BurmaNet News, September 30, 2008

[Editor]

September 30, 2008 Issue # 3567


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: NLD confirms further prisoner releases
DVB: Sittwe monks demand release of detained monk
Irrawaddy: DKBA recruited villagers for assault on KNLA
Irrawaddy: Karen group opposes Salween river dams
Mizzima News: Veteran Burmese politician hospitalized
Mizzima News: Burmese opposition MP dies
IMNA: Cyber cafes ordered to close early

ON THE BORDER
Punjab Newsline (India): 35 Burma nationals arrested on Indo-Pak border in
Punjab

BUSINESS / TRADE
The National (UAE): Jade trade in Myanmar thrives on exploitation, rights
abuses
Irrawaddy: Remove ‘unjust’ economic sanctions: Junta

HEALTH / AIDS
Mizzima News: Junta issues warning on tainted milk powder

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: Nobel laureates urge pressure on Sudan, Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
New Straits Times (Malaysia): Winds of change fail to stir Myanmar - James
Rose
Irrawaddy: TI Corruption Index is no different either – Sai Soe Win Latt


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 30, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD confirms further prisoner releases – Khin Hnin Htet

The National League for Democracy has confirmed that all nine party
members arrested on Saturday have now been released, while a tenth
political prisoner has been freed as part of the government amnesty.

It has now been confirmed that all nine of the people arrested at the
NLD’s 20th anniversary celebrations on Saturday were released on 27
September.

Htet Htet Oo Wai, Daw Shan Ma, six unnamed youth members and a middle-aged
woman were arrested near the NLD headquarters before or after the
ceremony.

They were taken to Rangoon Western district police station and questioned
about the bomb blast at the Shwepyitha township Union Solidarity and
Development Association office on 1 July, according to NLD spokesperson U
Nyan Win.

Nyan Win said the arrests had been a deliberate attempt to stop people
from attending the NLD 20th anniversary ceremony.

Separately, Nyan Win confirmed that another political prisoner, Ko Thiha,
was released from Mongsat jail on 23 September as part of the government
amnesty.

Ko Thiha had been sentenced to death on treason charges for allegedly
trying to attack the Yaykoo broadcasting house in Rangoon with a rocket
launcher in 1991.

This latest confirmed release brings the total number of political
prisoners among the 9002 detainees granted amnesty to 10.

An eleventh political prisoner, Win Htein, was also freed on 23 September
as part of the amnesty but was then detained again the following morning.

Nyan Win described Win Htein’s re-arrest as “unacceptable”, while Burma
Lawyers’ Council secretary Aung Htoo said it was unlawful detention.

Tate Naing of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said the
re-arrest of someone who had just been freed amounted to psychological
torture.

____________________________________

September 30, Democratic Voice of Burma
Sittwe monks demand release of detained monk - Naw Say Phaw

Members of the Sittwe monks’ union have called for the release of U
Eitthriya, who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for his
involvement in public demonstrations last year.

The monks made their demand on 28 September and also called for the
release of all political prisoners, including monks, arrested in
connection with last year’s Saffron Revolution.

U Eitthriya, a 28-year-old monk from Seittathuka monastery in Sittwe, was
arrested on 28 September 2007, according to leading monk U Yekkhaputta.

"When the monks started to demonstrate in August 2007, abbot U Eittrhtiya
led them and then he was arrested,” U Yekkhaputta said.

“It has been a year now. If our demand is not met we will join with monks
from inside and outside and we will continue to fight."

U Yekkhaputta urged the Burmese people to join together to challenge the
regime.

"You are your own salvation. Don't depend on any foreign country or the
UN, demand your own rights,” U Yekkhaputta said.

“If our generation does not do its duty, our race, religion and the Sasana
will disappear," he said.

"The reason why [the government’s] machinery is working is because the
public is afraid. If we were not afraid their machinery would totally
collapse, we strongly believe that,” he went on.

“If the public can come to realise that they have to fight for their
rights, then victory is not far."

Sittwe monks staged a silent march in commemoration of the monk-led
protests last year and the subsequent violent crackdown by the military
regime.

Security in Sittwe, which was already high around the anniversary of the
Saffron Revolution, was further tightened in response to the march.

____________________________________

September 30, Irrawaddy
DKBA recruited villagers for assault on KNLA – Violet Cho

The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), a splinter group of the Karen
National Union (KNU), reportedly forcibly recruited villagers to bolster
its forces for a military offensive against the Karen National Liberation
Army (KNLA).

According to the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), which documents the
human rights situation in Karen State, the DKBA Brigade 999, led by Maung
Chit Thu, began a recruiting campaign in mid-August, ordering village
heads in T’Nay Hsah Township, Pa’an District, to muster local people to
take part in an assault on a stronghold of the KNLA’s Sixth Brigade in
Kawkareik district.

Selection was carried out by a lottery system. Those chosen were enlisted
for at least 18 months service in the DKBA army.

