February 11, 2008, Sittwe: Burmese authorities in Arakan State's capital Sittwe forced residents on Sunday to welcome a monk who was awarded a high title by the military government for his religious studies, but many townspeople were opposed to the welcome program, said a town elder on condition of anonymity.
"Many people including monks in Sittwe were opposed to the welcoming of the abbot because the authority brought him to Sittwe to give the appearance to Burmese people that residents in Sittwe are now cooperating with the authority, and that there are no longer any boycotts by the monks against the military authority in the city," he said.
The authority in Sittwe ordered all households to send at least one person to welcome the monk at the airport and along the roadside.
Abbot Saradaw Tipidakara U Indapala is a prominent Arakanese monk who has received high educational qualifications from the military government in recent years for his study of Buddhist religious scriptures.
"We respected the monk, but it is not the right time for him to come to Sittwe with the authorities' plan, because many monks are still conducting their religious mission against the government, as they cracked down on the peaceful demonstrations of monks in Burma in September 2007," he said.
Many monks in Sittwe are still not cooperating with the military authorities and are still refusing to accept any alms from government officials, including food, robes, and other goods.
The town elder said, "The authority wants to organize monks in Sittwe to give up their boycott of the government, and the authority hopes this prominent monk can persuade monks to cooperate with the authorities by coming to Sittwe."
However, many monks did not join in yesterday's welcome ceremony for the abbot.
"Not only monks, but also lay citizens did not join the welcome ceremony, and many people were avoiding participating in the welcoming to show their opposition to the military government," he said.
The high authority ordered the Arakan Rice Merchant Association to organize the welcome ceremony, and the merchant group complied in hopes of being handed business opportunities in the rice trade in Arakan State.
Some family of the association's members and government civil servants participated in the welcome ceremony while most ordinary people avoided the event.
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Arbitrary arrest for extortion in Maungdaw
Kaladan Press
Monday, 11 February 2008 - The police in Maungdaw Town, Arakan State have been making arbitrary arrests for extortion by planting Bangladeshi mobile phones in the victims' house and shops. On February 7 and 10, police arrested two men on the accusation of keeping Bangladeshi mobile phones. It is illegal in Burma to have phones without permission of the authorities.
The victims have been identified as Abul Kasim (55), son of Motu Chadar, hailing from Naya Para village and Abdullah (20), son of Abdul Matalab, belonging to Ward No.4 in Maungdaw Town, according to village a elder who requated anonymity.
Since last year, arbitrary extortion for money has been increased significantly in the Rohingya community by the police on false and fabricated cases. The victims complained to the higher authorities, but they paid no heed, so the police personnel are emboldened to commit more such crimes against the Rohingya community.
On February 7, Abul Kasim was arrested by police on the accusation of having a Bangladeshi mobile phone. It had been planted secretly in his house through a police agent before his arrest. He was brought to Maungdaw police station and kept in police custody and asked to pay kyat 600,000 for his release. But the victim was unable to pay, according to a close relative of the victim.
Similarly, on February 8 at about noon, Abdullah was arrested on the accusation of keeping a Bangladeshi mobile phone in his shop. At about 11 am, two police personnel in civilian dress went to his tea shop for tea. After having tea, one of them went to the cash counter to pay while another one secretly put a mobile phone on the owner's carton of condensed milk tins, a relative of the victim said.
It is learnt that most of tea-shop owners in Maungdaw town, keep cartons of condensed milk tins near the cashier to provide it to workers to keep a check on use and misuse.
After 15 minute, a police officer Nyi Nyi Hlwin Soe accompanied by three other policemen went to the Abdullah's tea shop and asked the tea-shop owner Abdullah why he had a Bangladesh mobile phone in his shop. He told themthat he had no phone. After hearing this, the police officer along with three others searched the cartons and found a mobile phone. Abdullah was brought to Maungdaw police station and is still in police custody.
The victim passed matriculation examinations but could not study further so he set up a tea-shop at Maungdaw market. He is innocent. However, the police officer demanded kyat 50,000 from the victim's father for his release. But his father refused to pay for his son's release, said a neighbour of the victim.
A friend of the victim said, "The victim's father doesn't want to compromise with the police as his son is innocent. He will raise the issue to with the higher authorities for justice."
According to sources, in Maungdaw Township, a gang of policemen has been extorting money from the Rohingya community since last year on false and fabricated cases. The charges are numerous like having a Bangladeshi mobile phone, involvement in human trafficking, Yaba tablet business and crossing the Burma- Bangladesh border r--- and have extorted at least kyat O.5 million to 3 million per head.
The police gang is identified has been identified as Major Aung Htwe, the SP of Maungdaw district, U Thin Tin, the ASP of Maungdaw police station and also head of the police surveillance group and Khin Maung police personnel among others, said sources.
In Maungdaw police station, the daily income is at least one crore. Every policeman has a motorcycle, and their wives have a lot of gold ornaments because they became rich very quickly. The SP and ASP of Maungdaw town have to pay kyat 5 million each to the district police officer per month as well as kyat 5 million to the state officer of police, said a close aide of police officer.
Monday, 11 February 2008 - The police in Maungdaw Town, Arakan State have been making arbitrary arrests for extortion by planting Bangladeshi mobile phones in the victims' house and shops. On February 7 and 10, police arrested two men on the accusation of keeping Bangladeshi mobile phones. It is illegal in Burma to have phones without permission of the authorities.
The victims have been identified as Abul Kasim (55), son of Motu Chadar, hailing from Naya Para village and Abdullah (20), son of Abdul Matalab, belonging to Ward No.4 in Maungdaw Town, according to village a elder who requated anonymity.
Since last year, arbitrary extortion for money has been increased significantly in the Rohingya community by the police on false and fabricated cases. The victims complained to the higher authorities, but they paid no heed, so the police personnel are emboldened to commit more such crimes against the Rohingya community.
On February 7, Abul Kasim was arrested by police on the accusation of having a Bangladeshi mobile phone. It had been planted secretly in his house through a police agent before his arrest. He was brought to Maungdaw police station and kept in police custody and asked to pay kyat 600,000 for his release. But the victim was unable to pay, according to a close relative of the victim.
Similarly, on February 8 at about noon, Abdullah was arrested on the accusation of keeping a Bangladeshi mobile phone in his shop. At about 11 am, two police personnel in civilian dress went to his tea shop for tea. After having tea, one of them went to the cash counter to pay while another one secretly put a mobile phone on the owner's carton of condensed milk tins, a relative of the victim said.
It is learnt that most of tea-shop owners in Maungdaw town, keep cartons of condensed milk tins near the cashier to provide it to workers to keep a check on use and misuse.
After 15 minute, a police officer Nyi Nyi Hlwin Soe accompanied by three other policemen went to the Abdullah's tea shop and asked the tea-shop owner Abdullah why he had a Bangladesh mobile phone in his shop. He told themthat he had no phone. After hearing this, the police officer along with three others searched the cartons and found a mobile phone. Abdullah was brought to Maungdaw police station and is still in police custody.
The victim passed matriculation examinations but could not study further so he set up a tea-shop at Maungdaw market. He is innocent. However, the police officer demanded kyat 50,000 from the victim's father for his release. But his father refused to pay for his son's release, said a neighbour of the victim.
A friend of the victim said, "The victim's father doesn't want to compromise with the police as his son is innocent. He will raise the issue to with the higher authorities for justice."
According to sources, in Maungdaw Township, a gang of policemen has been extorting money from the Rohingya community since last year on false and fabricated cases. The charges are numerous like having a Bangladeshi mobile phone, involvement in human trafficking, Yaba tablet business and crossing the Burma- Bangladesh border r--- and have extorted at least kyat O.5 million to 3 million per head.
The police gang is identified has been identified as Major Aung Htwe, the SP of Maungdaw district, U Thin Tin, the ASP of Maungdaw police station and also head of the police surveillance group and Khin Maung police personnel among others, said sources.
In Maungdaw police station, the daily income is at least one crore. Every policeman has a motorcycle, and their wives have a lot of gold ornaments because they became rich very quickly. The SP and ASP of Maungdaw town have to pay kyat 5 million each to the district police officer per month as well as kyat 5 million to the state officer of police, said a close aide of police officer.
Karen refugee camps warned of attack rumours
Maung Too
Democratic Voice of Burma
Feb 11, 2008 (DVB)–Karen refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border have been placed on high alert amid rumours of a possible attack by government troops and a Karen National Union breakaway group.
A coordinator from the Karen Refugee Committee said that security has been tightened in response to rumours that State Peace and Development Council troops are planning an attack along with the KNU Peace Council, a group led by former KNU brigade 7 commander Saw Htay Maung.
The coordinator said that they had taken precautions against a possible attack.
"We have tightened security in the refugee camps and imposed restrictions on people going out after 9pm,” he said.
“We have to put these measures in place in case these rumours are true."
General Saw Htay Maung’s son-in-law was killed by a bomb on 30 January in what was believed to have been a targeted assassination.
It has not yet been established who carried out the attack.
Democratic Voice of Burma
Feb 11, 2008 (DVB)–Karen refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border have been placed on high alert amid rumours of a possible attack by government troops and a Karen National Union breakaway group.
A coordinator from the Karen Refugee Committee said that security has been tightened in response to rumours that State Peace and Development Council troops are planning an attack along with the KNU Peace Council, a group led by former KNU brigade 7 commander Saw Htay Maung.
The coordinator said that they had taken precautions against a possible attack.
"We have tightened security in the refugee camps and imposed restrictions on people going out after 9pm,” he said.
“We have to put these measures in place in case these rumours are true."
General Saw Htay Maung’s son-in-law was killed by a bomb on 30 January in what was believed to have been a targeted assassination.
It has not yet been established who carried out the attack.
USDA member found headless
by Naw Say Phaw
Feb 11, 2008 (DVB)–The body of a Union Solidarity and Development Association was found beheaded in Htantabin township, Rangoon division, on 4 February, local residents said.
The USDA member, whose name was not given, was from Thone Thate ward in Hlaing Tharyar township, Rangoon division.
A resident of Hlaing Tharyar said that the USDA member had been decapitated and his skin partially removed.
“All the nerves on his body were exposed and his head was stuck up on a bamboo pole,” the resident said.
The USDA member was reportedly known for treating people in the township badly when he was alive.
Other USDA members in the area were said to be shaken by news of the circumstances of the killing.
“It seems other that USDA members who have heard about this murder are so scared they might face the same fate that they have been much quieter recently and have not been harassing local people,” the resident said.
Residents have not heard of any arrests made so far in connection with the case.
Htantabin township police station was unavailable for comment.
Feb 11, 2008 (DVB)–The body of a Union Solidarity and Development Association was found beheaded in Htantabin township, Rangoon division, on 4 February, local residents said.
The USDA member, whose name was not given, was from Thone Thate ward in Hlaing Tharyar township, Rangoon division.
A resident of Hlaing Tharyar said that the USDA member had been decapitated and his skin partially removed.
“All the nerves on his body were exposed and his head was stuck up on a bamboo pole,” the resident said.
The USDA member was reportedly known for treating people in the township badly when he was alive.
Other USDA members in the area were said to be shaken by news of the circumstances of the killing.
“It seems other that USDA members who have heard about this murder are so scared they might face the same fate that they have been much quieter recently and have not been harassing local people,” the resident said.
Residents have not heard of any arrests made so far in connection with the case.
Htantabin township police station was unavailable for comment.
Burmese Exile Leader Calls for Referendum Boycott
By LALIT K JHA / NEW YORK
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 11, 2008 - The leader of Burma’s US-based government in exile has called for a boycott of the junta-announced referendum on a draft constitution and of elections planned for 2010.
Sein Win, prime minister of the National Coalition Government of Union of Burma (NCGUB), told The Irrawaddy neither a referendum nor an election would solve Burma’s problems and would only legitimize authoritarian military rule.
Sein Win said the announcement of a referendum, to be followed by an election in 2010, could not be accepted while opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi remained under house arrest. The regime hadn’t even started talks with opposition leaders and ethnic groups, he said.
By unilaterally announcing the planned referendum and election, Sein Win said, the junta had sent a message that it was moving ahead with its seven point road map. “This means that they do not want to take the opposition into confidence, and they are totally ignoring the 1990 elections. As such we are not confident of the next election,” he said.
