BurmaNet News, August 1 - 3, 2009

[Editor]

August 1 – 3, 2009 Issue #3767


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Suu Kyi questions Burma’s Judiciary, Constitution
Independent (UK): Defectors tell of Burma's secret nuclear reactor
AFP: Lawyers still hope Suu Kyi will be freed
SHAN: Army on four cuts campaign again
Mizzima News: Six NLD members freed

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Poverty saps local interest in Suu Kyi trial

REGIONAL
Jakarta Globe: Suu Kyi delay may signal Burma bowing to pressure:
Indonesian Minister
DVB: ‘Historic’ meeting of Burmese opposition in Indonesia
Reuters: Myanmar activist awarded Asia's Nobel prize

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Burma must make clear its nuclear ambitions – Aung Zaw
Irrawaddy: Suu Kyi’s trial gives rare glimpse into Burma’s judicial system
– Marwaan Macan-Markar
Independent (UK): Burma's ruler: brutal, reclusive – and a skilled
manipulator – Benedict Rogers



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 3, Irrawaddy
Suu Kyi questions Burma’s Judiciary, Constitution – Wai Moe

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said at her recent trial that the
charges against her over the American intruder bring into question Burma’s
judiciary and constitution, according a statement by her party, the
National League for Democracy (NLD), on Monday.

Suu Kyi reportedly said at the trial on July 24 that unless Burmese courts
did something about her current period of detention, the current charge
against her—harboring American intruder John W Yettaw—could not be
examined correctly and completely.

“Equally critical is the principle that justice must not only be done, but
must be seen to be done, clearly and unequivocally,” she said in the
statement before the court.

She said that in Burma, there is misuse of the definition of the word
“constitution,” which calls into question “the credibility of the
government’s dignity.”

In her statement, Suu Kyi said that Yettaw entered her compound that she
acted carefully so as not to endanger the intruder and the security guards
who were responsible for preventing people from entering her compound.

On Friday, the Rangoon Northern District Court postponed the verdict on
Suu Kyi until August 11. The court said it had postponed the date of the
verdict because the judges needed to review the law.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, who has been detained for nearly 14 of
the past 20 years, could face up to five years’ imprisonment if the court
finds her guilty of illegally harboring the American.
____________________________________

August 3, Independent (UK)
Defectors tell of Burma's secret nuclear reactor – Roger Maynard

Two of Asia's most oppressive regimes may have joined forces to develop a
nuclear arsenal, according to strategic experts who have analysed
information supplied by a pair of Burmese defectors.

The men, who played key roles in helping the isolated military junta
before defecting to Thailand, have provided evidence which suggests Burma
has enlisted North Korean help to build its own nuclear bomb within the
next five years.

Details supplied by the pair, who were extensively interviewed over the
past two years by Professor Desmond Ball of the Australian National
University and Thai-based Irish-Australian journalist Phil Thornton,
points to Burma building a secret nuclear reactor and plutonium extraction
facility with the assistance of North Korea.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, the head of Thailand's Institute of Security and
International Studies, said: "The evidence is preliminary and needs to be
verified, but this is something that would completely change the regional
security status quo.

"It would move Myanmar [Burma] from not just being a pariah state but a
rogue state – that is one that jeopardises the security and well-being of
its immediate neighbours," he said.

The nuclear claims, revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald at the weekend,
will ring alarm bells across Asia. The newspaper said the testimony of the
two defectors brought into sharp focus the hints emerging recently from
other sources, supported by sightings of North Korean delegations, that
the Burmese junta, under growing pressure to democratise, was seeking a
deterrent to any foreign moves to force regime change.

Their evidence also reinforces concerns expressed by Hillary Clinton, the
US Secretary of State, in Thailand last week about growing military
co-operation between North Korea and Burma. "We worry about the transfer
of nuclear technology and other dangerous weapons," she said at a regional
security conference.

The two defectors whose briefings have created such alarm are both
regarded as credible sources. One was an officer with a secret nuclear
battalion in the Burmese army who was sent to Moscow for two years'
training. He was part of a nuclear programme which planned to train 1,000
Burmese. "You don't need 1,000 people in the fuel cycle or to run a
nuclear reactor. It's obvious there is much more going on," he said.

