BI Weekly No. 350

July 29th - August 4th, 2008

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

Inside Burma

Border

International

UN’s new human rights envoy visit Burma

The UN's new human rights envoy for Burma met with senior Buddhist monks on Monday, as his first visit to the military-ruled nation got under way, a senior official said.

United Nations special rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana, who took up his post in May, met with the monks as well as other religious leaders in Rangoon.

The official did not say whether Quintana met monks who were personally involved in the protests.

Later Monday, Quintana was set to meet with the panel coordinating the relief effort for 2.4 million victims of Cyclone Nargis. The so-called Tripartite Core Group includes representatives of Burma’s government, the United Nations, and other Southeast Asian countries. Quintana plans Tuesday to visit the hardest-hit regions of the Irrawaddy Delta.

Before his trip ends on August 7, he also aims to meet state officials, ethnic groups and political parties, and try to open talks with the generals on improving their human rights record.

“UN envoy meets Myanmar monks: official” Agence France Presse, August 4, 2008

Burmese military regime is giving desperately needed aid to cyclone survivors on credit, requiring them to pay back to the government any assistance offered, officials said.

The officials insisted that government had allowed aid for farmers to plant their fields and for fishermen to return to their boats, but insisted that the cyclone victims would have to reimburse the regime for the aid received. “If everything is free of charge, its value is very low. If something must be paid back, then they try their best to do it. This is the system,” one senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The government will distribute everything for them through a payback system. Otherwise, controlling the aid will be very difficult,” he said.
Farmers have no choice but to accept the loans, but say they don’t know how they will ever repay them.

“Myanmar asking farmers to repay cyclone aid” Agence France Presse, August 4, 2008

BACK TO TOP

Activists call to boycott Burmese “blood jade” in Beijing Olympic

Activists are calling on global consumers to boycott souvenirs and jewelry made of Burmese jade in order to avoid supporting Burma’s abuse-ridden jade mining industry that provides the military regime with one of its largest sources of solid cash, according to a new report released today.

The report named “Blood Jade: Burmese Gemstones & the Beijing Games” was released by All Kachin Students & Youth Union(AKSYU) and 8-8-08 for Burma and urged individuals-global consumers, Olympic spectators and Olympic athletes and visitors to China for the 2008 Summer Olympics to boycott the sale of Burma blood in Beijing and beyond.

The report said, “The Beijing Organizing Committee of the Games of the
XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the government of the Peoples Republic of China should take immediate action to curb the global trade in blood jade, beginning by ending their promotion of jade products from Burma.”

Cristina Moon, executive director of the 8888 for Burma said, “We are relieved that the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games has sourced the jade for the Olympic medals and official souvenirs from China.”

“But there is a growing demand for Burmese jade that will only increase due to the Olympic promotion of jade. The generals will keep using their jade profits to buy weapons and crush dissent in Burma unless individuals take a stand.”

On 29 July, US president George W Bush signed legislation into law to prevent US retailers of Burmese gems from legally profiting from the trade.

“Activists urge people to boycott Burmese “blood jade” in Beijing Olympics” Shan Herald Agency for News, August 4, 2008

Bombs exploded in two eastern states leaving no casualties but damaging government infrastructure, state media said.

The blasts, hitting an electricity pylon and telephone operator office, were blamed on ethnic Karen anti-government insurgents by the New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
An electricity pylon collapsed in one explosion in Lawpita-Toungoo, Pa-an
district in Karen state at 10:40 pm local time last Sunday. And at the government-run telephone operator office in Mudon township in Mon state in another attack at 11:30 pm local time the same day, it said.

The New Light accused the Karen National Union (KNU) of planting the bombs. However, KNU denied junta accusation of blasting.

“Bomb blasts in two Myanmar states: state media” Agence France-Presse, August 1, 2008

BACK TO TOP

Burmese comedian charged with "inducing public offence"

The junta has charged popular comedian and leading dissident Zarganar with public order offences, which could see him jailed for up to two years, a lawyer said.

Zarganar was arrested on June 3 after publicly criticising the ruling generals for their sluggish response to Cyclone Nargis.

Opposition lawyer Aung Thein said Zarganar was charged with "inducing public offence" at a secret hearing inside Insein prison on Wednesday. Three other anti-government activists also appeared at the hearing.

As one of the former Burma's most recognised public faces, Zarganar had been a focal point of the informal relief effort by private citizens into the delta. Unsanctioned donors were frequently harassed and intimidated by police and the military.

Secret police also seized Zarganar's computer and several banned films, including the latest Rambo movie and the leaked video of the lavish "champagne and diamonds" wedding in 2006 of junta supremo Than Shwe's daughter.

“Myanmar charges comedian with public order offence” Reuters, August 1,2008 

BACK TO TOP

The Burmese military government has issued a warning to rice traders not to sell rice to the World Food Programme and not to sell to restricted areas or to illegal exporters, sources in Rangoon and the Irrawaddy delta said.

