UN experts call for retrial of Myanmar activists

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

UN experts call for retrial of Myanmar activists
Andrew Morgan at 5:18 PM ET

[JURIST] A panel of UN experts on Wednesday urged [press release] authorities in Myanmar [JURIST archive; BBC backgrounder] to retry political and religious prisoners. The group, including Special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana [official website], called for fair and open trials [Reuters report] for dozens of activists convicted [JURIST report] in judicial proceedings inside Yangyon’s Insein Prison [BBC backgrounder]. The panel considered such a process to be part of general reforms necessary for moving toward multi-party democratic government, including:

a comprehensive review of national legislation to ensure its compliance with international human rights standards, the release of political prisoners of conscience, and reform of the armed forces and the judicial system.

They also urged Myanmar to release lawyers who were jailed for contempt of court after making public their clients’ complaints about the proceedings.

Last week, dozens of activists from 88 Generation Students [BBC backgrounder], including Min Ko Naing [advocacy website], Ko Ko Gyi, and Ktay Kywe, were sentenced to 65 years in prison for their participation in pro-democracy demonstrations last year. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile] also voiced concern about the lengthy and severe prison terms, calling for the military junta to release [JURIST report] democracy activists and other political prisoners. Despite the September release [JURIST report] of more than 9,000 political prisoners, human rights groups estimate that more than 2,100 Burmese remain imprisoned for their religious and political beliefs.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/11/un-experts-call-for-retrial-of-myanmar.php

World focus on Burma (16 November 2008)

.

Myanmar Activists Moved To Separate Prisons – Relatives
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He said the human rights body has been accepted as essential by members Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei. …

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… according to Aung Din, co-founder of the Washington-based US Campaign for Burma, which lobbies for political change in Myanmar, also called Burma. …

Child Warriors Around The World — Manipulation Without End
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Following the latest wave of violence in Burma, Human Rights Watch published a report detailing how the military regime in this Asian country recruits …

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… were transferred from Rangoon’s Insein Prison to remote prisons around Burma on Saturday night and early Sunday morning—with more prisoners expected to …

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Remember that devastating cyclone that hit Burma/Myanmar on May 2, and the ensuing misery because the junta refused to let international aid come into the …

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Opposition to Mekong Dams Overflows at Meet
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For his part, Burmese environmental activist Sai Sai noted the big gap between the government, dam builders and local communities. …

Burma, Iraq, and the Need for an Effective UN
Center for Research on Globalization, Canada -
And neighbors China and India—motivated by selfish economic concerns—look the other way at the Burmese junta’s horrendous human rights abuses. …

Myanmar opposition leaders receive 65-year prison terms

JURIST -

Human rights groups have estimated that more than 2100 Burmese have been imprisoned for their religious and political beliefs despite the government’s …

Linking arms in fight against terrorism
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In Burma, the initial government restrictions on the activities of foreign humanitarian organizations and United Nations agencies in the wake of Cyclone …

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… of Burmese companies that are involved in the gem business, including the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Company (a military-owned conglomerate), …

Colors of freedom: Works of Burmese artist, a Fargo transplant, on …
Grand Forks Herald, ND -
Tun was born in Burma, also know as Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia that the US CIA says “suffers from pervasive government controls, …

Myanmar sentences 9 more activists to prison
The Associated Press -
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A court in military-ruled Myanmar has sentenced an additional nine pro-democracy activists to 65-year prison terms, relatives and …

Bush, Burma, & An Effective UN
OpEdNews, PA -
… discussing Burma and when a UN envoy said he planned to discuss the prospect of talks between the junta and opposition political leader Aung San Suu Kyi …

Myanmar opposition leaders get long jail terms: relatives
AFP -

YANGON (AFP) — One of Myanmar’s most prominent activists was sentenced to 65 years in jail along with two other pro-democracy leaders in connection with the …

Min Ko Naing & ’88 generation students’ given 65 years

Mizzima news by Phanida

Saturday, 15 November 2008 21:25

Chiang Mai – Prominent student leader Min Ko Naing and eight of his ’88 generation student’ colleagues have been sentenced to 65 years of imprisonment by a special court in Maupin prison in Burma’s Irrawaddy Division, friends and family members said.

The former student leaders – Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Hla Myo Naung, Htay Kywe, Mya Aye, Nyan Linn, Phyone Cho (a.k.a) Htay Win, Aung Thu and Aung Naing – were sentenced on November 11th during a closed door trial in the Maupin prison court, a relative of the students told Mizzima.

The court prohibited the defendants from having a defense counsel and sentenced them on charges of violating the Electronic Act and forming an illegal organization. The students will continue to face trial on other charges, some 20 in all, the relative said.

The student leaders, who were transferred to Maupin prison earlier this month after the Insein prison court sentenced them to six month prison terms on charges of contempt of court, were reportedly sent back to Insein prison after they were sentenced and arrived at Insein prison on Saturday morning.

“Family members went to Maupin prison as they said they would be allowed to meet with the prisoners, but on the way they met the vehicle carrying the students. It was escorted by two police vans. They saw the van but did not realize it was them. And when they learned that they had been transferred back to Insein, they went to Insein prison,” the relative said.

