Larry Jagan
Mizzima News
www.mizzima.com
February 5, 2008 - Burma's junta is in trouble as it faces the future with an ailing general in charge. Senior General Than Shwe is sinking fast, according to sources close to him. "He's losing his mind – forgetting who has been cashiered in the past, becoming increasingly reclusive and trusting no one around him," said a senior military source in Naypyitaw, Burma's new capital – four hundred kilometers north of Rangoon.
At the same time tension within the army is beginning to show. Many officers are resentful that there have been no military promotions for more than eight months because the governing State Peace and Development Council has failed to meet due to Than Shwe's health and mood swings.
Continuous intelligence failures have also forced the senior general to reappoint Major General Kyaw Win, his former deputy intelligence chief under General Khin Nyunt, to a 500,000 kyat salary posting to run the training school. Several other former intelligence officers have also been reappointed, according to sources close to former intelligence officials.
Than Shwe is worried that current military intelligence operations, set up after Khin Nyunt and most of his military intelligence officers were sacked and many given stiff jail sentences, may not be up to the task. They have been unable to find those behind several recent bombings, including one in Naypyitaw. They also failed to predict and prevent last year's mass demonstrations.
But the senior general's woes don't stop there. The economy is continuing to deteriorate rapidly while the international community steps up pressure on the regime to reform. The European Union is expected to increase selective sanctions against the generals in the next few months while U.S. President George Bush vows to keep the Burma issue as a high priority in the dying days of his administration.
In the meantime a group of prominent lawyers in Europe and the United States are preparing in the coming months to lodge a petition against the junta at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, alleging the crackdown on the monks in September was a crime against humanity.
"There's total inertia in Naypyitaw, no one dares make a decision, even in regard to the smallest matters, without approval from the top, which is rarely forthcoming," a senior government official confided to a Western diplomat recently.
"Nothing is happening at all, everyone is waiting for Than Shwe to die," according to a senior Asian government minister, who recently met his Burmese counterpart at an ASEAN function outside the country.
Than Shwe's health is rapidly worsening, according to diplomats, who have seen him recently. "He may be getting Alzheimer's – he periodically forgets things; he recently asked where several officers were, all of whom were sacked last year during the mass retirements of middle ranking officers," according to a government source in Naypyitaw.
"He's rapidly going senile, and now has increasing heart problems," according to another government source. He already suffers from chronic diabetes and has regular bouts of hypertension. Several years ago he also suffered a mild stroke. Now with heart coronary problems and dementia, he is becoming increasingly incapacitated.
Singapore doctors have been making regular visits to Than Shwe's residence in Naypyitaw over the last few months, according to Southeast Asian diplomatic sources.
"For almost a decade now Than Shwe has refused to have his annual medical check-up done by Burmese army doctors for fear that this would leave him vulnerable and in danger of being ousted as he did to General Saw Maung [some fifteen years ago, on the pretext of suffering a nervous break-down]," a former military doctor told Mizzima on the condition of anonymity.
Last month he had a minor cardiac operation, in Naypyitaw. Singapore doctors went to the capital to perform a balloon angioplasty. A major quadruple heart bypass operation though has been scheduled for later this month in Singapore – as the facilities in Burma are too primitive.
This latest health problem has caused Than Shwe to postpone the quarterly meeting of the junta until the end of the month -- the first meeting they will have had since the brutal crackdown on the monk-led demonstrations last August and September in response to price rises.
"The generals have not met for more than eight months, since before the August and September protests, so during that time, apart from the appointment of three regional commanders, there have been no promotions," a Chiang Mai-based Burmese analyst, Win Min, told Mizzima.
That is going to be the first order of the day. Than Shwe also realizes that most senior generals, including regional commanders, actually owe their personal allegiance to Maung Aye and Thura Shwe Mann and not him. This is beginning to trouble him as he fears that his immediate subordinates may be planning a putsch against him.
"For the past twelve months, Than Shwe has been preoccupied with sidelining Maung Aye," a military source told Mizzima. "He has been relatively successful in this, but Maung Aye constantly manages to harass him, block promotions, or disrupt decisions in a fit of spite," he added.
In the latest show of strength, he ordered the Mayor of Rangoon to take down billboards across town urging people to "oppose those pessimistic axe-handles who are relying on America" because he objected to the use of America, preferring instead not to distinguish between foreign enemies.
After the promotions Than Shwe plans a major cabinet reshuffle with many of the old guard being forced to retire, to allow the regional commanders to be appointed to some of these senior posts, and to allow younger officers their chance to become commanders in the field. Until that happens, government administration is at a standstill, according to diplomats in Rangoon.
To make matters worse, many Burmese astrologers are predicting black times for the senior general. The solar eclipse later this week is seen as a bad omen for Than Shwe's health and family fortunes. While the wily old general has survived previous astrological predictions of doom, his grip on power is being increasingly weakened by ill-health and inertia.
"Burma remains a social volcano about to erupt," a major Burmese businessman told Mizzima on condition of anonymity. "It's a cauldron boiling away underneath," according to a senior European diplomat based in Bangkok who has followed Burmese affairs for more than a decade. "Sooner or later it's going to explode," he predicted.
Mizzima News
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
RIGHTS-BURMA: 'How Many Monks Must Die Before The UN Moves?'
By Marwaan Macan-Markar - IPSMAE SOT, Thailand, Feb 5 - For one Buddhist monk from Burma, the brutal crackdown of peaceful street protests in the country last September was anything but a victory for the military regime.
The force used by the junta exposed its true character to the world. ‘’The international community really got to know how oppressive the Burmese military regime is,’’ said the monk, leaning slightly forward on the chair he was seated on as if to emphasise the point. ‘’That is one of the advantages of our struggle.’’
‘’There were many people who were killed -- monks, students, the public -- when the military brutally attacked the people who were demonstrating,’’ he went on. ‘’It also showed why the military regime is responsible for the way Burmese Buddhism has been treated. The history is ugly.’’
