Weekly Diary, No. 172 (12 - 17 November 2005)

Weekly Diary, No. 172 (12 - 17 November 2005)

CHIEF DRUG BUSTER NABBED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING!

Think Piece
Don't assume silence indicate agreement.

Sayings and Words of Wisdom,
David Holmes,
Chulalongkorn University Press (2005)

The adoption of a pure (very passive) Wait-and-See stance by the powerful international (players) is rather irresponsible. This is like leaving the people of Burma and their leaders on a raft in a stormy shark-infested sea to fend for themselves as best they can. And worse, the movement will be blamed if the SPDC gets its way.

Chao Tzang Yawnghwe (1939-2004) to an ethnic leader,
7 February 2004

Government workers complain that their wages cannot keep up with the skyrocketing inflation, and they believe that keeping people in subsistence poverty (where they are not starving, but have little means of getting ahead) is the government's main tactic for diverting locals away from politics. After all, overthrowing a government are luxurious thoughts that those struggling for everyday survival cannot afford.

Karishma Huda, Grameen Foundation USA,

By courtesy of Min Kyaw, 13 November 2005

The World
11 November

The magnitude 7.6 quake on 8 October in Kashmir killed 87,350. Damage estimated at $2.3 billion, says The News, quoting a report by ADB and WB.

(AP)

17 November

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Busan, South Korea.

(Agencies)

International Relations
9 November

Burma, together with Iran, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Sudan, has the worst human rights records in the world today, say US rights officials.

(Washing File - UN)

11 November

7 Chin National Army (CNA) cadres and two civilians arrested with a cache of ammunition by India's Mizoram police.

(KNT)

12 November

The New Light of Myanmar has been calling the US a "blood thirsty murderer". It charges the Bush administration of invading Afghanistan and Iraq in the name of anti terrorism.

(Washington Times)

13 November

The US will need 8 other UN Security Council members to put Burma on its agenda. So far only 7 are likely to support its proposal. Also the appearance of Burma on the agenda is doubtful while Russia holds the Council's presidency. The prospects will look better next month, when UK takes over. One way to get it on the agenda might be for the Secretary General to draw the Council's attention to the exclusion of his envoys from Burma, which is a discourtesy to the UN as a whole.

(Derek Tonkin, former British ambassador to Thailand, 1986-89)

13 November

UN rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro meets pro-democracy activists based on Thai-Burma border.

(DVB)

14 November

Following the removal of barbed wire and concrete security barriers on 7 November, a US embassy official told Reuters, "We felt a lot safer with them in place."

(New York Times)

16 November

President Bush, at Kyoto on his way to Korea, says "unlike China" some Asian nations like Burma "still have not taken even the first steps toward freedom. There regimes understand that liberty and political liberty go hand in hand and they refuse to open up at all." Burma should be one of the most prosperous and successful in Asia but is instead one of the region's poorest."

(The White House)

Condoleeza Rice, speaking in Busan, also hopes neighbors of Burma "who feel the need to engage" the junta should be also serious about the "appalling human rights situation" in that country.

(AP)

Thai-Burma Relations
10 November

Democrats MP Wirat Kalayasiri says the Thai people will be responsible for repaying the 4 billion baht ($100 million) loan to Burma if it cannot pay it back. Interest on the 2003 loan is expected to reach $50 million next year. "A scheduled payment was received last February," he adds, "but when I asked an Exim (Export-Import Bank of Thailand) executive about a second payment due 6 August (4 August, according to Matichon), my question was avoided."

(Irrawaddy/Matichon)

12 November

4 drug smugglers wanted by Thailand were handed over to the authorities in Maehongson by Wa National Army, whose leader Mahasang is still imprisoned in Chiangmai on drug charges. Part of the effort to redeem itself, says the group's secretary.

(Kantarawaddy Times)

17 November

A self-help school to teach English, Thai and basic computer for migrants opened in Chiangmai.

(NMG)

Politics
12 November

The new capital has been named Nay Pyi Daw, the Royal Capital, confirm sources in Rangoon.

(Mizzima)

16 November

Kokang Democratic Party of Yang Kyin Maw that had boycotted the National Convention has received invitation to attend the session on 5 December.

(DVB)

Shans

13 November

Carl Gershman

courtesy: http://nk.chosun.com/

It was Carl Gershman, president of the non profit National Endowment for Democracy who pushed for Charm Tong's access to the White House. Rep Tom Lantos said her 50-minutes with Bush would reverberate around the world.

(Times)

14 November

More condemnations on sentencing of Shan leaders

·      European Union

16 November

Three leaders, Hkun Htun Oo, Gen Hso Ten and Sai Nyunt Lwin transferred to a prison in the remote part of Burma.

(DVB)

Economics/Business
11 November

Recent economic crisis in Burma has led more Burmese women to the sex industry, according to an aid worker. Many women and girls walk the streets pretending to sell mosquito netting when in fact they are selling sex.

(Irrawaddy)

16 November

A person has to be a member of the Myanmar Chamber of Commerce, as well as posess permits from the Rakhaine state Peace and Development Council and from the immigration department to cross the border legally now, say traders.

A registration fee of 20,000 kyat ($20) is needed to gain membership of the Chamber of Commerce while 3,000 kyat ($3) is needed to acquire the immigration permit. Permit from the State Council takes at least 20 days.

(Narinjara)

Human Rights
13 November

The Army orders headmen of Three Pagoda Pass quarters to enrol residents 6-20 years as members of USDA. Women up to 30 years age must also become members of Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association.

(IMNA)

17 November

Amnesty says although Burma's laws prohibit forced labor the ban had not been implemented and little progress had been made to end the practice.

(AFP)

Environment
14 November
Energy Minister Viset Choopiban says the Hatgyi hydroelectric dam is expected to be the first dam of the series of dams to be built. A feasibility study shows electricity production could be increased to 1,200 megawatts from the 700 megawatts extimated earlier.

(Bangkok Post)

Drugs
17 November

US officials say Guatemala's anti-drug chief and two of its senior officials have been arrested on charges of conspiring to import and distribute cocaine in the US.

(Reuters)

War
12 November

Two Chin insurgents fire on spectators at a soccer match in Matupi, killing two people and wounding 6 others according to Rangoon. (AP) Chin Human Rights Organization however says it was in fact two Burmese soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 304 who were the culprits. Witnesses say the said two were apparently disgruntled over their loss against the civilian team. (CHRO)

14 November

Not long ago, a military officer was asked the purpose of obligatory civil defense training for civilian men. "You are holding action against the Americans until the Chinese come to our aid," he instructed. The joke going around is "After Sein (Diamond in Burmese, but meaning Saddam Hussein) comes Shwe (Gold, meaning Than Shwe)."

(NY Times)

According to retired Gen Kyaw Zaw, the junta is far less worried about an American invasion than it is of its own people. If people were to take to the streets again, the junta could continue to run their affairs from Pyinmana. The lessons of being locked in by a restive populace has been learned but the possibility of a new uprising still haunts the army leaders.

(Irrawaddy)

14 November

The first video of the new Burmese capital, taken surreptitiously and smuggled out the NHK, emerges. It shows drab, grey buildings, few people in the streets and lots of construction in progress.

(The Guardian)

Obituary

16 November

Nai Nywe Ya, 50, renowned Mon lawyer, who had been helping people suing authorities over forced labor and defending those arrested dies in Rangoon. He had been suffering from cancer.

(DVB)