From editor at burmanet.org Fri Oct 9 16:26:11 2009 From: editor at burmanet.org (Editor) Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2009 16:26:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: BurmaNet News, October 9, 2009 Message-ID: <46235.63.173.78.131.1255119971.squirrel@webmail1.pair.com> October 9, 2009 Issue #3816 INSIDE BURMA New York Times: Burmese dissident leader meets Western diplomats AFP: Suu Kyi's party hopeful she can meet Myanmar junta chief DVB: 60 percent of UN funds to Burma not monitored SHAN: Shan leader: Burma has no government ON THE BORDER Irrawaddy: Another torture victim flees Burma BUSINESS / TRADE Irrawaddy: Crackdown underway on illegal businesses in Rangoon ASEAN AFP: In backtrack, US says top Myanmar official at Obama talks INTERNATIONAL DVB: Burma constitution ?provides impunity? for abuses Saskatoon Star Phoenix (Canada): Feds intervene to quash deserter's deportation to Myanmar OPINION / OTHER Guardian (UK): A positive meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi - but caution is understandable ? Andrew Heyn The Weekly Standard: Obama's test in Burma ? Benedict Rogers & Joseph Loconte Irrawaddy: Halfway to a handshake ? Editorial ____________________________________ INSIDE BURMA October 9, New York Times Burmese dissident leader meets Western diplomats ? Thomas Fuller Bangkok? Myanmar?s military government allowed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the country?s beleaguered democracy movement, to hold a rare meeting with foreign diplomats on Friday as part of what appears to be early but tentative signs of a d?tente between the junta and Western governments. The meeting focused almost exclusively on Western sanctions against the country, diplomats said. Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi has angered the junta with her support for sanctions, but in recent weeks she has suggested that she was open to changing her mind on the issue. ?She was at great pains to say that this was fact-finding and that she had reached no policy view yet,? said Andrew Heyn, the British ambassador to Myanmar, who represented the European Union at the meeting. ?We did a lot of the talking in response to questions from her,? Mr. Heyn said. Also present were diplomats from Australia and the United States. Drake Weisert, a spokesman for the United States Embassy, said the meeting lasted an hour and was hastily arranged; Myanmar?s Foreign Ministry sent an invitation to the American Embassy on Thursday. The United States is reassessing the sanctions put in place after the military government of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, ignored the results of a landslide election victory in 1990 by Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi?s party. Kurt Campbell, the United States assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said last month that a policy of ?pragmatic engagement with the Burmese authorities holds the best hope for advancing our goals.? He said the United States would maintain sanctions ?until we see concrete progress.? The Myanmar government has long been eager to remove the sanctions, which bar certain senior members of the government from carrying out financial transactions through Western banks and from traveling to the United States, European Union or Australia. The United States also bans most exports from Myanmar, including gems that pass through third countries. Mr. Heyn said he was not fully convinced of the junta?s sincerity. ?We have seen false dawns before, sometimes all too often,? he said in a telephone interview. ?We are all hoping that it?s the start of something better, but we?re very, very cautious. ?Our sense is that it?s far too early to judge.? The junta is planning to introduce a new constitution and carry out nationwide elections next year, the first since 1990, although a date has not been announced. It appears unlikely that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, 64, will be allowed to take part in the elections. Last week, a court rejected an appeal against the extension of her detention. She has been held under house arrest for 14 of the last 19 years and is now serving an additional 18-month sentence for receiving an uninvited American guest. Her lawyers say they will appeal to the country?s supreme court. ____________________________________ October 9, Agence France-Presse Suu Kyi's party hopeful she can meet Myanmar junta chief Yangon ? Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party is hoping the pro-democracy leader will soon meet with Myanmar's junta chief after signs of a resumed dialogue between the two sides, a spokesman said Friday. The detained Nobel Laureate was granted rare permission to meet with Western diplomats in Yangon Friday and in the past week has twice held talks with a junta minister, following a letter she wrote to Senior General Than Shwe. "We are hoping that the Senior General and Aung San Suu Kyi will meet soon," said her lawyer and spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party Nyan Win. It would be the first meeting between the pair in several years. After years of advocating punitive measures against the junta, Suu Kyi's letter marked an easing of her stance, offering suggestions for getting Western sanctions lifted and requesting a meeting with diplomats to discuss this. "The authorities allowing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's request is good -- she is getting what she needs," said Nyan Win. Daw is a term of respect in Myanmar. "I think they will be discussing mainly the lifting of sanctions. