Chin women’s organization holds election on Indo-Myanmar border

28 January : The Central Chin Women’s Organization (CCWO) in exile held its election on the Indo-Myanmar border area on 17 January.

The representatives, who participated in the elections, were from 12 out of 13 CCWO’s sub-offices while other representatives were from Chin political organizations and Chinland women’s organization. The election was successfully held, a press release said.

“In fact we have to first hold the conference of our organization, and then conduct elections according to the constitution of the organization. However, we conducted the conference since the organization was established for many reasons. Therefore, we decided to conduct elections against the constitution,” said Shalom, secretary of CCWO.

The main objectives of the organization are to empower women, to develop children’s education and to build a federal state in Burma.

“Now we are conducting computer classes to help women, and are providing financial assistance to children abroad. Besides, we conduct educational awareness for Chin women,” said the president of CCWO.
In the elections, Shalom was elected to the post of secretary and Mrs. Siang Chin to the post of President. Four other leaders were elected to other posts.

The Central Chin Women’s Organization (CCWO) was established in 1995 by women’s groups in India.

Khonumthung News.

Myanmar's Chin people persecuted

By DENIS D. GRAY

BANGKOK,

Thailand (AP) — The Chin people, Christians living in the remote mountains of northwestern Myanmar, are subject to forced labor, torture, extrajudicial killings and religious persecution by the country's military regime, a human rights group said Wednesday.

The New York-based Human Right Watch said as many as 100,000 people have fled the Chin homeland into neighboring India, where they face abuse and the risk of being forced back into Myanmar."The Chin are unsafe in Burma and unprotected in India," a report from the group said. The report said the regime in Myanmar, also known as Burma, continues to commit atrocities against its other ethnic minorities.Myanmar's ruling junta has been widely accused of widespread human rights violations in ethnic minority areas where anti-government insurgent groups are fighting for autonomy.

The government has repeatedly denied such charges. An e-mailed request for comment on the new report was not immediately answered.

Photo- CHRO

Chief Secretary Vanhela Pachau, a top official for India's Mizoram state, said he had not seen the report and could not comment."(The police) hit me in my mouth and broke my front teeth. They split my head open and I was bleeding badly. They also shocked me with electricity," the group quoted a Chin man accused of supporting the insurgents, who are small in number and largely ineffective.He was one of some 140 Chin people interviewed by the human rights group from 2005 to 2008. The group said the names of those interviewed were withheld to prevent reprisals.

A number of people spoke of being forced out of their villages to serve as unpaid porters for the army or to build roads, sentry posts and army barracks.Amy Alexander, a consultant for Human Rights Watch, told a news conference that insurgents of the Chin National Front also committed abuses such as extorting money from villagers to fund their operations.Alexander said Myanmar's government, attempting to suppress minority cultures, was destroying churches, desecrating crosses, interfering with worship services by forcing Christians to work on Sundays and promoting Buddhism through threats and inducements. Some 90 percent of the Chin are Christians, most of them adherents to the American Baptist Church.Ethnic insurgencies erupted in Myanmar in the late 1940s when the country gained independence from Great Britain.

Former junta member Gen. Khin Nyunt negotiated cease-fires with 17 of the insurgent groups before he was ousted by rival generals in 2004.Among rebels still fighting are groups from the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Chin minorities.At least half a million minority people have been internally displaced in eastern Myanmar as a result of the regime's brutal military campaigns while refugees continue to flee to the Thai-Myanmar border. More than 145,000 refugees receive international humanitarian assistance in Thai border camps.Alexander said that some 30,000 Chin have also sought refuge in Malaysia while about 500 were living in Thai border camps.

Myanmar refugees at home with downtown church

A benefit garage sale is being planned to raise funds for several members of a congregation of Myanmar refugees.

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The sale is set for Sept. 12 at First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, 1201 N Robinson, where the Chin Baptist Church has been holding services.
Brian McAtee, First Baptist’s minister with global peoples, said the downtown Oklahoma City church had been working with the refugees since July 2008 when a local refugee resettlement group indicated some refugees wanted to connect with a Baptist church in the Oklahoma City metro area. The refugees come from Chin, a state in western Myanmar.
"They had a strong Baptist heritage and were looking for a spiritual home,” McAtee said.
He said the Chin church members are among many refugees who came under persecution by the ruling military powers in Myanmar, also known as Burma. He said missionaries report that a large percentage of the Chin people are Christian. Many are Baptist, he said, due to the success of American Baptist missionaries more than a century ago.
"The Chin were one of the more successful outreaches for these missionaries,” McAtee said.
McAtee said the Chin church held its first church service in February at First Baptist. He said it has its own pastor and board of deacons, and members make up a hardworking, friendly congregation.
He said several members of the congregation were involved in a serious car accident in July, and a portion of the garage sale proceeds will help cover their medical bills. He said some of the accident victims had only been in Oklahoma a few weeks and did not have jobs.
Navigating the health care system has been difficult for the refugees because of language barriers, McAtee said. Also, he said the refugees do not understand how the health care system works.
McAtee said people who want to help can donate items to sell at the garage sale or just plan to attend the event and buy things.
He said the refugee congregation has had a positive effect on the First Baptist congregation, and the latter group wanted to raise funds to make things better for those involved in the accident.
"They’ve had a profound impact on our congregation — their faith, just their spirit of worship — because of their journey,” McAtee said.
"They’ve dealt directly with persecution. They’ve been run out of town. Their churches have been burned. It’s a very unique story for most of us Westerners, who don’t deal with that stuff all the time.”

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to appeal

Yangon - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has agreed to appeal a recent court decision that put her under house detention for the next 18 months, her attorneys said Thursday.

"We will file the appeal to the Divisional Court for Daw [Madame] Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday or Tuesday next week," Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi's three lawyers, said after meeting with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate to discuss her appeal.