The other is a former executive of the regime's leading business partner,
Htoo Trading, who handled nuclear contracts with Russia and North Korea.
The man, who died in 2008, provided a detailed report which insisted that
Burma's rationale for a nuclear programme was nonsense.

"They [the generals] say it is to produce medical isotopes for health
purposes in hospitals. How many hospitals in Burma have nuclear science?
he asked. "Burma can barely get electricity up and running. It's a
nonsense," he said.

Professor Ball and Mr Thornton reported that the army defector claimed
that there were more than five North Koreans working at the Thabeik Kyin
uranium processing plant in Burma and that the country was providing
yellowcake – partially refined uranium – to both Iran and North Korea.

The authors concluded that the illicit nuclear co-operation was based on a
trade of locally refined uranium from Burma to North Korea in return for
technological expertise.

What is missing in the nuclear chain at the moment is a plutonium
reprocessing plant, but according to the army defector, one was being
planned at Naung Laing in northern Burma, parallel to a civilian reactor
which is already under construction with Russian help.

The secret complex would be hidden in caves tunnelled into a nearby
mountain. Once Burma had its own plutonium reprocessing plant, it could
produce 8kg of weapons-grade plutonium-239 a year, enough to build one
nuclear bomb every 12 months.

If the testimony of the two defectors proves to be correct, the secret
reactor could be operational by 2014, The Herald reported. "These two guys
never met each other, never knew of each other's existence, and yet they
both tell the same story basically," said Professor Ball.

"If it was just the Russian reactor, under full International Energy
supervision, then the likelihood of them being able to do something with
it in terms of a bomb would be zero," Professor ball said. "It's the North
Korean element which adds danger to it."
____________________________________

August 2, Agence France Presse
Lawyers still hope Suu Kyi will be freed

Lawyers for Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Sunday they
still hoped she would be "freed unconditionally", despite widespread fears
of a guilty verdict in her prolonged prison trial.

The Nobel peace laureate faces up to five years in jail if convicted on
charges of breaching the terms of her house arrest following an incident
in which an American man swam across a lake to her heavily-secured villa
in May.

The two-and-a-half month trial has provoked international outrage and
critics have accused Myanmar's junta of using the intrusion as an excuse
to keep her locked up during elections scheduled for 2010.

A verdict had been expected on Friday but judges postponed their
pronouncement until August 11, saying they needed time to review the case.

"We hope that she will be freed unconditionally," said Nyan Win, one of
Suu Kyi's lawyers and a spokesman for her National League for Democracy
(NLD).

"We have nothing much to do. We are just waiting for the next trial date.
Tomorrow we will submit an application to the authorities to meet Aung San
Suu Kyi and we hope to meet her on Wednesday or Thursday," he told AFP.

He said Suu Kyi, currently detained at Yangon's notorious Insein prison,
had instructed her defence team to visit her before August 11.

The delayed verdict, which adds to uncertainty over the junta's plans for
the democracy icon, was hailed Friday by her lawyers as a sign that the
judges have "serious legal problems".

Ahead of Friday's expected decision, UN chief Ban Ki-moon had pressed for
the immediate release of Suu Kyi during a meeting with Myanmar's UN
ambassador, a UN spokesman said.

Washington, which like the European Union has imposed sanctions against
the Myanmar regime, also demanded Thursday that Suu Kyi and another 2,100
political prisoners in Myanmar should be "immediately and unconditionally
released".

Analysts say Myanmar's rulers have showed rare concern for foreign opinion
by delaying the verdict, but only because they want to minimise the
fallout while pursuing a hard line against her.

The junta has kept Suu Kyi in detention for a total of nearly 14 years
since refusing to recognise the NLD's landslide victory in elections in
1990.

____________________________________

August 1, Shan Herald Agency for News
Army on four cuts campaign again

Following a series of attacks staged by the anti-Naypyitaw Shan State Army
(SSA) ‘South’ that had inflicted heavy casualties on junta patrols roving
the countryside, the Burma Army is launching a major retaliation campaign
against the populace, according to reports coming to Thailand.

