BI Weekly No. 349

July 22nd - 28th, 2008

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

Inside Burma

Border

International

A deserted Burmese soldier reveals hard life under SPDC

KHRG conducted the interview with a former State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) soldier who deserted from the Burma Army in late 2007. The interviewee, 28-year-old Ko S--- of Thaton township, spoke to KHRG in July 2008 about his experiences in the Army from recruitment, to training, to frontline duty, to eventual escape. In the interview, Ko S--- described the Army's continued use of child soldiers, poor treatment of civilians and low-ranking soldiers and the deployment of soldiers against monks and other civilians during the country's September 2007 protests.

Ko S--- was himself deployed during the September protests. He said that when he was ordered to shoot on protesting monks, he instead fired into the air. This non-compliance with a military directive led to his subsequent arrest, detention and torture. However, as the Army was in need of soldiers to continue the offensive in Karen State following the 2007 rainy season, Ko S--- was taken out of detention, demoted from his previous rank of 2nd lieutenant to corporal and sent to fight on the frontlines.

When he finally fled from the Burma Army while serving in Karen State, Ko S--- took his gun with him - a much more severe crime than absconding without one's weapon - and had to run through the forest from pursuing soldiers. Ko S--- now dares not return to his home in Burma, fearing severe retaliation from SPDC military authorities. Along with the name of Ko S---, other details of the interview - such as his battalion number and commander's name - have been censored in order to protect his family, which is vulnerable to retributive punishment for Ko S---'s desertion.

“Interview with an SPDC deserter” KHRG report, July 28, 2008
read full interview at http://www.khrg.org/khrg2008/khrg08b5.html

Nearly three months after the powerful Cyclone Nargis tore through Burma’s
Irrawaddy Delta, it has emerged that the majority of those who died in the devastated area were women.

61 percent of those who died were female, reveals the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA), a report released by the tripartite group set up to respond to the humanitarian crisis in military-ruled Burma.
"In some severely affected villages, twice as many women aged 18-60 died as men," the report said.

The same pattern was also evident in the deaths of children in the 5-12 age group and the among the children below five years, where there was a noticeably higher number of young girls who died when Nargis struck than young boys, adds the report, released last week.

But this report stuck to the official death toll that was released in the weeks after Nargis struck on the night of May 3. "The official death toll stood at 84,537 with 53,836 people still missing and 19,359 injured," it notes. "Assessment data shows that some 2.4 million people were severely affected by the cyclone, out of an estimated 7.35 million people living in the affected townships."

Yet other estimates have put the human toll much higher, with possibly close to 300,000 people being killed and some 5.5 million people affected.

The report also shed light on the economic and social cost of the natural disaster. "Nargis struck just as the Delta’s paddy farmers were at the very last stage of harvesting the so-called 'dry season' crop, which accounts for about 25 percent of the annual (rice) productions in the affected area, and destroyed several rice warehouses and their stocks," it reveals.

The damage to the homes of the largely poor communities that lived in the Delta was as severe. "Nargis affected approximately 800,000 housing units: around 450,000 units are estimated to have been totally damaged and around 350,000 unites were more lightly damaged," states the report.

Looking ahead, the PONJA notes that assistance is needed for safe drinking water and safe excreta disposal for 1.4 million affected people through April 2009, and "the rehabilitation of traditional ponds and rainwater harvesting systems by September 2008."

“Females hit worst by Cyclone Nargis” Irrawaddy, July 28, 2008

BACK TO TOP

No ‘political prisoners’ in Burma?

Burma’s state-run newspapers rejected the use of the term “political prisoners” to describe imprisoned dissidents, saying in a series of articles published ahead of
Commemoration of the United Nations’ Declaration on Prisoners of Conscience that detained activists were actually guilty of criminal offenses.

From July 22 to 24, The Mirror and Myanma Alin, two of the ruling junta’s mouthpieces, ran a three-part article, “Political Cases, Political Prisoners and the Definition of Burmese Law,” which addressed the question of whether there are any political prisoners in Burma.

Referring to Article 5 (j) of the State Emergency Act and Article 124 (a) of the State Offence Act, which are often used by the authorities to charge and imprison political dissidents, the newspapers claimed that since Burmese law does not use the term “political prisoner,” they cannot possibly exist in Burmese prisons.

The newspapers argued that the Articles 1-8 of the State Emergency Act, which has been in effect since 1950, cover a wide range of issues, including security, administration, communications, taxation and the economy, but do not relate to political affairs.

“No political prisoner in Burma: junta’s mouthpieces” Irrawaddy, July 24, 2008

The larger ethnic Kachin organisations in Northern Burma set up an 'Interim Kachin Committee (IKC)' on June 20 to form a big Kachin and Non-Kachin political party to gear up for Burma's 2010 general elections announced by the military junta, sources said.

The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) along with the Kachin National Consultative Assembly (KNCA) are all involved in playing a political game in keeping with the junta's seven-step roadmap to ‘disciplined democracy’ in which ethnic minority rights are ignored in the new constitution. It is ostensibly being called a step at a time for autonomy of Kachin State.

