BurmaNet News, November 13, 2008

[Editor]

November 13, 2008, Issue # 3598


QUOTE OF THE DAY
“There is no independent and impartial judiciary system [in Burma],"
.and
the proceedings that sentenced the activists "cannot be taken as a fair
trial." – Tomas Ojea Quintana, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human
Rights in Burma as quoted in The Mizzima News

INSIDE BURMA
AP: 13 more Myanmar dissidents get prison sentences
Irrawaddy: Regime tightens reins on the internet
IMNA: Villagers bound, beaten and stabbed during interrogations in Tavoy
DVB: U Win Tin says Ban Ki Moon should not visit Burma

ON THE BORDER
SHAN: Junta military builds up more forces and weapons on the Thai-Burma
border
Kaladan News: Burma lays landmines along the Burma-Bangladesh border
Narinjara: Burmese arrested in Bangladesh amid border tension

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Myanmar saves $8 million by substituting fuel with gas monthly
Irrawaddy: Burmese migrants to get ‘passport documents’

DRUGS
AFP: US freezes assets of alleged Myanmar drug traffickers

REGIONAL
Asian News International: Asian rights body urges BIMSTEC to reject
Myanmar as chair

INTERNATIONAL
Press Trust of India: Ban asks Myanmar's Junta to free political prisoners
Mizzima: UN rights envoy says Burma's judiciary system flawed

OPINION / OTHER
Time Magazine: Burma crackdown reflects Junta's insecurity - Hannah Beech
The Nation (Thailand): The Burmese junta's true color
San Francisco Chronicle: In Burma, business ventures start with military -
Daniel Pepper

PRESS RELEASE
RSF: Jailed poet gets HIV virus from forcible injection in Insein prison



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

November 13, Associated Press
13 more Myanmar dissidents get prison sentences

Courts in Myanmar sentenced more than a dozen activists to prison Thursday
in a continued judicial crackdown on the country's pro-democracy movement
that has drawn international condemnation.

The verdicts came after the United States, United Nations, and Britain
denounced long prison terms given to more than 30 democracy activists in
military-run Myanmar earlier this week. Some were sentenced at closed-door
trials to 65 years in jail.

They included several who played prominent roles ahead of mass
pro-democracy protests that were crushed by the ruling junta in September
last year.

"These brave democracy activists are peaceful citizens whose only crime
was to challenge the regime's illegitimate rule," State Department
spokesman Robert Wood told reporters Wednesday.

Thirteen members of the opposition National League for Democracy party
were given jail terms Thursday ranging from 4 1/2 to 9 1/2 years on
various charges including disturbing public tranquility, party spokesman
Nyan Win said.

The U.N. reiterated calls for all political prisoners to be released and
for all citizens to be allowed to participate freely in the country's
political future.

"The secretary-general is deeply concerned by recent reports of sentences
and severe prison terms imposed in connection with the peaceful
demonstrations of last year in Myanmar," the U.N. said in a statement
released by its office in Myanmar.

International human rights groups say Myanmar now holds more than 2,100
political prisoners, compared to nearly 1,200 in June 2007, before the
September 2007 pro-democracy demonstrations.

They include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the
opposition party, who is under house arrest. She has been in detention for
about 13 of the past 19 years.

In London, Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell said those detained had
"done nothing other than exercise their right to express themselves."

After Suu Kyi's party won the most seats in 1990 general elections, the
military refused to let it take power and instead cracked down on its
members.
____________________________________

November 13, Irrawaddy
Regime tightens reins on the internet – Min Lwin

Burma’s military government has turned to a 12-year-old law to justify its
latest crackdown on dissidents, about 60 of whom have received lengthy
prison sentences so far this week.

On Monday, blogger Nay Phone Latt became one of the first to be punished
under the
1996 Computer Science Development Law, receiving a prison sentence of
twenty years and six months for violating the hitherto little-used law.
The next day, the court handed similarly harsh sentences to 14 members of
the 88 Generation Students Group, also accused of committing various
offenses under the law.

Lawyers for the detained activists said that the use of the law was a
departure from the regime’s usual practice of invoking older laws to
suppress dissent.

“Normally, the government would charge the activists under Section 5(j) of
the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act for making anti-government speeches and
agitating unrest,” said one lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“There is another reason to use this law,” the lawyer added. “They can
tell the international community that they have no political prisoners in
the jails, only criminals.”

The law provides for sentences of up to 15 years’ imprisonment for
offenses such as accessing the Internet without official authorization.
Several of the accused who were sentenced earlier this week faced as many
as four charges under the law.

The law was enacted in September 1996 by the State Law and Order
Restoration Council, as the current regime was known at the time, and gave
the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs the power to specify
exactly what constituted the lawful use of computers.

Failure to obtain the ministry’s approval before establishing or accessing
a network is punishable by a prison sentence of not less than seven years
and not more than 15 years, and may also be liable to a fine. The same
punishment is also prescribed for anyone who uses a computer network or
information technology to undermine state security or “community peace and
tranquility.”

The Burmese authorities have become increasingly uneasy about the way the
Internet is being used in the country since last September, when blog
sites and online chat rooms were a major source of information about
massive monk-led demonstrations and the regime’s subsequent crackdown.

Burmese bloggers and “citizen journalists” uploaded news, photos and video
clips of the uprising to the Internet, revealing the junta’s brutal
suppression of the protests to the international community.

