BURMA RELATED NEWS - AUGUST 30, 2011

ABC Radio Australia - UN envoy speaks out on Burma's lack of human rights progress
Updated August 30, 2011 21:44:57

The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma says there is a contradiction between the promises of reform being made by the government and the reality of the situation.

Tomas Ojea Quintana spent five days in Burma, the first time he's been given a visa since February last year.

He says there is currently a window of opportunity for change, but thinks there have been few concrete signs of meaningful reform.

Mr Quintana once again called for political prisoners to be released and warned any exiles who take up the invitation of the President's invitation to return to the country may face the risk of arbitrary arrest.

Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speaker: Tomas Ojea Quintana, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma

QUINTANA: The government has taken a number of steps that has in my opinion the potential for the improvement of human rights. The problem is that we need to see concrete actions from the government so that those steps are translated into reality.

COCHRANE: And one of the big outstanding issues is political prisoners. Do you believe that we're seeing constructive moves to free political prisoners?

QUINTANA: During my five day mission to the country I had several meetings with all authorities concerned; Home Minister first, Minister of Defence, Foreign Minister, even the presidential advisory board. With all of them I called for the release of prisoners trying to make them understand that the whole international community, including the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki Moon, but also the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, and even ASEAN members, neighbouring countries from Myanmar have been calling for the release. Now I do not have at the moment any concrete information or sign that the government is willing at this moment to proceed with this international obligation.

COCHRANE: You also visited the notorious Insein Prison where many of the political prisoners are held. What were your impressions there?

QUINTANA: Yes I met seven prisoners of conscience, all of them according to my opinion. persecuted for just expressing their own ideas. There is one for example who was just incarcerated because they sent a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations, only for that reason he was put in prison. Let me also tell you about a girl who was also incarcerated just because of the political activities of her father. Her father was also in jail, her brother was also in jail and she was also in jail. These people deserved to be released according to their own human rights and the situation. There are many, many prisoners in Myanmar who deserve at this moment to be released, so this process towards democracy that the government is claiming they are facing, has (to be) real meaningful.

COCHRANE: It's been reported that some of the prisoners are used for forced labour for the military, mostly as porters. Was this something that you raised with government officials?

QUINTANA: I specifically raised the issue with the Minister of Defence. The government, and in this case the Minister of Defence categorically denied that the military used prisoners and even villagers as porters, and here there is a serious contradiction because my assessment according to information that I have been receiving, is that the government is still using widespread porters across the country.

COCHRANE: The Burmese government recently invited exiles to return home, those who had been advocating for democracy outside of the country. Do you believe that they would be at risk of being arrested if they did return?

QUINTANA: The situation is that those who at this moment may decide to express their opinions against authorities may face the risk to be arrested arbitrarily.

COCHRANE: You were also able to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi this time around. Was she broadly optimistic about the changes that are occurring in the country?

QUINTANA: I won't speak on her behalf. My impression is that there is a window of opportunity in the country. The challenge is if this window of opportunity brings real change in the near future, there is not enough time while people are suffering human rights abuses. So this opportunity has to be translated immediately into action.

NOTE: PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT - LONGER AUDIO VERSION AVAILABLE
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Asian Correspondent - Burma jails ex-army captain for dissent
By AP News Aug 30, 2011 7:00AM UTC

YANGON, Burma (AP) — A special court inside Burma’s Insein prison has sentenced an ex-army captain to 10 years imprisonment for writing and sending critical articles to the Democratic Voice of Burma and other dissident groups.

Lawyer Hla Myo Myint says 35-year-old Nay Myo Zin was sentenced last Friday in a closed-door trial. He was found guilty of violating the Electronics Act and tarnishing the army’s image.

Zin was arrested last April at his Yangon internet cafe.

Hla Myo Myint said Monday the arrest without a warrant and mental torture of his client were violations of his human rights.

He says Burma’s judiciary is still not independent and there is no rule of law although the nominally civilian government that took office in March claims to be reforming the system.
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New Straits Times - Myanmar folk wary of 'democracy' pledges
2011/08/30

After years of hardcore poverty and junta rule, the people are sceptical whether the new government’s push for political and economical changes is real

FIVE months after a nominally civilian government took power in Myanmar, the country is awash in uncertainty about who is really in charge.

Workers have taken down the once-ubiquitous portraits of Senior Gen Than Shwe, the dictator who ran the country for nearly two decades, from the walls of government offices. But rumours circulate in Yangon that Than Shwe, who stepped down in March, still has the final word on important decisions.

An impoverished population, downtrodden by years of military rule, is parsing a raft of initiatives by the new government and trying to understand whether the country's transition from military dictatorship to what the state news media describe as "discipline flourishing democracy" is real.

Like the biblical Thomas, they seem to want more proof.

"As far as I can see, there has been no change," said U San Shwe, a retired civil servant whose comments typify the scepticism heard frequently in Myanmar.

"The new government consists of former generals who have habits that they can't break. They are accustomed to taking bribes, mistreating people and making a lot of money from their positions. They confiscate things, and no one can complain."

Trying to guess the direction of this country has, in the past, been a fool's errand. Myanmar has zigzagged from paranoid isolation under decades of military rule to flirtations with openness. The country seems propelled by the competing impulses of conservatives and reformers within the military.

In recent weeks there have been signs that reformers, led by Thein Sein, a former general who was elected president in February, have the upper hand.

