BurmaNet News, September 19, 2007

[Editor]

September 19, 2007 Issue # 3295

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Burmese junta orders state emergency, authorizes use of
weapons, says source
AFP: Myanmar monks defy junta with third day of protests
AP: Buddhist monks occupy Myanmar pagoda as part of protests
DVB: Sittwe monks occupy government offices during demonstration
Khonumthung News: Hundreds of monks protest in Kalay, Burma
Irrawaddy: Burmese monks reflect the people's struggle, observers say
Reuters: Myanmar junta admits used tear gas, warning shots
Irrawaddy: Huge crowds turn out to hear monks condemn junta
DPA: Myanmar's military regimes tries to discredit marching monks
Irrawaddy: Come back Moezack, we need you!
Mizzima News: What happened in Sittwe yesterday?
Mizzima News: HRDP accuses SPDC of arbitrarily arrests HR activists

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Burmese groups stage protest in North America, Canada

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Burma’s regime should apologize to the monks [Editorial]
The Independent: Sanctions could make a difference - Mark Farmaner

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 19, Irrawaddy
Burmese junta orders state emergency, authorizes use of weapons, says
source - Shah Paung

The Burmese military government has ordered a state of emergency
authorizing regional and local authorities to control demonstrations,
including an order to open fire on protesters if necessary, according to
sources.

The government secretly conveyed the emergency order to the military,
local police and special branch authorities, a source close to local
authorities and ethnic ceasefire groups told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

Police officials in Naypyidaw, the regime's new capital, issued a state of
emergency order to local police on September 6, said the source.

The military and police have been told to prepare for any eventuality and
to stockpile weapons, loudspeakers, cameras, barbed wire, bullet proof
jackets, red and blue colored scarves, medical supplies and other
equipment. Hospitals have been told to prepare for large numbers of
injured persons, according to sources.

Demonstrations by monks have spread through Rangoon and outlying cities,
following a violent crackdown by authorities on monks who held a peaceful
demonstration in Pakokku in Magwe Division on September 5.Tension between
monks and authorities have increased in recent days.

Since demonstrations started on August 19, led by the 88 Generation
Students group and members of the main opposition party, the National
League for Democracy, the Burmese military government been preparing for
possible public unrest, following a draconian increase in fuel prices.

____________________________________

September 19, Agence France Presse
Myanmar monks defy junta with third day of protests

More than 2,000 monks protested across Myanmar Wednesday for the third
straight day against the country's junta, one month after a huge fuel
price hike sparked a wave of rarely-seen public discontent.

Chanting Buddhist prayers, about 300 monks marched through Yangon in the
rain toward the Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar's most important landmark, while
two smaller groups protested in other parts of the country's main city.

Another 500 monks demonstrated in Mandalay, Myanmar's second city, while
in Sittwe, 560 kilometres (350 miles) west of Yangon, more than 1,000
monks staged a sit-in outside a police station, a Yangon-based Western
diplomat said.

In Prome, 300 kilometres north of Yangon, another group of about 500 monks
staged a protest against the junta, the diplomat told AFP.

The marches by monks across this devoutly Buddhist country followed
similar rallies Tuesday, the biggest anti-junta demonstration in a decade,
as the clergy emerge as key players in a protest movement that erupted
last month.

Myanmar's junta normally does not tolerate even the slightest show of
public dissent, but monks are widely respected and important cultural
standard-bearers in the country.

In Yangon, nearly 1,000 onlookers clapped and smiled under the watchful
eyes of plainclothes police at the Sule Pagoda, as more than 300 monks
marched by.

They initially headed for the Shwedagon Pagoda, but entrances have
remained closed since Tuesday, forcing the marchers through the downtown
area.

Dozens of plainclothes officials followed the monks with video cameras,
but the three-hour march was not impeded by police. Authorities made no
attempt to break up the crowd of well-wishers at the Sule Pagoda.

Two other groups of about 100 monks staged separate marches in other parts
of the city on Wednesday. Witnesses said about 50 ordinary people joined
the evening march.

There were no reports of violence during the protest in central Mandalay,
which is home to 300,000 monks.

In Sittwe, police used a megaphone to urge the public not to join the
protest, the Western diplomat said. Reports said the monks were demanding
the release of three detainees.

The junta used tear gas and fired warning shots in the town on Tuesday to
break up a 1,000-strong protest by monks.

The state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar said authorities "had to use
tear gas and fired three shots in the air to disperse the crowd" as
protesters had become "violent".

One official and nine policemen were injured, the paper said in a rare
admission about the junta's use of violence. But it added no protesters
were hurt or arrested.

The Myanmar-language service of US-funded Radio Free Asia said at least
three people had been arrested on Tuesday.

Since protests began a month ago, authorities have arrested more than 150
people, but Win Min, a Thai-based analyst, said the generals were cautious
about stirring a public backlash if they acted against the clergy.

"It's a dilemma for the junta. If they don't crack down on protests by
monks, more people will join protests. But if they do, it could trigger
massive public outrage against the government," he said.

Two weeks ago, soldiers beat protesting monks with bamboo sticks in
Pakokku, near Mandalay, prompting young monks to briefly kidnap officials
at a monastery.

Monks have demanded a government apology over the Pakokku incident, with
threats to step up street protests.

Tuesday's protest in Yangon was also significant because the monks took an
oath to refuse alms from senior military officers -- a powerful sign of
dissent here.

