The Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi failed in her latest bid to end more than a decade of house arrest today after the country's highest court threw out an appeal against her sentence.
The supreme court's decision was widely expected but her lawyer said he would launch a final special appeal to the supreme court after establishing the reasons why the latest attempt had been rejected. "The court order did not mention any reasons," he said.
The British ambassador Andrew Heyn attended the court session along with diplomats from Australia, France and the US.
"Although the decision comes as no surprise, it is deeply disappointing," he said. "We continue to believe that [Aung San Suu Kyi] should be released immediately, along with the other 2,000 and more prisoners of conscience." The French ambassador Jean-Pierre Lafosse said the 64-year-old democracy leader was "the victim of a sham trial".
Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyers appealed to the court last November, a month after a lower court upheld a decision to sentence her to 18 months of house arrest. She was convicted last August of violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American, John Yettaw who swam uninvited to her lakeside compound.
She was initially sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour in a trial that drew global condemnation, but the sentence was immediately commuted to 18 months of house arrest by junta chief Senior General Than Shwe.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 years. Her National League for Democracy won elections in 1990 by a landslide, but the military, which has ruled Burma since 1962, refused to cede power.
The junta has announced it would hold elections some time this year under a constitution that would allow the military to maintain substantial power. Aung San Suu Kyi's party has not announced whether it will contest the elections.
The court ruling also denied freedom to two female companions who share Suu Kyi's house arrest.
Burma has been widely criticised for its continued violation of human rights, including atrocities committed by its military against minority ethnic groups. Human rights campaigners say the junta holds 2,100 political prisoners.
Tin Oo, the 82-year-old deputy leader of Aung San Suu Kyi's party was released less than two weeks ago after nearly seven years in detention. On his release he said he was very hopeful Aung San Suu Kyi would also soon be freed.
Aung Din, executive director of the US Campaign for Burma lobby group condemned the Burmese judiciary system as "part of the regime's oppressive mechanism". "The only way to make the release [of Aung San Suu Kyi] and all political prisoners in Burma is to keep putting maximum pressure on Than Shwe and his cronies until they feel the heat," he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/26/aung-san-suu-kyi-loses-appeal
Friday, 26 February 2010
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Media persona invitata a unirsi movimento pro-democrazia
Media persona invitata a unirsi movimento pro-democrazia
Giovedi, 25 February 2010 13:03 Kyaw Kha
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Media persona sia in patria che all'estero, sono stati esortati a unirsi alla lotta pro-democrazia in Birmania, dal veterano giornalista Ludu Sein Win e regista Win PE.
In un video comunicato inviato alla Birmania Conferenza stampa in corso a nord della Thailandia dal 24 febbraio, Ludu Sein Win ha dichiarato: "L'obiettivo della media si intreccia con la causa della democrazia e della libertà del nostro paese. Quindi vorrei chiedere a tutti voi unire le mani e essere di reciproca assistenza e cooperazione fino a raggiungere il tuo obiettivo ".
Ludu Sein Win ha salutato le persone di media sotto attacco da parte di coloro che si oppongono resistenza e la giusta causa e della verità, perché sono dalla parte del popolo e del paese.
Famoso scrittore e regista Win PE ha detto nel suo messaggio che il regime militare non solo aveva preso il potere esecutivo, legislativo e giudiziario pilastri con la forza militare, ma aveva anche sequestrato il quarto pilastro - i mezzi di comunicazione.
"La cosa più importante è il quarto pilastro - i mezzi di comunicazione. Non si tratta solo di interferenza e di mettere il naso nei mezzi di comunicazione, rimane il fatto che i media non esiste in Birmania a tutti", ha detto.
"Vorrei che oggi in questa occasione che si può fare tutto il possibile essere membri dei media per il progresso, l'avviamento, la sicurezza e la libertà del nostro paese - l'Unione della Birmania", Win PE ha detto.
La Birmania Conferenza stampa è per tre giorni e viene frequentato da agenzie di stampa in patria e all'estero, politici, blogger e le ONG, pari a oltre 100 persone.
http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3578-media-persona-urged-to-join-pro-democracy-movement.html
Giovedi, 25 February 2010 13:03 Kyaw Kha
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Media persona sia in patria che all'estero, sono stati esortati a unirsi alla lotta pro-democrazia in Birmania, dal veterano giornalista Ludu Sein Win e regista Win PE.
In un video comunicato inviato alla Birmania Conferenza stampa in corso a nord della Thailandia dal 24 febbraio, Ludu Sein Win ha dichiarato: "L'obiettivo della media si intreccia con la causa della democrazia e della libertà del nostro paese. Quindi vorrei chiedere a tutti voi unire le mani e essere di reciproca assistenza e cooperazione fino a raggiungere il tuo obiettivo ".
Ludu Sein Win ha salutato le persone di media sotto attacco da parte di coloro che si oppongono resistenza e la giusta causa e della verità, perché sono dalla parte del popolo e del paese.
Famoso scrittore e regista Win PE ha detto nel suo messaggio che il regime militare non solo aveva preso il potere esecutivo, legislativo e giudiziario pilastri con la forza militare, ma aveva anche sequestrato il quarto pilastro - i mezzi di comunicazione.
"La cosa più importante è il quarto pilastro - i mezzi di comunicazione. Non si tratta solo di interferenza e di mettere il naso nei mezzi di comunicazione, rimane il fatto che i media non esiste in Birmania a tutti", ha detto.
"Vorrei che oggi in questa occasione che si può fare tutto il possibile essere membri dei media per il progresso, l'avviamento, la sicurezza e la libertà del nostro paese - l'Unione della Birmania", Win PE ha detto.
La Birmania Conferenza stampa è per tre giorni e viene frequentato da agenzie di stampa in patria e all'estero, politici, blogger e le ONG, pari a oltre 100 persone.
http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3578-media-persona-urged-to-join-pro-democracy-movement.html
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
I processi politici in Birmania minare le elezioni
La detenzione di Naw Ohn Hla e altri tre sono certo interesse all'estero, anche perché ha coinciso con una visita in Birmania dal relatore speciale delle Nazioni Unite sui diritti umani nel paese, Tomas Ojea Quintana. L'inviato ha giustamente sottolineato che le elezioni previste per la fine dell'anno non sarà presa sul serio all'estero a meno che tutti i prigionieri politici vengono liberati.
Ma il modo in cui i casi di arresti per motivi politici sono condotte in Birmania sottolinea le difficoltà che la comunità globale, volti a documentare e rispondere alle loro incidenza. La stessa settimana in cui Naw Ohn Hla è stato incarcerato, la Asian Human Rights Commission lanciare un appello a nuove accuse contro Ma Sandar, che è stato rilasciato solo lo scorso settembre dopo aver scontato una pena che è stata istigata dal suo lamentele consiglieri corrotti. Il nuovo caso contro di lei è sotto le stesse sezioni di diritto e davanti al giudice stesso, il risultato sarà probabilmente anche la stessa. La settimana prima, la Commissione ha lanciato un appello per il Dr. Wint gio e altre otto persone, di cui la polizia Special Branch illegalmente arrestati e detenuti in segreto per quasi tre mesi. Nel mese di dicembre un giudice ha inflitto loro prigione termini di fino a 71 anni con l'accusa di pianificazione per commemorare il monaco guida rivolta del 2007. Le prove raccolte dalla procura consisteva di confessioni che sono state estorte con la tortura della polizia.
Il movimento continuo dei detenuti da e per prigioni della Birmania con l'accusa che poco o nulla hanno a che fare con le vere ragioni per la loro custodia e ancor meno a che fare con le norme del diritto che i giudici pretendono di far rispettare i loro casi rende il monitoraggio e la comprensione loro meccanica un lavoro a tempo pieno. Non appena sono persone come Ma Sandar o Naw Ohn Hla far uscire o di quello che gli altri sono nuovamente arrestato con l'accusa di nuovi reati. Non ci sono spazzate compensazione centinaia o migliaia di dissidenti che potrebbe afferrare titoli all'estero. Né vi sono uscite di massa: condoni liberare spazio per nuovi detenuti, e di solito includono alcuni prigionieri politici, molti dei quali sono vicini alla fine del loro mandato, comunque. Invece vi è solo un giorno che passa avanti e indietro attraverso i tornelli penale. C'è solo l'inutile infliggere delle punizioni senza senso su persone come Naw Ohn Hla, Ma Sandar e il dottor Wint gio, che sono condannati per atti banali che nella maggior parte di altre parti del mondo non avrebbe suscitato interesse ufficiali, per non parlare di attirare sanzioni penali. C'è solo la banalità crudele di una dittatura le cui istituzioni per il controllo politico e sociale non sono in corso di andare via a causa delle elezioni. "
Le opinioni espresse in Hotline giurista sono di esclusiva responsabilità dei loro autori e non riflettono necessariamente il punto di vista degli editori giurista, personale, o l'Università di Pittsburgh.
Link all'articolo: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/ # 6831235426040960095
A proposito di AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission regionale non è una organizzazione non governativa di monitoraggio e di lobbying dei diritti umani in Asia. La sede a Hong Kong del gruppo è stato fondato nel 1984. La dichiarazione di cui sopra è solo stata trasmessa dal AHRC.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1002/S00548.htm
La detenzione di Naw Ohn Hla e altri tre sono certo interesse all'estero, anche perché ha coinciso con una visita in Birmania dal relatore speciale delle Nazioni Unite sui diritti umani nel paese, Tomas Ojea Quintana. L'inviato ha giustamente sottolineato che le elezioni previste per la fine dell'anno non sarà presa sul serio all'estero a meno che tutti i prigionieri politici vengono liberati.
Ma il modo in cui i casi di arresti per motivi politici sono condotte in Birmania sottolinea le difficoltà che la comunità globale, volti a documentare e rispondere alle loro incidenza. La stessa settimana in cui Naw Ohn Hla è stato incarcerato, la Asian Human Rights Commission lanciare un appello a nuove accuse contro Ma Sandar, che è stato rilasciato solo lo scorso settembre dopo aver scontato una pena che è stata istigata dal suo lamentele consiglieri corrotti. Il nuovo caso contro di lei è sotto le stesse sezioni di diritto e davanti al giudice stesso, il risultato sarà probabilmente anche la stessa. La settimana prima, la Commissione ha lanciato un appello per il Dr. Wint gio e altre otto persone, di cui la polizia Special Branch illegalmente arrestati e detenuti in segreto per quasi tre mesi. Nel mese di dicembre un giudice ha inflitto loro prigione termini di fino a 71 anni con l'accusa di pianificazione per commemorare il monaco guida rivolta del 2007. Le prove raccolte dalla procura consisteva di confessioni che sono state estorte con la tortura della polizia.
Il movimento continuo dei detenuti da e per prigioni della Birmania con l'accusa che poco o nulla hanno a che fare con le vere ragioni per la loro custodia e ancor meno a che fare con le norme del diritto che i giudici pretendono di far rispettare i loro casi rende il monitoraggio e la comprensione loro meccanica un lavoro a tempo pieno. Non appena sono persone come Ma Sandar o Naw Ohn Hla far uscire o di quello che gli altri sono nuovamente arrestato con l'accusa di nuovi reati. Non ci sono spazzate compensazione centinaia o migliaia di dissidenti che potrebbe afferrare titoli all'estero. Né vi sono uscite di massa: condoni liberare spazio per nuovi detenuti, e di solito includono alcuni prigionieri politici, molti dei quali sono vicini alla fine del loro mandato, comunque. Invece vi è solo un giorno che passa avanti e indietro attraverso i tornelli penale. C'è solo l'inutile infliggere delle punizioni senza senso su persone come Naw Ohn Hla, Ma Sandar e il dottor Wint gio, che sono condannati per atti banali che nella maggior parte di altre parti del mondo non avrebbe suscitato interesse ufficiali, per non parlare di attirare sanzioni penali. C'è solo la banalità crudele di una dittatura le cui istituzioni per il controllo politico e sociale non sono in corso di andare via a causa delle elezioni. "
Le opinioni espresse in Hotline giurista sono di esclusiva responsabilità dei loro autori e non riflettono necessariamente il punto di vista degli editori giurista, personale, o l'Università di Pittsburgh.
Link all'articolo: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/ # 6831235426040960095
A proposito di AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission regionale non è una organizzazione non governativa di monitoraggio e di lobbying dei diritti umani in Asia. La sede a Hong Kong del gruppo è stato fondato nel 1984. La dichiarazione di cui sopra è solo stata trasmessa dal AHRC.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1002/S00548.htm
Burma's youth rapping for change
This year looks set to be a crucial one for Burma.
The military government plans to stage the first elections for 20 years and international attention is likely to be focused on the detained pro democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
But there is another group working to bring about change in Burma whose methods are less conventional.
Generation Wave is a group of hip hop-loving, young Burmese, dedicated to overthrowing the military government.
Their campaigns are run inside Burma, but the group has a safe house in the town of Mae Sot, just across the border in Thailand.
9KT has a mischievous grin, a warm handshake and an unmistakable aura of cool.
He is 27 years old and, clearly, 9KT is not his real name.
The members of Generation Wave never use their real names in public.
Music is the only language everyone understands
9KT
But given 9KT's role in the organisation, the alias fits perfectly. His official title is head of artistic projects but essentially he is Rapper-in-Chief.
9KT's latest brainchild is a CD featuring songs written and performed by Generation Wave members.
I was treated to an acoustic medley when I visited the group's safe house in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
The singing was full of passion. But the guitar was badly out of tune, and the cigarettes and teeth-staining red beetle nuts being chewed intermittently softened the impact a bit.
Serious risks
Generation Wave "unplugged" is not likely to win any Grammys. More importantly, it is not likely to inspire an uprising.
But the group is hoping the recorded version, a mixture of hip hop, rock and pop, will be an underground hit back in Burma.
The CD will be distributed by volunteer activists and 9KT is clearly very proud of it.
The frontier town of Mae Sot is full of people from Burma
"Music is the only language everyone understands," he told me.
"We've recorded different types of songs so everyone, whatever their age or gender, can listen to it and know what's right and what's wrong."
Generation Wave wants to encourage the Burmese people to rise up and overthrow the military government.
That may seem like a naïve notion. But the organisation grew out of what became known as the saffron revolution - the 2007 protests led by saffron robed monks, which were violently put down by the Burmese military.
So Generation Wave is grounded in harsh reality.
The group has a strict policy of non violence. No-one under 17 or over 35 years old can join and anyone who does sign up must officially live in Burma and be prepared to take risks. Serious risks.
About 30 Generation Wave members have been imprisoned.
So the safe house, just across the border in Thailand, is an important refuge.
It is in a quiet lane in Mae Sot, a frontier town with at least as many Burmese as Thais living in it.
The transient population is a mixture of migrant workers, traders and political exiles.
The Generation Wave house is a place to plot and scheme, and learn.
The Burmese people are like the boxer's right hand. They are the ones who can deliver the knock out blow
Gali
The garage has been turned into a permanent classroom, complete with a white board, overhead projector, desks and laptops.
Visiting speakers are invited to provide training on everything from leafleting to graffiti designs.
The concrete walls surrounding the house are covered in brightly coloured spray painted slogans.
The Generation Wave logo, a clenched red fist with the thumb pointing up, features heavily.
When I visited a special tutorial on internet security was being given by a young, long-haired, Thai media expert. There was a lot of talk about Googlemail contacts lists, and Facebook privacy settings and encrypted messages.
Or at least I think that is what it was. The session was being translated from Thai-accented English into Burmese, though to be honest, a lot of it would have been impenetrable to me in any language.
Revolution
But for Generation Wave members, learning to cover your tracks and protect your sources is a matter of survival.
Internet cafes, mobile phones and e-mail accounts are monitored closely in Burma.
