BurmaNet News, August 7, 2009

[Editor]

August 7, 2009 Issue #3771


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Burmese Army equipped with new arms
Reuters: Myanmar arrests 15 dissidents on bomb charges
AP: American intruder has another seizure
IMNA: Authority set up barricades and roadblocks in central points of Rangoon

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Suu Kyi is ‘part of the problem’: Goh Chok Tong

OPINION / OTHER
WSJ: Burma isn’t broke – Sean Turnell
Time: Putting Burma's junta on trial – Andrew Marshall
The Korea Times: Pariahs of Asia and their nukes – Gwynne Dyer

PRESS RELEASE
WLB: It’s time for the United Nations to take strong action on Burma
Christian Solidarity Worldwide: CSW urges international community to
intensify efforts on Burma on 21st anniversary of regimes suppression of
pro-democracy protests




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 7, Irrawaddy
Burmese Army equipped with new arms – Lawi Weng

The 400,000-strong Burmese army is now almost fully armed with locally
manufactured MA-series weapons, according to several sources within the
armed forces and rebel groups.

The sources told The Irrawaddy that the Burmese army—known as the
“Tatmadaw”—had equipped all frontline battalions with MA1, MA2, MA3 or MA4
automatic assault rifles.

According to a weapons Web site, securityarms.com, the MA series was
manufactured with the help of arms contractor Israeli Military Industries,
and was designed similar to the Israeli Galil rifle.

The weapons are expected to be used in conflicts with ethnic rebel groups,
in particular the Karen National Union, as the Tatmadaw seeks to
extinguish the country’s 60-year-plus insurgency. The Burmese armed forces
have one of the world’s most notorious records for atrocities and human
rights abuses, such as killing civilians, raping women and conscripting
children.

Since the 1950s, the Tatmadaw has traditionally employed German-made G-3
weapons. However, the G-3 assault rifle was considered too heavy for use
in jungle warfare and, as the Burmese generals had endured decades of
conflict with ethnic groups in Burma’s mountainous border regions, they
began manufacture of the MA series in 2002, presumably after signing a
license agreement with Israel Military Industries.

The MA1 and MA2 assault rifles are shorter and lighter than the G3, but
not as powerful, said the sources.

The MA3 is an assault carbine, basically an MA1 with a side-folding stock,
and the MA4 is a grenadier weapon, essentially an MA1 equipped with a
single-shot grenade launcher.

Sources told The Irrawaddy that the weapons were manufactured at several
factories in Burma, but the main factory is reportedly called Ka Pa Sa No
1, and is situated near Rangoon’s Inya Lake.

Sai Sheng Murng, the deputy spokesman of the rebel Shan State Army-South
(SSA), said, “The MA1 and MA2 assault rifles are not heavy, so they are
good for carrying to the frontlines. But they are not powerful like the
G-3.”

“The MA1s and MA2s are similar to our M16s. In fact, we can use their
ammunition in our M16 rifles, but they cannot use our ammunition in their
rifles,” he said.

The Burmese army is one of the most battle-hardened forces in Asia, having
fought almost continuously against ethnic insurgents and communist
guerillas for more than six decades.

However, following the brutal suppression of student-led demonstrations in
1988, the United States and later the European Union imposed an arms
embargo on the Burmese regime.

At the time, Burmese democracy activists and international sympathizers
lobbied the West German government to prevent sales of G-3 weapons from
the Fritz Werner arms manufacturing company going to the Burmese junta.

The German arms manufacturers registered themselves in Burma in the 1990s
as Myanmar Fritz Werner Industries Co Ltd, an electrical and electronics
company.

However, the photograph of a Japanese journalist, Kenji Nagai, being shot
during protests in 2007 by a Burmese soldier holding what would appear to
be a G-3 rifle, raised doubts as to whether local production of the German
assault rifle was ongoing.

Despite the Western arms embargo, the Burmese military regime has no
shortage of arms suppliers—Israel, Russia, Ukraine and China are
reportedly the main players.

Meanwhile, recent reports have indicated that Burma has purchased nuclear
material from North Korea and harbors ambitions of creating a nuclear
arsenal.
____________________________________

August 7, Reuters
Myanmar arrests 15 dissidents on bomb charges – Aung Hla Tun

Myanmar said on Friday 15 dissidents had been arrested over a plot to
carry out bombings during U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to
the country last month.

