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	THE BURMANET NEWS A listserv covering Burma www.burmanet.org November 19, 2009 INSIDE BURMA DVB: Jail term extended for 2007 activist Narinjara: Burmese junta confiscates public oil wells and refinery for Chinese company Mizzima News: Private schools shifted under Ministry of Education ON THE BORDER Kachin News Group: Burmese junta collects funds for new border guard force BUSINESS / TRADE DVB: Burma to ‘double output’ of gas by 2020 INTERNATIONAL Japan Economic Newswire: Hatoyama calls for UNHCR to support plan to accept Myanmar refugees Mizzima News: ‘Burma VJ’ shortlisted for 2009 Oscars OPINION / OTHER The Straits Times (Singapore): Will Myanmar junta chief meet the lady? — Nirmal Ghosh PRESS RELEASE Reporters Sans Frontieres: Burma blogger faces 15-year sentence __________________________ INSIDE BURMA November 19, Democratic Voice of Burma Jail term extended for 2007 activist – Khin Hnin Htet An activist whose group played a key role in sparking the September 2007 monk-led uprising in Burma has had his 10-year prison sentence extended by eight years, sources close to his family said. Kan Myint, who spent four years in prison in the early 1990’s, was an active member of the commodity protester group, Myanmar Development Committee, whose protests against the sudden hike in fuel prices in September 2007 triggered the uprising. He was arrested on 8 December 2008 and later handed a 10-year sentence on charges of causing a public riot, and breaching the Immigration Act and Video Act. The leader of the group, Htin Kyaw, is currently serving 12 years and six months in prison. A source close to Kan Myint’s family said that he was sentenced on 13 November to eight more years in prison on separate under the Unlawful Association Act (17-1) for having link with an unlawful association, and Act (17-2) for involvement with an unlawful association. The Unlawful Association Act is regularly used by the Burmese military government to imprison opposition activists, journalists and politicians. “According to his lawyer, he could not be charged with Act 17-1 after he was already charged with Act 17-2,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. “However the court gave him maximum sentences for both charges separately.” The case mirrors that of another activist, Generation Wave member Nyein Chan, who last month had an eight-year sentence extended by 10 years. He had been caught distributing leaflets to mark the one-year anniversary of the founding of the youth activist group. Meanwhile, three members of the opposition National League for Democracy party facing trial in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison special court were yesterday charged with the Unlawful Associations Act, according to lawyer Kyaw Ho. The members are Ma Cho (also known as Myint Myint San), Sein Hlaing and Shwe Gyo. Burma currently holds around 2,120 political prisoners, including 244 monks and 270 students, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners – Burma (AAPP). ____________________________________ November 19, Narinjara Burmese junta confiscates public oil wells and refinery for Chinese company Kyukpru: Burmese military authorities have recently seized publicly-owned oil wells that were dug by hand and a refinery on oil-rich Rambree Island in western Burma's Arakan State for the benefit of Chinese company, reports a local resident. The resident said a special team that was sent from the new Burmese capital Naypyidaw and local police forces confiscated the hand-dug oil wells along with a refinery in the areas of Renandaung and Munprun under Kyaukpru Township on 10 November, 2009. "Villagers were ordered to vacate all traditional hand-dug oil wells from their own lands near their villages by a special team led by Brigadier General Myo Thant and local police officer Hla Tun on November 10. They were also told by the authority during the confiscation that no one is allowed to operate drilling in those sites as they have already been leased to CNOOC Ltd.," he said on condition of anonymity. The confiscated oil wells are from Kalarba, Chaungfyar, and Chaungwa Villages in the Renandaung area, as well as from Ngaoak, Kyauksalae, and Wamyaung Villages in the Munprun area. The villager said that one refinery from Munprun Village, which was owned by a local villager named U Nyein Chan Maung, was also confiscated along with the wells. "The [authorities] have also ordered the villagers not to dig oil wells on any lands, and anyone who doesn't follow their orders will face legal action and be jailed," he said, adding that no villager was compensated for their confiscated property. Farmlands around the evicted hand-dug oil wells are also being targeted for further confiscations by the authorities, the source added. Most of the residents on Arakan's Rambree Island have been dependent on their traditional oil wells as a main source of income for ages. Their livelihoods have been in danger since 2005, when a consortium led by China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd. arrived to explore for onshore and offshore oil on their island. According to a report by environmental and human rights group formed by Arakanese, Arakan Oil Watch, the Burmese military regime has been seizing or destroying their lands and traditional oil wells with little or no compensation for the benefit of Chinese companies. ____________________________________ November 19, Mizzima News Private schools shifted under Ministry of Education New Delhi – For the first time, the Burmese ministry of Education has allowed a school in Rangoon to operate as a private school on November 9, a Deputy Director of the Basic Education Department said. The ACA Boarding School in North Okkalapa Township of Rangoon has been given permission to run as a private school to be recognized by Ministry of Education. “The permission was given verbally. We were invited on October 29 to come to their office and were met with the Minister and Rangoon Regional Command Commander. We were told at the meeting that ACA is to be allowed as a private school starting from November 9,” the Deputy Director, who request anonymity, told Mizzima. Students from ACA boarding school, which has students from the 5th to 10th Grades, have to attend enrolled at a regular government school and are thought subjects on extra-time. While the new permission puts the ACA under the direct control of the ministry of education from the township municipal, students still have to attend the government day-school. But the classrooms of the ACA are required to renovate. Currently the private education service providers are operating with the license from either the Economics and Commerce Ministry or Municipal bodies, not directly with permission from the Education Ministry. “The Ministry of Education gives license only to part time tuition classes without boarding. These private tuition classes are being run by individuals who are not employees of the ministry,” the deputy director said. Boarding schools that has over 1,000 students such as the popular ‘Soe San’ boarding home in Central Burma’s Pyin Oo Lwin, are running with the license issued by the Economics and Commerce Ministry. But smaller boarding homes, that has about 60 