Under sanctions, Myanmar's economy crumbling

AFP
Sunday, December 30, 2007

YANGON –– Myanmar's already battered economy is groaning under the weight of new sanctions following a crackdown on dissent, business leaders say, fueling concerns that the hardships could spark more protests.

The United States, the European Union and Australia slapped tougher sanctions on Myanmar's military regime in the wake of the bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests in September.

A UN investigator found that at least 31 people were killed when soldiers opened fire on the peaceful protests, which were led by Buddhist monks in Yangon and other cities around Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

The country has been under a patchwork of sanctions for years, but the latest measures have blocked access to US financial institutions and made it more difficult to export Myanmar's highly desired teak and precious stones.

The US sanctions have targeted specific companies and business leaders, noteably the flamboyant tycoon Tay Za, who is close to the top military leadership.

Tay Za has bitterly complained that the sanctions have crippled his Air Bagan airline, and warned that he would be forced to pass along his own economic pain to his employees.

Other business leaders have echoed that sentiment. Some say that they are struggling to stay in business only to support their employees, and that the current situation could soon become unsustainable.

"These sanctions pose problems for us. If the government suffers, we, businessmen have to suffer. If we suffer, the workers have to suffer," said one top business leader in Yangon, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The original protests were sparked by the economic hardships facing Myanmar's impoverished population, after an overnight hike in fuel prices on August 15 left many unable to afford even a bus ride to work.

The Yangon business leader said that he and other factory owners quickly negotiated deals with their workers, who had threatened their own protests over the fuel prices.

"The protests actually started with factory workers in industrial zones in August, because of their economic hardship," he said.

An ordinary factory worker earns about 30,000 kyats (24 dollars) per month. Low-level government workers earn even less, about 25,000 kyats (20 dollars) per month.

A typical Myanmar meal of rice and pork curry for one costs about 500 kyats (40 cents).

Even before the energy hike in August, business leaders at 87 factories in Yangon, mainly in the garment sector, raised salaries to help workers deal with the sky-high fuel prices.

"It was quite lucky that the protests in the factories finished before the monks' protests began. Otherwise, they would have gotten mixed up together," the Yangon business leader said.

"The country's economic development depends on the political situation. We cannot say yet what could happen next year. Right now we are running our business at a loss, just to keep our workers employed," he said.

Myanmar's fledgling tourism industry has also taken a blow, as the country saw an almost total drop-off in foreign arrivals after the bloody crackdown.

Police Nab Three Myanmar Nationals Swimming To Singapore

JOHOR BAHARU, Dec 28 (Bernama) -- Marine police last night caught three Myanmar nationals as they were swimming across the Straits of Johor from Lido beach here to Singapore.

The trio were spotted by two marine police patrol boats scouring the waters at Danga Bay and were arrested at 11.15pm, said Southern Region Marine Police chief ACP Kamal Bakri Medan.

Marine police searched the waters after receiving information that three men were swimming across the straits to Singapore, he said in a statement on Friday.

The men, aged between 20 and 30, were handed over to the Johor Baharu South police station.

-- BERNAMA

Myanmar: National Airline To Resume Service To Thailand, Malaysia

December 27, 2007
AP News

YANGON, MYANMAR: Myanmar's national airline plans to resume flights to the capitals of Thailand and Malaysia in mid-January, more than two months after service was suspended amid a government crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

Myo Than, assistant general manager of Myanmar Airways International, said details on the number of flights per week to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur would be released in the coming days when the airline officially announces the resumption of service.

Myanmar Airways halted its daily flights to the two cities in mid-October, two weeks after troops fired on pro-democracy protesters led by Buddhist monks. The crackdown sparked outrage around the world.

The airline said at the time that its London-based insurer had suspended coverage "due to the recent crisis in Myanmar." It did not name the insurance company.

Myo Than declined to comment on whether the London insurer had resumed coverage.

Travel to Myanmar dropped dramatically following globally televised reports of the junta's 26-27 Sept crackdown.

Hotel occupancy remains low and tour guides say many package tours remain canceled.

In the weeks after the violence, a number of governments, including the United States and Britain, advised their citizens against visiting Myanmar, and several big tour operators called for a boycott on visiting the country.

Media Rights Group Says Burma Censoring, Intimidating Journalists

By VOA News
26 December 2007

An international media rights group says Burma's military government has been harassing journalists since anti-government demonstrations in September.

Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday police continue to search for journalists and activists who photographed and filmed the crackdown on the demonstrations led by Buddhist monks.

It says at least nine journalists have fled to Thailand, and at least three others have been arrested and are still being held.

The group said that while privately-owned media in Burma has resumed publishing, the country's Censorship Board has stepped up its controls. It also says the government is strictly controlling the sales of foreign publications and that surveillance at Internet cafes has increased.

The Burmese government detained thousands of protesters during the September pro-democracy demonstrations. Burma says 15 people died in the protests but the United Nations puts the figure at 31.

Congressional award for Aung San Suu Kyi

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate leaders called on Congress to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition group in Myanmar.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said they intend to introduce legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Suu Kyi, mirroring similar legislation in the House of Representatives.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is a woman of unrivaled courage," Feinstein said in the daily congressional newspaper The Hill.

McConnell echoed Feinstein's statements saying Suu Kyi was a "tireless advocate for the rights and welfare" of the people in Myanmar.

Suu Kyi is a pro-Democracy advocate who supports nonviolent resistance. She has been given a number of international honors, including the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize, the President Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Bill Clinton in 2000, the Rafto Prize, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and the Jawaharlal Nehru peace prize.

PUBLIC REQUEST TO JUNTA *** FREE DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI ***

From SAVING BURMA

Voters refuse to give PPP a full mandate

Thailand's People Power Party (PPP) leader Samak Sundaravej said on Sunday night that his party has already become the biggest party in Parliament according to the early voting result of Sunday's general election, and he will be the new prime minister absolutely.(Xinhua Photo)

Bangkok Posts
(08:52 Dec 24, 2007)

According to the Election Commission's count of 93 per cent of votes cast in Sunday's elections, the PPP won 228 of the 480 contested seats, 12 short of a majority.

