The Burmese Junta’s Cold Calculation
Cyclone Nargis tragically claimed tens of thousands of lives in Burma’s Irrawaddy delta, but the more prolific killer may turn out to be politics. As the Burmese people continue to suffer, their military government continues to deprive them of the aid they desperately need in order to ensure their own survival. With Oxfam now warning of a health catastrophe and the UN warning that the death toll might reach the hundreds of thousands, the military junta’s weak, self-serving response to the crisis is causing increasing international outrage. Other governments might buckle under the combined external and internal pressure, but the generals ruling Burma have a secret weapon: indifference. Paranoid about outsiders penetrating the veil of secrecy they have thrown over the country, the government still refuses to grant visas to international relief workers, including Canada’s DART team, instead insisting that aid groups surrender their supplies so that officials can stamp their own names on the food supplies, making it seem as if it is the junta who is delivering the aid. Adding injury to insult, one of the few relief boats allowed into the country sank yesterday after hitting a submerged tree trunk. By slapping their names on donated food, the generals are trying to mask their almost total lack of a response to the crisis. And the junta is not just apathetic to the needs of their own people; they have managed to completely ignore the din of foreign condemnation that has become more vehement, just as they did after they killed dozens of protesters in Rangoon last fall.
What few material and political resources the junta does have at its disposal have largely gone into encouraging and forcing citizens to vote in a referendum that will legitimize a new constitution friendly to the military. Geoffrey York writes in the Globe that military vehicles and soldiers were diverted from disaster relief to help coordinate Saturday’s vote, and the government was busy yesterday celebrating the “massive turnout.” Much of this turnout can be attributed to mass threats and intimidation, with the government threatening “no” voters with jail. Although no one in the Big Seven today explicitly draws this line, MediaScout wonders if Burma’s rulers weren’t happy to have a humanitarian disaster to distract those who might otherwise have braved state repression to protest the sham vote. There was a large imperative for the regime to make sure the vote passed, as it contained measures that will permanently entrench its rule. Under the new laws, the military will gain a permanent 25-percent share of all seats in the upper and lower houses of parliament, allowing it to veto any further constitutional changes. It also marginalizes the main opposition leader (and honourary Canadian) Aung San Suu Kyi, who would be barred from becoming president because she has a foreign spouse. With the military pushing these measures through under cover of a disaster, it seems that any immediate hope for democracy in Burma is buried among the cyclone’s debris.
Monday May 12, 2008 In Myanmar, the regime looks after itself, first and foremost
The decision by Myanmar's ruling generals to move their capital in 2005 from Yangon, the country's biggest city, to the remote mountain fastness of Naypyidaw was as baffling as many of their other policies. Local rumour ascribed it to the advice of fortune-tellers, who foretold revolt and disaster in Yangon.
Sunday 11 May 2008 Bodies Flow Into Hard-Hit Area of Myanmar
In isolated areas, bodies come and go with the tides, washing up on riverbanks or floating grotesquely downstream. They are all but ignored by the living.
FRANCE
Two French cargo planes were scheduled to leave on Saturday with emergency aid for Burma. One plane carrying 35 tonnes of emergency aid left Bordeaux-Merignac airport. It carried shelters, water-treatment equipment, first-aid supplies and food. A second plane was also due to leave the southwestern French city on Saturday with another 36 tonnes of materials.
Voting began on Saturday in a referendum on the junta's proposed constitution. Western nations had urged the junta to postpone the vote and to concentrate efforts on delivering aid to more than a million victims of the recent cyclone. The vote is Burma's first in more than a decade. Polling stations were open in all but the most devastated parts of the country. Meanwhile, the United Nations launched another appeal to the junta to stop restricting aid workers from delivering emergency supplies to cyclone victims. The U.N. was to resume aid flights to Burma on Saturday, one day after the U.N. World Food Program suspended deliveries because cargo from two of its aid planes had impounded in Rangoon.
Saturday 10 May 2008 The military junta has allowed a U.S. cargo plane to land laden with food and other supplies in the first foreign aid allowed into the country. The government had confiscated other shipments of aid destined for victims of the cyclone that devastated Burma one week ago, causing the UN to suspend aid shipments temporarily. Diplomats and aid groups say the death toll could exceed 100,000. The plight of survivors in the Irrawaddy Delta is expected to worsen because of heavy rain forecast for the next week. Almost two million people are in need of food, clean water, shelter and medicine. Despite the disaster, the junta is pushing ahead with its plan to hold a referendum on a proposed constitution, although the vote was to be delayed by two weeks in disaster areas, including the capital
-myanmar-cyclone"
Thursday 08 May 2008
The UN says it is disappointed at Burma's slow progress in allowing access to victims of last weekend's cyclone.
Burmese blog the cyclone
Wednesday 07 May 2008 Disaster in Myanmar
Helping the people of Myanmar is the immediate task. In time, the world can redouble its effort to free Myanmar from the great disaster of the junta itself.
Tuesday 06 May 2008
The death toll from a powerful cyclone that hit Burma on Saturday seems to swell by the minute. The first official reports were that only a few hundred had died, a figure that was later revised to a few thousand. Last night, as newscasts were prepared and papers put to bed, the word was that ten thousand to fifteen thousand had perished. But morning online updates herald the shocking news that more than 22,000 people succumbed to the storm, and to the lack of emergency measures in the isolated military dictatorship. Yesterday, MediaScout reported that the disaster exposed the fault lines in Burma’s repressive regime, and the illusion that it at least had the strength to protect its people was shattered. Today, Burma’s generals were forced into facing that reality, taking the rare step of asking for outside help. But they are also showing signs of stubbornness, acting slowly to make arrangements for the assistance they admit they need. The Post (not available online) reports that the Burmese government would not commit to issuing visas to aid workers, blocking UN agencies from delivering food and water. Canada has committed to providing $2 million in aid, ready to go, the government says, as soon as Burma gives the green light.
Meanwhile, the Star reports that the cyclone could worsen another crisis. The destruction of rice-producing areas in Burma could mean that the country will not be able to provide the staple crop to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, adding to the shortage already blamed for soaring prices. In Burma, the already high price of fuel has doubled since the storm, forcing many Burmese to turn to the black market. Despite the insufferable conditions, the military junta plans to proceed with a referendum on a new constitution. Some say this may backfire on the regime, as many Burmese are furious with the government’s handing of the disaster and could vote against the proposed constitution. On the other hand, the struggle to survive will likely keep many away from the polls, and any result unfavorable to the government will almost certainly be manipulated. Still, democracy advocates hope that the disaster may turn the public decisively against the junta, who recently earned the scorn of the international community for brutally repressing protests by monks. But if the disaster does lead to the collapse of the government, Burma would have to deal with a political crisis on top of a dire humanitarian one a mix sure to cause more immediate suffering.