Suu Kyi, 64, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years under detention, has also requested that authorities allow her personal doctor Tin Myo Win to be allowed to visit her regularly for check-ups as was permitted under the previous rules of her detention.

On August 11, a special court set up in Yangon's Insein Prison found Suu Kyi guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest and sentenced her to three years in prison. The sentence was quickly commuted to 18 months under house detention by Myanmar's military supremo, Senior General Than Shwe.

Suu Kyi was found guilty of allowing US national John William Yettaw to swim to her lakeside home-cum-prison on May 3, where he stayed uninvited until May 5, to warn her of an assassination attempt he had envisioned.

The bizarre escapade provided a pretext for Myanmar's military regime to accuse Suu Kyi of violating the terms of her detention and to keep her out of the political picture for the next 18 months while it prepares for a general election next year, which promises to be neither free nor fair.

Yettaw, 54, was sentenced to seven years in prison but was freed on August 16 at the request of visiting US Senator Jim Webb, chairman of the US Senate's East Asia and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee.

Webb, in a rare interview with Than Shwe, also requested that Suu Kyi be released but failed to secure the opposition leader's freedom.

Suu Kyi's ongoing house detention meant that it was unlikely that her National League for Democracy opposition party, which won the last polls in 1990 but has been denied power for the past 19 years, would participate in next year's election.

It also dashed hopes that prior to the polls, the regime might open a dialogue with the democracy icon and consider amending the 2008 constitution, which essentially cements the military's control over any democratically elected government.

US Top Offical to Visit Myanmar; New Hope for Suu Kyi, Christians

For the first time in a decade, a high ranking official from United States will stop over Myanmar, also known as Burma to meet with the junta top leaders raising hope for pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Christians in the reclusive country

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  (Photo AP)
  Protestors wave flags during a demonstration outside the Myanmar Embassy in London, Tuesday Aug. 11, 2009, to protest against the 18-month house arrest of pro-democray leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
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  (Photo AP)
  A child watches, during a demonstration outside the Myanmar Embassy in London, Tuesday Aug. 11, 2009, to protest against the 18-month house arrest of pro-democray leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Virginia Democrat Senator Jim Webb, chairman of the East Asia and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will arrive in Burma on Friday as part of his two-week five nation tour of Asia, his office announced Wednesday.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Yangon, formerly Rangoon told the Associated Press that Webb was expected to spend three days in Myanmar and would visit the new administrative capital of Naypyidaw to meet government leaders.
Sen. Webb will also be the first top U.S. official to meet Myanmar’s top official, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the man in charge of the military regime.
United States has strongly condemned the sentencing of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months house arrest by Myanmar government. The court has first commuted her to 3 years prison term which was reduced by Than Shwe.
1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi was found guilty on Tuesday of violating her house arrest by allowing an uninvited American John John Yettaw to stay at her home. Mr. Yettaw was sentenced to seven years in prison, four with hard labour. The court also sentenced Suu Kyi's two female house companions, Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, to 18 months.
Myanmar, the new name for Burma until the junta change it in 1989 is ranked No.24 by Open Doors 2009 Watch List of the top 50 nations that are worst persecutors of Christians. Myanmar has been under the junta since the infamous military coup in 1962.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a human rights organization specialized in religious freedom around the world in a secret visit to the Burma-Thailand border in May this year said there is rampant violation of human rights and restriction of religious freedom especially those of the minority Christians.
The report uncovers that forced labour, rape, torture, the destruction of villages, crops and livestock, and the use of human minesweepers at the hands of the military regime are common in states dominated by ethnic minorities like Chin, Kachin, Karen and Karenni – who are majority Christians.
Christians make up about 4 percent of the estimated 55 million populations of which Baptists are the single largest Christian denomination. It is an overwhelmingly Buddhist country with as many as 89 percent adhering to Buddhism.
Many ethnic Christian minorities who form majority of Burmese Christians have fled the country due to rampant human rights violation and religious persecutions in the country.
The visit of Sen. Webb will be watch with anticipation by Aung San Suu Kyi supporters and the persecuted Christians.

Aung San Suu Kyi's sentence commuted to 18-month house arrest

 YANGON, Aug. 11 -- The Myanmar State Peace and Development Council Tuesday commuted Aung San Suu Kyi's sentence to 18-month confinement to her residence after a district court sentenced her three years' jail term for violating her terms of house arrest.
    The commutation order was signed by SPDC Chairman Senior-General Than Shwe on Monday, according to Home Minister Major-General Maung Oo.
    The remaining one and a half years' term out of the three years' sentence would be suspended for carrying out.
    Over the period of suspension, Aung San Suu Kyi is set to stay at her Yangon lake-side residence, Maung Oo said, adding that if she abides by the rules prescribed for her, all the remaining terms could be exempted.
    According to Tuesday's verdict of the court, Aung San Suu Kyi'stwo female housemates, Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, were also sentenced to three years' prison term each but were each given one and a half years' commutation by the Myanmar SPDC chairman.
    The remaining one and a half years' terms set the two housemates to stay at home together with Aung San Suu Kyi.
    According to the court verdict, the American citizen John William Yettaw was given a seven-year jail term.
    Aung San Suu Kyi, 64, was convicted on charge of breaching "the Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts" by accommodating the American, John William Yettaw, who entered into her restricted lakeside house for three days from May 3 to 5.
    Yettaw, who was hospitalized on Aug. 3 for suffering from epilepsy in the midst, was reportedly taken back to the court from the hospital Monday night to hear the sentence.
    The trial on Aung San Suu Kyi and the other three started on May 18 at Yangon's Insein Prison.
    Yettaw, 54, holding American passport and tourist visa, arrived in Yangon on May 2 and stayed at the Beauty Land Hotel-2. He swam through the Inya Lake and secretly entered Aung San Suu Kyi's Yangon lake-side house on May 3 night and left the house on May 5 night.
    Yettaw was only arrested on May 6 dawn by Myanmar's security force while he was swimming back across Inya Lake out of Aung San Suu Kyi's house after three days' sneaking, according to the authorities.
    Yettaw had also once swum across the Inya Lake and entered the barred residential compound of Aung San Suu Kyi on Nov. 30 last year.
    Yettaw is a student of Clinical Psychology of Forest Institute attending Ph. D and a war veteran for two years.
    Aung San Suu Kyi had been put under detention and later house arrest at her lake-side residence in Yangon for 14 years out of 20 from July 1989 to May 26, 2009.
    She was so restricted under the authorities' four orders in respective terms -- "Restriction Order Against Her Fundamental Rights under Section-7 of the Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts", "Arrest Order under Section 10-A," "Prohibition Order under Section 10-B/11" and "Continued Prohibition Order under Section 13/14".

