Friday 11 April 2008

Torching the Olympics

By Katharine Mieszkowski
Protesters felt burned when
the city of San Francisco
changed the relay route.
But one Burmese activist
scored against China anyway.
April 10, 2008 (Salon)- SAN FRANCISCO -- Under the bright noon sun, Nyunt Than, 46, gathered with 100 Burma supporters along the San Francisco Bay waterfront, and waited anxiously for a designated runner carrying the Olympic torch to pass before them. San Francisco is the only U.S. stop in on the torch's world tour in 2008.

Festooned in maroon robes, in honor of the Buddhist monks silenced in Burma, the excited and angry activists wore yellow banners pinned to their robes that read "China's policy = Burma's misery," and chanted, "Boycott the Olympics" and "Free, free, free Burma." "China sells billions of dollars of arms to Burma, while people struggle to live even hand to mouth daily," Than said. Protesting in front of the Olympic flame was his chance to bring Burma's plight to the televised world.

Wearing a robe around his neck like a cape, the charismatic Than caucused with the pro-Burma leaders, plotting how to evade the cops lining the route in front of them when the torch passed. At 1:30 p.m., after the time the torch was scheduled to leave AT&T Park, protesters surged into the street, past the police barricades, marching and chanting, euphoric that they'd evaded the cops, and blocked the torch's route.

Than leapt to the head of the pack, brandishing a toilet plunger, encased in aluminum foil -- a mock torch -- as he pranced with his knees held high, like a cartoon of a runner carrying a torch down the street, with the "Free Burma" throng surging behind him. Quickly, the march dissolved into a teeming mass of flags and signs, with no one going in any particular direction. Soon, the text-messaged word on the street was that the city had changed the route, that the torch and the runners had been put in a bus and driven across town. Thousands of protestors were frustrated and confused, as were the once ebullient China supporters and Olympic fans alike. They came to see the torch; instead they got burned by the Olympics and the city of San Francisco.

"We felt it was in everyone's best interest that we augment the route," San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I believe people were afforded the right to protest and support the torch. You saw that in the streets. They were not denied the ability to protest."

Hours before the torch was scheduled to appear, activists had lined the publicized route. Outside of San Francisco's historic Ferry Building, one banner proclaimed: "San Francisco Supports Tibet, Reject China's Propaganda Torch!" Huge Chinese flags furled above a pageantry of tai chi and dragon dance performances. "Another Organic Chef for a Free Tibet" read one protester's sign. San Francisco's Chinese-Americans make up a fifth of the city's population, and they turned out in force, but rumor had it their numbers were bolstered by Chinese-Americans bused in from other parts of the state, such as Sacramento, by the Chinese consulate. A trio of naked men, one wearing only a cock ring, mingled with a mother in sunglasses with a 11-month-old in a stroller all in the support of the same political cause: Tibet.

Than, a green-card-holding computer scientist, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area town of Albany, with his wife and three children, ages 4, 9 and 12, can smile at San Francisco's famously jocund side of activism. But to him, the China protests are serious. A native of Burma -- ruled by a military dictatorship that buys arms from China -- Than explained that he was a student during the 1988 protests in Burma when hundreds of thousands of civilians rallied for democracy, and thousands of students and Buddhist monks were killed. Than fled the country in 1992 after completing his education in math and computer science. To escape, he had to lie to government officials about his education to get a passport. "If you are a graduate, you are valuable to the country, and you will be shielding the dictatorship," said Than, who still has family back in Burma.

Now, Than is president of the Burmese American Democratic Alliance. He said he would face arrest, torture and imprisonment by the military dictatorship, if he tried to return to his country. His beef with China is the country's ongoing support for the repressive Burmese regime.

"People in Burma have lived under military dictatorship for 46 years, and the dictatorship is getting stronger and thriving because of Chinese support," he said. While the United States has economic sanctions against Burma, also known as Myanmar, China gives the country economic, military and diplomatic support. "While people have nothing to eat, and much of the country is in darkness, the gas is going to the neighboring countries, bringing millions of dollars to purchase arms from China," said Than.

At the Ferry Building, small groups formed to chant against the pro-China demonstrators: "China, China, hear our cry, no more people have to die" and "Shame! Shame! China! Shame!" Among the pro-China demonostrators was Wei Zhou, 33, a Chinese biologist, currently living in Menlo Park, Calif., carrying an American flag and a Chinese flag. She thought that the protesters shouldn't politicize the Olympics: "It's not China's games. It's the world's games," she said, adding, "The Burmese people have to solve their own problems."

Zhou said she was initially suspicious of the money that China had to spend to put on the games, but when she heard her family back in China supported the Olympics, she became a fan, too. "At least it brings a lot of issues to the surface that the government has to pay attention to, like the environment," she said.

As the afternoon wore on, the game among the crowd was: Where's the torch? Where should the protesters go next? No one knew exactly where it was, but they did know that the throngs of people who had turned out to see the torch, protest it, and celebrate it were all missing the show. What if you ran a torch and there was no one there to watch it burn? "It kind of defeats the purpose," said Allyn Brooks-LaSure, spokesperson for Save Darfur, which had more than a thousand demonstrators on the streets. "Why do it if you've got to hide in a suitcase disguised as some granny's luggage?"

