FTUB Daily News for Nov-16-2011, English News - Evening

News Headlines with Brief (1) MNDF to strengthen itself by adding former rebel leaders | Source: Mizzima 16-Nov-2011 The Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), a political party that was dissolved by the former junta, says that it will strengthen itself by adding eight former leaders of the armed rebel New Mon State Party (NMSP) to its ranks. “They have offered to join us under our party’s flag. We’ve invited them to attend our coming meeting,” said MNDF General-Secretary Dr. Min Soe Lin. In October, former NMSP central committee members held meetings in Mon State and decided to join up with the MNDF to take part in political activities, according to sources close to them. Read More..... (2) Protesting Burmese monks deliver final talk | Source: Mizzima 16-Nov-2011 At the request of 10 Buddhist abbots including the chairman of the Mandalay Region Sangha committee, five Burmese monks who are staging a protest delivered their final talk to supporters on Wednesday. “Originally, they planned to deliver talks for three days. The location they are protesting in is a teaching-monastery, so talks can disturb the student monks. At the request of the abbots, they will deliver talks for one day (Wednesday),” said a supporter, one of an estimated 1,200 people who attended the talks. Most of the audience was made up of monks, sources said. Read More..... (3) Activist arrested for filming protest | Source: DVB 16-Nov-2011 Police have detained an activist on charges of breaching Burma’s notorious Video Act after he allegedly filmed a protest by landless farmers in Irrawaddy division two months ago. Myint Naing’s house in the division’s capital of Bassein was surrounded by some 30 officers in an early morning raid on Monday. The Human Rights Watchdog Network’s leader is being held at a local police station. Read More..... (4) NDF picks 20 candidates for by-election | Source: DVB 16-Nov-2011 Burma’s opposition National Democratic Force says it will field 20 candidates in the upcoming by-elections, the ambiguous date of which still remains a source of frustration from would-be contenders. Its leader, Khin Maung Swe, said that he and colleagues were negotiating with the various members of the 10-party alliance the NDF is part of to finalise a strategy for the by-elections, with 48 parliamentary seats up for grabs. Read More..... (5) Amnesty Still Uncertain as Prisoners Transferred | Source: Irrawaddy 16-Nov-2011 Burma’s prominent dissident Min Ko Naing and other political prisoners are being transferred to different jails as prospects for a further amnesty remain in doubt, claim sources in Rangoon. And it seems unlikely that those transferred will be included in any forthcoming release with the move considered a reaction to humanitarian calls to relocate remaining incarcerated dissidents to be closer to their relatives on the outside. Read More..... (6) US Calls for More Change in Burma | Source: Irrawaddy 16-Nov-2011 Hours before US President Barack Obama landed in Australia, a top White House official said there have been positive changes in Burma recently and that the US wants those changes to continue. “We have seen some positive movement [in Burma], but of course we’d like to see a continued change in the behavior of the government with respect to human rights,” Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters travelling with Obama on his way to Canberra. Read More..... (7) Than Shwe's Grandson Visits France: Sources | Source: Irrawaddy 16-Nov-2011 The grandson of Burma's former military dictator, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, reportedly traveled to Europe late last month after being granted a visa by the French Embassy in Rangoon, according to sources in the former Burmese capital. Nay Shwe Thway Aung, 21, left for Europe on Oct 26 despite a visa ban that prohibits senior Burmese military leaders and their families from traveling in the European Union, the sources said. He was allegedly issued a Schengen visa, which allows unrestricted travel within 25 European countries, including 22 in the EU. Read More..... (8) 1,000 Kachins Flee to IDP Camps | Source: Irrawaddy 16-Nov-2011 More than 1,000 villagers in southern Kachin State have taken shelter in makeshift camps in the jungle after fleeing their homes to avoid being caught in the crossfire of an intensifying conflict between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Burmese government forces. Relief workers say the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in question have fled in the last few days and are from five villages around Mansi Township, some 25 km southeast of Bhamo in southernmost Kachin State, close to the Shan State and Chinese borders. Read More..... (9) Shan party hopes to regain seat lost last year | Source: Shan 16-Nov-2011 The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), the third largest winning in the 2010 November elections, is planning to re-contest in the coming by-elections at the vacant seat for the Upper House in Northern Shan State’s Lashio district, which it had lost to its rival junta army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) due to advance votes, according to party vice Chairman Sai Hsawng Hsi. Read More..... MNDF to strengthen itself by adding former rebel leaders http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6190-mndf-to-strengthen-itself-by-adding-former-rebel-leaders.html Wednesday, 16 November 2011 11:54 Kun Chan Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), a political