BurmaNet News, September 26, 2008

[Editor]

September 26, 2008 Issue # 3565


INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: 35 NLD members march to detained party leader's residence
AP: Myanmar dissident enjoys just 17 hours of freedom
Narinjara News: Monks forced back home
Irrawaddy: NLD to celebrate 20th anniversary
Reuters: Myanmar junta flexes muscles a year after crackdown
BBC News: Rampaging rats bring starvation to Burma

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Illegal Burmese rice exports boom on Thai Border

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Weekly business roundup

REGIONAL
AFP: South Korean court says Myanmar refugees can stay

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Gambari should be tougher on junta: PM in exile
Irrawaddy: Release Aung San Suu Kyi: Laura Bush
The View (UK): UK considers further Burma sanctions

OPINION / OTHER
WSJ: Burma’s bluff – Editorial
Asia Times: False dawn in Myanmar – Larry Jagan
The Times (UK): In tiny acts of defiance, a revolution still fickers –
Kenneth Denby

STATEMENT
EPCB: A year after the Saffron Revolution, crackdown in Burma continues

PRESS RELEASE
HRW: One year after violent crackdown, repression continues



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 26, Mizzima News
35 NLD members march to detained party leader's residence

At least 35 members of Burma's Opposition party the National League or
Democracy have begun marching towards detained party leader Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi', residence at 9:30 a.m (local time), sources said.

Though Burmese Army soldiers have blocked the Kokkai Street, NLD members
were able to make it to University Avenue Street, where detained Suu Kyi's
home is located, according to an earlier information received by Mizzima.

The 35 members include 20 youths as well as 15 elderly members of the NLD.

____________________________________

September 26, Associated Press
Myanmar dissident enjoys just 17 hours of freedom

A former aide to Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was
re-arrested less than 24 hours after being freed by the military
government in a mass amnesty, an opposition spokesman said Friday.

Win Htein, 64, who had been in prison since 1996, was among seven members
of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party released Tuesday in an
amnesty granted to 9,002 prisoners around the country.

Party spokesman Nyan Win, citing Win Htein's family, said he was arrested
17 hours after being released from Kathar prison in northern Myanmar.

The family said authorities did not give any reason for re-arresting him.

Family members had traveled to Mandalay, halfway to where he was
imprisoned, to meet him, but he did not show up. Prison authorities later
told the family that Win Htein had spent the night at a guest house in
Kathar and was then taken back to the prison there, said Nyan Win.

"This is cruel and should not happen," Nyan Win commented. "This is mental
torture."

Win Htein had been serving a 14-year sentence on charges of providing
false information to the foreign press, according to the U.S. Campaign for
Burma, which lobbies against aid to the military regime.

A former army officer, Win Htein joined Suu Kyi's party when it was formed
in 1988 and served as a personal assistant and senior adviser to Suu Kyi
and her deputy Tin Oo.

According to the U.S. Campaign for Burma, Win Htein was arrested briefly
in early 1989 and tortured, then arrested again in 1989 and held until
1995.

Myanmar holds about 2,000 political prisoners, according to the United
Nations and Amnesty International. The most prominent is Nobel peace
laureate Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest in Yangon and has been in
detention for about 13 of the past 19 years.

Tuesday's amnesty was granted to prisoners around the country who
exhibited good "moral behavior," the state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper
reported.

Another prominent member of Suu Kyi's party, journalist Win Tin, was also
released in the amnesty. He remains free despite public statements
reaffirming his commitment to fight for democracy. International rights
groups said he was the nation's longest serving political prisoner, held
for 19 years.

Myanma Ahlin said the prisoners were released "so they could participate
in the fair elections to be held in 2010."

The elections are part of the junta's long-announced "road map to
democracy," which will give voters the first chance to cast ballots since
1990.

Critics say the road map is a sham designed to cement the military's
power. A military-backed constitution was approved by a national
referendum in May this year, but the opposition charges that the vote was
unfair.

The terms of the charter perpetuate the military's influence over politics
and bar Suu Kyi from public office.

Before he was re-arrested on Wednesday, Win Htein gave an interview to the
Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based shortwave radio station and Web
site that is run by exiled Myanmar dissidents. He said he could not accept
the new constitution but that "if we oppose or go against the
constitution, we will be sent back to prison."

____________________________________

September 26, Narinjara News
Monks forced back home

Two monks were forced to return to their hometowns from monasteries in
Sittwe because the authorities suspected them of involvement recently in
leading attempts to demonstrate in Sittwe.

A monk close to them said, "One monk from Sitta Thuka monastery was sent
to Ann Town and another monk from Ten Kho monastery was sent back to Mrauk
U as the authority suspected they were involved in leading recent attempts
by monks to stage anti-government demonstrations."

The monk from Sitta Thuka monastery was identified as U Pai Nyathuka and
the second monk from Ten Kho was identified as U Tayza Dhama.

"I heard U Tayza Dhama and U Pai Nyathukha had not been allowed by
authorities to travel anywhere from their towns after arriving home, and
some intelligence agents are closely watching them," the monk said.

According to a monk source, the authority forced the monks to return home
after suspecting that they are leaders of the monks in Sittwe and have the
capacity to lead monks in public demonstrations.

The monk said, "Other monks in Sittwe are also worried because they may
face the same action in the future if they attempt to stage
anti-government demonstrations. But monks in Sittwe are not afraid and are
trying to stage demonstrations in the streets of Sittwe."

Monks in Sittwe made at least three attempts to stage protests in the last
two months, but each time were foiled by the authorities before they could
begin.

The army authority is also still beefing up security in Sittwe and many
armed forces continue to be deployed at key places in Sittwe, especially
at temples and monasteries.

