Last witness testifies in Suu Kyi trial in Myanmar
AP - Saturday, July 11
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Testimony wrapped up Friday in the trial of Myanmar's jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as the last defense witness argued that she is innocent because the military government charged her under a constitution abolished two decades ago.
Friday's court session came a week after the regime's top general rebuffed a personal appeal by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to release the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Suu Kyi is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an uninvited American man who swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days. She faces a possible five-year prison term.
The trial has drawn condemnation from the international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through elections planned for next year. She is widely expected to be found guilty when the verdict is delivered, expected sometime next month.
A British diplomat barred from the court proceedings Friday condemned the trial, saying it "fails to meet the most basic standards" of local and international law.
On Friday, defense witness Khin Moe Moe, a lawyer and a member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, argued during 3 1/2 hours of cross-examination that the 1974 constitution under which Suu Kyi was being tried had been abolished in 1988.
"I have known her (Suu Kyi) for 20 years and based on that and legal points, I made my testimony. She violated no laws," Khin Moe Moe told reporters. She said Suu Kyi looked "healthy and alert."
"The prosecution was on the defensive. We are satisfied with the testimony," said Nyan Win, Suu Kyi's lawyer.
The nearly seven-hour session ended with the court setting July 24 for final arguments in the case, said Nyan Win. He said the verdict could be expected in the early part of August.
Security was tight around Insein prison — where Suu Kyi is being held and the trial is ongoing — with roads blocked with barbed wire barricades manned by police. Truckloads of riot police were also deployed around the prison.
About 100 Suu Kyi supporters gathered Friday, as they have during earlier court sessions, to give her support, sitting and standing as close as they could to the prison gates.
Suu Kyi has been in detention for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, mostly at her Yangon residence.
British Charge D'Affaires Jeremy Hodges asked to be allowed to attend Suu Kyi's trial, but was barred from entry, the British Embassy in Yangon said in a statement.
"I asked for access to the court where Aung San Suu Kyi's trial resumed today. I was not allowed past the security cordon around the main gates of Insein prison which leads to the court," he said in the statement.
He added that the trial "fails to meet the most basic standards of Burmese law and international practice," noting that 14 witnesses for the prosecution had been allowed to testify but only two for the defense. Myanmar is also known as Burma.
The United Nations has been trying to persuade Myanmar's authoritarian regime to free an estimated 2,100 political prisoners and hold talks with opposition leaders. However, U.N. Secretary-General Ban's personal visit and appeals last Friday and Saturday failed to gain even permission to visit Suu Kyi in jail.
Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win said he was preparing his final arguments for the trial and planned to meet Suu Kyi on Wednesday to prepare the final version.
Also being tried in Insein prison's court are her American visitor, John Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, who is charged with trespassing. Two female members of Suu Kyi's party, who were her sole companions under house arrest, are being tried for violating the terms of her detention.
The mostly closed-door trial started May 18. The court at first allowed only one of four defense witnesses to take the stand, while approving 23 prosecution witnesses, of whom 14 took the stand, according to Suu Kyi's lawyers.
On appeal, the Yangon Divisional Court ruled that Khin Moe Moe also could be heard but maintained the disqualification of prominent journalist and former political prisoner Win Tin and party vice chairman Tin Oo, who is under house arrest.
The defense has not contested the basic facts of the case but argues the relevant law has been misapplied by the authorities. They also assert that the security guards who ensure Suu Kyi remains inside her compound should also be held responsible for any intrusion on her property.
Yettaw has pleaded not guilty and explained in court that he had a dream that Suu Kyi would be assassinated and he had gone to warn her. Family and friends have said he was working on a book and wished to interview her.
AP - Saturday, July 11
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Testimony wrapped up Friday in the trial of Myanmar's jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as the last defense witness argued that she is innocent because the military government charged her under a constitution abolished two decades ago.
Friday's court session came a week after the regime's top general rebuffed a personal appeal by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to release the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Suu Kyi is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an uninvited American man who swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days. She faces a possible five-year prison term.
The trial has drawn condemnation from the international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through elections planned for next year. She is widely expected to be found guilty when the verdict is delivered, expected sometime next month.
A British diplomat barred from the court proceedings Friday condemned the trial, saying it "fails to meet the most basic standards" of local and international law.
On Friday, defense witness Khin Moe Moe, a lawyer and a member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, argued during 3 1/2 hours of cross-examination that the 1974 constitution under which Suu Kyi was being tried had been abolished in 1988.
"I have known her (Suu Kyi) for 20 years and based on that and legal points, I made my testimony. She violated no laws," Khin Moe Moe told reporters. She said Suu Kyi looked "healthy and alert."
"The prosecution was on the defensive. We are satisfied with the testimony," said Nyan Win, Suu Kyi's lawyer.
The nearly seven-hour session ended with the court setting July 24 for final arguments in the case, said Nyan Win. He said the verdict could be expected in the early part of August.
Security was tight around Insein prison — where Suu Kyi is being held and the trial is ongoing — with roads blocked with barbed wire barricades manned by police. Truckloads of riot police were also deployed around the prison.
About 100 Suu Kyi supporters gathered Friday, as they have during earlier court sessions, to give her support, sitting and standing as close as they could to the prison gates.
Suu Kyi has been in detention for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, mostly at her Yangon residence.
British Charge D'Affaires Jeremy Hodges asked to be allowed to attend Suu Kyi's trial, but was barred from entry, the British Embassy in Yangon said in a statement.
"I asked for access to the court where Aung San Suu Kyi's trial resumed today. I was not allowed past the security cordon around the main gates of Insein prison which leads to the court," he said in the statement.
He added that the trial "fails to meet the most basic standards of Burmese law and international practice," noting that 14 witnesses for the prosecution had been allowed to testify but only two for the defense. Myanmar is also known as Burma.
The United Nations has been trying to persuade Myanmar's authoritarian regime to free an estimated 2,100 political prisoners and hold talks with opposition leaders. However, U.N. Secretary-General Ban's personal visit and appeals last Friday and Saturday failed to gain even permission to visit Suu Kyi in jail.
Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win said he was preparing his final arguments for the trial and planned to meet Suu Kyi on Wednesday to prepare the final version.
Also being tried in Insein prison's court are her American visitor, John Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, who is charged with trespassing. Two female members of Suu Kyi's party, who were her sole companions under house arrest, are being tried for violating the terms of her detention.
The mostly closed-door trial started May 18. The court at first allowed only one of four defense witnesses to take the stand, while approving 23 prosecution witnesses, of whom 14 took the stand, according to Suu Kyi's lawyers.
On appeal, the Yangon Divisional Court ruled that Khin Moe Moe also could be heard but maintained the disqualification of prominent journalist and former political prisoner Win Tin and party vice chairman Tin Oo, who is under house arrest.
The defense has not contested the basic facts of the case but argues the relevant law has been misapplied by the authorities. They also assert that the security guards who ensure Suu Kyi remains inside her compound should also be held responsible for any intrusion on her property.
Yettaw has pleaded not guilty and explained in court that he had a dream that Suu Kyi would be assassinated and he had gone to warn her. Family and friends have said he was working on a book and wished to interview her.
*****************************************************
Defence witness testifies Nobel laureate Suu Kyi violated no law in her trial in Myanmar
David Stringer Associated Press writer
AP - Friday, July 10
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - The last defence witness in the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi argued Friday that the democracy leader violated no existing laws because she is being charged under a constitution that was abolished 21 years ago.
The nearly seven-hour session ended with the court setting July 24 for final arguments in the case, said Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win. A verdict is not expected on that date.
Riot police deployed outside Myanmar's main prison at Friday's session - a week after the ruling generals blocked efforts by the U.N. chief to save her from a possible five-year prison term.
The 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harbouring an uninvited American man who swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days.
But defence witness Khin Moe Moe, a lawyer and a member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, argued during 3½ hours of cross-examination that the 1974 constitution under which Suu Kyi was being tried had been axed in 1988.
"I have known her (Suu Kyi) for 20 years and based on that and legal points, I made my testimony. She violated no laws," Khin Moe Moe told reporters. She said Suu Kyi looked "healthy and alert."
"The prosecution was on the defensive. We are satisfied with the testimony," said Nyan Win.
The trial has drawn condemnation from the international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through elections planned for next year. She is widely expected to be found guilty.
Suu Kyi has been in detention for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, mostly at her Yangon residence.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on an official visit to Myanmar last Friday and Saturday, failed to gain Suu Kyi's release or even visit her in prison.
Ban said Myanmar's junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe told him repeatedly that "he really wanted to agree to my request" to see her but because Suu Kyi was on trial he did not want to be seen as interfering with the judicial process - or being pressured by the outside world.
"I am deeply disappointed that they have missed a very important opportunity," Ban said last weekend.
Also being tried on the same charges are two women members of Suu Kyi's party, who were her sole companions under house arrest. The American, John Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, is charged with trespassing.
The mostly closed-door trial started May 18. The court at first allowed only one of four defence witnesses to take the stand, while approving 23 prosecution witnesses, of whom 14 took the stand, according to Suu Kyi's lawyers.
On appeal, the Yangon Divisional Court ruled that Khin Moe Moe also could be heard but maintained the disqualification of prominent journalist and former political prisoner Win Tin and party vice chairman Tin Oo, who is under house arrest.
Security around Insein prison was tight as usual with roads leading to the prison blocked with barbed wire barricades manned by police. Truck loads of riot police were also deployed around the prison facility.
About 100 Suu Kyi supporters gathered, as they have during earlier court sessions, to give her support, sitting and standing as close as they could to the prison gates.
British Charge D'Affaires Jeremy Hodges asked to be allowed to attend Suu Kyi's trial but was told Friday that he could not because his request had not been passed to the court's security staff, Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement. Hodges is based in Yangon.
"I was not allowed past the security cordon around the main gates of Insein prison," said Hodges, who is based in Yangon.
The defence has not contested the basic facts of the case but argues the relevant law has been misapplied by the authorities. They also assert that the security guards who ensure Suu Kyi remains inside her compound should also be held responsible for any intrusion on her property.
Yettaw has pleaded not guilty and explained in court that he had a dream that Suu Kyi would be assassinated and he had gone to warn her. Family and friends have said he was working on a book and wished to interview her.
David Stringer Associated Press writer
AP - Friday, July 10
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - The last defence witness in the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi argued Friday that the democracy leader violated no existing laws because she is being charged under a constitution that was abolished 21 years ago.
The nearly seven-hour session ended with the court setting July 24 for final arguments in the case, said Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win. A verdict is not expected on that date.
Riot police deployed outside Myanmar's main prison at Friday's session - a week after the ruling generals blocked efforts by the U.N. chief to save her from a possible five-year prison term.
The 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harbouring an uninvited American man who swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days.
But defence witness Khin Moe Moe, a lawyer and a member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, argued during 3½ hours of cross-examination that the 1974 constitution under which Suu Kyi was being tried had been axed in 1988.
"I have known her (Suu Kyi) for 20 years and based on that and legal points, I made my testimony. She violated no laws," Khin Moe Moe told reporters. She said Suu Kyi looked "healthy and alert."
"The prosecution was on the defensive. We are satisfied with the testimony," said Nyan Win.
The trial has drawn condemnation from the international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through elections planned for next year. She is widely expected to be found guilty.
Suu Kyi has been in detention for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, mostly at her Yangon residence.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on an official visit to Myanmar last Friday and Saturday, failed to gain Suu Kyi's release or even visit her in prison.
Ban said Myanmar's junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe told him repeatedly that "he really wanted to agree to my request" to see her but because Suu Kyi was on trial he did not want to be seen as interfering with the judicial process - or being pressured by the outside world.
"I am deeply disappointed that they have missed a very important opportunity," Ban said last weekend.
Also being tried on the same charges are two women members of Suu Kyi's party, who were her sole companions under house arrest. The American, John Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, is charged with trespassing.
The mostly closed-door trial started May 18. The court at first allowed only one of four defence witnesses to take the stand, while approving 23 prosecution witnesses, of whom 14 took the stand, according to Suu Kyi's lawyers.
On appeal, the Yangon Divisional Court ruled that Khin Moe Moe also could be heard but maintained the disqualification of prominent journalist and former political prisoner Win Tin and party vice chairman Tin Oo, who is under house arrest.
Security around Insein prison was tight as usual with roads leading to the prison blocked with barbed wire barricades manned by police. Truck loads of riot police were also deployed around the prison facility.
About 100 Suu Kyi supporters gathered, as they have during earlier court sessions, to give her support, sitting and standing as close as they could to the prison gates.
British Charge D'Affaires Jeremy Hodges asked to be allowed to attend Suu Kyi's trial but was told Friday that he could not because his request had not been passed to the court's security staff, Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement. Hodges is based in Yangon.
"I was not allowed past the security cordon around the main gates of Insein prison," said Hodges, who is based in Yangon.
