Burma Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Climbs Higher in Time Magazine Poll

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi ranks 25th in this year’s poll by the US magazine Time listing the 100 most influential people in the world.

Suu Kyi, 63, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, received 306,684 votes, not very far behind US President Barack Obama, who got 335,732 and came in 16th in the poll. She just pipped Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who ranked 26th with 302,874 votes.

Activists pose for a photo while holding a banner in support of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in front of the Burmese Embassy in Singapore on March 18. (Photo: Reuters)

Other influential women who came high in the poll included US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 27th with 254,785 votes, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was placed 36th, with 243,496 votes.Time said that “thanks to the anti-junta demonstrations in 2007, more people are listening to her [Suu Kyi] than ever before.”

Time reminded its readers: “The famed Burmese activist—she has spent much of the past two decades under house arrest because of her pro-democracy stance—is pushing the U.N. to take action against her country's human-rights violations.”
In 2004, Suu Kyi won Time Asia’s Asia Hero on-line poll, receiving 37,617 votes (40.4 per cent of the 93,022 votes cast.)
Suu Kyi is also a favorite among Internet bloggers and facebook members. More than  
31,000 facebook users are currently Suu Kyi fans.

“Facebook is an excellent way to reach new people and let them know about Aung San Suu Kyi and the situation in Burma,” said Zoya Phan, international coordinator of Burma Campaign UK, in a statement earlier this month.

“The regime in Burma has detained Aung San Suu Kyi because they want the world to forget about her. This is another way of ensuring they don’t succeed,” Zoya Phan said.

Suu Kyi has spent more than 13 of the past 20 years under house arrest. Her party, the National League for Democracy, won 80 percent of constituencies in the election in 1990. However, the junta, which is planning to hold another election in 2010, refused to honor the 1990 result.

Tea leaves from Myanmar recalled

 Singapore - A range of pickled tea leaves imported from Myanmar have been found to be unsafe for consumption.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) which has issued a product recall says it has detected the presence of Auramine O which is a yellow dye used as an industrial colouring agent for coloring silk, cotton, paper and leather.

The dye is not permitted for use in food and all products containing the dye have been recalled and will be destroyed.

The move follows a ban by the Myanmar Health Ministry on 43 brands of pickled tea leaves which were found to contain the chemical dye instead of edible dye which is said to cost 20 times higher than Auramine O. 

Pickled tea leaves, mixed with edible oil and nuts often called "tea salad" or "la phet thote", is a popular traditional side dish.

The pickled tea leaves found to contain the chemicl dye include several popular brands sold in Myanmar and abroad.

In Singapore, 20 types of pickled tea leaves imported from Myanmar have so far been found to contain Auramine O dye, including those under the brands of Ah Yee Taung, M&N, Shwe Toak, Soe Win, U Ka Kar,Yuzana and Zayan.

The AVA said in a statement that all consignments of tea leaves from Myanmar will held for testing and will be released for sale only if test results show that they are free from Auramine O.

Consumers who have bought such products are advised not to consume them but to to discard the products. Those with queries can call AVA’s hotline at 63257625.

Details of the recalled products: 

1: Ah Yee Taung Pickled Tea Leaves
2: Ah Yee Taung Pickled Tea Leaves (Normal)
3: Ah Yee Taung Pickled Tea Leaves (Red)
4: Ah Yee Taung Pickled Tea Leaves (Sour & Spicy)
5: M&N Pickled Tea Leaves (Extra Spicy) 
6: M&N Pickled Tea Leaves (Spicy)
7: M&N Than Lwin Fwn Food Products Lon May Pickled Tea Leaves
8: M&N Than Lwin Fwn Food Products Pickled Tea Leaves
9: Shwe Toak Pickled Tea Leaves with Mixed Nut
10: Soe Win Gold Label Tea Leaves, 70 g (Best before date Jul-09)
11: U Ka Kar Green Tea Leaves
12: Yuzana Pickled Tea Leaves (Blue) - "Girl" 
13: Yuzana Pickled Tea Leaves (Red) - "Boy"
14: Yuzana Pickled Tea Leaves (White) - "Girl"
15: Yuzana Pickled Tea Leaves with Mixed Peas
16: Yuzana Pickled Tea Leaves
17: Yuzana Pickled Tea Leaves (Sour & Spicy)
18: Yuzana Pickled Tea Leaves with Peas
19: Yuzana Plantation Pickled Tea Leaves
20: Zayan Pickled Tea Leaves (Hot & Spicy)

Thai Protests Build on Economic Crisis

 Detail Story: Please Read HERE

BANGKOK -- Tens of thousands of antigovernment protesters sang and danced through the weekend outside Thailand's main government complex, cheering on ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and offering the nation's new leaders -- and others in Asia -- a jarring reminder of the political risks accompanying the region's sharp economic decline.

European Pressphoto Agency

Former Thai premier Thaksin Shinwatara spoke to his supporters in a video broadcast.

Local businesswoman Darunee Kritboonyalai, a founding shareholder of a Thai iced-tea brand and an active supporter of Mr. Thaksin, said the protests against Thailand's government could grow as the economy worsens. "We're just part of a global situation, true. But this government doesn't know how to handle it properly," she said.

The protesters are mainly seeking to restore Mr. Thaksin -- a multimillionaire businessman who was removed from office in a military coup nearly three years ago -- to power. They object to the way Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva came to power and are disenchanted with how he is handling the country's economic downturn, and so are hoping to fuel wider discontent.

Skeptics Question Burma’s Internet Slowdown

Burma has one of slowest internet connections in the world for ordinary citizens but since March 21, Internet access has become even slower, seriously affecting businesses and the communications industry.

