Jim Hightower informs us of an innovative protest whereby women around the world are sending panties to Burmese embassies. It seems that the junta leaders have this superstition that even touching a woman’s panty will sap their energy. I’ll let Jim explain the rest:
[h/t Alternet.]
November 7th, 2007
The London Times reports that thousands of protesters are being held in a concentration camp in Rangoon. Excerpt:
According to Western diplomats and at least one Burmese government official, the technical institute has become a temporary concentration camp for 1,700 of the victims of last week’s brutal suppression of the democracy uprising. It provides a partial answer to one of the lingering questions about the Burmese junta’s crackdown: where are the monks, democracy activists and journalists who have been rounded up and spirited away over the past six weeks?
Despite the international attention given to the quashing of the anti-Government marches, the crackdown remains undocumented. Apart from admitting that 13 people have died, a figure regarded by most observers as an underestimate, the authorities have given no details of the numbers of those arrested and detained.
Most people have vanished without trace, many of them the Buddhist monks who formed the backbone of the tens of thousands of people who turned out last week in Rangoon and Mandalay. “We think that at least 30 have been killed, about 1,400 people have been arrested,” Alexander Downer, the Australian Foreign Minister said. “This is a brutal regime and we’ve seen it at work over the last few days.”
One international organisation based in Rangoon has made a provisional reckoning of 40 dead, based on reports from hospitals, 1,000 monks arrested and 3,000 secular detainees. The only thing of which one can be sure is that somewhere in the country large numbers of people are being held in an invisible prison camp, without charge, without legal recourse and without the ability to communicate.
Tomorrow, in collaboration with bloggers around the world, I will have only one post, the Free Burma logo from http://free-burma.org/
October 3rd, 2007
The AP reports that citizens in Burma/Myanmar have launched a silent protest, turning off the government news. Could be a good idea for this country too:
Myanmar citizens launch silent protest
YANGON, Myanmar – A growing number of citizens in Myanmar’s largest city are shutting off the government-run nightly newscast, trying to send the subtle message to authorities that they are tired of listening to their propaganda, residents said Tuesday.Most are switching off the news for the first 15 minutes of the hour-long broadcast, while some also are shutting off all the lights in their homes.
It was unclear how many people participated in the protest, which spread by word of mouth.
“This is the least dangerous anti-government activity that I can take,” said a resident of Yangon taking part in the protest that began Monday. “By doing this, I am showing that I am not listening to what the government is saying,” the woman said, refusing to give her name for fear of government reprisal.
With the streets cleared of protesters, the Internet down and many residents too fearful to go out, turning off the government news appears to be one of the few avenues left to express opposition to the regime.
Authorities last week cracked down on tens of thousands of protesters, gunning down at least nine demonstrators and a Japanese journalist. They also detained thousands including many monks who were spearheading the demonstrations that began Aug. 19. They slapped a curfew on Yangon and banned groups of more than five from gathering.
They have also taken to the airwaves each night around 8 p.m. local time, using the hour-long newscasts to criticize the protests as a campaign by Western governments and external dissidents to destabilize the country. They have also repeatedly shown mass, pro-government rallies to counter the impact of the demonstrations.
All electronic media and daily newspapers inside the country are controlled by the government, and privately owned magazines operate under tight censorship. There are only two news channels, both run by the government.
While the average citizen must endure the staid, government news, more prosperous ones long ago turned to Radio Free Asia or the British Broadcasting Corp. for an accurate depiction of events in the country. Others also count on the Internet, which was shut down after protesters effectively used it for weeks to publicize the growing protest and subsequent crackdown.
October 2nd, 2007
Asia Times has more on the crisis in Burma/Myanmar. They erport divisions in the military elite and a regrouping of the opposition movement. It remains, of course, to be seen if tjis is but wishful fantasy. But we can hope:
Cracks emerge in Myanmar military unity
By Larry JaganBANGKOK – Myanmar’s protests have lost steam as security forces clamp down, killing over a dozen and arresting as many as 1,000 people involved in the recent street protests that have grabbed global headlines. Now there are indications that the ruling State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC’s) top two generals are at loggerheads over how to proceed in the aftermath of the crackdown.
SPDC second-in-command General Maung Aye reportedly opposed using force against the tens of thousands of monks who took to the streets, bringing him into conflict with Senior General Than Shwe, according to sources close to Maung Aye. Some soldiers in the old capital of Yangon and the city of Mandalay last week reportedly refused to obey their senior officers’ commands to attack or shoot at protesting monks, according to diplomatic sources in Yangon. Several aid workers in Mandalay reportedly witnessed soldiers there refusing to open fire when ordered by commanding officers.
General Than Shwe, the SPDC’s top general, personally gave the orders to the local commanders in Yangon to shoot into the crowd, a military source told Asia Times Online. “The two main commanders in Yangon have told their subordinates that the senior general directly ordered the attack last week,” he said. That shoot-to-kill policy has backfired on the junta, with international condemnation coming from the West as well as neighboring countries included in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member.
