Friday, February 27, 2009

BURMA JUNTA IS A CRIMENIAL GROUP ON NARGIS


Unlike the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report released last July by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), consisting of the junta, the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the new report does not shy away from the issue of human rights abuses by the Burmese regime.

“We did not prompt this. We asked a number of questions about relief efforts and agencies, and what kept coming out was people trying to struggle and negotiate their communities’ relationships with the junta,” said Dr Chris Beyrer, director of the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which released the report.

The report is based on interviews with 90 private relief workers and cyclone survivors conducted between June and November 2008. The interviews were carried out by the Emergency Assistance Team—Burma (EAT), a social organization based on the Thai-Burmese border and staffed by community aid workers from cyclone-affected areas.

The interviews detail a pattern of abuses by the military authorities, including the misappropriation of relief supplies, forced labor and harassment and arrest of local aid workers.

“After one month, they came to the village, saw my supplies and started asking—they sent my information to Yangon [Rangoon] to investigate me. They were asking why there were so many supplies. They think it was anti-government. So I left; I don’t like prison,” recounted one relief worker who was interviewed for the report.

The authors of the report say that such abuses “may constitute crimes against humanity through the creation of conditions whereby the basic survival needs of victims cannot be adequately met,” in violation of Article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

“These allegations, taken together, may amount to crimes against humanity and may need to be investigated,” said Beyrer, adding that the case could be referred to the UN Security Council for consideration.

The report also highlights the international relief effort’s failure to engage community-based groups, and calls for a more thorough assessment of the situation in the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta, including the junta’s role in obstructing aid.

“There are some [international] groups working directly with community organizations, but they have to be very careful about how they work together. It is very risky. That is why we want the UN and Asean to tell the government to allow the community-based organizations to work freely to do their humanitarian work,” said Dr Cynthia Maung, who serves as the chairperson of EAT.

“We would also like to recommend that the UN or the international community do a more thorough assessment,” she added. “Unless we get a proper assessment or report, it may be very hard to continue working to improve the situation [in the cyclone-affected area].”

The report was released as Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, speaking at the annual Asean summit being held in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin, revealed that the Burmese regime was set to extend the TCG’s role in the delta.

It is unclear how the regional grouping, which has generally closed ranks in defense of the Burmese junta in the past, will respond to the report.

“We hope that there is a positive and constructive response, not a response of denial or obfuscation, but rather that people will say, all right, these kinds of practices must cease and desist,” said Beyrer.

“These kinds of allegations simply cannot be ignored. The people of the Irrawaddy delta deserve to have a reconstruction effort that’s free of rights abuses,” he added.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

US RELEASES HUMAN RIGHTS RECOED FOR BURMA AND US URGES ASEAN TO PUSH BURMA


US lashes 'brutal' Myanmar rights record
In an annual global report on human rights, the State Department said Myanmar's ruling junta carried out numerous extrajudicial killings along with rape and torture without punishing anyone responsible.

"The regime brutally suppressed dissent," it said, faulting the junta for "denying citizens the right to change their government and committing other severe human rights abuses."

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, crushed a 2007 uprising led by Buddhist monks, killing at least 31 people, according to the UN. In May last year, a cyclone left 138,000 people dead or missing.

"The regime showed contempt for the welfare of its own citizens when it persisted in conducting a fraudulent referendum in the immediate aftermath" of the cyclone, the State Department said.

It said that Myanmar also "delayed international assistance that could have saved many lives."

The regime forcibly relocated people away from their homes, particularly in areas dominated by ethnic minorities, with troops then confiscating their property or looting their possessions, the report said.

"Thousands of civilians were displaced from their traditional villages -- which often were then burned to the ground -- and moved into settlements tightly controlled by government troops in strategic areas," the report said.

"In other cases villagers driven from their homes fled into the forest, frequently in heavily mined areas, without adequate food, security or basic medical care," it said.

The State Department also said that women and members of certain minority groups are completely absent in the government and the judiciary.

Myanmar's most famous woman, pro-democracy advocate and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for most of the last 19 years.
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US urges ASEAN to push for political progress in Myanmar

Scot Marciel, the US ambassador to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) told reporters his country wanted the group's members to "use whatever contacts and access they have in the country to encourage new thinking and reform and increase openness and political progress".

The diplomat, speaking after an official visit to Hanoi, said he would go to Thailand for the opening of the ASEAN summit starting on Friday.

But he refused to elaborate on a policy review towards Myanmar US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had announced earlier.

Marciel told reporters Clinton said "that our approach to date, emphasising sanctions, hadn't worked".

"She also emphasised that the ASEAN approach of engagement hadn't worked," he said.

"So she said, given that we haven't achieved that success, it's logical and appropriate to review and look for new ideas to see if there is a way we can be more effective."

A day after Obama took office a senior official in Yangon said Myanmar hoped the new president would change Washington's tough policy towards its military regime and end the "misunderstandings" of the past.

Former US President George W. Bush's administration strengthened decade-old sanctions against Myanmar while his wife Laura was an outspoken critic of the country's ruling junta.

"Our goal vis-a-vis Myanmar or Burma remains to encourage release of political prisoners, dialogue between the government and the people in the opposition and overall progress so that the country stops going in a negative direction and moves in a more positive direction", Marciel added.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

UN AND US WANT TO SEE MORE FREE FOR POLIT ICAL PRISONERS/ BURMA IS NEAR TO SPARK WAR


UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations and United States Monday urged the Myanmar junta to free all political prisoners, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, after it announced an amnesty for 17 others.

"I wish to reiterate my call for the release of all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the resumption of dialogue between the government and the opposition without delay and without preconditions," UN chief Ban Ki-moon told reporters.

"I welcome the announcement of the amnesty as a first step toward a larger and bigger implementation," he said, but cautioned "there are still hundreds and hundreds of detainees" held for "political reasons."

The Myanmar government Friday announced it was releasing more than 6,300 prisoners to allow them to participate in elections next year. But according to an opposition spokesman, only 17 of those released were political prisoners.

Ban however mentioned 23 people had been released.

The UN chief also said he would like to visit the Asian nation again after his last trip in May, but said he had made no decision.

"There may be some issues that first of all I have to discuss with the Myanmar government, about the timing and about the agenda ... but nothing has yet been discussed," he said.

