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

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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.

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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.