Over lunch the talk turned inevitably to the latest news from across the border.
Bright graffiti slogans cover the walls of the Generation Wave house
Kitchen duties and menus are divided between the housemates according to a rota pinned up on the wall.
As bowls of Burmese chicken curry and steamed rice were placed on the long wooden table, an earnest 24-year-old called Gali was engaged in what seemed to be a intense political discussion with a slightly older man who had been acting as the translator in class.
I could make out the words "constitution" and "Than Shwe", the name of Burma's military leader.
Gali, another alias, is Generation Wave's logistics man.
Given the might of the Burmese military, I asked him, what could he and his group really do to bring about change?
"We're like the left hand of a boxer," he told me.
"Generation Wave can soften up the government. But the Burmese people are like the boxer's right hand. They are the ones who can deliver the knock-out blow."
Generation Wave is punching well above its weight.
The group's ultimate goal is to inspire a revolution. And with an election scheduled in Burma sometime this year, they are planning a series of new ventures, including, of course, the CD.
My own copy is playing on my laptop as I write this. 9KT rapping over a lyrical riff about the need for the Burmese people to get up.
A musical reminder of a day spent with a group of young rebels with a very real cause - freedom and democracy in their homeland.
The military government plans to stage the first elections for 20 years and international attention is likely to be focused on the detained pro democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
But there is another group working to bring about change in Burma whose methods are less conventional.
Generation Wave is a group of hip hop-loving, young Burmese, dedicated to overthrowing the military government.
Their campaigns are run inside Burma, but the group has a safe house in the town of Mae Sot, just across the border in Thailand.
9KT has a mischievous grin, a warm handshake and an unmistakable aura of cool.
He is 27 years old and, clearly, 9KT is not his real name.
The members of Generation Wave never use their real names in public.
Music is the only language everyone understands
9KT
But given 9KT's role in the organisation, the alias fits perfectly. His official title is head of artistic projects but essentially he is Rapper-in-Chief.
9KT's latest brainchild is a CD featuring songs written and performed by Generation Wave members.
I was treated to an acoustic medley when I visited the group's safe house in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
The singing was full of passion. But the guitar was badly out of tune, and the cigarettes and teeth-staining red beetle nuts being chewed intermittently softened the impact a bit.
Serious risks
Generation Wave "unplugged" is not likely to win any Grammys. More importantly, it is not likely to inspire an uprising.
But the group is hoping the recorded version, a mixture of hip hop, rock and pop, will be an underground hit back in Burma.
The CD will be distributed by volunteer activists and 9KT is clearly very proud of it.
The frontier town of Mae Sot is full of people from Burma
"Music is the only language everyone understands," he told me.
"We've recorded different types of songs so everyone, whatever their age or gender, can listen to it and know what's right and what's wrong."
Generation Wave wants to encourage the Burmese people to rise up and overthrow the military government.
That may seem like a naïve notion. But the organisation grew out of what became known as the saffron revolution - the 2007 protests led by saffron robed monks, which were violently put down by the Burmese military.
So Generation Wave is grounded in harsh reality.
The group has a strict policy of non violence. No-one under 17 or over 35 years old can join and anyone who does sign up must officially live in Burma and be prepared to take risks. Serious risks.
About 30 Generation Wave members have been imprisoned.
So the safe house, just across the border in Thailand, is an important refuge.
It is in a quiet lane in Mae Sot, a frontier town with at least as many Burmese as Thais living in it.
The transient population is a mixture of migrant workers, traders and political exiles.
The Generation Wave house is a place to plot and scheme, and learn.
The Burmese people are like the boxer's right hand. They are the ones who can deliver the knock out blow
Gali
The garage has been turned into a permanent classroom, complete with a white board, overhead projector, desks and laptops.
Visiting speakers are invited to provide training on everything from leafleting to graffiti designs.
The concrete walls surrounding the house are covered in brightly coloured spray painted slogans.
The Generation Wave logo, a clenched red fist with the thumb pointing up, features heavily.
When I visited a special tutorial on internet security was being given by a young, long-haired, Thai media expert. There was a lot of talk about Googlemail contacts lists, and Facebook privacy settings and encrypted messages.
Or at least I think that is what it was. The session was being translated from Thai-accented English into Burmese, though to be honest, a lot of it would have been impenetrable to me in any language.
Revolution
But for Generation Wave members, learning to cover your tracks and protect your sources is a matter of survival.
Internet cafes, mobile phones and e-mail accounts are monitored closely in Burma.
Over lunch the talk turned inevitably to the latest news from across the border.
Bright graffiti slogans cover the walls of the Generation Wave house
Kitchen duties and menus are divided between the housemates according to a rota pinned up on the wall.
As bowls of Burmese chicken curry and steamed rice were placed on the long wooden table, an earnest 24-year-old called Gali was engaged in what seemed to be a intense political discussion with a slightly older man who had been acting as the translator in class.
I could make out the words "constitution" and "Than Shwe", the name of Burma's military leader.
Gali, another alias, is Generation Wave's logistics man.
Given the might of the Burmese military, I asked him, what could he and his group really do to bring about change?
"We're like the left hand of a boxer," he told me.
"Generation Wave can soften up the government. But the Burmese people are like the boxer's right hand. They are the ones who can deliver the knock-out blow."
Generation Wave is punching well above its weight.
The group's ultimate goal is to inspire a revolution. And with an election scheduled in Burma sometime this year, they are planning a series of new ventures, including, of course, the CD.
My own copy is playing on my laptop as I write this. 9KT rapping over a lyrical riff about the need for the Burmese people to get up.
A musical reminder of a day spent with a group of young rebels with a very real cause - freedom and democracy in their homeland.
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
The 2010 General Election: A discourse on civil and constitutional rights in BurmaShare
The 2010 General Election: A discourse on civil and constitutional rights in BurmaShare
Today at 14:58
Mon 15 Feb 2010, Banya Hong Sar, Canberra
Governmental elections are the foundation of democracy and government in modern world politics. The foundation of a nation is in its upholding of a constitution that guarantees civil and political rights for its citizens. Each clause of the constitution must guarantee these rights to all citizens. Burma’s 2010 new general elections will test these perspectives. The 12th of February is marked as “Union Day” in Burma, symbolizing unity among ethnicities or unity in diversity. This symbolization does not yet match with reality in the country of Burma, where civil wars and political conflicts between ethnic groups are deeply rooted in the history of the past sixty years.
Burma has failed to uphold the constitutional, civil, and political rights of its people, and thus its foundation as a nation, since the day after the country received independence in 1948. Imbalances of power between the central government and ethnic-based state authorities have been the seed of conflicts for over half the 20th century. The Mon, Karen, Shan, Chin, Kachin, Kayeh and other ethnic people fought for constitutional rights until 1960 but the Burman-dominated government denied them “State Constitutional Rights” in both the 1947 and 1973 new constitutions. The ethnic leaders have had no other means to gain rights besides forming armed military units, to wage civil war for the right of self determination under the Burmese constitution since that time. The battle is not yet over.
The new constitution amended by a forced referendum in May 2008 was another attempt by the government of Burma, led by the military junta, to control all constitutional power over Burma’s seven ethnic States. A 194 paged document containing all the clauses in the articles of the constitution left little space for ethnic people and states to hold constitutional power. In fact, the new constitution was based on a “unitary union” desired by the military junta, rather than the “federal union” demanded by the ethnic political leaders.
The New Mon State Party (NMSP), the principal ethnic political organization of Mon State and its people, has repeatedly urged the State Peace and Development Council, the current military junta, to redraft and have a proper debate about new constitution on several occasions. However, the military junta has rejected having a public debate on redrafting the new constitution. The Mon leaders finally rejected the constitution, and also refused to form a “Border Guard Force” of its military battalions. Tension between the SPDC and NMSP leaders both politically and militarily, has been intense for some months in Mon State. Consequently, the military junta used its power to charge a young Mon monk Buddhist teacher, and democracy activist, for possessing a laptop that contained some files protesting the new 2010 elections. The police detained and tortured him last month, and he is now in a prison cell without legal access.
Unless the military junta agrees to allow opposition parties, non-Burman State leaders’ demand for a public debate and redrafting of the constitution, the new election will be a joke. If the military junta forces all of Burma’s citizens to vote for its handpicked candidates in the upcoming elections, and the world accepts the outcome, Burma will continue to be dominated by a military government. The Burmese military junta is using every avenue and all its power to force all ethnic groups’ military battalions to form “Border Guard Forces” under the legal framework and control of the Burma Armed Force. Many ethnic leaders have rejected this invitation.
Mon State’s principle ethnic political party, the New Mon State Party, and its armed wing, the Mon National Liberation Army, have been asking Mon people at home and around the world to review the new constitution, seeking to know whether it contains the Mon peoples’ interests. Over thirty civil society groups in Mon State ran an anti- election campaign by releasing traditional “Fire Balloons” in mid 2009. The military junta got angry about the campaign, and cracked down on all leading civil rights groups in Mon State. Consequently, the Mon music and language groups are under a surveillance.
Burma has been moving down the road to democracy for over twenty years. However, the new constitution does not guarantee civil and constitutional rights for the country’s citizens. Burma’s citizens call for support from the world’s democratic leaders, asking them to pressure the current military junta to grant greater political dialogue and participation within the country. This call has been ignored for years.
Burma’s “Union Day” is meaningless unless “unity in diversity” is truly accepted by Burma’s society. The survival of Burma rests on a guarantee of constitutional rights for all its citizens, and especially for the rights of Burma’s seven ethnic states. Either pro-engagement or anti- engagement with Burma’s junta will not made any difference unless the new 2008 constitution publicly debated by all citizens. The world’s leaders must support Burma’s citizens at home and around the world by encouraging public debate on the new constitution, for the best interests of the Burmese nation. Members of democratic nations like Australia, British and USA should train constitutional lawyers in Burma.
Elections are the foundation of a modern democratic government. But, the new election sponsored by the military junta is but a bandage placed atop the political injuries of the last half century. The forcibly amended new constitution must be destroyed, and a “Federal Union” model must be drafted with allowances for equal representation for all the country’s citizens in 2010. This new model should be examined by constitutional experts from the UN, USA and other nations, with collaboration from a “Burmese Constitutional Drafting Committee that can be set up at the National Convention.
Burma is heading down a long road to democracy. Drafting the best model of a constitution, with equal representation from all ethnic representatives, the National League for Democracy, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and even representation from the current military junta, is a correct approach to solving Burma’s political crisis. A sixty day long National Convention should be held, to debate this new model of the constitution. Burma’s citizens and a constitutional technical assistance group must be given at least one hundred days for comments and debate. The new federal election should be held in late 2011 or early 2012, and then afterwards state elections should be held in due time.
Civil war is not the way to achieve political goals. Placing military rule over the nation is wrong. Neither civil war nor military rule can change Burma into a democratic nation. Constitutional reform, that guarantees constitutional rights to all citizens and all of Burma’s ethnic sates, is the best approach to the crisis. Union Day is about both unity in diversity and unity in purpose.
Today at 14:58
Mon 15 Feb 2010, Banya Hong Sar, Canberra
Governmental elections are the foundation of democracy and government in modern world politics. The foundation of a nation is in its upholding of a constitution that guarantees civil and political rights for its citizens. Each clause of the constitution must guarantee these rights to all citizens. Burma’s 2010 new general elections will test these perspectives. The 12th of February is marked as “Union Day” in Burma, symbolizing unity among ethnicities or unity in diversity. This symbolization does not yet match with reality in the country of Burma, where civil wars and political conflicts between ethnic groups are deeply rooted in the history of the past sixty years.
Burma has failed to uphold the constitutional, civil, and political rights of its people, and thus its foundation as a nation, since the day after the country received independence in 1948. Imbalances of power between the central government and ethnic-based state authorities have been the seed of conflicts for over half the 20th century. The Mon, Karen, Shan, Chin, Kachin, Kayeh and other ethnic people fought for constitutional rights until 1960 but the Burman-dominated government denied them “State Constitutional Rights” in both the 1947 and 1973 new constitutions. The ethnic leaders have had no other means to gain rights besides forming armed military units, to wage civil war for the right of self determination under the Burmese constitution since that time. The battle is not yet over.
The new constitution amended by a forced referendum in May 2008 was another attempt by the government of Burma, led by the military junta, to control all constitutional power over Burma’s seven ethnic States. A 194 paged document containing all the clauses in the articles of the constitution left little space for ethnic people and states to hold constitutional power. In fact, the new constitution was based on a “unitary union” desired by the military junta, rather than the “federal union” demanded by the ethnic political leaders.
The New Mon State Party (NMSP), the principal ethnic political organization of Mon State and its people, has repeatedly urged the State Peace and Development Council, the current military junta, to redraft and have a proper debate about new constitution on several occasions. However, the military junta has rejected having a public debate on redrafting the new constitution. The Mon leaders finally rejected the constitution, and also refused to form a “Border Guard Force” of its military battalions. Tension between the SPDC and NMSP leaders both politically and militarily, has been intense for some months in Mon State. Consequently, the military junta used its power to charge a young Mon monk Buddhist teacher, and democracy activist, for possessing a laptop that contained some files protesting the new 2010 elections. The police detained and tortured him last month, and he is now in a prison cell without legal access.
Unless the military junta agrees to allow opposition parties, non-Burman State leaders’ demand for a public debate and redrafting of the constitution, the new election will be a joke. If the military junta forces all of Burma’s citizens to vote for its handpicked candidates in the upcoming elections, and the world accepts the outcome, Burma will continue to be dominated by a military government. The Burmese military junta is using every avenue and all its power to force all ethnic groups’ military battalions to form “Border Guard Forces” under the legal framework and control of the Burma Armed Force. Many ethnic leaders have rejected this invitation.
Mon State’s principle ethnic political party, the New Mon State Party, and its armed wing, the Mon National Liberation Army, have been asking Mon people at home and around the world to review the new constitution, seeking to know whether it contains the Mon peoples’ interests. Over thirty civil society groups in Mon State ran an anti- election campaign by releasing traditional “Fire Balloons” in mid 2009. The military junta got angry about the campaign, and cracked down on all leading civil rights groups in Mon State. Consequently, the Mon music and language groups are under a surveillance.
Burma has been moving down the road to democracy for over twenty years. However, the new constitution does not guarantee civil and constitutional rights for the country’s citizens. Burma’s citizens call for support from the world’s democratic leaders, asking them to pressure the current military junta to grant greater political dialogue and participation within the country. This call has been ignored for years.
Burma’s “Union Day” is meaningless unless “unity in diversity” is truly accepted by Burma’s society. The survival of Burma rests on a guarantee of constitutional rights for all its citizens, and especially for the rights of Burma’s seven ethnic states. Either pro-engagement or anti- engagement with Burma’s junta will not made any difference unless the new 2008 constitution publicly debated by all citizens. The world’s leaders must support Burma’s citizens at home and around the world by encouraging public debate on the new constitution, for the best interests of the Burmese nation. Members of democratic nations like Australia, British and USA should train constitutional lawyers in Burma.
Elections are the foundation of a modern democratic government. But, the new election sponsored by the military junta is but a bandage placed atop the political injuries of the last half century. The forcibly amended new constitution must be destroyed, and a “Federal Union” model must be drafted with allowances for equal representation for all the country’s citizens in 2010. This new model should be examined by constitutional experts from the UN, USA and other nations, with collaboration from a “Burmese Constitutional Drafting Committee that can be set up at the National Convention.
Burma is heading down a long road to democracy. Drafting the best model of a constitution, with equal representation from all ethnic representatives, the National League for Democracy, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and even representation from the current military junta, is a correct approach to solving Burma’s political crisis. A sixty day long National Convention should be held, to debate this new model of the constitution. Burma’s citizens and a constitutional technical assistance group must be given at least one hundred days for comments and debate. The new federal election should be held in late 2011 or early 2012, and then afterwards state elections should be held in due time.
