BurmaNet News, March 9, 2010

[Editor]

March 9, 2010, Issue #3912


INSIDE BURMA
BBC News: Burma rulers to 'hand-pick' election commission
Mizzima News: NLD will stick with Shwegondaing Declaration, says Win Tin
New Light of Myanmar: Union Election Commission Law, Political Parties
Registration Law, Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law, Amyotha Hluttaw Election
Law, Region Hluttaw or State Hluttaw Election Law issued

ON THE BORDER
VOA: Rights group: Bangladesh forcing Burmese Muslims into 'starvation' camps
Irrawaddy: Border conflict could last 'many more years,' TBBC warns

BUSINESS / TRADE
ISNA: Iran and Myanmar to expand multilateral cooperation

DRUGS
VOA: Narco report on Burma

REGIONAL
Bernama (Malaysia): Six Myanmar nationals freed of murder charge

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Ramos-Horta launches Burma petition

OPINION / OTHER
AHRC: Authorities persecute political opponents ahead of announced election
Asia Times: 'Bless you Mr. Obama' on Myanmar – Stanley A Weiss

PRESS RELEASE
Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Burma Info: CSW & Burma Info return
from Thailand-Burma border with fresh evidence of crimes against humanity
Karen Communities Worldwide: Call for action to stop attacks on civilians





____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 9, BBC News
Burma rulers to 'hand-pick' election commission – Rachel Harvey

Bangkok – The first details of Burma's newly enacted election laws have
been published in state-controlled media.

Burma's military government announced on Monday that the long awaited laws
had been passed - a crucial step.

No date for the poll has been set, but the ruling generals have promised
that it will be sometime this year.

Critics say the elections, the first to be held in Burma for 20 years,
will be a sham designed to entrench the military's grip on power.

There are five election laws in total and so far the details of the first,
concerning the election commission, have been made public.

Integrity

There are few surprises and little comfort for pro-democracy campaigners.

The commission itself will be hand-picked by the current military
government, and its decisions will be final.

Each member of the election body must be at least 50 years old, be deemed
by the ruling generals to be a person of integrity, and not a member of
any political party.

Critics fear that in effect, that means the election commission will be
staffed by military loyalists.

The details of four more laws will be published in the coming days.

They focus on the two new houses of parliament, the polls for regional and
state elections and the registration of political parties.

The details of the new laws will be carefully scrutinised for any sign
that Burma's first election for two decades could be more transparent and
representative than many fear.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently wrote to the
head of the Burmese military government to express his concern about the
credibility of the vote and the process leading up to it.

____________________________________

March 9, Mizzima News
NLD will stick with Shwegondaing Declaration, says Win Tin – Phanida

Chiang Mai – Win Tin, senior leader of Burma's main opposition party the
National League for Democracy told Mizzima today that although Burma's
military government has begun issuing laws concerning this year's national
election, his party will maintain its stand that the regime must recognize
that the NLD won Burma's last election.

"The result of the 1990 election must be recognized. That was one of the
resolutions from the Shwegondaing Declaration. The result has to be
recognized by one way or another. Our political stand and demand is the
same as mentioned in the declaration", said Win Tin who is also a member
of NLD's Central Executive Committee.  wintin-nld-party1

The Shwegondaing Declaration issued by the NLD on the 29th April 2009
demands that the Burmese military regime release all political prisoners,
recognize the results of the 1990 election, review the 2008 constitution
and begin dialogue with NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Burma's ruling military regime ignored the NLD's demands and instead is
moving forward with this year's planned election. Today the regime issued
a potentially restrictive Election Commission law that would severely
limit the ability of main opposition party NLD to participate in
elections. The regime has also indicated that over the next few days they
will issue more election related laws.

The law for the election commission also abolished the previous election
commission that oversaw the 1990 elections. Win Tin maintains that the
result of the 1990 election, in which the NLD won 392 parliamentary seats
out of a total of 485 seats, is not changed by the new law.

According to Win Tin, the NLD will decide whether or not to take part in
this year's election if the military regime recognizes the result of the
1990 election.  Win Tin, now 81-years old was released in September 2008
after serving 19 years in prison, much of the time spent in solitary
confinement.

