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HEADLINES
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AP - Myanmar court hands comedian 45-year prison term
AP - Monk, comedian handed lengthy Myanmar prison terms
AP - Ex-child soldiers launch UN network to help kids
Reuters - Myanmar junta jails hip hop star for 6 years
AFP - US Congress warned of Chinese cyber, space threats
UPI - China to build pipeline through Myanmar
IWPDC - Yeywa RCC dam almost complete, Myanmar's hydro plan expands
FOCUS News Agency - 62 illegal immigrants held in Odrin, Turkey
The Earth Times - Landmine casualties affecting more countries
Scoop - UN Should Refer Burma To Int. Criminal Court
BBC Blog - Nobel Peace Prize Laureates sign up to Joint Letter
Mizzima News - Army frames charges against ILO complainants
The Irrawaddy - Seniors on the Streets
The Irrawaddy - Burma’s National Day Fading from Memory
DVB News - Army recruits murder suspect as soldier
DVB News - Ko Ko Gyi transferred to Mai Sat prison

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Myanmar court hands comedian 45-year prison term
AP - Saturday, November 22

YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar's courts continued a crackdown on activists Friday, handing out a 45-year prison sentence to a comedian who went to the delta to help cyclone victims and criticized the junta's slow relief response.

Comedian and activist Zarganar, whose birth name is Maung Thura, was among at least 100 people to receive sentences of two to 65 years since early November. Many of the trials were held in closed sessions, sometimes without defense lawyers or family present.

The military government's wave of harsh sentences has been condemned worldwide by Western governments and human rights groups. They contend that the sentences make a mockery of the ruling junta's professed plan to restore democracy with a 2010 election.

The government holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 in June 2007 — before last year's pro-democracy demonstrations, according to international human rights groups.

Monks inspired and led protests that the army violently suppressed in September 2007. The authorities began their crackdown by raiding several monasteries in Yangon in the middle of the night and hauling away monks.

Among those sentenced Friday was Buddhist monk Ashin Gambira, who helped organize the protests, said a lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of antagonizing the government. The monk's 12-year sentence and prison terms for earlier charges brought his total to 68 years in jail.

Myanmar's military, which has held power since 1962, brooks no dissent. It frequently arrests artists and entertainers regarded as opposing their regime, even those making seemingly innocuous wisecracks.

Zarganar, whose name means "tweezers" and whose comedy routines are banned for their jokes about the junta, and several other activists delivered donations of relief supplies to the Cyclone Nargis-shattered Irrawaddy delta. The May cyclone killed more than 84,000 people.

Zarganar was arrested in June after he gave interviews to foreign news outlets in which he criticized the junta's slow response.

Zarganar was sentenced for violating the Electronics Act, which regulates all forms of electronic communication, said his lawyer, Khin Htay Kywe. The comedian still faces other charges, she said.

Zarganar has been imprisoned several times before, including a three-week stint for providing aid to Buddhist monks during last year's demonstrations.

Three associates were tried with him. Sportswriter Zaw Thet Htwe and video journalist Thant Zin Aung were given 15 years each and face further charges, while Tin Maung Aye got 29 years, Zarganar's lawyer said.

Zaw Thet Htwe was arrested in 2003 for allegedly plotting to "overthrow the government through bombings and assassinations. " He was convicted of high treason and sentenced to death but was later given a reduced sentence and released in 2005 after serving 18 months.

Those sentenced recently included some 70 members of the opposition National League for Democracy party of detained Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Some of the most severe sentences were handed to 23 members of the 88 Generation Students group, veteran activists who have been spearheading nonviolent protests for the past several years.

On Thursday, well-known hip-hop singer Zeyar Thaw, a member of the band "Acid," was jailed for six years, and 14 members of Suu Kyi's party got 2 1/2 years each for calling for her release on her birthday in June, party spokesman Nyan Win said.

Zeyar Thaw is thought to be a leader of Generation Wave, an illegal student group formed in the wake of last year's pro-democracy protests.

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Monk, comedian handed lengthy Myanmar prison terms
AP - Saturday, November 22

YANGON, Myanmar - Courts in military-ruled Myanmar handed long prison sentences Friday to a prominent Buddhist monk and a popular comedian who are active in the country's pro-democracy movement.

In an intensive crackdown on activists, at least 100 people have received prison sentences of two to 65 years in the past two weeks. Many of them were held for more than a year before being tried.

Comedian and activist Maung Thura _ who is better known by his stage name, Zarganar _ was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment for violations of the Electronics Act, which regulates all forms of electronic communication.

Khin Htay Kywe said the comedian still faces other charges.

