BurmaNet News, August 30, 2007

[Editor]

August 30, 2007 Issue # 3280

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Twelve elected Burmese MPs stage peaceful protest
DVB: Kyaukpadaung protestors call for release of detainees
AFP: Detained Myanmar protesters launch hunger strike
Mizzima News: Burmese junta circulates photographs of 88 leaders; order
arrests
Reuters: Myanmar police raid homes as manhunt intensifies
Irrawaddy: Burmese protests to take on a new sound
Financial Times: Burmese junta stifles wave of peaceful protests
AP: Burmese hotels asked to help in search for activists
Mizzima News: Veteran politician appeals for international action on Burma
Reuters: Myanmar's people say too scared, tired to rise against junta

ON THE BORDER
SHAN: Shan leader sets conditions for parley

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Myanmar says protests not putting off tourists

HEALTH / AIDS
Irrawaddy: Bird flu tests underway in Karenni refugee camp

ASEAN
Mizzima News: 23 organizations call for ASEAN intervention in Burma

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: Statements of condemnation not enough, action needed – APSOC

INTERNATIONAL
AP: US officials, politicians urge UN action as Myanmar continues protest
clampdown
CPJ: Burmese authorities move to restrict news coverage of protests
Irrawaddy: Burmese pro-democracy 'Working Group' created to approach China

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: The regime’s violent path to a “flourishing democracy” - Aung Zaw
Washington Post: Courage in Burma: Pro-democracy protesters dare to take
to the streets. Will the world respond as bravely?

PRESS RELEASE
CSW: CSW calls for fasting and prayer for Burma

STATEMENT
ABFSU: Raising our Fighting Peacock Flag as high as we can

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 30, Democratic Voice of Burma
Twelve elected Burmese MPs stage peaceful protest

Twelve elected members of parliament staged a peaceful protest in Mandalay
this afternoon in a show of solidarity with the detained leaders of the 88
Generation Students group.

The NLD members, who were elected in 1990, marched from the Mandalay NLD
headquarters through the streets between 1:30pm and 2:30pm until heavy
rain forced them to turn back.

Protester and member of parliament U Tin Aung told DVB this afternoon that
the group also called on the military to work to reduce commodity and fuel
prices and for Burmese citizens to express their dissatisfaction with the
government.

“We are peacefully walking to reflect people’s suffering over consumer
goods and petrol price hikes, high taxation and to show our solidarity
with people suffering,” U Tin Aung said.

“We are requesting the government to lower petrol prices and would like to
appeal to the people to show their suffering bravely,” he said.

Elected members of parliament U Bo Zan, U Tin Aung Aung, U Htin Kyaw, U
Maung Maung Than, U Tin Cho Oo, Dr Thein Lwin, U Maung Maung Lay, Daw Ohn
Kyi, U Paw Khin, U Maung Maung Win, U Than Lwin and U Bo Zan took part in
the protest.

____________________________________

August 30, Democratic Voice of Burma
Kyaukpadaung protestors call for release of detainees

A group of about 25 people marched through the Mandalay town of
Kyaukpadaung this morning, protesting fuel price hikes and calling for the
release of political prisoners in Burma.

One protestor told DVB that the group was demanding that the military
government release detained National League for Democracy leader Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi, and prominent activists such as Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi.

“Ward Peace and Development Council officials on motorbikes showed up
immediately at the scene shortly after we started the protest and followed
us,” the protestor said on condition of anonymity.

Eyewitnesses said about 70 government supporters, Union Solidarity and
Development Association members and officials from the Kyaukpadaung Peace
and Development Council tried to stop the demonstration only to be jeered
at by bystanders.

“The authorities order bystanders to arrest us but no one listened to them
and instead started laughing at the officials,” the protestor said.

A crowd of about 50 people reportedly followed the demonstrators to cheer
them on.

____________________________________

August 30, Agence France Presse
Detained Myanmar protesters launch hunger strike

A group of pro-democracy protesters detained in military-ruled Myanmar
launched a hunger strike Thursday, demanding that authorities provide
medical treatment for a wounded colleague, activists said.

Ye Thein Naing, 37, suffered a broken leg when police and pro-government
militia violently broke up a demonstration in Yangon on Tuesday and
arrested up to 20 people, activists said.

He and an unknown number of other protesters are being held at an
improvised detention centre at the city's Kyaikkasan sports grounds, they
said.

"Some of the people arrested with him started a hunger strike this evening
because their colleague Ye Thein Naing hasn't received any medical
treatment for his broken leg," one activist told AFP on condition on
anonymity.

At least 100 people have been arrested since a rare string of
anti-government rallies began on August 19 in protest at a massive hike in
fuel prices, according to activists.

Myanmar's military regime, which for 45 years has ruled this impoverished
nation with an iron fist, deals harshly with even the slightest show of
dissent.

At Tuesday's protest, about 50 activists had gathered near the former
campus of Yangon University to start a rally when plainclothes police and
pro-junta militia broke up the group after only 10 minutes.

"Ye Thein Naing was beaten and thrown onto a waiting truck by militia,"
one activist said.

"His leg was broken at that time, when he was beaten up. Even then, they
still kept kicking him on the truck," the activist added.

Like many of the protesters, Ye Thein Naing is a member of the opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD), headed by detained Nobel peace prize
winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

____________________________________

August 30, Mizzima News
Burmese junta circulates photographs of 88 leaders; order arrests

Photographs of 88 generation student leaders, who are still at large, have
been circulated and arrest warrants issued by the Burmese military junta
in Rangoon.

Photographs o f Ko Htay Kywe, Ko Myo Gyi (alias) Ko Aung Myo Tint, Ma
Nilar Thein, Ko Hla Myo Naung, and Ko Aung Naing (alias) Ko Than Tin have
been pasted in all townships in Rangoon, in offices of ward peace and
development council, and hotels. Township authorities have ordered police
to search and arrest the students.

"Some photographs were given to TPDC offices in all townships, and some
were given to specific townships. The TPDC offices in turn have pasted
them on rickshaw gates," an NLD member Phyu Phyu Thin told Mizzima.

Besides, more security personnel are in place near the student leader's
residents. Interestingly more rickshaw gates are also reportedly open, so
as to enable security personnel to operate disguised as rickshaw drivers
while looking for student leaders.

