BURMA RELATED NEWS - JULY 15, 2011

Defections rattle Myanmar embassy in US
By Shaun Tandon | AFP News – Thu, Jul 14, 2011

Myanmar's embassy to Washington has been rattled by two defections of senior diplomats in an embarrassment for the military-backed regime which wants to show the world that it is evolving.

Kyaw Win, who had been the second-ranking diplomat at the embassy, told AFP in an interview that he had grown tired of waiting for change in his country and voiced admiration for pro-democracy opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

Kyaw Win defected on July 4. The embassy's number four, Soe Aung, applied for asylum in the United States the following week; according to several sources, he made the decision as he was about to be escorted home as part of an investigation into the first diplomat's defection.

The chaos at the embassy comes despite efforts by leaders in Myanmar, also known as Burma, to show a stable political transition. A ruling junta held elections in November and afterward officially handed over to civilian rule.

Western governments and opposition leaders believe that the changes are only cosmetic -- a view that Kyaw Win said he quietly shared while working at the embassy.

"We said that the election would bring change but the election is already six months ago and it's even worse than before," said Kyaw Win, 59, a career diplomat who previously served in Brazil, India and Switzerland.

"I have for a long time argued with my kids, who are already grown up, who used to argue that the government won't change. But I still believed that I could change it within the system," he said.

"After 30 years, I should try to change our country from the outside and Washington is a good place to give pressure," he said.

Kyaw Win would have been on the verge of returning to Myanmar for retirement. State Department officials declined to comment on the validity of his asylum bid, citing privacy rules for cases involving immigration.

President Barack Obama's administration in 2009 opened talks with Myanmar after concluding that the previous policy of engaging the regime has failed. State Department officials have insisted that dialogue remains the best option, even though they have voiced disappointment with the results.

Myanmar's embassy is believed to have played a low-key role in the talks, with the United States reaching out directly to the leadership in the capital Naypyidaw or working through Myanmar's UN mission in New York.

The embassy, on a leafy backstreet of northwest Washington next to upscale old homes and the popular Textile Museum, had 14 accredited diplomats as of the beginning of the year, according to the State Department.

But the two defectors were considered among the most urbane diplomats of the military-backed government. The United States and Myanmar do not exchange ambassadors, the result of Washington's protests after the junta annulled 1990 elections won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

"My view is that Aung San Suu Kyi is the only leader who has the people's trust," Kyaw Win said.

But he said he was not convinced that the National League for Democracy was effective. It was officially disbanded for refusing to register in last year's elections, which it feared would be marred by fraud.

Kyaw Win said that many people in Myanmar recalled that the country was one of the most prosperous in Asia before 1962, when the military seized power.

"We know that change won't happen within days. We know that it will take time. But we have to get into the right direction," he said.
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Asian Correspondent - Burma: Kachin people reject ceasefire without political talks
By Zin Linn Jul 15, 2011 10:33PM UTC

A two-day meeting of Kachin delegates in Laiza, in Burma’s northern Kachin State, concluded with the denunciation of a truce without political reconciliation with the untrustworthy Burmese government, according to sources who were in audience on July 12-13, Kachin News Group [KNG] reported.

The July 12-13 meeting was held at the Alen Bum Military Base, in the KIO command center Laiza hearing the opinions from Kachin public leaders on restoration of ceasefire between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the military-backed Burmese government. More than 120 delegates from Kachin State, Shan State and the rest of Burma participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, Maj-Gen Gunhtang Gam Shawng, Chief of Staff of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the military-branch of the KIO, gave details about the KIO’s ceasefire plan to Kachin public leaders at the meeting.

Political analysts and observers have been deeply concerned about widespread of war in Kachin State. Now, people have been blaming Thein Sein government’s breaking of every promise with the ethnic ceasefire groups.

The regime’s miscalculation on handling the Kachin issue seems pushing the country into an abysmal gorge of tragedies. Burma’s new military offensives on the Kachin, Karen and Shan armed groups will lead the nation also into a severe poverty trap.

According to Maj-Gen Gam Shawng, the KIO will only seek out a transitory armistice with the Burmese government of up to six months. However, it can be called a halt at any time if there were no political word of honor. The KIO’s new ceasefire plan was rejected by delegates because of the failure to achieve a political solution over the last five decades, a Kachin News Group (KNG) reporter in Laiza said.

In hope of setting up political dialogue, the KIO signed a ceasefire agreement with the central government on February 24, 1994 and supported the military-favored 2008 constitution.

No political dialogue happened in the 16-year ceasefire time and the KIO was intimidated to remove weapons and transform into the Burmese Army-controlled Border Guard Force (BGF) before the November 7 election.

The KIO cast off the BGF plan, saying it cannot accept transformation of its armed wing.

Talks between KIO and Burmese government were also abortive in 1963, 1972, and the1980 respectively. Though, they all failed to get to the bottom of the political standoff between the two sides.

The 22-year military rule of the country ended after November 2010 polls. The President Thein Sein government was sworn in as a new controversial civil government in March 2011.

It has not publicly offered a new ceasefire agreement to the KIO, until now. Despite that, the KIO proposed a new ceasefire plan to the President Thein Sein government on July 8, according KIO officials in Laiza.

The public meeting in Laiza was called while the KIO is waiting for the government’s response to its new ceasefire proposal amid growing concern by the Kachin people over ceasefire talks.

As reported by the KNG, the KIO met with peace delegates from the Kachin State Government on June 17, June 30 and July 7. However, the state-level ceasefire effort was rejected by the KIO, Kumhtat La Nan, General Secretary-2 of the KIO said.

In such a situation, no one throughout Burma will trust President Thein Sein government’s propaganda of good governance policy, national unity program and poverty alleviation agenda. At the same time, it seems Thein Sein Government has no inspiration of going along a meaningful dialogue course seeking a peaceful and prosperous nation in the ASEAN family.
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The Edge - Myanmar invites partners for 18 onshore oil blocks
Written by Reuters
Friday, 15 July 2011 15:14

YANGON: Myanmar has invited bids for companies to operate 18 onshore oil blocks scattered in about half a dozen provinces on a production-sharing contract basis, the biggest number made in a single offer in recent years.

Bidders are allowed to submit up to three proposals for three onshore blocks, the Ministry of Energy said in an announcement in the official English daily, New Light of Myanmar on Friday, July 15.

Proposals should be submitted by Aug. 3, 2011.

Myanmar has been exploring oil and gas in 49 onshore sites and 26 offshore blocks in Rakhine, Tanintharyi and Mon states after entering joint ventures with foreign companies since 1988.

The country's proven gas reserves tripled in the past decade to around 800 billion cubic metres, equivalent to more than a quarter of Australia's, according to the BP Statistical Review. Proven oil reserves data are not immediately available.

Neighbouring Thailand and China are the biggest investors in Myanmar's energy sector.

Companies from Australia, Britain, Canada, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam have also reached energy deals with the government.

Total foreign direct investment in the oil and gas sector has amounted to $13.5 billion since 1988, official data show.
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New Kerala - Fishermen help cops to apprehend 22 Burmese inturders

Port Blair, Jul 14: Andaman police, with the help of some fishermen, today apprehended 22 Burmese poachers from Mayabunder Island of North Andaman.