His special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has just traveled to Myanmar but there were no concrete results from the trip aimed at kickstarting talks between the junta and the opposition. Ban said Gambari's visit was "an ongoing effort."

The United States also welcomed news that some prisoners had been freed.

"We obviously welcome the release of any political prisoners but we call on the Burmese to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, -- but we'll have to see if indeed, this leads to more releases," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.

"Obviously, the release of any political prisoners is something that we would welcome but a lot more needs to be done," he said.
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Democracy plan fuels war in Myanmar

The elections represent the fifth step on the military regime's seven-step "roadmap to democracy". The generals have said that before the elections can take place the various ethnic insurgent ceasefire groups along the country's border areas must disarm and become legal political parties. Only once a "discipline flourishing democracy" has been established, says the government, will the concerns of the various ethnic groups be addressed.

With a year to go before the polls, ethnic insurgent organizations are being forced to decide whether to carry on the struggle or become state-controlled militias.
Although Gambari was able to meet with certain ethnic Shan politicians on his visit in early February, and UN Human Rights Envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana met last week with members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), it is unlikely that these staged meetings would have given either envoy a real sense of the dilemma facing many of the ethnic organizations.

The largest ceasefire groups are based in northern Myanmar, along the border with China. They include the United Wa State Army (UWSA) with an estimated 15,000-20,000 fighters, the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS) with around 2,500 and the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) with up to 10,000 men, and the Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIO/A) with between 3,000 and 5,000 soldiers in Kachin State. The UWSA, NDAA and SSA-N all agreed to ceasefires in 1989, while the KIO signed on in 1994.
Several ceasefire group leaders have remained coy about their preparations for possible hostilities. On the ground, observers describe military preparations including trainings and increased recruitment, as well as growing apprehension among the civilian populace. The junta, too, appears to be preparing for armed showdowns. It has for years increased troop numbers in areas near ceasefire groups and recent reports suggest that these troops are being reinforced with heavy weapons, including 76mm and 105mm artillery and with specialized troops, including Light Infantry Divisions 66 and 88.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

REGIME FREE PRISONERS, BUT FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS


Myanmar starts releasing prisoners , but for political prisoners
Myanmar
authorities Saturday began to free prisoners from Yangon's notorious Insein jail, including some political prisoners, under a government amnesty for 6,313 inmates nationwide.
Eyewitnesses saw scores of prisoners leaving Insein Saturday evening. Among them were Thet Wai, a member of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, and five other low-ranking opposition members.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her deputy Tin Oo have apparently been excluded from the amnesty. Suu Kyi and Tin Oo have been under house arrest since mid-2003.

Tin Oo's detention was extended by a year on the eve of the arrival of UN Rapporteur on Human Rights Tomas Ojea Quintana Feb 14 for a six-day visit.

Quintana's mission aimed at persuading Myanmar's ruling junta to release an estimated 2,100 political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, before its planned election in 2010.

Quintana concluded his visit Thursday, noting at the airport upon his departure that 'the human rights situation in Myanmar is still challenging'.

The regime has now granted an amnesty for prisoners, but not necessarily the ones Quintana was concerned about.

The government said in a statement that the release of the 6,313 prisoners was being made on humanitarian grounds and as a 'gesture' of sympathy towards their families.

Those released would be able 'to serve the interests of the regions and their own, the nation, and to participate in the fair election to be held in the year 2010 together with the people after realising the government's compassion and goodwill,' the statement said.

The amnesty, which comes days before Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein will attend the 14th Summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Thailand
next week, has met with scepticism from abroad.

France and Britain Friday strongly criticised Myanmar's military regime for failing to implement democratic reform and freeing political prisoners, even though the government has announced the amnesty for 6,313 prisoners.

France's UN Ambassador Jean Maurice Ripert said in New York that Ibrahim Gambari, the special envoy of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, had not obtained progress demanded by the international community
.

Gambari, who was in Myanmar in January, met the 15-nation UN Security Council to report on his trip. But Ripert said progress in the talks presented by Gambari were 'very thin and disappointing'.

Gambari spoke to reporters following the closed-door session with the council, saying that he had not seen 'tangible outcomes' from his visit. He said the UN secretary general's good offices role is appreciated by the government of Myanmar as well as the people there, including opposition leader Suu Kyi.

The UN had demanded the junta to implement democratic reform and meet benchmarks like the release of all political prisoners and institute

national reconciliation and democratic elections.

In particular it has called for the release of Suu Kyi, leader of the NLD, who has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years.

British Ambassador John Sawers said Gambari had 'better access' in his last visit.

'We regret that there was no real progress,' Sawers told reporters. 'In fact, the situation has gone backwards.'

No tangible result of Gambari visit: Regime frees prisoners, but for political prisoners


However, he told members of the UN Security Council there seems to be some movement in that regard; a viewpoint which could not satisfy several members of the Security Council including Britain, France and the United States.
"I informed the (Security) Council that, so far, we have not seen tangible outcomes of my visit," Gambari told reporters outside the Security Council at the UN headquarters in New York.

"But there seems to be some movement in that direction," Gambari said, after he briefed the 15-members of the Security Council in a closed door meeting. He was in Burma from January 31 to February 3, during which he met officials of the Burmese military junta and the leaders of the pro-democracy movements and ethnic groups.

He also met Aung San Suu Kyi, but could not meet the Senior General, Than Shwe, during his four day stay in the country.

"I told the (Burmese) government, now is the time to demonstrate Myanmar's commitment to addressing concretely the issues of concern to the international community, particularly the release of political prisoners and the resumption of dialogue between the Government and Aung San Suu Kyi," Gambari said.

"I did point out to the Government that the action they take now and in the next few months would send signals to the Secretary General, signals to ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations], and signals to the new US Administration, which is trying to develop a new policy towards Myanmar," he said.

Gambari said the position of the UN with regard to elections and restoration of democracy in the country has not changed.

"We're not advocating elections in 2010 or any time. It is up to the Government and people of Myanmar to decide but we continue to advocate conditions that are conducive to free and fair elections when they do take place," he said.

Meanwhile, the British and French Ambassadors to the United States expressed deep disappointment with the UN envoy, for not being able to make progress with regard to the goals set by the UN Security Council.

The two Ambassadors vented out their anger at a media stake out outside the UN Security Council after the 15-member apex body was briefed by Gambari.

