BurmaNet News, September 8-10, 2007

[Editor]

September 8-10, 2007 Issue # 3288

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Burmese monks demand government apology
Reuters: Myanmar generals threaten Suu Kyi's political part
Irrawaddy: Two government ministers ‘organized crackdown on protesters’
IMNAL Association of monks in Burma urges holding protest day tomorrow
Irrawaddy: Regime shadows families, friends of activists in hiding
AP: Myanmar junta suggests links between U.S. and pro-democracy activists
NY Times: Myanmar offers rare concessions to political protesters
Irrawaddy: Burmese government cuts off activists' mobile phones
KNG: Poster movement against junta snowballs in Kachin State
Mizzima News: Junta orders compulsory mass meet to support NC in Kachin state
Mizzima News: Six Burmese labour rights activists sentenced to over 20
years in prison
AP: Junta steps up propaganda campaign against pro-democracy movement
Mizzima News: Rumours of Ko Jimmy's death false: U Myint Thein

ON THE BORDER
Narinjara News: Junta accuses CIA of involvement in KNU Colonel's
assassination

DRUGS
Irrawaddy: Thai Army finds opium fields ready to harvest in North Thailand

REGIONAL
AP: Myanmar diplomat to make first North Korea visit since two country's
normalized relations

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima News: EU Parliament resolution seeks binding Security Council action
AP: US, Indonesian leaders say China, India should do more to convince
Myanmar on human rights

STATEMENT
Announcement of All Burma Monks Alliance
The 88 Generation Students’ statement on the unlawful detainment of
student leaders
UNA: Statement on U Khun Tun Oo's 64th birthday anniversary
AHRC: Burma: Courts shut down because of protests

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 10, Irrawaddy
Burmese monks demand government apology - Yeni

Burmese monks are being urged in an anti-government pamphlet to refuse
alms from members of the military regime unless an apology is given for
the violent way in which protesting monks were dispersed by the
authorities and pro-junta thugs in Pakokku, Upper Burma, last week.

Describing themselves as “the alliance of all Burma Buddhist monks,” the
authors of the leaflet gave the government until September 17 to come up
with an apology. Otherwise, they warned they would “hold patam nikkujjana
kamma”—meaning a boycott of alms from members of the military regime. A
copy of the leaflet was obtained by The Irrawaddy.

Last week's demonstration by the Pakokku monks was brutally suppressed by
police, troops and pro-government paramilitary thugs. Troops fired warning
shots.

A government statement issued to foreign journalists on Sunday accused the
opposition National League for Democracy of organizing the demonstrations
by the monks, leading "agitated mobs to destroy the homes and shops of
those whom they had falsely accused."

The statement, issued by the government information committee in
Naypyidaw, charged the NLD with making “seditious declarations which are
against the government and cause the people to lose respect for the
government." The NLD had “instigated public unrest [and] also urged the
international community to sanction Myanmar [Burma], in synchronicity with
the so-called 88 generation students and expatriate groups."

The military government has, meanwhile, stepped up its monitoring of
monasteries nationwide, according to the sources in Burma.

“The authorities have increased their security everywhere, monitoring
monasteries, schools, universities and markets," a senior monk in
Taunggyi, capital of Shan State, told The Irrawaddy by phone on Monday.

Historically, monks have played a major role in political demonstrations,
notably in the 1988 popular uprising and in the 1990 anti-government
protests.

In 1990, monks held a patam nikkujjana kamma—as the boycott is known in
Buddhist religious scripture—in response to a violent crackdown on monks
in the central city of Mandalay. The military regime then forcibly seized
monasteries around the country and arrested hundreds of monks. Monks who
participated in the boycott were disrobed. Many were imprisoned and some
were tortured.

The Taunggyi source said monks there were waiting to see what happened in
the monasteries of Rangoon and Mandalay. A monk at Ma Soe Yin monastery in
Mandalay said he and others there wanted to ascertain who was behind the
leaflet campaign before making any move. only “influential abbots” could
call a boycott, he said.

____________________________________

September 10, Reuters
Myanmar generals threaten Suu Kyi's political party - Aung Hla Tung

Myanmar's generals accused detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy (NLD) yesterday of a political attack on the
state through a string of protests and threatened it with unspecified
action.

State television broke into a movie yesterday afternoon to make the
announcement, which could lead to the NLD, the landslide winner of 1990
elections the military nullified, being declared illegal after protests
against huge fuel price rises last month.

"The NLD took advantage of the increase of fuel prices by the state and
tried to exploit the situation to mount a political attack," the surprise
announcement said a day after the junta accused 13 jailed dissidents of
terrorism.

"They send letters to international organisations, embassies and
governments, requesting assistance," it said in another indication the
junta is determined to squash the dissent that has mushroomed since the
shock fuel prices increases.

"They cooperated with the so-called '88 Generation Student Group' and
exile groups to bring about demonstrations, riots and terrorist acts
similar to 1988," it said referring to an uprising the army put down with
the estimated loss of 3,000 lives.

"The government will never tolerate such malicious acts and will take
effective action against those committing them."

NLD spokesman Nyan Win denied the party had done anything illegal.

"I don't think they have enough reasons to take legal action against the
NLD because our party does not commit these things," he said.

The junta's accusation of terrorism against 13 detained dissidents, most
of them leaders of the 88 Generation Student Group who spent long years in
jail after the uprising, reinforced expectations they would be jailed
again.

They were rounded up in midnight raids shortly after they organised a
protest against a doubling of diesel prices and a fivefold rise of
compressed natural gas prices and accused of crimes carrying prison terms
of up to 20 years.

"The terrorists will be exposed and legal action will be taken against
them," the former Burma's ruling generals said on Saturday in another rare
announcement on radio and television.

Min Ko Naing, the most prominent dissident after Suu Kyi, is among the 13.
Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate who has spent 12 years under some form of
detention, is isolated under house arrest without a telephone and needing
permission to receive visitors.

That denunciation, accompanied by a long account of the group's alleged
subversion, came a day after six people who ran a labour rights seminar at
the American Center in Yangon were sentenced to at least 20 years for
plotting against the state.

Four of the labour activists received 20 years for sedition, five years
under "illegal association" laws, and three years for immigration
offences, lawyer Aung Thein said.

The other two were found guilty only of sedition and given a 20-year jail
term plus a fine of 1,000 kyats about 75 US cents.

"What they did at the May Day ceremony was explain labour rights to the
workers," Aung Thein, who said he was forced to quit as the group's
attorney by police harassment, told Reuters.

