Protests around world against Myanmar crackdown

LONDON (AFP) — Protesters across the world demonstrated against Myanmar's bloody crackdown on dissent Saturday, with thousands gathering in London and smaller actions in Sydney, Stockholm, Bangkok, Paris and elsewhere.

The coordinated displays of public condemnation followed the violent crackdown by Myanmar's junta on thousands of activists in late September. At least 13 people were killed and 2,000 detained in the clampdown.

In Britain, Myanmar's former colonial power, thousands crowded through streets behind saffron-robed Buddhist monks who threw petals into the River Thames.

Police said 3,000 people took part. Organizers put the figure at 10,000.

After stopping at British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street offices to tie red headbands to the gates, the demonstrators went on to Trafalgar Square to hear MPs, human rights campaigners and Myanmar exiles exhort the United Nations to take action against Yangon's junta.

"Burma is not a human rights emergency of today, last week or last month. It is a human rights emergency that the world has chosen to forget for the last 20 years," said Amnesty Internationale's secretary general Irene Khan.

Brown issued a message of support to the people of Myanmar, telling them: "The world has not forgotten -- and will not forget -- the people of Burma."

In Sydney, hundreds rallied outside the landmark Opera House. Another 1,000 marched through Melbourne, some carrying red banners that read "no more bloodshed."

Other protests took place in Perth, and in Brisbane, where organizer Natasha Lutes said: "This is about getting a message to the people in Burma.

"They've been struggling to get the message out about the atrocities that are happening in Burma, putting their lives on the line. We want them to know the world has been listening and ordinary people everywhere support them."

Dozens also gathered in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, shouting "Free Burma" and brandishing pictures of Myanmar's pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

Campaigners in India were to hold a candle-lit vigil outside a war memorial in the heart of New Delhi.

In Singapore, a vigil outside the Myanmar embassy involving an opposition political party and members of the Myanmar community entered its seventh day on Saturday.

Amnesty International Korea said some 200 protesters, including immigrant workers from Myanmar, would stage a protest outside the country's embassy in central Seoul on Sunday to press for the release of prisoners of conscience.

In Paris, 200 people gathered at a Buddhist temple where they placed yellow roses at the feet of a giant Buddha statue.

A similarly sized demonstration occurred in Vienna, where participants wore saffron as a sign of solidarity. A union leader, Rudolf Hundstorfer, said "we can fear the worst" for those detained in Myanmar.

Brussels, the Belgian city home to the main institutions of the European Union, saw 400 demonstrators gather.

"We have to know where are the people who have been arrested, and they must be freed -- you are their last hope," one of the organizers told the crowd, which included Belgian MPs.

A union tract calling for a boycott of the French oil group Total for continuing to do business with Myanmar was widely applauded.

In the Netherlands, activists announced they had sabotaged a Total petrol station in Oosterbeek, in the center of the country, and demanded the oil company's immediate withdrawal from Myanmar.

Some 150 people demonstrated in central Stockholm and held three minutes of silence "out of respect for all those who are suffering in Myanmar," said Fredrik Korn, a spokesman for the Swedish branch of Amnesty International.

In the United States, 100 people gathered in front of Myanmar's Washington embassy and then marched to China's. They bore signs criticizing the holding of the Olympics next year in Beijing, in the light of China's reluctance to pressure the Myanmar junta over its repression.

About 100 demonstrators gathered in front of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, carrying "Solidarity with Burma" placards and pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi and demanding an end to violence.

The non-government group Canadian Friends of Burma has been holding almost daily vigils for the country for the past two weeks in Ottawa and scheduled a dozen protest rallies in other Canadian cities for the weekend.

Lee puts ASEAN's weight behind UN envoy to Burma

Singapore - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Burma's regime chief Than Shwe that the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) fully backs the mission to Burma by UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, a published letter said Monday.

"The videos and photographs of what is happening on the street of Rangoon and other cities in Burma have evoked the revulsion of the people throughout South-East Asia and all over the world," said Lee, writing in his capacity as ASEAN chairman.

"I would like to emphasize the importance which the ASEAN countries, and indeed the whole international community," attach to Gambari's mission," Lee said in the letter released to The Straits Times on Sunday.

Gambari was holding talks with several of Burma's leaders to try to resolve the ongoing crisis in the country.

"We strongly urge your government to grant Mr Gambari full access to all parties in Burma, as you have done in the past, and to work with Mr Gambari to find a way forward," said Lee.

The stern message came days after ASEAN leaders issued an unprecedently sharp rebuke of Myanmar on the sidelines of a UN meeting in New York.

ASEAN comprises Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar (Burma).

Gambari arrived Sunday in Yangoon after an overnight stay in Naypyidaw, the capital, where he talked with several military leaders, diplomats said. He later held talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Top Stories

1. Junta's crackdown on protesters kills 5
2. Burmese junta bans monk-led protest
3. US president to announce visa and financial sanctions against Burma
4. World steps up pressure on Burma
5. Asean FMs to meet in New York on Burma
6. Lee puts ASEAN's weight behind UN envoy to Burma
7. Asean demands Burmese junta to stop crackdown
8. Burma's monk-led rebellion gains pace
9. UN chief to send special envoy to Burma
10. Thai govt urged to oppose possible Burmese junta crackdown on protesters

National News

Friday 21 September 2007 16:02

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (National)

The Foreign Secretary comments on the situation in Burma.

The Foreign Secretary today called for a robust international response to the situation in Burma "Yesterday's briefing on Burma in the Security Council was an important step. The UK government has continually pressed the Burmese regime to stop their oppression and intimidation and called for a robust international response, including at the UN.

"The timely discussion in the Council demonstrates the international community's concern at a time when the situation in the country is tense. The Burmese authorities recently resorted to using tear gas in their attempts to suppress the peaceful demonstrations of the brave monks, whose protests reflect the will of the majority of their fellow countrymen in wanting change in Burma.

"The Security Council was united in its calls for the Burmese government to engage constructively with the UN Secretary General's envoy, Professor Gambari, and encouraged him to visit as soon as possible. We shall continue to work with our colleagues at the UN and in other multilateral bodies to keep up the pressure for positive change.

"I intend to raise the situation in Burma with colleagues in New York next week. In the meantime the UK will continue to take the lead in providing humanitarian assistance to relieve the suffering of the Burmese people."

