Activists Decry Arrests as UN Envoy Returns to Burma

---

By VIOLET CHO

Monday, August 18, 2008<!– , –>

---

As Ibrahim Gambari, the United Nations special envoy to Burma, returned to the country on Monday for his latest round of talks aimed at achieving political reconciliation, the ruling regime showed its determination to suppress dissent with a fresh round of prison sentences for its critics. 

Officials of the National League for Democracy (NLD) said that five young activists from its branch in Taunggok, Arakan State received two-and-a-half-year prison sentences on August 15 for participating in a small street rally to mark the 20th anniversary of the August 8, 1988 pro-democracy uprising.

“They [the Burmese junta] have again taken an unlawful action,” said Thein Hlaing, the leader of the NLD’s Taunggok branch. “They did not even give us a chance to consult with lawyers before handing down the sentences for the five protesters.

“The authorities did not talk with witnesses, but simply took action against [the activists] under two laws which prohibit joining a protest and creating public unrest,” he added.

Thein Hlaing added that on the same day the sentences were passed down for the five activists, who were among 43 people taking part in the anniversary rally, a solo protester calling for the release of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners was also taken into custody.

Meanwhile, the regime’s intelligence personnel and military forces have been actively hunting down members of two other dissident groups, the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) and ’88 Generation Students.

In a statement released on Monday, ABFSU announced that three of its members, Aung Kyaw, Htain Lin and Chit Tun Lwin, and two members of the ’88 Generation Students group, Mar Mar Oo and Myo Thant, were arrested on August 7 as part of a security sweep being conducted by the authorities.

The ABFSU statement expressed concern about the fate of the arrested students, who were taken to an unknown location. Their families have not yet been informed of their arrests and no information is available about the charges against them, the statement said.

The latest round of arrests sends a sobering message to Gambari, who will be in Burma for five days on his fourth visit to the country since a deadly crackdown on peaceful, large-scale protests last September.

Despite the UN’s high-profile role in humanitarian aid efforts in Burma since Cyclone Nargis struck the country’s Irrawaddy delta on May 2-3, the world body has made no discernible progress on the political front.

It is not clear if Gambari will meet detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi or senior members of the ruling junta during his stay.

On Sunday, Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since May 2003, was permitted to meet her lawyer for the second time this month and her doctor for the first time since February.

Meanwhile, officials from the NLD and the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), a group formed in 1998 to push for recognition of the results of the 1990 election, which the party won overwhelmingly, expressed hope that the UN envoy’s visit would help ease tensions between the NLD and the regime.

Aye Thar Aung, a CRPP official, said that he hoped to have a chance to discuss the recent arrests of two group members, Nyi Pu and Dr Tin Min Htut, as well as other activists, although it was unclear if he would be able to meet Gambari.

Nyi Pu, chairman of the NLD Taunggok branch in Arakan State, and Dr Tin Min Htut, an elected member of parliament from Panthanaw constituency in Irrawaddy Division, were arrested early last week.

Although it is not known why the pair was arrested, both had signed an open letter, along with other NLD members, to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, urging the UN to reject the junta’s constitution as illegitimate.

Gambari has Big Agenda during Visit

---

By SAW YAN NAING

Tuesday, August 19, 2008<!– , –>

---

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=13933

Burmese dissidents called for UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari to call for tripartite talks with opposition groups, the release of political prisoners and to deliver frank accounts of his meetings with opposition groups and Burmese officials

Bo Kyi, the joint secretary of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), said, “He [Gambari] must do what he should do. After meeting with Burmese officials and the opposition, he should give frank accounts to the public.” 

“For example, if the junta is stubborn and doesn’t want to negotiate, he must frankly report that so the UN can clearly understand the issues,” said Bo Kyi.

Han Thar Myhint, a National League for Democracy spokesperson, said the party’s office was told by authorities to prepare for a meeting with the UN envoy, but did not indicate the day or time of the meeting.

The UN envoy met with Burma’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win on Monday in hope of continuing the stalled talks between the junta and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.    

He also met with representatives of the diplomatic corps, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN Tripartite Core Group and was briefed by the UN country team, according to a UN report.    

Cin Sian Thang, the chairman of the Zomi National Congress in Rangoon, said ethnic leaders have had little input into Gambari’s past trips to Burma and knew little about his current five-day visit.

“We only knew that Gambari came to Burma and went back,” he said. “We don’t know whether he would like a chance to meet with us or not,” said Cin Sian Thang.     

