BURMA RELATED NEWS - SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

Asian Correspondent - Burma: Speaks of democracy but acts otherwise
By Zin Linn Sep 17, 2011 12:08AM UTC
The People Parliament and the National Parliament of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) jointly held a ceremony to mark the ‘International Day of Democracy 2011’ which falls on 15 September 2011, on a grand scale at Thabin Hall of Parliament Building, NAY PYI TAW, at 10 am yesterday, it was reported by the New Light of Myanmar on Friday.

Speaker of the Union Parliament Khin Aung Myint delivered an address at the ceremony to mark the day.

Present on the occasion were Speaker of Union Parliament, Speaker of People Parliament, the Union Chief Justice, the Chairman of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Union, the Chairman of the Union Election Commission, Deputy Speaker of People Parliament, Deputy Speaker of National Parliament, Union ministers, the chairman of the Leading Committee for Organizing the International Day of Democracy 2011 and members, deputy ministers, the Deputy Attorney-General, officials of the Union Supreme Court and the Office of Union Attorney-General, representatives-elect of People Parliament and National Parliament, speakers of Region/State Parliaments, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and diplomats, responsible persons of the UN agencies, non-government organisations, people’s representatives of eight townships of Nay Pyi Taw Council Area, correspondents of foreign news agencies at home, reporters of local periodicals and correspondents from foreign news agencies abroad.

Speaker of the Union Parliament said that democracy is a practice that can protect and uplift individual integrity and fundamental rights. It is the only political system that ensures the right to use reasoning power.

According to him, democracy has basic characters of justice, freedom, equality, transparency, responsibility and formation with diversified views and opinions. Harmonisation of democracy and human society will bring about internal peace and development.

Concurrently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged Burma to take “concrete actions” to improve its human rights, voicing concerns about the new government’s record despite its outreach, as said by the AAP.

Clinton, addressing a joint news conference after talks with Australian foreign affairs minister, Kevin Rudd, said that the new US coordinator on Burma, Derek Mitchell, had “productive meetings” on his first visit to the country this week.

“Frankly, we have serious questions and concerns across a wide range of issues,” she said.

The military-backed government continues to hold some 2,000 political prisoners and to mistreat ethnic minorities and the media, she said.

According to the Irrawaddy News, speaking at a press briefing at Rangoon International Airport on Wednesday morning, Derek Mitchell said that despite heightened expectations for change, many remain skeptical of the government’s commitment to democracy.

He added that Washington would respond positively if the new, nominally civilian government makes genuine reforms, but for the time being would maintain its sanctions on the military-dominated country.

Mitchell expressed concern about a number of issues, including ongoing human rights violations and the incarceration of around 2,000 political prisoners.

“I offered respectfully that the government should take concrete actions in a timely fashion to demonstrate its sincerity and genuine commitment to reform and national reconciliation,” Mitchell said in a statement.

Among some important suggestions, Derek Mitchell emphasised “releasing all political prisoners unconditionally, engaging in meaningful outreach to the political opposition, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and engaging in dialogue rather than armed conflict with ethnic minority groups.”

Speaker of the Union Parliament Khin Aung Myint also said: “Democracy ensures freedom of expression, peaceful gathering and processing, freedom of forming associations and organizations, rights to vote, stand for election, set up political parties and gathering news from other news agencies apart from government owned news agencies.”

On the same Wednesday, a 21-year-old young reporter, Sithu Zeya, has been given an additional 10 years of imprisonment having been accused of breaching Burma’s notorious Electronics Act. He had been sentenced to eight years in jail last December. Zeya was sentenced by the military-controlled court in Insein prison for his photos of the scene of an explosion at a traditional water festival pavilion in Rangoon in April 2010.

According to some analysts, the Union Parliament Speaker’s democracy speech is similar to rhetorical language that does not go with his government’s visible dealings such as overlooking to restore law and order, neglecting to allow creation of workers’ unions, denying to do away with press censorship and so on.
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The Nation - EDITORIAL: Don't be fooled by air of optimism on Burmese issues
Published on September 17, 2011

Overtures of peace between the junta and ethnic armies on the border cannot be relied upon, given the history of skullduggery in the region

A few weeks back, the Chiang Mai-based Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) reported an incident along the Sino-Burmese border involving the ambush of a delegation of Burmese military officials returning from a meeting with their Chinese counterparts just over the border.