Police acting on a tip-off arrested dissident Htay Aung on July 2, the day
before Ban's visit, and seized detonators, cable and TNT explosives,
national police chief, Brigadier General Khin Yi, said.

"There are those who do not want to see prevalence of peace and stability
in our country," he told a news conference.

Khin Yi said the suspect had planned to leave bombs at three locations
around Yangon's Insein Prison, where opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
was being held in a guesthouse during her trial on security charges.

Ban visited Myanmar from July 3-4 but spent less than one day in Yangon
after meeting the regime's top generals in the new capital, Naypyidaw. His
request to visit Suu Kyi in prison was denied by junta supremo Than Shwe.

Suu Kyi faces five years in prison for allowing American intruder John
Yettaw to stay at her home for two nights in May after he swam across the
Inya lake to warn her she would be assassinated by "terrorists".

Khin Yi said further investigation into the bomb plot had led to the
arrest of 14 others from various dissident groups. He did not say why
police had taken to long to announce the arrests.

Bomb explosions are fairly common in Myanmar. The junta, which has ruled
the former Burma for almost half a century, usually blames dissident
groups, pro-democracy activists or ethnic rebels fighting for autonomy.

Khin Yi also announced that 20 police officers had been demoted, some
given jail terms, for allowing Yettaw to breach security on two occasions,
which included his visit to Suu Kyi's home on May 4.

All the policemen were transferred and an undisclosed number of
lower-ranking officers imprisoned for three months.

A verdict on Suu Kyi's case is due on Aug. 11. (Reporting by Aung Hla Tun;
Editing by Martin Petty and Sanjeev Miglani)

____________________________________

August 7, Associated Press
American intruder has another seizure

An American on trial for entering the house of Burmese opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi had three short epileptic fits on Friday, police said,
fueling concerns that his poor health could delay next week's verdict.

John W Yettaw, 53, was admitted to Yangon General Hospital on Monday after
suffering a seizure in prison, said national police chief Brig-Gen. Khin
Yi.
Burmese Police Chief Brig-Gen Khin Yi, speaks at a news conference in
Naypyidaw last year. (Photo: Getty Images)

Each of Yettaw's seizures on Friday lasted for a few seconds, the police
chief told a news conference. He did not elaborate on the American's
overall condition.

Yettaw swam uninvited to Suu Kyi's home in May, prompting the government
to accuse the 64-year-old Nobel Peace laureate of violating her house
arrest and the American of helping her to do so. Both Yettaw and Suu Kyi
face five-year prison terms.

Critics say the ruling military has seized upon Yettaw's bizarre intrusion
as an excuse to keep Suu Kyi jailed through next year's scheduled
elections—the country's first in nearly two decades.

The charges against Suu Kyi, who has been detained for nearly 14 of the
last 20 years, have refocused international outrage on Burma, which has
been ruled by its military since 1962.

A verdict was scheduled for last Friday, but judges said they needed more
time to sort through legal issues and rescheduled it for Tuesday.

Lawyers expect another postponement if Yettaw remains hospitalized,
reasoning that courts in Burma don't generally make rulings in the absence
of the accused.

The police chief declined to comment on the matter, saying only, "It
depends on the decision of the court."

In addition to epilepsy, Yettaw reportedly suffers from diabetes and other
health problems, including post traumatic stress disorder from his time in
the US military.

Since he was taken into custody in early May, Yettaw has been on
intermittent liquid diets on eight occasions, totaling 62 days, said Khin
Yi.

Yettaw, a devout Mormon, told prison authorities that he was fasting due
to his religious beliefs and not on a hunger strike, Khin Yi said.

Meanwhile, Khin Yi told reporters on Friday that Yettaw had connections
with Burmese exiled groups, saying that a woman who was photographed
together with Yettaw at an exiled group’s office in Mae Sot had been
arrested in the Burmese border town of Myawaddy.

Khin Yi also alleged that in July, during UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon’s visit to Burma, Htay Aung of the Vigorous Burmese Student
Warrior group was arrested after he attempted to detonate a bomb near
Insein Prison where Suu Kyi’s trial was being held.

____________________________________

August 7, Independent Mon News Agency
Authority set up barricades and roadblocks in central points of Rangoon –
Kon Chan

Burmese authorities have been setting up wood and barbed wire roadblocks
and barricades in central points of Rangoon since August 5th, according to
sources.

According to residents in Rangoon, authorities have set up barbed wire
structures in areas such as Jubilee Hall, Thein Kyi market, at traffic
junctions and crowded public spaces.

