BurmaNet News, October 28, 2009

[Editor]

October 28, 2009 Issue #3828

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Nargis volunteers, including reporter arrested
SHAN: Wa, Mongla meet junta commanders
IMNA: Burmese government ups people’s militia recruitments

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Burmese dissidents worry about Thai crackdown

INTERNATIONAL
TheJusticeOnline.com (USA): Burmese monks address human rights abuses

OPINION / OTHER
Wall Street Journal: Rewarding Burma's generals
VOA: Engaging Burma – Editorial
Jakarta Globe: How Australia can take the lead in engaging Burma’s brutal
regime - David Scott Mathieson
The Nation (Thailand): Asean needs to take charge and push Burma a little
harder – Supalak Ganjanakhundee

PRESS RELEASE
Shwe Gas Movement: 115 civil society groups urge China to suspend
disastrous pipelines in Burma




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 28, Mizzima News
Nargis volunteers, including reporter arrested

New Delhi – A number of members of a Cyclone Nargis volunteer group, ‘Lin
Let Kye’, including freelance journalist Pai Soe Oo were arrested from
Dagon Seikkan, Rangoon Division yesterday evening.

Pai Soe Oo (23), an active member of Lin Let Kye, means Shining Star, was
arrested by local township authorities from his Yuzana Housing Apartment
in Dagon Seikkan Township at 9 p.m. for questioning.

“Three persons wearing USDA badges and three local officials came and said
that he would be taken to the Home Ministry. When I was ready to go with
him, they said they would come again tomorrow,” a friend of Pai Soe Oo
living with him told Mizzima.

Following a search of his home, the officials seized a note book with the
names of Lin Let Kye members.

Pai Soe Oo is a former reporter of ‘Favorite’ and ‘Pyi Myanmar’ weeklies.
He is also a blogger.

The Lin Let Kye volunteer group was formed in early May 2008 and has over
40 members. Most of them are Rangoon based reporters and young social
activists.

“They compiled a list of Cyclone Nargis victims, who are children and
donated school text books and provided other school expenses, in
consultation with the school principals,” a source close to Lin Let Kye
said.

The gatekeeper of the Home Ministry office said that there was no detainee
in the Bahan Township office when asked about his whereabouts this
morning.

“We visited the Home Ministry office this morning when he did not come
back. The police personnel at the gate kept us waiting for over three
hours. And then the gatekeeper appeared and told us that there was no
detainee in the office. He suggested we inquire about him at the office of
the local authority and the local police station,” one of those, who
visited the Home Ministry office, said.

Similarly at least five other members of ‘Lin Let Kye’ were arrested from
their rented apartment in Yuzana Housing on October 26.  They are Ka Gyi,
Zaw Gyi, Lai Ron, Shwe Moe and Aung Myat Kyaw Thu. Their whereabouts are
still unknown.

The Burmese translator-editor of the Foreign Affairs Weekly and also a Lin
Let Kye member, Thant Zin Soe was arrested on October 26. The Foreign
Affairs journal is published by the media group, which also publishes ‘The
Voice’ and ‘Living Colour’.

Some Lin Let Kye members are on the run as the authorities are conducting
combing operations against the group.

The authorities also arrested famous comedian and film director Thura
a.k.a. Zarganar and sports journalist Zaw Thet Htwe, while they were into
volunteer service for Cyclone Nargis victims. They were sentenced to long
prison terms later.

(Reported by Khai Suu and edited by Ye Yint Aung)

____________________________________

October 28, Shan Herald Agency for News
Wa, Mongla meet junta commanders – Hseng Khio Fah

The National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS),
commonly known as the Mongla group, is meeting junta commanders today,
according to reliable sources on the Thai-Burma border.

A 21-member delegation led by its leader Sai Leun have left Mongla to meet
junta chief negotiator Lt-Gen Ye Myint of the Military Affairs Security
(MAS) in Kengtung today over the junta’s “one country, one military”
policy, said a source.

Mongla is reported to have agreed to the concept that there should be only
one military in a country. It is also ready to place its 4,500 strong
armed force under the Tatmadaw on a step-by-step basis.

“Initially, the command structure of the Mongla force should remain as it
is,” said the source. “Naypyidaw should also not be in a hurry to place
its officers at the battalion level and its administrative apparatus in
Mongla as yet.”

