WHERE IS SO CALLED HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH??

The Arabic school textbooks which show children how to chop off hands and feet under Sharia law

A delegation from Human Rights Watch was recently in Saudi Arabia. To investigate the mistreatment of women under Saudi Law? To campaign for the rights of homosexuals, subject to the death penalty in Saudi Arabia? To protest the lack of religious freedom in the Saudi Kingdom? To issue a report on Saudi political prisoners?

By AP News Apr 12, 2013 5:11PM UTC


TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s long-deferred aspirations for a larger role in Burma are getting a boost this coming week with a visit by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The visit by Suu Kyi, in Japan for the first time in 27 years, is highlighting Japan’s interest in helping to craft a blueprint for Burma’s economy and tapping its growth potential.

So far, Japan’s investments and involvement lag far behind those of China and India. But that is fast changing, after Tokyo forgave about half of Burma’s more than $6 billion dollars in debt, clearing the way for renewed international lending to the impoverished Southeast Asian country.

A high-powered delegation of business leaders, including top executives from Toyota Motor Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Sumitomo Chemical, toured Burma, also known as Myanmar, in February and pledged to cooperate in encouraging more investment.

Although Suu Kyi is not in government, she is widely respected, especially in Japan, where she is expected to meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other top officials and give speeches at two of Japan’s most prestigious universities.

“Aside from being the opposition leader and an icon for democracy and political freedom, she is a goodwill ambassador. The idea is to encourage the Japanese government and corporate Japan to support Burma,” said Jeff Kingston, a professor at Tokyo’s Temple University.

The handover of power by Burma’s military junta in 2011 to a nominally civilian government ushered in sweeping political and economic reforms, including releasing prominent political prisoners and allowing Suu Kyi, who spend years under house arrest, to run in parliamentary by-elections.

As of late February, Japan was the 11th largest investor in Burma, with $270 million in overall investments, way behind the $14.2 billion committed by China and $9.6 billion by Thailand, the top two sources with 33 percent and 23 percent respectively of total foreign direct investment.

Although it scaled back most business activity and cut government aid when the U.S. and other western nations imposed sanctions in 2003 after the previous, military regime put Suu Kyi under house arrest, Japan did not impose sanctions on Burma.

Small-scale humanitarian assistance continued, and most major Japanese businesses kept their offices and business registrations. The maintenance of commercial and government relations is proving vital now that Burma is embarking on its economic reforms.

Japan’s biggest contribution so far to Burma’s economic reform effort has been the debt forgiveness arrangement, involving billions of dollars in bridge loans by Japanese banks, that enabled the Asian Development Bank and World Bank to resume lending for crucial humanitarian and infrastructure projects.

Underscoring the government’s keenness for closer cooperation, Finance Minister Taro Aso made Burma his first overseas destination after taking office late last year. Although the visit had been planned much earlier, it also reflected Tokyo’s determination to drum up business in fast-growing Southeast Asian markets to help counterbalance Japan’s vulnerability to problems with China over territorial and other disputes.

Of the 35 Japanese projects under way in Burma, the biggest is one to develop the 2,400 hectare (5,900 acre) Thilawa special economic zone south of the capital, Yangon, which is being led by a Japanese consortium of major trading houses, including Mitsubishi, Marubeni and Sumitomo.

To support that project, Japan has promised long-term loans for related infrastructure such as power plants, roads and bridges at an interest rate of 0.01 percent.

Another major trading house, Mitsui & Co., is beginning imports of rice and is planning to build rice mills in Burma, once the world’s biggest rice exporter, to help it process 300,000 tons a year for export.

In the financial sector, Daiwa Securities Group and the Tokyo Stock Exchange are working with Burma’s financial regulators to help set up a stock market by 2015. Meanwhile, convenience store operators such as Family Mart and Lawson are considering opening outlets.

China’s investments, largely in energy and mining, have generated controversy over exploitation of Burma’s rich natural resources that has done little to resolve the country’s chronic power shortages. In response, last year the Burma government abruptly suspended construction of the China-backed Myitsone dam, which would displace thousands and flood the spiritual heartland of Burma’s Kachin ethnic minority.