The delegation spent the night in Panghsang, the headquarters of the 20,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), one of the region's most powerful ethnic armies, which has been in negotiations with the Burmese junta about the nature of their future relationship, if any.

Burma and the Wa, many of whom were former foot soldiers for the now defunct Communist Party of Burma (CPB), entered into a cease-fire agreement in 1989 in exchange for Wa autonomy. The limited granting of self-rule has permitted the Wa to become stronger militarily. To finance their operations, they have been active in the production and trafficking of opium - and later methamphetamines. Indeed, these remain their main and most profitable commodities.

The relationship between the Wa and the Burmese junta has been resting on some very shaky ground for the past couple of years, as the junta has again demanded that all the ethnic armies put down their weapons and submit themselves to the command of the country's military. The junta wants them to become Border Guard Forces (BGF).

China has now stepped in, summoning the Burmese top brass and UWSA leader Bao Yu-xiang to Beijing for a series of consultations. Any all-out fighting between the Wa and the Burmese army could mean hundreds of thousands of starving refugees fleeing across the border into China, as well as into Thailand. The UWSA has three brigades along the Thai border administering over a sizeable population that has been forcibly relocated from the northern border.

According to SHAN, the Burmese delegation was attacked around sunset by an "unknown armed group" after it had left Panghsang for its unit's headquarters in Tangyan.

The ambush reported by SHAN highlights the difficulties of any initiative that aims to work towards a peaceful outcome. People familiar with the Wa and the Burmese in that rugged region of Burma know that it would not be too far-fetched to suggest that the military delegation may have been attacked by Wa forces. After all, they have hated each others for decades, even after they entered into the cease-fire agreement in 1989. Burmese government officials could not even enter Wa-controlled areas without being disarmed and escorted under armed guard.

But ever since Burmese security tsar General Khin Nyunt was ousted from power in October 2004, the junta has been on the case of the cease-fire groups, demanding that they surrender their weapons. The recent decision to back off from that demand may be tactical. It may give the Wa and other ethnic groups some breathing space, but no one seriously thinks this will last. Ever since the junta overran the headquarters of the Kokang-Chinese in August 2009, all other cease-fire groups, including powerful outfits such as the Wa and Kokang, have known that sooner or later their time would come.

Over recent months, there has appeared to be a sense of optimism from the international community. US Senator Jim Web is calling on Washington to be prepared to change its Burma policy if positive developments occur, while Kristalina Georgieva, the European Union's commissioner for international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response, during her recent stopover in Bangkok said the Burmese are now serious about peace. Let's hope that she didn't just take the Burmese generals' word for it.

Today, the demand that the ethnic armies put down their weapons has quieted. Some attribute this change of rhetoric to Chinese government pressure. Others think the Burmese have got something new up their sleeves. Which wouldn't be surprising, given the history. It is likely that these positive gestures are merely a smokescreen for the Burmese government's real objective, which is to disband all the ethnic armies and bring the minorities under the mercy of the Burmese generals.

Given the fiercely independent nature of the junta, it is very unlikely that they would base their outlook and strategy solely on Beijing's "advice".

Thailand, on the other hand, must deal with Burma without losing sight of the big picture. This includes the handling of more refugees who are likely to flood over the Thai side of the border should the Burmese launch an all-out offensive against major groups like the UWSA and the Kachin Independence Army.
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BigPond News - US urges 'concrete actions' by Burma
Saturday, September 17, 2011 » 03:42am

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged Burma to take 'concrete actions' to improve human rights.

Clinton, addressing a joint news conference after talks with Australian Foreign Affairs minister Kevin Rudd, said that the new US co-ordinator on Burma, Derek Mitchell, had 'productive meetings' on his first visit to the country this week.

'Frankly, we have serious questions and concerns across a wide range of issues,' she said.

The military-backed government continued to hold some 2,000 political prisoners and to mistreat ethnic minorities and the media, she said.

'I would urge the Burmese government to follow its words and commitments with concrete actions that lead to genuine reform, national reconciliation and respect for human rights,' Clinton said.

Burma's then military rulers last year held rare elections and later nominally handed over power to civilians. The opposition and the United States branded the moves as a sham meant to cement the military's control.

But the government has also taken gestures including releasing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate who had spent most of the previous two decades under house arrest.