"This is the beginning of popular mobilisations against the junta," said
Aung Thu Nyein, a Thai-based Myanmar analyst.

Monks were credited with helping to rally popular support for a 1988
pro-democracy uprising crushed by the military when soldiers opened fire
on protesters, killing hundreds if not thousands of people.

____________________________________

September 19, Associated Press
Buddhist monks occupy Myanmar pagoda as part of protests

Buddhist monks staging anti-government protests in Myanmar pushed past
closed gates Wednesday to occupy a pagoda in downtown Yangon, witnesses
said.

About 500 monks temporarily took over Sule pagoda after being turned away
from their first gathering point, the golden hilltop Shwedagon pagoda,
whose gates had also been locked to keep them out.

Defiant monks took to the streets for the second day in a row, marching in
disciplined ranks as they extended a series of spirited demonstrations
against the country's military government into a second month.

The Yangon march and rallies in other cities Wednesday were to protest
hardship brought on by the government's economic policies, especially a
sudden, major hike in fuel prices last month that first sparked the
persistent demonstrations - first by pro-democracy activists and now
primarily by monks.

But they also reflect long pent-up opposition to the repressive military
regime.

Young monks in several areas of the country, including its biggest city
Yangon, had also marched and chanted Tuesday, despite pleas by the
authorities and senior monks to return to their monasteries.

In the city of Sittwe in the western state of Rakhine, tear gas had to be
fired to break up their protest Tuesday.

Several separate marches took place Wednesday in Yangon as well as other
places.

The monks who dispersed peacefully after occupying Sule pagoda earlier
gathered their forces outside the Shwedagon's locked gates,

Barred from entry, and followed by hundreds of onlookers and scores of
plainclothes security personnel, they wended their way on a march of about
three hours that took them to Sule pagoda, which they briefly took over
before peacefully dispersing.

Crowds outside cheered and clapped in expressions of popular support that
had been lacking at smaller demonstrations carried out by laymen last
month.

In the central city of Mandalay, more than 1,000 monks marched Wednesday,
while about 100 others in dark saffron robes staged a peaceful march in
the western Yangon suburb of Ahlone.

More than 100 Buddhist monks from some monasteries in South Okkalapa
township in Yangon's northern suburbs also marched early Wednesday, later
returning to their monasteries without incident.

"The monks are telling the public not to take part in the protests. They
told onlookers that this is the monks' affair and that they would handle
it themselves," a witness contacted by phone in Ahlone told The Associated
Press. The person asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.

Witnesses contacted by phone in Mandalay said more than 1,000 monks from
various monasteries had marched to Maha Myat Muni, the most revered
Buddhist pagoda in the country's second-largest city.

The state-run newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, claimed Wednesday that
bogus monks, "instigators" and foreign radio station reports helped the
protest crowds swell on Tuesday. It said senior Buddhist leaders urged the
monks to disperse, but the crowd retaliated by throwing stones and sticks.

Other monks' protests were held Tuesday in Yangon and Bago, 80 kilometers
(50 miles) to the north. The monks in Yangon found themselves locked out
of three pagodas, including the Shwedagon, before they finished a 16
kilometer (10 mile) march, which attracted as many as 3,000 onlookers.
Some journalists covering the march had their cameras confiscated by the
authorities.

Tuesday marked the 19th anniversary of the 1988 crackdown in Myanmar in
which the current junta took over after crushing a failed pro-democracy
rebellion that sought an end to military rule, imposed since 1962.

The junta held a general election in 1990, but refused to honor the
results when pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy party won. Suu Kyi has been detained under house arrest for more
than 11 years.

Monks in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, have historically been at
the forefront of protests - first against British colonialism and later
military dictatorship. They also played a prominent part in the failed
1988 pro-democracy rebellion.

The authorities know that restraining monks poses a dilemma. Monks are
highly respected in predominant Buddhist Myanmar, and abusing them in any
manner could cause public outrage.

Peaceful protests by monks began on Aug. 30 in Sittwe. A second one on
Sep. 5 in the northern town of Pakokku was cut short when troops fired
warning shots. Junta supporters also manhandled some marchers.

In response, young monks angry at their mistreatment briefly took
officials hostage, torched their vehicles and later smashed a shop and a
house belonging to junta supporters.

Monks had given authorities until Monday to apologize for their
mistreatment in Pakokku, a center of Buddhist learning, but it went
unanswered.

____________________________________

September 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Sittwe monks occupy government offices during demonstration

More than 1000 monks occupied the Arakan Peace and Development Council
office today, chanting metta and demanding an apology for
government-backed violence.

Despite the military’s use of tear gas against protestors in Sittwe
yesterday, the monks took to the streets at about 1:30 this afternoon
supported by thousands of civilians, according to eyewitnesses.

“They chanted metta and marched through town. They were also carrying
placards calling for lower commodity prices again. The number of monks
joining the protests keeps increasing,” one bystander said.

“There were about 5000 people watching them and many of them were women.
The monks have been telling people not to get involved in the protests,”
the bystander said.

The monks then marched into the peace and development council office to
demand an official apology for the military’s use of tear gas against
protestors yesterday. They effectively took control of the building,
according to onlookers, who said that the monks sat on the floor of the
office chanting metta and refusing to move.

“The monks took up all the rooms in the building . . . Some of them were
even up on the roof. The building’s compound was full of them too,” one
onlooker said.

The protest reportedly ended peacefully at about 3:30pm.

