To all Burmese People

SPDC, ASEAN and CHINA are always trying to cheat to the world's leaders, and Burmese people. The whole wide world had already known that.

After this September saffron revolution, some people might think that as a big country CHINA might change something to Burma, so that we might get hope to get freedom in Burma. But CHINA only looks for Natural Resource in cheap price from Junta. Selfish Super Power CHINA.

On the other hand, as Asean, when their important meeting or something is planning and coming in 2 0r 3 months time, they usually say that, ... Yes, we, ASEAN have to take serious action on Burmese Junta, Junta must Change, Junta must do positive step forward, if SPDC doesn't do positive change, as ASEAN should ....... blah ... blah ... blah.... and, Finally the actual important meeting has come out, they say.. It is only their internal affair; we have to Keep Engaging Junta, because we believe in that we can make lots of profit out of this stupid junta...... This is what they used to do behind the curtain of their so call friend behaviour. And they will say to world, YES, it is not good idea that to isolate the Burma, to see the really positive step in Burma, we need to engage with them ... all Asean selfish followers will say ... YES ... to that.

At the same time, SPDC, they ask USDA members (their dogs) to join in their bogus roadmap implementation rather than real step to democracy. They will say NLD is stupid, ethnic die in your villages. We, generals, will take the country's money into our pockets, and make our self powerful.

So all Burmese people don't believe a word of China, Asean and SPDC. If we need to fight till our death, we have to keep on fight to last breath of ours with Junta and show them we love freedom in BURMA.

Ref;
Myanmar junta chief sticks to "democracy roadmap"
Singapore bans Myanmar protest at ASEAN summit
Myanmar Junta Chief Vows To Pursue Democracy 'Road Map'-Report AFP
Asean Plans to Continue Engaging Myanmar as U.S. Senate Urges...
Myanmar top leader urges USDA members to join in roadmap implementation
China unwavering in support for Myanmar

Soft touch with Myanmar

By SHIBLY NABHAN

Special to The Japan Times

It was far from a perfect crime and far from a perfect coverup: a shooting in broad daylight, hundreds of witnesses, scores of video cameras recording the crime from many angles, audio recordings of the shots fired, clear photos of a man brandishing a murder weapon, an insignia identifying the suspect's place of work, and an autopsy analysis of a body with clear gunshot wounds.

Do we have an arrest and prosecution? No. We have a one-page fax that doesn't give the name of a suspect, and doesn't even recognize that a crime was committed. This is the blind and mute world of Japan-Myanmar diplomacy.

Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint recently sent a three-sentence letter to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), addressed to the family of Kenji Nagai, the journalist whose murder in Yangon had been telecast around the world. The scene of him on the ground with a mortal wound, still trying to film while a military goon faced him with a rifle, is not easy to forget. For me it may be impossible because I once met Nagai and was impressed by his journalistic dedication and courage.

The letter, released to the press by Nagai's colleagues, failed to even acknowledge that Nagai was shot. Reading it, you would think that Nagai suddenly died of a heart attack or stroke while visiting a peaceful and protest-free Myanmar. The letter used intransitive verbs rather than attaching any cause or origin to the death. Maung Myint's letter expresses "Heartfelt condolences" for Nagai "who lost his life unfortunately while in Myanmar." He termed Nagai's death "regrettable."

The words do little to ease the pain or solve the crime. Considering that the autopsy confirmed rather obvious gunshot wounds, perhaps Nagai's death could more accurately be called something like "murder."

Myint may have made this vicious tragedy even worse with evasive euphemisms like "I humbly share your grievances as you lost your son unexpectedly." When a military regime sends troops to open fire on demonstrators and visiting reporters, it should hardly be "unexpected" that people will die.

This episode exemplifies the paucity of concern that Japan has elicited from Myanmar's junta. Human rights groups, journalists' associations, and Burmese democracy organizations based in Japan were looking to MOFA to take up the gauntlet, but after a fact-finding mission and weeks of negotiations, the ministry has little more to show for its efforts than the one-page letter. MOFA needs to rethink its strategy and get serious by exerting strong and sustained pressure.

At a recent symposium in Tokyo, the director of Nagai's APF News Agency, Toru Yamaji, proposed bringing war-crime charges against the Myanmar regime at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

A longtime friend of Nagai, Yamaji showed a stony expression until the faxed letter was mentioned; then he turned indignant. Holding up the blotched copy to the audience, he said: "We don't need this paper. We want (the Myanmar government) to investigate what happened."

