BurmaNet News, August 13, 2010

[Editor]

August 13, 2010 Issue #4019


INSIDE BURMA
New York Times: Myanmar Junta sets election date
DVB: A wave of dissent-activists start campaign opposing election
SHAN: Shan prince: 2010 will not bring democracy to Burma
Narinjara: Anti-election campaign in Arakan
KNG: 8888 hero Zau Nan, remembered on 22nd death anniversary

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: S.Korea bank to halt dollar remittances to Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Top US Senator: Myanmar vote to be 'charade'
Sydney Morning Herald: 'Grave reservations' on Burma poll

OPINION / OTHER
Jane’s Intelligence Review: Radio active – Desmond Ball and Samuel Blythe
Guardian (UK): Keep making noise about Burma – David Milliband
Asia Sentinel: Burma bloggers' dangerous freedom fight – Banyar Kong Janoi

PRESS RELEASE
Christian Solidarity Worldwide: CSW urges international community to
reject Burma’s sham elections

ANNOUCEMENT
Ministry of Public Affairs (Government of the Union of Myanmar): No. 20 01
06 (253)
Union Election Commission (Government of the Union of Myanmar): The
announcement of the dates concerning the submission, scrutiny, withdrawal
of the lists of names of the candidates of the respective Hluttaws




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 13, New York Times
Myanmar Junta sets election date – Seth Mydans

Bangkok—Myanmar will hold its first election in two decades on Nov. 7, the
ruling junta announced on Friday, setting a date for a vote that is seen
as a means of legitimizing military power within the format of civilian
rule.

The main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, is
boycotting the election, saying the electoral rules are unfair and
restrictive. Its leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate who
has spent most of the last 20 years under house arrest, is legally barred
from running in the election because she is under government detention.

The party was officially disbanded in May because it refused to register
for the campaign.

The brief election announcement, carried on government radio and
television stations, said, “Multiparty general elections for the country’s
parliament will be held Sunday, Nov. 7.” It gave political parties until
the end of this month to submit their candidate lists.

The timing of the election gives parties only a short time to recruit
candidates and mount campaigns in what one Burmese exile commentator, Win
Tin, called “a calculated political ambush.”

The United States and other Western nations have condemned the election as
undemocratic. After a two-day visit in early May, Assistant Secretary of
State Kurt M. Campbell said he was “profoundly disappointed” over the
preparations for the election.

“What we have seen to date leads us to believe that these elections will
lack international legitimacy,” he said.

Although the future Parliament ostensibly marks a shift to civilian
government, it is heavily weighted toward the military, which has held
power for the past half century. One quarter of the 440 seats will be
reserved for active members of the military, which will allow them to
control important ministries including those responsible for justice,
defense and internal affairs.

Many other candidates are former military officers. In April, the prime
minister and 22 other ministers retired from their military posts to run
for office as civilians.

In addition, a new constitution creates a powerful National Defense and
Security Council, controlled by the military commander in chief, that has
the power to overrule the civilian government.

Electoral rules also favor the junta, placing tight restrictions on
campaigns and public statements that criticize the government.

At least 40 parties have registered to run, including the Union Solidarity
and Development Party, regarded as a vehicle for the junta’s candidates,
which is believed to have received state money and special privileges.

The now-dissolved National League for Democracy won the last election in
1990 by an overwhelming margin but was denied its seats by the military.

The new election is scheduled to take place shortly before Mrs. Aung San
Suu Kyi’s latest term of house arrest expires. The fact that her late
husband was a foreigner also prohibits her from running.

Other prisoners, including an estimated 2,000 political prisoners, are
also barred from taking part.

A breakaway faction of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National
Democratic Force, is taking part in the election despite her objections.
It has squabbled with some other members of the party.

Most other parties represent ethnic minority groups with specific local
agendas. But pro-democracy parties are facing the most difficulties.

A prominent opposition candidate and former political prisoner, Phyo Min
Thein, recently resigned as head of his Union Democratic Party because of
what he called an “unfavorable pre-election environment.”

“My resignation is proof to the international community that the
forthcoming elections will not be free and fair,” he said in a statement.

____________________________________

August 13, Democratic Voice of Burma
A wave of dissent-activists start campaign opposing elections thumbnail –
Gayatri Lakshmibai

It’s a quiet Thursday afternoon in Rangoon. A young activist treads the
streets carefully. He sneaks a few glances around. He’s on a mission. And
he must accomplish it. It’s important not to be spotted by the Special
Branch Police (SBP), who are in turn difficult to be spotted — they always
work under cover.

Cutting across a corner, he finds a good spot to start his work. He pulls
out a poster from his bag, smears some glue on it and sticks it on the
pillar along side. “You have the right to not vote” reads the poster with
a picture of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the background. He admires the words
on the poster. Satisfied with his first attempt at expressing his dissent
publicly, he continues — he must empty his bagful of posters.

He is part of a young group of activists called Generation Wave (GW). The
organisation’s main aim is to urge the people of Burma to boycott the
elections, given the undemocratic nature of the 2008 Constitution; “We
reject the 2008 constitution for being undemocratic and unfair. We want to
make people aware of this fact and sticking posters in public places is a
good way to get the word out,” spokesperson Min Ye Naing told DVB.