PPP leader Samak Sundaravej, a 72-year-old veteran of Thailand's political scene, said Sunday night that he would be the country's next prime minister and would approach other parties to form a coalition government before Parliament reconvenes in 30 days, as required by the constitution.

Samak told a press conference Sunday night that the support for the PPP was a statement on the military's September 19, 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin and installed an appointed cabinet of technocrats.

"The coup is dead," said Samak. "Now the people have had their say. The numbers that came out are an answer to those people," he said of the military.

It remains to be seen whether a coalition government under the PPP can be born, analysts said.

PPP's main rival, the Democrat Party led by Abhisit Vejjajiva, 43, has already announced that it will not join the PPP in a coalition but will become the opposition if it fails to lead a government.

The Democrat Party has won 166 seats nationwide and dominated the capital Bangkok, where it won 27 out of 36 contested seats. PPP received the other nine Bangkok mandates.

Coming third was the Chart Thai Party with 39 seats and the Peau Pandin Party fourth with 26 seats. The other slates to win seats were Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana with 10, Machima Thipataya with seven and Pracharaj with four, according to the latest unofficial tally.

Although PPP has won the most seats, it will have a hard time mustering a coalition government around it, observers said.

"We have a clean winner but not a clear-cut outcome," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University.

The Democrats have done better than expected at the polls and have won Bangkok's backing, deemed a crucial factor to any government's stability.

"The provinces elect governments, and Bangkok topples them," is an old Thai saying.

The Democrats also received strong support for their party list candidates, winning 33 of the 80 contested party-list MPS, compared with the PPP's 34.

"That means that many people split their vote, casting ballots for their preferred MPs but voting for the Democrats as their favourite party," said Thitinan.

Samak will need to persuade the Chart Thai Party run by Banharn Silpa-archa to join him if the PPP is to muster a government, but Banharn has reportedly asked to become prime minister of such a coalition.

It appears that Thailand is heading for a weak coalition government that is not likely to last long, analysts said.

PPP has campaigned on a platform of continuing the populist policies initiated by Thaksin during his two premierships from 2001- 06 and assuring a safe return for the billionaire politician, who has been in self-exile since the coup.


Thaksin, a former telecommunication tycoon, reportedly moved from his mansion in London to his luxury apartment in Hong Kong to observe the election and hopes to return on February 14 to Thailand. (dpa)


Supporters …
Thaksin Shinawatra's children,
from left, Phantongtae, Pinthongta and Paethongtan, vote in Bangkok.
Photo: AFP

Exit polls show pro-Thaksin Party wins Thailand's post-coup election

Thailand's People Power Party (PPP) leader Samak Sundaravej speaks to the media after votes in the general election in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 23 2007. Thailand's first post-coup general election was held on Sunday.(Xinhua Photo)

By Shen Min
2007-12-23 19:31:58

BANGKOK, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Exit polls have shown the People Power Party (PPP), a party closely related to the coup-ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is winning Sunday's general election, which is considered the key step to bring the country back to political normalcy in Thailand, as the voting closed at 3 p.m. (0800 GMT) Sunday.

The poll by the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, one of the two leading survey institutions recognized by the Election Commission to conduct the exit polls for Sunday's election, showed the PPP got 256 seats, a majority in the 480-member House of Representatives.

Among the 256 seats, 221 come from the constituency-based MP election, while the rest 35 from the party-list MP election.

The PPP's major rival in the race, the Democrat Party, followed with 162 seats, 127 for constituency MP seats and 35 for party-list, the Suan Dusit exit poll showed.

Another poll by the ABAC Poll Research Center also indicated similar outcome by showing the PPP on top with 202 seats, while the Democrat is expected to get 146 seats.

Democrat Party Leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said he would rather wait for the official results to voice his comment.

He earlier said he would respect the result, no matter what outcome it shows.

The Election Commission is expected to announce initial tallying results at around 9 p.m. (1400 GMT).

The PPP did not make haste to declare victory, but Surapong Suebwonglee, PPP's secretary general, said the party's expectation of winning 220 to 250 MP seats was similar to what the exit polls have shown.

PPP executives have said the party may consider inviting two or three other parties to join it in forming a coalition government with at least 300 parliament seats.

The Party Leader, Samak Sundaravej, said he was happy with the exit polls results and that he would hold a press conference at 8 p.m. (0100 GMT), by when he believed the initial rallying results will come out.

Both Party leaders has contested as party-list MP candidate in Bangkok and were seen as the leading runners in the race to become Thailand's next prime minister.

In the exit polls, other major parties in the contest, such as Chart Thai Party (Thai Nation Party), Ruamjai Thai Chart Pattana Party (Thais United National Development Party), and Pua Paendin Party (For the Motherland Party) are legging far behind the two leading parties.

The exit polls results on Sunday have echoed earlier forecasts in various pre-election opinion polls, which all saw the PPP leading the race.

Over 70 percent of 45 million eligible voters in Thailand are expected to participate in the election, which kicked off at 8 a.m.(0100 GMT) Sunday at 88,500 polling stations throughout Thailand, to elect 480 members at Thailand's House of Representatives ((or often referred as Parliament).

The party or the coalition of parties winning a majority of seats at the House will be empowered to form a new government, with the winning party or parties electing a prime minister, who must be an elected MP, to lead the cabinet.

In the voting system revised under the new Constitution 2007, voters have to mark on two separate ballot papers to elect the 480parliament members.

The 400 parliament members will be elected directly by voters in 157 designated Constituencies in the country, while the other 80 party-list MP seats will be taken by party candidates based on the proportion of votes their own party receives in each of eight designated Zones, each comprising a group of provinces and with 10party-list MP seats for grabs.