The Washington-based NCGUB was constituted and endorsed by representatives elected in the 1990 elections in Burma. Sein Win, a cousin of Suu Kyi, has led it since 1990.
Sein Win said the NCGUB also opposed the regime’s plan for a referendum and election “because of the present situation when there is no freedom of media, and no rule of law. Under these circumstances, people should not take part in any of those processes.”
The regime should hold talks with Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy, and with ethnic leaders, Sein Win said. Then, he added, “we will have our solution.”
Sein Win said it was also time for the UN Security Council to give a stronger mandate to the UN Secretary-General’s Office and the UN Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, allowing them to play an effective mediatory role in bringing about an equitable solution to the political deadlock in Burma.
Some observers have speculated that Saturday’s announcement may have been the result of pressure from China, concerned about a small but vocal movement to boycott the Beijing Olympics in August.
In a broadcast interview at the weekend, US first lady Laura Bush said China had not brought enough pressure to bear on the Burmese junta.
“They [China] have not pressed them enough to—for the regime to show any sort of movement,” Bush told PBS.
“And, of course, they have continued to support Burma financially by buying natural resources,” said Bush, who has taken a personal interest in the pro-democracy movement in Burma, especially since the September demonstrations.
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 11, 2008 - The leader of Burma’s US-based government in exile has called for a boycott of the junta-announced referendum on a draft constitution and of elections planned for 2010.
Sein Win, prime minister of the National Coalition Government of Union of Burma (NCGUB), told The Irrawaddy neither a referendum nor an election would solve Burma’s problems and would only legitimize authoritarian military rule.
Sein Win said the announcement of a referendum, to be followed by an election in 2010, could not be accepted while opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi remained under house arrest. The regime hadn’t even started talks with opposition leaders and ethnic groups, he said.
By unilaterally announcing the planned referendum and election, Sein Win said, the junta had sent a message that it was moving ahead with its seven point road map. “This means that they do not want to take the opposition into confidence, and they are totally ignoring the 1990 elections. As such we are not confident of the next election,” he said.
The Washington-based NCGUB was constituted and endorsed by representatives elected in the 1990 elections in Burma. Sein Win, a cousin of Suu Kyi, has led it since 1990.
Sein Win said the NCGUB also opposed the regime’s plan for a referendum and election “because of the present situation when there is no freedom of media, and no rule of law. Under these circumstances, people should not take part in any of those processes.”
The regime should hold talks with Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy, and with ethnic leaders, Sein Win said. Then, he added, “we will have our solution.”
Sein Win said it was also time for the UN Security Council to give a stronger mandate to the UN Secretary-General’s Office and the UN Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, allowing them to play an effective mediatory role in bringing about an equitable solution to the political deadlock in Burma.
Some observers have speculated that Saturday’s announcement may have been the result of pressure from China, concerned about a small but vocal movement to boycott the Beijing Olympics in August.
In a broadcast interview at the weekend, US first lady Laura Bush said China had not brought enough pressure to bear on the Burmese junta.
“They [China] have not pressed them enough to—for the regime to show any sort of movement,” Bush told PBS.
“And, of course, they have continued to support Burma financially by buying natural resources,” said Bush, who has taken a personal interest in the pro-democracy movement in Burma, especially since the September demonstrations.
The Long Road to Liberation - [Beyond 1988—Reflections]
By AUNG NAING OO
The Irrawaddy
www.irrawaddy.org
October 1988: We left at dawn as villagers moved about in semi-darkness preparing for a new day. Our guide was a burly Mon man, about 45 years old, who had agreed to take us to the Karen rebel-held territory.
I walked right behind him. Another 15 people, including a well-known boxer, a former Burmese army corporal from Kayah [Karenni] State and other students, trailed behind me, like a train. The villagers remained silent, familiar with the spectacle of youthful, would-be rebels heading for the distant jungle. The soldiers we had spotted the previous day were nowhere to be seen; perhaps still in bed. Luck was on our side.
The sun rose as we crossed the Moulmein highway. Before us loomed a massive mountain, which we began to climb. Initially, I could not see any footpath, just rocks and dirt. We negotiated the boulders and the small sparse trees. After a while, I realized there was a faint, little-used path, seemingly perfect for clandestine purposes. It was reassuring, given our need to avoid military patrols or checkpoints.
When we reached the summit at about 7:30 am, our guide pointed to buildings on the distant plain and said, “Military.” I shivered with anxiety at the prospect of encountering patrols once we descended. But as we slowly climbed down, my creeping concern for military patrols was abruptly replaced by the more immediate fear of falling on the steep and rocky path.
By around 9 am, we reached the foot of the mountain and stood on the outskirts of a village. I was suddenly worried: villages were to be avoided. I stopped and looked back at my friends. They too had stopped. The guide sensed our hesitation but insisted: “No problem; we are safe.” I was wary, but had no choice than to trust him. I resumed walking and the whole gang followed silently.
Villagers glanced at us wordlessly, continuing about their business. Soon, we were on a road pitted with puddles of mud with traces of September rain. We kept on walking quietly, passing another two villages.
Then at around 11 am, on a dirt road outside a village, we suddenly ran head-on into a patrol of about 10 men, who were just coming out of a shop. My heart skipped a beat when I saw their police rifles slung over their shoulders. They were not wearing the green uniform of Burmese soldiers though. Their uniforms, which I had never seen before, were gold colored and decorated with a drake insignia—a symbol of the ethnic Mon minority. I realized they could be from a government-controlled Mon militia.
The men motioned us to stop. We did, terrified. The leader, a well-built man of about 40, spoke to our guide in Mon. I could not detect any emotion in his face. Then he suddenly turned and addressed me in Mon. I shook my head and mumbled something in Burmese, possibly about us being students.
I was consumed by fear, with thoughts of possible detention and torture in a military prison racing through my mind. The militia leader inspected us, stopping in front of one of my colleagues whose face was pale with terror. He spoke to the patrolman, though it was inaudible to me. I tried to assess our options, but realized there was no escape. There was no nearby forest to run into; rice fields surrounded us as far as I could see. I fixed my eyes on the patrolman, a cruel smugness on his face as he surveyed us, his captives.
Finally, the militia leader spoke to our guide again in Mon. Then he turned to me: “Don’t worry,” he said in Burmese. “We are Mon militia. We are not going to arrest you. You are going to do something that we can’t do. Now go on.”
Suddenly, he turned and walked away. Shaking with a combination of residual fear and relief, my feet started to move, following the guide as I tried to absorb what had just happened. Later, I regretted that I was too stunned to thank the patrolman.
We stopped for lunch at the next village. Then we hired a second guide, who we were told knew the terrain so well he could even lead us at night. We continued quickly and quietly, heading east. Soon there was no more road, not even a dirt track. We walked alongside or across rice paddies carved out of depleted forest, passing a few lonely huts. No one talked. The silence was broken only by the sound of our flip-flops.
When dinnertime came, there was still no hut or village where we could stop for food and so, without our own cooking utensils, we just kept walking. Then it started raining. In the moonless, pitch-black night, it was hard to see someone even from two feet away. Only the occasional flashes of lightning gave us a fleeting sense of our surroundings.
Our guides had flashlights but refused to use them, fearing they would be spotted by military patrols. Eventually, we took off our longyi, or sarongs, using them to form a human chain and hang on to in the black night.
We waded across fast-flowing rivers in complete darkness. The rain never stopped, just alternated between drizzle and heavy downpours. The guide seemed lost and could not find shelter. Then at about 2 am, we realized that our second guide, who was behind us, had disappeared. The remaining guide said he would go and look for shelter and asked us to wait, but we refused to let him go, following him wherever he went.
By 3 am we finally found a clearing at the edge of the forest with a hut and pagoda. Exhausted, cold and drained, we made a fire and tried to dry our clothes, without heeding the risk of being spotted.
At dawn we set off again, reaching a Karen village at midday. Our guide introduced us to an old Karen man, around 70, and then took his leave. After lunch, we continued our journey with our new Karen guide walking very fast, despite his age.
Finally, we arrived at the Karen National Union’s first security checkpoint, called Moe Wah, at around 4 pm. We gave the Karen officers our names, and they gave us food and a place to stay for the night.
In a “liberated” area, we felt safe and had a good night’s sleep. We did not realize that a long road toward liberation still lay ahead.
Aung Naing Oo left Burma after the 1988 uprising and went to Thailand, joining the All Burma Students' Democratic Front and becoming the organization’s longest serving foreign affairs secretary. He was camp secretary of the Thay Baw Boe camp, Karen State and head of the "Jungle University." Based now in Thailand, he writes about Burmese politics.
Source: The Irrawaddy News
The Irrawaddy
www.irrawaddy.org
October 1988: We left at dawn as villagers moved about in semi-darkness preparing for a new day. Our guide was a burly Mon man, about 45 years old, who had agreed to take us to the Karen rebel-held territory.
I walked right behind him. Another 15 people, including a well-known boxer, a former Burmese army corporal from Kayah [Karenni] State and other students, trailed behind me, like a train. The villagers remained silent, familiar with the spectacle of youthful, would-be rebels heading for the distant jungle. The soldiers we had spotted the previous day were nowhere to be seen; perhaps still in bed. Luck was on our side.
The sun rose as we crossed the Moulmein highway. Before us loomed a massive mountain, which we began to climb. Initially, I could not see any footpath, just rocks and dirt. We negotiated the boulders and the small sparse trees. After a while, I realized there was a faint, little-used path, seemingly perfect for clandestine purposes. It was reassuring, given our need to avoid military patrols or checkpoints.
When we reached the summit at about 7:30 am, our guide pointed to buildings on the distant plain and said, “Military.” I shivered with anxiety at the prospect of encountering patrols once we descended. But as we slowly climbed down, my creeping concern for military patrols was abruptly replaced by the more immediate fear of falling on the steep and rocky path.
By around 9 am, we reached the foot of the mountain and stood on the outskirts of a village. I was suddenly worried: villages were to be avoided. I stopped and looked back at my friends. They too had stopped. The guide sensed our hesitation but insisted: “No problem; we are safe.” I was wary, but had no choice than to trust him. I resumed walking and the whole gang followed silently.
Villagers glanced at us wordlessly, continuing about their business. Soon, we were on a road pitted with puddles of mud with traces of September rain. We kept on walking quietly, passing another two villages.
Then at around 11 am, on a dirt road outside a village, we suddenly ran head-on into a patrol of about 10 men, who were just coming out of a shop. My heart skipped a beat when I saw their police rifles slung over their shoulders. They were not wearing the green uniform of Burmese soldiers though. Their uniforms, which I had never seen before, were gold colored and decorated with a drake insignia—a symbol of the ethnic Mon minority. I realized they could be from a government-controlled Mon militia.
The men motioned us to stop. We did, terrified. The leader, a well-built man of about 40, spoke to our guide in Mon. I could not detect any emotion in his face. Then he suddenly turned and addressed me in Mon. I shook my head and mumbled something in Burmese, possibly about us being students.
I was consumed by fear, with thoughts of possible detention and torture in a military prison racing through my mind. The militia leader inspected us, stopping in front of one of my colleagues whose face was pale with terror. He spoke to the patrolman, though it was inaudible to me. I tried to assess our options, but realized there was no escape. There was no nearby forest to run into; rice fields surrounded us as far as I could see. I fixed my eyes on the patrolman, a cruel smugness on his face as he surveyed us, his captives.
Finally, the militia leader spoke to our guide again in Mon. Then he turned to me: “Don’t worry,” he said in Burmese. “We are Mon militia. We are not going to arrest you. You are going to do something that we can’t do. Now go on.”
Suddenly, he turned and walked away. Shaking with a combination of residual fear and relief, my feet started to move, following the guide as I tried to absorb what had just happened. Later, I regretted that I was too stunned to thank the patrolman.
We stopped for lunch at the next village. Then we hired a second guide, who we were told knew the terrain so well he could even lead us at night. We continued quickly and quietly, heading east. Soon there was no more road, not even a dirt track. We walked alongside or across rice paddies carved out of depleted forest, passing a few lonely huts. No one talked. The silence was broken only by the sound of our flip-flops.
When dinnertime came, there was still no hut or village where we could stop for food and so, without our own cooking utensils, we just kept walking. Then it started raining. In the moonless, pitch-black night, it was hard to see someone even from two feet away. Only the occasional flashes of lightning gave us a fleeting sense of our surroundings.
