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SSA offers to host a Shan State assembly
Burmese activism in the new technology: How IT is helping and hampering movements
UN had to work with Myanmar junta, aid chief says
Suu Kyi's party to appeal against her 'unfair' detention
UN expert concerned about Myanmar arrest
Myanmar frees 15 members of opposition party

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SSA offers to host a Shan State assembly
No.09-6/2008
10 June 2008
Politics

Following its bi-annual meeting, 2-3 June, at its main base Loi Taileng on the Maehongson-Shan State border, the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS, the political arm of the anti-junta Shan State Army (SSA), has called for a state-wide meeting to form a state-based council.

Provisionally named “Shan State National Patriotic Council,” the SSA boss Col Yawdserk told the Shan Herald that political parties, overseas Shan organizations, independent organizations and outstanding individuals would be invited to the meeting, to be held some time this year.

He has cited three objectives :-

* To discuss issues relating to Shan State and its people
* To form a united front
* To find a lasting solution for Shan State

“Initially, it would only be a gathering for consultation,” he said. “But eventually we would like to see it as a sort of Parliament, where delegates from all groups will initiate, discuss, debate and vote on issues. Decisions will be followed and implemented by individual groups. We hope to be able to work gradually up from there.”

Yawdserk, 51, assured that the proposal was not in anyway contending with what the Shan State Coordination Committee (SSCC), set up on 16 February 2007 by Shan State-based groups, to hold a “Shan State Nationalities Conference.”

Throughout the past year each major ethnic group of Shan State had been holding meetings in preparation for the upcoming conference, yet to be convened due to unexpected disruptions inside Burma: the September unrest and Cyclone Nargis as well as shortfalls in funds, according to an SSCC member.

“We are only proposing that we have the honor to host the first conference,” said Yawdserk. “The second and the rest can be held elsewhere, in accordance with the decisions made by the council elected there.”

As yet there has been no official response from the SSCC. “We will have to discuss among ourselves and then with the RCSS/SSA,” said the SSCC member. “But we are certainly not holding a rival conference. You can rest easy about that.”

Meanwhile, one of the opposition leaders has warned that without a new and effective strategy, the common struggle against Burma’s military rulers would soon become irrelevant.

“We had pooled all our resources against the regime’s May constitutional referendum,” said the leader who wished to remain unnamed, “with some expectations that it would go for fair play as in the 1990 general elections. But now it’s clear there will never be fair play as far as the present regime is concerned. So if we are going to pursue the same strategy in the 2010 elections, we’re finished.”

The junta-drafted draft constitution was adopted by an unprecedented 92% eligible voters, announced Naypyidaw on 29 May. The Public International Law and Policy Group meanwhile dismissed the official claim by saying all the conditions required to ensure that the referendum was free and fair were violated.

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Burmese activism in the new technology: How IT is helping and hampering movements
By Sai Awn Tai
No.03-6/2008
10 June 2008 

Advancement of new media and communication has substantially impacted on the social and political movements of the Burmese democratic activists. The political activists from inside and outside Burma are using new media and communications as a tool to struggle for democracy and Human Rights in Burma. In this essay, I will analyse the new technology of ‘internet’ and how it has positively impacted on the Burmese social and political movements. Burma issues have been highlighted globally due to the fact that Burmese movements based in overseas countries have used new media and communication for their campaigns. I will examine this by discussing how the monks’ protest in September 2007 in Burma links to new technology and how the global community have united with the people of Burma after the campaigns’ messages reached to a worldwide community. The uses of new media and communications have become essential and central strategies for networking within Burmese pro-democracy movements as well as people who support democracy and human rights in Burma.

The free Burma campaigns have been organising in many countries, particularly in democratic countries. Of the new media and communications, the Internet is a central platform for struggling for freedom and democracy in Burma as the Burmese democratic activists are based in countries around the world. Additionally, campaigns against the Burmese military government have been highlighted in local, national and global arenas, and the activist groups use the Internet to send messages – for example, to their fellow activists that the protest will be held in front of Burmese embassy on the same day (Eng, 1998). Moreover, new media development has led to substantial change for the contemporary activists because before the electronic communication emerged, activist groups could not organise global rallies, and it was costly and took substantial time to deliver messages from one continent to another. Furthermore, new media and communication has provided a convergence for advocacy campaigners and activist groups, members of individuals and organisations from around the world who are working on the same objective for their campaigns (Danitz & Strobel 1999). For example, activist groups may use similar information and banners in the protest rallies, and make the same demand on a particular issue to different governments.

