Kay Latt

Reuters
Jakarta, March 25, 2009

The European Union will wait until next month before deciding whether to extend sanctions against Myanmar, a special envoy said on Tuesday, although another EU official saw little prospect of them being lifted.

There has been an emerging debate in the international community over policies towards Myanmar after Washington said it was reviewing its policy and conceded that sanctions had not influenced the junta on human rights and democracy.

The EU's special envoy to Myanmar, Piero Fassino, said there had been no decision yet on new sanctions, which expire at the end of April.

"Our attitude about this is in relation with the evolution of the situation. If there will be some positive new steps, we take note," said Fassino, who is on a trip to the region before reporting back to Brussels.

"The European Council many times declared we are ready to change the sanctions if there are some positive steps in (the) direction to obtain our goals," he said, without elaborating.

But another EU official was pessimistic there could be progress within a month to justify lifting sanctions.

"The chances that (the junta) will move in the next month, there is only one month's time, I don't think they're very big," the official told Reuters, asking not to be identified.

The sanctions apply to a long list of Myanmar officials and firms associated with its military rulers.

The EU has been pushing Myanmar to open a dialogue with the opposition, release political prisoners and guarantee elections due in 2010 are free and fair.

The junta, which has ruled the former Burma since 1962, has refused to recognise a 1990 landslide election victory of the opposition National League for Democracy. Its leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the past two decades.

Myanmar has been pursuing its own "roadmap" to democracy, which includes a referendum on an army-drafted constitution.

Western governments have criticised the poll as a sham aimed at entrenching military rule. The 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, has sought to address democratic reforms and human rights issues in the former Burma under a policy of "constructive engagement".

But the EU and Washington have urged ASEAN to put more pressure on their neighbour.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last month on a trip to the region that the sanctions had not influenced the junta, but also said that trying to engage them had failed.

Wednesday, 25 March 2009, 2:00 pm
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission

Myanmar: Special Humanitarian Request For Urgent Medical Treatment For Detainee Suffering From Heart Condition

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is writing this special appeal to you out of grave concern that a person currently being detained in Myanmar is seriously incapacitated and could die for want of adequate medical attention.

The detainee in question is Ma Su Su Nwe, 39, who was convicted of five charges and sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in jail for her part in the events of August and September 2007, which was reduced on appeal to eight-and-a-half years in February 2009. Ma Su Su Nwe, as you may be aware, has a congenital heart defect and has been on medication for a long time.
SEARCH NZ JOBS
Search New Zealand Business

However, we are gravely concerned that since she has been held in custody, Ma Su Su Nwe's health has worsened dramatically. According to visitors to Kalay Prison in Sagaing Division, where she has been held since November 2008, Ma Su Su Nwe is unable to walk without support from wardens and appears to be extremely weak and pale.

While we are aware that Ma Su Su Nwe has obtained some treatment at the Kalay hospital, we are gravely concerned that so long as she is held in the extremely poor conditions in the prison her health will only continue to worsen.

We are also aware that one of the reasons for Ma Su Su Nwe's seriously deteriorating health is that, like many other persons convicted over the incidents in 2007, she has been sent to a prison far from her residence, making it very difficult for friends and family to visit regularly and attend to her needs.

Without regards to other factors, we sincerely request you to allow Ma Su Su Nwe to get the urgent medical treatment that she needs to secure her health, preferably as an inpatient in a hospital outside of prison. In this respect we also kindly request that you consider transferring Ma Su Su Nwe to a prison closer to her family and relatives, in the Ayeyarwaddy or Yangon Divisions, so that other persons too may assist in seeing that she receives the food and medicine and other things that she needs.

Please be informed that we are making this request on strictly humanitarian and compassionate grounds, for the sake of the health and wellbeing of a woman detainee. We believe that your prompt intervention will allow for Ma Su Su Nwe to obtain the assistance that she needs without further delay.

We also take this opportunity to urge that the International Committee for the Red Cross again be allowed access to detainees in Myanmar in accordance with its international mandate as a matter of the highest priority.

We trust that you will give this request your highest consideration and thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yours sincerely

Basil Fernando
Executive Director
Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong

Mar 25, 2009 (DVB)–The European Union has said that it may consider easing sanctions on Burma if democratic progress in the country is seen, said the EU’s senior envoy to Burma yesterday.

“The European Council many times declared we are ready to change the sanctions, suspend the sanctions, if there are some positive steps in the direction of our goal,” said Piero Fassino.

The EU is due to meet with senior Burmese officials next month. Conditions for the easing of sanctions included the lifting of restrictions on opposition groups ahead of the proposed 2010 elections.

“It is impossible to achieve a free and fair election if the leader of the opposition is in prison,” he said.

“If in the next month there is some positive evolution, for example putting in place real democratic guarantees, we will consider [easing sanctions].”

The statement coincides with the first visit by a US senior official to Burma since the ruling State Peace and Development Council took office in 1997, and points to the possibility of a general softening in policy from the international community.

Reporting by Francis Wade

Mar 23, 2009 (DVB)–Villages in Irrawaddy division are still struggling for fresh water nearly a year after sources were inundated by seawater and debris, including human and animal corpses, from cyclone Nargis.

According to locals and aid workers in Irrawaddy, finding fresh drinking water had remained difficut for residents in about 80 villages in Bogalay, Mawlamyaingkyun and Laputta townships.