The Japanese focus on manufacturing, services, and infrastructure projects such as road building has gotten a much warmer reception.

“Burma is very keen to attract investment from places other than China. Japan in particular is very welcome because the Japanese have shown they are interested in investing in projects that add real value,” said Rachel Calvert, a risk expert at the IHS consultancy in Singapore.

Though Burma was one of Asia’s strongest economies in the 1950s, conditions declined steadily after a military coup in 1962. Its market of more than 60 million people, with average per capita income of only about $715, offers huge potential, analysts say.

But the risks are likewise high, given the lack of many modern legal and political institutions, endemic corruption, relatively scarce skilled labor and crumbling infrastructure. Only a quarter of the Burma population has access to electricity, which is intermittent at best.

“It’s not all smooth sailing. The country was under military rule since 1960s. There’s a lot of basic building block things that have to happen to make Burma a more effective investment environment,” said Temple University’s Kingston.

Now that Burma is open for business, the rush of investors means strong competition: the list of visitors to Burma’s Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, which shows scores of photos of visitors perched on brown leather sofas topped with white lace antimacassars, reads like a “Who’s Who” of international commerce: equity investors from China, Japanese logistics companies and megabanks and big global conglomerates such as Nestle, Unilever and Dupont.

American brands Ford Motor Co., PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, GE, Caterpillar and Danish brewer Carlsberg have all signed distribution deals in Burma.

Balancing the interests of competing foreign investors and the public can be tricky, as Suu Kyi herself found after villages confronted her to demand an explanation for her support of the Letpadaung copper mine project, which is partly owned by a Chinese company.

An official panel headed by Suu Kyi that assessed the situation ruled that the mining contract should be honored for the sake of good relations with China, and to reassure other foreign investors.

China is not the only investor to face scrutiny over its projects: a nongovernmental group, MekongWatch, has been lobbying on behalf of some 3,900 villagers who were ordered to vacate land to make way for the Thilawa special economic zone.

“The Burma government says they are squatters and until recently the Japanese government said it was the responsibility of the recipient government to do something,” said Yuki Akimoto, a spokeswoman for the group.

Akimoto said she was thinking hard about how to broach the issue with Suu Kyi in a planned meeting in Tokyo, given the various complications of the issue. As is often the case, land titles and ownership remain unclear, and a surge in property prices in booming Yangon is prompting speculative buying. But ultimately, it is the poor who are most likely to lose their livelihoods.

“Despite the so-called reforms, there are few tools ordinary citizens can use to protect their rights,” she said.

source: asian correspondent

Report: EU governments to lift sanctions against Burma

Last updated Wed 17 Apr 2013

EU Governments are expected to announce next week that they are to lift sanctions against Burma according to Reuters. It's understood that they will not lift an arms embargo against the country which recently held elections.

Canada and Britain have agreed to share embassy space in Rangoon, officials announced in Ottawa on Monday. Currently, Canada has no embassy in Burma.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said the space-sharing agreement would also apply to selected embassies and consulates around the world.
“Each country will continue to have complete independence on policy," said Baird, who said the move allows Canada “to focus on smart diplomacy without spending large amounts of taxpayers' dollars on bricks and mortar.”
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that the diplomatic partnership is “about speed, flexibility and practicality,” and is "not about diplomats working for two countries at the same time.”
“Canada will continue to pursue a strong, principled, value-based, independent Canadian foreign policy,” said Baird in response to a question from Official Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair.
Britain is reportedly trimming US$ 162 million from its Foreign Office budget, while Canada is cutting $174 million from its Foreign Affairs departmental budget.

Mizzima News

The country's immense potential is reflected in the Asian Development Bank's most recent analysis, which shows that Myanmar has the potential to follow Asia's fast-growing economies and expand at 7 percent to 8 percent if it continues on the path of across-the-board reforms initiated earlier this year.