According to Thailand based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
- Burma (AAPPB), there are more than 2100 political prisoners presently
jailed in Burma, including more than 430 members of Win Tin's NLD.

Mizzima has received an advanced copy of the law for the registration of
political parties that will likely be released tomorrow.  The law bans
anyone serving in jail from forming political parties or even becoming a
member of a political party. This clause effectively bars a large number
of the regime's political opponents.  The party registration law also
stipulates that national party must have at least 1000 members and 15
founding members.  Regional Parties must have at least 500 members.

Under the law a political party must be registered with the election
commission within 60 days of the March 8 national election commission
law's official proclamation. A party also must contest at least three
parliamentary seats in order to avoid de-registration.

Dr Tuja, leader of the Kachin State Progressive Party, which has agreed to
take part in the 2010 election, believes that when the Burmese government
issued a new Election Commission law the results of the 1990 election were
automatically voided.

"This newly promulgated law for Election Commission has abolished the
SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council)'s Election Commission that
was promulgated in 1988. It automatically abolishes the NLD's demand to
recognize the 1990 election result", Dr Tuja told Mizzima.

Others observers strongly disagree, Naing Tin Aung from the Mon Democracy
Party, argues that irrespective of the new election laws the Burmese
military government needs to release all political prisoners and amend the
2008 constitution.

"We will consider whether to participate in the elections or not only
after necessary preparations are met. An election can be held only after
the constitution is amended based on democratic norms. A majority of
people do not accept the constitution in its present form", he told
Mizzima in a phone interview.

The new constitution which guarantees a permanent role for the military in
national affairs was approved by what many agree was a sham referendum
held just a few days after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma's delta areas and
Rangoon in May 2008.  Independent observers and political opponents of the
regime widely criticized the constitution as "undemocratic" because it
ensures that 25 % of the seats in parliament are reserved for military
personnel appointed by the military's supreme commander.  The constitution
also contains a clause that would prevent Aung San Suu Kyi from serving in
government because she was married to a foreigner.

____________________________________

March 9, New Light of Myanmar
Union Election Commission Law, Political Parties Registration Law, Pyithu
Hluttaw Election Law, Amyotha Hluttaw Election Law, Region Hluttaw or
State Hluttaw Election Law issued

Nay Pyi Taw – The State Peace and Development Council today issued the
Union Election Commission Law under the Law No. 1/2010 of the SPDC of the
Union of Myanmar, the Political Parties Registration Law under the Law No.
2/2010 of the SPDC of the Union of Myanmar, the Pyithu Hluttaw Election
Law under the Law No. 3/2010 of the SPDC of the Union of Myanmar, the
Amyotha Hluttaw Election Law under the Law No. 4/2010 of the SPDC of the
Union of Myanmar, and the Region Hluttaw or State Hluttaw Election Law
under the Law No. 5/2010 of the SPDC.

The said laws will be inserted as supplements in the dailies as of 9
March, and the books of the laws will be published. – MNA

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

March 9, Voice of America
Rights group: Bangladesh forcing Burmese Muslims into 'starvation' camps

A U.S.-based rights group says Bangladesh has forced tens of thousands of
ethnic Rohingya Muslims from neighboring Burma into makeshift camps where
they face starvation.

In a report published Tuesday, Physicians for Human Rights describes the
Bangladeshi camps as "open air prisons" for unregistered Rohingya
refugees.  It says they are starving because Bangladesh's government has
blocked aid groups from providing food to the camps.

Thousands of Rohingya people have crossed from northern Burma's Rakhine
state into Bangladesh in recent years, many fleeing unrest.

Bangladesh is home to an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 Rohingya people but
only recognizes 28,000 of them as refugees and calls the others economic
migrants who must be repatriated.

Physicians for Human Rights says Bangladesh has been waging a campaign of
arbitrary arrest, forced internment and illegal expulsion of Rohingya
people to Burma in recent weeks.  Bangladesh says allegations of
ill-treatment of the Rohingya are "baseless and malicious."

The rights group says Bangladesh is cracking down on Rohingya people in an
apparent attempt to dissuade others from crossing the border ahead of
elections that Burma's military has promised to hold this year.

