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HEADLINES
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AFP - US group studies potential war crimes by Myanmar military
Bangkok Post - Only half of Myanmar cyclone aid fund delivered
CSM - Slow recovery for Burma's cyclone victims
ReliefWeb - Continued commitment is key to sustain assistance to cyclone survivors
Xinhua - Myanmar discovers new large coal mine in Shan state
The Straits Times - Myanmar builds seaside airport
Centre Daily Times - Myanmar Oil and Gas Markets Investment Opportunities, Analysis and Forecasts to 2020 Report
Bernama - Rajang river cruise set for July next year
Mizzima News - Blogger produced before court again
Mizzima News - Mizzima websites hacked
The Irrawaddy - Burma’s Censors Suspend Two Publications
The Irrawaddy - Reports of Rape Surface in Cyclone-devastated Delta
DVB News - NLD youth member reported dead in custody
DVB News - Argument breaks out at 88 Students’ court hearing

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US group studies potential war crimes by Myanmar military
by P. Parameswaran
Wed Oct 1, 4:30 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - An independent US group is to carry out unprecedented studies to determine whether Myanmar's military rulers, accused of rampant human rights abuses, have committed international crimes.

The Center for Constitutional Democracy at Indiana University's school of law said it would launch the research based on anecdotal evidence of "severe mistreatment" of marginalized ethnic groups by the junta.

"At this stage of the project, I can't honestly say that there are international crimes," the center's executive director, David Williams, told AFP by telephone.

"What I can say is there may be, and part of our goal would be to gather the evidence and try to come out with some objective conclusions about whether there are or not," he said.

The center's goal, he said, was to make focused research "in areas where perhaps it is most likely that international crimes were committed."

Only the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) can determine whether international crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity, have been committed by any individual or group.

So far, Williams said, there has been no institutional focus on possible international crimes committed by Myanmar's junta, which imposed a bloody crackdown of pro-democracy protests in September earning global condemnation.

The crackdown -- according to United Nations figures -- left 31 people dead and 74 others missing, and resulted in thousands of arrests.

The military rulers had also come under international fire and were called "heartless" by some humanitarian groups for initially not allowing foreign aid when a cyclone left 138,000 people dead or missing in May.

Myanmar also houses more than 2,100 political prisoners, including democracy icon and Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 12 of the last 18 years under house arrest.

Williams said that although the ICC had not initiated any study on the military junta's record so far, "ours might be a good place for them to get started.

"It might help the various investigators know where to go and what allegations to examine and so forth," he said.

When asked whether in his personal opinion some of the junta's actions could be deemed as international crimes, Williams said: "What I might be able to say is that it looks to me, in my professional opinion, like there is a good chance that it is.

"And it makes sense therefore to bring a prosecution because there is enough evidence that a court should be able to see it."

The university group's staff had been for the last six years helping ethnic groups inside Myanmar -- at their request -- draw up constitutional reforms in their struggle to win greater freedom and rights.

Law professor Williams had smuggled himself into Myanmar on various occasions and worked on constitutional reforms with the Karen ethnic group, fighting the government since 1947 in the world's longest running civil war.

"I am hearing endless stories about how the military government is murdering villagers, it's blowing up rice paddies so that they dry out, it's setting fires to villages, it's laying mines in those villages so that when the people come back some of them get blown up," he said.

"The result is that they have to move often to hills and find a new place to build a village and start growing rice. That means in a relatively short period of time there is famine because old rice paddies have to be abandoned."

Williams said while he did not witness the Myanmar military units attacking the Karen guerilla resistance units, he saw "evidence of the military going after the civilian population.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg in itself and that doesn't constitute conclusive evidence of an international crime but it makes you think," he said.

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Only half of Myanmar cyclone aid fund delivered
Bangkok Post - 2008-10-01 21:53:36

Only about 50 percent of funds needed by the United Nations to help Myanmar after the devastation of Cylone Nargis have so far been contributed, the U.N. said Wednesday.

The U.N. sought a total of US$482 million from member states and other organizations five months ago in the wake of the May 2-3 cyclone, but it has managed to collect only US$240 million, the organization' s Yangon office said in a statement.

