1990 Elections overview
Burma has been under totalitarian regimes since 1962 when General Ne Win staged a military coup. Since then, Burmese people are suffering very tremendously. Under General Ne Win’s one party Burma Socialist Programming Party, corruptions are rampant, and people are facing very hardship due to closed economics system and miss-management. In 1988 students led the mass uprising demanding for democracy, human rights and successfully managed to topple General Ne Win’s government after sacrificing thousands of lives. But, another military came to power on 18 September 1988 after gunned down peaceful demonstrators and declared to hold elections.
http://ping.fm/Wy8oE
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) : EU should call for UNSC to declare Burma junta’s sham constitution as NULL & VOID
http://ping.fm/6mJRs
http://ping.fm/6mJRs
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Junta Provides Details of First Election Law
RANGOON — Burma's ruling junta will appoint the commission that will have final say over the country's first elections in two decades, state-run newspapers announced Tuesday as the country's military rulers began unveiling the laws that will govern this year's balloting.
There are growing fears among pro-democracy groups that the election—a date for which has not been announced—will be weighted in favor of the military and its supporters, and the first of five election-related laws to be published is likely to increase that unease.
Residents of Rangoon listen to news on new election laws being broadcast by state-run radio as they sit at a pavement tea shop on March, 8. (Photo:AP)
The laws enacted Monday will set out the mechanisms and rules for the election and campaigning, and the conditions under which parties may participate. Details were to be released in the state-run media over the coming days.
The first explained was the Union Election Commission Law, signed by junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe. It stipulates that the junta will appoint a Union Election Commission with a minimum of five members including the chairman. Decisions of the body would be final.
Members, who cannot be members of political parties, must be persons "deemed prominent and reputable" by the junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council.
Burma's military government announced in early 2008 that elections would take place sometime in 2010. A 1990 election was won by the National League for Democracy party of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, but the military refused to hand over power.
The party of Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest until November, has not yet committed itself to taking part in the polls because it claims the new constitution of 2008 is unfair. It has clauses that would ensure that the military retains a controlling say in government and bars Suu Kyi from holding office.
The party has said the election laws will help it determine whether it will participate.
The remaining four laws are said to cover the polls for the Pyithu Hluttaw, or House of Representatives; the polls for the Amyotha Hluttaw, or House of Nationalities, the other house of parliament; the polls for Region and State parliaments; and the Political Parties Registration Law.
The national and regional legislatures will all include military personnel nominated by their commander in chief.
The 440-member House of Representatives will have 330 elected civilians and 110 military representatives; while the 224-member House of Nationalities will seat 168 elected candidates and 56 nominated by the military chief.
Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years. The Supreme Court last month dismissed her latest appeal for freedom. She was convicted last August of violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside home, and sentenced to a term of house arrest to end this November.
The sentence was seen as a ploy to effectively keep Suu Kyi locked up during any election campaign.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment Monday that Suu Kyi's appeal was rejected, adding that the legitimacy of the elections rests on the freedom of political prisoners.
"Most importantly, all the political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, should be released as soon as possible, so that all of them can take part in elections," Ban said.
Ban said he wrote Than Shwe about 10 days ago "first of all expressing my concern about the lack of progress and also emphasizing the importance of the election ... to be (held in) a most credible, inclusive and transparent manner."
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=17986
There are growing fears among pro-democracy groups that the election—a date for which has not been announced—will be weighted in favor of the military and its supporters, and the first of five election-related laws to be published is likely to increase that unease.
Residents of Rangoon listen to news on new election laws being broadcast by state-run radio as they sit at a pavement tea shop on March, 8. (Photo:AP)
The laws enacted Monday will set out the mechanisms and rules for the election and campaigning, and the conditions under which parties may participate. Details were to be released in the state-run media over the coming days.
The first explained was the Union Election Commission Law, signed by junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe. It stipulates that the junta will appoint a Union Election Commission with a minimum of five members including the chairman. Decisions of the body would be final.
Members, who cannot be members of political parties, must be persons "deemed prominent and reputable" by the junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council.
Burma's military government announced in early 2008 that elections would take place sometime in 2010. A 1990 election was won by the National League for Democracy party of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, but the military refused to hand over power.
The party of Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest until November, has not yet committed itself to taking part in the polls because it claims the new constitution of 2008 is unfair. It has clauses that would ensure that the military retains a controlling say in government and bars Suu Kyi from holding office.
The party has said the election laws will help it determine whether it will participate.
The remaining four laws are said to cover the polls for the Pyithu Hluttaw, or House of Representatives; the polls for the Amyotha Hluttaw, or House of Nationalities, the other house of parliament; the polls for Region and State parliaments; and the Political Parties Registration Law.
The national and regional legislatures will all include military personnel nominated by their commander in chief.
The 440-member House of Representatives will have 330 elected civilians and 110 military representatives; while the 224-member House of Nationalities will seat 168 elected candidates and 56 nominated by the military chief.
Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years. The Supreme Court last month dismissed her latest appeal for freedom. She was convicted last August of violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside home, and sentenced to a term of house arrest to end this November.
The sentence was seen as a ploy to effectively keep Suu Kyi locked up during any election campaign.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment Monday that Suu Kyi's appeal was rejected, adding that the legitimacy of the elections rests on the freedom of political prisoners.
"Most importantly, all the political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, should be released as soon as possible, so that all of them can take part in elections," Ban said.
Ban said he wrote Than Shwe about 10 days ago "first of all expressing my concern about the lack of progress and also emphasizing the importance of the election ... to be (held in) a most credible, inclusive and transparent manner."
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=17986
Saturday, 6 March 2010
American policy on burma needs sharper teeth
Apart from urging the junta to hold free, fair elections, the world should also keep it away from North Korea
After the initial four high-level contacts with the Burmese junta since last August, the US administration has been trying hard to engage the junta for two major reasons.
http://ping.fm/03i30
Apart from urging the junta to hold free, fair elections, the world should also keep it away from North Korea
After the initial four high-level contacts with the Burmese junta since last August, the US administration has been trying hard to engage the junta for two major reasons.
http://ping.fm/03i30
American policy on burma needs sharper teeth
Apart from urging the junta to hold free, fair elections, the world should also keep it away from North Korea
After the initial four high-level contacts with the Burmese junta since last August, the US administration has been trying hard to engage the junta for two major reasons.
The first is to convince Burma that it would be in the country's as well as the regime's interest to hold an all-inclusive, free and fair election this year. The second, and an equally important, reason is to create a distance between the Burmese and North Korean regimes in terms of the sale of weapons and nuclear arms proliferation.
Washington believed its enthusiastic, softer approach would convince the junta that the planned elections should be carried out in a manner that is internationally acceptable and one that would help the regime join the global community.
So far, the regime has not yet set a date for the elections or given the world a peek at any electoral laws. It is clear that the enthusiasm for the elections is quickly evaporating, if not disappearing, within the administration. The junta has its own roadmap to follow and will certainly not pay attention to the guidelines being suggested by well-wishers in other capitals.
The irony of it all is that the junta is managing to successfully buy time to maximise on the outcome of its grand political strategy - staying in power at all costs without ever giving in. Most importantly, the junta leaders want to keep opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi away from all political activities prior to the elections. Her party won the elections in May 1990 by a landslide, but the regime annulled the victory and took over.
Therefore, it is commendable that women like Nobel Peace laureates Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams, along with other well-known human rights activists, are working to highlight the extreme violence being inflicted on women living in Burma. Their call to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court should be supported because in the past two decades, the Burmese junta has committed lots of crimes against humanity, not to mention innocent people being raped and tortured. In fact, the junta is known for using rape as a weapon of war against minorities. Thus, the international community should join hands and work towards the noble aim of ensuring safety and freedom for all people.
As for the second objective, Washington also has so far been unable to distance the two rogue states that have not only normalised their relations, but have over the past few years intensified their cooperation on military hardware.
The Burmese junta wants the kind of lethal weapons from North Korea that will allow it to project its military might on neighbouring countries. The reports on Rangoon's efforts to become nuclear capable should be taken seriously, though at this moment it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for Burma to develop such capacity.
However, in say 10 to 15 years, Burma can very easily build up its nuclear capacity with assistance from other rogue states that are willing to sell their technology and know-how. Like many other new, nuclear-ready states, such as Iran, the governments in power know exactly how to hide their burgeoning nuclear facilities. The world, especially Thailand, should watch out and not be fooled by the junta.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Kurt Campbell will be in Thailand next week, and might drop by in Burma if his planned itinerary is approved. If given the go-ahead, perhaps he will use this visit as an opportunity to tell the junta that time is running out and that it should stop dragging its feet in opening the door to democracy.
After the initial four high-level contacts with the Burmese junta since last August, the US administration has been trying hard to engage the junta for two major reasons.
The first is to convince Burma that it would be in the country's as well as the regime's interest to hold an all-inclusive, free and fair election this year. The second, and an equally important, reason is to create a distance between the Burmese and North Korean regimes in terms of the sale of weapons and nuclear arms proliferation.
Washington believed its enthusiastic, softer approach would convince the junta that the planned elections should be carried out in a manner that is internationally acceptable and one that would help the regime join the global community.
So far, the regime has not yet set a date for the elections or given the world a peek at any electoral laws. It is clear that the enthusiasm for the elections is quickly evaporating, if not disappearing, within the administration. The junta has its own roadmap to follow and will certainly not pay attention to the guidelines being suggested by well-wishers in other capitals.
The irony of it all is that the junta is managing to successfully buy time to maximise on the outcome of its grand political strategy - staying in power at all costs without ever giving in. Most importantly, the junta leaders want to keep opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi away from all political activities prior to the elections. Her party won the elections in May 1990 by a landslide, but the regime annulled the victory and took over.
Therefore, it is commendable that women like Nobel Peace laureates Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams, along with other well-known human rights activists, are working to highlight the extreme violence being inflicted on women living in Burma. Their call to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court should be supported because in the past two decades, the Burmese junta has committed lots of crimes against humanity, not to mention innocent people being raped and tortured. In fact, the junta is known for using rape as a weapon of war against minorities. Thus, the international community should join hands and work towards the noble aim of ensuring safety and freedom for all people.
As for the second objective, Washington also has so far been unable to distance the two rogue states that have not only normalised their relations, but have over the past few years intensified their cooperation on military hardware.
The Burmese junta wants the kind of lethal weapons from North Korea that will allow it to project its military might on neighbouring countries. The reports on Rangoon's efforts to become nuclear capable should be taken seriously, though at this moment it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for Burma to develop such capacity.
However, in say 10 to 15 years, Burma can very easily build up its nuclear capacity with assistance from other rogue states that are willing to sell their technology and know-how. Like many other new, nuclear-ready states, such as Iran, the governments in power know exactly how to hide their burgeoning nuclear facilities. The world, especially Thailand, should watch out and not be fooled by the junta.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Kurt Campbell will be in Thailand next week, and might drop by in Burma if his planned itinerary is approved. If given the go-ahead, perhaps he will use this visit as an opportunity to tell the junta that time is running out and that it should stop dragging its feet in opening the door to democracy.
Friday, 5 March 2010
The Export-Import Bank of Thailand will open talks with the government on whether its four billion baht low inteerst loan to the Burmese government should be reviewed, Deputy Finance Minister Pruektichai Damrongrut says.