Similarly, a five-member Wa delegation made a five-day trip ( October 24
to 28) to Lashio, northern Shan State, following an invitation by the
Commander of the Lashio-based Northeastern Region Command Maj-Gen Aung
Than Tut on 21 October, according to a Wa source on the Thai-Burma border.

Four of the Wa delegates were identified as Bao Youri, Bao Youliang, Li
Julieh (U Aung Myint) and Yaku.

In response to Aung Than Tut’s inquiry as to their stand on the proposed
BGF proposal, the Wa reportedly replied it is “yet to make any decisions.”

All ceasefire groups have been given a deadline till the end of October to
accept its BGF proposal.

The obvious thaw in the relations have been attributed not only to the
efforts by China but also to reports of the two groups’ growing intimacy
with the anti-Naypyidaw Shan State Army (SSA) South of Col Yawdserk,
according to a veteran Thai border watcher.

“The junta is afraid it is pushing the groups too far by its
inflexibility,” he said.
____________________________________

October 28, Independent Mon News Agency
Burmese government ups people’s militia recruitments

Villagers from rural areas as well as city residents are reporting that
Burma’s military government is pushing for larger village security forces
all over Mon State, as part of a ”People’s Militia Strategy” that will
increase the governmental control all over the state.

Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) members have been visiting
villages throughout their respective townships, pushing village headmen to
recruit greater numbers of village militia forces. IMNA’s sources
confirmed the occurrence of TPDC recruitment meetings in townships all
over Mon State, including in Kyaikmayaw, Mudon, Thanbyuzayat and Ye
Townships.

According to s Kaw-that village [in Kyaikmayaw Township] resident, on 25th
of October 2009, a TPDC chairman journeyed to Kaw-that with the express
purpose of inciting village headmen in the area to push village youth to
join their respective village militias, in the name of promoting village
security.

According to a monk in Mudon Township who is originally from Karen State,
village militia recruitments have also intensified in various parts of
Karen State. In this monk’s opinion, the Burmese government is pushing for
larger People’s Militias as a way to increase its influence on the Burmese
people before the 2010 elections.

“We knew that the authorities collected the residents to become a People’s
Militia group in our village, but we don’t exactly know how many people
they got in each village. The residents must do this [join militias]
because of the TPDC authorities,” this monk added.

According to IMNA’s sources, authorities in Khawzar in southern Mon state
held a meeting last week in the village about People’s Militia training.
Several individuals who attended the meeting informed IMNA that 30 more
villagers were added to the village security force through a lottery,
while the remainder of the Kaw Zar village residents was informed that
they were now responsible for contributing money to the new recruits’
militia training.

According to a former NMSP colonel Nai Koa Rot, the implementation of the
“People’s Militia Strategy” will lead to village residents all over Mon
State’s various townships to become the auxiliaries of the Burmese
military government.

“The government compelled the residents to join in the militias because if
one of the opposition groups comes to their village, they will have a
defense. Also if the [opposition] group comes and asks for money, they can
safely refuse. This is the government’s strategy, that if the opposition
group comes to the village, the residents will depend on the government’s
people’s militias, so the opposition groups can’t be harsh to the
residents,” he added.

He informed IMNA that the military wants to increase the People’s Militias
groups this year because they wish to organized villagers before the 2010
elections. Nai Koa Rot claimed that similar increases have occurred in the
past, most recently before the 2008 constitutional referendum.

According to a source close to a People’s Militia group in Thanphyuzayat
Township, increased numbers of village security forces in the Township’s
villages has actually done little to increase residents’ security. The
village where this source lives was forced to collectively provide 100
baskets of rice seeds to the militia, with seeds taken from the villagers’
personal stores.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 28, Irrawaddy
Burmese dissidents worry about Thai crackdown – Saw Yan Naing

The raid on the homes of 10 leaders of the Karen National Union (KNU) by
Thai security forces in the border town of Mae Sot on Tuesday came just
one month after a previous crackdown against Burmese opposition groups in
Chiang Mai.

Thai soldiers and police entered the homes and offices of more than 10
leaders of the KNU and its military wing, the Karen National Liberation
Army (KNLA), around 6 a.m. On Tuesday morning.

The wife of Col Ner Dah Mya, the son of late KNU leader Gen Bo Mya, was
detained after police found material for making explosives at her house.

