Happy New Year 2010!

Hello Everyone,

Joyful greetings to you and your loved ones!

Happy New Year!!!

A Word of Hope for Burma

Dear All, As the year wraps up, we wanted to share a story of hope. Jackie Tatje is an inspiring young woman. She first learned about Burma a few years ago while working with refugees from Burma in her hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. After hearing the refugees' stories of determination and persistence, she was inspired to volunteer with U.S. Campaign for Burma. Working with USCB this October, Jackie and four recently arrived Karen and Karenni refugees piled into a minivan and drove 3 hours to the U2 concert in Tampa Bay. They spent all day in the baking sun collecting signatures calling for the Burmese generals to be held accountable for crimes against humanity. Jackie and her friends were rewarded that night when U2 invited them on stage for "Walk On," a tribute Bono wrote forAung San Suu Kyi, "What an incredible moment it was to stand on that stage and look out over a crowd of 72,000 people who were all showing their support for something so near to my heart. I just stood there and cried." We want to thank Jackie for her work. However, she is not alone. Many USCB members have stories similar to Jackie's. Burmese and American communities working together for real change in Burma forms the core of our membership. We want to thank each of you for your assistance throughout the year. With your support, we collected 10,000 signatures at over a dozen U2 concerts. With your calls, we received record support from Congress and President Obama. And with your donations, we have continued to work every day for a free Burma. As the year ends, we ask that you make a small holiday donation. Your donations fund the bulk of our work-we could not continue without your support. Together, we are working so that attacks in Burma end and Burmese refugees no longer need to seek safe haven elsewhere. Thank you for all that you do for USCB and the people of Burma. Sincerely, Mike Haack Campaigns Coordinator U.S. Campaign for Burma

Please support BADA;DONATE TODAY; Also Join Annual Meeting on Jan 17

BADA's  2010 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

WE CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO
Dear Friends,

We would like to invite you to BADA's 2010 Annual General Meeting. We are marking the 9th anniversary of BADA. BADA was founded on Jan 7th, 2001 by the people of San Francisco Bay Area to advocate for freedom of the people of Burma. Come celebrate the new year with us and get the latest update on BADA's programs.

When:  Sunday, January 17, 2010
             Lunch 11am - 12pm; Program 12pm- 3pm

Where: Union City Library
             34007 Alvarado-Niles Road Union City, California 94587
In the spirit of the holidays, help us continue and expand our work in the community by making a tax-deductible Special Holidays Donation to BADA.

Your contributions will help us:

1.      Empower community-based local campaigns to promote human rights in Burma.
2.      Support the education of migrant and refugee students in the Thai-Burma border through BADA's Children Education Fund.
3.       Provide humanitarian assistance inside Burma.

With your kind support, we further pledge to do more for the people of Burma. Please make your tax-deductible contribution now by clicking the Special Holidays Donation to BADA. BADA is a 100% volunteer-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

2010 AGM Steering Committee
Burmese American Democratic Alliance (BADA)
www.badasf.org

Burma Threatens Thailand's stability: Bangkok Govenor

Please read the detailed story HERE

BANGKOK — Speaking at a dinner talk on Tuesday night, Bangkok Gov. M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra said that Thailand's already precarious stability faces additional pressure from its neighbor Burma.

Addressing a forum at the Bangkok Sheraton Grande Hotel, the Democrat Party deputy secretary-general and former deputy foreign minister said, “A major source of regional instability is the large standing army maintained by the Myanmar [Burmese] government.”

Bangkok governor M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra. (Source: Facebook)

He compared Thailand's 430,000-strong military with Burma's, which has been estimated at more than 500,000 and is thought to be the largest standing army in Southeast Asia.

Commenting on the Burmese junta's attempts to upgrade and expand its military, Paribatra said, “Myanmar [Burma] has been modernizing [its military] for a long time, and this could fuel a regional arms race.”

Thailand spends less than 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, he said, while the military dictatorship in Naypidaw is thought to allocate around one-third of the country's GDP to military spending.

