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BURMA RELATED NEWS - March 22,
2003.
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HEADLINES
AP - U.N.
investigator interviews political prisoners in Myanmar
AP - EU's top
negotiator to hold preferential trade talks with ASEAN
AFP - Why did it
not remove the military government of Burma(Myanmar)? - Desmond
Tutu
AFP - Asia's top
security group plans tighter border security to fight terrorism
Channel NewsAsia -
A day-long operation nets 159 offenders
The Daily Star -
Editorial - Welcome move to diversify relations
Asian Tribune - PM
returns home: Dhaka, Yangon for "new era of cooperation."
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U.N. investigator interviews political prisoners in
Myanmar
Sat Mar 22, 3:57 AM ET
YANGON,
Myanmar (AP) - A United Nations
investigator who is assessing the human rights situation in Myanmar interviewed
political prisoners in Yangon's main Insein prison on Saturday, U.N. officials
said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined
to identify the prisoners being interviewed by Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, a
Brazilian professor, or disclose the content of the interviews.
Pinheiro arrived Wednesday on his fifth visit to the country on a
mission to update his report on Myanmar, also called Burma, which is to be
delivered to the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva at the end of the month.
Myanmar's military government has been criticized by Western
nations and U.N. agencies for its poor human rights record. Its alleged
violations include the use of forced labor, detention of political prisoners and
use of rape as a weapon against women belonging to rebellious ethnic minority
groups.
Human rights groups say about 1,000 political detainees
remain in prison.
The government has been gradually releasing some
of the detainees as part of reconciliation talks with opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi.
The talks are aimed at ending the country's political
deadlock over the junta's refusal to give up power it seized in 1988. No
substantive results have been achieved so far.
During his last
visit in October, Pinheiro met 16 political prisoners at Insein prison, talking
to them for about nine hours. He also visited another prison north of Yangon
where he interviewed 11 political prisoners.
In a report following
the October visit, he noted that all the prisoners he met confirmed that their
general detention conditions have improved since the visit of the Red Cross in
1999 but pointed out that the quality of food and access to qualified medical
attention in cases of emergency need further improvement.
In his
current visit, Pinheiro met with Myanmar officials, including the No. 3 leader
in the junta, Gen. Khin Nyunt. He also had a nearly two-hour meeting with Suu
Kyi on Friday.
Details of the meetings were not immediately
available.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party
criticized Pinheiro's last report, saying he has strayed from his mandate by
calling the international community to engage the military junta.
Pinheiro was due to visit the prison ward at Yangon General
Hospital later Saturday, the U.N. officials said.
He is also
scheduled to visit a labor camp near the capital and meet representatives of
ethnic political parties before leaving on Wednesday.
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EU's top negotiator to hold preferential trade talks with
ASEAN
Fri Mar 22, 23:56 PM
ET
SINGAPORE (AP) - The European Union's top trade negotiator
will hold talks with 10 Southeast Asian nations in Laos next month as the two
trading blocs look toward a free trade agreement, the ASEAN secretary general
said Saturday.
``(Negotiator) Pascal Lamy will be in Luang
Prabang, Laos. The European Union is open to the idea of a preferential trade
agreement with ASEAN countries,'' said Ong Keng Yong at a talk hosted by a
non-governmental think tank here.
ASEAN Economic Ministers will
meet in Luang Prabang on Apr. 2 for three days to discuss further economic
integration and to examine the regional economic impact of the war in Iraq.
Ong said the EU's immediate agenda was to push forward the Doha
round of trade liberalization under the World Trade Organization, but Lamy's
presence in Laos means that ASEAN is still relevant in the union's eyes.
``Lamy will be here to say that just because it is pushing Doha
forward, it does not mean that it isn't interested in ASEAN,'' said Ong.
In 2001, the EU was ASEAN's second largest export market and third
largest trade partner after the United States and Japan.
EU
exports to ASEAN totaled 42.2 billion euros (US$ 45.8 billion) and its imports
65.7 billion euros (US$71.3 billion), making for a two-way trade total of 107.9
billion euros (US$117.1 billion).