In September, Thai police raided the offices of several exiled Burmese
opposition groups in Chiang Mai including the Human Rights Education
Institute of Burma, the Burmese Women’s Union and the National Health and
Education Committee, and detained 10 Burmese women for several days.

Since early this year, the pressure on Thai-based Burmese dissidents has
been more active. Sources in Bangkok say the Burmese Embassy staff is
taking photographs of Burmese activists in demonstrations and at other
functions.

During the September crackdown in Chiang Mai, Thai police arrived with
detailed information, maps and photographs of the locations of Burmese
activists’ offices.

Win Min, a Chiang Mai-based analyst of Burma affairs, said a Burmese
military attaché in Bangkok may have played a role in requesting Thai
security officials to harass Burmese opposition groups in exile.

However, observers said the recent Mae Sot raid may be the Thai
authorities’ way to underscore their informal order in February 2009,
which warned KNU military leaders not to orchestrate any activities from
Thai territory against the Burmese government and to leave Thailand.

Since then Thai military authorities have increased their pressure. Thai
officials told KNU leaders that they must now obtain permission whenever
they wanted to enter Mae Sot.

Htay Aung, a Burmese researcher with the Network for Democracy and
Development in exile, noted that the KNU is the strongest ethnic armed
group never to have signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese
dictatorship.

The regime sees the KNU as a potent symbol of opposition groups and for
that reason, would like it eliminated, said Htay Aung.

Previously, the Burmese junta asked Thai military officials to encourage
the KNU and Shan State Army-South (SSA-South) to enter into cease-fire
talks.

In return, at the 15th Asean Summit in Cha-Am, Thailand, which ended on
Sunday, the Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein told Thai Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva that Burma would not allow anyone to use Burmese
territory to attack Thailand.

According to an article on www.manager.co.th on Wednesday, the Burmese
regime plans to purge ethnic minority armed forces such as KNU, the Karen
National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the Shan State Army – South (SSA -S)
before the general election in 2010.

The report said that junta No 1 Snr-Gen Than Shwe instructed junta No 2
Gen Maung Aye to clean up the ethnic armed groups.

KNLA Col Ner Dah Mya, the son of the late KNU chairman Bo Mya, is a main
target of the planned offensive, according to the article.

Meanwhile Thai-Burmese border-based activists say that more pressure on
Burmese opposition groups based in Thailand is to be expected.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 28, TheJusticeOnline.com (USA)
Burmese monks address human rights abuses – Erin Doniger

Three Burmese monks with refugee status in Utica, N.Y., shared their
personal stories from the 2007 Saffron Revolution and commented on the
human rights crisis in Burma last Wednesday.

The event was hosted by the Brandeis chapter of Amnesty International and
co-sponsored by the Southeast Asia Club and the Brandeis International
Relations Council.

Monks U Agga, U Gawsita and U Pyinya Zawta spoke in particular about their
involvement in the Saffron Revolution, a series of anti-government
protests spurred by the ruling military's sudden removal of fuel
subsidies.

These peaceful protests against the Burmese ruling military junta were led
by thousands of Burmese monks and caused police and troops to fire on
protesters, raid and shut down Buddhist monasteries, cut Internet traffic
and imprison protestors in attempt to curb the events from traveling the
globe.

The monks said that human necessities were nearly impossible to afford
during this time.

With the assistance of a translator, U Gawasita emphasized that "if the
international community speaks with one voice, ... Burma will change."

U Pyinya Zawta was imprisoned and tortured for nine years in Burma before
fleeing to the United States.

He is a founding member and executive director in exile of the All Burma
Monks' Alliance and said that as refugees, they now have three main
objectives.

"Firstly, we support the monks who have been arrested and are now in
prisons. Secondly, we support who are working for Burma's democracy such
as monks, students and activists inside Burma. Finally, we support the
monks who were able to flee Burma and 
 who are now staying in Thailand,
India and refugee camps."

U Agga, the youngest of the three, made it clear that the monks still send
"loving kindess" to the oppresive military regime.

"We don't have hatred; we are not angry," he said.

In a slideshow, Gawasita presented photographs depicting a peaceful march
that he led and the cruel response it received from the military.