A record high number of over 2.9 million voters have cast their ballots in the advance and absentee voting during Dec. 15 and Dec.16. The advance ballots will be tallied along with those cast on Sunday.

The election has received great attention both in Thailand and from the international community, as it is the first general election 15 months after the military launched a bloodless coup to oust elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and has carried with it the hopes of many Thai people to restore political normalcy to the country.

No comment on the exit poll results have been voiced so far from the military top brass or the interim government led by prime minister Surayud Chulanont.

Myanmar refugees wretched in Malaysia

Web posted at: 12/23/2007 4:0:16
Source ::: AFP

Kuala lumpur • Living in miserable camps not far from the glittering Petronas Twin Towers, Myanmar refugees in Malaysia are some of the most wretched of the hundreds of thousands who have fled their homeland.

"We are living here like prisoners, we cannot go out anywhere because we are frightened," says 35-year-old James Munerlian, a Christian pastor from Myanmar's Chin state who fled persecution by the military regime.

Munerlian is the leader of a 100-strong group of men, women and children who live a precarious existence in a secret encampment in one of the patches of jungle that still remain among Kuala Lumpur's suburbs.

The half-hour trek there takes a visitor past an almost completed luxury housing project, over hilly and mosquito-infested terrain, through an illegal rubbish dump and across a riverbed reeking with sewage.

In a clearing, the Chin refugees huddle into eight huts made with sheets of zinc and cardboard, and draped with pieces of plastic.

They escaped Myanmar on foot in the hope of finding a better life, but instead are exploited by unscrupulous employers and harassed by Malaysia's controversial volunteer security corps which hunts down illegal migrants.

Michael Boak Tun Thang, a 26-year-old farmer from northern Chin state, came to Malaysia in early 2006 and has been hiding in various jungle camps ever since.

"The junta came to my village with rifles. Because there were only a few men, they ordered all the boys and also the women to become porters and carry their foods and boxes," he says.

"They raped all the women, even my sister, but I could not do anything. We carried the heavy things but they never paid us or gave us any meals."

Late one night, Tun Thang was freed by men from a nearby village, but the last time he saw his sister she was a walking skeleton and he has not heard from her since.

Refugee advocates say the camp is just one of hundreds in the capital and around the country that have sprung up in patches of jungles, near agricultural plantations and on the fringes of coastal villages.

Some luckier ones have managed to find cheap housing, and live packed a dozen to a room.

"Malaysia has become one of the worst places for Burmese asylum seekers because of the way the government and its enforcers have brutalised and abused refugees," says Debbie Stothard from human rights group Altsean Burma.

"Large groups of refugees are in hiding around the country and they are penniless and desperate," she adds, using Myanmar's former name.

United States data in 2006 listed Myanmar as the world's third largest source of refugees after Afghanistan and Iraq, with at least 700,000 people having fled the country.

"Ten years ago, Burmese refugees were unheard of in most Asian countries with the exception of Thailand which shares a very porous border with the country," Stothard says.

"But today, the situation is so bad that there are large numbers of refugees escaping to China, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.

"Many of these refugees end up being illegal migrants because the Burmese government does not provide passports to most of its people and refuses to recognise them as citizens if they leave the country illegally."

The Malaysian government says there are about 25,644 Myanmar asylum-seekers in the country but refugee groups believe the real figure is more than double that.

The majority are Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar's Rakhine state while the rest are Christian Chins, Karens and Shan.

In the Chin jungle camp, they knew nothing of the massive September street protests, led by Buddhist monks, in Myanmar's main city Yangon which were violently suppressed by the regime, triggering international outrage.

Chin Refugee Centre coordinator Paul Lian says most Myanmar refugees in Malaysia work illegally on building sites or plantations and face beatings, extortion and exploitation from employers.

"The groups are in very bad shape as they have no money, no food and fear for their safety," he says, adding that as they have no rights they are either not paid at all or given a pittance.

Another camp dweller, 43-year-old Peter Thant Tum who has been on the run for the past three years, just wants a chance at leading a normal life.

"If the Malaysia government has consideration, please give us legal documents and allow us to work, to earn money and eat, our lives will be more happy," he says.

U.N. adopts human rights resolution against Myanmar

Sunday, December 23, 2007 at 07:10 EST

NEW YORK — The U.N. General Assembly adopted early Saturday a resolution strongly condemning violence against peaceful demonstrators in Myanmar and calling upon the military to respect human rights and fully cooperate with U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari.

The nonbinding resolution was adopted with 83 countries in favor, including Japan and the United States, with 22 countries against, including Myanmar, China and North Korea, and 47 countries abstaining from the voting.

Rice wants world community to use 'more vigor' on Myanmar

Sat Dec 22, 2:44 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the international community Friday to act with "more vigor" in dealing with the junta in Myanmar, calling a UN envoy's treatment there "unacceptable."

Rice said the mission of UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari "needs to have more profile, it needs to have more vigor" while admitting the world's energy had dissipated on dealing with the junta's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

"It needs to be, I believe, more insistent on the junta that a special representative of the United Nations secretary general cannot be treated the way that the junta has treated Mr. Gambari," she told a press conference.

"It's simply unacceptable," she said.

When asked what treatment Rice might have been referring to, a State Department official said the junta has made it difficult for Gambari to enter Myanmar and schedule meetings.

The junta has also "not been forthcoming" on what Gambari has asked them to do, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack also blasted the military regime Friday for arrresting at least six democracy activists "for peacefully expressing their political beliefs."

The arrests "belie the Burmese regime's claim that it seeks a genuine and peaceful transition to democracy, and demonstrate that it is not fulfilling the expectations of the UN Security Council as expressed in the October 11 UN Security Council Presidential Statement," said McCormack.