"It had nothing to do with sedition."

Families were allowed into the court, but the accused had no defence lawyer.

Continuing its hunt for a handful of prominent activists still at large,
official papers also call on the public to keep their eyes open for
"saboteurs", saying the government, people and army must unite to crush
"the enemies within and without".

The crackdown, one of the harshest since 1988, has drawn withering
criticism from the United States and European Union, and unusually strong
words from Myanmar's Asian neighbours.

Even China, the generals' main trading partner and the closest they have
to a friend, said it wanted to see "reconciliation and improvement in the
situation".

____________________________________

September 10, Irrawaddy
Two government ministers ‘organized crackdown on protesters’

The violent suppression of recent peaceful protests in Burma were
commanded by at least two government ministers, according to reliable
sources in Rangoon.

Home Minister Maung Oo and Minister of Industry-1 Aung Thaung directed the
suppression of the demonstrations that began on August 19 against a sharp
rise in fuel prices, the sources said. Some local analysts say the tactics
differed from those used by the once-powerful military intelligence.

Police officers in plainclothes, members of the junta-backed Union
Solidarity and Development Council and the paramilitary-group Swan Arr
Shin violently dispersed peaceful protesters led by the 88 Generation
Students group and rank-and-file members of the opposition National League
for Democracy.

The USDA became notorious with its involvement in the attack on a
motorcade of the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Depayin, Sagaing
Division, in May 2003.

Ministers Aung Thaung and Maung Oo are executive members of the USDA, as
are other high-ranking leaders of the military government.

“It seems that they [Aung Thaung and Maung Oo] systematically organized
such a crackdown against protests in advance,” a veteran local journalist
told The Irrawaddy on Monday. “We believe those two ministers call the
shots.”

Analysts agree, however, that Aung Thaung and Maung Oo would need a green
light from junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe before organizing the
suppression of the recent demonstrations.

Other sources said that the two ministers also instructed the hiring of
thugs to participate in the crackdown. The junta-backed mobs violently
punched, kicked and dragged protesters while arresting them. Uniformed
officials were rarely seen at the protests.

More than 100 protesters are being held in the regime’s detention centers
following the protests. Some of them were injured.

Some local observers give greater weight to the role of Aung Thaung, who
is believed to be one of the regime’s hardliners.

One analyst in Rangoon who requested anonymity said that Maung Oo played a
key role but he was relatively “soft” compared to Aung Thaung, who is
among the very small number of ministers privileged to talk often to Than
Shwe.

“The recent type of crackdown was more obviously different from the ones
under MI,” the analyst said, referring to the military intelligence
apparatus run by sacked prime minister and MI head Gen Khin Nyunt.

The MI used to be the sole powerful institution with the authority to
crack down on the opposition movement and paralyze it.

The analyst added that since the official demolition of the MI apparatus
following the purge of Khin Nyunt in 2004, the police special branch had
taken that responsibility. Activist sources said a unit of the police
special branch is currently based at Insein Prison, interrogating
activists, including 13 prominent members of the 88 Generation Students
group who are believed to be detained there.

Some other observers said that Than Shwe and his deputy, Deputy Snr-Gen
Maung Aye, were reluctant to hand authority to the organization that
succeeded the MI, the Military Affairs Security.

Aung Thaung is also believed to have organized demonstrations outside the
US and British embassies in Rangoon earlier this year against the US-led
initiative to bring Burma before the UN Security Council.

____________________________________

September 10, Independent Mon News Agency
Association of monks in Burma urges holding protest day tomorrow - Joi Htaw

The association of monks in Burma – Sangha Thanmaggi has urged all monks
to step outside monasteries and stage peaceful protest walks tomorrow to
show their unity and condemn the violence perpetrated by the pro-junta
Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and Pyithu Swan Arr
Shin on monks in Pakokku.

The statement by Sangha Thamaggi said what the pro-junta thugs have done
in Pakokku is an insult to the rest of the monks in Burma . They tied the
monks to lamp posts and beat them with gun butts. There was also firing in
the air.

The monk's association has demanded that the junta stop such violence
immediately and release all detained monks. The association has also
demanded an apology for the abuse of the monks.

Sangha Thamaggi said it had encouraged the Pakokku monks who were
protesting peacefully to express their solidarity with demonstrating
against the escalating prices of essential commodities after the junta
doubled the prices of fuel.

The Pakokku monks' action is in keeping with the fundamentals of Buddha's
teaching and Sangha Thamaggi has provided full support to them and is
ready to come forward to do anything for the monks.

The state run News Light of Myanmar newspaper said that news of a monk
being killed by the USDA and Pyinthu Swan Arr Shin was not true. Neither
had the two organizations troubled the monks.

The statement said in order to show unity among the monks, Sangha Thamaggi
has urged all the monks to go outside the monasteries and walk peacefully
on September 11 and pray for the well-being of the people.

____________________________________

September 10, Irrawaddy
Regime shadows families, friends of activists in hiding - Shah Paung

Burmese authorities are keeping a close watch on relatives and friends of
wanted pro-democracy activists in hiding, in the apparent hope that they
will unwittingly disclose their whereabouts.

One of the hunted activists, Nilar Thein, told The Irrawaddy on Sunday
that even her four month-old baby is under observation. Nilar Thein’s baby
daughter is being cared for by her mother-in-law.

“They (the authorities) think that if the baby is moved, I can be found
there,” Nilar Thein said.

Family and friends of the young activist, who has served 10 years in
prison because of her opposition to the regime, said an unconfirmed report
that her arrested husband, Kyaw Min Yu, had died in detention could also
be a ploy to draw her out of hiding.

Kyaw Min Yu, who is popularly known as Jimmy, was arrested with other
leading members of the 88 Generation Students, including Min Ko Naing and
Ko Ko Gyi, on August 21 after demonstrating against a sharp rise in fuel
and commodity prices.

Another member of the 88 Generation Students group now in hiding, Htun
Myint Aung, said the authorities were also shadowing his 75-year-old
mother in the apparent hope she could lead them to him.

Htun Myint Aung told The Irrawaddy by phone from his hiding place on
Monday: “The authorities are following any one from my home when they go
outside, including my 75- year-old mother when she goes to the clinic.
She’s in poor health and the authorities believe I’ll appear if anything
happens to her.”

The authorities had searched his house four times and the home of his two
older sisters. They had also asked his mother to disclose the addresses of
other relatives and friends.

A close friend of Kyaw Min Yu, who requested anonymity, said authorities
had called at his home and checked the guest list to make sure he wasn’t
hiding any of the wanted activists.