Pruektichai: Talks to start this week
Mr Pruektichai would consult Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij and Exim Bank's legal team this week.
The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on Friday ruled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra had abused his authority with the Exim Bank loan to Burma.
Mr Pruektichai did not say how the bank would review the contract.
http://ping.fm/RuJJE
Pruektichai: Talks to start this week
Mr Pruektichai would consult Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij and Exim Bank's legal team this week.
The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on Friday ruled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra had abused his authority with the Exim Bank loan to Burma.
Mr Pruektichai did not say how the bank would review the contract.
http://ping.fm/RuJJE
Exim Bank reassesses loan to Burma
The Export-Import Bank of Thailand will open talks with the government on whether its four billion baht low inteerst loan to the Burmese government should be reviewed, Deputy Finance Minister Pruektichai Damrongrut says.
Pruektichai: Talks to start this week
Mr Pruektichai would consult Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij and Exim Bank's legal team this week.
The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on Friday ruled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra had abused his authority with the Exim Bank loan to Burma.
Mr Pruektichai did not say how the bank would review the contract.
Exim Bank president Apichai Boontherawara said the bank would also assess the possible damage resulting from the contract before forwarding it to the finance minister. But he insisted the Burmese government was a good client which made regular repayments.
Exim Bank's soft loan to the Burmese government was one of five cases in which the Supreme Court ruled Thaksin abused his authority as prime minister.
The bank lent 4 billion baht to the Burmese government for 12 years at 3% interest, which is below its operating costs.
The Supreme Court said lending at an interest rate which was below the bank's operating cost was not an objective of the bank's establishment. The court estimated that lending at 3% over 12 years would cost the bank 670 million baht in damages.
Mr Apichai insisted the bank did not lose money from the lending, but said it would have to study the ruling thoroughly.
The court also ruled that Shin Satellite, a company in which members of the Shinawatra family were majority shareholders, benefited from the loan.
Burma spent it on buying telecommunications equipment and satellite services from Shin Satellite, better known now as Thaicom.
The court found the bank approved the 4 billion baht loan to Burma following an instruction by the Thaksin government.
Initially, it had opened a credit line of 3 billion baht for Burma, but Thaksin asked the bank to increase the credit line by one billion baht. After that, the interest rate on the loan was cut from 5.5% to 3%.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/33889/exim-bank-reassesses-loan-to-burma
Pruektichai: Talks to start this week
Mr Pruektichai would consult Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij and Exim Bank's legal team this week.
The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on Friday ruled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra had abused his authority with the Exim Bank loan to Burma.
Mr Pruektichai did not say how the bank would review the contract.
Exim Bank president Apichai Boontherawara said the bank would also assess the possible damage resulting from the contract before forwarding it to the finance minister. But he insisted the Burmese government was a good client which made regular repayments.
Exim Bank's soft loan to the Burmese government was one of five cases in which the Supreme Court ruled Thaksin abused his authority as prime minister.
The bank lent 4 billion baht to the Burmese government for 12 years at 3% interest, which is below its operating costs.
The Supreme Court said lending at an interest rate which was below the bank's operating cost was not an objective of the bank's establishment. The court estimated that lending at 3% over 12 years would cost the bank 670 million baht in damages.
Mr Apichai insisted the bank did not lose money from the lending, but said it would have to study the ruling thoroughly.
The court also ruled that Shin Satellite, a company in which members of the Shinawatra family were majority shareholders, benefited from the loan.
Burma spent it on buying telecommunications equipment and satellite services from Shin Satellite, better known now as Thaicom.
The court found the bank approved the 4 billion baht loan to Burma following an instruction by the Thaksin government.
Initially, it had opened a credit line of 3 billion baht for Burma, but Thaksin asked the bank to increase the credit line by one billion baht. After that, the interest rate on the loan was cut from 5.5% to 3%.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/33889/exim-bank-reassesses-loan-to-burma
This is my witness
Until 1988, Saw Mar was a housewife in her home country of Burma. Born into a well-educated, middle-class family in Rangoon, she spent her time looking after her two daughters, cleaning the house, and cooking for her husband. She had never worked for a living. But on a rainy morning in August, she witnessed a massacre by army troopers, and decided to join the fight to replace the military government. She became the Organizer for the National League for Democracy, working closely with the party’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi. One year later, Saw Mar was arrested, interrogated and sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour. In prison, she witnessed disturbing abuses of power, and was herself tortured by prison guards.
http://ping.fm/4i0BH
http://ping.fm/4i0BH
This is my witness
Until 1988, Saw Mar was a housewife in her home country of Burma. Born into a well-educated, middle-class family in Rangoon, she spent her time looking after her two daughters, cleaning the house, and cooking for her husband. She had never worked for a living. But on a rainy morning in August, she witnessed a massacre by army troopers, and decided to join the fight to replace the military government. She became the Organizer for the National League for Democracy, working closely with the party’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi. One year later, Saw Mar was arrested, interrogated and sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour. In prison, she witnessed disturbing abuses of power, and was herself tortured by prison guards.
http://ping.fm/KZOVl
Until 1988, Saw Mar was a housewife in her home country of Burma. Born into a well-educated, middle-class family in Rangoon, she spent her time looking after her two daughters, cleaning the house, and cooking for her husband. She had never worked for a living. But on a rainy morning in August, she witnessed a massacre by army troopers, and decided to join the fight to replace the military government. She became the Organizer for the National League for Democracy, working closely with the party’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi. One year later, Saw Mar was arrested, interrogated and sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour. In prison, she witnessed disturbing abuses of power, and was herself tortured by prison guards.
http://ping.fm/KZOVl
Exim Bank reassesses loan to Burma
The Export-Import Bank of Thailand will open talks with the government on whether its four billion baht low inteerst loan to the Burmese government should be reviewed, Deputy Finance Minister Pruektichai Damrongrut says.
Pruektichai: Talks to start this week
Mr Pruektichai would consult Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij and Exim Bank's legal team this week.
The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on Friday ruled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra had abused his authority with the Exim Bank loan to Burma.
Mr Pruektichai did not say how the bank would review the contract.
Exim Bank president Apichai Boontherawara said the bank would also assess the possible damage resulting from the contract before forwarding it to the finance minister. But he insisted the Burmese government was a good client which made regular repayments.
http://ping.fm/ibKSD
The Export-Import Bank of Thailand will open talks with the government on whether its four billion baht low inteerst loan to the Burmese government should be reviewed, Deputy Finance Minister Pruektichai Damrongrut says.
Pruektichai: Talks to start this week
Mr Pruektichai would consult Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij and Exim Bank's legal team this week.
The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on Friday ruled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra had abused his authority with the Exim Bank loan to Burma.
Mr Pruektichai did not say how the bank would review the contract.
Exim Bank president Apichai Boontherawara said the bank would also assess the possible damage resulting from the contract before forwarding it to the finance minister. But he insisted the Burmese government was a good client which made regular repayments.
http://ping.fm/ibKSD
Letter to NLD from U Thi Ha Tint Swe- (Patron of B.D.C )
Attn;
National League for Democracy(N.L.D)
Excellence sir;
We shall have to welcome warmly N.L.D's party-reconstruction with 100.members on 3rd,march,2010 because after dis-organization of over 200-parties in1990,N.L.D became the main party of opposited forces, anti-military detectorship system to get Burma's democracy- human rights-reconcilation and it could win 90-national peoples' election and so,Junta regimes oppressed,damaged,sentenced & killed extremly N.L.D with our democratic forces and so, it was very weak and finaly! only head-quarter office remained at shwegonedaing,Rangoon,Burma and so, some joked it as Shwegonedaing party.
After our released from Myaungmya prison on 1st,March,2002, Daw Aung Sann Su Kyi too.At that moment,we saw Daw Aung Sann Su Kyi & U Tin Oo were seen back at the openning ceremony of N.L.D, Kamayut Tsp.In it,she told us that women strongly difficultly tried to get democracy long time while men's political prisoners' life at prisons and now, men are on time to take of natinonal democratic duties and they started to uprise N.L.D's signed boards with National peoples' forces and she had to try to unity her party but it was broken badly by group-struggles on the power & places and so, she had to talk finally her party to disorganize if disunity on the power & places.
At that moment,we consulted her party to reconstruct quickly on all national peoples' desires & historical knowledges according to the slogan-" Serve the peoples and by the peoples"- and so, U Tin Oo & Daw Su started to organize all nations-peopls as the hole Burma's trips. Before their trips,we got very important news,may be assisnated by military-hard line group and so, informed on time to N.L.D. Although their trips were smoothly early but finally! were voilent-attacked & killed at Kyitaungkan village,Depaeyim Tsp,Sakiang Division on may,2003 and so, over one hundred members were voilent- beaten & killed by SPDC's Kyaintphwint & Swinaershim forces.At that moment,my old worker,Saw Htun with Kachin longi & white shirt arrived at my home and he told me that also General Than Shwe is the patriotic leader as Daw Aung Sann Su Kyi and amazined & saw him beside a military intelligent as the money salaved backbone on alchohalic and so, we could surely commit Depaeyim assisnation by Bo Than Shwe's Swanaershim forces according to my witeness & preassisnated news and then U Tin Oo & Daw Su were arrested by SPDC.One day! some youth of NLD,Kamayut Tsp came to bring me to meet Daw Su at Asia TawWin hospital and I with Ko Khin Mg Win,Director of B.D.C,U.S.A went to see Daw Su,unable to talk us at the top of Asia TawWin and then D.r Tin Myo Win welcome us and pressconferenced in front of it and then sent back Daw Su to her home as house arrest and then NLD's activity was wordless back and so,we tried to release Daw Su & all political prisoners as U Win Tin's SU-HLUT-TWAE policy because all political leaders were arrested & sentenced and some had to flee to third countries through librated aeras and so, our democratic forces were divided, crushed & damaged and then Saffarron revolution became on 27th,Sept,2007 as 8888-movement but it was damaged because All burma's workers & peasants couldn't participate in it and our activities had to become as Tiger's eating when deer's born policy.
Now, U Win Tin & U Tin Oo have reconstructed NLD on Shwegonedaing declearation and we shall have to recognize it as the main key of precondition of democratic atmospheres in 2010 because if our front party couldn't solid & strenth,we cann't struggle to get demo-human rights-reconcilation and so,we should warmly welcome it with global democratic forces.
thanking you in anticipation;
best regard;
(UThi Ha Tint Swe)
Patron for B.D.C,wasington,U.S.A.Ph;(509)5823261.
X-secretary general of Natinoal Politic Front (N.P.F,Reg.No.120(88/89).
National League for Democracy(N.L.D)
Excellence sir;
We shall have to welcome warmly N.L.D's party-reconstruction with 100.members on 3rd,march,2010 because after dis-organization of over 200-parties in1990,N.L.D became the main party of opposited forces, anti-military detectorship system to get Burma's democracy- human rights-reconcilation and it could win 90-national peoples' election and so,Junta regimes oppressed,damaged,sentenced & killed extremly N.L.D with our democratic forces and so, it was very weak and finaly! only head-quarter office remained at shwegonedaing,Rangoon,Burma and so, some joked it as Shwegonedaing party.