But the junta is not the only body that comes to mind as he reflects on what has happened over four months after the crackdown of street protests, the likes of which have not been seen in nearly two decades in that South-east Asian country. ‘’I want to ask the U.N. Security Council how many monks and people have to be sacrificed before the U.N. Security Council intervenes,’’ he continues.
And the Ven. Ashin Kovida is the ideal candidate to speak out against both entities. He was in Rangoon when the junta ordered its heavily armed troops to fire at the unarmed demonstrators. He was also the head of the committee of monks that helped shape the march of thousands through the streets of Rangoon during that brief September cry for economic relief and political freedom.
The march that the 15-member Buddhist Monks’ Representative Committee led had over 100,000 people on to the streets of Rangoon, a large number of whom were monks from the former capital wearing deep maroon robes. According to the United Nations, 31 people were killed and hundreds were arrested during the crackdown. But opposition and human rights groups place a much higher casualty rate, with over 100 deaths and over a thousand protesters arrested.
The monks were among the victims, too, states one group, the All-Burma Monks Alliance. Three monks were killed, one of whom was beaten to death, while another died after being tortured, it revealed in late January. The fate of 44 monks and nuns who were arrested when the military raided 53 monasteries across Burma, also known as Myanmar, still remain unknown, it added.
Such oppression appears to have enraged an already beleaguered population. ‘’The people have continued to suffer as they did before September,’’ Kovida said through an interpreter during an interview with IPS. ‘’The struggle against the military regime will continue this year. There is a strong desire among the people to do so.’’
Yet the likelihood of Kovida being in the forefront of new public protests against the junta appears remote. For after the September protests, he had to flee his country for the safety of Mae Sot, a Thai town on the Thai-Burma border, to evade arrest.
It was a flight from oppression that took over three weeks. The thin, 24-year-old monk had to hide in a house some 40 miles out of Rangoon to evade the Burmese forces searching for him, with copies of his photograph in their hand. For his trip to the Thai border, Kovida had to let the hair on his shaved head grow, then have it tinted gold, and to complete the disguise of a hip teenager, he shed his robes for street clothes. He even sported a bracelet for added affect during the bus-ride to the border.
Currently, there are 23 monks in this border town who have fled Burma following the crackdown. They, like Kovida, are all young, in their 20s, confirming a view that gained ground during the September protests that it were the young angry monks from among the country’s 400,000-strong Buddhist clergy who led the way to challenge the junta. And 10 of them, including Kovida, have applied to the U.N. refugee agency to seek political asylum.
But there is more to Kovida’s story than that of a young monk who dared to take on one of this region’s brutal regimes. It is a tale of political enlightenment of a Burmese who grew up in poverty in a small village of 20 houses in the western region of the country. When he arrived in Rangoon in 2003 to further his studies as a monk -- his only route to education -- he was marginally aware of the military’s notorious record since grabbing power in a 1962 coup.
‘’During my free time I began to learn English at the British Council and at the American Centre, and through some friends I was able to see videotapes of what happened in ’88,’’ said Kovida, referring to the bloody crackdown of a pro-democracy uprising in Burma in August 1988, where some 3,000 pro-democracy activists were killed by the military.
That political education beyond the walls of the monastery soon led to a new train of thought. ‘’I started to ask why there was such a big difference between the poor people in my village and the rich in the city,’’ he said. ‘’I wanted to know why there were so many poor people when Burma has so much natural wealth.’’
Before long, his journey of inquiry had led him to the obvious answer. ‘’I realised that the fault was with our military government,’’ he revealed. ‘’I felt very angry thereafter and felt I had to do something.’’
The junta’s decision to raise the price of oil by 500 percent overnight with no warning, last August, added to Kovida’s growing rage. ‘’We began to see more people suffering, children who could not afford to go to school, more children begging for food on the streets,’’ he said. ‘’Many monks could not ignore this because these were the people who always gave the monks food in the mornings.’’
Then came the trigger that saw the transformation of Kovida from a Rangoon outsider to the protest leader in the city. In early September, Burmese soldiers clashed with monks who were protesting against the spike in oil prices in the central town of Pakokku. The soldiers dragged away 10 of the 300 monks who had been protesting and beat them with bamboo sticks.
‘’The military regime failed to apologise for what was done in Pakkoku by the deadline the monks set, Sep. 17,’’ said Kovida. ‘’We then start to organise for a protest in Rangoon but realised there was no leadership. A new committee had to be set up.’’
It was out of such an atmosphere of rage and uncertainty that the Buddhist Monks’ Representative Committee was born. And young Kovida stepped forward when the monks in Rangoon called for a leader to head the committee. ‘’Our plan was for the monks to start marching and lead the crowds,’’ he said. ‘’We agreed that we had to be systematic. And the march had to be peaceful.’’
"We will not secede from Union" - KIO/A
By Kachin News
February 5, 2008
Leaders of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and its armed wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have reiterated that they will not secede from the Union of Burma (Myanmar). The announcement was made at a ceremony during today's Kachin Revolution Day, the participants said.
The most powerful leader in KIO/A, Vice President N'ban La Awng rephrased it "We will not secede from the Union. We'd like the Union (Union of Burma) to be sustainable and united. The Union must be sustainable."
"In the Union, we have to respect each other and have equal rights. Now is the time when the government (Burma's ruling junta) is drafting the country's constitution. If the new constitution is good, we will support it", added the KIO/A vice-president.
N'ban La Awng delivered a 30 minutes well-organized speech to thousands of people such as Kachins and other specially invited guest visitors including Shan, Chinese, Gurkha and Palaung. It was unusual that the speech was translated in Burmese language, according to KIO/A officials.
Before the KIO/A vice-president delivered his speech this noon, the six pages of the 47th anniversary of Revolution Day speech was read out as usual by the KIO/A Chairman and President of Kachin Independence Council (KIC), Salang Kaba Lanyaw Zaw Hra. One can also see the anniversary speech in Kachin at the KIO/A owned website called 'The Kachin Net (www.kachinnet.com)'.
