Wednesday, 16 November, 2011
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US Calls for More Change in Burma
By LALIT K JHA/ Washington Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Hours before US President Barack Obama landed in Australia, a top White House official said there have been positive changes in Burma recently and that the US wants those changes to continue.
"We have seen some positive movement [in Burma], but of course we'd like to see a continued change in the behavior of the government with respect to human rights," Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters travelling with Obama on his way to Canberra.
Meanwhile, the US State Department welcomed recent news reports from Burma according to which the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will be contesting upcoming by-elections in the country.
"We've seen some positive developments, or signs, from the government in Burma. We've had some good discussions with the government," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference.
"We have said that we want to see concrete and positive steps, including the release of all political prisoners. We would also like to see an opening-up of their political system there," Toner said.
The US spokesman said that until these concrete steps are taken, the US administration will not change its policy of economic sanctions against the Burmese government.
"We believe that our discussions thus far have been positive. They've been constructive, but we're looking for more concrete action," Toner said.
Meanwhile, speaking in Bali, Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said that "things are moving in the right direction, with some fundamental changes taking place," in reference to Burma's attempt to meet conditions to chair the bloc in 2014, a decision that the Asean leaders are expected to make at the Bali summit this week.http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22466
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Asean ministers 'to approve' Burma as 2014 chair
Published: 16/11/2011 at 02:32 AM
Online news: Asia
Southeast Asian ministers said Tuesday they would approve Burma's bid to chair their 10-member bloc in 2014, in a major boost for its new government after a series of reform gestures.
A policeman mans his post while tourists stroll at the Nusa Dua convention and resort enclave, where the flags of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are displayed, in Bali. Southeast Asian ministers said Tuesday they would approve Myanmar's bid to chair their 10-member bloc in 2014, in a major boost for its new government after a series of reform gestures.
Their move goes against warnings that giving Burma's nominally civilian administration the diplomatic prize so quickly will remove the incentive for more fundamental reforms in a nation still accused of major rights abuses.
"Everybody agrees to Burma, 2014," Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman told reporters at Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) talks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
"They have taken positive steps toward democratisation. We should encourage them more by letting them host the meeting," he said. The bloc's leaders will make a formal decision this week based on the ministers' recommendation.
In 2006, Burma was forced to renounce the Asean rotating presidency in the face of intense criticism over its human rights record and failure to shift to democracy.
But since elections a year ago that ostensibly ended decades of military rule, the new regime has unveiled surprising measures including prisoner releases that have begun to rehabilitate the nation's pariah status.
A decision to allow Burma to chair Asean would involve it hosting the 10-nation group's summit, as well as the wider East Asia Summit that includes Burma's arch-critic the US, which maintains sanctions against the regime.
But Burma's Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin indicated that the decision was settled.
"All the ministers support Burma's chairmanship in 2014 and I welcome the decision," he told reporters.
Tan See Seng from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said the decision would be a dream come true for Burma's leaders who have long sought legitimacy and chafed against Western sanctions.
"Burma has really been putting in the right moves -- putting on a good show -- partly in regards to freeing up the political system, albeit in a very limited way," he told AFP.
"I think that for Asean leaders, giving Burma the chair would be a way of patting them on the back and encouraging them to continue what they have been recently doing domestically."
The United States however appeared to cast doubt on its own participation in any summit in Burma.
"Our understanding of Asean practice is that it is not normal to name a host three years in advance, and we think it would be premature to select Burma given its record on a range of issues," a senior Obama administration official said, on condition of anonymity.
Southeast Asian lawmakers also voiced concern that granting Burma the prize prematurely could end the reform process, and that it should introduce more concrete measures before being rewarded.
"This is to ensure that Burma will not just fool Asean into getting the chairmanship, and that they will continue with the democratic process," said Eva Sundari Kusuma from Asean's Inter-parliamentary Burma Caucus.
"Our call is very clear. Let us postpone. But if Asean agrees to let Burma be the chair of Asean, then they must put some conditionalities such as a specific action plan including the release of prisoners."
Burma's new administration, which is staging its diplomatic coming-out party in Bali, has surprised critics by holding direct talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and freezing work on an unpopular mega-dam.
It freed some 200 dissidents from last month but caused disappointment by leaving many figures behind bars, and another mass release expected for Monday has been delayed for reasons that remain unclear.
There also concerns over whether President Thein Sein will follow through on the moves already made, given the risk of a backlash by hardliners who may not share his apparent enthusiasm for change.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Asean's leaders would make a formal decision on the chairmanship issue when they meet later this week.
"We discussed it thoroughly. All those who have spoken spoke in a very positive note," he said after ministerial talks Tuesday. "I would be surprised if there is any dissenting view.
"The overwhelming sense is that there are positive conditions for Burma's chairmanship but we hope that this chairmanship would bring more momentum for change in Burma." http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/266498/asean-ministers-to-approve-burma-as-2014-chair
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Burma set to defy critics with nod as Asean host
Published: 16/11/2011 at 02:32 PM
Online news: Asia
The United States and activists criticised a plan to hand the chairmanship of Southeast Asia's regional bloc to Burma, which ministers are set to endorse Wednesday, calling it premature.
Myanmar Foreign Minister U Wanna Maung Lwin (L) shakes hands with Indonesian Minister for Political and Security Djoko Suryanto (R) before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Political Security Community Council meeting in Nusa Dua, on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on November 16, 2011.
Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have said that Burma's military-backed government deserves the diplomatic prize as a reward for a series of reform gestures since elections a year ago.
But critics say that allowing Burma to host the bloc's summit and the wider East Asia Summit in 2014 could remove the incentive for more fundamental change in a nation still accused of major rights abuses.
The United States, which under the arrangement would be expected to send its president to attend the 2014 summit, has already cast doubt over its participation.
"Our understanding of Asean practice is that it is not normal to name a host three years in advance, and we think it would be premature to select Burma (Burma) given its record on a range of issues," a senior administration official said Tuesday, on condition of anonymity.
Burma, long an international pariah under military rule, was forced to renounce Asean's rotating presidency for 2006 in the face of intense criticism over its human rights record.
But after Asean talks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali Tuesday, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said the 10-member bloc had agreed to hand Burma the post in 2014.
"They have taken positive steps toward democratisation. We should encourage them more by letting them host the meeting," he said.
The ministers' recommendation is expected to be announced Wednesday, with the region's leaders making a formal decision later this week.
Burma's nominally civilian administration -- led by a former member of the junta that ruled for decades -- has made some conciliatory moves since the election that was boycotted by democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
Just eight months after being sworn in, it has held direct talks with Suu Kyi, frozen work on an unpopular mega-dam and passed a law giving workers the right to strike.
It freed some 200 dissidents from prison last month but caused disappointment by leaving many figures behind bars, and another mass release expected to be announced on Monday has been delayed.
Campaign groups said that Burma had not done enough to win the right to helm Asean and receive the accompanying air of international legitimacy.
"In principle we see Burma is not ready to chair Asean," said Agung Putri Astrid, executive director of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Burma Caucus.
"Necessary conditions" remained unfulfilled, she said, including the release of all political prisoners and legal guarantees of freedom of expression.
"There are some people in the government who eagerly want to have more changes but it is a very tough job for the government to convince the old guard that this movement will go to a better situation for Burma."
Elaine Pearson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said that further benchmarks that should be attached to Burma's chairmanship included ending abuses in ethnic minority areas.
Political prisoners should not be treated as "bargaining chips to appease the international community", she said.
"I don't think the international community should be fooled by these small steps and should ensure larger steps are put in place."
Suu Kyi said this week that events over the past year had been "encouraging" and a series of high-level Western envoys have gone to the capital Naypyidaw to assess the mood for themselves.
"It is clear that there are grounds for cautious optimism, but the picture is mixed," said the latest envoy to visit, Britain's International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, according to a BBC report. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/266565/burma-set-to-defy-critics-with-nod-as-asean-host
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Leading article: It's not yet spring in Burma
Wednesday 16 November 2011
Is Burma turning the corner? Andrew Mitchell, the International Development Secretary, does not rule out the possibility: there were "grounds for cautious optimism", he said yesterday, ahead of his trip to the country, the first by a British minister for decades. And the Association of South-East Asian Nations certainly thinks so: yesterday it let it be known that the Burmese regime's reforms of the past few months are to be rewarded with the organisation's rotating chair for 2014, a major diplomatic prize.