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wanted to get the facts and figures on Western sanctions," he added. He said the meeting with diplomats meant she "could get chances to do politics, as she is a politician". On Saturday and Wednesday the Nobel Laureate had meetings with Myanmar labour minister Aung Kyi, the official liaison between herself and the junta -- the first time they have met for talks since January 2008. State media reported Sunday that they discussed her letter at the first meeting, but further details of the talks have not yet emerged. The US recently unveiled a major policy shift to re-engage the junta, but has warned against lifting sanctions until there is progress towards democracy and repeatedly pressed for Suu Kyi's release. Lawyers for the frail 64-year-old, kept in detention by the ruling generals for much of the past 20 years, say she welcomes US re-engagement. Her NLD won the last elections by a landslide in 1990, a result the junta refused to acknowledge, leading the US and the European Union to impose sanctions. ____________________________________ October 9, Democratic Voice of Burma 60 percent of UN funds to Burma not monitored ? Francis Wade More than half of funds allocated to Burma in 2007 by a United Nations body went unmonitored, according to an internal audit report now being presented to a UN budgetary panel. The amount of unmonitored funding stands at $US1 million, which was allocated by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to non-governmental organizations in Burma, according to the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). The figure is equivalent to 59 percent of the total funds allotted to the Burma country office, the report said. It went on to say that staff believed they were only responsible for technical aspects of their work, ?although their terms of references clearly indicated that they were responsible for both technical and financial monitoring?. ?In addition, the contracts with non-governmental organizations did not give the country office access to their financial records, risking misuse of the funds,? it said. The spokesperson for the UN secretary general, Michele Montas, said on Wednesday that the report was now being presented to the UN Fifth Committee, which deals with administrative and budgetary issues. Concerns over mismanagement of overseas aid going into Burma are compounded by a deep-rooted skepticism on behalf the Burmese government of any foreign involvement in the country, as well as widespread corruption. In the wake of cyclone Nargis in May last year, the ruling junta initially blocked flows of aid into the country. One shipment of UN food that did make it in was seized by government officials. The following month, a UN humanitarian coordinator, John Holmes, reported that the UN had lost at least $US10 million in aid channeled to Burma due to the government?s distorted exchange rate. The OIOS said that recommendations to the UNODC ?to report periodically on the use of funds by non-governmental organization? have been agreed and implemented. ____________________________________ October 9, Shan Herald Agency for News Shan leader: Burma has no government The Chairman of Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the political arm of the Shan State Army (SSA) ?South? Colonel Yawd Serk said the current ruling military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), cannot be called the Government of the Union of Burma because the 1947 union constitution ratified by all nationalities had already been overthrown. According to him, the ruling military SPDC is an ethnic organization like many others. The government of the Union has yet to emerge as the union has ceased to exitst since 1962 together with the 1947 constitution. ?The ruling junta is not the government. It is just a military clique led by Gen Than Shwe,? he said. ?One way to undermine their power therefore is not to call them government. If we do, it will mean that we still accept them as our government.? The juntas? much vaunted 3 causes: Non disintegration of the Union; Non disintegration of National Solidarity and Perpetuation of National Sovereignty were also wrong because the union formed by all the ethnic nationalities has gone, according Yawd Serk. ?There was a union because of the 1947 constitution,? he said, ?Now that it is no more, it means all the ethnic states have returned to their independent previous status.? To reestablish the Government of the Union, the Union must be restored first. To restore it, respective representatives from