Press Office, Downing Street (West), London SW1A 2AL

GNN ref 151865P

UN moves on Burma

September 22, 2007 12:00am

THE UNITED Nations wants urgent action to end Burma's political crisis, as monks yesterday continued a week-long protest that has posed the biggest threat to the military junta in a decade.

Ibrahim Gambari, the UN Special Envoy to Burma, has told the Security Council that recent protests in the country, and the military regime's subsequent crackdowns, raised "serious concerns" and underlined the urgency of resolving the political turmoil there.

Mr Gambari told the council he planned to visit Burma but set no date.

"Undoubtedly, the developments over the last few weeks in Burma have raised serious concerns in the international community and once again underscore the urgency to step up our efforts to find solutions to the challenges facing the country," Mr Gambari told the council, a source said.

Authorities yesterday again faced the prospect of another protest march through Rangoon, Burma's biggest city.

Authorities, normally quick to crack down hard on dissent, have left the marchers unmolested, apparently wary of sparking further problems.

Around Rangoon yesterday, processions of monks converged from various monasteries in the early afternoon at the golden hilltop Shwedagon Pagoda, the country's most revered shrine, where they said prayers before marching.

During the marches, often in steady rain, as many as 1000 monks have been joined by thousands of countrymen.

Monks have carried religious flags and an upside-down alms bowl, a symbol of protest and embarrassing to the junta.

Their activities have given new life to a protest movement that began a month ago after a huge government-ordered hike in fuel prices, further causing economic hardships. The protests also reflect long pent-up opposition to the repressive military regime.

~ AP

DICTATOR WATCH(www.dictatorwatch.org)Contact: Roland Watson, roland@dictatorwatch.org

PREPARATION FOR MURDER

September 21, 2007Please forward.Reports from Burma indicate that the SPDC has given orders for its troops to fire into the groups of peaceful demonstrators that are now filling the country’s streets. It is not clear under what specific conditions this is authorized. There is also word that hospitals have been told to clear their wards, to receive large numbers of casualties.

This is preparation for murder. Under no circumstances whatsoever can this crime be permitted to occur.

There are also reports that the United States has aircraft carrier groups nearby in the Indian Ocean. The U.S. should immediately intervene, if the SPDC does attack the people of Burma. The U.K., France, Australia and others should join this effort. However, if these countries are cowards and refuse to help, America will have to act on its own. The obvious targets are Pyinmana; the major Tatmadaw bases, particularly in and around Rangoon; and the top generals’ bunker complexes. 1988 cannot be repeated!

The junta recently had representatives in Beijing and Moscow, no doubt trying to shore up support from its allies. The U.S. should make it clear to both China and Russia that it will not brook opposition to such an intervention. If China acts against the U.S., there will be a severe penalty. America is the most important customer of China, Inc. American consumers are already questioning Chinese products because of safety concerns, the working conditions under which they are manufactured, and their environmental impact. If China opposes a U.S. military initiative in Burma to end crimes against humanity, Americans will boycott Chinese products in the upcoming holiday shopping season and beyond. This will throw the Chinese economy into a recession and even perhaps a depression, and encourage its own population to rise up. In addition, the upcoming Olympics will be adisaster, if not a national disgrace.

For the SPDC to kill protestors, particularly monks, would be suicidal. Burma would explode. Even the junta’s stalwart friend, the government of Thailand, would turn in away in disgust and back whatever the U.S. wanted.

Now is the time for the soldiers in the Tatmadaw to turn against Than Shwe and Maung Aye. You cannot let yourselves be used to perpetrate mass murder against your people. Don’t shoot anyone! Free your country!

On Myanmar, UN's Gambari's On the Run, While Khalilzad of U.S. Calls the Regime a Scam Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis UNITED NATIONS, September 20 -- At the Security Council on Thursday, the UN's Ibrahim Gambari spoke of Myanmar and then ran right by the press, while U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad flared rare invective about Burma and the regime's "scam" convention. Looming over each was not only Aung San Suu Kyi, but also Laura Bush, who recently called Ban Ki-moon on the topic. Amb. Khalilzad reference "the First Lady" before deploying his statement at the Security Council stakeout, while the call made Ban Ki-moon announce that Gambari will "soon" go to Myanmar. But when on Thursday Inner City Press asked Gambari, fleeing the Council, when he will go, Gambari said he didn't know. Inner City Press asked if he would speak to all reporters, and on camera? Gambari said he'd done so recently. But much has since changed. "What about the monks?" Inner City Press asked, as Gambari headed up the stairs. Others suggested that "What about Jim Carrey?" is what Inner City Press should have shouted. Ban's spokesperson on September 20 said that "Mr. Gambari has been very willing to come and talk. He talked to you the other day and he has been very willing to be available on that subject." But his dash past reporters and the UN TV camera told a different story. Amb. Khalilzad at the stakeout, Ibrahim Gambari not shown In front of these cameras, video here, Amb. Khalilzad said We have urged Mr. Gambari and he plans to visit Burma as soon as possible. It is our expectation that when he returns he will re-engage in a meeting with the Security Council. The situation in Burma poses a threat to regional peace and stability. Therefore, it's appropriate for the Council to be engaged on this very important issue. I would be happy to take your questions. Inner City Press: Mr. Ambassador, when he goes there, what would you have him say? One, when is going to go, and two, what message should you deliver on Aung San Suu Kyi and on the treatment of the opposition, and these monks? What substantively? Ambassador Khalilzad: First, of course, we want him to go as soon as possible. His visit there requires the cooperation of the regime and we urge the regime to cooperate with him. Second is that of course, one of the key elements of the mission to Burma is the political track, and particularly within that track the release of political prisoners, the treatment of ethnic minorities, a process that can allow for political participation and determination by the people of Burma, their political future. Their recent convention has been a sham. You saw how not only the convention was not representative, but it has coincided with increased oppression of the people. So, I assured Mr. Gambari he can count on our support. We urge him to go as soon as possible, we urge the Government of Burma to cooperate with him, and we have said that we want him to come back to the Council after his visit and report so that we can take appropriate decisions. We'll see.