The government has proposed peace talks with armed rebel groups that are battling the military for control over resources and for more autonomy. Officials have met three times in the last month with Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's leading dissident, who was released from house arrest in November.

Other changes have been more symbolic. The state-run newspapers are taking a lighter approach in their propaganda, refraining from publishing slogans like "Riots beget riots, not democracy". The government has also allowed publications that do not deal with politics or history to publish without prior censorship. (Any newspaper articles that touch on politics must still be submitted to a censorship board, which routinely slashes writing deemed negative about the government.)

The bar for freedom of expression is set so low here that journalists rejoiced when it was announced that they would be allowed into Parliament for its current session, which began on Monday.

Amid the tumult of transition, some economic changes have been very substantive. But their benefits to ordinary citizens remain unclear. A major privatisation programme initiated last year is transforming an economy that was so heavily controlled by the state that it could have been designed by Lenin himself.

Scores of state-owned factories, government buildings and companies have been sold off. The local currency, the kyat, has soared in value against the dollar -- in part, analysts believe, because money has poured into the country to pay for assets in the government's fire sale. The transactions were done without public tender, and most assets were sold to a handful of government favourites.

"There are great opportunities -- but only for the cronies. It's like Russia," said U Soe Than, the owner of a shop for cellphones and digital music players imported from China.

Whether an economy controlled by an oligopoly of cronies is better than the state-run system is a point of debate among analysts of the country. Similarly tainted privatisation campaigns in the Middle East created deep resentments that a decade or so later helped fuel revolts this year in Tunisia, Egypt and Syria. Yet poor economic prospects have been as debilitating for the citizens of Myanmar as political repression -- if not more.

There have been some signs of economic revival: the number of tourists visiting the country was up 23 per cent in the first half of this year, and hotels in Yangon brim with business travellers, many of them from China, Japan and South Korea.

Last week, The New Light of Myanmar, a state-owned newspaper, highlighted a meeting between government officials and executives from Caterpillar, the giant producer of construction and mining equipment that is based in the United States.

US and European sanctions have made it difficult for many multinational companies to operate in Myanmar, but the government appears to be working vigorously to get the measures lifted. Officials from the International Monetary Fund have been invited for meetings in October to discuss further economic liberalisation.

And the government has started a charm offensive with Suu Kyi, who has great leverage on the issue of sanctions. Recently, the government invited her for the first time to the capital, where she met with Thein Sein, the president.

As an Oxford-educated 1991 Nobel Peace laureate and the daughter of Myanmar's independence hero, Aung San, she is perhaps the premier interlocutor between Myanmar and the outside world.

She has not fully enunciated her goals since her release from house arrest, but those who have watched her closely believe that she has aspirations well beyond being a mere symbol of national unity.

"I always thought that her ambitions were higher than a 'mother' figure," said Josef Silverstein, a Myanmar specialist and professor emeritus at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Whether a long-elusive reconciliation between Suu Kyi and the former generals is possible remains a question hanging over the country's future.

Yet, the political situation is only one part of the enormous challenge facing Myanmar's 55 million people.

The decades of military rule and the generals' single-minded obsession with political survival have left the country's health and education systems a shambles.

A generation of students had been forgotten, said U Thiha, who runs a computer programming school in Yangon. He has been frustrated in his search for the best young minds for courses on web programming.

"My students were not well trained at university," he said. "They don't have enough knowledge. They are not eager. And over the past 20 years, there have been no activities to test and challenge them." -- NYT
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India has pacts with 35 nations to combat terrorism
Calcutta News.Net
Tuesday 30th August, 2011 (IANS)

India has signed legal assistance pacts, that deal with combating terrorism, with 35 countries including the neighboring countries of Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, parliament was informed Tuesday.

'The treaty in criminal matters is a significant legal instrument to improve and facilitate effectiveness of the signatory countries in investigation and prosecution of crime,' Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

Amongst the countries with which the treaty has been signed are Australia, Britain, France, Iran, Kuwait, Russia, Uzbekistan and the US.
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Chicago Tribune - Refugee who abandoned newborn fights to get him back
By Christy Gutowski Tribune reporter
5:38 a.m. CDT, August 30, 2011

A young woman--a refugee from Myanmar--imprisoned after giving birth to a baby boy in a backyard near her Wheaton apartment and then abandoning him is scheduled to be in DuPage County Juvenile Court today for a hearing on whether she should lose her parental rights.

Nunu Sung, 26, is serving a 3-year prison sentence for lying to police about what happened during the birth of her child two years ago.

A foster couple from Wheaton now raising the boy wants permanent custody. Sung is fighting that. No final determination is expected today.

In an interview earlier this month with the Tribune, Sung said she was consumed with fear and shame on the morning she secretly gave birth near a row of garages in Wheaton, then left the infant to fend for himself.

But Sung said she is the best person to raise her 2-year-old son when she is freed after serving her sentence for lying to police about being the child's mother.

"I don't want to talk about losing him," Sung said during an interview in the DuPage County Jail. "I am a good mom. I love my son."

In her first public statements since a neighbor found the abandoned infant whimpering and partially covered by brush in June 2009, Sung said she would never harm the child and believes she is worthy of a second chance.

Lawyers representing Sung and the court-appointed guardian for the child are at odds over whether Sung's parental rights should be terminated because of the way she abandoned her newborn. They also have argued over whether prosecutors reneged on a promise not to stand in the way of Sung winning custody of her child. The case is further complicated by her immigrant status and the risk of being deported when she is released.

