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Court sentences Myanmar protesters to jail
Security Tightened in Rangoon after Bomb Blast
U Win Tin (m), aged 78, senior opposition party official, journalist : Health concern/torture and other ill-treatment
Recent Burma News (04-07-08)
46th Anniversary of Massacre at Rangoon University

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Court sentences Myanmar protesters to jail
AP
04 July 2008

Four members of Myanmar's main pro-democracy party who campaigned against a constitution proposed by the military government have been jailed for one year.

Nyan Win, a spokesman for the National League for Democracy, said Friday that a court had sent the four to prison "for trespassing with intent to commit offense."

They were arrested at Tounggok in western Rakhine state in March for distributing leaflets urging voters to reject the draft charter, Nyan Win said.

The new constitution was adopted after it won overwhelming approval in a national referendum held in May. Critics said the referendum was conducted in an unfair manner, with opportunities to oppose it restricted and irregularities in voting.

Nyan Win said the four were sentenced on June 27 by a court in Tounggok township, and that they were the first people to be imprisoned for opposing the constitution.

The Tounggok area is noted for militant opposition to the junta.

The NLD, which is led by detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, had strongly opposed the draft constitution, which they and other critics charge will perpetuate military rule beyond a general election supposed to be held in 2010.

Several other party members and activists who opposed the charter were beaten up and intimidated in the run-up to the referendum.

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Security Tightened in Rangoon after Bomb Blast
The Irrawaddy
By SAW YAN NAING
Friday, July 4, 2008

Burmese authorities have begun deploying security guards around-the-clock at government buildings and at the offices of junta-backed groups following Tuesday’s bomb blast at a Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) office in Rangoon, according to sources close to authorities.

Since Tuesday’s incident at the USDA office in Shwe Pyi Thar Township in the northern outskirts of Rangoon—in which no one was killed—military authorities have increased nighttime patrols in army trucks and have set up checkpoints around the city, as well as urging the public through state-run media to remain alert and to report any suspicious activity, said the sources.

File photo shows members of Burma's special police force on guard in Rangoon. Burmese junta has deploying security guards around-the-clock at government buildings and at the offices of junta-backed groups following Tuesday’s bomb blast in Rangoon. (Photo: AFP)

The chairman of Rangoon City Development Committee, Brig-Gen Aung Thein Linn, who is also an official with junta-backed civic organization USDA, told reporters in Rangoon that members of the USDA will be deployed as security guards around assigned offices and buildings. 
 
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, an official from Rangoon City Development Committee who requested anonymity said: “Aung Thein Linn said that he will increase security patrols. All USDA offices will be guarded 24 hours. And members of the USDA will be deployed as security troops.”  

A USDA member in Kyauktada Township said that security guards recruited from his organization would undergo security training. 

“The Authorities in townships and wards around Rangoon are calling meetings at the moment,” said a member of the Township Peace and Development Council. “They also asked residents to become involved in the security guard training, which will be led by USDA officials.” 

Members of the Township Peace and Development Council in Rangoon have been pressuring local authorities in every ward in Rangoon division to form security groups within the next few days, said residents in Hlaing Thayar, Yankin and Pabedan townships.

An armed students’ group in exile, the Vigorous Burma Student Warriors, later claimed responsibility for the bombing.  

http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=13140

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MYANMAR : U Win Tin (m), aged 78, senior opposition party official, journalist
UA 193/08 : Health concern/torture and other ill-treatment
PUBLIC
AI Index: ASA 16/016/2008
04 July 2008

U Win Tin, the longest-serving prisoner of conscience in Myanmar, needs urgent medical attention. He has recently been suffering from severe asthma attacks and lung problems. He also has heart disease and spondylitis (inflammation of the joints of the spine). He is allowed to see a doctor regularly, who prescribes him medicine, but this is inadequate, and he has not received the medical treatment he desperately needs from the authorities in Yangon’s Insein Prison, where he has been in solitary confinement for much of the past 19 years.

U Win Tin’s health has suffered because of the poor conditions in which he has been held. He has had difficulties breathing and eating during the recent worsening of his health. Since October 1997, he has been treated repeatedly in the prison hospital. He underwent a hernia operation in January 2008.

