From editor at burmanet.org Wed Jan 27 13:27:47 2010 From: editor at burmanet.org (Editor) Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:27:47 -0500 (EST) Subject: BurmaNet News, January 27, 2010 Message-ID: <56573.63.173.78.131.1264616867.squirrel@webmail2.pair.com> January 27, 2010, Issue #3884 INSIDE BURMA VOA: Verdict postponed in trial of Burmese-American activist AP: Myanmar arrests 11 accused of plotting bombings New Light of Myanmar: Two blasts rock Kyaukkyi, no one hurt Mizzima News: MNA stops providing Suu Kyi pictures Irrawaddy: Burmese soldiers still recruit underage youth Irrawaddy: Imprisoned comedian turns 49 BUSINESS / TRADE Irrawaddy: Burmese tycoon takes over fuel imports and sales ON THE BORDER The Packet and Times (Ontario): Life at dump beats Burma Hindustan Times: Burmese Buddhist monks share plight with Tibetan exiles BUSINESS / TRADE INTERNATIONAL Irrawaddy: UN Special Rapporteur to visit Burma AFP: US calls for immediate release of Suu Kyi DVB: Imprisoned Burmese journalists recognized for reporting truth OPINION / OTHER Irrawaddy: Than Shwe and the waiting game ? Aung Zaw PRESS RELEASE AAPPB: Nyi Nyi Aung's verdict postponed and family denied visit ____________________________________ INSIDE BURMA January 27, Voice of America Verdict postponed in trial of Burmese-American activist A Burmese court has delayed a verdict in the case of a Burmese-born U.S. citizen charged with fraud and forgery. The lawyer for Kyaw Zaw Lwin told reporters Wednesday the judge postponed the verdict until February 10. Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, was arrested last September after arriving at Rangoon's airport, and was put on trial the following month. The charges are in connection with possessing a forged national identity card and failing to declare foreign currency. Kyaw Zaw Lwin was one of the organizers of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. He fled Burma for neighboring Thailand following a military crackdown on activists. He later emigrated to the United States and became a citizen. He traveled to Burma to visit his ailing mother, who is serving a prison sentence for political activities. Kyaw Zaw Lwin staged a hunger strike shortly after his arrest to protest inhumane prison conditions in Burma. Witnesses say he has been tortured, denied food and medical care, and confined in a dog pen. An official at the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon tells VOA's Burmese Service the embassy is monitoring Kyaw Zaw Lwin's case closely, and continues to press the Burmese military government to observe international standards of due process in the matter. A Thailand-based advocacy group for Burmese political prisoners, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), say Kyaw Zaw Lwin's family has been banned from visiting him in detention. ____________________________________ January 27, Associated Press Myanmar arrests 11 accused of plotting bombings Myanmar's military junta on Wednesday announced the arrests of 11 people accused of planning bombings to disrupt elections planned for this year. State radio said that "terrorists" bent on derailing the 2010 general election have penetrated the country and were responsible for seven explosions in Yangon industrial parks in September last year. The report said the arrests were made last week in Yangon's northern Mingladon township and the authorities seized handmade explosives, 43 detonators, U.S.-made TNT and C4 explosives, a pistol and a satellite phone. It said those arrested included a man who belongs to the People's Guerrilla Front, which it linked to the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors. Five armed men from the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors stormed the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok in October 1999. The group took 38 hostages to demand democracy in their country, also known as Burma. Thailand allowed them to fly to the border and disappear, angering Myanmar but ending the standoff without bloodshed. The warriors were blamed for several small bombings in Yangon in April 2008. The report said those arrested had been planning further explosions in industrial zones and also were targeting security personnel on patrol. Separately, state-run newspapers on Wednesday published stories blaming ethnic Karen rebels for other attacks. They accused the Karen National Union of being behind two blasts Tuesday morning in Kyaukkyi in Bago Division, about 105 miles (170 kilometers) northeast of Yangon. No casualties were reported. ____________________________________ January 27, New Light of Myanmar Two blasts rock Kyaukkyi, no one hurt Nay Pyi Taw ? Two separate explosions occurred in Kyaukkyi, Bago Division, early this morning. One occurred in front of a building in Theindan Ward at about 4 am, and the other in front of a house in Myitta Ward at about 4.05 am. There were no causalities as there were hardly people around there at that time but the fences and some windows of the buildings were slightly