POLITICS-BURMA: Mobile Phones, Radios Keep Resistance Alive

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Feb 28 (IPS)

Somewhere in the dilapidated city of Rangoon is a man on the run since August last year. He has sheltered in over 10 homes so far. But he expects to continue avoiding arrest by Burma’s dreaded military or intelligence forces.

When Tun Myint Aung shifts from one safehouse to another, he goes armed with two items that have become indispensable. They are a mobile phone and a portable, Chinese-made radio, to listen to such anti-junta stations like the Democratic Voice of Burma, based in Oslo, Norway.

‘’The phone and the radio are very important now. I always take them wherever I go. They are next to me when I sleep,’’ says Tun Myint Aung, in a voice with a hint of excitement, during a recent telephone interview with IPS from his current safehouse in the former Burmese capital. ‘’Through them I stay in touch with people outside, my friends, and follow the news about events in the country.’’

But his Tecsum shortwave radio has taken on added value in military-ruled Burma’s current oppressive climate. ‘’The radio has become a social weapon for me and for our movement,’’ adds Tun Myint Aung over the phone, an act that could get him jailed. ‘’It is how the messages against the military regime are broadcast by us and others against them.’’

The ‘’us’’ he refers to is the ’88 Generation Students’, a highly respected group of former university graduates who have been at the vanguard of peaceful protests against Burma’s repressive military leaders. The group gets its name from leading a pro-democracy popular movement in 1988, which was brutally crushed by the military, leaving some 3,000 protestors dead.

Till August 2007, Tun Myint Aung worked in the shadows of ’88 Generation’ leaders like Min Ko Naing, who to many Burmese is the most respected person in the country for his democracy crusade after Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate. But that month, the junta arrested Min Ko Naing and other prominent leaders of the group to curb the protests they called for after the regime raised the price of oil by 500 percent without warning.

Tun Myint Aung, who will be turning 40 this year, had to flee his home to avoid arrest. It was an escape, forcing him to ‘’run and run,’’ sometimes having to spend nights on the streets with no place to hide, that has consequently propelled him to be a new leader of the ’88 Generation’. With him at the helm are two other activists of the same group, also on the run, Nilar Thein and Soe Htun.

His first month as a leader was overshadowed by the rage against the junta that poured on the streets of Rangoon and other cities in September. Tens of thousands of people, led by the countries maroon-robed Buddhist monks, staged peaceful protests. They raised a cry against the unbearable economic woes, the arrest of the ’88 Generation’ leaders, and the continued imprisonment of political activists, including Suu Kyi. But the junta responded with force, killing scores of demonstrators, including monks, and jailing hundreds.

The events, since then, have proved as formidable: the junta recently announced plans to conduct a referendum in May to seek approval for a controversial new constitution. And mounting a political campaign against that plebiscite from underground is a challenge.

‘’There are 11 organisations we are working with to inform the public that the new constitution was not drafted by the people’s representatives. We are also warning that the referendum will not be free and fair,’’ says Tun Myint Aung. ‘’But if people want to vote, we are urging them to vote ‘No’. They have to oppose the military’s plan to get its political life extended legally.’’

A mass movement against the referendum is also being discussed. ‘’We want a nation-wide silent movement against the military. We have been contacting people in our network, through the phone and other ways, to get this message out,’’ he reveals. ‘’Our actions are to get as many people to lead this silent protest. That is how we have always worked. It is never been based on only one person.’’

The anger that the new leaders of the ’88 Generation’ have towards the regime was displayed in mid-February, when they released a statement saying that the planned May referendum is a ‘’declaration of war by the military regime against the Burmese people.’’ Another has followed since, denouncing the Chinese government for ‘’bankrolling’’ the junta and calling for a boycott of this year’s summer olympics in Beijing.

Despite the odds, Tun Myint Aung relishes his new role to lead the Burmese opposition from within the country. ‘’It is a very heavy task that we have, but it is exciting,’’ he says. ‘’I am not depressed; I am eager to try as many actions as we can against the military. This is the way to help our people and to help my brothers, our comrades, in jail.’’

Even the solitary hours that he sometimes has to endure to avoid arrest barely gets him down. For he has experienced worse: he was arrested in 1990 and jailed at the notorious Insein Prison in Rangoon for three years. At the time, he was studying geography at Rangoon University. His ‘’crime’’ was to be a protest leader in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. Then, in 1998, he was arrested again and jailed till 2005. Once again, it was for his political activism.

‘’I have not talked to my parents for many months; I cannot contact them, because our home in Rangoon is under watch by the intelligence,’’ he admits, after a pause. ‘’I miss that. I miss talking to my nieces and nephews. But they are used to not seeing me home’’

At times, however, the strain of struggling to remain free from the junta’s grip leads to restless nights. ‘’If I hear strange sounds on the road, too many dogs barking at night, I wake up,’’ he says. ‘’What is it?’’

And visits to a hospital or clinics are out of the question for him: ‘’I cannot get sick. It is too risky to go to a clinic. I am always taking care of my health now.’’

Yet there is a reason that weighs in his favour if he had to call on a doctor. His face remains a mystery to the junta; it had not been in the glare during the dissidents’ public campaign. ‘’It is fortunate. I avoided having my photos taken during the protests last year,’’ says Tun Myint Aung.

But that spell of anonymity may not last long, he concedes. ‘’The junta wants to arrest all our leaders. I cannot foretell my future: if I go to jail or not.’’

Ref: http://www.ipsnews.net

March 2 Event Invitation

Burma Advocacy Group to Hold Dinner

www.TheCabin.net

The Burma Advocacy Group of Conway is holding a dinner and art auction starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 1 to benefit Burmese refugees forced to flee into internal exile or to leave their homeland by two decades of human rights abuses and bloody fighting inside Burma.

"A Voice for Burma." a semiformal dinner and art auction will be held at Little Rock's Embassy Suites hotel. Tickets are $35 and are available at Sonshine Academy in Conway. Free childcare will be provided.

About 200 people attended a similar event in Conway last year in and raised more than $10,000 by auctioning off artwork donated by more than 30 local artists. The funds went directly to assist with the physical needs of the internally displaced people in Burmese jungles.

http://www.thecabin.net

US Senate bill honours Burma's Suu Kyi

ABC Radio
Last Updated 14/02/2008, 20:43:23

Senators in the United States have introduced legislation to give the Congressional Gold Medal, America's top civilian honor, to detained Burmese democracy politician, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The bill was put forward by US Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein and Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who are both long-time critics of Burma's military government.

They had the bipartisan support of 73 other senators.

Senator Feinstein says Nobel Peace laureate Ms Suu Kyi 'a woman of unrivaled courage and commitment' who offers hope and democracy to Burma.

She went on to say that the 'Congressional Gold Medal will not only honor the life and legacy' of Ms Suu Kyi, but it will also demonstrate to the world that her cause is our cause - a free and democratic Burma.'

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au

Prayer Ceremony for Assassinated KNU General Secretary

Dear Fellow Activists,

We would like to invite you and your colleagues (friends) to join the (swan offering) and prayer ceremony for General Secretary of KNU and a secretary member of NCUB (National Council of Union of Burma), Mahn Sha Lar Phan, who was assassinated at his home in the Thai border town of Mae Sot on Thursday 02-14 -2008. The celebration will be condolence and meritorious deed for Mahn Sha Lar Phan, at the Buddhist temple Metta Nanda Dhama Vihara in Freemont.