Because of U Win Tin's age, his asthma and lung problems are likely to be serious, particularly with the inadequate medical care available to him. Heart disease is always potentially dangerous, and spondylitis will cause him additional distress.

U Win Tin was arrested on 4 July 1989, during a crackdown on opposition political party members. He is believed to have been arrested because of his senior position with the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). He has been sentenced three times, to a total of 21 years' imprisonment. U Win Tin was most recently sentenced in March 1996 to an additional seven years' imprisonment for writing to the United Nations about prison conditions and for writing and circulating anti-government pamphlets/leaflets in prison. The authorities characterized this as "secretly publishing propaganda to incite riots in jail."  

U Win Tin had written a document for the UN which he called The testimonials of prisoners of conscience from Insein Prison who have been Unjustly Imprisoned, Demands and Requests regarding Human Rights Violations in Burma, in which he described torture and lack of medical treatment in prison. While the authorities were investigating the writing of this letter, U Win Tin was held in a cell designed for military dogs, without bedding. He was deprived of food and water, and family visits, for long periods.

After his 1996 sentencing, U Win Tin was moved to a special compound inside the Insein Prison complex, for high-profile political prisoners. This compound was controlled by military intelligence officials rather than the prison authorities. It is isolated from the rest of the prison, so that political prisoners from different parts of the prison have no chance of contact.  

U Win Tin is being punished for his efforts to record the human rights violations he witnessed inside Insein Prison. The same kind of treatment is being meted out to the people imprisoned for trying to spread information about the crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in September 2007.

In July 2005, the authorities told U Win Tin that he would be released, together with more than 100 political prisoners in Insein Prison. Most of this group were freed, but U Win Tin and around a dozen others were returned to their cells.

U Win Tin was apparently entitled to early release in 2006. His sentence is supposed to expire in 2009, but the government has already extended his sentence twice on spurious charges, and is very likely to do so again. NLD politicians and prisoners of conscience Dr Daw May Win Myint and Dr Than Nyein have also been kept in prison since their sentences expired in 2004, on a series of repeated one-year detention orders.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

On 6 June, the Myanmar government delivered a "rebuttal statement" at the UN Human Rights Council after it received the first report from the new UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. In response to the Special Rapporteur’s concerns over detention conditions, this "rebuttal statement" claimed that "The prisoners receive regular medical check-up by the prison doctors and when a prisoner needs a special attention of the Specialist, the prison authority arranges him/her to see the Specialist Medical Practitioners."

However, U Win Tin’s plight disproves these claims. Amnesty International has recently documented other cases where prison authorities have denied medication or treatment to political prisoners. The International Committee of the Red Cross has not been able to visit prisons in Myanmar since the end of 2005.

The Myanmar authorities are obliged under international law to provide minimum acceptable levels of accommodation, food and medical care for prisoners and detainees. They are failing to do so, at times through neglect, and at times deliberately.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

 Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in <preflang> or your own language:
- urging the authorities to provide U Win Tin with all necessary medical treatment immediately;
- calling on the authorities to release U Win Tin immediately and unconditionally, as soon as he has received the urgent medical treatment he needs;
- calling on them to ensure that while U Win Tin remains in detention, he has regular access to a lawyer of his own choosing, and to his family;
- calling on the authorities to ensure that all detainees are treated humanely, with full respect for their human rights, and that no one is subjected at any time to torture or other ill-treatment.

APPEALS TO:

Senior General Than Shwe
Chairman, State Peace and Development Council
c/o Ministry of Defence, Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Salutation:  Dear General

Nyan Win
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Salutation: Dear Minister

COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of Myanmar accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.

 Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 15 August 2008.

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Recent Burma News (04-07-08)

Ferry sinks in Burma delta
Today, July 04, 2008, 1 hour ago
Yangon - At least 38 people died when their ferry sank in a river in Myanmar’s/ Burma’s cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta, official newspapers reported on Friday. Another 44 passengers were rescued on Tu...