Around 2:30, the pro-Burma group amassed downtown, taking over an intersection with their signs, bodies and megaphones, debating their next move. "It's like trying to catch a wind," reflected Than. "It's supposed to come here, but we're not counting on it." He was dismayed by San Francisco's attempts to restrict his right to speak out against China hosting the Olympics.

As he explained, his group, the Burmese American Democratic Alliance, had planned to fly a prop plane over the torch run trailing a banner that said "Free Burma," but the Federal Aviation Administration imposed airspace restrictions forbidding commercial flights over the route for the duration of the event. San Francisco initially planned to limit protests to oxymoronically named "Free Speech Zones," but facing criticism relented to allow protesters to appear along the torch route, as well as in the zones. Then the city simply changed the torch route. "The city is behaving like a police state rather than a free speech friendly one," Than said.

Finally, the Burmese group decided to go to Justin Herman Plaza, where the torch had been scheduled to end up, and a massive TV screen to broadcast its arrival still stood. Crowding into the space with tens of thousands of other protesters and demonstrators and fans, the pro-Burma group never got to see the torch. On the giant screen, they saw only some heroic images of Olympics past, and the regrettable performance of a cheesy cover band, wearing goofy outfits and wigs, singing "Ice Ice Baby."

Waiting in vain for the torch, Than was disgusted with Mayor Newsom. As Than spoke, the sheepish torch was making its way out of San Francisco toward the airport, where a closing ceremony would send it on to Buenos Aires, Argentina. "The mayor is running the torch without dignity, because he is not telling the people where the torch is going," he said. "If you're not going to let the people see the torch, what is the point of running it?" He saw it as a failure for China. "China's purpose is to celebrate in front of the world. They lost that purpose today."

Myanmar cracks down on 'no' campaign: opposition

YANGON - MYANMAR's main opposition party urged on Thursday that there be international observers of the May 10 constitutional referendum, saying its 'No' campaigners were being assaulted and their materials seized in the run-up to the vote.

'Local authorities are committing acts of suppression by trying to seize documents of the NLD and detain or interrogate township organisers, the National League for Democracy said a day after the junta-drafted charter was made public.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win said at least three NLD members were attacked by unknown assailants as they campaigned against the constitution in Yangon, the former Burma's biggest city.

'For this reason, it is now obvious that the forthcoming referendum cannot be free and fair,' the party's executive committee said in a statement demanding foreign observers, including from the United Nations.

In New York, the United Nations said what was important to the international community 'is that the (Myanmar) government honours its stated commitment to a free and fair process.' 'The United Nations once more strongly urges the authorities in Myanmar to ensure that conditions will be put in place that are conducive to making the referendum inclusive and credible,' UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters.

Myanmar Information Minister Kyaw Hsaw promised last month the vote would be 'free and fair,' but he bluntly rejected offers of UN technical assistance and monitors.

The charter, dismissed by Western critics as a ploy to entrench 46 years of army rule, grants the military an automatic 25 per cent of seats in parliament.

It also gives the commander in chief the right to suspend the constitution at will.

Key step
The junta, which tightly controls the media in Myanmar, has urged the country's 53 million people to back the charter, an important step in the junta's seven-point 'road map to democracy' meant to culminate in multiparty elections in 2010.

The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper accused unnamed foreign governments of aiding the opposition to 'destabilise the country' before the referendum.

It said some foreign diplomats in Yangon had visited NLD headquarters to 'give directives to harm the interests of the nation and the people.' It did not name the embassies, but said their activities violated international law and should stop.

On the streets of Yangon, Buddhist monks were among those who snapped up copies of the 194-page charter selling for US$1 (S$1.37) at private stalls and government bookstores.

'Fifty copies sold like hot cakes in less than an hour,' a roadside bookstall owner said. 'I never thought our people would be so keen on the constitution.'

The junta, which sparked international outrage last September when troops crushed anti-junta protests, has ordered civil servants to vote 'yes' next month and to persuade their family members to do so too.

'We have been told we will have to vote in our offices,' a government employee said. The junta has not publicly explained how the referendum will be run.

Nyan Win said many people would not have enough time to study the constitution.

'Most people in Yangon will get their copies only today. What about those in provinces?' he said. -- REUTERS - Strait Times

Burmese military uses porters to carry injured soldiers

IMNA
Wed 09 Apr 2008


Three Pagoda Pass: Villagers are being forced to carry wounded soldiers by the Burmese Army following clashes with Karen rebels. The army from Tactical Command No.2 is operating along Thanpyuzayart-Three Pagoda Pass (TPP) Road.

Lt. Col Htay Kyaing of the command used four villagers from Anankwin village situated about 35 miles west of TPP town to carry the injured soldiers to Thanpyuzayart town for treatment over the last two days.

According to sources, the porters were forced to carry the two wounded soldiers from Anankwin village to Yethakun village over a distance of 10 miles.

The four reporters, returned home yesterday. The porters are U Moe Kyaw (37) Kyaw Thi Ha (39), Pho Htay (35) and Sein Nyo (36) from Anankwin village.

The fire fight between the Burma Army and the Karen rebels occurred for about 15 minutes near Koun Kharn village near Anankwin village where the Tactical Command is based. One Burmese soldier died and two were injured.