Another lawyer said Buddhist monk Ashin Gambira was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on various charges, including insulting religion, having links with illegal
organizations and violating the Immigration Act. The lawyer spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of antagonizing the government.

The monk helped organize last year's mass pro-democracy demonstrations, which were violently suppressed by the army in September last year. He was previously sentenced to 56 years imprisonment on other charges, bringing his total sentence to 68 years.

The wave of harsh sentences has been condemned worldwide by Western governments and human rights organizations, who charge that it makes a mockery of the ruling junta's professed plan to restore democracy with a 2010 election.

Those sentenced included some 70 members of the opposition National League for Democracy party of detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Some of the most severe sentences were handed to 23 members of the 88 Generation Students group, veteran activists who have been spearheading nonviolent protests for the past several years.
Bloggers, musicians and poets have also been among those sent to prison.

On Thursday, well-known hip hop singer Zeyar Thaw, a member of the band "Acid," was jailed for six years, and 14 members of Suu Kyi's party got 2 1/2 years each for calling for her release on her birthday in June, party spokesman Nyan Win said.

Zeyar Thaw is thought to be a leader of Generation Wave, an illegal student group formed in the wake of last year's protests to carry on the struggle for democracy.

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Ex-child soldiers launch UN network to help kids
AP - Friday, November 21

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Three former child soldiers from Africa announced the launch of a new U.N.-backed advocacy group Thursday to help other kids escape and heal from war.

The three survivors, all in their 20's, say the group, which aims to create a global network of young people like themselves, have since made their homes and gotten educated in the U.S.

They say the long road to rehabilitation runs through education.

``The key was discovering I could do other things than just fight,'' said Ishmael Beah, who wrote a best-selling memoir about being pressed into service in his native Sierra Leone's civil war at age 13.

``I was able to go to school. I discovered I was capable of a lot of other things. ...I learned to use my mind.''

Beah, was already serves as UNICEF's first ``Advocate for Children Affected by War,'' will lead what he calls a new U.N.-backed ``knowledge- based advocacy group.'' He noted it was the government, not a rebel group, that had conscripted him and ended the ``simplicity' ' of childhood. He fought for almost three years before UNICEF rescued him.

The U.N. says the number of child soldiers around the world is estimated at 250,000.

Becoming a child soldier means being taught to ``kill or be killed,'' said Grace Akallo.

She recalled being taken into captivity as a teenager by a rebel group for seven months in northern Uganda, one of tens of thousands of children abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army and forced to fight against the Uganda government.

She was snatched from her high school along with 139 other girls who were marched to southern Sudan where the rebels lived in bases protected by allies of the Sudanese government, she said.

Kon Kelei, the third former child soldier, said he was taken into a camp in southern Sudan when he was just 5 years old and told that it was school.

``An AK-47 is not meant for a kid. It's not meant for a human being, let alone a kid,'' he said. ``Rehabilitation is actually what made me who I am and what I'm talking about today.''

Their personal stories and the announcement _ coinciding with the U.N.'s Universal Children's Day, created in 1954 _ are inspiring examples of ``the power of resilience,' ' said Radhika Coomaraswamy, the top U.N. envoy on children and armed conflict.

She told the U.N. Security Council in February that 58 groups in 13 countries still recruit and use child soldiers and that, in addition to being pressed into service, children in several countries are also killed, maimed, abducted and raped and denied access to humanitarian groups.

The 13 countries where groups that recruit child soldiers operated are Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Myanmar, Nepal, Somalia, Sudan, Chad, Colombia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Uganda, according to the U.N.

In 2005, the council passed a resolution establishing a group to monitor and report on countries and groups using child soldiers. Legal action has been taken against recruiters of child soldiers in Congo and there have been several convictions in Sierra Leone, Coomaraswamy said.

``The key word is education _ to encourage these people to come back to school,'' said Italian Ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, who hosted the announcement and a reception Thursday night for the new advocacy group.

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Myanmar junta jails hip hop star for 6 years
November 21, 2008, 6:52 pm

YANGON (Reuters) - A hip-hop star in military-ruled Myanmar has been jailed for six years for being part of a political group, the latest in a string of hefty sentences handed down on dissidents, an opposition spokesman said on Friday.

Zayar Thaw, a member of the popular band "ACID," was among 20 activists sentenced to lengthy prison terms Thursday, Nyan Win, spokesman for the National League for Democracy (NLD), told Reuters.

He had been part of a youth political movement called Generation Wave that sprung to life around the time of last year's protests against soaring food and fuel prices and decades of repressive military rule.

