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Rasputin of Burma Identified
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
flamingpeacocks.blogspot.com

Rasputin of Burma

bp1.blogger.com

According to a Blog ran by Sri Lanka based Burmese Buddhist Monks, the key player who advised the implementation of brutal genocide to SPDC has been identified Kya Khat Wine Sayardaw aka (U) Zaw Ti Par La who is the "abbot" of Kya Khat Wine Monastery in Pegu.

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flamingpeacocks.blogspot.com


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Pegu abbot who encouraged killings flees
Thu 18 Oct 2007
IMNA

The abbot who made a speech encouraging senior military officers to kill monks and students in Kyat Khat Wine monastery in Pegu (Bago) has fled after The State Sangha Mahanayaka Committee summoned him for questioning. He had said the protesting monks were fakes.

Kyat Khat Wine abbot, Sayadaw U Zawti Pala refused to meet the committee and escaped from the monastery, temple sources said.

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monnews-imna.com

__________________
"Keeping quiet while monks and other peaceful protesters are murdered and jailed is not evidence of constructive engagement." - Arvind Ganesan, Human Rights Watch.

"I think...I think it's in my basement. Let me go upstairs and check" - M.C. Escher

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Monks throw out soldiers in Mandalay
Thu 18 Oct 2007
IMNA

Troops guarding the monasteries in Phayar Kyi quarter, Mandalay were driven out by monks when they were entering the temple for shelter from heavy downpour.

"The monks pelted the soldiers with stones. The soldiers could not enter the temple," an eye witness said.

"The monks in Mandalay are displeased with the soldiers. They are still angry with the soldiers because the soldiers cracked down on them brutally," he added.

Resident monks in Mandalay are still united and are ready to start fresh protests even through monks from rural areas were sent back home.
The majority of the monks is still in the second largest city in Mandalay and under close watch and guarded by troops.

snip

monnews-imna.com

Clockwork Orange

Cheeky bastards.

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Head monk held in exchange for brother

Oct 18, 2007 (DVB)–The abbot of Thitsar Mandai monastery in Gontalabaung village was arrested on 2 October and is to be held until his brother, a monk wanted for involvement in last month’s protests, is detained.

According to locals from the village in Mingaladon township, Rangoon, the monastery was raided by government troops from Rangoon military headquarters but only the head monk was taken into custody.

When villagers went to the military headquarters to find out about the monk, officials told them that his younger brother, also a monk, was wanted for involvement in last month’s protests.

The officials said the abbot would not be released until they have detained his brother.

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Reporting by Moe Aye and DVB
english.dvb.no

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Drug dealer set free by Major General
News - Kaowao News
Thursday, 18 October 2007

Though arrested by both Thai and Burmese police, a Three Pagodas Pass based Major General of the Burma Army today released a known drug dealer after just two days behind bars.

The drug dealer was released by a specific order from Major General Hla Oo from the Burmese Infantry Battalion No.308, based in Three Pagodas Pass, according to a Thai police spokesman.

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bnionline.net


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Government bans writers for supporting protests

Oct 18, 2007 (DVB)–The information ministry's censor board has issued a ban order on over 20 writers and cartoonists who supported last month's protests.

An editor of a weekly journal in Rangoon told DVB that magazines and journals have received an order from the censor board instructing them not to publish the work of 22 writers and cartoonists, including 88-year-old high profile writer Dagon Taryar, veteran journalist Ludu Sein Win and cartoonist Aw Pi Kyae.

"This is not an official order. [The censor board] also told us to cancel publication of any articles written by banned writers which had previously been approved by the board," the editor said.

"They are going to ban everyone who showed courage and spoke out against the government. There will be only cowards left."

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english.dvb.no


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Money transfer from Thailand to Burma affected by unrest
Thu 18 Oct 2007
IMNA

The protests in Burma last month has brought about a decline in the amount of money migrant workers from Burma send home from Thailand. Job related problems and lack of suitable openings is also one reason for the fall in transfer of money.

Ha Roe, who runs a private money transfer service in Thailand, said he received a little amount of money for transfer because of the protests in Burma.