Cyclone Nargis, the worst natural disaster in the country's modern history, killed more than 78,000 people and left another 56,000 missing, according to the government.

It affected 2.4 million people living in Yangon and the important rice-cultivating Irrawaddy delta _ yet agricultural recovery has been the one of the least-funded sectors, said the statement.

The top U.N. representative in Myanmar, Bishow Parajuli, said funds were still needed to provide support as its aid efforts move into the rehabilitation phase after the immediate needs of the emergency.

"People and communities have been severely affected. It will take a long time until the needs are met," Parajuli was quoted saying.

The U.N. said more than 33,000 tons (metric tons) of food had reached over 733,000 people affected by the cyclone, and outbreaks of waterborne diseases and dengue fever in the cyclone-affected areas had been successfully prevented.

The U.N. statement was issued on behalf of the Tripartite Core Group, established at the end of May to coordinate international assistance. The group comprises the Myanmar government, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations.

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Slow recovery for Burma's cyclone victims
The Christian Science Monitor - By Anand Gopal
Wed Oct 1, 4:00 AM ET

Mya Sein Ken, Burma - The locals say things will never be the same in Mya Sein Ken, deep in the heart of the cyclone-savaged delta in southern Burma (Myanmar). Almost 300 people vanished when cyclone Nargis struck here in May. The torrent obliterated the rice crop, and locals worry they won't have enough food to survive the fall. The storm swallowed scores of houses, leaving hundreds homeless.

"I awake every day remembering what happened," says one villager from his temporary home, donated by aid agencies. "We are living on handouts, and I don't know when we will stand on our own again."

Everywhere across the delta, Burmese are still struggling to piece together their lives. While a modest but steady flow of aid has kept locals afloat, villagers warn that their troubles are far from over.

"Nargis destroyed our food reserves," says the villager. "We need to figure out a way to survive until December's harvest."

A recent joint assessment by the United Nations and southeast Asian governments found that more than 40 percent of households in the affected areas have less than one day's worth of food on reserve.

Locals also say that the storm destroyed more than a third of the infrastructure for fishing, a major source of income and food for residents here.

Seawater flooding has rendered 40 percent of the rice paddies in the area unusable, according to villagers. "It's too early to tell to what extent December's harvest will be affected," says an official with a prominent international nongovernmental organization based in Rangoon, who asked not to be identified.

But analysts with the World Food Program, a United Nations agency, say more than 900,000 people will need food assistance in the coming months and nearly 300,000 people will require relief until April of next year.

Infrastructure demolished

Food supplies aren't the only casualty cyclone Nargis left in its wake when it tore through Burma's delta, a labyrinth of natural canals and rice paddies that functions as the country's rice bowl. The cyclone killed an estimated 135,000 and ravaged the area's landscape and infrastructure.

The banks of the delta's many rivers are still littered with the seaweed-encrusted remains of fishing boats. Bamboo from demolished houses are scattered like matchsticks along the shore, and every few miles a mangled wharf juts out into the water. Many of the smaller roads are pocked with craters, making them impassable and forcing locals to rely entirely on waterborne transport.

The few palm trees still standing along the denuded coastlines bow to the north, a reminder of the fury that came from the southern sea in May.

But the people here don't need many reminders. "I still can't sleep through the night," says Khim Myat Thu, a young schoolgirl. When the winds came, Khim scaled the nearest coconut tree while her parents raced to find a boat. She watched from the treetop as the waters carried away her mother and then her father.

In a village at the nearby Bogely Township, Saw La Tey and his family fled their house to a nearby high point, just as a wall of water came speeding toward them. Everyone managed to escape except his enfeebled grandmother.

Two hundred of the village's 308 residents went missing that night. The survivors squeezed into the only three buildings in the village that the storm had left untouched and stayed there for almost a month until building supplies arrived.

A steady trickle of aid

Aid to these areas came excruciatingly slowly at first, hampered by the government's restrictions on NGOs' relief work and apparently minimal assistance. "The government has not even visited once since the storm," an elder of the village of Mya Sein Ken says.

