The Burma Bulletin is a short month in review of events in Burma, particularly those of interest to the democracy movement and human rights activists. In the February 2008 issue you will find: * SPDC announces referendum, elections * KNU leader assassinated * Exiles draft constitution * Rohingya targeted * Thailand's new Burma policy * New banking sanctions * Other Burma news * List of Reports * Much more...

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The Burmese regime is one of two governments in the world that is using anti-personnel landmines on an ongoing basis, according to the “Landmine Monitor Report 2007: Toward a Mine-Free World,” published recently in Burmese language by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). “In this reporting period, since May 2006, two governments are confirmed to have used antipersonnel mines: Burma and Russia,” said the ICBL.

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is planning to revive a controversial anti-drugs campaign which reportedly killed 2,500 people. Mr Samak, elected in December polls, promised a decisive, and quite possibly bloody campaign against drug dealers. He said he would use the same ruthless tactics as his political patron and predecessor, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006.

The Burmese government’s arrest of two journalists and its decision to extend the detention of a prominent opposition leader demonstrate its continuing contempt for political freedoms despite its preparations for a constitutional referendum in May, Human Rights Watch said today. Burmese authorities arrested journalists Thet Zin and Sein Win Aung of Myanmar Nation magazine at their office in Thingan Gyun township in Rangoon on the night of February 15, and have since detained them without charge in a nearby police station. Thet Zin, a prominent dissident, and his colleague were collecting material on the government’s crackdown on protests in Rangoon last September and the United Nations’ response to the events.

Although many people in the west know about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the monk protests of 2007, they don’t understand the overall conflict in Burma ( Myanmar ).

Antonio Graceffo made this video in the hopes of educating the west and raising awareness of the suffering inside of Shan State, Burma.

Watch it on youtube: http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=mN5bXsR8l-Y

Saying 22-more of the top and mid level leaders are on the list of the assassins, the beleaguered Karen National Union (KNU) has pointed an accusing finger at the country’s ruling junta for the Valentine’s Day assassination of its secretary general. According to a radio conversation intercepted by the KNU, Soe Myint aka San Byoke, a former KNU member, had reported to Col Myat Tun Oo, Burma Army, at 18:37, one and a half hours following the killing of Mahn Sha Laphan, that “the mission” had been “accomplished” and two of his members were now back in Myawaddy, opposite Maesod where the shooting took place.

We had met these families back in December, where they were hiding after being chased out of their village by Burma Army troops. We gave them some assistance then and they participated in the GLC program for mothers and children. Some of us also photographed and reported on the two new Burma Army camps that were built above their abandoned village. From these camps the Burma Army shells down into the surrounding rice fields (in November killing one of the villagers from this group now with us). Also from these camps come patrols that shoot on site anyone they find. In the fields around this village 11 people were wounded and 2 killed and a mother and daughter captured in November 2007 alone.

Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan was born in Rangoon on 5th July 1943. He graduated from Rangoon University in 1966 with a degree in history. He joined the Karen National Union (KNU) in 1963. In 1964 he became a member of the KNU Central Committee, and was elected Joint General Secretary in 1995. He was elected General Secretary in 2000, and is also a member of the Secretariat of the National Council of the Union of Burma, the umbrella organisation representing organisations in the Burmese democracy movement.

We opened the RCSS liaison office in Germany with the aims of: 1. To raise the awareness of the current situation of Shan State people and the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) to the Government of Germany and its people. 2. To cooperate with the German Government in attempts of solving the political conflicts in Myanmar and to build a future federal county. 3. To lobby and raise the international awareness on the current situation that Shan State people is facing and to have a better networking among the EU countries.

Unknown gunmen assassinated Pado Manh Sha, leader of the Karen National Union, in his Mae Sot home on Thursday afternoon. In a recent unpublished interview with journalist Phil Thornton, he discussed plots to kill him and his hopes for the Karen. Pado Manh Sha sat outside his home, enjoying the late-afternoon sunset, after an interview with a foreign analyst on Thursday. A blue pickup stopped outside. A man got out of the vehicle and walked to the house, shook hands with Mahn Sha and then shot him dead. One of Manh Sha's staff gave chase as the gunman and an accomplice fled.

Every person living in the IDP camp at Loi Tailang has a story of the pain they suffered at the hands of the Burmese military. Every one of them has had some fundamental part of their life stolen. Hseng Mun was twenty-three years old when he stepped on a landmine while fighting the SPDC inside of Shan State. His leg was crudely amputated at the knee joint. He was brought to Thailand for treatment and his lived in Loi Tailang ever since.

Shan State Army (SSA) South recently denied a UN special report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon accusing it of recruiting child soldiers. “The United Nations should not listen to outside. We, the SSA invite the UN to come here and see the truth. Our mandatory policy is to recruit people as soldiers from 18 to 45 years old,” said the chairman of RCSS, Col Yawd Serk through an interpreter during the press conference on Shan State National day, 7th February in Loi Tai Leng. “Although they are over 18 they look like 14 -15 years old because of malnutrition,” he added.