United Nations special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari met with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday and is reportedly now pressing to meet with both Than Shwe and Maung Aye. So far the SPDC leadership has declined to meet with the UN envoy, perhaps, some analysts speculate, precisely because the top two generals now view the next steps in dealing with the crisis differently.
There are unconfirmed reports that Than Shwe’s wife and one of his daughters, as well as his top business associate, Tay Za, flew out of the country on a Air Bagan flight to Singapore last week and have since traveled on to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Their apparent flight came against the backdrop of growing questions about troop loyalty due to orders to shoot at monks and the possibility that they could have broken rank and joined with the street protestors.
“If the current crackdown results in more bloodshed, a mutiny within the 400,000-strong armed forces is a distinct possibility,
” said Win Min, a Myanmar analyst based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. “Family members of the grassroots soldiers are suffering from increasing food and fuel prices like the people who are demonstrating, though top level officers are getting amazingly rich.” Indeed, there have already been notable instances of a breakdown in the chain of command, according to diplomats. On September 20, for still unclear reasons security forces positioned at the barricades blocking access to Aung San Suu Kyi’s house allowed marching monks to pass and pray in front of the house, an episode that was widely reported worldwide. The following day, however, another group of monks bidding to pass her compound was turned away by a larger number of security personnel.
On Saturday, Maung Aye personally took control of the operations in Yangon and he reportedly posted soldiers with sub-machine guns at the entrance to University Avenue where Suu Kyi is under house arrest.
It is unclear if the apparent divergent views between the SPDC’s top two generals have resulted in a full-blown rift. But there are signs that Than Shwe fears a possible internal military power play, similar to the one in 1992 that resulted in his rise to power.
Maung Aye apparently believes the use of the civilian organization, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), to control the crowds is damaging the army’s authority and threatens even broader instability, according to a source close to his family. Plainclothes USDA members have used crude weapons and taken the lead in brutally assaulting and detaining protestors. Notably, the organization is the brainchild of Than Shwe, which he helped to establish in 1993 to create the illusion of grassroots support for the military’s civilian programs and has relied on in the past to crack down on political opposition.
Curfews and detentions
After detaining key members of the 88 Generation Student Group that started the protests on September 19, military authorities have apparently been at a loss in identifying who is leading the protests. They have recently swooped on Yangon’s Buddhist monasteries and temples, arresting hundreds of monks, in an apparent effort to locate the protest leaders and halt the demonstrations.Key opposition figures, among them actors, artists, journalists and writers, including even the renowned comedian Zargana, have also been detained. Most of the leading members of Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), have likewise been arrested in recent days.
While there is a lull in the street protests at present, with both the military and protestors apparently regrouping and reorganizing, there is little doubt that a major movement to overthrow the military regime is in the making. While the monks were the leading force in recent weeks, former and current activists and student leaders are now reportedly organizing behind the scenes.
Senior monks and students recently formed a joint “strike committee” to lead future demonstrations. “We are going for it, this is our time. We have to take this chance now as there may never be another one,” a senior former student leader recently told Asia Times Online from hiding inside the country. “The students will support the monks’ peaceful protests,” he said.
After weeks of mainly peaceful protests led by the monks, the regime finally dropped their policy of restraint last week and hit back, killing at least 13 and injuring many more. Dusk-to-dawn curfews are now in place in Yangon and Mandalay and more than 20,000 troops have been deployed in the former capital. Soldiers are stationed outside Buddhist monasteries and temples to prevent the monks from returning to the streets and they have reportedly been warned that they would be shot if they ignored the warning.
Up until a week ago the monks had been primarily protesting against the local authorities’ use of violence to quell an earlier march near Mandalay, where several monks were badly beaten by violent vigilantes wielding sticks. All along, though, the monks have also been calling on the government to reduce prices, supporting the first of the public protests that broke out more than a month ago after the government raised certain fuel charges by up to 500%.
“They know better than anyone the impact the rising fuel and food prices is having on the people at the grassroots,” said Myanmar analyst Aung Naing Oo, noting that monks rely on the donation of daily alms for their survival. “They understand that this has become harder and harder, especially over the last two years. What they used to collect from four or five houses, now takes more than 30,” he said.
But Buddhist monks are now clearly in the political vanguard, depending on which monks you listen to, alternatively for national reconciliation, dialogue between the military and the political opposition National League for Democracy, or outright regime change through popular protests. The fact that the Buddhist clergy has recently taken on such an overt political role is exceptional.
After the military first assaulted monks near Mandalay, a new group emerged known as the All Burma Monks Alliance, which represents a younger, more radical segment of the Buddhist clergy. They have since urged ordinary people “to struggle peacefully against the evil military dictatorship until it is banished from the land”.
“Normally monks are not political,” said Win Min, based at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand. “They focus on their individual enlightenment according to traditional Buddhism. What is happening now shows that the situation has reached the point where they can no longer tolerate it.”