"Now they [authorities] have opened new rickshaw gates. Unlike before,
security is not everywhere now. They have ordered all townships to take
responsibility for security. For Su Su Nway, who is in Yankin, the Yankin
Peace and Development Council office has been ordered to do the needful.
This holds true for Ma Nimon, in Thingan Kyun, and for me in South Okkla.
I could see that there were about three or four men on our street," Phyu
Phyu Thin said.

An NLD member, who requested anonymity, told Mizzima that security
personnel are visible wherever they move and family lists are being
collected by authorities. Moreover, rickshaw drivers and members of Union
Solidarity and Development Association, whom the junta has given money,
have been ordered to monitor activists.

Authorities in parts of Rangoon are also conducting surprise guest list
checks at midnight and searching the houses of people, who are believed to
be close to the student leaders.

On Wednesday midnight, about 30 policemen and plainclothes officials
conducted a guest list check at a locality in North Okklapah Township,
where Daw May Win, who took part in a demonstration in downtown Rangoon
over the increasing essential commodity prices in April, resides.

Officials reportedly searched the houses. They even entered bedrooms of
women and took off their mosquito nets, which is considered an extremely
demeaning thing to do in Burmese culture.

"We have a legal family list
 and they went upstairs, where my sister and
my daughter were. They demand the family list once again. They even opened
the mosquito nets and searched. They then looked at us and compared our
photographs in the family list. But it was all in order and we had no
extra person in our house. They were all drunk and stinking of alcohol,"
Daw May Win told Mizzima.

Similarly, at least 20 policemen and plainclothes officials conducted a
surprise check at the residence of U Myat Hla, chairman of Pegu NLD, in
Pegu town at about midnight on Wednesday.

The officials claimed that they were searching for students fleeing from
Rangoon and showed several photographs of the students.

"They came in to the house and called us one by one according to the
family list. Then they showed us the photographs of 88 student leaders Myo
Gyi and eight other people. They said the students are in this locality
and they had been ordered to search for them," U Myat Hla told Mizzima
over telephone.

____________________________________

August 30, Reuters
Myanmar police raid homes as manhunt intensifies - Aung Hla Tun

Myanmar's military junta tightened the net around leaders of a rare string
of protests on Thursday, raiding homes of known activists and their
friends and distributing their photographs in a Yangon-wide manhunt.

"I know they've been after me since our protest on Tuesday," Suu Suu Nway,
an outspoken critic of the ruling generals, told Reuters by telephone. "I
heard they have sent pictures of three women activists, including me, to
several of their offices."

The other two are believed to be Ma Mee Mee and Ma Nilar, two well-known
women members of the so-called "88 Generation Students Group", the still
influential leaders of a mass uprising against the former Burma's military
rulers in 1988.

Fourteen people from Tuesday's demonstration, videotaped and photographed
by undercover government spies, had now been picked up, Suu Suu Nway
added.

The 34-year-old was roughed up by the junta-backed gang that broke up the
march against soaring fuel prices and has gone into hiding since, apart
from a brief hospital check-up.

"I'm not afraid of being arrested but I'm not feeling well at the moment,"
she said.

The opposition National League for Democracy said more than 100 people had
been arrested in the week-long crackdown, one of the junta's fiercest
since troops were used to crush the 1988 unrest, in which up to 3,000
people were believed killed.

On Wednesday night, police and plainclothes officials raided homes in the
north of the former capital, apparently looking for the few well-known
activists to have evaded capture.

"They didn't find the people they were after," one activist said. "Some
people heard them mentioning the names of some colleagues of Htin Kyaw."

Htin Kyaw and an accomplice were dragged off by a junta-sponsored gang at
the weekend after shouting slogans against declining living standards and
more than four decades of military rule.

It was the fourth time this year he had been arrested.

ARRESTED FOR GIVING WATER

Demonstrations have also broken out in at least three other parts of the
country, including one in the northwest port city of Sittwe, where about
200 Buddhist monks participated in protests for the first time.

In most cases, bystanders have cheered the marchers although have been too
scared to join in, suggesting the nascent social movement is unlikely to
snowball into another 1988-style "people power" revolt. There were no
reports of protests on Thursday.

A source in Sittwe said three people had been arrested for giving water to
monks during Tuesday's march.

Opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been held
incommunicado throughout the protests, under house arrest in her lakeside
Yangon home.

The country's second-most influential opposition figure, 88 Generation
leader Min Ko Naing, is being held in Yangon's notorious Insein prison
with at least 12 of his colleagues. They face up to 20 years in jail on
charges of undermining the state.

One 88 Generation leader still at large is Htay Kywe, who managed to
escape the coordinated series of midnight arrests of Min Ko Naing and the
others a week ago.

One activist source said Htay Kywe, who was jailed for 15 years for his
part in the 1988 uprising like Min Ko Naing, might even have managed to
flee to neighboring Thailand, home to many Myanmar exiles and dissident
groups.

____________________________________

August 30, Irrawaddy
Burmese protests to take on a new sound - Yeni

Burmese households are being urged in an anti-regime pamphlet campaign to
protest noisily on three evenings in September by banging pots and pans.

Other pamphlets in circulation in Rangoon are urging a revival of the
historic student union and calling for a “people’s power movement,”
similar to the one in 1988 that led to the downfall of the previous
regime.

Leaflets obtained by The Irrawaddy call on households to create a din on
the evenings of September 11, 12 and 13 by banging pots, pans and other
metal items. The action will have a mystical as well as a political
purpose—“The time has now come to drive away evil from your homes by
creating a din by beating any products made with tin, metal and steel,”
the pamphlet says.

The noisy demonstrations should be timed for 7:02 p.m., 8:01 p.m. and 9
p.m., the pamphlet directs. The digits of the three separate times add up
to nine, a number given mystic importance by Burma’s ruling elite.

Among the bad influences to be dispersed by the noise campaign, says the
pamphlet, are: “natural disasters [flooding throughout the country],
economic decline, arbitrary detentions, the greedy ruling government
oppressing their people, the people in helpless situation, disunity among
the people due to the evil spirits, thugs beating good citizens, scarcity
of food and needy materials among Buddhist monks, other religious people
being oppressed and the evils living at Naypyidaw."