Several villages have been burned down, their occupants forcibly relocated
and some beaten and detained by units under the command of Mongnawng –
based Military Operations Command #2 since 27 July. So far, units involved
in the latest “4 cuts” drive (cutting food, funds, intelligence and
recruits to the armed resistance by local populace) include at least the
following infantry battalions (IBs) and light infantry battalions (LIBs):
•    IB 9            Loilem
•    IB 12            Loilem
•    IB 64            Laikha
•    IB 248            Mongnai
•    LIB 515            Laikha

Villages affected include:
•    Hokhai         Lahu        Mongkeung township
•    Tard Mawk        Shan        Laikha township
•    Holom            Shan        Laikha township
•    Kunhoong        Shan        Laikha township
•    Mongyai        Shan        Laikha township
•    Nawngtao        Lahu        Kehsi township
•    Mongleum        Lahu        Kehsi township
•    Zizaw            Shan        Kehsi township
•    Pakang        Shan        Kehsi township

The Lahu villages were relocated from northern Shan State to the south
following a 3-year massive 4 cuts campaign (1996-98) that destroyed 1,500
villages and displaced more than 300,000 people.

“The officer that came to our village was polite and did not look happy,”
a woman that fled with her family to Laikha was quoted as saying. “He told
us that he had been ordered to burn the village. ‘As a soldier, I cannot
disobey. If you have anything you want to take with you, please collect
them and leave.’”

For most other villages, they had not time to take much. “The soldiers
came in, drove us out of our houses and started burning after spraying
them with liquid fuel that smelled like kerosene.”

At least 200 houses were razed to the ground in Tardmawk, Holom and
Kunhoong alone.

Long Ti, Tard Mawk tract headman was reportedly beaten while under
interrogation and taken to Laikha.

“This is what we call am pay maw, paw kark (You can’t do anything to the
pot, so you smash the cooking spoon) behavior,” a survivor said. “Why do
they treat us like this if they want our support?”

The SSA South had launched attacks against isolated outposts and patrols
beginning 21 May, the 51st anniversary of the Shan resistance. During the
last engagement on 15 July, the Burma Army’s LIB 515 suffered 11 killed, 1
captured and 5 assorted weapons loss.

Latest report 1/8/09 21:00

Burma Army “Burning” columns withdrew following a visit to Laikha by a
senior officer from the regional command today, according to the SSA
South. “Some 400 families have lost their houses,” said Col Yawdserk, SSA
leader. “This is a case for the Asean human rights body.”

____________________________________

July 31, Mizzima News
Six NLD members freed – Phanida

Six members of the opposition National League for Democracy, arrested on
Thursday evening, were freed by authorities on Friday.

Thet Thet Aung of Rangoon’s Dagon Myothit Township, Htein Win and Khin Win
Kyi of South Dagon Township, Nyunt Hlaing of San Chuang Township, who is
an elected member of Parliament in the 1990 elections, Naw Ohn Hla and
Khin Myat Thu were released after being detained for several hours since
Thursday evening, according to NLD spokesperson, Ohn Kyaing.

On Thursday the authorities rounded up at least 30 people, mostly young
supporters and members of the NLD, across the country, in a move to
pre-empt anti-government protests on Friday, the day the court had earlier
fixed to pronounce the verdict on the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The court, however, postponed delivering the verdict on Aung San Suu Kyi
to August 11, saying it is facing legal problems and needs time to decide.

Htein Win, youth in-charge of the NLD from South Dagon Township told
Mizzima, “I arrived home at noon after being released. I was interrogated
and asked what we will be doing on July 31. They asked whether we had
plans to hold demonstrations and also wanted to know our plans for the
8.8.88 anniversary. They also asked what we will do if Aung San Suu Kyi is
sentenced to a prison term.”

He said, the chairman of the ward, police from the special branch and
several other officials came to his house at about midnight and asked him
to come to the police station saying they needed to ask a few questions.

He was later taken to the office of the Ministry of Home and interrogated
for two hours.

Htein Win said Khin Win Kyi was also brought to the same office for
interrogation.