After our released from Myaungmya prison on 1st,March,2002, Daw Aung Sann Su Kyi too.At that moment,we saw Daw Aung Sann Su Kyi & U Tin Oo were seen back at the openning ceremony of N.L.D, Kamayut Tsp.In it,she told us that women strongly difficultly tried to get democracy long time while men's political prisoners' life at prisons and now, men are on time to take of natinonal democratic duties and they started to uprise N.L.D's signed boards with National peoples' forces and she had to try to unity her party but it was broken badly by group-struggles on the power & places and so, she had to talk finally her party to disorganize if disunity on the power & places.
At that moment,we consulted her party to reconstruct quickly on all national peoples' desires & historical knowledges according to the slogan-" Serve the peoples and by the peoples"- and so, U Tin Oo & Daw Su started to organize all nations-peopls as the hole Burma's trips. Before their trips,we got very important news,may be assisnated by military-hard line group and so, informed on time to N.L.D. Although their trips were smoothly early but finally! were voilent-attacked & killed at Kyitaungkan village,Depaeyim Tsp,Sakiang Division on may,2003 and so, over one hundred members were voilent- beaten & killed by SPDC's Kyaintphwint & Swinaershim forces.At that moment,my old worker,Saw Htun with Kachin longi & white shirt arrived at my home and he told me that also General Than Shwe is the patriotic leader as Daw Aung Sann Su Kyi and amazined & saw him beside a military intelligent as the money salaved backbone on alchohalic and so, we could surely commit Depaeyim assisnation by Bo Than Shwe's Swanaershim forces according to my witeness & preassisnated news and then U Tin Oo & Daw Su were arrested by SPDC.One day! some youth of NLD,Kamayut Tsp came to bring me to meet Daw Su at Asia TawWin hospital and I with Ko Khin Mg Win,Director of B.D.C,U.S.A went to see Daw Su,unable to talk us at the top of Asia TawWin and then D.r Tin Myo Win welcome us and pressconferenced in front of it and then sent back Daw Su to her home as house arrest and then NLD's activity was wordless back and so,we tried to release Daw Su & all political prisoners as U Win Tin's SU-HLUT-TWAE policy because all political leaders were arrested & sentenced and some had to flee to third countries through librated aeras and so, our democratic forces were divided, crushed & damaged and then Saffarron revolution became on 27th,Sept,2007 as 8888-movement but it was damaged because All burma's workers & peasants couldn't participate in it and our activities had to become as Tiger's eating when deer's born policy.
Now, U Win Tin & U Tin Oo have reconstructed NLD on Shwegonedaing declearation and we shall have to recognize it as the main key of precondition of democratic atmospheres in 2010 because if our front party couldn't solid & strenth,we cann't struggle to get demo-human rights-reconcilation and so,we should warmly welcome it with global democratic forces.
thanking you in anticipation;
best regard;
(UThi Ha Tint Swe)
Patron for B.D.C,wasington,U.S.A.Ph;(509)5823261.
X-secretary general of Natinoal Politic Front (N.P.F,Reg.No.120(88/89).
လယ္သမားနွင့္ မိ စၦာေကာင္
တစ္ခါက မိစၦာအိုတစ္ေကာင္သည္ လူ႔ျပည္တြင္ လူအမ်ား စိတ္လက္ခ်မ္းသာ
ရွိသည္ကို မနာလို ျဖစ္ေနသည္။ “ျငိမ္းခ်မ္းေနတဲ့ လူေတြကို သြားေရာက္
ေနွာင့္ယွက္ဦးမယ္။ နို႔မဟုတ္ရင္ ငါတို႔ဟာ မိစၦာေကာင္ မပီသေတာ့ဘူး”
ဟုေတြးမိသည္။ ထို႔ေနာက္ မိစၦာငယ္ တစ္ေကာင္အား ေခၚျပီး လယ္သမားတစ္ဦးကို
သြားေရာက္ ေနွာင့္ယုက္ေစသည္။ ထိုလယ္သမားမွာ ေန႔တိုင္းပင္ပန္းဆင္းရဲစြာ
လယ္လုပ္ေသာသူျဖစ္သည္။ ၀င္ေငြမွာ အနည္းငယ္သာ ရေသာ္လည္းရသမွ်နွင့္
တင္းတိိမ္ျပီး ဘ၀တြင္ေပ်ာ္ရႊင္ ျငိမ္းခ်မ္းစြာ ေနေသာသူ ျဖစ္သည္။
မိစၦာေကာင္မွာ ထိုလယ္သမား အက်ဳိးပ်က္စီးေအာင္ စတင္ ေနွာင့္ယွက္ေလသည္။
လယ္သမား မထြန္ယက္နိုင္ေအာင္ ေျမၾကီးကို မာေအာင္လုပ္လိုက္သည္။ လယ္သမားမွာ
လယ္မ်ားကို ခက္ခဲပင္ပန္းစြာ ထြန္ယက္ေနေသာ္လည္း ညည္းညဴျခင္း မရွိခဲ့ေပ။
မိစၦာေကာင္မွာ ေနွာင့္ယွက္ရာတြင္ မေအာင္ျမင္သျဖင့္ လက္လြတ္လိုက္သည္။
မိစၦာအိုမွာ ဒုတိယ မိစၦာေကာင္ကို လြတ္ျပီး ေနွာင့္ယွက္ေစျပန္သည္။ ဒုတိယ
မိစၦၦာေကာင္မွာ လယ္သမားသည္ မည္မွ် ဆင္းရဲပင္ပန္းစြာ လုပ္ေသာ္လည္း
ညည္းညဴျခင္းမရွိ ဘ၀တြင္ ေပ်ာ္ေနသည္။ သူ႔အား ပင္ပန္းေအာင္ ထပ္ မလုပ္ဘဲ
သူ၏အစာမ်ားကို ယူမည္ဟု စဥ္းစားမိသည္။ ထိုေနာက္ လယ္သမား၏ အစာမ်ားကို
ခိုးယူ စားသံုးေလသည္။ လယ္သမားသည္ ေမာေမာပန္းပန္းနွင့္ ဆာေလာင္ျပီး
အလုပ္မွ ျပန္လာေသာအခါ အစာမ်ားမေတြ႔ေတာ့ေပ။ “ဘယ္ကသနားစရာလူပါလိမ့္၊ အစာေတြ
ငါ့ထက္ ပိုလိုအပ္လို႔ ျဖစ္လိမ့္မယ္။ အဲဒီ အစာေတြနဲ႔ သူ၀လင့္ပါေစ”ဟု
ၾကင္နာစြာ ေရရြတ္ေလသည္။
လယ္သမားကို ပ်က္စီးေအာင္ နည္းလမ္း မရွိေတာ့ဘူးလား ဟု မိစၦာအိုမွာ
အံၾသေနသည္။ တတိယ မိစၦာေကာင္တစ္ေကာင္မွာ လယ္သမားကို ပ်က္စီးေအာင္
လုပ္နိုင္ေၾကာင္း မိစၦာအိုအား ေျပာသည္။
မိစၦာငယ္မွာ လယ္သမားနွင့္ မိတ္ေဆြျဖစ္ေအာင္ အရင္ၾကိဳးစားသည္။ နိမိတ္
ၾကိဳဖတ္တတ္ေသာ မိစၦာငယ္မွာ လယ္သမားအား ေနာင္နွစ္တြင္ မိုးေခါင္နိုင္သည္။
ေရကိုသိုေလွာင္သင့္သည္ဟု ၾကိဳတင္ သတိေပးေလသည္။ လယ္သမားလည္း မိစၦာငယ္
စကားအတိုင္း လုပ္ေဆာင္ရာ အျခားသူမ်ားထက္ စပါးအထြက္ႏႈန္း ေကာင္းခဲ့သည္။
မိစၦာေကာင္မွာ လယ္သမားအား ယခုနွစ္တြင္ ဘာစိုက္ပ်ဳိးသင့္သည္၊
ဘာလုပ္သင့္သည္ ဆိုသည္ကို အျမဲ အၾကံေပးေလသည္။ သုိ႔နွင့္ သံုးနွစ္လြန္ေသာ္
လယ္သမားမွာ ဥစၥာပစၥည္း ၾကြယ္၀ခ်မ္းသာ လာသည္။ မိစၦာငယ္မွာ လယ္သမားအား
ဆန္စပါးျဖင့္ အရက္ခ်က္နည္းကို သင္ျပျပီး ေရာင္းေစသည္။ ေငြေၾကးပိုမို
ရရွိသျဖင့္ လယ္သမားမွာ လယ္ဆက္ မလုပ္ေတာ့ဘဲ အေရာင္းအ၀ယ္ျဖင့္
စီးပြားရွာခဲ့သည္။
လယ္သမားမွာ ဥစၥာပစၥည္း ၾကြယ္၀ခ်မ္းသာ လာသည္နွင့္အမွ် အစားအေသာက္ပါ
ဖက္လာသည္။ ညစဥ္ညတိုင္း အေပါင္းအေဖာ္မ်ားနွင့္ ေပ်ာ္ပဲြမ်ား က်င္းပၾကသည္။
တစ္ညေနတြင္ လယ္သမားအိမ္တြင္ ညစာစားပဲြ က်င္းပေလသည္။ မိစၦာငယ္မွာ
မိစၦာအိုအားေခၚ၍
“ကြ်န္ေတာ္ေနွာင့္ယွက္ထားလို႔ လယ္သမားဟာ တေျဖးေျဖး ပ်က္စီးလာျပီဆိုတာကို
ျပပါ့မယ္” ဟု ဆိုသည္။ ညစာစားပဲြတြင္ လယ္သမားသည္ သူေ႒း
အေပါင္းအေဖာ္မ်ားနွင့္ အေကာင္းဆံုး အစားအစာ၊ အေကာင္းဆံုး အရက္မ်ားျဖင့္
ေပ်ာ္ပါးစားေသာက္ၾကသည္။ ေသရည္ေသစာမ်ားကို အလာဟသ ျဖဳန္းတီးၾကသည္။
ထိုအခ်ိန္တြင္ အရက္ခြက္မ်ား ကိုင္ထားေသာ အေစအပါး တစ္ေယာက္က မေတာ္တဆ
