Groups ask US for funds to break China 'firewall'
Tue Feb 23, 7:23 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – A coalition of human rights campaigners on Tuesday urged the US government to fund efforts led by the Falungong spiritual movement to circumvent Internet censorship in China and other nations.
Congress approved 30 million dollars in the 2010 budget to combat cyber censorship in China, Iran and elsewhere. But lawmakers have voiced concern that the funding since 2008 has been used ineffectively.
In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, rights advocates -- most from China -- urged that money go to the Global Internet Freedom (GIF) Consortium, originally set up to evade China's Internet "firewall."
"By taking the right steps, the United States can make a historic contribution to its own security and to the advancement of democracy by rapidly tearing down the information firewalls of the world's closed societies," it said.
The letter was signed by exiled leaders of the 1989 democracy uprising in Tiananmen Square including Chai Ling, Wu'er Kaixi and Xiong Yan, along with figures behind the landmark Charter 08 petition for greater freedoms in China.
Other signatories included Rebiya Kadeer, the leader of exiles from China's Uighur minority, along with activists campaigning for greater openness in Cuba, Myanmar, North Korea and Syria.
GIF software was designed by the Falungong, which was banned by China in 1999 and branded an "evil cult" following a silent mass gathering in Beijing by its members.
But the technology was also put to use last year by Iranians who circumvented censorship to organize protests against clerical hardliners via Twitter and other websites.
The letter said that GIF servers, which nearly crashed after the Iranian elections, could be upgraded to allow 50 million unique users a day, up from 1.5 million now.
Five senators -- Democrats Robert Casey, Edward Kaufman and Arlen Specter, along with Republicans Sam Brownback and Jon Kyl -- wrote a letter to Clinton last month voicing concern that the grant money was going to waste.
They faulted the State Department for restricting grants to groups working inside a country, countering that "the most successful censorship circumvention tools are operated remotely."
Clinton, who testifies before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday, last month urged China to conduct a thorough probe into cyberattacks on Google and pressed technology firms to resist censorship.
Tue Feb 23, 7:23 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – A coalition of human rights campaigners on Tuesday urged the US government to fund efforts led by the Falungong spiritual movement to circumvent Internet censorship in China and other nations.
Congress approved 30 million dollars in the 2010 budget to combat cyber censorship in China, Iran and elsewhere. But lawmakers have voiced concern that the funding since 2008 has been used ineffectively.
In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, rights advocates -- most from China -- urged that money go to the Global Internet Freedom (GIF) Consortium, originally set up to evade China's Internet "firewall."
"By taking the right steps, the United States can make a historic contribution to its own security and to the advancement of democracy by rapidly tearing down the information firewalls of the world's closed societies," it said.
The letter was signed by exiled leaders of the 1989 democracy uprising in Tiananmen Square including Chai Ling, Wu'er Kaixi and Xiong Yan, along with figures behind the landmark Charter 08 petition for greater freedoms in China.
Other signatories included Rebiya Kadeer, the leader of exiles from China's Uighur minority, along with activists campaigning for greater openness in Cuba, Myanmar, North Korea and Syria.
GIF software was designed by the Falungong, which was banned by China in 1999 and branded an "evil cult" following a silent mass gathering in Beijing by its members.
But the technology was also put to use last year by Iranians who circumvented censorship to organize protests against clerical hardliners via Twitter and other websites.
The letter said that GIF servers, which nearly crashed after the Iranian elections, could be upgraded to allow 50 million unique users a day, up from 1.5 million now.
Five senators -- Democrats Robert Casey, Edward Kaufman and Arlen Specter, along with Republicans Sam Brownback and Jon Kyl -- wrote a letter to Clinton last month voicing concern that the grant money was going to waste.
They faulted the State Department for restricting grants to groups working inside a country, countering that "the most successful censorship circumvention tools are operated remotely."
Clinton, who testifies before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday, last month urged China to conduct a thorough probe into cyberattacks on Google and pressed technology firms to resist censorship.
*************************************************************
MYANMAR: Tentative steps towards Rohingya rehabilitation
YANGON, 24 February 2010 (IRIN) - UN agencies and NGOs are working to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the Rohingya in Myanmar, even as the government considers changes to their status, the UN says.
Officially referred to as Muslims, the Rohingya are de jure stateless in accordance with the laws of Myanmar.
In its draft stage, the Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) will for the first time consolidate humanitarian aid efforts for all residents in Northern Rakhine State (NRS), where the Rohingya live.
"The humanitarian needs in northern Rakhine State are quite significant, so we need to work together, all the stakeholders," Bhairaja Panday, country representative for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Myanmar, the lead agency in NRS, told IRIN.
"It's a one-year plan to begin with, but if it works it could be replicated in the years to come," he said.
The move comes amid a possible shift in government policy that may see the Rohingya - an ethnic, linguistic and religious minority - given legal status, and therefore accorded more rights.
"I think the government is looking sympathetically at their legal position, and seeing how to improve it," Panday said.
A review of their legal status is under way, against a backdrop of preparations for this year’s upcoming elections.
"We are confident that the situation will improve [for them] in some measure; we don't know exactly how much," Panday said.
Urgent needs
Myanmar's Rohingya population was effectively made stateless in 1982 after the country passed a citizenship law requiring everyone to trace Burmese ancestry to 1823 to be considered a citizen.
They face severe discrimination, say human rights groups. Confined to just three townships in NRS, which restricts their economic opportunities, they need permission to travel from one village to another.
They also need official permission to marry and couples are restricted to having only two children, while common-law couples are vulnerable to prosecution.
At the same time, communal tensions exist between the Rohingya and Rakhine population.
Although hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled the country, most to squalid conditions in neighbouring Bangladesh, according to UN agencies, some 735,000 still live in NRS.
The region ranks below national and Rakhine State averages on most demographic and socio-economic indicators. Meanwhile, humanitarian needs are critical in agriculture and food security, education, health and nutrition, infrastructure, and water and sanitation.
"All the five sectors need urgent intervention," said Panday.
These areas have been identified by the government and will be addressed by the CHAP, which agencies aim to finalize with the approval of the government before April. No budget has been set.
Alarming indicators
In NRS, most of the population is landless and relies on daily labour, fishing or subsistence farming on leased land.
There has been chronic food insecurity for years, with an average 84 percent of household spending going on food alone, according to UN agencies.
In rural areas, access to health services is extremely limited, with public health structures open only one day a week.
In Buthidaung Township, for example, there are just two government doctors for 300,000 people, one nurse for every 18,400 people - the national average is one nurse for 3,280 - and one midwife for every 5,500 people.
An assessment of 600 children in August and September 2009 found that only about 55 percent had satisfactory nutritional status. It also found that there was a global acute malnutrition (GAM) rate of 16.3 percent among them; the World Health Organization's (WHO) emergency threshold is 15 percent.
Myanmar has been widely criticized for the treatment of the Muslim population in NRS, and Panday said there now seemed to be some political commitment to tackle the situation.
"I think the government feels they need to address the problem now, and they do not want it to linger like this for a long time," he said.
The development of the CHAP is also an indication that the government is more open to international humanitarian assistance, he said.
"There is a general positive outlook towards solutions," said Panday.
YANGON, 24 February 2010 (IRIN) - UN agencies and NGOs are working to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the Rohingya in Myanmar, even as the government considers changes to their status, the UN says.
Officially referred to as Muslims, the Rohingya are de jure stateless in accordance with the laws of Myanmar.
In its draft stage, the Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) will for the first time consolidate humanitarian aid efforts for all residents in Northern Rakhine State (NRS), where the Rohingya live.
"The humanitarian needs in northern Rakhine State are quite significant, so we need to work together, all the stakeholders," Bhairaja Panday, country representative for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Myanmar, the lead agency in NRS, told IRIN.