 Hackers and other individuals trained in software programming and exploiting the intricacies of computer networks are the primary executors of these attacks. These individuals often operate under the auspices and possibly the support of nation-state
actors.
“Cyberspace is the new warfront. As August 15 was approaching, Pakistani hacker attacked Indian sites,”


A day after Union home secretary RK Singh said that the bulk of rumours of imminent attacks on northeastern people for the killings of Muslims in Assam originated from Pakistan, experts said that this could be Pune’s first brush with cyber warfare. They also fear that all this is an indication of a major form of subversive warfare in the future.

Cyber warfare refers to politically motivated hacking to conduct sabotage and espionage. It is a form of information warfare sometimes seen as analogous to conventional warfare although this analogy is controversial for both its accuracy and its political motivation.
Hackers and other individuals trained in software programming and exploiting the intricacies of computer networks are the primary executors of these attacks. These individuals often operate under the auspices and possibly the support of nation-state
actors.
Talking to DNA, security expert Niranjan Reddy, founder and chief technology officer of NetConclave Systems and a member of Indian Cyber Police, said, “Bullets are being replaced with bytes.”
“Cyberspace is the new warfront. As August 15 was approaching, Pakistani hacker attacked Indian sites,” he added.
Reddy said that underground hacking groups had carried out systematic attacks on 100 sites, especially government ones in the past.
Cyberspace, according to Reddy, is now the new battle ground for Kashmir as hackers are finding new means to demand emancipation of Kashmir by attacking various websites. These kinds of attacks can disable official websites and networks, disrupt or disable essential services, steal or alter classified data and cripple financial systems among many other possibilities.
Rohit Srivastwa, expert on cyber security, told DNA, “The use of technology is used in spreading wrong messages. Earlier, people communicated inflammatory sentiments though emails and telephones. Now, the modus operandi has changed.”
“They are circulating video clips which can move rapidly and create panic among the people at large. This cannot be ceased by the government by just banning bulk SMSes or MMSes. Efforts should be taken to thwart such processes from the beginning,” he added.
Deepak Shikarpur, chairman of the IT Committee of Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture, said, “Yes, it is the initial stage of cyber warfare and the issue is not just limited to Pune. It is a threat to the entire country.
“A decade ago, the national conference of Indian Science Congress took place in Pune. It was a big event as the prime minister and other dignitaries were part of it. Just before the event, its website was hacked and it took two days to restore the entire thing. Problem does not lie with technology alone. It’s the intention of those trying to misuse it,” he said.
“Our Information Technology Act is very strong, but we need to have a fast track court so that the conviction rate in such kind of cases increases,” he added.
“We cannot link the current issues with cyber warfare as they are more technical. However, whatever has taken place recently is a new way of utilising the social media. Earlier, brainwashing was done verbally. Now, people are playing with the technology,” an officer of the cyber cell said.