Ong did not say whether Myanmar,
an ASEAN member since 1997 and the subject of EU sanctions because of alleged
human rights violations, woudl be on the Luang Prabang agenda.
He
said that a proposed text for a trade accord with the U.S. is on the agenda for
the grouping this year. He said the grouping is looking to ink deals with China,
Japan and India soon.
``We are like a bride courted by all of
them. Negotiations are on the 'fast-track' with India,'' he said, adding that
that agreement could be signed before the ones with China and Japan.
Singapore-born Ong, the former press secretary to Prime Minister
Goh Chok Tong, said that all ASEAN members have agreed to further intra-regional
liberalization, but the implementation is a problem.
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Fri Mar 22, 10:25 AM ET
Why did it not remove the military government of Burma? -
Desmond Tutu
PRETORIA, March 21 (AFP) - South African President Thabo Mbeki
condemned the US-led invasion of Iraq on Friday, saying disarmament of Saddam
Hussein's government could have been achieved peacefully.
"The war
on Iraq could have been avoided," Mbeki said at the handover the final Truth and
Reconciliation Commission report in Pretoria.
"We have tried our
best with the international community to ensure Iraqis disarmed using peaceful
means.
"We remain convinced that objective could have been
achieved."
Now that the war had started, one could only pray that
it would be brought to an end as soon as possible with as few casualties as
possible, Mbeki said.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC) was set up to probe apartheid-era crimes and grant amnesties to those who
demonstrated clear repentance.
Former TRC chairman Archbishop
Desmond Tutu described the war as immoral and said it reminded him of the
apartheid years when blacks were forced to be submissive to whites.
"For me it's a kind of deja vu of the time when white people were
always able to tell us what is good for us," the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner
said.
The United States was now saying it knew best what was good
for Iraq.
"A country says... this guy is our leader, but the US
says we don't like him so we remove him."
"If the US was
really concerned about repression, why did it not remove the military government
of Burma (Myanmar), which cancelled a democratic election to assume
power?
"It doesn't sit well for many people in the world
to have their government appointed by the US," the SAPA news agency reported
Tutu as saying.
Tutu said the United States was a country that
participated in the assassination of Chile's president Salvador Allende and
supported Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos, as well as rebel leader Jonas
Savimbi, "who helped to devastate Angola".
For the war on Iraq to
be just, it had to be declared by a legitimate authority, he said.
"The US and Britain and their cohorts are not a legitimate
authority."
They had conceded that by first seeking a UN Security
Council resolution, Tutu said.
"What right do they have of killing
anyone?"
Tutu said he was exhilarated by the millions of people
all over the world, including in the United States, who had protested against
the war.
"That made me feel proud to be a human being," he
said.
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Sat Mar 22, 6:46 AM ET
Asia's top security group plans tighter border security to
fight terrorism
KARAMBUNAI, Malaysia, March 22
(AFP) - Anti-terrorism experts from
Asia's top security group wrapped up a two-day meeting here Saturday, with new
proposals to tighten border security and prevent document forgery.
Malaysia's foreign ministry deputy secretary-general N.
Parameswaran, who co-chaired the meeting, said crime syndicates were forging
passports and documents in the region and these could be used by terrorists to
move freely across borders.
Due to to heightened terrorism risks
amid the Iraq war, he said deeper cooperation among the 23-member ASEAN Regional
Forum (ARF) was vital to control the movement of people into the region, he
said.
"It is quite a serious problem," he told reporters. "There
is a desire to cooperate and there were many new ideas. We now have to
follow-up."
He said delegates exchanged information on best
practices, such as the introduction of biometrics in passports.
"The idea is to harmonise the different practises that are going
on and to have networking among agencies that are controlling the borders to
regulate movements of people," he said.
There was an offer from
more developed countries such as Australia and the US to provide technical and
capacity-building assistance to countries that need help in terms of equipment
and training, he said.
Parameswaran said a Malaysian-led regional
anti-terrorism center, set up late last year, was due to be operational in six
months offering training and workshops to build the region's capacity to combat
the scourge.
