BurmaNet News, March 27, 2009

[Editor]

March 27, 2009, Issue #3679


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar leader warns on democracy at parade
Irrawaddy: NLD marks anniversary with call for dialogue
Reuters: Myanmar junta open to talks after U.S. diplomat visit
Mizzima News: Lone protestor detained
SHAN: Explosion in Lashio
IMNA: Key Mon political party to meet with general as pressure mounts to
join election

BUSINESS / TRADE
Reuters: China, Myanmar in oil deal
Mizzima News: TATA Motors to make trucks in Burma

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: U.N. rights body condemns systematic abuses in Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Generals go marching down memory lane – Aung Zaw

PRESS RELEASE
European Union Special Envoy: Myanmar (Burma) press statement of EU
Special Envoy of Burma/Myanmar

ANNOUNCEMENT
SWAN: Invitation letter for SWAN community event



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 27, Agence France Presse
Myanmar leader warns on democracy at parade

Myanmar junta chief Than Shwe urged political parties to shun foreign
ideologies if they want democracy as the military put on a show of might
at its annual parade Friday.

More than 13,000 troops marched on the parade ground of the military-ruled
nation's remote administrative capital Naypyidaw for Armed Forces Day in
the shadow of statues of old Burmese kings.

"Democracy in Myanmar today is at a fledgling stage and still requires
patient care and attention," Senior General Than Shwe said in a 25-minute
speech.

"Some parties look to foreign countries for guidance and inspiration,
follow the imported ideologies and directives irrationally," he added.

Senior Myanmar junta officials attended the ceremony that began early in
the morning amid tight security following a bomb blast in the commercial
hub Yangon overnight that killed one person.

Than Shwe stayed for about an hour of the 90-minute ceremony that marks
the beginning of resistance to Japanese occupation during World War II but
is not open to the public.

The junta has announced elections in 2010 as part of its so-called
"roadmap to democracy" but critics have denounced them as a sham designed
to entrench the power of the military.

The party of detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, which won
elections in 1990 put was never allowed to take power, has not said
whether it will participate in the polls as she is not permitted to stand.

Under the roadmap, Myanmar has adopted a new constitution after a widely
criticised referendum held days after a cyclone ravaged large swathes of
the country in early May last year, leaving 138,000 people dead or
missing.

Authorities said the referendum, carried out without independent
monitoring, received support from 92.48 percent of voters.

Myanmar remains subject to strict sanctions by the United States and other
Western nations who have urged the authorities to free Aung San Suu Kyi,
who has been detained for most of the last 19 years on political charges.

She is one of 2,100 political prisoners held in Myanmar according to UN
human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana, who recently visited and
criticised dozens of recent jail terms handed down in closed-door
hearings.

But a surprise meeting this week between a senior US official and junta
officials prompted the State Department to deny the United States was
changing its stance as it undergoes a review of existing policy towards
Myanmar.

Meanwhile Than Shwe said political parties needed to "refrain from
inciting unrest, avoid personal attacks and smear campaigns against other
parties and to find unity and diversity."

"We have to ensure that the progress of democracy in the country does not
affect non-disintegration of the union and non-disintegration of national
solidarity," he added.

Wearing his uniform with medals on his chest, the 75-year-old junta chief,
who has ruled Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, since 1992, inspected
troops from an open-top limousine at the annual parade.

It is one of the few occasions when he allows his image to appear in
official media.

____________________________________

March 27, Irrawaddy
NLD marks anniversary with call for dialogue – Lawi Weng

Burma’s main opposition party repeated its calls for the ruling junta to
begin a dialogue with its opponents and release all political prisoners
during a ceremony to mark the anniversary of an important event in the
country’s military history.

“Open talk is the best answer to solve political problems in Burma,” said
National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesperson Nyan Win. He added that
the junta was also urged to allow the party to reopen all of its offices
around the country.

The NLD held the ceremony to mark Resistance Day—known officially as Armed
Forces Day—at its Rangoon headquarters. Around 500 people attended the
annual gathering, which commemorates an uprising against Japanese military
occupation during the Second World War.

Meanwhile, Burma’s military government held its own Armed Forces Day
ceremony at its new capital of Naypyidaw. More than 13,000 troops were on
parade during the ceremony, which was attended by the junta’s supreme
leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe.

In a speech to the troops, Than Shwe rejected calls from the NLD and other
opposition groups for a review of a new constitution approved last year in
a referendum widely denounced as a sham.

