Ward. Five other passengers received minor injuries and a
nurse is in a critical condition.

Since 2004 July, she has visited Shwedagon pagoda and prayed for the
release of all political prisoners including pro-democracy leader Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi.

After taking part actively in the saffron revolution in September 2007,
she was barred from going outside Hmawbe Township. She had been receiving
physiotherapy for her joint pain but could not continue after the
authorities imposed restriction on her movement.

She was on her way to Shwehmawtin pagoda in Aung San village to observe
the 4th anniversary of her Tuesday prayer meeting and to offer alms and
robes to the monks.

The scheduled alms and robe offering ceremony was done by her colleagues
on Monday as she could not attend after the accident.
____________________________________

July 22, Kaladan Press Network
WFP distributes rice and salt to pregnant women and children in Maungdaw

The World Food Program (WFP) has been distributing rice and salt to
pregnant women, infants and children, who are under five years and
malnourished in Maungdaw Township since yesterday, said a village elder
from Bawli Bazaar on condition of anonymity.

WFP has been distributing rice and salt to those who have coupons from
Action Center la Faim (ACF). The ACF distributes two kilograms of sagu or
blended food per head every week to pregnant women, infants and children. 
The ACF provides coupons to them to collect sagu every week.  The relief
provided by WFP to pregnant women, infants and children is extra support
to them.  The WEP provided 10 kilograms of rice and one kilogram of salt
per head to pregnant women, infants and children who are under five years
and are malnourished yesterday. They plan to distribute in other places in
Maungdaw Township, said a school teacher asking not to be named.   
Yesterday, they (WFP) staff distributed relief to Bawli Bazaar (Kyein
Chaung) village tract, Ngar Khuya, Sabe Bazaar (Taman Thar), Fokira Bazaar
(Khamaung Zeik) and Ngan Chaung villages of Maungdaw Townsip, Arakan
State.

____________________________________

July 22, Independent Mon News Agency
Burmese army orders replant seedlings in rows

The Burmese Army in southern Mon State has ordered farmers to replant
seedlings in rows in fields even if they have completed cultivating.

This order was issued by the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No 587 based
in Aru-taung village Ye Township. The army officers removed cultivated
paddy plants without telling the owners.

Nai Kyaw Hein who is replanting today after the army officers took plants
away, His farm is located beside the main road between Aru-taung and Taung
bone.

The army also ordered farmers cultivating between Aru-taung and Taung bone
village to replant systemically in rows.

"The army officers gave a suitable amount of seeds as loan to farmers for
replanting. And the farmers have to pay back the loan to army officers
after they harvest," farmers in that area said.

The farmer said that the army also stuck white and red flags in the
fields. Other paddy fields owners have to plant in rows in their entire
farm according to the army order. That's why the remaining farmers are
afraid of replanting paddy and watching the movement of the army.

Even though they don't want to replant it, the army officers told them
that planting in rows systemically will get more produce than normal
planting.

LIB No-587 confiscated over 500 acres of farmland between Kun-duu and
San-kha-ke village northern part of Ye Township in 2002.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

July 22, Bangkok Post
Nobel laureate meets Burmese women – Amitha Amranand

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams met a group of women from Burma
as well as from various ethnic groups in this northern province yesterday
to gather information about their plight. ''We're here to bring messages
of the women of Burma, of the marginalised, to the world. We're here to
listen. We're here to learn the common concerns that women of the world
seem to share,'' said Ms Williams, an American teacher and aid worker who
received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel laureate was accompanied by actor-activist Mia Farrow, together
with Dr Sima Samar of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and
Chinese labour activist Qing Zhang.

The Nobel Women's Initiative delegation focused on the plight of Burmese
women in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis during their
information-gathering trip to Thailand.

They had a closed-door meeting with marginalised Burmese, ethnic and Thai
women in Chiang Mai and also visited the Thailand-Burma border.

The women shared stories of discrimination faced by hilltribe women and
shed light on the continuing struggle of Cyclone Nargis victims.

''I am still shaking [from listening to these women]. I am moved and
inspired to go forward stronger than ever. I want to be part of the
solution anyway I can,'' Ms Farrow told a symposium at Chiang Mai
University.