____________________________________

September 19, Khonumthung News
Hundreds of monks protest in Kalay, Burma

Defiant monks rallied against the Burmese military junta and took to the
streets yet again today.  About 200 monks staged a protest on the streets
of Kalay town, Sagaing division, northwestern Burma at around 8:30 a.m.
today.

"Around 200 monks marched on the streets chanting Buddhist prayers near
Mahabandula's (Burmese legendary hero) bronze statue on the main
intersection in Kalay," a source in Kalay said.

Over 300 onlookers near the Mahabandula bronze statue applauded the monks
even as they chanted Buddhist prayers, the source added.

However the military authorities did not intervene. Three or four people
in plain clothes, believed to be policemen watched the protest silently.
The rally by the monks from monasteries in Kalay lasted for almost 30
minutes.

Meanwhile, monks from monasteries in Monywa town in Sagaing Division are
gearing up to protest. The situation in Sagaing is still stable, said a
source close to political circles in Sagaing.

Protests by thousands of monks which began yesterday against the junta's
high handedness continue on the streets across Burma after a series of
demonstrations over the increase in prices of fuel on August 15.

____________________________________

September 19, Irrawaddy
Burmese monks reflect the people's struggle, observers say - Saw Yan Naing

The people in Burma rallied around the monks who have staged protests
across the country this week, encouraging them and drawing strength from
their bravery in coming out of the monasteries by the thousands.

As the monks marched, chanting suttas promoting loving kindness and
protection from evil, average citizens walk with them on nearby sidewalks
or trail behind the red-robed columns.

The marching monks are greeted with applause and cheers. The monks have
asked that the public not join their protests, apparently in an effort to
avoid a violent confrontation with the authorities.

But their appeal isn't working. In small towns, hundreds join the monks.
In Rangoon and other large cities, thousands of people stream along or
gather around when the monks stop.

A housewife in Rangoon, watching the monks march on Tuesday, said, “I’m
very happy. It encourages me when I see monks stand for us.” She requested
anonymity for fear of harassment.

A student in Rangoon cheered the monks and said, “I think they [monks] do
the right thing. I strongly support them.”

He said that if the situation grows violent, he would help the monks in
their demonstrations.

“I think people can’t be patient if they hurt the monks," he said.

The student said he was shocked and sad following an earlier incident in
which police and military-backed thugs struck monks with rifle butts and
fired weapons in the air to break up a demonstration in Pakokku Township
in central Burma.

“It is not appropriate as Burma is ruled by Buddhism believers,” he said,
adding that the government should peacefully compromise with the monks.
“They [the junta] should apologize as the monks asked and ask the monks
what they want.”

The students said many people would like to join the monks in
demonstrations, but are afraid of a violent crackdown by the military
junta that gunned down an estimated 3,000 people in a pro-democracy mass
uprising in 1988.

But most people are afraid to take part in public demonstrations, he said.
“We are proud of the protests, and we should cheer them [monks],” he said.

A Hlegu Township resident said, “The role of the monks is very
significant. I think it is necessary to do.”

____________________________________

September 19, Reuters
Myanmar junta admits used tear gas, warning shots - Aung Hla Tun

Myanmar's military junta said on Wednesday it had used tear gas and fired
warning shots to disperse a crowd of 1,000 Buddhist monks and civilians
protesting in the northwestern coastal city of Sittwe.

The admission on state-owned MRTV and in official newspapers was a thinly
veiled warning to the former Burma's 53 million people after a month of
protests against decades of military rule and soaring fuel and food
prices.

"Some protesters, including six monks holding sticks and swords, hit the
officials with their weapons," said the New Light of Myanmar, one of the
regime's main mouthpieces.

"The protesters became very violent. So in order to control situation, the
officials threw a teargas bomb into the group and opened fire in the air
to threaten them," it added.

The increasing involvement of monks, key players in a 1988 mass uprising,
is a sign the dissent that broke out last month over shock fuel price
rises is intensifying.

Throughout four weeks of sporadic demonstrations, the military has been at
pains to keep itself in the background, although soldiers did fire warning
shots at one monk protest in the central town of Pakokku two weeks ago.

Then, the action by the army -- held responsible for the deaths of up to
3,000 people when it crushed the 1988 uprising -- caused hundreds of young
monks to seize government officials the next day and torch four of their
vehicles.

Instead of troops, the generals have favored civilian gangs and members of
its feared Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) social
network.

MONKS ON THE MARCH

Although Tuesday's marches fell far short of a nationwide boycott, monks
marched in seven towns and cities, including Yangon, the commercial hub of
one of Asia's brightest prospects when it won independence from Britain in
1948.

After more than 45 years of unbroken military rule and economic
mismanagement, it is now one of the region's poorest countries.

In Yangon, authorities closed the famed Shwedagon Pagoda, the Southeast
Asian nation's holiest shrine, minutes before hundreds of monks arrived
for the formal launch of a campaign to refuse to accept alms from anyone
connected to the regime.

Such a boycott is taken extremely seriously in the devoutly Buddhist
country. Without such rites, a Buddhist loses all chance of attaining
nirvana, or release from the cycle of rebirth.

Plainclothes police and USDA members shadowed the monks along their route,
taking photographs and video, but there was no trouble and no arrests,
witnesses said.

Monks launched a similar religious boycott in 1990 shortly after the
generals refused to honor the results of a general election they had lost
by a landslide.

The monks' protest coincided with demonstrations at Chinese diplomatic
missions across the United States on Tuesday, urging Beijing to use its
influence with Myanmar to free political prisoners and end violence
against minorities.

