National Post
Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008
Burma's secretive military junta is the inheritor of rule by the armed forces, which has predominated since 1962 when General Ne Win led a coup d'etat. He was replaced by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In 1989, SLORC declared martial law but allowed free elections in 1990 for the first time in almost 30 years. It reverted quickly to type, annulling the results that would have brought the National League for Democracy of Aung San Suu Kyi to power. In 1992 SLORC was replaced by the State Peace and Development Council in which three men wield almost absolute power.
Senior General Than Shwe, 73
Junta head. Career military man who controls the army. Most hardline leader, strongly opposed to allowing any role for Aung San Suu Kyi. Rumours of his ill health are common and were fuelled last year when he spent two weeks in hospital in Singapore. Although he was supposed to retire at 60, he simply changed the rules and is now expected to rule for life. He was embarrassed when video of his daugher's lavish wedding was leaked to the media. The footage outrage Burmese as it showed the bride dripping with diamonds and pouring champagne beside an ornate gold bridal bed. The day after the cyclone hit, the street in Rangoon on which his wife was staying was cleared of debris and electricity restored. Than Shwe is said to be superstitious and regularly consults astrologers. The capital was moved without warning from Rangoon to Naypyidaw on Nov. 6, 2005, at the astrologically auspicious time of 6:37 a. m.
Vice Senior General Maung Aye, 70
Another career soldier and the second most powerful man in Burma. Believed to have strong ties with drug lords in the Golden Triangle, which led to clashes with then prime minister Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, who was concerned about the rise of ethnic armies outside the junta's control (Nyunt lost his job). He is reported to be a hard drinker.
General Thein Sein
Replaced Lieutenant General Soe Win (who died in November of leukemia at age 58) as prime minister. Soe Win was a close association of Than Shwe who helped crush the democracy party in 1988 after its elections victory. Represents the country on rare trips abroad, usually to neighbouring countries.
Generals whose power near absolute
15 May 2008 Labels: Profiles
Burma: Life in Insein Prison
19 April 2008 Labels: Profiles2008.04.14
[Source - RFA]
Burmese politician Daw Nan Khin Htwe Myint represents Pa-An township in the country’s parliament. She was one of three female university students jailed for their part in political activism around 1975. She became a well-known political prisoner while serving her sentence in Rangoon’s notorious Insein Prison, a period she still remembers with pain. Now she has dedicated her political life to Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). She spoke recently to RFA’s Burmese service about the hard times, and about her hopes for Burmese women in politics:
“I’ve encountered many difficulties. When I was a student, I started to be become interested in politics without fully understanding what was involved. The difficulty I had then was that in a family, when a son goes to prison, the family says, ‘Oh, he’s a son. He can take it.’ However, when a young daughter goes to prison, the parents think, ‘Oh, my young daughter must be suffering a lot. She must be experiencing hardship,’ and the parents themselves have to suffer. That was a problem for our family.”
“When I was actually in prison, the difference between male and female political prisoners was this: When I was in Moulmein prison there wasn’t any place for female political prisoners. There was a separate place for male political prisoners. There were many male political prisoners. In Moulmein prison, for example, there were about 54 male political prisoners. I was the only female political prisoner. Since there wasn’t a separate place for me, I was kept next to the criminals. When I had to live with all kinds of people, I started to suffer. There is companionship if you are with people who are at the same level with you and with whom you can have a conversation. But I had no one.”
“They didn’t understand these things. I was all by myself and so I became lonely. My life was really empty. I was alone. I was there for years. As I lived by myself for longer and longer, I started to talk to myself. I wanted to talk. Then I started to enjoy talking to myself. I started asking myself questions, and would answer myself a lot. I was winning in these conversations. I became mentally weak. I lasted this long only because I had a great conviction and a strong belief in religion. An ordinary person can go crazy in this situation—after being alone for a long time. So male and female political prisoners go through the same thing, suffer the same thing. Both go to prison for six years each, but these six years that women go through are harsher than the men’s.”
