Courtesy: Ma PhyoSunday, 20 April 2008
Friday, 18 April 2008
Myanmar monks pray for democracy
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Monks who helped lead last year's protests against Myanmar's junta urged the country to mark the traditional New Year on Thursday with prayers for democracy.
The All Burma Monks Alliance, a coalition of activist monks in Myanmar, denounced the country's military leaders for having "mistreated and abused the religion and Buddhist monks" during its crackdown on peaceful protests.
In a statement, the alliance called on the devoutly Buddhist country to pray "for the success of the democratic movement and to pray that those who committed sins against the religion ... face retribution."
The alliance was instrumental in organizing last September's pro-democracy protests. Most of its leaders were arrested or are in hiding. The statement with the group's seal was sent by e-mail from the same address it has used in the past.
Calls for democratic reforms in Myanmar intensified after the junta quashed the protests. The United Nations estimates at least 31 people were killed and thousands more detained during the crackdown.
The All Burma Monks Alliance, a coalition of activist monks in Myanmar, denounced the country's military leaders for having "mistreated and abused the religion and Buddhist monks" during its crackdown on peaceful protests.
In a statement, the alliance called on the devoutly Buddhist country to pray "for the success of the democratic movement and to pray that those who committed sins against the religion ... face retribution."
The alliance was instrumental in organizing last September's pro-democracy protests. Most of its leaders were arrested or are in hiding. The statement with the group's seal was sent by e-mail from the same address it has used in the past.
Calls for democratic reforms in Myanmar intensified after the junta quashed the protests. The United Nations estimates at least 31 people were killed and thousands more detained during the crackdown.
Cracks in constitution divide Myanmar
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
Asia Times
BANGKOK - Myanmar's military regime is under fire for the language in a new constitution to be approved at a national referendum on May 10. The full text of the charter was made public only a month ahead of the plebiscite.
Articles that have aroused anger deal with attempts by the junta to legitimize its role as the supreme political authority in the troubled country. Such clauses make the constitution's promise of a new democratic landscape meaningless, say critics.
Article No 445 tops the list of concerns for the Burma Lawyers' Council (BLC) and groups like the US-based Global Justice Center (GJC). "No legal action shall be taken against those (either individuals or groups who are members of SLORC and SPDC) who officially carried out their duties according to their responsibilities," states this article.
Tha SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) and the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) are the official names the governing arm of the regime has been known by since military leaders staged a power-grabbing coup in 1988. The regime that it overthrew was itself military-based and had come to power following a 1962 coup.
"That clause is to provide immunity to the junta for all the human rights violations it has committed since 1988," says Aung Htoo, general secretary of the BLC. "The new constitution will be meaningless if the perpetrators of violence can enjoy immunity after it is approved. What is the difference for the people, who are the victims? Nothing."
It also undermines the hope of Myanmar transforming from a dictatorship to a democracy, he explained in an interview. "A constitution for a post-conflict society has to give justice and genuine national reconciliation a priority. That is what happened in South Africa. But the new constitution offers little to move Burma [Myanmar] away from its current conflicts."
On Monday, the BLC and GJC issued a statement denouncing the military regime for trying to evade "criminal prosecution" through the constitution. "There is ample evidence that the military regime has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and potentially even genocide through forced relocations, torture, rape, enforced disappearance and extermination," they said.
Leaders of the Myanmar's ethnic communities are perturbed that the junta's much-vaunted promise to create regional assemblies through the constitution amounts to essentially toothless legislative bodies. The new charter is set to create 14 assemblies in areas that are home to the major ethnic groups, marking the first offer of political space to the non-Burmese minorities since the country gained independence from the British in 1948.
"The regional assemblies will be under the junta, which has the power to appoint a fourth of the members and the chief minister for the region," says David Taw, joint general secretary of the Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC), an umbrella body for the seven major ethnic groups. "Most of the people would like to choose their own chief minister through a ballot."
The space for economic activity to meet the needs of the ethnic communities is also restrained, Taw added in an interview. "The local people will not be able to pursue their economic activity freely. It is a setback to our hope of achieving a federal system of government."
The unresolved question of genuine political representation for Myanmar's ethnic communities has dogged the country since independence, resulting in bloody separatist conflicts that have lasted over six decades. "The attempt to adopt a constitution to lengthen the military dictatorship will [create] more problems," the ENC declared in a recent statement. "It will also lengthen the 60-year-long civil war caused by breaching the self-determination rights of the ethnic nationalities."
The current constitution has been 15 years in the making. Some say the delay was created by the junta to stall the country's democratic parties, led by detained Aung San Suu Kyi, in claiming a stake in running the country. The junta refused to recognize the outcome of a parliamentary election in 1990, which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide. Instead, the military created a national convention soon after to draft a new constitution.
The current charter is Myanmar's third, following the 1947 document, which was drafted by the country's resistance fighters ahead of independence from British colonialism, and the 1974 document, which was shaped by the military dictator at the time, General Ne Win.
The second constitution, which established a one-party state to promote a socialist agenda, was torn up in 1988 by the current military regime. Consequently, the SLORC and SPDC governed without constitutional authority and were seen as lacking political legitimacy by a domestic and a growing international constituency.
The only advance the new constitution has made over the 1974 document is its promise to create a multi-party democracy. But the prospect of such inclusive features has been undermined by the junta's move to limit the drafting of the charter to military-appointed delegates and its harsh restrictions on public discussion of the document.
"The military has made sure that any amendments to the constitution introduced by political parties in the future will be harder to be approved," says Aung Naing Oo, an independent Myanmar political analyst living in exile in Thailand. "The conflict in the country will go on without the prospect of change and improvement."
The likelihood of the constitution adding to the political fires already burning in Myanmar arises from the deep divisions that plague the country. "Burma is a different country today than it was in 1974. When the constitution was passed then, we were not so divided," Aung Naing Oo added. "Now it is different, and now the entire world is also watching."
The junta, for its part, appears confident that it has drafted the best constitution for Myanmar. "Approving the constitution is the responsibility of all citizens in the country. All who support our national interests must vote in favor," declared the page-one headline of a state-run newspaper on the week the referendum campaign was officially launched.
Asia Times
BANGKOK - Myanmar's military regime is under fire for the language in a new constitution to be approved at a national referendum on May 10. The full text of the charter was made public only a month ahead of the plebiscite.
Articles that have aroused anger deal with attempts by the junta to legitimize its role as the supreme political authority in the troubled country. Such clauses make the constitution's promise of a new democratic landscape meaningless, say critics.
Article No 445 tops the list of concerns for the Burma Lawyers' Council (BLC) and groups like the US-based Global Justice Center (GJC). "No legal action shall be taken against those (either individuals or groups who are members of SLORC and SPDC) who officially carried out their duties according to their responsibilities," states this article.
Tha SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) and the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) are the official names the governing arm of the regime has been known by since military leaders staged a power-grabbing coup in 1988. The regime that it overthrew was itself military-based and had come to power following a 1962 coup.
"That clause is to provide immunity to the junta for all the human rights violations it has committed since 1988," says Aung Htoo, general secretary of the BLC. "The new constitution will be meaningless if the perpetrators of violence can enjoy immunity after it is approved. What is the difference for the people, who are the victims? Nothing."
It also undermines the hope of Myanmar transforming from a dictatorship to a democracy, he explained in an interview. "A constitution for a post-conflict society has to give justice and genuine national reconciliation a priority. That is what happened in South Africa. But the new constitution offers little to move Burma [Myanmar] away from its current conflicts."
On Monday, the BLC and GJC issued a statement denouncing the military regime for trying to evade "criminal prosecution" through the constitution. "There is ample evidence that the military regime has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and potentially even genocide through forced relocations, torture, rape, enforced disappearance and extermination," they said.
Leaders of the Myanmar's ethnic communities are perturbed that the junta's much-vaunted promise to create regional assemblies through the constitution amounts to essentially toothless legislative bodies. The new charter is set to create 14 assemblies in areas that are home to the major ethnic groups, marking the first offer of political space to the non-Burmese minorities since the country gained independence from the British in 1948.
"The regional assemblies will be under the junta, which has the power to appoint a fourth of the members and the chief minister for the region," says David Taw, joint general secretary of the Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC), an umbrella body for the seven major ethnic groups. "Most of the people would like to choose their own chief minister through a ballot."
The space for economic activity to meet the needs of the ethnic communities is also restrained, Taw added in an interview. "The local people will not be able to pursue their economic activity freely. It is a setback to our hope of achieving a federal system of government."
The unresolved question of genuine political representation for Myanmar's ethnic communities has dogged the country since independence, resulting in bloody separatist conflicts that have lasted over six decades. "The attempt to adopt a constitution to lengthen the military dictatorship will [create] more problems," the ENC declared in a recent statement. "It will also lengthen the 60-year-long civil war caused by breaching the self-determination rights of the ethnic nationalities."
The current constitution has been 15 years in the making. Some say the delay was created by the junta to stall the country's democratic parties, led by detained Aung San Suu Kyi, in claiming a stake in running the country. The junta refused to recognize the outcome of a parliamentary election in 1990, which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide. Instead, the military created a national convention soon after to draft a new constitution.
The current charter is Myanmar's third, following the 1947 document, which was drafted by the country's resistance fighters ahead of independence from British colonialism, and the 1974 document, which was shaped by the military dictator at the time, General Ne Win.
The second constitution, which established a one-party state to promote a socialist agenda, was torn up in 1988 by the current military regime. Consequently, the SLORC and SPDC governed without constitutional authority and were seen as lacking political legitimacy by a domestic and a growing international constituency.
The only advance the new constitution has made over the 1974 document is its promise to create a multi-party democracy. But the prospect of such inclusive features has been undermined by the junta's move to limit the drafting of the charter to military-appointed delegates and its harsh restrictions on public discussion of the document.
"The military has made sure that any amendments to the constitution introduced by political parties in the future will be harder to be approved," says Aung Naing Oo, an independent Myanmar political analyst living in exile in Thailand. "The conflict in the country will go on without the prospect of change and improvement."
The likelihood of the constitution adding to the political fires already burning in Myanmar arises from the deep divisions that plague the country. "Burma is a different country today than it was in 1974. When the constitution was passed then, we were not so divided," Aung Naing Oo added. "Now it is different, and now the entire world is also watching."
The junta, for its part, appears confident that it has drafted the best constitution for Myanmar. "Approving the constitution is the responsibility of all citizens in the country. All who support our national interests must vote in favor," declared the page-one headline of a state-run newspaper on the week the referendum campaign was officially launched.
European Parliament Calls for Pressure on Junta
By WAI MOE
The Irrawaddy News
The European Parliament says the Burmese referendum on May 10 is a move to give the military power and keep opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi out of politics, according to its press release on April 16.
The statement also noted that “pressure within Burma is certain to mount” as the date of the referendum draws nearer.
A Dutch member of the European Parliament, Thijs Berman, who chaired the parliament’s hearing on Burma on April 2, said the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) should launch an inquiry into human rights abuses in Burma and said he hoped the UNSC would start bringing human rights violations in Burma before the International Criminal Court.
He suggested the European Parliament adopt a resolution on Burma at its next meeting. He also called for economic pressure to be applied to international companies who undertake business with the Burmese regime.
While the official Burmese media are calling on voters to approve the constitution on May 10, dissident groups, such as Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and the 88 Generation Students group, are urging the Burmese public to vote against the constitution.
A Portuguese member of the European Parliament, Jose Ribeiro e Castro, called on the European Union (EU) to give more support to Suu Kyi—a former winner of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize. He also urged the EU to have a coherent strategy in relations with China and India in order to coordinate an international response to the regime.
Glenys Kinnock of the British Labour Party said any development assistance to Burma should be linked to political progress—part of a wider call by many parliament members for “smarter sanctions.”
The EU’s special envoy to Burma, Piero Fassino, told European Parliament members at the hearing that the junta had refused a UN plan that would lead to democracy and that the plan stressed the importance of dialogue and recognition.
The issue of Burma has also been discussed at a conference of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats-Alliance of Liberal and Democrats for Europe, which is being held from April 15 to April 17 in the Belgian capital, Brussels. Fassino is one of the speakers at the conference.
Win Min, a Burmese political analyst based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said that after the September uprising in Burma, the EU’s stand on Burma had been stronger and that the EU is the second most influential institution after the United States in terms of pressuring the Burmese junta.
“EU pressure is an important factor because it has two permanent members of the UNSC, as well as good economic and political ties with China,” he said. “However, the EU’s decision is dependent upon a caucus decision among its 27 member states,” Win Min noted.
Meanwhile, Burmese authorities in Sittwe, northwestern Burma, arrested 23 democracy activists during the Burmese New Year festival as they marched peacefully wearing t-shirts bearing the slogan “No,” which have become increasingly popular as a sign of protest against the junta’s constitution.
The junta’s planned referendum on a new constitution will be reduced to “a mere ritual” unless international observers are allowed to monitor the vote, said the outgoing UN human rights investigator on Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, on Monday.
“How can you believe in this referendum?” Pinheiro added. “How can you have a referendum without any of the basic freedoms?”
The Irrawaddy News
The European Parliament says the Burmese referendum on May 10 is a move to give the military power and keep opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi out of politics, according to its press release on April 16.
The statement also noted that “pressure within Burma is certain to mount” as the date of the referendum draws nearer.
A Dutch member of the European Parliament, Thijs Berman, who chaired the parliament’s hearing on Burma on April 2, said the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) should launch an inquiry into human rights abuses in Burma and said he hoped the UNSC would start bringing human rights violations in Burma before the International Criminal Court.
He suggested the European Parliament adopt a resolution on Burma at its next meeting. He also called for economic pressure to be applied to international companies who undertake business with the Burmese regime.
While the official Burmese media are calling on voters to approve the constitution on May 10, dissident groups, such as Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and the 88 Generation Students group, are urging the Burmese public to vote against the constitution.
A Portuguese member of the European Parliament, Jose Ribeiro e Castro, called on the European Union (EU) to give more support to Suu Kyi—a former winner of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize. He also urged the EU to have a coherent strategy in relations with China and India in order to coordinate an international response to the regime.
Glenys Kinnock of the British Labour Party said any development assistance to Burma should be linked to political progress—part of a wider call by many parliament members for “smarter sanctions.”
The EU’s special envoy to Burma, Piero Fassino, told European Parliament members at the hearing that the junta had refused a UN plan that would lead to democracy and that the plan stressed the importance of dialogue and recognition.
The issue of Burma has also been discussed at a conference of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats-Alliance of Liberal and Democrats for Europe, which is being held from April 15 to April 17 in the Belgian capital, Brussels. Fassino is one of the speakers at the conference.
Win Min, a Burmese political analyst based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said that after the September uprising in Burma, the EU’s stand on Burma had been stronger and that the EU is the second most influential institution after the United States in terms of pressuring the Burmese junta.
“EU pressure is an important factor because it has two permanent members of the UNSC, as well as good economic and political ties with China,” he said. “However, the EU’s decision is dependent upon a caucus decision among its 27 member states,” Win Min noted.
Meanwhile, Burmese authorities in Sittwe, northwestern Burma, arrested 23 democracy activists during the Burmese New Year festival as they marched peacefully wearing t-shirts bearing the slogan “No,” which have become increasingly popular as a sign of protest against the junta’s constitution.
The junta’s planned referendum on a new constitution will be reduced to “a mere ritual” unless international observers are allowed to monitor the vote, said the outgoing UN human rights investigator on Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, on Monday.
“How can you believe in this referendum?” Pinheiro added. “How can you have a referendum without any of the basic freedoms?”
Exile, Canadian-Style
By AUNG ZAW
The Irrawaddy News
Myo Min pointed to the on-board computer in his police patrol car. “This is how we track down the bad guys,” he boasted, clearly relishing his newfound role as a high-tech crime fighter.
But this is Canada, and bureaucracy soon stood in the way of his desire to show off. He couldn’t let me into the vehicle, he said, without getting permission from his supervisor at least 48 hours in advance. I did, however, notice that he was playing a song by Burmese rock star Zaw Win Htut in the car’s cassette player.
It was a brutally cold night, and Myo Min was on duty patrolling the streets of Ottawa, doing his bit to keep the Canadian capital safe from drug traffickers and drunk drivers and free of domestic violence and illegal weapons.
