BurmaNet News, May 28, 2009

[Editor]

May 28, 2009, Issue #3721


INSIDE BURMA
FT (UK): Burmese court rejects Suu Kyi witnesses
BBC News: Burma rejects foreign criticism
New Light of Myanmar: Trial against US citizen Mr John William Yettaw, Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi, Daw Khin Khin Win and Ma Win Ma Ma heard for eighth day
DVB: Security 'didn't stop' Yettaw visit
DVB: Solo protestor arrested outside Insein
Irrawaddy: Explosions shake parts of Moulmein

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima News: Burmese army delegates in Kolkata

BUSINESS / TRADE
WSJ: Global economic crisis reaches Myanmar
Mizzima News: Chevron determined to retain investments in Burma

ASEAN
DVB: Burma presence concerns ASEAN head

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Europe, ASEAN press Myanmar on Suu Kyi

OPINION / OTHER
Reuters: Q+A: Suu Kyi trial heads to inevitable verdict – Darren Schuettler
Irrawaddy: Is it time for Burma and Asean to part ways? – Nyo Ohn Myint
and Moe Zaw Oo

PRESS RELEASE
64ForSuu.org: Global campaign to free Aung San Suu Kyi launched today

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 28, Financial Times (UK)
Burmese court rejects Suu Kyi witnesses – Tim Johnston

Lawyers for Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained Burmese opposition leader,
expect to make their closing arguments in her trial on Monday, with the
verdict to be announced shortly afterwards.

On Thursday, Kyi Win, a jurist and member of Mrs Suu Kyi’s National League
for Democracy argued that the charges against her had been mistakenly
applied. He was the only one of the four defence witnesses proposed by Mrs
Suu Kyi’s team that the court allowed to take the stand.

Mrs Suu Kyi is charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest by
allowing an American, John Yettaw, to stay the night without reporting him
to the authorities. Mr Yettaw used a pair of home-made flippers to swim
uninvited to her lakeside house earlier this month.

Mrs Suu Kyi, 63, is fighting the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of
five years’ imprisonment.

She told the court that she gave Mr Yettaw “temporary shelter” because he
was exhausted and hungry after the swim and because she did not want to
create trouble for him or for the security detail which is supposed to
guard her house.

Mr Yettaw, a 53-year-old veteran of the Vietnam War who lives in Falcon,
Missouri, is also on trial for breaking immigration and national security
laws. He seems to have had more confused motives for his quixotic mission.

“He said the reason he came was in his vision he saw that Aung San Suu Kyi
was assassinated by terrorists. Because of his vision, he came here to
warn Aung San Suu Kyi and also the government," said Nyan Win, one of Mrs
Suu Kyi’s legal team.

If he is convicted, Mr Yettaw could be sentenced to up to seven years in
prison.

Mrs Suu Kyi’s trial has been widely criticised: the United States called
the proceedings “outrageous”, Britain’s Gordon Brown said he was “deeply
troubled”, and a long list of Nobel Laureates and human rights activists
have gathered together to demand Mrs Suu Kyi’s unconditional release.

And countries which have traditionally been reluctant to be too critical
of the Burmese government, many of them Asian neighbours, have joined in
the criticism.

The Association of South East Asian Nations, an influential regional
grouping of which Burma is a member, has voiced rare concern, provoking a
sharp reaction from the Burmese authorities.

"It is not political, it is not a human rights issue. So we don't accept
pressure and interference from abroad," Maung Mynt, Burma’s deputy foreign
minister told ministers gathered for an Asia-Europe Meeting in the
Cambodian capital Phnom Penh on Thursday.

But most outside observers say that Mrs Suu Kyi's treatment only makes
sense when seen through the lens of Burma's internal politics.

Diplomats say that even China, Burma’s biggest trading partner and most
influential ally, is privately unhappy with the government’s decision to
put Mrs Suu Kyi on trial, although it is holding fast to its policy of
non-intervention in public.

____________________________________

May 28, BBC News
Burma rejects foreign criticism – Jonathan Head

The Burmese government has rejected foreign criticism of the charges
against opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as interference from abroad.

Speaking at a meeting of EU and South East Asian ministers in Cambodia,
the deputy foreign minister insisted that her trial was not a human rights
issue.

US President Barack Obama has called Ms Suu Kyi's hearing a show trial.

The regional group Asean recently warned Burma that its honour and
credibility were at stake.

The trial entered its ninth day on Thursday, with more testimony from the
American who swam to Ms Suu Kyi's house.

'Internal issue'

Faced with a barrage of criticism over their prosecution of the country's
most popular politician, the Burmese authorities have made small
concessions - for example allowing journalists and diplomats to observe
two days of the mainly closed trial.

But their determination to produce a guilty verdict against Aung San Suu
Kyi has never been in doubt.

Now the military government has lashed back at its critics. "We don't
accept pressure and interference from abroad," said Deputy Foreign
Minister Maung Myint.

"The case against Aung San Suu Kyi is an internal legal issue," he said.

Ms Suu Kyi is being charged with violating house arrest regulations,
because an American man who said he had been instructed by God to save
her, managed to swim to her house across a lake.

She faces a prison sentence of between three and five years if found
guilty, a near-certain outcome, according to diplomats in the country.

When that happens there will be more outrage from around the world, and
probably plenty in Burma too, although that is unlikely to be expressed
openly.

But Burma's rulers will press grimly on with their plans for an election
next year - an election in which the opposition will be allowed to play
only a marginal role, if any.

____________________________________

May 28, New Light of Myanmar
Trial against US citizen Mr John William Yettaw, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Daw
Khin Khin Win and Ma Win Ma Ma heard for eighth day

Yangon North District Court heard the trial against US citizen Mr John
William Yettaw, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Daw Khin Khin Win and Ma Win Ma Ma
for the eighth day at 10 am today to continue its criminal case 47/2009.
The court interrogated Daw Khin Khin Win first.

