State newspaper underreports pagoda deaths

(DVB)–Burma's leading state-run newspaper has allegedly under-reported the death toll from a collapsed pagoda, whilst authorities have threatened those who pass information on the incident to news agencies.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, which acts as the state mouthpiece, yesterday claimed that only two civilians were killed when the 50-meter high Danok pagoda collapse during renovation work last week.

But locals in Dala township have said that at least five civilians died, while a Dala resident said that the bodies of eight soldiers were recovered from the site yesterday alone.

Security around the pagoda has been tight and people have been stopped from entering the area, he said.

Moreover, the houses of those injured and killed have been watched closely so that people cannot enter and leave.

"[The military] have issued orders to their family members that if they tell someone about it and the news comes out, they will be imprisoned for at least five years,” said the man.

“That's why they dare not tell anyone, and intelligence personnel, USDA [Union Solidarity and Development Association], Swan Arr Shin [militia] and local authority members are watching them constantly."

Monks living in eight monasteries around the pagoda are neither allowed to collect alms nor be fed by local acolytes. Local authority members have been arranging meals for the monks and taking them to the monasteries.

The pagoda was re-consecrated by Senior General Than Shwe and his wife, Kyaing Kyaing, on Kason full moon day on 28 May. It collapsed two days later.

The newspaper claims that incident was due to the burden of innovation work and the drive to finish the work before monsoon begins. Locals have, however, voiced concerns that the collapse is a bad omen.

Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet

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Six Years after Depayin, Survivors Recall the Horror

By SAW YAN NAING
The Irrawaddy News

Six years after the Depayin massacre, 31-year-old Kyaw Soe Lin, one of its victims, says he will never forget the horror.

Kyaw Soe Lin was driving the car carrying Aung San Suu Kyi in a convoy that came under attack by pro-regime thugs on May 30, 2003. His quick action in driving away from the mob saved her life.

Fifty of Suu Kyi’s supporters are estimated to have died in the unprovoked attack, carried out by armed members of the pro-regime Union Solidarity and Development Association and the paramilitary Swan Ah Ashin militia.

The mob ambushed Suu Kyi’s convoy in Kyee village, on the outskirts of Depayin Township in Sagaing Division, central Burma. Barbed wire was strung across the road, which was bathed in flood lights hung in trees.

When the mob attacked his car, Kyaw Soe Lin’s first reaction was to hit back. “They started to hit people who were guarding our car. Then, they hit our car. I was very angry and I thought at first to hit them back. But then I drove the car away and escaped.”

His action undoubtedly saved Suu Kyi from serious injury or even death.

On Friday to mark the sixth anniversary of Depayin, several members of Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), gathered at its headquarters in Rangoon.

Toe Lwin, who was guarding Suu Kyi’s vehicle and now lives in exile, told The Irrawaddy in an interview. “The attackers moved toward Daw Suu’s car, and soon about 30 of them surrounded us. I told them it was Daw Suu’s car and asked them not to attack. I told them to stop beating people and asked them to go back.

“But they blocked our vehicles. They tore clothing off women and then beat them. They hit elderly people. I saw them collapse in front of me. I will never forget it.”

“Suddenly, they started to hit Daw Suu’s car. First I tried to protect it. Then they started to beat me. They hit my head three times and I collapsed. Daw Suu’s driver finally sped away and escaped.”

Police arrived on the scene when the attack was over. They detained the survivors and witnesses claimed some of the women were raped.

Suu Kyi was also detained and placed under house arrest, under Article 10 (b) of the 1975 State Protection Act Law. The law allows a person to be detained without charge for a maximum of five years. Suu Kyi has now been under house arrest for six years.

The Thailand-based Burma Lawyers’ Council released a statement on Friday saying the Depayin massacre constituted a crime against humanity and the perpetrators—who had not yet been apprehended—should be brought before the International Criminal Court.

The statement said that only then could the rule of law “be restored; a genuine national reconciliation will be achieved; and people will enjoy peace, stability and development.”

READ MORE---> Six Years after Depayin, Survivors Recall the Horror...

Paramilitary Forces Beef Up Insein Prison Security

Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters brave the rain as they wait in front
of a police barricade near Insein prison in Rangoon
on May 22. (Photo: Getty Images)

By KYI WAI
The Irrawaddy News

RANGOON — About 500 members of the paramilitary group Swan Arr Shin and the government-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) are reportedly being paid to strengthen security around Insein Prison, where Aung San Suu Kyi stands trial.