"It's a one-year plan to begin with, but if it works it could be replicated in the years to come," he said.
The move comes amid a possible shift in government policy that may see the Rohingya - an ethnic, linguistic and religious minority - given legal status, and therefore accorded more rights.
"I think the government is looking sympathetically at their legal position, and seeing how to improve it," Panday said.
A review of their legal status is under way, against a backdrop of preparations for this year’s upcoming elections.
"We are confident that the situation will improve [for them] in some measure; we don't know exactly how much," Panday said.
Urgent needs
Myanmar's Rohingya population was effectively made stateless in 1982 after the country passed a citizenship law requiring everyone to trace Burmese ancestry to 1823 to be considered a citizen.
They face severe discrimination, say human rights groups. Confined to just three townships in NRS, which restricts their economic opportunities, they need permission to travel from one village to another.
They also need official permission to marry and couples are restricted to having only two children, while common-law couples are vulnerable to prosecution.
At the same time, communal tensions exist between the Rohingya and Rakhine population.
Although hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled the country, most to squalid conditions in neighbouring Bangladesh, according to UN agencies, some 735,000 still live in NRS.
The region ranks below national and Rakhine State averages on most demographic and socio-economic indicators. Meanwhile, humanitarian needs are critical in agriculture and food security, education, health and nutrition, infrastructure, and water and sanitation.
"All the five sectors need urgent intervention," said Panday.
These areas have been identified by the government and will be addressed by the CHAP, which agencies aim to finalize with the approval of the government before April. No budget has been set.
Alarming indicators
In NRS, most of the population is landless and relies on daily labour, fishing or subsistence farming on leased land.
There has been chronic food insecurity for years, with an average 84 percent of household spending going on food alone, according to UN agencies.
In rural areas, access to health services is extremely limited, with public health structures open only one day a week.
In Buthidaung Township, for example, there are just two government doctors for 300,000 people, one nurse for every 18,400 people - the national average is one nurse for 3,280 - and one midwife for every 5,500 people.
An assessment of 600 children in August and September 2009 found that only about 55 percent had satisfactory nutritional status. It also found that there was a global acute malnutrition (GAM) rate of 16.3 percent among them; the World Health Organization's (WHO) emergency threshold is 15 percent.
Myanmar has been widely criticized for the treatment of the Muslim population in NRS, and Panday said there now seemed to be some political commitment to tackle the situation.
"I think the government feels they need to address the problem now, and they do not want it to linger like this for a long time," he said.
The development of the CHAP is also an indication that the government is more open to international humanitarian assistance, he said.
"There is a general positive outlook towards solutions," said Panday.
*************************************************************
The Oklahoma Daily - International humanitarian speaks about genocide in Burma
Daniela McCormick/The Daily
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thomas Van Dyke, executive director of Heroes Serving Humanity, spoke to OU students Tuesday night about the human rights struggle in Burma.
He said Burma army implements systematic genocide to kill off the several ethnic groups in Eastern Burma using several different methods such as relocation, rape, torture and the use of land mines.
Taking a quote from the Amnesty Council, Van Dyke said, “The entire country of Burma is like a prison without bars.”
Girls are usually raped or taken into the sex trade, the homes of the Burmese people are being burned down, villagers are forced to relocate, and hardly anyone knows about it, Van Dyke said.
He talked about how relocated villagers must build the fences around the concentration camp areas to which the Burma army ordered them.
“Villagers are forced to make their own prison. Normally, people go to camps because they don’t want to be shot at,” Van Dyke said
While showing slides of pictures of children, women and men native to Burma who have been affected by the various methods used by the Burma army, Van Dyke talked about the relief effort his organization is doing now to help and how difficult it is due to denial of aid by the Burmese government.
“We have to operate underground. We have to break the law and enter illegally,” Van Dyke said.
Van Dyke left the University of North Carolina in 2008 after 12 years as professor. He said he realized that he was no longer satisfied with his work knowing there were people in the world willing to sacrifice their comfort to help others. In 2009 he started the Heroes Serving Humanity, which focuses on creating awareness of human rights abuse in Burma and providing humanitarian relief to Burma.
Melody Hollifield, international and area studies junior, said she knew about Van Dyke’s efforts in Burma due to a conference she attended in Washington D.C and she was able to meet Van Dyke and get his contact info.
“We asked him if he would love to come to Oklahoma and talk about Burma, and he said that he would love to come, Hollified said.
Jessica Disteelhorst, international and area studies and zoology sophomore, said that she thinks what Van Dyke does is amazing.
Daniela McCormick/The Daily
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thomas Van Dyke, executive director of Heroes Serving Humanity, spoke to OU students Tuesday night about the human rights struggle in Burma.
He said Burma army implements systematic genocide to kill off the several ethnic groups in Eastern Burma using several different methods such as relocation, rape, torture and the use of land mines.
Taking a quote from the Amnesty Council, Van Dyke said, “The entire country of Burma is like a prison without bars.”
Girls are usually raped or taken into the sex trade, the homes of the Burmese people are being burned down, villagers are forced to relocate, and hardly anyone knows about it, Van Dyke said.
He talked about how relocated villagers must build the fences around the concentration camp areas to which the Burma army ordered them.
“Villagers are forced to make their own prison. Normally, people go to camps because they don’t want to be shot at,” Van Dyke said
While showing slides of pictures of children, women and men native to Burma who have been affected by the various methods used by the Burma army, Van Dyke talked about the relief effort his organization is doing now to help and how difficult it is due to denial of aid by the Burmese government.
“We have to operate underground. We have to break the law and enter illegally,” Van Dyke said.
Van Dyke left the University of North Carolina in 2008 after 12 years as professor. He said he realized that he was no longer satisfied with his work knowing there were people in the world willing to sacrifice their comfort to help others. In 2009 he started the Heroes Serving Humanity, which focuses on creating awareness of human rights abuse in Burma and providing humanitarian relief to Burma.
Melody Hollifield, international and area studies junior, said she knew about Van Dyke’s efforts in Burma due to a conference she attended in Washington D.C and she was able to meet Van Dyke and get his contact info.
“We asked him if he would love to come to Oklahoma and talk about Burma, and he said that he would love to come, Hollified said.
Jessica Disteelhorst, international and area studies and zoology sophomore, said that she thinks what Van Dyke does is amazing.
*************************************************************
The Daily Free Press - Jailed activist shares her experiences in Myanmar
By Cassandra Chernin
Published: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Updated: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Burmese surgeon and writer Dr. Ma Thida talks about her experiences in the country of Burma in the Stone Science Building Tuesday evening.
For five years and six months, Ma Thida sat in a jail cell in what was then called Burma. Though close to death and in poor health, what got the writer, doctor and activist through was meditation, she said.
“I never felt like a victim,” Thida said. “The only one who could hurt me was me.”
Thida addressed a small crowd of Boston University students and faculty members in a lecture titled “A Story for Burma,” sponsored by the BU Center for the Study of Asia, on Tuesday.
Thida worked as a doctor at a nonprofit clinical hospital from 1991 to 2008, except for the five years she spent in prison. In 1985, she began writing, and has since written over 80 short stories, a novel titled “Sunflower” and commentary for a literature magazine.
Thida, a resident scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University this year, has received several awards for her writing, such as the Reebok Human Rights Award.
“Most of literature writers write indirectly and ambiguously so people can read between the lines,” she said.
History professor Eugenio Menegon, who coordinated the talk, said the lecture was important because it enlightened students on Asian culture.
“We think that students have so much to gain by understanding Asian societies and politics, so that they can become better citizens of the world,” he said.
Menegon said he thinks the situation in Burma, which is now called Myanmar, should always be on people’s radar because Myanmar deserves a better future.
“This lecture shows how literature can be a powerful tool to both heal the wounds,” he said. “It heals the past and gives hope for the future.”