party that was dissolved by the former junta, says that it will strengthen itself by adding eight former leaders of the armed rebel New Mon State Party (NMSP) to its ranks. “They have offered to join us under our party’s flag. We’ve invited them to attend our coming meeting,” said MNDF General-Secretary Dr. Min Soe Lin. In October, former NMSP central committee members held meetings in Mon State and decided to join up with the MNDF to take part in political activities, according to sources close to them. The MNDF has not identified the eight Mon leaders, but sources said that they may include former NMSP joint secretary Nai Chan Twe, Nai Lawi Mon, Nai Htaw Ein, Nai Nyan Tun, Nai Kaw Hta and former central executive committee member Nai Tin Aung, who retired from the NMSP in 2000. On November 20, the MNDF will hold a meeting in Mawlamyaing, the capital of Mon State. Min Soe Lin said that more than 50 people including former NMSP leaders, scholars and nationalists have been invited. In the meeting, new members will be accepted and they will discuss whether the MNDF will register as a political party or not, he said. “Mainly, we will discuss ways to strengthen our party. Now, our leaders in Rangoon are talking with ethnic political parties and the NLD [National League for Democracy]. We will review their decision and decide if our party will register or not,” Min Soe Lin said. The NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, will hold a central committee meeting on Friday to decide whether the NLD will register as a political party or not before the coming by-elections. Under the Constitution, a political party needs to contest in at least three constituencies to remain a legal political party. Presently, the MNDF and some political parties including the NLD are cooperating with the Committee Representing People's Parliament and the United Nationalities Alliance. The MNDF was formed on October 11, 1988. Nineteen MNDF candidates contested in the 1990 general elections and five won seats. The former junta refused to recognize the 1990 elections result. In 1991, a number of MNDF leaders were arrested and the former junta dissolved the party on March 19, 1992. Protesting Burmese monks deliver final talk http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6191-protesting-burmese-monks-deliver-final-talk.html Wednesday, 16 November 2011 16:16 Ko Wild Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – At the request of 10 Buddhist abbots including the chairman of the Mandalay Region Sangha committee, five Burmese monks who are staging a protest delivered their final talk to supporters on Wednesday. A protesting monk addresses a crowd from a religious building in Mandalay in central Burma after they locked themselves inside and called for the release of all political prisoners on Tuesday, November 15, 2011. Photo: AFP “Originally, they planned to deliver talks for three days. The location they are protesting in is a teaching-monastery, so talks can disturb the student monks. At the request of the abbots, they will deliver talks for one day (Wednesday),” said a supporter, one of an estimated 1,200 people who attended the talks. Most of the audience was made up of monks, sources said. The monks who are staging the protest had lunch at the Masoeyein Monastery in Mandalay and then, along with about 20 government intelligence officials in civilian clothes, they listened to a 15-minute sermon by abbots in the dining room of the monastery. The protesting monks have called for the release of all political prisoners and an end to fighting between the government and ethnic armed groups. “Generally, they have accepted the requests of the abbots after their negotiations,” said a resident who attended the abbots’ sermon. The protesting monks told their audience that they sent an appeal to President Thein Sein, with a copy to the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee at Gaba Aye Hill, calling for a stop to the civil war and the immediate release of all political prisoners, including monks. “They asked whether the audience agreed with them or not? People shouted three times that they agreed,” said an audience member. Monk Ashin Sopaka, a leader of the protest, told the audience that he hoped that political prisoners would be released soon. At the end of the talk, the five protesting monks and audience members recited religious slogans that monks had recited during the 2007 “Saffron Revolution,” such as “May human beings stop torturing each other” and “May our love spread across the world,” to mark the end of the talks. This week, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said that the National League for Democracy believes there are 591 political prisoners held in Burma’s jails, according to the latest NLD research. “According to some figures,” she said, “there are about 2,000 political prisoners. Based on those figures received from outside the country, we made inquires and found that some of those [on the lists] had been released a long time ago. But, we have not conducted comprehensive inquires. Meanwhile, we specify that the number is 591, because we are sure that all of them are in prison.” Activist arrested for filming protest http://www.dvb.no/news/activist-arrested-for-filming-protest/18746 16-Nov-2011 Police have detained an activist on charges of breaching Burma’s notorious Video Act after he allegedly filmed a protest by landless farmers in Irrawaddy division two months ago. Myint Naing’s house in the division’s capital of Bassein was surrounded by some 30 officers in an early