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HEADLINES
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AP - Myanmar gives comedian critical of govt 14 years
AP - China's foreign minister to visit Nepal, Myanmar
AP - Thailand insists it is ready to host ASEAN summit
Reuters - Zimbabwe playwright and Mugabe critic wins award
IRIN - MYANMAR: Salt farmers battling to rebuild livelihoods
The New York Times - Emergency Declared at Thai Airports
The Hindu - Myanmar, India agree to maintain regular trade deal on beans
Shanghai Daily - Plan for gas pipeline under the spotlight
Scoop - Junta Hands Down Ridiculous Prison Sentences
The Washington Post - Burma's Black Hole
Mizzima News - Internet users increasingly concerned over security
Mizzima News - Burma's government in exile condemns Mumbai attack
The Irrawaddy - Burma Crackdown Could be Convenient for China
DVB News - USDA officials accused of embezzlement

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Myanmar gives comedian critical of govt 14 years
Thu Nov 27, 10:16 am ET

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – A court inside Myanmar's notorious Insein prison sentenced a comedian who has criticized the government's cyclone response to 14 more years Thursday, bringing his total prison term to 59 years, his lawyer said.

Comedian and activist Zarganar was given a 45-year prison sentence last week after he was convicted on charges related to interviews he gave to foreign media outlets. In the interviews, he said the government was too slow in responding to a May cyclone that killed more than 84,000 people.

Myanmar's military, which has held power since 1962, tolerates no dissent. It frequently arrests artists and entertainers regarded as opposing the regime.

It has further ramped up its crackdown on dissent since Buddhist monks led pro-democracy protests in September 2007.

The government holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 in June 2007, before the demonstrations, according to international human rights groups.

The military government's wave of harsh sentences has been condemned worldwide by Western governments and human rights groups. They contend that the sentences make a mockery of the ruling junta's professed plan to restore democracy with a 2010 election.

Zarganar's lawyer, Khin Htay Kywe, said he was convicted Thursday for causing public alarm, a reference to his interviews with foreign media, and for communicating with exiled dissidents, among other charges.

Zarganar, whose birth name is Maung Thura, was among at least 100 people to receive sentences of two to 65 years since early November. Many of the trials were held in closed sessions, sometimes without defense lawyers or family present.

He has been imprisoned several times before, including a three-week stint for providing aid to those who demonstrated last year.

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China's foreign minister to visit Nepal, Myanmar
AP - Friday, November 28

BEIJING - China said Thursday it supports international efforts to help military-ruled Myanmar achieve national reconciliation as it prepared to send its top diplomat to visit the Southeast Asian nation.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi would visit Nepal and Myanmar from Tuesday to Saturday. Qin did not give the exact dates of Yang's visits to each country, but said the minister planned to meet with his counterparts in both countries as well as their leaders.

China has large economic interests in Myanmar, an impoverished country whose ruling generals have been under international pressure to embrace national reconciliation following the violent suppression of massive, anti-government protests in Yangon last year.

China is Myanmar's most important ally, providing economic, military and other assistance while Western nations shun the military-ruled country because of its poor human rights record and failure to restore democracy. China objects to Western criticisms of Myanmar's junta, saying conditions in the Southeast Asian country have improved since its violent crackdown on peaceful protests last September.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed deep frustration at the failure of Myanmar's military junta to agree to efforts aimed at reforming itself.

"China, as a friendly neighbor of Myanmar, hopes to see that all parties in Myanmar will promote reconciliation through dialogue and greatly realize democracy, development and stability," Qin said during a regular news briefing. He said Beijing continued to support the efforts of the U.N. and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a regional bloc, to mediate.

Ban has been trying to encourage Myanmar to take real steps to include opponents led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who has been under house arrest since her party overwhelmingly won a general election in 1990 but was not allowed to take power by the military. The military has held authoritarian power in Myanmar since 1962.

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Thailand insists it is ready to host ASEAN summit
AP - Friday, November 28

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand insisted Thursday that it will be able to host a regional summit in December, even after three neighboring countries raised concerns that ongoing political turmoil in the Thai capital could force the meeting's cancellation.

In recent days, protesters demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat have stormed Thailand's two main international airports, forcing their closure and the cancellation of hundreds of flights. They have occupied the prime minister's office since August, vowing to stay put until Somchai and his government step down.

Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos voiced fears Thursday that Thailand may not be able to host the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, scheduled to take place Dec. 15-18 in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan must consider postponing the summit ``to ensure the successful outcome ... given the current political situation in Thailand,'' the three countries said in a statement.

Surin was not available for comment Thursday.

Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tharit Charungvat said the summit would not be rescheduled.

``Everything is still going ahead as planned and we are still ready to host the summit,'' Tharit said.

The 10-nation ASEAN bloc comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The summit venue already has been shifted from the capital, Bangkok, to Chiang Mai. The foreign ministry has denied the move was to avoid the anti-government protests, insisting it was because the weather is nicer in the north.