He was also reportedly made to sign a pledge not to say anything about the
interrogations to the media.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 2, Agence France Presse
Poverty saps local interest in Suu Kyi trial

While the international community condemns the prison trial of Aung San
Suu Kyi, many people in military-ruled Myanmar have more pressing concerns
as they struggle to make ends meet.

"I saw some barricades near the jail when I passed by on the bus but I
have no interest in the verdict," father-of-two Maung Zaw told AFP.

The 40-year-old said he earns a meagre 1.50 dollars a day through his two
jobs in construction and as a shop worker.

"I am only interested in my daily wages for my family which is a more
important thing for me," he said.

Speculation is rife among diplomats and foreign observers as to the
sentence the Nobel laureate could face if she is convicted of breaching
her house arrest rules, after an American man swam to her lakeside home in
May.

But while the international community awaits the verdict in the court case
at Yangon's Insein prison, now expected on August 11, many in the
poverty-stricken country are more preoccupied with daily financial
worries.

Cho Mar, the 30-year-old manager of a tourism company who earns 250
dollars a month, was also concerned about the economy in what is one of
the world's least developed countries.

"Although we are interested in her we have to see to our own situation
first as we struggle in our daily life because our economic situation has
been declining in recent years," he said.

As Suu Kyi's trial reconvened in the commercial hub of Yangon Friday,
there were a noticeable lack of tourists in the area, which has been
shunned by many because of Myanmar's 47 years of military rule.

Visitors were further deterred by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, which swept
through the country's southwest, leaving 138,000 people dead.

At the Shwedagon pagoda, the city's leading attraction, tour guides and
photographers milled about with nobody to employ them, while the few Asian
visitors who did walk through the compound tried not to slip on loose
tiles.

In a middle-class neighbourhood south of the city, two men in a cafe, who
declined to be named, joked about "one very famous tourist" -- a reference
to John Yettaw, the uninvited US man who swam to Suu Kyi's house, sparking
her trial.

Foreign critics say the court case is a ploy to keep Suu Kyi, widely known
as "The Lady" in Myanmar, locked up for elections scheduled for 2010.

The junta has detained her for a total of nearly 14 years since refusing
to recognise her party's landslide victory in elections in 1990.

The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions against
the Myanmar regime, demanding the release of Suu Kyi and more than 2,000
political prisoners.

But the impact of those sanctions has been weakened as neighbours, notably
China, spend heavily on resource-rich Myanmar's natural gas, timber and
precious stones.

However, a report in May said that while the country's foreign exchange
reserves were at a record 3.6 billion dollars, the junta had not used them
to help the people and the country's economic prospects were "bleak".

The report from the International Monetary Fund, quoted by the Financial
Times newspaper, said social spending was the lowest in Asia.

This was even as the regime, officially known as the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), continued to splash out on showcase projects
including the building of the new administrative capital Naypyidaw.

There are also serious concerns about the regime's military spending.

A report on Saturday, citing the evidence of defectors, said North Korea
is helping Myanmar build a secret nuclear reactor and plutonium extraction
plant to build an atomic bomb within five years.

"The poverty endured by the people in Burma is because of the SPDC's
policy," said activist Debbie Stothard of the Alternative ASEAN Network on
Burma, referring to Myanmar by its former name.

Despite many citizens living a "hand-to-mouth existence", Stothard said
she did not believe they were uninterested in Suu Kyi's fate.

"I think many are concerned about the trial and those who have access to
information realise that their suffering is linked to the crisis in the
political situation".

Htwe Htwe, a 50-year-old housewife in Yangon, agreed that there was a lot
of interest in the trial, although it was often discreet.

"People in the market and at the teashops are secretly discussing the
verdict," she said. "People want to know what will happen to her."

But some, it seems, have lost hope of a positive future.

One taxi driver, who did not wish to be named, had a dog-eared stash of
copies of the state-run newspaper on his passenger seat and laughed when
asked if he read them.

