BI Weekly No. 345

June 1 - 30, 2008

The BI Weekly archive is available on our website: www.burmaissues.org

Inside Burma

NLD call for release of activists
Burma says Suu Kyi’s detention under legal law
Poppy fields increase in Kachin State
Survivors of Cyclone Nargis are “living precariously”
Farmland in Bogalay seized by Burma’s authorities
Low paid labours forced to work on seized lands
Large numbers of cyclone survivors flow to Southern Burma
Military government continually arrest private relief effortss
1000 Karens flee to jungle after attacked by Burmese army
Activist groups reject constitution adopted by the Junta

Border

International

90 percent of foreign investment in Burma goes to oil and gas business
PTTEP sign a major gas deal with Burma’s government
India gives US$ 84 million loans and credits to Burma
US agencies should avoid providing aid to SPDC
UN body condemn “ongoging systematic violation of human rights” in Burma
Human Rights body should include all Asean members

NLD call for release of activists

National League for Democracy (NLD) party called for the release of activists who were beaten and arrested by a militia group earlier June.
The 14 activists were detained outside the headquarters of Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party on her 63rd birthday on June 19, when they stood on a sidewalk and shouted slogans calling for her freedom.
“The arrest was not in accordance with the law. It was also against the prevalence of law and order,” the National League for Democracy (NLD) party said in a statement.
“The NLD seriously urges the immediate release of all those detainees who were arrested and detained on June 19,” it said.
Burma’s police chief confirmed that 14 of Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters had been detained. He originally appeared to confirm the arrests of another group of activists in May, but police officials later clarified that he was referring to the group detained on her birthday.
Her party accused the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) as well as a militia group called Swan Arr Shin of beating the activists while they were praying for Aung San Suu Kyi’s good health.
The party said a letter expressing their concern had already been sent to junta leader Than Shwe.

On 19 June, supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi gave alms to monks as they marked the detained pro-democracy leader’s 63rd birthday at the National League for Democracy headquarters in Burma.
In May, the military junta renewed Suu Kyi’s house arrest for another year. She has spent more than 12 of the last 18 years in detention.

“Suu Kyi’s party urges release of Myanmar activists,” Agence France Presse, 30 June 2008

The New Light of Myanmar, a state-controlled newspaper said Burma’s military rulers were breaking no laws by holding pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for a sixth straight year.
The junta’s recent decision to extend Suu Kyi’s detention by one year sparked international outrage, with the Nobel Peace laureate’s party and foreign defense lawyers arguing the junta could legally only hold her for five years.
But a commentary in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said detentions are permissible for as long as six years under a 1975 “Law Safeguarding the State from Dangers of Subversive Elements.”
Yearly extensions must be approved by the Council of Ministers and then by the Central Body, which includes the home, defense and foreign affairs ministers, the newspaper said.
The military regime extended Suu Kyi’s house arrest May 27, despite international pressure to set her free. She has been detained for more than 12 of the last 18 years.
National League for Democracy party denounced the extension as illegal and urged the regime to open a public hearing on the case.

 “Myanmar says detention of democracy leader legal”, Associated Press, 11 June 2008 

Poppy fields increase in Kachin State

Rising demand for opium in Kachin State, has lured many farmers to switch from rice to poppy cultivation, which is much more profitable. Gold and jade miners and those into timber logging are heavily into opium consumption fuelling demand.

The trend is disturbing but it apparently does not bother the Myanmar military dictators. Farmers traditionally into rice cultivation in Kachin state of northern Burma are switching to poppy cultivation. Hukawng Valley in Kachin state leads in this. Farmers are switching to poppy cultivation either in parts of their paddy fields or converting the arable land for growing poppy. Hukawng Valley now has over 100,000 acres of poppy fields. Owners of poppy fields grease the palms of both regional officials of the Myanmar junta and Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) which signed a ceasefire agreement with the junta in 1994 and the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K), the Burma’s media in exile reports.
Poppy is also cultivated in Sadung areas in eastern Kachin state bordering China’s Yunnan province. Interestingly most of the poppy fields are owned by Chinese businessmen who bribe the junta, the KIO and the NDA-K.