There will be no review, the general said, because the “constitution (was)
adopted by the people,” adding that Burmese must not accept “foreign
ideologies” if they want to achieve democracy.

The NLD has recently urged the US to initiate talks with the junta to
start a process of dialogue. Stephen Blake, the director of the US State
Department’s Office of Mainland Southeast Asia, met with Burmese Foreign
Minister Nyan Win during a trip to Naypyidaw earlier this week.

According to sources in Rangoon, security has been tight in the former
capital following a bomb blast on Thursday that killed one man and injured
three women in a boarding house in North Okkalapa Township.

An official said that the authorities believe the victim was making
explosives. Although terrorism is rare in Burma, the military government
often accuses opposition groups of trying to destabilize the country with
violence.

____________________________________

March 27, Reuters
Myanmar junta open to talks after U.S. diplomat visit – Aung Hla Tun

Myanmar's military junta is open to talks with the United States, its
information minister said after a rare visit by a top U.S. diplomat amid a
review of Washington's policy towards the regime.

"President Obama has pledged to make changes. I think that visit was just
the beginning of the change," Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan told local
reporters summoned to the new capital for Friday's annual Armed Forces Day
parade.

Washington insisted this week's visit by Stephen Blake, director of the
Office for Mainland Southeast Asia at the State Department, did not
reflect any shift in policy towards a regime the former Bush
administration labelled an "outpost of tyranny."

For its part, the junta has often blasted a "certain superpower" for
meddling in its internal affairs.

"Our relations were strained, but not because we did not want to deal with
them," Kyaw Hsan said.

Blake met with Foreign Minister Nyan Win, representatives of ethnic
minority groups and members of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi's party during his visit, part of a five-country tour of the region.

The trip, which U.S. officials confirmed after it was reported by
Myanmar's state-run newspaper, came a month after Hillary Clinton
announced the policy review during her first tour of Asia as U.S.
Secretary of State.

Over the years Washington has tightened sanctions on the military, which
has ruled for more than four decades, to try to force a political
rapprochement with Nobel laureate Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
(NLD).

But Clinton admitted last month that sanctions had not worked and she was
looking at new ways to sway one of the world's most reclusive regimes.

Efforts by Myanmar's neighbours to engage the junta have also failed to
win any meaningful political reforms as the country gears up for
controversial general elections in 2010.

Western governments have criticised the forthcoming poll as a sham aimed
at entrenching rule by the military, which refused to recognise the last
election in 1990, won by Suu Kyi's party.

The NLD has insisted on a list of preconditions before it will negotiate
with the regime, including the release of all political prisoners, a
review of the new constitution and the honouring of the 1990 election
results.

The junta has ignored those demands as it pushes ahead with its seven-step
"roadmap" to democracy.

In his address to the troops, junta leader Senior General Than Shwe, 76,
warned politicians to "refrain from inciting unrest, to avoid personal
attacks and smear campaigns against other parties" during next year's
campaign.

A day earlier, a bomb killed one man and wounded two women at a guesthouse
in the commercial capital, Yangon, witnesses said.

Small bomb attacks are common in the run-up to the annual "army day"
parade in a country that has been riven by ethnic insurgencies since its
independence from Britain in 1948.

More than 13,000 members of the police and Tatmadaw, as the army is known,
took part in the parade at a specially designed ground in Naypyidaw, a
dusty town that became the capital in 2005 in a move that further isolated
the regime.

(Editing by Darren Schuettler and Valerie Lee)
____________________________________

March 27, Mizzima News
Lone protestor detained

A lone demonstrator in Twante Township, Rangoon was arrested by the police
on Friday, an eyewitness said.

Aung Phe, a private tutor, was detained by local authorities including the
police and township officials, after he stood for over five hours outside
the township National League for Democracy office, the eyewitness said.

“He did not shout slogans or hold aloft placards but stood still inside a
circle from 6 a.m. to about 11 a.m. (local time). The police along with
township officials came and whisked him away,” said the eyewitness, who
saw the incident from her shop located near the protest site.

The Twante police station could not be reached for comment.

Demonstrations in Burma are a rarity but not uncommon. On March 20, at
least 20 victims of Cyclone Nargis in Twante Township staged a peaceful
protest demanding fair treatment by officials outside the township Myanmar
Red Cross Society office over reconstruction of their houses.

____________________________________

March 27, Shan Herald Agency for News
Explosion in Lashio

A powerful explosion at dawn on March 19 in Lashio, the capital of Shan
State North, left a one and-a-half feet wide and two feet deep crater,
according to sources coming to the Sino-Burma border.

