Weekly Diary, No. 266 (8 – 14 September 2007)

Weekly Diary, No. 266 (8 – 14 September 2007)
 
·         MONKS ISSUE ULTIMATUM!
·         WATCH OUT FOR 18 SEPTEMBER!
·         JUNTA CUTS PHONE LINES!
·         S.H.A.N. WEBSITE CUT!
 
Think Piece
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

_{Minister Colm Burke, at the European Parliament, 6 September 2007, reported by Mizzima News}

 
The World
8-9 September 2007

21 leaders of Asia-Pacific region holds APEC summit in Sydney. (Agencies)
 
12 September 2007
_{Shinzo Abe}
PM Shinzo Abe bows out after a year in office. (Agencies)
 
13 September 2007

Indonesia's Sumatra pummeled by aftershocks after a massive earthquake topples hundreds of buildings, killing at least 10 and burying many others. (Reuters)

International Relations
6 September 2007
The European Parliament unanimously passes a resolution calling on EU members to do everything in their power to achieve passage of a binding Security Council Resolution on Burma. (Mizzima)
 
10 September 2007
Deputy FM Kyaw Thu will be on a four day visit, 11-14 September, to North Korea, says a foreign ministry official. (AP)
 
10 September 2007
_{Ban Ki-moon}
UN chief Ban Ki-moon announces he is dispatching his special adviser for Burma Ibrahim Gambari to hold talks with its military rulers. (Washington Post) He will visit Burma in mid-October. (DPA)
 
12 September 2007
_{Priscilla Clapp}
Priscilla Clapp, former attaché at the US Embassy in Burma, says a combination of Chinese pressure and internal decay may be the only way to bring about change in Burma. (Washington Post)
 
13 September 2007
_{Tang Jiaxuan}
Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, meeting with Gen Than Shwe's special envoy FM Nyan Win in Zhongnanhai, says China whole heartedly hopes Burma will push forward a democratic process "that is appropriate for the country." (Xinhua)

14 September 2007
Burma has been ranked zero, the worst government in the world, according to the latest Worldwide Governance Indicators. The best is Denmark, 100. (Irrawaddy)

Thai-Burma Relations
10 September 2007
19 river crossing on the Moei river between Myawaddy and Maesod closed as a move to decrease illegal entries and boost economic activities. (Irrawaddy)

12 September 2007
The first batch of Padaungs from two villages in Maehongson, Huay Sua Tao and Nai Soi, moved to Huay Pu Keng on the Pai river. There are an estimated 500 Padaungs living in the two villages. (Irrawaddy)

Politics/ Inside Burma
8 September 2007
The Economist dubs Burma's "disciplined democracy" as "thugocracy". After the actual drafting of the constitution it will be put to referendum – probably next year – say officials. Elections would then be held in 2009. (The Economist)
 
13 September 2007
Burma is moving from non-constitutional dictatorship to a constitutional dictatorship. (The Nation)

Protests and Arrests
8 September 2007

• Myitkyina. Students fan out and paste 500 posters with a 5-point demand in Myitkyina:
• To roll back the fuel and commodity prices
• Stop the Myitsone hydroelectric power project
• Stop land confiscation
• Scrap the outcome of Nation Convention
• Start Tripartite Dialogue (Kachin News Group)
•  Daw Pone. 12 people led by NLD Than Htay march along the streets followed by over 50 people. (Mizzima)
• Pakokku. Authorities are arresting people who are passing news to foreign broadcasting agencies. (Mizzima)

 
9 September 2007
The National Front of Monks has issued a 4 point ultimatum to the junta:

• An apology to the Pakokku monks
• Reduction of fuel prices
• Release of all political prisoners
• Dialogue with democratic forces

The Sangha has placed the deadline at 17 September. Rejection of their demands will be met with Pattanikkujjana Kamma (a downturned monk's bowl), says Sangha spokesman U Kheminda. (Network Media Group)
_{Burmese monks}
The boycott held in 1990 was crushed when the military seized monasteries and arrested hundreds of monks. Many were disrobed, imprisoned and tortured. Some monks say they want to ascertain who is behind the leaflet before making any move. Only "influential abbots" can call a boycott, says one. (Irrawaddy)
 

• Generals accuse NLD of mounting a string of protests. (Reuters)
• New Light of Myanmar says Htay Kywe, who is in hiding, was assisted by the embassy of a "powerful country". (AP)
• Pakokuu. Chief of Military Affairs Security Ye Myint and Minister for Religious Affairs Thura Myint Maung meet 15 senior monks and offer 30,000 kyat compensation for each monk who was beaten up and disrobed. They say in the newspaper they did not mistreat the monks, now they are admitting their guilt by offering money, says a monk. (DVB)

 
10 September 2007

• Thar Phyu, a blog writer and computer shop owner, warned for reporting about the flooding in Mogok as well as demonstrations against fuel price hike. (Irrawaddy)
• Two ministers Home Maung Oo and Industry 1 Aung Thaung direct the suppression of demonstrations, according to reliable sources.
• Pro-democracy activists' mobile phones cut off: Myint Thein, NLD spokesman, Su Su Nway, Phyu Phyu Thin, Htun Myint Aung, Hla Myo Naung, Toe Kyaw Hlaing and Soe Myint Htein. (Irrawaddy)