Following a tip-off from the Fishermen Watch Group, an anti-poaching team of Andaman and Nicobar police apprehended 22 Myanmarese poachers along with two boats from the open waters off the west Coast of North Reef Island.

Acting on the information from some fishermen that a Myanmarese boat had been seen off the Coast of Interview Island, an anti-poaching party, consisting of Police Marine Force and Mayabunder police, left on an anti-poaching operations on a Fast Interceptor Boat (FIB) M V Zulfikar Ali,'' Mr S B Deol, the Director General of Police informed media.

''Having seen an FIB boat, the poachers tried to speed away towards the open waters. Police Marine and local police officers chased the Myanmarese boats in the high seas,'' the DGP added.

The police FIB successfully out-maneuvered the Burmese boats and captured 22 poachers.

The DGP said, ''During investigation, the poachers revealed that they had come to the islands two days back for sea cucumber.''
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July 15, 2011 16:37 PM
Thailand Registers Over 828,000 Migrant Workers

BANGKOK, July 15 (Bernama) -- Over 828,000 migrant workers, mostly Cambodian, Laotian and Myanmar nationals, have filed registrations with the Labor Ministry over the past month seeking amnesty.

The grace period since June 15, which ended Thursday this week, was part of the Thai government's latest efforts to tackle illegal employment of foreign labourers, according to Thai News Agency on Friday.

Employers who miss the deadline would face a maximum 100,000-baht fine and the detention and expulsion of their workers. However, those in the fishing industry would enjoy an extended grace period until next month.
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National Jeweler - Myanmar sees drop in July gem sale
Jul 15, 2011

Naypyitaw, Myanmar--The latest sale of jade, gems and pearls in Myanmar this month totaled far lower than expected at $1.57 billion, according to the Federation of Chambers of Commerce.

More than 22,000 lots of jade, 282 lots of gems and 355 lots of pearls were put on sale by state-owned enterprises, and around 750 private companies participated in the sale, which was held July 1-13 in the country’s capital of Naypyitaw.

“We expected to earn record-high proceeds from this emporium, since it was far better and larger than the previous ones in terms of quality and quantity,” an official from the Federation of Chambers of Commerce told Reuters.

Producing a large share of the world’s finest rubies and jade, Myanmar holds sales three times a year, with proceeds from the previous, March 2011, sale totaling more than 2.84 billion.

Burmese rubies and jade from Myanmar have been embargoed by the United States since 2003, with President Barack Obama renewing the ban in July 2003. The sanction is the result of human rights abuses being documented during the Myanmar government’s quest for gems.

Despite Western sanctions imposed on the country, gemstones are a lucrative source of income for the Myanmar government, and many of the jewels reach the Western world through Asian countries such as Hong Kong and Taiwan.

According to official data from the Central Statistical Organization, Myanmar produced over 47 million kilos of jade, 1.4 million carats of ruby and 1.4 million carats of sapphire, among other precious stones, in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
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Daily Telegraph - Burma: A backpacker's guide
Following the advice of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's pro-democracy leader, Michelle Jana Chan travels around under her own steam.
By Michelle Jana Chan
9:52AM BST 15 Jul 2011

Mya rubbed drops of water into the tree bark to form a yellow paste. She smeared it on my forehead and cheeks, finishing with the flourish of a dab at the end of my nose. The children jostling around me looked on, giggling. Their faces were also painted in elaborate yellow loops and circles and swirls. Applying thanaka pigment is a traditional beauty treatment in Burma, and it felt like a gift to be decorated like everyone else.

I was spending the day in the home of Mya's father, 62-year-old Than, and his family, who live in a stilted house on Inle Lake, one of the country's most popular tourist sights. The lake is home to the Intha people, who are known for a one-legged rowing technique and for floating vegetable gardens that rise and fall with the water level. Some locals have also taken to opening up their homes to tourists.

Than welcomed me into his front room and we sat cross-legged on the rattan floor sharing plum cordial and boiled sweets while listening to his grandchildren sing "Baa Baa Black Sheep". We discussed the difficulty of sourcing clean water, how to tie the traditional longyi wraparound, his achievements in the sport of cane ball and the future of his family.

"We want more visitors," he said, as Moe, my guide, translated. "Tourism is good for boat drivers, for workers in restaurants and hotels; it is good for so many people."

Moe agreed. "We know what it is like to have no tourists. After [Cyclone] Nargis nobody came. No tourists and no work. Nothing to do except stay at home."

I explained that some Britons had chosen to keep away partly because of the reported opposition to tourism of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's pro-democracy leader, who last week made her first trip outside Rangoon since 2003. Until November last year she had spent most of the previous 20 years under house arrest while a military government ruled the country. She and her party were reported to have come out against tourism on the grounds that it would benefit the generals.

Neither man knew about Suu Kyi's reported stance. "I don't think she would say that," Than said, "and if she did I wish people had come anyway."

Moe was pensive. "It is difficult to hear you say that," he said to me. "Of course she is right and if tourists visit some money will go to the government. But even if that is as much as, say, 50 per cent, it still means 50 per cent is going to people like us. We say come. Come to Myanmar." (Most locals I met referred to the country as Myanmar. The British Government uses Burma – also insisted on by the Telegraph style guide – because the change of name to Myanmar was made by the former military regime. Its proxy political party, following far from free elections last November, dominates the current government.)

That tourists should come was the appeal of everyone I met who worked in tourism. Those I spoke to outside the industry were also eager to see foreign visitors. "We want to learn more about the world," one teacher said. "It is too expensive for us to travel, but we can 'travel' to other countries by meeting foreigners."

Tourism has risen sharply, especially from Thailand and China. Last year there was a record high of nearly 300,000 arrivals from abroad. That is a 30 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the Pacific Asia Travel Association, but still only about a 10th of the number of tourists drawn to neighbouring Laos.

Than and Moe had both noticed more tourists about, especially since the general election in November and the release of Suu Kyi. At that time the Nobel Peace Prize-winner commented again on tourism, saying that, while group visits were not to be encouraged, "individuals coming in to see, to study the situation in the country might be a good idea".

The British Foreign Office says on its website that Suu Kyi "has recently indicated that she encourages ethical, individual tourism to help spread economic wealth in Burma, particularly to those outside of or not associated with the former military regime".

Burma is a straightforward and affordable destination for independent travellers. Clusters of small guesthouses and eateries have sprung up in tourist areas. English-speaking guides can easily be hired, and enough English is written and spoken for visitors to be able to get by. The country is crisscrossed with air, train, ferry and bus routes.

Flights can be expensive but other modes of transport are not. I made a four-hour journey by taxi for £60 (the car did break down but the driver fixed it). Clean, comfortable accommodation – on a par with a decent b & b but with Soviet-style furnishings – can be had for about £20 a night. Eating out is very cheap. The country is not only good value but a rewarding place to visit.

I flew in from Bangkok to the former capital, Rangoon (or Yangon), on a cool rainy day. In spite of grey skies I was feeling jubilant. After flight diversions and visa problems I had begun to doubt that I would ever find a way into the country. Consequently, I had made no plans beyond trying to get my passport stamped. I soon found myself at the city's best-known sight: the dazzling ancient temple of Shwedagon Paya, said to be built with 60 tons of gold. A procession of novice monks in pink satin and red lipstick was being carried on the shoulders of dowdy attendants through the temple's grounds. They filed past tables where a competition was taking place to carve watermelons into the most elaborate shapes.