The US Senate approved on Wednesday sanctions against Myanmar's multi-million dollar gemstone industry to punish the military regime over its deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests in September.

The House of Representatives passed similar legislation last week, but it needs to vote on the Senate version because it was amended. The final bill would then go to US President George W. Bush for his signature.

Last week, Bush threatened to spearhead a global campaign to step up sanctions against Myanmar if it continues to ignore calls for a democratic transition.

At least 31 people were killed and 74 went missing in the suppression in September of peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks, according to a UN report.
Bush recently announced new sanctions against Myanmar's military, including an asset freeze on key junta figures and blacklisting of seven companies and five individuals allegedly linked to those companies and the regime.

The United States has long maintained a trade and investment ban on Myanmar.

The whole world must act

In English Version "The Whole World Must Act"

A Poem on Race !!

When I born, I black
When I grow up, I black
When I go in Sun, I black
When I scared, I black
When I sick, I black
And when I die, I still black

And you white fellow
When you born, you pink
When you grow up, you white
When you go in sun, you red
When you cold, you blue
When you scared, you yellow
When you sick, you green
And when you die, you gray
And you calling me colored?
Why ???


@This poem was nominated by UN as the best poem of 2006, Written by an "African Kid"

EU SAYS CHINA PRESSURE IN MYANMAR KEY

By Lindsay Beck Reuters

Published: December 20, 2007

BEIJING: China's support has been vital to achieving initial steps toward national reconciliation in military-ruled Myanmar, an EU envoy said on Thursday, but added Beijing would not directly pressure the regime towards reform.
China, a major trading partner of Myanmar and one of its only allies, is seen as one of the few voices that could wield influence with the junta, which is under pressure to reform following massive anti-government protests this year.
But Piero Fassino, the European Union's special envoy on Myanmar, also known as Burma, said Chinese officials had told him on a visit to Beijing that they would not directly push for the release of political prisoners or detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"During my meetings with the Chinese authorities, they made clear that the way ahead regarding the Burmese crisis stands with the Burmese themselves," Fassino told a news conference.
"Of course I believe that it's our duty to encourage Burmese leaders to go along that direction, and in that regard the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the main political leaders are very positive steps," he said. "But what the Chinese say is that it's up to them to take the final decision."
Earlier this year, pro-democracy protesters led by Buddhist monks staged the country's largest anti-government demonstrations in nearly 20 years.
The official death toll from the junta's resulting crackdown is 31, but some Western diplomats say the figure is much higher.
China was playing a "very important role" in steps toward a resolution to the crisis in Myanmar, Fassino said. These include talks between the junta and United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, and Myanmar's naming of a go-between with Suu Kyi.
"We are aware that in order to achieve these first steps, the Chinese intervention has been essential," he said.
But China opposes sanctions as a means of pressuring the regime and is loath to compromise its investments in Myanmar's natural resources, which include natural gas and timber.
By contrast, the European Union has adopted sanctions against 1,027 firms in Myanmar and expanded visa bans and asset freezes on its rulers. Last week, EU leaders said they were ready to tighten sanctions if the government did not ease repression.
"I made clear (to the Chinese) that these are not our goal, they are a tool," said Fassino, who held talks with Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei and the head of the Communist Party's International Department, Wang Jiarui.
Fassino said he had requested from Myanmar that he be allowed to visit in March and that Gambari hoped to return in January, and denied that, months after the demonstrations had been put down, the window of opportunity for change there had closed.
"Actually I do not believe the Burmese crisis is over," he said. "To the contrary, we have to engage on the Burmese issue when the situation is not overheated."

(Editing by Roger Crabb)

SAFFRON DIALOGUE

US Senate passes sanctions on Myanmar gemstones

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Senate approved on Wednesday sanctions against Myanmar's multi-million dollar gemstone industry to punish the military regime over its deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests. The Burma Democracy Promotion Act outlaws the import of gems and timber from Myanmar and imposes fresh financial sanctions and travel restrictions on the junta's leaders and their associates. The legislation also creates a position of special representative and policy coordinator for Myanmar who would work with the Southeast Asian nation's neighbors and the European Union to press for change in the country. "The message to the people of Burma today is clear: the United States stands with you as you seek a peaceful, negotiated transition to democratic civilian rule," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, referring to Myanmar by its old name. "We will work tirelessly with the international community toward that objective," Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate, said in a statement. The House of Representatives passed similar legislation last week, but it needs to vote on the Senate version because it was amended. The final bill would then go to US President George W. Bush for his signature. Last week, Bush threatened to spearhead a global campaign to step up sanctions against Myanmar if it continues to ignore calls for a democratic transition. At least 31 people were killed and 74 went missing in the suppression in September of peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks, according to a UN report. Bush recently announced new sanctions against Myanmar's military, including an asset freeze on key junta figures and blacklisting of seven companies and five individuals allegedly linked to those companies and the regime. The United States has long maintained a trade and investment ban on Myanmar.

SAFFRON DAIRY (Collected by NCGUB Border Office)

Laura Bush: Myanmar junta not addressing concerns

December 18, 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - First lady Laura Bush, an outspoken critic of Myanmar's military rulers, on Tuesday said the junta had failed to take any meaningful steps to address international concerns on human rights.

Bush said she was briefed a day earlier by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari and learned that Myanmar's military leaders were failing to meet minimal expectations set out by the U.N. Security Council in October.

"The junta has made no meaningful attempt to meet and talk with democratic activists. Instead it has continued to harass and detain them," Bush said in a statement.

"The junta leaders continue to sell the country's natural resources to enrich themselves. While they reject international calls for a democratic transition, they have put Burma in shambles and placed its people in a perilous state," she said using the country's previous name.