In the government's place, a network of more than 30 informal Burmese aid groups and dozens of international NGOs have been quietly delivering aid, often by boat, to many of the affected villages. Despite early fears that it would choke the aid flow completely, the junta has for the most part permitted Burmese organizations and local citizen groups to deliver these relief supplies.

Larger foreign organizations, however, are still victims of government suspicion and red tape, say aid agency representatives. Authorities restrict most foreigners, including journalists, from visiting the delta area.

A select few foreign NGO workers may visit the region after applying for a permit, but are still subject to the whims of the government.

Authorities also regulate the amount and type of aid that can be delivered. "Any monetary donations have to go through the government. Those who handle cash often have to pay under the table," says Burmese aid worker Hein Thein. "Donations made 'in kind' are the most effective form of aid because the government won't steal it." This includes educational supplies, basic foodstuffs, and construction materials.

This steady trickle of aid is allowing locals to resurrect their shattered villages. Across the delta, motley structures of tarpaulin and corrugated iron provided by relief organizations have replaced the bamboo and teak houses that the winds carried away.

In the village of Sewa, Nargis pulled the school clean off the foundation and tossed it aside, leaving a pile of bamboo sticks and mutilated chairs in its place. But today students recite lessons in a brand-new building that sits next door.

Relief supplies have helped villagers rebuild every house in the village, and all residents now have a roof over their heads.

But aid agencies say that while such aid has made the difference in averting the worst-case scenarios predicted in Nargis's wake, without a massive relief increase the situation will remain dire.

"Most of the housing is temporary and we still haven't shifted gears to provide any long-term solutions, such as permanent housing," says an official from a leading international NGO.

Survivors help one another

To fill the gap, local communities have banded together to ensure their survival. In Mya Sein Ken, villagers invited farmers from nearby villages that lost all of their land to plant their seed in paddies that survived the storm.

An informal loan network has developed, where some villages pool their resources to lend cash and goods to other areas in need.

In Sewa, hundreds of villagers scavenged for used building materials and rebuilt the destroyed stupa in the center of town, without a drop of outside help.

"We have no choice but to rely on each other," says the village elder in Mya Sein Ken. "We have to do what we can to repair our lives."

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8th press release of the Tripartite Core Group – Continued commitment is key to sustain assistance to cyclone survivors
Source: Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); Government of Myanmar; United Nations Country Team in Myanmar
ReliefWeb - Date: 30 Sep 2008

Myanmar, 30 September 2008 (Tuesday) - Nearly five months into the post disaster response in Myanmar, more than 33,000 metric tons of food have reached over 733,000 people affected by Cyclone Nargis. There has been successful prevention of outbreaks of waterborne diseases, as well as dengue, in the cyclone affected areas.

The Tripartite Core Group (TCG) recognises that the needs of the Cyclone Nargis' victims are still great and that increased and committed financial support is necessary in order to continue assistance to the cyclone survivors.

Almost 50 per cent of the requirements in the revised UN Flash Appeal remain unfunded. According to OCHA's Financial Tracking Services, total contribution now stands at USD 240 million out of the USD 482 million required. Agriculture and early recovery continue to be the least funded sectors.

Estimated 2.4 million people were affected when Cyclone Nargis swept across the Ayeyarwady Delta and Yangon Division in early May this year. The TCG continues to foster cooperation and serve as a mechanism to resolve issues affecting efficient aid delivery, such as access. Currently, 1,676 visas have been issued and 2,036 group travel authorisations have been provided.

"Solid relief efforts have been done. The Government of Myanmar appreciates the support by the international community and welcomes the continued operations," says Chairman of TCG and Deputy Foreign Minister of Myanmar U Kyaw Thu.

UN Resident Coordinator, Bishow Parajuli, underlines the importance of continuous support through the various recovery phases and calls upon the international community not to forget the cyclone survivors as the months pass.

"People and communities have been severely affected. It will take a long time until the needs are met," says Mr. Parajuli.