Civil war is not the way to achieve political goals. Placing military rule over the nation is wrong. Neither civil war nor military rule can change Burma into a democratic nation. Constitutional reform, that guarantees constitutional rights to all citizens and all of Burma’s ethnic sates, is the best approach to the crisis. Union Day is about both unity in diversity and unity in purpose.
The 2010 General Election: A discourse on civil and constitutional rights in BurmaShare
The 2010 General Election: A discourse on civil and constitutional rights in BurmaShare
Today at 14:58
Mon 15 Feb 2010, Banya Hong Sar, Canberra
Governmental elections are the foundation of democracy and government in modern world politics. The foundation of a nation is in its upholding of a constitution that guarantees civil and political rights for its citizens. Each clause of the constitution must guarantee these rights to all citizens. Burma’s 2010 new general elections will test these perspectives. The 12th of February is marked as “Union Day” in Burma, symbolizing unity among ethnicities or unity in diversity. This symbolization does not yet match with reality in the country of Burma, where civil wars and political conflicts between ethnic groups are deeply rooted in the history of the past sixty years.
Burma has failed to uphold the constitutional, civil, and political rights of its people, and thus its foundation as a nation, since the day after the country received independence in 1948. Imbalances of power between the central government and ethnic-based state authorities have been the seed of conflicts for over half the 20th century. The Mon, Karen, Shan, Chin, Kachin, Kayeh and other ethnic people fought for constitutional rights until 1960 but the Burman-dominated government denied them “State Constitutional Rights” in both the 1947 and 1973 new constitutions. The ethnic leaders have had no other means to gain rights besides forming armed military units, to wage civil war for the right of self determination under the Burmese constitution since that time. The battle is not yet over.
The new constitution amended by a forced referendum in May 2008 was another attempt by the government of Burma, led by the military junta, to control all constitutional power over Burma’s seven ethnic States. A 194 paged document containing all the clauses in the articles of the constitution left little space for ethnic people and states to hold constitutional power. In fact, the new constitution was based on a “unitary union” desired by the military junta, rather than the “federal union” demanded by the ethnic political leaders.
The New Mon State Party (NMSP), the principal ethnic political organization of Mon State and its people, has repeatedly urged the State Peace and Development Council, the current military junta, to redraft and have a proper debate about new constitution on several occasions. However, the military junta has rejected having a public debate on redrafting the new constitution. The Mon leaders finally rejected the constitution, and also refused to form a “Border Guard Force” of its military battalions. Tension between the SPDC and NMSP leaders both politically and militarily, has been intense for some months in Mon State. Consequently, the military junta used its power to charge a young Mon monk Buddhist teacher, and democracy activist, for possessing a laptop that contained some files protesting the new 2010 elections. The police detained and tortured him last month, and he is now in a prison cell without legal access.
Unless the military junta agrees to allow opposition parties, non-Burman State leaders’ demand for a public debate and redrafting of the constitution, the new election will be a joke. If the military junta forces all of Burma’s citizens to vote for its handpicked candidates in the upcoming elections, and the world accepts the outcome, Burma will continue to be dominated by a military government. The Burmese military junta is using every avenue and all its power to force all ethnic groups’ military battalions to form “Border Guard Forces” under the legal framework and control of the Burma Armed Force. Many ethnic leaders have rejected this invitation.
Mon State’s principle ethnic political party, the New Mon State Party, and its armed wing, the Mon National Liberation Army, have been asking Mon people at home and around the world to review the new constitution, seeking to know whether it contains the Mon peoples’ interests. Over thirty civil society groups in Mon State ran an anti- election campaign by releasing traditional “Fire Balloons” in mid 2009. The military junta got angry about the campaign, and cracked down on all leading civil rights groups in Mon State. Consequently, the Mon music and language groups are under a surveillance.
Burma has been moving down the road to democracy for over twenty years. However, the new constitution does not guarantee civil and constitutional rights for the country’s citizens. Burma’s citizens call for support from the world’s democratic leaders, asking them to pressure the current military junta to grant greater political dialogue and participation within the country. This call has been ignored for years.
Burma’s “Union Day” is meaningless unless “unity in diversity” is truly accepted by Burma’s society. The survival of Burma rests on a guarantee of constitutional rights for all its citizens, and especially for the rights of Burma’s seven ethnic states. Either pro-engagement or anti- engagement with Burma’s junta will not made any difference unless the new 2008 constitution publicly debated by all citizens. The world’s leaders must support Burma’s citizens at home and around the world by encouraging public debate on the new constitution, for the best interests of the Burmese nation. Members of democratic nations like Australia, British and USA should train constitutional lawyers in Burma.
Elections are the foundation of a modern democratic government. But, the new election sponsored by the military junta is but a bandage placed atop the political injuries of the last half century. The forcibly amended new constitution must be destroyed, and a “Federal Union” model must be drafted with allowances for equal representation for all the country’s citizens in 2010. This new model should be examined by constitutional experts from the UN, USA and other nations, with collaboration from a “Burmese Constitutional Drafting Committee that can be set up at the National Convention.
Burma is heading down a long road to democracy. Drafting the best model of a constitution, with equal representation from all ethnic representatives, the National League for Democracy, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and even representation from the current military junta, is a correct approach to solving Burma’s political crisis. A sixty day long National Convention should be held, to debate this new model of the constitution. Burma’s citizens and a constitutional technical assistance group must be given at least one hundred days for comments and debate. The new federal election should be held in late 2011 or early 2012, and then afterwards state elections should be held in due time.
Civil war is not the way to achieve political goals. Placing military rule over the nation is wrong. Neither civil war nor military rule can change Burma into a democratic nation. Constitutional reform, that guarantees constitutional rights to all citizens and all of Burma’s ethnic sates, is the best approach to the crisis. Union Day is about both unity in diversity and unity in purpose.
Today at 14:58
Mon 15 Feb 2010, Banya Hong Sar, Canberra
Governmental elections are the foundation of democracy and government in modern world politics. The foundation of a nation is in its upholding of a constitution that guarantees civil and political rights for its citizens. Each clause of the constitution must guarantee these rights to all citizens. Burma’s 2010 new general elections will test these perspectives. The 12th of February is marked as “Union Day” in Burma, symbolizing unity among ethnicities or unity in diversity. This symbolization does not yet match with reality in the country of Burma, where civil wars and political conflicts between ethnic groups are deeply rooted in the history of the past sixty years.
Burma has failed to uphold the constitutional, civil, and political rights of its people, and thus its foundation as a nation, since the day after the country received independence in 1948. Imbalances of power between the central government and ethnic-based state authorities have been the seed of conflicts for over half the 20th century. The Mon, Karen, Shan, Chin, Kachin, Kayeh and other ethnic people fought for constitutional rights until 1960 but the Burman-dominated government denied them “State Constitutional Rights” in both the 1947 and 1973 new constitutions. The ethnic leaders have had no other means to gain rights besides forming armed military units, to wage civil war for the right of self determination under the Burmese constitution since that time. The battle is not yet over.
The new constitution amended by a forced referendum in May 2008 was another attempt by the government of Burma, led by the military junta, to control all constitutional power over Burma’s seven ethnic States. A 194 paged document containing all the clauses in the articles of the constitution left little space for ethnic people and states to hold constitutional power. In fact, the new constitution was based on a “unitary union” desired by the military junta, rather than the “federal union” demanded by the ethnic political leaders.
The New Mon State Party (NMSP), the principal ethnic political organization of Mon State and its people, has repeatedly urged the State Peace and Development Council, the current military junta, to redraft and have a proper debate about new constitution on several occasions. However, the military junta has rejected having a public debate on redrafting the new constitution. The Mon leaders finally rejected the constitution, and also refused to form a “Border Guard Force” of its military battalions. Tension between the SPDC and NMSP leaders both politically and militarily, has been intense for some months in Mon State. Consequently, the military junta used its power to charge a young Mon monk Buddhist teacher, and democracy activist, for possessing a laptop that contained some files protesting the new 2010 elections. The police detained and tortured him last month, and he is now in a prison cell without legal access.
Unless the military junta agrees to allow opposition parties, non-Burman State leaders’ demand for a public debate and redrafting of the constitution, the new election will be a joke. If the military junta forces all of Burma’s citizens to vote for its handpicked candidates in the upcoming elections, and the world accepts the outcome, Burma will continue to be dominated by a military government. The Burmese military junta is using every avenue and all its power to force all ethnic groups’ military battalions to form “Border Guard Forces” under the legal framework and control of the Burma Armed Force. Many ethnic leaders have rejected this invitation.
Mon State’s principle ethnic political party, the New Mon State Party, and its armed wing, the Mon National Liberation Army, have been asking Mon people at home and around the world to review the new constitution, seeking to know whether it contains the Mon peoples’ interests. Over thirty civil society groups in Mon State ran an anti- election campaign by releasing traditional “Fire Balloons” in mid 2009. The military junta got angry about the campaign, and cracked down on all leading civil rights groups in Mon State. Consequently, the Mon music and language groups are under a surveillance.
Burma has been moving down the road to democracy for over twenty years. However, the new constitution does not guarantee civil and constitutional rights for the country’s citizens. Burma’s citizens call for support from the world’s democratic leaders, asking them to pressure the current military junta to grant greater political dialogue and participation within the country. This call has been ignored for years.
Burma’s “Union Day” is meaningless unless “unity in diversity” is truly accepted by Burma’s society. The survival of Burma rests on a guarantee of constitutional rights for all its citizens, and especially for the rights of Burma’s seven ethnic states. Either pro-engagement or anti- engagement with Burma’s junta will not made any difference unless the new 2008 constitution publicly debated by all citizens. The world’s leaders must support Burma’s citizens at home and around the world by encouraging public debate on the new constitution, for the best interests of the Burmese nation. Members of democratic nations like Australia, British and USA should train constitutional lawyers in Burma.
Elections are the foundation of a modern democratic government. But, the new election sponsored by the military junta is but a bandage placed atop the political injuries of the last half century. The forcibly amended new constitution must be destroyed, and a “Federal Union” model must be drafted with allowances for equal representation for all the country’s citizens in 2010. This new model should be examined by constitutional experts from the UN, USA and other nations, with collaboration from a “Burmese Constitutional Drafting Committee that can be set up at the National Convention.
Burma is heading down a long road to democracy. Drafting the best model of a constitution, with equal representation from all ethnic representatives, the National League for Democracy, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and even representation from the current military junta, is a correct approach to solving Burma’s political crisis. A sixty day long National Convention should be held, to debate this new model of the constitution. Burma’s citizens and a constitutional technical assistance group must be given at least one hundred days for comments and debate. The new federal election should be held in late 2011 or early 2012, and then afterwards state elections should be held in due time.
Civil war is not the way to achieve political goals. Placing military rule over the nation is wrong. Neither civil war nor military rule can change Burma into a democratic nation. Constitutional reform, that guarantees constitutional rights to all citizens and all of Burma’s ethnic sates, is the best approach to the crisis. Union Day is about both unity in diversity and unity in purpose.
The 2010 General Election: A discourse on civil and constitutional rights in BurmaShare
The 2010 General Election: A discourse on civil and constitutional rights in BurmaShare
Today at 14:58
Mon 15 Feb 2010, Banya Hong Sar, Canberra
Governmental elections are the foundation of democracy and government in modern world politics. The foundation of a nation is in its upholding of a constitution that guarantees civil and political rights for its citizens. Each clause of the constitution must guarantee these rights to all citizens. Burma’s 2010 new general elections will test these perspectives. The 12th of February is marked as “Union Day” in Burma, symbolizing unity among ethnicities or unity in diversity. This symbolization does not yet match with reality in the country of Burma, where civil wars and political conflicts between ethnic groups are deeply rooted in the history of the past sixty years.
Burma has failed to uphold the constitutional, civil, and political rights of its people, and thus its foundation as a nation, since the day after the country received independence in 1948. Imbalances of power between the central government and ethnic-based state authorities have been the seed of conflicts for over half the 20th century. The Mon, Karen, Shan, Chin, Kachin, Kayeh and other ethnic people fought for constitutional rights until 1960 but the Burman-dominated government denied them “State Constitutional Rights” in both the 1947 and 1973 new constitutions. The ethnic leaders have had no other means to gain rights besides forming armed military units, to wage civil war for the right of self determination under the Burmese constitution since that time. The battle is not yet over.
The new constitution amended by a forced referendum in May 2008 was another attempt by the government of Burma, led by the military junta, to control all constitutional power over Burma’s seven ethnic States. A 194 paged document containing all the clauses in the articles of the constitution left little space for ethnic people and states to hold constitutional power. In fact, the new constitution was based on a “unitary union” desired by the military junta, rather than the “federal union” demanded by the ethnic political leaders.
The New Mon State Party (NMSP), the principal ethnic political organization of Mon State and its people, has repeatedly urged the State Peace and Development Council, the current military junta, to redraft and have a proper debate about new constitution on several occasions. However, the military junta has rejected having a public debate on redrafting the new constitution. The Mon leaders finally rejected the constitution, and also refused to form a “Border Guard Force” of its military battalions. Tension between the SPDC and NMSP leaders both politically and militarily, has been intense for some months in Mon State. Consequently, the military junta used its power to charge a young Mon monk Buddhist teacher, and democracy activist, for possessing a laptop that contained some files protesting the new 2010 elections. The police detained and tortured him last month, and he is now in a prison cell without legal access.
Unless the military junta agrees to allow opposition parties, non-Burman State leaders’ demand for a public debate and redrafting of the constitution, the new election will be a joke. If the military junta forces all of Burma’s citizens to vote for its handpicked candidates in the upcoming elections, and the world accepts the outcome, Burma will continue to be dominated by a military government. The Burmese military junta is using every avenue and all its power to force all ethnic groups’ military battalions to form “Border Guard Forces” under the legal framework and control of the Burma Armed Force. Many ethnic leaders have rejected this invitation.
Mon State’s principle ethnic political party, the New Mon State Party, and its armed wing, the Mon National Liberation Army, have been asking Mon people at home and around the world to review the new constitution, seeking to know whether it contains the Mon peoples’ interests. Over thirty civil society groups in Mon State ran an anti- election campaign by releasing traditional “Fire Balloons” in mid 2009. The military junta got angry about the campaign, and cracked down on all leading civil rights groups in Mon State. Consequently, the Mon music and language groups are under a surveillance.
Burma has been moving down the road to democracy for over twenty years. However, the new constitution does not guarantee civil and constitutional rights for the country’s citizens. Burma’s citizens call for support from the world’s democratic leaders, asking them to pressure the current military junta to grant greater political dialogue and participation within the country. This call has been ignored for years.
Burma’s “Union Day” is meaningless unless “unity in diversity” is truly accepted by Burma’s society. The survival of Burma rests on a guarantee of constitutional rights for all its citizens, and especially for the rights of Burma’s seven ethnic states. Either pro-engagement or anti- engagement with Burma’s junta will not made any difference unless the new 2008 constitution publicly debated by all citizens. The world’s leaders must support Burma’s citizens at home and around the world by encouraging public debate on the new constitution, for the best interests of the Burmese nation. Members of democratic nations like Australia, British and USA should train constitutional lawyers in Burma.
Elections are the foundation of a modern democratic government. But, the new election sponsored by the military junta is but a bandage placed atop the political injuries of the last half century. The forcibly amended new constitution must be destroyed, and a “Federal Union” model must be drafted with allowances for equal representation for all the country’s citizens in 2010. This new model should be examined by constitutional experts from the UN, USA and other nations, with collaboration from a “Burmese Constitutional Drafting Committee that can be set up at the National Convention.
