Thread: Aung San Suu Kyi appears at protest in Burma

Myanmar frees two journalists
Published: Wednesday, 24 October, 2007

YANGON: Military-ruled Myanmar has released two reporters who were detained during a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests in September, their employers said yesterday.

Win Ko Ko Latt, of the Weekly Eleven Journal, and Nay Linn Aung, of the 7-Days Journal, have both been freed and are back at work, officials at their companies said.

Both newspapers are private, Myanmar-language weeklies that operate under the constant watch of military censors, who tightly control the nation’s media.

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gulf-times.com

UN urges Burma to raise basic needs spending
By Amy Kazmin in Bangkok
Published: October 24 2007

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In a statement due to be released on Wednesday, UN officials in Rangoon are calling the peaceful marches – which the army suppressed – a reflection of deep public frustration at “the every-day struggle to meet basic needs” amid a worsening economic and humanitarian crisis.

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Charles Petrie, the UN’s top official in Burma, said on Tuesday the generals had shown no sign of recognising people’s grievances since the protests.

“There have been no signals from the government that they have understood the suffering that people are living through,” he told the Financial Times.

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But residents say a deep despair has settled over Burma. Mr Petrie added: “I am concerned that the expression of suffering that came out in the streets – that demanded tremendous courage of individuals – will have been for nothing.”

ft.com

WE can not let it be for nothing , THAT is our commitment

Sanctions hit Burmese junta’s meal ticket
October 24, 2007
edward loxton



When Burmese junta leader Than Shwe laid on an opulent wedding for his daughter this summer, most of the bill was picked up by one of the country's wealthiest tycoons, Tay Za.



The self-made playboy, who controls many of Burma's key industries and runs his own airline, Bagan Air, is one of several big business cronies who finance the lifestyle of the ageing general and his family.

Tay Za (above) is now one of the primary targets of new sanctions imposed by the United States. By intercepting access by him and other top businessmen to sources of income that benefit the regime, the Bush administration hopes to hit the generals where it hurts most - in their pockets.

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thefirstpost.co.uk

Nobel winners demand Suu Kyi's release
October 24, 2007


LONDON - Six female Nobel peace prize winners called Wednesday for more decisive international action to secure the release of their fellow laureate, the Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

As protests were held outside Chinese embassies across the world to pressure Beijing into influencing its ally, the women expressed their "grave disappointment" that Myanmar had ignored calls for Aung San Suu Kyi's release.

They also said they feared for the safety of other democracy activists after the military's bloody crackdown on peaceful demonstrations on the streets of Myanmar last month.

"The Burmese regime must not be allowed to continue in its perpetration of gross violations of human rights," the women wrote in a joint letter to The Guardian newspaper in Britain.

"The detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is the most visible manifestation of the regime's brutality but it is only the tip of the iceberg.

"As Aung San Suu Kyi's fellow Nobel Peace Laureates... we will work together to ensure that Burma does not slip from international view and ensure that real progress is made.

"The UN has a central role to play in our collective endeavor."

The six signatories of the letter were Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland (Nobel Peace Prize, 1976), Rigoberta Menchu Tum of Guatemala (1992), American Jody Williams (1997), Iranian Shirin Ebadi (2003) and Kenyan Wangari Maathai (2004).

They added: "Sixty-two years ago, the UN was established to enable governments of the world to respond to grave crises of this kind.

Agence France Presse

Singapore Democratic Party

A Memorandum to Singapore government
All Burma Democratic Force
23 Oct 07
http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/content/view/11787/2/

On behalf of all Burmese national regardless of race and religion, we, at the All Burma Democratic Force (ABDF), Malaysia that is an umbrella organization of different ethnic, religious and political organization of Burma, which include National League for Democracy (liberated Area) led by Dr. Naing Linn, National Democratic Party for Human Rights (NDPHR) exile, Malaysia, Democratic Federation of Burma (DFB), Malaysia, All Burma Muslims Organization (ABMO), Malaysia,

Burmese students and youths forces and peace loving people strongly condemn the Government of Singapore for extending supports to the brutal military regime of Burma that has been cracking down against peaceful demonstrators and so urge upon Singapore to immediately cancel your supportive hands over the regime in order to settle the crises in Burma urgently.