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THE LEADS:
THE NATIONAL: “10,000 Dead? The scale of the cyclone damage in Burma becomes clearer”
CTV NEWS: “A Cyclone’s Horror: A massive human tragedy unfolds in Burma”
GLOBE AND MAIL: “Private air watchdog falls short, audit says”
TORONTO STAR: “Gaps found in air safety”
NATIONAL POST: “Cyclone toll at 15,000″ (not available online)
Tuesday May 6, 2008 Army has ruled nation since a 1962 coup
Some key facts about Myanmar, a former British colony:
- Having won independence in 1948, what was then called Burma was roiled by political feuding and ethnic guerrilla conflicts until a 1962 coup. It has been run by the army ever since, and ethnic insurgencies, often fuelled by the opium trade, continue.
- Nearly 70 per cent of its 53 million people are ethnic Burman. Significant minorities are the Shan and predominantly Christian Karen.
OTTAWA: BURMA'S RIGHTS GRANTED CITIZENSHIP
Canada has granted honorary citizenship to Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's legendary opposition leader and human rights struggler. Her cousin Sein Win accepted the honour on her behalf on Parliament Hill. Mr. Win thanked Canada for its disaster aid and said the referendum on Burma's new constitution that is scheduled for Saturday should be delayed until the cyclone crisis eases. He called as well for other nations to imitate Canada by imposing sanctions on Burma's military rulers. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won her country's 1990 elections but was never permitted by the military to govern. She is only the fourth person to be awarded honorary Canadian citizenship, the others being former South African President Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of European Jews at the end of World War Two.
Burma's death toll has risen to more than 22,000 after a cyclone hit the country on Saturday, state media say.
Video shows force of cyclone
Wednesday 23 April 2008 Myanmar's awful choice
IN EMBASSIES abroad, voting has already begun in the referendum on Myanmar’s new constitution, which will be held in-country on May 10th. The ruling junta advertises it as an important step forward on its “roadmap” to democratic, civilian rule. If only.
Friday 11 April 2008 China, the Olympic torch and Myanmar
There may be a Burmese route for China to gain some friends
Thursday 27 March 2008 QUEBEC CITY: CONFERENCE CONVENES ON BURMA
The city will host on Thursday an international conference concerning Burma. The experts on that country will include the UN's special envoy Ibrahim Gambari. The participants will discuss ways to support the UN's efforts in Burma. The Canadian foreign minister, Mr. Bernier, says it's essential for the world community to continue pressure for democratic reforms. Mr. Bernier recalled on Wednesday that Canada last December imposed the most severe economic sanctions against Burma because of the continuing abuses of its military régime.
Sunday 09 March 2008 Burma's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, met on Saturday with U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari, one day after the government junta rejected calls to include her in their election process. The Nobel Peace laureate has been confined to her home for 12 of the past 18 years. She is rarely allowed any contact with the outside world. Mr. Gambari has been allowed to meet her on his two previous visits. Earlier, Mr. Gambari held talks with top officials from Miss San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.
Sunday 10 February 2008 The military government in Burma announced on Saturday that it will hold a referendum on a new constitution in May. It will clear the way for multi-party elections in 2010. Burma, also known as Myanmar, last held elections in 1990. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won in a landslide, but the ruling junta has never recognized the result.
Wednesday 23 January 2008 China is reportedly calling on Burma's ruling military to allow a United Nations special envoy back into the country. The Chinese want Ibrahim Gambari to continue promoting a dialogue between the military government and the opposition Democracy Party. The Chinese request comes as Mr. Gambari claims the Burmese government is trying to delay his third visit to the country since a September crackdown on protests. At least 200 people were reportedly killed during the crackdown and some two-thousand others were imprisoned. The international community criticized the crackdown and called on China, Burma's ally, to convince the generals there to stop repression and free political prisoners.
Friday Jan 18, 2008 Pressure mounts on Myanmar to reform
The UN Security Council upbraided Myanmar yesterday for slow progress on democratic reforms as the world...
The Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva Thursday called on China and India to exert greater pressure on Burma's military leaders to free its political prisoners. Canadian Senator Sharon Carstairs of the IPU said 13 lawmakers detained in Burma since the 1990 elections are still in prison. She also said six parliamentarians died in prison between 1990 and 2007, and two others have been killed. Burma's most high-profile detainee is democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been confined to her home for 12 of the past 18 years. She led the National League for Democracy to a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but the result has never been recognised by the junta, which arrested her. China is a major supplier of weapons to Burma and has come under criticism for its policy of non-interference in Burmese affairs.
Wednesday 16 January 2008 Security was increased Friday in Burma's largest city, Yangon, as the country marked the sixtieth anniversary of its independence from Britain. Police were out in force to prevent the kind of mass public protests against the military government that were held last year. Government forces violently suppressed the protests by Buddhist monks in September, killing at least 31 people. More than 70 other protesters are still missing. As Burma marked its anniversary, the wife of U.S. President George W. Bush, Laura Bush, called on the world to condemn what she called the shameful abuses of human rights in Burma, also known as Myanmar.
Saturday 05 January 2008 Security was increased Friday in Burma's largest city, Yangon, as the country marked the sixtieth anniversary of its independence from Britain. Police were out in force to prevent the kind of mass public protests against the military government that were held last year. Government forces violently suppressed the protests by Buddhist monks in September, killing at least 31 people. More than 70 other protesters are still missing. As Burma marked its anniversary, the wife of U.S. President George W. Bush, Laura Bush, called on the world to condemn what she called the shameful abuses of human rights in Burma, also known as Myanmar.
2007
Sunday 09 December 2007 The United Nations Human Rights envoy says Burma's crackdown on democracy protesters in September killed at least 31 people, three times more than what the military junta says. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro also says that as many as 4,000 people were arrested, and 1,000 are still in detention under degrading conditions. Mr. Pinheiro's report is based on his mid-November fact-finding mission in Burma and concludes that Burma's military rulers used excessive force to end the pro-democracy protests. The report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next Tuesday.