Our guides had flashlights but refused to use them, fearing they would be spotted by military patrols. Eventually, we took off our longyi, or sarongs, using them to form a human chain and hang on to in the black night.
We waded across fast-flowing rivers in complete darkness. The rain never stopped, just alternated between drizzle and heavy downpours. The guide seemed lost and could not find shelter. Then at about 2 am, we realized that our second guide, who was behind us, had disappeared. The remaining guide said he would go and look for shelter and asked us to wait, but we refused to let him go, following him wherever he went.
By 3 am we finally found a clearing at the edge of the forest with a hut and pagoda. Exhausted, cold and drained, we made a fire and tried to dry our clothes, without heeding the risk of being spotted.
At dawn we set off again, reaching a Karen village at midday. Our guide introduced us to an old Karen man, around 70, and then took his leave. After lunch, we continued our journey with our new Karen guide walking very fast, despite his age.
Finally, we arrived at the Karen National Union’s first security checkpoint, called Moe Wah, at around 4 pm. We gave the Karen officers our names, and they gave us food and a place to stay for the night.
In a “liberated” area, we felt safe and had a good night’s sleep. We did not realize that a long road toward liberation still lay ahead.
Aung Naing Oo left Burma after the 1988 uprising and went to Thailand, joining the All Burma Students' Democratic Front and becoming the organization’s longest serving foreign affairs secretary. He was camp secretary of the Thay Baw Boe camp, Karen State and head of the "Jungle University." Based now in Thailand, he writes about Burmese politics.
Source: The Irrawaddy News
Shan Activists Call for Release of Political Prisoners
By SAW YAN NAING
The Irrawaddy
www.irrawaddy.org
February 11, 2008 - Shan people all over the world held prayer ceremonies and candlelit vigils on Sunday calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Burma, including pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and prominent Shan leader, Hkun Htun Oo.
Campaigners held ceremonies in ten different countries, including Thailand, Singapore, Japan, the United States, Great Britain and Australia.
Shan activists also urged the international community to pressurize the Burmese military government to release all political prisoners immediately, implement a nationwide ceasefire and enhance tripartite dialogue with the National League for Democracy and representatives of the ethnic nationalities.
In the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, about 80 people—mostly ethnic Shan—participated in a prayer ceremony and candlelight vigil at Wat Ku Tao monastery on Sunday.
Hkun Htun Oo is currently detained in Putao prison in northern Kachin State, upper Burma, and his health has seriously deteriorated in the past few months. According to a joint statement by Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) and Shan Youth Power, Hkun Htun Oo is suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and prostate problems.
Hkun Htun Oo, 64, an elected leader of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, was arrested in February 2005 with other Shan State leaders for their advocacy of political reform.
Sai Awn Tai, one of the organizers of the Chiang Mai vigil, said, “A genuine federal union should be built on principles of justice and equality. Yet the regime, by imprisoning elected ethnic leaders and proceeding with its own coercive constitution-drafting process, has shown its complete contempt for these principles.”
Shan activists also expressed concerned about the health of seven other detained Shan leaders who were arrested with Hkun Htun Oo. One of those leaders, Myint Than, died in Sandoway prison in Arakan state in May 2006, according to Shan Women’s Action Network.
Hkun Htun Oo was sentenced to 93 years in jail for treason and defamation of the state, while the other Shan leaders received sentences of between 75 and 106 years, according to a statement issued by SWAN.
There are at least 1,864 political prisoners currently detained in Burmese prisons, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).
The Irrawaddy
www.irrawaddy.org
February 11, 2008 - Shan people all over the world held prayer ceremonies and candlelit vigils on Sunday calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Burma, including pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and prominent Shan leader, Hkun Htun Oo.
Campaigners held ceremonies in ten different countries, including Thailand, Singapore, Japan, the United States, Great Britain and Australia.
Shan activists also urged the international community to pressurize the Burmese military government to release all political prisoners immediately, implement a nationwide ceasefire and enhance tripartite dialogue with the National League for Democracy and representatives of the ethnic nationalities.
In the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, about 80 people—mostly ethnic Shan—participated in a prayer ceremony and candlelight vigil at Wat Ku Tao monastery on Sunday.
Hkun Htun Oo is currently detained in Putao prison in northern Kachin State, upper Burma, and his health has seriously deteriorated in the past few months. According to a joint statement by Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) and Shan Youth Power, Hkun Htun Oo is suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and prostate problems.
Hkun Htun Oo, 64, an elected leader of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, was arrested in February 2005 with other Shan State leaders for their advocacy of political reform.
Sai Awn Tai, one of the organizers of the Chiang Mai vigil, said, “A genuine federal union should be built on principles of justice and equality. Yet the regime, by imprisoning elected ethnic leaders and proceeding with its own coercive constitution-drafting process, has shown its complete contempt for these principles.”
Shan activists also expressed concerned about the health of seven other detained Shan leaders who were arrested with Hkun Htun Oo. One of those leaders, Myint Than, died in Sandoway prison in Arakan state in May 2006, according to Shan Women’s Action Network.
Hkun Htun Oo was sentenced to 93 years in jail for treason and defamation of the state, while the other Shan leaders received sentences of between 75 and 106 years, according to a statement issued by SWAN.
There are at least 1,864 political prisoners currently detained in Burmese prisons, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).
USDA to Organize Referendum, Election
By WAI MOE
February 11, 2008, (Irrawaddy): The Union Solitary and Development Association (USDA) will organize the Burmese referendum on the constitution in May and the 2010 general election, including the selection of some candidates across the country, say USDA sources.
Sources close to the USDA told The Irrawaddy on Monday that USDA members at the township and district levels will form local commissions to oversee the referendum voting and general election process.
The USDA will also recruit respected local people to serve on the referendum and election commissions, said a source who requested anonymity.
Later, the USDA will play a role in the selection of what appears to be state-backed candidates in the general election, he said.
“Some people will be selected to serve as commissioners,” said one USDA member. “Some will be selected to be candidates in the 2010 election.”
“The association is now looking for well-educated, respected, wealthy people to be candidates in the election,” he said.
According to Khin Maung Gyi, the secretary general of the National Unity Party (NUP), the pro-junta USDA will transform itself into a political party in time to contest the 2010 elections.
The NUP secretary general told DPA news agency that he believed the 2010 elections would be free and fair, and could lead to an amnesty and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Sources said most USDA members were surprised when the junta announced on Saturday that general dates had been set for the referendum on the junta-backed constitution and general election.
Htay Aung, a Burmese researcher in Thailand, said the regime originally created the USDA to serve eventually as a junta-backed political party. In addition, he said, the USDA has been a source for junta-backed thugs who were used most recently to suppress the pro-democracy uprising in 2007.
“The military junta will use the USDA as a political tool during the referendum and the election,” said Htay Aung. “In November 2005, U Htay Oo, the secretary-general of the USDA, publicly said that if it is necessary, the association will be turned into a political party.”
Senior USDA members recently met with grassroots members, in what may have been preparations for the referendum and election, said the researcher.
According to official documents, the USDA, formed in 1993, has 24 million members or almost half of the population of Burma.
“The military regime is confident it can win the referendum and election,” said Htay Aung. “The regime thinks votes by USDA members alone can keep the generals in power.”
According to The New Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper, the USDA’s Htay Oo and Brig-Gen Kyaw Swe, the commander of the armed forces’ southwest command, recently met with local members in Bassein as well as in Ngapudaw and Labutta in Irrawaddy Division.
Htay Oo also attended a USDA meeting on youth affairs in Naypyidaw on February 10.
In what is seen as a privileged perk for USDA members, the authorities recently gave the green light for state-approved cell phone licenses to be purchased by USDA members. The USDA also has been active in local state water supply projects and the registration process for identity cards across the country, work that is seen as enhancing its grassroots image.
USDA members held 633 seats, or 58 percent, at the National Convention which was convened in 1993 to prepare guidelines for the new constitution. The guidelines were finally approved in 2007.
Opposition group observers say that most USDA members are civil servants who were recruited by harassment and intimidation. It also includes teachers, students, business people and political activists.
Many Burmese view the USDA as principally an instrument of the regime that carries out violent acts against opposition activists and civilians. The group has paramilitary members who perform surveillance and search for dissidents in hiding.
USDA members played a key role in the bloody crackdowns during the 2007 uprising and in a deadly attack on Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade in 2003, in which about 100 people were killed.
Source: The Irrawaddy News - www.irrawaddy.org
February 11, 2008, (Irrawaddy): The Union Solitary and Development Association (USDA) will organize the Burmese referendum on the constitution in May and the 2010 general election, including the selection of some candidates across the country, say USDA sources.
Sources close to the USDA told The Irrawaddy on Monday that USDA members at the township and district levels will form local commissions to oversee the referendum voting and general election process.
The USDA will also recruit respected local people to serve on the referendum and election commissions, said a source who requested anonymity.
Later, the USDA will play a role in the selection of what appears to be state-backed candidates in the general election, he said.
“Some people will be selected to serve as commissioners,” said one USDA member. “Some will be selected to be candidates in the 2010 election.”
“The association is now looking for well-educated, respected, wealthy people to be candidates in the election,” he said.
According to Khin Maung Gyi, the secretary general of the National Unity Party (NUP), the pro-junta USDA will transform itself into a political party in time to contest the 2010 elections.
The NUP secretary general told DPA news agency that he believed the 2010 elections would be free and fair, and could lead to an amnesty and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Sources said most USDA members were surprised when the junta announced on Saturday that general dates had been set for the referendum on the junta-backed constitution and general election.
Htay Aung, a Burmese researcher in Thailand, said the regime originally created the USDA to serve eventually as a junta-backed political party. In addition, he said, the USDA has been a source for junta-backed thugs who were used most recently to suppress the pro-democracy uprising in 2007.
“The military junta will use the USDA as a political tool during the referendum and the election,” said Htay Aung. “In November 2005, U Htay Oo, the secretary-general of the USDA, publicly said that if it is necessary, the association will be turned into a political party.”
Senior USDA members recently met with grassroots members, in what may have been preparations for the referendum and election, said the researcher.
According to official documents, the USDA, formed in 1993, has 24 million members or almost half of the population of Burma.
“The military regime is confident it can win the referendum and election,” said Htay Aung. “The regime thinks votes by USDA members alone can keep the generals in power.”
According to The New Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper, the USDA’s Htay Oo and Brig-Gen Kyaw Swe, the commander of the armed forces’ southwest command, recently met with local members in Bassein as well as in Ngapudaw and Labutta in Irrawaddy Division.
Htay Oo also attended a USDA meeting on youth affairs in Naypyidaw on February 10.
In what is seen as a privileged perk for USDA members, the authorities recently gave the green light for state-approved cell phone licenses to be purchased by USDA members. The USDA also has been active in local state water supply projects and the registration process for identity cards across the country, work that is seen as enhancing its grassroots image.
USDA members held 633 seats, or 58 percent, at the National Convention which was convened in 1993 to prepare guidelines for the new constitution. The guidelines were finally approved in 2007.
Opposition group observers say that most USDA members are civil servants who were recruited by harassment and intimidation. It also includes teachers, students, business people and political activists.
Many Burmese view the USDA as principally an instrument of the regime that carries out violent acts against opposition activists and civilians. The group has paramilitary members who perform surveillance and search for dissidents in hiding.
USDA members played a key role in the bloody crackdowns during the 2007 uprising and in a deadly attack on Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade in 2003, in which about 100 people were killed.
Source: The Irrawaddy News - www.irrawaddy.org
Burma: Proposed roadmap to democracy will rubber-stamp regime authority
Asian Tribune
London, 12 February 2008: Numerous international organizations including Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has called the ‘roadmap to democracy’ announced by the Burmese military regime on Saturday a sham, which will serve only to ‘rubber-stamp the authority of this brutal regime’.
The announcement was made on the evening news for state radio and television on Saturday 9 February 2008, and outlined plans to hold a referendum on the proposed constitution in May 2008 and a general election in 2010. This is the first timetable that has been outlined for a constitution and elections.
The draft constitution is being written by the National Convention, where the overwhelming majority of delegates are handpicked by the regime. None of the nine pro-democracy parties which took part in the 1990 elections and won 90 per cent of the parliamentary seats are included in the constitution drafting process. In addition no major representatives from the ethnic nationalities which make up 40 per cent of the population of Burma are included. Questioning or criticising the National Convention and communicating with the international media about the process are crimes under the regime’s Order 5/96 and carry a 20-year jail sentence.