Poe Shan, field director of KHRG, said: “About 175 villagers from 11
villages in Pa-an district are now intensively being trained to be
soldiers in the DKBA army.”

Villagers selected under the lottery system could hire others to take
their place, but had to guarantee that the replacements would not desert
the army. Villages were also required to pay the DKBA 300,000-400,000 kyat
(US $235-313) for the upkeep of each recruit.

A KNLA Sixth Brigade official confirmed that DKBA battalions 907, 903 and
333 were being deployed for a military offensive. The Sixth Brigade was
ready to confront the attackers, he said.

Hser Gay, a senior member of the Brigade’s taxation department, said the
DKBA wanted to wrest control of Kawkareik district from the KNLA because
of the economic advantages to be gained, in logging and mining.

Several skirmishes between KNLA and DKBA forces have occurred this year,
and DKBA troops overran a KNLA Battalion 201 base in early July, forcing
many Karen villagers to flee across the border to Thailand.

Despite the military buildup, the KNU is proceeding with preparations for
its 14th congress, at which successors will be chosen for its assassinated
General Secretary Padoh Mahn Sha and deceased President Ba Thein Sein.

____________________________________

September 30, Irrawaddy
Karen group opposes Salween river dams – Saw Yan Naing

The Burmese government’s plan to build two major hydropower dams—the Wai
Gyi and Hat Gyi—on the Salween River in eastern Burma threatens the human
rights of local residents and the biodiversity of the area, says an
environmental organization.

According to the report “Khoe Kay: Biodiversity in Peril” released by the
Thailand-based Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) on
Monday, more than 40 rare seeds and animal species in the Salween River
watershed are likely to vanish if the Burmese government completes
construction of the hydropower dams.

Ko Shwe, a researcher who spent three months collecting data in the area,
said, “According to our research, we found about 394 different species.
Among them, there are 40 indigenous species including plants and animals.
If the dam is completed, these species will be totally vanished.”

The report urged the government to conduct a professional environmental
assessment as well as an environmental impact study before construction
work begins on the hydropower dams.

The Wai Gyi and Hat Gyi dams are both located in Karen National Union
controlled areas.

Meanwhile, Saw Nay, the director of Karen River Watch, said the Hat Gyi
dam on the lower Salween River threatened several thousands of residents
as well as wildlife.

According to its research, about 5,000 reside in more than 20 villages in
the upper Hat Gyi dam area will be forced to relocate if the dam is
completed, he said. He said human rights abuses such as forced labor,
forced relocation, the disappearance of culture heritage as well as
environmental damage including disforestation and flooding are likely to
occur.

The Hat Gyi dam, the first to be built, is designed to power a
600-megawatt turbine. The project is expected to be complete by 2010.

The Hat Gyi dam project has drawn strong protests from nongovernmental
organizations concerned about the potential environmental impact and the
dam’s effect on the livelihood of villagers.

____________________________________

September 30, Mizzima News
Veteran Burmese politician hospitalized - Than Htike Oo

Veteran Burmese politician Thakhin Thein Pe, age 93, has reportedly been
admitted to 'Asia Royal' hospital at about 9 p.m. on Monday as he was
suffering from high blood pressure, family sources said.

A family member, Daw Htar Htar Aye, told Mizzima that Thakin Thein Pe has
been suffering from hypertension and his blood pressure shot up to 170/100
mm Hg on Monday. He was admitted to 'Asia Royal' hospital on Baho Street
in Sanchaung Township of Rangoon.
"He was almost paralyzed. He could not stand and was feeling numb below
the waist.  We checked his blood pressure and found it was high. So we
decided to admit him to hospital," she said.

However, a colleague, who visited him at the clinic on Tuesday, said that
the veteran was out of danger and his pressure has normalised.

"His blood pressure now is 120/90 mm Hg. He is out of danger and now he
can sit up," he said.

The veteran politician Thakin Thein Pe is an influential person in the
Burmese political circle and in early 2007, he handed two flags that
represent the historical revolutionary mark of Burmese students to 88
Generation Students led by Min Ko Naing.

He was one of the leaders during the anti-colonial and anti-fascist
struggles and a Central Committee member of the then 'Dobamar Asiayone' –
'We Burmans Association'.

He is currently serving as an advisor for initiating a tripartite dialogue
between the military regime, the opposition party 'National League for
Democracy' (NLD) and ethnic forces.

____________________________________

September 30, Mizzima News
Burmese opposition MP dies – Zarni

An elected Burmese Member of Parliament from the 1990 general elections,
Dr. Myo Win, on Monday died of liver cancer on the Thai-Burmese border
town of Mea Sod.

Dr. Myo Win, age 54, was elected MP from Kawa constituency in Pegu
division. He died at about 3 p.m. on Monday.

A medical graduate from the Mandalay Medical Institute, Dr. Myo Win, was
arrested and jailed for three years for his involvement in the peoples'
democracy uprising in 1988.

The junta asked him to give-up his position as MP in exchange for
promotion and opportunity for further studies abroad. Dr. Myo Win,
however, rejected the junta's offer and remained firm in his commitments.