The swan offering and prayer ceremony of condolence and meritorious deed for Mahn Sha Lar Phan will be as follows.

When: Saturday, Feb 23th 2008
Time: 10:00 -2:00 pm
Where: At the temple of Metta Nanda Dhama Vihara
4619, Central Ave,
Fremont, CA-94536

8888 Organizers Meeting Invitation

Dear members and friends,

We would like to hold a meeting and invite all of members of LA organizer, activists and friends. Meeting agendas are:

8888 20th anniversary
Thee Lay Thee update
Upcoming Sasana moli's sermon
Others...

Date:February 24, 2008(Sunday)
Time: 2 – 4 pm
Place: Baldwin Park Temple
4436 Walnut Street, Baldwin Park, CA 91706

Note: After the meeting we encourage all attendances to go and visit to Chin National Day event.

Sincerely,

8888 LA Organizers team
Together we succeed

Burma Rebel Leader Assassinated

ABC News
Last Updated 15/02/2008, 07:29:18

The secretary general of Burma's largest rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU), has been assassinated in Thailand.

Police say Pado Mahn Shar was gunned down at his home in the border town of Mae Sot.

In an interview with Reuters news agency on Monday, he had predicted a possible increase in violence ahead of a constitutional referendum in Burma in May.

The KNU and its military wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, have spent nearly 60 years fighting the Burmese government.

But in more recent times, the group has been split by deadly internal feuds and defections to the government.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news

PANEL DISCUSSION ON "THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA"

Event Information: PANEL DISCUSSION ON "THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA" WITH KISHORE MAHBUBANI, LARRY DIAMOND, DOUG BEREUTER, AND DON EMMERSON

Thursday, February 21, 2008
5:30 pm Reception/Book Signings
6:00-7:30 pm Program

Julia Morgan Ballroom
The Asia Foundation
465 California Street, 15th Floor
San Francisco, CA

$10 Asia Society /Co-sponsor Members/Students
$15 Non-members

This program, which opens the new Asia Society program series The Future of Democracy in Asia, will bring together some of the world's leading experts on Southeast Asia and democracy to consider the critical questions that hang over the region.

Has the American model of democracy become tarnished in Asia, and is the Chinese model of authoritarian capitalism of growing appeal and significance? What are the dimensions and implications of ongoing Islamization for Southeast Asia? What are the prospects for cleaning up notoriously corrupt party politics?

Will the military ever be driven out of politics in Burma, Thailand, the Philippines, and elsewhere? Is the American-led "war on terror" helping to stabilize politics in the region, or is it exacerbating already serious problems? What do these developments mean for U.S. foreign policy and American influence in Asia?

Speakers:

Kishore Mahbubani, one of Asia's leading public intellectuals, is the author of the forthcoming book The New Asian Hemisphere: the Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East, Can Asians Think? as well as Beyond the Age of Innocence: Rebuilding Trust Between America and the World, and numerous other publications.

Now the Dean and Professor of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, he served for 33 years as a diplomat for Singapore.

Larry Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and is the author or editor of more than twenty books, including Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq, and the newly released The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World.

Donald K. Emmerson has written or edited more than a dozen books and monographs on Southeast Asian politics, including the forthcoming Hard Choices: Security, Democracy, and Regionalism in Southeast Asia, and Indonesia beyond Suharto. His latest article is "Challenging ASEAN" (Jan. 2008). He is a senior fellow at Stanford University, where he also heads the Southeast Asia Forum.

Douglas Bereuter (moderator) is president of The Asia Foundation. He assumed his current position after resigning from the U.S. Congress after 26 years of service, where he was one of that body's leading authorities on Asian affairs and international relations.

Co-sponsored by:
The Asia Foundation,
Business Executives for National Security,
East-West Center Alumni Association of Northern California,
the South Asian Journalists Association, Stacey's Books,
Stanford University Southeast Asia Forum,
U.C. Berkeley Center for Southeast Asian Studies,
USF Center for the Pacific Rim, and
the World Affairs Council of Northern California

USCB Announcement over Burma Junta's New Constitution

United States Campaign for Burma (Burma)
Press Release
February 11 2008

United States Campaign for Burma (USCB) released a press release today condemning Burma's military junta for their announcement to legalize the new constitution. This new constitution is a ploy to formally legalize the military's hold on power. Some may see the military's announcement for a referendum and then elections as progress, but it is actually a gross step backwards.

"The promised vote continues the military regime's process of consolidating its grip on power. It is not a real referendum, it is a charade," said Aung Din, executive director of the US Campaign for Burma.

The announcement by the regime comes one week after the leader of Burma's democracy movement, imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi, said that democracy activists should "prepare for the worst." The regime's move also comes four months after a massive crackdown on Buddhist monks, student activists, and members of Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, the National League for Democracy.

"How can the regime hold a vote when the entire opposition is locked up behind bars?" added Aung Din, who was imprisoned for four years as a political activist in Burma.

Burma's regime also announced it would hold a multi-party election in 2010 to follow this year's planned referendum. The new constitution would grant supreme power to the commander in chief of the Burmese military, effectively forestalling any progress toward democracy. The underground coalition of Buddhist monks and students that organized nationwide demonstrations in September 2007 have already criticized the plan, calling it an effort to legalize military rule and sideline the legitimately elected leaders of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. The NLD won 82% of the seats in parliament in Burma's last election, a landslide victory that the regime has blocked from governing. Human rights activists see the upcoming votes as a way for the regime to erase the NLD's electoral victory while cementing its own grip on power.

The referendum process stands in stark contrast to a call by the United Nations Security Council on October 11th, 2007 for the regime to participate in meaningful negotiations with Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD and the ethnic representatives. Additionally, 29 consecutive resolutions by the United Nations General Assembly, Commission on Human Rights, and Human Rights Council have called for "tri-partite" talks between the regime, NLD, and Burma's ethnic minorities. Instead of heeding the UN, the regime appears to be taking a one-sided approach and refusing to participate in genuine talks.

Observers expect the military will mobilize the "Union Solidarity and Development Association" and "Swan Arr Shin" to force the people to vote for its constitution. The two organizations have led brutal attacks on Aung San Suu Kyi, members of the NLD, and Buddhist monks that have left hundreds of activists dead and thousands imprisoned.

Burma's regime is among the worlds most brutal. The regime has locked up over 2,000 political prisoners including hundreds of students, Buddhist monks, and the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. The regime has also recruited up to 70,000 child soldiers, more than any other country in the world, and destroyed 3,200 villages in eastern Burma, forcing 1.5 million people to flee their homes as refugees.

UNPO Declaration - International Day of Action

DECLARATION
UNPO International Day of Action

11 February 2008

On the occasion of the second UNPO International Day of Action, declared by the UNPO VIII General Assembly General Resolution to be marked annually on 11 February, the date of UNPO’s founding;

UNPO declares 11 February 2008 as a Day of Action, and the beginning of a year-long focus, on issues relating to ongoing repression and human rights abuses within the Union of Myanmar.

UNPO calls upon its Members to act in solidarity with their fellow representatives in supporting, publicizing, and promoting not only the plight of the Chin, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Karenni, Mon, and Shan, but also those other peoples and nations who remain subjugated and unrepresented within the borders of the Union of Myanmar as a result of the official and unofficial policies and actions of the unelected military junta.

UNPO urges its Members to support international efforts to investigate the crushing of pro-democracy protests in September 2007. In addition, UNPO calls for the release of the hundreds of Burmese who remain detained and at the risk of physical abuse from the Myanmar state authorities.