Reconciliation talks have ground to a halt as Myanmar’s central government and ethnic militias try to overcome decades of distrust.
Ten militias have agreed a truce to stop fighting government forces, but there has been little progress on political dialogue. And the government has yet to enter negotiations with one group, the Kachin Independence Army. Its insurgency formally continues.
Myanmar’s President Thein Sein, who has promised democracy to replace half a century of military dictatorship, espouses reconciliation as the road toward that.
But accord still seems far off.
Myanmar’s Rail Transportation Minister Aung Min, who represents the government in talks, told The Asahi Shimbun in February of a three-stage strategy toward reconciliation.
The first step, he said, is to agree truces with the 11 insurgent ethnic groups. He estimated a deadline of three to four months for this.
Then, he explained, the government would open political dialogue with the militias and allow refugees to return. The final step would be to convene a national assembly toward lasting peace.
Aung Min said he was confident of the plan’s success.
But in July a leader of the Kachin Independence Army’s political wing told The Asahi Shimbun he has no intention of signing a truce.
Lahkyen La Ja, general secretary of the Kachin Independence Organization, said no deal can be agreed without a government road map toward a political solution to the conflict.
La Ja said the group has held three rounds of informal talks with government negotiators, the last in late June. The talks took place in parts of Thailand and Myanmar under the group’s control.
Aung Min was present. When he urged the group to accept a truce it demanded that the government withdraw its troops. The standoff remained as sharp as ever, La Ja said, and there was no agreement on dates and venues for formal talks.
He said the Kachin demand the same rights as the majority Burman ethnic group.
"All the government talks about is this cease-fire," La Ja said. "But we signed one in 1994. We cooperated with the government for 17 years. After that they started to fight against us, and armed clashes broke out in June last year. The fighting was started by government troops."
La Ja continued: "We want genuine political dialogue to solve the problem. How can we sign a cease-fire without guarantees? Trust-building has not begun yet."
Meanwhile, even the armed groups that have accepted cease-fires are not yet in political dialogue with the government.
The Karen National Union, which earlier this year agreed a truce ending a six-decade struggle for independence, plans to hold talks Aug. 28 with Aung Min and other government representatives.
But the areas of discussion are likely to be confined to codes of conduct related to the truce.
"Local people are, on the one hand, hopeful. They are happy about the political recognition of the armed groups' struggles for existence," said Khin Ohmar, a democracy activist and expert on Myanmar’s ethnic-minority forces.
"But there is another side to the story. Because the government army is now increasing, they are worried about security on the local level," she said.
There have, in fact, been sporadic clashes between government troops, pro-government militias, and armed ethnic militias since late July in the Kayin and Shan states. Reports say the fighting resulted in casualties and injuries.
Reconciliation with ethnic minorities is one of the pillars of President Thein Sein's reform agenda, alongside democratization and economic liberalization. On Aug. 4, he met representatives of ethnic minority-based political parties and called on them to cooperate in the reconciliation process, but he gave no specific proposals or timelines.
By TAKESHI FUJITANI/ Correspondent

Myanmar is soon to hold its first oil exploration licensing round since the easing of US sanctions against the country. According to Ken Tun, the head of local oil company, Parami Energy, European companies are “definitely interested and will participate in the next round.” However, the same cannot be said to be entirely true of US companies, who although interested, may likely wait until further reforms have been passed.
In Myanmar’s previous bidding round last year, only one western company took part: Geopetrol of Switzerland won exploration rights for one of the 18 blocks up for grabs – the others that were won all went to Asian companies.
It is believed that the 2012 licensing round will open up 6 new blocks as well as see the return of roughly 10 blocks from last year’s event.
Although recent reforms made by the government are a promising sign, corruption is rife with some organisations ranking Myanmar as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. The nation’s famous politician, Aung San Suu Kyi, has asked outside companies to not agree to joint ventures with the state-run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise until it has improved its business practices. Some companies may be put off by the fact that the state-run entity holds a stake in all available exploration blocks, meaning that any foreign investors would have to become its partner.
Companies based in the US would also have to compile annual reports covering human rights, worker’s rights and environmental issues if they invest more than US$ 500 000 in the country.