Many villagers have had to travel long distances via boats to fetch water since the cyclone hit last May.

“In some villages, people have to travel to far places, sometime an hour’s boat ride away on the river to get to fresh water wells,” said one villager.

“Those who are unable to travel can buy water from those who sell it in the villages for 1000 kyat [$US1] a bucket.”

Some NGOs and international organisations, including France’s Red Cross, have been installing water purifying machines and digging new wells in affected areas, said the villager.

Their geographical spread, however, has meant that not all areas have been covered.

The leader of the National League for Democracy’s Nargis Relief Committee, Ohn Kyaing, said it was a worrying situation for the villagers located in a region that was known for water shortages in summer even before the cyclone hit.

“In places that are near to the sea, like Laputta, people in summertime have to rely on rainwater from the previous year which has been stored in lakes and ponds,” said Ohn Kyaing.

“But for this year, they will have no water to use as all the local lakes and wells were polluted by muddy seawater, dirt, and dead human and animal corpses during the cyclone.”

The Nargis Relief Committee had managed to help clean around 100 wells in 60 villages in the south of Laputta last year, he added.

The owner of a clinic in Laputta, Dr Aye Kyu, said that the water pollution crisis may lead to an outbreak of diseases such as cholera, which is common in the region, and broke out in Laputta nearly seven years ago.

Farmers have also suffered as a result of continued contamination of land.

Farming equipment bought on credit from private companies has been taken back after farmers failed to pay installments following a poor harvest that left them with insufficient money, said a local in Bogalay township.

Reporting by Nan Kham Kaew

Mar 23, 2009 (DVB)–The International Labour Organisation has confirmed that over 2000 acres of farmland confiscated by the army in Magwe division has been returned following meetings between the ILO and local authorities.

The land had been taken from farmers in Aunglan township, Magwe, two years ago after they refused to bow to government pressure to grow sugarcane for army-run Aunglan township’s sugar factory.

Following a meeting on 11 March between the ILO and the military, 2003 acres of land was returned.

“Satisfactory conclusions were reached in respect of the farmers having the right to access their land or in other areas to receive an equal quantity of land which they would then have to the right to use to grow whichever crops they wished to grow,” said the ILO liaison officer in Rangoon, Steve Marshall.

“The principles and agreements…now are in the process of being put into practice,” he added.

Reporting by Htet Aung Kyaw

Mar 20, 2009 (DVB)–Chin state locals who suffered food shortages last year due to mass flowering of bamboo have been forced to grow and sell opium to generate income, said a researcher who visited the region recently.

Last month, Chin ethnic researcher Pu Be Jong visited the areas in Chin state, including Plattwa township, affected by the food crisis. The mass flowering of bamboo occurs about once in every 50 years, and attracts hordes of rodents which destroy food crops.

Pu Be Jong said that local people from villages in Plattawa township, alongside the Kaladan River, were growing poppy crops to earn money for food.

“The villagers have been secretly growing poppy in nearby forests since September last year,” he said.

“The locals said they didn’t really want to make money through such a business but they had no other choice.”

The opium produced after the harvest earlier this year was sold in Bangladeshi and Indian towns across the border.

Burma is the world’s second biggest exporter of opium after Afghanistan, according to the United States.

Reporting by Khin Maung Soe Min

Mar 20, 2009 (DVB)–Two female stall holders at a market in Bago were assaulted by local butchers earlier this month, and one then sued by police for insulting and obstructing officials on duty, said a stall holder.

Local butchers Kyint Sein and Thant Zin attacked a meat curry vendor named San San Hla after she refused to source meat from them. They also attacked another stall holder.

Market official Than Win and Captain Myo Myint Aung of the army’s Brigade-77 watched while the assault took place, said San San Hla.

“They pulled my hair and beat me up,” she said. “I fell down and lost consciousness.

“Other people came to watch and the men hastily drove away. They dragged another girl, who was selling pork barbeque at the top of the road, by her neck and took her to the municipal office."

“They told me they did that because the captain was here.”

San San Hla and the girl reported the incident to No.3 police station but officers refused to accept their case.

Market official Than Win and butcher Thant Zin then sued San San Hla for obstructing officials on duty, and butcher Kyint Sein and Thant Zin sued her for insulting them.

A police officer at No.3 station said that witnesses are being interviewed and the police will press charges only after legal experts are consulted.

San San Hla also claimed that Myo Myint Aung encouraged the attackers while they were assaulting her.

An officer on duty at Brigade-77, Lieutenant Colonel Tin Htun Oo, denied the accusation and said that the people concerned are being interviewed.

"It is the army's duty to make things better, not to make things worse," he said.

Local residents claim that Myo Myint Aung has been extorting money from guesthouses, slaughter houses and gambling centres for some time.

They added that he is often seen drinking with Kyaw Win, a member of the pro-government Union Solidarity and Development Association party.

On the same day, chicken vendor Nyan Win claims he was also attacked by local butchers and municipal officials.

He said that the butchers mistook his chicken meat for pork meat, for which they are trying to get a monopoly over distribution.

"Four people punched me first,” he said. “As I fell down I asked them why they punched me, and they said they are from the arresting squad.

“My lips needed three stitches from the punches and from being shot with catapults."

Nyan Win said he is also being sued for obstruction and profanity.

Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat