BurmaNet News, October 22, 2008

[Editor]

October 22, 2008, Issue # 3582

INSIDE BURMA
Khonumthung News: Child prisoners in Burmese concentration camp
Kaladan News: Over 200 villagers forced to work in rubber plantation
Irrawaddy: NLD secretary U Lwin suffers stroke, chairman Aung Shwe also ill
Irrawaddy: Burmese journalist wins major press award
Kaowao News: MNDF-LA will not support election 2010
KNG: USDA launches election campaign with charity work

ON THE BORDER
Reuters: India wants to seal border with Myanmar after blast
AFP: 66,000 people displaced by Myanmar army abuses: aid group

BUSINESS / TRADE
Bernama (Malaysia): Myanmar strives for reviving tourism after cyclone
IMNA: Farmers in Mon State hit hard by dropping rubber prices

INTERNATIONAL
AP: Australia extends sanctions against Myanmar junta

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima News: Make Burma 'ungovernable' - Salai Za Ceu Lian

PRESS RELEASE
TBBC: Impunity in Eastern Burma challenged
USCB: Influential United States teachers’ union gives major award to
Burma's student activists



___________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 22, Khonumthung News
Child prisoners in Burmese concentration camp

About 10 child prisoners under the age of 18 are languishing in the
Inntainglay concentration camp in Kalay Township, Sagaing Division in
northwest Burma. They have been confined in the camp by the military junta
authorities, according to prison sources.

"There are around 10 child prisoners, including two girls in Inntainglay
concentration camp. I was only 17 years old when I was taken to the prison
camp," said a prisoner from Chin state who was released from Inntainglay
camp last month.

Most of child prisoners in Inntainglay are being imprisoned for stealing,
a prisoner from Chin state said.

A former Chin prisoner also said that prison authorities had tried to
persuade child prisoners in Inntainglay to join and serve in the Burmese
Army. They refused.

"The camp authorities told them that they will be freed from prison if
they serve in the army," a former Chin prisoner said.

To make matters worse the prison authorities keep confiscating half the
food and money the prisoner's parents or relatives bring when they come to
visit the prisoners.

"I received only half the food and money from my parents or relatives.
Sometimes, I didn't get anything as the authorities kept them all," a
former Chin prisoner complained.

It is also learnt that because of poor medical facilities in Inntainglay
concentration camp, at least one prisoner dies every month.
____________________________________

October 22, Kaladan News
Over 200 villagers forced to work in rubber plantation

The Burmese military junta authorities are forcing 200 villagers to work
in a rubber plantation near Aung Mamgala modern village from October 20,
said a villager who worked as a forced labour.

The rubber plantation is around 3.40 acres and is controlled by Tactical
Operations Command (TOC) in Buthidaung. The land was confiscated from the
Rohingya community in the area.

The villagers had cultivated rubber seedlings which the TOC sold to
villagers at 250 Kyats per seedling three years ago.

The authorities ordered the village headmen to send the workforce (which
the junta calls to forced labour) to work in the rubber plantation. They
are to fix fences, spread fertilizer and clean the grass around the rubber
plants, said a village headman on condition of anonymity.

The villagers had to bring their food to work. No daily wage is paid.

"The rubber plantation is situated near the Aung Mamgala Natala (Modern)
Village, but the authorities didn't order Natala villagers to work. The
order was meant only for Rohingya villagers," said a village former
headman.

Rohingya villagers who are working in the rubber plantation face
starvation as most of them are daily workers.

"The authorities seized our land and than ordered us to buy the seedlings.
Now, they have ordered us to work in the plantation area as forced labour
which they call people's workforce for the country," said a school teacher
from Maungdaw.

Recently, senior officers of the junta visited the border area and told
the township officers to develop the area with help of the public. On the
other hand they ordered them to confiscate lands from the Rohingya
community.

"Nearly 150 acres of land from the Rohingya community will be confiscated
soon for development of Taungbro as a modern town," said a politician from
Maungdaw.

____________________________________

October 22, Irrawaddy
NLD secretary U Lwin suffers stroke, chairman Aung Shwe also ill – Wai Moe

One of the secretaries of Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy
(NLD), U Lwin, has suffered a stroke, NLD spokesman Nyan Win said on
Wednesday.

The 86-year-old party functionary is critically ill, according to NLD
sources.

NLD Chairman Aung Shwe, 91, is also ill, suffering from flu, Nyan Win told
The Irrawaddy.

The NLD sources said U Lwin is not expected to return to work.

He and Aung Shwe are said to be the world’s oldest active political party
leaders.

They served as high-ranking military officers under Gen Ne Win, then chief
of the Tatmadaw (Burma’s armed forces). Before the 1962 military coup,
Aung Shwe was a member of the Burma Socialist Party.