Following his resentments, he faced severe pressures from the government
to close down his clinic, and was constantly watched and followed. He
finally left Burma in 2004.

In exiled, Dr. Myo Win joined the National Coalition of Union of Burma
(NCUB), and served as secretary for a year in 2004 – 2005. He also joined
the Political Defiance Committee of the NCUB.

While he is a member of the Burmese Member of Parliament Union (MPU), he
also served as the central committee member of the National League for
Democracy – Liberated Area.

He leaves behind his wife Daw Nilar, two daughters and a son.

Family sources said his funeral will be held on October 2.

____________________________________

September 30, Independent Mon News Agency
Cyber cafes ordered to close early

Suffering from an unnamed fear on the 1st anniversary of the saffron
revolution the Burmese military junta has ordered cyber cafes to close
early in the capital of Mon state, Moulmein (Mawlamyine).

According to cyber café owners in the city, government officials went to
each café in Moulmein and ordered owners to close before 8 p.m.

"Earlier, we could use the internet until midnight. But the café owners
are closing early and not allowing customers to stay beyond 8 p.m.," an
internet user in Moulmein told IMNA.

In Moulmein there were six cyber cafes—the MYC, MCC, POST, INFORMATIC,
HTAKASON and SKY NET.

According to an internet shop owner and a surfer the regime has blocked
them from accessing dissident websites and media websites in exile.

Monks students and Moulmein university students rely on the internet to
communicate with the outside world even though they are closely monitored.

Currently the Burmese military junta officials have deployed additional
security in Moulmein city and have been closely watching Ye monastery,
Shin Phyu monastery and university students. The military has also
tightened security in the place where Moulmein monks started marching
during the saffron revolution.

During the September 2007 saffron revolution thousands of monks in
Moulmein joined hands with university students and demonstrated against
the military junta in Rangoon.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 30, Punjab Newsline (India)
35 Burma nationals arrested on Indo-Pak border in Punjab – Jagmohan Singh

Thirty five Burma National including 20 children were arrested at Indo Pak
border by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) when they were trying to
cross the international border from Indian side to Pakistan at Bikhiwind
village.

After arrest, all the alleged accused were handed over to the Punjab
Police here today which further sent them to jail for violating Indian
Passport act.

Police said that all the alleged accused had arrived Indian illegally and
reached Punjab to cross over to Pakistan.  All were arrested when they
were trying to cross the barbed fencing at border village Bikhiwind.  None
of the alleged accused was possessing passport or any valid documents
which were required at the time of crossing of
international border, said Police.

Police said that there were five families having thirty five members had
come to Bangladesh from Burma and reached to India to cross over to
Pakistan with the hope of greener posture but laded behind the bars.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

September 30, The National (UAE)
Jade trade in Myanmar thrives on exploitation, rights abuses – Rajeshree
Sisodia

The town of Hpakant is asleep as dawn breaks. Earthmovers slumber on huge
slag heaps, guarded by fluorescent lights. Lush, dense jungle gives way to
land more reminiscent of a frontier Wild West town, stripped bare by the
Myanmar junta’s relentless pursuit of jade.

With a population of about 100,000, Hpakant is the centre of Myanmar’s
jade mining industry. Two state-run high schools and a bustling market
lend an air of normality. Hpakant is tucked away in the remote north of
the country, in Kachin state, between India and China, and foreigners are
forbidden from entering the area by Myanmar’s military dictatorship.

Around 20,000 people from across Myanmar migrate or are forced to work for
hundreds of mine companies that operate in Hpakant.

Arun Htin, 30, who did not want to give his real name, has been an illegal
jade miner or jade stealer in Hpakant for the past four years. Originally
from Myitkyina, Kachin state’s capital, he sifts through dregs of soil
dumped by legal mine workers over ground with his hands for slivers of
jade they may have overlooked, as he looks for the gem and what he hopes
will be a way out.

But in reality, for him and thousands of other illegal and official jade
miners, collecting the precious stone has become little more than a ticket
to a life of exploitation, poverty and addiction; a passport to the next
hit of heroin and cheap rice alcohol.

“I use many kinds of drugs; heroin, alcohol,” he said. “I smoke heroin and
get it from drug-selling shops in Hpakant. The government, the soldiers do
not do anything to close the shops. The drug sellers just give money to
the authority leaders and bribe them and sell it freely.”

Mr Htin is one of the lucky few; he earns between 50,000 kyat (Dh28,000)
and 100,000 kyat a month stealing jade and selling the gems to illegal and
legal jade dealers. Most legal jade miners are fortunate to be paid a US$1
(Dh3.67) a day. Mr Htin became an illegal jade collector to help support
his family, including his four brothers and parents, who live in
Myitkyina. But dire working conditions led him to start smoking heroin a
year ago. He spends 15,000 kyat on each fix.