GW started off its campaign against the election commission on Thursday,
which marked the beginning of International Youth Year. The average age in
their camp is 23. 10 GW comrades accomplished their mission on Thursday,
sticking posters in buses, pavements, parking lots, public rest rooms and
lamp posts in Rangoon’s Dagon-Myo-Thit, Inn-Sein, Hlaing-Thar-Yar,
Mingalardon, Bayint-Naung, Yazana Plaza, Dagon center areas.

“It is a huge risk we are taking, especially with the Special Branch
Police officers patrolling under cover. But it is fortunate that none of
our team members have faced any danger yet,” Naing says, adding that they
are actually only endorsing the Election Commission’s diktat which states:
“It is your right to vote or to abstain from the 2010 elections.”

GW opposes three major aspects of the 2008 constitution. Firstly,
according to the Constitution, the Army has already secured 25 percent of
the parliamentary seats irrespective of the outcome of the elections,
giving them an unfair advantage in future parliamentary proceedings.

Secondly, the people of Burma will not directly affect the Presidential
candidate, that right lies exclusively with the three vice-presidents —
two of whom will be chosen by the two parliaments and one will be
appointed directly by the military.

Finally, the lack of freedom to non-junta endorsing political parties to
campaign prior to the elections makes it difficult for them to get their
message across to the masses.

The move initiated by GW has been met with mixed responses. “Some people
on the streets give us a look of approval, but in one of the areas, we saw
that the posters had been ripped apart. We aren’t yet sure whether that
was a junta-initiated drive,” Naing said.

With the election date being announced, Naing and clan have started
working on their campaigns for 7, November 2010; “We have to chalk out a
detailed plan, but right now our main aim will be to get on to the streets
and persuade people to boycott the elections,” he said. In the run up to
the election, Generation Wave hopes to form alliances with other democracy
groups in order to extend their sphere of operation beyond Rangoon.

____________________________________

August 13, Shan Herald Agency for News
Shan prince: 2010 will not bring democracy to Burma

A former Shan prince, whose father was assassinated along with Aung San in
1947, recently told S.H.A.N he did not think there will be democracy in
Burma because of the elections that are being planned for this year.

“The constitution, as you know, is completely flawed,” Sao Hso Hom of
Mongpawn, 75, said. “If you have already reserved seats for the military,
how can it be a democracy?”
[Left to Right- Sao Hso Hom's grandfather, Sao Hso Hom's father, and Sao
Hso Hom]

The soft-spoken prince, referred to be the late Gen Newin’s trusted
lieutenant Tin Pe as “the main legal brain behind” the Federal Proposal
that had called for the revision of the 1947 “federal in form, unitary in
essence” constitution and triggered the Army into staging in a coup in
1962, had few good things to say about the country’s present rulers:

    * In Burma, there are only two types of people: one, the generals and
their families, who own billions of dollars so they can build tunnels
and underground command posts and two, those who don’t have enough to
eat.”

    * In Mongmit (where his maternal uncle Sao Khun Khio used to rule), in
the old days, the thick teak forest there was divided into 30 plots.
The first year, only one plot was logged followed by planting of new
seedlings. So by the time, the last plot was logged, the first plot
was ready for another go. But these days, all have gone.

    * Burma used to be #1 exporter of rice before WWII and the generals
simply thought they could become #1 again by planting two crops a
year. But what they got was less rice and low quality rice.

Asked whether the ruling junta’s Divide and Rule policy with regard to the
non-Burman ethnic peoples was inherited from the British colonialists, he
said, “It’s historical. They have been doing this since the days of the
Burmese kings ( before the British came).”

He nevertheless urged the Shans to be united. “My only message is be
united and stand together,” he said. “Unless we are united, no one is
going to bother about us.”

Born in 1935, Sao Hso Hom was only 12 when his father Sao Sam Tun,
Minister of Frontier Areas in the cabinet headed by Gen Aung San, died. He
was jailed in 1962 for his participation in the drafting of the Federal
Proposal demanding that Burma Proper be a state like others, that was
endorsed by representatives from other states. He now lives in exile in
Australia.

____________________________________

August 13, Narinjara
Anti-election campaign in Arakan – Takaloo

Kyauk Pru: A poster and leaflet campaign urging people to oppose the
upcoming junta-planned election and the political parties that have
registered to run has been occurring in Kyaukpru Township in western
Burma's Arakan State, report local residents.

A resident of Kyaukpru told Narinjara that posters stating, "Oppose the
Election to Save Yourself from Being a Lifelong Military Slave", and
leaflets bearing the title, "Oppose the Registered Political Parties in
Support of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi", were posted and distributed in public
places throughout the city during the night of 6 August.

"It was amazing to see such a poster and leaflet in almost every place
including households, markets, and offices in our town. But we do not know
yet who has done this. We heard that the campaign is still spreading to
the rural areas such as Krettin, Pyatwe, Saikrun, Katthapyay, and so many
other villages in our township," the resident said.

They added that the leaflets are urging the public to boycott the election
by not voting for any political party, accusing the parties of being
national traitors that support legitimizing the military junta that seized
state power by force and illegal maneuvers.