The intimidated families had the solid support of the people, including
some members of the local police, Htun Myint Aung said.

“People who do not know us allow us to stay in their homes and feed us.
It’s amazing and we’re very grateful. But we have to think about their
security.”

More than 100 activists have been arrested in the wave of protests against
the price increases, and several protesters have gone into hiding. Apart
from Nilar Thein, Kyaw Min Yu and Htun Myint Aung, the fugitives include
Mi Mi and Htay Kywe, of the 88 Generation Students group, and Phyu Phyu
Thin and Su Su Nway, of the National League for Democracy youth movement.

State-run The New Light of Myanmar claimed on Sunday that an unnamed
foreign embassy was helping Htay Kywe evade arrest, but Htun Myint Aung
denied the report. He said Htay Kywe was in hiding like the others. None
planned to request political asylum, he said.

Meanwhile, the town of Pegu about 80 km (50 miles) north of Rangoon was
reported on Monday to have been sealed off. A resident said anyone
suspected of having opposition sympathies was being ordered to stay in the
town. People from out of town were being told to stay away, the resident
said.

____________________________________

September 10, Associated Press
Myanmar junta suggests links between U.S. and pro-democracy activists

Myanmar's military government suggested Sunday that the United States was
aiding a pro-democracy protest movement and had hidden one prominent
activist in its embassy.

The activist, Htay Kywe, has been in hiding since escaping a security
crackdown last month. He is a leader of the 88 Generation Students group,
which has been staging nonviolent protests against the ruling junta in the
past year.

"Htay Kywe is still at large, as he had been hidden at a secure place by
an embassy of a powerful country," the junta said in an apparent reference
to the United States, one of the regime's harshest critics.

The junta often uses indirect ways to refer to countries with which it has
disputes to avoid diplomatic tangles. It did not elaborate on its claim,
and the U.S. Embassy could not be reached for comment Sunday and the State
Department had no comment.

The junta also claimed an unspecified private American group had delivered
$30,000 last year to Htay Kywe through a Western embassy in Yangon,
Myanmar's main city.

It accused the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy of trying to cause
unrest by donating $2.9 million for operations in Myanmar. The NED is a
private, nonprofit organization funded chiefly by the U.S. government to
promote democratic institutions around the world by providing cash grants
to private groups.

The junta also claimed that "a world-famous organization of a powerful
state provided $100,000 under the heading of helping refugees," but that
the money was really used for training in bomb-making and demolition. Many
religious and humanitarian agencies provide aid to hundreds of thousands
of Myanmar refugees in neighboring Thailand.

The junta has come under worldwide condemnation for its hardline handling
of scattered but spirited protest that began last month over sharp price
hikes for fuel and consumer goods.

Pro-government civilians directed by security forces have broken up the
demonstrations, and scores of protesters have been detained.

About a dozen members of Htay Kywe's group were detained on charges of
trying to disrupt Myanmar's National Convention, which set guidelines for
a new constitution. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in
prison.

Htay Kywe has issued several statements from hiding, including a Sept. 6
letter urging the U.N. Security Council to take up the Myanmar situation,
an idea the U.S. has endorsed.

In northern Myanmar last week, Buddhist monks angry at being beaten up for
protesting the economic conditions temporarily took officials hostage and
later smashed a shop and a house belonging to junta supporters.

The junta's Information Committee said "internal and external pessimist
and opposition groups are striving to create riots and disturbances"
similar to mass pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988. It also blamed the
groups for past bombings.

The groups are trying "to gain power by a short cut," said the statement,
published Sunday in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

The government said it "will continue to take preventive measures against
those malicious collaborated efforts to commit terrorist destructive
acts."

The 1988 uprising was brutally crushed by the military, which refused to
yield power after Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's
pro-democracy political party won 1990 general elections.

The National Convention's guidelines would retain a major role for the
military in running the country, and would bar Suu Kyi, who has long been
under house arrest, from holding political office.

____________________________________

September 9, The New York Times
Myanmar offers rare concessions to political protesters - Seth Mydans

The authorities in Myanmar, apparently bowing to bad publicity, released a
political prisoner on Friday whose leg had been broken when he was
arrested in the recent outbreak of antigovernment protests.

His case had gained international attention when fellow prisoners staged a
hunger strike calling for his freedom.

On Thursday, a delegation of military officers was briefly held hostage by
Buddhist monks at a temple outside the main city of Yangon. The officers
had reportedly gone there to apologize to the monks for treating them
roughly during a demonstration the day before.

Myanmar's iron-fisted military junta is not known for such conciliatory
gestures. But it has been put on the defensive by an unusual campaign of
public protests in the past three weeks, just as it is trying to portray
itself to the world as a mature, democratically oriented military
government.

The junta has just completed 14 years of fitful work on an outline of what
it has called a democratic constitution, and could face criticism from the
United States at the United Nations Security Council this month.

Despite its efforts at conciliation, there were reports of continuing
opposition activity.

Leaders of the opposition party, the National League for Democracy, were
reported to be meeting in Myanmar's second-largest city, Mandalay, on
Friday.

Angry monks were reported to have destroyed two buildings owned by
officials involved in Wednesday's crackdown in Pakokku, a center of
Buddhist learning.

On Friday, The New Light of Myanmar, a state-controlled newspaper,
reported its version of the violence and the abduction, saying the
officers handed over their cellphones to the monks after they had
''supplicated to them'' over the situation.

Its report confirmed accounts by witnesses that monks had burned several
military vehicles on Wednesday and that shots had been fired to disperse
the rally.

Though the protests have mostly been small, scattered and quickly
suppressed, they have been publicized by an international network of
pro-democracy groups with ties to the dissidents.

That publicity has now caught the attention of more widely known people,
including Laura Bush and Hollywood celebrities who have spoken in support
of the democracy movement and its symbolic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who
is under house arrest.

President Bush also mentioned the protests in a speech at the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation forum in Sydney, Australia.

The junta has handled the protests carefully since they began last month.
Some arrested protesters have been released and have reported that they
were treated well.

That contrasts with the military massacres that took thousands of lives
during a major pro-democracy uprising in 1988.

''One interpretation is that the state doesn't want to take on these
protests through its usual means, through violence and an indiscriminate
crackdown, knowing that they have a broader international audience,'' said
John Dale, a sociologist at George Mason University.

The other interpretation is that the government is biding its time, as it
did in 1988, before coming down very hard on protesters.