President Barack Obama's administration in 2009 opened a dialogue with Burma, concluding that the previous policy of seeking to isolate the regime has failed. But the United States has said it will only lift sanctions once it sees progress.
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Posted on Saturday, 09.17.11
WORLD AFFAIRS
Miami Herald - Waiting for revolution in Cuba, Burma and North Korea
BY FRIDA GHITIS fjghitis@gmail.com

For all the luxuries they enjoy, dictators live in a state of constant fear.

Without the trust of their people they must always protect themselves against real, imagined, or even potential plots. They may be paranoid, but they’re right to be afraid. That’s true now more than ever.

These are scary times for tyrants. Some of the world’s most enduring dictatorships, the ones that looked as though they would never end, have met their demise in recent months.

For now, the popular revolts have spread only through the Middle East. Unelected governments in other parts of the world are trying to make sure they’re not next.

In countries like Cuba, North Korea and Burma (renamed Myanmar), and others, unelected regimes are raising the walls as they try to keep themselves safe from the very people they claim have nothing but love for their long-time rulers.

As has happened throughout history, information and communications are pivotal to revolutions. That’s why the message, news about what’s happening in places like Egypt, is being either blocked or pre-digested for public consumption.

When Egyptian protesters, fed up with 30 years of Mubarak rule, forced the president out of power, Cuba’s Fidel Castro explained the events as a revolt against America. In his column in the Communist Party daily Granma, the iconic former Cuban president wrote, “After 18 days of harsh battling, the Egyptian people attained an important objective: to defeat the United States’ principal ally in the heart of the Arab countries.”

A similar narrative explained other events in the region. Castro defended Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi until the end, painting the uprising as a brutal NATO onslaught against the defenseless Libyan people, an example of colonialist Western aggression aimed at grabbing Libyan oil.

To protect against other versions, the government ordered CNN’s Spanish language network removed from the foreign programming available only to luxury hotels and foreign companies. The order came in January, as Cairo’s Tahrir Square was boiling with the heat of revolution.

Most Cubans have little if any access to the Internet or other sources of non-government-controlled media.

An American contractor, 62-year-old Alan Gross, was sentenced to 15 years in a Cuban prison after he was found to have brought equipment to allow Internet access for members of the country’s tiny Jewish community.

Information is even more tightly controlled in other dictatorships. In North Korea, television sets come factory-tuned to government propaganda channels and there is essentially no Internet and virtually no cellphone service. Even so, a report by South Korea’s Institute for National Unification says the North reacted to Arab rebellions with a number of urgent measures to prevent contagion. Police stations, according to INU, were ordered to intensify their ideological indoctrination programs. Other reports say additional security forces were deployed to prevent any trouble.

If any significant uprising happened to occur, there’s little doubt Pyongyang, with more than a million soldiers receiving privileges from their loyalty to the state, would quickly use force to suppress it.

Burma’s rulers have also shown a willingness to use force to stop protests. Long before the Arab uprisings, young Burmese took to the streets to demand democracy. It happened on Aug. 8, 1988 (8-8-88). The military killed thousands of demonstrators and imprisoned their leaders. Buddhist monks launched another protests in 2007. The government again responded with violence, leaving another trail of blood.

Still, the Burmese opposition lives on, and the regime has put on a democracy charade. Fraudulent elections produced a new, supposedly civilian, parliament, in fact dominated by the military. The new prime minister is a former general. But opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, after years under arrest, has been freed.

In an interview with the BBC she told Egyptian demonstrators, “We’re all with you.” But most Burmese find it difficult to get information. The government says 0.8 percent of the country has Internet access. Local newspapers offer a parody of the news. Stories from Egypt during the January uprising, for example, included news of secret chambers discovered in the pyramids.

The real news, of course, is that tyrants can be toppled.

No dictatorship lasts forever. For the people who have struggled against all odds, facing imprisonment and worse for demanding democracy, the truth about what is happening to Middle Eastern dictators will slowly filter in. Their rulers already know the truth. They are watching closely, and they are not sleeping well at night.
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Scoop.co.nz - BURMA: Prosecute soldiers who trade in children
Saturday, 17 September 2011, 3:58 pm
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-120-2011
September 16, 2011
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
BURMA: Prosecute soldiers who trade in children

The Asian Human Rights Commission recently received from human rights defenders in Burma detailed documentation on the cases of five children, four boys and one girl, whom a trafficker in July 2011 sold to the army. According to the information, the trafficker with various false promises of getting the children legitimate jobs and education took the children from their families and sold them to battalion 605, stationed near Pyay in the country's centre, and to non-commissioned officers from a training battalion stationed at Thaton. The girl was subsequently brought to work at a shop in the north of Rangoon.