Tuesday 27 November 2007 A leading French writer says French President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to discuss the situation in Burma, also known as Myanmar, when he meets Chinese President Hu Jintao this week. Bernard-Henri Levy was part of a group of writers and intellectuals who met with Mr. Sarkozy for more than an hour at the Elysee Palace on Saturday to discuss Burma. "He told us in no uncertain terms that Myanmar is an extremely important subject for him," Mr. Levy said. Burma, which is ruled by a military junta, was rocked by pro-democracy protests in September when Buddhist monks led 100,000 people in the streets of the capital, Rangoon, only to suffer a violent reprisal from security forces. China is seen as one of the few countries with any influence over Burma's ruling generals. But Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao reiterated recently that sanctions and pressure would not help reconciliation efforts in Burma, which has been run by the military for more than four decades. Mr. Sarkozy goes to China on Sunday aiming to sell Airbus jets and nuclear technology and press China to re-value its currency and bolster the fight against global warming.
Sat 17/11/2007 The U.S. senate has unanimously adopted a resolution which urges the ASEAN grouping of 10 South Asian states to suspend Burma's membership because of September's suppression of the country's biggest protests against its military junta in almost 20 years. ASEAN issued a rare rebuke to Burma, expressing "revulsion" and demanding that the junta stop employing violence against protesters. Sen. Barbara Boxer who presented the resolution said she appreciates the strong rebuke but that now is the time for action. ASEAN will hold a summit in Singapore and one of the items on the agenda is the adoption of a charter that seeks to promote human rights and democracy.
Thursday 15 November 2007 OTTAWA: SANCTIONS DECREED AGAINST BURMA
Canada's minister of foreign affairs has announced new sanctions against Burma. Maxime Bernier describes the repression in Burma as getting worse. In an address in Toronto, Mr. Bernier announced seven sanctions, including all goods imported from and exported to Burma except for humanitarian goods. Some of the other sanctions include a prohibition against the export of any technical data, and a ban on any private or public Canadian investment in Burma. There are reports that as many as 200 people were killed in the recent brutal crackdown against Buddhist monks and pro-democracy protesters in Burma and 2,000 people imprisoned.
Tuesday 13 November 2007 UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged the junta and its opposition to redouble their efforts to achieve national reconciliation because a return to the status quo before the military's suppression of huge street demonstrations is "not sustainable." Mr. Ban, who is touring South America, was to have been briefed on Monday evening by his special envoy for Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, on his six-day visit last week to Burma, his second as envoy. Last week, pro-democracy leader and Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi expressed optimism after meeting with a junta official. She was also allowed to meet with executives of her National League for Democracy for the first time in more than three years. The junta has kept her under house arrest for years.
Sunday 11 November 2007 The country's military rulers allowed pro-democracy leader and Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to meet three executives of her National League for Democracy Party on Friday, the first such meeting in more than three years. Suu Kyi was also allowed to leave the home where she has been under house arrest for years. A government minister sat in on the meeting with her colleagues, whom she told she's optimistic that a dialogue can be struck up with the junta. Her spokesman said she believes the military has the will to work for national reconciliation. The junta has come under intense international pressure to negotiate with Suu Kyi and end the dictatorship since it violently suppressed huge political demonstrations in September led by Buddhist monks, many of whom now languish in jail.
Monday 05 November 2007 The United Nations special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, is in Burma on his second visit since anti-government protests in September that left an undetermined number of people dead. On Sunday, he met a senior junta official, Labour Minister Aung Kyi, in the isolated capital Naypyidaw. Mr. Kyi defended Burma's decision on Friday to expel the top U.N. diplomat based in the country. He said the envoy, Charles Petrie, had misrepresented the situation in Burma. During his visit, Mr. Gambari wants to persuade the military regime to accept reform and start talks with the democratic opposition. He also hopes to meet with detained Nobel laureate Aung San Su Kyii, whose National League for Democracy party won the 1990 elections but was never allowed to take power.
Sunday 04 November 2007 The military junta has expelled the top UN diplomat for public remarks that he made on Oct. 24. The expulsion of Charles Petrie comes just a day before the arrival of the UN envoy for Burma, Ibrahim Gambari. Mr. Petrie said that the protests in September that began over fuel price increases and escalated into an anti-junta movement prove the dire state of Burma's economy after 45 years of military rule. Mr. Gambari's mandate is to persuade the military to enter talks about political reform with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Thursday 01 November 2007 The Reuters news agency reports that Buddhist monks have staged their first protest since the military crushed demonstrations a month ago. Reuters cites a witness who said that 200 monks in their garb marched while praying in the central town of Pakokku, 370 kilometres northwest of Yangon. The town was at the origin of last month's protests when troops fired above the heads of monks, thus transforming small, local protests into the biggest anti-junta uprising in 20 years. A Burmese dissident radio in Norway reports that the monks are sticking to their demands for lower fuel prices, national reconciliation and the release of all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi. UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, meanwhile, will make his second visit to Burma for one week starting Nov. 3. His mission is to persuade the régime to address human rights concerns and to begin a dialogue with Suu Kyi.
Wednesday 31 October 2007 Monks march again in Myanmar
Demonstration in northern region is first since government's deadly crackdown last month
Sunday Oct 28, 2007 At least 70 people who were detained in Burma during recent anti-government protests have been released. An opposition party official says that some 50 members of the National League for Democracy were among those freed. The NLD is led by Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, who has been under house arrest for most of the past 18 years. On Thursday, Miss Suu Kyi met a Burmese government official in efforts to agree to a resumption of talks between the two sides. The NLD won democratic elections in 1990 but were prevented from taking office by the military. Meanwhile, Burmese troops returned to the streets of Rangoon on Friday, but there were no signs of new demonstrations.
Friday Oct 26, 2007 China rejects call for action against Burma as Suu Kyi meets junta
China has rebuffed international demands to take tougher action against the Burmese regime, saying the recent demands for democracy and their violent repression by the authorities were issues that had to be resolved by Burma's "own people".
The rejection of the UN's request came as the imprisoned democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met a representative of the regime for the first time in several years.
Tuesday 23 October 2007 UNITED STATES
The U.S has imposed further sanctions against the military dictatorship in Burma. President George W. Bush added the names of 12 Burmese leaders to a list of those who already face financial and travel sanctions. And the U.S. commerce department is tightening export controls on Burma. Mr. Bush says Burma's rulers continue to defy the world's just demands to end persecution and urged China, India and other countries to consider similar actions. Hundreds of monks and civilians were arrested, and an undetermined number killed in pro-democracy protests last month.