The barbed wire and wood frames are painted red and white, and according
to sources look freshly painted and very new.

Residents suspect that the roadblocks and barricades are being placed in
preparation for the approaching anniversary of the 8888 democracy
uprising, and impending verdict of the trial of Daw San Su Kyi that will
be issued on August 11th. Both these dates are potential sparks for
protest, thus authorities are making preparations for potential unrest.

“We passed 8888 anniversary for many years, and we haven’t seen
authorities set up barbed weir except when they tighten security,” said U
Own Tin from the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD). “So it seems like
authorities are making security preparations.”

On August 8th, 1988 pro-democracy protests broke out through out the
country after wide spread mismanagement and the death of a student at the
hands of the police. The protests saw the rise of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as
a national icon of the democracy movement and the resignation of the then
ruling general Ne Win. The protests were eventually violently suppressed,
resulting in thousands of civilian deaths.

Ang San Suu Ky is currently on trail after being accused of violating the
terms of her house arrest after an American, John Yettaw, swam to her
house. The verdict was originally to be red on July 31, but has been
postponed to August 11th.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 7, Irrawaddy
Suu Kyi is ‘part of the problem’: Goh Chok Tong – Wai Moe

Goh Chok Tong, Singapore’s former prime minister and current senior
minister, said on Thursday that Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi is “part of the problem” facing the military-ruled country.

Goh told reporters at the Asia-Middle East Media Roundtable in Singapore
that while the West sees Suu Kyi as the solution to Burma’s problems, she
is also “part of problem” because she believes she is the government,
according to Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia news network.

He also suggested Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy
(NLD), needed to seek a fresh mandate in the 2010 elections, saying that
Suu Kyi should not dwell on the fact that her party’s victory in the 1990
elections was not recognized by the junta.

“That was 19 years ago, that’s history. If she realizes she has to be part
of the solution, she has to offer some concessions, such as to publicly
say that she would be in favor of the lifting of sanctions,” Goh was
quoted as saying in The Malaysian Insider on Friday.

On Burma’s scheduled elections for next year, Goh said the junta should
make sure that the elections were “fair, free and legitimate.” He added:
“The process must involve parties that oppose you as well. Aung San Suu
Kyi must be allowed to participate.”

The senior minister from the most developed country in Southeast Asia also
said that military-ruled Burma’s economy has enormous growth potential.

“Myanmar [Burma] has the potential to boom in the next 10 years and it can
be like Thailand’s today in 20 years’ time,” Goh said.

Responding to Goh’s comments, Aye Thar Aung, the secretary of the
Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), an umbrella group
consisting of parties elected in 1990, rejected the idea that Suu Kyi is
part of Burma’s problem.

“I disagree with Mr Goh Chok Tong because Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has openly
said since 1988 that she could negotiate with the generals for the benefit
of the country. She has also said that believes the military is needed to
resolve the problems in Burma,” said Aye Thar Aung.

“Significantly, she also recognizes the importance of resolving ethnic
issues. So she is still a key player in efforts to reach a resolution,” he
added.

The argument that Suu Kyi is “part of the problem” is not new.

In early 2003, a number of Burma analysts, citing claims in the country’s
state-run media that Suu Kyi was not willing to negotiate with the
military, began to suggest that she had become an obstacle to political
progress.

At the time, these analysts argued that Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt, a
relative moderate among the ruling generals, should be regarded as the
most important force for political change in Burma, not Suu Kyi. Khin
Nyunt’s ouster in October 2004 put an end to that idea.

But the debate over Suu Kyi’s role in Burmese politics has recently been
revived, with some Burma experts and international aid agencies saying
that greater attention should be paid to the needs of ordinary Burmese
citizens, rather than the plight of its most famous political prisoner.
With the US and the European Union threatening tougher sanctions in
response to Suu Kyi’s trial on charges of violating the terms of her house
arrest, the debate has intensified.

In a recent interview with Asia Times online, Burmese historian Thant
Myint-U, a former UN diplomat who is currently a visiting fellow with the
Institute for Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, called Suu Kyi’s
strategy for reform “a gamble” that has not paid off.

He added that Suu Kyi’s approach has come at “the increasing cost of other
roads not tested and opportunities lost as well as the enormous effect
sanctions and aid cut-offs have had on ordinary people, especially the
poorest and most vulnerable in the country.”

Meanwhile, Singaporean leaders, who are vocal advocates of engagement with
the regime, have come under fire for being fundamentally ill-informed
about Burma’s political realities.