Travel in Burma is as much about unexpected encounters as it is about tourist attractions. At National Bank Number Three I watched a man wheel inside a trolley loaded with what looked like mattresses. On closer inspection I realised they were sewn-up sacks stuffed with kyat, the local currency. Written in black marker pen on the outside was "USD250,000". I estimated a sack's dimensions and compared it to the wad of kyat I had exchanged for $100 (£63). It was about right: a "mattress" of kyat would equate to about a quarter of a million dollars. It was more cash than I had ever seen – on a bank floor in Burma.

Yet Rangoon felt squeezed by sanctions – imposed in varying degrees by the West for more than 10 years and recently extended by the European Union and the United States. More than anywhere the city reminded me of Havana for its crumbling colonial buildings, potholed roads, creaking taxis, poorly stocked supermarkets and abundance of generators (in readiness for the regular blackouts). At night, only a few street lamps glowed in the darkness.

Exploring the town, I wandered through a broken gate into the National Stadium. Some well-toned athletes sprinted around the cinder track. A short old man with a big grin introduced himself and turned out to be a trainer of the national athletics team. He pointed out his protégé as she ran past.

He then told me about the bronze medal he had won at the Asian Games a half-century earlier, crediting his success to his training in China. To an even greater degree today China is considered the regional superpower. I met a few people who were worried about the growing influence of their bigger neighbour, but many more were glad of the trade.

The following afternoon I boarded the train to Bagan. I had paid for an upper-class sleeper with a $50 bill that the conductor did not put in the till but folded into his shirt pocket.

The train was old-fashioned, as were the friendly staff, in faded uniforms and carrying sheaves of carbon-copies. There were four bunks in my compartment with pillows and blankets. Ordinary class was less than ordinary, with rigid upright banquettes for the overnight journey. We pulled out punctually. I threw open a window as we left the city behind.

Pagodas topped the hills; some with spires covered in gold leaf, some in white plaster, some decorated in fragments of broken mirror. White Brahman cows dozed under mango trees. At station platforms women on the tracks sold fried samosas and apples; children called out to me for dollars and sweets.

Overnight the train swung, shook and shuddered as it moved north. I woke parched. The air was dry with a whiff of burning plastic, and outside the landscape had been transformed. Lush paddy fields had made way for dusty scrubland studded with palms. Piles of rubbish lay rotting by the tracks. Through the frame of my train window Burma rolled past like a film about Old Asia and broken dreams.

By breakfast I was in Bagan, the country's architectural masterpiece, with a concentrated 4,000 temples, pagodas and stupas on the banks of the Irrawaddy. It was in the 11th century that rulers here began 200 years of frenzied construction and created this exquisite spiritual landscape reflecting Buddhist, Hindu and animist history.

I rented a bicycle for a pound a day. For an archaeological site of such stature there are strikingly few tourists, and those who come focus on a few of the larger temples.

The remainder lie empty. Monks in raspberry-coloured robes shuffled by. English-speaking locals offered their services as guides, and artists peddled rolled-up canvases depicting Buddhist imagery. Peering into the gloom of the temples I glimpsed colourful frescoes and sensuous statues. Then I climbed steep staircases up tiers of terraces for spectacular views across the dusty plains.

My next journey was a slow boat to Mandalay, something I have dreamed about since I could first read. This was the last sailing of the season of the Bagan ferry to Mandalay, and there were only 11 passengers rather than the usual 100-plus. We all stood on deck looking eastwards waiting for the first chink of sunrise. The river level was low and we snaked upstream avoiding sand banks.

The 1,300 miles of the Irrawaddy are plied by barges carrying logged teak, paddle steamers carrying well-heeled tourists and fishermen flinging out nets from makeshift sailing boats. We passed squat villages and tented communities of nomadic river gipsies on the sandy floodplains. Passengers shared snacks and books and small talk. There was a Slovakian notching up countries and pestering me to count my tally; a softly spoken Malaysian engineer who worked for Myanmar Airways; and an Irishman who was already sunburnt but sat out in the open, shirtless, all day.

One of the crew took me up to the bridge where I found three men who all called themselves captain. One was listening to the BBC World Service on his hand-held radio. When I showed interest, another tuned into the station on the boat's radio and the entire cabin was filled with those familiar BBC pips. The third captain gave me a thumbs-up. "Tell your friends to come," he said. "If there are more tourists, we will have more business."

Mandalay, I discovered, was not the place I had read of in my storybooks. Lined with new shopping malls and uninspired apartment blocks, it is now the modern commercial hub of the north, with strong trade links to China and India. Roads are congested; scooters are laden with families, the children seated on handlebars. I balanced on the back of a bicycle-rickshaw trying to snatch glances of a bygone era: a colonial-style clock tower; the moat of Mandalay Palace; a shop selling monks' robes.

That night I went to see a slapstick comedy show, Moustache Brothers, an unlikely tourist attraction staged by a trio who openly mock the government. Against a backdrop of colourful signage flashing "FBI", "Mossad" and "International Criminal Court", 60-year-old Lu Maw pointed to a Swiss tourist. "Your country rich," he said. "Because your banks full of our generals' money."

The authorities seem to tolerate the show, perhaps because it is performed in English only. Par Par Lay held up a sign reading "3 time arrested. Jailbird. Black List" and posed for photographs wearing handcuffs. "Go to the dentist in Thailand because you are not allowed to open your mouth here," Lu Maw said.

In between the gags were spoof traditional dances. The spectacle felt more sad than funny, but we all chuckled at punchlines, if only to honour the courage in the room. Lu Maw, the only one who has not been locked up, believes it is fame that will keep him free. "Tell everyone to come see us, yeah," he said. "I say more tourists, better for Myanmar. Generals get visa 30 dollars but we get more business too."

I took a four-hour taxi ride through the rolling hills of the Shan State, a prosperous area abutting the Chinese border. Even the smallest village had whitewashed homes, new fences and orderly gardens. The boom in business was confirmed by a German entrepreneur I know who had lived in south-east Asia for decades and founded a vineyard at Aythaya, near Inle Lake: he cannot produce enough wine to meet domestic demand. In the evenings the vineyard's restaurant was abuzz with local businessmen ordering wine on the terrace overlooking the lights of the trading post of Taunggyi.

Towards the end of my trip I flew to Ngapali beach on the Bay of Bengal, where there are miles of golden sand yet limited tourism development. The hotels were quiet; only a couple of restaurants had customers. It reminded me of Thailand in the Eighties when life was slower and sweeter.

Whether Britons come or not, tourism here will grow. Today Asians make up about two thirds of arrivals – they are nearly three times as numerous as Europeans – and the tourists I spoke to from Malaysia and Hong Kong had no qualms about visiting.

The decision to come remains a very personal one. If you are considering a trip, you should know that it is impossible to visit without putting some money in government hands. You need to buy a visa, hotel bills include government tax and tickets are required to enter state-administered archaeological zones, such as the wondrous Bagan.