He added that family members were allowed to meet with the students for half an hour at Insein prison on Saturday.

The student leaders, widely known as the ’88 Generation students’, were arrested in August 2007, for peacefully marching the streets of Rangoon in protest against a sudden rise in fuel prices.

Following their arrests, the sporadic demonstrations they initiated evolved into the biggest anti-government demonstrations in nearly two decades, when Buddhist monks joined and led the masses. But the junta, which has a tradition of brutally crushing any anti-government movement, violently suppressed the protests, killing at least 30 people and arresting thousands.

Sources close to prison authorities said the student leaders, who had just arrived back at Insein prison, are likely to be transferred again to another prison in the near future.

While in Maupin prison, sources said the student leaders faced a daily closed door trial before they were finally handed their sentences.

The Insein prison court earlier this week sentenced fourteen ’88 generation students’ to similar long prison terms of up to 65 years. Additionally, several youth members of Burma’s main opposition party – National League for Democracy – were also dealt lengthy prison terms.

Following the bloody crackdown of the 2007 protests, Burma’s military junta stepped up its suppression of activists, arresting hundreds. And since July, authorities have held trials for several of the detained activists.

Observers and critics said the trial and sentences of activists to long prison terms is a part of the junta’s plan to weaken opposition forces before its planned general election in 2010.

The junta announced that it will hold a general election in 2010, as part of its plan to democratize the country. The election is to be the fifth step of the junta’s roadmap to democracy. In a referendum in May a draft constitution was approved, but critics say the whole process is meant only to legalize the junta’s continued rule.

http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/1307-min-ko-naing-a-88-generation-students-given-65-years.html

World focus on Burma (15 November 2008)

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Min Ko Naing & ’88 generation students’ given 65 years
Mizzima.com, India -
Additionally, several youth members of Burma’s main opposition party – National League for Democracy – were also dealt lengthy prison terms. …

Nine more Myanmar activists sentenced to 65 years in jail
Monsters and Critics.com -
Yangon- Prominent Myanmar dissident Min Ko Naing and eight other student activists have been sentenced to 65 years in prison in an ongoing judicial …

Woman reporter jailed for two years
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A 24-year old woman reporter of a weekly journal in Myanmar was put away in prison for two years. Her crime? She was covering a gathering of refugees …

A Wanted Man in Burma
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Read other articles by Jeremy. This article was posted on Saturday, November 15th, 2008 at 7:00am and is filed under Disinformation, Myanmar/Burma.

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Burma had earlier rejected Bangladesh’s claim and said the area where exploration was is in its territorial waters. The Bangladesh authorities in south of …

Myanmar Court Jails More Pro-Democracy Activists
Gant Daily, PA -
Yangon, Myanmar (AHN) – A special court in junta-ruled Myanmar sentenced Friday at least 15 members of the opposition party to a prison term of two to 16 …

Myanmar Opposition Leaders Get Long Jail Sentences – Relatives
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YANGON, Myanmar (AFP)–One of Myanmar’s most prominent activists was sentenced to 65 years in jail along with two other pro-democracy leaders in connection …

Myanmar jails democracy activists
Reuters -
The nine include Min Ko Naing, leader of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising that was brutally suppressed and the former Burma’s highest profile dissident after …

Head held high Ashin Gambira will never bow to junta
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… the current crisis of Burma originated because of the junta’s one-sided bullying tactics and refusal to resolve the political crisis by political means. …

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by Dr. Sein Myint The nomination by outgoing US President George Bush of Michael Green as Special Envoy and Policy Chief for Burma will likely be swiftly …

Myanmar jails cyclone journalist
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“We appeal to Burma’s military authorities to free Ein Khaing Oo, whose only crime was to cover the humanitarian disaster in the Irrawaddy delta. …

Myanmar sentences journalist to 2 years in prison
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Myanmar jails more democracy activists: sources
Reuters -
Many of those jailed for up to 65 years were involved in last year’s mass protests against rising fuel and food prices in the former Burma, which has been …

Relentless punitive sentences for opposition members continue
Mizzima.com, India -
by Than Htike Oo Chiang Mai – The spate of sentences of dissidents and activists by the Burmese military junta continues to be relentless, with 16 more, …

Myanmar: 14 in Opposition Sentenced
New York Times, United States -
By AP Courts in Myanmar sentenced 14 members of the opposition National League for Democracy party to lengthy prison terms on Friday, bringing to more than …

In London, Lord Levene Continues in Myanmar with Lloyds and Total …
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Myanmar activists losing powerful ally: LAURA BUSH
Northwest Asian Weekly, WA -
… which has large economic interests in Myanmar, “to do what other countries have done — to sanction, to put a financial squeeze on the Burmese generals. …

Pro-democracy activists jailed
Scotsman, United Kingdom -
COURTS in Burma sentenced 14 members of the National League for Democracy party to 65-year prison terms yesterday. More than 50 pro-democracy activists have …

Shock tactics in Burma
Bangkok Post, Thailand -
What started as an outcry against sudden, ill-thought-out fuel price increases by the Burmese junta in August last year, culminated in thousands of people …