In an interview last Sunday with The online Citizen, Singaporean Foreign
Minister George Yeo incorrectly stated that Burma had been ruled by the
military since its independence in 1948 and that Suu Kyi’s father, Aung
San, had created the law that a Burmese citizen married to a foreign
national could not take political office.

“The statements made by Singaporean leaders this week are undermining
their own credibility,” said Debbie Stothard, the coordinator of Altsean,
the Alternative Asean Network.

The CRPP’s Aye Thar Aung said that while regional leaders were welcome to
play a role in resolving Burma’s political standoff, they should try to
learn more about the country to get a better understanding of the roots of
its problems.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 7, Wall Street Journal
Burma isn’t broke – Sean Turnell

The drawn-out show trial of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has once again
focused attention on Burma and sparked discussion on how to engage the
regime. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently suggested
development aid as a carrot to coax the generals to talk. But contrary to
popular belief, the junta isn’t as poor as it claims to be.

Burma has emerged as a major regional supplier of natural gas in
Asia-Pacific. At present, most of this gas is sold to Thailand, but new
fields will shortly provide for vast sales to China. Rising gas prices and
increasing demand have caused the value of Burma’s gas exports to soar,
driving a projected balance-of-payments surplus for this fiscal year of
around $2.5 billion. Burma’s international reserves will rise to over $5
billion-worth by the end of the year.

These revenues make next to no impact on the country’s official fiscal
accounts, however. The reason is simple: Burma’s U.S. dollar gas earnings
are recorded in the government’s published accounts at the local
currency’s “official” exchange rate of around six kyat to a dollar. This
rate overvalues the currency by nearly 200 times its market value and
undervalues the local-currency value of Burma’s gas earnings by an
equivalent amount. Recorded at the official rate, Burma’s gas earnings
translate into less than 1% of budget receipts. By contrast, if the same
gas earnings are recorded at the market exchange rate, their contribution
would more than double total state receipts, and largely eliminate Burma’s
fiscal deficit.

The motivation for this sleight of hand is probably to “quarantine”
Burma’s foreign exchange earnings from the country’s public accounts,
thereby making them available to the regime and its cronies. This
accounting is facilitated by Burma’s state-owned Foreign Trade Bank and
some willing offshore banks.

Flush with these funds, Burma’s military rulers have embarked upon a
spending binge of epic proportions, including indulging themselves in the
creation of a new administrative capital named Naypyidaw, or “abode of
kings.” They are also buying nuclear technologies of uncertain use from
Russia and possibly from North Korea.

This kind of behavior is par for the course in Burma. The military junta
took power in a 1962 coup and has consistently expropriated the country’s
output while dismantling its basic market institutions. There are no
effective property rights in Burma, and the rule of law is weak.
Macroeconomic policy making is capricious, unpredictable and ill-informed.
The regime spends greatly in excess of its revenue and resorts to the
printing presses to finance its spending, creating inflation. Most of
Burma’s prominent corporations are owned by the military, and the country
is judged by Transparency International as the second most corrupt in the
world.

Burma’s fall from grace has been incredible to watch. The country was once
one of the richest in Southeast Asia and the world’s largest rice
exporter. Today, Burma can barely feed itself. In 1950, the per capita of
GDP of Burma and its neighbor, Thailand, were virtually identical. Today,
Thailand’s GDP is seven times that of its former peer, despite very
similar religious, cultural and physical endowments.

The people of Burma are poor, but the regime that oppresses them is not.
Changing this equation is the true key to economic development in Burma,
and the outcome to which the efforts of the rest of the world should be
directed.

Mr. Turnell is the editor of Burma Economic Watch and an associate
professor in economics at Macquarie University in Sydney.

____________________________________

August 7, Time
Putting Burma's junta on trial – Andrew Marshall

Last month two famous defendants — one adored, the other despised —
appeared in courts nearly 10,000 km apart. Charles Taylor, the former
president of Liberia, is being tried by a special tribunal in The Hague
for murder, rape, torture, and other war crimes allegedly committed during
the decade-long conflict in neighboring Sierra Leone. Taylor — known as
"Pappy" to child soldiers who, say prosecutors, were abducted, drugged and
dispatched to commit atrocities on his orders — used his first appearance
on the stand on July 14 to dismiss the charges as "disinformation,
misinformation, lies, rumors." (Read "'Lies and Rumors': Liberia's Charles
Taylor on the Stand.")