Five other Generation Wave members were jailed for five years, Nyan Win said, adding that 14 NLD members arrested in June for holding a march on the birthday of detained party leader Aung San Suu Kyi had been sentenced to up to 2- years.

The sentences are the latest in a wave of convictions handed down in the last month against more than 100 people from across the spectrum of the former Burma's dissident underground.

The most prominent activists have been sentenced to 65 years in prison and dispatched to the furthest corners of the southeast Asian nation's gulag, making it almost impossible for family members to deliver food and medicine.

Those jailed include about 20 women and Buddhist monks.

The United States and European countries have condemned the junta's closed door trials and sentences, although there has been little comment from countries in the region.

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US Congress warned of Chinese cyber, space threats
by Chris Lefkow
11 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) – China has developed a sophisticated cyber warfare program and stepped up its capacity to penetrate US computer networks to extract sensitive information, a US congressional panel warned.

"China has an active cyber espionage program," the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in its annual report to the US Congress. "China is targeting US government and commercial computers."

In its 393-page report, the panel also criticized Beijing for exercising "heavy-handed government control" over its economy and "continuing arms sales and military support to rogue regimes" such as Sudan, Myanmar and Iran.

The commission also issued a warning about China's space program. "China continues to make significant progress in developing space capabilities, many of which easily translate to enhanced military capacity," it said.

"Although some Chinese space programs have no explicit military intent, many space systems -- such as communications, navigation, meteorological, and imagery systems -- are dual use in nature," the commission said.

The commission, which was established by Congress in 2000 to analyze the economic and national security relationship between the two nations, said China was investing heavily in cyber warfare.

"Since China's current cyber operations capability is so advanced, it can engage in forms of cyber warfare so sophisticated that the United States may be unable to counteract or even detect the efforts," the commission said.

It said Chinese hacker groups may be operating with government support.

"By some estimates, there are 250 hacker groups in China that are tolerated and may even be encouraged by the government to enter and disrupt computer networks," the commission said.

It quoted Colonel Gary McAlum, chief of staff for the US Strategic Command's Joint Task Force for Global Network Operations, as saying China has recognized the importance of cyber operations as a tool of warfare and "has the intent and capability to conduct cyber operations anywhere in the world at any time."

"China is aggressively pursuing cyber warfare capabilities that may provide it with an asymmetric advantage against the United States," the commission said. "In a conflict situation, this advantage would reduce current US conventional military dominance."

The commission recalled that unclassified US military, government and government contractor websites and computer systems were the victims of cyber intrusions in 2002 codenamed "Titan Rain" and attributed to China.

And earlier this month The Financial Times, citing an unnamed senior US official, reported that Chinese hackers -- possibly with backing by the Beijing government -- had penetrated the White House computer network and obtained emails between government officials.

The commission made 45 recommendations to Congress including possible "additional funding for military, intelligence and homeland security programs that monitor and protect critical American computer networks."

On the economic front, the commission said "China relies on heavy-handed government control over its economy to maintain an export advantage over other countries."

"The result: China has amassed nearly two trillion dollars in foreign exchange and has increasingly used its hoard to manipulate currency trading and diplomatic relations with other nations," it said.

"Rather than use this money for the benefit of its citizens -- by funding pensions and erecting hospitals and schools, for example -- China has been using the funds to seek political and economic influence over other nations," said Larry Wortzel, chairman of the commission.

Beijing's "continuing arms sales and military support to rogue regimes, namely Sudan, Burma, and Iran, threaten the stability of fragile regions and hinder US and international efforts to address international crises, such as the genocide in Darfur," the commission added.

The commission acknowledged some progress by China, specifically its adherence to non-proliferation agreements and involvement in the six-party talks to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons production capacity.

But it criticized China's use of prison labor to produce goods for export and an "information control regime" that it said regulates the print and broadcast media, Internet, entertainment and education.

The report is available on the commission's website at www.uscc.gov.

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China to build pipeline through Myanmar
Published: Nov. 21, 2008 at 2:08 AM

BEIJING, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- China plans to proceed with a $2.5 billion oil and gas pipeline through Myanmar to connect its Yunnan province, with construction set to start next year.

Mi Gongsheng, director of the province's reform and development commission, told the official Xinhua news agency the pipeline is one of a series of large energy projects in which the province plans to invest about $10.5 billion.

China is a major trading partner of Myanmar, formerly called Burma, which has been under military rule since the 1960s. The junta last year brutally put down pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks.

The pipeline is a major move by China to gain a toehold on emerging Asian energy markets, the Press Trust of India reported. The Asian giant has outbid Indian oil firms for contracts in Myanmar, it said.