 “Poppy replacing rice cultivation in Myanmar”, Merinews,30 June 2008 

An estimated 46 percent of families in Burma’s Irrawaddy delta have less than two days’ worth of food, according to an initial post-disaster assessment.

The news underscores the urgent need to bring more food into the region almost eight weeks after Cyclone Nargis ravaged the area, leaving 138,000 people dead or missing.
The discovery of significant household food shortages is just one of the crucial early findings of an ongoing assessment of the disaster relief effort by the UN, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Burma’s government, released on 24 June.
While the data collected from 10 days of field research was still being collated and analyzed, Richard Blewitt, project manager for the Village Tract Assessment, said it showed survivors of Cyclone Nargis were “living precariously”.

“The findings tell a story of a shaken rural economy,” he told IRIN from Rangoon. “People are rebuilding, but slowly. They are on the edge, and there is a need for continued relief,” he said.

The Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) is intended to give both international aid agencies and donor governments a credible, independent picture of the extent of the damage and the humanitarian relief effort so far.

In addition to the Village Tract Assessment—which focuses on how survivors have been getting by since the storm—the final report, due next month, will include a tally of the economic and physical losses from the disaster.

The assessment is intended to serve as a common reference point for discussions between the Burmese military government and international aid agencies on how best to help an estimated 2.4 million survivors rebuild their lives.

Food shortages were just part of the preliminary findings, with 60 percent of households reporting inadequate access to clean drinking water, while 22 percent reported being under psychological stress.

The study has also found that 59 percent of homes in the delta were severely damaged in the storm and subsequent tidal surge.

The Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) is a news service that forms part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). But this report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations.

“Cyclone assessment reveals critical food, water shortages”, Irrawaddy, 27 June, 2008 

Farmland in Bogalay seized by Burma’s authorities

Thousands of acres of privately-owned farmland in Bogalay have been seized by authorities after the farmers had already received farming equipment and seeds bought on credit from the government.

The township agricultural department recently supplied the farmers with the equipment and seeds before the farmers were told their lands would be seized, according to one local farmer.

“Now we have a debt of about 1.5 million kyat each and we have to repay it within three years,” the farmer said.

“And now we have tillers but no farmland to use them on, but we can’t return them to the agricultural department and we can’t sell them.”

The farmer said the authorities had blamed the possibility of another cyclone for the seizures.

“The authorities told us it was dangerous for us to live on the farmlands just in case another cyclone hit the area, so they kicked us all off the land and seized it,” he said.

The farmer said Htoo Trading company, which is owned by Tay Za, a Burmese tycoon with close links to the ruling junta, has now promised to build new houses near Kyein Chaung Gyi village for the farmers whose lands have been seized and villagers who have been forced to move out of the area.

Htoo Trading was given a contract by the government for reconstruction work in the Irrawaddy delta, but local residents worried that the company would take advantage of the situation for its own profit because of its close links to the regime.

Another local farmer said farmlands had been seized from Kyarkuyal, Danyinphyu, Mondinegyi, Mondinelay, Salugyi, Salulay, Tayawchaung, Myarchaung and Narnapauk villages, all in Bogalay township.
  
“Farmers left in debt after land seizures” Democratic Voice of Burma,  25 June, 2008 

Government authorities have forced unemployed people across Burma to work for low pay cultivating farmlands seized from cyclone victims in the Irrawaddy delta, according to locals.

A resident of Bogalay told DVB daily paid labourers from Mandalay had been brought to the township in military trucks in recent days by people wearing Union Solidarity and Development Association clothing to work on farmlands seized by the authorities after their owners were killed during the cyclone in May.

“Apparently the labourers were told they were to give assistance to farmers in devastated areas,” said the Bogalay resident.

He said government authorities had claimed ownership of farmlands left without owners after the cyclone but they have also been seizing land belonging to farmers who survived the cyclone.

He added that more labourers had been brought into the area from Rangoon’s Hlaing Tharyar township with a promise of 10,000 kyat for a day’s work, but they were only given 1000 kyat a day after starting work on the Bogalay farms.