Myanmar Teleport, which control acces to the Internet in Burma, announced that Internet speed would slow on March 21-25 due to maintenance on a fiber optic cable. Then, Myanmar Teleport extended the slower service to April 1.

An Internet cafe in Rangoon (Photo: AFP)

“Its impact is big inside Burma, especially on weekly journals, export-import companies and travel agencies,” said a Rangoon-based journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity. 

  Weekly journals include the popular sports weeklies, which depend on the Internet for international coverage of events.

A bookstore owner said, “Journals which cover football are the worst. They can do nothing if the Internet is too slow.”
Some Internet observers were skeptical about the government’s claim of Internet maintenance, and said it could have something to do with government monitoring of Internet use.
 “They [authorities] said they are working on a fiber optic cable, but that’s not possible because some sites can now be used and some can’t,” said a young Internet user in the city. “Now we can't use some proxy sites for popular Web sites such as Gmail. They may be trying to prohibit the sites they don't like and scanning suspect e-mail.”

Internet speed in Burma is normally slow compared to neighboring countries, and Internet use is not widespread.

According to the CIA World Fact Book, there were 70,000 Burmese Internet users in 2007 and 108 internet hosts in 2008 while Thailand had 13.4 million Internet users in 2007 and 1.1 million Internet hosts in 2008.

The Burmese junta’s Internet firewall attempts to ban all exiled Burmese media, selected international media, all blogs, some scholarship Web sites and all proxy servers, say Internet users.
Notices are posted in Internet shops in Burma warning customers that accessing banned Web sites is against the law.

Since September 2007, the junta has viewed Internet users as a threat to military control of information, especially to the international community, which learned of the junta’s brutal crackdown on demonstrators through reports from private citizens over the Internet.

Following the crackdown, parts of the Burmese Internet were shut down for two weeks.

“The regime ordered access providers to limit exchanges between the Burmese people and the rest of the world,” said the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF). “The junta aimed to prevent the spread of video on sharing sites such as YouTube, Dailymotion and Flickr.”

Last year, the government sentenced two popular Burmese bloggers to long prison terms under an electronic communications act which bars certain types of communication that “threaten state security.”

Nay Phone Latt, a blogger, received a 20-year prison sentence in late 2008, and the well-known comedian and blogger Zaganar received a 59-year sentence.

Burma’s closest ally, China, has been criticized by media watchdog groups for its role in providing technologies to control the Internet in Burma.

“Burma, long home to one of Asia’s most repressive media environments, has also taken Internet censorship cues from China, its staunchest international ally,” said the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), saying Burmese security police received Internet censorship and surveillance training from Chinese experts.

The CPJ said the training includes monitoring online journalists and bloggers as well as launching cyber-attacks on the Web sites of exiled groups and publications.

The Information Warfare Monitor, a Canadian research group, claimed on the weekend that an electronic Internet spy network, with servers based in China, had illegally accessed 1,295 computers in 103 countries, including foreign ministries and embassies, as well as computers working on behalf of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi News on Chinese TV

A state-run Chinese TV station in Yunnan Province broadcast news on Wednesday concerning detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

According to sources in Ruili on the Sino-Burmese border, the news program stated that the Geneva-based UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had declared that the ongoing house arrest of the Nobel Prize laureate was illegal and contrary to the domestic law of Burma.

It is rare to see Suu Kyi’s picture or hear mention of her name in the Chinese media as Beijing has long been a strong supporter of the Burmese junta.

Burma observers have suggested that the apparent recognition of the Burmese opposition leader by a Chinese network could signal a cooling in Beijing’s support for the Burmese junta.

The broadcast came just days after the visit of a high-level US diplomat to Burma. Observers said that amid signs of a shifting US approach toward the military rulers, China might be worried that the US will influence the Burmese regime and may be looking to intimidate the junta by winning favor with the opposition.

During his four-day visit to Burma, Stephen Blake, director of the State Department's Mainland Southeast Asia Office, held talks with senior members of the opposition National League for Democracy, which is led by Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi is being held under the terms of Burma’s State Protection Act of 1975, which provides for detention for up to five years to persons judged to pose a threat to the sovereignty and security of the state and the peace of the people. Suu Kyi already served that sentence, but it was extended for a further 12 months. Her current detention is due to expire on May 24.

Changes Proposed on US Economic Sanctions

A high-level US official told the Committee Representing People of Parliament (CRPP) on Wednesday that some existing economic sanctions may be withdrawn while other targeted sanctions may remain in place.

Aye Thar Aung, secretary of CRPP, said that Stephen Blake, the director of the US State Department’s Office of Mainland Southeast Asia, made his remarks at a meeting in Rangoon. No details of the new policy were available.

The CRPP was formed following the 1990 election and is made up of elected members of parliament and various opposition groups.

Meanwhile Nyan Win, a spokesperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD), said that the NLD urged the US government to initiate talks with the Burmese regime to help move the reconciliation process forward.

During a four-day visit, Blake also met with Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win at the administrative capital of Naypyidaw.

Burma was Blake's last stop on a tour of Southeast Asia that also took him to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

Aung Naing Oo, a Burma political analyst in exile, said that it is good sign that US officials are meeting with high-level members of the Burmese junta.

However, he said that the US will not change its Burma policy dramatically as long as the regime detains political prisoners, including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The US is Burma's strongest critic among the international community. In 1996, it began economic sanctions by freezing US investments in Burma because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

In July 2003 following a junta-backed attack on Suu Kyi and her convoy in May 2003, former President Gorge W. Bush placed tighter economic sanctions on Burma which banned imports from Burma.

In October 2007, after a crackdown on the monk-led demonstrators in September 2007, the US used a new method by imposing targeted sanctions, visa bans as well as financial sanctions on  Burmese regime members, their family and business cronies. Since then, at least six businessmen with links to the junta cronies have been placed under US-targeted sanctions.