The pipeline is expected to provide an alternative route for China's crude imports from the Middle East and Africa and to meet its rising energy demand, China Daily reported.

It said the project will ease China's concerns about over-dependence on transportation through the Strait of Malacca.

The report quoted Japanese media as saying the project includes a $1.5 billion oil pipeline and $1.04 billion natural gas line. China National Petroleum Corp. will reportedly hold a 50.9 percent stake and manage the project while Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise will own the rest.

A BBC report said the house arrest of Nobel prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi and detention of thousands of other political prisoners have deterred many Western companies from investing in Myanmar.

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Yeywa RCC dam almost complete, Myanmar's hydro plan expands
International Water Power and Dam Construction
21 November 2008

Construction of the roller compacted concrete dam on the Yeywa project in Myanmar is nearing completion, and the country is planning further expansion of its hydro power development programme.

The 134m high dam is almost 98% completed, and overall the construction of the 790MW scheme is just over two-thirds finished. Work on the RCC dam started in February 2006 and the Chinese concrete placement contractor, Gezhouba Water and Power, has been praised by many in industry for its productivity.

The Ministry of Electric Power No 1 added that construction of the powerhouse is more than three-quarters complete, the intake is 71% built and the spillway is approaching 30% finished.

Yeywa has a budget of US$600M - two-thirds by the Government and the balance by a loan from China, the Ministry said. The plant is expected to generate 3550GWh per year of electricity.

The Ministry is reported to be planning 15 more hydro power projects, with combined installed capacity of 13.85GW, in addition to the 22 schemes (16.6GW) under construction.

Six hydro power plants with combined capacity of 442MW have been completed recently - Zawgyi-2, Zaungtu, Thaphanseik, Monechaung, Paunglaung and Yenwe.

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62 illegal immigrants held in Odrin, Turkey
21 November 2008 | 19:40 | FOCUS News Agency

Odrin. 62 illegal immigrants were held in the province of Odrin in an attempt to leave Turkey illegally, Hurriyet announces. The immigrants were from Myanmar, Iraq, the Palestinian authority and Somalia. The immigrants were delivered to the foreigners department of the police in Odrin for expulsion.

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Landmine casualties affecting more countries
The Earth Times - Posted : Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:36:04 GMT
Author : DPA

Geneva - Myanmar was the only country that used landmines in the past year, an international coalition reported Friday, adding that Turkey, Greece and Belarus failed to meet their deadlines to destroy stockpiles of the weapon. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines also said Russia was still considered a violator as it had not reported stopping usage. The campaign monitors the treaty on banning the antipersonnel weapon.

"The treaty has made a real difference in saving lives and limbs all over the globe," said Stephen Goose from Human Rights Watch, a member of the campaign.

Still, in 2007, 1,400 people were killed by landmines and nearly 4,000 were injured in some 78 countries, a record number of nations reporting casualties.

Only 2 per cent of the 430 million dollars donated last year to mine action went to victim assistance, according to Handicap International, making recovery more difficult.

Landmines use by non-state entities, most notably the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), remained a key problem to address, the campaigners said.

Three countries, including Afghanistan, completed destruction of their landmine stockpiles, and three others, including France, finished their mine clearing projects over the past year.

"The global effort to eradicate landmines is succeeding," said Goose.

The report condemned Britain and Venezuela for not taking any steps to clear minefields, particularly in the Falklands and on the border with Columbia.

The organization warned that it would most likely never be possible to clear all landmines globally, though new information was allowing for better demining operations.

About 160 million landmines remained in stockpiles around the world, almost all of which were in the hands of the United States, Russia and China.

"When the political will exists to get rid of the weapons, the militaries have rolled over," said Goose, pointing at the general source of opposition.

Currently, 156 states are party to the landmine treaty, with the notable exceptions of the major stockpilers and Israel, India, Pakistan and the Koreas.

Another convention, banning cluster munitions, is expected to receive over 100 signatories when it is launched next month in Oslo.

The international campaign, which publishes annually the Landmine Monitor, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.

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UN Should Refer Burma To Int. Criminal Court
Scoop - Friday, 21 November 2008, 10:03 am
Press Release: Joint Press Release

19 November 2008
For Immediate Release

Unlawful Convictions of Burmese Political Prisoners are Crimes Against Humanity -

U.N. Security Council Should Refer Burma to the International Criminal Court

Certain judges in Burma, acting under the orders of Chief Justice U Aung Toe and Senior General Than Shwe, are themselves criminally liable as co-conspirators to crimes against humanity for their acts in "trying" and "convicting" 60 political activists last week. "These acts are the latest from the junta which uses the judiciary as one of its key weapons to commit grave crimes," says Global Justice Center President Janet Benshoof. Judges including those listed below are criminally culpable and must be referred to the International Criminal Court.