"The authority is unable to deploy the security forces in Sittwe forever,
and one day we will have the chance to carry out our program. We are
enthusiastically awaiting the opportunity to carry out our anti-government
program in Sittwe," the monk concluded.

____________________________________

September 26, Irrawaddy
NLD to celebrate 20th anniversary – Saw Yan Naing

The National League for Democracy will celebrate its 20th anniversary on
Saturday in Rangoon with newly released political prisoners.

Win Tin, a founder of the NLD, was released on Tuesday along with six
other NLD members.

The NLD is the main opposition party which won a landslide victory—392 out
of 492 seats—in parliamentary election in 1990. However, the current
Burmese government led by Snr-Gen Than Shwe ignored the election result
and refused to transfer power to the parliament.

Meanwhile, on Thursday the NLD was warned by the head of Burma’s police,
Brig-Gen Khin Yi, to withdraw a statement it made following the release of
the political prisoners, said party spokesperson Nyan Win.

The statement called for a review of the junta’s constitutional process.
The regime saw the statement as potentially motivating citizens to
undertake activities critical of the military government.

Nyan Win said, “They [Burmese authorities] said our earlier statement can
motivate people to launch a movement against them. So, they asked us to
withdraw our statement.”

“We replied that our statement contained credible information, and we have
proof for it. So, we can’t withdraw it,” he said

The NLD statement urged Burmese authorities to reconsider the state
constitution, calling the draft constitution one-sided and lacking the
participation of the 1990 elected members of parliament.

A lawyer, Thein Nyunt, who is also a member of the NLD information
department, said, “It is necessary to review the constitution before it
becomes legitimate.”

Burmese authorities unofficially warned opposition leaders that action
could be taken against them if they continued to make such statements.

Six members of the NLD’s Central Executive Committee met with Brig-Gen
Khin Yi at the Ministry of Home Affairs for about one hour on Thursday,
said Nyan Win.

He said Burmese authorities are trying to pressure NLD leaders to stop
public criticism of the military regime.

In May, the NLD dismissed the national referendum on the draft
constitution, calling it non-inclusive, non-transparent and undemocratic.

The party’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been detained under house arrest
for more than 13 of the past 19 years. The latest round of her house
arrest began o¬n May 30, 2003, following the ambush of her motorcade by a
government-orchestrated mob in Depayin in Burma’s northwest Sagaing
Division.

____________________________________

September 26, Reuters
Myanmar junta flexes muscles a year after crackdown – Aung Hla Tun

Myanmar's junta put armed police and barbed wire barricades on the streets
of its main city on Friday, the first anniversary of a bloody military
crackdown on major anti-government protests.

Security was especially tight near the house of detained opposition leader
and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and in front of City Hall, where a
small bomb exploded on Thursday, wounding seven people.

Official papers said none of the victims were seriously hurt, and urged
public vigilance against the "bombers and terrorists in disguise." No
group was blamed for the blast.

Normally in the aftermath of such incidents, the junta immediately points
the finger at underground democracy activists or the ethnic guerrilla
groups that have fought against the Burmese majority almost since
independence from Britain in 1948.

"The authorities concerned are conducting investigation into the case to
expose the saboteurs and explosives," said the New Light of Myanmar, the
junta's primary mouthpiece.

The paper also said bomb squad officers found and defused a second device
left near the site of the first explosion and timed to detonate an hour
afterwards.

Even though it is impossible to say who might have been behind the bombs
-- one diplomat suggested it could even be the military trying to justify
its heavy security presence in Yangon -- the timing was significant.

Exactly a year ago, the junta ordered troops into central Yangon to end a
week of massive demonstrations led by Buddhist monks calling for the
removal of 45 years of army rule.

At least 31 people were killed when soldiers opened fire on crowds across
the former capital, the United Nations estimates. Western governments say
the real toll is probably higher. A Japanese journalist was among those
shot dead.

A further 3,000 people were rounded up in a sweep of dissidents and
democracy activists that is still under way and makes any repeat of the
2007 demonstrations extremely unlikely.

Earlier this month, female activist Nilar Thein, a student leader in a
brutally crushed democracy uprising in 1988 and an organiser of last
year's protests, was detained after a year on the run.

She went into hiding, abandoning her four-month-old daughter, when her
husband was arrested in August for helping stage the small fuel and food
price demonstrations that snowballed into the monk-led marches a month
later.

The junta says all but a handful of those detained have been freed,
although rights groups say 700 are still behind bars.

Myanmar's longest-serving political prisoner, 79-year-old journalist Win
Tin, was freed this week after 19 years in prison.

However, another senior member of the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) was rearrested only 24 hours after being released from a
prison in Katha, 1,000 km (650 miles) north of Yangon, NLD spokesman Nyan
Win said.
____________________________________

September 26, BBC News
Rampaging rats bring starvation to Burma – Bernadette Carroll

In Burma's north-west Chin state, thousands of people say they are
starving. The Mara tribe say hundreds of their community have died in the
past two months alone.

Local human rights groups say of an estimated 500,000 population, 100,000
people are at crisis point.

They blame a natural phenomenon, which occurs every 50 years in the region
- a plague of rats.

The last time it happened - in the late 1950s - an estimated 15,000 people
died from famine.

Across the border, India has implemented emergency measures to deal with
the threat, but Burma's military government has been silent on the matter.

Bamboo flowers

The United Nations World Food Programme has conducted an assessment in the
region.

In an email earlier this year to a Burmese non-governmental organisation,
the WFP's country director for Burma, Chris Kaye, concluded that "people
are not dying of starvation" and that the "distribution of WFP relief food
would be inappropriate".