all ethnic nationalities must meet and talk similar to the 1947 Panglong conference, according to him. Hkun Okker of the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) also shared the view of Col Yawd Serk that the Union has been destroyed, but the spirit of the Union is still being used by the junta military and they are still ruling the country as a government even though they are not recognized by the people. ?They are called illegal government or de facto government. The union they are ruling is an artificial union,? he said. To be a legitimate government and build a genuine union of Burma, they must draft a constitution which truly guarantees the ethnic equality and right to self-determination and accepted by all ethnic nationalities. ?The difference will be whereas 1947 was a process of coming together, this time it will be a process of holding together,? he said. The exile opposition had already launched a credentials challenge campaign at the UN last year. ____________________________________ ON THE BORDER October 9, Irrawaddy Another torture victim flees Burma ? Min Lwin Released after being incarcerated for 16 days in Burma?s notorious Aung Thapyay interrogation center in Rangoon last month, Toe Aung decided to leave the country, fearing he would be rearrested. The 45-year-old activist was arrested on Sept. 11 on charges of connections with the monks? organizations that are allegedly organizing a political movement inside the country. During his 16 days in detention, he said he was beaten and tortured. ?I was taken from my hostel in Kamayut Township [in western Rangoon] and put in a cell. For the first two days, the officers deprived me of sleep and food,? said Toe Aung from a safe house in Mae Sot, a Thai border town. ?The police officers were very violent,? he said. ?Worse, I had to survive without water for three days. ?Without food and water, I became more and more exhausted. They came to my cell and interrogated me, but if they thought I was lying, they beat me up.? Toe Aung said he was arrested like a common criminal by several police officers and members of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association civic group. It was not the first time this had happened. He previously served nine years in Insein and Mandalay prisons for his political activities with Aung San Suu Kyi?s National League for Democracy (NLD). When it comes to the election planned for next year, Toe Aung said he disagrees with the idea that the NLD should participate. ?I support the Shwegondaing Declaration,? he said, referring to the announcement by the NLD in April that offered to establish a dialogue with the military junta and take part in the 2010 election on the condition the regime release all political prisoners, review the Constitution and establish a true democracy. ?Ordinary Burmese people are afraid to become involved in political activities such as protests because the military government oppresses the people,? Toe Aung said. He said that about 20 political activists were being interrogated in the center while he was there. Among them, he met Nyi Nyi Aung, a Burmese-born US citizen, who was arrested on Sept. 3 at Yangon International Airport when his flight landed. Toe Aung said Nyi Nyi Aung seemed to be suffering from physical and psychological trauma due to torture. In late September, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), an exiled rights group, issued a press statement titled ?Torture is State Policy in Burma.? The statement said, ?Nyi Nyi Aung was taken to various different interrogation centers where he was kicked and beaten, deprived of food for seven days, and questioned throughout the night.? ?Even though Burmese domestic law and international law forbids torture, no officials are ever held to account for their actions,? Bo Kyi, joint-secretary of the AAPP, said in the statement. ?There is no doubt about it: torture is state policy in Burma. We are deeply concerned for the safety of those activists recently arrested.? Toe Aung also said that he met some monks in Aung Thaphay interrogation centre who had been arrested by Burmese intelligence on suspicion of planting bombs. ?It made me sad, because the authorities disrobed monks and beat them,? he said. ____________________________________ BUSINESS / TRADE October 9, Irrawaddy Crackdown underway on illegal businesses in Rangoon Burmese authorities are cracking down on illegal businesses in Rangoon such as brothels, massage parlors and karaoke clubs, following the ouster of the former Rangoon Division police chief over alleged corruption and misuse of power. Five owners and managers of illegal businesses have been arrested, as well as 34 women staff, since the crackdown started on Sept. 16, sources told The Irrawaddy. Police conducted raids on massage parlors, brothels, karaoke clubs and beauty shops in Latha, Lanmadaw, Mayangone and Tamwe townships. Many brothels, massage parlors and karaoke shops closed in fear of the crackdown. The crackdown was monitored by chief of national police Brig-Gen Khin Yi and ordered by officials from