From editor at burmanet.org Tue Oct 13 16:09:56 2009 From: editor at burmanet.org (Editor) Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:09:56 -0400 (EDT) Subject: BurmaNet News, October 10 - 13, 2009 Message-ID: <42983.63.173.78.131.1255464596.squirrel@webmail1.pair.com> October 10 ? 13, 2009 Issue #3817 INSIDE BURMA AFP: Suu Kyi back in Myanmar's political arena: analysts Mizzima News: Trial of Burmese-American to begin ON THE BORDER Narinjara: Bangladesh Army Chief inspects Burma border The Daily Star (Bangladesh): 18 Myanmar citizens arrested in Bandarban Irrawaddy: Burmese trafficking victims freed in raid BUSINESS / TRADE Sudan Times: Sudan and Burma agree to boost relations DRUGS DVB: Burma would ?welcome? US anti-drugs support REGIONAL The Epoch Times (USA): 2010 Burma polls have no meaning without Suu Kyi, say groups Xinhua: Cambodia, Myanmar to strengthen military cooperation INTERNATIONAL The Daily Telegraph (Australia): Burmese goods out of fashion OPINION / OTHER Guardian (UK): Burma's exiled Muslims ? Syed Neaz Ahmad Irrawaddy: Burma's new constitution: A death sentence for ethnic diversity ? Zipporah Sein TIME: The soldier and the state ? Andrew Marshall STATEMENT President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste: Statement in support of a global arms embargo on Burma ? Jose Ramos-Horta ____________________________________ INSIDE BURMA October 11, Agence France Presse Suu Kyi back in Myanmar's political arena: analysts ? Didier Lauras Bangkok ? Although still under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi has returned to an active political role by initiating dialogue with both Myanmar's junta and Western nations, analysts say. In the space of seven days, after a Yangon court rejected the pro-democracy leader's appeal against her recently extended house arrest, her status appeared to shift rapidly from political prisoner to potential key negotiator. "She is politically active and significant. She still has a role in Burma," said Win Min, an activist and scholar in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, using Myanmar's former name. Events over the past week in the military-ruled nation have moved at a dizzying pace when compared with the stagnation of recent months. Suu Kyi, detained for around 14 of the past 20 years, had two meetings with Aung Kyi, the labour minister and official liaison between her and the junta, the first such talks since January 2008. The frail 64-year-old was subsequently granted permission by the ruling generals to discuss Western sanctions imposed on Myanmar with top United States, British and Australian diplomats in Yangon on Friday. "She was very very engaged in the subject, very interested in going into detail on what she wanted to talk about and she seemed as ever very eloquent," said British ambassador Andrew Heyn in an interview with BBC. Suu Kyi wrote a letter to Senior General Than Shwe at the end of September offering her co-operation in getting Western sanctions lifted, after years of favouring harsh measures against the generals. Contrary to expectations, the junta chief seems to have accepted her proposal -- at least for the time being. "She would like to see herself as a pivotal point in the relations between the junta and the US. They might be prepared to allow this to some extent," said former British ambassador Derek Tonkin. The military regime has promised elections for 2010, the first in Myanmar since 1990, when Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party won by a landslide but was never allowed to take power. With the opposition leader set to remain out of the way next year thanks to the recent 18-month extension to her house arrest, many observers believe the polls are a sham that will only strengthen the junta's power. The reclusive regime chief, according to some analysts, is likely to try to use his opponent -- whom he loathes -- to restore his image for the elections. "Than Shwe is the only one who took all these decisions," said the activist Win Min, referring to the rejection of Suu Kyi's appeal and her various subsequent meetings in recent days. "He decided not to release her but to give her a little bit of freedom so that he could appear somehow as someone flexible," he added. But Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win was confident she could play an increasingly important part in developments over the coming months, especially following Washington's recent decision to re-engage the junta. "We assume that her meeting with diplomats to lift sanctions is the start of her political role because sanctions themselves are a matter of politics," Nyan Win told AFP. "Aung San Suu Kyi always has the right to participate in politics. It is not a concern whether or not she's under house arrest," he added. Yet scepticism remains that the iron-fisted regime could repeat past behaviour and offer goodwill gestures before violently closing all doors to dialogue again. One fundamental sign of progress would be a meeting between Suu Kyi and Than Shwe himself, as the pair have not met for years. Nyan Win raised the possibility of such talks on Friday. But "The Lady", as she is widely known in Myanmar, would have to consult with other NLD members first and also see minister Aung Kyi again before a meeting with the junta leader would be possible, former ambassador Tonkin suggested. He acknowledged however that the two sides were at least finally communicating. "We don't know where this conversation is going to go. But it is taking place. It's the best game in town at the present time and we need to see where it goes," he said. ____________________________________ October 13, Mizzima News Trial of Burmese-American to begin ? Phanida Chiang Mai ? The trial of American citizen of Burmese origin Kyaw Zaw Lwin (alias) Nyi Nyi Aung will begin on Wednesday, his lawyers and families said. Nyi Nyi Aung was arrested at the Rangoon airport while arriving from Bangkok despite having a valid US passport and Burmese visa. Nyan Win, one of his attorneys, said they were allowed a meeting with Nyi Nyi Aung on Monday and was told that he was charged by the police of fraud