Dozens of Myanmar exiles and American activists sought to use the
publicity of the 2008 Beijing Olympics to highlight Chinese support for
the junta.

"This regime has survived to this day because of Chinese government
support -- financial, diplomatic and military," said Aung Din, policy
director at the U.S. Campaign for Burma, at a protest in Washington.

China has sold millions of dollars of arms to Myanmar and is a big
importer of its timber, minerals and oil.

A high-profile Olympics-linked campaign for the victims of the deadly
conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, another Chinese friend and oil
supplier, prodded Beijing to begin to help international efforts to stop
the carnage there.

(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert in Washington)

____________________________________

September 19, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Myanmar's military regimes tries to discredit marching monks

Myanmar's ruling military junta attempted Wednesday to discredit the
hundreds of monks who resumed marching in protests similar to ones that
helped trigger nationwide demonstrations 19 years ago.

The monks, widely revered in this strongly Buddhist country, were
described as "bogus," "violent" and "disrespectful" by government
controlled newspapers, reflecting the danger they pose to a military that
has ruled since a 1962 coup.

Several hundred monks again gathered Wednesday for the second day outside
the locked gates of the country's premier shrine – the massive Shwedagon
Pagoda.

The mostly young monks, followed by hundreds of onlookers and undercover
security officials later marched through the streets of the former
capital. Similar protests were held in other cities, including up to 1,000
monks marching in Mandalay.

Pro-democracy activists started the protests last month after a sharp hike
in fuel prices led to economic hardships. The monks, now the primary
protestors, are also demanding an apology for shots fired to disperse a
demonstration September 5 in Pakokku, according to witnesses.

On Tuesday, shots were also fired in the north-western city of Sittwe. The
state-run New Light of Myanmar admitted Wednesday that the authorities
fired tear gas to disperse monks, but said that two sayadaws - abbots -
from the official religious body the Sangha attempted to persuade monks in
Sittwe from protesting, but their "reasonable" pleas were met with thrown
sticks aimed at "patient" officials.

The state mouthpiece and other publications reported that although senior
officials "gently persuaded" most of the protestors in Sittwe to disperse,
a core group continued to demonstrate with sticks and stones and, later,
attempted to get their colleagues released from custody. The actions
"forced" officials to reluctantly fire into the air and throw tear gas
grenades.

The newspapers pointedly claimed that no monk was injured in either incident.

Diplomats in Yangon said the determination of the protestors was unusual -
reflected even in the official reports - perhaps signaling a growing and
widespread dissatisfaction with the regime.

Wednesday's newspaper reports may be the nearest the monks get in their
demand for an apology for the shots fired two weeks ago in the north,
though it is unlikely to satisfy them, added diplomats.

Unauthorized protests are illegal in Myanmar, which has been under martial
law since 1988 when the entire country was rocked by anti-military
demonstrations which were in part sparked by the deteriorating economy.

Tuesday's marches were on the 19th anniversary of the 1988 crackdown in
Myanmar.

____________________________________

September 19, Irrawaddy
Huge crowds turn out to hear monks condemn junta - Shah Paung

About than 1,000 monks marched to Sule Pagoda in downtown Rangoon on
Wednesday where they gave political speeches to thousands of people
crowded into the pagoda area, according to eyewitnesses.

Crows turning out to support monks at Rangoon’s Sule Pagoda

“We are marching for the relief of poverty and hardships of the people,"
said a monk in his afternoon speech. "Burma is backward in every aspect.
The military regime is responsible for all of that.”

“Even if our protesting monks are arrested, we will continue,” the monk
said. Several monks made speeches during the second day of the monks'
demonstration at the pagoda.

Observers said the crowd may have been as large as 10,000 people. Monks
were offered water and cold drinks. The demonstration ended peacefully
about 4:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the military regime admitted on Wednesday in The New Light of
Myanmar, a state-run newspaper that authorities used tear gas to break up
a demonstration in Sittwe in Arakan State because, the story claimed,
monks and protesters attacked authorities.

The newspaper reported that protesters threw stones and sticks at
officials, but the officials did not react. Later, officials “gently
persuaded” demonstrators to disperse, according to the official account.

The newspaper said “some protesters, including six monks holding sticks
and swords, hit the officials with their weapons.”

Some officials were injured, the paper said, and to control the situation,
officials threw a tear gas canister into the demonstrators and fired more
than ten shots into to air.

However, an abbot at Myoma Monastery in Sittwe told The Irrawaddy on
Wednesday that the protesting monks marched with empty hands and did not
carry weapons.

Witnesses in Sittwe said that they did not see any monks attack
authorities. Four monks were detained for a few hours.

On Wednesday, about 800 monks in Sittwe staged a peaceful follow-up
demonstration by marching to a local police station where they sat down
and called for the release of three citizens who were arrested on August
28 for providing drinking water to monks who were demonstrating over the
hike in fuel prices.

In other areas, monks in townships and cities including  Pegu Division and
Mandalay Division conducted peaceful demonstrations on Wednesday while
reciting the “Metta Sutta” (the Buddha’s words on loving kindness),
according to monks and local residents.

On Tuesday, monks enacted a “patam nikkujjana kamma,” a refusal to accept
alms from the military regime and its supporters. The ban came after a
call by The Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks for the regime to issue
an apology by September 17 for its violent crackdown on monks in Pakokku
in Magwe Division on September 5.