In July 2008, President Bush, the US Senate and House signed a new Burma law, the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act 2008, which imposed new financial sanctions and travel restrictions on the leaders of the junta and their associates; tightened the economic sanctions imposed in 2003 by outlawing the importation of Burmese gems to the US; and created a new position of “US Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma.”

Breaking News: UN Says Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Detention Illegal! Wednesday, March 25, 2009 8:54 PM

Yesterday, the UN made a groundbreaking decision on Burma.

For the first time ever, a body of the United Nations -- the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD)-- declared that the continued imprisonment of Burma's democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is illegal under Burma's own domestic laws.

Through this ruling, the UN has shown that not only does Than Shwe's military junta operate with a thorough disregard for international law, but they have also firmly entrenched a system of impunity for violating their own laws inside Burma.  

After the ruling, the United Nations called on Burma's military regime to release Aung San Suu Kyi immediately and without conditions.  This is another example of mounting international pressure against Burma's regime.

The U.S. Campaign for Burma is working hard to ensure that Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom, and the freedom of all 2,100 courageous political prisoners in Burma, remains a priority for the international community.

Participating in Arrest Yourself 2009 is a unique way for you to spend time with family and friends while spreading awareness about Aung San Suu Kyi and supporting her struggle for freedom.

You can learn more about the UNWGAD's decision on Aung San Suu Kyi's illegal detention in the following articles: news.bbc.co. uk/1/hi/world/ asia-pacific/ 7960506.stm, www.irrawaddy. org/highlight. php.


Thank you for all your hard work,

Mike Haack
Campaigns Coordinator
U.S. Campaign for Burma

  

US Disappointed by Suu Kyi's Detention

WASHINGTON — The United States said on Tuesday it is disappointed by the continued detention of Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest and the Burmese junta’s failure to heed international calls for her release.

“We are disappointed that the regime continues to ignore the calls of the international community, including the UN Security Council, to release the more than 2,100 political prisoners immediately and unconditionally,” US State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood said in a statement.

The US once again urged Burmese authorities to release all political prisoners and initiate a genuine dialogue that can help move the country toward political reconciliation.

The statement came in the wake of the latest ruling from a UN body which said that the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is illegal both under international and Burmese domestic laws.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in its order said the continued detentions of Aung San Suu Kyi, Aung Myin, Ko Jimmy, Paw Oo Tun, and Mtay Win Aung are arbitrary and unjustified.

It said the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is in contravention of Burma’s own law.  The UN working group urged the Burmese government to release these individuals immediately.

 “The Working Group . . . declare[s] Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s placement under house arrest [is] arbitrary, being in contravention of Articles 9, 10, and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . . . and even domestic law . . . which itself contradicts to [sic] the basic principles and norms of modern international law . . . Consequent upon this Opinion, the Working Group requests the Government to immediately release, without any condition, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi from her continued placement under house arrest,” the order said.

The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is an independent and impartial body of the Human Rights Council. It consists of experts from Chile, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Senegal and Spain.
Meanwhile, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg also announced his concern upon the release of the UNWGAD opinion on the ongoing detention of Suu Kyi.

"I use this opportunity to urge again the Burmese authorities not to violate its own and international law. I appeal on the Burmese junta to immediately and unconditionally release ASSK and all other political prisoners and detainees and begin an inclusive and genuine dialogue with the opposition groups and ethnic groups leading to their equitable participation in the political process," Karel said.

Army Capitalists: The Junta’s Wealth

The Burmese military has monopolized the country’s economy, especially heavy industries, mining and the import-export sector, since the military seized state power in September, 1988.

According to Burmese defense scholar Maung Aung Myoe, the collapse of the socialist regime in 1988 opened the way for the Tatmadaw [armed forces] to resume its socio-economic role, independent of the country and its private, commercial interests, as it decided to play the leading role in national politics.

The scholar notes in his book, “Building the Tatmadaw,” that there were two reasons to establish commercial enterprises: to be self-reliant and to finance defense modernization as an off-budget measure.

The Burmese military founded two military-managed economic organizations, the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and the Union of Myanmar Economic Holding Limited (UMEHL), in 1989 and 1990 respectively.

Interestingly, UMEHL, also known as U Pai, funding is based on contributions from military personnel, military units, retired military personnel, army veteran organizations and the ministry of defense to support in-service and retired military personnel. 

UMEHL was previously led by Lt-Gen Myo Nyunt, a former Rangoon regional commander. It is currently led by Lt-Gen Tin Aye of the Office of Defense Industries.

UMEHL was the first business venture established by the Burmese military for small and medium-sized commercial enterprises and industries. Its subsidiary and affiliated firms engage in macroeconomic trading with Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, China, South Korea, and India. Edible oil, fuel oil and automobiles from these countries are imported to Burma and exports include cigarettes, beans and pulses, gems and garment products.

Maung Aung Myoe’s book, published by Institute of Southeast Asia Studies in Singapore, said that between 1990 and early 2007, UMEHL formed 77 fully owned firms.

UMEHL’s commercial interests include gem production and marketing, garment factories, wood and wood-based industries, food and beverage, supermarkets, banking, hotels and tourism, transportation, telecommunications and electronic equipment, computer, construction and real estate, the steel industry, cement production, automobiles, cosmetics and stationery. 

In the 2006-2007 fiscal year, UMEHL started 35 firms; it has liquidated six firms since 1999.

One of the liquidated firms, the Myanmar Ruby Enterprise, operated Mogoke mine, Mongshu mine, Nanyar mine, Mawchi mine and a gold mine in the Tahbeikkyin area.