Aung Shwe was forced to retire from the Tatmadaw in 1961, when he was the
commander of the Southern Regional Command. He then served as Burma’s
ambassador to Australia, Egypt, France, Spain and New Zealand from 1961 to
1975.

U Lwin was deputy prime minister and a state council member under the
Burma Socialist Programme Party regime, headed by Gen Ne Win.

Both of them became leading members of the NLD and the Patriotic Old
Comrades League (POCL) in 1988. The POCL was abolished by the current
military junta.

Aung Shwe became chairman of the NLD when the junta pressured the party to
sack Tin Oo and his secretary-general, Aung San Suu Kyi, in the early
1990s. Aung Shwe is also chairman of the Committee Representing the
People’s Parliament, a grouping of successful candidates who won
constituencies in the 1990 election.

U Lwin and Aung Shwe were members of a faction of former military officers
when the NLD was formed. A second faction grouped intellectuals and was
led by Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Tin.

Win Tin was among many members of the intellectual faction imprisoned in
the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was released in late September, along
with such leading NLD members as Khin Maung Shwe, Than Nyein and May Win
Myint, and he was offered his former position of secretary. An executive
member role was offered to Khin Maung Shwe.

Win Tin, a popular figure within the NLD, has yet to accept the position
of secretary, but he has agreed to work as an executive member, sources
said.

Khin Maung Shwe said the old factions within the NLD had ceased to exist.
“We have neither  factions of patriotic old comrades or intellectuals. We
are all [members] of the NLD,” he said.

Most of the “old guard” members of the NLD’s Central Executive Committee
(CEC) are in their 80s.

There has been no reorganization of the CEC for several years, partly
because any reform of the party has to be approved by the government,
according to Aye Thar Aung, an Arakan leader who works closely with the
NLD.

The party has, however, gradually rejuvenated its information committee.
Members such as Han Thar Myint, Nyan Win,Win Naing and the late Myint
Thein, all of them in their 50s and 60s, became spokesmen for the NLD.
Before their arrival on the scene, U Lwin was the NLD’s only spokesman.

Before Suu Kyi was arrested in May 2003, she regularly held literary
gatherings with young people at the NLD headquarter in Rangoon, fostering
a future generation of leaders.

The NLD also reportedly encouraged young members to attend classes in the
English language and international relations at the education centers of
foreign embassies in Rangoon, with the same aim of building a new
leadership generation.

“To be dynamic in politics, the NLD needs a new generation,” said Aye Thar
Aung.

____________________________________

October 22, Irrawaddy
Burmese journalist wins major press award – Lalit K. Jha

A Burmese journalist who works for The Associated Press has received the
prestigious Journalism and Courage Award for 2008 from the International
Women's Media Foundation.

Having worked as a reporter for nearly two decades in Burma, which is
considered to be a graveyard for the free press, Aye Aye Win, has said
that only a free press can be a guarantee to a free society.

"I have pledged to work as a journalist in my own country, Myanmar
[Burma], to serve the people and country with a firm belief that a free
and independent press is vital to a free society," she said. The award was
accepted by John Daniszewski, the international managing editor of AP.

Praising Aye Aye Win's courage, Daniszewski said: "The AP's correspondent
in Burma, now called Myanmar, is a humble, hard-working and largely
unknown hero, who for nearly two decades has been speaking the truth about
her country in the face of intimidation and bullying."

The award presentation ceremony was held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in
midtown Manhattan on Tuesday and attended by New York Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and other honored guests.

"Aye Aye Win knows the risks she is taking. Both her father and her
husband have been imprisoned by the Burmese generals, and she has often
been threatened by arrests. But that has not stopped her," said
Daniszewski in his remarks.

Daniszewski said Aye Aye Win represents the best tradition of
journalism—that of telling the truth and helping to keep people informed
and enlightened.

In her acceptance speech, which was read by Daniszewski, Aye Aye Win said
Burma, a country ruled by the military for more than four decades, is
overwhelmed by a host of problems that affect the ability of journalists
to practice their profession free of fear, intimidation and unforeseen
dangers.

"Journalism in Myanmar is a risky business," she said.

She said the military government rarely arrest journalists specifically
for their work but rather detains and prosecutes them under a slew of
criminal laws ranging from the Official Secrecy Act to defamation and high
treason. Her father, a journalist for more than 60 years, has been in
imprisoned three times, she said.

"Anyone in my country, particularly journalists, can at any time be
arrested, interrogated and charged without any sound reason,” she said. “A
knock on the gate at midnight unnerves and traumatizes our lives."