This is also highlighted by Thai Ambassador Bansarn Bunnag, Senior ASEAN member of the TCG, "We must maintain concerted efforts in helping to bring back their lives."

There are concerns on possible water scarcity in the coming dry season because of the increased salinity of pond water due to the cyclone and the far below average rainfall. A concerted effort from different stakeholders is required to meet the needs for clean water. There also is a need for durable and sustainable shelter that is able to withstand the weather conditions that the cyclone affected areas are prone to.

Looking forward, the TCG will undertake Periodic Reviews to regularly assess progress in the humanitarian effort. The first review is planned for November with the presentation of the outcomes in mid December. A unique partnership among the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the UN continues in all these efforts.

Notes:
The Tripartite Core Group (TCG) was officially established on 30 May 2008. It comprises high-level representatives of the Government of the Union of Myanmar (GoUM), ASEAN and the United Nations.

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Myanmar discovers new large coal mine in Shan state
www.chinaview. cn  2008-10-01 11:18:51

YANGON, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has discovered a new large coal mine in northern part of the country's Shan state and mining of the mineral will start with a local private company soon, the local weekly 7-Day News reported Wednesday.

The newly-found coal mine in Mongma area has the highest deposit of quality coal and it is estimated to yield thousands of tons of the mineral annually to help meet a domestic demand for at least 30 years, the report said.

The exploitation of the coal mine by the AAA Company will begin at the end of this year, it added.

There are about 10 coal mines in the northeastern state in operation, according to the report.

Statistics showed that with a total of 82 coal mining blocks in the whole country, Myanmar produced 282,655 tons of coal in the fiscal year 2007-08 which ended in March, up 19.5 percent from 2006-07.

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Myanmar builds seaside airport
The Straits Times - Oct 1, 2008

YANGON - MYANMAR authorities are building a seaside airport in the southwest region laid waste by a cyclone five months ago, a local weekly paper reported Wednesday.

They hope to boost tourism at Ngwesaung beach, in the country's Irrawaddy delta near the Bay of Bengal, 7Day said.

'The hotel authorities in Ngwesaung beach said an airport with an 8,000-feet (2,400-metre) long runway is under construction now at the beach,' the paper said.

Ngwesaung beach, opened in 2000, is 240 kilometres (150 miles) from the main city Yangon, in the middle of the area left devastated by Cyclone Nargis, which struck May 2-3 and left 138,000 people dead or missing.

The beach attracts foreign tourists looking for budget deals according to one tour operator.

'Spanish and Italian tourists are more interested in Ngwesaung beach as the hotel rates there are lower than at Ngapali beach,' a tour company operation manager told AFP, referring to a beach in Rakhine state already accessible by air and speaking on condition of anonymity.

'But recently the road has been very bad since the Nargis cyclone and because of the rainy season,' she said.

Ngwesaung beach has 20 hotels providing 800 guest rooms according to official statistics.

Construction of the airport began in the third week of September, the report said.

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Myanmar Oil and Gas Markets Investment Opportunities, Analysis and Forecasts to 2020 Report
Centre Daily Times - Wednesday, Oct. 01, 2008

DUBLIN, Ireland — Research and Markets (http://www. researchandmarke ts.com/research/ b1b5ed/myanmar_ oil_and_ga) has announced the addition of the "Myanmar Oil and Gas Markets Investment Opportunities, Analysis and Forecasts to 2020" country profile to their offering.

This profile is the essential source for top-level energy industry data and information. The report provides an overview of each of the key sub-segments of the energy industry in Myanmar. It details the market structure, regulatory environment, infrastructure and provides historical and forecasted statistics relating to the supply/demand balance for each of the key sub-segments. It also provides information relating to the oil and gas assets (oil and gas fields, exploration blocks, refineries, pipelines, LNG terminals and storage terminals) in Myanmar. The report also analyses the fiscal regime relevant to the oil and gas assets in Myanmar and compares the investment environment in Myanmar with other countries in the region. The profiles of the major companies operating in the oil and gas sector in Myanmar together with the latest news and deals are also included in the report.