CSW is currently in the region on a fact-finding visit and has obtained fresh evidence of systematic and widespread human rights violations including forced labour, rape and torture. First-hand testimonies were obtained from Burmese monks who fled as a result of the September crackdown, Shan and Karen internally displaced people and refugees.
CSW’s Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, said: "Far from being a positive development, this timetable will simply rubber-stamp the authority of this brutal regime. For there to be real change in Burma the regime must immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi and all the political prisoners, open all parts of the country to unhindered access for international humanitarian and human rights organisations and enter into meaningful tripartite dialogue with the National League for Democracy and ethnic nationalities. We call on the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki- Moon, to go in person to Burma to facilitate these steps as a matter of urgency. The world must not be conned by this sham."
London, 12 February 2008: Numerous international organizations including Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has called the ‘roadmap to democracy’ announced by the Burmese military regime on Saturday a sham, which will serve only to ‘rubber-stamp the authority of this brutal regime’.
The announcement was made on the evening news for state radio and television on Saturday 9 February 2008, and outlined plans to hold a referendum on the proposed constitution in May 2008 and a general election in 2010. This is the first timetable that has been outlined for a constitution and elections.
The draft constitution is being written by the National Convention, where the overwhelming majority of delegates are handpicked by the regime. None of the nine pro-democracy parties which took part in the 1990 elections and won 90 per cent of the parliamentary seats are included in the constitution drafting process. In addition no major representatives from the ethnic nationalities which make up 40 per cent of the population of Burma are included. Questioning or criticising the National Convention and communicating with the international media about the process are crimes under the regime’s Order 5/96 and carry a 20-year jail sentence.
CSW is currently in the region on a fact-finding visit and has obtained fresh evidence of systematic and widespread human rights violations including forced labour, rape and torture. First-hand testimonies were obtained from Burmese monks who fled as a result of the September crackdown, Shan and Karen internally displaced people and refugees.
CSW’s Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, said: "Far from being a positive development, this timetable will simply rubber-stamp the authority of this brutal regime. For there to be real change in Burma the regime must immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi and all the political prisoners, open all parts of the country to unhindered access for international humanitarian and human rights organisations and enter into meaningful tripartite dialogue with the National League for Democracy and ethnic nationalities. We call on the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki- Moon, to go in person to Burma to facilitate these steps as a matter of urgency. The world must not be conned by this sham."
Opposition questions Myanmar election plan
February 9, 2008 -(CNN) -- Pro-democracy opposition leaders from Myanmar have reacted with skepticism and concern about the ruling military junta's announced plan to hold a referendum on a new constitution in May and national elections in 2010.e.
State-run media from Myanmar -- also known as Burma -- reported Saturday that decrees issued by the regime said the constitutional referendum was the fourth step of a "seven-step road map to democracy." It said the 2010 elections would choose a representative government to replace the military junta.
The Irrawaddy, an online newspaper published by Burmese exiles, quoted a spokesman of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) as noting that the new constitution was drawn up by a committee chosen by the junta and that opposition groups were left out of the process.
"If the junta only does this kind of one-sided proposal, it will mean the military junta will continue its rule in Burma," Nyan Win told Irrawaddy.
A leader of the 88 Generation Students, an opposition coalition group, questioned how there could be a free and fair referendum since the junta issued a decree in 1996 outlawing any criticism of the national convention.
"That means the Burmese people could face a bloodbath in the future because there is no meaningful resolution in the junta's plans, and there will be mass protests again if the people do not get a real democracy," Tun Myint Aung said.
Myanmar last held multiparty elections in 1990, but the military junta ignored the results. The regime has come under intense international pressure, especially after using force last year to suppress a pro-democracy movement.
The junta last September suppressed the biggest pro-democracy protests in two decades. At least 30 people are believed to have been killed, according to The Associated Press. Thousands more were detained, though most have since been released.
After violently quelling the protests, the junta came under increased international pressure to work toward political reconciliation and quickly return to democracy. At least 30 people died in the crackdown, according to a U.N. estimate.
The country's most prominent human rights activist, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been held in varying degrees of detention for 12 of the past 18 years. A Nobel peace Prize winner, Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.
Her National League for Democracy won the country's first free multiparty elections in 1990 -- the first in 30 years -- but the military junta refused to hand over power.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962 and has not had a constitution since the last one was scrapped in 1988, when the army brutally put down earlier pro-democracy demonstrations.
State-run media from Myanmar -- also known as Burma -- reported Saturday that decrees issued by the regime said the constitutional referendum was the fourth step of a "seven-step road map to democracy." It said the 2010 elections would choose a representative government to replace the military junta.
The Irrawaddy, an online newspaper published by Burmese exiles, quoted a spokesman of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) as noting that the new constitution was drawn up by a committee chosen by the junta and that opposition groups were left out of the process.
"If the junta only does this kind of one-sided proposal, it will mean the military junta will continue its rule in Burma," Nyan Win told Irrawaddy.
A leader of the 88 Generation Students, an opposition coalition group, questioned how there could be a free and fair referendum since the junta issued a decree in 1996 outlawing any criticism of the national convention.
"That means the Burmese people could face a bloodbath in the future because there is no meaningful resolution in the junta's plans, and there will be mass protests again if the people do not get a real democracy," Tun Myint Aung said.
Myanmar last held multiparty elections in 1990, but the military junta ignored the results. The regime has come under intense international pressure, especially after using force last year to suppress a pro-democracy movement.
The junta last September suppressed the biggest pro-democracy protests in two decades. At least 30 people are believed to have been killed, according to The Associated Press. Thousands more were detained, though most have since been released.
After violently quelling the protests, the junta came under increased international pressure to work toward political reconciliation and quickly return to democracy. At least 30 people died in the crackdown, according to a U.N. estimate.
The country's most prominent human rights activist, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been held in varying degrees of detention for 12 of the past 18 years. A Nobel peace Prize winner, Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.
Her National League for Democracy won the country's first free multiparty elections in 1990 -- the first in 30 years -- but the military junta refused to hand over power.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962 and has not had a constitution since the last one was scrapped in 1988, when the army brutally put down earlier pro-democracy demonstrations.
Dissidents line up to fight Myanmar constitution
By Ed Cropley
Editing by
Michael Battye and
Alex Richardson
Reuters
February 11, 2008 - MAE SOT, Thailand (Reuters) - A referendum on an army-made constitution in Myanmar will be a "major battlefield" between the junta and a people wanting to be rid of military rule, the country's biggest dissident group said on Monday.
In a statement given to Reuters in the Myanmar-Thai border town of Mae Sot, the "88 Generation Students" -- named after a brutally suppressed 1988 uprising -- called on the former Burma's 53 million people to reject the charter in the May vote.
"The regime is attempting to legalize the military dictatorship with a sham constitution," said the group, whose leaders were jailed in last year's protests.
"This is a declaration of war by the military regime against the people of Burma."
The army, which has run Myanmar under various guises since 1962, announced the referendum on Saturday, saying it would be followed by "multi-party, democratic elections" two years later.
The elections would be the first since 1990, when opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a huge landslide only to see the generals ignore the result. Suu Kyi has spent most of the interim under house arrest.
The NLD has called the junta's proposal -- part of a seven-step "roadmap to democracy" unveiled in 2003 -- "erratic" and highlighted the irony of announcing an election even before the result of the referendum.
Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner now living in Thailand, said that having been denied any chance of contributing to its creation, the NLD would be forced to reject a charter that appears to yield little ground to civilian rule.
Although not yet completed -- let alone published -- snippets in state-controlled media suggest the army commander-in-chief will be the most powerful figure in the country, able to appoint key ministers and assume power "in times of emergency".
Bo Kyi said the 88 Generation and, in all probability, the NLD would campaign for a no vote to tell the generals they could not get away with introducing reform on their terms only, to the exclusion of all other points of view.
"The main thing we want is to work together to solve the problems. We need dialogue. We want dialogue," he said. "We can conduct a campaign very easily. People who want change will help us."
UNDERGROUND "NO" CAMPAIGN
The timing of the announcement is particularly ironic given the generals' unrelenting crackdown on dissent in the wake of September's monk-led pro-democracy demonstrations which evolved from small protests against massive fuel price increases.
"If they are truly committed to democratic change, then they should create a democratic environment -- allow freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and freedom for all political prisoners," Bo Kyi said.
Given the constraints of campaigning in one of the world's most repressive states, most of the work will be done by word of mouth, distribution of leaflets and CDs, and dissident radio and television, he added.
According to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (Burma), nearly 700 people are still in detention as a result of the crackdown, in which the United Nations says at least 31 people were killed.
The whereabouts of around 300 prisoners are known, Bo Kyi said, but the others have simply disappeared into the Myanmar gulag. Rumors abound of internment camps on remote tropical islands in the Andaman Sea or the swamps of the Irrawaddy delta.
"If they are in prison, at least we know where they are. If they are in a secret place, they could be being tortured or even killed," Bo Kyi said.
Editing by
Michael Battye and
Alex Richardson
Reuters
February 11, 2008 - MAE SOT, Thailand (Reuters) - A referendum on an army-made constitution in Myanmar will be a "major battlefield" between the junta and a people wanting to be rid of military rule, the country's biggest dissident group said on Monday.
In a statement given to Reuters in the Myanmar-Thai border town of Mae Sot, the "88 Generation Students" -- named after a brutally suppressed 1988 uprising -- called on the former Burma's 53 million people to reject the charter in the May vote.
"The regime is attempting to legalize the military dictatorship with a sham constitution," said the group, whose leaders were jailed in last year's protests.
"This is a declaration of war by the military regime against the people of Burma."
The army, which has run Myanmar under various guises since 1962, announced the referendum on Saturday, saying it would be followed by "multi-party, democratic elections" two years later.
The elections would be the first since 1990, when opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a huge landslide only to see the generals ignore the result. Suu Kyi has spent most of the interim under house arrest.
The NLD has called the junta's proposal -- part of a seven-step "roadmap to democracy" unveiled in 2003 -- "erratic" and highlighted the irony of announcing an election even before the result of the referendum.
Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner now living in Thailand, said that having been denied any chance of contributing to its creation, the NLD would be forced to reject a charter that appears to yield little ground to civilian rule.
Although not yet completed -- let alone published -- snippets in state-controlled media suggest the army commander-in-chief will be the most powerful figure in the country, able to appoint key ministers and assume power "in times of emergency".
Bo Kyi said the 88 Generation and, in all probability, the NLD would campaign for a no vote to tell the generals they could not get away with introducing reform on their terms only, to the exclusion of all other points of view.
"The main thing we want is to work together to solve the problems. We need dialogue. We want dialogue," he said. "We can conduct a campaign very easily. People who want change will help us."
UNDERGROUND "NO" CAMPAIGN
The timing of the announcement is particularly ironic given the generals' unrelenting crackdown on dissent in the wake of September's monk-led pro-democracy demonstrations which evolved from small protests against massive fuel price increases.
"If they are truly committed to democratic change, then they should create a democratic environment -- allow freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and freedom for all political prisoners," Bo Kyi said.
Given the constraints of campaigning in one of the world's most repressive states, most of the work will be done by word of mouth, distribution of leaflets and CDs, and dissident radio and television, he added.
According to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (Burma), nearly 700 people are still in detention as a result of the crackdown, in which the United Nations says at least 31 people were killed.
The whereabouts of around 300 prisoners are known, Bo Kyi said, but the others have simply disappeared into the Myanmar gulag. Rumors abound of internment camps on remote tropical islands in the Andaman Sea or the swamps of the Irrawaddy delta.
"If they are in prison, at least we know where they are. If they are in a secret place, they could be being tortured or even killed," Bo Kyi said.
Monday, 11 February 2008
Elation over a murder?
By Goldie Shwe
10 February 2008 - I was just skimming through the DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) for Burma’s daily news when I saw that report of the murder of a member of USDA (Union Solidarity and Development Association) - junta's paramilitary wing of 'social welfare' organization. I had hardly finished reading the summary before I started smacking my own arms; the Burmese style war dance and challenge, similar to Maori Haka. My own reaction surprised me and made me think why I naturally reacted with elation and triumph.
