BurmaNet News, May 30 - June 1, 2010

[Editor]

May 29 – June 1, 2010, Issue #3973


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Electricity shortage worse in Rangoon
Irrawaddy: Depayin masterminds wield power in USDP
Mizzima News: Insein court tacks 10 years on to youth’s term
DVB: Burma intelligence probes political inmates
DVB: Boy shot dead for refusing army

ON THE BORDER
Xinhua: Dhaka threatens to take Myanmar refugee issue to international forum

BUSINESS / TRADE
Reuters: Five facts about China-Myanmar relations
Irrawaddy: Four businessmen granted private bank license

ASEAN
Inquirer.net (Philippines): Aquino urged to lead ASEAN push for Burma’s
democracy

INTERNATIONAL
Kaladan News: Rohingya plight highlighted in ‘UN Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues’
The Journal Gazette (US): Burmese protest country’s military despots

OPINION / OTHER
Nation (Thailand): ASEAN’s new dilemma: Burma's nuclear ambitions – Kavi
Choongkittavorn
Irrawaddy: The ghost of elections past – Ko Ko Thett

PRESS RELEASE
HRW: Burma: Chinese Premier’s visit should spotlight rights





____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 1, Irrawaddy
Electricity shortage worse in Rangoon

Electricity shortages in Rangoon have worsened due to insufficient gas
supplies caused by a leak in a pipeline that brings natural gas to power
in the country's former capital.

Residents in Rangoon said the city had been divided into three groups, and
they are provided with electricity for six hours a day in rotation but
since gas supply has become inadequate, electricity is now available for
only three hours a day on an  intermittent basis.

“Since late May, we have been provided with electricity for a maximum 2 to
3 hours a day. It is not continuous and often stops and starts every 15 to
30 minutes or hour,” said a Rangoon resident.

Businessmen and residents  normally enjoy electricity for 24 hours a day
during this time of the year, after the start of the rainy season.

An official at the military regime's Ministry of Electrical Power No. 2
(MEP)  said the electricity shortage in Rangoon became worse following the
leak in a gas pipeline located near Mudon Township in Mon State.

The leak will take days to repair, he said.

“The old pipeline was leaking while new ones were still under
construction.  That's why the shortages have increased,” he said.

Rangoon needs about 600 mega watts of electrical power but only 120 mega
watts can be produced under present circumstances, according to an
official at the Rangoon electricity supply board.

According to the Ministry of Electrical Power No. 1, it will probably not
be possible to provide electricity 24/7 this monsoon season because of
technical problems and lack of full hydro-power production caused by
insufficient water levels in water reservoirs.

“We have encountered technical problems in some hydro-power projects that
have already been completed, but we are taking care of it. Some power
plants can't produce enough electricity as well because the amount of
water hasn't reached the usual levels,” said an official at the Naypyidaw
electricity supply board.

The Yeywa hydro-power project, a joint-venture between the MEP No. 1 and a
Chinese company, is said to have experienced technical problems as well.

A source at the Rangoon electricity supply board said it still can not
provide electricity to industrial zones and will be unable to do so for at
least another two months.

“We were told that we would be provided with electricity in mid-August,”
said a businessmen from the Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone Management
Committee. “Some factories have already stopped operation while some
wealthier ones have acquired electricity by paying bribes. Those who can
afford it, they use diesel generators to run their factories.”

On May 14, small industrial enterprises and businesses that use power
meters in Rangoon were cut off from electricity, but electrical service
resumed on a rotation basis after May 20.

____________________________________

May 31, Irrawaddy
Depayin masterminds wield power in USDP – Wai Moe

Several of the Burmese junta officials who recently resigned their
military positions to found the Union Solidarity and Development Party
(USDP) were responsible for the deadly ambush on pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and her convoy in Depayin, Sagaing Division, in 2003.

About 5,000 armed thugs recruited from rural areas under the authority of
the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) ambushed
Suu Kyi’s convoy in the evening of May 30, 2003, and killed an estimated
100 people, according to independent observers. Suu Kyi narrowly escaped
with her life.

USDP leaders together: Burma's Prime Minister Thein Sein (left) talks with
Aung Thaung (center) and Rangoon Mayor Aung Thein Linn in Mandalay on
April 29. (Photo: AP)
Since the massacre, several of those involved in the incident have been
promoted, have established close business relations with the junta or, in
at least one case, have married their family members into the military
elite.

Former Lt-Col Aung Thaung, a hardline minister who was a USDA leader in
2003, has seen his business interests grow exponentially since the Depayin
Massacre. His family’s IGE Co Ltd is now one of wealthiest and most
diverse companies in the country with interests in banking, pipeline
construction, exporting and logging.

Nowadays, he is not only personally close to Than Shwe, but also to junta
No. 2 Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye. One of his sons is married to Maung Aye’s
daughter. Aung Thaung is the current minister of Industry-1, but is
expected to lead the USDP in this year's general election along with Prime
Minister Thein Sein.

Another hardliner, Minister of Information Kyaw Hsan has also seen his
star rise since he was the leader of the USDA in Sagaing Division at the
time of the Depayin attack. He is now head of the junta’s Spoke
Authoritative Team and a powerful leader within the newly formed USDP.

