DEMOKRATIE FÜR BURMA

Happy New Year and may force be with you

2008-12-30T21:05:00.004+01:00

Have a Safe and Peaceful Christmas Everybody

2008-12-24T05:26:00.001+01:00

ASEAN must call for the release of political prisoners in Burma

2008-12-11T20:47:00.000+01:00

Your Excellencies,

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we, the Working Group members of the Burma Partnership, reiterate our call on ASEAN to demand the release of all political prisoners in Burma, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic leaders. As the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting will be held in Indonesia on December 15, to celebrate the ASEAN Charter coming into effect, we particularly ask you to make the issue of Burma’s political prisoners focal there. to continue
http://apppb.blogspot.com/2008/12/burma-update-december-10-2008.html

2008-12-11T20:33:00.001+01:00

60.International Human Rights Day on BPPU BurmaThai Border

http://bppu.blogspot.com/

Breaking news: NLD Ohn Kyaing released from Insein jail today

2008-12-11T20:31:00.001+01:00

Dec 11, 2008 (DVB)-National League for Democracy member U Ohn Kyaing has been released from Rangoon Insein jail today and escorted home by agents of Special Branch police, NLD spokesman Nyan Win said.

"We are glad to hear about his release but not very pleased with the fact that an innocent person was detained for that long," Nyan Win said.
Ohn Kyaing was heavily involved in relief efforts before his arrest, and had visited the delta areas affected by Cyclone Nargis about 10 times. to continue
http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=2006

Nay Phone Latt hears of media award in prison

2008-12-11T20:27:00.002+01:00

Dec 10, 2008 (DVB)–Detained blogger Nay Phone Latt has said he feels a greater sense of responsibility since being honoured by international media association Reporters Without Borders, his mother told DVB.Nay Phone Latt was awarded the Reporters Without Borders prize in the cyber-dissident category last week along with comedian and activist Zarganar.
Aye Aye Than, Nay Phone Latt’s mother, said he had found out about the award from prison officials.
"I thought he still didn’t know about the RSF award when I visited him in prison but he said he had found out about it from prison officials and had celebrated by treating his fellow inmates to snacks," Aye Aye Than said.
"He said he now has a greater responsibility since he was chosen for the award," she said. to continue
http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=1999

Lawyers denied permission to meet Daw Suu

2008-12-11T20:24:00.000+01:00

Dec 11, 2008 (DVB)–Ministers in Naypyidaw on 9 December refused to grant permission to two lawyers for detained National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to hold a meeting with their client.

The lawyers, Kyi Win and his assistant Hla Myo Myint, gave a letter to Special Branch police on 3 December requesting permission to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi on either 8 or 10 December to discuss her appeal against her detention. to continue
http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=2000

RIGHTS-BURMA: Junta Turns Blind Eye to Rising Landmine Casualties

2008-12-11T20:22:00.000+01:00

BANGKOK, Dec 11 (IPS) - Thanks to the callousness of its military rulers, Burma has aacquired another unenviable statistic. It has replaced Cambodia as the country with the highest annual number of landmine victims in the region. to continue
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45071

An Arakan Monk has been robbed after being given a poisoned offering and beaten. The criminal was finally arrested.

2008-12-11T20:20:00.001+01:00

On 5th December, Monk Oo Kaweinda, 43, was offered the poisoned sacrifice by a broker, Ko Oo, who was already well known to the monk. When the monk lost consciousness after consuming the offering, the criminal hit him round the head and stole 92,000 Baht which had been entrusted to the monk by the resident Arakan migrant workers. He also stole a donation box with an unknown quantity of money inside. After stealing the money Ko Oo then ran away. to continue
http://www.ghre.org/en/

Burmese fishermen escape from terrible Boat:

2008-12-11T20:16:00.003+01:00

3.12. Yesterday 9 Burmese migrant fishermen escaped from a group of trawlers in the Surat thani province of Southern Thailand. They fled from serious exploitation and human rights violations on the boats.
"We left from shore of Manachai near Bangkok almost two months and twenty days ago. Even though they promised us we will go back to the harbor at least once a month, we did not go back until almost three months later and they did not provide enough food. Although we worked hard on the ship, we only ate boiled fish." Mg Nga, one of boat survivors said.to continue
http://www.ghre.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=165:burmese-fishermen-escape-from-terrible-boat&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=70

ASEAN human rights body: Will it have an impact on Myanmar's junta?