Naypyidaw, sources said. The move came shortly after the newly appointed Rangoon Division police chief, Pol Col Aung Naing Thu, assumed the office. State-backed media in Burma have not reported any information about the former police chief?s ouster or the new police chief in Rangoon. The new chief replaced former police chief, Pol Col Win Naing, who was dismissed in mid-September following reports of misuse of power and corruption. Sources estimated that Win Naing received around 600,000 kyat (US $550) per massage parlor or karaoke club each month. His wife, Hmwe Hmwe, reportedly also ran illegal businesses, such as brothels and massage parlors, as well as solicited bribes from massage parlors and karaoke clubs in Rangoon, according to sources. Win Naing was interrogated after owners of massage parlors and karaoke clubs complained to high officials that he reportedly increased the bribes to around US $925, sources said. ____________________________________ ASEAN October 9, Agence France Presse In backtrack, US says top Myanmar official at Obama talks Washington, D.C. ? A senior Myanmar official, likely the prime minister, will be at President Barack Obama's talks next month with Southeast Asian nations, US officials said, after earlier suggesting leaders from the military state would not attend. The US backtrack Thursday on details of the summit, preserves the rare prospect of a US president coming face to face with a senior member of the Myanmar government, which Washington has condemned for years over its suppression of the pro-democracy movement. A US official said on condition of anonymity that Prime Minister Lieutenant General Thein Sein, who serves as the official head of the Myanmar government, could take part in the talks. "The Burmese head of state Than Shwe is not expected to attend but it is anticipated that there will be a lower level Burmese leader, likely the prime minister, at the meeting with the president," a US official said on condition of anonymity. "The president, along with all the ASEAN leaders are expected to speak in the group meeting. There will not be individual bilateral conversations in the meeting." Earlier, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs had suggested junta leaders would not be at the talks, when asked whether Obama was prepared to meet leaders from Myanmar at the meeting. "I don't believe they will be in attendance," he said. Gibbs announced on Wednesday that Obama would meet ASEAN leaders when he is Singapore for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in mid-November. "The president will hold his first-ever meeting between a US president and leaders of the 10 Southeast Asian nations that make up the ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations," Gibbs said. The United States has recently reversed policy on contacts with Myanmar, holding the highest-level talks with junta officials in nearly a decade, but has warned it will not lift sanctions until democracy is introduced. Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for Asian affairs, met Myanmar officials last month in New York after unveiling a US engagement blueprint designed to lure the pariah state out of self-imposed isolation. Campbell called on the junta to engage in dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy and restive ethnic groups and to free political prisoners. Obama's administration has made dialogue a signature policy, saying it is open to talks with staunch US foes such as Iran and Cuba. The State Department said Campbell's meetings were the highest-level interaction between the administration and the junta since September 2000 under Bill Clinton's administration. Campbell said that the United States would talk to Myanmar about elections scheduled next year but for the time being was "skeptical" about the vote. The elections would be the country's first since 1990, when Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won overwhelmingly but was prevented from taking power. As well as Myanmar, ASEAN also groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ____________________________________ INTERNATIONAL October 9, Democratic Voice of Burma Burma constitution ?provides impunity? for abuses ? Joseph Allchin Burma?s redrafted 2008 constitution provides impunity for human rights abuses and should not be the bedrock for elections next year, a damning report has claimed. Many of the provisions of the constitution suggest that ?instead of being a true catalyst for lasting change, it further entrenches the military within the government and the associated culture of impunity,? the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) said. Its report, Impunity Prolonged: Burma and its Constitution, says that within the constitution, the regime has granted itself impunity for sexual violence, forced labor and the recruitment of child soldiers. Burma, it says, is ?one of the most difficult challenges in the world in relation to making progress toward combating impunity.? Khin Omar, coordinator of the Thailand-based Burma Partnership, said the constitution will ?force military rule on Burma forever?. ?