A goldsmith from the Kyaukpru market reported that local police came to
their market the next morning and took the posters and leaflets from their
shops, and interrogated the shopkeepers about whether they saw the
culprits. However, no shopkeepers were arrested for possessing the posters
or leaflets.

According to the source, local authorities have been stepping up security
with the deployment of police forces in every place that draws crowds, and
four police vehicles have been patrolling the streets around the clock
since the anti-election campaign started.

Kyaukpru is one of the towns that supported the National League for
Democracy led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the 1990 election in Arakan
State.

Special Branch police are suspicious that NLD members may be involved in
the campaign because the leaflets contained the name of Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi. They have been closely watching local NLD members since the campaign
started, said the sources.

____________________________________

August 13, Kachin News Group
8888 hero Zau Nan, remembered on 22nd death anniversary

Kachin students placed floral wreaths at the spot in which student
activist Hprup Zau Nan was shot dead by junta’s security forces during the
‘1988 Democracy Uprising’ in Burma on the 22nd anniversary of his death
yesterday, said local sources.

The students placed the floral wreaths yesterday morning in front of No. 3
State High School in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, Northern
Burma, where Zau Nan fell after being shot dead by a riot policeman, said
Kachin student sources.
8888-uprising

A measure of the junta’s intolerance was in evidence because soon after
the floral wreaths were placed in memory of the Zau Nan, they were taken
away by regime officials, an eyewitness said.

Sixteen year-old Zau Nan, a grade seven student of No. 5 State Middle
School in Du Kahtawng quarter in Myitkyina was shot dead at about 9 a.m.
local time by a policeman from No. 1 Police Station when he joined
pro-democracy demonstrations with comrades in front of the No. 3 High
School.

Zau Nan was born on June 6, 1972 and his parents were Salang Hprup Pa Yaw
and Hpauwung Hkawn Nu.

In Kachin State, Zau Nan was the only one to be killed in the student-led
pro-democracy demonstrations. Across the country over 3000 students were
brutally killed by the junta during the uprising.

Two years after the pro-democracy uprising, the Burmese regime or the
so-called State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) went for
countrywide elections in 1990. The National League for Democracy Party
(NLD) led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi swept the polls and recorded a landslide
victory but an adamant SLORC refused to transfer power to the party.

Now, 20 years after 1990 elections, the Snr-Gen Than Shwe led military
junta is gearing up to hold elections this year under the 2008
constitution which is designed to help the junta legitimize military
dictatorship.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 13, Agence France Presse
S.Korea bank to halt dollar remittances to Myanmar

Seoul – A South Korean bank said Friday it would suspend its US dollar
remittance service to Myanmar as part of an international crackdown on
countries suspected of financing terror.

Korea Exchange Bank, controlled by a US buyout fund, said its decision
would take effect in October.

The bank said it would also stop accepting dollar remittances from
Myanmar. Other foreign currencies such as the euro will not be affected.

In July, the US Congress renewed a ban on imports from Myanmar for another
year, seeking to pressure the military regime over human rights and
democracy, as well as alleged ties to North Korea.

Myanmar announced Friday it would hold its first election in two decades
on November 7 -- a vote that activists and the West say is a sham aimed at
shoring up the ruling junta's half-century grip on power.

Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the
last election in 1990 but was never allowed to take power. The Nobel
laureate has spent most of the ensuing two decades under house arrest.

Washington has said it would only lift sanctions in return for progress on
democracy and other concerns.

China is the main military and diplomatic partner of Myanmar, which has
trading relationships with many Asian nations.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 13, Agence France Presse
Top US Senator: Myanmar vote to be 'charade'

Washington — Myanmar's planned November 7 election will be merely a
"charade" that must not be recognized by the United States or the rest of
the international community, a senior US Senator said Friday.

President Barack Obama should "renew his support" for Myanmar democracy
icon Aung San Suu Kyi and make sure the world is "not tempted to recognize
this mockery of the democratic process," said top Senate Republican Mitch
McConnell.

"Although the Burmese junta will characterize the charade it announced
today as an election -- an exercise that only the junta considers
meaningful -- November 7, 2010 will be just another day in Burma, marked
by continued government oppression and hardship for its people," he said
in a statement.

The comments from McConnell, the US Senate's minority leader, came after
Myanmar's ruling junta announced the country would hold its first election
in two decades on November 7. US officials often refer to the country as
Burma.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent much of the past 20 years in detention and
is seen as the biggest threat to the junta, is barred from standing in the
polls, which critics have condemned as a sham to entrench the military
regime.

The election date, announced by state media, falls about a week before Suu
Kyi's current term of house arrest is due to expire on November 13.

Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won a landslide
victory in 1990 but was never allowed to take office. It is boycotting the
upcoming vote, saying the rules are unfair.

____________________________________

August 13, Sydney Morning Herald
'Grave reservations' on Burma poll

Australia has expressed "grave reservations" about Burma's plan to hold
its first election in 20 years on November 7.

The country's ruling military junta named the date on Friday.

But concerns have been raised that the poll will be neither free nor fair.
Advertisement: Story continues below

Amnesty International says the regime has prevented more than 2000
political prisoners - including high-profile activist Aung San Suu Kyi -
from contesting the election.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith was also concerned about the election's
legitimacy.

"We have grave reservations about the election process and the country's
highly restrictive political environment," he said in a statement.

