Aung San Suu Kyi - Annual Meeting 2012 - World Economic Forum

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, addresses the participants at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting.

Once again I have the honor and the privilege of addressing this gathering of thinkers and doers, movers and shakers, who are in positions to influence the direction that our world will take in the foreseeable future. I would like to express my thanks to the organizers of the World Economic Forum, especially to Professor Schwab who made it possible for this message to be sent and who also kindly invited me, very warmly, to join you here. That I am, very regretfully, not able to be with you today is due to reasons which are closely related to the theme of this meeting – “The great Transformation: Shaping New Models.”

Last year I spoke of the challenges that Burma was facing, our missed opportunities, our fundamental need for political stability, national reconciliation and rule of law, that we may be able to achieve genuine democratization, human development and economic growth. The aspirations of our people, not only to catch up with the rest of the world, but to make their own contribution towards a safer, happier planet for us all.

A year on I can say that we have taken some steps towards meeting those challenges. We are not yet at the point of a “great transformation,” but we have a rare and extremely precious opportunity to reach such a point. That Minister U Soe Thane is attending the 2012 World Economic Forum is a sign of the positive changes that have been taking place in our country. I would like to appeal to all those who wish to promote the interests of Burma, and other nations and societies struggling for peace and stability, development and prosperity, to support us in our efforts to take the next crucial task, that will enable us to bridge the gap between potential and fulfillment.

It gives me intense satisfaction, I do not think it will be going too far to say that it thrills me, to learn that the purpose of this Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum is to ensure that the leaders exercise their responsibilities, jointly, boldly and strategically to improve the state of the world for future generations.

May I be so bold as to say that this is a happy paraphrase of a major aim of my party, The National League for Democracy, except that we aspire, modestly, to start with our own country before we extend our efforts to the rest of the world.

This brings me back to the reason why I am not with you today. As I said earlier, the possibility of a “great transformation” is in sight for our country. An important step that will take us nearer to a truly revolutionary break through will be the inclusion of all relevant political forces in the electoral and legislative process of our country.

We are now reconstructing our party and preparing to contest by elections scheduled for first April. That we may extend our efforts for peace, national reconciliation, here I would like to emphasize the need to resolve ethnic conflicts and democratization into the national assembly. The work connected with these preparations is keeping me away from your meeting this year but I hope the fruit of our labors will contribute towards to a closer, positive links between our domestic economy and global developments.

Economic progress is dependent on more than the fiscal and monetary measures that have been advocated for Burma by international financial Institutions. Such measures will need to be up held by judicial and legislative reforms, which will guarantee that sound regulations and laws will be administrated justly and effectively.

We wish to create a political, social and economic environment that will bring ethical, new and innovative investments to our country. We would like to draw up our blue print for a sustainable new model economy with a view to the future needs of our globe, social and environmental concerns, woven into food, water and energy needs.

Once again I would like to end with an appeal to all of you: please support our endeavors to make Burma the shining representative of what can be possible if we cooperate in our efforts to make our world a happier, safer home for all our peoples.

In conclusion, may I say that I very much hope that the day will come when I too can be part of this distinguished, vibrant gathering.

Thank you.

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Posted in: 10. AUDIO - VIDEO

President Obama Deliver the State of the Union Address

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Posted in: 10. AUDIO - VIDEO

EU to Ease Some Myanmar Sanctions

The European Union agreed Monday to ease some sanctions on Myanmar, suspending visa bans against senior government officials, but it will maintainother restrictions against the Southeast Asian nation for now.

The EU said it will lift its visa bans against Myanmar's president, vice presidents, its cabinet and the speakers of the two Myanmar parliamentary houses. It also promised to boost assistance for poverty-alleviation programs in Myanmar as the country continues to undertake political reforms, and said further easing of sanctions will take place if those reforms continue. Other European sanctions include an arms embargo against Myanmar and restrictions on targeted industries such as timber and precious stones.

Europe "welcomes the remarkable program of political reform undertaken by the government and parliament in Myanmar, together with its commitment to economic and social development," the Council of the European Union said in a statement.

The EU's move comes as leaders across the Western world debate how far to go in rewarding Myanmar for a series of changes there after years of harsh military rule.