"Unfortunately, the content of his report is disappointing and I want to say once again: unfortunately," the French Ambassador, Jean Maurice Ripert, told reporters. "We regret that there has not been any real progress on the issues of greatest concern. Indeed the situation has gone backwards," the British Ambassador, Sir John Sowers, said.

Visibly upset with what people of Burma call as a failed mission of Gambari, Ripert said: "He (Gambari) was not in a position to meet with General Than Shwe. It is true he has seen Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi - that is the minimum that could have happened—unfortunately he did not receive in return any serious sign of opening by the authorities of Burma."
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Friday, February 20, 2009

UN BOSS HAS TO GO TO BURMA AND JUNTA ANNOUNCEMENT FOR 21 FEB 2009 PLAN


After a closed-door briefing from UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who visited the country last month, Security Council members said it would be up to Ban to decide if a visit would be productive.

"It's up to the Secretary General to decide if the time is right and under what conditions he wants to go," said French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert after the session.

British Ambassador John Sawers said "should the Secretary General decide he will visit, that will be a welcome step... It's up to (him) to go. He's not going to be sent there or refused support."

Michele Montas, a spokeswoman for Ban, said no decision on the trip had been taken.

Gambari, who is tasked with bringing opposition leaders and the government together, met in January with detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi but failed to secure a meeting with Myanmar's head of state Senior General Than Shwe.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 19 years under detention by the junta that has ruled the country since 1962. Her National League of Democracy won a landslide election victory in 1990 that the junta refused to recognize.

Gambari told reporters his visit had been "more balanced," because he held meetings with opposition and minority representatives.

But commenting on state media reports that Myanmar may be ready to release more than 6,000 prisoners in time for elections in 2010, Gambari was cautious.

"I have not received official communication, I would like to see the official list of the persons released. But it's fair to welcome the release of prisoners," he said.

State television did not say if any of the country's estimated 2,000 political prisoners would be among those to be freed starting from Saturday, but the main opposition party said some of them may be released.
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">Myanmar junta announces 6,300 convicts to be freed

State radio and television announced that the convicts from various prisons would be released starting Saturday. The brief announcement said that 6,313 prisoners were being freed in recognition of their good conduct and so that they would be able to participate in a general election planned for next year.

Human rights groups estimate that the regime holds more than 2,100 political detainees, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention without trial.

When the junta freed 9,002 prisoners last September, only about a dozen were political detainees.

In recent months, the junta's courts have sentenced more than 100 dissidents, including some of the country's most prominent activists, to prison terms that would keep them incarcerated well past the 2010 polls. The junta says the elections will restore democracy, but critics charge they will be a sham to keep the military in control.

The top U.N. envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, who recently visited the country, told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York that he had not received any official communique from the government and was waiting to see how many of the prisoners were criminals and how many were political prisoners.

"At the same time I believe it's fair to welcome the release of prisoners, particularly political prisoners," Gambari said.

Asked for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's reaction, U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas echoed Gambari, saying "it still remains unclear whether and how many political prisoners this deal may include."

"We encourage the government to release all political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," she said.

Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962, is shunned by Western nations because of its poor human rights record. The ruling generals came to power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy uprising and killing as many as 3,000 people.

The junta called elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results when Suu Kyi's party won overwhelmingly.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Myanmar rights situation still challenging: UN


Quintana said he had recommended the "progressive release" of political prisoners held by the military regime when he met Myanmar's minister for home affairs.

"The human rights situation is still challenging. It is difficult for me to affirm that the human rights situation has improved," Quintana told reporters before flying out from Yangon.

Quintana, who arrived in the Southeast Asian nation on Saturday, said he had met five political prisoners during a four-hour visit to the notorious Insein prison in Yangon. He also met chief justice Aung Toe, he said.

The regime has handed out heavy jail terms to dozens of pro-democracy activists in recent months, many of them involved in protests led by Buddhist monks that erupted in 2007.

Quintana's visit is expected to pave the way for a possible trip later in the year by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

Quintana said he planned to return to Myanmar in December.

The UN's Special Envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, was in Myanmar last month and met detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi but failed to secure a meeting with Myanmar's head of state Senior General Than Shwe.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 19 years under detention by the junta that has ruled the country since 1962. Her National League of Democracy won a landslide election victory in 1990 that the junta refused to recognise.

The regime has promised to hold elections in 2010, but critics have dismissed the polls as a sham.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said earlier this week that US President Barack Obama's administration was looking for a better way to bring change to Myanmar.

"We are conducting a review of our policy," Clinton said in Tokyo when asked whether there was an alternative to sanctions.

Former US President George W. Bush's administration strengthened decade-old sanctions against Myanmar.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

CLINTON 'S VIEW AND HUMAN RIGHTS ENVOY IN REGIME NAPYIDAW


Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton signaled the United States may shift its policy toward Myanmar, saying economic sanctions against the junta aren't working.

Clinton, speaking at a news conference Wednesday in Jakarta, said Obama administration officials are looking "at possible ideas" as part of a major review of the U.S. policy toward the country formerly known as Burma, The Washington Post reported.

"Clearly the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn't influenced the Burmese junta," Clinton said, noting that neighboring countries' efforts of "reaching out and trying to engage them has not influenced them either."

While Clinton didn't reveal the direction of the policy review, she described "the unfortunate path" taken by the military government, leaving it "impervious to influence from anyone."

Myanmar is considered as one of the world's most oppressive nations. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been held in confinement repeatedly since her political party, National League for Democracy, won a landslide electoral victory in 1990 that the military junta refused to accept.

Clinton's visit to Indonesia is the second leg of her first diplomatic trip. She visited Japan, and will visit China and South Korea after leaving Indonesia.



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HUMAN RIGHTS ENVOY IN REGIME NAPYIDAW
United Nations human rights envoy, Tomas Ojea Quintana, who travelled to Naypyitaw, Burma's new capital, on Wednesday met several Junta officials including the Chief Justice.

An official at the Chief Justice's office said the meeting was on for about an hour from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. But, the official declined to give further details on the meeting.

According to the UN office in Rangoon, Quintana also met Burma's Attorney General, Minister for Labour, Aung Kyi, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Nyan Win, Minister for Home Affairs and the Chairman of the Civil Service Selection and Training Board, Kyaw Thu, who is also the Chairman of the Tripartite Core Group (TCG).