Furthermore, UNPO exhorts the Myanmar authorities to demonstrate a commitment to protecting its citizens’ rights by ratifying all outstanding international conventions intended to guarantee the human rights of all nations and peoples from abuse.

Members are also urged to help the democratically elected National League for Democracy to return Burma to democracy with representation assured for all Burma ’s nations and peoples.

UNPO calls on the international community to support any action and activity that favors the establishment of a democratically elected government in Burma .
www.unpo.org/article.php?id=7562

NCGUB Rejects ‘So-called State Constitution’ , Military Proposed Referendum

National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB)
Press Release
February 10, 2008

Dr Sein Win, prime minister of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, said, “We do not endorse the state constitution in its present form and the people will never ratify it. But, the Burmese generals are probably already taking steps to ensure that they get the results they want from the referendum”.

The headlong decision by the military regime to hold a national referendum in May is a knee-jerk reaction to the growing problems the Burmese generals are facing.

The regime, as the Burmese would say, is “a mad man surrounded by fire” and since it is plagued by economic woes, increasing international pressure, and widening public discontent at home, it has impulsively decided to convene a national referendum to overcome the problems.

In fact, the so-called state constitution, which the people are supposed to endorse at the national convention, is yet to be seen by public until now. But, judging from reports carried by the state-run press during different sessions of the military-organized National Convention which compiled the so-called “objectives” and “principles” to be taken into consideration during the drafting process, the new constitution will do nothing for democracy and will merely legitimize the current rule of the Burmese generals.

Dr Sein Win, prime minister of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, said, “We do not endorse the state constitution in its present form and the people will never ratify it. But, the Burmese generals are probably already taking steps to ensure that they get the results they want from the referendum”.

The NCGUB believes that it is imperative for the international community to oppose the military-sponsored constitution and the regime’s referendum plan. It must continue to strive to bring about an inclusive process which will determine the political future of the country and which also include all political parties, including the National League for Democracy and the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, and other ethnic nationality forces.

It is also time for the international community to give through the UN Security Council a stronger mandate to the UN Secretary-General’ s Office and enable it to play an effective mediatory role in bringing about an equitable solution to the political deadlock in Burma.

Invitation to "Chin National Day" Event

Dear all:

You all are cordially invited to:---

- 60th Anniversary of "Chin National Day" - will be held, for the first time in LA, on February 24-2008 (Sunday) from 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm.- Location: 629 (B) E. Garvey Ave, Monterey Park, CA 91755. (Near Yoma Restaurent & Behind East-West Dental Office)

- Paul Lahpai (Live Band), Rendezvous Band and Melody Band will perform after Chin Traditional programs.
- Chin Families in Southern California will provide refreshments (Dinner).
- Fund Raising items from ABSDF: 2008 Calendar and Books will also available.

Articles on Burma on the New York Book Review

________________________________________

[1]VOLUME 55, NUMBER 2 • FEBRUARY 14, 2008
- The Revolt of the Monks
- By Pankaj Mishra

[2] Crackdown: Repression of the 2007 Popular Protests in Burma
- a Report by Human Rights Watch
- 131 pp., December 2007

[3] Making Enemies: War and State Building in Burma
- By Mary P. Callahan
- Cornell University Press, 296 pp., $21.95 (paper)

[4] The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma
- By Thant Myint-U
- Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 400 pp., $15.00 (paper)

[5] "Burma/Myanmar: The Role of the Military in the Economy"
- By David I. Steinberg
- Burma Economic Watch, Vol. 1 (2005)

Others:
- See "Burmese Maze," The Economist, December 19, 2007.

- See Christopher Bayly and Tim Harper, Forgotten Armies: The Fall of British Asia, 1941–1945 (Belknap Press/Harvard University Press, 2005) (For an authoritative account of the traumatic remaking of Burma during the war)

- See Forgotten Wars: Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia (Belknap Press/Harvard University Press, 2007).

- See Martin Smith, Burma: Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity (Zed Books, 1999).

- See "My Gun Was as Tall as Me": Child Soldiers in Burma (Human Rights Watch, October 2002).

- See Amy Kazmin, "Burma's Outlook 'Poor' as Inflation Soars," Financial Times, December 7, 2007.

- See The Gathering Storm: Infectious Diseases and Human Rights in Burma, a report by Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, July 2007.

- See "Myanmar: Misery Piled Upon Misery," The Economist, October 4, 2007.

- See "What to Do About Burma?" London Review of Books, February 8, 2007.

- See Joshua Kurlantzick, "Burma's Buddy: India's Craven Appeasement in Burma," The New Republic, October 2, 2007.

- See Glenn Kessler, "India's Halt to Burma Arms Sales May Pressure Junta," The Washington Post, December 30, 2007.

- See the report by the International Crisis Group, "Myanmar: Sanctions, Engagement or Another Way Forward?," April 26, 2004;

- See "The List: Burma's Economic Lifelines," Foreign Policy Web site, October 2007;

- See "Myan-mar: How to Save It," The Economist, July 21, 2005;

- See Michael Green and Derek Mitchell, "Asia's Forgotten Crisis: A New Approach to Burma," Foreign Affairs, November/December 2007.

- See "Myanmar: Investing in a Misruled Land," The Economist, April 10, 2003.
________________________________________

United States Campaign for Burma (USCB) National Meeting

Please Join Us at our National Planning and Training Meeting

The Saffron Revolution in late 2007 pressed the situation in Burma into the hearts and minds of people all over the world; however, we need to ensure that the people of Burma and their call for freedom are not forgotten now that thousands of monks and activists inside Burma have been arrested and the media is focusing its attention elsewhere.

Together in 2008 we will:

- Push for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners
- Garner global attention to end the mass atrocities and ethnic cleansing in eastern Burma
- Create a strong campaign around the Beijing Olympics, and 8.8.08, the 20th anniversary of the massacre of democracy activists in Burma.
The world should not forget the cries for freedom from the people of Burma, the world needs to act and we are going to ensure they do.

When: March 7-8th
Where:
Washington DC - American University Campus

Who:
Community and Student leaders and anyone who wants to participate and help lead this movement

Why:
Provide us all the opportunity to meet with our fellow leaders, activists, and others who are interested in Burma face to face and provide participants with solid trainings and tools to prepare for this upcoming year's campaigns and actions.

Hope to see you there, please email us if you have more questions - thelma@uscampaignforburma.org

We have limited space so Register Today!
Register Online Here
www.uscampaignforburma.org

University of San Francisco - A Conversation with former Chief of Mission for Burma

USF Center for the Pacific Rim presents:

"Burma's Buddhist Crucible: Myanmar's Murdered Monks"
A Conversation with Priscilla A. Clapp, Chief of Mission,
U.S. Embassy Burma (1999-2002)

Priscilla Clapp is a retired Minister-Counselor in the U.S. Foreign Service. As a diplomat she has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Refugee Programs and Chief of Political-Military Affairs in the U.S. Embassy in Japan.

Her first book was published by Harvard University Press, and she has worked at MIT and the Brookings Insitution where she authored a chapter on Burma in The Worst of the Worst (Brookings 2007).

Patrick Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center for the Pacific Rim, will moderate.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 5:45 p.m.
USF Main Campus, Fromm Hall
(Enter from Parker Street between Golden Gate & Fulton)

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Reservations recommended. Please call (415) 422-6828.