Gordon Brown’s historic statement on Burma

London 02 September

I deeply deplore the Burmese government's violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations. I call upon the Burmese authorities to release immediately all those detained merely for protesting at the hardship imposed on them by the government's economic mismanagement and failure to uphold fundamental human rights. I also reiterate the British Government's call for the release of all political prisoners, including Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi who has now spent almost 12 years of her life under house arrest.

As the lives of ordinary Burmese people continue to deteriorate, it is all the more important that all countries and organizations with an influence over the regime impress upon the generals the need for an early transition to democratic rule, full respect for human rights and genuine national reconciliation.

I support calls for the grave situation in Burma to be considered by the UN Security Council at the earliest opportunity. I also call for the UN General Assembly to address this issue.

We give our full support to the efforts of the UN Secretary-General's good offices mission. It is time for the UN human rights bodies to give this alarming situation the attention it so patently deserves.

I am asking the Foreign Secretary to discuss this issue with our European partners next week. I will seek an early opportunity to raise the situation in Burma with my counterparts in the key regional countries and with our partners in the EU and the US.

Report: Russian military tests what it calls world's most powerful non-nuclear bomb

AP Posted: 2007-09-11 14:36:11

MOSCOW (AP) - The Russian military has successfully tested what it described as the world's most powerful non-nuclear air-delivered bomb, Russia's state television reported Tuesday. Channel One television said the new ordnance, nicknamed the "dad of all bombs" is four times more powerful than the U.S. "mother of all bombs."

"The tests have shown that the new air-delivered ordnance is comparable to a nuclear weapon in its efficiency and capability," Alexander Rukhsin, a deputy chief of the Russian military's General Staff, said in televised remarks. The statement comes amid the Kremlin's efforts to restore Russia's global clout and rebuild the nation's military might. The U.S. Massive Ordnance Air Blast, nicknamed the Mother Of All Bombs, is a large-yield satellite-guided, air delivered bomb described as the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in history.

Burma: UN Security Council Must Take the Lead

Brussels, 27 August 2007:

In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the ITUC has called on the UN Security Council to develop a firm and coordinated international response to the deteriorating situation in Burma. Latest reports indicate that some 65 people, including members of the National League for Democracy and human rights defenders, have been arrested by the military regime for taking part in peaceful protests over a recent five-fold increase in the price of fuel.

“On top of the burden of years of military dictatorship, Burmese people are now not able to meet even the basic cost of transportation to make a living, and the price of cooking fuel is now beyond reach for many”, said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder. “The UN Security Council put Burma on its agenda as a permanent item less than a year ago, and the Council needs to demonstrate real leadership. Without this, things can only get worse for Burmese workers and their families”, he added.

According to reports, the Military regime has deployed troops and armoured vehicles in various parts of the capital Rangoon and elsewhere in the country, and fears are growing that the regime will once again resort to heavy force in order to impose its will. In its appeal to Secretary General Ban, the ITUC asks him to use his authority to request the Security Council to meet and discuss the situation as a matter of urgency.

___________________________________

Founded on 1 November 2006, the ITUC represents 168 million workers in 153 countries and territories and has 305 national affiliates. For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on +32 2 224 0204 or +32 476 621 018.

NLD Mandalay Division

Hollywood celebrities appeal to UN chief to help free Suu Kyi

WASHINGTON, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Twenty-eight Hollywood celebrities have written to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to personally intervene to secure the release of military-ruled Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

"We urge you to take action to secure her immediate release," said the celebrities, including movie stars Jennifer Aniston, Dustin Hoffman, Owen Wilson , Robin Williams, and Anjelica Huston, in their letter sent Wednesday.

The world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Aung San Suu Kyi, 62, has been held under house arrest in Myanmar for 11 of the past 17 years.Her National League for Democracy (NLD) won elections in 1990, but military rulers of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, never recognized the result.

Although she was an elected leader of the Myanmar people, with her party winning 82 percent of the seats in parliament, "the military regime cruelly locked her up along with many members of her party," the celebrities told Ban.

They also noted that according to the UN, the military junta had burned down or destroyed over 3,000 villages in eastern Myanmar, forcing over one million people to flee their homes.

"This courageous, brave woman whom many call 'Burma's Nelson Mandela' should be released and the military regime should end its attacks on civilians," they said.

Their effort, organized by Oscar-winning actress Huston along with two groups, the Human Rights Action Center and US Campaign for Burma, came as pro-democracy supporters staged rare street protests against the junta in Myanmar.

Defying a clampdown on dissent that had drawn sharp condemnation from US President George W. Bush, the protestors have been staging a series of demonstrations against a staggering increase in fuel prices.

The almost daily protests mark the most sustained demonstrations against the military regime in at least nine years.

Aung San Suu Kyi, among about 1,200 political prisoners in Myanmar, "is a woman that is taking on a brutal military dictatorship with nothing more than the truth in her heart and the support of her people," said Jack Healey, founder of the Human Rights Action Center.

"The situation inside Burma is grave, similar to that in Darfur. The silence of the world on Aung San Suu Kyi is unconscionable, " said Jeremy Woodrum, co-founder of the US Campaign for Burma.

Two of the signatories, Hollywood stars Eric Szmanda from the television show "Crime Scene Investigation" and Walter Koenig from "Star Trek" recently traveled to refugee camps on the Thailand-Myanmar border to press for more UN help.

Huston became interested in Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar after learning about the situation from Healey. Support for human rights runs in her family.

Her father, the director John Huston, led the efforts against McCarthyism -- a period of extreme anti-communist suspicion inspired by the tensions of the Cold War -- in 1950s Hollywood.

Hollywood Stars urge UN To Act on Burma

Thursday, September 6, 2007; 2:02 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 25 celebrities including actors Jim Carrey, Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams on Thursday urged the United Nations to help win freedom for Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The stars signed a letter calling on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to intervene personally to win immediate freedom for the Nobel laureate, who has spent most of the past 17 years in prison or under house arrest in military-ruled former Burma.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is not just a charismatic leader, she is the elected leader of the Burmese people," said the letter, whose signatories also included actors Owen Wilson, Susan Sarandon and Jennifer Aniston as well as Irish singer Damien Rice. Rice is a long-time supporter of Suu Kyi.

"This courageous, brave woman whom many call 'Burma's Nelson Mandela' should be released and the military regime should end its attacks on civilians," the letter said.