to 80 students are running with the license issued by their respective municipal bodies under the Guest Houses Act, the Deputy Director added. The new permission, however, is not similar to the former private schools in Burma, which had autonomy in choosing their own curriculums and syllabuses, and holding promotion examinations independently only with the exception of standard 8 and 10, which are directly conducted by the central education board. “I enquired in the ACA for enrolment in their school for my child. I have to pay for a whole academic year in advance and they will enrol my child at the nearby government school. They will be taught in this school with the government curriculum. The 10th Grade students have to sit for the government board examination and for the rest of the grades, the students will have to sit for promotion exams from this school,” a parent in Rangoon told Mizzima. Following the military coup on March 2, 1962, Newin’s Burma’s Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) regime declared nationalisation of all private schools in 1964 as part of his new socialist system, erasing all private schools. The first Private School in Burma was established in 1920, after Rangoon University students demanded for ‘National School’ from the British colonial rulers. A retired Township Education Officer, who had her education from the former Private Schools, told Mizzima that the new order does not change anything but said she would like to see private schools running similarly as the old days before the BSPP regime ruled. “We welcome private schools as I attended such a school in 1958. These schools were disciplined, competent with other schools and had good results in the exams. We did not need to attend other coaching or tuition classes. They taught us well and there was no discrimination in the school,” she added. In the last stages of colonialism and in early independent era, Burma had one of the best education systems in Southeast Asia, with Rangoon University directly affiliated with the Calcutta University. Private Schools, including catholic convents, were popular for their discipline, and proper teachings that produces outstanding students. Following the fall of the BSPP regime in 1988 after student-led pro-democracy uprising, boarding schools such as the ACA have become popular. And the number of boarding schools has increased to more than hundreds. Similarly, private schools affiliated to international schools such as the International Language and Business Centre (ILBC) and Yangon International Education Centre (YIEC) are also booming and have now numbered about 30. However, the Burmese military government have not granted recognition to these private schools. The ACA charges Kyat 2 million (US $ 2,000 approximately) for a whole academic year for a 5th Grader, and Kyat 2.5 million for a 9th Grader and Kyat 3 million for a 10th Grader. Reports suggest that like the ACA, the ‘Sar Pan Ein’ in Pyin Oo Lwin and the Naypyitaw branch of ‘Soe San’ boarding schools were also permitted to run as private schools. ____________________________________ ON THE BORDER November 19, Kachin News Group Burmese junta collects funds for new border guard force The business community is being forced to pay a fixed amount of money by the Burmese military junta in Kachin State in northern Burma as funds for "forming Border Guard Force". The money will be used to change the Kachin ceasefire group, the New Democratic Army-Kachin to BGF, local sources said. On the orders of the junta's Northern Command commander Maj-Gen Soe Win, the appointed army officers and civilian workers have collected 2.5 million Kyat (US$2,370) from each company, especially in the Hpakant jade mining areas and Myitkyina since June, sources in the companies said. There are over a hundred jade mining companies in Hpakant jade land, about 80 miles west of Kachin State's capital Myitkyina, according to Hpakant sources. The Myitkyina-based Loi Ngu Bum Company Limited owned by former Lasang Awng Wa Peace Group has already doled out 2.5 million Kyats, said the company's sources. So far, the junta has collected hundreds of millions Kyat from the companies in Kachin State, said sources. The fund collected, is meant for use in the process of transforming the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) to three battalions of the BGF under the control of the Burmese Army, said former NDA-K officers. The NDA-K led by Zahkung Ting Ying accepted the junta-controlled BGF proposal in June but the official ceremony of conversion was held in the rebel's headquarters Pangwah near the Sino-Burma border east of Kachin State on November 8. Again, soldiers in the newly formed BGF transformed from NDA-K were welcomed in a special ceremony in the Town Hall in Myitkyina on November 14 by the ruling junta. The junta has assured that each military personnel in the new BGF will earn monthly salaries equal to soldiers in the Burmese Army--- between 40,000 Kyat (US$38) and 120,000 Kyat (US$114). ____________________________________ BUSINESS / TRADE November 19, Democratic Voice of Burma Burma to ‘double output’ of gas by 2020 – Joseph Allchin Burma is to double its output of natural gas in the next 10 years, the country’s sole operator of oil and gas production told a regional trade fair in Bangkok yesterday. Energy experts believe Burma’s offshore Bay of Bengal gas fields could house Southeast Asia’s largest gas reserves, much of which is now being pumped to neighbouring countries. The Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) yesterday told an annual ASEAN Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE) trade fair that the country would seek to significantly boost output over the coming decade. The regional ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) bloc is comprised of Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. As well as MOGE, the little known Best Luck Co. Ltd was in attendance at ASCOPE, along with a host of international outfits, many of whom have operations or dealings with Burma. The projected increase in gas output will be largely down to the inception of the Shwe gas pipeline project, being overseen by South Korean company, Daewoo International, as well as the Zawtika pipeline run by Thailand’s PTTEP petroleum company. The Shwe gas pipeline has come under heavy criticism from both environmental and human rights groups. Critics view it as the appropriation of the country’s resources by the military, who are then siphoning it to Burma’s energy-hungry neighbours. “The management system is completely wrong,” said Wong Aung, of the anti-pipeline Shwe Gas Campaign. “They are trying to extract and export everything we have”. The pipelines are also blamed for destroying livelihoods in fragile tribal communities heavily dependent on the natural ecosystems that construction of the pipeline is believed to be jeopardising. The biggest criticism however is reserved for the apparent misappropriation by Burma’s military government of the vast funds that can be made from gas revenues. “It will have no benefit for the Burmese people…these revenues will only heighten the regional security threat posed by the Burmese military regime,” said Wong Aung. Despite the extraction of gas and oil, the living