Chinese warships pay visit to Myanmar
DPA / August 30, 2010

Two Chinese warships arrived at Myanmar's Yangon port over the weekend on a "friendly visit," marking the first such port call in recent history, diplomatic sources confirmed Monday.

"These two navy destroyers arrived at Yangon's Thilawa port on Sunday to promote relations between the two militaries," a Chinese diplomat said. "The ships, the Guanhzhou and Chaohu, are equipped with modern technology," said the diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous.

It was the first such visit since the current military regime came to power in 1988. After completing escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off the Somali coast, the two warships visited Egypt, Italy and Greece.

Myanmar, where they are due to dock for five days, was their final destination, the source said.

The ships were welcomed Sunday by Major Han Sein, commander of the Myanmar Navy base, Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Ye Dabo, embassy officials and about 200 Chinese expatriates, according to Chinese officials.

Sino-Myanmar diplomatic ties have deepened over the past two decades, while military-run Myanmar has achieved pariah status among most Western democracies and been the target of economic sanctions.

Western countries have shunned investment in Myanmar, but China has filled the breach, especially in energy-related projects.

According to Myanmar news reports, Chinese investors recently won approval for two hydroelectric dams in Myanmar's Kachin state, valued at 5 billion dollars; oil and gas pipelines from Rakhine state to Yunnan, China, worth 2.15 billion dollars; and a copper mine in Monywa costing 997 million dollars.

China has repeatedly defended Myanmar's poor human rights record and failure to promote democracy at meetings of the United Nations General Assembly, keeping the country's problems off the Security Council's annual agenda.

Most US and European firms are barred from investing in Myanmar's energy sector by economic sanctions imposed on the ruling junta.

Myanmar suspends visas on arrival before election
Reuters / August 23, 2010

Army-ruled Myanmar has suspended visas on arrival for tourists from September ahead of its first elections in two decades, officials said on Monday, potentially restricting access to the country for foreign observers.

The reclusive country began offering visas to arriving tourists in May to lift tourism. But the scheme will be suspended on Sept. 1, a government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The Nov. 7 parliamentary poll, the first nationwide elections since 1991, are widely dismissed by critics as an elaborate charade aimed at cementing the army's grip on power and attracting investment.

"We think the real motive for this measure could be to prevent outside reporters and monitors from entering the country ahead of the Nov. 7 elections," a private tour operator said.

Total tourism arrivals in Myanmar during the fiscal year 2009-2010 stood at 300,000, up from 255,288 a year earlier.

Many foreign journalists traveled to the country on tourist visas during a monk-led political protest in 2007 and when Cyclone Nargis hit in 2008. The regime offers few opportunities for foreign observers to visit the country.

Journalists and observers granted official visas are accompanied by minders.
The Association of South East Asian Nations has offered to send regional observers to Myanmar during the elections but there has been no official response thus far.

Last week, authorities published opaquely-worded rules that imposed tight controls on political campaigning.

Analysts say the regime plans to retain its political stake by backing several small parties and one large organisation, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which is made up of serving ministers recently retired from the army.

Critics expect the ruling generals to tightly control campaign activities of their opponents to ensure its proxies win most votes so the assemblies, of which 25 percent will be reserved for the armed forces, will be dominated by their allies.

U.S. to Back Human-Rights Inquiry in Myanmar
Wall Street Journal / August 18, 2010

The Obama administration has decided to back efforts to create an international commission investigating alleged human rights violations in Myanmar in a move that ratchets up pressure on the country as it prepares for its first election in 20 years.

The move comes just months after Washington said it was embarking on a new policy of "engagement" with Myanmar aimed at improving relations after years of economic sanctions failed to weaken its secretive military regime.

Supporters of the engagement effort, including some Myanmar exiles and analysts, had hoped it would encourage top Myanmar generals to open more to the outside world and take steps to ensure the coming election is held to international standards.

More recently, however, U.S. officials began to express frustration that their overtures—which included visits to Myanmar by high-ranking State Department officials—had failed to influence the government, which is accused of human rights violations including the imprisonment of 2,000 or more political opponents.