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monnews-imna.com


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Humanitarian aid not enough for Myanmar's poor - UN official
WFP / October 18, 2007

A senior official of the World Food Programme has said that humanitarian assistance is presently unable to meet the needs of the people of Myanmar and that the Myanmar Government must undertake immediate critical reforms for the benefit of the country's desperately poor and needy people.

Following a visit last week to Myanmar, WFP Regional Director for Asia Tony Banbury said that while at least five million vulnerable persons in Myanmar are short of food, and that far too many people suffer needlessly from diseases and live in poverty, WFP can presently only provide food to about 500,000 vulnerable persons – far less than is needed.

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kachinpost.com

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Myanmar releases 91 more people for demonstrations
2007-10-19

YANGON, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Myanmar authorities have released 91 more people, bringing the total of the release to 2,550 out of 2,927 detained for being involved in recent demonstrations in the whole country, according to a state-run press Friday.

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xinhuanet.com


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Myanmar junta forms committee to draft new constitution
The Associated Press
Published: October 18, 2007

YANGON, Myanmar: Myanmar's ruling junta claimed to have taken another step in its "road map" to democracy that is supposed to lead to free elections with the creation of a committee to draft the country's long-delayed constitution.

The announcement late Thursday came amid a barrage of international pressure on the junta to halt a crackdown on government opponents and hold talks with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

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iht.com

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Junta fails to stop the ridicule
Edward Loxton
October 18, 2007
Crowds at rallies chant anti-regime slogans

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Reports from people forced to attend pro-government rallies indicate that the carefully-staged functions threaten to backfire. Whole sections of the crowds herded into city stadiums and country market places to listen to turgid government propaganda are chanting anti-regime slogans and ridiculing local officials trying to establish order.

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newsdeskspecial.co.uk

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Burmese Monks' Leader Speaks From Hiding
2007.10.18

U Gambira, a leader of the All-Burma Monks’ Alliance that spearheaded nationwide protests in Burma in September, became a fugitive following the deadly Sept. 26-27 crackdown on protesters nationwide.

“My situation is not good. I have slept without shelter for two nights. I am not very well now. My security is pretty bad,” he said, speaking from an undisclosed location. “Now these fellows are trying to butcher me. Now if you are done talking, as soon as you hang up, I have to move somewhere…”

“The important thing for overseas Sanghas [monks] is to carry out the Burmese cause continuously, with unity. At the moment, as you know, we cannot do anything inside Burma. We have been assaulted very badly. A few got away, a few left. I am still trying to get away but I haven't succeeded.”

He read the following message to U.N. Spcial Envoy Ibrahim Gambari, U.S. President George Bush, and to the world:

“Mr. Gambari… I wish to say, please do something effective and practical for Burma. Measures such as economic sanctions and arms embargo will take time (years) to achieve a political solution. What is most important is for today, for tomorrow. Please tell Mr. Gambari that I am very grateful for his active participation in Burmese affairs. I have a tremendous respect for him. But please tell him to implement the most effective practical measures in Burma. Please try. Please send U.N. representatives to Burma to carry out various ways and means to get political results now. For today.”

“To Buddhists all over the world and activists and supporters of Burmese movement, please help to liberate the Burmese people from this disastrous and wicked system. To the six billion people of the world, to those who are sympathetic to the suffering of the Burmese people, please help us to be free from this evil system. Many people are being killed, imprisoned, tortured, and sent to forced labor camps. I hereby sincerely ask the international community to do something to stop these atrocities. My chances of survival are very slim now. But I have not given up, and I will try my best.”

Killings, torture, labor camp

“...I would like to make an appeal to President Bush: Please take pride as a President who has worked hard for Burma to achieve something before his term expires.”

“I might not have very long to live. I, Gambira, speaking by phone with you right now, have a very slim chance of survival. Please try your best to relieve our suffering. It will be worse in future when they [the junta] have laid down their roadmap so they can remain in power forever—it will be a blueprint to oppress us systematically. Once they establish their constitution, the Burmese people will suffer for generation after generation.”

Translation by Ko Ko Aung for RFA’s Burmese service. Service director: Nancy Shwe.
rfa.org

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Burma Crackdown Goes on Amid Fears for Women in Custody
2007.10.17

BANGKOK—Two prominent female Burmese dissidents are voicing special concern over the junta’s treatment of women in custody, as the authorities pursue ever-greater numbers of people in connection with nationwide protests in September.