"No, I use these for cleaning the windshield when it fogs up. It's a waste
of time to read that newspaper," he said.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 2, Jakarta Globe
Suu Kyi delay may signal Burma bowing to pressure: Indonesian Minister –
Ismira Lutfia

Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda said over the weekend that he
hoped the postponement of the verdict in the trial of opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi was due to the Burmese government’s concern over
international reaction, particularly from the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations.

Hassan said he found it odd that the guards at Suu Kyi’s house were not
prosecuted for their negligence in allowing an American man stay at her
house in early May after swimming across a lake.

Suu Kyi was charged with harboring the American at her home.

At her trial, Suu Kyi said she did not know the man and had no idea he was
coming.

“There has been no news of the house guards being prosecuted,” Hassan
said, adding that the Burmese government has been intransigent despite
regional pressure and sanctions.

“I do not want to speculate so let’s just wait and see what the outcome
will be on August 11,” Hassan said, referring to the date of the verdict,
adding that he hoped the court would clear Suu Kyi of the charges.

Meanwhile, an Indonesia-based activist from the Overseas Burmese Patriots,
who requested to be identified as Jojo, said the trial was unjust and the
accusations against Suu Kyi were based on “groundless facts.”

“It is just a political conspiracy to keep her out of the planned election
in 2010,” He said.

He added that he and fellow activists hoped Suu Kyi’s trial would end
soon, although they expected the verdict to be unreasonable.

“But there is still enough time for the international community to apply
diplomatic pressure to change the outcome,” JoJo said, adding that Burma’s
military junta was just “buying time” to come up with ways to justify
charges.

“They keep postponing to find excuses for the predetermined verdict to
appease the international community,” JoJo said, adding that the delay
also showed the junta’s wavering stand on the trial.

JoJo said diplomatic intervention from Asean and the international
community was appreciated, but said it was not enough to put pressure on
the Burmese government as it had ignored international calls to free
political prisoners.

“We need solid measures from the international community for a free Burma
rather than lip service,” JoJo said.
____________________________________

August 3, Democratic Voice of Burma
‘Historic’ meeting of Burmese opposition in Indonesia – Francis Wade

Burmese ethnic groups and pro-democracy parties are set to meet in Jakarta
this month to draw up a national reconciliation programme for Burma,
billed as “history being made”.

The alliance, the Movement for Democracy and Rights for Ethnic
Nationalities (MDREN), will meet in the Indonesian capital on 12 and 13
August to formalize the ‘Proposal for National Reconciliation’.

A statement released today by MDREN said that “delegates from all groups
aligned in opposition to the military regime” would be present at the
meeting.

“The proposal envisages opening a process of dialogue with the junta,
effectively offering a sustainable exit-strategy for the military rulers,”
it said.

“Civil sector support, electoral and constitutional reforms, military
demobilisation, ethnic relations and social infrastructure are among the
central areas addressed in the [proposal].”

The Prime Minister of the National Coalition Government of the Union of
Burma (NCGUB), Sein Win, said that the convention was “history being
made”.

“The last time all major ethnic and pro-democracy organizations have
forged a common position was in 1947 when all forces agreed to seek
independence from the British,” he said.

“As such, this is the first time an indigenous coalition has agreed to
work together against a home-grown power.”

The MDREN is made up of opposition groups both within Burma and in exile,
and includes the Ethnic Nationalities Council, the Women’s League of Burma
and the Forum for Democracy in Burma.

International diplomats and non-governmental organizations will also
attend the meeting.

Indonesia is hailed as a Southeast Asian success story after successful
democratic transition from military rule in 1998, and is often cited as a
potential model for Burma’s transition.

____________________________________

August 3, Reuters
Myanmar activist awarded Asia's Nobel prize

An activist from Myanmar who was tortured by the military as a student and
now runs an NGO probing infrastructure projects is among this year's
winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, its committee said Monday.

Also cited for the award, Asia's equivalent of the Nobel, were two Chinese
men, an Indian, a Filipino and a Thai woman.

Ka Hsaw Wa of Myanmar, co-founder of EarthRights International, was
recognized for "dauntlessly pursuing non-violent yet effective channels of
redress, exposure, and education for the defense of human rights, the
environment and democracy," the committee said.

Yu Xiaogang of China was given the award for raising concerns about dams
in his country and advocating social impact assessments in all such
mega-infrastructure projects.

