BurmaNet News, May 12-14, 2007

[Editor]

May 12-14, 2007 Issue # 3203


INSIDE BURMA
DPA via Bangkok Post: Burma opposition pleads for Suu Kyi
DVB: Burmese military said alerting aligned groups to act against mass action
SHAN: Shan leader wants monks to stay above politics

ON THE BORDER
DVB: Activists slam proposed Thai migrant worker laws
Irrawaddy: Exile Burma group releases history of student activism

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Russian companies start gas exploration in Myanmar
Xinhua: Thailand to help establish contract farms along border with Myanmar

REGIONAL
Mizzima: India to supply more BN2 aircrafts to Burma

INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima: Fifty former heads of state rally for release of Suu Kyi
Irrawaddy: Christian Aid warns of further displacement in Burma
Sudbury Star (Ontario): Fight for freedom goes online
Narinjara News: Burmese ethnic communities in Japan demand release of leaders


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INSIDE BURMA

May 14, DPA via Bangkok Post
Burma opposition pleads for Suu Kyi

Rangoon: Burma's National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party on
Monday called on the ruling junta to immediately release its leader, Aung
San Suu Kyi, who will have spent the last four years under house arrest on
May 27.

"For the sake of national reconciliation we call for the release of Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi unconditionally at the earliest time," said the NLD
declaration delivered to junta leader Senior General Than Shwe.

The letter noted that Suu Kyi's current term of house arrest will expire
on May 27, making it an appropriate time for her release.

Suu Kyi and her deputy Tin Oo were arrested in Depeyin, Sagaing Division
in northern Burma on May 27, 2003, on charges of causing unrest after a
gang of thugs, reportedly hired by the military, attacked her entourage
and killed some of her followers.

She was brought back to Rangoon and placed under house arrest for three
years. The sentence was extended by another year in 2006.

Rangoon-based observers believe Suu Kyi will be kept under house arrest
until a new constitution is drafted and an election held, a process that
could take years.

"Aung San Suu Kyi has been striving to build democracy without violence
through national reconciliation in cooperation with the Tatmadaw (the
military)," noted the NLD, Suu Kyi's party that won the 1990 general
election but has been denied power all these years.

Suu Kyi was first put under house arrest in her family's Rangoon compound
in 1989, for insulting former military strongman Ne Win at a political
rally.

She has spent more than 12 of the past 17 years under detention, the past
four in almost complete isolation.

Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burmese independence hero General Aung San, was
given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her heroic efforts to bring
democracy to her homeland.

Burma has been under military rule since 1962, when a coup staged by Ne
Win overthrew the elected government of Prime Minister U Nu and put Burma
on it disastrous path to army-led socialism and isolationism.

____________________________________

May 13, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese military said alerting aligned groups to act against mass action

Dear listeners, a member of the [junta-affiliated group] "Swann Arr Shin"
[The Strong Ones] in Rangoon, who does not wish to be identified, told the
Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) that members of his group as well as the
Union Solidarity and Development Association have been ordered by the
Rangoon Military Command to conduct activities similar to the ones that
the former Burma Socialist Programme Party Government had initiated to
counter the protests by the people in 1988.

Five "Swann Arr Shin" leaders each from townships in Rangoon Division were
summoned to the Rangoon Military Command yesterday and instructed that
should calls by the populace for democracy or other demands emerge, they
were to stop these actions by educating the people in the initial stage,
but, if those efforts were to fail, they were told to resort to violent
means to stop the mass activities, he added.

Another member of the "Swann Arr Shin" group told the DVB that the
officials from the Rangoon Military Command hid their identities as well
as the ranks they held.

The DVB cannot confirm their claims yet.

____________________________________

May 13, Shan Herald Agency for News
Shan leader wants monks to stay above politics

Shan monkhood should remain refuge for different sections of the Shan
society and stay above politics, Shan State Army (SSA) South leader Col
Yawdserk recently told a two-day assembly of Shan monks held at his main
base of Loi Taileng, opposite Maehongson.