The defence has not contested the basic facts of the case but argues the relevant law has been misapplied by the authorities. They also assert that the security guards who ensure Suu Kyi remains inside her compound should also be held responsible for any intrusion on her property.
Yettaw has pleaded not guilty and explained in court that he had a dream that Suu Kyi would be assassinated and he had gone to warn her. Family and friends have said he was working on a book and wished to interview her.
*****************************************************
Closed-door Suu Kyi trial resumes in Myanmar
Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Sugita Katyal
Reuters - Saturday, July 11
YANGON (Reuters) – The widely condemned trial of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi resumed on Friday, a week after the country's military rulers ignored a plea from the United Nations chief to drop security charges against her.
Yangon's Northern District Court heard testimony from legal expert Khin Moe Moe, Suu Kyi's one remaining defense witness, legal sources said.
Suu Kyi, 64, faces five years in prison if found guilty of breaking a draconian security law that protects the state from "subversive elements."
The court agreed to adjourn final arguments in the case until July 24, said Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win.
"We were with her at the trial today and she is in good health. We've already met to discuss the 18-page draft of our final arguments," Nyan Win told Reuters.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a two-day visit to Myanmar a week ago, when he urged junta supremo Than Shwe to release Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 other political prisoners.
His request to see Suu Kyi was denied by Than Shwe and he left the country without any guarantees of democratic reforms.
Reporters and the public were kept away from Friday's trial, which has been dismissed by critics as an attempt to keep the Nobel laureate out of planned multi-party elections next year.
Britain's charge d'affaires in Yangon, Jeremy Hodges, asked to attend the trial but was told that authority for him to observe the proceedings had not come through to those in charge of security, the British embassy said in a statement.
"I asked for access to the court where Aung San Suu Kyi's trial resumed today. I was not allowed past the security cordon around the main gates of Insein prison which leads to the court," Hodges said.
"The trial fails to meet the most basic standards of Burmese law and international practice. The military regime has taken up powers that allow them to suspend what even they accept are established legal rights."
Suu Kyi allowed an American intruder to stay for two days at her lakeside home in Yangon on May 4, which the authorities said was in breach of her house arrest terms.
The American, John Yettaw, and two of Suu Kyi's housemaids, are charged under the same law, legislation her legal team says should not be applied because it is obsolete.
Leaders of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won the country's last election by a landslide in 1990 but was denied the chance to rule, complained they were unable to discuss the political situation with Ban when they met on Saturday.
In a statement released on Thursday, the NLD said Ban met for only 10 minutes with representatives of 10 opposition parties, whom he told to put aside their differences and take part in next year's polls.
Critics say the election, the final part of Myanmar's seven-step "road map" to democracy, will be a sham designed to give legitimacy to the regime and entrench nearly half a century of army rule in the former Burma.
Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Sugita Katyal
Reuters - Saturday, July 11
YANGON (Reuters) – The widely condemned trial of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi resumed on Friday, a week after the country's military rulers ignored a plea from the United Nations chief to drop security charges against her.
Yangon's Northern District Court heard testimony from legal expert Khin Moe Moe, Suu Kyi's one remaining defense witness, legal sources said.
Suu Kyi, 64, faces five years in prison if found guilty of breaking a draconian security law that protects the state from "subversive elements."
The court agreed to adjourn final arguments in the case until July 24, said Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win.
"We were with her at the trial today and she is in good health. We've already met to discuss the 18-page draft of our final arguments," Nyan Win told Reuters.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a two-day visit to Myanmar a week ago, when he urged junta supremo Than Shwe to release Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 other political prisoners.
His request to see Suu Kyi was denied by Than Shwe and he left the country without any guarantees of democratic reforms.
Reporters and the public were kept away from Friday's trial, which has been dismissed by critics as an attempt to keep the Nobel laureate out of planned multi-party elections next year.
Britain's charge d'affaires in Yangon, Jeremy Hodges, asked to attend the trial but was told that authority for him to observe the proceedings had not come through to those in charge of security, the British embassy said in a statement.
"I asked for access to the court where Aung San Suu Kyi's trial resumed today. I was not allowed past the security cordon around the main gates of Insein prison which leads to the court," Hodges said.
"The trial fails to meet the most basic standards of Burmese law and international practice. The military regime has taken up powers that allow them to suspend what even they accept are established legal rights."
Suu Kyi allowed an American intruder to stay for two days at her lakeside home in Yangon on May 4, which the authorities said was in breach of her house arrest terms.
The American, John Yettaw, and two of Suu Kyi's housemaids, are charged under the same law, legislation her legal team says should not be applied because it is obsolete.
Leaders of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won the country's last election by a landslide in 1990 but was denied the chance to rule, complained they were unable to discuss the political situation with Ban when they met on Saturday.
In a statement released on Thursday, the NLD said Ban met for only 10 minutes with representatives of 10 opposition parties, whom he told to put aside their differences and take part in next year's polls.
Critics say the election, the final part of Myanmar's seven-step "road map" to democracy, will be a sham designed to give legitimacy to the regime and entrench nearly half a century of army rule in the former Burma.
*****************************************************
Myanmar ophans flee to uncertain refuge in Thailand
by Claire Truscott – Fri Jul 10, 2:20 am ET
THA SONG YANG, Thailand (AFP) – A sudden offensive against ethnic Karen rebels by Myanmar's military junta has caused what aid groups say is the biggest exodus of refugees from Myanmar since 1997, with some 4,000 people fleeing for safety since the start of June.
Just weeks ago the group of 96 destitute orphans fled their children's home in Myanmar to the sound of mortar shells and crossed into Thailand.
With camps in Thailand already home to 135,000 refugees from the six-decade conflict between mainly-Buddhist Myanmar's junta and the Christian Karen, soliders bundled the new arrivals into the Safe Haven orphanage in this frontier village.
Thai orphanage boss Tasanee Keereepraneed watches over children from Myanmar tending to toddlers not much younger than themselves -- refugees from one of the world's longest conflicts.
But Tasanee, 49, the orphanage's self-styled "Big Mama", readily took them on along with a separate group of displaced families who are being provided with food and medicine by local aid groups.
"The children look after each other and take care of themselves. The older ones teach the younger ones," says Tasanee. "They have to grow up very quickly."
The teenagers smear white powder on younger faces for protection against the hot sun, before cosseting them under a huge tarpaulin tent. Soon the clouds gather and intense seasonal rain beats down.
Listless children sleep to pass the time, while others sit mending broken toys or try to play marbles on the sodden earth next to the Moei river, in the shadow of soaring limestone cliffs and dense foliage.
"They do not have a school, they do not have a place to stay because they had to run from the attacks," says Tasanee.
With no parents to take care of them, only a handful of teachers -- none older than 22 themselves -- were left to brighten the mood with a guitar and a few traditional Karen songs.
The long war between the Karen National Liberation Army and the Myanmar military, backed by Karen defectors paid off by the regime, may finally be headed for its endgame.
Myanmar government forces have taken new territory in Pa-an district and the Ler Her Per camp in Myanmar for the internally displaced, as the rebels fight with inferior weaponry and manpower using landmines and ambushes.
Families fleeing the recent fighting have ended up at seven makeshift camp sites in Thailand, one of which is the Mae Usu village close by the orphanage.
There, 1,100 people are gathered at the side of a muddy path. Men hurriedly cut bamboo poles with machetes to erect temporary homes that will provide little protection from the wet season.
A 32-year-old mother-of-two who goes by just one name, Malay, sits in a bamboo hut breastfeeding her baby while her blind mother-in-law rocks over a hot stove of water behind her.
"It was very difficult coming because I can only carry the baby and my husband carried his mother. We had no food to bring with us because we couldn't carry it," she said.
But they would rather be here than at home where the men say they are regularly forced to work for the state army as minesweepers and porters -- protecting soldiers from landmines in their path and carrying their food and ammunition.
A 40-year-old farmer, Mgheh, travelled with his four children, aged six to 14, and is sharing the shelter with Malay.
"We left because we were forced to work and we heard the sound of the fighting around my village. When it's safe we'll go back but I don't know when. Right now we'll just stay right here," he said.
Women face equal horrors in Myanmar, where in early June local aid groups said two teenage girls -- one carrying her unborn child -- were raped and killed by government troops.
Analysts say the timing of the latest violence is aimed at ridding the border of the last vestiges of rebel activity before the junta holds national elections next year, having made peace pacts with some 27 other ethnic groups.
But these wandering families told AFP they want nothing of politics, and seek only a peaceful return to village life.
"I just heard the noise and saw them (soldiers) by my own eyes... I heard they are taking over all the villages and I don't understand any of it... I'm only a simple farmer," said 46-year-old Soe Bohhto.
by Claire Truscott – Fri Jul 10, 2:20 am ET
THA SONG YANG, Thailand (AFP) – A sudden offensive against ethnic Karen rebels by Myanmar's military junta has caused what aid groups say is the biggest exodus of refugees from Myanmar since 1997, with some 4,000 people fleeing for safety since the start of June.
Just weeks ago the group of 96 destitute orphans fled their children's home in Myanmar to the sound of mortar shells and crossed into Thailand.
With camps in Thailand already home to 135,000 refugees from the six-decade conflict between mainly-Buddhist Myanmar's junta and the Christian Karen, soliders bundled the new arrivals into the Safe Haven orphanage in this frontier village.
Thai orphanage boss Tasanee Keereepraneed watches over children from Myanmar tending to toddlers not much younger than themselves -- refugees from one of the world's longest conflicts.
But Tasanee, 49, the orphanage's self-styled "Big Mama", readily took them on along with a separate group of displaced families who are being provided with food and medicine by local aid groups.
"The children look after each other and take care of themselves. The older ones teach the younger ones," says Tasanee. "They have to grow up very quickly."
The teenagers smear white powder on younger faces for protection against the hot sun, before cosseting them under a huge tarpaulin tent. Soon the clouds gather and intense seasonal rain beats down.
Listless children sleep to pass the time, while others sit mending broken toys or try to play marbles on the sodden earth next to the Moei river, in the shadow of soaring limestone cliffs and dense foliage.
"They do not have a school, they do not have a place to stay because they had to run from the attacks," says Tasanee.
With no parents to take care of them, only a handful of teachers -- none older than 22 themselves -- were left to brighten the mood with a guitar and a few traditional Karen songs.
The long war between the Karen National Liberation Army and the Myanmar military, backed by Karen defectors paid off by the regime, may finally be headed for its endgame.
Myanmar government forces have taken new territory in Pa-an district and the Ler Her Per camp in Myanmar for the internally displaced, as the rebels fight with inferior weaponry and manpower using landmines and ambushes.
Families fleeing the recent fighting have ended up at seven makeshift camp sites in Thailand, one of which is the Mae Usu village close by the orphanage.
There, 1,100 people are gathered at the side of a muddy path. Men hurriedly cut bamboo poles with machetes to erect temporary homes that will provide little protection from the wet season.
A 32-year-old mother-of-two who goes by just one name, Malay, sits in a bamboo hut breastfeeding her baby while her blind mother-in-law rocks over a hot stove of water behind her.
"It was very difficult coming because I can only carry the baby and my husband carried his mother. We had no food to bring with us because we couldn't carry it," she said.
But they would rather be here than at home where the men say they are regularly forced to work for the state army as minesweepers and porters -- protecting soldiers from landmines in their path and carrying their food and ammunition.
A 40-year-old farmer, Mgheh, travelled with his four children, aged six to 14, and is sharing the shelter with Malay.
"We left because we were forced to work and we heard the sound of the fighting around my village. When it's safe we'll go back but I don't know when. Right now we'll just stay right here," he said.
Women face equal horrors in Myanmar, where in early June local aid groups said two teenage girls -- one carrying her unborn child -- were raped and killed by government troops.
Analysts say the timing of the latest violence is aimed at ridding the border of the last vestiges of rebel activity before the junta holds national elections next year, having made peace pacts with some 27 other ethnic groups.
But these wandering families told AFP they want nothing of politics, and seek only a peaceful return to village life.
"I just heard the noise and saw them (soldiers) by my own eyes... I heard they are taking over all the villages and I don't understand any of it... I'm only a simple farmer," said 46-year-old Soe Bohhto.
*****************************************************
Obama iconographer finds beauty in Suu Kyi
by Shaun Tandon – Fri Jul 10, 5:09 am ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Shepard Fairey, the artist best known for his "HOPE" portrait of Barack Obama, is now trying to create an iconic image of Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in whom he sees both beauty and sternness.
Fairey's poster of Obama -- which showed the future president tinted in red, white and blue and staring into the sky above the word "HOPE" -- became an emblem for the candidate's supporters during last year's campaign.
In Fairey's representation of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate is depicted beaming with a dove above her heart on top of red rays of light. The phrase "FREEDOM TO LEAD" appears above.
It contrasts with some of the few recent pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has appeared frail after spending most of the past two decades under house arrest imposed by Myanmar's military regime.
"I think that the way people respond to art is when it's both powerful and provocative -- but also beautiful," the Los Angeles-based artist told AFP.