Since then, military authorities have stepped up their efforts to regulate
Internet traffic, closely monitoring Internet cafés and individual users.

By sentencing Nay Phone Latt, a popular young blogger, to more than 20
years in prison, the regime has signaled that it has no intention of
relaxing its hold over the Internet anytime soon.

Some Burmese bloggers living abroad even suggested that the move showed
the junta was not merely targeting political activists, but was going
after anyone who seemed to regard the Internet as a forum for free speech.

“Nay Phone Latt is not political,” said Gyit Tu, a Burmese blogger based
in Singapore. “He is just a young person who didn’t tolerate injustice.

“The government has given notice to other young bloggers that if they
write blogs, they will be punished like Nay Phone Latt,” she added.

This is not the first time that the regime has used draconian restrictions
on the use of new technology to imprison its critics. In 1996, Leo
Nichols, a businessman and honorary consul for Norway and Denmark, was
arrested and given a lengthy sentence for illegal possession of fax
machines.

Nichols was tortured and denied medicine by prison authorities. He died
soon after being placed in detention.

____________________________________

Independent Mon News Agency
Villagers bound, beaten and stabbed during interrogations in Tavoy

The Burmese army continues to arrest, interrogate and assault ethnic
Karens suspected of having contact with the Karen National Liberation Army
(KNLA) in Tavoy District, Tenasserim Division. Four villagers were
arrested on October 9th, bound to a tree, interrogated and beaten. One of
the villagers was also stabbed repeatedly.

On October 9th at 10 am, Column #1 of Light Infantry Battalion No. 285,
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Khin Maung Than, entered Thabyut-Chaung
village and arrested Saw Pho Pha, 42 and Saw Htoo Bleh, 32. According to
an eyewitness from the area, the two men were accused of having contact
with the KNLA, bound and severely beaten.

“Burmese soldiers tied them to a tree, beat with them with a bamboo stick
and struck them with their elbows during the questioning,” said the
source. About two hours later, the commander asked relatives of the
victims to pay 50,000 kyat each for their release.

After releasing Saw Pho Pha and Saw Htoo Bleh, at 1:30 pm Column #1
arrested Saw L. Swe, 25. Saw L. Swe was also accused of having contact
with the KNLA. “As soon as Lt. Col Khin Maung Than and his troops got in
front of Saw L. Swe’s house, they ordered him to come outside and then
tied him up with rope. Then, three soldiers kicked his head and back many
times while they asked him questions about whether he has ties to the
KNLA,” said the source. “He denied the accusation but the soldiers did not
believe him and continued to beat him seriously. Then, one soldier stabbed
Saw L. Swe on his arms, chest, back and legs with an Army knife. His body
was full with blood. Then, the Burmese looted his home and stole some of
his family belongings, estimated to be worth 120,000 kyat. After the
troops left his wife and relatives sent him to Myit-Tar Sut-township
hospital.”

According to the same source, at 5 pm, Column #1 arrested and interrogated
a fourth victim in Thabyut-Chaung, Saw Phe Doh, 35. He was also accused of
being a KNLA supporter, beaten and then robbed of belongings thought to be
worth 100,000 kyat.

The KNLA is the armed wing of Karen National Union (KNU), which has been
in armed conflict with the Burmese military regime for decades. According
to a highly ranked officer from KNU Liaison Office in Sangkhlaburi, the
accused villagers are innocent. He added that neither the KNU nor KNLA has
any underground links or informants in the area of Thabyut-Chaung village.

The area is under the administration of KNLA Brigade No. 4, but the
liaison officer said that troops in the area have not launched any
offensives recently. The assaults and interrogations have purposes beyond
information gather, the officer told HURFOM. “The abuses the Burmese
troops have committed against innocent villagers are only designed to grow
fears among the villagers. And take unlawful extra income from the
victims.”

____________________________________

November 13, Democratic Voice of Burma
U Win Tin says Ban Ki Moon should not visit Burma – Htet Aung Kyaw

Recently released veteran journalist and pro-democracy leader U Win Tin
said the visit of United Nations' Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Burma
could end up as a nod to tyranny.

During an interview with DVB, U Win Tin said he welcomes concerns for
Burma by the international community and world leaders but he insisted
that state visits could end up endorsing oppression in the country.

"It is very good that world leaders are interested in our political
affairs, but this kind of visit will give blessing to dire situation here.
We welcome their interest but not the visit," said U Win Tin.

"I even want to say clearly to Mr. Ban Ki-moon, don't come (to Burma)," he
said.

"In this kind of situation, world leaders need to think because while they
(Burmese generals) are creating this atrocious situation and if people
like Ban Ki-moon come and follow their plan, see what they show and listen
to what they say, they will end up supporting, promoting and blessing the
military government."

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

November 13, Shan Herald Agency for News
Junta military builds up more forces and weapons on the Thai-Burma border
- Hseng Khio Fah

The Burmese army’s continued build-up of more forces and weapons along the
Thai-Burma border where the Shan State Army (SSA-South) and United Wa
State Army (UWSA) are strongly active, according to reliable sources.

On 9 November, weapons were sent with 15 Chinese made Dong Feng six wheel
trucks from Taunggyi to Kengtung. Each truck was accompanied by 20
soldiers to provide security, said the source.