standards of the average Burmese person has shown little sign of improvement. The ruling junta was in September accused by advocacy group EarthRights International of stashing the revenue from sales of natural energy in Singaporean banks, and using irregularities between official and unofficial exchange rates to hide income. Despite such criticisms, the government continues to be accused of channeling some 40 percent of its annual budget into the military, which has seen a massive increase in size and sophistication over the past decade. There has long been debate about foreign investment in military-ruled Burma, with the fossil fuel industry being the most controversial. Several western companies, including French company TOTAL and America’s Chevron, have continued operations in the country, despite heavy criticism and pressure from activists that even resulted in a court case brought against Chevron in the 1990’s. The launch of the trade fair yesterday coincided with a report released by anti-corruption group, Transparency International, which ranked Burma 178 out 180 countries in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index. ____________________________________ INTERNATIONAL November 19, Japan Economic Newswire Hatoyama calls for UNHCR to support plan to accept Myanmar refugees Tokyo – Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Thursday called on the U.N. refugee agency to support Japan's plan to accept Myanmar refugees from fiscal 2010, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. During the meeting with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, Hatoyama was quoted as saying that Japan needs the agency's continued cooperation for it to make a "success" of its acceptance of Myanmar refugees under a third-country resettlement program starting in the next fiscal year from April 2010. Japan is set to accept about 30 refugees, who have fled the suppression of human rights by Myanmar's military government and currently live in border camps in Thailand, each year for three years from fiscal 2010 under the resettlement program, according to ministry officials. If realized, Japan will be the first Asian country to introduce the program, which is designed to help people who have fled to nearby states because of conflict in their home countries but find it hard to settle there or return home. In the half-hour meeting at the prime minister's office, Guterres responded that Japan's foreign policy and the UNHCR's support are heading toward the same goal and that Japan can expect continued support from the agency, according to the ministry. The government will examine the outcome of the program after the three years and decide whether to continue it, the officials said. The introduction of the program is apparently aimed at fending off criticism in the international community that Japan is not doing enough in the area of refugee support. ____________________________________ November 19, Mizzima News ‘Burma VJ’ shortlisted for 2009 Oscars – Salai Pi Pi New Delhi – A documentary film on the brutal crackdown on Buddhist monk-led protests in September 2007 by Burma’s ruling military junta, has been shortlisted among the nominations for next year’s Academy Awards. ‘Burma VJ’, which painstakingly documented the courageous struggle of the Burmese people for freedom of expression and democracy, was released in 2009 and has been shortlisted for the 2010 Academy awards, according to the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Beverly Hills on Wednesday announced that ‘Burma VJ’ directed by Danish Anders Østergaard, was among the 15 films listed in the ‘Documentary Feature’ category, which will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards. Burma VJ, a docu-drama film highlights the risks journalists and dissidents in military-ruled Burma took during the September 2007 protests, later dubbed the ‘Saffron Revolution’. It has already won about 33 film awards including the ‘World Cinema Documentary Film Editing Award’, ‘Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award’ and has been nominated for EFA Documentaire 2009 - Prix Arte. Toe Zaw Latt, Chief of the Democratic Voice of Burma’s Thailand Bureau, which contributed around 80 percent of the video clips used in the Burma VJ, said he is proud that the film has been shortlisted for the Academy Award. “Now, the plight of people in Burma is not only highlighted in the international media but also in film. It also fulfilled our commitment to increase awareness on the media blacked out country [Burma] at the international level,” Toe Zaw Latt said. The film is based on the story of an undercover reporter for the Oslo-based DVB, Joshua (27). How, equipped with a small handycam he reports from the streets of Rangoon, former capital of Burma, during the September 2007 uprising. And how he smuggled out the footage from the country, which was broadcast back into Burma via satellite by the international media such as the CNN, BBC and Aljazeera. “Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country,” said Burma VJ’s website. Toe Zaw Latt said several DVB’s video journalists were arrested and detained in jails by Burmese security forces while taking pictures on the streets during the protest. The 15 shortlisted films, chosen from eighty-nine films that qualified in the category, are “The Beaches of Agnes,” “Burma VJ,” “The Cove,” “Every Little Step,” “Facing Ali,” “Food, Inc.,” “Garbage Dreams,” “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders,” “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” “Mugabe and the White African,” “Sergio,” “Soundtrack for a Revolution,” “Under Our Skin,” “Valentino The Last Emperor,” and “Which Way Home,”. Among the shortlisted, Documentary Branch members will select the five nominees for Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009. The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on February 2, 2010 and an award ceremony would be held at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles on March 7. ____________________________________ OPINION / OTHER November 19, Straits Times (Singapore) Will Myanmar junta chief meet the lady? — Nirmal Ghosh The question on many people's minds in Yangon these days is whether Senior General Than Shwe will meet “the lady”, as Aung San Suu Kyi is known across Myanmar. She requested a meeting with the regime's supremo in a letter dated Nov 11 to explain how she would cooperate in tasks “beneficial to the country”. If Than Shwe were to meet her, it could be a turning point in the political stalemate that began when her National League for Democracy (NLD) won a 1990 general election whose results were not recognised by the army. But analysts are cautious. The senior general is trying to engineer a potential milestone in modern Myanmar's history — ensuring that army-backed parties win next year's election without any rigging and that the outcome is deemed credible by the international community. At the Asean summit in Thailand last month, Prime Minister Thein Sein reportedly told other Asean leaders that if Suu Kyi “maintains a good attitude, it is possible that the Myanmar authorities will relax the current measures”. But the decision to release her is almost certainly in the hands of just one