____________________________________

October 22, Kaowao News
MNDF-LA will not support election 2010

The Burmese military junta sponsored ensuing  general election in 2010
will not be supported, it was stated by the Mon National Democratic Front
(MNDF-LA) during the 20th anniversary of its founding held on the Thai
Burma border.

The MNDF-LA's Joint Secretary General Nai Hong Mon said, "support to the
elections scheduled for 2010 is not an acceptable way forward". The MNDF
also called the international community to isolate the SPDC government and
support a peoples' movement towards democracy.

The 20th   anniversary of the MNDF was attended by Mon National Democratic
Front (Liberated Areas) with distinguished guests and democratic friends
on October 11.  Buddhist monks also led in the blessing for civilians who
have been facing hardships under the brutal regime.

In March before the referendum, the MNDF (LA) urged the Burmese military
junta to comply with the United Nations Security Council to initiate a
tripartite dialogue with the opposition and the ethnic nationalities.  The
MNDF-LA also urged Mon people not to approve the draft constitution which
would only legitimatize the power of the military to rule the country.

With larger participation by politicians and youths the MNDF-LA was
formally founded in Maesot in September this year led by an exiled MP, Nai
Thaung Shein and other MNDF members who fled Burma.

The MNDF played a major role among the Mon population and won five seats
in the 1990 general elections. The MNDF leaders inside Burma recently
discussed the ensuing general elections in 2010 during the honouring
ceremony for Mon national leader Nai Thein Maung, in Paung, Mon State.

____________________________________

October 22, Kachin News Group
USDA launches election campaign with charity work

An upbeat Burmese military junta sponsored Union Solidarity and
Development Association (USDA) in Kachin State has recently launched a
series of campaigns to kick start its preparations for the 2010 general
elections announced by the regime before the May referendum on the draft
constitution, observers said.

The preparations by the USDA revolve around several community works done
by its members such as providing charity and offering free medical
treatment to people, according to a resident in Myitkyina.

"The USDA is striving to attract the people's attention and make them
aware of its existence. The USDA has put up a big billboard in front of
monasteries which says that 'the charity is organized and held by USDA', a
resident told KNG.

In Myitkyina Township, Shanzu quarter, famous monasteries such as Wuntu
Monastery and Ta-tanah-beik-manh have been targeted as pivotal places for
their charity movement, a resident added.

In the beginning of October the USDA organized free medical treatment for
residents. The medical treatment package under the aegis of the USDA was
one of their campaign strategies for the 2010 election to garner votes
from the electorate. More such activities to woo voters are on the cards
it seems, local observers added.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 22, Agence France Presse
66,000 people displaced by Myanmar army abuses: aid group

Up to 66,000 civilians have been forced to flee their homes in eastern
Myanmar in the past year because of systematic abuses by the country's
ruling military, an aid group said Wednesday.

The Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), which provides aid to
hundreds of thousands of refugees who flee Myanmar, formally known as
Burma, said in a new report that the junta's actions could constitute
crimes against humanity.

"The extent of persecution and suffering in the border areas has been
largely unseen and under-reported for decades," said Jack Dunford, TBBC's
executive director.

"Yet the same brutal army that crushed protests on city streets last
September marauds with impunity in rural Burma, bringing fear and
disrupting the lives of villagers on a day to day basis."

The TBBC report accuses the military of systematically forcing villagers
from their homes in Myanmar's eastern Karen and Shan states.

Forced labour, land confiscation, and restricting people's access to
farmland and markets also has a devastating economic impact, it added.

The group said that their findings appeared to support London-based
Amnesty International's report that the violations in eastern Myanmar
"meet the legal threshold to constitute crimes against humanity."

Amnesty said in a June report that Myanmar was committing crimes against
humanity by targeting civilians during its military offensive against
ethnic rebel armies who have been battling the junta's rule for decades.

Civilians living in the areas affected have been subjected to abuses
including torture, forced labour, killings, arbitrary arrest and the
destruction of homes, villages, farmland and food stocks, Amnesty said.

The TBBC estimated that there are more than half a million people
currently internally displaced within eastern Myanmar.

"Approximately 66,000 people were forced to leave their homes due to the
effects of armed conflict and human rights abuses during the past year
alone," the group said, referring to the time period between July 2007 and
June 2008.

There are also about 120,000 refugees living in camps along Thailand's
border with Myanmar. Most are refugees from Myanmar's many ethnic
minorities, the majority from the Karen group.

____________________________________

October 22, Reuters
India wants to seal border with Myanmar after blast – Biswajyoti Das

India needs to seal its border with Myanmar to stop separatist rebels
carrying out regular attacks in the northeast, officials said on
Wednesday, a day after a powerful blast killed 17 people in Manipur state.