Daw Khin Khin Win as a defendant of her own volition replied to the
questions. Her answers to the questions of the court are as follows:

Q: How long have you been living with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who is before
the court at her house?

A: For six years.

Q: Do you know restriction order, prohibition order and extended
prohibition order are put on her and the house?

A: I don't know that. What I know is that she is prohibited from going
outside the house.

Q: Are you also prohibited from going outside the house like her?

A: No, I am not. I was told that I could go out if I wanted to.

Q: How many times have you gone out of your own accord in the six years?

A: I have never done so. I let her know to show my due respect to her if I
have to go outside.

Q: Did you notice any signal before Mr John William Yettaw entered the
house in the night of 30th November 2008?

A: I saw him from inside the house. At that time it was dark, so I could
not identify who was that.

Q: What items did he leave in the house?

A: I did not know what he left at that time. Some days later, I found them
while I was doing the cleaning.

Q: At what time did Mr John William Yettaw arrive at the house on 3rd May?

A: I heard someone moaning at about half past three in the morning on 4th
May.

Q: How did Mr John William Yettaw communicate to enter the house?

A: I found a man lying outside the house. So, I let her know. The next
morning, he was allowed to enter and stay in the house.

Q: How many days did he stay in the house?

A: He left the house before the midnight of 5th May.

Q: Which way did he take to leave the house?

A: I saw him going to the lake, but I did not know which way he took.

Q: How did you provide accommodation, serve meals, and communicate with him?

A: I can't speak English, nor did I need to speak to him. I served him
food when she asked me. We arranged accommodation for him.

Q: Did Mr John William Yettaw give Daw Aung San Suu Kyi his daughter's
letters through you? A: No.

Q: How did he give her the letters, then?

A: I don't know.

Q: What sorts of things did Mr John William Yettaw leave in the house?

A: They are not the things he left but the ones he missed to take and they
were handed over to the police.

Q: Did Mr John William Yettaw say that he would come again?

A: I don't know.

Q: Is it possible for him to get into the house without opening the door?

A: No, it isn't. He can get into the house only if the door was opened.

Q: Is it true that you are a retired Junior Assistant Teacher?

A: No, I am not. I am a retried Primary Assistant Teacher.

Q: Is it true that you yourself have to liaise with the officials
concerned regarding the health conditions and social affairs of Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi?

A: Yes, it is.

Q: Do you think that Mr John William Yettaw came for the second time
because he had already made contact during his first visit?

A: When he came for the first time, I didn't know who Mr John William
Yettaw was. Only when he came for the second time did I know who he was.

Then, Ma Win Ma Ma (a) Ange Lay said that she would like to be examined as
a defendant and she answered the questions asked by the court as follows.


Q: Do you always live with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who is before the court at
her house?

A: For four years.

Q: Is it true that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her house have been under
restriction order, prohibition order and continued prohibition order?

A: Not that I know of.

Q: How often have you ever left the house of your own volition during your
stay there?

A: Never.

Q: What signals did Mr John William Yettaw give when he came to Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi' s house on the night of 30 November, 2008?

A: I have no idea.

Q: What items did he leave at the house where you were living?

A: I don't know.

Q: At what time did Mr John William Yettaw arrive at the house you were
living on the night of 3 May?

A: I heard someone moaning early in the morning but I didn't go out. Only
when it was light did Mr John William Yettaw come into the house.

Q: Why did you let him come in?

A: I don't know.

Q: How long did he stay at the house?

A: He left the house at about midnight on 5 May.

Q: Which route did he take?

A: He went in the direction of the lake but I didn't know which route he
took.

Q: How did you arrange with the food and accommodation for Mr John William
Yettaw?

A: We fed him when it was time for meals. But I don't know about the
accommodation because it was the matter my elders took care of.

Q: Did you give Daw Aung San Suu Kyi the letters which Mr John William
Yettaw said were his daughter's?

A: Not that I know of. I took them out and gave them to the police when
they came.

Q: What were the things Mr John William Yettaw left at your house?

A: It was not that he left the things, but he missed to take them back.

Q: Did Mr John William Yettaw tell Daw Aung San Suu Kyi that he would be
coming again?

A: Not that I know of.

Q: Would it be possible to come into the house unless you opened the door?

A: It would be possible only if the door was opened.

Q: Did you have to liaise with the officials concerned regarding the
health conditions and social affairs of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?

A: No, I didn't.

Q: If it is said that Mr John William Yettaw came for the second time
because he had already made contact during his first visit -

A: I didn't know about this.

Q: Did Mr John William Yettaw leave his clothes and personal items at the
house of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for a visit next time?

A: I don't know it.

Q: Did you prohibit the acts of Mr John William Yettaw for taking photos
and making recording in the house?

A: I don't know it.

Q: Could Daw Aung San Suu Kyi accommodate a foreigner at the house if she
did not have the help of you and your mother Daw Khin Khin Win?

A: I don't know it.

Q: Did you give accommodation and food to Mr John William Yettaw who
arrived at the house?