According to Hirst & Harrison (2007), technologies that are converging rapidly today are telecommunications, computing, and broadcasting. Before ‘computer’ meant the machines as we know them today, it simply means a person employed to do laborious and tedious additions, subtractions, and other sums. In addition, a ‘computer’ was a low-paid clerical worker who did calculations day in, day out. Additionally, the internet offers citizens the capacity to influence the democratic process in previously unforeseen ways. Burmese democratic movements are in accord with Hirst & Harrison’s argument. They use computer as a tool to highlight democracy and human rights issues in Burma. It is inexpensive and saves substantial time to organise global activities and campaigns. Bennett (2003) stresses that the Internet is implicated in the new global activism far beyond merely reducing the costs of communication, or transcending the geographical and temporal barriers associated with other communication media. Various uses of the Internet and digital media facilitate the loosely structured networks, the weak identity ties, and the patterns of issue and demonstration organizing that define a new global protest politics. For example, there are many strategies that Burmese activism movements use in their advocacy campaigns. The information disseminates on websites, blogs, e-groups and e-mails where a clink on computer will reach to millions people around the world.

In September 2007, new media and communication technologies played a crucial role in nationwide protest rallies in Burma. Monks and civilians demonstrated against the military government for fuel hikes of up to 500%. Monks have become central for media campaigns, particularly online media campaign such as websites and blogs, where the use of the colour red indicated the symbol of Burmese Buddhist monks. Despite internet being tightly controlled by the military government, many videos and photos from the demonstration in Rangoon have been posted online (Williams 2007). With the advancement of new technology, global audiences are able to access information and watch the actual crackdown in Rangoon. The videos and photos of a Japanese journalist Mr Kenji Nagai would be an instance which the innovative technology has captured the actual incident and informed people around the world (Lewis, 2007). This evidence helped media advocacy group to highlight their global campaigns. They were able to use this kind of photos, videos and information to convince the global citizens to support Burmese democratic movements.

According to Freeman and Johnson (1999), of utmost importance is consciousness that one is part of a group with whom one shares a particular concern. Alternatively, a movement can create consciousness. Not all movements have a complete ideology, nor is one necessary. What is necessary is identification of a problem, and a vision of making change for injustice.  Australia Campaign for Burma is an online campaign which has allowed Australian community to access many photos and video of monks’ in protest rallies and the actual images of military members’ attacked on the peaceful demonstrators. Internet is an effective tool by which campaigners have been able to organise substantial global rallies. People from different parts of the globe took part in demonstrations (Broomhall, 2008). Global communities have united with the people of Burma. With the impact of political consciousness on Burma issues, diverse religious groups around the world organised global prayer rallies for the people of Burma (Young, 2007). This has had substantial impact from the convergence of new media where campaigners from diverse geographies were able to organise prayer rallies on similar issues in Burma.

Internet is a major factor that has pushed rapid growing of individual and organizations - public, private, or non-profit activities to involve in political, social, environmental and human rights issues. In the mean time, with the rapid development of new media, individual online activists have significantly increased in Burma. The protest in September 2007 had shown that young activists played a major role in helping monks and civilians to organise a nationwide demonstration. The international media groups have revealed that bloggers from inside Burma were the key reporters who contributed substantial news and information from inside Burma while the military members attacked thousands of innocent monks and civilians in peaceful demonstrations (Holroyd, 2007). Despite internet being tightly controlled in Burma, young activists are still able to access outside information via internet as they are more knowledgeable in new media or Information technology while the military are not. A blogger said that they can browse online beyond military government’s controlled websites by using different servers (interview with Burma blogger, 2008).

According to Bennett (2003), digital network configurations can facilitate various ways. Increasing global campaigns and ideology ties, transformation of individual member organisations and whole networks, and the capacity to communicate messages from desktops to television screens. Networks of activists demanding a greater voice in global economic, social, and environmental policies raise interesting questions about organizing political action across geographical, cultural, ideological, and issue boundaries. This vast web of global protest is also impressive in its capacity to continuously refigure itself around shifting issues, protest events, and political adversaries (Bennett, 2003). Moreover, digital technology is steering people towards an era where an entire global network of resources and freedom of information for many appears on the horizon. The cyber-mythology also states that the digital media have the power to shrink both time and apace. Furthermore, there are numerous advantages to be gained from the convergence of new media, not the least of which is the much freer, hence more democratic, dissemination of information (Hirst & Harrison, 2007).

