***The 17 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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Yesterday's International Herald Tribune story on the selling and forced recruitment of child soldiers. According to Human Rights Watch, while the junta is renewing efforts to recruit child soldiers, one of the main insurgent groups, the Karen National Liberation Army, has improved its record of child recruits. KNLA officers who use child soldiers are punished. The AP article HERE. Today's Reuters' article on Burma's child soldiers HERE. Irrawaddy's HERE.
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BANGKOK: Add to the many hardships in Myanmar today one more danger: being a boy. According to a report that was to be released Wednesday, the military, struggling to meet recruiting quotas, is buying, kidnapping and terrorizing boys as young as 10 to join its ranks.
The report by Human Rights Watch, the New York-based rights group, says military recruiters and civilian brokers scour train stations, bus stations, markets and other public places for boys and coerce them to volunteer. Some may simply disappear without their families' knowledge and spend years on the front lines of a brutal war against ethnic insurgencies.
"Clearly the military is preying upon children and using children to form a substantial proportion of its forces," said a co-author of the report, Jo Becker, the children's rights advocate for Human Rights Watch.
"In recent years the military has continued to expand while at the same time losing large numbers of soldiers to desertion," she said in an interview. "Recruiters and civilian agents are sweeping boys as young as 11 and 12 off the streets. Children are literally being bought and sold by recruiters."
These recruiters and agents receive cash payments and other incentives for new recruits even if the recruit fails to meet basic health and age requirements, said the report, which was based on interviews in Myanmar, Thailand and China.
The large number of child soldiers in Myanmar's army - and in the ranks of some 30 armed ethnic groups - has been known for years, and Human Rights Watch has published reports on it before.
The new report, coming at a moment of crisis in Myanmar, illustrates the kind of broad abuses that gave rise, along with economic hardships, to the huge anti-government protests in August and September that were crushed by the military junta a month ago.
"Even before the recent crackdown, many young adults rejected military service because of grueling conditions, low pay and mistreatment by superior officers," Becker said in the report. "After deploying its soldiers against Buddhist monks and other peaceful demonstrators, the government may find it even harder to find willing volunteers."
In response to criticism, the government formed a high-level committee in 2004 ostensibly to prevent recruitment of underage soldiers. "In fact the committee is a sham," Becker said. She said the committee has been active in denouncing outside reports of the recruitment of children.
Becker said it was impossible to say how many child soldiers are recruited in Myanmar, or even to be certain of the full strength of the armed forces, which is generally estimated at about 400,000.
But the report said that in interviews with 20 former soldiers, all but one estimated that at least 30 percent of their fellow trainees were boys under the age of 18. In some cases, particularly in newly formed units, as many as half were under age.
The legal age for military service is 18, and the report said recruiters and unit commanders often falsify the ages of their new recruits.
The report told of one boy who was recruited at the age of 11, even though he was only 1.3 meters, or 4 feet 3 inches, tall and weighed 31 kilograms, or 70 pounds. That former soldier told Human Rights Watch that his recruiter had bribed the medical officer to certify his eligibility.
The report quoted some former child soldiers as saying they and others had been detained in cells, handcuffed, beaten and sold by one recruiter or battalion to another.
Once in the ranks, the report said, child soldiers are subject to mistreatment by officers and are sometimes forced to participate in the human rights abuses that have been widely documented among the armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw. These include battlefield atrocities, the burning of villages, forcible recruitment of porters and sexual abuse of women.
Although in some cases the children are sheltered from combat, it said, others may be sent to fight within a few days of their arrival.
"One thing that is interesting is that many child soldiers say their first experience in combat is terrifying, they are scared of being shot and often would hide or shoot their gun in the air," Becker said. "But they acclimatized very quickly, so often by the second or third encounter they were no longer afraid."
Some of those interviewed went on to serve 12 or 13 years in the army, she said.
Desertion is punished with arrests and beatings, according to the report. It told the story of one boy, Maung Zaw Oo, who by the time he was 16 had been forcibly recruited into the army twice. He escaped after his first recruitment at age 14, only to be forced to join again soon afterward, the report said.
He told researchers that the corporal who brought him in received a large sum of money, a sack of rice and a big can of cooking oil as bounty. When his relatives tracked him down, they were told he would be released if they brought in five new recruits, the report said.
"I told my aunt, 'Don't do this,' " Maung Zaw Oo was quoted as saying. " 'I don't want others to face this, it's very bad here. I'll just stay and face it myself.' "
After that, he said, he volunteered for the most dangerous assignments, walking either first or last in a patrol.
"In the army my life was worthless," he was quoted as saying, "so I chose it that way."
Showing posts with label Human Rights Abuses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Human Rights Abuses. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Inside Burma: Land of Fear
***The 15 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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Here's a 8 minute clip of John Pilger's 1996 Interview, "Inside Burma: Land of Fear", with Aung San Suu Kyi. It contains a lot of scenes from the carnage and bloodshed from the 1988 crackdown. The full 53 minute-long video can be viewed HERE.
'Inside Burma: Land of Fear' was first broadcast in May 1996. It was written and presented by John Pilger and produced and directed by David Munro.
The film detailed the many injustices and human rights abuses that have so badly marked the country's past and present.
Amnesty International has described Burma as a 'prison without bars' of a country which has a beauty and resources probably unequalled in Asia.
Yet it is also a secret country. Isolated for the past 34 years since a brutal military dictatorship seized power in Rangoon, this rich country has been relegated to one of the world's poorest with the suffering of its people mostly unseen.
The generals who crushed democracy in Burma have ruled with a regime so harsh, bloody and uncompromising that the parallels with Cambodia under Pol Pot and East Timor under Suharto are striking.
A junta sign in Rangoon after the 1988 revolt
According to the United Nations, untold thousands have been forced from their homes, massacred, tortured and subjected to a modern form of slavery.
How was this country allowed to descend in such dramatic fashion and, after the pro-democracy uprisings of 1988, are its people any closer to being granted their rights to a vote and an economic system which will reward their labour?
Click HERE for John Pilger's articles on Burma.
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Here's a 8 minute clip of John Pilger's 1996 Interview, "Inside Burma: Land of Fear", with Aung San Suu Kyi. It contains a lot of scenes from the carnage and bloodshed from the 1988 crackdown. The full 53 minute-long video can be viewed HERE.
'Inside Burma: Land of Fear' was first broadcast in May 1996. It was written and presented by John Pilger and produced and directed by David Munro.
The film detailed the many injustices and human rights abuses that have so badly marked the country's past and present.
Amnesty International has described Burma as a 'prison without bars' of a country which has a beauty and resources probably unequalled in Asia.
Yet it is also a secret country. Isolated for the past 34 years since a brutal military dictatorship seized power in Rangoon, this rich country has been relegated to one of the world's poorest with the suffering of its people mostly unseen.
The generals who crushed democracy in Burma have ruled with a regime so harsh, bloody and uncompromising that the parallels with Cambodia under Pol Pot and East Timor under Suharto are striking.
A junta sign in Rangoon after the 1988 revolt
According to the United Nations, untold thousands have been forced from their homes, massacred, tortured and subjected to a modern form of slavery.
How was this country allowed to descend in such dramatic fashion and, after the pro-democracy uprisings of 1988, are its people any closer to being granted their rights to a vote and an economic system which will reward their labour?