Scope
-- Historic and forecast data relating to production, consumption, imports, exports and reserves are provided for each industry sub-segment for the period 1995-2020.

-- Historical and forecast data and information for all the major exploration blocks, oil and gas fields, refineries, pipelines, LNG terminals and storage terminals in Myanmar for the period 1995-2020.

-- Operator and equity details for major oil and gas assets in Myanmar

-- Key information relating to market regulations, key energy assets and the key companies operating in the Myanmar's energy industry.

-- Detailed information on key fiscal terms (such as rents, bonuses, royalty, cost recovery, profit oil, petroleum and corporate taxes) pertaining the geography is also provided. A sample calculation detailing how fiscal terms apply to a typical asset in the regime is included.

-- Information on the top companies in the Myanmar including business description, strategic analysis, and financial information.

-- Product and brand updates, strategy changes, R&D projects, corporate expansions and contractions and regulatory changes.

-- Key mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, private equity and venture capital investments, and IPOs.
Reasons to buy

-- Gain a strong understanding of the country's energy market.

-- Facilitate market analysis and forecasting of future industry trends.

-- Evaluate the attractiveness of the geography for oil and gas investment in the light of government policies and the fiscal environment.

-- Facilitate decision making on the basis of strong historic and forecast production, reserves and capacity data.

-- Understand the geography's policies and fiscal terms, and their impact on contractor's profits from upstream oil and gas assets.

-- Assess your competitor's major oil and gas assets and their performance.

-- Analyze the latest news and financial deals in the oil and gas sector of each country.

-- Develop strategies based on the latest operational, financial, and regulatory events.

-- Do deals with an understanding of how competitors are financed, and the mergers and partnerships that have shaped the market.

-- Identify and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the leading companies in each the country.

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Rajang river cruise set for July next year
By EDWARD SUBENG STEPHEN
Bernama - Tuesday, September 30

SIBU, Sept.30(Bernama) -- A Myanmar-based company is planning to begin its inaugural Rajang River cruise here in July next year.

The Irrawaddy Fotilla Company said on its website that the cruise along Malaysia's longest river will be part of its Pandaw River Cruises.

The company is the largest river cruise company in South East Asia.In 1995, it was the first to pioneer an exploration of some of the region's major rivers and tributaries.

These included the Irrawaddy and Chindwin in Myanmar, the Mekong and Tonle Rivers in Cambodia and the backwaters of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

A brand new five star ship, the four-deck RV Orient Pandaw, made in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City will be used for the Rajang cruise.

The 55-metre long ship has 30 luxury state rooms. It also has its own treatment plants for desalination, desedimentation and purification using UV and osmosis in addition to a microbiotic treatment plant for sewage.

The Pandaw ship series, replicas of the original Clyde-built steamers, have an ultra shallow draft to enable them to moor where other larger ships cannot.

The ships can also penetrate remote and otherwise inaccessible areas while being specially designed to cope with constantly changing river conditions.

The Rajang cruise, a duration of nine days and eight nights, begins here with stops at Kanowit, Kapit and Nanga Mujong in Balleh before moving on to the Pelagus Rapids, Song, Sarikei and Tanjung Manis towns.

The cruise is planned for thrice a month.

It will also stop at longhouses, logging camps, the vestiges of the Brooke White Rajah era such as the Fort Emma in Kanowit, Fort Sylvia, the Pelagus Resort in Kapit, fruit and pepper farms, traditional songket textile workshops and other places of interest along the way.

Each passenger will have to fork out US$2,250 for the cruise.

According to the Irrawady Fotilla Company, the Rajang River at 640km is rarely visited by travellers on account of its inacessibility and the lack of tourist facilities.

The river, with rainforest on both sides, is navigable on a Pandaw ship for at least 250km till the Pelagus Rapids and further on its main tributary, the Balleh River.

Meanwhile, Sibu Sarawak Tourist Board(STB) executive, Rudy Anoi told Bernama that the Irrawaddy Fotilla Company managing director Paul Strachan had last month travelled up the Rajang River for a study of its potential and to make preparations for the maiden cruise.