morning raid on Monday. The Human Rights Watchdog Network’s leader is being held at a local police station. His lawyer, Phyo Phyu, said that Myint Naing was brought to the courtroom on the day of his arrest and denied bail. “About 30 policemen including their commander surrounded [Myint Naing]’s house and charged him … under the Video Act for distributing and exhibiting a video that is not legally approved,” the lawyer said. Up to 200 farmers had marched to the office of Irrawaddy division’s chief minister, Thein Aung, demanding that land confiscated from them by the army be returned. That protest pre-empted a similar demonstration in Rangoonon 27 October that ended with eight people being arrested. One of those was Pho Phyu, who is now on bail. Despite some signs that restrictions on freedom of speech in Burma are easing, the government’s intolerance towards public displays of disquiet remains. In September police detained a man for holding a solo protest against the Chinese-backed Myitosne dam and blocked another rally against the project, which was later suspended by the authorities in a rare response to public opinion. Pho Phyu is accused by police of leading the Rangoon farmers’ protest, which also demanded the return of confiscated land. He claims that he was drugged during the 12 hours of interrogation he was subjected to. The protestors are among some 1,000 farmers in three townships in Rangoon division whom since 1989 have seen more than 60,000 acres of arable land taken by the Burmese military, which often coverts them for cash crops or uses the land for infrastructural projects. Despite the presence of the International Labour Organisation, which has a mandate to investigate instances of land confiscation in Burma, laws governing the ownership of land are malleable. More than 60 percent of Burma’s population is dependent on agriculture as its primary source of income. NDF picks 20 candidates for by-election http://www.dvb.no/news/ndf-picks-20-candidates-for-by-election/18763 16-Nov-2011 Burma’s opposition National Democratic Force says it will field 20 candidates in the upcoming by-elections, the ambiguous date of which still remains a source of frustration from would-be contenders. Its leader, Khin Maung Swe, said that he and colleagues were negotiating with the various members of the 10-party alliance the NDF is part of to finalise a strategy for the by-elections, with 48 parliamentary seats up for grabs. The NDF, which split from the National League for Democracy in order to contest the election, came in fifth place in the polls last year, winning 16 seats. The lack of clarity surrounding the date of the interim vote has angered a number of parties. When asked by DVB when the poll was scheduled for, the spokesperson for Burma’s Union Election Commission, Thaung Hlaing, replied: “You just be patient and wait.” He said he could not comment without permission from his seniors in the UEC, but only that that announcement would be made “when the time comes”. Of the seats available, 40 are in the People’s Parliament, six in the National Parliament and two in the Regions/States Parliament. Despite months of campaigning last year, few parties were able to match the might of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by President Thein Sein and formed only months prior to the November poll. The USDP ended up claiming more than 80 percent of the vote, and its members dominate parliament, implicitly aided by the nearly 350 military officials who were automatically awarded seats prior to the polls. The NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, says it will make a decision on 18 November as to whether it will register again as a political party, following amendments to electoral laws that had initially barred it from running in the polls. Suu Kyi is believed to be in favour of competing, although other influential party members, such as Win Tin, are more cautious about the extent of impact that Burma’s most popular, albeit it historically sidelined, political force could have in a USDP-dominated arena. Amnesty Still Uncertain as Prisoners Transferred http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22467 16-Nov-2011 Burma’s prominent dissident Min Ko Naing and other political prisoners are being transferred to different jails as prospects for a further amnesty remain in doubt, claim sources in Rangoon. And it seems unlikely that those transferred will be included in any forthcoming release with the move considered a reaction to humanitarian calls to relocate remaining incarcerated dissidents to be closer to their relatives on the outside. Alongside Min Ko Naing, leader of the 88 Generation Students group, other well known political prisoners reportedly being transferred include Hkun Htun Oo of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, leading monk Ashin Gambira, prominent female activist Nilar Thein of the 88 group, Pandeik Tun also of the 88 group, Nyi Pu who won a seat in the 1990 elections and labor activist Thuyein Aung. “As far as I know from family members and prison officials, Min Ko Naing will be transferred from Kengtung to Rangoon by air,” said Thein Than Tun, a member of the 88 Generation Students group who is monitoring the situation from Rangoon. “U Hkun Htun Oo will be transferred from Putao Prison in Kachin State [in northern Burma] to Thaungoo Prison in Pegu Region through Myitkyina and Mandalay,” he added. “Ashin Gambira and U Nyi Pu will be transferred from Kalay Prison.” Saw Thet Tun, a former political prisoner who was released last month from