According to KIO and NDA-K leaders, the committee aims to form the biggest political party in Kachin State at an appropriate time when the junta allows the setting up of political parties for the 2010 elections, said an executive committee member of KNCA based in Myitkina, the capital of Kachin State.

The 'Interim Kachin Committee' was set up to prevent the junta forming a political party in the current situation, said IKC sources.

“Kachins form interim committee for 2010 elections”, Kachin News Group, July 24, 2008

BACK TO TOP

Discrimination over aid distribution among cyclone victims

Discrimination is evident in distribution of aid, with many victims of Cyclone Nargis still not getting adequate relief material being disbursed by international aid groups including the United Nations agencies, a new report said.

The new report, 'An Alternative Assessment of the Humanitarian Assistance in the Irrawaddy Delta', released by Ko Shwe, an independent Burmese researcher, said even more than two months after the cyclone, several victims in remote areas are still struggling in the absence of proper aid supplies. He also said there is a lack of strategic coordination amongst UN agencies, international agencies and local groups including local NGOs and social groups, in the delivery of relief, data collection, impact assessment and information sharing, which is leading to overlapping in relief distribution.

The report said there are questions of accountability, transparency in aid distribution as it is often conducted through junta-backed civil organization the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA).

Meanwhile, UN Humanitarian Chief John Holmes, who is in Burma to assess the relief and rehabilitation situation on Tuesday said, though much has been done to help the cyclone victims, there is still need to reach vulnerable groups in remote areas.

Holmes, who is visiting Burma for the second time since Cyclone Nargis struck the country in May, will meet key Burmese humanitarian actors, as well as Burmese Minister for National Planning and Economic Development and Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.

“Discrimination over aid distribution among cyclone victims: new report” Mizzima News, July 23, 2008

BACK TO TOP

About 300 Karen villagers in Burma have fled to Thailand after the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and Burmese army units took over their villages, according to sources in the area.

Robert Soe, an officer in the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Battalion 201, said refugees from four villages began arriving in Thailand last weekend. They are temporarily living in Valeki in Pob Phra District in Tak Province.

According to local people in Valeki, the Karen villagers said soldiers with the DKBA, and the Burmese army took over their villages and forced them to work as porters during a military operation along the border.

Several hundred more villagers are reportedly displaced persons now inside Burma.

“They are planning to go back after the DKBA and Burmese soldiers leave their villages because they have everything there, houses and farms,” said Ba Wah, a resident in Valeki.

The exodus started early this month following skirmishes between the KNLA and the DKBA near Valeki village, across the border from Phadee. DKBA troops backed by Burmese army units took over a military base belonging to the military wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), KNLA Battalion 201.

“Karen villagers flee Burmese forces” Irrawaddy, July 28, 2008

Relief material from Muslim Aid of UK and Islamic Relief Organization (IRO) was distributed in the undocumented Burmese Rohingya refugee camp where five refugees died of starvation between 2nd and 19 July.

The camp was shifted to a new location (Lada camp) on July 6. The camp is better than the one in Dum Dum Meah. But, the refugees faced difficulties finding jobs and to support their families as the camp was located far from the local business area. The camp faced shortage of food and refugees began starving. As the results 5 refugees died.  
Currently the Lada camp hosts 1,972 families, and the camp will be extended for 2,000 families. Refugees will be provided ration in the days to come, according to Union Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md. Altaf Hossain Chowdhury of Teknaf.

“Help arrives in Burmese refugee camp after starvation deaths” Kaladan News, July 28, 2008

The Burmese Army in southern Mon State has ordered farmers to replant seedlings in rows in fields even if they have completed cultivating.

This order was issued by the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No 587 based in Aru-taung village Ye Township. The army officers removed cultivated paddy plants without telling the owners.

The army also ordered farmers cultivating between Aru-taung and Taung bone village to replant systemically in rows.

The farmer said that the army also stuck white and red flags in the fields. Other paddy fields owners have to plant in rows in their entire farm according to the army order. That's why the remaining farmers are afraid of replanting paddy and watching the movement of the army.

Burmese army confiscated over 500 acres of farmland between Kun-duu and San-kha-ke village northern part of Ye Township in 2002.

“Burmese army orders replant seedlings in rows” Independent Mon News Agency. July 22, 2008

BACK TO TOP

Relatives of each migrant worker get 35,000 baht in suffocation cases

An insurance company will initially pay 35,000 baht ($1,044) to relatives of each Burmese migrant worker who died on April 9 from suffocation in the back of a seafood truck in southern Ranong province, a senior Thai Justice Ministry official said.

The incident occurred because the driver apparently failed to turn on the air conditioning in the container, which was normally used to transport frozen food. A total of 121 people had been crammed inside the container only six metres long and 2.2 metres wide.

Another 65,000 baht will be paid to relatives of each victim in accordance with the Thailand's automobile accident law if the victims were found to have not committed any crime.

Of the remaining survivors, Thai police investigators have taken 10 of them as witnesses, while others have been repatriated to Burma.

