Thursday, July 3, 2025
မြန်မာ
Earthquake Update
Home Blog Page 2181

Three prisoners from 2007 uprising released

By
Staff Reporter
-
0

Sept 10, 2009 (DVB), Three people imprisoned after allegedly speaking to foreign media prior to the September 2007 uprising have been released, despite a police crackdown in the lead up to this year's anniversary.

The men, all from Pakokku town in central Burma's Magwe division, were arrested on the brink of the monk-led uprising in 2007.

Authorities accused the three of inciting riot after allegedly handing information to foreign media outlets about the looming protests.

Pakkoku became the flashpoint of the uprising which swept the country after police broke up a peaceful demonstration on 5 September, injuring three monks.

Family members of the three men, Nay La, Thar Aung and Sein Linn, said that they were released from Thayet prison on Sunday and are in good health.

Their co-accused, Thant Shin, was given the same two-year term, plus a seven-year sentence under the Emergency Act.

The news comes amidst a government crackdown on suspected activists prior to the two-year anniversary of the uprising.

In recent weeks a number of monks have been intimidated and arrested, with the government fearing a repeat of their role in the protests.

Although by protocol monks are apolitical, the community withdrew religious services for the country's military generals during the uprising.

The sight of thousands of monks marching through the streets in their saffron robes led to the September 2007 uprising being named the Saffron Revolution.

Some of the estimated 138 fatalities from September 2007 were monks, with eye-witness accounts of troops beating and smashing the heads of monks against walls.

Reporting by Aye Nai

Total and Chevron earn $5bn for Burma junta

By
Staff Reporter
-
0

Sept 10, 2009 (DVB), The $US5 billion generated for Burma's ruling junta by two of the world's largest oil companies has weakened the impact of sanctions on the regime, according to a report released today.

The findings appear to defy attempts by Western nations to boycott the Burmese regime, which is alleged to have siphoned the money into Singaporean banks, despite ruling over a crumbling economy.

The two companies, French oil giant Total and United States-based Chevron, continue to operate the Yadana gas project in Burma, even though both countries hold sanctions on the regime.

Advocacy group EarthRights International (ERI) today released two reports exposing profits from a project that is alleged to be responsible for forced labour, killings and heavy restrictions in movement for those living near to project sites.

"The military elite are hiding billions of dollars of the peoples' revenue in Singapore while the country needlessly suffers under the lowest social spending in Asia," said ERI Burma Project coordinator Matthew Smith.

"The revenue from this pipeline is the regime's lifeline and a critical leverage point that the international community could use to support the people of Burma."

Of the $US4.83 billion earned so far by the project, "the regime would have excluded at least $US4.80 billion of that revenue from the country's national budget" says the report, Total Impact.

While not advocating divestment from Burma, ERI in a press release called on the two companies to publish all payments to the government and clarify whether the project is complicit in human rights abuses of civilians.

Despite recent ratcheting up of US and European Union sanctions on Burma, they do not cover the oil and gas sector.

Burma is known to have vast offshore gas reserves which are being aggressively developed by foreign corporations, including Korean and Chinese.

It is support from overseas companies, particularly in the oil and gas sector, that is widely believed to be the principal reason why sanctions have not worked in pressuring the regime.

The revenue means that Total and Chevron are a "leading external factor contributing to the regime's intransigence," said ERI.

A second ERI report, Getting it Wrong, accuses the two companies of whitewashing their public image by concealing evidence of human rights abuses related to the Yadana project, which has been going since 1992.

"ERI presents evidence proving that Total lied to the public when it claimed that the International Labour Organization (ILO) certified that the company eradicated forced labor in its project area," it said, adding that the ILO had denied ay such statements were made.

Reporting by Francis Wade

US pressured on Burma policy review

By
Staff Reporter
-
0

Sept 10, 2009 (DVB), A leading human rights watchdog has said that new United States policy to Burma should take a three-pronged approach and must be implemented soon.

An open letter sent yesterday to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton by Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the government to conclude the policy review "so that American policy and strategy towards Burma will be clear to all concerned".

Clinton had announced the review in February following comments that sanctions had failed to shift the ruling generals.

The letter acknowledged the intransigence of the Burmese junta and said that change will not occur "unless concerned governments and international bodies take steps to change the [government's] calculations".

Burma is gearing up for elections scheduled for March next year, although critics have said that the redrafted 2008 constitution guarantees entrenchment of military rule.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, is barred from running in the elections, and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party are yet to confirm whether they will participate.

The US has, along with other Western nations, followed a path of aggressive sanctions on Burma, while regional neighbours such as Thailand and China have chosen instead to engage with the regime.

A recent visit to Burma by US senator Jim Webb was followed with an article in the New York Times calling for an easing of sanctions and greater engagement.

In light of the support for the regime from neighbouring countries and the consequent failure of sanctions, HRW urged Clinton not to take various policy strategies as either/or choices.

"We suggest that the policy review should, therefore, aim at making more effective all three prongs of US policy – diplomacy, sanctions and humanitarian aid – and not placing one ahead of the others", it said.

Three US congress staff who met with NLD members last month said that the US is "seriously considering" the new policy but warned that it wouldn't be introduced soon.

The potential for greater engagement with the regime would be in keeping with US president Barrack Obama's pledge to "hold out a hand" to rogue states if they "unclench their fist".

The strategy would appear to counter former president George Bush's policy of isolating hostile states.

Reporting by Francis Wade

Burma opposition party decry restrictions

By
Staff Reporter
-
1

Sept 9, 2009 (DVB), Burma's main political opposition party has criticised the ruling junta for restricting the group's political activity prior to the 2010 elections, despite allowing other organisations to campaign.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) party, whose leader Aung San Suu Kyi is under house arrest, sent a letter of complaint to junta supremo Than Shwe last week.