A: We did it as asked by Aunty Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

After that, Mr John William Yettaw was examined. After taking oath at the
court, Mr John William Yettaw was examined as the witness. He said that he
had visited Yangon twice. He said that the first visit was on 7 November
2008. He continued to say that he arrived at the residence of Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi for the first time on 30 November 2008 and it was at about 11 pm.
He said that he went into the residence compound without entering the
house and left the book entitled "Book of Mormon" at the back of the
house. He added that on the first entry, he walked along the bund of Inya
Lake through the drain. After that, he said that he stepped over the fence
of the residence. On 2 May, he arrived in Yangon again, he said. At 4 am
on 3 May, he entered the residence compound of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, he
said. He lied down near the back door of the house due to cramp in both
legs and tiredness. He entered the residence easily as the hack door was
not locked. He stayed at the residence from the night of 3 May and left
there about mid-night of 5 May. Though he took documentary photos and shot
video during his stay in the residence, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not
notice it at all. Neither Daw Khin Khin Win nor Ma Win Ma Ma noticed it.
His belongings were left at the residence as he forgot to bring them when
he left there in the darkness. He was in battle nearly two years during
the war in Vietnam and he was a member of the US Army. During his stay in
the residence of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, he was provided with a helping of
fried rice and bottles of purified water.

When cross-examined by the district law officer, he said he had been to
Yangon for two times and he left Bangkok for Yangon by flight. He also
entered Myanmar through Maesot and Maesai and visited Maetaw Clinic in
Maesot for ten times. During the visit, he met with Bo Kyi of Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners AAPP. He signed and agreed that he
would follow the disciplines in the visa during the visit to Myanmar.

The proceedings are adjourned until 10 am on 28 May.

____________________________________

May 28, Democratic Voice of Burma
Security 'didn't stop' Yettaw visit – Naw Say Phaw

Soldiers guarding Aung San Suu Kyi’s house knew of John Yettaw entering
the compound earlier this month and did little to prevent it, Yettaw told
the courtroom yesterday.

Burma’s opposition leader is on trial for harbouring the US citizen who
swam to her compound earlier this month where she is held under house
arrest.

Suu Kyi told the courtroom yesterday that the breach of security that
allowed Yettaw into the house was the fault of authorities charged with
guarding her compound, and not Suu Kyi.

Yettaw yesterday added substance to this argument with claims that he had
passed a number of soldiers en route to the compound.

“He said, on his second visit, he was seen by about four to five soldiers
on his way into her compound,” said lawyer Nyan Win.

“They were carrying guns with them but they didn’t do anything to stop him
from approaching the house, apart from throwing some stones at him.”

It was the second time Yettaw had visited Suu Kyi’s house, the last
occasion being in November 2008 when he also swam across Lake Inya.

On both occasions he said he was “on a mission from God” to warn Suu Kyi
and the Burmese government that a plot was being hatched by terrorists to
assassinate Suu Kyi and pin the blame on the government.

“He said he was only here to warn us, as God told him to and that he loves
Burmese people and has respect to the Burmese Police who are very well
disciplined.

____________________________________

May 28, Democratic Voice of Burma
Solo protestor arrested outside Insein – Naw Say Phaw

An elderly solo protestor demonstrating today outside of the prison
courtroom where Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi is on trial was arrested by
plain-clothed security officials and taken away.

Security has tightened outside of Rangoon’s Insein prison where Suu Kyi,
her two caretakers and US citizen John Yettaw are on trial.

Observers say there is an increase in numbers of both uniformed and
plain-clothed security officials, including members of the Swan Arr Shin
militia group.

The man, said to be in his 50’s, was identified as retired army officer
Zaw Nyunt, who is a member of activist group 88 Generation Workers. He
held a banner saying ‘Release Mother Suu at once’.

“He had about less than a minute to protest and was quickly taken away by
government officials nearby,” said an eye witness.

“He was seen being taken into Insein market located nearby the prison.”

An official on duty at Insein township police station said they heard
about the protester but were unable to give out further detail as he
didn’t arrive at the station.

“We don’t know where he was taken to or who took him,” said the official.

____________________________________

May 28, Irrawaddy
Explosions shake parts of Moulmein

Three bomb blasts shook parts of Moulmein, the capital of Mon State, on
Wednesday. No casualties were reported, the state-run Myanmar Alin
newspaper said on Thursday.

The blasts occurred three days after a small explosive device was found in
the roof of a lavatory of a train in Naypyidaw-Pyinmana Station.

Reporting on the find, the state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar
claimed insurgent groups had assigned two terrorists to plant bombs in
Naypyidaw, Rangoon, Mandalay and other major cities, with the aim of
provoking public panic and causing casualties.

One of Burma’s most active armed groups, the All Burma Students’
Democratic Front—known as the “student army”—released a statement on
Monday denying it had anything to do with the explosions.

The first two Moulmein explosions occurred within half an hour of each
other on Wednesday morning in a drain at the roadside in the city’s Shwe
Taung Ward and near the government office in Sit Kare Gone Ward, Myanmar
Alin said.

The third blast occurred on Wednesday evening near the office of the
International Organization for Migration in Mayan Gone Ward.

According to a Rangoon based reporter, security has been stepped up on
roads on the outskirts of Burma’s former capital and check points have
been set up. Private vehicles and taxis are being stopped and their
drivers questioned.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 28, Mizzima News
Burmese army delegates in Kolkata – Salai Pi Pi

A Burmese Army delegation led by Brig Gen Tin Maung Ohn, Deputy Commander
of the Northwest Military Command, arrived in Kolkata, West Bengal on
Wednesday on a goodwill visit.

The delegates’ Kolkata leg of the visit came after it attended the 36th
bi-annual Indo-Burma border meeting held on May 26, at the Assam Rifles
headquarters in Imphal, capital of Manipur state in northeast India.

While details of the Kolkata visit are still unknown, a military source in
the city said, the Burmese team has arrived on a good will visit and will
meet several Indian Army officials.

Brig-Gen Tin Maung Ohn heading a 15-member delegation met the 17 member
team led by Assam Rifle’s Maj Gen AK Choudhury during the 36th bi-annual
Indo-Burmese liaison meeting in Imphal.