Both Ma Mie Mie [Ma Thin Thin Aye] and Ma Nilar Thein, who served seven and nine years respectively in Burmese prisons for opposing the junta, have described sexual harassment and abuse of women in Burmese jails. Ma Mie Mie was arrested last week, and Ma Nilar Thein is now in hiding. A third prominent female dissident, Thet Thet Aung, is also in hiding, although authorities have arrested her mother and mother-in-law.

“I am very sad because my friend Mie Mie [Ma Thin Thin Aye] was arrested like this. I am especially concerned for her because I read the military authorities’ vengeful writings in the newspapers about [her],” Ma Nilar Thein, who spent nine years in Thayawaddy prison, some of them with Mie Mie, told RFA’s Burmese service.

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rfa.org

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Monasteries raided on Sino-Burmese border
News - Mizzima News
Written by Myo Gyi
Thursday, 18 October 2007

In the unabated crackdown on monks, a local police team has started mounting a search and conducting raids in monasteries and places where monks live in northern Burma's Kachin state and neighboring Sino-Burma border areas.

As of Tuesday, the police team began raiding, interrogating and collecting guest lists from monasteries on the Sino-Burma border district of Bamaw, local residents said.

"The situation is not improving. The monasteries here are being raided for the third time now. This time they [authorities] are conducting a more comprehensive search and sustained interrogation," an abbot on the Chinese border town of Loi Kye told Mizzima.

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bnionline.net

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New Light of Myanmar

Commission for Drafting State Constitution formed

Tay Pyi Taw, 18 Sept � The Announcement No 2/2007 of the State Peace and Development Council of the Union of Myanmar is issued today.

The full text of the announcement is as follows:-

Union of Myanmar
State Peace and Development Council
Announcement No (2/2007)
7th Waxing of Thadingyut 1369 ME
(18 October 2007)

Formation and Assignment of Commission for Drafting State Constitution

1. Since 29 September 2007, the entire people have held mass rallies state-and division-wise throughout Myanmar to express their unanimous support for the National Convention and the forthcoming State constitution.

2. In response to the unanimous support of the entire people, and in recognition of the people's desire of upholding Our Three Main National Causes: Non-disintegration of the Union, Non-disintegration of national solidarity and Perpetuation of sovereignty, ensuring community peace and prevalence of law and order, building of a peaceful, modern and developed discipline-flourishing democratic nation, and successfully implementing the State's seven-step Road Map, the Commission for Drafting the State Constitution is formed and duties are assigned as follows to implement the third step of the seven-step Road Map�Drafting of a new constitution:
Commission for Drafting State Constitution

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By order,
Sd/ Thein Sein
Lieutenant-General
Secretary-1
State Peace and Development Council

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Myanmar military nears decisions on succession
Nirmal Ghosh
Fri, Oct 19, 2007

SENIOR General Than Shwe is firmly in charge of Myanmar's ruling junta, but change at the top level is imminent, and the job of the successor will not be as easy.

Gen Than Shwe, 70, the xenophobic head of the nation's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), is known to be a shrewd and well-informed man, glued to the internet. His rise to the top level was a skilful manoeuvre by keeping peers and subordinates off balance by playing one against the other.

But, there are divisions between him and his deputy Gen Maung Aye, 70, over the use of Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and Swan Arr Shin cadres - and then of soldiers - against monks and civilians.

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asiaone.com

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Three elderly people released from detention
Oct 19, 2007

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U Ba Hmin, an 85-year-old Pakokku resident, was released by authorities about five days ago, along with U Than Oo, the owner of a monks’ accessory store, and gold shop owner U Kyaw Htay, both of whom are over 70 years old.

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Reporting by Aye Nai
english.dvb.no


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Bago couple arrested for challenging government protests
Oct 19, 2007

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Ni Ni Mai stood in the doorway and challenged them about their support for the violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrations, embarrassing some members of the group.

“My sister asked the protestors if they really agreed with the killing of monks and civilians in Rangoon, and the government protestors stopped chanting slogans and some of them dropped their placards,” Ni Ni Mai’s sister told DVB.