In her lecture, Thida gave her account of living under a military government. She described the country as a place filled with business cronies with agendas.
In Myanmar, people are never truly free, and even today, freedom is not achievable, Thida said.
Thida also shared her experiences on serving in prison.
As an active member of the National League for Democracy, the opposition party, she was targeted by the military government because she advocated for human rights and political freedom.
She was sentenced to jail after reading a banned weekly journal, but was convicted on charges of endangering public serenity and contacting illegal organizations, she said.
Every two weeks, she was allowed 15 minutes with her family. During her time in jail, she said discovered that she couldn’t be free from the eternal universe without mediation.
“The only way to change one’s future is meditation,” she said.
Thida concluded her speech by reading one of her stories titled “Still Waiting.”
Attendees said they found the lecture eye-opening.
“Even though I came for a class, her story and what she has to offer is very interesting and important,” said College of General Studies sophomore Alexander Dow. “I like how she dove right in. She let us interpret the true meanings.”
“This is something to care about,” said attendee and Boston College graduate student Natalene Ong.
By Cassandra Chernin
Published: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Updated: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Burmese surgeon and writer Dr. Ma Thida talks about her experiences in the country of Burma in the Stone Science Building Tuesday evening.
For five years and six months, Ma Thida sat in a jail cell in what was then called Burma. Though close to death and in poor health, what got the writer, doctor and activist through was meditation, she said.
“I never felt like a victim,” Thida said. “The only one who could hurt me was me.”
Thida addressed a small crowd of Boston University students and faculty members in a lecture titled “A Story for Burma,” sponsored by the BU Center for the Study of Asia, on Tuesday.
Thida worked as a doctor at a nonprofit clinical hospital from 1991 to 2008, except for the five years she spent in prison. In 1985, she began writing, and has since written over 80 short stories, a novel titled “Sunflower” and commentary for a literature magazine.
Thida, a resident scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University this year, has received several awards for her writing, such as the Reebok Human Rights Award.
“Most of literature writers write indirectly and ambiguously so people can read between the lines,” she said.
History professor Eugenio Menegon, who coordinated the talk, said the lecture was important because it enlightened students on Asian culture.
“We think that students have so much to gain by understanding Asian societies and politics, so that they can become better citizens of the world,” he said.
Menegon said he thinks the situation in Burma, which is now called Myanmar, should always be on people’s radar because Myanmar deserves a better future.
“This lecture shows how literature can be a powerful tool to both heal the wounds,” he said. “It heals the past and gives hope for the future.”
In her lecture, Thida gave her account of living under a military government. She described the country as a place filled with business cronies with agendas.
In Myanmar, people are never truly free, and even today, freedom is not achievable, Thida said.
Thida also shared her experiences on serving in prison.
As an active member of the National League for Democracy, the opposition party, she was targeted by the military government because she advocated for human rights and political freedom.
She was sentenced to jail after reading a banned weekly journal, but was convicted on charges of endangering public serenity and contacting illegal organizations, she said.
Every two weeks, she was allowed 15 minutes with her family. During her time in jail, she said discovered that she couldn’t be free from the eternal universe without mediation.
“The only way to change one’s future is meditation,” she said.
Thida concluded her speech by reading one of her stories titled “Still Waiting.”
Attendees said they found the lecture eye-opening.
“Even though I came for a class, her story and what she has to offer is very interesting and important,” said College of General Studies sophomore Alexander Dow. “I like how she dove right in. She let us interpret the true meanings.”
“This is something to care about,” said attendee and Boston College graduate student Natalene Ong.
*************************************************************
Published February 24, 2010
The Business Times - Myanmar invites firms to run 6 Yangon ports
Privatisation move includes developing new facilities under BOT arrangement
(YANGON) Myanmar's military government has invited offers from private companies to operate six major ports in the country's commercial capital and build more in anticipation of a boost in exports.
Myanmar's Transport Ministry has publicly invited offers from 'reliable Myanmar citizens, private businessmen, companies and organisations' to operate six ports in Yangon and to develop new facilities under a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement.
The announcement carried by state-owned Kyemon newspaper on Monday said companies would be able to apply for leases of up to 30 years, with the option of extending.
Those awarded contracts would have to dredge sand bars and improve navigability in Yangon River. They will then be responsible for maintaining waterways and collecting maintenance fees from the ships and vessels, the daily said.
The reason for privatising the ports was to allow professional handling of imports and exports, which were likely to increase in the future, the announcement said. About 90 per cent of the country's foreign trade goes through Yangon ports.
Two private companies, Asia World and Myanmar International Terminal Thilawa, already run two modern ports in Yangon on a BOT basis.
The Transport Ministry is planning to transfer Myanmar's only shipping line, Myanma Five Star, to Myanmar Economic Holding, a business enterprise under the control of the Defence Ministry, a government source told Reuters.
The military regime, which has ruled the former British colony for almost half a century, plans to transfer hundreds of state-owned enterprises to the private sector in the run-up to the country's first elections in two decades, due this year.
Critics say that while the elections will usher in a civilian administration, the army will still be the biggest force in national politics, retaining control behind the scenes.
The Business Times - Myanmar invites firms to run 6 Yangon ports
Privatisation move includes developing new facilities under BOT arrangement
(YANGON) Myanmar's military government has invited offers from private companies to operate six major ports in the country's commercial capital and build more in anticipation of a boost in exports.
Myanmar's Transport Ministry has publicly invited offers from 'reliable Myanmar citizens, private businessmen, companies and organisations' to operate six ports in Yangon and to develop new facilities under a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement.
The announcement carried by state-owned Kyemon newspaper on Monday said companies would be able to apply for leases of up to 30 years, with the option of extending.
Those awarded contracts would have to dredge sand bars and improve navigability in Yangon River. They will then be responsible for maintaining waterways and collecting maintenance fees from the ships and vessels, the daily said.
The reason for privatising the ports was to allow professional handling of imports and exports, which were likely to increase in the future, the announcement said. About 90 per cent of the country's foreign trade goes through Yangon ports.
Two private companies, Asia World and Myanmar International Terminal Thilawa, already run two modern ports in Yangon on a BOT basis.
The Transport Ministry is planning to transfer Myanmar's only shipping line, Myanma Five Star, to Myanmar Economic Holding, a business enterprise under the control of the Defence Ministry, a government source told Reuters.
The military regime, which has ruled the former British colony for almost half a century, plans to transfer hundreds of state-owned enterprises to the private sector in the run-up to the country's first elections in two decades, due this year.
Critics say that while the elections will usher in a civilian administration, the army will still be the biggest force in national politics, retaining control behind the scenes.
*************************************************************
Scoop - Burma's political prosecutions undermine elections
Wednesday, 24 February 2010, 1:15 pm
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission
An article from JURIST, University of Pittsburgh forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission
BURMA: Burma's political prosecution of dissidents undermines legitimacy of planned elections
Min Myat Kyaw [Member, Asian Human Rights Commission]: "The sentencing of four supporters of democracy party leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to two years' imprisonment last week is the latest instance of how courts in Burma (Myanmar) operate under the military regime there to defeat civil and political rights, without regard to the terms of the very laws that they purport to uphold.
The imprisonment of Naw Ohn Hla and three others attracted some interest abroad partly because it coincided with a visit to Burma by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the country, Tomas Ojea Quintana. The envoy has rightly emphasized that an election scheduled for late in the year will not be taken seriously abroad unless all prisoners of conscience are freed.
But the manner in which cases of political imprisonment are conducted in Burma underscores the difficulties that the global community faces in documenting and addressing their incidence. The same week that Naw Ohn Hla was jailed, the Asian Human Rights Commission issued an appeal on new charges against Ma Sandar, who was released just last September after serving a sentence that was instigated by her complaints about corrupt councilors. The new case against her is under the same sections of law and before the same judge; the outcome too will probably be the same. The week before, the Commission issued an appeal for Dr. Wint Thu and eight others, whom Special Branch police illegally arrested and held incommunicado for nearly three months. In December a court handed them jail terms of up to 71 years for allegedly planning to commemorate the monk-led uprising of 2007. The prosecutor's evidence consisted of confessions that were extracted through police torture.