The KIO/A Chairman's speech mainly praised the decade long ceasefire agreement between the KIO/A and the ruling junta. He said that the KIO/A has discussed with civilian mediators whenever they have contemplated taking a new political step.
The speech also mentioned that the KIO/A has submitted a 19-point charter demanding autonomy for Kachin State as well as a genuine federal union of Burma, to the ruling junta.
But, both the special Revolution Day speeches of KIO/A Chairman and Vice-president did not go into the future political options by the KIO/A in the post-national convention scenario—which the Kachins are interested in.
Last year, the KIO/A decided to change the current organization's name (KIO/KIA) in the future and at a suitable time at the key October KIO/A Central Committee meeting in Laiza controlled areas.
Today, the Kachin Revolution Day ceremony started with an hour-long military parade where over 1,000 soldiers participated. It ended with a special dinner hosted by KIO/A Chairman, Lanyaw Zaw Hra, KIO/A officials said.
The KIA was formed by a group of seven Kachin students of Rangoon University called "Seven Stars" in February 5, 1961 for secession. However, the policy was changed for a genuine Federal Union in Burma when Maran Brang Seng became the KIO/A chairman in 1975.
February 5, 2008
Leaders of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and its armed wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have reiterated that they will not secede from the Union of Burma (Myanmar). The announcement was made at a ceremony during today's Kachin Revolution Day, the participants said.
The most powerful leader in KIO/A, Vice President N'ban La Awng rephrased it "We will not secede from the Union. We'd like the Union (Union of Burma) to be sustainable and united. The Union must be sustainable."
"In the Union, we have to respect each other and have equal rights. Now is the time when the government (Burma's ruling junta) is drafting the country's constitution. If the new constitution is good, we will support it", added the KIO/A vice-president.
N'ban La Awng delivered a 30 minutes well-organized speech to thousands of people such as Kachins and other specially invited guest visitors including Shan, Chinese, Gurkha and Palaung. It was unusual that the speech was translated in Burmese language, according to KIO/A officials.
Before the KIO/A vice-president delivered his speech this noon, the six pages of the 47th anniversary of Revolution Day speech was read out as usual by the KIO/A Chairman and President of Kachin Independence Council (KIC), Salang Kaba Lanyaw Zaw Hra. One can also see the anniversary speech in Kachin at the KIO/A owned website called 'The Kachin Net (www.kachinnet.com)'.
The KIO/A Chairman's speech mainly praised the decade long ceasefire agreement between the KIO/A and the ruling junta. He said that the KIO/A has discussed with civilian mediators whenever they have contemplated taking a new political step.
The speech also mentioned that the KIO/A has submitted a 19-point charter demanding autonomy for Kachin State as well as a genuine federal union of Burma, to the ruling junta.
But, both the special Revolution Day speeches of KIO/A Chairman and Vice-president did not go into the future political options by the KIO/A in the post-national convention scenario—which the Kachins are interested in.
Last year, the KIO/A decided to change the current organization's name (KIO/KIA) in the future and at a suitable time at the key October KIO/A Central Committee meeting in Laiza controlled areas.
Today, the Kachin Revolution Day ceremony started with an hour-long military parade where over 1,000 soldiers participated. It ended with a special dinner hosted by KIO/A Chairman, Lanyaw Zaw Hra, KIO/A officials said.
The KIA was formed by a group of seven Kachin students of Rangoon University called "Seven Stars" in February 5, 1961 for secession. However, the policy was changed for a genuine Federal Union in Burma when Maran Brang Seng became the KIO/A chairman in 1975.
Activists Call for Beijing Olympics Boycott
By WAI MOE
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 5, 2008
As the Beijing Summer Olympic Games 2008 nears its opening ceremony on August 8, human rights activists have launched a campaign to boycott the games; one of the main reasons being China’s support for the Burmese military junta.
A Web site, beijingolympicsboycott.com, lists ten reasons to boycott the Beijing Olympics, including China’s involvement in Darfur and its human rights record.
The Web site has cleverly remodeled the insignia of the Olympics—the five interconnected rings—to read “NO” in each of the rings.
Regarding Burma, the Web site states: “China funds the Burmese regime, arms it and protests it from international pressure. China builds Burma’s roads and buys its oil, gas and timber, but China won't prod the Burmese government to allow even basic reforms. China uses its veto power to block the UN Security Council from doing anything meaningful for the Burmese people.”
A lobby group based in Washington, DC, the US Campaign for Burma recently said in a report titled “China’s Support Blocks International Diplomacy and Keeps Burma’s Regime in Power,” that China is one of the largest arms suppliers to the Burmese military junta. Since 1989, China has provided the Burmese regime with weapons and military equipment valued at over US $2 billion. “Arms shipments continue to this day,” said the group.
The group reported that in return for the Chinese government’s protection, the Burmese regime discount natural gas from the world market rate of around $7.30 per million BTU (British Thermal Units), to just $4.28 per million BTU for the energy-hungry Chinese government.
“China is the only country with the ability to shield Burma’s military junta from international intervention,” said the group. “China vetoed a peaceful UN Security Council resolution— that had garnered enough votes to pass—that would have strengthened the [UN] Secretary-General’s mandate to resolving the crisis in Burma.”
Chinese intellectuals have also joined in the debate. A few days later after the brutal crackdown on Buddhist monk-led demonstrations in Burma, Chinese bloggers condemned their government’s support for the junta.
A Chinese pro-democracy activist, Fang Jue, said in an article on Web site wenxuecity.com that “China is responsible for the Burmese dictatorship—China is the only country who can speak to the Burmese military regime, but the Chinese government chose to hold back the UN Security Council’s action to Burma.”
Xia Ming, a professor of political science at the City University of New York said at the time that China does not want Burma’s situation to get more intensified and does not want the Burmese military government to be overthrown by the protestors either.
