News & Articles on Burma

Wednesday, 14 September, 2011
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VJ Handed 10 More Years
By SAI ZOM HSENG Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A Rangoon court on Wednesday added 10 years to the sentence of Burmese photographer Sithu Zeya on charges of violating the country's draconian Electronics Act.

Sithu Zeya had originally been sentenced in May 2010 to eight years in prison for violating the 1957 Unlawful Associations Act, accused of having contact with illegal organizations, as well as a charge of violating the Immigration Act.

The 21-year-old photographer was arrested on April 15 last year and detained in Rangoon's notorious Insein Prison after photographing the aftermath of the bomb blasts that shook the traditional New Year's water festival in Rangoon, killing 10 people and injuring 170.

During interrogation, Sithu Zeya reportedly admitted his former relationship with an official from the exile media organization Democratic Voice of Burma, and that he attended media training in Thailand. These confessions were presented by the plaintiff to the court.

Sithu Zeya. (PHOTO: DVB)
In January, The Irrawaddy reported that, while in Insein, Sithu Zeya had been held for a number of days in kennels normally used for housing the prison's security dogs for not paying respect to the prison guards.

His father Maung Maung Zeya is the son of the well-known late writer Saya Linyone. Muang Maung Zeya was arrested at his home on April 16, 2010, and was also detained in Insein Prison. According to his lawyers, Maung Maung Zeya was charged with violating the 1957 Unlawful Associations Act for contacts he made with the exile government in Thailand. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison on April 1 this year, the day after President Thein Sein assumed office.

Another long-term casualty of Burma's severe judicial system is Nay Myo Zin who worked as a volunteer for a blood donor group affiliated with the opposition National League for Democracy. Nay Myo Zin was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, accused of breaking the Electronic Transactions Act, Article 33(a), at the end of August. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22074
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Mitchell Concludes Trip with Call for 'Concrete' Action
By SAI ZOM HSENG Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The US special envoy and policy coordinator for Burma, Derek Mitchell, concluded his first visit to the country on Wednesday with a call on the government to take “concrete” steps to allay the international community's doubts about its commitment to genuine reform and reconciliation.

Speaking at a press briefing at Rangoon International Airport on Wednesday morning, Mitchell said that despite heightened expectations for change, many remain skeptical that the government is committed 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 continuing human rights violations, the detention of approximately 2,000 political prisoners, and the government's lack of transparency about its military relationship with North Korea.

“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 the steps he suggested, Mitchell included “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.”

During his six-day trip to Burma, which began last Friday, the former US Defense Department deputy assistant secretary met with Suu Kyi on Monday for a 40-minute discussion about possible humanitarian aid for health and education.

He also visited an HIV/AIDS clinic run by Phyu Phyu Thin, a youth leader of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), as well as a government-run HIV/AIDS hospital and the office of the Free Funeral Service Society, a highly regarded NGO that provides free funerals for the poor.

In his statement, he said that in addition to meeting with local and international NGOs, he also consulted with the business and diplomatic communities.

“I was reminded consistently during my visit that Daw Suu remains deeply important to the citizens of this country, Burman and ethnic minority alike, and that any credible reform effort must include her participation. It was also clear that she remains fully committed to the cause of peaceful change through dialogue,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell started his duties as the first US special envoy to Burma on Aug 15. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22071
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Suu Kyi Attends Football Match
By THE IRRAWADDY Wednesday, September 14, 2011

At the invitation of Burmese businessman Zaw Zaw, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday afternoon attended an international football match between Burma and Laos at Thuwanna Stadium in Rangoon.

Zaw Zaw is the chairman of the Myanmar Football Federation and the Myanmar Tennis Federation. He is also the managing director of the Max Myanmar Group of Companies, which is blacklisted by Western sanctions.

The match was an under-19 game, part of the Asean Football Federation U-19 Championship 2011 from Sept. 8 - 21, which Burma is hosting for the first time.

The compettition involves all 10 members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Teams are divided into two qualifying leagues—Group A: Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia and Cambodia; and Group B: Burma, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam and Brunei.

The Burmese authorities have provided security for Suu Kyi, according to Kyaw Soe Naing, one of her personal security guards. During the match, Suu Kyi sat next to Zaw Zaw, he added.

A Rangoon-based journalist said that Suu Kyi earlier told reporters that she was invited to go and watch the football competition by Zaw Zaw, and that she was looking forward to it because she liked football.

Zaw Zaw also invited Suu Kyi in August to an economic workshop in Naypyidaw. He is believed to be very close to Nay Shwe Thway Aung, the grandson of former junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22073
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Burma's Neighbors Can Help It Escape Past
Jakarta Globe: Akira Moretto | September 14, 2011

During the late 1950s early 1960s, Rangoon, the capital of the young Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma, was one of the most important commercial and cultural centers in Southeast Asia.