The campaign is thought likely to attract a lot of support because of its
anonymous, after-dark nature, but also on account of its astrological
context. Sources told The Irrawaddy that the “pots and pans appeal” was
being distributed by mobile phone, email and internet Web sites.

Astrology and superstition are part of everyday life in Burma, where the
prophesies of fortune-tellers are followed by virtually every
family—particularly by military leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his wife
Kyaing Kyaing. One of their favorite "advisers" is E Thi— also known as
ET—a woman with a speech impediment that only her sister can interpret.

The activity of banging pots and pans occurred when former president Sein
Liwn—who became known as the ''Butcher of Rangoon'' for his order to open
fire on democracy demonstrators—was resigned in August 1988.

____________________________________

August 30, Financial Times
Burmese junta stifles wave of peaceful protests - Amy Kazmin

Over the past 10 days, military-ruled Burma has been hit by a wave of
small, peaceful protest marches by defiant activists and citizens
infuriated by a sharp increase in rationed fuel prices. But the regime has
moved swiftly and aggressively to prevent these acts of defiance from
gathering momentum, using thugs to snuff out the protests and haul the
participants away.

Rangoon-based diplomats say that more than 100 dissidents who participated
in the marches - including the leaders of a 1988 student rebellion - have
been arrested. State-controlled newspapers suggest they could be charged
with violating laws that carry prison terms of up to 20 years.

The junta's willingness to use force has served as an effective deterrent
to Burma's terrified citizens, despite their intensifying anger towards
their rulers over growing economichardship.

"The public were sadly, but understandably, unwilling to show their
support for the demonstrations," said one Rangoon-based diplomat. "It's
dangerous, and they are trying to live life, and avoid direct political
engagement because it ruins peoples' lives."

The military junta has planned extensively to avoid a repeat of the mass
national uprising of 1988, which was triggered by anger at rice prices and
other economic hardships. The uprising was bloodily suppressed by the
army, with thousands believed killed.
In recent days, witnesses say that bands of pro-regime vigilantes known as
the Swan Ah Shin (Capable Powerful People) have been posted around
Rangoon, snuffing out any incipient demonstrations. Witnesses reported a
heavy police presence in Mandalay, while monks and students were warned
against demonstrating.

"The security apparatus has a pretty tight control of things," said a
long-time Burma watcher who was in Rangoon last week.

"On the streets of Rangoon, you have all these street sweepers who
suddenly aren't 40-year-oldemaciated women with bamboo brooms, but well
built young men with metalshovels."

But with many Burmese already struggling with a hand-to-mouth existence,
analysts say that further economic shocks like the unexpected fuel price
rise could prove a catalyst for more protest, and potentially violence, in
the months ahead.

"They don't care or understand what effect these things are going to have,
or what percentage of the population are so close to the poverty line that
they can't absorb these kinds of shocks without falling into utter
desperation," the Burma watcher said.

"There must be a possibility that something like this will kick off such a
level of suffering it will set off a rampage in one of these townships."

Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese analyst in exile, said: "As long as people have
food on the table, they won't like the military, but they won't think
about demonstrating. But any mistake, or violence, could be a catalyst for
people to go out on the streets."

In recent days, Burma's state-controlled newspapers have justified the
sharp fuel price rise by saying the state could not afford such massive
subsidies, given rising world fuel prices and increasing domestic demand.

But analysts say the generals appear dangerously ignorant of the potential
repercussions of such abrupt policy changes. "They pull on one lever but
have no clue in advance what things are going to go out of whack," one
analyst said.

____________________________________

August 30, Associated Press
Burmese hotels asked to help in search for activists

Burma's military government has ordered local officials and hotels to be
on the look-out for key pro-democracy activists as it tries to squash
unusually persistent protests sparked by fuel price hikes, an official
said on Thursday.

Demonstrations triggered by soaring prices began on August 19 and have
continued almost daily—although they have dwindled from a few hundred
people to a few dozen—as the junta employed menacing gangs of civilians to
rough up protesters.

Dozens of people have been detained, including several prominent
pro-democracy activists many of whom are party colleagues of detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. However, several key protest leaders
remain at large.

Authorities have sent out their names, photos and biographical information
to local officials and hotel operators across Burma's biggest city of
Rangoon in the hope of rounding up the remaining protest leaders, said a
local official who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.

"We have been instructed to inform higher authorities immediately if we
sight any of these people in our area," he said, adding that hotels,
motels and guesthouses have been given the same information and instructed
to inform authorities of any suspicious activities.

He said the list of dissidents includes Mi Mi, a member of the 88
Generation group, the former students at the forefront of a 1988 democracy
uprising who were subjected to lengthy prison terms and torture after the
rebellion was brutally suppressed by the military.

No demonstrations were known to have taken place on Wednesday in Rangoon,
although there were reports of protests in two or three other towns.
Information about them could not be independently confirmed.

Tension was especially high at Rangoon's Hledan Junction, where security
officials and their civilian auxiliaries clamped down on Tuesday on a
protest within minutes of its start.

They pushed through crowds of onlookers to rough up about 15 demonstrators
before tossing them into waiting trucks to take them away for detention,
witnesses said.

On Wednesday, three trucks, each carrying about 20 tough-looking young
men, were parked on either side of the road, watching for any protesters.
About 20 plainclothes security officials roamed nearby sidewalks at the
intersection, a traditional site for protests.

The EU on Tuesday said it was concerned about recent arrests of leading
activists and the "decision to detain individuals who were exercising
their right to peaceful demonstration."

While the protesters have shown no sign of giving up, analysts said they
didn't expect the momentum to last because the general public remained
afraid to join in.

____________________________________

August 30, Mizzima News
Veteran politician appeals for international action on Burma - Mungpi

With government-backed gangsters taking charge of security, 'Burma is
under Thug's rule' according to veteran Burmese politician U Win Naing,
who today appealed to the international community to come to the
protection of the Burmese people.

A self-styled nationalist, Amyotharyee U Win Naing, in a statement
released today said, with at least 100 peaceful protestors forcibly
arrested within the last seven days, Burmese people lack security and are
vulnerable against inhumane attacks by junta-sponsored gangsters and
goons.

"We are not protected by laws or ethical or moral practices any longer,"
said U Win Naing.