Police said a bomb on a bicycle blew up in Imphal, the state capital, late
on Tuesday. At least 40 people were wounded in the attack that police
believe was revenge for security forces killing at least eight rebels last
month.

Police suspect the separatist People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak
(PREPAK) in Manipur, a state which has suffered separatist and tribal
insurgencies for the past 60 years in the troubled northeast region.

The rebels escaped across a largely unguarded border to their camps in
neighbouring Myanmar, police said.

Manipur shares a long porous border with Myanmar of around 370 km (230
miles) and security officials want the entire stretch to be barbed-wired
to stop smuggling of weapons and explosives.

Ringed by China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan, India's northeast is home
to more than 200 tribes and has been racked by separatist revolts since
India gained independence from Britain in 1947.

"We want the centre (federal government) to fence the border, we cannot
let them (PREPAK) escape after the incident," Chief Minister Okram Ibobi
Singh told Reuters on Wednesday.

The rebel group wants to throw non-Manipuris out of the state and demands
statehood, which India says is not possible.

About 700 armed PREPAK rebels have carried out regular attacks in the
state, including firing a shell at the chief minister's fortified home
last month.

"It definitely is a cause for concern at a time when violence in other
parts of the region seems to be declining," C. Uday Bhaskar, a strategic
analyst said.

In Imphal, police cordoned off the blast site, near a commando training
facility and forensic experts were examining pieces of metal to find out
what caused the powerful blast.

"Our plan is to fence the border and step up foot patrolling along the
border, otherwise it will be difficult to control the situation," a senior
intelligence officer said from Imphal.

India says around 3,000 rebels, live and train in the camps inside the
jungles of Kabaw Valley of Myanmar's Sagaing Division.

"We know where militants have their camps across the border, but we can't
go inside Myanmar chasing them," said a senior military commander who
requested not to be named.

India has a pact with Myanmar to share intelligence, but officials said it
was not enough to stop the insurgency.

Militant groups accuse New Delhi of plundering the region's mineral and
forest resources but investing little in return.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 22, Bernama (Malaysia)
Myanmar strives for reviving tourism after cyclone

Myanmar is striving hard for the revival of tourism industry, so as to
re-draw attention of foreign tourists despite temporary hardship
experienced through the disaster of cyclone.

Noting that Myanmar's tourism industry is reviving and the country is
receiving a growing number of foreign tourists, China's XINHUA news agency
quoted official newspaper the New Light of Myanmar, as stressing on
Wednesday the need to take measures for providing tourists with better
accommodation, international-level services and smooth transport.

The areas that needed some boost are Bagan, the archaeological hub of the
country, and Mandalay, the Inlay region, natural gardens and the regions
where new year day commemorative festivals of various national races are
held.

The paper, in its editorial, held that responsible persons and private
entrepreneurs, engaged in tourism industry, are obliged to work hard
together to fulfill all requirements for comfort and convenience of the
visitors in a bid to promote Myanmar's tourism industry.

Myanmar is known as a repository of archaeological regions, ancient
edifices and artistic handicrafts. It has a variety of tourist attraction
such as natural areas of impressive geographical features, protected
natural areas, snow-capped mountain and beach resorts.

Rich in natural resources including wildlife and rare species of flora and
fauna that attracts tourists, Myanmar is also encouraging entrepreneurs to
promote eco-tourism industry at the environmental conservation regions to
earn income for the state.

Meanwhile, the Myanmar authorities has re-designated the net foreign
exchange proceeds through tourism business as legal export earning as part
of its measures to recover from the severe impact of cyclone Nargis that
struck the country last May.

Months after Nargis, tourist arrivals fell 90 percent compared with the
previous years correspondingly, statistics indicated.

In a bid to revive its tourism after disaster, Myanmar is planning to
introduce a 100-percent visa-on-arrival system starting the coming open
season by November and the system will be applicable to international
visitors with those of some countries be covered in the pilot phase.

All famous resort hotels lying in three beach areas of Myanmar will reopen
next month despite drop of tourist arrivals over the past few months
impacted by May cyclone.

Package tour for foreign tourists, arranged by travel companies, has been
allowed in Myanmar's cyclone-torn region to witness post- storm recovery
efforts underway there.

Also as part of its efforts to restore tourism operation in the aftermath
of the cyclone storm, Myanmar is planning to hold a market festival in
Inlay, one of the country's famous tourist sites in Shan state, according
to a local report.

Preparations including upgrading of hotels and restaurants are underway
for the two-day market festival scheduled for next February, the Ministry
of hotels and Tourism was quoted as saying.

XINHUA also quoted other local reports as saying that an orchid show that
features products from Inlay region and its surrounding areas will also be
sponsored in the famous tourist site in the same month to pick up tourist
arrivals.