Meanwhile, and much more convincingly, Aung San Suu Kyi was protesting her
innocence before a court in Rangoon. The Burmese democracy icon faces up
to five years in prison for violating the terms of her house arrest after
an American man swam to her lakeside home in Rangoon. The charges are
farcical, the verdict a foregone conclusion: Suu Kyi is expected to be
declared guilty on Aug. 11. But some in Burma's embattled democracy
movement will turn to The Hague for solace. Taylor is the first African
head of state to face an international war crimes tribunal. Could Senior
General Than Shwe, leader of the Burmese junta, be the first Asian? (Read
"Viewpoint: Why Foreigners Can Make Things Worse for Burma.")

This is not as far-fetched as it might initially seem. A compelling case
for investigating war crimes in Burma is made in a May 2009 report by the
International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School. Called "Crimes in
Burma," its authors are heavy-hitters: they include one former judge and
two former prosecutors from the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia, including the British lead attorney in the case against
Slobodan Milosevic.

Referring only to U.N. documents, the report lays out the "systematic and
widespread" atrocities committed in Burma in recent years: killings,
torture, rape, "epidemic levels" of forced labor, a million people
homeless, the recruitment of tens of thousands of child soldiers, and —
here they draw comparisons with Darfur — the displacement or destruction
of more than 3,000 ethnic nationality villages. These abuses were usually
committed during armed conflict, which "strongly suggests" they are war
crimes and crimes against humanity, says the report.

A precedent for acting on such abuses has been set by the former
Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Darfur, the authors continue. They assert that with
such overwhelming evidence from its own documents, the U.N. Security
Council should establish a commission to investigate war crimes in Burma,
then create a special tribunal to try those responsible for them. "The
[U.N. Security] Council is the only body that can take the action
necessary to respond adequately to the crisis in Burma," conclude the
authors, before warning of "the painful consequences of inaction."

The Security Council held its first-ever debate on Burma in 2005, but has
done little but talk since. The chances of the U.N.'s most powerful body
establishing a Burmese war crimes commission are slim so long as permanent
members China and Russia exercise their veto. But this shouldn't stop the
U.S., U.K., and France from demanding one. It would certainly be noted in
Naypyidaw, the junta's remote new capital. As the ongoing persecution of
Suu Kyi amply demonstrates, Burma's generals are impervious to global
condemnation. But don't be fooled by common depictions of them as
blinkered, paranoid and xenophobic. "These caricatures ignore the fact
that the regime contains intelligent officers who are close observers of
the international scene," observed Andrew Selth of Australia's Griffith
University last year. And there is some evidence that international
justice is something those officers view with alarm. (Read about the 2007
crackdown in Burma.)

Just look at the military-drafted constitution, which was "approved" by a
sham referendum in the wake of Cyclone Nargis in 2008. It not only
formalizes the junta's rule, by reserving for the military a quarter of
seats in the new parliament after elections next year. It also grants
junta officials immunity from prosecution. "This clause won't protect them
from international prosecution, but it shows they're worried about it,"
says Mark Farmaner, director of the advocacy group Burma Campaign UK. (See
pictures of Burma after Cyclone Nargis.)

So does the regime's sudden interest in a little-known exile group called
the Burma Lawyers' Council. In May, at a Bangkok hotel, it held a
three-day seminar entitled "Advancing human rights and ending impunity in
Burma." Among the subjects discussed by the 100 or so delegates were the
criminal accountability of individual junta members and how the U.N.
Security Council might be persuaded to investigate Burmese war crimes.

Days before the seminar began, the junta outlawed the lawyers' group,
which previously had barely blipped on Naypyidaw's radar, then requested
Thailand to halt the seminar. It went ahead, but the harassment continued.
As Burmese spies prowled the hotel lobby, delegates heard reports that
agents had been dispatched to kidnap or kill the group's chairman Aung
Htoo. He was smuggled out of the seminar and spent three weeks in hiding
in Thailand before fleeing for Sweden.

Aung Htoo says a war crimes commission "very much concerns the Burmese
leadership." He believes the prospect might cause reform-minded officers
to break ranks and topple Than Shwe. Of course, it could also have the
opposite effect, causing the generals to tighten their grasp on power —
although ethnic minorities suffering ongoing military atrocities in
eastern Burma might think this was a risk worth taking. "At the moment
Burmese soldiers know they can act with impunity," says Farmaner. "A
threat of consequences might change behavior on the ground."