Ma Jun, also of China and a former journalist, was awarded for publicizing
environmental issues in China, including naming over 10,000 companies
violating emission standards.

Indian Deep Joshi, who has management and engineering degrees from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was cited for decades of
development work in rural India, and founding a non-profit organization
that recruits university graduates and grooms them to do grassroots
projects in poor communities.

Antonio Oposa Jr., a Filipino environmental activist and lawyer, was
awarded for helping protest abuse of marine eco-systems, including
organizing sea patrols to raid boat operators engaged in illegal dynamite
fishing.

Krisana Kraisintu of Thailand was recognized for her work in producing
generic drugs for HIV/AIDS victims, many times cheaper than the multiple
pills from pharmaceutical companies. She has worked both in Thailand and
in sub-Saharan Africa.

(Reporting by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Rosemarie Francisco and Bill
Tarrant)

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 3, Irrawaddy
Burma must make clear its nuclear ambitions – Aung Zaw

Reports of Burma’s shady nuclear ambitions have resurfaced to take their
place alongside warnings by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of
secret military ties and possible technology transfers between Burma and
North Korea.

One report which aroused special interest was based on research by Desmond
Ball, an Australian security analyst and author of several books on
nuclear strategy and security issues in the Asia-Pacific.

However, to understand the present situation and Burma’s nuclear ambitions
we need to look at the past. Burma’s interest in nuclear science and
technology is, in fact, nothing new.

Three years ago, The Irrawaddy published a special cover story on Burma’s
nuclear ambitions. A Burmese scholar, Maung Thuta, wrote: “More than five
decades ago, Kyaw Nyein, the pragmatic modernist among the ruling
triumvirate, with U Nu and Ba Swe, and the driving force behind Burma’s
nascent industrialization, oversaw the setting up in 1953, under the
Ministry of Industry, of the Union of Burma Applied Research Institute
(UBAEC), in collaboration with the American Armour Research Foundation.”

In 1955, the Atomic Energy Centre and the Atomic Minerals Department were
established and dozens of young scholars and technicians were sent abroad,
mainly to the US, to study medical physics, nuclear physics, nuclear,
metallurgical and mining engineering and technical training in nuclear
applications in instrumentation, agriculture and industry. The same year
Burma attended the first international conference on peaceful uses of
atomic energy, which was held in Geneva. Two years later, Burma joined the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Maung Thuta, in an article entitled “Transparency Needed," wrote "at the
dawn of the ‘Atomic Age,’ Burma’s nuclear elites centered around the UBAEC
apparently had no doubts about propelling Burma into a modern industrial
state through extensive research and development in the fields of power
production, agriculture, medicine, industry and
education."

Indeed, Burma was well advanced in those days to develop a nuclear
project, compared to neighboring countries. In the early 1960s, a site for
a nuclear research reactor was designated near the Hlaing Campus in
Rangoon.

“However, the first phase of nuclear ambitions faltered and stagnated
within a few years when the much-vaunted ‘Pyidawthar’ industrial plan
failed and UBAEC patron Kyaw Nyein fell from grace amid disputes among the
ruling political elite,” Maung Thuta wrote.

Burma’s early nuclear ambitions ended there. Gen Ne Win, who staged a
military coup in 1962, had little interest in nuclear projects, nor did he
trust scholars. So Burma’s nuclear program fell by the wayside, although
in 1984 the general admitted to university professors at a private dinner
party that he had made a blunder by ending it.

One of the experts from those times, Thein Oo Po Saw, who earned a
master’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Illinois in
1950s, remains active in Burma today.

Thein Oo Po Saw played a crucial role in reviving Burma’s Atomic Energy
Committee and renewing links with the IAEA. He also urged Burma’s military
regime in 1995 to join the Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research,
Development and Training in Nuclear Science and Technology in Asia and the
Pacific (RCA).

The professor has taught at the Defense Services Academy in Maymyo and is
currently an adviser to the Ministry of Science and Technology and adjunct
professor at the Yangon [Rangoon] Technological University.