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Reporting by Maung Too
english.dvb.no


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Family members speak about teen protestor’s death
Oct 19, 2007

Oct 19, 2007 (DVB)–Family members of Maung Thet Paing Soe, a 16-year-old protestor who was shot dead during last month’s demonstrations, have spoken to DVB about his death.

Maung Thet Paing Soe was shot in front of Tamwe High School (3) on 27 September when government security forces fired on young students protesting outside the school.

Daw Thuzar, Maung Thet Paing Soe’s aunt, described what happened when the family heard the news of his death.

"We were told by a friend of Thet Paing Soe, on the day, that he had been shot and had died. We went to the school immediately and looked for his body. But bystanders there told us it had already been taken by troops who came in two military trucks. We couldn't go after it as the curfew was in force. We saw the body the next day," she said.

"There was a big hole on the back of his head and the brain was gone. We assume it was a gun-shot wound."

Authorities refused to give a copy of Thet Paing Soe's death certificate, which would have shown his cause of death, to family members.

snip

Reporting by Aye Nai
english.dvb.no

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Gen Thura Shwe Mann: Ready to be New Army Commander?
By The Irrawaddy
October 19, 2007

Gen Thura Shwe Mann has effectively taken over day-to-day command of the armed forces and the country's internal affairs as instructed by Snr-Gen Than Shwe, according to unconfirmed reports from Naypyidaw.

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rrawaddy.org

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Junta gets glimpse of freedom push
Peter Alford, Tokyo correspondent
October 20, 2007

THOUGH stamped down for now, Burma's "saffron uprising" has given its aged dictators a frightening glimpse of the new capacities of their democratic opponents - and the effect of millions of foreign taxpayers' dollars being quietly spent to develop those capabilities.

Between $US10 million ($11million) and $20million a year is being funnelled into projects fostering Burmese democratisation and non-violent struggle against the junta.

The bad news for Senior General Than Shwe's regime is that the vicious suppression of the August-September uprising is likely to encourage a funding surge after several years of dwindling support from abroad.
The democracy funding, much of it provided at arm's length by governments in the US and Western Europe, has gone not just to exile groups but to covert training programs within Burma.

Some of the tens of thousands of monks who began marching in August -- for the first time as an organised focal point of national resistance -- had been trained in programs funded from money voted by the US Congress.
The new techniques were evident in the rapid spread of organised dissent, internet-savvy "citizen journalists" and widespread videoing, swift transmission of information to the outside world, mocking the junta's news blackout, and the dissemination of news and images back to Burma.

"For the first time, Burmese in their own country could know, could see, what was going on," said Brian Joseph, who directs the National Endowment for Democracy's Asia programs

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theaustralian.news.com.au

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Over 50 villagers picked up for helping attack military base
News - Kantarawaddy Times
Friday, 19 October 2007

Over 50 villagers have been arrested by the Burma Army on suspicion of helping the Karenni Army attack IB 54 (Infantry Battalion) stationed between Chikel and Dawtakhar village, early this month in Loi Kaw township, Kayah State, Karenni Army commander General Bee Htoo said.

One corporal and three soldiers of the IB 54 died in the attack by the Karenni Army on October 4. The Burma Army suspected that the villagers had helped the rebels and rounded up 50 villagers on October 8 for interrogation.

"Over 50 villagers were arrested and soldiers will interrogate them to find out whether they helped the rebels," Gen Bee Htoo said.

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bnionline.net


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Traveling monks face difficulties
News - Kaowao News
Friday, 19 October 2007

After being forced back to their hometowns by the Burmese military junta, many monks around the country are finding it difficult to move freely, as police search and interrogate them thoroughly at each checkpoint.

Monks from Mon state and HPa-an State have found travel outside their hometowns near impossible.

This has led to complaints from vendors in charge of cars and trains, as the interrogations are creating problems both for monks and other passengers causing conflict and delaying trips.

According to one monk from Lamine Township, Mon State , "Last week when I came to Moulmein Town, I was asked a lot of questions by the checkpoint police. So I think now car drivers are not willing to take the monks in their vehicles. Whenever a monk travels in their car they have to answer questions and are investigated by the checkpoint police."

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bnionline.net


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Census for monks in Arakan
News - Narinjara News
Friday, 19 October 2007

A census is on for the monk population in Arakan State, Burma by the junta since last week. The idea is to monitor the activities of monks' in the future, said an abbot on the border.