“Burmese receive 35,000 baht in suffocation cases” Bangkok Post, July 22, 2008

BACK TO TOP

Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom misunderstood: Burma’s FM says

Burma's military government has denied that the country's opposition leader will be freed by the end of the year, saying that reports of her early release from house arrest were incorrect.

Nyan Win, Foreign Minister, said his statement about Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom had been misunderstood by his counterparts at the Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) meeting, according to Singapore officials.

The clarification comes a day after Singapore's foreign minister quoted Nyan Win as hinting that Aung San Suu Kyi could be released within six months.

George Yeo said on Monday that Burma's foreign minister had told him that according to law a political detainee could be held for a maximum of six years, and that the limit was approaching in about "half a year's time".

In a rare move on Monday the 10-nation Asean grouping issued a strong rebuke to Myanmar at the opening of a four-day annual security summit expressing "deep disappointment" at Aung San Suu Kyi's continued arrest.

“Myanmar denies Suu Kyi release” Aljazeera, July 22, 2008

BACK TO TOP

Man attempts suicide outside Burmese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur

The Malaysian police arrested a Burmese national following a failed attempt at committing suicide outside the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur on July 22, a Burmese activist, quoting police sources said.

According to the Malaysian police, Saw Noung, the Burmese national, first hurled a petrol bomb at the Burmese embassy but the bomb exploded before hitting the building. Then, he doused himself with petrol to set himself ablaze but the police took him away.

The Malaysian police suspects Saw Noung to be a Burmese opposition activist and told him to take responsibility for the movement by Burmese opposition activists in Kuala Lumpur.

Ye Min Tun, who has spearheaded several Burmese opposition activities in Kuala Lumpur, however, denied knowledge of Saw Noung being an opposition activist.

While the reason behind Saw Noung's attempted suicide remains unknown, Malaysian police said he is currently in custody.

“Man attempts suicide outside Burmese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur” Mizzima News, July 23, 2008

BACK TO TOP

International aid money lost to regime, says UN

International aid money sent to Burma's cyclone victims is being lost as a result of the junta's foreign exchange regulations, according to United Nations officials.

John Holmes, the UN's humanitarian affairs chief, has described the loss as "a serious problem" that he had raised with Burmese leaders during a visit this week. They had promised to address the issue.

The UN's first acknowledgement of the gravity of the problem followed claims by Burmese political exiles that the regime was using exchange controls to pocket a proportion of donor funds. While UN officials could put no figure on the losses, the exiles claimed they might amount to 20 per cent of the tens of millions of dollars so far spent.

A spokeswoman for Mr Holmes office said the "vast majority" of aid to Burma was purchased outside the country and not subject to the exchange control anomaly. Any losses would principally be related to salaries and expenses of local aid personnel.

“Burma aid cash lost to regime, says UN” Financial Times, July 26, 2008.

Rice urges ASEAN to more pressure on Burma

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Southeast Asian nations to put more pressure on Burmese military regime to improve human rights and adopt democratic reforms.

Speaking after meeting foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations, Rice said ASEAN especially needs to push Burma to release political prisoners, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

"We believe that ASEAN has an important role to play in addressing the root cause of Burma's grave problems -- the repression of Burma's democracy movement," Rice said.

Rice said the best way for ASEAN to become stronger was to expand democracy and the rule of law among its members.

“Rice urges ASEAN to push Myanmar to reform” Reuters, July 23,2008

BACK TO TOP

UN chief's ‘Group of Friends’ discuss on Burma

The United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon convened a meeting of the 'Group of Friends' to review the situation in Burma and to discuss the ensuing visit of his special envoy Ibrahim Gambari.

"The Group expressed strong support for the Secretary-General's good offices and efforts," said a statement by the UN Secretary General's spokesperson.

At the same time the Group noted that Gambari's next visit to military-ruled Burma need to show tangible progress that includes resumption of dialogue between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the regime, the credibility of the electoral process, and the regularization of engagement with the UN Secretary General.

The meeting was attended by Australia, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Russia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam, the European Community and the European Union.

The UN chief's Group of Friends met for the fourth time since it was set up in December 2007, following the Burmese junta's use of force to crackdown on peaceful protesters in September.

“UN Chief convenes fourth 'Group of Friends' meet on Burma” Mizzima News, July 24, 2008

BACK TO TOP

New US sanctions on Burma approved but not Chevron

The US oil giant Chevron will continue to do business in Burma after a provision to stop it operating there was removed from the latest round of US sanctions on the country.

The new sanctions plan, approved on July 22 by Congress and expected to receive quick approval from the White House, prevents the sale of Burmese gems and timber in the US via third parties bringing the US into line with EU and Canadian policy. Profits from those products have enriched Burma's oppressive military regime.

But Congress chose not to sanction Chevron, the largest US business still operating in Burma. An early version of the plan would have forced the company to give up its 28% stake in the Yadana natural gas field, which the regime considers a crucial political priority.

Human rights advocates have linked the Yadana project to ongoing abuses by the regime, including forced labour, rapes and land confiscation to make room for the natural gas pipeline which is slated to run from Burma to Thailand.

“US removes oil giant from Burma sanctions” Guardian (UK), July 23, 2008

BACK TO TOP