Sacrifices for the future
“My husband understands my participation in politics. But we don’t have any children. I feel that if we have a child, what if I have to go to prison while I’m pregnant? I won’t feel good at all. There’s no way I’m going to take my child to prison. If I’ve already given birth and have to leave my child outside while I’m in prison—since I would be a very loving mother, there’s no way I can leave my child outside and go to prison.”
“So the two of us always have this problem of whether to have a child or not. He wants children. I would also like to have our own child very much. This is quite a big problem for the two of us. When women participate in politics, we have to risk a lot and sacrifice a lot. I would love to see a peaceful child, a child in my bosom, a child nursing, but I can’t enjoy this. I have to make a sacrifice. This is a problem in my family.”
“I feel that now I’m suffering all by myself, but there’ll be many children for the future, and we will have to sacrifice and do these things for them. We can do these things only when there’s no attachment. So I’ll have to stop my attachments. Only when I do this will I be able to continue. No one can work with these attachments. For the good of the people, I decided to let go of these things for myself.”
Kitchen, politics 'related'
“There are many women in Burma. Even though people are saying that we don’t have much political knowledge, actually, the kitchen and politics are directly related. We should participate in politics and be active. We, the women and the mothers should bravely go to the referendum and vote ‘No’ [to the military junta’s draft constitution enshrining its continuing rule] for the future of our kids and watch when they count the votes.”
“We should not be too scared to speak up when we see injustice. For the future of our children, we have to speak up, object, and demand things bravely and clearly.”
Reporters Without Borders pays tribute to Burmese journalist and writer Ludu Daw Amar
14 April 2008 Labels: News, Profiles(redistributed from Reporters without Borders, 11 April, 2008)
Reporters Without Borders pays tribute to Burmese journalist and writer Ludu Daw Amar, called “the mother of Burmese journalists,” who died on 7 April, aged 93, in a Mandalay hospital.
“All her long life, she resisted the pressure of the military and fought for freedom of expression for journalists and the Burmese people,” the organisation said. “Our thoughts are with her family, friends and admirers who traditionally gathered each year in Mandalay to mark her birthday. Journalists made the occasion into a symbol of resistance to the military dictatorship. We also think of her friend Win Tin, who is still being held at Rangoon’s Insein prison and was not allowed to go to her funeral.”
Ludu Daw Amar helped set up Mandalay’s first publishing house in the 1940s and got the nickname "Ludu" (“of the people”) because of her commitment to the poor in the paper she edited, Ludu Daily News, which was closed in the 1960s for its liberal views.
"She always criticised the government and was like the mother of all Burmese journalists,” Burmese commentator Win Min told Agence France-Presse news agency. “She was a moral symbol and the people were proud of her.”
( Ludu Daw Amar and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi )
Nearly 4,000 people attended her funeral on 9 April, including many of the country’s journalists, writers and cultural figures. Her ashes were cast into the Irrawaddy River. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, sent a bouquet of flowers.
Heroine of Burma - Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
20 October 2007 Labels: Profiles
Author: Martin O'Malley & Owen Wood
(CBC News Online) - [SOURCE]
Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of one of Burma's most cherished heroes, the martyred General Aung San, who led his country's fight for independence from Great Britain in the 1940s and was killed for his beliefs in 1947. Suu Kyi has equaled her father's heroics with her calm but passionate advocacy of freedom and democracy in the country now called Myanmar, a name chosen by one of the most insensitive and brutal military dictatorships in the world.
The ruling junta ? "political party" would be too generous a concession ? goes by the Orwellian name of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Burma, or Myanmar, has a population of 45 million and is Southeast Asia's second largest country (in area) after Indonesia.
Unplayed Piano by Damien rice and Lisa Hannigan (A song dedicated to DASSK)
The news event that brought Suu Kyi back into prominence in May 2002 was her release from 19 months of house arrest in her barricaded villa in Yangon, formerly Rangoon. The United Nations helped to negotiate her release this time.