 
11 September 2007

• Phone lines of some foreign correspondents cut off. (Mizzima)
• State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says reports indicate many of the protestors have been brutally beaten and interrogated. (Washington Post)
• Junta pleads with its citizens to end weeks of protests and to instead express their views through a referendum on a new yet-to-be-drafted constitution, state-run media reports. New Light of Myanmar says protests "are no longer fashionable." (AP)
• Taunggup. Soe Aung, arrested after a solo protest, sentenced to 4 years in jail within a few hours. (Reuters) He also displays a placard saying Than Shwe should be excommunicated as a Buddhist. (AP)

 
12 September 2007

• New Light of Myanmar shows top officials in Mandalay offering donations to 102 temples. (BBC)
• Authorities has ordered curfew at some monasteries across Burma. They also set up more security around several of them. (Irrawaddy)
• Rangoon. Telephone line to NLD HQ cut off.
• At least 600 criminals were released over the past few months and recruited as vigilantes, according to diplomatic sources. (Mizzima)

 
13 September 2007

• The 4 week long protests in Burma are "just the start" of a mass movement against the ruling junta, says Htay Kywe, a leading activist in hiding.
• Dagon Taya, 88, and Moe Thu, both well-known writers, speak in favor of the peaceful protests and urge the junta to solve "our problems with peaceful dialogue." (DVB)
• Mandalay. Maj Gen Khin Zaw turned back from a temple where he was entering with donations. (Independent Mon News Agency)

Shans/ Shan State
9 September 2007
_{Khun Tun Oo}
Food offering ceremony to be held in honor of Shan leader Khun Tun Oo's birthday at Rangoon's Bahan township headed off by authorities. The United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), as a grouping unrecognized by the military government, cannot hold it, Cin Shin Thang, the Zomi leader told. (Network Media Group)
 
11 September 2007
Chiangmai Shans mark the 64th birthday of detained Khun Tun Oo, the Shans' elected leader in 1990. (SHAN)
 
13 September 2007
SHAN's Shan language website www.mongloi.org axed. "Now we can reach it only through proxies," report two readers. (SHAN)

 
Economy/ Business
12 September 2007
Nearly 400 monks from Ma-ubin township say they are skipping breakfast since the people cannot donate much. (DVB)
 
12 September 2007
IMF and the World Bank warned the regime last year if they did not reduce their extraordinarily high budget deficits, economic development would suffer. Measures by Gen Maung Aye:

• Aggressive campaign to collect taxes
• Major investigation into businesses suspected of tax evasion
• Greater effort to introduce fiscal responsibility instead of printing money when funds are needed

But the regime cannot contemplate cutting back on military spending, the building of the new capital and the new cyber city, or construction of nuclear reactor. Reducing government subsidies is the only option left. (Mizzima)
 
Austerity would best begin with the junta itself, says economist U Myint. (Financial Times) What is needed is a reconfiguring and restraining of government expenditure, he says. In 2006, inflation was estimated at 21.4%. Now various estimates place the rate of inflation as high as 80%. Military expenditure is 40% while health and education account for 0.4% and 0.5% respectively. (Mizzima)
 
12 September 2007
7-Day News reports companies from 4 countries will invest in Burma's first cyber city of Yadanabon:

• Shin Satellite (Thailand)
• ZTE and Alcatel Shanghai Bell (China)
• IP Tel Sdn. Bhd (Malaysia)
• CBOSS (Russia)

(Xinhua)

 
Human Rights
7 September 2007
Military tribunal in Insein sentence 6 activists who attended a May Day discussion on labor rights at the American Center in Rangoon to life imprisonment. (Mizzima) ILO on 12 September calls for their release. (Irrawaddy)

 
Environment
12 September 2007
Burma's infrastructure development is endangering 156 species of flora and fauna, according to London-based International Union of the Conservation of Nature. (Irrawaddy)

 
Drugs
9 September 2007
_{Wattanachai Chaimuenwong}
Amount of drugs being smuggled across the northern border has increased because of weak co-operation between various drug suppression agencies, says Wattanachai Chaimuenwong, security advisor to the prime minister. The situation is as severe as it was 6-8 years ago, according to him. Almost all the smugglers bringing drugs from Burma, Laos and Cambodia had help from men in uniform, he adds. (Bangkok Post)
 
10 September 2007
Col Boonyeun Inkwang, Commander of 36th Ranger Regiment, says his unit has destroyed 64 hectares of opium fields in Omkoi district, Chiangmai province, since early this year. (Irrawaddy)

12 September 2007
S.H.A.N. director Khuensai Jaiyen meets UN Office of Drugs and Crime's Akira Fujino and Xavier Bouan to exchange data on the drug situation in Burma. (SHAN)

 
War
8 September 2007
The assassination of Col Kyi Min, Commander of 18th Battalion, 6th Brigade of KNU, last month on his return from a Burma Army camp following discussions for peace was done under CIA's behest, says Kyemon (The Mirror), another junta daily. (Narinjara)
 
11 September 2007
Unidentified armed group entering Thai territory in Mae Surin district, Maehongson province, shoot up with Thai Ranger company #3607. One intruder, believed to be a member of KNPLF, captured dead. (Kantarawaddy Times)