လွဲက်ေလသည္။ အေစအပါးမွာ ဆာေလာင္လြန္းေသာေၾကာင့္ မူးလဲသြားျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။
လယ္သမားမွာ ညစာ စားပဲြမျပီးမခ်င္း အစာ မေကြ်းနိုင္ဟု
ဆူပူၾကိမ္းေမာင္းေလသည္။
“လယ္သမားမွာ အၾကင္နာတရားလည္း မရွိေတာ့ဘူး” မိစၦာငယ္က ဆိုသည္။
မိစၦာအိုမွာ ၀မ္းေျမာက္စြာျဖင့္ “ဘာလိုလုပ္လိုက္သလဲ”
“သူလိုအပ္တာထက္ ပိုေပးလိုက္မိတာပါပဲ။ ဒါမွ ရွိေနတဲ့ သူရဲ႔ေလာဘနဲ႔
အတၲကိုအေကာင္ အထည္ ေဖာ္လိုရ မွာ”
စိတ္ေျပာင္းလဲေသာ္ သေဘာထားလိုက္ေျပာင္းလဲသည္။
သေဘာထားေျပာင္းလဲေသာ္ အျပဳအမႈလိုက္ေျပာင္းလဲသည္။
အျပဳအမႈ ေျပာင္းလဲေသာ္ အက်င့္စာရိတ္လိုက္ေျပာင္းလဲသည္။
မွုရင္း စာေရးသူ - Leo Tolstoy
ေရးသားသူ....... ႏုိင္းႏုိင္းစေန
တစ္ခါက မိစၦာအိုတစ္ေကာင္သည္ လူ႔ျပည္တြင္ လူအမ်ား စိတ္လက္ခ်မ္းသာ
ရွိသည္ကို မနာလို ျဖစ္ေနသည္။ “ျငိမ္းခ်မ္းေနတဲ့ လူေတြကို သြားေရာက္
ေနွာင့္ယွက္ဦးမယ္။ နို႔မဟုတ္ရင္ ငါတို႔ဟာ မိစၦာေကာင္ မပီသေတာ့ဘူး”
ဟုေတြးမိသည္။ ထို႔ေနာက္ မိစၦာငယ္ တစ္ေကာင္အား ေခၚျပီး လယ္သမားတစ္ဦးကို
သြားေရာက္ ေနွာင့္ယုက္ေစသည္။ ထိုလယ္သမားမွာ ေန႔တိုင္းပင္ပန္းဆင္းရဲစြာ
လယ္လုပ္ေသာသူျဖစ္သည္။ ၀င္ေငြမွာ အနည္းငယ္သာ ရေသာ္လည္းရသမွ်နွင့္
တင္းတိိမ္ျပီး ဘ၀တြင္ေပ်ာ္ရႊင္ ျငိမ္းခ်မ္းစြာ ေနေသာသူ ျဖစ္သည္။
မိစၦာေကာင္မွာ ထိုလယ္သမား အက်ဳိးပ်က္စီးေအာင္ စတင္ ေနွာင့္ယွက္ေလသည္။
လယ္သမား မထြန္ယက္နိုင္ေအာင္ ေျမၾကီးကို မာေအာင္လုပ္လိုက္သည္။ လယ္သမားမွာ
လယ္မ်ားကို ခက္ခဲပင္ပန္းစြာ ထြန္ယက္ေနေသာ္လည္း ညည္းညဴျခင္း မရွိခဲ့ေပ။
မိစၦာေကာင္မွာ ေနွာင့္ယွက္ရာတြင္ မေအာင္ျမင္သျဖင့္ လက္လြတ္လိုက္သည္။
မိစၦာအိုမွာ ဒုတိယ မိစၦာေကာင္ကို လြတ္ျပီး ေနွာင့္ယွက္ေစျပန္သည္။ ဒုတိယ
မိစၦၦာေကာင္မွာ လယ္သမားသည္ မည္မွ် ဆင္းရဲပင္ပန္းစြာ လုပ္ေသာ္လည္း
ညည္းညဴျခင္းမရွိ ဘ၀တြင္ ေပ်ာ္ေနသည္။ သူ႔အား ပင္ပန္းေအာင္ ထပ္ မလုပ္ဘဲ
သူ၏အစာမ်ားကို ယူမည္ဟု စဥ္းစားမိသည္။ ထိုေနာက္ လယ္သမား၏ အစာမ်ားကို
ခိုးယူ စားသံုးေလသည္။ လယ္သမားသည္ ေမာေမာပန္းပန္းနွင့္ ဆာေလာင္ျပီး
အလုပ္မွ ျပန္လာေသာအခါ အစာမ်ားမေတြ႔ေတာ့ေပ။ “ဘယ္ကသနားစရာလူပါလိမ့္၊ အစာေတြ
ငါ့ထက္ ပိုလိုအပ္လို႔ ျဖစ္လိမ့္မယ္။ အဲဒီ အစာေတြနဲ႔ သူ၀လင့္ပါေစ”ဟု
ၾကင္နာစြာ ေရရြတ္ေလသည္။
လယ္သမားကို ပ်က္စီးေအာင္ နည္းလမ္း မရွိေတာ့ဘူးလား ဟု မိစၦာအိုမွာ
အံၾသေနသည္။ တတိယ မိစၦာေကာင္တစ္ေကာင္မွာ လယ္သမားကို ပ်က္စီးေအာင္
လုပ္နိုင္ေၾကာင္း မိစၦာအိုအား ေျပာသည္။
မိစၦာငယ္မွာ လယ္သမားနွင့္ မိတ္ေဆြျဖစ္ေအာင္ အရင္ၾကိဳးစားသည္။ နိမိတ္
ၾကိဳဖတ္တတ္ေသာ မိစၦာငယ္မွာ လယ္သမားအား ေနာင္နွစ္တြင္ မိုးေခါင္နိုင္သည္။
ေရကိုသိုေလွာင္သင့္သည္ဟု ၾကိဳတင္ သတိေပးေလသည္။ လယ္သမားလည္း မိစၦာငယ္
စကားအတိုင္း လုပ္ေဆာင္ရာ အျခားသူမ်ားထက္ စပါးအထြက္ႏႈန္း ေကာင္းခဲ့သည္။
မိစၦာေကာင္မွာ လယ္သမားအား ယခုနွစ္တြင္ ဘာစိုက္ပ်ဳိးသင့္သည္၊
ဘာလုပ္သင့္သည္ ဆိုသည္ကို အျမဲ အၾကံေပးေလသည္။ သုိ႔နွင့္ သံုးနွစ္လြန္ေသာ္
လယ္သမားမွာ ဥစၥာပစၥည္း ၾကြယ္၀ခ်မ္းသာ လာသည္။ မိစၦာငယ္မွာ လယ္သမားအား
ဆန္စပါးျဖင့္ အရက္ခ်က္နည္းကို သင္ျပျပီး ေရာင္းေစသည္။ ေငြေၾကးပိုမို
ရရွိသျဖင့္ လယ္သမားမွာ လယ္ဆက္ မလုပ္ေတာ့ဘဲ အေရာင္းအ၀ယ္ျဖင့္
စီးပြားရွာခဲ့သည္။
လယ္သမားမွာ ဥစၥာပစၥည္း ၾကြယ္၀ခ်မ္းသာ လာသည္နွင့္အမွ် အစားအေသာက္ပါ
ဖက္လာသည္။ ညစဥ္ညတိုင္း အေပါင္းအေဖာ္မ်ားနွင့္ ေပ်ာ္ပဲြမ်ား က်င္းပၾကသည္။
တစ္ညေနတြင္ လယ္သမားအိမ္တြင္ ညစာစားပဲြ က်င္းပေလသည္။ မိစၦာငယ္မွာ
မိစၦာအိုအားေခၚ၍
“ကြ်န္ေတာ္ေနွာင့္ယွက္ထားလို႔ လယ္သမားဟာ တေျဖးေျဖး ပ်က္စီးလာျပီဆိုတာကို
ျပပါ့မယ္” ဟု ဆိုသည္။ ညစာစားပဲြတြင္ လယ္သမားသည္ သူေ႒း
အေပါင္းအေဖာ္မ်ားနွင့္ အေကာင္းဆံုး အစားအစာ၊ အေကာင္းဆံုး အရက္မ်ားျဖင့္
ေပ်ာ္ပါးစားေသာက္ၾကသည္။ ေသရည္ေသစာမ်ားကို အလာဟသ ျဖဳန္းတီးၾကသည္။
ထိုအခ်ိန္တြင္ အရက္ခြက္မ်ား ကိုင္ထားေသာ အေစအပါး တစ္ေယာက္က မေတာ္တဆ
လွဲက်ေလသည္။ အေစအပါးမွာ ဆာေလာင္လြန္းေသာေၾကာင့္ မူးလဲသြားျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။
လယ္သမားမွာ ညစာ စားပဲြမျပီးမခ်င္း အစာ မေကြ်းနိုင္ဟု
ဆူပူၾကိမ္းေမာင္းေလသည္။
“လယ္သမားမွာ အၾကင္နာတရားလည္း မရွိေတာ့ဘူး” မိစၦာငယ္က ဆိုသည္။
မိစၦာအိုမွာ ၀မ္းေျမာက္စြာျဖင့္ “ဘာလိုလုပ္လိုက္သလဲ”
“သူလိုအပ္တာထက္ ပိုေပးလိုက္မိတာပါပဲ။ ဒါမွ ရွိေနတဲ့ သူရဲ႔ေလာဘနဲ႔
အတၲကိုအေကာင္ အထည္ ေဖာ္လိုရ မွာ”
စိတ္ေျပာင္းလဲေသာ္ သေဘာထားလိုက္ေျပာင္းလဲသည္။
သေဘာထားေျပာင္းလဲေသာ္ အျပဳအမႈလိုက္ေျပာင္းလဲသည္။
အျပဳအမႈ ေျပာင္းလဲေသာ္ အက်င့္စာရိတ္လိုက္ေျပာင္းလဲသည္။
မွုရင္း စာေရးသူ - Leo Tolstoy
ေရးသားသူ....... ႏုိင္းႏုိင္းစေန
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Burma junta's 2008 constitution should be declared as Null and Void
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Burma Democratic Concern
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free aung san suu kyi myo yan naung thein burma democratic concern bdc
Dear everyone,
This is what everyone must see. If you are from Burma, if you are interested in Burma, if you care for Burma, or even if you don't care about Burma one should watch the testimonies of the victims of the SPDC, Burma's oppressor, because the tortures were beyond our imaginations. It is advised that even military and intelligence officials from Burma watch the testimonies. Today, torture still exist in Burma. Click on the link below.
Warning: viewer discretion advised. language of the victims contains cruelty but they are eye-openers.
ေအာက္ပါ လင့္ခ္ ထဲသြားၾကည့္မယ္ဆိုရင္ နအဖရဲ ့ ႏွစ္ေပါင္းမ်ားစြာ ညွင္းပမ္းႏွိက္စက္ခဲ့တဲ့ ရက္စက္မႈေတြကို အေသးစိတ္ၾကားရမွာျဖစ္ပါတယ္။
ယေန ့ ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံအမ်ိဳးသမီးမ်ားအဖြဲ ့ခ်ဳပ္ရဲ ့ စီစဥ္မႈနဲ ့ န၀တ နအဖ လက္ေအာက္မွာ ဘယ္လို ညွင္းပမ္း ခံခဲ့ရတယ္ဆိုတာ ဒီေန ့အခမ္းအနားမွာ ထြက္ဆိုခဲ့တဲ့ ျမန္မာ့အမ်ိဳးသမီး သူရဲေကာင္းတို ့ရဲ ့ ထြက္ဆိုခ်က္မ်ားကို နားေထာင္ၾကည့္ၾကပါဦး။
ျမန္မာျပည္ကလာတဲ့လူတိုင္း၊ ေမြးတဲ့လူတိုင္း၊ ျမန္မာ့အေရးကို စိတ္၀င္စားသူ (၀ါ) မ၀င္စားသူ ဘယ္သူမဆို နားေထာင္ၾကည့္ဖို ့ တိုက္တြန္းပါတယ္။ စစ္တပ္ကပုဂၢိဳလ္ေတြလည္း နားေထာင္ၾကပါဦး။ ေထာက္လွမ္းေရးလည္းနားေထာင္သင့္တယ္။
အမ်ိဳးသားဒီမိိုကေရစီအဖြဲ ့ခ်ဳပ္ ကို ၀န္းရံၾက
တိုင္းရင္းသားမ်ားကို ကာကြယ္ၾက
စစ္အာဏာရွင္စနစ္ပေပ်ာက္ေရး နအဖရဲ ့၂၀၁၀ ေရြးေကာက္ပြဲကို ပယ္ဖ်က္ၾက
http://www.nobelwom ensinitiative. org/blogs/ burmatribunal/ webcast
best,
Moe Chan
This is what everyone must see. If you are from Burma, if you are interested in Burma, if you care for Burma, or even if you don't care about Burma one should watch the testimonies of the victims of the SPDC, Burma's oppressor, because the tortures were beyond our imaginations. It is advised that even military and intelligence officials from Burma watch the testimonies. Today, torture still exist in Burma. Click on the link below.