India and Burma in recent years have stepped up bilateral relations
including military cooperation and have been regularly holding meetings
between the defence establishments of the two countries.

An Indian journalist, who has long covered Indo-Burma relations, said both
Indian and Burmese military delegates have discussed a final strategy to
crackdown on northeast rebel groups, several of which are reportedly
operating from Burmese soil.

“They have come to finalize the plans for a counter insurgency operation
in Sagaing Division,” the journalist told Mizzima, referring to the
North-western division in Burma, bordering India’s Nagaland and Manipur
states.

A similar meeting was also held in Nagaland in April 2008. The meeting
focused on issues related to cross-border insurgency, arms smuggling and
border management.

During his last visit, Brig Gen. Tin Maung Ohn and his team also travelled
to Kolkata, and met Lt. Gen. V.K Singh, the General Officer
Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command and Lt. Gen. P.K. Goel, the
Chief of Staff of the Eastern Command.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

May 28, Wall Street Journal
Global economic crisis reaches Myanmar

With one of the world's most insular economies and a financial system
that's largely cut off from the outside world, Myanmar would seem to have
relatively little to fear from the recent global economic crisis.

But as the country's military junta wraps up its trial of dissident Aung
San Suu Kyi, conditions on the ground show a different reality. Key parts
of the economy, including agriculture and tourism, are reeling, and
business in the commercial center of Yangon is as depressed as it's been
in years, residents and economists say. Credit has dried up, remittance
income is falling, and thousands of migrant workers are returning from
abroad at a time when jobs are unusually scarce.

"People don't have money these days, and if they do have it, they don't
spend it," says Kyi Kyi Win, a saleswoman at a clothing store filled with
cheap shirts, pants and brand-name knockoffs a short drive from Ms. Suu
Kyi's lakeside residence. Last year, she says, the shop was selling US$300
to US$400 in merchandise a day, but now it's selling less than US$100 a
day.

Myanmar's economic health is especially critical now, as discontent over
the fate of Ms. Suu Kyi spreads. The 63-year-old Nobel laureate is accused
of violating the terms of her house arrest, imposed by the government six
years ago, by allowing an American well-wisher to visit her residence
without state approval. Some residents hope the court decision – which is
widely expected to find her guilty, potentially resulting in a prison
sentence of up to five years – could ignite protests and destabilize a
regime that has ruled the resource-rich nation since the 1960s.

There's little indication of serious unrest now, with many residents
afraid of a military crackdown if they express discontent. On Thursday,
several hundred people gathered peacefully near the prison where Ms. Suu
Kyi is on trial, while police vehicles continued to move throughout the
city.

But circumstances could change if the verdict against Ms. Suu Kyi is seen
as particularly harsh. Ms. Suu Kyi is widely viewed as Myanmar's most
legitimate leader after her political organization, the National League
for Democracy, won Myanmar's last elections in 1990; the government
ignored the results.

Economic distress has played a key role in past unrest. The last major
protests in September 2007, which were brutally crushed by the military,
were ignited largely by a sharp rise in fuel costs. Similar unrest in 1988
came after years of disastrous socialist economic policies that left
residents desperate for reform.

Myanmar's economy has long suffered from high unemployment, minimal
foreign investment and crumbling infrastructure. The local banking system
collapsed in 2003, with 20 or more private banks closing shop after a run
on deposits, and it has yet to fully recover. With few successful domestic
industries, the country must rely heavily on sales of natural gas, timber
and other commodities to the few countries that continue to do significant
business with the regime, notably China, Thailand and India. U.S. and
European sanctions have prevented all but a few Western companies from
operating there.

But commodity prices have collapsed over the past year, and with few links
to external capital markets, Myanmar is unable to raise cash for new
lending.

Conditions in Yangon are especially difficult. Fewer than 300,000 of its
six million residents have mobile phones, power blackouts are becoming
more common and taxis are so old that the road is sometimes visible from
holes in the floorboards. Abandoned colonial buildings rot in the monsoon
weather, with vines growing out of broken red-brick windows.

"Ask every shop, every entrepreneur, and they will tell you business is
bad," says one local economist who used to teach at a Yangon university
and now runs an economic journal. His publication is attracting only $200
to $300 in advertisements a week, he says, compared to $700 to $800 before
the global economic meltdown.

Myanmar doesn't provide timely economic information and rarely
communicates with the foreign media. Official data indicates the economy
grew 10% or more per year since 2000, but private analysts including the
Asian Development Bank say such data is likely exaggerated, with actual
growth probably less than half the government's estimates and headed even
lower this year.

The situation isn't all bad. Lower commodity prices have helped ease
inflation, which hit 30% in recent years, and weaker demand for imported
goods has improved the country's trade balance, boosting the local
currency, the kyat. Some shops that cater to the small wealthy elite in
Myanmar, such as computer dealers, report that business is holding up
well.

The government's finances are also in relatively good shape. With the help
of natural gas revenues – including $2 billion in annual supplies to
Thailand – the government has more than $3 billion in foreign exchange
reserves, and it has significantly improved tax collection, the ADB says.

But natural gas revenues have fallen by as much as 50% this year, says
Sean Turnell, a Myanmar expert at Macquarie University in Sydney. And the
past year has been a disaster for agriculture, which accounts for roughly
45% of Myanmar's gross domestic product.

Cyclone Nargis, which killed 135,000 people in May 2008, wiped out much of
the equipment and livestock in Myanmar's vital southern rice bowl, and
many indebted families have been unable to replace it. Prices for beans,
the country's other key farm crop with sizable exports to India, fell
dramatically earlier this year, and a lack of rural credit has left
farmers unable to raise money for new plantings.