Michael Green and Daniel Twining

“The heart of our [Asia] strategy, the piece that binds all the rest of it together, is our support for democracy and human rights,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared last Monday. Two days later, the Obama administration lifted prohibitions on US investment in Burma. American companies are now free to partner with the state-owned energy conglomerate - the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) - whose revenue has underwritten the military regime’s repression of its people and ongoing wars against ethnic dissidents.
Why now? Burma (also known as Myanmar) is undergoing a managed political opening designed to legitimise its regime, transform its growth prospects and enlist Western partners as a hedge against China. US policy has encouraged this through graduated engagement: As Clinton said this year, Washington would pursue the “targeted easing” of US sanctions over time to retain leverage while incentivising genuine political reform. The administration did this because officials know that despite measurable progress, Burma’s political opening is fragile and reversible. The military retains firm control over parliament, stands ready to repress organised dissent and continues military campaigns against ethnic minorities. The administration also remained, as President Obama put it on Wednesday, “deeply concerned about the lack of transparency in Burma’s investment environment and the military’s role in the economy.”
Lifting elements of the investment ban is a sensible part of a US strategy to encourage Burma’s progress toward greater openness and help make life better for its long-suffering people. The human and geopolitical stakes are high for both countries. But such an approach must be premised on creating greater economic and political space outside the control of the regime - or at least improving transparency and accountability by entities controlled by the regime. And the new US policy does not do that.
Until now, the Obama administration has marched in lock step with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate, winner of Burma’s last free national election and leader of a party that won 95 per cent of open seats in recent parliamentary elections. The administration’s graduated approach to easing sanctions had chimed with her warnings not to make an all-or-nothing bet on Burma’s permanent and irreversible democratisation. That was smart policy, as she remains the most effective lever for positive change within Burma. It also ensured that there would be congressional support for engagement of Burma, something that has been difficult to achieve in the past. Aung San Suu Kyi was never opposed to easing sanctions, but she explicitly warned foreign governments against investment in state-owned energy until Burma adopted internationally accepted measures of transparency and accountability. “Other countries could help by not allowing their own companies to partner [with] MOGE unless it was signed up to such codes,” she said last month.
With its recent decision to lift broad elements of the investment ban on energy, the Obama administration has ignored this appeal, insisting only on weak reporting requirements for US companies operating in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi, a clever politician who realises that she cannot afford to be isolated from Washington, said Thursday that the end of investment restrictions was “nothing significant” - while reiterating her call for the international community to press MOGE to adopt the International Monetary Fund’s code of conduct.
Those who advocate lifting the investment ban maintain that US companies will set higher standards on transparency and corporate social responsibility. This is true - though less clear is whether that will have an impact on non-US investors or the Burmese regime. US business and government leaders’ argument that nearly unconstrained investment in Burma’s natural resource sector will promote human rights and welfare will face scepticism from Burmese democrats who have committed their lives to this cause, and who believe it will not.
The Obama administration reportedly rushed this decision through a divided deputies committee of the National Security Council, and ignored strong opposition from key members of Congress opposed to a full-scale repeal of the investment ban, to have something ready for Clinton’s visit to the region this week. By publicly splitting with Burma’s democratic opposition on such an important issue, the administration will find that Aung San Suu Kyi no longer provides political cover for US policies. The White House will find itself held more accountable for the Burmese military’s continued violence against ethnic minorities, as well as any nuclear ties with North Korea and the Burmese people’s dashed expectations for lasting political change.
Michael Green was senior director for Asia at the National Security Council during the George W Bush administration. He is a senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and an associate professor at Georgetown University. Daniel Twining, a member of the secretary of state’s policy planning staff during the Bush administration, is senior fellow for Asia at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
–Washington Post