Maung Aung Myoe noted that one of the main reasons for firms being liquidated was the investment sanctions imposed by Western governments. Another possible reason could be structural problems relating to poor macroeconomic policies and business environment in Burma.

Among the corporations heavily involved with UMEHL are Segye Corporation of Korea, Daewoo Corporation of Korea, Korea-based Pohon Iron and Steel Co. Ltd, Rothmans Myanmar Holding Pte Ltd. Of Singapore, Fraser & Neave of Singapore, Mitsugi Corporation of Japan and Nikko Shoji Co. Ltd of Japan.

The MEC is by nature secretive. It is under the ministry of defense and is designed to help the Tatmadaw to build its own industrial and technological base. MEC operates at least 21 heavy factories across the country, according to Maung Aung Myoe.

Among them, MEC operates with Thai companies on the construction of Tarsan Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Salween River.

Since 1989 when Burma introduced an open-market economy, the country has remained poor, but the generals who monopolize the natural resources and the economy have increased their personal fortunes while maintaining their military machine.

US Still Working on New Burma Policy

WASHINGTON — A senior US official has repeated earlier comments that the Obama administration is in the process of devising a new policy to achieve a goal of democratic reconciliation in Burma.

“It is clear that we and the international community have not been very successful in Burma,” the Acting Assistant Secretary for International Organizations, James Warlick, told a group of foreign journalists here, during a briefing on the administration’s approach with regard to various issues related to the United Nations.

“I think we all are committed to bring about change in Burma, but then the question is how? How can we influence [a government] that has a repressive military regime, which has prosecuted its own people? How can we effectively deal with them?” he asked.

“This administration is seeking a fresh look on Burma, and it has not yet concluded on a particular path but it is recognized as an area which is a concern for us,” Warlick said.

“We still see a repressive regime,” he said. “We still see political prisoners. Aung San Suu Kyi still remains under house arrest. Added to that is the physical devastation of the country due to Cyclone Nargis.” 

Warlick said Burma would continue to be one of the priority issues and the Obama administration would continue to push for its goals through the UN, Asean and other countries. He noted that Burma continues to be on the agenda of the UN Security Council.

During her trip to Asia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the Obama administration will review the policy on Burma including economic sanctions which she said had failed to yield the desired result either to the international community or to the people of Burma.

No deadline was set for the completion of the review.

Burma is an International issue: China

China’s representative in Geneva has said at the United Nations Human Rights Council that issues of development and national reconciliation in Burma are difficulties and challenges that are in the interests of the entire international community.

“We understand the difficulties and challenges that Myanmar [Burma] is confronted with in domestic development and in promoting national reconciliation, especially in the current rampant financial crisis,” said Yan Jiarong on March 16.

“The stability and development of Myanmar is not only in the interest of the region, [but it is] also the interest of the whole international community,” she added.

The statement was in response to a recent report on Burma’s human rights record by UN Human Rights Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana who visited Burma in February.

China hoped the world would foster a conducive environment for gradually achieving democracy and development in the country, Yan said.

In the past, Beijing regularly refused to be drawn into debate on the Burmese crisis, referring to the matter an internal issue. In a 2007 UN Security Council meeting, China and Russia vetoed a draft resolution on the release of political prisoners in Burma.

However, China appears to be shifting its policy on Burma. It has cooperated on Burmese issues with other countries, such as the United States and the European Union, as well as India and Southeast Asian nations.

China has been the Burmese junta’s closest ally, particularly since 1988. It also sells arms, warships and aircraft to the Burmese regime despite international condemnation.

Chinese officials have visited Burma recently and met with high-ranking generals, including the head of the junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe. On Wednesday in Naypyidaw, Than Shwe met Chen Bingde, chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

Li Changchun, a senior official of the ruling Communist Party of China, left on Friday for a four-country trip of the Asia-Pacific region, where he will also visit Burma.

Homeless Cyclone Survivors Demonstrate

More than 20 homeless survivors of Cyclone Nargis demonstrated at the cyclone reconstruction committee headquarters in Twante Township in Rangoon on Friday. 

The protesters, from Zeekone village, appeared at the cyclone reconstruction committee office about 10 am to voice complaints that they are still without homes and the rainy season is drawing near, according to a NLD youth member in Twante Township.

“They are real cyclone victims,” he said. “But they didn’t get their houses [rebuilt] like other people. They were neglected and abandoned. The committee only takes care of their relatives.” He charged that the committee has misused reconstruction funds.

The protesters, accompanied by NLD youth members, stopped the demonstration about 4:30 pm when members of the Myanmar Red Cross (MRC) met with the group.

The MRC has promised to rebuild houses at a cost of 400,000 kyat (US $400) each, according to the Red Cross.

Reconstruction committees were formed in each township to coordinate the rebuilding effort, along with a committee in each village.

Annual Burma Human Rights Day Benefit

Free Burma; Free Aung San Suu Kyi
Annual Burma Human Rights Day Benefit
(A public outreach and awareness activity in support of Burma's people!)

Saturday, March 14, 2009; 6:00pm-10:00pm
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall,
1924 Cedar (at Bonita),

Berkeley, CA 94709-2022, USA

The event will feature a Burmese style dinner and a Burma documentary film along with two outstanding Speakers on Burma: Min Zin and Zoya Phan. Join Us!

Each year, the people from Burma around the world commemorate March 13 as the Burma Human Rights Day to make the death of the engineering student Ko Phone Maw as he was murdered by the Burma's military in his school campus. The killing set off the historic 1988 nation-wide pro-democracy uprising in Burma after 26 years of oppression. However, the regime brutally cracked down the peaceful protests and continued hold on to power for decades.