According to local people, the Burmese Army regularly uses villagers in the area as porters and commandeers vehicles plying on the Thanpyuzayart-TPP road. The Burmese Army and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) regularly clash and the KNLA ambushed the Burmese troop for about eight minutes near the TPP town.

Difficult for ethnics to teach their languages: MNDF

IMNA
10 April 2008


Ethnics are finding it extremely difficult to teach their languages despite the Burmese regime's draft constitution providing for rights of ethnics in its charter, a Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) member said at the 16th closing ceremony of Summery Mon Literature and Culture school.

Today over 6,000 Mon people joined the closing ceremony of Mon Summery School for more than 9,000 students in Mudon Township in Kalawthut village. Literature leader, Ajar Parlita and other senior abbots joined the ceremony.

Dr Min Kyi Winn, joint-secretary of the MNDF and also chairman of the Mon Literature and Culture Committee in Mudon Township, said that there are no schools and no rights to teach ethnic languages in Burma and that's why they must have the opportunity.

"We face problems if we implement teaching of ethnic languages because it is disallowed by the Burmese government," said Dr Min Kyi Winn.

According to the Burmese draft constitution, people are free to speak, practice literature, culture, language, religion, and tradition without affecting each other.

Due to lack of freedom, ethnics teach their languages in the Buddhist monasteries as summer schools.

Dr Min Kyi Winn said at the closing ceremony of the Mon summer school in Mudon Township Mon State that it depends on ethnics to teach ethnic languages in the long run.

New group emerges for mass movement

Myint Maung
Mizzima News
April 10, 2008.

New Delhi: An attempt to overthrow the military regime by way of a people's movement will be made by a newly founded underground umbrella group called the "New Generation Movement for Justice" founded on April 3, the founders said.

NGMJ, comprising teachers, students, workers and farmers among others is reorganizing small groups forced to scatter after the September uprising led by Buddhist monks which was crushed by the junta following a bloody crackdown.

"The aim is to organize weak groups to join hands to became a strong group, to build trust and prepare for a mass people's movement," said Nwe Lay Wai, a member of the new group.

As a first step the group, in coordination with 88 Generation Students Group, All Burma Students' Federation Union, New Generation Wave, is secretly mobilising people from various towns and villages to vote 'No' in the ensuing referendum.

However, she did not elaborate as to how to implement the people's movement in order to ensure that the draft constitution is not adopted.

The military regime announced that the referendum will be held on May 10, 2008 throughout the country to seek approval for the draft constitution to be adopted.

Opposition groups and political analysts have been critical of the constitution drafted at the 14-year long National Convention, attended by people who were not representatives of the people and aimed to legalise military dictatorship. They are organizing people to go to the polling stations and vote 'No' and reject the draft constitution.

"We use the word "Justice: because we will fight to get justice whatever system they come up with; we need justice and we will albeit die for it," said Nwe Lay Wai.

She blamed fear as the factor which has prolonged military rule for over four decades.

"We, students are afraid of losing an academic year; workers, farmers and shopkeepers are worried about not being to sell their wares for a day. To overcome these fears we must muster courage," she said.

Additional inputs by assistant editor Ye Yint Aung.

Nothing 'free and fair' in run up to referendum: Opposition

Maung Dee
Mizzima News
April 10, 2008


New Delhi - Burma's main opposition party – the National League for Democracy – today accused the ruling junta of unfair practices in the run up to the referendum and urged it to allow an international team to monitor the process. The team should include experts from the United Nations.

While the junta has allowed its puppet organizations, including the Union Solidarity and Development Association and other individuals to freely campaign for support of the people, it has imposed various restrictions and used violence on opposition members, the NLD alleged.

"They [junta's puppets] are allowed to campaign through television and are free to distribute pamphlets and other campaign material. But apart from restricting us from doing anything like that, our members are being beaten up," Han Thar Myint, NLD spokesperson, said.

According to Han Thar Myint, in the past few weeks, several NLD members have been assaulted by unidentified people in different areas of Rangoon alone.

The junta, in its referendum law released in February, prohibits people from criticizing or campaigning against the referendum process and imposes a penalty of three years in prison.

The junta, however, has allowed pro-junta activists to distribute pamphlets and to conduct campaigns to support the constitution, Han Thar Myint said.

Junta officials are intimidating villagers by threatening them with a penalty of minimum of three years in prison for those who are found casting 'No' votes in the referendum, sources in Shan state said.

The officials are conducting 'mock elections', where illiterate villagers are shown how to vote 'Yes'.

The NLD, in its statement released today, said by arresting, beating and interrogating members of the opposition groups, the junta has clearly shown that it is not in favour of a 'free and fair' referendum.

"It is necessary that the people of Burma including the ethnic minorities should not be intimidated and coerced into voting and independent monitoring is a must to produce a credible result in the referendum," the NLD said.

Junta gives little time to comprehend draft constitution: opposition

Solomon & Mungpi
Mizzima News
April 10, 2008


New Delhi – People in Burma have 'too little time' to comprehend the contents of the draft constitution, which the ruling military junta seeks to approve in a referendum in May, opposition groups said on Thursday.

The Burmese junta's official publishing house 'Sapay Beikman' on Wednesday began distributing the draft constitution for sale to retail book stalls, sources in Rangoon said.