damaged. It was learnt that the perpetrations were the acts of a group of KNU Brigade-3. In a similar incident in which 7 people were dead and 1 I others injured that ocurred in Ppun, Kayin State 16 December 2009 was also the act of a group under KNU Brigade-5. Such incidents have proved that KNU insurgents are detonating bombs, blowing up power lines, planting mines in farms and gardens and extorting money, rice and rations from villages and towns, the majority of whose populations are Kayin nationals, although they are shouting that they are serving the interest of Kayin nationals and Kayin State. It is learnt that as the terrorist insurgents in disguise are penetrating regions where peace and stability prevail, the local people are cooperating with the authorities in exposing them. ? MNA ____________________________________ January 27, Mizzima News MNA stops providing Suu Kyi pictures ? Phanida Chiang Mai ? The State-run Myanmar News Agency (MNA) as of January has stopped providing photographs of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to publications, editors of local journals in Rangoon said. The MNA is a government-controlled agency under the News and Periodical Enterprise of the Ministry of Information and Publicity. It has exclusive rights to produce photographs of top-level government activities and also acts as an agency releasing the government?s news and information. suu-kyi-photo The MNA unlike the Press Scrutiny and Registration Board does not censor the contents of publications but collects information and releases them on behalf of the government. As the sole agency with the right to take pictures of government arranged events including meetings of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and government officials, local weeklies in Rangoon rely on the MNA for pictures to be carried with their stories. ?The MNA stopped providing pictures though the censor board allows us to use it. I think they have been instructed not to do so,? an editor of a local weekly in Rangoon told Mizzima. ?Since we are unable to get new pictures, we have to use old (file) photos. So far there has been no notice restricting the use of pictures,? another editor said. While running a story on the latest meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi and junta?s Liaison Minister Aung Kyi on January 15, The Voice Weekly, in its latest issue had to do without any photographs. Earlier, for meetings between the Burmese opposition leader and visiting US delegates or the government?s Liaison Minister, the MNA provided photographs to the weeklies. The Weekly 11 journal in its latest issue published on January 16, also carried the story of Aung San Suu Kyi?s meeting with Aung Kyi but used a file picture, as the MNA stopped providing fresh photos. Meanwhile, with the Burmese censor board filtering and censoring publications and weeklies from publishing information critical to the regime along with politically sensitive issues, the Myanmar Football Federation (MFF), chaired by one of junta?s business cronies Zaw Zaw, has begun restricting local weeklies from covering football tournaments by limiting the number of journalists allowed into official briefings and into the stadiums. A source close to the MFF told Mizzima that it started restrictions because Burmese media in exile has have been reporting frequent fights and brawls among football players or among fans. The MFF has announced that weekly journals interested in covering MFF events would be allowed to register only one reporter and a photo journalist at their office. The journalists must seek prior accreditation with the MFF. The MFF?s move in restricting journalists is coming in the way of freedom of expression, a veteran journalist Win Tin said. ?The MFF is also restricting journalists? freedom. Sports are also important for the media. I fear that in future there will be more restrictions in politics, and in the socio-economic sector,? Win Tin added. ?We were told that limiting the number of journalists covering MFF events was because the media in exile are publishing and broadcasting frequent fights and brawls on the football ground. I think the government wants to hide what is happening on the ground,? a Rangoon-based journalist told Mizzima. On January 17, a fight broke out during the match between the Burmese business tycoon Tayza owned Yangon United and the current Myanmar National League (MNL) Champion Yadanabon Club. Authorities were compelled to deploy over 100 security forces to quell the disturbances. While local weeklies in Rangoon were restricted from reporting the incident, the Burmese media in exile had a field day reporting it widely. ____________________________________ January 27, Irrawaddy Burmese soldiers still recruit underage youth ? Lawi Weng The Burmese army is still recruiting underage youth despite the government's agreement with the UN that such practices would stop. In the latest incident, Kyaw Min Tun, 14, was conscripted by a soldier in Light Infantry Battalion No. 83, based in