State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2009 - Burma (Myanmar)

Following the anti-government protests of September 2007, when tens of thousands of people took to the streets daily, and the following a brutal government crackdown, the security situation within Burma has remained tense. The US-based Freedom House, in its 2008 global report on Freedom in the World, has ranked Burma among the 'worst of the worst' countries, 'where civilians enjoy negligible political and civil liberties'.
The military regime held a constitutional referendum in May 2008, just weeks after Cyclone Nargis had struck, despite pleas from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to postpone it and focus on humanitarian relief. The referendum – part of a 'roadmap' to democracy – ensures a pivotal role for the military, with enough seats in parliament to block any further reform without its agreement.
Minorities were widely excluded from this process. The draft constitution, written by a committee hand-picked by the government and boycotted by the National League for Democracy and ethnic parties, was only available in Burmese and English, and had not been translated into any of the 135 other languages spoken by an estimated 40 per cent of the Burmese population. According to government sources there was a 92.5 per cent approval rate of the constitutional referendum.
In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, the government failed to provide relief to hundreds of thousands of victims and blocked international aid efforts for weeks. One month after the cyclone struck, UN estimates placed the number of dead at 78,000, with 56,000 still missing; 2 million people were still in need of relief. There were reports that minorities were being systematically excluded from assistance in the hard-hit Irrawaddy Delta.
The Karen, who account for nearly 7 million of Burma's 57 million people, have their own distinctive culture and language and count Buddhists, Christians and animists among them. Throughout the year an increasing number of Karen refugees crossed over the border to northern Thailand from Karen State, where South East Asia's longest separatist conflict is being waged between Burmese troops and the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU).
The current phase of the military campaign appears to be the most intense. In 2008 Amnesty International classified attacks by Burmese troops overtly targeting civilians as crimes against humanity. According to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, around 66,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to the armed conflict and human rights abuses.
Education in state schools in Karen areas, even where they are the majority of the population, is exclusively provided in the Burmese language, and government offices provide no access to services in Karen languages. Government jobs in Karen areas appear to be increasingly the reserved domain of ethnic Burman.
The assassination of the general secretary of the KNU, Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, on 14 February 2008, was a major setback for their cause. Observers suspected that the assassins were either rival Karens or were dispatched by the Burmese government.
The Chin, 90 per cent of whom are Christian, account for about 1 per cent of Burma's population and live in the mountainous region near the Indian border. The Chin National Front armed group is engaged in a long-running battle with the military junta.
The UN reports that 70 per cent of the people in Chin State live below the poverty line and 40 per cent lack access to adequate food sources. Since 2006, the region has been plagued by a severe food crisis, which is compounded by the military regime's repressive economic policies. According to a Chin Human Rights Organization 2008 report, the use of unpaid civilian labour is widespread throughout Chin State and farmers are forcibly ordered by the regime to substitute their staple crops for cash crops. The organization also documents the arbitrary collection of 'donations' and taxes by the Burmese authorities from Chin households in major towns.
Human Rights Watch reports ongoing religious repression against the Chin in mainly Buddhist Burma. The Tatmadaw (Burmese military) has burnt down churches, demolished crosses and prayer rooms to make way for military buildings and infrastructure. Chin also describe torture and beatings by Burmese soldiers, arbitrary arrest and being forced to work as army porters.
Cheery Zahau, of the Women's League of Chinland, says Burma's military government continues to use rape as a weapon to subdue ethnic minorities.
There is a dire lack of school facilities in many villages in Chin State, forcing Chin children to walk to distant towns and villages or pay expensive boarding fees to attend classes. The quality of education is extremely poor and classes are taught in Burmese. The authorities continue to close down Chin private schools.
The construction of two dams along the Salween River is threatening the existence and livelihood of the Akha, Karen, Karenni, Lahu, Lisu, Mon, Padaung, Palaung, Pa-O, Shan and Wa minorities who live along the river. In 2008 the NGO Society for Threatened Peoples reported that the Ta Sang Dam in Shan State has already caused the forced relocation of about 300,000 people (most of whom are Shan) and the military have expelled around 15,000 people during the construction of the Hut Gyi Dam in Karen State.
The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority living in northern Rakhine State, western Burma, are unable to qualify for citizenship and their freedom of movement is severely restricted. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma, in an April 2008 statement, also cited extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation and forced evictions; restricted access to medical care, food and adequate housing; forced labour; and restrictions on marriages.