It also blew a gaping hole in one wall of the badminton court nearby.
Nobody in Panglom Quarter aka Quarter No. 6 was reported hurt. The
explosion took place at 04:13 hours.

Suspicion was cast on the United Wa State Army, with which the Burmese
Army had been maintaining an increasingly uneasy peace since late last
year.

On March 10, nine days earlier, eight men coming from the Wa capital
Panghsang, five of them believed to be Chinese nationals, were detained by
the Military Affairs Security (MAS), the successor to the defunct Military
Intelligence Service (MIS). “They were accused as contracted manufacturers
of arms in the Wa weapons factory,” said a source close to the military.
“As far as I know, they are still under custody.”

Others said that the bomb blast could have been the handiwork of some
other armed groups, including disenchanted members of the Burmese Army
itself. “The Wa would have placed it elsewhere where they could inflict
serious damage to the military,” said a businessman who is familiar with
the Wa.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility.

Northern Shan State, apart from the Burmese Army and militia units under
its control, has five ceasefire groups: the United Wa State Army (UWSA),
Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) simply known as Kokang,
Shan State Army (SSA) North, Kachin Defense Army (KDA) and Kachin
Independence Army (KIA).

AFP meanwhile reported that one man was killed and two women injured
yesterday when a bomb exploded at a guest house in Rangoon’s North
Okkalapa Township.

____________________________________

March 27, Independent Mon News Agency
Key Mon political party to meet with general as pressure mounts to join
election – Mon Son and Blai Mon

The key decision making body of the primary political party representing
Mon people has agreed to meet with the SPDC general charged with
organizing Burma’s ethnic armed groups for the coming 2010 election. The
plan for talks follow a quiet meeting between the groups following the Mon
party’s announced refusal to join the election.

According to sources close to the New Mon State Party (NMSP), Central
Executive Committee (CEC) and Central Committee (CC) members have decided
to meet with Lieutenant General Ye Myint. The decision, which has not been
officially announced, was made in a regularly scheduled 5-day CEC and CC
meeting that finished yesterday at the party’s Central Headquarters in Ye
Township, Mon State.

The decision follows a quiet meeting between the Lt. General and party
higher-ups. In the first week of March, NMSP Chairman Nai Htaw Mon, party
Vice Chairman Nai Rotsa and CEC member Nai Tala Nyi met with Lt. Gen. Ye
Myint at the Southeast Command headquarters in Moulmein. According to
sources with inside knowledge of the meeting, Lt. Gen. Ye Myint urged the
NMSP leaders to bring the party into the election and requested a meeting
with the entire body of the party’s upper leadership.

“Now this NMSP meeting [that finished yesterday] made the decision to
accept Ye Myint’s request that all CC members hold talks with him,” said a
source close to the CC. “They are planning to meet Ye Myint within 1 or 2
months.”

Lt. Gen. Ye Myint is chief of Military Affairs Security, the successor
agency to the now-shuttered Military Intelligence following the purge its
chief, Khin Nyunt. Khin Nyunt was responsible for brokering ceasefires
with over a dozen ethnic armed groups, including the NMSP in 1995. The
status of Burma’s armed groups is a delicate question for Burma’s central
government, which must resolve their ambiguous armed-but-not-engaged
position as it attempts to complete its seven-step “road map” to
“disciplined democracy.”

Lt. Gen. Ye Myint has also met with large ethnic armed groups including
the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Kachin Independence Organization.
Thus far, Burma’s largest ethnic armed groups have appeared to withstand
mounting pressure encouraging them to participate in the 2010 elections.
In January, the UWSA went so far as to force a delegation lead by Lt. Gen.
Ye Myint to disarm before allowing them to enter the group’s territory.

Following its Party Congress in January, the NMSP announced that it would
not participate in the 2010 elections unless Burma’s new constitution were
reviewed. According to the NMSP, the constitution provides insufficient
protection for ethnic minorities and is too difficult to amend. This
position is shared by the Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), the other
most respected party representing Mon people. The MNDF won 5 seats in
Burma’s 1990 elections, which were later annulled.

Veteran party watches say that they do not think the NMSP is likely to
change its position and enter into the election. Speaking of a closely
related issue, they also doubt that the Mon National Liberation Army
(MNLA), the party’s military wing, will give up the weapons it has been
able to retain as terms of the 1995 ceasefire.