2008-12-10T12:43:00.001+01:00

Almost a year ago, at a meeting of parliamentarians of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, I urged the ASEAN states to freeze Myanmar's membership from the 10-member grouping since there had been no serious political will to implement democracy and protect human rights, such as by releasing its jailed political opponents -- especially Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from her house detention.to continue
http://old.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20081210.E03&irec=2

International Human Rights Day,but not in Burma

2008-12-10T12:38:00.003+01:00

Human Rights in Burma Not Shown

AHRCHK Campaign Burma Lawyers

2008-12-10T00:44:00.007+01:00

In November 2008 two Supreme Court lawyers in Burma, U Aung Thein and U Khin Maung Shein, were convicted to four months' imprisonment for contempt of court because they submitted a letter to the judge on behalf of their clients, that the clients "no longer had faith in the judicial process". This webpage contains links and documents on their case.

http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/burma-lawyers/

UN was "Disrespectful" In Approach to Aung San Suu Kyi, NLD Leader Says

2008-12-10T00:30:00.003+01:00

That is not a polite gesture in our culture

UNITED NATIONS, December 8 -- As political leaders east and west are calling for the UN to do more about the situation in Myanmar, Monday in New York leaders of that country's National League for Democracy criticized the UN's last trip to Yangoon. NLD leader Khun Mying Tun, speaking at New York University, was asked by Inner City Press to review the UN's recent performance. He referred to UN staff shouting at Daw Aun San Suu Kyi through a bullhorn and pasting fliers on the gate of the house in which she is under house arrest
"That is not a polite gesture in our culture," he said. "We viewed it as the junta trying to embarrass our leader."

http://www.innercitypress.com/un1nld120808.html

WFP resumes buying local rice in Burma

2008-12-08T23:46:00.000+01:00

Chris Kaye, Country Director of the WFP in Burma, told Mizzima in an email message that Burma's military government had informed the WFP that it could again purchase local rice after the organization was forced to stop buying locally in early June.
http://www.mizzima.com/

Technology and protest in Myanmar

2008-12-06T15:22:00.000+01:00

An ordinary telephone SIM card costs just two US dollars in Bangkok. In Myanmar, less than an hour away by plane, it costs 1800 US dollars. This in a country where a surgeon is lucky to take home 100 US dollars a month.
to continue http://www.radionetherlands.nl/thestatewerein/otherstates/tswi-081206-internet-myanmar

Burma China Gas Pipeline plan

2008-12-06T13:49:00.000+01:00

Prominent Student Leader and Activists Arrive at Buthidaung Prison

2008-12-05T18:32:00.000+01:00

Buthidaung: Prominent former student leader Ko Thay Kwe, three monks, and one politician arrived at Buthidaung prison 80 miles north of Arakan State's capital, Sittwe, from Rangoon recently, said a source close to the prison authority.
to continue http://www.narinjara.com/

Ban will not visit Burma, despite calls by former world leaders

2008-12-05T08:30:00.000+01:00

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday said he will not visit Burma despite a petition by over 110 former world leaders to visit and press Burma's military junta to free all political prisoners before the end of this year.

http://bnionline.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5512&Itemid=1

2008-12-05T08:27:00.000+01:00

Burma’s Nuclear Temptation

2008-12-04T15:23:00.000+01:00

Rich with uranium and desperate for control, the Burmese junta may find a nuclear option attractive
CHIANG MAI: Over the past year, Southeast Asia’s diplomatic community has tried to sort fact from fiction in a stream of unconfirmed reports from Burma, the region's most isolated and secretive country. Burma’s fledgling nuclear program with Russian assistance and its mysterious connections with North Korea raise concern in the region about its purpose.

According to Burmese exiles in Thailand, the Russians and North Koreans assist the Burmese in developing nuclear capability. But wary of similar reports by Iraqi exiles a few years ago, which turned out to be false, the international community remains skeptical. In a research paper for Griffith University, for example, Australian scholar Andrew Selth, dismisses the reports.

