Energy Meeting in Mandalay

By The Irrawaddy

Thailand’s Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul will emphasize his country’s strength as a regional hub of alternative energy at a meeting with energy ministers from Asian +3 and Asean +6 in Mandalay on July 29-30, according to a report in the Thailand-based news service The Nation on Monday.

Thailand will join the Asean energy action plan during 2010-2015, which highlights cooperation in seven areas including clean coal technology, the regional power transmission grid, gas pipelines, energy conservation, recycliable energy and nuclear power.

Minister Charnnukul also said that Thailand would also seek a bilateral talk with Burma on further cooperation in natural gas investment, according to the report.

According to a source close to the Thai ministry official, Thailand is concerned that Burma’s gas fields will be monopolized by Chinese state oil firms.

Thailand imports over 50 percent of Burma’s gas, which the French energy conglomerate Total extracts from the Yadana gas field in the Andaman Sea.

Total is one of the world’s six biggest so-called “supermajor” oil and energy companies and is the only large European business still operating in Burma.

In May, the French government said that if tougher trade curbs were introduced against Burma over the regime’s treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi, it would have damaging repercussions for one of France’s biggest companies and possibly for Southeast Asia.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also warned that any pullout by Total would have a limited effect because Chinese state oil firms would be quick to move in.

The EU has urged Burma’s neighbors—notably China and India—to also threaten sanctions to persuade the regime to halt its political repression.

The 25 EU countries are barred from importing timber, minerals, gems and metals from Burma, and prohibited from exporting weapons and weapons-related equipment. Various restrictions on junta members are also in place.

However, both India and China continue to expand their business interests with the Burmese junta and supply it with weapons.

READ MORE---> Energy Meeting in Mandalay...

U.S.-Indian arms deal posits questions for Burma's generals

by Joseph Ball

Mizzima News - The signing of an extensive arms deal between India and the United States raises issues concerning Burma – not the least of which is a question for the junta itself, "Would the Tatmadaw's stated interests be best achieved by gaining access to the largesse of America's defense industry?"

On Monday, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton committed the United States to the sale of some 30 billion dollars worth of military hardware to the Indian state through the course of 2012 – in addition to the construction of two nuclear reactors. The arms deal comprises a significant portion of what analysts expect to be over 50 billion dollars to be spent by the south Asian giant over the course of the next five years on upgrading a rapidly ageing defense sector.

In short, India is prioritizing the modernization of its armed forces, precisely the centerpiece to the Burmese military's restructured military doctrine.

In 1998 the Tatmadaw formally modified its previous doctrine of "people's war" to "people's war under modern condition." In alignment with this emphasis, the past fifteen to twenty years have witnessed an accelerated drive on the part of the Burmese military for force modernization.

And lest the generals fear the country's endemic poverty would hamper the realization of massive military contracts, clearly the United States is not averse to grossly distorting the military budget of countries struggling to meet the basic needs of its citizens – indeed, domestically, it makes financial sense for Washington in countering a towering budget deficit.

According to a 2008 United Nations Development Program study, the human development index for India and Burma stands at 132nd and 135th, respectively, in the global rankings – making the two countries the only top 30 military budgets to reside outside the top 100 in the human development index.

For fiscal year 2009, the Pentagon estimates India and Burma as the 11th and 23rd largest spenders on military equipment – with India's sum total being over three times that of Burma's, a gap that is poised to drastically widen.

But what would Burma's generals have to do if they reasoned the established goals of the Tatmadaw could best be served by being able to benefit from a more diversified arms market?

While the United States let it be known some six months ago that the inherited Bush policy toward Burma was under review, the unforeseen trial of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is apparently holding any such plan hostage.

With a verdict in the trial still in doubt – at least officially – Secretary of State Clinton is left with very little room to maneuver regarding Burma policy during her brief appearance this week in Thailand to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum. While words too soft would seem inappropriate, a dialogue too harsh could jeopardize any benefits to a future policy review. The outcome, in all likelihood, will be statements mimicking what has already been heard from ASEAN foreign ministers on the question of Burma and the proposed 2010 general election.

Yet, it is difficult to imagine a scenario in which Aung San Suu Kyi is found anything other than guilty and such a ruling leading to anything other than a reversion to American policy directed at Burma as under the previous administration.

However, the emphasis being placed on continuing to nurture a close relationship with New Delhi, originally launched under the administration of the Secretary of State's husband some ten years previously, along with efforts at deepening ties and commitments to the ASEAN community, hints at a United States policy that will look to India, ASEAN and – not least significantly – China to take the lead in wrenching the best possible deal for 2010 from Burma's recalcitrant generals. Though, publicly, the United States would surely persist with its now well rehearsed rhetoric on the subject of Burma.

And while this might at first glance appear a victory for Naypyitaw, it is not at all clear that such a scenario would best meet the adopted and articulated interests and responsibilities of the Tatmadaw.

It is up to Burma's military leaders to decide whether the defined institutional goals and obligations of the country's armed forces – including the realization of the full benefits accruable from embracing the Revolution in Military Affairs – would best be addressed through actions maintaining the military's existing and limited access to material and technology, or through an alternative strategy as of yet unexplored.

READ MORE---> U.S.-Indian arms deal posits questions for Burma's generals...

Has India let down Myanmar's people?

By Raghu Krishnan, ET Bureau

It’s 20 years since the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi was first put under house arrest. It’s 19 years since her National League for Democracy swept the last national elections, winning over 80% of the seats it had contested, or 392 out of 447 seats. Other minority parties sympathetic to the NLD won 65 seats, taking the final tally to 457 out of a total of 492 constituencies. An estimated 10,000 people were killed in six months of military repression before the elections.

Instead of governing the country whose people had given her party an overwhelming mandate, Aung San Suu Kyi has been under virtual detention for the last two decades. She has become a symbol of grace in duress, someone whose freedom was taken away by the military junta misruling her country but not her steadfast courage.

The world has been transformed since Suu Kyi was first put under house arrest. The Berlin Wall has fallen. The Iron Curtain, which, according to Churchill, had cut off Europe from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, has disappeared. India, where Suu Kyi had studied before going to Oxford to study politics, philosophy and economics, has become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. China is all set to become the economic superpower of the 21st century.

The world has moved on. Yet Burma, or Myanmar as it is now known, has remained in a time-warp.

The military junta has become even more inflexible, going to the extent of building a new capital which is so isolated that it will be difficult for anyone to attempt to restore democracy even though all the rallies held so far have been of a non-violent kind! It was at New Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College, where she studied political science for two years, that Suu Kyi was introduced to Mahatma Gandhi’s message that an authoritarian government could be fought through ahimsa (non-violence), civil disobedience and satyagraha (the force of truth).

Which makes it that much more ironical that one reason why Myanmar’s military junta is so firmly entrenched despite international opprobrium is because of the support from China and India. As Justin Wintle points out in his biography Perfect Hostage: Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma and the Generals, there was the prospect of a breakthrough a few years ago: “Progress appeared to have been made in December 2005 when, in the wake of a fiercely critical report prepared by the US law firm Piper Rudnick Gray Cary and commissioned by Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu and former Czech President Vaclav Havel, the UN Security Council agreed that it should be briefed on Burmese affairs — thus putting Burma on its agenda. But nothing came of this.

On January 12, 2007, a resolution proposed by the US and Britain, calling for immediate reform in Burma, was vetoed by fellow UNSC permanent members China and Russia. Bolstered by increasingly close, lucrative trading ties with India, Bangladesh, Asean, Japan and South Korea as well as (overwhelmingly) with China (the main supplier of weapons and technology to Burma), the regime could finally flick two fingers at the west.”


Today, the regime seems invulnerable. The protest by monks against an arbitrary 60% hike in petrol prices in September 2007 was crushed. Suu Kyi is being tried on a fresh charge after an American barged into the house where she was being detained. The regime had earlier charged her with not repatriating the money she had received after being awarded in absentia the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991.

Her fight for human rights against a regime which has machine-gunned peaceful protesters was one reason why she was awarded the Nobel Prize. The regime is now talking about holding fresh elections under a new Constitution which will prohibit women with foreign spouses (Suu Kyi’s late husband Michael Aris was an Oxford don) from participating! Her two sons have not been allowed to meet her since 1991.

The walls of her Rangoon residence at 54, University Avenue, are covered with quotations from Nehru, Gandhi and her father Aung San who led Burma’s freedom struggle. Nehru gave asylum to the Dalai Lama some 50 years ago when he escaped from the Chinese army in Tibet. That was in an era of cordial Sino-Indian relations. China and India are today perceived as nations with whom Myanmar’s military junta shares a rapport. China’s human rights record is nothing to write about, with the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on student demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square being remembered on June 4.

Some would argue it is in India’s national interest to maintain close ties with Myanmar’s military regime so that China doesn’t have it all its own way — there are reports that the Chinese navy has been allowed to set up a listening post on a Burmese island in the Indian Ocean. But can the world’s most populous democracy, which subscribes to the values practised by Suu Kyi, close its eyes indefinitely to the military junta’s repression of the people of Myanmar?

“It is not power that corrupts but fear. It is the fear of losing power that corrupts those who wield it, and it is the fear of the scourge of power that corrupts those who are subject to it”, said the prisoner of conscience who celebrated her 64th birthday on June 19.

READ MORE---> Has India let down Myanmar's people?...

Die Hard’ spirit of 7-July; Burmese activists vow to march ahead

by Mungpi

New Delhi (mizzima) - Burmese activists and Indian supporters on Tuesday reiterated their call to the Indian government to stop supporting Burma’s military regime and instead support the movement for democracy in the country.

Marching along Parliament Street in New Delhi, India’s capital, scores of Burmese and Indian activists held protest rallies on Tuesday marking the 47th anniversary of 7-July, on which day in 1962 Burma’s military rulers’ cracked down on student protesters in Rangoon University.

Protesters said, with the world witnessing the latest injustice by the Burmese regime - the trumped-up charge and trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi - India and China should stop adhering to their soft stand on the regime but join the global outcry and pressurize the junta.

While with the spirit of ‘7-July’, Burmese students will continue the fight for human rights and democracy in Burma, it is crucial for the international community, particularly neighbouring countries, to keep up their support in order to usher in changes in Burma, the protestors said.

The protesters, many of them former students in Burma, who fled the junta’s brutal crackdown, urged India to be a responsible neighbour and called on Russia and China to refrain from exercising their veto power to block a Security Council resolution against the regime.

Students have played a vital role in the history of Burma, from the time the people fought for independence from British rule, to the most recent protests in September 2007.

On July 7, 1962, scores of university students staged a protest in the Students’ Union building in Rangoon University. They were mainly protesting against the strict rules imposed by the General Newin led new military regime, which grabbed power in a military coup on March 2, 1962.

The protests, however, were met with brute force by the Burmese Army, which opened fire, killing scores of students. The new regime, threatened by the protests, on July 8, secretly ordered the Student Union building to be blown up.

The blowing up of the Union building marked a new era of suppression and repression of Burmese students, who have been in the forefront of all Burmese movements in the past. Since then, Burma’s students have had no other Union building till date.

The military regime under Newin had particularly targeted students as they were viewed as a threat to their rule. Despite the regime’s repressions, Burmese students have led several protests including the popular uprising of August 8, 1988, which put an end to the Newin regime.

Maintaining the legacy of Newin, the present military dictators continue to suppress students by arresting and sentencing student activists to long prison terms and also by dividing university campuses, which effectively divides the student mass to hold convenient meetings.

But protesters in New Delhi said, despite all the suppression, students will continue fighting against military dictators and urged India and China to stand by them, and not seek short-term temporary national interests by cooperating with the regime.

READ MORE---> Die Hard’ spirit of 7-July; Burmese activists vow to march ahead...

India urged to stop helping Burmese junta

by Salai Pi Pi

New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Indian government has been exhorted to stop helping the Burmese military regime by student leaders and journalists from Northeast Indian states, who in a show of solidarity, demanded the unconditional release of Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Dr Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya, advisor of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) on Tuesday said he supports restoration of democracy in Burma and urges India to initiate a move for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, currently being tried in Rangoon’s Insein prison court.

“We want democracy to be restored there and at the same time, the leader [Aung San Suu Kyi] should be released,” Samujjal Bhattacharya told Mizzima.

Journalists and student leaders from Northeast India voiced their demand as India continues to be silent about the trial of Augn San Suu Kyi and has steadfastly refused to join the global outcry against the junta.

Nava Thakuria, a Guwahati-based Assamese journalist said, India as the largest democracy in the world should review its ‘Look East’ policy, which claims to be based on its national interest.

Thakuria said the focus of India’s foreign policy on Burma is to counter China’s influence in Burma and flush out all Northeast militants based in Burma’s northern Kachin state and North-Western Sagaing division with the help of the military regime.

“But we can say this policy has failed, as there are still many Northeast militants sheltered on Burmese soil,” he added.

In a show of solidarity, Indian journalists, social activists and student leaders of Northeast India on July 4, held a round-table meeting highlighting ‘India’s policy on Burma: A northeast Perspective’, in Guwahati, capital of Assam state.

Indian students, journalists and activists called on India to stop supporting the Burmese regime especially with the sale of military hardware.