Following the fuel price hike on August 15th, activists and civilians in
Rangoon and other parts of the country have embarked on peaceful protests
in the form of marching through the streets, demanding lower fuel and
commodity prices.

U Win Naing says the people's desire for adequate living conditions and
survival has motivated them to take to the streets.

"They are not asking for the removable of the present military
government," U Win Naing said.

However, the public protests, the largest ever in a decade in Burma, were
subject to a crackdown by the junta through the deployment of its puppet
civilian organizations – Union Solidarity and Development Association
(USDA) and Swan Arrshin.

According to the Thailand based rights group, Assistance Association for
Political Prisoners Burma (AAPPB), at least 100 protestors, including
Burma's second most prominent pro-democracy figure Min Ko Naing and 12
other members of the 88 generation students group, have been arrested
during the protests that first began August 19th.

While there are at least one-hundred thousand families that are missing
daily meals in Rangoon's suburban area alone due to severe poverty,
actions to assist them are also being disrupted by junta-backed thugs,
said U Win Naing.

U Win Naing and his group, who began donating rice to the poor people in
Rangoon's suburban areas on August 19th, were attacked by mobs believed to
be backed by junta officials.

Following the attack, U Win Naing and company said their security remained
threatened and they could not follow-up on their donation work.

"This morning I received a report that a young man in Hlaingtherer
quarters about eight miles from downtown Yangon [Rangoon] hanged himself
because he could not supply rice for his family," said U Win Naing.
"Maybe I could have stopped him from hanging himself if I were allowed to
provide rice to him and others," he added.

U Win Naing said the incident was but one indication of conditions in
Rangoon, and he appeals to the United Nations and world governments to
intervene in order to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

____________________________________

August 30, Reuters
Myanmar's people say too scared, tired to rise against junta - Aung Hla Tun

The grind of everyday life, fear of being beaten up and a lack of belief
in people power as a weapon against a ruthless military junta suggest a
string of protests in Myanmar will not snowball into a mass uprising.

"Of course, we're scared. We are not only afraid of being arrested and
tortured but also afraid of being starved," Ko Kyaw Gyi, a worker at a
construction site in the heart of the former capital, said on Wednesday.

"For most of us, daily survival is more important than anything else. The
whole family has to toil the whole day to earn enough for two meals. If we
join the protests, one thing we can be sure of is having to go without
dinner."

Besides intimidating the public with gangs of paid thugs in a crackdown on
this month's sporadic protests, the junta has also sought to neutralize
students and Buddhist monks, backbone of a 1988 uprising crushed by the
army with the loss of 3,000 lives.

Since 1988, university campuses have been moved to Yangon's outskirts,
making them easier to control, and the generals have warned abbots of
consequences if the monasteries join this month's rare outbreak of dissent
at soaring fuel prices.

"You can see in our history that it was monks and students who played a
leading role in our independence struggle. Workers, farmers and civil
servants were just followers," said one retired government worker who did
not want to be named.

"At the moment, we can't expect anything from both the monks and the
students. The monks cannot move out of fear and most students are not as
keen on politics as those in the past." Underlining the point, the first
to be arrested in last week's crackdown on dissent in the former Burma
were leaders of the 1988 student movement still seen as the voice of the
ebullient youth.

Min Ko Naing, head of the so called "88 Generation Students Group" and the
most influential dissident after detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi,
is now in Yangon's notorious Insein prison.

He spent 15 years in jail after the 1988 uprising. Now he haves another 20
years on sedition charges.

Many also see the junta's shock decision in 2005 to move its capital to a
small former logging town 400 km (240 miles) north of Yangon as a
deliberate tactic to stop civil servants being around to swell the ranks
of a people's movement.

"With the monks confined at the monasteries, the students disappointed
outside the cities and the civil servants depressed in Nay Pyi Taw, the
situation is quite different from 1988," a retired university professor
said.

"It is completely in favor of the regime."

Many veterans of 1988 also remember the blood flowing on the streets of
Yangon and question whether it was worth it.

"If the protests were going to bring us a better life immediately, the
situation would surely be different," a pavement teashop owner said. "But
many of us sacrificed a lot in 1988, and what happened? Things just went
from bad to worse."

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

August 30, Shan Herald Agency for News
Shan leader sets conditions for parley

The Shan State Army (SSA) South leader Col Yawdserk, while  "heartily"
welcoming the outgoing Thai Amy commander-in-chief Gen Sonthi
Boonyaratglin's acceptance of Pyinmana's request "to do everything he
could to encourage the rebel groups to come to the table," according to
Bangkok Post, has stated his terms for negotiations with the junta.

"He has already done what he could," said the 50-year old SSA commander
today from his Loi Taileng base across Maehongson province, reminding SHAN
of the planned May 23 meeting between the two sides which failed to
materialize following disagreement over the venue.

The Royal Thai Army had coordinated between the two sides for the aborted
meeting, according to Yawdserk.

The latest offer to help all the rebels to come to the negotiating table
by Gen Sonthi was made on his return from a two-day visit to Burma from
August 27 to 28.

"I hope nobody thinks what we are asking for are unreasonable," he began
in response to SHAN's query about his proposed terms to hold concurrent
peace talks with other armed movements . To work together for peaceful
resolution of the existing political problems, following a ceasefire
agreement and to include Aung San Suu Kyi in the peace process, he added.

The SSA South, since 1996, has been calling for peace talks with the Burma
Army. The latter, in the past, had refused saying all Yawdserk needed to
do was to surrender. The recent U turn in the junta's policy had surprised
many Burma watchers.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 30, Agence France Presse
Myanmar says protests not putting off tourists - Hla Hla Htay

Rare protests against the military regime in Myanmar have not so far hit
the country's small but growing tourism industry, government and industry
officials said Thursday.

Pro-democracy supporters have staged more than 10 days of protests against
a massive hike in fuel prices.

More than 100 people have been arrested, including some of the nation's
top pro-democracy leaders, according to activists.

But a tourism ministry official said no significant cancellations have
been reported, and arrivals are still up over last year.

"We don't think tourist arrivals will decrease because of the protests
here. Now the number of arrivals is up 11 percent from April 1 to now,
compared to the same period last year," the official told AFP on condition
of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to reporters.

"These protests are not about tourists," he said.