Thailand's powerful army commander stepped into the fray Wednesday, urging Somchai to step down and asking protesters to leave Suvarnabhumi.

Neither side heeded his calls, leaving the country paralyzed.

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Zimbabwe playwright and Mugabe critic wins award
By Mike Collett-White
Thu Nov 27, 9:49 am ET

LONDON (Reuters) – Zimbabwean playwright Cont Mhlanga, who has challenged President Robert Mugabe's rule throughout his career, has been awarded a new prize celebrating the role the arts can play in promoting human rights.

Mhlanga has seen his last two plays, both political satires, banned by the authorities, and welcomed the award as a morale booster and security blanket in a country where he says he is not safe.

"It's not that safe," said the playwright, who would not give his age but described himself as "just an old man."

"I always live by being very careful," he told Reuters by telephone from Zimbabwe. He did not to fly to London to receive the prize this week, partly because there was not enough time.

"What saved me is that I've always focused on hard-hitting issues without touching the political side. I hope this award gives me global exposure, as that in itself gives me safety."

The play which won the inaugural ArtVenture Freedom to Create Prize, worth $50,000, was "The Good President," which was staged in Zimbabwe's second city Bulawayo last year before being banned for its perceived parallels with Mugabe.

Prize organizers described The Good President as a political satire that depicts an African dictator who has ruled Zimbabwe for 27 years since the country gained independence in 1980.

The play, presented as a fictional account, opens with scenes depicting police chasing street protesters and showing how the country's laws prohibit a gathering of more than five people without police clearance.

The play also depicts an elected opposition leader being taken to a police station and brutally beaten.

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who defeated Mugabe in a March presidential poll but withdrew from a run-off vote due to violence, was detained and badly beaten in police custody in March, 2007.

PRESCIENT PLAY

Mhlanga, who has written 21 plays, said the timing of The Good President meant it was widely discussed and debated.

"I think it worked because the play came at the right time.

"The government here works on a long term plan, so in March (last year), when they started the violence against the opposition, they were preparing for the 2008 election.

"I was aware that was what they were doing. I was quick to say, 'let's discuss this'."

He has since written another play "Overthrown, " but it was closed down before it even began its run.

Mhlanga said "the world out there cannot imagine how it is now" in Zimbabwe, where many could not afford basic food, and schools and hospitals were closing due to the economic crisis.

Also awarded was the ArtVenture Freedom to Create Imprisoned Artist prize, worth $25,000, which went to popular comedian and activist Zarganar, sentenced this month in military-ruled Myanmar to 45 years in prison.

Zarganar was detained in June after publicly criticizing the ruling generals for their sluggish response to Cyclone Nargis, which left 134,000 people dead or missing.

His sentence was the latest in a series of lengthy jail terms handed down to more than 100 dissidents, relatives said.

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MYANMAR: Salt farmers battling to rebuild livelihoods
27 Nov 2008 10:37:23 GMT

NGA PU DAW, 27 November 2008 (IRIN) - Salt farmers across southern Myanmar are slowly returning, but still need assistance almost seven months after Cyclone Nargis struck, leaving close to 140,000 people dead or missing.

The multi-million dollar industry plays a critical role in the local economy, which was devastated by the category four storm on 2 and 3 May.

More than 9,712 hectares or 80 percent of all salt fields in Myanmar's badly affected Ayeyarwady Delta were affected, according to the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) http://www.asean. org/21765. pdf].

The fields are particularly vulnerable to tidal surges such as accompanied Nargis, as they are on the lowest ground.

The cyclone caused maximum damage to stocks, as warehouses full of just-harvested salt were completely destroyed. According to the government-controll ed New Light of Myanmar newspaper, 24,214MT of raw salt were destroyed.

The PONJA report noted that some 35,000 farms, mostly private, were damaged, resulting in a loss of livelihoods for thousands.

An estimated 20,000 salt farmers and their families were living in the delta at the time of the disaster, many of whom died in the storm, it added.

"The storm destroyed all my property. Now it's time to begin salt farming, regardless of whether we get any loans from the government. Otherwise our lives will never return to normal," said Poe Sar, a farmer in his 70s, who manages a dozen workers on 14 hectares.

Fortunately, he lost none of his workers in the storm even though his fields and workers' accommodation, warehouses and equipment were damaged.

Staff at Poe Sar's are working overtime to get things back on track, repairing damaged pumps, water containers and motor engines.

But there is a price. Poe Sar has no choice but to pay his workers double what he paid last year.

"We need to pay them more this year as everything here is more expensive," he explained.

Devastated labour force

By some accounts, as many as eight out of 10 workers were killed in the storm – which will undoubtedly affect next year's harvest and profitability.

Farmers say they will try to recruit skilled workers from salt farms in unaffected regions, but will need to offer higher wages and are unlikely to be able to source enough staff to adequately replace the lost workforce in time.

Generally at this time of the year, the ground is being prepared to hold seawater for evaporation during the last quarter, with salt harvested from January until the onset of the rainy season in April/May.