man — the senior general. Suu Kyi has spent most of the last 20 years in some form of detention — mostly house arrest in her dilapidated lakeside bungalow. In August, she was sentenced to another 18 months of house arrest for harbouring an uninvited American citizen. An early release may be possible for the Nobel laureate, but such a move may well be just a gesture to appease international opinion. Also, she would at most be allowed only a small degree of participation, if any at all, in active politics. If Than Shwe were to release her, then a critical factor would be timing the move so that she will have minimal or no impact on his plans. Meanwhile on Sunday, at the first US-Asean summit in Singapore, United States President Barack Obama told Thein Sein that Suu Kyi should be released. The message was not new but the messenger and how it was delivered to the Myanmar leadership were unprecedented. It was the first time in years that a Myanmar leader had a face-to-face meeting with a US president, and it took place against a backdrop of Washington's new policy of engaging Myanmar. Thein Sein reportedly did not react to the request, but thanked the US for its new policy of engagement rather than isolation. But US officials are not under any illusion that Washington can force change in Myanmar, at least as long as Than Shwe maintains his iron grip. The new US policy is one of engagement with the regime while maintaining economic sanctions against it. Obama has held out the promise of lifting the sanctions if there is some positive signal from the regime. Raising the issue of Suu Kyi was meant to remind the regime that the US, even as it engages more with the regime on other fronts, has not watered down its focus on democracy, said historian Thant Myint U, author of “A River Of Lost Footsteps”. But he pointed out that should the US take the “long-term, multi-year view”, then many things are possible. If the US depends too much on short-term change, its efforts may go down the same dark tunnel as had previous attempts to engage the regime, he said. Suu Kyi's current sentence will ensure that she remains in detention through the elections, which are scheduled for the middle of next year, making it impossible for her to take part in the process. Most Myanmar analysts, used to occasional signs of progress congealing into stalemate, are either cautious or pessimistic about the shift in US policy — and are not sanguine about Suu Kyi's release. But if the senior general met her, it would reignite hope that she would be set free. ____________________________________ PRESS RELEASE November 19, Reporters Sans Frontieres Burma blogger faces 15-year sentence A young blogger, Win Zaw Naing, is facing a possibly 15-year jail sentence just for posting pictures and reports about the September 2007 protests, known as the Saffron Revolution. Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association call for his release and the release of all the other detained bloggers. "The international community is so absorbed by diplomatic strategies aimed at resolving the Burmese crisis that it seems to be neglecting the fact that the military government is continuing its repression and is still arresting journalists, bloggers and human rights activists," the two organisations said. "The release of prisoners of conscience should continue to be a major priority for the international community," Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association added. "Without the freedom to inform others, next year's elections will be neither free nor fair." Win Zaw Naing, 24, has been held for the past several weeks by police in the Rangoon district of Kyauktada, where he has not been allowed to see a lawyer. He was arrested under article 33 (A) of the Electronic Act, which provides for sentences of up to 15 years in prison. Sources have told the organisations that he was arrested for posting photos of the September 2007 protests on his blog (http://shwenyarthar.co.cc/). The photos showed protesters, including Buddhist monks. The blog is still accessible but the police ordered the withdrawal of the photos and certain articles. A resident of Hlaing Tharyar district, Win Zaw Naing works as a typist at a Rangoon publishing house. Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association have confirmed that four journalists were recently arrested. They are Paing Soe Oo, a freelancer known by the pen-name of Jay Paing; Thant Zin Soe, who works for Foreign Affairs Journal; Nyi Nyi Htun, a freelancer known by the pen-name of Mee-doke; and Khant Min Htet, a poet and graphic designer. Source: Reporters Sans Frontieres press release, Paris, in English 13 Nov 09 November 18, 2009 Issue #3843 INSIDE BURMA DVB: 50 percent rise in Burma forced labour DVB: Newspaper typo leads to journalist arrest The Independent (UK): Burmese cameramen jailed for defying regime Irrawaddy: Junta confiscates land in Arakan State ON THE BORDER SHAN: Media network demands free and fair reporting on 2010 polls DPA: Myanmar mulls railway link with China BUSINESS / TRADE Bermana (Malaysia): Vietnamese businessmen to invest in Myanmar's hotel industry The New Nation (Bangladesh): 'Gas pipeline to Myanmar likely to be revived’ OPINION / OTHER Asia Sentinel: China's Burma oil bonanza – Nava Thakuria Bangkok Post: Will the junta heed Obama? – Editorial ____________________________________ INSIDE BURMA November 18, Democratic Voice of Burma 50 percent rise in Burma forced labour – Francis Wade Complaints of forced labour in Burma have risen by nearly 50 percent in the past five months, with more than half of these stemming from the recruitment of youths into the army. The statistics, published in a report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), show that mounting pressure on the Burmese government to eliminate forced labour is yet to find its mark. The ILO criticized in June a clause in the Burmese constitution, ratified in 2008, that appeared to justify use of forced labour as a punishment for crimes, or in “duties assigned by the Union in accord with the law in the interest of the public”. The total number of complaints received by the ILO as of 28 October stands at 223, while the figure for May 2009 was 152. Since the first complaint of under-age recruitment into the army was received in February 2007, the number has risen to 102. Following ILO intervention, “59 children have been discharged from the military, 30 cases are still under Government investigation or are the subject of ongoing communication, and nine await ILO initial assessment prior to submission,” the report said. Forced labour in Burma comes in varying forms, from hard labour used in the renovation of roads and infrastructure to use of civilians as porters or ‘minesweepers’ by the Burmese army. The report however warns against the assumption that an increase complaints automatically corresponds to wider use of forced labour in Burma. “[The increase] appears to result from heightened awareness generally of citizens’ rights under the law, the maturing and expansion of the facilitators’ network, and an increased readiness to present complaints,” it said. Despite the establishment of the Supplementary Understanding, an agreement between the ILO and Burmese government that