____________________________________

September 19, Irrawaddy
Come back Moezack, we need you! - Violet Cho

A Burmese blogger calling himself Moezack has now joined the country’s
wanted list. Wanted by the authorities, infuriated by the way he slipped
through their security net and posted photographs of monks marching
through Rangoon on the Internet. But also wanted by a public eager for the
latest information about what is happening in the crisis-hit country.

Moezak’s Web blog disappeared on Wednesday after just one day of posting
images of the monks’ protests. It wasn’t clear whether the authorities had
succeeded in closing the blog down. Nor was it clear whether it would
reappear—the public and news organizations who used his images, including
The Irrawaddy, certainly hope so, for it provided a valuable window on
what is happening in sealed-off Burma.

In just one day, Moezack became Burma’s most popular blogger, his images
downloaded by Burmese around the world and by international media,
including the news organization Al Jazeera.

His fans posted their admiration on his chat room, at the Internet address
http://moezack.blogspot.com.  “I really want to know you and want to meet
you Ko Moezack,” wrote one.

“We need more photos, please,” appealed another. “We need more information
please send more news
”

“What’s going on in Burma?” ran a typical message.

Some messages received by Moezak weren’t so appreciative, however. “Don't
talk nonsense, Moezack,” was one reaction after Moezak posted images of
Wednesday’s march by monks through Rangoon. “I know who you are and your
families are in danger.”

Moezak now joins the hit list of a junta that has no time for Internet
users posting political messages and images of anti-regime protests.

Nevertheless, Moezak has won the affection and support of many Burmese who
gained an insight into what is happening in their country through his
unusual service.  Their message is: “Moezack, we need you. Come back
soon!”

____________________________________

September 19, Mizzima News
What happened in Sittwe yesterday? - (An eyewitness account)

"There was chaos in Pathein market when the monks began marching. All
cars, hand tractors and motor boats disappeared from the scene. The monks
came from Strand Street. Then they proceeded to the main thoroughfare.
There were about 250 to 300 monks approaching from Myitmagyi Street. Some
monks were coming from Payargyi. The congregation had 500 monks. They
marched along the Main Road. "

"The authorities first gathered at the State PDC office. USDA members were
also present. They tried to disperse the protesting monks with fire hoses.
The monks told them that if they use fire hoses they would retaliate by
pelting stones. The local police then fired 10 tear gas shells."

"But the monks didn't disperse by themselves but continued their march
along Nehru Road. The riot police stationed on the road tried to disperse
them again. They also tried to beat up the monks. The onlookers were angry
with the riot police. Bystanders and spectators got involved in the
protest and beat up some of the riot policemen. The protesting monks
turned back. The people put some tired and exhausted monks on rickshaws.
Some rickshaws carried as many as four monks."

"Then the monks went round Sittwe again. At that time, there were only 200
monks left. But the crowd following the monks swelled to around 50,000
which went along with the monks to protect them. The authorities asked the
monks what their demands were. The monks told them of their four-point
charter of demands. Then another seven tear gas shells were fired. Some
experienced persons picked up the smoking tear gas canisters and threw
them back into the USDA office. One such smoking tear gas canister landed
in the Town Hall. The remaining four exploded. The people were affected by
the tear gas. Some women collapsed. The people dispersed."

"Now there are at least 200 bicycles and rickshaws, and many slippers,
umbrellas, left by the people who dispersed. The first four monks who
entered their office were arrested. We heard that three other monks were
arrested along with six other people."

____________________________________

September19, Mizzima News
HRDP accuses SPDC of arbitrarily arrests HR activists

The 'Human Rights Defenders and Promoters' (HRDP) alleged today that the
Burmese military junta had arbitrarily arrested its members.

Thet Oo, Zaw Tun and a Buddhist monk from Prome (Pyi) were arrested on
September 3. According to unconfirmed reports, Kyaw Soe from Taungyi and
11 others have also been detained, Maung Maung Lay of HRDP said.

"They gave no warning and didn't put any pressure on us. But they summoned
and arrested our people at will. They have all disappeared. That means
they (the regime) can't accept and does not believe in human rights," he
told Mizzima.

As human right is one of the responsibilities of the government, their
movement is in fact assisting the government's work, he added.

The regime arrested HRDP members Myint Naing, Kyaw Lwin, Hla Shein, Mya
Sein, U Win and U Myint and charged them for inciting unrest under section
505 (b)(c) and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from four to eight
years. Another member Min Min was charged with taking illegal tuition
classes under section 23 of Tuition Class Act, and sentenced him to three
years in jail and slapped a fine of Kyat 30,000 on July 30 this year.

Similarly a Rangoon based HRDP leader Myint Aye was arrested on August 24
this year for the seventh time without any reason. He is still behind
bars, a family member said.

The HRDP members conducted an awareness campaign on 'Universal Declaration
of Human Rights' (UDHR). The regime arrested them to disrupt their
movement.

"Everybody wants to know about UDHR. Consecutive Burmese regimes are the
signatories of this important declaration. We want the government to
recognize human rights under the paragraph 55-56 of the Human Right
Charter", he said.

Maung Maung Lay said that they would continue their human rights awareness
campaign despite arrests and crackdowns.

____________________________________

September 19, The Independent
Hell and heroism: Tyranny that rules by terror is threatened by brave few

In a rare report from Burma, Andrew Buncombe, Asia correspondent, talks to
some of the dissenters who live in fear of the ruling junta

The Junta has a list – a list that has reverberated through this
rain-soaked, fear-ridden city. Arranged in order of their “wanted”
priority, the list contains 22 names and faces, addresses and personal
details, anything that could help the military find these pro-democracy
activists and throw them behind bars.