In the past four months, President Thein Sein, a retired general, has pushed through a number of measures designed to convince the outside world that his government is serious about bringing reform to Asia's most scandalously ill-ruled nation. He has held talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, eased censorship rules to allow her face and her words to appear on the newsstands for the first time in 20 years, set free more than 200 of the approximately 2,000 political prisoners and legalised trade unions. He pleased the masses and surprised the outside world by freezing work on a Chinese-sponsored dam on the Irrawaddy, declaring it "against the will of the people".
All these developments are welcome, but the President has been careful not to tread on the toes of his reactionary adversaries within the regime. The army continues to commit bloody aggression against the Karen, Shan and Kachin minorities on the borders, and it is reported that more people are being forcibly displaced in south-east Burma than at any time in the past 10 years. None of the privileges of the kleptocratic retired generals or their cronies have been infringed upon. Nothing has happened, in the way of increased government support for health and education, to persuade the ordinary people that last year's phoney election did them any good.
The changes, in other words, have been both stunning and cosmetic, which is a measure of the intensity of the repression that Burma's military rulers have clamped on the country for nearly 50 years. Suu Kyi said in a press conference on Monday that she believes the President is "genuine" in his desire for change -- but the fact that she has yet to recommend the lifting of sanctions indicates that there is still much to do.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-its-not-yet-spring-in-burma-6262660.html
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ASEAN foriegn ministers back Burma as chair
Foreign ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations have agreed to recommend that their leaders approve Burma's bid to chair the organisation in 2014.
Later this week ASEAN leaders will make a formal decision on Burma's controversial bid to host the 2014 ASEAN summit.
After a meeting with his ASEAN counterparts Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said there was consensus on Burma's chairmanship for 2014.
Burma's new administration has won praise for holding direct talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and last month freeing about 200 political prisoners.
Human rights groups say far more concrete reforms are still needed.
ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said the regional bloc has helped push Burma towards change.
"What we have said to Myanmar is that we hope there is not going to be a reversal of this positive development trend, and this trend certainly will be conducive to Myanmar's own engagement with the region and with the global community." he said
Regional stand-off
Dr Surin says he's confident the association can work with China to resolve the long-standing territorial dispute over the South China Sea.
On Tuesday ASEAN foreign ministers met in Bali and discussed plans for a legally binding code of conduct for maritime activities in the South China Sea.
The disputed region is claimed in whole or part by China, Taiwan, Brunei, the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Tensions over the seas have escalated this year, with the Philippines and Vietnam accusing China of increasingly aggressive conduct.
But ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan has told Radio Australia China and ASEAN can work together to manage their differences.
"That is important because we need the confidence for the region, because that particular region is so critical to international commerce, so it is important that we could sit down and talk, and begin to talk about the code of conduct, which will be more binding." he said.
American engagement
US President Barack Obama will take part in the East Asia Summit on the Indonesian island of Bali on Saturday.
Analysts say the President is seeking to reassure Southeast Asian allies of the U-S commitment to the region.
Dr Surin said the Obama administration recognises the need to engage with Asia.
"I think they are very sincere in saying that this is the most critical region for their own interests, for their own economy, in the future. If it is going to recover from its own economic problems, they will have to engage with East Asia." he said. http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201111/3368342.htm
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Jakarta Globe
What About Asean Problem Child Burma?
November 16, 2011
Obama Must Raise Concerns About Indonesia's Rising Religious Intolerance: US Commission 12:39pm Nov 16, 2011
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Tuesday that a number of Asean member countries had expressed their support for Burma's bid to chair the regional grouping in 2014.
Natalegawa did not specify which countries backed Burma's bid. He said foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations would decide today whether to endorse Burma's bid.
"I have to say the sentiment had been positive," he said. "[All the Asean countries] recognized the positive steps occurring in Myanmar [Burma] over the last few months."
Burma joined the group in 1997 and instantly became a source of controversy, both inside and outside the bloc. Some critics said that sanctions imposed on Burma by the West for its appalling human rights record hampered development in the rest of Asean.
Countries in the grouping have been pushing for more democracy in Burma in exchange for lobbying Western countries to life sanctions.
But allowing Burma to assume the chairmanship of Asean could provoke Western boycotts of some Asean meetings, which would be an embarrassment for the region of 600 million people at a time when it wants to be seen as a counterpoint to China's growing influence in Asia.
The United States and the European Union have applauded the freeing of political prisoners in Burma, but say they want to see more reforms before they consider lifting economic sanctions imposed in response to rights abuses by the country's military leaders.
Derek Mitchell, a special US envoy for Burma, has said violence has continued against ethnic minorities in the rural north and east, and that there are "credible reports" of continuing human rights abuses against women and children.
Burma's government is preparing to release prisoners under an amnesty, for the second time in just over a month, "very soon" and more political detainees should be among them, a senior official said on Sunday.
Details of the amnesty would become clear by today, the official said.
Diplomats say other factors play into Burma's desire to open up, like a need for technical assistance from the World Bank and other multilateral institutions that cut off ties years ago in response to rights abuses, including deadly crackdowns on pro-democracy uprisings in 1988 and 2007.
There has been growing frustration in Southeast Asia over Burma's isolation as the region approaches a European Union-styled Asean community in 2015.
Natalegawa recently met with Burma's leaders in Rangoon and with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the first meeting by an Asean chair with the Nobel Peace laureate.
Separately, Indonesia's coordinating minister for defense and political affairs, Djoko Suyanto, said Asean leaders would discuss other pressing issues today, like the ongoing border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.
He said Asean countries had agreed on different mechanisms and formats for resolving conflicts in the region, and would use them as a guideline.
Suyanto said eight issues were being discussed by senior officials and foreign ministers that touched on regional politics and security. Several defense and military cooperation agreements had already been reached at the summit, he added.
Arriving in Bali from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hawaii on Tuesday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono immediately inspected security preparations for the Asean Summit, which will kick off on Thursday
The summit will also welcome other heads of state including US President Barack Obama, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.
It is expected to produce several declarations including one that involves the strengthening of the Asean-East Asian economic relationship, as well as comprehensive partnerships between Asean and the United Nations.
The Bali summit is also scheduled to discuss the Master Plan on Asean Connectivity, an ambitious project to link the region through a network of standardized roads, trains and ferries to boost trade with neighboring economic powerhouses India and China.
The delegates are also likely to discuss the recent territorial maneuvering in the South China Sea, where China and several Asean members have disputed claims.
China lays claim to most of the sea, claims disputed by Asean members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Diplomats in Vietnam and the Philippines have privately expressed concern that Beijing is using its economic influence over some Asean members to prevent the bloc from steering negotiations over conflicting claims and have sought US help to steer opinion in their favor.
Antara, Reuters & JG http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/politics/what-about-asean-problem-child-burma/478730
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BANGKOK POST
Rare Burma monk protest in second day
Published: 16/11/2011 at 03:32 PM
Online news: Asia
A rare protest by Buddhist monks in Burma entered a second day Wednesday, as Southeast Asian nations announced a plan to let the military-dominated country chair their regional bloc.
Monks accept supplies from outside after they locked themselves inside a religious building to protest for the release of all political prisoners, in central Myanmar city of Mandalay on November 15, 2011.
The five monks are demonstrating at a monastery in Mandalay, the country's second-largest city, to demand peace and the immediate release of political prisoners, and they have vowed to continue their action until Friday.
Rallies by monks are extremely unusual in Burma, and this is thought to be the first since mass protests led by clergy in 2007 -- known as the "Saffron Revolution" -- were brutally quashed, with the deaths of at least 31 people and the arrest of hundreds of clerics.
Ministers at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on the Indonesian island of Bali were Wednesday set to endorse a plan to pass the rotating chairmanship to Burma in 2014.
Around 500 people, mostly monks, gathered at Masoeyein monastery to hear the protesters give a speech, an AFP reporter on the scene said.
"I support their demands," said local resident Khin Maung Tun, 27, as he delivered food offerings at the compound, which is home to some 600 monks.
"So I came here to listen to their speech and show my support."
The five demonstrators attracted around 500 onlookers when they began their protest on Tuesday, after an expected amnesty for political detainees failed to materialise.
They unfurled banners in English and Burmese reading: "Free all political prisoners" and "Stop civil war now" -- a reference to the decades-long conflict between the army and ethnic minorities.
Their third demand is freedom of speech for monks, Ashin Sopaka, the leader of the five protesters, told AFP at the monastery.
"I think things are going well," he said, but he admitted he feared a crackdown by the authorities. "We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst."
The monks originally started their protest at a different religious building in Mandalay, but following talks with senior clerics in the area agreed to move their protest to the Masoeyein monastery.