"He also held a meeting with STB chief executive officer Gracie Geikie and local tour operators on the possibility of co-operating with them," he added

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Blogger produced before court again
Mizzima News - by Phanida
Wednesday, 01 October 2008 14:10

Chiang Mai – A popular Burmese blogger and writer Nay Phone Latt, who had been detained in Insein prison, has once again been produced in court again.

The court on Tuesday, held hearings on one of the cases of the many charges against the blogger - under section 505(b) of the Penal Code inducing crime against public tranquillity.

The Burmese authorities have dragged the trial of the blogger, which it began since early July.

The blogger's mother said a policeman from Rangoon's Bahan police station on Tuesday testified as the prosecution witness.

"Without evidences the policeman testified that my son got involved in demonstrations in court," she added.

Nay Phone Latt has reportedly been kept in solitary confinement in notorious Insein prison since early July, when the court started hearing his case. He was never allow to move out of the cell, his mother said.

"He is disappointed as he is in solitary confinement. Maung Weik [business tycoon] is in the next cell. But he is allowed to go outside of the cell. My son and Zarganar are not allowed to do so. Though he is young, I am worried of his health in the prison environment, " she added.

Nay Phone Latt was arrested and detained on January 29, and was charged under 505(b) of the Penal Code, section 32(a), 36 of the Video Law and section 33 (a), 38 of the Electronic Law.

The hearing was adjourned on Tuesday by the court, which also held hearings on the cases of 35 students of the 88-generation, including Ko Min Ko Naing after there was an argument between the judge and the accused on addressing them as defendants.

"The student leaders reacted immediately as soon as the judge referred to them as defendants. They said they are just the accused and could not be referred to as defendants before being formally charged by the court after it hears prosecution and defence witnesses. The court had to adjourn the hearing after that," a family member of one of the 88-Generation Students, Ko Ko Gyi, said.

Similarly, other 88-Generation Students, Sithu Maung and six other, were also produced before the court on Tuesday. They were accused of staging demonstrations against a sudden price hike on fuel.

Advocate Khin Maung Shein said that they have presented an argument for the discharge of the case against the student leaders, which are made under section 124 (a) of the Penal Code, disaffection towards State and government, as no case against the accused has been made out which would warrant their conviction.

"We presented our argument made under section 253 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to consider discharging the accused from the case on hearing the last witness.

"The accused have to suffer a lot because of these wrongful charges. So we argued that the accused should be discharged as no case against them has been made out under section 124(a) of the Penal Code," he added.

The authorities, however, changed the charges made against the student leaders later from the previous 124(a) of the Penal Code to new charges under sections 505(b), inducing crime against public tranquillity, 143 and 145, unlawful assembly, and 295, insulting religion, of the Penal Code.

These student leaders face prison terms ranging from two to a maximum of 8 years if found guilty.

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Mizzima websites hacked
Mizzima News - by Mungpi
Wednesday, 01 October 2008 14:31

New Delhi – The websites of Mizzima News, an independent Burmese news agency based in New Delhi, India, has been hacked with a Cross-site scripting causing the webites to be inaccessible since early Wednesday morning.

According to Mizzima's webmaster the attackers used the vulnerability in poor-code websites, and took total control of the site. While files from the English and Burmese website were deleted from the database, and had to be recovered from the back-up, the mizzima.tv and mizzimaphoto.com were temporarily down.

But within hours, the problems with the mizzima.com, mizzima.tv and mizimaphoto.com were rectified. However, the Burmese site – mizzimaburmese.com remains inaccessible.

Though it is not known, who is behind the attack, the hacker's internet protocol (IP) is found to have originated from a server in the United States.

Mizzima, however, is still unable to confirm whether the attack is the work of the Burmese military junta, which has banned Mizzima's websites inside the country. Web users bypassing the government's internet filtering systems with the help of proxy and browsing can access Mizzima's sites. But if caught, they would have to pay a heavy penalty.

"It is hard to tell who is behind the attack but someone who has special interest could be the culprit or culprits," said Sein Win, Managing Editor of the Mizzima News.