The commander of Northwestern Regional Military Command in 2003 is the
current minister of Hotels and Tourism Soe Naing. Both Kyaw Hsan and Soe
Naing were among the more than 20 ministers who resigned from their
military posts to become founder members of the USDP.

Perhaps the highest rising “butcher” of Depayin was Gen Soe Win. As
secretary-2 of the junta in 2003, it is believed he ordered the attack on
Suu Kyi's convoy without the knowledge of the Military Intelligence
Service, which was led by Gen Khin Nyunt. Local sources in Sagaing
Division have said that Soe Win commanded the attack from the headquarters
of the Northwestern Regional Military Command.

Soe Win died of leukemia in October 2007, but not before serving as
Burma's prime minister, personally appointed by Than Shwe, from 2004-07.

Another military commander accused of playing a role in the Depayin
Massacre is the 2003 commander of the Central Regional Military Command
Lt-Gen Ye Myint who is now the junta's chief negotiator with the ethnic
cease-fire groups, as well as heading Military Affairs Security. Ye Myint
however, has not been named as a member of the USDP.

A Depayin survivor, Tin Oo, who is the deputy chairman of Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy party, recently told foreign broadcasters
that he witnessed several groups of about 50 persons per group moving in
to attack the convoy on May 30.

____________________________________

May 30, Mizzima News
Insein court tacks 10 years on to youth’s term – Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The jail term of a National League for Democracy
party youth member serving a sentence for distributing Aung San Suu Kyi’s
portrait has been extended 10 years bringing the total penalty to 14½
years, according to a political prisoners’ rights group based in Thailand.

Rangoon East District court yesterday heard the case of NLD Tamwe Township
youth wing chief Kyaw Moe Naing, a.k.a. Kyaw Gyi, inside Insein prison and
added 10 years to his jail term under the Electronic Act.

The military regime widely uses this Electronics Act to punish for
punishing pro-democracy oppositions. Section 33(b) bans the disseminating
of information on the internet which can destabilise the state and
undermine state security.

Among the more than 2,100 political prisoners, almost all sentenced to
long terms after 2005 were charged under this law, Assistance Association
for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP-B) secretary Teik Naing said.

“The judge said that the defendant had used the internet to disseminate
information to ‘unlawful exile associations’,” said Myo Than Htiek, who
witnessed the verdict.

The judge failed however to refer specific unlawful associations.

The police arrested Kyaw Moe Naing and his party colleagues Aung Aung,
a.k.a. Aung Aung Oo, Kyaw Win Tun, a.k.a. Bo Tun, on June 12 last year
near the Tamwe roundabout while they were distributing portraits of
opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to passers-by.

Kyaw Moe Naing was originally sentenced to two years in prison under
section 505(b) of the Penal Code for offences against the state and public
tranquility and another two years for contact with unlawful associations.
He was already serving these terms in Insein prison. His colleagues were
also each serving two-year terms on the same charge of committing an
offence against the state.

The youths were arrested while pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi was on trial
inside Insein prison charged with violating the terms of her house arrest
by “entertaining” intruder US citizen John Yettaw, who had swum across
Inya Lake in Rangoon and stayed at her crumbling villa for two nights.

____________________________________

June 1, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma intelligence probes political inmates – Yee May Aung

Political prisoners in northwestern Burma are being questioned about their
stance on the National League for Democracy (NLD) party’s boycott of
elections this year.

Intelligence officers from the Burmese government’s Special Branch (SB)
have been visiting prisoners in Sagaing division’s Shwebo prison,
according to the sister of Yin Yin Wyne, a jailed cyclone relief worker
and one of 22 political inmates in the prison.

“[Yin Yin Wyne] was asked for an opinion on the NLD not entering the
elections and she answered that she didn’t even know what the NLD’s stance
was,” said the sister, Ma Moe, who visited her at the end of last month.
“Then [the officials] showed her the NLD’s Shwegondai declaration and let
her read to tell them what she thought about it.”

The Shwegondaing declaration, signed in April 2009, calls for the release
of all political prisoners, recognition of the 1990 election results, a
review of the 2008 constitution and the start of dialogue between the
junta and the NLD.

Ma Moe added that the officers had acknowledged they were from the Special
Branch and had interviewed every political inmate in the prison. The
reasons for the questioning however remain unclear, although it may be a
precursor to releasing ’softer’ political prisoners prior to elections
this year, as the junta looks to further appease the international
community.

Burma holds around 2,150 activists, journalists, lawyers, monks and aid
workers in jails across the country. Yin Yin Wyne was jailed for four
years in 2008 under the Unlawful Associations Act after assisting victims
of cyclone Nargis in May that year, which killed 140,000 people and left
2.4 million destitute.

Ma Moe said that her conversation with Yin Yin Wyne during the visit was
recorded by two Special Branch officers.

But families of political prisoners in Burma’s western Arakan state said
that no such questioning had taken place. The sister of imprisoned 88
Generation Student leader, Htay Kywe, said after a recent visit that
Special Branch police had not been to the remote prison.

“His health was good; he said he didn’t have such a discussion,” she said
of her brother. “For his opinion, he [wished] the elections should be open
for everyone and a dialogue with the NLD put in place. He said he can’t
accept the elections unless everyone participating.”