An interpreter translated her Hakha Chin dialect during the recent one-hour interview supervised by her attorneys. They would not let her go into detail about the birth of the child, but Sung offered some insight into her difficult past and how she said it played a role in what happened.

At times tearful, Sung said unwed mothers are scorned and often face physical violence in the Southeast Asian country also known as Burma that she said she left four years ago to flee its military dictatorship. Her shame led her to hide her pregnancy here in the United States once she learned the father wouldn't marry her or help raise their child, Sung said.

"In our custom and tradition, it is the most shameful thing for a young woman without a (husband)," Sung said. "I never thought about hurting him."

The hospital staff named the newborn Joshua. But Sung calls him Cung Van Ni, which roughly translates to "up in the sky there is sun and the God's power."

Sung speaks like a smitten mother when describing him as, "handsome, healthy, athletic and lovely."

The boy has "all of my parts," she says proudly about the color of his eyes, shape of his nose or his joyful grin.

A judge granted Sung supervised weekly visits when Joshua was about 7 weeks old, but these all but stopped when she went to prison in October 2010. During their last visit July 5, he no longer recognized her, she said. It was the only time she had been allowed to see him since she was imprisoned.

Sung is eligible for parole in January. In exchange for her guilty plea, the DuPage County state's attorney's office dropped a misdemeanor charge of endangering the life of the child. It also promised not to interfere with Sung's goal to get her son back.

But the boy's court-appointed legal guardian petitioned the judge in Juvenile Court to terminate Sung's parental rights. In this case, it's the state's attorney's job to represent the legal guardian. So prosecutors are now arguing they have no choice but to follow the judge's order and support the petition. That led Sung's attorneys to ask a judge to find prosecutors in contempt.

Judge Blanche Hill Fawell dismissed the request, saying prosecutors acted in good faith and are required by law to support the termination petition.

Still, Sung accused prosecutors of not keeping their promise.

"I was put into the prison for the accusation of lying to police," she said. "But I have been lied to many times and no one suffers the same that I have been suffering right now."

Sung said she initially viewed her child's foster parents like a brother and sister who wanted to help her. But she said the foster mother wrote her a letter advising her it was in the boy's best interest to give him up, and she now feels they are "robbing my son from me," she said.

Her attorneys, Terra Costa Howard and Jennifer Wiesner, said adoption attempts can't begin unless Sung is found unfit and her parental rights are terminated.

Her initial abandonment of the child and their long separation legally can be used against her. The child has been with the foster parents since he was released from the hospital after a short stay.

Nunu Sung said she has a home with her cousin's family in Glen Ellyn and worked in a warehouse before going to prison. She also said she receives support through the United Chin Christian Church, where members raised money to help pay for her defense.

Sung said she grew up in the mountainous Chin state in northwestern Burma. Her family was poor, she said, and survived by farming. Sung said she managed to save enough money to open a small store where she sold candy and other merchandise.

After she refused to sell liquor, which violated her Christian faith, Sung said the junta's soldiers imprisoned her for one week.

Sung said she fled her home without saying goodbye to her parents or brother. After reaching Malaysia -- she said she stowed away in a small fishing boat -- she joined her cousin, Ngun, who was already there. Sung said that she secured her refugee status through the United Nations and that Catholic Charities helped her come to the United States.

Sung said she lived for a year in Texas, where she became pregnant by a man she said she depended on for survival. Authorities have identified the man, but they said he has not shown interest in getting involved in his son's life.

"When I told him about my pregnancy, he said it's up to me and I am solely responsible," Sung said. "When he knew I was pregnant, he never took my calls. There was no way I could survive so I moved here."

In February 2009, Sung traveled to Wheaton, where Ngun lived at the time. She said she hid her pregnancy with bulky clothing. She never received prenatal care.

Prosecutors said Sung left Ngun's apartment about 11:30 p.m. June 11, 2009, telling her cousin she planned to take a walk, then gave birth near a tree.

At 7:45 a.m., authorities received a 911 call that an abandoned baby boy had been discovered near the apartment.
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Q&A - Why statelessness destroys lives – expert
30 Aug 2011 10:11
Source: alertnet // Emma Batha

LONDON (AlertNet) - Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Maureen Lynch, an expert on statelessness, explains the plight faced by people who have no country to call home.

What does being stateless mean?

Stateless individuals live and die as almost invisible people. According to the 1954 Convention, a stateless person is someone who has no legal tie to any government, which means they don’t have any of the protection or rights associated with citizenship. It affects most rights we take for granted – an identity, basic education, access to health, freedom of movement, the right to own property, even something like a cell phone. It affects people across their entire life span.

Why has there been so little attention paid to stateless people?

It’s very hard to paint a mental image of statelessness. When you say the word ‘refugee’ we can picture it in our minds. But when you say the word ‘stateless,’ until you’ve met someone who is stateless, and even afterwards, it’s hard to get your mind around the concept and how it impacts a person’s life. And statelessness can be complicated. Many cases are just not so simple to solve. There may be elements of deeply ingrained discrimination, whether racial, religious or ethnic.

What stands out among the stateless people you have met?

One of the most painful things to witness in the case of statelessness is the way it denies a person the chance to develop. I’ve met people with untapped talents and amazing potential who want to help the country where they believe they are citizens. Being denied the ability to contribute, and seeing their life going to waste is one of the most disturbing things. It’s heart-wrenching actually because they could do so much for the global good.