Chief Justice U Aung Toe
U Thaung Nyunt, North District Court, Yangon Division
Daw Soe Nyan, U Tin Htut, U Kyaw Swe, and U Sein Hla, Western District Court, Yangon Division
Daw Aye Myaing, Hlaing Tha Yar Township Court, Yangon Division
Daw Than Than, Tamwe Township Court, Yangon Division
Daw Nyunt Nyunt Win, Kyauktadar Court, Yangon Division
Daw Mya Mya Swe, North Dagon Court, Yangon Division
Daw Thiri Tin, Ahlon township Court, Yangon Division

On November 11th approximately forty pro-democracy dissidents received prison sentences of up to 65 years. On November 13th twenty more activists were sentenced to terms ranging from 4 1/2 to 9 1/2 years. The convicted include members of the '88 Generation Students, labor rights activist Su Su Nway, musician Win Maw, HIV/AIDS activist Than Naing, blogger Nay Phone Latt, and members of Daw Aung San Sui Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy. Even the defendants' lawyers were not immune from the regime's revenge; in October defense lawyers Nyi Nyi Htwe, Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein were sentenced to between four and six months imprisonment for submitting a complaint about the unfair trial conditions of eleven NLD activists.

Judges did not allow the defendants to question prosecution witnesses, many defendants did not have legal representation and those that did were not permitted to meet with their lawyers in private. Burma Lawyers' Council General Secretary U Aung Htoo stated, "Rule of law in Burma cannot even be dreamt of when the judiciary has become an instrument of political oppression, exercised by the SPDC military junta."

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Tomàs Ojea Quintana, said this past week in reference to these convictions, "There is no independent and impartial judiciary system [in Burma]." However, the judges actions go much further; these prison sentences are crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, including violations of Article 7(1)(e) "Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law" and 7(1)(h) "Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender... or other grounds".

GJC President Benshoof noted that top judges in Hitler's criminal regime were convicted as co-conspirators of crimes against humanity and, more recently, in the Dujail1 decision, the Iraqi High Tribunal found Judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar jointly criminally liable for crimes against humanity committed with Saddam Hussein because he used the fa&ccedilade of "judicial authority and law" to "try" and then "execute" civilians. Burma Lawyers' Council and Global Justice Center urge the international community to expose the regime's criminal partnership with members of the judiciary and to join the call for a UN Security Council referral of all grave international crimes in Burma to the International Criminal Court.

For further information:
Contact: Aung Htoo
General Secretary, Burma Lawyers' Council
Website: www.blc-burma. org
Email: blcsan@ksc.th. com

Contact: Janet Benshoof, Esq.
President, Global Justice Center
Tel: 1-212-725-6530 x203
Website: www.globaljusticece nter.net
Email: jbenshoof@globaljus ticecenter. Net

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Nobel Peace Prize Laureates sign up to Joint Letter
BBC Blog - 20 Nov 08, 08:59 PM
An open letter to world leaders and parties to armed conflicts
Peace begins in the minds of children.

But in so many ongoing conflicts worldwide, peace is distant from reality for many millions of children. The chance lottery of where a child is born may mean they grow up happy and healthy, or they grow up amongst conflict knowing only war and its terrible aftermath.

War and conflict are perpetrated by adults. But every adult was once a child and grew up with experiences and guidance that shaped their lives. At the heart of this lies education. The lessons children learn in school are a rehearsal for later life, the values they form frame their views of others.

But if more than 70 million children do not even have the chance to go to school, and more than half of these children live in countries affected by armed conflict - what are these children learning? Children and their families repeatedly ask for education. Committed teachers and a relevant curriculum give children an alternative to confusion and conflict. Quality education gives access to information and develops skills and critical thinking that in turn make opportunities for change in peaceful ways.

Today, the anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Universal Children's Day, we call for the urgent implementation of quality education for all children, good education that gives children the best chance of a peaceful, prosperous future.

We, the undersigned, call on governments and other parties to armed conflicts to respect and promote schools as places of peace and safety.

• Ensure all children have access to quality education despite ethnicity, religion or language.
• Ensure all children can learn free from fear of recruitment into armed forces, violence or intimidation.
• Ensure all children receive an inclusive and relevant education that promotes an openness of thought and is accountable to children's families and communities.
• Ensure that quality education is made an integral part of every peace process.
Children cannot wait for education while we debate the difficulties and the details.