Htay Kywe was sentenced after the Saffron Revolution in 2007  to 65 years
in prison. He had been prominent during the infamous 1988 uprising and was
one of the last student leaders from that era to have been arrested.

____________________________________

May 31, Democratic Voice of Burma
Boy shot dead for refusing army – Nay Thwin

A 15-year-old boy was shot and killed and his body hidden under a bridge
by a Burmese soldier in Bago division after refusing to join the army.

The incident on 16 May is the first time a prospective child soldier has
been killed for refusing to join the army. Use of underage children in the
army is illegal under Burmese law, but the military regime is believed to
be one of the world’s leading recruiters.

Tin Min Naing’s death was reported by his friend, Kyaw Win Aung, who had
also been forced by soldiers at gunpoint to enter the army. However he was
released the following day after his evident trauma became apparent to
army officials at the local Thantada military base. He said the two had
run away from the soliders, who then shot Tin Min Naing twice in the back
and stabbed him with a pitchfork.

The victim and the friend had been hunting for rats on the outskirts of
his village, south of Bago’s Pyontaza town, on the evening of 16 May. His
friend told Tin Min Naing’s parents that they had encountered soldiers at
a guard post locally known as Thantada bridge.

The soldiers have been named as privates Moe Win and San Ko Ko, and second
lieutenant Kyaw Moe Khaing, from the Light Infantry Battalion 586, based
at Pyontaza railway station. Moe Win is accused of the murder.

Local police confirmed to DVB that the incident had happened but refused
to give details, adding only that it was being investigated. It is now
understood however that the army unit has taken over the investigation.

The army reportedly told the parents that the person responsible will be
punished. The parents were given 500,000 kyat ($US500) for funeral
expenses and warned not to file any more complaints on the matter.

Lawyer Aye Myint, who heads the Guiding Star legal advocacy group which
works on child soldiers cases in Burma, said that the incident was a
byproduct of army policy that soldiers fulfil recruitment quotas.

“I have had some experience with such cases but never one as gruesome as
this. The worst cases that I encountered before were soldiers taking some
lost children to a deserted place and beating them up to make them join
the military,” he said.

“This case is too inhumane. The salary earned by soldiers is not enough to
cover their needs so they desperately look for children to recruit [for
food and financial rewards]. The practice is now starting to look like
kidnapping or robbery.”

A UN report released last week slammed Burma’s “persistent” use of child
soldiers, and named a number of armed ethnic groups as fellow guilty
parties. The Burmese army has also been known to use children as
minesweepers, forced to walk in front of troop patrols to shield them from
the blast of landmines.

A Human Rights Watch Report in 2002 said that as many as 70,000 children
under 18 could be in the Burmese army.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 1, Xinhua
Dhaka threatens to take Myanmar refugee issue to international forum

Dhaka – Bangladesh will take the Myanmar's refugee issue to the
international forum if the impasse is not resolved between the two
neighboring states, said the country's Food and Disaster Management
Minister Abdur Razzak on Tuesday.

Speaking at a seminar titled "Rohingya Crisis: Way Out Bangladesh",
organised by a local organization in Dhaka, he said, "We'll take the
matter to the international forum if resolution is not possible
bilaterally."

According to United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) , over
250,000 Bengali-speaking Myanmar Muslim ethnic minorities, popularly known
as Rohingyas, took shelter in Bangladesh in early 1990s. Later on most of
them were repatriated to Myanmar.

Razzak said there are still 25,000 registered and 3,000 non- registered
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh's southeastern district of Cox's Bazar,
391 km away from capital Dhaka, who are creating many "social problems" in
the country.

Despite limitation of resources, he said Bangladesh is trying to help both
the registered and non-registered Rohingya refugees.

Meanwhile, he expressed his disappointment with some international
non-governmental organizations as they alleged that Bangladesh is not
providing necessary supports to the refugees.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

June 1, Reuters
Five facts about China-Myanmar relations

Here are five facts about the complex relationship between China and Myanmar:

World

*In 1949 Burma, as Myanmar was then known, was one of the first countries
to recognise the People's Republic of China. But relations soured in the
1960s following anti-Chinese riots in Rangoon (now called Yangon).

* Following a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1988, the West
imposed broad sanctions on Myanmar. China stepped into the void, providing
aid and weapons and ramping up trade.

Beijing has continued to provide broad diplomatic support for Myanmar's
military government, although the ruling generals remain wary of their
powerful northern neighbour.

* China has invested more than $1 billion in Myanmar, primarily in the
mining sector, and is the country's fourth largest foreign investor, say
state media. Bilateral trade grew by more than one-quarter in 2008 to
about $2.63 billion. Chinese firms are heavily involved in logging in
Myanmar.

* Myanmar gives China access to the Indian Ocean, not only for imports of
oil and gas and exports from landlocked southwestern Chinese provinces,
but also potentially for military bases or listening posts.

In October, China's state energy group CNPC started building a crude oil
port in Myanmar, part of a pipeline project aimed at cutting out the long
detour oil cargoes take through the congested and strategically vulnerable
Malacca Strait.

* The relationship has had rocky patches of late. In August, refugees
flooded across into China following fighting on the Myanmar side of the
border between rebels and government troops, angering Beijing.