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singaporedemocrat.org

China expresses support for UN envoy on Myanmar
2007-10-24


BEIJING (Thomson Financial) - China today told the visiting UN envoy on Myanmar it would fully support his efforts to resolve the ongoing crisis in the Southeast Asian nation, state press reported.

"You have made a remarkable contribution to the mediation on the Myanmar issue in the past two weeks, which we appreciate," Chinese assistant foreign minister He Yafei told Ibrahim Gambari.

"China will continue to give all-out support to your work."

Gambari arrived in Beijing today for a two-day visit as activists held protests outside Chinese embassies in Bangkok, Sydney and elsewhere around the world in an effort to pressurise China over its support of Myanmar's junta.

"We want China to exercise its influence over the Burmese generals," said protester Ko Htwe outside the Chinese mission in Bangkok, holding a banner calling for democracy in the country formerly known as Burma.

"We want China to impose economic sanctions against Burma."

Myanmar's military junta violently suppressed anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks across the country in September, sparking a global outcry and triggering a fresh international push for democracy.

China is a major supplier of weapons to Myanmar and has come under harsh criticism for its policy of non-interference in the reclusive nation's affairs.

It has said it will not back economic sanctions against the junta.

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iii.co.uk

^ What a total jerk-off. China is playing this perfectly, pay lip service but do what they want behind the scenes.

TPDC fines people refusing to attend rally
Wednesday, 24 October 2007

The Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) has been taking money from the villagers who refuse to go the rally denouncing the monk-led protests in Ye Township Mon State, Burma today.

The TDPC said they are taking money from families who were absent from the rally.

"Officials in the quarters in Aung Myitta, Ye said they are taking four bags of cement from each house hold that refuses to go to the rally," a source in Ye township, Mon State said.

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Yesterday the military regime held a rally to denounce the monk-led protests last month in Thanpyuzayart town. Before that there was a rally in Mudon town.

A majority of people from both townships refused to attend the rallies and paid the fine.

bnionline.net

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Unanimous support claimed for increased pressure, sanctions
Wednesday, 24 October 2007

A week-long fact-finding mission to the Thai-Burma border has reported that every organization consulted has concurred in the need for the international community to ratchet up the pressure on the Burmese regime, while also standing in strong support of increased sanctions.

The mission, a combined endeavor of the International Federation for Human Rights and the International Trade Unions Confederation, filed their preliminary findings yesterday.

According to the delegates, they were repeatedly informed that "sanctions hurt the regime and the crony elite, not the people, living from agriculture or the informal economy".

Additionally, the delegation reports that European Union sanctions, even if minimal in terms of economic significance, still succeed in sending a strong and valuable moral signal to the generals.

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bnionline.net

Between Myanmar and Thailand, a modest waterway and a gaping divide
By Thomas Fuller
Published: October 24, 2007

MYAWADI, Myanmar: The Moei River separating Myanmar from Thailand is a modest-sized waterway, wide enough to make someone think twice before swimming to the other side but sufficiently narrow to allow smugglers to pile motorcycles, furniture and food onto rubber rafts and paddle across, as they do almost every night.

Yet the water also symbolizes a wider, more basic gulf between the two nations: the major disparities in health, well-being and prosperity.

On one side, millions of Burmese suffer from chronic malnourishment. On the other, Thais enjoy a much more affluent society, where people are generally so well fed that obesity among children is a big concern.

Children die in Myanmar of diseases so easily preventable that most people in Thailand have never heard of them.

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In both Thailand and Myanmar, the military has been deeply involved in politics in recent decades. Thailand has had more than a dozen coups since the 1930s and, after the overthrow last year of a democratically elected government, power remains in the military's hands.