Kyi Thein, a farmer north of Yangon, says he's thinking of selling off his
last two acres of land if conditions don't improve soon. He sold his other
four acres earlier after bad weather cut his yields and made farming
unprofitable.

Tourism is suffering, too. Until a few years ago, it was seen as a
promising new source of income for Myanmar, employing 500,000 people or
more. But arrivals have declined since 2006, according to local media
reports and travel agencies, especially after the 2007 protests, Cyclone
Nargis, and now the global economic crisis and Ms. Suu Kyi's trial, which
has scared off travelers who fear political strife.

"Everything is frozen" since the trial began, says Aung Min Thein, a
driver who ferries tourists to Yangon's golden temples and monasteries.
Zaw Gyi, who performs similar services in the ancient Myanmar city of
Bagan, says he's now working just 10 days a month, compared with 25 days
in earlier years.

Another big problem is falling remittance income. As many as two million
Myanmar citizens live overseas, economists say, sending back hundreds of
millions of dollars each year that families use for food and other
necessities.

Mr. Turnell at Macquarie University says recent surveys have indicated a
30% drop in remittances from Thailand – a primary destination for Myanmar
workers -- since last year.

In other cases, workers are coming home after striking out overseas. Kyaw
Zaw, 29, says he recently spent two months in Singapore looking for a job,
but with the economy there in free-fall, "there was nothing," he says.

Now he's in Yangon trying to run his own business, which involves renting
books to residents for about 20 cents a day. But it's hard to make a
profit, he says, in part because there's no way to raise capital to buy
new books and magazines.

____________________________________

May 28, Mizzima News
Chevron determined to retain investments in Burma – Solomon

Chevron Corps has made it abundantly clear that it will not pull out of
Burma but would retain its investments for compelling business reasons,
and even if they do withdraw they will be replaced by other competitors.

Chevron’s stance was in response to a query by Mizzima regarding the
company shareholder’s proposal to disclose the criteria it uses to start
and end investments in high-risk countries particularly Burma.

The proposal by, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, an advocacy group
for workers, to Chevron to disclose its criteria to decide on starting
investments in a country, was supported by more than 25 per cent of the
company’s share holders on Wednesday.
Teamsters (IBT) said the shareholders support indicates that there is
growing concern among investors on Chevron’s investments in Burma.

In 2005 Chevron began investing in Burma after taking over the shares from
another US Oil company UNOCAL, joining Total of France and PTTEP of
Thailand in its investments on exploration of oil and natural gas.

Human rights activists, however, have severely condemned Chevron and urged
it to pull out of Burma saying its business involvement provides a
financial lifeline to the Burmese military regime, which is well-known for
its appalling human rights violations.
“We are pleased that other Chevron shareholders recognize the enormous
legal, financial, political and risks to reputation associated with
operating in Burma and are demanding increased disclosure on how these
decisions are made,” Thomas Keegel, General Secretary-Treasurer of the
Teamsters said in a statement released on Wednesday.

But Gareth Johnstone, Chevron Corps’ Media Advisor for Asia Pacific, told
Mizzima in an email interview, “We do not disclose our investments on a
country-by-country basis.”

He said, Chevron maintains health and social programmes that improve the
quality of life of communities in Burma, where it operates.

“The benefits of Yadana projects community engagement programmes along the
pipeline have been confirmed by multiple third-party audits,” Johnstone
added.

Chevron intends to be “a force for positive change” and brings
international experience and a sound approach to corporate responsibility
in working with communities, he said.

“People living near the project are better off by virtue of Chevron and
its partners being there,” he said.

Johnstone also said, even if Chevron pulls out of Burma “many competitors
would take Chevron’s place – potentially impacting the commitment and
level of CE/CR activities along with programmes and opportunities for the
people of Myanmar [Burma].”

But Naing Htoo, a Burmese environmental activist, working with the Earth
Rights International said, the Yadana project has brought in
militarization along the pipeline and evidence speaks of severe human
rights violations committed by the soldiers.

He said, as the Burmese Army is responsible for protecting the pipeline,
an increasing number of army battalions have been moved along the pipeline
in Karen and Mon states of southern Burma.

Rights abuses such as forced labour, land confiscation, forced relocation,
rape, torture, and extra-judicial killings have increased in these states
since 1992, he added.

Though the Burmese regime earns over US$ 900 million from the Yadana
project from 2007, the money fills the coffers of the military and is
never spent on development or social welfare programmes.

He said, while the benefits go to the military regime, the locals pay a
heavy price for the pipeline and therefore urged the company to pull out
of Burma.

Editing by Mungpi

____________________________________
ASEAN

May 28, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma presence concerns ASEAN head – Francis Wade

Pressure on Burma’s generals is now mounting from all angles, with the
chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations expressing concern
yesterday of the effect that Burma is having on the bloc’s image.

The ASEAN bloc has, until recently, been reluctant to condemn the trial of
Aung San Suu Kyi, keen to maintain its policy of non-interference in
domestic matters of member countries.

Thailand, who holds the current chair of ASEAN, first broke the silence
last week when it expressed “grave concern” about the trial and suggested
it may damage the “honour and credibility” of Burma.

Yesterday, however, ASEAN admitted its concerns about Burma’s spiraling
international reputation, suggesting that what was first deemed a domestic
issue for Burma had now begun to tarnish neighbouring countries.

Speaking on the sidelines of talks between ASEAN and European Union
leaders in Hanoi, Thailand’s ASEAN chair, Surin Pitsuwan, warned of damage
to the bloc’s credibility, with Burma an ever more controversial member.

"The discussion in the room back there was that [Suu Kyi’s trial]...
affects ASEAN's image and ASEAN's collective interests," he told
reporters.