In September, 2007, yet another historic and massive, but peaceful protests for democracy led by the students and monks took place; but, as always, the regime brutally murdered the innocent protesters and monks. The Peoples' endless and painful struggle for freedom, for over four decades, continues to this day.

The world has yet again witnessed the brutality of the regime when the Cyclone Nargis devastated the lower delta region of Burma on May 2nd, 2008. Hundreds of thousands left for dead by starvations denying much needed urgent help despite international appeals and pressure.

To continue to raise the awareness about the brutal dictatorship and the people's suffering in Burma, and to discuss planning actions, this year again, BADA will hold its ninth Annual Burma Human Rights Day event on Saturday March 14, 2009 at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists hall, 1924 Cedar (@Bonita) in Berkeley from 6 pm to 10 pm.

SPEAKERS:

Min Zin: He was 14 years old high school student when he participated in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and had to spend nine years in hiding before fleeing Burma. He is now a leading Journalist on Burma in Exile and a teaching fellow at UC Berkeley's School of Journalism. Though he has never finished high school due to his struggle under the regime, the UC Berkeley has accepted him as a graduate student for a masters degree in Southeast Asian studies -- for the first time in its history. Five professors at the university has endorsed his application citing his intensive journalism work on Burma. He has also worked for Washington-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) in the Burmese Department and for the Irrawaddy Magazine based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Zoya Phan: At 14, Zoya become a refugee after fleeing a military attack on her Karen village. She is currently the International Coordinator of Burma Campaign (UK) and has met with political leaders and government around the globe to advocate for human rights in Burma. She works tirelessly and has been credited for generating increased pressure from the European Countries on the military regime in Burma. She is the director Phan Foundation that aims to fight poverty and provide education for Karen people from Burma, who have suffered decades of oppression. Zoya and three other children co-founded the Phan foundation in honor of their beloved father, Padoh Mahn Sha, the General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), who was assassinated by agents of Burma’s military dictatorship on Feb 14, 2008.

$15 Suggested Donation (dinner included) to benefit BADA
Draft Program: Dinner (6-7 pm), Speakers (7-9 pm), Film (9:00-9:30), Q&A (9:30-10:00)
Dinner is vegetarian friendly; Talks will be in English; Contents are OK for children

Organized by Burmese American Democratic Alliance; Co-sponsored by Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Social Justice Committee and Global Exchange (GX).

Contact: Anil Verma: 510 485 3751; Kyaw Sit Naing: 415 680 5555
Email: info@badasf. org; Website: www.badasf.org

Featuring Burma images from photographer

In 2007, photographer Felice Willat visited Burma and fell in love with the country and its people.   The resulting  photographs inspired her new book, "The Quiet Between - Song Of Burma".


Making one of a kind gourds since 1991, Karen Saviskas has had her work featured in galleries across the US  and Canada.  In 1994, one of her pieces was chosen to decorate the White House Christmas tree and is now part of the permanent gourd collection of The Smithsonian Institution.


Please join us for this very special event
ALMS-"Offerings"
Featuring Burma images from photographer Felice Willat
and Gourds from Karen Saviskas
Artist Reception and Book Signing
Sunday April 19, 2009
4:00 - 7:00pm
Exhibition Dates:  Tuesday April 7th - Sunday May 3rd

Topanga Canyon Gallery
120 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd.  #109 Pine Tree Circle
Topanga, CA  90290   310 455-7909
www.topangacanyonga llery.com
www.felwil.zenfolio .com
felicewill@charter. net
rkms1@msn.com

Gallery Hours:  Wednesday - Saturday  10am - 6pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm
Closed Monday and Tuesday  

Thee Lay Thee Farewell

From:
Subject: [8888laorganizers] Thee Lay Thee Farewell
To: 8888laorganizers@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, March 16, 2009, 11:15 PM

Dear Friends,

Please come and join the the last Concert and Farewell Party for Thee Lay Thee on Saturday evening of March 28, 2009.

http://dawngwin. googlepages. com/T4TFarewell. pdf

Hope to see you all at the farewell performance. May we meet them again in happier times.

LA Organizers for Burma

Obama, Indonesian President Discuss Burma

US President Barack Obama discussed the issue of restoration of democracy and protection of human rights in Burma when he made a telephone call to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday.
The talk centered on how to make progress on the issues, the White House said in a statement after the call was made. No further details were available.

After entering the White House, Obama and administration officials reiterated their support for the people of Burma and a commitment to help the country achieve national reconciliation.

The administration is currently reviewing its Burma policy, a point made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her trip to Asia last month.

Clinton said the current policy of economic sanctions on the Burmese military government has not yielded the desired result.

The review process is still ongoing. Unlike the Afghanistan policy review, no timeline has been set for its completion.

Free Burma's Political Prisoners Now

----
Will you take a stand for Burma's Political Prisoners?

Today thousands of people across the world are uniting with one voice demanding the release of all of Burma's political prisoners. They are taking part in a global signature campaign which aims to collect 888,888 signatures on a petition to UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon before May 24, 2009, which is the date that Nobel Peace Prize recipient and elected leader of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, should be released from house arrest.

This petition calls on the UN Secretary General to make it his personal priority to secure the release of all political prisoners in Burma.

Please sign the petition now by following this link.

The target of 888,888 signatures symbolizes 8.8.88, the day the junta massacred some 3,000 people who courageously protested in Burma's largest democracy uprising. 

Political Prisoners In Burma

• There are over 2,100 political prisoners in Burma.
• Political prisoners are not criminals.  They have simply stood up for freedom and democracy.
• Without the release of all political prisoners, there can be no peace and stability.
• Torture of political prisoners is state policy in Burma and it must end now.
• The regime must stop harassing and arresting pro-democracy activists.