Yet the salient difference, says Sean Turnell, an expert on the Burmese economy at Macquarie University in Sydney, is that generals and politicians in Thailand have allowed businesses to thrive.

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Myanmar remains a place where very basic vitamin deficiencies kill people.
"You have a high level of babies dying from infantile beriberi which is a disease that you read about in medical school but never thought you'd see a case," said Stephen Atwood, a pediatrician who works as a regional adviser for the United Nations Children's Fund.

"I felt that I was reading a Dickensian novel when I saw this."

Beriberi is caused by a severe lack of vitamin B1, which is found in so many types of food - fish, eggs, brown rice, pork, peanuts among them - that most people need not be concerned about sufficient intake.

Yet perhaps the greatest measure of disparity between Myanmar and Thailand is the most fundamental: When you leave Thailand and walk across the "friendship" bridge that spans the Moei River, you join a group of people who collectively spend much less time on this earth.

According to UN data, life expectancy is 10 years shorter in Myanmar than in Thailand, where the average person lives to 71.

iht.com

Myanmar appoints new PM
October 24, 2007

The ruling Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Wednesday reassigned Lieutenant-General Thein Sein, SPDC first secretary, as new prime minister following the demise of the former's General Soe Win on Oct. 12, state-run Radio Myanmar quoted an SPDC announcement as reporting in a night broadcast.

Source: Xinhua


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Myanmar appoints new SPDC secretary-1
2007-10-24

YANGON, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The ruling Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Wednesday appointed Lieutenant-General Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, current SPDC member and Quartermaster-General, as new SPDC first secretary to replace Lieutenant-General Thein Sein who has become prime minister, state-run Radio Myanmar quoted an SPDC announcement as reporting in a night broadcast.

Asia's Forgotten Crisis
A New Approach to Burma
Michael Green and Derek Mitchell
From Foreign Affairs, November/December 2007

Summary: Over the past decade, Burma has gone from being an antidemocratic embarrassment and humanitarian disaster to being a serious threat to its neighbors' security. The international community must change its approach to the country's junta.

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Burma's neighbors are struggling to respond to the spillover effects of worsening living conditions in the country. The narcotics trade, human trafficking, and HIV/AIDS are all spreading through Southeast Asia thanks in part to Burmese drug traffickers who regularly distribute heroin with HIV-tainted needles in China, India, and Thailand. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Burma accounts for 80 percent of all heroin produced in Southeast Asia, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has drawn a direct connection between the drug routes running from Burma and the marked increase in HIV/AIDS in the border regions of neighboring countries. Perversely, the SPDC has been playing on its neighbors' concerns over the drugs, disease, and instability that Burma generates to blackmail them into providing it with political, economic, and even military assistance.

Worse, the SPDC appears to have been taking an even more threatening turn recently. Western intelligence officials have suspected for several years that the regime has had an interest in following the model of North Korea and achieving military autarky by developing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. Last spring, the junta normalized relations and initiated conventional weapons trade with North Korea in violation of UN sanctions against Pyongyang. And despite Burma's ample reserves of oil and gas, it signed an agreement with Russia to develop what it says will be peaceful nuclear capabilities. For these reasons, despite urgent problems elsewhere in the world, all responsible members of the international community should be concerned about the course Burma is taking.

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Michael Green is Associate Professor of International Relations at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a Senior Adviser and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Derek Mitchell is a Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Strategy at CSIS.

A Closer Look at the Burmese Junta
October 24, 2007
By Jürgen Kremb in Burma



The Burmese military junta brutally crushed the monk uprising last month. But will the country fall apart anyway?




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"One day perhaps Pakokku will go down in the history books as the place where the fight for democracy began," says the old monk. "That, at least, is our dream." Then he looks around carefully. "Let's talk where we won't be observed. Otherwise I'll go to prison."

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Tensions began rising in the city in mid-August, when the government raised the price of gasoline overnight. Many people could no longer travel to work because the fuel hike led to a drastic increase in bus fares. "At first the monks took to the streets merely because they were hungry," says the monk.