and forging documents. ?The trial will begin tomorrow [Wednesday] at 10 a.m. but we still don?t know in which court he will be produced. He has been remanded twice. Now he has to be produced in court or released,? Nyan Win, one of the lawyers, told Mizzima on Tuesday. ?He was remanded under sections 420 (fraud) and 468 (forgery) of the Penal Code,? Nayn Win added. High Court Advocates Nyan Win and Kyi Win have been registered as Nyi Nyi Aung?s attorney to defend him. Both the lawyers have earlier team up in defending detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was charged, tried and sentenced on August 11. Nyi Nyi Aung, a former student activist was actively involved in the 1988 students uprising but fled the country after the military crackdown on protesters. He fled to Thailand and later resettled to United States, where he was naturalised as a citizen. Burma?s state-run media, however, accused Nyi Nyi Aung of collaborating with exiled Burmese organisations and trying to instigate unrest violent in Burma. He categorically denied all the allegations, his lawyer said. Nyi Nyi Aung allege that he had been tortured and deprived of food for a week while in detention, he is reportedly fine in health. His family members have not been allowed to see him since his arrest but were only allowed to hand over some parcels, his aunt Khin Khin Swe, who visited the prison on Monday said. ____________________________________ ON THE BORDER October 13, Narinjara Bangladesh Army Chief inspects Burma border Dhaka ? Bangladesh Army Chief Lt Gen Abdul Mubin yesterday inspected the tension-ridden Alikadam area, close to the Burma border, to review the latest border situation, according to a report in today?s The Daily Star The Army Chief undertook a surprise visit at about 3 pm and talked to army officers in the area, but the report did not mention details about his visit. This is the first time a Bangladesh Army chief has visited the border area after tension escalated with Burma. Alikadam is opposite the Burmese town of Buthidaung where 11 battalions have been stationed and a bridge put in place by the Burmese junta in recent years. Meanwhile, a frigate of the Bangladesh Navy, BNS Abu Bakar is now patrolling the sea near the disputed area where Myanmar had tried its hand at exploration last November, said the report quoting a naval officer stationed in Chittagong. ?A warship is accompanying the frigate,? he said on condition of anonymity. The situation on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border is tense, he added. Bangladesh has reinforced its military presence on its border as Burma deployed a large number of troops on its side and resorted to various provocative acts, fomenting tension. The Burmese Army has brought in tanks, artillery, warships and a frigate along its border with Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Army and the border security force, the Bangladesh Rifles are on alert on the border, the report said. ____________________________________ October 13, The Daily Star (Bangladesh) 18 Myanmar citizens arrested in Bandarban Police in separate raids at Alikadam and Balaghata areas of Bandarban arrested 18 Myanmar citizen including two children and four women this morning. Alikadam police station sources said 12 Myanmar citizen including two children and four women were arrested from Panbazar and Amtali villages this morning. They were handed over to the BDR for pushing them back to Myanmar. Meanwhile, Bandarban police raided Balaghata area in the district headquarters and arrested six Myanmar nationals this morning. They were also handed over to the BDR. ____________________________________ October 13, Irrawaddy Burmese trafficking victims freed in raid ? Alex Ellgee Bangkok ? Eighteen human trafficking victims were freed from captivity this week when Thai police and human rights activists raided two boats and broker houses in Samaesan, a fishing town in Santthip Province. In a joint operation by the Labour Rights Promotion Network (LPN), Seafarer?s Union Burma (SUB) and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), two major brokers in the region and a Thai boat captain were arrested. Fishing boats on the pier after returning with the day?s catch. (Photo: Alex Ellgee) The victims, all Burmese nationals, had been assured jobs in Thai factories by job brokers inside Burma but instead were sold as fishermen to two Thai boat captains. Having passed through the hands of three different brokers, the victims were told they would have to work without pay for seven months in order pay off the trafficking costs, which equaled 22,000 baht (US $650). Following a tip off from two of the fishermen working on one of the boats, 20 DSI police waited at a pier for the boat to return from its day at sea. When the boat arrived, the police interrogated the captain while Ko Ko Aung of the SUB, which is affiliated with the International Trade Federation (ITF), informed the fishermen they could leave the boat if they wished. Meanwhile, another vessel had returned to the pier and police boarded it, but they missed the captain who they believe had been alerted to their presence and fled. Six fishermen on the boat asked to be freed, leaving three who had finished their seven months indenture. The scrawny victims, mostly barefooted, looking exhausted, trudged ashore with small bags carrying their belongings and sat on the pier. Their expressions soon changed to happiness, as they realized that their ordeal was over. ?I can?t believe it. I thought I was going to be working like a slave on that boat for ever. I can?t believe we have been rescued,? said one 24-year-old victim from Pego. The fishermen were taken to Sattahip Marine Police Station and interviewed by the Social Development and Human Security department, and later sent to a government safe house for trafficking victims. Sitting around outside the police station, smiling at their new freedom, the men told The Irrawaddy how they had been regularly beaten by the captain with an iron rod. They worked even when they were sick, and without medicine. The captain didn?t speak Burmese, and he couldn?t understand if