Burma is heading down a long road to democracy. Drafting the best model of a constitution, with equal representation from all ethnic representatives, the National League for Democracy, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and even representation from the current military junta, is a correct approach to solving Burma’s political crisis. A sixty day long National Convention should be held, to debate this new model of the constitution. Burma’s citizens and a constitutional technical assistance group must be given at least one hundred days for comments and debate. The new federal election should be held in late 2011 or early 2012, and then afterwards state elections should be held in due time.
Civil war is not the way to achieve political goals. Placing military rule over the nation is wrong. Neither civil war nor military rule can change Burma into a democratic nation. Constitutional reform, that guarantees constitutional rights to all citizens and all of Burma’s ethnic sates, is the best approach to the crisis. Union Day is about both unity in diversity and unity in purpose.
Today at 14:58
Mon 15 Feb 2010, Banya Hong Sar, Canberra
Governmental elections are the foundation of democracy and government in modern world politics. The foundation of a nation is in its upholding of a constitution that guarantees civil and political rights for its citizens. Each clause of the constitution must guarantee these rights to all citizens. Burma’s 2010 new general elections will test these perspectives. The 12th of February is marked as “Union Day” in Burma, symbolizing unity among ethnicities or unity in diversity. This symbolization does not yet match with reality in the country of Burma, where civil wars and political conflicts between ethnic groups are deeply rooted in the history of the past sixty years.
Burma has failed to uphold the constitutional, civil, and political rights of its people, and thus its foundation as a nation, since the day after the country received independence in 1948. Imbalances of power between the central government and ethnic-based state authorities have been the seed of conflicts for over half the 20th century. The Mon, Karen, Shan, Chin, Kachin, Kayeh and other ethnic people fought for constitutional rights until 1960 but the Burman-dominated government denied them “State Constitutional Rights” in both the 1947 and 1973 new constitutions. The ethnic leaders have had no other means to gain rights besides forming armed military units, to wage civil war for the right of self determination under the Burmese constitution since that time. The battle is not yet over.
The new constitution amended by a forced referendum in May 2008 was another attempt by the government of Burma, led by the military junta, to control all constitutional power over Burma’s seven ethnic States. A 194 paged document containing all the clauses in the articles of the constitution left little space for ethnic people and states to hold constitutional power. In fact, the new constitution was based on a “unitary union” desired by the military junta, rather than the “federal union” demanded by the ethnic political leaders.
The New Mon State Party (NMSP), the principal ethnic political organization of Mon State and its people, has repeatedly urged the State Peace and Development Council, the current military junta, to redraft and have a proper debate about new constitution on several occasions. However, the military junta has rejected having a public debate on redrafting the new constitution. The Mon leaders finally rejected the constitution, and also refused to form a “Border Guard Force” of its military battalions. Tension between the SPDC and NMSP leaders both politically and militarily, has been intense for some months in Mon State. Consequently, the military junta used its power to charge a young Mon monk Buddhist teacher, and democracy activist, for possessing a laptop that contained some files protesting the new 2010 elections. The police detained and tortured him last month, and he is now in a prison cell without legal access.
Unless the military junta agrees to allow opposition parties, non-Burman State leaders’ demand for a public debate and redrafting of the constitution, the new election will be a joke. If the military junta forces all of Burma’s citizens to vote for its handpicked candidates in the upcoming elections, and the world accepts the outcome, Burma will continue to be dominated by a military government. The Burmese military junta is using every avenue and all its power to force all ethnic groups’ military battalions to form “Border Guard Forces” under the legal framework and control of the Burma Armed Force. Many ethnic leaders have rejected this invitation.
Mon State’s principle ethnic political party, the New Mon State Party, and its armed wing, the Mon National Liberation Army, have been asking Mon people at home and around the world to review the new constitution, seeking to know whether it contains the Mon peoples’ interests. Over thirty civil society groups in Mon State ran an anti- election campaign by releasing traditional “Fire Balloons” in mid 2009. The military junta got angry about the campaign, and cracked down on all leading civil rights groups in Mon State. Consequently, the Mon music and language groups are under a surveillance.
Burma has been moving down the road to democracy for over twenty years. However, the new constitution does not guarantee civil and constitutional rights for the country’s citizens. Burma’s citizens call for support from the world’s democratic leaders, asking them to pressure the current military junta to grant greater political dialogue and participation within the country. This call has been ignored for years.
Burma’s “Union Day” is meaningless unless “unity in diversity” is truly accepted by Burma’s society. The survival of Burma rests on a guarantee of constitutional rights for all its citizens, and especially for the rights of Burma’s seven ethnic states. Either pro-engagement or anti- engagement with Burma’s junta will not made any difference unless the new 2008 constitution publicly debated by all citizens. The world’s leaders must support Burma’s citizens at home and around the world by encouraging public debate on the new constitution, for the best interests of the Burmese nation. Members of democratic nations like Australia, British and USA should train constitutional lawyers in Burma.
Elections are the foundation of a modern democratic government. But, the new election sponsored by the military junta is but a bandage placed atop the political injuries of the last half century. The forcibly amended new constitution must be destroyed, and a “Federal Union” model must be drafted with allowances for equal representation for all the country’s citizens in 2010. This new model should be examined by constitutional experts from the UN, USA and other nations, with collaboration from a “Burmese Constitutional Drafting Committee that can be set up at the National Convention.
Burma is heading down a long road to democracy. Drafting the best model of a constitution, with equal representation from all ethnic representatives, the National League for Democracy, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and even representation from the current military junta, is a correct approach to solving Burma’s political crisis. A sixty day long National Convention should be held, to debate this new model of the constitution. Burma’s citizens and a constitutional technical assistance group must be given at least one hundred days for comments and debate. The new federal election should be held in late 2011 or early 2012, and then afterwards state elections should be held in due time.
Civil war is not the way to achieve political goals. Placing military rule over the nation is wrong. Neither civil war nor military rule can change Burma into a democratic nation. Constitutional reform, that guarantees constitutional rights to all citizens and all of Burma’s ethnic sates, is the best approach to the crisis. Union Day is about both unity in diversity and unity in purpose.
Monday, 22 February 2010
Burma's political prosecution of dissidents undermines legitimacy of planned elections
Min Myat Kyaw [Member, Asian Human Rights Commission]: "The sentencing of four supporters of democracy party leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to two years' imprisonment last week is the latest instance of how courts in Burma (Myanmar) operate under the military regime there to defeat civil and political rights, without regard to the terms of the very laws that they purport to uphold.
The imprisonment of Naw Ohn Hla and three others attracted some interest abroad partly because it coincided with a visit to Burma by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the country, Tomas Ojea Quintana. The envoy has rightly emphasized that an election scheduled for late in the year will not be taken seriously abroad unless all prisoners of conscience are freed.
But the manner in which cases of political imprisonment are conducted in Burma underscores the difficulties that the global community faces in documenting and addressing their incidence. The same week that Naw Ohn Hla was jailed, the Asian Human Rights Commission issued an appeal on new charges against Ma Sandar, who was released just last September after serving a sentence that was instigated by her complaints about corrupt councilors. The new case against her is under the same sections of law and before the same judge; the outcome too will probably be the same. The week before, the Commission issued an appeal for Dr. Wint Thu and eight others, whom Special Branch police illegally arrested and held incommunicado for nearly three months. In December a court handed them jail terms of up to 71 years for allegedly planning to commemorate the monk-led uprising of 2007. The prosecutor's evidence consisted of confessions that were extracted through police torture.
The constant movement of detainees to and from Burma's jails on charges that have little or nothing to do with the real reasons for their custody and even less to do with the standards of law that the courts pretend to enforce makes tracking their cases and understanding their mechanics a full time job. No sooner are persons like Ma Sandar or Naw Ohn Hla let out than they or others are rearrested and charged with new offences. There are no sweeps netting hundreds or thousands of dissidents that might grab headlines overseas. Nor are there any mass releases: amnesties free up space for new inmates, and typically include few political prisoners, many of whom are near to the end of their terms anyhow. Instead there is only a daily passing back and forth through the penal turnstiles. There is only the pointless inflicting of meaningless punishments on people like Naw Ohn Hla, Ma Sandar and Dr. Wint Thu, who are condemned for mundane acts that in most other parts of the world would not excite official interest, let alone attract criminal sanctions. There is only the cruel banality of a dictatorship whose institutions for political and social control are not going to go away on account of an election."
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2010/02/burmas-political-prosecution-of.php
The imprisonment of Naw Ohn Hla and three others attracted some interest abroad partly because it coincided with a visit to Burma by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the country, Tomas Ojea Quintana. The envoy has rightly emphasized that an election scheduled for late in the year will not be taken seriously abroad unless all prisoners of conscience are freed.
But the manner in which cases of political imprisonment are conducted in Burma underscores the difficulties that the global community faces in documenting and addressing their incidence. The same week that Naw Ohn Hla was jailed, the Asian Human Rights Commission issued an appeal on new charges against Ma Sandar, who was released just last September after serving a sentence that was instigated by her complaints about corrupt councilors. The new case against her is under the same sections of law and before the same judge; the outcome too will probably be the same. The week before, the Commission issued an appeal for Dr. Wint Thu and eight others, whom Special Branch police illegally arrested and held incommunicado for nearly three months. In December a court handed them jail terms of up to 71 years for allegedly planning to commemorate the monk-led uprising of 2007. The prosecutor's evidence consisted of confessions that were extracted through police torture.
The constant movement of detainees to and from Burma's jails on charges that have little or nothing to do with the real reasons for their custody and even less to do with the standards of law that the courts pretend to enforce makes tracking their cases and understanding their mechanics a full time job. No sooner are persons like Ma Sandar or Naw Ohn Hla let out than they or others are rearrested and charged with new offences. There are no sweeps netting hundreds or thousands of dissidents that might grab headlines overseas. Nor are there any mass releases: amnesties free up space for new inmates, and typically include few political prisoners, many of whom are near to the end of their terms anyhow. Instead there is only a daily passing back and forth through the penal turnstiles. There is only the pointless inflicting of meaningless punishments on people like Naw Ohn Hla, Ma Sandar and Dr. Wint Thu, who are condemned for mundane acts that in most other parts of the world would not excite official interest, let alone attract criminal sanctions. There is only the cruel banality of a dictatorship whose institutions for political and social control are not going to go away on account of an election."
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2010/02/burmas-political-prosecution-of.php
Sunday, 21 February 2010
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3558-nld-presents-aung-san-suu-kyi-case-to-un-rights-envoy-.html
Chiang Mai, New Delhi (Mizzima) – The National League for Democracy's (NLD) Central Executive Committee (CEC) told UN rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana yesterday that Aung San Suu Kyi must to be released.
Her release is vital for Burma's national reconciliation; the five NLD CEC members told Quintana during their one hour meeting at Rangoon's Mya Yeik Nyo Royal Hotel.
“We talked with him about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. We told him that she must be released. He also said that he wanted to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi”, said U Win Tin an NLD CEC member present at the meeting.
Leading the NLD delegation was NLD Vice-Chairman Tin Oo the eighty-four year decorated soldier released last weekend after serving 6 years of house arrest.
“Mr. Quintana said to us that he was very glad to see all of our CEC members here and he was encouraged seeing us altogether. And he would note down what we presented here to him and report to his superiors”, Khin Maung Swe told Mizzima.
At the meeting the NLD brought up the junta's rejection of the NLD's 1990 election victory, the NLD's demand for the immediate release of all of Burma's more than 2000 and the urgent need to amend the widely reviled 2008 constitution which permanently enshrines the military's domination of national affairs.
The NLD team also made clear to the UN envoy that they were still adhering to the points outlined in the Shwe Gong Daing Declaration and therefore the party will not contest the upcoming national elections supposedly set to take place at some point this year. The Shwe Gong Daing Declaration was adopted last year and approved at plenary meeting attended by delegates from State and Division NLD branches, MPs and the party's central leadership.
“Human rights issues are important and they cannot be considered separate from basic politics. We have no plan to join the upcoming election. We will stand on the Shwe Gong Daing Declaration.”, Win Tin said.
In the Shwe Gong Daing Declaration, the NLD party called for amending the 2008 constitution, releasing all political prisoners, the resumption of real dialogue between the opposition and the military for national reconciliation and the need for some kind of official recognition of the NLD's 1990 election landslide victory.
During the meeting the NLD informed the UN rights envoy about the regimes numerous attacks on the NLD, including the forcible closing of NLD party offices, the removal of party signboards from NLD offices and the regime's various restrictions which prevent the NLD from working with the party's grassroots supporters.
Unclear if Envoy will be allowed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi
The envoy told the NLD representatives that he would leave for Naypyidaw on Friday and hoped that upon his return from the capital the generals would allow him to see Aung San Suu Kyi. It appears Quintana will only find out if he will be able to meet the Nobel Peace Prize Winner when he returns from the military regime's sparsely populated new capital.
Following the meeting the NLD expressed their satisfaction with the UN envoy and his visit to Burma.
“We are satisfied with his visit as he will present the human rights situation in Burma to the relevant UN authorities. With regards to Burma, it is not only a human rights issue, there are also political issues which must be presented too. We hope he understands about our political situation. We hope he also presents these political issues to the UN”, Win Tin said.
During his 5-days fact finding trip which began on the February 15th, Qunitana also visited Sittwe and Buthidaung prisons in Rakhine State. While in Rakhine State, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Resident Representative in Burma Steve Marshall also accompanied him. In Rakhine they met with over 20 NGOs and Muslim leaders.
According to the UN's Rangoon spokesperson at Buthidaung prison, Quintana met with prominent 88 Generation Student activist Htay Kywe and other political prisoners including Tun Nyo, Myat Tun, Ahmed and Kyaw Min. Kyaw Min, a member of the Rohingya minority and an elected MP member is presently serving a 47 year prison sentence following his 2005 arrest and subsequent nullification of his Burmese citizenship.
At Sittwe prison the envoys met with political prisoners Than Tin, Pyae Phyo Hlaing, Aung Tun Myint and U Sandar Thiri. After arriving back in Rangoon on Thursday, Quintana met with political prisoners at the infamous Insein prison. This group included Naw Ohn Hla, Ma Than Than Htay, Kyaw San, Kyi Than, Myo Win and Khai Kyaw Moe.
Although the Information Department of the UN's Rangoon office claimed their envoy would meet with ethnic leaders during his trip, the respected United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) told Mizzima they did not receive a request for a meeting from the UN.
The UNA spokesperson Pu Cing TsianThang.told Mizzima that “the SPDC (junta) interprets ethnic leaders as those having cordial relationship with them and non opposition parties. As we have not yet received any information from UN office until today, there is almost no hope for us to meet with him”.
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3558-nld-presents-aung-san-suu-kyi-case-to-un-rights-envoy-.html
Her release is vital for Burma's national reconciliation; the five NLD CEC members told Quintana during their one hour meeting at Rangoon's Mya Yeik Nyo Royal Hotel.
“We talked with him about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. We told him that she must be released. He also said that he wanted to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi”, said U Win Tin an NLD CEC member present at the meeting.
Leading the NLD delegation was NLD Vice-Chairman Tin Oo the eighty-four year decorated soldier released last weekend after serving 6 years of house arrest.
“Mr. Quintana said to us that he was very glad to see all of our CEC members here and he was encouraged seeing us altogether. And he would note down what we presented here to him and report to his superiors”, Khin Maung Swe told Mizzima.
At the meeting the NLD brought up the junta's rejection of the NLD's 1990 election victory, the NLD's demand for the immediate release of all of Burma's more than 2000 and the urgent need to amend the widely reviled 2008 constitution which permanently enshrines the military's domination of national affairs.