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In an effort to intimidate local residents, the government decided to make an example out of Pakokku. Police units entered the city, tied young monks in their red robes to lamp posts and beat them until they were bloody. "It was a violation of everything that is holy in our country," says the elderly monk.

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What happened next -- the formation of the All-Burma Monks Alliance, the uprising in the country's commercial capital and largest city Yangon, the massacres and the arrests -- shook the world. How many victims the uprising claimed will likely never be known.

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He is a fairly affluent, retired businessman. "What else can they do to me? I am an old man and a patriot," he says. Nevertheless, caution is advised in a country where entire families can be arrested for one family member's supposed infractions. For this reason, the man refers to himself, during a meeting in a hotel room, as Maung Ye, or "Mister Right."

"The move to Naypyidaw marked the beginning of the end of the regime," Maung Ye says. The construction of the junta's jungle hideout consumed a sum equal to several annual budgets in this country of 57 million people, he points out. Moreover, to keep the government officials -- many of whom were forced to move -- in good spirits, the generals had to raise their salaries. Lower-ranking bureaucrats received a fivefold increase, while senior officials gave themselves a 1,200 percent pay hike.

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Police then occupied Mandalay's main monasteries. When the monks refused to leave their quarters, the officers threatened to burn them down.

Ludu Daw Ahmar, the grande dame of Burmese literature, is the only dissident still at large. At 91, she is apparently too old to be locked up. Nevertheless, five regime spies loiter near the entrances to her house on 84th street. She sits in a chair in front of shelves containing the more than 100 books she has written. Her voice is feeble, but she has retained her shrewdness and fighting spirit.

"This system stands before an abyss," she says. "But we can only push it off if we take possession of their weapons. They will not give up before then."


Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan
spiegel.de

NLD members released and charged, but arrests continue


Oct 24, 2007 (DVB)–The Burmese government continues to target National League for Democracy members in new arrests, while some previously detained NLD members have been charged or released.


Ongoing arrests


In Irrawaddy division, about 30 NLD members have so far been detained since the anti-government demonstrations began.

Ko Thein Swe, youth coordinator of the NLD in Irrawaddy, was arrested at his house at midnight on 22 October, a few days after the arrest of Khin Htun, a communications committee member of NLD in Ma-au Bin township, at his home on 16 October.

In North Dagon township, Rangoon, NLD member Ko Thant Zin narrowly escaped being arrested at his home on 21October.

Commenting yesterday on the charging of two other NLD members, NLD spokesperson Nyan Win said that he believed the arrests were intended to prevent the NLD from operating.

"It wasn’t only NLD members who protested. In fact, there were even some of us who did not join the protests but were arrested later anyway," Nyan Win said.

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“Unlawful assembly” charges


Six NLD members in Bogalay township in Irrawaddy division, including chairman Aung Khin Bo, have now been charged.

In Magway, Magwe division, NLD member Myint Oo and another members have been charged, as have Par Lay and three other members of Taung Twin Gyi township NLD.

All were charged under section 505(b) of the penal code for causing public alarm or disturbing public tranquility, which carries a possible two year sentence, and section 143, for unlawful assembly, which could result in six months’ imprisonment.

Ko Nay Lin Aung, a resident of Irrawaddy division’s Pan Tanaw township, who was arrested in Rangoon in September, has been transferred to Insein prison, but it is unclear if he has yet been charged.


Reporting by DVB
english.dvb.no

Chin people forced to join pro-junta rally



Mass rally to support NC in Hakha, capital of Chin state in Burma on October 9. (Photo - MRTV)



October 24, 2007 - Over 4,000 people were forced by local authorities to attend a rally to support the outcome of the Burmese military junta's National Convention today on the Indo-Burma border.

The town administration and village council speaking over loud speakers led students and people in a procession which started from a play ground to the hospital in Rid town in Falam district of Chin state, Burma.

A school in Rih town was also closed after students were forced to join the rally.