"However, these people should know that this is a criminal offence" he added.

This is not the first time, however, that the websites of Mizzima as well as other Burmese media groups in exile, including the Chiang Mai based Irrawaddy, Oslo based Democratic Voice of Burma and Bangkok based New Era Journal, have been attacked.

In July, the Burmese website of Mizzima News and the DVB came under a Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS), causing the sites to become inaccessible for several days.

Similarly, on September 24, a day before the first anniversary of last year's monk-led protests in Burma, three Burmese News agencies The Irrawaddy, DVB and New Era Journal in exile came under a DDoS attack.

Mizzima News Agency, run by Burmese journalists, is an independent Burmese multi-media group focusing on Burma and related news and issues, and has four different websites – Mizzima.com, Mizzimaburmese. com, Mizzima.tv, mizzimaphoto. com.

Besides updated daily news both in English and Burmese, Mizzima also Podcasts video stories on its mizzima.tv site, which are frequently picked up by other news organizations.

Both Mizzima's Burmese and English site normally attract an average of 10,000 to 15,000 unique visitors per day but the readership suddenly jumped to hundreds of thousands during the September protests in Burma last year and in the month of May and June 2008, following the killer Cyclone Nargis' lashing the country.

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Burma’s Censors Suspend Two Publications
The Irrawaddy - By LAWI WENG and MOE MYINT YAN
Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Two weekly publications have been suspended by Burma’s notorious censorship board, after being accused of violating rules and regulations, according to local journalists.

True News was ordered to suspend publication for two months after a large photograph depicting a Burmese child working on a construction site in Thailand appeared on the front page of its Tuesday issue.

The second journal, The Action Times, was ordered to suspend publication for one month after defying a censorship board instruction to drop a brief report on dissident journalist Win Tin, who was released last week after 19 years imprisonment.

“The Press Scrutiny and Registration Board summoned the editors of True News and The Action Times [on Tuesday] and ordered them to stop publishing their journals for two months and one month respectively,” said a Rangoon-based journalist with connections to staff at the two publications.

The editor of The Action Times declined to comment on the ban on his publication when approached by The Irrawaddy. The journal was ordered to drop a brief report on the release of Win Tin and a profile of the journalist—formerly editor of the influential newspaper Hanthawaddy and vice-chairman of the Writers’ Union, who served a total of 19 years in prison for his part in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.

“I think this is why The Action Times has been banned for a month,” a Rangoon journalist told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

A freelance journalist in Rangoon who requested anonymity told The Irrawaddy that the censorship board’s order suspending the publication of True News for two months was related to the sensitive photograph published on its front page.

The caption under the photograph read: “A Burmese child working on a construction site in Phuket, Thailand.”

The censorship board reportedly accused the editors of failing to submit clear draft layouts to its office for inspection.

According to the board’s regulations, every journal in Burma must submit a draft of its final layout with clear photographs, captions and pullouts.

However, another source, who claimed to have spoken to a reporter at True News, said the censorship board had passed the photo and its caption, so the journal published it.

According to a source within the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, certain authorities were annoyed by the photo and the censorship board’s failure to spot it.

The source said the head of the censorship board, Maj Tint Swe, was reportedly admonished by Minister of Information Kyaw Hsan over the incident.

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Reports of Rape Surface in Cyclone-devastated Delta
The Irrawaddy - By KYI WAI
Wednesday, October 1, 2008

LAPUTTA — Reports of rape and other abuses of women are surfacing as communities in Burma’s Irrawaddy delta continue to recover from May’s Cyclone Nargis.

Women were particularly vulnerable in the cyclone and its aftermath, when social order broke down. Many complain their plight was ignored by local authorities and the military.

One 20-year-old woman from a village in Laputta District said three men who responded to her cries for help the day after the cyclone raped and tried to rob her.

One villager reported seeing two men armed with knives rape a 15-year-old girl before drowning her. “I was afraid to try and help the girl and I pretended to be dead,” he confessed.

The rapes and killing continued weeks after the cyclone, as devastated communities tried to restore normal life, according to villagers.