"Since yesterday we have begun distributing copies of the draft constitution to retailers," a salesperson of the Sapay Beikman told Mizzima.

The salesperson added that copies of the new constitution are being sold to members of the public by retailers at a price of 1000 Kyat (USD1).

While the draft constitution is being made public a month before the referendum, opposition groups pointed out that it provides too little time to the people to understand the contents of the constitution, on which they will be voting.

"It is impossible for the people to understand the constitution and it cannot reach all the people," Nyan Win, spokesperson of Burma's main opposition party – the National League for Democracy said.

Nyan Win, who is a lawyer by profession, warned that approving the constitution would only cement and perpetuate military rule in Burma, and therefore the people need to thoroughly understand the contents of the constitution before voting on it.

Meanwhile, shopkeepers in Rangoon said copies of the draft constitution are being sold out fast.

"About 30 copies of the constitution are already sold out from our shop," a shopkeeper said. He added that retailers have been supplied with 50 copies of the draft constitution to be sold to the public.

But it is still not clear how many copies have been printed and whether it is being distributed in rural areas.

Thakin Chan Tun, a veteran Burmese politician, who has been waiting for the regime to release copies of the draft constitution, said he could not get hold of a copy despite rushing off to get one immediately after learning that it has been made available.

"I asked my people to get a copy of the draft immediately after I came to know that it has been published, but the shopkeepers said it had been sold out," Thakin Chan Tun told Mizzima.

However, the shopkeeper, who spoke to Mizzima on condition of anonymity, said he had not read the draft constitution as he was too busy with his daily work.

"I have bought one for myself but I still could not read it because I am too engaged in my work," he added.

Aye Thar Aung, a veteran politician in Rangoon and Secretary of the Committee Representing Peoples' Parliament, a group formed with parliamentarians elected in the 1990 election, said the junta is deliberately giving too little time to the people.

"The junta is giving too little time so that people will not guage the constitution fully," Aye Thar Aung said.

The junta's draft constitution, a copy of which is with Mizzima, reserves 25 percent of parliamentary seats for the military, and allows the army to declare a state of emergency anytime it deems fit.

In a bid to prevent any future amendments, the military has made the constitution amendment process rigid. The constitution states that any amendment to the constitution must be proposed by 75 percent of the legislative body and approved by all eligible voters in a referendum.

Irrawaddy Division Surveyed about Referendum

By THE IRRAWADDY

One month ahead of the Burmese constitutional referendum due to be held on May 10, The Irrawaddy has conducted an opinion poll in Irrawaddy Division, which is the country’s rice bowl and one of the most populated areas in Burma.

The Irrawaddy made 50 cold calls to local people, including farmers, businessmen, civil servants, students, business owners, doctors and lawyers in several major townships, including Bassein, Hinthada and Bogalay. None of the interviewees were politicians or activists.

We asked them if they would vote “Yes” or “No” in the upcoming referendum on supporting the draft constitution. Then we asked why.

In our opinion poll, 40 of the 50 respondents said “No” while 10 of them said they didn’t want to answer or that they didn’t know. No one said “Yes” to the question.

None of the respondents had read the draft constitution—it was only made public on Wednesday, going on sale at government bookstores for 1,000 kyat a copy.

A few defining factors emerged from our telephone survey—for example, most civil servants didn’t dare to say “Yes” or “No.”

One civil servant from Dedaye Township said she had not yet decided which way to vote. However, she said that the media should understand her answer as she was a civil servant and couldn’t say anything about the constitutional referendum. Burmese civil servants are notoriously tightlipped and fearful of repercussions.

A doctor form Bassein General Hospital said he would vote “No” if the authorities offered a free and fair environment. He added that if the authorities threatened him, he would vote “Yes.”

A grocer from Bogalay responded: “If the government doesn’t punish its civil servants for being against the draft constitution, they are likely to vote ‘No.’ I personally will vote ‘No.’”

“I am sure that the most people from Bassein will vote ‘No,’” said a businessman in Bassein Township. “The people from the villages will vote against the government in retaliation for the violence during last September's demonstrations,” he said.

“Even my brother, a policeman, will vote ‘No’” he added. “Unless they prevent him for doing so.”

A retired person from Bassein said that open debate on the referendum is not happening. “The military government has not allowed critical political debate in our country,” he said. “I am not interested in what they wrote into the constitution—I will vote ‘No’ anyway.”

Other respondents were unsure. A businessman from Lemyethna Township told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday: “I don’t know what they wrote in the constitution. I didn’t even read about it in Myanmar Alin (a state-run newspaper). I don’t have any idea which way to vote.”

Myo Zaw, a young man from Bogalay Township, said that he was not ready to cast a vote in the forthcoming referendum. “I haven’t made up my mind,” he said. “I don’t understand what the constitution is for.

“I am not even sure if I will go to the polling station,” he added.

A doctor from Hinthada Township said that he would give vote “No” in the constitutional referendum, but he wouldn’t say why.

“I can’t say anything about the constitutional referendum,” said another doctor from the same town, before hanging up.

“This is a business! Don’t call me again!” said the owner of a Chinese restaurant in Hinthada Township before hanging up the phone abruptly.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for democracy (NLD) and other pro-democracy groups are calling for a "No" vote, but have little time to campaign effectively.

