BurmaNet News, March 3, 2010

[Editor]

March 3, 2010, Issue #3908


INSIDE BURMA
IMNA: Future of community events unclear after increased government scrutiny

ON THE BORDER
SHAN: More Chinese troops on the border
Mizzima: KIA in combat readiness

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: India invests $2b in Myanmar
Times of India: China
AP: Vietnam Airlines launches flight from Hanoi to Yangon
Economic Times: Burma pulses deal failure to cost India dear
The New Nation: Planning for the energy sector (Bangladesh)

REGIONAL
FlightGlobal: China selling MA60s to Myanmar and Sri Lanka

INTERNATIONAL
Washington Post: White House wary of growing military ties between Burma,
N. Korea

PRESS RELEASES/OTHER
NWI/WLB: International Tribunal on Burma calls for end to impunity of
military regime
Huffington: Burma VJ so powerful a documentary it garners an Oscar nom
BCUK: Zoya Phan Honoured As Young Global Leader by World Economic Forum


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 3, Independent Mon News Agency
Future of community events unclear after increased government scrutiny -
Jaloon Htaw and Yin Mon

Increased inquiry by Burmese government administration members at
community festivals and events, intended to curb political discussion, has
prompted communities to freeze all community events for fear

Increased inquiry by Burmese government administration members at
community festivals and events, intended to curb political discussion, has
prompted communities to freeze all community events for fear of government
suspicion.

Yesterdays “Farmer Day” passed without event as residents of Chaungzone
Township chose to simply closed schools and work, and stay at home.  After
increased visits by members of the Township Peace and Development Council
(TPDC) to villagers, residents are have reported being afraid to talk
about politics or any unusual events.

While villagers have refusing to explain the details of the conversations,
in short TPDC members have inquired about residents political activity.
According to villager from Chaungzone Township, Mon State, a TPDC member
asked him which residents had been gathering in groups and had been
wearing traditional Mon ethnic dress.

The most recent catalyst was during the Burmese Independence Day on
January 4th, when an organizer of sports events was called and detained
for questioning in TPDC offices in Chouzone town.

Due to residents increased fear about speaking about political topics,
IMNA was unable to learn what exactly the organizer had been detained for.

However one female resident explained, “We might not make any activity
[any more]. We don’t talk about politics – [If I do] they will arrest me.
During Burmese Independence Day, the village was making a spots day with
races at that time, [and members of the] State Peace and Development
Council came and arrested the leader who set up the sports. And  [now its]
also the same for Burma farmer day – all residents were quiet yesterday.”

In comparison, a villager from Mudon township explained villages are free
from such orders because of the presence of a New Mon State Party (NMSP)
Township office, as it is in NMSP controlled territory, and the lacks
Burmese controlled village militias.

A resident of Mudon Township, in an undisclosed village, said, “They can’t
prevent celebrations in our village because it has a Mon Township office
administered by the NMSP and also our village has Mon soldiers. So, no,
they don’t prevent us really.”

According to the secretary of the Mon National Democratic Front, (MNDF)
Doctor Min Soe Lin, residents are often under surveillance by members of
the SPDC, TPDC and The Union Solidarity and Development Association
(USDA), all of which have members in every village. Thus, residents who
show an interest in political issues are scared to discuss their thoughts,
for fear of attracting attention of this grass roots surveillance network.

The USDA is a government organized non-governmental organization. The USDA
insists that it is a social welfare organization and network, but members
have been widely accused by human rights groups of acting as un-official
militia or intimidation groups under SPDC command.

In late May 2009, authorities from the SPDC held a covert meeting to order
teashop and restaurant owners that they must gather the names of patrons
who talk about politics while at their shops and report them to the
authorities.  While no guarantee was given that they must do this, shop
owners were warned they would be punished if they were caught failing to
report offending patrons’ names.


____________________________________
ON THE BORDER


March 3, Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
More Chinese troops on the border

Thousands of troops from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been
deployed along the border as Naypyitaw’s 28 February deadline to the
ex-communist ceasefire groups drew to a close, according to Wa and Shan
sources.

At Menglian (known by Shans as Monglem), opposite the Wa capital
Panghsang, some 2,000 new troops armed with anti aircraft guns, are
reported by the local Shans.

The arrival of the PLA coincided with reports of aerial exercises of MiG29
fighters newly purchased by Naypyitaw in Kengtung just 100 km south of
Panghsang.

According to the non-ceasefire Shan State Army (SSA) South, the Wa
territory is under siege by 3 Light Infantry Battalions: 99th in the
north, 55th and 33rd in the west and south, except in sectors occupied by
the United Wa State Army’s western ally the Shan State Army (SSA) North
and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA).

Apart from the UWSA, only the NDAA has requested for the extension of the
deadline. All of them, including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), are
reportedly holding emergency meetings to consider how to deal with the
Burma Army, whose vocabulary does not seem to include the word
“give-and-take”.

Some Burma watchers think recent deployments by the Burma are “just one
big bluff”.

“Why should the junta fight the Wa, knowing it will only serve to hasten
the unity between it and the SSA South,” said retired resistance commander
Pai Mong, 72. “If there is any fighting to do, it would be against the SSA
South, not against the Wa”.

The SSA South, that is active in the south, east and far north of Shan
State, has naturally placed its troops on high alert ever since LIDs 55and
33 reportedly moved into their operational areas in the south since
January.