The constant movement of detainees to and from Burma's jails on charges that have little or nothing to do with the real reasons for their custody and even less to do with the standards of law that the courts pretend to enforce makes tracking their cases and understanding their mechanics a full time job. No sooner are persons like Ma Sandar or Naw Ohn Hla let out than they or others are rearrested and charged with new offences. There are no sweeps netting hundreds or thousands of dissidents that might grab headlines overseas. Nor are there any mass releases: amnesties free up space for new inmates, and typically include few political prisoners, many of whom are near to the end of their terms anyhow. Instead there is only a daily passing back and forth through the penal turnstiles. There is only the pointless inflicting of meaningless punishments on people like Naw Ohn Hla, Ma Sandar and Dr. Wint Thu, who are condemned for mundane acts that in most other parts of the world would not excite official interest, let alone attract criminal sanctions. There is only the cruel banality of a dictatorship whose institutions for political and social control are not going to go away on account of an election."
Opinions expressed in JURIST's Hotline are the sole responsibility of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of JURIST's editors, staff, or the University of Pittsburgh.
Article link: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/#6831235426040960095
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984. The above statement has only been forwarded by the AHRC.
Wednesday, 24 February 2010, 1:15 pm
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission
An article from JURIST, University of Pittsburgh forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission
BURMA: Burma's political prosecution of dissidents undermines legitimacy of planned elections
Min Myat Kyaw [Member, Asian Human Rights Commission]: "The sentencing of four supporters of democracy party leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to two years' imprisonment last week is the latest instance of how courts in Burma (Myanmar) operate under the military regime there to defeat civil and political rights, without regard to the terms of the very laws that they purport to uphold.
The imprisonment of Naw Ohn Hla and three others attracted some interest abroad partly because it coincided with a visit to Burma by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the country, Tomas Ojea Quintana. The envoy has rightly emphasized that an election scheduled for late in the year will not be taken seriously abroad unless all prisoners of conscience are freed.
But the manner in which cases of political imprisonment are conducted in Burma underscores the difficulties that the global community faces in documenting and addressing their incidence. The same week that Naw Ohn Hla was jailed, the Asian Human Rights Commission issued an appeal on new charges against Ma Sandar, who was released just last September after serving a sentence that was instigated by her complaints about corrupt councilors. The new case against her is under the same sections of law and before the same judge; the outcome too will probably be the same. The week before, the Commission issued an appeal for Dr. Wint Thu and eight others, whom Special Branch police illegally arrested and held incommunicado for nearly three months. In December a court handed them jail terms of up to 71 years for allegedly planning to commemorate the monk-led uprising of 2007. The prosecutor's evidence consisted of confessions that were extracted through police torture.
The constant movement of detainees to and from Burma's jails on charges that have little or nothing to do with the real reasons for their custody and even less to do with the standards of law that the courts pretend to enforce makes tracking their cases and understanding their mechanics a full time job. No sooner are persons like Ma Sandar or Naw Ohn Hla let out than they or others are rearrested and charged with new offences. There are no sweeps netting hundreds or thousands of dissidents that might grab headlines overseas. Nor are there any mass releases: amnesties free up space for new inmates, and typically include few political prisoners, many of whom are near to the end of their terms anyhow. Instead there is only a daily passing back and forth through the penal turnstiles. There is only the pointless inflicting of meaningless punishments on people like Naw Ohn Hla, Ma Sandar and Dr. Wint Thu, who are condemned for mundane acts that in most other parts of the world would not excite official interest, let alone attract criminal sanctions. There is only the cruel banality of a dictatorship whose institutions for political and social control are not going to go away on account of an election."
Opinions expressed in JURIST's Hotline are the sole responsibility of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of JURIST's editors, staff, or the University of Pittsburgh.
Article link: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/#6831235426040960095
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984. The above statement has only been forwarded by the AHRC.
*************************************************************
BBC News - Burma's youth rapping for change
By Rachel Harvey
BBC News, Mae Sot, Thailand
This year looks set to be a crucial one for Burma.
The military government plans to stage the first elections for 20 years and international attention is likely to be focused on the detained pro democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
But there is another group working to bring about change in Burma whose methods are less conventional.
Generation Wave is a group of hip hop-loving, young Burmese, dedicated to overthrowing the military government.
Their campaigns are run inside Burma, but the group has a safe house in the town of Mae Sot, just across the border in Thailand.
9KT has a mischievous grin, a warm handshake and an unmistakable aura of cool.
He is 27 years old and, clearly, 9KT is not his real name.
The members of Generation Wave never use their real names in public.
But given 9KT's role in the organisation, the alias fits perfectly. His official title is head of artistic projects but essentially he is Rapper-in-Chief.
9KT's latest brainchild is a CD featuring songs written and performed by Generation Wave members.
I was treated to an acoustic medley when I visited the group's safe house in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
The singing was full of passion. But the guitar was badly out of tune, and the cigarettes and teeth-staining red beetle nuts being chewed intermittently softened the impact a bit.
Serious risks
Generation Wave "unplugged" is not likely to win any Grammys. More importantly, it is not likely to inspire an uprising.
But the group is hoping the recorded version, a mixture of hip hop, rock and pop, will be an underground hit back in Burma.
The CD will be distributed by volunteer activists and 9KT is clearly very proud of it.
"Music is the only language everyone understands," he told me.
"We've recorded different types of songs so everyone, whatever their age or gender, can listen to it and know what's right and what's wrong."
Generation Wave wants to encourage the Burmese people to rise up and overthrow the military government.
That may seem like a naïve notion. But the organisation grew out of what became known as the saffron revolution - the 2007 protests led by saffron robed monks, which were violently put down by the Burmese military.
So Generation Wave is grounded in harsh reality.
The group has a strict policy of non violence. No-one under 17 or over 35 years old can join and anyone who does sign up must officially live in Burma and be prepared to take risks. Serious risks.
About 30 Generation Wave members have been imprisoned.
So the safe house, just across the border in Thailand, is an important refuge.
It is in a quiet lane in Mae Sot, a frontier town with at least as many Burmese as Thais living in it.
The transient population is a mixture of migrant workers, traders and political exiles.
The Generation Wave house is a place to plot and scheme, and learn.
The garage has been turned into a permanent classroom, complete with a white board, overhead projector, desks and laptops.
Visiting speakers are invited to provide training on everything from leafleting to graffiti designs.
The concrete walls surrounding the house are covered in brightly coloured spray painted slogans.
The Generation Wave logo, a clenched red fist with the thumb pointing up, features heavily.
When I visited a special tutorial on internet security was being given by a young, long-haired, Thai media expert. There was a lot of talk about Googlemail contacts lists, and Facebook privacy settings and encrypted messages.
Or at least I think that is what it was. The session was being translated from Thai-accented English into Burmese, though to be honest, a lot of it would have been impenetrable to me in any language.
Revolution
But for Generation Wave members, learning to cover your tracks and protect your sources is a matter of survival.
Internet cafes, mobile phones and e-mail accounts are monitored closely in Burma.
Over lunch the talk turned inevitably to the latest news from across the border.
Kitchen duties and menus are divided between the housemates according to a rota pinned up on the wall.
As bowls of Burmese chicken curry and steamed rice were placed on the long wooden table, an earnest 24-year-old called Gali was engaged in what seemed to be a intense political discussion with a slightly older man who had been acting as the translator in class.
I could make out the words "constitution" and "Than Shwe", the name of Burma's military leader.
Gali, another alias, is Generation Wave's logistics man.
