Burma Newscasts

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Two US Senators Call for ‘Reform-minded’ Junta Leaders

By LALIT K JHA
The Irrawaddy News

WASHINGTON—Two powerful US lawmakers, one from the ruling Democratic party and one from the opposition Republicans, have urged Burmese generals to challenge the current authoritarian rule of Snr-Gen Than Shwe in Burma.

In a statement issued by Sen John Kerry and his Republican counterpart Sen Richard Lugar, both leaders of the powerful foreign affairs committee, they called for “reform-minded” leaders in the military junta to step forward.

Kerry is chairman of the committee, and Lugar is its ranking member. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee plays a key role in shaping US foreign policy.

“Now is the time for reform-minded leaders within the military junta to step forward and be heard,” said the statement. “Releasing Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners would signal the start of a constructive dialogue with the United States.”

Sources in Naypyidaw said that the junta’s top leaders noticed the lawmakers’ appeal, but one informed source said that any reformed-minded military leaders would need greater assurance and the full backing from the international community and the US to part ways with Than Shwe and other hardliners.

Observing that the Obama administration and Congress are reviewing America’s policy toward Burma, the two Senators said: “At this critical time, some in the junta are trying to leverage the recent alleged unauthorized entry into Aung San Suu Kyi’s compound to extend her detention.”

This action, they said: “sends precisely the wrong message to the citizens of Burma, the people of Southeast Asia, and all those in the global community who seek for the Burmese people the opportunity to live in a country where universal human rights are respected, not trampled.”

Both Kerry and Lugar are close confidants of Obama in matters of US foreign policy. Despite being a Republican, Lugar at one point was considered for the post of secretary of state in the Obama administration, the post that ultimately went to Hillary Clinton.

Obama’s rise to national fame started when Kerry, then the Democratic presidential nominee, gave him the opportunity in 2004 to address the Democratic National Convention; the speech made Obama a household name in the US overnight.

Meanwhile, US lawmakers continued to issue statements deploring the junta’s decision to charge Aung San Suu Kyi and hold her in Insein Prison in Rangoon.

“Her transfer from house arrest to prison to face criminal charges is a serious matter that deserves the strongest condemnation from the world's democracies—and from regional neighbors, including Thailand and China," said Sen Judd Gregg.

"The only thing criminal about Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been the abusive injustices she and her supporters have suffered under the State Peace and Development Council,” he said.

Rep Dana Rohrabacher said, “It has long since passed when the military dictators of Burma should have stepped aside and allowed a more honest and efficient government democratically chosen by the people of Burma.”

“Nothing undermines the legitimacy of the upcoming elections more than this type of maneuver against Aung San Suu Kyi by the military junta," said the lawmaker.

Two Suu Kyi Lawyers Dismissed from Bar

Khin Maung Shein (left), Aung Thein (Photo: AAPP)

By MIN LWIN AND AP
The Irrawaddy News

Two of Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers, Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein, were dismissed from the country’s bar by the Burmese military on Friday.

“Township magistrate officer U Aung Soe and some local authorities came and gave an order in which we are dismissed from the Burmese lawyer’s list,” Aung Thein told The Irrawaddy on Saturday.

Attorney Aung Thein confirmed on Saturday that he had been dismissed on Friday, a day after he had applied to represent Suu Kyi in her latest trial, which is set to begin on Monday.

Aung Thein has defended political activists in the past and was recently jailed for four months for contempt of court because of his strong advocacy on his clients’ behalf.

“The dismissal is not fair to us,” Aung Thein said. “We have served four months (in detention for contempt to the court).”

In November, Aung Thein and his close associate Khin Maung Shein were both sentenced to four months imprisonment for contempt of court. The authorities were prejudiced against lawyers who have defended political activists, said Aung Thein.

Their past clients include the prominent Buddhist monk Gambira, who was sentenced to prison following his leadership of the “Saffron Uprising” in 2007. Aung Thein ultimately resigned from that case, complaining that he was had not been allowed to prepare a proper defense.

U Aung Thein is a lawyer associated with Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy’s (NLD) legal advisory team.

On Thursday, authorities barred Aung Thein from entering Insein Prison where Suu Kyi is being detained. Kyi Win was allowed inside the prison.

The Thailand-based human rights group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) (AAPP), released a statement on Saturday saying Aung Thein had his license to practice law revoked by the authorities on grounds that he did not abide by professional ethics.

In a statement, the AAPP said the action was a blatant attempt to damage the defense of Suu Kyi and her two caretakers and represents a pattern of harassment against lawyers who defend pro-democracy activists. There are currently eleven lawyers in prison across the country on charges associated with defense of activists.

Suu Kyi was charged on Thursday with violating the terms of her house arrest after her home was invaded by an American, John William Yettaw, 53, who also faces trial on charges he violated internal security laws.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize committee called for Suu Kyi’s immediate release.

“Her recent detention in prison is totally unacceptable. She has done nothing wrong,” said the statement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which rarely comments on past peace laureates.

The charges against Suu Kyi are widely seen as a pretext for the ruling junta to keep Suu Kyi detained beyond the 2010 national election, part of the junta’s so-called "roadmap to democracy," which has been criticized as a ploy for the military regime to remain in power.

Despite sharp criticism and economic sanctions by the US, Europe and other countries, Burma’s generals have enjoyed the support of China and other Asian nations. They invariably march to their own tune and are likely to do so again in the prosecution of Suu Kyi, who they regard as their No 1 enemy.

The charges against Suu Kyi carry a penalty range of three to five years imprisonment.

Chronology of Suu Kyi and the ‘Inya Lake Swimmer’

By ARKAR MOE

May 1 - Burmese military authorities reject an appeal to release Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

May 2 - American John William Yettaw arrives in Rangoon on a tourist visa.

May 3 - Yettaw swims across Inya Lake to Suu Kyi’s house.

May 6 - Yettaw is fished out of the lake by police and arrested.

May 7 - State-run media report that a US citizen swam to Suu Kyi’s house and stayed for three days; More than 20 police briefly enter Suu Kyi’s compound; Suu Kyi’s lawyer announces that she is “not safe”; Dr Tin Myo Win is refused entry to the compound and is then arrested.

May 8 - Dr Pyone Mo Ei pays Suu Kyi a medical visit for about 2 hours.

May 11 - Dr Pyone Mo Ei revisits Suu Kyi and administers an intravenous drip.

May 13 - US embassy officials meet with Yettaw for three minutes at an interrogation center in Rangoon.

May 14 - Suu Kyi and her two “companions” are arrested and transferred to Insein prison where they are detained in a guest house within the jail’s compound; Suu Kyi, her two companions and Yettaw are charged; Suu Kyi’s lawyer announces she is to be tried on May 18; State-run newspapers publish a biography of Yettaw.

Wanted: Surin Pitsuwan

The Irrawaddy News

Since the arrest and detention of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi last week, regional newspapers have published front page stories on Burma and the detention of Suu Kyi. A few Asean-member countries have also spoke out against the politically motivated and unjust detention of Suu Kyi and her companions.

But the question is: where is Surin Pitsuwan, head of Asean?

As head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and a former foreign minister of Thailand, Surin was a ray of hope in the region, known for being media friendly, outspoken and an open and democratic-minded person. Surin’s appointment injected a new wave of optimism in the region and beyond.

He recently gained deserved kudos for his active engagement in helping Burma when the country faced a serious humanitarian disaster in May 2008. After visiting the cyclone-hit delta, he declared, "We are being baptized by Cyclone Nargis."

Indeed, Surin is no stranger to Burma. He has many admirers in Burma for his outspokenness against the military dictators in Burma when he was foreign minister of Thailand under Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai.

At this sad moment in Burma’s history, wouldn’t it be proper for Surin and Asean to forcefully and clearly speak out on human rights principles by condemning Burma in the strongest possible language?