____________________________________

September 10, Irrawaddy
Burmese government cuts off activists' mobile phones - Shah Paung

The Burmese military government cut off service to several pro-democracy
activists' mobile phones on Monday, according to the National League for
Democracy, the main opposition party.

Myint Thein, a spokesman for the NLD, told The Irrawady that all incoming
and outgoing calls on his mobile phone have been cut off since Monday
morning.

When The Irrawaddy tried to call Myint Thein's mobile phone, a recording
said, “This phone number's incoming calls are closed.”

A call to the mobile phone number of prominent human rights activist Su Su
Nway, who is in hiding, had the same recording.

Myint Thein said Phyu Phyu Thin, the prominent NLD youth member HIV/AIDS
activist who is in hiding, also had her mobile phone service closed.

The mobile phones of other activists who are in hiding, such as Htun Myint
Aung, Hla Myo Naung and Toe Kyaw Hlaing of the 88 Generation Students
group, were also cut off Monday morning.

The mobile phone of a leading activist Soe Myint Htain of the Myanmar
Development Committee was cut off Monday afternoon.

The phone lines of all NLD offices across the country are believed to be
routinely monitored by Burmese authorities.

____________________________________

September 9, Kachin News Group
Poster movement against junta snowballs in Kachin State

The poster movement, by emboldened Myitkyina University students against
the Burmese military junta, snowballed yesterday evening, when student
activists fanned out and pasted 500 posters with a five-point charter of
demand in Myitkyina capital of Kachin State, in northern Burma.

The poster movement in Kachin State harks back to August 5 when posters
appeared on churches and roadsides depicting a map of Kachin state chained
to a pole with bombs littered around it. A message below in Kachin
language said: 'It's time to fight for the liberation of Kachins.' What
was clearly an early sign that Kachins were unhappy with the rejection of
their demands at the final session of the junta's National Convention and
would not sit silent, is now being borne out.

On Saturday evening student activists started putting the up posters all
over the town. The distribution of posters among activists, started much
earlier at 10 in the morning. These posters are in Burmese and the first
such appeared in the University's Geology Department five days ago.

"We made 500 A-4 sized posters which were distributed to university and
high school students and civilians and pasted on government offices,
quarters and villages, high schools, colleges and Theological schools
around Myitkyina Township,"  a student leader told the KNG today.

The junta responded with alacrity this morning positioning seven or more
police vehicles with police personnel including traffic police, at
important road intersections around Myitkyina. A military convoy with
vehicles fitted with machine guns went around the township from 9 a.m. to
11 a.m. local time, an eyewitness said.

The Township police and Military Affairs Security Unit (Sa-Ya-Pha) went
about searching for posters around Myitkyina and tearing them down since
morning.

The posters were put up on township to village level government
administrative offices, Myitkyina University, Government Technical College
(GTC), Government Computer College (GCC), Teacher Training College, high
schools and fourteen quarters in Myitkyina- Myothit, Myothit Gyi, May
Myint, Yuzana, Zeya, Yangyi Aung, Du Mare, Sanpya, Tatkone, N'jang Dung,
Kyunpyinta, Kachinzu, Shanzu (South and North), Nawng Nang and Alam, said
student leaders.

The posters had a five-point of charter of demands which were the same as
the ones that appeared in the lone poster five days ago in Myitkyina
University. It demanded that the ruling junta roll back the country's fuel
and essential commodity prices, stop Myitsone the hydroelectric power
project and land confiscation, scrap the outcome of the National
Convention and start a "tripartite dialogue" which should include the
junta, leaders of ethnic nationalities and opposition political parties.

The poster movement has been launched by Myitkyina University students who
belong to the student wing of the overseas based All Kachin Students and
Youth Union (AKSYU) formed by 88 Generation Kachin student leaders, said
Gam Shawng.

"We want to express our solidarity with students in the whole of Burma and
to lobby local students and civilians to join the current the wave of
protests against the ruling junta across the country," the student leader
told the KNG.

Now, emergency meetings are underway in Township to Village level
Administrative Offices (Ma-Ya-Ka to Ya-Ya-Ka) and the administrators have
been ordered to check the movement or else they will be punished by the
authorities, said Ya-Ya-Ka sources among headmen.

____________________________________

September 10, Mizzima News
Junta orders compulsory mass meet to support NC in Kachin state

A mandatory mass meeting has been ordered by junta authorities in
Myitkyina, capital of Kachin state in northern Burma to lend support to
the recently concluded National Convention. Attendance from each family is
compulsory, locals said.

On the orders of the Northern Military Command, local authorities have
called the mass meeting on September 15 at the Myitkyina football ground.

"Just now, an official [of the township peace and development council]
came to our house to inform us of the meeting. He said one person from
each household must attend and action will be taken against those failing
to participate," said the local, who requested anonymity.

The National Convention, which concluded on September 4, is the first of
the junta's seven- step "roadmap to democracy". The Kachin Independent
Organization, an ethnic ceasefire armed group which attended the
convention, submitted a 19-point proposal. However, the junta held no
discussion on the proposal.

"They are trying to show that the people support the convention. But the
truth is that the people do not support it. Everybody knows that they [the
junta] are doing what they like," the local added.

In connection with KIO's proposal, the junta last month called a Kachin
mediator Dr. Rev. Saboi Jum to Naypyitaw. After discussing the 19-point
proposal, he was sent back with a message to the KIO for further
negotiations.

____________________________________

September 9, Mizzima News
Six Burmese labour rights activists sentenced to over 20 years in prison

Six Burmese labour rights activists have been sentenced to over 20 years
in prison by the ruling military junta for conducting labour rights talks
in the American Center Rangoon.

A military tribunal in Burma's notorious Insein prison on Friday sentenced
Burmese labour rights activists Thu Rein Aung, Wai Lin, Myo Min and Kyaw
Min to 28 years and Kyaw Kyaw and Nye Nye Zaw to 20 years in prison.

They were accused of unlawful association, disrespectful acts against the
government and for violating immigration acts.

The six activists were arrested on May Day after they attended a
discussion on labour rights at the American Center in Rangoon .

U Aung Thein, who initially acted as their defence counsel but later
resigned because of severe restrictions, told Mizzima that the activists
throughout the trial were without a defence counsel and had to defend
themselves.

"The trial in Insein jail was one-sided with the accused having no one to
defend them. There was no one who could defend the charge made in Insein
prison," Aung Thein told Mizzima.

Family members of the activists said the trial was unjust as the activists
have never committed any crime that the authorities accused them of.

"I don't believe the sentence and it is unjust as they [the activists]
have never committed anything that they have been accused of," Thurein
Aung's sister told Mizzima.