Given the might of the Burmese military, I asked him, what could he and his group really do to bring about change?
"We're like the left hand of a boxer," he told me.
"Generation Wave can soften up the government. But the Burmese people are like the boxer's right hand. They are the ones who can deliver the knock-out blow."
Generation Wave is punching well above its weight.
The group's ultimate goal is to inspire a revolution. And with an election scheduled in Burma sometime this year, they are planning a series of new ventures, including, of course, the CD.
My own copy is playing on my laptop as I write this. 9KT rapping over a lyrical riff about the need for the Burmese people to get up.
A musical reminder of a day spent with a group of young rebels with a very real cause - freedom and democracy in their homeland.
By Rachel Harvey
BBC News, Mae Sot, Thailand
This year looks set to be a crucial one for Burma.
The military government plans to stage the first elections for 20 years and international attention is likely to be focused on the detained pro democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
But there is another group working to bring about change in Burma whose methods are less conventional.
Generation Wave is a group of hip hop-loving, young Burmese, dedicated to overthrowing the military government.
Their campaigns are run inside Burma, but the group has a safe house in the town of Mae Sot, just across the border in Thailand.
9KT has a mischievous grin, a warm handshake and an unmistakable aura of cool.
He is 27 years old and, clearly, 9KT is not his real name.
The members of Generation Wave never use their real names in public.
But given 9KT's role in the organisation, the alias fits perfectly. His official title is head of artistic projects but essentially he is Rapper-in-Chief.
9KT's latest brainchild is a CD featuring songs written and performed by Generation Wave members.
I was treated to an acoustic medley when I visited the group's safe house in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
The singing was full of passion. But the guitar was badly out of tune, and the cigarettes and teeth-staining red beetle nuts being chewed intermittently softened the impact a bit.
Serious risks
Generation Wave "unplugged" is not likely to win any Grammys. More importantly, it is not likely to inspire an uprising.
But the group is hoping the recorded version, a mixture of hip hop, rock and pop, will be an underground hit back in Burma.
The CD will be distributed by volunteer activists and 9KT is clearly very proud of it.
"Music is the only language everyone understands," he told me.
"We've recorded different types of songs so everyone, whatever their age or gender, can listen to it and know what's right and what's wrong."
Generation Wave wants to encourage the Burmese people to rise up and overthrow the military government.
That may seem like a naïve notion. But the organisation grew out of what became known as the saffron revolution - the 2007 protests led by saffron robed monks, which were violently put down by the Burmese military.
So Generation Wave is grounded in harsh reality.
The group has a strict policy of non violence. No-one under 17 or over 35 years old can join and anyone who does sign up must officially live in Burma and be prepared to take risks. Serious risks.
About 30 Generation Wave members have been imprisoned.
So the safe house, just across the border in Thailand, is an important refuge.
It is in a quiet lane in Mae Sot, a frontier town with at least as many Burmese as Thais living in it.
The transient population is a mixture of migrant workers, traders and political exiles.
The Generation Wave house is a place to plot and scheme, and learn.
The garage has been turned into a permanent classroom, complete with a white board, overhead projector, desks and laptops.
Visiting speakers are invited to provide training on everything from leafleting to graffiti designs.
The concrete walls surrounding the house are covered in brightly coloured spray painted slogans.
The Generation Wave logo, a clenched red fist with the thumb pointing up, features heavily.
When I visited a special tutorial on internet security was being given by a young, long-haired, Thai media expert. There was a lot of talk about Googlemail contacts lists, and Facebook privacy settings and encrypted messages.
Or at least I think that is what it was. The session was being translated from Thai-accented English into Burmese, though to be honest, a lot of it would have been impenetrable to me in any language.
Revolution
But for Generation Wave members, learning to cover your tracks and protect your sources is a matter of survival.
Internet cafes, mobile phones and e-mail accounts are monitored closely in Burma.
Over lunch the talk turned inevitably to the latest news from across the border.
Kitchen duties and menus are divided between the housemates according to a rota pinned up on the wall.
As bowls of Burmese chicken curry and steamed rice were placed on the long wooden table, an earnest 24-year-old called Gali was engaged in what seemed to be a intense political discussion with a slightly older man who had been acting as the translator in class.
I could make out the words "constitution" and "Than Shwe", the name of Burma's military leader.
Gali, another alias, is Generation Wave's logistics man.
Given the might of the Burmese military, I asked him, what could he and his group really do to bring about change?
"We're like the left hand of a boxer," he told me.
"Generation Wave can soften up the government. But the Burmese people are like the boxer's right hand. They are the ones who can deliver the knock-out blow."
Generation Wave is punching well above its weight.
The group's ultimate goal is to inspire a revolution. And with an election scheduled in Burma sometime this year, they are planning a series of new ventures, including, of course, the CD.
My own copy is playing on my laptop as I write this. 9KT rapping over a lyrical riff about the need for the Burmese people to get up.
A musical reminder of a day spent with a group of young rebels with a very real cause - freedom and democracy in their homeland.
*************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Burmese PM Resumes Media Attacks on Suu Kyi
By BA KAUNG - Wednesday, February 24, 2010
In a renewed Burmese regime attack on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein said on Tuesday that no Burmese citizen could be “a sycophant of any alien nation or a stooge of a foreign country in disguise of a Myanmar [Burmese].”
Thein Sein's remarks, carried in state-run newspapers under large headlines, did not mention Suu Kyi by name, but the wording of his statement made clear he meant the National League for Democracy leader.
Suu Kyi has frequently been accused in the government press of taking orders from Western nations. Her marriage to a British national has been a focal point in the attacks and, under the terms of the 2008 Constitution, excludes her from participating in a general election.
“This message indicates that the regime will not negotiate with any political group in the run-up to the election,” said NLD senior official Win Tin. “With its hardline attitude unchanged, it will continue its plans to hold the elections.”
In December, commentaries in the state-run newspapers dismissed conciliatory statements by Suu Kyi as insincere and dishonest.
The state-run media also reported that 16 NLD members have resigned from the party because of grievances and their support for the regime's 7-step road map towards “a disciplined democracy.”
According to NLD officials, reports of resignations from the party have appeared frequently in the state media, but this latest item appeared to be calculated at attacking the party prior to the election.
“The regime has started using the state media for the election,” said NLD spokesman Khin Maung Swe.
By BA KAUNG - Wednesday, February 24, 2010
In a renewed Burmese regime attack on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein said on Tuesday that no Burmese citizen could be “a sycophant of any alien nation or a stooge of a foreign country in disguise of a Myanmar [Burmese].”
Thein Sein's remarks, carried in state-run newspapers under large headlines, did not mention Suu Kyi by name, but the wording of his statement made clear he meant the National League for Democracy leader.
Suu Kyi has frequently been accused in the government press of taking orders from Western nations. Her marriage to a British national has been a focal point in the attacks and, under the terms of the 2008 Constitution, excludes her from participating in a general election.
“This message indicates that the regime will not negotiate with any political group in the run-up to the election,” said NLD senior official Win Tin. “With its hardline attitude unchanged, it will continue its plans to hold the elections.”
In December, commentaries in the state-run newspapers dismissed conciliatory statements by Suu Kyi as insincere and dishonest.
The state-run media also reported that 16 NLD members have resigned from the party because of grievances and their support for the regime's 7-step road map towards “a disciplined democracy.”
According to NLD officials, reports of resignations from the party have appeared frequently in the state media, but this latest item appeared to be calculated at attacking the party prior to the election.
“The regime has started using the state media for the election,” said NLD spokesman Khin Maung Swe.
*************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - DKBA Reportedly Opposes Border Force Plan
By LAWI WENG - Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Burma's Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) has reportedly reversed its original decision to accept the regime's plan for ceasefire groups to become a “border guard force” (BGF).
