Weekly Digest 93

Weekly Digest, No. 93 (25 April � 1 May 2004)

Quotes

Unless your name is Than Shwe, you don�t know what�s going to happen the next day.
A diplomat, quoted by AFP, 25 April 2004

The World

18 April

Protests by Buddhist force Victoria�s Secret service department to take the Buddha bikini item off its website. So does its manufacturer, Ondademar. (BNN, Kuala Lumpur / San Francisco)

26 April
23 nations sign landmark UN-brokered agreement in Shanghai that will link Tokyo with Singapore, Istanbul and St Petersburg in 140,000 km of routes. The highway network will rival the ancient Silk Road. Asia Highway #1 will be passing through Burma. (AFP)

28 April

107 southern militants and 5 officials die in a series of battles in Thailand. It is the bloodiest day in Thailand�s restive south history. Muslims have urged Thaksin to approve proposed 7 point plan rejected by his hawkish cabinet. (Bangkok Post)

Freedom House says freedom of the press declined in 2003, including a worrisome drop in Italy. Of the countries surveyed 73 were rated free, 49 partly free and 71 not free. (AP)

International Relations

21 April
A group of Burma students form Eastern Naga Students Association in answer to senior Naga politician SC Jamir�s call the previous day for all sections in the Naga society. (Mizzima)

24 April
Bangkok Process II, if not postponed, will be attended by 4 new countries: Bangladesh, Laos, Switzerland and Norway making it 17 including Burma. Others are Austria, Australia, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the UN. (AP)

26 April
Bangkok Process has outlived its usefulness. (The Nation) It began on 15 July 2003, when Thailand proposes a sketchy roadmap. (S.H.A.N.)

27 April
Brussels-based International Crisis Group, an anti-sanction thinktank, also demands personal and political freedom for Aung San Suu Kyi, so the �International Community can unite around a concerted approach.� (Press Release)

A resolution renewing import sanctions against Burma is introduced in the US Senate by 16 sponsors, including Mitch McConnell. (AFP)

Thai-Burma Relations

26 April
Kobsak Chutikul, House foreign affairs committee deputy chairman, urges Burma to postpone next month�s convention to allow the opposition more time to prepare for the meeting. The three main parties: military, opposition and ethnics must also have equal representation. It will be to the detriment to the process of national reconciliation if the convention is stacked with the military�s surrogates. (Bangkok Post)

27 April
FM Surakiart says a new date will be picked for the resumption of its Bangkok Process. He also adds Aung San Suu Kyi must be released before the convention. (AFP)

Thai authorities in Maesod have 3 opposition meetings stopped during the past week:
1. 24 April � NCUB (Irrawaddy)
2. 25 April � NLD-LA
3. 25 April � Students-Youth Congress of Burma (Irrawaddy)
Another workshop organized by Terre des Hommes also went underground. (S.H.A.N.)

29 April
China and Japan have voiced that the NLD should participate in the Convention so they can help. U Lwin meanwhile insists there must be free debate and discussion so the military�s six objectives can be discussed. (Larry Jagan/Bangkok Post)

Politics

10 April
PM Khin Nyunt, during his tour in Arakan State, says his government has been providing huge assistance for the development of the state, but nothing about the annual $1 billion profit Rangoon will obtain from gas field southwest of Akyab. (Narinjara)

20 April
The junta is training its hand-picked representatives for the upcoming National Convention. 1 USDA member is included in the delegation of each township. In Shan State, there are Sai Htun Lu of Laikha, U Mya Than of Ywangan, Sai Ohn Myint of Panglong, Sai Lu of Kunlong and Sai Win Maung of Muse, among others. (DVB)

25 April
State media blasts �destructive elements� within and �neo-colonialist� outsiders seeking �to grab state power through short cut.� (AFP)

26 April
The Burmese regime has perfected the art of combining naked force through harsh crackdowns with political offensives to defeat the opposition movement and defuse international pressure. (Irrawaddy)

27 April
All 9 CEC members of NLD meet at Aung San Suu Kyi�s place for the first time since August. Decision whether to attend the convention will be made at the next meeting, says a CEC member. (AFP)

28 April
More than 1,000 delegates from various walks of life and ethnic groups have been invited. A long list of facilities are being offered to delegates including a hospital, karaoke lounge, beauty salon and a gym at the venue, 40 km outside Rangoon. (Agencies)

NLD spokesman U Lwin says they have requested the military authorities to allow another meeting of the top nine. (AP)

28 April
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners � AAPP says 11 NLD members were sentenced from 7-22 year prison terms on 9 April in Mandalay. They were arrested in connection with the 30 May massacre. They were deprived of right to appoint advocate or legal aides, said the report. (Narinjara)

29 April
NLD CEC members meet for the second time, decides to send a letter on 30 April, agreeing to attend the Convention if certain terms are okay by the junta. (AP)

Shans

18 April
Three villages in Langkher township�s Wan Hard area go down in a blaze caused by an electric storm. (S.H.A.N.)

21-22 April
Shan State Joint Action Committee, formed in 1996 to coordinate efforts in the National Convention, held in Lashio. (S.H.A.N.)