____________________________________

March 9, Irrawaddy
Border conflict could last 'many more years,' TBBC warns – Saw Yan Naing

The Burmese Constitution's failure to address “ethnic aspirations” could
mean that conflict in the border areas would continue for “many more years
to come,” according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC).

In its latest report, the humanitarian agency—which oversees aid for nine
refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border—said the conflict had become a
“peripheral issue” because of the international attention now commanded by
the 2010 election.

“Whilst everyone hopes that the general election will indeed lead to
meaningful change, the new constitution does not address ethnic
aspirations and conflict could go on for many more years to come,” the
report said.

“There was a danger that ethnic conflict in the border areas, remote from
Rangoon, might increasingly become the 'side-show.'” the report added.
It warned that a “major emergency” was possible if the Burmese regime
decided to “push for an early military solution.”

The TBBC report said last year had been a difficult one for the
organization, which works with a tight budget to care for hundreds of
thousands of Burmese refugees and internally displaced people. This year's
operating budget amounts to 1,230 million baht (US $37 million).

According to relief groups in Burma's Karen State, recent military action
by government troops and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army in Taungoo and
Papun District had caused more than 2,000 Karen villages to flee and hide
in the jungle.

The government troops are from Light Infantry Battalions 421, 427, 434,
702 and 704, 434. They were accused by the Committee for Internally
Displaced Karen People of attacking villages with mortars and killing
civilians.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

March 9, Iran Student News Agency
Iran and Myanmar to expand multilateral cooperation

Tehran – Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Myanmar's Deputy
Foreign Minister met and conferred on the expansion of political,
commercial and cultural interrelations.

Meeting Boomang Myth, Mottaki emphasized on more functional cooperation
and said, joint economic commission, tourism and fundamental agreements
for common investment are steps to take for improving of the level of
interrelations.

Iran and Myanmar are to expand bilateral relations on different fields
including energy, oil, gas, and agricultural products as well as
technical, scientific and academic cooperation.

Deputy of Myanmar's Foreign Minister, on his part, expressed Myanmar's
will to expand political, commercial and cultural cooperation with Iran.

____________________________________
DRUGS

March 9, Voice of America
Narco report on Burma

According to the 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report,
Burma is the world's second largest producer of illicit opium.

According to the 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report,
Burma is the world's second largest producer of illicit opium. 
Eradication efforts and implementation of poppy-free zones by hill tribe
growers reduced cultivation levels dramatically between 1998 and 2006. 
But in 2007, a significant resurgence of cultivation occurred and in 2008,
the upward trend in cultivation and production continued.

The overall decline in poppy cultivation in Burma since 1996 has been
accompanied by a sharp increase in the local production and export of
synthetic drugs. Opium, heroin, and amphetamine-type substances are
produced predominantly in the border regions of Shan State and in areas
controlled by ethnic minority groups.

The International Narcotics Control Strategy Report notes that Burmese law
enforcement officials have achieved successes in 2009.  Seizures are up,
including nearly thirteen-fold increase in the seizure of methamphetamine
tablets and sharp upward spikes in the amounts of precursor chemical
seized.

In order for the reduction in poppy cultivation to be sustainable, a true
opium replacement strategy must combine a range of counternarcotics
actions, including crop eradication and effective law enforcement
alternative development options, support for former poppy farmers, and
openness to outside assistance.  To reach its goals of eradicating all
narcotics production and trafficking by 2014, the Burmese government must
seek to cooperate closely with the ethnic groups currently involved in
drug production and trafficking.

The International Narcotics Control Strategy Report also calls on Burma to
consider effective new steps to address the explosion of amphetamine-type
substances and production and trafficking from Burmese territory by
gaining closer cooperation from ethnic groups.

Increased international assistance could complement Burma's efforts in
reducing drug production and trafficking in Burma.  But direct provision
of assistance to the Burmese government by many donors, including the
United States, is contingent on meaningful democratic change.  The U.S.
suspended direct counternarcotics assistance to Burma in 1988 when the
military overturned the democratic election of the National League for
Democracy.  Now is the time for the military regime of Burma to respect
the voice of its people and allow a democratic transition to begin.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 9, Bernama (Malaysia)
Six Myanmar nationals freed of murder charge

Kuala Lumpur – Six Myanmar nationals were acquitted and discharged by the
High Court here today for the murder of their countryman three years ago.