A friendly Burmese soldier told the source that the trucks were carrying
ammunition and shells for heavy weapons such as 120mm and 150mm howitzers.

Moreover, the junta has placed more soldiers between Mongton to Nakawngmu
on 7 November. Villagers said they later saw trucks carrying ammunition
moving to Mongjawd on the way to border bases where they are facing SSA
and UWSA forces.

“It is likely they [Burmese army] are building up their forces to be ready
for a showdown,” said Col Yawd Serk, chairman of the Shan State Army
(SSA-S).

Over the weekend, the junta set up new equipment in Monghsat, reportedly
to control fighters and bombers, said a source.

In the meantime, the ceasefire group, UWSA has been training more soldiers
and building more trenches and bunkers along the border of their domain in
Monghpen-Hotao, south of Panghsang since July, according to sources.

____________________________________

November 13, Kaladan News
Burma lays landmines along the Burma-Bangladesh border

Burma has laid landmines on the Burma-Bangladesh border following tension
between the two neighboring countries over gas exploration in the Bay of
Bengal, according to a source close to Burma's border security force,
Nasaka.

Nasaka laid mines on Burma–Bangladesh borders from pillar No. 37 to 41,
which is located at Wayla Daung since November 7, 2008, bringing porters
from rural areas.

Burma's ruling junta has not agreed to the Mine Ban Treaty. Burma
abstained from voting on the pro-Mine Ban Treaty in the UN General
Assembly Resolution 57/74 in November 2002. SPDC delegates have not
attended any of the annual meetings of States Parties to the Mine Ban
Treaty or the Inter-sessional Standing Committee meetings. Burma was one
of the two ASEAN countries that did not participate in the seminar. Burma
has been producing at least three types of antipersonnel mines: MM1, MM2,
and Claymore-type mines.

Burma is not known to have imported or exported any antipersonnel mines.
Burma has obtained and used antipersonnel mines manufactured in China,
Israel, Italy, Russian, United States, and unidentified manufacturers,
according to sources.

In 2002, mines were laid along much of the Bangladesh-Burma border which
remain embedded in the ground and continue to claim victims despite
continued diplomatic protests by Bangladesh. Later all the mines in Burma-
Bangladesh border were removed by the SPDC authorities following
complaints from the Bangladesh side.

Burma also reinforced its troops in the border areas and at least deployed
50 to 100 soldiers at all Nasaka camps which had only 35 soldiers earlier.
There are about 300-400 army personnel in Aungzu camp and about 2,000
soldiers were deployed in border areas since November 7. The Nasaka also
made trenches in every camp, according to an aide of Nasaka.

According to sources, the Nasaka will continue laying mine in border areas
up to pillar No. 58, which is located in Busi Par (Busi Mountain).

____________________________________

November 13, Narinjara
Burmese arrested in Bangladesh amid border tension

Bangladesh border security forces arrested nearly a dozen Burmese
nationals on the border in the past few days after being put on red alert
by Bangladesh authorities amid tension with Burma over a maritime boundary
dispute.
A border source said three Burmese nationals were arrested by Bangladesh
Rifles on Thursday on suspicion that they were entering Bangladesh
territory illegally at the Kong Don - Taungbro border point.

The three were identified as 39-year-old Maung Maung Then, son of U Maung
Bu Chay, 26-year-old U Maung Gro, son of U San Hla Pru, and 35-year-old U
Aung Chit, son of U Ba Thein. All three hail from Maungdaw Township on the
western Burmese border.

Bangladesh authorities sent the men on Tuesday to Bandarban prison in
Chittagong Hill Tract after suspecting them of spying for Burma to collect
information about Bangladesh troops.

Another nine Burmese nationals were arrested by Bangladesh Rifles forces
on Monday on the island of Sapori, known as Shin Ma Pru in Arakan, as they
entered Bangladesh territory.

The nine arrestees have been identified as Abu Ko Bi Sidek, 18 years old,
Robi Uhlar, 30 years old, Maru Mohmad, 18 years old, Muhamad Ayu, 20 years
old, Muhamad Salyin, 18 years old, Nurul Muhamad, 30 years old, Furi Di
Amol, Muhmad Hasol, and Hasul, 18 years old. All nine are also from
Maungdaw Township.

According to an official source, the nine men confessed that they had
entered Bangladesh in order to travel to Malaysia via sea on board a
smuggling boat departing from the Bangladesh border town Teknaf in order
to look for work.

Bangladesh authorities have put out a high alert for security forces along
the border after tensions ran high from a maritime dispute with Burma, and
security forces continue to watch the border closely.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

November 13, Xinhua
Myanmar saves $8 million by substituting fuel with gas monthly

Myanmar has saved nearly 8 million U.S. dollars per month by substituting
imported fuel with domestically-produced natural gas in operating motor
vehicles, the local 7-Day News reported Thursday.

It was able to cut import of 2.26 million gallons of diesel and999,620
gallons of petrol monthly, the report said, quoting the disclosure of a
recent paper reading session dealing with traffic rule education.

According to official statistics published in October, there was a total
of 22,821 petrol- or diesel-run motor vehicles so far converted into
compressed-natural-gas (CNG)-operated ones as part of the country's effort
to save fuel and reduce import of crude oil.