Stopping by the apartment where I was staying with a friend, he adjusted his bulletproof vest and started telling me about his journey from the jungles of the Thai-Burmese border to Canada. Every few minutes, our conversation was interrupted by radio communication from his walkie-talkie.
Twenty years ago, Myo Min was one of thousands of young Burmese who left their country to resist a regime that had just seized power in a bloody coup. He joined the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), a student army formed in the jungles of eastern Burma, but after several years, he grew disillusioned with the armed struggle and factional infighting within the students’ army. He left for resettlement in Canada in 1997.
In 2003, he joined the police force in Ottawa. These days, he doesn’t talk much about bringing down the regime in Burma. But like many former activists living abroad, he still dreams of returning to his homeland someday.
According to Kevin McLeod, an active member of Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) and self-described “unemployed student,” many Burmese asylum seekers in Canada are struggling to keep their heads above water in their new country.
“They have emotional stress and frustration and suffer from depression,” he said of some of his many Burmese friends and acquaintances.
He noted that Burmese who migrated to Canada in the 1960s were better educated and more financially secure than those who migrated after fleeing political persecution in 1988. Most of these later immigrants came with nothing and have had to rebuild their lives from scratch, making integration much more difficult for them.
McLeod is perhaps uniquely sympathetic to the difficulties faced by Burmese living in Canada. His Burmese friends jokingly call him a “Canadian refugee,” because like many former student activists from Burma, he hasn’t completed his university studies and is often broke. But he is an avid student of Burmese affairs, reading many books on the country and spending countless hours talking with Burmese friends, on whose couches he often finds himself spending the night.
In some cases, the failure to adapt to life in Canada has ended in tragedy. Several years ago, a young activist named Aung Ko jumped off Niagara Falls. Close friends said that he suffered from depression and may have had a drug-abuse problem. Later, another young Burmese activist hung himself in his room in Toronto.
But all is not doom and gloom for Burmese living in Canada. Tin Maung Htoo, the current executive director of CFOB, said that Canada offers great opportunities to Burmese.
As former members of Burma’s clandestine high-school student union, Tin Maung Htoo and his close friend and fellow CFOB member Toe Kyi have followed a familiar trajectory from student activism inside Burma to eventual third-country resettlement.
But in their case, they managed to avoid imprisonment in Burma—a common fate among activists—only to end up spending three years in the Special Detention Center in Bangkok for attempting to protest against the Salween dam project in 1993.
The Thai authorities refused to release Tin Maung Htoo and Toe Kyi onto Thai soil, so the two friends finally agreed to go to Canada. They were taken directly from the detention center to the airport.
Tin Maung Htoo, who studied at the University of Western ontario, said that he especially appreciates the educational opportunities in Canada, both for himself and his children. He also thinks he is lucky because he has been able to continue his involvement in the Burmese pro-democracy movement. These days, he said, he can go to Parliament to meet politicians and senior foreign ministry officials to discuss Burma and Canadian foreign policy. Several years ago, he said, this would have been impossible. “Doors were closed and we were blocked.” But under Tin Maung Htoo, CFOB has become an effective lobby group.
But Tin Maung Htoo’s friend, Toe Kyi, was more skeptical about how well Canadians and Burmese really understand each other. He recounted how the pastor at the church where he stayed when he first arrived in Canada attempted to convert him to Christianity. When it came time for the baptism, the pastor asked Toe Kyi if he could forgive his enemies, including the military leaders in Burma. He shook his head to indicate that he would never forgive the generals who had ruined his country, and the ceremony came to an abrupt end. He added, with a touch of chagrin, that he saw many other Burmese activists convert to Christianity in Thailand or Canada just to ensure their survival.
Today, Toe Kyi and his Burmese wife and child enjoy their life in Canada, where his political interests have expanded over the years. In their living room, Toe Kyi and his wife are watching CBC news coverage of the US presidential election campaign—they are both big fans of Hillary Clinton. He is also a supporter of the Dalai Lama, who held formal talks with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a visit to Ottawa last November.
When US President George W. Bush made an official visit to Canada in 2004, Toe Kyi joined protests against the immensely unpopular American leader. He said that he and fellow protestors braved baton-wielding police and tear gas to show their opposition to US foreign policy. I joked that the experience probably made him nostalgic for his days as an activist during the 1988 uprising against military rule in Burma.
Toe Kyi, who now works for CompuCorps Mentoring in Ottawa, a non-profit organization that donates hundreds of used computers to African countries, hasn’t forgotten about his country and his people. He recently arranged a donation of over 100 computers for refugees recently arrived from the Thai-Burmese border. He said that he wants to set up a voluntary service inside Burma to do community development work.
The best thing about Canada, he said, is its respect for the rule of law and democratic values. Despite this, however, he only reluctantly became a Canadian citizen after several years of living in the country.
Many Burmese are deeply ambivalent about life in Canada, noted Kevin McLeod from CFOB, who attributed this to their strong attachment to the Burmese pro-democracy struggle. “They are very devoted,” he said.
Though Burmese enjoy life in a democratic country, they haven’t learned to be united and democratic, according to another Canadian observer married to a former student activist. After years of working on the Thai-Burmese border, she returned to live in Vancouver, where she said that many of the Burmese she met seemed like lost souls.
Not all Burmese are completely directionless, however. In fact, most have simply moved on, finding jobs and trying to get ahead in life. Some have even joined the Canadian Armed Forces. Zaw Latt, a former member of the Burmese high school student union, is now a Canadian soldier assigned to Afghanistan. His friends joke that he really wishes he had been sent to Naypyidaw to fight.
Many activists want Canada to do more on Burma. CFOB is asking Canada to support Burma groups along the Thai-Burmese border and take a tougher stance toward the regime. Many Burmese activists think Canada’s recent comprehensive sanctions on the junta were a good start, but others say that Canada has yet to show much commitment to Burmese issues.
The Canadian government recently held a one-day Burma conference in Quebec City, with UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari as a keynote speaker. At the gathering, some NGOs and activists expressed concern that Ottawa seems more interested in supporting the UN’s fruitless missions and providing humanitarian assistance inside Burma than in addressing Burma’s political impasse more directly.
Most Burmese in Canada would like to see Ottawa send a stronger message to the regime in Naypyidaw.
Even Burmese who have been hurt by the sanctions that are now in place say that they support punitive measures against the junta.
Zaw Win Aung, a former ABSDF member and owner of the Golden Burma grocery store in Toronto, and Aung Tin, another grocery store owner and member of the National League for Democracy, said that the sanctions made it harder for them to import goods such as betel nuts from Burma. But, said Zaw Win Aung with a smile, “It is good” that Canada has taken action against the regime.
As I spoke with Zaw Win Aung, some newly arrived Karen refugees walked into his store to buy some betel nut. Outside, the weather was bitterly cold. Suddenly, a BMW 318 with the words “Free Burma” painted on it and with photographs of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and monks in the rear windows pulled over in front of the shop. A window rolled down and a familiar face smiled and said hello to his friends and the new arrivals. He was Si Thu, a former ABSDF member who arrived in Canada in the early 1990s.
For a moment, the Karen family from the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand looked at the car and its owner with admiration, recognizing both familiar images from their homeland and a symbol of success in their new country. But after a few moments, they returned to their own reality—far from the struggle in Burma, and equally distant from any sense of belonging in Canada—and walked back to their small apartment.
The Irrawaddy News
Myo Min pointed to the on-board computer in his police patrol car. “This is how we track down the bad guys,” he boasted, clearly relishing his newfound role as a high-tech crime fighter.
But this is Canada, and bureaucracy soon stood in the way of his desire to show off. He couldn’t let me into the vehicle, he said, without getting permission from his supervisor at least 48 hours in advance. I did, however, notice that he was playing a song by Burmese rock star Zaw Win Htut in the car’s cassette player.
It was a brutally cold night, and Myo Min was on duty patrolling the streets of Ottawa, doing his bit to keep the Canadian capital safe from drug traffickers and drunk drivers and free of domestic violence and illegal weapons.
Stopping by the apartment where I was staying with a friend, he adjusted his bulletproof vest and started telling me about his journey from the jungles of the Thai-Burmese border to Canada. Every few minutes, our conversation was interrupted by radio communication from his walkie-talkie.Twenty years ago, Myo Min was one of thousands of young Burmese who left their country to resist a regime that had just seized power in a bloody coup. He joined the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), a student army formed in the jungles of eastern Burma, but after several years, he grew disillusioned with the armed struggle and factional infighting within the students’ army. He left for resettlement in Canada in 1997.
In 2003, he joined the police force in Ottawa. These days, he doesn’t talk much about bringing down the regime in Burma. But like many former activists living abroad, he still dreams of returning to his homeland someday.
According to Kevin McLeod, an active member of Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) and self-described “unemployed student,” many Burmese asylum seekers in Canada are struggling to keep their heads above water in their new country.
“They have emotional stress and frustration and suffer from depression,” he said of some of his many Burmese friends and acquaintances.
He noted that Burmese who migrated to Canada in the 1960s were better educated and more financially secure than those who migrated after fleeing political persecution in 1988. Most of these later immigrants came with nothing and have had to rebuild their lives from scratch, making integration much more difficult for them.
McLeod is perhaps uniquely sympathetic to the difficulties faced by Burmese living in Canada. His Burmese friends jokingly call him a “Canadian refugee,” because like many former student activists from Burma, he hasn’t completed his university studies and is often broke. But he is an avid student of Burmese affairs, reading many books on the country and spending countless hours talking with Burmese friends, on whose couches he often finds himself spending the night.
In some cases, the failure to adapt to life in Canada has ended in tragedy. Several years ago, a young activist named Aung Ko jumped off Niagara Falls. Close friends said that he suffered from depression and may have had a drug-abuse problem. Later, another young Burmese activist hung himself in his room in Toronto.
But all is not doom and gloom for Burmese living in Canada. Tin Maung Htoo, the current executive director of CFOB, said that Canada offers great opportunities to Burmese.
As former members of Burma’s clandestine high-school student union, Tin Maung Htoo and his close friend and fellow CFOB member Toe Kyi have followed a familiar trajectory from student activism inside Burma to eventual third-country resettlement.
But in their case, they managed to avoid imprisonment in Burma—a common fate among activists—only to end up spending three years in the Special Detention Center in Bangkok for attempting to protest against the Salween dam project in 1993.
The Thai authorities refused to release Tin Maung Htoo and Toe Kyi onto Thai soil, so the two friends finally agreed to go to Canada. They were taken directly from the detention center to the airport.
Tin Maung Htoo, who studied at the University of Western ontario, said that he especially appreciates the educational opportunities in Canada, both for himself and his children. He also thinks he is lucky because he has been able to continue his involvement in the Burmese pro-democracy movement. These days, he said, he can go to Parliament to meet politicians and senior foreign ministry officials to discuss Burma and Canadian foreign policy. Several years ago, he said, this would have been impossible. “Doors were closed and we were blocked.” But under Tin Maung Htoo, CFOB has become an effective lobby group.
But Tin Maung Htoo’s friend, Toe Kyi, was more skeptical about how well Canadians and Burmese really understand each other. He recounted how the pastor at the church where he stayed when he first arrived in Canada attempted to convert him to Christianity. When it came time for the baptism, the pastor asked Toe Kyi if he could forgive his enemies, including the military leaders in Burma. He shook his head to indicate that he would never forgive the generals who had ruined his country, and the ceremony came to an abrupt end. He added, with a touch of chagrin, that he saw many other Burmese activists convert to Christianity in Thailand or Canada just to ensure their survival.
Today, Toe Kyi and his Burmese wife and child enjoy their life in Canada, where his political interests have expanded over the years. In their living room, Toe Kyi and his wife are watching CBC news coverage of the US presidential election campaign—they are both big fans of Hillary Clinton. He is also a supporter of the Dalai Lama, who held formal talks with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a visit to Ottawa last November.
When US President George W. Bush made an official visit to Canada in 2004, Toe Kyi joined protests against the immensely unpopular American leader. He said that he and fellow protestors braved baton-wielding police and tear gas to show their opposition to US foreign policy. I joked that the experience probably made him nostalgic for his days as an activist during the 1988 uprising against military rule in Burma.
Toe Kyi, who now works for CompuCorps Mentoring in Ottawa, a non-profit organization that donates hundreds of used computers to African countries, hasn’t forgotten about his country and his people. He recently arranged a donation of over 100 computers for refugees recently arrived from the Thai-Burmese border. He said that he wants to set up a voluntary service inside Burma to do community development work.
The best thing about Canada, he said, is its respect for the rule of law and democratic values. Despite this, however, he only reluctantly became a Canadian citizen after several years of living in the country.
Many Burmese are deeply ambivalent about life in Canada, noted Kevin McLeod from CFOB, who attributed this to their strong attachment to the Burmese pro-democracy struggle. “They are very devoted,” he said.
Though Burmese enjoy life in a democratic country, they haven’t learned to be united and democratic, according to another Canadian observer married to a former student activist. After years of working on the Thai-Burmese border, she returned to live in Vancouver, where she said that many of the Burmese she met seemed like lost souls.
Not all Burmese are completely directionless, however. In fact, most have simply moved on, finding jobs and trying to get ahead in life. Some have even joined the Canadian Armed Forces. Zaw Latt, a former member of the Burmese high school student union, is now a Canadian soldier assigned to Afghanistan. His friends joke that he really wishes he had been sent to Naypyidaw to fight.
Many activists want Canada to do more on Burma. CFOB is asking Canada to support Burma groups along the Thai-Burmese border and take a tougher stance toward the regime. Many Burmese activists think Canada’s recent comprehensive sanctions on the junta were a good start, but others say that Canada has yet to show much commitment to Burmese issues.
The Canadian government recently held a one-day Burma conference in Quebec City, with UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari as a keynote speaker. At the gathering, some NGOs and activists expressed concern that Ottawa seems more interested in supporting the UN’s fruitless missions and providing humanitarian assistance inside Burma than in addressing Burma’s political impasse more directly.
Most Burmese in Canada would like to see Ottawa send a stronger message to the regime in Naypyidaw.
Even Burmese who have been hurt by the sanctions that are now in place say that they support punitive measures against the junta.
Zaw Win Aung, a former ABSDF member and owner of the Golden Burma grocery store in Toronto, and Aung Tin, another grocery store owner and member of the National League for Democracy, said that the sanctions made it harder for them to import goods such as betel nuts from Burma. But, said Zaw Win Aung with a smile, “It is good” that Canada has taken action against the regime.
As I spoke with Zaw Win Aung, some newly arrived Karen refugees walked into his store to buy some betel nut. Outside, the weather was bitterly cold. Suddenly, a BMW 318 with the words “Free Burma” painted on it and with photographs of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and monks in the rear windows pulled over in front of the shop. A window rolled down and a familiar face smiled and said hello to his friends and the new arrivals. He was Si Thu, a former ABSDF member who arrived in Canada in the early 1990s.
For a moment, the Karen family from the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand looked at the car and its owner with admiration, recognizing both familiar images from their homeland and a symbol of success in their new country. But after a few moments, they returned to their own reality—far from the struggle in Burma, and equally distant from any sense of belonging in Canada—and walked back to their small apartment.
Burmese Embassy in Singapore Prepares for Absentee Referendum Voting
By MIN LWIN
The Irrawaddy News
April 17, 2008 - The Burmese Embassy in Singapore has sent a letter to Burmese citizens urging them to vote absentee in the constitutional referendum from April 25 to 29, while an anonymous telephone message is urging people to vote “No.”
“We the Burmese people can vote “No” at the Myanmar [Burma] embassy…. Please pass this message to all your friends and take this exercise seriously for our freedom,” says the telephone message, which is being widely distributed in the Burmese community.
The embassy letter sent to Burmese citizens was dated April 10, urging them to bring their Burmese passport or citizen documents as identification. An estimated 50,000 Burmese citizens live in Singapore.
“The letter was signed by Kyaw Swe Tint, the Burmese counselor,” said a Burmese man from Tuas South on the outskirts of Singapore, who received a letter on Thursday.
He said the letter was sent by air mail to Burmese citizens who paid their income tax at the embassy.