38 die as ferry sinks in Myanmar
Today, July 04, 2008, 3 hours ago
YANGON, Myanmar -- State media says at least 38 people have died after a motorized ferry sank in a river of Myanmar’s cyclone-battered Irrawaddy delta. The New Light of Myanmar newspaper says the ship...

Ferry sinking kills 38 in Myanmar
Today, July 04, 2008, 3 hours ago
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- A ferry sank in a river in Myanmar’s cyclone-battered Irrawaddy delta, killing nearly 40 people, state-media reported Friday.

Ferry sinking in river in Myanmar kills 38, media reports say
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
YANGON, Myanmar - A ferry sank in a river in Myanmar’s cyclone-battered Irrawaddy delta, killing 38 people, state-media reported Friday. The motorized ship sank in the Yway river Tuesday after wa...

Foreign Volunteer Told to Leave Burma
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
A foreign volunteer working with a Burmese nongovernmental organization (NGO) has left the country after receiving repeated warnings from the authorities over a series of interviews she conducted with...

School Children and Teachers Still Finding Hard to Concentrate
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
A woman teacher, who is 10-year veteran of the profession, was clearly frustrated. &quot;I find it harder to control the class,&quot; she admitted outside the makeshift school of 50 primary-age children in cycl...

Supreme Court Bars Thaksin from Leaving Thailand
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who faces a slew of court cases, has been barred from leaving the country by order of the Supreme Court, a court official said Friday. Thaksin ...

Malaysian Fuel Price Protests to Proceed Despite Police Warning
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
Malaysia’s opposition-backed protesters vowed on Friday to go ahead with a mass rally against a steep hike in fuel prices, despite a police warning that it was illegal. The hard-line stance raised...

Officials Face Dismissal Following China Rioting
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
Chinese authorities have recommended firing two local officials for their roles in a riot that broke out last weekend in southwest China over an alleged cover-up of a teenage girl’s death. The two...

Two months after deadly cyclone struck Myanmar, devastation remains - UN
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
Two months after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, much of the destruction left in its wake is still evident, with flooded farmland and considerably damaged infrastructure, the United Nations World Food ...

Burma passenger boat sinks, 38 drown
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
A passenger boat sank in Burma’s southwest delta region earlier this week, killing 38 villagers, state media said on Friday.The boat was travelling on the Yway River in the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy Delta...

Myanmar pleads for more donations for resettlement of storm survivor
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
The Myanmar authorities are pleading for more donations for the resettlement of storm survivors, outlining urgently-needed items for well-wishers to make the move individually or in groups. According ...

Malaysia aid $2.5 million to Myanmar and China
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
Malaysian government has given 1 million U.S. dollars to Myanmar and 1.5 million U.S. dollars to China to help them face the disasters that occurred in their countries, local media reported on Friday....

All schools in Myanmar cyclone-hard- hit delta region reopened
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
All schools in Myanmar’s cyclone-hit areas in Ayeyawaddy delta division have been reopened for the 2008-09 academic year, official newspaper the New Light of Myanmar reported Friday. The schools were ...

38 villagers confirmed dead in boat sink in Myanmar
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
A total of 38 villagers have been confirmed dead in a boat capsizal in the Yway River in Myanmar’s southwestern Ayeyawaddy division earlier this week, according to Friday’s official newspaper New Ligh...

38 killed in Myanmar boat accident
Today, July 04, 2008, 5 hours ago
Yangon, July 4 (Xinhua) Thirty eight people have been confirmed dead after a boat capsized in the Yway River in southwestern Myanmar, official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Friday.

Judges to probe Burma loan
Today, July 04, 2008, 9 hours ago
Nine judges were yesterday elected to sit on a panel to consider whether to admit a case related to the Export-Import Bank of Thailand’s four-billion- baht loan to Burma. Supreme Court president ...

Burma Intercepts Human Trafficking Victims
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
A report says Burmese police have intercepted more than 80 women and children from cyclone-hit regions who were being trafficked across the country’s borders.The biweekly news journal Eleven reporte...

Burma - Journalist U Win Tin
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association (BMA) have called for the immediate release from prison of celebrated journalist U Win Tin, whose health has deteriorated badly i...