On Sunday, Burma lashed out at the earlier ASEAN statement, accusing
Thailand of “interfering in the internal affairs” of the country.

It was a rare rebuke for Thailand, who maintains close ties to Burma’s
ruling junta and has repeatedly shunned pressure to implement sanctions on
Burma, stating that it would not go beyond rhetorical condemnation of the
regime.

Yet Thai MP, Kraisak Choonhavan, who also heads the ASEAN
Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, said on Monday that the situation had
reached a point whereby Burma warranted “international or forced
intervention”.

“It would be very difficult to arrive at that, but now there is a movement
of those who want to protect the people of Burma by bringing the
International Criminal Court (ICC) into play,” he said.

“If they [ICC] are in their right mind and they go through the facts,
there is no denying that [junta leader] Than Shwe and his cronies should
be persecuted at the ICC.”

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 28, Agence France Presse
Europe, ASEAN press Myanmar on Suu Kyi – Patrick Falby

Asian and European foreign ministers urged Myanmar Thursday to free all
political prisoners, as the country's ruling junta said the trial of Aung
San Suu Kyi was neither a political nor a rights issue.

Delegates in the Cambodian capital said the issue loomed over the agenda
during two days of wide-ranging talks between ministers of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU).

"We are still deeply concerned about Mrs. Suu Kyi's detention," said Czech
Foreign Minister Jan Kohout, whose country holds the rotating EU
presidency.

"She should be released immediately and the Burmese government must enter
dialogue with all political parties," he added, using the military-ruled
country's former name.

The meetings concluded with a joint EU-ASEAN statement calling on Myanmar
to grant early release to all political prisoners and lift restrictions on
political parties.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi faces up to five years in jail
on charges of breaching her house arrest after an eccentric American man
swam to her lakeside house in Yangon.

However Myanmar's deputy foreign minister Maung Myint told Asian and
European ministers at the meeting in Phnom Penh that the charges against
the pro-democracy icon were an "internal legal issue".

"It is not political, it is not a human rights issue. So we don't accept
pressure and interference from abroad," he told his counterparts.

"I expect that the excellencies from abroad, especially the EU, can
understand more about Myanmar," he said.

The minister's remarks on live video appeared to have been accidentally
broadcast to reporters at the press centre outside the closed-door
meetings.

Although the statement was the strongest yet from the Myanmar regime, Thai
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Myanmar had merely reiterated its
"principle of non-interference" during meetings.

"I think the minister of Myanmar did state what we know already," Kasit
told reporters.

Despite the controversy, the EU and European Commission used the meetings
to sign an agreement to join a treaty of amity and cooperation with ASEAN.

Kohout called Thursday "a very important meeting" in which the two blocs
agreed to a "road map" towards cooperating on issues ranging from the
global financial crisis, to human trafficking, to climate change.

Myanmar has long bedevilled relations between the regions.

ASEAN ministers in an informal meeting Wednesday also confronted Myanmar
on its treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The group traditionally refrains from interfering in the internal affairs
of its members, but issued a rare rebuke to Myanmar last week over the
detention of the Nobel laureate.

"The discussion in the room back there was that it (the issue of Aung San
Suu Kyi and other political prisoners)... affects ASEAN's image and
ASEAN's collective interests," ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan said late
Wednesday.

Myanmar's rights abuses, along with North Korea's recent nuclear test,
dominated much of the agenda earlier this week during similar meetings
between Asian and EU ministers in Vietnam.

They issued a statement in Hanoi calling for the release of Aung San Suu
Kyi and other political prisoners in Myanmar.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been in detention for 13 of the past 19 years since
her National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in 1990
polls but was not allowed to take power.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

May 28, Reuters
Q+A: Suu Kyi trial heads to inevitable verdict – Darren Schuettler

BANGKOK (Reuters) - The world is again raising the volume over
military-ruled Myanmar and its latest crackdown on opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.

Here are questions and answers about the Nobel laureate's trial, which
entered its ninth day on Thursday:

WHAT ARE THE CHARGES?

Suu Kyi is accused of breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing
an uninvited American intruder to stay for two days after he swam across a
small lake to her home on May 4.

She is charged under Section 22 of the Law Safeguarding the State from the
Dangers of Subversive Elements.

It says "any person against whom action is taken, who opposes, resists, or
disobeys any order passed under this Law shall be liable to imprisonment
for a period of three years to five years, or a fine of up to 5,000 kyats,
or both."

Suu Kyi's lawyers say Section 22 is no longer valid because it is based on
a 1974 constitution abolished years ago.

Her two housemates, Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, are charged under the
same law, and Section 109 of the Penal Code for abetting, or helping
others commit a crime.

John Yettaw, the American who swam to her home, faces three charges. He is
accused of violating Section 22, the Immigration Act, and a municipal law
that bans swimming in Inya Lake.

CAN SHE GET A FAIR TRIAL?

The regime says the closed prison trial is going "according to the law"
and is not "political." But Myanmar's justice system has a history of
stretching laws to suit the generals after nearly a half century of army
rule.

In Suu Kyi's case, the judges agreed to hear only one defense witness, but
heard 14 from the prosecution. Before the trial began, the license of a
prominent lawyer on her defense team was revoked. Her lawyers say access
to their client is restricted.

Critics say the "spurious" charges are aimed at jailing Suu Kyi before the
junta's promised election next year. Her party won an election in 1990
only to be denied power by the military.

Many other opponents have been locked up ahead of 2010.

Her lawyers are hopeful for an acquittal, but the court is widely expected
to deliver a guilty verdict.

WHY ARE THE GENERALS AFRAID OF SUU KYI?