Ko Hla, an information technology engineer in Singapore, said Burmese citizens are likely to vote “No” on the referendum or to not vote.
“I haven’t heard of anyone who will give a ‘Yes’ vote,” Ko Hla told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
“As a Burmese citizen, the constitutional referendum is important for me to vote,” said Myo Htet a construction engineer in Singapore. “Even the people inside Burma will vote ‘No.’ Why can’t I vote ‘No’ too?”
A worker at a Singapore shipping yard said he will not go to the embassy to vote.
“I get no leave from my boss, so I can’t,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Burmese Embassy in the United States of America is collecting names of people eligible to vote based on an income tax list.
Millions of migrants live outside of Burma, but the Burmese regime has not yet announced whether they all will be allowed to vote in the referendum. More than one million Burmese migrants live in Thailand.
The Irrawaddy News
April 17, 2008 - The Burmese Embassy in Singapore has sent a letter to Burmese citizens urging them to vote absentee in the constitutional referendum from April 25 to 29, while an anonymous telephone message is urging people to vote “No.”
“We the Burmese people can vote “No” at the Myanmar [Burma] embassy…. Please pass this message to all your friends and take this exercise seriously for our freedom,” says the telephone message, which is being widely distributed in the Burmese community.
The embassy letter sent to Burmese citizens was dated April 10, urging them to bring their Burmese passport or citizen documents as identification. An estimated 50,000 Burmese citizens live in Singapore.
“The letter was signed by Kyaw Swe Tint, the Burmese counselor,” said a Burmese man from Tuas South on the outskirts of Singapore, who received a letter on Thursday.
He said the letter was sent by air mail to Burmese citizens who paid their income tax at the embassy.
Ko Hla, an information technology engineer in Singapore, said Burmese citizens are likely to vote “No” on the referendum or to not vote.
“I haven’t heard of anyone who will give a ‘Yes’ vote,” Ko Hla told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
“As a Burmese citizen, the constitutional referendum is important for me to vote,” said Myo Htet a construction engineer in Singapore. “Even the people inside Burma will vote ‘No.’ Why can’t I vote ‘No’ too?”
A worker at a Singapore shipping yard said he will not go to the embassy to vote.
“I get no leave from my boss, so I can’t,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Burmese Embassy in the United States of America is collecting names of people eligible to vote based on an income tax list.
Millions of migrants live outside of Burma, but the Burmese regime has not yet announced whether they all will be allowed to vote in the referendum. More than one million Burmese migrants live in Thailand.
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Looming "Vote No" messages in Little Myanmar Island
By Joe Moe
Almost 100,000 Burmese nationals in Singapore are looming to cast a "Vote No" at the forthcoming constitutional referendum in which the military is occupying 25% of the seats in parliament.
Kyaw Swe Thint, First Secretary of the Union of Myanmar Embassy to Singapore sent quietly an uncommon letter through the post to Burmese residents in Singapore inviting them to attend the embassy to vote for the upcoming referendum.
The “Vote NO” messaging campaign, Singapore island-wide via SMS text messaging, popular service amongst the Burmese bloggers and news agencies has started to flow around the world.
"Dear All, Kyaw Swe Thint, First Secretary to the Burma embassy in Singapore issued notification about voting for constitution dated 10 April 08, inviting all Burmese in Singapore to attend the embassy for voting any day from April 25 - 29 between 9am to 5pm. Either you received the letter or not, please attend the embassy and vote for "NO". "Be united for the Freedom of Burma". "We must win".
The announcement from the First Secretary clearly confirmed those who identify as Myanmar citizens eligible to cast a vote at the office of Myanmar embassy which is located at 15, Saint Martin's Drive, Orchard Road, starting from 25 to 29 April from 9:00a.m to 5:00p.m.
Singapore is the first country for overseas Burmese people to cast their vote officially for the constitutional referendum amongst the other countries.
How Can the Constitutional Referendum be Monitored?
Burmese and Ethnics in majority are concerned about the monitoring of the voting event in Burma and Singapore.
It is now clear that many people in Singapore will cast a "No" vote against the military government's constitutional referendum by the end of April at the Myanmar Embassy.
On April 13, the word "No" appeared at several locations in Singapore, whilst Burmese people celebrated water festival at Toa Payoh Burmese Buddhist Temple and Eunos Mingala Vihara (Buddhist Temple).
A "No" vote is required, said the NLD, because the draft constitution was written by "hand-picked puppets" of the military government and lacks basic principles of democracy and human rights. The NLD was the major winner in the 1990 general elections.
Meanwhile, a small group of people inside and outside Burma have expressed support for the draft. However, there is little likelihood of a real debate between "No" and "Yes" groups at this stage.
If the "Vote No" campaign gained significant momentum, there's always the possibility that the junta might cancel the referendum, or if the referendum proceeds, that the election results will be rigged by the junta's so-called poll-watchers, including the Union Solidarity and Development Association.
Because the junta has banned outside poll-watchers, it's up to the NLD and other groups to try to monitor the referendum as well as they can.
A proposal to allow international observers to monitor the referendum by UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari in March was rejected outright by the military authorities.
"We are a sovereign country," they said. "We have done these things before without international help."
Gambari told news agencies in a recent exclusive interview: "Our position is that their situation has been the subject of international concern, so [there is a need] to enhance the credibility of the process, to meet the exercise of their sovereign right to ask for help. Technical assistance or even independent monitors need not come from the UN—it could be from international monitors or neighboring countries or from friendly countries."
There is no chance the junta will change its mind and accept the UN's proposal.
Therefore, the NLD and other activist groups have the impossible task of trying to monitor the election. They risk severe penalties if they are seen to be obstructing the referendum process because of the junta's new law, enacted in February and signed by junta Snr-Gen Than Shwe, provides for up to three years imprisonment and a fine for anyone who distributes statements or posters or who makes a speech against the referendum.
An NLD member was arrested on Sunday for possessing a NLD party statement calling for a "No" vote, according to party spokesperson Nyan Win.
The junta has created a situation that prohibits any effective monitoring of the referendum. To do so, risks imprisonment. Opposition groups have again been out maneuvered by the wily generals.
The "Vote No" campaign is likely to produce the desired results, but the question is will the referendum's official outcome reflect the people's vote, or—more likely—what the generals want?
Original News sources:
BBC Burmese and from the various bloggers
http://www.ko-htike.blogspot.com/
http://myochitmyanmar.blogspot.com/
http://linletkyalsin.blogspot.com/ and
http://arzarni.blogspot.com/
Almost 100,000 Burmese nationals in Singapore are looming to cast a "Vote No" at the forthcoming constitutional referendum in which the military is occupying 25% of the seats in parliament.
Kyaw Swe Thint, First Secretary of the Union of Myanmar Embassy to Singapore sent quietly an uncommon letter through the post to Burmese residents in Singapore inviting them to attend the embassy to vote for the upcoming referendum.
The “Vote NO” messaging campaign, Singapore island-wide via SMS text messaging, popular service amongst the Burmese bloggers and news agencies has started to flow around the world.
"Dear All, Kyaw Swe Thint, First Secretary to the Burma embassy in Singapore issued notification about voting for constitution dated 10 April 08, inviting all Burmese in Singapore to attend the embassy for voting any day from April 25 - 29 between 9am to 5pm. Either you received the letter or not, please attend the embassy and vote for "NO". "Be united for the Freedom of Burma". "We must win".
The announcement from the First Secretary clearly confirmed those who identify as Myanmar citizens eligible to cast a vote at the office of Myanmar embassy which is located at 15, Saint Martin's Drive, Orchard Road, starting from 25 to 29 April from 9:00a.m to 5:00p.m.
Singapore is the first country for overseas Burmese people to cast their vote officially for the constitutional referendum amongst the other countries.
How Can the Constitutional Referendum be Monitored?
Burmese and Ethnics in majority are concerned about the monitoring of the voting event in Burma and Singapore.
It is now clear that many people in Singapore will cast a "No" vote against the military government's constitutional referendum by the end of April at the Myanmar Embassy.
On April 13, the word "No" appeared at several locations in Singapore, whilst Burmese people celebrated water festival at Toa Payoh Burmese Buddhist Temple and Eunos Mingala Vihara (Buddhist Temple).
A "No" vote is required, said the NLD, because the draft constitution was written by "hand-picked puppets" of the military government and lacks basic principles of democracy and human rights. The NLD was the major winner in the 1990 general elections.
Meanwhile, a small group of people inside and outside Burma have expressed support for the draft. However, there is little likelihood of a real debate between "No" and "Yes" groups at this stage.
If the "Vote No" campaign gained significant momentum, there's always the possibility that the junta might cancel the referendum, or if the referendum proceeds, that the election results will be rigged by the junta's so-called poll-watchers, including the Union Solidarity and Development Association.
Because the junta has banned outside poll-watchers, it's up to the NLD and other groups to try to monitor the referendum as well as they can.
A proposal to allow international observers to monitor the referendum by UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari in March was rejected outright by the military authorities.
"We are a sovereign country," they said. "We have done these things before without international help."
Gambari told news agencies in a recent exclusive interview: "Our position is that their situation has been the subject of international concern, so [there is a need] to enhance the credibility of the process, to meet the exercise of their sovereign right to ask for help. Technical assistance or even independent monitors need not come from the UN—it could be from international monitors or neighboring countries or from friendly countries."
There is no chance the junta will change its mind and accept the UN's proposal.
Therefore, the NLD and other activist groups have the impossible task of trying to monitor the election. They risk severe penalties if they are seen to be obstructing the referendum process because of the junta's new law, enacted in February and signed by junta Snr-Gen Than Shwe, provides for up to three years imprisonment and a fine for anyone who distributes statements or posters or who makes a speech against the referendum.
An NLD member was arrested on Sunday for possessing a NLD party statement calling for a "No" vote, according to party spokesperson Nyan Win.
The junta has created a situation that prohibits any effective monitoring of the referendum. To do so, risks imprisonment. Opposition groups have again been out maneuvered by the wily generals.
The "Vote No" campaign is likely to produce the desired results, but the question is will the referendum's official outcome reflect the people's vote, or—more likely—what the generals want?
Original News sources:
BBC Burmese and from the various bloggers
http://www.ko-htike.blogspot.com/
http://myochitmyanmar.blogspot.com/
http://linletkyalsin.blogspot.com/ and
http://arzarni.blogspot.com/
Enjoying Burmese New Year as a fictitious outlet from dictatorship nightmares
By Burmakin
In accordance with Buddha's biography written by Ven. U Visitta,the first Burmese scholar to memorize all tripitika text (All Theravada scriptures), the real new year day in Buddhism is the full-moon day of Kason (the birthday of Buddha in the third week of May), the vivacious transition period from the scorching summer to the and renovating rainy season.
It is a paradoxical fact that the Burmese Buddhists have a new year day at the beginning of the last month of the Buddha's calendar instead of the actual new year day after the actual last month.This is another upside-down matrix created by wicked Burmese ancient kings (since Pagan) who wanted to hold their long-live power like today's nasty military government.
As Burmese wrongly celebrate the new year day in the old year,the monarchs believed that there would not be new comings in the new year on the ground of the cosmic astrological power to hold that the effects of the symbolism will last throughout (washing the old ones at the old time and becomes the old ones again in the same old time- water festival, thus no change when the new year time actually comes. In Burmese words, Burmese people have been put under "inferior star" by the dictators who rule them and who always want to hold the "superior star" over the people.
Burmese will probably regard the enjoyment of Thingyan as an opportunity for their outlet from those nightmares of military dictatorship. In reality, they are going for an outlet where there is virtually no outlet. So is the situation of Burmese in sham referendum today what the junta is going to hold. Ostensibly and superficially, it could be assumed that Burmese could vote and could make a choice now. Actually, Burmese are forced to do a choice where there is actually no choice for them.
In accordance with Buddha's biography written by Ven. U Visitta,the first Burmese scholar to memorize all tripitika text (All Theravada scriptures), the real new year day in Buddhism is the full-moon day of Kason (the birthday of Buddha in the third week of May), the vivacious transition period from the scorching summer to the and renovating rainy season.
It is a paradoxical fact that the Burmese Buddhists have a new year day at the beginning of the last month of the Buddha's calendar instead of the actual new year day after the actual last month.This is another upside-down matrix created by wicked Burmese ancient kings (since Pagan) who wanted to hold their long-live power like today's nasty military government.
As Burmese wrongly celebrate the new year day in the old year,the monarchs believed that there would not be new comings in the new year on the ground of the cosmic astrological power to hold that the effects of the symbolism will last throughout (washing the old ones at the old time and becomes the old ones again in the same old time- water festival, thus no change when the new year time actually comes. In Burmese words, Burmese people have been put under "inferior star" by the dictators who rule them and who always want to hold the "superior star" over the people.
Burmese will probably regard the enjoyment of Thingyan as an opportunity for their outlet from those nightmares of military dictatorship. In reality, they are going for an outlet where there is virtually no outlet. So is the situation of Burmese in sham referendum today what the junta is going to hold. Ostensibly and superficially, it could be assumed that Burmese could vote and could make a choice now. Actually, Burmese are forced to do a choice where there is actually no choice for them.
No tidy answer to labor pinch
By Electa Draper
The Denver Post
April 15, 2008 - Immigrant workers from Mexico sort potatoes at the Spud Seller Inc. in Monte Vista last week. Growers say they face their worst labor shortage in years. But an idea to match those jobs to refugees from Myanmar now located in Denver has many detractors. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)
Help Wanted: San Luis Valley crop growers and shippers desperately seek workers and are willing to recruit Myanmar refugees in Denver eager for jobs and a return to agrarian roots.
It sounds as if it could be a neat solution to two problems. Instead, it has created a backlash.
The mayor of a town in the valley has misgivings. The director of the health care system there has them, too. And the head of the immigrant resource center in Alamosa doesn't think it is a good idea.
"We don't want to go where there is a problem, where they don't want us," said Rocky Martin, leader of a Denver community of about 325 Karen, an ethnic minority displaced by Myanmar's military junta.
The story of the Karen and the San Luis Valley underscores the gap between an immigration policy that discourages the use of migrant workers and an agricultural economy that makes it nearly impossible to use anyone else.
In the valley, the result is labor shortages of up to 50 percent for some growers and shippers.
Mike Abeyta, manager of the Worley & McCullough Inc. potato warehouse, has about 42 workers. He'd like 55 to 60.
"This is the worst I've seen it in five years," he said of the labor crunch.
"The Karen love to work, from what I understand," Abeyta said. "And we need the help."
A raid by immigration officials on undocumented workers last April winnowed the valley's already thin ranks of farm workers. Some spinach and lettuce growers are cutting plantings in half. Others are switching to wheat or alfalfa and other more automated crops.
"We have a chronic labor shortage. It never goes away," said Jim Ehrlich, director of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee in Monte Vista.
In the valley, agribusiness accounted for 30 percent or more of the jobs in Conejos, Costilla, Rio Grande and Saguache counties in 2005, compared with 4 percent of jobs statewide, according to the Colorado Department of Agriculture.
State legislation in 2007 beefed up documentation requirements for legal workers.
The new law discourages many established migratory workers, even legal ones, from getting entangled in Colorado's paper labyrinth, labor and agriculture officials say.
"The new law was a good thing in that it tightened everything up — our industry does not want to hire illegal workers — but it didn't find a solution to our labor problems," Ehrlich said. The Karen were seen as one of those solutions.
Martin went to the valley last fall to scope out work opportunities for the Karen but left deflated of hope.
The Karen, although legal, don't speak much English. Nor are they conversant in the valley's second language, Spanish, as Mexican and Guatemalan workers are, officials said.
"We only want to go where people are willing to work with us," Martin said.
Gideon Kaw, a 29-year-old Karen refugee who resettled in Denver three years ago, said the refugees are adaptable and grateful to be anywhere in the United States — "after running all our lives from killing."
Many Karen, an ethnic minority accounting for about 7 percent of Myanmar's population, have been stuck in refugee camps for up to two decades.
Myanmar, known as Burma until 1989, is ruled by a military regime that stands accused of human-rights abuses including the violent displacement of more than 500,000 people.
Denver, while a haven, has presented an economic struggle for resettled Karen.
Without English skills, many receive low wages and often less than full-time hours in service and manufacturing jobs.