Peace begins in the minds of children, and it must begin today.
(Signed) American Friends Service Committee
Nobel Peace Prize, 1947
(Signed) Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo
Nobel Peace Prize, 1996
(Signed) The 14th Dalai Lama
Nobel Peace Prize, 1989
(Signed) Shirin Ebadi
Nobel Peace Prize, 2003
(Signed) Adolfo Pérez Esquivel
Nobel Peace Prize, 1980
(Signed) John Hume
Nobel Peace Prize, 1998
(Signed) International Atomic Energy Agency
Nobel Peace Prize, 2005
(Signed) International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Nobel Peace Prize 1963
(Signed) International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Nobel Peace Prize, 1985
(Signed on her behalf by Dr. Sein Win, her first cousin and Prime Minister of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma) Aung San Suu Kyi
Nobel Peace Prize, 1991
(Signed) Mairead Corrigan Maguire
Nobel Peace Prize, 1976
(Signed) José Ramos-Horta
Nobel Peace Prize, 1996
(Signed) Rigoberta Menchú Tum
Nobel Peace Prize, 1992
(Signed) United Nations Children's Fund
Nobel Peace Prize, 1965
(Signed) Elie Wiesel
Nobel Peace Prize, 1986
(Signed) Jody Williams
Nobel Peace Prize, 1997
 (Signed) Amnesty International
Nobel Peace Prize, 1977
(Signed) Jimmy Carter
Nobel Peace Prize, 2002
(Signed) Kim Dae-jung
Nobel Peace Prize, 2000
(Signed) Mohamed ElBaradei
Nobel Peace Prize, 2005
(Signed) Friends Service Council
Nobel Peace Prize, 1947
(Signed) Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change
Nobel Peace Prize, 2007
(Signed) International Campaign to Ban Landmines
Nobel peace Prize, 1997
(Signed) International Labour Organisation
Nobel Peace Prize, 1969
(Signed) Frederik Willem de Klerk
Nobel Peace Prize, 1993
(Signed) Wangari Maathai
Nobel Peace Prize, 2004
(Signed) Permanent International Peace Bureau
Nobel Peace Prize, 1910
(Signed) Oscar Arias Sánchez
Nobel Peace Prize, 1987
(Signed) Desmond Mpilo Tutu
Nobel Peace Prize 1984
(Signed) Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Nobel Peace Prize, 1981 and 1954
(Signed) Betty Williams
Nobel Peace Prize, 1976
(Supporting statement provided by)
United Nations
Nobel Peace Prize, 1988 and 2001

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Army frames charges against ILO complainants
Mizzima News - by Myint Maung
Friday, 21 November 2008 18:31

New Delhi (Mizzima)– Burma's Army has framed charges, under the Electronic Act, against farmers from Natmauk Township who lodged a complaint with the International Labour Organization (ILO) against the seizure of their farmland.

The farmers, from five village tracts in Natmauk Township, Magwe Division, lodged their complaint against the local Central Ordnance Depot, objecting to the seizure of their farmlands by the Army. Subsequently, Captain Phyo Wei Lin of the Central Ordnance Depot has prosecuted three farmers, held to be the leaders of the ILO filing, at a township trial court.

"We are in trouble now and we are on the run," U Tint, one of the villagers whose name appears on the ILO complaint and is listed in the prosecution' s case against the farmers, told Mizzima.

Forty-nine villagers in all, from five villages, including Ngeyekan, Ywathit and Nyaung Pauk, lodged a complaint with the ILO on August 3rd against the Central Ordnance Depot for seizing about 5,000 acres of farmland situated along the Natmauk-Magwe railroad.

"We don't know about this Electronic Law and also don't know about the Video Law, as we cannot see movies regularly in our rural area," U Tint commented.

The Electronic Law is a common tool used by the junta against political dissidents who allegedly use the Internet to disseminate news held to be critical of or damaging to military authorities.

Captain Phyo Wei Lin accused the defendants of sending news and facts to the foreign media.

In a well known case, blogger Nay Phone Latt was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on November 10th for violating the same law.

The Natmauk Police arrested Ngayekan villagers Ko Hla Soe, Ko Nay Lin and Ko Sein Sten on October 20th – later prosecuting them under the Electronic Law. Nine days after their arrests, another villager, Ko Zaw Htay, was also detained.

At first, Captain Phyo Wei Lin registered a case against the initial three detainees under section 31(a) of the Official Secrets Act and section 51(a) (making a photograph of an Army establishment) , but the prosecution changed the charge against them to a violation of the Electronic Law.

In their complaint, the villagers said that the Central Ordnance Depot seized about 5,000 acres of farmland from them in 2005 for the purpose of growing physic nut – viewed by the state as being essential in addressing the country's energy shortfall.