These courageous men and women have stood at the forefront of Burma's fight for democracy and they need your help.  Sign this petition now to send a strong message to General Secretary Ban Ki-moon that the world is united in seeking their release.  Your message will undoubtedly reverberate through the ranks of the brave men and women of Burma who are fighting for freedom, democracy and human rights.

Freedom for Burma's political prisoners is essential for progress.  As Nelson Mandela once remarked "Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners can not enter into contracts."

Once you have signed the petition, please forward this message on to your friends and family.

Thank you,

Mike Haack
Campaigns Coordinator
U.S. Campaign for Burma
Mike@uscampaignforburma.org

Political Prisoners Doubled in Two Years, Say Activists

The number of political prisoners in Burma has almost doubled since July 2007, according to activists who launched a campaign on Friday to press for their release.

Before the start of demonstrations in August 2007, it was estimated that Burmese jails held 1,100 political prisoners. Today the number stands at 2,100, said Khin Ohmar, a leading Burmese activist at the launch of the campaign “Free Burma’s Political Prisoners Now!” (www.fbppn.net) in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

“Unless political prisoners are released, there is no peace and stability in the country,” she said.
The “Free Burma’s Political Prisoners Now!” campaign is organized by the Thailand-based Burmese Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP) and the Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB), an umbrella dissident group of seven organizations in exile.

Khin Ohmar, of the FDB, was banned from attending the Asean summit in Thailand last month, along with a Cambodian activist.

The current campaign aims to collect a symbolic 888,888 signatures on a petition for the release of Burma’s political prisoners. The petition will be circulated in Thailand,  Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.

In Thailand, the launch was held at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok and Chiang Mai University’s International Center.

Friday was chosen for the launch because March 13 was proclaimed Burma’s Human Rights Day by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other leading dissidents to mark the anniversary of the deaths of activists Phone Maw and Soe Naing in clashes with police in 1988.

The petition calling for the release of political prisoners will be circulated until May 24, the day that Suu Kyi should be released from her current term of house arrest under Burmese law.  It will be sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,

The UN General Assembly has been urging the release of Burma’s political prisoners for more than a decade. 

AAPP Secretary Tate Naing said at Friday’s launch that the 2010 election would be meaningless if political prisoners were still behind bars on polling day.

“The release of political prisoners is number 1 priority for national reconciliation and democratization in the country,” he said.

Signatures Wanted to Free Political Prisoners

Two Thailand-based rights groups, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners—Burma (AAPP) and the Forum for Democracy in Burma, are on Friday launching a global campaign to mark Burmese Human Rights Day.

Called the “Free Burma’s Political Prisoners Now” campaign, the organizers’ committee said it aims to collect signatures for a petition calling for the release of political prisoners in Burma, and hopes to collect 888,888 signatures by May 24, the date when Aung San Suu Kyi is due to be released from house arrest.  

“Our main reason for the campaign is to raise awareness among the international community about the plight of political prisoners in the country and to put more pressure on the Burmese military government,” said Tate Naing, the secretary of AAPP.

“The release of all political prisoners is the essential first step toward democracy and national reconciliation in Burma,” he added.

The campaign pamphlet explains that there are currently over 2,100 political prisoners languishing in Burmese prisons and that they have all been jailed because they chose to work for democracy and human rights.

“Political prisoners have not committed more crimes than that of expressing their political believes either through word or through action,” Aung San Suu Kyi was quoted as saying in the campaign pamphlet.

“Some of our political prisoners were arrested on grounds other than those associated [with] political activities, but we all knew that the real reason [for] their imprisonment was their political affiliation.” 

Suu Kyi is the general secretary of the opposition National League for Democracy and has been under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years. She remains the only Nobel Peace Prize winner behind bars.

Another political prisoner is Mya Aye, who held a 45th birthday party for himself on Tuesday in Loikaw Prison in Karenni State. 

Mya Aye is serving a 65-year sentence for his involvement in political activities. He was arrested on August 21, 2007, at his home along with 12 other activists, including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Htay Win Aung, Min Zeya and Kyaw Min Yu (aka Jimmy), after leading a march on August 19 against sharp increases in the price of fuel and other commodities.

Mya Aye graduated from Rangoon University and was one of the leaders of the Graduated Old Student Democratic Association (GOSDA) during the 1989 pro-democracy uprising. He was arrested for the first time on June 20, 1989, for his role as a prominent protest leader. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, but was released in 1996.

Speaking on a video file recently, Mya Aye’s daughter, Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, said, “When I was five months old, my father was jailed for eight years for being involved in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. I was four years old when I first met him. But he was behind iron bars, so I didn’t get a chance to embrace him.”

After he was released in 1996, Mya Aye continued his political activities for the restoration of freedom, democracy and human rights in Burma, she said.

“The prison authorities tortured him every way: with electricity, sexual harassment and abuse,” Wai Hnin Pwint Thon said.

“As I got older, I realized why he was in prison,” she said. “I admired his sacrifice for his country and his people. I think he is very brave person.”

Burmese General, Than Shwe’s New Pagoda Hides More than a Buddha Relic

Than Shwe and members of his family hoist the pagoda’s htidaw, or sacred umbrella. (Photo: The Mirror)

Burmese junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, his wife Kyaing Kyaing and members of their family led ceremonies marking the consecration in Naypyidaw of a replica of Rangoon’s famous Shwedagon Pagoda.

The Naypyidaw pagoda, visible from every road leading into Burma’s new capital, is 99 m high, less than one meter lower than the original. Like the Rangoon pagoda, it is covered in gold foil, and its consecration was completed by hoisting its htidaw (sacred umbrella) and placing a huge seinbudaw, or diamond bud, at its apex.