Of the CNG-converted motor vehicles, passenger buses accounted for the
majority, followed by school buses and taxis. Others went to trucks,
departmental cars and private ones.

Myanmar has worked to ultimately change all motor vehicles in the country
into CNG-operated's starting from bus and truck down to private-owned
saloon car under a plan to modify all vehicles gradually in the country in
terms of fuel operation.

To facilitate the conversion, Myanmar has allowed over a dozen private
industries to carry out the undertakings on buses, trucks, taxis and
saloons in addition to the Ministry of Energy.

Myanmar began the move amid sustained rise of crude oil prices in the
world and the plan was introduced due partly to the abundance of natural
gas in the country.

The country encourages import of CNG-run cars rather than petrol- or
diesel-consumed ones.

According to the State Customs Department, Myanmar imported 374.06 million
dollars' fuel in the fiscal year 2007-08 which ended in March.

The fuel imports accounted for 13.2 percent of the total imports of 2.818
billion dollars, the department's figures show.

Other official statistics also indicate that Myanmar produced 7.62 million
barrels of crude oil and 13.393 billion cubic-meters of natural gas in
2007-08.

Natural gas topped Myanmar's exports in the year with 2.594 billion
dollars representing 42.9 percent of the total exports during the year.

____________________________________

November 13, Irrawaddy
Burmese migrants to get ‘passport documents’ – Lawi Weng

Burma is preparing to offer new nationality identification papers to
Burmese migrant workers, which would allow them to work legally in
Thailand, according to a source within the Burmese immigration department.

“We are preparing to open these three offices,” said the immigration
officer in Myawaddy, a border town opposite Mae Sot on the Thai-Burmese
border. “We’re just waiting for the order from Naypyidaw.”

The three passport registration offices where migrants could apply for the
documents are due to be opened along the Thai-Burmese border at Myawaddy,
Tachilek and Ranong townships, according to the source.

The officer added that the new passport documents would be cheaper than
applying for a Thai work permit; however, it would mean that workers would
be subjected to tax.

The new nationality identification paper, which is called a “passport
document,” will effectively grant successful applicants a one-year work
permit in Thailand. To receive the passport document, a Burmese migrant
worker will need a recommendation letter from a Thai factory or business,
the officer said.

Sompong Srakawe, a director with the Labor Rights Promotion Network in
Thailand, said the Thai Ministry of Labor already told Burmese migrants
working in Mahachai in Samut Sakhon Province about the development last
month.

However, a Burmese worker in Mahachai told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that
to date only a few Thai factory owners have told their Burmese workers
about the new permits.

“Many workers are unclear what kind of benefits they will get from a new
passport document. They will also worry about being cheated by passport
agents,” she said.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, a member of a Bangkok-based migrant
workers’ support group, the Migrant Working Group, said, “I think very few
people will go to the registration centres to apply for passport
documents, because they are afraid they will be sent back to Burma. This
process might take a long time.

“Also, most of the migrants are ethnic people and they are afraid the
military authorities will use the information to persecute their families
back home.”

Burmese migrants who are working in Thailand and who want to apply for
these new passport documents have to bring all their information,
including their ID cards, to these centres, he said.

Thailand and Burma agreed to set up nationality identification centers for
Burmese migrant workers in 2006, however the two countries couldn’t reach
an agreement on where the registration centres would be situated.
Originally, the Burmese authorities wanted to situate the registration
centers in Pa-an and Moulmein, both towns in eastern Burma. However, their
Thai counterparts objected as these towns were too far for the workers to
travel to and from.

The Thai government has said it hopes that the new passport registration
process would help stop the influx of illegal Burmese migrants into
Thailand by offering the opportunity to work in the country legally.

According to official estimates in 2006, Thailand hosts more than 1.2
million migrant workers—some legal, but most illegal—from Burma, Cambodia
and Laos. However, the country still faces a severe labor shortage and is
unable to meet growing industrial demands, prompting officials to
frequently revise registration procedures.

The governments of Laos and Cambodia operate nationality identification
centers in Thailand in cooperation with the Thai government. The centers
have so far processed some 70,000 Lao and Cambodia workers and registered
them with the Thai Labor Department. They are eligible to work in Thailand
and have access to the same social welfare benefits as Thai workers,
including legal support and medical services for their children.

____________________________________
DRUGS

November 13, Agence France Presse
US freezes assets of alleged Myanmar drug traffickers

The US authorities said Thursday it had frozen the assets of 26
individuals and 17 firms tied to drug trafficking in Myanmar and
prohibited US citizens from dealing with them.

Targeted were those linked to the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the most
powerful drug trafficking organization in southeast Asia, and Wei Hsueh
Kang, a senior UWSA commander, the Treasury Department said in a
statement.

They were named "Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers" by the
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under the Foreign
Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.

The Treasury said its "action freezes any assets the 43 designees may have
under US jurisdiction and prohibits US persons from conducting
transactions or dealings in the property interests of the designated
individuals and entities."

Corporations found violating the Kingpin Act could be fined up to ten
million dollars while corporate officers could be fined up to five million
dollars and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Other individuals could face up to 10 years in prison and fines.

The United Wa State Army "is a major producer and exporter of synthetic
drugs, including methamphetamine," according to OFAC Deputy Director
Barbara Hammerle who was quoted in the department's statement.