On September 29, The Washington Post warned in its editorial of a potential Olympic boycott over Chinese foreign policy, particular the Burma issue. It noted that China must have realized that one unintended consequence of hosting the 2008 Olympics is unprecedented global scrutiny of Beijing’s retrograde foreign policy.
“The failure of President Hu Jintao’s leadership to forthrightly condemn the repression [in Burma] has had the effect of giving the junta a green light,” said The Post, concluding: “Burma’s saffron-robed monks will join Darfur’s refugees in haunting the Beijing Olympics—which are on their way to becoming a monument to an emerging superpower’s immorality.”
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 5, 2008
As the Beijing Summer Olympic Games 2008 nears its opening ceremony on August 8, human rights activists have launched a campaign to boycott the games; one of the main reasons being China’s support for the Burmese military junta.
A Web site, beijingolympicsboycott.com, lists ten reasons to boycott the Beijing Olympics, including China’s involvement in Darfur and its human rights record.
The Web site has cleverly remodeled the insignia of the Olympics—the five interconnected rings—to read “NO” in each of the rings.
Regarding Burma, the Web site states: “China funds the Burmese regime, arms it and protests it from international pressure. China builds Burma’s roads and buys its oil, gas and timber, but China won't prod the Burmese government to allow even basic reforms. China uses its veto power to block the UN Security Council from doing anything meaningful for the Burmese people.”
A lobby group based in Washington, DC, the US Campaign for Burma recently said in a report titled “China’s Support Blocks International Diplomacy and Keeps Burma’s Regime in Power,” that China is one of the largest arms suppliers to the Burmese military junta. Since 1989, China has provided the Burmese regime with weapons and military equipment valued at over US $2 billion. “Arms shipments continue to this day,” said the group.
The group reported that in return for the Chinese government’s protection, the Burmese regime discount natural gas from the world market rate of around $7.30 per million BTU (British Thermal Units), to just $4.28 per million BTU for the energy-hungry Chinese government.
“China is the only country with the ability to shield Burma’s military junta from international intervention,” said the group. “China vetoed a peaceful UN Security Council resolution— that had garnered enough votes to pass—that would have strengthened the [UN] Secretary-General’s mandate to resolving the crisis in Burma.”
Chinese intellectuals have also joined in the debate. A few days later after the brutal crackdown on Buddhist monk-led demonstrations in Burma, Chinese bloggers condemned their government’s support for the junta.
A Chinese pro-democracy activist, Fang Jue, said in an article on Web site wenxuecity.com that “China is responsible for the Burmese dictatorship—China is the only country who can speak to the Burmese military regime, but the Chinese government chose to hold back the UN Security Council’s action to Burma.”
Xia Ming, a professor of political science at the City University of New York said at the time that China does not want Burma’s situation to get more intensified and does not want the Burmese military government to be overthrown by the protestors either.
On September 29, The Washington Post warned in its editorial of a potential Olympic boycott over Chinese foreign policy, particular the Burma issue. It noted that China must have realized that one unintended consequence of hosting the 2008 Olympics is unprecedented global scrutiny of Beijing’s retrograde foreign policy.
“The failure of President Hu Jintao’s leadership to forthrightly condemn the repression [in Burma] has had the effect of giving the junta a green light,” said The Post, concluding: “Burma’s saffron-robed monks will join Darfur’s refugees in haunting the Beijing Olympics—which are on their way to becoming a monument to an emerging superpower’s immorality.”
It’s Do-or-Die Time for NLD
By KYAW ZWA MOE
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
My heart sank last week when I heard the words of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi: “Let’s hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”
It’s a discouraging, inconvenient truth that Suu Kyi shared with her National League for Democracy colleagues when the regime allowed her to meet with them briefly last week.
The words of the detained opposition leader indicate that the political state of Burma is moving from bad to worse to the worst.
Her words came out of her frustration with the ongoing “talks” with the ruling military regime. The regime appointed a liaison officer to deal with Suu Kyi after it faced mounting internal pressure following its harsh crackdown on the monk-led demonstrations last September.
Since then, the liaison officer, ex-Maj-Gen Aung Kyi, has met with Suu Kyi four times, but the meetings haven’t gone beyond trivial topics.
According to the NLD, Suu Kyi requested to meet with the head of the military junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, but she has received no response.
Suu Kyi also “is not pleased with the talks” mainly because of the lack of a time frame, NLD spokesperson Nyan Win said after he met with her last Wednesday. According to one NLD member, she does not want to give false hope to the people of Burma.
Yes, it’s important for a leader not to give false hope to the people.
The Burmese people heard her statement, and they appreciate her candor. But they also have a right not to lower their expectations of her and the NLD leadership.
Specifically, the people have a right to hear what type of substantive strategy Suu Kyi and her colleagues have to break the current political stalemate with the stubborn generals. Most Burmese would support a more pro-active NLD policy with its own guidelines, strategy and deadlines for taking the struggle for democracy to a higher level.
Such expectations from the public are only fair. The NLD is the main opposition party. It received about 82 percent of the vote in the 1990 nationwide election. The party has a clear mandate to carry out its mission to implement democracy in Burma.
The NLD has tried, but it has failed to create a unified policy that the people can rally behind. The party has suffered from a sustained, brutal assault waged by the generals ever since the 88 uprising.
The senior NLD members are in their 70s and 80s. Many have served time in prison. They have earned the people’s respect and sympathy. The leaders have a strong commitment to the movement.
However, to be frank, this does not of itself qualify them to be the leaders of the party and the democracy movement at this time. A large segment of the public is frustrated, searching for new ways to break the impasse that has gripped Burma for years.
In its 20-year-hisotry, the NLD has been more political than practical, especially during the years when Suu Kyi has been under house arrest; she has been detained for 12 years of the past 18 years.
Some observers believe many of the NLD’s senior leaders regard themselves as “caretakers,” rather than freedom fighters whose goal is to keep the party alive in the absence of its real leader.