Renowned Burmese women activist Charm Tong, of Shan Women's Action
Network, told the symposium that political pressure must be maintained for
genuine political change to come to Burma.

''Aid alone will not solve Burma's problems. Unless political issues are
addressed, this crisis will continue,'' she said.

After Thailand, the delegation will visit Addis Ababa, Juba in South Sudan
and conclude their trip in Chadian refugee camps bordering Darfur.

____________________________________

July 22, Democratic Voice of Burma
CNF blocks trade route to protest tax rise – Khin Maung Soe Min

The Chin National Front claims it has blocked access to the India-Burma
trade route (2) between Rid town in Chin state and the Indian border state
of Mizoram, halting the flow of trade.

CNF military coordinator Pu Solomon told DVB that transportation between
the two areas has stopped almost completely with no vehicles travelling on
the route apart from a few convoys which were provided with security by
the military.

"We are doing this at the request of traders in the region because
authorities in Mizoram decided to increase the tax collected from traders
who already have to pay a lot of tax to the Burmese authorities and that
left them with no profit," said Pu Solomon.

"We will reopen the route when Mizoram authorities agree to reduce the tax
to the usual amount."

Pu Solomon said the CNF has strictly prohibited vehicles from accessing
the route and those who do not comply with their rules will be severely
punished.

He added that the CNF itself has been collecting tax from the border
trading businesses in the area, but has only taken 3 percent of their
profits.

The CNF has previously blocked the route when Mizoram authorities
increased the tax on border traders, but reopened it after Mizoram agreed
to reduce the tax.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

July 22, Irrawaddy
Charcoal price hike leads to more firewood use – Kyi Wai

The escalating price of charcoal has forced many Rangoon consumers to
choose another basic source of energy for cooking—wood.

In Rangoon, low quality, broken pieces of charcoal now sell for 500 kyat a
viss (equivalent to 1.63 kilograms), 600 kyat for medium-grade quality and
800 kyat for high quality. About 1,155 kyat equals US $1.

Firewood sells for about 100 kyat a viss for low-quality, 200 kyat for
mixed woods, and 300 kyat for high quality hardwood. A viss of ironwood
(pyin-ka-do) sells for up to 350 kyat.

"People can’t afford to use charcoal now because of the price hike,” said
a charcoal and firewood dealer in Insein Township. “Starting a fire with
firewood may be complicated and time consuming, but actually its flame
lasts longer than charcoal. That’s another reason why customary charcoal
users now turn to use firewood.”

Charcoal was previously imported from the Bogalay area of the Irrawaddy
delta, but following Cyclone Nargis vendors are now buying more charcoal
from Pegu Division and other regions.

Mangrove forests in the Irrawaddy delta were a major source of wood and
charcoal.

According to a 2004 survey conducted by an Rangoon-based environmental
group, more than 80 percent of Rangoon residents use firewood and charcoal
for cooking food.

Traditionally, people working in alcohol distilling enterprises, brick
ovens, condensed milk cooking and cloth-dyeing businesses rely on firewood
for fuel.

The sale of firewood in Rangoon has increased two fold since deadly storm
hit Burma. Before the cyclone, dealers mainly sold low and medium grade
wood. "Now I see even ironwood come into the market. The teashops and
restaurants usually buy only ironwood, and they buy up to 100 viss," said
a firewood dealer.

Increased demand for firewood has been filled partially by the fallen
trees destroyed in the cyclone.

The Rangoon Municipal Department's Gardens and Sports Ground Section said
the cyclone destroyed 13,000 trees, half of the existing trees in the
Rangoon area. Large trees made up 30 percent of the fallen trees.

Among the fallen trees, some were 100 years old, and included a variety of
types: rain trees (Albizzia lebbek), Indian medlar (Mimusops elengi),
teak, Gum-kino (Piterocarpus macrocarpus), ironwood (Pyin-Ka-doe), banyan,
mango and Jack fruit .

Many Rangoon resident said soldiers who helped in the cutting down of
fallen trees hauled the wood away and are now selling it back on the
firewood market.

The army sells wood by the truckload for from 80,000 ($63) to 120,000 kyat
($ 103).