Sources in the Three Pagodas Pass area of the Thai-Burmese border told The Irrawaddy that Burmese businessmen there said they had been told by DKBA leaders of the group's change of heart.
A DKBA officer at the Three Pagodas Pass told The Irrawaddy: “The majority of us don't agreed to the Burmese government’s proposal.”
A businessman with DKBA contacts said leaders of the group had rejected a proposal by the Burmese army's Southeast command in Moulmein for talks on the issue.
The DKBA, which is used by the regime as a proxy force to combat insurgencies in Karen and Mon States, agreed to the border guard forces plan shortly after the regime announced it in April, 2009.
However, when the DKBA's spiritual leader, the influential abbot Ashin Thuzana announced his opposition to the plan this month, the group's leadership backed away from its original acceptance.
A DKBA official said: “We don't agree to the plan because our monk doesn't accept it.”
Ashin Thuzana, 68 year-old abbot of Myaing Gyi Ngu Monastery in Karen State, has long been active in the promotion of Buddhism there and has been responsible for the construction of several pagodas in Myaing Gyi Ngu.
He was reportedly admitted to hospital in Bangkok earlier this month for treatment of a long-standing lung problem. Burmese military officials reportedly offered to admit him to a military hospital in Rangoon, but he chose a private clinic in the Thai capital.
The DKBA, which was formed 15 years ago, now controls most of the Thai-Burmese border areas that were previously Karen National Union (KNU) territory.
It claims to have 6,000 troops and to have plans to enlarge the army to 9,000, making it Burma's second largest non-state armed group. It has been accused of human rights abuses in its clashes with KNU forces and also of involvement in human trafficking along Thai-Burmese border.
By LAWI WENG - Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Burma's Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) has reportedly reversed its original decision to accept the regime's plan for ceasefire groups to become a “border guard force” (BGF).
Sources in the Three Pagodas Pass area of the Thai-Burmese border told The Irrawaddy that Burmese businessmen there said they had been told by DKBA leaders of the group's change of heart.
A DKBA officer at the Three Pagodas Pass told The Irrawaddy: “The majority of us don't agreed to the Burmese government’s proposal.”
A businessman with DKBA contacts said leaders of the group had rejected a proposal by the Burmese army's Southeast command in Moulmein for talks on the issue.
The DKBA, which is used by the regime as a proxy force to combat insurgencies in Karen and Mon States, agreed to the border guard forces plan shortly after the regime announced it in April, 2009.
However, when the DKBA's spiritual leader, the influential abbot Ashin Thuzana announced his opposition to the plan this month, the group's leadership backed away from its original acceptance.
A DKBA official said: “We don't agree to the plan because our monk doesn't accept it.”
Ashin Thuzana, 68 year-old abbot of Myaing Gyi Ngu Monastery in Karen State, has long been active in the promotion of Buddhism there and has been responsible for the construction of several pagodas in Myaing Gyi Ngu.
He was reportedly admitted to hospital in Bangkok earlier this month for treatment of a long-standing lung problem. Burmese military officials reportedly offered to admit him to a military hospital in Rangoon, but he chose a private clinic in the Thai capital.
The DKBA, which was formed 15 years ago, now controls most of the Thai-Burmese border areas that were previously Karen National Union (KNU) territory.
It claims to have 6,000 troops and to have plans to enlarge the army to 9,000, making it Burma's second largest non-state armed group. It has been accused of human rights abuses in its clashes with KNU forces and also of involvement in human trafficking along Thai-Burmese border.
*************************************************************
Ed/Op: Commentary
Mizzima News - U Tin Oo and realpolitik
Wednesday, 24 February 2010 21:17 Yan Nyein Aung (Youth)
The National League for Democracy (NLD) party Vice-Chairman U Tin Oo has been freed from house arrest and has resumed his duties. But the news of U Tin Oo’s release didn’t make waves and had a ripple effect as that of student leader Min Ko Naing and Baba (Uncle) U Win Tin’s did. Similarly this news did not get much media coverage. When Min Ko Naing was released, the National Convention was still in progress and basic principles for a new constitution had not yet been laid down. So there was still hope for changing of the political mainstream. Therefore the people had high hopes on the student leaders or 88 Generation students for bringing change in Burma.
But when U Win Tin was released, the 2008 constitution had already forcibly been approved and the junta had announced the 2010 general elections. But the international community and international media were still making noises on this controversial constitution and people were still hoping they had time to stop the junta from going ahead with its plans. Since his release, Baba U Win Tin defiantly and outspokenly talked about everything that he thought should be talked about without hesitation and reluctance. Maybe the junta ignored his words as long as there were no demonstrations and uprising that worries them.
Baba U Tin Oo, like Baba U Win Tin, is a person of integrity and is outspoken. He is committed and determined. He expresses his views very simply and frankly. He led the 8888 uprising along with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He is the person who led NLD from 1995 to 2003, for about eight years and won the trust and respect of the party members, youths and people. But we cannot hope that he can change the course of the current political process. Nevertheless regaining of leadership by Baba U Tin Oo at this time will embolden the party. He is a trusted and revered leader of the party.
He was released on the evening of February 13. As soon as he took charge as Vice-Chairman on February 15, the first case he had to tackle was the selection of nominees to regroup and reinforce the party Central Committee (CC). We are encouraged to learn that Baba U Tin Oo was quite updated about party affairs in taking decisions and deliberating with the delegates from party States and Divisions branches from February 16 to 17 and as well as at the Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting as if he had not been just released from house arrest. Selecting members for CC is crucial but it is not the most important matter.
Though they are saying the time is not yet ripe for contesting the 2010 general elections by holding the Shwe Gong Daing Declaration, the time to take a decision on this matter is not far away. Not surprisingly there are heated debates among party members on this matter with different views and different approaches, and naturally, no one can stop this trend. Let me say by using the current popular term in our party, there are two schools in our party now, namely ‘realist’ and ‘idealist’. Simply said, there are two types of party members and two trends of thinking in our party. The first one is those who want to think pragmatically and those who want to adhere to the principles and no compromise on their stance. Poetically saying, it is a tug-of-war between the head and the heart.
Such dialectic is natural in both human society and the natural world so that the ideal of each member is embedded and woven in our party. Someone might be a ‘realist’ today and he might turn to an ‘idealist’ tomorrow with the stance of never compromising on his commitment and principle. Therefore the current antagonisms in our party are not leading to destruction and devastation. They are not non-negotiable matters. They are antagonisms which can be settled and negotiated peacefully.
But Baba U Tin Oo himself exposed the antagonistic contradiction in our party on February 20 at the function held in his honour by veteran politicians and ethnic parties. In his vote of thanks and acceptance speech for the prize he was awarded, like before, he exposed a secret which was unknown until on that day, very frankly on the incidents and situations just after Depayin massacre and pre-reconvening of National Convention. The main point is the dialogue that took place at that time between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the military regime (SPDC). At these meetings, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told SPDC that she forgave everything that happened at Depayin. And also an agreement had been reached between them to return to the National Convention by the NLD. At that time, according to the delegates of SPDC, its Home Minister had wholeheartedly accepted this offer. But just a day before, the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General negated everything and ‘undid’ every understanding and agreement. This is the secret he revealed on that day.
NLD party members can now see the hidden issue that should be taken into account very clearly. Our party is still holding ‘dialogue’ as the basic principle until the Shwe Gong Daing Declaration. But on the other hand, the main decision maker has not only no interest in this dialogue, but also cancelled all the results of past dialogues and he was not reluctant to dismiss the then Prime Minister, who was the key player in this dialogue. How can we resolve this contradiction?
As Baba U Win Tin has told us since his release from prison, we have only two options. The first one is, to resolve this crisis, surrender and submissive to everything by thinking pragmatically. The second option is to adhere to the principle at the cost of destruction of our party. This is the issue of existence of our party which is higher than antagonism between the heart and the head.