one of the fishermen had a problem, said one of the fishermen. Instead, would just get angry and violent. Several times they asked the captain to let them leave, but he told them that he had bought them, and they belonged to him. One of the victims said he was so desperate to escape that one night, in spite of dangerous waters, he joined two others and attempted to swim to shore. He lost the others on the way, he said, and when he arrived on land he was quickly rounded up by brokers because of his shaved head, which all trafficking victims share so that they can be identified by brokers. He never saw his two friends again. As a result of his attempted escape, and to make an example, every night for two months the broker tied his hands together. ?It didn?t matter if my hands were tied together, we were all in prison.? he said. Every evening after they had unloaded the day?s catch, the brokers would pick them up and return them to their room and then padlock the door from the outside. The room consisted of a few rugs and one small fan. The windows were boarded up to prevent escape. When the victims had been interviewed, it was decided that they would lead police to the fishing village to rescue other trafficking victims who had been locked up for the night. A few of the fishermen led a four-car convoy through winding streets. Arriving at one location, the police and activists entered the broker?s home and ordered her to open a padlock on an upstairs room. Inside the room were four young men. They were led to cars and two more fishermen were collected from another room on the opposite side of the road. One of the boys, 15, was asked what he missed most while in captivity. He told The Irrawaddy, ?I couldn?t miss anything. I had so much pain and suffering that I could only think about how to deal with the next thing.? Two other minors were found aboard a ship, one 15, and the other 16. Activists and police outside a room with four human trafficking victims locked inside. (Photo: Alex Ellgee) The oldest man in captivity on one boat was 51. He had completed a prestigious engineering course in Burma and had worked for the government but didn?t have enough money to survive. ?Even though I worked for my government, I didn?t have enough to take care to my son so we came to Thailand, but we ended up like this? he said. The broker who was arrested was known by SUB and LPN as a major human trafficker in the region. She called her ?leader? to put up bail. The man handed over 100,000 baht, gold jewelry and his car. They will both face trial. Human trafficking can lead to a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. As the police interviewed the male broker, one of the victims looked through a window from outside and told The Irrawaddy he was happy. ?He was the one who brought us to the town in the beginning? he said. ?Now if this man is caught many people will get freedom like we have.? Human rights worker Ko Ko Aung agreed. ?These two are leading brokers,? he said. ?Their arrest will have a big impact on the region. Many brokers will be scared because of this and run away and more fishermen will come forward and help us in our attempt to stop it. ?One of the problems we need to overcome,? he said, ?is the complicity of local police. I?m happy that we can rely on the good work of the DSI.? He said he believed 99 percent of the fishermen in the area were victims of human trafficking. A lot of the information in this case came from an ex-fisherman. ?I suffered like those fishermen, but I was lucky and I escaped,? he said. ?I can?t stop thinking about how they suffer, so I will stop at nothing to help others get freedom.? Aung Thu Ya, the president of SUB, said the Burmese government is largely to blame for the trafficking problem because it punishes abused Burmese fishermen and other workers who contact trade unions. Fishermen have been arrested in the past for seeking help from trade unions and have had their seamen licenses revoked upon their return to Burma. The human trafficking problem has led to an estimated 1,000 fishermen jumping ship and living on islands in Indonesia to escape the ill treatment of boat captains, according to activists. The situation is so bad, said Aung Thu Ya , that, ?Thai skippers value the fish more than they do the Burmese fishermen.? ____________________________________ BUSINESS / TRADE October 13, Sudan Times Sudan and Burma agree to boost relations Yangon ? Sudan and Myanmar (also known as Burma) agreed to boost bilateral relations and to foster international cooperation s well as economic exchange the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Monday. Myanmar is the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia. The country is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest with the Andaman Sea defining its southern periphery. State minister for foreign affairs Ali Karti who paid a four ? day visit to the internationally isolated country due to its bad human rights record discussed the bilateral relations with Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister U Maung Myint. The two sides agreed to strengthen the cooperation through international organizations as the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement. Karti also met with Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win and discussed with him joint cooperation on investment and energy sectors. The Sudanese minister also met with officials of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Yangon, where they agreed to enhance relations between business organizations of the two countries. ____________________________________ DRUGS October 13, Democratic Voice of Burma Burma would ?welcome? US anti-drugs support ? Francis Wade Support from the United States in Burma?s anti-narcotics efforts would be welcomed by the junta, state media reported yesterday. The US ?is willing to work together with Myanmar [Burma] in combating narcotic drugs,? an article in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said, whilst Burma is ?cooperating actively with international community? on drug eradication. ?Regarding anti-narcotic drugs, Myanmar is