"If we sell the wood fresh, we don't get a good price. If we sell it after
drying it a bit, we get more. Anyway, army families are now having
firewood plentifully," said a member of a military family living in the
Mingaladon area.

According to official statistics, Burma still depends on energy from
firewood and charcoal for 84 percent of its household and small business
energy needs.

Environmentalists, however, have warned that if wood is not replaced by
another energy source, the practice will lead to more deforestation.

____________________________________
ASEAN

July 22, Aljazeera
Myanmar denies Suu Kyi release

Myanmar's military government has denied that the country's opposition
leader will be freed by the end of the year, saying that reports of her
early release from house arrest were incorrect.

Nyan Win, Myanmar's foreign minister, said his statement about Aung San
Suu Kyi's freedom had been misunderstood by his counterparts at the
Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) meeting, according to Singapore
officials.

The clarification on Tuesday comes a day after Singapore's foreign
minister quoted Nyan Win as hinting that Aung San Suu Kyi could be
released within six months.

George Yeo said on Monday that Myanmar's foreign minister had told him
that according to law a political detainee could be held for a maximum of
six years, and that the limit was approaching in about "half a year's
time".

The remarks were widely reported as offering a new glimmer of hope for
Aung San Suu Kyi's early freedom.

'Misunderstood'

But on Tuesday Singapore's Straits Times newspaper quoted Yeo as saying
that the six-year period will only be reached in the six months after May
2009, when her latest one-year detention period expires.

The newspaper quoted Yeo as saying that Asean ministers had
"misunderstood" Nyan Win.

In May, Myanmar's ruling military announced it was extending Aung San Suu
Kyi's house arrest for another 12 months.

The Nobel peace laureate has been held under house arrest or in Yangon's
notorious Insein jail for most of the past 18 years.

In a rare move on Monday the 10-nation Asean grouping issued a strong
rebuke to Myanmar at the opening of a four-day annual security summit
expressing "deep disappointment" at Aung San Suu Kyi's continued arrest.

Asean has traditionally had a policy of not commenting on the internal
affairs of member states.

The joint statement also urged Myanmar's rulers to engage in a "meaningful
dialogue with all political groups and work toward a peaceful transition
to democracy in the near future".

Asean has faced international criticism, especially from the West, for not
putting enough pressure on Myanmar's rulers to move toward democracy and
free political prisoners.

____________________________________

July 22, Associated Press
Myanmar opposes investigative powers – Jim Gomez

Myanmar's junta has indicated it will oppose any effort to give a
Southeast Asian human rights body the power to monitor or investigate
rights violations in the region, diplomats said Tuesday.

A high-level panel of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations started
work Monday to set up the rights body. The panel will lay down the body's
future makeup, role and powers, which will be presented to a summit of
ASEAN leaders in December.

But in a closed-door session with the panel Monday, Myanmar Foreign
Minister Nyan Win said the human rights body should uphold ASEAN's bedrock
policy of noninterference in each other's affairs, a diplomat present at
the meeting told The Associated Press.

The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not
authorized to speak to the media.

Another diplomat who attended a separate meeting between all 10 ASEAN
ministers and the panel also said Nyan Win made clear his opposition to
the rights body having any monitoring authority.

Myanmar's military government, which has been strongly criticized by
Western governments and even fellow ASEAN members for its dismal human
rights record, has used the bloc's policy to parry any attempt by
outsiders to intervene on behalf of human rights victims in the
military-ruled nation.

It has already been decided that the rights body will not have the power
to impose sanctions or seek prosecution of violators. But Myanmar's
objections, if honored, will make the body even less effective.

A majority of other ASEAN foreign ministers, led by Indonesia, the
Philippines and Thailand, separately told the panel that the human rights
body should at least be empowered to monitor violations and offer advice
to prevent such problems, said the first diplomat.

Myanmar officials were not immediately available for comment but in the
past they have said the human rights body should only serve as a
"consultative mechanism" and that it should not "shame and blame" any
ASEAN nation.

The rights body is being set up as part of ASEAN's proposed new charter,
which seeks to make the organization rule-based.

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the charter will serve as a
guide to the panel drafting the terms of reference for the rights body.