Mr Smith said Australia had repeatedly urged Burma to allow freedom of
speech and assembly, and to work with the UN to make the election
transparent.

But he said he hoped the elections would mark the beginning of a return to
democracy, and it was up to the Burmese people to decide whether to vote
or not. Some are boycotting the poll.

Mr Smith supported sending observers to monitor the poll, although he did
not say if they would come from Australia.

Amnesty called on Australia to use its regional influence to press Burma
to make the election free and fair.

Jenny Leong, Burma campaign co-ordinator for Amnesty International
Australia, said Australia should encourage Burma's South-East Asian
neighbours to press for a free election.

"Obviously Australia is a key player in the region (and) has a specific
role to play," she told AAP.

Australia should call for the immediate release of all political prisoners
and watch closely for any more crackdowns, she said.

Suu Kyi's party won a landslide majority in Burma's 1990 election, but the
junta did not honour the result.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 13, Jane’s Intelligence Review
Radio active – Desmond Ball and Samuel Blythe

Myanmar has improved its communications security capability despite being
subject to a range of embargoes. Samuel Blythe and Desmond Ball explain
how the evident ability of the secretive state to evade such restrictions
raises concerns about its other procurement plans.

For Myanmar’s secretive government, communications appear to be
increasingly important.

Secret documents leaked to Jane’s and a series of procurement tenders
posted on the internet reveal that the country’s military government is
making a sustained effort to upgrade its communications security
capabilities.

The ability of the Myanmar armed forces (officially known as Tatmadaw) to
conceal its operations is of concern in light of the government’s apparent
efforts to develop a nuclear capacity.

Since early 2009, United States officials have been expressing anxiety
about Myanmar’s possible pursuit of a nuclear programme and its potential
links to North Korea. These reports were given further credence following
a report by the Norway-based multimedia organisation Democratic Voice of
Burma in June, which included the testimony of an army defector and
documentary evidence suggesting the development of a nuclear programme.
Naypidaw has denied these allegations.

Quite apart from its potential use in any nuclear programme, improved
communications security will enhance the military’s ability to move
against insurgent groups operating in the country. In addition, as
documented by Amnesty International, the Tatmadaw regularly targets
civilians in its military operations in areas of active insurgency in
eastern Karen and Kayah states, as well as southern Shan state. Encrypted
communications could complicate efforts to provide early warning of a
potential attack to civilian populations and aid workers in border regions
adjacent to Thailand.

Another worrying aspect of Myanmar’s improved communications security
capability is the fact that the country is subject to a range of bilateral
arms embargoes. While designed to hinder Myanmar’s access to such
equipment, the country’s evident ability to evade such restrictions raises
concerns about its other procurement plans.

Talking in tongues Myanmar’s communications security initiative may have
been prompted by border skirmishes with Thailand in 2001 and concerns that
the Thai army could share communications intercepts with Myanmar’s ethnic
insurgent groups. Initial efforts were focused on the production of the
TS-2002 transceiver and LA-97 scrambler, which was first introduced into
service in the late 1990s.

An army handbook for general staff seen by Jane’s, which was published in
2003 and issued as late as 2005, elaborates the standard frontline
communications inventory of light infantry divisions, the army’s main
fighting force. A table in the manual entitled Communications equipment
for normal operations against domestic insurgents and foreign enemies
indicates that light infantry division headquarters used 10 different
communications systems, including four communications security devices, a
TW-100RX receiver, a TW-1100 transceiver, a SR MP-25, and the LA-97
scrambler, an indigenously produced voice scrambler handset modelled on
the LA-54, which was acquired from South Africa in 1992 and 1993.

According to the list, the light infantry divisions’ subordinate units,
which include three tactical operations commands and 10 infantry
battalions, lacked this equipment, suggesting that light infantry
divisions probably used these devices to communicate with the Ministry of
Defence and regional commands.

The inventory list further indicates that light infantry divisions and
tactical operations commands were equipped with Israeli-manufactured
SC-120 scramblers and Chinese-manufactured XD-D9V transceivers, which also
offer full encryption security. Tactical operations commands, columns and
battalions were each equipped with six TS-2002s. Although specifications
on the indigenously produced TS-2002 communications security devices are
unavailable, they are apparently interfaced with the standard issue radio
systems for battalions, which include the six XD-D6M, TRA-906Cs, and the
indigenously produced Thura.

The Tatmadaw has subsequently upgraded and diversified its systems through
the intensified production of communications security devices.

Documents from 2000 provided to Jane’s state that the Tatmadaw’s
Directorate of Signals intended to produce 2,075 LA-97s but was doing so
at the rate of only 50 units per year. However, by 2008 the LA-97 had been
used down to the battalion level, improving its counter-insurgent and
conventional military capability.

Beginning in 2006, ST-24 hi-tech communication sets have also been used by
the army, including its strategic commands and armour battalions.
Technical specifications on the radio are not available.

The army is also increasingly reliant on the TS-2003 frequency hopping
transceiver, employing it in some regions of conflict, such as Kayah
state. Procurement orders for the production of 500 sets in early 2010
suggest their use may become increasingly prevalent. A military source
reported to Jane’s that the TS-2004 is also in use, but declined to
provide details about the system.