“I started to take heroin to feel happy, because my life is hard. You can
work all night and work all day without getting tired. The first time I
took it, I remember, I felt high. Our lives are very, very miserable and
difficult, stones fall on top of you.

“Some of my friends died because of this work because of rocks falling on
top of them. There is no safety equipment, no training, nothing. We just
buried their bodies, with no compensation, nothing from the companies.”

Imperial green jade is found only in Myanmar. Jewellery made from this
kind of jade can sell for millions of dollars on the international market.
But Myanmar’s mining industry is built on suffering. Forced and child
labour, land confiscation, drug abuse, sexual exploitation and
environmental damage have scarred the mining trade, according to human
rights groups.

Myanmar’s mines are either partly or completely owned by the country’s
military leaders and its business partners. From mining to cutting,
polishing, trading and selling, the regime’s generals control the gem
industry with a vice-like grip. Revenue from the lucrative trade filters
straight to the junta, a government that spends about $330 million a year
on arms but less than half that amount on education and health care
combined.

A new report made public yesterday reveals the growing links between
Myanmar’s expanding mining, hydropower, natural gas and oil projects and
China, a country keen to tap into Myanmar’s natural resources to feed its
growing energy needs. The report, by EarthRights International (ERI), a
non-governmental organisation based in Thailand, points to 69 Chinese
multinational corporations working with the junta on various
multimillion-dollar projects including mines, dams and gas pipelines in
Myanmar. Research by ERI reveals 10 Chinese firms are involved in six
mining deals with the regime.

The report outlines Beijing’s growing economic involvement with the regime
and adds China has supplied arms and financial support to the junta.

Matthew Smith, project co-coordinator at ERI, said Beijing’s growing
presence in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, played a key role in the
continuation of human rights abuses.

“China’s involvement perpetuates the status quo. If you really want to
understand China’s approach to Myanmar, you can look at what’s happening
on the ground and that is Chinese demand is leading these Chinese
multinational companies to increase their involvement in Myanmar’s natural
resources sector. That in turn is contradictory to China’s foreign policy
of peaceful coexistence and has a demonstrative impact on the ground in
terms of human rights abuses.”

Precious stones are among the junta’s largest source of foreign revenue
along with oil, natural gas and agricultural exports. Myanmar’s gem
industry plays a crucial role in propping up the regime, a military
dictatorship that has shown its willingness to oppress its people through
systematic human rights violations since it first seized power in a
violent coup in 1962.

The junta’s attempts to stifle information about its mining industry has
meant research into the jade industry is limited. However, the first
report investigating conditions in Myanmar’s jade mines, published last
month by the New York-based advocacy group 8-8-08 for Burma, highlighted
the human rights abuses perpetrated by the junta in jade mining areas.

“An environment of impunity and violence has been created by the military
regime and its corporate partners, who inflict beatings on and even kill
locals who are caught collecting stones cast off as trash by the mining
companies.

“Mining company bosses and local authorities are complicit in a thriving
local trade in drugs which – when coupled with a substantial sex industry
– has led to a generalized HIV/Aids epidemic that has spilt over the
border into China,” the document said.

Though no comprehensive research into HIV rates in Kachin state has been
carried out, the International Crisis Group has reported that 1.3 per cent
of adults in Myanmar, a country of around 55 million, are infected with
HIV, one of the highest rates in Asia.

Corruption means government officials long ago turned a blind eye to the
narcotics and sex trades. Drug dealers and brothel-owners pay bribes to
junta officials, who in many cases protect the flesh and drug industries.
The global anti-corruption group, Transparency International, has ranked
Myanmar as the second most corrupt country in the world after Somalia,
linking corruption as a key factor in the perpetuation of human rights
abuses by the junta.

Myanmar’s people face an even bleaker future as the global jade industry
expands. Campaigners have warned demand for jade, particularly in China
with its rising economic growth, is on the increase. Human Rights Watch
has estimated that $297m worth of gems, including jade, were exported from
Myanmar in the financial year 2006 to 2007. The figure had risen to $647m
for the following fiscal year.

Jade mine managers in Myanmar agree the industry is thriving. Sai Joseph,
34, became a mine manager in Hpakant in 2004. At that time, he said, the
town was home to between 300 and 400 mines. Now, there are around 3,000
“official” mines and countless others.

Some of Hpakant’s official mining firms are joint ventures between private
mining companies, both foreign and Myanmar, and the junta. The country’s
military generals have direct stakes in many of the domestic firms. Other
mining companies are private, Myanmar-based firms. The regime’s
regulations means foreign companies are not allowed to own mines but must
either form a partnership with a Myanmar company or with the junta.

Beijing’s place at the centre of Myanmar’s jade industry, and its economy,
is indisputable. Gem-quality jade is highly prized in China. While China
does mine some of its own jade, the majority of Myanmar’s jade is sold in
China. Reliable data is hard to obtain but informal evidence suggests
China is the largest consumer of jade from Myanmar.

When asked about the claims, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi said: “China
advocates dialogue instead of imposing pressure. Furthermore, the
accusations cannot be proved.”