So far Suu Kyi’s NLD has been a bystander and her members seemingly uninvolved in organizing the spontaneous monk-led marches. But the charismatic leader is known to have strong support among the protesting monks and she would seem to be the key to any potential political settlement to the recent unrest.
Than Shwe is known to harbor a strong personal grudge against her and he would likely be unwilling to enter into any compromise that shared power with her NLD. The wildcard is whether another military faction inside the SPDC views things differently and might be willing to take the chance of trying to remove their recalcitrant leader for their own political gain.
Larry Jagan previously covered Myanmar politics for the British Broadcasting Corp. He is currently a freelance journalist based in Bangkok.
October 2nd, 2007
I have no idea of the veracity, but there are reports now that troops are mutinying in Burma. That would be wonderful news:
Rangoon: ‘army mutiny’ reported
Troops refuse to fire on crowds
Reports from Rangoon suggest soldiers are mutinying. It is unclear the numbers involved. Reports cite heavy shooting in the former Burmese capital.
The organisation Helfen ohne Grenzen (Help without Frontiers) is reporting that “Soldiers from the 66th LID (Light Infantry Divison) have turned their weapons against other government troops and possibly police in North Okkalappa township in Rangoon and are defending the protesters. At present unsure how many soldiers involved.”
Soldiers in Mandalay, where unrest has spread to as we reported this morning, are also reported to have refused orders to act against protesters.
Some reports claim that many soldiers remained in their barracks. More recent reports now maintain that soldiers from the 99th LID now being sent there to confront them.
Growing numbers of protestors are gathering in Rangoon, with 10,000 reported at the Traders Hotel and 50,000 at the Thein Gyi market. The police are reported to have turned water cannons against crowds at Sule Pagoda.
Many phone lines into the Burmese state have now been cut, mobile networks have been disabled and the national internet service provider has been taken off-line.
[h/t MediaLens Message Board for this.]
Other sources are reporting that their are splits in the Burmese/Myanmar military, with some senior leaders opposing firing on the protesters:
Leading exile-run websites have claimed cracks have surfaced within the military junta in Myanmar with serious differences brewing between Senior General Than Shwe and his second-in-command, Vice-Senior General Maung Aye, over the brutal attacks on pro-democracy protestors.
‘Maung Aye and his loyalists are opposed to shooting into the crowd,’ the Mizzima, a leading news portal run by exiled pro-democracy journalists, said….
‘It is almost sure that there is some sort of a revolt within the army top brass and the ranks over firing on unarmed protestors,’ Min Maung, an exiled Burmese student leader and now a correspondent for the BBC (Burmese Service) in New Delhi, told IANS by telephone.
The Irrawaddy and Mizzima web sites have claimed that Than Shwe is in favour of opening fire on the demonstrators, while other commanders, including the Yangon regional commander and the northwest and northeastern regional commanders, favour restraint.
‘Very soon Myanmar could witness a mutiny of sorts with several senior commanders and soldiers not willing to attack monks,’ Kyaw Than, president of the All Burmese Students’ League, told IANS.
Further, the Guardian is reporting the existence of a letter in which a group of army officers declare support for the demonstrators:
Letter ‘reveals dissent in Burmese army’
[See the letter here.]
Some Burmese troops have declared their support for the Buddhist monks who have led mass protests in the first apparent sign of disaffection in the army, exiled Burmese sources said today.
Disgruntled officers have formed a group called the Public Patriot Army Association and expressed their backing for demonstrators in a letter drafted on Tuesday.
The document – the veracity of which cannot be independently verified – was obtained by Burmese exiles in Thailand and passed to Guardian Unlimited.
“On behalf of the armed forces, we declare our support for the non-violent action of the Buddhist monks and members of the public and their peaceful expression,” it said.
“We are all encountering crisis in the economy and in society, political difficulties of various kinds of oppression. Those realities not only affect the public and Buddhist monks. We in the military are also affected.”
Burmese exiles in Thailand, who translated the letter, said it was a source of encouragement to the anti-government movement.
They claimed Burma’s military rulers were so concerned by mutiny in the army that they had ordered the arrest of the colonel in charge of governing Rangoon.
Any sign of dissent within the ranks would be a cause for alarm for the three-man military junta. The junta is led by 74-year-old General Than Shwe, who has been acting as the head of state since 1992, and the military has ruled Burma since 1962.
When he became head of state, Gen Than Shwe appeared to be more liberal than his predecessor, General Saw Maung.
He freed some political prisoners and allowed human rights groups to visit Burma. However, he remains resolutely opposed to any role for Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader who has been under arrest for more than a decade.
Gen Than Shwe’s career included a stint in the department of psychological warfare. Said to be superstitious, he reportedly consults astrologers. Generals Maung Aye and Soe Win, both hardliners, complete the triumvirate.
The junta reinforced its reputation for paranoia by moving the capital deep into the mountainous jungle at Naypyidaw, outside the town of Pyinmana and 230 miles north of Rangoon.
Activists said the move was designed to insulate the generals from decades of misrule.
1 comment September 29th, 2007
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