Click HERE for John Pilger's articles on Burma.
Human Rights Watch asks for intervention of international community
***The 14 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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New York-based Human Rights Watch has just released the following plea (linked through The Hindu HERE) for international intervention in Burma. It reports on army abuses and the new wave of IDPs/refugees. (Again, their estimates of 500,000 IDPs are conservative. According to Partners Relief and Development, an organization that assists in IDP relief missions, put this number at 2 million. I have heard of estimates as high as 4 million. More of HRW's reporting on human rights abuses in Burma HERE.
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New York (PTI): Asking not to ignore human rights violations by the army in rural Myanmar, a US-based rights group has sought the intervention of international community into the dire humanitarian situation there.
"The international community must not ignore the dire humanitarian situation fuelled by army abuses in rural Myanmar," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said in a just released report.
"Besides, attacking monks and democracy protestors in Rangoon, Burma's military junta is forcing ethnic minority villagers to flee their homes in the country's border areas," Adams said.
Hundreds flee to India
Hundreds of Chin people from western Myanmar have fled to India in the aftermath of the government's recent crackdown on protesters and threats and pressure by local officials in Chin State to attend mass rallies in support of military rule.
The army, the report said, continues to destroy civilian villages in its counter-insurgency operations.
The report, which follows the release of a survey carried out by the non-governmental organizations, including Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) and its local partner, said "as of mid-2007 there were 503,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in surveyed sites in eastern Myanmar."
About 99,000 IDPs were believed to be in hiding from the army patrols, 109,000 were in military- controlled relocation sites, and 295,000 people were in areas controlled by armed groups with some ceasefire arrangements with the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the HRW report said.
The TBBC surveyed IDPs in Tennasserim Division, Mon State, Karen State and Pegu Division, Karenni State and southeastern Shan State.
Rest of the article HERE.
The BBC's article on the ethnic Chin's flee to India HERE. Because they refuse to participate in pro-government rallies, they are heavily fined. To avoid these fines and getting arrested, they escape to India.
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New York-based Human Rights Watch has just released the following plea (linked through The Hindu HERE) for international intervention in Burma. It reports on army abuses and the new wave of IDPs/refugees. (Again, their estimates of 500,000 IDPs are conservative. According to Partners Relief and Development, an organization that assists in IDP relief missions, put this number at 2 million. I have heard of estimates as high as 4 million. More of HRW's reporting on human rights abuses in Burma HERE.
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New York (PTI): Asking not to ignore human rights violations by the army in rural Myanmar, a US-based rights group has sought the intervention of international community into the dire humanitarian situation there.
"The international community must not ignore the dire humanitarian situation fuelled by army abuses in rural Myanmar," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said in a just released report.
"Besides, attacking monks and democracy protestors in Rangoon, Burma's military junta is forcing ethnic minority villagers to flee their homes in the country's border areas," Adams said.
Hundreds flee to India
Hundreds of Chin people from western Myanmar have fled to India in the aftermath of the government's recent crackdown on protesters and threats and pressure by local officials in Chin State to attend mass rallies in support of military rule.
The army, the report said, continues to destroy civilian villages in its counter-insurgency operations.
The report, which follows the release of a survey carried out by the non-governmental organizations, including Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) and its local partner, said "as of mid-2007 there were 503,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in surveyed sites in eastern Myanmar."
About 99,000 IDPs were believed to be in hiding from the army patrols, 109,000 were in military- controlled relocation sites, and 295,000 people were in areas controlled by armed groups with some ceasefire arrangements with the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the HRW report said.
The TBBC surveyed IDPs in Tennasserim Division, Mon State, Karen State and Pegu Division, Karenni State and southeastern Shan State.
Rest of the article HERE.
The BBC's article on the ethnic Chin's flee to India HERE. Because they refuse to participate in pro-government rallies, they are heavily fined. To avoid these fines and getting arrested, they escape to India.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Burmese junta continues with the campaign of oppression and torture
***The 14 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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Today's Asiantribune.com article focuses on the jailing and torture of female political activists, including nuns and pregnant women:
Burmese junta continues with its oppression and torture campaign ignoring the demands of the people of Burma and the International community. It is alleged that they have taken women activists captive and tortured them, including physical beatings and verbal violence.According to the Women’s League of Burma, even elderly women activist are not spared this criminal and inhumane treatment. “In these circumstances, we are very concerned about women’s activists, the nuns and pregnant women who have been detained by the regime,” the WLB said.
Women’s League of Burma also pointed out that the State Peace and Development Council continues with its oppression and torture campaign, while stalling talks and ignoring the demands of the people of Burma and the International community.
In fact 26th of October, marks one month since the State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC’s) vile crackdown on the peaceful protests led by the Buddhist monks in Burma. On this occasion, Women’s League of Burma LB wants to pay tribute to all monks, nuns and civilians, including students of 88 Generation, members of the National League for Democracy and all women activists who bravely joined these peaceful demonstrations. WLB will always honor them for their heroic deeds.
Given below the text of the statement released by trhe Women’s League of Burma:
WLB is very heartened by the international responses condemning SPDC and imposing tougher sanctions against SPDC for their criminal assaults and murders of the Buddhist monks, who were marching on the streets and praying for peace.
However, SPDC has responded to condemnation with charades trying to disguise their intractability. They have to date completely ignored the wishes of the people. They persist in claiming that they will follow only their own 7- step roadmap, and continue with the formation of the constitution drafting committee without even consulting with the very individuals who are named as being in the committee.
Far from showing restraint, the SPDC has continued the hunt down those who participated in the peaceful demonstrations. They have taken women activists captive and tortured them, including physical beatings and verbal violence.
Even elderly women activist are not spared this criminal and inhumane treatment. WLB sees these acts as contradictory to the SPDC words of “dialogue” and are also in direct contradiction to the calls from the people of Burma and international community for an end to the violence and committing to a peaceful political solution. In these circumstances, we are very concerned about women’s activists, the nuns and pregnant women who have been detained by the regime.
We call SPDC to allow ICRC to meet all women political detainees and prisoners at once and arrange for their immediate release.
At the same time, we demand SPDC to immediately stop hunting down women activists who led and joined the peaceful demonstrations. SPDC must stop referring to or treating them as “criminals”.
On 23 October 2007 women activists in- hiding and fleeing sent an urgent appeal to UN Secretary General, Ban-ke-mon. We call for UN Secretary General, Ban-ke-mon and UN special envoys to treat this appeal as an extremely serious and urgent issue. We expect that they will use their good offices and position to make SPDC stop arresting those who participated in the demonstrations, and provide international protection of their safety.
Now it has been one month since crackdown, but SPDC has shown no concrete signs of meaningful action towards reaching a political solution. Instead they have spent the month launching smear campaigns against the heroic Buddhist monks and demonstrators.
The entire world has heard the call from the people of Burma and the whole world knows that the SPDC’s actions in the past month are aimed at undermining and sidelining the people’s demands.
WLB strongly feels that it is time for SPDC to realize the folly of their own actions; stop insulting the people of Burma and international community’s intelligence; and stop playing games at this crucial time in our lives and World history. For example letting UN envoys into the country but not giving them access to the people; taking Daw Aung Suu Kyi out of her house to have “one hour” meeting with SPDC official. No one is fooled by these token gestures. It is time SPDC was sincere about finding a political solution.