During those years Rangoon was a thriving city generating a relatively large number of university graduates ranging from doctors to engineers, some of whom still work across Asia today. In 1961, Burma’s Maha Thray Sithu U Thant became secretary general of the United Nations as well as the first non-Westerner ever to head a large international organization.

The advent of military rule in 1962 set Burma on a path of political and social experimentation that created both economic instability as well as structural rigidity. These features continue to characterize the economy of present-day Burma.

The political objectives of the “Burmese way to socialism” were not that different from what most countries in developing Asia aspired toward: freedom from the colonial rule and colonial enterprises that dominated their economies; non-alliance in the polarized cold war politics of the 1950s and 1960s; social equality and justice; national unity; and a larger say in international institutions and in international trading arrangements.

However, like Burma, they were to learn much from both from their own history as well as the combined development experience of their Asian neighbors. The socialist-military experiment of the 1960s came at a high price. Burma changed from being one of Asia’s most prosperous growing countries to one of the worst performing economies of the region.

Although Burma is the largest country in Indochina and a country rich in natural resources, from this moment onward the nation showed signs of a dangerous downward spiral, visible through more widespread poverty, ossified structures of production dependent on tiny, low-technology agriculture and other, equally backward, industries.

Nationalization of large segments of the economy such as land and trade led to both a decline in agricultural exports and the departure of business-savvy Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs.

Economic decline robbed the state of the ability to keep ethnic tensions in check through economic development and social assistance. Military solutions rather than campaigns to win hearts and minds continued to characterize the governance of sub-national regions.

As a result of antigovernment demonstrations in the late 1980s and the failure of Burmese socialism, the country embarked on a process of market reforms that led to the creation of new private businesses.

The reforms included liberalizing foreign direct investment, tax incentives to attract foreign funds, mostly in oil and gas, mining and tourism, all sectors that still today represent the nation’s main source of income.

Despite this, however, the overall distribution of wealth did not change much, and the majority of people remained employed in low-skilled and low-paid agricultural jobs.

Moreover, the government’s ability to provide social protection and support for its lower-income families is limited by the fact that government revenue constitutes just 6 percent of estimated gross domestic product.

Although many today still see Burma as isolated politically, economically and geographically, the country’s prospects should not be underestimated either in the wider framework of emerging Asia or in the context of political changes under way in Burma today.

Unavoidably the country remains a place where China meets with India, a region that — as The Economist reports — within an 1,100-kilometer radius is home to more than 600 million people stretching from Thailand and Laos in the east to India, China, Bangladesh and Bhutan in the west.

This fact on its own poses a series of important questions for Burma, given that the country is in the midst of a fast-growing region, surrounded by neighbors that are rapidly transforming the structure of their economies by making concrete efforts to improve the quality of their growth.

Never before has the country attracted as much international attention as it does today. This has been partially due to internal changes occurring within the country and partially due to developments in the region.

The rise of China and India as major economic players in the region, combined with the desire by Asean countries to implement greater regional connectivity, has been redefining the international relationships among countries in East Asia.

Nobody has ever doubted the economic potential of Burma, mostly due to its historical and geographic importance in Southeast Asia. Yet as the country slowly opens up, the most fundamental question remains: Can the country flourish and realize its potential, implementing sound economic development strategies that combine poverty eradication and sustainability?

Although this might seem difficult, it is not impossible, and the development experience of emerging Asia demonstrates success stories in India, China, South Korea and even Indonesia. Emerging economies of Asia, in fact, have not always been prosperous, and several of them have experienced similar development paths that include civil wars, ethnic strife, economic failures and unsustainable economic policies.

In this context, what is most important is that various Asian countries have, sooner of later, eventually looked at where they stood in their development and examined how to take advantage of evolving political and economic environments. This stock taking, combined with various cooperation strategies, has made Asia what it is today: one of the fastest growing regions in the world.

These developments are occurring across the Burmese border and are becoming questions that the country cannot continue to ignore. Clearly, the end of the cold war, the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and the 2008 global financial crisis have created global changes and provided much experience on how reform can lead to sustained economic gains.

One of the main issues for Burma today is understanding how to benefit from these changes and take advantage of the changing policy environment while adapting to the economic and institutional reforms of Asia. It also needs to build on the experience of other neighbors in implementing reforms for sustaining wealth in the long run.

There are signs the new government in Burma is looking at new development options for economic growth. This is seen in several high-profile consultations with experts and government departments conducted in recent months, beginning with a discussion on rural development and poverty reduction.