A team of Nasaka border security officers came to his monastery in Maungdaw Township yesterday to collect the names of monks in the monastery. Later, the Nasaka team went to another monastery to get names there, the abbot said.

The authorities are collecting the names, ages, address, family names, and photographs of each monk in every monastery in Arakan, according to a monk source.

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bnionline.net

Mid

Rice donation cancelled in Magwe division


Oct 19, 2007 (DVB)–Local residents in Magwe division have speculated that local authorities have cancelled their annual rice donation due to worries that monks would refuse to attend.

The rice donation has been held as part of merit-making on the day after the full moon at the end of Buddhist lent in October for the past five years, and has always been well-attended.

However, this year Magwe division authorities have cancelled the event, which is usually organised by the divisional Peace and Development Council.

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Reporting by Aye Nai
english.dvb.no


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State press reports explosives find

Oct 19, 2007 (DVB)–The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper has reported a seizure of high explosives linked to a monk from Shwedaung monastery in Mingala Taungnyunt township, Rangoon.

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The New Light claimed that the incident is a sign that “external elements are sending explosives and accessories into the nation”.

Reporting by DVB
english.dvb.no


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Family members of monk leader arrested

Oct 19, 2007 (DVB)–Government authorities have arrested family members of U Gambira, a monk wanted for his involvement in anti-government demonstrations, and say they will not release them until U Gambira has been detained.

snip

The sources also told DVB that the military intelligence officer who arrested U Gambira's family members apparently told them they would not be released until the monk is detained.

Reporting by Maung Too
english.dvb.no


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HRW calls for Chinese action on Burma

Oct 19, 2007 (DVB)–International rights group Human Rights Watch has urged China to take immediate and concrete action on Burma, in a letter sent to Chinese president Hu Jintao on Wednesday.

The letter expresses regret that China has not publicly condemned the actions of the Burmese military regime in its brutal crackdown on last month’s demonstrations, particularly given its position of influence over the junta.

“Chinese officials have publicly called for ‘cooperation’ and ‘dialogue’ between the Burmese generals and their critics, but said nothing when these critics were arrested, ‘disappeared’ or killed,” said Sophie Richardson, HRW’s Asia advocacy director.

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Reporting by DVB
english.dvb.no

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Constitution drafting commission has to toe junta line: MUL
Fri 19 Oct 2007
IMNA

The Burmese military junta yesterday formed a commission for drafting the constitution as the next phase of its seven-point road map to democracy. Criticizing the move a Mon Unity League (MUL) leader said it was purely for show.

"It is not practical and there is no meaning in it. Everything has to be the way the Burmese generals want it," Nai Suthorn, Chairman of MUL.

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monnews-imna.com


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Over 3,000 villages destroyed in 10 years: TBBC
Fri 19 Oct 2007
Mi Kyae Goe, IMNA

Over 3,000 villages in eastern Burma were destroyed and forcibly relocated by the Burmese Army in 10 years from 1996 to 2006, according to a report by the Thailand-Burma Border Consortium (TBBC).

A TBBC press release said that at least 167 villages have been displaced during the past year. TBBC is an alliance of ten non-governmental humanitarian relief and development agencies from eight counties. They provide food, shelter and other non-food items to Burmese refugees and displaced persons.

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monnews-imna.com

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Charter snub for Suu Kyi party
By Amy Kazmin in Bangkok
Published: October 19 2007

]Burma’s military rulers have appointed a 54-member committee to finalise a new constitution, as international charities seek greater assistance for the long-suffering population, and US legislators pushed for tougher sanctions against the junta.

The new charter committee excludes the National League for Democracy – the political party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, which won a landslide election victory in 1990 but was barred from taking power – despite calls from Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy, for democracy advocates’ aspirations to be reflected in a new charter.

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ft.com

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Surrend ad in Myanmar Times

Surrend has placed an ad in the weekly burmese newspaper Myanmar Times. The ad which looks as if it is promoting tourism in Burma for Scandinavian had a hidden messages to the burmese junta. The first letter in each of the words in the poem spells the word "freedom" and the name of the Board of Islandic Travels Agencies is "Killer Than Shwe" spelled backwards. Surrend wanted to show that you can find cracks or holes in even the worst regimes.


surrend.org