Weekly Diary, No. 298 (19 – 25 April 2008)

• HUMAN TRAFFICKING FROM THAILAND ALSO RESULT OF WESTERN SANCTIONS?
• BLASTS IN RANGOON-AGAIN!
• ABSENTEE VOTING BEGINS!

Think Piece
We don’t know where the cash from Burma’s gas has gone to. We feel the generals’ pockets are becoming bigger and bigger while the country’s pockets are becoming smaller and smaller.
A Rangoon resident, BBC News, 23 April 2008

The World
18 April 2008
_{Dominique Strauss-Kahn}
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of International Monetary Fund (IMF) calls for a moratorium on using food crops to power vehicles. Producing biofuels are a crime against humanity, Jean Ziegler, UN special rapporteur for the right to food said earlier. (AFP) Others have blamed on rising fuel prices – S.H.A.N.
 
24 April 2008
Controversial Chinese arms shipment recalled before reaching Zimbabwe. (AFP)

International Relations
21 April 2008
Imprisoned protest leader U Gambira, 29, honored with award by UK-based Index on Censorship. (Irrawaddy)
 
22 April 2008
_{Noppadon Pattama}
Thai FM Noppadon Pattama has told Michael Williams, UK PM’s special representative, that human trafficking is largely the result of Western sanctions. (Mizzima)
 
23 April 2008
_{Paulo Sergio Pinheiro}
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro calls the referendum exercise “a ritual without real content.” It is hard to find anyone outside the junta itself who favors a yes vote. Two main reasons:
·         Brutal suppression in September
·         Provisions in the draft are designed to make it hard to change it
In addition, with no independent poll-monitors, even if there is No vote, we might never know. (The Economist)
 
24 April 2008
The Bengali-Burmese friendship football match will be played between Kingfisher’s East Bengal Football Club, and Mizzima football team, representing the Burmese people on 26 April. Somitra Lahiti, Public Relations Officer of West Bengal Sports Department, says the match is aimed of drawing public attention to the case of 34 Burmese rebels still languishing in Kolkata. (Mizzima)
 
24 April 2008
_{Richard Horsey}
Richard Horsey, former ILO officer now working for UN, thinks Ibrahim Gambari has achieved more than his predecessor Razali Ismail. Unlike the Malaysian diplomat, he has the backing of Burma’s neighbors and enjoys rare access to China and India, he says. (Irrawaddy)
 
24 April 2008
_{Aung San Suu Kyi}
US Senate agrees to confer Congressional Gold Medal on Aung San Suu Kyi. (AFP)
 
25 April 2008
Germany imposes an obligation on Burmese citizens to obtain transit visa for stopovers at German airports to prevent demand of political asylum during passage through Frankfurt. (The Earth Times)
 

Thai-Burma Relations
24 April 2008

The longneck Kayans agree their lives in Thailand are better than in Burma. But they are tired of their tourist attraction life and want to move to Third Countries. Tharit Charungvat, spokesman for Thailand’s foreign ministry, however says the Kayans are not regarded as refugees as they live outside the camps. “They are free and earn money,” he adds. The Kayans argue they are not really free because if they are found outside their villages, they are arrested, and they are not permitted to seek jobs elsewhere. (Bangkok Post)
 
25 April 2008
_{PM Thein Sein}
During the 2 day visit by PM Thein Sein to Thailand, a series of contracts are expected to be signed, including:

• Tavoy deep seaport project which will include a 4-lane road from Thailand to Tavoy and two-lane railway lines
• Tavoy-Rangoon gas pipeline together with 2 gas plants in Tavoy and Rangoon.

(Mizzima)

Politics/ Inside Burma
15 April 2008

U Pein bridge across the Taung Thaman Lake in Mandalay, 1.2 km long and made of pure teakwood, collapses. It is the world’s oldest and longest wooden bridge. (Mizzima)
 
22 April 2008
The New Light of Myanmar reports 24 state-owned enterprises including the National Library will be auctioned off. (Irrawaddy)
 
23 April 2008
Since last weekend, people in Rangoon are getting 5 hours of electricity per day instead of 6 as before. (BBC)
 
Referendum
19 April 2008
Hundreds of A-4 size Vote No posters pasted in Bhamo, Momauk, Shwegon and Mansi, according a student leader. (Kachin News Group)
 
20 April 2008
Junta newspapers scream in bold headlines: Let’s vote Yes for national interest. “If we vote Yes, the military will step down in 2 years, if not it will take another 10 years, says a Burma engineer in Singapore. Another, U Win, 73, says otherwise: Many officers changed uniforms and took up positions in the country’s administration following adoption of 1974 military-drafted constitution. (AFP)
 
21 April 2008
Salespersons in Rangoon, for fear of reprisals, are taking back the Nobody brand T-shirts, with No in big letters. (Mizzima)
 
21 April 2008
Since Songkran graffiti campaigners in Mon State are using paint to write No on billboards, walls, roads and bus stops. (Kaowao)
 
21 April 2008
Voting process has already begun at Burmese embassies in South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia:
·         Malaysia                19-27 April
·         Singapore              26-29 April
·         South Korea          27-     April
·         Bangkok                22-27 April
·         New Delhi             25-27 April
 
Fear of retaliation has prompted some Burmese nationals living abroad to cast Yes votes. (Asia News/Irrawaddy/Mizzima)
 
21 April 2008
NLD issues statement: The contents of the draft are not widely publicized. People are not aware of the contents. Authorities have not tried to explain their meaning. (Statement)
 
22 April 2008
Poll conducted in Rangoon on 150 respondents:
67        undecided/ uninterested
62        No to draft
Other   Yes to draft
(Irrawaddy)
 