Is Surin afraid of making enemies among the generals in Naypyidaw? We hope not.

A group of the world’s Nobel Peace Prize winners recently appealed directly to Surin for help and leadership, in a letter on May 14 signed by Desmond Tutu, Jody Williams, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Adolfo Perez Esquivel Wangari Mathaai, Shirin Ebadi, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire.

They urged him to take action against the false imprisonment of their fellow Nobel laureate, Suu Kyi.

“It is time for Asean and the international community to join in voicing their outrage for this horrible injustice,” the letter said. “We urgently express our views to you and implore you to do everything in your power to free this internationally champion of nonviolence, human rights and democracy.”

Surin, we call on you to stand up for justice in Burma and to make Asean relevant in human rights. As of now, it is nothing more than a toothless tiger taking in circles.

Nobel Committee issue rare protest on Suu Kyi

(DVB)–The Norweigian-based Nobel Committee have issued a rare statement protesting the arrest of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying her recent detention is “totally unacceptable”.

The leader of the opposition National League for Democracy party was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1991, and is the only Nobel laureate to be in detention.

“She has done nothing wrong,” said Thorbjorn Jagland, Chairman of the Nobel Committee.

“We urge that she and other political prisoners be immediately and unconditionally released,” adding that “free elections should be held as soon as possible”.

Suu Kyi will face trial on Monday for allegedly breaching conditions of her house arrest following the intrusion last week of US citizen John William Yettaw into her compound, where she has been held under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years.

The Nobel Committee’s comments follow alarming remarks from the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), who sent an ominous warning about the possibility of Suu Kyi being detained in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison.

"It’s clear for us taking account the number of deaths, torture and disappearing in this prison, we do consider this imprisonment as an effort of the regime to eliminate her," said Emmanouil Athanasion, Program Manager at FIDH.

"We are very strong and sure about the use of the word eliminate: to eliminate her, not only politically."

If convicted of the charges, Suu Kyi could face up to five years in prison. She is nearing the end of the sixth year of her current spell under house arrest, due to expire on 27 May.

Critics of the Burmese regime have alleged that the pending trial is a tactical manoeuvre to exclude her from the 2010 elections.

Reporting by Francis Wade and Rosalie Smith

Stop tip-toeing around and save Suu Kyi

By: Zoya Phan

(Blogs' Reuters) - If statements of concern were enough to influence the brutal dictatorship ruling my country, then opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma would have been freed many years ago. It is impossible to count the number of statements from world leaders condemning the dictatorship, whether it be for imprisoning Aung San Suu Kyi, crushing democracy uprisings, or blocking aid after Cyclone Nargis last year.

But while these statements are welcome, they are clearly not enough. Burma is not run by politicians or diplomats. The generals ruling my country are brutal killers. They spent years in the jungles of Burma engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against ethnic people. They use rape as a weapon of war, torture and shoot on sight. Babies are snatched from the arms of their mothers and thrown into the burning homes of innocent villagers. Landmines are laid in church doorways, deliberately aimed at those going to pray. Why do the United Nations and so many other countries think that statements and soft diplomacy is the way to influence people who are involved in such horrors?

Now, once again, Aung San Suu Kyi has been taken to the notorious Insein Jail. Once again there is an international outcry. So far, once again, the generals are ignoring it. How many times will we have to go over the same old ground before the international community wakes up to the nature of the generals they are dealing with? These generals are not immune to pressure. They depend on international trade and investment for their survival. It funds their luxury lifestyles and pays for the guns they use to keep their grip on power. They crave international acceptance and legitimacy, which is why they are pushing ahead with sham elections next year. They are vulnerable to real pressure, but it has never been properly applied.

It is time to hold Burma’s generals to account. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma has said that the dictatorship is breaking the Geneva Conventions by deliberately targeting civilians in Eastern Burma. That makes them war criminals. Why aren’t they in an international court? The International Labour Organisation has said the dictatorship is committing a crime against humanity for its use of forced labour. Why aren’t they facing a case at the International Court of Justice? The United Nations has also said that Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention is illegal under international law. Why has no action been taken?

It is time to stop tip-toeing around the generals, and treat them like the criminals they are.

In most countries if someone commits a serious crime they are hunted down, tried and imprisoned. Imagine if someone committed a murder in London, and the response of the police was just to issue a statement saying they are deeply concerned by the murder, and asks the murderer not to do it again, or they’ll issue another statement.

Burma’s generals belong in jail. Until they face a real threat of being held accountable for their criminal behaviour, they will keep on jailing Aung San Suu Kyi, keep slaughtering ethnic civilians, and keep ignoring the international community.

- Zoya Phan is international coordinator at The Burma Campaign UK. Her autobiography, Little Daughter, was published by Simon and Schuster in April. The opinions expressed are her own. -

An ordeal without end

Bangkok Post Editorial

The renewed persecution of Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has brought an angry and troubled response from world leaders. The outrage should come as no surprise to those who ordered her transfer and incarceration in Rangoon's Insein prison on a charge of violating her house arrest. Whether they will see reason and put an end to this continuing charade is another matter. We can only hope that wiser heads prevail.

It seems more than coincidence that this fresh trial, which could carry a five-year jail term, has been ordered just two weeks before the one-year extension to her years of house arrest was due to end. Alarmingly, it has come at a time when the 63-year-old Nobel laureate is suffering from low blood pressure, dehydration and other health problems, not helped by the absence of her doctor who was taken away for questioning earlier this week.

The charges against her are bizarre and illogical. They concern the actions of an American intruder at her home whose motives in allegedly swimming across a lake to reach her house are unknown. What is known is that she asked him to leave and that the Burmese authorities are responsible for security at the dilapidated lakeside home to which she had been confined as their prisoner. Yet her jailers are not the ones on trial. Surely they must realise that any intruder could have posed a threat to the person they were supposed to be guarding.

The events currently unfolding make it clear that the junta is determined to ensure that the elections it plans for next year as part of its ''roadmap to democracy'' suffer no disruption even if this involves a total disregard for human rights. Going to such extremes also lends credence to widely-held beliefs that the 2010 elections are merely a sham designed to perpetuate the status quo and entrench the military in power.

The Burmese authorities have already disqualified Mrs Suu Kyi from participating in the elections because her late husband was a foreigner. Now her very liberty appears to be considered a daunting threat to the state. Do the authorities not realise that by continually courting international condemnation and inflaming public opinion in their zeal to think up new ways to confine and harass her, they are taking a greater risk than that entailed in simply granting this courageous lady the freedom she deserves. The overwhelming paranoia and xenophobia which governs the junta's actions has already led to Burma being considered an embarrassment within Asean, ostracised by much of the world, condemned to economic sanctions and branded a human rights violator. Only in Burma could a pro-democracy icon whose party won a national election in 1990 be considered a threat to democracy.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says that Asean, currently chaired by Thailand, is ''concerned'' by the latest events in Burma. Singapore and Indonesia have echoed his words. Other world leaders and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have gone further, some much further. This is no surprise. Mrs Suu Kyi has earned respect for her courage, humanitarian ideals and quiet dignity. The world's most famous political prisoner is not known and revered as 'The Lady' for nothing.

Today Aung San Suu Kyi marks 13 years and 204 days spent in detention with another trial starting on Monday and no end to her ordeal in sight. A sad day, but one which carries the certainty that no matter what they subject her to, 'The Lady' will continue to give hope and inspiration to the people of Burma.

Three Asean members oppose Suu Kyi charges

By: THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL AND AGENCIES
Bangkok Post

Three Asean members - Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia - have raised concerns about Burma's move to lodge new charges against detained Aung San Suu Kyi, and called for her release.

