Weekly Diary, No. 228 (9 – 15 December 2006)

Weekly Diary, No. 228 (9 – 15 December 2006)
 

• ASEAN SUMMIT ON ICE!

• GENERALS, UK SAYS YOU'RE TOPS NOW!

• WATER WOES IN RANGOON!

• TIME FOR WAR!

 
Think Piece
Burma's 'Royal' wedding in July
How could anybody viewing this seriously believe the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), which Than Shwe heads, has any higher motive on its agenda than self enrichment and self perpetuation? This was an unprecedented glimpse of Burma's current elite at ease.
Dominic Faulder, The Nation, 12 December 2006 

 
The World
12 December 2006
Aceh holds elections, a year after the Free Aceh Movement "traded bullets for ballots". (Agencies)
 
14 December 2006

Seven years after Nato bombed Serbia, Belgrade is welcomed by the military alliance as a privileged partner in Brussels. (AFP)

 
International Relations
7 December 2006
Parliamentary Friends of Burma (PFOB) launched in Ottawa with the membership of 25 MPs and senators in Canada. (Statement by Canadian Friends of Burma)
 
8 December 2006
Asean summit to be held next week postponed to January due to a strong storm bearing down on the meeting site in Cebu, Philippines. The postponement comes amid warnings that terrorists might be in the final stages of planning an attack during the summit. (AP)
 
8 December 2006
Fidel Ramos
A group of advisers led by former Philippine president Fidel Ramos proposes reforms to the Asean that will include sanctions against member nations who breach agreements made within the grouping. (VOA)
 
8 December 2006
The Malaysian NGO honors Chin Refugee Committee in Malaysian with Suaram Human Rights Award for its work in providing assistance, protection and creating awareness of Chin refugees in Malaysia. The Chin population there is estimated at around 20,000 of which 400 are in jail. (Khonumthung)
 
 
9 December 2006
The first group of Rohingyas, 5 families comprising 23 members, fly to Canada for resettlement on 14 December from Dhaka. (Kaladan)
 
11 December 2006
Burma has been ranked the worst human rights violator in the world, out of countries assessed by the UK Conservative Party this year. North Korea, meanwhile, is rated the most oppressive, closed society where freedom and rule of law are non-existent. Overall, Burma is still the worst. (UK Conservative Party Human Rights Commission)
 
12 December 2006

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) names Win Tin, 79, sentenced in 1989 to 20 years in prison, as Journalist of the Year. The award is accepted by his niece Thinn Thiri. (DPA)
 
13 December 2006
The United cranks up pressure on Burma by introducing a UN Security Council draft resolution calling for, among others: Cessation of attacks against civilians, Stop to use of systematic rape, Release of political prisoners, Beginning of substantive political dialogue and Cooperation with ILO. The text does not call for sanctions. (AFP)
 
14 December 2006
Maung Oo
Meeting with SPDC officials last week, the ICRC says Home Minister Maung Oo who confirmed its field offices can be reopened. However it is still barred from accessing prisons in the countries, a ban imposed last December. (AP)
 
 
14 December 2006
EU resolution calling on the UN Security Council "to pass a binding resolution on Burma" welcomed by Burma Campaign UK. (Statement)

 
Thai-Burma Relations
8 December 2006
Many money exchangers in Maesod have shut down operations following arrests of two money exchangers for illegal trading of foreign currency. Tak Chamber of Commerce says police action has ruined the business in the border area. Exchange of currency through local commercial banks is not available. (Irrawaddy)
 
11 December 2006
Last week, Rangoon junta insisted all registered Burmese workers must be sent back to Burma for nationality verification before returning to work in Thailand. If it was implemented, it would be tantamount to sending them to the gallows. Meanwhile Laos and Cambodia, dispatching their officials to Bangkok to register and verify the nationality of their workers, have already completed their job. As for Burma, only over 10,000 have been registered. PM Surayud is losing ground by saying earlier that the UN Security Council should not be discussing Burma's internal issues.
(The Nation)
 
 
12 December 2006
Thai police arrest 66 Rohingya 'boat people' from Maungdaw in Phang Nga. They had on 5 December caught another 114 Rohingyas in the same province. (Network Media Group)
 
13 December 2006
ILO and Mahidol University call on Thailand to improve protection for migrant labors, citing rights violations such as:

• Use of child migrant labor

• Locking up at night to prevent escape

• Withholding migrants legal documents

• Paying below legal minimum wage

(AFP)

 
Politics/ Inside Burma
30 November 2006
The village of Hnaw Gone, Hmawbi township, comes under martial law after the local people demonstrated against the appointment of a new village headman backed by the regime. (Irrawaddy)
 