"They're going to follow the charter very, very closely — its principle of
promoting, upholding and protecting human rights," Surin said.

The international community has condemned Myanmar's junta for its refusal
to restore democracy and release pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi and other political detainees. ASEAN has also been
criticized for not doing enough to pressure Myanmar's military leaders.

ASEAN foreign ministers, disappointed with the Myanmar junta's
foot-dragging on democracy, expressed "deep disappointment" in a statement
Sunday at the junta's May decision to extend Suu Kyi's detention.

ASEAN's members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

July 22, Bangkok Post
Burmese receive 35,000 baht in suffocation cases

An insurance company will initially pay 35,000 baht ($1,044) to relatives
of each Burmese migrant worker who died from suffocation in the back of a
seafood truck in southern Ranong province, a senior Thai Justice Ministry
official said Tuesday.

Suwanna Suwanjutha, director-general of the Rights and Liberties
Protection Department, said the insurance firm had paid the money to
relatives of the migrant workers who died on April 9 due to suffocation.

The incident occurred because the driver apparently failed to turn on the
air conditioning in the container, which was normally used to transport
frozen food. A total of 121 people had been crammed inside the container
only six metres long and 2.2 metres wide.

Mrs Suwanna said the money would be awarded to relatives of 34 of the
victims at Burma's Victoria Point so that they would not have to travel to
Thailand to receive compensation. The company is now compiling documents
and will pay compensation to relatives of the 20 remaining victims.

Another 65,000 baht will be paid to relatives of each victim in accordance
with the Thailand's automobile accident law if the victims were found to
have not committed any crime.

Of the remaining survivors, Thai police investigators have taken 10 of
them as witnesses, while others have been repatriated to Burma.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 22, Agence France Presse
EU welcomes Myanmar's commitment to democracy

The European Union's special envoy for Myanmar, Piero Fassino, on Monday
welcomed the military regime's decision to sign a charter that commits it
to respecting ideals of democracy and human rights.

"The announcement of the ratification by Myanmar of the ASEAN (Association
of Southeast Asian Nations) charter which commits member countries to
respect human rights and democratic conduct is a positive and substantial
move," Fassino said in a statement.

"We hope that the Myanmar authorities are now going to take consistent
steps towards talks with the opposition, the release of Aung San Suu Kyi
and other political prisoners, as well as proper respect for the civil and
human rights of all the people of Myanmar."

Fassino, an Italian, added that the EU "appreciates" the growing role
taken by ASEAN and intends to support initiatives aimed at strengthening
democracy and stability in Southeast Asia.

The EU special envoy has carried out numerous trips to the region in the
past few months and has stepped up contacts with ASEAN members.

In the charter, ASEAN members commit "to strengthen democracy, enhance
good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and protect human
rights and fundamental freedoms."

ASEAN has been widely criticised for its policy of "constructive
engagement" regarding Myanmar, which is under EU and United States
sanctions over its human rights record.

____________________________________

July 22, Agence France Presse
Millions in Myanmar cyclone aid still to be released

More than 5.8 million dollars in emergency aid for victims of Myanmar's
cyclone Nargis is still to be released by donor countries, the World
Health Organisation (WHO) said Tuesday.

WHO has reviewed emergency aid following May's devastating storm and now
puts the amount needed at more than 12.8 million dollars.

Donor countries -- including Australia, Britain, Denmark, Italy, Monaco,
Norway, Romania and the United States have already released seven million
dollars for the aid effort, a WHO spokesperson told journalists.

In total, aid to Nargis victims and reconstruction will cost a billion
dollars, WHO and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said
on Monday.

It is estimated that a little over a billion dollars is needed over the
next three years with priorities including food, agriculture, and housing
as well as assistance to restore livelihoods, they said in a statement.

Myanmar's ruling generals attracted worldwide condemnation after the
cyclone for blocking entry to many foreign aid workers and relief
shipments, relenting only after a personal visit by UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon.

The disaster left at least 138,000 missing or dead.

____________________________________

July 22, Irrawaddy
UN Says Burma faces 'second emergency' – Vijay Joshi

Survivors of Burma's Cyclone Nargis face a "second emergency" unless
relief efforts receive an influx of US $1 billion in international aid
over the next three years, according to the first full assessment of the
disaster.