The photographs showed thousands of monks and students running from
attacking soldiers and a Japanese journalist being killed point-blank.
Gawasita recalled that after the march he was followed and beaten on the
head.

"I realized that I couldn't die in a prison, and I would rather leave
Burma and continue the struggle for Burma [in the U.S.]," Gawasita said.

The monks now travel to universities as a part of a tour organized by
Amnesty International USA's Group 113 based in Somerville, Mass., to share
their inspirational stories of a peaceful effort to gain democracy in
their home country.

At the end of the event, students and faculty were asked to sign a
petition addressed to leaders of the Burmese government to free Burma.

The petition asked Dictator Senior General Than Shwe, in particular, the
Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently placed under
detention by the militia.

Amnesty International Brandeis chapter co-president Chris Lau '12 said
that he was very happy with the event turnout.

"[The event] was a great chance for Amnesty International to gain
visibilty on campus," he said.

Attendee Matthew Zunitch '13 said in an interview, "I might be a little
biased because I am in the 'War and Possibilities of Peace class' and have
seen a lot of similar events recently, 
 but I thought their individual
testimonies were really moving."

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 28, Wall Street Journal
Rewarding Burma's generals

The new message from Washington: Deal with Pyongyang, win diplomatic goodies.

The Obama Administration is starting to worry about Burma's nuclear
ambitions. That's the good news. The bad news is that the White House is
taking the same failed tack it used with Tehran and Pyongyang and trying
to cajole the generals out of their biggest potential bargaining chip.

Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell calls this policy "pragmatic
engagement." In testimony to Congress last week, he confirmed the U.S.
would soon send a "fact-finding" mission to Naypyidaw, possibly as early
as next week. The delegation will discuss "alleged concerns associated
with U.N. Resolution 1874," referring to this year's Security Council
measure that forbids U.N. members from trading arms with North Korea.

The U.S. is right to pay attention to Burma's burgeoning relationship with
Pyongyang. A U.S. destroyer trailed a North Korean military ship, the Kang
Nam, for weeks earlier this year as it sailed toward Burma, presumably to
deliver weapons. The regime has also built a series of tunnels near the
capital which analysts say could be used for military operations or
missile storage.

Mr. Campbell claims the dialogue, which comes after the U.S. hosted a
high-level Burmese diplomat in September—will "test the intentions of the
Burmese leadership and the sincerity of their expressed interest in a more
positive relationship with the United States."

But by even showing up, the U.S. team would hand the generals a diplomatic
victory. A visit by Mr. Campbell would be the highest-level U.S.
delegation to visit Burma since Madeleine Albright's trip in 1995, when
she was ambassador to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, the generals have shown no indication to change their behavior.
Over the past few months, the regime has intensified its ethnic-cleansing
campaign against minorities, placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest
(again), and detained and tortured a U.S. citizen, Kyaw Zaw Lin, who has
ties to the dissident community.

That makes Mr. Campbell's talk of increasing humanitarian aid premature
and potentially very damaging. Burma has a highly restrictive environment
where many aid groups are beholden to the state. USAID will already funnel
some $28 million into Burma-related programs this year, about 40% of which
will go directly inside the country.

To his credit, Mr. Campbell has said he would meet with imprisoned
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ask the generals to release her and
all political prisoners, and talk to the political opposition in
preparation for elections next year.

But his very presence in Naypyidaw would send a message that the generals'
embrace of North Korea is paying off handsomely. Other countries will take
note of this lesson, too.
____________________________________

October 28, Voice of America
Engaging Burma – Editorial

The United States is taking the next step in its efforts to promote
democratic reform in Burma, sending a high-level diplomatic delegation
there in the coming weeks for exploratory talks with the nation's military
rulers. For a more complete picture of conditions on the ground, U.S.
officials will also talk with representatives of ethnic nationalities and
the democratic opposition, including the National League for Democracy,
Aung San Suu Kyi and others.

After almost 50 years of military rule, political and humanitarian
conditions in Burma are deplorable. The U.S. has long hoped economic and
diplomatic pressure would bring the leaders in Rangoon around. Since 1997,
American companies and individuals have been banned from making new
investments in Burma.

Assets in the U.S. of major Burmese figures and interests have been
frozen, their travel has been limited with visa restrictions, and bans
imposed on the importation of rubies and jadeite mined in Burma, a major
Burmese industry. But neither sanctions nor engagement alone have
succeeded in improving conditions there or moving Burma forward on a path
to democratic reform.