Tension in Burma’s eastern states: Shan, Kachin, Kayah, Karen and Mon
began since the end of the May 2008 referendum on the ruling junta-drawn
constitution. Naypyitaw says since there should be only one military in
one country, all armed groups should either dissolve or become part of the
Tatmadaw (Burmese Armed Forces).

____________________________________

March 3, Mizzima
KIA in combat readiness - Phanida

Chiang Mai – Under tremendous pressure from the Burmese military junta to
transform to the Border Guard Force (BGF), the Kachin Independence Army
(KIA) is in battle readiness in the event of a military onslaught by the
Burmese Army.

The KIA is also recruiting soldiers and conducting military training.

The junta's chief negotiator on the BGF issue Military Affairs Security
(MAS) Chief Lt. Gen. Ye Myint set a deadline for  February 28 for the 
Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing,  to respond to
the thorny issue of conversion of its KIA. But KIO did not respond to this
ultimatum.

The KIO, meanwhile is holding a crucial meeting at its party headquarters
Laiza starting today. Present are leaders including 30 members of the
Central Executive Committee (CEC), who are to decide on how to respond to
the junta's demand.

"The meeting will decide on the transformation issue. They are
deliberating on how to respond to the junta's demand," a KIO Central
Committee (CC) member said.

They are trying to resolve the crisis politically but at the same time are
preparing for the worst, he added.

"We are on standby on the west from Hukoung to the India border, in the
east up to the China border, in the north our troops are on alert up to
the Tibet border and in the south, we are ready  up to the border of
Kachin State and Burma proper, " a KIA officer, who wished anonymity told
Mizzima.

KIO leaders  met the junta's delegation led by Lt. Gen. Ye Myint and
Northern Command Commander Maj. Gen. Soe Win in Myitkyina on 29 January
for the eleventh time to discuss the contentious BGF issue.

The KIO submitted a proposal to the junta saying they would like to
transform their army into the Kachin Region Guard Force (KRGF) rather than
the BGF along with other departments of theirs. They offered to surrender
arms if the junta accepts 'equality of ethnic rights' enshrined in the
historical 1947 Panlong Agreement.

The KIO formed a five-member committee with Vice-Chairman Gawri Zau Sai,
General Secretary Dr. Laja, Col. Suanlut Guam Maw, Col. Laphai La and
Capt. G Nau Ni to engage in direct negotiation with the junta on the BGF
issue.

After signing the ceasefire agreement with the junta in 1994, the regime
allowed KIO and KIA to operate in the north of Burma and control these
areas.

The agreement allowed KIO to collect taxes and levies from local jade
mines, gold mines and timber and logging business. The KIO built many
infrastructure projects such as roads, generated electricity, besides
building schools and opening clinics for the local people.

The junta has been applying tremendous pressure on all ceasefire groups to
convert their armies into the BGF but the KIO, United Wa State Army
(UWSA), Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), New Mon State Party (NMSP) and Shan
State Special Region No. 4 or Mongla group are still refusing to accept
the proposal.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

March 3, Agence France Presse
India invests $2b in Myanmar

Bangkok - India is investing US$1.35 billion (S$1.9 billion) in gas
projects in military-ruled Myanmar, the two governments have announced, as
the neighbouring nations pursue closer economic and diplomatic ties.

India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Gas Authority of India Ltd
(Gail) will spend US$1.1 billion on rights to develop two gas field blocks
and US$250 million on a connecting pipeline, India's energy ministry said
in a statement.

Myanmar's military government confirmed the gas investment in a statement
following broader diplomatic talks held with an Indian delegation on March
1 in its remote capital Naypyidaw.

Myanmar 'welcomed the additional investment of US$1.1 billion... for gas
field development and upstream projects', it said in a statement,
referring only to the gas fields deal. 'Both sides agreed to strengthen
cooperation in this field,' it said.

The other US$250-million investment gives India a 12.5-per cent stake in a
US$2-billion pipeline being built by China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC),
China's top oil producer. The first gas is expected in early 2013.

ONGC will spend US$167.8 million while Gail will invest US$83.8 million in
the 771-kilometre (480-mile) pipeline which will transport gas from the
two blocks off the Myanmar coast to China. The connected gas blocks are
jointly owned by South Korea's Daewoo, Korea Gas Corp, ONGC and Gail.
 ____________________________________

March 3, Times of India (TNN)
China builds 'international gateway' for trade with India, Bangladesh and
Myanmar - Saibal Dasgupta

Beijing - China has set out to build what a senior Communist party leader
described today as “an international gateway to South Asia”. The grandiose
plan involves trade routes connecting India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal
with three Chinese provinces.

Air China has just launched a direct flight between Chengdu in
southwestern China with Bangalore. The 5-hour flight will operate twice a
week. This is the first non-stop air link between western China and India.
Bangalore has become the fourth Indian city after New Delhi, Mumbai and
Kolkata to have direct air links with China.

China is also building a road link with Myanmar and trying to connect its
Yunnan province with Bangladesh by road. The move follows repeated
requests from Dhaka for establishing a direct trade route between the two
countries.

The proposed road from Yunnan might pass through a small part of Myanmar
before entering Bangladesh. Plans include connecting these roads with the
Kunming highway that is being built to link Yunnan with Bangkok. The
result will be a grand network of road links between Thailand, Myanmar and
Bangladesh with China’s Yunnan province at the centre.

Myanmar’s rail transportation department has already begun work on laying
a railroad connecting the country’s border town of Muse with Jie Guo in
China’s Yunnan province, sources said. A railway station will be built at
Sone Kwe village near the Lashio-Muse Union Road that passed close to the
Chinese border.