Migaungye in Taungdwingyi Township in Magway Division. His mother, San Thar Win, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that her son was taken to the battalion on Jan. 19 at 4 p.m. She said a soldier from the battalion persuaded him to join by saying he would receive a 60,000 kyat (US $60) monthly salary. She has asked the battalion to release her son, she said, but the military has not complied. Meanwhile, Aye Myint, a leading labor activist in Pegu Division, said that two other underage youths were taken to the same battalion this month. His group, Guiding Star, works on issues involving child recruitment and forced labor. The group received 121 recruitment complaints last year, but only about one-third of the youth were released, he said. He said that the Burmese government should punished soldiers who recruit underage youth. Government officials have signed an agreement with the International Labour Organization to stop such recruitment but soldiers in the field continue the practice, he said. Meanwhile, the Burmese military government has extended an agreement allowing the UN to monitor complaints of underage recruitment for one more year. Kari Tapiola, the executive director of the ILO in Geneva, told The Irrawaddy by e-mail that the overall number of underage recruitment complaints has increased. The forced recruitment of children into the military is a problem which has been recognized at a high level. According to the ?Annual Report of the UN Secretary-General to the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict? in March last year, the Burmese junta ?continues to screen and release underage children found in its armed forces during the training process.? The report said the ILO, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross, was instrumental in the release of 12 underage recruits and had verified the release of 23 children ?mostly from involuntary military enrollment.? It was waiting for a government response in 14 other cases. The UN said in its latest report on the situation that the military is still recruiting child soldiers. The New York-based Human Rights Watch has said that 70,000 underage soldiers are serving in the Burmese armed forces. Human rights groups say children are recruited at train stations, bus depots, teahouses, video halls and movie cinemas, and even while walking home at night. The groups say the youth are sometimes threatened and beaten if they refuse to agree to undergo military training. After their training, many are sent to areas where the military is in conflict with ethnic groups. ____________________________________ January 27, Irrawaddy Imprisoned comedian turns 49 ? Arkar Moe While popular Burmese comedian Zarganar spent his second consecutive birthday behind bars in remote Myitkyina prison in northern Burma on Wednesday, a small group of dissidents celebrated his 49th birthday at a Buddhist monastery in Chiang Mai in Thailand. ?We offered alms this morning to the monks in commemoration of Ko Zarganar?s birthday,? said fellow comedian Godzilla of the well-known Burmese troupe Thee Lay Thee A-nyeint. ?After all, he has made a real sacrifice for his people. We wish that he??and all the other persons who have made such sacrifices??live long and free from danger.? Zarganar. (Source: campaigns.ifex.org) Zarganar?s sister-in-law, Ma Nyein, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that Zarganar is suffering from the skin disease pruritus. ?I last saw him on Dec. 7, 2009. Like other families of political prisoners, we expect him to be released this year, but it all depends on the Burmese authorities.? ?He is a very funny man who inspires confidence,? said Kyaw Thu, a famous Burmese actor. ?He is a true artiste and I very much appreciate his good deeds and brave spirit.? Zarganar was sentenced to 35 years in prison for his involvement in the humanitarian relief effort in the Irrawaddy delta after Cyclone Nargis devastated the region in 2008. For years he has been a thorn in the side of Burma's ruling generals, constantly criticizing them and the government with sharp wit and fierce political satire. Born Thura to a political family, his parents were well-known writers Nan Nyunt Swe and Daw Kyi Oo. Zarganar graduated in dental medicine from Rangoon University in 1985. Adopting the stage name ?Zarganar,? meaning ?tweezers,? he performed amateur stage comedy shows at Rangoon universities until in 1986, he formed the ?Mya Ponnama Anyeint? troupe. He quickly became known for his ?than gyat,? a kind of traditional satirical show popular during Thingyan, the Burmese New Year. He got away with a highly popular play, ?Beggar,? which savagely ridiculed the late dictator Gen Ne Win and his cronies. Zarganar was arrested for participating in the nationwide uprising in 1988. He was in prison for the next five out of six years. Between 1997 and 2006, he was banned frequently from show business by the military authorities for making controversial video documentaries and holding interviews with foreign media. Zarganar