“India has sold military hardware including helicopters and tanks to the Burmese military regime earlier. We urge them not to sell more armaments in the future because they are used for repressing the people,” said Thakuria, who also acted as the contact person for the Roundtable discussion in Guwahati.

He said, while New Delhi has boosted bilateral trade with Burma, it should also accommodate Burmese pro-democracy activists in exile to help their political cause.

India and Burma, in recent years, have stepped up bilateral trade relationship. The Indo-Burmese bilateral trade for the fiscal year 2007-08 stood at US $ 901.3 million with Burma's export to India standing at US $ 727.85 million.

READ MORE---> India urged to stop helping Burmese junta...

21 Arakanese Protesters Released from Bangladesh Custody

Dhaka (Narinjara): 21 Arakanese protesters were released from Bangladesh police custody yesterday after ten hours in the police lockup, said Ko Aung Naing, one of the detained protesters.

"Police released us at 8:30 pm and we arrived at home safely around midnight yesterday," he said.

The group was arrested by Bangladesh police in front of the Indian embassy in Dhaka while they were staging a protest against the Indian government for the illegal detention of 34 Arakanese and Karen freedom fighters.

"We were staging a demonstration in front of the Indian embassy in Dhaka at 11 am, shouting slogans against the Indian government. At that time, the Bangladesh police came to the spot and arrested us. Afterward the police detained us at Gulsan police station," Aung Naing said.

The protesters arrested were primarily UNHCR recognized refugees, including children and monks, so it is believe the police released them without charges to avoid any potential international criticism.

According to a police source, they were arrested after the Indian embassy lodged a complaint with police and requested their arrest. (JEG's: can they do that? police follows "requests" for arrest? Is it legal to protest in B'desh? obviously diplomatic cooperation was enforced here)

June 22 was a global day of action for the 34 Arakanese and Karen freedom fighters, and many Burmese in exile staged protests to demand their release in at least 20 countries, including Thailand, India, Bangladesh, and Britain.

In February 1998, members of the Arakan Army and Karen liberation army led by Major Khaing Raza went to an Indian island in the Andaman Archipelago to set up a new naval base in accordance with an agreement with the Indian army to watch Chinese military activities in the Andaman Sea.

When they arrived at the island, Indian soldiers killed Bo Raza and five other senior leaders in the group in cold blood. The 34 freedom fighters were arrested and have been in custody since then. They are currently being detained in a prison in Kolkata.

READ MORE---> 21 Arakanese Protesters Released from Bangladesh Custody...

Activists marking Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday arrested

by Mungpi

New Delhi (mizzima news) – Thirty-one Burmese activists were detained on Friday by Delhi police for holding a demonstration in front of the Burmese Embassy marking the 64th birthday of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Prior to their detention, activists submitted a memorandum signed by 27,400 Indian and Burmese supporters calling for the release of Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners in Burma.

Demonstrators also held a small birthday celebration for the pro-democracy leader by lighting 64 candles, cutting cakes and singing birthday songs in front of the Embassy. Posters and placards reading “Happy Birthday”, “Long Live Aung San Suu Kyi” and “Free Aung San Suu Kyi” were also prominently displayed.

“We submitted a memorandum to the Embassy along with 27,400 supporting signatures collected since March,” Salong, one of the protestors, told Mizzima while under detention at the Chanakya Police Station.

The protest, which lasted for a brief 15 minutes, was shut down after police from the nearby Chanakya station came and took away the protesters.

“We were informed by our police control room, which received calls from the Burmese Embassy informing them of the demonstration in front of their office,” a Chanakya police officer told Mizzima.

“We have arrested 31 Burmese people as they were demonstrating at a restricted area. We are registering their names and will soon release them,” said the officer, adding that there were no other legal problems concerning the protesters.

The protest in front of the Burmese Embassy in New Delhi is a part a global campaign for the release of the Burmese democracy icon on her 64th birthday, which she will be spending in solitary confinement in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison.

A separate demonstration led by the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), an umbrella Burmese women organization, was also held today along New Delhi’s Parliament Street in commemoration of Aung San Suu Kyi’s 64th birthday.

The protestors, including women and children, came mostly attired in yellow in recognition of the sacrifices Suu Kyi has made in fighting for freedom and democracy in Burma.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent more than 13 of the past 19 years in solitary confinement and just before completing her latest period of confinement was charged for violating her the terms of her detention for which she is currently facing trial in a special court inside Insein Prison.

The charges and trial against her have sparked international outcry and condemnation, with activists, world leaders and celebrities all lending their voices in opposition to the actions of Burma's military rulers.

Campaigners across the globe set Friday, June 19th, the birth date of Aung San Suu Kyi, as a time to demostrate worldwide solidarity for the plight of Burma's opposition leader. Activities across the globe range from protests to solidarity concerts.

Meanwhile, in Rangoon, Burma’s former capital and commercial hub, the occasion of Suu Kyi's 64th birthday went largely unremarked upon except for a few activists at the National League for Democracy office who held a small celebration for their detained party leader.

READ MORE---> Activists marking Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday arrested...

Bangladeshie's diplomatic ties with Burmese junta

More diplomatic support for
the Than Shwe's
less humane government

I wonder if Bangladesh and India governments realise how low they are selling themselves with Human Rights, people whatever race or difficulties they face deserve to be treated with dignity... putting pressure on the victims is too far from a solution, the demands for the solution should be placed on the Than Shwe dictatorship.

My thanks to Kaladan Press for this report.

Bangladesh Authorities Destroyed Unregistered Refugee Camp at Kutupalong 18 Jun09

View more Microsoft Word documents from Jeg .

READ MORE---> Bangladeshie's diplomatic ties with Burmese junta...

Burmese women’s groups pressured to cancel protest

by Nem Davies

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Two Burmese women’s organizations in the Indo-Burmese border town of Moreh were forced to cancel a planned protest rally to be held on Friday after authorities pressured the officer who had issued permission for the rally to cancel the authorization.

The Kuki Women’s Human Rights Organisation (KWHRO) and the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) sought permission from the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Tengnoupal Subdivision of Moreh in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, bordering Burma, to hold a protest rally demanding the release of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on her 64th birthday on June 19.

Though the ADC gave permission, the women’s leaders said they were later persuaded by the ADC to cancel the plan.

“We already received permission on June 16. But this morning we were requested to cancel the plan,” Ngangai Haokip, a presidium board member of WLB told Mizzima.

She said the reasons for the request to cancel the plan were not officially declared, though the ADC had been pressured by his superiors to rescind the permission.

“The ADC was also pressured to ensure that we publish the cancellation of the program in the newspaper,” Ngangai added.