Bush and her husband, President George W. Bush, have called for the release of political prisoners including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and they have been highly critical of a crackdown on Buddhist monk-led protests.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; editing by Todd Eastham)

House Of Reps Honors Aung San Suu Kyi With Award

Wednesday, 19 December 2007, 11:12 am

Press Release: Congressman Joseph Crowley

House Passes Crowley-manzullo Bill To Honor Imprisoned Burmese Human Rights Leader With Congress' Highest Award

Washington, DC - Congressmen Joseph Crowley (D-NY) and Don Manzullo (R-IL), secured unanimous passage of their legislation (HR 4286) to honor the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Aung San Suu Kyi. The measure was passed 400-0 by the House of Representatives.

"For three decades, Aung San Suu Kyi has valiantly led the nonviolent movement in Burma for democracy and human rights," said Crowley, a member of both the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Human Rights Caucus.

"Her work and dedication to the cause of freedom and individual liberty has earned her recognition throughout the world, including the Nobel Peace Prize. Aung San Suu Kyi's passionate and nonviolent commitment to a free democratic Burma, has won the hearts and minds of the Burmese people. Today, the U.S. House of Representatives showed her and the world that she has also won the hearts and minds of the U.S. Congress."
"
The American people are outraged by the continued detention of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burma's revolutionary hero and one of the most honorable advocates for democracy and human rights the world will ever know," said Manzullo, lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global

Environment. "It is time for the junta to recognize the will of the Burmese people and open the door for true reconciliation.

By awarding Ms. Suu Kyi with the Congressional Gold Medal, we send a strong message that enough is enough."

Reps. Crowley and Manzullo co-authored the legislation to award Suu Kyi with the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of her efforts to end military rule and establish peace and democracy in Burma. HR 4286 is co-sponsored by 292 members of the House of Representatives. Suu Kyi's long crusade to end the human rights-abusing military dictatorship in Burma began in the 1980s. In 1988, she helped form the National League for Democracy (NLD), which advocates non-violence.

She is currently the NLD's General Secretary. However, since the time she began campaigning for the NLD, the junta has consistently kept Suu Kyi under house arrest. In 1990, despite being under house arrest, she led her political party to a landslide victory in parliamentary elections, gaining 82 percent of the seats in parliament. The military junta snubbed the will of the Burmese people by nullifying the results and, subsequently, cracking down on all political expression.

Despite being offered her freedom if in return she would leave the country and give up politics, Suu Kyi chose instead to remain in Burma - despite her personal safety not being guaranteed by the government. She has consistently maintained that the way forward for the people of Burma is through peaceful negotiations between the military regime, the National League for Democracy, and the country's ethnic nationalities. For her efforts on behalf of the Burmese people, she has won over 60 international awards, including the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought from the European Union, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the United States, and the Nobel Peace Prize.

She is the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, spending more than 12 of the past 17 years under house arrest. Even while under house arrest, she continues to fight on behalf of all the people of Burma - recently meeting with foreign leaders and junta officials to work for a peaceful way forward after the bloody nationwide crackdown.

Little hope of change in Myanmar

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

By Rene Slama

The best hope for Myanmar is to wait for the inevitable transition in leadership

BUDDHIST monks risked their lives to defy Myanmar’s military junta, leading mass protests in a “saffron revolution,” but the lack of progress since suggests little hope of swift reform.

No one could have predicted the spectacular demonstrations that unfolded in Yangon and in other towns around the country in September - although the military’s deadly response was depressingly familiar. The protests began in anger at an overnight hike in fuel prices on August 15 which left many unable to afford even the bus fare to work. The movement swelled three weeks later after soldiers beat a group of monks in the religious centre of Pakokku and then refused to apologise.

After that, monks around the country began marching in the streets in their distinctive-coloured robes - hence “saffron revolution” - against the regime in what snowballed into the biggest threat to the junta in nearly 20 years. At the peak of the demonstrations, tens of thousands of monks led large crowds of protesters through the streets of Yangon on September 24 and 25. But when the military decided to crack down, the repression was brutal as security forces opened fire.

The government’s official toll is 10 dead, including a Japanese journalist, but a UN investigator said 31 had been killed with 74 missing. Amnesty International estimates that of the thousands arrested, 700 remain behind bars along with 1,150 political prisoners already in detention. Many monasteries are now closed or simply stand empty. “The process of change in Myanmar is going to be long, painful and evolutionary. There simply isn’t a silver bullet,” said Zarni, a Myanmar exile and professor at Oxford University who goes by one name.

The best hope for Myanmar, he said, is to wait for the inevitable transition in leadership, as the 74-year-old military supremo Than Shwe eventually hands power to a younger clique that could be more open to change. “In the short term, there’s no reason for optimism,” one diplomat said. The flare-up echoed student-led protests in 1988 which were also violently put down, with rights groups saying 3,000 people died in that crackdown.

“Many young monks in Yangon went back to their hometowns, and most of them decided not to take their exams because they were afraid of being arrested. It’s so sad,” one abbot told AFP. Authorities have been compiling files identifying the protesters. But laws are applied so arbitrarily that the entire population lives in constant fear of arrest - making it difficult to envisage a new uprising, a UN official said.

In the immediate aftermath of the suppression, military trucks scoured the near-deserted streets of Yangon with loudspeakers warning that protesters had been identified and would be arrested. Nearly three months on, despair and resignation weigh down the people, but even the regime has been traumatised by what it did against the monks, who are considered inviolable in mainly Buddhist Myanmar, the UN official said.

Hoping to ease international outrage at the violence, the junta has made several diplomatic gestures, allowing UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari to visit the country twice and appointing a liaison who has held three meetings with detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Yet the meetings with the Nobel peace prize winner have produced few visible results, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned on December 10 that the international community was “running out of patience.”

But Myanmar has remained defiant, blocking a briefing by Gambari to a Southeast Asia summit and expelling the UN’s top diplomat in Yangon, Charles Petrie. On December 3, the regime ruled out any role for Aung San Suu Kyi in the process of writing a new constitution. If the United Nations tries to take a tougher stand and bring Myanmar back before the Security Council, close ally China could use its veto to block any international action, as it has in the past.