Informed observers talk of the government’s desire to normalize relations with international financial institutions and the donor community, and to end economic sanctions. This process of loosening military control, learning from neighboring countries and moving forward with Asean integration might provide the trigger that will enable Burma to undertake structural reforms.

It is time to give Burma the benefit of the doubt. Who would have thought that India could shed its Hindu rate of growth, or China its predilection for worrying about the color of cats catching mice? But they did, and Burma surely can too.

Akira Moretto is deputy head of research at Strategic Asia Indonesia, a consultancy promoting cooperation among Asian countries. http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/burmas-neighbors-can-help-it-escape-past/465167
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Burma and Reform: All Talk and no Walk?
Simon Roughneen
Posted: 9/13/11 09:07 PM ET

BANGKOK - It isn't easy working as a journalist under Burma's military rulers. The army has run the country since 1962, and although there were elections in November 2010 - the first in two decades - the army's party won easily and the new Government is headed by Thein Sein, a former General and Prime Minister under the ancien regime.

On the face of it, the new man in charge is trying to 'do reform'. He recently met with Aung San Suu Kyi - the extra-parliamentary opposition leader and now subject of a Luc Besson-directed film 'The Lady' - who in turn praised Thein Sein. To some, the new President is cautious 'reformist', apparently battling against 'hardliners' elsewhere in the Burmese Government. Still others, however, see this apparent contest as theatre, more control freakery by the military strongman behind the scenes, Than Shwe. A Senior-General in the army, he took power in 1992, and ccording to US diplomatic cables from the Rangoon embassy, 'all roads lead to Than Shwe' when it comes to figuring out Burma's opaque power structures.

Reform talk aside, Burma still holds almost 2000 political prisoners, which the Government describes as mere criminals. Among their number are hundreds of Buddhist monks, and over 20 journalists. Just before Thein Sein's April speech lauding the '4th estate', a correspondent for Democratic Voice of Burma was sentenced to 13 years in jail, the seventeenth DVB reporter to be locked up.

Burma has a growing private-owned media sector, but it must run content by Government (read army) censors, who can cut and reject content as they see fit. In another token-looking gesture, the Burmese authorities loosened the censor rules a bit, removing non-news, non-political content from their workload.

According to Shawn Crispin, southeast Asia representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the 'relaxations' are meaningless. "If the new regime was serious about press freedom, it would dissolve its censorship department altogether and allow the private media to play the watchdog role it does in real democracies."

In a hint at who is really running the show in the 'new' Burma, Crispin concluded that "I doubt Thein Sein's military minders have the stomach for that."

CPJ will publish an assessment of Burma's media landscape in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, see http://www.simonroughneen.com/asia/seasia/burma/censorship-prevails-in-new-burma-despite-reform-talk-pbs-mediashift/#more-5126

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-roughneen/burma-and-reform-all-talk_b_961267.html
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The world will welcome Burma if it reforms
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation: Published on September 14, 2011

The Burmese government, which includes a few civilian faces now, has been sending signals to the international community that it is preparing to introduce changes and move the country towards what many would like to see - democracy and reconciliation.

The media spotlight has been trained on the country since President Thein Sein invited Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to the new capital Naypyidaw to meet him and participate in many high-profile events including a workshop on economic reform last month.

This meeting was anything but normal, since it sent many strong signals that changes had finally been set in motion in a country that has been ruled by a military regime for a long time, diplomats said.

The government, which replaced the junta in March, obviously has some good intentions now that it has officially released a picture of Thein Sein and Suu Kyi standing next to each other with a portrait of the Nobel laureate's father, General Aung San, in the background.

The picture indicated that the national hero and his daughter were now being recognised by the Burmese society. "We hope to see the portrait of General Aung San replace General Than Shwe's photograph at the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok," a diplomat said.

Yet, though the junta's paramount leader Senior General Than Shwe has moved out of the administrative ranks, many observers still wonder about his real role. Some say that the recent selection of Than Shwe's personal assistant Maj-General Soe Shein as the military intelligence chief was a clear reflection of junta leader's true power.

Yet, many believe that President Thein Sein, who previously served as prime minister in Than Shwe's administration, is independent enough to carry out "reforms". A European diplomat said that Thein Sein has made it very clear that he advocated reform and wanted to engage with the international community.

The Burmese government has started implementing measures to tackle economic difficulties due to the appreciation of the kyat currency. In addition, it has reportedly set up a national human-rights committee.

Over and above that, the country welcomed many envoys from the West, including United States Senator John McCain in June and United Nations special rapporteur on human rights Tomas Quintana in August. Kristalina Georgieva, European commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response was in Burma last week, while US special envoy and policy coordinator Derek Mitchell is there this week. All of these envoys have met President Thein Sein, senior government officials and, of course, Suu Kyi to discuss their concerns, including political development and reconciliation.

While saying they are not justifying the legitimacy of a government that might still be backed by military leaders, many countries in the West are hoping that the new set of leaders will bring about some changes. They have set a few benchmarks for "positive developments", including the release of political prisoners, a political role for Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy and an end to conflicts with ethnic minorities before Burma can be rewarded with the lifting of sanctions, development assistance and normal relations.

The European Union already seems to be easing restrictions and in April it decided to lift the ban on visas and unfroze the assets of civilian members of the new Burmese government, including the foreign minister. Now, senior officials from the EU can also visit Burma.

It's true, nobody has ever wanted to isolate Burma. Countries across the world have always been ready to engage with Burma, provided it shows that it is fully committed to reform, democracy, national reconciliation and respects the rights of humans. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/09/14/national/The-world-will-welcome-Burma-if-it-reforms-30165207.html
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BANGKOK POST
Army chief visits Burma

Published: 14/09/2011 at 10:53 AM
Online news:

National army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha on Wednesday morning left on a visit to Burma to introduce himself and strengthen military ties between the two countries, reports said.

Gen Prayuth said he will also discuss cooperation between both countries in preventing drugs from being smuggled into Thailand, which is a major government policy.

He said the Burmese government has been providing full support for Thailand in its efforts to suppress drug trafficking. http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/256499/army-chief-visits-burma
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‘Civilian’ Govt Eases Iron Grip
By Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Sep 14, 2011 (IPS) - With Burma’s quasi-civilian government relaxing the iron grip on power maintained for half-a century by military juntas, the big question is: How real is the change?

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Southeast Asian nation’s most prominent political dissident, appears convinced. "The past situation is the past. The current situation is the current one and there has been some progress," the 66-year-old told reporters on Monday.

Suu Kyi wants a line drawn in the sand between the nearly 50 years of military oppression and the current government of President Thein Sein, a former general and junta leader.

Following a meeting on Monday with Derek Mitchell, the U.S. government’s special envoy for Burma, the Nobel Peace laureate added: "Due to the situation, (the U.S. delegation) is also interested and so we exchanged our perspectives."

Suu Kyi, who was only freed from over seven years under house arrest in November last year, had an equally significant meeting on Sunday with the family of Min Ko Naing, Burma’s best known political prisoner, in Rangoon.

"It was a visit to offer moral courage to Min Ko Naing’s family and for him also," Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma (AAPP), told IPS in a telephone interview from the Thai-Burma border.

The plight of 48-year-old Min Ko Naing, condemned to a 65-year jail term, has come to symbolise the country’s political prisoners who have paid a heavy price for dissidence. Currently, there are 1,996 political prisoners in 44 prisons and labour camps, according to AAPP.

The few but noticeable political concessions, in a country frequently condemned for human rights violations since a military coup in 1962, started in July when the Thein Sein administration permitted the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit three prisons.

ICRC’s visit, to improve water and sanitation conditions, came six years after being denied access to political prisoners.

In August, Suu Kyi figured in the thaw between the former generals who doffed their uniforms for mufti in March and the anti-military opposition rallying around the banned National League for Democracy (NLD), which she heads.

On Aug. 19, she had her first face-to-face meeting with Thein Sein in Naypyidaw, the remote administrative capital in central Burma. The next day, she attended a meeting on alleviating poverty in the country, also known as Myanmar.

"Suu Kyi was quite encouraged by the level of openness at the conference and she wants to support the poverty alleviation efforts," Zaw Oo, a Burmese economist who attended the meeting, told IPS. "It is one area where she and the government share a common interest without many ideological or political differences." Thein Sein is also receiving credit for turning the spotlight on poverty, a scourge in a country rich in natural resources, including natural gas, which the earned the country eight billion dollars from export to Thailand from 2000 to 2008.

The former strongmen who reportedly profited from the windfall kept under wraps the fact of 19 million people – or 33 percent of the population – living below the poverty line.

Burma is currently ranked 138 out of 182 nations in the human development index of the United Nations.

"Giving such a high priority to poverty alleviation and economic development was unprecedented," said Zaw Oo. "The government, recognising the problem and the challenges it faces, also held discussions that were open, with even ministers being challenged by members of the audience."

The hint of reform in Burma under Thein Sein - who was chosen in late March by a national parliament elected in a controversial November poll, including blatant military interference – is winning international applause.