Cosponsored by the Asia Society Northern California, the Mechanics' Insitute, USF's Asian Studies Program, the USF Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good, and the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning. Funded by the Kiriyama Chair for Pacific Rim Studies at USF

_______________________________
The Center for Southeast Asia Studies
International & Area Studies
University of California at Berkeley
2223 Fulton Street, #617
Berkeley, CA 94720-2318
Phone: (510) 642-3609
Fax: (510) 643-7062
http://ias.berkeley.edu/cseas/

Internal Announcement from BAWA (Burmese American Women Alliance)

Dear all BAWA members,

Freedom of Speech, Equality and Transparency plays a
vital role in any democracy.

We have decided to serve our Burmese community voluntarily by way of our organization "Burmese American Women's Alliance(BAWA) ".

Our job is to fulfill our primary responsibility, to carry out our objectives and purposes(Charitable )and to listen, respond and deliver to that which is demanded by our people and by our members.

We have a shared responsibility to make sure that "Transparency, Accountability, and Access to Information" about our organization become public knowledge in order to seek participation from our community particularly from the younger generation.

"Leadership Development" is critical to the success of our organization.

We must encourage and promote democratic values by introducing parliamentary procedure.

http://www.robertsrules.org/
http://www.robertsrules.com/
http://www.robertasrulesoforder.com/

We can use "Roberta's rules" if you prefer, as long as there is some sort of procedure where we can be sure of equal participation and most importantly, to avoid
any misunderstanding.

http://www.parliamentaryprocedure.org/certification/index.html

I wish to convey this message to everyone to invite them to join us regardless of their Race, ethnic group, National Origin, Ancestry, Religion, Sex, Sexual orientation, Age, Disability, Political affiliation or belief and Marital status, and to become a stake holder in this community based grass root organization BAWA.

Sincerely,

Burmese American Women Alliance (BAWA)

March 1st - Hollywood Event for Burma

My Friend in Burma Got Arrested Just for Web Blogging

I just got to learn a shocking news from DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway) and other News Stations that my friend "Nay Phone Latt" in Burma was arrested in Yangon on January 29th just for web-blogging. He was arrested in an Internet Cafe in Thin-Gan-Gyun Township, Yangon.

The Government officials have denied to comment anything about his arrest. His parents got to learn that he had been arrested only after the group of soldiers raided their house and his Grandfather's house. His parents and grandparents heard the officer on the phone (apparently to Nay Phone Latt who was in detention) saying; "Ok. You lied to us. You will pay for this. I will slap you and beat you up when I come back there!!!".

Where he has been detained is not known, and his parents are worried about his health and safety.

He is one of the Web-Bloggers like me, who has a website on www.blogger.com, and his website name is: www.nayphonelatt.blogspot.com

Web-Blogging has become popular among youngsters in Burma and the Government has been trying every possible way to halt the information flow coming in and out the country via internet. The Government has banned www.blogger.com and all its hosting websites.

Right after his arrest, other web-bloggers in Burma are also learned to be on a run to escape from being arrested.

Italian Director to Make Film about Burma's Suu Kyi

By ADAM DAWTREY
Italian News
Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is the subject of biopic "The Lady."

Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore is planning to make his first English-language movie about the Burmese democracy icon and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
Tornatore is developing the script for "The Lady" with Japanese producer Naofumi Okamoto, with production to begin later this year.

Okamoto is producing the $30 million project alongside Avi Arad and Steven Paul and Benedict Carver of L.A.-based Crystal Sky Pictures. Crystal Sky is financing the pic.

Okamoto is one of only a handful of foreigners to have met with Suu Kyi since her arrest 17 years ago by Burma's military junta. He overcame her initial reluctance and secured her permission to develop a movie based on her life.

He asked Tornatore to direct because of the Italian helmer's empathy with female characters.

Okamoto said, "We want to use the politics as the background to a story about a woman who chose to be the mother to a nation rather than the mother of a family."

Suu Kyi is the leader of the pro-democracy movement in Burma and an advocate of nonviolent resistance.

The daughter of the general who negotiated Burmese independence from Britain after WWII, she was educated at Oxford U. and married an English scholar before returning to her homeland in 1988. Her party won elections in 1990, but she was prevented from taking power by the country's ruling junta.

She has spent much of the past 17 years under house arrest and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1991.

When her husband was diagnosed with cancer in 1997, the Burmese government denied him an entry visa to visit his wife. Suu Kyi was told she could leave to see him, but only on condition that she never return. She chose to stay in Burma and never saw her husband again before his death in 1999.

She also remains separated from her two sons, who live in England.

For Arad, best known for movies based on Marvel Comics superheroes such as Spider-Man and X-Men, the project represents something of a departure.

"At first I thought it wasn't my kind of movie, but then I realized it was. To me, Suu Kyi was like a character from 'X-Men,' except she's a real hero, not an imaginary one -- she didn't need to do what she did, and she gave up a lot to do it."

Arad is determined that "The Lady" be a movie for the broadest possible audience. "There's a real commercial opportunity to tell this story. I don't want to do a biopic like HBO or the BBC would do. We have to find a way of making it bigger than that. It's a love story and a political thriller. If it's not commercially successful, we will have missed the mark," he said.

"The Lady" will span the time from Suu Kyi's return to Burma in 1988, when she was 43, to the present day. The movie will be in English -- the language in which Suu Kyi was educated and which she speaks at home. No cast is yet attached.

The producers will have to negotiate the delicate political sensitivities of Burma's neighboring countries if they want to shoot in the region with local talent. Although Burma, or Myanmar as it is styled by the ruling junta, is a pariah state, it retains powerful links with China, India and Thailand.

Tornatore, best known outside Italy for his 1988 movie "Cinema Paradiso," most recently directed "The Unknown Woman," set for U.S. release in March, and the comedy "Baaria," which will open in Italy later this year.

Fund-Raising For Burma: US$68307.76 Raised in 2007

I just received the Yearly update from the fund-raising group that I have been involving in. The purpose of the group is to raise funds for people in Burma and for their Democracy movements. The program is called "Burmese Helping Burmese", organized by MoeMaKa News Group from San Fracisco.

We always calculate our funds monthly and send out the monthly notice to all the organizers, fund-raisers and donars around the world.

This fund-raising movement has started in August of 2007, around the time when our brave heros in Burma walked out of the streets to protest.

As of January 26, 2008, we have our Yearly statement out for last year, 2007. The total amount of fund that we raised in 2007 (from August to Dec 2007) is US$ 68,307.76.

I would like to sincerely thank all the organizers, fund-raisers, volunteers and donars and hope that you would also continue supporting us in 2008.

A Poet Arrested in Burma for Composing a Poem

– AP
YANGON:

A Myanmar poet has been arrested in Yangon after penning a Valentine’s Day poem (right)that carried a hidden message criticising the leader of the country’s military junta, colleagues said yesterday.

The poet, Mr Saw Wai, was arrested on Tuesday, a day after his poem “February 14” as published in the weekly Love Journal, according to friends and colleagues. The journal, which is seen as close to the information ministry, published the poem in its latest issue, under a picture of heart-shaped balloons reading “I Love You”.

The eight-line poem in Burmese is about a man brokenhearted after falling for a fashion model, whom he thanks for having taught him the meaning of love. But if read vertically, the first word of each line forms the phrase: “Power crazy Senior General Than Shwe.”

US Campaign For Burma: National Planning and Training Meeting

Announcement
United State Campaign for Burma (USCB)

The Saffron Revolution in late 2007 pressed the situation in Burma into the hearts and minds of people all over the world; however, we need to ensure that the people of Burma and their call for freedom are not forgotten now that thousands of monks and activists inside Burma have been arrested and the media is focusing its attention elsewhere.