One story that comes to mind is the denationalised Kurds in Syria. One highly educated man I met hauls refrigerators on his back. A trained lawyer was selling tea on the street. And a promising young athlete was forced to borrow a friend’s name and ID to compete.

What is available to protect them?

Each context is slightly different, but generally speaking there are not a lot of protections.

One of the challenges with statelessness is that these people don’t have a voice – particularly a political voice – because they are afraid of making their situation even worse. So they can’t even speak for themselves in a way we would find among other marginalised populations.

We saw in the case of Bangladesh, for example, that it took well into the third decade of the Bihari, or the Urdu speaking population, for the young people to be able to say, ‘this is where I was born, this is the language I learned to speak and this is my country.’ And they were able to find someone to represent them in court.

But in so many cases you can’t take nationality issues to the courts. That is the problem in Kuwait for the bedouns (stateless Arabs).

Which countries are you watching right now?

The UNHCR (U.N. refugee agency) is closely monitoring developments in Sudan to guard against a stateless situation arising following South Sudan’s independence.

The United States is also paying very close attention to this. The main concern is for individuals from the South living in the North. It could be that the North says, ‘you have your own country now, we’re not going to let you be nationals of this country.’

There’s also more attention being paid to statelessness in the United Kingdom because of what’s happening with failed asylum seekers who can’t be returned to the country they came from – either because that country refuses them as a national or for other reasons – so they are left de facto stateless.

What should governments be doing?

Governments must uphold the nationality rights of everyone – to recognise citizenship in cases where it should be recognised, and at least as a minimum to evaluate cases where it is unclear.

They must also work towards gender equality in nationality laws – that’s another huge one. In many countries women can’t pass on their nationality to their children. Governments must also ensure birth registration of all children. That not only reduces statelessness, it’s also a means of prevention.

What else must be done?

Governments must ensure access to education for all people, including stateless people.

We should also pay particular attention to trafficking. People can either be trafficked because they are stateless, or become stateless because they are trafficked.

Detention is another issue that is often overlooked. People who are stateless and detained are doubly invisible. They have even less of a voice. Very little is known about their situation. I don’t think anyone has an estimate as to how many are behind bars. That’s part of the problem. And there is almost no one focusing on that.

Which cases of statelessness are the most pressing?

It’s very difficult to put one group in front of another. Because statelessness affects different populations in different ways, it’s very hard to compare. Large stateless groups such as the Rohinyga certainly warrant special attention, as do groups like the Kuwaiti bedoun who can’t take their case to the court. We have an extra responsibility to work on their behalf.
As told to Emma Batha.

Maureen Lynch is affiliated to the International Observatory on Statelessness. Previously she was Senior Advocate for Statelessness Initiatives at Refugees International.
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Myanmar foreign trade up in first four months of 2011-12
English.news.cn 2011-08-29 20:23:17

YANGON, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's foreign trade amounted to 5.6 billion U.S. dollars in the first four months (April-July) of the fiscal year 2011-12, up 24 percent from over 4.5 billion dollars in the same period 2010-11, a local weekly reported Monday.

Of the total, the export took 2.4 billion dollars, while the import represented 3.4 billion dollars, suffering a trade deficit of 1 billion dollars, the Myanmar Times said.

In 2010-11, Myanmar's foreign trade rose to 15 billion U.S. dollars from 11.8 billion dollars in 2009-10, but the agricultural exports dropped to 900,000 tonnes in 2010-11 from 1.3 million tons in 2009-10 and from 1.5 million tons in 2008-09.

Myanmar's rice export also fell sharply to 500,000 tonnes in 2010-11 from 900,000 tonnes in 2009-10.

The decline was partly attributed to the depreciation of U.S. dollar since the middle of 2010, which has also slashed exporters' earnings.

Natural disasters also trimmed rice outputs in 2010. In October 2010, flood occurred in many areas in Myanmar such as Mandalay, Magway, Ayeyarwady and Sagaing regions and Shan, Rakhine and Chin states, destroying some paddy fields in Ayeyarwaddy Delta region.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has projected to produce 41.8 million tonnes of paddy in 2010-11.

Myanmar's foreign trade is dominated by that with Thailand, followed by China, India and Bangladesh.

Myanmar mainly exports agricultural, animal, marine, mineral, forestry products and finished goods, while it imports cement, agricultural machinery and its spare parts, computer and electronic devices, motor cars, motorcycles, mobile phones and their accessories.
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NEWS ANALYSIS
The Irrawaddy - Don’t Leave Ethnics Out of 'Win-Win' Deal
By SAW YAN NAING Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Change is said to be underway in Burma, as the country's rulers appear to be relaxing their grip on the democratic opposition and taking a more conciliatory approach to their international critics. President Thein Sein has met pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw, and the UN human rights envoy to Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, recently concluded a rare visit to the country. Thein Sein has also reached out to exiles, urging them to return home, and Burma's state-run media has stopped its ritual denunciation of the BBC, VOA and RFA.

So far, much of the discussion about these developments has focused on whether they really amount to anything. Clearly, in themselves, they are a far cry from the breakthrough that the people of Burma, and the world, have been waiting decades to witness. But already, there are some in the country who worry that they are in danger of being written out of this “history in the making”—if that's what it is.

For Burma's ethnic peoples, recent hints of a possible detente between the Naypyidaw-centered, military-backed government and the Rangoon-centered democratic opposition are cause for concern. Historically, ethnic minorities, who make up about a third of the population, have been marginalized by Burmese politics. Still struggling for their survival and their right to self-determination, they now worry that any “peace” achieved in the Burmese heartland may never extend as far as their own homelands.