complainants will not be harassed, the organisation has acknowledged that retaliation does take place. At least 11 “serious cases of apparent harassment and judicial retaliation” against complainants and facilitators has taken place since May, all which relate to complaints of forced labour by farmers in Burma’s central Magwe divison. The harassment includes “lengthy and intense interrogations and judicial action,” the report says. “It would thus appear that there is a serious ‘disconnect’ between the desire of the central government authorities to stop the use of forced labour and the behaviour of the local [civilian and military] authorities. The Burmese government has however permitted the ILO to carry out awareness-raising activities that include both civil and military authorities, while an interview with the ILO’s Burma liaison officer, Steve Marshall, was published in a biweekly journal in Burma. ____________________________________ November 18, The Independent (UK) Burmese cameramen jailed for defying regime – Peter Popham If a shocking documentary about the fate of Burma's cyclone orphans wins a prestigious video-journalism award in London tomorrow night, it will be some time before one of the men who shot it gets a chance to celebrate. Six months after shooting on the film was completed, the cameraman known only as T was arrested coming out of an internet café in Rangoon and taken to the city's Insein prison. Last week, after four months in jail, he was told he would be charged with the new offence of filming without government permission, which carries a minimum jail sentence of 10 years. The Rory Peck awards are given annually to freelance video cameramen and documentary makers who run the sort of risks which Peck, who was shot dead while filming the siege of the Russian parliament in 1993, took every day. In Burma the challenges are rather different. The risks of getting shot or bombed while filming in the peaceable, agrarian Irrawaddy delta south of Rangoon are low. But, in other respects, this must be one of the most dangerous assignments in the world. The film follows a number of children orphaned by Cyclone Nargis, which struck southern Burma in May 2008, killing 140,000 people in the delta and making 2.4 million homeless, as they struggle to survive in the absence of their parents, and with negligible assistance from the state. T and his colleague, another Burmese identified as Z who is currently hiding out in Thailand, even filmed an appearance by General Thein Sein, the junta's Prime Minister, before a group of desperate villagers telling them to get back to work and to expect nothing from the state for some time. T joins 13 other cameramen working for the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) who have been jailed by the Burmese authorities since the Saffron Revolution in 2007, the mass uprising led by monks which shook Asia's most repressive regime to the core. Ever since the coup d'état of 1962 which brought General Ne Win to power, Burma's ruling generals have done everything in their power to control the images of the country which reach the outside world. Foreign journalists are almost never let in, and those who enter as tourists are frequently deported. Ubiquitous spies make it immensely risky for Burmese to blow the whistle on the regime. But the internet and the shrinking size of video cameras have given dissidents new ways of getting their words and pictures out – as the junta discovered in September 2007, when freelance video cameramen working for DVB shot the swelling protest marches of the monks and sent them abroad. The pictures were picked up by news networks around the world, giving the regime its worst publicity for decades. To prevent the same thing happening again, the authorities passed a new law banning filming without government permission, and began locking up for long terms those who defied it. Three of those who filmed the monks' protests are serving long sentences, but the law has done nothing to deter their colleagues. Khin Maung Win, deputy head of DVB, said, "We had 30 journalists active during the Saffron Revolution, half of whom are now inactive – either in jail, in hiding or in Thailand. But now we have about 100 more, spread all over the country, even in Burma's new capital, Naypyidaw." He went on, "We don't normally publicise the arrest of our cameramen, but we decided to do so this time because of the awards. This award is very important for us – if we win it will be the first success by Burmese journalists. The Rory Peck award is all about taking risks, which certainly applies to us. And we are proud that we can do something to inform the international audience." DVB's main activity is beaming a two-hour package of news and current affairs to Burma every day by satellite which the regime has found it impossible to block. With more and more of its workers incarcerated, DVB now faces the growing challenge of supporting them and their families through their long ordeal. Whether or not "Orphans of Burma's Cyclone", a Quicksilver Media production for Channel 4's Dispatches, wins tomorrow, the Rory Peck Trust has promised to contribute to the effort of keeping them alive and sane. ____________________________________ November 18, Democratic Voice of Burma Newspaper typo leads to journalist arrest A glaring typo in one of Burma’s leading newspapers has landed a journalist in detention and temporarily delayed the printing run of the publication. The Mandalay-based Yadanabon, one of only four newspapers in military-ruled Burma, appeared on Saturday to promote the notion that anti-government violence can spur change in the country. The literal translation of a government mantra that regularly appears in state-run media in Burma proffers that “Democracy cannot be achieved from riots”. In the 13 November issue of the Yadanabon, however, “cannot” is exchanged for “can”. According to a Mandalay-based journalist, a staff worker at the newspaper was detained and questioned by police the following day, causing publication of the newspaper to temporarily stop. Locals in Mandalay say the Yadanabon, which shares a name with Burma’s first ever newspaper, published in the 19th century, is owned by a military official. Burmese newspapers, such as the English-language New Light of Myanmar, are littered with Orwellian mantras that instruct citizens to “oppose foreign nations interfering in internal affairs of the State” or “Crush all internal and external destructive elements as the common enemy”. Apart from a handful of privately-owned magazines that nonetheless come under strict censorship by the ruling junta, all newspapers are state owned and often act as the government mouthpiece. Front-page articles seldom deviate away from coverage of ribbon-cutting ceremonies or diplomatic visits to the handful of countries still allied with Burma, while any material or opinion critical of the government is strictly prohibited. Furthermore, all published material in Burma must first be approved by the Press Registration and Scrutiny Division (PRSD), which often takes days to pass material through the censor board. Last month the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) ranked Burma 171 out of 175 countries in its annual Press Freedom Index, with