Achara Deboonme
The Nation
Publication Date : 16-07-2012

Despite tremendous interest in Myanmar following the lifting of sanctions, investors still face many risks as the country is in the middle of reforms on many fronts, a partner at Baker and McKenzie has warned.
"Hopefully, Myanmar will follow its promises," Nicholas F Coward said in a briefing to clients in Thailand last Friday. Companies from the United States and Asia planning to enter Myanmar "will have to do so very carefully, with full due diligence procedure and ensure that all business plans are adhered to".
Coward joined the US-Asean Business Council delegation in its visit to Yangon last weekend to discuss opportunities in Myanmar. The council was representing more than 100 major US corporations, ranging from those that have been active in Southeast Asia for more than 100 years to newcomers looking to expand their presence in one of the world's most dynamic markets.
According to Coward, getting information on the investment climate was the foremost objective of this visit.
The United States had imposed sanctions on American citizens, companies and subsidiaries based in Myanmar, including those incorporated in Thailand. Earlier, subsidiaries with local management could do business with Myanmar, but parent companies were barred from facilitating that. US companies are now allowed to "facilitate" their subsidiaries through financial and non-financial means.
Coward, a partner in the international commerce department in Washington DC, came to Bangkok as soon as financial transactions and investment in Myanmar were officially relaxed last Wednesday. The restrictions were relaxed as a reward for reforms in the country so far, chiefly the release of political prisoners and dialogues held to end ethnic conflicts. The US relaxed its sanctions after the EU, Canadian and Australian governments made similar announcements.
Now that the controls are lifted, American companies and their subsidiaries can now venture into previously prohibited transactions - with one clear exception, no imports to the US are allowed. It is believed that this will help ease pressure on their Asian counterparts, as companies here were also subjected to these tough rules.
According to Coward, the General Licenses No 16 and No 17 now allow US companies and individuals to engage in financial transactions and investment in Myanmar. However, even though many new types of financial transactions are allowed, some restrictions remain in place to limit human-rights violations, corruption and military control.
For instance, those buying or leasing land in Myanmar valued at more than US$500,000 (15.8 million baht) or more than 60.5 rai in size would need to file detailed reports. These reports will have to include information on what the land will be used for, the location, a summary of legal procedures and plans for resettlement of residents; financial and material compensation; and information on voluntary resettlement.
A similar report is needed for other investments exceeding $500,000. The investors are required to ensure proper security provisions to workers and compliance with human rights regulations.
They also need to identify the nature of their business, persons in Myanmar at the point of contact, the property acquisition process, possible relocation of people as well as payments to government entities and state enterprises. "It's clear that they can't be involved with the military, 'blocked' entities or government officials," Coward said.
At present, all financial transactions are allowed, including insurance and transfers. However, any payments to Myanmar's Defence Ministry or arms groups remain prohibited. Investors are also barred from doing transactions with certain Myanmar banks. To Coward, it is still dubious as to whether a US bank can process a transaction for an individual who has an account in a prohibited Myanmar bank.
Coward also warned investors the relaxation of policies still need to be explored, especially since penalties are high. Potential civil/administrative penalties could be $250,000 per transaction, or twice the value of the transaction. Denial of export privileges is the optimum penalty, while criminal penalties could rise to $1 million and 20-year jail term.
While saying that "things taking place are more than they were originally planned", Coward expects more sanctions imposed in the mid-1980s to be removed. However, this may take time because the sanctions involve 50 laws and regulations, and some require changes in legislature. He said the requirement of the reports is to ensure that human-rights violations and corruption are minimised.
"Most US companies are now very sensitive to these issues. This is to show that it's possible to do business without paying bribery," he said, noting that this is the most extensive reporting rule ever imposed by the US.
He said human rights violations and corruption were both important, as people suffered equally from both.

RANGOON — The British Council Library in Rangoon is Burma’s leading authority on history and culture, but one woman is owed a huge debt of gratitude for preserving its peerless collection.

Monica Mya Maung first arrived in Rangoon in October 1937 as the English wife of Burmese barrister Percy Mya Maung, the son of a judge who had graduated from St John’s College, Cambridge.

When the British Council library opened in 1947, “Auntie Monica,” as she was affectionately known, began helping out in her spare time. But when former dictator Gen Ne Win orchestrated a military coup in 1962, his troops overran the library, and ordered it closed and the books sold off.

A sharp-witted Auntie Monica quickly hid 500 Burmese history tomes under tables and in surreptitious cubbyholes inside the embassy to save them from the purge. She then kept the library running in secret until the British Council was finally allowed to reopen in Rangoon in 1973.

“She was so energetic, and such a wonderful woman—an example,” the current Library Information Manager Moe Moe Soe told The Irrawaddy. “She loved Burma and the Burmese people and she always felt like this was her home. She continued to work part-time here even after she retired.”

And it is thanks to Auntie Monica’s daring actions that such irreplaceable titles such as: “Burma Past and Present, Journal of a Residence in the Burnham Empire” and “The Economics of the Central Chin Tribe” remain available to scholars today.

However, not everyone took to Auntie’s Monica’s iron-willed approach and for a time she remained ostracized in the stuffy colonial circles of her British countrymen. But she cared little for such pretensions and threw herself headfirst into her new Burmese kinfolk.

On her first day in Rangoon, Monica was pictured in the newspaper in Burmese silk attire praying barefoot at the Shwedagon Pagoda, ostensibly to placate her in-laws who did not approve of their son’s choice of wife.
The alliteration-brimming headline, “Burmese Barrister Brings Back Beautiful Buddhist British Bride!” caused scandal amongst her jingoistic compatriots when it appeared in the next day’s newspaper. In the unenlightened 1930s, no Burmese person, not even the acting governor Sir Joseph Maung Gyi, was permitted to be a member of an English club. But it was not long before Monica, born June 5, 1914, became a stalwart of Rangoon society, cutting through even the ruthless military hierarchy of the day.