Earlier, the KWHRO, an ethnic Kuki women’s group working to promote the rights of women in Burma, and WLB, an umbrella Burmese women’s organization, planned to march through Moreh in protest against the continued detention of Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and the current trial against her.

The program was planned as part of the global action for commemoration of the detained Burmese pro-democracy leader’s 64th birthday, on June 19. On Friday, Burmese activists and supporters across the world are set to hold prayer meetings, protest rallies, solidarity concerts and speeches in honor and solidarity with the Burmese democracy icon.

But Ngangai said the program in Moreh had been rescheduled to a simple and small cake-cutting ceremony to mark the occasion

Pressure from the ADC on the women’s groups to cancel their program came after the Imphal-based online Hueiyen News Service published a critical article on June 17 questioning the authority of the ADC to grant permission to protest to foreign organizations.

The article, entitled “How can an ADC permit foreigners to hold protest rally at Moreh?”, points out that allowing Burmese activists to protest in Moreh could provoke Burma’s military junta and eventually jeopardize diplomatic ties between India and Burma.

“With Moreh, being a town bordering Myanmar [Burma], any activity such as an open protest rally held there aimed at criticizing the ruling junta in Myanmar [Burma] is bound to certainly provoke the junta,” the article argued.

While it is still unknown who pressured the ADC to alter the original ruling, Ngangai speculated, “Now the ADC is worrying for his life and position after having originally given permission.”

Meanwhile, observers in Moreh conjectured pressure by Manipuri militants on the behest of the Burmese military could be behind the reversal of fortunes, as several Manipuri armed groups, including the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), reportedly benefit from close relationships with the Burmese military, even maintaining bases on Burmese soil.

READ MORE---> Burmese women’s groups pressured to cancel protest...

Mizoram orders Burmese to leave in 15 days

by Nem Davies

New Delhi (Mizzima News) -In a renewed crackdown on Burmese migrants, Mizoram authorities in India’s northeastern region have arrested over 100 Burmese nationals and ordered them to leave the state within 15 days.

Mizoram police as of Saturday began to crack down on Burmese nationals and arrested more than 100. They were produced in court in Aizawl, capital of the state, where they were made to pay a fine of Rupees 500 each and ordered to leave the state within 15 days.

“They arrested us and held us for a night in the police lock-up. The court told us that it would give 15 days to us to leave the country. It also warned us that if we are seen again we will be arrested and put in jail,” a Burmese weaver, who was also among the arrested, told Mizzima on Thursday.

The weaver said police raided their house and arrested all 12 Burmese weavers.

Explaining the court order he said they had to pay a fine of Rupees 500 each. Those who could not pay the fine were deported to the Burma border forthwith.

On Sunday, Mizoram authorities deported 15 Burmese to the Indo-Burma border for they could not pay the fine imposed by the court. However, the Burmese weaver and others were bailed out by their employers, who paid the fine for them.

“Yes, it is true that we have deported the Burmese. But there were only 15 of them. We deported them on Sunday. I cannot recall how many we have deported in the past,” Rozara, a police officer at the Aizawl police station, told Mizzima.

He said they had acted on the order of the court, which is also going through the legal steps following an order from the state government. He clarified that they had not targeted any particular section of the Burmese community.

According to the Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO) office in Aizawl, the police have mainly targeted Burmese nationals trading in alcohol and drugs.

“As far as my understanding goes, the police have arrested mainly those who sell alcohol and drugs. The state government must have pressurized the police to do so,” Tehra, in-charge of the CHRO office in Aizawl, said.

But unlike Tehra’s view of the situation Burmese living in Aizawl believe that the police are making random arrests as several from the Burmese weaving community were also arrested along with others.

A Burmese weaver, Phoeni said “Now the weavers are scared. It is not safe for them anymore,” he added.

According to him, there are an estimated 2,500 Burmese weavers working in various weaving houses in Aizawl town. Mizoram, which is contiguous to Chin state in western Burma, hosts more than 60,000 Burmese nationals.

This is not the first time that Burmese have been deported. In 2003, after a Burmese raped a minor girl, locals forcibly evicted several Burmese nationals from the state.

Sources said the influential Young Mizo Association (YMA), a youth organization in Mizoram, has been compiling a list of Burmese living in the state. However, the purpose of collecting the list of names is still not clear.

Local newspapers have highlighted the increasing number of Burmese nationals year after year and linked the increasing crime rate to the influx.

Most Burmese nationals find jobs in weaving, as gold-smiths, in construction sites, work as housemaids, farm hands and do other manual labour.

READ MORE---> Mizoram orders Burmese to leave in 15 days...

Human trafficking in Burma ‘a major problem’

(DVB)–Human trafficking within Burma remains “significant”, whilst trafficking of young women into forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation is a “major problem”, according to a US state department report.

The Trafficking in Persons report cited statistics released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that estimate that at least 12.3 million people worldwide are in forced labour, bonded labour or commercial sexual exploitation.

Many Burmese women and children are being trafficked to Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, South Korea, China and Malaysia, the latter two often for forced marriage.

Within Burma, however, the problem was “significant”. Trafficking of girls for the purpose of prostitution “persisted as a major problem, particularly in urban areas”, and was seen to drive Burma’s reputation as “a destination country for child sex tourism”.

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the phenomenon as “modern slavery” that “weakens legitimate economies, fuels violence, threatens public health and safety, shatters families, and shreds the social fabric that is necessary for progress.”

The report also highlighted the ongoing phenomenon of forced recruitment of children into armed ethnic groups and the Burmese army, the latter largely as a result of increasing cases of desertion of adult soldiers.

The recruitment of child soldiers is often seen as a means of maintaining the Burmese army’s troop levels, with children often bearing the brunt of its frequent recruitment drives.

“The military junta’s gross economic mismanagement, human rights abuses, and its continued widespread use of forced labor are among the top causal factors for Burma’s significant trafficking problem,” the report said.

Complainants of forced labour are ostensibly protected under the ‘supplementary understanding’ agreement the ILO has with the Burmese government, although in 15 of the 152 cases reported to the ILO since 1997, the organization has received information alleging harassment or reprisals by government authorities.

Earlier this month the ILO called a revision of a clause in the Burmese constitution that justified use of forced labour “in duties assigned by the Union in accord with the law in the interest of the public”.

In 2002 Human Rights Watch named the Burmese government as the world’s leading recruiter of child soldiers.

The US report did note however that the regime had made “significant efforts” with regards to tackling commercial sexual exploitation, although overall the government “is not making significant efforts to comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking”.

Reporting by Francis Wade

READ MORE---> Human trafficking in Burma ‘a major problem’...