wrote a screenplay based on late Gen Aung San's biography and also directed three short videos and a movie to raise HIV/AIDS awareness with the help of local NGOs. He became best known for his performances of A-nyeint Pwe, a form of theatre that combines dance, music, opera and comedy, which at times is politically and socially driven and seeks to make light of the stresses of everyday life. Continually pushing the envelope against government censorship, Zarganar formed a comedy troupe called Thee Lay Thee A-nyeint, which performed mostly in Rangoon and delighted audiences with satirical skits lampooning the military junta. In 1991, Zarganar was awarded the Lillian Hellman and Dashiel Hammett Award, given by the Fund for Free Expression, a committee organized by New York-based Human Rights Watch. He was arrested on Sept. 26, 2007, for participating in the nationwide ?Saffron Revolution.? He and his friend, actor Kyaw Thu, made a public show of offering food and water to Buddhist monks as they prepared to lead anti-government protests. Moreover, he urged the public to support the monks in radio interviews with exiled media. After Cyclone Nargis devastated in Irrawaddy delta in early May 2008, Zarganar organized a group of about 400 Burmese volunteers to provide disaster relief to survivors in cyclone-ravaged areas. He was rearrested on June 4, 2008, after a raid at his home in which the authorities seized his computer, about US $1,000 in cash and three CDs containing footage of May?s cyclone devastation, the opulent wedding of junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe?s youngest daughter and the film ?Rambo 4,? in which Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone fights Burmese government soldiers in a mission to rescue kidnapped Westerners. In November 2008, Zarganar was sentenced to 59 years in prison. Rangoon Divisional Court later reduced the prison sentence to 35 years after an appeal by his family. In December 2008, he was transferred to Myintkyina prison in Kachin State in the country's far north. One month before his sentencing, Zarganar was awarded the one Humanity Award by PEN Canada of which he is an honorary member. ____________________________________ ON THE BORDER January 27, The Packet and Times (Ontario) Life at dump beats Burma ? Teviah Moro Mae Sot, Thailand ? A life spent mining through mountains of trash is better than life in Burma, say those who reside at a local garbage dump at the edge of this border town. About 200 Burmese migrants have traded their troubled homeland for rudimentary bamboo dwellings perched amid the peaks and valleys of foul-smelling rubbish. "It's worse in Burma," says a 25-year-old mother of two children from Rangoon who has lived in the dump for about a year. Last month, her husband died here after a bout with malaria. He was 28 years old. The woman, who did not want her name used, says she feels safer at the dump than in town because run-ins with Thai police are less frequent. Here, children in grubby clothes run around the heaps barefoot. Camp dwellers wash their clothes in a lagoon of green-coloured water. But food scraps and good trash are harder to come by these days with processors and dumpster divers in town getting first crack at Mae Sot's garbage. "I thought I could have an easy life," said Ko Pyar, a 42-year-old father of two who has lived here for seven years. "I see now that it's different, but I cannot go back." Though there is a school for migrant children at the edge of the dump, his kids don't study there because he needs them to work. Ko Pyar, whose wife died of hypertension five years ago, says he can earn between 30 baht ( 96 cents Canadian) and 40 baht ($1.28 Canadian) a day taking care of cows at farms in the area. That's about how much he would make if he has a good day finding trash. The minimum wage in Mae Sot is 152 baht ($4.87) for a day's work. This is perhaps the bottom rung of the border town's underground economy. It's estimated that more than 100,000 Burmese migrants work in Mae Sot at construction sites, garment factories and farms. Burma, known as Myanmar by its military rulers, has struggled with internal strife ever since it achieved independence from Britain in 1948. Ethnic minority groups have mounted armed bids for autonomy and civilians have been caught in the crossfire. An impoverished nation of about 50 million, Burma has been subject to military domination since 1962, earning it the label of international pariah. Human Rights Watch states the government "systematically denies citizens basic freedoms including freedom of expression, association and assembly." Moreover, the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) "continues to perpetrate violations against civilians in ethnic conflict areas, including extrajudicial killings, forced labor, and sexual violence." Canada continues to impose strict economic sanctions on Burma. Ron Hoffmann, Canada's ambassador to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Burma, is hopeful for gradual change. "Most