Warning: viewer discretion advised. language of the victims contains cruelty but they are eye-openers.
ေအာက္ပါ လင့္ခ္ ထဲသြားၾကည့္မယ္ဆိုရင္ နအဖရဲ ့ ႏွစ္ေပါင္းမ်ားစြာ ညွင္းပမ္းႏွိက္စက္ခဲ့တဲ့ ရက္စက္မႈေတြကို အေသးစိတ္ၾကားရမွာျဖစ္ပါတယ္။
ယေန ့ ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံအမ်ိဳးသမီးမ်ားအဖြဲ ့ခ်ဳပ္ရဲ ့ စီစဥ္မႈနဲ ့ န၀တ နအဖ လက္ေအာက္မွာ ဘယ္လို ညွင္းပမ္း ခံခဲ့ရတယ္ဆိုတာ ဒီေန ့အခမ္းအနားမွာ ထြက္ဆိုခဲ့တဲ့ ျမန္မာ့အမ်ိဳးသမီး သူရဲေကာင္းတို ့ရဲ ့ ထြက္ဆိုခ်က္မ်ားကို နားေထာင္ၾကည့္ၾကပါဦး။
ျမန္မာျပည္ကလာတဲ့လူတိုင္း၊ ေမြးတဲ့လူတိုင္း၊ ျမန္မာ့အေရးကို စိတ္၀င္စားသူ (၀ါ) မ၀င္စားသူ ဘယ္သူမဆို နားေထာင္ၾကည့္ဖို ့ တိုက္တြန္းပါတယ္။ စစ္တပ္ကပုဂၢိဳလ္ေတြလည္း နားေထာင္ၾကပါဦး။ ေထာက္လွမ္းေရးလည္းနားေထာင္သင့္တယ္။
အမ်ိဳးသားဒီမိိုကေရစီအဖြဲ ့ခ်ဳပ္ ကို ၀န္းရံၾက
တိုင္းရင္းသားမ်ားကို ကာကြယ္ၾက
စစ္အာဏာရွင္စနစ္ပေပ်ာက္ေရး နအဖရဲ ့၂၀၁၀ ေရြးေကာက္ပြဲကို ပယ္ဖ်က္ၾက
http://www.nobelwom ensinitiative. org/blogs/ burmatribunal/ webcast
best,
Moe Chan
Press Release: International Tribunal On Burma Calls For End To Impunity Of Military Regime
Press Release: International Tribunal On Burma Calls For End To Impunity Of Military Regime - FULL TEXT
-- For immediate release to media --
March 3, 2010, 10 am EST
International Tribunal on Burma Calls for End to Impunity of Military Regime
(New York) Nobel Peace Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams - along with human rights experts Dr. Heisoo Shin (Korea) and Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn (Thailand) - today released the findings and recommendations developed during the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women of Burma held this week in New York City. The quasi-legal event featured compelling testimony - the first ever - of 12 women from Burma who have suffered rape, torture, and other crimes at the hands of the military junta. The event highlighted the egregious human rights crimes, including rape as a weapon of war, and called for policymakers to demand a last resort: the International Criminal Court.
"Women should no longer be invisible when crimes are committed against them with impunity," said Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. "The history of violence and oppression of women in Burma is long and sordid--and must come to an end."
A few of the women who testified are colleagues of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition, still under house arrest and a prisoner of General Than Shwe. Than Shwe is the war criminal who has reigned terror over the people of Burma for decades. World leaders have rallied in support of her freedom countless times since her Nobel Peace Prize award in 1991, passing UN resolutions almost annually and demanding the release of her and other political prisoners. But these cries have fallen on deaf ears, with the international community failing to hold General Shwe and his cronies criminally responsible. The resulting impunity has given the ruling generals of Burma even more license to escalate their power and continue to inflict violence on the people of Burma.
"We live in a globalized world, which means that Burma cannot do whatever it wants to its people within its own walls," said Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. "Globalization is effective when it helps bring an end to injustice. The international community cannot stand by and let other countries to use their sovereignty to commit atrocities against their own people."
The purpose of the Tribunal was to spotlight the oppression of women of Burma in order to encourage policymakers and political leaders to take specific action now. The women Nobel Laureates have joined with the Women's League of Burma to highlight the systemic use of rape and other forms of violence against ethnic women in Burma. The Women's League of Burma is an umbrella organization comprising thirteen women's organizations of different ethnic backgrounds in Burma.
The women who testified now live in Thailand, Bangladesh, the US and Canada and traveled to New York to tell their personal stories and those of their families. Their stories include a range of horrific human rights violations and crimes. Testimony was organized into three categories: violence against women (rape, sexual violence, trafficking), civil and political violations (torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, harassment), and social, economic and cultural violations (forced labor, portering, relocation). Violence against women in Burma is often ethnically motivated, particularly minority groups such as the Karen who have been brutally persecuted by the military regime.
The following are the recommendations of the Tribunal:
Recommendations to the international community, particularly the United Nations:
*Urge States to take collective action to ensure the implementation of Security Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, and 1889 guaranteeing women's full participation in post-conflict reconstruction, and freedom from all forms of sexual violence.
*Strongly urge the UN Security Council to refer Burma to the International Criminal Court.
*Call upon United Nations member States to fulfill their obligations to exercise universal jurisdiction and to prosecute through their national tribunals perpetrators of the crimes against the civilian population of Burma, including women.
*Ask United Nations agencies with a presence in Burma to increase their work in promoting and protecting human rights.
*Call upon the United Nations Security Council to take effective measures against state authorities on the basis of the responsibility of the state to protect its people from egregious human rights violations (Responsibility to Protect Doctrine).
*Urge the United Nations system to take measures to ensure that the Burmese authorities comply with international human rights standards and international humanitarian law.
Recommendations to Burma's military regime:
*Stop all forms of violence against women. "End the intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention, torture, and degrading treatment against women [and all] political prisoners; [and] respect and adhere to the principles and norms of the international [criminal and] human rights standards, particularly Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women..."
*Stop attacks and persecution against ethnic nationalities and groups.
*Release immediately and unconditionally all political prisoners.
*Grant access to United Nations agencies and non-governmental humanitarian groups to ensure that women, in particular, are assisted effectively.
*Provide access to and cooperate with United Nations agencies and human rights organizations to monitor human rights within Burma.
*Ratify all human rights treaties, including ICCPR and ICESCR, and implement them effectively.
*Abide by rules of customary international law, such as the prohibitions against torture, slavery, and violence against women and children.
*Ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, reform and implement domestic legislation accordingly.
*Establish an effective process for dialogue between different stakeholders including democracy groups, ethnic minorities/nationalities, and concerned authorities with emphasis on women's participation in the pursuit of democracy.
*Revise the constitution, particularly the amnesty provisions, and other national laws in an inclusive and participatory manner, engaging all stakeholders including women, to ensure consistency with international legal obligations and human rights standards.
*Establish effective judicial mechanisms and other processes to establish accountability and provide adequate remedies for international crimes and human rights violations to end impunity.
*Build human-centered national development plans and processes that respond to women's human rights bearing in mind the special needs of rural women, and allocate national resources fairly and equitably for this purpose.
Recommendations to the Asia-Pacific region (including ASEAN, bilateral and other channels):
*Call upon ASEAN through its Summit of Heads of Government to impel Burma to apply effective and time-limited measures to comply with the ASEAN Charter and international legal obligations and human rights standards.
*Invite the ASEAN Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission to submit thematic reports covering particular issues related to Burma.
*Bearing in mind the ASEAN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and various declarations on children's rights in the region, to which Burma has subscribed, support the establishment of the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children, including consideration of the situation in Burma.
*Call upon the various partners of ASEAN and other regional bodies and states engaging with Burma to influence constructive changes in the country.
*Prohibit trade with Burma involving goods produced through forced labor, as well as oil, gas, and electricity generated as a result of forced relocations.
*Take effective cross-border measures to prevent and punish human trafficking, in particular that of women and children, and to offer gender and child sensitive measures to protect and assist those victimized by trafficking.
*Respect the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons, protect them from violence, abuse, and exploitation, and forced repatriation, which violates the international principle of non-refoulement, and ensure the application of basic standards of international law.
For more information, and to arrange interviews, please contact us:
*Rachel Vincent: Mobile: + 1-613-276-9030, rvincent@nobelwomensinitiative.org
*Kimberley MacKenzie: +1-908-342-0160, kmackenzie@nobelwomensinitiative.org
*Kieran Bergmann: +1-613-569-8400 ext. 115, kbergmann@nobelwomensinitiative.or
-- For immediate release to media --
March 3, 2010, 10 am EST
International Tribunal on Burma Calls for End to Impunity of Military Regime
(New York) Nobel Peace Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams - along with human rights experts Dr. Heisoo Shin (Korea) and Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn (Thailand) - today released the findings and recommendations developed during the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women of Burma held this week in New York City. The quasi-legal event featured compelling testimony - the first ever - of 12 women from Burma who have suffered rape, torture, and other crimes at the hands of the military junta. The event highlighted the egregious human rights crimes, including rape as a weapon of war, and called for policymakers to demand a last resort: the International Criminal Court.
"Women should no longer be invisible when crimes are committed against them with impunity," said Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. "The history of violence and oppression of women in Burma is long and sordid--and must come to an end."
A few of the women who testified are colleagues of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition, still under house arrest and a prisoner of General Than Shwe. Than Shwe is the war criminal who has reigned terror over the people of Burma for decades. World leaders have rallied in support of her freedom countless times since her Nobel Peace Prize award in 1991, passing UN resolutions almost annually and demanding the release of her and other political prisoners. But these cries have fallen on deaf ears, with the international community failing to hold General Shwe and his cronies criminally responsible. The resulting impunity has given the ruling generals of Burma even more license to escalate their power and continue to inflict violence on the people of Burma.
"We live in a globalized world, which means that Burma cannot do whatever it wants to its people within its own walls," said Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. "Globalization is effective when it helps bring an end to injustice. The international community cannot stand by and let other countries to use their sovereignty to commit atrocities against their own people."
The purpose of the Tribunal was to spotlight the oppression of women of Burma in order to encourage policymakers and political leaders to take specific action now. The women Nobel Laureates have joined with the Women's League of Burma to highlight the systemic use of rape and other forms of violence against ethnic women in Burma. The Women's League of Burma is an umbrella organization comprising thirteen women's organizations of different ethnic backgrounds in Burma.