Muse accounts for 70% of the border trade conducted by Myanmar through 11
trade points along its border. The proposed rail link is expected to
vastly enlarge the commodity flow between Myanmar and China. China has
also agreed to build a land bridge to transport oil and gas from Myanmar.

These moves are besides proposals to extend the Tibet railway link to
Nepal and build an additional road link between Tibet and Nepal. China
also plans to widen the Karokoram highway between its western province of
Xingjian and Pakistan.

The Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan have been in serious
competition to build direct trade links with South Asia. Sichuan’s Chengdu
city has managed to rope in investment from Wipro and has now managed to
connect with Bangalore. Yunnan has gained in terms of border trade owing
to its geographical advantages being closer to some of the South Asian
countries.
____________________________________


March 2, Associated Pres
Vietnam Airlines launches flight from Hanoi to Myanmar's main city, Yangon
Hanoi - A Vietnam Airlines spokesman says the national carrier has
launched service between Hanoi and Yangon, the main city in Myanmar, to
help promote trade and investment ties between the two countries.

Spokesman Le Hoang Dung said Wednesday that Vietnam Airlines would operate
four flights a week — on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday — using
the 79-seat Fokker 70.

Vietnam and Myanmar are both part of the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.

____________________________________


March 4, Economic Times (India)
Burma pulses deal failure to cost India dear

New Delhi - The government may have to import pulses through small tenders
after it officially scrapped plans to procure three quarter million tonnes
of pulses from Burma. The plan, approved by an empowered group of
ministers (EGoM) in late 2009, was meant to urgently ease domestic retail
prices for dals, which had soared to a high Rs 100/kg.

Government-to-government commodity purchases work out much cheaper than
other routes but Myanmar was ready to sell more pulses to India than the
quantum the latter wanted.

The deal being discussed was over import of urad, moong and tur “at
reasonable rates.” However, the regime at Rangoon had insisted on an
advance non-US dollar cash payment of over Rs 2 billion for the imports.

The Centre was keen on using the balance of trade route, instead,
especially since advance cash payment violates G2G deal terms.

The urgency over clinching the G2G pulses import deal with Myanmar was
higher after a recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices after
which food/farm minister Sharad Pawar committed that the government would
encourage pulses imports expeditiously from anywhere in the world.
However, relying on private sector imports alone would have meant not only
importing in small quantities compared to the big buys that could be made
through a g2g agreement, but also being highly vulnerable to a significant
jump in global prices for pulses, a commodity that is traded very
minimally in the world market compared to grains such as wheat. India is
not only the world’s largest consumer and importer of pulses, but domestic
demand for pulses outstrips production of around 15 million tonnes yearly
by around three million tonnes. Myanmar produces 2.7 million tonnes of
pulses annually while the domestic consumption is only 0.5 million tonnes,
making it an ideal exporter to a pulses-thirsty India, even at a
relatively shorter notice than if they were to imported from, say, Canada,
Australia, Tanzania or the USA.

Moreover, Myanmar’s pulses do not trade prominently or regularly in the
global market, leaving them comparatively impervious to sudden
sentiment-driven hikes and dips in prices. Now, though, the Centre will
not only have to rely on imports through parastatals such as PEC, STC and
MMTC and private trade.

Last month, food minister Sharad Pawar asserted that resolving the pulses
demand-supply problem in India may be near impossible and that imports
would continue to be the key route for more than a decade hence.

According to an Assocham report, the aggregate annual growth rate of
pulses has increased by 1.4% over the last two decades and the population
rose by 1.8%. This in turn has resulted in the decline of the per capita
availability of pulses from 16 kg a year to only 12.7 kg.

A Central Statistical Organisation study has said that the per capita
income has grown by a CAGR of 6% in the past 10 years alone leading to
change in food habits of Indians and that pulses had become the key
commodity for protein consumption. Making matters worse is the sharp
increase in vegetable prices over the last several weeks, which in turn
has increased the demand for pulses.

____________________________________


March 4, The New Nation (Bangladesh)
Planning for the energy sector

Because of severe shortage of gas in the country, it makes sense to set up
at least one LNG terminal for import of gas. The same can be used to run
power plants that now remain closed down for gas shortage. The LNG
terminal will take probably less than a year to set up. But its
installation will help the generation of substantial power at the fastest
from existing plants. The proposed import of power from India will take a
longer time. Only laying structures to receive the power would take at
least two years to import only about 250 mw which is a pitance.

Power import from India is costly. Besides, it is not clear if India will
have excess power to sell even in the medium term. So, why this obsession
for importing such paltry amount of power at high costs when a beter
alternative in terms of time and the quantity of power to be produced
within the country, is LNG import Besides, if power has to be imported,
the same can come from Myanmar which already has excess power. Bringing
power from Myanmar will also likely be comparatively cheaper. Besides,
power import from Myanmar can be durable because of the availability of
surplus power.

Government has recently contracted deals for the establishment of four
large power plants with a company of Indian origin to be run also very
likely by coal imported from India. But why build power plants to run with
imported coal when Bangladesh has huge discovered coal reserves of the
clean quality? The authorities should resolve at the soonest the debate on
coal extraction and use the local coal that would be beneficial to a far
higher degree for the economy in all respects than running such plants
with imported coal.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 3, FlightGlobal
China selling MA60s to Myanmar and Sri Lanka  - Leithen Francis

The China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC)
has ordered nine MA60 transports on behalf of two Asian customers,
according to a Xian Aircraft official.