The sad and wretched history of Burma is relentless. Its civil war — the
world's longest — rages on. Ceasefires between the junta and other
insurgent groups are looking shaky. Piecemeal and uncoordinated sanctions
by the U.S. and Europe have failed. Suu Kyi's party, the National League
for Democracy, is comatose, and more than 2,000 political prisoners are in
Burmese jails. Convincing the U.N. Security Council to investigate Burmese
war crimes might seem like an uphill struggle. "But that is why we
campaign — to change things," says Farmaner. That campaign could galvanize
Burma's weary democrats, even as their leader prepares for yet another
lengthy spell in the junta's custody.

____________________________________

August 7, The Korea Times
Pariahs of Asia and their nukes – Gwynne Dyer

It is generally agreed that North Korea and Myanmar (Burma) have the two
most oppressive regimes in Asia. They rule over two of the poorest
countries in the continent, and that is no coincidence whatever.

But there is one marked difference between them. No foreign leaders pay
court to the Myanmarese (Burmese) generals in their weirdly grandiose new
capital of Naypidaw (which makes even Brasilia seem cozy and intimate),
whereas even Bill Clinton, the world's most recognizable celebrity
statesman, makes the pilgrimage to Pyongyang.

Clinton was there to secure the release of two American journalists who
were seized on the Chinese-North Korean border four months ago, probably
with the explicit purpose of taking American hostages and forcing a
high-level U.S. visit to the North Korean capital.

That's why it was private citizen Bill, rather than his wife, U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who made the visit to Kim Jong-il: The
United States paid the Devil his due, but deniably.

The big difference is this: The Myanmarese regime is seen by most foreign
governments as ugly but basically harmless (except to the Myanmarese
people), whereas the North Korean regime is seen as ugly and extremely
dangerous.

And the most dangerous thing about North Korea is its nuclear weapons
― so if the Myanmarese generals also want to have emissaries from
the great powers genuflecting at their doorstep, they need some nuclear
weapons too.

The notion of a nuclear-armed Myanmar is faintly ridiculous, because the
country has no foreign enemies that it needs to deter, let alone wants to
attack.

But respect matters too, especially to regimes (like the Myanmarese) that
feel their legitimacy is always under question. Myanmarese nukes would
elicit a whole lot of respect.

Articles published in the past week in the Sydney Morning Herald and the
Bangkok Post by Prof. Desmond Ball of the Australian National University
and by Thai-based Irish journalist Phil Thornton suggest that the
Myanmarese military regime has sought North Korean help to build its own
nuclear weapons.

Specifically, it wants the North Koreans to create a plutonium
reprocessing plant in caves near Naung Laing in northern Myanmar, not far
from the site of a civilian nuclear reactor that is being built with
Russian help.

So far, it sounds like the plot for a sequel to ``Team America: World
Police,'' but the usually reliable Web site Dictator Watch has been
publishing warnings about the Myanmarese nuclear weapons project for
several years now.

Most of the information comes from defectors, including a former army
officer who was sent to Moscow for two years of training in nuclear
engineering. A thousand others were being sent as well, he said.

In June the North Korean freighter Kang Nam 1, bound for Myanmar, turned
back to port rather than accept inspection by U.S. warships under United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1874.

That resolution was a response to North Korea's recent nuclear test, and
requires governments to inspect ships coming from or going to North Korea
if there are ``reasonable grounds to believe'' the vessel is carrying
various categories of weapons including missile- and weapons of mass
destruction-related cargoes

Defectors often make stuff up to inflate their importance in the eyes of
their new masters: Just think of the preposterous tripe that was peddled
as ``intelligence'' by Iraqi defectors in the run-up to the 2003 invasion.

But at least three Myanmarese defectors have told essentially the same
tale about their country's nuclear weapons project, although they had no
opportunity to coordinate their stories and did not even know one another.

Why would North Korea be doing it? Because it is being paid in
``yellowcake'' (partially refined uranium) which Myanmar processes at the
Thabeik Kyin plant.

And also because the fact that North Korea is a reckless nuclear weapons
proliferator, willing to sell to anybody, makes it more dangerous, and
being dangerous is what forces people like Bill and Hillary Clinton (and
ultimately Barack Obama) to talk to it. All assuming that North Korea
really is helping Myanmar to develop nuclear weapons, of course.

Ball and Thornton suggest that Myanmar could be processing 8 kg (17.5 lb)
of plutonium-239 a year by 2014, after which it could produce one atomic
bomb per year.