The women who testified now live in Thailand, Bangladesh, the US and Canada and traveled to New York to tell their personal stories and those of their families. Their stories include a range of horrific human rights violations and crimes. Testimony was organized into three categories: violence against women (rape, sexual violence, trafficking), civil and political violations (torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, harassment), and social, economic and cultural violations (forced labor, portering, relocation). Violence against women in Burma is often ethnically motivated, particularly minority groups such as the Karen who have been brutally persecuted by the military regime.
The following are the recommendations of the Tribunal:
Recommendations to the international community, particularly the United Nations:
*Urge States to take collective action to ensure the implementation of Security Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, and 1889 guaranteeing women's full participation in post-conflict reconstruction, and freedom from all forms of sexual violence.
*Strongly urge the UN Security Council to refer Burma to the International Criminal Court.
*Call upon United Nations member States to fulfill their obligations to exercise universal jurisdiction and to prosecute through their national tribunals perpetrators of the crimes against the civilian population of Burma, including women.
*Ask United Nations agencies with a presence in Burma to increase their work in promoting and protecting human rights.
*Call upon the United Nations Security Council to take effective measures against state authorities on the basis of the responsibility of the state to protect its people from egregious human rights violations (Responsibility to Protect Doctrine).
*Urge the United Nations system to take measures to ensure that the Burmese authorities comply with international human rights standards and international humanitarian law.
Recommendations to Burma's military regime:
*Stop all forms of violence against women. "End the intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention, torture, and degrading treatment against women [and all] political prisoners; [and] respect and adhere to the principles and norms of the international [criminal and] human rights standards, particularly Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women..."
*Stop attacks and persecution against ethnic nationalities and groups.
*Release immediately and unconditionally all political prisoners.
*Grant access to United Nations agencies and non-governmental humanitarian groups to ensure that women, in particular, are assisted effectively.
*Provide access to and cooperate with United Nations agencies and human rights organizations to monitor human rights within Burma.
*Ratify all human rights treaties, including ICCPR and ICESCR, and implement them effectively.
*Abide by rules of customary international law, such as the prohibitions against torture, slavery, and violence against women and children.
*Ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, reform and implement domestic legislation accordingly.
*Establish an effective process for dialogue between different stakeholders including democracy groups, ethnic minorities/nationalities, and concerned authorities with emphasis on women's participation in the pursuit of democracy.
*Revise the constitution, particularly the amnesty provisions, and other national laws in an inclusive and participatory manner, engaging all stakeholders including women, to ensure consistency with international legal obligations and human rights standards.
*Establish effective judicial mechanisms and other processes to establish accountability and provide adequate remedies for international crimes and human rights violations to end impunity.
*Build human-centered national development plans and processes that respond to women's human rights bearing in mind the special needs of rural women, and allocate national resources fairly and equitably for this purpose.
Recommendations to the Asia-Pacific region (including ASEAN, bilateral and other channels):
*Call upon ASEAN through its Summit of Heads of Government to impel Burma to apply effective and time-limited measures to comply with the ASEAN Charter and international legal obligations and human rights standards.
*Invite the ASEAN Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission to submit thematic reports covering particular issues related to Burma.
*Bearing in mind the ASEAN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and various declarations on children's rights in the region, to which Burma has subscribed, support the establishment of the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children, including consideration of the situation in Burma.
*Call upon the various partners of ASEAN and other regional bodies and states engaging with Burma to influence constructive changes in the country.
*Prohibit trade with Burma involving goods produced through forced labor, as well as oil, gas, and electricity generated as a result of forced relocations.
*Take effective cross-border measures to prevent and punish human trafficking, in particular that of women and children, and to offer gender and child sensitive measures to protect and assist those victimized by trafficking.
*Respect the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons, protect them from violence, abuse, and exploitation, and forced repatriation, which violates the international principle of non-refoulement, and ensure the application of basic standards of international law.
For more information, and to arrange interviews, please contact us:
*Rachel Vincent: Mobile: + 1-613-276-9030, rvincent@nobelwomensinitiative.org
*Kimberley MacKenzie: +1-908-342-0160, kmackenzie@nobelwomensinitiative.org
*Kieran Bergmann: +1-613-569-8400 ext. 115, kbergmann@nobelwomensinitiative.or
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
*Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis Emergency Appeal No. MDRMM002 Operations*
*Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis Emergency Appeal No. MDRMM002 Operations*
Update No. 27
Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC)
Date: 02 Mar 2010
Full_Report (pdf* format - 1.1 Mbytes)
GLIDE n° TC-2008-000057-MMR
Period covered by this update: September 2009 to end of January 2010
Appeal target: CHF 73,987,907 million
Appeal coverage: 96%
- 8 July 2008: A revised emergency appeal was launched for CHF 73.9 million
(USD 72.5 million or EUR 45.9 million) to assist 100,000 households for 36
months.
- 16 May 2008: An emergency appeal was launched for CHF 52,857,809 (USD 50.8
million or EUR 32.7 million) to assist 100,000 households for 36 months.
- 6 May 2008: A preliminary emergency appeal was launched for CHF 6,290,909
(USD 5.9 million or EUR 3.86 million) to assist 30,000 households for six
months.
- 5 May 2008: CHF 200,000 (USD 190,000 or EUR 123,000) was allocated from
the IFRC's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF).
Summary:
- The end of the rains in September enabled greater outreach towards
vulnerable communities through the shelter and livelihoods projects during
this reporting period, thanks to sustained efforts at hub level in these
initiatives. Similarly, water, sanitation and hygiene promotion projects
continued to reach large numbers of vulnerable households across all
targeted townships. The communitybased health and first aid programme also
made good progress primarily through trained community volunteers and Red
Cross volunteers.
- A high level of community participation continues to be an integral factor
in the success of field activities.
- The joint technical visit by three partner national societies in November,
aimed at a preliminary review of the recovery and accountability framework
across the shelter and livelihoods recovery programmes, was conducted
successfully. A draft report of the findings has been prepared, and once
final revisions are approved, this will be circulated to all partners and
will be a topic for discussion during the partnership meeting in Bangkok on
30-31 March 2010.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MYAI-8367FZ?OpenDocument
Update No. 27
Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC)
Date: 02 Mar 2010
Full_Report (pdf* format - 1.1 Mbytes)
GLIDE n° TC-2008-000057-MMR
Period covered by this update: September 2009 to end of January 2010
Appeal target: CHF 73,987,907 million
Appeal coverage: 96%
- 8 July 2008: A revised emergency appeal was launched for CHF 73.9 million
(USD 72.5 million or EUR 45.9 million) to assist 100,000 households for 36
months.
- 16 May 2008: An emergency appeal was launched for CHF 52,857,809 (USD 50.8
million or EUR 32.7 million) to assist 100,000 households for 36 months.
- 6 May 2008: A preliminary emergency appeal was launched for CHF 6,290,909
(USD 5.9 million or EUR 3.86 million) to assist 30,000 households for six
months.
- 5 May 2008: CHF 200,000 (USD 190,000 or EUR 123,000) was allocated from
the IFRC's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF).
Summary:
- The end of the rains in September enabled greater outreach towards
vulnerable communities through the shelter and livelihoods projects during
this reporting period, thanks to sustained efforts at hub level in these
initiatives. Similarly, water, sanitation and hygiene promotion projects
continued to reach large numbers of vulnerable households across all
targeted townships. The communitybased health and first aid programme also
made good progress primarily through trained community volunteers and Red
Cross volunteers.
- A high level of community participation continues to be an integral factor
in the success of field activities.
- The joint technical visit by three partner national societies in November,
aimed at a preliminary review of the recovery and accountability framework
across the shelter and livelihoods recovery programmes, was conducted
successfully. A draft report of the findings has been prepared, and once
final revisions are approved, this will be circulated to all partners and
will be a topic for discussion during the partnership meeting in Bangkok on
30-31 March 2010.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MYAI-8367FZ?OpenDocument
*Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis Emergency Appeal No. MDRMM002 Operations*
*Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis Emergency Appeal No. MDRMM002 Operations*
Update No. 27
Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC)
Date: 02 Mar 2010
Full_Report (pdf* format - 1.1 Mbytes)
GLIDE n° TC-2008-000057-MMR
Period covered by this update: September 2009 to end of January 2010
Appeal target: CHF 73,987,907 million
Appeal coverage: 96%
- 8 July 2008: A revised emergency appeal was launched for CHF 73.9 million
(USD 72.5 million or EUR 45.9 million) to assist 100,000 households for 36
months.
- 16 May 2008: An emergency appeal was launched for CHF 52,857,809 (USD 50.8
million or EUR 32.7 million) to assist 100,000 households for 36 months.
- 6 May 2008: A preliminary emergency appeal was launched for CHF 6,290,909
(USD 5.9 million or EUR 3.86 million) to assist 30,000 households for six
months.
- 5 May 2008: CHF 200,000 (USD 190,000 or EUR 123,000) was allocated from
the IFRC's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF).
Summary:
- The end of the rains in September enabled greater outreach towards
vulnerable communities through the shelter and livelihoods projects during
this reporting period, thanks to sustained efforts at hub level in these
initiatives. Similarly, water, sanitation and hygiene promotion projects
continued to reach large numbers of vulnerable households across all
targeted townships. The communitybased health and first aid programme also
made good progress primarily through trained community volunteers and Red
Cross volunteers.
- A high level of community participation continues to be an integral factor
in the success of field activities.
- The joint technical visit by three partner national societies in November,
aimed at a preliminary review of the recovery and accountability framework
across the shelter and livelihoods recovery programmes, was conducted
successfully. A draft report of the findings has been prepared, and once
final revisions are approved, this will be circulated to all partners and
will be a topic for discussion during the partnership meeting in Bangkok on
30-31 March 2010.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MYAI-8367FZ?OpenDocument
Update No. 27
Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC)
Date: 02 Mar 2010
Full_Report (pdf* format - 1.1 Mbytes)
GLIDE n° TC-2008-000057-MMR
Period covered by this update: September 2009 to end of January 2010
Appeal target: CHF 73,987,907 million
Appeal coverage: 96%
- 8 July 2008: A revised emergency appeal was launched for CHF 73.9 million
(USD 72.5 million or EUR 45.9 million) to assist 100,000 households for 36
months.
- 16 May 2008: An emergency appeal was launched for CHF 52,857,809 (USD 50.8
million or EUR 32.7 million) to assist 100,000 households for 36 months.
- 6 May 2008: A preliminary emergency appeal was launched for CHF 6,290,909
(USD 5.9 million or EUR 3.86 million) to assist 30,000 households for six
months.
- 5 May 2008: CHF 200,000 (USD 190,000 or EUR 123,000) was allocated from
the IFRC's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF).
Summary:
- The end of the rains in September enabled greater outreach towards
vulnerable communities through the shelter and livelihoods projects during
this reporting period, thanks to sustained efforts at hub level in these
initiatives. Similarly, water, sanitation and hygiene promotion projects
continued to reach large numbers of vulnerable households across all
targeted townships. The communitybased health and first aid programme also
made good progress primarily through trained community volunteers and Red
Cross volunteers.
- A high level of community participation continues to be an integral factor
in the success of field activities.
- The joint technical visit by three partner national societies in November,
aimed at a preliminary review of the recovery and accountability framework
across the shelter and livelihoods recovery programmes, was conducted
successfully. A draft report of the findings has been prepared, and once
final revisions are approved, this will be circulated to all partners and
will be a topic for discussion during the partnership meeting in Bangkok on
30-31 March 2010.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MYAI-8367FZ?OpenDocument
"Strong plea" by EU's Ashton for Myanmar opposition leader release
*
Mar 1, 2010, 17:32 GMT
Brussels - The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton,
issued a 'strong plea' on Monday for the release of Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for more than a
decade.