The convergence of new media and communications has created significant advantages for the activists. On 10 February 2008, Thailand based activist groups Shan Women Action Network (SWAN) and Shan Youth Power (SYP) organised a campaign of demanding the military government release Sao Khun Htun Oo and other Shan leaders who have been in prison since 2005 and serving sentences for up to 106 years. More than ten countries took part in this campaign. The campaign was costless and it saved substantial time for the campaign organisers. More importantly, it convinced the global community to take concern on Shan political issues. It was simply run by disseminating messages via emails to individuals and community groups around the world to join the campaign (SWAN & SYP, 2008). Similarly, the global campaign for free Aung San Suu Kyi and her annual birthday have been highlighted around the world. Burmese democratic activists and theirs supporters have been actively taking part in the protest rallies demanding the military government release her. This has been on going process since she was kept in house arrest and after she retuned to Burma from overseas while there was nationwide uprising in Burma in 1988. The global rallies of supporting her have drawn more attention after she won Noble Peace Prize in 1991. Her photos have been displayed globally (Rice, 2007). This is an instance of the impact of new media and communications which has created the world as a ‘global village’ where activists can share messages for their campaign within minutes. It is also advantage for the ethnic groups to use new technology to raise awareness on social and political issues on global scale.  

On the other hand, Dahlgren (2003) argues that formal social and political participation has declined while social and political activists excessively rely on new technology. Many citizens have ‘bailed out’ of formal politics and begun generating their own ‘counter public spheres’. According to Bennett (2003), patterns of individual participation appear to be affected by hyperlinked communication networks that enable individuals to find multiple points of entry into varieties of social and political actions. While there are many indicators that digital media have become important organizational resources in making the social and political movements, there are also potential problems or vulnerabilities associated with these communication- based networks. The ease of joining and leaving polycentric issue networks means that it becomes difficult to control campaigns or to achieve coherent collective identity frames. In addition, organizations may face challenges to their own internal direction and goals when they employ open, collective communication processes to set agendas and organize action. Burma movements face vague strategic plans while most movements’ members based in online campaigns, and there is blurring within the boundaries and activities’ role in movement. Moreover, it is difficult to measure whether the aims and objectives of campaigns have been achieved, particularly while the campaigns have been taken place globally but lacked the actual activities inside Burma.
 
To sum up, the campaigns against the Burmese military government have been emphasized globally. Online campaigning is relatively costless and saves substantial times where messages can be delivered to millions of people within minutes through new media and communications form such as texts, signs, photos and videos. In addition, new digital technology has uncovered the military government’s brutal attack on the innocent monks and civilians in peaceful demonstrations. Moreover, individual activism has grown considerably since new technology has emerged. This has created the decentralised institutional movements and encourages young people to be involved in social and political issues. On the other hand, some scholars have pointed out that new technology presents difficulty in achieving coherent collective identity frames. However, in this age of information development there is no activism or social and political movements that can stay away from new digital technology because it is costless, save substantial time and is more effective for the campaigners to raise global awareness. 

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UN had to work with Myanmar junta, aid chief says
Mon Jun 9, 2008 2:48pm EDT
By Patrick Worsnip
NEW YORK, June 9 (Reuters)

The U.N. humanitarian chief defended on Monday the policy of working with Myanmar's military government after last month's cyclone, saying trying to deliver aid by force would not have helped the victims.

The official, John Holmes, said he believed the cooperation set up with the reclusive junta could ultimately assist international efforts to bring democracy to the Asian country.

Cyclone Nargis, which killed at least 134,000 people after striking in the first days of May, sparked widespread condemnation of the ruling generals for initially blocking international aid workers from entering the country.

France at one point suggested invoking a "responsibility to protect," enshrined in a 2005 U.N. resolution, to deliver aid without waiting for the approval of Myanmar's authorities.

But Holmes, who heads the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said he did not believe the Security Council could have forced the junta to be more cooperative or that military operations like airdrops could have worked.

"I've never seen a realistic alternative to the approach we've pursued spelled out by anybody," he told a meeting of the Asia Society in New York.

"Nor have I met anyone engaged in the operation on the ground who thought that there was an alternative which could actually have helped those most in need."

He said U.N. sanctions would not have been agreed by the Security Council, and even if they had been, they would not have benefited the cyclone victims in the short term.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner eventually conceded that the responsibility to protect applied to armed conflicts, not natural disasters. But he said countries on the Security Council that did not agree to pressure Myanmar into opening its doors to foreign aid were guilty of "cowardice."

LESS COOPERATIVE

Holmes said he did not think the responsibility to protect could never be applied to natural disasters, but "it would have to be absolutely the last, last, last resort."

Singapore's U.N. ambassador, Vanu Gopala Menon, told the meeting that threats of Security Council action had made the Myanmar generals initially less ready to cooperate.

"They are suspicious of humanitarian aid serving as a camouflage for regime change, a perception that is not entirely unreasonable when some countries have talked about invoking responsibility to protect and mounting relief operations without host government permission," he said.