There was outrage around the world in 2000 when Suu Kyi tried to leave Yangon, only to be thwarted by authorities. In August of that year Suu Kyi, her driver and 14 members of her pro-democracy party were confined in two cars on the side of the road outside of Yangon. She endured a similar roadside standoff for 13 days in 1998, during which time she suffered severe dehydration and had to be returned to her home by ambulance.
Suu Kyi (pronounced Soo Chee) was two years old when her father ? the de facto prime minister of newly independent Burma ? was assassinated. Though a Buddhist ? the predominant religion of Burma ? she was educated at Catholic schools and left for India in her mid-teens with her mother, who became the Burmese ambassador to India. Suu Kyi went to England where she studied at Oxford University. There she met Michael Aris, the Tibetan scholar whom she married. They had two sons, Alexander and Kim.
A watershed in her life was 1988, when Suu Kyi received a call from Burma that her mother had suffered a stroke and did not have long to live. Suu Kyi returned to Burma, leaving her husband and two children behind in England, having cautioned them years earlier that duty may one day call her back to her homeland.
She arrived back in Burma to nurse her mother at a time of a burgeoning pro-democracy movement, fueled by the energy and idealism among the country's young people. There were demonstrations against the repressive, one-party socialist government. Suu Kyi was drawn into the pro-democracy movement, which was snuffed out by SLORC, which seized power on September 18, 1988. Thousands of pro-democracy advocates were killed.
Next came a general election in 1990, which political parties were allowed to contest. Suu Kyi headed the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won a landslide victory, with 80 per cent support. This was not be tolerated by the SLORC leaders, who refused to recognize the election results. Worse, SLORC put the elected pro-democracy leaders under house arrest, including Suu Kyi.
Despite the restrictions of house arrest, Suu Kyi continued to campaign for democracy, and for this she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
One of Suu Kyi's most dramatic speeches was in 1995, soon after she was released from nearly six years of house arrest, when she spoke to a global women's conference in Beijing. She didn't appear at the conference, but spoke to the international gathering by means of a video smuggled out of Burma. Suu Kyi always expresses herself with calm conviction and calm passion, which reflects her Buddhist upbringing. She is Gandhian in her synergistic mixture of force and restraint.
In her speech, she said, "?to the best of my knowledge, no war was ever started by women. But it is women and children who have always suffered the most in situations of conflict." She mentioned "the war toys of grown men." Without specifically targeting her SLORC opponents, but her words dripping with gentle sarcasm, Suu Kyi went on to say:
"There is an outmoded Burmese proverb still recited by men, who wish to deny that women too can play a part in bringing necessary change and progress to their society: 'The dawn rises only when the rooster crows.' But Burmese people today are well aware of the scientific reason behind the rising of dawn and the falling of dusk. And the intelligent rooster surely realizes that it is because dawn comes that it crows and not the other way around.
"It crows to welcome the light that has come to relieve the darkness of night. It is not the prerogative of men alone to bring light to the world: women with their capacity for compassion and self-sacrifice, their courage and perseverance, have done much to dissipate the darkness of intolerance and hate, suffering and despair."
It was a powerful speech, subtly crafted for the targeted audience in her homeland.
In 1999, Michael Aris, was dying of prostate cancer in England, where he lived with their two sons. He had repeatedly requested permission to visit his wife one last time before he died, but the SLORC authorities denied him entry, arguing that there are no proper facilities in the country to tend to a dying man. They suggested instead that Suu Kyi visit him in England. She refused, fearing if she ever left the country she would never be allowed to return.
The day Aris died, on his 53rd birthday on March 27, 1999, Suu Kyi honoured the occasion at her home in Rangoon, with 1,000 friends and supporters, including high-ranking diplomats from Europe and the United States. As part of a ceremony, she offered food and saffron robes to 53 Buddhist monks, one for each year of her husband's life. The monks recited prayers and chanted sutras. Instead of wearing her usual bright flowers and wreathes of jasmine, Suu Kyi chose instead a traditional black lungi with a white jacket. She cried only when one of the monks reminded the audience that the essence of Buddhism is to treat suffering with equanimity.