Specifics on the army units current outfitting are unavailable. However,
it appears that indigenously produced communications security devices are
being distributed far more widely than in the past, and have enabled the
Tatmadaw to mask its communications, leaving insurgent groups and
neighbouring militaries at a greater disadvantage than before.

Foreign dependence

Despite greater indigenous production, the Tatmadaw remains dependent on
foreign-produced hi-tech components to build its communications security
devices. Although many governments have imposed bilateral export
restrictions on the sale of technology and arms to Myanmar, they do not
appear to have seriously complicated military procurement. For instance, a
top-secret memo from 2000 elaborating LA-97 production plans, a copy of
which was provided to Jane’s, indicated that the Directorate of Signals
relied on local companies to purchase 37 parts, 18 of which were purchased
abroad.

The Tatmadaw has also outsourced the procurement of several hundred
components necessary for TS-2003s to private companies. Buyers include the
Yangon-based Guardian Enterprise Company, which also has active tenders to
purchase parts for Myanmar’s F-7 fighter aircraft.

Despite Canada’s far-reaching sanctions regime, in late 2009, the
Canadian-based Asian Network Service also openly posted tenders on its
website to buy TS-2003 parts. Canada’s Special Economic Measures (Burma)
Regulations, implemented in 2007, do not clearly prohibit the posting of
tenders.

However, the law provides that “no person in Canada shall export, sell,
supply or ship any goods, wherever situated, to [Myanmar], to any person
in [Myanmar] or to any person for the purposes of any business carried on
in or operated from [Myanmar].” They also impose a blanket ban on the
import of goods “supplied or shipped from [Myanmar]”. The Asian Network
Service’s website indicates it is an employment agency for immigrant
labourers, and trades in a range of commodities from Myanmar, including
teak.

According to Jane’s sources, the Tatmadaw also continues to use foreign
communication devices and favours Australian-manufactured Barrett radios.

The Barrett 2050 is a sophisticated HF single side-band communications
system that – in one version – provides a simple-to-operate frequency
hopping option. It then requires insertion of the ‘hop band’ and the
nine-digit cipher number and is ready for use. The heart of the 2050 is a
flexible soft-core processor and powerful digital signal processing system
that delivers superior reception and noise reduction. These normally
transmit on a frequency of 5.407 MHz or 6.628 MHz.

Contained in a lightweight, extremely strong, sealed aluminium chassis,
the 2050 meets military standard 810F for ‘drop, dust, temperature, shock
and vibration’. It is usually operated as a desktop transceiver, but can
easily be truck-mounted for mobile operations.

Tatmadaw division level units increasingly use the Barrett 2050 in the
Eastern, North East, and Central Regional Commands, according to a source
that monitors Tatmadaw communications, and Myanmar’s army evidently plans
to make more extensive use of the Barrett 2050 system. The price of a new
Barrett 2050 radio with standard accessories is about USD3,000.

Civilian use

Details about Barrett’s sales of communication equipment to Myanmar were
revealed by Hamish McDonald in the Australian newspapers Sydney Morning
Herald and The Age on 5 January 2010, generating considerable controversy.
Even when legal, sales of equipment with potential military applications
to Myanmar can arouse international criticism because of the brutal nature
of Tatmadaw operations in ethnic areas. In statements to the press, Phil
Bradshaw, managing director of Barrett Communications, acknowledged the
sale of radios to Myanmar in 2009, with earlier sales of “around 50 radio
sets”

in 2005 and 2006, but insisted they were for civilian use”. Bradshaw
stated: “They are used for just internal communications within [Myanmar]”
owing to the country’s “very bad infrastructure generally outside the main
towns”, which he compared to Papua New Guinea. Bradshaw added:“

I cannot say the army have not used them but I do not think they have.” He
insisted the radios were not “for military use anyway. The ones that are
going to [Myanmar], they are straight Barrett 2050s with data systems that
are used to send data from point A to point B. They are not tactical
radios by any means”.

At the time, Barrett acknowledged that one of Myanmar’s government
ministries was tending bids for additional sets. In light of these
statements, news agencies widely reported that the Tatmadaw had acquired
the Barrett radios through a civilian front company, or that the radios
had been diverted from another government ministry.

Paper trails

Barrett’s sales to the Tatmadaw date back to at least 2002, with the sale
of 34 Barrett data sets, as revealed in a procurement document from
Myanmar’s Ministry of Defence provided to Jane’s.

The documents indicate that army regional commands used the radios to
communicate with subordinate combat units. A second document indicates
that in July 2004, the Ministry of Defence called for tenders for the
supply of an additional 50 Barrett HF datasets. Barrett and another
Australian company, Codan LTD, the UK-based D & J Exports LTD and the
Singapore-based Enpress Trade were among the 16 companies that tendered
bids. Sales bids of this type presumably remain legal despite the
embargoes.

Barrett Communication’s winning 2004 bid secured the sale of 50
950-transceivers and included optional components, including a 923-Clover
2000 odem and the 923-HF fax and data system operating software. Barrett’s
website indicates that the 950 is built to European military standards and
has a scrambler option that provides a “medium level of voice encryption
for message privacy under the most arduous propagation conditions”. The
USD659,000 contract covered air freight charges from Perth delivered to
Yangon Airport, and included on-site commissioning.