The UN envoy, during an earlier visit to Burma in August 2008, had advised the military regime to review domestic laws that limit the fundamental rights of the people and make changes in the judiciary so that it is fully independent.

However, Nyan Win, the spokesperson of National League for Democracy said the lack of rule of law in Burma, was the biggest hindrance to the establishment of any system.

"We believe that no system can be successful unless there is a rule of law. And only when there is an independent judiciary and proper rule of law in Burma, can any system be successful," Nyan Win, who is a lawyer by profession, told Mizzima.

Meanwhile, Tate Naing, the General Secretary of Thailand-based 'Association Assistance for Political Prisoners-Burma' (AAPPB), said between the two visits of Quintana to Burma, the ruling junta had committed a lot of human rights violations.
The UN envoy, however, did not meet members of the Karen National Union (KNU), an armed rebel group that has waged war for self-determination for 60 years. Both the KNU/KNLA Peace Council and DKBA have defected from the main KNU.

Pado David Tharkapaw, KNU's Vice-Chairman, during an interview with a exile media, said it was impossible for Quintana to get the true situation and complete information by meeting only these splinter groups and without meeting the KNU.

Similarly, NLD spokesperson Nyan Win also said Quintana's mission would be incomplete unless he meets all political parties and organizations during his visit.

He said the NLD so far had not received any notice for a meeting with Quintana, who according to the UN will wind-up his six-day visit on Thursday.

Sources said, Quintana had put forward a request to visit Kachin and Arakan States, but it is still unclear whether his requests have been granted or not.

According to sources, Quintana, on Thursday will hold a press conference at Mingaladon Airport, before leaving the military junta-ruled country.
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009


The Burmese military junta allowed UN rights envoy Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana yesterday to meet five political prisoners in Insein prison.

The meeting lasted about two and-a-half hours starting from 4:30 p.m. He could meet student, lawyer, nun and MPs, the Rangoon based UN office said.

He met student union leader Kyaw Ko Ko, young lawyer Nyi Nyi Htwe, NLD MPs-elect Dr. Tin Min Htut and Nyi Pu, nun Ponnimi a.k.a. Mya Nyunt on Monday.

Mr. Quintana started his six-day official visit since Saturday to assess the human right situation in Burma.

He advised the Burmese government to release about 2,000 political prisoners who are languishing in jails and to amend the laws which infringe the fundamental rights of the people.

Moreover he urged the junta to educate and train its army to abide and respect human rights, reform the army and transform its current judicial system into an independent judiciary.

This is the second visit of the UN rights envoy. He first visited Burma in August 2008.

He visited Pa-an prison in Karen State on 15 February and also met 'Democratic Karen Buddhist Army' (DKBA) officials. The DKBA reached a ceasefire agreement with the junta in 1994.

Though he is reportedly planned to visit Myitkyina prison in the capital of Kachin State today, he was in Rangoon till 12:30 p.m. today.

Mr. Quintana sent his request containing a list of persons he wants to meet to the authorities in advance. But the chief of UN Information Department said that it is not yet known whether he could meet these persons.

Before his visits to these prisons starting from February 15 this month, the prison authorities were busy cleaning the prison cells, providing clean and new prison uniforms and providing better food to the prisoners.


About the prisoners who met Quintana
Kyaw Ko Ko
He is the leader of 'All Burma Federation of Students Union' (ABFSU) and he led the protest demonstrations against rising fuel prices on 28 August 2007 in Rangoon.

He was on the run after this demonstration and finally arrested at his home on 16 March 2008. He was sentenced to three years imprisonment by Rangoon Mingala Taungnyunt Township court on 9 February this year for the case and charged under Video Law.

MPs-elect - Nyi Pu (Gwa, Rakhine State constituency) and Dr. Tin Min Htut (Pantanaw, Irrawaddy Division constituency)
They signed the appeal letter addressed to UN Secretary General in July 2008 asking for political change in Burma and more intervention by UN in this regard. The authorities arrested these MPs-elect at their homes in August last year. The special tribunal heard their cases inside the Insein prison and charged them with cases under sections of crime against public tranquility (Penal Code), Electronic Law, Safeguarding National Convention Law and sentenced them to 15 years imprisonment each on the 13th this of this month.

Nyi Nyi Htwe
A young lawyer acted as defence lawyer in the cases of 'National League for Democracy' (NLD) party members. During the court proceedings, the trial court judge instructed the defendants through him not to turn their backs on the judge and court. Then he refused to pass this instruction to his clients and told the judge that his clients had the right to stay in the court as they pleased. Then the judge charged him with contempt of court, under section 288 of Penal Code, and sentenced him to six years imprisonment on 30 October last year.

Ponnimi a.k.a. Mya Nyunt
She is the 83 year old nun, the most senior nun of Thitsar Tharaphu nunnery in North Okkalapa Township in Rangoon Division. She joined the saffron revolution and North Okkalapa Township court sentenced her to four and-a- half years in prison in the case and charged under the Penal Code, insulting religion.

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U.S. taking fresh look at Myanmar policy: Clinton

The United States is taking a fresh look at its policy toward Myanmar to seek ways to sway the country's military junta, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday.

Washington has gradually tightened sanctions on the generals who have ruled the former Burma for more than four decades to try to force them into political rapprochement with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

The opposition won a 1990 election landslide only to be denied power and its leader, Suu Kyi, has been in prison or under house arrest for more than half of the last two decades.

Speaking at a town hall meeting at Japan's elite Tokyo University, Clinton responded to a question from a Burmese student about whether there were alternatives to the U.S. sanctions policy and its effects on ordinary people in Myanmar.

"Because we are concerned about the Burmese people, we are conducting a review of our policy," Clinton replied.

"We are looking at what steps we could take that might influence the current Burmese government and we are also looking for ways that we could more effectively help the Burmese people," she added.

"So we are taking seriously your challenge -- what is it that we can do that might work better?" she told the student. "So we are doing that and I am hoping we will be able to arrive at a policy that can be more effective."

Sunday, February 15, 2009

BURMA BORDER TOWN UNDER ATTACK


"Two shells landed about seven miles south west of the town," the paper said.

Myawaddy is on Myanmar's border with Thailand where many ethnic Karen live. The KNU is the oldest of several Myanmar rebel groups, and has been battling the government for six decades.