Burma, itself a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has lodged fresh charges against the Burmese democracy icon, stemming from an incident in which an American swam across a lake to stay at her house.

The move by the three countries is seen as unusual. By convention, Asean members do not intervene in each other's internal affairs.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said yesterday all countries were concerned about the credibility of any Burmese probe into the US man's action.

"What we would like to know is what the truth is, what the intent of that US man is, how could he pass the security guards surrounding Mrs Suu Kyi's house, who is behind this and is there some sort of conspiracy?" Mr Kasit said.

"I don't know. But I think the facts should be told to the public."

Mrs Suu Kyi and her two maids will go before the court on Monday.

Mr Kasit hoped the process would be transparent and Mrs Suu Kyi's period for detention would not be extended further.

"We would like to see Mrs Suu Kyi and political prisoners released, as reflected in the Asean chairman's statement at the 14th Asean summit in Cha-am last March," he said.

Mrs Suu Kyi is facing five years in jail on charges of breaching the terms of her house arrest after a bizarre incident in which a US man swam to her off-limits lakeside house in Rangoon.

The incident came just a few days before the expiry of her most recent six-year detention order om May 27.

She faces a new trial on Monday, and the jail term if convicted of the new charges would keep her behind bars past an election due next year.

The elections are part of a so-called "roadmap" to restore democracy that the country's ruling junta has pledged to adopt.

International critics have said the process will be a sham if she and her party are excluded.

Thailand is rotating chairman of Asean.

Mr Kasit said Thai ambassador to Rangoon Bansarn Bunnag has been assigned to consult other Asean ambassadors based in Burma about the Asean position.

The US embassy in Bangkok has also contacted the Thai government and told it that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would call the Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan or Mr Kasit about the situation.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday expressed concern about the health of Mrs Suu Kyi and the country's long-delayed "roadmap" to democracy.

Mr Abhisit said the 10-nation bloc had been urging Burma to adopt an inclusive political process.

"Clearly her health condition is of concern, and that should be a concern for everybody," he said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Singapore said yesterday it was dismayed after Burma lodged new charges against Mrs Suu Kyi.

"We reiterate the call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from detention. We are also concerned about recent reports on her poor health," said the Singapore foreign ministry.

Indonesia also urged Burma to release Mrs Suu Kyi and drop the new "arbitrary" charges against her.

"The Indonesian government is very concerned about the arbitrary detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and we are hoping for a legal process so we know the basis for her detention," foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said."The charges against her are not appropriate."

EARLIER REPORT by AFP:

Rights groups slam Asean countries for their silence after the Burmese military junta brings trumped up charges against an ailing Aung San Suu Kyi, shown some years ago in this portrait on a protester's placard.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to use its influence with its most troublesome member, and said that China, Japan and India should also use their weight.

Asean ambassadors met in Rangoon on Friday to hammer out a statement on the group's perennial problem country, but the 10-member bloc has historically shied away from criticising the ruling generals.

Indonesia and Singapore were the only members to directly call for Aung San Suu Kyi's release and condemn the charges, which state that she breached the terms of her house arrest when a US man intruded on her lakeside house.

"The charges against her are not appropriate. Why should Aung San Suu Kyi be detained when it was the American national who swam across the waters to her house?'' Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said in Jakarta.

Singapore's foreign ministry said in a statement that it was "dismayed'' by the charges against the 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and also called for her release.

In Bangkok, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said only that his country "hope(s) that she should be released'', adding that Thailand was "very, very concerned'' about the possibility that Burma could extend her detention.

Aung San Suu Kyi faces a five-year jail term if found guilty at her trial, which will be held in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, where she was taken on Thursday from her home.

She has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention, most of them in virtual isolation at the sprawling lakeside property where she received the bizarre visit from US national John Yettaw last week that led to the charges.

Mr Kasit said Thailand's ambassador in Rangoon would meet with his Asean counterparts to discuss a statement by the bloc, which has a policy of non-interference in members' internal affairs.

Senior officials from Asean and its six dialogue partners -- China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand -- would also meet on the sidelines of a regular meeting in the tourist island of Phuket in Thailand on Tuesday, he said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone voiced "deep concern'' over the new charges, local media reported. Japan is the top donor to Burma among the OECD's major economies.

But there was silence from the rest of the region. China, one of Burma's closest allies and a major consumer of its vast natural resources, remained silent on the charges against Aung San Suu Kyi, as did India.

London-based Amnesty International called on the UN Security Council, "notably China and Japan, and Asean countries, (to) urgently intervene to secure Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's release from Insein prison''.

"They are best placed to bring the necessary pressure to bear on the Burma government,'' it said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch, based in New York, made a similar appeal.

"China, India, Singapore, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries should be calling for a genuine and participatory political process in Burma, which means serious public pressure for the release of political opponents,'' said Elaine Pearson, the group's deputy Asia director.

"Aung San Suu Kyi's latest arrest shows how their silence simply encourages more contempt for basic freedoms,'' she said in a statement.

Myanmar bars lawyer from Suu Kyi trial

YANGON, MYANMAR (Times of India): Myanmar's military rulers disbarred a prominent lawyer who applied to defend pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in her
upcoming trial, the attorney said on Saturday.

Suu Kyi, who was taken from her home Thursday by police, faces a possible five-year prison term for allegedly violating terms of her house arrest by sheltering an American man who swam across a lake to her home.

Her latest arrest has sparked a storm of international appeals to Myanmar's junta to free the 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and to restore democracy in the country, which has been under military rule since 1962.

Despite mounting international protests, the junta appears ready to begin the trial Monday at Insein Prison, where Suu Kyi is being held along with two assistants who have lived with her.

Lawyer Aung Thein said Saturday that he was dismissed from the country's Bar Council on Friday, a day after he applied to represent Suu Kyi. He has defended political activists in the past and was earlier jailed for four months for contempt of court.

Suu Kyi was charged Thursday with violating the terms of her house arrest after being visited by American John William Yettaw, 53, who also faces trial.

Suu Kyi has already spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention without trial for her nonviolent promotion of democracy. She had been scheduled to be freed May 27 after six consecutive years of house arrest but now faces up to five years in prison if convicted, according to one of her lawyers, Hla Myo Myint.

He and another lawyer represented her at the arraignment, but Suu Kyi had asked for three other defense lawyers, including Aung Thein.

President Barack Obama extended for another year a state of emergency regarding Myanmar that maintains sanctions against the military-run country.

In a message to the U.S. Congress sent Friday, Obama said that a ``crisis'' between the United States and Myanmar `has not been resolved.'

The Norwegian committee that propelled Suu Kyi into the world spotlight by awarding her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 called for her immediate release.

``Her recent detention in prison is totally unacceptable. She has done nothing wrong,'' said a statement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which rarely comments on past laureates.

The charges are widely seen as a pretext for the ruling junta to keep Suu Kyi detained past elections it has scheduled for next year as the culmination of a ``roadmap to democracy,'' which has been criticized as a fig leaf for continued military control.

But despite sharp criticism and sanctions in the past, Myanmar's generals, who enjoy the support of China and other Asian nations, have invariably marched to their own tune and are likely to do so in the case of Suu Kyi, who they regard as their No. 1 enemy.

Exactly why Yettaw, of Falcon, Missouri, swam across the lake to see Suu Kyi remains unclear. He is also under arrest and to be tried for violating the security cordon around Suu Kyi's house.

His wife, Betty Yettaw, described her husband as eccentric but peace-loving and `not political at all.'

According to his ex-wife Yvonne Yettaw, he said he went to Asia to work on a psychology paper about forgiveness.

Myanmar bars Suu Kyi lawyer as U.S. renews sanctions

By Aung Hla Tun
(Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by Alex Richardson)

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta has barred a prominent activist lawyer from defending opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as pressure intensifies on the regime to drop new charges against the Nobel Peace laureate.