Thursday 18 October 2007 OTTAWA: BURMESE PRO-DEMOCRACY LEADER MADE CITIZEN
The Canadian government has unanimously agreed to make Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi an honorary Canadian citizen. The government says the honour is based on Miss Suu Kyi's struggle to bring freedom and democracy to the people of Burma. Miss Suu Kyi has been under house arrest in Burma for most of the last 18 years. Her Democracy Party won the general elections in 1990 but the military refused to give up power. In recent weeks, the military launched a major crackdown on anti-government protesters
The Reuters news agency reports that a Buddhist monk has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison at a closed-door trial for having taken part in mass protests last month against the military junta. The agency quotes an unnamed source as saying that 26-year-old Eik Darea is the first monk of the many arrested known to have been a jail term. According to Reuters, the monk was expelled from holy orders and sentenced in a court in Sittwe, the capital of the northwestern state of Rakhine, where mass protests on a smaller scale than those in Yangon occurred. The security forces raided more than 20 monasteries in the capital taking most of their monks into custody, but there have no reports of closed-door trials. The government acknowledges having arrested almost 3,000 people but critics of the junta say the true figure is likely higher.
Wednesday 17 October 2007 State media say almost 500 prisoners are still being held as a result of last month's repression of street demonstrations led by Buddhist monks. The media also raised the numbers of those arrested to almost 3,000, the previous figure having been 2,100. At least 13 people died in the protests against the military junta, including a Japanese journalist. The Japanese government responded on Tuesday by cancelling $4.7 million dollars of grants. On Monday, the EU clapped an embargo on imports of Burmese wood, gems and metals but not oil. The official New Light of Myanmar expressed defiance, saying: "We will march on." The newspaper also denied there are political prisoners, claiming that those in prison are lawbreakers.
Tuesday 16 October 2007 The UN special envoy for Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, has begun a seven-nation visit to Asia to try to solve the political crisis in Burma, the last stop on the tour being that country itself. Mr. Gambari met in Bangkok on Monday with Thailand's foreign minister, Nitya Pibulsonggram and was to meet later Monday with the prime minister. Prior to his arrival, Burma's military junta lifted the shutdown of the Internet, but continues to block foreign news sites. The junta shut down the Internet on Sept. 28, two days after troops opened fire on peaceful protesters, images of the confrontations then being transmitted over the Internet. Mr. Gambari will also visit Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, India and China before returning to Burma. The UN envoy spent four days there earlier in the month and met its military leader, Gen. Than Shwe, and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He urged the general to begin a political dialogue but the call has so far been ignored.
Monday 15 October 2007 The United Nations special envoy for Burma headed back to the region on Sunday. Ibrahim Gambari will again try to pressure Burma's military rulers to open talks with pro-democracy supporters. The envoy will be carrying a statement from the Security Council deploring the recent brutal crackdown by the Burmese military of pro-democracy demonstrations, which left an unknown number of people dead. On Saturday, Burmese soldiers raided a safehouse in Yangon, where several leaders of the recent pro-democracy protests had been living.
Saturday 13 October 2007 The Burmese military government has reacted for the first time to the condemnation by the UN Security Council of its crackdown on political demonstrations by saying it "regrets" it. The statement issued in Yangon says the government will co-operate with the world body and proceed with its own "road map" that will culminate in democracy. The statement didn't refer to the Council's call for the military to release political prisoners and to enter into negotiations with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The European Union, meanwhile, plans to strengthen sanctions against Burma next week by imposing an embargo on timber, gems and metals. The list doesn't include oil.
Friday 12 October 2007 
The U.N. condemnation of the brutal crackdown on protests...[ more ]
Friday Oct 12, 2007 The UN Security Council has issued its first statement on the situation in Burma since the suppression of last month's protests led by Buddhist monks. The statement deplores the political crackdown and calls for the release of all political prisoners. About 1,000 of those arrested are thought to be still in custody. The military government claims that one-half of those arrested have been freed. The government also criticized Western governments and news media for having "provoked the people into protests." UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will send his special envoy Ibrahim Gambari back to southeast Asia next weekend for talks with the governments of Burma's neighbours and to prepare for a second visit since the events to that country.
Thursday 11 October 2007 The junta ruling Myanmar appointed a general viewed as a moderate to act as go-between with Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition, who is under house arrest. Her party, the National League for Democracy, has rejected the junta's conditions for starting a dialogue, which include her dropping her support for international sanctions against the regime. Yangon, the main city, remained under curfew, but daily life resumed after the recent protests and their violent suppression. See article
Tuesday 09 October 2007 The ruling military junta has named the country's deputy labour minister as its formal contact with pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The official, Aung Kyi, will supervise all contact between her, the junta and the UN. The government's announcement of the nomination didn't detail Aung Kyi's precise duties. The making of such a nomination was suggested last week by the special UN envoy, Ibrahim Gambara, who visited Burma for three days. Suu Kyi has spent 12 of the last 18 years either in jail or under house arrest. The ruling generals suppressed the biggest political protests in 20 years two weeks ago. The government says 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the death toll as high as 200.
Monday 08 October 2007 The military junta continues to step up pressure on monks who spearheaded the recent pro-democracy rallies. A pro-junta newspaper said Sunday guns, knives and ammunition were seized during recent raids on monasteries. More than 500 Buddhist monks are believed to have been picked up for questioning. The government says at least 135 are being held. Burma's military leaders also announced dozens of new arrests. Dissident sources say as many as 6,000 people may be in custody. The junta says at least 10 people were killed in its Sept. 26-27 crackdown. Dissident sources say the total may be in the hundreds. Meanwhile, security eased Sunday in Rangoon, the country's largest city, more than a week after soldiers and police opened fire on demonstrators. Some roadblocks were removed and visitors began trickling back to two heavily guarded pagodas that were the starting and finishing points of protests that began in mid-August over a sharp fuel price increase. In New York, the UN Security Council is scheduled to meet Monday under pressure to quickly condemn the military regime for crushing the pro-democracy protests.
Thursday 04 October 2007 The military continued on Wednesday its repression since the violent confrontations that according to government figures left 10 dead last week. The Associated Press reports that soldiers in the dead of night dragged people from dozens of homes around the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, a focus of the agitation, taking many men away for questioning. A UN Development Program employee told the agency that her husband, brother-in-law and driver were among them. Dozens of Buddhist monks were seen at Yangon train station after being ordered to leave their monasteries and return to their hometowns and villages. Video seen on the CNN cable network showed police and soldiers rounding up and beating demonstrators before taking them away in trucks. In Brussels, the EU expanded sanctions by banning visas for Burmese junta members, extending limits on investment and forbidding trade in the country's metals, timber and gems. But the EU hasn't forbidden European oil and natural gas firms to do business in Burma, that country having vast deposits of oil and gas.