Judge Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, in his judgment, said the
identification of the six accused was most unsatisfactory and therefore,
it was not safe to call them for defence.

"The prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case against all the
accused and, therefore, they are acquitted and discharged without calling
for their defence," he added.

In the dock were Van Duh Chung, 26; Hassan Ali Juhar, 21; Mohd Abbas Mohd
Hussain, 22; Nur Alan Hussain, 24,; Yusof, 36, and Kokoo Ibrahim, 22.

The were alleged to have committed the offence at a house at Jalan Batu
Hampar, Taman Batu View, Jalan Ipoh, about 5am on Dec 25, 2007.

Deputy public prosecutor Yaacob Cik appeared for the prosecution, while
lawyers K. Vikneswaran and Ameenuddin Ibrahim represented all the accused.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

March 9, Irrawaddy
Ramos-Horta launches Burma petition – Simon Roughneen

Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has launched a worldwide petition
for democracy in Burma, which also calls for the release of Aung San Suu
Kyi ahead of the election due sometime in 2010.

Speaking at Bradford University in the UK, as part of the university’s
PeaceJam event, Nobel Peace Prize laureat Ramos-Horta said that Burma's
political divisions should be resolved by dialogue between all  relevant
parties and not through sanctions that penalize the people of the country.
President Jose Ramos-Horta (Photo: www.news.com.au)

His comments come after a recent controversy in which the Timor-Leste
ambassador to the UN was apparently fired after voting in favour of a
General Assembly resolution condemning the human rights situation in
Burma.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy last month, Timorese Foreign Minister Zacarias
da Costa said that the ambassador was replaced as his term of office had
expired, an account disputed by Timor-Leste's main opposition party,
Fretilin.

Timor-Leste is currently seeking Asean membership, with a view to 2012
accession. All 10 Asean member-states, including Burma, would have to
agree.

Ramos-Horta has in the past been an outspoken critic of the military
government in Napyidaw. No Asean member-states voted in favor of a
December 2009 resolution condemning rights abuses in Burma.

The Timorese president is currently in Ireland on the second leg of a
four-country tour that takes him to Switzerland and Japan next week. He
will address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 13. This comes
two days before UN Special Rapporteur on Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana
presents his third report on the human rights situation in the country,
after his February visit.

Ramos-Horta survived an apparent assassination attempt in 2008, the
details of which remain a mystery. Last week, courts in Dili sentenced
rebels to prison for their role in the attacks on Ramos-Horta and
Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

However Marcelo Caetano, who was accused of shooting the president twice
in the back, was  found innocent, after Australian police evidence
suggested that the bullet fragments taken from Ramos-Horta's back during
surgery in Australia did not come from Caetano's gun.

On Wednesday, hours before the verdict, Ramos-Horta said that he thought
Caetano had shot him.

Maj. Alfredo Reinado, the rebel leader implicated in the plot to kill
Ramos-Horta and Gusmao, was gunned down at the scene. However, the Dili
court found that claims by presidential guard Francisco Lino Marcal that
he shot Reinado from a distance were false, with forensic pathologist
Muhammad Nurul Islam concluding he was shot at close range, suggesting an
execution.

The verdict also exonerated Reinados' girlfriend, Angelita Pires, who had
been vilified as a Lady Macbeth type-figure by many in the Timorese
political elite, since the attacks on the president and prime minister.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

March 9, Asian Human Rights Commission
Authorities persecute political opponents ahead of announced election

While the military regime in Burma has iterated that it will hold a
general election for a new legislature before the end of 2010, government
officials have been relentlessly pursuing, intimidating and imprisoning
political opponents. In recent weeks the Asian Human Rights Commission has
issued appeals on a number of such cases, including the sentencing of a
journalist to 13 years in jail for non-existent video footage; the
detention, torture and evidence-free trial of 11 people; and the
imprisonment of another nine on confessions obtained through use of
torture.

The imprisonment of opponents rightly attracts widespread concern and
condemnation abroad. But the authorities in Burma have a range of other
legal and extra-legal measures at their disposal to persecute dissidents
and their families beyond the jail walls. A case in point is the recent
auctioning of seized property owned by the family of one detainee, Daw Win
Mya Mya, in Mandalay.