"The fact is that she's a beautiful woman -- stern in her resistance but also very positive," Fairey said. "The positive side, considering everything she's been faced with, was what was important to emphasize."
Aung San Suu Kyi's party swept 1990 elections but the junta in Myanmar refused to let her take power and instead confined her to her house in Yangon.
The 64-year-old is now at Yangon's notorious Insein prison and faces five years imprisonment over a bizarre incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house.
Fairey said he was moved by Aung San Suu Kyi in part because she had the choice to leave Myanmar.
He does not hesitate to describe his art as propaganda.
"I'm not afraid to use the term because so much of what we see is propaganda," Fairey said. "Television, advertisements, the way rock stars dress to look cool -- it's all propaganda."
Fairey, 39, is best known as a street artist and graphic designer. His work has ranged from ironic representations of the professional wrestler Andre the Giant to album covers for rockers including the Smashing Pumpkins.
"When it comes to pure aesthetics, I'm not prejudicial politically. I think that some of the Soviet propaganda art or Chinese propaganda art or Cuban propaganda art has been some of the best graphic art that's ever been done," Fairey said.
He acknowledged that propaganda had historical baggage. But he said his intent was not to lionize Obama or Aung San Suu Kyi but to drum up awareness and encourage the public to reach its own conclusions.
"Even if it's not as pervasive as the Obama image, I think it (the Aung San Suu Kyi portrait) could lead to more interest and that's always good," he said.
Fairey was approached to make the poster by prominent human rights activist Jack Healey, who met Aung San Suu Kyi a decade ago and promised to help her.
Healey, head of the Washington-based Human Rights Action Center, said he saw how Fairey's Obama poster fired up young people.
"I thought he could create an iconic image and do internationally for her what he did nationally for the campaign," Healey said.
Causecast, a US online social action network, is using the Internet in a bid to distribute the Aung San Suu Kyi portrait worldwide. The image can be downloaded at http://obeygiant.com.
Brian Sirgutz, the president of Causecast, hoped that the image would appear across social networking sites such as Facebook and spread via Twitter, the microblogging service instrumental to recent protests in Iran.
The portrait will also figure in concerts being planned across North America in the autumn to support Aung San Suu Kyi, Sirgutz said.
"The hope is that this image becomes the symbol of global solidarity for Aung San Suu Kyi to gain her release," he said.
U2 has been notably vocal in seeking the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, releasing a song about her, "Walk On," in 2001.
by Shaun Tandon – Fri Jul 10, 5:09 am ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Shepard Fairey, the artist best known for his "HOPE" portrait of Barack Obama, is now trying to create an iconic image of Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in whom he sees both beauty and sternness.
Fairey's poster of Obama -- which showed the future president tinted in red, white and blue and staring into the sky above the word "HOPE" -- became an emblem for the candidate's supporters during last year's campaign.
In Fairey's representation of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate is depicted beaming with a dove above her heart on top of red rays of light. The phrase "FREEDOM TO LEAD" appears above.
It contrasts with some of the few recent pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has appeared frail after spending most of the past two decades under house arrest imposed by Myanmar's military regime.
"I think that the way people respond to art is when it's both powerful and provocative -- but also beautiful," the Los Angeles-based artist told AFP.
"The fact is that she's a beautiful woman -- stern in her resistance but also very positive," Fairey said. "The positive side, considering everything she's been faced with, was what was important to emphasize."
Aung San Suu Kyi's party swept 1990 elections but the junta in Myanmar refused to let her take power and instead confined her to her house in Yangon.
The 64-year-old is now at Yangon's notorious Insein prison and faces five years imprisonment over a bizarre incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house.
Fairey said he was moved by Aung San Suu Kyi in part because she had the choice to leave Myanmar.
He does not hesitate to describe his art as propaganda.
"I'm not afraid to use the term because so much of what we see is propaganda," Fairey said. "Television, advertisements, the way rock stars dress to look cool -- it's all propaganda."
Fairey, 39, is best known as a street artist and graphic designer. His work has ranged from ironic representations of the professional wrestler Andre the Giant to album covers for rockers including the Smashing Pumpkins.
"When it comes to pure aesthetics, I'm not prejudicial politically. I think that some of the Soviet propaganda art or Chinese propaganda art or Cuban propaganda art has been some of the best graphic art that's ever been done," Fairey said.
He acknowledged that propaganda had historical baggage. But he said his intent was not to lionize Obama or Aung San Suu Kyi but to drum up awareness and encourage the public to reach its own conclusions.
"Even if it's not as pervasive as the Obama image, I think it (the Aung San Suu Kyi portrait) could lead to more interest and that's always good," he said.
Fairey was approached to make the poster by prominent human rights activist Jack Healey, who met Aung San Suu Kyi a decade ago and promised to help her.
Healey, head of the Washington-based Human Rights Action Center, said he saw how Fairey's Obama poster fired up young people.
"I thought he could create an iconic image and do internationally for her what he did nationally for the campaign," Healey said.
Causecast, a US online social action network, is using the Internet in a bid to distribute the Aung San Suu Kyi portrait worldwide. The image can be downloaded at http://obeygiant.com.
Brian Sirgutz, the president of Causecast, hoped that the image would appear across social networking sites such as Facebook and spread via Twitter, the microblogging service instrumental to recent protests in Iran.
The portrait will also figure in concerts being planned across North America in the autumn to support Aung San Suu Kyi, Sirgutz said.
"The hope is that this image becomes the symbol of global solidarity for Aung San Suu Kyi to gain her release," he said.
U2 has been notably vocal in seeking the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, releasing a song about her, "Walk On," in 2001.
*****************************************************
EarthTimes - Aung San Suu Kyi's trial to conclude on July 24 - Summary
Posted : Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:17:45 GMT
Yangon - The trial of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will conclude on July 24 after hearing the final testimony Friday, Suu Kyi's defence lawyer said. "The final arguments of the prosecution and defence have been scheduled for July 24, starting at 2 pm," Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi's lawyers, said. The verdict will be issued on an unnamed date thereafter.
On Friday, a special court set up in Insein Prison heard the testimony of lawyer Khin Moe Moe, a member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
In her seven-hour testimony Khin Moe Moe argued that Suu Kyi's detention was unlawful, because it was based on the 1974 constitution, which is now defunct, having been replaced by the 2008 charter, Nyan Win told reporters.
Suu Kyi was jailed in May, 2003, on charges of threatening national security by leading her party members in central Myanmar that month. She and her followers were assaulted by pro-government thugs, leading to her arrest.
She was sentenced to house detention, and now stands accused of breaking that detention by allowing US national John William Yettaw to swim to her lakeside home-cum-prison in Yangon on May 3 and stay there for two nights without alerting the authorities.
Khin Moe Moe argued that the detention was based on the 1974 constitution, but that was replaced by the 2008 charter, which has no such clause on threats to national security.
She was one of two witnesses permitted to testify for the defence while prosecutors were allowed 14.
Suu Kyi's defence team met with the jailed Nobel peacelaureate Wednesday to brief her on the trial.
Nyan Win, who is the official spokesman for the NLD, also informed Suu Kyi that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had been denied a meeting with her by Myanmar's military junta during his brief trip to Myanmar July 3-4.
"She made no remark on that," Nyan Win said.
Myanmar's military regime refused Ban's request to meet Suu Kyi on the grounds that she was currently on trial and such a visit might prejudice the judiciary.
The excuse was deemed ridiculous because it is well-known that Myanmar's judiciary does not operate independently of the junta.
Ban said he was "very disappointed" by the refusal and described it as a "missed opportunity" for the regime.
Khin Moe Moe was originally scheduled to testify on July 3, but the court session was postponed.
A special court was set up at Insein Prison to try Suu Kyi, beginning May 11, for breaking the terms of her detention by allegedly permitting Yettaw to stay at her house.
Critics have accused the military junta of using the case as a pretext to keep Suu Kyi in jail during a politically sensitive period leading up to a general election planned for next year.
That election would be the first since Suu Kyi's NLD won the 1990 general election by a landslide. It has, however, been blocked from power by Myanmar's junta for the past 19 years.
Meanwhile, Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention.
The new trial of Suu Kyi, whose most recent six-year sentence under house detention expired May 27, has sparked a chorus of protests from world leaders and even statements of concern from its regional allies in the Association of South-East Asian Nations.
Posted : Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:17:45 GMT
Yangon - The trial of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will conclude on July 24 after hearing the final testimony Friday, Suu Kyi's defence lawyer said. "The final arguments of the prosecution and defence have been scheduled for July 24, starting at 2 pm," Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi's lawyers, said. The verdict will be issued on an unnamed date thereafter.
On Friday, a special court set up in Insein Prison heard the testimony of lawyer Khin Moe Moe, a member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
In her seven-hour testimony Khin Moe Moe argued that Suu Kyi's detention was unlawful, because it was based on the 1974 constitution, which is now defunct, having been replaced by the 2008 charter, Nyan Win told reporters.
Suu Kyi was jailed in May, 2003, on charges of threatening national security by leading her party members in central Myanmar that month. She and her followers were assaulted by pro-government thugs, leading to her arrest.
She was sentenced to house detention, and now stands accused of breaking that detention by allowing US national John William Yettaw to swim to her lakeside home-cum-prison in Yangon on May 3 and stay there for two nights without alerting the authorities.
Khin Moe Moe argued that the detention was based on the 1974 constitution, but that was replaced by the 2008 charter, which has no such clause on threats to national security.
She was one of two witnesses permitted to testify for the defence while prosecutors were allowed 14.
Suu Kyi's defence team met with the jailed Nobel peacelaureate Wednesday to brief her on the trial.
Nyan Win, who is the official spokesman for the NLD, also informed Suu Kyi that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had been denied a meeting with her by Myanmar's military junta during his brief trip to Myanmar July 3-4.
"She made no remark on that," Nyan Win said.
Myanmar's military regime refused Ban's request to meet Suu Kyi on the grounds that she was currently on trial and such a visit might prejudice the judiciary.
The excuse was deemed ridiculous because it is well-known that Myanmar's judiciary does not operate independently of the junta.
Ban said he was "very disappointed" by the refusal and described it as a "missed opportunity" for the regime.
Khin Moe Moe was originally scheduled to testify on July 3, but the court session was postponed.
A special court was set up at Insein Prison to try Suu Kyi, beginning May 11, for breaking the terms of her detention by allegedly permitting Yettaw to stay at her house.
Critics have accused the military junta of using the case as a pretext to keep Suu Kyi in jail during a politically sensitive period leading up to a general election planned for next year.
That election would be the first since Suu Kyi's NLD won the 1990 general election by a landslide. It has, however, been blocked from power by Myanmar's junta for the past 19 years.
Meanwhile, Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention.
The new trial of Suu Kyi, whose most recent six-year sentence under house detention expired May 27, has sparked a chorus of protests from world leaders and even statements of concern from its regional allies in the Association of South-East Asian Nations.
*****************************************************
Scoop - Aung San Suu Kyi Held in "Gulag-like Conditions"
Friday, 10 July 2009, 11:23 am
Press Release: Terry Evans
The British intelligence service MI6 has reported that the world's most famous political prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi, is being held in "gulag-like conditions" while being tried at Rangoon's infamous Insein prison.
MI6 stated that, "Her trial has all the elements of an old-time People's Court hearing. No public are admitted. The defence lawyers cannot discuss the hearing outside the court. Suu Kyi sits in a dock under guard, and cannot speak to her judges directly. No reporters are allowed to cover the hearing."
Her lawyer Nyan Win also confirmed that Suu Kyi was only allowed to read the state-controlled press, and was being denied access to “uncensored information via foreign broadcasting”.
The junta's appalling treatment of Burma's democratically elected leader is sure to be raised before the UN Security Council in August, and again in September when the US takes over the chair from the UK.
In the past Burma has been able to rely on the vetoes of two permanent members of the Security Council - China and Russia - to block unfavorable resolutions. However, informed sources say that China is extremely disappointed by the Burmese regime’s recent treatment of UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
Friday, 10 July 2009, 11:23 am
Press Release: Terry Evans
The British intelligence service MI6 has reported that the world's most famous political prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi, is being held in "gulag-like conditions" while being tried at Rangoon's infamous Insein prison.
MI6 stated that, "Her trial has all the elements of an old-time People's Court hearing. No public are admitted. The defence lawyers cannot discuss the hearing outside the court. Suu Kyi sits in a dock under guard, and cannot speak to her judges directly. No reporters are allowed to cover the hearing."
Her lawyer Nyan Win also confirmed that Suu Kyi was only allowed to read the state-controlled press, and was being denied access to “uncensored information via foreign broadcasting”.
The junta's appalling treatment of Burma's democratically elected leader is sure to be raised before the UN Security Council in August, and again in September when the US takes over the chair from the UK.