Wednesday 03 October 2007 UN envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari has ended his four-day mission to that country to try to halt the military crackdown in its biggest protests in almost 20 years again military dictatorship. Mr. Gambari, had separate meetings on Tuesday with junta leader Than Shwe and pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under one form or another of arrest for many years. Mr. Gambari carried a message from her to Than Shwe but didn't disclose what it said. The envoy will be in Singapore on Wednesday to meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Singapore is the chair of the Association of South east Asian Nations and has been criticial of Burma's junta. Last week's protests led by monks in Yangon and elsewhere left 10 people dead, according to government figures, although human rights groups say the true number is far higher. Witnesses told the Reuters news agency that there were fewer troops on the streets of Yangon on Tuesday but that gangs looking for dissident monks and civilians seemed to indicate that the UN diplomatic effort had not succeeded.
Tuesday Oct 2, 2007 Burmese truths
Re: Complicit In Burma's Misery, editorial, Sept. 28.
Your editorial criticizing China and Russia for propping up the regime in Burma relies on erroneous assumptions. For one, it asserts that "[Burma's] political culture is not crippled by the corrupting influence of easy oil." The military oligarchy plunders the country's rich resources of forced human labour, tropical timber and off-shore oil and gas. And a U.S. oil company operates a natural gas pipeline from Burma to Thailand.
Fri 28 September 2007 Today's guest host was Wei Chen.
Listen to CBC The Current:
Part 1 Audio & go The Current text
Sunday 30 September 2007 A United Nations envoy arrived in Burma on Saturday to meet with the military junta in the hope he can persuade the regime to end the violence against anti-government protesters. Ibrahim Gambari is the first outsider to meet with the junta since mass protests began in a number of cities last month. On Friday the United States called on Burmese authorities to let Mr. Gambari meet with whomever he wants, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for more than a decade and has not been seen for almost a week. However, Western diplomats say Mr. Gambari's schedule was set by the junta and likely would not include meetings with pro-democracy figures, such as Ms. Suu Kyi. Several hundred people protested in Burma's main city of Rangoon Saturday despite three days of crackdowns on the pro-democracy protests. The protesters chanted slogans before being charged by security forces. At least two protesters were severely beaten. In the central town of Pakokku hundreds of monks reportedly led a peaceful march of thousands of demonstrators. In the past week, at least 10 people have been killed. Observers say the total might be much higher.
UNITED NATIONS
Humanitarian groups say many people in Burma are not just being affected by the violence, but by restricted access to food aid as a result of military roadblocks. The UN World Food Program said its deliveries of food aid to 500,000 needy people have been severely impeded in the central regions of the country.
A suicide bomber killed 28 Afghan troops and two civilians in an attack on an army bus in Kabul Saturday. Afghan officials said the Taliban militia claimed responsibility. It was the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since the Taliban was ousted from power for harbouring al Qaeda leaders in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks on the United States. Meanwhile, the Taliban Saturday released four Red Cross workers, including two foreign nationals, captured near the capital four days ago. The four -- one from Myanmar, one from Macedonia and two Afghans -- were seized in the province of Wardak on Wednesday while returning from a mission to release a German engineer and five Afghans captured by Taliban in mid-July. Canada currently has 2500 troops with the NATO force in the southern province of Kandahar.
Sunday Sep 30, 2007 There are signs of hope for change in Burma
Is the Earth really, finally, moving in Burma? Maybe. Demonstrations continued to swell last week, while the regime played true to character and sent in the thugs. Burma's 50 million or so people are still brutally oppressed and desperately poor - but they don't seem as afraid as usual.
Sat 29/09/2007 rci Anti-government mass protests continued unabated in Yangon and Mandalay, Burma's two biggest cities, on Friday. An interruption of the Internet cut the flow of video, photos and first-hand accounts of the demonstrations. The leadership of the movement has apparently shifted to students, after having been led by Buddhist monks, hundreds of whom have been arrested. Of the at least 13 people known to have been killed in clashes with police and military, three were monks. As many as 10,000 demonstrators confronted police and soldiers in Yangon. In Mandalay, thousands of young people riding motorbikes drove down a major street towards a blockade from which they fired upon, possibly with rubber bullets. Australia's ambassador, Bob Davis, has told Australian radio that he has spoken to witnesses who told him that the actual death toll from the clashes may be several times higher than the nine which the government acknowledges. In Washington, meanwhile, has imposed visa bans on more than 30 Burmese officials. Earlier in the week, the Canadian government condemned the repression, calling on the Burmese government to respect the demonstrators human rights.
Thursday 27 September 2007 UNITED NATIONS: CANADA CONDEMNS BURMA CRACKDOWN
Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier has condemned the Burmese government's use of soldiers and police against monks and other protesters who were expressing their right to peaceful dissent, calling on the government in Yangon to end such violence. Mr. Bernier says the government has an obligation to protect fundamental freedoms as a party to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The minister spoke at the UN where he attended a meeting of G-8 foreign ministers, his seven counterparts likewise condemning the recent events in Burma. On another subject Mr. Bernier said the government is concerned about the arrest last weekend of many Pakistani opposition politicians, complaining that the arrests undermine the democratic process preceding Pakistan's presidential and parliamentary elections. Mr. Bernier has urged the government of President Pervez Musharraf to release the "political detainees" and let people cast ballots freely in the forthcoming votes. Dozens of people were taken into custody last weekend to prevent demonstrations against the president's plan to run for re-election.
Thursday 27 September 2007 Thousands of protesters defy Myanmar crackdown
Demonstrators defied government warnings and flooded into the streets in Yangon, braving gun fire and baton attacks to carry on protests against Asia’s most repressive military junta.
Wednesday 26 September 2007 In pictures: Mood darkens in Burma | more | video
Should it be Burma or Myanmar?
Wednesday 26 September 2007 
Violence erupts at Myanmar protests
Three dead as authorities crackdown on protests
A group of monks sit in protest after being halted by riot policemen and military officials as they attempt to proceed to the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon September 26, 2007. As many as 200 maroon-robed monks were arrested outside the gilded Shwedagon as the Buddhist priesthood, the former Burma's highest moral authority, went head-to-head with the might of a military that has ruled for an unbroken 45 years.