The military government has imposed the restrictions to stabilize rice prices in local markets and to prevent rice shortages. Burma lost many of its paddy farms and thousands of tons of stored rice following Cyclone Nargis.

"We can't sell rice out of restricted areas, we can't export rice abroad, and additionally, we cannot sell rice to the WFP. If we violate this order, we could receive one year imprisonment or our license could be revoked," said a rice wholesale trader at the Ba Yint Naung market in Rangoon.

As a result, rice prices seem to have gone down and the market is plentiful and stable, say sources.

According to the Rangoon mayor, the cost for a basket of rice has gone down 100 to 150 kyat below market prices in tax-free market shops and in special subsidized rice shops.

A sack of rice now sells for about 1,000 kyat below May prices, said one trader. A sack of rice weighs about 108 pounds and sells for about 45,000 kyat (US $30). One US dollar is about 1,200 kyat.

“Rice supplies stable, prices falling” Irrawaddy August 1, 2008

Nearly the entire population of the Htoi Ra Yang village, 30 miles from the Sinbo logging fields in Kachin State, northern Burma has been afflicted by malaria and cholera, a source said.

Villagers suffering from the diseases are now under medical care of the
Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the UK based Health Unlimited (HU).

“The diseases in the village are a fall out of mosquitoes breeding in dirty water. In the monsoons most villagers suffer from cholera,” said a health worker from HU who recently returned from Htoi Ra Yang village.

According to a health worker, the KIO has taken care of the travel documents to facilitate the medical care programme, whereas the Burmese authorities do not given permission to travel if one does not have the national identity card.

“Nearly entire Htoi Ra Yang population suffer from Malaria and cholera”
Kachin News Group, July 31, 2008

The China-Burma border though not close is unusually tight during the Beijing Olympics games, according to sources.

“The Chinese security has even closed some of the ferry crossings on the
Mao-Shweli river (that runs between the two countries into the Irrawaddy),” said a businessman from Muse, opposite Ruili. “We are also seeing reinforced security forces.”

Further south, residents of Mongla, opposite Daluo, who normally went back and forth across the border, say they can no longer do it, as the People’s
Liberation Army (PLA) had since mid-July dispatched hundreds of troops to the border. “Those who are caught are being detained at least for the duration of the Olympics,” said a Shan businessman who had closed his shop in Mongla to find work in Tachilek, opposite Thailand’s Maesai. “The border trade there has practically come to a standstill.”

An officer in the United Wa State Army (UWSA) also confirmed the news with further details. “We can no longer enter China further than Menglian (opposite Panghsang, the Wa capital),” he said. “In the past they used to have only one checkpoint between Panghsang-Meng Ah (Mong Nga) and Menglian (Mong Lem), but now there are three more checkpoints.”

“China tightens border security” Shan Herald Agency for News, July 30, 2008.

BACK TO TOP

Advocacy group appeals for common stance on Burma

A leading regional advocacy group for human rights and democracy in Burma, says that a unified international position vis-a-vis the generals in Naypyidaw is essential if fundamental change is to come to the country.

Issued in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the 8-8-88 uprising in Burma, ALTSEAN Burma (Alternative ASEAN network on Burma) asserts that: "Twenty years after the 8888 national uprising, the international community must realize that unconditional engagement, discreet diplomacy, and ASEAN's so-called constructive engagement has failed."

The organization views the ultimate failure of the current U.S.-led sanctions approach as a result of the steadfastness of several countries ­including many of Burma's neighbors and regional trading partners ­to join in a common international position.

"The international community must adopt a common position to ensure that
Burma's military regime delivers genuine reforms within a clearly-stated timeframe," reads the opinion of ALTSEAN released today. "Countries of ASEAN, South and East Asia, in particular China and India, have the main responsibility to ensure there is genuine change in Burma."

While calling for the release of all political prisoners, ultimately ALTSEAN sees the necessity of a tripartite dialogue between the junta, National League for Democracy and ethnic leadership.

“Advocacy group appeals for common stance on Burma” Mizzima News, August 4, 2008

BACK TO TOP

Bush to meet Burmese activist in Bangkok

US President George W Bush will travel to South Korea, Thailand and China before taking part in the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics.

While in Thailand, Bush, accompanied by his wife, Laura, will make a major policy statement on Burma while also meeting Burmese opposition group members.

On his second day in Thailand, Bush will attend a briefing by nongovernmental organizations and US agencies on the Cyclone Nargis relief effort.

"He will have a lunch in Bangkok with Burmese activists and hear their stories. And then he will be interviewed by the press in Thailand that broadcasts into Burma, so he can give a message directly to the Burmese people," said Dennis Wilder, the senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council.

While Laura Bush will meet with refugees of the Mae La Refugee Camp, one of the largest refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border, then, she will travel to the Mae Tao Clinic founded by Dr. Cynthia Maung.

 “Burma on Bush agenda while in Thailand” Irrawaddy, July 31, 2008

BACK TO TOP