"They should remain nonaligned and neutral," said 50 year old Yawdserk,
whose official title in Chairman, Restoration Council of Shan State
(RCSS), the political arm for the SSA. "We would like to see them as
strict observers of the Vinaya (the monastic code of discipline),
Pariyatti (study of the scriptures) and Patipatti (practice of the
Teachings). They should also teach the people and all groups to love each
other."

Involvement in politics at the expense of their own sworn mission in life
? to uphold and propagate the Lord Buddha's teachings ? would only place
the cause of freedom in peril, he maintained. "Unlearned Shan monks will
be replaced by learned Burmese monks sympathetic to the junta," he told
S.H.A.N. on the sidelines of the meeting. "Who then could the people
depend upon?"

A number of monks and ex-monks spoke in support of his plea. One recounted
an episode during the Buddha's lifetime when the patron of his temple King
Bhimbisara of Magadha was overthrown by Ajatasattu, the patron of the
Buddha's arch-rival Devadatta. Informed by Physician Jivaka of the coup,
the Buddha immediately called a crisis meeting of the Sangha (the Buddhist
clergy), where he instructed the monks to observe strict neutrality. "By
observance of this neutrality principle, the Buddha in time overcame
Devadatta's attempt to destroy the Sangha and also won the support of the
new king," commented one of Yawdserk's advisor who used to be a much
revered abbot in eastern Shan State.

The meeting, 9-10 May, also discussed the adoption of a Shan Pali script
and the adoption of a uniform prayer system.

A number of Shan monks have been active in politics especially after the
arrests of Khun Tun Oo, leader of the second largest winning party in the
1990 elections Shan Nationalities League of Democracy (SNLD) and his
colleagues in February 2005.

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ON THE BORDER

May 14, Democratic Voice of Burma
Activists slam proposed Thai migrant worker laws

Burmese migrant rights activists have spoken out against a Thai proposal
for tougher restrictions on foreign jobseekers, releasing a fresh report
on the obstacles facing Burmese migrant workers in the country.

The report, 'Curfew: Voices from Migrant Workers', slams a proposed Thai
law, approved in Phuket province in 2006, that would forbid migrant
workers from owning mobile phones, ownings cars or motorbikes.

The law also imposes a curfew on migrant workers, ordering them to remain
indoors between 8pm and 6am, and bans more than five foreign labourers
from gathering without prior permission.

Journalist and activist Ko Thet said many migrant workers were scared that
if imposed, the new laws would seriously undermine their already
precarious legal position in Thailand.

"Migrant workers are dissapointed with the new decree and they say that
the new [laws] represent violations of their human and workers' rights,"
Ko Thet said.

The Migrant Assistance Program, based on the Thai-Burma border said they
had already written to the Thai government expressing their concern about
the possible implementation of the new laws.

"The MAP foundation have confirmed that they have also called for a
meeting with Chiang Mai's mayor but his office have turned down their
request," Ko Thet said.

____________________________________

May 14, The Irrawaddy
Exile Burma group releases history of student activism

A history of 20th century student activism in Burma was released on Monday
by the foreign affairs committee of the Thailand-based All Burma
Federation of Student Unions.

The Burmese language book draws on rare documents dated between 1903 and
1962 from student unions long since outlawed by the country’s current
military regime.

The text is largely the work of jailed activist Aung Htun, according to a
press release issued by the group, who was arrested in 1998 after a draft
copy of the history was found in his possession.

Aung Htun was sentenced to 13 years in Insein Prison in Rangoon. Other
former student leaders and activists who assisted Aung Htun with
researching and writing sections of the history were also jailed, but most
have since been released.

The release of the book on Monday is intended to send a message to the
world about the plight of political prisoners, particularly student
activists. “By distributing this book, we want the international community
to call on the Burmese regime to release all student activists," said Min
Naing, a spokesperson of the exiled group.

Burma’s military authorities have characterized the student history as
part of a plot to instigate unrest in the country by "spreading rumors."

During a press conference shortly after Aung Htun’s arrest, regime
officials said the book was "largely exaggerated and gave biased accounts
of events based on a few facts," and the effort was taken without official
government permission.

The history book is the first of multiple volumes covering student
activism in Burma from 1903 to 1988.