The Nobel laureate and daughter of independence hero Aung San is Myanmar's
most charismatic political figure, despite spending more than 13 of the
past 19 years in detention.

The generals have not forgotten that during those brief periods when she
was free, Suu Kyi resumed her pro-democracy campaigning, drawing huge
crowds on tours outside Yangon.

"They clearly decided some time ago that it was not possible to do
business with her," Derek Tonkin, a former British ambassador to
neighboring Thailand, wrote recently.

Junta leader Than Shwe's personal dislike for Suu Kyi is said to be so
intense he once walked out of a meeting with a foreign ambassador simply
because the envoy uttered her name.

WOULD JAILING HER TRIGGER PROTESTS?

Suu Kyi's supporters gather daily outside the police-ringed Insein prison,
but there have been no major protests.

People remember when serious demonstrations happened before, such as the
bloody crackdown on monk-led pro-democracy marches in 2007 in which at
least 31 people were killed. There was no unrest last year when the
paranoid regime initially resisted badly-needed foreign aid for the
cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta.

"People will be angry at the verdict, but they won't go into the streets,"
said an exiled Burmese analyst.

However, "if something happened to her during this process, or in Insein
prison, then I think all bets are off," said Sean Turnell, a Myanmar
expert at Australia's Macquarie University.

WHAT CAN THE WEST DO?

Not much. Despite daily denunciations, renewed sanctions and threats of
more punitive measures, the generals are unmoved.

The trial has reignited a debate over sanctions, with calls for better
coordinated and targeted "smart" measures against the junta brass and
their cronies.

Opponents of sanctions argue they are largely symbolic, sometimes hit the
wrong targets, and ineffective without buy-in from regional heavyweights
China and India.

Activists say the West should push Beijing to exert its influence on
Myanmar, which gets Chinese military hardware and loans in exchange for
energy concessions to Chinese firms.

Others say China will never get tough with its "client state" and a new
approach is needed. But there's no agreement on how.

....AND MYANMAR'S NEIGHBOURS?

Myanmar's partners in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
have tried to coax reforms from the generals for the past decade and
failed. Repeated calls for Suu Kyi's release are ignored, as are efforts
to "engage" the junta.

ASEAN admits the trial has hurt its image, and fears its stubborn member
will damage their relations with the West, but the group is far from
expelling the generals as some wish.

However, the trial is a major test of the new ASEAN Charter and its
commitment to rule of law, human rights and freedoms.

Analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak said it would be a "travesty" if the group
failed to take "concrete punitive steps to redress the junta's blatant
violation of the ASEAN Charter's provisions."

(Editing by Alex Richardson)

____________________________________

May 28, Irrawaddy
Is it time for Burma and Asean to part ways? – Nyo Ohn Myint and Moe Zaw Oo

Burma’s military regime wasn’t behaving recklessly when it protested a
decision by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to express
“grave concern” over the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi. Although Asean has
long been a major diplomatic supporter of the junta, even coming to its
defense before it became a member in 1997, Burma’s generals no longer seem
to regard the grouping as a reliable diplomatic shield.

The generals who rule Burma have probably never seen Asean as anything
more than a fig leaf. As far as they are concerned, the regional bloc
should stick to its policy of “non-interference” and be silent when the
junta commits political crimes on its own soil.

But now that Asean has committed the unforgivable faux pas of criticizing
a member state, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the despotic general who steers the
Burmese regime with an iron fist, is not worried, because he knows that
his other allies, China and India, will give him the diplomatic cover he
needs.

Unlike Asean, Burma’s biggest neighbors know when to mind their own
business, a fact that Than Shwe has always appreciated.

“When Than Shwe compares Asean, India and China, he has no trouble making
up his mind which one he can do without,” said a Burmese academic who is a
close observer of Asean affairs. “I can imagine that the Asean statement
[about Suu Kyi’s trial] really upset him,” he added.

Despite its recent meddling, however, Asean has often proven itself to be
an indispensable tool for deflecting diplomatic pressure from the regime’s
Western critics.
Two weeks after the junta orchestrated an attack on Suu Kyi and her
supporters in the Depayin massacre of May 2003, for instance, Asean
leaders shamelessly closed ranks around the regime to defend it against
charges that it had attempted to assassinate the pro-democracy leader.

“The generals are fully aware that the Asean mechanism is perfect for
their power maneuvers, because every member has its own political
challenges,” making them all averse to any outside interference from
fellow members, said a Burmese observer who used to work at the Asean
Secretariat.

Now, however, Asean appears to be more aware that the Burmese generals’
behavior is taking a toll on the grouping’s image. It is also concerned
that its bid to bring Burma into the international fold through a
tripartite Cyclone Nargis relief and recovery effort, involving the junta,
Asean and the United Nations, could fail spectacularly if the generals
decide they are no longer interested in cooperating.

If Burma does drift further away from Asean, it would not be the first
time it has decided to go it alone. In the 1970s, former dictator Ne Win
pulled out of the Non-Aligned Movement, of which Burma was a founding
member, after he concluded that it was becoming too radical. As the
godfather of the current crop of generals, Ne Win repudiated the more
outward-looking attitude of U Nu, Burma’s first and last democratically
elected prime minister, in favor of an introverted, and increasingly
paranoid, view of Burma’s place in the world. His most lasting foreign
policy legacy has been the present rulers’ hostility to outside
influences, expressed through occasional xenophobic outbursts against
Western “neo-colonialists” and other foreign critics.

For Than Shwe, there can be no question of letting outsiders have a say in
Burma’s domestic affairs. He has his heart set on leaving a legacy of his
own: a “modern, developed nation” governed by military discipline, with
only the slightest of nods to democratic rule. He fully expects Asean and
the rest of the world to buy into his delusional vision of Burma’s future,
and will not allow anything to stop him from implementing his “road map”
to a “disciplined democracy.”