Ashton's call came after Myanmar's Supreme Court on Friday turned down an
appeal by Suu Kyi against her latest 18-month house detention sentence,
which is set to prevent her from taking part in an election planned this
year.
'The authorities still have a chance to change course through the legal
possibility of a final appeal,' Ashton's spokesman Lutz Gullner said in a
statement.
He added that Ashton was making 'a strong plea (to Myanmar authorities) to
grasp that opportunity in the interest of the future of their country and
its people.'
According to Gullner, Suu Kyi's sentence is 'unjust' and 'damages prospects
for an inclusive political dialogue between the government and opposition
parties that is urgently needed to achieve progress in national
reconciliation and secure long-term stability.'
Read more:
http://ping.fm/ebiEH
*
Mar 1, 2010, 17:32 GMT
Brussels - The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton,
issued a 'strong plea' on Monday for the release of Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for more than a
decade.
Ashton's call came after Myanmar's Supreme Court on Friday turned down an
appeal by Suu Kyi against her latest 18-month house detention sentence,
which is set to prevent her from taking part in an election planned this
year.
'The authorities still have a chance to change course through the legal
possibility of a final appeal,' Ashton's spokesman Lutz Gullner said in a
statement.
He added that Ashton was making 'a strong plea (to Myanmar authorities) to
grasp that opportunity in the interest of the future of their country and
its people.'
According to Gullner, Suu Kyi's sentence is 'unjust' and 'damages prospects
for an inclusive political dialogue between the government and opposition
parties that is urgently needed to achieve progress in national
reconciliation and secure long-term stability.'
Read more:
http://ping.fm/ebiEH
Sad but not unexpected
Sad but not unexpected
By Stephen Lillie
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:17:00 03/02/2010
Filed Under: Foreign affairs & international relations, Diplomacy, Politics, Human Rights
Burma’s Supreme Court has just rejected the appeal of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi against a verdict finding her guilty of violating the rules of her house arrest. The outcome is disappointing but not unexpected. The process was never about the rule of law or justice, and the trial itself was a sham. There was really no reason to think the appeal would be any better.
Aung San Suu Kyi and her two live-in companions were arrested on May 13, 2009 and charged with breaking the rules of her house arrest following the intrusion of American John Yettaw into her compound. From May to July they were placed on trial in a process the UN determined illegal. On Aug. 11, 2009, Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced three years’ hard labor, commuted to an 18-month period of further house arrest, a sentence also imposed on her companions. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the verdict as “further proof that the military regime is determined to act with total disregard for accepted standards of the rule of law and in defiance of international opinion” and wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and fellow UN Security Council members calling for a global arms embargo against Burma. The UK worked with EU partners to impose further targeted EU sanctions in response to the verdict. And Aung San Suu Kyi appealed the verdict.
The Burmese elections planned for later this year present a historic opportunity to reverse Burma’s bitter decline into poverty, stagnation and international isolation. A favorable outcome of Aung San Suu Kyi’s appeal would have been the start of a more optimistic outlook by the international community. That small hope has now been dashed. As British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, “I am appalled and saddened that Aung San Suu Kyi’s appeal against the sentence imposed by the regime has been denied. That failed appeal is sadly no surprise. From start to end, the sole purpose of this show trial has been to prevent Daw Suu Kyi from taking part in elections.” If she is kept out of political life and while over 2,100 other prisoners of conscience remain incarcerated, the regime’s elections will not gain recognition nor international legitimacy.
In an open letter to Aung San Suu Kyi in December, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that this should be a historic year for Burma (Myanmar). Free, fair and genuinely inclusive elections would allow the country to move forward, to map a new path. But the generals are motivated by fear: fear that decades of brutality and economic mismanagement will catch up with them; fear that Aung San Suu Kyi will yet again unite Burma’s people in hope for a better future for the country. It is indeed striking that a military government with 400,000 soldiers at its command is afraid of one—albeit remarkable and deeply courageous—individual in her mid-60s. And someone who has been under house arrest for 14 of the last 20 years.
The regime’s fear is misplaced. The greatest threat to stability and security in Burma is the absence of an inclusive political process. Decades of conflict with Burma’s marginalized and excluded ethnic groups put this beyond doubt. In a country like Burma, there can be no national reconciliation, no peace and no prosperity without a political process that engages all sides and holds some prospect of meeting their aspirations.
The UK government will continue to do all it can to press the Burmese regime to engage in such a process and take advantage of the opportunity the election presents to bring reconciliation and prosperity to the people of Burma. I am encouraged by the strong stand the Philippines has taken on the human rights situation in Burma, and its leading role in the Asean in this regard. It demonstrates our two countries’ shared commitment to human rights and democracy for all people.
If there is progress, we stand ready to respond quickly and positively.
(Stephen Lillie is the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the Philippines, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. He was the head of the Far Eastern Group in the Asia Pacific Directorate at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London before coming to the Philippines.)
http://ping.fm/szYtR
By Stephen Lillie
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:17:00 03/02/2010
Filed Under: Foreign affairs & international relations, Diplomacy, Politics, Human Rights
Burma’s Supreme Court has just rejected the appeal of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi against a verdict finding her guilty of violating the rules of her house arrest. The outcome is disappointing but not unexpected. The process was never about the rule of law or justice, and the trial itself was a sham. There was really no reason to think the appeal would be any better.
Aung San Suu Kyi and her two live-in companions were arrested on May 13, 2009 and charged with breaking the rules of her house arrest following the intrusion of American John Yettaw into her compound. From May to July they were placed on trial in a process the UN determined illegal. On Aug. 11, 2009, Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced three years’ hard labor, commuted to an 18-month period of further house arrest, a sentence also imposed on her companions. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the verdict as “further proof that the military regime is determined to act with total disregard for accepted standards of the rule of law and in defiance of international opinion” and wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and fellow UN Security Council members calling for a global arms embargo against Burma. The UK worked with EU partners to impose further targeted EU sanctions in response to the verdict. And Aung San Suu Kyi appealed the verdict.
The Burmese elections planned for later this year present a historic opportunity to reverse Burma’s bitter decline into poverty, stagnation and international isolation. A favorable outcome of Aung San Suu Kyi’s appeal would have been the start of a more optimistic outlook by the international community. That small hope has now been dashed. As British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, “I am appalled and saddened that Aung San Suu Kyi’s appeal against the sentence imposed by the regime has been denied. That failed appeal is sadly no surprise. From start to end, the sole purpose of this show trial has been to prevent Daw Suu Kyi from taking part in elections.” If she is kept out of political life and while over 2,100 other prisoners of conscience remain incarcerated, the regime’s elections will not gain recognition nor international legitimacy.
In an open letter to Aung San Suu Kyi in December, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that this should be a historic year for Burma (Myanmar). Free, fair and genuinely inclusive elections would allow the country to move forward, to map a new path. But the generals are motivated by fear: fear that decades of brutality and economic mismanagement will catch up with them; fear that Aung San Suu Kyi will yet again unite Burma’s people in hope for a better future for the country. It is indeed striking that a military government with 400,000 soldiers at its command is afraid of one—albeit remarkable and deeply courageous—individual in her mid-60s. And someone who has been under house arrest for 14 of the last 20 years.
The regime’s fear is misplaced. The greatest threat to stability and security in Burma is the absence of an inclusive political process. Decades of conflict with Burma’s marginalized and excluded ethnic groups put this beyond doubt. In a country like Burma, there can be no national reconciliation, no peace and no prosperity without a political process that engages all sides and holds some prospect of meeting their aspirations.
The UK government will continue to do all it can to press the Burmese regime to engage in such a process and take advantage of the opportunity the election presents to bring reconciliation and prosperity to the people of Burma. I am encouraged by the strong stand the Philippines has taken on the human rights situation in Burma, and its leading role in the Asean in this regard. It demonstrates our two countries’ shared commitment to human rights and democracy for all people.
If there is progress, we stand ready to respond quickly and positively.
(Stephen Lillie is the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the Philippines, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. He was the head of the Far Eastern Group in the Asia Pacific Directorate at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London before coming to the Philippines.)
http://ping.fm/szYtR
Myanmar's military leader Tuesday urged the rural masses to counter
pro-democracy forces said to be seeking to disrupt stability before the
country's first general elections in 20 years.
Senior Gen. Than Shwe made the comments in a statement published on the
front page of all state-run newspapers on the anniversary of Peasant's Day.
http://ping.fm/5Hc6A
pro-democracy forces said to be seeking to disrupt stability before the
country's first general elections in 20 years.
Senior Gen. Than Shwe made the comments in a statement published on the
front page of all state-run newspapers on the anniversary of Peasant's Day.
http://ping.fm/5Hc6A
Letter from U Thiha Tintswe- Patron of BDC
Attn;
All commanrades & friends
We would like to massage a political prediction on Burma's current situation because we got the important news, will organize an interrian goverment of Junta Regime within April,2010 from VIPs and it will hold 2010-Election on 2008-Constitution and then state power transfer too from military uniform to civilian uniform and so, we may see President-U Than Shwe instead of General Than Shwe and some of pro-Junta Regime may participate in it and they will hold many ministry departments by some VIP military camanders.
Before it,SPDC would transfer state ownnership business to private ownnnerships who would be their familys-relations- back bones & some of pro-Junta Regime and then their interrian goverment might approve their private business with their camands & orders.If it became, may change military camanders in Junta Regime and so, may appear the problems of power & places. It shall interest in our political predicters because if camanders of it would become soft line group, may let to create a little democratic atmospheres of marketing economy & negotiation of reconcilation, may persuade International democratic forces but If camanders of it would become hard line group, may let to drug towards the worst military detectorship system with the worst International military detectorship systems.
Surely! Junta Regime must depend on china's fuel pipe economic system and will have to give water ports & tranportation and so also china will have to defend Junta regime's water ways,habours and China & Junta regime will become the same selfish profited persons on our Burma's enrichs and so, we may talk Myanmar Junta Regime as comparados of colony of china and our Burma's Independence had been lost second times by fuel pipe system under china's communist-socialist's neo-colonism and china's fuel pipe neo-colonism may fright Thailand's pro-democracy on global democratic countries.
So, American with global democratic countries will have to defend their pro-democratic Thailand & others and so, we can see the pre-atmospheres of capital war in water ways & habours of asia and so, if they would like to avoid these conditions, Democratic bloc & communist-socialist bloc will discuss & find the results of regional reconcilation ,peace & developments.It may become our strategy & tactic on carrot & stick policy of American & democratic countries.
thanking you in anticipation.
best regard;
(U Thi Ha Tint Swe)
Washington,U.S.A.
Ph;(509)5823261.
All commanrades & friends
We would like to massage a political prediction on Burma's current situation because we got the important news, will organize an interrian goverment of Junta Regime within April,2010 from VIPs and it will hold 2010-Election on 2008-Constitution and then state power transfer too from military uniform to civilian uniform and so, we may see President-U Than Shwe instead of General Than Shwe and some of pro-Junta Regime may participate in it and they will hold many ministry departments by some VIP military camanders.