Meanwhile, the junta has effectively destroyed or impeded the work of the broader pro-democracy movement to the point where the 2007 uprising occurred more or less without the active participation of the NLD leadership, although the party’s rank and file membership took part in the demonstrations.
The NLD, despite the brutality of the generals, must work harder to formulate new, meaningful policies that can rally the Burmese people. Otherwise, despite its past accomplishments, it has failed.
NLD critics take the line: “Without Suu Kyi, the party is nothing.” It should not, and must not, be like that. The party, its members and the public need a broad reliable leadership within an effective opposition party.
As an example, look at South Africa’s apartheid struggle. When the head of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela, was in prison, other leaders carried on the movement. So should the NLD.
Last week, Suu Kyi told her colleagues to move forward without her, according to a senior NLD member. He quoted her as saying: sometimes she will lead; sometimes she will follow others’ leadership in the party.
Suu Kyi also said sometimes the party needs to push and sometimes it needs to pull, and if it is necessary, everyone needs to be ready to give up everything.
Golden words! It’s time for the NLD leadership to take her words to heart. It’s time for bold ideas and action. The party must be in the forefront of the pro-democracy movement. The party’s mission is not to keep itself alive, but to keep the country alive.
It’s a do-or-die time for the NLD leadership and the Burmese people.
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
My heart sank last week when I heard the words of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi: “Let’s hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”
It’s a discouraging, inconvenient truth that Suu Kyi shared with her National League for Democracy colleagues when the regime allowed her to meet with them briefly last week.
The words of the detained opposition leader indicate that the political state of Burma is moving from bad to worse to the worst.
Her words came out of her frustration with the ongoing “talks” with the ruling military regime. The regime appointed a liaison officer to deal with Suu Kyi after it faced mounting internal pressure following its harsh crackdown on the monk-led demonstrations last September.
Since then, the liaison officer, ex-Maj-Gen Aung Kyi, has met with Suu Kyi four times, but the meetings haven’t gone beyond trivial topics.
According to the NLD, Suu Kyi requested to meet with the head of the military junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, but she has received no response.
Suu Kyi also “is not pleased with the talks” mainly because of the lack of a time frame, NLD spokesperson Nyan Win said after he met with her last Wednesday. According to one NLD member, she does not want to give false hope to the people of Burma.
Yes, it’s important for a leader not to give false hope to the people.
The Burmese people heard her statement, and they appreciate her candor. But they also have a right not to lower their expectations of her and the NLD leadership.
Specifically, the people have a right to hear what type of substantive strategy Suu Kyi and her colleagues have to break the current political stalemate with the stubborn generals. Most Burmese would support a more pro-active NLD policy with its own guidelines, strategy and deadlines for taking the struggle for democracy to a higher level.
Such expectations from the public are only fair. The NLD is the main opposition party. It received about 82 percent of the vote in the 1990 nationwide election. The party has a clear mandate to carry out its mission to implement democracy in Burma.
The NLD has tried, but it has failed to create a unified policy that the people can rally behind. The party has suffered from a sustained, brutal assault waged by the generals ever since the 88 uprising.
The senior NLD members are in their 70s and 80s. Many have served time in prison. They have earned the people’s respect and sympathy. The leaders have a strong commitment to the movement.
However, to be frank, this does not of itself qualify them to be the leaders of the party and the democracy movement at this time. A large segment of the public is frustrated, searching for new ways to break the impasse that has gripped Burma for years.
In its 20-year-hisotry, the NLD has been more political than practical, especially during the years when Suu Kyi has been under house arrest; she has been detained for 12 years of the past 18 years.
Some observers believe many of the NLD’s senior leaders regard themselves as “caretakers,” rather than freedom fighters whose goal is to keep the party alive in the absence of its real leader.
Meanwhile, the junta has effectively destroyed or impeded the work of the broader pro-democracy movement to the point where the 2007 uprising occurred more or less without the active participation of the NLD leadership, although the party’s rank and file membership took part in the demonstrations.
The NLD, despite the brutality of the generals, must work harder to formulate new, meaningful policies that can rally the Burmese people. Otherwise, despite its past accomplishments, it has failed.
NLD critics take the line: “Without Suu Kyi, the party is nothing.” It should not, and must not, be like that. The party, its members and the public need a broad reliable leadership within an effective opposition party.
As an example, look at South Africa’s apartheid struggle. When the head of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela, was in prison, other leaders carried on the movement. So should the NLD.
Last week, Suu Kyi told her colleagues to move forward without her, according to a senior NLD member. He quoted her as saying: sometimes she will lead; sometimes she will follow others’ leadership in the party.
Suu Kyi also said sometimes the party needs to push and sometimes it needs to pull, and if it is necessary, everyone needs to be ready to give up everything.
Golden words! It’s time for the NLD leadership to take her words to heart. It’s time for bold ideas and action. The party must be in the forefront of the pro-democracy movement. The party’s mission is not to keep itself alive, but to keep the country alive.
It’s a do-or-die time for the NLD leadership and the Burmese people.
Thailand’s “Long Necks” Face Resettlement Obstacles
By VIOLET CHOThe Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 5, 2008
The Thai government is being accused of barring so-called “long-necked” Padaung people from emigrating to Finland and New Zealand because they are valuable tourist attractions.
About 20 members of Burma’s Padaung ethnic group living in Thailand were offered the opportunity of resettlement in Finland and New Zealand. But they are being denied exit visas, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok.
Kitty McKinsey, the UNHCR’s regional spokeswoman, said Padaung people approved for resettlement should be treated in the same way as the 200,000 Burmese refugees who have left Thailand since 2005.
“If the Thai government do not want to issue exit visa for them, then it should offer the same rights they would have in New Zealand, which means they should have Thai citizenship and full rights as Thai citizens,” she added.
New Zealand’s Immigration Department has asked Thai authorities to explain why they have refused to allow the Padaung to leave Thailand. A department official said no response had yet been received.