The NLD team also made clear to the UN envoy that they were still adhering to the points outlined in the Shwe Gong Daing Declaration and therefore the party will not contest the upcoming national elections supposedly set to take place at some point this year. The Shwe Gong Daing Declaration was adopted last year and approved at plenary meeting attended by delegates from State and Division NLD branches, MPs and the party's central leadership.
“Human rights issues are important and they cannot be considered separate from basic politics. We have no plan to join the upcoming election. We will stand on the Shwe Gong Daing Declaration.”, Win Tin said.
In the Shwe Gong Daing Declaration, the NLD party called for amending the 2008 constitution, releasing all political prisoners, the resumption of real dialogue between the opposition and the military for national reconciliation and the need for some kind of official recognition of the NLD's 1990 election landslide victory.
During the meeting the NLD informed the UN rights envoy about the regimes numerous attacks on the NLD, including the forcible closing of NLD party offices, the removal of party signboards from NLD offices and the regime's various restrictions which prevent the NLD from working with the party's grassroots supporters.
Unclear if Envoy will be allowed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi
The envoy told the NLD representatives that he would leave for Naypyidaw on Friday and hoped that upon his return from the capital the generals would allow him to see Aung San Suu Kyi. It appears Quintana will only find out if he will be able to meet the Nobel Peace Prize Winner when he returns from the military regime's sparsely populated new capital.
Following the meeting the NLD expressed their satisfaction with the UN envoy and his visit to Burma.
“We are satisfied with his visit as he will present the human rights situation in Burma to the relevant UN authorities. With regards to Burma, it is not only a human rights issue, there are also political issues which must be presented too. We hope he understands about our political situation. We hope he also presents these political issues to the UN”, Win Tin said.
During his 5-days fact finding trip which began on the February 15th, Qunitana also visited Sittwe and Buthidaung prisons in Rakhine State. While in Rakhine State, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Resident Representative in Burma Steve Marshall also accompanied him. In Rakhine they met with over 20 NGOs and Muslim leaders.
According to the UN's Rangoon spokesperson at Buthidaung prison, Quintana met with prominent 88 Generation Student activist Htay Kywe and other political prisoners including Tun Nyo, Myat Tun, Ahmed and Kyaw Min. Kyaw Min, a member of the Rohingya minority and an elected MP member is presently serving a 47 year prison sentence following his 2005 arrest and subsequent nullification of his Burmese citizenship.
At Sittwe prison the envoys met with political prisoners Than Tin, Pyae Phyo Hlaing, Aung Tun Myint and U Sandar Thiri. After arriving back in Rangoon on Thursday, Quintana met with political prisoners at the infamous Insein prison. This group included Naw Ohn Hla, Ma Than Than Htay, Kyaw San, Kyi Than, Myo Win and Khai Kyaw Moe.
Although the Information Department of the UN's Rangoon office claimed their envoy would meet with ethnic leaders during his trip, the respected United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) told Mizzima they did not receive a request for a meeting from the UN.
The UNA spokesperson Pu Cing TsianThang.told Mizzima that “the SPDC (junta) interprets ethnic leaders as those having cordial relationship with them and non opposition parties. As we have not yet received any information from UN office until today, there is almost no hope for us to meet with him”.
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/3558-nld-presents-aung-san-suu-kyi-case-to-un-rights-envoy-.html
Monday, 15 February 2010
Parliament Questions
Burma: Arms Trade
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has had discussions with the government of (a) Canada, (b) New Zealand and (c) Brazil on an arms embargo against Burma. [316244]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government maintains a dialogue with a wide range of international partners on Burma, including the governments of Canada and New Zealand. In recent weeks we have also shared details of our position on Burma with Brazil, which became a non-permanent member of the Security Council in January.
In August 2009, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and his fellow UN Security Council members underlining that no one should be selling arms to a military regime with an appalling human rights record. A global arms embargo remains a priority for this Government, and we will continue to press for progress in our bilateral contacts and in relevant multi-lateral fora.
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of arms trading with Burma, with particular reference to arms from (a) India, (b) Russia and (c) China; and what assessment he has made of the effects of such trade on the situation in Burma. [316582]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government believe that no one should be selling arms to the Burmese regime in view of their appalling human rights record and the high likelihood arms supplied will be use for internal repression. An EU arms embargo has been in place since 1996, and we are working to build support for a global arms embargo. To this end, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister wrote to the UN Secretary General and all members of the Security Council in August 2009.
Reports suggest that India, China and Russia have all supplied arms to Burma. China is believed to be the leading arms supplier and in early January 2010, media reports suggested Russia had agreed to supply $600 million of combat aircraft and arms to the Burma regime. In response to these reports, our embassy in Moscow raised our concerns with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
10 Feb 2010 : Column 979W
The ability of Burma to continue to purchase arms from a wide range of suppliers has helped to reduce their defence and security costs and modernise an army responsible for widespread and systematic human rights abuses.
Burma: Human Rights
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had in the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United Nations General Assembly on reports of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma. [316245]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government remain deeply concerned at the human rights situation in Burma and we regularly raise the issue with EU and other international partners, and in the UN's human rights bodies. At the last session of the Human Rights Council in September 2009, and at the UN General Assembly in November 2009, we helped to secure strong resolutions condemning the Burmese regime for ongoing and systematic human rights abuses. We will be looking to raise the issue again, and secure a further resolution, at the next session of the Human Rights Council in March 2010. In addition, we continue to give our full support to the efforts of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma-Thomas Ojea Quintana, who is due to visit the country soon.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has had discussions with (a) his EU counterparts, (b) the United Nations Human Rights Council and (c) the United Nations General Assembly on reports of crimes against humanity in Burma. [316378]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government remain deeply concerned at the human rights situation in Burma and we regularly raise the issue with EU and other international partners, and in the UN's human rights bodies. At the last session of the Human Rights Council in September 2009, and at the UN General Assembly in November 2009, we helped to secure strong resolutions condemning the Burmese regime for ongoing and systematic human rights abuses. We will be looking to raise the issue again, and secure a further resolution, at the next session of the Human Rights Council in March 2010. In addition, we continue to give our full support to the efforts of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma, Thomas Ojea Quintana, who is due to visit the country soon.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aims and objectives he has set for the outcome of the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting on Burma. [316380]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: At the 13th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2010 we will work to secure a further, strong resolution condemning the continuing human right abuses in Burma. In our national intervention, and in the resolution text, we will seek to emphasise that the dire human rights situation, including the continued detention of 2100 political prisoners, child labour and the treatment of displaced people remain cause of significant concern. Burma's treatment of political leaders and suppression of freedom of expression undermine the credibility of elections planned for later this year.
10 Feb 2010 : Column 980W
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek to secure EU targeted sanctions against the government of Burma until the human rights situation in Burma improves. [316581]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government continue to believe that targeted EU sanctions against the military regime in Burma are an important means of maintaining pressure for political reform and respect for human rights. Sanctions introduced in 1996 have been strengthened over time, notably after the Saffron Revolution in 2007, and in August 2009 in response to the guilty verdict in Aung San Suu Kyi's trial. They are now among the EU's toughest autonomous measures against any country. The UK will not support any easing of sanctions in the absence of tangible progress on the ground.
Burma: Political Prisoners
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has had discussions in the United Nations Human Rights Council on the arrest of pro-democracy activist Nyi Nyi Aung in Burma in September 2009. [316241]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We are deeply concerned at the arrest and imprisonment of Nyi Nyi Aung and are monitoring his case closely.
We continue to take every opportunity to raise the detention of Burma's 2100 political prisoners in the UN's Human Rights bodies. At the last session of the Human Rights Council in September 2009, and at the UN General Assembly in November 2009, we helped to secure strong resolutions calling for the release of all of political prisoners. We will be looking to raise the issue again, and secure a further resolution, at the next session of the Human Rights Council in March 2010.
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made representations to the Burmese authorities on permitting the International Committee of the Red Cross to resume its inspection of prisons in Burma. [316242]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The refusal of the Burmese authorities to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) independent and unsupervised access to political prisoners remains a grave concern, particularly as the number of prisoners of conscience has doubled to over 2100 since the 'Saffron revolution' in autumn 2007. We continue to urge the military government to co-operate fully with the ICRC and allow an immediate resumption of prison visits.
The UN General Assembly highlighted their concern at the condition of prisons and urged the regime to comply with human rights law in a resolution passed in November 2009. Our Ambassador in Rangoon last raised the issue of independent prison access for the ICRC to the Burmese government in August 2009 during the last visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma. Our Ambassador regularly raises the plight of political prisoners with Burmese ministers, and we remain in close contact with the ICRC on this issue.
10 Feb 2010 : Column 981W
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has received reports on the recent sentencing and imprisonment of a journalist who worked with the Democratic Voice of Burma. [316243]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We are aware that Democratic Voice of Burma journalist Ngwe Soe Lin was sentenced to 13 years in prison on 27 January 2010 by a Burmese military court for offences under the Electronic and Immigration Emergency Provisions Acts. This case follows the recent sentencing of two other journalists from the Democratic Voice of Burma to 20 and 26 years imprisonment respectively. At least 13 journalists and bloggers are currently detained in Burma, as the Burmese authorities seek to prevent the free flow of information in advance of elections planned for later this year.
The Government have consistently called on the military authorities to release all of Burma's over 2100 prisoners of conscience. Without their release, elections planned for later this year can have no international credibility.
Burma: Politics and Government
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will request the United Nations Security Council to undertake a review of the 2008 Burmese constitution together with representatives of (a) pro-democracy, (b) ethnic and (c) other groups in Burma. [316379]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In November 2009 the UK helped to secure a UN General Assembly Resolution on the human rights situation in Burma, which called on the Burmese authorities to undertake a transparent, inclusive and comprehensive review of the Constitution while fully engaging with the democratic opposition and ethnic groups. We believe that a process of dialogue involving all actors in Burma will ensure a sustainable transition to democracy. This view is shared by other members of the EU and the United States of America.
In the UN Security Council, we regularly test the level of consensus for action on Burma, and have succeeded in securing discussion and a number of important Presidential Statements since autumn 2007. We do not judge, however, that an attempt to secure a Security Council review on the 2008 Constitution now would be successful. A resolution on Burma tabled in January 2007 was vetoed by two Permanent Members of the Council and any attempt to invalidate the Constitution will suffer the same fate.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmhansrd/cm100210/text/100210w0003.htm#10021071000485
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has had discussions with the government of (a) Canada, (b) New Zealand and (c) Brazil on an arms embargo against Burma. [316244]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government maintains a dialogue with a wide range of international partners on Burma, including the governments of Canada and New Zealand. In recent weeks we have also shared details of our position on Burma with Brazil, which became a non-permanent member of the Security Council in January.
In August 2009, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and his fellow UN Security Council members underlining that no one should be selling arms to a military regime with an appalling human rights record. A global arms embargo remains a priority for this Government, and we will continue to press for progress in our bilateral contacts and in relevant multi-lateral fora.
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of arms trading with Burma, with particular reference to arms from (a) India, (b) Russia and (c) China; and what assessment he has made of the effects of such trade on the situation in Burma. [316582]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government believe that no one should be selling arms to the Burmese regime in view of their appalling human rights record and the high likelihood arms supplied will be use for internal repression. An EU arms embargo has been in place since 1996, and we are working to build support for a global arms embargo. To this end, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister wrote to the UN Secretary General and all members of the Security Council in August 2009.
Reports suggest that India, China and Russia have all supplied arms to Burma. China is believed to be the leading arms supplier and in early January 2010, media reports suggested Russia had agreed to supply $600 million of combat aircraft and arms to the Burma regime. In response to these reports, our embassy in Moscow raised our concerns with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
10 Feb 2010 : Column 979W
The ability of Burma to continue to purchase arms from a wide range of suppliers has helped to reduce their defence and security costs and modernise an army responsible for widespread and systematic human rights abuses.
Burma: Human Rights
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had in the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United Nations General Assembly on reports of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma. [316245]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government remain deeply concerned at the human rights situation in Burma and we regularly raise the issue with EU and other international partners, and in the UN's human rights bodies. At the last session of the Human Rights Council in September 2009, and at the UN General Assembly in November 2009, we helped to secure strong resolutions condemning the Burmese regime for ongoing and systematic human rights abuses. We will be looking to raise the issue again, and secure a further resolution, at the next session of the Human Rights Council in March 2010. In addition, we continue to give our full support to the efforts of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma-Thomas Ojea Quintana, who is due to visit the country soon.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has had discussions with (a) his EU counterparts, (b) the United Nations Human Rights Council and (c) the United Nations General Assembly on reports of crimes against humanity in Burma. [316378]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government remain deeply concerned at the human rights situation in Burma and we regularly raise the issue with EU and other international partners, and in the UN's human rights bodies. At the last session of the Human Rights Council in September 2009, and at the UN General Assembly in November 2009, we helped to secure strong resolutions condemning the Burmese regime for ongoing and systematic human rights abuses. We will be looking to raise the issue again, and secure a further resolution, at the next session of the Human Rights Council in March 2010. In addition, we continue to give our full support to the efforts of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma, Thomas Ojea Quintana, who is due to visit the country soon.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aims and objectives he has set for the outcome of the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting on Burma. [316380]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: At the 13th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2010 we will work to secure a further, strong resolution condemning the continuing human right abuses in Burma. In our national intervention, and in the resolution text, we will seek to emphasise that the dire human rights situation, including the continued detention of 2100 political prisoners, child labour and the treatment of displaced people remain cause of significant concern. Burma's treatment of political leaders and suppression of freedom of expression undermine the credibility of elections planned for later this year.
10 Feb 2010 : Column 980W
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek to secure EU targeted sanctions against the government of Burma until the human rights situation in Burma improves. [316581]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government continue to believe that targeted EU sanctions against the military regime in Burma are an important means of maintaining pressure for political reform and respect for human rights. Sanctions introduced in 1996 have been strengthened over time, notably after the Saffron Revolution in 2007, and in August 2009 in response to the guilty verdict in Aung San Suu Kyi's trial. They are now among the EU's toughest autonomous measures against any country. The UK will not support any easing of sanctions in the absence of tangible progress on the ground.
Burma: Political Prisoners
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has had discussions in the United Nations Human Rights Council on the arrest of pro-democracy activist Nyi Nyi Aung in Burma in September 2009. [316241]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We are deeply concerned at the arrest and imprisonment of Nyi Nyi Aung and are monitoring his case closely.
We continue to take every opportunity to raise the detention of Burma's 2100 political prisoners in the UN's Human Rights bodies. At the last session of the Human Rights Council in September 2009, and at the UN General Assembly in November 2009, we helped to secure strong resolutions calling for the release of all of political prisoners. We will be looking to raise the issue again, and secure a further resolution, at the next session of the Human Rights Council in March 2010.
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made representations to the Burmese authorities on permitting the International Committee of the Red Cross to resume its inspection of prisons in Burma. [316242]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The refusal of the Burmese authorities to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) independent and unsupervised access to political prisoners remains a grave concern, particularly as the number of prisoners of conscience has doubled to over 2100 since the 'Saffron revolution' in autumn 2007. We continue to urge the military government to co-operate fully with the ICRC and allow an immediate resumption of prison visits.
The UN General Assembly highlighted their concern at the condition of prisons and urged the regime to comply with human rights law in a resolution passed in November 2009. Our Ambassador in Rangoon last raised the issue of independent prison access for the ICRC to the Burmese government in August 2009 during the last visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma. Our Ambassador regularly raises the plight of political prisoners with Burmese ministers, and we remain in close contact with the ICRC on this issue.
