NLD Says 'No' to Election

On Monday, nearly 160 party representatives from across the country gathered at the party's Rangoon headquarters and 114 representatives voted in a ballot on whether to register the party or not.

Members of the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy gather at Rangoon's headquarters before its central committee meeting on March 29. (Photo: AP)

Several party sources confirmed that the majority is against the party registering under the current conditions.

Party sources said that 92-year-old party chairman Aung Shwe, who recently voiced support for the party registering and taking part in the election, did not join in the meeting and instead sent a letter stating that he would abide by the majority decision.

“With unity, we all follow our party leader Aung San Suu Kyi's line against party registration,” said a NLD representative, Ohn Kyaing.

The meeting came six days after the NLD's detained leader Suu Kyi said she was against her party registering under the current “unjust” election law, which prohibits parties from having members who are currently in detention, so a decision to register would force Suu Kyi out of the party.

Although security is heightened with four riot police trucks deployed near the party headquarters, there has been no report of harassment of the NLD leaders by the authorities.

Before the discussion, several party township representatives and party youth leaders declared that they would stand by Suu Kyi's line against registration.

If the NLD fails to register within 60 days of March 8 when the junta's election law was announced, it will cease to exist as a legal entity, according to that law.

Meanwhile, junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe described the election as “the beginning of the process of fostering democracy” in his speech at Armed Forces Day on Saturday.

The NLD won a landslide victory in Burma's last election in 1990, but the results were never honored by the regime. Party leader Suu Kyi is currently serving an 18-month term of house arrest. With her sentence due to expire in November, Suu Kyi cannot be a member of any political party if she is not released before the May 7 deadline for party registration.

US Ready to Engage in Military Dialogue with Burma: Official

WASHINGTON — The US armed forces is ready to re-engage with Burma's ruling junta in a military-to-military dialogue if there is any change in Washington's policy toward the Southeast Asian country, a top US military official told lawmakers this week.

Appearing before both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on Thursday and Friday, Adm Robert Willard, Commander of the US Pacific Command, acknowledged that there is virtually no contact between the two countries' armed forces, but said that could change if Washington decides to alter its Burma policy.

Navy Adm Robert Willard (C), commander of the US Pacific Command, Air Force Gen Kevin Chilton (L), commander of the US Strategic Command and Army Gen Walter Sharp (R), commander of United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/US Forces Korea testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on US Pacific Command, US Strategic Command, and US Forces Korea in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2011 and the Future Years Defense Program on March 26, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty Images)

“It [US-Burma military engagement] remains essentially non-existent as a matter of policy and public law. That said, the US Pacific Command is prepared to re-engage in a military-to-military dialogue with the Burmese whenever US policy allows,” Willard said.

Although he did not elaborate on what kind of relationship he would like to have with the Burmese regime, he identified a number of key areas of concern currently affecting bilateral ties.

“Beyond the significant issues associated with their human rights record, Burma presents challenges to regional stability in a number of other areas, including a maritime border dispute with Bangladesh, narcotics trafficking, trafficking in persons, and potential for rapid spread of pandemic disease,” he said.

The last time that the US military had any significant contact with the Burmese junta was in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, when the US Department of Defense used 36 C-130 planes to deliver nearly $1.2 million worth of US aid to Rangoon to support humanitarian relief operations in the Irrawaddy delta.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the Obama administration expressed concern about the election laws in Burma. “We were clearly disappointed by them,” the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, P J Crowley, said.

“It by no means does what Burma has to do in terms of opening up its political process and having meaningful dialogue with parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s, as well as the various ethnic groups within Burmese society,” he said.

“I can’t predict that we’ll have a specific discussion at the G-8 summit. But this is, obviously, something that is of concern to us, as [it has] concerned others, and we will continue to share notes where it’s appropriate,” Crowley said in response to a question at his daily news briefing.