Baba U Tin Oo is the C-in-C turned, Defence Minister turned, legal academician turned politician. Throughout his life, he took many decisions by his discretion and pragmatic approach. At the same time, by adhering to his commitment and principle, he lived with the people, thought for the people, struggled with the people and spent nearly two decades behind bars in one or another form of confinement.
I honestly wish his vast and rich experience, firm commitment, high dignity and integrity and high morals will be useful and instrumental in crucial decision making in the party’s realpolitik programmes and future plans which are soon to be inevitably faced.
Mizzima News - U Tin Oo and realpolitik
Wednesday, 24 February 2010 21:17 Yan Nyein Aung (Youth)
The National League for Democracy (NLD) party Vice-Chairman U Tin Oo has been freed from house arrest and has resumed his duties. But the news of U Tin Oo’s release didn’t make waves and had a ripple effect as that of student leader Min Ko Naing and Baba (Uncle) U Win Tin’s did. Similarly this news did not get much media coverage. When Min Ko Naing was released, the National Convention was still in progress and basic principles for a new constitution had not yet been laid down. So there was still hope for changing of the political mainstream. Therefore the people had high hopes on the student leaders or 88 Generation students for bringing change in Burma.
But when U Win Tin was released, the 2008 constitution had already forcibly been approved and the junta had announced the 2010 general elections. But the international community and international media were still making noises on this controversial constitution and people were still hoping they had time to stop the junta from going ahead with its plans. Since his release, Baba U Win Tin defiantly and outspokenly talked about everything that he thought should be talked about without hesitation and reluctance. Maybe the junta ignored his words as long as there were no demonstrations and uprising that worries them.
Baba U Tin Oo, like Baba U Win Tin, is a person of integrity and is outspoken. He is committed and determined. He expresses his views very simply and frankly. He led the 8888 uprising along with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He is the person who led NLD from 1995 to 2003, for about eight years and won the trust and respect of the party members, youths and people. But we cannot hope that he can change the course of the current political process. Nevertheless regaining of leadership by Baba U Tin Oo at this time will embolden the party. He is a trusted and revered leader of the party.
He was released on the evening of February 13. As soon as he took charge as Vice-Chairman on February 15, the first case he had to tackle was the selection of nominees to regroup and reinforce the party Central Committee (CC). We are encouraged to learn that Baba U Tin Oo was quite updated about party affairs in taking decisions and deliberating with the delegates from party States and Divisions branches from February 16 to 17 and as well as at the Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting as if he had not been just released from house arrest. Selecting members for CC is crucial but it is not the most important matter.
Though they are saying the time is not yet ripe for contesting the 2010 general elections by holding the Shwe Gong Daing Declaration, the time to take a decision on this matter is not far away. Not surprisingly there are heated debates among party members on this matter with different views and different approaches, and naturally, no one can stop this trend. Let me say by using the current popular term in our party, there are two schools in our party now, namely ‘realist’ and ‘idealist’. Simply said, there are two types of party members and two trends of thinking in our party. The first one is those who want to think pragmatically and those who want to adhere to the principles and no compromise on their stance. Poetically saying, it is a tug-of-war between the head and the heart.
Such dialectic is natural in both human society and the natural world so that the ideal of each member is embedded and woven in our party. Someone might be a ‘realist’ today and he might turn to an ‘idealist’ tomorrow with the stance of never compromising on his commitment and principle. Therefore the current antagonisms in our party are not leading to destruction and devastation. They are not non-negotiable matters. They are antagonisms which can be settled and negotiated peacefully.
But Baba U Tin Oo himself exposed the antagonistic contradiction in our party on February 20 at the function held in his honour by veteran politicians and ethnic parties. In his vote of thanks and acceptance speech for the prize he was awarded, like before, he exposed a secret which was unknown until on that day, very frankly on the incidents and situations just after Depayin massacre and pre-reconvening of National Convention. The main point is the dialogue that took place at that time between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the military regime (SPDC). At these meetings, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told SPDC that she forgave everything that happened at Depayin. And also an agreement had been reached between them to return to the National Convention by the NLD. At that time, according to the delegates of SPDC, its Home Minister had wholeheartedly accepted this offer. But just a day before, the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General negated everything and ‘undid’ every understanding and agreement. This is the secret he revealed on that day.
NLD party members can now see the hidden issue that should be taken into account very clearly. Our party is still holding ‘dialogue’ as the basic principle until the Shwe Gong Daing Declaration. But on the other hand, the main decision maker has not only no interest in this dialogue, but also cancelled all the results of past dialogues and he was not reluctant to dismiss the then Prime Minister, who was the key player in this dialogue. How can we resolve this contradiction?
As Baba U Win Tin has told us since his release from prison, we have only two options. The first one is, to resolve this crisis, surrender and submissive to everything by thinking pragmatically. The second option is to adhere to the principle at the cost of destruction of our party. This is the issue of existence of our party which is higher than antagonism between the heart and the head.
Baba U Tin Oo is the C-in-C turned, Defence Minister turned, legal academician turned politician. Throughout his life, he took many decisions by his discretion and pragmatic approach. At the same time, by adhering to his commitment and principle, he lived with the people, thought for the people, struggled with the people and spent nearly two decades behind bars in one or another form of confinement.
I honestly wish his vast and rich experience, firm commitment, high dignity and integrity and high morals will be useful and instrumental in crucial decision making in the party’s realpolitik programmes and future plans which are soon to be inevitably faced.
*************************************************************
New flu strain spreading fast in Burma
Feb 24, 2010 (DVB)–A mosquito-borne virus with symptoms similar to dengue fever is spreading rapidly in Burma, according to doctors who asserted however that it has a low fatality rate.
The Chikungunya virus only became commonplace in Burma in mid-2009, although cases were reported as far back as 1975. It comes as doctors warn of a new wave of the AH1N1 and AH5N1 viruses in Burma that have struck more than 60 people in the past fortnight.
“[Chikungunya] begins like a normal flu with symptoms such as aches and pains, especially in the joints,” a specialist doctor in Rangoon. “The joint pain can be so severe that elderly patients may be unable to walk.”
Although the flu has strong symptoms, it has low fatality rate, particularly if the patient receives proper treatment at inception, the doctor said.
“Personal hygiene is important for flu diseases. Wash hands properly and avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes. Chikungunya is mainly contracted by mosquitoes,” he said.
Rangoon has seen a reemergence of the AH1N1, or ‘swine flu’, virus in recent weeks, with more than 60 people confirmed as carrying the disease. Burma’s secretive capital of Naypyidaw, populated mainly by government staff, has also been affected by the fresh outbreak.
Meanwhile, around 2500 chickens were recently culled in Rangoon following an outbreak of the A/H5N1, or ‘bird flu’ virus.
Health awareness remains low in Burma, with Rangoon residents earlier this month complaining that locals were failing to follow proper procedures to prevent the spread of the virus.
The Burmese government has also been heavily criticized for its low spending on healthcare; around $US43 per person per year, according to the World Health Organisation.
Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat
Feb 24, 2010 (DVB)–A mosquito-borne virus with symptoms similar to dengue fever is spreading rapidly in Burma, according to doctors who asserted however that it has a low fatality rate.
The Chikungunya virus only became commonplace in Burma in mid-2009, although cases were reported as far back as 1975. It comes as doctors warn of a new wave of the AH1N1 and AH5N1 viruses in Burma that have struck more than 60 people in the past fortnight.
“[Chikungunya] begins like a normal flu with symptoms such as aches and pains, especially in the joints,” a specialist doctor in Rangoon. “The joint pain can be so severe that elderly patients may be unable to walk.”
Although the flu has strong symptoms, it has low fatality rate, particularly if the patient receives proper treatment at inception, the doctor said.