The joint report, released Monday by the UN, the Burmese regime and
Southeast Asia's main bloc, provides for the first time a comprehensive
breakdown of the survivors' needs in the aftermath of the May 2-3
disaster—details foreign donors have demanded as a condition for aid.

The report puts the damage from the cyclone that devastated the Irrawaddy
delta and parts of Rangoon at $4 billion. Infrastructure and asset losses
amounted to about $1.7 billion and loss of income was estimated at $2.3
billion.

It paints a dismal picture of the impact of the storm, which killed at
least 84,537 people. Another 53,836 are missing and presumed dead.

A wall of water destroyed 450,000 homes and damaged 350,000, the report
said. About 75 percent of health facilities were damaged, as were 4,000 or
more schools.

In mid-June, 55 percent of survivors had rations enough for only one day
or less.

"It was a tragedy of immense proportions," Surin Pitsuwan, the
secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, told a
news conference at which the report was released.

Puji Pujiono, a recovery assessment specialist in the Asean assessment
team, cited food, shelter, water and sanitation as key priorities.

"The worst of the crisis is over but we are still in a state of emergency.
People live in a very precarious condition now. If we fail to sustain the
recovery efforts, they may face a second emergency," he told the
Associated Press.

Though filled with grim statistics, the report makes no mention of the
junta's slow response to the disaster.

During the first week following the storm, pictures of bodies floating in
the water amid reports that soldiers were standing idly by horrified
people around the world. The junta stalled in accepting international aid
and even physically prevented relief workers from going to the hardest hit
areas.

Many in the international community lashed out at the Burmese government
for its response, while also trying to cajole the leaders into opening up
to aid.

The United Nations' humanitarian chief, John Holmes, noted that while
Burma eventually cooperated with the UN in humanitarian operations, it was
unclear how far that cooperation would extend beyond the storm response.

"I don't think anyone can say that the Myanmar (Burmese) government is a
poster child in international cooperation beyond this narrow field of
humanitarian assistance," he said.

Members of Asean, the region's main bloc, usually stick to a policy of not
interfering in each other's domestic affairs. But Asean foreign ministers
wrapped up their annual meeting Monday with their strongest-ever public
criticism of Burma.

The joint statement expressed "deep disappointment" that the country's
junta had yet to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house
arrest. The junta extended Suu Kyi's detention in May by another year, the
sixth straight year that she has remained under house arrest in her
dilapidated villa.

Burma has been ruled by the military since 1962. The current junta came to
power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy movement. It has kept Suu Kyi
in detention for 12 of the last 18 years at varying times.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

July 22, Time
ASEAN turns blind eye to Burma rights – Hannah Beech

A new charter for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was
signed on July 21 with much flourish and a promise to "strengthen
democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and
protect human rights and fundamental freedoms." An admirable undertaking,
except that the person formally ratifying the charter was Nyan Win, the
Foreign Minister of Burma, a country with one of the world's most
appalling human-rights records. Indeed, Burma's signing of the document
during this year's ASEAN ministerial meeting in Singapore threatens to
render meaningless the lofty humanitarian goals set by the organization's
10 member nations.

Burma's economy limps along with help from its regional neighbors,
including ASEAN members such as Thailand and Singapore as well as
non-members India and China. Critics of ASEAN say the forum has not done
enough to pressure Burma to end human-rights abuses. Although Thailand,
Indonesia and the Philippines indicated earlier that they might delay
their own ratifications of the charter until Burma cleans up its
human-rights record, they have been less publicly forceful in their
demands since then. While the U.S. and the European Union have tightened
sanctions against Burma's ruling military junta since it violently crushed
monk-led protests last year, ASEAN has continued with a "constructive
engagement" approach that it hopes will, through dialogue and investment,
convince Burma's leaders to treat its people more kindly.