In the past Burma has been able to rely on the vetoes of two permanent members of the Security Council - China and Russia - to block unfavorable resolutions. However, informed sources say that China is extremely disappointed by the Burmese regime’s recent treatment of UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
*****************************************************
The Christian Science Monitor - Obama sees 'positive step' in the shadowing of the Kang Nam
As North Korea cargo ship returns home, US and UN officials claim a victory for tighter sanctions.
By Peter Grier | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the July 7, 2009 edition
Score one for international sanctions against North Korea.
That is the line that US and United Nations officials are taking after the return home of the Kang Nam 1, a rust-bucket North Korean freighter suspected of carrying a cargo of illicit weapons exports.
It is not always easy to get the international community to line up behind efforts to punish Pyongyang. In particular, China and Russia at times have balked at tough measures aimed at their regional neighbor.
But the trailing of the Kang Nam – it was shadowed by a US warship after it left port last month – shows how North Korea can be deterred if everyone works together, said President Obama Tuesday.
"We've already seen a ship of North Korea's turned back because of international effort to implement the sanctions, and I think that is a positive step forward," said Mr. Obama in an ABC interview following two days of meetings in Moscow.
Obama's remarks came as the US undertakes further efforts to get China in particular to cooperate in cracking down on Pyongyang.
Tracking financial movements, too
US Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey is in China and Hong Kong this week seeking help with US efforts to keep North Korea from using international banks and businesses to facilitate its weapons transactions.
North Korea's underground nuclear explosion in May was the action that finally caused most of the rest of the world to close ranks against the Kim Jong Il regime.
After the test, the UN Security Council passed a resolution that bars North Korea from selling most weapons and weapons-related material. Most important, the resolution has some enforcement teeth: It allows other countries to request boarding and inspection of ships suspected of carrying North Korea contraband.
Suspect ships don't have to give boarding permission, under the UN action. Nor does the resolution explicitly allow use of armed force in inspection situations.
The resolution allows not so much a blockade of North Korean weapons commerce as intrusive following and surveillance measures. Suspect ships would be on notice that the world is watching them – as would their intended destination ports.
US Navy to stay vigilant
This monitoring is "a very effective way" of stopping missile or nuclear proliferation, said the US chief of naval operations, Adm. Gary Roughead, in Seoul on Tuesday. Admiral Roughead indicated that the Navy would continue to monitor and follow ships along the Korean coast.
"That's an indication of the way the international community came together," said Roughead of the Kang Nam 1's reversal.
The specific reason the North Korean cargo ship turned around may not be known for months or years, or ever. US intelligence believed its intended destination to be Myanmar. It is possible that Myanmar said it did not want the ship to land, given the spotlight it was attracting.
The ship did not make much speed on the outward leg of its journey, as it wallowed down the Chinese coast at a speed of 10 knots or so. It is possible that it was a decoy, sent to see how the US Navy would react.
As North Korea cargo ship returns home, US and UN officials claim a victory for tighter sanctions.
By Peter Grier | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the July 7, 2009 edition
Score one for international sanctions against North Korea.
That is the line that US and United Nations officials are taking after the return home of the Kang Nam 1, a rust-bucket North Korean freighter suspected of carrying a cargo of illicit weapons exports.
It is not always easy to get the international community to line up behind efforts to punish Pyongyang. In particular, China and Russia at times have balked at tough measures aimed at their regional neighbor.
But the trailing of the Kang Nam – it was shadowed by a US warship after it left port last month – shows how North Korea can be deterred if everyone works together, said President Obama Tuesday.
"We've already seen a ship of North Korea's turned back because of international effort to implement the sanctions, and I think that is a positive step forward," said Mr. Obama in an ABC interview following two days of meetings in Moscow.
Obama's remarks came as the US undertakes further efforts to get China in particular to cooperate in cracking down on Pyongyang.
Tracking financial movements, too
US Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey is in China and Hong Kong this week seeking help with US efforts to keep North Korea from using international banks and businesses to facilitate its weapons transactions.
North Korea's underground nuclear explosion in May was the action that finally caused most of the rest of the world to close ranks against the Kim Jong Il regime.
After the test, the UN Security Council passed a resolution that bars North Korea from selling most weapons and weapons-related material. Most important, the resolution has some enforcement teeth: It allows other countries to request boarding and inspection of ships suspected of carrying North Korea contraband.
Suspect ships don't have to give boarding permission, under the UN action. Nor does the resolution explicitly allow use of armed force in inspection situations.
The resolution allows not so much a blockade of North Korean weapons commerce as intrusive following and surveillance measures. Suspect ships would be on notice that the world is watching them – as would their intended destination ports.
US Navy to stay vigilant
This monitoring is "a very effective way" of stopping missile or nuclear proliferation, said the US chief of naval operations, Adm. Gary Roughead, in Seoul on Tuesday. Admiral Roughead indicated that the Navy would continue to monitor and follow ships along the Korean coast.
"That's an indication of the way the international community came together," said Roughead of the Kang Nam 1's reversal.
The specific reason the North Korean cargo ship turned around may not be known for months or years, or ever. US intelligence believed its intended destination to be Myanmar. It is possible that Myanmar said it did not want the ship to land, given the spotlight it was attracting.
The ship did not make much speed on the outward leg of its journey, as it wallowed down the Chinese coast at a speed of 10 knots or so. It is possible that it was a decoy, sent to see how the US Navy would react.
*****************************************************
The Boston Globe - Editorial: Disillusioned in Burma
July 10, 2009
TRUE TO form, Burma’s military dictator, General Than Shwe, showed only disdain when UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited that tortured land last weekend. Than Shwe and the other four generals in the ruling junta denied Ban’s requests for a democratic evolution. To his credit, Ban spoke out afterward, asking, “How much longer can Burma afford to wait for national reconciliation, democratic transition and full respect for human rights?’’
Now that he has seen experienced the junta leader’s inflexibility firsthand, Ban must confront the question: What can the world body do to help liberate the people of Burma? The narco-trafficking regime there has forced people into labor, used systematic rape as a weapon of war, and conducted brutal army offenses that uprooted hundreds of thousands of people from minority ethnic groups.
Ban had the right idea. Upon arriving in Burma, he planned to ask for the release of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and 2,100 other political prisoners. He would call for reconciliation with Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, landslide winners of Burma’s last free election in 1990, a mandate the junta never honored. Ban also wanted to foster humanitarian aid and economic development.
But after Than Shwe refused to cede to any of these requests, Ban got the message. “Neither peace nor development can thrive without democracy and respect for human rights,’’ he told diplomats and aid agencies.
Ban is mistaken, however, if he thinks that proper monitoring will legitimize an election scheduled for 2010 - an exercise rigged to perpetuate military rule with a civilian patina. Burmese democratic activist Win Tin has observed that the true barrier to democracy in Burma is not the mechanics of next year’s balloting but the junta’s “unjust constitution.’’ That document bars Suu Kyi from participating, reserves 25 percent of seats in Parliament for the military, and practically guarantees the generals and their cronies an overwhelming majority.
If Ban really wants to help the people of Burma, he should side with the 55 members of the US Congress who recently signed a letter to President Obama urging him “to take the lead in establishing a United Nations Security Council Commission of Inquiry into the Burmese military regime’s crimes against humanity and war crimes against its civilian population.’’ Such commissions were instituted for Rwanda and Darfur. Nothing less is needed if the UN, that would-be parliament of nations, is to fulfill its commitment to protect the peoples of the world from criminal rulers.
July 10, 2009
TRUE TO form, Burma’s military dictator, General Than Shwe, showed only disdain when UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited that tortured land last weekend. Than Shwe and the other four generals in the ruling junta denied Ban’s requests for a democratic evolution. To his credit, Ban spoke out afterward, asking, “How much longer can Burma afford to wait for national reconciliation, democratic transition and full respect for human rights?’’
Now that he has seen experienced the junta leader’s inflexibility firsthand, Ban must confront the question: What can the world body do to help liberate the people of Burma? The narco-trafficking regime there has forced people into labor, used systematic rape as a weapon of war, and conducted brutal army offenses that uprooted hundreds of thousands of people from minority ethnic groups.
Ban had the right idea. Upon arriving in Burma, he planned to ask for the release of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and 2,100 other political prisoners. He would call for reconciliation with Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, landslide winners of Burma’s last free election in 1990, a mandate the junta never honored. Ban also wanted to foster humanitarian aid and economic development.
But after Than Shwe refused to cede to any of these requests, Ban got the message. “Neither peace nor development can thrive without democracy and respect for human rights,’’ he told diplomats and aid agencies.
Ban is mistaken, however, if he thinks that proper monitoring will legitimize an election scheduled for 2010 - an exercise rigged to perpetuate military rule with a civilian patina. Burmese democratic activist Win Tin has observed that the true barrier to democracy in Burma is not the mechanics of next year’s balloting but the junta’s “unjust constitution.’’ That document bars Suu Kyi from participating, reserves 25 percent of seats in Parliament for the military, and practically guarantees the generals and their cronies an overwhelming majority.
If Ban really wants to help the people of Burma, he should side with the 55 members of the US Congress who recently signed a letter to President Obama urging him “to take the lead in establishing a United Nations Security Council Commission of Inquiry into the Burmese military regime’s crimes against humanity and war crimes against its civilian population.’’ Such commissions were instituted for Rwanda and Darfur. Nothing less is needed if the UN, that would-be parliament of nations, is to fulfill its commitment to protect the peoples of the world from criminal rulers.
*****************************************************
The Sydney Morning Herald - Riot police gather force as Suu Kyi trial restarts
July 11, 2009
RANGOON: Riot police have deployed outside Burma's main prison as the trial of the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi resumed, a week after the ruling generals blocked efforts by the United Nations chief to save her from a possible five-year jail term.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 64, is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harbouring an American who swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days.
Khin Moe Moe, a lawyer and a member of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, was scheduled to appear as a defence witness during yesterday's session, which a Burmese official said restarted inside Insein prison, Rangoon, where Ms Suu Kyi is being held.
The trial has drawn condemnation worldwide and from Ms Suu Kyi's local supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through elections planned for next year. Ms Suu Kyi has been in detention for nearly 14 of the past 20 years, mostly at her Rangoon residence.
The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on an official visit last Friday and Saturday, failed to gain her release or even visit her in prison.
Mr Ban said the junta chief, Senior General Than Shwe, told him repeatedly that "he really wanted to agree to my request" to see her but because Ms Suu Kyi was on trial he did not want to be seen as interfering with the judicial process - or being pressured by the outside world.
Also being tried on the same charges are two members of Ms Suu Kyi's party, who were her sole companions while under house arrest. The American, John Yettaw, 53, of Missouri, is charged with trespassing.
The defence says authorities have misapplied the relevant law and that any intrusion was the responsibility of the security forces guarding the house.
July 11, 2009
RANGOON: Riot police have deployed outside Burma's main prison as the trial of the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi resumed, a week after the ruling generals blocked efforts by the United Nations chief to save her from a possible five-year jail term.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 64, is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harbouring an American who swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days.
Khin Moe Moe, a lawyer and a member of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, was scheduled to appear as a defence witness during yesterday's session, which a Burmese official said restarted inside Insein prison, Rangoon, where Ms Suu Kyi is being held.
The trial has drawn condemnation worldwide and from Ms Suu Kyi's local supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through elections planned for next year. Ms Suu Kyi has been in detention for nearly 14 of the past 20 years, mostly at her Rangoon residence.
The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on an official visit last Friday and Saturday, failed to gain her release or even visit her in prison.
Mr Ban said the junta chief, Senior General Than Shwe, told him repeatedly that "he really wanted to agree to my request" to see her but because Ms Suu Kyi was on trial he did not want to be seen as interfering with the judicial process - or being pressured by the outside world.
Also being tried on the same charges are two members of Ms Suu Kyi's party, who were her sole companions while under house arrest. The American, John Yettaw, 53, of Missouri, is charged with trespassing.
The defence says authorities have misapplied the relevant law and that any intrusion was the responsibility of the security forces guarding the house.
*****************************************************
MCOT - Thailand and Myanmar cooperate to verify nationality of Myanmar workers
RANONG, July 10 (TNA) – Thai and Myanmar officials confirmed their readiness to verify the nationality of Myanmar workers seeking legal work permits in Thailand.
The nationality verification process will be conducted at three centres in Myanmar, aiming at managing up to 600 workers a day except for those of the Rohingya ethnic minority.
The process is for Myanmar labourers to be able to legally work in Thailand with an appropriate visa.
Representatives from Thailand and Myanmar on Friday jointly checked the readiness of one of the three citizenship identification centres in Myanmar’s Koh Song, opposite Thailand’s southern province of Ranong.
The other two centres are in Myanmar’s Myawaddi province, opposite Thailand’s Mae Sot district in the northern province of Tak, and in Myanmar’s Tachilek, opposite Thailand’s Mae Sai, in the northern province of Chiang Rai.
Director Pichai Ekpitakdamrong of the Thai Employment Department and Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister, Maung Myaint inspected the Koh Song centre Friday.