The celebrity letter campaign was spearheaded by the Human Rights Action Center and the U.S. Campaign for Burma, both based in Washington.Intensifying repression in the impoverished Southeast Asian state has also drawn the attention of U.S. first lady Laura Bush, who personally telephoned the U.N. secretary-general last week to express concerns about a crackdown on dissidents.

On Tuesday, Bush told a small group of reporters in an interview at the White House that she hoped to raise Myanmar's profile at the U.N. General Assembly later this month.

Leaflets at US, British embassies in Myanmar decry support for democracy movement

Wed Sep 5, 8:51 PM ET

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Leaflets demanding that U.S. and British diplomats stop their ``blatant support'' of pro-democracy protests in Myanmar were left in front of those countries' embassies Wednesday, saying they should cease their interference or be driven out.

Myanmar's government has detained scores of activists and used gangs of hired thugs to suppress a rare wave of protests triggered by fuel price hikes last month of as much as 500 percent.

Despite the pressure, protests have been have been continuing sporadically, with one involving as many as 1,000 people claimed to have taken place Wednesday.

``We, Myanmar people, are going to punish those Myanmar traitors who rely on foreign countries,'' said one of several leaflets left in front of the embassies. ``Your blatant support and encouragement toward those scoundrels amounts to insulting the Myanmar people. We demand that such actions be stopped immediately.

'' Another, signed by the ``New Generation Burma Students Union,'' vowed that ``All traitors, neo-colonialists and embassies that interfere in the internal affairs of our country will be driven out.''

The junta and the state-controlled press have frequently accused the U.S. and Britain of colluding with pro-democracy activists in efforts to oust the government.

Both nations have imposed economic and political sanctions against the junta because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

U.S. President George W. Bush said he would raise the issue of human rights violations in Myanmar, also called Burma, at a weekend summit of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The leaflets left in front of the embassies were copies of handwritten pages and included several poems. All were critical of either the pro-democracy movement or the embassies. They were signed by unknown groups.

Asked to comment on the leaflets, Shari Villarosa, the top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar, said, ``We support free speech but it's something to which all citizens of the country have the right, and should not be arrested.''

She said she would not be surprised if the people who left the leaflets had official encouragement.

A British diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with diplomatic etiquette, said the embassy was concerned that the leaflets had a threatening tone, so had lodged a request with Myanmar authorities for protection.

About 1,000 people staged a protest march Wednesday in Bogalay, a town in the Irrawaddy delta 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Yangon, the opposition National League for Democracy party said.

The report could not be independently confirmed, and sometimes such accounts exaggerate the number of people taking part. Many of the protests in the past week have involved a handful of people, in one case two men standing at a marketplace with placards. NLD spokesman Nyan Win said the head of the party's local chapter, who organized the protest, was later detained.

On Monday, Myanmar's government announced that a National Convention had finished drawing up guidelines for a new constitution, said to be the first step in a seven-stage ``roadmap to democracy.''

But U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Tuesday the results ``do not represent the will of the Burmese people, nor are they a step toward democracy.''

The guidelines give the military substantial unelected representation in parliament, and also disqualify presidential candidates who are ``entitled to the rights and privileges of a ... foreign country'' _ thereby barring Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, the detained head of the NLD, whose late husband was British.

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AHRC open letter to the UN on Burmese situation

Dear Mr Ban Ki-moon,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is writing to you with regard to your statement of August 23 concerning the consequences of the August 15 increase of fuel prices in Burma and repeated protests in the former capital that are now reported to be spreading to other parts of the country.

First, you express concern that arrests have been carried out by "the authorities" . In fact, most of the protests are being blocked and persons taken away by gangs of thugs mobilised as proxies for the police and military. These are not "pro-government" groups as reported in many news items over the last few days, nor do they have any legal basis. They are an unofficial arm of the state that has been systematically organised through township and ward councils and the government's mass body, the Union Solidarity and Development Association, for some years now, including for the purposes of the lethal attack on a convoy carrying the opposition party leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters at Depayin in 2003.

Secondly, you encourage "all parties to avoid any provocative action". In fact, this is an offensive and completely inappropriate remark. Was the unannounced doubling of charges for diesel fuel and quintupling of those for compressed natural gas not an enormous provocation of millions in Burma who for years have been struggling to survive day by day?

If not protest, then what should the people of Burma do? In short, do you deny them the right to take to the streets and assert that they won't be parties to their own impoverishment and degradation any longer?

Thirdly, the notion of "constructive dialogue" is anyhow spurious. Surprisingly, the United Nations continues to pretend that such a thing exists in dealing with the Burma, perhaps for want of anything else.

Why is it that after a remarkable week in which people in Burma have taken to the streets in the sincere hope of support and interest from abroad they have obtained only three sentences from the UN secretary-general, through a spokesperson?

Please immediately convene a special meeting with your special envoy on Burma, the UN under-secretary- general for political affairs and concerned persons to assess the current situation and propose specific responses and strategies. Please also consider how the question of Burma can again be brought before the Security Council. Without your firm resolve, the people of Burma will again find themselves forced to struggle alone, as they have on so many occasions in the past.

Basil Fernando

Executive Director

Asian Human Rights Commission,

Hong Kong

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/08/25/pda/opinion_30046448.html

Burma ends charter-drafting process with no timeframe for polls

YANGON -- Burma's military rulers Monday officially concluded their 14-year-old constitution drafting process with no timeframe set for a general election and return to democracy, delegates said.

National Convention chairman Lieutenant General Thein Sein in his closing remarks said the constitution drafting-process had required altogether 11 sessions, six between 1993 to 1996, and five between 2004 to 2007.

The conclusion of the National Convention marks the first step on Burma's so-called "roadmap" to "discipline flourishing democracy."

Thein Sein, a senior member of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as Burma's ruling junta styles itself, gave no timeframe Monday for a referendum to endorse the draft charter, nor for the future polls, delegates said.

The National Convention dubbed a sham by many Western observers and Burma's chief opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was officially launched on October 2, 1992, to draft a new charter for the country which had by then been under military rule for the past 30 years.

The military has argued that a new constitution was necessary before it could hand over power to a civilian government, a manoeuvre that was quickly seen as a ploy to hang on to power in the aftermath of the 1990 general election which the NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, had won by a landslide.