Multimedia (View)

Thousands of precious stones—diamonds, rubies, pearls and jade—were donated to adorn the pagoda, which has been given the name Uppatasanti, or "Peace Pagoda."   

The regime daily The New Light of Myanmar reported that Than Shwe and his family donated a Buddha tooth relic to be placed inside the pagoda. The relic came from China, the newspaper said.The construction of the new pagoda is seen by many Burmese as a continuation of the tradition of Burmese kings who built pagodas as acts of penance for the wars they conducted.

According to one scholar, Maung Aung Myo, Uppatasanti is the name of a sutra written by a monk in the early 16th century. It was intended to be “recited in time of crisis especially in the face of foreign invasion," wrote Maung Aung Myo in a paper entitled The Road to Naypyidaw: Making Sense of the Myanmar Government's Decision to Move its Capital, for the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore.

Work on the pagoda began in 2006, following the regime’s removal of its administrative capital from Rangoon to Naypyidaw, in November 2005.

Most observers and even some government officials say moving the capital from Rangoon to the remote Pyinmana area was the sole idea of Than Shwe. The astrologers on whom he and his family rely reportedly suggested relocating the capital after foreseeing bloodshed and natural disaster for Rangoon.

Although hundreds of monks attended the consecration, they were kept well away from its central ceremonies, which were performed by the Than Shwe family, military leaders and senior government officials, including Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, Gen Thura Shwe Mann and Gen Thein Sein.

Official newspapers reported that thousands attended the festivities surrounding the consecration. They made no mention, however, of a fairground disaster on the eve of the festivities, in which 20 people are reported to have died.

Sleepless in Mae Sot

News this week that senior military leaders of the Karen National Union (KNU) are being pressured by Thai authorities to return to their own territory has sent alarm bells ringing among many Burmese exiles in Thailand.

The hardened stance by the Thais came after a meeting earlier this year between Thai and Burmese border officers in Myawaddy, a Burmese army-controlled border town in Karen State. The pressure to repatriate is not being exerted only on the KNU, but also on the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front armed group.

As yet, we do not know if the pressure on Burmese dissidents and rebel groups along the Thai-Burmese border will increase in the coming weeks or whether the Thais were simply paying lip service to the Burmese authorities.

With so many internationally funded NGOs, political groups and humanitarian agencies based along the border, especially in Mae Sot, many are asking whether the tightening of Thai policy will include all Burmese in the area. Time will tell.

However, what we can tell is that the writing is well and truly on the wall. From a comfortable and relatively prosperous status as a “buffer” for the Thais in the 1970s and 80s, the KNU has gradually lost influence. The Karen may not have anything to offer the Thais any more.

Since the breakaway of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the fall of its headquarters, Manerplaw, in 1995, the KNU have continually faced mutinies, military defeats, an erosion of influence and a loss of revenue from its previous border trade.

The KNU’s influence was undermined again last year when one of its leaders, Padoh Mahn Sha, was gunned down in his home in Mae Sot. The culprits and assassins were never brought to justice.
Then, in the middle of February, the KNU was accused of shelling a Burmese border town, Myawaddy. The New Light of Myanmar, a Burmese junta mouthpiece, claimed that four shells were fired, two landing about 10 km southwest of the town, one near a lodge and another in the compound of a Buddhist monastery. No casualties were reported.

Although the KNU denied the accusation, the attack occurred on the same day that the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, arrived in the country for a six-day visit, and a day before he was scheduled to travel to Pa-an, the capital of Karen State—clearly a moral card for the junta to play on the UN envoy.

After six decades of guerilla warfare, the KNU has faced last stands before; its leaders have always refused to cut deals with the junta. However, the recent signs are worrying.

In January, Col Ner Dah Mya, the son of the late Gen Bo Mya of the KNU, was released on bail by the Thai army, according to the BBC, fueling speculation of another waning star within the Karen rebels’ ranks.

Nonetheless, the Burmese generals may still be their own worst enemy when it comes to developing friendships. The new Democrat government in Thailand is known to prefer keeping its distance from the regime in Burma.

Although Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva stole the show at the recent Asean Summit in Hua Hin when his government hosted representatives from civil society groups, the meeting was overshadowed by the negative elements brought to the summit by the Burmese junta.

With its petulant threats to boycott the meeting with the civil society group, the Burmese delegation embarrassed their hosts. Many within Asean cannot see how the economic bloc can gain credibility with the Burmese albatross around its neck.

However, whatever the political differences, the fact is that the Thai and Burmese military leaders continue to enjoy a relatively good relationship.

Recently, junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe met with Thailand’s army chief, Gen Anupong Paojinda, to discuss the Rohingya boatpeople issue. For Than Shwe—a man who frequently snubs UN envoys—to agree to talks signified a warming in relations. Surely, many said, Burma wants something from Thailand.
And when Thai Supreme Commander Gen Songkitti Jaggabat visited Burma last month to discuss the Rohingya issue, he was given the red carpet treatment and a private audience with Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye.
Of course it is difficult for the generals in Naypyidaw to forget that Thailand is a major trading partner and has purchased natural gas resources from the regime and cut a deal to buy hydroelectric energy via the 7,110-megawatt Tasang dam on the Salween River.
So, despite all the Burmese regime’s faults, the Thais clearly have more common interests with the junta nowadays than with the KNU.
Perhaps to pragmatic Thais who have long abandoned the buffer zone policy, today the KNU is worth little after losing its territory and its major trade routes. 

Burmese Junta Rejects US Human Rights and Narcotics Reports

The military junta that rules Burma has rejected two recent reports by the United States Department of State, according to Burma’s state-run media.

Burma’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released two statements which denied charges made in the US State Department’s 2008 Country Report on Human Rights Practices and International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.