The United States and the European Union have toughened their sanctions against the regime, but so far it has just made the already reclusive generals feel more embattled, said the diplomat. AFP

Myanmar quietly releases 96 monks

Submitted by Mudassir Rizwan on Mon, 12/17/2007 - 04:5

By DPA

Yangon : Myanmar's military regime has released from detention 96 monks who participated in September's marches, permitting half of them to return to the Ngwekyaryan monastery in Yangon, sources said Monday.

Authorities released the 96 monks, including Abbot Sayadaw U. Yevada, last Friday from the Kaba Aye detention centre, where they had been kept since the government crackdown on monk-led protests Sep 26-27.

Some 50 monks were permitted to return to the Ngwekyaryan monastery in Yangon, but the other 46 were ordered to leave the city, said the sources, who visited the monastery over the weekend.

Myanmar's monkhood, which has a long history of political activism, took the lead in organizing peaceful protests against drastic fuel hikes announced Aug 15 and the country's deteriorating economic conditions.

The demonstrations culminated in ten-of-thousands taking to the streets of Yangon in increasingly aggressive protests against the military, which has ruled the country for the past 45 years.

The junta finally cracked down Sep 26-27 with batons and bullets, killing at least 15 people and imprisoning more than 3,000.

The actual death toll and the number of people still in prison remains a mystery in Myanmar. At a government press conference Dec 3 in Naypyitaw, the new administrative capital, Myanmar police chief Khin Yi claimed only 21 monks and 59 laymen remain in Myanmar jails on charges related to the protests.

Abbot Gambira, one of the top leaders of the monks' movement, was recently sentenced to life imprisonment, according to a retired religious affairs ministry official who asked to remain anonymous.

'Difficult' negotiations ahead after contentious climate change accord finalized: UN chief

BALI, Indonesia: Two weeks of international climate talks marked by bitter disagreements and angry accusations culminated in a last-minute U.S. compromise and an agreement to adopt a blueprint for fighting global warming by 2009.
Now comes the hard part.
Delegates from nearly 190 nations must fix goals for industrialized nations to cut their greenhouse gas emissions while helping developing countries cut their own emissions and adapt to rising temperatures.
Negotiators also will consider ways to encourage those countries to protect their rapidly dwindling forests — which absorb carbon dioxide.
"This is the beginning, not the end," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who made a plea Saturday on the Indonesian island of Bali for action, told The Associated Press. "We will have to engage in more complex, long and difficult negotiations."
The Bali conference, a contentious two-week affair that lapsed over into an extra day, was charged with launching negotiations to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. That pact requires 37 industrial nations to reduce greenhouse gases by a relatively modest 5 percent on average in the next five years.
As the "roadmap" talks begin, the focus again will fall on the United States, the lone major industrial nation to reject Kyoto. For many, the focus will fall a year down the road, to the U.S. election and the next president, one they hope will be willing to deal on deeper, mandatory emissions cuts than George W. Bush, who favors a voluntary approach in reining in greenhouse gases.
What those negotiators decide by 2009 is likely to help set the course of global warming and climate change for decades to come.
In a series of pivotal reports this year, the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.N. network of climate and other scientists, warned of severe consequences — from rising seas, droughts, severe weather, species extinction and other effects — without sharp cutbacks in emissions of the industrial, transportation and agricultural gases blamed for warming.
To avoid the worst, the panel said, emissions should be reduced by 25 percent to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
Those numbers, endorsed by the Europeans and other Kyoto-ratifying nations, were written into early versions of this conference's final decision — as a guideline, not a binding target. The U.S. delegation, led by Undersecretary of State Paula J. Dobriansky, managed to get the figures expunged.
But it was a secondary matter that precipitated the riveting, 11th-hour fight.
India sought to amend the document to strengthen requirements for richer nations to help the poorer with technology to limit emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Dobriansky objected. "We are not prepared to accept this formulation," she said, setting off loud, long boos in the hall.
Next, delegate after delegate took aim at the United States. Dobriansky's intervention was "most unwelcome and without any basis," the South African said. "We would like to beg them" to relent, the Ugandan said. Then Conrad delivered his sharp rebuke of U.S. "leadership."
America's isolation was complete. No one spoke in support. And Dobriansky capitulated, withdrawing the U.S. objection, to general applause.
She later told reporters she reversed field after feeling reassured that developing nations would make a contribution to emissions reductions under the Bali Roadmap.
Hans Verolme, World Wildlife Fund climate campaigner, offered a different interpretation. "We have learned a historical lesson: If you expose to the world the dealings of the United States, they will ultimately back down," he said.
The Bali Roadmap plan does ask for more from the developing world, tasking negotiators to consider "mitigation actions" — voluntary actions to slow emissions growth — by poorer countries, including such fast-growing economies as China's and India's.
Their exemption from the Kyoto Protocol's mandatory caps has long been a key complaint of American critics.
On industrial nations, the Bali plan instructs negotiators to consider mitigation "commitments," mandatory caps as in the Kyoto deal. But the lack — at U.S. insistence — of ambitious numerical guidelines troubled many environmentalists.
"The people of the world wanted more. They wanted binding targets," said Marcelo Furtado of Greenpeace Brazil.
Climate policy analyst Eliot Diringer, of Washington's Pew center, looked on the positive side.
"It puts no one on the hook right now for emissions reductions," he said. "What's important, though, is that it lets no one off the hook either."
___
Associated Press Writers Joseph Coleman, Michael Casey, Chris Brummit and Zakki Hakim contributed to this report.

Canada enforces sanctions on Myanmar

December 15, 2007

OTTAWA (AFP) — Canada bolstered its sanctions against Myamnar Friday to punish its military regime for failing to make reforms after its violent crackdown on pro-democracy protestors drew worldwide condemnation.