There are, however, also ample opportunities to put money in the pockets of individuals working in tourism, and to meet and talk to locals – encounters that became the highlight of my trip. The people of Burma are the country's greatest asset; they are warmly welcoming and refreshingly open. No ticket is required to make new friends.

Michelle Jana Chan flew with Qatar Airways (www.qatarairways.com) to Bangkok, from where there are connecting flights to Rangoon. This is the most popular route into the country, but there are also other connections from cities such as Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
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Offshore Magazine - PTTEP taps Sembcorp for Myanmar production platform
Published: Jul 15, 2011
Offshore staff

SINGAPORE – PTTEP International Ltd. has awarded Sembcorp Marine Ltd. a contract to supply an offshore production platform for use offshore Myanmar.

The S$600 million ($492 million) contract covers engineering, procurement, construction, transportation, installation, and commissioning, according to Sembcorp.
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Foreign Policy - Why did the Burmese army blow up this bridge?
Posted By Robert Zeliger
Thursday, July 14, 2011 - 4:14 PM

It's not easy getting information out of Burma. The man who snapped this photo hid the camera's SD card in his sock in order to sneak it across the border. The image shows a 105 meter bridge in eastern Burma reportedly destroyed by the army on June 30 with heavy artillery.

It's in an area of the country dominated by the Shan ethnic group, the largest minority in Burma, who have been at war on and off with the government for decades.

Many Shan have fled to neighboring Thailand, claiming human rights abuses by the Burmese.

"This bridge was strategic," said Jaden McNeely of the NGO Global Refuge. His group distributed cameras to Burmese people to obtain evidence of abuses like this. "It moved everything from animals to tools for local villagers." He said the army has destroyed a number of bridges in the area.

According to McNeely, the Burmese army suspected the Shan army of using it to move supplies across.
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Jakarta Globe - If Burma Wants Progress, It Will Give the Lady a Chance
Kyaw Zwa Moe | July 13, 2011

In Thailand, history was made when the Pheu Thai party’s landslide victory left Yingluck Shinawatra, a woman who had just recently entered politics, primed to become the country’s first female prime minister. Back in Burma, the woman who has been leading her country’s pro-democracy struggle for two decades appears unlikely to ever reach the same pinnacle of the political system.

Thailand’s political environment favored its first female prime minister-to-be. The election was free and fair, the ruling Democrat Party accepted defeat when it lost and the military promised not to proceed with a rumored coup.

In contrast, Aung San Suu Kyi was excluded from Burma’s 2010 election, which was anything but free and fair. When she and her party won the 1990 election in a landslide even greater than Pheu Thai’s, the military refused to honor the results, imprisoned Suu Kyi and began 20 years of oppression.

In both 1990 and 2010, the chance for Burma’s people to have a woman leader before Thailand was stolen from them by a clique of ruthless men with no compassion for their country’s citizens. In the 20 years in between the two “elections,” it became clear that the courage, confidence, commitment and compassion of a female opposition figure could not win out in Burma when the nation’s male leaders refused to give her an opportunity to compete on anything approaching a level playing field.

Among Burma’s 2,100 political prisoners, there are at least 145 female political activists serving lengthy terms. One of them, Nilar Thien, is a courageous activist and the wife of Kyaw Min Yu, who is a leading member of the 88 Generation Students group, which joined the monks in leading the 2007 Revolution.

I spoke by telephone with Nilar Thein after she went into hiding following the 2007 uprising. At the time, she was the mother of a 4-month-old baby daughter who she left behind when the authorities began hunting her.

Nilar Thein had a choice about whether to stay away from politics in the interests of her family or join the movement to bring democracy to Burma. She was well aware of the risks — she had spent nearly nine years in prison in the 1990s — but still took the gamble of participating in the protests.

Sadly, she ultimately lost the bet. In September 2008, the junta tracked Nilar Thein down, and she is now serving a 65-year prison term in Thayet Prison in central Burma.

Looking back over the struggle of Burmese women in the modern era, many more deserve recognition. Their status in Burmese political society has been suppressed since shortly after the time the country achieved independence.

Even during the British colonial era, women in Burma had more rights than now. In 1929, Hnin Mya became the country’s first woman senator. In 1937, a distinguished female doctor named Saw Has was elected and given the prestigious civil honor “Member of the British Empire.” In 1953, five years after Burma gained its independence, the country had one female minister — Ba Maung Chain — who became the minister representing Karen State.

Since the time of the 1962 military coup staged by the late dictator Ne Win, though, the role of women in Burmese politics has been almost nonexistent, due primarily to the fact that each successive government has been led by military and ex-military men.

Even in the new “civilian” government, few women have had the opportunity to crack Burma’s iron ceiling. In the 2010 election, there were only 20 women among the 659 people elected to parliament, and 14 of those women belonged to the military-controlled Union Solidarity and Development Party.

The daughters of three former prime ministers, known as the “three princesses,” took part in the election, but each was defeated by a USDP candidate. Recently, all three said they would not contest a by-election slated to be held later this year, explaining that although they took part in the November 2010 election in the belief it would create political space, they didn’t see that happening once the new government was formed.

Under these circumstances, it is highly unlikely that Suu Kyi or any of her female colleagues will take office or play a crucial role in Burma’s government in the foreseeable future. While their courage, confidence, commitment and compassion have won more than enough hearts and minds among the Burmese people to secure a landslide victory far exceeding Yingluck’s in Thailand, the insecure men who control Burma show no signs of allowing anyone outside their closed-minded clique to lead the nation.

The men in Naypyidaw have failed miserably and continue to run their country into the ground. It’s time for them to step aside and give the Lady a chance.

Kyaw Zwa Moe is managing editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at kyawzwa@irrawaddy.org.
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The Irrawaddy - China Power Ignored Internal Report Calling for Dam Cancellation
By SAW YAN NAING Friday, July 15, 2011

After conducting an assessment, a group of Chinese and Burmese scientists working for the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) recommended in an internal report that the company cancel its Myitsone Dam project on the Irrawaddy River in northern Burma, but CPI has continued construction of the dam.

The 945 page assessment—which was obtained by the Burma Rivers Network, an environmental organization—was funded by CPI and conducted between January and May of 2009 (the CPI Report).

The CPI Report said that the Myitsone Dam will threaten bio-diverse ecosystems and impact millions of people that depend on the Irrawaddy River for their livelihoods: “The fragmentation of the Irrawaddy River by a series of dams will have serious social and environmental problems, not only upstream of dams but also very far downstream to the coastal area,” the CPI Report said.

The CPI report concluded that the Myitsone Dam project should not proceed.

“There is no need for such a big dam to be constructed at the confluence of the Irrawaddy River,” the CPI report said.

However, CPI ignored the recommendation by its own assessment team and will go ahead with the controversial dam project, said Sai Sai, the coordinator of the Burma Rivers Network.

“Chinese companies are increasing their investments in Burma, yet they are not following their own standards. While CPI is hiding its assessment from the people of Burma, construction of the dam is speeding ahead,” Sai Sai said.