In 2008 the AHRC issued an appeal on the imprisonment of Daw Win Mya Mya
and four other persons for allegedly having participated in a meeting of
the National League for Democracy during September 2007 where according to
the police the speeches were aimed at causing public unrest
(AHRC-UAC-246-2008). Win Mya Mya is currently serving her sentence for
these so-called crimes.

Meanwhile, some months before her arrest in 2007 the Mandalay municipality
seized the market stall owned by Win Mya Mya's family because of two small
NLD stickers on one side of the premises. This February 17, it sold the
stall at auction, despite repeated requests from the family to senior
officials for the stall to be returned to them as the family income
depends upon it. The family has also been unable to rent any other place
with which to continue their business.

The persecuting of the family in this case speaks to the extent to which
the authorities in Burma are prepared to exercise their coercive powers
through a range of sanctions aimed not only at defeating the fundamental
rights of political opponents through denial of fair trial and
imprisonment but also comprehensively demolishing their social status and
economic capacity.

It is also indicative of the pathetic conditions of a family victimized by
officials in Burma, whose only possibility for redress is feudalistic: to
approach senior army officers and beg that they not be punished for some
perceived offence. This method of making a complaint and seeking
satisfaction for wrongs committed belongs to the 18th century, not the
21st.

All this is while the military leadership has said that a general election
for a new parliament will be held before the end of the year. Even though
some persons inside and outside the country have expressed hope that the
vote will mark a turning point in the long decades of army control over
government in Burma, cases of this sort are indicative of how authorities
at all levels are continuing with business as usual, and the extent to
which the state's coercive apparatus will continue operating according to
its own logic and the objectives of its agents irrespective of what goes
on upon the national political stage.

As the year passes and the ballot approaches, it will be beholden on
persons and organisations concerned with human rights in Burma to continue
to document, narrate and protest against such methods of persecuting
political opponents, clearly and unequivocally. In this way, we can
express concern and solidarity not only for the persons victimised, like
Daw Win Mya Mya's family, but also can paint a clearer picture of how the
infrastructure of state in Burma has been evolved over the past
half-century to suppress dissent and harass dissenters, and how it will
continue to do so into the foreseeable future.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues
in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

____________________________________

March 9, Asia Times
'Bless you Mr. Obama' on Myanmar – Stanley A Weiss

Mandalay – In September 1952, Russian dictator Joseph Stalin and Chinese
foreign minister Chou Enlai convened an extraordinary meeting to discuss
the future of Southeast Asia. As recorded in the book, Mao: The Unknown
Story, Chou talked about the region "as if its fate were to be entirely
decided by Peking".

He explained that China's strategy was to "exert peaceful influence
without sending armed forces", offering up the examples of Burma (Myanmar)
and Tibet. Stalin wryly replied, "Tibet is part of China - there must be
Chinese troops deployed. As for Burma, you should proceed carefully."
Then, he confirmed, "It would be good if there was a pro-China government
in Burma."

Nearly 60 years later, it is striking how well Chou's hopes have been
realized. Chinese influence can be seen everywhere across the Southeast
Asian nation. Locals quip that Mandalay, once home to Burmese kings,
should now be renamed the "Capital of Yunnan", China's nearest province.
In this city made famous for its white marble carvings, it is telling that
80% of all new orders are not to carve Myanmar-style statues, but rather
Chinese-style Buddhas.

Less obvious is the Chinese presence in the remote northern regions, often
hidden from Western eyes. The fabled jade mines of Kachin State,
off-limits to most foreigners, host thousands of Chinese miners who send
jade directly to China. Not far away, an environmentally damaging
hydroelectric plant has been built by China, as one prominent business
owner told this writer, "to cloak huge illegal clear-felling of forests by
the Chinese". Timber is moved along two highways that run directly from
Myanmar to China, constructed in secret since 2004.

"The educated people of [Myanmar] know that China is looting their country
of valuable resources and giving nothing in return," a long-time Western
observer of the country said. "They would love to have an alternative
trading partner."