Students have historically been at the forefront of movements for
political change in Burma, including in the campaign for independence from
British, and in demonstrations against Ne Win’s socialist regime in 1988.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

May 14, Xinhua General News Service
Russian companies start gas exploration in Myanmar

Yangon: Two Russian oil companies have started drilling of a test well at
an inland block in Myanmar's northwestern Sagaing division in cooperation
with Myanmar, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Monday.

The drilling was launched last weekend at the Zeebyutaung test well-1 in
the inland block B-2 of the Pinlebu township of the division by the Silver
Wave Sputnik Petroleum Pte Ltd and the Silver Wave Energy Pte Ltd of
Kalmykia of the Russian Federation, the report said.

The production sharing contracts on the undertakings were signed in March
this year between the two Russian companies and the state-run Myanmar Oil
and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

The block B-2 is among the six new inland blocks in the northern part and
delta region which the Myanmar authorities reserve for foreign engagement
as most of the inland blocks are explored by the state.

The two Russian oil companies' engagement in Myanmar came after JSC
Zarubezhneft Itera, the first Russian company which along with the MOGE
and the Sun Group of India initiated a production sharing contract last
September to explore oil and gas at block M-8 lying in the Mottama
offshore area.

There are seven foreign companies currently operating onshore, including
Essar Oil Ltd, Focus Energy Ltd, MPRL Exploration and Production Private
Ltd, Goldpetrol, CNOOC, Sinopec Oil Company and Chinerry Assests,
according to statistics.

There exist 19 onshore oil fields in Myanmar including Yenangyaung,
Ayadaw, Chauk, Myanaung, Mann, Kyaukkhwet/Letpando, Htaukshabin, Kanni and
Nyaungdon.

Besides the onshore areas, Myanmar specially has abundance of natural gas
resources in the offshore areas. With three main large offshore oil and
gas fields and 19 onshore ones, Myanmar has proven recoverable reserve of
18.012 trillion cubic feet (TCF) or 510 billion cubic-meters (BCM) out of
89.722 TCF or 2.54 trillion cubic-meters (TCM)'s estimated reserve of
offshore and onshore gas, experts said.

The country is also estimated to have 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable
crude oil reserve, official statistics indicate.

The Myanmar figures also show that in the fiscal year 2005-06 which ended
in March, the country produced 7.962 million barrels of crude oil and
11.45 billion cubic meters (BCM) of gas. Gas export during the year went
to 9.138 BCM, earning over 1 billion U. S. dollars.

More statistics reveal that since Myanmar opened to foreign investment in
late 1988, such investment in the oil and gas sector had reached 2.668
billion dollars as of September 2006, dominating the country's foreign
investment sectorally.

Currently, 13 foreign oil companies, mainly from Australia, Britain,
Canada, China, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and
Russia, are operating 33 onshore and offshore projects in Myanmar,
official sources disclosed.

____________________________________

May 14, Xinhua General News Service
Thailand to help establish contract farms along border with Myanmar

Yangon: Thailand is seeking to help establish contract farms along its
border with Myanmar under a regional economic cooperation scheme, local
Myanmar Times quoted Thai official sources as reporting Monday.

Bilateral negotiation of a memorandum of understanding is underway to set
up a joint committee between the public sectors of the two countries to
operate such farms, the report said.

The move came after the foreign ministers of a five-country economic
cooperation strategy program pledged at their meeting, which ended earlier
this month in Myanmar's Mandalay, to work for increasing competitiveness,
narrowing economic disparity and promoting socio-economic development in
the subregion.

The five-country cooperation strategy program, also known as the
Ayeyawaddy-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy ( ACMECS),
involves Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Their cooperation covers the areas of trade and investment facilitation,
agriculture, industry, energy, transport linkages, tourism, public health
and human resources development.

ACMECS program was agreed upon at the first ACMECS summit of Cambodia,
Laos, Myanmar and Thailand held in Myanmar's ancient city of Bagan in
November 2003 with the participation of heads of governments of the four
countries, and Vietnam joined the ACMECS in 2004.