Not only was I brought up as a Buddhist, it was also my choice of religion and I have great and fundamental respect for Buddha's teaching. I learnt the 'Five Precepts', the most important basic rules of Buddhism, at an early age. The first of those was not to kill, and have respect for all life. The Buddha said, "Life is precious to all beings. They have the right to live the same as we do." We should respect all life and not kill anything. Killing ants and mosquitoes is also breaking this precept. We should have an attitude of loving-kindness towards all beings, wishing them to be happy and free from harm.
Although I cannot boast that I am one of the most religious and decent of people, I try my best to follow the Five Precepts, most of all not to kill. So why then was I so jubilant, why did I jump up and down in celebration over a horrible murder case?
I have been angry. I have been extremely angry since September 2007. When all the protests and the crackdown of them happening I was unhappy, sad, frightened for people who would be tortured and killed. Eventually my feelings have changed. Everywhere I turned I saw reports of bullies, torturing and killings that junta is doing to innocent and vulnerable civilians in Burma.
I was angry that 400 children die everyday in Burma, either through hunger or diseases related to malnourishment.
I was angry that a monk was tortured, killed and his body thrown into a river.
I was angry that monasteries were raided at night, monks killed, or locked up in prisons.
I was angry that so many elected politicians are locked up in prisons long-term, and denied access to basic medical treatment.
I was angry that many poor unknown people were locked up in prisons and tortured while their families made to travel many miles to visit them.
I was angry that Nilar Thein is on the run, while her husband is in jail and their baby separated from her.
I was angry that United Nations could do nothing to protect innocent people of Burma.
I was angry that the junta's thugs bully and blackmail local people so that they cannot support the members of National League for Democracy Party, which won the landslide election victory in 1990.
I was angry that Aids (HIV) sufferers are denied treatment in hospitals, the monastery which provided their free accommodation was stripped and sealed off, the monks chased away from the place, and their care manager Phyu Phyu Thin is also on the run, and was unable to be with her dying father or at his funeral.
I was angry that street children have been abducted by the junta's thugs and sold to serve in the military and for the girls become prostitutes.
I was angry that the junta's generals and their sycophants are robbing all the country's natural resources, to stuff their own over-full bank accounts.
I was angry that so many ethnic groups have been wiped out by the junta.
I was angry that human rights abuse and forced labour records and reports are so long and depressing that I was too upset to continue reading.
Every item of news and report that I find about Burma has been nothing but intimidation, bullying, torture and the killing of the people by cowardly junta. I have become unable to feel anything other than cold anger, indignation, outrage at the appalling record of the junta.
The feeling of revenge and some satisfaction therefore seemed quite natural when I read about the killing of one of the junta's thugs. The DVB reported that the man, a member of the USDA of Hlaing Tharyar, one of the poorest and most repressed areas of the capital Rangoon, was notorious for his arrogant and threatening behaviour towards the residents. His head was left on public display by unknown assailants in a primitive display for the losers of the fighting or a war. His headless body found nearby was lacerated all over, each cut reflecting the people’s long pent-up hatred for the junta and its minions.
The fact that neither head nor the mutilated body were hidden but left on public display has sent a very clear and loud message to junta and their thug followers that the people will not, and cannot, forget or forgive their treatment for so many long decades. The chilling nature of the murder must have sent shockwaves across the country - the first clear response indicating that the breaking point of the people may be near.
The repugnant Than Shwe and his shameless group of cowardly generals and their families might be residing in huge heavily-guarded estates in Pyin Manar Nay Pyi Daw, enjoying the wealth they have robbed from the country and giving orders to their thugs on how to repress the public and still keeping the most revolting grins on their faces but even they must have seen the first batch of dark clouds that is now beginning to loom over their heads.
For junta's thugs, who were given a share of power and equipped with weapons to control the public, life has been very easy and pleasant. Apart from intimidating and threatening people with their junta-backed power, and occasional arrests and tortures, life has been easy. On top of the benefits of delegated power and weapons, these men have been well paid, with performance bonuses and rewards, and exclusive access to gadgets like mobile phones and video cameras not available to the public. This has all been icing on a very nourishing cake for those official members of junta's many paramilitary organizations.
The report also stated that, following the chilling murder of one of their number, the teams of junta thugs seem to have been rather quiet. More interestingly, the public found that gone is the hitherto haughty and pompous behaviour, to be replaced by a slightly more considerate attitude. The most obvious outcome, immediately after the murder, has been that the thugs have abruptly abandoned their habit of intimidating and harassing the general public.
The rewards and bribes they receive from the junta for carrying out the practicalities of repressing the public have been good, especially when they can have real power over the lives of many poor and struggling people. Suddenly they are under threat themselves and have to think about the possible price of their activities to themselves and possibly their relatives? At least locally, their demeanour has changed dramatically in the face of these life-threatening issue of a popular fight-back spreading more widely.
Every action provokes its own reaction. The people of Burma have been suffering for too long. Their suffering and distress have been too great that they have been left with no option but to take the law into their own hands.
Yes, we are Buddhist. And yes, the Lord Buddha told us not to kill. And yet, I applauded the cruel murder. My own reaction has shocked me so I had to decide to give myself some time to reflect. After a sleepless night, thinking through every aspect, I still feel exactly the same. I still strongly believe that the murdered junta thug thoroughly deserved his fate. It seems to be the only way that people of Burma can get some form of justice. The ordinary people of Burma are at war with the cruel bullies, torturers and killers of the junta, and this murder somehow seems a fair response to the decades of abuse and robbery. The fight-back may have begun.
And for my own peace of mind, I decided to record my satisfaction and triumph over this horrible murder to be very honest with myself and others, because if I don't, I will only be breaking another of Buddha's Five Precepts - No Lying.
Goldie Shwe's Blog
10 February 2008 - I was just skimming through the DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) for Burma’s daily news when I saw that report of the murder of a member of USDA (Union Solidarity and Development Association) - junta's paramilitary wing of 'social welfare' organization. I had hardly finished reading the summary before I started smacking my own arms; the Burmese style war dance and challenge, similar to Maori Haka. My own reaction surprised me and made me think why I naturally reacted with elation and triumph.
Not only was I brought up as a Buddhist, it was also my choice of religion and I have great and fundamental respect for Buddha's teaching. I learnt the 'Five Precepts', the most important basic rules of Buddhism, at an early age. The first of those was not to kill, and have respect for all life. The Buddha said, "Life is precious to all beings. They have the right to live the same as we do." We should respect all life and not kill anything. Killing ants and mosquitoes is also breaking this precept. We should have an attitude of loving-kindness towards all beings, wishing them to be happy and free from harm.
Although I cannot boast that I am one of the most religious and decent of people, I try my best to follow the Five Precepts, most of all not to kill. So why then was I so jubilant, why did I jump up and down in celebration over a horrible murder case?
I have been angry. I have been extremely angry since September 2007. When all the protests and the crackdown of them happening I was unhappy, sad, frightened for people who would be tortured and killed. Eventually my feelings have changed. Everywhere I turned I saw reports of bullies, torturing and killings that junta is doing to innocent and vulnerable civilians in Burma.
I was angry that 400 children die everyday in Burma, either through hunger or diseases related to malnourishment.
I was angry that a monk was tortured, killed and his body thrown into a river.
I was angry that monasteries were raided at night, monks killed, or locked up in prisons.
I was angry that so many elected politicians are locked up in prisons long-term, and denied access to basic medical treatment.
I was angry that many poor unknown people were locked up in prisons and tortured while their families made to travel many miles to visit them.
I was angry that Nilar Thein is on the run, while her husband is in jail and their baby separated from her.
I was angry that United Nations could do nothing to protect innocent people of Burma.
I was angry that the junta's thugs bully and blackmail local people so that they cannot support the members of National League for Democracy Party, which won the landslide election victory in 1990.
I was angry that Aids (HIV) sufferers are denied treatment in hospitals, the monastery which provided their free accommodation was stripped and sealed off, the monks chased away from the place, and their care manager Phyu Phyu Thin is also on the run, and was unable to be with her dying father or at his funeral.
I was angry that street children have been abducted by the junta's thugs and sold to serve in the military and for the girls become prostitutes.
I was angry that the junta's generals and their sycophants are robbing all the country's natural resources, to stuff their own over-full bank accounts.
I was angry that so many ethnic groups have been wiped out by the junta.
I was angry that human rights abuse and forced labour records and reports are so long and depressing that I was too upset to continue reading.
Every item of news and report that I find about Burma has been nothing but intimidation, bullying, torture and the killing of the people by cowardly junta. I have become unable to feel anything other than cold anger, indignation, outrage at the appalling record of the junta.
The feeling of revenge and some satisfaction therefore seemed quite natural when I read about the killing of one of the junta's thugs. The DVB reported that the man, a member of the USDA of Hlaing Tharyar, one of the poorest and most repressed areas of the capital Rangoon, was notorious for his arrogant and threatening behaviour towards the residents. His head was left on public display by unknown assailants in a primitive display for the losers of the fighting or a war. His headless body found nearby was lacerated all over, each cut reflecting the people’s long pent-up hatred for the junta and its minions.
The fact that neither head nor the mutilated body were hidden but left on public display has sent a very clear and loud message to junta and their thug followers that the people will not, and cannot, forget or forgive their treatment for so many long decades. The chilling nature of the murder must have sent shockwaves across the country - the first clear response indicating that the breaking point of the people may be near.
The repugnant Than Shwe and his shameless group of cowardly generals and their families might be residing in huge heavily-guarded estates in Pyin Manar Nay Pyi Daw, enjoying the wealth they have robbed from the country and giving orders to their thugs on how to repress the public and still keeping the most revolting grins on their faces but even they must have seen the first batch of dark clouds that is now beginning to loom over their heads.
For junta's thugs, who were given a share of power and equipped with weapons to control the public, life has been very easy and pleasant. Apart from intimidating and threatening people with their junta-backed power, and occasional arrests and tortures, life has been easy. On top of the benefits of delegated power and weapons, these men have been well paid, with performance bonuses and rewards, and exclusive access to gadgets like mobile phones and video cameras not available to the public. This has all been icing on a very nourishing cake for those official members of junta's many paramilitary organizations.
The report also stated that, following the chilling murder of one of their number, the teams of junta thugs seem to have been rather quiet. More interestingly, the public found that gone is the hitherto haughty and pompous behaviour, to be replaced by a slightly more considerate attitude. The most obvious outcome, immediately after the murder, has been that the thugs have abruptly abandoned their habit of intimidating and harassing the general public.
The rewards and bribes they receive from the junta for carrying out the practicalities of repressing the public have been good, especially when they can have real power over the lives of many poor and struggling people. Suddenly they are under threat themselves and have to think about the possible price of their activities to themselves and possibly their relatives? At least locally, their demeanour has changed dramatically in the face of these life-threatening issue of a popular fight-back spreading more widely.
Every action provokes its own reaction. The people of Burma have been suffering for too long. Their suffering and distress have been too great that they have been left with no option but to take the law into their own hands.
Yes, we are Buddhist. And yes, the Lord Buddha told us not to kill. And yet, I applauded the cruel murder. My own reaction has shocked me so I had to decide to give myself some time to reflect. After a sleepless night, thinking through every aspect, I still feel exactly the same. I still strongly believe that the murdered junta thug thoroughly deserved his fate. It seems to be the only way that people of Burma can get some form of justice. The ordinary people of Burma are at war with the cruel bullies, torturers and killers of the junta, and this murder somehow seems a fair response to the decades of abuse and robbery. The fight-back may have begun.
And for my own peace of mind, I decided to record my satisfaction and triumph over this horrible murder to be very honest with myself and others, because if I don't, I will only be breaking another of Buddha's Five Precepts - No Lying.
Goldie Shwe's Blog
Myanmar junta's election plan, constitutional referendum meets with skepticism
February 11, 2008 (AP)- YANGON, Myanmar: Military-ruled Myanmar's surprise announcement that it will hold a vote on a new constitution this May and a general election in 2010 was criticized as too little, too late by the regime's critics.
The official announcements late Saturday of the constitutional referendum and the election were the government's first-ever moves to set dates for stages of its so-called road map to democracy.
But the ruling junta's critics — who claim that the long-delayed road map is designed to perpetuate military rule, not promote democracy — pointed out Sunday that that the process has so far excluded detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other independent political voices.