Accurate figures for Burma's military spending are not available, but several organizations including the Soros Foundation believe that around 40 percent of Burma's GDP is spent on the military.

Thailand is about to start a military modernization program based on two five-year procurement and upgrade phases, according to Paribatra. Thailand's defense spending as a proportion of GDP has declined relative to the rest of southeast Asia in recent years.

The increasingly close relationship between the Burmese junta and the Communist regime in North Korea is also causing concern in Thailand. Both sides are collaborating on conventional military means and rumors circulate that Naypyidaw is seeking Pyongyang's assistance in developing some form of nuclear capability. North Korea itself tested nuclear weapons in early 2009.

Focusing on domestic Burmese politics, Paribatra said that the lack of national reconciliation in Burma would mean continued violence and instability, especially in the borderlands where ethnic minorities live. This would lead to more displacement, and, inevitably, Thailand would receive additional refugees coming in to the north. More than 130,000 Burmese refugees already live in camps along northern Thailand's border with Burma.

The Burmese junta's armed forces attacked the ethnic Kokang militia in northern Shan State close to the Chinese border in late August, causing 37,000 refugees to flee to China. It was suggested that this was a prelude to a wider assault on ethnic minority groups.

Militias representing the 17 “cease-fire groups” have been ordered to become border guard forces that would be part of the junta state security apparatus. However, most have either refused or ignored the request, prompting speculation that the junta's growing and well-equipped forces will attack the recalcitrant ethnic militias before and possibly after the planned 2010 national elections.

Paribatra likened the internal displacement situation in Burma to that of Sudan's western Darfur region, where government forces and allied militias have carried out what the US believes to be genocide since early 2003.

Another source of concern for Thailand is the Burmese drug trade, he said. UN figures show Burma produced an estimated 410 tons of opium in 2008 (enough to make 40 tons of heroin), making the country the world's second-largest producer after Afghanistan, which accounts for 90 percent of world output. Burma is also a major source for methamphetamine, much of which is trafficked to Thailand from northern Shan State.

Despite the concerns, Thailand has an ambivalent relationship with Burma. Economists believe the Thai economy depends on cheap Burmese labor provided by an estimated 3 million Burmese migrants.

He said gas piped from the Shwe Field helps meet Thailand's electricity needs even though Burmese citizens frequently go without power, and this despite long-standing allegations that junta forces have perpetrated atrocities and human rights violations in the vicinity of the Yadana Pipeline, which carries the gas south to Thailand.

Thailand is also involved in a highly controversial project to build dams on the Salween River, less than 50 km from the Thai-Burma border–though this has been hit by recent fall-off in Thailand electricity needs.

Detained US Citizen On Hunger Strike

Nyi Nyi Aung, the Burmese-American arrested in September, has been on a hunger strike in Insein prison since Friday in protest against prison injustices, family members told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

“He is demanding authorities deal with injustices and repression facing political prisoners,” said Nyi Nyi Aung's aunt, Khin Khin Swe, who met him during yesterday's family visit.

“He will not stop his hunger strike until and unless he sees better health care for prisoners and is assured of other prisoners' rights,” she said.

Since Nyi Nyi Aung, 40, launched his hunger strike, his family members have expressed concern about his health.

“He still looks fine. But we are very worried about him,” said Khin Khin Swe.

Nyi Nyi Aung, a Burmese political activist who resettled in the United States as a political refugee in 1993, was arrested at Rangoon's International Airport on Sept. 3 this year when he arrived on a flight from Bangkok.

According to the Burmese state-run newspapers, Nyi Nyi Aung entered Burma eight times between November 2005 and September 2009.

Although the Burmese government initially accused him of engaging in terrorist activities, he is now charged with using fake documents and carrying excessive amounts of foreign currency into Burma, according to a press statement from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Thailand-based organization working for the political prisoners in Burma, released on Monday.