Myanmar has suffered decades of armed rebellion along its borders, and no government has controlled all of the nation's territory.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962, justifying its grip on power by claiming the need to fend off the rebels.

The latest KNU fighting was reported as UN Human Rights expert Tomas Ojea Quintana arrived Saturday in Myanmar for a six-day visit to assess the development of human rights following his visit last summer.

Quintana left for Karen State by helicopter early Sunday to meet with members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), a group of former Karen insurgents who switched sides in the early 1990s to fight the KNU.

His visit comes amid criticism by rights groups of the regime's treatment of minorities, in particular the Rohingya Muslims, who have been fleeing the repressive country by boat in large numbers.

The UN confirmed that Quintana would also visit the notorious Insein prison in Yangon that holds hundreds of political activists, as well as the remote capital, Naypyidaw, during his stay, but was unlikely to meet senior generals. Quintana's visit is expected to pave the way for a possible visit later in the year by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon after another visit by the UN's Special Envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, last month.

Gambari met detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi but failed to secure a meeting with Myanmar's head of state Senior General Than Shwe.

The military regime has promised to hold elections in 2010, but critics have dismissed the polls as a sham as they do not allow for the participation of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

U.N. Human Rights envoy visits Burma



A Myanmar court handed 15-year jail terms to two senior opposition politicians on the eve of a visit by a U.N. human rights envoy, the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) said on Saturday.

NLD members Nyi Bu and Tin Min Htut were convicted of various charges on Friday in a court session held at the high-security Insein prison in Yangon without lawyers or family members present, NLD spokesman Nyan Win told Reuters.
Both politicians won seats in parliament when the NLD scored a landslide win in a 1990 general election. The ruling military junta ignored the results.

"They did not get any legal assistance from their lawyers at all ... I can't imagine how the hearing was conducted," Nyan Win said.

The two men were arrested in August after they wrote an open letter to the United Nations criticizing the ruling military regime's seven-step roadmap toward democratic political reforms.

The court's decision, not reported by state-run media, came a day before the arrival of U.N. special rapporteur for human rights, Tomas Ojea Quintana, who hopes to meet political prisoners and detained opposition leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi.

"We do welcome Mr. Quintana as the human rights situation here is getting worse and worse," the NLD spokesman said.

During his 5-day visit, Ojea will try to assess human rights developments in Myanmar after a previous trip last summer, the United Nations said in a statement.

Ojea hopes to meet military officials to discuss the implementation of several human rights practices which he has recommended be in place before elections due in 2010.

Last week U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari failed to make headway in efforts to bring the former Burma's military junta and Suu Kyi's NLD closer to talks on reform. [ID:nBKK38923]

Gambari met Suu Kyi, who insisted the 1990 election must be the basis for any settlement. The most senior junta official he met was Prime Minister Thein Sein, number four in the military hierarchy.
A United Nations independent expert on human rights arrived in Myanmar Saturday for a six-day visit, UN and Myanmar officials confirmed.

Tomas Ojea Quintana, the special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, arrived in the Southeast Asian nation at 6.45pm (1215 GMT), they told AFP.

"The main objectives of his visit are to assess the development of the situation of human rights since his previous mission last summer," the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement Friday.

Quintana will visit Karen state Sunday, UN officials confirmed, before returning to the main city Yangon to visit the notorious Insein prison that holds hundreds of political activists.

The regime has handed out heavy jail terms to dozens of pro-democracy activists in recent months.

Quintana's visit comes a day after the opposition National League of Democracy (NLD) said two of its senior leaders had been jailed without being allowed a legal defence and another had seen his sentence extended.

NLD vice-chairman, 82-year-old Tin Oo, will remain under house arrest for at least another year, spokesman Nyan Win said, while leaders Nyipu and Tin Min Htut had been sent to Insein prison for 15 years each Friday.

"They were charged with three offences including the electronic act," Nyan Win told AFP, referring regmime's ban unauthorised use of computers.

Tin Oo was arrested with NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi in May 2003 after an attack on their motorcade during a political tour.

The NLD launched petition Thursday, the 62nd annniversary of Myanmar's Union Day, calling for the release of political prisoners including Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo.

Nyan Win said he did not know yet if Quintana would meet the party.

"We hope to see him but we haven't been informed yet if we will," Nyan Win said.

The UN said Quintana would also visit the junta's remote capital, Naypyidaw, but was unlikely to meet senior leadership, although he would see chief justice Aung Toe.

No further details of the trip have been confirmed but the UN said Quintana would be discussing the implementation of recommendations he made on his previous visit.

These recommendations include reforms of legislation to ensure human rights protection, the release of political prisoners, independence for the judiciary and training on human rights for the army.

The visit also comes amid criticism by rights groups of the regime's treatment of minorities, in particular the Rohingya Muslims, who have been fleeing the repressive country by boat in large numbers.

Quintana's visit is expected to pave the way for a possible visit later in the year by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon after another visit by the UN's Special Envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, last month.

Gambari met Aung San Suu Kyi but failed to secure a meeting with Myanmar's head of state Senior General Than Shwe.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 19 years under detention by the junta that has ruled the country since 1962.

Her NLD won a landslide election victory in 1990 that the junta refused to recognise.

The military regime has promised to hold elections in 2010, but critics have dismissed the polls as a sham.

Friday, February 13, 2009

REGIME EXTENDS AND HEROIN REPORT IN BURMA


Several policemen were seen visiting Tin Oo's house to inform him that the restrictions had been extended, according to a neighbor who asked not to be named for fear of government reprisal.

The extension was for one year, said a government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release such information. Myanmar's junta tightly controls the release of all news.

Tin Oo, 82, the vice chairman of the National League for Democracy, was arrested with Suu Kyi in May 2003, when a pro-government mob attacked their motorcade as they were making a political tour of northern Myanmar. Both party leaders have been in either prison or under house arrest since then.

The extension came less than two weeks after an official visit by the U.N.'s visiting envoy earlier this month in an effort to promote political reform in the military-ruled country.

Special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who met with Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein, reportedly asked Myanmar's junta to release more political prisoners, to consider a dialogue with Suu Kyi and to make the military-guided political process inclusive for all. But since the visit, there have been no signs of progress on promoting democracy and political reconciliation.

Tin Oo's detention had been extended several times since 2005. He is not allowed to receive visitors but has been allowed a medical checkup.