Burmese Blogger Sentenced to 20 Years For Reporting on Protests
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In many countries, you have to commit a serious crime to be sentenced to 20 years in jail, but in Burma this can happen …

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The Union of Myanmar (Burma) has suffered political and ethnic conflict for more than half a century, which continues to hamper the country’s social, …

Burma Jails More Dissidents
Voice of America - By VOA News
Courts in military-ruled Burma sentenced at least 14 members of the opposition party to prison terms Friday, bringing to more than 60 the number …

88 generation student leaders sentenced to six months imprisonment

Myanmar court sentences 9 activists to prison
eTaiwan News, Taiwan -
The nine activists were leaders of the 88 Generation Students group which helped organize last year’s pro-democracy demonstrations, …

88 generation student leaders sentenced to six months imprisonment Mizzima
Asian (con)Fusion: Tragedy and Farce in Burma Independent
Nine Myanmar activists get six months for contempt of court Earthtimes (press release)
Jailed activists sentenced for contempt of court First Post
The Irrawaddy News Magazine
all 24 news articles »

Myanmar court sentences 9 activists to prison

Associated Press
2008-10-30 03:23 PM

A court in military-ruled Myanmar sentenced nine activists to six months in prison for interrupting a judge during a closed trial held inside a prison, a lawyer said Thursday.The presiding judge at the trial in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison ruled Wednesday that the activists had “interrupted a public servant at a judicial proceeding” by repeatedly asking for an open trial that relatives could attend, said attorney Aung Thein, one of three lawyers for the activists.

“The lawyers were asked to leave the courtroom and all nine of them were given six-month sentences,” Aung Thein said.

The nine activists were leaders of the 88 Generation Students group which helped organize last year’s pro-democracy demonstrations, the biggest anti-government movement in two decades.

Most of the nine were arrested Aug. 21, 2007, along with other activists for staging a street protest against a massive fuel-price hike. Those protests led to large street rallies led by Buddhist monks which were violently suppressed by the military in September 2007.

The nine activists given jail sentences were Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Mya Aye, Pyone Cho, Htay Kywe, Nyan Lin, Aung Thu, Hla Myo Naung and Yan Myo Naing.

They are among 35 well-known activists from the 88 Generation Students group on trial facing several charges, including violating a law that bans demonstrations, speeches or written statements that could undermine stability. It is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Separately, Nyi Nyi Htway, a lawyer who was serving as defense lawyer for 11 other activists who took part in the protests, was arrested Tuesday and charged with violating the same law, Aung Thein said.

Rights groups say that hundreds of people arrested during last year’s pro-democracy protests remain imprisoned.

Members of the 88 Generation Students were at the forefront of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising and were subjected to lengthy prison terms and torture after the rebellion was brutally suppressed by the military.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=776500

World focus on Burma (30 October 2008)

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‘Burma Day’ not encouraging for BCUK
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European Union Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner explained in a statement, “Burma/ Myanmar should remain in the centre of our attention as a country that is in …

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We can only hope, therefore, that she undertook many quiet approaches to the likes of Iran, Burma and the many other international human rights abusers. …

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Htay Aung said a new offensive could lead to human rights abuses and an increased number of displaced people. “If heavy fighting breaks out, the people will …

NLD members praise Win Tin’s negotiation efforts
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Oct 30, 2008 (DVB)–Meikhtila National League for Democracy has praised the efforts of senior NLD member Win Tin to reconcile youth members with the NLD …

Bomb Blasts in Northeast India Kill at Least 56
FOXNews -
Dozens of militant separatist groups are active in India’s northeast, an isolated region wedged between Bangladesh, Bhutan, China and Myanmar with only a …

Multiple bomb blasts rock India’s Assam state
Times Online, UK -
Ringed by China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan, with only a thin corridor of land connecting it to the rest of India, India’s northeast is home to more …

Jailed activists sentenced for contempt of court
First Post, UK -
All nine have been confined in Rangoon’s Insein Prison for more than a year after they were arrested at the start of the uprising that swept Burma last …

Refugees Are ‘Valued People’ After Resettling Here
Georgia Bulletin, Georgia -
Today, Nicholas and four others who are from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, live together in a modest gated apartment complex in metro Atlanta and are …

Than Shwe’s Daughter Goes Shopping for Gold
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand -
By MIN LWIN A BBC radio report that a daughter of Burmese junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe went shopping for gold worth more than US $80000 is a hot topic of …

Aid Group Helps to Reunite Children with their Families
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand -
Half a year after Cyclone Nargis hit the country’s Irrawaddy delta on May 2-3, the charity is still bringing families separated by the storm back together. …

Asian (con)Fusion: Tragedy and Farce in Burma
Independent, UK -
They take their name from Burma’s failed democracy uprising in 1988, an uprising that was brutally put down by the regime with the loss of up to 6000 lives. …

Activists Get Six Months for Contempt
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand -
By MIN LWIN Nine Burmese activists who have been detained for more than a year received six-month prison sentences yesterday after they were found guilty of …

Burma Day Criticized
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand -
… invited NGOs, advocacy groups, international organizations and think tanks from Burma and Europe to the conference, titled “Burma/Myanmar- Prospects for …