“Personal hygiene is important for flu diseases. Wash hands properly and avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes. Chikungunya is mainly contracted by mosquitoes,” he said.
Rangoon has seen a reemergence of the AH1N1, or ‘swine flu’, virus in recent weeks, with more than 60 people confirmed as carrying the disease. Burma’s secretive capital of Naypyidaw, populated mainly by government staff, has also been affected by the fresh outbreak.
Meanwhile, around 2500 chickens were recently culled in Rangoon following an outbreak of the A/H5N1, or ‘bird flu’ virus.
Health awareness remains low in Burma, with Rangoon residents earlier this month complaining that locals were failing to follow proper procedures to prevent the spread of the virus.
The Burmese government has also been heavily criticized for its low spending on healthcare; around $US43 per person per year, according to the World Health Organisation.
Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat
*************************************************************
‘Most serious penalties’ for child solider case
Feb 24, 2010 (DVB)–Three army officials in Burma have been imprisoned in what the International Labour Organisation hail as an unprecedented reprimand of child soldier recruiters by the ruling junta.
The three men received prison sentences of one year, three months and one month respectively, all with hard labour, for their role in forcibly recruiting a 13-year-old boy into the Burmese army. Two other low-ranking officials were given a one-year suspension.
Steve Marshall, liaison officer for the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Rangoon, said the prosecutions were “significant” and “positive”, and were the first case of imprisonment of child solider recruiters brought to the organisation’s attention.
The ILO is the only international body in Burma with a mandate to tackle the problem. It said last month that it had received a total of 120 complaints of underage recruitment since it began its programme in February 2007.
Although Burma became a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991 – thereby making underage recruitment illegal under both domestic and international law - human rights groups have said that up to 20 percent of the country’s estimated 500,000 troops could be underage, making it one of the world’s leading child soldier recruiters.
A report last year by the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict claimed that children as young as nine were serving in the military.
Marshall added that despite the imprisonment of the officials, “the objective of all of the activity is not to necessarily get all of the people arrested and imprisoned, but to stop the practice of recruitment and the use of children [in the army]”.
The ruling junta’s aggressive expansion of its army has been seen as a leading cause for the continuing recruitment of juniors, with senior personnel often forced to fulfill government-directed quotas for troop numbers.
The ILO last month announced that it would begin circulating leaflets around Burma carrying information about child soldier recruitment and forced labour in an attempt to educate the population on the problem. A number of Burma’s ethnic armies are also believed to recruit child soldiers.
Reporting by Francis Wade
Feb 24, 2010 (DVB)–Three army officials in Burma have been imprisoned in what the International Labour Organisation hail as an unprecedented reprimand of child soldier recruiters by the ruling junta.
The three men received prison sentences of one year, three months and one month respectively, all with hard labour, for their role in forcibly recruiting a 13-year-old boy into the Burmese army. Two other low-ranking officials were given a one-year suspension.
Steve Marshall, liaison officer for the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Rangoon, said the prosecutions were “significant” and “positive”, and were the first case of imprisonment of child solider recruiters brought to the organisation’s attention.
The ILO is the only international body in Burma with a mandate to tackle the problem. It said last month that it had received a total of 120 complaints of underage recruitment since it began its programme in February 2007.
Although Burma became a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991 – thereby making underage recruitment illegal under both domestic and international law - human rights groups have said that up to 20 percent of the country’s estimated 500,000 troops could be underage, making it one of the world’s leading child soldier recruiters.
A report last year by the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict claimed that children as young as nine were serving in the military.
Marshall added that despite the imprisonment of the officials, “the objective of all of the activity is not to necessarily get all of the people arrested and imprisoned, but to stop the practice of recruitment and the use of children [in the army]”.
The ruling junta’s aggressive expansion of its army has been seen as a leading cause for the continuing recruitment of juniors, with senior personnel often forced to fulfill government-directed quotas for troop numbers.
The ILO last month announced that it would begin circulating leaflets around Burma carrying information about child soldier recruitment and forced labour in an attempt to educate the population on the problem. A number of Burma’s ethnic armies are also believed to recruit child soldiers.
Reporting by Francis Wade
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Thai police raids spark migrant permit surge
Feb 24, 2010 (DVB)–Raids by Thai police in a border town home to nearly 100,000 Burmese migrants have sparked a surge in the number of people applying for legal permits to live in Thailand.
An eyewitness in Mae Sot, a principal trading hub on the Thai-Burma border, said that the border bridge which connects the town to Myawaddy in Burma “was very crowded with migrants submitting applications…They are arriving in groups of 50 to 60 people”.
The Thai government has demanded that migrant workers submit their application for the permits by 28 February, or face deportation. Workers are required to return to their home country to register, which has raised concerns that Burmese will be intimidated by authorities there.
Migrant rights groups have also said that financial constraints brought on by the often meager migrant wages will also hinder what is a comparatively expensive process. The process could cost them as much as three months’ wages, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch.
Consequently few migrants have so far applied, but recent arrests and growing threats by Thai authorities appear to have pushed people to comply.
“The migrants are to begin the [registration] process after 28 February and a lot of them don’t have the money for it,” said Than Doke, coordinator of the Mae Sot-based Burma Labour Solidarity Organisation (BLSO).
“Also their employers are not encouraging them to get the passports. So we’ll see that, after 28 February, there will be greater difficulty, more arrests and more human rights abuses against the migrants.”
He suggested that the concerns over intimidation by Burmese authorities could be alleviated if employers “take the lead and fill in their employees’ forms and submit them to the labour department”.
“If the employers refuse to do so, [applicants] should inform the labour department themselves. If they don’t fill in the forms, their legal status here will soon expire and they will become illegal migrants.”
Human Rights Watch said in a recent report that Burmese migrants are “particularly at risk” from the scheme. Should they be deported, it says, “they face ethnic and political conflict in their home country.”
The Thai economy is heavily reliant on the cheap labour that the estimated three million migrants from Burma provide, many of whom have fled persecution and conflict in their home country.
Reporting by Thurein Soe
Feb 24, 2010 (DVB)–Raids by Thai police in a border town home to nearly 100,000 Burmese migrants have sparked a surge in the number of people applying for legal permits to live in Thailand.
An eyewitness in Mae Sot, a principal trading hub on the Thai-Burma border, said that the border bridge which connects the town to Myawaddy in Burma “was very crowded with migrants submitting applications…They are arriving in groups of 50 to 60 people”.
The Thai government has demanded that migrant workers submit their application for the permits by 28 February, or face deportation. Workers are required to return to their home country to register, which has raised concerns that Burmese will be intimidated by authorities there.
Migrant rights groups have also said that financial constraints brought on by the often meager migrant wages will also hinder what is a comparatively expensive process. The process could cost them as much as three months’ wages, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch.
Consequently few migrants have so far applied, but recent arrests and growing threats by Thai authorities appear to have pushed people to comply.
“The migrants are to begin the [registration] process after 28 February and a lot of them don’t have the money for it,” said Than Doke, coordinator of the Mae Sot-based Burma Labour Solidarity Organisation (BLSO).
“Also their employers are not encouraging them to get the passports. So we’ll see that, after 28 February, there will be greater difficulty, more arrests and more human rights abuses against the migrants.”
He suggested that the concerns over intimidation by Burmese authorities could be alleviated if employers “take the lead and fill in their employees’ forms and submit them to the labour department”.
“If the employers refuse to do so, [applicants] should inform the labour department themselves. If they don’t fill in the forms, their legal status here will soon expire and they will become illegal migrants.”
Human Rights Watch said in a recent report that Burmese migrants are “particularly at risk” from the scheme. Should they be deported, it says, “they face ethnic and political conflict in their home country.”
The Thai economy is heavily reliant on the cheap labour that the estimated three million migrants from Burma provide, many of whom have fled persecution and conflict in their home country.
Reporting by Thurein Soe
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