While some prominent exiles consider returning to test the waters and people speak hopefully of a new era of cooperation between the government and opposition groups in the fields of social and economic development, the outlook for Burma's ethnic minorities remains utterly devoid of optimism.

Since Thein Sein assumed power earlier this year, tensions that have been mounting since last year over the refusal of armed ceasefire groups to form “border guard forces” under Burmese military command have come to a head in Shan and Kachin states. Burmese offensives in areas under the control of Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Shan State Army (SSA) have forced thousands of civilians to flee.

This depressingly familiar situation—for the past two decades, more than 140,000 war refugees have huddled in crowded camps on the Thai-Burmese border, and tens of thousands more have been forced to hide in the jungles inside Burma—has attracted remarkably little international attention, as all eyes now focus on events in the country's centers of power.

Over the years, ethnic civilians have suffered countless atrocities at the hands of Burmese troops, including forced labor, rape, torture and murder. To some extent, this situation was mitigated by the ceasefire agreements that were reached in the 1990s between the Burmese army and an array of armed groups—the KIA, the SSA-North, the United Wa State Army, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, the New Mon State Party, and others—but at no point have Burma's ethnic peoples enjoyed real peace and security.

Now that most of these ceasefire agreements have collapsed, the ethnic armies have demanded a withdrawal of government troops from their areas and new talks, this time involving an alliance of ethnic forces and leading to a nationwide ceasefire. Preferring to stick to the “divide and rule” tactics of the past, however, the government continues to push for one-on-one negotiations with individual groups.

It is deeply distressing for Burma's ethnic peoples to think that their future may look very much like their past, no matter what happens as the country's rulers move to co-opt the opposition.

As Moo Kay Paw, a Karen girl living in hiding in the jungle, put it with tears in her eyes: “I don’t understand my life sometimes. I ask myself why I was born to live in fear like this. We can be killed at any time, like animals. Why can’t we live with dignity, like human beings?”
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The Irrawaddy - Naypyidaw to Host Political Forum
By WAI MOE Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Burmese government is to hold a political forum in Naypyidaw in the coming months following the media success of its economic development workshop in August which was attended by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Nay Zin Latt, a political advisor to President Thein Sein, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the presidential office is planning a political forum, though he declined to say if a specific dated had been fixed for the event.

“Plans to organize national level fora are on our agenda,” he said. “A political forum is likely in the near future. But I don’t know when it will take place nor how it will be comprised.”

Political parties and politicians including Suu Kyi, as well as activists and scholars in exile, are expected to be invited to the forum, which political sources in Rangoon said could be in November.

“If Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is invited to the political forum, I think that she should return to Naypyidaw and cooperate with the government for the sake of the people of Burma,” said
Win Tin, one of Suu Kyi’s aides and a prominent member of her party, the National League for Democracy.

However, it is uncertain whether representatives of ethnic armed groups will be invited to Naypyidaw nor whether any political prisoners will be released and allowed to participate in the forum.

“There must be an environment for a meaningful political forum—2,000-plus political prisoners must be released and a ceasefire has to enacted across the country,” said Naing Aung, a political figure in exile and the general secretary of the Forum for Democracy in Burma.

“The government must avoid suppressing and arresting people under state emergency acts such as 5-J,” he added. “In addition, [88 Generation Students group leaders] Ko Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi should have the right to participate at the forum.”

On August 19-21, the regime held an economic development forum in Naypyidaw’s International Convention Center. Suu Kyi was invited as a special guest by Thein Sein, and she made her first visit to the new capital where she had talks with the president and other government ministers.

The Irrawaddy's Lin Thant contributed to this report.
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The Irrawaddy - Farmers Take Land Seizure Cases to Parliament
By KO HTWE Tuesday, August 30, 2011

“I feel sad when our fields have been changed into a lake for the purpose of breeding fish. Since that happened, I became a worker in another field,” said Aye Thein. The 64-year-old was forced to abandon his eight acres of land in 1999 after it was confiscated by the Myanmar Billion Group company in Audsu village of Nyaungdon Township, Irrawaddy Division.

Aye Thein is one of many victims in Burma where land seizures take place commonly through three different ways: seizures by the military commander-in-chief of the region, by private companies or by financiers who are allegedly backed by the Burmese Army.

Aye Thein, and others in the area who lost nearly 63 acres of land between them, fruitlessly complained to the township and district authorities three times about their land confiscation.

Confiscated land taken by the Burmese authorities and distributed to private companies includes approximately 10,000 acres in Rangoon Division, nearly 5,000 acres in Irrawaddy Division, 1,338 acres in Kachin State, 600 acres in Mon State and 500 acres in Maymyo in Mandalay Division. The affected farmers have filed lawsuits but no action has been taken.

The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) recently released a report that claimed around 20,000 acres have been seized over the past 10 years by the Burmese military in Mon and Karen states as well as Tenasserim Division.

The Yuzana Company was granted 200,000 acres in the Hugawng Valley Tiger Reserve in 2006 to establish tapioca and sugarcane plantations, and some 600 farmers were evicted from their lands without full compensation. They were eventually displaced to areas far from their original homes.

After cultivating the area for nearly two years, the company left the land and had it transferred back to a financier backed by the Burmese authorities. The area is now being changed into a lake for producing fish.