"The people were made to hold posters which said BBC, VOA and RFA are liars and are creating problems," said a local from Rih town.

Around 19 policemen from Rih headed by inspector Myat Thein monitored the rally. Some policemen also recorded the rally on video.

The authorities made an announcement yesterday that at least three persons from each household have to attend the rally. It also threatened that the people would be punished if they failed to attend.

"Though we attended the rally, we were not in the mood to do so. The people gradually disappeared before they reached the hospital finish line," a local who participated in the rally said.

The rally to support the NC started at 8 a.m. and concluded at 9:30 p.m.
Similar rallies were held in Falam and Tedim town today to support the outcome of the National Convention that was wrapped up on September 3, 2007.

It was learnt that the regime is planning to hold a rally in Thangtlang town on October 26.

The National Convention began in 1993 as a part of the regime's so called seven-step road map to 'disciplined democracy'. – Khonumthung.

khonumthung.com

Myanmar's 'exiled PM' says situation appalling
31 minutes ago



Sein Win, the head of the self-proclaimed Myanmar government in exile, seen here in September 2007, said on Wednesday that the situation in his country is "appalling."
(AFP/File/Thomas Coex)


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"It is a kind of repression going every day. In the night-time these guys are going around and raiding the houses. They are also saying 'we have your photos', we will come after you.

"Lots of people, lots of monks were arrested. Some are tortured, some died in custody. Arrested persons were put in some sort of centres. An appalling situation," Sein Win told RTE state radio.

He described as "ridiculous" statements from the regime that only 10 people died.

"We don't have the exact (number) because it is impossible to get the exact number but we know that more than 270 members of the NLD (National League for Democracy) party were arrested and hundreds of monks were arrested and also many people.

"What they said is 3,000 but we think that is more than that, maybe 6,000, and they are wiping away the evidence," Sein Win said.

He said the people "were scared but also very angry, especially the people are angry over the brutal treatment against their monks".

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sg.news.yahoo.com

U.S. to India: Suspend arms sales to Myanmar
Oct. 24, 2007

The Bush administration has urged India to cut military supplies to Myanmar where a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters led to scores dead or missing.

“Now is the time for Beijing and New Delhi to forgo energy deals that put money in the pockets of the junta and suspend weapons sales to this regime," U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said Tuesday.

The comments come amid growing criticism of India, which prides itself as the world’s largest democracy, for its apparent silence over the junta-led crackdown in Myanmar.

According to an Amnesty International report earlier this year, India agreed to sell Advanced Light Helicopters to the former Burma that had European components and technology. The deal, if it goes ahead, will be a violation of the European Union arms embargo on Myanmar. It is unclear if the sales will go ahead, however.

But New Delhi is keen to counter China’s influence in a country India shares a border with. Both nations have an eye on Myanmar’s limited but promising natural gas reserves.

upi.com

The BBC has published a page containing comments from Burmese within Burma discussing the situation since the anti-government protests were quelled.

A few quotes

My aunt's PC was checked. They came to her house and checked her computer for proxy software. They have even installed some software that can track down what we are doing on the internet. She has warned me not to do anything silly.

The inflation rate is getting higher and higher. We expect that prices will go up because the economy is suffering from the political instability. People suffer as they don't earn enough to buy daily essentials. Many families can only afford one meal a day and people have started to drink rice juice when they can't afford to buy food.

With fear comes anger. This anger will never go away until this regime is destroyed forever. The anger will go away only when there is true democracy.

The internet is back to normal, although they have banned sites like CNN, blogspot and Flickr. YouTube was also banned since someone uploaded General Than Shwe daughter's lavish wedding.

Tens of thousands of people work in the tourism industry. The season is dead, no tourists are coming in, where will the money come from?

You can smell the fear in the air. You can feel it everywhere. There is so much distrust between people as there are rumours that the junta's thugs and intelligence personnel are everywhere. The internet is available again but many people do not dare use it as there are rumours of plain-clothed government personnel mixing with ordinary people in cyber cafés.