people with a stake in the country want change," said Hoffmann in a recent interview. "The government really has very little support." The SPDC has announced intentions to hold elections sometime this year but has yet to hold a date. Democratic champion Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, remains under house arrest in Rangoon. Hoffmann, who met with the junta's foreign ministry in November, said he's clearly communicated Canada's expectations of a free and fair election. Frank Brewster, a family doctor from Orillia, hopes that his work with Project Umbrella Burma, an Orillia-based charity, can help effect change in Burma. He is horrified by the squalor at the Mae Sot dump. But he admires the dump dwellers' drive to survive in the face of such adversity. "I took it as bad-tasting medicine," he said after visiting the dump for the first time. Brewster says it's hard to gauge the children's chances, but suggests the general picture is bleak. "If you take a kid who has so many strikes against them and give them malaria and gastroenteritis, then they're likely to fail." This apocalyptic landscape has served as bitter inspiration for artist Maung Maung Tinn. The painter, whose watercolours and acrylics have found owners as far away as Japan, France and Canada, wanted to show the situation to the world. "It's not for humans. It's for animals." Maung Maung Tinn left his home in Karen State in 1995, when fighting near his village became too intense. "It was like a nightmare. I wanted to escape from the nightmare, so I ran away." The 42-year-old painter recalls waiting on pins and needles as mortars fired between SPDC and Karen military camps flew over his home. "The bullet doesn't have eyes." Though life in Thailand isn't easy, at least he has a clean toilet and electricity 24 hours a day, Maung Maung Tinn said. During his visit, Brewster learned that a man at the dump planned to visit the nearby Mae Tao Clinic, which offers free medical services to migrants. Through Project Umbrella Burma, doctors have volunteered their services at the clinic, where Brewster is amid his second two-month stint. "It affirms my work at the Mae Tao Clinic. That is a place where they can go when they can't go on." But when he considers the desperation at the dump, and Burma's ruling junta, he can't contain his quiet rage. "It fans the flames of anger." tmoro at orilliapacket.com ____________________________________ January 27, Hindustan Times Burmese Buddhist monks share plight with Tibetan exiles Dharamsala -- An 18-member Burmese monks' delegation, which arrived here on a three-day visit, shared their plight with Tibetan exiles here on Tuesday. "We have few Burmese who are visiting Dharamsala and also with them they have brought a very powerful documentary called Burma VJ. This (the documentary) is about the Burmese monks protest in 2007 and how people inside Burma are struggling for freedom and democracy," said Tenzin Cheoying, a Tibetan activist. "The Burmese people and the Tibetan people are in same conditions politically because in Burma we have been under dictatorship rule for more than 60 years and Tibetan people are also under occupation of the Chinese government. There are lot of human right violations and our struggle for democracy has not been successful," said Pluto, the coordinator of the Burmese delegation. The Burmese delegation would visit various Tibetan establishments in and around the town during their visit. India is home to hundreds of Myanmar nationals, many of them pro-democracy activists.New Delhi, which has close links to Myanmar, says the generals should pursue national reconciliation and return to democracy but opposes tough measures like sanctions, saying the country should not be isolated. Published by HT Syndication with permission from Asian News International. ____________________________________ BUSINESS / TRADE January 27, Irrawaddy Burmese tycoon takes over fuel imports and sales Burmese business tycoon Tay Za, a close associate of the junta generals, has reportedly co-founded an association to control the importation and sale of gasoline and diesel fuel. An official at the regime-owned Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Rangoon-based business sources said the Fuel Oil Importers and Distributors Association (FOIDA) was formed on Jan. 23, with Tay Za as chairman and Aung Thet Mann as vice chairman. The association has 138 members. Aung Thet Mann is the son of the regime's No. 4, Gen. Thura Shwe Mann. Both men are on the US sanctions list. The Burmese junta's privatization commission announced recently that it is selling more than 100 state-owned buildings and factories as part of the latest wave of privatizations. Petrol stations, which were formerly run by the Ministry of Energy, were not included in the list. Business sources, however, said that Htoo Trading Co Ltd, owned by Tay Za, has already been awarded a contract to operate state-owned gas stations in Upper Burma. Sources said that the FOIDA will oversee the operations of