As part of the ACMECS, Thailand also proposed three industrial zones to be
set up on Myanmar side's Myawaddy and Hpa-an in southeastern Kayin state
and Mawlamyine in southern Mon state, and the three industrial zone
projects, aimed at creating job opportunities in the region, are expected
to start during this year.

The feasibility study by Thailand on the establishment of the three
industrial zones has reportedly been finalized and the finding on the
feasibility has been presented to the Myanmar side for deliberation.

Under the program, Myanmar is reportedly deliberating to lease land to
foreigners for the development of three proposed industrial zones to be
jointly implemented by Myanmar and Thailand to mainly attract foreign
investment into the projects.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

May 13, Mizzima News
India to supply more BN2 aircrafts to Burma - Syed Ali Mujtaba

The Indian Navy will supply two more BN2 Maritime Surveillance Aircraft to
Burma as part of its growing defence cooperation with the neighbouring
country.

The Indian Naval Chief, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, on an official visit to
Burma till today, heading a high level naval delegation, held discussions
on it with the number two man in the military junta, Vice-Senior General
Maung Aye in Nay Pyi Taw on Thursday.

Maung Aye is the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services and
Commander-in-Chief of the Army. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

The supply of the two BN-2 'Defender' Islander maritime surveillance
aircraft to Burma was confirmed by UK's Jane's Defence Weekly reports on
Saturday.

"The new pair is in addition to two similar aircrafts supplied to the
military junta in August 2006," Jane's weekly said, adding that like the
earlier two, the additional UK-built Islanders would be stripped of all
armaments and deployed "exclusively on relief and humanitarian missions."

Admiral Sureesh Mehta was expected to finalize further details of the
Islander's hand-over during his four-day stay in Burma. He was also
expected to finalize the matter relating to establishing a naval aviation
training facility in Burma, Jane's weekly reported quoting official
sources.

These two, among others relating to the transfer of Indian armaments to
Burma, were discussed earlier during the visits of Burmese naval chief,
Vice Admiral Soe Thane and Quartermaster General Lt Gen Thiha Thura Tin
Aung Myint Oo, to New Delhi in April 2007.

The Indian Navy is anxious to keep the transfer of two Islanders' to Burma
under wraps as Britain had opposed the ones supplied earlier to the
military junta.

The Indian Navy's official spokesman in New Delhi declined to comment on
the Islanders transfer to Burma and said, Naval Chief, Admiral Sureesh
Mehta is on a goodwill visit to Burma at the invitation of
Commander-in-Chief of the Burmese Navy Vice- Admiral Soe Thein and his
visit is aimed at "constructive engagement and establishing co-operative
mechanisms between the two navies."

The Indian Navy now has around 13 Islanders it acquired from UK in 1976, a
senior naval officer told Mizzima News. He did not rule out the
possibility of more such aircrafts being supplied to Burma in the near
future.

Admiral Sureesh Mehta is the second Indian naval chief visiting Burma in
less than one and-a-half years. His predecessor Admiral Arun Prakash was
in Burma in January 2006.

As part of India's efforts to forge closer ties with maritime nations
including Burma in the Indian Ocean region, two Indian warships berthed at
the Yangon Port in December 2005. The warships, INS Ranjit and ISN Kuthar
stayed in Burma for five days and held joint naval maneuvers with the navy
of the host nation.

Earlier in January 2006, India also hosted its first major regional naval
exercises off the Andaman and Nicobar island chain where a Burmese Naval
ship took part along side naval ships of eight other nations.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 14, Mizzima News
Fifty former heads of state rally for release of Suu Kyi - Mungpi

In an unprecedented move, 59 former heads of state from Europe, North and
South Americas, Africa, and Asia today jointly called on Burma's military
regime to immediately release detained opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi.

The heads of state in a letter addressed to junta supremo Than Shwe, a
copy of which was sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and all 15
members of the UN Security Council, urged the junta to release Burma's
Nobel Peace Laureate

"We strongly urge you to respond to the United Nations and countless other
countries and regional groupings around the world by releasing Aung San
Suu Kyi before May 27 and committing to participate in peaceful,
tripartite dialogue as outlined by the General Assembly," the letter said.