"Despite repeated calls by the international community to return democracy to Burma, the Burmese regime has been completely unwilling to undertake genuine reform," said Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier, referring to Myanmar by its old name.

"With the new sanctions now in effect, we have the toughest sanctions in the world," he added, in a statement announcing that the measures, drafted last month, had come into force.

"The regime continues to show a complete disregard for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Burma," he added. "We believe that sanctions are the means by which we can best exert pressure on the military junta."

In September, Myanmar's security forces violently repressed peaceful protests by the country's Buddhist monks, leading to at least 13 deaths and thousands of arrests.

Canada responded by unveiling in November what it said were "the toughest sanctions in the world."

The measures include bans on exports from Canada to Myanmar except humanitarian goods, and on Canadians investing and providing financial services there, and a freeze on assets in Canada of Myanmar nationals linked to the rulers.

It also bans Burmese ships and planes from docking or landing in Canada.

"Our sanctions show Canada's commitment to promoting freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, as well as our solidarity with the Burmese people," said Bernier.

"Canada urges others to undertake the strongest possible measures against Burma until the Burmese authorities implement genuine reform."

Bush promises more Burma sanctions

Washington (dpa) - US President George W Bush threatened further sanctions against Burma if its leaders don't move toward democracy, saying he was "deeply disturbed" by a report from a UN human rights envoy that found a crackdown against anti-government protesters in September was continuing.

UN envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who visited Burma in November, reported Tuesday before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that the Burmese military regime showed no signs of ensuring human rights and fundamental freedoms.

"Mr Pinheiro's report demonstrates why the world cannot go back to business as usual with General Than Shwe and his junta," Bush said in a statement issued in Washington Tuesday night. "I call on all members of the international community to condemn the atrocities detailed in Mr Pinheiro's report in the strongest possible terms."

Bush also said he was prepared to add more sanctions on the junta after tightening them following September's crackdown by freezing the assets of junta leaders and blacklisting companies and individuals linked to the regime.

"Should the regime continue to ignore calls for a true democratic transition and the release of [Nobel Peace Prize laureate] Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, the United States is prepared to lead international efforts to place more sanctions on the regime," Bush said.

Pinheiro said he documented the killings of 16 people in addition to the 15 listed by the Burmese government, 74 people who had disappeared and 653 people who were detained after troops broke up September's peaceful protests in Burma.

Bush called the details revealed by Pinheiro as "alarming," adding, "I strongly condemn these actions and the junta's refusal to accept the need for real change in Burma."

The US government has had no success in pressing the junta for change. The UN Security Council issued a watered-down statement in October that deplored the crackdown after China objected to stronger language sought by Western countries, including the United States.

China and Russia also vetoed a US draft resolution in January that called on Burma to free political prisoners and move toward democracy.

The United States and the European Union both imposed additional sanctions on Burma this fall, but they have little effect since they have few business dealings in a country rich in natural resources such as oil, wood and gems that has found customers easily in other countries.

But the US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill applying more sanctions on Burma by preventing regime leaders from using third countries to access US financial institutions or for exporting gems to the United States. The Senate must pass the measure before it arrives on Bush's desk for his signature.

Among them are China and India, which oppose sanctions on Burma, as does the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Burma is a member.

03:22 Dec 13, 2007

EU envoy to Burma to visit China / Asia

Brussels (dpa) - The European Union's envoy to Burma plans to visit China next week as part of his efforts to convince Burma's ruling junta to move towards "a stable democracy".

Piero Fassino, a former Italian justice minister, said Wednesday in Brussels that China and other Asian states had a key role to play in the region.

"China is a great political power and is playing an increasingly essential role on the international scene. It can certainly have a positive influence in the Burma issue," Fassino said.

The envoy was expected in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday and planned to travel to India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam after the Christmas break.

Speaking after holding talks in Brussels, the envoy said Burma needed to initiate "a process of national reconciliation" and called on the ruling regime to lift all restrictions on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In order to help Burma's transition towards democracy, Fassino planned to hold talks with all the key players in Burma, including government figures, opposition leaders and religious as well as civil authorities.

A visit to Burma was being planned "for the coming months", Fassino said, adding that the "most opportune moment" for making such a visit would be decided together with his United Nations counterpart, Ibrahim Gambari.

International pressure to force political change in Burma, under military rule since 1962, gained momentum in the aftermath of a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks on September 26-27.

At least 15 people died in the melee, according to official figures. The UN's special rapporteur on human rights recently claimed the death toll was at least double that.

08:02 Dec 13, 2007

UN Official Condemns Burma's Crackdown on Opposition

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro

A United Nations investigator has condemned the military rulers of Burma for using excessive force in cracking down on pro-democracy protesters last September. The expert, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who was allowed to visit Burma last month, presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council on the rights situation in Burma. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

The U.N. special investigator, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, accuses the Burmese government of covering up the number of people killed during the pro-democracy protests.

The government claims 15 people were killed. But, Pinheiro says in his report the number is at least twice that.

According to Pinheiro, the military rulers may have secretly cremated bodies to hide their numbers and identities. He says he learned from credible sources that a large number of bodies wrapped in plastic and rice bags were burned during the night between September 27 and 30.

He says he continues to receive reports of arrests.

"It is estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 people were arrested in September and October and probably between 500 and 1,000 are still detained at the time of my writing this report. In addition, 1,150 political prisoners held prior to the protests have not been released," he said.

Pinheiro is calling on the Burmese government to release all prisoners and stop making further arrests. He says he is particularly disturbed by reports that some prisoners are held in secret facilities. He says people who have been released describe degrading conditions of detention and the practice of torture.

Pinheiro says he finds the level of violence against monks particularly disturbing since the non-political grievances expressed by them were widely shared by the population.