Despite the calls from the NLD and other political dissidents to reject the constitution, Burma’s ruling junta announced that the referendum would go ahead on May 10.

* The Irrawaddy will report its findings from a continuing series of surveys on the referendum.

Security Council Presidential Statement on Burma ‘Not Easy’

By LALIT K JHA
The Irrawaddy News

The French Ambassador to the United Nations, Jean-Maurice Ripert, said Wednesday that France, Britain and the US would continue to work toward achieving a Security Council presidential statement on Burma, despite objections by the other two permanent members, Russia and China.

“We are working on it. [But] it is not easy,” Ripert told reporters outside the UN headquarters in New York. “There are some differences of views among member states in the Security Council.”

The US, France and Britain earlier this week circulated a draft of the proposed Security Council presidential statement on Burma calling for a transition from military to democratic rule and urging the military junta to make its upcoming referendum on the draft constitution participative and inclusive.

China and Russia, the two other permanent members with Security Council veto powers, have opposed these two sections of the draft presidential statement. During its only meeting on the issue, officials of China and Russia are believed to have rejected the draft outrightly, prompting the French ambassador to comment.

“We still—France with a lot of other colleagues—think that we need to send a signal to the Burmese authorities that we have noticed a commitment and their declarations in principle favouring free and fair elections, a referendum and a stepping down of the military that would give the power back to civilian institutions,” said Ripert.

“We want to trust [the Burmese junta],” he added. “We want to take them by their words. We would like to send a signal by saying: OK, there are conditions which should be fulfilled so that the result of this process and of the elections can be validated by the international community.”

Observing that this was a very useful dialogue between the international community and the Burmese authorities, Ripert said this was exactly what they were requesting: less pressure and more dialogue.

“We want to engage this dialogue. We think that a new [presidential statement] could be part of this dialogue,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Security Council president for April, the South African ambassador, Dumisani Kumalo, refused to give a timeframe when the presidential statement could be ready.

Shielding behind the high technicalities and bureaucratic structure of the Security Council, Kumalo said the draft has not been tabled yet. Under the UN Security Council a draft is first discussed at an unofficial level and is tabled only when all members agree on it. While the expert committee level discussions on presidential statements very often takes days, the official transaction of business often takes a few minutes; as everything is discussed and agreed upon before it is officially tabled.

“I do not know; they have not circulated the statement on Myanmar [Burma] yet. I understand that it is the US which is still consulting on it, but they have not circulated it yet,” Kumalo said.

Meanwhile, US President George W Bush on Wednesday expressed his deep disappointment over the progress made by the military junta towards restoration of democracy in Burma.

“I am disappointed with the progress made to date there,” Bush told reporters at a joint press conference with visiting Singaporean Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong at the White House.

The statement came within hours of the Burmese military junta announcing that the referendum on the draft constitution would be held on May 10. Bush, however, made no direct reference to this announcement.

Both leaders discussed the current situation in Burma and the way forward during their meeting. “We spent time on Burma and the need for the military regime there to understand that they shouldn't fear the voices of the people,” said the US president.

Bush urged the military leadership to open up and respond to the will of the people.

Goh Chok Tong told President Bush that the military junta, though a problem in itself, needs to be taken into account on any solution for this troublesome country.

“I told the President that while the army is the problem, the army has to be part of the solution,” Goh said. “Without the army playing a part in solving problems in Myanmar [Burma], there will be no solution.”

Defeat designs

Martial law blocks the progress of democracy.

Myanmar’s draft constitution cements the military’s role in the country’s power structure. It guarantees military officers a quarter of the seats in the upper and lower houses of parliament, as well as at the state and regional levels. It legitimises the takeover and exercise of all state power by the commander-in-chief of the armed forces in the event of a threat to the union, to national solidarity or sovereignty.

The constitution’s blatant attempt at consolidating and legitimising the military’s role in politics is not surprising.

The military rule for over four decades now is unwilling to cede power to democratic rule. The generals have always undermined democratic forces. The constitution was drafted by the generals, without inputs from opposition parties. A constitution that provided for real democracy in Myanmar was therefore not to be expected.
The draft constitution is an unabashed attempt at keeping out the one person the military fears the most – pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The constitution bars anyone who has been married to a foreign national from holding political office. Suu Kyi was married to a British national. The constitution therefore disqualifies her from holding political office. Earlier this year, the junta promised elections in 2010. The draft constitution indicates that the election will not result in democracy in Myanmar.

The draft constitution will have to be endorsed in a national referendum. By subjecting the constitution to a referendum, the junta has sought to project an image of consulting the people but few expect the referendum to be free or fair. The odds are stacked against the pro-democracy movement. Many in the country are likely to feel that participating in a referendum will lead nowhere, given the junta’s poor record in heeding the people’s mandate or wishes.

While feeling pessimistic about the junta is understandable, the people of Myanmar cannot give up now. Voting “no” in the referendum is their last chance to defeat the junta’s designs. Amending the constitution at a later date will be very difficult because under the new rules it will require a three-fourths majority to amend the document. It is imperative therefore that activists campaign vigorously among the people to persuade them to participate in the referendum and reject the constitution.