Inlay region is known as an area of outstanding natural beauty and famous
for its environment and villages in the region sit on floating islands on
the lake. Colorful hill tribes inhabit the surrounding fertile valleys and
forested mountain tops and their hand-woven silks are a specialty of the
region.

In another effort to facilitate local and foreign travelers visiting the
tourist site, Myanmar tourism authorities is planning to build an airport
at Ngwesaung, a famous beach resort in the country's southwestern division
of Ayeyawaddy.

With a coast of extending as about 14 kilometers, the Ngwesaung stands the
nearest beach resort from Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar,
attracting a large number of foreign visitors rather than local's.

The number of tourists coming to Ngwesaung has exceeded that arriving at
the 5-kilometer Ngapali beach resort, which lies on Western Rakhine coast
near Thandwe and traditionally attracted the largest number of travelers
in the past, according to tourism industry circle.

Once the airport is built, the Ngwesaung beach resort will become the
second which is accessible by air after Ngapali.

Following Ngapali and Ngwesaung, the 2-kilometer Chaungtha, which is also
in the Ayeyawaddy division, stands as the third beach resort in Myanmar
that invited large number of visitors.

For the development of Ngwesaung beach resort, the tourism authorities are
increasing implementation of hotel projects and other tourism-related
infrastructure such as prawn-breeding ponds, the hoteliers noted, adding
that the tourism projects in Ngwesaung will create more job opportunities
for local people.

According to official statistics, tourist arrivals in Myanmar in the
fiscal year 2007-08 which ended in March totalled 288,776, of whom 131,784
came by air, while 154,500 arrived by land across border.

In the first quarter of 2008-09, 51,872 tourist arrivals were registered.

Observers here believed that Myanmar's tourism industry would become alive
again through hardworking and see encouraging future in the sector.

____________________________________

October 22, Independent Mon News Agency
Farmers in Mon State hit hard by dropping rubber prices

Rubber plantation owners, and their workers, are deeply concerned as
rubber prices continue to drop, say sources in Mon State.

Two months ago, rubber fetched 2,600 kyat per kilo ($2 USD). Prices have
dropped, however, to just half that – 1,300 kyat per kilo.

Mon State, Burma's largest rubber producer, is being hit particularly hard
by the precipitous price drop. "The price of rubber is dropping almost
everyday. Nobody buys it. We don't know what to do," a rubber plantation
owner in Mudon Township told IMNA.

"If the rubber price keeps dropping like this, we will face the problem of
how to survive," the plantation owner said.

A former government servant in the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
echoed the sentiments of farmers, saying the price decreases will cause
serious problems for farmers totally reliant on the sale of rubber. He
also added that he did not know the reason for the price decrease, but
surmised it to be related to world trade.

"We don't want to sell rubber for such a low price, but our boss said the
price will keep going down because it is related to global markets," Nai
Myo Win, a plantation worker from Mudon Township, told IMNA.

Nai Myo Win is now a migrant worker in Thailand, and said that he is
barely able to send money home to his family. In the past, he said that he
could send hundreds of thousands of kyat to his parents. Rubber values in
Thailand have dropped as well, from 100 to 40 baht per kilo.

According to 2006-2007 statistics from the Economics and Trade Ministry of
Burma, the country cultivated about 700,000 acres of rubber. According to
the same statistics, Burma produced about 70,000 tons of rubber, 60,000
tons of which are exported to foreign countries. According to the
government controlled New Light of Myanmar newspaper, Burmese rubber is
mainly sold to China, Malaysia, India and Singapore.

According to Myanma Alin, the military government also plans to increase
rubber cultivation in Mon State and Tenasserim Division by up 400,000
acres.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 22, Associated Press
Australia extends sanctions against Myanmar junta

Australia extended financial sanctions against another 45 of Myanmar's
military leaders Wednesday as a protest against the junta's lack of
progress toward democracy.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the new list of 463 individuals
singled out for sanctions included members of the ruling State Peace and
Development Council, government ministers and military officers as well as
the regime's business associates and relatives.

It replaces a list of 418 people announced a year ago after the junta
brutally crushed pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks in Myanmar,
which is also known as Burma.

"This was, unfortunately, only the most recent very public instance of the
brutal treatment meted out to civil society in that country and to those
seeking to make Burma a better society and a nation based on democratic
norms and ideals," Smith told Parliament.

"Australia will continue to press Burma's regime for meaningful political
progress toward democracy," he added.

Smith said the detention of 2,000 political prisoners, including
pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, is
"a major impediment to political progress."

The junta's initial response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis
in May was "very disappointing" and the referendum days later that
approved Myanmar's new military-backed constitution was "a sham," Smith
said.

The cyclone killed more than 78,000 people and left another 56,000
missing, according to the government — the worst natural disaster in the
nation's modern history.

