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.

RESOLUTION ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY AT SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNSIT PARTY 12TH NATIONAL CONGRESS

SACP 12th national Congress is held in Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa from 11-15th July 2007. Free Burma Campaign, South Africa is invited to the Congress. FBCSA Chairperson, Dr. Thein Win and Executive member Ko Myo Naing is attended.

SACP Deputy General Secretary Comrade Jeremy Cronin spoke about Burma issue to the Congress on 14th July. He mentioned about oppressive military regime and serious violation of Human Rights in Burma. He also said SACP will continue to support the people of Burma. On 15th July, resolution came out unanimously from SACP Congress. In this resolution, SACP decided to raise within the Tripartite Alliance structures the position of the South African government on Burma in the Security Council, and the need for the Alliance and government to do significantly more to support the struggle for democracy in Burma. [Full resolutions see below]

The Congress was attended by allies, the ANC and COSATU, our YCL as well as a broad range of progressive organizations and invited local guests. The Congress was also attended by close to 100 international guests from fraternal communist and other leftist organizations from all over the world. Many of our local and international guests participated in most of our proceedings, including commissions, and Congress was extremely enriched by their inputs and observations. Congress was characterized by very high quality of debate and interventions, including very sober analysis of the current domestic and global balance of forces.

Plenary was addressed by the Deputy President of the ANC, Cde Jacob Zuma, the ANC Secretary General, Cde Kgalema Motlanthe, General Secretary of COSATU, Cde Zwelinzima Vavi, and National Secretary of our YCL, Cde Buti Manamela. Congress was also addressed by the representative from the Communist Party of China, Cde Wang Dongming, and Cde Fernando Remirez de Estenoz Barciela, who formally accepted on behalf of Commandant Fidel Castro, the Chris Hani Peace Award.

The South African Communist Party was founded in 1921 and has always been in the forefront of the struggle against imperialism and racist domination. The SACP is a partner in the Tripartite Alliance consisting of the African National Congress and the Congress of South African Trade Union. [COSATU] COSATU is represented for more than 5 millions workers and maintaining the biggest workers union in South Africa. COSATU is also supporting to the Burma struggle since 1999 when the military regime came to South African International Trade Exhibition [SATEX'99]. COSATU voices were paramount in the SA media during that time with the slogan "Military Regime... Go home".

The full resolution on Burma is as follows:-

STRENGTHENING THE CAMPAIGN FOR DEMOCRACY IN BURMA

This Congress,

Noting:

1. The increasing violation of fundamental human rights and the persistence of other forms of repression in Burma.

2. The National Convention that is aimed at drawing up a new Constitution for the country excludes the National League for Democracy and other parties which have the electoral support of the people of Burma.

3. The South African government's recent position on Burma in the UN Security Council.

4. The SACP's consistent support for an end to military rule and the establishment of democracy in Burma, and our previous resolutions in this regard.

Therefore Resolves:

1. To focus greater attention within our structures on the situation in Burma and to intensify our support for the struggle for democracy in Burma.

2. To call on the military government of Burma to allow the National League for Democracy and other parties that enjoy the electoral support of the people of Burma to participate in the National Convention so that the new Constitution is legitimate and is a truly democratic outcome of the fullest consultation of the people of Burma.

3. To call upon the military government of Burma to work towards the national reconciliation being called for by the people of Burma.

4. To intensify our campaign for the lifting of the house arrest of Code Aung San Suu Kyi.

5. To raise within the Tripartite Alliance structures the position of the South African government on Burma in the Security Council, and the need for the Alliance and government to do significantly more to support the struggle for democracy in Burma.

China's Burma problem; Whose baggage?

Published: August 26, 2007

China's Burma problem

Regarding the article "Hundreds march in Myanmar over prices" (Aug. 23): Human rights activists and citizens marched through the streets of Rangoon in opposition to a steep rise of fuel prices. Unfortunately, policymakers around the world have not shown the same fortitude as these protesters. The UN Security Council has remained shamefully paralyzed on Burma for the past 8 months since China vetoed a multilateral resolution that would have condemned the country's military regime.

Thankfully, opposition to China's position on Burma seems to be growing. Last week, a group of members of parliament from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations called on China to modify its unequivocal support for the junta.

This move may represent the first time in recent history that China's own neighbors are balking at its perceived heavy-handedness in regional diplomacy. In particular, Southeast Asian lawmakers are unhappy that China refuses to endorse Ban Ki Moon and Asean's call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

China could easily reverse the growing frustration with its policy on Burma by endorsing a multilateral approach to to the country, publicly supporting Ban Ki Moon and Asean's calls for the release of Suu Kyi, ending attacks against ethnic minority civilians, and pressing Than Shwe, the military leader, to enter negotiations with Suu Kyi and Burma's ethnic minorities.

Such moves would not only bring greater stability to Burma, they would in no way undermine China's investments in the country. Those marching and bleeding in Rangoon - as well as those suffering and hiding in eastern Burma - hope for such an outcome.

Jeremy WoodrumWashington Co-founder of the U.S. Campaign for Burma

Whose baggage?

I read with a certain surprise the article "Italy's American baggage" by Andrea Camilleri (Views, Aug. 24) on the case of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.

The piece claims that "there is probably not a single Italian newspaper that has not devoted an article to the case every Aug. 23 from 1945 to the present."

I am a 50-year-old Italian that has spent 10 years in the U.S. and the rest in Italy, reading newspapers and, like most Italians, talking politics all the time. I never heard of Sacco and Vanzetti while in Italy. I heard about them while in the United States. Sacco and Vanzetti are in the historical memory of the Americans, not Italians.

Carlo Rovelli, Paris

The International Community must protest new arrests in Burma.

Wednesday, 22 August 2007

The International Community must protest new arrests in Burma. It is important that the UN, Asian countries, and big powers like the USA, China, India and Russia react strongly against the new arrests of democracy defenders in Burma. I see it as a matter of course that the Norwegian Government will express their protests, says the President of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, Mr. Kjell Magne Bondevik. According to news releases from Burma, at least 13 activists, among them student leaders, have been arrested in connection with a demonstration in Rangoon. It is a sign of weakness that Burma’s military junta does not tolerate open expressions of opinion like a demonstration. The pressure against the regime must be strengthened. This can only be achieved if the international community manages to coordinate its policy on Burma. Today, the regime has a much too easy game to play because different policies are pursued; the West with sanctions and Asia with a so-called constructive engagement, says Mr. Bondevik. The international community should also increase its support of the democratic forces in Burma, represented by Aung San Suu Kyi and her Party, the Student movement and the ethnic minorities. Particularly China and India, who are increasing their economic cooperation with Burma, have a key role to play, says Kjell Magne Bondevik. Press contact: Øistein Mjærum: +47 952 14841

U.N. to stay the course

News - Mizzima News

Friday, 24 August 2007

Following days of demonstrations and arrests in Burma, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, yesterday, called on the military government to adhere to the "spirit of the efforts of mutual engagement being pursued by the United Nations in the context of his good offices." Ban appealed directly to the government, in a statement, to "exercise restraint" in dealing with demonstrations and protesters. The Secretary General called on all parties not to partake in activities and actions that could be deemed provocative and lead to a worsening of the situation. In line with the overall strategy adopted by the United Nations toward Burma, Ban urged those involved in the ongoing disputes to engage in a "constructive dialogue" to address the situation inside the country at this important time. Spearheading the Secretary General's approach of constructive engagement is Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari. Gambari has recently met, discussing Burma, with leaders throughout the world and is scheduled to pay a visit to Burma in the near future.