“Labourers forced to work on seized cyclone lands”, Democratic Voice of Burma: 24 June, 2008 

Cyclone Nargis’ victims from the Irrawaddy Delta are fleeing in large numbers to Mon State and Karen State, Southern Burma to try and make a living, according to villagers from Mon State. Witnesses have seen entire families as well as single mothers and children all fleeing for survival, laden with heavy bags.
After Cyclone Nargis washed out the Irrawaddy, survivors flowed into Southern Burma from the third week of May until now. Many were trying to reach relatives who worked in areas less-affected by the cyclone, and head villagers were now busy trying to keep track of and register the sudden influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Aye Maung who came from Irrawaddy Delta to Mon state in search of a better job told Kaowao, “I’d like to say I am lucky because I was here (Mon state) before the cyclone, seeking work for myself as well as for my father and my brother. Now my mother and my sisters have arrived here as IDPs. My father is still missing. My plan before Nargis was not to bring my mother and sisters here, but we lost our house in the cyclone – which used to house all six of us – so I decided they must join me here.” Aye Maung’s native town is an area very badly affected by the cyclone, East Gone Hnyin Than village, Pyar Pon township.

Despite assurances of free access by private donors to cyclone-devastated areas of Burma, the military government continues to arrest individuals taking aid to survivors of the May 2-3 storm.
Ten donors have been arrested since the beginning of this month, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
The arrested aid workers were identified as Zarganar, Zaw Thet Htwe, Ein Khine Oo, Myat Thu, Yin Yin Wine, Tin Tin Cho, Ko Zaw, Tin Maung Oo, Ni Mo Hlaing and Toe Kyaw Hlaing. Zarganar is Burma’s most popular satirist and an outspoken critic of the regime.
Toe Kyaw Hlaing, a former 88 Generation Students leader, was the latest donor to be arrested. He was detained after returning to Rangoon from the Irrawaddy Delta.
AAPP Secretary Tate Naing said: “The arrests are now increasing, especially of people actively helping cyclone survivors. We don’t know the reasons for the arrests.”
Six of those arrested—Myat Thu, Yin Yin Wine, Tin Tin Cho, Ko Zaw, Tin Maung Oo and Ni Mo Hlaing—are being held by the police special branch in Rangoon’s Sanchaung Township. They were detained on June 12.
Zaw Thet Htwe, a journalist and private aid worker, and Ein Khine Oo were arrested last weekend.
Zarganar ran a group of voluntary relief workers, but one of them said they had suspended their aid efforts because of the regime crackdown.
Since the cyclone, the regime mouthpiece, The New Light of Myanmar, has been carrying a slogan on its back page stating: “Everybody may make donations freely. Everybody may make donations to any person or any area.”

“Regime steps up crackdown on private cyclone relief efforts” Irrawaddy, 18 June, 2008 

More than 1,000 people from Papun District in eastern Burma have fled their villages and taken refuge in the jungle after a series of attacks and acts of physical violence by the Burmese army, according to the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), relief groups in Karen state.
Troops from Infantry Battalion 240 attacked Te Mu Der village on the morning of June 4, burning rice barns, destroying homes and farms, and damaging a local church.
The villagers were forced to flee Te Mu Der and are now staying in makeshift shacks in the surrounding jungle in fear of returning to their homes, said the FBR report.
Other villages in Papun District in northern Karen state were also attacked—including Tha Kaw To Baw and Tha Da Der, where an unknown number of villagers were forced into hiding.
On May 27, more than 500 villagers from Mon Township in Karen State fled into the jungle following attacks by the Burmese army. The villagers are reportedly still hiding in the jungle.

“1,000 Karen villagers flee attacks,” Irrawaddy, 9 June, 2008 

The All-Burmese Monks’ Alliance, 88 Generation Students and All Burma Federation of Student Unions issued a joint statement rejecting the state constitution adopted by the military regime.
The organisations also urged the people of Burma and the international community not to accept the constitution that formally creates a repressive military class and legalises prolonged military rule in Burma.
Htun Myint Aung, a leader of the 88 Generation Students, told the statement was intended to firmly express that the constitution written in favour of the military and adopted by the junta by force was not acceptable.
“The constitution drafting process didn’t follow democratic principles and it was written amid injustices,” said Htun Myint Aung.
“The essence of the constitution doesn’t reflect the public interest or that of ethnic nationalities; it is just systematically structured to permit a long-lasting military dictatorship in the country,” he went on.
“Furthermore, it was adopted by force and deception and such a constitution is impossible to accept.”