Australia has long banned defense exports to Myanmar and denies travel
visas to members of the regime.

____________________________________

October 22, Democratic Voice of Burma
Zarganar honoured by PEN Canada – Khin Hnin Htet

PEN Canada, the Canadian branch of the International PEN freedom of
expression organisation, is to award the 2008 One Humanity Award to
Burmese comedian and activist Zarganar.

The US$ 5000 award with be presented in absentia this evening at the
opening night of the International Festival of Authors in Toronto.

Zaraganar will also be named as this year’s Empty Chair at the festival,
which honours a writer who is not free to come to a literary festival.

According to PEN Canada, the One Humanity Award is given someone whose
writings “reflect honest, good judgment and a courageous belief in the
peaceful expression of ideas through any medium”.

Nelofer Pazira, president of PEN Canada, said in a statement that the
organisation had worked for 25 years on behalf of fearless writers who had
been silenced in many ways.

"Writers are routinely killed, imprisoned, threatened and harassed for
expressing their ideas,” Pazira said.

“One such writer is our Honorary Member Zarganar, whose steadfast courage
and integrity over many years we are honouring by granting him the One
Humanity Award."

Zarganar’s mother Daw Kyi Oo said she welcomed the show of support for her
son.

"Don't think about him being detained and arrested. If [the authorities]
think that someone is against them, whether they are civilians or monks,
they will detain them,” she said.

“As a mother, I am proud of the fact that they are honouring him for doing
good things for the country and I thank them for it."

Zarganar is a popular comedian and high-profile activist in Burma and has
been imprisoned on several occasions for his criticism of the military
regime.

He was detained in October 1998 for six months, served four years in
Insein prison from 1990 to 1994 and in September last year was held for a
month for giving alms to monks involved in the public demonstrations.

After Cyclone Nargis hit the country in May this year, Zarganar played a
key role in assistance efforts but was arrested in June after criticising
the government’s response to the natural disaster.

He is currently being held in Insein prison.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 22, Mizzima News
Make Burma 'ungovernable' - Salai Za Ceu Lian

The prospect of Burma transforming into a democratic state from
totalitarian rule seems to be diminishing, as the junta gears up to
implement their own seven-step roadmap to so-called 'disciplined
democracy'.

The fact that the regime is hell-bent on its own roadmap is clearly
indicative of the considerable weakness of the democratic opposition of
Burma as a whole. For the last 18 years, since Burma's 1990 general
election, the military junta has shown no real sign of flexibility and
willingness to find a negotiated settlement to the country's long crisis
concerning the democratic opposition. As long as the junta sees no
potential threat to their power from the opposition, no one should be
under any illusion that the military regime will actually hand over power
or make a concerted effort to compromise.

It should be understood that the junta's leadership will try to cling to
power at all costs. This is a given. While safeguarding against opposition
forces, the regime will neither initiate nor support a genuine democratic
reform effort unless their power is threatened. Only if there is enormous
and irresistible pressure, will the repressive regime be open to
negotiating with the democratic opposition. The sad truth is that a
transition to democracy for an authoritarian country does not come without
enormous cost and sacrifice.

Drawing lessons from countries having gone through such transitions, the
first step towards democracy often begins with a crisis caused by the
authoritarian regime, which degenerates into a peoples' uprising, followed
by mass riots and a nationwide protest against the ruling government which
eventually forces dictators in power to relinquish their rule. We have had
more than our fair share of such crises and uprisings in Burma, yet the
regime continuously consolidates its power. It's become clear that without
concerted and persistent efforts to resist and discredit the military
junta - especially from the inside - the people's demand of democratic
reform seems impossible.

Take the case of South Africa, where the xenophobic National Party
governed the country from 1948 to 1994. Despite the apartheid regime's
oppression of the opposition, the democratic movement relentlessly tried
to create a crisis with the goal of making the country 'ungovernable'.

In time, the democratic movement propelled the government to negotiate
with the opposition. Even after the main opposition force - the African
National Congress - was banned, the opposition managed to organize a
dramatic series of events, including the student uprising in 1976; an
anti-apartheid campaign that ground down the South African economy; and
most importantly, the continued efforts of the United Democratic Front
(UDF) in destabilizing the country in order to achieve their goal of
making South Africa 'ungovernable'. Meanwhile, the apartheid regime's
heavy-handed military strategy failed, only fueling the opposition
movement.

Having seen the failure of oppressive military strategy in trying to
contain and eliminate the opposition's campaign, South African President
F.W de Klerk had no choice but to install a legitimate government by
sharing power with opposition leaders when he assumed office in 1989.
Through this power-sharing negotiation, the eventual success of the
democratic movement was realized in 1994.