Burmese Ambassador Wunna Maung Lwin, calls Pinheiro's report disappointing. He says it does not reflect the true situation on the ground and lacks objectivity.

"His report is very intrusive and full of false allegations which we totally reject. His report was not based on reality. Instead it was very much relying on distorted information provided by anti-government sources," he said.

Pinheiro is calling on the Burmese government to allow an international commission of inquiry to investigate reports of killings, beatings, torture and disappearances. He also urges the Burmese military to continue its dialogue with pro-democracy leader and Nobel Laureate, Aung San Sui Kyi.

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
11 December 2007

"BURMA How Long?"

THANKS TO ALL SUPPORTS 4 FREE BURMA FROM EVERYONE!!

Not Tiddim but Tedim!

Tu lai ih dinmun lian thu a ki gen hi aa, piang zo ding piang zo lo ding thu kigen hi masa lo hi. Official aa hong ki ciaptehna cih ih gen ciang' mi' ciaptehna bek tawh nungta ta ding cihna zong ki hi khin pah tuan lo hi. Ei' thu aa ih nuntak zawh nading kua'n vaihawm ding ih hiam? A vaihawm ding zong ei mah hi veve hi hang. Ei' khang-ah ih khel zawh kei leh, ih tate, ih tute' khang-ah ih khel zawh nading ei mah in vaipuak(mawhpuak) nei hi hang. Thu khat peuhpeuh ih gen ciang' minam itlo, minam vai a kinlo cih tawh tungnun' kituh theih hi tuan lo hi. Zomi makai hoih bel kisam mahmah mah hi hang. Tu laitak aa ih makai neih sun pu Cin Sian Thang in vai lian dang tampi a sep laitak 'Tiddim' pen 'Tedim' in laih ding thu, kin masa nai lo phot ding cih zong ngaihsut theih hi.

Galkap kumpite'n minam it kineih aa 'Rangoon' pen 'Yangon' aa a khel pongmawk dan hi loin, minam itna takpi tawh 'Tiddim' pen 'Tedim' aa a khelnuamte ihih ding zong kisam hi. A min laih ding bek a kin hi lo aa, a khuamite' nuntakna zong a vei ihih ding kisam zaw sem lai hi. 'id' leh 'ed' bangbang a zang zongin, thupi masa pen sa lo aa, minam a it zong tampi mah om veve ding hi cih zong ih theih ding kisam hi.

Galkap kumpite' hun sung (1970-80 kum kiim[a kum lian hong gen le'ng a mi ki tel lua ding ahih manin]) pawl-in, Tedim khangno pawl khat in, khuasung aa lamminte Zomin-in laih sawm uh ah, zan khat thu-in sign-board bawl-in (Lamzang lamka pan Lamzang khua paina lampi pen Thual Zen Road, Lawibual pan Sakollam lam paina lampi pen Kam Hau Road, Sakollam aa tualpi pen Kam Hau tualpi cih bang in ....)a suan' uh leh a zingciang' Zomi makaipi khat in, khangnote leh Tedim myone party council-te taai-in lakhia sak hi. Hong uk kumpite kilau hi mawk aa, kumpi sung aa makaipi semte nangawn in a laih ngam loh uh pen, a gamla pan ei' paupau, ei' otot tawh thu piang lo hi. E'n bel ih ut bangbang ih gennop leh a ki gen thei hi aa, a phual pan piang thei nai lo, e'n bangci pian' sak ding cihte kikup toh ding hi zaw lo ding hiam!

Kikup tawh kizom in ih ki gen vanglak leh, tawm hong kupbeh nuam ing.

1974 constitution lai-in Zomite sung pan a vei pawl khat in 'Chin State' pen 'Zomi State' ci'n hong laih sak un ci-in official-in lai tampi ki gelh hi. Tua ban-ah constitution drafting committee-te Khamtung hong pai ciang' meeting sung mahmah ahzong 'Zomi State' in hong khel sak un ci-in hong ki man phial zongin phamawh sa loin gen ngiat uh hi. Amau hong piak ding ki ngak hi lo aa, ih sep theih bang aa a ki sem ngei lua hi. Tua ahih ciangin, hih khuamin laih ding zong gamsung gampua aa a vei kua mapeuh in official letter ahi zongin minseel-in laikhakna nam tuamtuam tawh ahi zongin nakpitak-in ih nget tek ding kisam hi. Kuateng in sem cih hong ki gen khol loh hang' a semsem zong om dingin, lamen ing. Ahih hang' tu laitak hong uk galkap kumpite'n constitution tawh kisai mipi tung pan bangmah advice deih loh uh hi. Zan mahmah (4th December 2007) inzong, Information minister Kyaw Hsan in Naypyidaw aa press conference-ah a genna-ah kuama' advice kisam kei, ko le ko in kalsuan nung ci lai zen hi.

Tua ahih manin, a piang pah ding ahih loh hang' ei' hih theih a kisam veve nam nih pen:

1. Ei le ei in ih zat suak nop leh thu hoih tawh mi khempeuh ih theih sak ding hi.

2. Tu laitak aa galkapte' constitution a gelhgelh lai uh constituency- ah mikang lai-in a gelh uh ciang', 'Tedim' a suah theih nading in direct leh indirect in ih sep theih bang tek in, ih sep takpi ding kisam hi.

A semsem pawl khat in, a sepna uh hong gen khol lo zong om ding ahih manin, mi khempeuh ki mawhsak thei pah lo ding hi.


(P/S: Hih kong lai suah sak pen, Ka muh cil phet in hoih sa mah mah ka hih man in ka blog sung ah kong suah sak hi. Hih lai pen kei at khiat hi lo in zonet groups sung pan ka lak khiat ahih man in lai at te min kong suak sak kei hi... Na theih nop beh leh hehpihna tawh zonet sungah na et sak in,.... Hih lai at khia te tung leh hong sim kik sak te tung ka lung dam)