Here on Earth: Radio without Borders for Burma

Burma is home to the longest-running civil war in the world, which has been taking place between the ethnic group of the Karen and the Burmese state for over 60 years. Mac McClelland spent time with Karen refugees who risk their lives to make their story known. We talk with her about her new book, For Us Surrender Is Out Of Question.

Guest

• Mac McClelland, editor at Mother Jones, author of For Us Surrender Is Out of the Question: A Story from Burma's Never-Ending War

Burmese Army Shoots Five-Month Old Baby In Attack On Karen Village

On 22nd March a five month old baby boy, a five year old girl, and a 37 year old woman were killed in an attack by the Burmese Army on Khaw Hta village, Kler Lwe Htoo District (Nyaung Lin Bin District in Burmese), Karen State.

According to a local villager, Burmese Army Battalion 369 entered the village at 4.30pm and opened fire without warning, shooting at any villager in sight and firing into villager’s homes, which are made from bamboo. The villagers fled into the jungle. Nine houses were also destroyed.

The three people killed are; Naw La Pwe, 37 years old and the mother of six children; Naw Paw Bo (5 years old); and Saw Htee P’Lar Htoo (5 months old).  Another woman, Naw Pa Lah (27 years old and a mother) was seriously injured.

The people of the village are now hiding in the jungle, and the Burmese Army remains active in the area.
Attacks on Karen villagers have been increasing since 17th January this year. More than 2,500 people were forced to flee their homes after attacks in two areas in Karen State. In one attack a child was killed and two others injured when the Burmese Army fired a mortar bomb at a school.

On March 5th the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Burma published a report describing the attacks on civilians as so serious, with responsibility going to the top of the dictatorship, that the United Nations should set up a Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by the dictatorship.

On 24th March Mark Lyall Grant, the UK Representative to the United Nations, stated that the UK would support referring Burma to the International Criminal Court.

“Day after day these attacks continue and are largely ignored by the international community,” said Zoya Phan, International Coordinator at Burma Campaign UK. “Burma’s generals are breaking international law, but the United Nations has not even set up an Inquiry to investigate these crimes, let alone prosecute those responsible. A UN Commission of Inquiry should be set up immediately.”

Arrest Yourself for Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma

On June 19, 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi will be spending her 65th birthday under house arrest. She has been locked up for 15 of the past 21 years because of her pivotal role in one of the world's most inspiring freedom struggles.

Every year for Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday, we ask our supporters to give up 24 hours in solidarity with her and the people of Burma. We call this event: Arrest Yourself, honoring Aung San Suu Kyi's unparalleled courage and determination.

Now more than ever, Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burma movement need your help putting Burma at the top of the international agenda. The pending sham elections, mounting government tension with cease fire groups, and growing international concerns over human rights violations make this year an especially critical one in Burma's history.

In the international community, there is growing momentum toward ending Burma's war crimes. Earlier this month, the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women in Burma called on the United Nations to hold the military junta accountable for its commission of rape and torture as weapons of war. A few weeks ago, the UN Special Rapporteur to Burma, Mr. Quintana, joined this call by urging the UN to initiate a Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma.

In the coming months we must move quickly to capitalize on the energy generated by these recent developments. With this year's Arrest Yourself, we will inspire more people to get involved in this growing movement as well as raise critical funds for advocacy.

Aung San Suu Kyi once said, "Sometimes, 24 hours can bring a total revolutionary change." And that's all it takes to Arrest Yourself and make your mark on Burma's freedom movement.

Waste no time. Sign up now to Arrest Yourself in solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma!

Watch our video to learn more about how to Arrest Yourself.

UN Burma Expert Needs Our Help

We did it! Last week, we had our first major success in the movement to hold Burma's Generals accountable for their crimes against humanity. Now we must capitalize on the momentum!

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, released a groundbreaking report to the UN Human Rights Council calling for a Commission of Inquiry into Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes in Burma, after nearly a year of being bombarded by our demands. This is the first time an acting UN official has called for such strong action. The ball is rolling now and we must ensure that it does not slow down!