 “Monks and students reject junta’s constitution” Democratic Voice of Burma, 5 June, 2008 

Villagers flee to Thai border due to Karen armed groups clash

Fighting broke out between troops of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and its breakaway group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), forces the evacuation of a Thai border village.

One KNLA soldier was reportedly killed when DKBA forces backed by Burmese army units overran a KNLA base.
Maj Shee Lay of KNLA Battalion 201 told The Irrawaddy: “The DKBA took over one of our Battalion 201 bases. One of our soldiers was killed, one injured and one was arrested. They seized some of our weapons.”
The fighting continued through Monday as the KNLA, military wing of the Karen National Union, attempted to retake the base.
Across the nearby border, in the Pob Phra district of Thailand’s Tak Province, the village of Phadee was evacuated and a Thai army group was sent to the area to investigate.

“Karen military clash forces evacuation of Thai village” Irrawaddy, 30 June 2008 

Burmese authorities are stepping up their restrictions on cyclone survivors trying to flee to neighboring Thailand, according to Burmese social organizations helping victims of the disaster.
Mahn Mahn, of the Back Pack Health Worker Teams, said the authorities were sending back to their home towns and villages anybody they found bearing documents identifying them as residents of the cyclone-devastated region.
One survivor who reached the Burmese border town of Myawaddy, opposite Thailand’s Tak Province, confirmed that troops and police were closely checking travelers’ identity documents and arresting some refugees.
A Myawaddy resident said the town’s Buddhist monasteries, which traditionally provide refuge for the poor and homeless, had been instructed to refuse shelter to anybody from the cyclone region.
Monks and monastery authorities caught giving shelter to refugees would be punished, he said. Deprived of anywhere to stay, refugees were camping out on Myawaddy streets.
Military checkpoints have reportedly been strengthened at bridges over the Sittang and Salween rivers to prevent refugees reaching Thailand.
Refugees are also trying to reach Thailand by boat from the Irrawaddy Delta and southern Burma, via the Gulf of Martaban.
.
Thousands of refugees set out for Thailand in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, and some have succeeded in reaching the Thai border town of Mae Sot, where Burmese social organizations based in Thailand take care of them.

“Restrictions tightened on cyclone refugees bound for Thailand” Irrawaddy, 23 June, 2008  

“Life in a refugee camp is living like an animal in a cage,” said Myint Swe, officially International Refugee Day.
Myint Swe, a Burmese refugee, and his family have lived in the Mae La refugee camp near Mae Sot, Thailand, for 12 years
“We can’t go out when we want,” he said. “If we go outside the camp, we can be arrested. If you are arrested, you can be sent back to Burma.”
Myint Swe is among 148,000 ethnic refugees from Burma who live in nine camps along the Thai-Burma border. Most fled to Thailand to escape armed hostilities in their homeland.
Burmese refugees number more than 700,000, according to a 2006 survey by the US Committee for Refugees. Worldwide there are 35 million refugees. Burmese refugees comprise the largest group in Southeast Asia.
About 3,000 Burmese refugees, mostly ethnic Karen, took part in ceremonies at the Mae La camp to mark International Refugee Day.
Soe Lwin, another refugee at the Mae La camp, is already scheduled to resettle in Australia. He decided to seek resettlement in a third country because of the poor living conditions and the chance for his children to receive a good education.
According to the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), nearly 22,000 refugees, mostly ethnic Karen, departed Thailand to resettle in third countries in 2007.
The USCRI says refugees’ rights in Thailand should be improved.
Dares Chusri, the USCRI country director, said Thailand’s ranking has fallen recently, particularly in terms of refugees’ freedom and living conditions, partly because of the forced deportation of Burmese and Hmong asylum seekers, The Bangkok Post reported.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has said improvements should be made to allow refugees to develop self-reliance, access to labor markets and opportunities for higher education, all of which are now severely limited.