The police did not stop the supporters from visiting Suu Kyi in her time of grief. But they took the names and addresses of all those who attended at the service to honour the husband from whom she had been separated since she left England to tend to her dying mother.
Tribute to 88-generation student leader, Min Ko Naing
14 October 2007 Labels: ProfilesOne of the most prominent student leaders in Myanmar, Min Ko Naing, was among those who were arrested on 22 August 2007 when the Myanmar junta tried to clamp down the protests against soaring fuel prices and falling living standards.
[NEWS SOURCE]
Our Hero - Min Ko Naing
[Burmese blogger, 5th generation's poem for Min Ko Naing]
He is not zero;
But Myanmar's hero;
Throughout many years,
he has sacrificed his life for others
who live in fear;
Has a courage under fire;
That's why we all do admire;
He encourages us to walk along a path;
A path leading to a place where we can live out of fear;
We all shall WALK now or never;
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Min Ko Naing's profile
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Min Ko Naing : Student leader and prisoner of conscience [SOURCE]''If we want to enjoy the same rights as people in other countries, we have to be disciplined, united and brave enough to stand up to the dictators. Let's express our sufferings and demands. Nothing is going to stop us from achieving peace and justice in our country....Our noble desires must be brought forth through peaceful means.''
Excerpts from Min Ko Naing's speeches, 1988
Paw U Tun alias Min Ko Naing, Chairman of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), was arrested on 24 March 1989. He was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment (later commuted to 10 years under a general amnesty) for his anti-government activities. The ABFSU was formed on 28 August 1988, at the height of the mass civil disobedience campaign against 26 years of one-party military rule in Myanmar. At the founding rally of the ABFSU, Min Ko Naing called on students throughout the country to struggle peacefully against military rule and for democracy and freedom of association. The ABFSU and Buddhist monks went on to lead non-violent anti-government protests.
Paw U Tun launched his 1988 appeal for peaceful political action in the name of ''Min Ko Naing'', a pseudonym he and at least 18 other students had adopted earlier to sign posters and leaflets criticizing military rule. It means ''Conqueror of Kings''.
In 1988 civil unrest erupted in Myanmar (then called Burma), after the demonetization of much of the Burmese currency in 1987 by the military government of General Ne Win. The same year Myanmar was accorded Least Developed Nation status by the UN -- a resource-rich country had became one of the world's poorest. In protest at government mismanagement of the economy, students in Yangon, the capital, began demonstrations in March 1988. Min Ko Naing soon emerged as a leader, encouraging people to use peaceful means to express their frustration.
Min Ko Naing's interest in politics began at Yangon University in the mid-1980's where he studied Zoology. Student Unions at that time, as now, were illegal; however he and other students formed secret study groups in anticipation of protests against the worsening economic conditions in Myanmar. According to people who knew him, Min Ko Naing was a member of a performance troupe which took part in the traditional Than Gyat competition during the annual Water Festival (Thingyan); his troupe was called "Goat-Mouth and Spirit-Eye" and apparently performed satirical plays and sketches about Myanmar's government and the lack of democracy and freedom.
In September 1988 after violently suppressing demonstrations and killing hundreds of people, the military reasserted power and formed a new government, called the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Martial law decrees were issued, including a ban on any criticism of the military and of any public gathering of more than five people. At the same time the SLORC announced that political parties could be formed and that elections would take place in May 1990. Dozens of political parties were founded, including the National League for Democracy (NLD, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi).
In March 1989, the Myanmar Government began to issue warnings against possible memorial gatherings by students and others to mark the first anniversaries of the deaths of student demonstrators during the initial waves of civil unrest in March 1988. At a 24 March 1989 press conference a SLORC spokesperson said that the ABFSU and two other student union organizations were ''illegal organizations'' because they had refused to register with the authorities. The spokesperson went on to say:
''Min Ko Naing, alias Paw U Tun, chairman of the illegal ABFSU, has been arrested...because he and his associates instigated disturbances to the detriment of law and order, peace and tranquillity. At the same time, it had been ascertained that they have been carrying out organizational work and giving speeches...Furthermore, Min Ko Naing has been found to have repeatedly violated Order No 2/88 [forbidding gatherings of more than five people]...Action will be taken against him according to the law.''