The junta in Myanmar continues to depend on Beijing for political support
in the international community. China and Russia last year vetoed a draft
United Nations Security Council resolution put forward by the United
States and Britain that would have called on the junta to ease political
repression and the persecution of ethnic minorities. The United States,
the European Union and Canada have imposed arms embargoes on Myanmar, but
China, along with Russia and India, continues to sell arms to the regime.

But while human rights activists have urged Beijing to do more to force
the regime to improve its human rights track record, some political
analysts have warned China will not apply overt political pressure on the
junta for fear of creating instability in the region.

Analysts added Beijing is lobbying the junta informally on the regime’s
human rights violations as China fears instability could affect Myanmar’s
growing ethnic Chinese population and Chinese business interests.

Myanmar’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD),
has confirmed it has been involved in informal talks with Chinese
officials to try to steer through progress towards democracy and an
eventual improvement in human rights. But the junta has refused to engage
in dialogue with the NLD, of which Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is
leader.

Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political analyst based in Thailand, said: “I
doubt China has the intention to bring about progress because China and
India have a notion of stability in Burma and that stability is provided
by the military. If the military disappears, they think the sea of
stability will disappear and Burma will disintegrate, ethnic insurgencies
will happen.

“Change depends on China’s intention and the Burmese military’s mindset.
But the Chinese government is concerned about the Burmese military’s
situation of continuing human rights abuses. That’s why they have started
talking to Burmese opposition groups to find out what is actually
happening.”

He added political dialogue with the military, rather than a continuation
of policies that isolate the junta, could act as a springboard to
implement gradual reform.

“Human rights abuses are a key instrument in the US foreign policy. They
are non-negotiable. But we need to look for ways to engage in dialogue
with the military government and then tackle human rights abuses. We have
to keep human rights on the agenda but at the same time, there must be
ways to engage with the Burmese military,” he said.

“The whole situation is very hopeless. The West won’t give up on its
ethical position, the military won’t change.

“If the West continues to see it in a black and white way it will not
contribute to the development of democracy or the improvement of human
rights in the country.”

____________________________________

September 30, Irrawaddy
Remove ‘unjust’ economic sanctions: Junta – Lalit K Jha

The Burmese military government on Monday urged the international
community to lift "unjustified" economic sanctions that hurt the
development and progress of its people.

"Unilateral sanctions have been imposed on my country," Burmese Foreign
Minister Nyan Win told the 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New
York.

"These sanctions are unwarranted. Unilateral sanctions are also against
international law. They are not only unfair, but also immoral. They are
counter productive and deprive the country of its right to development."

Nyan Win said economic sanctions are holding back Burma’s contribution to
the international community.  The United States and many EU countries have
imposed economic sanctions on Burma in recent years to urge it to move
toward a more democratic government and to protect human rights.

"Myanmar [Burma] has abundant land and natural resources to be able to
make a meaningful contribution to energy and food security of our country
and beyond. In order for us to fulfill our potential we need unfettered
access to market," he said.

Observing that his country needs modern technology and investment, Nyan
Win said: "The sooner the unjust sanctions are revoked and the barriers
removed, the sooner will the country be in a position to become the rice
bowl of the region and a reliable source of energy."

In an apparent dig at the Security Council, where many permanent members
have been unsuccessfully trying to pass a binding resolution against the
Burmese military regime, he said: "I would like to stress that attempts to
initiate formal or informal discussions in the Security Council on
situations that do not constitute a threat to international peace and
security are contrary to the letter and spirit of the charter."

The Foreign Minister said necessary measures are being taken to conduct
the 2010 elections. "The government would make every effort to ensure that
the elections will be free and fair," he said.

Meanwhile, two Nobel Peace Prize winners, Jody Williams and Wangari
Maathai, along with popular Hollywood actress-turned-activist Mia Farrow
on Monday urged the UN and Asean to exert more pressure on the Burmese
military regime.

During a press conference at the UN Correspondents Association at
UN headquarters in New York, the three activists expressed their
dissatisfaction over the steps taken by the UN and Asean regarding the
restoration of democracy in Burma, the release of political prisoners and
the protection of human rights.

Fresh from a recent visit to the Thai-Burma border, Williams, Maathai and
Farrow said they found the Burmese military regime is keeping the pressure
on democracy activists.

"We are calling for the release of political prisoners in Burma, including
Aung San Suu Kyi, the cessation of campaigns of violence against ethnic
nationalities and a dialogue to real democracy in the country," Farrow
said.

"We are also calling for the delivery of humanitarian relief post Cyclone
Nargis directly to the people of Burma," she said.

The activists formed part of a fact-finding mission that visited Sudan,
Eastern Chad, and the Thai-Burma border. A report on the visit along with
their recommendations was released Monday during the press conference.

"We must keep up the pressure on the world's superpower to do the right
thing in Darfur and Burma—and create the conditions for long-lasting peace
and democracy," said Farrow.