It is a response which inspired over 50 people from the Mara tribe to walk
for days through thick, mountainous jungle to meet me at a secret location
on the India-Burma borderlands.

They say that the WFP's assessment did not include southern Chin where
they live and that if the international community fails to take them into
account, their tribe may not survive.

They all tell the same story of how, when the bamboo flowers, it causes a
plague of rats.

When the rats have finished gorging on the bamboo fruits, they go on to
devour farm crops, which provide the main form of income for the Mara
people.

"You can track the movement of the rats," one man said. "Overnight the
whole mountain range can be destroyed."

Another told me how he had tried to fend off the rats by building rat
traps all around his field of maize.

"More than 100, but it's meaningless, I cannot protect the farm," he said.

Painfully thin

The nearest hospital is miles away through mountainous jungle. All the
villagers I met were painfully thin.

Dr Sasa is a local from southern Chin state and a medical student in his
final year of studies in Armenia.

Before the food shortages took hold, villagers gave their livestock to pay
for his training so that he could return and be their doctor.

He was not due back until he finished his studies but when he heard the
WFP had dismissed claims of a famine, he set up mobile clinics in the
borderlands.

In the two months he has been back in the region, he says he has delivered
dozens of dead babies and seen over 200 people starve to death.

"Many of them die of malnutrition," he says.

"Our whole body needs to be filled with food, which builds our immunity
against disease. When you are malnourished, disease comes to you and you
have no ability to resist."

Government inaction

Dr Sasa and the villagers all say that the WFP's assessment did not
include them.

That view is shared by the chief minister of Mizoram state in neighbouring
India, Pu Zoramthanga. Mizoram is also affected by the bamboo flowering.

"Those visitors went to the accessible areas. There will be no famine
there," says the minister. "If they had visited the area near the border
with Mizoram, certainly people are suffering. They have to go back and
see."

He says if protective measures had been put in place by the Burmese
government, the famine would not be happening now.

"The government of India sent a good amount of money for advance
preparation to combat this - to make storage of rice and instead let us
grow cash crops like ginger and turmeric, which the rats won't eat," the
minister adds.

"With this we combat the bamboo flowering and famine."

The villagers I have met all tell me that the Burmese government is doing
nothing to help. If anything, they say, the government is making the
situation worse.

They say that the military - which has increased its presence in Chin
state - taxes them, takes their possessions including their livestock, and
forces them to work without pay as labourers or porters.

One pastor told me he advised his parishioners to do whatever the military
asked of them.

"We ask God to endure this suffering," he says.

When I asked him how it would help, he referred to the Bible.

"If someone slaps you on the cheek, turn the other, we taught like that.
Is this right? I don't know," he asks.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 26, Irrawaddy
Illegal Burmese rice exports boom on Thai Border – Lawi Weng

Rice traders in Myawaddy, opposite the Thai border town of Mae Sot, are
illegally exporting hundreds of thousands of bags of rice to Thailand
every week, according to sources in the local business community.

A businessman in Myawaddy said yesterday that there were around 10,000
sacks of rice piled on the Burmese side of the Moei River, which separates
Mae Sot and Myawaddy, as traders waited for heavy rains to stop so they
could resume the illegal export.

Burma’s junta officially banned the border rice trade after Cyclone Nargis
struck the country’s Irrawaddy delta on May 2-3. The storm devastated much
of the farmland in the region, which is Burma’s main rice-growing area.

A Burmese truck driver, speaking on condition of anonymity, estimated that
there are around 30 trucks transporting rice from Moulmein to Myawaddy
each day, each one carrying 500 to 700 bags of rice.

“We hide the rice on the backs of our trucks under bags of onions, garlic
and spices,” said the truck driver.

He added that rice traders pay bribes of 200 kyat (US $0.16) per bag of
rice so the trucks can pass through checkpoints set up by a Burmese
military battalion stationed at Thingannyinaung and by Karen ceasefire
groups, including the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and Karen Peace
Force.

A rice trader in Myawaddy said that some of the rice had to be repackaged,
because Thai merchants would not accept rice in bags marked with the logos
of Burmese companies.

“I haven’t seen any Burmese logos this month, but last month I saw some
bags marked with the Htoo Trading Company logo,” he added.

There has been strong demand for Burmese rice in Thailand this year, due
to rising prices for domestically grown rice.

Local businesspeople predicted that the illegal trade would continue if
Thai demand remains strong, although there are fears that a poor harvest
resulting from delays in planting this year’s crop after Cyclone Nargis
could create a rice shortage in Burma.
Local observers said that there are growing concerns that the continuing
export of Burmese rice to Thailand could lead to a drastic increase in
rice prices in Burma.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

September 26, Irrawaddy
Weekly business roundup – William Boot

China Taps into Burma’s Nickel Resources

Further evidence of China’s increasing economic grip on Burma has emerged
with the announcement that Chinese state-controlled mining companies are
to tap the country’s nickel resources.

The military government has signed an agreement to allow the China
Non-Ferrous Metal Group to develop mines in the Mandalay region to extract
a massive 100,000 tonnes-plus per year.

Initial work on the development, at Tagung Taung, is due to begin by the
end of this year, with full production beginning in 2011. All the nickel
will be shipped to China for use in its metal industries.

Burma’s Ministry of Mines claims that the project will provide jobs for
more than 1,000 Burmese, but observers note that China will be the main
beneficiary.

“It’s reasonable to say that Burma is being systematically plundered for
its natural wealth by its big neighbors, China, India and Thailand,” said
one analyst with an economic development agency in Thailand, who spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.

“The loss over time of gas, oil, timber, precious stones and now metals
will further impoverish Burma’s economic development if and when the
regime comes to an end.”