Tharyawaddy Prison in Pegu Region, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that he heard Nilar Thein had arrived in Tharyawaddy Prison that afternoon. Meanwhile, a diplomatic source in Rangoon who is in touch with government officials said he heard almost all inmates of the 88 Generation Students group who are serving 65-year sentences would be transferred from remote prisons. “All those serving 65 years except Ko Mya Aye in Thaunggyi Prison will be moved to different prisons. We will have to see if it is to Insein Prison [in Rangoon],” he said. US Calls for More Change in Burma http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22466 16-Nov-2011 Hours before US President Barack Obama landed in Australia, a top White House official said there have been positive changes in Burma recently and that the US wants those changes to continue. “We have seen some positive movement [in Burma], but of course we’d like to see a continued change in the behavior of the government with respect to human rights,” Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters travelling with Obama on his way to Canberra. Meanwhile, the US State Department welcomed recent news reports from Burma according to which the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will be contesting upcoming by-elections in the country. “We’ve seen some positive developments, or signs, from the government in Burma. We’ve had some good discussions with the government,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference. “We have said that we want to see concrete and positive steps, including the release of all political prisoners. We would also like to see an opening-up of their political system there,” Toner said. The US spokesman said that until these concrete steps are taken, the US administration will not change its policy of economic sanctions against the Burmese government. “We believe that our discussions thus far have been positive. They’ve been constructive, but we’re looking for more concrete action,” Toner said. Meanwhile, speaking in Bali, Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said that “things are moving in the right direction, with some fundamental changes taking place,” in reference to Burma's attempt to meet conditions to chair the bloc in 2014, a decision that the Asean leaders are expected to make at the Bali summit this week. Than Shwe's Grandson Visits France: Sources http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22468 16-Nov-2011 The grandson of Burma's former military dictator, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, reportedly traveled to Europe late last month after being granted a visa by the French Embassy in Rangoon, according to sources in the former Burmese capital. Nay Shwe Thway Aung, 21, left for Europe on Oct 26 despite a visa ban that prohibits senior Burmese military leaders and their families from traveling in the European Union, the sources said. He was allegedly issued a Schengen visa, which allows unrestricted travel within 25 European countries, including 22 in the EU. A French embassy official in Rangoon declined to comment on the report, on the grounds that visa applications are considered confidential. However, the official added that no visas have been issued to anyone on the sanctions blacklist. Since formally transferring power to a nominally civilian government in March, Than Shwe and his family have kept a low profile. However, Nay Shwe Thway Aung, also known as Poe La Pyae, has often been the subject of rumors in the past. According to a leaked US diplomatic cable, in January 2009, he urged his grandfather to make a US $1 billion bid to buy the Manchester United football club. The plan was dropped, however, because at the time Than Shwe's regime was still facing severe criticism from the United Nations over its “unacceptably slow” response to Cyclone Nargis the previous year. In December 2010, Burmese exiled media reported that Nay Shwe Thway Aung had ordered his assistants to physically assault Win Htwe Hlaing, a business rival and the son of former Maj-Gen Win Hlaing. A similar incident was reported the previous year, when he allegedly ordered his associates to destroy a coffee shop in Rangoon owned by former army captain Tay Zar Saw Oo, the son of the regime's Secretary 1 Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, who is currently serving as vice president. 1,000 Kachins Flee to IDP Camps http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22465 16-Nov-2011 More than 1,000 villagers in southern Kachin State have taken shelter in makeshift camps in the jungle after fleeing their homes to avoid being caught in the crossfire of an intensifying conflict between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Burmese government forces. Relief workers say the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in question have fled in the last few days and are from five villages around Mansi Township, some 25 km southeast of Bhamo in southernmost Kachin State, close to the Shan State and Chinese borders. The relief groups accuse the Burmese government of denying the UN and intentional organizations access to the IDP camps to deliver humanitarian assistance. Kaw Ja, a member of a Kachin youth group which is assisting refugees and IDPs at the Sino-Burmese border, said that the number of IDPs had reached 1,187 by Tuesday, and that they had been separated into six camps near the border behind KIA front lines. “In this camp alone, there are 400 refugees,” he said. “They are currently sheltering in temporary makeshift tents and