The situation is all the more serious by the threat to stability that the
turmoil in Burma poses to its neighbors and the international community at
large. These and other concerns led the U.S. to reconsider its approach
toward the government there. And for the first time in memory, the
leadership in Burma has shown an interest in engaging with the U.S.,
evidenced by a meeting in September at the opening of the United Nations
General Assembly by the Burmese delegation and senior American officials.

While the recent review of U.S. policies toward Burma called for
additional steps to be taken for dialogue with its military rulers, it
nevertheless confirmed America's fundamental interest there. The U.S. will
continue to support a unified, peaceful, prosperous and democratic Burma.

____________________________________

October 28, Jakarta Globe
How Australia can take the lead in engaging Burma’s brutal regime – David
Scott Mathieson

Australia has an often overlooked key role to play in drawing military
ruled Burma out of its isolation, and is well placed to play a prominent
supporting position in international efforts to engage the ruling State
Peace and Development Council.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith are tough
talking and principled on human rights in Burma, especially after the
September 2007 Buddhist monk-led uprising was brutally crushed, the
initial official blocking of foreign relief aid after the May 2008
cyclone, and the political show trial this year of detained opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Kevin Rudd called Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi’s conviction and
sentencing to a further 18 months under house arrest in August a “new low
for the Burmese regime.”

This is precisely what the SPDC needs to hear. The message roughly is: “We
don’t like what you’re doing, but we are dead-set on continuing to help
your people.”

Emphasize Teamwork

Australia can recalibrate its Burma policy for more bilateral effect and
multilateral influence in three key areas: diplomacy, humanitarian
assistance and sanctions.

Australia is already outspoken toward the SPDC. This must continue, and
can in an important way if the government appoints a specific Burma envoy
to coordinate bilateral diplomatic efforts, AusAID programs and
multilateral initiatives in the United Nations and Asean.

The United States has congressional legislative provisions to appoint its
own Burma envoy and policy advisor, but after nearly two years has yet to
do so. Australia can set an example by taking this important initiative
first.

The appointment of country-specific envoys would not just bolster the
“Good Offices” mission of the UN secretary general, which has
unfortunately made little progress so far with the SPDC, but could also
propel the formation of a “contact group” of key states on Burma — China,
Japan, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia — to move beyond the
perception that international criticism of Burma just emanates from
Western countries.

The SPDC thrives on divide and rule, domestically and internationally, so
the aim must be to speak with a unified voice. Australia and Indonesia, as
key middle-ranking states in the region, and largely of similar mind if
different public statements on Burma, could take the lead in forming such
a contact group.

Donate Generously, but Fairly

On humanitarian assistance, Australia is already one of the best donors,
addressing Burma’s immense developmental challenges of poverty
alleviation, deteriorating health conditions, and human rights protection.

AusAID provisions to Burma are an annual $26 million, with an additional
$50 million for post-cyclone relief.

Much of this funding goes in the right direction. If anything, Australia
could be more generous, something that could be said of most international
humanitarian donors who are only now realizing the immense needs inside
Burma. The reality is that with all the impediments and ineptitude placed
in donors’ paths by the SPDC, a lot of good can be done by helping
communities survive the capricious and self-centered regime.

Australia is also very generous in its acceptance of refugees from Burma,
resettling thousands of mostly ethnic-Karen from long standing camps
situated on the Thailand-Burma border, while also continuing to fund
agencies supporting an estimated 140,000 civilians still languishing in
those camps. However, there appears to be reluctance within the Australian
bureaucracy to support urgently needed humanitarian assistance efforts for
Burmese civilians in conflict zones, often erroneously termed
“cross-border assistance.”

In fact, supporting health and livelihood initiatives “cross-border” is
actually providing humanitarian assistance to Burma: All of the existing
programs in conflict areas are conducted by ethnic Burma groups, often on
the run from the SPDC army, and necessarily clandestine, but definitely
needed. Providing financial assistance to these projects from Thailand,
China, India or Bangladesh is more efficient, realistic and practical than
going through Yangon, as most UN and other international aid groups must
do.