Lloyds’ Bumper Profits ‘Paid for in Blood’

Major international insurance company Lloyds has been accused of making
blood-money profits out of Burma as it announces a 2008 first half year
global profit of US $1.76 billion.

Despite calls by the British government for British-owned firms to end
their business involvement in Burma to strengthen economic sanctions
against the military regime, London-based Lloyds refuses to disclose the
extent of its involvement in the country.
It’s believed to be associated with shipping and aviation—key transport in
junta-linked exports.

The British human rights NGO Burma Campaign UK says its research shows
that several Lloyds-linked businesses operate in Burma.

“Research has revealed that three members of the Lloyd’s market, Catlin,
Atrium (owned by Ariel Re) and Kiln (owned by Tokio Marine), are involved
in Burma. Despite repeated requests, Lloyd’s has refused to state how many
other member companies are also involved,” campaigns officer Johnny
Chatterton told The Irrawaddy this week.

“Lloyd’s secret Burma profits are paid for in blood and poverty by the
people of Burma’” said Johnny Chatterton, a campaign Officer at Burma
Campaign UK. “Lloyd’s should come clean about their involvement in Burma
and stop insuring companies that fund the dictatorship.
Ironically, Lloyds profit margin for first half 2008 slumped 47 percent
over the same period of 2007, due to “falling investment income and
increased cost of claims,” the company said.

Some of these claims may well be linked to Cyclone Nargis which devastated
Burma’s Irrawaddy delta in May.

Lloyds said in July it was not breaking British or European Union law by
operating in Burma.

“Unless there are official international sanctions in place, we do not
instruct the market where it can and cannot write business,” said Lloyds.

Junta Bid to Boost Arakan Trade with Bangladesh

Plans are reportedly being drawn up by the military to develop some form
of trading center in Arakan state bordering Bangladesh to increase
economic ties with the Bangladeshis.

The center will be built in Maungdaw, according to reports circulating
among the local business community, with the aim of trading in
agricultural and marine produce.

The project will be financed by the marine ministry but organized—and
controlled—by senior officers of the army’s Western Command, according to
the independent Narinjara News.

Arakan’s economy has been slumping for some years but suffered a
significant blow when Singapore, under pressure from US sanctions policy,
stopped importing shrimps.

Attempts have previously been made to sell shrimps to Bangladesh but a
lack of facilities has hampered trade, according to Narinjara News sources
in the local business community.

Oil Prospects Grow in Western Burma for Singapore Firm

Singapore-based Interra Resources says its subsidiary Goldpetrol has begun
drilling an oil development well in the Yenangyaung field on the upper
Irrawaddy River in western Burma.

The company said in a statement it was confident of striking oil in a
location which already delivers small quantities of crude, but it will be
another two months before it can say whether its new well will be
commercially productive.

Yenangyaung has produced varying quantities of oil for many decades but
many of its facilities are run down and output has declined.

Interra, via Goldpetrol, has a 60 percent share in a joint development
venture in the field with the state Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.

The last official figure for oil production in Yenangyaung was 1,800
barrels per day—compared with 16,000 bpd in 1918.

Retreating British army forces blew up earlier wells and a refinery in
1942 to prevent advancing Japanese troops from using them.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 26, Agence France Presse
South Korean court says Myanmar refugees can stay

South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday that eight men from Myanmar
should be granted refugee status since they were likely to face political
persecution if returned home.

The men, including Maung Zaw, filed for refugee status in 2005 after South
Korea’s Justice Ministry ordered them to leave the country. A district
court and the high court rejected their bid, saying they did not have a
“well-founded fear of persecution” as required by the UN convention. The
Supreme Court reversed the ruling because of their support for an
underground opposition movement while in Myanmar and in Korea, Yonhap news
agency said.

“It feels like we caught the stars in the sky,” it quoted Maung Zaw as
saying. “I am so glad, except for the fact that some of my friends had to
leave because the ruling came too late.” He said one of the eight left
Korea before Thursday’s decision in hopes of better luck in another
country. Maung Zaw, 39, is a former member of a student organisation
supporting the opposition movement led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi.

He came to Korea in 1994 on a forged passport and visa amid an increasing
crackdown by the military junta. He and other compatriots formed a Seoul
branch of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, often staging
protests outside the Myanmar embassy.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 26, Irrawaddy
Gambari should be tougher on junta: PM in exile – Lalit K Jha

Burmese Prime Minister in Exile Sein Win said on Thursday that Ibrahim
Gambari, the special UN envoy on Burma, needs to be tougher on the
military junta.

Sein Win said the junta leaders want to manipulate Gambari, and he has to
be very careful.

"I want him to be tougher on the military," Sein Win told The Irrawaddy.
He was in New York to attend a meeting of Burmese monks outside the United
Nations headquarters.

"I do not want to say, he has to be replaced
but he [Gambari] has to be
careful in dealing with the military. He has to have his own agenda. He
has to have his own schedule," said Sein Win.

Gambari is often accused by critics of spending more time in the company
of the junta than with pro-democracy leaders when he is in Burma.

While conceding that Gambari can not do much because he lacks a strong
mandate from the Security Council, Sein Win said: "On the other hand,
Gambari should state the facts only and not let the military manipulate
him. For example, it is not in his mandate to talk about the 2010
elections. It is very sensitive matter. He should not talk about that."

The prime minister in exile said he differed with the approach taken by
some pro-democracy groups who have challenged the credentials of the
Burmese government representatives in the United Nations.

"This is not the good road to follow," he said, adding that his assessment
was based on taking various factors into account.

"When you challenge somebody, you have to think, how much you can win, how
much you can loose, what would be the consequence," he said.