In 2007, China's Foreign Ministry published an unflattering account of
Myanmar's new jungle capital Naypyidaw, expressing surprise that the poor
country would consider such an expensive move without even first telling
its supposed Chinese friends.

(Writing by Ben Blanchard; editing by Emma Graham-Harrison)

____________________________________

May 31, Irrawaddy
Four businessmen granted private bank license?

The Burmese junta has granted licenses to establish private banks to four
businessmen who are close to the ruling generals, according to sources in
Rangoon.

The four businessmen are Tay Za (Htoo Co., Ltd.), Zaw Zaw (Max Myanmar
Co., Ltd.), Nay Aung (IGE Co., Ltd.) and Chit Khaing (Eden Group Co.,
Ltd).

The businessmen and their respective banks are Tay Za, Asia Green; Zaw
Zaw, Irrawaddy; Nay Aung, Amara; and Chit Khaing, Myanma Leading.

Six of Burma's wealthiest businessmen applied for licenses. However, Htun
Myint Naing (Asia World Co., Ltd.), and Dr. Sai Sam Htun (Loi Hein Co.,
Ltd) were not granted licenses. The reason for the denial of their
application is not known.

In 2003, the US banned two Burmese private banks, which were allegedly
link to illegal narcotics. The banks were the May Flower Bank and Asia
Wealth Bank.

Burma has 14 private banks, mostly located in Rangoon. In 1998, Burma had
20 private banks. Burma's central bank began issuing banking licenses
within the private sector in 1992. No licenses were have been granted
since 2002.

____________________________________
ASEAN

May 30, Inquirer.net (Philippines)
Aquino urged to lead ASEAN push for Burma’s democracy – Ryan Rosauro

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines -- Filipino activists called on
presumptive president-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to take the
cudgels for Burmese democratization among leaders of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in keeping with the legacy of his mother.

“We urge Noynoy to adopt his late mother’s critical position against the
ruling military generals in Burma,” said Aguinaldo Bans, Philippine
spokesperson of the Free Burma Coalition (FBC), a network of institutions
and individuals opposing the Burmese military dictatorship.

Bans said that as the next Philippine president, Aquino could “lead the
ASEAN in applying stronger political pressures to the junta.”

“He has to prove that Filipinos abhor tyrannical regimes like the one in
Rangoon,” he stressed.

Bans noted that the late president Corazon Aquino was a known supporter of
Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi who has been under house arrest
the past few years. Suu Kyi’s defiant stance against the military regime
has earned her the Nobel Peace Prize.

FBC activists staged protest actions in Davao and Makati cities on Friday
to denounce plans by Burmese military rulers to hold elections sometime
this year according to the rules the junta issued.

The FBC said that preparations and recently issued election laws by the
military government “clearly indicate that Burma's 2010 elections will not
serve the interests” of the country’s peoples. It viewed the planned
exercise as “one-sided” and only meant to “legitimize the (military)
junta’s hold on power.”

“Burma needs genuine democratic solutions and not military elections. An
election that is being pursued only to elect Burma’s next generation of
military oppressors and human rights violators will not bring significant
democratic changes in Burma,” said Bans.

“The junta’s extreme hunger for legitimacy and international recognition
forced the generals to violate all existing international laws and human
rights standards. This upcoming election should determine the future of
the peoples of Burma, but the junta, at this early, already ensured that
dictatorship is the past, the present and the logical future for Burma,”
he added.

“(A semblance of) success of the regime’s sham elections will depend on
the legitimacy lent by the international community. It is more important
than ever that the Philippines send a strong signal to the regime, by
denouncing the military elections, unless the regime meets minimum (human
rights) benchmarks,” said Augusto Miclat, executive director of the
non-government Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID).

These conditions should include the release of all political prisoners, an
end to attacks against ethnic groups, inclusive dialogue and review of the
constitution with the participation of democratic sectors, said Miclat.

Miclat noted that the current Burmese Constitution was submitted to a
referendum amidst a calamity situation in 2008, which was an abnormal
social circumstance.

On Thursday, FBC marked the 20th year when opposition groups, including
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), won a landslide victory in
the elections, which the military regime
refused to acknowledge, hence, those elected were not allowed to assume
power.

The group pointed out that after two decades of seemingly standing in the
sidelines, the ASEAN must now take bolder steps to compel the military
regime to tread the path of democratization.

Bans said the time has come for ASEAN to acknowledge that “the policy of
constructive engagement with Burma is a miserable failure.”

On Sunday, activists throughout the world who have been opposing military
rule in Burma will mark a Global Day of Action in various countries to
register their “strong stance against the regime’s undemocratic elections
plans.”

Several months back, foreign affairs secretary Alberto Romulo had shrugged
off the planned election in Burma as a farce, an unusually blunt personal
criticism coming from a top official of a fellow member-state of the
ASEAN.

The regional grouping has traditionally refused to "meddle" in internal
affairs of its member-states.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 29, Kaladan News
Rohingya plight highlighted in ‘UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues’

Chittagong, Bangladesh: In a first meeting of its kind, an Arakanese
Rohingya, the President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation, UK (BROUK),
Maung Tun Khin detailed the situation of Arakanese Rohingya in northern
Arakan, Burma in the Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues on May 27, 2010 afternoon, according to Tun Khin, the President of
the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK).