The proposals at the two-day meeting, co-chaired by
Malaysia and the US, would be submitted to ARF foreign ministers at their
meeting in June in Phnom Penh for further action, he added.
A
total of 118 delegates from 19 countries took part in the ARF talks focusing on
border and document security.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
ARF consists of the 10 ASEAN states along with Australia,
Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, South
Korea, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Russia and the United States.
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Saturday March 22,
6:17 PM
A day-long operation nets 159
offenders
Channel
NewsAsia - Even as the world focused on the war in Iraq,
Singapore did not let up on its fight against crime at home.
In a
24-hour-long operation, 159 people were arrested.
Three-quarters
were for immigation offences.
Among the rest, most were suspected
of taking drugs, while 3 were for arrested for soliciting for immoral
purposes.
The operation involved officers from the police, civil
defence, immigration and narcotics.
They picked up the suspects
from lodging houses and entertainment outlets in Geylang, Little India, Toa
Payoh and Clementi.
The suspects came from China, Singapore, India,
Nigeria, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and
Bangladesh.
The penalty for each offence varies, and could be as
severe as 2 years' jail or 3 strokes of the cane or a $6,000
fine.
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The Daily Star
Volume 3 Number 1253, Sat.
March 22, 2003
Editorial - Welcome move to diversify
relations
Concrete steps awaited
WE welcome the
impetus provided to bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar during
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's visit to Yangon. Both sides have agreed to follow
up on the understanding reached on construction of Bangladesh-Myanmar road
network during Myanmar PM's visit to Dhaka some time ago. Undoubtedly, the
road-link would play an immensely positive role in building up a more
co-operative trade environment between Dhaka and Yangon. Apart from the bright
prospect of linking the proposed road network with the planned Asian Highway,
the road-link could effectively put a stop to cross-border smuggling. It is
worthwhile to note that trade balance is tilted towards Yangon.
It
is not for the first time, that the government of four-party alliance led by
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has shown keen interest in developing close
ties with a neighbour in the eastern region. Not so long ago, Prime Minister
Khaleda Zia visited China and Thailand, with a view to boosting business and
investment cooperation with the two countries. Thailand has already shown
interest in developing road networks while China has agreed to help in
developing other infrastructures. Such a policy taken by the government would no
doubt be welcomed if it brings dividends. Instead of restricting trade
cooperation with a few countries, the government seems to have decided to expand
the horizon. But here steps should be taken in a way that those with whom we
have had close trade ties, do not feel neglected.
But sadly even
in the latest meeting between the heads of government of Bangladesh and Myanmar
no headway could be made in resolving the question of repatriation of the last
batch of 20,000 Rohingya refugees camped in Cox's Bazar. They have been waiting
for years with the hope that their government would agree to take them back but
to no avail. We earnestly hope the repatriation process would be expedited so
that the refugees could be relieved from years of miseries in camps.
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Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-03-22
PM
returns home: Dhaka, Yangon for "new era of
cooperation."
Dhaka, March 22: Prime ministers of
Bangladesh and Myanmar hope the two nations with equal efforts would gear up 'a
new era of cooperation' created through Khaleda Zia's visit.
The
two leaders also expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the visit during the
farewell call on Khaleda by Myanmar Prime Minister and Chairman of State Peace
and Development Council Than Shwe prior to her flight to Dhaka.
The
three-day official visit of Khaleda to Myanmar ended
yesterday.
Khaleda and Than Shwe agreed to go for interacting
between themselves over telephone, if necessary, beyond the official protocol
for the benefits of the two peoples.
Her visit at the invitation of
her Myanmar counterpart took place within three months of Than Shwe's visit to
Bangladesh in December last.
The Myanmar premier expressed his
happiness over the visit of Khaleda to his country and said the visit would
further widen the bilateral relations.
Both the leaders said they
would take steps from their own side to undertake effective follow-up programmes
for implementation of the outcome of the visit and broad agreements to trade and
cooperation.
A joint commission formed between the two neighbours
will be activated to improve relations at macro level, they
said.
Khaleda returned home yesterday afternoon from
Yangon.
- The Daily Star -
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