Sein Win said that for various reasons, none of the neighboring countries
of Burma were willing to side with the pro-democracy movement and supports
them in the United Nations.

"The (credential challenge) is a very sensitive thing and many countries
do not want to make a precedent," he said.

____________________________________

September 26, Irrawaddy
Release Aung San Suu Kyi: Laura Bush – Lalit K Jha

The US first lady Laura Bush on Thursday again urged the Burmese military
junta to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and all other
political prisoners.

"The United States reiterates our long-standing call for the Burmese
regime to engage in a genuine dialogue with all democratic and ethnic
minority leaders, with the goal of making a credible transition to
civilian, democratic government," Laura Bush said in a statement.

The first lady said that the Burmese military regime has ignored the
entreaties of the international community.

"It has treated the United Nations special envoy with disregard," she
said. "Through its actions, the regime has reaffirmed its disdain for the
will and the well-being of the people of Burma. The military leaders
carried out a sham constitutional referendum, extended Aung San Suu Kyi's
house arrest and continued to arrest political activists."

Referring to the Saffron Revolution in 2007, she said tens of thousands of
Burmese monks and ordinary citizens took to the streets to demonstrate for
freedom, economic progress and basic human rights.

"The world watched in horror as Than Shwe ordered his military to begin a
brutal crackdown.  Soldiers sprayed bullets into unarmed crowds.  They
imprisoned thousands in cramped cells," she said.

"Monks who led the protests were beaten, arrested, and killed—and their
monasteries were raided in nighttime attacks.  In response, international
organizations and governments around the world condemned Burma's military
regime, called for the release of all political prisoners and demanded a
genuine dialogue on transition to a democratic government," she said.

Laura Bush said the United States will continue to work with the
international community to hold the regime accountable for its actions and
to intensify pressure on the regime to meet these basic requirements.

____________________________________

September 26, The View (UK)
UK considers further Burma sanctions

Britain has admitted that it could seek further sanctions against the
Burmese junta if it fails to improve its human rights record and deliver
on promises over political reform.

World leaders and ministers are in New York this week in and around the
United Nations as the Burmese people mark one year since the Saffron
Revolution pro-democracy protests were brutally crushed.

European Union sanctions against the junta have so far seen imports of
timber, metals, minerals and precious and semi-precious stones prohibited,
while investment in these sectors has been banned.

Sanctions from the bloc are aligned against the junta itself and not its
subjects, but the EU said that it would be "difficult to define tighter
sanctions that target the repressive regime without harming the ordinary
people of Burma".

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office told inthenews.co.uk the UK government
"would support considering further sanctions if insufficient political
progress in Burma is seen".

"Unanimity in the European Council would be required for measures to be
adopted," a spokesperson added.

UK ministers are in New York pressing for Burma to remain on the security
council agenda, with the status quo dubbed "inherently unstable".

Forthcoming summits between regional powers are being seen as a crucial
opportunity to lobby key governments.

Burma has languished under the control of its current oppressive military
government for two decades.

This time last year the junta launched a brutal crackdown of the largest
anti-military protests in Burma this century.

Twelve months ago the Burmese army was deployed to streets in major cities
across the country in response to demonstrations that began in protest at
fuel price rises.

Thousands were detained as a curfew was imposed, with the junta admitting
that nine people – including Japanese photojournalist Kenji Nagai – died
in the crackdown.

But international observers said the death-toll was likely to be much,
much higher.

The junta has already come under intense international pressure following
its perceived mismanagement in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which
killed up to 150,000 people after hitting southern Burma in May.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 26, Wall Street Journal
Burma’s bluff – Editorial

Burma's state media reported 9,002 prisoners were released this week as
part of the junta's plan for a "peaceful modern discipline-flourishing
democratic nation." Seven were political prisoners; most of the other
8,995 were petty criminals. That's a good indication of what the junta's
plan for a "democratic nation" looks like.

It is, of course, still worth celebrating the freedom of the seven who
were released -- especially today, which marks the one-year anniversary of
the brutal crackdown on the Saffron Revolution. More than 2,100 political
prisoners remain incarcerated, and 37 of those were arrested this month
alone, according to Bo Kyi, co-founder of the Assistance Association for
Political Prisoners in Burma.

Burma's ruling junta probably timed its prisoner bluff to coincide with
the debates of the United Nations General Assembly, which began the same
day the "amnesty" was announced. The generals want to deflect criticism
from the country's brutal human-rights record. And U.N. officials are
ready to grasp at any proof that U.N. Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari's
efforts to coax Burma toward democracy have been a success.

One of the dissidents released this week was Win Tin, a poet and activist
imprisoned for more than 19 years. He told an Indian-based newspaper how
he sees Burma today: "The democracy we [have] is not genuine democracy,
just the democracy in uniform, democracy given by the military. We don't
want this sort of democracy, democracy with an ogre's face." It's time for
the U.N., and the world, to call the generals on their bluff.

____________________________________

September 26, Asia Times
False dawn in Myanmar – Larry Jagan

Myanmar's military junta claims its recent release of several political
detainees and about 9,000 other prisoners marks the dawn of a new
political era and another milestone in its roadmap to "disciplined
democracy”, but analysts say it is merely part of a masterplan to dominate
the next election.

The mass amnesty appears to be timed to coincide with the first
anniversary of last year's 'Saffron Revolution' when police and soldiers
brutally suppressed monk-led anti-government protests against spiraling
inflation and a dramatic fuel price hike, leaving possibly hundreds dead
and many more injured.

But the release also probably signals the start of preparations for the
national elections in 2010, said Win Min, an independent Myanmar academic
based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. "The regime knows it must find ways of
controlling the outcome without looking too draconian ... [it] never does
anything that is not part of a bigger game plan."