Yamaji also demanded the return of Nagai's main video camera with its film, as well as the pages torn out of Nagai's reporting diary.

Nagai was not the only one killed in the recent crackdown — in fact we may never know the number of killings and imprisonments. Nor was he the only journalist to have a bullet rip through his body this year. Regimes like Myanmar's make being a journalist one of the world's most dangerous professions. The group Reporters sans (without) Frontiers lists more than 50 journalists murdered last year.

As one of Myanmar's biggest benefactors in cash, construction projects and road-building vehicles, Japan can bring considerable pressure to bear on the Myanmar junta. But rather than turning up the volume of its protest, MOFA seems to speak through a paper cup.

It is baffling that countries like the United States and China can negotiate the return of errant spy planes and their crews, but the Japanese government cannot get back a video camera, written notes and the name of the main suspect.

Myanmar would like to hide the gunman behind an olive-green curtain of military secrecy, but he is far from an anonymous soldier. Even a child could single him out from the other soldiers. I have studied uncountable video clips of the shooting; the soldier's face is visible — as are his feet.

All of the other soldiers are wearing heavy boots, but the one attacking Nagai is in sandals. This "sandal soldier" has a shoulder insignia on his uniform that experts believe is of the 66th light division based in Bagu (or Pegu), 100 km northeast of Yangon.

Despite all these identifying features, the Burmese remain silent. Japan deserves to know the name of the sandal soldier. Myanmar needs to either take firm action or admit that its military has free rein to shoot and kill whenever it pleases.

Japan has a range of nonviolent options with which to gain leverage: cancel aid, seize assets, bring charges before the International Criminal Court, send Myanmar's ambassador home.

So far, Japan has canceled only a small fraction of its aid and technical assistance. Perhaps Japan's government doesn't want to play too hard because of guilt over its colonial past in Southeast Asia, or doesn't want to injure Japan's construction industries. Perhaps Japan doesn't feel that democracy and human rights are so important. Maybe that's what Myanmar is counting on as it waits out this crisis.

But until Gen. Than Shwe's Myanmar government starts providing some real answers and real apologies, the bloodied streets of Yangon should not be paved with Japanese equipment and funds.

Shibly Nabhan is a Japan-based journalist, political researcher and communications consultant.

So, who is right? Kyaw Hsan or Mr Paulo Sergio Pinheiro

UN: Myanmar junta raises crackdown toll to 15

Myanmar's military government has acknowledged that at least 15 people were killed in September's crackdown on the biggest democracy protests in nearly 20 years, UN human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said on Friday.

"This number is only for Yangon," Pinheiro told a news conference in Bangkok after a five-day trip to Myanmar to get to the bottom of the crackdown. "I'm not in a position to say whether this is an accurate number." (Reuters)

စေနေန႔(၁၇.၁၁.၀၇)ရွိ ျမန္မာ့အေရး လႈပ္ရွားမႈမ်ား

Discussion with Bo Kyi, Dr Khun Sai and Zaw Zaw Aung - Saturday, 17 November

Bo Kyi, joint secretary of AAPP(Thailand) will be in London and he will have a meeting with Burmese community in the UK. He will explain about recent crisis and political situation in Burma. Also in the meeting will be two former political prisoners: Dr Khun Sai (prisoner in 1974 and 1988) and Zaw Zaw Aung (CEC of ABFSU and member of '88-Generation Student Group) -- who just arrived in a resettlement program to Sheffield.

All interested persons, regardless of any political affiliations, are cordially invited.

Date: 17 November, Saturday
Time: 18:00 - 21:00
Venue: Room G2, Main Building, SOAS
Nearest Tube: Russell Square, Euston and Euston Square

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Oxford Burma-Solidarity March - Saturday, 17 November

March organised by Oxford Free Burma Society. Click here to visit organisers' website.

Date: 17 November, Saturday
Time: 12:00 - 15:00
Venue: Oxford

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လူမိုက္တို႔ရဲ႕သြားရာလမ္း တရားေတာ္

UN Envoy Visits Myanmar Prison; Could Meet Detainees - AFP

YANGON (AFP)--A top UN human rights envoy Thursday visited Myanmar's notorious Insein prison where he was expected to meet with political prisoners as part of his mission to probe human rights abuses by the junta.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro entered the prison north of Yangon escorted by police officials but didn't speak to reporters waiting outside the old British-built jail.

Security appeared to have been beefed up for Pinheiro's visit, and dozens of uniformed and plainclothes officials stood guard.

The UN expert, who arrived in Myanmar on Sunday, had requested permission to meet with political detainees.