Deccan Herald

Myanmar referendum will not be free: NLD

Junta warns embassies against supporting Suu Kyi

YANGON: Myanmar’s pro-democracy party said Thursday that next month’s constitutional referendum would not be free and fair as the junta was quashing any attempts to speak out against it.

The National League for Democracy (NLD), which has already called on the public to vote “No” in the May 10 charter poll, said any attempts to campaign against the constitution were being suppressed, sometimes violently. “An intimidating atmosphere for the people is created by physically assaulting some of the members of (the) NLD,” it said in a statement. “For these reasons, it is now obvious that the forthcoming referendum cannot be free and fair.

Hence this referendum is not transparent or free and is not reliable for the people to get justice.” The party, headed by imprisoned democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, said that while the military authorities were able to campaign freely for a “yes” vote, freedom of speech did not apply to anyone else. “Private media are not allowed to express freely their opinion and are being restricted or controlled,” it said, adding that official NLD documents were being confiscated by authorities.

Local NLD organisers had also been detained and interrogated, it said, and called for the government to allow UN and foreign election observers - a suggestion already rejected by the military last month.

Embassies warned: The junta on Thursday warned foreign embassies not to support Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party. The warning carried in the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper came the morning after the regime announced that the referendum would be held on May 10. “Certain foreign powers, with the intention of interfering in the internal affairs of Myanmar, are now ... aiding and abetting some local political parties to destabilise the country,” the paper said.

“Some diplomats of certain foreign embassies in Yangon regularly visit NLD (headquarters), hold talks and give directives to harm the interests of the nation and the people,” the paper said. “The embassies should stop such activities,” the government mouthpiece said. The ruling junta says the new constitution will help create a “discipline-flourishing democracy,” with multiparty elections set for 2010.

Daily times afp

Burma Plans Its "Democracy"

By HANNAH BEECH

The announcer on Burmese state television only had two sentences to offer, but they were supposed to herald good news. On May 10th, he declared, Burma would hold a constitutional referendum, giving citizens a rare chance to participate in the political process. In the wake of global condemnation of crushed protests last year, Burma's secretive junta had apparently committed itself to a modicum of reform. Among the first steps would be a plebiscite on the army-drafted charter. (The previous constitution was torn up by the junta 18 years ago, and the country has operated without a basic law since then.) Then would come multi-party elections in 2010. The end result would be what Burma's generals refer to as "discipline-flourishing democracy."

But, as you might expect from one of the world's most repressive regimes, the Burmese junta's version of democracy comes with plenty of catches. First, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition leader who has spent more than a decade under house arrest, will be barred from the 2010 elections because of a peculiar clause in the constitutional draft that disqualifies candidates who have family members who are foreigners. (Suu Kyi's husband, who died in 1999, was English, and her two sons hold British passports.) Second, despite several mentions of the word "democracy" — albeit always attached to the strange phrase "discipline-flourishing" — the draft ensures that the military will continue to exert great control over the nation. A quarter of all parliamentary seats will be filled by military officers, while the president must have a military background. And just in case a true democracy manages to flourish despite all the clauses designed to hinder it, the junta grants its members an amnesty from future prosecution.

Few Burmese will have the opportunity to peruse the 194-page charter draft. Currently, official copies are available only at government-run bookstores — and they must be purchased. Samizdat versions are available, and some pro-democracy activists have been poring through the text to publicize what they contend are the myriad ways in which the constitution subverts true democratic principles. But even if the draft were widely available, the majority of Burma's 53 million mostly impoverished residents are hardly likely to sit down with a 15-chapter tome.

The country's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, has called for Burmese voters to reject the draft. But given that Burma's generals (who prefer to call their country Myanmar) rejected a plea by the United Nations to allow international monitoring of the referendum, no outside observer will be able to indicate whether voting irregularities take place. Furthermore, a February law has made criticizing the referendum a crime punishable by imprisonment — hardly an ideal environment for open debate on the charter draft. Amnesty International estimates 700 political prisoners still crowd the country's jails as a result of last year's protest movement.

And politics aside, most Burmese are mainly focused on filling their bellies, as food prices keep climbing skyward. Hundreds of thousands of Burmese have already fled the country for economic reasons, sometimes with tragic consequences. On Wednesday, police in neighboring Thailand discovered a cold-storage container mounted on a truck that was crammed with 121 Burmese illegal immigrants who were hoping to find work as day laborers. At least 54 of the passengers had suffocated to death. Even though the incident highlights the dangers of illegal immigration, plenty more Burmese will likely flood over the border. And there's little chance that a constitutional referendum is going to stem that tide.

[NOTE: The junta that runs the country imposed a systematic name change several years ago, decreeing that Burma was to be called Myanmar and the capital Rangoon was to be Yangon. The opposition has never accepted these changes; neither has the U.S. government. TIME continues to use Burma and Rangoon.]

Burmese Tell US Lawmakers About Brutal Crackdown

By Cindy Saine
Washington

10 April 2008 (VOA)
- Three monks who helped organize protests in Burma last September, and eye-witnessesed the brutal crackdown by the military government, made their first public remarks in the United States Wednesday. The three monks spoke at a briefing of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in Washington, where they also expressed their opposition to a national referendum on the constitution, scheduled for May 10. VOA Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.