“Ye Myint wants to meet CC members before the election,” a retired member
told IMNA. “But
 the NMSP will not participate in the coming election and
the MNLA will not be brought under the Burmese army. The coming election
is not like the 1990 election – this coming election is following the
drafting of a new constitution. But for the 1990 election, they held the
election before making the constitution.”

A respected Mon politician inside Mon State agreed, but raised questions
about once and former members registering as candidates. “The New Mon
State Party will stand confidently on their policy. They will not exchange
their guns for participating in the election,” said the politician. “We
could not say certainly if they will prepare for the election. Some parts
of the party will participate, some parts will not participate – I think
they have some policy because some of their members retired from the party
after the Congress.”

Preparations for the 2010 election, thought to be scheduled for March,
have remained relatively quiet in the Mon community; though rumors are
spreading, there have yet to be any major announcements by groups planning
to join the process.

In an interview earlier this month, however, NMSP party spokesman Nai Ong
Mange told IMNA that the party understands the importance of Mon community
members joining in the election. “If a 3rd party appears
 the NMSP will
not bother this party. They can do what they want to do. If the people and
monks support them, it is good and they have a right to participate,” said
Nai Ong Mange.

“If an NMSP member wants to form a political party, they can go – it is
their choice,” he continued. “But the NMSP will not back these members. We
will not support them and we will not bother them. But they will have to
leave the party – they cannot use the NMSP name.”

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

March 27, Reuters
China, Myanmar in oil deal

CHINA said on Friday that it had signed a contract with Myanmar to build
cross border oil and gas pipelines, a move which will enable
energy-thirsty Beijing to slash the journey time for crude oil imports.

China and Myanmar also signed an agreement to work together to develop
hydropower projects, according to a brief statement published on the
Chinese central government website. It didn't provide details.

A senior energy official said on Thursday that China was working with
Myanmar to build an over 2,000-km gas and oil pipeline running through
Ruili and Kunming in Yunnan province, Guizhou province to Chongqing
municipality in southwestern China.

The line would help China cut out oil cargoes' long detour through the
congested Malacca Strait as well as strengthen China's access to rich
energy reserves in Myanmar itself.

State media has reported that Yunnan is to start construction of the
pipelines in the first half as part of its 72 billion yuan (S$15.9
billion) worth of energy projects this year.

Few Western companies will invest in the former Burma because of its poor
human rights record and continued detention of Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi, which has led to a broad range of US and European
sanctions.

China, typically wary of supporting or imposing sanctions and one of
Myanmar's few diplomatic allies, has shown no qualms about investing in
its southwestern neighbour, coveting its natural gas, oil, minerals and
timber.

Top Chinese officials have said that Beijing will encourage its energy
companies to make more forays abroad to ensure the country's energy
security, an even more important strategy than exploration at home.

Beijing also offered incentives such as cheap loans and tax breaks to
energy firms to fund their foreign exploration.
____________________________________

March 27, Mizzima News
TATA Motors to make trucks in Burma – Salai Pi Pi

India’s leading automaker TATA Motors on Thursday met Burmese Minister of
Energy (2) Vice-Admiral Soe Thein, and held parleys on setting up a truck
manufacturing unit in Burma, the state-run media said.

The New Light of Myanmar, Burma’s official newspaper, on Friday reported
that Mr. Manas Kumar Mishra of TATA Motors Ltd. on Thursday met Soe Thein
in Naypyitaw, Burma’s new jungle capital and discussed setting up a truck
manufacturing unit in Burma.

“Both sides discussed the speedy implementation of a heavy turbo truck
assembly and component parts production factory project and starting
manufacturing operations from December 2009,” the paper said.

A document of India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which is in
Mizzima’s possession said  the project is part of India’s “Look East
Policy”, which includes setting up several bilateral development projects
such as construction of roads, power projects, oil refinery units,
transmission lines, telecommunications, and Information technology
services in Burma, by India.

The MEA said India has sanctioned a USD20 million Line of Credit (LoC) for
setting up a truck manufacturing unit to be taken up by TATA Motors.

Since the formal launch of the “Look East Policy” in 1994, India has
engaged Burma in areas of trade and development and has maintained regular
exchange of high-level officials visits.

India’s Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari last month, paid a four-day visit
to Burma, during which the two countries signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) on setting up a Industrial Training Centre and a
Centre for English Language Training (CELT).

According to the MEA, bilateral trade between India and Burma for the
fiscal year 2007-08 stood at USD 901.3 million. For the same fiscal year,
Burma’s export to India was USD 7272.85 million, while India’s export was
USD 173.46 million.