Scores have already been locked up, dragged off to jails from where emerge
reports of abuse and torture. But the junta is desperate to find those
still at large.

Burma’s military government, which has ruled the former British colony
with a rare brutality for more than half a century, is facing its most
serious challenge for at least a decade. Every day there are flashes of
resistance, flickering protests against the regime’s unbending rule. And
yesterday, in what may be a crucial development, more than 1,000
saffron-robed Buddhist monks marched in defiant protest in two separate
cities, only to have tear-gas grenades fired at them by the authorities.

This wave of protests was started by a group of charismatic activists that
came of age during widespread demonstrations two decades ago which
severely threatened the regime. They seized on an unexplained government
decision to increase fuel prices and anger over the soaring prices fed
into general despair among the down-trodden population about the regime’s
cruelty and ruinous governance.

“In the past the regime has arrested people and then released them after a
few months. I don’t think that is the case here. I think the regime is
preparing to throw the book at [the activists it has arrested],” said one
western diplomat in Rangoon, Burma’s largest city. “I think they are very
sophisticated at spotting leaders who people will rally around.”

The diplomat added: “I was not here in 1988 but people say that in ‘88
there were [initially] sporadic demonstrations and that eventually
everybody then joined in. If the monks join in that could make a huge
difference. They could get people out. That is what happened in ‘88.”

The ability to rally ordinary people, to persuade them to confront the
police and militias and to march against the regime is precisely why the
authorities are so keen to trace those activists still free. The list of
names, which includes seven women, has been circulated to government
officials and hotel owners in Rangoon, who have been told to report
anything suspicious. Police have even been showing up at foreign embassies
with photographs and asking whether activists have taken refuge inside.
“We have been instructed to inform higher authorities immediately if we
sight any of these people in our area,” one official told the Associated
Press.

The Burmese regime, known as the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), has a strong and clear advantage as it confronts its opponents.
Two decades after the demonstrations of 1988 which it put down with the
death of thousands of civilians, it is wealthier, more secure and more
experienced at dealing with protestors. It also knows that the
overwhelming majority of its citizens are too terrified to act. And having
banned the international media and silenced its own press, it has
controlled almost all the information that reaches the eyes and ears of
the public.

Indeed, it may be the sinister normality of Burma that is the country’s
most disturbing signature. In the decaying colonial city of Rangoon there
is barely a policeman or a soldier in sight, people with money are busy
buying air conditioners and stereo systems driven in from China while
traders set up their stalls on the street and hawk their wares to
passers-by.

Yet over the course of four storm-lashed days during which Rangoon’s
broken streets over-flooded and people huddled under makeshift shelters,
The Independent was able to speak to half-a-dozen pro-democracy
campaigners desperate for change. The names of these individuals - members
of the National League for Democracy, the political group headed by the
imprisoned Nobel laureate Aung Sang Suu Kyi - are not on the Junta’s list,
but they, like so many others, live in constant fear of the regime and
spoke only on condition of anonymity.

“The big difference is not with us but with the government. We are the
same but they have money and experience,” said a senior NLD member who
acts as the group’s spokesman.

The first of the protests that triggered this clampdown by the SPDC were
launched last month by members of the ’88 Generation Students group, an
organisation that was heavily involved in the protests 19 years ago. Among
those arrested was a high-profile activist and poet who goes by the
nickname Min Ko Naing or Conqueror of Kings, and who was only released
from jail in 2006 after 15 years imprisonment.

There has been no word on Min Ko Naing’s fate since he was dragged away on
August 22. NLD sources said around 65 people had been arrested with a
dozen or so leaders being held in the country’s notorious Insein Jail and
the remainder detained at the Kyaik Ka San park, a former race course in
Rangoon. Yet campaigners based in neighbouring Thailand say the number of
people arrested is around 120. Diplomats say they have heard reports that
the prisoners have been tortured but that they have no conformation of
this.

Given the iron grip exerted by the regime on the media, it is difficult
for campaigners to organise. A 70-year-old journalist who was released
from jail two years ago having served 13 years, said: “There is no free
press. We have no chance to speak to one another. We cannot tell other
people about our experiences. Even the NLD cannot open its office. There
is no freedom. No democracy. No rule of law.”

Another journalist, who like the 70-year-old, can now only write using a
pen name and then only about topics that the newspapers deem “safe”, spent
17 years in jail. He was also released in 2005. “It was very hard to
survive [in jail] but we have to struggle for our cause,” he said. After
nearly two decades in prison, he also emerged to see that while the cause
for which he had given so much had barely progressed, the underlying
desire of the people remained as strong as ever. “After 17 years nothing
had changed, just the roads. People had not changed. People still
encourage me to try and get democracy.”

This determination is revealed by the flurry of scattered protests that
have broken out across the country, coinciding with a massive hike in fuel
prices by the government that saw the cost of petrol and compressed
natural gas increase by 500 per cent. While I was talking with the NLD
spokesman his mobile phone constantly rang, often with news of another
demonstration. One morning, his phone trilling like a wind chime, he
reports there has been a demonstration in the town of Lappottar, 200 miles
to the north of Rangoon when 3 activists had tried to set off on a march
to the former capital.