Nevertheless, certain facts are not in doubt. Burma first initiated a nuclear research program as early as 1956, when its then-democratic government set up the Union of Burma Atomic Energy Center, UBAEC, in then-capital Rangoon. Unrelated to the country's defense industries, it came to a halt when the military seized power in 1962. New power-holders, led by General Ne Win did not trust UBAEC head Hla Nyunt.

In February 2001, Burma's present junta, the State Peace and Development Council decided to revitalize the country's nuclear program, and Russia's Atomic Energy Ministry announced plans to build a 10-megawatt nuclear research reactor in central Burma. In July 2001, Burma established a Department of Atomic Energy, believed to be the brainchild of the Minister of Science and Technology, U Thaung, a graduate of Burma's Defense Services Academy and former ambassador to the United States. US-trained nuclear scientist Thein Po Saw was identified as a leading advocate for nuclear technology in Burma.

At a press conference in Rangoon on January 21, 2002, Vice-Chief of Military Intelligence Major-General Kyaw Win issued a statement: “Myanmar's consideration of building a nuclear research reactor is based on the peaceful purposes getting modern technologies needed for the country, availability of radioisotopes being used peacefully, training technicians and performing feasibility study for generation of electricity from nuclear power."

While Burma suffers from chronic power shortages, the need for a research reactor, used mainly for medical purposes, is unclear. Radioisotopes allow imaging of the brain, bones, organs, lungs and blood flow, advanced technology for Burma's basic health services.

However, observers pointed out the Russian-made nuclear-research reactor that the Burmese authorities sought to acquire is similar to the 5-megawatt research reactor that the then–Soviet Union installed at Yongbyon in North Korea in 1965, from which North Korea later extracted plutonium for a nuclear device. Burma’s military leaders couldn’t help but notice how North Korea stood up to the US, a harsh critic of the Burmese regime, mainly due to its nuclear program.

Reports have been murky since. In April 2007, days after the restoration of diplomatic ties between Burma and North Korea – broken since North Koreans detonated a bomb in Rangoon in 1983 – a North Korean freighter, the Kang Nam I, docked at Thilawa port. Burmese officials claimed that the ship sought shelter from a storm. But two Burmese reporters working for a Japanese news agency were briefly detained when they went to the port to investigate, indicating possible other, more secret reasons for the visit.

According to the July 2007 issue of the Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based publication by Burmese exiles: "by a strange coincidence, the 2,900-ton North Korean cargo vessel MV Bong Hoafan...sought shelter from a storm and anchored at a Burmese port last November. The Burmese government reported that an on-board inspection had 'found no suspicious material or military equipment.' But journalists and embassies in Rangoon remained skeptical."

At about the same time, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported "a North Korean ship under US surveillance was believed to have unloaded self-propelled artillery at a Myanmar port."

The deal with Russia was stalled for several years, but in May 2007, Russia's atomic energy agency, Rosatom, announced construction of the nuclear-research reactor. According to Rosatom, the reactor would use low-enriched uranium, not plutonium. Up to 350 Burmese nationals, most military personnel, already trained in Russia under the initial 2001 agreement, and since then several hundred more trained at Russian institutions.

Signatories of the agreement reached in Moscow on May 15, 2007 were U Thaung and Rosatom head Sergey Kiriyenko. According to Rosatom's press release: " The sides have agreed to cooperate on the establishment of a center for nuclear studies in the territory of Myanmar (the general contractor will be Atomstroyexport). The center will comprise a 10-megawatt light water reactor working on 20 per cent-enriched uranium-235, an activation analysis laboratory, a medical isotope production laboratory, silicon doping system, nuclear waste treatment and burial facilities. The center will be controlled by IAEA."

Despite that claim, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported on May 17, 2007, that Burma had not reported plans to build a nuclear reactor. As a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Burma is required to allow inspections of any nuclear facilities.

The agreement does not mention North Korea, but in November 2003 the Norway-based broadcasting station Democratic Voice of Burma, run by Burmese exiles, reported that 80 Burmese military personnel had departed for North Korea to study "nuclear and atomic energy technology."

The report remains unconfirmed, its source unclear. If Burmese military personnel traveled to North Korea, it’s more likely for training in maintenance of missiles, which Burma then wanted to buy from North Korea but could not yet afford.