ready to cooperate with any country and organization,? it said. The US last month listed Burma as one of three countries that have ?failed demonstrably? to eradicate the production and trafficking of narcotics over the past year. The other two, Venezuela and Bolivia, were however issued with a ?national interest waiver?, while Burma was threatened with further punitive measures. Although Burma remains one of the world?s leading sources of heroin, with output for 2008 measured at 410 metric tonnes, the production of synthetic drugs, particularly methamphetamine, has soared in recent years. A haul of some five million methamphetamine (or ?yaba?) pills near to the Thai-Burma border town of Tachilek last month brought the total number of tablets seized by police in Burma this year to more than 10 million. Yesterday?s newspaper report follows an announcement by the US earlier this month that it would begin direct dialogue with Burma?s ruling junta, after years of isolation. The eradication of Burma?s drugs market was named a factor in increasing US cooperation with the regime, alongside the release of political prisoners and addressing concerns over Burma?s nuclear ambitions. The article claimed that the government has spent more than $US250 million on anti-narcotics programmes in the country, and $US240 million on rural development projects to compensate poppy farmers. Much of this has been focused on the Wa region of Burma?s northeastern Shan state, controlled by the ceasefire group, United Wa State Army (UWSA), who play a key role in the country?s drugs trade. Wei Hsueh Kang, an infamous drugs baron who heads the UWSA?s southern command, is wanted both in the US and Thailand. ____________________________________ REGIONAL October 13, The Epoch Times (USA) 2010 Burma polls have no meaning without Suu Kyi, say groups ? Nava Thakuria Guwahati, India?The Burmese military junta?s 2010 elections will be meaningless if Aung San Suu Kyi is not released and allowed to participate in it, say pro-democracy Indian and exiled Burmese groups. Instead, they say, the election will pave the way for a permanent dictatorship of the current ruling generals. ?There will be no inclusive political process or free and fair election in 2010 if Aung San Suu Kyi and over 2,100 political prisoners are not released,? the letter said, submitted to All India Congress Committee chief Sonia Gandhi on Oct. 2 on behalf of over 50 groups concerned with civil rights. ?Today, October 2, 2009, on the auspicious day of the 140th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, also recognized as international nonviolence day, we take this opportunity to seek your kind attention to remember Aung San Suu Kyi, a living symbol of Mahatma Gandhi a Nobel peace laureate, and recipient of Jawaharlal Nehru?s Award for International Understanding,? the letter said. Since the 1990 election Burmese democracy activists have been imprisoned, intimidated, tortured and put to death for demanding human rights and a democratic government. There are thought to be 2,100 political prisoners, some jailed without trial, given terms of up to 106 years. ?We recognize Aung San Suu Kyi as the true democratic leader of Burma. She and her party won a landslide victory in the 1990 general elections but were never allowed to rule the country. The military junta crushed the people?s mandate and have kept her under house arrest for 14 of the past 19 years,? the letter said. Mr. Kim, a Burmese pro-democracy campaigner living in exile in New Delhi recalled that during the nationwide people?s uprising in Burma in 1988, the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi not only supported the people?s movement but also offered shelter to Burmese democracy activists. Even the Indian Embassy in Rangoon provided financial support to activists who were fleeing Burma to continue their struggle in India, Kim said. Speaking to this writer from New Delhi, Dr. Alana Golmei, the coordinator of Burma Center Delhi, a signatory of the letter, argued that the recent verdict on Aung San Suu Kyi?to extend her sentence by 18 months? not only shows the death of justice in Burma, but also shows the Burmese military junta?s determination to stop her participation in the 2010 elections. ?It has obstructed the process of national reconciliation in Burma. It completely negates international opinion and democracy. Hence, we strongly recommend the government of India not endorse the Burmese military regime?s sham constitution and election,? she said. ?It will only lead to further entrenchment of military rule in the country.? Nava Thakuria is a freelance journalist based in Guwahati, northeast India. ____________________________________ October 11, Xinhua Cambodia, Myanmar to strengthen military cooperation Phnom Penh ? Cambodia and Myanmar will work together to strengthen and expand the military cooperation between the two countries, the local media reported on Sunday. Pol Saroeun, commander-in-chief of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces(RCAF) told visiting Ye Myint, chief of security affairs department of Defense Ministry of Myanmar that under recommendation of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia has purpose to build up areas along border with neighboring countries into a peace, security, safety and development area, the Khmer language newspaper Raksmei Kampuchea reported. Pol told Myint that Cambodia has had the border conflict with Thailand at area near 11th century Preah Vihear temple, and Cambodia's stance has always been that to respect the sovereignty of neighboring countries, at the same time, Cambodia also does not want to lose a millimeter of its land, it added. Ye Myint's visit is to strengthen the military cooperation with Cambodia and exchange experiences in field of military sector, it said, adding that Pol Saroeun will visit Myanmar in appropriate time. Cambodia and Myanmar are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ____________________________________ INTERNATIONAL October 13, The Daily Telegraph (Australia) Burmese goods out of fashion A TOP Australian fashion group vowed yesterday to stop sourcing products