"Wherever you get a job, you follow the job," Kaw said. "You have to feed your family."
Nevertheless, he and other Karen have come to feel that moving to the San Luis Valley would be a mistake.
The relocation proposal found support among Colorado rural housing officials with vacant farm-worker housing. Labor officials found it worthy of consideration. But otherwise, there was resistance.
"We'd rather keep the people who have been working here forever, rather than introduce a new population we know nothing about," said Margaret Salazar, director of Valley-Wide Health Systems in Alamosa.
The traditional labor supply to which Valley-Wide is accustomed, however, has dried up.
In the San Luis Valley in 2007, the number of migratory field workers that employers reported fell 200 from the previous year's 400 to 450, said Betty Velasquez, southern regional director of the Colorado Workforce Center.
Still, Center's mayor, Adeline Sanchez, said she is reluctant to bring the Karen to the San Luis Valley. Sanchez said matching up willing workers to pleading employers is simply not enough of an answer.
"We just need to be sure any people we're bringing in are not getting false hopes," Sanchez said. "I'm not for using people for our purposes. We want something for their futures, too."
Part of the resistance to a Karen relocation is the suspicion that it's a short-term solution to labor shortages, but one that doesn't address the underlying problems of low wages.
"If the Karen are seen as the quick fix, (lawmakers) could say there is no need for immigration reform or living wages," said Flora Archuleta, the executive director of the Alamosa-based San Luis Valley Immigrant Resources Center.
"I don't want them to come in and be abused," Archuleta said.
The demanding farm labor pays about $7 to $12 an hour, with the higher rate generally reserved for skilled machinery operators, Abeyta said.
"The growers are going to have to recognize the fact — and many of them already do — that they have to pay more," Ehrlich said.
Bringing in the Karen — who would face low wages, seasonal work, no health insurance and limited services — "just perpetuates poverty in the valley," said Mitch Garcia, a Valley-Wide Health official.
Paul Stein, coordinator of the Colorado Refugee Services Program, agrees.
"I'm opposed to refugees suddenly being viewed as a replacement for migrant workers," Stein said. "The San Luis Valley would never be part of our plans because of the economy and lack of community resources."
Last year, the state hosted 1,085 refugees, including the 325 from Myanmar, and most stay in the Denver metro area where 70 percent of programs and services are located, Stein said. The relocation of the Karen to the small communities of the San Luis Valley would guarantee their isolation, not integration, he said.
"They've already lost their country. They've lost family. Their sense of loss is profound," Stein said. "We want the opportunity for their children to move out of the fields and into some economic opportunity."
Staff writer Nancy Lofholm contributed to this report. Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
The Denver Post
April 15, 2008 - Immigrant workers from Mexico sort potatoes at the Spud Seller Inc. in Monte Vista last week. Growers say they face their worst labor shortage in years. But an idea to match those jobs to refugees from Myanmar now located in Denver has many detractors. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)
Help Wanted: San Luis Valley crop growers and shippers desperately seek workers and are willing to recruit Myanmar refugees in Denver eager for jobs and a return to agrarian roots.
It sounds as if it could be a neat solution to two problems. Instead, it has created a backlash.
The mayor of a town in the valley has misgivings. The director of the health care system there has them, too. And the head of the immigrant resource center in Alamosa doesn't think it is a good idea.
"We don't want to go where there is a problem, where they don't want us," said Rocky Martin, leader of a Denver community of about 325 Karen, an ethnic minority displaced by Myanmar's military junta.
The story of the Karen and the San Luis Valley underscores the gap between an immigration policy that discourages the use of migrant workers and an agricultural economy that makes it nearly impossible to use anyone else.
In the valley, the result is labor shortages of up to 50 percent for some growers and shippers.
Mike Abeyta, manager of the Worley & McCullough Inc. potato warehouse, has about 42 workers. He'd like 55 to 60.
"This is the worst I've seen it in five years," he said of the labor crunch.
"The Karen love to work, from what I understand," Abeyta said. "And we need the help."
A raid by immigration officials on undocumented workers last April winnowed the valley's already thin ranks of farm workers. Some spinach and lettuce growers are cutting plantings in half. Others are switching to wheat or alfalfa and other more automated crops.
"We have a chronic labor shortage. It never goes away," said Jim Ehrlich, director of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee in Monte Vista.
In the valley, agribusiness accounted for 30 percent or more of the jobs in Conejos, Costilla, Rio Grande and Saguache counties in 2005, compared with 4 percent of jobs statewide, according to the Colorado Department of Agriculture.
State legislation in 2007 beefed up documentation requirements for legal workers.
The new law discourages many established migratory workers, even legal ones, from getting entangled in Colorado's paper labyrinth, labor and agriculture officials say.
"The new law was a good thing in that it tightened everything up — our industry does not want to hire illegal workers — but it didn't find a solution to our labor problems," Ehrlich said. The Karen were seen as one of those solutions.
Martin went to the valley last fall to scope out work opportunities for the Karen but left deflated of hope.
The Karen, although legal, don't speak much English. Nor are they conversant in the valley's second language, Spanish, as Mexican and Guatemalan workers are, officials said.
"We only want to go where people are willing to work with us," Martin said.
Gideon Kaw, a 29-year-old Karen refugee who resettled in Denver three years ago, said the refugees are adaptable and grateful to be anywhere in the United States — "after running all our lives from killing."
Many Karen, an ethnic minority accounting for about 7 percent of Myanmar's population, have been stuck in refugee camps for up to two decades.
Myanmar, known as Burma until 1989, is ruled by a military regime that stands accused of human-rights abuses including the violent displacement of more than 500,000 people.
Denver, while a haven, has presented an economic struggle for resettled Karen.
Without English skills, many receive low wages and often less than full-time hours in service and manufacturing jobs.
"Wherever you get a job, you follow the job," Kaw said. "You have to feed your family."
Nevertheless, he and other Karen have come to feel that moving to the San Luis Valley would be a mistake.
The relocation proposal found support among Colorado rural housing officials with vacant farm-worker housing. Labor officials found it worthy of consideration. But otherwise, there was resistance.
"We'd rather keep the people who have been working here forever, rather than introduce a new population we know nothing about," said Margaret Salazar, director of Valley-Wide Health Systems in Alamosa.
The traditional labor supply to which Valley-Wide is accustomed, however, has dried up.
In the San Luis Valley in 2007, the number of migratory field workers that employers reported fell 200 from the previous year's 400 to 450, said Betty Velasquez, southern regional director of the Colorado Workforce Center.
Still, Center's mayor, Adeline Sanchez, said she is reluctant to bring the Karen to the San Luis Valley. Sanchez said matching up willing workers to pleading employers is simply not enough of an answer.
"We just need to be sure any people we're bringing in are not getting false hopes," Sanchez said. "I'm not for using people for our purposes. We want something for their futures, too."
Part of the resistance to a Karen relocation is the suspicion that it's a short-term solution to labor shortages, but one that doesn't address the underlying problems of low wages.
"If the Karen are seen as the quick fix, (lawmakers) could say there is no need for immigration reform or living wages," said Flora Archuleta, the executive director of the Alamosa-based San Luis Valley Immigrant Resources Center.
"I don't want them to come in and be abused," Archuleta said.
The demanding farm labor pays about $7 to $12 an hour, with the higher rate generally reserved for skilled machinery operators, Abeyta said.
"The growers are going to have to recognize the fact — and many of them already do — that they have to pay more," Ehrlich said.
Bringing in the Karen — who would face low wages, seasonal work, no health insurance and limited services — "just perpetuates poverty in the valley," said Mitch Garcia, a Valley-Wide Health official.
Paul Stein, coordinator of the Colorado Refugee Services Program, agrees.
"I'm opposed to refugees suddenly being viewed as a replacement for migrant workers," Stein said. "The San Luis Valley would never be part of our plans because of the economy and lack of community resources."
Last year, the state hosted 1,085 refugees, including the 325 from Myanmar, and most stay in the Denver metro area where 70 percent of programs and services are located, Stein said. The relocation of the Karen to the small communities of the San Luis Valley would guarantee their isolation, not integration, he said.
"They've already lost their country. They've lost family. Their sense of loss is profound," Stein said. "We want the opportunity for their children to move out of the fields and into some economic opportunity."
Staff writer Nancy Lofholm contributed to this report. Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
Suu Kyi can vote in Myanmar charter poll, her party says
YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has the right to vote in a referendum next month on a military-backed constitution, her political party said Tuesday.
"According to the law, (Aung San Suu Kyi) has the right to vote at the referendum as her detention was not a court order or sentence," said Nyan Win, spokesman for the National League for Democracy (NLD).
"It was just an administrative function," he told AFP.
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 12 of the past 18 years locked away by the ruling military junta in her sprawling lakeside home in Yangon.
Her latest period of detention began in 2003 after a deadly attack on her convoy by supporters of the junta, and has been periodically extended since, with little sign that the generals plan to free her.
The regime has called a referendum on May 10 on the proposed new charter, which they claim will -- if approved -- lead to general elections in 2010.
Under the new constitution, which was drafted by a committee hand-picked by the junta, Aung San Suu Kyi would be barred from running for office because she was married to a foreigner, Michael Aris, a British citizen who died in 1999.
People convicted of a crime by a court are not allowed to vote in the referendum, but detainees who have not faced trial can cast a ballot.
There are currently about 1,850 political prisoners in Myanmar, at least 700 of whom were arrested after anti-junta demonstrations last September, which the military crushed, killing at least 31 people, the UN says.
Next month's referendum will be the first balloting in Myanmar since 1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi led the NLD to a landslide victory, which was never recognised by the junta.
The NLD and other activists are calling for a "No" vote on the charter, which analysts say simply enshrines the military's role.
Source: AFP
"According to the law, (Aung San Suu Kyi) has the right to vote at the referendum as her detention was not a court order or sentence," said Nyan Win, spokesman for the National League for Democracy (NLD).
"It was just an administrative function," he told AFP.
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 12 of the past 18 years locked away by the ruling military junta in her sprawling lakeside home in Yangon.
Her latest period of detention began in 2003 after a deadly attack on her convoy by supporters of the junta, and has been periodically extended since, with little sign that the generals plan to free her.
The regime has called a referendum on May 10 on the proposed new charter, which they claim will -- if approved -- lead to general elections in 2010.
Under the new constitution, which was drafted by a committee hand-picked by the junta, Aung San Suu Kyi would be barred from running for office because she was married to a foreigner, Michael Aris, a British citizen who died in 1999.
People convicted of a crime by a court are not allowed to vote in the referendum, but detainees who have not faced trial can cast a ballot.
There are currently about 1,850 political prisoners in Myanmar, at least 700 of whom were arrested after anti-junta demonstrations last September, which the military crushed, killing at least 31 people, the UN says.
Next month's referendum will be the first balloting in Myanmar since 1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi led the NLD to a landslide victory, which was never recognised by the junta.
The NLD and other activists are calling for a "No" vote on the charter, which analysts say simply enshrines the military's role.
Source: AFP
Burma Regime Denounced For Giving Selves Immunity
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Press Release: Global Justice Center
International Lawyers Denounce Attempt By Myanmar Regime To Give Themselves Immunity From Criminal Prosecutions And Renew Call For Criminal Investigation
The Myanmar regime, guilty of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, has revealed that it is seeking to give itself constitutional immunity from prosecution for those crimes. The Burma Lawyers' Council, the Global Justice Center and the Burma Justice Committee denounce this attempt by the regime to avoid accountability. The recently distributed final version of the Constitution being put to a "referendum" on May 10th, 2008 now includes in Chapter XIV "Transitory Provisions," Article No. 445, stating, "No legal action shall be taken against those (either individuals or groups who are members of SLORC and SPDC) who officially carried out their duties according to their responsibilities." This immunity is invalid under international law and cannot be accepted by the international community.
There is ample evidence that the military regime has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and potentially even genocide through forced relocation, torture, rape, enforced disappearances and extermination. Perpetrators of these, the most serious of crimes, are not eligible for amnesty under international law. Moreover, the global community has a commitment under the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine, Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security and Resolution 1674 on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, to hold the regime accountable for the crimes committed against the people of Burma. In seeking an amnesty, the military regime recognizes that it has committed serious crimes and needs amnesty for what it has done and is doing. The regime cannot, however, simply give itself immunity as it is seeking to do.
The constitutional amnesty is another example of how the regime abuses the law as it seeks to solidify the military's rule of oppression through a façade of legality. As stated by U Aung Htoo, Secretary General of the Burma Lawyers' Council "Rule of law must replace military might. This Constitution and its illegal amnesty provision cannot bring sustainable peace to Burma."
The Burma Lawyers' Council, Global Justice Center and Burma Justice Committee therefore today make clear:
The military regime must immediately desist from committing further crimes against the people of Burma;
The military regime's constitutional process and intended amnesty fails to comply with any of the applicable international legal norms and will not have any force as a matter of law either internationally or for the future within Burma; and
As a matter of international law, the U.N. Security Council should create an Independent Commission of Inquiry to investigate the crimes and pursue criminal accountability of those members of the military regime who have committed international crimes.
Source: Scoop NZ
Press Release: Global Justice Center
International Lawyers Denounce Attempt By Myanmar Regime To Give Themselves Immunity From Criminal Prosecutions And Renew Call For Criminal Investigation
The Myanmar regime, guilty of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, has revealed that it is seeking to give itself constitutional immunity from prosecution for those crimes. The Burma Lawyers' Council, the Global Justice Center and the Burma Justice Committee denounce this attempt by the regime to avoid accountability. The recently distributed final version of the Constitution being put to a "referendum" on May 10th, 2008 now includes in Chapter XIV "Transitory Provisions," Article No. 445, stating, "No legal action shall be taken against those (either individuals or groups who are members of SLORC and SPDC) who officially carried out their duties according to their responsibilities." This immunity is invalid under international law and cannot be accepted by the international community.
There is ample evidence that the military regime has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and potentially even genocide through forced relocation, torture, rape, enforced disappearances and extermination. Perpetrators of these, the most serious of crimes, are not eligible for amnesty under international law. Moreover, the global community has a commitment under the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine, Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security and Resolution 1674 on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, to hold the regime accountable for the crimes committed against the people of Burma. In seeking an amnesty, the military regime recognizes that it has committed serious crimes and needs amnesty for what it has done and is doing. The regime cannot, however, simply give itself immunity as it is seeking to do.
The constitutional amnesty is another example of how the regime abuses the law as it seeks to solidify the military's rule of oppression through a façade of legality. As stated by U Aung Htoo, Secretary General of the Burma Lawyers' Council "Rule of law must replace military might. This Constitution and its illegal amnesty provision cannot bring sustainable peace to Burma."
The Burma Lawyers' Council, Global Justice Center and Burma Justice Committee therefore today make clear:
The military regime must immediately desist from committing further crimes against the people of Burma;
The military regime's constitutional process and intended amnesty fails to comply with any of the applicable international legal norms and will not have any force as a matter of law either internationally or for the future within Burma; and
As a matter of international law, the U.N. Security Council should create an Independent Commission of Inquiry to investigate the crimes and pursue criminal accountability of those members of the military regime who have committed international crimes.
Source: Scoop NZ
Burma's Referendum: A Fruitless Attempt of the Military Junta
By Zin Linn
Bangkok 16 April, 2008 (Asiantribune.com): People of Burma have been disappointed with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari, with SG because he has failed to call for the Security Council action on Burma and with Gambari because he has been misleading the world body in support of the undisciplined military regime.
On 31 March, Members of Parliament elected in the 1990 General Elections but prevented from taking office by the country's junta issued an appeal to lawmakers all over the world. Their message was: reject the military-ordained new constitution of Burma. The appeal signed by 14 MPs 'elect' said both Ban Ki-moon and Ibrahim Gambari have failed in the mission expected of them. "We expected them to pressurise the Junta into yielding for national reconciliation but their efforts are unproductive". About the Security Council also the appeal had some harsh comment. "This highest authoritative body of the United Nations has failed to take an effective and timely action to stop one-sided acts of the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) and to facilitate real national reconciliation and democratization in Burma".