Family members have requested lawyer U Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein to
appeal to the court regarding the sentence.

____________________________________

September 9, Association Press
Junta steps up propaganda campaign against pro-democracy movement

Burma’s military government stepped up its propaganda campaign against the
country’s pro-democracy movement Sunday, alleging top activists planned
terrorist acts and received money from Western nations.

Protesters led by the 88 Generation Students group marching in Rangoon on
Aug 19
The junta also charged that Htay Kywe, a prominent activist who escaped a
security dragnet last month, was assisted in hiding by the embassy of a
“powerful country.”

The allegations came as the junta grapples with scattered but spirited
protests against its economic policies.

Burma faces condemnation from much of the world community for its
hard-line toward nonviolent dissent, particularly its rough handling of
demonstrations that began Aug 19 to protest a hike in fuel prices and rise
in the cost of consumer goods.

The protests took a more confrontational tone last week in northern Burma,
when Buddhist monks—angry at being beaten up for protesting fuel
prices—temporarily took government officials hostage and later smashed up
a shop and a house belonging to junta supporters.

A news release issued by the junta’s Information Committee and published
Sunday in state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar, charged that
“internal and external pessimist and opposition groups are striving to
create riots and disturbances” similar to the mass pro-democracy
demonstrations in 1988.

The aim of the groups was “to gain power by a short cut,” it said.

The 1988 uprising was brutally crushed by the military.

The statement also implied that the United States was involved in the
opposition groups’ plans. It cited funds that US organizations were said
to have given to dissident groups.

It said “a world-famous organization of a powerful state provided US
$100,000 under the heading of helping refugees,” but alleged the money was
actually used for training courses in bomb-making and demolition.

The statement said Htay Kywe, a leader of the 88 Generation Students group
who is still in hiding, was being helped by a foreign embassy.

“Htay Kywe is still at large, as he had been hidden at a secure place by
an embassy of a powerful country,” the statement said, without providing
further details.

About a dozen members of Htay Kywe’s group were rounded up shortly after
organizing the first of the current round of protests.

They were being held on charges of trying to disrupt the country’s
National Convention, which is setting guidelines for a new constitution.
If convicted, they could each face up to 20 years in prison.

The convention completed its work on September 3 with guidelines that
would keep the military heavily involved in administering the country, and
bar detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from holding political
office.

Htay Kywe has issued several statements from hiding, including a September
6 letter urging the UN Security Council to take up the Burma issue.

“We, the 88 Generation Students leaders, initiated these peaceful marches
not only to protest against the hike in fuel prices, but to bring
attention to the immense suffering of the people of Burma,” Htay Kywe said
in his letter.

“Our goal has always been, and will remain, peaceful transition to a
democratic society and national reconciliation through substantive
dialogue that is also the objective of the United Nations,” he said.

The government’s statement said to ensure security it “will continue to
take preventive measures against those malicious collaborated efforts to
commit terrorist destructive acts by the internal and external terrorist
groups.”

____________________________________

September 8, Mizzima News
Rumours of Ko Jimmy's death false: U Myint Thein

The rumours that Ko Jimmy had died in prison are untrue,  U Myint Thein,
spokesperson of the National League for Democracy told  Mizzima.

"The latest information we have is that Ko Jimmy is not dead. It was a 
rumour first that he was alive. Later up to 80 percent was confirmed and
now  finally it has been confirmed. About half an hour ago, I got a phone
call  that it is not true. The caller said don't worry about it we will
keep you  informed."

"They believe that the junta used a ploy and spread the news since last 
night to bring out his wife from hiding," said U Myint Thein.

Rumours rife in Burma about 88 leader Jimmy's death in custody

September 8, 2007 - Rumours spread like wildfire today that Ko Jimmy, one
of Burma's prominent 88 generation student leaders, arrested along with 12
other colleagues on August 21, has died in Burma's notorious Insein
prison.

The rumours that Ko Jimmy's health was deteriorating started doing the
rounds since last night. But today the rumours said that he had died this
afternoon.

Nilar Thein, wife of Ko Jimmy (a.k.a) Kyaw Min Yu currently on the run,
told Mizzima, "I also heard the rumours but I cannot confirm it yet. But
the fact remains that those arrested are being severely tortured."

Nilar Thein, who was forced to leave her four-month-old daughter when she
went underground, said she has to receive the news of her husband through
others.

"I don't believe he died from illness. He had no serious illness that
could cause death. I am praying that the rumours are false
" Nilar Thein's
voice trailed off as she spoke to Mizzima about her husband.

Though the rumour could not be confirmed, Ko Jimmy's condition remains a
serious concern as family members, who approached the prison authorities
this afternoon were denied a meeting with him, said a fellow 88 generation
student who is still at large.

"We heard that he [Ko Jimmy] has died but when family members went to the
prison, they [authorities] said it was false, but refused to allow them to
meet him," said the fellow student leader, who is also in hiding.

The family members are now inquiring into the situation and are
approaching the Ministry of Home Affairs, so that they can meet Ko Jimmy.

The 13 prominent student leaders, who are detained in special cells inside
Insein prison, have reportedly been severely tortured in the course of
interrogations.

"We heard that they [the student leaders] were even being given electric
shocks during interrogation," the student colleague told Mizzima,

Meanwhile, family members of Ko Marki, another 88 generation student
leader, said they are worried as Ko Marki is also reported to be in a
critical condition.

"We heard that Ko Marki's condition is critical and he has been taken to a
hospital but we don't know which hospital," Ko Marki's sister told
Mizzima.

Su Su Nway, a Burmese labour rights activist who has close contacts with
the 88 generation student group, told Mizzima that following the rumours
about Ko Jimmy and Ko Marki, family members rushed to the prison but were
told the information was false and refused a meeting with the detained.

"We are all following the rumours and while some said Ko Jimmy is dead,
others said he is not, but whatever it is we are worried about his
condition. The junta can do anything to them," Su Su Nway told Mizzima.

Following the rumours of the death of Ko Jimmy

Interview with Ma Moe Moe, an 88 generation student leader Ko Marki's sister

"It's almost a month now that Ko Marki has been taken into custody, and we
are worried as we cannot meet him. We have no news of him and we don't
know where he has been detained. Even now we are worried as we heard that
his health is critical. Our mother is angry and is suffering from high
blood pressure. She has been crying because she can't meet him even after
she heard that her son is in a critical condition. She cannot even speak
now."