from Burma. Speciality Fashion Group, which owns Millers, Katies and four other fashion brands,was among eight firms named last month in a report commissioned by Burma Campaign Australia, which said the companies were funding Burma's repressive military dictatorship. ``We made a decision to cease trading with Burma due to the continued repression of the Burmese people and the ongoing presence of military rule,'' Speciality Group company secretary Howard Herman said. The Australian company is following insurance company QBE and engineering company Downer EDI, which withdrew from Burma earlier this year. Campaign spokeswoman Zetty Brake praised Speciality Fashion Group on its decision to withdraw, and encouraged other businesses to do the same. ____________________________________ OPINION / OTHER October 13, Guardian (UK) Burma's exiled Muslims ? Syed Neaz Ahmad About 3,000 Rohingya families are awaiting deportation in Saudi prisons, but like the rest of their people, they have nowhere to go They have been described as some of the world's most persecuted refugees, and among the most forgotten, too. During my imprisonment in Jeddah I saw and met hundreds of inmates from Burma. Thousands of Burmese Muslims from Arakan ? often called Rohingyas ? were offered a safe haven in Saudi Arabia by the late King Faisal, but with the change in monarch the rules changed too. What was to have been a permanent abode of peace for these uprooted people has now turned into a chamber of horrors. There are about 3,000 families of Burmese Muslims in Mecca and Jeddah prisons awaiting deportation. Women and children are held in separate prisons nearby. The only contact the men have with their wives and children is through mobile phones. But the interesting question is: where will they be sent when they are eventually deported? Burma doesn't want them. Bangladesh, with a large population and poor economy, doesn't have the inclination or the ability to handle a refugee population of this size. The Rohingyan refugees in Bangladesh are having a rough time as it is. Other Muslim countries play silent spectators. Pakistan's offer to accept some of the Rohingyas ? those awaiting deportation in Saudi prisons ? is seen as a mere diplomatic exercise. Against the background of Islamabad's shabby treatment of some 300,000 stranded Pakistanis living in camps in Bangladesh, Rohingya inmates look at the Pakistani overture with suspicion. The people who call themselves Rohingyas are Muslims from what is known as the Mayu frontier area, the Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships of Arakan (Rakhine) state, a province isolated in the western part of the country across the Naaf river which forms the boundary between Burma and Bangladesh. After Burma gained independence from the UK in 1948, the ethnic and religious group first favoured joining Pakistan but later called for an autonomous region instead. The Burmese government, however, has consistently refused to recognise the Rohingyas as citizens. According to Amnesty International, in 1978 more than 200,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh, following the Burmese army's Operation Nagamin. Most ? it is claimed ? were eventually repatriated, but about 15,000 refused to return. In 1991, a second wave of about a quarter of a million Rohingyas fled Burma to Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, it is estimated that there are more than 200,000 Rohingyas, 28,000 of them in overcrowded camps. There are a further 13,600 registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia (although there are thousands yet unregistered), an estimated 3,000 in Thailand and unknown numbers in India and Japan. Some Rohingyas have resided in Malaysia since the early 1990s, but continue to be rounded up in immigration operations and handed over to human traffickers at the Thai-Malaysia border. About 730,000 remain in Burma, most of whom live in Arakan state. Conditions in Arakan state continue to deteriorate, increasing the likelihood of further outflows into neighbouring countries. It's an irony that countries in Asia and elsewhere ? particularly Muslim countries ? have shown little or no desire to help ease the situation. The UNHCR spokeswoman in Asia, Kitty Mckinsey says: "No country has really taken up their cause. Look at the Palestinians, for example, they have a lot of countries on their side. The Rohingyans do not have any friends in the world." The late King Faisal's decision to offer them a permanent abode in Saudi Arabia was a noble gesture. However, later Saudi rulers have found the Burmese Muslims a thorn in their side. With strict regulation on their employment and movement within the kingdom, they are easy targets for extortion and torture. There are said to be about 250,000 Burmese Muslims in Saudi Arabia ? the majority living in Mecca's slums (Naqqasha and Kudai). They sell vegetables, sweep streets and work as porters, carpenters and unskilled labour. The fortunate ones rise to become drivers. In Saudi Arabia it is not uncommon for poor Rohingyas to marry off their young (sometimes underage) daughters to old and sick Saudis in the hope of getting "official favours". But this hasn't worked for many. Rohingyan wives of Saudi men, who have to survive as second class human beings on the periphery of society. Those whom I met in Jeddah prisons seem to have accepted the situation as a fait accompli. But it is unfortunate that they are being made to suffer in a country considered to be the citadel of Islam. ____________________________________ October 13, Irrawaddy Burma's new constitution: A death sentence for ethnic diversity ? Zipporah Sein As Burma's rainy season draws to a close, ethnic Karen villagers in eastern Burma are bracing themselves for a new military onslaught. It is expected that this new military offensive will be much larger than the one in June, which forced around 6,000 people to flee for their lives. We already have strong indications that the new offensive will take place in Dooplaya and Mutraw (Papun) districts, as attacks have been going on there throughout the rainy season. Until three years ago, the Burmese