U Than, another farmer in area, needs at least 15 workers to work his 16 hectares and has already doubled wages to almost US$2 a day.

At the same time, he has to spend thousands of dollars to repair equipment and warehouses damaged by Nargis – all of which will affect the price of his salt.

"Before the cyclone, the price of salt in the market was 200 Kyat [about 17 US cents] per viss [1.6kg]. Now the price is double," he said.

Added to that is the knock-on effect of other food commodities for a population still reeling from the disaster.

Salt is the key ingredient in dried fish, fish paste and fish sauce, which are already becoming more expensive.

All three foodstuffs are staples and a particularly important source of protein for lower-income demographics, stated a report by Myanmar's Independent Mon News Agency
[see: http://www.monnews- imna.com/ index.php] at the end of October.

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Emergency Declared at Thai Airports
The New York Times - By THOMAS FULLER
Published: November 27, 2008

BANGKOK — Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat declared a state of emergency at Bangkok’s two commercial airports on Thursday and instructed the police and some military units to deal with protesters occupying the facilities.

The order, announced in a nationally televised address, came after a cabinet meeting in the northern city of Chiang Mai, a location apparently chosen to avoid confrontations with protesters, who in Bangkok are occupying the prime minister’s offices as well as the airports.

“It is necessary for me to announce an emergency decree in some areas,” Mr. Somchai said. “There is no intention to harm anyone.”

He assigned police, air force and naval units to “take care” of the situation. It was unclear whether this meant they are charged with clearing protestors out of the facilities.
Amid rumors of a military coup, a government spokesman instructed troops to “stay in their barracks.”

The closure of Bangkok’s second airport early Thursday severed the last remaining commercial air links to the Thai capital. Until Wednesday, airlines were operating domestic flights out of Don Muang airport, Bangkok’s oldest airfield.

Protesters have vowed to keep the airports shut until the government steps down.

Government supporters who have formed a type of auxiliary, known as the red shirts, said they were growing impatient with the protesters. Weera Musikapong, one of the leaders of the group said in a news conference that the “best way out” of the crisis was to follow the law. “But if the government does not act today or tomorrow the red shirt group and the people must come out and do something.”

Protesters have clashed with pro-government forces on several occasions in recent months, leaving at least two people dead and dozens injured.

Thailand’s tourism minister, Weerasak Kohsurat, said the government would soon begin flying thousands of stranded tourists out of the country using military bases near the Thai capital.

Tourists would be flown by Thai Airways to Singapore or Malaysia for connecting flights, The Associated Press reported.

Government officials also said Thursday they would allow commercial airlines to use one of the military airports, U-Tapao.

Used by the United States military during the Vietnam War, U-Tapao can handle only a fraction of the daily average of 100,000 passengers who flew in and out of Suvarnabhumi International Airport last year.

U-Tapao’s terminal has the capacity to hold 400 people and the parking lot has about 100 spaces. The airport is about 120 miles from Bangkok, a two-hour drive.

The seizure of Bangkok’s airports is radical even by the standards of Thailand’s tempestuous political past. Despite frequent military coups and changes of government in past decades, the day-to-day running of Thailand’s bureaucracy had been largely unaffected until now. The airports operated with little interruption during a military coup in 2006, and unlike many of its neighbors Thailand has maintained reliable service in key areas such as electricity and health care despite political turmoil.

But with the closure of the airports this week and occupation of the prime minister’s office since August, politics is now directly interfering with many facets of life in Thailand.
The country’s foreign minister, Sompong Amornwiwat, said the government is considering postponing a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations scheduled for next month because of the political crisis, Reuters reported.

Cargo services at Suvarnabhumi airport, a major hub for Southeast Asia, have completely ceased, a major blow for Thai and foreign companies that use the country as an export base.

“The protesters have basically closed down the country,” said Ruth Banomyong, an associate professor at Thammasat Business School who is one of the region’s leading experts in logistics.

“Thailand was never considered as a very risky country,” he said. “I don’t think companies would have prepared for this.”

Thailand is well integrated into a regional network of just-in-time electronics manufacturing, where businesses keep down costs by maintaining a bare minimum of inventories.
If the airports remain closed, assembly lines in Japan and China may run out of the semiconductors, disk drives and other components manufactured in Thailand.
Mr. Ruth estimates that electronics manufacturers keep around three to five days of inventory.

“This idea of Bangkok and Suvarnabhumi being a cargo hub — they can drop it down the drain now,” he said.

Thailand last year exported about $40 billion in electronics and computer components. Leading electronics manufacturing including Fujitsu, Seagate, Philips, and LG have factories in the country.

The airport closures may also prove dangerous for those in need of urgent medical care.

Neighboring countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos rely on Thailand for health care because Bangkok has some of the best hospitals in the region. The closure of the airports has shut off the urgent provision of medicines and medical machinery from abroad.