A new civilian government that took power in Myanmar last year after the country's first election in two decades has released hundreds of political prisoners, eased restrictions on the Internet, and legalized the country's main opposition party. It has also expanded dialogue with armed ethnic minority groups that have fought on-again, off-again wars with Myanmar's military for decades, among other steps.

Skeptics of the moves, including Myanmar dissidents in exile, say the government is trying to get out from under Western sanctions without fundamentally changing the country's power structure, which is still dominated by current or former members of the junta that controlled Myanmar in various guises since 1962, and is accused of widespread human-rights violations.

But famed dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said she believes Myanmar's new government is serious about reform. Meanwhile, many Western investors are keen to re-enter the country, including oil and gas companies and consumer-goods makers keen to tap Myanmar's market of 55 million people.

All of that has left Western governments looking for ways to encourage more change without giving up all their leverage from sanctions.

In early January, Australia said it was removing some Myanmar citizens from a list of individuals subject to financial and travel restrictions, but it retained an arms embargo against the country. Norway followed soon after with a decision to end a late-1990s policy that officially discouraged investment in Myanmar by Norwegian companies, though it said it would continue to abide by EU sanctions.

The U.S., which maintains some of the toughest sanctions against Myanmar, has also taken steps to boost relations with Myanmar while stopping short of lifting its main sanctions. In December, the U.S. said it would ease restraints on international development assistance to the country, and in mid-January, it said it would restore full diplomatic relations with Myanmar.

But the U.S. continues to keep in place rules that block most U.S. companies from doing business in Myanmar, and it also freezes the assets of many individuals linked to the country's military.

On Saturday, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) told reporters in Bangkok he thought the U.S. shouldn't consider lifting its key sanctions until at least April, when Myanmar is scheduled to hold a parliamentary by-election that Western leaders have said must be free and fair. 

Ref: WSJ

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Posted in: 04. WORLD

EU mulls lifting sanctions against Myanmar in February

BRUSSELS: The European Union is mulling whether to begin lifting sanctions against Myanmar as soon as February to encourage signs of reform after decades of outright military rule, EU diplomats said on Wednesday.

Aid for the southeast Asian nation is also under consideration, as well as a visit soon by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, her spokesman Michael Mann told AFP.

"In the light of developments in the country, we have launched a general review of our policies," he added.

The 27-nation bloc's response to a string of conciliatory gestures by the nominally civilian government in Myanmar is to be announced after talks between EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

The ministers are expected to announce willingness "to consider initial steps in February" on a start in lifting the sanctions, which otherwise come up for an annual review in mid-April, an EU diplomat said.

"Some countries want to give a sign of encouragement before April elections" which will see a historic bid for parliament by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the source said on condition of anonymity.

In Paris, the foreign ministry said Britain and France had agreed to call for "a gradual revision of European sanctions" and would propose at Monday's talks "the first measures in the very short term".

But Britain's William Hague and French counterpart Alain Juppe also agreed in a phone conversation on Tuesday that the EU must remain vigilant, with the democratic standards of partial legislative elections April 1 impacting the "new approach".

European states last year extended by 12 months a set of trade and financial sanctions despite Suu Kyi's release in November 2010, but lifted travel bans and an assets freeze on a third of the cabinet, including the foreign minister.

In exchange for an end to all sanctions, the EU demanded Myanmar release all political prisoners and launch a dialogue with the opposition.

Since coming to office, the new military-backed government dominated by former generals has released hundreds of political prisoners and made other reformist moves, including dialogue with the opposition and pursuing peace deals with ethnic minority rebels.

The moves have sparked intense debate worldwide on potential policy change and in Brussels intensive discussions have been under way all week to overcome "differences of opinion and decide how to encourage Myanmar" ahead of Monday's ministerial talks, a source said.

Britain and some Nordic nations favoured ensuring the April by-elections were fair and free while other European countries, notably France and Germany, favoured quick action to encourage the reform process.

"There are steps before you lift sanctions," said one diplomat on condition of anonymity. "Encouraging measures can be a first step, and then you lift sanctions."

Earlier this month, Hague, the first British foreign minister to visit Myanmar in over half a century, called for "much more" work to be done before sanctions could be lifted.

It is "very important that we do not relax the pressures prematurely", he said.