“We heard that he will meet with opposition leaders and ethnic leaders. So, we are hoping to meet him, and we are ready to discuss issues with him as well. We are now waiting for him, but we haven’t heard whether he will meet us.” 

On Tuesday, Gambari visited Kungyangone Township in southern Rangoon, one of areas most affected by Cyclone Nargis which struck on May 2-3 and left more than 140,000 dead and missing. Gambari met with Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan in Rangoon, according to a spokesperson with the UN Information Center in Rangoon. 

Lian H Sakhong, the secretary-general of the Thailand-based Ethnic Nationalities Council, on Tuesday urged Gambari to try to persuade the military regime to create a tripartite dialogue that includes the government, opposition leaders and ethnic leaders.  
 
Meanwhile, the Burma Campaign UK on Monday urged Gambari to make the release of political prisoners a top priority during his visit.

“The release of political prisoners will be the benchmark by which Gambari and Ban Ki-moon will be judged,” Wai Hnin, a political prisoners advocate at Burma Campaign UK, said in a statement. 

“It’s a normal, first step when a country enters into political reform,” he said. “If the regime is genuine about their claims, they will reform. They should release all political prisoners immediately.”

The statement said conditions in Burma’s prisons are deteriorating as authorities deny medical treatment to political detainees including leaders of the 88 Generation Students group such as Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Mya Aye as well as Myo Yan Naung Thein, a student activist, who are all in Insein Prison. 

“The United Nations Security Council has said the political prisoners should be released, and Gambari and Ban Ki-Moon must make that happen,” he said. “We have had 20 years of envoys going back and forth with nothing to show for it. It is time they delivered concrete results.”

Is Suu Kyi Trying to Get the Message Out?

The Irrawaddy

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=13932

---

By WAI MOE

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

---

Neighbors of the democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said a new message appeared last month on a large outdoor signboard in her compound, saying, “All martyrs must finish their mission.” 

The message appeared on July 19, Burma’s Martyr Day. The signboard, about 10 X 4-feet, is located on Suu Kyi’s property and can be read from the street in front of her home, where she has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years.

File photo shows a poster of Burma’s detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi outside the headquarters of the National League for Democracy in Rangoon. The party’s office was told on Tuesday by military authorities to prepare for a meeting with the UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari. (Photo: AFP)

A neighbor who asked not to be identified said the Nobel Peace Prize winner frequently changes the signboard message, using it as a way to communicate with the public.

Suu Kyi is expected to receive a visit this week by UN Special Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari, who is in the country for a five-day visit to try to move the military government toward more concrete steps to national reconciliation. Observers hope she will release a new public statement through Gambari.

In addition, Suu Kyi recently received visits from her family doctor and her lawyer.

Kyi Win, a lawyer who met with Suu Kyi twice in ten days, told The Irrawaddy he went to her home on University Avenue on Sunday morning, and they discussed technical legal issues surrounding her house arrest.

“I also met with her on August 8,” he said. “She talked about several issues related to her house arrest. She was well and in good spirits.”

Among the issues discussed was the exact nature of the law the junta used to detain her under house arrest. She asked her attorney to research Act 10/B to determine if it was lawful.

She also asked him to look into the freedom of movement restrictions that are placed on two women who live with Suu Kyi in the compound. She noted that they have not been charged or convicted of any offense and to restrict their movement is illegal, her lawyer said.

Burma analysts and the international community would like to hear more from Suu Kyi, who has been largely silent following the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. 

In November, she sent a message to the world through Gambari about the meetings that had taken place between her and the junta’s laison officer, Minister Maj-Gen Aung Kyi.

“I expect that this phase of preliminary consultations will conclude soon so that a meaningful and time bound dialogue with the SPDC leadership can start as early as possible,” she said in the statement.

She said that “in the interest of the nation” she was ready to cooperate with the military in order to make progress in reconciliation efforts and she welcomed the necessary good offices role of the United Nations to facilitate talks between her and the junta.

While noting that she is leader of the National League for Democracy, she said national reconciliation must include discussions with a broad spectrum of society.

“It is my duty to give constant and serious considerations to the interests and opinions of as broad a range of political organizations and forces as possible, in particular those of our ethnic nationality races,” she said.

Perhaps as a result of Gambari’s role in releasing her public message, he faced criticism from the junta and was denied meetings with senior generals and the junta’s leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe when he returned in March.
He was relegated to meetings with Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan, Foreign Minister Nyan Win and Culture Minister Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint.