Together in 2008 we will:

- Push for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners
- Garner global attention to end the mass atrocities and ethnic cleansing in eastern Burma
- Create a strong campaign around the Beijing Olympics, and 8.8.08, the 20th anniversary of the massacre of democracy activists in Burma.
The world should not forget the cries for freedom from the people of Burma, the world needs to act and we are going to ensure they do.

Register Online Here: www.uscampaignforburma.org

When: March 7-8th
Where: Washington DC - American University Campus
Who: Community and Student leaders and anyone who wants to participate and help lead this movement
Why: Provide us all the opportunity to meet with our fellow leaders, activists, and others who are interested in Burma face to face and provide participants with solid trainings and tools to prepare for this upcoming year's campaigns and actions.

Hope to see you there, please contact the following email address if you have more questions - thelma@uscampaignforburma.org

We have limited space so Register Today!

New Rambo Movie Highlights Deadly Crisis in Burma

By VOA News
25 January 2008

Movie fans in the United States are expected to flock to their neighborhood theaters Friday, to see the fourth installment of the Rambo series, which portrays Burmese government forces as the main villain.

The series, starring veteran actor Sylvester Stallone, revolves around a U.S. veteran of the Vietnam War who engages in extreme acts of violence against an equally brutal enemy.

This latest installment finds Rambo living in exile in Thailand when he is recruited to take a group of American missionaries seeking to help a group of ethnic Burmese villages caught in the middle of a civil war. He later joins a team of mercenaries to return to the village after the people there are attacked and slaughtered by Burmese government forces.

Reports of Arrest and Torture Continue in Burma

Scoop-Sunday, 27 January 2008,
Press Release: Terry Evans

Reports of arrest and torture continue in Burma long after the initial crackdown on protesting Buddhist monks last September. A recent report by Amnesty International has highlighted the arrests of ninety-six activists since the last visit of the UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari in November. The ongoing arrests are taking place in spite of the junta's pledge to the UN that the crackdown would stop.

The ruling generals have been particularly aggressive in targeting those who have provided the outside world with evidence of their brutal treatment of Buddhists monks and pro-democracy activists.

For decades the military regime had maintained a tight control on media in Burma; however, technically savvy young Burmese bloggers have outwitted the ageing military rulers, and now the junta is exacting a heavy price.

The continuing arrests “clearly show that the government’s chief priority is to silence its citizens who would hold them to account”, Amnesty said.

China continues to supply Burma with military equipment

The Observers-28/01/2008 > CHINA/ BURMA

A blog by Burmese exiles in Thailand (Vimutti) has published photos of new military vehicles delivered to Burma from China on 15 January. The vans are the same model that was used to transport soldiers and prisoners during September's crackdown. However, Chinese diplomats insist they are working hard to get the Junta to negotiate with the opposition and to make efforts in terms of human rights.

China's been supplying the Junta with military equipment since 1988. They even gave them a million-dollar loan to be able to buy the stuff, which is mainly heavy artillery and military vehicles.

The Chinese authorities have reason to want a calm Junta. They don't want any trouble because the Olympic Games are on their way, and also because they want to avoid an influx of refugees.

That's why they openly criticised the crackdown in September. That was a first. But at the same time, they want to maintain their trade links, particularly to sustain sales of military material.

However, competition has recently increased, especially with India, who actually succeeded in selling fighter-planes to Burma last year. The trucks that come through the Sino-Burmese border - the FAW models - have been used by the army for the past 20 years.

According to the blog that published these photos, they were giving a ‘present' to the junta, probably in exchange for jade, teak or farming produce."

European Union's Burma Envoy to Visit Thailand

ABC Radio Australia
01-24-2008

The European Union's special envoy to Burma makes a three-day visit to Thailand next week to discuss efforts to press Burma's ruling junta on promised reforms.

Special envoy Piero Fassino is expected to meet with the Thai foreign minister, Nitya Pibulsonggram, and United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations.

Mr Fassino last week called for the UN's mediator, Ibrahim Gambari, to return to Burma and seek the release of democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Dr Gambari has reportedly asked to return to Burma this month, but has been told that April would be more convenient.

He has visited the country twice since last September's bloody military crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks.

Burma Has Second-Worst Child Mortality Rate in Asia

ASSOCIATED PRESS
January 23, 2008

YANGON, Myanmar – Hundreds of children under age 5 die from preventable diseases each day in military-ruled Myanmar, the second-worst mortality rate for children in Asia after Afghanistan, U.N. officials said Wednesday.

Dr. Osamu Kunii, the nutrition expert in Myanmar for the U.N. Children's Fund, said there were 100,000 to 150,000 child deaths per year in the country – or between 274 and 411 daily.

He was speaking at a briefing by UNICEF for its annual report on "The State of the World's Children," released Tuesday. The under-5 mortality rate is a critical indicator of the well-being of children.

About 21 percent of child deaths in Myanmar are caused by acute respiratory infection, followed by pneumonia, diarrhea and septicemia.

The report rated Myanmar as having the 40th highest child mortality rate in the world, surpassed in Asia only by Afghanistan , which has the third-worst record after Sierra Leone and Angola.

It said, however, the death rate for young children in Myanmar had been reduced by 1.6 percent between 1990 and 2006.

In 2000, the World Health Organization ranked Myanmar 's overall health care system as the world's second worst after war-ravaged Sierra Leone. Tens of thousands of people in Myanmar die each year from malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS, dysentery, diarrhea and other illnesses.

Most of Myanmar's health care is funded by international sources, with the government spending only about 3 percent on health annually, compared with 40 percent on the military, according to a report published this year by researchers from the University of California , Berkeley and Johns Hopkins University.

San Francisco Shouldn't Welcome Tainted Olympic Torch

By Bridget Johnson, Columnist
www.insidesocal.com/friendlyfire
Article Last Updated: 11/19/2007 China is an egregious violator of human rights.

It seems by this point in history this should be common knowledge, and proponents of free speech, media and religion shouldn't have to keep justifying opposition to the regime by offering the examples that repeat from day to day.

China 's track record is grim: Labor and re-education camps full of political prisoners. More executions than anywhere else in the world. More journalists and cyber-dissidents caught and punished by a massive crew of censorship police. China's propping up the brutal regime of Myanmar that kills democracy protesters in cold blood - and blocking U.N. Security Council action by maintaining it's just business as usual in a sovereign state.

So why in the world would a progressive city like San Francisco welcome the torch of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics?

"The torch should not be permitted to be used as a propaganda vehicle for the communist dictatorship in China," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., who in August co-sponsored resolutions calling for the United States to boycott the Olympics over China's role in Darfur and its human-rights violations at home.

Yet the City by the Bay is the sole U.S. stop on the global torch relay, with the flame set to pass through on April 9. One grass-roots group of human-rights- minded residents isn't so willing to let that happen, but so far the San Francisco Team Tibet Coalition can't even get an audience with Mayor Gavin Newsom to ask him to cancel the torch relay through the city.

"Your welcoming of the Olympic torch would suggest ... that you are ready to turn your back on a unique opportunity to promote legitimate international concerns and... take a stand for justice in Tibet and China," stated the Aug. 8 letter to Newsom. According to Giovanni Vassallo, president of coalition member the Committee of 100 for Tibet, the mayor's office has not responded.

Repeated attempts to obtain comment from Newsom's office were unsuccessful.