Pichai said the centres were entirely ready and would start their services on July 15. In order to support the procedure, Thailand provided Myanmar some necessary equipment for the centres.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Maung Myaint confirmed that the Myanmar authorities agreed to cooperate with
Thailand on the matter. They would neither deny nor obstruct the process in verifying the nationality of migrant workers, except for the Rohingyas, whom Myanmar denies as being one of its minority groups.
Meanwhile, Myanmar officials denied rumours that applicants could be subject to arrest or that taxes would be collected from Myanmar workers wishing to undergo the nationality verification process. They argued their government only wanted their labourers to legally work in Thailand and to be protected under Thai law.
RANONG, July 10 (TNA) – Thai and Myanmar officials confirmed their readiness to verify the nationality of Myanmar workers seeking legal work permits in Thailand.
The nationality verification process will be conducted at three centres in Myanmar, aiming at managing up to 600 workers a day except for those of the Rohingya ethnic minority.
The process is for Myanmar labourers to be able to legally work in Thailand with an appropriate visa.
Representatives from Thailand and Myanmar on Friday jointly checked the readiness of one of the three citizenship identification centres in Myanmar’s Koh Song, opposite Thailand’s southern province of Ranong.
The other two centres are in Myanmar’s Myawaddi province, opposite Thailand’s Mae Sot district in the northern province of Tak, and in Myanmar’s Tachilek, opposite Thailand’s Mae Sai, in the northern province of Chiang Rai.
Director Pichai Ekpitakdamrong of the Thai Employment Department and Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister, Maung Myaint inspected the Koh Song centre Friday.
Pichai said the centres were entirely ready and would start their services on July 15. In order to support the procedure, Thailand provided Myanmar some necessary equipment for the centres.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Maung Myaint confirmed that the Myanmar authorities agreed to cooperate with
Thailand on the matter. They would neither deny nor obstruct the process in verifying the nationality of migrant workers, except for the Rohingyas, whom Myanmar denies as being one of its minority groups.
Meanwhile, Myanmar officials denied rumours that applicants could be subject to arrest or that taxes would be collected from Myanmar workers wishing to undergo the nationality verification process. They argued their government only wanted their labourers to legally work in Thailand and to be protected under Thai law.
*****************************************************
The Northern Echo - Burma's new stars
1:03pm Friday 10th July 2009
Shereen Low talks to the makers of Burma VJ about the bravery of the undercover reporters who paid a high price for their actions.
IN A summer that’s filled with action-packed blockbusters and the biggest Hollywood stars, there’s one film that stands out as unique. Burma VJ has already captured the attention of the highest office in the UK after it became the first film to premiere at 10 Downing Street in a private screening hosted by the Prime Minister’s wife, Sarah Brown.
Shot on small, undercover handycams, the film reveals the powers of citizen journalism and resonates with the situation in Iran.
“Burma VJ is certainly about citizen journalists as a phenomenon, and what one person who’s there at the right time can do to set the world agenda,”
says its Danish maker, Anders Ostergaard.
“This is not just going on in Burma, you are seeing it today now in Iran.
The coverage of the demonstrations that are going on there and being sent around the world and viewed on YouTube.
“So it’s very much a film about this new phenomenon that technology is making the biggest stretch. It empowers the people to have access to all these things.”
Unlike anything else you’ll see in a cinema this summer, Burma VJ was made under the most challenging circumstances.
Freedom of speech in Burma is almost non-existent after democratic rule ended in 1962. Its citizens are kept under a tight rein because the country, which is officially known as Myanmar, is under the strict control of a military junta, governed by the State Peace and Development Council and led by general Than Shwe. The governmentcontrolled media is censored, while many foreign press are banned. Anyone who steps out of line risks their lives, facing torture and life imprisonment.
Yet Ostergaard managed to gather a handful of undercover video journalists (VJs) from Democratic Voice of Burma, a non-profit organisation providing uncensored news about the country, led by “Joshua”, to compile coverage.
Ostergaard says: “I thought ‘I know too little about Burma, I need to know more because I know nothing’. The VJs were able to do things that we would never get access to, the stories they could compile despite the restraints that they are under, their courage and the determination to do something like this, were incredible.”
Filmed over three years, the documentary brings audiences close to the situation in the closed country by covering the violent mass protests of September, 2007, by the Burmese public and monks, who are normally apolitical.
The undercover reportages were then smuggled out of the country.
Ostergaard says: “I got very emotional seeing the bad stuff and the good stuff – the euphoria of the days before, seeing the mass liberation of the people, and just feeling that you’re dealing with a very big story.”
For Joshua, however, it was always the urge for change that spurred him to get involved.
“If we want to be free, we have to do something,” he says. “I want it, so I fight for it. That’s all. I was a political activist before I became a journalist. I was just 16 years old. We are not only trying to change the regime, but also trying to build up a democratic society.”
He’s aware of the risks his job poses to his life and the people around him, and has been arrested. He left the country after making the film and now lives in exile.
“I even thought that I cannot go on the job any more. I lost my very best guys in my company – I’m really upset with their arrest. One of my friends was very brutally tortured and he is paralysed. But I’m not scared.”
Joshua adds: “I’m really worried about my family. After September 2007, one of my friends had to tell where I live, because he was tortured very brutally.”
The one person who hits the Western headlines is Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition to the Burmese military government, who has been under strict house arrest since 1989.
Interest in the political prisoner has recently reignited, as the 64-year-old is awaiting trial for violating the terms of her lengthy house arrest. She could face five years in prison. “Their attempt to put Aung San Suu Kyi in jail is clearly a blunder and is attracting a lot of attention at the moment,” says Ostergaard.
“The Chinese that were supporting them are increasingly embarrassed by them, the Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) community are more outspoken than they have been in a long time because of that stupid trial.
“So (the junta) seem to be wearing out their goodwill amongst their peers, if there ever was any. We also have history to teach us that sometimes the impossible is possible when the right energies come together. We never give up hope, what’s the alternative to hope?”
It’s a point of view that Joshua agrees with.
“Before September 2007 people were even scared of speaking. Now they are much more outspoken, although they are not fighting for it yet.”
Both have expectations that change is imminent, yet they refuse to pin their hopes on it happening anytime soon. “I don’t think it will happen by a public uprising like we saw years ago – they clearly needed an X factor, another factor, in order to be successful,” explains Ostergaard.
“It could be a revolt from junior officers… some of them were very embarrassed by beating up monks – they all know it’s a sacrilege and gives you bad karma. They don’t enjoy the isolation they’re getting out of this.
Any power structure has its weaknesses.”
■ Burma VJ is released in cinemas from Tuesday, July 14. Visit burmavjmovie.com and burmanet.org to find out what’s happening
1:03pm Friday 10th July 2009
Shereen Low talks to the makers of Burma VJ about the bravery of the undercover reporters who paid a high price for their actions.
IN A summer that’s filled with action-packed blockbusters and the biggest Hollywood stars, there’s one film that stands out as unique. Burma VJ has already captured the attention of the highest office in the UK after it became the first film to premiere at 10 Downing Street in a private screening hosted by the Prime Minister’s wife, Sarah Brown.
Shot on small, undercover handycams, the film reveals the powers of citizen journalism and resonates with the situation in Iran.
“Burma VJ is certainly about citizen journalists as a phenomenon, and what one person who’s there at the right time can do to set the world agenda,”
says its Danish maker, Anders Ostergaard.
“This is not just going on in Burma, you are seeing it today now in Iran.
The coverage of the demonstrations that are going on there and being sent around the world and viewed on YouTube.
“So it’s very much a film about this new phenomenon that technology is making the biggest stretch. It empowers the people to have access to all these things.”
Unlike anything else you’ll see in a cinema this summer, Burma VJ was made under the most challenging circumstances.
Freedom of speech in Burma is almost non-existent after democratic rule ended in 1962. Its citizens are kept under a tight rein because the country, which is officially known as Myanmar, is under the strict control of a military junta, governed by the State Peace and Development Council and led by general Than Shwe. The governmentcontrolled media is censored, while many foreign press are banned. Anyone who steps out of line risks their lives, facing torture and life imprisonment.
Yet Ostergaard managed to gather a handful of undercover video journalists (VJs) from Democratic Voice of Burma, a non-profit organisation providing uncensored news about the country, led by “Joshua”, to compile coverage.
Ostergaard says: “I thought ‘I know too little about Burma, I need to know more because I know nothing’. The VJs were able to do things that we would never get access to, the stories they could compile despite the restraints that they are under, their courage and the determination to do something like this, were incredible.”
Filmed over three years, the documentary brings audiences close to the situation in the closed country by covering the violent mass protests of September, 2007, by the Burmese public and monks, who are normally apolitical.
The undercover reportages were then smuggled out of the country.
Ostergaard says: “I got very emotional seeing the bad stuff and the good stuff – the euphoria of the days before, seeing the mass liberation of the people, and just feeling that you’re dealing with a very big story.”
For Joshua, however, it was always the urge for change that spurred him to get involved.
“If we want to be free, we have to do something,” he says. “I want it, so I fight for it. That’s all. I was a political activist before I became a journalist. I was just 16 years old. We are not only trying to change the regime, but also trying to build up a democratic society.”
He’s aware of the risks his job poses to his life and the people around him, and has been arrested. He left the country after making the film and now lives in exile.
“I even thought that I cannot go on the job any more. I lost my very best guys in my company – I’m really upset with their arrest. One of my friends was very brutally tortured and he is paralysed. But I’m not scared.”
Joshua adds: “I’m really worried about my family. After September 2007, one of my friends had to tell where I live, because he was tortured very brutally.”
The one person who hits the Western headlines is Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition to the Burmese military government, who has been under strict house arrest since 1989.
Interest in the political prisoner has recently reignited, as the 64-year-old is awaiting trial for violating the terms of her lengthy house arrest. She could face five years in prison. “Their attempt to put Aung San Suu Kyi in jail is clearly a blunder and is attracting a lot of attention at the moment,” says Ostergaard.
“The Chinese that were supporting them are increasingly embarrassed by them, the Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) community are more outspoken than they have been in a long time because of that stupid trial.
“So (the junta) seem to be wearing out their goodwill amongst their peers, if there ever was any. We also have history to teach us that sometimes the impossible is possible when the right energies come together. We never give up hope, what’s the alternative to hope?”
It’s a point of view that Joshua agrees with.
“Before September 2007 people were even scared of speaking. Now they are much more outspoken, although they are not fighting for it yet.”
Both have expectations that change is imminent, yet they refuse to pin their hopes on it happening anytime soon. “I don’t think it will happen by a public uprising like we saw years ago – they clearly needed an X factor, another factor, in order to be successful,” explains Ostergaard.
“It could be a revolt from junior officers… some of them were very embarrassed by beating up monks – they all know it’s a sacrilege and gives you bad karma. They don’t enjoy the isolation they’re getting out of this.
Any power structure has its weaknesses.”
■ Burma VJ is released in cinemas from Tuesday, July 14. Visit burmavjmovie.com and burmanet.org to find out what’s happening
*****************************************************
10 July 2009
Ananova - Richard Gere backs Burma campaign
Richard Gere has backed a worldwide campaign calling for the release of five video journalists (VJs) imprisoned in Burma.
The VJs were arrested for secretly filming the 2007 Saffron Revolution. Their story is told in the new documentary Burma VJ, which features illegal footage filmed by the now-imprisoned VJs using concealed cameras.
The VJs risked torture, imprisonment and death to document the story behind the 2007 uprisings, and they now face up to 65 years in prison for simply recording the events in the film.
After seeing Burma VJ, Gere said: "It's desperately important that people see this film and get involved in the movement to help Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi.
"I was incredibly moved on many different levels by what the filmmakers achieved. The conviction and urgency that Burma VJ conveys is very difficult to communicate on film in an honest way."
He continued: "Supporting this film and the Free the VJs Co-operative's campaign will enhance your own sense of responsibility by demonstrating that you can effect positive change in the world.
"It is important that we keep ourselves connected by engaging human rights issues around the globe and insisting that our government representatives, business leaders and institutions like the UN do something when rights are violated."
Burma VJ opens at 40 cinemas across the UK on 14 July.
Ananova - Richard Gere backs Burma campaign
Richard Gere has backed a worldwide campaign calling for the release of five video journalists (VJs) imprisoned in Burma.
The VJs were arrested for secretly filming the 2007 Saffron Revolution. Their story is told in the new documentary Burma VJ, which features illegal footage filmed by the now-imprisoned VJs using concealed cameras.
The VJs risked torture, imprisonment and death to document the story behind the 2007 uprisings, and they now face up to 65 years in prison for simply recording the events in the film.
After seeing Burma VJ, Gere said: "It's desperately important that people see this film and get involved in the movement to help Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi.
"I was incredibly moved on many different levels by what the filmmakers achieved. The conviction and urgency that Burma VJ conveys is very difficult to communicate on film in an honest way."