4 December 2006
Water and power supply has gone further down for over a month in Rangoon. (DVB)
 
8 December 2006
Su Su Nway
Su Su Nway, recent John Humphrey Freedom awardee, is under treatment at Muslim Charity Hospital in Rangoon because of her worsening heart condition. Dr Tin Myo Win, personal physician of Aung San Suu Kyi, is personally taking charge of her case. (DVB)
 
13 December 2006
Myint Thein
NLD spokesman Myint Thein says, NLD offices across Burma are signing up new members and are encouraging those pressured to resign to remain with the party. The prospects are very good, according to him. (DVB)

 
Shans/ Shan State
9 December 2006
SSA-soldiers
A major clash 20 km north of Tachilek between the SSA and the Burma Army's Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 571. At least 3 killed, including a captain, and 6 wounded on the Burma Army side. Three days later, a unit from Kengtung LIB 314 comes to reinforce the LIB 360 already stationed at Maemaw mountain range facing the SSA's Loi Kawwan base. Meanwhile, the SSA claims Lt-Gen Kyaw Win, who oversees military operations in Shan and Kayah states is still around since he was first reported in mid-November. (S.H.A.N.)
 
11 December 2006
Khun Okker
Military dictatorship in Burma today is by far worse than feudalism which existed in Shan State, says a statement released by PaO People's Liberation Organization:
In a feudal state, people had to pay one-tenth of their income to the feudal lords. There was little problem with feudalism as long as people paid taxes. But during the tenure of SLORC and SPDC, every sector has deteriorated because of suppression, says president Khun Okker. (Network Media Group)

13 December 2006
The UWSA insider denies it has any interest in fighting the SSA alongside the Tatmadaw. While admitting that the UWSA had sided with the Tatmadaw in the past against the SSA, he insisted that they were through disinformation originating from the Burmese military intelligences eg. "claiming the Shan army was about to attack our units and that a preemptive strike was necessary."
China, interested in maintaining the UWSA as a buffer, is actively assisting and training it. It already has a number of HN-5N surface-to-air missile (Chinese version of the Russian made SA 7) since 2001 and recently 14.5 mm ZPU machine guns effective against low altitude aerial assault. (World Politics Watch)

 
Economy/ Business
7 December 2006
India's Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) signs further gas deal with the SPDC to explore offshore Block A-7, in addition to blocks A-1 and A-3 already secured. (Irrawaddy)

 
Human Rights

 
Environment

 
Drugs
8 December 2006

Cikha subtownship and Tiddim townships in Chin State near the Manipur border are growing poppies: 60 acres and 87 acres respectively. Raw opium produced is purchased by the UWSA at 100,000 kyat ($ 75) per viss (1.6kg).
Heroin refineries are also reported to be located in Falam and Tiddim (Chin) and Kalemyo, Sakhinyi and Kampat (Sagaing). (Mizzima)
 
9 December 2006
Yunnan police arrest a Burmese national with heroin weighing 70 kg near Chashajiao village, Zhenkang County that borders Burma. (People's Daily Online)

 
War
5 December 2006
10 trucks enter Burma from China via the bridge over Namwan creek leading to Man Se township. The event is the 5th instance of cross border weapons assistance in the last 3 months. (DVB)
 
5 December 2006
Maj Thant Zaw Lin, air force instructor, killed when his F-7 fighter crashes in Shande, Meikhtila. His trainees parachute and escape. (DVB)
 
8 December 2006
Gen Shwe Mann
Indian army commander RK Das says India and Burma discussed possible joint military exercises during the visit of Gen Shwe Mann. (AP)
 
11 December 2006
The Burma Army has announced it will begin military exercises on 14 December in the Samar Region under the control of the KIA. It will last until 22 December. The exercise is meant to send a message to India that Burma dares to hold it in a region close to China, says Mya Maung, a military analyst on the Chinese border. It is also a message to the KIO/KIA, he adds. (Mizzima)
 
12 December 2006
The Burma Army is using mines against civilians, charged Padoh Mahn Shar, General Secretary of Karen National Union. In November 2005, Burma announced it had banned the use of land mines since 1999 and claimed 231 people were injured because of rebel landmines. "They had lied after in fact they had done it themselves," he said. "We plant the landmines when the Burma Army comes and defuse them when we withdraw. We also warn people not to pass through the area." (Mizzima)
 
14 December 2006
Clashes between Burma Army and ethnic armies increasing in eastern Burma:

• 4-5 clashes a day in Toungoo, Nyaunglebin, Thandaung and Papun townships against Karens

• Clashes in the vicinity of Tachilek against Shan State Army

• A clash recently in Khawzar township against a splinter group of New Mon State Army

• Military exercise in Waing Maw township, Kachin State, involving 17 battalions. (Irrawaddy)