The "Journey of Harmony" torch relay hasn't just stirred the waters in the Bay Area: Beijing included Taipei on the relay route, only to have Taiwan - which is not allowed to use its flag, seal or anthem at the Games - declare the torch unwelcome, calling it "a brazen attempt to downgrade Taiwan to a part of China." China has also instituted strict background checks on foreign climbers on the Tibetan side of Mt. Everest in an effort to thwart protesters on the torch route.

Shannon Service, a Students for a Free Tibet member who was detained by Chinese authorities in April for protesting at Mount Everest, is part of the coalition setting its sights on San Francisco.

"The mayor doesn't seem to quite get that when the torch passes through our fair city it will not be hailed as a symbol of international unity and sports," she said. "It's going to raise international protest as a symbol of occupation, torture and genocide."

" San Francisco is known worldwide as a center of progressive consciousness," said Laurel Sutherlin, also arrested on Mount Everest. "We cannot allow the Chinese government to exploit the reputation of our city to advance their nefarious policies on the global stage."

At this point, we unfortunately can't go back and fix what the International Olympic Committee should have never done in the first place: awarding the 2008 Summer Games to Beijing. It takes a truly blind individual to not see the hollowness of the regime's empty promises to reform in return for the games. Conversely, we've seen increased press-freedom crackdowns and, according to Amnesty International, "re-education through labor" and "enforced drug rehabilitation" in order to "clean up" Beijing before the games.

What we can do, though, is take a stand and decide that this tainted Beijing torch does not represent the values of a nation that has pledged to defend the basic dignity and human rights of every individual.

China 's torch should not be welcomed on American soil. The city of San Francisco should take the bold step of canceling the torch relay through its streets, putting humanity before revenue and justice before publicity.

This torch should also light a fire under Americans to reconsider other partnerships with China until its people and the Tibetan people are free.

"After the monks have been mowed down and slaughtered in the streets of Rangoon, ( Myanmar), it has to be more difficult for people to accept that we have the Olympics in Beijing," Rohrabacher said.

Bridget Johnson writes for the Daily News and blogs at www.insidesocal. com/friendlyfire. Write to her by e-mail at bridget.johnson@dailynews.com

Call for Papers - International Burma Studies Conference - October 3-5, 2008

8th International Burma Studies Conference
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, Illinois, USA
3-5 October 2008

Call for Papers

The Board of Trustees of the Burma Studies Foundation, the Burma Studies Group and the Center for Burma Studies cordially invite you to participate in the 8th International Burma Studies Conference, at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois from October 3-5, 2008.

Established at Northern Illinois University in 1986 by the Burma Studies Group, within the Association for Asian Studies, the Center will also be hosting a series of cultural events in conjunction with the Conference.

We invite papers on all aspects of Burma Studies, including, anthropology, art history, environment, health, history, literature, linguistics, music, political science, popular culture, religions, and area studies. Panels and papers would be devoted primarily to new research, including recent events in Burma.

Interested participants are asked to organize and submit panel proposals with 250-word abstracts by April 15, 2008. Please provide your name and affiliation, your address, a title for your paper, list of equipment that you need for your presentation, time required for presentation of your paper (15-20 minutes) and an email address. Send this information to:

Center for Burma Studies
520 College View Court
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115

Or via email: bsc2008@niu. edu

For further information regarding the conference visit our website:
www.grad.niu.edu/burma

Tel: (815) 753-0512
Fax: (815) 753-1776

Sponsored by the Center for Burma Studies, the Graduate School and the College of Visual and Performing Arts of Northern Illinois University.

Burma's Generals Trying to Halt Information Flow Comming In

Burma's Generals have been trying every possible way to stop the information flow coming in and going out of Burma.

September 2007, Monks-Led "Saffron Revolution" was world-known mainly due to the Burmese citizen-journalists who used the internet to send out the news or pictures that they took themselves. Sine then, Burma's Military Government has been paranoid about the power of internet and has tried to cut Burma from the outside world with internet black-outs.

Among a few websites that the Government banned, the famous blogging site www.blogger.com is also one of them. It is because Burmese Democracy Activitists inside and outside of Burma was using "blogger.com" to post news about Burma to let the world know how brutal the Government is.

Unless you have a very strong hacking knowledge to hack into the server settings, you may not be able to read my website anymore from Burma. That is a sad thing for all the people inside Burma who have a thirst for knowledge.

Gordon Brown: India has important role to play on Burma

New Delhi (PTI)
Jan 20th, 2008 (Sunday)

As he prepares to exhort India to do more on Myanmar, visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday said New Delhi has an important role to play with regard to the neighbouring country's transition to democracy and end to problems there.

Brown, who will discuss the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow, said international action is necessary to persuade the Myanmarese government that "they got to take seriously all the problems that exist in their country."

He favoured an early visit by UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambhari to be followed by a trip by Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to Myanmar.

"I will ... be raising this issue with Mr Singh as I believe that India as well as China have an important role to play in making sure that the end to violence happens in Burma (Myanmar)," the British Prime Minister told reporters soon after his arrival here on a two-day visit.

"I am pleased to say the Chinese government is working resolutely towards how to persuade (Myanmarese Junta) and we will be looking at how we can persuade the Burmese regime," said Brown, who came here after concluding a trip to Beijing.

He said he wanted to see the Myanmarese government reconciling with the people and having regular discussions with pro-democracy leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi for movement towards democracy.

"I want to see an end to the violence and release of political prisoners in Burma," he said.

Britain says that the process of democratisation in Myanmar did "not seem to be moving forward significantly" and underlines the need for "carrot and stick policy".

BADA Annual General Meeting (January 26, 2008)

Burmese American Democratic Alliance (BADA)
*Advocating freedom for the people of Burma*
Annual General Meeting (AGM) - 2008

Dear members, supporters and friends of Burma:
You are cordially invited to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) - 2008 of the Burmese American Democratic Alliance (BADA) that will be held according to the following program.

Program
------------
1:30 PM to 4:30 PM,
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Union City Library, 34007 Alvarado-Niles Road,
Union City, California 94587, Telephone (510) 745-1464

You would hear Reports; Bylaw additions and changes; Appointment of vacant Board positions from membership (two positions open; Be there if you like to join), Financial statement, Q&A and discussion. Below is the draft agenda, check our website for updaptes:

Draft Agenda
-------------------
* Opening
* Report by The Executive Committee and The Board of Directors
* Bylaw Amendments/Addition s
* Vacant Board Member Appointment (2 positions)
* Interim Executive Committee Appointment
* Financial Statement
* Q&A/Discussion on Actions/Campaigns
* Closing

Note: Attend the AGM to become a Board and EC members. Contact us should you have more information.

Join Us!
-------------
We advocate democracy and freedom for the people of Burma. Join us in helping the people of Burma in their quest for Democracy and Freedom. BADA is a community based 501 (c3) charitable organization and most of us are volunteers. Bring your skill and commitment to help Burma.

If you are not a member yet, become a member by applying online here: http://www.badasf. org/membershipfo rm.htm ; it is quick and easy. More information about BADA can be found at www.badasf.org. Or contact us at 510 485 3751; info@badasf. org.

Note:
----------------
There will be also another events at the same day in the morning - Invitation to all Burmese families at the SF bay to host Poet U Tin Moe 1 year passing with gathering of all Sayadaws from the bay area - Swan & Dhamma Dana.