Advocate Democracy in Myanmar

By John Smith Thang Members of the Chin Democracy and Human Rights Network staged a rally against the Myanmar government in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Korea on July 5. The protest was in memorial of a pro-democracy leader ― an ethnic Chin student, Salai Tin Mg Oo, who was killed by Myanmar's military government on June 24, 1976. Salai Tin Maung Oo was popular among university students in 1974-75 for his dedicated fight against the brutal military regime in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. He and his colleagues organized a ``U Thant Uprising'' there in honor of U Thant, a former U.N. secretary general. After the military government prohibited the public from holding an honorable funeral for U Thant, Salai Tin Maung Oo and students led demonstrations to protest the dictatorial military rule. Apart from the uprising, Salai Tin Maung Oo organized a ``labor strike anniversary day'' and ``Mai-yar-pih events.'' The military arrested him for his role in the uprising and pro-democracy movement. Before Salai Tin Maung Oo was executed, military intelligence officers tried to persuade him to pledge to follow their authority in exchange for freedom. But he refused to do so and shouted, ``I shall never kneel down under your soldiers' boots.'' And he continued to shout in jail, ``Comrades, they are killing me secretly.'' Finally he was secretly hanged at Insein Jail on June 24, 1976. His death brought great shock and anger to the whole country and particularly to ethnic minorities who were yearning for freedom and democracy. Salai Tin Maung Oo belonged to one of these groups. In Myanmar, oppressing activists is routine. Since, the Myanmarese military government massacred student activists on July 7, 1962. Subsequently there were several repressive acts against Salai Tin Maung Oo and students in 1974. And then there was a nationwide mass uprising in 1988 when the government forces brutally fired on the crowd ― killing about 3,000 innocent people. The Depayin massacre took place in May 2003 when the military alleged killed hundreds of people. Again in September 2007, the military attacked and killed innocent people and monks who peacefully protested ― and many more people have ``disappeared.'' Allegations have it that the military regime still continues to arrest pro-democracy and human rights activists. In recent days, the military took into custody pro-democracy icon Daw Aung San Su Kyi after 13 years of house arrest, without honoring the Nobel Peace Prize she won. There are around 2,100 political prisoners in Myanmar. And many ethnic minorities and Christians continue to be persecuted by the military regime. At the moment, Myanmar's military government is escalating its war in peripheral ethnic regions using weapons supplied by its closest allies, China and North Korea. Innocent people are suffering and tormented, and thousand of refugees have had to flee their homeland due to the military government's policy, The military regime is preparing for 2010 elections in order to tighten its grip on power, which is ostensibly supposed to be transferred to a democratic government. A democratic government should have the following basic elements: a people's constitution, judicial independence, free media, and free and fair elections. But the military government has failed to introduce any of these elements. The government is reluctant to acknowledge the multiethnic fabric of Myanmarese society. There should be guaranteed ethnic-civil rights through mutual agreement, however, the military regime has adopted an ethnic cleansing policy. The military government has neither guaranteed civil rights nor ethnic rights. It will never bring true democracy to Myanmar. The military government should stop oppressing pro-democracy activists. The international community, particularly the United Nations, must make concerted efforts to ensure free and fair elections next year. Also it is necessary for China to stop supporting Myanmar's military regime. Additionally, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should do more to promote democracy in Myanmar, and not support the military government. Finally we urge the international community to work to advocate democracy and freedom in Myanmar.

SM Goh to visit Myanmar

By Goh Chin Lian

SENIOR Minister Goh Chok Tong will make an official visit to Myanmar from Monday

Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein will host him to lunch during his four-day trip.

SM Goh will use the visit to update himself on developments in Myanmar. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

(ST) -He will also call on the country's top leader, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Senior General Than Shwe.

His visit is at the invitation of General Thein Sein, the Prime Minister's Office here said in a statement on Sunday.

General Thein Sein had extended the invitation during his introductory visit to Singapore in March this year, the PMO added.

Mr Goh, who last visited Myanmar in 1998, will use the visit to update himself on developments in the country, said the statment.

He will visit the administrative capital of Nay Pyi Taw, as well as the cities of Yangon, Mandalay and Taunggyi, to better understand developments in other parts of Myanmar, it added.

He will also open a hospital in Kayin Chaung village, two hours' away from Yangon. The hospital was recently completed with Singapore's help as part of its post-Cyclone Nargis recovery aid to Myanmar.

The cyclone hit Myanmar in May last year and killed about 140,000 people across the country.

Mr Goh will be accompanied by Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong, Mr Michael Palmer, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs, as well as senior officials.

Call to suspend Myanmar

By Goh Chin Lian

(ST) -THE Myanmar government's continued disregard of Asean's concerns over its treatment of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has prompted two MPs to call for its suspension from the regional grouping.

Mr Charles Chong (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) and Mr Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio GRC) argued that having Myanmar as a member would dent the credibility of Asean in the eyes of the world.

Replying, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed defended Asean's preference to engage Myanmar rather than isolate it.

He cautioned that expulsion or suspension is not as straightforward as it seems.

Western sanctions have had little effect on Myanmar as long as China and India keep their borders with Myanmar open.

Myanmar is also used to being isolated by the international community, and has shown over the years that it will not yield to sanctions and intimidation.

'We have always believed in Asean that we have more influence over Myanmar, however limited, through engagement rather than isolating it,' he said.

Mr Zainul Abidin acknowledged that domestic developments in the country have 'adversely affected' Asean's reputation and credibility.

Myanmar does have to meet certain obligations to human rights under the Asean Charter that it ratified. Asean has made clear its stand as well.

Asean has also called on the Myanmar government to release Ms Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest or in jail for 13 of the last 19 years.

Read the full story in The Straits Times today.

Myanmar's Suu Kyi defiant ahead of trial - lawyer

YANGON - Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health and ready to defend herself against new charges that have triggered international condemnation of the military regime, her lawyer said.

Kyi Win, Suu Kyi's main defence lawyer at her trial due to start on Monday, was allowed to meet the Nobel Peace laureate for one hour at a guest house in Yangon's Insein Prison on Saturday.

"She asked me to tell her friends and everyone that she is quite well," Kyi Win told Reuters. "She is ready to tell the truth that she never broke the law."