The convention process, stalled in 1996 by an NLD walkout, was resurrected in 2004 as the first step in the junta's so-called roadmap to democracy.

Burma has been under military rule since 1962 when General Ne Win toppled the government of U Nu, the country's first and last elected prime minister after it was granted independence from Great Britain in 1949.

The draft charter has provided a dominant role for the military in the next government. At the final session the role of political parties, declaration of state of emergency, creation of the national flag, national emblem, national anthem and amendments were concluded.

//(Deutsche Presse-Agentur)

Bush to press for action over Burma

By Andrew Ward in Washington Published: September 2 2007 22:27 Last updated: September 2 2007 22:27

President George W. Bush will pressure Asian leaders to do more to halt alleged human rights abuses in Burma when he attends a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Sydney this week.

The White House has voiced alarm about a recent clampdown on pro-democracy activists in Burma, reviving longstanding US antipathy towards the country's military junta.

Mr Bush has vowed to raise the issue with Chinese President Hu Jintao and south-east Asian leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Sydney.

Washington has long been frustrated by the reluctance of neighbouring countries to use their economic leverage to force change in Burma, one of the poorest and most repressed nations in Asia.

Laura Bush, US first lady, last week added her voice to the calls for international action on Burma and criticised the United Nations for "staying quiet" on the issue. The comments grabbed attention because Mrs Bush rarely speaks out on political issues.

Mrs Bush telephoned Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, to express “deep concern” over the situation and chide the UN for its inaction. “By staying quiet, the United Nations — and all nations — condone these abuses,” she said.

The remarks represented an unusually blunt rebuke of Mr Ban by the White House, which had hoped for improved relations with the UN under his leadership.

Burma’s military junta has detained dozens of protestors over recent weeks after a rebellion against a state-mandated increase in fuel prices. The clampdown adds to a long history of alleged human rights abuses in Burma.

“We strongly condemn the ongoing actions of the Burmese regime in arresting, harassing and assaulting pro-democracy activists for organising or participating in peaceful demonstrations,” said Dennis Wilder, Asia director at the US national security council.

Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, on Sunday joined the calls for the release of those held after the street protests against fuel price rises.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

Trip to Burma ill-considered

Outgoing Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin's recent trip to Burma to meet with top-level military figures in the ruling junta there was misguided at best, and wholly inappropriate at worst. Although Gen Sonthi retires from the military at the end of next month, there was no real need for him to go and ''assure'' the Burmese junta that Thailand's policies towards Burma would continue unchanged in his absence. Such high-level policy decisions are for the government to make, not an outgoing commander-in-chief of the Army.

Gen Sonthi met with the chairman of Burma's State Peace and Development Council, Senior General Than Shwe and Burmese army chief General Maung Aye in the new administrative capital of Naypyidaw during his two-day visit that began last Monday. It was one of a number of trips to neighbouring countries over recent weeks _ including Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore _ that seem to have gone under the radar of the local press.

But Gen Sonthi was not in Burma only as commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army; he was also representing Thailand as the chairman of the Council for National Security and architect of the current political set-up in Thailand. As such, Gen Sonthi's visit and cosy reception by the Burmese junta could send wrong signals to Asean and the rest of the international community. What outsiders will see are two military dictators of sorts shaking hands and smiling, while the people in their respective nations are struggling for freedom and democracy. That is not the image that we as a nation should be sending.

Despite recent political events at home and the Sept 19, 2006 coup, Thailand is not on a par with Burma in terms of repression and lack of democracy. But Gen Sonthi's pandering to the Burmese junta, particularly if he manages to get himself into politics next year, sends out an entirely wrong message not only to the world, but to the people of Burma as well.

The visit was also extremely inappropriate and damaging, considering recent developments in Burma where protests have erupted in various places around the country following shock price hikes for fuel. Burmese citizens last week, at great risk to their lives and liberty, tried to stand up to their repressive leadership by protesting against the price hikes that they say will make life even more impossible in the secretive state. Bus fares immediately doubled following the price hikes and from there, basic produce and other goods will also surely rise in tandem with the increased costs for state-controlled oil and gas.

Our neighbouring citizens risked their lives in a rare show of dissent against the military junta in Burma and many were ''arrested'' or attacked by state-sanctioned thugs in a country where law and order has all but disappeared. And did they get support or encouragement from their neighbours? No. All they saw was the de facto leader of one of their nearest neighbours getting along swimmingly with their repressive dictator.

Gen Sonthi's smiling pictures taken with the Senior Gen Than Shwe and other top figures in the Burmese junta will do nothing to end the repression that our Burmese neighbours have been struggling under for decades. Constructive dialogue and mutual engagement are clearly not working in Burma.

Thailand should stand with the other major forces in Asean and start placing stronger demands on Burma to move closer towards democracy _ not give the junta tacit approval for gross human rights abuses and continued oppression of its people.However, under Thailand's present leadership, any such calls would only be seen as hypocritical. Therefore, the best thing for the current leadership to do is remain quiet and wait for a democratically-elected government to make any promises to Burma if it so wishes. Until then, Gen Sonthi should put his passport away and stay at home and concentrate on other matters, such as the insurgency in the deep South, and leave the international politicking to others.

UN Security Council action sought over Myanmar crackdown

Posted: 30 August 2007 0847 hrs Related Videos UN Security Council action sought over Myanmar crackdown WASHINGTON: US lawmakers on Wednesday called on President George W. Bush's administration to demand an urgent UN Security Council meeting on the Myanmar military government's crackdown on dissent.

Senior lawmakers from the House of Representatives and the Senate wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking her to press for such a meeting, as pro-democracy supporters in Myanmar defied a clampdown and staged rare street protests against a staggering increase in fuel prices.

More than 100 people have been arrested, including some of the nation's top pro-democracy leaders, following the largest non-violent demonstrations in Myanmar in five years.

"We strongly urge you to send a letter to the President of the Security Council requesting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to expeditiously provide a complete briefing to the Security Council," Tom Lantos, the Democratic head of the House's foreign relations committee, and four other lawmakers from the chamber wrote.

A similar call was made in a separate letter to the chief US diplomat by the Senate's Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and senior Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein.

"The current situation in Burma merits a strong and meaningful response by our government," they said.