Mettananda Vihara
4619 Central Avenue, Fremont, CA 94536, U.S.A.
Phone: (510) 795 0405

Joint Statement on Burma by the UK, US and French Foreign Ministers at the World Economic Forum in Davos

17 January 2008
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (National)

The Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos is a unique event. No other occasion brings together so many of the world's leaders from all fields. For over three decades now, these meetings have provided a global platform for collaboration and action to address international priorities of concern to us all.

One such priority is the urgent need for progress towards a transition to democracy and improved human rights in Burma. The fact that we have chosen to write about this issue, with so many competing priorities, should underline the strength of our governments' determination to support the people of Burma in their pursuit of a peaceful, prosperous and democratic future. We have repeatedly made clear that the situation in Burma cannot continue, and that we remain committed to helping the people of Burma.

It is now more than four months since the world was horrified by the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations in Burma. The dramatic pictures seen around the world of the brutality directed against peaceful protestors, including monks and nuns, were truly shocking. We cannot afford to forget. We must convince the Burmese regime to meet the demands of the international community and respect the basic rights of Burma's people.

The UN Security Council in October spelled out its expectations and reiterated those expectations on January 17. First, the early release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and the creation of conditions for a genuine dialogue between the Government and the opposition.

Second, full co-operation and constructive engagement with the UN. Third, the need for the regime to address the economic, humanitarian and human rights concerns of the Burmese people. Several months on, however, we find the regime has met none of these demands.

The regime claims to be moving ahead with its roadmap to civilian rule. However the process, already 14 years old, is open-ended, and many key political actors, not least Aung San Suu Kyi, are excluded. There can be little doubt that only genuine and inclusive dialogue can deliver national reconciliation and stability for Burma and its neighbours.

We call on all those attending the World Economic Forum to demonstrate that, while the regime may be indifferent to the suffering of the Burmese people, the world is not.

We ask you to support the return to Burma by UN Special Adviser Gambari as soon as possible, and to urge the regime to cooperate fully with him and the UN. We call on the regime to act on the recommendations of UN Human Rights Envoy Pinheiro; to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi; and to launch a substantive, time-bound dialogue with democratic leaders and ethnic minority representatives, as called for in Aung San Suu Kyi's statement of November 8.

A unified call for genuine and peaceful political reconciliation and reform will be heard in Burma. We would not live up to our values if we ignored Burma's plight.

Fourth Bombing in Burma

BBC News
Jan 17, 2008

A bus conductor has been killed in a bomb blast in Burma - the fourth bombing incident in the military-ruled nation this year. The blast happened on a bus travelling from Kyaukkyi town to the commercial capital, Rangoon, state media said. It was parked at a roadside eatery when the bomb went off and only the conductor was on board.

State media blamed the attack on "insurgent destructionists" - ethnic groups fighting the junta for autonomy. "Fortunately, all the passengers had got off the bus and gone to have breakfast when the bomb went off," a travel agent told Reuters news agency. "Otherwise, casualties would have been very high."

Ethnic rebels
Three people have now been killed this year in a series of small blasts. Last week, a woman was killed in an explosion in a railway station toilet in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw. Another woman was injured in a blast in a Rangoon railway station.

Another man died, and four people were injured, when a bomb exploded in Pyu, north of Rangoon. The government blamed the incidents on the Karen National Union (KNU), a group fighting for greater autonomy for the ethnic Karen people. The state-run newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, said in two of the cases it was the bomber who was killed handling the bomb.

There has been no claim of responsibility from the KNU or any other group. Kyaukkyi, where the bus involved in the latest explosion originated, is in Karen state.

Pro-Democracy Political Prisoners in Poor Health Condition

Irrawaddy
January 16, 2008 At least four detained political prisoners in Burmese prisons are in poor health and need medical attention, according to their family members. The four political prisoners are Hla Myo Naung and Kyaw Soe of the 88 Generation Students group, who are both in Insein Prison in Rangoon; Win Maw, a pro-democracy activist, also in Insein Prison; and Myint Oo, a committee member of the Magwe Division of the National League for Democracy, who is in Mandalay Prison.

Hla Myo Naung has eye problems and is nearly blind in both eyes, according to a family member. He has had eye problems since October 2007, and was arrested while he was enroute to a Rangoon clinic to have an operation on the left side of one eye. After he was arrested, authorities performed an operation on one of his eyes, but it was not successful and an eye nerve was damaged.

Family members of both Win Maw and Kyaw Soe said they received medical treatment in prison after they were tortured by the authorities in an interrogation center. However, Win Maw has now contracted pneumonia. Kyaw Soe suffers from fainting spells. Both men were victims of water torture, according to sources. A family member of Win Maw said they have not been allowed to visit him for nearly three weeks.

Myint Oo, who also suffers from pneumonia, began receiving medical treatment in a Mandalay prison hospital three days ago, according to family members. Tate Naing, the secretary of the exiled-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), said that since August 2007, the military government has arrested more than 7,000 people, including pro-democracy activists. Prisoners are not allowed to receive outside medical treatment.

88 Generation Students leaders Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi also have health problems, say their family members. They were arrested by authorities in August 2007. According to the AAPP, there are more than 1,850 political prisoners in Burmese prisons.

Burma Hit by Third Bomb in Three Days

Third Bomb explosion hit Burma again in three days. A bomb explosion in the women's toilet at the main railway station in Burma's largest city Rangoon wounded one person.

Two previous bomb explosions were in the country's new capital, Naypyidaw and in Pyu, north of Yangon.

Burmese Government Officials refused to announce further details about the blast.

Burma Hit by Second Bomb in Two Days

Second Bomb explosion hit Burma in Pyu, a township located north of Yangon. The second Bomb resulted in death of 1 man and injured 4 people.

The blast comes two days after a similar attack killed at least one person near the country's administrative capital, Naypyidaw.

On Friday, a woman was killed by a bomb that also exploded in the toilet of the railway station serving Naypyidaw, about 380 kilometres north of Rangoon.

Bomb blasts at public places, such as Buddhist temples, markets and fairs are relatively common in Burma, or Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962.

Ref: www.radioaustralia.net.au

Yesterday Protest Was A Success

Yesterday Protest in front of the Chinese Counsulate in San Francisco was a great success.

We, BADA (Burmese American Democratic Alliance) would like to thank all of you for your attendance and support.

Reminder: Tomorrow Protest at San Francisco (In Celebration of 60th Independence Day of Burma)

This is a reminder for Tomorrow Protest in San Francisco in celebration of 60th Independence Day of Burma. This event was initially scheduled to be held on Burma's actual Independence Day (January 4th), but we had to cancel it due to the bad weather.

Here is the new date and time for the protest. See you all tomorrow.
Date: January 11th,2008 (Friday)
Time: 11:30 to 1:30 pm
Place: Chinese Counsulate, 1450 Laguna St. San Francisco, CA 94115

Lan Pya Kyal Library (Singapore) : 2008 Freedom Calendar for Burma

Lan Pya Kyal Library (Singapore) has just created a "2008 Freedom Calendar for Burma" aiming to raise funds for Burma's Democracy campaigns.

Lan Pya Kyal Library has been opened since April 28, 2007,with the nobel intention to eduacate Burmese People of all ages. It intends to open the eyes of Burmese people who have been living in the dark of knowledge purposely created by Burmese Junta. Here are more information about the Library:

Name:
Lan Pya Kyal Library (Meaning: "Guiding Star")
Location:
111, North Bridge Road, Pennizula Plaza,
#05-12A, Singapore 179098
Phone:
(65) 6337-1569
Opening Hours:
Saturday (2pm - 9pm),
Sunday (12Noon - 9pm)
Freedom Calender:
S$8 (Singapore Dollar)

There are 4 Pages in the Calendar, with 3 months on each page.