The first step to show their sincerity and enable dialogue to begin must be the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi today.
On this day marking one month of increasing SPDC violence and oppression, WLB demands that SPDC start the political process today, in order to put an end to the decades of suffering endured by the people of Burma and build peace and democracy.
__________________________
Today's Asiantribune.com article focuses on the jailing and torture of female political activists, including nuns and pregnant women:
Burmese junta continues with its oppression and torture campaign ignoring the demands of the people of Burma and the International community. It is alleged that they have taken women activists captive and tortured them, including physical beatings and verbal violence.According to the Women’s League of Burma, even elderly women activist are not spared this criminal and inhumane treatment. “In these circumstances, we are very concerned about women’s activists, the nuns and pregnant women who have been detained by the regime,” the WLB said.
Women’s League of Burma also pointed out that the State Peace and Development Council continues with its oppression and torture campaign, while stalling talks and ignoring the demands of the people of Burma and the International community.
In fact 26th of October, marks one month since the State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC’s) vile crackdown on the peaceful protests led by the Buddhist monks in Burma. On this occasion, Women’s League of Burma LB wants to pay tribute to all monks, nuns and civilians, including students of 88 Generation, members of the National League for Democracy and all women activists who bravely joined these peaceful demonstrations. WLB will always honor them for their heroic deeds.
Given below the text of the statement released by trhe Women’s League of Burma:
WLB is very heartened by the international responses condemning SPDC and imposing tougher sanctions against SPDC for their criminal assaults and murders of the Buddhist monks, who were marching on the streets and praying for peace.
However, SPDC has responded to condemnation with charades trying to disguise their intractability. They have to date completely ignored the wishes of the people. They persist in claiming that they will follow only their own 7- step roadmap, and continue with the formation of the constitution drafting committee without even consulting with the very individuals who are named as being in the committee.
Far from showing restraint, the SPDC has continued the hunt down those who participated in the peaceful demonstrations. They have taken women activists captive and tortured them, including physical beatings and verbal violence.
Even elderly women activist are not spared this criminal and inhumane treatment. WLB sees these acts as contradictory to the SPDC words of “dialogue” and are also in direct contradiction to the calls from the people of Burma and international community for an end to the violence and committing to a peaceful political solution. In these circumstances, we are very concerned about women’s activists, the nuns and pregnant women who have been detained by the regime.
We call SPDC to allow ICRC to meet all women political detainees and prisoners at once and arrange for their immediate release.
At the same time, we demand SPDC to immediately stop hunting down women activists who led and joined the peaceful demonstrations. SPDC must stop referring to or treating them as “criminals”.
On 23 October 2007 women activists in- hiding and fleeing sent an urgent appeal to UN Secretary General, Ban-ke-mon. We call for UN Secretary General, Ban-ke-mon and UN special envoys to treat this appeal as an extremely serious and urgent issue. We expect that they will use their good offices and position to make SPDC stop arresting those who participated in the demonstrations, and provide international protection of their safety.
Now it has been one month since crackdown, but SPDC has shown no concrete signs of meaningful action towards reaching a political solution. Instead they have spent the month launching smear campaigns against the heroic Buddhist monks and demonstrators.
The entire world has heard the call from the people of Burma and the whole world knows that the SPDC’s actions in the past month are aimed at undermining and sidelining the people’s demands.
WLB strongly feels that it is time for SPDC to realize the folly of their own actions; stop insulting the people of Burma and international community’s intelligence; and stop playing games at this crucial time in our lives and World history. For example letting UN envoys into the country but not giving them access to the people; taking Daw Aung Suu Kyi out of her house to have “one hour” meeting with SPDC official. No one is fooled by these token gestures. It is time SPDC was sincere about finding a political solution.
The first step to show their sincerity and enable dialogue to begin must be the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi today.
On this day marking one month of increasing SPDC violence and oppression, WLB demands that SPDC start the political process today, in order to put an end to the decades of suffering endured by the people of Burma and build peace and democracy.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
US imposes tighter Sanctions on Junta, Crackdown Continues
***The 11 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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As the crackdown continues, President Bush has added 11 more junta officials and 12 business cronies to the US Treasury's sanctions list. Any of their assets in US jurisdiction will be frozen, and a visa ban will be imposed as well. This is a welcome addition to the roll of 14 top junta leaders and 260 Burmese officials and their families already on the sanction list.
On Thursday, US Representative Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, introduced the Block Burmese JADE Act in the House of Representatives. If passed, it would prevent Burmese gemstones bound for US markets to be laundered through third countries.
Despite sanctions by the EU, US, Australia, and Japan, the junta has continued its pursuit of suspected dissidents. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), five people connected with the 88 Generation were arrested early yesterday morning in a house raid.
The full article, "Continues Crackdown as US Applies Sanctions" HERE.
"Bush Applies More Sanctions on Junta Leaders, Cronies" HERE.
__________________________
As the crackdown continues, President Bush has added 11 more junta officials and 12 business cronies to the US Treasury's sanctions list. Any of their assets in US jurisdiction will be frozen, and a visa ban will be imposed as well. This is a welcome addition to the roll of 14 top junta leaders and 260 Burmese officials and their families already on the sanction list.
On Thursday, US Representative Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, introduced the Block Burmese JADE Act in the House of Representatives. If passed, it would prevent Burmese gemstones bound for US markets to be laundered through third countries.
Despite sanctions by the EU, US, Australia, and Japan, the junta has continued its pursuit of suspected dissidents. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), five people connected with the 88 Generation were arrested early yesterday morning in a house raid.
The full article, "Continues Crackdown as US Applies Sanctions" HERE.
"Bush Applies More Sanctions on Junta Leaders, Cronies" HERE.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Forced labour, extortion and the state of education in Dooplaya District
***The 11 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
from Karen Human Rights Group, website HERE.
As world attention focused last month on the large-scale public demonstrations in Rangoon and other major urban centres around Burma, the magnitude of domestic frustration over the military's systematic impoverishment of the civilian population became evident to the international community. This frustration is keenly felt by the people of Dooplaya District in southern Karen State and found expression last month in local anti-regime gatherings. Amongst other abuses, forced labour and extortion in their many guises have been leading causes in the economic collapse and resultant frustration with militarisation in Dooplaya District. A crucial factor making these abuses even more oppressive in Dooplaya and other areas of Karen State as compared with central Burma is the multiplicity of armed groups which compete with each other and with the region's civilian administration for the spoils of village-level exploitation. Across Dooplaya District the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Army; the regime's district and township-level civilian administration; the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA); and the Karen Peace Force (KPF) all continue to fatten themselves off of the toil of village labour. Amongst other detrimental consequences, this persistent predation has undermined opportunities for educational advancement and the application of such education beyond traditional village livelihoods or subservience within the local system of militarisation.
To view the report click HERE
About KHRG
The Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) was founded in 1992 and documents the situation of villagers and townspeople in rural Burma through their direct testimonies, supported by photographic and other evidence. KHRG operates completely independently and is not affiliated with any political or other organisation. Examples of our work can be seen on the World Wide Web at www.khrg.org, or printed copies may be obtained subject to approval and availability by sending a request to khrg@khrg.org.