“For agriculture and electronics it’s a commercial loss,” said Voratat Tantimongkolsuk, deputy director of operations at CTI, one of the largest freight forwarders in Thailand. “But this is also about people’s lives. We import a lot of medical equipment from other countries.”

Mr. Voratat is proposing to his clients that they send their shipments by truck to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, adding about three days to the shipment time. But this route may not be viable for the most sensitive products.

Last year Suvarnabhumi airport handled import and exports averaging a total of 2,900 tons a day.

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Myanmar, India agree to maintain regular trade deal on beans
The Hindu - Thursday, November 27, 2008

YANGON (Xinhua): Myanmar, India have agreed to maintain regular trade deal on beans and pulses with the Indian side proposing to purchase Myanmar quality beans and pulses at international current prices on a monthly basis, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday.

The deal on the move was reached recently between the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the State Trading Corporation of India during a visit to Nay Pyi Taw by Indian Deputy Minister of Customer Affairs, Foods and Public Distribution NK Raghupathy, the report said.

According to Myanmar official statistics, Myanmar-India bilateral trade reached 995 million U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2007-08 with Myanmar's exports to India accounting for 810 million U.S. dollars and its imports from India 185 million dollars.

India stands as Myanmar's 4th largest trading partner after Thailand, China and Singapore and also Myanmar's second largest export market after Thailand, absorbing 25 percent of its total exports.

Meanwhile, Myanmar and India are deliberating to upgrade its border trade carried out at Reedkhoda (India) and Tamu-Moye ( Myanmar) to normal trade.

It was touched upon at the 3rd meeting of Myanmar-India Joint Trade Committee held in Myanmar's second largest city of Mandalay during Indian Minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh's second visit to Myanmar in October this year.

The meeting also covered bilateral cooperation in banking services, extension of export items and promotion of trade between the two countries and bilateral cooperation in electric and energy sectors.

In the latest development, Myanmar and India held its 9th round of consultations between foreign offices of the two countries in Yangon last weekend, agreeing to cooperate in a wide range of areas of mutual interest and promptly implement the bilateral agreements inked previously.

The Myanmar-India foreign office consultations took place between delegations respectively represented by deputy minister or foreign secretary of the two countries U Kyaw Thu and Shivshankar Menon.

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Plan for gas pipeline under the spotlight
Shanghai Daily - Published on ShanghaiDaily. com
Created: 2008-11-28 0:35:28

CHINA and Myanmar are working on the design of a natural-gas pipeline linking the Asian neighbors as demand for the cleaner-burning fuel rises in the world's second-biggest energy consumer.

The gas link, spanning thousands of kilometers, will be connected with China's second West-East pipeline that is being built to draw the fuel from Turkmenistan, Cui Yingkai, a director at PetroChina Co's gas and pipeline unit, said at a conference in Xiamen yesterday.

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Junta Hands Down Ridiculous Prison Sentences
Scoop - Thursday, 27 November 2008, 1:55 pm
Press Release: IFEX

Burma: Junta Hands Down Ridiculous Prison Sentences In Latest Crackdown On Free Expression

What do you get for helping survivors of Cyclone Nargis, which tore up Rangoon and the Irrawaddy Delta in May? Extreme jail time, apparently. A popular comedian active in Burma's democracy movement was sentenced to 45 years in jail on 21 November for criticising the junta's slow response to the cyclone, videotaping the damage and organising his own relief efforts - what IFEX members are calling a "historical low point" for free expression in Burma.

Just weeks before UN Secretary General's planned visit, Zarganar, Burma's Charlie Chaplin, was sentenced to 45 years for "creating dissatisfaction towards state and government" and violating the Electronics Act, which regulates electronic communications.

Sports columnist Zaw Thet Htwe and Thant Zin Aung were sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment each, and Tin Maung Aye received 29 years in prison, for similar roles in the cyclone relief efforts. All four activists still face charges in trials happening as early as this week.

Human Rights Watch described the jailing of Zarganar (which means "Tweezers") as "a cruel joke on the Burmese people," adding that it was "a bigger joke on those abroad who still think ignoring repression in Burma will bring positive change."

An outspoken satirist of the junta, Zarganar was arrested in June, shortly after he gave interviews to overseas news outlets such as the BBC, criticising the junta's reponse to the disaster. The day after his arrest, state-controlled media published warnings against sending video footage of relief work to foreign news agencies, says CPJ.

The government appears to be expediting the trials of journalists, lawyers, poets and activists, many involved in the relief efforts or last year's monk-led protests, says the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). More than 100 activists have been sentenced to harsh prison terms in the past two weeks, including 65 years to the key members of the so-called 88 Generation of activists, and 68 years to Ashin Gambira, the leader of the monks' alliance that led last year's anti-government uprising.

"The sentences we have witnessed in Burma this month are nothing less than an assault on free expression," said CPJ. "That it should stem from reporting in the public interest is a shocking indictment of the ruling military junta."