He continued: "Supporting this film and the Free the VJs Co-operative's campaign will enhance your own sense of responsibility by demonstrating that you can effect positive change in the world.
"It is important that we keep ourselves connected by engaging human rights issues around the globe and insisting that our government representatives, business leaders and institutions like the UN do something when rights are violated."
Burma VJ opens at 40 cinemas across the UK on 14 July.
*****************************************************
ReliefWeb - Neither war nor peace: The future of the cease-fire agreements in Burma
Source: The Transnational Institute (TNI)
Date: 09 Jul 2009
Introduction
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the first ceasefire agreements in Burma, which put a stop to decades of fighting between the military government and a wide range of ethnic armed opposition groups. These groups had taken up arms against the government in search of more autonomy and ethnic rights.
The military government has so far failed to address the main grievances and aspirations of the cease-fire groups. The regime now wants them to disarm or become Border Guard Forces. It also wants them to form new political parties which would participate in the controversial 2010 elections. They are unlikely to do so unless some of their basic demands are met. This raises many serious questions about the future of the cease-fires.
The international community has focused on the struggle of the democratic opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who has become an international icon. The ethnic minority issue and the relevance of the cease-fire agreements have been almost completely ignored.
Ethnic conflict needs to be resolved in order to bring about any lasting political solution. Without a political settlement that addresses ethnic minority needs and goals it is extremely unlikely there will be peace and democracy in Burma. Instead of isolating and demonising the cease-fire groups, all national and international actors concerned with peace and democracy in Burma should actively engage with them, and involve them in discussions about political change in the country.
This paper explains how the cease-fire agreements came about, and analyses the goals and strategies of the ceasefire groups. It also discusses the weaknesses the groups face in implementing these goals, and the positive and negative consequences of the cease-fires, including their effect on the economy. The paper then examines the international responses to the cease-fires, and ends with an overview of the future prospects for the agreements.
Source: The Transnational Institute (TNI)
Date: 09 Jul 2009
Introduction
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the first ceasefire agreements in Burma, which put a stop to decades of fighting between the military government and a wide range of ethnic armed opposition groups. These groups had taken up arms against the government in search of more autonomy and ethnic rights.
The military government has so far failed to address the main grievances and aspirations of the cease-fire groups. The regime now wants them to disarm or become Border Guard Forces. It also wants them to form new political parties which would participate in the controversial 2010 elections. They are unlikely to do so unless some of their basic demands are met. This raises many serious questions about the future of the cease-fires.
The international community has focused on the struggle of the democratic opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who has become an international icon. The ethnic minority issue and the relevance of the cease-fire agreements have been almost completely ignored.
Ethnic conflict needs to be resolved in order to bring about any lasting political solution. Without a political settlement that addresses ethnic minority needs and goals it is extremely unlikely there will be peace and democracy in Burma. Instead of isolating and demonising the cease-fire groups, all national and international actors concerned with peace and democracy in Burma should actively engage with them, and involve them in discussions about political change in the country.
This paper explains how the cease-fire agreements came about, and analyses the goals and strategies of the ceasefire groups. It also discusses the weaknesses the groups face in implementing these goals, and the positive and negative consequences of the cease-fires, including their effect on the economy. The paper then examines the international responses to the cease-fires, and ends with an overview of the future prospects for the agreements.
*****************************************************
Friday, July 10, 2009
Burma Wants Freedom and Democracy (Weblog) - Review of 2008 Constitution a must before playing 2010 elections
Review of the junta’s 2008 constitution is a MUST before playing into the junta’s illegal 2010 election
Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) calls for the international community to pay close attention to what the democratic forces are saying especially the “Shwe-Gone-Dine” declaration by the National League for Democracy (NLD).
Aung San Suu Kyi and her party the National League for Democracy (NLD), the unanimous victors of the 1990 election, clearly stated their position in the “Shwe-Gone-Dine” Declaration.
NLD outlined the five main principles that need to place in order to have true national reconciliation. They are:
1. Release of all the political prisoners
2. Review of draft 2008 Constitution
3. Allow to reopen NLD and ethnic nationalities offices
4. Recognition of the 1990 election result
5. Political dialogue
These are the fundamental demands requested by legitimate leaders of Burma. If the international community truly wanted to see national reconciliation in Burma, they must find ways to facilitate these demands rather than playing into the junta’s illegal 2010 election.
Before we could possible address the junta’s proposed 2010 election we must address the validity of the recently adapted constitution. Drafted by the junta, this document is far from credible or constitutional. Free, fair and all inclusive is not what this document represents.
We would like to draw particular attention on these points:
1. The Junta gave itself amnesty from the crimes against humanity it has perpetrated throughout Burma during their reign of terror.
2. The Military regime systematically took 25% of the parliamentary seats. The military commander in chief was also given absolute authority to dissolve the parliament at any time effectively neutralizing the voice of the people.
The junta’s planned 2010 election is only a charade designed to legitimise the military dictatorship within Burma. The International Community should be aware of the hopelessly irreconcilable contents of the constitution that was adopted in 2008. The referendum was ushered into existence under questionable conditions including extortion and rigged ballots. Giving the military junta 25% of the parliamentary seats, unbridled authoritarian control and a self serving amnesty for the crimes against humanity were truly not the will of the Burmese people. Legitimizing the criminal regime was also not the will of the people and this is incomprehensible and totally unacceptable to the Burmese people.
It should not be forgotten that in spite of promises made by the military junta in the 1990 which they sponsored they did not relinquish power when they lost the election. Even though Aung San Suu Kyi and her party won a landslide victory the junta chose to ignore the election results and the voice of the people of Burma. Further, the junta arrested the victors including Aung San Suu Kyi. Later they also tried to assassinate Aung Suu Kyi and continue to arrest and imprison pro democracy activists.
Now to insure they will not loose the 2010 election they have intensified the arrests of democratic proponents and concocted charges against Aung San Suu Kyi to eliminate her influence in this sham election. Ironically the architects of the 1990 election are the very same generals who’ve plotted this latest scam to nullify the voice of the people in this rigged election. With victory in their sights the junta has already made plans for after the election clearly indicating this election is a sham. Obviously there will be no need to count the votes since it would be an exercise in futility.
Burma Wants Freedom and Democracy (Weblog) - Review of 2008 Constitution a must before playing 2010 elections
Review of the junta’s 2008 constitution is a MUST before playing into the junta’s illegal 2010 election
Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) calls for the international community to pay close attention to what the democratic forces are saying especially the “Shwe-Gone-Dine” declaration by the National League for Democracy (NLD).
Aung San Suu Kyi and her party the National League for Democracy (NLD), the unanimous victors of the 1990 election, clearly stated their position in the “Shwe-Gone-Dine” Declaration.
NLD outlined the five main principles that need to place in order to have true national reconciliation. They are:
1. Release of all the political prisoners
2. Review of draft 2008 Constitution
3. Allow to reopen NLD and ethnic nationalities offices
4. Recognition of the 1990 election result
5. Political dialogue
These are the fundamental demands requested by legitimate leaders of Burma. If the international community truly wanted to see national reconciliation in Burma, they must find ways to facilitate these demands rather than playing into the junta’s illegal 2010 election.
Before we could possible address the junta’s proposed 2010 election we must address the validity of the recently adapted constitution. Drafted by the junta, this document is far from credible or constitutional. Free, fair and all inclusive is not what this document represents.
We would like to draw particular attention on these points:
1. The Junta gave itself amnesty from the crimes against humanity it has perpetrated throughout Burma during their reign of terror.
2. The Military regime systematically took 25% of the parliamentary seats. The military commander in chief was also given absolute authority to dissolve the parliament at any time effectively neutralizing the voice of the people.
The junta’s planned 2010 election is only a charade designed to legitimise the military dictatorship within Burma. The International Community should be aware of the hopelessly irreconcilable contents of the constitution that was adopted in 2008. The referendum was ushered into existence under questionable conditions including extortion and rigged ballots. Giving the military junta 25% of the parliamentary seats, unbridled authoritarian control and a self serving amnesty for the crimes against humanity were truly not the will of the Burmese people. Legitimizing the criminal regime was also not the will of the people and this is incomprehensible and totally unacceptable to the Burmese people.
It should not be forgotten that in spite of promises made by the military junta in the 1990 which they sponsored they did not relinquish power when they lost the election. Even though Aung San Suu Kyi and her party won a landslide victory the junta chose to ignore the election results and the voice of the people of Burma. Further, the junta arrested the victors including Aung San Suu Kyi. Later they also tried to assassinate Aung Suu Kyi and continue to arrest and imprison pro democracy activists.
Now to insure they will not loose the 2010 election they have intensified the arrests of democratic proponents and concocted charges against Aung San Suu Kyi to eliminate her influence in this sham election. Ironically the architects of the 1990 election are the very same generals who’ve plotted this latest scam to nullify the voice of the people in this rigged election. With victory in their sights the junta has already made plans for after the election clearly indicating this election is a sham. Obviously there will be no need to count the votes since it would be an exercise in futility.
*****************************************************
Myanmar PM meets Chinese Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region delegation
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-10 20:56:33
NAY PYI TAW, MYANMAR, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein met with visiting Chinese Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region delegation, led by Guo Shengkun, Chairman of Standing Committee of the People's Congress of China Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Secretary of Guangxi Communist Party of China, in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw Friday.
Thein Sein said at the meeting that Myanmar would like to strengthen the exchange and cooperation with China's Guangxi Autonomous Region.
Both Thein Sein and Guo expressed the two sides' wishes to cooperate in such aspects as holding of Nanning Expo, exchange in agricultural technical know how and human resources training to enhance the continued development of the neighborly and friendly ties between China and Myanmar.
Present at the meeting were Charge d'affaires of Chinese Embassy Wang Zongying, Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win, Information Minister Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan and Minister of National Planning and Economic Development U Soe Tha.
After the meeting, a contract on inviting bids for trade and exhibition for the Nanning Expo was signed by the two sides and a ceremony to present eight Guangxi-manufactured office-use motor vehicles by the Chinese side to Myanmar was held.
Moreover, another ceremony to launch a TV week in Myanmar by airing programs of Guangxi TV with the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) commencing Friday took place. The ceremony was attended by Guo and Myanmar Minister of Information Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan.
As a follow-up program, a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of friendly city relations between Nanning and Yangon is scheduled to be signed in the former capital on Saturday.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-10 20:56:33
NAY PYI TAW, MYANMAR, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein met with visiting Chinese Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region delegation, led by Guo Shengkun, Chairman of Standing Committee of the People's Congress of China Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Secretary of Guangxi Communist Party of China, in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw Friday.
Thein Sein said at the meeting that Myanmar would like to strengthen the exchange and cooperation with China's Guangxi Autonomous Region.
Both Thein Sein and Guo expressed the two sides' wishes to cooperate in such aspects as holding of Nanning Expo, exchange in agricultural technical know how and human resources training to enhance the continued development of the neighborly and friendly ties between China and Myanmar.
Present at the meeting were Charge d'affaires of Chinese Embassy Wang Zongying, Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win, Information Minister Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan and Minister of National Planning and Economic Development U Soe Tha.
After the meeting, a contract on inviting bids for trade and exhibition for the Nanning Expo was signed by the two sides and a ceremony to present eight Guangxi-manufactured office-use motor vehicles by the Chinese side to Myanmar was held.
Moreover, another ceremony to launch a TV week in Myanmar by airing programs of Guangxi TV with the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) commencing Friday took place. The ceremony was attended by Guo and Myanmar Minister of Information Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan.
As a follow-up program, a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of friendly city relations between Nanning and Yangon is scheduled to be signed in the former capital on Saturday.
*****************************************************
OPINION ASIA, JULY 10, 2009
The Wall Street Journal - Burma and North Korea, Brothers in Arms
An alliance that threatens the Asia-Pacific region and farther-flung shores, too.
By AUNG ZAW From today's Wall Street Journal Asia.
The North Korean ship that tried to steam to Burma last month isn't the only problem facing the U.S. and its allies. There's a much broader military relationship growing between the two pariah states -- one that poses a growing threat to stability in Asia-Pacific.
A government report leaked by a Burmese official last month shed new light on these ties. It described a Memorandum of Understanding between Burma and North Korea signed during a secret visit by Burmese officials to Pyongyang in November 2008. The visit was the culmination of years of work. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were cut in 1983 following a failed assassination attempt by North Korean agents on the life of South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan while he was visiting Rangoon. The attack cost 17 Korean lives and Burma cut off ties.
One of the first signs of warming relations was a barter agreement between the two countries that lasted from 2000 to 2006 and saw Burma receive between 12 and 16 M-46 field guns and as many as 20 million rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition from North Korea, according to defense analyst Andrew Selth of Griffith University in Australia. In exchange, Burma bartered food and rice.