importing, pricing and distribution of gasoline and diesel. According to the Ministry of Energy, Burma has 256 fuel filling stations. The military government has strictly controlled all fuel-related business, including filling stations, since 1962. Due to the continued increase in global fuel prices in 2008, the Burmese military government has allowed trade by permitting two companies?Union of Myanmar Economic Holding Ltd, a military generals? syndicate, and Tay Za?s Htoo Trading Company?to import fuel. In August 2008, the Ministry of Energy allowed petrol stations to sell large quantities of fuel to holders of dollar-denominated foreign exchange certificates (FECs), ending a system of buying fuel with ration books under a restricted quota. Consumers paying in the national currency, kyat, are still limited to two gallons per day. The sources said the regime's Trade Council, the country?s highest authority in the area of importing and exporting, announced a policy of allowing private companies to import diesel from December, 2009. The new policy replaced that of the Diesel Import Provisional Committee, which was formed after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma in 2008, to enable some private companies to import diesel to meet urgent demand in storm-hit areas. Burma is essentially a diesel-powered economy. Buses, trains, trucks and portable generators that exist in nearly every home, factory and shop rely on diesel. According to a Xinhua Chinese news agency report, Burma planned to import more than 30,000 tons of diesel for the first time from Singapore in December. According to the Ministry of Energy, Burma produces some 80 million gallons of diesel every year for domestic use. Over the last few years, however, the country has had to import about 330 million gallons of diesel every year from Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. The Xinhua report also said Burma had imported fuel worth US $600 million over the past few years. ____________________________________ INTERNATIONAL January 27, Irrawaddy UN Special Rapporteur to visit Burma ? Ba Kaung The UN human rights special rapporteur for Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, will visit the country from Feb. 14 to 20. When he made a number of requests last year to visit the country for the second time in one year, the regime said the timing was not right. He will make a report on his findings to the UN Human Rights Council in March, according to the UN Human Rights office in Thailand. Tomas Ojea Quintana. (Photo: AP) Quintana has asked the authorities to meet with the detained pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and leaders of ethnic cease-fire groups during his visit, according to an interview he gave to a Burmese radio station on Tuesday. He has also asked to visit Arakan State to study the human rights situation there. In his report to the UN last year, Quintana called for the release of all 2,156 political prisoners before the 2010 election in order to ensure national reconciliation and a transition to democracy. Since his appointment by the Geneva-based UN human rights group in May 2008, Quintana has made two trips to Burma, the second in February 2009. His mandate comes from the UN Human Rights Council. During his last visit, he had private meetings with political prisoners in Insein Prison. He also visited a prison in Karen State where he met with inmates who were imprisoned for trying to escape after they had been conscripted as porters by the regime's army. Quintana has urged the military regime to take four human rights steps before the 2010 election: the release of all political prisoners; review and reform laws that are not in compliance with international human rights standards; reform the judiciary to assure independence and impartiality; and reform the military to respect international humanitarian laws in conflict areas, as well as the rights of civilians. ____________________________________ January 27, Agence France Presse US calls for immediate release of Suu Kyi Washington ? The United States called Tuesday for Myanmar to immediately release democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi after signals that the junta could free her following controversial elections. The Nobel laureate's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), said it had heard that the military regime was considering freeing her in November -- meeting global demands for her release but only after the election. "The idea that her release will conveniently come after the election is unfortunate," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters. "We will continue to press the Burmese government for her release," he said, using the military-run nation's former name of Burma. He was speaking after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with US Senator Jim Webb, the leading advocate in Congress for engaging the junta. The NLD won a landslide victory in the last democratic elections in 1990, but the junta, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, never