This week, French foreign minister Juppe said in Myanmar that he was confident President Thein Sein was a reformer.

"It's a certainty. It's enough to look at what he has done in the past few months," he said, describing the president as a "wise man, completely determined".

Should differences between EU nations persist, a decision to lift even very few sanctions in February could be strained as this would require unanimity.

In April a unanimous vote would be required to maintain the sanctions.

Ministers meanwhile are expected to agree to offer more development aid and other financial measures to bolster the reform process.

In January, the EU announced it would open an office in Myanmar's main city Yangon to manage aid programmes and play a "political role".

- AFP/de

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Posted in: 07. ECONOMY - BUSINESS

Myanmar Frees Prominent Political Prisoners

Myanmar freed many of the country's most prominent political prisoners Friday in a major step to address one of the key conditions Western leaders have set for lifting sanctions against the country, prompting the U.S. to announce it is resuming full diplomatic relations with the country by sending an ambassador there.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

This 2007 photo shows democracy activist Min Ko Naing, who was among prominent political prisoners freed by Myanmar on Friday.

Myanmar's leaders had already released thousands of prisoners in mass amnesties over the past year, including 200 or so political detainees, but those releases had left many of the country's best-known dissidents still behind bars, and Western diplomats and activists had clamored for more.

The prisoner amnesty on Friday, by contrast, included an array of Myanmar's most famous dissidents, including Min Ko Naing, a student leader from a failed pro-democracy uprising in 1988, and Khun Tun Oo, a well-known Shan ethnic leader. Also released was Shin Gambira, a militant monk who helped lead antigovernment protests during the abortive "Saffron Revolution" crushed by Myanmar soldiers in 2007.

Former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who was ousted in 2004 and sentenced to 44 years of house arrest after falling out with Myanmar's top military leaders, was also set free, as were a number of journalists, bloggers and other pro-democracy leaders. Human-rights activists and family members said it would likely take a few days to determine just how many of the 651 inmates the government said it was freeing would be political dissidents, though it was believed that a large portion were.

After the announcement, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday the U.S. will exchange ambassadors with Myanmar in response to the release of political prisoners and other reforms. Currently, the highest-level U.S. diplomat based in Myanmar is a chargé d'affaires

In a statement, President Barack Obama called the move "a substantial step forward for democratic reform.''

"We're becoming increasingly excited," said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division at Human Rights Watch, which described Friday's prisoner release in a statement as a "crucial development." But he stressed that a full accounting with international monitors would be needed before Western leaders could be sure all of Myanmar's political detainees were out.

The mood in Myanmar on Friday was hopeful. Large, jubilant crowds gathered at prisons to see who would be let out while crowds danced and played ethnic music at the homes of some detainees.

Zarganar, a famous comedian and former political prisoner who was released late last year, said "so many of my friends are released" when reached briefly by mobile phone at the Yangon airport Friday. After he repeated those words several times, the line went dead.

"A big obstacle has been removed, and we are very happy," said Nyan Win, a spokesman for the National League for Democracy, the party of the country's most famous dissident, Aung San Suu Kyi. He said he didn't yet know exactly how many political prisoners were released, but said that many were NLD members.

Mrs. Clinton and other Western leaders have said Myanmar's political prisoners must be set free before they will consider lifting tough economic sanctions against the large, resource-rich country, whose harsh military regime handed power to a nominally civilian administration last year. Since then, the government has embarked on a number of unexpected reforms, including eased restrictions on the Internet and expanded peace talks with ethnic insurgent groups, raising hopes of a major shift in its relations with the West.

The release of so many prisoners increases pressure on Western governments to scale back sanctions.

"The ball is now in the court of the international community to reciprocate with positive deeds," said Ko Ko Hlaing, an adviser to Myanmar President Thein Sein.

Western leaders have laid out three other criteria that must be met before rolling back their sanctions, which block most U.S. companies from investing in Myanmar. Those steps include a demand for fair parliamentary elections, expanded dialogue with the country's many armed ethnic insurgent groups, and greater transparency in dealings with North Korea.