The lawmakers welcomed the Bush administration's swift condemnation of the Myanmar military government's "brutal behaviour" as well as similar condemnations from France and Britain -- two other permanent members of the Security Council -- along with Canada, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark, the European Union, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"However, at this critical juncture, words of support from the world's democracies are not enough," McConnell and Feinstein said. "The matter needs to be addressed by the UN Security Council."

There was no immediate reaction from Rice's office but Tom Casey, a State Department spokesman, said earlier Wednesday that Washington expected discussions on Myanmar in the Security Council as well as during the upcoming meetings of the General Assembly.

With full bipartisan support from Congress, the United States has led a diplomatic drive to place the Myanmar issue on the permanent agenda of the UN Security Council.

"We must avail ourselves of this diplomatic forum; the brave people of Burma deserve no less," Lantos and the other House legislators said.

Last January, China and Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution urging Myanmar's rulers to free all political detainees and end sexual violence by the military.

The United Nations estimates there are some 1,100 political prisoners in Myanmar, including Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Her National League for Democracy overwhelmingly won 1990 elections, but were never allowed to take office, and she has now spent more than a decade under house arrest.

Under military rule since 1962, Myanmar tolerates little public dissent, but analysts say the military government has been shaken by the persistence of the latest protesters.

The military government sparked public anger when the government secretly hiked key fuel prices by as much as five-fold on August 15.

That immediately doubled the cost of transport, which left many people unable to even afford the bus fare to get to work.

- AFP/ac

* Light Of Myanmar *: 9/11 နဲ႔ 7/7 လူသတ္မွဳကုိ ဒီမုိကေရစီစိတ္၀င္စားသူေတြ ေမ့ထားသင့္လား

* Light Of Myanmar *: 9/11 နဲ႔ 7/7 လူသတ္မွဳကုိ ဒီမုိကေရစီစိတ္၀င္စားသူေတြ ေမ့ထားသင့္လား

(Bangkok Post) Burma's regime getting worse.

Even for a regime that hardly ever treats its people with respect, the action against Burmese demonstrators last week was beyond the pale. It speaks volumes that the generals who mismanage Burma could not tolerate a tiny, peaceful protest against unacceptable economic hardships. But it was totally unacceptable that the dictators could not even treat the demonstrations with a show of legality. By turning loose gangs of its own Burmese thugs against the Rangoon protest, the once again demonstrated that promises to bring democracy to the country are as empty as ever.

Credit where credit is due, however, and for once its Southeast Asian neighbours are not sitting on their hands. Two days after the junta recommenced beating, jailing and intimidating the Burmese opposition, the main parliamentary group in the region took a small step forward. The Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, known as Aipa, an official arm of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), said it may award the main Burmese opposition party a place at its table. The Aipa reasoning: Since the National League for Democracy won the futile 1990 Burmese elections, it is the official parliamentary group in Burma.

This is a small step, but credit the Asean arm with doing something. Compare that with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. After two days of government attacks on peaceful protesters, Mr Ban called on the Rangoon government to exercise restraint. He even called for ''constructive dialogue towards national reconciliation' '. The futility of such a timid call from the new UN chief was so evident that neither the Burmese regime nor the beleaguered and unbowed opposition bothered replying to it.

Democracy remains the goal of the small Burmese opposition groups. They clearly have the support of much of Burma, although as always it is difficult to know just how much. When the opposition met last week to stage peaceful street marches against huge and unaffordable price increases on basic commodities, Rangoon residents along their route shouted or showed encouragement. The savage attacks by thuggish gangs in the pay of the generals was totally uncalled for, as were the arrests of protesters who either resisted the attacks of goons or tried to continue their peaceful demonstration. The Rangoon regime, which did not even have the fortitude to use its law enforcement agencies, also allowed no mention of the protests in the mouthpiece media it controls.

It should be no surprise that the protests began after the generals announced they were doubling the cost of diesel and increasing the price of compressed gas used for cooking and driving cars by 500%. Buses could not run and people could not get to work. As always, the incompetent and arrogant junta members saw no reason to justify the new, heavy burdens on the heavily troubled working men and women. They also gave no warning of the huge and _ for many _ unbearable price increases.

This totally anti-democratic attitude is as ingrained in the Burmese military regime as its incompetence at ruling the country. In a vote, the military would be thrown out in a flash. Indeed, it was tossed out in free and fair elections 17 years ago. Brutality and intimidation keep the generals in power. Virtually everything they have touched has turned to ashes, tragedy or both. Last week, as they drove the economy even further down than ever, it became clear they are mismanaging even a fairly simple programme designed to provide substitute legal crops for farmers now forbidden from growing opium. Instead of consulting the farmers and following the advice of anti-drug experts in Thailand and the United Nations, the generals have actually lowered farmers' income. Chinese merchants are buying up huge farm areas from the impoverished Burmese in the region.

The Burmese regime has truly lost credibility. There is strong evidence the junta also has lost both local and international legitimacy despite the kid-gloves treatment it still gets from the UN chief, from individual neighbours including Thailand, and from Asean. No one believes the generals will slowly switch the country to a democratic system, as they claim. We can only wish the Burmese good luck and offer moral support as they try to peacefully change a corrupt and brutal regime.

Help stop Burma's brutal dictators from committing more violent acts!!

Join Burma Freedom Protest!!

Immediately release student leaders and all arrested; and all political prisoners; and stop ongoing violent crackdowns and arrests over peaceful demonstrations! !!

Tuesday August 28, 2007; 11:00 am - 1:30 pm

Federal Building; 450 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco ( Map/direction) (Download Flyer)

Concerned Burma freedom activists to rally outside of Federal Building/Office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco demanding the US Congress and the US Government to help stop the Burma's military regime , State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), from committing more violent crackdowns and arbitrary arrests over peaceful demonstrations, which were sparked by a sudden, government-imposed doubling of diesel and gasoline prices.

We demand that the regime immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested student leaders and protesters, and all political prisoners in Burma. We greatly fear for their safety and for the well-being of all political prisoners in Burma.

We command all participants in those nonviolent and peaceful demonstrations for risking their lives and taking a stand against the brutal and oppressive regime. These demonstrations are also the grave and unavoidable consequence of the decades-long suffering of the Burmese people under the heel of the politically corrupt, managerially incompetent, and socially brutal military dictatorship.