only Iran buffering it from the ‘infernal trio’ of Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea. Reporting by DVB ____________________________________ November 18, Irrawaddy Junta confiscates land in Arakan State – Ba Saw Tin About 50 traditional hand-dug oil wells and 10 acres of land were confiscated on Nov. 14 by the Burmese authorities in Kyuakphyu Township in Arakan State in western Burma, according to local sources. The sources told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the landowners are afraid they will not receive any compensation from the Burmese authorities. Police in Kyuakphyu Township told them that the order to confiscate property came from Naypyidaw. Maung Phyu, one of the landowners, said: “They came with guns to confiscate our property. We couldn’t say anything to them. This property is our legacy. We rely on it. We’ve lost it now, and we have no jobs.” Land confiscation by the government is a common practice in Arakan State, according to the Arakan Rivers Network (ARN) based in Thailand. An ARN report, “Holding Our Land,” published in February, said that 53,000 acres of land in Arakan State have been confiscated. Most of the property involved oil wells. One Korean and two Chinese oil companies operate in Arakan State: China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC), the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS). Local sources said they believed the confiscated land will be given to CNOOC to explore for oil on the site. The oil companies and local landowners are often in business conflicts because oil companies promise to pay compensation after they take over land, but they don’t pay fair prices, according to the Arakan Oil Watch (AOW) based in Thailand. Tun Thar Aung, a Burmese migrant in Mae Sot, told The Irrawaddy his land was confiscated by CNOOC. The company told him to sign a contract and it promised to pay compensation, he said, but no payment was ever made. Land confiscation has increased in Arakan State since 2007 when authorities evicted many landowners in Kyuakphyu Township, according to AOW. About 70 villagers fled to Thailand and Malaysia after protests were made against CNOOC. Arakan rights activists said the oil and gas projects in Arakan State have not benefited landowners or villagers, and the companies violate human rights and cause environment damage. Meanwhile, CNPC announced on Nov. 3 that it had begun construction on the gas pipeline which will run through Burma into Yunnan Province in China. The Burmese government has agreed to sell gas to China in a contract that will provide up to US $30 billion to the Burmese government. ____________________________________ ON THE BORDER November 18, Shan Herald Agency for News Media network demands free and fair reporting on 2010 polls Burma News International (BNI), a network of 11 independent news organizations in exile, yesterday urged the country’s ruling military junta to ensure freedom of information gathering and reporting in the general elections slated for next year. “Otherwise, it will not be considered free and fair and, as a result, rejected by the international community,” it warned. The BNI, which held its three-day 14th bi-annual meeting, from November 15 to 17, also demanded the “unconditional and prompt release” of all journalists under detention and a suspension of news censorship. Burma is infamous as one of the most inhospitable countries for journalists. Kenji Nagai, a Japanese photographer, was shot dead by junta’s soldiers during the 2007 Saffron Revolution. The exact number of journalists detained by the regime has not been disclosed. Son Moe Way, a coordinator for the Burma Journalists Protection Committee (BJPC), said some of those detained by the military authorities on charges of activism are journalists. “Revelation of their true identities will only lead to harsher punishments for them,” he told the meeting yesterday. The BNI was formed in 2003 with the aim of “becoming a leading multimedia enterprise that presents a comprehensive picture of Burma and plays a role in promoting an understanding of the country.” Supporters of the network have pointed out its policy of inclusiveness and decentralization as its main strength. ____________________________________ November 18, Deutsche Presse-Agentur Myanmar mulls railway link with China Yangon – Myanmar has opened discussions on building a railway link between its north-eastern Shan State and China's Yunnan province, media reports said Wednesday. "The Myanmar-China railway link will connect Lashio, capital of Shan state in the north, and Jiegao town of Yunnan province, China," The Yangon Times weekly reported. Officials from China's Railways Ministry recently visited Myanmar to discuss the proposed link, the Burmese-language weekly said. "Three possible routes for the railway link have already been chosen," the newspaper said. Construction costs for the new railway link were estimated at 500 million dollars. Myanmar currently has a rail track between Yangon, Myanmar's former capital, and Lashio. ____________________________________ BUSINESS / TRADE November 18, Bermana (Malaysia) Vietnamese businessmen to invest in Myanmar's hotel industry Yangon -- Vietnamese businessmen will invest in Myanmar's hotel industry for the first time, as part of its engagement in the country, sources with the Myanmar Hoteliers Association said on Wednesday. The planned hotel is to be built near Myanmar's current top-level one, the Sedona, located on the Kaba Aye Pagoda Road in the biggest city of Yangon, the sources said without disclosing further information, China's Xinhua news agency said. There are some other foreign-invested hotels operating in the city, which are three from Thailand, one from Singapore and the other from China, it said. Meanwhile, a Vietnamese airline is also planning to fly Myanmar as a new destination, it added. According to official statistics, Vietnam's investment in Myanmar hit some US$23.4 million in nearly 21 years up to the end of May this year since the country opened to such investment in late 1988. Vietnam stands the 16th among Myanmar's exporting countries and 11th among importing ones. Myanmar mainly exported its forestry products to Vietnam, followed by agricultural produces, seafood and electrical spare parts, while it imported from Vietnam steel, electronic goods, pharmaceuticals, medicines, industrial products, chemical products, computer and accessories, plastic, cosmetics and engine oil. Official statistics show that Myanmar-Vietnam bilateral trade in the first nine months of 2009 hit some US$60 million. Of the total, Myanmar's export to Vietnam took some US$42 million, while its import from Vietnam stood at US$18 million, enjoying a trade surplus of US$24 million. ____________________________________ November 18, The New Nation (Bangladesh) 'Gas pipeline to Myanmar likely to be revived’ New Delhi – Talks for a gas pipeline from Bengal to Myanmar via Bangladesh are likely to be revived as Dhaka has renewed its interest. However, the pipeline is unlikely to figure in the agenda of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her first visit to India next month after being elected with an overwhelming mandate in December 2008, a leading English daily "The