According to IFEX members, the disproportionate punishments send out a clear message that the junta will not tolerate opposition in the lead-up to their alleged "democratic" 2010 elections. And many more cases are lined up - including against magazine editor Zaw Thet Htwe, human rights defender U Myint Aye and activist monk U Gambira.

Amnesty International says the junta holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 in June 2007 - before the pro-democracy demonstrations.

Often, the trials are happening in special courts based in prisons, "devoid of any form of openness or transparency, " say ARTICLE 19 and Index on Censorship. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says the defendants' families and lawyers are rarely notified about the trials and witnesses for the defence are not allowed.

Nor does the junta care what the international community thinks. The wave of trials has been condemned by the UN, as well as the United States and European countries, but critics are saying their condemnation isn't enough.

In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, Zarganar told the news magazine "the Irrawaddy," "I am not happy with the UN. Why are they so concerned with the government's endorsement of their relief work? They should have taken more risks." Human Rights Watch and RSF are calling upon the UN Security Council to address the deteriorating human rights situation in Burma and expand existing international sanctions on the military government and its leaders. RSF is also calling on the EU to create new, targeted sanctions for the head of the judicial system, as well as the judges who took part in the trials.

RSF and the Burma Media Association also support the call made by U Win Tin, a leading journalist and member of the opposition National League for Democracy, to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon not to go to Burma under the current circumstances.

Meanwhile, ARTICLE 19 and Index on Censorship note that the states with the largest influence on the Burmese junta - China, India and Thailand – have remained silent. They are urging these countries and others in ASEAN to raise these abuses with the Burmese authorities. They are also demanding that European Union member states use the upcoming 11th EU-China Summit in Lyon, France, to bring up these issues with the Chinese government.

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Burma's Black Hole
The Washington Post - Posted by Meredith Walsh on November 13, 2008 10:06 AM

A 6-week-old girl sleeps peacefully in the delivery ward at Mae Tao Clinic, a health center in northwestern Thailand, not 2 km from the Burma border. Her mother crossed the border from Burma into Thailand to deliver her at the clinic, tested positive for HIV during delivery, and then made a decision every mother hopes never to make: she returned to Burma and left her daughter behind in Thailand. The Burmese military has destroyed health care systems to the point that there is no support or treatment for HIV-positive children or adults.

In my work at the Mae Tao clinic, which treats 100,000 patients from Burma each year, I see daily the tragic results of the regime's brutality: amputees from landmine injuries, patients with emergency obstetric complications, patients with HIV and late-stage tuberculosis.

Then there are the babies. The clinic averages five deliveries daily. Parents who cross the border from Burma lack Thai identification, so Thai authorities cannot issue birth certificates for their babies. As an alternative, the clinic has issued delivery certificates to more than 10,000 babies. But they are neither Burmese citizens nor Thai citizens; they are stateless. Many have no surviving family.

There's no question that a lack of health care isn't the worst of Burma's problems, but it is one of the most basic. Burma's rulers suppress basic freedoms of mobility, speech, and the press. Burma has no free elections or legislative processes. Over 1,000 political prisoners languish in jail with no access to medical treatment. The military forcibly recruits boys as young as 10 years old. Child soldiers who escape to Thailand find themselves orphaned, disowned by families, and beyond rehabilitation.

Most alarming, in a systematic effort to eliminate minority groups, the 400,000-strong military routinely commits human rights abuses among ethnic states in eastern Burma. Homes, crops, and entire villages have been destroyed. Thousands have been killed, over a million displaced.

In the 'Black Zones' of eastern Burma, backpack medics provide essential health care where international aid agencies cannot. Correlations between human rights violations and adverse health outcomes documented by backpack medics illustrate the effects of military misrule. Families forced to flee are 2.4 times more likely to have a child under 5 die. They are 3.1 times more likely to have a malnourished child. Families whose food or crops are destroyed are forced to search the jungle for sustenance. As a result, they are 4.6 times more likely to suffer a landmine injury.

A half-century of military misrule has left Burma's 50 million people living in a black hole. The world knows little of what goes on inside Burma, due to a carefully crafted Burmese military reign.

Only septuagenarians remember the time--before the 1962 military coup--when Burma was the rice bowl of Asia, home to the most erudite class among Southeast Asians. New generations must rely on textbooks to know the beauty that once was Burma. Textbooks fail to mention the Burmese heroes who have opposed military abuses and struggled for democracy. People are even forbidden from speaking openly about democracy in public.

For three decades the military rulers closed Burma to foreign investment. As a result, Burma remained frozen in time while the world progressed around its borders. A once-wealthy nation became one of the world's poorest.

Today the Orwellian regime controls virtually every aspect of life. Their agents listen to telephone calls and watch individual movement-even from one village to the next. "News" media only promote military propaganda.

The Burmese have risked their lives countless times to draw the world's attention to their plight, most recently in the country's 'Saffron Revolution' last fall. It is time we responded to their plight.

First, governments and media around the world should shine a bright light on what has been happening there. Absent a major crisis, such as the cyclone that devastated the country in May, Burma seldom receives notice.