Well, yes, but we all know that apparently competent intelligence agencies
like the CIA and Mossad have been predicting that Iran will have nuclear
weapons within five years practically every year since the early 1990s.

They were wrong about Iran every year, and Iran is a much more serious
country, in scientific, technological and industrial terms, than Myanmar.

But suppose it's true. Why would Myanmar be doing it? Not to nuke Thailand
or Malaysia or Bangladesh, surely, for it has no serious quarrel with its
neighbors.

But one can imagine that Senior General Than Shwe and his colleagues would
feel a good deal more secure if the United States and other great powers,
instead of condemning and boycotting the Myanmarese dictatorship, were
begging it to be responsible and give up its nuclear weapons.

Could it be as simple as that? Of course it could. That's why North Korea
developed nuclear weapons, too.

Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles are
published in 45 countries.

____________________________________

August 7, Jakarta Post
ASEAN’s curse

Some people say the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a
blessing and a curse for Indonesia. When democracy was still unthinkable
here, Indonesia often hid behind ASEAN when the international community
attacked us for our disrespect of the human rights and freedom of
Indonesian citizens. Upon emerging as the world’s third largest democracy,
ASEAN is now more of a “curse” for Indonesia as we now find ourselves
often making the same statements as western countries and international
organizations did toward Indonesia during the Soeharto years.

When Indonesia faced international criticism for human rights abuses being
conducted under Soeharto and during the  occupation of East Timor, our
neighbors often had to act as our defense lawyers. As the largest ASEAN
member — in terms of population, geography and economy — Indonesia has the
obligation to encourage the universal values of democracy and human rights
to our less democratic neighbors. They will follow us if they see
democracy has brought Indonesia much prosperity and strength. We must also
remember however that Indonesia is still haunted by fundamental problems
such as corruption and poverty.

Take the case of Myanmar as an example of the ASEAN problem. Since its
admission into ASEAN in 1997, Myanmar has brought nothing but humiliation
to the regional grouping, and will continue to do so into the future
unless action is taken. The brutal generals in Myanmar have given no
indication of when they will change their ways, but we need to remember
that to a certain extent Indonesia was also once that embarrassing burden
to ASEAN during its occupation of East Timor. Does that mean ASEAN will
never become a powerful and respected organization because some member
countries choose to go down the path of Myanmar and Indonesia?

As ASEAN will commemorate its 42nd anniversary Saturday (it was
established on Aug. 8, 1967 in Bangkok), it is timely to look back on its
achievements and failures. The governments in this region naturally tend
to emphasize or even dramatize the success stories of ASEAN, while most
outsiders have the opposite opinion.

What are the main sources of its failures and how can we overcome these
difficulties? One thing for certain is that despite the major obstacles
the group faced in the past – mainly democracy and human rights issues –
and challenges of the future, ASEAN has been able to appear as a strong
regional bloc at least on the surface.

For 12 years, western countries and international civil organizations have
ridiculed the group for its inability to force the Myanmar generals to
stop oppressing its people and release the country’s legendary icon Aung
San Suu Kyi. ASEAN leaders also fully realize the very expensive cost they
have to bear because of Myanmar. But they are at a loss on what to do with
the impoverished nation as the generals there are not concerned with a
threat of worsening economic and political sanctions from other countries,
or even expulsion from ASEAN.

Indonesia, however, should also learn from its less democratic neighbors.
For instance, while Singaporeans have less freedom in electing their
leaders than Indonesians, in terms of good and clean governance we are
left far behind the city state. We should avoid acting as big brother to
our smaller neighbors. We wish to congratulate the organization members on
its anniversary this Saturday. Happy anniversary!

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

August 7, Women’s League of Burma
It’s time for the United Nations to take strong action on Burma

Women’s Groups around the World Call on the UNSC to Prosecute Senior
General Than Shwe at the International Criminal Court

7 August 2009

The Women's League of Burma (WLB) joined by sixty four leading women’s
organizations sent a letter to the Secretary General and members of the
United Nations Security Council calling for the prosecution of Senior
General Than Shwe at the International Criminal Court (ICC), and an
immediate end to the longstanding impunity that has been afforded to the
brutal military junta in Burma.

The letter states that:

Well-documented reports of past violations, continued systematic
repression, and an incapacitated judicial system stand as solid witness to
the necessity of strong international intervention. We call for the UN
Security Council to start with a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the
horrific campaign of terror by the military regime and to refer Senior
General Than Shwe and his cronies to the international Criminal Court for
all crimes including for the imprisonment of Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi in violation of international law.