This week, the UN Human Rights Council will discuss whether or not to support Mr.Quintana's recommendations for a Commission of Inquiry. As a member of the Human Rights Council, the United States, needs to be a strong voice supporting Mr. Quintana's recommendations.

Without the backing of the United States, the Special Rapporteur's call will go ignored! Tell President Obama that the U.S. must support a UN Commission of Inquiry into the regime's war crimes and crimes against humanity. Do not let this opportunity pass by! Click here to take action today!

Here is a link to the Special Rapporteur's report.
Let's make sure this happens!

Michael Haack
Campaigns Coordinator
U.S. Campaign for Burma

No change in Burma from 2010 polls: Dr Sein Win

http://www.mizzima. com/news/ election- 2010/3678- no-change- in-burma- from-2010- polls-dr- sein-win. html

The Burmese junta is using the 2010 elections to smother the  opposition and its democratic activities to cement and legitimize military rule in the guise of elections and democracy, said Dr Sein Win, Prime Minister of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma in  exile.

“We will not accept it, and our struggle for democracy in Burma might be long,” he said.

Dr Sein Win

Dr Sein Win said this at a function on March 13 at Berkeley, California in the United States, to mark Burma's Human Rights Day.

March 13 has been earmarked as Burma's Human Rights Day by activists when a Rangoon Institute of Technology student Phone Maw was brutally killed in 1988 by Burmese soldiers, which eventually led to a nationwide uprising against military rule.

“This year’s elections, in my opinion, will not usher in any change in Burma,” Dr Sein Win said. He added that all the democratic alliances believe the constitution will not lead to any kind of democracy.

Controversy has erupted between the regime and opposition political parties over the new electoral laws and the 2008 constitution. For instance, the President must be from a military background and a registered party has to support and defend the 2008 constitution.

Nyunt Than, the President of the San Francisco-based NGO the Burmese American Democratic Alliance, said the regime had now closed all doors to possible negotiation and the process of democratization.

“We Burmese people will never give up, even though it seems hopeless,” Nyunt Than said.

“Democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and more than 2000 political prisoners are our role models, and the oppressive regime will be defeated,” he said.

Toe Lwin, a former political prisoner now living in the United States told Mizzima that the election laws were a clear example of lawlessness by the junta in ensuring that there was no effective opposition.

“The election laws are designed to simply crush opposition parties,” Toe Lwin said.

The 2008 constitution does not protect the rights of the people, and the vicious circle of arbitrary arrests and torture will continue, he said.

Change Comes to Myanmar, but Only on the Junta’s Terms

http://www.nytimes. com/2010/ 03/18/world/ asia/18myanmar. html?hp

The New York Times

The military junta in Myanmar is planning the first elections in two decades. A woman crossed the street in Yangon.

PYAPON, Myanmar — In the dried mud of the Irrawaddy Delta, workers are welding together the final pieces of a natural-gas pipeline that the country’s ruling generals say will keep the lights on in Yangon, Myanmar’s main city, after years of debilitating blackouts.

The New York Times

A pipeline will soon send natural gas to a power plant in Yangon, a small sign of economic revival in a long-stagnant country.

The New York Times

The pipeline near Pyapon will help keep Yangon's lights on.

Residents who for years were lucky to get eight hours of power a day may soon have the luxury of refrigerators that stay cold and televisions that stay on.

But it will not make much difference for one 64-year-old Yangon resident on a lakeside road blockaded by the police: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate and this country’s best-known dissident, who lives in a blacked-out world, barred from most communication with anyone outside her walled compound.

Her telephone line was cut years ago, and she has no computer or television, her lawyer said.
These are the dueling realities of Myanmar today. After years of deadlock and stagnation, change is coming, but strictly on the junta’s terms.