"Today OFAC is targeting the Wa's lieutenants and the financial holdings
of this massive drug trafficking organization. We call on other nations to
do the same," Hammerle was quoted as saying.

Under the Kingpin Act, US President George W. Bush identified as
significant foreign narcotics traffickers Wei Hsueh Kang, in 2000, and the
UWSA, around three years later, it added.

In January 2005, federal prosecutors in New York "unsealed a criminal
indictment charging Wei, along with his brothers Wei Hsueh Lung and Wei
Hsueh Ying, who are designated today, for narcotics trafficking," it said.

The US State Department is offering a reward of up to two million dollars
for tips leading to Wei's capture.

Others named by the OFAC are Pao Yu Hsiang, Ho Chun Ting and Shih Kuo Neng.

Pao Yu Hsiang, indicted in 2005 with Wei Hsueh Kang, is the
commander-in-chief of the UWSA, the treasury said.

In 2005, prosecutors in New York charged Ho Chun Ting and Shih Kuo Neng,
among others, with money laundering and narcotics trafficking, it said.

In 2007, Hong Kong authorities arrested Ho Chun Ting, a partner of Wei
Hsueh Kang, but Hong Kong later released him for unknown reasons, the
treasury said.

Shih Kuo Neng is the manager of the Hong Pang conglomerate of companies,
many of which were also named Wednesday.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

November 13, Asian News International
Asian rights body urges BIMSTEC to reject Myanmar as chair

The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) today condemned the decision of
the 11th summit of the Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and
Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to appoint Myanmar as the Chairman of the
12th Ministerial Summit and BIMSTEC from 2009.

BIMSTEC consisting of India, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh and Myanmar is holding its 11th Summit today in New Delhi.

“The appointment of Myanmar as the Chair from 2009 is the most shameful
event of the BIMSTEC. This provides legitimacy to the military Junta which
has refused to take measures for national reconciliation, release Nobel
Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, and restore
democracy in Myanmar” - stated Mr Suhas Chakma, Director of Asian Centre
for Human Rights.

“The decision also undermines the efforts of the ASEAN which has rejected
Myanmar as its chair for the failure of the Junta to promote national
reconciliation and rejects the recent appeal of the UN Secretary General,
Ban Ki Moon to the government of India to play a greater role on Myanmar,”
Chakma further stated.

Instead of following the footsteps of ASEAN, BIMSTEC is promoting the
worst military dictatorship in the world, the State Peace and Development
Council of Myanmar against the current wave of democracy in South Asia as
evident from the election of Mauhamed Nausheed as the President of
Maldives, Prachanda as Prime Minister of Nepal and ouster of General
Pervez Musharaff as the President of Pakistan.

The ACHR urged ASEAN, European Union and others in the international
community not to send any observers, including the Ambassadors to Myanmar
to the BIMSTEC Summit to be chaired by Myanmar in 2009.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

November 13, Press Trust of India
Ban asks Myanmar's Junta to free political prisoners

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked Myanmar's military government
to release all political prisoners issued lengthy jail terms for
participating in last year's mass pro-democracy protests.

"He calls once again for all political prisoners to be released and for
all citizens of Myanmar to be allowed to freely participate in their
country's political future as part of an inclusive national reconciliation
process," a statement issued by Ban's spokesperson said.

A leading international human rights watchdog had also asked the junta in
Myanmar yesterday to immediately "exonerate and free" activists who are
being tried by "unfair courts" for their "peaceful participation" in
protests in September 2007.

Media reports said that members who were at the forefront of a 1988
pro-democracy uprising were subjected to lengthy prison terms and torture
after the rebellion was brutally suppressed by the military.

After they were freed, they resumed their political activities and
spearheaded open and legal protests against the military government and
played prominent roles in protests leading up to last year's mass
pro-democracy demonstration, which were crushed by the ruling junta in
September last year.

____________________________________

November 13, Mizzima
UN rights envoy says Burma's judiciary system flawed - Solomon

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea
Quintana, says Burma's judicial system, which sentenced over 30 dissidents
to long prison terms on Tuesday, is flawed and manipulated by the ruling
junta.

Quintana, in an interview with Mizzima, said, "There is no independent and
impartial judiciary system [in Burma]," referring to the sentencing of
dissidents earlier this week to up to 65 years in prison.

Quintana, who made his inaugural investigative trip on the condition of
human rights in Burma in August, said the proceedings that sentenced the
activists "cannot be taken as a fair trial" and that the government should
reconsider the convictions.

However, despite the UN rights expert's and the international community's
condemnation of the Burmese military junta's earlier convictions, 11 more
National League for Democracy members were today handed sentences of seven
and half years imprisonment.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary General said in a statement
that Ban Ki-moon is deeply concerned by the severe prison terms imposed on
activists in connection with last year's peaceful demonstrations in Burma.

"He calls once again for all political prisoners to be released and for
all citizens of Myanmar [Burma] to be allowed to freely participate in
their country's political future as part of an inclusive national
reconciliation process," the statement read.

With their words, Ban and Quintana joined the growing chorus of
international condemnation over the junta's actions, which opposition
groups say are aimed to eliminate all activists before the planned
election in 2010.

Quintana stressed that the convictions of the activists should be
reconsidered as they had not received a fair trial. He also said he will
raise the issue of a fair court and an independent judicial system during
his second visit to the country, which he believes will occur prior to
March 2009.