Following the recent visit of Ibrahim Gambari, the special UN envoy to
Burma, Williams said she supported the decision of Aung San Suu Kyi to not
to meet with the UN envoy.

"Why would you meet with this guy (Gambari) and legitimize a process which
is doing nothing," she said. "I commend her for refusing this meeting."

“This is a failed mission, why should she support it,” Williams said.

Referring to the upcoming visit of UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon to
Burma later this year, she said: "I do not know, why he is going there. A
visit to make a visit is worthless. If nothing comes of it, what is the
point?"

The report prepared by the delegation called on the UN, Asean and other
international institutions to pressure the Burmese military regime to take
steps toward greater democracy—most urgently, the immediate release of all
political prisoners in Burma including Aung San Suu Kyi.

They also called for a "commitment" from Asean and UN Security Council to
act upon their own call for democratic reform including freedom of
assembly in Burma.
The report also called for sending humanitarian aid to the people of Burma
through NGOs rather than through the Burmese government.

Referring to her conversation with an Asean diplomat during her trip to
the region, Williams said as much as 25 percent of the foreign aid is
"removed off the top" due to foreign currency exchange.

"So, if they start taking 25 percent even before they [the military junta]
start stealing, I can imagine what is actually getting to the people,"
Williams said. "I think the international community should look at another
mechanism in supplying the aid.”

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

September 30, Mizzima News
Junta issues warning on tainted milk powder – Mungpi

For the first time Burma's state-run newspaper has issued a warning to
avoid the use of potentially tainted milk as it can cause severe health
damage, particularly to children.

A report in the Burmese language newspaper Myanmar Ahlin, an official
government mouth-piece, on Tuesday said with Chinese milk and milk
products found to contain the chemical melamine, people should avoid using
uncertified milk and milk products.

The report came weeks after the Chinese government announced finding the
chemical melamine in milk products produced by several Chinese dairy
firms. China had also announced that two of the companies identified as
having marketed tainted milk had been exporting their milk and milk
products to at least five countries, including Burma.

The warning in the government-newspaper, however, did not identify any
particular brand of milk powder that people should avoid, instead
generally articulating that tainted milk could cause kidney complication,
even resulting in the development of kidney stones.

Yet critics have said that they believe Chinese milk powder has made its
way to markets in Burma and believe many Burmese children, not knowing any
better, are consuming the potentially hazardous products.

A shopkeeper in Burma's second largest city, Mandalay, said they are still
selling milk imported from China and have so far received no notice or
announcement by the authorities to stop such sales.

"We are continuing to sell Chinese milk powder here, and so far there is
no notice from the authorities to stop sales," she said, adding that they
are continuing to receive Chinese goods.

Mandalay is the largest commercial hub in upper Burma and receives almost
all border imports from China, be they of the legal or illegal variety.

An Associated Press report on Monday, citing a local Rangoon newspaper,
said the Burmese Ministry of Commerce has barred entry of all dairy
products from China since last Tuesday.

However an official at the Ministry of Commerce on Friday told Mizzima,
"We have not ordered any ban but are conducting stricter vigilance on all
goods, and particularly on milk and milk products."

Officials at the ministry on Tuesday were not immediately available to
comment.

A businessman in Laiza, a Sino-Burmese border town and one of the major
trading points from which Chinese goods enter Burma, said so far there are
no orders to ban milk products from China.

"Though we heard there would be a ban on milk powders from China, the
goods are still being imported and there is no strict order that bans the
import [of milk products]," he said.

Chinese milk powders are still being imported in large quantity and the
flow of Chinese goods is normal, he went on to elaborate.

"I don't think the government can stop the flow of Chinese milk powder
this way even if it wanted. If the government really wanted to prevent
[the import of Chinese milk powder], then they must strictly ban the
import of the commodity and announce it to the public in order to make
them understand," he said.

He added that most people on the border are not even aware of the danger
that tainted milk poses, and children are still seen taking Chinese milk
powder.

"Only a few people who listen to the radio are aware of the situation. But
for most people, since Chinese milk is cheap, they are continuing to buy
and consume," he added

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese analyst based in Ruili on the Sino-Burmese
border, another trading point, said there has been no order to ban Chinese
milk and milk products.

"Just about two days ago I saw at least 15 lorries loaded with Chinese
goods, including milk powder, heading toward Mandalay," Aung Kyaw Zaw
said.

He added that with many Chinese dairy companies unable to export their
products to other countries, companies are likely to target Burma as a
potential market, as the Burmese authorities have so far not enforced a
strict ban.

"But even if the government does officially ban [Chinese milk], it would
still be impossible to stop the illegal import," he continued.

Meanwhile, the Burmese Food and Drug Administration, under the Ministry of
Health, said it is testing milk products and those products found safe
will be given a 'melamine-free' stamp, according to the Associated Press
report.

But shop owners in Mandalay's Zegyo market, the largest Chinese goods
selling market in the city, said so far there are no authorities
conducting tests on Chinese milk and milk products that are for sale.