Following the intervention of the International Labour Organization's staff in the country, four out of the five children were returned to their families. At time of preparing the information, one boy, 14-year-old Ne Min Maung Maung, still had not been recovered.

After the trafficker was arrested, she reportedly admitted to having sold a total of 11 children in this manner. Although Burma has an Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law, which international agencies assisted in preparing, police charged the accused under section 363 of the Penal Code with abducting children from their guardians. The penalties under the anti-trafficking law are very high, and according to lawyers working in the country, police commonly threaten to lodge charges in cases of this sort under the law but then lodge them under the Penal Code, which carries lesser penalties, in exchange for payments from the accused.

Although police have charged the trafficker, according to human rights defenders, no criminal legal action has been taken against the soldiers or battalions involved in the trade in children. The absence of action against the soldiers is consistent with other cases of this sort. The International Labour Organization while acknowledging that it has received cooperation from the government for the return of children has expressed concern about the lack of prosecutions of soldiers known to have been involved in such cases. In a November 2010 report (GB.309/6) of its governing body, the group stated that, "There have been no reported cases of the use of the Penal Code but three instances of military personnel being imprisoned for their part in under-age recruitment cases have been recorded" (paragraph 13). The report goes on to note that punitive action against soldiers typically involves reduction of rank, pay or pension. In a September 2010 report (A/65/368) the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar (Burma), wrote that,
"International partners have acknowledged the Government’s increased commitment to addressing the issue of recruitment of child soldiers through both the training of military personnel and the prosecution and disciplining of persons deemed responsible for permitting underage recruitment. The prospect of receiving a prison sentence for breaking the law will inevitably have an impact on behaviour. Unfortunately, however, the long-awaited joint action plan under Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) (on children in armed conflict) has not yet been signed. As a consequence, the Government is seen to be largely in a reactive position of responding to complaints rather than adopting a more systematic proactive stance in identifying and releasing serving minors" (paragraph 79).

Despite the introduction of various measures to prohibit the sale of children into the army in Burma, the practice continues in large part because of the absence of a systematic process for the prosecution of soldiers accused of working with agents to trade in children. Although the return of children following interventions from the ILO and other agencies in Burma is to be welcomed, the practice will continue until such a time as a policy is adopted to systematically prosecute and imprison army personnel who are known to have been involved.

The institutional arrangements for recruitment of soldiers in Burma are the other reason that the practice of selling children to the military continues largely unabated, despite the introduction of various measures to counter it. Because military battalions are responsible for raising personnel of their own accord, soldiers have incentives and pressures to work with traffickers to obtain new recruits. Because the process of recruitment is dispersed through units around the country, it is difficult to supervise and even more difficult for organizations working in the country to monitor so as to determine that children are not being sold to become soldiers, or work for military personnel. Until this antiquated system also is abandoned and a professional, centralized system of recruitment is established, incorporating measures for careful crosschecking of recruits' identities and circumstances of recruitment, the practice again will continue.

The Asian Human Rights Commission therefore urges firstly that in the case of the five children in Pyay that the remaining boy be returned to his family as quickly as possible, that the accused trafficker be charged under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law, and that the soldiers involved, who have been identified, also be charged under the same law. Secondly, it urges that a policy be introduced for the systematic criminal prosecution of all soldiers accused of involvement in the buying of children; and, that the system of recruitment in Burma be changed to enable effective, centralized monitoring of recruits such that the practice of under-aged forcible recruitment be eliminated as quickly as possible. # # #
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
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The Irrawaddy - Dollar Up as Burma Relaxes Car Import Rules
Friday, September 16, 2011

After months of steady depreciation, the US dollar appears to be reversing its slide against the Burmese kyat, as the government relaxes restrictions on car imports to allow owners of older vehicles to replace them with newer models.

The scheme is seen as part of an effort to bolster the value of the dollar, whose fall has dealt a heavy blow to Burma's export sector. Since the government announced on Sept 11 that cars between 20 and 40 years old could be used to get permits to import newer models, the dollar has surged to 805 kyat from recent lows of around 680 kyat.

Since the beginning of this year, the dollar's value against the local currency has plummeted from more than 1,000 kyat to less than 700 kyat late last month.