The following day he reported there had been a demonstration in Taung Goke
township, where two people had been arrested. He said a local NLD official
claimed 10,000 people had come out in support of the protestors, a number
he said he could not personally believe but that the local official had
been adamant was correct.

The western diplomat said: “I think these demonstrations show that the
pro-democracy spirit has not died. When I came here a couple of years ago
people said those involved in the movement were too and that they had no
support. There are not a lot of leaders but the ‘88 Generation people have
provided leadership and have shown their effectiveness at gathering people
together during the last year.”

The Burmese military regime, in control of the country since 1962, has
been widely condemned by the international community and some of its
neighbours. When the authorities recently concluded a 15-year effort to
draw-up a new constitution, the resulting document was condemned by the US
state department as a “sham”. It said the national convention that agreed
the constitution “clearly do not represent the will of the Burmese people,
nor are they a step toward democracy”. Even First Lady Laura Bush spoke
out against the regime.

Another western diplomat, also based in Rangoon, said of the convention:
“The regime has no understanding of what democracy means, of the value of
dialogue, or of the abhorrent way in which it suppresses the voice of the
people. The way it has ignored the demands of the ethnic groups in the
National Convention and the unnecessary detention of people peacefully
making their point indicates the regime's true intention: to keep tight
control and to ensure power and wealth remains in the hands of the few.”

But despite complete sanctions enacted by the US and partial sanctions
imposed by the EU and Britain, the regime is still courted by regional
powers such as India and China which are desperate to secure deals for
Burma’s vast natural gas resources – much of which is located in the
offshore Shwe gas fields. Anything other than the most muted criticism of
the regime’s human rights record has been shoved aside as the two
countries battle over their shared neighbour’s resources. Both have signed
arms deals with the regime.

“The regime’s brutality and readiness for violence in part secures its
daily survival, but the gas deals are integral on a longer term economic
level, providing billions of dollars to private and state bank accounts
that would otherwise be relatively empty,” said Matthew Smith, a
campaigner with the group EarthRights International. “From this we can
infer at least two things: one, the regime will stop at nothing to secure
the export of its most lucrative asset, natural gas, and two, foreign oil
and gas corporations are in a unique position of power because they
provide the capital and expertise the regime presently lacks.”

Campaigners insist progress can be made with Burma. “We do see hope,
inside and outside the country,” said Mark Farmaner, of the Burma Campaign
UK. “This regime is very vulnerable to pressure, if it were only applied.
The international community is finally starting to pay more attention to
those brave people making a stand in the country. If they turn words into
practical action to support those in Burma, we could start to see
movement.”

On the ground in Burma it is hard to find hope. People are not only
terrified but they see little prospect for their country. One afternoon a
tour guide nervously led the way to a teashop, away from watchful eyes.
Sitting on a low plastic seat he casually revealed that he too had been a
political prisoner in the early 1990s and that he had spent two years in
jail. For the first six months his family had no idea where he was.

The 42-year-old said he had four children. “I tell my children that they
must study hard. I tell them to do well at English,” he said, leaning his
body forward and speaking almost in a whisper. “I want them to move abroad
– there is no future for them in Burma.”

And yet for all the despair, there are perhaps flashes of hope. Despite
the regime’s efforts to ban a free media and limit what information the
public receives, in the last couple of years Rangoon has seen the opening
of numerous internet cafes where those who can afford to, log-on go and
sit for hours. While the government actively blocks web-based email such
as Gmail and Hotmail, the young people who run the internet cafes are
enthusiastically adept at discovering alternative servers and other
solutions to the ban, allowing free access to the web.

These cafes are usually packed with young people sitting at cubicles,
head-phones on and bashing away at their keyboards. The odd surreptitious
glance over their shoulders suggests most are busy “speaking” online with
friends. But it is hard to sit in those cafes surrounded by the young
people of this country and not to wonder whether they are also sharing
with their friends and relatives around the globe stories, information and
details about this tortured country that the regime does not want the
world to know.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2976660.ece

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 19, Irrawaddy
Burmese groups stage protest in North America, Canada - Lalit K Jha

Hundreds of Burmese, joined by human rights groups, held protest
demonstrations and peace rallies across North America on Tuesday to mark
the 19th anniversary of the military coup.

The occasion was also used to show solidarity with people inside Burma who
are leading the civic unrest against the military regime, which began on
August 19.

The protest rallies and demonstrations this time included a China message.
Statements issued by the demonstrators recognized that China now exercises
considerable influence over the military junta and at the UN where it used
its veto power to defeat an anti-Burma resolution proposed by the US and
Britain early this year.

A demonstration at UN headquarters on Tuesday displayed placards urging UN
action on Burma.

"It is basically China that is not allowing the UN Security Council to
Act. China's unilateral foreign policy on Burma has completely paralyzed
the Security Council," said Jeremy Woodrum of the US Campaign for Burma.

The US Campaign Burma organized five protests demonstrations outside
Chinese missions in the US: Washington, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and
Houston.

"Our demand is that China should play a more active role in bringing
normalcy to Burma in terms of restoration of democracy, protection of
human rights and release of political prisoners including Aung San Suu
Kyi," Woodrum told The Irrawaddy.

Woodrum said the campaign against China would intensify in the run up to
the 2008 Olympics. China is the Burmese military regime's single most
important ally, he said, supplying billions in weapons, aid and trade,
while shielding the regime from international action by the UN Security
Council.

"China's position on Burma is coming into greater focus," he said, adding
that his group will widely publicize China's role in Burma prior to the
Olympics.