"We heard that Ko Marki has now been taken to a hospital but we don't know
which hospital. We are more worried because he has been suffering from a
gastric ailment. But we don't know why he has been taken to hospital, if
at all because when they took him away he was alright."

Interview with Su Su Nway

"We, the ICRC, and diplomats in Rangoon are all following up the rumours.
But when we went and met the authorities, they said the news is false. But
when we asked them where the students are detained and what the condition
of their health was, they refused to tell us anything. So, family members,
diplomatic circles, 88 student groups and the people are all worried over
the student leaders' condition. This is totally against the law as they
are not thieves and criminals but student leaders speaking and scarifying
their dreams for the people, for the country and for democracy. It is
against the law as they are being detained and tortured secretly and
denied meetings with family members."

Indian Standard Time - 6:15 p.m - Junta denies beating of Monks in Pakhokku

State-run New Light of Myanmar has explicitly denied beating of monks
during the 5th September demonstrations by the monks in Pakhokku town of
central Burma.

It also claims that not a single monks had been injured nor death.

Moreover, in order to save the life of Township Sagha committee chairman,
the soldiers had fired three small shots into the air to disperse the
crowd.

5:20 p.m - Demonstrations in Daw Pone town

Spearheaded by members of the National League for Democracy, Daw Pone
branch, a protest march was held today in Daw Pone.

Twelve people led by Daw Pone NLD secretary U Than Htay today marched
along the streets and over 50 people followed and applauded them.

2:00 p.m - Situation in Pakhokku
Interview with a resident of Pakhokku town

"The authorities are arresting informers passing on news to foreign
broadcasting news agencies. Last night, authorities arrested some of them
but we are not sure how many were detained. But I know Ko Than Shin and Ko
Thar Aung from ward No. 8 have been rounded up. They are about 40 and 50
years old respectively. It was quite obvious it was them, as there voices
could be heard being aired on the Radio Free Asia (RFA) programme. More
people have been arrested but I am not sure how many. I heard they have
not been released yet and we also don't know who came to pick them up,"

"The situation here is quiet now. Because there are a lot of soldiers
stationed in front of the police station, market places and in front of
the fire brigade."

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 10, Narinjara News
Junta accuses CIA of involvement in KNU Colonel's assassination

The Burmese military junta has accused the CIA in one of its state-run
newspapers of involvement in the assassination of a Karen commander of the
KNU who wanted to negotiate a ceasefire with the junta.

The article published on Saturday in The Mirror, also known as Kyimon,
claimed that the assassination of Colonel Kyi Min was a CIA plot, and that
KNU operatives were acting under the CIA's behest.

Colonel Kyi Min, Commander in-charge of the Karen Liberation Army Regiment
18 from Bridge 6, was assassinated last month by unknown armed assailants
on the Homh Tharaw River near the Thai-Burma border.

The killing occurred when he was returning to his headquarters from a
Burmese Army camp following discussions with Burmese military officials.

The Mirror report also levelled accusations that a general from the US
Army and a CIA operative visited an insurgent group to provide military
aid and training to detonate bombs inside Burma. The report did not,
however, mention the name of the insurgent group on the border.

Accusations pertaining to frequent visits to insurgent camps along the
Thai-Burma border to provide military aid and training were also levelled
at former Military Attaché to Burma Robert Helvey, retired US Air Force
officer Michael Mitchell, retired US Marine officer Gene Sharp, and former
US special forces officer David Eubank.

The US officials were also accused of praising several insurgent groups,
including the ABSDF, NCGUB, SSA-A, CRDB, and DAB for their efforts to
"foil the stability and development in Burma" by terrorist acts such as
bombs planted inside Burma.

The Burmese military government often makes such accusations against the
United States and Britain whenever there is public unrest in Burma, said a
Burmese politician.

____________________________________
DRUGS

September 10, Irrawaddy
Thai Army finds opium fields ready to harvest in North Thailand - Sai Silp

The Thai army has found 50 opium fields, some ready for harvest, in
secluded valleys between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son provinces, according
to a regimental commander.

Col Boonyeun Inkwang of the 36th Army Ranger Regiment said on Monday opium
growing continues in the area because of the close proximity to Burma and
the high price heroin fetches in illegal world markets.

“Raw opium is expensive. one rai (1,600 square meters) of plantation can
produce opium that will earn about 140,000 baht (US $4,242), he said.

Boonyeun, after a helicopter tour of Omkoi District in Chiang Mai
Province, said his regiment has destroyed 606 opium fields that covered
about 400 rais (64 hectares) since early this year.

Last week, Janya Sramutcha, the director of the Office of Narcotic Control
Board in Region 5, based in Chiang Mai, said about 90 tons of raw opium in
neighboring countries are ready to be processed and transported to
Thailand and third countries.

Thailand has increased its budget for the onCB after the US Drug
Enforcement Administration decreased its budget contribution to Thailand
to focus more on Afghanistan, which is now the world’s biggest opium
producer.

On Saturday, Gen Watthanachai Chaimuenwong told a meeting of drug
officials in Chaing Rai that Thailand's suppression efforts could reduce
the amount of illegal drugs on the market by about 30 percent.

Thailand has a difficult time in suppression efforts because it shares it
border with Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia, he said.

The Chiang Rai Police Office reported that from October 2006 to August
2007, officers investigated 132 drug cases along the border with Burma and
Laos, mainly involving amphetamine tablets, or Yaa Baa.

Meanwhile, the Phamuang Task Force of the Thai Third Army, which is
responsible for Chiang Rai Province, reported it has seized about 700,000
amphetamine tablets and arrested 272 suspects in the same period.

In addition, the Task Force reported 16 narcotic drug factories were found
along the Burmese border and 10 along the Laotian border, according to a
report on Saturday in the Manager, a Thai newspaper.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 10, Associated Press
Myanmar diplomat to make first North Korea visit since two country's
normalized relations - Aye Aye Win

A senior Myanmar diplomat will visit North Korea for talks starting
Tuesday, an official said Monday, in the latest sign that two of Asia's
most repressive regimes are improving ties severed for nearly two decades.

Myanmar cut diplomatic relations with Pyongyang in 1983 after North Korean
commandos were blamed for a fatal bombing during a visit by former South
Korean President Chun Doo-hwan.

The South Korean president was unhurt, but the attack killed 21 other
people including four South Korean Cabinet ministers.

Three North Korean commandos were detained over the bombing. One was
hanged, a second blew himself up during his arrest and a third, Kang Ming
Chul, remains in Insein prison in Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon.