The 63-year-old Suu Kyi is charged with breaking the conditions of her nearly six-year house arrest after an American intruder sneaked inside her lakeside villa in Yangon this month.

If convicted, she faces up to five years in jail.

Suu Kyi's two female companions have also been charged in a case denounced by critics as a pretext for keeping the charismatic opposition leader in detention ahead of elections in 2010. Her current detention expires on May 27.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide election victory in 1990 only to be denied power by the military, which has ruled the former Burma since 1962.

The generals have detained Suu Kyi for more than 13 of the past 19 years, mostly at her home on a leafy Yangon avenue guarded by police, her phone line cut and visitors restricted.

Suu Kyi's doctor, Tin Myo Win, was freed late on Saturday after he was detained on May 7 for questioning, relatives said. Suu Kyi was recently treated for low blood pressure and dehydration, and activists fear for her health in prison.

Rights groups also slammed the junta on Saturday for revoking the law licence of Aung Thein, a prominent activist lawyer who was to be on Suu Kyi's defence team.

The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) called it "a blatant attempt by the regime to damage the defence for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her two live-in party members".

MYSTERY SWIMMER

Kyi Win said Suu Kyi was innocent because she did not invite John Yettaw, who according to state media swam across Yangon's Inya Lake to her home using homemade flippers earlier this month.

"She told me that they found him at the back of her house at about 5 a.m. She told him to leave, but he refused saying he was exhausted," Kyi Win said.

Suu Kyi did not report him to authorities because "she did not want anybody to get into trouble because of her", he said.

Yettaw, described by state media as a 53-year-old psychology student from Missouri, has been charged with "illegal swimming", immigration violations and encouraging others to break the law.

Kyi Win said Yettaw had tried a similar stunt to meet Suu Kyi in November 2008, but she refused to speak to him and the incident was reported to authorities.

Yettaw's motives remain unclear, but speculation about his role in the junta's latest crackdown on Suu Kyi has swirled for days in the streets of Yangon.

"I think the regime must be behind this incident one way or another. They do not want to free Daw Suu," a retired politician, using the Burmese honorific for older women, said.

The junta has so far ignored the international outcry over what critics say are "trumped up" and "baseless" charges against Suu Kyi.

U.S. President Barack Obama renewed sanctions against the regime on Friday, saying its actions and policies, including the jailing of more than 2,000 political prisoners, continued to pose a serious threat to U.S. interests.

Washington has led the West in tightening sanctions, but Asian neighbours with an eye on the country's rich timber, gas and mineral reserves have favoured a policy of engagement.

Neither has succeeded in coaxing meaningful reforms from junta leader Senior General Than Shwe, who is widely believed to loathe Suu Kyi.

He has vowed to press ahead with a seven-step "roadmap to democracy" expected to culminate in 2010 elections which the West derides as a sham to entrench the military's grip on the country.

Myanmar: Ethnic Minorities & Aung San Suu Kyi

By Lee Jay Walker
Tokyo Correspondent

Aung San Suu Kyi

The current regime in Myanmar is clearly unconcerned about international opinion because daily persecution continues. This applies to the continuing persecution of many minorities, notably the Chin, Karen, Rohingya, Shan, and others. At the same time, the leading political figure in Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, faces further confinement. However, the regime fears little because of power politics and geopolitical factors.
Another major concern in Myanmar is the systematic persecution of religious minorities and this especially applies to Christians and Muslims. Therefore, the Christian dominated Karen National Union (KNU) faces a joint military and Buddhist onslaught because the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) is a staunch ally of the regime.
Other Christian and Muslim minorities also face daily persecution. Therefore, like I reported in my last article called
"Karen Christians face joint army and Buddhist onslaught," I will quote Benedict Rogers who is a human rights advocate and journalist.
Because Benedict Rogers (12 Dec, 2004) notified the British House of Commons about systematic persecution. He stated that "Christians among the Chin, Kachin, Karen and Karenni ethnic nationalities report serious religious discrimination and persecution, including the destruction of churches and Christian symbols. In Chin State, all crosses on mountain-tops have been destroyed and Christians have been forced to build Buddhist pagodas in their place. Church services have been disrupted, and Chin children from Christian families have been taken and placed in Buddhist monasteries, where they have been forced to become novice monks. The printing of the Bible is banned, and Christians in government service are denied promotion."
Muslims are also in dire straights because they have been persecuted for decades. Amnesty International, for example stated that "The Rohingyas’ freedom of movement is severely restricted and the vast majority of them have effectively been denied Burma (Myanmar) citizenship. They are also subjected to various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation; forced eviction and house destruction ... "

The report continues that "In 1978 over 200,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh, following the ‘Nagamin’ (‘Dragon King’) operation of the Burma (Myanmar) army. Officially this campaign aimed at "scrutinising each individual living in the state, designating citizens and foreigners in accordance with the law and taking actions against foreigners who have filtered into the country illegally." This military campaign directly targeted civilians, and resulted in widespread killings, rape and destruction of mosques and further religious persecution."

"During 1991-92 a new wave of over a quarter of a million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh. They reported widespread forced labour, as well as summary executions, torture, and rape. Rohingyas were forced to work without pay by the Burma (Myanmar) army on infrastructure and economic projects, often under harsh conditions. Many other human rights violations occurred in the context of forced labour of Rohingya civilians by the security forces."

Therefore, many ethnic and religious minorities have been persecuted for decades and this is the real tragedy of Myanmar. After all, it would appear that regional nations are more concerned about economic trade and maintaining a regional consensus.

Yes, from time to time you hear disenting voices throughout the region but these are few and far. Also, for regional powers like China and India, they both understand the geopolitical importance of Myanmar and of course economic interests are also important. So it would appear that ethnic and religious minorities have little hope under the current political system in Myanmar.