Aung Thein said the order revoking his licence was issued on Friday, a day after a prison court charged Suu Kyi with breaking the conditions of her nearly six-year house arrest, which is due to expire on May 27. "I went to Insein Prison to be one of the five defence lawyers for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and they issued the order the next day," Aung Thein told Reuters.

Critics of the regime have denounced the trial of Suu Kyi and two female companions, due to start on Monday, on charges stemming from the mysterious visit of an American intruder who was arrested after he claimed to have spent two days at her lakeside home in Yangon.

Suu Kyi, 63, faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

Her lawyers insist she is innocent and did not invite U.S. citizen John Yettaw, who according to state media swam to her tightly-guarded lakeside home using homemade flippers.

Yettaw's motives remain unclear, but he has been charged with various offences, including encouraging others to break the law and "illegal swimming."

The military, which has ruled the former Burma since 1962, has so far ignored the international outcry over its latest crackdown on Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 13 of the past 19 years in some form of detention.

SANCTIONS

U.S. President Barack Obama renewed sanctions against the regime on Friday, saying its actions and policies continued to pose a serious threat to U.S. interests.

"The crisis between the United States and Burma ... has not been resolved," Obama said, citing sanctions first imposed by the United States in 1997 and ratcheted up several times in response to repression of democracy activists.

"These actions and policies are hostile to U.S. interests," Obama said. "For this reason, I have determined that it is necessary to ... maintain in force the sanctions against Burma to respond to this threat."

Washington has led Western governments in gradually tightening sanctions against the regime over its resistance to political reforms and detention of Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 other activists.

But neither sanctions, nor the policy of engagement espoused by Myanmar's regional neighbours, have succeeded in coaxing the generals into meaningful reforms.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's admitted in February that sanctions have not worked and Washington was looking for new ways to influence the regime. But analysts had not expected that review to lead to a swift change in America's sanctions policy.

Pro-democracy activists cheered Obama's announcement and urged him to lead a wider effort to pressure the regime.

"Now that President Obama has continued a wise policy from the United States, it is time for him to seize the moment and take action internationally," said Jeremy Woodrum of the U.S. Campaign for Burma.

"We hope he will immediately pursue a global arms embargo at the UN Security Council, as well as an investigation into crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Burma's military regime," he said in a statement.

Analysts say the charges against Suu Kyi are aimed at keeping her sidelined ahead of the junta's promised elections in 2010, part of its seven-step "roadmap to democracy."

The West has derided the roadmap as a sham to ensure the military's grip on power.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide election victory in 1990 only to be denied power by the military.

It has set several conditions, including reform of the army-drafted constitution and the release of all political prisoners, before it will decide whether to run in the 2010 polls.

Carter discusses Myanmar

"Protest for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all of Burma's political prisoners"

"Free Aung San Suu Kyi Demonstration!" at UK and Australia cities

Free Aung San Suu Kyi Demonstration!
"Protest for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and
all of Burma's political prisoners"

Host: Burma Campaign UK
Monday: May 18 at 12:00pm
Date: Monday, May 18, 2009
Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Location: Burmese Embassy
Street: 19A Charles Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5DX
City: Town: London, United Kingdom

Find out more here:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php/burma/news/un-and-asean-action-needed-to-free-aung-san-suu-kyi

MAP London

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Host: Burma Campaign Australia
To get a situation update visit http://www.aucampaignforburma.org/FREEASSK.htm

SYDNEY
Date: Monday May 18th, 2009
Time: 12 noon
Location: Outside Tanya Plibersek (Minister for the Status of Women) office,
Street: 111-117 Devonshire Street,
City: Surry Hills 2010
Contact Phone: Zetty Brake, 0416 289 235 or
Email: zetty@aucampaignforburma.org
Please wear a shirt with Aung San Suu Kyi’s face on it to show solidarity

MAP - Sydney

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CANBERRA

Host: Joint Action Committee for Democracy in Burma
Date: Monday, May 18
Time: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Where: Burmese Embassy Canberra
Street: 22 Arkana St
City: Yarralumla, ACT 2600
Email: jacdb.au@gmail.com

MAP - Canberra

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PERTH
Date: Monday May 18th, 2009
Time: 1pm
Location: Outside Stephen Smith office (Minister for Foreign Affairs)
Street: 953A Beaufort St,
City: Inglewood, WA 6932
Contact Phone: Myo Nyunt 08 9310 1777

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MELBOURNE
Date: May 18th, 2009
Time: 1pm
Location: Outside Simon Crean office(Minister for Trade)
Street: 401 Clayton Road,
City: Clayton, 3168
Contact Phone: Kyaw Soe Moe - 0403-574 313

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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.”

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

Thailand urges Burma to end Aung San Suu Kyi's detention

By Supalak Ganjankhundee - The Nation

Thailand yesterday joined the international community in calling for the end of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention as her current term of house arrest expires late this month.

"As the period for the detention is about to came to an end, we hope that there is no more detention", Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said at a press conference.

The Burmese military junta decided to try Suu Kyi on Monday after American John Yettaw swam across Inya Lake to her residence in Rangoon.

The current term of her house arrest, imposed since 2003, expires on May 27, and her lawyer planned to appeal for her release.

Aung San Suu Kyi could be given a five- years jail term if convicted on the charge of violating her house arrest, which bars her from meeting with outsiders.

Kasit urged the junta to be transparent in its handling of the case.

As chairman of Asean, Kasit said the release of Aung San Suu Kyi would benefit Burma's process of national reconciliation and political reform.

"In connection with the general election next year, we would like to see inclusiveness and the release of political prisoners, he said.

"So I want to repeat what has been the common position of Asean and for the common wish for the betterment and happiness of the Myanmar [Burmese] people," he said.

However, Thailand and Asean would not put pressure to the military junta to get Suu Kyi released, he said.

Senior Asean officials are to meet next week in Phuket to seek if they can do anything to help "rescue" Suu Kyi, he said. Asean ambassadors in Rangoon will also have a meeting to monitor the situation.

Thailand and other Asean countries will dispatch representatives to attend the Burmese court's trail if Burmese authorities allow them to do so, Kaset said.

London-based Amnesty International urged the United Nations Security Council, China, Japan and Asean to take immediate action to intervene for the release of Suu Kyi from the notorious Insein prison.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has also demanded the immediate release of Suu Kyi, is expected to call Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan and Kasit as Asean chairman to consult discuss Suu Kyi's situation, Kasit said.

The United Kingdom, Indonesia and United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon have also called for the unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Asked if Thailand or Asean would lobby Beijing to put pressure on the junta, Kasit said China also had a responsibility to support political development in Burma.

"We all have responsibilities, as Asia-Pacific fellows, to see Burma become a progressive society with happiness," he said.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Security Increased around Insein Prison

By MIN LWIN
The Irrawaddy News

Increased security forces, including firefighters, members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and Swan Arr Shin, have been stationed around Rangoon’s infamous Insein prison, following the imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday.

An estimated two dozen people gathered at the prison on Friday morning seeking information about Suu Kyi. They were ordered to leave the area by security guards.

“Since yesterday morning, the security troops have deployed heavily in northern Rangoon and Insein Township,” said a source close to Insein Prison.

After the Burmese military government brought Aung San Suu Kyi from her lakeside house to Insein Prison, she was charged with violating the conditions of her house arrest.

A US citizen, John William Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, swam across Inya Lake to Aung San Suu Kyi’s lakeside resident where he stayed two nights last week, according to authorities. It is against the law in Burma for nationals to allow foreigners to stay overnight without approval from authorities.

According to sources in Insein Township, located in the northwest outskirts of Rangoon, additional security forces are posted around government buildings and monasteries near the prison, which houses many pro-democracy activists.