Regards

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Burmese people 'waiting in the dark'

Unity Lacking On Diplomatic Approach to Burma's Junta
By Jill Drew
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, October 25, 2007

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"That bright and shining moment, that's crumbled," said one diplomat, who spoke frankly on condition of anonymity.

He was referring to the strong language in September from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which expressed "revulsion" at Burma's bloody crackdown on the protesters, in which at least 10 and perhaps hundreds were killed.

Now some of ASEAN's 10 members are questioning current sanctions against Burma's government, arguing that countries should engage the generals rather than cut them off. "There is no consensus," the diplomat added.

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"The government is just playing games," said Bertil Lintner, an author and prominent Burma expert.

He said it is naive to think that Burma's top military ruler, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, would step aside as a result of a dialogue.

Lintner said he believes the government is eating up time, as it has many times before, hoping world attention fades.

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washingtonpost.com

China Says It Will Play Constructive Role in Myanmar (Update1)
By Allen T. Cheng and Ed Johnson

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- China will play a ``constructive role'' in trying to end the unrest in neighboring Myanmar, Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi told United Nations envoy Ibrahim Gambari today in Beijing.

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Death Toll

Myanmar soldiers may have killed as many as 110 protesters during last month's crackdown, UN human rights official Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said in New York yesterday.

Pinheiro, who will travel to Myanmar next month, said he had verified ``allegations of the use of excessive force by the security forces, including live ammunitions, rubber bullets, tear gas, bamboo and wood sticks, rubber batons and catapults.''

Thirty to 40 monks and 50 to 70 civilians may have been killed in the crackdown, Pinheiro, who is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special rapporteur on human rights in the country, told a General Assembly committee.

Reports continue of deaths in custody, torture, disappearances, ill-treatment and lack of access to food, water and medical treatment for those in detention, Pinheiro said, according to a statement on the UN's Web site.

The army and militia are reportedly ``going home by home searching for people and detaining participants in the demonstrations,'' Pinheiro said. ``Relatives of people in hiding have reportedly been taken hostage as a way of pressure.''

A ``situation of fear prevails,'' he added.

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bloomberg.com

Hurdles to Singapore Summit
October 25, 2007

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With at least one of the members -- in this case Myanmar -- having no interest in upholding those values, the Charter will be meaningless.

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thejakartapost.com

More Chinese troops along Burma border
October 24, 2007
KNG

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A middle ranking officer of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)'s in N'bapa controlled areas in Kachin State confirmed to KNG today that the number of Chinese soldiers have suddenly increased and border military exercises have been in evidence earlier this month.

The Chinese soldiers have increased in significant numbers in seven areas on the border such as Loije Pa, Nong Dao, Kampaiti and Pangwah in Kachin State and Jiageo, Pan Sai and Munggu in Northeast Shan State, according to border officers of the two Kachin ceasefire groups- KIA and New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) along Sino-Burma.

A Chinese officer in Mangshi city, who is responsible for border security of Dehong Prefecture in Yunnan Province told KNG today, "We have stepped up security along the Burma border on the direct orders of the central government. The security forces have been deployed keeping in mind security perceptions on the border before next year's '2008 Olympic Games' in Beijing."

"Security personnel have been increased on the Burma border for security concerns in the wake of Burma's political instability," the officer added.

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kachinnews.com

Crackdown 'unavoidable,' Burma minister tells monks
25/10/2007

Burma's junta has asked senior religious leaders to "understand" last month's crackdown but said it was unavoidable.

State media also reported the junta blaming rogue monks for stirring up mass protests.

Religion minister Brigadier General Thura Myint Maung made the remarks during a rare speech before senior monks ahead of one of Burma's most significant Buddhist holidays.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper quotes the mininster saying that the junta had to take "preventative" measures against situations which harm the nation.

He said authorities were forced to act against "bogus monks who organised and incited" others to move against the government.

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radioaustralia.net.au