According to the local-based Activity for Free Developing Society Community organization, the rightful owners of 63 out of a total of 200 acres in Nyaungdon Township sent letters on Thursday to the chief minister of Irrawaddy Division and President Thein Sein demanding the end of land confiscation.

“Tax receipts and sending [rice crops] to the government are our evidence that proves that we are the rightful owners of the land. Now the government has announced that we can complain about unfair cases so I brought up our land seizure case with the help of the group,” said Aye Thein.

In his inaugural address to the Union Parliament, President Thein Sein said they are determined to improve the living conditions of farmers and workers and would update laws to safeguard the rights of peasants.

“By changing the law, the lives of farmers will be secure and they will have the chance to cultivate their own land. Farmers are not currently covered by peasant law. The 1963 Safeguarding Peasants' Rights Law is not up-to-date with the current time,” said Pho Phyu, a lawyer who has previously represented Rangoon and Irrawaddy farmers in land seizure cases.

On Monday, accompanied with 22 farmers from Rangoon, Pho Phyu went to the Naypidaw offices of Burma's president and Parliament with letters that drew attention to land confiscation cases, fishermen affairs and social issues. They urged the government to amend laws that can secure the livelihoods of farmers and workers.

“The [president and Parliament office] accepted out letters and will send our proposals to the respective officials,” said Phyo Phyu. He added that they were representing farmers from seven villages who have been lost 10,000 acres around Rangoon.

Due to corruption of the judiciary and slow management practices, much farmland has fallen into the hands of financiers, and village authorities have forced farmers to change their names which were written on proposals, added Phyo Phyu.

“I can't stand these confiscation cases and we are hoping that the government will reply. President Thein Sein once instructed a company to cooperate with farmers, but on the ground these companies give very little compensation and just 'shoo' the farmer away,” said Myint Aung from Naypyidaw, whose land has been confiscated in Dagon Seikkan Township of Rangoon.

Even today, farmers in Burma have no right to form a peasants' union to protect against government land confiscation and other intrusions on their rights.

“Our lives depend on the field so I became a porter after my land was seized. When I saw our paddy fields being happily worked by others it made me feel sad because we have no place to earn,” said San Win, who lost eight acres in Nyaungdon Township.
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Some banned Web sites now accessible in Burma
Tuesday, 30 August 2011 21:25 Tun Tun

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Some previously banned Web sites including Mizzima’s Burmese language Web site and other exile-based news Web sites and blogs are now accessible in Burma. IT experts could not explain the new availability and warned that it could be temporary.

The English language Web site of Mizzima is still banned, however.

Likewise, the Norway-based DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) Web site’s Burmese section and the BBC, RFA and VOA Web sites are still banned in Burma.

Since the 2007 Saffron Revolution, the government has banned news Web sites of exile-based opposition media, some international news agencies’ Web sites and opposition-oriented blogs. Certain Web sites have been banned since 2000. However, many people in Burma visit the banned Web sites using proxy servers.

According to tests made by Mizzima reporters in Rangoon on Tuesday, the Web sites of CNN, the English- language Bangkok Post and Reuters are still banned.

Currently, two Internet service providers (ISP) are located in Burma: Myanmar Post and Telegraph (MPT) and Yadanabon Teleport. The You Tube Web site can be visited through MPT, which is mostly used by the business community, and Yadanabon Teleport, which is mostly used by Internet cafés. At the same time, the Mizzima TV Web site is accessible and offers TV news programmes and videos now.

The BBC Burmese Service Web site is still not available, but people can access the BBC World Service and also the mail Web sites of Hotmail and Yahoo.

Despite some opening up of banned Web sites, Internet users said that the speed is now slower than before. An Internet café shop owner said that the highest speed available on Tuesday was 50 Kbps.

There was no explanation of the increase in available Web sites. Some IT experts speculated that it was due to the maintenance of servers.

“Lifting the ban means lifting the ban on all Web sites by these ISPs. Some are still banned and some are now accessible. So we cannot say they lifted the ban on these Web sites,” said Maung Maung, a computer security post-graduate student.

Burma now has more than 400,000 Internet users and 802 registered Public Access Centres (PACs); 584 PACs are located in Rangoon City; 21 in Mandalay; and 197 are in other cities, according to statistics issued by Myanmar Info Tech at the end of February 2011.

The government imposes restrictions when granting a PAC license that bans visiting exile-based news and media Web sites. PACs are responsible for controlling leaks of news and information that could undermine state security. Violators could face up to five years in prison under the Official Secrets Act.

Reporters Sans Frontier (RSF) listed Burma as an enemy of the Internet because of the government’s restrictions and the imprisonment of bloggers and others who pass routine information using e-mail and other Internet services. The US-based Freedom House listed Burma as the second worst country in the world for Internet freedom.
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Verdict expected soon in inheritance dispute between Suu Kyi, brother
Tuesday, 30 August 2011 18:30 Myo Thant

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Burmese Supreme Court will issue a ruling soon in an inheritance suit involving the brother of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has appealed for an injunction to stop her from renovating her lakeside home.

Attorney Nyan Win, Suu Kyi’s lawyer, said her brother, Aung San Oo, lodged an appeal against the Rangoon Region High Court’s rejection of a request for a court order blocking Suu Kyi from renovating her family’s lakeside property.

“The case has reached the last stage,” said Nyan Win, and the court’s ruling could be delivered at any time now.

Attorneys for Aung San Oo and Suu Kyi testified before the Supreme Court in Rangoon on Tuesday morning.