“It is the first ever meeting about the terrible plight of Burma's
Rohingya minority at the Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues among Dr. Elsa Stamatopoulou, Mr. Tun Khin of Burmese
Rohingya Organisation UK, the eminent philosopher Professor Gayatri
Chakravorty Spivak and Professor Yasmine Ergas of Columbia University,
Professor Benjamin Conisbee Baer of Princeton University, Attorney at Law
Chaumtoli Cabrera and Dr. Golbarg Bashi from Rutgers University,” Tun Khin
said.

“Dr. Elsa Stamatopoulou was very sympathetic on hearing about Arakanese
Rohingya people’s situation. She heard about it for the first time.
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, who is  a well known professor from Columbia
University also joined the meeting,” Tun Khin added.

“Thanks to Mr. Tun Khin for the opportunity to be present in Thursday’s
meeting in the Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,
where I had learnt more than I could have imagined about Arakanese
Rohingya and I am inspired to help, in anyway,” said Dr. Golbarg Bashi
from Rutgers University.

 “I have also created a page on Facebook named Rohingya Alert in which I
will regularly post news and other commentary to raise awareness--
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rohingya-Alert/130589153619281?ref=mf,” she
said.

“I am honoured and inspired to be part of this awareness raising effort on
behalf of our Arakanese Rohingya sisters and brothers,” she added.

“I have been working for the Arakanese Rohingya and produced a report on
my visit to the Bangladesh-Burma border; I have arranged briefings for
Members of Parliament, and drafted parliamentary questions to raise the
plight of the Arakanese Rohingya in parliament. In November 2008, I took
three Arakanese Rohingya to Brussels, to brief members of the European
Parliament, Commission and Council. And earlier this month, Maung Tun
Khin, President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK), and I,
travelled to Washington DC,” said Benedict Rogers, the East Asia Team
Leader at the international human rights organisation Christian Solidarity
Worldwide.

Moreover, the Arakanese Rohingya issue was raised and discussed in the
Open Society Institute (OSI) conference room on “Exposing Statelessness:
Understanding the Plight of Burma's Rohingya” with speaker: Maureen
Aung-Thwin, Director, Burma Project/Southeast Asia Initiative, Open
Society Institute, Maung Tun Khin, founding member, Burmese Rohingya
Organisation UK, Saiful Huq Omi, Photographer, "The Disowned and the
Denied: Stateless Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh", Richard Sollom,
Director of Research and Investigations -Armed Conflict and Public Health,
Physicians for Human Rights, Rupert Skilbeck, Litigation Director, Open
Society Justice Initiative, together with a program of the Open Society
Institute Burma Project, “documenting the plight of stateless Rohingya via
reports and photography,” which was organized by OSI

In the meeting, more than 100 people joined in, including Dr Thaung Tun
from Burma Fund and other NGOs. Most of the participants supported raising
awareness a bout Arakanese Rohingya people in Burma. Most of the
participants were shocked to hear about Arakanese Rohingya people’s
situation in northern Arakan, western Burma and Bangladesh, said Mr. Tun
Khin.

Burmese food was offered before the panel discussion.

The Arakanese Rohingyas are from northern Arakan, western Burma. As a
Muslim minority group, they face systematic discrimination by the military
regime. The Arakanese Rohingya are not considered citizens and are unable
to move, marry, or find jobs without obtaining permits or paying bribes.
Without the basic rights afforded by citizenship, they are helpless to
avoid arbitrary taxation, forced labour, or confiscation of their land.

In the 1990s, nearly a quarter of a million Rohingya fled to neighbouring
Bangladesh in the hope of escaping persecution in Burma. The government of
Bangladesh declared the Rohingya illegal immigrants and put them in
refugee camps.

Since the mass exodus two decades ago, 28,932 Rohingya still live in
official camps in Bangladesh, with another 40,000 live without support in
nearby makeshift camps. Around 300,000 more are denied official refugee
status and labeled "illegal economic migrants,” living in cities in
Bangladesh.

Those who fled to Bangladesh live without protection of the law and are
restricted from formal education, reliable health care, and regular
sources of food or income. Those who remain in Burma continue to face
similar discriminations. With no resolution in sight, many young men
choose to leave Bangladesh for third countries like Malaysia, Thailand,
and Saudi Arabia in order to send money home to impoverished families. The
plight of the Rohingya demonstrates the discrimination, exploitation, and
abuse that people face when they are rendered stateless.

____________________________________

June 1, The Journal Gazette (US)
Burmese protest country’s military despots – Devon Haynie

About 35 Burmese activists gathered downtown Monday to protest Myanmar’s
military regime and demand the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.

Carrying flags and banners in front of the Allen County Courthouse, the
group also sought to bring attention to the seventh anniversary of the
Depayin massacre, in which it believes hundreds of pro-democracy activists
were killed.

In a statement, members of Fort Wayne’s Burmese American Society also
urged global leaders to recognize the National League for Democracy, Suu
Kyi’s party, and to push for its inclusion in Myanmar’s elections.