"I am trying to go back to the country before March 2009, this [the
judiciary system] will be part of my discussion in the country," Quintana
told Mizzima.

In his earlier visit in August, the UN envoy proposed four core human
rights elements to the Burmese junta for consideration, one of which was a
review of national legislation in accordance with the new constitution and
international obligations – in addition to the release of political
prisoners, a review of the armed forces and look at how authority is
exercised.

Quintana noted, "One of my goals for the next mission is to establish with
the government for the implementation of these four core human rights
elements."

"The human rights situation [in Burma] is a challenging task for me and
for other human rights agencies," added the Special Rapporteur.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

November 13, Time Magazine
Burma crackdown reflects Junta's insecurity - Hannah Beech

The years piled up fast. Sixty-five years in prison each for 14 former
student activists. Twenty-and-a-half years for a blogger.
Twelve-and-a-half years for a labor leader. Six-and-a-half years for five
Buddhist monks. Two years for a poet. In the space of just three days this
week, more than 30 Burmese were sentenced to prison or hard labor by the
country's ruling junta, a chilling legal onslaught that sent a clear
message to other potential dissidents: speak out, and get used to life in
a prison cell.

Even for a notoriously repressive regime, the jail sentences were
unusually harsh. Last year, the generals who control Burma, also known as
Myanmar, violently crushed a peaceful, monk-led protest movement calling
for economic and political reforms. Hopes that an influx of foreign aid —
dispersed after Cyclone Nargis devastated the Irrawaddy Delta last spring
— would convince the junta to take a softer approach were dashed by the
rash of detentions that accelerated in late October. Last week, two
journalists were jailed, while three lawyers representing political
activists have also been sentenced to prison. "These last few weeks show a
more concentrated crackdown on dissent clearly aimed at intimidating the
population," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights
Watch, in a statement from the New York-based rights group. "These
peaceful activists should not be on trial in the first place, let alone
thrown in prison for years after unfair trials."

Burma has scheduled multi-party elections in 2010. The polls are
considered a charade by many international observers, who note that the
leader of the main opposition party, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi, is under house arrest and is barred from participating. But even
after locking up a woman whose National League for Democracy won the 1990
elections that the junta then ignored, Burma's ruling brass still appears
spooked by the power of the people. "Burma's leaders are clearing the
decks of political activists," says Pearson, "before they announce the
next round of sham political reforms." Overall, one Burmese exile group
based in Thailand estimates that 2,120 Burmese now languish in jail for
their political activism, nearly double the number who were in prison
before last year's anti-government demonstrations.

Despite the predictable expressions of condemnation issued this week by
countries like the U.S. and Britain, there's little that the West appears
able to do to convince the junta, which has ruled since 1962, to treat its
citizens more humanely. Economic sanctions by the U.S. and the European
Union are undercut by the eagerness with which China and other Asian
countries do business with Burma's generals. Although one of Asia's
poorest nations, Burma holds a wealth of natural resources like timber,
natural gas and precious stones.

The country's leaders have grown rich from the land's bounty, even as most
Burmese struggle just to feed themselves. Roughly one-third of civilians
live below the poverty line. Last month, many Burmese, who get their news
from clandestine radio broadcasts, were shocked by a BBC Burmese service
report that claimed a daughter of junta leader Than Shwe had spent more
than $80,000 on a gold shopping spree in the city of Mandalay. Than Shwe
himself brooks no dissent. The offense of Saw Wai, the poet who was
sentenced to two years in prison? Writing a love poem published in a
weekly magazine in which the first words of each line spelled out a brazen
message: "Power Crazed Senior General Than Shwe."

____________________________________

November 13, The Nation (Thailand)
The Burmese junta's true color

When the Burmese junta decided to jail the 14 pro-democracy leaders of the
1988 generation to 65 years old each, or in other word life sentence, it
was clear that the junta leaders want to challenge the whole world
community to respond. The junta leaders know full well for now on it could
do anything to any person who is considered a threat. Indeed, the Rangoon
leaders are getting stronger by the day and become even more dictatorial
in its approach and suppression.

It is amazing as well that the harsh jail sentences came at the time there
are debates on whether the UN, international relief agencies should
continue to engage Burma and continue to provide humanitarian aid in the
post-Nargis. After the disaster in May, Burma has received overwhelming
sympathy from around the world, foreign assistance have poured in to help
the suffering Burmese villagers in the Irrawaddy Delta. Medical supplies
and others items such as small tractors and other necessities also come to
Burma. The point here is the Burmese junta could not care less about the
international community. Its leaders happen to know the limits of
international cooperation. Once it involves their own national interests,
they would be discreet, for fear of further exposure.

Like it or not, the Burmese decision would pose a challenge to the
incoming US president- elect Barack Obama. His vice president-elect,
Joseph Biden, has a long history of support tough legislatures in the
Congress in the past several years. The latest JADE ACT, which banned the
import of Burmese jewelry, was also the product of collaboration of him
and among key law makers. Throughout the Bush administration, the Burma
situation has been a non-partisan issue in the Congress. President George
W Bush and First Lady Laura Bush have been rather passionate about the
plight of Burma. On their latest visit to Thailand in Augusty, they met
with the Burmese dissidents and visit camps along Thai-Burmese border.
They have done a great job in keeping the Burmese junta on the radar
screen in Washington and the rest of the world. Now with Obama, it would
be interesting to watch if the US can cooperate with China and India as
well as Asean to improve the situation in Burma. Obama has said that he
would use dialogue and negotiation to end deadlocks on issues the US
encounters.