Aung San Suu Kyi, general secretary of Burma's last election winning
political party – the National League for Democracy, will complete her
current term of detention on May 27.

She has been arrested thrice and has spent nearly 11 of the past 17 years
in detention. She was last arrested in May 30, 2003 following a brutal
attack on her entourage by junta-backed mobs during a political tour of
central Burma.

The letter was released by former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne
Bondevik and signed by former Presidents and Prime Ministers.

Among others, the letter was signed by former heads of state from Asia
including Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Filippino Presidents
Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung,
Thailand Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, Indian Prime Ministers V.P. Singh
and Chandra Shekhar, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed, and
Mongolian Prime Minister Elbegdorj Tsakhiagiin.

Meanwhile, the NLD today reiterated its call to Burma's military junta to
immediately release party leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The letter submitted to the junta head Than Shwe said as Suu Kyi's current
term of house arrest will expire on May 27 it is the appropriate time for
the junta to release her for sake of national reconciliation in Burma.

The NLD won over 80 percent of parliamentary seats during Burma's last
general election 1990. Despite the then military leaders' promise to hand
over power, the junta refused to recognize the election results and
detained Suu Kyi and her party elders.

Joining the chorus for the release of the 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate,
Southeast Asian parliamentarians today reiterated their call for the
immediate release of Burma 's democracy icon.

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) in a statement
released today said, it apprehends that Suu Kyi will not be released when
her current term of house arrest comes under review on May 27.

The AIPMC said it is appalling that Suu Kyi is having to spend such a long
period of time in detention without even a trial.

"AIPMC finds this abhorring and is appalled by the fact that Burma's
chosen leader is prevented from exercising her basic rights," said the
statement.

While supporting the initiative by the former Norwegian Prime Minister
Kjell Magne Bondevik, who secured the endorsement of 50 former heads of
state around the world to call for the immediate release of Suu Kyi, AIPMC
called on governments around the world, particularly ASEAN countries, to
strongly and willfully be vocal in ensuring that Suu Kyi's detention is
not extended.

____________________________________

May 14, The Irrawaddy
Christian Aid warns of further displacement in Burma - Aung Lwin Oo

An international aid group warned on Monday that the environmental damage
caused by the Burmese government’s development projects would lead to the
further displacement of rural communities.

In its latest report, “Human tide: The real migration crisis,” UK-based
Christian Aid warned that Burma’s state-sponsored development projects
would add to the number of displaced people in the world, expected to
number at least one billion by the year 2050. Urgent action was needed,
the report said.

The report said massive displacement was expected to result from the
government’s planned constructions of dams and other large-scale
development projects, including palm oil plantations.

“These are just extreme examples of the ‘development displacement’ that
experts say accounts for up to 105 million displaced people at any given
time,” the report said.

Burma has begun to build several dams on the Salween River in eastern
Burma, over the objections of conservation groups, who say the projects
will cause environmental devastation.

In late April, a grassroots conservation organization, the Karen Human
Rights Group, charged that the military regime in Burma had used
development programs as part of a strategy to expand its military control
and to further abuse villagers in Karen State.

The Christian Aid report said international moves to cut CO2 gas emissions
through the substitution of bio fuels for oil would bring hardship to
Burmese villagers because government plans to cultivate castor and
jatropha would involve land confiscation and rural development.

“The problem is that this potential bonanza for biofuel producers will
require vast tracts of land for plantations, leading to the forced
ejection of yet more peasant farmers,” said the report.

____________________________________

May 14, Sudbury Star (Ontario)
Fight for freedom goes online

A little knowledge turned out to be a dangerous thing for Dmitri
Vitaliev's students.

The activists gathered at the headquarters of a Tunisian human rights
organization two years ago to soak up Vitaliev's tech-savvy tips on
sending secure e-mail and other safe computing practices.

"And after the training, two of them leaving the offices were beaten on
the street," Vitaliev said. "Unfortunately, this is the kind of harassment
that they face quite often."

Cyberspace is an emerging frontier in the fight for human rights, and
firewalls and identity maskers are the new tools for dodging oppressive
regimes.

