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BURMA RELATED NEWS - DECEMBER 13, 2004 YANGON (AFP) - At least two Myanmar dissidents were among thousands of prisoners freed after the military government announced it had begun releasing more than 5,000 detainees in a third mass release in less than a month, relatives and officials said. A prison department official said inmates were being freed from dozens of jails throughout Myanmar and all 5,070 should be released by the end of Sunday. "We are releasing them from 41 prisons around the country and we will finish today," the official said. At least 26 truckloads carrying more than 1,300 inmates, most believed to be petty criminals, were seen rolling out of Insein prison, Myanmar's largest jail, Sunday to be released at other locations. Well-known political prisoner Htwe Myint, 77, a senior member of Myanmar's Democracy Party, was confirmed as released by his family. He had been serving a seven-year sentence which had already expired, relatives said. "I have just been to see him at our cousin's house. The whole family is very excited," Htwe Myint's niece told AFP. Also freed was Democracy Party chairman Thu Wai, said too to be in his seventies, according to a spokesman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party headed by detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "I can confirm that both men were released," the NLD's U Lwin told AFP. The two had been on the lists of prisoners of conscience compiled by international human rights groups. Rights watchdog Amnesty International, which says 1,350 political prisoners remain imprisoned in Myanmar, cites both dissidents as serving seven-year jail terms for distributing leaflets in 1995 and have had their sentences extended since 2002. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, was detained in May last year and is currently under her third stint of house arrest. The NLD announced late last month that authorities extended the detention by another year. There has also been no indication that her deputy Tin Oo has been released. The latest mass release is the third announced since November 18 and brings to 14,318 the total number of inmates the junta said it would free because they were wrongly imprisoned. The small number of dissidents freed -- less than 40 in the last two releases -- has come as a blow to the NLD which had been hoping for freedom for 400 in the first set of releases alone, including 74-year-old journalist Win Tin, a key opposition figure and NLD member who has spent the last 15 years in prison. Pro-democracy activists said the latest outflow of inmates looked set to offer little more. "The euphoria and hope generated by news of the initial release last month has now dissipated," said Debbie Stothard of regional pressure group Altsean-Burma. "This leads us to the conclusion that it's a cynical ploy to empty the prisons and gain popularity at home and abroad by making military intelligence look bad," Stothard said. The junta said Saturday the prisoners were freed "because of national intelligence bureau (NIB) irregularities," referring to a military unit accused by the regime of abusing its powers in arresting thousands of citizens. The NIB was disbanded in October in a purge that saw the sacking of its former head premier General Khin Nyunt -- who favoured limited talks with Aung San Suu Kyi -- and his house arrest on corruption allegations. Diplomats had indicated to AFP in the past week that Yangon was preparing a new round of releases but wanted to wait until a world Buddhist summit it was hosting had wrapped up. The summit ended on Saturday. The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962 even though the NLD won a landslide election victory in 1990. YANGON (AFP) - Buddhism, enthusiastically followed by the majority of Myanmar's 53 million people, is being exploited as a propaganda tool by the military junta, monks and analysts said after the curtain fell on a world Buddhist meeting held here. The junta's generals are frequently pictured in the state press with senior Buddhist figures or making generous offerings at pagodas in the country, where about 90 percent of the people are devoted followers of the religion's Theravada strain. Last week, with elaborate fanfare, the isolated regime hosted the fourth World Buddhist Summit -- which official media described as a "landmark in the history of Buddhism" -- despite the threat of a boycott. Senior General Than Shwe, the head of the ruling State Peace and Development Council, made a rare public appearance on Thursday, trading his habitual army uniform for a traditional white tunic and longyi (loincloth) to welcome dignitaries. The generals want to appear connected to the people who, although poor, make generous donations for the upkeep of monasteries and the building of pagodas, and most of whom at some point become monk or novice. For the "khatain" ceremonies which recently marked the end of Buddhist fasting, battalions of ministers and military top brass filed barefoot through monasteries where they were photographed prostrating in front of revered monks of the Sangha, a Buddhist governing council, and offering traditional robes. "It's very clear. There is an exploitation of Buddhism for political ends," said a diplomat. The "Land of Pagodas" is strewn with places of worship including the sacred Shwedagon pagoda, with its huge gilded dome visible from across Yangon, and the thousands of temples that dot the ancient city of Bagan in central Myanmar. The most famous personality in the country, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, held her first public visit after her release from house arrest in May 2002 for prayers at Shwedagon. Together with thousands of students, scores of Buddhist monks took to