23 April 2008
_{Maj-Gen Ohn Myint}
Maj-Gen Ohn Myint, Commander of Northern Region Command, has promised mobile phones for people who will vote in favor of the draft constitution. (Irrawaddy) Authorities there are also offering rice in exchange for support. (Asia News)
 
23 April 2008
What Lt-Gen Myint Shwe said on 9 April that only 10 last voters in each polling station will be allowed to witness the vote counting is contrary to the referendum law, says Burma analyst Win Min. According to the law, there must be at least 10 voters to witness the vote counting at each polling station, he says. NLD lawyer Thein Nyunt also says announcement from each polling station was made during the 1990 elections. Myint Swe however said the voting results will be announced only by Naypyidaw. Both fear vote rigging in the making. (Mizzima)
 
23 April 2008
Burma analyst Win Min says there have been widespread worries among junta officials that they would be sacked if the referendum is lost in their respective areas.
Plan is in store to compel civil servants to vote a week ahead of the referendum date, an order that ignores voters’ right to secrecy and becomes voter intimidation. (Inter Press Service)
 
24 April 2008
In Chibwe town, Kachin State, a special center for rice and salt at discount prices has been opened for near a weekly:

• A sack of rice K18,000 ($16)
• A package of sat K250 ($0.25)

They are being sold at a 50% discount. (Kachin News Group)
 
24 April 2008
_{Robert Rotberg}
If Than Shwe delivered on the economy, everyone may agree to wait for democracy. But the junta robs and strips the economy, says Robert Rotberg, director of Harvard’s Kennedy School Program and Interstate Conflict and Conflict Resolution. According to IMF, the new capital has cost between $ 122-244 million to build. (Christian Science Monitor)
 
24 April 2008
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Burma Media Association (BMA) say no Burma media has been allowed to publish the views of supporters of a No vote. (AFP)
 
24 April 2008
A student activist turned businessman says he was surprised to see teenagers probably university students buying copies of the draft constitution. Disagreements over the draft present a conundrum for voters:

• NLD has declared the constitutional process illegal
• The military has reserved substantial powers in itself
• Credibility of the outcome is an issue, as the generals have rejected UN offer to monitor
• A 50% turnout is necessary to make the referendum valid and the constitution could be approved by a Yes vote from just over 25% of voters

Josef Silverstein, longtime Burma watcher, thinks Asean role is key. If the charter were approved, it will stand in the end, because Asean position is that it is an internal matter.
(BBC)
 
24 April 2008
Junta is using threat to win votes, according to NLD:

• Civil servants told they face the sack
• Farmers told their land would be confiscated
• Students told they would be barred from continuing their studies

(Irrawaddy)
 
24 April 2008
Hla Soe, chairman of Rangoon’s referendum commission, has said that steps will be taken to ensure fairness in the referendum. (Myanmar Times/ Bangkok Post)
 
24 April 2008
Bi weekly Eleven reports referendum will be live broadcast and telecast. (Xinhua)
 
25 April 2008
Female factory workers in Rangoon have already cast three Yes votes in advance under pressure:

• One as a USDA member
• Another as a Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association member
• The other as a Myanmar Women Affairs Federation member

(DVB)

Shans/ Shan State
18-20 April 2008
Wa National Organization (WNO), a non-ceasefire Wa group, holds Second Congress. Vows never to surrender but to work together with allies until a genuine federal union is achieved. (Statement)
 
21 April 2008
167 houses owned by Shan migrants living at Nawng Pheung village, Maetang district in Chiangmai are facing the threat of demolition by the authorities. (Network Media Group)

Economy/ Business
23 April 2008
Burma’s 3 neighbors are lining up for 3 ports deals:

• Tavoy, 300 km from Bangkok, by Thailand
• Sittwe by India
• Kyaukphyu, 1,500 km from Kunming, by China

(Irrawaddy)
 
25 April 2008
The Government is bankrupt and the generals have all the money, assesses a foreign employee of an NGO in Rangoon. The military government has been forced to push its fiscal end of year date from the end of March to end of June, he says. Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEH), a principle receptacle of junta financial interests, continues to expand in revenue even as the government sinks further into bankrupcy. (Mizzima)

Human Rights
21 April 2008
Ongoing offensive has forced more than 2,200 Karen villagers from Mon and Kyauk Gyi townships in Pegu division to seek shelter in the jungle, says Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People. (CIDKP)

Environment
22 April 2008
Chinese loggers in Namtu are paying K500 ($0.5) to children who are just old enough to go to school to work for them. (Kachin News Group)

Drugs
22 April 2008
Growing number of Wa farmers are calling on Wa authorities for return to poppy cultivation. (SHAN)

War
20 April 2008
Two bombs explode in Rangoon:
2000:   first blast downtown street. A car damaged.
2100:   second blast near Traders Hotel
(AP)
 
21 April 2008
According to respected Thai-based Burma watcher, Pyongyang has been supplying conventional weapons and technology to Burma probably since 1999. A group of up to 20 North Korean technicians may have been based at the naval base near Rangoon for perhaps 6 years and have fitted Burmese naval vessels with surface-to-surface missiles. This would directly affect Thai security. (Bangkok Post)
 
22 April 2008
New Light of Myanmar accuses Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors of the blasts yesterday. (Mizzima)

23 April 2008
Burma Army and Indian Army hold biannual liaison meeting to discuss trafficking of drugs and arms and movements of insurgents. Burma Army side led by Brig Gen Tin Maung Ohn. (The Hindu)

Obituary
17 April 2008
Maj Sein Win Naung, 58, of Shan State Nationalities Peoples Liberation Organization (SNPLO), passes away in Taunggyi. (SHAN)
 
17 April 2008
Kyaw Zin Naung, 26, who set himself on fire on 21 March at the Shwe Dagon passes away. (AP)