Sri Lanka will be buying six of the turboprop-powered aircraft from CATIC,
while the remaining three will go to Myanmar, says the official. The
countries are acquiring the aircraft with the help of a Chinese government
preferred loan scheme, the source adds.

Sri Lanka is to receive two of its MA60s this year, with the remainder to
be delivered in 2011, says the Xian official, with Myanmar's three to be
handed over in September. Both countries want the aircraft in a 56-seat
configuration, the official adds.

Sri Lanka's ports and aviation ministry confirms that the country is in
negotiations to buy six MA60s for the air force. Four of the MA60s will be
dedicated for use by the service, but the other two may end up at
state-owned carrier Mihin Lanka, it adds.

The Sri Lankan air force currently relies on Antonov An-32s, Lockheed
Martin C-130Ks and Chinese-built Harbin Y12s for its transport activities.

Myanmar, meanwhile, relies on ageing Fokker F27s, and is unable to source
military equipment from the West because of trade sanctions.

Both nations are close political allies of China, which has been
developing relations with them partly to act as a bulwark against its
political rival India. Chinese firms are helping to finance and build
airports, roads and other infrastructure in Sri Lanka, and Beijing often
makes soft loans to such countries.


____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL


March 2, Washington Post
White House wary of growing military ties between Burma, N. Korea - John
Pomfret

The Obama administration is concerned that Burma is expanding its military
relationship with North Korea and has launched an aggressive campaign to
convince Burma's junta to stop buying North Korean military technology,
U.S. officials said.

Concerns about the relationship -- which encompass the sale of small arms,
missile components and, most worryingly, possible nuclear-weapons-related
technology -- helped prompt the Obama administration last October to end
the Bush-era policy of isolating the military junta, said a senior State
Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the
sensitivity of the subject.

So far, senior U.S. officials have had four meetings with their Burmese
counterparts, with a fifth one expected soon. "Our most decisive
interactions have been around North Korea," the official said. "We've been
very clear to Burma. We'll see over time if it's been heard."

Criticism and questions have mounted from Congress and human rights
organizations over the administration's new policy toward the Southeast
Asian nation, which is also known as Myanmar. Rep. Howard L. Berman
(D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and
generally a supporter of the administration's foreign policy, has recently
called for the administration to increase the pressure on Burma, including
tightening the sanctions that the United States has imposed on the regime.

"Recent events have raised the profile of humanitarian issues there,"
Berman said Friday. "Support is growing for more action in addition to
ongoing efforts."

Thus far, the engagement policy has not yielded any change in Burma's
treatment of domestic opponents. On Friday, Burma's supreme court rejected
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's latest bid to end more than a decade
of house arrest. The Nobel Peace prize laureate's National League for
Democracy won elections in 1990, but the military, which has ruled Burma
since 1962, did not cede power.

In recent months, the junta has also ramped up repression against
political dissidents and ethnic groups, although it has released one aging
dissident -- U Tin Oo -- after almost seven years in detention. Thousands
of people have fled Burmese military assaults into China, Bangladesh and
Thailand in the months following the U.S. opening. A report issued this
week by the Karen Women Organization alleged that Burmese troops have
gang-raped, murdered and even crucified Karen women as the soldiers have
attempted to root out a 60-year-old insurgency by guerrillas of that
ethnic minority.

On Feb. 10, a Burmese court sentenced a naturalized Burmese American
political activist from Montgomery County to three years of hard labor,
and allegedly beat him, denied him food and water, and placed him in
isolation in a tiny cell with no toilet. Burma recently snubbed the United
Nations' special envoy on human rights, Tomas Ojea Quintana, denying him a
meeting with Suu Kyi and access to Burma's senior leadership.

"The bad behavior has increased," said Ernie Bower, an expert on Southeast
Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Nevertheless, U.S. officials argue -- and Bower and others agree -- that
talking with Burma still is the best way forward, especially given the
concerns about Burma's deepening military relationship with North Korea.
It is also important to keep talking with Burma, said Sen. James Webb
(D-Va.), because China is more than willing to replace U.S. influence in
Burma and throughout Southeast Asia. Webb's trip to Burma last August --
the first by a member of Congress in a decade -- has been credited with
giving the Obama administration the political cover to open up talks with
the junta.

Underlining the administration's concerns with Burma is a desire to avoid
a repeat of events that unfolded in Syria in 2007. North Korea is believed
to have helped to secretly built a nuclear reactor there capable of
producing plutonium. It was reportedly only weeks or months away from
being functional before Israeli warplanes bombed it in September of that
year.

"The lesson here is the Syrian one," said David Albright, president of the
non-governmental Institute for Science and International Security and an
expert on nuclear proliferation. "That was such a massive intelligence
failure. You can't be sure that North Korea isn't doing it someplace else.
The U.S. government can't afford to be blindsided again."

Burma is believed to have started a military relationship with North Korea
in 2007. But with the passage of a U.N. Security Council resolution last
June banning all weapons exports from North Korea, Burma has emerged "as a
much bigger player than it was," the senior American official said.

In a report Albright co-wrote in January titled "Burma: A Nuclear
Wannabe," he outlined the case for concern about Burma's relations with
North Korea. First, Burma has already signed a deal with Russia for the
supply of a 10-megawatt thermal research reactor, although no construction
of the research center had started as of September 2009. Second, although
there are many unverified claims from dissident groups about covert
nuclear sites in Burma, the report said "there remain legitimate reasons
to suspect the existence of undeclared nuclear activities in Burma,
particularly in the context of North Korean cooperation."