CPI is planning to build and operate seven mega-dams on the Irrawaddy River and its tributaries.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday, Ah Nan, the assistant coordinator of the Burma Rivers Network, said, “We call on CPI and the Burmese government to immediately stop the Myitsone Dam, as it will have a huge negative impact on local people.”

She also called on the Chinese government not to invest in Burma, as armed conflicts are still active and instability prevails in the country.

In June, serious clashes between Burmese government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an ethnic Kachin armed group, broke out near the Chinese-run Taping Dam site in Kachin State, northern Burma. Due to the conflict, about 15,000 people have been displaced.

Mega-dams in Kachin State and across Burma are deeply unpopular in the country, but numerous appeals to Chinese companies and the Chinese and Burmese governments to stop the dams have gone unanswered, said the Burma Rivers Network.

The CPI Report warned that “the majority of local races oppose construction of the dams” and called for consultation with and the consent of affected people. The study also recommends a full social impact assessment be conducted along the length of the whole river, but this has not taken place.

Although completed in late 2009, the CPI Report was never made public.
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The Irrawaddy - Malaysian Worker Amnesty Postponement Leaves Burmese in Limbo
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN Friday, July 15, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR — After seven years as an undocumented migrant worker in Malaysia, waiter Ko Saw knows well the tough grind facing his compatriots in one of Southeast Asia's more advanced economies.

“In my seven years here I have only been caught once by the police,” he recalls over a dish of deep-fried Burmese snacks at an open-air row of Asian street restaurants in the Puchong 12 district of Kuala Lumpur. The signs around are in Burmese, Chinese, Thai and Bahasa Indonesia, as well as English and Bahasa Malaysia, and the staff at the restaurants are all immigrant workers.

“I was taken to Semenya detention center,” he says, half-smiling through a rueful shake of the head. “However, I was lucky. It was not so crowded then, so we did not have such a bad time of it.”

“I still have to watch for police, and try to avoid them,” he says. “I cannot afford not to work, as my parents are over 70 and need whatever money I can send back to them in Rangoon each month.” Ko Saw earns 500 Malaysian ringgit (US $166) per month, of which he needs 300 to 400 ringgit to survive. “My boss provides accommodation,” he says.

If an amnesty for illegal migrant workers is put in place, stories such as Ko Saw's might become less common in future. Malaysia was scheduled to implement an amnesty starting on Monday, July 11, but the country's Home Minister Hishammudin Hussein said the program would be postponed indefinitely—an announcement revised yesterday by Ministry Secretary Mahmood Adam, who said that the program, code-named “6P,” will be implemented on Aug 1.

Mahmood said that the rest of July would be given over to biometric registration of legal workers, which he said would enable the Immigration Department to identify foreign workers who ran away from their employers. Those caught would not be permitted to legalize under the new system and could face deportation to their country of origin.

There are an estimated two million registered migrant workers in Malaysia, with hundreds of thousands more illegal or unregistered. Around a quarter of this number are thought to be from Burma, and of those, perhaps 200,000 are undocumented, and therefore at constant risk of arrest, detention and deportation back to Burma, according to Tun Tun, head of the Burma Campaign Malaysia (BCM), an NGO established in 2008 that seeks to assist Burmese migrants.

“Sometimes they are held in the detention center for six months,” says Tun Tun, pointing with his thumb back over his left shoulder. “The nearest one is close to here,” he says in an interview at the BCM office, close to an industrial estate in the southern suburbs of Kuala Lumpur, where many migrant workers from Burma, Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh and elsewhere are employed.

Kyaw Thel is a supervisor at Sunshine, overseeing the work of 28 mostly Burmese and Bangladeshi workers in a workshop making “mostly electronic gates and steel furniture,” he says.

In the foreground sparks fly as welders work on gates and steel doors, while some of the other workers laugh and crack jokes in Burmese about Kyaw Thel's prodigious capacity for after-hours drinking.

Kyaw Thel laughs off the banter, saying, “If only I had the time and money for that. I have family in Burma and have to save up to send money back.”

Originally from Sagaing Division in Burma, he has been in Malaysia for six years. “I work hard, but it's not so bad for me here,” he says, “I earn 1,800 ringgit ($600) per month.” He says he will stay in Malaysia for now, as “things are not so good in Burma for the economy or for business.”

Millions of Burmese have left their impoverished and economically stagnant country, which is rich in natural resources such as gas, oil and gemstones, to earn a living elsewhere in Southeast Asia, risking exploitation and abuse in menial, often low-paying employment.

Life is harsh for many migrant workers in Malaysia, according to Kuala Lumpur-based trade union lawyer Peter Kandiah, who works closely with the BCM.

“There is really little or no protection here for migrant workers,” he says. “Companies hold employees' passports, effectively taking workers hostage. Migrant labor is abused in this country, and the cases I hear about or try to help with, well I can say that these are just the tip of the iceberg.”

He adds that “The various departments often pass the buck, and the police usually do nothing.

In fact sometimes they are a problem, and seek to extort vulnerable migrant workers, especially those without legal documents.”

Malaysia is not the only country in the region that is trying to find a way to control large-scale illegal migration. Thailand has introduced a registration process for illegal migrant workers, which is running from June 15-July 14. To date, it has registered 763,000 migrant workers, including 515,000 Burmese.

Andy Hall, a migration policy analyst at Thailand's Mahidol University, says that the Thai process “has been a huge success in a short period of time,” with almost two million migrant workers now registered in total in Thailand.

Similar to the Thai scheme, under the new Malaysian amnesty, employers will be expected to pick up the tab for registering their illegal workers, at a proposed cost of a 4,000 ringgit ($1,330) per candidate. In Thailand, the formal cost is between 2,900 and 3,900 baht ($96-129), excluding broker fees, much less than the expected cost in Malaysia.

The price-tag alone could undermine the overall scheme, once it is introduced on Aug 1.“The success of such a registration scheme depends greatly on the financial cost, which can make it more or less attractive to the worker and the employer,” said Hall.

A Chinese-Malaysian businessman who owns two coffee shops and rents stall-space to some of the migrants doing well enough to own their own shop, said that he would cover the cost for the dozen unregistered migrant workers in his pay.

Giving his name only as David, he said, “There are pros and cons to this scheme for the employer. It is expensive and many might try to evade it or shift the cost,” he said, adding that he would work within the law.

Disputing the view that all migrant worker employers in Malaysia exploit their staff, he said, “Look, I know that some Chinese here are very harsh and break the law, but for me, I treat my staff as human beings.”

“I have a high turnover of workers. Some leave without telling me first,” he says. “I even loaned 3,000 ringgit ($1,000) to one guy who had been working for me for two years, as he said his dad had passed away. But the guy just disappeared with the money.”

“I'll never get that back, and I canceled his work permit after that,” said David.
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The Irrawaddy - Burma's Vice-President Implicated in Kachin Massacres
By BA KAUNG Friday, July 15, 2011

Burma's Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo should be investigated by a United Nations' Commission of Inquiry for his role as regional commander during a series of brutal massacres in Shan State, says the leadership of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

In interviews conducted last week with The Irrawaddy at their military headquarters in Laiza, Kachin State, three of the influential leaders of the KIA—retired Col. James Lum Dung, Brig-Gen Gun Maw, and Col. Zau Raw—laid out detailed reports with maps and photographs that they said proves conclusively that the Burmese army committed atrocities against Kachin soldiers and civilians over the past 10 years.