Alarm bells rang in August 2008, after India withdrew permission for a North Korean plane to overfly its airspace on route to Iran, just before taking off from Mandalay in Burma where it had made a stopover. The Ilyushin-62 carried unidentified cargo, and it’s destination after the stopover was unclear.

Reports of some cooperation between Burma, Russia, North Korea and Iran have also come from two Burmese nationals, an army officer and a scientist, who recently left the country. According to them, a Russian-supplied 10-megawatt research reactor is being built, at Myaing, north of Pakokku, said to be for peaceful research. But according to the defectors, another facility exists south of the old hill station of Myin Oo Lwin, formerly known as Maymyo. Three Russians supposedly work there while a group of North Koreans are said to engage in tunneling and constructing a water-cooling system. The defectors also assert that in 2007 an Iranian intelligence officer, identified only as "Mushavi," visited Burma. Apart from sharing nuclear knowledge, he reportedly provided advice on missile systems using computer components from Milan.

Burma has uranium deposits, and the Ministry of Energy has identified five sources of ore in the country, all low-grade uranium unsuitable for military purposes. But the defectors claim that two more uranium mines in Burma are not included in official reports: one near Mohnyin in Kachin State and another in the vicinity of Mogok in Mandalay Division. The ore is supposedly transported to a Thabeikkyin refinery, conveniently located between the two alleged mines.

Until such reports can be verified, or refuted, speculations remain. But a nuclear-powered Burma would be a nightmare for all neighbors and would upset the balance of power in the region. All that is certain is that Burma has a nuclear program. It may be years, if not decades, away from developing nuclear-weapons capability. But the fact that the country's military leadership experiments with nuclear power is cause for concern.

Bertil Lintner is a Swedish journalist based in Thailand and the author of several works on Asia, including “Blood Brothers: The Criminal Underworld of Asia” and “Great Leader, Dear Leader: Demystifying North Korea under the Kim Clan.”

by Bertil Lintner http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=11673

No UN push over Myanmar prisoners

2008-12-04T13:26:00.000+01:00

The UN secretary-general has said he will not travel to Myanmar despite a petition from more than 100 former world leaders to press the military government to release all political prisoners.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2008/12/20081241264877267.html

Access to water, a second emergency in the delta?

2008-12-04T13:24:00.000+01:00

ACTED Myanmar - While continuing with planned livelihoods activities, ACTED - now active in 8 village tracts and covering almost 10,000 families - is exploring ways to deal with the potential onset of a second emergency in the Ayeyarwady delta.Much progress has been made in the Nargis-affected delta of Myanmar. Although some agencies have phased out, and others are still struggling to access funding, across the region many agencies are scaling up from emergency assistance to livelihoods support schemes. Cash for work, agricultural training and input distribution, fisheries and livestock restocking are the main focus of NGOs working in livelihoods.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MUMA-7LZ7YA?OpenDocument

MYANMAR-THAILAND: Cyclone migrants face challenges

2008-12-03T18:48:00.000+01:00

MAE SOT, 3 December 2008 (IRIN) - When Lynn Mon and his family arrived in the Thai border town of Mae Sot in June, they were penniless.

Cyclone Nargis had devastated their village in the Ayeyarwady Delta, destroying their home, farmland and livelihood, as well as killing 30 members of their family.

"We had to sell everything," he told IRIN, "our land, farming equipment and jewellery. All we had left was the clothes we were wearing.
read all http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81793

Burmese comedian & blogger nominated for RSF award

2008-12-03T17:11:00.000+01:00

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Famous comedian and film director Zargarnar and blogger Nay Phone Latt from Burma, both sentenced to lengthy prison terms, by the junta have been nominated for the Reporters Without Frontiers "Cyber-Dissident or Blogger" Award by the Paris-based media watchdog group.

The Burmese comedian and blogger are among 10 nominees named by the RSF for the award, which honours bloggers and cyber dissidents who through their work, their principled stand or their attitude have displayed support for freedom of information.
http://mizzima.com/

Fires engulfs Moulmein market; 1,000 shops burn

2008-12-03T17:03:00.000+01:00

A fire in Moulmein’s second largest market engulfed nearly 1,000 shops Monday evening, say eyewitnesses and shop owners.