The junta took power in 1988 after violently suppressing mass pro-democracy protests. It held a general election in 1990, but refused to recognize the results after a landslide victory by Suu Kyi's party.

The extension had been expected, since the military government has shown no signs of wishing to talk with Suu Kyi's party to resolve the country's political deadlock. Tin Oo was one of the party's founders in 1988.

Human rights groups say Myanmar now holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 before mass pro-democracy demonstrations in 2007.


Myanmar reports huge heroin haul in January


The haul for January compares with 2.33 kg seized in December and 68.37 kg in the whole of 2007. Official figures for all of 2008 have not been published.

Police sources said the ship was raided after a tip-off from Interpol and Chinese officials as it prepared to leave a Yangon port. A huge amount of heroin was found among its cargo of logs.

The sources did not say exactly how much heroin was discovered on the ship, which is owned by a Singapore-based company.

"It's confirmed that a large amount of heroin was seized from that ship," a Home Ministry official said, asking for anonymity.

"I can't give you any further information at present but I can say it could be the biggest single haul in Yangon," he added.

Myanmar is considered the world's second-largest producer of heroin after Afghanistan. Its heroin goes mainly to China and Pacific Rim countries such as Australia. (Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Alan Raybould and Sugita Katyal)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

THE 1/2009 STATEMENT OF WBURF (IN BURMA)

PLEASE CLICK THE STATEMENT IMAGE TO ENLARGE

POSTED BY ANH

NLD HOLDS UNION DAY IN RANGOON AND INSIDERS REQUEST TO BE MORE UNITY

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As many as 500 people signed the petition at the NLD’s headquarters,” said an opposition politician who attended the party’s ceremony to mark an historic agreement reached by Burma’s ethnic groups on the eve of the country’s independence.
The politician, who was elected in a 1990 vote that the country’s ruling junta refused to honor, said that members of various ethnic groups signed the petition, which was launched as part of a new campaign to free more than 2,000 political prisoners, including NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

People living near the NLD’s headquarters reported seeing many plainclothes riot police and members of the junta’s Swan Arr Shin militia deployed in the area from early morning.

“There have been many Swan Arr Shin people on the streets and in trucks since early this morning,” said a local resident, adding that some of the security forces could be seen filming and photographing people attending the NLD’s ceremony. However, no arrests were reported.

In a Union Day message published in the state-run New Light of Myanmar, the head of Burma’s ruling junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, used the occasion to urge the Burmese people to “make endeavors for building of a new modern developed discipline-flourishing democratic nation.”

Union Day commemorates the signing of the historic Panglong Agreement by independence leader Gen Aung San and leaders of various ethnic groups on February 12, 1947. The agreement set the stage for Burma’s independence from British colonial rule the following year.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

UN CHIEF SAYS HIS ENVOY HAD GOOD TALK IN BURMA


UNITED NATIONS –
Ban said at a news conference that he looks forward to building on special envoy Ibrahim Gambari's recent visit "with a view to further promoting national dialogue and reconciliation."

Gambari met with Myanmar's prime minister, Gen. Thein Sein, as well as detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a four-day trip that ended earlier this month. But he did not meet with the junta's chief, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, as he did on three previous visits.

Gambari "had good discussions there even though one may not be totally satisfied," Ban said.

"I would again call on government and opposition to resume substantive dialogue without preconditions and without further delay," the secretary-general added.

Myanmar's current military leadership came to power in 1988, when the country was known as Burma, after crushing a nationwide pro-democracy movement. It held elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results after Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory. It tolerates virtually no dissent.

State television reported after Gambari's visit that the prime minister gave the U.N. envoy a cold reception, telling him the world body should lift economic sanctions and visa bans if it wants to see political stability.

Western nations, including the United States, impose economic and political sanctions on Myanmar because of its poor human rights record and failure to restore democracy.

FREE BURMA


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BY ANH

WA IS READY TO GO TO THE BATTLE


The sound of weapons fire was reported from around Hopang and Panlong, regions close to the Sino-Burmese border where the tension between Burmese army and Wa troops is mounting. Border-based analyst Aung Kyaw Zaw said a Wa unit based in Hopang had tested its weapons two days ago.

Aung Kyaw Zaw said that although the Burmese army was on the alert there was no military activity involving government forces or Wa troops at the moment.

Saeng Juen said Burmese authorities had halted the construction of a bridge on the upper Salween River in Shan State after the UWSA prohibited further work.

Aung Kyaw Zaw said tension between the UWSA and Burmese forces had been increasing for several reasons, including a Wa announcement in January describing Wa-controlled areas as a special autonomous region known as the “Government of Wa State, Special Autonomous Region, Union of Myanmar.”

Tensions also reportedly rose after the Wa ignored a Burmese government demand for drug dealer Aik Hawk to be handed over.

In a recent raid in Rangoon, a Burmese special drugs force arrested several associates of Aik Hawk, also known as Hsiao Haw, following the seizure of a quantity of heroin. Aik Hawk is the son-in-law of UWSA chairman Bao Youxiang.

The Burmese government believes Aik Hawk is being protected by Wa forces in Panghsang, headquarters of the UWSA, which is heavily involved in the drugs trade.

Another cause of rising tension was an incident on January 19, when a 30-member Burmese delegation led by Lt-Gen Ye Myint, chief of Military Affairs Security, was forced to disarm during a visit to Wa-held territory in Shan State.

An estimated force of 20,000 UWSA soldiers is currently deployed along Burma’s borders with Thailand and China, while an estimated 60,000 to 120,000 Wa villagers inhabit areas of lower Shan State.

Friday, February 6, 2009

HOLLYWOOD VISITS REFUGUEE CAMP AND UN FAILS AND URGES AGAIN


Thailand is facing an international outcry over its treatment of the minority Muslim Rohingya group, after CNN published a photo showing armed forces towing refugee boats away from the shore on Jan. 26. Five of six boats towed in late December sank, killing several hundred people, CNN reported.

Jolie issued the plea during a visit yesterday to camps in northern Thailand that house 111,000 mostly ethnic Karen and Karenni refugees from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

Witnessing the government’s hospitality to the refugees sheltering in camps “makes me hope that Thailand will be just as generous to the Rohingya refugees who are now arriving on their shores,” the Oscar-winning actress said, according to a statement on the UN’s Web site.