the streets in 1988 in pro-democracy protests that were crushed by the military. Their punishment was to suffer under a crackdown, and monks now appear to be confined to their monasteries. "They are totally controlled. They are obliged to be on the side of the regime," said the diplomat. "When Aung San Suu Kyi went into the provinces after her release, certain temple abbots refused to receive her" for fear of being badgered by military intelligence officials, the diplomat said of the Nobel peace laureate's short period of freedom. She is now back under house arrest following her detention in May last year. Monks and nuns do not play a socially active role in Myanmar, primarily devoting their time to the study of sacred texts and meditation in their monasteries. "They are given gifts to encourage them to remain calm and not get involved in politics: money and cars," said one analyst. "The Buddhist clergy has been completely bought." Monks who dare to criticise the regime find themselves in prison and are almost immediately defrocked. In one of the 400 monasteries in Yangon, a superior monk, who declined to give his name, acknowledged there were many monks in prison even as the regime hosted the Buddhist summit. "They are disrobed, they have to wear the prisoners' uniform and they aren't allowed to chant or meditate," he told AFP. "Many have been sentenced to 15 to 20 years, which are often extended, after they didn't accept the food offerings from government officials." "We can't express our opinion, speak openly to the people," he said. "There are pressures. Sometimes we feel we are being watched". According to a secret association of monks, between 350 and 400 monks were being held in Myanmar prisons. "The monks in Yangon have no interest in this Buddhist summit: it isn't a genuine summit, it has been organised for the political benefit of the regime," said a superior, explaining that the secret group sent letters to monasteries urging them to boycott the event. "You can judge for yourself if they (the generals) are sincere or not," he said. "They should not go to the pagodas wearing their uniforms." The "sayadaw" (superior monk), Ashin Nanisara, had to flee Myanmar after criticising the regime in 1988. He was allowed to return, one monk at a monastery said, but was coralled by the regime into providing his backing to the Buddhist summit and serving as one of its organisers. YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's military government announced it had begun freeing 5,070 more prisoners, taking the number earmarked for release since last month to more than 14,300. "We have started to release from today a total of 5,070 prisoners from the various jails around the country," the junta said on state television. It said the prisoners were freed "because of national intelligence bureau (NIB) irregularities," referring to a disbanded military unit accused by the regime of abusing its powers in arresting thousands of citizens. Few other details about the detainees were provided and the report did not mention whether any political prisoners were among those being freed. Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's world-famous pro-democracy leader, remains under house arrest after authorities detained her in May last year. The latest mass release is the third announced since November 18 and brings to 14,318 the total number of inmates the junta said it would free because they were wrongly imprisoned by the NIB. All in the previous two batches were released by late last month, the junta has said, although this has not been independently verified. The powerful NIB was disbanded in October in a purge that saw the sacking and house arrest on corruption allegations of pragmatist premier General Khin Nyunt, who headed the unit. Western diplomats had indicated to AFP that they were expecting a third mass release but said authorities would likely wait for a world Buddhist summit to wrap up in the capital Yangon, which it did on Saturday. Analysts in Yangon said the release was aimed at further discrediting the former premier, who had worked to build limited dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "The idea is to show that the nasty Khin Nyunt has put into prison people who do not belong there," a Yangon-based observer with intimate knowledge of the junta told AFP. Most prisoners from the previous two mass releases were petty criminals, according to the military regime, which has so far refused to name the handful of political prisoners also freed. Observers and independent witnesses said fewer than 30 dissidents were freed in the previous releases, the most famous known so far being Min Ko Naing, leader of 1988 student protests. The small number of dissidents to be allowed to leave jail has come as a blow to Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party which had been hoping for freedom for 400 in the first set of releases alone. Opposition groups claim the releases have been announced to gain political ground for the junta following mounting international criticism of its failure to reform or to release Aung San Suu Kyi. There has also been no indication that her deputy Tin Oo has been released. Myanmar has more than 100,000 detainees held in some 43 prisons and more than 50 labour camps across the country, according to a prisoners' group operating from neighbouring Thailand. The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962 even though the NLD won a landslide election victory in 1990. BERLIN (AFP) - In Myanmar, one of the world's most isolated countries, three young German filmmakers have managed to portray the story of one man's unlikely dream of building a helicopter. Just weeks before Prime Minister Khin Nyunt was dismissed for corruption in a power struggle among the ruling