The release of all of the country's political prisoners, whose exact numbers remain unclear, is one of the major demands of Western nations which have imposed sanctions on Burma.
Authorities had been expected to release some political detainees on Monday before President Thein Sein attends the Asean meeting later this week.
But officials said the move was put off at short notice for reasons that remain unclear. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/266572/rare-burma-monk-protest-enters-second-day
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MNDF to strengthen itself by adding former rebel leaders
Wednesday, 16 November 2011 11:54 Kun Chan
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) -- The Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), a political party that was dissolved by the former junta, says that it will strengthen itself by adding eight former leaders of the armed rebel New Mon State Party (NMSP) to its ranks.
In October, former NMSP central committee members held meetings in Mon State and decided to join up with the MNDF to take part in political activities, according to sources close to them.
The MNDF has not identified the eight Mon leaders, but sources said that they may include former NMSP joint secretary Nai Chan Twe, Nai Lawi Mon, Nai Htaw Ein, Nai Nyan Tun, Nai Kaw Hta and former central executive committee member Nai Tin Aung, who retired from the NMSP in 2000.
On November 20, the MNDF will hold a meeting in Mawlamyaing, the capital of Mon State. Min Soe Lin said that more than 50 people including former NMSP leaders, scholars and nationalists have been invited. In the meeting, new members will be accepted and they will discuss whether the MNDF will register as a political party or not, he said.
"Mainly, we will discuss ways to strengthen our party. Now, our leaders in Rangoon are talking with ethnic political parties and the NLD [National League for Democracy]. We will review their decision and decide if our party will register or not," Min Soe Lin said.
The NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, will hold a central committee meeting on Friday to decide whether the NLD will register as a political party or not before the coming by-elections.
Under the Constitution, a political party needs to contest in at least three constituencies to remain a legal political party.
Presently, the MNDF and some political parties including the NLD are cooperating with the Committee Representing People's Parliament and the United Nationalities Alliance.
The MNDF was formed on October 11, 1988. Nineteen MNDF candidates contested in the 1990 general elections and five won seats. The former junta refused to recognize the 1990 elections result. In 1991, a number of MNDF leaders were arrested and the former junta dissolved the party on March 19, 1992. http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6190-mndf-to-strengthen-itself-by-adding-former-rebel-leaders.html
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IMF to work with Burma in revising currency exchange policy
Thursday, 03 November 2011 12:36 Aye Lea
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) -- A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is prepared to cooperate with Burmese authorities as they revamp the country's currency exchange policy.
The announcement came at the end of a two-week assessment visit by a team led by Ake Lonnberg, a senior financial sector expert in the IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department.
The team consulted with government officials, banks and representatives from public and private companies in Naypyitaw and Rangoon from October 19 to November 1.
The goal of the redesign is to stabilize and unify the currency exchange rate system with international monetary standards and practices.
The state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported on Tuesday that the team discussed an initial diagnostic assessment of the legal framework and actual market practices governing the exchange rate system of Burma and, especially, the existing exchange restrictions and multiple currency practices.
A statement issued by the team said: "IMF members accepting the obligations of Article 8 undertake to refrain from imposing exchange restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions or from engaging in discriminatory currency arrangements or multiple currency practices without IMF approval.
"The team will continue its work from the IMF headquarters in cooperation with Burmese authorities as they formulate their policies towards accepting the obligations of Article 8. The team expects to visit Burma again for a follow-up mission in early 2012," the statement said.
The Washington-based IMF comprises 187 countries. IMF may provide monetary help and advice to its members and helps in stabilizing their monetary and financial policies, creating more job opportunities and promoting economic development and poverty alleviation.
On Sunday, Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Union Minister Aung Kyi met for the fourth time and discussed the importance of free trade and commerce and a free monetary circulation system for the economic development of the nation.
The IMF has postponed offering monetary support to Burma, which became an IMF member in 1952.
In September, Mizzima reported that Burmese economist Khin Maung Nyo said the government needed to establish clear laws and regulations regarding currency exchange or many people would continue to use the black market for exchanging foreign currencies.
"Nobody wants to buy and sell foreign currencies in the black market. But the black market will be dissolved only if suitable currency exchange laws are imposed," Khin Maung Nyo said.
On August 30, Upper House MP Thein Win submitted a proposal in Parliament that urged the government to amend, draw and prescribe administration laws in the Ministry of Finance and Revenue.
Minister for Finance and Revenue Hla Tun said that laws have been amended and modified and a relevant bill has been submitted to Parliament.
Hla Tun told Parliament that the ministry had coordinated with the Attorney General's Office to amend The Pension Act, The Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, the Central Bank of Myanmar Act and the Myanmar Financial Institution Act.
A weak foreign currency exchange is cited as a major reason foreign companies are slow to enter the Burmese economy.
A Wall Street Journal article in August attributed the government's inability to change its currency rate system as partly due to a lack of foreign reserves and a lack of support from the International Monetary Fund, which in turn is a result of pressure from the U.S.
The Network Myanmar group has estimated that official reserves are currently estimated at around US$ 5.5 billion. External debt is about US$ 8.6 billion, including arrears of US$ 3.9 billion.
The official exchange rate has been pegged at 8.5 kyat since 1977, currently equivalent about 5.5 per US$, while the parallel market rate, which is now generally used for external transactions, stands at around 760 kyat per US$. http://www.mizzima.com/business/6144-imf-to-work-with-burma-in-revising-currency-exchange-policy.html
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Amnesty Still Uncertain as Prisoners Transferred
By WAI MOE Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Burma's prominent dissident Min Ko Naing and other political prisoners are being transferred to different jails as prospects for a further amnesty remain in doubt, claim sources in Rangoon.
And it seems unlikely that those transferred will be included in any forthcoming release with the move considered a reaction to humanitarian calls to relocate remaining incarcerated dissidents to be closer to their relatives on the outside.
Alongside Min Ko Naing, leader of the 88 Generation Students group, other well known political prisoners reportedly being transferred include Hkun Htun Oo of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, leading monk Ashin Gambira, prominent female activist Nilar Thein of the 88 group, Pandeik Tun also of the 88 group, Nyi Pu who won a seat in the 1990 elections and labor activist Thuyein Aung.
"As far as I know from family members and prison officials, Min Ko Naing will be transferred from Kengtung to Rangoon by air," said Thein Than Tun, a member of the 88 Generation Students group who is monitoring the situation from Rangoon.
"U Hkun Htun Oo will be transferred from Putao Prison in Kachin State [in northern Burma] to Thaungoo Prison in Pegu Region through Myitkyina and Mandalay," he added. "Ashin Gambira and U Nyi Pu will be transferred from Kalay Prison."
Saw Thet Tun, a former political prisoner who was released last month from Tharyawaddy Prison in Pegu Region, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that he heard Nilar Thein had arrived in Tharyawaddy Prison that afternoon.
Meanwhile, a diplomatic source in Rangoon who is in touch with government officials said he heard almost all inmates of the 88 Generation Students group who are serving 65-year sentences would be transferred from remote prisons.
"All those serving 65 years except Ko Mya Aye in Thaunggyi Prison will be moved to different prisons. We will have to see if it is to Insein Prison [in Rangoon]," he said.
In the months following August 2007, 37 members of the 88 Generation Students group were arrested and imprisoned for terms up to 65 years. Currently 28 members of the group including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kywe remain in prison while some members were released in the May and October amnesties.
The transfer of political prisoners comes shortly after the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission wrote an open letter to President Thein Sein regarding "Prisoners of Conscience" which appeared in state-run-newspapers on Sunday. The 15-member body includes retired senior officials, diplomats, academics, doctors and lawyers and is supposed to be independent of government influence.
In the letter, the commission said it "again humbly requests the president as a reflection of his magnanimity to include those prisoners when a subsequent amnesty is granted."
"If for reasons of maintaining peace and stability, certain prisoners cannot as yet be included in the amnesty, the commission would like to respectfully submit that consideration be made for transferring them to prisons with easy access for their family members," the statement continued.
Following the letter, family members and friends of political prisoners hoped for further releases on Monday, as the previous Oct.12 amnesty was announced by Thein Sein the day after receiving an open letter from the commission.
"According to our list, around 160 political prisoners including 40 monks and 35 military intelligence officers who were arrested in 2004 are to be released in the coming amnesty," said Thein Than Tun. "So it seems all political prisoners will not be released."
"However, currently the possible future releases are not set in stone as the National Defense and Security Council [the highest authority in Burma] has not yet passed the amnesty," he added.