Whatever the motives involved, the regime revitalized the nuclear project.
An Arakanese professor, Thein Oo Po Saw, renewed links with the IAEA.
Since then, Burma has been demonstrating its intention to develop nuclear
energy for “peaceful purposes.”

The regime has outwardly supported the concept of nuclear-free zones and
signed the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, or
Bangkok Treaty, in 1995. A year later, Burma signed the Comprehensive
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Burma’s renewed interest in nuclear technology was evident, however. The
Ministry of Science and Technology was created in 1997 and headed by an
extreme nationalist, U Thaung, a graduate of Defense Services Academy
Intake 1.

Two years later, Burma began negotiations with Russia on a nuclear reactor
project, and in January 2002 the military regime confirmed plans to build
a nuclear research reactor for “peaceful purposes.” The Deputy Foreign
Minister at that time, Khin Maung Win, declared that Burma’s “interest in
nuclear energy for peaceful purpose is longstanding.”

Thein Oo Po Saw also played a key role in the military-sponsored National
Convention.
____________________________________

August 3, Irrawaddy
Suu Kyi’s trial gives rare glimpse into Burma’s judicial system – Marwaan
Macan-Markar

A political trial in Burma that could prolong its pro-democracy icon’s
isolation by five more years has opened a rare window for the
international community to judge the quality of justice in the
military-ruled country.

Many foreign envoys based in Rangoon, the former capital, have eagerly
grabbed this chance. They have shown up in numbers when given access to
the largely secret trial of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, being
held in a decrepit courtroom inside the notorious Insein Prison in
northern Rangoon.
Protesters display portraits of Aung San Suu Kyi behind a mock jail during
a protest at the Burmese Embassy at Manila, Philippines on Friday. (Photo:
AP)

Last Friday marked the latest in this diplomatic show of force, when
foreign envoys packed the rear of the court to mirror the unprecedented
international attention this bizarre trial has drawn since it began in
early May.

"There were about 20 to 25 diplomats in the court. They were Europe, the
US, China, South Korea and other Asian countries," a European diplomat who
attended the trial on July 31 said in a telephone interview from Rangoon.
"They were mostly of the ambassadorial rank."

It was a number as large as that present on the third day of the trial in
late May. At the time, some 30 diplomats were given the nod by the junta,
otherwise known to be secretive and paranoid, to get a rare glimpse of Suu
Kyi’s battle with Burma’s justice system.

And this time, too, the 64-year-old Suu Kyi used the occasion to openly
engage with the diplomatic corps, a practice that has been denied to her
during the 14 years she has been kept under house arrest in her lakeside
home in Rangoon.

"She appeared relaxed, confident and dignified when she thanked the
diplomats for coming and showing interest in the trial," the diplomat
revealed. "There was also a surreal moment when she was laughing and
joking with her legal team as they waited for the judges to enter."

When they did, the two judges presiding over this case had a brief
announcement: the verdict, due that day, will not be given. Judgment day
was postponed until August 11, since the judges "needed more time to
explore the details of the case."

Suu Kyi appeared relaxed in court that day, wearing a pale pink blouse and
a dark purple traditional Burmese longyi. "Sorry for the inconvenience,"
she reportedly told some diplomats after the judges delayed their verdict.
"You may want to come back on August 11."

Yet, Suu Kyi’s lawyers do not expect this delay in the verdict to change
the outcome in the trial, where the widely popular opposition leader has
been charged for violating the terms of her house arrest when a U.S.
citizen showed up as an uninvited guest in her house and spent two nights
in early May.

"She was not optimistic from the beginning. She is ready to face the
worst," Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi’s lawyers, told IPS from Rangoon.

Such pessimism stems from the manner in which the trial was conducted.
"This trial was not a free and fair one; not a public hearing," Nyan Win
noted. "That was our main worry, this lack of openness, which is practiced
in our country for all political cases."

Closed trials have been common under the current military regime,
indicative of its oppressive rule. The victims have been pro-democracy
activists, who make up the majority of the over 2,100 political prisoners
presently languishing in Burmese jails. And verdicts have been severely
harsh, with some sentenced to over 100 years in prison.