Meanwhile, the most famous political figure in Myanmar faces fresh political charges in order to keep her under house arrest. However, Aung San Suu Kyi remains defiant despite her endless persecution and the “ray of hope remains.”
Aung San Suu Kyi once stated that “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”

Yet for the people who wield power in Myanmar, it is apparent that China and India, and others, are willing to play the geopolitical game. Therefore, despite the European Union and America taking a strong stance, it is clear that Myanmar can survive because of trading links with China, India, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and other nations.

Also, Aung San Suu Kyi understands that only an internal collapse or uprising will change the current status quo. Despite this, she remains loyal to non-violent action and “her weapon” is her firm democratic conviction.

However, just like the ethnic Christian and Muslim minorities, and others, it is clear that decades of struggle is zapping the energy out of many; so words of strength by Aung San Suu Kyi are badly needed. Yet the chains appear to be getting tighter so the future remains bleak.

Myanmar bars Suu Kyi lawyer as U.S. renews sanctions

By Aung Hla Tun
(Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by Alex Richardson)

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta has barred a prominent activist lawyer from defending opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as pressure intensifies on the regime to drop new charges against the Nobel Peace laureate.

Aung Thein said the order revoking his licence was issued on Friday, a day after a prison court charged Suu Kyi with breaking the conditions of her nearly six-year house arrest, which is due to expire on May 27. "I went to Insein Prison to be one of the five defence lawyers for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and they issued the order the next day," Aung Thein told Reuters.

Critics of the regime have denounced the trial of Suu Kyi and two female companions, due to start on Monday, on charges stemming from the mysterious visit of an American intruder who was arrested after he claimed to have spent two days at her lakeside home in Yangon.

Suu Kyi, 63, faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

Her lawyers insist she is innocent and did not invite U.S. citizen John Yettaw, who according to state media swam to her tightly-guarded lakeside home using homemade flippers.

Yettaw's motives remain unclear, but he has been charged with various offences, including encouraging others to break the law and "illegal swimming."

The military, which has ruled the former Burma since 1962, has so far ignored the international outcry over its latest crackdown on Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 13 of the past 19 years in some form of detention.

SANCTIONS

U.S. President Barack Obama renewed sanctions against the regime on Friday, saying its actions and policies continued to pose a serious threat to U.S. interests.

"The crisis between the United States and Burma ... has not been resolved," Obama said, citing sanctions first imposed by the United States in 1997 and ratcheted up several times in response to repression of democracy activists.

"These actions and policies are hostile to U.S. interests," Obama said. "For this reason, I have determined that it is necessary to ... maintain in force the sanctions against Burma to respond to this threat."

Washington has led Western governments in gradually tightening sanctions against the regime over its resistance to political reforms and detention of Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 other activists.

But neither sanctions, nor the policy of engagement espoused by Myanmar's regional neighbours, have succeeded in coaxing the generals into meaningful reforms.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's admitted in February that sanctions have not worked and Washington was looking for new ways to influence the regime. But analysts had not expected that review to lead to a swift change in America's sanctions policy.

Pro-democracy activists cheered Obama's announcement and urged him to lead a wider effort to pressure the regime.

"Now that President Obama has continued a wise policy from the United States, it is time for him to seize the moment and take action internationally," said Jeremy Woodrum of the U.S. Campaign for Burma.

"We hope he will immediately pursue a global arms embargo at the UN Security Council, as well as an investigation into crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Burma's military regime," he said in a statement.

Analysts say the charges against Suu Kyi are aimed at keeping her sidelined ahead of the junta's promised elections in 2010, part of its seven-step "roadmap to democracy."

The West has derided the roadmap as a sham to ensure the military's grip on power.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide election victory in 1990 only to be denied power by the military.

It has set several conditions, including reform of the army-drafted constitution and the release of all political prisoners, before it will decide whether to run in the 2010 polls.

Carter discusses Myanmar

Clinton to Raise Suu Kyi’s Case Worldwide

By LALIT K JHA

WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she will raise the imprisonment of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi with the UN, Burma’s partners within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)—and even China.

Describing the removal of Suu Kyi from her home to Rangoon’s infamous Insein Prison as unlawful and “a pretext to place further unjustified restrictions on her,” Clinton told a press conference in Washington on Thursday that she would also raise the democracy icon’s plight with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Clinton was speaking after meeting visiting Malaysian Foreign Minister YB Datuk Anifah bin Haji Aman, who promised to raise the matter with the Asean Secretariat and also seek a solution through the Asean+3 group, which includes China.

Clinton said: “We are reaching out to our Asean partners like Malaysia. I hope to be speaking myself to the [UN] Secretary-General. We think that this does rise to the level of the kind of regional statements of concern that we would ask for.

“We will also raise this with other nations like China and see if we can’t, on a humanitarian basis, seek relief for Aung San Suu Kyi from this latest effort to intimidate and perhaps even incarcerate her.”

The Malaysian Foreign Minister said the arrest of Suu Kyi made it all the more important not to isolate Burma. “We do not want to leave Myanmar in isolation,” he said.

“We will use the good office of the Asean Secretariat to immediately engage in and to finding solutions to this matter, and if it is possible, this—the Asean+3, which includes China—we would also be, if it’s necessary to engage in, to seek their views and assistance in trying to solve the problem.”

Clinton said she was deeply troubled by the decision by the Burmese regime to charge Suu Kyi with a baseless crime. “It comes just before the six-year anniversary of her house arrest, and it is not in keeping with the rule of law, the Asean charter, or efforts to promote national reconciliation and progress in Burma.

“We oppose the regime’s efforts to use this incident as a pretext to place further unjustified restrictions on her, and therefore we call on the Burmese authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally, along with her doctor and the more than 2,100 political prisoners currently being held.”

BDR pushes back 12 Rohingyas

Teknaf, Bangladesh : Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) pushed back 12 Rohingyas including women and children on April 3, at about 3 pm from Teknaf, says our correspondent from Teknaf.