RI woos India, China over Suu Kyi

By Lilian Budianto
The Jakarta Post

Indonesia has sought support from Asian giants India and China to push reforms in military-ruled Myanmar, following the latest twist in the trial against its opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Both communist China and democratic India have kept backing Myanmar's notorious junta with close economic ties in a time when the Western countries and international organizations have considered imposing more economic sanctions on Yangon, following a fresh round of trumped-up charges against the Nobel laureate.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Friday Jakarta made the request to China and India to push Myanmar for reforms in a UN forum, which convened envoys from India, China, Myanmar and Japan, as well as a representative from the multilateral body.

"Those countries play a key role to find a settlement in Myanmar's issue... and we very much would like to see them urge Myanmar to embrace the value of human rights."

Faizasyah revealed, however, there had been reluctance from India to act tough on Myanmar as "it might hurt its national interests".

London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) reported Myanmar has become China's closest ally in Southeast Asia. Yangon has been a major recipient of Chinese military hardware and a potential springboard for projecting Chinese military power in the region since 1988.

The report says India has also cemented ties with the junta by shifting its strategy away from supporting Myanmar's opposition movement. New Delhi has offered Myanmar favorable trade relations and cooperation against ethnic insurgents along the Indo-Myanmarese frontier.

"To exert more *pressure* on Myanmar, we want to bring the UN forum into a ministerial level forum but the idea has not been welcomed by India, citing concerns of its national interests," Faizasyah said.

The international world has exhausted unsuccessful efforts to push reform in the country ruled by the military junta since 1962.

The regional body of ASEAN, in which Myanmar is a member, has failed to hold Yangon to its commitment to enforcing human rights and democracy despite its ratification of the ASEAN Charter last year.

Indonesia came under international spotlight to further support Suu Kyi's plight, as the third-largest democracy in the world has boasted leverage to spearhead rights reforms among the ten member states, which have varying degrees of political maturity.

During an official visit to the US on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Indonesia stood firm in pushing Myanmar to hold democracy but saying there should be more "engagement" methods instead of economic sanctions that might hurt locals.

The economic sanctions by the EU and United States have barred Myanmar from trade relations with themselves.

Suu Kyi has been charged with violating her terms of arrests by allowing an uninvited American man, who swam secretly to her closely-guarded lake side house, to stay two nights.

The 63-year-old has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years after the party won a landslide victory in the 1990 election.

She faces up to five years imprisonment if convicted guilty.

READ MORE---> RI woos India, China over Suu Kyi...

China also concerned by student bashings

WOOW... this is something new, CHINA MEDDLING in Australia's INTERNAL AFFAIRS

CHINA'S Government joined India today in demanding Australia provide better protection for foreign students after a series of violents assaults on Indian students which victims have called racist.


"There are over 130,000 Chinese students in Australia. They have on the whole had good study and living environment in Australia, but attacks on Chinese students also occurred in recent years," a spokesman for China's embassy in Canberra told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"It is hoped that the Australian Government will provide better protection to international students from China and other countries," the spokesman said.

There is an ongoing debate to what extent racism was behind violent attacks on Indian students, including the latest slashing of a man in Melbourne by a group of five youths.

The latest attack has redoubled fears that violent bashings and robberies of Indian students could seriously damage Australia's third-biggest export earner, the $15bn market for overseas students.

READ MORE---> China also concerned by student bashings...

Burmese Army delegates in Kolkata

By Salai Pi Pi

New Delhi (Mizzima) – A Burmese Army delegation led by Brig Gen Tin Maung Ohn, Deputy Commander of the Northwest Military Command, arrived in Kolkata, West Bengal on Wednesday on a goodwill visit.

The delegates’ Kolkata leg of the visit came after it attended the 36th bi-annual Indo-Burma border meeting held on May 26, at the Assam Rifles headquarters in Imphal, capital of Manipur state in northeast India.

While details of the Kolkata visit are still unknown, a military source in the city said, the Burmese team has arrived on a good will visit and will meet several Indian Army officials.

Brig-Gen Tin Maung Ohn heading a 15-member delegation met the 17 member team led by Assam Rifle’s Maj Gen AK Choudhury during the 36th bi-annual Indo-Burmese liaison meeting in Imphal.

India and Burma in recent years have stepped up bilateral relations including military cooperation and have been regularly holding meetings between the defence establishments of the two countries.

An Indian journalist, who has long covered Indo-Burma relations, said both Indian and Burmese military delegates have discussed a final strategy to crackdown on northeast rebel groups, several of which are reportedly operating from Burmese soil.

“They have come to finalize the plans for a counter insurgency operation in Sagaing Division,” the journalist told Mizzima, referring to the North-western division in Burma, bordering India’s Nagaland and Manipur states.

A similar meeting was also held in Nagaland in April 2008. The meeting focused on issues related to cross-border insurgency, arms smuggling and border management.

During his last visit, Brig Gen. Tin Maung Ohn and his team also travelled to Kolkata, and met Lt. Gen. V.K Singh, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command and Lt. Gen. P.K. Goel, the Chief of Staff of the Eastern Command.

READ MORE---> Burmese Army delegates in Kolkata...

Challenging the Regime’s ‘Big Lie’

By YENI
The Irrawaddy News

The senior Burmese police officer Brig-Gen Myint Thein tried to get reporters and diplomats this week to believe that Aung San Suu Kyi was to have been released but the regime’s good intentions were stymied by the incident involving her uninvited American visitor, John William Yettaw.

"So within the existing laws, she was regretfully, inevitably charged," he declared.

No thinking person accepts Myint Thein’s sophistry, which recalls the German dictator Adolf Hitler’s famous line: "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it."

On the day Myint Thein came out with his own big lie, Asian and European Union foreign ministers, including Burma's traditional allies China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, concluded a two-day meeting in Hanoi with a statement calling on Burma’s junta to release Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

However, this Asian way of "face-saving" has acted as a shield behind which the Burmese regime has been able to lie time and again, since the 1990 election which resulted in an overwhelming triumph for Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy—a victory the generals refused to recognize. They know very well that they have no shortage of friends—governments and individuals alike—to save their shameless face.

For example, at the European Union and China summit in Prague last week, China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said: "The most important thing is to stick to the principles of mutual respect and not interfere in each others’ internal affairs." He also urged the EU to “ensure that our bilateral relationship will not be adversely affected by individual incidents."

Unsurprisingly, in order to safeguard its business dealings with Burma and its unhindered access to Burma's natural resources, China accords its "respect" to the junta and promises not to “interfere” in its “internal affairs,” even though the regime has killed more than 30 peaceful demonstrators and imprisoned more than 1,000.

Across its western borders, Burma receives the same respect from India, wary about disturbing its relations with the Naypyidaw regime because of its interest in Burma's huge oil and gas resources.