[It is] the most problematic element as to whether we move further toward being a failed state or whether we move towards national reconciliation,? she said. The report says that ?officers and troops systematically use rape and other forms of sexual abuse as a strategy of war.? It then cites a clause within the constitution stating that: ?No proceeding shall be instituted against the said Councils (the military) or any member thereof or any member of the Government, in respect to any act done in the execution of their respective duties.? Burma expert Robert H Taylor told DVB however that ?No one has proven that [rape] is public policy,? adding that ?we don?t know how the military deals with instances of rape?. He cited anonymous sources that claim the government has action against people accused of assault and rape, but added that the constitution ?has its problems, but which doesn?t?? In a sign that the regime responds to international pressure, the report cited an agreement between the junta and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to address forced labour and child soldiers. The 2008 constitution was ratified in the weeks following cyclone Nargis last May, in which 140,000 people were killed and millions of acres of land destroyed. Despite the cyclone, the government claimed a 99 percent turnout, with 92.4 percent voting in favour. A report released last year by Hong Kong-based constitutional expert, Professor Yash Ghai, said that ?the cynicism with which the regime held the referendum and manipulated the results was on a par with the cynicism and coercion by which the draft was prepared?. The ICTJ have called on the international community to withhold support for elections in Burma next year. Khin Omar echoed the calls, and said that a constitutional review must take place before the elections do. ____________________________________ October 9, Saskatoon Star Phoenix (Canada) Feds intervene to quash deserter's deportation to Myanmar ? Jason Warick Saskatoon, Canada ? Nay Myo Hein and his common-law wife couldn't sleep Friday night. The Saskatoon man was scheduled for deportation to his native Myanmar, also known as Burma, this week. Supporters believed that as an army military deserter in a nation run by a notorious military regime, he faced prison, torture and possible execution. But Saturday morning, everything changed. Hein received word that both federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan had personally reviewed the case, and were quashing the deportation order. In addition, Hein would be given temporary immigrant status. That means he no longer has to prove his case as a refugee, and can eventually apply for full Canadian citizenship. "I thought I was going to die. If I went back to Burma, there would be nowhere for me to hide," Hein said over the weekend as friends and family celebrated. "I am so happy now, very happy." Hein says he was coerced into the Burmese military at age 12 but had no appetite for the work and eventually fled the country. Kenney's communications director Alykhan Velshi said the minister first heard about Hein's case last week, and he decided to become involved once the legal process was concluded. In an interview with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix Sunday, Kenney said he discussed the case with the group Canadian Friends of Burma, with which he has a long-standing relationship. He and Van Loan reviewed the previous decisions by other legal bodies and refugee boards, which had rejected Hein's claim. Kenney said he found no fault with the previous decisions, but was concerned about the potential harm Hein faced upon return to his former homeland. The widely publicized case may have been noticed by Burmese officials, who might target him for criticizing the "totalitarian regime," Kenney said. "Under normal circumstances, I would not have intervened. We face a lot of cases like this, but this is extraordinary, quite exceptional," he said. "We wouldn't want to return someone to face persecution or punishment. It is a chance we were not prepared to take." So after e-mailing back and forth Saturday morning, Van Loan agreed to quash the deportation order, which had Hein booked on a flight Tuesday. Kenney simultaneously granted Hein a "ministerial permit," which will allow Hein to eventually apply for full Canadian citizenship. Kenney reiterated the Canadian government's disapproval for the Burmese military regime, and noted Canada bestowed honourary citizenship last year to jailed Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Hein, who works at a local auto repair shop, thanked the ministers, as well as the Burmese community and general public which inundated the government with letters, e-mails and phone calls last week. The Canadian Friends of Burma and Amnesty International's Canadian section were also organizing rallies in major Canadian cities, which were called off at the last minute when word of the developments spread. ____________________________________ OPINION / OTHER October 9, Guardian (UK) A