Advocates of democracy and free speech routinely use websites and e-mail
to spread their messages, prompting wary officials in China, North Korea,
Burma and numerous other countries to clamp down on the digital domain.

Through electronic surveillance and outright censorship, governments are
trying to assert control over the Internet.

The Russian-born Vitaliev, who recently moved to Montreal, has conducted
training sessions in about two dozen countries - from Guatemala to
Zimbabwe - to help human rights defenders feel more at ease about going
online.

But it seems Big Brother is never far away.

During a seminar in Kazakhstan, the computer network came under attack. In
Iran, authorities got wind of the session, forcing the trainers to
clandestinely teach several small groups in hotel rooms.

"This affects these people in a very real way, and sometimes in a very
dangerous way, so you have to be very careful," said Vitaliev.

For him, the strongarm tactics of authorities only confirm the need for
better computer security.

Vitaliev launched a how-to book at the recent Computers, Freedom and
Privacy conference in Montreal, an annual meeting that examines the impact
of information technology on people's lives.

Digital Security & Privacy for Human Rights Defenders, published with the
backing of the Irish group Front Line, uses simple language and
illustrations to demystify subjects like password protection, encryption
and backing up data.

Working with Front Line and the Amsterdam-based Tactical Technology
Collective, Vitaliev has also helped distribute 1,900 copies of
NGO-in-a-Box - a disc loaded with an array of security software tools
aimed at turning any activist with a laptop into a one-person
non-governmental organization.

The software is available in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and
Farsi.

"There is a spread of oppressive technology. There is a spread of
oppressive legislation," Vitaliev said. "But we are also seeing some
better tools being developed in our community to give people a chance."

On the Web: Front Line www.frontlinedefenders.org/manual/en/esecman
Tactical Technology Collective www.tacticaltech.org
Hacktivismo www.hacktivismo.com

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May 14, Narinjara News
Burmese ethnic communities in Japan demand release of leaders

Burmese ethnic communities living in Japan staged a procession in front of
the Burmese military tax office in Tokyo, Japan, on 9 May, demanding the
release of all ethnic leaders who were sentenced to long-term
imprisonments by the Burmese military junta.

"Many Burmese citizens here joined in the procession and demanded the
immediate release of our leaders," said Ko Aung Than Htay, a member of the
Arakan League for Democracy - Japan Branch.

The procession was led by the Association of United Nationalities (Burma)
in Japan, with many AUN and ethnic leaders, including NLD-LA leaders, in
attendance.

The procession was launched at 3 pm Japanese time, and demonstrators
marched to the Burmese military tax office and staged the protest in front
of the taxation building.

Ko Aung Than Htay said, "We were holding several banners and signboards
and shouted out slogans against the Burmese military government during the
procession for the arrest of our leaders."

Burma's military junta sentenced a number of Shan ethnic leaders to
long-term imprisonments without justice or a fair trial. Of the leaders
sentenced, U Khun Tun U received 93 years, U Sai Nyunt Lwin received 85
years, General Say Htin was given 106 years and U Sai Hla Aung was given
79 years. Furthermore U Myint Than, of Shan State New Generation, was
killed by the military junta in Thandawe prison in Arakan state last year.

Many Burmese ethnic people are dissatisfied with the long-term
imprisonments given to Shan leaders by the military junta and now people
both inside and outside of Burma are loudly protesting against the
travesty of justice.

"The demonstration was a reflection of our people's desire and we carry
out our duty from outside of country to fulfill our people's will,” said
Ko Aung Than Htay.

Moreover, the demonstrators also held a meeting during the procession; AUN
president Min Kyaw Oo, NLD-LA Japan branch general secretary U Thaung
Myint Oo and many other ethnic leaders delivered speeches at the meeting.
Ko Hla Aye Maung, general secretary of AUN undertook duties as master of
ceremony.

It has also been learned that Burmese ethic communities in Japan agreed to
hold demonstrations in front of the Burmese military junta embassy or tax
office on the ninth of every month to demand the release of their leaders
from prisons. The date was chosen because U Khun Tun U was arrested 9
February, 2005.