According to woman who owned a shop in the market, one fire truck arrived soon after the fire began at 6:30 pm. At that point only a few shops were burning, she said, but the truck had no water with which to douse the fire.
http://www.monnews-imna.com/news.php

Army Collects Paddy from Local Farmers

2008-12-03T16:56:00.000+01:00

Sittwe: The Burmese army in Arakan State has confiscated farmland from Arakanese farmers for army projects without compensation since 1988, but authorities are now collecting paddy from farmers that are located near base headquarters, said one farmer.
http://www.narinjara.com/

Hip-hop Star Banished to Remote Prison

2008-12-03T15:54:00.000+01:00

Seven political detainees, including popular hip-hop star Zayar Thaw, were transported to prisons in remote areas around Burma on Wednesday, said sources in Rangoon.

Zayar Thaw, 27, who received a six-year prison sentence on November 20 for his participation in the last year’s anti-government uprising, was reportedly transferred on Wednesday from Insein Prison to Kawthaung Prison in Burma’s most southerly province.

He was arrested on March 12 and charged with contravening criminal code Section 24/1—possession of foreign currency—and section 6/88—belonging to an illegal organization.

Zayar Thaw, a founder member of popular Rangoon hip-hop band Acid in 2000, became involved in political activities in 2007 and established a dissident group known as “Generation Wave” during the nationwide uprising in September 2007.

Three of his colleagues from Generation Wave—Thiha Win Tin, Aung Zay Pho and Arkar Bo—were also transferred from Insein on Wednesday. Sources said Thiha Win Tin was moved to Nyaung-U Prison in Mandalay Division, Aung Zay Phyo was sent to Taungoo Prison in Pegu Division and Arkar Bo was transferred to Kyaukpyu Prison in Arakan State.

Also on Wednesday, a Buddhist monk convicted of anti-government activities, Sandar Thiri, from Damma Theingi Shwe Theim Monastery in Rangoon’s Thingangyun Township, was transferred from Insein to Sittwe Prison in Arakan State.

Sandar Thiri was given an 11-year sentence for his leading role in the monk-led demonstrations last year.

The other two political prisoners were Htun Htun Naing and Zayar Lin, who were transferred to Bhamo Prison in Kachin State and Sittwe Prison respectively.

Meanwhile, two members of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, Kyaw Ko Ko and Nyan Lin Aung, appeared at a court in Mayangone Township in Rangoon charged with anti-government activities.

According to Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners—Burma (AAPP), some 388 dissidents were detained following the nationwide uprising last year.

AAPP Secretary Tate Naing condemned the prison sentences. Speaking to The Irrawaddy, he said, “The long sentences handed down to these dissidents is a systematic plan [by the Burmese authorities] to cause divisions among families—between parents and children, wives and husbands—until they die.”

An estimated 215 pro-democracy supporters were imprisoned in November, said AAPP, one hundred and thirty-six of who have been sent to prisons in remote areas around Burma.

AAPP estimates that more than 2,164 political prisoners remain behind bars in Burma, including at least 180 women.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, more than 100 former leaders from 50 nations urged the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit Burma by the end of this year and called for renewed efforts to secure the release of all political prisoners, including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ceremony on World AIDS Day in Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) December 1, 2008 Kachin State, northern Burma

2008-12-03T12:22:00.000+01:00

Maijayang, the KIO controlled area on China-Burma border.

Burma's junta blocking treatment for AIDS

2008-12-02T13:46:00.000+01:00

Bangkok, Thailand — Monday is World AIDS Day, and people around the world will be commemorating the occasion. According to estimates by UNAIDS, there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV throughout the world, including 2.5 million children.

During 2007, some 2.5 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people with HIV are infected before 25 years of age and die of AIDS before 35. Around 95 percent of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world.

World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away and that there is still much to be done. However, in Burma, HIV/AIDS activists and volunteers are being threatened and suppressed daily by the military authorities.

