Daily News - March 20, 2010 - Saturday
  • Karen guerrilla chief warns of war ahead of vote
  • Rebels kill 20 troops in Shan State ambush
  • Back in US, freed activist presses Burma on rights
  • Junta credits US ties for freeing American
  • 71 Burmese protest at Burma's embassy, detained in New Delhi
  • NLD to sue junta over election laws
  • Burma blames rebels for mine blast that killed 2




    • Karen guerrilla chief warns of war ahead of vote

    BANGKOK (AP) – The head of Burma's largest guerrilla army warned Friday that the risk of armed conflict between powerful ethnic minority groups and the military regime is at its highest level in more than two decades as contentious national elections loom on the horizon.

    The junta has been in negotiations with semiautonomous minorities for months as it attempts to bring them under its control before holding elections later this year. But with talks deadlocked, most of the groups have stepped up military preparations in the event of a renewed conflict, which would likely envelop vast regions of the country and probably spark a mass refugee exodus.

    "(There is the) greatest possibility of renewed conflict between large, cease-fire armed groups and (the military regime) in over two decades," said Zipporah Sein, general secretary of the Karen National Union, which has been fighting the central government for more than 60 years.

    The Karen joined more than 150 activist groups Friday in urging the international community to denounce the elections and refuse to recognize the results. They say the vote is a sham designed to perpetuate military rule.

    The junta has tenuous control of many parts of the country where minority groups are strongest. It has reached cease-fire agreements with 17 ethnic minority rebel groups since 1989 _ though not the Karen _ and most have been allowed to keep their weapons and maintain some autonomy over their regions.

    But in the lead-up to the election, the date of which has yet to be announced, the junta has asked the groups to turn their armed forces into a border guard force under virtual Burmese military leadership. Most have refused.

    There is concern the military could try to force the issue.

    "The military is sending troops to the areas of the cease-fire groups and they are ready to fight if attacked. So the tension is rising between them," Zipporah Sein, the first woman leader of the KNU, told a news conference in the Thai capital.

    Military preparations have recently been reported among the largest of the cease-fire groups, the Wa State Army, which fields some 20,000 troops, and the Kachin Independence Army, said to have about 4,000 under arms.

    "The Wa are ready," the KNU chief said.

    The Irrawaddy Magazine said Thursday that the New Mon State Party, another cease-fire group, was moving its weapons stockpiles and some of its departments to an undisclosed location in case war breaks out.

    The Karen leader said the military has been holding talks with more than half a dozen groups _ both cease-fire groups and those still fighting the junta. However, all such earlier efforts at forging an alliance have failed.

    "These elections will only compound the suffering of our ethnic people," she said.

    She said the country's new Constitution _ which passed in 2008 and insures the military will retain a controlling say in the future government _ "centralizes military control over ethnic areas and grants blanket immunities for the regime's crimes against humanity."

    International human rights group have long documented massive human rights abuses by the Burmese military against ethnic minorities, including killings, rape, torture, the burning of villages and forced labor. The junta has denied such charges.

    The setup of the elections has been widely criticized, both by opposition groups at home and activists abroad. Recently published election laws _ such as one that would bar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part in the vote _ have received international condemnation.

    To The Top

    Rebels kill 20 troops in Shan State ambush

    BANGKOK (Reuters) – Ethnic rebels killed 20 Burmese troops in an ambush aimed at deterring the military government from launching an offensive against them ahead of elections this year, a rebel spokesman said on Friday.

    The incident took place on March 13 in Nam Zam township of Shan State, a remote region bordering Thailand and China under control of armed ethnic Chinese groups for decades.

    Troops were ambushed by rebels from the southern wing of the Shan State Army (SSA), spokesman Sao Lao Seng said by telephone. The firefight lasted about three hours and no rebel troops were killed, he said, adding it was the third such clash this year.

    "The ambush was planned after the regime has been threatening to launch offensives against us," he said. Eight soldiers were wounded.

    The report could not be immediately verified. Myanmar's state newspapers, mouthpieces for the media-shy junta, have made no mention of the incident.

    Activists and ethnic groups say tens of thousands of troops have been mobilized in the mountainous region ahead of an impending offensive to flush out rebel armies resisting demands to disarm, transfer their fighters to a state-run Border Guard Force and join the political process.

    But most groups, which have a deep distrust of Rangoon and have enjoyed de facto independence for decades, have refused the junta's "offer," saying they have nothing to gain from polls.

    Analysts say Burma's government wants all groups to take part in elections, the first in two decades, to show the country is fully behind the political process.

    The election, a date for which has not yet been set, has been widely derided as a sham to entrench the army's rule over the resource-rich Southeast Asian nation.