These trials follow a familiar pattern aimed at trampling any hint of
"fairness" and "justice" in the courtroom. "In all politically motivated
cases, military intelligence people usually sit in the trial and monitor
the court process, actions of judges, lawyers and other judicial staff
openly," says Aung Htoo, general secretary of the Burma Lawyers’ Council,
a network of Burmese lawyers operating from the Thai-Burmese border.

"By holding trials in the compound of the prisons, the authorities
(implicitly) threaten all relevant persons in a proceeding," Aung Htoo
wrote in an e-mail interview. "They (military intelligence) even intercept
private meetings held between the defence lawyers and the accused."

"Many times, they (military intelligence) send judgments, already written
prematurely, to the judges only to read," he revealed. "The judiciary has
been used as an instrument to crush down the political opponents and human
rights activists."

This court culture is now under scrutiny after the junta slapped Suu Kyi
with a legal case—the first political trial she has been subjected to
since being placed under house arrest for the first time in July 1989.

"There has never been a [more] high-profile case than this one. It has
drawn so much international attention and international pressure," says
Soe Aung, the spokesman for the Forum for Democracy in Burma, a network of
Burmese political activists living in exile. "It is not usual for
diplomats to attend such cases."

"The Burmese regime is feeling the heat both inside and outside the
country due to all the attention on this trial," Soe Aung added.
"Prolonging the trial process by postponing the verdict till mid-August is
one of the signs that they (the regime) are worried about growing
international pressure."

As the world wait for the judgment, the speculation among the diplomatic
community about Suu Kyi’s fate, indicates that she may be declared guilty
by court.

"Western diplomats say she will get a three year sentence out of the
maximum five years," an informed source in Rangoon told IPS. "They say she
will be first kept in Insein Prison and then moved back to her house."

Asian diplomats, particularly from Southeast Asia, have another view, the
diplomatic source added.

"They say her sentence will be commuted to house arrest without much delay
because the (Burmese government) wants to look good ahead of the UN
General Assembly coming up in late September."
____________________________________

August 2, Independent (UK)
Burma's ruler: brutal, reclusive – and a skilled manipulator – Benedict
Rogers

The man behind Burma's secret nuclear plans, Senior General Than Shwe,is
one of the world's most brutal and reclusive dictators. Hidden in his
bunker in the newly built capital, Naypyidaw (which means "seat of
kings"), his appearances in public are rare and his interactions with the
international community unusual.

Aged 76, the former postal clerk became Burma's ruler in 1992, 30 years
after the military under Ne Win first seized power. Colourless,
uncharismatic and relatively uneducated Than Shwe rose through the ranks
by simply obeying orders and showing loyalty. Indeed, his apparent lack of
flair, initiative and intellect were precisely the qualities the army
rewarded. He was not perceived by his superiors as a threat – and was
rewarded accordingly. Far from showing courage or prowess on the
battlefield, he led his troops into numerous defeats at the hands of the
Communists – but that did not appear to have been a barrier to promotion.

A skilled manipulator, Than Shwe consolidated his power using classic
divide-and-rule tactics against his rivals within the regime and his
opponents among the democratic and ethnic groups. Trained in psychological
warfare in the 1960s, he lectured for a time at Ne Win's Central Party
School, so he is steeped in the use of propaganda. Billboards across the
country display the regime's message in Orwellian tones.

His regime has relentlessly suppressed pro-democracy activists, while in
its long war againt the ethnic minorities it has used forced labour, rape,
extra-judicial killings and torture as weapons of war and has overseen the
destruction of 3,000 villages. The Burmese junta ranks alongside its new
partners North Korea as among the worst abusers of human rights in the
world.

Than Shwe is heavily influenced by astrology. In 2005, he announced that
he was moving the capital from bustling Rangoon to the middle of the
jungle 600 kilometres away. It is believed that he made this decision on
the advice of astrologers, although it was also a result of his fear of a
US invasion and to protect him against another uprising. He reportedly has
at least seven personal astrologers, including several dedicated solely to
monitoring the fortunes of imprisoned democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
A new constitution will enshrine military rule, and elections scheduled
for next year are expected to be a sham.