Despite hopes for an amnesty, other dissident activities remain under suppression. Nay Myo Zin, a former military captain, was sentenced on Aug. 26 to 10 years imprisonment under the Electronic Act for contacting former military officers in exile through the internet. On Nov. 2, Nay Myo Zin's appeal was rejected by the Rangoon Region Court.
His lawyer, Hla Myo Myint, told The Irrawaddy that his client was barred from getting medical care for back pain in prison which he suffered as a result of being tortured during interrogation.
Five Buddhist monks launched a protest at Maha Mya Muni Monastery in Mandalay on Tuesday calling for the immediate and unconditional release of political activists who are being detained in prisons across the country. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22467
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Than Shwe's Grandson Visits France: Sources
By THE IRRAWADDY Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The grandson of Burma's former military dictator, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, reportedly traveled to Europe late last month after being granted a visa by the French Embassy in Rangoon, according to sources in the former Burmese capital.
Nay Shwe Thway Aung, 21, left for Europe on Oct 26 despite a visa ban that prohibits senior Burmese military leaders and their families from traveling in the European Union, the sources said. He was allegedly issued a Schengen visa, which allows unrestricted travel within 25 European countries, including 22 in the EU.
A French embassy official in Rangoon declined to comment on the report, on the grounds that visa applications are considered confidential. However, the official added that no visas have been issued to anyone on the sanctions blacklist.
Since formally transferring power to a nominally civilian government in March, Than Shwe and his family have kept a low profile. However, Nay Shwe Thway Aung, also known as Poe La Pyae, has often been the subject of rumors in the past.
According to a leaked US diplomatic cable, in January 2009, he urged his grandfather to make a US $1 billion bid to buy the Manchester United football club. The plan was dropped, however, because at the time Than Shwe's regime was still facing severe criticism from the United Nations over its "unacceptably slow" response to Cyclone Nargis the previous year.
In December 2010, Burmese exiled media reported that Nay Shwe Thway Aung had ordered his assistants to physically assault Win Htwe Hlaing, a business rival and the son of former Maj-Gen Win Hlaing.
A similar incident was reported the previous year, when he allegedly ordered his associates to destroy a coffee shop in Rangoon owned by former army captain Tay Zar Saw Oo, the son of the regime's Secretary 1 Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, who is currently serving as vice president. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22468
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Monks Continue Political Protest in Mandalay
By THE IRRAWADDY Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Five young Buddhist monks continued their peaceful anti-government protest in Mandalay for the second day on Wednesday, while the Burmese authorities tried to disrupt the event by forcing elderly Buddhist clergy to prohibit the monks from staging the protest in their monasteries.
The protests began on Tuesday morning when the group of monks locked themselves into a religious building near the Maha Myat Muni Pagoda, the most famous Buddhist pilgrimage site in Mandalay, Burma's second largest city in which the country's largest congregation of Buddhist monks resides.
For the ensuing several hours, the protesting monks used a loudspeaker to give anti-government speeches, during which they called for the release of political prisoners, an end to armed clashes in ethnic minority areas and greater freedom of expression in Burma. In addition, the monks hung large posters on the walls of the building that contained political slogans written in both Burmese and English.
Apparently at the behest of the government authorities, elderly Buddhist monks requested that the young protesters leave the grounds. Towards Tuesday evening, the protesting monks agreed to the request and moved to another monastery, in front of which they continued their protest.
U Marga, one of the five protesting monks, told The Irrawaddy that from 1-2 pm on Wednesday they once again used a loudspeaker to make political statements. He said that the he and his fellow protesting monks will continue until their demands are met.
Nearly 500 people gathered at the scene of the protest on Wednesday. Many of them signed a petition listing the monks' political demands, which will be sent to Burma's President Thein Sein.
According to U Marga, elderly monks from the monastery where they protested on Wednesday told them that their actions were not in line with the code of discipline for monks, and requested that they once again move to another location.
The authorities in Mandalay have yet to make any direct intervention in the protests, but rather have chosen to handle the issue with the help of elderly Buddhist monks, according to local sources. This may be an effort to avoid a repeat of the 2007 mass protests which were sparked by the government's harsh response to an anti-government march by Buddhist monk in the town of Pakkou in Central Burma.
The protests also come at a time when Burma's new quasi-civilian government is making tentative political and economic reforms while continuing to wage wars with ethnic minority groups, particularly in Kachin State, and detain many political prisoners. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22469
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Shan party hopes to regain seat lost last year
Wednesday, 16 November 2011 17:34 Hseng Khio Fah
The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), the third largest winning in the 2010 November elections, is planning to re-contest in the coming by-elections at the vacant seat for the Upper House in Northern Shan State's Lashio district, which it had lost to its rival junta army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) due to advance votes, according to party vice Chairman Sai Hsawng Hsi.
The party hopes it will regain it back as it has made itself well prepared due to lessons learned from last year. The person whom the party will nominate is well educated and is also considered as one of the most favored by Shan people as well, said Sai Hsawng Hsi, while refusing to identifying the person.
It was Sai Kham Leng, a respected former educator, who contested last year. But he lost the seat to his rival USDP candidate Dr. Sai Mawk Kham, at present Vice President #2. According to party members, it was, in fact, their candidate who won the seat on the election day with thousands of votes more. However, on the next day, the USDP's candidate was announced the winner, after all the advance votes were counted. Sai Kham Leng was said to have received 28,861including 271 advance votes and Dr. Sai Mawk Kham 43,641 including10, 140 advance votes.
"So we are planning it well as we have learned our lessons. At that time we did not have many people to help and not much time because it was countrywide. But this time we all are going to help at the contest. And the person who will take part in the contest is also the one who the people can accept," Sai Hsawng Hsi said.
The party however has yet to make an official decision as the date to hold the by-elections is not announced yet. There are 48 seats available in parliament, 40 seats in Lower House, 6 in Upper House and 2 in division/state houses, according to Eleven Media Group's report.
The other vacant seat in Shan State, is at Kalaw Township for the Shan State Assembly. The party however will contest only for the Upper House seat in Lashio, Shan State North, said Sai Hsawng Hsi.
During the November 2010 polls, the SNDP contested for 114 seats in the whole Shan State, North, East and South, 35 seats in Kachin State and 6 seats in Sagaing Division and 1 in Mandalay Division.
It won the second largest seats in Shan State, 31 to the regime proxy party's 54 and was given 2 portfolios: Industry-mining and Construction.http://shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4208:shan-party-hopes-to-regain-seat-lost-last-year&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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Press release by the Shan Herald Agency for News
Wednesday, 16 November 2011 00:00 S.H.A.N.
Press release by the Shan Herald Agency for News
November 16, 2011
New report: Drugs proliferating across Shan State under Burma's new government
The latest Shan Drug Watch report, released today, reveals that opium cultivation and drug production have surged across Shan State in areas of government control since Burma's 2010 election.
Survey results show opium was grown during the 2010-2011 season in 45 out of 50 Shan townships controlled by government troops, while remaining ceasefire areas along the China-Shan border were opium free.
The report exposes how the regime's policies of military expansion and nurturing of "People's Militia" forces in Shan State are fuelling the drug trade, as these forces are given the green light to deal in drugs in exchange for suppressing resistance groups.
"There has been a massive increase in poppy cultivation, as well as heroin and methamphetamine production, in the regime's militia-controlled areas," said Khuensai Jaiyen, principal author of the Shan Drug Watch report.
The report profiles seven druglords, all militia leaders, now serving as MPs for Burma's ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party in Shan State. They had promised voters they could grow poppies freely if they were elected.
"If Burma's generals are serious about making Burma drug-free by 2014, they must stop their war-mongering and negotiate a political settlement to the civil war," said Khuensai Jaiyen, referring to Burma's drug-free target date, set a year before that of ASEAN.
Favourable weather and intensive cultivation made last season's opium harvest the best in years, according to farmers. In some areas, two to three crops of opium were grown during the year, and in central Shan State farmers have even started harvesting sap from the stems as well as the pods.
Despite the increased availability of opium and heroin, methamphetamine or "yaba" has become the most popular drug among youth in Shan State, where the cost of a pill is as low as 1,500 kyat (US$1.7) compared to 100 baht (US$3.3) per pill across the border in Thailand.
Shan Drug Watch is a project under the Shan Herald Agency for News.