Myanmar has made progress on all those fronts, Western diplomats say. On Thursday, the government said it signed a cease-fire with one of the biggest ethnic groups, the Karen, though tensions remain with some other insurgents. A parliamentary by-election is scheduled for April 1, with Ms. Suu Kyi, planning to take part, and some diplomats have indicated they're growing more comfortable with Myanmar's assurances it isn't engaged in weapons proliferation with North Korea.

Meanwhile, a series of high-profile U.S. leaders are visiting Myanmar this week. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell—a key voice in determining whether to keep sanctions in place—said he would make his first visit to the country starting Sunday.

It now is a "plausible scenario" that international sanctions against Myanmar could start falling by April when by-elections are held, said Sean Turnell, a professor at Australia's Macquarie University, though he said much remains to be done before all U.S. demands will be met. Reaching settlements with all the country's armed ethnic groups—which control large swaths of jungle along the country's borders with China and Thailand—could prove to be the most difficult task, he said.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Yangon declined to comment. New York Democratic Rep. Joseph Crowley, who spearheaded legislation tightening sanctions in 2008 and traveled to Myanmar this week, said in a news conference in Yangon Friday that the release was "a step in a very positive direction" but added "more things need to be done."

Part of the challenge for Western leaders is gauging how durable the latest changes in Myanmar are, given the short track record of the country's new government. Just determining whether all the political prisoners are out will be hard, because no one can agree on the exact number of dissidents who were detained before Friday's release. Estimates range from as low as a few hundred to 1,500 or so, and some have been held in jails far from major population centers. It is widely assumed at least some will remain behind bars.

In the past, Myanmar's leaders set some political detainees free only to rearrest them again later. It isn't yet known whether the newly released political prisoners will be allowed to organize politically, hold rallies, or take other steps to challenge the government, which is still controlled by leaders with close military ties.

Some analysts believe there are sharp divisions within the government over how much freedom to grant activists, increasing the risk of a backlash from military hard-liners if the released prisoners become too critical of authority. Myanmar officials have denied there are any splits in the government.

The latest amnesty is being granted as "part of the national reconciliation process," said Ye Htut, a spokesman for Myanmar's Ministry of Information. "We understand that there are some people from exile groups that always put negative views on recent changes in Myanmar. But the Myanmar people and international community are supporting our president's reform program and naysayers have no role in the future of our country." 

Ref: WSJ

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Posted in: 05. MYANMAR

A Ceasefire in Burma:Is One of the World’s Oldest Insurgencies About to End?

Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

General Mutu Saipo from the Karen National Union (KNU) signs the ceasefire agreement at Hotel Zwekabin
in Pa-an, capital of the Karen State in eastern Myanmar January 12, 2012.

One of the world’s longest civil conflicts may finally be over. On Jan. 12, a “peace delegation” from the quasi-civilian government of Burma signed a ceasefire with ethnic Karen rebels who have been waging battle for more than six decades on the country’s eastern front. Since taking over from the ruling military junta last year, the new Burmese regime has also signed peace treaties with other ethnic armies, including those representing factions of the Wa, Chin and Shan groups.

The ceasefires, along with overtures toward a democratic opposition led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, have surprised Burma-watchers who feared the new government was little more than a civilian fig-leaf for a military regime. Indeed, the 2010 elections that ushered in the new leadership, helmed by retired general Thein Sein, were hardly free and fair. Many senior government positions are reserved for members of the military, which wrested power from a civilian government in a 1962 coup. Burma is still desperately poor and income inequalities are only growing, as members of the elite profit from the country’s rich natural resources.

Nevertheless, Burma today is a changed place. The landmark ceasefire with the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU)—along with a state television report on Thursday that 651 prisoners will be released from Burma’s jails on Jan. 13, with hopes rising that many, if not all of them, will be political prisoners—underscores the rapid pace of reform. Earlier this week, Suu Kyi announced formally that she would be running for a parliamentary seat in elections set for April, a remarkable turnaround for a woman who spent most of the previous two decades under house arrest. Her National League for Democracy, which was ordered dissolved after boycotting the flawed 2010 polls, has since been allowed to re-register as a political party.

The nation known today as Burma—or Myanmar, as its leaders prefer it to be called—is a British colonial creation. Imperial lines on a map hemmed in a patchwork of ethnicities, from the majority Bamar, who dominate the country’s current leadership, to the Shan, the Kachin, the Karen and the Chin, to name just a few groups. Up to 40% of the country’s population is composed of ethnic minorities.