Maggin Monastery in Rangoon’s Thingangyun township, where HIV patients were being cared for, was raided in September, 2007. According to witnesses, soldiers and riot police broke into the monastery and violently arrested four monks, including the abbot and four people caring for the HIV patients. Then Burma’s military authorities sealed the monastery and forced a number of monks suspected of being supporters of the National League for Democracy, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as the dozen HIV/AIDS patients who lived there, to leave.

http://www.upiasia.com/Human_Rights/2008/12/01/burmas_junta_blocking_treatment_for_aids/9936/

No let up in jade mining despite market condition and US sanctions

2008-12-02T13:35:00.000+01:00

here is no let up in jade mining activities in Hpakant (Phakant) in Burma's northern Kachin state despite the jade markets being in the doldrums in the country and abroad in the wake of the current world economic meltdown and US sanctions on importing Burmese gems, said local sources.

A column of power shovels in Hpakant jade land, Kachin state, Burma.

Daily mining activities with hundreds of modern sophisticated machines continue and the mining activities have been resumed last month after a break in the monsoons, local jade traders in Hpakant said.

Soon after China's Beijing Olympic Games in August, the Ministry of Mines under of the Burmese ruling junta created more than 400 new jade mining blocks in Hpakant, Lonkin (Lawng Hkang) and Taw Maw, according to ethnic Kachin jade merchants in Hpakant.

Local jade traders added, the Ministry has granted most new jade mining blocks to Burman tycoon Tay Za or Teza, the owner of the country's former capital Rangoon-based Htoo Company and son-in-law of the junta's Senior General Than Shwe. Now, Tay Za controls all the jade mines of Tingkaw (Taungkaw), Kawng San and golf field in Lonkin and most jade mining areas in Maw See Zar.

Other private jade companies without direct links with the junta, have to bribe over 200 million kyats (est. US $163,934) for a mining permission to the top five high ranking officials in Naypyidaw, the new capital of the country--- senior general Than Shwe, vice-senior general Maung Aye, the junta's No. 3 Gen. Thura Shwe Mann, Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein and Brig-Gen Ohn Myint, the Minister of Mines, said jade companies sources.

New jade mining blocks are granted to private jade companies only with the approval and signatures of all five military brasses in Naypyidaw, added jade companies in Hpakant.

On the other hand, the junta has set up a new jade mining system known as "Naing-ngan-daw Akyoto" meaning mutual benefit between the junta and jade companies in Hpakant jade mining areas since 2005. Jade mining areas are also confiscated under that category.

All jade companies are allowed to mine under the 'Naing-ngan-daw Akyoto' with small mining permission fees by the junta. However the companies have to pay 40 per cent out of each jade sale, said sources close to the jade companies in the 'Naing-ngan-daw Akyoto'.

All jade stones from companies in both private and 'Naing-ngan-daw Akyoto' have to sell at the junta-held emporium every three months in Rangoon in which private jade companies have to pay 10 per cent from each jade sale to the junta, said jade traders.

Jade is the third highest foreign exchange earner for ruling junta and it earned an estimated $400 million from Hpakant jade industries in 2007.

Residents in Rangoon have trying time with beggars

2008-12-02T13:30:00.000+01:00

Begging has become a menace in Rangoon, the former capital of Burma and residents are having a tough time dealing with what has assumed the proportions of a major problem, a source said.

According to a Sanchaung Township resident, now they see beggars on almost every lane and street. The beggars do not restrict themselves to begging on the streets alone but also come to the homes and flats of residents ring the bell on all the floors.

There are more beggars on the streets than last year. And they beg even at night at the shops like beer bars. The beggars range from children to elderly people.

The shops in Rangoon also have to deal with beggars and complained that if they gave money to one beggar, many more beggars came and begged for money.

She added that they could understand the situation of the beggars but if they keep begging from them how could they give them money regularly given the economic crisis.
source Kachinnews

Raising the drawbridge—"The goal of the State is drawing near" says Than Shwe

2008-12-02T13:21:00.000+01:00

challenge from behind bars

2008-12-02T12:36:00.000+01:00

Journalists caught in crackdown by Myanmar junta

2008-12-02T12:17:00.000+01:00

YANGON, Myanmar -Two journalists have been jailed for seven years each on charges of undermining Myanmar’s military junta after they were caught with a U.N. human rights report.A court in a northeastern suburb of Yangon on Friday sentenced Thet Zin, editor of the local Myanmar-language journal News Watch, and Sein Win Maung, the paper’s manager, under the country’s draconian Printing and Publishing Law.