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Seniors on the Streets
The Irrawaddy - By AUNG THET WINE
Friday, November 21, 2008

RANGOON — on busy Maha Bandoola Street in Rangoon, an old lady trembles as she walks slowly along the potholed sidewalk. Old rags hang from her frail body as if from a coat hanger. She holds a worn-out bamboo basket in her bony hand and mutters to herself as she passes by anonymously.

Daw Ohn Myint is 78 and comes from Sin Phone village in Shwe Pauk Kan Township, a suburb of Rangoon. If anyone took the time to listen to her muttering, they would realize she was not talking to herself.

“My sons and daughters, please help me,” she whispers. “Please be kind and help me buy food.”

A few 10 and 20 kyat notes lie untidily in her basket.

"My home was destroyed in the cyclone and I can’t afford to repair it,” she told The Irrawaddy. “I used to sell stuff at the market, but nowadays I am too old.

“I live alone,” she added softly.

In Burmese tradition, when the parents and grandparents are no longer able to work, their children take care of them. If they have no relatives, the community looks after them. Burmese people have always been proud of this generous custom—the Burmese welfare system, so to speak.

However, the tradition of magnanimity is gradually disappearing in Burma. In the age of military rule, economic hardship, rising crime and high unemployment, most people are only concerned for themselves.

And more and more elderly people, like Ohn Myint, have to resort to begging in the streets to make ends meet.

On a repressively hot afternoon at Rangoon's Aung Minglar bus station, an elderly couple sits idly on a bench. They seem malnourished and skinny. On the ground in front of them lies a brown towel. They wait patiently for a passerby to drop a note on it—perhaps enough to buy a piece of fruit.

“Both our sons are dead,” explained 70-year-old Daw Mya Sein. “One died as a soldier, the other in an accident in a factory.”

Mya Sein indicated her husband beside her. He is paralyzed and unable to move or speak, she said. Now she has to beg and take care of him at the same time.

“I notice more and more old people begging,” said a well-known Burmese author who now works for an NGO. “Many are disabled, some are blind. When I ask them, they say economic hardship has driven them into the street. Many of them are alone in the world. Some have sons or daughters, but often they too are so poor they cannot afford to feed their parents.”

The Burmese government’s social welfare office—the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Ministry—estimated that there are currently 4.7 million people in the country above the age of 60.

According to data published by the Department of Labour in 2004, the life expectancy for Burmese men is 61.5 years. For women in Burma, life expectancy is 64.4 years, with rural women averaging 63.8 years and urban women living to 66.

"I see a lot of old people selling vegetables in the markets and collecting garbage for a living,” a journalist in Rangoon said, adding that he believes the military government has failed in its responsibility to provide for senior citizens.

Even government employees complain of being discarded once they retire.

"I worked all my life at state-owned textile factory, a 70-year-old grandfather said. “I retired with a pension in 1992. Nowadays I collect just 768 kyat (US $0.60) a month for my pension.”

He said he now works as a night security guard in Hlaing Thar Yar industrial zone.

A 63-year-old ex-warrant officer in the air force told a similar story. He said most low-ranking public servants cannot retire peacefully after a lifetime’s work. “Most have to find new jobs to make a living,” he said.

A retired army warrant officer, who had served more than 60 years in the defense services, told The Irrawaddy he receives a pension of only 7,000 kyat ($5.55) a month.

Although the Burmese authorities have failed to deliver on a policy to protect elderly people, they are quick to pay lip service to the proposals.

Aung Tun Khine, the deputy general director of Burma’s Social Welfare Ministry promised his department would—in cooperation with the UN—take care of elderly people whose homes had been destroyed by the cyclone.

"We will give preference to poor senior citizens who live alone, and to those without regular incomes," he told a weekly journal, adding that there are currently 59 shelters for senior citizens in the country, providing protection for some 2,000 people.

However, a local journalist scoffed at the junta’s efforts. He called on all levels of society in Burma to work together to fill the gap the regime had created.

“In the sunset of their lives, many of our senior people are in hopeless positions. Some end up in the streets,” he said. “Where the government has failed to do anything, we must step in. All people in Burma are obliged to help take care of our senior citizens.”

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Burma’s National Day Fading from Memory
The Irrawaddy - By MIN LWIN
Friday, November 21, 2008

Tomorrow is Burma’s National Day, commemorating the start of the resistance movement that eventually led to the country’s independence from British rule. But don’t expect any outpouring of national pride—the occasion is barely remembered by today’s Burmese youth.