“Police, soldiers, firefighters and uniformed Swan-Arr-Shin have been stationed at Eight mile Junction and Thamine Junction and on the outskirts of the city,” said a Rangoon resident said.

“They [USDA and Swan-Arr-Shin] are stationed along the streets in Insein wards,” she said. “They stop taxis, cars and passersby, and they inspect them carefully.”

She said that plainclothes police and USDA members are going around check on the overnight guests’ list in various wards.

Sources in Rangoon said that people are flocking to Internet shops to try to get more news and information about Suu Kyi’s trial from exiled media Web sites. The trial may get underway on Monday, according to sources. Suu Kyi, her doctor, two caretakers and Yettaw are all charged with violating state security laws.

“The government is making people angry, and most people don’t believe that Daw Suu is guilty,” said a Rangoon-based reporter. “The government is manipulating the events again to put her in jail.”

“Many people, even when they go for walk, have a radio and listen for information about Daw Suu,” he said. “I saw trishaw drivers in a circle listening for news.”

Meanwhile, Internet service has been unreliable in Burma recently, with connections going on and off.

“Normally, Internet users go to chat rooms and talk, but now they read quietly about Daw Suu,” said one Internet user in downtown Rangoon.

Rangoon Media Silent on Suu Kyi

By SAW YAN NAING
The Irrawaddy News

Burmese journalists from Rangoon-based publications have complained that they cannot report freely about pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s transfer to Insein Prison due to heavy restrictions on press freedom.

While the Burmese public is eager to hear news surrounding Suu Kyi’s arrest and the incident at her home involving an American intruder, they are forced to turn to the international press and Burmese news agencies in exile, because local media is largely silent on the issue.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday, an editor working with a leading journal in Rangoon said, “Of course we want to report this news, but we cannot. The censorship board will definitely reject it.”

Another Rangoon-based editor said, “We can publish reports about this news in similar terms to those of the state-run newspapers. I’m sure that we cannot report any more than that. Otherwise, our lives will be in danger.”

A Burmese journalist in Rangoon who is working with a foreign news agency said that he is constantly confronted with difficulties when confirming details deemed “sensitive matters” by the Burmese authorities.

Sources in Rangoon said that “everyone” in the former capital—from reporters to rickshaw drivers—listens to the radio every morning and evening to find out what is happening with Suu Kyi.

Several sources indicated that the public reaction to Suu Kyi’s arrest and her subsequent detention in a guest house within the compound of Insein Prison ranges from anger toward the junta to feelings of pity for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and fears for her safety.

A resident in Rangoon said that the news about Suu Kyi and the “Inya Lake Swimmer” is the talk of the town and that many people are constantly calling each other sharing the latest rumors.

“Some are saying that the incident [with the American intruder at Suu Kyi’s house] has been fabricated by the Burmese authorities,” he said.

On Thursday, pro-junta newspapers The New Light of Myanmar and The Mirror published details about the “US citizen who secretly entered the house of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.” The report included a photograph and full biography of 53-year-old psychology student John William Yettaw.

However, neither newspaper ran a report mentioning Suu Kyi’s arrest.
Some local journals, including Rangoon-based The Voice, also reported on the arrest of Yettaw, but only quoted from the “official” report in The New Light of Myanmar.

The New Light of Myanmar said that the US citizen was arrested on May 6. According to the report, the man arrived in Rangoon on May 2, swam across Inya Lake on the night of May 3 and secretly entered Suu Kyi’s house.

Several pro-junta publications and blogs have criticized the reporting by Burmese news agencies and radio stations in exile, such as BBC Burmese, Voice of America, and Radio Free Asia, saying that their coverage shows a lack of ethics and is influenced by the Western community.

Was Yettawa Pawn of Burma’s Generals?

The Irrawaddy News

There is growing doubt among Burmese observers that the bizarre case of an American intruder who managed to enter the highly restricted property of democratic opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was the work of one misguided individual.

The incident involving John William Yettaw, an American national who allegedly wanted to interview Suu Kyi for a book he was writing, has resulted not only in his arrest, but also that of Suu Kyi herself, as well as her two live-in assistants and her doctor.

A file photo of Burmese riot police standing guard on a road leading to the home of Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon. (Photo: AFP)

The arrests come less than two weeks before the democracy icon was due to be released after serving six under house arrest.

“We suspect that the military authorities turned a blind eye when the guy swam across Inya Lake,” said Ngwe Lin, the joint general-secretary of the exiled Democratic Party for a New Society. “I believe Burmese security authorities were definitely involved.”

Like Ngwe Lin, many Burmese are questioning the circumstances surrounding Suu Kyi’s latest brush with the ruling junta’s draconian laws. Many have expressed surprise at how easily Yettaw was able to enter her residential compound, which is one of the most tightly restricted properties in the country.

Aung Lin Htut, a former military intelligence officer and deputy ambassador to the US who is currently living in Washington, said that it was unlikely that Yettaw simply outwitted security personnel by swimming to Suu Kyi’s lakeside home.

“There’s always tight security around Inya Lake,” he said, pointing out that the area is also home to many other VIPs. “Without help from security personnel, there’s no way you could just swim across the lake.”

The strange case of the Inya Lake swimmer first attracted attention on May 7, when it was reported by The New Light of Myanmar. The state-run newspaper identified Yettaw as “John Willian [sic] Yeattaw,” and claimed that he had been arrested on the morning of May 5 as he was swimming away from Suu Kyi’s home.

Although the regime has made no official mention of the incident, the story was quickly picked up by junta-friendly blogs set up by the Ministry of Information, which claimed that Suu Kyi now faced up to five years imprisonment for violating the restriction order under which she was placed in detention.

Sure enough, on Thursday, Suu Kyi was officially charged under Section 22 of the State Protection Act, which says that “any person against whom action is taken, who opposes, resists, or disobeys any order passed under this Law, shall be liable to imprisonment for a period of from three years up to five years, or to a fine of up to 5,000 kyat, or both.”

Burmese opposition groups were quick to denounce this move to extend Suu Kyi’s incarceration.

“It is nothing more than a political ploy to hoodwink the international community so that they can keep Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under lock and key while the military maneuvers its way to election victory in 2010,” said Dr Sein Win, a cousin of Suu Kyi and the prime minister of the Washington-based National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, which describes itself as the country’s government-in-exile.

Another suspicious aspect of this whole episode is the fact that Suu Kyi’s doctor, Dr Tin Myo Win, was also taken into custody shortly after Yettaw’s arrest. As her personal physician, Tin Myo Win is one of the few people who have regular access to Suu Kyi.

According to opposition sources, Yettaw told them he had made an unsuccessful attempt to enter Suu Kyi’s compound during a trip to Rangoon that lasted from November 7 to December 3, 2008.

Sometime after that incident, Suu Kyi asked Tin Myo Win to inform the authorities about it on her behalf. The physician duly reported the attempted illegal entry to the Police Special Branch, but no action was taken.

“By arresting Tin Myo Win, the military authorities tried to stop him from spreading the information about Yettaw’s previous efforts to break in,” said a Rangoon-based observer.

Now everyone is trying to figure out who John William Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, really is, and what motivated him to undertake a stunt that has attracted worldwide attention.

According to an Associated Press report, Betty Yettaw, his wife, said that he simply wanted to talk to Suu Kyi as part of his research on forgiveness and resilience. She said her husband is “not political at all,” but interested in how people deal with stress and abuse of all sorts.

But while it’s entirely plausible that a determined, if misguided, individual might attempt to circumvent the tight security measures surrounding the world’s most famous political prisoner, it is highly unlikely that he would have succeeded without a helping hand.

Opposition sources on the Thai-Burmese border who met him prior to his latest trip to Rangoon say that he was not one to be dissuaded easily from carrying out his foolhardy plan. However, they add that he probably also came into contact with some who actually encouraged him to go through with it.