The elections are part of the country's roadmap to what the regime has
referred to as "disciplined, flourishing democracy'', according to Myanmar
military sources. There is no word yet if opposition icon Aung San Suu
Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), or other opposition
parties, will be allowed to field candidates.

The mass release of prisoners has come as a surprise to diplomats and
residents in Yangon, as while the regime frequently grants amnesties to
mark important occasions, such as Armed Forces day or National Day, these
are usually petty criminals, albeit with a handful of political prisoners.

Among those freed was Win Tin, reportedly aged 79, the country's longest
serving political prisoner and a veteran journalist and political
activist. At least four other prominent former members of the NLD were
also released. Suu Kyi, however, remains under house arrest in the Yangon
residence where she has spent more than 13 of the last 19 years, with no
sign she will be freed any time soon.

"I will be happy only when all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu
Kyi, are released," Win Tin told local journalists shortly after his
release. Two other NLD members were also released along with five other
NLD politicians. One of them, Win Htain, was Suu Kyi's private assistant
before he was detained in 1996 and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.

"The release of these political activists, particularly those who were
very close to Aung San Suu Kyi, must be seen as an olive branch to the
pro-democracy leader on the part of the [Myanmar] leaders," a Yangon-based
Asian diplomat told Inter Press Service. "It may not be an offer of
dialogue, but it may represent a softening of the regime's hardened
position towards the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Win Tin served as a close aide to Suu Kyi and helped found the NLD with
her in 1988. He was arrested on July 4, 1989 - days before the opposition
leader was detained. He was initially sentenced to 14 years in prison in a
military court for allegedly being a member of the banned Communist Party
of Burma.

In 1996, he was sentenced to an additional seven years for writing to the
United Nations about prison conditions and for writing and circulating
anti-government pamphlets in prison.

A long-time editor, journalist and poet, Win Tin refused to allow prison
to silence him. "He would write poems on the walls of his cell with ink
made of brick powder and water," Zin Linn, a former political prisoner and
close colleague of Win Tin, said.

Immediately after he was released, Win Tin vowed to continue fighting
until Myanmar was a democratic nation. "I will keep fighting until the
emergence of democracy in this country," he told journalists gathered
outside his house in Yangon.

The international community has welcomed the releases - especially that of
Win Tin. But most analysts and diplomats in Yangon do not believe this is
the start of a mass amnesty for the country's remaining political
prisoners. British-based human rights group Amnesty International
estimates that there are more than 2,100 political prisoners still
languishing in Myanmar's jails.

"While the release of U Win Tin and his fellow prisoners is certainly the
best news to come out of Myanmar for a long time, unfortunately they
represent less than 1% of the political prisoners there," Benjamin
Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar researcher said from London in a
phone interview. "These handful of people should never have been
imprisoned in the first place, and there are many, many more still in
prison."

The regime recently announced through state-run media that thousands of
prisoners would be released in the run-up to the elections because of good
behavior and to allow them to serve the nation, with Myanmar's current
leader, Senior General Than Shwe, attempting to paint the mass release as
the start of a new era.

The amnesty is not without its precedents. More than 20,000 prisoners,
including hundreds of political prisoners, were released over several
months in 1992 to mark Than Shwe's becoming head of state and the start of
the constitutional drafting process.

Similarly, more than 10,000 prisoners were freed after former prime
minister and military intelligence chief General Khin Nyunt was ousted in
November 2004, including many of the 1988 student generation such as Min
Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and others who had been imprisoned for 14 years.
However, most were re-arrested for involvement in the 'Saffron Revolution'
last year.

There are likely to be many changes in Myanmar's political scene in the
weeks ahead as the regime gears up for the elections, but even though it
has already begun to describe itself as a transitional authority, most of
the these are likely to be cosmetic.

Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, told UN Special Envoy
Ibrahim Gambari when they met in Yangon last month that the transitional
government would "oppose and wipe out those who attempt to jeopardize or
harm the constitution".

This can only mean the military authorities will continue ruthlessly to
suppress dissent, while there is little hope of the forthcoming elections
being free and fair. “The military will not make the same mistake it did
last time,” said Win Min, referring to the landslide victory the NLD won
against the junta in 1990, which was ignored by the regime.

Larry Jagan previously covered Myanmar politics for the British
Broadcasting Corp. He is currently a freelance journalist based in
Bangkok.

____________________________________

September 26, The Times (UK)
In tiny acts of defiance, a revolution still fickers – Kenneth Denby

A bomb exploded in Rangoon yesterday morning, but like most acts of
defiance in Burma it was more of a symbol than a serious act of rebellion.
It happened in the mid-morning by a bus stop close to the golden spire of
the Sule pagoda — a loud bang, a rattling of windows and an immediate
influx of police carrying rifles.

Half a dozen people were treated for what were described as minor
injuries; a set of floodlights next to the site of the explosion had to be
repaired. Within a few hours, however, the police had dispersed, the
broken glass had been cleared up and the centre of Rangoon had returned to
normal — which, in Burma these days, means helpless, miserable tension.

Exactly one year earlier these streets were the stage for an extraordinary
drama — the biggest demonstrations in 20 years against one of the most
stubborn and brutal military regimes in the world. Hundreds of thousands
of Buddhist monks and believers marched in the biggest cities of Burma,
peacefully demanding justice, relief from soaring prices and democratic
reform. Students armed with digital cameras e-mailed images of the
so-called Saffron Revolution across the world.