"We're frankly very skeptical. We're not persuaded that this is anything more than a cynical sham," said Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.
"Any genuine movement towards democracy or respect for human rights can only be done in cooperation with the international community and also with the political leaders in Burma," he said, using the former name for Myanmar.
Britain earlier voiced similar sentiments and called for the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Britain and Australia, like the United States and other Western nations, impose political and economic sanctions on the junta because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
Even Japan, which leans toward engaging the military government rather than isolating it, expressed disappointment that the junta had not gone further.
"We credit that the Myanmar government showed a timeframe for the democratization process by announcing its plans to hold the constitutional referendum and the election," said a Japanese Foreign Ministry statement.
"However, the process does not allow participation by Aung San Suu Kyi and other (opposition) parties," the statement said. "Japan believes that a true dialogue participated in by all parties is crucial in achieving Myanmar's national reconciliation."
Myanmar's last election took place in 1990, but the military refused to hand over power to the winning party — Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy or NLD. Since then the country has been in a political deadlock.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962 and has not had a constitution since the last one was scrapped in 1988, after the army crushed earlier pro-democracy demonstrations and the current junta took power.
Suu Kyi's party reacted cautiously to Saturday's announcements, noting the lack of detail on how the referendum would be carried out.
"The announcement is vague, incomplete and strange," said NLD party spokesman Nyan Win.
Reaction was mixed in Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, where there was little show of enthusiasm for the plans.
"I have no faith in the government-sponsored referendum," said lawyer Tun Wai, 62, who charged that the junta has "never kept their promises."
Some conceded, however, that the plans had a few merits.
"I will vote for the constitution as it is better to have a constitution than not having any at all," said 57-year-old university lecturer Tint Lwin.
Source: International Herald Tribune
The official announcements late Saturday of the constitutional referendum and the election were the government's first-ever moves to set dates for stages of its so-called road map to democracy.
But the ruling junta's critics — who claim that the long-delayed road map is designed to perpetuate military rule, not promote democracy — pointed out Sunday that that the process has so far excluded detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other independent political voices.
"We're frankly very skeptical. We're not persuaded that this is anything more than a cynical sham," said Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.
"Any genuine movement towards democracy or respect for human rights can only be done in cooperation with the international community and also with the political leaders in Burma," he said, using the former name for Myanmar.
Britain earlier voiced similar sentiments and called for the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Britain and Australia, like the United States and other Western nations, impose political and economic sanctions on the junta because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
Even Japan, which leans toward engaging the military government rather than isolating it, expressed disappointment that the junta had not gone further.
"We credit that the Myanmar government showed a timeframe for the democratization process by announcing its plans to hold the constitutional referendum and the election," said a Japanese Foreign Ministry statement.
"However, the process does not allow participation by Aung San Suu Kyi and other (opposition) parties," the statement said. "Japan believes that a true dialogue participated in by all parties is crucial in achieving Myanmar's national reconciliation."
Myanmar's last election took place in 1990, but the military refused to hand over power to the winning party — Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy or NLD. Since then the country has been in a political deadlock.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962 and has not had a constitution since the last one was scrapped in 1988, after the army crushed earlier pro-democracy demonstrations and the current junta took power.
Suu Kyi's party reacted cautiously to Saturday's announcements, noting the lack of detail on how the referendum would be carried out.
"The announcement is vague, incomplete and strange," said NLD party spokesman Nyan Win.
Reaction was mixed in Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, where there was little show of enthusiasm for the plans.
"I have no faith in the government-sponsored referendum," said lawyer Tun Wai, 62, who charged that the junta has "never kept their promises."
Some conceded, however, that the plans had a few merits.
"I will vote for the constitution as it is better to have a constitution than not having any at all," said 57-year-old university lecturer Tint Lwin.
Source: International Herald Tribune
Myanmar welcomes junta election promise
10 February 2008 - (Reuters) - YANGON - People in Myanmar welcomed the military government’s promise of multi-party elections in 2010 on Sunday as an opportunity to be seized, despite deep scepticism from opposition politicians and abroad.
“Just get on whatever horse you can catch. Then try to find better ones gradually,” a retired professor said four months after the army crushed monk-led, pro-democracy protests, killing at least 31 people.
Roadside food vendor Aung Min, 28, was positively excited. ”I can’t wait to vote in an election,” he said. But, he added: ”The most important is all major parties should be allowed to run in it.”
The junta’s announcement of a May referendum followed by elections in 2010 on state television on Saturday night did not make clear whether detained opposition icon’s Aung San Suu Kyi National League for Democracy would be allowed to take part.
The election would be the first held in the former Burma since 1990, when the NLD won a multi-party vote rejected by the military, which has ruled in various guises since 1962 and detained Suu Kyi for much of the interim.
The NLD was sceptical, asking how the junta could set an election date before knowing the outcome of the referendum.
“I can’t help but wonder how the referendum will be conducted,” NLD spokesman Nyan Win said.
The Burma Campaign UK, a pro-democracy group, dismissed the announcement as “public relations spin” and “nothing to do with democracy”.
“It is no coincidence that the announcement comes at a time when the regime is facing increasing economic sanctions following its brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations,” Campaign director Mark Farmaner said in a statement.
Britain’s Foreign Office called for the release of Suu Kyi and other detained political leaders to ensure a “genuine and inclusive process of national reconciliation”.
Anything’s better
But people in Yangon felt it was a positive development in a country that has seen little of those over the decades.
“It’s just like finding somewhere to live for the homeless. Of course it isn’t the house of our choice, but it will give us some protection,” a retired government officer said.
“We can expect at least a coalition government. That’s far better than now,” he added.
The retired professor said the NLD, which boycotted a national convention working out the principles for a ”disciplined” democracy completed late in 2007 after 14 years, should run in the election.
“If they boycott the election, we will have to wait another three or four decades in deadlock,” he said.
A committee of mainly military officers and civil servants assigned to draft the constitution would finish its work soon, the junta statement said.
“A nationwide referendum will be held in May 2008 to ratify the newly drafted constitution,” it said.
“We have achieved success in economic, social and other sectors and in restoring peace and stability,” said the statement issued in the name of Secretary Number One Lieutenant-General Tin Aung Myint Oo, a top member of the junta.
“So multi-party, democratic elections will be held in 2010.”
Snippets of the constitution’s basic principles, which have appeared in state- controlled media do not point to any transfer of power to a civilian administration, or greater autonomy for Myanmar’s 100-plus ethnic minorities.
The army commander-in-chief will be the most powerful man in the country, able to appoint key ministers and assume power ”in times of emergency”.
The military will hold 25 percent of the seats in the new parliament and hold veto power over its decisions.
The constitution is also believed likely to disbar Suu Kyi from office by ruling out anyone married to a foreigner.
Suu Kyi’s husband, British academic Michael Aris, died 1999.
The surprise announcement from the junta came after Suu Kyi told her party leaders on Jan. 30 that she feared she was being strung along by the generals and worried her meetings with the junta liaison minister might lead to false hope.
“Just get on whatever horse you can catch. Then try to find better ones gradually,” a retired professor said four months after the army crushed monk-led, pro-democracy protests, killing at least 31 people.
Roadside food vendor Aung Min, 28, was positively excited. ”I can’t wait to vote in an election,” he said. But, he added: ”The most important is all major parties should be allowed to run in it.”
The junta’s announcement of a May referendum followed by elections in 2010 on state television on Saturday night did not make clear whether detained opposition icon’s Aung San Suu Kyi National League for Democracy would be allowed to take part.
The election would be the first held in the former Burma since 1990, when the NLD won a multi-party vote rejected by the military, which has ruled in various guises since 1962 and detained Suu Kyi for much of the interim.
The NLD was sceptical, asking how the junta could set an election date before knowing the outcome of the referendum.
“I can’t help but wonder how the referendum will be conducted,” NLD spokesman Nyan Win said.
The Burma Campaign UK, a pro-democracy group, dismissed the announcement as “public relations spin” and “nothing to do with democracy”.
“It is no coincidence that the announcement comes at a time when the regime is facing increasing economic sanctions following its brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations,” Campaign director Mark Farmaner said in a statement.
Britain’s Foreign Office called for the release of Suu Kyi and other detained political leaders to ensure a “genuine and inclusive process of national reconciliation”.
Anything’s better
But people in Yangon felt it was a positive development in a country that has seen little of those over the decades.
“It’s just like finding somewhere to live for the homeless. Of course it isn’t the house of our choice, but it will give us some protection,” a retired government officer said.
“We can expect at least a coalition government. That’s far better than now,” he added.
The retired professor said the NLD, which boycotted a national convention working out the principles for a ”disciplined” democracy completed late in 2007 after 14 years, should run in the election.
“If they boycott the election, we will have to wait another three or four decades in deadlock,” he said.
A committee of mainly military officers and civil servants assigned to draft the constitution would finish its work soon, the junta statement said.
“A nationwide referendum will be held in May 2008 to ratify the newly drafted constitution,” it said.
“We have achieved success in economic, social and other sectors and in restoring peace and stability,” said the statement issued in the name of Secretary Number One Lieutenant-General Tin Aung Myint Oo, a top member of the junta.
“So multi-party, democratic elections will be held in 2010.”
Snippets of the constitution’s basic principles, which have appeared in state- controlled media do not point to any transfer of power to a civilian administration, or greater autonomy for Myanmar’s 100-plus ethnic minorities.
The army commander-in-chief will be the most powerful man in the country, able to appoint key ministers and assume power ”in times of emergency”.
The military will hold 25 percent of the seats in the new parliament and hold veto power over its decisions.
The constitution is also believed likely to disbar Suu Kyi from office by ruling out anyone married to a foreigner.
Suu Kyi’s husband, British academic Michael Aris, died 1999.
The surprise announcement from the junta came after Suu Kyi told her party leaders on Jan. 30 that she feared she was being strung along by the generals and worried her meetings with the junta liaison minister might lead to false hope.
Referendum: Seeking Legitimacy for Military Rule in Burma
Statement of Canadian Friends of Burma
February 10, 2008, Ottawa - The Burmese military regime announced yesterday that they would hold a referendum within two months on a constitution that they drafted since 1993. This latest development seems to be a conciliatory gesture to counter increasing international pressures. However, the Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) could not see it as a positive step but a trigger of wider political turmoil in the country.
“There is nothing to be excited about this announcement and people would be even shocked if they put a little effort to look at the whole process,” said Tin Maung Htoo, executive director of Canadian Friends of Burma. “This is the process with which to legitimate the military rule in Burma,” he exclaimed. “
According to the draft constitution, a quarter of parliamentary seats and key cabinet portfolios including Defence and Home Affairs will be directly appointed by the Commander-in-Chief. Those unelected military appointees sitting together with elected members will also choose their own presidential candidate who will become either president or vice-president of the country. The most powerful ‘Security Council’ or Supreme Body will be also dominated by the military.
“This is totally against democratic principles. This is awful example of ‘disciplined democracy’ that the Burmese military wants to flourish in Burma. International community should be vigilant, as the military is pretty much determined to win or rob this legitimacy. People could be forced or coerced to support this authoritarian constitution. What Burmese want is democracy that guarantees their rights and freedoms, and the kind of government they want and they can choose,” added Tin Maung Htoo.
A number of ceased-fire groups including New Mon State Party (NMSP) and Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) do not support the constitution drafting process and the main political party that won a landslide in 1990 elections – National League for Democracy (NLD) - boycotted this process since 1996. However, the military regime continued to draft the constitution, with a directive that ‘the military must play a leading role in the national politics of the future state.’
This Saturday announcement for a referendum in May, 2008 is nothing but a desperate attempt to seek legitimacy for the military rule that is to be guaranteed by the constitution. Therefore, the Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) urges the International community, the Government of Canada and all Canadians to speak out against this shame and undemocratic process in Burma.
Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB)
February 10, 2008, Ottawa - The Burmese military regime announced yesterday that they would hold a referendum within two months on a constitution that they drafted since 1993. This latest development seems to be a conciliatory gesture to counter increasing international pressures. However, the Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) could not see it as a positive step but a trigger of wider political turmoil in the country.