It may take some time to put all the pieces together, but conspiracy theories suggesting that Yettaw’s “mission” was somehow orchestrated by the Burmese regime are not completely unfounded.

We know that the authorities were aware of Yettaw’s earlier attempt to meet Suu Kyi, and that it would not have been difficult for border-based agents of the regime to send him astray with assurances that Suu Kyi was ready to meet him this time.

The only way we will ever uncover the truth is if the junta allows all concerned to reveal what they know. But if one thing is certain, it is that the regime has no interest in any version of this story that doesn’t end with Suu Kyi behind bars.

The Lady, a “Fool” and a Crazy Dictator

By AUNG ZAW
The Irrawaddy News

Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Kyi Win, is an angry man. His client is now in jail as a result of a madcap escapade by the American intruder John William Yettaw.

“Everyone is very angry with this wretched American,” said Kyi Win. “He is the cause of all these problems. He's a fool.”

While creating serious problems for Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD), the American swimmer was a
blessing in disguise for the regime leaders in Naypyidaw. They now have an excuse to extend Suu Kyi’s current six-year term of detention, which was to have ended this month.

The bizarre affair pits an eccentric American against a man who probably is really insane—the junta’s cunning leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe.

Indications of the state of Than Shwe’s unsound mind first surfaced in the early 2000s, when he and his family were reported to be behaving like royalty.

In 2005, Than Shwe relocated Burma’s capital to Naypyidaw after secretly constructing a new power center in the rural depths of Burma, at an estimated cost running into billions of dollars.

Than Shwe then bought a 10-megawatt nuclear reactor from Russia and declared to a doubting world that the secrecy-shrouded investment was for peaceful purposes. He reportedly confided to his subordinates that he planned to make Burma a nuclear nation.

He is said to be a devout Buddhist and recently participated with family members in the consecration of a replica of Rangoon’s famous Shwedagon Pagoda.

For all his devout piety, however, family sources suggest that Than Shwe and his wife are superstitious and often consult astrologers, even when making major policy decisions.

Among these decisions were moves to steer Burma into an even darker corner of the world—by restoring formal diplomatic ties, for instance, with North Korea.

Relations between the two countries were broken off in 1983 after a Rangoon bomb attack by North Korean terrorists on a visiting South Korean delegation headed by then-President Chun Doo-hwan.

Burma has sent secret missions to North Korea, and although little news emerges about these visits it is known that the regime is buying arms, including short-range missiles, from the hermit state.

In May 2003, Than Shwe and his hard-line ministers launched an attack on a Suu Kyi motorcade in the heartland of Burma.

The thuggish attack on Suu Kyi and her supporters sparked outrage within the international community. Than Shwe and his regime responded by placing her under house arrest.

Despite the treatment she received at the hands of the regime, Suu Kyi made clear she bore no grudge and extended an olive branch to Than Shwe, seeking political dialogue and national reconciliation.

Than Shwe, however, made clear for his part that he had no interest in meeting Suu Kyi. Instead, he introduced the country to a “road map” leading to what he promised would be “disciplined democracy.”

A new constitution was drawn up and put to the country in 2008 in a national referendum which not even Cyclone Nargis could delay.

The regime made the preposterous claim that the rigged referendum had been approved by more than 90 percent of the electorate. The document provided for a general election to be held in 2010, although no precise date has yet been announced—and even an election law is still awaited.

Suu Kyi’s NLD—outright winner of the 1990 election—recently took a bold step and said it would participate in the 2010 election if the regime met a series of demands, including the release of all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, changes to the constitution and for international observers to be allowed to monitor the poll.

Interestingly, the NLD did not call on the regime to honor the outcome of the 1990 election. Analysts greeted the moderate stance.

Than Shwe had other things on his mind and rejected an appeal by Suu Kyi’s lawyers to free her. He was clearly looking for a reason to justify an extension of her detention.

He was also eager to build the regime’s image and inform the public about “progress” in his country.

Two weeks ago, while not bothering to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Cyclone Nargis, Than Shwe arrogantly claimed at a top brass meeting that his country had almost tripled its rice production over the past two decades. He claimed a food surplus existed, despite the destruction in the delta and reports of famine in Chin State.

“There is no need to worry about food even when the nation's population reaches 100 million,” Than Shwe boasted.

His message appeared to be that since Burma has enough rice all its problems are solved. He enjoys living in this world of his own.

The xenophobic regime supremo shuns visiting UN envoys and doesn’t like meeting ambassadors who raise the issue of Suu Kyi’s detention. He is said to take refuge in pre-emptive action when meeting foreign dignitaries who dare to raise the issue.

With Yettaw and Suu Kyi in prison, Than Shwe may have thought that he has more justification to lecture his foreign guests on the reasons for keeping the Lady behind bars.

If any foreign officials are ready to accept such an explanation, Than Shwe will not need to seek psychiatric treatment.

Asian nations under fire for Suu Kyi inaction

Rights groups slam Asean countries for their silence after the Burmese military junta brings trumped up charges against Aung San Suu Kyi. Bangkok Post-AFP

Burma's Asian neighbours came under fire from rights groups on Friday for largely staying silent about the fresh charges levelled by the military junta against democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to use its influence with its most troublesome member, and said that China, Japan and India should also use their weight.

Asean ambassadors met in Rangoon on Friday to hammer out a statement on the group's perennial problem country, but the 10-member bloc has historically shied away from criticising the ruling generals.

Indonesia and Singapore were the only members to directly call for Aung San Suu Kyi's release and condemn the charges, which state that she breached the terms of her house arrest when a US man intruded on her lakeside house.

"The charges against her are not appropriate. Why should Aung San Suu Kyi be detained when it was the American national who swam across the waters to her house?'' Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said in Jakarta.

Singapore's foreign ministry said in a statement that it was "dismayed'' by the charges against the 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and also called for her release.

In Bangkok, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said only that his country "hope(s) that she should be released'', adding that Thailand was "very, very concerned'' about the possibility that Burma could extend her detention.

Aung San Suu Kyi faces a five-year jail term if found guilty at her trial, which will be held in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, where she was taken on Thursday from her home.

She has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention, most of them in virtual isolation at the sprawling lakeside property where she received the bizarre visit from US national John Yettaw last week that led to the charges.

Mr Kasit said Thailand's ambassador in Rangoon would meet with his Asean counterparts to discuss a statement by the bloc, which has a policy of non-interference in members' internal affairs.

Senior officials from Asean and its six dialogue partners -- China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand -- would also meet on the sidelines of a regular meeting in the tourist island of Phuket in Thailand on Tuesday, he said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone voiced "deep concern'' over the new charges, local media reported. Japan is the top donor to Burma among the OECD's major economies.

But there was silence from the rest of the region. China, one of Burma's closest allies and a major consumer of its vast natural resources, remained silent on the charges against Aung San Suu Kyi, as did India.

London-based Amnesty International called on the UN Security Council, "notably China and Japan, and Asean countries, (to) urgently intervene to secure Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's release from Insein prison''.

"They are best placed to bring the necessary pressure to bear on the Burma government,'' it said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch, based in New York, made a similar appeal.

"China, India, Singapore, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries should be calling for a genuine and participatory political process in Burma, which means serious public pressure for the release of political opponents,'' said Elaine Pearson, the group's deputy Asia director.

"Aung San Suu Kyi's latest arrest shows how their silence simply encourages more contempt for basic freedoms,'' she said in a statement.

'I did not commit any crime': Aung San Suu Kyi

by May Kyaw

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Aung San Suu Kyi, who was transferred to Insein prison from house arrest to face trial on charges framed by the Burmese junta said through her lawyer today that she did not commit any crime.