allowed the party to take office. The military regime has defied persistent international appeals by keeping Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for most of the past two decades. The opposition has been deeply suspicious of the election which the junta plans to hold sometime this year, believing it is a plot to legitimize its rule. US President Barack Obama's administration has launched a dialogue with Myanmar in hopes of wooing the nation back to the international mainstream. But the administration has voiced concern about the country's detention of political prisoners and its military campaigns against ethnic minorities. ____________________________________ January 27, Democratic Voice of Burma Imprisoned Burmese journalists recognized for reporting truth ? Salai Pi Pi New Delhi ? Two imprisoned Burmese journalists have been named this year?s recipients of an award in honor of a Japanese journalist killed during the 2007 monk-led protests in Burma. Tokyo-based Japanese News Agency together with Burma Media Association (BMA) on Tuesday announced they had selected imprisoned Burmese journalists Hla Hla Win and Win Maw, arrested by Burmese military authorities for sending information and reports to the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma, as recipients of the 2010 Kenji Nagai Memorial Award. ?We decided to honor them in recognition of the sacrifice they both had made in sending out information on what really happened in Burma to audiences across the world," Son Moe Wai, Secretary of BMA, told Mizzima on Wednesday. Son Moe Wai said the Burmese regime arrests and suppresses journalists with the intention of creating an information blackout across the country. ?I think they detained them unnecessarily as they did not commit any crime. They just practiced freedom of expression in the country,? he added. The Japanese News Agency and BMA established the Kenji Nagai Memorial Award in remembrance of Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai, killed by a Burmese soldier while covering protests in Rangoon in September 2007. The honorees of the award will share a US$ 1,000 cash prize and crystal trophy this year. A ceremony to acknowledge the winners of the second annual Kenji Nagai Award will be conducted during BMA?s upcoming conference, to be held this February in Thailand. Toru Yamaji, a representative of Asia Press Front (APF), told Mizzima on Wednesday that he congratulated both Kenji Nagai winners, saying, ? They are working for the future of Burma and for the Burmese people who want to get peace in the country.? Hla Hla Win was recently sentenced to 27 years in prison under the charges of violating Burma?s Electronic Act and for riding a motorcycle without a license, while Win Maw was given 17 years for breaking the Electronic Act. Meanwhile Win Myint, father of Hla Hla Win, said he felt proud of his daughter who selflessly worked for the Burmese people. ?I feel really proud of her. She is a hero,? Win Myint told Mizzima, adding, ?But I think it is too much for her being given a seven year sentence for riding a motorcycle [without a license] while thousands of motorcycles [without licenses] are brought into the country from different corners.? The inaugural Kenji Nagai Award in 2009 was presented to Eint Khaing Oo, a female journalist detained for covering Burma?s delta area after it was devastated by Nargis Cyclone in May 2008. Eint Khaing Oo was released from jail in 2009. Toru Yamaji, in the joint statement with BMA issued on Tuesday, expressed its distrust concerning the Burmese military regime?s planned election for later this year, questioning whether it can truly be held in a free and fair manner. He encouraged Burmese journalists to cover the reality of the ground situation in the forthcoming general election. ?I don?t think the regime?s upcoming election will be fair. However, the people have to decide for a change as the election is likely to be inevitable and come to happen,? said Toru Yamaji. ?Journalists have a responsibility to reveal the truth on what the people have decided and the nature of the election.? ____________________________________ OPINION / OTHER January 27, Irrawaddy Than Shwe and the waiting game ? Aung Zaw It's often said that Burmese junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe is good at managing time. In 2008, he surprised everyone by calling for a referendum in May and announcing a general election would be held in 2010. He then fell quiet, allowing people to speculate about an election date and the promulgation of an electoral law. Than Shwe is indeed a time-management genius. This week it was reported that Home Affairs Minister Maj-Gen Maung Oo had told local officials in Kyaukpadaung Township that the detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be released in November this year. Can this be interpreted as a message to the world that Suu Kyi will be released only after the election?which can be expected in October, according to a recent unconfirmed