In Canada, at least four peaceful demonstrations were held in the past two
days at the Chinese missions in Toronto and Vancouver.

At the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa, Tin Maung Htoo of the Canadian
Friends of Burma urged the Canadian government to help bring political
change to Burma.

He said the demonstration was also meant to commemorate those who
sacrificed their lives 19 years ago in opposing the military coup and to
show solidarity with the people in Burma during the current unrest.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 19, Irrawaddy
Burma’s regime should apologize to the monks [Editorial]

Burma’s Buddhist monks have surprised Burma’s repressive rulers with their
peaceful religious boycott campaign, which is reportedly spreading
throughout the country.

Significantly, protests are taking place not only in Rangoon but in such
centers of learning as Pegu, Sittwe, Kyaukpadaung and Pakokku, where large
numbers of young monks are studying.

In Pakokku, central Burma, where a peaceful protest by monks was violently
suppressed in early September, monks again took to the streets, chanting
metta sutta and paritta sutta (Buddhist calls for kindness and protection
against evil and harm).

Leaflets distributed by the monks sent a clear message to the ruling
elite: “This is a fight between dhamma and ah-dhamma (between justice and
injustice).”

The protests have clearly rattled the authorities and also surprised those
Burma observers, scholars and regime apologists who downplayed the extent
of anti-government sentiment and the strength of the Sangha. The monks
proved them wrong.

Now it remains to be seen how the regime will handle the rapidly
developing situation led by Burma’s powerful and respected institution.

In Sittwe, security forces fired tear gas to break up a demonstration by
several hundred monks and civilian protesters on Tuesday. Eyewitnesses
told The Irrawaddy that hundreds of local people had joined in the
demonstration by local monks, including some Muslim residents of the town.

The monks have good reason to continue with their demonstrations and
boycott campaign, the “patam nikkujjana kamma,” in which they refuse to
accept alms from members and supporters of the military regime and their
families.

The campaign was launched after the Pokkaku incident on September 6, in
which monks were beaten and humiliated by security officials and
pro-regime thugs. Until an apology is received, the monks say they will
refuse to accept alms, donations or robes from anyone associated with the
regime.

This is the first time in 18 years that monks have withheld their
recognition of members of the ruling military regime and their families.
When they last took this action, in Mandalay in 1990, about 300 monks and
abbots were arrested, defrocked and imprisoned.

Eight offences are listed as reasons for holding a “patam nikkujjana
kamma.” These include vilifying or making insidious comparisons between
monks, inciting dissension among monks, defaming Buddha, Dhamma and the
Sangha.

The “patam nikkujjana kamma” can be called off if monks received an
apology from individual or authorities who offended them. But so far there
is no sign that regime leaders are prepared to do so.

In an obvious attempt to placate the monks, several government ministers
and officials have visited temples and made offerings to those few abbots
and monks who have so far taken a neutral stance or who are considered to
be sympathetic to the regime.

Disturbing reports coming out of Burma indicate that the regime is
tightening security around the temples and monasteries and sending thugs
and security officials to control the monks in some areas. Wards in San
Pya hospital in Rangoon’s Thingangyun district were reportedly cleared of
patients in an apparent move to make room for casualties, an ominous
indication that a firm crackdown can be expected.

A 1990-style crackdown would be wholly unwarranted. In order to defuse the
deepening crisis, government leaders and responsible ministers should make
the required apology and open a dialogue with the monks. That is the best
solution, and the only one that can head off further violence.

____________________________________

September 19, The Independent
Sanctions could make a difference - Mark Farmaner

The new wave of protests engulfing Burma has echoes of the democracy
uprising in 1988 and the student-led protests in 1996, which were brutally
suppressed. Sadly, the response from the international community has also
been muted. Expressions of concern but no practical action.

There is a myth that the regime in Burma is immune to international
pressure, that sanctions and political engagement have failed. This is far
from the truth. The regime depends on international trade and investment
to fund the half million-strong army that keeps it in power. Only one
country, the US, has trade sanctions against Burma. Billions of dollars
have been invested in Burma since 1988, but ordinary people are sinking
deeper into poverty.

Nor has there been concerted political pressure. The UN Security Council
discussed Burma for the first time only in 2005. There is not even a UN
arms embargo against Burma, despite a UN report last year accusing the
regime of breaking the Geneva Convention by targeting civilians in eastern
Burma, where, on average, one village a week has been destroyed for the
past 10 years.

World leaders face a stark choice: carry on as usual, or finally take the
practical action that people such as Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of
Burma's democracy movement, whom they profess to admire, has been asking
for for so long.

The UN Security Council should take the lead, but the European Union and
individual governments must also act. A recent call by the Prime Minister,
Gordon Brown, for Security Council and EU discussions on Burma is very
welcome, but must be followed by practical steps. We saw how Mr Brown
persuaded the international community to cancel Third World debt through
unilateral action and also engaging multilateral organisations. He must do
the same on Burma.

To begin with, a deadline must be set for the release of all political
prisoners, after which, if no progress has been made, a series of economic
sanctions will be introduced, such as an investment ban and imports of
commodities that earn the regime significant revenue, such as timber and
gems. Mr Brown must also raise Burma with his counterparts in Asia.

There is no single magic bullet that will bring down the regime in Burma,
but we have an obligation to use every tool at our disposal to help the
Burmese. So far, we have let them down badly.

Mark Farmaner is the acting director of Burma Campaign UK