In retrospect, the success of the democratic movement in South Africa
could not have been possible without the persistent and courageous efforts
of the United Democratic Front, the front that led South African peoples
from all walks of life to join their movement against the oppressive
apartheid regime. Crucially, the UDF nation-wide movement was initiated
and led by prominent leaders of the UDF such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu
and Reverend Alan Boesak, while African National Congress leader Nelson
Mandela remained imprisoned.

The South African example demonstrates that democratic forces can be
effective despite the fact that an authoritarian regime will do whatever
it can to stay in power even to the extent that it will employ military
force to suppress the opposition. In the case of South Africa, democratic
forces from not only within the country but also in exile contributed
toward the movement's eventual success. Both locals and expatriates
employed a variety of means to discredit the apartheid regime. In 1994,
their efforts forced an end to four-decades of apartheid rule.

When this lesson is applied to Burma, no one would dispute the fact that
Burmese citizens from all walks of life have done their part to protest
repressive military rule. Yes, thousands of peaceful demonstrators have
already died in cold blood. Sadly, despite all the sacrifices they have
made for our country, the just cause for which they have fought has not
been realized. Again and again, sporadic and occasional uprisings against
the Burmese military junta have proven that genuine democratic reform is
unachievable without the persistent and coordinated efforts of a
nationwide people's movement

While Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remains crippled in a similar way to that of
Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, it is unfortunate that other main
opposition leaders in Burma today cannot provide overall strategic and
organizational leadership. For the last 18 years, the main opposition
leaders inside Burma – including most MPs elected in 1990 – have done
nothing more effective than issuing statements. One can't help but wonder,
is that what they were elected for?

When the people of Burma gave them a mandate to govern in 1990, they did
so in full belief that those elected representatives would responsibly and
courageously stand up to serve the national interest of the country and
protect them against the authoritarian rules of the military dictatorship.
It is unfortunate that none of their expectations have been met. Given
that the opposition leadership has been thrown into total disarray at this
point in our history, it is unimaginable that Burma will have competent
and dedicated opposition leadership equivalent to that of the UDF. That
said, we must now strive to 'make Burma ungovernable' until the junta is
forced to cede to the demands of the people and reinstall civilian rule.

The task is ours for the taking. While Daw Suu and some political figures
are under house arrest and in jail, it is paramount that those who have
been elected in 1990 take charge of leading the movement, particularly a
'people's power movement'. They must do so by relentlessly organizing a
persistent nationwide movement through the instigation of civil
disobedience against the military regime. As a grand strategy, when
leading the opposition movement, they should be offensive rather than
defensive and proactive rather than reactive in discrediting Burma's
illegitimate rulers. More important than ever before, it is necessary that
the democratic opposition should devote resources, both human and
material, towards strengthening the movement inside Burma. The fight for
democracy in Burma must be vigorously carried on, not just because it is
possible, but because it is necessary.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

October 22, Thai-Burma Border Consortium
Impunity in Eastern Burma challenged

The crackdown on peaceful protesters in Rangoon, the devastation caused by
Cyclone Nargis in the Irrawaddy Delta, and a flawed referendum on
constitutional change have been the focus of international attention in
Burma during the past year. However, a new report by the Thailand Burma
Border Consortium (TBBC) suggests that violations of humanitarian and
human rights law in the conflict-affected areas of eastern Burma are more
widespread and systematic than ever.

"The extent of persecution and suffering in the border areas has been
largely unseen and under-reported for decades. Yet the same brutal army
that crushed protests on city streets last September marauds with impunity
in rural Burma, bringing fear and disrupting the lives of villagers on a
day to day basis", said Jack Dunford, TBBC's Executive Director.

TBBC is an alliance of eleven NGOs from nine countries working to provide
food, shelter, non-food items and capacity building support to Burmese
refugees and displaced persons. Apart from updating information about
internal displacement, the new report compiles abuses reported during 2008
in relation to the legal framework for crimes against humanity.

Forced displacement remains most concentrated in the conflict-affected
areas of northern Karen State and southern Shan State. However,
displacement is more commonly caused by coercive factors at the household
level. The imposition of forced labour, extortion, land confiscation,
agricultural production quotas, and restrictions on access to fields and
markets has a devastating effect on household incomes and a destabilising
impact on
populations.

While the total number of internally displaced persons in eastern Burma is
likely to be well over half a million people, at least 451,000 people are
currently estimated in the rural areas. Approximately 66,000 people were
forced to leave their homes due to the effects of armed conflict and human
rights abuses during the past year alone.