Telegraph" said in a recent report. Telegraph said, during her visit, Hasina is expected to wrest some trade concessions as well as ink a transit deal that will give Bangladesh access to Nepal and Bhutan by road and rail, while opening up the port of Ashuganj for Indian goods meant for the Northeast. In the project, gas produced by Indian Public Sector Units in Myanmar will be transported to India, and the negotiations will be tri- partite. After years of stalling on negotiations, the Bangladesh government, which does not enjoy the best of relations with Myanmar, has sent signals of its willingness to talk business - it will allow the pipeline in return for a royalty in hard currency for giving passage, the report further said. The pipeline could cost India about $600 million, of which 60 per cent would be invested in Bangladesh. The South Asian nation would also earn nearly $100 million as carrier fee every year. Officials said, the talks, which are still to take off, did not envisage the evacuation of Bangladesh's gas to India. "We are very clear that India only wants to evacuate gas from the gas fields in Myanmar through Arakan, Bangladesh and into Bengal to feed industry in eastern and northern India. We have no plans to seek gas from Bangladesh. Rather, Bangladesh could, if it so desires, buy excess gas from our fields." Opposition legislators of Bangladesh are against sales to India. In January 2005, energy ministers of the three countries had met in Yangon to discuss the construction of the pipeline, with a total length of 950km, and signed a draft memorandum of understanding. The pipeline was expected to enter Bangladesh at the Brahmanbaria border and Bengal from Rajshahi. Officials said, the pipeline could help evacuate gas from the Shwe gasfields as well as from new finds, in which Indian firms participate. In June, ONGC Videsh Ltd, GAIL (India) Limited and South Korea's Daewoo had announced the discovery of a huge field in Block A-3, offshore Myanmar. The field is located adjacent to Block A-1, where an estimated 113-170bn cubic metres of reserves had been found, the Telegraph report said. ____________________________________ OPINION / OTHER November 18, Asia Sentinel China's Burma oil bonanza – Nava Thakuria Ignoring protests, Beijing seeks energy from a pariah state. What will Obama do? As expected, China has utterly ignored protests from Burmese protest groups to begin construction of a 980-km dual oil and gas pipeline that will cross the entire Burmese countryside from the offshore Shwe gas fields of Arakan state to China's southern Yunnan Province. A protest group, Arakan Youth, has protested that as long ago as 2006, 500 people from villages on the India-Burma border had already been relocated and forced into uncompensated labor to clear the way for the US$2.5 billion pipeline, which is expected to go online in three years. That constitutes a dilemma for US President Barack Obama as he seeks to engage with the long-isolated country, one of the world's poorest and most brutal. It remains a question whether the United States, having applied the stick to Burma for more than two decades, will now get anything out of applying the carrot, as he famously attempted to do at meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Singapore last week. The countries contiguous to Burma appear nearly oblivious. In a lesson to Obama of just how little effect the sanctions have had on Burma, the Shwe field itself is being developed by companies from some of America's staunchest allies including South Korea's Daewoo International, Korea Gas and India's state-owned enterprises ONGC Videsh and GAIL. Daewoo is expected to take up a 25 percent stake in the pipeline, which will transport crude from tankers calling from Africa and the Middle East rather than making the time-consuming trip down through the pirate-invested Strait of Malacca and back up to China. Nor are India and South Korea alone. According to a brochure put out by Total, the French energy company which is part of a consortium whose other partners are Unocal, a unit of the US-based Chevron, Thailand's PTTEP and Burma's own Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise are producing gas from the rich offshore Yadana field and exporting 85 percent of the gas to Thailand, where it supplies 20 percent of that country's power generation facilities, with output averaging 20 million cubic meters of gas per day in 2008. The remaining 15 percent is sold locally. But even though most of the cities in Burma are dependent on private generators for electricity, instead of using the natural gas for Burmese citizens, the military junta is selling the gas to its neighboring developing countries in exchange for foreign currency. China in particular has steadily increased its trade ties with Burma, one of the world's most reviled countries because of its human rights policies, and recently signed an agreement to become sole buying authority of the Shwe gas reserve. Under this agreement, Beijing took the responsibility to construct the US$2.5 billion trans-Burma (oil and gas) corridor to feed its voracious need for energy. The State-owned China National Petroleum Corporation holds 50.9 percent of the pipeline, with the capacity to pump nearly 12 million tons of oil and 12 billion cubic meters of gas annually, in partnership with the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. The Burmese government expects to receive $29 billion over 30 years from the deal. "The military rulers of Burma, which is otherwise facing heavy economic sanctions by the United States and many European countries, keep themselves alive with royalties earned from selling the natural resources to other countries. But all this money is hardly used for any public welfare activities," said M. Kim, an exile Burmese living in India. Speaking to Asia Sentinel from New Delhi, Kim, who is associated with the Burma Centre Delhi, pointed out that the State Peace and Development Council, the junta that runs the country, has mastered the art of ignoring the concerns of the international community for its rights record. Once the rice bowl of Asia, Burma is today one of the poorest countries on the globe, but the military junta of Naypyidaw spends more than 40 percent of its national budget on defense. Only 2 percent goes to health and education of the 50 million Burmese. Beijing has brushed aside demands by more than 120 organizations based in 20 countries to halt the construction of the pipeline project. Led by the Shwe Gas Movement, a Thailand based oil-gas watchdog and rights group, the movement endorsed a memorandum to the Chinese government on the Global Day of Action on October 28. In the letter, addressed to the President of the People's Republic of China and sent through the Chinese embassies in various countries including, among others, Burma's Association of Southeast Asian Nations partners, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Sweden and others, expressing serious concern at the probable threats to the environment and the Burmese because of the project. The letter also asked President Hu Jintao to immediately stop construction, which is all but inconceivable. EarthRights International, in a recent survey, identified 69 Chinese companies engaged in