The two countries formally re-established diplomatic relations in April 2007. After that, the North Korean ship the Kang Nam -- the same ship that recently turned away from Burma after being followed by the U.S. navy -- made a trip to Burma's Thilawa port. Western defense analysts concluded that the ship carried conventional weapons and missiles to Burma.
This laid the ground for the MoU signed in November, when Shwe Mann, the regime's third-most powerful figure, made a secret visit to North Korea, according to the leaked report. Shwe Mann is the chief of staff of the army, navy and air force, and the coordinator of Special Operations. He spent seven days in Pyongyang, traveling via China. His 17-member delegation received a tour around Pyongyang and Myohyang, where secret tunnels have been built into mountains to shelter aircraft, missiles, tanks and nuclear and chemical weapons.
The MoU he signed formalizes the military cooperation between the two countries. According to the terms of the document, North Korea will build or supervise the construction of special Burmese military facilities, including tunnels and caves in which missiles, aircraft and even naval ships could be hidden. Burma will also receive expert training for its special forces, air defense training, plus a language training program between personnel in the two armed forces.
Shwe Mann's delegation also visited a surface-to-surface missile factory, partially housed in tunnels, on the outskirts of Pyongyang to observe missile production. The Burmese were particularly interested in short-range 107 mm and 240 mm multirocket launchers -- a multipurpose, defensive missile system used in case of a foreign invasion. Also of great interest was the latest in antitank, laser-guided missile technology.
To suppress ethic insurgents and urban dissent, the regime doesn't need such sophisticated weapons. Burma's desire for missiles, airborne warning and control system, air defense systems, GPS communication jammers and defensive radar systems indicates that the generals envision both defensive and offensive capabilities.
North Korea's military buildup is often viewed primarily as a security threat to Northeast Asia. But its burgeoning relationship with Burma is a reminder of how easily one rogue regime can empower others. Burma's burning ambition to acquire modern missile technology, if left unchecked, could pose a dangerous destabilizing threat to regional stability.
Mr. Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Chiang Mai-based Irrawaddy magazine.
The Wall Street Journal - Burma and North Korea, Brothers in Arms
An alliance that threatens the Asia-Pacific region and farther-flung shores, too.
By AUNG ZAW From today's Wall Street Journal Asia.
The North Korean ship that tried to steam to Burma last month isn't the only problem facing the U.S. and its allies. There's a much broader military relationship growing between the two pariah states -- one that poses a growing threat to stability in Asia-Pacific.
A government report leaked by a Burmese official last month shed new light on these ties. It described a Memorandum of Understanding between Burma and North Korea signed during a secret visit by Burmese officials to Pyongyang in November 2008. The visit was the culmination of years of work. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were cut in 1983 following a failed assassination attempt by North Korean agents on the life of South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan while he was visiting Rangoon. The attack cost 17 Korean lives and Burma cut off ties.
One of the first signs of warming relations was a barter agreement between the two countries that lasted from 2000 to 2006 and saw Burma receive between 12 and 16 M-46 field guns and as many as 20 million rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition from North Korea, according to defense analyst Andrew Selth of Griffith University in Australia. In exchange, Burma bartered food and rice.
The two countries formally re-established diplomatic relations in April 2007. After that, the North Korean ship the Kang Nam -- the same ship that recently turned away from Burma after being followed by the U.S. navy -- made a trip to Burma's Thilawa port. Western defense analysts concluded that the ship carried conventional weapons and missiles to Burma.
This laid the ground for the MoU signed in November, when Shwe Mann, the regime's third-most powerful figure, made a secret visit to North Korea, according to the leaked report. Shwe Mann is the chief of staff of the army, navy and air force, and the coordinator of Special Operations. He spent seven days in Pyongyang, traveling via China. His 17-member delegation received a tour around Pyongyang and Myohyang, where secret tunnels have been built into mountains to shelter aircraft, missiles, tanks and nuclear and chemical weapons.
The MoU he signed formalizes the military cooperation between the two countries. According to the terms of the document, North Korea will build or supervise the construction of special Burmese military facilities, including tunnels and caves in which missiles, aircraft and even naval ships could be hidden. Burma will also receive expert training for its special forces, air defense training, plus a language training program between personnel in the two armed forces.
Shwe Mann's delegation also visited a surface-to-surface missile factory, partially housed in tunnels, on the outskirts of Pyongyang to observe missile production. The Burmese were particularly interested in short-range 107 mm and 240 mm multirocket launchers -- a multipurpose, defensive missile system used in case of a foreign invasion. Also of great interest was the latest in antitank, laser-guided missile technology.
To suppress ethic insurgents and urban dissent, the regime doesn't need such sophisticated weapons. Burma's desire for missiles, airborne warning and control system, air defense systems, GPS communication jammers and defensive radar systems indicates that the generals envision both defensive and offensive capabilities.
North Korea's military buildup is often viewed primarily as a security threat to Northeast Asia. But its burgeoning relationship with Burma is a reminder of how easily one rogue regime can empower others. Burma's burning ambition to acquire modern missile technology, if left unchecked, could pose a dangerous destabilizing threat to regional stability.
Mr. Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Chiang Mai-based Irrawaddy magazine.
*****************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Yettaw Admitted to Prison Hospital
By LAWI WENG, Friday, July 10, 2009
John William Yettaw, the American accused of unlawfully seeking refuge in Aung San Suu Kyi’s home, has been admitted to hospital in Rangoon’s Insein Prison after declining food for 49 days, according to his lawyer, Khin Maung Oo.
The lawyer told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that Yettaw is being fed intravenously. He said the 53-year-old American, a Mormon, had existed for seven weeks on only water for religious reasons.
Khin Maung Oo said Yettaw told him the Bible had instructed him to travel to Rangoon to protect Suu Kyi from assassination. He had had a vision of Suu Kyi’s home, the lawyer said.
Yettaw has been charged with violating Burma’s security and immigration laws after he allegedly swim across Inya Lake and entered Suu Kyi’s house in May. If convicted, he faces a sentence of between six months and five years imprisonment.
Khin Maung Oo said that when Suu Kyi discovered Yettaw outside her home she told him to respect and comply with the rule of law in Burma. “She gave him refuge because he was very weak when she found him,” the lawyer said. Yettaw suffers from diabetes.
Khin Maung Oo said Yettaw had acted without financial or political backing. He was a devout Mormon, guided by his Bible.
Yettaw’s wife Yvonne told the US magazine Newsweek that her husband apparently suffered from untreated bipolar and posttraumatic stress disorders and regarded himself as a man sent by God to protect foreign leaders whom he esteemed.
Yettaw saw service in Vietnam and receives disability payments from the US Veterans Affairs office. He has been pursuing studies in psychology.
The Burmese junta claims a Burmese opposition group was behind Yettaw’s action.
Burma’s police chief, Khin Yi, told journalists in Rangoon in June that the background to Yettaw’s intrusion needed more investigation.
Khin Yi said Yettaw had met with exiled and unlawful groups in Mae Sot before his last visit to Burma. The police chief accused him of receiving financial support from the groups.
Yettaw reportedly first visited Suu Kyi’s home unlawfully last November, and his family says he was still in debt for the expenses he incurred during that trip.
Before setting out for his second trip, Yettaw told his wife that he planned to visit Asia for a book he was writing, according to Newsweek magazine.
Burmese and Thai sources in Mae Sot, on the Thai-Burmese border, say he spent more than a month at a hotel in the town after his first visit to Rangoon. During this visit he managed to get in to Suu Kyi’s compound, but her companions prevented him from meeting her.
While he was in Mae Sot, people recalled Yettaw saying that he planned to return to visit Suu Kyi again. His second visit led to the fateful encounter with Suu Kyi in May, sources said.
In Mae Sot, Yettaw stayed at the Highland Hotel, where he spoke to several people about Burma and talked briefly about Suu Kyi. He openly told people about his first visit to her compound.
By LAWI WENG, Friday, July 10, 2009
John William Yettaw, the American accused of unlawfully seeking refuge in Aung San Suu Kyi’s home, has been admitted to hospital in Rangoon’s Insein Prison after declining food for 49 days, according to his lawyer, Khin Maung Oo.
The lawyer told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that Yettaw is being fed intravenously. He said the 53-year-old American, a Mormon, had existed for seven weeks on only water for religious reasons.
Khin Maung Oo said Yettaw told him the Bible had instructed him to travel to Rangoon to protect Suu Kyi from assassination. He had had a vision of Suu Kyi’s home, the lawyer said.
Yettaw has been charged with violating Burma’s security and immigration laws after he allegedly swim across Inya Lake and entered Suu Kyi’s house in May. If convicted, he faces a sentence of between six months and five years imprisonment.
Khin Maung Oo said that when Suu Kyi discovered Yettaw outside her home she told him to respect and comply with the rule of law in Burma. “She gave him refuge because he was very weak when she found him,” the lawyer said. Yettaw suffers from diabetes.
Khin Maung Oo said Yettaw had acted without financial or political backing. He was a devout Mormon, guided by his Bible.
Yettaw’s wife Yvonne told the US magazine Newsweek that her husband apparently suffered from untreated bipolar and posttraumatic stress disorders and regarded himself as a man sent by God to protect foreign leaders whom he esteemed.
Yettaw saw service in Vietnam and receives disability payments from the US Veterans Affairs office. He has been pursuing studies in psychology.
The Burmese junta claims a Burmese opposition group was behind Yettaw’s action.
Burma’s police chief, Khin Yi, told journalists in Rangoon in June that the background to Yettaw’s intrusion needed more investigation.
Khin Yi said Yettaw had met with exiled and unlawful groups in Mae Sot before his last visit to Burma. The police chief accused him of receiving financial support from the groups.
Yettaw reportedly first visited Suu Kyi’s home unlawfully last November, and his family says he was still in debt for the expenses he incurred during that trip.
Before setting out for his second trip, Yettaw told his wife that he planned to visit Asia for a book he was writing, according to Newsweek magazine.
Burmese and Thai sources in Mae Sot, on the Thai-Burmese border, say he spent more than a month at a hotel in the town after his first visit to Rangoon. During this visit he managed to get in to Suu Kyi’s compound, but her companions prevented him from meeting her.
While he was in Mae Sot, people recalled Yettaw saying that he planned to return to visit Suu Kyi again. His second visit led to the fateful encounter with Suu Kyi in May, sources said.
In Mae Sot, Yettaw stayed at the Highland Hotel, where he spoke to several people about Burma and talked briefly about Suu Kyi. He openly told people about his first visit to her compound.
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The Irrawaddy - Khin Nyunt Appears in Public
Friday, July 10, 2009
Burma’s former premier and spy chief Gen Khin Nyunt, who was ousted and placed under house arrest in October 2004, recently appeared in public and appeared to be in good health, according to one Rangoon source.
Khin Nyunt appeared at the Rangoon home of a former Burmese minister, Brig-Gen Tint Shwe, on July 7 and asked about the funeral of the minister’s deceased wife, Khin San.
“He and his wife spent two hours at the former minister’s home. They looked healthy,” said the source.
Burmese tycoon Tay Za and other businessmen associated with Burmese junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe were also present, according to the source.
Since March 2008, Khin Nyunt and members of his family are occasionally allowed to move freely, usually to pagodas and other religious places. He and his family visited Shwedagon Pagoda last year.
According to unconfirmed reports, Khin Nyunt has often been summoned by Burmese generals to Burma’s new capital Naypyidaw to help them plan the 2010 general election and also for discussions on foreign policy issues.
While he was in power, Khin Nyunt was believed to have good relations with the ethnic armed groups, such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Karen National Union (KNU)
In 2004, the year Khin Nyunt was ousted and charged with corruption, he had ceasefire talks in Rangoon with the late KNU leader Gen Bo Mya.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Burma’s former premier and spy chief Gen Khin Nyunt, who was ousted and placed under house arrest in October 2004, recently appeared in public and appeared to be in good health, according to one Rangoon source.
Khin Nyunt appeared at the Rangoon home of a former Burmese minister, Brig-Gen Tint Shwe, on July 7 and asked about the funeral of the minister’s deceased wife, Khin San.
“He and his wife spent two hours at the former minister’s home. They looked healthy,” said the source.
Burmese tycoon Tay Za and other businessmen associated with Burmese junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe were also present, according to the source.
Since March 2008, Khin Nyunt and members of his family are occasionally allowed to move freely, usually to pagodas and other religious places. He and his family visited Shwedagon Pagoda last year.
According to unconfirmed reports, Khin Nyunt has often been summoned by Burmese generals to Burma’s new capital Naypyidaw to help them plan the 2010 general election and also for discussions on foreign policy issues.
While he was in power, Khin Nyunt was believed to have good relations with the ethnic armed groups, such as the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Karen National Union (KNU)
In 2004, the year Khin Nyunt was ousted and charged with corruption, he had ceasefire talks in Rangoon with the late KNU leader Gen Bo Mya.
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The Irrawaddy - Suu Kyi’s Long Friday
By WAI MOE, Friday, July 10, 2009
The Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi spent over six hours in court during her trial on Friday as government prosecutors questioned a defense witness, according to Suu Kyi’s lawyer.