Myanmar's government has declined to release Nobel laureate opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, which U.S. officials have said is a pre-condition to holding fair elections. In June, Myanmar officials issued tough new campaign rules that prohibit political parties from marching or chanting slogans or giving talks "tarnishing the image of the state."

Opposition leaders say they have been harassed by police in recent weeks.
U.S. officials have expressed concern over unconfirmed reports that Myanmar may be attempting to develop a nuclear weapons program. Those concerns grew more serious in recent months after exile news services released reports about the alleged program based in part on details from a Myanmar army defector. Myanmar officials have repeatedly denied any attempts to develop nuclear weapons.

"The United States supports establishing an international commission of inquiry to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity" in Myanmar, a senior administration official said Wednesday. "We have begun consulting with others to determine how best to achieve that end," the official said.

It wasn't possible to reach anyone immediately within the Myanmar government to comment.

Critics of Myanmar have been pushing for a United Nations-led inquiry for years. The effort gained momentum this year after a U.N. special rapporteur for Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, said he found a pattern of systematic human rights violations in trips to the country, including cases of forced labor.

A Myanmar diplomat disputed the assessment at the time and said international authorities should be more focused on rebuilding relations with the country.

U.S. support doesn't mean an inquiry will occur. But it indicates that Western governments are hoping to tighten pressure on Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country since 1962, and especially its top leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe. Many exiles and academics believe Myanmar's generals opted to schedule an election this year in part to boost their legitimacy in the international community, potentially forestalling any bid to open a crimes-against-humanity investigation.

Myanmar's officials promise that the vote, scheduled for Nov. 7, will be free and fair. But many opposition leaders, including Ms. Suu Kyi, have vowed to boycott, and international rights groups have said they don't believe a fair vote can be held given Myanmar's tight restrictions on the media and public assembly. Opposition leaders easily won the last vote, in 1990, but the junta ignored the results.

The decision to back a commission of inquiry "is the right and timely action by the Obama administration" to express displeasure over what is likely to be a "sham election," said Aung Din, executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, a Washington group that uses a former name for the country.

Christian group urges EU to support UN inquiry into Burma crimes
Christian Today / August 18, 2010

Christian Solidarity Worldwide is urging the EU to give its support to a UN investigation into crimes against humanity in Burma.

The call comes after the US announced it would support the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry into suspected abuses being committed by Burma’s military regime against the Burmese people.

The proposal for an inquiry was made by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, following his visit to the country in February. He warned at the time that human rights violations in Burma may amount to crimes against humanity and in June called on the regime to conform to the principles set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The UK, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Australia have all expressed their support for a Commission of Inquiry.

In a letter to Foreign Secretary William Hague yesterday, CSW welcomed the UK’s support and called on the Government to press for mention of an inquiry in a UN General Assembly resolution on Burma later this year.

CSW’s East Asia Team leader, Benedict Rogers, said the backing of the US would give “significant momentum” to the international campaign to end impunity in Burma.

“The military regime in Burma has one of the worst human rights records in the world, and is accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the widespread and systematic use of rape as a weapon of war, forced labour, the forcible recruitment of child soldiers, killings, torture and the destruction of over 3,500 villages in eastern Burma alone,” he said.

“The UN has spent twenty years urging the regime to end its violations, which it has described in numerous resolutions as violating international humanitarian law.

“It is time now for the UN to act, and for the EU, including the United Kingdom, to work closely with the United States to build support in the General Assembly for a Commission of Inquiry.”

Last week, CSW called on the international community to reject Burma’s election in November.

It warned that with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi imprisoned and excluded, the “sham” election would constitute a “whitewash” for the ruling military junta.

Election laws and a new constitution guaranteeing 25 per cent of the seats for the military would make it “impossible” for the election to be free or fair, it added.

The human rights group wants to see an arms embargo imposed on Burma in addition to the Commission of Inquiry.

Mr Rogers called on the generals to enter into meaningful dialogue with Suu Kyi, the democracy movement and the ethnic nationalities living in Burma.