But the West, through economic boycotts and sanctions, "has basically
dealt itself out of the game", says Thant Myint-U, grandson of former
United Nations secretary general U Thant. China has rushed to fill the
void with billions in aid and weapons sales to Myanmar's junta, which has
ruled under different generals since 1962.

But increasingly the feeling here is that the days must end for the United
States treating Myanmar as a "boutique" issue (as one Barack Obama
surrogate memorably said during the 2008 US presidential campaign) focused
solely on human rights and the fate of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Three recent developments have shined a spotlight on US security interests
in Myanmar, which sits significantly at the crossroads between China and
India.

Strategic concerns
First, there is a pipeline. In November, China announced it was
constructing a 675-kilometer (480-mile) oil pipeline from China through
Myanmar to the Indian Ocean. As the world's second-largest oil user, China
has long faced the "Malacca Strait dilemma" - that 80% of its oil flows
through the narrow strait between Malaysia and Indonesia which a hostile
power could choke off in a conflict.

The new pipeline will help China avoid the Malacca Strait and give it
access to the Indian Ocean. Its a move that US ally India clearly fears.
New Delhi announced days after China revealed the plan that it would add
40 warships and new fighter jets to its Indian Ocean arsenal. It is a
potential flashpoint the US does not need.

Second, there are Myanmar's nuclear ambitions. In 2002, the junta
confirmed plans to build a nuclear research reactor with Russian support.
Army officers have since undergone training in Moscow. Recent reports
about a stealth deal between Myanmar and North Korea to develop
underground nuclear facilities have led some to dub Myanmar "the next
North Korea". "The nuclear issue," Myanmar scholar Morten Pedersen says,
"must be weighing heavy on minds in Washington - and must be addressed."

Third, there is the spread of radical Islam in neighboring Bangladesh,
where the "astronomical growth of Islamists in the military", as scholar
Sajeeb Wajed Joy has written, has leapt from 5% in 2001 to 35% today. As
crackdowns against journalists and political opponents in Dhaka increase,
the last thing the world needs is for Myanmar to become a Pakistan on the
Irrawaddy that allows terrorist groups sanctuary in its remote northern
regions.

The Obama administration has sought to begin a new conversation with
Myanmar, conducting the highest-level talks with the generals in more than
a decade. But aside from Senator James Webb - who visited Myanmar in 2009
- the US Congress is not listening. "It's the usual congress full of
ignorants, arrogants and self-righteous fools," says Ma Thanegi, who spent
three years in prison after working as Suu Kyi's assistant. "Their tactics
are helping to starve our people. Bless you, Mr Obama."

Myanmar's parliamentary election scheduled for this year - the first since
1990 - is an opportunity, as Pedersen says, "to change the overall thrust
of US policy, to broaden its agenda in [Myanmar] to include peace-building
and economic reform." It is, adds Myanmar expert Robert Taylor, "a chance
for the US to counter-balance the growing power of China in Asia and the
world."

Stanley A Weiss is the founding chairman of Business Executives for
National Security (BENS), Washington, DC.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

March 9, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Burma Info
CSW & Burma Info return from Thailand-Burma border with fresh evidence of
crimes against humanity

A Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and BurmaInfo (Japan) team returned
from a fact-finding visit to the Thai-Burmese border last week with fresh
evidence of gross human rights violations in eastern Burma that amount to
“crimes against humanity”.

The delegation, which included CSW’s East Asia Team Leader, Benedict
Rogers, and the Director of BurmaInfo, Yuki Akimoto, interviewed new
refugees in camps along the Thai-Burma border, and heard first-hand
accounts of forced labour, torture and murder. They also visited one of
the two temporary camps in Tha Song Yang, where Karen refugees who fled
attacks last year were recently under intense pressure from the Thai
military to return to Burma, even though their areas are full of landmines
and are occupied by the Burma Army and its militias. CSW and BurmaInfo
visited the camp ten days after the Thai authorities attempted to forcibly
deport refugees. Three families were sent back against their will before
NGOs arrived and halted the process. The delegation interviewed two of
these families, who are now in hiding in Thailand.