In an email to Jane’s, Bradshaw declined to comment on sales to Myanmar’s
Ministry of Defence, noting that “due to the inaccurate reporting in the
press regarding our company’s activities we have decided not to provide
information that is commercial in confidence between ourselves and
our clients.”

Banning exports

Since 1991, Australia has banned exports to Myanmar of goods identified by
the Department of Defence on its defence and strategic goods list as
“defence goods”. Proscribed items include radios with encryption and
frequency hopping capabilities. The arms embargo is implemented under
Regulation 13E of the Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958. In
his email to Jane’s, Bradshaw wrote: “On no occasion have we sold
frequency hopping transceivers to the [Myanmar] Armed Forces.

Frequency hopping, by company policy and agreement with the Department of
Defence, can only be installed at the Barrett facility in Perth and only
by staff authorised to do so. It is not possible to retrofit frequency
hopping outside the factory to Barrett 2050 transceivers or any other
Barrett transceivers including those that use scramblers.”

A spokesperson from Australia’s Department of Defence told Jane’s Barrett
Communications had “confirmed that the radios they supplied to Burma did
not contain an optional frequency hopping capability”. She said: “As such,
the radios are not controlled for export under Regulation 13E of the
Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958. The company was therefore
not required to seek a Department of Defence permission to export, and the
department has not been involved in the transactions.”

She added: “The Department of Defence’s technical assessment concluded the
frequency hopping function built into the Barrett 2050 radios can only be
enabled at the factory by a Barrett technician. To enable this function, a
customer would have to have access to Barrett’s facilities and
co-operation. This could not be done in-country.”

Limits of export control

However, a way to obtain restricted communications security equipment may
be to purchase it from third countries. An Australian Department of
Defence spokesperson told Jane’s that the defence and strategic good list
restriction “includes cases where the end-user is known to be in
[Myanmar], but the export is being transshipped through a third country.
In assessing an export application, the Department of Defence conducts a
risk assessment process that includes checks on the bona fides of the
end-user and end-use of the goods to ensure that the export is consistent
with Australia’s export control policy criteria.”

The spokesperson added: “However, Australian legislation does not apply to
foreign countries. Once they have been delivered to the foreign enduser,
any re-export of the goods would be subject to control by the foreign
government concerned.”

Once defence and strategic good list restricted goods have left Australia,
it may be difficult to monitor compliance. For instance, in 2008 an
officer in one of Myanmar’s armed ethnic groups showed Jane’s a Barrett
transceiver with an activated frequency hopping system that he had
purchased on the retail market in Singapore.

As demonstrated by its recent acquisitions and the increased production of
communications security devices, the Tatmadaw seems intent on further
shrouding its operations in secrecy. These efforts will receive a
significant boost when the government’s countrywide fibre optic networks
become fully operational, as these link the Ministry of Defence to all of
its command areas and operational units.

The Tatamaw’s growing communications security capabilities could provide
it with a decisive
edge against active insurgencies along the border with Thailand, and
recalcitrant ceasefire groups along its borders with China, including the
Kachin Independence Army and the United Wa State Army. Moreover, despite
international criticism of Myanmar’s government on the grounds of its
potential nuclear ambitions and human rights abuses, no concerted effort
has yet been made to crack down on transfers or co-ordinate embargo
efforts, meaning that the country is likely to be able to continue its
programme of communications security upgrades.

____________________________________

August 13, Guardian (UK)
Keep making noise about Burma – David Milliband

The international community must maintain pressure on the Burmese junta if
basic human rights are to be restored there.

In September 2007, monks marching in Rangoon applauded as they passed by
the British embassy. That is the sort of reputation British diplomacy
should have. If we are to continue to have that respect in countries where
the people have their true voice suppressed, then the kind of action
outlined in Waihnin Pwint Thon's excellent article for the Guardian last
week is a good place to start.

I met Waihnin earlier this year to support Amnesty's campaign to free
political prisoners in Burma. I was struck first by her bravery and
strength in leaving her family for a new life to study here in Britain,
and secondly by her determination to bring about change in Burma. In doing
so, she has the full support of her father, imprisoned for no crime and
surviving in conditions unfit for any person, let alone someone struggling
with a serious heart condition.

The Burmese junta has announced elections for 7 November. They will not be
free. They will not be fair. And they will mark the culmination of a
process begun by the junta to tighten its grip on the throat of Burma's
people. The freedoms of assembly, of speech, and of political opinion have
been consumed by the military state. When cyclone Nargis struck in May
2008, the junta had at least 29 people arrested and they remain in prison.
A further 10 who accepted relief donations from abroad were arrested in
October. This is the kind of mindless suppression that characterises a
paranoid state, intent only on eliminating the most basic of rights.

On the prime minister's recent trip to India, the issue of Burma was not
in the British news. But countries such as India and China have a vital
interest, as well as a role, in Burma. So do all the countries of Asia.
The danger is that "stability" is seen as an alternative to the rights of
all the Burmese people. We need to use our partnerships with India, China
and other countries in the region to make the case for accountable
government and the restoration of basic rights. As the EU shapes its
foreign policy, and as we consider how to use our influence there and in
the United Nations, the real and ongoing suffering of the Burmese people
must not be forgotten.