For more details of the report, or interviews, please contact KHRG at khrg@khrg.org
from Karen Human Rights Group, website HERE.
As world attention focused last month on the large-scale public demonstrations in Rangoon and other major urban centres around Burma, the magnitude of domestic frustration over the military's systematic impoverishment of the civilian population became evident to the international community. This frustration is keenly felt by the people of Dooplaya District in southern Karen State and found expression last month in local anti-regime gatherings. Amongst other abuses, forced labour and extortion in their many guises have been leading causes in the economic collapse and resultant frustration with militarisation in Dooplaya District. A crucial factor making these abuses even more oppressive in Dooplaya and other areas of Karen State as compared with central Burma is the multiplicity of armed groups which compete with each other and with the region's civilian administration for the spoils of village-level exploitation. Across Dooplaya District the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Army; the regime's district and township-level civilian administration; the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA); and the Karen Peace Force (KPF) all continue to fatten themselves off of the toil of village labour. Amongst other detrimental consequences, this persistent predation has undermined opportunities for educational advancement and the application of such education beyond traditional village livelihoods or subservience within the local system of militarisation.
To view the report click HERE
About KHRG
The Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) was founded in 1992 and documents the situation of villagers and townspeople in rural Burma through their direct testimonies, supported by photographic and other evidence. KHRG operates completely independently and is not affiliated with any political or other organisation. Examples of our work can be seen on the World Wide Web at www.khrg.org, or printed copies may be obtained subject to approval and availability by sending a request to khrg@khrg.org.
For more details of the report, or interviews, please contact KHRG at khrg@khrg.org
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Prison Conditions, Torture Techniques Appalling
Please TAKE ACTION and sign the following AVAAZ Petition HERE. It calls on the EU foreign ministers to impose sanctions on Burma. This comes as a critical time, as they will meet on Monday, Oct. 15, in 3 days! Please forward widely.
(http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_squeeze_the_junta/tf.php?cl_tf_sign=1)
***The other 10 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
According to The Human Rights Yearbook for 1997-98, compiled by the Human Rights Documentation Unit of the exiled National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, lists the methods of torture commonly employed in interrogation centers, which include:
(http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_squeeze_the_junta/tf.php?cl_tf_sign=1)
***The other 10 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
According to The Human Rights Yearbook for 1997-98, compiled by the Human Rights Documentation Unit of the exiled National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, lists the methods of torture commonly employed in interrogation centers, which include:
beatings rigorous to cause permanent injury; shackling of the legs or arms; burning victims with cigarettes; applying electric shocks to the victims' genitals, finger tips, toes, ear lobes, and elsewhere; suffocation; stabbing; rubbing of salt and chemicals in open wounds; forcing victims to stand in unusual and uncomfortable positions for extended periods of time, including 'riding the motorcycle,' which entails standing with warms outstretched and legs bent, and the 'helicopter,' in which the victim is suspended by the wrists or feet from a ceiling fixture and then spun around; deprivation of light and sleep; denial of medicine, food, exercise, and water for washing; employing the 'iron rod' in which iron or bamboo rods are rolled up and down the shins until the skin is lacerated; ordering solitary confinement with extremely small and insanitary cells for prolonged periods, and using psychological torture including threats of death and rape.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
As the Torturing Continues, UNSC adopts weak statement
***The 10 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
In addition to accounts of the junta cremating protestors dead and alive, The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) has reported deplorable conditions of prison cells and the use of torture against 88 Generation leaders, monks, and civilian dissidents held in detention centers. According to The Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based radio station run by dissident journalist, because of torture, poor jail conditions, and the refusal of medical attention, detained protestors are dying in custody. The report HERE. U Than Aung and a member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party, Win Shwe (story HERE), are two of the dozens to have died in detention, claim opposition groups. Another report, by Reuters, HERE.
Moreover, the junta has denied the International Committee of the Red Cross access to detention centers to observe prison conditions and give medical aid.
In response to the military's violent use of force, today, the UN Security Council has issued a nonbinding "Presidential Statement," however, the spirit of the document may have been compromised by softening the language in order to placate China. While this marks an initial step by the UNSC to bring positive change to Burma, many pro-democracy groups are waiting for global concerns to be translated into concrete actions. With the exception of the US, economic and diplomatic sanctions--which China, India, and Japan do not support--have not been implemented (story HERE).
from CNN:
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A compromise statement approved Thursday by all 15 U.N. Security Council members -- including close Myanmar ally China -- emphasized "the importance of the early release of all political prisoners and remaining detainees."
The United States, Britain and France proposed a stronger text that would have condemned the violence and called for the immediate release of the political prisoners and detainees, singling out the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But the text was watered down to get approval from China.
The council statement was read at a formal meeting shortly after the U.N. announced that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was sending his special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, back to the region next week for consultations with key governments on international efforts to promote talks between the government and the opposition.
The United States and other countries have pushed for international sanctions, but China said that only a more conciliatory approach would work.
"We believe that the situation there is relaxing and turning in a positive direction," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. "The international community should help in a constructive way to help Myanmar to realize stability, reconciliation, democracy and development."
In addition to accounts of the junta cremating protestors dead and alive, The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) has reported deplorable conditions of prison cells and the use of torture against 88 Generation leaders, monks, and civilian dissidents held in detention centers. According to The Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based radio station run by dissident journalist, because of torture, poor jail conditions, and the refusal of medical attention, detained protestors are dying in custody. The report HERE. U Than Aung and a member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party, Win Shwe (story HERE), are two of the dozens to have died in detention, claim opposition groups. Another report, by Reuters, HERE.Moreover, the junta has denied the International Committee of the Red Cross access to detention centers to observe prison conditions and give medical aid.
In response to the military's violent use of force, today, the UN Security Council has issued a nonbinding "Presidential Statement," however, the spirit of the document may have been compromised by softening the language in order to placate China. While this marks an initial step by the UNSC to bring positive change to Burma, many pro-democracy groups are waiting for global concerns to be translated into concrete actions. With the exception of the US, economic and diplomatic sanctions--which China, India, and Japan do not support--have not been implemented (story HERE).
from CNN:
_____________
A compromise statement approved Thursday by all 15 U.N. Security Council members -- including close Myanmar ally China -- emphasized "the importance of the early release of all political prisoners and remaining detainees."
The United States, Britain and France proposed a stronger text that would have condemned the violence and called for the immediate release of the political prisoners and detainees, singling out the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But the text was watered down to get approval from China.
The council statement was read at a formal meeting shortly after the U.N. announced that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was sending his special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, back to the region next week for consultations with key governments on international efforts to promote talks between the government and the opposition.
The United States and other countries have pushed for international sanctions, but China said that only a more conciliatory approach would work.
"We believe that the situation there is relaxing and turning in a positive direction," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. "The international community should help in a constructive way to help Myanmar to realize stability, reconciliation, democracy and development."
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Confirmed Reports of Junta's Cremation of Protesters, Dead and Alive
***The 10 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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The junta has ordered the large scale burning of protesters' bodies in a heavily guarded secret crematoriums located northeast of Yangon. The burnings began on the night of September 28, less than 24 hours after the military opened fire on the monk led demonstrations. The burning of bodies is a guarantee that the death toll will never be known. No identification of bodies is performed. The full report from BurmaNet News can be read HERE.