Reports detailing the findings of the visit were released today by CSW and
BurmaInfo. The words of one refugee who lost both legs after stepping on a
landmine sum up the decades of suffering endured by the Karen: “I had to
flee 
 many times. I did portering for the [Burma Army] many times 
 Run
and run and run until now – this is my life.”

CSW’s East Asia Team Leader, Benedict Rogers, said: “The testimonies we
heard on this visit were harrowing and shocking. The military regime is
continuing to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity, even as
it prepares to hold sham elections this year. The harassment of
frightened, traumatized and extremely vulnerable refugees by the Thai
military, forcing them or intimidating them to return to Karen State even
though they would be walking into a death trap, adds further misery to an
already tragic situation. The international community, and particularly
the United Nations, must act now, to impose a universal arms embargo on
Burma’s military regime, and hold a commission of inquiry to investigate
crimes against humanity and war crimes. The regime’s brutal reign of
terror must not be allowed to continue with impunity.”

Yuki Akimoto from BurmaInfo (Japan) added: “The international community,
including Japan, should not underestimate the negative impact that the
violent and volatile situation in eastern Burma could have on the
country's political process. There can be no "free and fair" elections as
long as hundreds of thousands of people are displaced internally, or are
afraid to go back to Burma because of conflict and militarization.”

For a copy of the report or to arrange interviews please contact: Theresa
Malinowska, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide to arrange on
+44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0)78 2332 9663, email
theresamalinowska at csw.org.uk <mailto:theresamalinowska at csw.org.uk>  or
visit www.csw.org.uk <http://www.csw.org.uk/> .

CSW is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom,
works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and
promotes religious liberty for all.

Contact: Yuki Akimoto at BurmaInfo, in Tokyo, Phone: +81 (80) 2006 0165,
Email: yuki at burmainfo.org <mailto:yuki at burmainfo.org> , www.burmainfo.org
http://www.burmainfo.org/

____________________________________

March 9, Karen Communities Worldwide
Call for action to stop attacks on civilians

Karen communities in 10 countries are joining forces for a global day of
action on Tuesday 9th March, calling on the international community to
take action to stop new attacks by the Burmese Army against Karen
civilians. Since mid January more than 2,000 civilians have been forced to
flee new attacks.

•	Villagers have been shot on sight
•	A school has been mortar bombed
•	One villager has been beheaded
•	More than 80 homes have been destroyed
•	Schools and health clinics have been burned down
•	Food stocks being stolen and destroyed
•	The regime is stopping aid reaching people who are hiding in the jungle

Karen communities call for immediate practical action to stop the attacks.

•	The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) must demand an immediate end
to the attacks, which break international law
•	Governments, including the European Commission, must provide funding for
cross-border aid, which is the only way to get food, medicine and shelter
to those on the run from the new attacks
•	The United Nations (UN) should set up a Commission of Inquiry into war
crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the dictatorship.

Karen people have been under attack for more than 60 years. The new wave
of attacks is linked to the Burmese dictatorship’s fake elections due
later this year.  The dictatorship is trying to crush all resistance
forces to their rule. They are following the doctrine of the Burmese Army:
‘One Blood, One Voice, One Command’. The new constitution drafted by the
dictatorship guarantees no rights or protection to ethnic nationalities.
In fact, it is a death sentence to ethnic diversity in Burma. The
international community must stop ignoring what is happening to ethnic
peoples in Burma.

We, the Karen Communities Worldwide, desire genuine democracy, peace and
national reconciliation, but not military threats and attacks by the State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) army to destroy our homeland and our
dreams for a peaceful federal Burma.

Karen Communities in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Canada,
the United States, Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Korea are coordinating
the day of action, which is supported by people from Burma and human
rights groups.

Contact:

UK – Pa Saw Htee – Karen Community Association +447828168180 Australia -
Saw Lwin Oo, Australia Karen Organisation +61 4123 44009 Canada – Mahn
Kyaw Shwe, Karen Canadian Community +1519-434-0139 Germany – Mahn Aung
Lwin, Karen National Community Germany +491752433418 Norway – Nan Kyi Aye,
Karen community in Norway +4741847953 USA – Stephen Dun, Karen American
Communities Foundation +12062958553 Korea – Saw Kenneth Moe, Karen Youth
Organisation +821087147019