India has indeed come a long way since it backed Suu Kyi and her opposition movement, even awarding her its prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award in 1993.

But indifference to the plight of Suu Kyi is also found outside the borders of China and India, and some Burma observers are even linking the trial to calls for an end to sanctions against the regime.

Reacting to pressure for stricter European sanctions against Burma, Thant Myint-U, a Burmese historian and former UN official, told Britain’s Daily Telegraph: "Any effort to limit the humanitarian funding needed to help Burma's poorest people as a response to Suu Kyi's trial would be shameful and would lead directly to the deaths of thousands of innocent people."

Similarly, Derek Tonkin, former British Ambassador to Thailand and now chairman of Network Myanmar, commented in a press release: "The universal outrage and dismay which has greeted the trial of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her two companions, Daw Khin Khin Win and the latter's daughter Daw Win Ma Ma, should not blind us to the fact that sanctions against Myanmar applied over the last twenty years have had no effect at all in inducing political reform. Indeed, they have only made matters worse."

The trial of Suu Kyi should not blind people, however, to the indisputable fact that the Burmese government’s criminal disregard for the welfare of its people has led to their impoverishment. This is the same government that fiddled while the Irrawaddy delta drowned, which imprisoned Burmese citizens who dared to help, adding to the more than 2,000 political prisoners now languishing in the country’s jails.

While it’s to be hoped that sanctions will be lifted once the regime allows an all-inclusive participation in Burma’s political and economic development, the punitive measures are not the cause of the country’s poverty. The blame is born entirely by the regime, its mismanagement of the economy and its lack of vision, or even more short of benevolence.

It’s a disgrace that some governments and individuals are still defending the military rulers of Burma and swallowing their lies. For two decades, the Burmese people have suffered while the ruling generals, their cronies, opportunists and their business partners from the neighboring countries have exploited the country's natural resources. That’s the simple truth—any denial is just a big lie.

READ MORE---> Challenging the Regime’s ‘Big Lie’...

India urged to pressurize junta to free Suu Kyi

by Salai Pi Pi

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Indian politicians and activists including artists today called on the Indian government to pressurize the Burmese military regime to release Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and to restore democracy in the Southeast Asia country.

Surendra Mohan, a former Member of Parliament of India on Wednesday said that India, which has been silent over the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial, should change its stance and take proactive action against the Burmese junta to free her and the country.

“I appeal to the Government of India to change its position. India should take a firm stand like other democratic countries to see democracy is restored in Burma,” Surendra Mohan said in a conference to show Indian people’s solidarity with Burma and lend its voice for the freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi. The conference was held in the Constitution Club in New Delhi.

Mohan also said India should not neglect the rights and freedom of the Burmese people for the sake of the economic interest of the country by cosying up to the regime.

“We understand why India has taken a soft stand on Burma. I won’t say it is ‘neutral’. It is not in line with democracy, in line with supporting democracy,” Mohan said, “We understand that you need gas and timber from Burma. For whatever reason it is, those should not be equated with the rights and the freedom of the Burmese people.”

Despite the Indian government taking a U turn in supporting the democratic movement in Burma, Mohan said, “There are a large number of people, various politicians and civil society in India who certainly want the restoration of democracy in Burma.”

Meanwhile, Nandita Das, Indian actress and social activist told Mizzima on Wednesday that the Indian government’s silence over the trail of Suu Kyi by the regime for allegedly harbouring the uninvited US citizen John Yettaw, who intruded into her home on May 3 and stayed there for two nights, is totally disappointing.

“I think it is a great failure and it is sad if we can’t raise our voice for the people suffering in jail and for Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

“It is not just silence. It is like being indifferent and wishfully silent. That’s why the civil society, the government and anybody else need to put pressure on the India government, the international community and Burmese regime. So she [Aung San Suu Kyi] is free,” she added.

Moreover, Former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitley, Former Defence Minister George Fernandez, Sumit Chakravartty, editor of Mainstream weekly and film director Amar Kanwar and other Indian artists condemned India and called it to pressure the junta for the early release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Though India has been pushed to take action against the Burmese junta, G. Devarajan, Secretary of the Central Committee of All India Forward Bloc didn’t expect that India, a trading partner of the regime, will come up with a statement urging the junta to release Suu Kyi and for political change in Burma.

“Since India is Burma’s trade partner, I don’t think it will come out with a very helpful statement to release Aung San Suu Kyi though they have given the Jawaharlal Nehru award to her before,” he added.

READ MORE---> India urged to pressurize junta to free Suu Kyi...

Indian rights champion condemns gov’t over silence

by Salai Pi Pi
Editing by Mungpi

New Delhi (Mizzima) – An Indian human rights advocacy group on Wednesday condemned Burma’s military rulers for conducting a trial against Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Lenin Raghuvanshi, director of the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, a grassroots human rights advocacy group based in India’s Uttar Pradesh, said the charge against Aung San Suu Kyi over the visit of an uninvited guest is discriminating and inhumane.

He also condemned India, Burma’s giant neighbor, for remaining silent over the Insein Prison trial against the recipient of India’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding.

Raghuvanshi said that instead of seeking to build a good relationship with the military junta at all costs, the Indian government should pressure the regime to release Aung San Suu Kyi.

“India should support Aung San Suu Kyi,” said Raghuvanshi, a human rights champion who himself received the 2007 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights from South Korea.

But, he added that India may be preoccupied with its own internal affairs, including the forming of a new coalition government after the month-long parliamentary elections.

“India itself has internal problems such as Kashmir and problems in the Northeast. So they [probably] don’t want to comment,” he said.

Raghuvanshi said that as one of the regional economic powers in Asia, India’s interest in Burma is based on economics, one factor making the Indian government reluctant in condemning the Burmese junta and urging the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

“They only want to exploit the resources from the country and the military junta is benefiting from them,” he explained.

“For governments in an international relationship Burma might not be a big issue, but in financial relationships they [India] get a lot of benefit from the junta,” he added.

In recent years India and Burma have increased bilateral trade and agreed on development projects, including Sittwe port and the Kaladan multi-modal project.

According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, bilateral trade between India and Burma for fiscal year 2007-08 stood at USD 901.3 million – with Burmese exports to India accounting for USD 727.85 million.

Though the international community has voiced its outrage over the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, India, the world’s largest democracy, has remained silent.

Burma’s military regime charged the Nobel Peace Laureate for breaching her terms of detention by harboring a U.S. citizen, John William Yettaw, who allegedly swam to her lakeside home on May 3 and stayed there for two nights.

The charge has sparked international criticism. The United Nations, United States, Canada, Australia, Israel, European Union and Asian countries such as Japan, Pakistan and ASEAN members have all issued press statements expressing their concern over Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial and calling for her unconditional and immediate release.