Myanmar jails activists for “court interruption”
Reuters UK, UK -
The nine, who include Min Ko Naing, the former Burma’s most high-profile political prisoner after Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, had argued that …

Thailand court ignores facts of killings
United Press International, Asia, Hong Kong -
Some of the evidence it heard but omitted from its verdict included the testimony of a national human rights commissioner. She told the judges that her …

Myanmar court sentences 9 activists to prison
eTaiwan News, Taiwan -
AP A court in military-ruled Myanmar sentenced nine activists to six months in prison for interrupting a judge during a closed trial held inside a prison, …

Burma: Junta Continues To Hold NLD Activists
UNPO, Netherlands -
All nine detainees are former student leaders who have already served lengthy prison sentences over earlier protests against Myanmar’s regime. …

Influx of refugees strains providers of health care in Rochester
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY -
One of the health center’s interpreters, herself a refugee from Karen state in Myanmar — formerly known as Burma — said refugees need much help adjusting to …

Nine Myanmar activists get six months for contempt of court
Earthtimes (press release), UK -
… terms for contempt of court after complaining of the lack of a free judiciary in military-run Myanmar, a non-governmental organization said Thursday. …

Burma jails pro-democracy activists
The Australian, Australia -
All nine detainees are former student leaders who have already served lengthy prison sentences over earlier protests against Myanmar’s regime. …

Gem traders to fight Burma ban
Radio Australia, Australia -
Previously the law banned gems bought directly from Burma but not those traded via other countries. Dave Mathieson from Human Rights Watch told Radio …

Ghosts of Muldoon and Reagan over Trade
Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand -
Free trade had not improved democratic rights in Burma or in China. It had merely improved cash flow for multinational corporations. …

Malaysia’s Authoritarian Resurgence
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She blends a knack for pop polemics with a commitment to serious human rights causes. In addition to her responsibilities to her constituency, …

Greens: Human Rights Left Out Of Nat’s Foreign Policy
Voxy, New Zealand -
… nations like Burma or Fiji. “National’s motto seems to be: ‘Who cares about human rights, as long as we can get a trade agreement,” Mr Locke says. …

Prowling and Skulking
Ethiopian Review, DC -
Mynamar (Burma): In 1988, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Gandhian, founded the National League for Democracy in Mynamar and was placed under …

US Group Says Burma Detained Opposition Activists’ Lawyer
Voice of America -
… 2007 – the birthday of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The US Campaign for Burma says the activists were not given a fair trial. …

Amazon Defense Coalition: Chevron Whitewashes Its Website of Burma
MarketWatch -
… Human Rights Abuse in Military-Ruled Burma (Myanmar)”: “Chevron and its consortium partners continue to rely on the Burmese army for pipeline security, …

Meeting on Post-Nargis Recovery
E-Pao.net, India -
Bangkok, October 29 2008: Six months after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, key partners in the country’s recovery process gathered in Bangkok to assess how …

Don’t Forget The Lesson
Times of India, India -
… opened up to the extent that it hosted this month an Asia-Europe conference that focused in several of its sessions on democratisation and human rights. …

Thailand needs to show leadership quality
Nation Multimedia, Thailand -
During his visit to Beijing and the Asia-Europe Meeting, he did make comments on the situation in Burma – calling for assistance to help Burma with economic …

Underdevelopment and Aid: Search for a Right Balance – Part II
YaleGlobal Online, CT -
Authoritarian China’s new superpower clout, which disregarded human rights abuses, had reached Africa, and was largely welcomed, especially by authoritarian …

Human Rights First Joins With Internet Companies in Adopting …
Human Rights First, NY -
… rallying support for human rights using the Internet, whether on online newspapers, blogs, email or websites. Just this week, the government in Burma is …

Caught in the clutches: the fight to save child soldier
Mizzima.com, India -
“Though we cannot confirm it, I think the use of child soldiers by the Burmese junta has remained more or less the same,” said Mathieson, adding that the …

Saffron Revolution monks to speak today
The Jersey Journal – NJ.com, NJ -

The monks will answer questions from the audience during the free public forum, which is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. …

Burma: 2092 Political Prisioners In Prison

Monday, 25 August 2008, 3:00 pm
Press Release: Terry Evans

August 25, 2008

On the late night and early morning of 21st-22nd August 2007, one year ago, after leading peaceful protests against the sudden hike in fuel and commodity prices, 13 leading members of the 88 Generation Student’s Group were arrested by the Burmese authorities. They are:

• Min Ko Naing (Paw Oo Tun): now more than 17 years total detention,
• Jimmy (Kyaw Min Yu): total detention more than 15 years,
• Mya Aye: a total of more than 8 years in detention,
• Ko Ko Gyi: a total time in detention of 14 years and 8 months,
• Kyaw Kyaw Htwe (Marky): nearly 13 years in detention,
• Arnt Bwe Kyaw: over 9 years in detention,
• Pyone Cho: total of over 16 years in detention,
• Min Zeya: total of 7 years and 5 months detention,
• Nyan Lin: a total of 7 years detention,
• Ko Zeya: over 13 years and 7 months in detention,
• Panneik Tun: a total of 8 years detention,
• Zaw Zaw Min: a total of 1 year and 1 month detention,
• Thet Zaw: already served a total of 10 years and 4 months.