Many leaders of world's institutions and nations - including United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, have condemned and/or expressed serious concerns over grave situation developed in Burma due to violent crackdowns and arrests, and has called military regime for restraint and constructive dialog.

We call upon the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom and the international community to do their utmost to take swift and effective measures to secure the safety and release of the student leaders and all political prisoners and to restore the fundamental citizens' rights for all the people of Burma.

Organized by Burmese American Democratic Alliance (BADA); www.badasf.org

Co-sponsored by Burmese American Women Alliance (BAWA).

Contact: 510 220 1323; 510 610 9758

(Please kindly spread far and wide...)

__._,_.___

Protests against Burma arresting leaders of the 88 Generation Students spread to many countries

Mon, 2007-08-27 05:57

Rangoon, 27 August, (Asiantribune.com): The City of Rangoon City was silent on August 26 with a few travelers on the streets except security forces. It was reported yesterday that police and members of USDA were stopping cars and checking bus, railway and ferry terminals across Rangoon still searching for Htay Kywe, another leader of the 88 Generation Students Group, who was not yet arrested on 21st Aug midnight along with the arrests of other student leaders. His picture has been posted in local authorities’ offices and in many public places.

Anti-Myanmar government protesters gather Sunday, Aug. 26, 2007, near the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, to stage a demonstration against recent fuel price hikes. Fuel prices in Myanmar were doubled last week sparking street demonstrations. More than 65 activists, who protested against the hikes, have been detained according to state-controlled newspapers. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

On Saturday, more demonstrations took place in three cities in central Burma – Mogok, Yae-nan-chaung and Taung-twin-gyi. About 150-200 joined the march in Mogok.

The group stopped at a state-owned gas station to give a letter to the manger to send to the Ministry of Energy with the call to reduce fuel prices. Township authorities accepted it and asked the demonstrators to break up.

Burma Lawyer Council (BLC), independent institute of Burmese legal experts in exile, issued a statement on Aug 25 on its finding of legal analysis on the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA).

BLC said that under the existing Criminal Procedure Code USDA is an “unlawful association.” and demand the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to immediately declare the USDA an “unlawful association” and stop all violence and cease its criminal acts. BLC said if the SPDC does not declare that, it will have been a proof of its using of the USDA as its weapon to crush down its own people violently.

The group also calls on the Government of Japan and other international communities to cease providing assistance to USDA through SPDC as the organization has been taking advantage of human resource development program contributed by Japan to prolong the administrative mechanism of the regime. The text of Unlawful Associations Act of SPDC is posted at the end of this news report.

Solidarity Actions:

1) EU Declaration (Aug 25): The Presidency of European Union issued a declaration dated August 25 on behalf of the EU stating that it condemns the SPDC’s decision to detain people who were exercising their basic right to peaceful demonstrations, and calls for their immediate release and further urges the junta to release without delay Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leaders and political prisoners, and to engage with all different components of the society of Burma /Myanmar in the sort of open and inclusive dialogue which is indispensable to long awaited political reform.

2) Demonstration in Bangkok (Aug 26): At 10:00 am yesterday, Thai and Burmese people joined hands and staged a demonstration in front of the SPDC Embassy in Bangkok. About 150 people, including Burmese students and migrant workers and representatives from civil society organizations and political institutions and Thai solidarity friends joined the protest.

3) Demonstration in Korea (Aug 26): About 50 Burmese in Korea staged a demonstration this afternoon in solidarity with people in Burma and in protest of the SPDC’s violent crack-downs on the peaceful protesters.

4) Ethnic and Political Groups’ Voices inside Burma (Aug 25): United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), United Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD) and Veterans Politicians group inside Burma issued statements and sent letter to General Than Shwe, chairperson of SPDC.

5) Ethnic Groups in Exile (Aug 26): Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) and National Democratic Front (NDF) – leading political institutions of ethnic nationalities of Burma in exile issued statements calling on the SPDC release all detainees and enter into dialogue with MPs and ethnic opposition forces to solve the country’s problems.

6) Joint Statement by(15) Thai and Burma Groups (Aug 26): Following groups issued joint statement today as they held a demonstration in front of the SPDC Embassy in Bangkok.

(1) Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma (TACDB)

(2) The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)

(3) National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB)

(4) National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB)

(5) Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB)

(6) Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (Altsean-Burma)

(7) Labor Union of Arakan (LUA)

(8) Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association (YCOWA - Bangkok)

(9) Rakhaing Patriotic Literature Club (RPLC)

(10) Asia Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

(11) Burmese Women Union (BWU)

(12) Association of Burma Ex-Political Prisoners (ABEP)

(13) The SHWE Gas Movement

(14) The Migrant Karen Labour Union

(15) Thai Students Network

More solidarity actions is expected to follow outside Burma in many countries in the coming days while it's likely more demonstrations may take place inside Burma as the regime continues to neglect the calls from people to resolve this current economic and political situation. This is all for today.

Unlawful Associations Act of SPDC

Unlawful Associations Act, Section 15(2) provides that “unlawful association” means an association –

(a) which encourages or aids persons to commit acts of violence or intimidation or of which the members habitually commit such acts, or(b) which has been declared to be unlawful by the President of the Unionunder the powers hereby conferred.

Additionally, Section (16) of this law provides –

If the President of the Union is of opinion that any association interferes or has for its object interference with the administration of the law or with the maintenance of law and order, or that it constitutes a danger to the public peace, the President of the Union may, by notification in the Gazette, declare such association to be unlawful.

The Code of Criminal Procedure, Section 54(1), provides –

Any police-officer may, without an order from a Magistrate and without a warrant, arrest-first, any person who has been concerned in any cognizable offence or against whom a reasonable complaint has been made or credible information has been received or a reasonable suspicion exists of his having been so concerned;

Section 59 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides –

(1) Any private person may arrest any person who in his view commits a non-bailable and cognizable offence, or any proclaimed offender, and without unnecessary delay shall make over any person so arrested to police-officer, or, in the absence of a police-officer, take such a person or cause him to be taken in custody to the nearest police-station.

(2)If there is a reason to believe that such person comes under the provision of section 54, a police-officer shall re-arrest him.

(3) … If there is no sufficient to believe that he has committed any offence, he shall be at once released.