Target Sanctions Effectively

Last is the vexed issue of sanctions. It is impossible to conclude that
international sanctions have had their desired effect. That is, for the
SPDC to respect the human rights of the Burma people. Yet they retain a
certain symbolic utility, reminding the regime of how their reprehensible
actions transgress international norms of acceptable behavior.

Removing the sanctions too fast sends the wrong message, especially when
the SPDC makes their repeal such a prominent condition for negotiation.
Sanctions, therefore, have a prime usefulness, and should be scrapped only
incrementally in line with significant concessions from the regime.

Also, Australia specifically blocks transfers of funds or payments to or
from people who benefit from military rule in Burma, yet does not bar
other types of financial services and transactions. Most notably,
Australia’s current measures do not fully freeze assets held by such
persons in Australia, nor clearly block dealings with those individuals
that involve Australian persons and institutions operating from other
countries. Firm steps are needed to fully enforce sanctions so that key
Burma officials named as targets are not able to derive benefit from
assets in Australia or handled by Australian institutions.

The nation must not wait for evidence of concessions from the SPDC to
repeal its present sanctions. It should wrest the initiative back from the
regime by recalibrating its targeted measures now. It can do this in two
important ways. First, by tightening up its list of SPDC officials and by
including specific key companies or Burma military-controlled entities
with direct links to the regime. Second, Australia can make more effort in
coordinating sanctions with the United States, EU, Switzerland and Canada
to target key individuals, both military and civilian, who bear
responsibility for abuses and whose considerable financial support of the
SPDC could undermine these sanctions. These individuals are at the apex of
the system inside Burma and susceptible to this kind of pressure.

Listen to the Lady

In a letter sent by Suu Kyi to President Than Shwe on Sept. 25, the
detained democratic leader urged negotiations on lifting sanctions, and
specifically requested leave to consult with the Australian ambassador in
Rangoon, something she did recently (albeit with a lower official because
the ambassador was on holiday at the time), as well as the British
ambassador and a representative of the European Union.

This is an important step, and countries with sanctions in place should
consult not just with Suu Kyi but other opposition figures and business
leaders to gradually repeal sanctions — but only when all political
prisoners are released and there has been genuine progress on opening up
the political system to encourage community participation ahead of the
elections next year.

In the interim, tightening specific targeted sanctions is one way of
focusing the SPDC’s attention on what they stand to lose from treating
enhanced talks with the international community with their instinctively
cynical self-interest.

Australia’s Burma policy should be lauded for its considered balance and
the continued expression of support for a free and democratic Burma by
most if not all members of the federal Parliament. With just a few policy
tweaks, a little more money and a substantial investment in multilateral
diplomacy, Australia could provide the kind of renewed international and
regional guidance on engaging Burma that is now desperately needed.

David Scott Mathieson is Burma researcher in the Asia Division of Human
Rights Watch.
____________________________________

October 28, The Nation (Thailand)
Asean needs to take charge and push Burma a little harder – Supalak
Ganjanakhundee

Normally, the Burma issue is at the core of every Asean summit, with all
eyes on the Burmese delegation's moves.

However, things appeared to be different at the recent 15th Asean summit
in Cha Am/Hua Hin - Burma was not the highlight and the press had nothing
to report.

The Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein was able to escape media attention
and it appeared as if the issue of a country whose political process is in
transition just does not matter.

The grouping, which has always taken Burma's political issues very
seriously, rarely touched upon the subject at this summit.

The chairman's statement, issued at the end of the meeting, only said: "We
underscored the importance of achieving national reconciliation and that
the general elections to be held in Myanmar [Burma] in 2010 must be
conducted in a fair, free, inclusive and transparent manner in order to be
credible to the international community."

Yet, despite all this, it appears as if Asean is seeing some positive
signs, especially since the junta has been promising everyone that the
elections next year would be conducted in accordance with its seven-step
road map toward democracy and national reconciliation.

At a quick chat with the press after the summit on Sunday, Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva said his Burmese counterpart had told his Asean
colleagues that detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi might be able
to participate in the on-going democratisation process.

"He [Thein Sein] briefed us on some of the dialogue that is taking place
and is optimistic that she [Suu Kyi] can also contribute to the process of
national reconciliation," Abhisit said.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Thein Sein had used the words "free
and fair" as well as it being an "inclusive" election when he was briefing
the meeting.