Four NLD youths sentenced to year in prison
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
Four youth members of the National League for Democracy in southern Arakan”s Taungup Township were sentenced to one year in prison by the Burmese military authority for distributing statements i...

Motorcycle licenses introduced in most of Burma - Violet Cho
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
In an apparent move to earn revenue from Burma’s motorcycle owners, the authorities are selling licenses to the general public for a period of four months, from July until the end of October. Resident...

Junta pretends to help cyclone victims
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
The Military South-West Commander visited the area and promised to build houses for victims in Higyi Kyun Island Township. But local people said, the authorities just built a few houses and they stak...

10 Terror Suspects Accused of Plotting Attack in Indonesian Capital
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
Anti-terror police arrested 10 suspected Muslim militants and seized a large cache of high-powered bombs, foiling a major attack targeting Westerners in the Indonesian capital, police and media report...

Villagers go back home - Supamart Kasem
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
A security source said the Thai villagers, who fled the fighting inside Burma to a safe area in Phop Phra district on Monday, went back to Ban Padi after their safety was guaranteed. Their return cam...

Railway plan for Tak to Mae Sot - Sai Slip
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
Amnart Nanthaharn, the chairman of Tak Province’s Federation of Industries told The Irrawaddy that the project will benefit logistics and trade in the border area, which links Thailand to Burma as par...

Myanmar needs more gas to generate electricity for Yangon
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
Myanmar needs more natural gas in addition to hydropower to generate over 500 megawatts (mw) of electricity to be supplied to Yangon round the clock, the leading local weekly Yangon Times reported Thu...

Drug investigation, heavy punishment likely for Maung Weik
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
Chiang Mai: Following a secret largest investigation against drug users since 1988, young tycoon Maung Weik stands to face severe punishment for alleged drug trafficking.

CAD to combat malaria in Chin state
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
A Rangoon based Non-Government Organization; Country Agency for Rural Development (CAD) has pledged to begin another project to combat malaria in remote areas of Chin state, Burma in September this ye...

Old Chevrolet buses being phased out in Rangoon
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
New Delhi - Burmese authorities in Rangoon said it will revoke the license of over 400 World War II vintage Chevrolet buses, which are unique to the city. ‘All Routes Commuter Bus Authority’ has ...

Tripartite core group aid helps 1.3 mln storm victims
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
A tripartite core group (TCG) involving the ‘Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Myanmar and the United Nations  (U.N.) has claimed that the group’ said efforts for transit of reli...

Ethnic Palaung releases report
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
New Delhi - An Ethnic Palaung Youth Working Group on Thursday said the result of a referendum held on May 10, does not reflect the people’s true desire as the Burmese junta’s has used various means ...

UN to take up Burma issue again - Lalit K Jha
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
The UN Security Council will take up the political impasse in Burma this month, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said on Wednesday. No agreement on the date of the discussion.. .

An alternative road map is needed now - Aung Zaw
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
The road map introduced by the Burmese regime in Burma is in reality nothing other than its own exit strategy. Burma’s paramount leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe wants to ashin htwat-meaning ‘to come out al...

ABFSU woman member produced before court for eighth time
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
Chiang Mai - ‘The All Burma Federation of Students’ Union’ (ABFSU) student Ma Hanny Tun, who is in judicial custody, was produced for the eighth time yesterday at the East District Court. The jun...

Let us not praise coups - Awzar Thi
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
An Oxford economics professor said in a recent Washington Post article that the best hope for either Burma or Zimbabwe is that military officers might overthrow their respective dictators and leap thr...

Burma beefs up troop levels - Subin Kheunkaew
Today, July 04, 2008, 11 hours ago
Burma has reinforced its troops in the disputed area of Doi Lang mountain, which an army source said might result from its “misunderstanding” over a Thai military exercise in the b...

80 Myanmar cyclone victims rescued from traffickers
Today, July 04, 2008, 17 hours ago
More than 80 women and child victims of Myanmar’s recent cyclone have been rescued from human traffickers who were scheming to smuggle them to neighboring countries, a media report said yesterday.Bord. ..

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46th Anniversary of Massacre at Rangoon University

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