positive meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi - but caution is understandable ? Andrew Heyn Earlier this morning, I had the honour of being the first British ambassador to have a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi since April 2003. The venue was the government state guest house in Rangoon. During the meeting, she was in remarkable form - engaging, eloquent, and determined to go through the full background and detail of the US, Australian and EU approaches to sanctions. Overall, I felt she really enjoyed the chance to engage seriously with outsiders. The purpose of the meeting was specifically to discuss the sanctions issue. As has been widely reported, Aung San Suu Kyi had written to the senior general, Than Shwe, at the end of September, with an offer to discuss issues concerning the restrictive measures put in place by the international community against Burma. As part of this process she asked to meet the representatives of Australia, the US and the EU in Rangoon - Britain is acting EU president in Burma because Sweden (who has the EU presidency at the moment) does not have a mission here. There has been some speculation about whether Aung San Suu Kyi's position on sanctions has changed. She was very clear about this during the meeting. She wanted to know the facts ? in detail ? before assessing her policy options. And then she needed to discuss the issue with her colleagues in the NLD, with whom she has not yet been allowed to meet. Media interest in this meeting has been intense. Much of the interest has focused on the longer-term significance of this session when set alongside the two meetings between Aung San Suu Kyi and the government liaison minister over the last week or so. The dialogue is undoubtedly welcome, but my feeling is that it is too early to pass judgment on the wider implications. The Burmese authorities have said the meeting was "a gesture of goodwill". But there have been so many false dawns here before, caution among Burma watchers is understandable. Perhaps the best way to look at it is to hope that, in time, a meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi, or any opposition leader with a foreign diplomat is completely un-newsworthy. An event so regular and commonplace (as meetings between diplomats and opposition figures are in other countries), that it attracts, at most, passing comment. That really would represent progress. ____________________________________ October 9, The Weekly Standard Obama's test in Burma ? Benedict Rogers & Joseph Loconte The Obama administration recently announced the results of its long-awaited Burma policy review. On the face of it the outcome is sound. The United States will maintain existing sanctions on Burma's brutal regime, while attempting a dialogue with the generals. The combination of engagement plus pressure is precisely the package long advocated by Burma's democracy movement and its jailed leader, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Whether team Obama has the conviction and fortitude for successful negotiations is an open question. For many years the policy debate about Burma has been polarized and oversimplified, constructed as a false choice between engagement or sanctions. Critics of sanctions regard themselves as pro-engagement, and accuse sanctions advocates of seeking to isolate the regime. But the goal of sanctions isn't isolation, the goal is to deprive the junta of legitimacy and to provide the country's democracy movement with greater leverage. Ever since 1988, "dialogue" has been Aung San Suu Kyi's mantra. The regime could not have a more reasonable opponent, and she recently has reiterated her call for dialogue in a letter to the dictator, Senior General Than Shwe. The purpose of sanctions and other forms of pressure, if properly targeted, is to get the generals to the negotiating table. The broad thrust of the Obama administration's new Burma approach is therefore welcome. The debate should not be about whether to pursue engagement or pressure, but rather what type of engagement, with whom, and what form of pressure. There must be no repeats of last month's decision, for example, to waive the U.S. visa ban and allow Burma's foreign minister to sneak into Washington, D.C. He had a chat with Democratic Senator Jim Webb but, to our knowledge, had no conversation with administration officials. One of Southeast Asia's most brutal generals was allowed to inspect repair work at the Burmese embassy and go sightseeing. It was the worst of all worlds. Either the United States should maintain the visa ban on potential war criminals or invite them to join open, frank, direct, and accountable dialogue. Indeed, only high-level engagement with Than Shwe would have any effect, as he alone makes the decisions. Friendly chats with middle-ranking officials will achieve nothing. Engagement must also include Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy movement, and the ethnic nationalities. Clear benchmarks are needed. All talks should be co-ordinated with other actors, particularly the