government?s army mostly ceased operations during the rainy season, but now civilians get no respite. So, why this new urgency to escalate attacks? The reason is the same as why the number of political prisoners has doubled in the past two years. It is the same reason why Aung San Suu Kyi was put on trial and her detention extended, and why the dictatorship has broken cease-fire agreements and demanded cease-fire groups place their soldiers under the control of the regime?s army. All opposition and ethnic groups must be crushed in the run up to elections in 2010. The elections bring in a new Constitution that legalizes dictatorship through a civilian front and a rubber-stamp Parliaments to do its bidding. For Burma's generals this Constitution is a way of securing their rule. Despite having been lied to so many times before, the international community seems to be falling into their trap. Many countries have been making the mistake of focusing on the process of the elections, whether they can be free and fair, or at least create some political space. How short their memories are, when only last year we saw the disgusting spectacle of a referendum on the Constitution while millions went without food and shelter following cyclone Nargis. No political space was created by the referendum. Those trying to organize a No vote were harassed, arrested or beaten. The rigged referendum delivered an unbelievable result of "92 percent" in favor. Yet despite all evidence to the contrary, some still argue the 2010 elections could create a new political space. While attention has been on the elections, little attention has been paid to the Constitution. Even those few countries which do focus on the Constitution have mostly focused on how it is undemocratic, granting 25 percent of the seats to the military and giving the military wide veto power over any change. Attention has also rightly been drawn to other provisions in the Constitution, such as the head of state having to come from the military, 400,000 monks being denied the vote and the failure to repeal any of the existing repressive laws. No one seems to pay much attention to what this Constitution will mean for ethnic people. The 2008 Constitution is a death sentence for ethnic diversity in Burma. Military appointed commanders will control ethnic areas. There is no level of autonomy. Our cultures and traditions are given no protection. We will be given no rights to practice our customs, or to speak and teach our languages. The process of Burmanization that has already been going on for decades will be accelerated. The Karen know from personal experience just how bad this process is. Karen people in the Delta and Rangoon are being stripped of their identity and younger generations can't speak, read or write our own language, don't know our history, and even use Burman names to avoid discrimination in employment. Our vision is for a new federal constitution that will guarantee the rights of ethnic people. The international community seems content to wait and see if elections in 2010 create a little political space. While they focus on the minutiae of politics in Rangoon and Naypyidaw, all around them Burma is descending into an even greater human rights and humanitarian crisis. They must wake up to the urgency of the current situation. The crisis is unfolding before our eyes. Escalating military attacks on ethnic people are leading to a major humanitarian crisis and creating regional instability. Already we have seen thousands more refugees arrive in Thailand and China. More government soldiers have been sent to Karenni and Shan states, and with the generals breaking cease-fire agreements, the regime will soon also be on the warpath in Kachin and Mon states. For those of us on the ground it is hard to understand why the United Nations seems content to allow the dictatorship to follow its own agenda in direct defiance of the Security Council and General Assembly. Time and again the UN has said that there must be tri-partite dialogue between the National League for Democracy (NLD), ethnic representatives and the dictatorship. The Karen National Union is ready to talk. Other ethnic organizations are ready to talk. The NLD is ready to talk. It is the generals who refuse to talk. Luckily for them, it seems the United Nations is all talk, but no action. Zipporah Sein is general secretary of the Karen National Union. ____________________________________ October 13, TIME The soldier and the state ? Andrew Marshall Among Manchester United Football Club's 300 million or so supporters worldwide are two Burmese men whose love of the game spans generations. One is a stout, bespectacled, betel nut ? chewing septuagenarian, the other his favorite teenage grandson, and like many of their soccer-mad compatriots they stay up late into Burma's tropical nights to watch live broadcasts from faraway England. So far, so normal. But knowing the grandfather in this touching scene is Senior General Than Shwe, the xenophobic chief of Burma's junta, makes it seem all wrong. Rabidly anti-Western, yet pro ? Wayne Rooney, is this the tyrant we know and hate? That English football is one of Than Shwe's surprise passions might seem trivial, but it raises a serious question. With U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying on Sept. 24 that Washington would begin "engaging directly" with Burma's military leaders after 20 years of American censure and sanctions, how well do we really know the junta? "We don't understand it very well at all, although it's not very easy to understand," says Donald M. Seekins, a Burma scholar at Meio University in Okinawa, Japan. Trying to fathom the regime's worldview doesn't mean we condone its human-rights abuses; many believe that ongoing atrocities by the Burmese military constitute war crimes. But policies based on a flawed understanding of Than Shwe and his men will be ineffective or even counterproductive, warn Burma experts. Now, therefore, is time to get to know the generals ? starting with the man his soldiers call Aba Gyi, or Grandfather. (See TIME's photo essay "Burma: 19 Years of Protest.") Loyalty ? and Dishonor Than