“She taught all the ambassadors wives English as there were lots of them from all over the world,” said Moe Moe Soe. “She even taught English to the three grandsons of Ne Win as well.”

Auntie Monica never had any children of her own but adopted with her husband instead. She stayed in the same low teak house in Rangoon even when he died in 1987. Although she attempted to move back to England, Auntie Monica quickly returned to Burma knowing finally where her true home was.

“I remember just once when she watched the year 2000 celebrations in London on the television she turned to us and asked ‘why am I here?’ as if she was missing out not being there with her relatives,” recalled Moe Moe Soe.

Monica Mya Maung was awarded an MBE [Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire] in 1979 and died in 2008 at the age of 91 having worked at the British Council for 38 years. She had lived through Japanese bombings, occupation, house arrest, and plague outbreaks, and had continued teaching into her 90s.

“I’ve never known an English lady like her. She saw people as human beings, and loved books and loved to read,” added Moe Moe Soe.

And Moe Moe Soe is already living up to her legendary predecessor and has herself become a celebrity of the institution. Similarly known as “Auntie Moe,” under her stewardship the library has continued to flourish.

Each day around 1,200 visitors come to the British Council in Rangoon to develop their knowledge and skills and it remains the country’s sole uncensored reading facility. When Auntie Moe admits to thoughts of retirement a nearby colleague immediately chimes in with, “Oh no you’re not!”

Clearly the spirit of Auntie Monica lives on.

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- Myanmar should offer assurances that it has severed all illicit ties with North Korea if it wants a normalization of relations with the United States, a high-profile envoy said Wednesday.
"We have been quite consistent and direct in public and private about our continuing concerns about the lack of transparency and Burma's military relationship with North Korea," said Derek Mitchell, the nominee to become Washington's ambassador to Myanmar, also known as Burma.
He was speaking at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee more than a month after his nomination.
Mitchell, a veteran diplomat with expertise in Asia, said if confirmed he would place a priority on Myanmar's suspected military ties with North Korea.
He also vowed to "be clear that our bilateral relationship can never be fully normalized until we are fully satisfied any illicit ties to North Korea have ended once and for all."
Mitchell has served as the U.S. special representative and policy coordinator for Burma since 2011.
His nomination came amid a burgeoning thaw in relations between the two sides, spurred by reform measures by the Myanmar authorities that were highlighted by the election of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to parliament.
Making a historic trip to Myanmar in November, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged leaders there to end all illicit contacts with North Korea.
Myanmar is alleged to have been an importer of North Korean weapons.

Supporters of Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi await her arrival at the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford University in Oxford, northwest of London, on June 19, 2012 with a placard that reads 'Free Burma, Free All Political Prisoners'. Suu Kyi began a bittersweet return to Britain on June 19, during which she will address both houses of parliament and have an emotional family reunion after nearly 25 years in Myanmar.