Then the inevitable crackdown began. Dozens of demonstrators were killed
by police batons and army bullets; thousands were locked up. Twelve months
later the opposition is scattered, its leaders imprisoned and its power
broken. And yet, for all the hopelessness, flickers of resistance — and
hope — can still be made out.

Across the country, and principally in the cities of Rangoon, Mandalay and
Sittwe, monks and lay activists are using mobile telephones and the
internet to keep the spirit of opposition alive. Mass demonstrations, of
the kind that so shook the Government a year ago, are almost out of the
question — any public display of opposition would end in long
imprisonment. Instead tiny, loosely linked groups of activists secretly
perpetrate small, symbolic acts of defiance in anticipation of the moment
when the opportunity to take to the streets will represent itself again.

“It is impossible for us to demonstrate openly now because the security is
too much,” Min Tun, the abbot of a monastery in Mandalay, told The Times
this week. “But there will be opportunities and there will be
demonstrations in the future. The Saffron Revolution is not finished.”

The Venerable Min Tun (like the other Burmese activists in this report,
his name has been changed) presents another example of the kind of action
by which the Saffron revolutionaries sustain their morale. It is a simple
sketch of a human hand inside a circle — it might represent a friendly
wave, the raised palm of the Buddha or the hand of a traffic policeman.
This is the symbol of the “stop campaign”, an emblem of peaceful
resistance to the military regime.

The stop sign has been printed on pamphlets scattered in the streets of
Mandalay by night and sprayed on walls, above splashes of red paint that
symbolise the blood shed by the regime. A young man named Lu Kar explained
how he used a tiny stamp to imprint the symbol on the banknotes in the
shop where he works.

“The stop sign means stop torture, stop violence, stop injustice, and
there are many people like me, making this mark on the banknotes,” he
said. “Eventually, in a few months or a year, people will look at their
money and start to notice.”

Increased oppression has forced the anti-junta resistance to extremes of
ingenuity, and even wit. Stray dogs have been set loose with signs round
their necks bearing the names of Senior General Than Shwe and his junta.
Poets have published acrostic verses whose first letters spell out
insulting messages about the generals.

Mr Kar distributes Burmese translations of the work of Gene Sharp, a US
political scientist who has written about the practical art of
overthrowing dictatorships peacefully. And someone, somewhere — nobody
knows who — decided that peaceful means were not enough and planted
yesterday’s small but noisy bomb close to the Sule pagoda, which was the
focus of the demonstrations last year when a Japanese photographer and at
least one Burmese demonstrator were shot dead in the clampdown.

It is hard to imagine that life in Burma could have become worse than it
was then, but it undoubtedly has. The September 2007 uprising originated
in much smaller demonstrations against a sudden rise in prices caused by
the decision of the junta to remove subsidies on food in August of that
year. The sudden economic hardship that this caused added to long-running
resentment about the refusal of the junta to acknowledge the results of a
general election in 1990, won by the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Aung
San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the intervening years under house
arrest.

Economically and politically, however, Burmese are worse off today than
ever. According to foreign diplomats in Rangoon inflation runs at about 40
per cent and one third of the population lives below the poverty line —
and not only the survivors of Cyclone Nargis, which killed 140,000 people
and jeopardised the livelihoods of two million more in May. Revenues from
the extensive gasfields and rich gem mines in the country appear to have
been mostly spent on the construction of Naypyidaw, the isolated capital
city that the junta built in the jungles of central Burma. And as Burmese
find themselves growing poorer and poorer, they are becoming less and less
free.

On Tuesday the Government released seven prisoners of conscience as part
of an amnesty of 9,002 prisoners — but, according to Amnesty
International, the number of political prisoners has almost doubled in the
past year from 1,150 to 2,100. Since the Saffron Revolution the leadership
of the so-called ’88 Generation of activists has been either arrested or
forced into hiding.

The almost comically subservient state press trumpets the junta’s “road
map to democracy”, which is due to culminate in a general election in
2010. Few independent observers doubt that this will be a crude fix — much
like the constitutional “referendum” held the week after the cyclone, in
which 92 per cent of voters purportedly said yes to the Government plans
for a new constitution.

Ironically, it is the savageness of the economic suffering in Burma, and
the cartoon-like crudity and brutality of its rulers, which give some in
the democratic movement hope. “The demonstrations last year happened for a
reason, because of underlying social and economic problems,” Maung Maung,
an opposition journalist, said. “They have put people in prison and killed
some, but those economic problems are still there.”

In the meantime the organising continues discreetly. Various opposition
groups put out bulletins and statements but they are less like formal
membership organisations than loosely linked networks of friends. The
Venerable Min Tun explained that his group, the All Burma Monks
Association, had a cell system whereby one monk remained in touch with
four laymen so that when the momentum towards demonstrations reached a
sufficient level they could be mobilised quickly.

“Maybe it won’t be monks next time — maybe it’ll be farmers or students,
or even soldiers,” Mr Maung said. “But it’s just inevitably going to
happen again.”

____________________________________
STATEMENT

September 26, European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma
A year after the Saffron Revolution, crackdown in Burma continues

One year ago, thousands of Burmese people took to the streets in
nationwide protests against the military regime in Burma. The military
government responded with a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters,
opening fire on unarmed civilians, arresting thousands, and has been
persecuting all citizens peacefully expressing their rights until today.

On the 1st anniversary of the Saffron Revolution, we, Members of
Parliaments from the European states, thus express our deep concern
regarding the perpetual severe human rights violations in Burma and
express our strong support to all Burmese citizens who struggle under the
brutality of the military regime of Burma.