10 Feb 2010 : Column 981W
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has received reports on the recent sentencing and imprisonment of a journalist who worked with the Democratic Voice of Burma. [316243]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We are aware that Democratic Voice of Burma journalist Ngwe Soe Lin was sentenced to 13 years in prison on 27 January 2010 by a Burmese military court for offences under the Electronic and Immigration Emergency Provisions Acts. This case follows the recent sentencing of two other journalists from the Democratic Voice of Burma to 20 and 26 years imprisonment respectively. At least 13 journalists and bloggers are currently detained in Burma, as the Burmese authorities seek to prevent the free flow of information in advance of elections planned for later this year.
The Government have consistently called on the military authorities to release all of Burma's over 2100 prisoners of conscience. Without their release, elections planned for later this year can have no international credibility.
Burma: Politics and Government
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will request the United Nations Security Council to undertake a review of the 2008 Burmese constitution together with representatives of (a) pro-democracy, (b) ethnic and (c) other groups in Burma. [316379]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In November 2009 the UK helped to secure a UN General Assembly Resolution on the human rights situation in Burma, which called on the Burmese authorities to undertake a transparent, inclusive and comprehensive review of the Constitution while fully engaging with the democratic opposition and ethnic groups. We believe that a process of dialogue involving all actors in Burma will ensure a sustainable transition to democracy. This view is shared by other members of the EU and the United States of America.
In the UN Security Council, we regularly test the level of consensus for action on Burma, and have succeeded in securing discussion and a number of important Presidential Statements since autumn 2007. We do not judge, however, that an attempt to secure a Security Council review on the 2008 Constitution now would be successful. A resolution on Burma tabled in January 2007 was vetoed by two Permanent Members of the Council and any attempt to invalidate the Constitution will suffer the same fate.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmhansrd/cm100210/text/100210w0003.htm#10021071000485
Ministerial Statement on Burma
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
STEPHEN SMITH
8 February 2010
Ministerial Statement on Burma
Mr Deputy Speaker.
I wish to update the House on developments in Burma.
On 4 January, Burma’s Independence Day, Burmese Senior General Than Shwe announced that plans were under way to conduct elections in Burma this year.
Elections have long been foreshadowed under the Burmese military’s so-called ‘Roadmap to Democracy’.
If elections do take place, they will be the first in Burma in 20 years.
This year will, therefore, be an important one for Burma, and an important one for the international community’s engagement with Burma.
Australia has long been appalled both by the Burmese military’s suppression of the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people and by its disrespect for their human rights.
It is worthwhile recalling some important events in this longstanding suppression.
A military regime, in some form, has ruled Burma since 1962, nearly 50 years.
We recall the bloody put down of pro-democracy protests in 1988, just over 20 years ago.
Since 1988 Australia has had in place visa restrictions against senior members of the Burmese regime and their associates and supporters.
Following the failure to implement the outcome of the 1990 elections, in 1991 Australia introduced a ban on defence exports to Burma.
This is a ban on the export to Burma of controlled goods as listed on the Defence and Strategic Goods List.
In October 2007, financial sanctions were introduced in response to the violent crackdown on democracy protesters.
These various sanctions – travel sanctions, defence sanctions and financial sanctions – have the common purpose of exerting pressure on Burma’s military regime.
At the same time, Australia has recognised that engaging the Burmese authorities serves important national, regional and international interests.
We live in the same region. Through regional forums like the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference, the ASEAN Regional Forum and the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Human Trafficking and Transnational Crime, Australia has had the opportunity to engage Burma on challenges like counter-narcotics, trafficking in people, disaster relief and pandemic disease.
As well, Australia has for many years sought to help the Burmese people through a program of humanitarian assistance targeting the most vulnerable.
This program, now worth nearly $30 million in 2009-10, assists with fighting infectious diseases such as avian influenza, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis; provides food aid and agricultural expertise to alleviate rural poverty; protects displaced people; and supports children to attend and remain in primary school.
ASEAN, through its humanitarian work in Burma after Cyclone Nargis, has been vital in facilitating assistance from Australia and members of the international community to the Burmese people.
Common membership of regional organisations also allows us at Ministerial level to directly advocate democratic reform and national reconciliation – as I did when I met my counterpart Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win during the ASEAN-related meetings in Thailand in July 2009.
Mr Deputy Speaker.
On 12 August 2009 I addressed the House on Burma after Aung San Suu Kyi’s conviction on spurious charges, leading to her ongoing house arrest.
I set out then that Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence effectively removed the prospect of her participation in any proposed 2010 elections and would detract from the credibility of those elections.
Since that time, there have been a number of important developments both within Burma and in the international community’s approach to Burma.
On 17 September 2009 the Burmese authorities released 128 political prisoners in an amnesty. This was a welcome, tentative step in the right direction.
Repression however continues.
On 31 December, 15 activists were sentenced to up to 71 years imprisonment each. There regrettably remain close to 2000 political prisoners in Burma, including Aung San Suu Kyi.
Australia again calls on Burma’s authorities to release them and allow them to participate fully and freely in the upcoming elections.
In September 2009, in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, I joined ten other Foreign Ministers and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a Ministerial-level meeting of the Secretary-General’s Group of Friends of Myanmar.
The participation in this meeting was evidence both of the international community’s desire to see progress in Burma and of its willingness to both work together and with the Secretary General towards this end.
At the meeting, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon identified three areas for future unity of purpose and action:
First, to urge Burma to work with the United Nations to ensure an inclusive process of dialogue and create the conditions for credible elections.
Second, to uphold the role of the United Nations in Burma.
And third, to signal the international community’s willingness to help the people of Burma, but noting that Burma’s military regime needed to respond to international concerns in order for this to occur.
My visit to New York for the General Assembly coincided with the announcement of the United States policy review on Burma.
The United States Administration concluded that a sanctions-only policy to isolate Burma’s military has not worked and that future US policy would combine engagement, appropriate sanctions and humanitarian assistance.
US Secretary of State Clinton said that any debate that pits sanctions against engagement created a false choice, and that the international community would need to employ both of these tools.
Australia has welcomed this approach, as has the international community generally.
As to developments within Burma, on 25 September 2009 Aung San Suu Kyi wrote to Senior General Than Shwe offering to work with the Burmese authorities on the withdrawal of international sanctions, and asking to meet representatives of the European Union, the United States and Australia.
The fact that Australia was one of these three was significant and reflects the longstanding interest Australians have in Burma.
The authorities agreed to this request.
On 9 October 2009 Australia’s Chargé d’Affaires, together with the UK Ambassador and the US Chargé d’Affaires, met Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon.
The meeting was the first opportunity for a substantive discussion between an Australian representative and Aung San Suu Kyi since February 2003.
Australia’s Chargé conveyed a message from the Prime Minister which expressed the support of the Australian Government and the people of Australia for Aung San Suu Kyi and her struggle for democracy in Burma.
This was warmly welcomed by Aung San Suu Kyi.
Australia welcomed the subsequent visit to Burma in early November by United States Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and the meetings he held with the Burmese authorities, with Aung San Suu Kyi and with representatives of a number of ethnic minorities.
Aung San Suu Kyi wrote further to Senior General Than Shwe on 11 November 2009 requesting contact with her party’s Central Executive Committee.
In response to her request, she was permitted to meet three of the Central Executive Committee’s elders, including Chairman U Aung Shwe, on 16 December 2009.
Australia hopes that a meeting with the full Executive will take place soon.
This is the first substantial contact which Aung San Suu Kyi has had with the leadership of the National League for Democracy since 2007, and is warmly welcomed by the Australian Government as essential to democratic and political progress in Burma.
Australia hopes these initial engagements between Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese authorities and the international community are the beginning of a process of genuine dialogue.
Elections
Mr Deputy Speaker.
The Burmese authorities have embarked on the so-called “Roadmap to Democracy”, a strictly controlled process of potential political change.
It was a matter of great regret that they pushed ahead with a constitutional referendum, the fourth step in their Roadmap, in the midst of the disaster of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
That referendum was a regrettable sham.
Not surprisingly, political parties in Burma, including the National League for Democracy, and parties representing ethnic groups, are carefully considering whether to participate in the 2010 elections.
Burma’s authorities have an opportunity to engage the people, to ensure the full and free participation in the elections of the Burmese opposition, nascent political parties, and ethnic groups.
For Burma’s longer-term stability and security, the coming political process needs to address the concerns of the country’s diverse ethnic minority groups.
While, of course, given the history of these matters, there are long standing reservations, Australia will not pre-judge the process and the outcome of these elections.
Australia urges Burma’s authorities to seize this opportunity to genuinely move their country forward.
Development Assistance
Mr Deputy Speaker.
Australia has long provided humanitarian assistance to Burma.
In the 2009-10 Budget, the Government allocated nearly $30 million in humanitarian assistance, a significant increase in base funding over the previous year.
This will help address the pressing needs of the Burmese people.
Half of Burma’s almost 50 million people live in extreme poverty.
Child mortality rates are among the highest in the world.
Decades of military rule have eroded civil society and civilian institutions.
Skills have been lost and infrastructure has deteriorated.
At some stage into the future, Burma will have a civilian Government, which will face great challenges.
At some stage into the future, the regional and international community will be asked to help in the rebuilding of Burma’s economic and social structures.
Australia’s view therefore is that the international community help prepare Burma for the future.
Burma’s capacity cannot be allowed to completely atrophy to the ultimate disadvantage and cost of its people.
The international community needs to start the rebuilding now.
This is not a reward for Burma’s military, but a recognition of the immense task faced by current and future generations of Burmese.
At around $4 per head per annum, international aid to Burma is less than a tenth of that received by Cambodia and a sixteenth of that received by Laos.
Australia will accordingly increase its assistance to Burma over the next three years to around $50 million annually, a 67 per cent increase.
Alleviating humanitarian needs will remain an important goal and focus of this expenditure.
But the Government has decided that Australia’s program will also include capacity building elements, addressing the long-term challenges facing the Burmese people.
This will involve carefully targeted interaction in areas of great need like health, education and agriculture.
Our assistance will continue to be delivered in partnership with international organisations, such as UN agencies, ASEAN, other donor nations and non-government organisations.
We will expand existing initiatives in basic health care, including child and maternal health. We will work to improve the delivery of basic health services by equipping health clinics, training nurses, health care staff and administrators and providing better community health education and information.
At the village level, we will assist primary health care workers, including midwives, with critical training and medical supplies to help arrest the decline in health outcomes for vulnerable and isolated people.
We will continue to support the delivery of vital treatment, prevention and screening services for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, including through the Three Diseases Fund supported by Australia, the European Commission, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The Fund aims to reduce these three diseases in Burma.
We will also address critical water, sanitation and hygiene needs through:
1. the construction and rehabilitation of ponds and wells;
2. building latrines for community schools and rural health centres; and
3. working to provide equitable access to clean water.
In 2008-09 Australia’s assistance contributed to the basic education of over 400,000 children in Burma. We will increase our support to enable more poor and disadvantaged children to go to primary school.
Australian assistance will improve teaching and mentoring skills, both in the classroom and at home. Working closely with United Nations agencies, Non Government Organisations (NGOs) and other donors, we will support training programs for early childhood development workers, primary teachers and township education officials.
We will also continue to support vulnerable communities in the Irrawaddy Delta to restore their crop and fishing businesses, and in other areas of protracted need such as northern Rakhine State where the situation of the Rohingyas is very dire.
Australia will provide $20 million over the next four years to assist poor communities in Burma to:
1. improve access to credit, seeds, and tools;
2. provide training in small enterprise;
3. help farmers diversify their production and gain access to markets.
I have also asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and AusAID to explore a scholarship scheme for Burma.
Australia will liaise with partners such as the European Union, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States, all of whom have scholarship schemes for Burma, to learn from their experience.
It is proposed that a new scholarship scheme will target Burmese with the potential to build civil society and improve service delivery, including in health, education and agriculture.
As a start, 10 postgraduate scholarships and short term professional development placements will be made available, beginning in 2010-11.
We will work with the UN to carefully identify suitable candidates.
This assistance will be in addition to Australia’s significant contribution for relief and recovery efforts following Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
Australia’s post-Nargis assistance continues to be delivered through effective and trusted aid partners such as the United Nations and Australian NGOs and includes:
1. agricultural inputs to help farmers restore their crops and livestock;
2. helping fishermen by providing nets and repairing boats;
3. repairing over 1,200 damaged schools and providing books and materials for over 360,000 children;
4. reducing disease risk by constructing 50,000 latrines and providing one million mosquito nets; and
5. supplies and shelter for vulnerable communities.
Burma is a difficult operating environment, but the collective experience in Burma over many years shows we can deliver assistance effectively to improve the lives of ordinary Burmese without benefiting the military authorities.
Sanctions
Mr Deputy Speaker.
Australia urges Burma’s military to respond positively to Aung San Suu Kyi’s recent offer to work towards the lifting of international sanctions.
Such a positive response would help make meaningful progress towards democratic reform, respect for human rights, and national dialogue and reconciliation.
Until we see significant change from Burma’s authorities, the Australian Government will maintain a policy of targeted financial sanctions.
We agree with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s observation that to lift sanctions now would send the wrong signal.
However, an expansion of sanctions at this time would send a confusing signal.
In view of the nascent discussions between the authorities and Aung San Suu Kyi, I have decided that sanctions should not be expanded at this time.
As a result, the sanctions list I announced in October 2008 will remain in operation for the present.
Diplomacy
Mr Speaker.
I earlier referred to my discussions on Burma in New York in September 2009.
These discussions again revealed the region’s and the international community’s great frustration with the Burmese authorities’ treatment of the political opposition, their self-imposed isolation, and the circumstances of the Burmese people.
My discussions also revealed that the international community is increasingly prepared to draw on a wide range of diplomatic tools, including both sanctions and engagement, to press for change in Burma.
Neither Australia nor the international community should however have any illusions that progress in Burma will be quick or easy.
Australia will continue to work closely with ASEAN and its member countries, including by continuing to support ASEAN’s much-needed humanitarian efforts in Burma.
We will cooperate closely with the United States as it pursues greater engagement with Burma, and with other major donors like the United Kingdom, to ensure our combined assistance does the greatest amount of good for the Burmese people.
We will also continue to support the work of the United Nations and the Secretary General.
We endorse UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call for the international community to support UN efforts to promote respect for human rights, inclusive political dialogue and development in Burma.
Australia strongly supported the role of Ibrahim Gambari as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Burma. His term concluded at the beginning of this year, and we look forward to working closely with his successor.
Conclusion
Mr Deputy Speaker.
Australia and the international community stand ready to assist Burma.
But it is not a one way street.
Australia urges the Burmese authorities to respond in good faith both to international engagement and to Aung San Suu Kyi’s recent approach to it on sanctions and on dialogue.
In moving towards dialogue and genuine national reconciliation, Burma’s authorities can end their isolation.
Australia has always considered the Burmese people our friends.
When Cyclone Nargis struck, Australia responded generously, despite our political differences with the Burmese authorities.
That was the right decision then, and it is the right decision now, together with the international community, to do more for the long-term future of Burma’s people.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Asean MPs requests Thailand to halt plans to return Burma asylum seekers
February 11 2010
The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) is gravely concerned for the well being of unregistered Karen refugees currently residing in displacement sites in Tha Song Yang District, Tak. Announcements last month from the Thai government relating to the planned forced repatriation of the refugees beginning in February 2010 have caused renewed concern for their safety. AIPMC welcomes the Thai government’s decision to halt the repatriation of the estimated 3,000 refugees until their safety can be assured. AIPMC furthermore calls on the Thai government to make public and implement a clear policy regarding refugees fleeing from conflict zones across the border in Myanmar. Province
The flow of refugees from Myanmar’s Karen has been increasing since June 2009 when renewed fighting between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), supported by the SPDC, put villagers in danger, causing them to flee across the border. These refugees have temporarily been permitted to reside in Thailand under the care of the Thai Military. State
Despite the victory of the DKBA, the situation in Karen remains unstable and unsafe for villagers. The area from which the refugees fled is heavily landmined and numerous injuries and deaths among people returning to their villages have been reported by organizations working in the areas concerned and with the refugees. State
Though the precariousness of the situation in Karen State is well known, a group of 13 refugees from Nong Bua, mostly women and children, and a group of 26 families from Usu Tha were recently repatriated to Myanmar. These refugees were sent back without witnesses or evidence to certify that their return was voluntary. Additionally, reports have surfaced of the Thai military using threats and coercion to force refugees’ return to Myanmar.