TATA Motors Ltd is the world’s fourth largest truck manufacturer and
second largest bus manufacturer.

Edited by Mungpi

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

March 27, Reuters
U.N. rights body condemns systematic abuses in Myanmar – Stephanie Nebehay

The United Nations on Friday condemned what it called systematic human
rights violations in Myanmar and urged the ruling military junta to
release all its political prisoners, believed to number 2,100.

The Western-sponsored resolution was criticised by most Asian countries
and Russia who said the non-binding resolution was counter-productive.

"Condemnation and exerting pressure are not helpful to fundamentally
solving the problem," China's envoy said.

The resolution called on Myanmar's military rulers to halt "politically
motivated arrests" and immediately release without conditions all
political prisoners held in "harsh conditions, in unknown locations or
without charge."

They included opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate whose
latest house arrest began in 2003.

The Human Rights Council also called on Myanmar authorities to review the
"harsh sentences" handed down against critics since November at
closed-door trials and to end impunity for human rights abusers.

The council also extended for one year the mandate of its special
investigator on Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, saying the situation in the
country needed careful monitoring.

Quintana, in a report to the Council earlier this month, said about 400
political prisoners had been given sentences ranging from 24 to 65 years
in recent months.

The Argentinean lawyer called for the release of more than 2,100 political
prisoners -- including activists, journalists and people arrested for
lodging complaints about forced labour -- to allow them to take part in an
election set for 2010.

Quintana, who has visited Myanmar twice in the past six months, has urged
the country to halt its use of civilians in forced labour -- including as
"human minesweepers."

Wunna Maung Win, Myanmar's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, rejected the
resolution as "lopsided and highly intrusive."

"We believe country-specific, politically motivated resolutions have no
place in the work of the Council," he said. "Nevertheless, as a member of
the United Nations we shall continue cooperation with the Human Rights
Council."

Yangon's envoy recently told the Council the country holds no political
prisoners, only individuals serving prison terms for breaking domestic
laws.

Myanmar's military, which has ruled in various guises since 1962, has
promised an election in 2010 as part of what it calls a "roadmap to
democracy." Western governments have criticised the poll as a sham aimed
at entrenching military rule.

The country's information minister said on Friday his country would open
talks with the United States after a rare visit by a top U.S. diplomat
amid a review of Washington's policy towards the regime.

The United States, which is not a Council member, was among co-sponsors of
the EU text, along with Australia and Canada.

The Geneva forum ends its four-week session on Friday.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

March 27, Irrawaddy
Generals go marching down memory lane – Aung Zaw

Some retired generals and senior officers in Burma have created a storm in
Burma’s literary circles by publishing their autobiographies, which are
being read with interest inside and outside the country. The books shed
light on the inner thoughts of the reclusive military veterans and the
famous battles they waged against Burmese communists, the Chinese
Kuomintang (KMT) and ethnic rebels.

But the authors aren’t telling their readers all. The draconian publishing
laws that followed the 1988 uprising affected them, too, and they can be
counted among the victims of self-censorship, with only limited freedom to
share their stories with the reading public.

Among the autobiographies that have been well received by the Burmese
public is a colorful memoir by Lt-Gen Chit Swe, 75.

Chit Swe was head of the bureau of special operations (South) before the
1988 uprising and a member of the State Law and Order Restoration Council
that took power in that year. He last served as forestry minister and was
removed from that office in 1997.

Other prominent generals who have published memoirs include Maj-Gen Hla
Myint Swe, former transport minister, Brig-Gen Than Tin, deputy prime
minister, Brig-Gen Ko Ko, Col Tun Tin, former prime minister, Col Nyunt
Swe, former deputy foreign minister, and Major P Kyaw Han, former chairman
of Pegu Division.

Their books include impressive accounts of battlefield experiences. On the
other hand, their understanding of politics, democracy, diplomacy,
economics and the ethnic diversity of Burma is limited. Indeed, this
limitation no doubt has led the country to its present state. The generals
were trained to repel enemies and defend the nation—and not to run a
government.

Brig-Gen Than Tin, who led successful “four cuts” operations against
communist insurgents in the Pegu Yoma mountains and ethnic insurgencies in
the Irrawaddy delta in the late 1960s early 1970s, was a no-nonsense
military officer determined to wipe out the insurgents.

In his autobiography, the general, now in his 80s, proudly claims that he
defeated the multi-faceted insurgency and asks whether insurgents dare
repeat their past mistakes.

Than Tin recalls that before setting out for Pegu Yoma he breakfasted with
the War Office commander in chief, Gen San Yu, finding him gentle and
modest. This is the impression of San Yu conveyed in other books, too.