“Refugees observe International Refugee Day” Irrawaddy, 20 June, 2008 

Over 3,500 ethnic people to be displaced by a new dam construction: report says

Over 3,500 people, including many ethnic Kayan, will be displaced by a new dam being built in the Pyinmana Hills that will boost power to Burma’s military leaders.
“Drowning the Green Ghosts of Kayanland”, a new report launched by the Kayan Women¹s Union reveals how the Upper Paunglaung Dam, being built with Chinese investment, and slated for completion in December 2009, will flood a fertile valley 26 miles east of Burma¹s new capital Naypyidaw.
The 99-meter Upper Paunglaung Dam will produce 140 megawatts of electricity and store water to increase the generating capacity of the Lower Paunglaung Dam, completed in March 2005, which currently powers Naypyidaw.
Burma Army troop deployment to provide security for the dam construction has caused increased forced labour and other abuses for local villagers, in direct contravention of the ceasefire agreement between the Kayan New Land Party (KNLP) and the Burmese military regime.
The KNLP was originally formed in 1964 to protest another dam, Burma¹s first major hydropower project, the Mobye Dam in Karenni State, which flooded 114 villages, eventually driving many Kayan, including ³long-necked² Padaung, to become refugees in Thailand.
³Forty years ago, we Kayan people lost our sacred lands to provide electricity to Rangoon. Now again the dwelling places of our guardian spirits will be submerged to power Naypyidaw,² said Mu Kayan of the Kayan Women¹s Union.
The Upper Paunglaung Dam, being built by the Yunnan Machinery and Export Co.
Ltd (YMEC), is one of 24 major hydropower dams being planned or built by Chinese companies in Burma.
 The full report can be viewed at www.salweenwatch.org  
“New hydropower dam for Burma¹s military capital to displace thousands” Kayan Women’s Union, 18 June, 2008 

Thailand called to ease restriction on migrants

Two Thailand-based human rights groups have called on the Thai government to ease restrictions on migrants from Burma as a humanitarian response to the cyclone disaster there.
The Mekong Migration Network and Action Network for Migrants (Thailand) issued the call in a joint letter to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand and the three ministries of the interior, labor and social development and human security.
The letter urged Thai authorities to stop the arrest and deportation of Burmese workers for immigration irregularities for a period of 12 months, the opening of a new temporary residence registration for all migrants followed by an emergency work permit registration, and a temporary policy allowing Burmese migrants to return home to visit their families affected by the cyclone and the right of return to Thailand.
The groups said such concessions “would be in the interests of the economy of Thailand and the economy of the Burmese people and would also contribute to the international humanitarian response to the effects of the cyclone.”
They also appealed to the Thai government to provide shelter, essential services and livelihoods to cyclone refugees crossing from Burma.

“‘Help Burmese refugee migrants’ plea to Thai government”, Irrawaddy, 5 June, 2008 

90 percent of foreign investment in Burma goes to oil and gas business

More than 90 percent of foreign investment in Burma last year was funneled into the oil and gas sectors, according to a recently released government report.

Total foreign investment in 2007 totaled US$504.8 million of which US$474.3 million was in the oil and gas sector, the Ministry of National Planning and Development said in its latest statistical survey.
The United Kingdom led the oil and gas investors, with US$187 million, followed by India and Singapore.
Thailand last year invested US$16.22 million and Germany US$2.5 million into the manufacturing sector and South Korea US$12 million in the fishing industry, same report said.
The report said there was no new investment in mining, real estate, hotel and tourism, transport, power and the industrial sector.

“Most foreign investment in Myanmar goes into oil and gas sectors” Associated Press, 30 June, 2008 

PTTEP sign a major gas deal with Burma’s government

A Thai energy firm has signed a major deal to drill for natural gas in military-ruled Burma, an official with the company said.

The agreement — to develop the M9 block in the Gulf of Martaban — was signed by PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) with Burma’s junta in the country’s remote capital Naypyidaw.