Economy / Business

20 April
Daewoo says it will be drilling the A-1 block gas field, 10 miles southwest of Akyab in July. Gas reserves are estimated at 4-6 trillion cubic feet. (Narinjara quoting KHNA)

21 April
Financial Action Task Force on money laundering issued a statement on 27 February removing Ukraine and Egypt from non-cooperative countries due to substantial reforms. Among those remain on the list is Burma. (International Enforcement Law Reporter)

24 April
Burma�s foreign trade fell by 6.6% in the last fiscal year (April 2003-March 2004), $ 3.42 billion from $ 3.66 billion. Most imports come from Singapore. (XNA)

26 April
Myanmar Times reports Burma is implementing 9 more beach resort hotel projects at Ngapali beach, Arakan state. At present, it has only 7 hotels.

Myanmar Times also reports Myanmar Post and Telecommunications will add 10,000 more mobile phone lines that will cover Mogok, Monghsu and Hpakant gemlands. There are 63,150 lines of as the end of 2003. (XNA)

27 April
Cabinet approves labor ministry proposal to register foreign workers and their families from Burma, Cambodia and Laos. Registration will be done in two phases:

• First phase, 15 June-October, which will allow registered aliens to stay and find jobs within one year. Those who fail to find jobs will be sent back.
• The second phase, next year, will change registered alien workers to become legal laborers. They may need to pay tax and will benefit from the social security system. (Bangkok Post) Army deputy chief of staff has issued directive to stem the influx of aliens during the registration period. (S.H.A.N.)

28 April
The 4-day 9th Thailand Exhibition will be held in Rangoon, 5-8 May. (XNA)

Human Rights

4 April
Daw Khatta Myo, wife of Lt-Col Htin Kyaw, IB 273 commander, arrested on charges smuggling contraband goods and human trafficking by police. She is released later. IB 273 is based in Tenasserim�s Yebyu township. (DVB)

16 April
Nang Shwe Hsa, a mother of two children, gang-raped by a 12-14 men patrol led by a second lieutenant from Infantry Battalion 245 in Monghta, Mongton township. The victim later is given a 150,000 kyat (6,000 baht) compensation by the battalion commander. The village is opposite Chiangmai�s Wianghaeng district. (Freedom News)

20 April
�The use of rape as a weapon of war was wrong in Bosnia, and it is wrong in Burma�, says Representative Elton Gallegly, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights. This is in response to Karen Women Organization�s �Shattering Silences�, released on 2 April. (US Campaign for Burma) He is backed by Senator Sam Brownback on 27 April. (FEER)

25 April
The last day to provide 16 million baht compensation for 257 Burmese workers have passed without a sign of Nasawat Company to comply with the labor office decision exactly a month earlier. (NMG)

26 April
EU foreign ministers confirm for another year their sanctions on Burma. EU common position was first adopted in October 1996. (EIS)

27 April
A British delegation that includes Baroness Caroline Cox returns today from visiting ethnic groups along the border where they obtained evidence Rangoon�s �remorseless� policy of ethnic cleansing. (CSW)

Private power suppliers in Rangoon are in high demand as the city�s power supply schedule, every alternate days from 1400-1400, fails. Chinese generators though cheap, 90,000 � 10,000 kyat do not last and the Japanese ones are expensive, 900,000 � 1,200,000 kyat. The price of fuel oil is also high, 1,800 kyat per gallon. Many are forced to buy electricity from neighbors who own generators, 40-60 kyat per bulb per day. Only special areas get 24 hour electricity: eight-mile Konemyintha, Bahan�s Shwe Taunggya, People�s Parliament Building, Minmanaing, Rangoon Zoo and the parks. Many in South Dagon have to rely on candles and charcoal. They also have to rush to pump as much water as they can while there is electricity. (Mizzima)

28 April
Hundreds of Burma refugees in Thailand are being considered for resettlement in Thailand. IOM has already begun medical pre-screener, for 1,800 refugees. (DPNS)

Environment

30 April
Blasting of Khai rapids on the Burma-Lao border and the installation of 77 navigational aids on the Mekong has been completed, said Sub-Lt Preecha Phetwong, secretary of the Joint Committee on Coordination of Commercial navigation. The Khon Phi Luang rapids in Chiangkhong is the only white water in Thailand still marked for blasting. (Bangkok Post)

Drugs

26 April
Rangoon�s reduction of opium acreage has so far without noticeable effects on the heroin trade. (Bangkok Post)

28 April
Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Law, that will serve as a legal basis for the country�s cooperation in international crime suppression, signed by Gen Than Shwe. 11-member Central Authority for rendering such assistance is to be headed by home affairs minister and police director-general. (XNA)

Japanese government says it will provide food aid worth $ 300,000 to former opium farmers through the World Food Program. Australia has pledged $ 620,000. The WFP had asked for $ 3.7 million. (Japan Times)

30 April
Despite the growth of entertainment industry, Mongla is still a drugs hub. A restauranteur said he had seen heroin packages the size of a suitcase. (Time online)

War

26 April
Rangoon may pose no major threat on the world stage, but it threatens the strategic stability of the neighborhood. (Bangkok Post)