After registering for the substitution process, permits will be issued to vehicle owners allowing them to purchase and import models built after 1995 that cost less than US $3,500 in the country of manufacture.

Car prices have long been prohibitively high in Burma, where top generals and their cronies maintain a monopoly over the lucrative trade in imported vehicles. By providing a rare window of opportunity for local people to bypass this stranglehold, the government has created a sudden demand for dollars and dollar-denominated Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs) needed to purchase newer vehicles.

Under the new program, legal workers abroad and sailors who officially open foreign exchange accounts at state-owned banks will also be allowed to import cars.

With the strengthening of the dollar, the price of gold in the country has also increased to 734,000 kyat ($920) per kyat-thar (16g).

Forty-year-old cars will be processed from Sept 19 to October, while 30- to 40-year-old cars will be processed from November to December and 20- to 30-year-old cars from January to March.

The government has also announced that arrangements are underway for foreign automobile companies from China, Japan, Thailand and South Korea to set up showrooms in Burma so that the public can easily buy cars without any restrictions in the future.
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The Irrawaddy - There’s Something Happening Here
By KYAW ZWA MOE Friday, September 16, 2011

Both inside and outside of Burma, people are debating whether the country has changed since the new government was sworn in. So has Burma changed? Inarguably, in some ways it has. But the next question is whether the change is substantive and meaningful, or superficial and transient.

On Wednesday, Aung San Suu Kyi watched a football match between Burma and Laos. This in and of itself has never been seen before in Burma. But what was more shocking was that the pro-democracy leader sat sandwiched between a Burmese army colonel in uniform and Zaw Zaw, one of the richest men in Burma and a full-fledged crony of the country’s rulers, who invited her to attend the match.

Not only was this something the people of Burma had never seen before, it is something that virtually everyone would have bet would never happen, especially in 2011. After all, it was only 10 months ago that Suu Kyi was released from seven years of house arrest, and Zaw Zaw, whose Max Myanmar Group of Companies is on the US and EU sanctions lists, is said to be close to the grandson of ex-junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the man who imprisoned her.

This unexpected scene came on the heels of Suu Kyi’s Aug. 19 meeting with President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw, where the two were all smiles during their photo session with the media—with the press coverage also marking another change. Suu Kyi traveled to Naypyidaw to attend a meeting on poverty alleviation and was greeted as a VIP by many high-level government officials. Afterwards, she said she was “happy and satisfied” with her historic face to face meeting with the president, and this gave the people of Burma reason for cautious optimism.

The level of optimism was raised last week, when the new government formed the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission and charged it with promoting and safeguarding the fundamental rights of citizens in accordance with the 2008 Constitution. This was an unprecedented move, despite the fact that all of the members of the commission served under the previous military regime, which was named one of the worst human rights violators in the world.

Moreover, international diplomats are now being allowed to roam more freely in Rangoon than was possible under the old regime. This week, the US special envoy and policy coordinator to Burma, Derek Mitchell, not only met with high profile pro-democracy leaders like Suu Kyi as well as top ethnic leaders, he also visited civic organizations like the office of the Free Funeral Service Society and an HIV/Aids clinic run by Phyu Phyu Thin, a member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).

Then on Thursday, another historic first occurred when Naypyidaw's government not only allowed the observance of the International Day of Democracy for the first time ever, it actually held its own ceremony. Ex-Gen Shwe Mann, the speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, and ex-Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint, the speaker of the Upper House, each gave speeches. Khin Aung Myint, known as a hard-liner in the previous authoritarian regime, actually said, "Democracy is a practice that can protect and uplift individual integrity and fundamental rights.”

He didn’t mention, of course, that the previous day the government slapped ten more years onto the initial eight year prison sentence of Sithu Zeya, a 21-year-old video journalist secretly working for the Democratic Voice of Burma, an exiled media group, who was arrested after photographing the aftermath of the bombings that occurred at the 2010 water festival in Rangoon and charged with violating the draconian Electronics Act.

So it's still premature to say that the scenes being played out over the last several weeks are an indication of meaningful change, rather than a performance by the new government to convince the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to give Burma its chair in 2014, the West to drop its sanctions and the UN to stop pursuing a Commission of Inquiry regarding human rights violations in Burma.

But even if the government’s newly discovered openness is primarily for show, and despite the clear hypocrisy displayed by some of the ex-generals, there hasn’t been a substantive meeting between the government and Suu Kyi in nearly a decade, or press coverage of her allowed in Burmese journals during that time, and there hasn’t been an event promoting democracy or any public discussion of basic human rights by the Burmese government in the past two decades.