About 630,000 foreigners visited Myanmar, one of the world's most isolated
nations, last year. They spent some 164 million dollars, making tourism a
key earner of foreign currency for the military regime.

Protesters have vowed to continue to defy the threat of beatings and
arrests to attempt new rallies in Yangon and in other parts of the
country.

Even though hundreds of plainclothes police and paramilitary groups are
stationed outside Yangon's city hall, tourists still wander past taking
pictures of the moghul-style building and the nearby Sule pagoda.

With the peak tourism season set to begin in October, when the dry season
starts and the weather turns cooler, travel operators say they are not
worried about the protests scaring off holidaymakers.

"No tourists have cancelled their reservation yet because of these
protests," one tour company manager said.

A manager at a downtown hotel said his rooms were still fully booked.

"We have no worries at all. We are fully booked for high season. Even if
some cancel because of the protests here, we can replace them," he said.

"Almost all hotels in Myanmar are now in good condition as many tourists
want to visit here," he said.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained Nobel peace prize winner who leads the
pro-democracy opposition, has urged tourists to stay away from Myanmar
until the military leaves power.

But some protesters say they wish more tourists would come so they can see
first-hand the conditions in the country.

Khin Khin Kyaw, 36, said she did not see any tourists when police arrested
17 protesters as they tried to rally outside city hall last Friday.

"When they arrested the protesters, including my mother, there were no
tourists at that time near the city hall. I wish they had seen what
happened. The so-called security forces were brutal in making the
arrests," she said.

Her mother, 62-year-old housewife San San Myint, is not in good health and
authorities have given no information on her whereabouts, she told AFP.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

August 30, Irrawaddy
Bird flu tests underway in Karenni refugee camp - Violet Cho

More than 200 poultry died early this week in Mae Surin, a Karenni
temporary refugee camp in Mae Hong Son, causing officials to suspect a
bird flu outbreak and cull other birds, according to the camp's health
department.

Two people in the camp were reportedly ill.

Luca, the health department director, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday,
“There were some incidents like this last year when some poultry died, but
this year the number is increasing. So, we're really concerned about this,
and we're working hard to prevent an outbreak.”

District public health, livestock and security officials entered the camp
on Thursday to cull more poultry and conduct tests to determine if the
birds were infected with the H5N1 virus.

About 4,000 refugees live in the Mae Surin camp, located in Khun Youm
District opposite Karenni State in Burma.

A refugee living in the camp said the birds began dying during the past
three days. Two women in the camp were also sick, so the deaths were
reported to Thai officials, according to a report in the Thai newspaper
Post Today on Thursday.


>From January 1, 2007, to August 29, 2007, the Thai Bureau of Epidemiology

has recorded a total of 1,695 clinical influenza cases in 67 provinces.
Nine patients are currently under observation.


>From 2004 to August 23, 2007, 322 H5N1 cases were confirmed worldwide in

humans, with 195 deaths in 12 countries. Thailand reported 25 human cases
with 17 deaths, according to a report by the World Health Organization.

____________________________________
ASEAN

August 30, Mizzima News
23 organizations call for ASEAN intervention in Burma

Believing it ASEAN's responsibility as an international organization, and
labeling the situation in Burma a threat to regional peace and security, a
consortium of 23 organizations and individuals have drafted a letter
calling for the immediate intervention of ASEAN onto the Burma scene.

The letter, following the 1st Regional Consultation on ASEAN and Human
Rights, was addressed, Tuesday, to all ASEAN Heads of State except Senior
General Than Shwe of Burma.

"We believe that the ASEAN is the most relevant body to address this
issue," states the letter.

The signatories state that ASEAN, to be considered a legitimate
international organization, must acknowledge its responsibility to be
"proactive" and "respond diplomatically" when crises occur such as what is
taking place in Burma.

It is stated that the reaction of ASEAN to the unfolding events in Burma
is of enhanced significance for ASEAN at this point in time, as it looks
to turn a crucial corner in the drafting and adoption of an ASEAN Charter,
in which the formation of a regional human rights body has already been
agreed.

"Indeed, this should be a seen as a litmus test of ASEAN's sincerity in
pursuing democracy and human rights in the region," reads the letter.

The meeting, held from August 26th to 28th in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was
organized by the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development
(FORUM-ASIA).

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 30, Mizzima News
Statements of condemnation not enough, action needed – APSOC

As the number or those detained in recent protests climbs over the 100
mark, a regional solidarity network is insisting that the international
community come now to the aid and assistance of the people of Burma.

The Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC), in a statement released
today, is calling for both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and the United Nations to act immediately in addressing the
spiraling crisis and systematic arrests and torture inside Burma.

"ASEAN and the UN should do something more than releasing mild statements.
The junta is launching a massive crackdown and the world should not simply
sit-down and quietly watch the Burmese military regime drag, lock up and
clobber its own people," says APSOC Coordinator Gus Miclat in the release.

This sentiment is shared by the Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners – Burma (AAPP) which, on Monday, issued a statement appealing
for concrete steps and definitive action by the United Nations Security
Council to combat the recent cycle of wrongful and violent crackdowns by
government security forces.

AAPP claims that the use of the word "interrogation" in the government
press, regarding action taken against those recently arrested, is
equivalent to admitting to a policy of state sanctioned torture.

"We know from firsthand experience that those arrested in Burma are always
brutally tortured – both physically and psychologically – immediately upon
arrest," stated Tate Naing, AAPP Secretary. All those working with AAPP
are themselves former political prisoners.

"The arrest of more than 100 protestors is a desperate attempt to quell
people's legitimate dissent over the arbitrary increase in fuel costs.
This is overkill," added Miclat.

Though the state run media reported that only 64 persons had been arrested
from August 21st to 25th, AAPP has documented at least 100 arrests during
that time span, in addition to 27 arrests occurring over the course of
Monday and Tuesday of this week.

Both APSOC and AAPP warn that, without action, the situation stands to get
only grimmer, with riot police and the army on standby, should
junta-backed civilian forces fail to adequately suppress demonstrators.

APSOC and AAPP join a growing number of politicians and organizations
around the world in calling for action by the United Nations Security
Council in addressing the situation in Burma.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 30, Associated Press
US officials, politicians urge UN action as Myanmar continues protest
clampdown

American politicians issued urgent calls for Myanmar's military government
to stop its repression as the junta Thursday hunted down pro-democracy
activists it blames for spearheading protests against rising fuel prices.