Crowds of members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and other activists gather daily near the prison to show solidarity with her, and the deployment of pro-regime forces is seen as an attempt to intimidate them.

The hired irregulars, who helped police break up price-rise protests in August 2007, are paid 2,000 kyat (US $2) a day and provided with lunch, according to a ward official from Insein Township’s West Ywa Ma quarter. The daily fee would rise to as much as 20,000 kyat ($20) if they were called upon to deal with any outbreak of trouble, the official said.

"They are from the outskirts of Rangoon, such as Daw Pon, Shwe Pyi Thar and Hlaing Thar Yar Townships, although some are also from Insein Township,” he said.

The hired force includes several women. "I came here because I will get 2,000 kyat and a free lunch,” said one 28-year-old woman from Shwe Lin Ban village in Hlaing Thar Yar Township. She was assigned by Swan Arr Shin to join other women in patrolling the Insein market area and watch for any outbreak of trouble there.

Other Swan Arr Shin groups are reportedly deployed at the NLD headquarters and places frequented by NLD members.

"The authorities usually deploy double the number of NLD members [at any gathering],” said a resident of Insein Township’s Pein Ne-Kone ward. “If the NLD assembles 200 activists, the authorities posts 400 of their own people, believing they can intimidate the NLD with sheer numbers.”

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Threats Reported against the NLD’s Win Tin

By ARKAR MOE
The Irrawaddy News

Fears are being expressed within Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) over the safety of its veteran executive committee member Win Tin.

According to Rangoon sources, threats have been made against Win Tin by members of the pro-regime Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and the paramilitary group Swan Arr Shin.

Senior National League for Democracy leader Win Tin (in blue), 80, sits among party members on a pavement in front of a closed shop outside the inner barricade on the main road in front of Insein Central Prison in Rangoon on May 19. (Photo: Reuters)

Aung Thein, a prominent Rangoon lawyer, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday: “I am concerned about the security of Win Tin and all pro-democracy activists. Win Tin is a very important person for the NLD.”

Aung Thein said he thought that despite the threats, Win Tin would reject any idea of employing bodyguards.

The 80-year-old former editor was released earlier this year after serving 19 years in Rangoon’s notorious Insein Prison. This week he joined youth members of the NLD who gathered outside the jail during the opening days of Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial.

The USDA, a mass-based governmental organization, and Swan Arr Shin have been involved in several past attacks on democracy activists, particularly during the demonstrations of August and September 2007.

The Burmese Lawyers Council said in a statement in March that the USDA's affiliations with members of the military government and its own comments on transforming into a political party violated the Unlawful Associations Act as set out by the government.

Furthermore, the USDA's documented role in abuses against Burmese citizens, including the 2003 Depayin massacre in which hundreds of opposition party supporters were killed, also contravened Burmese law.

Meanwhile, five jurists of the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School in the US have urged the UN to open an inquiry into atrocities in Burma.

According to a report issued by the jurists, the Burmese military junta forced the displacement of more than 3,000 villages in eastern Burma, and was also guilty of systematic sexual violence, torture and summary execution of innocent civilians.

The report was written by Judge Richard Goldstone of South Africa, Judge Patricia Wald of the US, Judge Pedro Nikken of Venezuela, Judge Ganzorig Gombosuren of Mongolia and Sir Geoffrey Nice of Great Britain.

READ MORE---> Threats Reported against the NLD’s Win Tin...

SPDC trains for 2010 election with select supporters in Arakan

Kyaukpru, Arakan State (KPN): The Burmese military junta is providing long term training to selected supporters for the 2010 election in Kyaukpru district starting from May 15, said a village authority from Kyaukpru town.

The junta authorities are going to replace the village authority with their supporters from the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and Swan Arr Shin members in Arakan, to win the election, he added.

In the first phase, the authorities started in the district of Kyaukpru and Sandaway, said a school teacher.

The authorities selected their supporters from USDA and Swan Arr Shin and will give them a month’s training about controlling people and how to woo people to support the ruling military junta in the 2010 polls, said a student who is working with USDA.

The authorities selected three persons from USDA or Swan Arr Shin from one village to replace in the village authorities, he added.

The training will be from May 15 to June 15.

The authorities collected from villagers of Kyaukpru, kyat 500 and 30 kg rice per family for the trainee’s lodging and food, said a labourer who works in the market and faces problems paying.

The authorities always pressurize local people to provide their needs, said a school teacher from Kyaukpru town.

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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.

READ MORE---> Security Increased around Insein Prison...