Before it,SPDC would transfer state ownnership business to private ownnnerships who would be their familys-relations- back bones & some of pro-Junta Regime and then their interrian goverment might approve their private business with their camands & orders.If it became, may change military camanders in Junta Regime and so, may appear the problems of power & places. It shall interest in our political predicters because if camanders of it would become soft line group, may let to create a little democratic atmospheres of marketing economy & negotiation of reconcilation, may persuade International democratic forces but If camanders of it would become hard line group, may let to drug towards the worst military detectorship system with the worst International military detectorship systems.
Surely! Junta Regime must depend on china's fuel pipe economic system and will have to give water ports & tranportation and so also china will have to defend Junta regime's water ways,habours and China & Junta regime will become the same selfish profited persons on our Burma's enrichs and so, we may talk Myanmar Junta Regime as comparados of colony of china and our Burma's Independence had been lost second times by fuel pipe system under china's communist-socialist's neo-colonism and china's fuel pipe neo-colonism may fright Thailand's pro-democracy on global democratic countries.
So, American with global democratic countries will have to defend their pro-democratic Thailand & others and so, we can see the pre-atmospheres of capital war in water ways & habours of asia and so, if they would like to avoid these conditions, Democratic bloc & communist-socialist bloc will discuss & find the results of regional reconcilation ,peace & developments.It may become our strategy & tactic on carrot & stick policy of American & democratic countries.
thanking you in anticipation.
best regard;
(U Thi Ha Tint Swe)
Washington,U.S.A.
Ph;(509)5823261.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Statement Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada : Condemns Burmese Decision on Aung San Suu Kyi Appeal
tags: 2010 Election, Burma, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Human Rights, Junta, Myanmar, Statement Canada, world focus on Burma
by peacerunning
Canada Condemns Burmese Decision on Aung San Suu Kyi Appeal
(No. 84 – February 26, 2010 – 1:40 p.m. ET) The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement expressing Canada’s disappointment over the Burmese Supreme Court’s decision to reject the appeal of pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi:
“Canada is deeply disappointed that the Burmese Supreme Court has rejected Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest appeal of her detention. Neither her original trial nor the appeal process has met international standards of due process, demonstrating a complete disregard for the rule of law. Canada maintains its position that her continued detention is unwarranted, unjustified and politically motivated.
“The Burmese regime has missed yet another opportunity to prove its commitment to hold inclusive, free and fair elections. The elections planned for 2010 will only be credible if the Burmese regime allows all citizens, including opposition groups, to participate freely in a transparent electoral process.
“Since December 2007, Canada has imposed the toughest sanctions of any country against the Burmese regime to protest its treatment of its people. These sanctions include a ban on goods exported to and imported from Burma. Canada again calls upon the Burmese regime to free all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to engage in a genuine dialogue with members of the democratic opposition and different ethnic groups of Burma.
“In 2007, the Parliament of Canada granted Aung San Suu Kyi honourary Canadian citizenship for her tireless work for democracy in Burma.”
- 30 -
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Catherine Loubier
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
613-995-1851
Canada : Condemns Burmese Decision on Aung San Suu Kyi Appeal
Statement Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada : Condemns Burmese Decision on Aung San Suu Kyi Appeal
2010 MARCH 1
tags: 2010 Election, Burma, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Human Rights, Junta, Myanmar, Statement Canada, world focus on Burma
by peacerunning
Canada Condemns Burmese Decision on Aung San Suu Kyi Appeal
(No. 84 – February 26, 2010 – 1:40 p.m. ET) The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement expressing Canada’s disappointment over the Burmese Supreme Court’s decision to reject the appeal of pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi:
“Canada is deeply disappointed that the Burmese Supreme Court has rejected Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest appeal of her detention. Neither her original trial nor the appeal process has met international standards of due process, demonstrating a complete disregard for the rule of law. Canada maintains its position that her continued detention is unwarranted, unjustified and politically motivated.
“The Burmese regime has missed yet another opportunity to prove its commitment to hold inclusive, free and fair elections. The elections planned for 2010 will only be credible if the Burmese regime allows all citizens, including opposition groups, to participate freely in a transparent electoral process.
“Since December 2007, Canada has imposed the toughest sanctions of any country against the Burmese regime to protest its treatment of its people. These sanctions include a ban on goods exported to and imported from Burma. Canada again calls upon the Burmese regime to free all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to engage in a genuine dialogue with members of the democratic opposition and different ethnic groups of Burma.
“In 2007, the Parliament of Canada granted Aung San Suu Kyi honourary Canadian citizenship for her tireless work for democracy in Burma.”
- 30 -
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Catherine Loubier
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
613-995-1851
2010 MARCH 1
tags: 2010 Election, Burma, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Human Rights, Junta, Myanmar, Statement Canada, world focus on Burma
by peacerunning
Canada Condemns Burmese Decision on Aung San Suu Kyi Appeal
(No. 84 – February 26, 2010 – 1:40 p.m. ET) The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement expressing Canada’s disappointment over the Burmese Supreme Court’s decision to reject the appeal of pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi:
“Canada is deeply disappointed that the Burmese Supreme Court has rejected Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest appeal of her detention. Neither her original trial nor the appeal process has met international standards of due process, demonstrating a complete disregard for the rule of law. Canada maintains its position that her continued detention is unwarranted, unjustified and politically motivated.
“The Burmese regime has missed yet another opportunity to prove its commitment to hold inclusive, free and fair elections. The elections planned for 2010 will only be credible if the Burmese regime allows all citizens, including opposition groups, to participate freely in a transparent electoral process.
“Since December 2007, Canada has imposed the toughest sanctions of any country against the Burmese regime to protest its treatment of its people. These sanctions include a ban on goods exported to and imported from Burma. Canada again calls upon the Burmese regime to free all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to engage in a genuine dialogue with members of the democratic opposition and different ethnic groups of Burma.
“In 2007, the Parliament of Canada granted Aung San Suu Kyi honourary Canadian citizenship for her tireless work for democracy in Burma.”
- 30 -
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Catherine Loubier
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
613-995-1851
US criticises Burma on Suu Kyi appeal
The United States has criticized Burma's Supreme Court for not releasing Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The court rejected her appeal asking to be freed from house arrest.
A State Department official says Washington condemns the Supreme Court's decision.
He says Aung San Suu Kyi is being held under house arrest for purely political reasons.
Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win, who was barred from the courtroom, says he plans to lodge an appeal against the decision.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment over the court's decision.
Tags:burmaunited-statesworld-politicslaw-crime-and-justicecourts-and-trials
http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201003/2832909.htm?desktop
The court rejected her appeal asking to be freed from house arrest.
A State Department official says Washington condemns the Supreme Court's decision.
He says Aung San Suu Kyi is being held under house arrest for purely political reasons.
Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win, who was barred from the courtroom, says he plans to lodge an appeal against the decision.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment over the court's decision.
Tags:burmaunited-statesworld-politicslaw-crime-and-justicecourts-and-trials
http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201003/2832909.htm?desktop
Suu Kyi’s appeal rejection condemned
Sunday, 28 February 2010 13:49 Mizzima News
(Mizzima) – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday said he is ‘appalled and saddened’ that Burma’s military government has rejected an appeal filed by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers against her sentencing in August 2009.
“I am appalled and saddened that Aung San Suu Kyi’s appeal against the sentence imposed by the regime has been denied,” Brown said. However, he said the “failed appeal is sadly no surprise.”
Brown said from start to end the sole purpose of the show trial has been to prevent Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part in elections that the junta claims will be held later this year.
Lawyers of the Burmese opposition leader on Friday told Mizzima that the Supreme Court rejected the appeal against the verdict that sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi and her two live-in party mates to 18 months of house arrest handed down in August 2009.
“The Supreme Court said it is making no changes on the verdict and upholds the lower court’s decision,” said Nyan Win, a lawyer for the Burmese pro-democracy leader who is also a spokesperson for her party – National League for Democracy (NLD).
The NLD leader was sentenced in August 2009 to three years imprisonment for allegedly violating regulations of her previous house arrest by allowing an American, John Yettaw, who sneaked into her house to stay for two nights.
The sentence handed down by a district court, however, was reduced by a special order from Burma’s military Head-of-State Senior General Than Shwe to an 18 month suspended sentence, allowing time to be served at her lakeside home.
The British Prime Minister said while Burma with a free, fair and genuinely inclusive election this year could move forward to map a new path, with Aung San Suu Kyi being kept out of political life and over 2,100 other prisoners of conscience remaining incarcerated, the regime’s elections will gain neither recognition nor international legitimacy.
Similarly, British Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis in a statement on Friday said the rejection of the appeal is a further, sad indictment of the Burmese regime.
“The military government continues to suppress all dissent, deny Burma's people their fundamental freedoms, and detain democratic and ethnic leaders,” Lewis said.
“I urge the regime to recognize that in a country of over one hundred ethnic groups, there can be no national reconciliation, no peace and no prosperity without an inclusive political process,” Lewis added.
The defense team argued that the law under which Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced is no longer valid and filed petitions at the Division and Supreme Court levels to that effect.
Nyan Win said the defense team is now gearing up to file yet another petition at the special petitions office.
http://ping.fm/RsmAB
Sunday, 28 February 2010 13:49 Mizzima News
(Mizzima) – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday said he is ‘appalled and saddened’ that Burma’s military government has rejected an appeal filed by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers against her sentencing in August 2009.
“I am appalled and saddened that Aung San Suu Kyi’s appeal against the sentence imposed by the regime has been denied,” Brown said. However, he said the “failed appeal is sadly no surprise.”
Brown said from start to end the sole purpose of the show trial has been to prevent Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part in elections that the junta claims will be held later this year.
Lawyers of the Burmese opposition leader on Friday told Mizzima that the Supreme Court rejected the appeal against the verdict that sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi and her two live-in party mates to 18 months of house arrest handed down in August 2009.
“The Supreme Court said it is making no changes on the verdict and upholds the lower court’s decision,” said Nyan Win, a lawyer for the Burmese pro-democracy leader who is also a spokesperson for her party – National League for Democracy (NLD).
The NLD leader was sentenced in August 2009 to three years imprisonment for allegedly violating regulations of her previous house arrest by allowing an American, John Yettaw, who sneaked into her house to stay for two nights.
The sentence handed down by a district court, however, was reduced by a special order from Burma’s military Head-of-State Senior General Than Shwe to an 18 month suspended sentence, allowing time to be served at her lakeside home.
The British Prime Minister said while Burma with a free, fair and genuinely inclusive election this year could move forward to map a new path, with Aung San Suu Kyi being kept out of political life and over 2,100 other prisoners of conscience remaining incarcerated, the regime’s elections will gain neither recognition nor international legitimacy.
Similarly, British Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis in a statement on Friday said the rejection of the appeal is a further, sad indictment of the Burmese regime.
“The military government continues to suppress all dissent, deny Burma's people their fundamental freedoms, and detain democratic and ethnic leaders,” Lewis said.
“I urge the regime to recognize that in a country of over one hundred ethnic groups, there can be no national reconciliation, no peace and no prosperity without an inclusive political process,” Lewis added.
The defense team argued that the law under which Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced is no longer valid and filed petitions at the Division and Supreme Court levels to that effect.
Nyan Win said the defense team is now gearing up to file yet another petition at the special petitions office.
http://ping.fm/RsmAB
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