sharing whatever food they have brought with them.” “We are not able to adequately supply the IDPs, and in the long run they will face food shortages. They presently have no support,” he said. A recently arrived IDP named Churchman said he and 180 fellow villagers from Mansi Township had fled in a hurry, and that many had run away without carrying any supplies. He said some had sheltered with relatives in other villages, but that he and his family had joined hundreds of other villagers in seeking refuge at a camp in Nawng Tau, near the Chinese border. “Our living conditions are alright,” said Churchman. “However, we are worried about food supplies.” Villagers fleeing from conflict in Kachin State are not recognized as refugees by the Chinese government and cannot therefore cross the border freely, said KIA spokesman La Nan. Mai Ja, a local relief worker, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the offensive is intensifying and more troops are being deployed into the region. The exodus of people from their villages across Kachin State began on June 9 due to the resumption of hostilities between the two sides. There now estimated to be some 30,000 IDPs sheltering at nine camps in and around the main town of Laiza and seven camps in Maija Yang on the Shan-Kachin border. The villagers say they fear being captured, abused or even killed by Burmese soldiers; accounts are rife of human rights abuses by troops in the area. Mai Ja said that Tuesday marks the 19th day that a 28-year-old Kachin woman from Moemot Township has been held in captivity by government troops from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 321. “The troops seized the girl, her husband, their infant and her father-in-law while they were returning home from their fields with maize,” she said. “The others were later released, but not the woman.” According to a report by the Kachin Women's Association Thailand, on Oct. 8, soldiers from LIB 74, 276 and 601 arrested eight males aged between 17 and 65 years from Namlim Pa village in Bhanmaw District. The eight were forced to work as porters, carrying army supplies and weapons. Villagers often have to carry sacks of rice, food and heavy weapons, frequently have their hands tied, and may be forced to walk all day on very little water and food, the report said. A UK MP, Andrew Mitchell, the country's secretary of state for international development, visits Burma this week. Burma Campaign UK has called on him to do more to ensure British aid reaches internal refugees who have fled increased attacks by the Burmese army over the past year. Burma Campaign UK said that almost 150,000 people in Burma have been forced to flee their homes in the past year because of internal conflicts, and that the Burmese government is severely restricting access to these internal refugees by the UN and other aid agencies, resulting in a shortage of food, shelter, clothing and medicine. Shan party hopes to regain seat lost last year http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4208:shan-party-hopes-to-regain-seat-lost-last-year&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266 Wednesday, 16 November 2011 17:34 Hseng Khio Fah The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), the third largest winning in the 2010 November elections, is planning to re-contest in the coming by-elections at the vacant seat for the Upper House in Northern Shan State’s Lashio district, which it had lost to its rival junta army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) due to advance votes, according to party vice Chairman Sai Hsawng Hsi. The party hopes it will regain it back as it has made itself well prepared due to lessons learned from last year. The person whom the party will nominate is well educated and is also considered as one of the most favored by Shan people as well, said Sai Hsawng Hsi, while refusing to identifying the person. It was Sai Kham Leng, a respected former educator, who contested last year. But he lost the seat to his rival USDP candidate Dr. Sai Mawk Kham, at present Vice President #2. According to party members, it was, in fact, their candidate who won the seat on the election day with thousands of votes more. However, on the next day, the USDP’s candidate was announced the winner, after all the advance votes were counted. Sai Kham Leng was said to have received 28,861including 271 advance votes and Dr. Sai Mawk Kham 43,641 including10, 140 advance votes. “So we are planning it well as we have learned our lessons. At that time we did not have many people to help and not much time because it was countrywide. But this time we all are going to help at the contest. And the person who will take part in the contest is also the one who the people can accept,” Sai Hsawng Hsi said. The party however has yet to make an official decision as the date to hold the by-elections is not announced yet. There are 48 seats available in parliament, 40 seats in Lower House, 6 in Upper House and 2 in division/state houses, according to Eleven Media Group’s report. The other vacant seat in Shan State, is at Kalaw Township for the Shan State Assembly. The party however will contest only for the Upper House seat in Lashio, Shan State North, said Sai Hsawng Hsi. During the November 2010 polls, the SNDP contested for 114 seats in the whole Shan State, North, East and South, 35 seats in Kachin State and 6 seats in Sagaing Division and 1 in Mandalay Division. It won the second largest seats in Shan State, 31 to the regime proxy party’s 54 and was given 2 portfolios: Industry-mining and Construction.