Next, Burma is a signatory to numerous UN conventions - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The generals violate them regularly. The UN should pursue every enforcement mechanism at its disposal to hold the regime accountable for its abuses, and to give support and hope to citizens trying to effect change from within.

We must also scrutinize outsiders who prop up the regime. In the early 1990s Burma's generals, to enhance their own power and wealth, opened the doors to foreign investment. Several Asian nations now do business with Burma -- China to obtain natural gas and timber, India and Russia to sell arms. Burma mines precious gems, including about 90% of the world's rubies, some of which still find their way onto world markets. While most U.S. companies no longer deal with Burma, Chevron continues to invest there.

Thailand, home to 150,000 refugees and 2 million undocumented immigrants, is the largest importer of Burmese goods. Thailand also invests in dams to exploit the potential for hydroelectricity.

The U.S. and many other nations have imposed economic sanctions on Burma, and those should continue with smart targets. But as long as Burma's neighbors keep doing business with the generals, they will likely remain in power.

Finally, the world's nations should intensify pressure to allow international aid agencies access to areas in Burma where people continue to suffer deprivation, not only from the cyclone but from the government's own policies. Aid is currently not allowed where the government does not want to the world to see what's happening. According to the military, there are no displaced people; refugees do not exist.

Burma has given the world many courageous people. Aung San Suu Kyi, whose pro-democracy party won a rare free election in Burma in 1990, today remains the world's only Nobel Peace Prize laureate in prison.

Thousands of red-robed Buddhist monks marched for freedom in a Saffron Revolution last fall, to be met by tear gas and guns. In 1988, thousands of students were massacred in the streets of Rangoon while making a nonviolent plea for democratic reform.

Dr. Cynthia Maung, a physician from Burma, fled her native land in 1988 and founded the Mae Tao Clinic. Known to some the Mother Theresa of Burma , "Dr. Cynthia" (as the community knows this humble woman) has won numerous international awards, including a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Her clinic does amazing things with limited resources.

A light shines from those who struggle for the right to live in peace - a notion nonexistent in Burma for so long most would not know how to define it. In the face of these brave witnesses, the world cannot remain silent. As Aung San Suu Kyi urges the world's free nations, "Please use your liberty to promote ours."

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Internet users increasingly concerned over security  
Mizzima News - by Nam Davies  
Thursday, 27 November 2008 17:30

New Delhi (Mizzima) – A sense of insecurity is developing among Internet users in Burma after seeing the long prison terms given to dissidents charged under the Electronic Law.

Internet users are growing increasingly concerned for their security after many dissidents, including blogger Nay Phone Latt, comedian Zarganar and sports columnist Zaw Thet Htwe, were given up to 45 years for their cases dealing with the Electronic Law.

"It is insecure. I feel very much upset. Now we have to delete everything after sending our mails and files. They [the regime] should not punish the people for just using the Internet. They themselves are using the Internet also," a blogger from Burma said on condition of anonymity.

Nevertheless, famous comedian Zarganar still found the courage to crack a joke at the trial court during his sentencing, chaffing: "I am sentenced to 45 years imprisonment with a three 'I' case. I was sent to Insein prison for using the Internet to study IT," his sister-in-law Ma Nyein related.

Similarly, three farmers from Natmauk Township in Magwe Division were charged under the Electronic Law in October of this year for lodging a complaint with the International Labor Organisation regarding the seizure of their farmlands.

An editor of a weekly journal said they too are in danger, as the Internet is a critical tool for them during their routine day's work.

"Generally it is dangerous. Media personnel have to visit all news websites. But it depends on which sites you are visiting. If the sites are legally approved websites, there will be no problem," an editor of a weekly journal commented.

"We visit only approved websites," he added.

The Electronic Law has become one of the principle instruments employed by the regime in attempting to quell opposition forces by charging them with lengthy prison terms for allegedly disseminating fabricated news to tarnish the image of the State and authorities.

However, Thai-based Burma Media Association (BMA) Secretary San Moe Wei said that most of the dissidents given long prison terms under this law did not commit any crimes, as the specifics of their cases were framed by authorities – the law merely being abused in an attempt to intimidate Internet users.

"This is a repressive law designed to suppress and intimidate dissidents, journalists and political activists who wish to see political change," he said.

Yet, there are still some individuals who are intent on defying the repressive law and the corresponding harsh prison terms.

"Whatever they do to intimidate us, we will continue with our work; work that should be done," a blogger from Burma said.

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Burma's government in exile condemns Mumbai attack  
Mizzima News - by Mungpi  
Thursday, 27 November 2008 21:38

New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Burmese government in exile – National Coalition Government of Union of Burma – on Thursday strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed over 100 people and injured over 200, calling it 'cowardice and a foolish' act.

Dr. Tint Swe, Minister of the Prime Minister office of the NCGUB, who is based in New Delhi, said "We condemn any act of terrorism, no matter who the perpetrators are. And if the attacks are carried out for political motives it is cowardice and a foolish act."