Intuitively, Burma is playing with the international shifting sentiment,
which is very temperamental at best. In the time of global economic
crisis, it would be difficult to discuss the Burmese suffering. After the
Saffron Revolution last September, the sympathy from around the world
increased towards the democratic groups operating inside Burma. Everybody
thought that they would be able to embed further democratic values. Then,
the May devastation caused by the Cyclone Nargis turned schemes of things
inside Burma upside down. At first the catastrophe was a curse but later
on it turned out to be a blessing because now the junta with a bigger
coffer, thanked to influx of foreign currencies and aid; and it is
stronger and is more determined to stay the course and annihilated all,
both young and old, elements that challenge the regime.

The junta is proceeding with its seven-point roadmap with a planned
election in 2010. Of course, the outcome is predictable at the moment. But
it wants to be sure that in the next polls in 2010 there would be no
surprise liked the one in 1990 when the opposition won a landslide votes.
Sad to say, the junta leaders are not yielding because they realize that
there is a high level of hypocrisy out there in the world. If they stick
together and their leadership left unchallenged and do not crack on
pressure, nobody can do anything about it. Changes will come only when the
opposition groups or the rest of the world accept the junta's terms and
conditions. Even at that kind of dire state, many observers continue to
back the arguments that the Burmese regime should be engaged, no matter
what because there is no other option.

Finally, it is obvious after the planned election in 2010, Burma plans to
resume its Asean chairmanship, which it skipped in 2005, succeeding
Vietnam. That would be the best of time because by that time there would
be a surrogate government in place.

____________________________________

November 13, San Francisco Chronicle
In Burma, business ventures start with military - Daniel Pepper

Located in dense jungle hills, this jade mining town is a prime example of
the nation's business climate.

The northern town of 20,000 residents is connected to the outside world by
a single crumbling road, a bone-crushing 16 hours to the closest transport
hub during the rainy season. Ancient hulking trucks putter along in the
mud, some stuck for days. Like a cruel joke, red road signs announce: "The
Government has arranged for road repair from each company in Hpakant,"
meaning companies with lucrative government contracts are expected to pay
for highway upkeep even though the military regime takes a hefty profit
from each venture.

In Burma, residents call this business as usual.

More than 450 private companies and some 100 joint ventures operate in the
area, the majority of which are owned by Burmese with Chinese heritage,
according to Sai Joseph, 34, a gregarious family man and manager of a
midsize jade company.

"There are only a few wealthy people in Burma - those who get in with the
political people, the authorities who have power," said Joseph. "This is a
good chance to get rich."

All of Burma's big-ticket industries are based around natural resources,
including oil, natural gas, timber and mining. In essence, the country is
run like a mafia, from the languid tea shops of Rangoon to this remote
jungle area of Kachin state, where the mining town of Hpakant is located
and provides much of the world's jade.

In 2007, sales of natural gas brought in some $3 billion, while teak and
other lumber earned about $480 million. The jade industry earned an
estimated $400 million.

"You name it and they (military) have figured out a way to flip it and
make money out of it," said a former Western diplomat who asked not to be
named. "If a businessman wants to do something - build a hotel, import
cards, export lumber or get a government contract - he hooks up with an
army officer who can influence the decision. There are some outright cash
payoffs, but mostly it works on favors in kind."

Shining a light

Uncovering information about the regime's business deals is notoriously
difficult. But in September, Earth Rights International (ERI), a
Thailand-based environmental and human rights organization, released a
report detailing the investments of 68 Chinese multinationals in 88
hydropower, oil, natural gas and mining projects.

Pieced together from a range of Chinese companies and government Web sites
and news sources, the report aimed to raise awareness for the nation's 48
million inhabitants, who are kept in the dark on government's dealings and
a global movement to pressure the military into making reforms.

"The Burmese regime has successfully convinced these companies that
nothing will compromise its grip on political power," said Matthew Smith,
a project coordinator with ERI. "This is a conviction the regime doesn't
hesitate to demonstrate, as we've seen through its political imprisonments
and violent treatment of dissent."

The report showed that Burma's generals continue to thrive off their
relationship with China, evidenced by new air-conditioned supermarkets and
shopping malls, packed with Chinese-made goods in major cities like
Rangoon and Mandalay - products only a few Burmese can afford. Signs of
conspicuous consumption are evident by a small group of multimillionaires
whose wealth stands in direct relation to their proximity to junta leader
Senior Gen. Than Shwe and other top generals.

Many pro-democracy exiles regard China as the linchpin for meaningful
change, which may be hope prevailing over logic. China is the largest
supplier of military equipment to Burma and is a crucial veto on the U.N.
Security Council to stifle harsher economic sanctions by the international
community.

In Hpakant, jade businessman Joseph estimates that there are as many as
3,000 mines set among a series of denuded hills slowly eaten away by heavy
machinery. Green plant life bursts forth where it can, but most earth is
an excavation site, undulating for miles into the distance.