"We are still selling Chinese milk powders, and we have not received any
order to stop," the shop owner explained.

Meanwhile, the milk scandal in China has killed at least 4 children and
caused at least 54,000 children to fall ill. But Aung Kyaw Zaw, citing
Chinese journalists and friends, said at least 60 children have died from
consuming tainted milk powder.

The Chinese government, for its part, closed down 22 dairy companies whose
products were found to contain the chemical melamine.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 30, Reuters
Nobel laureates urge pressure on Sudan, Myanmar – Claudia Parsons

African Union leaders are more interested in protecting Sudan's president
than its people and Southeast Asian leaders do the same when it comes to
Myanmar, a group of women Nobel Prize winners said on Monday.

"All those clubs, the African Union, ASEAN, or the U.N. Human Rights
Council club, recognize their job as protecting the state rather than
protecting the human rights of people from states that violate them," said
Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for campaigning
against land mines.

 She said ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, should put
more pressure on Myanmar over human rights and democracy rather than
buying timber and gems that give the military junta money to support
itself.

She criticized the African Union for siding with Sudanese President Omar
Hassan Al-Bashir over a request by the prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court to charge Bashir with genocide in Darfur. Bashir and AU
leaders have said the move would damage prospects for peace in the region.

"We need to put intense pressure on these institutions that are supposed
to be having a role in protecting people," Williams told a news conference
at the United Nations, reporting on a fact-finding trip to south Sudan,
Chad, the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa and the Thai border with Myanmar.

The trip was organized by the Nobel Women's Initiative, which was founded
in 2006 by six women Nobel Peace Prize winners, including Wangari Maathai,
a Kenyan environmentalist who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.

Williams said the reason for visiting refugees from both Myanmar and Sudan
was to show the linkages between the two situations -- especially the role
of China in buying oil and providing weapons that helped support the
governments.

Actress Mia Farrow, a vocal campaigner on Darfur who was part of the
delegation on the trip, said AU officials had been "quite agitated" when
she and the others raised the subject of the ICC indictment on Bashir when
they met in Addis Ababa.

She said women she met in refugee camps in Chad who had fled Darfur were
unanimous in supporting the indictment requested by ICC chief prosecutor
Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

"Babies are being born, babies are being named Moreno Ocampo," she told
the news conference.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 30, New Straits Times (Malaysia)
Winds of change fail to stir Myanmar - James Rose

Last September, peaceful demonstrations let the world know that the people
of Myanmar had enough of the crushing oppression of the military junta,
yet, today, exactly one year later, Myanmar still languishes in a haze of
terror and deprivation. Another year goes by and those monks who are left
after the military cracked down after the demonstration are contemplating
huge risks once again because the world just didn't get it last time.

If Myanmar is a part of the global family, it is perhaps its most
neglected, like a child cast away simply because it was mugged by some
bullies and has been held hostage by them ever since. As with most
situations of this kind, ostracisation is as much the story of the
ostraciser as the ostracised.

It certainly doesn't make sense to ignore the people. Most risk their
lives daily in keeping the Saffron Revolution alive and in trying to get
the message to the world, they need help.

Led by the community of monks in this devoutly Buddhist country, known as
the Sangha, a network of activism has firmed throughout the country since
last September. Monks have boycotted the military and continue to thwart
their attempts to crush the country's spiritual soul. The military have
been largely cut off from the Buddhist clergy and the monks have openly
campaigned for an international arms embargo as a means of taking the
tools of oppression away from their oppressors.

The Sangha provided the aid and accommodation services the military
refused to give to some 70 per cent of homeless survivors from May's
Cyclone Nargis in Yangon and around the Irrawaddy delta.

This is a case of the civil overwhelming the political; of citizens and
their spiritual leaders, not their political leaders, taking up the slack
left neglected by the government.

Perhaps this is why the community of nations finds it difficult to respond
more firmly in Myanmar - notions of state sovereignty run deep and tend to
undermine many of the good souls who would dearly love to effect positive
change in a much-maligned country. A flavour of this was seen in the
immediate aftermath of Nargis, as civil aid groups found it more or less
impossible to deliver aid over and around an unwilling state government.

Perhaps this is why the global community and its more influential members
refuse to demand the release of some 2,000 political prisoners in the
country, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi; nor find
the will to dam the arms flowing in from Russia and China.

Perhaps this is why the world will not act even as the military backbone
to the ruling junta bends and weakens under the force of its own people
clamouring for an end to the nightmare.

Structural shifts and widespread dissatisfaction among the ranks,
including regular desertions, are enfeebling an already untenable
organisation, yet still no one moves to show the generals the door.

The country continues to win all the sort of awards no one wants to win.
It has the largest number of child soldiers anywhere in the world, many
fighting the world's longest running civil war; it is the world's most
corrupt country; and it has probably the world's highest military spending
as a percentage of budgetary funds (40 per cent). It has Asia's
second-highest child mortality rate and is the third-largest source of
refugees in the world.