The Secretary General's historic Report on July 15, 2009 on Security
Council resolution 1820 makes clear that gender crimes by the military in
are covered by the firm legal mandates of Security Council resolution
1820. These include the rights to criminal accountability, the prohibition
of any amnesty for the military, and in this case an ICC referral.

The report discusses in two places and these words speak volumes.

In Myanmar, recent concern has been expressed at discrimination against
the minority Muslim population of Northern Rakhine State and their
vulnerability to sexual violence, as well as the high prevalence of sexual
violence perpetrated against rural women from the Shan, Mon, Karen,
Palaung and Chin ethnic groups by members of the armed forces and at the
apparent impunity of the perpetrators.

In , women and girls are fearful of working in the fields or traveling
unaccompanied, given regular military checkpoints where they are often
subject to sexual harassment.

Furthermore, in countries such as Afghanistan, Côte d'Ivoire, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Liberia, Myanmar, Nepal,
Sierra Leone, the Sudan and Timor-Leste, the effective administration of
justice is hampered not only by a lack of capacity, but also by the fact
that some justice officials do not give serious consideration to reports
of sexual violence.

In truth, although there has been documentation and identification of
military personnel who have committed sexual violence, including relevant
dates and battalion numbers, disciplinary or criminal action is yet to be
taken against the alleged perpetrators.

Accordingly, UN Security Council resolution 1820 affirms the urgent need
to end impunity and protect civilians in conflict and post conflict
situations. Impunity for sexual violence committed during conflict
perpetuates impunity and WLB calls on the Security Council to act on the
mandate of UN Security Council resolution 1820 and halt the systemic use
of rape and other sex crimes against the ethnic women of who have been
brutalized for decades with no redress or reparations.

This letter is being issued to coincide with the open debates at the
Security Council on the Secretary General’s Report, and underscores that
for the women of debate must lead to immediate action and the only access
for justice for them is the ICC.

For media Contact:
Thin Thin Aung:          +919 891 252 316
Lway Aye Nang:        +66 89 434 2841

____________________________________

August 7, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
CSW urges international community to intensify efforts on Burma on 21st
anniversary of regimes suppression of pro-democracy protests

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is calling on the international
community to unite to bring change to Burma, on the 21st anniversary of
the military crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

On 8 August, 1988 several thousand Burmese pro-democracy demonstrators,
led by students, were killed by the military as it launched a brutal
crackdown on a movement that had grown throughout that year. Since 1988,
the regime has continued to perpetrate gross violations of human rights,
including the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war, the widespread
use of forced labour, forcible conscription of child soldiers, the use of
human minesweepers, religious persecution and extrajudicial killings. Over
2,100 political prisoners remain in jail while Burma's democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has already spent over 13 years under house arrest,
waits to hear the final verdict from her latest trial on 11 August,
possibly leading to further years spent in prison.

As campaigners mark the 21st anniversary of the crackdown known as "8888",
CSW is calling on the United Nations, the Association of South-East Asian
Nations (ASEAN), the European Union (EU), China, India, Japan, Russia, the
United States and the United Kingdom to work together to intensify
pressure on Burma's military regime.

CSW's East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers said: "It is essential that we
do not simply remember this anniversary as yet another in Burma's tragic
history of brutal oppression. The most fitting tribute the world could pay
to those who sacrificed their lives would be to unite and take concrete
steps to support the brave Burmese people in their struggle for freedom.
We call on the international community, working through the UN Security
Council, to prioritise the release of all political prisoners in Burma,
including Aung San Suu Kyi. We urge countries with influence on the
regime, such as China, India, Russia and members of ASEAN, especially
Singapore and Thailand, to recognize the severity of the political and
humanitarian crisis in Burma, which affects the whole region, and to act
to bring about change. We call on the EU, including the United Kingdom,
and the United States to work with Burma's neighbours to secure the
release of political prisoners, the introduction of a universal arms
embargo and the establishment of a commission of inquiry to investigate
crimes against humanity in Burma. These are the steps that are required if
we are to prevent another 21 years of torture, rape and murder with
impunity in Burma."

For further information please contact Theresa Malinowska, Press Officer
at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on 020 8329 0045 / 078 2332 9663, email
theresamalinowska at csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk
<http://www.csw.org.uk/>.

CSW is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom,
works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and
promotes religious liberty for all.