Kevin Third, director of the New Zealand Immigration Department’s Refugee Division, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the Padaung families were included in the 2007/2008 resettlement programme.
“Due to forward planning processes the non-issue of exit permits has resulted in their places being filled by other refugees,” he said. “Further consideration of these families for resettlement will depend on whether it might be possible to obtain the necessary exit permits.”
Some observers say the Padaung families are being kept in Thailand because of the role they play as tourist attractions in northern Thailand.
Phedu, editor of the Karenni newspaper The Kandarawaddy Times, said: “I think the Thai local authorities do not want to allow Padaung people to resettle elsewhere because they do not want to lose tourist business.”
The largest Padaung village in Thailand, Nai Soi, is visited annually by about 1,200 tourists, who pay 250 baht (about US $8) to view the long-necked residents.
The governor of Mae Hong Son Province in the far north of Thailand, Thongchai Wongrianthong, claimed the long-necked people living in the region were happy where they were. He said they lived “like other refugees, under the protection of Thai laws,” according to a report in Thailand’s English language daily The Bangkok Post.
One Padaung woman living in Huay Pu Keng, Mae Hong Son Province, said, however, that she was far from happy with life. She claimed Thai authorities had stopped providing food aid, and tourists had stopped coming to her village. “Our future is not certain,” she said.
About 500 long-necked Padaung live in Huay Pu Keng and two other Mae Hong Son villages, Huay Su Htauk and Nai Soi.
The Padaung people, renowned for the coiled brass rings that many wear around their necks, are native to Burma's Karenni State, but many fled to Thailand in 1990 after reportedly being drafted by the Burmese military for forced labour.
Burma’s Elderly Turn to Begging for a Living
Min LwinThe Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.news
February 6, 2008
A group of senior citizens is sitting and chatting together in a circle, hoping for worshippers to appear at Mandalay’s famed Mahamyatmuni Pagoda in Mandalay so they can beg for money. They are weak, feeble, and entirely dependent on these small offerings from the pious and compassionate.
“They can be seen gathering and talking with each other, like pilgrims at famous pagodas,” said Thura, a resident of Sagaing, a major Buddhist pilgrimage center in Upper Burma. “When their children are unable to look after them, they come here to beg for their daily survival.”
Increasingly, Burma’s elderly, including retired civil servants, are turning to mendicancy to make ends meet. They can be seen near pagodas, in teashops, and on the streets, seeking to supplement their meager pensions with the spare kyat of passersby.
Residents of Rangoon and Mandalay say that senior citizens without support from their families or a place to stay in a monastery face severe hardship. Facilities for assisting those in their declining years are few, and most have already reached their full capacity.
“We can accept new residents only after someone else has died,” said an employee of the Shwe Than Lwin Home for the Aged in Rangoon. “We have only enough room for 96 people,” added the staff member, who was contacted by phone.
Kandawgalay Little Sister of the Poor, a Catholic-run organization in Rangoon’s Mingala Taungnyunt Township, currently cares for 170 elderly people, according to a senior nun who spoke to The Irrawaddy. “If we have places for them to stay, we accept,” she said, adding that all funding comes from local donors.
Rangoon’s Hninzigone Home for the Aged, a non-governmental organization founded in 1933, is funded by donations from within Burma and abroad. It is home to 220 elderly people who meet the minimum requirements of being over the age of 70 and without any other means of support.
In Burma, there are estimated to be 4 million people over the age of sixty, representing roughly 8 percent of the total population. There are just 52 homes for the aged across the nation, with a combined capacity to care for 2,196 senior citizens. All are run by charitable organizations supported by donations.
Public funding for elderly care is conspicuously absent, with the military government providing just 15 million kyat (around US $1,200) a year in cash and medicine to meet the needs of the country’s oldest citizens, according to the state-run New Light of Myanmar. This compares with the 40 percent of Burma’s national budget that the government spends on the army.
Inadequate care for the elderly has forced many to rely on others who are also struggling to provide for themselves. “Some older people, leaning on a healthier elderly person, go from car to car along U Wisaya Road, because drivers in this area can afford to give money to beggars,” according to Ma Naing, a resident of Rangoon.
Ma Naing added that insufficient pensions are one of the key reasons so many have been reduced to seeking handouts.
“The pension I receive now is 800 kyat (60 cents) a month, not even enough for a meal,” said a retired teacher in Rangoon. “We fulfilled our duty to our country, but the government has failed to take sufficient responsibility for retired civil servants.”
The former teacher added that the high cost of transportation since the regime raised fuel prices late last year has been especially hard on retired civil servants living in rural Burma, who must go into the city to collect their pensions. Now, he said, much of the money they receive is spent on traveling expenses.
“I don’t like to see old people, weak and shaky, asking for money,” said a civil servant in Rangoon, watching a frail woman in her late seventies with a plastic basket collecting money from shoppers on their way to the market. “Life for them is tough.”
Treasury imposes Myanmar sanctions
By Martin Crutsinger
AP Economics Writer
February 5, 2008
WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department on Tuesday announced it was imposing financial sanctions against family members of the military-run government of Myanmar and individuals it identified as key members of the financial empire of Tay Za, an influential businessman in the country.
"The president has made clear that we will continue to take action against the military junta and those who prop it up so long as human rights violations continue and democracy is suppressed," said Adam Szubin, the director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
He said the new order will tighten financial sanctions against associates of Tay Za, described by Szubin as "an arms dealer and financial henchmen of Burma's repressive regime."
The new order was also aimed at family members of regime leaders and key individuals and businesses that are part of Tay Za's financial network.
It follows previous actions by the Bush administration to impose economic sanctions to express condemnation of the Myanmar government's crackdown on protestors. Before the new sanctions announced Tuesday, the administration had imposed sanctions on 30 individuals and seven entities connected with the ruling regime headed up by junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
"The actions of Than Shwe and his associates remain unacceptable to all those who value freedom," White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement Tuesday.