This in a country with the 10th largest natural gas reserves in the world
and in an economy which, despite much resource wealth remaining untapped,
receives some $150US million (RM500 million) per month in energy export
revenues alone.

One year on from the Saffron Revolution, the world is highly distracted by
an economic crisis largely of its own making. As the graphs and stock
charts trend downwards, attention is justifiably on the family home,
keeping one's job and hoping the whole shooting match doesn't come and end
up with blood everywhere.

But this isn't the time to get caught up in our own crises. This is an
opportunity to extend crisis thinking outwards. It is a time to remember
that even as the world reels, there are those in Myanmar, as in Sudan,
Tibet, North Korea, Chad, Zimbabwe, Western Sahara and elsewhere, who need
some crisis thinking of their own. In dealing with the economic crisis,
let's use that energy and fix-it thinking to extend to other areas.

One year after the Saffron Revolution offers a moment to lift the
long-suffering people of Myanmar.

____________________________________

September 30, Irrawaddy
TI Corruption Index is no different either – Sai Soe Win Latt

Transparency International (TI), a Berlin-based nongovernmental
organization, released its 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) on
September 23. The survey ranked 180 countries around the world according
to the performance of their respective governments on corruption in the
public sector.

Myanmar [Burma] was ranked second worst after Somalia.

The first questionable aspect about the CPI is the nature of the study
itself. As the name indicates, it is merely a “perception” of corruption.
But whose perception is it? It's not the perceptions of those from
nongovernmental public sectors (such as schools, health care, etc) or that
of social/political activists and critics or a wider population. Rather,
it is an impression of a few, selected, so-called “experts” from the
private sector, economic/business executives, and middle-ranking
managerial staff from major companies and financial institutions.

The second and most obvious flaw in TI’s data is that it has simply
presented a quantitative study showing only nation states’ numbers and
ranks without any explanation about why and how corruption takes place. As
corruption is shown to be overwhelmingly prominent in the Third World, the
survey simply blames the Third World for its own corruption.

The title of TI's press release is "Persistently High Corruption in
Low-Income Countries Amounts to an ‘Ongoing Humanitarian Disaster.’”
However, the corruption within low-income countries is not limited to the
governments alone. Instead, it is embedded in the histories of these
countries where they have been forced to join a global system of free
market economy alongside decolonization and cold war politics.

Throughout history, corrupt and authoritarian regimes in Asia, Africa,
Latin America and the Middle East have been installed and supported by
rich nations. Yet, rich countries' collective guilt does not prove the
innocence of Third World regimes, such as that of Burma.

The Burmese junta is not a monolith. Its power base and military might are
fortified by multinational corporations from the so-called high income
countries. The classic example is the operation of the US-based Unocal and
French Total oil companies, which provide annual premiums for resource
extraction that provide not only financial security to the regime, but
intensify oppression and corruption in the state.

First World institutions and companies undoubtedly play a dirty hand in
perpetuating the corrupt and authoritarian regimes in the Third World, and
are therefore contributing to this “ongoing humanitarian disaster.”

This government-based approach raises a question of private sector
corruption that affects people's lives profoundly. TI claimed that
"unchecked levels of corruption would add US $50 billion—or nearly half of
annual global aid outlays—to the cost of achieving the MDGs (Millennium
Development Goals) on water and sanitation."

Yet, following the US-based Lehman Brothers Inc's recent bankruptcy and
the subsequent destabilization of the entire global financial system, is
not the Bush administration’s attempts to bailout the financial sector to
the tune of $700 billion much worse than the cost of Third World
corruption?

Or when a Chinese dairy company withholds information from consumers about
chemical contamination in their products, are we to assume that this is
the type of private sector operation that TI trusts to draw its data from?

While the CPI survey looks like a political project, the truth is that it
is yet another World Bank/IMF-type production that paints the Third World
as “the white man's burden.”

Put differently, this is just a different way of regarding the Third World
and its peoples as “governable subjects,” in the words of late French
scholar Michel Foucault. That is, by labeling the Third World
“problematic,” the so-called aid organizations can expand their agendas to
govern the Third World in the name of problem-solving.

This is not my cynical assumption—it is explicitly mentioned in the TI
press release, which is jam-packed with terminology such as “humanitarian
disaster,” “a matter of life and death,” “horrendous consequences,” and
“the global fight against poverty;” all of which are the offspring of
corruption and threaten to derail the UN’s MDGs.

The CPI concluded that “Not only does this call for a redoubling of
efforts in low-income countries ... it calls for a more focused and
coordinated approach by the global donor community to ensure development
assistance is designed to strengthen institution of governance and
oversight in recipient countries...”

Transparency International's CPI is worth considering as it sheds light on
the persistence of corruption in the world (not only Third World). But,
the questions concerning its rationality and methodology—as well as who
produces this and for what ends—must be asked before accepting it
uncritically.

Sai Soe Win Latt is a PhD student of Geography at Simon Fraser University
in Burnaby, Canada.