 Kyaw Hsan told Gambari the regime was uncomfortable with Suu Kyi’s public statement, according to The New Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper.

“Sadly, you went beyond your mandate,” he said, according to sources familiar with the meeting. “Some even believe that you prepared the statement in advance and released it after coordinating with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.”

Kyaw Hsan accused the UN envoy of trying to “frame a pattern [message] desired by Western countries.”

Win Min, a Burmese political observer in Thailand, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, “Gambari won’t dare to take Suu Kyi’s statement again. He experienced the generals’ anger during his last trip in March.”

TOC Report: Myanmar Peace Awareness Day in university campuses

Friday, 5 October 2007, 2:55 pm |

By Ng Sook Zhen

Chaos may be an abstract concept for youths in Singapore, but this has not stopped students from taking material action against the current chaotic situation in Myanmar.

Yesterday, at Myanmar Peace Awareness Day(MPAD) held at three local universities – National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Manangement University – crowds were drawn to tables splashed in red, set up to raise awareness for the oppression the Burmese people face.

“Our concern now is, now that there is attention, we are going to regress to the second page, the third page and then to the column,” said Mr Choo Zheng Xi, the main organizer of the event.

 

“We want to see governments and the media keep the pressure and spotlight on Burma,” he added.

Mr Choo had come together with four other varsity students from different universities to organize MPAD.

Two petitions addressed to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Myanmar embassy in Singapore were drawn. The first urged the international community to keep pressure on the junta, while the second called for the military junta to reopen direct negotiations with key players of the process of peace and reconciliation.

Within a day, over 900 signatures were collected, a positive response, according to the organizers. Both petitions will be presented to the relevant authorities next week.

Red ribbons were also distributed in “peace packets” and the students were encouraged to wear them to show their support for the people of Burma.

The day’s activities also included a discussion forum held at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus, and culminated with candle light vigils held in the evening at all three campuses.

Night vigil

The night vigil at the university’s Bukit Timah campus commenced slightly after 7.30pm. Some 70 Burmese students arrived at the campus’ lecture theatre to join their Singaporean counterparts in the observance.

In what turned out to be an emotional vigil, students from both countries shared their experiences and thoughts about the events in Burma.

Student organizer Choo Zheng Xi told the gathering that across all 3 campuses (NUS, NTU and SMU) they received wide support from the students and staff. Indeed, the dean of the law school personally wished Mr Choo all the best for the day’s events.

Mr Choo also revealed that the organizers had to go through “quite a lot of red tape” to get the approval for the “Peace Awareness Day” in the campuses.

He reiterated the organisers’ commitment to “take up and carry on the expression of the Burmese people by doing so in Singapore”.

Co-organiser of the events, Burmese student Soe, who shaved his head as a sign of solidarity with the monks in his home country, called on the world to take concrete action against the Burmese government. “One violent side against a non-violent side. We need to get international attention. Otherwise, what? Just stand there and be shot?”

It was a sentiment echoed by another member of the audience. “Please stop watching us anymore. Do something. Why is the world waiting? Does the world want Burma to be the next Sudan or East Timor before they do something?”, he asked.

Another student who said that he had lived through the uprising in 1988 and 1996 explained that the reason why the students in Burma have not been able to participate in the latest protests is because the government has scattered and suppressed them – through the re-location of schools to the outskirts of the cities.

He was especially upset with some governments’ views that the events in Burma was “an internal affair”. “Violence has again been the winner over the non-violent people. What are we going to do?”, he asked, breaking into tears.

While the call for the international community to do something was a running theme during the vigil, there were also words of hope and encouragement from the students themselves. “Improve yourself. Educate yourself. We’re very lucky to be in Singapore”, a Burmese studying here advised. “One day we will save Burma. The government has the bullets, we have the brains. Lets use our brains.”

His sentiment was supported by a female Singaporean student who said, “The international community is watching. It’s also a regional problem. Take heart. It is happening. Don’t worry.”

Another Singaporean directed his address at the Singapore media. “The local media should keep its focus on Burma. Journalists should ask the hard questions of the government”, referring to media reports about the Singapore government’s business dealings with the Burmese junta.

A brief 2 minutes of silence was then observed, with the lights in the auditorium turned off and participants holding aloft their red cyalume sticks. (The organizers’ plans to hold an outdoor candlelight vigil had earlier been denied by the authorities.)

As the vigil came to an end, some students hugged each other, while others could be seen wiping away tears from their eyes.