Four days earlier, on March 27, marking the 63rd Armed Forces Day, Senior General Than Shwe (75), made a 15-minute nationwide radio and television speech giving hint of 'May Referendum' on the draft constitution but did not state when the new statute would be available for public scrutiny. He was not also honourably silent on the dates for the referendum. Indications are that the referendum will take place in May. He however said that the civilians would take the reins of government after elections in 2010, once a constitution is approved giving broad powers to the military.
The constitution is a part of the junta's seven-step roadmap to democracy. It emerged out of the National Convention, which was a farce in itself. Opponents of the regime, such as the National League for Democracy, led by the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, were excluded from the drafting process, which took 14 years.
Critics have termed the new statute as a trick to consolidate the military's supremacy. Nonetheless, Year 2008 may become an important watershed for the democracy movement in Burma because of the farcical Referendum. For the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), legitimacy to the Constitution is a priority..
The Junta is going out of its way to court the support of ASEAN and other neighbouring countries especially China and India for its constitutional makeover. At the same time it is riding roughshod over the National League for Democracy (NLD) which is the only challenger to its supremacy at home. Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to contest in the elections scheduled for 2010, the Junta made it clear already.
On May 27, the Burma's opposition groups will observe the 18th anniversary of NLD's significant victory in the 1990 General Elections. NLD had won 392 of the 485 seats on offer in Parliament. NLD allies, the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) won 23 seats and the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) bagged 11 seats in what was certainly one of the free and fair elections that had taken place in the South-East Asia region. But, the SPDC's authoritative generals, especially Sen. Gen. Than Shwe, adamantly refuse to honour the 1990 Elections' result. Than Shwe is unwilling even to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi.
A constitution is a contract between the people and the government of a nation. Only a statute that is willingly accepted by the people will endure the test of time. The National League for Democracy believes that if genuine multi-party democracy is to be established in Burma, a constitution based on democratic principles is an absolute necessity.
The NLD was set up to usher in a genuine democratic system which lives up to the aspirations of the people and contributes to building a strong Union of Burma. It believes that the state derives its power from the people. And a democratic nation must have the rule of law and a constitution that guarantees human rights, and basic freedoms - of worship, expression and association. Moreover, the NLD believes that the foundation for a strong, lasting and prosperous union has to be laid through a national convention where all the ethnic groups of Burma are represented and decide collectively the destiny of the nation. The landslide victory in 1990 was a public endorsement of what all the NLD has come to stand for.
Unfortunately, SPDC and its earlier incarnation, State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) practiced means fair and foul to undo the electoral verdict. First, it invalidated the result, and then it sacked the MPs. They were also disqualified them from standing for elections again. When the MPs resisted pressure to resign, false cases were slapped and they were thrown into jail. Once this exercise was complete and 200 members were eased out, the Junta said "Parliament is not being constituted as we don't have enough elected members".
Approximately 100 of the 426 elected MPs passed away in the past 18 years. Three MPs died in police custody. Tin Maung Win, NLD MP of Khayan Constituency (1), Rangoon Division, passed away on January18, 1991 in the notorious Insein Prison. Hla Than from Coco Islands Constituency (also Rangoon Division) died on August 2, 1996 at the guard ward in Rangoon General Hospital. Saw Win (a.k.a) Kyaw Zaw Lin, who had won Htee Lin Constituency (Magwe Division) on Aug 7, 1998 in Thayawaddy Prison.
Three law makers passed away soon after their release from jail. Kyaw Min of Bassein West Constituency (Irrawaddy Division), died of liver cirrhosis on July1, 1999 in Rangoon General Hospital. San San Win, who represents the Ahlon Constituency (Rangoon Division), passed away in 2000 and Hla Maung who had won Kyainseikkyi seat from Karen State died November 27, 2003.
Win Ko who represented Ye Oo Constituency (Sagaing Division), was assassinated in Kunming, China, on Nov 1, 1992 and Hla Pe, (Pyaw Bwe Constituency, Mandalay Division), was eliminated on the outskirts of Bangkok on June 16, 1993. At least 12 law makers are languishing in the Junta's notorious prison. And the appeals by the international community -United Nations General Assembly including for their release have gone in vain. In fact, there are some 1000 political prisoners. They include the 1991 Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myint Thein, a Member of Parliament and spokesman for NLD who was jailed repeatedly, died at age 62 in Singapore on 29 March. He was last detained in Yangon's notorious Insein Prison on Sep 27, 2007, after the peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks ended in a brutal crackdown. Myint Thein had been in declining health while he was incarcerated and he had to be hospitalized upon his release on Oct 30, 2007. Frequent detentions and lack of medical treatment and inadequate food in prison made him sick.
Suu Kyi and NLD stand for dialogue as they firmly believe in Gandhian values and concepts. But the Junta has cold shouldered NLD and ignored its dialogue offer. So NLD has no place at the National Convention the Junta had convened. The second-largest pro-democracy party, the Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD), did not turn up dubbing the convention as undemocratic. The United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), which represents the ethnic parties of Shans, Karens, Kachins, Chins, Arakans, Mons and Karennis also declared ahead of the convention that they would not go to the forum in the absence of the NLD.
It goes without saying that minus NLD, the junta's seven-step roadmap becomes a farce with no genuine democratic principles and objectives. SPDC's roadmap has three foremost objectives. First whitewash the junta's crimes against humanity including the premeditated massacre at Depayin. Second do away with the result of the 1990 General Elections. Third persuade regional governments to support a sugar-coated military-monopolized parliament as a legislative body of Burma.
However, present situation in Burma shows that the military junta has been adamantly marching along the anti-democracy road. For instance, the junta continues to detain and imprison nearly 2,000 political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest on and off since 1990, leaders of the '88 Generation Students such as Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Hla Myo Naung, Mee Mee, Aung Thu, Ko Ko and political leaders such as Shan leader Hkun Htun Oo and U Win Tin, a prominent journalist and executive member of the NLD, who at 78 has been languishing in prison since July 4, 1989.
Moreover, Su Su Nway, a member of the NLD, has been kept in custody in notorious Insein Jail since November 2007, following a peaceful demonstration. She received the 2006 Humphrey Freedom Award from the Canada-based group, Rights and Democracy, for her human rights activities. She was arrested in 2005 and 2007. Many political prisoners are reportedly seriously ill and receive only rudimentary health care. The International Committee of the Red Cross has been denied free access to conduct confidential prison visits since December 2005. Arrests and intimidation of political activists and journalists in Burma have been going on for two decades.
The state-run newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, said the arrests were made by peace-loving people to prevent instigators from trying to cause insecurity and strife. The '88 Generation Students' group condemned the action. It is improper and immoral to assault, perturb, harass and detain those demonstrating peacefully for change. The student group urged the government to start dialogue with the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the sake of national reconciliation.
Earlier than the 18th anniversary of Burma's 1990 General Elections which falls on 27 May 2008, the key regional players, China, India, Japan and ASEAN, should recognize their obligation to Burma. They must urge SPDC to give up its fruitless policies and unproductive plans. If the junta is reluctant to recognize the will of its own people, the consequences that follow may not be to its likings. People's will cannot be wished away nor their aspirations just as the verdict in a popular election cannot be brushed aside endlessly.
People believe that the decision to hold a referendum this May is a fruitless attempt of Sen. Gen. Than Shwe. It will be hard to convince the country's voters that it was not a controversial constitution written by pro-military delegates. On the contrary, Than Shwe has declared a war not only on the people of Burma but also towards the world body by neglecting the UN's decisions. Than Shwe dares enough to challenge Ban Ki-moon as if he knew of rival's weakness. It is time Ban puts a thinking cap and takes a fresh look at the Burma question in its entirety.
- Asian Tribune -
Bangkok 16 April, 2008 (Asiantribune.com): People of Burma have been disappointed with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari, with SG because he has failed to call for the Security Council action on Burma and with Gambari because he has been misleading the world body in support of the undisciplined military regime.
On 31 March, Members of Parliament elected in the 1990 General Elections but prevented from taking office by the country's junta issued an appeal to lawmakers all over the world. Their message was: reject the military-ordained new constitution of Burma. The appeal signed by 14 MPs 'elect' said both Ban Ki-moon and Ibrahim Gambari have failed in the mission expected of them. "We expected them to pressurise the Junta into yielding for national reconciliation but their efforts are unproductive". About the Security Council also the appeal had some harsh comment. "This highest authoritative body of the United Nations has failed to take an effective and timely action to stop one-sided acts of the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) and to facilitate real national reconciliation and democratization in Burma".
Four days earlier, on March 27, marking the 63rd Armed Forces Day, Senior General Than Shwe (75), made a 15-minute nationwide radio and television speech giving hint of 'May Referendum' on the draft constitution but did not state when the new statute would be available for public scrutiny. He was not also honourably silent on the dates for the referendum. Indications are that the referendum will take place in May. He however said that the civilians would take the reins of government after elections in 2010, once a constitution is approved giving broad powers to the military.
The constitution is a part of the junta's seven-step roadmap to democracy. It emerged out of the National Convention, which was a farce in itself. Opponents of the regime, such as the National League for Democracy, led by the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, were excluded from the drafting process, which took 14 years.
Critics have termed the new statute as a trick to consolidate the military's supremacy. Nonetheless, Year 2008 may become an important watershed for the democracy movement in Burma because of the farcical Referendum. For the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), legitimacy to the Constitution is a priority..
The Junta is going out of its way to court the support of ASEAN and other neighbouring countries especially China and India for its constitutional makeover. At the same time it is riding roughshod over the National League for Democracy (NLD) which is the only challenger to its supremacy at home. Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to contest in the elections scheduled for 2010, the Junta made it clear already.
On May 27, the Burma's opposition groups will observe the 18th anniversary of NLD's significant victory in the 1990 General Elections. NLD had won 392 of the 485 seats on offer in Parliament. NLD allies, the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) won 23 seats and the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) bagged 11 seats in what was certainly one of the free and fair elections that had taken place in the South-East Asia region. But, the SPDC's authoritative generals, especially Sen. Gen. Than Shwe, adamantly refuse to honour the 1990 Elections' result. Than Shwe is unwilling even to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi.
A constitution is a contract between the people and the government of a nation. Only a statute that is willingly accepted by the people will endure the test of time. The National League for Democracy believes that if genuine multi-party democracy is to be established in Burma, a constitution based on democratic principles is an absolute necessity.
The NLD was set up to usher in a genuine democratic system which lives up to the aspirations of the people and contributes to building a strong Union of Burma. It believes that the state derives its power from the people. And a democratic nation must have the rule of law and a constitution that guarantees human rights, and basic freedoms - of worship, expression and association. Moreover, the NLD believes that the foundation for a strong, lasting and prosperous union has to be laid through a national convention where all the ethnic groups of Burma are represented and decide collectively the destiny of the nation. The landslide victory in 1990 was a public endorsement of what all the NLD has come to stand for.
Unfortunately, SPDC and its earlier incarnation, State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) practiced means fair and foul to undo the electoral verdict. First, it invalidated the result, and then it sacked the MPs. They were also disqualified them from standing for elections again. When the MPs resisted pressure to resign, false cases were slapped and they were thrown into jail. Once this exercise was complete and 200 members were eased out, the Junta said "Parliament is not being constituted as we don't have enough elected members".
Approximately 100 of the 426 elected MPs passed away in the past 18 years. Three MPs died in police custody. Tin Maung Win, NLD MP of Khayan Constituency (1), Rangoon Division, passed away on January18, 1991 in the notorious Insein Prison. Hla Than from Coco Islands Constituency (also Rangoon Division) died on August 2, 1996 at the guard ward in Rangoon General Hospital. Saw Win (a.k.a) Kyaw Zaw Lin, who had won Htee Lin Constituency (Magwe Division) on Aug 7, 1998 in Thayawaddy Prison.
Three law makers passed away soon after their release from jail. Kyaw Min of Bassein West Constituency (Irrawaddy Division), died of liver cirrhosis on July1, 1999 in Rangoon General Hospital. San San Win, who represents the Ahlon Constituency (Rangoon Division), passed away in 2000 and Hla Maung who had won Kyainseikkyi seat from Karen State died November 27, 2003.
Win Ko who represented Ye Oo Constituency (Sagaing Division), was assassinated in Kunming, China, on Nov 1, 1992 and Hla Pe, (Pyaw Bwe Constituency, Mandalay Division), was eliminated on the outskirts of Bangkok on June 16, 1993. At least 12 law makers are languishing in the Junta's notorious prison. And the appeals by the international community -United Nations General Assembly including for their release have gone in vain. In fact, there are some 1000 political prisoners. They include the 1991 Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myint Thein, a Member of Parliament and spokesman for NLD who was jailed repeatedly, died at age 62 in Singapore on 29 March. He was last detained in Yangon's notorious Insein Prison on Sep 27, 2007, after the peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks ended in a brutal crackdown. Myint Thein had been in declining health while he was incarcerated and he had to be hospitalized upon his release on Oct 30, 2007. Frequent detentions and lack of medical treatment and inadequate food in prison made him sick.
Suu Kyi and NLD stand for dialogue as they firmly believe in Gandhian values and concepts. But the Junta has cold shouldered NLD and ignored its dialogue offer. So NLD has no place at the National Convention the Junta had convened. The second-largest pro-democracy party, the Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD), did not turn up dubbing the convention as undemocratic. The United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), which represents the ethnic parties of Shans, Karens, Kachins, Chins, Arakans, Mons and Karennis also declared ahead of the convention that they would not go to the forum in the absence of the NLD.
It goes without saying that minus NLD, the junta's seven-step roadmap becomes a farce with no genuine democratic principles and objectives. SPDC's roadmap has three foremost objectives. First whitewash the junta's crimes against humanity including the premeditated massacre at Depayin. Second do away with the result of the 1990 General Elections. Third persuade regional governments to support a sugar-coated military-monopolized parliament as a legislative body of Burma.
However, present situation in Burma shows that the military junta has been adamantly marching along the anti-democracy road. For instance, the junta continues to detain and imprison nearly 2,000 political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest on and off since 1990, leaders of the '88 Generation Students such as Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Hla Myo Naung, Mee Mee, Aung Thu, Ko Ko and political leaders such as Shan leader Hkun Htun Oo and U Win Tin, a prominent journalist and executive member of the NLD, who at 78 has been languishing in prison since July 4, 1989.
Moreover, Su Su Nway, a member of the NLD, has been kept in custody in notorious Insein Jail since November 2007, following a peaceful demonstration. She received the 2006 Humphrey Freedom Award from the Canada-based group, Rights and Democracy, for her human rights activities. She was arrested in 2005 and 2007. Many political prisoners are reportedly seriously ill and receive only rudimentary health care. The International Committee of the Red Cross has been denied free access to conduct confidential prison visits since December 2005. Arrests and intimidation of political activists and journalists in Burma have been going on for two decades.
The state-run newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, said the arrests were made by peace-loving people to prevent instigators from trying to cause insecurity and strife. The '88 Generation Students' group condemned the action. It is improper and immoral to assault, perturb, harass and detain those demonstrating peacefully for change. The student group urged the government to start dialogue with the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the sake of national reconciliation.
Earlier than the 18th anniversary of Burma's 1990 General Elections which falls on 27 May 2008, the key regional players, China, India, Japan and ASEAN, should recognize their obligation to Burma. They must urge SPDC to give up its fruitless policies and unproductive plans. If the junta is reluctant to recognize the will of its own people, the consequences that follow may not be to its likings. People's will cannot be wished away nor their aspirations just as the verdict in a popular election cannot be brushed aside endlessly.
People believe that the decision to hold a referendum this May is a fruitless attempt of Sen. Gen. Than Shwe. It will be hard to convince the country's voters that it was not a controversial constitution written by pro-military delegates. On the contrary, Than Shwe has declared a war not only on the people of Burma but also towards the world body by neglecting the UN's decisions. Than Shwe dares enough to challenge Ban Ki-moon as if he knew of rival's weakness. It is time Ban puts a thinking cap and takes a fresh look at the Burma question in its entirety.
- Asian Tribune -
ASEAN-Japan complete Comprehensive EPA
April 15, 2008 (Indonesia) - The ten Governments of Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the Government of Japan have completed the signing of the Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Partnership among Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Japan.“
The AJCEP Agreement is comprehensive in scope, covering such fields as trade in goods, trade in services, investment, and economic cooperation.