United Nations and the European Union, in order to present a united front of international opposition. Pressure must be maintained if engagement is to have any chance of success. Kurt Campbell, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told a Senate hearing last week that "lifting or easing sanctions at the outset of a dialogue without meaningful progress on our concerns would be a mistake." Precisely. It was a clear rebuff to the regime's new best Ameican friend, Senator Webb, who wants to lift all sanctions immediately, Campbell was ambivalent about the regime's planned elections in 2010, saying only that he would "assess the conditions." But the conditions are very clear. Aung San Suu Kyi is barred from participating, and has been given another eighteen months under house arrest to keep her out of the way. Last year's sham referendum on a new constitution tells us exactly how the regime intends to behave. Most importantly, the new constitution--upon which elections will be based--is a profoundly undemocratic document, intended only to preserve military rule. It does nothing to protect human rights or recognize Burma's ethnic groups. A Burmese activist calls it "a marriage proposal from a rapist." The Obama administration should urge the regime to amend it. In the meantime, humanitarian assistance must be expanded, including cross-border aid to the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people in eastern Burma who are on the run from attacks by the Burma Army. Since 1996, over a million people have been forced to flee their homes, and more than 3,300 villages have been destroyed--a scale of suffering and destruction similar to that in the Darfur region of Sudan. Similarly, in Chin State along the India-Burma border, more than 100,000 people in over 200 villages are in dire need of food supplies, as a result of a chronic food shortage. There are two measures the Obama administration should pursue while seeking a dialogue with the generals. First, a universal arms embargo, implemented by the U.N. Security Council, is long overdue. There is no moral justification for selling arms to a regime that has no external threats and uses those arms to suppress its own people. Second, the groundwork should be laid for a U.N. Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity. Burma's regime stands accused of using rape as a weapon of war, forced labour, and child soldiers on a widespread and systematic basis. It continues to commit gross human rights violations with impunity. It must be brought to account. Of course China and Russia will be obstacles, but it's getting harder to rationalize support for a regime with so much blood on its hands. In pursuing engagement, the White House must be clear-eyed. This canny and deceitful regime is among the worst in the world. Last month a Burmese-born U.S citizen, activist Nyi Nyi Aung, was arrested in Rangoon. He joins another 2,200 political prisoners detained in Burma today. What is the Obama administration doing to secure his release? Even China, the regime's staunchest ally, is losing patience with the junta. Last week Beijing issued an extraordinarily strong statement, demanding that the regime "rapidly investigate" attacks by the military on ethnic Chinese in Burma, "punish law-breakers" and report back to Beijing. The Obama administration prides itself on its willingness to use "smart diplomacy" to tackle international crises. It will face growing pressure to end the sanctions regime against Burma. But a policy of engagement that is all carrots and no sticks would be na?ve--and self-defeating. Those fighting for democracy in Burma will need more than lofty words and good intentions. Benedict Rogers is a writer and human rights activist with the London-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide. He is co-author of a new biography of Burma's dictator, Than Shwe: Unmasking Burma's Tyrant, to be published in 2010. Joseph Loconte is a lecturer in politics at the King's College in New York City who writes widely about international human rights, and is a frequent contributor to THE WEEKLY STANDARD. ____________________________________ October 9, Irrawaddy Halfway to a handshake ? Editorial Burma?s Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is not a saint; she is more than a saint. Since Suu Kyi entered politics in 1988, Burma?s international profile has risen from relative obscurity to the status of one of the world?s most important fronts in the global struggle for freedom and democracy. To a great extent, this has been due to Suu Kyi?s courage and charisma. Through sheer force of personality, she has transformed her country?s political aspirations into a cause that enjoys the support of people around the world. But Suu Kyi?s compelling image is also largely a product of her tormentors? heavy-handed attempts to silence her. The recent mockery of a trial against her, for instance, thrust her back into the media spotlight and put her incredible grace under pressure on full display. Perhaps this is why the Burmese generals seem to feel entitled to