Fear of repression by the Bamar-dominated Burmese army has led hundreds of thousands of Karen to flee their homes over the years. Ethnic conflict has led to Burma’s high number of internally displaced people, numbering at least half a million citizens. More than 100,000 Karen are believed to live in refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border. Human rights groups have documented the use of forced labor and rape by the Burmese military against the Karen. Landmines litter Burma’s eastern jungles.

Even as the KNU and the Burmese government were hammering out their ceasefire, firefights were still flaring in and around northern Kachin state, where the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is battling the Burmese military. The KIA is the only major ethnic army not to have signed a peace deal in recent months with the regime. (Ethnic Mon rebels have held out, too, but their armed force is believed to be smaller.) Yet it’s not as if such deals necessarily herald a lasting peace. In 1994, the KIA signed a ceasefire with the Burmese, only to begin fighting again last year. The Karen National Union, too, has entered half a dozen peace talks with the Burmese since 1949. None have stuck. Hopefully this historic ceasefire, with the imprimatur of a new regime, will be different.

Ref: TIME

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Posted in: 05. MYANMAR

KNU, Govt Reach Historic Agreement

KNU and government peace negotiators pose for a group photo at a dinner in Pa-an on Jan. 11, 2012. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

After more than six decades of uninterrupted armed resistance to Burmese rule, the leaders of the Karen National Union (KNU), Burma’s oldest ethnic armed group, have signed a ceasefire agreement with the government.

The historic agreement, the first since the KNU began its struggle for Karen autonomy shortly after Burma achieved independence from British colonial rule in 1948, was signed at 2:57 pm on Thursday following talks between a government peace delegation led by Railways Minister Aung Min and KNU representatives led by Gen Mutu Say Poe at the Zwegapin Hotel in the Karen State capital Pa-an.

Under the agreement, the two sides will initiate a ceasefire and allow each other to conduct unarmed patrols in their respective territories. The KNU will also be allowed to set up liaison offices in government-controlled areas.

According to a local source who asked to remain anonymous, the KNU delegation will travel next to the Mon State capital Moulmein and later visit Pegu, a central Burmese city near Rangoon with a large Karen population, where the KNU is considering opening a liaison office.

The KNU representatives arrived in Pa-an on Wednesday, where they were greeted by thousands of Karen people and attended a dinner hosted by the government peace delegation.

Several KNU central committee members, including David Taw, Roger Khin, Ah Toe, Aung Maung Aye, Kwe Htoo Win and Brig-Gen Saw Johnny, as well as representatives from all seven KNLA Brigades except Brigade 5, accompanied the peace delegation.

Ngwe Soe, who helped to broker the talks, said that both sides agreed to meet again for further discussions. A meeting is tentatitively scheduled to take place in Naypyidaw in 45 days, he added.

Despite the unusually upbeat tone coming out of the talks, however, there was still a note of caution in some of the comments coming from those close to the negotiations.

“This time they didn't ask us to give up our arms, they just want to work for equal rights for ethnic groups. This time we trust them,” Saw Johnny told Agence France-Presse, before adding: “We have been fighting for 60 years and one meeting alone will not end it.”

Several other ethnic armed groups, including the United Wa State Army, the Shan State Army-South, the Chin National Front and the National Democratic Alliance Army, have also recently reached ceasefire agreements with the government.

As a key member of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), a coalition of ethnic armed groups formed in February 2011, the KNU has called on the government to enter into an inclusive dialogue with all UNFC members to reach a lasting political settlement that addresses ethnic concerns.

However, according to a UNFC source, the group has agreed in principle to allow its members to enter into individual ceasefire agreements with the government, on the understanding that this will later lead to political talks involving all of the groups concerned.    

Founded in 1947, the KNU formed its military wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), in 1949 and immediately began an armed insurgency against Burma's central government.

Although the group has never signed an official ceasefire agreement with the government, in 2004, the late KNU leader Bo Mya and former government spy chief Khin Nyunt verbally agreed to halt hostilities following talks in Rangoon. However, the fragile informal truce soon broke down.

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Posted in: 05. MYANMAR