"Despite concessions made in the Irrawaddy Delta after Cyclone Nargis, the
junta's restrictions on humanitarian access continue to obstruct aid
workers elsewhere in Burma, particularly in conflict-affected areas.
Without assistance, coping strategies amongst the most vulnerable
communities in eastern Burma will be exhausted and more refugees and
migrants will be displaced into Thailand", said Mr Dunford.

Evidence cited in the report appears to support Amnesty International's
recent assessment that the violations in eastern Burma meet the legal
threshold to constitute crimes against humanity. Special Rapporteurs for
the United Nations have consistently noted over the past decade that such
abuses are systematic, rather than simply isolated acts, and that the
junta has failed to implement recommendations formulated by relevant
United Nations' bodies.

Critics argue that raising allegations about crimes against humanity will
merely frustrate the promotion of political dialogue. However, just as the
provision of humanitarian assistance should not be dependent upon
political reform, humanitarian protection and the administration of
justice should not be sacrificed to expedite political dialogue. The
threat of prosecution may actually increase the leverage of the diplomatic
community and provide an incentive for the regime to end the climate of
impunity.

"Given that the Burmese junta is targeting civilians in military
operations, the responsibility to protect villagers in eastern Burma must
shift to the international community. The causes of this humanitarian
crisis are political, so diplomatic efforts to broker tri-partite dialogue
and promote national reconciliation need to be renewed. Yet it remains
essential to hold the junta to account for atrocities committed in eastern
Burma, and to demand an immediate nation-wide ceasefire", commented Mr
Dunford.

____________________________________

October 22, US Campaign for Burma
Influential United States Teachers’ Union Gives Major Award to Burma's
Student Activists

The American Federation of Teachers, the largest organization representing
teachers and educational workers in the United States (with more than 1.4
million members) has awarded its “2008 President's International Democracy
Award" to a leading Burma's pro-democracy group, the "88 Generation
Students".  The 88 Generation Students group is led by prominent Burmese
democracy leader Min Ko Naing, who is locked up as a political prisoner in
the Southeast Asian country of Burma. (The award certificate is attached.)

The AFT announced the award at its national convention, held on July 12,
2008 in Chicago, Illinois.  At the event, Democratic Presidential
Candidate Senator Obama was a keynote speaker.

Since Min Ko Naing and the other leaders of the 88 Generation Students are
locked up as political prisoners in Burma, AFT has sent the award to the
U.S. Campaign for Burma to keep until it can be delivered to the 88
Generation Students.  USCB will proudly maintain the award.

“We are honored to keep this award on behalf of the 88 Generation
Students”, says Aung Din, executive director of the USCB and close friend
of the '88 student leaders since Burma's 1988 popular democracy uprising.
“This award recognizes the enormous courage and sacrifice of Burma’s
students in the struggle for democracy and human rights," he added.

The 88 Generation Students group is comprised of Burma's most prominent
human rights activists after Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi.
 After Burma's military regime drastically raised the price of fuel in
August 2007, the 88 Generation Students organized a non-violent protest
walk in which they were joined by hundreds of everyday Burmese people. 
The 88 students were immediately arrested and have been held ever since. 
Anger at the arrests and the Burmese regime's treatment of Buddhist monks
spiraled into last September's "Saffron Revolution" that saw hundreds of
thousands of Buddhist monks marching peacefully for change.

In late August, in a blunt rejection of the United Nations Security
Council and just days after two UN envoys traveled to Burma seeking
democratic change and improvements in human rights, the country's military
regime hauled dozens of the 88 Generation Students from prison cells into
court in order to begin "sham" trials that will likely result in their
long-term incarceration.

The most prominent of the 88 Generation Students, Min Ko Naing, has won
numerous international awards for his peaceful, nonviolent calls for
change in Burma including the Civil Courage Prize from the Northcote
Parkinson Fund in the United States, the Homo Homini Award from People in
Need Foundation in the Czech Republic, the John Humphrey Freedom Award
from the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development
in Canada, and the Student Peace Prize, widely considered the "junior"
Nobel Peace Prize, in Norway.

Burma's military regime is among the worlds most brutal.  Besides locking
up Aung San Suu Kyi and over 2,100 political prisoners, the regime has
recruited more child soldiers than any other country in the world and
destroyed 3,200 ethnic minority villages, forcing millions of villagers to
flee their homes as refugees or internally displaced.

Today, the Thailand-Burma Border Consortium, a coalition of
non-governmental organizations administering refugee camps and assisting
displaced persons along the Thailand-Burma border, reported that over 1/2
million people have fled from their homes and are living as internal
refugees in eastern Burma. At least one million persons have fled their
homes as refugees -- both outside of Burma and inside the country's
borders.  Also today, the Australian government expanded its travel and
financial sanctions on Burma's military regime, banning dozens of cronies
of the military regime from traveling to and doing business with
Australian firms.