Photograph by : REUTERS
Bush, at U.N., Announces Stricter Burmese Sanctions
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 — President Bush, calling on countries to live up to freedoms and rights promised by the United Nations almost six decades ago, on Tuesday announced tighter sanctions on Myanmar and denounced the governments of Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Zimbabwe as “brutal regimes” that should be confronted for their abuses.
... Mr. Bush made his remarks at the opening of the 62nd session of the General Assembly, an annual gathering that was at points stormy and theatrical. Cuba’s foreign minister walked out of the president’s speech, protesters rallied outside with “Arrest Bush” signs and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, rebutted most of what Mr. Bush said. more
Wednesday 26 September 2007 Technology gives world rare view of Myanmar's rage
Satellite uplinks, camera phones ensuring pictures of protests on TV screens around the world in hours
Blogs evade news ban in Myanmar
Dozens of bloggers and websites have been risking jail or worse to post news and photos of protests in Myanmar
Tuesday Sep 25, 2007 Crisis dates back to 1988 revolt
Myanmar has been under military dictatorship almost continuously since 1962, but the origins of the latest crisis can be traced back to a failed revolt...
Myanmar
has been under military dictatorship almost continuously since 1962,
but the origins of the latest crisis can be traced back to a failed
revolt in 1988.
The country, which was then still known to the
outside world as Burma, was no stranger to coups, and had suffered
periodic instability both before and after its independence from
Britain in 1948.
In 1988, its people were suffering from a
deteriorating economy heavily dependent on agricultural commodities,
which were falling in value.
On Aug. 8 troops opened fire in the capital Rangoon
(now called Yangon) on demonstrators demanding democracy. The death
toll is believed to have run into the thousands.
Six weeks later,
on Sept. 18, there was a new coup, but the military promised to allow
opposition parties and organize democratic elections. Those promises
proved to be illusory.
At the end of September the opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of the country's independence hero,
formed the National League for Democracy (NLD). Less than a year later,
on July 20, 1989, the military regime responded to her growing
political strength by placing her under house arrest, a situation she
has been in for most of the time since.
Her detention did not
prevent the NLD from winning a landslide in elections in May, 1990, but
the military government refused to recognize the results. It has held
on to power ever since.
Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October, 1991, but the political situation has remained deadlocked.
In
1989, the generals changed the country's name to Myanmar, although this
is not recognized by the United Nations or the United States.
Monday 24 September 2007
Monks and the military Sep 24th 2007
Monday 24 September 2007 Protests against Burma's military dictatorship intensified on Sunday to include Buddhist nuns and civilians. An estimated ten thousand Buddhist monks led the marches that began after the government imposed a stiff hike on fuel prices. Protesters are being trailed by plainclothes police. On Sunday, a small crowd of about 400 split off from the main demonstration and tried to approach the house of opposition leader Aung San Sui Kyi. They were blocked by riot police and barbed wire barricades. One report said some officers have taken up positions with shotguns. The demonstration was the largest since 1988, the year that Ms. Suu Kyi took up leadership of Burma's pro-democracy movement.
Sunday 23 September 2007 A sixth day of protests by Buddhist monks was held on Saturday against Burma's military dictatorship. In Yangon, some 2,000 monks were greeted by Aung San Sui Kyi after guards lifted a blockade of the street where the Nobel Peace Laureate has been living under house arrest. Elsewhere, some ten thousand monks marched in the city of Mandalay, a monastic center of Buddhist learning. The protests started recently after the military government raised fuel prices. The monks are now urging civilians to get involved in a peaceful struggle against the military. Civilian participation had been previously discouraged for fear of reprisals against ordinary people and to ensure the demonstrations remain peaceful. Ms. Sui Kyi's National League for Democracy party won elections in 1990, but they were annulled by the army, and she was never allowed to take office.
Saturday 22 September 2007 Several hundred Buddhist monks in Burma have staged another public protest against the military government's economic policies. Hundreds of citizens in Yangon supported the monks' march to the Shwedagon Pagoda, considered the most important landmark in Burma, known also as Myanmar. Police watched but did not interfere. Public marches first began last month to protest high fuel prices. Since then, police have arrested more than 150 people, including some of Burma's most prominent pro-democracy activists.
Sunday Jun 17, 2007 Burmese democrats to mark a sad birthday this week
One of the world's most melancholy birthdays will be marked in Burma on Tuesday. In the sweltering heat of Rangon, Aung San Suu Kyi will turn 62 - solitary, heroic, under house arrest, the only legitimate leader of her people but no closer to freedom or power than she was a long, gloomy decade ago.
 Myanmar
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, shown in this May 2002 photo, has
spent 11 of the last 17 years under detention by the ruling military
junta.
(David Longstreath/Associated Press) |
May 25, 2007 Myanmar extends democracy leader Suu Kyi's detention
... Myanmar extends democracy leader Suu Kyi's detention. Last Updated: Friday,
CBC News. Myanmar extended ...
Wednesday Jan 10, 2007
The situation in Burma is one which we too rarely mention, likely because it
changes so little. This week, however, we draw your attention to the draft
resolution the US has circulated to the UN Security Council, calling on
Burma to ease repression and free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She
has been under house arrest for almost 17 years, despite having been
overwhelmingly endorsed in the elections of 1990
Thursday Apr 20, 2006 McGill takes stand on Myanmar by PETER HADEKEL
2005
Wednesday Nov 30, 2005 rci UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says he's deeply disappointed that Burma's military rulers have extended the house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for another year. The Nobel peace laureate won democratic elections in l990, but her National League For Democracy party was prevented by the junta from taking power. Since then, she has spent some ten years under some form of detention. The extension of Ms. Suu Kyi's house arrest came as Burma's generals prepare for the resumption of talks on a constitution that would cement their place in national politics.
Monday Nov 28, 2005 rci Reports from Burma say that the military government has extended the house arrest of the Nobel peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, by another year. The news came as Ms. Suu Kyi's previous 12-month detention order expired on Sunday. Police paid the democracy activist a visit after security was tightened around her compound. She was elected as Burma's leader in 1990 in a vote that the military government refused to recognize. Since then, she has spent some ten years under some form of detention.
Sunday Nov 6, 2005 ts BRUTAL BURMA
To outsiders, Burma can seem like a fairy-tale kingdom. But outsiders don't know about the 50 million fearful and demoralized people forced to live in one of the world's harshest dictatorships. Leslie Scrivener explains.