But India, which supported the U.N.’s critical position in the wake of 2007’s Saffron Revolution, has made no noise over the ongoing trial against the Burmese democracy icon.

Dr. Tint Swe, Information Minister of the Burmese government in exile – National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) – said India, which is focused on economic interests, could be using the recently concluded national elections as a good excuse for keeping quiet.

“We also don’t expect too much criticism from India on Burma, since India has a foreign policy that doesn’t care which government rules Burma. It will try to establish good relations with any government for its own national interest,” he added.

On Monday, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs told Mizzima in a telephone interview that the foreign ministry has issued no statement or press release so far on Aung San Suu Kyi’s case. And there was no elaboration on whether there would be any such comment at any time in the future.

READ MORE---> Indian rights champion condemns gov’t over silence...

China, India and ASEAN silent over Suu Kyi’s trial

by Salai Pi Pi

New Delhi (Mizzima) – In the wake of the charges leveled by the Burmese military junta against the country’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a trial in Insein prison, there has been mounting international outcry condemning the regime.

But surprisingly, Burma’s neighbours China, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, are conspicuous by their silence.

Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was charged for breaching her detention law after an American, John William Yettaw, allegedly swam across Rangoon’s Innya Lake and entered her house.

Regime authorities on Friday formally announced her trial and on Monday held the first hearing.

The junta’s move, however, sparked outrage among the Burmese as well as the international community ranging from intellectuals, campaigners, activists, writers, artists, human rights group, and world leaders.

The United Nations, United States and European Union (EU) lambasted Burma’s ruling junta and demanded the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. Asian countries including Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore also joined the call.

Foreign Ministers of EU on Monday called for review of fresh sanctions against the junta and urged China and other regional countries to pressurize the Burmese regime to release the opposition leader.

But China, the junta’s closest ally, India and the ASEAN as a group, has so far remained silent over the events unfolding in Burma.

Debbie Stothard, coordinator of Alternative ASEAN network on Burma (Altsean Burma), a group working to promote human rights and democracy in Burma, on Monday said the ASEAN, of which Burma is a member, has the responsibility to pressurize the Burmese regime over its actions as part of enforcing the group’s charter that was ratified last year.

“I am very shocked to see how quite ASEAN’s General Secretary has been, especially since they are supposed to be the main body promoting implementation of the ASEAN charter,” Stothard said.

“We don’t know where he [the Secretary General] is? We don’t hear his voice in this matter,” she added.

Debbie said ASEAN’s silence over the injustice done to Aung San Suu Kyi would encourage the Burmese regime to be more aggressive against her and commit more human rights violations in the country, which will become a threat to regional countries.

“The quieter the ASEAN remains the worse things the SPDC will commit, not just to Aung San Suu Kyi but also to the regional countries,” she said, referring to the junta by its official name – the State Peace and Development Council.

“All these are creating problems for ASEAN,” she added.

Following China is its main rival, India.

India the world’s largest democracy, which is currently busy in the aftermath of the Parliamentary elections, has officially made no statements on Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial.

Tint Swe, Information minister of the Burmese government - National Coalition Government of Union of Burma (NCGUB) in exile - said avoiding criticism of Burma’s military regime is not unusual but has been a tradition for the two regional powers - India and China.

When it comes to human rights and democracy in Burma, both China and India choose to remain silent as they look forward to maintaining a good relationship with the junta, he said.

“It is strange that the two regional powers, India and China, are silent regarding Aung San Suu Kyi but it doesn’t make any difference to us since these two countries have vested interest in Burma,” Tint Swe told Mizzima.

“It has become a tradition for these two countries to keep quite as much as they can when it comes to Burma’s issues,” he added.

Tint Swe said, the recently concluded Parliamentary elections, might be a good excuse for India to remain silent.

“We also don’t expect too much criticism from India of Burma since India has a foreign policy that doesn’t care which government rules Burma. It will try to better relations with it for its own national interest,” Tint Swe added.

India, since 1994 introduced the ‘Look East Policy’ and chose to appease Burma’s military regime rather than condemn its human rights records as it cosies up and looks forward to a warm relationship with the country.

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Sino-Burma border based observer said, China’s reluctance to criticize the Burmese regime for their injustice against Aung San Suu Kyi could be because of its policy of non-interference in other country’s domestic affairs.

“Simply, they [China] will say Aung San Suu Kyi’s case is Burma’s internal affair,” Aung Kyaw Zaw said.

China is one of the few countries that have maintained friendly relations with Burma’s military rulers. China along with Russia had vetoed a United Nations Security Council Resolution on Burma in January 2007.

Aung Kyaw Zaw said, China’s current interest is to immediately implement the construction of the gas pipeline that will connect Burma’s Arakan state and China’s Yunnan province.

The junta’s move against Aung San Suu Kyi is possibly a kind of amusement for China as it needs a stable regime in power so it can exploit and extract mineral resources from Burma, he added.

READ MORE---> China, India and ASEAN silent over Suu Kyi’s trial...

India’s Left constituent joins outcry over Suu Kyi’s trial

by Solomon

New Delhi (Mizzima)- India’s Left Front constituent, the All India Forward Bloc, has condemned Burma’s ruling junta for charging pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, saying that the whole incident was a ploy by the junta.

Ashok Ghosh, member of the Central Secretariat of the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), told Mizzima on Thursday that the charges against Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, of breaching the detention law, was a ploy to continue detaining her.

“We cannot accept that. We are opposed to it, it is a trick played by the government of Burma,” Ghosh said.

His reaction came a day after the Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate was taken from her lakeside villa to a special court in the notorious Insein prison, where she faces trial for charges of breaching her detention law by allowing an alien to enter her house and providing him food, shelter, and water.

The charges were made after an American citizen, John William Yettaw, visited Aung San Suu Kyi’s house by swimming across the Innya Lake, on May 3. Burmese authorities said. He was arrested on the morning of May 6, while he was swimming back from Aung San Suu Kyi’s house.

Following the incident, Aung San Suu Kyi’s doctor, Tin Myo Win, was arrested and detained. Aung San Suu Kyi along with her two party members, Khin Win and daughter, who live with her and look after her, were produced in a special court.

Aung San Suu Kyi is said to be detained in a separate house inside the Insein Prison precincts and will face the second court hearing on May 18.

Calling the charges and trial ‘illegal’ and ‘unjust’, Ghosh said the whole incident was masterminded by the ruling junta, with the intention to continue detaining Aung San Suu Kyi.

He said it is impossible for anybody to swim across the lake and enter into Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, without being noticed, as security was tight in and around the compound.

“This is only a trick to continue imprisoning her,” Ghosh added.