“Burma is about to have an election, and many Burmese and the people
protesting today are not going to accept it,” local Burmese leader Aung
Myint Htun said through a translator. “We don’t approve of an election
because we know the military is still going to be in charge of Burma.”

On May 30, 2003, a pro-democracy group led by Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize
winner, was attacked by a mob allegedly hired by the military regime near
the city of Depayin in north-central Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

Opposition groups said hundreds of pro-democracy activists were killed,
although the government said the death toll was four and denied any
involvement.

The Myanmar military junta accused Suu Kyi of being responsible for the
massacre and arrested her.

Later she was moved to her residence in Yangon, Myanmar’s capital, and has
remained under house arrest ever since.

The government accuses Suu Kyi of violating her house arrest – which had
been scheduled to end soon – when an American swam across a lake and
sneaked into her home.

Fort Wayne is home to about 5,500 Burmese refugees who fled the country to
escape the 60-year civil war.

Pyepye Aung, 12, accompanied her father, Aung Myint Htun, to the protest
Monday.

“I’m interested in this stuff,” she said. “We protest so that more
Americans might try to help.

“When the regime is out of power, then we’ll get our rights and freedom.”

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

May 31, Nation (Thailand)
ASEAN'S NEW DILEMMA: Burma's nuclear ambitions – Kavi Choongkittavorn

THE US ACTION was swift following confirmation of a North Korean ship with
suspicious arms cargoes docking in Burma last month in violation of the UN
Security Council Resolution 1874. A few days later, in the third week of
April, the US State Department dispatched an urgent message to the Asean
capitals recommending the scheduled Asean-US Economic Ministers' roadshow
in Seattle and Washington DC, from May 3-5, proceed without the Burmese
representation at "all levels." The drastic move surprised the Asean
leaders.

The American ultimatum was not a bluff but a genuine show of frustration.
This time Washington wanted to send a strong signal to Burma and the rest
of Asean that unless something was done about Burma's compliance with the
relevant UN resolutions on North Korean sanctions, there would be dire
consequences. Political issues aside, Burma's nuclear ambition can further
dampen Asean-US relations in the future. Already, there was the first
casualty when the US downgraded the high-powered economic roadshow which
was meticulously planned months ahead between the Office of US Trade
Representatives and Asean economic ministers through the US-Asean Business
Council.

Since nearly all Asean countries, except Singapore, decided to dispatch
their trade or industry ministers to join the campaign, they agreed the
roadshow should continue without the Burmese delegation as requested by
the US. After some bargaining, the US softened its position agreeing to
accept a representation at the charge d'affaires level from the Burmese
Embassy in Washington DC. But Rangoon chose to opt out as it wanted
diplomats directly dispatched from Rangoon. Without a consensus in Asean,
a new name - absurd as it seemed - was in place, as the Southeast Asia
Economic Community Road Show. It would be a one-time only designation.

When Kurt Campbell, Assistant State Secretary for East Asian and Pacific
Affairs returned to Burma for the second time recently, he was blunt
telling the junta leaders to abide and fully comply with the UN Security
Council Resolution 1874. That has been Washington's serious concern due to
the growing link between North Korea and Burma and their existing transfer
of nuclear-related technology. Last June, a North Korean ship, Kang Nam,
was diverted from going to Burma after being trailed by the US navy.

Since 2000, Western intelligence sources have been gathering evidence of
North Korea providing assistance to Burma to build a nuclear reactor that
can produce graded plutonium used in assembling future weapons of mass
destruction. Last year, reports were released using data collected from
two defecting Burmese military officers, intercepted calls and messages as
well as human intelligence along Thai-Burmese border, all finger-pointing
to Burma's nuclear ambitions.

When they came out last fall, scepticism was high among military experts
and strategists on the junta's nuclear intentions. Most said there was
insufficient evidence. Some viewed them as attempts to further discredit
the regime's international standing. As additional interviews were
conducted, especially with a former major in the Burmese Army, Sai Thein
Win, who was directly involved with the recent secret nuclear programme,
it has become clearer that Burma is investigating nuclear technology. This
week, a special report on a huge new body of information, with expert
comment from a former official working for the International Atomic Energy
Agency, will be released.

As such, it will have far-reaching implications on Asean and its members,
who signed the 1995 Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (SEANWFZ)
and Non-proliferation Treaty. Asean is currently working hard to persuade
all major nuclear powers to sign the protocol to the SEANWFZ. The grouping
has even delayed China's eagerness to accede to the protocol.

Further complicating the issue, Asean has not reached a consensus on how
its members would move forward with a common approach on nuclear energy
and security. In general, Asean backs nuclear disarmament, which the
Philippines has played a leading role as chair of the just concluded
Review Conference of State Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
on Nuclear Weapons. Asean also backs the ongoing efforts of US and Russia
over non-proliferation.

One sticky problem is that Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Burma, and
Indonesia have yet to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. In the
case of Indonesia, it is on the Annex 2 list of the treaty which, to enter
into force, must be reatified by all 44 states on this list. At the
upcoming Asean summit in Hanoi (October), Asean leaders will study a
matrix of common positions that have been or could be taken up by Asean.
It remains to be seen how Asean would approach some of the sensitive
issues such as the South China Sea, climate change and issues related to
nuclear technology.