During a visit to Myanmar, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon secured a promise on May 23 from senior general Than Shwe to let in foreign aid workers. U.N. officials say the junta has broadly honored that promise so far.

Holmes suggested the relationship established between the international community and Myanmar could "have a significance beyond the immediate humanitarian operation, if both sides wanted it to ... It certainly shouldn't be ruled out."

Everyone knew that once the cyclone crisis was over, attempts to tackle Myanmar's political situation would be back on the agenda, he said.

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Suu Kyi's party to appeal against her 'unfair' detention
AFP
10 June 2008

Myanmar's pro-democracy party said Tuesday that the ongoing house arrest of its leader Aung San Suu Kyi was illegal, and demanded the ruling junta accept an appeal against her detention.

The military regime -- which calls itself the State Peace and Development Council -- extended the Nobel peace prize winner's house arrest by one year on May 27. Her latest period of detention began in 2003.

"The NLD will submit an appeal under the law as the extension of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's detention was against the law and unfair," her National League for Democracy (NLD) party said in a statement.

"If the State Peace and Development Council assumes that the extension of the detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was in accordance with the law, we ask them to accept the appeal and open the case in accordance with the law."

Aung San Suu Kyi was first detained in 1989, and has spent most of the last 18 years as a prisoner at her sprawling lakeside Yangon home, with only brief spells of freedom.

The junta says they are keeping her locked away under a 1975 law to protect the state from "destructive elements", but legal experts say that under Myanmar law, a person cannot be held without charge or trial for more than five years.

The NLD did not say on what legal basis they would challenge their leader's house arrest, but also branded the detention of their vice chairman Tin Oo and two other senior party members illegal.

Aung San Suu Kyi led her NLD to a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but ruling junta never allowed them to take office.

Keeping her under house arrest has effectively silenced the woman known here simply as "The Lady," while leaving her party rudderless.

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UN expert concerned about Myanmar arrest
AP
By ELIANE ENGELER, Associated Press Writer / 10 June 2008

The United Nations' expert on human rights in Myanmar said Monday he was very worried about the arrest of a well-known comedian who was trying to help survivors of last month's devastating cyclone.

Comedian Maung Thura — whose stage name is Zarganar — was taken from his home in Yangon by police Wednesday night after going to the Irrawaddy delta to donate relief items to survivors, a relative said.

"I'm very concerned because I don't know so far about his whereabouts," said Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. Human Rights Council's new investigator for Myanmar.

Quintana, from Argentina, said he asked the government for clarification about Zarganar's arrest.

The relative said Friday that the family had heard nothing from Zarganar since the arrest and that the ruling military junta had given no reason for the arrest.

Zarganar was leading a team of around 400 people assisting cyclone victims, said Quintana, adding that other actors, comedians and writers were part of the group.

The U.N. estimates a total of 2.4 million people were made homeless or were otherwise affected when Cyclone Nargis hit May 2-3, and has warned that more than 1 million of those still need help, mostly in the hard-to-reach delta.

The 46-year old comedian and his team had made videos of their relief activities, and Zarganar gave interviews critical of the government's relief effort to foreign media, including the British Broadcasting Corp., whose news broadcasts are popular in Myanmar.

In an interview with the Thailand-based magazine Irrawaddy before his arrest, Zarganar was quoted as saying some areas in the delta had not been reached by the government or international aid groups. Zarganar said his group distributed food, blankets, mosquito nets and other aid.

Quintana, who on Friday presented a 16-page report to the U.N. council on the situation of basic rights in Myanmar, said he didn't have information about other members of Zarganar's team being arrested.

But "the detention of Zarganar concerns me a lot," he told reporters.

Zarganar, known for his anti-government jibes, has previously been arrested together with other actors for openly supporting demonstrations against the military junta.

U.N. officials and aid groups have criticized the regime for hindering cyclone relief efforts.

Quintana said if a government is unable to help its people after a disaster, it has to accept outside aid.

"All states have the obligation to guarantee their people all the rights with all the available means," he said. "If the means inside the country are not enough ... there is an obligation to use means from the international community."

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Myanmar frees 15 members of opposition party
AP
Tue Jun 10, 12:47 AM ET

Aung San Suu Kyi's political party says Myanmar's military leaders have freed 15 party members who were arrested for marching to the home of the detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Members of the National League for Democracy, some wearing shirts with pictures of Suu Kyi and holding a banner that called for her release, were detained on May 27.

Party spokesman Nyan Win said Tuesday that the 15 were freed the night before.

The group was held for two weeks inside a compound of government technical schools, which also was used to hold hundreds of people during pro-democracy protests in September.

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