The signing has been completed by authorized Ministers in the capitals of respective countries. As a next step, ASEAN Member States and Japan will start their respective domestic procedures necessary for entry into force of the Agreement and notify their completion of such domestic procedures to the other countries.
The AJCEP Agreement will enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date by which such notifications have been made by Japan and at least one ASEAN Member State, for those signatory States that have made such notifications by this date.
ASEAN Member States and Japan look forward to the early entry into force of the AJCEP Agreement, which will provide a strong impetus for further invigoration of trade and investment in the region.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
The AJCEP Agreement is comprehensive in scope, covering such fields as trade in goods, trade in services, investment, and economic cooperation.
The signing has been completed by authorized Ministers in the capitals of respective countries. As a next step, ASEAN Member States and Japan will start their respective domestic procedures necessary for entry into force of the Agreement and notify their completion of such domestic procedures to the other countries.
The AJCEP Agreement will enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date by which such notifications have been made by Japan and at least one ASEAN Member State, for those signatory States that have made such notifications by this date.
ASEAN Member States and Japan look forward to the early entry into force of the AJCEP Agreement, which will provide a strong impetus for further invigoration of trade and investment in the region.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
Myanmar Detains at Least 20 Activists
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar's military junta detained more than 20 activists as they walked through the northwestern city of Sittwe in a peaceful rally against the country's proposed constitution, an opposition party spokesman said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Myo Nyunt, a youth member of the opposition party and a close aide of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was arrested at his grandmother's home near Yangon, said Nyan Win, spokesman for the National League for Democracy. He was taken from his home near Yangon on Tuesday morning.
He was given a 15-day prison sentence by a court for failing to report to authorities when he spent a night at someone else's house, Nyan Win said.
In Myanmar, the law requires that a person inform local authorities when staying overnight at a house where they are not listed as a member. But Nyan Win said Myo Nyunt was sentenced because he was an active member of the party.
The arrests came ahead of the country's May 10 referendum on a new constitution that critics say was drafted to perpetuate military rule.
The NLD has urged voters to reject the charter because it was drafted without any input from the junta's critics and the country's pro-democracy movement.
The protesters were wearing T-shirts printed with the word "No," during a 5-day festival to celebrate Myanmar's traditional New Year's holiday.
Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state in western Myanmar is known for its strong anti-military sentiment. It was the city where Buddhist monks first joined anti-junta rallies that swelled into nationwide protests last September. At least 31 people were killed when the military crushed the protests, sparking global outrage.
On Sunday, some youth activists in suburban Yangon were reprimanded by authorities and warned not to wear the "No" T-shirts, said a member of the NLD who asked not to be named for fear of official reprisal.
"Arrests of NLD members and intimidation against opponents of the regime's draft constitution are becoming more frequent," Nyan Win said, adding that several activists have also been attacked by unidentified assailants.
Last week, the NLD called on international observers to take part in the referendum. Junta officials rejected the idea of international observers when it was proposed by United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari last month.
The proposed constitution would ban anyone who enjoyed the rights and privileges of a foreign citizen from holding public office. This would keep Suu Kyi out of government because her late husband was a Briton.
The proposed charter allots 25 percent of the seats in both houses of Parliament to the military.
It also stipulates that no amendments to the charter can be made without the consent of more than 75 percent of lawmakers, making changes unlikely unless supported by military representatives.
The constitutional referendum is supposed to be followed by a general election in 2010.
Myanmar has been without a constitution since 1988, when the current junta took power and scrapped the previous charter after violently quashing mass pro-democracy demonstrations.
(This version CORRECTS that activist was arrested at his grandmother's house)
Meanwhile, Myo Nyunt, a youth member of the opposition party and a close aide of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was arrested at his grandmother's home near Yangon, said Nyan Win, spokesman for the National League for Democracy. He was taken from his home near Yangon on Tuesday morning.
He was given a 15-day prison sentence by a court for failing to report to authorities when he spent a night at someone else's house, Nyan Win said.
In Myanmar, the law requires that a person inform local authorities when staying overnight at a house where they are not listed as a member. But Nyan Win said Myo Nyunt was sentenced because he was an active member of the party.
The arrests came ahead of the country's May 10 referendum on a new constitution that critics say was drafted to perpetuate military rule.
The NLD has urged voters to reject the charter because it was drafted without any input from the junta's critics and the country's pro-democracy movement.
The protesters were wearing T-shirts printed with the word "No," during a 5-day festival to celebrate Myanmar's traditional New Year's holiday.
Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state in western Myanmar is known for its strong anti-military sentiment. It was the city where Buddhist monks first joined anti-junta rallies that swelled into nationwide protests last September. At least 31 people were killed when the military crushed the protests, sparking global outrage.
On Sunday, some youth activists in suburban Yangon were reprimanded by authorities and warned not to wear the "No" T-shirts, said a member of the NLD who asked not to be named for fear of official reprisal.
"Arrests of NLD members and intimidation against opponents of the regime's draft constitution are becoming more frequent," Nyan Win said, adding that several activists have also been attacked by unidentified assailants.
Last week, the NLD called on international observers to take part in the referendum. Junta officials rejected the idea of international observers when it was proposed by United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari last month.
The proposed constitution would ban anyone who enjoyed the rights and privileges of a foreign citizen from holding public office. This would keep Suu Kyi out of government because her late husband was a Briton.
The proposed charter allots 25 percent of the seats in both houses of Parliament to the military.
It also stipulates that no amendments to the charter can be made without the consent of more than 75 percent of lawmakers, making changes unlikely unless supported by military representatives.
The constitutional referendum is supposed to be followed by a general election in 2010.
Myanmar has been without a constitution since 1988, when the current junta took power and scrapped the previous charter after violently quashing mass pro-democracy demonstrations.
(This version CORRECTS that activist was arrested at his grandmother's house)
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
THAILAND MUST IMPROVE ITS MIGRANT POLICY IF IT’S NOT TO RECEIVE INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION
By Methawee
Pattaya Daily News
The recent death of the 54 Burmese migrants in a container in Ranong, on April 10 represents, but the tip of the iceberg. Human rights lawyers and labour rights activists in Thailand say that violence against Burmese migrant workers is on the increase. They accuse Thai authorities of doing too little to protect Burmese working in Thailand.
The Migrant Worker Group, a coalition of NGOs, cited at least documented 10 cases in which more than 100 people had died being transported to Thailand in the past year. Since the beginning of 2008, scores of Rohingya Muslims from Burma have drowned in the Andaman Sea in an attempt to reach Southern Thailand, However, rather than help, Thai PM Samak Sundaravej has recently announced he will detain them on a deserted island to deter more arrivals.
"These preventable deaths are the tragic result of people fleeing repression and poverty in Burma, only to find abuse and exploitation in Thailand. Thai policies denying migrants basic rights contribute to such tragedies and urgently need to be revised or scrapped. These deaths put Thai authorities squarely on notice that reform cannot wait," said Elaine Pearson, Deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Over 2 million Burmese migrants are estimated to be working in Thailand, less than 500,000 of them legally. Yet the numbers rise steadily—the lure of jobs and the hope of a better life outweighs all the uncertainty and threat of physical danger, murder and exploitation that these people suffer.
Nearly 20,000 registered Burmese migrant workers work in the Mae Sot area of Thailand's Tak border province with Myanmar, where cases of abuse are particularly high. Moe Swe, head of the Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association in Mae Sot, said because migrant workers were reluctant to get involved with the police, many incidents go unreported. Unregistered migrants fear deportation if they complain to the authorities
800 cases of abuse, including murder and rape, were reported to the Seafarers Union of Burma from mid-2006 to November 2007. Union member Ko Ko Aung maintained 30% of the reported cases involved murder. It appears some Thai employers resort to murder, rather than pay their migrant workers.
Adults are not the only victims of Burma's instability, children are also represented. Here estimates are vague, there being no official statistics, but NGOs cite 20,000 as a generally accepted figure. The economic crisis and instability in Burma is driving hordes of Burmese children into hard labour, begging and the sex trade, claims exiled Burmese rights groups. Paw Ray, the chairperson of the BMWEC, which operates nearly 50 schools for children of Burmese migrant workers in Mae Sot maintains "there's no security and no protection for migrant workers or their children. Neither the authorities nor employers can give them security."
With many Thais avoiding mundane, dirty and dangerous work in agriculture, fishing and construction, and Myanmar's generals refusing to improve their crippled economy, Thai officials say the influx of cheap, migrant labour will continue.
However, most Thais are unaware of the positive contributions that migrant workers make for Thailand. Estimates of their contributions amount to Bt370 billion, or about 6.2 per cent of Thailand's GDP and the average unskilled migrant earns between 50 and 80% of the average unskilled Thai. Yet it appears as if the Thai political leaders, captains of industry and ordinary citizens - who most benefit directly or indirectly from migrant labour - have conspired to suppress such information. Those who benefit most in the absence of any genuine attempt to regulate the inflow of migrants from Burma, Cambodia and Laos are unscrupulous Thai employers bent on exploiting labour to maximise profits.
And Thailand continues to treat these people with utter contempt and prejudice. In fact, it appears the more Thailand comes to depend on migrant workers for its economic and social well-being, the worse the Thai people treat them.
Successive governments, including the outgoing Surayud government, have been complicit in the systematic exploitation of migrants, for failure to secure borders, and lax enforcement of laws relating to immigrants and their employers.
Human Rights Watch maintains "If Thailand's labour laws were followed across the board, fewer migrants would resort to illegal crossings or be susceptible to trafficking, and could travel and work with basic rights under law." They continue
"It's time for the Thai and Burmese governments to implement transparent measures that protect the lives and basic rights of migrant workers."
Pattaya Daily News
The recent death of the 54 Burmese migrants in a container in Ranong, on April 10 represents, but the tip of the iceberg. Human rights lawyers and labour rights activists in Thailand say that violence against Burmese migrant workers is on the increase. They accuse Thai authorities of doing too little to protect Burmese working in Thailand.
The Migrant Worker Group, a coalition of NGOs, cited at least documented 10 cases in which more than 100 people had died being transported to Thailand in the past year. Since the beginning of 2008, scores of Rohingya Muslims from Burma have drowned in the Andaman Sea in an attempt to reach Southern Thailand, However, rather than help, Thai PM Samak Sundaravej has recently announced he will detain them on a deserted island to deter more arrivals.
"These preventable deaths are the tragic result of people fleeing repression and poverty in Burma, only to find abuse and exploitation in Thailand. Thai policies denying migrants basic rights contribute to such tragedies and urgently need to be revised or scrapped. These deaths put Thai authorities squarely on notice that reform cannot wait," said Elaine Pearson, Deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Over 2 million Burmese migrants are estimated to be working in Thailand, less than 500,000 of them legally. Yet the numbers rise steadily—the lure of jobs and the hope of a better life outweighs all the uncertainty and threat of physical danger, murder and exploitation that these people suffer.
Nearly 20,000 registered Burmese migrant workers work in the Mae Sot area of Thailand's Tak border province with Myanmar, where cases of abuse are particularly high. Moe Swe, head of the Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association in Mae Sot, said because migrant workers were reluctant to get involved with the police, many incidents go unreported. Unregistered migrants fear deportation if they complain to the authorities
800 cases of abuse, including murder and rape, were reported to the Seafarers Union of Burma from mid-2006 to November 2007. Union member Ko Ko Aung maintained 30% of the reported cases involved murder. It appears some Thai employers resort to murder, rather than pay their migrant workers.
Adults are not the only victims of Burma's instability, children are also represented. Here estimates are vague, there being no official statistics, but NGOs cite 20,000 as a generally accepted figure. The economic crisis and instability in Burma is driving hordes of Burmese children into hard labour, begging and the sex trade, claims exiled Burmese rights groups. Paw Ray, the chairperson of the BMWEC, which operates nearly 50 schools for children of Burmese migrant workers in Mae Sot maintains "there's no security and no protection for migrant workers or their children. Neither the authorities nor employers can give them security."
With many Thais avoiding mundane, dirty and dangerous work in agriculture, fishing and construction, and Myanmar's generals refusing to improve their crippled economy, Thai officials say the influx of cheap, migrant labour will continue.
However, most Thais are unaware of the positive contributions that migrant workers make for Thailand. Estimates of their contributions amount to Bt370 billion, or about 6.2 per cent of Thailand's GDP and the average unskilled migrant earns between 50 and 80% of the average unskilled Thai. Yet it appears as if the Thai political leaders, captains of industry and ordinary citizens - who most benefit directly or indirectly from migrant labour - have conspired to suppress such information. Those who benefit most in the absence of any genuine attempt to regulate the inflow of migrants from Burma, Cambodia and Laos are unscrupulous Thai employers bent on exploiting labour to maximise profits.
And Thailand continues to treat these people with utter contempt and prejudice. In fact, it appears the more Thailand comes to depend on migrant workers for its economic and social well-being, the worse the Thai people treat them.
Successive governments, including the outgoing Surayud government, have been complicit in the systematic exploitation of migrants, for failure to secure borders, and lax enforcement of laws relating to immigrants and their employers.
Human Rights Watch maintains "If Thailand's labour laws were followed across the board, fewer migrants would resort to illegal crossings or be susceptible to trafficking, and could travel and work with basic rights under law." They continue
"It's time for the Thai and Burmese governments to implement transparent measures that protect the lives and basic rights of migrant workers."
A country with no hope?
Bangkok Post
April 15, 2008 - The military dictatorship which runs Burma is taking new steps to tighten its already fearful grip on that sad country.
What is most outrageous about this campaign of control by the generals is the claim that its policies will be put to a vote in just under four weeks. The world has seen many free elections, and some whose honesty was questionable. The upcoming vote in Burma will be neither. The so-called national referendum on the military junta's constitution is a laughable charade which hopefully will hoodwink no one into thinking the Burmese regime's polls bear much resemblance to an actual national election.
The May 10 referendum announced by the military junta reverses almost every detail of a free election. The constitution which is the focus of the polls took years to write, but never was debated by the public. A carefully chosen and military-sequestered "national convention" was nothing but a highly controlled rubber-stamp committee. The junta dictated each word of the document. Citizens who want to know what is in the 194-page document being voted on next month have to pay about 30 baht to see it; only government-run bookstores are allowed to distribute it.
The military has already begun a campaign of fear about the polls. Last week, the army and police began a familiar campaign to beat up and warn Burmese trying to organise a "Vote No" campaign. The main opposition leader remains locked up and barred from political activity. In case of doubt, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is also banned from speaking because she once was married to a foreigner. In fact, the military regime has been conducting constant warnings against speaking with foreigners. It also has warned all embassies in Rangoon against what it calls political involvement.
In Burma, speaking with an opposition member is proof in the generals' eyes of "abetting some local political parties to destabilise the country". Many countries ask outsiders to observe their elections as a sort of seal of approval of honesty. The Burmese rudely rejected UN offers of help to organise the referendum.
Last week, the junta ruled there would be no poll observers at all, except for soldiers, of course. The opposition National League for Democracy, minus the voice of its leader Daw Suu Kyi, asked for poll observers, preferably foreign. Without the natural checks and balances of outside observers, the NLD noted, the referendum could not be fair. Anyone suggesting that soldiers could not count the votes honestly clearly was trying to undermine the Burmese military's plan to move towards democracy.
Next month, the military will cite the referendum as a full mandate to hold power in Burma. A parliament is due to be selected in 2010, at an election as free and fair as the one scheduled for May 10. In Burma, the policy continues to be: no steps forward and two steps back. While citizens are asked to participate in a sham election, they also suffer from the worse-run economy in the region, without hope of prosperity. The generals have effectively encouraged a million Burmese to flee to Thailand and work for a pittance. Burma has become a country almost without hope.
April 15, 2008 - The military dictatorship which runs Burma is taking new steps to tighten its already fearful grip on that sad country.
What is most outrageous about this campaign of control by the generals is the claim that its policies will be put to a vote in just under four weeks. The world has seen many free elections, and some whose honesty was questionable. The upcoming vote in Burma will be neither. The so-called national referendum on the military junta's constitution is a laughable charade which hopefully will hoodwink no one into thinking the Burmese regime's polls bear much resemblance to an actual national election.