The Burmese activist will be honoured at events in Dublin today, writes SANDY BARRON in Rangoon
AUNG SAN Suu Kyi’s European trip, including today’s six-hour stop in Ireland, is being overshadowed at home as Burma experiences its worst communal and sectarian fighting in years.
About 30,000 people are displaced and 50 reported dead since simmering tensions – between Rakhine state’s majority Arakanese population of mainly Buddhists and minority Rohingyas who are Muslims – erupted into violent clashes and torching of homes earlier this month.
While the army restored relative calm in recent days, the tensions underline the challenges ahead for peace and democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi on Burma’s tentative road to reform.
Following the delivery of a moving Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo on Saturday, Suu Kyi will be recognised today for her steadfast efforts on her country’s behalf at Dublin’s star-studded Electric Burma concert.
On the eve of her 67th birthday, U2’s Bono will present Suu Kyi with Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award. Youth and media will be among the rock concert’s followers in Burma’s largest city Rangoon, where musicians and artists have long injected vitality into the struggle for political freedom.
Veteran activists and politicians will be interested in the Dublin stop for strategic and historical reasons.
Suu Kyi wishes to convey “reciprocal appreciation and thanks” to people in Ireland for their long support, said U Tin Oo, her oldest and most senior political ally.
Their efforts had “inspired her work”, said the co-founder and key leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party which won 43 out of 45 seats in recent byelections, heralding a new era of participation in parliamentary politics.
Irish governments, Amnesty and Burma Action Ireland campaigners, trade unionists and U2 are among those who have backed Suu Kyi and highlighted the plight of Burma’s ethnic refugees and political prisoners.
In 2000, Suu Kyi’s youngest son, Kim, accepted the Freedom of Dublin award on behalf of his mother who was under house arrest. Today she will sign the honorary roll of freedom in the company of Lord Mayor of Dublin Andrew Montague before addressing the public. She is earlier due to meet Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and President Michael D Higgins.
Octogenarian U Tin Oo recalled that in his student days he and Gen Aung San, father of Suu Kyi and leader of Burma’s independence struggle, were keen to learn about Irish political figures such as Michael Collins.
“We were interested in how Irish people were so close to the British, but not the same,” he said. Suu Kyi has jested about how British colonials tended to refer to the Burmese as “the Irish of the east”. Irish links with Burma originate mainly with colonial-era missionaries and civil servants. U Tin Oo’s extended family, for example, includes relatives with the name Donovan who are descendants of an Irish clerk and his Burmese wife.
Dublin-born colonial administrator Maurice Collis’s books on Burmese culture and history are still circulated here and shops are selling a new Burmese-language translation of his autobiographical Into Hidden Burma. First published some 60 years ago, the book’s title still resonates as Burma, officially known as Myanmar, experiences a new opening tempered with many unknowns.
President Thein Sein has released many political prisoners, increased media freedom, introduced new labour laws and brokered ceasefires with more ethnic groups. In response western countries have suspended or lifted most economic sanctions, opening the way for additional foreign investment and aid.
Yet a great deal appears to depend on just one man, the president, and his personal rapprochement with Suu Kyi, while the army, quasi-civilian government and bureaucracy structures remain opaque.
Along with western governments, a handful of prominent former activist and academic exiles have decided that getting behind President Thein Sein’s reformist efforts is a gamble worth taking. The former exiles’ Vahu Development Institute is working on mainly economic policy issues with a key presidential adviser. Land and labour disputes are emerging as major challenges in the cripplingly-poor country.
Other exiles and released political prisoners remain more tentative, preferring to “wait and see”. U Tin Oo describes the NLD party as “warily, cautiously, optimistic”. In an era of unleashed new expectations, the NLD will also face more scrutiny. Some say Suu Kyi’s party, many of whose members have experienced jail and other trauma, will need to move beyond a “bunker mentality” and open up to wider viewpoints, expertise and strategic thinking ahead of what could be enormously significant national elections in 2015.
Meanwhile, some of the deepest scepticism around the current situation centres on the army’s war with the ethnic Kachin Independence Army which has resulted in some 60,000 displaced in a year of fighting.
The government’s willingness to address the grievances of Burma’s ethnic nationalities is seen as its greatest test ahead.

Aung San Suu Kyi is to be awarded an honorary degree at Oxford University.

The Burmese civil rights activist and leader of the country's opposition is to receive a doctorate in civil law at the university’s annual Encaenia ceremony on June 12.

Last year she was guest curator of the Brighton Festival.

Monday 07 May 2012

AFP | Apr 23, 2012, 10.06AM IST

TOKYO: Myanmar's president said on Monday he has no plans to change the loyalty oath that has provoked an announcement by democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to boycott parliament, Kyodo reported.

Thein Sein told reporters in Tokyo he would like to "welcome" the Nobel Peace prize winner to parliament, but that it was up to her whether or not she took the seat she won earlier this month.

fromThe Times of India|