There is guarded hope among business people and diplomats that Myanmar, or Burma, as many people still call the country, may be gradually moving away from years of paranoid authoritarianism and Soviet-style economic management that has left the majority of the country’s 55 million people in dire poverty.

A new constitution is expected to be introduced later this year, and the junta is planning the first elections in two decades. Analysts say that the elections are not likely to be fully competitive or fair, but that they could move the military to decentralize some of its power.
“Burma is at a critical watershed,” said Thant Myint-U, a historian and former United Nations official who has written widely on the country. “We’re clearly moving towards something other than a strict army hierarchy with just one general at the top.”

What passes for hope in Myanmar is incremental change and the prospect that the military will gradually fade from politics — allowing this country of vast resources, with land so fertile it once fed large parts of the British empire, to finally participate in the economic dynamism that surrounds it.

Nyi Nyi Aung Release – Generals Keep Playing Their Games

The Burma Campaign UK today welcomed the release of Nyi Nyi Aung, an
American Burmese arrested last year while visiting his sick mother, but
warned that the generals are once again playing games with the international
community, and that the release is designed to divert attention from the
recently published election laws, which have been widely condemned.
Only yesterday (17th March), Zoya Phan, International Coordinator of Burma
Campaign UK, published an article on the Democratic Voice of Burma English
language website, predicting the release of a high profile political
prisoner as part of the game the generals play to divert international
attention from election laws.

http://www.dvb.no/analysis/weve-fallen-for-the-generals-tricks/
The announcement of Nyi Nyi Aung’s release comes one week after the generals published election laws which blatantly ensure the elections will be rigged to ensure the generals control the whole process, and which bar Aung San Suu Kyi from taking part.

“The generals are playing the same old game, knowing the international
community is likely to fall for it once again, and give the release a
political significance which does not exist,” said Zoya Phan. “The USA has
recently made statements that its process of dialogue is going nowhere.  The
generals want to string out the process as long as possible to avoid any
real pressure being applied. We have seen this kind of thing time and time
again, and time and time again the international community falls for it.
They need to face the fact that the generals will never voluntarily hand
over power, they will have to be forced to do so by strong pressure.”
Nyi Nyi Aung, a Burmese American citizen and former democracy activist in
Burma, was arrested on 3 September 2009 after arriving in Burma to visit his
sick mother. He was tortured and jailed for 3 years with hard labour. The
USA has been criticised for its lack of action to secure his release.

UN Investigator Accuses Burma of Systematic Rights Violations

http://www1. voanews.com/ english/news/ asia/UN-Investig ator-Accuses- Burma-of- Systematic- Violations- 87686232. html

U.N. Investigator Tomas Ojea Quintana has just returned from his third mission to Burma since assuming his post in 2008.  Quintana spent four days there in mid-February.  He says the duration allowed for the mission was too short and the access limited.

The U.N. special investigator on human rights is accusing the Burmese government of systematic and gross violations.  The investigator, who has just submitted his report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, says some of these violations might entail crimes against humanity.

U.N. Investigator Tomas Ojea Quintana has just returned from his third mission to Burma since assuming his post in 2008.  Quintana spent four days there in mid-February.  He says the duration allowed for the mission was too short and the access limited.

Nonetheless, he says he was able to visit three prisons and hold wide-ranging interviews with 15 prisoners.  He says he met with authorities and representatives from political parties and ethnic minorities among others.

Despite claims to the contrary, he says he does not believe the Burmese government is enacting the reforms needed towards the building of democratic institutions.

He says a newly enacted law strips the right of prisoners of conscience to participate in upcoming elections this year.

"There is no indication that prisoners of conscience will be released and that freedom of expression, assembly and association will be granted.  My assessment is that under these current conditions, elections in Myanmar cannot be considered credible," he said.

 

Supporters of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi hold portraits of the detained leader in Rangoon, Burma (File)

Quintana says there are some 2100 prisoners of conscience, including pro-democracy leader and Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for many years.

He says he regrets that his special request to meet Suu Kyi was rejected.