The first and second of these massacres, according to the KIA, came in 2001 under the watch of Burma's new vice-president who was Northeast Regional Commander at that time.

Asked why evidence of such atrocities had never before been reported, the KIA leaders said that they had not publicized the massacres to avoid destroying the fragile political process during the 17-year ceasefire and while the constitution was being drafted.

Collectively and individually, the KIA leaders said that now that the ceasefire has been broken by the Burmese army, and that all hope of political negotiation has broken down, the KIA wants to present its allegations to the UN, and claims that the four mass killings and three summary executions constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to the KIA's documentation, which is written in Kachin language, the first incident occurred in March 2001, in the countryside a few kilometers from Lau Jai village in Mung Si District, which is in Muse Township in northern Shan State.

The area was at the time openly under the control of the KIA. At 9 am on March 22, four KIA soldiers on patrol came across a unit of approximately 100 Burmese infantry troops of Division 242 led by Maj. Khin Maung Hla, the commander of Kutkai Military Command in Muse.

Initially, the Burmese patrol requested the KIA soldiers to guide them to the village of Shauk Haw. Before reaching the village, the four Kachin soldiers were attacked, disarmed and tied up. At around 2 pm, they were all shot dead. Their bodies were half-buried on top of each other in a shallow grave in the forest.

The KIA recovered the corpses one month later. They recorded the deceased as: Sergeant Zatau Dau Hawng, and private soldiers Laphai Zau Bawk, Dashi Nawng Hkum and Kareng Tu Lum. The KIA report says a formal funeral was held for the four on April 22, 2001.

On the same day, a harrowing scene was played out at a small agricultural farm in Mung Si District in Shan State. The KIA report lists the plot in the hamlet of Nawng Tau Si Sa Pa, and says the farm was run by the KIA's 2,000-strong Battalion 4, as part of a regional development program initiated after the ceasefire in 1994.

It is alleged that a column of 70 Burmese troops approached the farm and requested a meeting with Second Lieutenant Hpuwang Naw Seng of the KIA. However, as Naw Seng was otherwise engaged, the KIA's Warrant Officer Lt. Gam Seng went out to meet the Burmese unit which was led by Lt. Col. Nyo Win from Light Infantry Division 242—the very same unit accused of involvement in the executions in Muse.

As soon as Gam Seng came before the Burmese troops, he was allegedly grabbed and tied up. Simultaneously, Burmese government troops broke into the farmhouse and arrested four KIA soldiers, including Naw Seng, and two civilians.

According to the KIA records, the captives were taken to a nearby forest and physically tortured throughout the night. They were all dead by the following morning.

Some weeks later, the KIA recovered the seven bodies in a swamp. Each had multiple stab wounds, which the KIA said were inflicted by bayonets. Each of the bodies showed evidence of burning to the genitals. On some trees nearby, the KIA found samples of the victims' hair mixed with blood.

They concluded the captives had been tied to the trees, tortured, stabbed and burned, before being killed.

“The soldiers were so severely beaten up that their bodies were just a pile of broken bones,” the report describes. “Their dead bodies were stamped on and crushed into the mud near a creek.”

The victims were named as: Second Lt. Naw Seng, Warrant Officer Gam Seng, Lance Corporal Aik Nyi, private soldiers Nhkum Ban Aung Mai and Ma Aik Nai. One civilian was a Kachin man, Zum Zang Hawng Lum, who was the nephew of Col. James Lum Dung, the then head commander of KIA Battalion 4 operating in northern Shan State. The other civilian was identified only as a Chinese man.

In his interview with The Irrawaddy in Laiza last week, Col. James Lum Dung—who took up arms against the Burmese troops in 1961 and retired as the KIA regional military commander in 2007—said the killings were a deliberate provocation by the Burmese troops under the supervision of Tin Aung Myint Oo.

“Their motive was to drive our troops out of Shan State,” said James Lum Dung. “Tin Aung Myint Oo was mainly responsible for these killings.”

In seeking an explanation for the killings, James Lum Dung said he went to Lashio in Shan State in 2001 to confront Tin Aung Myint Oo.

“He made no response whatsoever when I told him about the unprovoked massacres, “ James Lum Dung said. “Instead, he offered me 100,0000 kyat [US $1,000]. I did not accept
it.

“We were furious about what had happened, but our leaders decided to wait for the completion of the constitution-drafting process,” he said, referring to the military-sponsored constitution that was not completed until 2008, and which was later rejected by the Kachin leadership for its exclusion of rights for ethnic minorities.

Documentation for a third incident alleged to have taken place in August 2005 in Hwak Kai village in the Kutkai district of Muse Township was presented by the KIA to The Irrawaddy. By this time, Tin Aung Myint Oo was no longer regional commander; Maj-Gen Myint Hlaing, the current minister for Agriculture and Irrigation, was overseeing operations.

Falsely accused of illegally collecting taxes from local traders, the KIA's administrative officer U Sang Lu, 50, was arrested and taken away by Col. San Shwe Thar of the Burmese army's Northeast Regional Command.

U Sang Lu was found dead the following day with three bullet wounds. His skull and two of his ribs were fractured, and the skin on his wrist had been torn away.

“It was a groundless murder,” the document said. “The KIO [the political wing of the KIA] has long collected tax from local businesses. U Sang Lu was performing a routine duty, but was ruthlessly killed.”

It is alleged that the following year, five KIA soldiers and one civilian were killed in cold blood by Burmese government troops, this time in the Bum Pri Bum area of Kutkai in southern Muse Township.

On Jan. 2, 2006, a Burmese army patrol of 12 soldiers led by Maj. Hla Moe from Infantry Division 68 allegedly arrived at a KIA administrative office in Bum Pri Bum.

“While our soldiers prepared to serve the Burmese troops with drinks, they were all shot dead in the office and in the kitchen,” the record states. The KIA document goes on to say that the Burmese unit immediately called in reinforcements, and prevented the KIA from entering the area and collecting the remains.

Led by Brig-Gen Gun Maw, who is the current KIA deputy military chief, a Kachin military delegation met with Burmese army officers and asked to recover the bodies of the murdered KIA soldiers. They were permitted to collect the bodies on Jan. 6 only to find the bodies had already been cremated. Gun Maw said they were presented with “bags of ashes.”

The victims were recorded in the KIA records as: administrative officer Laban Gam Hpang, Sergeant Brang Mai, office staffers Zahkwng Kawang Hkam, Maran Tu Shan and Brang Shawng, and a civilian from the village named as Aik Nyunt.

Col. Zau Raw, the current commander of KIA Battalion 4 operating in Shan State, told The Irrawaddy he clearly recalls the incident in 2006. He said the Burmese military officials later offered up an excuse that the KIA soldiers were mistaken for members of an armed militia which had not signed a ceasefire agreement with the government.

“We suppressed our emotions in those days, because we were waiting for some sort of political result from the constitution,” said Zau Raw, adding that he remembers crying as he led the funeral for the slaughtered men.

Zau Raw was one of the KIA's highest ranking officials who participated in the constitution-drafting process.