These arbitrary arrests are part of an ongoing systematic persecution of activists, both social and political, by the Burmese Junta. In the last year there have been around 900 arrests of activists, some for things like helping the relief operation following Cyclone Nargis. Currently there are at least 2092 Political Prisoners being held in detention across Burma.

Political Prisoners in detention suffer massive hardships, inflicted on them systematically by the authorities, including severe physical and psychological torture, many interrogations, starvation, malnutrition and many different and serious health problems due to the conditions they have been held under. They also suffer prolonged and unlawful detention, no access to proper legal counsel, no free or fair trials and a methodical intrusion into their lives by the Burmese authorities, and those of their families and associates, both during their detention and throughout the times that they have been released. Due to this treatment throughout their years in detention, all Political Prisoners develop weak health, and are susceptible to illness. For example: Hla Myo Naung (member of 88 Generation Students Group, held in Insein prison, arrested at eye clinic, now awaiting sentence) has already lost the sight in one of his eyes and his other eye will also soon be blind, due to the neglect of the authorities in not providing proper medical treatment.

The current situation of the above 13 student leaders, arrested this time last year is that they have not seen a lawyer since their detention, and some of the charges under which they were first arrested have been changed. Some of them and their family members are not sure under which charges they are being held. None of them have been brought before a court of any kind, or been subject to a trial. None of them have been sentenced. Some are suffering from severe health problems and have not yet received proper medical treatment. Among the most urgent cases are Ko Min Ko Naing, whose eyesight is failing, has some serious health complications with his heart and has pain walking due to a problem with his foot and Ko Mya Aye is suffering from heart disease.

Including the last year, the 13 student leaders listed above, have served a total time in detention of 140 years and 1 month so far. That is enough. AAPP pays tribute to these Activists for their service to their country, their total commitment, creativity and strength in the face of a brutal military regime. AAPP strongly condemns the Burmese regime, who acts with impunity, for their systematic persecution of these activists. They have suffered these abuses because of their outspoken belief in human rights, their love for their country and their determination to replace military dictatorship with democracy in Burma.

ENDS

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0808/S00299.htm

Urgent Action – Leading Burmese Democracy Activist May Face Blindness

b

Dear friends

We are extremely concerned for the safety of leading democracy activist Min Ko Naing, who is being held in Rangoon¹s notorious Insein Prison. He is suffering from a serious eye infection and may go blind because he is being denied medical treatment. It is reported that his eye condition has deteriorated to the point that he is unable to sleep or eat because of the pain the infection has caused.

Min Ko Naing has been in prison since August last year. He was arrested for leading protests in Rangoon. The protests triggered the biggest demonstrations in Burma since the 1988 uprising, but were brutally crushed by the dictatorship. We will never know how many were killed during the regime¹s brutal crackdown. Today, the situation in Burma remains as severe as ever. Arrests continue and torture is routine. Political prisoners are singled out for brutal treatment, including the denial of medical treatment.

Min Ko Naing is a leading democracy activist and one of the most famous student leaders from the 1988 uprising. He was arrested in 1989 and spent more than 16 years in prison. He was severely tortured and held in solitary confinement for most of his sentence. He was released in 2004 and despite constant threats and harassment by the regime, he has continued to campaign for freedom and democracy in Burma.

Please take action now. Visit
<http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/mkn_action.html> and send an email to urge the Burmese authorities to allow immediate medical attention to Min Ko Naing and all political prisoners.

Thank you for your support.

Anna Roberts
The Burma Campaign UK

Source: email from anna.roberts@burmacampaign.org.uk

b

World Focus on Burma (23 April 08)

Top Myanmar activist may go blind: US
AFP –

Burma is the previous name of Myanmar. In March, U Myint Thein, spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, died in Singapore from …

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4. Junta accuses Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors of Rangoon blast
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5. Junketing around the Junction, April 24
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8. Burma: Chronicle of a referendum foretold
OneWorld.net, UK -
In fact, the army officer, in his late 50s, has played pivotal roles in the past to strengthen the military dictator’s grip on power in Burma, or Myanmar, …

9. Min Ko Naing at risk of blindness
Mizzima.com, India -
A statement released yesterday by the United States State Department condemned “the failure of Burma‘s authorities to provide proper medical treatment to a …

10. Myanmar’s opposition party urges proper medical care for political …
International Herald Tribune, France -
AP YANGON, Thailand: Myanmar‘s main opposition party urged the ruling military junta Wednesday to give political detainees proper medical care, …

11. Malaysia rights panel sees migrant social time bomb
Reuters India, India -
His comments came after detainees from Myanmar rioted at a Malaysian holding camp on Monday, torching a building, after hearing they had apparently been …

12. Myanmar’s opposition party says political prisoners denied proper …
International Herald Tribune, France -
AP YANGON, Myanmar: Myanmar‘s military junta is intentionally denying proper medical care to political prisoners, the country’s pro-democracy party said …