Contact person: Khuensai Jaiyen +66 81 531 2837 http://shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4206:press-release-by-the-shan-herald-agency-for-news&catid=89:drugs&Itemid=286
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US Calls for More Change in Burma
By LALIT K JHA/ Washington Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Hours before US President Barack Obama landed in Australia, a top White House official said there have been positive changes in Burma recently and that the US wants those changes to continue.
"We have seen some positive movement [in Burma], but of course we'd like to see a continued change in the behavior of the government with respect to human rights," Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters travelling with Obama on his way to Canberra.
Meanwhile, the US State Department welcomed recent news reports from Burma according to which the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will be contesting upcoming by-elections in the country.
"We've seen some positive developments, or signs, from the government in Burma. We've had some good discussions with the government," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference.
"We have said that we want to see concrete and positive steps, including the release of all political prisoners. We would also like to see an opening-up of their political system there," Toner said.
The US spokesman said that until these concrete steps are taken, the US administration will not change its policy of economic sanctions against the Burmese government.
"We believe that our discussions thus far have been positive. They've been constructive, but we're looking for more concrete action," Toner said.
Meanwhile, speaking in Bali, Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said that "things are moving in the right direction, with some fundamental changes taking place," in reference to Burma's attempt to meet conditions to chair the bloc in 2014, a decision that the Asean leaders are expected to make at the Bali summit this week.http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22466
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Asean ministers 'to approve' Burma as 2014 chair
Published: 16/11/2011 at 02:32 AM
Online news: Asia
Southeast Asian ministers said Tuesday they would approve Burma's bid to chair their 10-member bloc in 2014, in a major boost for its new government after a series of reform gestures.
A policeman mans his post while tourists stroll at the Nusa Dua convention and resort enclave, where the flags of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are displayed, in Bali. Southeast Asian ministers said Tuesday they would approve Myanmar's bid to chair their 10-member bloc in 2014, in a major boost for its new government after a series of reform gestures.
Their move goes against warnings that giving Burma's nominally civilian administration the diplomatic prize so quickly will remove the incentive for more fundamental reforms in a nation still accused of major rights abuses.
"Everybody agrees to Burma, 2014," Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman told reporters at Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) talks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
"They have taken positive steps toward democratisation. We should encourage them more by letting them host the meeting," he said. The bloc's leaders will make a formal decision this week based on the ministers' recommendation.
In 2006, Burma was forced to renounce the Asean rotating presidency in the face of intense criticism over its human rights record and failure to shift to democracy.
But since elections a year ago that ostensibly ended decades of military rule, the new regime has unveiled surprising measures including prisoner releases that have begun to rehabilitate the nation's pariah status.
A decision to allow Burma to chair Asean would involve it hosting the 10-nation group's summit, as well as the wider East Asia Summit that includes Burma's arch-critic the US, which maintains sanctions against the regime.
But Burma's Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin indicated that the decision was settled.
"All the ministers support Burma's chairmanship in 2014 and I welcome the decision," he told reporters.
Tan See Seng from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said the decision would be a dream come true for Burma's leaders who have long sought legitimacy and chafed against Western sanctions.
"Burma has really been putting in the right moves -- putting on a good show -- partly in regards to freeing up the political system, albeit in a very limited way," he told AFP.
"I think that for Asean leaders, giving Burma the chair would be a way of patting them on the back and encouraging them to continue what they have been recently doing domestically."
The United States however appeared to cast doubt on its own participation in any summit in Burma.
"Our understanding of Asean practice is that it is not normal to name a host three years in advance, and we think it would be premature to select Burma given its record on a range of issues," a senior Obama administration official said, on condition of anonymity.
Southeast Asian lawmakers also voiced concern that granting Burma the prize prematurely could end the reform process, and that it should introduce more concrete measures before being rewarded.
"This is to ensure that Burma will not just fool Asean into getting the chairmanship, and that they will continue with the democratic process," said Eva Sundari Kusuma from Asean's Inter-parliamentary Burma Caucus.
"Our call is very clear. Let us postpone. But if Asean agrees to let Burma be the chair of Asean, then they must put some conditionalities such as a specific action plan including the release of prisoners."
Burma's new administration, which is staging its diplomatic coming-out party in Bali, has surprised critics by holding direct talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and freezing work on an unpopular mega-dam.
It freed some 200 dissidents from last month but caused disappointment by leaving many figures behind bars, and another mass release expected for Monday has been delayed for reasons that remain unclear.
There also concerns over whether President Thein Sein will follow through on the moves already made, given the risk of a backlash by hardliners who may not share his apparent enthusiasm for change.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Asean's leaders would make a formal decision on the chairmanship issue when they meet later this week.
"We discussed it thoroughly. All those who have spoken spoke in a very positive note," he said after ministerial talks Tuesday. "I would be surprised if there is any dissenting view.
"The overwhelming sense is that there are positive conditions for Burma's chairmanship but we hope that this chairmanship would bring more momentum for change in Burma." http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/266498/asean-ministers-to-approve-burma-as-2014-chair
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Burma set to defy critics with nod as Asean host
Published: 16/11/2011 at 02:32 PM
Online news: Asia
The United States and activists criticised a plan to hand the chairmanship of Southeast Asia's regional bloc to Burma, which ministers are set to endorse Wednesday, calling it premature.
Myanmar Foreign Minister U Wanna Maung Lwin (L) shakes hands with Indonesian Minister for Political and Security Djoko Suryanto (R) before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Political Security Community Council meeting in Nusa Dua, on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on November 16, 2011.
Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have said that Burma's military-backed government deserves the diplomatic prize as a reward for a series of reform gestures since elections a year ago.
But critics say that allowing Burma to host the bloc's summit and the wider East Asia Summit in 2014 could remove the incentive for more fundamental change in a nation still accused of major rights abuses.
The United States, which under the arrangement would be expected to send its president to attend the 2014 summit, has already cast doubt over its participation.
"Our understanding of Asean practice is that it is not normal to name a host three years in advance, and we think it would be premature to select Burma (Burma) given its record on a range of issues," a senior administration official said Tuesday, on condition of anonymity.
Burma, long an international pariah under military rule, was forced to renounce Asean's rotating presidency for 2006 in the face of intense criticism over its human rights record.
But after Asean talks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali Tuesday, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said the 10-member bloc had agreed to hand Burma the post in 2014.
"They have taken positive steps toward democratisation. We should encourage them more by letting them host the meeting," he said.
The ministers' recommendation is expected to be announced Wednesday, with the region's leaders making a formal decision later this week.
Burma's nominally civilian administration -- led by a former member of the junta that ruled for decades -- has made some conciliatory moves since the election that was boycotted by democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
Just eight months after being sworn in, it has held direct talks with Suu Kyi, frozen work on an unpopular mega-dam and passed a law giving workers the right to strike.
It freed some 200 dissidents from prison last month but caused disappointment by leaving many figures behind bars, and another mass release expected to be announced on Monday has been delayed.
Campaign groups said that Burma had not done enough to win the right to helm Asean and receive the accompanying air of international legitimacy.
"In principle we see Burma is not ready to chair Asean," said Agung Putri Astrid, executive director of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Burma Caucus.
"Necessary conditions" remained unfulfilled, she said, including the release of all political prisoners and legal guarantees of freedom of expression.
"There are some people in the government who eagerly want to have more changes but it is a very tough job for the government to convince the old guard that this movement will go to a better situation for Burma."
Elaine Pearson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said that further benchmarks that should be attached to Burma's chairmanship included ending abuses in ethnic minority areas.
Political prisoners should not be treated as "bargaining chips to appease the international community", she said.
"I don't think the international community should be fooled by these small steps and should ensure larger steps are put in place."
Suu Kyi said this week that events over the past year had been "encouraging" and a series of high-level Western envoys have gone to the capital Naypyidaw to assess the mood for themselves.
"It is clear that there are grounds for cautious optimism, but the picture is mixed," said the latest envoy to visit, Britain's International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, according to a BBC report. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/266565/burma-set-to-defy-critics-with-nod-as-asean-host
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Leading article: It's not yet spring in Burma
Wednesday 16 November 2011
Is Burma turning the corner? Andrew Mitchell, the International Development Secretary, does not rule out the possibility: there were "grounds for cautious optimism", he said yesterday, ahead of his trip to the country, the first by a British minister for decades. And the Association of South-East Asian Nations certainly thinks so: yesterday it let it be known that the Burmese regime's reforms of the past few months are to be rewarded with the organisation's rotating chair for 2014, a major diplomatic prize.