At the recent Nuclear Summit in Washington DC, leaders from Vietnam,
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand were invited by US President Barack Obama
to share their views on non-proliferation and peaceful use of nuclear
energy. They supported the summit's plan of action to prevent nuclear
terrorism. All these Asean members have long-term plans to build nuclear
power plants for peaceful use as energy sources. Vietnam has long decided
on building two, while Thailand is planning one in the next ten years.
Indonesia has serious parliamentary support to explore a nuclear option.
Even the Singapore Economic Strategies Committee has recommended nuclear
energy should be considered as a possible long-term solution to the
island's energy security. Obama will certainly raise the issue again when
he visits Indonesia in the second week of this month.

What is most intriguing has been the lack of serious attention from the
Thai security apparatus regarding the nuclearisation of Burma. Apart from
the two informal meetings convened by the Defence Council at the end of
last year, the topic has been discussed only among a handful of military
intelligence officials who have worked closely with their Australian
counterparts. The National Security Council still does not believe Burma
has that kind of ambition, not to mention the overall nuclear capacity to
embark on the controversial programme. Concerned officials argued that
domestic problems still have precedence.

____________________________________

May 31, Irrawaddy
The ghost of elections past – Ko Ko Thett

Since the 1922 introduction of a “legislative council” election to Burma,
the notion of elections has always been suspect to the Burmese populace.
This is not surprising, for Burma’s ballot boxes have never served their
purpose—the electing of people’s representatives whose constitutional
mandate can change or enforce government’s policy. Under both the British
colonial administration and subsequent post-colonial governments, Burma’s
elections have never translated into genuine political change.

In the 1920s, the dyarchy in which 80 members of the 130-member
legislative council were elected and the rest were appointed by the
British fractured the Burmese nationalist movement.

While moderates sought to change the system from within, radical
nationalists in the movement called for “home rule”—a separation from
British India—before they articulated independence for the country. The
dyarchy election law disenfranchised most people in the peasantry since
the suffrage for 44 constituencies in rural areas was based on the payment
of taxation.

Out of a Burmese population of 12 million in 1922, there were only 1.8
million eligible voters. The voter turnout was very low, only 6.9 percent
of eligible voters participated in Burma’s very first election.

The legislative council hopefuls were labeled “sellouts” to the British.
Intimidation of the would-be voters by elections boycotters, nationalist
monks and agitators was not uncommon. In fact, little effort was really
needed to dissuade people, who had never known an election, from voting.

The second legislative council election in 1925 saw a 10 percent increase
in voter turnout: 16.26 percent of the qualified voting population. The
increased political participation was explained by the elected
representatives’ success in making amendments to controversial laws, such
as the 1907 Village Act of Burma and the 1920 Rangoon University Act. The
attempts to encourage people into political participation by the elected
politicians and the increased number of political parties also contributed
to the increased voter turnout.

In 1927, the Simon Commission, chaired by Sir John Simon who was appointed
by Westminster, started probing the possibility of “self-governing
institutions” in Burma. British colonialists thought it expedient to keep
Burma away from “the disturbing influence of Indian politics.” The 1930
Simon Commission report recommended that Burma be governed separately from
India.

It took five years for the British to come up with the Government of Burma
Act to implement the recommendations of the 1930 Simon Report. The
constitution of 1935 discarded the dyarchy and added 33 new
constituencies, increasing the number of ethnic Karen constituencies from
five to 12.

By the time the 1936 election was held, all features of multi-party
politics, from factionalism and forming coalitions to switching
allegiance, flip-flopping, politicking, character assassination, party
thuggery and boycotting of the electoral process were no longer new to the
Burmese. The populace, by and large, learned to despise their politicians
as much as they hated the British colonialists. The year also saw the
Rangoon University strike and the emergence of the student activists Aung
San and future premier Ko Nu as leaders of the hugely popular nationalist
“Dobama Thakin” (“We Burmese Masters”) movement.

The thakin were not keen on “legislative politics” and downright rejected
the 1935 Constitution. Yet the 1936 election on the offer was seen as a
political opening by some dobama leaders. In the end the thakin belatedly
founded the Komin-Kochin Aphwe (Our King, Our Affair Party) and fielded no
less than 30 candidates to contest in the election. Ironically, one of
their avowed aims was to disrupt the legislture's proceedings. Only three
thakin were elected to the constituent assembly in 1936.

Fabian Ba Khine, one of the witnesses at the time, noted that the three
elected thakin attended the assembly meetings with their adopted aim to
revoke the 1935 Constitution and always sided with the party in
opposition. They consistently opposed the government. It also meant that
the thakin could not take up ministerial posts.

Senior politician Dr. Ba Maw, the founder leader of Sinyetha (Proletariat
Party), became the first premier of Burma under the 1935 Constitution as
he cleverly maneuvered different political forces to form a coalition
government. Having formed her own government, Burma was finally separated
from British India in 1937.

In the latter half of the 1930s, the ascendancy of Marxist politics in the
Dobama movement naturally led to the consideration of “independence by any
means” and extra-parliamentary activities to overthrow the British.
Perhaps the thakins’ failure in parliamentary politics also contributed to
the strategy formulation of the Dobama. In 1938, the Marxist-Leninist
thakin spearheaded a general strike to paralyze the British
administration, but failed.