13. Burma Urged to Give Proper Medical Care for Political Prisoners
The Irrawaddy News Magazine, Thailand -
Casey said in a statement Tuesday that Burma should release all political prisoners. According to Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political …

14. Refugees frustrated with living in Thailand’s ‘human zoos’
Monsters and Critics.com -
But the message from the refugee from Myanmar – who lives in north-western Thailand in a mock village purpose-built for tourists – is crystal-clear: ‘We …

15. Forced Migration Review No. 30: Burma’s displaced people
ReliefWeb (press release), Switzerland -
Using the name Burma, rather than the official name Myanmar, is a politically sensitive choice, as the opposition and several Western countries refuse to …

16. Asia.view Myanmar’s awful choice
Economist, UK -
IN EMBASSIES abroad, voting has already begun in the referendum on Myanmar’s new constitution, which will be held in-country on May 10th. …

17. Veteran returns from Burma pilgrimage
Salisbury Journal, UK -
Mr Osborne served as a Chindit in Burma (now called Myanmar) when he was in his 30s. He was based in White City where he was in control of West African …

18. Slovenian official says EU to extend sanctions against Myanmar
International Herald Tribune, France -
AP STRASBOURG, France: A Slovenian official says the European Union will extend its political and economic sanctions against Myanmar and allow only limited …

19. EU mulls new Myanmar sanctions, as constitution vote closes in
AFP -
STRASBOURG (AFP) — The European Union is preparing to extend and even boost sanctions against Myanmar, the EU’s Slovenian presidency said Wednesday. …

20. UN draft calls on Myanmar junta to take urgent steps to start …
PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria -
«The people of Burma deserve support from the council, from the international community. The previous draft, circulated in early April, called on Myanmar‘s …

Min Ko Naing – Leading Burmese Democracy Activist May Face Blindness

 

 

 

 အက်ဥ္းေထာင္တြင္း မ်က္စိေ၀ဒနာ ခံစားေနရသည့္ ကိုမင္းကိုႏိုင္ ေဆးကုသခြင့္မရေသး

 

 

ကိုကိုႀကီး (၀ဲမွ ဒုတိယ)၊ ကိုမင္းကိုႏိုင္ (၀ဲမွ တတိယ) ႏွင့္ ကိုေဌးႂကြယ္ (၀ဲမွ စတုတၴတို႔ ေရႊတိဂံုဘုရားသို႔ သြားၾကစဥ္ ေတြ႔ရပံု။ (ေမ ၂၇၊ ၂၀၀၇)

အင္းစိန္ေထာင္မွာ အထိန္းသိမ္းခံထားရတဲ့ ၈၈ မ်ဳိးဆက္ေက်ာင္းသား  ေခါင္းေဆာင္
ကိုမင္းကိုႏိုင္ရဲ႕ မ်က္စိက်န္းမာေရး ခ်ဳိ႕ယြင္းေနတယ္လို႔ မိသားစု၀င္တဦးက ေျပာပါတယ္။ ဆရာ၀န္နဲ႔ ျပသစစ္ေဆးခြင့္ ေတာင္းထားေပမယ့္ ခုခ်ိန္ထိ မရေသးဘူး
လို႔လည္း ေျပာပါတယ္။ ကိုေက်ာ္ေက်ာ္သိန္းက ကိုမင္းကိုႏိုင္ရဲ႕ အစ္မျဖစ္သူကို ဆက္သြယ္ေမးျမန္းၿပီး တင္ျပထားပါတယ္။

ကိုမင္းကိုႏိုင္ရဲ႕ မ်က္စိက်န္းမာေရးအပါအ၀င္ တျခားအေျခအေနေတြကို အစ္မျဖစ္သူ မၾကည္ၾကည္ၫြန္႔က ဗီြအိုေအကို ေျပာျပခဲ့တာပါ။ ၿပီးခဲ့တဲ့သီတင္းပတ္ အဂၤါေန႔က
ကုိမင္းကိုႏိုင္ဆီ ေထာင္၀င္စာသြားေတြ႔ခ်ိန္မွာ ကိုမင္းကိုႏိုင္က သူ႔ရဲ႕ မ်က္စိအေျခအေန ေျပာျပခဲ့ပါတယ္တဲ့။

“က်မ ၿပီးခဲ့တဲ့ အဂၤါေန႔ကေလ၊ အဲဒီေန႔ က်မသြားတဲ့အခ်ိန္က်ေတာ့ ၁၅ ရက္ရွိၿပီတဲ့၊ မ်က္စိစူးၿပီး ေအာင့္ေနတယ္တဲ့။ ႏွစ္ပတ္ေပါ့ေနာ္၊ က်မ ၾကားထဲမွာ တပတ္ျခားသြားတာေပါ့။ မ်က္စိစူးၿပီး ေအာင့္ေနတယ္လို႔ေျပာေတာ့ ဆရာ၀န္ လာတယ္တဲ့။ ႐ိုး႐ိုး ဆရာ၀န္ပဲေလ၊ အဲဒီ႐ိုး႐ိုးဆရာ၀န္က မ်က္စင္းေတာ့ေပးတယ္တဲ့၊ အဲဒီမ်က္စင္းကို
သူခတ္တဲ့အခါက်ေတာ့ သိပ္မသက္သာဘူးတဲ့။ မသက္သာေတာ့ သူ႔ကို Eye Specialist လႊတ္ေပးဖို႔ သူေျပာတယ္၊ ေတာင္းဆိုတယ္ေပါ့ေနာ္၊ ႏွစ္ခါေလာက္ ေတာင္းဆိုတယ္တဲ့။ Eye Specialist က တလကို တႀကိမ္ပဲ ေထာင္ထဲကို ၀င္တယ္ေပါ့၊ ဧၿပီလအတြက္က မ၀င္ေသးဘူးေပါ့၊ သူက မတ္လေနာက္ပိုင္းမွာ ျဖစ္တယ္ဆိုေတာ့ေလ။”