What was once depicted as a scene out of "Dante's Inferno" - the few
outsiders who had visited jade quarries here described thousands of
half-naked men, women and children clawing at rocks - is now a largely
mechanical process characterized by large yellow Caterpillar and Volvo
backhoes and industrial-size dump trucks. A few mines still employ human
diggers, and weeks before I visited Hpakant, one mine collapsed killing 20
people.

The jade trade

Just before the start of the Beijing Olympic Games, President Bush signed
into law the Burma Jade Act, adding Burmese jade and rubies to a long list
of restricted goods. Even though such prominent jewelers as Bulgari and
Tiffany & Co. have gone along with the ban, jade sellers in the crowded
outdoor markets of Rangoon told me they are doing landmark business thanks
to China, India, Thailand, Singapore and Arab gulf states.

Like many business activities, the military junta takes a hefty percentage
- 50 percent of profits from private companies and 80 percent from joint
ventures - leaving jade miners destitute and diseased (HIV is believed to
be rampant among miners, though exact statistics are impossible because
international aid groups are not allowed in Hpakant).

But jade mines are a prime example of how the military regime co-opts even
its enemies. Burma is home to more than 130 ethnic groups, and some
continue to fight for an independent homeland. For years, some of these
rebel groups financed their armed struggle through the sale of opium and
jade.

Militants to middlemen

Kachin rebels, one of the most formative armed forces and mostly an
animistic hill people, once mined jade illegally to buy guns. But after
signing a cease-fire with the military regime in 1994, they have become
"middlemen for the state's revenue generation, much of it semi-legal and
all designed to prop up military rule," said David Matthieson, a
researcher for Human Rights Watch.

Engaging in business rather than war with the military junta is tacit
acknowledgement that real power is determined by proximity to the ruling
generals.

"Without having personal ties with high-ranking personnel in one way or
another, no businesses could survive or expand," said Win Kyaw Oo, a
former journalist who is now in the private import business.

Change comes, if slowly, to Burma
Despite an economic growth rate of 5.5 percent in 2007, resource-rich
Burma remains one of the world's poorest nations. The country ranks 132
out of 177 countries in the United Nations' Human Development Index. It is
tied with Somalia for being the world's most corrupt country, according to
Transparency International's 2007 rankings.

Burma is also known around the globe for government repression.

The military junta's use of detention and torture has been denounced even
by the neutral International Committee of the Red Cross. The nation's most
famous champion of democracy, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi,
has been under house arrest for most of the past 19 years, and more than
2,500 political prisoners languish in prison, according to Amnesty
International. At least 900 have been locked up in the past year, and 14
pro-democracy activists were given harsh prison sentences on Tuesday.

Yet, Burma is also a nation where change is occurring - albeit at a
snail's pace.

In recent years, Internet cafes have more than tripled in major cities and
are even sprouting in backwater towns carved out of the jungle. In the
afternoons, young people gab on G-talk and check their profiles on Orkut,
Hi5 and Friendster. Signs posted openly explain how to circumvent
government censors through proxy servers and Web sites such as
www.yoyahoo.com and www.bypassany.info.

The music of Zayar Thaw, a well-known hip-hop artist who was jailed this
year, is an increasingly dominant genre of choice among many young
Burmese.

Access to the Internet and to satellite TV is further eroding the regime's
monopoly on information, a giant step in a nation where people once solely
relied on crackling shortwave radios for a connection to the outside
world.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

November 13, Reporters Sans Frontieres
Jailed poet gets HIV virus from forcible injection in Insein prison

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association are appalled to
learn that detained poet Aung Than, a member of the opposition National
League for Democracy, was probably infected with the HIV virus when he was
forcibly injected in Insein prison hospital two years ago. Several people,
including his mother, have told the two organisations that he is now in a
critical condition.

"This shocking news highlights not only the military government’s criminal
nature but also the disastrous health conditions in Burma’s prisons," the
two partner organisations said. "Aung Than’s health is getting worse by
the day and we call for his immediate release so that he can receive
appropriate treatment."

The organisations added: "We also urge the international community to
press for the International Committee of the Red Cross to be allowed to
visit Burma’s prisons as it was from 1999 to the end of 2005."

Aung Than’s mother, Daw Khin Si, and one of his friends told Reporters
Without Borders and the Burma Media Association that Aung Than was
admitted to the Insein prison hospital in October 2006 with a prostate
problem. While he was there, a member of the hospital staff who was not a
doctor wanted to give him an injection. Seeing that the needle was used
and knowing that cases of contamination were frequent in Insein prison,
Aung Than refused, whereupon the hospital employee injected him by force.

A few months later, his family noticed that his immune system did not seem
to be working properly. He had repeated fevers, skin ailments and frequent
colds. Concerned about his state of health, he asked to be tested but this
was refused. Fellow detainees, who include doctors, say his symptoms are
typical of someone with AIDS. Aung Than is certain that he was infected
since being imprisoned.

Forcible injections are common in Insein prison. A friend of a Burma Media
Association member died of AIDS in prison after being injected by force.

Aged 36, Aung Than was sentenced in June 2006 to 19 years in prison for
writing and distributing a collection of poems called "Daung Man" ("The
force of the fighting peacock") that was a tribute to Burma’s
pro-democracy movement. Three other people from Pegu (north of Rangoon)
received prison sentences in the same case: Zeya Aung (a student), Maung
Maung Oo (the owner of the press on which the poems were printed) and
opposition activist Sein Hlaing.