Alongside the fear and brutal repression in Burma, lies hope generated by
the support the British people give to the people of Burma. Waihnin notes
in her article that what we do, and importantly what we say, both
domestically and internationally "did not go unnoticed back home". The
junta is mindful of the international pressure that should be brought to
bear. Its people may not have access to the media we do, but the junta
know what is said. That's why it is so important that we do not go quiet
on this issue.

Foreign Office ministers must of course raise concerns with their Burmese
counterparts as regularly as possible. But just as important is
co-operation with organisations such as Amnesty, and to be as vocal as
possible whenever the opportunity arises. Radios are being distributed in
Burma so that people can listen to the BBC World Service and other
stations to get an understanding of what is happening outside the
communication wall. We have to do all we can to get the message to them:
they are not forgotten; the world is watching; and politicians around the
world are listening.

____________________________________

August 13, Asia Sentinel
Burma bloggers' dangerous freedom fight – Banyar Kong Janoi

With newspapers, radio, and TV controlled by Burma's military regime,
blogs are a crucial alternative source of independent news in Rangoon.
They gained international attention during the saffron revolution against
the government in 2007 and once again they are proving an important source
of news about the upcoming election.

To say blogging can be hazardous is an understatement. Although Burma has
some of the severest internet controls on the planet, hundreds of bloggers
have managed to elude authorities, making quick entries in Internet cafes
under the eyes of watching staff and getting out before they are caught.
Burmese law prohibits citizens from using the Internet to send critical
information, photos or videos to foreign audiences. Getting caught can
result in long prison terms.

According to the Independent Press Service, earlier this year Win Naing
Kyaw, a former military officer, was found guilty and sentenced to 20
years in prison for sending photos of a ranking junta official's visit to
North Korea to an exile news site. Ha Hla Win, a 25 year-old teacher, also
received a 20 year sentence for being an "undercover journalist" for the
Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma. One former official was given 35
years in prison.

Nonetheless, the bloggers have managed to broadcast news even though the
junta assiduously seeks to block any website that carries information
about the country, even prohibiting access to emails. The blogs have been
essential to outside news media, whose reporters are barred from entering
the country if their names are known. Connection speed is a big problem,
at 512 kilobytes per line, the equivalent of a basic ADSL individual
connection. But up to 10 to 15 computers share the same line, slowing down
things to the point that it takes 10 seconds to open an email or load a
page, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Nonetheless, they are also essential to Rangoon's young. At an Internet
shop, young people crowd the booths. Although no date has been set for the
election, online forums have already flourished. University student Mi
Sike Ka-mar Chan says she has learned a lot about the election online.

"The 2010 election is a heated issue on every blog," Chan said. "In online
forums some people say the election is good for the people while others
criticize it. Some criticize the National League for Democracy Party for
not contesting the election, while others support it for boycotting the
poll. There are a lot of blogs about Burma, but we just read the ones that
interest us. Blogs suit Burmese people because they have a low bandwidth
and can be opened easily."

Another university student, Moe Kyaw says blogs are his only source of
information.

"I learned about the 2010 election from blogs, especially from the blogs
that focus on politics. They post notes on how to vote as well as the
election regulations," Kyaw said. "By reading those posts we can be
informed and say why we don't agree with the election."

The blogger behind freeforcountry.tayzartay.com is based in Rangoon and
calling for radical changes to the election process.

"We want an election of international standards. The government must
change," he said. "We want a government that is truly elected by the
people. We have lived under a military dictatorship since birth and
because of this we have to struggle to live. Compared to other countries
we are behind because of the military leaders. That's why we must follow
other countries and lift people's living standards. We are fighting with
words and images online."

Freeforcountry.tayzartay was one of the blogs that gained popularity
during the saffron revolution of 2007, when the government cracked down
brutally on protests led by Buddhist monks. Bloggers played a critical
role by uploading images of the events even though the government
responded by shutting down the Internet across the entire country.

The Free-for-country blogger, who agreed to be interviewed on terms of
anonymity, explains how he avoids government censorship.

"We need software and proxy numbers to pass through banned servers to log
in to our blogs. The free proxy can be expired," he said. "We share among
our peers when we find new technology and proxy numbers that can pass the
servers to upload posts. We upload in different Internet cafés because if
we upload a permanent shop and post it using a single IP address, the
authorities would know and they would come and arrest us. We type in a
house and upload posts at Internet cafes within a minute. As soon as we
have uploaded we leave."

Shop owners are required to report customers looking at banned websites or
sites that criticize the government. They have been ordered by the
government to check users' screens every 15 minutes to monitor their
online activities.

"You are not allowed to view political and pornographic websites," reads a
sign in a Rangoon Internet café. Youtube, Google mail and Yahoo mail are
blocked, but many users are smart enough to surf banned websites through
proxy servers.

Even so, bloggers working inside the country do so at great risk. Nay
Phone Latt's 20 years in jail were for posting a cartoon of the military
leader Than Shwe. Nay Phone Latt was honored in New York by PEN, the
international writers' organization, in January, but he remains in jail.
The free-for-country blogger says security is very important.