junta in September, the three Germans entered the country on tourist visas and headed north towards the Chinese border and the village of Bhamo. Film of Myanmar is scarce and visitors are closely monitored. Yet Christian Kage, 29, and Benja Sachau, 28, and Philipp Fuchs, 27, were able to film for several days in August as they followed the progress of Sein Win, an eccentric 63-year-old tour guide who has been nurturing an unlikely dream for the past three decades. "I imagine every day and every hour how to fly," Sein Win says in English in the film. "James Bond inspired me. My inspiration came from 'The Man With the Golden Gun'." Against all the odds in a country wracked by shortages, Sein Win has built a helicopter -- or something closely resembling it. The frame is made from water pipes, the "pilot" sits on a seat adapted from a bicycle and Sein Win has crafted the rotor blades from teak wood, each weighing 40 kilograms (88 pounds). "Normally helicopters are made of aluminium and fibreglass, but I cannot get that here," he says, sitting on his craft. "I have a friend who was in the airforce. He knows a little bit about helicopters, not very much, but he helped me with the engine," he explains. The 15-horsepower engine drives the heavy wooden blades with a belt -- but they rotate far too slowly to allow the helicopter to leave the ground. "I have tried it three times in an airfield but it cannot lift off," Sein Win says. "It needs a 30-horsepower engine but that would cost 3,000 US dollars here." The military allowed him to use the airfield, which suggests that the hardline regime tolerates Sein Win's attempts to build his flying machine. Although he does not say he has any intention of leaving Myanmar permanently, he is burning with curiosity about the world outside. "I want to see how people live in different countries, how they build big machines, cars and aeroplanes," he says. "Nobody can prevent me from going into the air. I can fly free in the air." Benja Sachau, who like his two colleagues is from Berlin, had met Sein Win by chance when he was travelling in Myanmar in 2002. They stayed in touch by letter and two years later he agreed to let the Germans film him. "He told us he knew what we were doing and what we had seen, but he said Myanmar was not shadowing foreigners any more," Kage said. The man, B.M. Banerjee, says in the film he knows Sein Win and had advised him to abandon his helicopter project. "He is just crazy. I said 'do something you can get income from'." But according to Kage, "the beauty of the film is that Sein Win may seem eccentric but he is convinced this thing is going to fly one day. "In fact he represents someone trying to achieve their dream in the face of great adversity." The German filmmakers are currently editing their footage and are hoping to sell it to a European television station. BANGKOK, Thailand (AP)Myanmar's military government has launched a new offensive in ethnic Karen areas along the country's eastern border with Thailand, displacing nearly 8,000 villagers, private groups said. About 4,780 villagers in western Karen state are hiding in jungle and mountain areas after Myanmar soldiers burned their barns and rice stocks in attacks beginning in mid-November, the Free Burma Rangers, a group of Western and Karen volunteers who provide medical aid to displaced people, said Saturday. "The people in hiding are now beginning to suffer from dysentery and respiratory infections due to their being crowded into small hiding places with limited water supplies," the group said in a statement. More than 3,000 other people have been displaced in attacks elsewhere in Karen state that began at the end of November, it said. Myanmar officials weren't immediately available for comment. The Karen have sought autonomy in Myanmar, also called Burma, for more than half a century in what is one of the world's longest-running insurgencies. Decades of conflict have uprooted hundreds of thousands of Karen, including about 140,000 now in refugee camps in Thailand. The main rebel group, the Karen National Union, has been holding cease-fire talks with the junta since late last year. The Washington-based U.S. Committee for Refugees, which estimates that there are more than 600,000 internally displaced people in eastern Myanmar, said the new attacks "are of larger scale" than earlier attacks. "What is also alarming is that 400,000 kilograms (880,000 pounds) of paddy rice have been burned," said Veronika Martin, an analyst for the group. Martin described the Karen as "one of the most ignored groups in one of the most difficult humanitarian emergencies," citing high maternal mortality rates among Karen displaced within the country. "No official assistance reaches these people," she said. The situation in Karen state also attracted the attention of U.S. Congressman Joe Pitts, a Pennsylvania Republican who is vice chairman of the House Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights. "By forcing more than half a million people from their homes, Burma's military regime is responsible for creating a full-fledged human rights nightmare," Pitts said in statement last week. He called for the U.N. Security Council to condemn the attacks and for the U.S. government to provide food and shelter for the displaced villagers. BANGKOK (AP) - Myanmar's military junta has reasonable and convincing reasons for continuing to keep pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Saturday. Speaking on his weekly radio broadcast, Thaksin said he asked Myanmar's leaders about the Nobel Peace laureate's detention on a trip Thursday to the Southeast Asian nation. The response from the ruling generals was that political instability caused by Suu Kyi's release could lead the country to break up, he said. More than 100 different