According to AAPP, Nyi Nyi Aung was brutally tortured during the interrogation, and his mother, 61, and a female cousin, 32, are serving long sentences in separate prisons for political offenses.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, Bo Kyi, joint secretary of AAPP, said: “Hunger strikes sporadically take place inside Burma's prisons. The authorities usually handle them by negotiation or use of force.”

Hunger strikes usually happen when restrictions on prisoners are too severe. Prisoners usually demand basic rights and better health care and food, according to a former political prisoner, Bo Bo Oo, who was released last September after 20 years in jail.

Bo Bo Oo launched two hunger strikes, one lasting five days and another eleven days while he was living in Myingyan prison, demanding journals and newspapers to read and better food. Bo Bo Oo said the authorities later acceded to his demands.

But the authorities can sometimes be quite tough in handling prisoners' demands, Bo Kyi said. “We have the case of Aung Kyaw Moe, a political prisoner who died in Tharrawaddy Prison during a hunger strike calling for his release, which was long overdue, in 1998.”

“Aung Kyaw Moe was ordered to halt his hunger strike and was beaten to death when he refused to do so,” said Bo Kyi. “Sometimes, if the authorities do not wish to negotiate with the hunger-striking prisoners, they deprive them of water upon which hunger-striking prisoners depend to stay alive.”

A total of 2,173 political prisoners are being held in prisons throughout Burma. Despite repeated calls by the international community for the release of political prisoners, there is no sign of this happening soon.

Holiday Appeal: Will you make a Special Holiday Donation for Burma?

Dear All,

As the year comes to an end, I would like to thank you for your dedication to the U.S. Campaign for Burma. Without our grassroots members, our efforts to support the non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma, under the leadership of the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, would not be possible.

Over the past year, your calls to Congress resulted in record backing for the renewal of comprehensive sanctions on Burma's military regime. Your volunteer hours with USCB at dozens of U2 concerts across the country brought 10,000 new supporters into our movement. And your contributions have allowed us to continue to keep the American public and policy makers focused on Burma, with USCB cited in more than 5,000 media articles, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN.

2010 will be the most critical year for Burma in twenty years. With a showcase election on the horizon, broken ceasefire agreements between the regime and ethnic resistance groups, and a new U.S. policy towards Burma, we need your support now more than ever.

I appeal to you to make a tax-deductible gift to U.S. Campaign for Burma.

With your contributions, we will continue our plans to push for the United Nations to set up a Commission of Inquiry intocrimes against humanity in Burma, the release of over 2,100 political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, and realizing of a meaningful and time-bound dialogue among political forces inside Burma toward national reconciliation.

This holiday season, we will be sharing video messages from Burma's celebrity supporters on our webpage:www.uscampaignforburma.org. And we will continue to keep you updated on our advocacy efforts as the year wraps up. 2010 will change Burma forever; we are asking your support to make sure these are positive developments.

We are truly grateful for your commitment to USCB and the struggle for freedom, justice and democracy by the people of Burma.

Best Wishes,

Aung Din
Executive Director
U.S. Campaign for Burma
aungdin@uscampaignforburma.org

Please make your holiday gift today -- Donate Here

Urgent Action for Crimes Against Humanity in Burma

Call Your Congressperson, Rep. Nunes, for Burma. Telephone Mike Holland, who handles foreign affairs for your Congressperson Devin Nunes at(202) 225-2523. Easy instructions here Hi Burma And, Crimes against humanity, including rape as a weapon of war, continue in Burma unabated. House Resolution 898 confronts this problem and we need you to ask your member of Congress to sign on as a Cosponsor ASAP! Soon Congress will retire for winter recess. We need Rep. Nunes to support House Resolution 898 before Congress leaves for its winter break. Dial (202) 225-2523 and ask Mike Holland, his staffer in charge of foreign policy, if Rep. Nunes will cosponsor House Resolution 898, to help end mass atrocities in Burma. President Obama's new policy calls for Burma's junta to be held accountable for the their crimes against humanity. However, his policy does not provide a mechanism to hold them accountable for these crimes. House Resolution 898 fills this gap by calling for the United States to support a Security Council Commission of Inquiry intowar crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. Ask your Rep. Nunes to co-sponsor and show strong support! Click here for detailed instructions about what to say. Please write to me to let me know how your call goes, at mike@uscampaignforburma.org! If you have questions before you call, don't hesitate to write or call me at (202) 234-8022. Michael Haack PS: You don't have to be able to vote to call your member of Congress. If you liv