report published in the influential Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun? Than Shwe appears to be testing the water again to manage his time. Maung Oo, it will be recalled, played a role at the end of Suu Kyi's trial last May, theatrically entering the courtroom to read a prepared statement from Than Shwe commuting Suu Kyi's sentence from three years' hard labor to 18 months under house arrest. That sentence expires this November. Did any political pundits predict Than Shwe's letter beforehand? I recall no one. It certainly appears that Than Shwe doesn't want Suu Kyi to be released before the election. If she were to be freed even just one week before the election she and her National League for Democracy (NLD) could scoop up votes and hijack the regime's seven-step road map. Than Shwe surely won't risk another 1990. Without Suu Kyi on the scene he is confident of victory even before the election is held. His confidence is bolstered by the fact that the international community, the US, EU, UN and regional governments, while calling for a free and fair election, have stopped short of demanding a review of the constitution. However, by calling for an inclusive and credible election, the US and UN have made clear they want detained Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners to be included in the electoral process. Indonesia Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa recently added his voice to calls for an inclusive election by saying he wants to see Suu Kyi given the possibility and opportunity to interact with her party colleagues on deciding how they will approach the election. This week, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, P. J. Crowley, told reporters at a daily news briefing: ?We have long demanded the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. We think that should still be done and as quickly as possible. I think the idea that her release will conveniently come after the election is unfortunate.? Officials in the Obama administration, busy with a ?direct engagement? policy with Burma, are showing signs of frustration after waiting in vain for any sign of meaningful enthusiasm on the part of the regime. The Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell, who led a US delegation on a visit to Burma in November, told senators at a congressional briefing last week: ?We are attempting to take that first step...but I do want to underscore that one can't dance on the dance floor alone.? Campbell also said the administration?s formal review of US policy towards Burma reaffirmed its fundamental goals: a democratic government that respects the rights of its people and is at peace with its neighbors. He elaborated further: ?A policy of pragmatic engagement with the Burmese authorities holds the best hope for advancing our goals. Under this approach, US sanctions will remain in place until Burmese authorities demonstrate that they are prepared to make meaningful progress on US core concerns.? Campbell's visit to Burma was ?educational? in nature, encompassing meetings with the Burmese prime minister, Suu Kyi and ethnic leaders. The US delegation was reportedly highly impressed with the meetings with Suu Kyi at Rangoon's Inya Lake Hotel and with NLD leaders at the party headquarters. I have also learned that the discussions with Suu Kyi and party leaders were deep-reaching and covered a wide range of issues. No time line emerged from the US delegation's talks with regime officials, however. Than Shwe is keeping that to himself?probably because he doesn't have one. ____________________________________ PRESS RELEASE January 27, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) Nyi Nyi Aung's verdict postponed and family denied visit Burmese American citizenship holder Ko Nyi Nyi Aung@ Kyaw Zaw Lwin has had a family visit banned, by authorities. When his family went to see him on 18 January 2010, jailor Kyaw Min Tun said they were not allowed to see him at that time, but they would be able to see him on 27 January. 27 January is also the day that Ko Nyi Nyi Aung will have his sentence read out in the court. Then on 25 January an American Embassy staff member, who was informed by Burmese authorities, told the family that they will not be allowed to see Ko Nyi Nyi Aung on 27 January. When Ko Nyi Nyi Aung?s family asked the prison authorities about him, they were told that they won?t be allowed to visit him anymore. The family was also told that the charges against Ko Nyi Nyi Aung will be re-examined, therefore judgment has been adjourned until 10 February 2010. As the family has been denied a visit to Ko Nyi Nyi Aung, they are now very worried about him. Normally families can visit detainees under trial, once a week. AAPP Secretary Ko Tate Naing said in regard to Ko Nyi Nyi Aung?s denial of family visit, ?if you don?t have family visits, you can get malnourished and also you suffer mentally and it is torture to his family?. For more information: Ko Tate Naing +66(0) 812 878 751 Ko Bo Kyi +66(0) 813 248 935