ethnic groups exist in Myanmar, the junta told Thaksin, and unless stability was assured, all would want to have their own states. "(Myanmar) will be torn apart into many different countries," Thaksin quoted the junta as saying. "(The) country will be a mess, nothing will be left. "These are the reasons they gave (for holding Suu Kyi), which are reasonable enough and convincing, because I have witnessed many things in their process," said Thaksin, without elaborating. ASEAN members such as Malaysia and Indonesia _ after patiently backing Myanmar's ruling generals for years _ have recently expressed frustration at the failure to make appreciable progress toward restoring democracy there. Among other things, they are seeking the release of Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest in Yangon since she was detained in 2003 following a clash between her followers and government supporters. Western countries and the United Nations also have issued strong calls for her freedom. Last month Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party said the junta officially extended her house arrest until at least next September, under a law that allows detention without trial. The military government has not made any public announcement on the move. Thaksin made a half-day trip to Myanmar on Thursday, attending an international conference of Buddhists as well as meeting with junta members. His visit came as relations have cooled between Myanmar and some of its fellow member countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been in a political deadlock since the National League for Democracy party won a 1990 general election, but the military refused to hand over power. YANGON (AP) - A wildlife team led by a U.S. expert has begun an annual survey of endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in Myanmar's main river, a count that last year showed just 50 of the animals still living there, a newspaper reported Sunday. The rare dolphins _ distinguished by their blunt heads and lack of a distinctive beak _ are named after Myanmar's Irrawaddy River. They are also found in rivers and coastal areas in other parts of Southeast Asia ,as well as in India and northern Australia. The 10-member team of specialists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society and Myanmar's Fisheries and Forest Department began the three-week survey of the dolphins on Dec. 4 along the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy River between Sagaing and Bhamo, The Myanmar Times reported. It is the third annual survey aimed at confirming the dolphin's population, the weekly said, quoted Tint Tun, a member of the team and a marine biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society . A survey conducted in December last year estimated the dolphin population at about 50. The team, led by Brian Smith, a conservation zoologist with the wildlife group, will also try to educate fishermen living along the river about protecting the animals. Wild Irrawaddy dolphins, known scientifically as Orcaella brevirostris, are critically endangered, according to the World Wildlife Fund. They are often caught by traders who sell them to aquariums, particularly in Asia, which seek them for their unusual appearance and ability to perform tricks. Tint Tun said Myanmar fishermen and villagers do not kill or trade the dolphins, but that more protection is needed because the mammals face accidental deaths due to entanglement in fishing nets. The Fisheries Department plans to establish a protection zone along the river by mid-2005, he said. An international conference of signatories to the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species held in Bangkok in October agreed to prohibit trade of the Irrawaddy dolphin to protect surviving populations. YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's main opposition party will never attend a constitution-forming National Convention while its iconic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains a "hostage" of the ruling junta, says a top party official. U Lwin, the National League for Democracy's (NLD) octogenarian spokesman, said Nobel laureate Suu Kyi was being kept out of the way with a lengthy term of house arrest because of fears she would disrupt the convention's progress. "They allow us to discuss but still they are holding her," he told Reuters in an interview on Friday at the NLD's dilapidated headquarters in Myanmar's leafy capital, Yangon. The headquarters -- covered in murals and photographs of Suu Kyi -- was only allowed to reopen last year shortly before the start of the convention.' "It is something like taking her as a hostage while we are attending the convention," U Lwin said, sitting in front of a gold Soviet-style bust of Suu Kyi, Myanmar's spiritual democracy leader who has spent much of the last 15 years under arrest. The military, which has run the former Burma in various guises since 1962, has embarked on a seven-step "roadmap to democracy", with a National Convention to draw up a new constitution as its first step. Europe and the United States have dismissed the plan as a sham, especially while Suu Kyi, who won a landslide election victory in 1990 only to be denied power by the military, remains under lock and key in her lakeside Yangon home. U Lwin said the opposition had no idea when she or her deputy, Tin Oo, would be freed. "We don't insist that she must be present at the National Convention. We don't ask that. We only want her and Tin Oo to be released," U Lwin said. NO RELEASE DATE Despite diplomatic pressure from its southeast Asian neighbours and sanctions from Europe and the U.S., the junta has refused to budge, even deciding last month to extend her detention by another year, according to diplomats and the NLD. U