The European Union (EU) which has criticised the junta for years, and imposed sanctions on it, has responded positively. "I see an opportunity for more openness in Myanmar," said Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for international cooperation and humanitarian aid.

"I was encouraged by the authorities’ willingness to expand humanitarian access to more areas of Myanmar," she told journalists here on Sunday following a two-day humanitarian mission. "The atmosphere in the country is different. We know there are agents for change." The EU olive branch follows concessions announced after a pro-reform speech by the Burmese president soon after he assumed office. European ministers are now allowed to visit Burma and visa restrictions on Burmese officials, including the country’s foreign minister, have been lifted.

But, that is small comfort for victims of Burmese military oppression like Bo Kyi, a political prisoner for over a decade.

"The government has to release political prisoners and end human rights abuse across the country," he says. "This change is only to ease international pressure and improve image." (END) http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105097
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US will respond ‘in kind’ to reforms
By AFP : Published: 14 September 2011

A new US envoy to Burma ended his first visit to the country on Wednesday by urging “genuine and concrete” reforms by the army-backed regime and said Washington would respond “in kind”.

Derek Mitchell, who was appointed as the first US coordinator for policy on Burma last month, said the Southeast Asian nation should begin by releasing political prisoners, ending ethnic conflicts and reaching out to critics.

Mitchell urged Burma to “prove the sceptics wrong” as he prepared to leave the country after a visit that included talks with ministers of the new nominally-civilian government and opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

“I noted that progress on these issues will be essential to progress in the bilateral relationship, and that if the government takes genuine and concrete action, the United States will respond in kind,” he told reporters at Rangoon airport.

Mitchell, who was on his first official visit to the country as part of Washington’s strategy of engagement, did not directly mention the wide ranging sanctions imposed against Burma by the US.

But he said he had discussed American “policy approaches” with Suu Kyi and her party.

Mitchell called for the release of the approximately 2,000 political detainees and voiced fears over “serious human rights violations, including against women and children” linked to hostilities in ethnic minority areas.

The envoy also said the US was concerned about the “lack of transparency” in Burma’s military dealings with North Korea.

US diplomatic memos released last year by WikiLeaks said Washington has suspected for years that Burma ran a secret nuclear program supported by Pyongyang.

In May, a US Navy destroyer intercepted a North Korean cargo ship in the South China Sea suspected of carrying missiles or other weapons, that may have been destined for Burma, and made it turn back.

Mitchell’s post was created in 2008 when US Congress, under then-president George W. Bush, approved a law that tightened sanctions against Burma, but the position was not filled at the time due to a political dispute.

After taking power in 2009, President Barack Obama’s administration changed tack, concluding that the measures aimed at isolating Burma had been ineffective.

Burma’s government has recently appeared to be seeking to improve its image by reaching out to critics such as Suu Kyi, who last month met President Thein Sein, a former general, for the first time.

The Nobel peace prize winner was released from seven straight years of house arrest by the junta days after controversial November elections. http://www.dvb.no/news/us-will-respond-in-kind-to-reforms/17627
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Shan villagers beaten by troops: reports
By DVB: Published: 14 September 2011

Government soldiers in Burma’s northeastern Shan state have reportedly pillaged villages and assaulted inhabitants following a heavy clash with the opposition Shan State Army (SSA).

Troops from the SSA ambushed a column of Burmese soldiers in Mongshu township in eastern Shan state on 11 September, leaving three dead and eight wounded. The SSA says the subsequent attack on residents of Namsaing village in Mongshu is a commonplace occurrence.

“Whenever there is a clash, they enter the nearest village and arrest villagers, beat them up and interrogate them. And they also take food and provisions from the village,” said Major Sai La, spokesperson of the SSA’s political wing, the Shan State Progressive Party.

The two sides have been engaged in heavy fighting since March this year following a refusal by the SSA’s northern faction to become a government-controlled Border Guard Force.

A clash erupted on 8 September in the state’s northern district of Mong Yai, reportedly leaving one government soldier dead. Casualties for the SSA have not been reported.

Villagers have also reportedly been assaulted in an effort to extract information about the SSA. In Mong Yai’s Wanpon village, inhabitants were ordered to give out the names of villagers working in paddy fields; those found working in the fields who were not among the list would be threatened with death, locals reported.

The Burmese government has long been accused of war crimes in its effort to eliminate the country’s myriad armed opposition groups.

On several occasions this year troops have razed villages in the country’s border regions as part of the Four Cuts strategy, which looks to sever lines of civilian support and communication for ethnic armies. http://www.dvb.no/news/shan-villagers-beaten-by-troops-reports/17636