On Wednesday evening terrorists carried out at least 10 separate attacks on India's commercial hub of Mumbai killing at least 100 including 14 police and injuring more than 200 people.

The terrorists, armed with AK 47, grenades and low intensity bombs stormed  Mumbai's busiest and most opulent sites including the century old railway station Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal (CST), the former Victoria Terminus, Hotel Taj Palace and The Trident hotel, both of which had guests including foreign tourists.

According to reports, the terrorists, who began attacking since Wednesday night, continue to be holed up at with least 30 hostages in the Trident Hotel on Thursday and have left nearly 2000 guests stranded in the Taj hotel.

While the terrorist group did not make any demands, an Islamic group 'Deccan Mujahideen' a group that was previously unheard of claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to reports. A similarly named 'Indian Mujahideen' had earlier claimed responsibility for several blasts across the country including the 21 bomb blasts in Ahmedabad in July that claimed 56 lives.

Till the time of filing the story, at least five to seven terrorists are still holed up in the Taj hotel and bomb blasts were also heard from inside the Hotel, while terrorists were said to have held at least 30 hostages in the Trident hotel, according to an Indian TV Channel NDTV.

In the course of a gun battle, up to 14 police including Maharashtra state's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar were killed, reports said. The police in turn killed at least five terrorists during the shootout.

Dr. Tint Swe said India like several other countries has its own sets of problems and conflicts but resorting to violence and conducting terrorist attacks are unacceptable.

"It is understandable that groups have diverse ideologies and countries have their own conflicts. But resorting to violence is unacceptable, " said Dr. Tint Swe, extending his deep concern and solidarity towards the victims of the attacks.

While condemning the attacks, Dr. Tint Swe said terrorism seems to be spreading fast within the region and that governments including India should handle it with utmost importance.

"If we look at the past few months or even a year, we can see that there have been several blasts across India. Similarly, there were also blasts occurring in India's neighbouring country Burma and in several other south and southeast Asian countries," Dr. Tint Swe said.

"Looking at this, we can say terrorist attacks are becoming a trend these days, and that governments needs to resolve them with utmost importance," he added.

Similar to India, which has witnessed several bomb attacks in the past one year, Burma also witnessed increasing bomb blasts in the past year with perpetrators targeting mainly the former capital city of Rangoon.

The latest blast in Rangoon took place on October 19 at a house in Rangoon's suburban township of Shwepyithar, killing a man, whom the military government said was the perpetrator himself. In September alone, at least four blasts occurred in Rangoon, injuring at least seven people.

But, the military government, which has maintained a tight rule over the country since 1962, are quick at pointing a finger at opposition groups, including members of detained Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's party – the National League for Democracy (NLD), and border-based ethnic armed rebel groups who are fighting for self-determination, each time a blast occurs.

Dr. Tint Swe, while condemning the terrorist attacks, praised India's freedom of press, which has enabled citizens to keep abreast of the latest situation on the ground.

"Unlike Burma, India's freedom of press has allowed the media to cover the full extent of the event unfolding. But in Burma, since the media has been blacked out, information related the blasts seems to be out of reach to the people," he added.

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Burma Crackdown Could be Convenient for China
The Irrawaddy - NEWS ANALYSIS
By WAI MOE
Thursday, November 27, 2008

Small countries often serve as playgrounds for powerful countries in geopolitics. Is this true in Burma’s case?

Burma and China recently signed a US $2.5 billion project for the construction of oil and gas pipelines between Burma’s southwestern port of Kyaukpyu and China’s Yunnan Province. Work is due to start in early 2009.

According to analysts, Burma is important for China economically and strategically as a trading outlet to the Indian Ocean for its landlocked inland provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan and as a factor in its “two oceans” objective.

“Myanmar [Burma] is part and parcel of China’s grand strategic design to achieve its goal of becoming a great power in the 21st century,” said Poon Kim Shee, a scholar in international relations, in a paper, Political Economy of China-Myanmar Relations: Strategic and Economic Dimension.

China and Burma have had friendly relations since the Chinese Communists came to power in October 1949. Burma recognized the Chinese Communist regime in December 1949.

Following the Communist takeover in China, the Chinese nationalists, the Kuomintang, invaded eastern Burma to create resistance bases. There were numerous armed clashes with Burmese troops, and China’s Red Army eventually moved into the border area to subdue Chinese nationalist forces in Burma.

Analysts trace the rise of the Burmese military to the clashes with the Kuomintang army and the outbreak of civil war among armed ethnic groups.

From 1949 to 1962, Sino-Burmese relations were stable, but broke down after the military coup in 1962, led by the late dictator Ne Win. The Chinese regime openly supported the Communist Party of Burma militarily and financially in the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1967, Chinese-Burmese riots broke out in several Burmese cities, claiming the lives of an estimated 100 people, but relations between the two countries steadily improved from the early 1980s onwards.