"Of course, I think that she is a prisoner of conscience," said Quintana.  "She also as Secretary-General of an important party in the country, she plays an important role.…Since  she is a prisoner of conscience, which means she has been convicted by a court, according to this law, she will not be allowed even to be a member of the party, a party which may or not participate in the elections," he said.

Quintana reiterates his call for Aung San Suu Kyi's immediate release.

The U.N. investigator denounces the Burmese government's treatment of the Muslim population in northern Rakhine state.  He says an estimated one million people are excluded from citizenship on the basis of their ethnicity and are considered illegal immigrants.

He says they suffer from discrimination and are denied their basic rights.

He says the government must be held accountable for past violations.  He is calling for an international commission of inquiry to look into serious cases of abuse, which he says may entail crimes against humanity.

The Burmese representative at the United Nations strongly condemns and rejects, what he calls unfounded allegations.  He says the U.N. investigator's report is based on disinformation coming from unverifiable and unreliable sources.

Myanmar exiles raise awareness in Berkeley

http://www.contraco statimes. com/top-stories/ ci_14657871? nclick_check= 1

Toe Lwin, right, listens as his descriptions of working for democracy in Burma are translated by...

BERKELEY -- Toe Lwin was riding in the back of a pickup truck through Myanmar's rural countryside almost seven years ago when a mob of armed thugs surrounded the vehicle.He jumped out, ran to the cab and guarded the door protecting the truck's most famous passenger: Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace laureate and leader of the democratic opposition challenging Myanmar's military regime.

For this, attackers bludgeoned Toe Lwin and left him unconscious in a nearby paddy field. He can still trace three long scars that cross the top of his head. Suu Kyi might have been assassinated, he said, had her driver not raced ahead that night and away from the danger.

The 38-year-old Lwin will be sharing this story and many others -- he was detained 15 times as a dissident political activist in Myanmar, once for almost two years -- in a weekend gathering of Burmese exiles in Berkeley.

Their meeting is timely. This week, the Myanmar government announced it will continue to ban Suu Kyi and thousands of jailed members of her party, the National League for Democracy, from participating in upcoming national elections. It did, however, allow the party to reopen political offices that had been closed since the 2003 attack on Suu Kyi.

Most Myanmar exiles, who still refer to the country by its old name, Burma, believe that Suu Kyi would be the nation's leader if the government allowed her to compete.

"If it was a free and fair election, she would win," said Nyunt Than, an Albany resident and president of the Burmese American Democratic Alliance. "People love her. But because the constitution is drawn up by the regime, all the opposition is crushed. People have basically given up."

Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for the better part of 20 years. She had been free for about a year and was traveling across the country on an outreach campaign when the crowd attacked her entourage in May 2003. Activists, though they cannot prove it, believe the ambush was premeditated and orchestrated by the government. The army arrested and jailed Suu Kyi, Toe Lwin and numerous other activists after the violence, charging them with inciting it.

"Whenever she is out, courage comes to the people and they rally around her," Lwin said through an interpreter Thursday. "That's why the regime doesn't want to let her out."

After years of organizing Myanmar's youth democracy movement, Lwin, fearing for his life, finally fled the country in 2007, shortly before the mass democracy protest by monks and students that has been dubbed the Saffron Revolution. He moved to San Francisco last year, joining a community of thousands of Myanmar exiles who live in the Bay Area.

A number of those exiles hope to raise awareness for their cause and money for the Myanmar people, both those inside Myanmar and the thousands of refugees at the Thai border, in an event to be held on Saturday.

"Burma used to be the richest country in the region with plenty of resources. Now the middle-class is wiped out," Than said. "They need any kind of help and support we can provide."
Along with Toe Lwin, the speakers include Sein Win, political leader of the exile movement. The event is from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St., Berkeley.