Aung San Suu Kyi said to this to her lawyer Kyi Win when she was produced before the Rangoon West District Court inside the Insein prison.

"I didn't commit any crime," her lawyer Kyi Win quoted her as saying to Mizzima

"She didn't say these words off hand. She has already read the charge sheet filed against her and knew well under which section the charge was framed," he added.

Aung San Suu Kyi was produced before the Rangoon West District Court inside Insein prison today along with her two live-in companions who take care of her, Khin Khin Win and her daughter, and US citizen John William Yeattaw who intruded into her residence.

"The case No. is 47/2009. All four of them were produced before the court simultaneously," said Hla Myo Myint, assistant to her lawyer Kyi Win.

The authorities took Aung San Kyi, Khin Khin Win and her daughter from her residence to Insein prison this morning under police escort.

The court framed charges against Aung San Suu Kyi with breaching of the internment order and failing to comply with this order imposed under the 1975 Law Safeguarding the State from Destructive Elements (popularly known as State Protection Law).

Under this section, it is punishable by 3 to 5 years in prison or Kyat 5,000 fine or both.

"This man came voluntarily and uninvited. She harboured him only on humanitarian grounds. In their internment order, there is no such restriction mentioned. How can one breach the law without any restrictions in this regard? Therefore we say she did not commit any crime," party spokesman Nyan Win said.

When the internment order was issued, Aung San Suu Kyi was barred from contacting embassies, political parties, persons related with these political parties, barred from going outside, and from contacting the outside world even over mail and telephone.

Khin Khin Win and her daughter Win Ma Ma were charged under section 22/209 for abetting a destructive element who committed crime against the State.

The intruder US citizen John William Yeattaw was charged under section 22/109, abetting the destructive element against the State, under section 28 of Rangoon Municipal Act, intruding into a restricted area, and under section 13(1) of Immigration Act. His case No. is 49/2009.

The Rangoon Municipal Act is a British colony era law which can punish anyone who trespasses a restricted place within the Rangoon Municipal area.

An official from the US embassy in Burma went to Insein prison where Yeattaw was produced before the court with an interpreter.

Today's trial was attended by presiding judge Thaung Nyunt, advisory judge Nyi Nyi Soe and District Law Officer Myint Kyaing.

Aung San Suu Kyi is currently in custody and in judicial remand and the next hearing is fixed for May 18. Lawyers Nyan Win, Kyi Win and Hla Myo Myint will represent Aung San Suu Kyi, Khin Khin Win and her daughter Win Ma Ma.

Detained Opposition Leader Rejects Charges

A Burmese pro-democracy leader on trial for breaking the rules of her house arrest has denied any wrongdoing, while western governments condemn the charges brought against her by the country’s military junta.

BANGKOK (RFA) —Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected claims by Burma’s military regime that she violated the terms of her house arrest when an American man swam across a lake and entered her home, her lawyer said.

Attorney Kyi Win said he met with the Nobel laureate after her first appearance in court May 13 at Insein Prison in Rangoon.

“We are well aware of what is prohibited in relation to the charge she is accused of. She is not allowed to contact embassies, political parties, or the people who are connected to the political parties, and she said she did not break any of these conditions,” Kyi Win said.

When asked if he thought the charges were related to Aung San Suu Kyi’s anticipated release from house arrest, scheduled for May 27, Kyi Win said he did not plan to include the issue in his defense.

“The charge is that she broke the conditions that she was under, and we will concentrate on this [instead]. We will keep the two issues separate,” the attorney said.

But Suu Kyi’s opposition party, the National League for Democracy, issued a statement expressing outrage at what they called a “planned” effort to bring charges against their leader ahead of her scheduled release from house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, whose party won 1990 elections but was denied power by Burma’s military, which has ruled Burma for more than four decades, has been detained for more than 13 of the past 19 years—mostly incommunicado at her lakeside compound.

Swimming incident

John William Yettaw, a 53-year-old American man, was arrested May 6 as he swam back from Suu Kyi’s home after spending two days there.

Kyi Win said Aung San Suu Kyi did not deny seeing Yettaw, but said she had demanded he leave, which he refused to do.

“She said, ‘I demanded that he go,” but he responded that he was too tired to swim back. He said he had a leg cramp. Aung San Suu Kyi said she felt sorry for him and that she couldn’t bear the thought of another person being arrested because of her,” the attorney said.

Yettaw stayed in a downstairs room during the two days and was then asked to leave, whereupon he was taken into custody. Aung San Suu Kyi was taken to Insein Prison on May 13, where she currently remains.

Kyi Win said that Aung San Suu Kyi was present at the first hearing of the trial, but that the two judges assigned to the case only questioned Yettaw through a translator.

The trial will resume on May 18 when Kyi Win will begin his defense of Aung San Suu Kyi and the judges will hear testimony from over 20 witnesses.

Condemnation of charges

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday she was deeply troubled by the Burmese government’s decision to charge Aung San Suu Kyi for what she described as a “baseless crime.”

“It comes just before the six-year anniversary of her house arrest. And it is not in keeping with the rule of law, the ASEAN Charter, or efforts to promote national reconciliation and progress in Burma,” Clinton said.

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

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma Tomás Ojea Quintana, expressed “serious concern” over Aung San Suu Kyi’s “unlawful detention.”

“Her house is well guarded by security forces, so the responsibility for preventing such intrusions and alerting the authorities lies with the security forces and not with Aung San Suu Kyi,” Quintana said.

“I call on the government of Burma to release her immediately and, of course, to start releasing the 2,100 political prisoners of conscience in the country.”

The United Nations released a statement by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon saying he was gravely concerned about news that Aung San Suu Kyi had been moved to Insein Prison to face criminal charges.

“The Secretary-General believes that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is an essential partner for dialogue in Myanmar’s [Burma’s] national reconciliation and calls on the Government not to take any further action that could undermine this important process,” the statement said.

The statement went on to say that Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners must be free “to ensure that the political process is credible.”

2010 elections

The junta has announced 2010 general elections under what it calls a "roadmap to democracy," but critics have denounced the vote as a sham designed to solidify military rule.

Authorities announced last year that Aung San Suu Kyi was barred from running for a legislative seat in the upcoming polls.

Original reporting by Ingjin Naing and Tin Aung Khine for RFA’s Burmese service. Burmese service director: Nancy Shwe. Translation by Khin May Zaw. Written for the Web in English by Joshua Lipes. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Army Authority Uses Villages for Forced Labor in Arakan

Maypon (Narinjara): Burmese army authorities from Western Command based in Ann Town have been forcing villagers to work on construction of a road between Kam Daunt Gri and Shauk Kon Village in Mraypon Township, said one villager.

He said, "We were forced by army officials to collect and gather stones from one small mountain located by Kam Daunt Gri Village. After that, the army officials forced us to transport the stones to the road construction site." All villagers from both villages have been working on the road every day.

The road is a rural road that connects Kam Daunt Gri and Shauk Kon. Authorities are using Kan Htin Fri as a government model developing village in Arakan State.

"The army authority is building up the village of Kam Daunt Gri in accordance with government projects, but local people have been forced by army officials to work at many project sites without pay," he added.

The villages are located near the Arakan coast and most of the villagers work as fishermen.

"We are fishermen and our survival depends on the daily work of fishing. But recently we can not go to the ocean for fishing. So we have lost our daily income," he said.

One major from the Military Operation Planning Bureau in Western Command came to the area and ordered the villagers to transport the stones to the road construction site.

"The official told us that the road is constructed for us, so we should construct the road ourselves. He said we would get "kutho" [merit] by contributing our wages to the road construction," the villager concluded.

Day Laborers Work Overtime on Railway Without Pay

Sittwe (Narinjara): Day laborers have been working overtime on construction of the Ann-Sittwe railway route but have not received compensation for the extra work.