In the past four months, President Thein Sein, a retired general, has pushed through a number of measures designed to convince the outside world that his government is serious about bringing reform to Asia's most scandalously ill-ruled nation. He has held talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, eased censorship rules to allow her face and her words to appear on the newsstands for the first time in 20 years, set free more than 200 of the approximately 2,000 political prisoners and legalised trade unions. He pleased the masses and surprised the outside world by freezing work on a Chinese-sponsored dam on the Irrawaddy, declaring it "against the will of the people".
All these developments are welcome, but the President has been careful not to tread on the toes of his reactionary adversaries within the regime. The army continues to commit bloody aggression against the Karen, Shan and Kachin minorities on the borders, and it is reported that more people are being forcibly displaced in south-east Burma than at any time in the past 10 years. None of the privileges of the kleptocratic retired generals or their cronies have been infringed upon. Nothing has happened, in the way of increased government support for health and education, to persuade the ordinary people that last year's phoney election did them any good.
The changes, in other words, have been both stunning and cosmetic, which is a measure of the intensity of the repression that Burma's military rulers have clamped on the country for nearly 50 years. Suu Kyi said in a press conference on Monday that she believes the President is "genuine" in his desire for change -- but the fact that she has yet to recommend the lifting of sanctions indicates that there is still much to do.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-its-not-yet-spring-in-burma-6262660.html
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ASEAN foriegn ministers back Burma as chair
Foreign ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations have agreed to recommend that their leaders approve Burma's bid to chair the organisation in 2014.
Later this week ASEAN leaders will make a formal decision on Burma's controversial bid to host the 2014 ASEAN summit.
After a meeting with his ASEAN counterparts Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said there was consensus on Burma's chairmanship for 2014.
Burma's new administration has won praise for holding direct talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and last month freeing about 200 political prisoners.
Human rights groups say far more concrete reforms are still needed.
ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said the regional bloc has helped push Burma towards change.
"What we have said to Myanmar is that we hope there is not going to be a reversal of this positive development trend, and this trend certainly will be conducive to Myanmar's own engagement with the region and with the global community." he said
Regional stand-off
Dr Surin says he's confident the association can work with China to resolve the long-standing territorial dispute over the South China Sea.
On Tuesday ASEAN foreign ministers met in Bali and discussed plans for a legally binding code of conduct for maritime activities in the South China Sea.
The disputed region is claimed in whole or part by China, Taiwan, Brunei, the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Tensions over the seas have escalated this year, with the Philippines and Vietnam accusing China of increasingly aggressive conduct.
But ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan has told Radio Australia China and ASEAN can work together to manage their differences.
"That is important because we need the confidence for the region, because that particular region is so critical to international commerce, so it is important that we could sit down and talk, and begin to talk about the code of conduct, which will be more binding." he said.
American engagement
US President Barack Obama will take part in the East Asia Summit on the Indonesian island of Bali on Saturday.
Analysts say the President is seeking to reassure Southeast Asian allies of the U-S commitment to the region.
Dr Surin said the Obama administration recognises the need to engage with Asia.
"I think they are very sincere in saying that this is the most critical region for their own interests, for their own economy, in the future. If it is going to recover from its own economic problems, they will have to engage with East Asia." he said. http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201111/3368342.htm
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Jakarta Globe
What About Asean Problem Child Burma?
November 16, 2011
Obama Must Raise Concerns About Indonesia's Rising Religious Intolerance: US Commission 12:39pm Nov 16, 2011
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Tuesday that a number of Asean member countries had expressed their support for Burma's bid to chair the regional grouping in 2014.
Natalegawa did not specify which countries backed Burma's bid. He said foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations would decide today whether to endorse Burma's bid.
"I have to say the sentiment had been positive," he said. "[All the Asean countries] recognized the positive steps occurring in Myanmar [Burma] over the last few months."
Burma joined the group in 1997 and instantly became a source of controversy, both inside and outside the bloc. Some critics said that sanctions imposed on Burma by the West for its appalling human rights record hampered development in the rest of Asean.
Countries in the grouping have been pushing for more democracy in Burma in exchange for lobbying Western countries to life sanctions.
But allowing Burma to assume the chairmanship of Asean could provoke Western boycotts of some Asean meetings, which would be an embarrassment for the region of 600 million people at a time when it wants to be seen as a counterpoint to China's growing influence in Asia.
The United States and the European Union have applauded the freeing of political prisoners in Burma, but say they want to see more reforms before they consider lifting economic sanctions imposed in response to rights abuses by the country's military leaders.
Derek Mitchell, a special US envoy for Burma, has said violence has continued against ethnic minorities in the rural north and east, and that there are "credible reports" of continuing human rights abuses against women and children.
Burma's government is preparing to release prisoners under an amnesty, for the second time in just over a month, "very soon" and more political detainees should be among them, a senior official said on Sunday.
Details of the amnesty would become clear by today, the official said.
Diplomats say other factors play into Burma's desire to open up, like a need for technical assistance from the World Bank and other multilateral institutions that cut off ties years ago in response to rights abuses, including deadly crackdowns on pro-democracy uprisings in 1988 and 2007.
There has been growing frustration in Southeast Asia over Burma's isolation as the region approaches a European Union-styled Asean community in 2015.
Natalegawa recently met with Burma's leaders in Rangoon and with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the first meeting by an Asean chair with the Nobel Peace laureate.
Separately, Indonesia's coordinating minister for defense and political affairs, Djoko Suyanto, said Asean leaders would discuss other pressing issues today, like the ongoing border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.
He said Asean countries had agreed on different mechanisms and formats for resolving conflicts in the region, and would use them as a guideline.
Suyanto said eight issues were being discussed by senior officials and foreign ministers that touched on regional politics and security. Several defense and military cooperation agreements had already been reached at the summit, he added.
Arriving in Bali from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hawaii on Tuesday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono immediately inspected security preparations for the Asean Summit, which will kick off on Thursday
The summit will also welcome other heads of state including US President Barack Obama, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.
It is expected to produce several declarations including one that involves the strengthening of the Asean-East Asian economic relationship, as well as comprehensive partnerships between Asean and the United Nations.
The Bali summit is also scheduled to discuss the Master Plan on Asean Connectivity, an ambitious project to link the region through a network of standardized roads, trains and ferries to boost trade with neighboring economic powerhouses India and China.
The delegates are also likely to discuss the recent territorial maneuvering in the South China Sea, where China and several Asean members have disputed claims.
China lays claim to most of the sea, claims disputed by Asean members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Diplomats in Vietnam and the Philippines have privately expressed concern that Beijing is using its economic influence over some Asean members to prevent the bloc from steering negotiations over conflicting claims and have sought US help to steer opinion in their favor.
Antara, Reuters & JG http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/politics/what-about-asean-problem-child-burma/478730
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BANGKOK POST
Rare Burma monk protest in second day
Published: 16/11/2011 at 03:32 PM
Online news: Asia
A rare protest by Buddhist monks in Burma entered a second day Wednesday, as Southeast Asian nations announced a plan to let the military-dominated country chair their regional bloc.
Monks accept supplies from outside after they locked themselves inside a religious building to protest for the release of all political prisoners, in central Myanmar city of Mandalay on November 15, 2011.
The five monks are demonstrating at a monastery in Mandalay, the country's second-largest city, to demand peace and the immediate release of political prisoners, and they have vowed to continue their action until Friday.
Rallies by monks are extremely unusual in Burma, and this is thought to be the first since mass protests led by clergy in 2007 -- known as the "Saffron Revolution" -- were brutally quashed, with the deaths of at least 31 people and the arrest of hundreds of clerics.
Ministers at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on the Indonesian island of Bali were Wednesday set to endorse a plan to pass the rotating chairmanship to Burma in 2014.
Around 500 people, mostly monks, gathered at Masoeyein monastery to hear the protesters give a speech, an AFP reporter on the scene said.
"I support their demands," said local resident Khin Maung Tun, 27, as he delivered food offerings at the compound, which is home to some 600 monks.
"So I came here to listen to their speech and show my support."
The five demonstrators attracted around 500 onlookers when they began their protest on Tuesday, after an expected amnesty for political detainees failed to materialise.
They unfurled banners in English and Burmese reading: "Free all political prisoners" and "Stop civil war now" -- a reference to the decades-long conflict between the army and ethnic minorities.
Their third demand is freedom of speech for monks, Ashin Sopaka, the leader of the five protesters, told AFP at the monastery.
"I think things are going well," he said, but he admitted he feared a crackdown by the authorities. "We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst."
The monks originally started their protest at a different religious building in Mandalay, but following talks with senior clerics in the area agreed to move their protest to the Masoeyein monastery.