As most thakin leaders were jailed or outlawed, Burma nationalist movement
took an unexpected turn at the onset of the Second World War. The Japanese
occupation of Burma, assisted by the thakin-led Burmese army, from 1942 to
1945 was as devastating as it was elsewhere in Asia.

The worst thing that had happened to Burma during the Japanese occupation
was the exacerbation of the ethnic conflict, especially that between the
Burman and the Karen, fuelled by the war. As the British reoccupied Burma
following the Japanese defeat, parliamentary democracy was reintroduced.
The Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL), a broad alliance of
nationalists dominated by the thakin who had turned against the Japanese,
became the most formidable opposition party in the post-war years.

In April 1947, an election to the constituent assembly was held under the
1935 election law. The AFPFL claimed the election was a British attempt to
defuse the post-war political tensions in the country to prolong their
colonial rule. To the AFPFL, which had the largest mass following in Burma
at the time, 1947 was an opportune moment to become involved in
legislative politics in what Aung San called “a transition to
independence.” The AFPFL entered the election to the echoes of its slogan,
“Independence within one Year!”

But many politicians who had been influential in prewar parliamentary
politics—such as Dr. Ba Maw from the Maha-Bama (Great Burman) Party, and U
Saw of the Myochit (Patriotic) Party, as well as many former thakin, such
as Thakin Ba Sein (Dobama Party) and Thakin Soe (Communist Party of Burma
“Red Flag”)—boycotted the election for different reasons. The Karen
National Union also stayed away.

The remaining opposition parties, including the Communist Party of Burma
(Thakin Than Tun’s “White Flag”) and the Karen Youth Organization, could
only field less than 30 candidates for the 255-member assembly.

The result was predictable, but it had been made certain by the widespread
intimidation of voters by pro-AFPFL militia, the People’s Voluntary
Organization (PVO), which came into existence as the result of the
post-war British retrenchment of the Burma Independence Army.

British scholar Shelby Tucker notes: ‘‘Armed PVO units dragooned voters
and escorted them to the polling booths that were guarded by other armed
PVO units, while League supporters manned the government-provided
electoral information facilities.’’

It was customary for the political parties in Burma to have an armed wing,
but the PVO was the biggest armed group that could be turned into a
nationalist army against the British. The League won more than 95.3
percent of the seats and dominated the constituent assembly without much
opposition. In June 1947, the assembly approved Aung San’s motion that an
independent Burma should exist outside the Commonwealth. It also approved
a draft of what would be known as the 1947 Constitution, proposed by Aung
San.

Postwar Burmese politics were dominated by the AFPFL and its charismatic
leader, Aung San, who was only 32 in 1947. Widely considered to be asocial
and rash, he was unable to convince his senior political rivals to swing
his way.

Consequently, most of Aung San’s opposition was effectively excluded from
the parliament and from the policymaking process that would determine
Burma’s future as an independent nation. The assassination of Aung San and
six of his cabinet members in July 1947 left the entire country in
mourning.

Aung San’s colleague U Nu (formerly Thakin Nu) took over the AFPFL and
delivered Aung San’s promise of “Independence within one Year.” In January
1948, Burma became independent under U Nu and his government; they were
undoubtedly apprehensive, but the country rejoiced and there was an air of
hope for the future.

Ko Ko Thett is a Helsinki-based Burma analyst. This is the first of three
articles he has written for The Irrawaddy on Burma's previous elections.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

May 31, Human Rights Watch
Burma: Chinese Premier’s visit should spotlight rights

During his June 2 visit, China's premier Wen Jiabao should take up human
rights concerns in Burma, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the
premier. Human rights abuses in Burma impact on the region's long-term
security, and China is an influential actor as Burma's first elections in
20 years approach.

Human Rights Watch urged Chinese leaders not to prematurely endorse the
upcoming 2010 elections in Burma, but instead to press Burma's military
government to pursue a genuinely open, inclusive, and fair electoral
process.

"China's interests are not well served by a military dictatorship on its
doorstep that abuses and impoverishes Burma's population," said Elaine
Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Yet Beijing's
policies to date tend to encourage continued military rule in Burma,
rather than seeking a transition from it."

Human Rights Watch said that the Chinese government routinely asserts it
follows a policy of non-interference in the "internal affairs" of
sovereign states. However, the rampant rights violations inside Burma are
creating severe internal pressures which could easily spill over Burma's
borders and affect China's stability in terms of refugee flows, public
health crises, and violence.  In this regard, China's "good neighbor"
policy with Burma should involve speaking frankly with the Burmese
government about its rights abuses and how to address them.

Human Rights Watch's letter highlights four issues: the 2010 elections,
insecurity in border areas, regional engagement and diplomacy, and trade
and investment relations. China is Burma's largest neighbor, major trading
partner, arms supplier and most vocal international diplomatic supporter. 
Human Rights Watch urged China to play a more productive role and to work
with other members of the international community to foster genuine change
in Burma.

"China should realize that continued support to Burma's military
government emboldens the junta to be even more repressive, which has
obvious regional security implications," said Pearson. "The Chinese
government has a chance to play a more constructive role in pressing for
productive change in Burma. Premier Wen Jiabao shouldn't waste it."