Ghosh said, instead of resorting to tricks to continue detaining Aung San Suu Kyi, the ruling junta should release her immediately and allow her to participate in their proposed 2010 election.

“There should be no election without Suu Kyi. The Burmese regime must free Suu Kyi before the election. We want to see a free and fair election, he said.

“No Suu Kyi, no election,” he added.

The All India Forward Bloc, is a leftwing party founded by the father of the Indian National Army Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who had joined hands with Burma’s Independence architect and father of Burma’s Armed Forces General Aung San, in their struggle to drive out British colonialists from both India and Burma.

All India Forward Bloc is the first Indian political party to have raised its voice regarding the charges and the trial against Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Congress, heading India’s United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government, and its main rival the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have not come up with any official reaction on Aung San Suu Kyi’s situation.

Meanwhile, the international community, including the United States have, widely condemned the junta for charging Aung San Suu Kyi and putting her on trial, with many speculating that it was the junta’s ploy to detain her further.

The US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday said “I am deeply troubled by the Burmese Government’s decision to charge Aung San Suu Kyi for a baseless crime.”

Clinton, during a press conference on Thursday said, “We oppose the regime’s efforts to use this incident as a pretext to place further unjustified restrictions on her.”

She called on the Burmese authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally, along with her doctor and the more than 2,100 political prisoners currently being detained.

Clinton’s statement was echoed by leaders of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and others including Burma’s neighbour Thailand in their call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Similarly, ‘The Elders Group’, a group consisting of World dignitaries including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, South Africa’s Archbishop and Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tu Tu and Nelson Mandela also urged the Burmese junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Release our sister now! Absurd ‘trial’ is an excuse to extend her incarceration,” said Desmond Tutu, Chair of the group, in a statement.

Former US president Jimmy Carter also said in the statement, “We stand by Aung San Suu Kyi and call on world leaders to demand her immediate release.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his grave concern over the news of Aung San Suu Kyi being transferred to Insein prison from her lakeside villa, where she was under house arrest.

Michele Montas, Ban’s spokesperson, in a press release said, “The Secretary-General is gravely concerned about the news that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been shifted to Insein Prison to face criminal charges.”

The UN chief called on Burma’s military government to negotiate with all other opposition groups instead of confrontation in order to move ahead with the process of national reconciliation.

Montas said, Ban Ki-moon believes, “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is an essential partner for a dialogue in Myanmar's national reconciliation and urged on the Government not to take any further action that could undermine this important process.”

READ MORE---> India’s Left constituent joins outcry over Suu Kyi’s trial...

India’s Left constituent joins outcry over Suu Kyi’s trial

by Solomon

New Delhi (Mizzima)- India’s Left Front constituent, the All India Forward Bloc, has condemned Burma’s ruling junta for charging pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, saying that the whole incident was a ploy by the junta.

Ashok Ghosh, member of the Central Secretariat of the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), told Mizzima on Thursday that the charges against Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, of breaching the detention law, was a ploy to continue detaining her.

“We cannot accept that. We are opposed to it, it is a trick played by the government of Burma,” Ghosh said.

His reaction came a day after the Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate was taken from her lakeside villa to a special court in the notorious Insein prison, where she faces trial for charges of breaching her detention law by allowing an alien to enter her house and providing him food, shelter, and water.

The charges were made after an American citizen, John William Yettaw, visited Aung San Suu Kyi’s house by swimming across the Innya Lake, on May 3. Burmese authorities said. He was arrested on the morning of May 6, while he was swimming back from Aung San Suu Kyi’s house.

Following the incident, Aung San Suu Kyi’s doctor, Tin Myo Win, was arrested and detained. Aung San Suu Kyi along with her two party members, Khin Win and daughter, who live with her and look after her, were produced in a special court.

Aung San Suu Kyi is said to be detained in a separate house inside the Insein Prison precincts and will face the second court hearing on May 18.

Calling the charges and trial ‘illegal’ and ‘unjust’, Ghosh said the whole incident was masterminded by the ruling junta, with the intention to continue detaining Aung San Suu Kyi.

He said it is impossible for anybody to swim across the lake and enter into Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, without being noticed, as security was tight in and around the compound.

“This is only a trick to continue imprisoning her,” Ghosh added.

Ghosh said, instead of resorting to tricks to continue detaining Aung San Suu Kyi, the ruling junta should release her immediately and allow her to participate in their proposed 2010 election.

“There should be no election without Suu Kyi. The Burmese regime must free Suu Kyi before the election. We want to see a free and fair election, he said.

“No Suu Kyi, no election,” he added.

The All India Forward Bloc, is a leftwing party founded by the father of the Indian National Army Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who had joined hands with Burma’s Independence architect and father of Burma’s Armed Forces General Aung San, in their struggle to drive out British colonialists from both India and Burma.

All India Forward Bloc is the first Indian political party to have raised its voice regarding the charges and the trial against Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Congress, heading India’s United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government, and its main rival the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have not come up with any official reaction on Aung San Suu Kyi’s situation.

Meanwhile, the international community, including the United States have, widely condemned the junta for charging Aung San Suu Kyi and putting her on trial, with many speculating that it was the junta’s ploy to detain her further.

The US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday said “I am deeply troubled by the Burmese Government’s decision to charge Aung San Suu Kyi for a baseless crime.”

Clinton, during a press conference on Thursday said, “We oppose the regime’s efforts to use this incident as a pretext to place further unjustified restrictions on her.”

She called on the Burmese authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally, along with her doctor and the more than 2,100 political prisoners currently being detained.

Clinton’s statement was echoed by leaders of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and others including Burma’s neighbour Thailand in their call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Similarly, ‘The Elders Group’, a group consisting of World dignitaries including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, South Africa’s Archbishop and Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tu Tu and Nelson Mandela also urged the Burmese junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Release our sister now! Absurd ‘trial’ is an excuse to extend her incarceration,” said Desmond Tutu, Chair of the group, in a statement.

Former US president Jimmy Carter also said in the statement, “We stand by Aung San Suu Kyi and call on world leaders to demand her immediate release.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his grave concern over the news of Aung San Suu Kyi being transferred to Insein prison from her lakeside villa, where she was under house arrest.

Michele Montas, Ban’s spokesperson, in a press release said, “The Secretary-General is gravely concerned about the news that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been shifted to Insein Prison to face criminal charges.”

The UN chief called on Burma’s military government to negotiate with all other opposition groups instead of confrontation in order to move ahead with the process of national reconciliation.

Montas said, Ban Ki-moon believes, “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is an essential partner for a dialogue in Myanmar's national reconciliation and urged on the Government not to take any further action that could undermine this important process.”

READ MORE---> India’s Left constituent joins outcry over Suu Kyi’s trial...