In rejecting the US human rights report, the Burmese ministry said, “Instead of making false allegations at other nations [the] US should concentrate on uplifting its own human rights record.”
The regime also said that the US report repeated its “unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations of human rights violations” in Burma. “It is saddening to find,” the statement added.

In responding to the report on narcotics, the Burmese ministry said it had groundlessly identified Burma as one of three countries in the world that had failed demonstrably to meet its international counter narcotics obligations.

“It is regrettable that such an unfair categorization was made, ignoring Myanmar [Burma]’s strenuous efforts in combating narcotic drugs,” the Foreign Ministry said, adding that Burma’s national efforts in combating drug problem were carried out with little or no external assistance.
The statement by the ministry slammed the US report for its “inaccurate and politically motivated assessments.”

The US State Department said on February 25 in its 2008 report on human rights that the Burmese regime continued to abridge the right of citizens to change their government and committed other severe human rights abuses. It said that government security forces allowed custodial deaths to occur and committed extrajudicial killings, disappearances, rape and torture. It also criticized the regime for indefinitely detaining activists without charges.

In the narcotics report, released on February 27, the regime was singled out for failing to control the production and distribution of illicit drugs.

“Both UNODC [United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime] and US surveys of opium poppy cultivation indicated a significant increase in cultivation and potential production in 2007, and production and export of synthetic drugs (amphetamine-type stimulants, crystal methamphetamine and Ketamine) from Burma continued unabated,” the report stated.

Although Burma’s state-run media published the regime’s response to the US reports, it failed to cover a much bigger international story: the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for genocide in Darfur.
However, the junta mouthpiece, The New Light of Myanmar, reported the inauguration ceremony for Sudan’s Merowe Dam, at which Bashir addressed a crowd.

Like the Sudanese regime, the Burmese junta has been accused by human rights groups of committing genocide and ethnic cleansing during its military offensives against insurgents.

Invitation to Bay Area Burmese (Myanmar) Community Census meeting.

Dear Community, Friends, Organizations and Individuals,

You are cordially invited to join us in the community town hall meeting to discuss further action-items for the U.S Census 2010 for the benefits of all the people came from Burma.

Place:
Oakland Burmese Mission Baptist Church
534 22nd Street
Oakland, CA 94612
Cross street Telegraph Avenue.
(Please enter the building from the 22nd Street side door.)

Time: 1-3pm

Date: 3/7/2009 (Saturday)

Please pass around this invitation to your friends and communities.

Thanks.
2010 US Census Committee for the People of Burma

Asean Leaders Look to UN to Help Burma

CHA-AM, Thailand — Southeast Asian leaders ended a summit here on Sunday by placing greater faith in the United Nations than their regional bloc in dealing with a member—military-ruled Burma.

This decision by the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to support the global body’s initiatives to bring political reform and improve the human rights situation in Burma was an admission of the 10-nation bloc’s weakness in dealing with its most difficult member.

Burmese nationals and activists on bicycles hold placards while protesting near the venue for the 14th Asean Summit being held in the Thai resort city of Hua Hin, on February 28. (Photo: Reuters)

The call to the UN for help, particularly in the work of Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy for Burma, came at the end of 14th Asean Summit, where there was much fanfare about the determined push this regional alliance was making to become a stronger, rules-based entity by 2015.

  The summit of leaders from Brunei, Myanmar [Burma], Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam was the first since the coming into force last December of the Asean Charter, a regional constitution that expects all members to be committed to upholding a common set of rules.

The promotion and protection of human rights in the region is recognized as a goal of the charter.
"The charter provides the legal and institutional framework for Asean to be a more rules-based, effective and people-centred organization paving the way for realizing an Asean Community by 2015," revealed the closing statement by Thai Prime Minister Abhist Vejjajiva, the chairman of the summit, which was held in this resort town south of Bangkok.

"We adopted the Asean Political-Security Community Blueprint which envisaged Asean to be a rules-based community of shared values and norms; a cohesive, peaceful, stable and resilient region with shared responsibility for comprehensive security; as well as a dynamic and outward-looking region," the chairman’s statement added.

But in the face of a test to live up to such lofty assurances on "the Burma problem," Asean leaders let the agenda be set by the Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein.

"We underscored the necessity for and welcomed the Myanmar government’s willingness to engage in active cooperation with the UN secretary-general’s special envoy, as well as the UN special rapporteur on human rights, in order to address the international community’s concern about the situation in Myanmar," added the closing statement where only Burma was singled out for a special comment.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi summed up Asean’s inability to deal with Burma during a post-summit press conference. "The Myanmar prime minister said that they would like to deal with the United Nations and not Asean," Badawi revealed. "We (Asean) will not be the interlocutor."

This exchange, which took place during a closed-door leaders’ meeting, saw other comments made regarding Burma, a country that has been ruled by successive, oppressive military regimes since a 1962 coup.

"Asean can help by issuing a statement of support for Gambari’s mission," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong reportedly told other Asean leaders, according to official notes from the meeting seen by IPS.

But the Singapore premier was not in favour of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon making another visit to Burma, his second since May 2008, if nothing concrete can be achieved. "We should not encourage UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit Myanmar unless there are concrete deliverables," Lee reportedly told the other Asean presidents and prime ministers, the official notes added.

"A visit will raise unrealistic expectations that cannot be met, and would be counter-productive," Lee said.

Gambari’s seven visits to Burma made little progress. His recent missions to the country, the last of which was in early February, has seen him being denied access to meet Burma’s strongman, the reclusive Sen-Gen Than Shwe.

Asean’s policy shift toward Burma comes after the regional alliance tried to flex its own diplomatic muscle in recent years to express its frustrations and the lack of genuine progress towards genuine political reform in Burma.