Shan National Day in Burma, 7th Feb 2008

Chinese New Year in Burma, 7th Feb 2008

Cartoon based on ideas by David Law.

What I'm going to talk today is about the central political problem in Burma, for centuries, where it was, where things may be heading. Why did the previous constitutions fail in uniting the ethnic groups and the country? In 1960, several assessments were made, and the Burmese University produced some of the leading world leaders in several subjects. What happened?

On behalf of the people of Shan State, the Shan Democratic Union is saddened by the abrupt and untimely departure of Pado Mahn Sha and could hardly find words to express our sense of loss and helplessness. We are honoured to have had numerous friendly personal contacts with Pado Mahn Sha, which would continue to live within our memory. It is an accepted fact that he was a man of honour, patriotism and integrity with a clear goal and insight in charting the political destiny of not only for the Karen people, but also for the whole Union of Burma in general.

Mahn Sha, the general secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU) was shot dead on Thursday afternoon at his home in Mae Sot, Thailand, according to KNU sources. David Takapaw, the joint-secretary of the KNU, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that Mahn Sha was shot by two unknown gunmen on Thursday at about 4:30 p.m. in his home near the center of Mae sot. The only eye witness, a Karen girl, said, “Two men climbed the stairs of his home and said ‘good evening’ (in Karen language) to Mahn Sha. Then they shot him twice in the left side of his chest. He died immediately.”

A leader of Myanmar's biggest rebel group was shot dead at his home in a Thai border town on Thursday in an assassination immediately blamed on troops loyal to the former Burma's military junta. Mahn Sha Lar Phan, secretary-general of the Karen National Union (KNU), was shot at his two-storey wooden home by two men who arrived in a pickup truck, his wife Kim Suay told Reuters at the scene. He died instantly. "One of them walked up to the house and said in Karen 'How are you, uncle?' Then the other man joined him after parking the truck and they both shot him with two pistols," she said, her voice shaking with emotion.

On Jan 28, 2008, Burma Army troops from MOC 21 shot and killed Saw Day Kreh Mu, 23. Saw Day Kreh Mu, from Thay Nwey Kee village, was walking with a friend in the jungle close to P’na Mo Keh in the Muthey area of Nyaunglebin District, western Karen State. Burma Army troops on patrol saw him and his friend walking and opened fire on them. Saw Day Kreh Mu was shot dead, however his friend managed to escape.

The deteriorating health of imprisoned Shan leader Hkun Htun Oo has prompted Shans in ten countries to hold prayer ceremonies and candlelight vigils today to call urgently for his release, together with all other political prisoners in Burma. Shans in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, USA, UK, Australia, Canada and other countries will be holding ceremonies and calling for the immediate release of 64-year-old Hkun Htun Oo, elected leader of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, who was arrested three years ago with other Shan State leaders peacefully advocating for political reform. Currently serving a 93-year sentence in Putao prison in northern Kachin State, his health has seriously deteriorated in the past few months. He has long been suffering from diabetes and now has serious prostate problems.

Travel with Antonio Graceffo as he interviews the Colonel and finds out about his anti-drug policy, as well as the broken promises made by the Burmese government, and his people’s suffering at the hands of the SPDC. The Colonel hopes that one day, the Shan people will gain their independence and establish a democracy, and that they can return to their villages and live in safety and peace.

Defying the Burmese government’s ban on journalists, Antonio crossed the border under the protection of the Shan State Army, and began filming interviews with IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) within the war zone.

Orphans find new hope at Shan State Army headquarters at Loi Tailang. Sai Liang lost everything when his village was burned and his family murdered by the SPDC. He lived on the streets and drank alcohol daily. Unable to care for his younger brother, he was forced to abandon him at a temple. Eventually, Sai Leng made his way to Loi Tailang, where he completed high school and SSSNY college. Now, he is a school teacher, and cares for orphans at Loi Tailang, so that they won’t have to suffer as he did. His story is an inspiration, a testament to the indomitable spirit of man.

1: Burma Army Kills One Villager and Injures Another in Yaw Kee Area of Mon Township, Nyaunglebin District. 2: Photo Essay: Boy blinded by Burma Army landmine, villagers home's burned, people in hiding, and relief teams in Karen State's Toungoo District. 3: Attacks in central Karen State, Dooplaya District.

The Burma Bulletin is a short month in review of events in Burma, particularly those of interest to the democracy movement and human rights activists. In the January 2008 issue you will find: * Daw Suu slams SPDC * Persecution of NLD intensifies * Child mortality rate worse than Sudan * Bombs in Burma * SPDC in international spotlight * Food shortages * Other Burma news * List of Reports * Much more..

Than Shwe is the supreme leader of the Burmese military regime who has been carrying out human rights abuses on the peoples of Burma for over two decades. 2nd February is Than Shwe's birthday. On his birthday of February 2006 Than Shwe was awarded third place in the "World's 10 Worst Dictators" list. This year Burma supporters around the world are gathering to make sure Than Shwe has an Unhappy Bad Day, rather than a Happy Birthday.