After the 1988 military coup in Burma, China became an important strategic ally for the ruling generals. The Chinese provided arms, aircraft and other material to the Burmese armed forces when Western countries stopped selling arms to the junta. The Chinese military also trains Burmese officers.

“The price Myanmar [Burma] will have to pay for deviating from its strategic neutrality principle might be to potentially become a useful pawn for China’s long-term strategic interests,” Poon Kim Shee said.

During Burma’s current period of military rule, China has also become one of the junta’s main business partners. Chinese migration to Burma has grown steadily since 1988 following the opening of the border to trade.

Economic life in Burma’s second largest city, Mandalay, and other towns in the north is now heavily influenced by Chinese businessmen, leading in some circles to an increase in Burmese nationalistic sentiment and resentment of Chinese influence.

Burmese writers and cartoonists sometimes reflect on the situation directly and indirectly. Published short stories and cartoons have noted ironically that that there are more Chinese than Burmese in central Mandalay, where the Chinese language is widely spoken and an increasing number of signs are written in Chinese.

“If you want to see and hear Burmese, you should go outside of Mandalay,” a famous Burmese cartoonist commented in one of his drawings.

Chan Tun, a former Burmese ambassador to China, said that anti-Chinese sentiment in Burma is not good for the two countries. “Burma and China are geographically neighbors,” he said. “We need each other, and we need to depend on each other.”

Meanwhile, the Chinese government is also trying to placate Western calls for more democracy and greater respect for human rights in Burma.

During the 7th Summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), chaired by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, leaders of Asian and European countries urged the junta to “engage all stakeholders in an inclusive political process,” and called for the lifting of restrictions placed on political parties and the early release of political prisoners.

“I think the Chinese policy is to have good relations with the Burmese government whoever is in control,” said Ohn Maung, a veteran politician in Rangoon.
Following the landslide victory by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in the May 1990 election, China’s ambassador to Burma also made his country’s first diplomatic visit to the party to congratulate it on its success.

However, the recent harsh sentences handed down by Burmese courts to political prisoners have raised the stakes for China, with many of the world’s governments expressing outrage over the lack of a fair judicial process.

One leading US newspaper, The Washington Post, suggested the courts’ crackdown and the protests it had provoked presented a convenient opportunity for Beijing. 

“For China's Communist Party, repression in Burma is not an obstacle but a convenience, enabling the exploitation of natural resources with a minimum of well-targeted corruption,” the newspaper said in an editorial.

Apart from China, another giant neighbor, India, has also reached multiple trading and security agreements with the Burmese junta. India’s external affairs sectary Shiv Shankar Menon and Burma’s deputy foreign minister Kyaw Thu signed contracts on November 23 in Burma.

“India and China simply believe that their own business interests and strategic competition is more important, which has made Burma an unwilling battleground,” David Scott Mathieson, a Burma researcher for the New York-based Human Rights Watch, told The Irrawaddy by e-mail.

The struggle of two giants, China and India, to obtain natural gas and other valuable resources from Burma was symbolic of just what little regard both countries had for the
basic freedoms of the people of Burma, he said.

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USDA officials accused of embezzlement

Nov 27, 2008 (DVB)–A Union Solidarity and Development Association clerk appeared in court in Myin Chan on Monday and confessed to misappropriating 900 million kyat from public funds, according to locals.

USDA clerk Ma Kyu admitted in court in Myin Chan township, Mandalay division, that she and the local group secretary had misused the funds.

About six weeks ago, workers and bus drivers from the Myin Chan state industrial zone and the All Bus-lines Control Committee reported that 900 million kyat was missing from their welfare funds.

A resident of Myin Chan said the labourers and drivers had accused local USDA secretary Hla Than, who is also head of the industrial zone and the ABCC, of misusing the funds, but it was ABCC clerk Ma Kyu who was facing trial for the theft.

Ma Kyu was arrested after the two groups reported 200 million missing from ABCC funds and 700 million from the industrial zone.

A Myin Chan resident said Ma Kyu was unlikely to have been solely responsible for the embezzlement.

"Ma Kyu is only a clerk at the ABCC and she has nothing to do with the industrial zone," the resident said.

"During the trial, she confessed to the misuse of funds by herself, the USDA chief and the secretary."

The resident said USDA secretary Hla Than held the bank account books for both the industrial zone and the ABCC.

The 200 million kyat missing from the ABCC fund has now reportedly been replaced by the committee's financial director U Shein from his own account, the resident said.

Sources close to the workers said the township Peace and Development Council office, who hold a grudge against Hla Than for his arrogant behaviour, encouraged the workers to report the case to the authorities.

But Hla Than, who is known to have close ties with Industrial (1) minister Aung Thaung, escaped punishment.

"Hla Than was accused by the ABCC and also the industrial zone but he was not punished in the end," the resident said.

"Now he going around town boasting that he's untouchable and acting like he's the son of Aung Thaung."

Reporting by Aye Nai

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