Burmese Map-Making Company in Burma

This is a webpage for a Burmese map-making company in Burma
http://www.dpsmap. com/myanmar/

Myanmar Map online and free map order form

Myanmar Map (Burma Map) by Design Printing Services - DPSmap.com

Myanmar tourist maps are produced by DPS to help promote Myanmar's Tourism. DPS is also dedicated to promoting Myanmar tourism overseas with its tourist maps. It has been producing complimentary guide maps - namely
Tourist map of Myanmar, Map of Mandalay, Yangon Tourist Map and
Map of Bagan - on behalf of Ministry of Hotel and Tourism and funded by private companies through advertisements. DPS has been going overseas travel shows and trade events such as ITB, ITA- International Travel Asia in Hong Kong, Myanmar travel show - Bangkok, Thailand, International Trade Expo Kunming China.

DPS is always updating its Yangon and the whole Myanmar database and always looking for opportunities for mutually beneficial business.

Annual Burma Human Rights Day Event 2010 in San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco-based non-profit organization, Burmese American Democratic Alliance (BADA) is holding its tenth annual event to commemorate the struggle for democracy in Burma on Saturday March 13, 2010 at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall in Berkeley from 6 pm to 10 pm.

Ever since Ko Phone Maw, a Rangoon Institute Technology student, was brutally killed by the military junta on 13th March 1988, the day has been marked by activists all across the world.

The evening will start with Burmese food, films and talks by notable guest speakers. Dr. Sein Win, Prime Minister of National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) will talk about the current situation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her party. Toe Lwin, a former political prisoner, who was with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi when she escaped from an assassination attempt coordinated by the junta in 2003 will talk about his life in Burma as an activist and his personal experience from the De-peyin Massacre and inside the Khantee prison.

“We need to raise the awareness about the brutal dictatorship and the suffering of the people of Burma, BADA continues to hold Burma Human Rights Day event each year in honor of brave men and women who have lost their lives or given up so much fighting for democracy in Burma, ” said Nyunt Than, President of BADA.

Place: the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar in Berkeley
$15 Suggested Donation (dinner included) to benefit BADA

For more information, visit http://wwww. badasf.org

Burmese Rape Survivors by Burmese Soldiers Speak Out at UN Women's Conference

UNITED NATIONS — "Seven Burmese military soldiers attacked me and three of my friends," said Chang Chang, from northern Kachin State in Burma.

That was when her life going to school and working on the family farm was shattered.
"Without warning, a major, captain and other Burmese military soldiers came into the karaoke shop where we were and forced us to leave with them. They took us to the military camp, 20 minutes travel from there," she recalled. She said they could see their Burma Army military uniforms when they arrived at the shop.

"I could see some weapons on them too. They put all four of us into a room. Later, they separated us into different rooms and locked the doors. We begged them to let us stay together in one room. But they yelled at us and threatened us."

In a firm voice, Chang Chang told a touched audience at the UN women's conference last week how she was abused and threatened by the soldiers. "We were raped all night. It was very dark, so it was hard to know exactly how many soldiers raped us. I remembered seven of them… Seven raped me."

"They threatened me and said that they would harm me, and harm my family, if I spoke out about what they did to me. I could only cry."

After the Burmese BBC service broadcast a report that captains from Battalion 138 had raped four girls under 18, the Myanmar Women Affairs Federation came and took the girls from their homes. All of them were sentenced to one year's imprisonment for violating prostitution laws. The soldiers went unpunished.

Thousands of women in Burma reportedly suffer daily at the hands of the ruling military junta. Rape, sexual violence, forced labour, torture, imprisonment and forced relocation are common ordeals that these brave women face.

Chang Chang is one of 12 courageous women from Burma who have come to the March 1-12 Commission on the Status of Women to share their stories in front of a special International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women of Burma.

"This people's tribunal will raise international visibility of the situation of women in Burma," according to the Nobel Women's Initiative and the Women's League of Burma who have brought the 12 testimonies to New York. "It will also allow the world a glimpse of the strength of the women of Burma as builders of democracy. They are testifying in the hopes that their act will lead to real change."