The report noted that the same company that aided the Syrians in
constructing their nuclear facility is active in Burma. The company,
Namchongang Trading (NCG), is sanctioned by U.N. Security Council. It is
unclear what exactly NCG is doing in Burma, the report said, but its
presence there "is bound to increase suspicions about such a sale."

In June 2009, Japanese authorities cracked a case that involved the sale
of a magnetometer and other sensitive equipment that could be used to
develop or manufacture nuclear weapons -- from a Beijing-based North
Korean trading company to Burma.

Finally, the senior U.S. official noted that starting about eight years
ago, a large number of Burmese students were going to Russia to study in
nuclear-related fields. "It's not just dozens, it's hundreds," he said.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASES/OTHER

Nobel Women’s Initiative
Women’s League of Burma

For immediate release to media

March 3, 2010, 10 am EST

International Tribunal on Burma Calls for End to Impunity of Military Regime

Nobel Peace Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams – along with human
rights experts
Dr. Heisoo Shin (Korea) and Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn (Thailand) – today
released the
findings and recommendations developed during the International Tribunal
on Crimes
Against Women of Burma held this week in New York City. The
quasi‐legal event featured
compelling testimony – the first ever – of 12 women from Burma who have
suffered rape,
torture, and other crimes at the hands of the military junta. The event
highlighted the
egregious human rights crimes, including rape as a weapon of war, and
called for
policymakers to demand a last resort: the International Criminal Court.

“Women should no longer be invisible when crimes are committed against
them with
impunity,” said Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. “The
history of
violence and oppression of women in Burma is long and sordid—and must come
to an end.”
A few of the women who testified are colleagues of Aung San Suu Kyi, the
leader of the
opposition, still under house arrest and a prisoner of General Than Shwe.
Than Shwe is the
war criminal who has reigned terror over the people of Burma for decades.
World leaders
have rallied in support of her freedom countless times since her Nobel
Peace Prize award in
1991, passing UN resolutions almost annually and demanding the release of
her and other
political prisoners. But these cries have fallen on deaf ears, with the
international
community failing to hold General Shwe and his cronies criminally
responsible. The
resulting impunity has given the ruling generals of Burma even more
license to escalate
their power and continue to inflict violence on the people of Burma.

“We live in globalized world, which means that Burma cannot do whatever it
wants to its
people within its own walls,” said Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2003.
“Globalization is effective when it helps bring an end to injustice. The
international
community cannot stand by and let other countries to use their sovereignty
to commit
atrocities against their own people.”

The purpose of the Tribunal was to spotlight the oppression of women of
Burma in order to
encourage policymakers and political leaders to take specific action now.
There has never
been a call to refer Burma to the International Criminal Court. The women
Nobel Laureates
have joined with the Women’s League of Burma to highlight the systemic use
of rape and
other forms of violence against ethnic women in Burma. The Women’s League
of Burma is
an umbrella organization comprising thirteen women’s organizations of
different ethnic
backgrounds in Burma.

The women who testified now live in Thailand, Bangladesh, the US and
Canada and traveled
to New York to tell their personal stories and those of their families.
Their stories include a
range of horrific human rights violations and crimes. Testimony was
organized into three
categories: violence against women (rape, sexual violence, trafficking),
civil and political
violations (torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, harassment), and
social, economic and
cultural violations (forced labor, portering, relocation). Violence
against women in Burma
is often ethnically motivated, particularly minority groups such as the
Karen who have been
brutally persecuted by the military regime.

The following are the recommendations of the Tribunal:

Recommendations to the international community, particularly the United
Nations:
• Urge States to take collective action to ensure the implementation of
Security
Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, and 1889 guaranteeing women’s full
participation in post‐conflict reconstruction, and freedom from all
forms of sexual
violence.

• Strongly urge the UN Security Council to refer Burma to the International
Criminal Court.

• Call upon United Nations member States to fulfill their obligations to
exercise
universal jurisdiction and to prosecute through their national tribunals
perpetrators
of the crimes against the civilian population of Burma, including women.
• Ask United Nations agencies with a presence in Burma to increase their
work in
promoting and protecting human rights.

• Call upon the United Nations Security Council to take effective measures
against
state authorities on the basis of the responsibility of the state to
protect its people
from egregious human rights violations (Responsibility to Protect Doctrine).

• Urge the United Nations system to take measures to ensure that the Burmese
authorities comply with international human rights standards and
international
humanitarian law.

Recommendations to Burma’s military regime:

• Stop all forms of violence against women. “End the intimidation,
harassment,
arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention, torture, and degrading treatment
against
women [and all] political prisoners; [and] respect and adhere to the
principles and
norms of the international [criminal and] human rights standards,
particularly
Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against
Women...”

• Stop attacks and persecution against ethnic nationalities and groups.

• Release immediately and unconditionally all political prisoners.

• Grant access to United Nations agencies and non‐governmental
humanitarian
groups to ensure that women, in particular, are assisted effectively.

• Provide access to and cooperate with United Nations agencies and human
rights
organizations to monitor human rights within Burma.

• Ratify all human rights treaties, including ICCPR and ICESCR, and
implement them
effectively.

• Abide by rules of customary international law, such as the prohibitions
against
torture, slavery, and violence against women and children.

• Ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, reform and
implement
domestic legislation accordingly.

• Establish an effective process for dialogue between different
stakeholders including
democracy groups, ethnic minorities/nationalities, and concerned
authorities with
emphasis on women’s participation in the pursuit of democracy.

• Revise the constitution, particularly the amnesty provisions, and other
national laws
in an inclusive and participatory manner, engaging all stakeholders including
women, to ensure consistency with international legal obligations and
human rights
standards.

• Establish effective judicial mechanisms and other processes to establish
accountability and provide adequate remedies for international crimes and
human
rights violations to end impunity.

• Build human‐centered national development plans and processes that
respond to
women’s human rights bearing in mind the special needs of rural women, and
allocate national resources fairly and equitably for this purpose.

Recommendations to the Asia Pacific region (including ASEAN, bilateral and
other
channels):

• Call upon ASEAN through its Summit of Heads of Government to impel Burma to
apply effective and time‐limited measures to comply with the ASEAN
Charter and
international legal obligations and human rights standards.

• Invite the ASEAN Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission to submit
thematic
reports covering particular issues related to Burma.

• Bearing in mind the ASEAN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
Against
Women and various declarations on children’s rights in the region, to
which Burma
has subscribed, support the establishment of the ASEAN Commission for the
Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children, including
consideration of the situation in Burma.

• Call upon the various partners of ASEAN and other regional bodies and
states
engaging with Burma to influence constructive changes in the country.

• Prohibit trade with Burma involving goods produced through forced labor,
as well
as oil, gas, and electricity generated as a result of forced relocations.

• Take effective cross‐border measures to prevent and punish human
trafficking, in
particular that of women and children, and to offer gender and child
sensitive
measures to protect and assist those victimized by trafficking.

• Respect the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons, protect
them from
violence, abuse, and exploitation, and forced repatriation, which violates
the
international principle of nonrefoulement,
and ensure the application of basic
standards of international law.

Recommendations to civil society:

• Continue to actively engage with the peoples of Burma inside and outside
of the country.

• Mobilize public pressure at the international, regional and
national/local levels to raise
consciousness of the crimes and violations being committed by the Burmese
military
regime against the peoples of Burma, especially women and children.

• Demand that their governments and the relevant organs of the United
Nations, including
the Security Council, take action to implement the recommendations of this
Tribunal to
ensure the transition of Burma to genuine and legitimate democracy, human
rights, peace
and sustainable human- and women-centered development.

• Civil society organizations working on human rights, international
humanitarian
assistance, and issues relating to Burma work together in a Committee of
Inquiry for
deliberation regarding the situation in Burma with the purpose of coming
to a joint
declaration on the situation in that country and / or a coordinated plan
of action in support
of democracy in Burma.

For more information, and to arrange interviews, please contact us:
• Rachel Vincent: Mobile: + 1-613-276-9030,
rvincent at nobelwomensinitiative.org
• Kimberley MacKenzie: +1-908-342-0160, kmackenzie at nobelwomensinitiative.org
• Kieran Bergmann: +1-613-569-8400 ext. 115,
kbergmann at nobelwomensinitiative.org


____________________________________

March 3, Huffington Post
Q&A: Burma VJ so Powerful a Documentary it Garners an Oscar Nom - Brad
Balfour


When Danish documentarian Anders Østergaard took on the challenge to make
Burma VJ, he had no idea how much he would advance the cause of citizen
journalism. A collective of 30 anonymous and underground video journalists
(VJs), The Democratic Voice of Burma, recorded the 100,000+ protestors
(including thousands of Buddhist monks) who took to the streets in 2007 to
protest the repressive junta that has controlled the country for over 40
years.

Since foreign news crews were barred from Mynamar (as the regime renamed
Burma), the internet was shut down, and domestic reporters were banned
unless employed by the state, they used handycams, or cellphones, to
document these historic and dramatic events; they then smuggled the
footage out of the country. Broadcast worldwide via satellite, these VJs
risked torture and imprisonment to show the brutal clashes with the
military and undercover police - even after they themselves became targets
of the authorities.

Using this smuggled footage offered for free usage to the international
media, this 40-something filmmaker tells the story of those 2007 protests
and briskly shows how the Burma VJs stopped at nothing to make their
reports with dramatic results. As the director assembled this raw footage,
made on cell phones and other digital devices -- and sent through these
clandestine electronic channels -- they marked a new step in freedom of
expression and he has stirred a media pot that is now percolating in other
global trouble spots such as Iran. The protestors there also captured the
unvarnished images and reports of their actions and their government's
violent reaction through digital channels.

Previously Østergaard had helmed films about pop culture covering such
subjects as the Scandinavian rock band Gasolin' and the Belgian cartoon
classic Tin Tin. Ironically, with Burma VJ he covered another pop culture
expression -- the use of digital technology to create user-generated
content -- to document a major political act of defiance. The results have
paid off in various accolades from a 2009 Sundance Grand Jury prize to an
Oscar nom for Best Feature Doc.

In fact, this exclusive interview itself was done through the cutting edge
technology of Skype-- so once again the digital domain advances another
journalistic expression.

Q: The human rights abuses in Burma doesn't seem to be on the radar like
some other issues. Are you a little surprised that the film has garnered
this support? What do you think made it click?

AO: I think the uniqueness of the material that these reporters gathered.
This unique access and this very dramatic portrait of an uprising which
they've managed to pass on to the world. I also think some of our own
decisions play a role; our deliberate decision to tell this story as a
suspense story, using all the cinematic tools needed for that, which I
think was a good choice for the film.