Shwe, the junta's chief since 1992, is Burma's enigmatic but undisputed leader. "He exercises almost absolute power," says Seekins. "Nobody wants to challenge him, at least openly." His origins were humble. Born in a village not far from Mandalay, Burma's last royal capital, he dropped out of high school and worked in a post office before joining officer-training school and rising up through the military ranks, specializing in psychological warfare. Unquestioning loyalty was "the secret of his success," says Benedict Rogers, co-author of a forthcoming book called Than Shwe: Unmasking Burma's Tyrant. "He always followed orders. He was never seen by anyone as a threat, and therefore was rewarded with promotions, precisely because he didn't really demonstrate any flair or initiative." Since reaching the top, Than Shwe has shown "a talent for hanging on to power," says Seekins. Rivals are ruthlessly purged: Khin Nyunt, his ambitious former spy chief, has been under house arrest since 2004. Burma watchers say loyal officers are rewarded with opportunities to enrich themselves through graft and rent-seeking. The West might regard him as backward, but Than Shwe, 76, sees himself as a bold reformer who took a bankrupt nation and threw it open to foreign investment, who built not just roads and bridges but a grand new capital called Naypyidaw ? "Abode of Kings." The reality is a little different. Foreign trade has enriched the junta; the Yadana natural-gas project alone has earned the regime $4.83 billion since 2000, according to the Washington-based nonprofit EarthRights International in a recent report. But most Burmese still live in wretched poverty. The new capital is an expensive boondoggle. And yet to write off Than Shwe as the deluded head of a hermit regime is a mistake. The junta has shrewdly adapted to 20 years of breakneck growth in Asia, first drawing investment from Southeast Asian neighbors ? until a new regional giant emerged. "In 1988, nobody in the Burmese military knew how quickly China would grow economically," says Seekins. "But as this was happening [the regime] took advantage of that situation to promote close ties to China." Burma joined ASEAN in 1997, gaining further allies against Western criticism and more trade opportunities (Thailand gets most of its natural gas from Burma), and is improving ties with India. Even at Naypyidaw, once a symbol of seclusion, the junta plans to build an international airport to handle over 10 million passengers a year. "They're much less isolationist than we think, although they choose their friends carefully," says Rogers. "Those friends tend to be countries that turn a blind eye to their conduct." (Read "Why Violence Erupted on the China-Burma Border.") Even the junta's notorious xenophobia is rooted less in a desire for isolation than in an ingrained fear of invasion. Burma has been occupied by many foreign powers over the centuries and riven by ethnic insurgencies since its independence from Britain in 1948. The Burmese military's historical role is to safeguard the country from all foes, foreign and domestic. The generals regard a threat to their regime as a threat to the nation. This might seem "misguided, even deluded," observes Andrew Selth, a Burma analyst with Australia's Griffith University, but the generals' fear of invasion is real and has been constantly stoked by Western actions and rhetoric. During pro-democracy protests in 1988, the U.S. deployed a naval taskforce off Burma's coast and later lumped the country with Iran and North Korea as an "outpost of tyranny." Whether real or perceived, Western hostility has prompted the junta to take two concrete actions: building one of Asia's largest standing armies, and seeking closer links with China and Russia, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. Rogues Gallery Than Shwe is burma's paramount ruler, but he is not alone at the top. Hard-line loyalists within the military include General Thura Shwe Mann, his likely successor, and U Thaung, a former ambassador to the U.S., now the Science and Technology Minister who is believed to be driving the junta's long-held ambitions to acquire nuclear technology. Also influential are a handful of Burmese business tycoons, many of whom ? like the generals themselves ? are the subject of U.S. and E.U. sanctions that severely restrict overseas travel and investments. Lobbying of Than Shwe by these business cronies could explain the warm welcome accorded in August to pro-engagement Senator Jim Webb. State-run television showed a smiling Than Shwe pumping the former combat Marine's hand, while the New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a junta mouthpiece, reminded its readers that "even an influential U.S. senator opposes the economic sanctions against our country." (Read "Burma: Virginia Senator Jim Webb Visits Junta Leader.") The junta has survived and prospered despite two decades of ever tightening sanctions. Yet the years have not dimmed its desire to have those sanctions lifted. "Many people say [Than Shwe] doesn't care what the world thinks, but he does want pariah status removed," says Rogers. He also wants "a veneer of legitimacy" and hopes the planned 2010 elections will provide it. Than Shwe has vowed to create a so-called "discipline-flourishing democracy" that will not only entrench military rule but protect his legacy ? and his skin. In 2002, suspecting a plot against him, Than Shwe put Ne Win, the man who had first elevated him to power, and his daughter under house arrest and jailed his grandsons. "Ne Win died in ignominy," says Christina Fink, author of Living Silence: Burma Under Military Rule, a landmark book about life under the junta. "Than Shwe must be painfully aware that the same could happen to him." The junta chief has another weakness: his family. He allows them "to run wild," says Rogers. In July 2006, his jewel-bedecked daughter Thandar Shwe, one of eight children, married an army major in a lavish ceremony that angered many in this poverty-stricken nation. (See pictures of Burma's discontent.) Standing Alone Many in Burma's pro-democracy movement ? and in the U.S. Congress ? view any overtures to the generals as appeasement and say Than Shwe personally has blood on his hands. Aung Lynn Htut, a former Burmese diplomat and army major who defected to the U.S. in 2005, claims Grandfather personally ordered the massacre of 81 men, women and children on a remote Burmese island in 1998. Five years later, Than Shwe's thugs attacked the convoy of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at Depayin, west of Mandalay, killing or injuring dozens of her supporters. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate remains his greatest rival. "He personally dislikes her," says Seekins. "It's not just a political calculation. He finds her too opinionated, too Westernized, too outspoken as a woman." In August Suu Kyi was found guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest after an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside home. Her initial three-year prison sentence was commuted to 18 months of house arrest because, said the order read aloud in court, Than Shwe "desires ... to exercise leniency upon her." (Read "Burma Court Finds Aung San Suu Kyi Guilty.") Military defector Aung Lynn Htut is unconvinced. He warns that his former commander will do anything to discredit Suu Kyi, a longtime supporter of Western sanctions. Than Shwe met Webb as part of a campaign to portray the Nobel laureate as "the enemy of the Burmese people [who] is too stubborn to lift sanctions," he says. But even Suu Kyi's pro-sanctions stance is no longer a given. U.S. engagement was "a good thing," she admitted recently through a spokesman for her National League for Democracy party. Suu Kyi sounded cautious, and who can blame her? Than Shwe "remains impervious to the appeal of reform or compromise with the opposition because he wishes at all costs to maintain a personal monopoly on power," says Seekins. So will a fresh diplomatic onslaught work? The new U.S. approach on Burma is the product of a White House that stresses diplomacy over confrontation. "It's more a change in tactics than overall strategy," says Fink. Also driving the policy review are Washington's concerns over China's influence over Burma and Than Shwe's apparent nuclear ambitions. Seekins believes Washington risks overestimating the junta's willingness to open up. "The U.S. government may find itself in the same position as the Japanese government during the 1990s, when Tokyo believed it could get the [regime] to mend its ways by giving it some economic incentives." For now, at least, the junta seems to be engaging all over the place. Last month its Prime Minister, General Thein Sein, became the highest-ranking Burmese official in 14 years to address the U.N. General Assembly. He told delegates that sanctions were "unjust." While in New York City, Thein Sein conferred with both Webb and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. Back in Burma, Suu Kyi met a senior junta official and is thought to have discussed the lifting of sanctions. That won't happen anytime soon. It would send "the wrong signal," warned Campbell. His boss agrees. "Sanctions remain important as part of our policy," said Hillary Clinton, describing them and engagement as "tools" to achieve the same goal: democracy in Burma. Considering Than Shwe's nonexistent track record on reform, U.S. officials are right to downplay the impact of engagement. Barring any real concessions from the hard man himself ? starting with the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners prevented from running in next year's polls ? democracy remains a distant prospect. "Everyone is calling for reform, but I don't think Than Shwe feels any urgency about it," says Seekins. "Nothing much will change until he passes from the scene." One man controls everything that happens in Burma. ____________________________________ STATEMENT October 12, President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Statement in support of a global arms embargo on Burma ? Jose Ramos-Horta Earlier this month, Burma?s military regime provided a further example of its extraordinary inhumanity and intransigence, with its decision to reject the appeal by my fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi against the verdict last month which imposed a further term of eighteen months under house arrest. I deplore this decision, and call for her immediate and unconditional release. The events of the past two years in Burma have shocked the world. The military regime?s brutal suppression of the peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks in 2007, followed by the assassination of Karen leader Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, the tragedy of Cyclone Nargis, the sham constitutional referendum, the escalation in the military offensive against civilians in eastern Burma, the famine in Chin State, attacks on ethnic groups on the China-Burma border and the trial and continued imprisonment of my fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi are all examples of the desperate political, human rights and humanitarian crisis in Burma today. The deterioration in the political and humanitarian situation calls for a clear response by the international community. I welcome the initiatives taken by the UN Secretary-General, and the recent statements by the US Administration. I also welcome Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?s clear reiteration of her call for dialogue with the regime. A combination of high-level, principled engagement with specific targeted pressure is what is required to bring the Generals to the negotiating table. It is time for the international community to increase and intensify its efforts. In particular, it is time for the UN Security Council to introduce an arms embargo on the regime. There can be no justification for selling arms to a regime which has no external threats and uses those arms simply to suppress its owns people. As President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, I therefore call on all members of the UN Security Council to give serious consideration to this question, and to pass a resolution imposing a total, comprehensive, mandatory arms embargo.