    The cooperation of ethnic groups would allow the junta to take control of the rebellious region for the first time since it took power in 1962.

    It would also appease energy-hungry China, its economic lifeline, which is concerned about security along its border with Burma, particularly concerning a vital oil pipeline it is constructing.

    Generals from the regime have repeatedly held talks with leaders of the ethnic groups, six of which have agreed to disarm. However, it is unlikely the bigger armies will follow suit.

    "The negotiation process appears to be over. Both sides have refused each others' proposals," said an official in the SSA's political wing, who asked not to be identified because he is not permitted to speak to the media.

    "We're preparing for an attack by the Burmese government. When this will happen, we don't know," he said.

    To The Top

    Back in US, freed activist presses Burma on rights

    DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Virginia (AFP) – A US activist freed by junta returned home Friday to be reunited with his fiancee but said he would only be happy if the regime releases thousands more prisoners.

    Kyaw Zaw Lwin, 40, a Burma-born rights activist who holds US citizenship, recounted what he called "mental torture" in the six months since his arrest, during which he said he was kept mostly in a solitary, insect-infested cell.

    A small crowd of fellow Washington area residents originally from Burma cheered him and offered congratulatory balloons as he walked off his commercial flight with a State Department escort.

    Kyaw Zaw Lwin, who was thin and suffers leg pains but spoke lucidly, immediately embraced his fiancee Wa Wa Kyaw, a nurse also born in Burma who had lobbied the US government to take up his case.

    "I am really happy to meet my fiancee... but my family and all my friends stay in prison, so I feel not really happy," said Kyaw Zaw Lwin, who also goes by the name Nyi Nyi Aung.

    "I learned from people how much they really want to get freedom," he said. "They are really trying hard, but the regime is so terrible.

    "I have a lot of responsibility to do more for a free Burma," he added.

    Kyaw Zaw Lwin said he traveled to Burma to visit his mother, who is herself detained for political activities and is suffering from cancer. He never saw her.

    He was arrested on September 3 and said he was deprived of food and water during his first two weeks of detention. The treatment later improved, but only slightly.

    "The prison is physically fine, but mentally they torture," he said, recalling he stayed in a dark room with a vile stench.

    "There were a lot of insects. In the nighttime you couldn't sleep -- the dog is barking. All day long you have to stay in that cell."

    Kyaw Zaw Lwin said he would seek medical assessment on his leg, which gives him pain after the solitary confinement.

    He was sentenced to three years in prison in February on charges of forging an identity card, failing to declare currency at customs and violating immigration law for not formally renouncing his earlier nationality.

    After his sentence, his supporters were critical of US President Barack Obama's administration, saying it failed to take up Kyaw Zaw Lwin's case as they pursue a new policy of dialogue with the junta aimed at ending its isolation.

    His fiancee Wa Wa Kyaw wrote an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal Asia, saying she felt "betrayed" by her adopted country for not doing enough in this human rights case.

    The couple went out of their way Friday to thank the administration. Wa Wa Kyaw said she was "very happy" with the State Department and that she had been in contact with Kurt Campbell and Scot Marciel, top US officials handling Asian affairs.

    The regime released Kyaw Zaw Lwin as it comes under intensifying international criticism ahead of elections it plans later this year.

    The United States has warned that the election will be a "mockery" of democracy as the regime plans to disqualify pro-democracy forces. Rights groups say the regime holds more than 2,000 political prisoners.

    Burma's last elections in 1990 were swept by democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. But the junta never allowed her to take over and has kept her under house arrest for most of the time since.

    Kyaw Zaw Lwin said he was given no reason for his release and that only Burma's leader, Senior General Than Shwe, knew for sure.

    "He doesn't understand what he's doing," he said.

    "If he understood the message of the people of Burma and the message from the international community, Burma would change because it's easy to have a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratic leaders."

    Kyaw Zaw Lwin said he had not yet decided how active to be in the democracy movement -- but had no plans to return to Burma anytime soon.

    Tin Thu, a physician and family friend who came to welcome him, said she was surprised Kyaw Zaw Lwin took the risk of returning to their native country.

    "We didn't even know he had gone back," she said. "Once we knew, all of us were scared."

    To The Top

    Junta credits US ties for freeing American

    RANGOON (AP) — Burma's ruling military junta decided to release a naturalized American citizen from prison because of its friendship with the U.S. government, state media said Friday.

    Nyi Nyi Aung, a pro-democracy activist originally from Burma, was freed Thursday, a month after a court sentenced him to three years in prison with hard labor.

    The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a mouthpiece for the junta, said the government pardoned and deported Nyi Nyi Aung after giving "special consideration to bilateral friendship in accordance with the request made by the U.S. State Department" to free him.

