Burmese Rally against Then Sein in Tokyo

Friday, November 6, 2009
By SAW YAN NAING
The Irrawady

About 200 Burmese dissidents demonstrated outside Japan’s Parliament House in Tokyo on Friday, the second of three planned protests against Burma’s military government during a visit by Prime Minster Gen Thein Sein who arrived in the Japanese capital on Thursday to attend the first Mekong-Japan Summit.

Burmese pro-democracy demonstrators also launched a protest outside the New Otani Hotel, where the Burmese premier is staying during the summit.

Ko Ko Aung, a Burmese dissident living in Tokyo, said that the aim of the protest was to decry the upcoming election in Burma as a government ploy to hold onto power in accordance with the sham 2008 constitution.

“We want to give a message to the Japanese government that we don’t accept the 2010 election or the junta’s Constitution. So, they should not support the Burmese military government,” he said.

Ko Ko Aung called for the Japanese government to investigate the details of the current political situation in Burma. Japan’s support of the Burmese regime will not help the Burmese people, he said.

He said that the demonstrators have also scheduled a protest outside the Burmese embassy in Tokyo, which Thein Sein will visit on Friday evening.

Jeff Kingston, the director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan Campus, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that Japan wants to step up human security efforts in the region and sees the Mekong-Japan Summit as a vehicle for doing so in a coordinated way.

“Japan will promote human security, natural disaster alleviation, pandemic control and climate initiatives for the nations along the Mekong,” he said. “It is a safe way for limited engagement with Burma that allows the [Japanese] government to plausibly deny re-engaging while at the same time getting some traction in Burma.”

Kingston noted that Japan’s new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada were both well-informed about and sympathetic to the plight of the Burmese and political prisoners and said the current government has expressed stronger support for human rights than previous administrations.

Burma is a member of the six-country Greater Mekong Subregion-Economic Cooperation Program, along with Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and China.

Japan is traditionally Burma’s largest donor nation.

Japan has invested US $216.76 million in 23 projects since 1988, according to a Xinhua news agency report on Thursday.

Myanmar Must Talk to Opposition, Rights Group Says

By Tracy Withers and Simeon Bennett

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar's military government should commit to structured talks with opposition parties about a quick transition to civilian rule, Human Rights Watch said, ahead of a visit by United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari.

Gambari is scheduled to arrive in Myanmar today for the second time since the junta deployed soldiers last month to crush the biggest anti-government protests in almost 20 years, and a day after the ruling junta expelled the UN's top diplomat in the country.

"It's important that this visit gets to the heart of the matter -- the need to end continued draconian military rule and systematic human rights abuses,'' said Brad Adams, Asia director for the New York-based group.

The military has ruled Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, since 1962. The United Nations says the regime has a record of widespread and systematic human rights violations including torture, summary executions and the recruitment of child soldiers.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Gambari's visit will increase pressure on the military leaders to release political prisoners and take steps toward democracy. Ban was also "disappointed'' by the expulsion of Charles Petrie and has told Gambari to convey that view to Myanmar's leaders when he arrives, according to an e-mail statement yesterday.

The Human Rights Watch statement follows international condemnation of Petrie's expulsion, which U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe yesterday described as "outrageous'' and an insult to the international community.

'Inappropriate' comments

Petrie was told to leave Myanmar for making "inappropriate'' comments, the UN said. A letter from Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win cited an Oct. 24 statement by the UN office in the country that said the "basic human needs'' of the people aren't being met.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962. The UN says the regime has a record of widespread and systematic human rights violations including torture, summary executions and the recruitment of child soldiers.

International condemnation of the junta swelled after it deployed soldiers Sept. 26 to crush the biggest anti-government protests in 20 years, killing as many as 110 people. Security forces clubbed and shot at demonstrators, raided monasteries and arrested Buddhist monks who led the protests.

The uprising began in August, when the government doubled some fuel prices. Sanctions following the rejection of the 1990 elections have stifled economic growth in the nation, which had proven gas reserves of 17.7 trillion cubic feet at the end of 2005, or 0.3 percent of the world's total, according to BP Plc data. The country also has resources including teak, zinc, copper and precious stones.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tracy Withers in Wellington at
twithers@bloomberg.net