Two senior Senators and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee called for the State Department to persuade the U.N. Security
Council to hold an emergency meeting on human rights violations in
Myanmar.

Senators Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein wrote that the situation in
Myanmar "merits a strong and meaningful response by our government," and
asked Rice to urge U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report to the
council about it.

The State Department said it would work at the U.N. and other forums to
pressure the junta to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other
political prisoners, and move to restore democracy.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Washington would "try and
encourage others to speak out on this and those who may have influence
with the Burmese regime to get them to do the right thing here and to do
what has been so long overdue." Burma is another name for Myanmar.

In Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, security was especially tight near City
Hall and the busy market near Hledan Junction, where protests against fuel
price hikes and rising consumer prices have been attempted over the last
week and a half.

Truckloads of young, tough-looking government-hired enforcers directed by
plainclothes security officials were parked at such key points, the
occupants ready to pounce on anyone suspected of trying to spark unrest.

It has been a government tactic in the past to use members of the
Swan-ah-shin and Union Solidarity and Development Association ostensibly a
social welfare organization, but closely linked to the junta to assault
and intimidate the junta's opponents.

The USDA was linked to attacks against Suu Kyi and her party supporters in
Yangon in 1997, and in northern Myanmar on May 30, 2003. The latter clash
led to her detention, which the military said was for her own protection.

Several diplomats in Yangon have expressed concerns over the heavy-handed
ways the government uses to snuff out the protests.

"I believe the junta does not use uniformed personnel because they don't
want to be blamed for their action. Now that they are using civilians,
they can claim, as they have done in newspapers, that it was the agitated
public that stop the protesters," said a diplomat who did not want to be
named because of diplomatic protocol.

The government has also ordered local officials and hotels to be on the
lookout for key pro-democracy activists, sending out their names, photos
and biographical information, said a local official who asked not to be
named for fear of retaliation.

"We have been instructed to inform higher authorities immediately if we
sight any of these people in our area," he said, adding that the list of
dissidents includes at least one member of the 88 Generation Students
group, the most active in carrying out non-violent anti-government
protests. Most of its top members were arrested on Aug. 21, two days after
staging the first of the current round of protests.

Those participating in almost daily protest attempts have dwindled from a
few hundred people to a few dozen, as the junta employs the menacing gangs
of civilians to manhandle protesters. Scores of people have been detained,
though several key protest leaders remain at large.

In Washington, Congressman Tom Lantos on Wednesday decried the junta's
"widespread crackdown" on pro-democracy and human rights activists.

In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, he urged Rice to call
for a U.N. Security Council briefing on Myanmar's situation.

In 1988, public protests over rising rice prices were a prelude to a burst
of major demonstrations. The current protests are nowhere near their
scale.

Those protests, which sought an end to military rule that began in 1962,
were violently subdued by the army. The junta held general elections in
1990, but refused to honor the results when Suu Kyi's party won.

____________________________________

August 30, Committee to Protect Journalists
Burmese authorities move to restrict news coverage of protests

New York —The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about
the Burmese government’s restriction of news coverage of recent nationwide
protests over an August 15 government decision to end fuel price
subsidies.

According to the Burma Media Association (BMA), plainclothes police and
pro-government groups brandishing crude weapons have threatened, harassed,
and physically assaulted a number of local journalists who have attempted
to cover and photograph the protests and the government’s retaliatory
crackdown. Police are believed to have arrested more than 150 protesters,
including prominent members of the dissident 88 Student Generation group.

The military command meanwhile issued a ban against photographing the
protests and security forces have been deployed to enforce it. An
unidentified local Reuters journalist had his cameras seized by police on
August 23 after he attempted to take pictures of junta-backed militias
detaining a group of protesters, according to media reports.

“Not content with starving its people of information by restricting news
distribution, the Burmese junta is now using intimidation and threats to
prevent news gathering,” said Joel Simon, CPJ’s executive director.
“Reporters have a right to cover the fuel protests in Burma without being
set upon by plainclothes police and pro-government thugs. We call upon the
Rangoon government to ensure that all journalists can work without
harassment and censorship.”

Meanwhile, state censors imposed a 10-day blackout of all news coverage of
the protests, apart from the occasional propaganda piece in the
pro-government New Light of Myanmar (Burma). All newspapers and magazines
are censored by government authorities before publication, while all
broadcast media outlets are tightly controlled and owned by the military
government.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance, a regional press freedom advocacy
group, reported recent rolling blackouts for both cell phones and the
Internet. Burma already maintains some of the world’s most comprehensive
restrictions of the Internet, intended as a means of cutting off the flow
of information to dissident publications outside the country. CPJ’s
e-mails in recent days to journalists inside Burma all went unanswered.

Last year, CPJ named Burma as the second-most censored country
<http://www.cpj.org/attacks06/asia06/bur06.html>  in the world.

Contact:  Shawn Crispin
e-mail: info at cpj.org
Telephone:  + 66 81 488 4264 (in Bangkok)

CPJ is a New York–based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit
www.cpj.org.

____________________________________

August 30, Irrawaddy
Burmese pro-democracy 'Working Group' created to approach China - Lalit K Jha

Eminent Burmese intellectuals, academicians and political activists in
exile have formed a 16-member "Working Group on China" to seek Chinese
government help in shaping the future of Burma.

The group, formed during the "Burma Policy Consultation Conference" which
ended on Friday in Ottawa, Canada, will create an action plan on strategy
to approach China on how best to use its influence to create a popular
government in Burma.

The plan represents a shift in strategic thinking, in that it recognizes
China's increased influence and role in supporting the regime.

The first day’s closed-door session was conducted entirely in Burmese.

The next day's session will be conducted in English and include speeches
by several Canadian government officials. At the end of the conference, an
“Ottawa Declaration” will be announced, which organizers say could shape
the pro-democracy’s movement's relationship with the world's largest
Communist government.

“We are not against China. We want to have a strong relationship with
China," Tin Maung Htoo, the executive director of the Canadian Friends of
Burma told The Irrawaddy at the end of the first day's deliberations.