Almost a week ago, US Campaign for Burma posted a clip of a woman stating that protesters were being burnt, including ones still alive. The clip can be accessed HERE.
The full scale of the violence employed in raids on monasteries is finally being made known. More and more reports are coming confirming earlier allegations that the junta is in fact massacring monks. Up to 200 had their heads bashed in at Mwe Kya Jan monastery.
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The junta has ordered the large scale burning of protesters' bodies in a heavily guarded secret crematoriums located northeast of Yangon. The burnings began on the night of September 28, less than 24 hours after the military opened fire on the monk led demonstrations. The burning of bodies is a guarantee that the death toll will never be known. No identification of bodies is performed. The full report from BurmaNet News can be read HERE.
Almost a week ago, US Campaign for Burma posted a clip of a woman stating that protesters were being burnt, including ones still alive. The clip can be accessed HERE.
The full scale of the violence employed in raids on monasteries is finally being made known. More and more reports are coming confirming earlier allegations that the junta is in fact massacring monks. Up to 200 had their heads bashed in at Mwe Kya Jan monastery.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Burma's Secret War against Ethnic Minorities
from AP
While international attention has focused on the protests for democracy in Myanmar's cities, a hidden war has decimated generations of the country's powerless ethnic minorities, who have faced brutality for decades.
The Karen, the Shan and other minority groups who live along the Myanmar-Thai border have been attacked, raped and killed by government soldiers. Their thatched-roofed, bamboo homes have been torched. Men have been seized into forced labor for the army, while women, children and the elderly either hide out in nearby jungles until the soldiers leave or flee over the mountains to crowded, makeshift refugee camps.
Children from the Karen National Union insurgent army at the 51st anniversary celebrations of the army's rebellion.
"Many, many thousands of Karen have died in those 60 years," Karen National Union secretary general Mahn Sha said this week of his people's struggle for autonomy since 1947.
The military junta has denied reports of atrocities and says the ethnic rebels are "terrorists" trying to overthrow the government.
The Southeast Asian nation, formerly known as Burma, has more than 100 subtribes. Myanmar's diverse minority groups make up nearly a third of the country's 54 million population.
About two-thirds of the country belongs to the Burman ethnic majority, which is also known as the Myanmar. The other ethnic groups include the Shan, the Karen, the Chin, the Mon, the Arakan or Rakhine, and the Kachin.
Thousand of refugees, mostly from a Muslim ethnic minority known as Rohingyas, have fled over Myanmar's western border with Bangladesh over the years because of persecution by the military junta and economic hardship. The Kachin in the far north, along the border with China, have clashed with the central government, as have the Chin in the central western region bordering India, and the Mon in the south along the Andaman Sea.
But the military is most aggressive in the eastern states along Myanmar's 1,300-mile border with Thailand, a frontier longer than the Texas-Mexico border.
Mary Callahan, a Myanmar expert at the University of Washington, said the junta has signed 27 cease-fire agreements with rebels, many of them allowing ethnic groups to keep their arms.
The Karen National Union is the only major ethnic rebel group not to have concluded a cease-fire and its separatist struggle is one of the world's longest-running insurgencies.
The Karen struggle is concentrated in Karen and Kayah states in the middle of the Thai border region, but fighting also sometimes flares in Shan state to the north. Mon and Taninthayi states, which border Thailand in the south, have been quiet for more than a decade.
After the junta's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1988, many Burmese fled to the Thai border. The ethnic minorities did not trust them at first, but after years of interaction and intermarriage, some of the students-turned-soldiers settled along the border.
Now minority groups wonder if there will be a new influx of Burmese because they led the recent pro-democracy protests in Yangon and other cities. The Karen have held meetings to express solidarity with the anti-government protesters.
The current protests began on August 19 after the government sharply raised fuel prices in one of Asia's poorest countries. But they are based in deep-rooted dissatisfaction with 45 years of repressive military rule.
"The people have decided never to stop and never to surrender. They [the government] cannot stop all the people all the time," said Mahn Sha of the Karen National Union.
Myanmar protesters will be welcomed by the ethnic groups, but the question remains how both can use the unrest to their advantage.
"We need to work together with the Mon, other groups, the students, to fight the [junta]. We have a common enemy and common goals," Mahn Sha said.
"It is the beginning of the crack that could bring down the dictators. Even if these protests are crushed, it will still be a big block out of that tower. We all look at this with hope," Dah Say, a Karenni who is a member of the Free Burma Rangers, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
The actor Sylvester Stallone, who just finished filming his "Rambo" sequel on the Salween River separating Thailand and Myanmar's Karen state, drew attention to the violence along the border.
He said his movie crew was shocked by the border situation, calling it a "full-scale genocide."
"I witnessed the aftermath -- survivors with legs cut off and all kinds of land mine injuries, maggot-infested wounds and ears cut off. We saw many elephants with blown off legs," he told The Associated Press on Monday.
"We hear about Vietnam and Cambodia -- and this was more horrific," he said.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Dispatch's horrifying, yet informative report Burma's Secret War is linked HERE and embedded below. In Burma's Secret War, "Dispatches exposes the new surge in violence inflicted on the Burmese people by their own regime. Enslaved by a brutal military dictatorship which wields absolute power, Burma is a secretive state where suppression reigns and dissent is not tolerated.
Journalist Evan Williams, who is banned from entering the country after reporting on Burma for more than 10 years, goes undercover to investigate the mass ethnic cleansing, forced labour and vicious clamping down of political opposition which characterise the dictatorship." HERE is Investigative TV Journalism website Four Corner's synopsis of William's report.
Other videos can be seen on the left panel of the blog or at youtube.
If you haven't already, please SIGN THE 9 PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.
While international attention has focused on the protests for democracy in Myanmar's cities, a hidden war has decimated generations of the country's powerless ethnic minorities, who have faced brutality for decades.
The Karen, the Shan and other minority groups who live along the Myanmar-Thai border have been attacked, raped and killed by government soldiers. Their thatched-roofed, bamboo homes have been torched. Men have been seized into forced labor for the army, while women, children and the elderly either hide out in nearby jungles until the soldiers leave or flee over the mountains to crowded, makeshift refugee camps.
Children from the Karen National Union insurgent army at the 51st anniversary celebrations of the army's rebellion."Many, many thousands of Karen have died in those 60 years," Karen National Union secretary general Mahn Sha said this week of his people's struggle for autonomy since 1947.
The military junta has denied reports of atrocities and says the ethnic rebels are "terrorists" trying to overthrow the government.
The Southeast Asian nation, formerly known as Burma, has more than 100 subtribes. Myanmar's diverse minority groups make up nearly a third of the country's 54 million population.
About two-thirds of the country belongs to the Burman ethnic majority, which is also known as the Myanmar. The other ethnic groups include the Shan, the Karen, the Chin, the Mon, the Arakan or Rakhine, and the Kachin.
Thousand of refugees, mostly from a Muslim ethnic minority known as Rohingyas, have fled over Myanmar's western border with Bangladesh over the years because of persecution by the military junta and economic hardship. The Kachin in the far north, along the border with China, have clashed with the central government, as have the Chin in the central western region bordering India, and the Mon in the south along the Andaman Sea.