    The U.S. Embassy confirmed the release and said, "We welcome that development."

    Ties between the two countries actually are strained and tense. In the past, Burma's state media have referred to the U.S. as a "loudmouthed bully."

    The United States recently modified its strict policy of isolating the junta in the hope that increased engagement would encourage change. However, the Obama administration has said it will not lift sanctions on Burma unless its sees concrete progress toward democratic reform — notably the release of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and freedom for her party to participate in elections expected later this year.

    Election laws recently announced by the junta effectively bar Suu Kyi from participating in the balloting and were viewed as a setback to Burma-U.S. relations.

    Nyi Nyi Aung, 40, also known as Kyaw Zaw Lwin, was arrested when he arrived at Rangoon's international airport Sept. 3 and was accused of plotting to stir political unrest, which he denied. He was convicted in February of forging a national identity card, possessing undeclared foreign currency, and failing to renounce his Burmese citizenship when becoming an American citizen.

    He was escorted aboard a flight to Thailand accompanied by a U.S. consular official, said his aunt, Khin Khin Swe.

    His fiancee, Wa Wa Kyaw, released a statement thanking the U.S. State Department and members of Congress for helping secure his release. The couple live in Maryland.

    As a teenager in Burma, Nyi Nyi Aung helped organize students during the country's 1988 pro-democracy uprising, which was violently suppressed by the military, and later fled to the United States. His reason for returning to Burma was not clear, though there has been speculation he hoped to see his mother and sister, both of whom are serving jail terms for political activities.

    To The Top

    71 Burmese protest at Burma's embassy, detained in New Delhi

    New Delhi (IANS), March 19 - Seventy-one Burmese activists were detained Friday for protesting outside the Burmese embassy here to oppose the military regime in their country, police said.

    The activists shouted slogans against the military junta after reaching the mission at Chanakyapuri, the diplomatic enclave, around 11.30 a.m.

    "We detained 71 people. The protesters were opposing the military regime," Additional Commissioner of Police S. Dash told IANS.

    The protesters demanded the release of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been barred from contesting elections planned this year following new election laws.

    They asked the UN to set up a Commission of Enquiry to probe "war crimes" committed by the military junta.

    To The Top

    NLD to sue junta over election laws

    dpa (Deutsche Presse-Agentur)

    Rangoon - Burma's main opposition party decided Friday to sue the military-run government for issuing unfair election laws, opposition sources said.

    An executive meeting of the National League for Democracy (NLD) - which is headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi - decided to sue the government over election laws promulgated last week, NLD Rakhine member Aye Tha Aung said.

    He said the NLD found clauses that excluded the participation of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners from the election process as unlawful.

    Under the Political Party Registration Law promulgated last week, the junta has prohibited people currently serving prison terms from being members of political parties.

    Suu Kyi, who is serving an 18-month house detention sentence, must be dropped form the NLD party rolls should they wish to registered to contest this year's election, which they must do within the next 60 days.

    The NLD has yet to decide whether or not to register to contest the election, a date for which has not yet been set, Aye Tha Aung said.

    The new laws promulgated indicate that the regime has every intention to control the outcome of the polls.

    The regime will control the appointment of an election commission and has established political party registration criteria that exclude the participation of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. There are some 2,100 political prisoners in jails.

    It also announced the official annulment of the 1990 election, which should have brought the NLD to power.

    The NLD won Burma's last general election by a landslide, but the generals who have ruled the country since 1962 refused to hand power to a civilian government, arguing that a new constitution was required first.

    A military-appointed committee took 18 years to finish a new constitution, which was pushed through in a sham referendum held in May 2008. The new charter cements military control over any future elected government by making the upper house of the National Parliament a partially junta-appointed body with veto power over legislation.

    Although a date has yet to be announced for the 2010 polls, the junta was expected to hold them by the end of October, before Suu Kyi's 18-month detention is up.

    The election laws appear designed to assure that the NLD does not win a second time. The party has been given 60 days to reregister as a contestant with the Election Committee, which has the power to disqualify the NLD's application should the party choose to contest the polls.

    To The Top

    Burma blames rebels for mine blast that killed 2

    AP - Burma's military government has blamed an ethnic Karen rebel group for a land mine explosion that killed two people and wounded 11 others, state media reported Saturday.

    The Myanma Ahlin newspaper said that a passenger bus struck the explosive as it was traveling last Sunday to a village in northern Karen State, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) northeast of the commercial capital Rangoon.

    It said the government blamed the Karen National Union for planting the land mine and carrying out "terrorist activities that caused death and injury among innocent people."

    The Karen rebels have been fighting for more than half a century for greater autonomy from Burma's central government, but their strength has dwindled over the past decade in the face of army offensives and divisions within their ranks.

    To The Top