"We would tell them [the Chinese] that they should think of the future and
not about the present alone. We are sure that the military is not going to
rule Burma forever and democracy will be established in Burma sooner or
later. So China
needs to think and take into account all these things.”

Prominent speakers on the first day included Nyo Ohn Myint, the head of
the foreign affairs department of the National League of Democracy,
Thailand; Kyaw Zan Thar, a prominent Burmese journalist; Harn Yawnghwe,
the director the Euro-Burma Office, Belgium; Htun Aung Kyaw, the chairman
of Civil Society of Burma, USA; Than Khe, the chairman of All Burma
Students' Democratic Front, Thailand; Than Aung, the chairman of Burma
Watch International, Thailand; Zaw Oo, an economist; Nay Htun Naing, the
director of the NLD, Korea; Naw Seng, the director of the Kachin Affairs
Office, North America; and Soe Myint of the Mizzima News Agency.

A paper, “The China-Burma Conundrum” by the editor of The Irrawaddy, Aung
Zaw, was read in his absence. The paper reflected the general feeling
among conference participants that China may hold an important key to
resolve the political deadlock in Burma.

Conference participants were quick to point to several positive signals
Beijing has sent to pro-democracy leaders. Beijing recently hosted a rare
meeting between Washington and Naypyidaw officials. China has reportedly
encouraged the junta to conclude the constitutional drafting process and,
most recently, Chinese officials held meetings with ethnic leaders and
exiled activists from Burma to discuss their views of the National
Convention and other issues.

“Current China policy towards Burma may be viewed as a reality approach
based on support for the regime to keep its major share of influence,”
said Nyo Ohn Myint, head of the foreign affairs committee of the NLD
(Liberated Area). He said China may not want to weaken the Burmese
government during any "transitional period."

In his opening remarks, Tin Maung Htoo recalled a statement by NLD leader
Suu Kyi who said many factors are essential for change, and Western
economic sanctions alone are not enough.

“One of the crucial components necessary for change in Burma is the
positive role China and other regional powers can play in the process of
reconciliation and political transition,” he said. “Prompt action should
be taken to encourage China’s support, while at the same time taking care
not to abandon self-reliance.”

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 30, Irrawaddy
The regime’s violent path to a “flourishing democracy” - Aung Zaw

The rare demonstrations in Rangoon and beyond are persistent and are
likely to continue for some time. But since the regime has arrested and
detained several key activists and prominent former student leaders,
including Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, who led the 1988 uprising, the
fragile movement is increasingly faced with the question: who will lead
the public and what direction will it take?

The peaceful marches in Rangoon started shortly after Min Ko Naing and
prominent activists returned from a religious ceremony at the home of late
veteran politician Col Kyi Maung marking the third anniversary of his
death.

The “return home” march was spontaneous and caught the attention of
curious onlookers, including security officials. After the march, Min Ko
Naing and Ko Ko Gyi spoke to the Washington-based radio station Radio Free
Asia.

According to the many Burmese at home and abroad who listened to the
interview, Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi spoke out articulately and
powerfully but made no call for action to topple the regime. At one point
in the interview, Ko Ko Gyi pointed out that the army was enjoying double
rights at the military-sponsored National Convention, due to be completed
soon.

Perhaps the generals could not accept such criticism. A series of articles
in The New Light of Myanmar, the regime’s mouthpiece, contained several
forewarnings by government propagandists of a possible showdown and
“punishment.”

The regime leaders might have thought it was time to contain Min Ko Naing
and other activists because they were the only group whose boldness and
defiance were increasingly gaining international attention and
recognition. Indeed, if the regime leaders intended to force through their
“road map,” Min Ko Naing and his group were a thorn in the their side.

Consequently, thugs and security officials were sent into the streets to
deal with the protests.

The junta’s gangs follow and intimidate demonstrators, often beating them
and hurling them into waiting trucks. Women are also being beaten,
prompting onlookers to angrily intervene and risk arrest themselves.

Anger is widespread over such brutality. Large crowds often make clear
their disapproval of the strong-arm methods—“They were upset and angry,”
said a Rangoon journalist who reported on the violent dispersal of one
group of protesters.

The journalist told me that simmering dissent among the public is
approaching boiling point. “If there is bloodshed or shootings, I think
there will be uproar like in 1988,” he said.

Until recently, soldiers and riot police have not been seen in public, but
thugs and hardcore members of the regime’s mass association known as the
Union Solidarity Development Association, together with government
security officials, are maintaining “order” on the streets.

This is not the first time the regime has applied such thuggish methods to
break up peaceful demonstrations. There were several incidents of mob
attacks on democracy activists as early as 1996 and 1997.

In May 2003, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her convoy were
attacked by junta-backed mobs in central Burma. The attack was at that
time the most serious assault   sponsored by the current military leaders,
and received international condemnation.

Worldwide condemnation has also greeted the present government-sponsored
excesses, but the regime continues to ignore world opinion.

The regime’s current campaign of violence was foretokened in a series of
articles in the regime’s mouthpiece repeatedly warning Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko
Gyi and other activists that they faced “evil consequences.” The warnings
included ominous hints that death could await them.

One recent article penned by Ko Ke warned: “They will get punitive
punishment imposed by the people soon. I think the punishment to be
inflicted by the people on them may be much more severe than legal action
they will face if they continue to commit such acts, and they even may
meet their end.”

The article urged activists to be “considerate towards the aspiration of
the people to participate in the building of a discipline-flourishing
genuine democratic nation.”

Perhaps before the establishment of a “flourishing genuine democratic
nation,” the Burmese have to experience the rod of “discipline”—the
regime’s “Burmese way to Flourishing Democracy!”

____________________________________

August 30, Washington Post
Courage in Burma: Pro-democracy protesters dare to take to the streets.
Will the world respond as bravely?

The most striking feature of the remarkable protests taking place across
Burma for the past 10 days is that they are taking place at all. That
Southeast Asian nation is ruled by one of the world's most repressive and
brutal regimes, led by dictator Than Shwe. Those who dare speak out risk
imprisonment and torture not only for themselves but for their relatives.
Yet since Aug. 19, hundreds of men and women, students and Buddhist monks,
have peaceably taken to the streets across Burma to protest economic
mismanagement and political oppression. Scores have been swept into
prison; many more have been beaten by government-sponsored thugs. Min Ko
Naing, released in November 2004 after 15 years in prison for leading
pro-democracy protests in 1988, took to the streets again -- and is once
again in prison, facing a possible 20-year sentence for a nonviolent
demonstration.