Q: How did you contact the Burmese people? Was there someone who was your
liaison, or was it someone you knew from Denmark? What was the connection?

AO: It was pretty straightforward. Once we decided that we wanted to work
with this we got in touch with the Democratic Voice of Burma in Oslo,
which is basically a satellite tv and radio station, and explained our
interest and they were very forthcoming. They needed the attention, I
guess they trusted us, so they sent us to Bangkok to meet 12 of those
reporters who were coming out of training.

Q: Are they paranoid that someone might be an agent of the government?

AO: They're used to this. I think their biggest worry is that one of their
recruits would be an agent. They deal with this all the time and I'm sure
they made their investigations.

Q: When you made this film what was your hope or your original
expectations for it? Do you think you can change society with it?

AO: Oh absolutely not. I wasn't too focused on purpose as such. I tend to
go so deep into the storytelling in itself that that's what really drives
me and I don't think too much about the function afterwards.

Of course, I can see from the old pictures that I tried to say that I
wanted to make the Burmese condition tangible, so that you could feel it
and smell it, and I guess that was my ambition, to take it beyond the
abstract interest in some other country and just be there. And that was
what I was totally committed to when I put the film together; I didn't
speculate too much on the aftermath of what might come out of this
politically.

Q: You had so many different people involved; who did you consider your
critical liaison? Who was the one gentleman that you had with you in the
States that was working with you from Burma?

AO: That was very obvious to me when I met Joshua, because first of all he
wasn't scared. Understandably, most of these guys would be already very
paranoid about what they were doing, so having a foreign film crew on top
of that was just too much, obviously. Joshua had this kind of fearless
attitude to everything, and he also had an intuitive understanding of how
to explain Burma; he's an excellent communicator.

And he has also a mix of qualities that intrigued me. He was on the one
hand this cheeky young guy looking for challenges and really enjoying his
cat and mouse game with the police sometimes. And on the other hand, kind
of a reflective, philosophical guy, who could also look back and explain
the Burmese condition in a very deep way. So I was just intrigued by his
qualities as a storyteller.

Q: How did you and producer Lise Lense-Møller define your roles? You
obviously have the directing experience, so how did she come in as
producer?

AO: Very much in the European tradition, I would say, in pretty much
keeping hands off the creative business but making sure to give solid
financial support. For instance, we needed some extra time, and she had
the guts to let that happen even though she was under considerable
economic pressure. So her contribution is mainly securing the financial
circumstances. Creatively, she would be less involved than some other
people.

Q: Were there moments when you were worried that this wouldn't happen? It
must have been touch-and-go as to whether you had enough stuff that would
make a film, and whether it would look right. Was there a point where
anybody was in danger?

AO: Security of course was a big issue all the time and made some
restrictions to what we could do. We tried to work creatively with that;
we tried to make a virtue out of necessity. How can we work with people
when we can't see their faces? That led us to phone conversations as a
leading tool for the film. Otherwise, just sorting out the chaos; the
material came in a pretty confused way where we wouldn't know who'd shot
what and when, so we had to piece all that together first before we could
start telling the story.

Q: When did you know you had a movie that would work?

AO: I think I was struck quite early on by the uniqueness of the material,
the very straightforward demonstration of the regime's brutality. But also
the happy moments, the optimism of the early days of the uprising, when
everybody was coming out in the streets, I think they managed to capture
that beautifully, if you consider the circumstances. These were guys who
could barely pay for the bus ticket.

Q: How much information did you decide to put in or not put in? how much
do you reveal or not reveal about the regime and Burma's history? How much
do you assume that people know, understand or are passionate about?

AO: Much of these decisions are made by instinct, by the kind of director
you are, the kind of storyteller you are. And as I said before, the number
one thing for me was to make people experience the Burmese condition, to
feel it, to sense it, the whole visceral thing about it. So that led
obviously to me being very, very restrictive about me spending time on
history, on more than just the absolutely necessary information.

Q: Do you hope some day you'll be able to go to Burma without having to be
under scrutiny?

AO: That would be the greatest strength.

Q: Of the many people you've talked to, what are their expectations?

AO: Well interestingly, in my experience the most optimistic people are
the Burmese, and that's a curious thing. I don't know if it's because of
their Buddhist education, but they seem to be the most patient and the
most convinced that some day that this regime will fall. The uprising of
2007 was a tragedy, but it was also a reminder of what people are actually
able to do and how they're able to battle their own fears.

Q: Was there any one person in the film that you consider the key to
getting the film?

AO: Joshua, meeting Joshua. That was a critical thing, to have somebody
who was able to give his voice to this, and to bridge any cultural gaps
and make it such a smooth and happy collaboration, to me that's a crucial
thing. And also, some of the other guys also had these qualities actually.
So basically the VJs.

Q: Do you know of anybody that had a chance to speak to Aung San Suu Kyi?

AO: We'll see; there are some complications to that.

Q: How did making this film affect you personally?

AO: Well it made me very busy. Putting a film together like this, first of
all is hard work, and you're so focused on doing it right that you really
don't spend much time feeling a lot of stuff. Just dealing with this huge
responsibility really takes up most of your energy. But of course, I think
what made the biggest impression on me was to watch the uplifting footage,
the hopeful early days, this moves me just as much as it seems to have
moved the audience.

Q: In your one week in Burma what did you see there that you hope tourists
will one day be able to see?