Last year, he dramatically demonstrated this single-minded determination
by ignoring the country’s worst-ever natural disaster so that he could go
ahead with a referendum on a constitution that would cement the military’s
hold on power. With more than 140,000 people dead or missing in the wake
of Cyclone Nargis, you wouldn’t think that Burma had much to celebrate
last May; but that didn’t prevent the junta crowing about the new
constitution’s overwhelming approval, supposedly by more than 90 percent
of the population.

Than Shwe has shown that he is utterly indifferent to the suffering of
millions of ordinary Burmese, so why should anyone expect him to care
about the rights and freedoms of Aung San Suu Kyi? More to the point, why
should he care what Asean thinks about Suu Kyi’s fate? If Asean is tough
enough to lay down the law and take real action against the regime, you
can be sure that Than Shwe is prepared to take a page from his
predecessor’s handbook and plunge the country once again into the total
darkness of seclusion from the outside world. After all, he believes that
the country has all the natural resources it needs to serve his purposes,
and a military strong enough to deal with any domestic or external threat.

What Asean needs to consider is how Burma is affecting the region’s
efforts to integrate, and particularly whether its most recalcitrant
member is widening the divide between the more politically and
economically advanced “old Asean” (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the
Philippines and Singapore) and the bloc’s newer members (Cambodia,
Vietnam, Laos and Burma), with their much smaller economies and more
authoritarian systems of rule.

The key to bridging the gap between these two groups is to build an “Asean
community that is 
 more rules-based and more people-oriented”—as Asean
Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan described the long-term goal of the new
Asean Charter that came into force in December 2008. But if one member of
the grouping routinely flouts the principles enshrined in the charter,
which includes provisions guaranteeing respect for human rights, it will
be dismissed as nothing more than a piece of paper, both by other members
less inclined to comply and by Asean’s partners in the rest of the world.

Perhaps the moment has come for Asean to decide whether it is in its own
best interests to let the Burmese junta call the shots again. This time,
instead of allowing the generals to use Asean’s policy of non-interference
as a shield against criticism, the grouping could remind them that there
are also other principles at stake. If push came to shove, Than Shwe could
very well conclude that membership in Asean is more trouble than it’s
worth. But if Than Shwe really is ready to go down Ne Win’s road to ruin,
Asean could be forgiven for not wanting to go down with him.

Nyo Ohn Myint is the chair of the Foreign Affairs Department of the
National League for Democracy—Liberated Area (NLD-LA). Moe Zaw Oo is the
secretary of the NLD-LA’s Foreign Affairs Department.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

May 28, 64ForSuu.org
Global campaign to free Aung San Suu Kyi launched today

A new website calling for the release of Burma’s democracy leader, Aung
San Suu Kyi, and all of Burma’s political prisoners, launches today with
the backing of major celebrities and a coalition of NGOs and trade unions.
The website will become the global hub of the international campaign to
release Aung San Suu Kyi.

The launch coincides with the day that, according to the Burmese regime,
Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest expires. The UN has already ruled that her
detention is illegal. More than 2,100 political prisoners are being held
in Burma’s jails.

64forSuu.org allows anyone to upload video, text, image or twitter
messages of support to Burma’s imprisoned democracy leader, Aung San Suu
Kyi. 64forSuu.org aims to demonstrate the scale of outrage over her
continued detention by encouraging high profile individuals and the public
around the world to write a 64 word message, a “64”, that will be
delivered on Aung San Suu Kyi’s 64th birthday on June 19th.

Organisations supporting the website include; Burma Campaign UK, Amnesty
International, the Trades Union Congress, Not On Our Watch, Christian
Solidarity Worldwide, Open Society Institute, Avaaz, English Pen and US
Campaign For Burma. The site will launch with messages from high-profile
supporters including George Clooney, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Vaclav
Havel, David Beckham, Daniel Craig, and the British Prime Minister, Gordon
Brown.

Stephen Fry, Eddie Izzard, Kevin Spacey and Sarah Brown will be twittering
on the site.

A selection of the 64’s from the site are below:

Not On Our Watch:
“Nineteen years ago, the Burmese people chose Aung San Suu Kyi as their
next leader. For most of those 19 years she has been kept under house
arrest by the military junta that runs the country. We must not stand by
as she is silenced again. Now is the time for the international community
to speak with one voice: Free Aung San Suu Kyi.”

Signed by: George Clooney, Sec. Madeleine Albright, Wes Anderson, Drew
Barrymore, David Beckham, Bono, Matthew Broderick, Sandra Bullock, James
Carville, Michael Chabon, Daniel Craig, John Cusack, Matt Damon, Robert De
Niro, Dave Eggers, Jake Gyllenhaal, Václav Havel, Helen Hunt, Anjelica
Huston, Scarlett Johansson, Nicole Kidman, Ashton Kutcher, Norman Lear,
Madonna, Mary Matalin, Sen. John & Cindy McCain, Rose McGowan, Orhan
Pamuk, Sarah Jessica Parker, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Brad Pitt, Julia
Roberts, Robert Rodriguez, Meg Ryan, Liev Schreiber, George Soros, Steven
Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Naomi Watts, Prof. Elie
Wiesel, Owen Wilson.

British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown’s “64”:
“I add my voice to the growing chorus of those demanding your release. For
too long the world has failed to act in the face of this intolerable
injustice. That is now changing. The clamour for your release is growing
across Europe, Asia, and the entire world. We must do all we can to make
this Birthday the last you spend without your freedom.”

For more information contact Johnny Chatterton, Website Manager for
64forsuu.org, and Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign UK on 07786316523.