The roof of Suu Kyi’s house on University Avenue Road was destroyed after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma in May 2008. The Rangoon Municipality permitted her to renovate the home, which underwent work from November 2008 to April 2010. Aung San Oo sought an injunction from the Rangoon Region High Court in January 2010 to halt the renovations of the house, which is an inheritance from their mother. The court rejected his plea in April 2010, and he appealed to the Supreme Court in Rangoon Region on May 13, 2010.

The late Prime Minister U Nu gave the colonial-era house to Khin Kyi, Suu Kyi’s and Aung San Oo’s mother, while she served as envoy to India. Since 1988, Suu Kyi has lived in the house in Bahan Township.

Aung San Oo had filed a lawsuit against Aung San Suu Kyi in 2001 for manipulating the inheritance.

On August 8, Suu Kyi filed a lawsuit against Aung San Oo for an interview he gave to the Rangoon-based Monitor Journal, in which he said he won his lawsuit against Suu Kyi. She also sued Hla Myint Swe, the publisher of the journal, and chief editor Myat Khaing.

Nyan Win told Mizzima that the Rangoon Region High Court had accepted Suu Kyi’s lawsuit.
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ABFSU to restart political activity in Burma to test new government
Tuesday, 30 August 2011 11:04 Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – To test the new Burmese government’s openness to democracy, the student underground group All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) is ready to restart political activities inside the country.

Han Win Aung, the group’s spokesman, said that to mark the fourth anniversary of the revived ABFSU, the pro-democracy student activists met on Sunday with more than 60 families of political prisoners in what it called a test of the new government. The ABFSU wants to be recognized as a legal organization, he said.

Without informing the authorities, the student activists organized a meeting with families of prisoners at the home of Phyo Phyo Aung, who is a member of the ABFSU, in Insein Township, Rangoon. In the meeting, parents of political prisoners discussed their sons and daughters and the current state of politics in Burma, especially in light of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s recent meetings with President Thein Sein and other government figures.

“We just want to test how the government will respond to our activity. It will show whether the two leaders are trying to negotiate just between themselves or trying to negotiate between the government and other organizations also and if these negotiations can help the people,” Han Win Aung said.

“This will be the beginning of our effort to start our activities in public with confidence. We do our work now unofficially, but we are active among the people and students to try to regain the organization’s role,” he said.

On May 8, 1936, the first students’ conference was held in Rangoon. The conference was organized by the Rangoon University Students’ Union, and it marked the formation of the All Burma Students’ Union (ABSU). In 1951, the ABSU changed its name to All Burma Federation of Student Unions to represent all students in Burma.

In 1962, the late General Ne Win’s “Revolution Council” launched a coup. On July 7, 1962, the army suppressed a peaceful demonstration by students in which many students were killed. The following morning the government dynamited the historic Student Union building.

In 1988, during widespread civil unrest and mass demonstrations in Burma, the ABFSU re-emerged under the leadership of student leaders including Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, who are currently serving 65-year prison terms.

When the army launched a coup in 1988, many student leaders were arrested and many members fled to foreign countries. In 2007, a new generation of students reorganized the ABFSU and named Kyaw Ko Ko its leader. In 2008, Kyaw Ko Ko was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison.
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DVB News - Prisons act reform proposal rejected by Home Minister
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 30 August 2011

A proposal submitted to the People’s Parliament by Thingangyun township MP, Thein Nyunt, to reform the Prison’s act, has been rejected by the speaker of the house because the speaker said the Home Ministry was already drafting a revised Prisons Act.

While no discussion of an amnesty has taken place, despite reports to the contrary in the state mouth piece the New Light of Myanmar.

The Prisons Act proposal by Thein Nyunt intended; “to provide necessary arrangements for drafting a bill of the Prisons Act, which is agreeable to the 21st century and guarantee human dignity and to introduce the bill to the third regular session of the first Pyithu Hluttaw”.

Pe Than, People’s Parliament representative of Arakan State’s Myebon township told DVB that;

“There were six non-USDP representatives who discussed in favour of [Thein Nyunt’s proposal] and three USDP representatives argued against it. The Home Affairs minister said his ministry was already preparing to submit the bill in the parliament and the [parliament] speaker decided to only keep a record of U Thein Nyunt’s proposal without giving him a chance to argue back,” said Pe Than.

Whilst on Home Affairs Minister, Lieutenant General Ko Ko’s discussion on the bill, Pe Than added that;

“It is not yet revealed which sections [of the prisons act] will be changed – he just spoke generally and said that there have been preparations to change some, if not all, sections in the law regarding the worst situations such as issues with food, accommodation, solitary confinement, transferring of inmates to remote prisons, inmates not being allowed to get medical assistance or to read books and newspapers, non-judicial punishment by prison officials.”

There will be concern that the Prisons Act revision by the Home Ministry will therefore not carry the necessary legislation that prevents torture and inhuman treatment of prisoners as critics and former inmates allege is routine in Burma’s prison system.

Thein Nyunt said: “We have to shine a spotlight and ensure, when the parliament discusses this new prisons act, that it is in accordance with the article 44 of the constitution, that; No penalty shall be prescribed that violates human dignity and also the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights, that states that; No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

A question regarding prison laws was also raised in the National Parliament yesterday where regional judges are to continue to submit prison reports to the Union Supreme Court as provided in the 1962 Prisons Act.