But the military is most aggressive in the eastern states along Myanmar's 1,300-mile border with Thailand, a frontier longer than the Texas-Mexico border.
Mary Callahan, a Myanmar expert at the University of Washington, said the junta has signed 27 cease-fire agreements with rebels, many of them allowing ethnic groups to keep their arms.
The Karen National Union is the only major ethnic rebel group not to have concluded a cease-fire and its separatist struggle is one of the world's longest-running insurgencies.
The Karen struggle is concentrated in Karen and Kayah states in the middle of the Thai border region, but fighting also sometimes flares in Shan state to the north. Mon and Taninthayi states, which border Thailand in the south, have been quiet for more than a decade.
After the junta's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1988, many Burmese fled to the Thai border. The ethnic minorities did not trust them at first, but after years of interaction and intermarriage, some of the students-turned-soldiers settled along the border.
Now minority groups wonder if there will be a new influx of Burmese because they led the recent pro-democracy protests in Yangon and other cities. The Karen have held meetings to express solidarity with the anti-government protesters.
The current protests began on August 19 after the government sharply raised fuel prices in one of Asia's poorest countries. But they are based in deep-rooted dissatisfaction with 45 years of repressive military rule.
"The people have decided never to stop and never to surrender. They [the government] cannot stop all the people all the time," said Mahn Sha of the Karen National Union.
Myanmar protesters will be welcomed by the ethnic groups, but the question remains how both can use the unrest to their advantage.
"We need to work together with the Mon, other groups, the students, to fight the [junta]. We have a common enemy and common goals," Mahn Sha said.
"It is the beginning of the crack that could bring down the dictators. Even if these protests are crushed, it will still be a big block out of that tower. We all look at this with hope," Dah Say, a Karenni who is a member of the Free Burma Rangers, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
The actor Sylvester Stallone, who just finished filming his "Rambo" sequel on the Salween River separating Thailand and Myanmar's Karen state, drew attention to the violence along the border.
He said his movie crew was shocked by the border situation, calling it a "full-scale genocide."
"I witnessed the aftermath -- survivors with legs cut off and all kinds of land mine injuries, maggot-infested wounds and ears cut off. We saw many elephants with blown off legs," he told The Associated Press on Monday.
"We hear about Vietnam and Cambodia -- and this was more horrific," he said.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Dispatch's horrifying, yet informative report Burma's Secret War is linked HERE and embedded below. In Burma's Secret War, "Dispatches exposes the new surge in violence inflicted on the Burmese people by their own regime. Enslaved by a brutal military dictatorship which wields absolute power, Burma is a secretive state where suppression reigns and dissent is not tolerated.
Journalist Evan Williams, who is banned from entering the country after reporting on Burma for more than 10 years, goes undercover to investigate the mass ethnic cleansing, forced labour and vicious clamping down of political opposition which characterise the dictatorship." HERE is Investigative TV Journalism website Four Corner's synopsis of William's report.
Other videos can be seen on the left panel of the blog or at youtube.
If you haven't already, please SIGN THE 9 PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
STUDENTS AND MONKS MASSACRED SEPT. 29th. / Oct. 5 National Campus Day of Action for Burma
On September 29th, up to 100 students and parents and 200 monks were massacred in Yangon.What's to prevent the junta from murdering hundreds or thousands more? These killings speak to the fact that Senior General Than Shwe and junta leaders are unwilling to listen to the international community and have the predisposition of resorting only to violence.
The body of one of the monks killed on Sept. 30th at Nwye Kyar Yan Monastery. Read the story HERE
I will be stepping up efforts to not only update this blog with the most current events, and also give further analytical background on the social, political, and economic backdrop of the situation in Burma. If you guys have any suggestions, comments, or questions...any feedback on how to make this blog more informative, please, let me know.
Please educate yourselves about this issue. And TAKE ACTION. On the left hand side of my blog are category selections. Click on the TAKE ACTION category. It goes to online petitions and other actions to protest the situation in Burma and to call on the junta's supporters to stop funding human rights abuses. I also condensed the actions at the end of this post. Please scroll down.
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from the US Campaign for Burma
October 5: National Campus Day of Action for Burma
Brave university and high school students inside Burma are working closely with monks in leading peaceful protests throughout Burma.
On September 29th, there was a massacre at State High School No.2, Tamwe in Rangoon. Reports have confirmed that an estimated 50-100 students and parents were killed.Is your university supporting the military dictatorship?
We need a ground swell of support and action! We urge schools across the country to show their solidarity with students inside Burma and organize a Saffron Revolution Solidarity event for Friday, Oct. 5th.
Click here to sign up!
Actions to take:
1) SIGNATURES - Collect as many people as you can to sign a petition to Chinese President Hu Jintao demanding China stop paralyzing UN Security Council action and use their leverage with Burma's military regime to stop the massacre inside Burma(You can find the petition to download online here)
2) WEAR RED - Have everyone on your campus wear red as a sign of solidarity with monks peacefully protesting in Burma
3) EDUCATE - Organize a rally, speaker, silent march, candle light vigil, or hold a film screening on the that day
4) ACT- Pass a resolution to get your University to use it's shareholder power to convince companies to stop doing business in Burma.
WHY we are doing it:
1) To raise awareness on campus and in the surrounding area about the protests in Burma
2) To give support to those risking their lives and peacefully protesting inside Burma; the Burmese hear about our protests through satellite radio
3) To put pressure on China to take action on Burma. China is starting to respond due to the international outcry; we need to get more people involved to keep up the pressure.
HOW to get students on your campus involved:
1) Start a Facebook event. Invite everyone. We already have a national Facebook event up- National Campus Day of Action for Burma
2) Send out emails to all listserves available and ask your friends to do the same
3) Put up banners, posters, dormslips, tableslips all around campus (we have provided these. Read below)
4) Set up tables on main quads and outside dining halls to collect signatures for the petition and hand out Burma "quick fact sheets"
5) Pass out red duct tape and red ribbons at tables to start raising awareness during the week, along with fact sheets
6) Work with other groups on campus to get the word out (Amnesty, STAND, other social justice networks)
7) Make sure to contact the local and regional press. This is crucial. Contact your school newspaper, alumni publications, town/city newspapers, AP, Reuters, local TV stations, and local radio stations.
8) Make sure the students know why they are wearing red by having speakers who explain the situation in Burma
9) Get professors, school departments, and school administration involved
Website for Campus Day of Action:
1) We have made a webpage for this Friday's Burma days: www.studentsforburma.org.
2) On the webpage you can download posters, tableslips/handbills, and "Burma quick fact sheets" to post around campus
-Thelma Young
Thursday, September 27, 2007
TROOPS FIRE DIRECTLY INTO PROTESTORS
from Irrawaddy.com
Burmese security forces fired directly on protesting monks and other demonstrators in Rangoon on Wednesday, reportedly killing five monks and one woman in separate Rangoon clashes, according to unconfirmed reports.
On-the-scene reports to The Irrawaddy said the monks died when troops and security forces opened fire on at least two separate demonstrations. Troops reportedly fired over the heads of protesters on some occasions and fired directly at protestors on other occasions.