Six men, two women and four children after crossing Naff River reached Teknaf on Sunday at about 2:30 pm. They were pushed back to Burma by the BDR at about 3 pm. They were not allowed to climb the embankment on the Bangladesh side.

According to sources, many Rohingyas are preparing to cross the Burma- Bangladesh border because of increasing persecution against the Rohingya community in Northern Arakan, said a local trader on condition of anonymity.

Rohingyas are forced to work in embankment construction, carrying stones and other material for fencing the Burma-Bangladesh border. They also face arbitrary arrests, torture for extortion. Besides, the army, Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) and police create problems between Rohingya villagers and the authorities to force the Rohingya community to flee them from their homes, the trader added.

After Burma started to fence the Burma-Bangladesh border, the BDR planned to push back Burmese nationals who crossed the Naff River. Earlier, the BDR also pushed back some Rohingyas to Burma. But, now, BDR has decided to push back any Burmese national crossing the border. Security has been tightened on the border.

Recently, the BDR held a meeting in Cox’s Bazaar inviting local upazila chairmen, especially from border areas and asked them to inform BDR, if any Rohingya crosses the Burma-Bangladesh border. They have decided to push back Burmese nationals immediately, according to a BDR official.

Myanmar arrests US citizen for visiting Aung San Suu Kyi

Yangon, May 7: A US citizen arrested while swimming in a Yangon lake is under investigation for having spent three nights at the compound of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's state media reported Thursday.

John William Yeattaw, 53, was arrested at 5.30 a.m. Wednesday at Inya Lake, which rims Suu Kyi's family home, where she has been kept under house arrest for the past six years.

Yeattaw arrived in Yangon Saturday and managed to enter Suu Kyi's compound Sunday night, where he secretly stayed until swimming away early Wednesday, the government mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.

Authorities found in Yeattaw's bag a flashlight, a camera, pliers and $100 in cash plus kyat currency notes.

"The government is investigating what Yeattaw's intention was in entering a prohibited area," the newspaper said.

Suu Kyi's compound is under heavy guard and constant surveillance. She was last arrested May 27, 2003, and has been kept under house arrest in near-complete isolation.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has spent 13 of the past 19 years under detention in her family's Yangon compound.

Suu Kyi is the daughter of Aung San, an independence hero who was assassinated in 1948. She returned to Myanmar in 1988 to tend to her ailing mother and became caught up in the country's nascent pro-democracy movement, of which she swiftly became a leading figure.

No more denial: Children affected by armed conflict in Myanmar (Burma) - Report

Executive Summary


In the midst of Myanmar's enduring political and socioeconomic turmoil, thousands of children also experience the devastating consequences of protracted armed conflict in parts of the country. For decades Myanmar Armed Forces and associated armed groups have engaged in low-level armed conflict with opposing non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in parts of Kayin (Karen), Kayah (Karenni), Shan, Mon and Chin States. Even in so-called 'ceasefire areas,' some NSAGs have retained their arms and in some cases acting as proxy forces of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), wreaking havoc on children and their communities.

The high occurrence and brutality of reported human and child rights violations makes it impossible to deny that Myanmar Armed Forces and NSAGs commit grave violations against children in Myanmar's armed conflict. The SPDC must no longer deny these children access to sufficient and lifesaving humanitarian assistance. Finally, the UN Security Council and the international community must not deny the urgency of protecting children from violence, maltreatment and abuse in Myanmar's ongoing armed conflict.

No More Denial: Violations against Children in Armed Conflict
Children living in Myanmar's conflict zones are often caught in indiscriminate shelling and attacks against villages. As a result of the high demand for new recruits, children as young as nine constantly face the threat of forced or coerced recruitment by security forces and civilians, even in public places such as bus or train stations and markets. In fact, the recruitment and use of children has turned into a profitable business for soldiers, civilian brokers and the police, who receive money or food from recruiters for each new recruit. Myanmar Armed Forces have also allegedly committed grave acts of sexual violence, including rape, against women and girls from ethnic minorities. Furthermore, Myanmar Armed Forces have occupied educational facilities for military purposes, recruited teachers and students for forced labor and planted landmines close to schools or on the paths to schools. In international fora the SPDC has presented such human rights violations and the diversion of public resources to the military sector as necessary measures to fight armed groups opposed to a unified state.

NSAGs, particularly those associated with the SPDC, have also committed violations against children and other civilians, including child recruitment, extrajudicial killings, rape and extortion. Most NSAGs have reportedly recruited and used children in their armed groups, albeit on a much lower scale than the Myanmar Armed Forces.

In addition to these violations, various other violations such as forced displacement, abductions, forced labor and trafficking continue to be committed by Myanmar Armed Forces and NSAGs against children and their families in areas of Myanmar.

Despite ample evidence, widespread impunity and non-accountability leaves perpetrators unpunished and deprives victims of their right to justice and fair remedy. Even in highly publicized rape cases, perpetrators are generally not brought to justice. On the contrary, in some cases survivors have themselves been threatened or punished for speaking out. Similarly, penalties for underage recruitment are weak. In 21 cases of recruitment verified by the UN between September 2007 and December 2008, punishments included official reprimands, monetary fines and, in one instance, loss of one year of military seniority. As a result of these weak penalties, local commanders often choose to commit the crime of child recruitment rather than fail to meet recruitment quotas imposed on them, which carry harsher penalties. In general, impunity combined with a lack of adequate medical, legal and psychosocial assistance discourages survivors and their families from reporting violations and seeking assistance or redress.

Appalling conditions in Naga Hills Region under Burmese junta

by Ring Aung
Kachin News Group

A majority of the Naga, estimated to be about four million live on the Indian side, in Nagaland. The Naga in Burma is in the minority with an estimated population of over 200,000.