“There is nothing to be excited about this announcement and people would be even shocked if they put a little effort to look at the whole process,” said Tin Maung Htoo, executive director of Canadian Friends of Burma. “This is the process with which to legitimate the military rule in Burma,” he exclaimed. “
According to the draft constitution, a quarter of parliamentary seats and key cabinet portfolios including Defence and Home Affairs will be directly appointed by the Commander-in-Chief. Those unelected military appointees sitting together with elected members will also choose their own presidential candidate who will become either president or vice-president of the country. The most powerful ‘Security Council’ or Supreme Body will be also dominated by the military.
“This is totally against democratic principles. This is awful example of ‘disciplined democracy’ that the Burmese military wants to flourish in Burma. International community should be vigilant, as the military is pretty much determined to win or rob this legitimacy. People could be forced or coerced to support this authoritarian constitution. What Burmese want is democracy that guarantees their rights and freedoms, and the kind of government they want and they can choose,” added Tin Maung Htoo.
A number of ceased-fire groups including New Mon State Party (NMSP) and Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) do not support the constitution drafting process and the main political party that won a landslide in 1990 elections – National League for Democracy (NLD) - boycotted this process since 1996. However, the military regime continued to draft the constitution, with a directive that ‘the military must play a leading role in the national politics of the future state.’
This Saturday announcement for a referendum in May, 2008 is nothing but a desperate attempt to seek legitimacy for the military rule that is to be guaranteed by the constitution. Therefore, the Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) urges the International community, the Government of Canada and all Canadians to speak out against this shame and undemocratic process in Burma.
Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB)
Friday, 8 February 2008
the value of a life in Burma, US$6
By AWZAR THI
Column: Rule of Lords
February 7, 2008 - HONG KONG, China, For anyone grappling with the thorny problem of assigning a financial value to human life, help is at hand. Insurance companies of the world, rejoice: Burma's Defense Ministry has definitively established that one life is worth a bit less than six US dollars.
In November 2006 a low-ranking army officer came to the suburban Rangoon home of a young mother. He told her that her husband had died of malaria in a mountainous border region some three months before, while serving an infantry battalion.
How Htun Htun Naing got there in the first place is unclear. He was not a soldier. The 31-year-old had been arrested and imprisoned for gambling. Apparently he had been taken from jail and sent to carry materials for the military in the rugged war-ravaged east.
The government of Burma openly uses prisoners on labor projects. Home Ministry publications include accounts and photographs of farms and quarries where the workforce consists of inmates. Corrections Department signboards dot roads around the countryside and criminal sentences are typically for rigorous imprisonment.
However, the government has persistently denied that it uses convicts as army porters, despite numerous reports to the contrary. Human rights defenders claim that the number of prisoners used to carry supplies has increased in recent years as the number of local villagers forcibly conscripted to work has decreased. The videotaped testimonies and wounds of escaped inmates are compelling evidence.
In any event, the officer visiting Htun Htun Naing's family advised them that they should go to the concerned battalion's headquarters to look into the matter. He collected some personal documents with which to process the case but left them with nothing: neither a doctor's report nor a medical certificate to verify his account.
Htun Htun Naing's wife, struggling to raise her three small children, was in no position to travel to an army camp halfway across the country. She continued her work as usual and waited to hear more.
So it was until the following year, when the family received a letter. The form inside, dated Jan. 30 and issued by the ministry accounts office, acknowledged the death/injury of U Htun Htun Naing, son of U Myint Shwe, in the service of Infantry Battalion 250 based at Loikaw. It informed the family that in accordance with an instruction from operation headquarters, the amount of 7,200 kyat had been cleared for payment as compensation by the Myanmar Economic Bank within the financial year.
How did the ministry do its math? No criteria were given, nor supporting documents affixed. The family still has not received anything to prove that Htun Htun Naing really died as they have been told, let alone details of how he ended up working for IB 250 in the first place. All they have is this scrap of paper granting them a miserable 7,200 kyat.
Their experience is very far removed from the global standards on satisfactory redress for victims of rights abuses.
According to the United Nations principles on remedies and reparations, adopted by the General Assembly in 2005, these should be "adequate, effective, prompt and appropriate." Compensation should be "proportional to the gravity of the ... harm suffered."
Gabriela Echeverria, a legal adviser to the group REDRESS, has written that the principles "have been used as the basis for new remedies in national and international fora" and have become "a standard for governments when implementing administrative measures."
While this may be true of some countries in Europe, and perhaps increasingly in the Americas, the notion that persons who have suffered some wrongdoing at the hands of the state deserve appropriate recompense, in addition to other remedies, is still remote to most parts of Asia.
The government of Thailand offered the equivalent of around US$7,500 to each of the families of 92 dead and missing at the hands of the army after the infamous Tak Bai incident of 2004; not one officer has ever been prosecuted, despite overwhelming evidence of systemic negligence.
In Nepal, the maximum amount that can be awarded to a torture victim is a bit over US$1,000, no matter how serious the injuries suffered. And whereas the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka had previously ordered that victims of torture there be paid highly, in recent years it has reduced the sums ordered to barely a few hundred dollars.
There are of course many opinions about the meaning of words like "adequate" and "appropriate" when it comes to the pecuniary losses of human rights abuse victims, but by any standards the payments to those in Asia are paltry at best, and the payments to those in Burma, if forthcoming at all, are evidently intended only to add insult to injury.
Htun Htun Naing's family has made a complaint anyhow. They have not dared to ask for justice or even more details of how he died. Just for a review of the case and a little more money, please. So far they have heard nothing. There seems little chance that they will. They may not have proof of his death, but they have ample proof that in Burma life really is cheap; perhaps even more so than anyone had imagined.
--
(Awzar Thi is the pen name of a member of the Asian Human Rights Commission with over 15 years of experience as an advocate of human rights and the rule of law in Thailand and Burma. His Rule of Lords blog can be read at http://ratchasima.net)
Source: Up Asia Online
Column: Rule of Lords
February 7, 2008 - HONG KONG, China, For anyone grappling with the thorny problem of assigning a financial value to human life, help is at hand. Insurance companies of the world, rejoice: Burma's Defense Ministry has definitively established that one life is worth a bit less than six US dollars.
In November 2006 a low-ranking army officer came to the suburban Rangoon home of a young mother. He told her that her husband had died of malaria in a mountainous border region some three months before, while serving an infantry battalion.
How Htun Htun Naing got there in the first place is unclear. He was not a soldier. The 31-year-old had been arrested and imprisoned for gambling. Apparently he had been taken from jail and sent to carry materials for the military in the rugged war-ravaged east.
The government of Burma openly uses prisoners on labor projects. Home Ministry publications include accounts and photographs of farms and quarries where the workforce consists of inmates. Corrections Department signboards dot roads around the countryside and criminal sentences are typically for rigorous imprisonment.
However, the government has persistently denied that it uses convicts as army porters, despite numerous reports to the contrary. Human rights defenders claim that the number of prisoners used to carry supplies has increased in recent years as the number of local villagers forcibly conscripted to work has decreased. The videotaped testimonies and wounds of escaped inmates are compelling evidence.
In any event, the officer visiting Htun Htun Naing's family advised them that they should go to the concerned battalion's headquarters to look into the matter. He collected some personal documents with which to process the case but left them with nothing: neither a doctor's report nor a medical certificate to verify his account.
Htun Htun Naing's wife, struggling to raise her three small children, was in no position to travel to an army camp halfway across the country. She continued her work as usual and waited to hear more.
So it was until the following year, when the family received a letter. The form inside, dated Jan. 30 and issued by the ministry accounts office, acknowledged the death/injury of U Htun Htun Naing, son of U Myint Shwe, in the service of Infantry Battalion 250 based at Loikaw. It informed the family that in accordance with an instruction from operation headquarters, the amount of 7,200 kyat had been cleared for payment as compensation by the Myanmar Economic Bank within the financial year.
How did the ministry do its math? No criteria were given, nor supporting documents affixed. The family still has not received anything to prove that Htun Htun Naing really died as they have been told, let alone details of how he ended up working for IB 250 in the first place. All they have is this scrap of paper granting them a miserable 7,200 kyat.
Their experience is very far removed from the global standards on satisfactory redress for victims of rights abuses.
According to the United Nations principles on remedies and reparations, adopted by the General Assembly in 2005, these should be "adequate, effective, prompt and appropriate." Compensation should be "proportional to the gravity of the ... harm suffered."
Gabriela Echeverria, a legal adviser to the group REDRESS, has written that the principles "have been used as the basis for new remedies in national and international fora" and have become "a standard for governments when implementing administrative measures."
While this may be true of some countries in Europe, and perhaps increasingly in the Americas, the notion that persons who have suffered some wrongdoing at the hands of the state deserve appropriate recompense, in addition to other remedies, is still remote to most parts of Asia.
The government of Thailand offered the equivalent of around US$7,500 to each of the families of 92 dead and missing at the hands of the army after the infamous Tak Bai incident of 2004; not one officer has ever been prosecuted, despite overwhelming evidence of systemic negligence.
In Nepal, the maximum amount that can be awarded to a torture victim is a bit over US$1,000, no matter how serious the injuries suffered. And whereas the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka had previously ordered that victims of torture there be paid highly, in recent years it has reduced the sums ordered to barely a few hundred dollars.
There are of course many opinions about the meaning of words like "adequate" and "appropriate" when it comes to the pecuniary losses of human rights abuse victims, but by any standards the payments to those in Asia are paltry at best, and the payments to those in Burma, if forthcoming at all, are evidently intended only to add insult to injury.
Htun Htun Naing's family has made a complaint anyhow. They have not dared to ask for justice or even more details of how he died. Just for a review of the case and a little more money, please. So far they have heard nothing. There seems little chance that they will. They may not have proof of his death, but they have ample proof that in Burma life really is cheap; perhaps even more so than anyone had imagined.
--
(Awzar Thi is the pen name of a member of the Asian Human Rights Commission with over 15 years of experience as an advocate of human rights and the rule of law in Thailand and Burma. His Rule of Lords blog can be read at http://ratchasima.net)
Source: Up Asia Online
Burmese MI hunting monks in exile
Authorities Hunt Exiled Monks
Narinjara
February 7, 2008 - Dhaka: Burmese military authorities have been searching for two monks who recently escaped to Bangladesh in their native village in Irrawaddy Division of Burma's delta region, said U Painya Dissa.
The authorities searched the village one week after the two monks had arrived in Bangladesh in their escape from Burma and the junta.
U Painya Dissa said, "Officials from the military intelligence unit first went to Mula Mingun monastery in the town of Pyapon on 29 January to search for me, because I usually visit the monastery on 29 or 30 January every year to meet with my senior abbot there."
U Painya Dissa was living in the Mula Mingun monastery several years ago and was initiated as a monk there.
"Afterward, the authorities went to my village to look for me. The officials searched my village monastery and my houses, and asked several questions of my family, but did not arrest any of my relatives," said the monk.
U Painya Dissa's native village is Wradan Shay located in Bokalay Township of Irrawaddy Division, where his family remains.
U Painya Dissa and one other monk, U Thawa Ra, escaped to Bangladesh from Burma in the third week of January 2008 as they feared the authority would arrest them.
The two monks were involved in leading the recent monk protests in the Saffron Revolution, and they are still executive members of the monk delegation unit that was formed by monks from the seven states and seven divisions of Burma.
The two monks are now staying at Rakhine monasteries in Bangladesh and the UNHCR Dhaka office has also issued a certificate to them for security purposes.
Source: Narinjara
Narinjara
February 7, 2008 - Dhaka: Burmese military authorities have been searching for two monks who recently escaped to Bangladesh in their native village in Irrawaddy Division of Burma's delta region, said U Painya Dissa.
The authorities searched the village one week after the two monks had arrived in Bangladesh in their escape from Burma and the junta.
U Painya Dissa said, "Officials from the military intelligence unit first went to Mula Mingun monastery in the town of Pyapon on 29 January to search for me, because I usually visit the monastery on 29 or 30 January every year to meet with my senior abbot there."
U Painya Dissa was living in the Mula Mingun monastery several years ago and was initiated as a monk there.
"Afterward, the authorities went to my village to look for me. The officials searched my village monastery and my houses, and asked several questions of my family, but did not arrest any of my relatives," said the monk.
U Painya Dissa's native village is Wradan Shay located in Bokalay Township of Irrawaddy Division, where his family remains.
U Painya Dissa and one other monk, U Thawa Ra, escaped to Bangladesh from Burma in the third week of January 2008 as they feared the authority would arrest them.