In April, however, the two countries announced the resumption of diplomat
relations during a visit to Myanmar by North Korean Vice Foreign Minister
Kim Yong Il. In recent months, North Korean officials have arrived in
Myanmar to scout out a location for an embassy.

Myanmar will send Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu to North Korea for four
days of talks starting Tuesday in an effort to "strengthen bilateral,
friendly relations," a foreign ministry official said. He spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment.

Both Myanmar and North Korea have been widely criticized for their
authoritarian governments. Myanmar has drawn special censure over the
junta's detention of political opponents, including Nobel Peace Prize
winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

North Korea has made strides in recent months over the dismantling of its
nuclear program, in agreement with the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and
Russia. Myanmar, in contrast, has come under fire from much of the world
including the United States since August for its abusive crackdown on
activist protesting rising fuel prices.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 10, Mizzima News
EU Parliament resolution seeks binding Security Council action

In a unanimous vote of 66 to 0, the European Union Parliament passed a
resolution calling on European Union member countries to do everything in
their powers to achieve passage of a binding Security Council resolution
on Burma.

Given the immediacy of the crisis in Burma, the September 6th resolution
states the convening of an emergency session of the United Nations
Security Council would be an appropriate measure.

Coming after weeks of unrest and arbitrary detentions inside Burma related
to the government's spur of the moment increase in fuel and energy costs,
the resolution deplores the Burmese government for its lack of foresight
and economic planning, especially given that 90 percent of the population
is already said to exist below or near the poverty line, while there
remain vast domestic energy resources available to the regime.

Referring to the necessity of international action, Minister Colm Burke,
echoing the words of Edmund Burke, told the assembly, "All that is
necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. The
international community is doing little, while the Burma Junta is
perpetrating atrocities against its own people. How long can we justify
allowing this evil to reign?"

The resolution goes on to state the junta's National Convention and
constitutional process "lacks credibility", and condemns the actions of
junta-backed civilian defense forces, Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA) and Swan Arrshin, in confronting peaceful protestors,
especially in actions directed against women.

There must be a "cessation of the current illegitimate constitutional
process, and its replacement by a fully representative National Convention
including the NLD and other political parties and groups", reads the
resolution.

China, Russia and India are all urged to use their economic leverage with
the regime to foment positive change inside Burma, while the resolution
asks that current business interests be suspended if shown to be linked
with human rights abuses.

The resolution does, however, acknowledge the failure of sanctions and a
policy of isolation toward Burma, though supportive of their intent, and
therefore encourages a reworking of these strategies.

"An effective policy should aim at bringing the country back into the
international community. As regards engaging the regime, there is a
consensus more needs to be done, not less. Isolation will only make the
population pay a greater price", stated European Union Commissioner
Viviane Reding on Thursday night.

However, the European Commission did warn that it views Burma, in addition
to the threat it poses to its civilian population as a result of
government initiatives, as a threat to regional and international
security. Such an interpretation of the extent of the threat posed by
Burma was at the center of differences between those that favored a
January Security Council resolution on Burma and those that felt the venue
inappropriate.

Meanwhile a report, presented last week to the EU Parliament by a
consortium of Ministers, councils the body to act as a moral guarantor of
the EU's external actions by effectively applying strategies of 'soft
power' vis-à-vis Burma. 'Soft power', as developed by its philosophical
creator Professor Joseph Nye, pursues end results largely through
ideological means.

The report advocates that human rights must always take precedence over
geopolitical interests. The resolution itself calls on the immediate
release of all political prisoners, including National League for
Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

____________________________________

September 8, Associated Press
US, Indonesian leaders say China, India should do more to convince Myanmar
on human rights -Jim Gomez

U.S. President George W. Bush and Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang
Yudyohono believe China and India should do more to help convince Myanmar
to improve its dismal human rights, an official said Saturday.

Myanmar, also called Burma, has been the target of stinging criticism from
Bush and Southeast Asian diplomats on the sidelines of this week's annual
gathering of Pacific Rim leaders in Sydney, where the U.S. president
called Myanmar's junta leaders' `tyrannical behavior" inexcusable.

During a meeting with Yudyohono on Saturday, Bush raised his concern over
the human rights condition in Myanmar. Yudyohono told him it may be
important to enlist the help of China and India, which have important
economic ties with Myanmar, in convincing the impoverished Southeast Asian
nation to fulfill a long-unrealized promise to embrace democracy,
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said.

Bush agreed, recognizing the influence the two Asian giants exert on
Myanmar, Wirayuda said.

Wirayuda acknowledged that diplomatic efforts by the 10-member Association
of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Indonesia and Myanmar, to prod
Myanmar to rapidly democratize has failed so far.

"We are all frustrated," Wirayuda told reporters.

"All of us in ASEAN have in the past year admitted, recognized that the
constructive engagement by ASEAN has not produced any tangible results. We
admit that," he said. "But likewise, also, the West, they admitted that
sanctions and pressure approach do not work."

Such criticism reflects how even fellow ASEAN members have tested the
10-member bloc's bedrock policy of noninterference in each other's
domestic affairs to voice their frustration over Myanmar's intransigence.

Myanmar's spotty rights record again came up when Bush extended an
invitation to ASEAN leaders over lunch Friday to visit his Texas ranch for
a summit that was earlier postponed.

ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said Bush may have chosen an
informal venue a barbecue cookout in his ranch instead of Washington to be
able to accommodate a representative from Myanmar, whose presence in the
U.S. seat of power could spark criticism from American politicians.

ASEAN, however, would not agree to attend the meeting, which marks the
30th anniversary of U.S. dialogue partnership with the Southeast Asian
bloc, without Myanmar. Although it has failed to produce results, engaging
Myanmar diplomatically remains a workable approach, Ong said.

"I always think the more critical the U.S. is of the Myanmar position, the
more you should bring the Myanmar guy to the summit and tell him straight
to the face that you cannot go on like that,'" Ong told The Associated
Press in an interview.

____________________________________
STATEMENT

September 9, Announcement of All Burma Monks Alliance
12th Waning Day of Wagaung, 1369 BE, Sunday, Letter No. (1/2007)

The local authorities under SPDC military regime brutally cracked down,
arrested and tortured the monks and people demonstrators who were
protesting over the current fuel price hike in Burma. They did such a
brutal crackdown in Pakkoku where the peaceful monk demonstrators
protested over the fuel price hike by reciting Metta Sutra, by lassoing
them and tied them at the lamp post, and slap them, kicked them and beat
them up in public by the SPDC thugs of USDA and Swan Ah Shin.