So far, the approach has failed. Since Burma's junta took over the
country, also known as Myanmar, in 1962, its people have gone from some of
the richest in Asia to among its poorest. An election won by the
opposition was duly ignored. Political prisoners crowd jails. The most
recent example of the generals' callousness came in May when Cyclone
Nargis devastated the country's Irrawaddy Delta, leaving 138,000 people
dead or missing and causing $4 billion in damage, according to an
international assessment released on July 21. Yet instead of promptly
accepting offers of help from around the world, the regime spent weeks
refusing visas to foreign aid workers and setting up roadblocks to stop
international agencies from delivering relief supplies. Even today, after
Burma promised in an ASEAN-brokered deal to stop impeding foreign aid
groups, non-Burmese still have to apply for special permits from the
country's Ministry of Defense to visit the delta.

So for ASEAN's nine other members not to at least arch an eyebrow when
Burma signed the charter is nothing short of willful ignorance. Yes, ASEAN
did speak forcefully on July 20 when Singaporean Foreign Minister George
Yeo said the bloc's members felt "deep disappointment" that Burma in May
prolonged the detention of opposition figurehead and Nobel laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi. But any mention of that negative emotion was excised from the
formal communiqué issued by ASEAN the following day. And an initial flurry
of excitement caused by Yeo when he said that his Burmese counterpart had
told him Suu Kyi might possibly be released in six months' time turned out
to be a misunderstanding. A clarification was quickly issued in which the
Burmese government was quoted as saying the earliest Suu Kyi might be
freed would be after May 2009.

Of course, ASEAN's kid-gloves approach toward Burma isn't unique. Another
item on the agenda at this year's meeting? A treaty of amity and
cooperation with none other than North Korea. After buddying up to Burma
for so long, ASEAN, it seems, isn't too picky about its friends.

____________________________________

July 22, The Nation (Thailand)
Burma makes us all look like fools again

Now is the time to put more pressure on the junta to make its planned
election free and fair

The foreseeable future for Burma is clear: there will be no opposition to
worry the junta. What is emerging from the Asean ministerial meeting is an
indication that Burma has again outwitted its fellow Asean members and the
international community. It is a win-win formula for the regime, which has
shown defiance to the whole world. Foreign Minister Nyan Win was succinct
in stating that Aung San Suu Kyi will be further incarcerated until the
end of next year.

In a joint communiqu้ released at the end of the meeting, Asean
urged Burma to take bolder steps towards a peaceful transition to
democracy and a free and fair election in 2010. Asean foreign ministers
also repeated their appeal for Suu Kyi's freedom.

However, it is useless for Asean to express any disappointment over her
continued detention. Burma will not budge, knowing full well there is
nothing Asean can do. Of course, what the junta is doing is to ensure that
she is isolated from the political process. The junta will hold the
planned election in 2010 and it will be a fait accompli. The generals will
use all kinds of trickery to maintain their power and dodge international
sanctions. If the national referendum in May was any indication, the
future poll will certainly be rigged.

Burma's ratification of the Asean Charter was timed for maximum benefit.
For the first time, the pariah state was able to say it is committed to
the values and norms of Asean. In the 11 years since Burma joined Asean,
it has caused only headaches for the group. Now, Asean and the
international community are committed to help revitalise Burma after
Cyclone Nargis. An assessment report by Asean, the UN and Burma said that
at least $1 billion dollars is needed over the next three years.

The amount is much less than what the junta had originally proposed when
the international donors met for the first time in Rangoon; they had asked
for a staggering $11 billion. Recently, the UN agencies assessed that $303
million would be needed over the next twelve months to improve health,
housing and other priorities.

As the international cooperation and the recovery continue, Burma has
invited UN special envoy Ismail Gambari to return. It remains to be seen
how he will be treated by the junta. Is he in for more humiliation or more
cooperation? Initially it is possible the generals might treat him more
respectfully this time, granted the increased role of the UN and
international community in assisting the victims of Nargis. But nothing is
certain because the junta could easily abandon any such etiquette. Burma's
engagement with the UN will be time-consuming to ensure that, within two
years, such engagement will mitigate all possible hostile reaction from
Western countries to the junta's reluctant move towards recovery and
rehabilitation.

After Nargis, the UN and international community promised not to
politicise the issue of providing humanitarian aid. The US, UK and France
dispatched ships full of medicine and food to the Bay of Bengal to save
lives but they were turned away by the junta.