This use of threats and coercion to pressure refugees into returning to an area that is clearly not safe is unacceptable. AIPMC urges the Thai government to fully investigate these charges and to closely monitor the situation of the refugees currently under the care of the Thai Military. Furthermore, AIPMC calls on the Thai government to cooperate with UNHCR and other appropriate agencies to allow for the registration and proper care of the refugees until it is safe for them to return home.
The flow of refugees fleeing the dangerous and repressive situation in Myanmar is not a new problem. Widespread human rights violations and armed offensives by Myanmar’s military government against its own citizens have caused massive refugees flows in the region for many years. The underlying source of the refugee problem is the continued violence and oppression perpetrated by Myanmar’s government. To permanently end the flow of refugees from Myanmar a concerted effort to end human rights abuses and begin a dialogue of national reconciliation is necessary.
AIPMC requests ASEAN to use its Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights to investigate all claims of human rights abuses in Myanmar. Furthermore, the Commission should seek to ensure that Myanmar is held accountable for its past abuses and prevented from committing further violence against its citizens. Additionally, AIPMC urges ASEAN to develop and implement a regional policy concerning the member states’ responsibilities regarding refugees.
Finally, AIPMC calls on the government of Myanmar to begin the process of national reconciliation through genuine dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy and ethnic nationalities. As a first step in this process AIPMC urges the government of Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners currently in detention.
STEPHEN SMITH
8 February 2010
Ministerial Statement on Burma
Mr Deputy Speaker.
I wish to update the House on developments in Burma.
On 4 January, Burma’s Independence Day, Burmese Senior General Than Shwe announced that plans were under way to conduct elections in Burma this year.
Elections have long been foreshadowed under the Burmese military’s so-called ‘Roadmap to Democracy’.
If elections do take place, they will be the first in Burma in 20 years.
This year will, therefore, be an important one for Burma, and an important one for the international community’s engagement with Burma.
Australia has long been appalled both by the Burmese military’s suppression of the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people and by its disrespect for their human rights.
It is worthwhile recalling some important events in this longstanding suppression.
A military regime, in some form, has ruled Burma since 1962, nearly 50 years.
We recall the bloody put down of pro-democracy protests in 1988, just over 20 years ago.
Since 1988 Australia has had in place visa restrictions against senior members of the Burmese regime and their associates and supporters.
Following the failure to implement the outcome of the 1990 elections, in 1991 Australia introduced a ban on defence exports to Burma.
This is a ban on the export to Burma of controlled goods as listed on the Defence and Strategic Goods List.
In October 2007, financial sanctions were introduced in response to the violent crackdown on democracy protesters.
These various sanctions – travel sanctions, defence sanctions and financial sanctions – have the common purpose of exerting pressure on Burma’s military regime.
At the same time, Australia has recognised that engaging the Burmese authorities serves important national, regional and international interests.
We live in the same region. Through regional forums like the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference, the ASEAN Regional Forum and the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Human Trafficking and Transnational Crime, Australia has had the opportunity to engage Burma on challenges like counter-narcotics, trafficking in people, disaster relief and pandemic disease.
As well, Australia has for many years sought to help the Burmese people through a program of humanitarian assistance targeting the most vulnerable.
This program, now worth nearly $30 million in 2009-10, assists with fighting infectious diseases such as avian influenza, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis; provides food aid and agricultural expertise to alleviate rural poverty; protects displaced people; and supports children to attend and remain in primary school.
ASEAN, through its humanitarian work in Burma after Cyclone Nargis, has been vital in facilitating assistance from Australia and members of the international community to the Burmese people.
Common membership of regional organisations also allows us at Ministerial level to directly advocate democratic reform and national reconciliation – as I did when I met my counterpart Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win during the ASEAN-related meetings in Thailand in July 2009.
Mr Deputy Speaker.
On 12 August 2009 I addressed the House on Burma after Aung San Suu Kyi’s conviction on spurious charges, leading to her ongoing house arrest.
I set out then that Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence effectively removed the prospect of her participation in any proposed 2010 elections and would detract from the credibility of those elections.
Since that time, there have been a number of important developments both within Burma and in the international community’s approach to Burma.
On 17 September 2009 the Burmese authorities released 128 political prisoners in an amnesty. This was a welcome, tentative step in the right direction.
Repression however continues.
On 31 December, 15 activists were sentenced to up to 71 years imprisonment each. There regrettably remain close to 2000 political prisoners in Burma, including Aung San Suu Kyi.
Australia again calls on Burma’s authorities to release them and allow them to participate fully and freely in the upcoming elections.
In September 2009, in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, I joined ten other Foreign Ministers and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a Ministerial-level meeting of the Secretary-General’s Group of Friends of Myanmar.
The participation in this meeting was evidence both of the international community’s desire to see progress in Burma and of its willingness to both work together and with the Secretary General towards this end.
At the meeting, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon identified three areas for future unity of purpose and action:
First, to urge Burma to work with the United Nations to ensure an inclusive process of dialogue and create the conditions for credible elections.
Second, to uphold the role of the United Nations in Burma.
And third, to signal the international community’s willingness to help the people of Burma, but noting that Burma’s military regime needed to respond to international concerns in order for this to occur.
My visit to New York for the General Assembly coincided with the announcement of the United States policy review on Burma.
The United States Administration concluded that a sanctions-only policy to isolate Burma’s military has not worked and that future US policy would combine engagement, appropriate sanctions and humanitarian assistance.
US Secretary of State Clinton said that any debate that pits sanctions against engagement created a false choice, and that the international community would need to employ both of these tools.
Australia has welcomed this approach, as has the international community generally.
As to developments within Burma, on 25 September 2009 Aung San Suu Kyi wrote to Senior General Than Shwe offering to work with the Burmese authorities on the withdrawal of international sanctions, and asking to meet representatives of the European Union, the United States and Australia.
The fact that Australia was one of these three was significant and reflects the longstanding interest Australians have in Burma.
The authorities agreed to this request.
On 9 October 2009 Australia’s Chargé d’Affaires, together with the UK Ambassador and the US Chargé d’Affaires, met Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon.
The meeting was the first opportunity for a substantive discussion between an Australian representative and Aung San Suu Kyi since February 2003.
Australia’s Chargé conveyed a message from the Prime Minister which expressed the support of the Australian Government and the people of Australia for Aung San Suu Kyi and her struggle for democracy in Burma.
This was warmly welcomed by Aung San Suu Kyi.
Australia welcomed the subsequent visit to Burma in early November by United States Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and the meetings he held with the Burmese authorities, with Aung San Suu Kyi and with representatives of a number of ethnic minorities.
Aung San Suu Kyi wrote further to Senior General Than Shwe on 11 November 2009 requesting contact with her party’s Central Executive Committee.
In response to her request, she was permitted to meet three of the Central Executive Committee’s elders, including Chairman U Aung Shwe, on 16 December 2009.
Australia hopes that a meeting with the full Executive will take place soon.
This is the first substantial contact which Aung San Suu Kyi has had with the leadership of the National League for Democracy since 2007, and is warmly welcomed by the Australian Government as essential to democratic and political progress in Burma.
Australia hopes these initial engagements between Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese authorities and the international community are the beginning of a process of genuine dialogue.
Elections
Mr Deputy Speaker.
The Burmese authorities have embarked on the so-called “Roadmap to Democracy”, a strictly controlled process of potential political change.
It was a matter of great regret that they pushed ahead with a constitutional referendum, the fourth step in their Roadmap, in the midst of the disaster of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
That referendum was a regrettable sham.
Not surprisingly, political parties in Burma, including the National League for Democracy, and parties representing ethnic groups, are carefully considering whether to participate in the 2010 elections.
Burma’s authorities have an opportunity to engage the people, to ensure the full and free participation in the elections of the Burmese opposition, nascent political parties, and ethnic groups.
For Burma’s longer-term stability and security, the coming political process needs to address the concerns of the country’s diverse ethnic minority groups.
While, of course, given the history of these matters, there are long standing reservations, Australia will not pre-judge the process and the outcome of these elections.
Australia urges Burma’s authorities to seize this opportunity to genuinely move their country forward.
Development Assistance
Mr Deputy Speaker.
Australia has long provided humanitarian assistance to Burma.
In the 2009-10 Budget, the Government allocated nearly $30 million in humanitarian assistance, a significant increase in base funding over the previous year.
This will help address the pressing needs of the Burmese people.
Half of Burma’s almost 50 million people live in extreme poverty.
Child mortality rates are among the highest in the world.
Decades of military rule have eroded civil society and civilian institutions.
Skills have been lost and infrastructure has deteriorated.
At some stage into the future, Burma will have a civilian Government, which will face great challenges.
At some stage into the future, the regional and international community will be asked to help in the rebuilding of Burma’s economic and social structures.
Australia’s view therefore is that the international community help prepare Burma for the future.
Burma’s capacity cannot be allowed to completely atrophy to the ultimate disadvantage and cost of its people.
The international community needs to start the rebuilding now.
This is not a reward for Burma’s military, but a recognition of the immense task faced by current and future generations of Burmese.
At around $4 per head per annum, international aid to Burma is less than a tenth of that received by Cambodia and a sixteenth of that received by Laos.
Australia will accordingly increase its assistance to Burma over the next three years to around $50 million annually, a 67 per cent increase.
Alleviating humanitarian needs will remain an important goal and focus of this expenditure.
But the Government has decided that Australia’s program will also include capacity building elements, addressing the long-term challenges facing the Burmese people.
This will involve carefully targeted interaction in areas of great need like health, education and agriculture.
Our assistance will continue to be delivered in partnership with international organisations, such as UN agencies, ASEAN, other donor nations and non-government organisations.
We will expand existing initiatives in basic health care, including child and maternal health. We will work to improve the delivery of basic health services by equipping health clinics, training nurses, health care staff and administrators and providing better community health education and information.
At the village level, we will assist primary health care workers, including midwives, with critical training and medical supplies to help arrest the decline in health outcomes for vulnerable and isolated people.
We will continue to support the delivery of vital treatment, prevention and screening services for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, including through the Three Diseases Fund supported by Australia, the European Commission, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The Fund aims to reduce these three diseases in Burma.
We will also address critical water, sanitation and hygiene needs through:
1. the construction and rehabilitation of ponds and wells;
2. building latrines for community schools and rural health centres; and
3. working to provide equitable access to clean water.
In 2008-09 Australia’s assistance contributed to the basic education of over 400,000 children in Burma. We will increase our support to enable more poor and disadvantaged children to go to primary school.
Australian assistance will improve teaching and mentoring skills, both in the classroom and at home. Working closely with United Nations agencies, Non Government Organisations (NGOs) and other donors, we will support training programs for early childhood development workers, primary teachers and township education officials.
We will also continue to support vulnerable communities in the Irrawaddy Delta to restore their crop and fishing businesses, and in other areas of protracted need such as northern Rakhine State where the situation of the Rohingyas is very dire.
Australia will provide $20 million over the next four years to assist poor communities in Burma to:
1. improve access to credit, seeds, and tools;
2. provide training in small enterprise;
3. help farmers diversify their production and gain access to markets.
I have also asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and AusAID to explore a scholarship scheme for Burma.
Australia will liaise with partners such as the European Union, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States, all of whom have scholarship schemes for Burma, to learn from their experience.
It is proposed that a new scholarship scheme will target Burmese with the potential to build civil society and improve service delivery, including in health, education and agriculture.
As a start, 10 postgraduate scholarships and short term professional development placements will be made available, beginning in 2010-11.
We will work with the UN to carefully identify suitable candidates.
This assistance will be in addition to Australia’s significant contribution for relief and recovery efforts following Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
Australia’s post-Nargis assistance continues to be delivered through effective and trusted aid partners such as the United Nations and Australian NGOs and includes:
1. agricultural inputs to help farmers restore their crops and livestock;
2. helping fishermen by providing nets and repairing boats;
3. repairing over 1,200 damaged schools and providing books and materials for over 360,000 children;
4. reducing disease risk by constructing 50,000 latrines and providing one million mosquito nets; and
5. supplies and shelter for vulnerable communities.
Burma is a difficult operating environment, but the collective experience in Burma over many years shows we can deliver assistance effectively to improve the lives of ordinary Burmese without benefiting the military authorities.
Sanctions
Mr Deputy Speaker.
Australia urges Burma’s military to respond positively to Aung San Suu Kyi’s recent offer to work towards the lifting of international sanctions.
Such a positive response would help make meaningful progress towards democratic reform, respect for human rights, and national dialogue and reconciliation.
Until we see significant change from Burma’s authorities, the Australian Government will maintain a policy of targeted financial sanctions.
We agree with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s observation that to lift sanctions now would send the wrong signal.
However, an expansion of sanctions at this time would send a confusing signal.
In view of the nascent discussions between the authorities and Aung San Suu Kyi, I have decided that sanctions should not be expanded at this time.
As a result, the sanctions list I announced in October 2008 will remain in operation for the present.
Diplomacy
Mr Speaker.
I earlier referred to my discussions on Burma in New York in September 2009.
These discussions again revealed the region’s and the international community’s great frustration with the Burmese authorities’ treatment of the political opposition, their self-imposed isolation, and the circumstances of the Burmese people.
My discussions also revealed that the international community is increasingly prepared to draw on a wide range of diplomatic tools, including both sanctions and engagement, to press for change in Burma.
Neither Australia nor the international community should however have any illusions that progress in Burma will be quick or easy.
Australia will continue to work closely with ASEAN and its member countries, including by continuing to support ASEAN’s much-needed humanitarian efforts in Burma.
We will cooperate closely with the United States as it pursues greater engagement with Burma, and with other major donors like the United Kingdom, to ensure our combined assistance does the greatest amount of good for the Burmese people.
We will also continue to support the work of the United Nations and the Secretary General.
We endorse UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call for the international community to support UN efforts to promote respect for human rights, inclusive political dialogue and development in Burma.
Australia strongly supported the role of Ibrahim Gambari as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Burma. His term concluded at the beginning of this year, and we look forward to working closely with his successor.
Conclusion
Mr Deputy Speaker.
Australia and the international community stand ready to assist Burma.
But it is not a one way street.
Australia urges the Burmese authorities to respond in good faith both to international engagement and to Aung San Suu Kyi’s recent approach to it on sanctions and on dialogue.
In moving towards dialogue and genuine national reconciliation, Burma’s authorities can end their isolation.
Australia has always considered the Burmese people our friends.
When Cyclone Nargis struck, Australia responded generously, despite our political differences with the Burmese authorities.
That was the right decision then, and it is the right decision now, together with the international community, to do more for the long-term future of Burma’s people.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Asean MPs requests Thailand to halt plans to return Burma asylum seekers
February 11 2010
The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) is gravely concerned for the well being of unregistered Karen refugees currently residing in displacement sites in Tha Song Yang District, Tak. Announcements last month from the Thai government relating to the planned forced repatriation of the refugees beginning in February 2010 have caused renewed concern for their safety. AIPMC welcomes the Thai government’s decision to halt the repatriation of the estimated 3,000 refugees until their safety can be assured. AIPMC furthermore calls on the Thai government to make public and implement a clear policy regarding refugees fleeing from conflict zones across the border in Myanmar. Province
The flow of refugees from Myanmar’s Karen has been increasing since June 2009 when renewed fighting between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), supported by the SPDC, put villagers in danger, causing them to flee across the border. These refugees have temporarily been permitted to reside in Thailand under the care of the Thai Military. State
Despite the victory of the DKBA, the situation in Karen remains unstable and unsafe for villagers. The area from which the refugees fled is heavily landmined and numerous injuries and deaths among people returning to their villages have been reported by organizations working in the areas concerned and with the refugees. State
Though the precariousness of the situation in Karen State is well known, a group of 13 refugees from Nong Bua, mostly women and children, and a group of 26 families from Usu Tha were recently repatriated to Myanmar. These refugees were sent back without witnesses or evidence to certify that their return was voluntary. Additionally, reports have surfaced of the Thai military using threats and coercion to force refugees’ return to Myanmar.