extracting natural resources including oil, gas, hydropower development and mining from Burmese sites. Nor did Burma's Asean partners appear to be concerned. The 10-member body refused to go along with a request by Obama for a joint communiqué asking that democracy leader Aung San Suu Ky, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years under house arrest, to be freed. Obama was forced release his own statement asking for Suu Ky's freedom, although the group did to release a joint statement with the US, calling for free elections next year -- which the opposition has already condemned as a sham aimed at providing a thin veneer of democracy for the junta. "We are gravely concerned for the thousands communities living along the planned 980 km pipeline corridor. Based on experiences in Burma, partnerships with the MOGE on infra-structure development projects invariably lead to forced displacement, forced labor and loss of livelihoods," the letter from the 120 organizations said. "The escalation of abuses around a project when Burma army soldiers provide security is well documented by UN agencies and NGOs." "What is more awful that the local communities, who will be affected by the project, are still unaware of it and they are not being consulted. At the same time, neither the military authority nor the CNPC had gone for any environmental and social impact assessments before launching the pipeline project," said Wong Aung, the coordinator of the Shwe Gas Movement. Speaking to Asia Sentinel from Chiang Mai, Thailand, the young activist also revealed that over 10, 000 Burmese soldiers had already been deployed along the pipeline route, a number that is likely to be increased in the days to come and one that is likely to add to the number of incidents of human rights abuses along the pipeline route. "Past experiences have shown that the pipeline construction and maintenance in the country always involve forced labor, forced relocation, land confiscation, and other kinds of abuses by the soldiers engaged in the project area," Wong Aung added. In a recently launched book titled ‘Corridor of Power: China's Trans-Burma Oil and Gas Pipelines', the Shwe Gas Movement strongly requested that the extraction of the Shwe natural gas deposits be postponed until local people in western Burma could participate in the decision-making process about the use of the resources. It added that the concerned neighboring countries and the oil companies must stop trade with the military junta and refrain from further investment until there is a democratically elected government in the country. Burma's western coast, which is rich in oil and gas reserves, has become the battleground for Beijing and New Delhi in recent years," said an editorial in the Shwe Gas Bulletin. "The western companies showed reluctance in investing in Burma, but both China and India continued their mission and battle over the Burmese oil and gas. The editorial added that at a time when China and India were exploiting the resources of Arakan to enhance their energy and economic security, over four million people living in the State were only facing human rights abuses and economic hardship. Debbie Stothard, coordinator to Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, said in an interview projects in Burma have displaced thousands of poor Burmese and exposed to them to abuse by the military. Speaking to Asia Sentinel from Bangkok, Stothard added that the Shwe pipeline project would have a heavy impact on the people along the route and would end up adversely affecting the entire region. None of that appears to matter to the Chinese, the governments surrounding Burma, or any countries wishing to buy Burma's rich natural resources. ____________________________________ November 18, Bangkok Post Will the junta heed Obama? – Editorial If the government of Burma is truly serious about staging an election next year, it must seriously consider the words and actions of US President Barack Obama. In the first confrontation by a US leader with Burmese dictators in 43 years, Mr Obama sent two messages at once. He said the generals must free their political prisoners, first and foremost Aung San Suu Kyi. He then made it clear that the new US approach to Burma has clear limits; the sanctions on the military regime will stay in place. The meeting between Mr Obama and Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein was not particularly dramatic. For one thing, it took place behind closed doors, during the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum last weekend in Singapore. For another, it was not a face-to-face meeting. The reference to Burma by Mr Obama was part of a general presentation, to which all the Asean heads of government were present. His references to Burma, however, were the most important part of his remarks - for Burma, for Asean and for outsiders. After its meeting with the president, Asean showed its usual restraint. The US-Asean statement made no mention of political prisoners. With predictable faint-heartedness, the statement called on Burma to hold a free election. This is simply dodging the issue. There are clear steps that Burma must take if it wants anyone to believe its election is free. Mr Obama stated the first one: release of all political prisoners. Mrs Suu Kyi has become the symbol of the suffering and brutality caused by the military dictators since 1962. But thousands of Burmese are imprisoned today for nothing more dangerous than peaceful opposition to the army junta and its government. So long as one of them remains locked up, the planned election cannot be free. Mrs Suu Kyi has spent most of her life locked up since she had the audacity to win the only free election in recent Burmese history, in 1990. She is the clear leader of the loyal opposition in Burma. This is because of her own bravery. But the generals also have tortured, jailed, intimidated, exiled (or worse) almost all members of the peaceful opposition who dared to speak out against the military regime. It will be a major step if all the political prisoners are freed, and if Mrs Suu Kyi is allowed to speak openly to voters prior to the planned 2010 elections. It will not, however, be any guarantee of what Asean refers to vaguely as a "free election". The generals will also have to allow foreign observers if they wish the world to take their election seriously - the foreign media and non-governmental groups, if not a formal poll watch by, say, the United Nations. The voting will have to be free of intimidation. Equally importantly, the entrenched and comfortable military junta must abide explicitly by the will of the voters. In 1990, the regime simply ignored the poll victory by Mrs Suu Kyi's party. That kept the army in power. It also more deeply convinced the domestic opposition and foreign friends of Burma that the country was so firmly under the control of despots that it had to be cut off from normal trade and diplomacy with the rest of the world. The US president has made it clear to Mr Thein Sein and to all other Asean leaders that the United States is open to a change in attitude from the military leaders. Next year's election is Burma's chance to regain the respect of the world. It is up to the generals to seize the opportunity.