But aid was the precondition that Asean and its international partners
agreed to and supported. It provides  opportunities for Western
governments and donors to use as a pretext to communicate with Burma's
leaders. So, while the Burmese people suffered from the effects of the
cyclone, the junta continued with the national referendum and renewed Suu
Kyi's house-arrest. Although it was a blatant act of hostility, nothing
could be done about it. The junta could not care less. Indeed, it fits the
pattern of Burma's continued defiance. Therefore, it is important that in
the months to come, the UN Security Council and the international
community raise the ante and assert pressure on the regime to ensure that
the national reconciliation process really takes place.

In other words, it is time to call for a political outcome. If the
political status quo remains the same in the next two years, the Burmese
junta will be the biggest winner. The losers will be the suffering Burmese
people.

____________________________________

July 22, Irrawaddy
Burma: A human rights supporter? – Kyaw Zwa Moe

It was awkward to see the Burmese junta, the worst human rights violator
in Southeast Asia, sign the new Asean charter on Monday, which includes a
human rights charter.

The singing “demonstrates our strong commitment to embrace the common
values and aspiration of the people of Asean to build
 a sharing and
caring community,” said Burma’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win at the signing
ceremony in Singapore.

Ironically, Burma, in terms of human rights and Asean, has garnered
phrases like “hot potato,” “problem child” and “thorn” ever since it
joined Asean in 1997. The regional group has had repeated problems in
dealing with the European Union and the United States when it comes to
Burma’s human rights violations and suppression of democracy during the
past decade.

Asean seemed to have a view that bringing Burma into the grouping might
tame the hard-line generals. But, in reality, the junta has cunningly
manipulated Asean to its own benefit.

“Accepting the charter seems to be a way for the ruling junta to rebuild
its credibility,” said Han Thar Myint, a spokesperson of the main
opposition party, the National League for Democracy. “Burma had signed the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the past, but we all have
witnessed what is going on in the country.”

At their recent meeting, the Asean foreign ministers called for the
release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the secretary of the
opposition group, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and other
political detainees. But it will never happen. The military regime has
about 2,000 political prisoners in its jails now, and Suu Kyi has spent 13
of the past 19 years under house arrest in Rangoon.

On July 18, a 49-year-old political prisoner, Khin Maung Tint, died of
tuberculosis after serving 10 years of his 20-year imprisonment in
Mandalay Prison, according to the Thailand-based rights group Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

Khin Maung Tint was the 137th political prisoner to die in the junta’s
jails since 1988, due to lack of proper healthcare or torture, said the
rights group.

“The latest death reflects a kind of systematic execution of political
prisoners that is going on in Burma’s prisons,” said Tate Naing, secretary
of the group. “Who can survive without adequate healthcare in Burma’s
terrible prison conditions?”

A glimmer of hope for the release of Suu Kyi was raised on Sunday when the
Asean foreign ministers thought they heard their counterpart, Nyan Win,
say at a dinner that Suu Kyi might be freed by December this year. The
news was released by Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo. But, he
clarified his remarks the next day, saying the statement was misheard and
the detention would last at least until November 2009.

When it comes to Burma, good news is always like that. It sounds good, but
then it evaporates.

In 2010, the junta will hold general elections, after refusing to honor
the results of the 1990 elections wherein the NLD won more than 80 percent
of the contested positions.

The generals will not let Suu Kyi’s party win again in 2010. Suu Kyi has
always caused trouble for the junta, especially when she is at-large. How
can the generals release her before 2010?

Actually, the whole issue of Asean as a champion of democracy and human
rights is something to ponder. Members Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
are not widely viewed as open to human rights and democracy. Even the
founders of Asean—Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand—have spotty records when viewed from a democratic and human
rights’ perspective.

Asean has little chance of becoming an effective organization that
promotes democracy and human rights, along the lines of the EU, so long as
it clings to its questionable guiding principle of non-interference in a
member country’s affairs, and its own member countries themselves fail to
live up to basic democratic and human rights principles.

I hope it’s not so, but it’s highly likely that the only thing the Asean
human rights charter will accomplish is to bring more frustration and
shattered dreams to the people of Asia.