A resident of Gyin Yah village in Laputta District said that a month after the cyclone he had discovered the body of a teenage girl who had been raped and killed, then dumped in a rice paddy.

Some villagers accused military authorities of trying to prevent news of rape and pillage becoming public. Villages allowing news of the abuses to escape were threatened with
destruction, sources said.

One man from Kyane Gone village in Laputta District said a soldier had tried to drag away his daughter as they waited for aid at a military base. He had complained to an officer, who had angrily sent him away.

A woman survivor from Sate Gyi village in Laputta Township said: “I don’t dare return to my home. I’m the only woman survivor and would be the only woman among eight men.”

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NLD youth member reported dead in custody

Oct 1, 2008 (DVB)–Aung Moe Lwin, a 36-year-old youth member of the National League for Democracy in Natmauk township, Magwe division, is said to have died in detention, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

His family has been informed of his death.

Aung Moe Lwin went to Rangoon last year for training before the Saffron Revolution in September and stayed at Maggin monastery, where became friendly with the monks and helped look after AIDS patients.

He stayed with the monks during the demonstrations up until the monastery was sealed off and was interviewed about the arrests and beatings of monks in the crackdown.

When he suddenly disappeared from South Dagon at the beginning of August, people assumed he had gone to another monastery, as he had made friends with monks from other monasteries and stayed with them on previous occasions.

It did not become clear that Aung Moe Lwin had been arrested until a fellow detainee who had been released said that he had seen him being tortured in prison and that he was in a serious condition.

Once his arrest and detention was made public, his family expected that he would be transferred to Insein prison where they could come and visit him.

But five days ago, Aung Moe Lwin’s brother in Kyaukpadaung received a telephone call from an unnamed person who informed him that Aung Moe Lwin and another person from Meikhtila had died from an ‘over-zealous hand’ during interrogation.

On hearing this, Aung Moe Lwin’s parents went to the Rangoon divisional office where their son was last known to have been held, but they were told by an official that he was not there.

Aung Moe Lwin’s father U Thein Aung said he was determined to find out what happened to his son.

"I am proud of my son and I allowed him to do good things for the public,” U Thein Aung said.

“I will look for him until I find him. I don't think it will be easy, but I will search until I find him," he said.

“I won't give up until I find him. It is necessary to uncover the truth and I will continue to do so."

U Thein Aung arrived in Rangoon today, and has been to Rangoon divisional office, Kyeemyintaing court and Insein prison.

So far his investigations have met with denials from the authorities.

"The authorities have only said, ‘We don't know and he is not here’," U Thein Aung said.

"I want them to tell me where he is and what happened but they are hiding it, it is hard to cope with."

U Thein Aung said he had told his wife that their son was missing and wants his case to be treated as a missing person, feared dead, until the facts are established.

Reporting by DVB

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Argument breaks out at 88 Students’ court hearing

Oct 1, 2008 (DVB)–An argument broke out in court yesterday at a hearing for members of the 88 Generation Students group over the use of the term defendants when they have not yet been charged.

A hearing was held yesterday at Insein prison special court for 35 members of the 88 Generation Students group on accusations of a breach of article 6 of the Unlawful Associations Act.

When the accusations were read out, the 88 students disputed the use of the term ‘defendant’, according to U Aung Thein, lawyer for the group.

"[The other] side protested that the accusations were just being read out as written on the paperwork,” Aung Thein said.

“But [the 88 students] insisted that they were not yet defendants, they were only suspects, and they asked the court to use the appropriate terms,” he said.

Aung Thein explained that the term ‘defendant’ implied that they had been formally charge, which he said was not the case.

“At this stage, [the suspect] is in a position where he could still be released. The case could also be withdrawn,” Aung Thein said.

“When he is standing trial as a defendant, you can use that term,” he went on.

“But you can't label him a 'defendant' straight away, because he could be released without being charged."

The trial of Ko Htin Kyaw, who led protests against high commodity prices last year, is continuing at the court near the prison entrance.

He has refused to be tried at the township court in protest at a series of delays and time-wasting by the court.

Reporting by Aye Nai

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