The spokesperson stated that another reason for his arrest was that they had learnt that ''Min Ko Naing and his associates have been carrying out activities and plans to disturb and undermine the holding of Armed Forces Day'', an official event held annually on 27 March.
According to unofficial sources, before his arrest some of his fellow student leaders had tried to convince Min Ko Naing that he should leave Yangon and seek sanctuary with the All Burma Student Democratic Front (ABSDF) on the Thai border. The ABSDF coordinates armed activities against the regime by anti-government students. Min Ko Naing reportedly refused to join the ABSDF, saying that he would rather continue ABFSU activities such as distributing leaflets and organizing demonstrations than join the armed struggle. Other allegations made by the SLORC against him claim that he and other ABFSU leaders were ''recruited'' by the communist insurgent underground early in 1988. However, the stated position of Min Ko Naing and other leaders has been to pursue a course of political organization and demonstrations.
The Myanmar authorities have arrested hundreds of students for their political opposition activities. Although thousands of young activists fled to neighbouring countries after the military reasserted power in September 1988, others continued their struggle inside the country. Most recently students staged demonstrations in December 1996 when scores of them were arrested. In the runup to the 10th anniversary of the 1988 pro-democracy movement, scores of young activists were arrested in mid-1998. Arrests of students and other young people have continued into 2000 in pre-emptive moves by the authorities - now known as the State Peace and Development Council - to eradicate any opposition to their rule.
Min Ko Naing was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment under Section 5(j) of the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act, vaguely-worded legislation which is frequently used to imprison political prisoners. His sentence was commuted to 10 years under a general amnesty in January 1993. Amnesty International believes that Min Ko Naing is a prisoner of conscience detained solely for his leadership of a student movement without having used or advocated violence. He should be released immediately and unconditionally.
Min Ko Naing was awarded the John Humphrey Freedom Award in Canada on 10 December 1999, which is Human Rights Day, the day which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN in 1948. In a videotaped message which was smuggled out of Myanmar, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi made these comments about Min Ko Naing:
''[Min Ko Naing] is one of the student leaders who started the 1988 movement for democracy, and he has stood firm against all pressure from the authorities...[he] represents many others who are suffering from the injustices of the present military regime. That the prize has been awarded to him gives us all great hope, great pride, and great pleasure, because it shows that the world has not forgotten our cause....''.
His treatment in prison
Min Ko Naing was severely tortured and ill-treated during the early stages of his detention and his health suffered as a consequence. During his interrogation he was reportedly forced to stand in water for two weeks until he collapsed, and as a result, his left foot became totally numb. Such treatment is not uncommon. Political prisoners in Myanmar routinely face torture during the initial phases of detention when they are often interrogated for hours or even days at a time by rotating teams of Military Intelligence (MI) personnel. They are also vulnerable to torture and ill-treatment after sentencing, when they can be punished for breaking arbitrary prison rules such as possessing writing paper. In addition conditions in most prisons are harsh, due to lack of adequate food, water, sanitation, and medical care.
Torture and ill-treatment have become institutionalized in Myanmar. Patterns of torture have remained the same, although the time and place vary. Torture occurs throughout the country and has been reported for over four decades. Members of the security forces continue to use torture as a means of extracting information; to punish political prisoners and members of ethnic minorities; and as a means of instilling fear in anyone critical of the military government.
For most of his imprisonment Min Ko Naing has been held in complete solitary confinement. In 1993 he was visited in Insein Prison, Myanmar's main detention facility, by a United States Congressman. He was said to be in poor health and appeared disoriented. In November 1994 the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar was also allowed to visit him briefly in prison, and described him as being nervous and thin. Subsequent reports on his health stated that, although it improved, he suffers from a nervous tremor and may have suffered emotionally as a result of his ill-treatment and prolonged solitary confinement. He is believed to suffer from a gastric ulcer.