"We can't just look at the screen, we always have look around us and see
who is looking at us. When we are uploading, we do not use a full screen.
We use the "restore down" half screen. While we are uploading the post we
pretend to be surfing other websites so people don't pay attention to us,"
he said, adding that he takes the risks because it's his responsibility as
a citizen of Burma.

"I don't get any financial support for this blog. I use my pocket money to
pay for the cost of uploading posts and get technical help from my friends
who are better with computers. It's incredible when we go on a field trip
and can upload pictures that tell the true story. When people understand
the situation and learn from our blog, we are happier than if we got paid
for our work," he said.

Back at the Rangoon Internet café, university student Nai Rot Khine says
bloggers are a lifeline for her generation.

"As for me, reading blogs is very important. We can read about different
kinds of issues. We can read open discussion about the current politics as
make ourselves rich in knowledge," said Khine.

An earlier version of this article was first broadcast on Asia Calling, a
regional current affairs radio program produced by Indonesia's independent
radio news agency KBR68H and broadcast in local languages in 10 countries
across Asia. You can find more stories from Asia Calling at
www.asiacalling.org.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

August 13, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
CSW urges international community to reject Burma’s sham elections

CSW is urging the international community to reject Burma’s upcoming
election, which the military regime announced today would be held on 7
November. Election laws issued earlier this year and Burma’s new
constitution both make any hope of a free and fair election impossible.
With imprisoned democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi excluded, the election
constitutes a whitewash for the ruling military junta.

The new constitution was introduced in a sham referendum in the aftermath
of Cyclone Nargis two years ago and does not remotely meet international
standards. It provides immunity for the military’s crimes, guarantees the
military 25 per cent of the parliamentary seats, and offers the ethnic
nationalities no hope of protection for human rights.

The laws also ban anyone with a criminal conviction, including political
prisoners, from being a member of a political party. This excludes most
leading pro-democracy activists, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Her party,
the National League for Democracy (NLD), refused to register under the new
rules, was excluded from the elections and forced to disband. Members of
religious orders, such as the monks who led anti-government protests in
2007, are denied a vote.

CSW renews its call for a universal arms embargo to be imposed on Burma,
and for the establishment of a United Nations Commission of Inquiry, as
recommended by the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma Tomas
Ojea Quintana, to investigate the regime’s crimes against humanity.

Benedict Rogers, CSW’s East Asia Team Leader and author of Than Shwe:
Unmasking Burma’s Tyrant, said: “These fake elections represent nothing
more than an opportunity for Than Shwe and his regime to entrench their
rule, and offer no prospect of real meaningful change. The world must make
it abundantly clear that the election on 7 November is unacceptable and
does not have any legitimacy or credibility whatsoever. It will be nothing
more than a change of clothing, from military uniforms to civilian suits,
without any meaningful change of policy, personnel or government. The
world must reject the sham election and urge the Generals to engage in a
meaningful dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy movement and the
ethnic nationalities.”

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri
Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20
8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri at csw.org.uk or visit
www.csw.org.uk.

____________________________________
ANNOUNCEMENT

August 13, Ministry of Public Affairs (Government of the Union of Myanmar)
No. 20 01 06 (253)

Nay Pyi Taw – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Union of Myanmar
presents its compliments to all Diplomatic Missions, United Nations
Agencies and International Organizations accredited to the Union of
Myanmar in Yangon and has the honour to inform them that the Unionof
Myanmar in Yangon has announced today that the multiparty democracy
general elections for the respective Hluttaws (Parliaments) will be held
on 7th November 2010 (Sunday) in accordance with the Article 34© of the
respective Hluttaw Election Laws and Rules 16(a).

The Ministry has further the honour to enclose herewith the copies of the
Notification No. 89/2010 dated 13th August 2010 concerning the
announcement of the date to hold the multiparty democracy general
elections for the respective Hluttaws and the Notification No. 90/2010 of
the same date concerning the announcement of the dates for submission,
scrutiny, withdrawal of the list of the names of the candidates for the
respective Hluttaws.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Union of Myanmar avails itself of
this opportunity to renew to all Diplomatic Missions, United Nations
Agencies and International Organizations accredited to the Union of
Myanmar the assurances of tits highest consideration.

____________________________________

August 13, Union Election Commission (Government of the Union of Myanmar)
The announcement of the dates concerning the submission, scrutiny,
withdrawal of the lists of names of the candidates of the respective
Hluttaws

Nay Pyi Taw – The Union Election Commission exercising the powers
contained in Election Rules 16 of the respective Hluttaws announced the
following dates:

(a)	The first date for submission of the list of the names of candidates
for the constituencies of the respective Hluttaws 6th Waxing of Wagaung
1372 ME (16 August 2010)

(b)	The final date for submission of the list of the names of candidates
for the constituencies of the respective Hluttaws 5th Waning of Wagaung
1372 ME (30 August 2010)

(c)	The date to scrutinize the applications on the list of the names of
Hluttaw candidates From 12th Waning of Wagaung 1372 ME to 2nd Waxing of
Tawthalin 1372 ME (From 6 September to 10 September 2010)

(d)	The final date to withdraw the applications on the list of the names
of Hluttaw candidates if there is any wish to do so 9th Waning of Wagaung
1372 ME (3 September 2010)

By order
Sd/Thein Soe
Chairman
Union Election Commission