Six months ago, tens of thousands of students and monks demonstrated against the military government in the streets of Rangoon. The mainly peaceful protests, known as the "Saffron Revolution," were triggered by a dramatic spike in fuel prices, caused by the cancellation of fuel subsidies. Authorities responded by beating and jailing protesters and raiding monasteries.

Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich says Burma's government is threatening ordinary people's survival.

"In Burma, we saw in the last year a tremendous increase in the price of gasoline, diesel fuel, natural gas, they are really trying to crush people's ability to even survive, financially, you know, economically," he said.

Three eyewitnesses to the events in Burma managed to flee the country and have been permitted to resettle in the United States. U Kovida was an organizer of the Monks Representative Group, which led the first demonstration by monks in Rangoon before the crackdown. He fled to Thailand, and became one of the first monks to tell the outside world of the violence.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the people of Burma are not only suffering from extreme poverty, hardship, substandard healthcare, education and social services, but also facing oppression by the military government on a daily basis," he said. "When monks in Burma understood, realized and felt the hardship the people had to go through, we decided to protest peacefully and everyone knows how we were dealt with."

Another monk, U Gawsita, was a member of the "All Burma Monk's Alliance", and a major leader of the protests by monks in Rangoon. He summed up the results of the brutality.

"Nearly 200 monks and people were killed and seven thousand, over seven thousand were arrested," he said. "I was also beaten on my head."

Estimates on the number of people killed vary widely. The three monks said security in Rangoon is still tight, and troops are patrolling the streets of the capital ahead of next month's planned referendum on the constitution. All three rejected it, calling it a "sham". The proposed constitution will guarantee 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military, and ban opposition leader San Suu Kyi from holding office, because her late husband and sons are British.

The monks called on the U.S. Congress to ban the import of Burmese rubies and jade into the United States and to freeze the assets of Burmese political and military leaders.

US Finds Serious Flaws in Burma's Draft Constitution

By David Gollust
State Department
10 April 2008

Gollust report - Download (MP3) audio clip
Gollust report - Listen (MP3) audio clip

The U.S. State Department said Thursday Burma's new draft constitution provides little hope for real change in the military-ruled Southeast Asian country. To be voted on in a May 10 referendum, the draft would leave major power in the hands of the military. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The United States was an harsh critic of the Burmese constitution-writing process because it largely excluded the political opposition.

Now, the State Department says the draft produced by the country's long-running national convention provides scant hopes for those looking for democratic change.

Published Wednesday, the nearly-200-page constitutional draft would reserve one-quarter of the seats in both houses of parliament for military officers, and give the country's military chief the right to suspend the constitution at any time.

Another clause bars anyone who has been married to a foreign national from holding political office, a provision that appears tailor-made to exclude opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, once married to a British national.

At a news briefing, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said U.S. officials have made only a preliminary analysis of the draft but said a first reading indicates some issues of serious concern.

"It, at first glance, would appear intended only to perpetuate the rule of the existing military junta in Burma," he said. "It does not provide for the kind of open, serious and sustained dialogue with the democratic opposition forces in Burma that we as well as other members of the international community have called for, and that for example Aung San Suu Kyi has called for."

"So at first glance this draft constitution that the regime intends to put to a vote does not give much hope to those who are looking for real democratic change in Burma," he added.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, the NLD, won national elections in 1990 but was barred from taking power. The Nobel Peace Laureate has been under detention most of the time since then.

In comments Wednesday, President Bush said he was disappointed with political progress made in Burma, and said the military authorities need to understand that they should not fear their own people.

The NLD walked out of the 14-year-long national convention in 1995 because of restrictive rules and was later expelled altogether. It has urged Burmese to vote against the draft on May 10.

The military government Thursday accused the NLD of taking directives from unnamed foreign embassies which it claimed were trying to destabilize the country.

Asked about the charge of foreign meddling, State Department Spokesman McCormack called it a "canard."

He said Aung San Suu Kyi and others pushing for democratic change are Burmese patriots who had been working for a better future for the country long before the international spotlight became focused on them.

Voice of America

Cargo suffocation reveals Myanmar's plights

Villagers rescue survivors

It was only when nearby villagers heard screams and banging from the vehicle that they came to investigate and opened the doors, he said.

"When police got to the scene, they found that 54 of the workers were already dead in the packed container truck," said Col. Kraithong. Thirty-seven of the dead were women and 17 were men. The 67 survivors were split about evenly between men and women.
Read More at: MSN -

US says it has misgivings about Myanmar's new constitution draft

WASHINGTON (IHT): The United States says it has serious concerns about a new draft of Myanmar's constitution that the country's ruling generals intend to put to a vote next month.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says it appears intended only to perpetuate the country's military rule and does not provide for a dialogue with opposition forces.

He told reporters Thursday that the constitution does not give much hope for democratic change.

Myanmar's main opposition party is urging international observers to monitor the country's referendum on a new constitution.

The main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, says the May 10 referendum cannot be free and fair because the rules are stacked against the military junta's opponents.

Burma cracks down on 'no' campaign - opposition

Burma's main opposition party urged on Thursday that there be international observers of the May 10 constitutional referendum, saying its "No" campaigners were being assaulted and their materials seized in the run-up to the vote.