The release of all of the country's political prisoners, whose exact numbers remain unclear, is one of the major demands of Western nations which have imposed sanctions on Burma.
Authorities had been expected to release some political detainees on Monday before President Thein Sein attends the Asean meeting later this week.
But officials said the move was put off at short notice for reasons that remain unclear. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/266572/rare-burma-monk-protest-enters-second-day
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MNDF to strengthen itself by adding former rebel leaders
Wednesday, 16 November 2011 11:54 Kun Chan
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) -- The Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), a political party that was dissolved by the former junta, says that it will strengthen itself by adding eight former leaders of the armed rebel New Mon State Party (NMSP) to its ranks.
In October, former NMSP central committee members held meetings in Mon State and decided to join up with the MNDF to take part in political activities, according to sources close to them.
The MNDF has not identified the eight Mon leaders, but sources said that they may include former NMSP joint secretary Nai Chan Twe, Nai Lawi Mon, Nai Htaw Ein, Nai Nyan Tun, Nai Kaw Hta and former central executive committee member Nai Tin Aung, who retired from the NMSP in 2000.
On November 20, the MNDF will hold a meeting in Mawlamyaing, the capital of Mon State. Min Soe Lin said that more than 50 people including former NMSP leaders, scholars and nationalists have been invited. In the meeting, new members will be accepted and they will discuss whether the MNDF will register as a political party or not, he said.
"Mainly, we will discuss ways to strengthen our party. Now, our leaders in Rangoon are talking with ethnic political parties and the NLD [National League for Democracy]. We will review their decision and decide if our party will register or not," Min Soe Lin said.
The NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, will hold a central committee meeting on Friday to decide whether the NLD will register as a political party or not before the coming by-elections.
Under the Constitution, a political party needs to contest in at least three constituencies to remain a legal political party.
Presently, the MNDF and some political parties including the NLD are cooperating with the Committee Representing People's Parliament and the United Nationalities Alliance.
The MNDF was formed on October 11, 1988. Nineteen MNDF candidates contested in the 1990 general elections and five won seats. The former junta refused to recognize the 1990 elections result. In 1991, a number of MNDF leaders were arrested and the former junta dissolved the party on March 19, 1992. http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6190-mndf-to-strengthen-itself-by-adding-former-rebel-leaders.html
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IMF to work with Burma in revising currency exchange policy
Thursday, 03 November 2011 12:36 Aye Lea
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) -- A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is prepared to cooperate with Burmese authorities as they revamp the country's currency exchange policy.
The announcement came at the end of a two-week assessment visit by a team led by Ake Lonnberg, a senior financial sector expert in the IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department.
The team consulted with government officials, banks and representatives from public and private companies in Naypyitaw and Rangoon from October 19 to November 1.
The goal of the redesign is to stabilize and unify the currency exchange rate system with international monetary standards and practices.
The state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported on Tuesday that the team discussed an initial diagnostic assessment of the legal framework and actual market practices governing the exchange rate system of Burma and, especially, the existing exchange restrictions and multiple currency practices.
A statement issued by the team said: "IMF members accepting the obligations of Article 8 undertake to refrain from imposing exchange restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions or from engaging in discriminatory currency arrangements or multiple currency practices without IMF approval.
"The team will continue its work from the IMF headquarters in cooperation with Burmese authorities as they formulate their policies towards accepting the obligations of Article 8. The team expects to visit Burma again for a follow-up mission in early 2012," the statement said.
The Washington-based IMF comprises 187 countries. IMF may provide monetary help and advice to its members and helps in stabilizing their monetary and financial policies, creating more job opportunities and promoting economic development and poverty alleviation.
On Sunday, Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Union Minister Aung Kyi met for the fourth time and discussed the importance of free trade and commerce and a free monetary circulation system for the economic development of the nation.
The IMF has postponed offering monetary support to Burma, which became an IMF member in 1952.
In September, Mizzima reported that Burmese economist Khin Maung Nyo said the government needed to establish clear laws and regulations regarding currency exchange or many people would continue to use the black market for exchanging foreign currencies.
"Nobody wants to buy and sell foreign currencies in the black market. But the black market will be dissolved only if suitable currency exchange laws are imposed," Khin Maung Nyo said.
On August 30, Upper House MP Thein Win submitted a proposal in Parliament that urged the government to amend, draw and prescribe administration laws in the Ministry of Finance and Revenue.
Minister for Finance and Revenue Hla Tun said that laws have been amended and modified and a relevant bill has been submitted to Parliament.
Hla Tun told Parliament that the ministry had coordinated with the Attorney General's Office to amend The Pension Act, The Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, the Central Bank of Myanmar Act and the Myanmar Financial Institution Act.
A weak foreign currency exchange is cited as a major reason foreign companies are slow to enter the Burmese economy.
A Wall Street Journal article in August attributed the government's inability to change its currency rate system as partly due to a lack of foreign reserves and a lack of support from the International Monetary Fund, which in turn is a result of pressure from the U.S.
The Network Myanmar group has estimated that official reserves are currently estimated at around US$ 5.5 billion. External debt is about US$ 8.6 billion, including arrears of US$ 3.9 billion.
The official exchange rate has been pegged at 8.5 kyat since 1977, currently equivalent about 5.5 per US$, while the parallel market rate, which is now generally used for external transactions, stands at around 760 kyat per US$. http://www.mizzima.com/business/6144-imf-to-work-with-burma-in-revising-currency-exchange-policy.html
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Amnesty Still Uncertain as Prisoners Transferred
By WAI MOE Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Burma's prominent dissident Min Ko Naing and other political prisoners are being transferred to different jails as prospects for a further amnesty remain in doubt, claim sources in Rangoon.
And it seems unlikely that those transferred will be included in any forthcoming release with the move considered a reaction to humanitarian calls to relocate remaining incarcerated dissidents to be closer to their relatives on the outside.
Alongside Min Ko Naing, leader of the 88 Generation Students group, other well known political prisoners reportedly being transferred include Hkun Htun Oo of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, leading monk Ashin Gambira, prominent female activist Nilar Thein of the 88 group, Pandeik Tun also of the 88 group, Nyi Pu who won a seat in the 1990 elections and labor activist Thuyein Aung.
"As far as I know from family members and prison officials, Min Ko Naing will be transferred from Kengtung to Rangoon by air," said Thein Than Tun, a member of the 88 Generation Students group who is monitoring the situation from Rangoon.
"U Hkun Htun Oo will be transferred from Putao Prison in Kachin State [in northern Burma] to Thaungoo Prison in Pegu Region through Myitkyina and Mandalay," he added. "Ashin Gambira and U Nyi Pu will be transferred from Kalay Prison."
Saw Thet Tun, a former political prisoner who was released last month from Tharyawaddy Prison in Pegu Region, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that he heard Nilar Thein had arrived in Tharyawaddy Prison that afternoon.
Meanwhile, a diplomatic source in Rangoon who is in touch with government officials said he heard almost all inmates of the 88 Generation Students group who are serving 65-year sentences would be transferred from remote prisons.
"All those serving 65 years except Ko Mya Aye in Thaunggyi Prison will be moved to different prisons. We will have to see if it is to Insein Prison [in Rangoon]," he said.
In the months following August 2007, 37 members of the 88 Generation Students group were arrested and imprisoned for terms up to 65 years. Currently 28 members of the group including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kywe remain in prison while some members were released in the May and October amnesties.
The transfer of political prisoners comes shortly after the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission wrote an open letter to President Thein Sein regarding "Prisoners of Conscience" which appeared in state-run-newspapers on Sunday. The 15-member body includes retired senior officials, diplomats, academics, doctors and lawyers and is supposed to be independent of government influence.
In the letter, the commission said it "again humbly requests the president as a reflection of his magnanimity to include those prisoners when a subsequent amnesty is granted."
"If for reasons of maintaining peace and stability, certain prisoners cannot as yet be included in the amnesty, the commission would like to respectfully submit that consideration be made for transferring them to prisons with easy access for their family members," the statement continued.
Following the letter, family members and friends of political prisoners hoped for further releases on Monday, as the previous Oct.12 amnesty was announced by Thein Sein the day after receiving an open letter from the commission.
"According to our list, around 160 political prisoners including 40 monks and 35 military intelligence officers who were arrested in 2004 are to be released in the coming amnesty," said Thein Than Tun. "So it seems all political prisoners will not be released."
"However, currently the possible future releases are not set in stone as the National Defense and Security Council [the highest authority in Burma] has not yet passed the amnesty," he added.