The reports of deaths and injuries were impossible to confirm on Wednesday.
The deaths reportedly occurred as different columns of monks walked through the city on Wednesday.
Nyan Win, a National League for Democracy spokesperson, said he heard reports that three monks and one woman had been killed by gunfire.
AFP, the French news agency, reported Wednesday night that at least two Burmese officials said three monks were dead. The AFP report said one monk died as he tried to take a weapon away from a soldier, and two others were beaten to death.
In the military-ruled government of Burma, information is severely restricted and accurate reports of the number of dead and injured are difficult to verify.
Witnesses said the military government fired at protesters, hurled tear gas and wielded batons to break up protests in Rangoon. In Mandalay, shots were fired over the heads of protestors.
In both cities, security forces rounded up and arrested many protest leaders and others, according to sources on the scene.
During Wednesday morning, military forces and police in Rangoon blocked the road to Shwedagon Pagoda and confronted thousands of monks and civilians who gathered outside the pagoda, one of the holiest sites in Burma.
On Wednesday afternoon, protesters and security forces also clashed again near Shwedagon Pagoda and later on a road leading to Sule Pagoda.
Dozens of protesters and activists including members of the NLD, protesting Buddhist monks and other protest leaders were arrested throughout the day at different areas in Rangoon, in Mandalay and in Kachin state.
In Rangoon, two well-known activists, the veteran politician Amyotheryei Win Naing and the popular Burmese comedian Zarganar, were arrested overnight on Tuesday.
The well-known Burmese actor Kyaw Thu and the poet Aung Win are being sought by authorities for their role in aiding monks in recent days, according to sources.
In Mandalay, security forces fired warning shots and used teargas to break up an estimated 10,000 protesting monks who marched through the city, according to local residents. one source said that after troops fired warning shots over the heads of the monks, they continued on with their march.
Also in Mandalay, three members of the NLD, Tin Aung, Khin Maung Thaung and Myo Naing, and well-known comedian Par Par Lay, were arrested on Wednesday after they offered alms to monks.
In other areas, more than 200 monks in Myitkyina and Bamaw in Kachin state in northern Burma were arrested in a midnight raid on Tuesday. More monks in the area were detained on Wednesday morning, while others escaped and are in hiding. Many phone lines were cut off in the area, residents said.
The junta declared a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in Rangoon and Mandalay on Tuesday and banned any gathering of more than five people. Thousands of monks and citizens ignored the ban on Wednesday.
Security forces and police took up positions around Rangoon City Hall and many monasteries on Wednesday. Security was also increased in Pegu and Mandalay, in Sagaing Division and in Arakan, Mon and Kachin states.
The phone lines of many pro-democracy activists and many members of a volunteer medical team that has followed Rangoon demonstrations also have been cut off by the military government.
_____________
Please sign the petitions below!
strong>For those who care about human rights, please sign the NINE (9) PETITIONS below if you have not done so already. Please take the 5 minutes to do this. It's easy and CAN and WILL bring concrete results to the suffering people of Burma. The list of petitions was compiled by Burma Watch.
You can also call or email the Chinese, Burmese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Russian, South Korean, and French embassies. Below are also organizations to which you can donate. Please consider supporting their advocacy work on Burma.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
9 ONLINE PETITIONS
1. Call on Members of United Nations, Members of the European Union, All Political Leaders, All Head of States, and, All Dignitaries for immediate action on Burma HERE.
2. An appeal to the 15 members of the UN Security Council HERE.
3. Also, please sign the US Campaign for Burma petition calling for China to withdraw support of Burma's military regime HERE.
4. AVAAZ is petitioning the UN and Chinese President Hu Jintao
HERE.
5. Send a petition calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Burma, including Aung San Suu Kyi, to Senior General Than Shwe. Don't worry if one or two of these emails bounces back-the petition will go to 30 Burmese government ministries and Burmese embassies around the world- it probably means their inbox is already full of appeals. The petition, off musician Damien Rice's actionburma.com site is HERE.
6. Sign Earthrights International's petition urging Chevron to use its influence to help stop the crackdown, and to stop investing in Burma HERE.
7. Sign the Shwe Gas Movement's petition to halt South Korea's Daewoo from extracting gas in Western Burma until human rights are upheld HERE.
8. Sign the petition to the Norwegian Nobel Committee to nominate the Sangha (the monkhood) in Burma for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize HERE.
9. For British citizens, please sign the petition to PM Gordon Brown. Get him to act now!
- You can also email UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon asking for immediate UN intervention at inquiries@un.org
- Join the Support the Monks' protest in Burma and the US Campaign for Burma Facebook groups. Check out Burma Watch's website.
Burmese security forces fired directly on protesting monks and other demonstrators in Rangoon on Wednesday, reportedly killing five monks and one woman in separate Rangoon clashes, according to unconfirmed reports.
On-the-scene reports to The Irrawaddy said the monks died when troops and security forces opened fire on at least two separate demonstrations. Troops reportedly fired over the heads of protesters on some occasions and fired directly at protestors on other occasions.
The reports of deaths and injuries were impossible to confirm on Wednesday.
The deaths reportedly occurred as different columns of monks walked through the city on Wednesday.
Nyan Win, a National League for Democracy spokesperson, said he heard reports that three monks and one woman had been killed by gunfire.
AFP, the French news agency, reported Wednesday night that at least two Burmese officials said three monks were dead. The AFP report said one monk died as he tried to take a weapon away from a soldier, and two others were beaten to death.
In the military-ruled government of Burma, information is severely restricted and accurate reports of the number of dead and injured are difficult to verify.
Witnesses said the military government fired at protesters, hurled tear gas and wielded batons to break up protests in Rangoon. In Mandalay, shots were fired over the heads of protestors.
In both cities, security forces rounded up and arrested many protest leaders and others, according to sources on the scene.
During Wednesday morning, military forces and police in Rangoon blocked the road to Shwedagon Pagoda and confronted thousands of monks and civilians who gathered outside the pagoda, one of the holiest sites in Burma.
On Wednesday afternoon, protesters and security forces also clashed again near Shwedagon Pagoda and later on a road leading to Sule Pagoda.
Dozens of protesters and activists including members of the NLD, protesting Buddhist monks and other protest leaders were arrested throughout the day at different areas in Rangoon, in Mandalay and in Kachin state.
In Rangoon, two well-known activists, the veteran politician Amyotheryei Win Naing and the popular Burmese comedian Zarganar, were arrested overnight on Tuesday.
The well-known Burmese actor Kyaw Thu and the poet Aung Win are being sought by authorities for their role in aiding monks in recent days, according to sources.
In Mandalay, security forces fired warning shots and used teargas to break up an estimated 10,000 protesting monks who marched through the city, according to local residents. one source said that after troops fired warning shots over the heads of the monks, they continued on with their march.
Also in Mandalay, three members of the NLD, Tin Aung, Khin Maung Thaung and Myo Naing, and well-known comedian Par Par Lay, were arrested on Wednesday after they offered alms to monks.
In other areas, more than 200 monks in Myitkyina and Bamaw in Kachin state in northern Burma were arrested in a midnight raid on Tuesday. More monks in the area were detained on Wednesday morning, while others escaped and are in hiding. Many phone lines were cut off in the area, residents said.