The convictions are part of a renewed crackdown by the regime in the past month that has led to more than 100 people including activists, writers, musicians and Buddhist monks receiving jail sentences of as long as 68 years. Many have been transferred to prisons in remote regions.

The journalists’ jailing came on the same day a court inside Yangon’s Insein prison sentenced the remaining 13 members of the 88 Generation Students, a group at the forefront of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising, to six years for undermining stability, family members said.

http://burmadigest.info/2008/11/30/journalists-caught-in-crackdown-by-myanmar-junta/

2 Journalisten in Burma zu 7 Jahren verurteilt

2008-12-02T12:09:00.000+01:00

Reporter ohne Grenzen http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=29483

Tausende sterben in Burma an Aids

2008-12-02T10:14:00.000+01:00

240.000 Menschen sind infiziert,nach Angaben "Ärzte ohne Grenzen".76.000 brauchen Aids medics,aber nur 15.000 erhalten diese wichtigen Aids Medikamente.
70 cent pro Jahr/person gibt die Militärregierung für Gesundheitswesen aus.

WORLD AIDS TAG an der burmesisch-thailändischen Grenze

Silencing Burma’s Monks

2008-12-01T16:08:00.000+01:00

The 68-year prison sentence handed down to Ashin Gambira for his role in last year’s monk-led protests shows that Burma’s brutal junta now exercises total control over the country’s Sangha, or community of Buddhist monks, who many regarded as the last bastion of resistance against military rule.

Ashin Gambira, 29, was one of the organizers of the uprising, which captured international attention last September with dramatic images of thousands of peacefully marching monks confronting heavily armed soldiers. On November 18, he received an initial 12-year sentence, which was extended by another 56 years last week.

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), 143 young monks were arrested and detained for their involvement in the demonstrations.
Fifty-six of these monks have already received lengthy prison sentences, while another 87 remain in detention awaiting a final judgment by courts that invariably do the regime’s bidding.

to continue http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14724

Keine Hilfe für Klöster im Cyclon Nargis Gebiet

2008-12-01T14:26:00.000+01:00

7 monate danach....740 Klöster wurden zerstört und 3245 Klöster sehr schwer beschädigt.
Klöster und Mönche spielen eine grunglegende Rolle im Leben der Burmesischen Bevölkerung.Mönche bieten Schulunterricht und medizinische Versorung für die Ärmsten.

MYANMAR: Cyclone-hit monasteries in need

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81571

Thai Burma Border Consortium

2008-12-01T13:47:00.000+01:00

Diese Wohltätigkeitsorganisation kümmert sich um die Flüchtlingscamps an der burmesisch- thailändischen Grenze.Auf der Website können Sie alle Camps sehen und sich Überblick der aktuellen Lage verschaffen.

http://tbbc.org/index.htm

Burmesische Kinder brauchen Ihre Hilfe

2008-12-01T13:14:00.000+01:00

6 Monate nach dem Cyclone Nargis warten immer noch hunderte von Opfern auf die Hilfe der Militärregierung

2008-11-30T23:46:00.000+01:00

Bilder aus dem Irrawaddy Delta

http://www.mizzima.com/gallery/photo-news/1350-six-months-after-nargis

Blogger aus Burma muss 25 Jahre ins Gefängnis

2008-11-30T22:47:00.000+01:00

Poster Campaign für Nay Phone Latt
His Blog is still alive

www.nayphonelatt.net

2008-11-30T21:50:00.000+01:00

322 Aktivisten in 5 Monaten zu langen Haftstrafen verurteilt.Sie wurden zu den entlegensten Orten überführt,um den Familien Besuche zu erschweren. Oft ist den Familien Besuch untersagt oder die Behörden hüllen sich in Schweigen über den Verbleib der Gefangenen.

Anbei für Interessierte die Verurteiltenliste mit Details,wie Namen ,Länge der Strafe und Namen Der Gefängnisse update 28.11.2008

http://www.aappb.org/

Burmesische Militärregierung verurteilt führende Studentenführer und Mönche

2008-11-30T21:46:00.000+01:00