The two monks were involved in leading the recent monk protests in the Saffron Revolution, and they are still executive members of the monk delegation unit that was formed by monks from the seven states and seven divisions of Burma.
The two monks are now staying at Rakhine monasteries in Bangladesh and the UNHCR Dhaka office has also issued a certificate to them for security purposes.
Source: Narinjara
No Shan State, no union, says Shan leader
By Kwarn Lake
February 8, 2008 - “If there was no Shan State, there wouldn’t be this National Day of Shan State. And if there was no Shan State National Day, there wouldn’t be the Union of Burma,” stated Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) Chairman Col Yawd Serk during the ceremony.
Representatives of different ethnic groups such as Lahu and Pa-O attended as well as non-Shan State parties such as Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).
“It is fantastic”, Ad Carabao expressed his feeling on the event. Ad is a famous Thai rock singer who has been involved with the Shan movement for more than 15 years, even before Col. Yawd Serk became the leader.
“It is my second visit, but it is the first time that I have the opportunity to participate in Shan State National day,” he added.
“I want the people of Shan State to be united, to obey the law of the host countries when they are outside of Shan State and to educate themselves in order to benefit the country,” said Yawd Serk in the post celebration press conference.
He also added SSA will continue its fight against drugs in Shan State, and oppose whoever is trying to destroy the environment.
7th February was designated as the national day following the founding of the Shan States Council in 1947 that challenged British rule. The event paved the way for the signing of the historic Panglong Agreement with Aung San, Burmese leader and the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, on 12 February and independence on 4 January 1948.
Source: Shan Herald Agency for News
February 8, 2008 - “If there was no Shan State, there wouldn’t be this National Day of Shan State. And if there was no Shan State National Day, there wouldn’t be the Union of Burma,” stated Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) Chairman Col Yawd Serk during the ceremony.
Representatives of different ethnic groups such as Lahu and Pa-O attended as well as non-Shan State parties such as Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).
“It is fantastic”, Ad Carabao expressed his feeling on the event. Ad is a famous Thai rock singer who has been involved with the Shan movement for more than 15 years, even before Col. Yawd Serk became the leader.
“It is my second visit, but it is the first time that I have the opportunity to participate in Shan State National day,” he added.
“I want the people of Shan State to be united, to obey the law of the host countries when they are outside of Shan State and to educate themselves in order to benefit the country,” said Yawd Serk in the post celebration press conference.
He also added SSA will continue its fight against drugs in Shan State, and oppose whoever is trying to destroy the environment.
7th February was designated as the national day following the founding of the Shan States Council in 1947 that challenged British rule. The event paved the way for the signing of the historic Panglong Agreement with Aung San, Burmese leader and the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, on 12 February and independence on 4 January 1948.
Source: Shan Herald Agency for News
China and Myanmar Our friends in the north
KYAUKPHYU February 7, 2008 From The Economist print edition
Shunned by the West, Myanmar is developing ever closer commercial links with its neighbours, especially China
MOST locals, who are lucky if they enjoy two hours of electricity an evening, are unaware of their region's bounty: South-East Asia's biggest proven gas reserve lies in the Shwe field, just off the coast of Ramree Island. This year work will begin on a pipeline to carry these riches to China. From perhaps as early as late 2009, a parallel pipe will carry Middle Eastern and African oil from a new deep-water harbour at Kyaukphyu, bypassing the Strait of Malacca and fuelling the economy of China's south-west.
The site of the harbour, like the former fishing grounds where the gas lies, is now strictly out of bounds to locals. Despite a small poster campaign by underground activists, few people here know much about it. Those who do are worried. According to one, farmers fear losing their land. They have good reason for concern, judging from the mass dispossessions and human-rights abuses that surrounded the construction of earlier pipelines from the south to Thailand. Residents of nearby Baday Island have already been told that they must leave.
China is not the only country in the region nervous about its “energy security” and thus hungry for Myanmar's energy resources. India also hoped to buy the Shwe (“golden”) gas, offering the government soft loans and other inducements. In August India signed a $150m contract for gas exploration further south in the Gulf of Martaban. One day India hopes to build its own pipeline into its poor, remote, insurgency-ridden north-eastern states.
Until the Shwe gas comes on stream, Myanmar's biggest export market will remain Thailand. In purchases worth $2 billion a year, Thailand's electricity authority imports gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields. But China offers the Burmese junta particular advantages. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, it can veto threatening resolutions, as it did a year ago (just three days before it secured exploration rights to three more offshore blocks near Ramree).
There are even reports that Myanmar may soon start conducting all its Chinese trade in the Chinese currency, the yuan. This sounds odd, since it is not fully convertible and Myanmar expects soon to have a large trade surplus. The rationale would be to avoid Western banking sanctions. American measures introduced after the crushing of monk-led protests last September hurt Burmese financial interests in Singapore. This week, America tightened sanctions on the ruling junta's families.
Chinese trade extends beyond energy. The new pipelines will follow the route of the old British-built Burma Road, which still carries timber, gold, gemstones and other Burmese raw materials north to China and brings in cheap manufactures. Around 20 Chinese companies are working in Myanmar on scores of projects including hydropower, mining and road-building as well as oil and gas. Ruili, the main border-crossing between northern Myanmar and China's province of Yunnan, has become a seedy boomtown.
Under construction, and soon to eclipse the Burma Road is a new “Southern Silk Road”, linking India to China across northern Myanmar. Parts of the long-derelict route were first opened by the Allies during the second world war to supply Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese army in its war with the Japanese. Today it gels neatly both with India's determination to develop the north-east and with China's plans to close the gap between its booming east coast and the laggardly western interior. Yunnan needs energy supplies and markets, and its businesses and officials are little bothered by the human-rights concerns that have led some Western governments to impose limited sanctions.
Shunned by the West, Myanmar is developing ever closer commercial links with its neighbours, especially China
MOST locals, who are lucky if they enjoy two hours of electricity an evening, are unaware of their region's bounty: South-East Asia's biggest proven gas reserve lies in the Shwe field, just off the coast of Ramree Island. This year work will begin on a pipeline to carry these riches to China. From perhaps as early as late 2009, a parallel pipe will carry Middle Eastern and African oil from a new deep-water harbour at Kyaukphyu, bypassing the Strait of Malacca and fuelling the economy of China's south-west.The site of the harbour, like the former fishing grounds where the gas lies, is now strictly out of bounds to locals. Despite a small poster campaign by underground activists, few people here know much about it. Those who do are worried. According to one, farmers fear losing their land. They have good reason for concern, judging from the mass dispossessions and human-rights abuses that surrounded the construction of earlier pipelines from the south to Thailand. Residents of nearby Baday Island have already been told that they must leave.
China is not the only country in the region nervous about its “energy security” and thus hungry for Myanmar's energy resources. India also hoped to buy the Shwe (“golden”) gas, offering the government soft loans and other inducements. In August India signed a $150m contract for gas exploration further south in the Gulf of Martaban. One day India hopes to build its own pipeline into its poor, remote, insurgency-ridden north-eastern states.
Until the Shwe gas comes on stream, Myanmar's biggest export market will remain Thailand. In purchases worth $2 billion a year, Thailand's electricity authority imports gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields. But China offers the Burmese junta particular advantages. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, it can veto threatening resolutions, as it did a year ago (just three days before it secured exploration rights to three more offshore blocks near Ramree).
There are even reports that Myanmar may soon start conducting all its Chinese trade in the Chinese currency, the yuan. This sounds odd, since it is not fully convertible and Myanmar expects soon to have a large trade surplus. The rationale would be to avoid Western banking sanctions. American measures introduced after the crushing of monk-led protests last September hurt Burmese financial interests in Singapore. This week, America tightened sanctions on the ruling junta's families.
Chinese trade extends beyond energy. The new pipelines will follow the route of the old British-built Burma Road, which still carries timber, gold, gemstones and other Burmese raw materials north to China and brings in cheap manufactures. Around 20 Chinese companies are working in Myanmar on scores of projects including hydropower, mining and road-building as well as oil and gas. Ruili, the main border-crossing between northern Myanmar and China's province of Yunnan, has become a seedy boomtown.
Under construction, and soon to eclipse the Burma Road is a new “Southern Silk Road”, linking India to China across northern Myanmar. Parts of the long-derelict route were first opened by the Allies during the second world war to supply Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese army in its war with the Japanese. Today it gels neatly both with India's determination to develop the north-east and with China's plans to close the gap between its booming east coast and the laggardly western interior. Yunnan needs energy supplies and markets, and its businesses and officials are little bothered by the human-rights concerns that have led some Western governments to impose limited sanctions.
Taunggok NLD protestors charged and released
By Naw Say Phaw
Feb 7, 2008 (DVB)–Two National League for Democracy members who were arrested for staging a small protest have been charged and released, and claim they were beaten while in detention.
NLD members Ko Than Htay and Ko Zaw Naing, from Taunggok township, Arakan state, were arrested on 22 January after they rode around the township on bicycles shouting out pro-democracy slogans.
They were charged with violating movement restrictions, despite not being subject to any such restrictions, and released by Taunggok township court on the afternoon of 5 February.
Zaw Naing said that the judge told them they were charged with movement restriction violation because it was a minor offence that would not incur a heavy penalty.
“The judge said we could be released without any harsh punishments for this offence, whereas if we were charged with political offences we could face 10 to 20 years in prison,” Zaw Naing said.
“But we insisted that they charge us for our protest activities.”
Zaw Naing said the township police chief, judge, and township authorities had held a meeting and decided to let them go, but now they have been given real movement restrictions and have to sign in at the local police station every month.
They are also required to inform the authorities in advance if they plan to travel.
Both men said they had been beaten and mistreated by the township chairman, police chief and deputy police chief during their interrogation.
Zaw Naing said he was repeatedly beaten by the police chief at the township Peace and Development Council office and again when he had been transferred to the police station.
“I explained to them that we protested because we are hungry and have no food, but they were not pleased with that answer, and so they beat us until we gave them the answer they wanted,” Zaw Naing said.
“They beat me up so badly that my son could not even recognise me when he visited me in detention to bring me food.”
Than Htay said that he was also treated badly during interrogation.
“The township chairman kicked me when I was in the township PDC office and asked me how many dollars I had been given to stage the protest,” Than Htay said.
“I told him that I did it of my own free will because we have no food, and that I did not get any money from anyone,” he said.
“At the police station, about seven police officers, including deputy police chief Maung San, handcuffed me and beat me until I was nearly deaf.”
The two men said they would continue to protest in future if they thought it was necessary.
Feb 7, 2008 (DVB)–Two National League for Democracy members who were arrested for staging a small protest have been charged and released, and claim they were beaten while in detention.
NLD members Ko Than Htay and Ko Zaw Naing, from Taunggok township, Arakan state, were arrested on 22 January after they rode around the township on bicycles shouting out pro-democracy slogans.
They were charged with violating movement restrictions, despite not being subject to any such restrictions, and released by Taunggok township court on the afternoon of 5 February.
Zaw Naing said that the judge told them they were charged with movement restriction violation because it was a minor offence that would not incur a heavy penalty.
“The judge said we could be released without any harsh punishments for this offence, whereas if we were charged with political offences we could face 10 to 20 years in prison,” Zaw Naing said.
“But we insisted that they charge us for our protest activities.”
Zaw Naing said the township police chief, judge, and township authorities had held a meeting and decided to let them go, but now they have been given real movement restrictions and have to sign in at the local police station every month.
They are also required to inform the authorities in advance if they plan to travel.
Both men said they had been beaten and mistreated by the township chairman, police chief and deputy police chief during their interrogation.
Zaw Naing said he was repeatedly beaten by the police chief at the township Peace and Development Council office and again when he had been transferred to the police station.
“I explained to them that we protested because we are hungry and have no food, but they were not pleased with that answer, and so they beat us until we gave them the answer they wanted,” Zaw Naing said.
“They beat me up so badly that my son could not even recognise me when he visited me in detention to bring me food.”
Than Htay said that he was also treated badly during interrogation.
“The township chairman kicked me when I was in the township PDC office and asked me how many dollars I had been given to stage the protest,” Than Htay said.
“I told him that I did it of my own free will because we have no food, and that I did not get any money from anyone,” he said.
“At the police station, about seven police officers, including deputy police chief Maung San, handcuffed me and beat me until I was nearly deaf.”
The two men said they would continue to protest in future if they thought it was necessary.
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