The junta declared a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in Rangoon and Mandalay on Tuesday and banned any gathering of more than five people. Thousands of monks and citizens ignored the ban on Wednesday.
Security forces and police took up positions around Rangoon City Hall and many monasteries on Wednesday. Security was also increased in Pegu and Mandalay, in Sagaing Division and in Arakan, Mon and Kachin states.
The phone lines of many pro-democracy activists and many members of a volunteer medical team that has followed Rangoon demonstrations also have been cut off by the military government.
_____________
Please sign the petitions below!
strong>For those who care about human rights, please sign the NINE (9) PETITIONS below if you have not done so already. Please take the 5 minutes to do this. It's easy and CAN and WILL bring concrete results to the suffering people of Burma. The list of petitions was compiled by Burma Watch.
You can also call or email the Chinese, Burmese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Russian, South Korean, and French embassies. Below are also organizations to which you can donate. Please consider supporting their advocacy work on Burma.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
9 ONLINE PETITIONS
1. Call on Members of United Nations, Members of the European Union, All Political Leaders, All Head of States, and, All Dignitaries for immediate action on Burma HERE.
2. An appeal to the 15 members of the UN Security Council HERE.
3. Also, please sign the US Campaign for Burma petition calling for China to withdraw support of Burma's military regime HERE.
4. AVAAZ is petitioning the UN and Chinese President Hu Jintao
HERE.
5. Send a petition calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Burma, including Aung San Suu Kyi, to Senior General Than Shwe. Don't worry if one or two of these emails bounces back-the petition will go to 30 Burmese government ministries and Burmese embassies around the world- it probably means their inbox is already full of appeals. The petition, off musician Damien Rice's actionburma.com site is HERE.
6. Sign Earthrights International's petition urging Chevron to use its influence to help stop the crackdown, and to stop investing in Burma HERE.
7. Sign the Shwe Gas Movement's petition to halt South Korea's Daewoo from extracting gas in Western Burma until human rights are upheld HERE.
8. Sign the petition to the Norwegian Nobel Committee to nominate the Sangha (the monkhood) in Burma for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize HERE.
9. For British citizens, please sign the petition to PM Gordon Brown. Get him to act now!
- You can also email UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon asking for immediate UN intervention at inquiries@un.org
- Join the Support the Monks' protest in Burma and the US Campaign for Burma Facebook groups. Check out Burma Watch's website.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The Tipping Point of Violence
Right now, Burma is on the verge of social collapse. Protests against the ruling military junta are fast reaching a boiling point. Demonstrations began last month after sudden draconian fuel hikes of 500%. When the military used force to disperse protesting monks, monks demanded an apology. However, the junta refused to cave in. And so the Alliance of all Burma Buddhist Monks has called for apatam nikkujjana kamma, which is a boycott of alms from the military and its supporters. In Buddhist culture, alms in the form of food or money is given to monks in order to receive merit, or good karma. Refusing to grant merit is akin to a spiritual death and a colossal loss of face. The last time monks stood up to the junta was in 1990 over the fallout from the 1988 uprising. The junta responded with punishing force, throwing hundreds of monks into jail and forcibly defrocking 300.
Many fear that the current situation is a time bomb waiting to explode. The junta has the wherewithal to respond with crushing brutality that can certainly surpass the violence of 1988. Last Monday, more than 100,000 marched in Rangoon, the former capital. Monks are now encouraging students and civilians to get involved. Artists, writers, and celebrities are throwing their weight in, as are the ethnic groups and political opposition parties.
from US Campaign for Burma
Burma Campaign UK sources in Rangoon have reported that soldiers have been ordered to shave their heads, in possible preparation for infiltrating peaceful demonstrations. They would start rioting or attacking police, providing the regime with a pretext for a brutal crackdown on protestors.
Sources indicate that soldiers from Light Battalion 77 in Rangoon have been given the order. Sources also report that the regime has ordered 3,000 monks robes from a factory in Rangoon.
It is a tactic the regime has used in the past, including at the Depayin
massacre in 2003, during which Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested. Regime militia dressed as monks were involved in the ambush which left up to 100 democracy activists dead. State television today reported that action would be taken against protestors.
"We know from experience that the regime is capable of opening fire on civilians", said Mark Farmaner, acting Director of Burma Campaign UK. The regime came to power on the back of a massacre in 1988 that left at least 3,000 civilians dead. They have also been accused by the UN of breaking the Geneva Convention for their deliberate targeting of civilians in attacks on ethnic minorities.
Despite the widespread expectations that the regime will use violence to suppress protest, the international community has been remarkably silent, with the French government being the only one to make a strong statement warning of consequences if the regime respond with violence. ASEAN has also expressed concern.
"The regime has been held in check by the peoples' respect for the monks and the fact that the world is watching, but the scale of protests means they will be looking for options that allow them to justify a crackdown," said Mark Farmaner, "The UN Secretary General and other world leaders must speak out and make it clear that a violent response in unacceptable. At the moment the international community seems to be willing to watch from the sidelines as the regime moves closer to a massacre. If the regime does attack protestors, this will have been one of the most widely predicted massacres in recent history, and makes a mockery any government's claim to be committed to human rights."
new website:
http://www.mizzima.com/
Many fear that the current situation is a time bomb waiting to explode. The junta has the wherewithal to respond with crushing brutality that can certainly surpass the violence of 1988. Last Monday, more than 100,000 marched in Rangoon, the former capital. Monks are now encouraging students and civilians to get involved. Artists, writers, and celebrities are throwing their weight in, as are the ethnic groups and political opposition parties.
from US Campaign for Burma
Burma Campaign UK sources in Rangoon have reported that soldiers have been ordered to shave their heads, in possible preparation for infiltrating peaceful demonstrations. They would start rioting or attacking police, providing the regime with a pretext for a brutal crackdown on protestors.
Sources indicate that soldiers from Light Battalion 77 in Rangoon have been given the order. Sources also report that the regime has ordered 3,000 monks robes from a factory in Rangoon.
It is a tactic the regime has used in the past, including at the Depayin
massacre in 2003, during which Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested. Regime militia dressed as monks were involved in the ambush which left up to 100 democracy activists dead. State television today reported that action would be taken against protestors.
"We know from experience that the regime is capable of opening fire on civilians", said Mark Farmaner, acting Director of Burma Campaign UK. The regime came to power on the back of a massacre in 1988 that left at least 3,000 civilians dead. They have also been accused by the UN of breaking the Geneva Convention for their deliberate targeting of civilians in attacks on ethnic minorities.
Despite the widespread expectations that the regime will use violence to suppress protest, the international community has been remarkably silent, with the French government being the only one to make a strong statement warning of consequences if the regime respond with violence. ASEAN has also expressed concern.
"The regime has been held in check by the peoples' respect for the monks and the fact that the world is watching, but the scale of protests means they will be looking for options that allow them to justify a crackdown," said Mark Farmaner, "The UN Secretary General and other world leaders must speak out and make it clear that a violent response in unacceptable. At the moment the international community seems to be willing to watch from the sidelines as the regime moves closer to a massacre. If the regime does attack protestors, this will have been one of the most widely predicted massacres in recent history, and makes a mockery any government's claim to be committed to human rights."
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