Sunday Aug 7, 2005 rci The head of the World Food Program said Friday that around 40 percent of children in Burma are suffering from malnutrition. James Morris made the statement after a four-day visit to that country. He says the United Nations and non-government organisations are prepared to help address the problem as long as they are allowed to work freely in Burma, a country under military rule and known for its human rights abuses. Burma's total population is about 43 million people.
Saturday Jul 30, 2005 Burma's military government has announced it will skip its turn as chairman in 2006 of the Association of South East Asian Nations also known as ASEAN. The move spares the 10 member bloc from criticizing Burma's human rights record and its ongoing detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. There were also threats by the United States and European countries to boycott ASEAN proceedings in 2006 if Burma took up the chair without any meaningful political reform. Burma's announcement to withdraw comes days before Thursday's meeting in Laos of ASEAN's foreign ministers including Canada's Pierre Pettigrew.
Monday Jul 25, 2005 nyt Off the Road to Burma
If Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cares about Southeast Asia, skipping the annual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a bad way to show it.
Monday Nov 24, 2003 bbc
Burma frees opposition leaders
The military junta frees five top opposition members from house arrest, but Aung San Suu Kyi is still detained.
Four of them were freed on Sunday and the fifth on Monday morning.
The five are all members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), although the opposition leader herself was not freed.
Monday Nov 24, 2003 The military government Sunday released four top opposition party
members from house arrest, but pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and four others remained in detention.
Sunday Sep 28, 2003 MYANMAR
Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has been freed from three
months of detention and taken to her home in Yangon, where she'll be
under house arrest. Her doctor says her visitors will be screened. He
also says she's recovering well from recent gynecological surgery.
The government of Indonesia called her release a positive gesture,
while the U.S. and Britain have demanded she be released
unconditionally. Aung San Suu Kyi has spent seven of the past 14
years under house arrest.
Monday Sep 1, 2003 
Suu Kyi 'on hunger strike'
The US says detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is on hunger strike, but this is denied by the junta.
Saturday Aug 9, 2003 Protests mark Burma anniversary
International demonstrations are held to mark 15 years since the crushing of pro-democracy protests in Burma.
Wednesday Jul 30, 2003 bbc
Suu Kyi 'case' solved by October
Burma has hinted it wants opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's "case" resolved by October.
Indonesia's foreign minister Hasan Wirayuda said he had been assured by Burma that the Nobel laureate's detention would be addressed before a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations on 7 October.
Tuesday Jul 29, 2003 The Red Cross says imprisoned Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi is healthy after meeting with her at a jail outside the capitol,
Rangoon. A Red Cross spokesman said the head of a Red Cross
delegation was allowed to meet with her on Monday. The meeting took
place in a private setting away from government minders. The
spokesman said Miss Suu Kyi has not been hurt, but gave no further
details. The Burmese government has been under intense international
pressure to release the opposition leader.
Friday Jul 11, 2003 OTTAWA: CANADA ADDS TO SANCTIONS AGAINST BURMA
Canada's foreign minister, Bill Graham, has announced new measures
against Burma because of the country's military government's
continuing harassment of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her
National League for Democracy party. She and some of her associates
were attacked several weeks ago. Mr. Graham says Canada will deny
visas to high-ranking Burmese government members and senior military
members. Burma's diplomats in Canada will have travel restrictions.
The foreign minister also called on Canadian investors not to invest
any more money in Burma until the political situation there improves.
And Mr. Graham warned Canadian travellers that travel there helps
finance the country's repressive military government. Canada has
imposed a number of sanctions against Burma since 1988. Last January,
the Canadian government removed Burma from a list of developing
countries the goods of which can enter Canada almost duty-free.
Monday Jun 16, 2003
Japan freezes aid to Burma
Burma's biggest donor halts aid to the junta over its detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Friday Jun 20, 2003 US 'loses patience' with Burma
The US says it has lost patience with Burma over its refusal to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Friday Jun 20, 2003 OTTAWA: CANADA MAY TAKE NEW MEASURES AGAINST BURMA
Canada is threatening tougher sanctions against Burma if that
country's military government does not restore democracy and free
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She was arrested on May 30 and
is being held at an undisclosed location. Foreign Minister Bill
Graham says Canada might impose visa bans on certain Burmese military
leaders. Mr Graham says he has serious questions about the way the
Burmese government runs the country. In 1998, Canada broke off
high-level bilateral ties and suspended official commercial relations
with Burma because of that country's continuing human rights abuses.
Monday Jun 9, 2003
A source close to the ruling junta Sunday denied rumours that a
senior official in the country's pro-democracy movement was killed
during bloody clashes in the country's north last month. National
League for Democracy Vice Chairman Tin Oo was travelling with NLD
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other party members when their
entourage was attacked by what was believed to be government
supporters. A UN envoy sent to Burma to meet with Ms. Suu Kyi has
been prevented from seeing her by the military. He says he'll make
one last attempt on Monday before leaving Rangoon.
Saturday Jun 7, 2003 OTTAWA:
CANADA DENOUNCES JAILING OF NOBEL PEACE PRICE WINNER
Canada's minister of foreign affairs summoned the Burmese ambassador
to his office on Friday to express Canada's displeasure with the
detention of Aung San Suu Kyi. Bill Graham later told reporters that
Canada finds the treatment of the opposition leader of Burma
completely unacceptable. Suu Kyi was taken into what authorities
called "protective custody" a week ago after clashes between her
supporters and a pro-government group. Diplomats and dissidents say
she may have been injured in the incident. Mr. Graham says the issue
will be raised at a meeting of Asian foreign ministers later this
month and urged other countries in the region to express their
displeasure.
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UN to demand Suu Kyi release
A UN special envoy says he will go ahead with a visit to Burma, and hopes to see the detained opposition leader. |
Tuesday Jun 3, 2003 OTTAWA: FREEDOM DEMAND FOR MYANMAR DISSIDENT
The government of Canada has demanded that the authorities of Myanmar
immediately release dissident Aung San Suu Kyi and 19 of her
colleagues in the National League for Democracy. They were jailed
last Friday. Canada's foreign minister, Bill Graham, has demanded the
Myanmar government investigate an attack on them last week and
identify those responsible. Mr. Graham also wants it to start talks
about democracy and national reconciliation with Aung San Suu Kyi.
The minister also says Canada supports the efforts of a special
United Nations envoy to start a dialogue between her party, the
authorities and Myanmar's ethnic groups.
Sunday Jun 1, 2003 bbc
Burma isolates opposition
The Burmese authorities have returned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to Rangoon as they extend their crackdown against pro-democracy campaigners.
The leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) is reportedly being detained at a government house in the capital, while security forces have surrounded the homes of other figures in her party, effectively placing them under house arrest.
Sunday Jun 1, 2003 bbc
Concern over fate of Suu Kyi
International expressions of concern have followed the the arrest of Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and closure of her pro-democracy party headquarters in Rangoon.
Burma's ruling military junta said she was taken into "protective custody" after clashes overnight between her supporters and pro-government protesters.
Sunday Jun 1, 2003 cbc MYANMAR OPPOSITION LEADER UNDER ARREST
Authorities in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, have arrested the
country's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and at least 17 top
members of her party.
Friday May 9, 2003 
TRAVEL REPORT
Saturday Mar 1, 2003 nyt
Where Generals Rule and Buddha Reigns
The sunset is fading, its glow slowly leaching from ancient red bricks. As 3,137 pagodas slowly flatten into many-pinnacled silhouettes, I pedal across the darkening plain of Pagan, Myanmar, toward my riverside hotel. Dawn and dusk are my favorite times here, and I've decided bicycling is the best way to experience this fantastic landscape, as if all of Europe's Gothic cathedrals were crowded into an area smaller than Manhattan.
2002
Saturday Dec 28, 2002 U.S. CONFIRMS SYSTEMATIC RAPE OF SHAN WOMEN IN MYANMAR
WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department says it has confirmed reports of the systematic rape of ethnic Shan minority women and girls by the military in Myanmar.
The American officials say they have located and spoken with many of the victims, whose mistreatment was initially detailed by the Shan Human Rights Foundation.
The State Department says it is appalled and is urging the military government in Myanmar to investigate.
Wednesday, 4 December, 2002 bbc 
It is seven months since the Burmese government released the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.
Thursday Jun 27, 2002 cbc
FORMER BURMESE DICTATOR NE WIN DEAD AT 91
Ne Win, the former military dictator of Burma, who dragged the country
from prosperity to poverty, died Thursday under house arrest in Yangon.
He was 91.
Thursday Jun 27, 2002 cbc
MYANMAR INCINERATES $1 BILLION WORTH OF NARCOTICS
The government of Myanmar destroyed narcotics worth more than $1 billion
US on Wednesday, as it tries to convince the world of its sincere
efforts to battle drugs.
Friday May 10, 2002 economist 
OUT OF THE HOUSE Aung san Suu Kyi released in Myanmar
MYANMAR'S military government freed Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition
leader, after almost 20 months of house arrest. Her release is
interpreted as a move by the country's junta to get international
sanctions lifted.
Tuesday May 7, 2002 rci NOBEL LAUREATE SUU KYI FREED IN MYANMAR
YANGON - After 19 months of virtual house arrest, Myanmar's
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released Monday by the
country's military regime. INDEPTH: She was driven from her
barricaded villa in the capital city Yangon to her party's
headquarters, where she was mobbed by thousands of ecstatic
supporters. She told the crowd that there were no conditions
attached to her release and that she was free to resume her role
as leader of the National League for Democracy. Suu Kyi is
expected to meet with party members before speaking publicly.
The United Nations helped negotiate her freedom. Suu Kyi won the
1991 Nobel Peace Prize for struggling to cultivate democracy in
Myanmar, also known as Burma. Rarely allowed to leave villa
She was placed under house arrest in 1989 – one year after a
junta took over the country. The regime then called general
elections in 1990, but lost to Suu Kyi's party. Military rulers
clung to power, and refused to free her until 1995. Even then
she was ordered not to travel outside Yangon. Five years later,
she was detained again and rarely allowed to leave the villa.
FROM JULY 19, 2001: Suu Kyi snubs Myanmar rulers, skips
ceremony In a statement released Monday, the government
predicted the beginning of "a new page for the people of Myanmar
and the international community." It said hundreds of political
prisoners had been let go during the past few months, and more
releases were expected. FROM APRIL 3, 2001: Although the
government did not mention Suu Kyi by name, it promised to
embrace reforms she has been campaigning for: "We shall recommit
ourselves to allowing all of our citizens to participate freely
in the life of our political process, while giving priority to
national unity, peace and stability of the country as well as
the region." World reaction has been immediate and positive. UN
human rights advocate Mary Robinson called the release a
"historic event" that should help national reconciliation. She
says she hopes the release will be followed by the freeing of
all other political prisoners in Myanmar. Human rights groups
Amnesty International and the U.S.-based Free Burma Coalition
also called for the release of other political prisoners in the
country.
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Monday May 6, 2002 BBC
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Burma frees opposition leader
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi pledges a renewed campaign after being released from nearly 20 months of house arrest.
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Monday May 6, 2002 bbc
Burma's military government has released the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest in Rangoon for the past 19 months.
Sunday Mar 10, 2002 economist
Top Burma officials reported sacked ![[Version en français]](images/fr.gif)
Both the head of Burma's air force and the chief of police have been sacked in relation to a coup plot, diplomatic sources say.
No official statement has been made about the fate of Major General Myint Swe and Major General Soe Win respectively.
Sunday Jan 13, 2002 MYANMAR'S military government freed five opposition members, including
a cousin of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader.
Myanmar [Burma]
#804 30 July 97
Sat 3/3/01 8:32 AM Burma's hot attraction By: DENIS D. GRAY AP
In a remote village on the Myanmar plains, 38 excited Westerners line up on a rice-paddy dike, taking aim at a spewing, tar-black hulk. As it nears, they fire.
The British tourists have come 9,000 kilometres and paid $3,000 U.S. to capture with cameras a highly endangered species - the working steam locomotive. For railway buffs, the chugging wheels, billowing smoke and boxy design exercise such a powerful pull that they travel the globe tracking down the last steam locomotives.
Latest on Burma
Tue Jan 16, 2001 EU diplomats to visit Myanmar
INDEPTH: Aung San Suu Kyi
Burma
Thu 2/22/01 7:02 AM Burmese deception
Burma's repressive junta has stopped spewing invective about Aung San Suu Kyi, and is actually engaging in talks with the heroine of the pro-democracy movement, whom it has kept under house arrest (formal or de facto) for most of the past decade. By so doing, the junta obviously is trying to improve its deservedly abysmal international image.
But it would be surprising indeed if the junta actually proves it is serious about opening the way to meaningful political reform.
The World: Political | Physical
Diana |
12/Aug/2001 9:29
Burma
Friday 16 May 2008 
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