Lwin said her time in detention had been extended to allow the junta to draw up a constitution with Myanmar's myriad ethnic groups behind Suu Kyi's back. "I don't know how long they will take to complete this so-called National Convention," U Lwin said. "At the first stage, it was not very promising. That is why they cannot take any chances and they had to extend for another year, so they can cover the National Convention without her disturbing it. They are very much worried about her," he said. The NLD is prepared to talk to the military government, U Lwin said, but he gave only the vaguest notion of an agenda. "At this moment the country is suffering from a general and very serious crisis, not only political but also economic and social. We will start with this - how to overcome the crisis we are facing today. No details - just like that. "We are going to talk about the future of our country. Basically we must build democracy here, just democracy," he said. Despite being jailed for much of the last 15 years, U Lwin said Suu Kyi, who is visited three times per week by a doctor, remained in good health apart from recently requiring extensive dental treatment. AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The European Union renewed its appeal to Myanmar's military government to free detained Nobel Prize-winning opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday after her detention was extended earlier this month. The EU renewed its call for Myanmar's government to release Suu Kyi and all political prisoners. Myanmar's decision to extend the 59-year-old's house arrest in her lakeside villa in Yangon has drawn fresh condemnation from the West. The EU, which together with the United States has imposed sanctions on Myanmar, also urged the government to give unrestricted and free access to U.N. special envoys to visit Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. "The EU condemns the continued detention of ... Aung San Suu Kyi and regrets that although a small number of political prisoners has been released, a large number remains in detention," the EU Presidency, chaired by the Netherlands, said. Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy won a landslide election victory in 1990 only for the generals to ignore the result, has spent nine of the last 15 years in detention of one form or another, mostly under house arrest. YANGON (Reuters) - Two senior pro-democracy leaders jailed in 1995 for distributing anti-government pamphlets were freed in military-ruled Myanmar on Sunday, part of the junta's latest release of more than 5,000 prisoners. U Htwe Myint, 76, and U Thu Wai, also in his 70s, were released from Yangon's notorious Insein prison. There was no word whether other political detainees were among the 5,070 prisoners being freed from 41 jails across Myanmar on Sunday. "I have been out of touch and I need to take time to catch up," an emotional Htwe Myint told Reuters at his Yangon home where family members had gathered since early morning. "We are thrilled to see our father," said his tearful daughter, Meme. Myanmar's state media announced the latest prisoner release on Saturday, bringing the total number freed in recent weeks to more than 14,000 since an internal junta shakeup in October. Htwe Myint and Thu Wai founded the Democracy Party in 1988 after the junta opened the door to political parties ahead of general elections two years later. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won the 1990 polls, but the military which has ruled in various guises since 1962 refused to give up power. Htwe Myint and Thu Wai received seven-year jail terms in 1995 for distributing "anti-government seditious pamphlets," and were held after their sentences expired, without charge or trial, according to Amnesty International. Both men suffered serious health problems during their imprisonment, with Htwe Myint battling Parkinson's disease and Thu Wai struggling with chronic respiratory problems. The latest batch of releases were people who had been "inappropriately" arrested by the military intelligence apparatus of ousted prime minister Khin Nyunt, official media said. The NLD says only 45 of a total of more than 1,300 political prisoners have been freed since Khin Nyunt's removal. State media said after Saturday's announcement that 14,318 detainees had now been released. MURKY POLITICS General Khin Nyunt, purged in mid-October by junta strongman Than Shwe, was also head of the feared National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) abolished just days after he was arrested and accused of corruption, a charge derided by foreign analysts who view the army as thoroughly corrupt. The NIB was accused of keeping political prisoners in jail long after their official sentences expired, but the dramatic purge has left analysts groping for explanations of what is going on in the murky realms of Myanmar's military politics. Khin Nyunt, who announced a "road map to democracy" within days of becoming prime minister in August last year, was thought to be at least willing to talk to Suu Kyi. Paramount leader Than Shwe is believed to be keen to ignore the Nobel Peace laureate. The recent extension of Suu Kyi's house arrest was condemned by the West, rights groups, and the NLD which said she could be confined at her Yangon home until September 2005. Rights groups have called for increased international pressure on Yangon, which has confined Suu Kyi, 59, to her lakeside villa for much of the past 15 years, cutting off her phone and restricting visitors. Suu Kyi's detention and Yangon's slow progress toward democracy have embarrassed Myanmar's neighbors in the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which Myanmar is due to chair in 2006. |
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