Thousands of Rohingyas flee Myanmar each year because of land confiscation, arbitrary taxation, forced eviction and denial of citizenship, according to Amnesty International. Some members of the estimated population of 3 million also attempt to settle in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and India.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said earlier this week that his government won’t build a camp for the Rohingyas and will continue to expel them.

“They are not refugees,” Abhisit said in Bangkok on Jan. 4. “Our policy is to push them out of the country because they are illegal migrants.”

The government has said it is investigating the CNN report and the navy has denied allegations the boats were sent out without engines and adequate food and water.

Thailand has asked the UN to join a regional forum to help address the migrant issue.




U.N. Chief Urges Dialogue In Myanmar
(RTTNews) - U.N.secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has appealed to Myanmar's military rulers and the opposition to resume early, substantive negotiations without preconditions to pursue democratic change and political reconciliation, an official spokesman said Thursday.

The appeal followed Ban's meeting with his special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari in New Delhi on the outcome of the latter's four-day visit to Myanmar--aimed at nudging the military regime into holding a dialogue with the democratic opposition--during which the envoy failed to secure a meeting with the top junta leadership.

The spokesman added that Ban, who was in the Indian capital on the last leg of his two-week visit to Europe, Africa and Asia, looked forward "to building on the Gambari visit to further foster national dialogue and reconciliation" in Myanmar.

Gambari, who left Myanmar Tuesday, however, met Monday with opposition leader, Nobel Peace laureate and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest for most the past 19 years. She refused to meet with him on his previous visit last August.

Earlier, Myanmar's military government called for the lifting of the economic and diplomatic sanctions against the country before it could consider introducing either reforms or seeking a political reconciliation.

General Thein Sein, the country's prime minister, reportedly told the U.N. envoy that economic sanctions against his country amounted to human rights violations, affecting the health, as also economic and social conditions of its citizens.

Western governments, including the United States, have imposed economic and political sanctions on Myanmar because of its poor human rights record and failure to restore democracy.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Thursday, February 5, 2009

MORE SENTENCES FOR POLITICAL AVTIVISTS AFTER UN VISITED


Young Activist Given 15-Year Sentence
A young activist, Dee Nyein Lin, 20, was sentenced to a total of 15 years and six months imprisonment on Wednesday, according to family members in Rangoon.

Dee Nyein Lin, who is a leading member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), received an additional 5-year sentence at a court in South Dagon Township in Rangoon, said his aunt. Currently, he is detained in Insein Prison in Rangoon.

His aunt told The Irrawaddy on Thursday, “I’m not happy because his sentence is harsh for him because he is still young. But, he told me not to worry about him. He said he works for the people. He asked me not to feel sad.”

Dee Nyein Lin was charged with taking part in anti-government demonstrations and establishing an illegal organization.

Dee Nyein Lin’s aunt said Burmese police tried to take photographs of his relatives and Dee Nyein Lin’s colleagues.

A colleague of Dee Nyein Lin, Kyaw Ko Ko, has been hospitalized in Insein Prison since January 5, suffering from jaundice.

Kyaw Ko Ko, also an ABFSU leader, was arrested in March 2008 following his participation in the Buddhist monk-led uprising in September 2007 and has since been detained in Insein Prison. He is scheduled to appear in court again on February 9.

Meanwhile, sources in Rangoon said that six cyclone relief volunteers including Nay Win, Aung Kyaw San, Phone Pyit Kywe, Phyo Phyo Aung, Shane Yazar Htun and Aung Thant Zin Oo (aka) James appeared in the Insein Prison special court on Monday. They are scheduled to appear again on February 10.

Recently, the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) and the Burmese Women’s Union strongly condemned the inadequate healthcare for political prisoners in Burma.

One detained female activist recently suffered a miscarriage.

Kay Thi Aung, 23, also an ABFSU member, suffered the miscarriage in Obo Prison in Mandalay Division because of a lack of adequate medical care in the prison, said the prisoner’s group.


Myanmar Junta Calls Suu Kyi’s Conditions for Talks Unrealistic
“A dialogue will be practical and successful only if the discussions are based on the reality of prevailing conditions,” Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan said in a statement carried by state media yesterday. “There will be no success if it is based on unrealistic conditions.”

Suu Kyi, who has spent 13 of the past 20 years under house arrest, told UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari on Feb. 2 that she would only hold talks with the junta if all political prisoners are released and the results of 1990 elections won by her National League for Democracy are recognized, Agence France-Presse reported, citing NLD members at the meeting.

The junta plans elections in 2010 after it staged a referendum last year for a new constitution that it said was approved by 92 percent of voters. The NLD denounced the charter, which bars Suu Kyi, 63, from holding office, saying it aims to extend military rule.

Gambari was making his fifth visit to Myanmar since the junta crushed pro-democracy demonstrations led by monks in 2007, prompting international condemnation. The regime has stepped up prosecutions of dissidents involved in the protests, in what human rights organizations say is an effort to crush anti- government groups before the elections.

More than 2,000 political prisoners are held in Myanmar’s jails, according to the U.S. State Department.

International Sanctions

Myanmar’s Prime Minister Thein Sein told Gambari Feb. 3, at the end of the envoy’s four-day visit, that the UN should press for the lifting of international sanctions to promote political improvements in the country, according to the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

Sanctions have damaged human rights and hindered efforts to build a democratic nation, Thein Sein told Gambari.

Suu Kyi first arrested in 1989, has had only brief periods of freedom from detention in her home in Yangon since her party won the 1990 elections. The results were rejected by the military, which has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since 1962.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, daughter of independence leader General Aung San, emerged as an opposition leader during an economic crisis in the late 1980s.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

HOPELESS UN DIPLOMAT AND RETURN TO THE POPPY FIELDS


Gambari, on his seventh visit to Burma in a long-running UN mission to try and achieve political reconciliation there, met government officials and pro-junta politicians before leaving Rangoon.

The UN envoy met Suu Kyi on Monday, and she reportedly aired her frustration at the UN’s failure to achieve political change in Burma and charged that the country lacked rule of law.

United Nations Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari on Tuesday concluded his seventh official visit to Burma after a meeting with Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein in Rangoon. However, the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesman Nyan Win said that there had been no developments during the envoy's visit.