use Suu Kyi?s iconic image for their own ends: after all, they may reason, they made her the martyr she is today. Whenever it suits their purposes, Burma?s rulers loosen her shackles and even act like they are ready to respond to her calls for dialogue. Usually this happens when they need to deflect intense domestic and international pressure?or when there is something to be gained, such as a relaxation of sanctions. The trouble is that Suu Kyi is not just the saintly figure she is made out to be. When she says she wants to talk, she means business. Now, Suu Kyi is meeting with three Rangoon-based Western diplomats to discuss economic sanctions against Burma. Although the details of their discussions have not yet emerged, these talks, and two earlier meetings with a junta liaison, have generated considerable buzz, raising hopes of a breakthrough, mixed with anxiety over how the junta will attempt to spin this recent development. In all probability, these talks will end in another impasse once the generals have gained whatever they expect to get from them, or realize that their machinations are not working. And when they do fail, as they almost certainly will, the regime will be quick to argue that Suu Kyi?s obstinacy was the cause. For the past 21 years, Burma?s rulers have blamed Suu Kyi for most of the country?s problems. In particular, they accuse her of instigating the West?s punitive actions against the regime. But let?s be clear: the sanctions are in place because of the junta?s egregious behavior, not because Suu Kyi?s moral authority is so irresistible that the world?s most powerful nations feel obliged to support her. The regime has earned the world?s opprobrium with its poor human rights record, brutal military offensives against ethnic minorities and ruthless crackdowns on dissidents. Unless the junta can somehow prove that Suu Kyi made them commit these outrages, it is ludicrous to suggest that she is responsible for the sanctions. Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 20 years in detention, cut off from the outside world. She has only rarely had an opportunity to publicly state her position on sanctions. In 1996, for instance, she asked tourists to shun Burma to send the regime a message as it launched ?Visit Myanmar Year.? Now, after years of being blamed for the sanctions, Suu Kyi has signaled that she would like to help the regime remove these barriers to the country?s development. Last week, she sent a letter to Burma?s paramount leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, asking him to allow her to meet with foreign diplomats so she can learn more about the sanctions. Suu Kyi wrote that in order to ?effectively work for lifting sanctions I believe that we need to try at first to understand about all sanctions imposed on Burma; understand about the extent of losses due to sanctions imposed on Burma; and understand about the positions of governments which imposed sanctions on Burma.? Before today?s meeting with diplomats from the US, UK and Australia, Suu Kyi met twice with Aung Kyi, the regime?s ?relations minister,? who was appointed in 2007 as the generals? go-between with the opposition leader. Last month, the US announced plans to modify its tough policy of isolating the military regime. Instead of relying on sanctions alone, the Obama administration said that it would instead try to engage the junta through high-level talks. Soon after this new policy was unveiled, the regime?s prime minister and foreign minister visited New York to attend the UN General Assembly, where American and Burmese officials held a meeting. But this does not mean that the sanctions? days are numbered. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who met Burmese officials, told a US Senate panel: ?Lifting or easing sanctions at the outset of a dialogue without meaningful progress on our concerns would be a mistake.? The benchmark set by the US is clear. Washington wants the regime to free all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, and to hold a credible and inclusive election in 2010. It is unlikely the regime will honor these requests. Than Shwe has rarely made concessions in the past, and there is no reason to believe he will make any in the near future. It is far more likely that he will continue to rely on his usual modus operandi: brutally suppressing his domestic opponents while occasionally softening his stance to manipulate his international critics. For her part, Suu Kyi has long expressed a willingness to work with the armed forces?which were founded by her father?for the good of the country. She has extended her hand to the junta in the past, and has done so again now. But she is powerless to make a difference on sanctions unless the generals decide to do the right thing and reciprocate. For more than two decades, the Burmese people have waited to witness the historic handshake that will finally decide their country?s future. But as long as Suu Kyi is the only one making the effort, the sanctions will remain in place, and real progress will be no more than a distant dream.