Thus it was chilling to hear the general, handpicked by Gen Ne Win, issue
a firm order to turn the insurgent-prone Pegu Yoma into a so-called “White
Zone,” free of all insurgents. The Burmese army considered Pegu Yoma to be
the enemy’s “brain” and the Irrawaddy delta its “stomach.”

In the next few years, Than Tin applied the “four cuts” strategy against
villages and communist insurgents. Two hard-core leaders, Thakin Zin and
Thakin Chit, were killed and the insurgency was over.

The “four cuts” strategy—involving forced resettlement of entire
communities and confinement of villagers in special camps—had been learnt
from the British by another author, Col Tun Tin, while studying in London.
Tun Tin became prime minister in 1988.

Tun Tin, veteran of many military actions, including the “Battle of
Insein,” set up a three-day war game plan attended by senior officers,
including Ne Win. The plan demonstrated “four cuts operations” in
practice—resettling villagers, cutting supplies, establishing
intelligence, recruiting and raising funds.

It is clear from their writings that the veteran military leaders have
little regret for their actions, claiming to have brought law, order and
peace to Burma in the 1960s and 1970s.

Aside from their fighting skills, they were loyal to their superiors.

Ne Win invited Than Tin to join him on a trip to upper Burma soon after
the general’s successful operation in Pegu Yoma, leaving him in the dark
about the purpose.

Ne Win met Than Tin at the airport early in the morning and, addressing
him as
“Bo Than Tin” (Ne Win liked to call his subordinates “Bo,” meaning
lieutenant), said:  “We are going to the north and today I will appoint
you as deputy minister for mining so you are flying with me (to oversee
mining projects).”

With those few words, the reshuffle procedure was over. The
battle-hardened commander Than Tin, victor over the communists, never
questioned his boss’s decision.

For the full story: http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=15386

____________________________________
ANNOUNCEMENT

March 27, Shan Women’s Action Network
Invitation letter for SWAN community event

You are cordially invited to join the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN)
10th Anniversary Celebration on March 28, 2009. We would like to thank all
our friends for your support over the past decade and for standing with us
until today. Your support has strengthened our work for women’s rights and
promoted justice for women in our struggle for social and political change
in Burma.

Date: March 28, 2009
Time: from 5–9 pm
Place: Art Museum of Chiang Mai University

In solidarity,
SWAN sisters

Activities will include:
* Exhibition
* Performances, music and dancing;
* Docudrama of SWAN Education Program;
* Traditional food and more

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

March 27, The European Union Special Envoy
Myanmar (Burma) press statement of EU Special Envoy of Burma/Myanmar

Mr. Piero Fassino, paid a three day visit to Bangkok where he met Thai
Government representatives and relevant partners and stakeholders.

During the meetings with the Royal Thai Government, the current situation
in Burma/Myanmar was discussed, as well as possible joint action between
the EU and Thailand in support to the United Nations Good Offices Mission
entrusted to the Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon.

As Thailand is currently holding the ASEAN Chairmanship, the Special Envoy
discussed with H.E. the Vice Foreign Minister, Mr. Vikitsreth, how the EU
and ASEAN could best encourage the Myanmar authorities to engage in a
concrete, time-bound dialogue with the democratic opposition and the
ethnic minorities so as to achieve national reconciliation in the country.

During the meetings with the President of the Thai Senate and Members of
the Foreign Affairs committee, the importance of an increased co-operation
among the Parliaments and civil societies of the EU and Asian countries
with regard to the democratization of Burma/Myanmar was raised.

The EUSE also had a very fruitful exchange of views and gathered updated
information on the latest developments in Burma/Myanmar with Ambassadors
from Asian countries based in Bangkok, with representatives of the UN
country team for Thailand as well as with European Commission officials.

During said meetings, most interlocutors underlined the importance that
the 2010 elections announced by the authorities of Burma/Myanmar take
place in a framework of internationally recognized democratic guarantees,
as one of the prerequisites for a free and fair event. In this context, it
was mentioned that the international community should discuss and agree on
common messages to convey to the Myanmar authorities.

Upon completion of the visit to Thailand, the EUSE Mr Fassino will proceed
to Indonesia, where he will have meetings with H.E. Dr. N. Hassan
Wirajuda, Minister for Foreign Affairs and other high-ranking Indonesian
officials. In Jakarta he will also meet the ASEAN Secretary General, Mr.
Surin Pitsuwan.