Asean was given added hope when Suu Kyi was allowed to meet foreign
diplomats over the issue of economic sanctions, and the junta also sent a
minister over to engage with her recently, he said.

"I personally think it is a good sign that she might be given the chance
to participate in democratising the country," Kasit said.

Asean leaders believe the junta is taking political reform and the
elections seriously, because Malaysian PM Najib Razak said Thein Sein had
told him that a new parliament building was being constructed at the new
Burmese capital of Nay Pyi Taw.

Constructing a parliament building may not mean democracy, but it's a
first step, Najib said.

Though Asean has been pushing Burma toward democracy and national
reconciliation, the strongest contribution seems to have come from
Washington, with the Obama administration shifting its policy from
isolating Burma to engaging it.

Last month, the United States announced that it would seek to engage the
junta, and though it is still insisting that sanctions would not be eased
if there is no progress toward democracy, it is sending a rare
"fact-finding" mission to Burma soon.

Asean has welcomed this move and believes that the US is following the
grouping's plans and ideas even though Washington contacted Burma directly
instead of going via Asean.

Najib said engaging with the junta was the best option available, because
sanctions and isolation would only worsen things.

"We are on the right track. The US has recognised the Asean way by
changing its tactics," he said.

Still, these positive signs might be just an illusion. If the Asean really
doesn't want the US to take over, then it has a lot of work to do to make
sure that the political process in the junta-ruled country yields a good
result.

Kasit said the grouping had offered to train Burmese officials preparing
for the elections and is keen to send a team to observe the country's
first poll in two decades.

However, since the junta has still not responded to these offers, the
Asean probably needs to push a little bit harder.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

October 28, Shwe Gas Movement
115 civil society groups urge China to suspend disastrous pipelines in Burma

115 civil society organizations and political parties from 20 countries
today submitted an open letter to China’s President Hu Jintao calling for
the suspension of oil and gas pipelines through Burma in order to prevent
rights abuses and regional instability, avoiding financial and image risks
to China.

Petitions were submitted by the Shwe Gas Movement and its solidarity
networks at Chinese
Embassies in Thailand, India, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines,
Malaysia, Australia, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and the UK.

State-owned China National Petroleum Corporation holds a majority stake in
the construction of dual oil and gas pipelines which will transfer oil
shipped from the Middle East and Africa as well as natural gas from the
Shwe Gas fields in western Burma to China’s Yunnan Province. The project
will provide the military junta a minimum of 29 billion US dollars over 30
years.

Abuses are already starting to surface in the project area, including
beatings of fishermen and fishing prohibitions in the offshore drilling
area as well as confiscation of land at the start of the pipeline in
Arakan State.

Burma ranks tenth in the world in terms of natural gas reserves yet its
per capita electricity consumption is less than 5% of neighbouring
Thailand and China, as it exports most of its energy resources. Increased
fuel prices led to country-wide demonstrations in 2007, which were cracked
down upon by the Burma Army.

“Land confiscation and other human rights abuses in the pipeline corridor
and exporting the oil and gas while people across the country is facing
energy shortages is a dangerous mix that will cause social unrest and
conflicts between local people and foreign corporations, says Wong Aung,
International Coordinator of Shwe Gas Movement.

Unresolved conflicts between the Burma regime and ethnic ceasefire armies
along the planned
pipeline route in northern Shan State led to a military offensive by the
Burma Army in August forcing over thirty thousand ethnic Kokang to escape
to China.

Last month the Danish Pension Fund Danica Pension blacklisted one of the
main stakeholders in the Shwe project, Daewoo International, citing a
“breach of international guidelines in connection with its activities in
Burma.” Other pension funds are reported to be monitoring the corporations
involved in the Shwe gas pipelines project.

“China has the power to suspend this project, and rather that being part
of the problem, becoming part of a long-term solution by promoting
equitable development of the people of the two nations and peace in the
region,” says Kim , Shwe Gas Movement ,India.


The Shwe Gas Movement is a coalition of organizations from Burma based in
Thailand, India,
Bangladesh and Burma. See www.shwe.org for more information

Contact: Mr.Wong Aung +66(0)873008354 ( Thailand)
Mr.Aung Marm Oo +66 (0) 816736326
Mr.Kim, +91(0) 9810 476 273,( India)
E-mail global at shwe.org