The May 10 referendum announced by the military junta reverses almost every detail of a free election. The constitution which is the focus of the polls took years to write, but never was debated by the public. A carefully chosen and military-sequestered "national convention" was nothing but a highly controlled rubber-stamp committee. The junta dictated each word of the document. Citizens who want to know what is in the 194-page document being voted on next month have to pay about 30 baht to see it; only government-run bookstores are allowed to distribute it.
The military has already begun a campaign of fear about the polls. Last week, the army and police began a familiar campaign to beat up and warn Burmese trying to organise a "Vote No" campaign. The main opposition leader remains locked up and barred from political activity. In case of doubt, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is also banned from speaking because she once was married to a foreigner. In fact, the military regime has been conducting constant warnings against speaking with foreigners. It also has warned all embassies in Rangoon against what it calls political involvement.
In Burma, speaking with an opposition member is proof in the generals' eyes of "abetting some local political parties to destabilise the country". Many countries ask outsiders to observe their elections as a sort of seal of approval of honesty. The Burmese rudely rejected UN offers of help to organise the referendum.
Last week, the junta ruled there would be no poll observers at all, except for soldiers, of course. The opposition National League for Democracy, minus the voice of its leader Daw Suu Kyi, asked for poll observers, preferably foreign. Without the natural checks and balances of outside observers, the NLD noted, the referendum could not be fair. Anyone suggesting that soldiers could not count the votes honestly clearly was trying to undermine the Burmese military's plan to move towards democracy.
Next month, the military will cite the referendum as a full mandate to hold power in Burma. A parliament is due to be selected in 2010, at an election as free and fair as the one scheduled for May 10. In Burma, the policy continues to be: no steps forward and two steps back. While citizens are asked to participate in a sham election, they also suffer from the worse-run economy in the region, without hope of prosperity. The generals have effectively encouraged a million Burmese to flee to Thailand and work for a pittance. Burma has become a country almost without hope.
Myanmar: Refugee voices - Venerable U Kovida testifies before Human Rights Caucus
Source: Refugees International - Relief Web
Date: 14 Apr 2008
On April 10, Refugees International hosted the Venerable U Kovida in Washington, DC as he testified before the House of Representatives' Human Rights Caucus. Ven. Kovida is a Burmese monk who helped lead the September protests in his home country. He was recently resettled to the United States as a refugee after a harrowing escape from Burma to Thailand. The following is the text of his testimony:
Respected Congressmen, staff members, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I would like, first of all, to offer my sincere thanks to all of you who have given me a chance to share what I have experienced and those who are here to listen and pay attention to what I have to say.
Secondly, I would like to thank the President of the United States and the American people for giving me this opportunity to explain the predicament and dire situation the people are facing in Burma on behalf of our leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the oppressed Burmese.
I am, as you all know, one of the participants during the so-called 'Saffron-Revolution' in September 2007. Burma is infamous for its violation of Basic Human Rights, disrespect to the freedom of religion, one of the least developed and poorest countries in the world with the lowest living standard where the civil war has been going on for the past 50 years.
These are the reason why we, people of Burma, have wanted a change in the government system. We have wanted to have a higher living standard, and lived in a better and developed country. The people in Burma have struggled and fought for change since 1962. We have struggled and fought to achieve such change throughout the history and the demonstrations and protests in 1962, 1974, 1988, 1996, 2003, and 2007 are significant. But all of our voices, pleas and struggles were answered by the brutality of the military government which used weapons, brutal suppressions, torture, and imprisonments.
The international community witnessed the brutal suppression of monks who demonstrated peacefully in September 2007. But there have been many incidents of oppressions, violation and torture that have been going on inside Burma without anyone knowing for many decades.
What I would like to point out here in the harmless and helpless Burmese have very high hope and are depending on the assistance and intervention from the United Nations and the international community in the past 20 years. Sadly and unfortunately, there hasn't been any positive effect on the people of Burma. There were so many decisions by the United Nations. There were many UN representatives who have visited Burma, but the future looks bleak. We were greatly discouraged by the fact that the Security Council merely suggested the military which was killing its own people and monks, to engage in talks. What I am saying to you now is exactly what the people of Burma would like to speak out.
Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Burma are not only suffering from extreme poverty, hardship, sub-standard in health care, education and social services but also facing oppression by the military government on a daily basis. When monks in Burma understood, realized, and felt the hardship the people had to go through, we decided to protest peacefully on behalf of the people. And everyone knows how we were dealt with. We appreciate that you are trying to oppose the constitution drafted by the military and its hand-picked representatives. We strongly support your effort at the UN to reject any referendum and constitutions without the participation of all people concerned.
Right now the military government is planning to have a constitutional referendum in May. In many areas in Burma, people are illegally forced as well as offered financial incentives to vote. In other area, people are threatened. Some of the activists were brutally beaten up by unknown assailants very recently. The closer the May referendum is, the more scared and concerned the people are about their safety and security. Securities have been tightened inside Rangoon. Police and security forces are deployed on the main streets of Rangoon.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to emphasize the fact that we need help and assistance in order to change the government system in Burma. We cannot accept the constitutional referendum and planned general election in 2010 organized by the military government which totally ignored the results of people voices in 1990 general election, and whose sole aim is to prolong and ensure the military influence in Burma politics for many more years to come. We strongly urge you to reject any effort by the military government to legitimize itself.
In conclusion, I would like to thank once again the international community, governments and administrations, respected congressman as well as the people who love democracy and who are supporting our course. I thank Refugees International to facilitate my appearance here at the congress.
Date: 14 Apr 2008
On April 10, Refugees International hosted the Venerable U Kovida in Washington, DC as he testified before the House of Representatives' Human Rights Caucus. Ven. Kovida is a Burmese monk who helped lead the September protests in his home country. He was recently resettled to the United States as a refugee after a harrowing escape from Burma to Thailand. The following is the text of his testimony:
Respected Congressmen, staff members, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I would like, first of all, to offer my sincere thanks to all of you who have given me a chance to share what I have experienced and those who are here to listen and pay attention to what I have to say.
Secondly, I would like to thank the President of the United States and the American people for giving me this opportunity to explain the predicament and dire situation the people are facing in Burma on behalf of our leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the oppressed Burmese.
I am, as you all know, one of the participants during the so-called 'Saffron-Revolution' in September 2007. Burma is infamous for its violation of Basic Human Rights, disrespect to the freedom of religion, one of the least developed and poorest countries in the world with the lowest living standard where the civil war has been going on for the past 50 years.
These are the reason why we, people of Burma, have wanted a change in the government system. We have wanted to have a higher living standard, and lived in a better and developed country. The people in Burma have struggled and fought for change since 1962. We have struggled and fought to achieve such change throughout the history and the demonstrations and protests in 1962, 1974, 1988, 1996, 2003, and 2007 are significant. But all of our voices, pleas and struggles were answered by the brutality of the military government which used weapons, brutal suppressions, torture, and imprisonments.
The international community witnessed the brutal suppression of monks who demonstrated peacefully in September 2007. But there have been many incidents of oppressions, violation and torture that have been going on inside Burma without anyone knowing for many decades.
What I would like to point out here in the harmless and helpless Burmese have very high hope and are depending on the assistance and intervention from the United Nations and the international community in the past 20 years. Sadly and unfortunately, there hasn't been any positive effect on the people of Burma. There were so many decisions by the United Nations. There were many UN representatives who have visited Burma, but the future looks bleak. We were greatly discouraged by the fact that the Security Council merely suggested the military which was killing its own people and monks, to engage in talks. What I am saying to you now is exactly what the people of Burma would like to speak out.
Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Burma are not only suffering from extreme poverty, hardship, sub-standard in health care, education and social services but also facing oppression by the military government on a daily basis. When monks in Burma understood, realized, and felt the hardship the people had to go through, we decided to protest peacefully on behalf of the people. And everyone knows how we were dealt with. We appreciate that you are trying to oppose the constitution drafted by the military and its hand-picked representatives. We strongly support your effort at the UN to reject any referendum and constitutions without the participation of all people concerned.
Right now the military government is planning to have a constitutional referendum in May. In many areas in Burma, people are illegally forced as well as offered financial incentives to vote. In other area, people are threatened. Some of the activists were brutally beaten up by unknown assailants very recently. The closer the May referendum is, the more scared and concerned the people are about their safety and security. Securities have been tightened inside Rangoon. Police and security forces are deployed on the main streets of Rangoon.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to emphasize the fact that we need help and assistance in order to change the government system in Burma. We cannot accept the constitutional referendum and planned general election in 2010 organized by the military government which totally ignored the results of people voices in 1990 general election, and whose sole aim is to prolong and ensure the military influence in Burma politics for many more years to come. We strongly urge you to reject any effort by the military government to legitimize itself.
In conclusion, I would like to thank once again the international community, governments and administrations, respected congressman as well as the people who love democracy and who are supporting our course. I thank Refugees International to facilitate my appearance here at the congress.
A Paradox of Bulletocracy and Representative Democracy in Burma
By Naing Ko Ko
April 15, 2008 - Whilst in the post Saffron Revolution period the military regime in Burma has announced referendum in May 2008, for a new constitution and an election to be held in 2010, it is really a model for continuation of the ‘bulletocracy’ dominated by military generals for more than a decade.
Simultaneously, both pro and con debates on the referendum /constitution have occurred in the horizon of Burma domestic politics, with statements welcoming and rejecting from foreign policy elites, particularly from neighboring countries of China, Thailand, India and Western liberal democracies.
In addition, a polarization of views has also appeared among the democracy activists: those who have applied a "VoteNo" approach and those who have advocated a "NoVote" position towards the military plotted referendum. Burma's "Wuthering-Heights-elites", branding themselves as a so-called "third-force", will utilize "VoteYes" in this referendum. Some of them are secretly importing a bulletocracy- transitional-model to the Burma political landscape while ignoring the emancipation theory.
There is a point where questions and answers need to be formulated beyond the referendum, constitution and upcoming election in 2010 by the opposition movers and shakers of Burma. They must frame a strategic policy beyond the referendum/election in 2010 rather than following with "the waves of can't do approaches" and the "upper-structure-transforming" paths.
Politics means a struggle over power. One of the key political dilemmas of Burma is who should run the state political power? Will Burma political power be run by democratically elected representatives or the military dominated bulletocray? Technically speaking, how will a Burma transition be achieved? Will it be a development-theory-based-regime shift, neo-Gramscism based social entrepreneurs led mass movement, or Leninism based bottom to top power-structure reform and army-struggle?
But whatever theories and school of thoughts we are debating, the reality of present Burma politics is that the generals turned civilian-elites are aiming to run the state power politics for more decades, instead of transferring legitimate political power to the elected representatives. It is an obvious fact that the regime wants to maintain the status quo, and its power firmly based on army and economy. The opposition needs to challenge and fragment the SPDC's power structure and domain both domestically and internationally.
There are no comprehensive policy-platforms on how to apply a regime-change model for Burma after the referendum and election, either from within the SPDC military generals and democratic power-crusaders, or from the multilateral and transnational agencies such as United Nation Security Council (UNSC), European Union (E.U), World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asean.
Obviously, there is a little option for domestic challengers to voting against the referendum, and thus go in line with "VoteNo" approaches. However, transnational activists have a lot more choices of strategies to counterattack the junta' plotted bulletocracy-model.
Power crusaders must think about the approaches beyond the referendum and election on the processes of transitional regime. It is not an appropriate time to claim "VoteYes", "dialogue" and "national reconciliation". As an internal strategy it is time to focus on mass mobilization and emancipation theory to achieve regime change in Burma and, on international fronts, it is a strategically and essential to delegitimize the SPDC' political legitimacy and sovereignty.
Even though the regime has formulated this military dominated constitution to get "VoteYes", the mass mobilization and power of powerless can override a constitution proposal which has no room for human sovereignty or human dignity. The people of Burma are demanding genuine people freedom and political liberalization, not century long military hegemonization and bulletocracy. It is worth noting that General McArthur drafted the Japanese constitution within a week at his desk on a warship, and there is no written constitution in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Israel. It is significant that the international businessman and transoceanic investors are not interested in a regime run economy.
There are no economic incentives and interests for such multinational business firms in Burma due to the junta's poorly designed monetary and fiscal policy. Moreover, the Junta is losing leverage in their bargaining relations with multinational firms, because of Burma's low standard of transportation, out of date bureaucracy, poor communication infrastructure, and its notorious political image as a military dictatorship.
Both the military-driven-transitional style and the elite-driven- transition model ignore the significance of emancipation theory, the people participatory process and Neo-Gramscism in politics. What I would especially like to point to the Burma' Wuthering Height' elites, is that it is a time of human sovereignty, political freedom and human security, not "something is better than nothing" and "can't do" approaches.
Moreover, I would like to say to the Burma' Wuthering Height' elites that Burma is neither a talking-shop nor a business firm. Remember: the more educated you are, the more moral responsibility you have to society. You all have a moral responsibility to help the people of Burma get out from under this military oppression and build a knowledge-based society. Those who are modern intellectuals living in Burma or exile should not be a simply talkers, but must be directors and entrepreneurs who assist national-building, political liberalization, and society.
The mass mobilization and the emancipation approaches may take a long time and it will not happen overnight in Burma. Grand revolution and regime change, which occurred with the power of the people power and the power of powerless, have changed many modern histories and political landscapes in this world.
In order to stop the bulletocray and establish representative democracy, it is an essential agenda that to deliver 'can-do-minded', 'human sovereignty' to the people of Burma. Burma needs multidimensional disciplines and theory approaches for the democratization process.
Naing Ko Ko is a postgraduate scholarship student in the Department of Political Studies at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. He is a former political prisoner.
- Asian Tribune -
April 15, 2008 - Whilst in the post Saffron Revolution period the military regime in Burma has announced referendum in May 2008, for a new constitution and an election to be held in 2010, it is really a model for continuation of the ‘bulletocracy’ dominated by military generals for more than a decade.
Simultaneously, both pro and con debates on the referendum /constitution have occurred in the horizon of Burma domestic politics, with statements welcoming and rejecting from foreign policy elites, particularly from neighboring countries of China, Thailand, India and Western liberal democracies.
In addition, a polarization of views has also appeared among the democracy activists: those who have applied a "VoteNo" approach and those who have advocated a "NoVote" position towards the military plotted referendum. Burma's "Wuthering-Heights-elites", branding themselves as a so-called "third-force", will utilize "VoteYes" in this referendum. Some of them are secretly importing a bulletocracy- transitional-model to the Burma political landscape while ignoring the emancipation theory.
There is a point where questions and answers need to be formulated beyond the referendum, constitution and upcoming election in 2010 by the opposition movers and shakers of Burma. They must frame a strategic policy beyond the referendum/election in 2010 rather than following with "the waves of can't do approaches" and the "upper-structure-transforming" paths.
Politics means a struggle over power. One of the key political dilemmas of Burma is who should run the state political power? Will Burma political power be run by democratically elected representatives or the military dominated bulletocray? Technically speaking, how will a Burma transition be achieved? Will it be a development-theory-based-regime shift, neo-Gramscism based social entrepreneurs led mass movement, or Leninism based bottom to top power-structure reform and army-struggle?
But whatever theories and school of thoughts we are debating, the reality of present Burma politics is that the generals turned civilian-elites are aiming to run the state power politics for more decades, instead of transferring legitimate political power to the elected representatives. It is an obvious fact that the regime wants to maintain the status quo, and its power firmly based on army and economy. The opposition needs to challenge and fragment the SPDC's power structure and domain both domestically and internationally.
There are no comprehensive policy-platforms on how to apply a regime-change model for Burma after the referendum and election, either from within the SPDC military generals and democratic power-crusaders, or from the multilateral and transnational agencies such as United Nation Security Council (UNSC), European Union (E.U), World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asean.
Obviously, there is a little option for domestic challengers to voting against the referendum, and thus go in line with "VoteNo" approaches. However, transnational activists have a lot more choices of strategies to counterattack the junta' plotted bulletocracy-model.
Power crusaders must think about the approaches beyond the referendum and election on the processes of transitional regime. It is not an appropriate time to claim "VoteYes", "dialogue" and "national reconciliation". As an internal strategy it is time to focus on mass mobilization and emancipation theory to achieve regime change in Burma and, on international fronts, it is a strategically and essential to delegitimize the SPDC' political legitimacy and sovereignty.