What response does such courage call for from the outside world? A lot
more than we've seen so far, that much is certain. U.N. Secretary General
Ban Ki Moon's special envoy for Burma has been missing in action, and Mr.
Ban himself belatedly issued a mealy-mouthed statement that "encourages
all parties to avoid any provocative action." Meaning what? That 50
million Burmese citizens -- disenfranchised, impoverished and press-ganged
into involuntary servitude -- should refrain from "provoking" the regime
by exercising their inalienable right to assemble and speak out?

The U.N. Security Council should be at the forefront of global demands for
an end to repression in Burma. The military junta has been responsible for
a kind of slow-motion Darfur. More than 3,000 villages in eastern Karen
state have been razed, more than 1.5 million people displaced. Soldiers
routinely bayonet peasants' pots so that they cannot cook and will go
hungry. If this isn't a fit subject for the Security Council, it's hard to
know why the organization exists.

The Bush administration and first lady Laura Bush in her own right have
been far more impassioned about Burma. Yet the United States, too, should
have learned by now that rhetoric is not enough; a strategy is needed.
Unlike so many dictatorships, Burma (called Myanmar by its junta) has a
legitimate political authority waiting in the wings: Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy won a
landslide electoral victory in 1990. She has been under house arrest for
most of the years since. Now the administration needs to make clear to
other nations with influence in Burma -- China, India, Thailand and
Singapore, to name a few -- that a democratic transition there is a U.S.
policy priority and a prerequisite for peace and stability in Asia. As
former South African archbishop Desmond Tutu told The Post, when "the
courageous people of Burma, in spite of the viciousness of the military
junta," are ready to come out by the thousands, "we in the free world
cannot stand by."

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

August 29, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
CSW calls for fasting and prayer for Burma

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) today announced plans for a day of
fasting on Tuesday 4 September and a day of prayer on Sunday 9 September
in response to the current crisis in Burma. These actions are being
organised in conjunction with Burma Campaign UK.

Over the past ten days some of the biggest demonstrations in a decade have
been taking place in Burma. Hundreds of people have marched peacefully
almost every day since 19 August in protest at the military regime’s
decision to raise fuel prices by 500 per cent.

In response to the peaceful protests, the regime has launched a brutal
crackdown. Over 100 people have been arrested so far. Demonstrators,
including women, have been beaten up with iron rods and bamboo sticks by
the police and the junta’s proxy mobs.  Almost all the leading
pro-democracy activists have been detained, and may be sentenced to up to
20 years in jail. Amongst those arrested are Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi –
two leaders of the pro-democracy movement in 1988 when thousands of
peaceful protestors were massacred by the regime. They have already served
16 and 15 years in prison respectively during which time they endured
terrible torture.

CSW’s National Director, Stuart Windsor, said: “We are calling for
Christians around the country to join in a special day of prayer on Sunday
9 September at the request of Burmese exiles and campaign groups. We urge
churches to include Burma in their Sunday service intercessions that day.
We encourage people to pray for the release of those arrested, for action
by the international community, and for meaningful dialogue between the
regime, the democracy movement and the ethnic nationalities. We also
support calls for a global hunger strike on Tuesday 4 September. We
encourage Christians to fast and pray on 4 September in solidarity with
the people of Burma who continue to show extraordinary courage and
dignity, risking attack, arrest, torture and even death to protest
peacefully at the injustice of the military regime.”

For more information, please contact Penny Hollings, Campaigns and Media
Manager at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on 020 8329 0045, email
pennyhollings at csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

CSW is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom,
works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and
promotes religious liberty for all.

____________________________________
STATEMENT

August 30, All Burma Federation of Student Unions
Raising our Fighting Peacock Flag as high as we can

Historically, ever since the 1920 student boycott and first student
strike, Burmese students have been at the forefront of every movement for
political change in Burma.  In 1936, the second student strike took place,
and a third in 1938, which was called the 1300 affair (so named after the
year of its occurrence in the traditional Burmese calendar).  Through all
of these early student protests, the passion of the students to fight for
freedom and justice alongside their countrymen was enshrined.

Students hold three basic ideals for the well-being of the world, namely
freedom, justice and equality.  In accordance with these ideals, students
always play an important role in solving any political or economic crisis.
 For instance, students were instrumental in the fight for independence. 
After the independence struggle, students played an important role in the
democratization of Burma.  During Burma’s long ordeal under successive
military dictatorships, students have concurrently fought for democracy,
human rights, freedom and justice in their attempts to wipe dictatorships
from Burma and from the world.

Now, even as the Burmese people suffer from socioeconomic disruptions, our
country continues in its political stalemate.  The youth in Burma have
faced many troubles studying, our people suffering are countless
humiliations and difficulties.  We believe that  we, the students, are the
children of the people.  So, we should be united to fight against
dictatorship and try to solve the current crisis in Burma.

On 7 July, 1962, our historic student union building was demolished by Ne
Win's military government and along with it, our student unions were
eliminated.  However, our All Burma Federation of Student Unions emerged
once again during the pro-democracy uprising of the "Four Eights Affair",
which was led by our students.

In the current era, our students, led by 88 generation student groups,
give recognition to the suffering of the people through peaceful walking
demonstrations.  Peaceful demonstrations which are brutally cracked down
on by the military and military-backed pro-junta thugs.  As students, even
our ability to attend school has gravely deteriorated under the current
regime. So, as is fitting of our fighting student spirit, we believe that
we need to be at the forefront of the current movement to restore
democracy in Burma.

Oh - Burmese Students!  It is our time to fulfill our historical
responsibility which has been handed over from previous generations.  We,
united and organized - our historic All Burma Federation of Student
Unions.

Now as then, we, the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) vow to
the people of Burma to fight for student rights, human rights, democracy,
freedom and justice, and for the greater good, without regard for our own
lives.

"If there be students, there must be student unions"

Central Organizing Committee
All Burma Federation of Student Unions

* This statement was written and distributed in Burma.*
------ Translated by ABFSU-FAC (Unofficial Translation) ----------