Rutha, 22, was five months pregnant when she was taken by the soldiers. The troops caught her and a group of other girls from Pyin Oo Lwin township. "When night fell, a soldier came to get me and took me to a room. I told him I was pregnant and begged him not to do any harm, but he did not listen," she said.

"Even when I begged him, he forced me anyway and slapped my face," Rutha said. "I was so scared and I screamed. Then he threatened me, 'If you continue screaming I will punch your baby through your stomach.' I shouted and he slapped my face."

"He said if I shouted again they would stab me. So, I had no choice but to be quiet and let him rape me. I could only cry while he brutally raped me. I thought I could rest after the rape, but someone else came in as he left the room. I begged him not to harm me, but it was just in vain. He pulled me very hard onto the bed. One after another (they came), up to four."

Once, Rutha saw a girl try to escape. The soldiers shot and killed her. "I saw it with my own eyes. Some people commit suicide because they are pregnant from being raped by the soldiers and they are shy and feel shameful even though it was not their fault," she said.

Explaining why she decided to testify at the UN, Rutha said, "I believe that sharing my story can help protect other girls and women from what I have suffered. I'm sure they also hope for a safer place for to stay, like I do."

"Burma is so isolated and people are living in silence," Lway Aye Nang, general secretary of the Women's League of Burma, said. "This kind of information does not really go out to the world," Nang explained, "that's why it is so important for the world to know about this and also… take action against Burma."

Nang said these women are being sexually violated by their own government, their own regime, which is supposed to be helping them. "The only way to deal with this is to put the pressure on the regime and hold the government of Burma accountable for all these crimes," she said.
Today, the women live in fear for their families who are back in Burma. "They live in a culture where women are silenced, and when a rape happens all the blame comes to the woman. And they definitely risk their lives by speaking out," Nang stressed. But speaking up is the only way for them to escape the additional torture of silence.

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of witnesses. 

Burmese women are working for peace and justice

 International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women of Burma

The Tribunal is a women-directed and women-centered justice and advocacy initiative.  Judges will hear testimony from several women of Burma who will share their personal stories of surviving human rights violations and crimes under miliatry rule in Burma.  Their voices, and the findings and recommendations of the judges, will be directed to the Burmese regime and the international community.  The Tribunal will provide a powerful spotlight on the oppression of women of Burma in order to support the development of a just and peaceful Burma.

Some of the testimonials below contain graphic information which can be disturbing. Please join us in demanding that such painful experiences are responded to with justice and solidarity.

http://www.nobelwom ensinitiative. org/blogs/ burmatribunal/ webcast 

What Obama Can Do for Burma: The Wall Street Journal

Details Story: please read HERE

The news from Burma, my home country, seems to only go from bad to worse. Last week, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was denied yet another appeal and will remain under house arrest. Last month, Burmese-American human-rights activist Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, was sentenced to three-years in prison on trumped up fraud and forgery charges.

This past July, President Obama signed into law the Burma Sanctions Renewal Act, which extended strict sanctions on the country's military junta for three more years. But the administration must also be careful that its policy of "pragmatic engagement" with Burma's military rulers—which began with a visit by State Department officials last November—does not legitimize a fundamentally corrupt regime.

Than Shwe, the senior general who heads the junta, has promised to hold nationwide elections this year, the first since Ms. Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy's landslide victory in 1990 elections—which were nullified by the military. But the election will be a sham, the product of a new constitution pushed through last year by force and intimidation that forbids Ms. Suu Kyi from running for or holding office.

Ms. Suu Kyi, her supporters, and many of Burma's long-persecuted ethnic groups, including the Karen, Karenni and Shan, are rightfully refusing to participate in this charade unless the regime amends the constitution to allow for free and fair elections, a legitimate civilian government and equal rights and representation for all ethnic groups.

But first the regime must release its thousands of political prisoners, including hundreds of monks who took part in the 2007 antigovernment protests known as the Saffron Revolution.