US Teacher Deported by no reason

An American English teacher working for the American Center in Rangoon was deported on Saturday, according to a source close to the US Embassy in Rangoon who spoke to The Irrawaddy on conditions of anonymity.

Christina Peterson was briefly detained at a highway bus station in Rangoon on her way back from the American Consulate in Mandalay, where she had given a talk on environmental issues. Some members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) also participated in the talk, according to the source.

“She just talked about environmental issues in Mandalay. The moment she got off the bus in Rangoon, she was immediately taken to the airport and wasn't even allowed to go back to her room,” the source said.

Peterson had been working for the American Center in Rangoon as an English teacher since 2007, and she was also an organizer of an environmental club for the center. The American Center provides English language courses and runs a library popular among young people in Rangoon.

Last May, US citizens Jerry Redfern and his wife Karen Coates, who were teaching feature writing and photography in Mandalay, were also forced to leave the country.

Urgent action for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma

Urgent action for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma

For many years the United Nations has ignored widespread and systematic crimes committed by Burma’s military junta, including the destruction of more than 3,300 villages in eastern Burma, widespread use of rape as a weapon of war against ethnic minorities, the forced displacement of over 1 million refugees and internally displaced people, tens of thousands of child soldiers, and millions used as slave labour.

Despite these appalling crimes, no government is speaking out on this issue. The British Government should urge the United Nations to establish a Commission of Inquiry, which would investigate these crimes and could lead to prosecutions. So far the British Government has remained silent.

Please write to your MP and ask them to support the call for the United Nations to investigate crimes against humanity in Burma.

Take action here:
http://www.burmacam paign.org. uk/index. php/campaigns/ crimes-against- humanity/ 13/132

Or you can post a letter to your MP. Below are suggested points for you to include in your letter:

* State your concern about crimes against humanity in Burma. There is well documented evidence including from UN General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights resolutions over many years of widespread torture, forced displacement, sexual violence, extra-judicial killings and forced labour and that civilians are deliberately targeted.

* For many years, the United Nations has ignored widespread and systematic human rights violations and war crimes committed by the military regime.

* Ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 238, which calls upon the British Government to urge the United Nations to establish a Commission of Inquiry into these crimes and to support the International Labour Organization referring the dictatorship’s use of forced labour to the International Court of Justice.

You can send your letter to your MP at:
House of Commons
London, SW1A 0AA

Campaign Update

Our campaign for a global arms embargo is working!

Thanks to your emails, momentum for a global arms embargo against Burma is growing as Timor-Leste becomes the 32nd country, and the first Asian country, to back an arms embargo.

Switzerland also announced its support for a global arms embargo against Burma in October and in August, Australia announced its support for a global arms embargo for the first time.

We need to build a global consensus on a UN arms embargo against Burma, in order to help overcome expected opposition at the Security Council by Russia and China. We are targeting 10 countries at time, asking them to support a global arms embargo. Please take action here:
www.burmacampaign. org.uk/arms- embargo

Aung San Suu Kyi update

In recent weeks, Aung San Suu Kyi has managed to use sanctions as leverage to persuade the Generals to resume dialogue. She met the regime’s Liaison Minister twice in October and she also met the UK Ambassador and the deputy heads of the Australian and US missions in Burma. However, so far it has only been low level officials talking about talks.
Meanwhile, the number of political prisoners is rising. There are currently more than 2,100 political prisoners and at least 128 political prisoners are in poor health due to the harsh prison conditions, transfers to remote prisons where there are no doctors, and the denial of proper medical care. The dictatorship has also increased arrests and harassment of democracy activists, and is escalating attacks against ethnic civilians.