The letter referred to the National League for Politics of the Union of Burma, an unregistered group who operate in central Burma's Magwe division and who have been allowed to open offices and begin campaigning.

The NLD's spokesperson, Nyan Win, said that no response has been made so far by the government.

"In the letter, we pointed out that groups that don't have registration, thus illegitimate, are being allowed to open offices, put up signboards, campaign and hold gatherings," he said.

"At the same time, the NLD, who won the previous elections [in 1990], is having its offices closed down and is being barred from doing political activities."

Political organisation for the NLD is difficult, with telephone lines regularly cut and many of its members behind bars.

Next year's elections, scheduled for March, will be the first since in 20 years.

The junta is promising a return to a civilian government, although critics say that the redrafted 2008 constitution guarantees an entrenchment of military of military rule.

The government has embarked on a campaign to pressure Burma's multiple ceasefire groups into forming political parties to run in the elections, although heavy resistance has been met.

Growing pressure surrounding the issue sparked recent fighting between Burmese troops and an armed ethnic group in the country's northeastern Shan state, causing around 37,000 people to flee into China.

Reporting by Htet Aung Kyaw

Army abuse still rife in Karen state

By
Staff Reporter
-
2

Sept 8, 2009 (DVB), Abuse of civilians by Burmese troops and a proxy militia that forced 5000 into Thailand in June continue to occur in Karen state, according to a local human rights group.

Although fighting has calmed between Burmese troops, backed by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), and the opposition Karen National Union (KNU), stability in the area remains fragile.

A report released today by the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) says that government and DKBA troops "continue to subject villagers to exploitative abuse and attempt to consolidate control of territory".

"DKBA and [government] soldiers have been demanding that villagers work as porters, carrying supplies including rations and ammunition, as well as to walk in front of military columns where they serve as human minesweepers," the report said.

The DKBA, who split from the KNU in 1994, are reportedly looking to wrestle control of Karen state from the KNU in order to create a trading zone.

Both DKBA and Burmese army units now occupy former KNU positions, many of which have been taken in recent months. During the June offensive, the KNU lost its strategically important Battalion 7 headquarters.

One of the focal points of the fighting was the Ler Per Har camp for internally displaced people. Many of the refugees who arrived in Thailand fled from the camp.

"Villagers continue to be forcibly recruited by the DKBA, which has been undertaking a consistent push for new recruits since August 2008," said the report.

Reports have also emerged of the execution of a Karen village headman on 27 August, following which DKBA troops threatened his family.

"I think the DKBA doesn’t have rules for their soldiers," the report quoted a male villager as saying.

"They think the villagers are only animals. They kill people like killing animals. They killed this man for no reason and without asking any questions."

The conflict between the KNU and Burmese government has stretched over 60 years, and is thought to be one of the world's longest running.

Reporting by Francis Wade

Kachin officials resign with eye to elections

By
Staff Reporter
-
2

Sept 8, 2009 (DVB), Five senior officials from the largest Kachin ceasefire group have resigned in order to create a political party to run in the 2010 Burmese elections, party officials said.

The move comes following pressure from the Burmese junta on ceasefire groups to transform themselves into political parties and re-enter what it calls the 'legal fold'.

The Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), one of Burma's most prominent ceasefire groups, had previously wavered over the transformation that would see them lay down arms and reduce the group size.

An announcement on 5 September that five senior officials, including vice-chairperson Dr Manam Tu Ja, were resigning will be warmly received by the government, which so far has had mostly rejections from ceasefire groups.

"We are not sacking them from our group , we are only letting them go to get involved in the practical business," said James Lum Dau, foreign affairs coordinator for KIO. "They wanted to enter [the elections] and we also feel that they should."

The KIO and other Kachin organisations, such as the New Democratic Army-Kachin and the Kachin National Consultative Assembly, last year formed the Kachin State Interim Committee.

The 49-member group was formed in order to carry out preparations for participation in the 2010 elections.

Dr Tu Ja said that it is now time to put the emphasis on forming a political party, and their plan was approved by the KIO's Central Executive Committee.

"The KIO doesn't disagree with civilians forming a political party to enter the elections even though they have no plan to do it by themselves," said Tu Ja.

Meanwhile, the KIO has again stressed that it will not transform into a border guard force following increased pressure from the government.

Many believe that this is another strategy that will bring ceasefire groups under government control. This factor was a key catalyst behind recent fighting between the government and ceasefire groups in northeastern Burma's Shan state.

"We want to be appointed as [Kachin state's] regional guard force rather than be a border militia," said James Lum Dau, following a general assembly meeting on 6 September.

"We said in the statement the KIO will avoid armed confrontation at all cost and that the [government] should work together with us for the fruit of the nation."

Reporting by Aye Nai

1...2,1802,1812,182...2,634Page 2,181 of 2,634

EDITOR'S PICKS

LONG READS

FOLLOW US

ABOUT DVB

The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) publishes daily independent news and information across Myanmar and around the world by satellite TV and the internet. DVB was founded in 1992 and is registered as a non-profit association in Thailand.

© Democratic Voice of Burma 2024.

Contact

Feel the passion for press freedom ignite within you.

Join us as a valued contributor to our vibrant community, where your voice harmonizes with the symphony of truth. Together, we'll amplify the power of free journalism.

Support DVB

Free Member

Receive DVB’s Daily Briefing newsletter

Paid Member

Experience DVB ads free and receive DVB’s Daily Briefing newsletter

Already a member? Login

Lost Password?
Contact