Thus far, however, Gen. Than Shwe has been employing his usual mix of violence, brutality and war. He's rounding up and arresting opposition members and increasing his assault on the Karen and other ethnic minorities, displacing more than 75,000 people in Karen State in eastern Burma in 2009 alone.


This will require Mr. Obama's strong leadership and commitment. His Burma policy objectives are sound: the release of all political prisoners, an end to conflict with ethnic minorities, accountability for human-rights violators, and genuine dialogue among all Burma's stakeholders.

Oscar Hopes High for 'Burma VJ'

The documentary “Burma VJ” is in the running for an Oscar for best feature-documentary at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards show which will be broadcast worldwide on Sunday night in the United States.

“If 'Burma VJ' receives the Oscar, it will be the first time in history that a whole nation's population will receive an Oscar,” said Jan Krogsgaard, the originator and scriptwriter of the film. “I think even the generals of Burma would like to see this happen, deep inside themselves, and find peace within their own lives.”

A monk at a protest in Burma is recorded by a member of a group of clandestine journalists.

“Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country” tells the story of how Burmese video journalists took to the streets and filmed the September 2007 mass demonstrations in Rangoon. It is among five documentaries nominated this year.

Other nominees are “The Cove,” about a secret slaughter of dolphins in a Japanese town; “Food, Inc.,” a story of the horrors of factory farms, slaughterhouses and meat plants in the US; “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” the story of a high-level Pentagon official and Vietnam War strategist who in 1971 concluded that the war was based on decades of lies and leaked top secret documents to The New York Times; and “Which Way Home,” a film that follows unaccompanied child migrants on their journey through Mexico as they try to reach the United States.

“Burma VJ” has already won 33 awards—including World Cinema Documentary Film Editing and Golden Gate Persistence of Vision prizes.

Most of the material for the film was shot by Burmese video journalists at great personal risk and smuggled out of the country to the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). A Danish professional film-maker, Anders Østergaard, directed the film, which was released to wide acclaim this year.

In an interview on the Oscar official Web site, producer Lise Lens-Moller said: “Burma had almost vanished from the global consciousness when we started working on the film in 2004 and the VJ's main motivation for risking their lives and their freedom every day was to try and bring attention to their situation. I hope the Oscar nomination will keep the Burmese people's struggle alive and supported around the world.”

“It must be a historical milestone,” said Khin Maung Win, the deputy executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma. “Even if Burma VJ does not win the prize, the film will bring attention to our democracy movement.”

Canada Condemns Burmese Decision on Aung San Suu Kyi Appeal

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement expressing Canada’s disappointment over the Burmese Supreme Court’s decision to reject the appeal of pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi

“Canada is deeply disappointed that the Burmese Supreme Court has rejected Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest appeal of her detention. Neither her original trial nor the appeal process has met international standards of due process, demonstrating a complete disregard for the rule of law. Canada maintains its position that her continued detention is unwarranted, unjustified and politically motivated.

“The Burmese regime has missed yet another opportunity to prove its commitment to hold inclusive, free and fair elections. The elections planned for 2010 will only be credible if the Burmese regime allows all citizens, including opposition groups, to participate freely in a transparent electoral process.

“Since December 2007, Canada has imposed the toughest sanctions of any country against the Burmese regime to protest its treatment of its people. These sanctions include a ban on goods exported to and imported from Burma. Canada again calls upon the Burmese regime to free all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to engage in a genuine dialogue with members of the democratic opposition and different ethnic groups of Burma.

“In 2007, the Parliament of Canada granted Aung San Suu Kyi honourary Canadian citizenship for her tireless work for democracy in Burma.”

For further information, media representatives may contact:

Catherine Loubier
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
613-995-1851

Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874

To view this document on the department website, please click on the following link:  http://www.internat ional.gc. ca/media/ aff/news- communiques/ 2010/084. aspx