ကိုမင္းကိုႏုိင္အပါအ၀င္ ၈၈ မ်ဳိးဆက္ေက်ာင္းသားေခါင္းေဆာင္ ၁၃ ေယာက္ကို ၂၀၀၇ ခုႏွစ္၊ ၾသဂုတ္လ ၂၁ ရက္ေန႔ကတည္းက ဖမ္းဆီးထိန္းသိမ္းထားခဲ့တာပါ။အခုဆိုရင္ ၈ လနီးပါးရွိလာၿပီျဖစ္ေပမယ့္ ဥပေဒနဲ႔အညီ တရား႐ံုးတင္စစ္ေဆးတာမ်ဳိး ခုခ်ိန္ထိ မရွိေသးပါဘူး။ ဒါ့အျပင္ သူတို႔အေပၚစြဲတင္တဲ့ ပုဒ္မေတြကိုလည္း အမ်ဳိးမ်ဳိး
ေျပာင္းၿပီး တပ္ေနခဲ့တာပါ။ စ ဖမ္းသြားတဲ့အခ်ိန္တုန္းက ပုဒ္မ ၅ (ည)၊ တခါ အဲဒါကေန ပံုႏွိပ္အက္ဥပေဒ၊ ေနာက္ ဗီြဒီယိုအက္ဥပေဒ စသည္ျဖင့္ အမ်ဳိးမ်ဳိးေျပာင္းတပ္ခဲ့ပါတယ္။ သူတို႔ကို တရား႐ံုးမတင္ဘဲ ဖမ္းဆီးခ်ဳပ္ေႏွာင္ထားတာကို ဥပေဒေၾကာင္းအရ ေဘာင္၀င္ေအာင္လုပ္တဲ့အေနနဲ႔ ခုလို ပုဒ္မေတြ ေျပာင္းတပ္ေနတာျဖစ္ႏိုင္တယ္လို႔ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံ ေရွ႕ေနမ်ားေကာင္စီ (BLC) က ေရွ႕ေနတဦးျဖစ္သူ ဦးမင္းလြင္ဦးက ဗီြအိုေအကို ရွင္းျပခဲ့ပါတယ္။ အခုလက္ရွိ တပ္ထားတဲ့ပုဒ္မကို အစ္မျဖစ္သူ ေျပာျပခဲ့တာကေတာ့ … “ေနာက္ဆံုးတပ္ထားတာကေတာ့ ပုဒ္မ ၄ လို႔ ေျပာပါတယ္ရွင့္။”

ပုဒ္မ ၄ က ဘာဆိုတာ ရွင္းရွင္းလင္းလင္းမရွိေပမယ့္ အမ်ဳိးသားညီလာခံကို ဆန္႔က်င္ ေႏွာင့္ယွက္ျခင္းကေန ကာကြယ္တဲ့ဥပေဒ ၅/၉၆ နဲ႔ အက်ဳံး၀င္တဲ့ပုဒ္မ ျဖစ္ႏိုင္တယ္လို႔ ဦးမင္းလြင္ဦးကပဲ ေျပာျပခဲ့ပါတယ္။ အဲဒီပုဒ္မအရ ျပစ္ဒဏ္စီရင္မယ္ဆိုရင္ အနည္းဆံုး ေထာင္ဒဏ္ ၅ ႏွစ္ကေန အမ်ားဆံုး ႏွစ္ ၂၀ ထိ ခ်ႏိုင္တဲ့အျပင္ ေငြဒဏ္လည္း
ခ်မွတ္ႏိုင္ပါတယ္။

အခုအခ်ိန္ဟာ စစ္အစိုးရက အေျခခံဥပေဒမူၾကမ္းကို လူထုဆႏၵခံယူဖို႔ ျပင္ဆင္ေနခ်ိန္ျဖစ္ၿပီး အက်ဥ္းေထာင္တြင္းမွာ ရွိေနတဲ့လူေတြကိုလည္း မဲေပးခိုင္းဖို႔ ျပင္ဆင္ ေနတယ္ဆိုတဲ့သတင္းေတြ ထြက္ေနပါတယ္။ ဒီသတင္းနဲ႔ပတ္သက္လို႔ ကိုမင္းကိုႏိုင္ရဲ႕အစ္မျဖစ္သူကို ေမးၾကည့္ပါတယ္။