Under the deal, PTTEP will work with the state-run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise to develop the field, the Thai firm’s CEO Anon Sirisaengtaksin said in a statement to the stock exchange.

The field is expected to produce 300 million cubic feet of gas per day, with 80 percent exported to Thailand and the rest supplying Burma, the statement said.

Energy-hungry Thailand imports about 20 percent of its gas from Myanmar and is vying for a bigger share of its vast natural resources.

“Thai energy firm signs major gas deal with Myanmar, says official” Agence France-Presse, 25 June, 2008 

India gives US$ 84 million loans and credits to Burma

India agreed to provide Burma with US$84 million in loans and credits to build power transmission lines and an aluminum plant, state media said.

Four agreements related to the loans were signed during the visit to Burma by India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Power Shri Jairam Ramesh.

The agreements covered a loan of US$64 million to finance three power transmission lines and a US$20 million credit line to build an aluminum wire plant.

US agencies should avoid providing aid to SPDC

In amendments to the Supplemental Appropriations Act 2008, the US House of Representatives has passed a bill that says US agencies should seek to avoid passing humanitarian relief through the military junta to cyclone victims in Burma.

Supplemental Appropriations Act 2008, passed on June 19 by the US House of Representatives made specific reference to the cyclone disaster last month that resulted in the death of more than 130,000 people in the Irrawaddy delta.

Stating that the Burmese junta, or State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has compounded the humanitarian crisis in Burma by failing to respond to the needs of the Burmese people in the wake of Cyclone Nargis and by refusing offers of assistance from the international community, Supplemental Appropriations Act states: “The Department of State and USAID should seek to avoid providing assistance to or through the SPDC.”

Under a sub-section on Food Security and Cyclone Nargis Relief , the amended text on Section 1414 (a) now reads: “For an additional amount for ‘International Disaster Assistance,’ [US] $225 million to address the international food crisis globally and for assistance for Burma to address the effects of Cyclone Nargis: Provided, that not less than $125 million should be made available for the local or regional purchase and distribution of food to address the international food crisis: Provided further, that notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds appropriated under this heading may be made available for assistance for the State Peace and Development Council.
“These funds should be used to respond to urgent humanitarian requirements worldwide, including Burma, Bangladesh, the People’s Republic of China, and countries severely affected by the international food crisis,” it said.
The amended bill also includes another $5.3 million in assistance for humanitarian programs along the Thai-Burmese border.

UN body condemn “ongoging systematic violation of human rights” in Burma

The United Nations Human Rights Council condemned “ongoing systematic violations of human rights” in Burma.
The U.N. body also called on the government to stop making politically motivated arrests and to release all political prisoners immediately.
In a resolution adopted without a vote, the council also called on the Burma’s government to fully implement commitments it made to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that it would grant relief workers “immediate, full and unhindered access” to people in need in the wake of last month’s catastrophic Cyclone Nargis, a U.N. press statement said.
It called on the government to refrain from sending victims of the disaster back to areas where they would not have access to emergency relief, and to ensure that any returns are voluntary, safe and carried out with dignity.
The resolution, introduced before the Geneva-based Council by the European Union, also condemned the recruitment of child soldiers by both government forces and non-state armed groups and urged “an absolute an immediate stop of this appalling activity.”
Besides, it called for an independent investigation into reports of human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, acts of torture and forced labor, and called for those responsible for such crimes to be brought to justice.

“U.N. condemns ongoing human rights violation in Myanmar” All Headlines News,  19 June 2008 

Human Rights body should include all Asean members

Most participants from the two-day workshop of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said all the 10-members, including Burma, should be included in a future human rights body for the regional organization.
Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said most people felt that it would be better if all countries could be part of the future human rights body.
Most experts attending the ASEAN human rights workshop supported the idea of inclusion of all ASEAN members, but some of them thought that a human rights body for ASEAN should proceed only with a coalition of the willing, Tay said.
From Tay’s point of view, the establishment of a human rights body for ASEAN would be difficult but not impossible.
“All members should be included in ASEAN human rights body” , Xinhua, 13 June 2008