Pinheiro visited Insein jail on Monday but didn't meet with detainees.

The UN expert left Myanmar in 2003 after learning his meeting with a political prisoner in Insein had been bugged, and had not been allowed to return until this visit.

Human rights groups have called on the envoy to pressure the junta to release all political prisoners.

Amnesty International estimated that 700 people arrested over the recent protests were still in detention, although the government said only 91 of the 3, 000 originally rounded up were being held.

Opposition pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was secretly held at Insein in 2003. At the time, former political prisoner Ko Aung told the BBC the British-built facility was known as the "darkest hell-hole in Burma." Pinheiro was due to leave Myanmar later Thursday.

Boycott clouds gem show in Myanmar

Merchants inspecting a large piece of Burmese jade at the Gems Emporium in Yangon.

(Aung Hla Tun/Reuters)

By Thomas Fuller

In recent years, gem dealers from across the globe have flocked to auctions in Myanmar, where huge piles of jade and chunks of unpolished rubies are put on display by a government eager for hard currency.

But this time the Gems Emporium, which opened Wednesday and continues through Nov. 26, is clouded by worries that the global market for the colored stones, which dealers call some of the world's most beautiful, may slump in the face of corporate boycotts and government sanctions in the United States and European Union.

Some of the world's largest and best-recognized jewelers, including Cartier and Tiffany, have told their suppliers they will no longer buy gems of Burmese origin.

A bill in the U.S. Congress backed by Jewelers of America, an industry association, seeks to bar the import of Burmese gems that are polished or cut in a third country before being shipped to the United States.

Gem dealers long accustomed to dealing with the authoritarian government in Myanmar say business uncertainties, more than moral imperatives, make them reluctant to buy Burmese gems.

Adisak Thawornviriyanan, director of the Gems and Jewelry Traders Association of Chataburi, a province east of Bangkok that is a major center for cutting and polishing Burmese gems, has taken part in auctions for the past four years. But he decided to not to attend this Gems Emporium, the first since the government's crackdown on demonstrators in September.

"We will wait and see if we can sell our old stock, but I wouldn't dare buy more," Adisak said. "We don't know how strong the U.S. ban will be."

The 27 countries of the European Union agreed in October to ban the import of Burmese gems and timber. But Japan, China and other major gem-buying countries have no restrictions.

Brian Leber, a jeweler based outside Chicago who has been active in seeking to close down imports of Burmese gems, compares them to the "blood diamonds" that were blamed for financing or fueling civil wars in Africa.

"If the U.S. and the EU were to cease buying all Burmese gemstones, I think it would take a huge chunk out of the regime's pocket," Leber said.

Rubies are the most popular Burmese gem in the United States, with official imports calculated as $87.4 million in 2006, mostly via Thailand, which is the main trading and polishing center for Burmese gems. Unofficial imports of the gems, which are easy to carry into the country, are probably much higher.

Leber says if the ban passed through Congress, U.S. jewelers would be reluctant to stock rubies. Unlike diamonds, rubies often have a chemical signature that allows gemologists to trace their origin, sometimes with enough precision to determine the mine where they were excavated, experts say.

Cartier, which announced its in-house ban on Burmese gems last month, says it will conduct random checks on stones like rubies.

"While this is not an exact science, especially for smaller stones, laboratories are able to provide feedback on the credibility of the supplier's claim," Katharina Feller Baignères, a spokeswoman for Cartier, said by e-mail in response to questions.

Some suppliers have told the company they cannot guarantee the provenance of their stones and have stopped submitting any type of gemstones that can be found in Myanmar, Baignères said.

More often than not, rubies come from Myanmar, which supplies about 90 percent of the pink and red stones on the world market, especially the larger and most prized varieties.

"If it comes from Burma it has magic to it," said Peggy Jo Donahue, a spokeswoman for Jewelers of America. "It's very difficult and painful for a lot of gem dealers to think about not having Burma as a source."

Donahue says partly because of the blood diamond issue, jewelers are being "held to a higher standard," in understanding the consequences of buying gems from certain countries or regions.

"There's an expectation in today's world that retailers will know more about their supply chains than they did in the past," she said.

Jewelers of America, which represents 11,000 jewelry shops in the United States, about a third of the total, announced its backing for a strengthened ban on Burmese gems on Oct. 9, two weeks after the Burmese government's crackdown on protests by monks and students.

The bill was introduced Oct. 18 and passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Oct. 31. It awaits approval by the Ways and Means Committee before being submitted to the full House.