Even though the regime has formulated this military dominated constitution to get "VoteYes", the mass mobilization and power of powerless can override a constitution proposal which has no room for human sovereignty or human dignity. The people of Burma are demanding genuine people freedom and political liberalization, not century long military hegemonization and bulletocracy. It is worth noting that General McArthur drafted the Japanese constitution within a week at his desk on a warship, and there is no written constitution in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Israel. It is significant that the international businessman and transoceanic investors are not interested in a regime run economy.
There are no economic incentives and interests for such multinational business firms in Burma due to the junta's poorly designed monetary and fiscal policy. Moreover, the Junta is losing leverage in their bargaining relations with multinational firms, because of Burma's low standard of transportation, out of date bureaucracy, poor communication infrastructure, and its notorious political image as a military dictatorship.
Both the military-driven-transitional style and the elite-driven- transition model ignore the significance of emancipation theory, the people participatory process and Neo-Gramscism in politics. What I would especially like to point to the Burma' Wuthering Height' elites, is that it is a time of human sovereignty, political freedom and human security, not "something is better than nothing" and "can't do" approaches.
Moreover, I would like to say to the Burma' Wuthering Height' elites that Burma is neither a talking-shop nor a business firm. Remember: the more educated you are, the more moral responsibility you have to society. You all have a moral responsibility to help the people of Burma get out from under this military oppression and build a knowledge-based society. Those who are modern intellectuals living in Burma or exile should not be a simply talkers, but must be directors and entrepreneurs who assist national-building, political liberalization, and society.
The mass mobilization and the emancipation approaches may take a long time and it will not happen overnight in Burma. Grand revolution and regime change, which occurred with the power of the people power and the power of powerless, have changed many modern histories and political landscapes in this world.
In order to stop the bulletocray and establish representative democracy, it is an essential agenda that to deliver 'can-do-minded', 'human sovereignty' to the people of Burma. Burma needs multidimensional disciplines and theory approaches for the democratization process.
Naing Ko Ko is a postgraduate scholarship student in the Department of Political Studies at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. He is a former political prisoner.
- Asian Tribune -
Burma's Referendum and Election Woes : Is there a way out for the opposition?
By Sai Wansai
April 15, 2008 - It shouldn't be a surprise for the Burmese military juntas exclusion or barring of Aung San Suu Kyi from participation in the forth-coming election, which is due to be held in 2010, following the constitutional referendum targeted in May of this year.
"The Fundamental Principles and Detailed Basic Principles", adopted by the National Convention, under chapter 3, The Head of State, sub-heading Qualifications of the President and Vice-Presidents states, The President of the Union himself, parents, spouse, children and their spouses shall not owe allegiance to a foreign power, shall not be subject of a foreign power or citizen of a foreign country.
They shall not be persons entitled to the rights and privileges of a subject or citizen of a foreign country. It further stresses in the same section, that The President of the Union shall be well acquainted with affairs of State such as political, administrative, economic and military affairs.
In other words, it is designed to exclude Aung San Suu Kyi for she wont be able to meet the qualifications stated in detailed basic principles by the junta.
It is not a secret that the junta is bent on monopolising the state power by all means and barring Aung San Suu Kyi from the electoral process becomes a necessity. And as an extension, obstructing her National League for Democracy (NLD), Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) and other vocal political parties from participation in the election are definitely in the juntas agenda. For they are considered undesirable, due to the commitment to genuine federalism and are against the military dominated, dictatorial rule. The NLD, together with SNLD and other ethnic political parties, garnered 98 percent of the vote and won a landslide nation-wide election in 1990. The junta-back National Unity Party (NUP) received only 2 percent vote.
From the junta perspective, this suppose to be an ideal solution to get rid of all political opposition for good and install or hand over political decision-making power to Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), which is its brainchild and functions as military-backed thugs to harass the opposition. Also there are indications to transform it to a full fledged political organisation to stand for election in 2010. This scenario would soon unfold, under the rubric of its so-called disciplined and flourishing democracy, which actually could only be termed as a military dominated rule.
This boils down to the point of what could the democratic opposition do to counter this juntas go-it-alone stance, which predictably would be endorsed by countries like China, India and most ASEAN states, perhaps with the exception of Indonesia and the Philippines, which are quite vocal against the juntas stalling tactics, undemocratic stance and heavy-handedness against the population and opposition.
Unfortunately, this junta's orchestral show is the only game in town, where the United Nations could get involve and also exert some influence, if there is ever a chance to change the hard-line attitude of the Burmese junta. The same is also true to the democratic opposition camp and the ethnic political and resistance groups. It goes without saying that it takes two to tango, but the junta is determined as ever to carry it out alone. Its logic is that the main opposition groups were invited to participate in the National Convention (NC), but had thrown away their chances and walked out of the ongoing process. Thus, it is not the juntas fault to have to continue it with available individuals and groups, which readily agree to go along with the junta. Little does it mention or admit to the public that almost all participants of the NC are hand-picked and actually are not allowed to deviate from juntas prescribed road map. With the few exception counter proposals from cease-fire group quarters and some vocal non-Burman ethnic groups, which however were rejected, the juntas draft constitution was programmed to be adopted.
The stage is now set for constitutional referendum in May, which is just three months away and peculiar enough, the public has still not seen the draft. Some Burma watchers reasoned that the junta might not be confident enough to publicise it immediately, for fear of international backlash and public scrutiny. The juntas blue print is known to be fatally flawed, when one goes through its publicised basic principles or guidelines for constitutional drafting.
Against this backdrop, the opposition in general have only two choices: One is to reject the constitutional referendum with no vote or totally boycott the process; and the other would be to demand, preferably through the UN General Secretary's good office and international mediators, for a more favourable political climate. This would include an unconditional release of all political prisoners, nation-wide cease-fire, and lifting of all restrictions imposed on existing political parties. If such an atmosphere could be negotiated, the reviewing of juntas constitutional draft leading to reasonable adjustment or amendment, in all-inclusive and open manners, could become a possibility, which will encompass the peoples aspiration in a wider sense. The draft will then be credible enough, at least, as an acceptable, transitional one and would be ready for referendum.
On Wednesday, the United States national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe urged the ruling junta to "start from scratch." He said, "That is - meaning: the barring of Aung San Suu Kyi from entering the election - hardly the definition of free and fair elections. The junta needs to start from scratch with a real draft constitution that actually passes the laugh test,"
Whether the junta would hold on to its hard-line position against all odds, coupled with such critical view and refuse to accommodate the call for democratic change or make sensible concession according to wish and aspiration of the people is anybodys guess.
Sai Wansai is the General Secretary of the Shan Democratic Union (SDU)
- Asian Tribune -
April 15, 2008 - It shouldn't be a surprise for the Burmese military juntas exclusion or barring of Aung San Suu Kyi from participation in the forth-coming election, which is due to be held in 2010, following the constitutional referendum targeted in May of this year.
"The Fundamental Principles and Detailed Basic Principles", adopted by the National Convention, under chapter 3, The Head of State, sub-heading Qualifications of the President and Vice-Presidents states, The President of the Union himself, parents, spouse, children and their spouses shall not owe allegiance to a foreign power, shall not be subject of a foreign power or citizen of a foreign country.
They shall not be persons entitled to the rights and privileges of a subject or citizen of a foreign country. It further stresses in the same section, that The President of the Union shall be well acquainted with affairs of State such as political, administrative, economic and military affairs.
In other words, it is designed to exclude Aung San Suu Kyi for she wont be able to meet the qualifications stated in detailed basic principles by the junta.
It is not a secret that the junta is bent on monopolising the state power by all means and barring Aung San Suu Kyi from the electoral process becomes a necessity. And as an extension, obstructing her National League for Democracy (NLD), Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) and other vocal political parties from participation in the election are definitely in the juntas agenda. For they are considered undesirable, due to the commitment to genuine federalism and are against the military dominated, dictatorial rule. The NLD, together with SNLD and other ethnic political parties, garnered 98 percent of the vote and won a landslide nation-wide election in 1990. The junta-back National Unity Party (NUP) received only 2 percent vote.
From the junta perspective, this suppose to be an ideal solution to get rid of all political opposition for good and install or hand over political decision-making power to Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), which is its brainchild and functions as military-backed thugs to harass the opposition. Also there are indications to transform it to a full fledged political organisation to stand for election in 2010. This scenario would soon unfold, under the rubric of its so-called disciplined and flourishing democracy, which actually could only be termed as a military dominated rule.
This boils down to the point of what could the democratic opposition do to counter this juntas go-it-alone stance, which predictably would be endorsed by countries like China, India and most ASEAN states, perhaps with the exception of Indonesia and the Philippines, which are quite vocal against the juntas stalling tactics, undemocratic stance and heavy-handedness against the population and opposition.
Unfortunately, this junta's orchestral show is the only game in town, where the United Nations could get involve and also exert some influence, if there is ever a chance to change the hard-line attitude of the Burmese junta. The same is also true to the democratic opposition camp and the ethnic political and resistance groups. It goes without saying that it takes two to tango, but the junta is determined as ever to carry it out alone. Its logic is that the main opposition groups were invited to participate in the National Convention (NC), but had thrown away their chances and walked out of the ongoing process. Thus, it is not the juntas fault to have to continue it with available individuals and groups, which readily agree to go along with the junta. Little does it mention or admit to the public that almost all participants of the NC are hand-picked and actually are not allowed to deviate from juntas prescribed road map. With the few exception counter proposals from cease-fire group quarters and some vocal non-Burman ethnic groups, which however were rejected, the juntas draft constitution was programmed to be adopted.
The stage is now set for constitutional referendum in May, which is just three months away and peculiar enough, the public has still not seen the draft. Some Burma watchers reasoned that the junta might not be confident enough to publicise it immediately, for fear of international backlash and public scrutiny. The juntas blue print is known to be fatally flawed, when one goes through its publicised basic principles or guidelines for constitutional drafting.
Against this backdrop, the opposition in general have only two choices: One is to reject the constitutional referendum with no vote or totally boycott the process; and the other would be to demand, preferably through the UN General Secretary's good office and international mediators, for a more favourable political climate. This would include an unconditional release of all political prisoners, nation-wide cease-fire, and lifting of all restrictions imposed on existing political parties. If such an atmosphere could be negotiated, the reviewing of juntas constitutional draft leading to reasonable adjustment or amendment, in all-inclusive and open manners, could become a possibility, which will encompass the peoples aspiration in a wider sense. The draft will then be credible enough, at least, as an acceptable, transitional one and would be ready for referendum.
On Wednesday, the United States national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe urged the ruling junta to "start from scratch." He said, "That is - meaning: the barring of Aung San Suu Kyi from entering the election - hardly the definition of free and fair elections. The junta needs to start from scratch with a real draft constitution that actually passes the laugh test,"
Whether the junta would hold on to its hard-line position against all odds, coupled with such critical view and refuse to accommodate the call for democratic change or make sensible concession according to wish and aspiration of the people is anybodys guess.
Sai Wansai is the General Secretary of the Shan Democratic Union (SDU)
- Asian Tribune -
U.N. rights expert calls Myanmar vote plan "surreal"
By David Brunnstrom
April 14, 2008 - BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A United Nations investigator dismissed Myanmar's plans for a May 10 constitutional referendum as "surreal" on Monday and said he saw no credible moves towards political transition in the military-ruled country.
"The government continues detaining people and repressing people who are trying to do some campaigning for a 'no' in the referendum," Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said in an interview.
Myanmar's main opposition party last week urged that there be international observers of the referendum and said people campaigning against a new, military-backed charter were being assaulted and their materials seized.
"How can you have a referendum when you make repression against those that are intending to say 'no'? This is completely surreal," Pinheiro, the U.N. special rapporteur on Myanmar, told Reuters.
Speaking in Brussels, Pinheiro said Myanmar had seen none of the liberalization of political transitions in Asia, Latin America, Eastern or Southern Europe.
"I don't see the most basic requirements," he said.
"If you say a real political transition process is taking place in Myanmar, this would be almost offensive to countries in Asia like the Philippines and Indonesia or Thailand that passed through a transition process to democracy."
Pinheiro, a Brazilian law professor who has held his independent post since 2000, will hand over to Argentine lawyer Tomas Ojea Quintana at the end of the month.
"GLOOMY"
He said there had been some progress in his time in gaining access for aid agencies, but his parting assessment would be "gloomy": "You don't have freedom of association, freedom of expression, freedom of organization, or functioning of parties."
"You cannot have a political transition if you keep almost 2,000 political prisoners and you continue the crackdown after the repression of the end of last year," he said.
Pinheiro said he had not been allowed a visa to return to Myanmar since a November visit and no response to requests for information on the whereabouts of 700 people missing since a crackdown on monk-led anti-government protests in September.
He estimated the number of people killed in that crackdown at least 31, against an official figure of 15.
The junta, which tightly controls Myanmar's media, has urged the country's 53 million people to back the charter, a key step in the military's seven-point "road map to democracy" meant to culminate in multiparty elections in 2010.
Pinheiro said the constitutional process could not be considered democratic given that all delegates of the constitutional assembly had been picked by the government.
He termed "a great mistake" provisions in the document excluding figures like detained Nobel Prize-winning opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the political process and retaining 25 percent of parliamentary seats for the military.
The charter, dismissed by Western critics as a ploy to entrench 46 years of army rule, also gives the commander in chief the right to suspend the constitution at will.
"I don't think the population knows what it will mean to vote 'yes' or 'no'," Pinheiro said, adding it would be a "very bad sign" if the junta did not accept international observers.
"I will end my mandate saying that this is not a democratic political transition," he said.
(Editing by Charles Dick)
April 14, 2008 - BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A United Nations investigator dismissed Myanmar's plans for a May 10 constitutional referendum as "surreal" on Monday and said he saw no credible moves towards political transition in the military-ruled country.
"The government continues detaining people and repressing people who are trying to do some campaigning for a 'no' in the referendum," Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said in an interview.
Myanmar's main opposition party last week urged that there be international observers of the referendum and said people campaigning against a new, military-backed charter were being assaulted and their materials seized.
"How can you have a referendum when you make repression against those that are intending to say 'no'? This is completely surreal," Pinheiro, the U.N. special rapporteur on Myanmar, told Reuters.
Speaking in Brussels, Pinheiro said Myanmar had seen none of the liberalization of political transitions in Asia, Latin America, Eastern or Southern Europe.
"I don't see the most basic requirements," he said.
"If you say a real political transition process is taking place in Myanmar, this would be almost offensive to countries in Asia like the Philippines and Indonesia or Thailand that passed through a transition process to democracy."
Pinheiro, a Brazilian law professor who has held his independent post since 2000, will hand over to Argentine lawyer Tomas Ojea Quintana at the end of the month.
"GLOOMY"
He said there had been some progress in his time in gaining access for aid agencies, but his parting assessment would be "gloomy": "You don't have freedom of association, freedom of expression, freedom of organization, or functioning of parties."
"You cannot have a political transition if you keep almost 2,000 political prisoners and you continue the crackdown after the repression of the end of last year," he said.
Pinheiro said he had not been allowed a visa to return to Myanmar since a November visit and no response to requests for information on the whereabouts of 700 people missing since a crackdown on monk-led anti-government protests in September.
He estimated the number of people killed in that crackdown at least 31, against an official figure of 15.
The junta, which tightly controls Myanmar's media, has urged the country's 53 million people to back the charter, a key step in the military's seven-point "road map to democracy" meant to culminate in multiparty elections in 2010.
Pinheiro said the constitutional process could not be considered democratic given that all delegates of the constitutional assembly had been picked by the government.
He termed "a great mistake" provisions in the document excluding figures like detained Nobel Prize-winning opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the political process and retaining 25 percent of parliamentary seats for the military.
The charter, dismissed by Western critics as a ploy to entrench 46 years of army rule, also gives the commander in chief the right to suspend the constitution at will.
"I don't think the population knows what it will mean to vote 'yes' or 'no'," Pinheiro said, adding it would be a "very bad sign" if the junta did not accept international observers.
"I will end my mandate saying that this is not a democratic political transition," he said.
(Editing by Charles Dick)
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