Page 1 - September 2007 Saffron Revolution


Page 2 - National Hero "Aung San" (Father of Aung San Suu Kyi)


Page 3 - Nobel Peace Prize Winner and National Leader "Aung San Suu Kyi" (currently under house-arrest by Burmese Military Government)


Page 4 - Student Leaders from 19888 Uprising


Lan Pya Kyal Library's Information


(Thanks to gyittu for the pictures.)

Monks Marching in Sri Lanka for Four Consecutive Days

Monks in SriLanka have been marching for four consecutive days as a "Peace for Burma" Campaign, regardless of the weathear/rain.
(Thanks to niknayman for the photos.)

Brave Heros: Protestors in Burma

I would like to salute our Brave Heros from Burma, who did a peaceful protest on January 4th, 2008 in Yangon. January 4th, 2008 was the 60th Anniversary of Burma's Independance Day and the brave members from NLD (National League fro Democracy) did a demonstration in front of NLD's head-quarter in Yangon. NLD is the main opposition party in Burma leaded by Aung San Suu Kyi.Protestors wore the blue and white clothes, which are similar to the ones for prinsoners, and held the signboards that say:
"Free All Political Prinsoners".
Another signboard they held says:
"A Good Government will Never Kill or Torture Innocent and Unarmed People of its own". This is a very daring act in a country as Burma in which people always get arrested and toutured for protesting.

Now, people are just (painfully) waiting and see when those brave heros will be arrested.

(Thanks to Reuter, Niknayman and Ko Moe Thee for the photos)

India's Halt to Burma Arms Sales May Pressure Junta

washingtonpost. com > World > Asia/Pacific
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 30, 2007; Page A29

India has halted all arms sales and transfers to Burma, a development that could increase international pressure on the military junta that brutally crushed the pro-democracy "Saffron Revolution" led by monks this fall.

The Indian government's decision has not been officially announced, but diplomatic sources said it has been privately confirmed by New Delhi to top U.S. officials in recent weeks. In a little-noticed statement, first lady Laura Bush noted the decision in a video teleconference she held on Dec. 10 in recognition of International Human Rights Day. Ticking off actions taken by countries around the world in response to the crackdown, Bush said, "India, one of Burma's closest trading partners, has stopped selling arms to the junta." A spokesman for the Indian Embassy in Washington declined to comment.

Burma, also known as Myanmar, is regarded as one of the world's most repressive nations. The National League for Democracy, the party of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide victory in the country's last elections, in 1990, but the military leadership refused to recognize the outcome. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest or in prison on and off since then.

But in September, massive demonstrations led by Buddhist monks threatened the junta's rule, until the army arrested thousands of monks and democracy activists. Of the thousands arrested, 700 remain behind bars along with 1,150 political prisoners already in detention, according to Amnesty International. At least six members of the 88 Generation Students, a leading pro-democracy group, were arrested last week, the State Department said.

Before the protests, military ties between India and Burma had appeared to be on a fast track. Military contacts had increased in early 2007, with New Delhi seeking help battling Burmese-based insurgent groups operating on its northeastern border and also attempting to counteract China's growing influence in the Burmese economy. Indian and Burmese military forces began conducting joint operations, and Indian officials indicated they would grant Burma's request for military equipment.

In one sign of cooperation, India began discussing the transfer of military helicopters that Amnesty International, in a July report, said are "highly likely to contain components, technology and munitions" originating from European Union nations and the United States, undermining embargoes by those countries.

"India's relationship with Burma has expanded pretty dramatically in the past few years," said Michael J. Green, a former top Asia adviser to President Bush who is now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said that Southeast Asian neighbors of Burma had complained to Bush about India's deepening military ties with Burma. "They expect it of China, but India is a democracy," Green said.
He said India's decision to end arms sales to Burma is "a big deal for U.S.-India relations. I think they are shifting."

More broadly, India's move may put pressure on China, currently Burma's largest trading partner and arms supplier, experts said. Last week, a bipartisan group of 48 senators, led by Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), signed a letter to Bush urging him to support an international arms embargo against Burma, in the form of a U.N. Security Council resolution. "No responsible nation should provide weapons to a regime as reprehensible as the one found in Burma," the letter said.

Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said, "We support an arms embargo against Burma and have been engaged in discussions with various countries on the matter."

China is one of the nations holding veto power at the United Nations, and few expect it to support the arms embargo. But analysts said that India's decision could force China to think of options short of an arms embargo to pressure the Burmese junta.
In the 1990s, China became Burma's most important trading partner, according to Amnesty International, providing more than $2 billion worth of weapons and military equipment, including tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery pieces such as howitzers, antitank guns and antiaircraft guns, some sold at below-market prices.

"The Chinese clearly are sensitive to the emerging role they are playing," Durbin said in an interview. "We have an obligation to continue to remind them we need their help in stopping some of the outrages in the world." A top European envoy last week also urged China to use its influence in Burma, specifically to end the house arrest of Suu Kyi. "Any sign from the Burmese authorities to progress on this path will be welcome, and the Chinese intervention is fundamental, " Piero Fassino told reporters at the end of a three-day trip to China.

In her year-end news conference last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that "when the monks were in the streets, that there was an energy in the international community to try to do something about it," but now that momentum has dissipated. "It's our responsibility, along with others, to try to keep a focus on that effort," she said. "We will return again and again to the Security Council to discuss this issue. We will return again and again to those states that have influence, like China, to move this forward, because there needs to be a process of political reconciliation. "

Tomorrow Burmese's Independence Day Protest Postponed for to Friday Jan 11 due to Storm and Bad Weather

Dear All,

When we initially planned it, the weather forecast said that there would be a shower on Jan 4. Now, the storm has just arrived and the weather has worsen greatly. There will be heavy rain and wind, and in some area possible flood and power outrage tomorrow. That will greatly interfere with attendance and conducting effective protest.

Current storm and rain will last for a week, and the coming Friday January 11, 2008 will be the first sunny day.

We will therefore postpone tomorrow planned protest for a week to Jan 11, but everything else (time, location and goal) remains the same.

Meantime, please do send letters to Chinese President and mark the 60th Burma's independence day.

Sorry for the inconvenience. Please let your friends or colleagues know about this change. We will keep you posted.

-BADA (Burmese American Democratic Alliance)

Announcement from TP-MSA (Temasek Polytechnic Myanmar Student Association) in Singapore

TP-MSA (Temasek Polytechnic - Myanmar Student Association) makes an announcement that TP-MSA has nothing to do with a few Polytechnic students who would be entertaining Burmese Military Officers from Burmese Embassy in Singapore on January 2nd 2007.

The purpose is to clarify the position of TP-MSA which totally condemns the brutality of Burmese Junta and that TP-MSA members will never do anything with such a lawless Military Government. TP-MSA is founded by the students from Burmese Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore who want to bring Peace and Freedom to Burma.

Happy New Year - 2008

Year 2007 has just passed and we are now in 2008.
Happy New Year to you all.

Year 2007 left painful memories for Burma, and we are still holding strong in our fight for Democracy.

On this very first day of new year, I salute all our freedom-fighters who have sacraficed so much for the country and here I repeat my vow; the vow that I made when starting up this website;
"I vow to do anything that I can to bring freedom to Burma".