AO: It's a gem; it's one of the most beautiful countries in the East. Also
actually, ironically, because of the regime things have been preserved in
a way quite different from, for instance, Thailand. It also is in terrible
decay, but the millions of pagodas, the lush green trees of Rangoon. First
of all the people are very mild mannered and gentle and they're wonderful
people.

Q: Have you had an interest in other countries in South East Asia?

AO: Not too much. I'm not an expert on Burma or on Asia as such. I've done
a little bit of traveling in Indonesia, but nothing that would really put
me in a special position. I came to this as a filmmaker more than anything
else.

Q: I've met a number of the Burma refugees here in the States. It's a
tough struggle. I don't know who has it worse; the Tibetans or them.

AO: It's pretty bleak for both of these peoples. It's a good fortune that
they're both Buddhists because it helps them a lot, clearly.

BB: One other really fascinating aspect to the film is your exploitation
of the contemporary technology. Your movie couldn't have existed a few
years ago. When you step back and think abut the implications of that,
that must have interesting ramifications in your head.

AO: Sure.

Q: What are your thoughts on this.

AO: Of course a film is not just about Burma, it's also a celebration of
citizen journalism as such. And telling people that technology is not
always a bad thing; there's a tendency to think that cameras or something
that's going to watch you, that Big Brother is going to watch you. But it
actually can also be Little Brother watching the tyrants, which I think is
a positive note. Basically, I'm every optimistic about technology, I
believe in that kind of thing, I believe in progress through technology,
so I'm happy it's a celebration of that too.

Q: You obviously have to be emotionally committed when you make a movie
like this but at the same time where do you draw the line as to how you
continue to be committed or not. Obviously, you're going to go on to do
other things after the Oscars, but then you say to yourself, "Well, do I
need to come back to it, to continue to worry about what's going on in
Burma?" Where do you draw the line?

AO: Well I draw it just around the Oscar, actually. I hope this will be
the end of my story with this at least. Of course personally I will always
be attached to the issue on some level; you don't just quit that. I made a
lot of friends in Burmese circles and so on. But professionally, I expect
this to be the finale of almost one and a half years of touring with this
film.

Q: Of all the people you've met from Sundance on, who's been most exciting
to you?

AO: To be honest I think what made the greatest impression on me was going
to places like 10 Downing Street and being welcomed. It felt very natural
to be there and to present this film, and that people connected to it so
easily, that was great.

Q: Did you meet President Obama?

AO: No, I never met Obama. But of course this leaves a huge impression.
Otherwise, what touches me most about this, is when I get, for instance
recently I got a picture from New Delhi, from a open-air screening on a
street corner in New Delhi organized by some local Tibetans. So they were
sitting there in the street watching "Burma VJ" and the street was packed.
Traffic stopped; they were all just sitting there and totally engulfed
with it. They tell me that this has helped to bring Tibetan and Burmese
exiles more together in India and those are the stories that really touch
you.

Q: Are you looking forward to the Oscar parties? Whether you win or lose
you get to go to the Oscar parties.

AO: I guess so. I don't know what to look forward to but it seems to be
pretty intense.

Q: When you've gone to Oscar events like the nominees' lunch, there's got
to be somebody you're really excited to meet. Give me a fan moment.

AO: It was a great moment to say hello to Danny Ellsberg. Even though it's
not my country's history that was nice. Otherwise, I wouldn't say meeting
any specific person, but what I really enjoyed about that lunch was this
kind of collegial atmosphere, like we were making this class photo. There
was a sense that superstars would mingle with other members of the film
industry without any sense of difference. Everybody knew that film is hard
work and we share this hard work, we share this effort, and we share this
commitment to the medium. So that was very pure and nice, the atmosphere.

Q: What's next?

AO: I've barely had a chance to build up a new film because I've been so
busy with this for a long time. So that's actually what I'm hoping to get
started thinking about once this is finished.

Q: It will be something stylistically different?

AO: Oh yeah it might be entirely different. I just follow whatever story
fascinates me.

____________________________________

Media Release From Burma Campaign UK

For Immediate Release 3rd March 2010

Zoya Phan Honoured As Young Global Leader By World Economic Forum

Zoya Phan, International Coordinator at Burma Campaign UK, has been
honoured as a Young Global leader by the World Economic Forum, famous for
its annual meeting of world and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland.

Each year the World Economic Forum recognizes up to 200 people who are
under the age of 40 for “their professional accomplishments, commitment to
society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.”

Drawn from a pool of almost 5,000 candidates, the Young Global Leaders
2010 were chosen by a selection committee chaired by H.M. Queen Rania Al
Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and comprised of eminent
international media leaders.

Announcing the awards, the World Economic Forum stated: “The 2010
honourees will become part of the broader Forum of Young Global Leaders
community that currently comprises 660 outstanding individuals. The YGLs
convene at an annual summit – this year it will be in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania, 2-7 May 2010, the first time in Africa and the largest ever
gathering of YGLs – as well as at Forum events and meetings throughout the
year. These events enable YGLs to build a strong and diverse community, to
engender a better understanding of the global and regional agendas and to
engage in initiatives to address specific challenges of public interest.”

“It is a great encouragement to see such a respected body give recognition
of the struggle for freedom and justice in Burma,” said Zoya Phan. “I am
delighted and honoured to have been chosen, and hope that it will enable
me to do more to raise the profile of the situation in Burma.”

To interview Zoya Phan call 44(0)7738630139.