The year-long aftermath of the Saffron Revolution is alarming. The number
of political prisoners has almost doubled to 2130 since last year. This
includes 206 Buddhist monks and nuns, and 173 women activists. Only two
weeks ago, Ms. Nilar Thein, member of the opposition 88 Student Generation
Group and one of the leaders of the Saffron Revolution, was arrested after
more than a year in hiding. As parliamentarians, we are also deeply
concerned that 18 of our fellow colleagues  - Members of Parliament
elected in the 1990 elections - have been detained for their participation
in the peaceful protests during the past 12 months.

We categorically condemn the systematic violation of human rights in Burma
and we strongly urge the Burmese military government to :

Ø release immediately all political prisoners, including Ms. Nilar Thein,
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and our 18 fellow MPs.

Ø take part in the tripartite dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, all
concerned parties and ethnic representatives facilitated by the United
Nations without any further delay.

Recalling the United Nations Security Council Presidential Statement of
October 11, 2007, demanding the release of all political prisoners in
Burma, we strongly call upon the UN Security Council and UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-Moon to take all necessary measures to achieve their
release and to promote democratic change in Burma.

The release of all political prisoners must be minimum benchmark for
progress when the secretary general visits Burma in December.

We, parliamentarians from Europe, who have established the European
Parliamentary Caucus on Burma, hereby call upon our European Parliamentary
colleagues to join us in our efforts to work with the European
governments, the European Union, the United Nations Security Council and
other governmental and national institutions to bring about democratic
transition in Burma.

Sincerely,

John Bercow, Member of Parliament, Great Britain
On behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Burma in
the British Parliament

Petr Bratsky, Member of Parliament, Czech Republic
On behalf of the Parliamentary Group on Supporting Democracy in Burma in
the Czech Parliament

Simon Coveney, Member of Parliament, Ireland

Carmen Garcia, Member of Parliament, Spain

Glenys Kinnock, Member of European Parliament for Wales in the UK

Silver Meikar, Member of Parliament, Estonia

On behalf of the Burma Support Group in the Estonian Parliament

Laszlo Nagy, Member of Parliament, Slovakia

Zbygniew Romaszewski, Member of Parliament, Poland

Renate Weber, Member of the European Parliament, Romania

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

September 26, Human Rights Watch
One year after violent crackdown, repression continues

The international community should demand accountability from the Burmese
military government for the brutal crackdown in September 2007 on monks,
activists, and other civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. Repression
in Burma has increased and the military government has failed to deliver
on promises it made a year ago, despite international efforts at
mediation.

The crackdown that began on September 26, 2007, was a brutal response to
growing protests initially triggered in part by the doubling of fuel
prices in mid-August 2007. In the following weeks, Buddhist monks in
Rangoon, Mandalay, and other towns across Burma staged peaceful marches to
protest government policies and poor living standards. Lay supporters
gradually joined the marches, swelling to tens of thousands of people
calling for political, economic and social reforms.

“Last September, the Burmese people courageously challenged their military
rulers, and they were answered with violence and contempt,” said Elaine
Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The repression
continues. While a handful of political activists have been released, more
are being arrested and thousands remain in prison.”

On September 23, 2008, the ruling State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) announced the release of 9,002 prisoners from Burma’s jails, among
them seven political activists, including 78-year-old U Win Tin, a
prominent activist and journalist imprisoned since 1989.

But in August and September 2008 alone, the Burmese authorities arrested
an estimated 39 political activists and sentenced 21 to prison terms. On
September 16, Burmese authorities arrested Nilar Thein, a prominent
activist in hiding since the 2007 protests. Zargana, a famous activist and
comedian, has remained in prison since July 2008 for publicly criticizing
the SPDC’s slow response to aid following Cyclone Nargis. The SPDC
currently holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, including more than
800 arrested following the 2007 protests.

In the crackdown a year ago, Burmese security forces beat, arrested,
detained and shot monks and other protesters in the streets of Rangoon.
Police and plain-clothes paramilitary members arrested thousands of
peaceful participants in the protests in nighttime raids on monasteries
and their homes. In the following days, hundreds more were beaten,
arrested and detained at makeshift detention facilities, police stations
and jails.

In the most extensive documentation of the crackdown to date, Human Rights
Watch documented at least 20 cases of extrajudicial killings, and dozens
of beatings and arrests by riot police and army soldiers, assisted by
local paramilitaries of the pro-government Union Solidarity and
Development Association.

The true number of people killed may never be known, since there has been
no investigation by Burmese authorities or UN investigators. The UN
Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burma, Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro, made a report after his November 2007 visit, but acknowledged it
was not a full investigation and recommended that the UN Human Rights
Council call for investigations into the circumstances of the crackdown.

“It’s a failure of the Burmese government and the international community
that the perpetrators of killing, arbitrary arrests and torture during the
September 2007 crackdown have not been brought to justice,” Pearson said.

Instead, the SPDC has continued with its plans of pseudo-political
reforms, conducting a constitutional referendum in May. The military
government claims that there was a voter turnout of over 98 percent of
eligible voters and that 92 percent of them endorsed a constitution that
cements military rule. Human Rights Watch has reported on the human rights
problems surrounding the referendum, including sharp restrictions on
freedom of assembly, association, and tight controls on the media.

Since the September 2007 crackdown, the United Nations Secretary General’s
Special Advisor on Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, has made four visits to Burma.
The SPDC made numerous promises to Gambari that is has failed to keep:

Dialogue with the detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi did briefly
resume but broke down;
The constitutional referendum was not free and fair;
Not all political parties are able to participate in the electoral
process; and,
The roadmap to democracy is neither credible nor inclusive.

“Despite an array of promises to the United Nations, the Burmese military
government has not made good on any of them,” Pearson said. “Rather than
let Burma’s rulers continue to engage in fruitless dialogue, the
international community should demand real action.”