This use of threats and coercion to pressure refugees into returning to an area that is clearly not safe is unacceptable. AIPMC urges the Thai government to fully investigate these charges and to closely monitor the situation of the refugees currently under the care of the Thai Military. Furthermore, AIPMC calls on the Thai government to cooperate with UNHCR and other appropriate agencies to allow for the registration and proper care of the refugees until it is safe for them to return home.
The flow of refugees fleeing the dangerous and repressive situation in Myanmar is not a new problem. Widespread human rights violations and armed offensives by Myanmar’s military government against its own citizens have caused massive refugees flows in the region for many years. The underlying source of the refugee problem is the continued violence and oppression perpetrated by Myanmar’s government. To permanently end the flow of refugees from Myanmar a concerted effort to end human rights abuses and begin a dialogue of national reconciliation is necessary.
AIPMC requests ASEAN to use its Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights to investigate all claims of human rights abuses in Myanmar. Furthermore, the Commission should seek to ensure that Myanmar is held accountable for its past abuses and prevented from committing further violence against its citizens. Additionally, AIPMC urges ASEAN to develop and implement a regional policy concerning the member states’ responsibilities regarding refugees.
Finally, AIPMC calls on the government of Myanmar to begin the process of national reconciliation through genuine dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy and ethnic nationalities. As a first step in this process AIPMC urges the government of Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners currently in detention.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Burma Democratic Concern (BDC)
Burma Democratic Concern (BDC)
Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) is the global campaigning and lobbying organisation to restore democracy, human rights and rule of law in Burma where everyone can enjoy the freedom of speech, press, beliefs, assembly and rule of law that emphasizes the protection of individual rights. Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) has the firm determination, dedication and devotion to keep on working until the democracy restore in Burma.
Learning from the 1988 popular uprising, 1996 student demonstrations, 1998 student demonstrations, and 2007 saffron revolutions; the need of political environment inside Burma is extremely essential to pressure the regime persistently to do reform and also to educate the people about their rights and mobilize them.
Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) believes that the solution for the crisis of Burma is restoring democracy, human rights and rule of law. Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) is equipped with participants who had political background and in depth knowledge of Burma issues. They had experiences in the past and engaging in current activities. The work is largely inspired by their experiences and the appalling conditions they encountered inside Burma. Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) members are democracy activists, human rights activists and student activists consistently attempting to defend the human rights abuses in Burma.
The main objectives:
· to support efforts to create a political environment in Burma
· to increase awareness about political development in Burma
· to strengthen support for Burma democracy movement in international governments
Our Patrons
Venerable U Uttara, Dr. Salai Tun Than, Dr. Win Naing, U Tint Swe Thiha, Dr. Khin Wynn Nwe, U Tun Aung Kyaw, U Moe Thee Zun, Dr. Khin Sein, Daw Khin Aye Aye Mar, U Zar Ni(88 Generation Student-Exile), Du Wa M Zaw Aung, U Zaw Win Thint, U Soe Moe
Honorary Patron
Myo Yan Naung Thein
http://bdcburma.org/AboutUs.asp
Burma: Bogyoke Aung San’s Spirit is in our Hearts, Mind and Souls
February 13, 1915, is the birthday of our nation’s independence hero, father of Aung San Suu Kyi, Bogyoke Aung San’s birthday. He was assassinated by pro-colonialists only one year before we gained independence from British.
Bogyoke Aung San’s spirit is in our blood and we will never bow down to neither imperialist nor fascists nor military dictatorship for shaping our country future. Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) is very glad to learn that new generation of our (Burmese) brothers and sisters are keeping alight the torch of Bogyoke Aung San’s spirit.
“So then we must labour together in the common cause which concerns all and affects everybody. This is the best way in which we can show our highest sense of homage to our heroes; this is the only way in which we can accomplish the mission before us and find our salvation. We must strive and work all of us, until we become heroes all, so that we can ultimately dispense with any leader or leadership. For only then we can have freedom in a real and absolute sense. But I have gone far ahead. We have yet to win our national freedom before we can hope to help ourselves progressively to that absolute conception of freedom,” said Bogyoke Aung San.
http://bdcburma.org/Statements.asp?Id=75
Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) is the global campaigning and lobbying organisation to restore democracy, human rights and rule of law in Burma where everyone can enjoy the freedom of speech, press, beliefs, assembly and rule of law that emphasizes the protection of individual rights. Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) has the firm determination, dedication and devotion to keep on working until the democracy restore in Burma.
Learning from the 1988 popular uprising, 1996 student demonstrations, 1998 student demonstrations, and 2007 saffron revolutions; the need of political environment inside Burma is extremely essential to pressure the regime persistently to do reform and also to educate the people about their rights and mobilize them.
Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) believes that the solution for the crisis of Burma is restoring democracy, human rights and rule of law. Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) is equipped with participants who had political background and in depth knowledge of Burma issues. They had experiences in the past and engaging in current activities. The work is largely inspired by their experiences and the appalling conditions they encountered inside Burma. Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) members are democracy activists, human rights activists and student activists consistently attempting to defend the human rights abuses in Burma.
The main objectives:
· to support efforts to create a political environment in Burma
· to increase awareness about political development in Burma
· to strengthen support for Burma democracy movement in international governments
Our Patrons
Venerable U Uttara, Dr. Salai Tun Than, Dr. Win Naing, U Tint Swe Thiha, Dr. Khin Wynn Nwe, U Tun Aung Kyaw, U Moe Thee Zun, Dr. Khin Sein, Daw Khin Aye Aye Mar, U Zar Ni(88 Generation Student-Exile), Du Wa M Zaw Aung, U Zaw Win Thint, U Soe Moe
Honorary Patron
Myo Yan Naung Thein
http://bdcburma.org/AboutUs.asp
Burma: Bogyoke Aung San’s Spirit is in our Hearts, Mind and Souls
February 13, 1915, is the birthday of our nation’s independence hero, father of Aung San Suu Kyi, Bogyoke Aung San’s birthday. He was assassinated by pro-colonialists only one year before we gained independence from British.
Bogyoke Aung San’s spirit is in our blood and we will never bow down to neither imperialist nor fascists nor military dictatorship for shaping our country future. Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) is very glad to learn that new generation of our (Burmese) brothers and sisters are keeping alight the torch of Bogyoke Aung San’s spirit.
“So then we must labour together in the common cause which concerns all and affects everybody. This is the best way in which we can show our highest sense of homage to our heroes; this is the only way in which we can accomplish the mission before us and find our salvation. We must strive and work all of us, until we become heroes all, so that we can ultimately dispense with any leader or leadership. For only then we can have freedom in a real and absolute sense. But I have gone far ahead. We have yet to win our national freedom before we can hope to help ourselves progressively to that absolute conception of freedom,” said Bogyoke Aung San.
http://bdcburma.org/Statements.asp?Id=75
Thursday, 11 February 2010
UN Human Rights Official to Visit Burma Next Week
A senior U.N. official will visit Burma next week for talks with its military leaders on their plans to hold a national election later this year.
The United Nations says its top envoy on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, will arrive in the country Monday on a five-day visit.
In a statement released Thursday, Quintana says he hopes to meet leaders of Burma's political parties to discuss the planned election, which will be the country's first in 20 years. He says the election will make 2010 a "critical" year for the Burmese people.
Among those party leaders he hopes to meet is Burma's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who in under house arrest in Rangoon. She has been under some sort of detention for 14 of the last 20 years.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept Burma's last parliamentary elections in 1990, but the country's military rulers never recognized the results.
Burma's military has called the election as part of its roadmap for returning the country to democracy. But, pro-democracy groups and Western governments fear the election will lack credibility due to the military's detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and 2,000 other dissidents.
In another development, Burma's military drew criticism from the United States Wednesday for sentencing a Burmese-American human rights activist to three years in prison with hard labor.
A Burmese court convicted Kyaw Zaw Lwin of possessing a fake national identity card and undeclared foreign currency and violating immigration laws. He helped to organize a 1988 pro-democracy uprising in Burma, before fleeing a military crackdown on the opposition.
The U.S. State Department called the sentencing of Kyaw Zaw Lwin politically-motivated and unjustified and urged Burma to release him and allow him to return to the United States.
Burmese authorities arrested him last September after he arrived in Rangoon to visit his ailing mother. He was put on trial the following month.
The United Nations says its top envoy on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, will arrive in the country Monday on a five-day visit.
In a statement released Thursday, Quintana says he hopes to meet leaders of Burma's political parties to discuss the planned election, which will be the country's first in 20 years. He says the election will make 2010 a "critical" year for the Burmese people.
Among those party leaders he hopes to meet is Burma's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who in under house arrest in Rangoon. She has been under some sort of detention for 14 of the last 20 years.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept Burma's last parliamentary elections in 1990, but the country's military rulers never recognized the results.
Burma's military has called the election as part of its roadmap for returning the country to democracy. But, pro-democracy groups and Western governments fear the election will lack credibility due to the military's detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and 2,000 other dissidents.
In another development, Burma's military drew criticism from the United States Wednesday for sentencing a Burmese-American human rights activist to three years in prison with hard labor.
A Burmese court convicted Kyaw Zaw Lwin of possessing a fake national identity card and undeclared foreign currency and violating immigration laws. He helped to organize a 1988 pro-democracy uprising in Burma, before fleeing a military crackdown on the opposition.
The U.S. State Department called the sentencing of Kyaw Zaw Lwin politically-motivated and unjustified and urged Burma to release him and allow him to return to the United States.
Burmese authorities arrested him last September after he arrived in Rangoon to visit his ailing mother. He was put on trial the following month.
UN Human Rights Official to Visit Burma Next Week
A senior U.N. official will visit Burma next week for talks with its military leaders on their plans to hold a national election later this year.
The United Nations says its top envoy on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, will arrive in the country Monday on a five-day visit.
In a statement released Thursday, Quintana says he hopes to meet leaders of Burma's political parties to discuss the planned election, which will be the country's first in 20 years. He says the election will make 2010 a "critical" year for the Burmese people.
Among those party leaders he hopes to meet is Burma's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who in under house arrest in Rangoon. She has been under some sort of detention for 14 of the last 20 years.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept Burma's last parliamentary elections in 1990, but the country's military rulers never recognized the results.
Burma's military has called the election as part of its roadmap for returning the country to democracy. But, pro-democracy groups and Western governments fear the election will lack credibility due to the military's detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and 2,000 other dissidents.
In another development, Burma's military drew criticism from the United States Wednesday for sentencing a Burmese-American human rights activist to three years in prison with hard labor.
A Burmese court convicted Kyaw Zaw Lwin of possessing a fake national identity card and undeclared foreign currency and violating immigration laws. He helped to organize a 1988 pro-democracy uprising in Burma, before fleeing a military crackdown on the opposition.
The U.S. State Department called the sentencing of Kyaw Zaw Lwin politically-motivated and unjustified and urged Burma to release him and allow him to return to the United States.
Burmese authorities arrested him last September after he arrived in Rangoon to visit his ailing mother. He was put on trial the following month.
The United Nations says its top envoy on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, will arrive in the country Monday on a five-day visit.
In a statement released Thursday, Quintana says he hopes to meet leaders of Burma's political parties to discuss the planned election, which will be the country's first in 20 years. He says the election will make 2010 a "critical" year for the Burmese people.
Among those party leaders he hopes to meet is Burma's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who in under house arrest in Rangoon. She has been under some sort of detention for 14 of the last 20 years.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept Burma's last parliamentary elections in 1990, but the country's military rulers never recognized the results.
Burma's military has called the election as part of its roadmap for returning the country to democracy. But, pro-democracy groups and Western governments fear the election will lack credibility due to the military's detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and 2,000 other dissidents.
In another development, Burma's military drew criticism from the United States Wednesday for sentencing a Burmese-American human rights activist to three years in prison with hard labor.
A Burmese court convicted Kyaw Zaw Lwin of possessing a fake national identity card and undeclared foreign currency and violating immigration laws. He helped to organize a 1988 pro-democracy uprising in Burma, before fleeing a military crackdown on the opposition.
The U.S. State Department called the sentencing of Kyaw Zaw Lwin politically-motivated and unjustified and urged Burma to release him and allow him to return to the United States.
Burmese authorities arrested him last September after he arrived in Rangoon to visit his ailing mother. He was put on trial the following month.
UN Human Rights Official to Visit Burma Next Week
A senior U.N. official will visit Burma next week for talks with its military leaders on their plans to hold a national election later this year.
The United Nations says its top envoy on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, will arrive in the country Monday on a five-day visit.
In a statement released Thursday, Quintana says he hopes to meet leaders of Burma's political parties to discuss the planned election, which will be the country's first in 20 years. He says the election will make 2010 a "critical" year for the Burmese people.
Among those party leaders he hopes to meet is Burma's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who in under house arrest in Rangoon. She has been under some sort of detention for 14 of the last 20 years.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept Burma's last parliamentary elections in 1990, but the country's military rulers never recognized the results.
Burma's military has called the election as part of its roadmap for returning the country to democracy. But, pro-democracy groups and Western governments fear the election will lack credibility due to the military's detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and 2,000 other dissidents.
In another development, Burma's military drew criticism from the United States Wednesday for sentencing a Burmese-American human rights activist to three years in prison with hard labor.
A Burmese court convicted Kyaw Zaw Lwin of possessing a fake national identity card and undeclared foreign currency and violating immigration laws. He helped to organize a 1988 pro-democracy uprising in Burma, before fleeing a military crackdown on the opposition.
The U.S. State Department called the sentencing of Kyaw Zaw Lwin politically-motivated and unjustified and urged Burma to release him and allow him to return to the United States.
Burmese authorities arrested him last September after he arrived in Rangoon to visit his ailing mother. He was put on trial the following month.
The United Nations says its top envoy on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, will arrive in the country Monday on a five-day visit.
In a statement released Thursday, Quintana says he hopes to meet leaders of Burma's political parties to discuss the planned election, which will be the country's first in 20 years. He says the election will make 2010 a "critical" year for the Burmese people.
Among those party leaders he hopes to meet is Burma's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who in under house arrest in Rangoon. She has been under some sort of detention for 14 of the last 20 years.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept Burma's last parliamentary elections in 1990, but the country's military rulers never recognized the results.
Burma's military has called the election as part of its roadmap for returning the country to democracy. But, pro-democracy groups and Western governments fear the election will lack credibility due to the military's detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and 2,000 other dissidents.
In another development, Burma's military drew criticism from the United States Wednesday for sentencing a Burmese-American human rights activist to three years in prison with hard labor.
A Burmese court convicted Kyaw Zaw Lwin of possessing a fake national identity card and undeclared foreign currency and violating immigration laws. He helped to organize a 1988 pro-democracy uprising in Burma, before fleeing a military crackdown on the opposition.
The U.S. State Department called the sentencing of Kyaw Zaw Lwin politically-motivated and unjustified and urged Burma to release him and allow him to return to the United States.
Burmese authorities arrested him last September after he arrived in Rangoon to visit his ailing mother. He was put on trial the following month.
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