He said Gambari also held meetings on Tuesday with pro-junta political groups, such as the so-called "88 Generation Students and Youth (Union of Myanmar)" group and the Wintharnu NLD, a splinter group from the NLD.

Aye Win confirmed that the UN envoy had met with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and senior members of her party, the NLD, on Monday.

“In past trips, Mr Gambari met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD separately. But yesterday's meeting was with the NLD and her together. It was the first time in the envoy’s seven visits,” he said.
Burma analysts questioned whether the Nigerian diplomat would make an eighth trip to Burma as he has only been granted an audience with Than Shwe once in seven visits.

“This could be Gambari’s final trip," said Larry Jagen, a Bangkok-based British journalist who focuses on Burma. "He is unlikely to return to Burma in the near future."

He said that Gambari had only achieved limited objectives: he was able to meet Suu Kyi and he laid the groundwork for another visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; but still he was unable to meet with Than Shwe.



Burma's opium poppy growers return to their fields
Falling international commodity prices and increase political instability in Burma's border area has fuelled fears that many of Burma's poppy farmers will find it impossible to resist the temptation to return to their old ways. In the past few years there has been a dramatic fall in the area under poppy cultivation and opium production, but these gains have been reversed in the past two years, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's (UNODC) annual survey just released.

"The problem of poppy production in the region has been contained but not solved," the UNODC chief in Bangkok, Gary Lewis told Mizzima. "There have been significant increases, especially in Myanmar, which are threatening to rise further because of the worsening economic conditions faced by former poppy farmers."

More than ninety percent of the poppy grown in south-east Asia – Burma, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam – is grown in Burma's north-eastern Shan State, though significant strides have been made in Burma over the past decade to dramatically reduce the cultivation of poppy and the production of opium.

Poppy cultivation has fallen from more than 120,000 hectares under poppy cultivation to around 30,000 in 2008 in Burma. Opium production has fallen from more than 1300 metric tonnes to 410 during this period. This is the equivalent of producing 40 tonnes of heroin. This reduction has been largely the result of international pressure on two of the largest opium producers in Burma's Golden Triangle – which borders China, Laos and Thailand -- the Kokang and the Wa. Both are rebel ethnic groups, with large guerrilla forces, but have ceasefire agreements with the Myanmar government.

The Kokang virtually ceased opium production in 2003 and the Wa in 2006. But in the past two years both poppy cultivation and opium production have begun to grow again. "The trend is certainly upwards with a significant increase in the land under cultivation in Myanmar," said Leik Boonwaat, UNODC chief in Laos, who has also been stationed in Myanmar. "For former opium farmers who already live in dire poverty are facing twin levers of increasing opium prices and falling commodity prices that may encourage them to reduce poppy growing."

Monday, February 2, 2009

A BUDDHIST MONK PASSES AWAY IN INSEIN NOTORIOUS PRISON

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UPDATED BY ZAW WIN (NY)

Burma stonewalls Suu Kyi visit


The NLD CEC was allowed a brief meeting for about fifteen minutes with Aung San Suu Kyi at a government guest house before meeting with Gambari.

The NLD's five central executive committee (CEC) members and Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday after their brief meeting, urged the visiting UN envoy Gambari to put more pressure on the government to release all political prisoners, to review on the constitution, and to recognize the 1990 election result and to convene the parliament.

The NLD last week have requested the government to allow them a meeting with detained Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi without which they will have nothing to tell the visiting UN envoy.

The tripartite meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi, NLD CEC and Gambari at the government guest house in Rangoon lasted for about an hour.

The meeting on Monday did not include senior party members and leading intellectual Win Tin and Khin Maung Swe, who were both released from long imprisonment in last September.

Sources said the Burmese Ministry of Home Affairs had categorically requested the NLD not to include Win Tin and Khin Maung Swe for the meetings on Monday.

During the informal press briefing, the NLD decline to answer whether their meeting with Gambari can be hope as positive step.

Gambari, who arrived Rangoon on Saturday, will be leaving for Naypyitaw, Burma's new Jungle capital, on Tuesday but it is still unclear whether he will be met by Junta leader Senior General Than Shwe, who also declined to meet him during his last visit in August.

During his earlier visit in August, detained Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi also refused to meet him.

Gambari on Saturday met with Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win and other UN official delegations in Rangoon. On Sunday, he met with liaison minister Aung Kyi, Information Minister Kyaw Hsan, Minister for Health Dr. Kyaw Myint, Commission for Holding Referendum, and pro-junta civilian organizations including Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and other diplomats in Rangoon.


Burma stonewalls Suu Kyi visit

On this four-day trip which began Saturday, the United Nations has said Gambari wants "meaningful discussions with all concerned on all the points raised during his last visit."

But Gambari is not expected to be granted a meeting with the reclusive head of state Senior General Than Shwe, and it is not yet clear whether Aung San Suu Kyi will consent to meet with the UN negotiator.

On Sunday morning, Gambari met officials including Information Minister Kyaw Hsan and Foreign Minister Nyan Win in the commercial hub Rangoon.

"He also met with relations minister Aung Kyi," said a government official who did not want to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media. He refused to reveal what was discussed.
AFPAung Kyi is the minister tasked with liaising with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
©AFP/File AFP

Aung Kyi's appointment to coordinate junta contacts with Aung San Suu Kyi in October 2007 was seen as a major sop to the West after the violent suppression of anti-junta demonstrations in September that year.

But their last meeting was in January 2008, and Aung San Suu Kyi said soon after she was "not satisfied" with the way the dialogue was progressing.

Instead, the junta has forged ahead with its own "Roadmap to Democracy" which its says will lead to multi-party elections in 2010 but which dissidents deride as a sham as it does not include Aung San Suu Kyi.

Gambari later Sunday met with representatives of a commission which organised a referendum on Burma's new constitution in May last year.

The regime says the constitution passed with nearly 93 percent approval in a vote held days after the deadly Cyclone Nargis, although critics say the poll was not free and fair and the new charter simply enshrines junta rule.

Gambari also met with the International Committee of the Red Cross and foreign diplomats, Burmese officials said.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained by the junta for most of the last 19 years, and surprised observers in August by refusing to meet Gambari, a move interpreted as a snub after he had failed to secure any political reform.

Burmese officials have said Gambari will likely meet with the Nobel peace prize winner on Monday, echoing the expectations of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. (AFP)