“The trial started at 10 am, broke for one-hour from 12 pm to 1 pm, and then continued from 1 pm until 5 pm—it was long trial,” said Nyan Win, a lawyer for Suu Kyi.
Nyan Win said most of the trial on Friday was spent by prosecutors and defense lawyers arguing over whether Law Section 22 charging Suu Kyi was still in effect. Section 22 was enacted under the 1974 constitution, but the constitution was abolished by the current regime after the coup in September 1988.
Section 22 of the law safeguards the state against the dangers of those desiring to cause subversive acts. Suu Kyi has been charged under this section by Burmese authorities for allowing the American intruder John W.Yettaw to stay at her house while she was under house arrest.
“Prosecutors argued that the law is still effective. But we denied this was the case because the 1974 constitution was abolished in 1988,” Nyan Win said.
The defense witness, Khin Moe Moe, who is also a lawyer, testified at the court today in relation to Section 22.
Suu Kyi has only been allowed one defense witness in the case, as Win Tin and Tin Oo, who are leaders of the National League for Democracy, were banned from testifying.
According Nyan Win, the court has set July 24 for hearing final arguments in the case.
If she is found guilty, Suu Kyi could face up to five years imprisonment.
Burmese observers say the junta is prosecuting Suu Kyi to show the world that they will not tolerate any outside interference.
By WAI MOE, Friday, July 10, 2009
The Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi spent over six hours in court during her trial on Friday as government prosecutors questioned a defense witness, according to Suu Kyi’s lawyer.
“The trial started at 10 am, broke for one-hour from 12 pm to 1 pm, and then continued from 1 pm until 5 pm—it was long trial,” said Nyan Win, a lawyer for Suu Kyi.
Nyan Win said most of the trial on Friday was spent by prosecutors and defense lawyers arguing over whether Law Section 22 charging Suu Kyi was still in effect. Section 22 was enacted under the 1974 constitution, but the constitution was abolished by the current regime after the coup in September 1988.
Section 22 of the law safeguards the state against the dangers of those desiring to cause subversive acts. Suu Kyi has been charged under this section by Burmese authorities for allowing the American intruder John W.Yettaw to stay at her house while she was under house arrest.
“Prosecutors argued that the law is still effective. But we denied this was the case because the 1974 constitution was abolished in 1988,” Nyan Win said.
The defense witness, Khin Moe Moe, who is also a lawyer, testified at the court today in relation to Section 22.
Suu Kyi has only been allowed one defense witness in the case, as Win Tin and Tin Oo, who are leaders of the National League for Democracy, were banned from testifying.
According Nyan Win, the court has set July 24 for hearing final arguments in the case.
If she is found guilty, Suu Kyi could face up to five years imprisonment.
Burmese observers say the junta is prosecuting Suu Kyi to show the world that they will not tolerate any outside interference.
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Mizzima News - Misinformation circulated on Suu Kyi’s trial
Friday, 10 July 2009 21:26
New Delhi (mizzima) - In a bid to disperse the crowd assembled outside the Insein prison in Rangoon, authorities spread false information that the court hearing of a defence witness in the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was adjourned and that the court has fixed the next hearing on July 17.
Nyan Win, member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s legal team, told Mizzima that the information was false. It was spread in order to keep at bay members of the National League for Democracy and its supporters, who crowded outside the Insein prison.
“I think the news was spread by those who are against us, in order to send away the waiting crowd outside the prison,” said Nyan Win adding that the court session went on for about seven hours.
Nyan Win also said the court has fixed July 24 for the hearing of the final argument from lawyers of both sides refuting the wrong date of July 17 rumored earlier in the day.
Nyan Win said on Friday that the district court in Insein prison heard the testimony of the second witness, Daw Khin Moe Moe, who is also a lawyer by profession and member of the National League for Democracy.
“The court adjourned at 5 p.m. (local time). Daw Khin Moe Moe testified. She was also cross examined by the prosecution lawyer,” Nyan Win said.
Meanwhile, at least 80 NLD members including veteran journalist Win Tin and supporters crowded outside Insein prison waiting for the trial. Mingling with the crowd, were riot police personnel and soldiers.
But after being told that the court session had been adjourned, that witness, Khin Moe Moe, did not testify and the next hearing had been fixed for July 17, supporters dispersed in the afternoon.
Phyu Phyu Thinn, an NLD youth member, who was among the crowd, said, “We were informed by a man that the court had adjourned and the next hearing is fixed for July 17. After that we all dispersed. I don’t know the man’s name.”
“All of us believed that the information was correct and left the prison precincts. But in the evening we learnt that the information was wrong, and was intended to make us leave,” she added.
Nyan Win said, “As we came out, several people asked whether the court had adjourned till July 17. It was false information spread by people who are against us.”
In the court on Friday, Khin Moe Moe argued that the 1974 Constitution of Burma is no longer effective and that the charges against the Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate cannot be filed under the statutes of the 1974 Constitution.
But the prosecution argued that despite the changes in the regime, the 1974 Constitution is still valid.
“They tried to prove their stand with various government orders and documents, so it took a long time to conclude,” Nyan Win said.
Nyan Win said the defence team on Wednesday met Aung San Suu Kyi with a prepared 18-page final argument to be submitted to the court on July 24. Following the submission of the final argument, the court is likely to set another day to pronounce the final verdict.
Under the charges of violating the detention terms, if found guilty, the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi could face up to five years in prison.
Meanwhile, John William Yettaw, the American man who is also facing trial for taking refuge in Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, has been taken to hospital, reports said.
Friday, 10 July 2009 21:26
New Delhi (mizzima) - In a bid to disperse the crowd assembled outside the Insein prison in Rangoon, authorities spread false information that the court hearing of a defence witness in the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was adjourned and that the court has fixed the next hearing on July 17.
Nyan Win, member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s legal team, told Mizzima that the information was false. It was spread in order to keep at bay members of the National League for Democracy and its supporters, who crowded outside the Insein prison.
“I think the news was spread by those who are against us, in order to send away the waiting crowd outside the prison,” said Nyan Win adding that the court session went on for about seven hours.
Nyan Win also said the court has fixed July 24 for the hearing of the final argument from lawyers of both sides refuting the wrong date of July 17 rumored earlier in the day.
Nyan Win said on Friday that the district court in Insein prison heard the testimony of the second witness, Daw Khin Moe Moe, who is also a lawyer by profession and member of the National League for Democracy.
“The court adjourned at 5 p.m. (local time). Daw Khin Moe Moe testified. She was also cross examined by the prosecution lawyer,” Nyan Win said.
Meanwhile, at least 80 NLD members including veteran journalist Win Tin and supporters crowded outside Insein prison waiting for the trial. Mingling with the crowd, were riot police personnel and soldiers.
But after being told that the court session had been adjourned, that witness, Khin Moe Moe, did not testify and the next hearing had been fixed for July 17, supporters dispersed in the afternoon.
Phyu Phyu Thinn, an NLD youth member, who was among the crowd, said, “We were informed by a man that the court had adjourned and the next hearing is fixed for July 17. After that we all dispersed. I don’t know the man’s name.”
“All of us believed that the information was correct and left the prison precincts. But in the evening we learnt that the information was wrong, and was intended to make us leave,” she added.
Nyan Win said, “As we came out, several people asked whether the court had adjourned till July 17. It was false information spread by people who are against us.”
In the court on Friday, Khin Moe Moe argued that the 1974 Constitution of Burma is no longer effective and that the charges against the Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate cannot be filed under the statutes of the 1974 Constitution.
But the prosecution argued that despite the changes in the regime, the 1974 Constitution is still valid.
“They tried to prove their stand with various government orders and documents, so it took a long time to conclude,” Nyan Win said.
Nyan Win said the defence team on Wednesday met Aung San Suu Kyi with a prepared 18-page final argument to be submitted to the court on July 24. Following the submission of the final argument, the court is likely to set another day to pronounce the final verdict.
Under the charges of violating the detention terms, if found guilty, the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi could face up to five years in prison.
Meanwhile, John William Yettaw, the American man who is also facing trial for taking refuge in Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, has been taken to hospital, reports said.
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Suu Kyi instructs witness to ‘answer straight’
July 10, 2009 (DVB)–The courtroom trying Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi today resumed the trial and heard from one of two witnesses testifying in Suu Kyi’s defense in a six-hour long session.
The trial had been subject to six-week delay during which the court heard appeals for the reinstatement of defense witnesses initially disqualified by the judges.
Only two of the four witnesses put forward, Khin Moe Moe and Kyi Win, have been admitted to stand. During the session today the courtroom heard a testimony from witness Khin Moe Moe.
“Before the trial, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told me to answer only straight questions in accordance with the law,” Khin Moe Moe told DVB.
“After the court hearing, she told me she was happy with my answers.”
Today’s hearing had originally been scheduled for 3 July, which would have clashed with the first day of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Burma.
It was postponed on the grounds that essential documents had not been received by the court.
If, as is widely expect, Suu Kyi is found guilty of breaching conditions of her house arrest, she could face up to five years in detention.
The trial, which has received widespread international condemnation, has been running since early May.
The next hearing has been set for 24 July.
Reporting by Naw Say Phaw
July 10, 2009 (DVB)–The courtroom trying Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi today resumed the trial and heard from one of two witnesses testifying in Suu Kyi’s defense in a six-hour long session.
The trial had been subject to six-week delay during which the court heard appeals for the reinstatement of defense witnesses initially disqualified by the judges.
Only two of the four witnesses put forward, Khin Moe Moe and Kyi Win, have been admitted to stand. During the session today the courtroom heard a testimony from witness Khin Moe Moe.
“Before the trial, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told me to answer only straight questions in accordance with the law,” Khin Moe Moe told DVB.
“After the court hearing, she told me she was happy with my answers.”
Today’s hearing had originally been scheduled for 3 July, which would have clashed with the first day of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Burma.
It was postponed on the grounds that essential documents had not been received by the court.
If, as is widely expect, Suu Kyi is found guilty of breaching conditions of her house arrest, she could face up to five years in detention.
The trial, which has received widespread international condemnation, has been running since early May.
The next hearing has been set for 24 July.
Reporting by Naw Say Phaw
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Burma confirms second H1N1 victim
July 10, 2009 (DVB)–State-run media in Burma today confirmed that a 20-year-old man has become the second victim of the A/H1N1 swine flu virus in the country, following a trip to Thailand earlier this week.
Burma’s Ministry of Health has quarantined all family members, along with the 104 fellow passengers on the plane that brought him from Thailand to Rangoon on 6 July, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.
Echoing the case of the 13-year-old girl who last month become Burma’s first A/H1N1 victim, the newspaper said that the man had not tested positive for a fever at the airport, but had fallen ill the next day.
“He is under intensive health care by a team of specialists in the hospital. Since this morning, he has been getting better with no fever,” said the report.
The 13-year-old has reportedly recovered and was yesterday discharged from the Rangoon hospital.
The news follows criticisms from locals living along the Thai-Burma border that the thousands of tourists crossing into Burma each day were not being properly checked for A/H1N1 by health officials.
A local Burmese business owner living in the Thai town of Mae Sai, across from Tachilek town in Burma’s Shan state, said yesterday that [Burmese] medical assistants at the border checkpoints are only assessing those who looked sick.
“They do check people who look nauseous but not everyone,” he said.
A local in the Burmese border town of Myawaddy in Karen state, across from Mae Sot in Thailand, said there was also little change from the normal protocol of inspecting people at the checkpoint there.
Reporting by Francis Wade and Thurein Soe
July 10, 2009 (DVB)–State-run media in Burma today confirmed that a 20-year-old man has become the second victim of the A/H1N1 swine flu virus in the country, following a trip to Thailand earlier this week.
Burma’s Ministry of Health has quarantined all family members, along with the 104 fellow passengers on the plane that brought him from Thailand to Rangoon on 6 July, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.
Echoing the case of the 13-year-old girl who last month become Burma’s first A/H1N1 victim, the newspaper said that the man had not tested positive for a fever at the airport, but had fallen ill the next day.
“He is under intensive health care by a team of specialists in the hospital. Since this morning, he has been getting better with no fever,” said the report.
The 13-year-old has reportedly recovered and was yesterday discharged from the Rangoon hospital.
The news follows criticisms from locals living along the Thai-Burma border that the thousands of tourists crossing into Burma each day were not being properly checked for A/H1N1 by health officials.
A local Burmese business owner living in the Thai town of Mae Sai, across from Tachilek town in Burma’s Shan state, said yesterday that [Burmese] medical assistants at the border checkpoints are only assessing those who looked sick.
“They do check people who look nauseous but not everyone,” he said.
A local in the Burmese border town of Myawaddy in Karen state, across from Mae Sot in Thailand, said there was also little change from the normal protocol of inspecting people at the checkpoint there.
Reporting by Francis Wade and Thurein Soe
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