Eighty-eight years ago, on the tenth day after the full-moon day of Tazaungmone on the Burmese lunar calendar—November 22 on this year’s Western calendar—hundreds of students from Rangoon College and the Baptist-affiliated Judson College began protests against the British colonial administration’ s Rangoon University Act of 1920.

The Rangoon University Act was intended to restrict access to higher education to only the wealthiest families, but the student boycott led to revision in the act.
 
“National Day and the students’ movement cannot be distinguished,” said a Rangoon- based writer. “After the first Burmese students’ demonstrations in 1920, patriotic youths stepped up nationalist activities and progressed to the struggle for national independence.”

Soon after the boycott began, student leaders founded a “national college” and “national schools” around the country. The college did not last long, because of financial and other difficulties, but the schools enjoyed widespread support and succeeded in educating a generation of independence- minded young people.

The schools emphasized Burmese culture, history and language, but also provided education in English. Students were proficient in both English and Burmese.

Some of the country’s greatest national heroes, including U Razak, Thakin Mya and Aung San, father of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, graduated from the schools.

Burmese National Day became a symbol of the strong link between political and educational rights and highlighted the important role that students have played in Burmese politics.
 
“Students were the first to nonviolently demonstrate against the British ruling government,” said a student majoring in Burmese at Rangoon’s Western University.

However, some university students contacted by The Irrawaddy for comment seemed to show little interest in the anniversary.

“I didn’t even remember it,” said one student of English at Dagon University in Rangoon. “But I can remember learning about it in primary school.”

Many students pointed out that although National Day is commemorated in state schools as an important day for students, the authorities have downplayed its political significance.

It’s not difficult to understand why. Eighty-eight years after students first led the movement against British rule, the country’s current rulers are busy sentencing student activists to long terms in prison for continuing the struggle for freedom in Burma.

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Army recruits murder suspect as soldier

Nov 21, 2008 (DVB)–Villagers from Nat Sat village in Bago have expressed disappointment over the military's recruitment of a man suspected of the murder of a 14-year-old girl from the village.

Zay Lay (also known as Zayar Soe), a resident of Nat Sat village, was wanted by the police for the suspected murder of his next door neighbour’s daughter Wut Yee Hnin, known as Sabai, on 22 September 2007.

The girl's father said he had reported her missing after she went out with Zayar Soe and never came back.

"That morning, she was preparing meal for us as we were planning to go to the monastery,” her father said.

“Then our next door neighbour Zayar Soe showed up and asked her to go with him so she did," he said.

"But she never returned home so we filed a missing person report at the police station."

After the provincial police had gathered evidence and interrogated Zayar Soe, they changed the focus of the investigation from a missing person case to a murder and robbery inquiry.

"Zayar Soe fled the village and the police issued a warrant for his arrest," the girl’s father said.

"The police searched for him all over the region but he was nowhere to be found."

The girl’s father said that Zayar Soe was now a soldier with the identification number P/384905 in the local Light Infantry Battalion 216's brigade 11, led by lieutenant Zaw Htike.

Zayar Soe was immediately arrested when he returned to Nat Sat village as a soldier but he could not be held because he had joined the army.

"He just came back into the village in a military uniform and was immediately arrested by the police accompanied by local authorities such as the ward Peace and Development Council and the Union Solidarity and Development Association,” the father explained.

“But lieutenant Zaw Htike who was with him at the time said it was an army matter as Zayar Soe is now a soldier," he went on.

"So the police had to hand him back to the army but the army official never charged him with anything," he said.

"We filed a complaint about this to senior general Than Shwe and other government leaders such as the minister of home affairs and police chief Khin Yee on 22 December but nothing has been done about it so far."

Bago police station was unavailable for comment.

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Ko Ko Gyi transferred to Mai Sat prison

Nov 21, 2008 (DVB)–Detained 88 Generation Student leader Ko Ko Gyi has been transferred for the second time since his 65-year sentence was passed earlier this month.

Ko Ko Gyi was transferred to Keng Tung prison in eastern Shan state along with fellow student leader Min Ko Naing after they were sentenced in Mau-ubin.

But Keng Tung locals said that Ko Ko Gyi was sent to Mai Sat prison near the Thai-Burma border two days after his arrival in Keng Tung.

His transfer came as families of the student leaders were preparing to visit their loved ones who are currently detained in various prisons across Burma.

Wah Wah Win, the wife of Pyone Cho who was transferred to Kaw Thaung prison in Tenasserim division, said the transfers of the activists to remote prisons made it difficult for families to visit.

"It's difficult for us both physically and financially as he was transferred to a very remote place but we are not depressed about it – he has done good things to help the majority of the people," she said.

"We will support him as best as we can."

Reporting by Nan Kham Kaew

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