He said that despite the murders, the KIA has abided by a code of ethics, and has returned Burmese soldiers that they arrested during recent clashes to their units.

The KIA presented documentation for two other killings in October 2005 when two KIA administrators were murdered by Burmese soldiers in Shan State in separate incidents.

The KIA officials accuse former Gen. Myint Hlaing, who is the current minister for Agriculture and Irrigation, of responsibility for the killings in 2005 and 2006 as he was regional commander at the time.

Gen. Gun Maw said that KIA leaders did not previously attempt to draw international attention to those incidents because they did not want to impede the political process that they hoped would bring autonomy to Kachin State.

Gun Maw said that the Burmese army leadership has long exercised a systematic policy of extra-judicial killings against the KIA.

“Our soldiers did not die in vain,” he said, adding that the news that one of his soldiers, who was arrested by Burmese soldiers last month in a KIA liaison office and brutally killed, has received international attention which will add weight to the KIA's demands during negotiations with the Naypyidaw government.

As opposed to the 1994 ceasefire with the Burmese government, the KIA said it has made it clear that any future ceasefire talks with the government must include meaningful political dialogue—otherwise they will continue fighting.

Indeed, negotiations for a ceasefire may already be doomed. Many Kachins cannot forgive the Burmese army for the murders, and many find it galling that the KIA would sit down with a government delegation, especially if it includes Tin Aung Myint Oo.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, ex-Maj Aung Lynn Htut, who defected to the US in March 2005, described Tin Aung Myin Oo as “a butcher,” but also attributed the unprovoked massacres to a strategic policy of trying to inflict a stranglehold over the armed ethnic groups over the past decade.

According to Aung Lynn Htut, the incidents were partly related to Tin Aung Myint Oo's hostile attitude toward the ethnic armies. “He was well-known as 'The Butcher' in the army,” he said. “He was always quick to slap his subordinates in the face, and he constantly reiterated a mantra of 'Root out the enemy at all costs!'”

He said that another factor that contributed toward the massacres was that since early 2000, former military chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe had been ordering regional military commanders to tackle harshly the armed ethnic groups, including the KIA, and expand Burmese army presence in the ethnic areas—in preparation for a violation of the ceasefires and a resumption of hostilities.

The KIA officers presented the common view that Vice-President Tin Aung Myint Oo plays a critical role in the current armed conflicts. According to Col. Zau Raw and the other KIA officials, the massacres they described to The Irrawaddy should be investigated by the UN and international bodies responsible for deciding whether to proceed with the proposed Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“We call on the United Nations to investigate these incidents,” said Zau Raw. “We will never forget them.”
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NLD to present its legal status case to the UN human rights group
Friday, 15 July 2011 21:07 Tun Tun

New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Burmese National League for Democracy party–claiming freedom of association is a universal human right–plans to take its legal status case to the United Nations Council of Human Rights (UNCHR).

According to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, freedom of association and organization is a universally recognized human right. However, the NLD has been threatened by the new government, which has called it an illegal organization. The NLD plans to submit its case within two weeks.

“According to these procedures, the case can be presented to the UNCHR when all the domestic legal remedies are exhausted in a certain country,” NLD spokesman and lawyer Nyan Win told Mizzima.

The Union Election Commission (UEC) announced on September 14, 2010, that the NLD legal status as a political party had been nullified because it did not reregister with the UEC. The NLD lodged a complaint in court but it was dismissed. The NLD then filed a final appeal to the Supreme Court in Naypyitaw, but it was also dismissed.

The NLD argued that the government’s non-implementation of the results of the 1990 general election and the breaching of its promise and obligation to convene a parliament based on the result of that general election was a human rights violation. Last month, the Home Ministry sent a letter to the NLD warning it not to engage in political activities.

NLD General-Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi replied in a letter saying only the Parliament can enact laws pertaining to political parties, hence, the NLD has not been dissolved.

Some hardliners who are frustrated with the UN role of democratization in Burma criticized the NLD move to present its case to UNCHR, but the Thai-based Burma Lawyers’ Council (BLC) supported the move.

“If the council accepts the case, it can pass a resolution saying the government’s move is not in accordance with international laws. The Burmese Parliament cannot ignore such a resolution,” BLC Chairman Thein Oo told Mizzima. “The NLD is not an armed group working for an armed struggle. It only works to promote and propagate democracy and human rights in the country. It only works for development of ethnic rights. Such an organization should exist in our country. Under these circumstances, the UN has to accept this case and the argument.”

Nyan Win said that the UNCHR once took on similar cases in South Africa and other African countries.
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Thousands of construction workers lose jobs in Naypyitaw
Friday, 15 July 2011 21:50 Myo Thant

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Due to a reduced budget, Burmese government construction projects in Naypyitaw, the capital, have stopped or been temporarily suspended and several thousands of workers have lost their jobs.

The reason for the budget cuts is unclear, but one government official said money had to be redirected to support regional and state governments. Construction company owners said that the suspension of the ongoing work would last three months to one year.

“The government does not want companies to halt the construction projects. But some companies are three months behind in paying salaries so the companies shut down the work,” a contractor told Mizzima. He said large companies owe many debts to associated smaller companies.

According to figures compiled by an express bus service in Naypyitaw, about 20,000 workers left the capital this week.
Sources said all but a few high priority government projects were halted.

“It has become obvious this week. At least 3,000 workers per day went back to their hometowns,” another government employee said. Because so many people left Naypyitaw, it was difficult to buy bus tickets, he said.

Twenty big construction companies including Max Myanmar, Htoo, Asia World, Naungdon, A One, Aryoneoo, Eden, TZTM, and ACE have construction projects in Naypyitaw, in addition to Dekkhina Thiri Township, Zabu Thiri Township, Pobba Thiri Township, Ottara Thiri Township and Zeyar Thiri Township.

An employee of the Max Myanmar Company said it halted all of its work except the football stadium project.
Meanwhile, construction continues in Naypyitaw on an International Airport to be built by GE Engineering Unit with a completion date of 2012.

Similarly, construction work continues on the Zeyar Thiri Football Stadium and Zabu Thiri Stadium, which will host SEA Games in 2013.

The new capital was built under the former junta in 2004 and the Ministry for progress of Border Areas and National Races and Development Affairs managed the project. New President Thein Sein replaced the ministry with the Ministry of Border Affairs. Major General Thein Htay is Border Affairs Minister.

The Central Committee for Development of Border Areas and National Races formed in 1989 was reorganized in April 2011 by President Thein Sein, and he now chairs the committee.
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‘Negotiating’ recording to be played for President Thein Sein
Friday, 15 July 2011 21:28 Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) Secretary No. 1 Aung Thaung said that the recording made at a meeting of the “Peacemaking and Negotiating Group” will be played to President Thein Sein in Naypyitaw, according to a person who attended the meeting.

Aung Thaung and Secretary No. 2 Thein Zaw met with five members from the negotiating group in Myitkyina on Thursday and Friday to discuss cease-fire efforts between the government troops and Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

In response to a KIO question forwarded by the peacemaking group, which asked whether the “1947 Panglong Agreement” was still valid, Aung Thaung said that the Constitution said the nation should be known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and it has implemented union system.

Aung Thaung also said in the meeting that a political dialogue was open, according to source.