A worker from the construction site said, "We asked for wages from the contractors of the company for overtime, but they denied us the money. We have to work two hours overtime every day but we have not received wages for the overtime."

The Ann-Sittwe railway route is being constructed by companies from Rangoon with local day laborers after the companies got contracts for the work from the military government.

The government authority recently pushed the companies to complete some sections of the railway near Sittwe in a short time, so the companies have forced the day laborers to work overtime.

"We are now working on the construction of the railway route phase between Sittwe and the technical college. The authority wants the route to be completed within the first two weeks of May, so the company used our wage for the two hours extra every day," the worker said.

At the railway construction site there is a work timetable for the day laborers that list the scheduled work day as 7 am to 5 pm every day. However, the workers have been required to work until 7 pm everyday.

"Our wage is only 1500 kyat per day, but we receive only 1400 kyat. 100 kyat is taken by the worker leaders for a worker fund. However, we have not been receiving our wage everyday. Even though we are day laborers, we receive our wages every five days," he said.

According to labor sources the day laborers, most of whom are women, are doing manual tasks at many construction sites, including carrying stone, digging soil, crushing stone, and transporting materials from one site to another.

The high military authority has instructed the companies working on the railway route to finish the work before the rainy season begins this year. Because of this early deadline, the companies have been working laborers overtime to complete the task.

ASEAN member urges governments not to fall for Burma 'fallacy'

(DVB)-The head of the Burma caucus of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has said that the charges to be faced by Burma oppositon leader are "just ridiculous", and urged fellow ASEAN governments not to fall for the "fallacy" of elections next year.

Speaking at a press conference in Bangkok today, orgainsed by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand, Kraisak Choonhavan, President of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, said he was "very upset" by the situation.

On Wednesday, the National League for Democracy leader and her two caretakers were brought to Rangoon's Insein prison to face charges related to the visit to Suu Kyi's compound, where she is kept under house arrest, by US citizen John William Yettaw.

"How can they be guilty of this American man coming to their house?" said Kraisak Choonhavan.

"How they they be charged when she already told him to leave? This is just getting ridiculous I think."

The conference, originally organised to discuss the broader issue of political prisoners in Burma, was of course given added significance following Wednesday's announcement.

Speaking to DVB, the secretary of the Foreign Affairs Department of National League for Democracy (Liberated Areas), Moe Zaw Oo, said that a fair trial was highly unlikely.

"There is no rule of law in our country at all," he said.

"The junta will themselves decide on the judge, and the trial will be held in a makeshift court inside Insein prison. I would say that the judge cannot be called a real judge."

If convicted, Suu Kyi could face up to fives year in prison. She has already spent 13 of the last 19 years under house arrest, and is nearing the end of the sixth year of her current internment.

"It is inconceivable to see a womean remain in a prison where many people have been tortured, and many have even died," said Choonhavan, speaking of Insein prison where hundreds of political prisoners are held.

Reporting by Francis Wade

Motives of 'Suu Kyi Swimmer'

By MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER / AP WRITER
The Irrawaddy News

CAMDENTON, Missouri — The American in Burma custody after swimming across a lake to the home of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is eccentric but peace-loving, and had done the same thing last summer in an unsuccessful attempt to meet the Nobel Peace Prize winner, his wife said Thursday.

Betty Yettaw said she's sure her husband, John, is "very dismayed" that his arrest has prompted the Burmese government to level new charges against Suu Kyi less than two weeks before her yearslong detention had been due to end. She said John Yettaw wanted to talk to Suu Kyi as part of his research on forgiveness and resilience.

A handout picture taken on May 13, 2009, provided by Myanma News Agency shows US citizen John William Yettaw (C) meeting Colin P. Furst, second secretary (consul) of the US embassy at a police station in Rangoon. (Photo:Reuters/MNA)

"He's a very peace-loving person, well-meaning, forgiving, mild-mannered. He meant the very best for her," Betty Yettaw said outside her home near Camdenton in south-central Missouri. "I don't think he could have foreseen that it was going to be such a mess, that they were going to make such a huge deal out of it.

"He probably thought he would be in and out, and no one would know because that's what happened before."

She said John Yettaw visited Suu Kyi's home last summer, also by swimming the lake, but that house staff kept him from speaking to her.

"I think that's what motivated him to go back. He thought he could be in and out."

John Yettaw, 53, was arrested last week and charged Thursday with illegally entering a restricted zone, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and breaking immigration laws, which is punishable by up to one year in jail.

US national John Yettaw has been charged with violating Burma's security and immigration laws after hiding inside Aung San Suu Kyi's house in Rangoon. (Photo: AFP)

"I guess you tend not to think that it will end badly, but I don't know. I worry about his reputation," his adult daughter, Carley Yettaw, said Thursday. "But I would like people to know that he has no ill intention that he was not trying to cause harm."

Suu Kyi's supporters accuse the military government of using the incident to keep her in detention ahead of general elections scheduled for next year.

John Yettaw's ex-wife, Yvonne Yettaw of Palm Springs, California, said he left his 10-year-old daughter and three teenage sons in southern Missouri before visiting her and telling her he had to go to Asia to work on a psychology paper about forgiveness. He has physical custody of the children.

"He's got four children, and he went out of the country and left the children with friends," she said.

Betty Yettaw, however, said John Yettaw is a good father who loves his children and made sure they would be cared for by her and friends while he was gone.

"He's not crazy. He's eccentric," she said.

She said her husband is "not political at all" but interested in how people deal with stress and abuse of all sorts, which is why he wanted to speak to Suu Kyi.

"He has no agenda whatsoever as far as the country goes," she said. "He really just wanted to have some comments from her I believe."

US Embassy spokesman Richard Mei said Yettaw had no legal representation at his arraignment but that the embassy was trying to find him an English-speaking lawyer.

Betty Yettaw said she was getting ready to send $630 to pay for a lawyer. "We do not have a lot of money," she said, adding that the Asia trip Yettaw made last year has not been paid off yet.

Yvonne Yettaw said her ex-husband said nothing about Suu Kyi when he talked to her. He mentioned researching the psychology paper but said little else about his trip.

"I don't know if this was cathartic," she said from Palm Springs. "But he wanted to return to Southeast Asia. He wanted to take some documents and some information because he's doing research on a paper on forgiveness for trauma."

She added, "I was just told that he needed to go." He had been scheduled to return June 24.

John Yettaw has claimed he is a student of the Forest Institute in Springfield, Missouri. Officials at the institute, a school for advanced degrees in psychology with about 250 students, said Yettaw is not enrolled there and did not have a degree from there; they said school rules bar them from disclosing whether he had ever attended.

Betty Yettaw said her husband had been working toward a degree in psychology but had not been enrolled in the Forest Institute recently.

Yvonne Yettaw said she was married to John Yettaw for 12 years and divorced him in 2002. They had six children together; one of them, a son, died in a motorcycle accident in 2007.

Yvonne Yettaw, 53, said John Yettaw lived on veterans disability payments and from work as a general contractor.

He got physical custody of the children when they divorced, she said, but she was going to have the children for a while when school ended for the summer. She asked him to postpone the trip to Asia until then.

"He's got a 14-year-old who's graduating from eighth grade, and a son who missed his prom," Yvonne Yettaw said. "He couldn't wait until I could have them?

"I have harsh feelings toward that man," she said.

The family belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Yvonne Yettaw said. She said it was unlikely he was there to proselytize for the church or convert the Nobel laureate.

John Yettaw is borderline diabetic and has asthma, but recently lost about 70 pounds, she said.

"He has asthma real bad, that's why I'm surprised he swam so good," she said.

Betty Yettaw said American authorities have told her he is being treated well in jail, and that prison staff have been monitoring his diabetes.

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