Tag: Burma

Why is the world’s biggest democracy silent on Suu Kyi?

19th May 2009


Image source: http://politicalseance101.com

An article by Joan Smith in The Independent yesterday entitled: It’s time India spoke up for Suu Kyi will certainly have resonated with a few people, especially after the resounding victory for the Congress Party. The election of this left-of-center, but business friendly party — if today’s huge stock market rally is anything to go by — means that for the first time in more than three decades there is a strong, stable government committed to secular values. India is no longer a small player within the international political economy, and a sign of the country truly coming of age would be if it were to take a strong stance on this latest fiasco in Burma where the military junta appears intent on sending Aung San Suu Kyi to jail because of the actions of some idiotic American tourist. India could certainly put pressure on China if it were occupy the high moral ground at this time.

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Blogging in Burma

11th November 2008

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Image source: lanka-msma.blogspot.com

The Australian reports today that Nay Phone Latt, arrested in January of this year in a round up of activists following the September 2007 protests against the Burmese military junta, has been jailed for 20 years on account of his blogging activities. This draconian sentence is a clear indication of the lengths the regime is prepared to go to in order to prevent Burmese bloggers from getting information to the outside world. Time to give to Amnesty International.

Burmese pariah

29th September 2007

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Image source: fillybustercartoons.com

General Than Shwe is not widely known outside of Burma. Safely ensconced in the new capital city he and his military cronies have built for themselves, he lives a life of luxury while the people of Burma struggle to make ends meet. There are very few of these narcissistic oligarchs left in the world today (Robert Mugabe being one of the more prominent), and in the increasingly globalised world, I find it astonishing that so-called democracies have allowed them to get away with it for as long as they have. There are many guilty parties, but top of the list, in my opinion, is ASEAN. China, India and Japan come in for criticism for their strong business links with the regime, but ASEAN should have done more before now to deal with one of its own. ASEAN foreign ministers met at the UN in New York yesterday, and in uncharacteristically blunt language, they voiced their revulsion at the killings in Rangoon. Singapore’s Foreign Minister George Yeo demanded that the Burmese government “immediately desist from the use of violence against demonstrators”. Even General Surayud, the Thai Prime Minister and fellow ‘military dictator’ (albeit of a bloodless coup), spoke out at the UN in criticism of the Burmese military junta. This is very commendable, but now they have to ‘walk the talk’.

An orange revolution?

23rd September 2007

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Image source: cnn.com

Just read a very good piece by Andrew Harding on the BBC web site documenting his observations of the events unfurling in Burma. The accompanying video clip also provides a vivid account of how miserable life is under this military dictatorship. The key question is how thick-skinned the generals are, cocooned in their custom-built capital several hours drive north of Rangoon. The refusal of the monks to take alms from the government is tantamount to “excommunication” and — theoretically at least — should make them feel very uncomfortable. There are around 400,000 monks in Burma and if they all join the demonstrations, and more people gain the courage to come out and support them, there will be pressure on the army to deserts the generals, and then the situation will become untenable. In the meantime, the regime continues in its efforts to manipulate things; the media publishing no images of the demonstrations showing, instead, staged pictures of generals giving lavish gifts to monasteries.

Six straight days of protest

22nd September 2007

Monks.jpg
Image source: aljazeera.net

After a sixth straight day of protest by Burmese monks against the military junta, there are no signs of a loss of momentum. The news breaking today is that the protestors have been allowed to march past Aung San Suu Kyi’s home, where they were greeted by Suu Kyi herself. With the regime clearly nervous about confronting the monks, confidence is growing as people are joining the monks in their protest. A glimmer of hope perhaps, but I fear there may be a lot of bloodshed before this is over.

ASEAN turns the screw on Burma

3rd August 2007

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Burmese Foreign Minister, Nyan Win
Image source: www.reuters.com

There was a huge break with tradition this week when ASEAN foreign ministers agreed to set up a human rights body. The issue has been creating friction within the 10-member group, threatening to divert attention from their usual preoccupation with economic integration. According to Reuters, an insider revealed that Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Brunei — the six older members of ASEAN — persuaded Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam to accept the deal. Needless to say, Burma had opposed the idea, while the other three nations had asked for more time. The time-honoured consensus approach which has characterised ASEAN’s 40-year history ensured these differences were swept under the carpet, to arrive at an ‘in principle’ agreement. This might not seem a big deal, but this does constitute a major step forward and a sign that the more advanced nations within ASEAN are losing their patience with the military junta in Burma. The softly-softly strategy has clearly failed and now it is time to step up a gear because the increasingly bizarre behaviour of the Burmese government is becoming an embarrassment.

Burma and the shame of the international community

30th June 2007

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Image source: bbc.co.uk

A few weeks ago, the Red Cross took the unusual step of taking a political stance on the activities of a sovereign state. Less unusual, perhaps, was that the criticism was aimed at Burma (RealPlayer required). Notwithstanding the pronouncements of traditionally non-partisan bodies like this, the international community continues to fraternise with the Burmese military dictators, standing by while the rest of Burmese society continues to deteriorate. The latest news shows that despite statements to the contrary, many countries are indirectly supporting the regime by operating through others; the sale of helicopters via India being a case in point. Amnesty International observe that this transaction risks making a mockery of the EU’s ban on all sales to Burma. Sadly, it is not just the EU that is turning a blind eye.

The shame of the international community

22nd May 2006

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Image source: www.idea.int

The images on BBC News this last week of the Karen people fleeing from Burmese government troops left me feeling sick in the pit of my stomach. On a slightly brighter note, the meeting between UN Envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, the Under Secretary General for Political Affairs and Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday presents us with some faint optimism that something will be done soon. Ibrahim is the first foreigner to be allowed to visit Suu Kyi since 2004. As The Independent reports today, the generals who crushed Suu Kyi’s democracy movement will decide later this week whether to extend her house arrest beyond its present term, which expires on Saturday. It will be on this day, 16 years ago, that she won an overwhelming election victory. The Burmese military junta have refused to recognise this and instead Suu Kyi has spent 10 of the past 17 years imprisoned. I wonder if that great freedom fighter and defender of liberty, George Dubya, even knows where Burma is on the map? If you are not confident that he and his ‘coalition of the willing’ buddies are, please consider joining The Global Campaign to Free Aung San Suu Kyi.

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