“During the period when a mutual trust is built, we need to stop fighting, and then we will hold a serious political dialogue to solve the problems. We will try seriously try to achieve a permanent peace,” Aung Thaung was quoted as saying.

The KIO that is a member of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) organized in mid-February, which has proposed holding an all-inclusive dialogue for achieving a cease-fire across the country but the Burmese government said it only wants to talk with KIO.

Meanwhile, the fighting between the government and KIO continues. From July 12 to July 14, Burmese government military vehicles believed to be carrying weapons and munitions entered Burma from China.

A Sino-Burmese border-based analyst said that nearly 300 military trucks coming from Shweli passed through the border checkpoint in Muse in Shan State, Burma.

“Military trucks went from Lashio to Kyegaung. Then weapons were loaded onto the trucks and the trucks were covered by tarpaulin. Then the trucks passed through the Muse 105-mile checkpoint. About 300 trucks passed through. Armoured tanks were disassembled and carried into Burma, according to what I heard,” the analyst said. The types of weapons and the information about tanks are not known and could not be confirmed.

Meanwhile, a statement released on Friday by the KIO Central Committee said that people in a public forum told on July 12 and July 13 told the KIO that they wanted a cease-fire across the whole country and a real political dialogue to solve ethnic issues. They also said they wanted the government to prove it has implemented a unilateral cease-fire prior to negotiations.

USDP leaders Aung Thaung and Thein Zaw returned to Naypyitaw on Friday.

Other members of the UNFC include the Karen National Union, New Mon State Party, Karenni Progressive Party, Shan State Progressive Party and Chin National Front.
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DVB News - At the mercy of Burmese ‘law’, Suu Kyi must play a wise game
By CLIVE PARKER
Published: 15 July 2011

When Burma’s opposition figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest on 13 November last year, one of the first things she called for at her National League for Democracy party (NLD) headquarters was the “rule of law”.

For once, the government in Burma and main rival the NLD appear to be in agreement – at least on the surface – given the government and its mouthpiece the New Light of Myanmar has been full of allusions to “the law” in recent weeks. What remains however is the wildly different interpretation of what constitutes the rule of law in Burma these days.

Having initiated a series of new laws under the sham 2008 constitution and its subsequent election last year, the Burmese government is suddenly all about playing by the book – which of course it wrote – in trying to contain the actions of Suu Kyi and her party. Meanwhile, the NLD continues to dismiss recently passed laws in relation to the new constitution, the election law and political party registration law, deeming them illegitimate and undemocratic.

However, as we are starting to see now, these new laws will almost certainly determine the parameters within which Suu Kyi is able to operate in Burma, whether just or not. The problem for the NLD is that by trying to tackle the issue of its very own legality through legal argument, it is fighting a battle the government has itself created and which it has bolstered through the very laws it has passed to attempt to draw a line under the NLD’s 1990 election win.

The NLD’s recent challenge over its legality at the Naypyidaw Supreme Court is a case in point: in making an appeal based on the Specific Relief Act, as it did at the end of last year and has repeatedly done for years, NLD lawyers effectively called on the court to abide by the 1990 election result and to stop the authorities from preventing the NLD from fulfilling its mandate as the winners of that election. “The objective is that if the Supreme Court asserted the right of NLD under the Specific Relief Act, it may proceed [with the] convening of parliament and it may also prevent the regime to not declare the NLD as illegal,” said Aung Htoo, director general of the Sweden-based Burma Lawyer’s Council.

The problem is that the authorities need only refer to the more recent March 2010 election law in dismissing the case, which retroactively annulled the 1990 election landslide by the NLD. So although Suu Kyi’s release in November came with no explicit limits on what ‘The Lady’ can or cannot do – despite reported discussions just beforehand in which a government representative is understood to have tried to impose restrictions on movement outside of Rangoon and political activity – in practice Burma’s new laws are hugely restrictive. And whether just or not, the NLD is entangled in a legal mess right now that only plays further into the hands of the government.

To become a legal party, the NLD would have to apply with the Union Election Commission in line with the Political Parties Registration Law under which it must agree to safeguard the new constitution, which in turn bars the spouse of a foreigner from becoming president or vice president. In addition, the party would have to follow the letter of the 2010 Election Law during future elections which retroactively annuls 1990 election results. In other words, the NLD would have to let go of its 1990 election win, accept a constitution which says the military automatically gets 25 percent of seats in parliament, among other undemocratic requirements, and party leader Suu Kyi would not be permitted as a national ruler in the unlikely event the NLD won a future ballot.

Given these unacceptable requirements, the NLD has therefore chosen the difficult path of illegality under current laws, which puts it at the mercy of the government’s supposed “rule of law”; or, in the words of Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK: “The dictatorship is trying to hide behind an illegitimate constitution to curtail the actions of the NLD, but they make up and interpret laws how they like.”

In recent weeks, the government has increasingly referenced these new laws to remind the NLD of what it can or cannot do, which unsurprisingly has coincided with Suu Kyi’s first trip outside of Rangoon since her release – this month’s four-day trip to Bagan and Mount Popa. Clearly Suu Kyi is treading carefully, given that she did not make a speech but referred to the trip as personal, and did not talk to journalists on the last day before heading back to Rangoon. Indeed, it has taken Suu Kyi nearly eight months since her release to leave Rangoon at all. In terms of “political” activities, the NLD is therefore being careful.

With respect to social and cultural activities, however, Suu Kyi and her party have been more aggressive in testing the parameters of what the authorities will allow in light of a recent government warning that the NLD would have to register as a social organisation to carry out social activities. Having carried out a number of social programs in Rangoon, including on HIV/AIDS, Suu Kyi took the provocative step of announcing the creation of a group called the ‘Friends of Bagan’ following her trip there this month, which would attempt to establish ties with UNESCO to help preserve the temples.

Aside from the government’s obvious dislike for UNESCO (it previously withdrew the possibility of support in the case of Bagan due to the junta’s gaudy plans for the temples), if there is one thing dictatorships despise it is political opponents seeking legitimacy through the UN – just ask China. Having been shunned by the UN for years after the Communist Party took power in 1949, China has actively stopped the UN from affording any recognition to Taiwan, realising that to do so increases the legitimacy of the island within the international community.

Similarly in Burma the government will likely despise the prospect of Suu Kyi liaising with UNESCO over the future of the country’s prized tourism asset. Expect a predictable government response. It will surely reference a law related to social or cultural registration and dictate that the NLD is not legally empowered to carry out such activities – if it feels sufficiently threatened.

And that’s the point. Given the Burmese government’s new fondness for the “rule of law” is anything but, in reality its use of new tailor-made legislation won’t be determined by the extent to which Suu Kyi violates these laws, but by the level of perceived political threat she poses in her actions.

As ever, the government will gauge Suu Kyi in terms of her perceived level of popularity and engagement with the general public, the international community, opponents of the regime and indeed anyone else the government considers a threat. So although the military may have altered the rules to its own advantage during Suu Kyi’s recent seven and a half years of unjust detention, ultimately the game is still the same in terms of ‘The Lady’ versus the dictatorship. The key issue, therefore, is how well Suu Kyi can play this increasingly difficult and one-sided game.
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