“သူတို႔ မဲေပးရမယ္ထင္တယ္တဲ့၊ သူတို႔ကို မဲေပးခုိင္းဦးမယ္တဲ့၊ အဲလိုေတာ့ ေျပာပါတယ္ရွင့္။ သူေျပာတယ္၊ အထဲကေနတဲ့ လူေတြလည္း မဲေပးရဦးမယ္တဲ့။”

ကိုမင္းကိုႏုိင္ဟာ ပထမတႀကိမ္မွာလည္း ၁၉၈၉ ခုႏွစ္ကေန ၂၀၀၄ ခုႏွစ္အထိ ၁၅ ႏွစ္ေက်ာ္ အက်ဥ္းက်ခံခဲ့ရသူပါ။ အဲဒီအက်ဥ္းစံကာလ သက္တမ္းရွည္အတြင္း က်န္းမာေရး ခ်ဳိ႕ယြင္းခဲ့ရသလို ခုတႀကိမ္ ျပန္အဖမ္းခံရတဲ့အခါမွာလည္း ေထာင္တြင္းေနရတဲ့ အေျခအေနက မေကာင္းတာေၾကာင့္ မိသားစုက စိုးရိမ္ေနၾကတာပါ။

“က်န္တဲ့ က်န္းမာေရးကေတာ့ သူက အာ႐ံုေၾကာ အားနည္းတယ္ေလ၊ အာ႐ံုေၾကာ အားနည္းတဲ့ေရာဂါရွိတယ္။ အဲဒါကို သူေနရတဲ့အခန္းက တအား စိုစြတ္ထိုင္းမိႈင္း တယ္လို႔ေျပာတယ္ေလ။ စိုစြတ္ထုိင္းမိႈင္းေတာ့ ေနရထိုင္ရ သိပ္ေတာ့ အဆင္မေျပဘူး။ ေနာက္ၿပီးေတာ့ ေလာေလာဆယ္က လမ္းေလွ်ာက္ခြင့္ပိတ္လိုက္ေတာ့ ပိုဆိုးသြားတာေပါ့။ က်မ ေလာေလာဆယ္စိတ္ပူေနတာ အဲဒီမ်က္စိကို အရမ္းစိုးရိမ္တယ္ေလ။ အေရွ႕မွာ (ကို) လွမ်ဳိးေနာင္တုန္းကလည္း ျဖစ္သြားေတာ့ေလ။ အဲဒါကို စိတ္ပူေနတာေပါ့။”

သူေျပာသြားတဲ့ထဲမွာပါတဲ့ ကိုလွမ်ဳိးေနာင္ဟာလည္း ၈၈ မ်ဳိးဆက္ေက်ာင္းသား ေခါင္းေဆာင္တဦးျဖစ္ၿပီး မ်က္စိ ေဆးကုသခန္းမွာ ေဆးကုသေနခ်ိန္ သူ႔ကို ဖမ္းဆီးသြားခဲ့တာပါ။ ဖမ္းဆီးၿပီးေနာက္ပိုင္း စနစ္တက် ကုသမႈ မခံယူရတာေၾကာင့္ မ်က္စိတလံုး ကြယ္သြားခဲ့ရၿပီးပါၿပီ။

ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံအက်ဥ္းေထာင္အသီးသီးမွာ ထိန္းသိမ္းခံထားရတဲ့ ႏုိင္ငံေရးအက်ဥ္းသား အေရအတြက္ကို ဘယ္သူမွ တိတိက်က် မေျပာႏုိင္ေပမယ့္ လူ႔အခြင့္အေရးအဖြဲ႔ေတြရဲ႕ ခန္႔မွန္းခ်က္ေတြအရ ၁၃၀၀ ေက်ာ္ရွိပါတယ္။ ထိန္းသိမ္းခံထားရတဲ့ အက်ဥ္းသားေတြအေပၚ က်န္းမာေရးေစာင့္ေရွာက္မႈ ညံ့ဖ်င္းတာ၊ ဆိုးရြားညံ့ဖ်င္းတဲ့ အစားအစာေတြ ေကၽြးေမြးတာ၊ စိတ္ပိုင္း ႐ုပ္ပိုင္း ႏွိပ္စက္ညႇဥ္းပန္းတာ စသည္အားျဖင့္ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံက အက်ဥ္းေထာင္ေတြဟာ ကမၻာမွာ နာမည္ဆိုးနဲ႔ ေက်ာ္ၾကားလွပါတယ္။

စစ္အစိုးရကေတာ့ ႏိုင္ငံေရးအက်ဥ္းသားမရွိဘူးလို႔ အစဥ္တစိုက္ ျငင္းဆိုလာခဲ့ၿပီး ကုလသမဂၢ အပါအ၀င္ ႏိုင္ငံတကာက မျပတ္ေတာင္းဆိုေနသလို ထိန္းသိမ္းထားသူေတြကို လႊတ္ေပးဖို႔လည္း အခုခ်ိန္ထိ လိုက္ေလ်ာျခင္း မရွိေသးေၾကာင္းပါ။ 

http://www.voanews.com/burmese/2008-04-15-voa10.cfm