"In defiance of the unanimous call of the U.N. Security Council, the regime continues to keep (pro-democracy leader) Aung San Suu Kyi isolated and under house arrest, refuses to allow United Nations Special Advisor Ibrahim Gambari's return to Burma and continues to hunt down peaceful activists," Perino said.
Myanmar's crisis attracted world attention when Buddhist monks last September began leading the biggest anti-government protests in two decades. At least 30 people are believed to have been killed when the government supressed the demonstrations and thousands were detained, although most have since been released.
The new order targets the Htoo Group of Companies, which carries out key projects on behalf of the military regime, including the purchase of military equipment and aircraft for the military of Myanmar, also known as Burma.
The designation on Tuesday will freeze any assets that the named individuals and companies have in U.S. financial institutions and it also prohibits any financial or commercial transactions between U.S. individuals and American firms with those named in the sanctions order.
Among the individuals named are Aung Thet Mann, a director of Tay Za's Htoo Group of Companies and the son of Gen. Thura Shwe Mann, a senior official in the Myanmar government.
The Treasury Department said in its announcement that Tay Za has used his business relationship with Aung Thet Mann to win favorable business contracts from the military-run government.
Treasury also designated Thiha, Tay Za's brother and business partner, and U Kyaw Thein, a director of Tay Za's business ventures in Singapore.
The companies designated were Myanmar Avia Export Co. Limited, a company Treasury said that Tay Za has used to purchase helicopters and aircraft for the military regime, and Ayer Shwe Wah Co. Limited and Pavo Aircraft Leasing in Singapore.
The four spouses of senior Myanmar government officials who were named were Khin Lay Thet, the wife of General Thura Shwe Mann; Myint Myint Ko, the wife of Construction Minister Saw Tun; Tin Lin Myint, the wife of Lt. General Ye Myint, and Myint Myint Soe, the wife of Foreign Affairs Minister Nyan Win.
AP Economics Writer
February 5, 2008
WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department on Tuesday announced it was imposing financial sanctions against family members of the military-run government of Myanmar and individuals it identified as key members of the financial empire of Tay Za, an influential businessman in the country.
"The president has made clear that we will continue to take action against the military junta and those who prop it up so long as human rights violations continue and democracy is suppressed," said Adam Szubin, the director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
He said the new order will tighten financial sanctions against associates of Tay Za, described by Szubin as "an arms dealer and financial henchmen of Burma's repressive regime."
The new order was also aimed at family members of regime leaders and key individuals and businesses that are part of Tay Za's financial network.
It follows previous actions by the Bush administration to impose economic sanctions to express condemnation of the Myanmar government's crackdown on protestors. Before the new sanctions announced Tuesday, the administration had imposed sanctions on 30 individuals and seven entities connected with the ruling regime headed up by junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
"The actions of Than Shwe and his associates remain unacceptable to all those who value freedom," White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement Tuesday.
"In defiance of the unanimous call of the U.N. Security Council, the regime continues to keep (pro-democracy leader) Aung San Suu Kyi isolated and under house arrest, refuses to allow United Nations Special Advisor Ibrahim Gambari's return to Burma and continues to hunt down peaceful activists," Perino said.
Myanmar's crisis attracted world attention when Buddhist monks last September began leading the biggest anti-government protests in two decades. At least 30 people are believed to have been killed when the government supressed the demonstrations and thousands were detained, although most have since been released.
The new order targets the Htoo Group of Companies, which carries out key projects on behalf of the military regime, including the purchase of military equipment and aircraft for the military of Myanmar, also known as Burma.
The designation on Tuesday will freeze any assets that the named individuals and companies have in U.S. financial institutions and it also prohibits any financial or commercial transactions between U.S. individuals and American firms with those named in the sanctions order.
Among the individuals named are Aung Thet Mann, a director of Tay Za's Htoo Group of Companies and the son of Gen. Thura Shwe Mann, a senior official in the Myanmar government.
The Treasury Department said in its announcement that Tay Za has used his business relationship with Aung Thet Mann to win favorable business contracts from the military-run government.
Treasury also designated Thiha, Tay Za's brother and business partner, and U Kyaw Thein, a director of Tay Za's business ventures in Singapore.
The companies designated were Myanmar Avia Export Co. Limited, a company Treasury said that Tay Za has used to purchase helicopters and aircraft for the military regime, and Ayer Shwe Wah Co. Limited and Pavo Aircraft Leasing in Singapore.
The four spouses of senior Myanmar government officials who were named were Khin Lay Thet, the wife of General Thura Shwe Mann; Myint Myint Ko, the wife of Construction Minister Saw Tun; Tin Lin Myint, the wife of Lt. General Ye Myint, and Myint Myint Soe, the wife of Foreign Affairs Minister Nyan Win.
Burma: UN Expert Dismayed Over Continued Arrests
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Press Release: United Nations
Myanmar: UN rights expert dismayed over continued arrests, detentions
5 February 2008 - Nearly five months after Myanmar's forceful crackdown on peaceful protesters, political and human rights activists continue to be arrested, detained and sentenced to prison, an independent United Nations expert said today.
Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, also voiced concern about the well-being of those being detained.
"Reports have been received expressing serious concerns regarding the health conditions of some of the prisoners who require immediate care and specific medication," Mr. Pinheiro said in a statement issued today in Geneva.
Calling the ongoing prosecutions "a flagrant abuse" of people's right to a free and fair trial in accordance with internationally recognized standards, he stressed that the Government has "a prime responsibility and duty to protect, promote and implement all human rights and fundamental freedoms."
The Special Rapporteur visited Myanmar last November to verify allegations of abuses during the Government crackdown in the summer of 2007, determine the numbers and whereabouts of those detained or killed, and collect testimony about what happened.
He found that at least 31 people died during the crackdown - 16 more than had been acknowledged by the Government - and that between 3,000 and 4,000 people were arrested in September and October.