- Asian Tribune –

UN Warns That Fuel Price Hikes Could Hit Myanmar's Economy

YANGON (AP)--The United Nations Monday warned fuel price hikes in Myanmar could worsen the country's precarious economic situation, as dozens of pro- democracy activists resumed their protests against the increase.

Witnesses said about 50 people, wearing white, marched in the bustling township of Bago, some 80 kilometers north of the country's commercial center, Yangon.

Demonstrators shouted slogans calling for lower consumer prices, as plainclothes police watched from a distance without intervening or making arrests, the witnesses said.

The demonstrators dispersed without incident after marching along a busy street in Bago for more than half an hour.

Earlier this month, the military junta increased fuel prices overnight by as much as 500%, by slashing subsidies that had kept domestic oil prices low for years. The hikes resulted in increases in prices of public transport - some since rolled back - and also higher prices for some basic commodities due to higher transport costs.

Charles Petrie, the U.N. humanitarian chief in Myanmar, said the price hike will hit most Myanmar families hard, since almost 90% live below or near the poverty line, which he defined as living on US$1 a day.

"It's going to make things more expensive and make it more difficult for people to survive," Petrie told The Associated Press. "It will contribute to the continued deterioration of the standard of living for a significant portion of the population."

Petrie also said the fact that the increase was imposed all at once, rather than phased in over time, showed the regime was "out of touch" with the average citizen.

"It's a policy that has been applied in a draconian matter that doesn't take into account the fact that people lack the reserves necessary to absorb such shocks," he said.

The price hike triggered a number of small, peaceful protests last week, mainly in Yangon. Police subsequently detained at least 65 activists, including several leaders of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement.

Among them was a protest Saturday in Mogok, about 680 kilometers north of Yangon, in an area famous for gemstone mining.

Mogok residents said more than 200 people, including members of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, marched Saturday to protest the fuel price hike and dispersed peacefully without any arrests.

Myanmar's ambassador to the Philippines, Thang Tun, told The Associated Press on Sunday that Myanmar could no longer afford to subsidize fuel so heavily due to steep oil price increases worldwide. He said cutting the subsidies was not a political move.

Myanmar activists have speculated that the government needed to slash the subsidies to remedy a cash shortage. Some analysts said the measure could be a prelude to privatization, or that it may even reflect conflict within the junta - and could be a deliberate attempt to provoke unrest, further stalling the approval of a long-awaited constitution and embarrassing military ruler Gen. Than Shwe.

Myanmar's ruling junta has been widely criticized for human rights violations, including the extended detention of Suu Kyi and more than 1,200 other political prisoners.

Economic dissatisfaction sparked the country's last major upheaval in 1988, when mass demonstrations broke out seeking an end to the military rule that began in 1962.

The army violently subdued those protests. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people were killed.

The current protests are nowhere near the scale of those in 1988, and the junta appeared to be taking no chances in trying to clamp down on them.

The military rulers held a general election in 1990, but refused to honor the results when the National League for Democracy won in a landslide.

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires
  08-27-070721ET
  Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

UK Government’s Shameful Failure to Take Action

27 Aug 2007

UK must call for Security Council and European Union discussions

The Burma Campaign UK today strongly criticised the British government for failing to take any concrete action on Burma, following a week of arrests and beatings of democracy activists. The Burma Campaign UK will be holding its first demonstration outside the Foreign Office in more than a decade at 12 noon on Tuesday 28th August.

Protestors took to the streets of Burma on 19th August following fuel price increases of up to 500 percent. On the eve of a major protest in Rangoon last Wednesday, the regime arrested 13 leading democracy activists in midnight raids. Despite intimidation, including brutal attacks on protestors by regime thugs, hundreds of demonstrators have continued to protest.

More than 100 people have been arrested in the past week, and most remain in detention. The regime has accused peaceful protestors of involvement in terrorism, and is threatening jail terms of up to 20 years. Those arrested face torture, including beatings, electric shocks, burning, and the ‘iron rod’ where a rod is run up and down on the shins until the skin and flesh are removed and the rod is grinding on bone.

“It is shameful that the British government has not taken any concrete action in response to this new wave of repression in Burma,” said Mark Farmaner, Acting Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The British government should be calling for discussion at the UN Security Council, and by the EU, and considering strengthening unilateral sanctions. Instead they seem to have adopted a wait and see attitude. How many more people will have to be arrested and tortured before the UK decides it is time to act?”

The British government has traditionally been one of the leading critics of the regime in Burma, but this leadership role has been waning since it co-sponsored a UN Security Council resolution in January 2007, which was vetoed by China and Russia. There seems to be no sense of urgency to tackle the situation in Burma, despite the regime being one of the most serious human rights violators in the world. Since the Security Council veto, the British government failed to press for the EU Common Position on Burma to be strengthened when it was renewed in April, failed to support an International Labour Organisation referral of Burma to the International Court of Justice over forced labour, and failed to take action when two British Virgin Island registered companies invested in Burma’s gas fields.

“The regime literally gets away with murder because every time they commit atrocities we see the same limp reaction from the international community,” said Mark Farmaner. “The regime launches a new wave of repression, the British government and others condemn them for it, but then fail to follow through with any concrete action. The British government appears to have no strategy, the EU certainly has no strategy, and the UN envoy to Burma, instead of rushing there at this time of crisis, seems to have gone into hiding.”

Burma has been accused by the United Nations with a ‘crime against humanity’ for its use of forced labour. It has also been accused by the United Nations of being in breach of the Geneva Convention for deliberately targeting civilians in its war against ethnic minorities. More than 3,000 villages in eastern Burma have been destroyed by the regime in the past ten years – equivalent to one every week. In the past 10 days more than a thousand people have been forced from their homes by a new military offensive. The regime also uses rape as a weapon of war, even against children as young as five.

“Gordon Brown and David Miliband must ask themselves the question, is the British government doing everything it can? The answer is no. Is that an acceptable answer as people in Burma are risking their lives and liberty for freedom?” said Mark Farmaner. “The tragedy is, despite the failure of the British government to act, it is still one of the democracy movement’s strongest supporters. That should shame governments around the world, and is one reason why the generals will sleep easy tonight.”

For more information contact Mark Farmaner on 020 7324 4713.