"Local authorities are committing acts of suppression by trying to seize documents of the NLD and detain or interrogate township organizers, the National League for Democracy said a day after the junta-drafted charter was made public.

NLD spokesman Nyan Win told Reuters at least three NLD members were attacked by unknown assailants as they campaigned against the constitution in Yangon, the former Burma's biggest city.

"For this reason, it is now obvious that the forthcoming referendum cannot be free and fair," the party's executive committee said in a statement demanding foreign observers, including from the United Nations.

In New York, the United Nations said what was important to the international community "is that the (Burma) government honors its stated commitment to a free and fair process."

"The United Nations once more strongly urges the authorities in Burma to ensure that conditions will be put in place that are conducive to making the referendum inclusive and credible," U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters.

Myanmar Information Minister Kyaw Hsaw promised last month the vote would be "free and fair," but he bluntly rejected offers of U.N. technical assistance and monitors.

The charter, dismissed by Western critics as a ploy to entrench 46 years of army rule, grants the military an automatic 25 percent of seats in parliament.

It also gives the commander in chief the right to suspend the constitution at will.

KEY STEP

The junta, which tightly controls the media in Burma, otherwise known as Myanmar, has urged the country's 53 million people to back the charter, an important step in the junta's seven-point "road map to democracy" meant to culminate in multiparty elections in 2010.

The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper accused unnamed foreign governments of aiding the opposition to "destabilize the country" before the referendum.

It said some foreign diplomats in Rangoon (Yangon) had visited NLD headquarters to "give directives to harm the interests of the nation and the people."

It did not name the embassies, but said their activities violated international law and should stop.

On the streets of Rangoon, Buddhist monks were among those who snapped up copies of the 194-page charter selling for $1 at private stalls and government bookstores.

"Fifty copies sold like hot cakes in less than an hour," a roadside bookstall owner said. "I never thought our people would be so keen on the constitution."

The junta, which sparked international outrage last September when troops crushed anti-junta protests, has ordered civil servants to vote "yes" next month and to persuade their family members to do so too.

"We have been told we will have to vote in our offices," a government employee said. The junta has not publicly explained how the referendum will be run.

Nyan Win said many people would not have enough time to study the constitution.

"Most people in Yangon will get their copies only today. What about those in provinces?" he said.

Christian Today

Myanmar pro-democracy party calls for international observers at constitution vote

YANGON (AP - IHT), Myanmar: Myanmar's main opposition party called Thursday on international observers to take part in the country's referendum on a new constitution that critics say would perpetuate military rule.

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party said the May 10 referendum "cannot be free and fair" because the rules are stacked against the military regime's opponents.

The United Nations, which has been trying to promote democratization in Myanmar, urged the country's ruling junta Thursday to make the referendum "inclusive and credible."

The NLD statement said the military government is allowed to campaign openly and without restriction in favor of the proposed constitution, while the party and pro-democracy activists are denied freedom of speech and face restrictions and harassment.

It charged that physical assaults on party members created an "intimidating atmosphere."

For people to cast their ballots without fear and to obtain credibility among the international community, "it is now urgently needed to permit international observers, including from the United Nations," it said.

Junta officials rejected the idea of international observers when it was proposed to them by United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari in a meeting last month. State media said it was decided there was no precedent for it and it infringed on Myanmar's sovereignty.

State media also reported that the junta turned down Gambari's offer to have the U.N. provide technical expertise for the vote, with the government saying it could hold the polls on its own.

The NLD has urged voters to reject the proposed charter because it was drafted under the junta's direct control, without any input from the country's pro-democracy movement.

The draft constitution will be adopted if more than half of eligible voters approve it.

The document bans anyone who enjoyed the rights and privileges of a foreign citizen from holding public office. This would keep Suu Kyi out of government because her late husband, Michael Aris, was a Briton and their two sons are British.

Suu Kyi, who is currently under house arrest, has been in detention without trial for more than 12 of the past 18 years.

The proposed charter allots 25 percent of the seats in both houses of Parliament to the military. It empowers the president to transfer legislative, executive and judicial powers to the military's commander in chief for a year if a state of emergency arises.

It also stipulates that no amendments to the charter can be made without the consent of more than 75 percent of lawmakers, making changes unlikely unless supported by military representatives in Parliament.

The constitutional referendum is supposed to be followed by a general election in 2010.

U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Wednesday's announcement by Myanmar authorities that the referendum will be held on May 10 confirms the timeframe announced by the government in February.

"What is more important for the United Nations and the international community is that the government honors its stated commitment to a free and fair process," Okabe told reporters at U.N. headquarters.

"In this regard, the United Nations once more urges the authorities in Myanmar to ensure that conditions will be put in place that are conducive to making the referendum inclusive and credible," she said.

Myanmar has been without a constitution since 1988, when the current junta took power and scrapped the previous charter after violently quashing mass pro-democracy demonstrations.

Suu Kyi's party won the last general elections in 1990, but the military refused to hand over power, instead stepping up its repression of dissidents.

The junta has been under strong international pressure to make democratic reforms, especially since it violently quashed pro-democracy protests last September. The U.N. estimates at least 31 people were killed in the crackdown and thousands more were detained.