Upholding any law, debated in parliament or not, will continue to be problematic with the rule of law seemingly ignored as trials take place behind closed doors and with judges like the vast majority of MPs are appointees of the military, and seriously lacking in autonomy.
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DVB News - Burmese expanding in Kachin state
By NAY THWIN
Published: 30 August 2011

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have claimed that the Burmese Army are sending new units into Kachin State’s Bhamo district while small clashes continue to occur throughout the region, said the KIA’s joint-secretary La Nan.

“The Burmese Army are increasing movements in the region with more troops being shipped from the lower-Burma region. Our soldiers at the frontline couldn’t identify which army units they were from but apparently they have sunflower insignia on their badges. That insignia doesn’t belong to the [Burmese Army] Northern Regional Military Command,” said La Nan.

“They were shipped into the region through the rivers and are becoming increasingly active in Bhamo District’s Momauk township.”

The sun flower insignia is believed to belong to the Eastern Regional Command based in Southern Shan State. It reportedly contains around 42 infantry battalions. While the Bhamo District is situated in southern Kachin state and is traversed by the main Mandalay-Myitkina highway, NH 31.

La Nan added that a clash took place between the KIA’s troops and a Burmese Army column in Momauk last Sunday;

“The fight took place when a Burmese Army column ran into our troops – they were about 100-200 strong, increased from usual troop number of around 50-60 in the past.”

Fighting between the KIA and the Burmese Army began in June this year after the KIA refused to assimilate into a Border Guard Force unit under the Burmese army. Clashes have been almost daily ever since, forcing thousands to flee their homes.

A local in Myitkyina said Kachin State’s Minister Lajun Ngum Sai in an public assembly on 27 August blamed the KIA for the armed conflict with the Burmese Army in the region;
“He said the KIA burnt down houses and that it was inappropriate – he seemed to want to imply that the KIA is not willing to negotiate despite the government giving them chances and favours to do so,” said the Myitkyina resident.

La Nan said the 20 houses burnt down mentioned by the minister were actually barracks in a Burmese Army camp and that the KIA were examining the relevant details.

In a press conference in Naypyidaw on 12 August, government spokesperson Kyaw Hsan blamed the KIA for breaking ceasefire agreements.

In response to this, the KIA accused the government of not holding a wish to solve political problems via political means.

The KIA and the Burmese had a cease fire in existence since 1994, which came to an end in June. The cease fire was smoothed over by the KIO ceding control of the lucrative jade mines in towns like Hpakant; reputedly home to the finest jade on earth.
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DVB News - Keep kyat low for industry: minister
By SHWE AUNG
Published: 30 August 2011

A union minister in a meeting with journalists on the 28 August, suggested that the government looks to maintain a fixed currency exchange rate at around 900-1000 Kyat for one US dollar.

A news journal editor who attended the meeting with Industrial-2 Minister and chairman of Industrial Development Committee, Soe Thein, told DVB that;

“He said the government should make sure that no harm is done to export/import businesses, those who hold foreign currencies in the country and the country’s productivity, trade and financial systems.”

“He said that he personally thinks the currency rate should be fixed at around 900-1000 Kyat for one US dollar,” said the journal editor under condition of anonymity.

He continued that the minister expressed hope that export/import businessmen will be able to do business with confidence in the near future. Burma has only recently began to show signs of developing a viable manufacturing sector with industries such as garments offering hope of much needed jobs.

However exchange rates in Burma have dropped to as low as 718 kyat to the US dollar, which has led to economists to urge the government to take swift action on preventing this as well as informing people about the situation.

The danger is that Burma’s nascent garments and manufacturing sector will be moth balled as exports are no longer competitive, and imports from larger more developed economies become cheaper.

However Thein Sein has hinted that, in line with the opinions of his senior economic advisor, U Myint, the currency should be floated; traded and therefore liable to the currency appreciation that is currently harming exports.

China are accused of fixing their currency as it appears Soe Thein is in favour of. The Chinese do so by selling or buying Yuan and or dollars and as such they have been able to keep their currency artificially lower and therefore exports cheaper. This has maintained the country’s high growth rate and also crucially maintained the growth in new low wage jobs in the economy, which has been the bed rock of China’s remarkable economic transformation.

As a result the United States has embarked on a similar tactic which it calls ‘quantative easing’ but essentially entails pumping more dollar bills into the market, thereby reducing the value of the currency and inducing other nations to call for a new reserve currency.

This has exacerbated problems with Burma’s currency. Not only has investment in Burma’s energy sector shot through the roof, helping foreign direct investment (FDI) go from US$ 300 million to US$ 20 billion in the previous financial year, but energy prices have risen and the fire sale of government assets has meant that money previously kept in Singapore or elsewhere has poured back in and been converted to kyat in order to buy up solid assets in the country, thereby rising in value.

With suggestions that the government will do away with antiquated economic systems such as the Foreign Exchange Certificate and multiple exchange rates in general, economic reform has looked the most realistic of the raft of modernising reforms that have been hinted at. It has been suggested that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be invited in to help facilitate any such currency reform.

The government’s current official exchange rate is set at 6 Kyat for one US dollar. But amidst the climate of reform, it has looked likely that the government will float the currency and lump for a market driven rate. Soe Thein’s suggestion therefore could indicate a split between those favouring a more liberal approach and those favouring mirroring China’s more controlled policy.

In any case in an attempt to try and head off a slump as a result of the strong currency the government looked to cut export taxes for a number of key agricultural commodities. The strong currency ironically meant that agricultural commodities flooded the local market as they were no longer sold abroad, making them cheaper on the local market and putting farmers into debt.
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