One of the monks died of these brutal treatments. Thus it becomes the
cause of Theravada Buddhism and the whole monks residing in Burma.

We, 'All Burma Young Monks Union', 'Federation of All Burma Monks Union',
'Young Monks Union (Rangoon)', 'Monk Duta' and all Monks Unions in
different States and Divisions joined hands together and establishing this
Monks Alliance Group representing all monks living in Burma, today make
and announce the following demands to SPDC.

1. The SPDC must apologise to the monks until they satisfy and can forgive
and pardon them.

2. Reduce all commodity prices, fuel prices, rice and cooking oil prices
immediately

3. Release all political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and all
detainees arrested in ongoing demonstrations over fuel price hike.

4. Enter dialogue with democratic forces for national reconciliation
immediately to resolve the crises and difficulties facing and suffering by
the people.

Unless SPDC give in and comply with our demand on or before the deadline
of 17th September 2007 (the 6th waxing day of Tawthalin), we hereby
announce that this Monks Alliance Group will boycott SPDC until our
demands are met.

All Burma Monks Alliance Group

____________________________________

September 9, The 88 Generation Students
‘The 88 Generation Students’ statement on the unlawful detainment of
student leaders
(Unofficial Translation)

Burma has been governed by a military dictatorship for 45 years.  As a
consequence of military rule, Burma has become one of the poorest and
least developed countries in the world.  The people of Burma have suffered
tremendous hardships in the areas of education, health and social welfare.

In 1974, the military junta adopted the ‘Burmese way to Socialism’.  Today
they are marching towards the ‘Burmese way to Democracy’, in order to
cling on to power and enslave their own citizens.  In doing so, they have
patronized the 14 year National Convention, in order to draft a
constitution that is opposed to the will of the general public.

Simultaneously, the military arrested Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and others who
defend the interests of their people. The military level allegations which
lead to long-term imprisonments. However the reality is that these
individuals have been working tirelessly for peace, justice, and
development in Burma

Since August 21, the current military regime has detained 17 leaders of
‘the 88 Generation Students’ including Ko Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi. 
‘The 88 Generation Students’ are aligned with the people and are working
for a peaceful resolution to the political and economic problems the
people of Burma are encountering.  In particular, they are making efforts
to change the dictatorial system that is the root cause of impoverishment
in the country.

Meanwhile, the 88 Generation Students’ leaders have suffered cruel torture
by the regime. The regime has efficiently implicated them through numerous
allegations.  We trust the people of Burma and the international community
will not tolerate such obvious political aggressions undertaken by the
SPDC.

We, ‘the 88 Generation Students’, affirm that we will valiantly face any
kind of arrest and torture, and move forward, alongside monks, students,
workers, peasants, and the entire nation, to overthrow the military
dictatorship in Burma.

‘The 88 Generation Students’

___________________________________

September 9, United Nationalities Alliance
Statement on U Khun Tun Oo's 64th birthday anniversary
Chairman, SNLD
Presidium, UNA
(Unofficial translation)

1. We held the 64th birthday celebration of imprisoned SNLD Chairman U
Khun Tun Oo who is serving long term prison sentences, in honour and
respect of his democratic struggle and ethnic rights struggle.

2. We see this celebration as the preservation of the fine tradition of
console, comfort and rally around the all imprisoned colleagues and the
colleagues under the tremendous oppression and facing a lot of
difficulties for their democratic struggle and taking part in peaceful
demonstrations expressing their free desire.

3. Staging protest against the unfair and illegal detention and holding
prayer meetings for the release of said detainees are the profound duty of
all the people in the civilized world. Thus we hereby make our demand
again along with all the people to release all political prisoners
including U Khun Tun Oo unconditionally and immediately.

4. Hence we hereby issue this statement saying that we shall relentlessly
strive for the release of all political prisoners and restoration of
democracy in Burma by joining hands in unity and fraternity with all
democratic forces of monks, students and the people in our future
struggle. UNA

Notes:
SNLD – Shan Nationalities League for Democracy
UNA – United Nationalities Alliance

____________________________________

September 10, Asian Human Rights Commission
Burma: Courts shut down because of protests

The Asian Human Rights Commission has been informed that courts in Burma's
largest city, Rangoon, have stopped operating.

As has been widely reported, protests began in Burma after an increase in
fuel prices of two to five times on August 15. Since August 20, all cases
going to the ordinary courts around the city have been repeatedly
adjourned; lawyers and others asking about the reason have been told that
it is because of security. Evidently, the same does not apply to special
tribunals inside the prisons, as on September 7 a group of six men were
given jail terms of 20 to 28 years for organising a discussion about
workers' rights last May.

What are the consequences of suspending hearings? Obviously, persons are
still being arrested for ordinary crimes and misdemeanours. Now, instead
of them having their cases heard according to the ordinary criminal
procedure, they are being kept in custody for an undefined period of time.
This is likely to cause a heavy backlog will take some time for the courts
to clear. Additionally, it will lead to many other practical problems. In
particular, where are the accused being held? Police cells are likely to
become quickly overcrowded, as these are places that can only house small
numbers for short periods. And as the police in Burma are known to kill
and torture people in their custody with impunity under normal
circumstances, overcrowding and postponed hearings will open the door to
many more violent incidents in these and coming days.

It is well known that hundreds of protestors held since August 21 have
been both taken and detained without any regard to either domestic or
international law. Most have been snatched and dragged off the streets by
government-organised gangs and members of the police, local councils and
other security personnel wearing plain clothes. Some have been held at
special interrogation centres; the locations of others remain unknown.

What has not become known is that one of the consequences of their arrests
is that a person taken into custody in Rangoon today for any offence at
all knows not when he or she may appear before a court or be released.
There is also no way for anyone to complain about this state of affairs.
In the absence of the courts, which are anyhow already under the complete
control of the central authorities, there is nowhere to turn in Burma for
any one to obtain a release order if held contrary to the law. Not only
the rights of persons detained for participating in demonstrations, but
those of everyone else as well, have been violated.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has for some time insisted upon the
importance of studying the characteristics and implications of what it has
rightly described as Burma's "injustice system" in order to appreciate how
its military rulers degrade all aspects of life and institutions there.
Under the current conditions too, ordinary persons have been made the
victims of their arbitrary control by the state and its agencies.
Yesterday, protest; today, no trial: this is the perverted response of
autocrats to any challenge upon their authority. It is this sort of cause
and effect that deserves much more attention and analysis in order that
the situation in Burma be properly understood and addressed by concerned
persons both inside and outside of the country.

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues
in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.