The UN Human Rights Council, to which Mr. Pinheiro reports, has requested him to conduct a follow-up mission to look into ongoing human rights violations before the Council's next session in March.
Press Release: United Nations
Myanmar: UN rights expert dismayed over continued arrests, detentions
5 February 2008 - Nearly five months after Myanmar's forceful crackdown on peaceful protesters, political and human rights activists continue to be arrested, detained and sentenced to prison, an independent United Nations expert said today.
Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, also voiced concern about the well-being of those being detained.
"Reports have been received expressing serious concerns regarding the health conditions of some of the prisoners who require immediate care and specific medication," Mr. Pinheiro said in a statement issued today in Geneva.
Calling the ongoing prosecutions "a flagrant abuse" of people's right to a free and fair trial in accordance with internationally recognized standards, he stressed that the Government has "a prime responsibility and duty to protect, promote and implement all human rights and fundamental freedoms."
The Special Rapporteur visited Myanmar last November to verify allegations of abuses during the Government crackdown in the summer of 2007, determine the numbers and whereabouts of those detained or killed, and collect testimony about what happened.
He found that at least 31 people died during the crackdown - 16 more than had been acknowledged by the Government - and that between 3,000 and 4,000 people were arrested in September and October.
The UN Human Rights Council, to which Mr. Pinheiro reports, has requested him to conduct a follow-up mission to look into ongoing human rights violations before the Council's next session in March.
Plans of Secret Trials for Gambira for Democracy Protestors
By Nadine Elsibai
Bloomberg
February 5, 2008
Myanmar's regime is planning secret trials of U Gambira, a Buddhist monk who helped lead opposition protests last year, and 10 other pro-democracy activists, the Bush administration said today.
The trials are an example of actions by the regime that are ``unacceptable to all those who value freedom,'' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement. She offered no details on where or when the trials would take place.
What Perino described as Myanmar General Than Shwe's ``defiance'' of international demands for democracy prompted President George W. Bush to expand financial sanctions today against Myanmar businesses and individuals accused of aiding military rule.
Bush ``has made clear that we will continue to take action against the military junta and those who prop it up so long as human rights violations continue and democracy is suppressed,'' Adam Szubin, head of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement.
The steps announced today target Htoo Group of Companies, ``which carries out key projects'' for Myanmar's junta, such as the buying of military equipment and aircraft, Treasury said in a statement. Treasury lists Tay Za, identified as an arms dealer, as Htoo's leader.
Assets, Transactions
The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets held by the designated individuals and companies and bar all financial and commercial transactions with them in the U.S.
The action widens penalties the U.S. has imposed to protest rights violations in the Asian nation.
The military of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, crushed the biggest opposition protests in almost 20 years in September. The United Nations says at least 31 people died in the clashes.
Za allegedly used his connections with Aung Thet Mann, director of Htoo Group and son of a senior official in Myanmar's government, to win favorable contracts from the country's junta, Treasury said. Mann is also named as a target of today's sanctions.
Neither Za nor a representative for him could be located immediately to respond to the U.S. penalties. Treasury said it has had no contact with anyone who represents Za.
Designated companies include Myanmar Avia Export Company Ltd.; Ayer Shwe Wah Company Ltd. and Pavo Aircraft Leasing Pte. Ltd. in Singapore, Treasury said. Four spouses of senior Myanmar government officials also were named.
Other actions that prompted the U.S. decision include Myanmar's continued defiance of a UN Security Council resolution calling on the regime to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and its refusal to allow UN Special Adviser Ibrahim Gambari to return, the White House said today.
Min Ko Niang and Ko Ko Kyi are among the activists for whom the regime is planning secret trials, according to the White House.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nadine Elsibai in Washington at nelsibai@bloomberg.net .
Bloomberg
February 5, 2008
Myanmar's regime is planning secret trials of U Gambira, a Buddhist monk who helped lead opposition protests last year, and 10 other pro-democracy activists, the Bush administration said today.
The trials are an example of actions by the regime that are ``unacceptable to all those who value freedom,'' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement. She offered no details on where or when the trials would take place.
What Perino described as Myanmar General Than Shwe's ``defiance'' of international demands for democracy prompted President George W. Bush to expand financial sanctions today against Myanmar businesses and individuals accused of aiding military rule.
Bush ``has made clear that we will continue to take action against the military junta and those who prop it up so long as human rights violations continue and democracy is suppressed,'' Adam Szubin, head of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement.
The steps announced today target Htoo Group of Companies, ``which carries out key projects'' for Myanmar's junta, such as the buying of military equipment and aircraft, Treasury said in a statement. Treasury lists Tay Za, identified as an arms dealer, as Htoo's leader.
Assets, Transactions
The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets held by the designated individuals and companies and bar all financial and commercial transactions with them in the U.S.
The action widens penalties the U.S. has imposed to protest rights violations in the Asian nation.
The military of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, crushed the biggest opposition protests in almost 20 years in September. The United Nations says at least 31 people died in the clashes.
Za allegedly used his connections with Aung Thet Mann, director of Htoo Group and son of a senior official in Myanmar's government, to win favorable contracts from the country's junta, Treasury said. Mann is also named as a target of today's sanctions.
Neither Za nor a representative for him could be located immediately to respond to the U.S. penalties. Treasury said it has had no contact with anyone who represents Za.
Designated companies include Myanmar Avia Export Company Ltd.; Ayer Shwe Wah Company Ltd. and Pavo Aircraft Leasing Pte. Ltd. in Singapore, Treasury said. Four spouses of senior Myanmar government officials also were named.
Other actions that prompted the U.S. decision include Myanmar's continued defiance of a UN Security Council resolution calling on the regime to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and its refusal to allow UN Special Adviser Ibrahim Gambari to return, the White House said today.
Min Ko Niang and Ko Ko Kyi are among the activists for whom the regime is planning secret trials, according to the White House.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nadine Elsibai in Washington at nelsibai@bloomberg.net .