Speaking at an International Day of Democracy ceremony at NLD headquarters, Suu Kyi said, “I believe we have reached a point where there is an opportunity for change. But I don't want to say it has changed.”

She added: “Governments always have to change. It is not a democracy where the same people are always in power. But change must be gentle, peaceful and dignified, and it must not affect civilians or the previous government. The new government should not be granted privileges. Everyone must enjoy equality.”

Her tone was conciliatory, but at the same time more positive than her supporters have ever heard. It seems that her recent activities, from meeting with Burma’s president to attending a football match with a government business crony, have been designed in part to end the vicious circle of rapprochement and repression that the government and pro-democracy groups have been ensnared in over the past two decades.

Suu Kyi may feel that ending that vicious circle is the necessary starting point for what she calls “radical or value change.” But based on past experience, she certainly won’t forget that she is dealing with the same men who in the past have never kept their promises to her, who put her under house arrest for more than 15 of the last 21 years and who ordered vicious attacks both on her supporters at Depayin in 2003 and on unarmed protesters during the Saffron Revolution in 2007—not to mention the scores of other human rights violations that have taken place in Burma since 1988.

In addition, she is well aware that although the current government has arranged meetings and formed committees, there have been no concrete actions such as the commencement of genuine peace talks with the ethnic armed groups or the freeing of Burma’s 2,000 political prisoners.

Hence, Suu Kyi’s optimistic but cautionary statement that there is now the opportunity for change in Burma, but from a substantive standpoint, things have not yet changed. There does, however, seem to be enough political will to make real changes in less politically volatile areas such as economics and education, if not yet with respect to political freedom.

This may be another necessary first step, and if changes in these areas are initiated and combined with the newly granted freedoms to at least discuss democracy and human rights, that vicious circle may actually be broken. If this happens, substantive dialogue about national reconciliation, constitutional reform and human rights may be possible. And if that happens, Burma will be on the verge of real change.
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Burmese Lower House Speaker says he’s a ‘democrat’
Friday, 16 September 2011 22:31 Myo Thant

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Lower House speaker Shwe Mahn, a retired general, called himself a “democrat” in a speech delivered in Naypyitaw for an International Day of Democracy ceremony on Thursday.

Shwe Mahn read a nine-page speech to lawmakers and journalists at Concert Theatre from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. He also addressed the audience at the ceremony as “democrats.”

Shwe Mahn served in the army for more than 40 years and retired before taking up his position in Parliament. He graduated from the 13th Intake of Defence Services Academy (DSA) in 1969.

“In Burma, democrat means dissidents to the government,” said an MP who was surprised and skeptical about the speech.

Lower House MP Khaing Khaing Maung Yee of the National Democratic Force agreed that the term “democrats” or “those who stand with democrats and democracy” is often used for political activists serving prison sentences, people who fight against the government by joining underground organizations and exile-based democracy activists.

Khaing Maung Yee said he welcomed the speaker’s address. “I have never heard such an expression before from someone holding such a high post. But he used this word straight. We can’t say yet if he spoke out of honesty or compromise or submission to something.”

In his speech, Shwe Mahn called for strengthening the role of Parliament and to build up the capacity of parliamentarians. His comparison of Burma’s Parliament to the U.S. Congress raised eyebrows among parliamentarians.

“Our Parliament is very similar to the U.S. Congress,” he said. “The organizational structure of the Congress’ affairs committees and our Parliament committees are very similar in general.”

Known for his close association with businessmen, he is described as a “moderate.” Shwe Mahn said that the deliberations in Parliament were conducted based on democratic principles and government departments would also practice democratic principles.

At the first-ever International Day of Democracy ceremony held in Naypyitaw, members of political parties read papers on democratic principles and systems.

Shwe Mahn said his definition of democracy is that it’s "not a command system, but a system where the majority decides and acts based on discussions."

"Good governance is not a command system, but decisions based on principles and governed by law in accordance with a majority decision,” he said.

Meanwhile, an International Day of Democracy ceremony was also held at the headquarters of the opposition National League for Democracy in Rangoon. NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi said in her 10-minute address that Burma had reached a point where political changes were likely.

Shwe Mahn, 64, joined the army in 1969 as an officer and was promoted to General in 2005. He retired from the army in 2010 and contested as a Union Solidarity and Development Party candidate in Ottara Thiri Township in Naypyitaw for the Lower House constituency in the 2010 general election.