Despite hopes for an amnesty, other dissident activities remain under suppression. Nay Myo Zin, a former military captain, was sentenced on Aug. 26 to 10 years imprisonment under the Electronic Act for contacting former military officers in exile through the internet. On Nov. 2, Nay Myo Zin's appeal was rejected by the Rangoon Region Court.
His lawyer, Hla Myo Myint, told The Irrawaddy that his client was barred from getting medical care for back pain in prison which he suffered as a result of being tortured during interrogation.
Five Buddhist monks launched a protest at Maha Mya Muni Monastery in Mandalay on Tuesday calling for the immediate and unconditional release of political activists who are being detained in prisons across the country. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22467
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Than Shwe's Grandson Visits France: Sources
By THE IRRAWADDY Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The grandson of Burma's former military dictator, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, reportedly traveled to Europe late last month after being granted a visa by the French Embassy in Rangoon, according to sources in the former Burmese capital.
Nay Shwe Thway Aung, 21, left for Europe on Oct 26 despite a visa ban that prohibits senior Burmese military leaders and their families from traveling in the European Union, the sources said. He was allegedly issued a Schengen visa, which allows unrestricted travel within 25 European countries, including 22 in the EU.
A French embassy official in Rangoon declined to comment on the report, on the grounds that visa applications are considered confidential. However, the official added that no visas have been issued to anyone on the sanctions blacklist.
Since formally transferring power to a nominally civilian government in March, Than Shwe and his family have kept a low profile. However, Nay Shwe Thway Aung, also known as Poe La Pyae, has often been the subject of rumors in the past.
According to a leaked US diplomatic cable, in January 2009, he urged his grandfather to make a US $1 billion bid to buy the Manchester United football club. The plan was dropped, however, because at the time Than Shwe's regime was still facing severe criticism from the United Nations over its "unacceptably slow" response to Cyclone Nargis the previous year.
In December 2010, Burmese exiled media reported that Nay Shwe Thway Aung had ordered his assistants to physically assault Win Htwe Hlaing, a business rival and the son of former Maj-Gen Win Hlaing.
A similar incident was reported the previous year, when he allegedly ordered his associates to destroy a coffee shop in Rangoon owned by former army captain Tay Zar Saw Oo, the son of the regime's Secretary 1 Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, who is currently serving as vice president. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22468
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Monks Continue Political Protest in Mandalay
By THE IRRAWADDY Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Five young Buddhist monks continued their peaceful anti-government protest in Mandalay for the second day on Wednesday, while the Burmese authorities tried to disrupt the event by forcing elderly Buddhist clergy to prohibit the monks from staging the protest in their monasteries.
The protests began on Tuesday morning when the group of monks locked themselves into a religious building near the Maha Myat Muni Pagoda, the most famous Buddhist pilgrimage site in Mandalay, Burma's second largest city in which the country's largest congregation of Buddhist monks resides.
For the ensuing several hours, the protesting monks used a loudspeaker to give anti-government speeches, during which they called for the release of political prisoners, an end to armed clashes in ethnic minority areas and greater freedom of expression in Burma. In addition, the monks hung large posters on the walls of the building that contained political slogans written in both Burmese and English.
Apparently at the behest of the government authorities, elderly Buddhist monks requested that the young protesters leave the grounds. Towards Tuesday evening, the protesting monks agreed to the request and moved to another monastery, in front of which they continued their protest.
U Marga, one of the five protesting monks, told The Irrawaddy that from 1-2 pm on Wednesday they once again used a loudspeaker to make political statements. He said that the he and his fellow protesting monks will continue until their demands are met.
Nearly 500 people gathered at the scene of the protest on Wednesday. Many of them signed a petition listing the monks' political demands, which will be sent to Burma's President Thein Sein.
According to U Marga, elderly monks from the monastery where they protested on Wednesday told them that their actions were not in line with the code of discipline for monks, and requested that they once again move to another location.
The authorities in Mandalay have yet to make any direct intervention in the protests, but rather have chosen to handle the issue with the help of elderly Buddhist monks, according to local sources. This may be an effort to avoid a repeat of the 2007 mass protests which were sparked by the government's harsh response to an anti-government march by Buddhist monk in the town of Pakkou in Central Burma.
The protests also come at a time when Burma's new quasi-civilian government is making tentative political and economic reforms while continuing to wage wars with ethnic minority groups, particularly in Kachin State, and detain many political prisoners. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22469
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Shan party hopes to regain seat lost last year
Wednesday, 16 November 2011 17:34 Hseng Khio Fah
The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), the third largest winning in the 2010 November elections, is planning to re-contest in the coming by-elections at the vacant seat for the Upper House in Northern Shan State's Lashio district, which it had lost to its rival junta army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) due to advance votes, according to party vice Chairman Sai Hsawng Hsi.
The party hopes it will regain it back as it has made itself well prepared due to lessons learned from last year. The person whom the party will nominate is well educated and is also considered as one of the most favored by Shan people as well, said Sai Hsawng Hsi, while refusing to identifying the person.
It was Sai Kham Leng, a respected former educator, who contested last year. But he lost the seat to his rival USDP candidate Dr. Sai Mawk Kham, at present Vice President #2. According to party members, it was, in fact, their candidate who won the seat on the election day with thousands of votes more. However, on the next day, the USDP's candidate was announced the winner, after all the advance votes were counted. Sai Kham Leng was said to have received 28,861including 271 advance votes and Dr. Sai Mawk Kham 43,641 including10, 140 advance votes.
"So we are planning it well as we have learned our lessons. At that time we did not have many people to help and not much time because it was countrywide. But this time we all are going to help at the contest. And the person who will take part in the contest is also the one who the people can accept," Sai Hsawng Hsi said.
The party however has yet to make an official decision as the date to hold the by-elections is not announced yet. There are 48 seats available in parliament, 40 seats in Lower House, 6 in Upper House and 2 in division/state houses, according to Eleven Media Group's report.
The other vacant seat in Shan State, is at Kalaw Township for the Shan State Assembly. The party however will contest only for the Upper House seat in Lashio, Shan State North, said Sai Hsawng Hsi.
During the November 2010 polls, the SNDP contested for 114 seats in the whole Shan State, North, East and South, 35 seats in Kachin State and 6 seats in Sagaing Division and 1 in Mandalay Division.
It won the second largest seats in Shan State, 31 to the regime proxy party's 54 and was given 2 portfolios: Industry-mining and Construction.http://shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4208:shan-party-hopes-to-regain-seat-lost-last-year&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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Press release by the Shan Herald Agency for News
Wednesday, 16 November 2011 00:00 S.H.A.N.
Press release by the Shan Herald Agency for News
November 16, 2011
New report: Drugs proliferating across Shan State under Burma's new government
The latest Shan Drug Watch report, released today, reveals that opium cultivation and drug production have surged across Shan State in areas of government control since Burma's 2010 election.
Survey results show opium was grown during the 2010-2011 season in 45 out of 50 Shan townships controlled by government troops, while remaining ceasefire areas along the China-Shan border were opium free.
The report exposes how the regime's policies of military expansion and nurturing of "People's Militia" forces in Shan State are fuelling the drug trade, as these forces are given the green light to deal in drugs in exchange for suppressing resistance groups.
"There has been a massive increase in poppy cultivation, as well as heroin and methamphetamine production, in the regime's militia-controlled areas," said Khuensai Jaiyen, principal author of the Shan Drug Watch report.
The report profiles seven druglords, all militia leaders, now serving as MPs for Burma's ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party in Shan State. They had promised voters they could grow poppies freely if they were elected.
"If Burma's generals are serious about making Burma drug-free by 2014, they must stop their war-mongering and negotiate a political settlement to the civil war," said Khuensai Jaiyen, referring to Burma's drug-free target date, set a year before that of ASEAN.
Favourable weather and intensive cultivation made last season's opium harvest the best in years, according to farmers. In some areas, two to three crops of opium were grown during the year, and in central Shan State farmers have even started harvesting sap from the stems as well as the pods.
Despite the increased availability of opium and heroin, methamphetamine or "yaba" has become the most popular drug among youth in Shan State, where the cost of a pill is as low as 1,500 kyat (US$1.7) compared to 100 baht (US$3.3) per pill across the border in Thailand.
Shan Drug Watch is a project under the Shan Herald Agency for News.
Contact person: Khuensai Jaiyen +66 81 531 2837 http://shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4206:press-release-by-the-shan-herald-agency-for-news&catid=89:drugs&Itemid=286
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