The Naga in Burma live in Homemalin Township, Khamthi Township, Leshi Township, Lahe Township, Namyun Township and Pangsau sub-township of Sagaing division and Shing Bwe Yang sub-township in Kachin State.

The people in the Naga Hills Region under the Burmese military junta have never got favours from the regime. Their neglect by the junta is appalling. Some of these people are forcibly recruited into the army. Their religious practices are controlled by the Burmese authorities.

After 1990, there has been religious persecution in the Naga Hills Region. Since the majority of Naga people are Christians, the Burmese military regime has been planning to develop the region under the military. The Buddhist religious organizations are keen on persuading the Naga people to convert to Buddhism.

In some villages, the Burmese junta has been burning churches. The people have been ordered by the Burmese authorities to convert to Buddhism and are being threatened by the authorities. Villagers who don’t want to change their religion have to run away from their villages.

According to locals in the Naga region, the people tried to negotiate with the Burmese authorities to stop the religious persecution in the region twice in the past, but there has been no progress. The situation is said to be bad.

In every village in the Naga region, the population is half Buddhist and half Christians. The Burmese regime has built temples in a village and put in place fake monks.

Monks staying at a temple in a village are imposters. They are just pretending to be monks. If there are 10 monks in a temple, half of them are soldiers. Some carry guns.

All the monks receive financial assistance and food. Normally, they get 60,000 Kyat (US $ 59) per month. They also receive rice but they sell the rice to for money. Because villagers donate food to them, they can afford to sell the rice, said a local.

All Christian churches in the region have to register with the Burmese authorities and it is mandatory to put up the registration sign board on top of their church.

Being Christians in the region they have to struggle a lot and the Burmese authorities even beat up Christian missionaries who graduated from India. They are not allowed to carry out any mission in the region, a local added.

Because of poor transportation and road communication, the children from the region can’t afford to go to school. Most villages have only a primary school and if the children want to go to middle or high school, they have to study in the township. Children who have finished primary school cannot go for higher studies. They help their parents in farming.

On the other hand, the Burmese Army forcibly recruits youngsters including those under18 years of age.

According to local people from Shing Bwe Yang Township, in September 2007, the Burmese Army recruited over 80 people into the armed forces. They were from the Shing Bwe Yang Township.

Ring Aung is a staff reporter of Kachin News Group (KNG).

Jailed Myanmar comedian gets medical checkup

YANGON, Myanmar — A popular comedian jailed by Myanmar’s military government for his political activism was briefly taken to hospital for examination after relatives said he was ill and being denied medical care.


The sister-in-law of Zarganar, who is serving a 35-year sentence in Myitkyina prison in northernmost Kachin State, said Wednesday he was taken to Myitkyina General Hospital late Monday and had a medical checkup lasting about two hours that included an ultrasound, X-ray and EKG. Like many people in Myanmar, Zarganar uses only one name.

“The EKG results showed an enlarged heart, and he needs proper medical care,” said sister-in-law Htway Htway, whose elder sister Ma Nyein spoke with doctors at the hospital in Myitkyina. The elder sister was not allowed to visit Zarganar, who was transported by several police guards.

The checkup came after Htway Htway said Monday that Zarganar had fainted in his cell for two hours on April 16 and had been denied a proper medical exam. Based on the test results, she said Wednesday she suspected he had suffered a heart attack.

Zarganar has high blood pressure and hepatitis.

Zarganar, 48, was arrested in June last year after he gave interviews to foreign news outlets criticizing the junta’s slow response to Cyclone Nargis, which left nearly 140,000 people dead or missing. He was convicted of causing public alarm and illegally giving information to foreign media.

Several activists including Zarganar — whose name means “tweezers” and whose comedy routines are banned for their jokes about the junta — delivered donated relief supplies to the storm-shattered Irrawaddy Delta.

Zarganar was initially sentenced to 59 years in prison in November but his term was reduced to 35 years in February.

Myanmar’s military, which has held power since 1962, tolerates little dissent. It frequently arrests artists and entertainers regarded as opposing the regime. It ramped up its crackdown on the opposition after Buddhist monks led pro-democracy protests in September 2007.

New FM stations to debut throughout Burma

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A ranking member from the Myanmar Music Association has indicated that States and Divisions throughout Burma will soon benefit from an additional four frequencies from City FM.

Besides the current Rangoon City FM and Mandalay City FM stations, four new channels will be added within a few months time, a senior official from the Myanmar Music Association acknowledged.

"The government has permitted what seems a joint-venture between the government and private companies," he explained. "Broadcasting work will be handled by the Information Ministry and everything will fall under this Ministry. I think they will assign some private companies to carry out the work and broadcast can begin in the next three months."

As reported in a local news weekly, there will be four base groups concerned with conducting the related work: the first in eastern, southern and northern Shan State; the second in Myitkyina in Kachin State, Chin State and Monywa in Sagaing Division; the third in Sittwe in Rakhine State and Irrawaddy Division; and the fourth in Taninthayi Division, Mon State, Karen State and Pyi in Pegu Division.

According to a responsible person from the Myanmar Music Association, due to the popularity of the existing channels, the need to expand the geographic reach of FM broadcasting and in order to comply with international standards, the decision was made to expand the number of FM stations.

Broadcasting will be the responsibility of private companies. Presently, it is understood that Kanbawza Company will take responsibility for Shan State and Ngwe Taung Company for Monywa in Sagaing Division and Myitkyina in Kachin State.

It is not yet known which companies will take responsibility for the other regions in question.

Currently, two channels, Rangoon and Mandalay City FM, broadcast daily programs, primarily consisting of music, interviews, entertainment news, talk and health shows. Both are lucrative businesses benefiting from vast advertisement revenue.

City FM programs were first introduced in 2000 in Rangoon and in mid-2008 in Mandalay, and are owned by the City Development Committees of the respective cities.