He was elected speaker of the Lower House in February 2011. He is also a member of the 11-member National Security and Defense Council.
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UWSA explains peace agreement with government
Saturday, 17 September 2011 11:54 Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Members of the United Wa State Army were briefed Friday on the peace agreement it reached with the central government peace implementing committee.

More than 130 brigade-level officers and township and district level officials attended the two days briefing at UWSA headquarters Panseng in northern Shan State. “Our low level staff and commanders agreed with what our leaders decided,” a Wa commander who asked not to be named told Mizzima.

The government peace team led by ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party secretary (1) Aung Thaung and secretary (2) Thein Zaw was accompanied by selected cabinet members of the Shan State government who met Shan State Special Region (2) UWSA leaders on September 6 at Kengtung. The agreement covered reopening liaison offices, discussions on development work in the Wa area and obtaining prior permission before free passage in each other’s territory.

The signing took place 20 days after an announcement by President Thein Sein calling for peace talks with armed groups through the relevant state-level governments.

Thein Zaw, who led the government team, is also the chairman of the Ethnic Affairs and Internal Peace Implementing Committee that was formed on September 5 by Parliament.

The government has consistently attempted to convert ethnic armed forces into a government-controlled Border Guard Force (BGF), but that issue was not mentioned in the negotiations.

The date and venue for the next meeting of government delegates and Wa leaders has not yet been set.

In the meantime, the UWSA informed its lower-level offices and officials about the reopening of government offices in their territory and the return of government officials in education, forestry, telegraph and agriculture departments. In April 2010, the military regime ordered all NGOs and government staff to leave Wa-controlled territory.

The UWSA opened liaison offices in Rangoon, Mandalay, Kengtung, Tachileik, Muse, Lashio and Tangyan but the offices were closed starting in September 2010.

The UWSA, which is notorious for its narcotic drug production, is not a member of United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), which is comprised of 12 ethnic armed groups.

On August 28, the UNFC said Thein Sein’s peace proposal was not acceptable. It said negotiating with armed organizations separately was like “driving a wedge among them,” and they wanted to negotiate as a united group.

“Their geopolitical situation is different from us, and they keep our UNFC at a distance because of that. Their attitude depends on the attitude of China. So they act in accordance with their situation,” UNFC secretary Nai Han Thar told Mizzima.

One day after signing the agreement, the government delegation met and discussed peace with another non-UNFC member, the Mengla of Shan State Special Region (4), in eastern Shan State and reached a similar agreement.

The Mengla group, with about 3,000 members, was represented by Vice Chairman San Pei; General-Secretary Aik Shen La; Vice Chief of Staff Lan Aung; and liaison officer Zin Kham Nau, according Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Sino-Burma border-based observer.

“They [the government] received [political] profit by reaching this agreement with the Wa and Mengla groups. And then they also denied the UNFC stand by highlighting the achievements,” Nai Han Thar said.
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KNU to mark UN peace day with one-day cease-fire
Friday, 16 September 2011 11:53 Mizzima News

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Karen National Union (KNU) has announced a one-day cease-fire on Wednesday to mark the United Nations’ International Day of Peace.

According to a press release from KNU headquarters in Kawthoolei issued on Thursday, the organization says it will demonstrate its commitment to peace and respect for the UN by putting down their guns for the day.

The KNU, which says it struggles for peace, democracy and human rights, equality, self-determination and freedom for the entire Karen people, noted this is the second time it has marked this international day since it was designated in 2001. The KNU said the Burmese government forces did not reciprocate when they had a one-day ceasefire last year.

The KNU called on the new Burmese government to cease all offensive actions in Karen State and KNU areas and withdraw its troops from all ethnic states. It also called for an end to human rights abuses and the use of child soldiers.

“In declaring this one-day ceasefire, the KNU is demonstrating its willingness to solve problems through peaceful political means. We respect the repeated requests of the United Nations Security Council, United Nations General Assembly, and United Nations secretary-general, that there must be dialogue to solve the problems in Burma. We stand ready to enter into genuine dialogue at any time,” the statement said.

The KNU said it urged the UN Security Council to persuade President Thein Sein “to order a nationwide cease-fire, and engage in tripartite dialogue for the emergence of human rights and democracy, and a genuine federal union for lasting peace and security.”
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