Want monthly news updates on Burma?

Sign up to our free monthly newsletter Last Month in Burma. To subscribe, simply send a blank email to lastmonth-subscribe @lists.burmacamp aign.org. uk

Previous editions are available here:
http://www.burmacam paign.org. uk/lastmonth

Many thanks for your support.
-Burma Campaign, U.K.-

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Rated Top Global Thinker

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has received high praise from Foreign Policy, a well-known US-based magazine featuring essays written by world leaders and thinkers.

In the magazine's first-ever annual list of the "Top 100 Global Thinkers" published in its December issue,  Aung San Suu Kyi is ranked 26th, appearing alongside such globally-renowned figures as US President Barack Obama (ranked 2nd), British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (74th) and Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton (6th).

French cultural personalities attend a silent gathering to support detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in October in front of the Paris city hall. (Photo: Getty Images)

The magazine praises her for “being a living symbol of hope in a dark place,” while Obama comes second for "reimagining America's role in the world."

Foreign Policy said: “Taking inspiration from Mohandas Gandhi and Buddhist principles of nonviolence, Aung San Suu Kyi built a mass movement in opposition to the Burmese junta and has spent 14 of the last 20 years under house arrest since winning a general election in 1989.

 “In a famous 1990 speech, Aung San Suu Kyi argued that when 'fear is an integral part of everyday existence,' political leaders inevitably give in to corruption, and called for a 'revolution of the spirit' in Burma.

“She was thrown in prison and today is rarely able to communicate with the outside world," the magazine said. "[She] changed her stance on the international sanctions against Burma this year, offering to help the junta's leaders get the sanctions lifted.”

Veteran Burmese politician and journalist Win Tin, 80, confirmed Suu Kyi's prominence in a conversation with The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

 “We should appreciate her political ideas and morality because she not only inspires the older generations but youth as well," he said. "She is a very kind and courageous leader. She has said, ‘If we need democracy, we need discipline and responsibility.’ She practices what she preaches.

 “Her ideas are like a pure lotus in the fire, and her noble thoughts and morality influence her character and methods. She has great metta [goodwill] and kindness for other people,” Win Tin said.      
    
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, Naing Naing, a prominent Burmese dissident and member of the National League for Democracy (NLD), supported Foreign Policy's asssessment, saying, “Like other martyrs, Suu Kyi is a beacon in the darkness Burmese people have lived in since Gen Ne Win's coup in 1962.”

 “There is no doubt that she deeply believes in non-violence, and she faces any problem with great skill. She has shown she is ready to cooperate with anyone for the welfare of country.

 “She said we all should fear doing misdeeds. She cannot bear untruth and will not tolerate unfairness. She reacts without hesitation to any situation with wise words. She represents an ideal and is an inspiration for us all,” he said.

Other southeast Asians rated as top thinkers by the magazine include Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim (32nd) and Indonesian political analyst Rizal Sukma (92nd).

Suu Kyi is the pro-democracy leader of the NLD and the only daughter of Burmese national leader General Aung San.

Currently under house arrest having spent more than 14 of the past 20 years in some form of dentention under Burma's military regime, Suu Kyi has received more that 80 international awards, including India’s Gandhi Award (2009), the Jawaharlal Nehru Award (1993) and the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

With several famous books and essays such as "Freedom from Fear" (1991), "Aung San Of Burma: a Biographical Portrait by his Daughter" (1991), "The Voice of Hope" (1997) and "Letters from Burma" (1997) to her name, she has expressed her ideology and beliefs in writing and in speech.

In "The Voice of Hope," she said : “The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.”

In her famous essay "Freedom from Fear," she said: “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.”

Awarding Suu Kyi the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, the Chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, Francis Sejested, said she is "an outstanding example of the power of the powerless."