Live Riot blog from Burma with Pictures

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- The party of Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday urged the military junta not to set preconditions for a meeting with her in the wake of a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

The junta leaders have offered to meet with Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest, but only on condition she renounce widespread calls for international sanctions against the military regime, which has been widely condemned for breaking up the protests September 26-27.

"The success of a dialogue is based on sincerity and the spirit of give and take," said the National League for Democracy statement, which was based on past speeches by Suu Kyi. "The will for achieving success is also crucial and there should not be any preconditions."

The statement, which follows similar ones by NLD figures, came after the junta said it hoped to achieve "smooth relations" with Suu Kyi. On Monday, the regime suggested her release from house arrest was unlikely anytime soon.

Read more on Myanmar opposition warn on talks.

We could see what china said on the UNSC meeting on monday (08 Oct 2007). See the news at below.

We need to organize the people all over the world to boycott the bloody china Olympic. I would like to request to people; if you have any idea of what we can do effectively.

Please ... advice us.

Shall we work together and show to CHINA what is the real power of people all over the world?

Source

Small article piece -- Ban Ki-moon calls Laura Bush

(AGI) - New York, 10 Oct. - Ban Ki-moon has called US First Lady Laura Bush, long interested in matters affecting the Asian country, and filled her in on the latest developments, thanking her for her "staunch support" of the Burmese population.
Meanwhile, United States ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad said that the time has come to get ready for a transitional government in Burma, though he admitted that the military junta will in any case be playing an important role in the country's future. "We believe that it is very important that there be negotiations for a transition and we must get used to the idea of a transition in Burma," he said. "The army, in its role as national institution, has a role to play in this transition and the post-transitional period, but it is very important that serious dialogue get underway and that the international community and regional actors play their role." Speaking to journalists, Khalilzad also asked that the military junta which governs the Burma regime with an iron fist improve the living conditions of opposition leader Aung San Suu-kyi, who for years has been under house arrest, and asked Un envoy Ibrahim Gambari to return as soon as possible to Burma. Meanwhile the Security Council continues its discussion at a technical level on the content of the declaration which will have to sanction the recent repression of the military regime against peaceful protests for a revolution. According to Khalilzad, the draft could be implemented Wednesday, though other sources are less optimistic. If approved, the declaration would be the first pronouncement of the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Burma, a pronouncement China opposes.

Reports emerged at the height of the bloody crackdown in Rangoon, Mandalay and other cities that confusion existed within the army over how to deal with the demonstrators. Some units were said to have refused to open fire.

A clearer picture of what happened in those critical days is emerging from sources contacted by the Thai based exile magazine, the Irrawaddy, considered to be one of the most reliable reporters on Burma.

'Sources close to the army' have told the magazine that Maung Aye issued an order for troops to hold their fire. He had earlier pressed Than Shwe to use only police and paramilitary units to clear the streets of demonstrators, but the junta leader had overruled him.

Than Shwe was supported by the number three in the junta, Thura Shwe Mann, deputy commander in chief of the army, who bypassed Maung Aye and gave the order to use force to end the demonstrations.

Read more on Burma junta divided at highest level.

What Burma wants from the world

While they might not favour sanctions, the people of Burma definitely want the international community's help in other ways.

Many of those who telephoned the UN during the crackdown asked why no-one was sending a peacekeeping force.

I was faced with a similar question when I was in Burma last year. "Why have the US and the UK invaded Iraq, and not done the same here?" one man asked me at the time.

After the events of recent weeks, some Burmese people feel let down by the outside world.

"The international community did nothing to stop a three-day killing spree," one woman said. "That was when I realised we were on our own."

More at the link above.

JAKARTA — Myanmar's junta has detained five generals and more than 400 soldiers for disobeying orders to shoot and beat monks and other activists during recent pro-democracy protests in Yangon, an Indonesian newspaper reported Wednesday.

Read more on Generals, soldiers detained for refusing to shoot monks in Myanmar.

Diplomat resigns over Burma monks

Ye Min Tun, who describes himself as a "good Buddhist", sent a letter of resignation to the Burmese embassy in London.

In an interview with the BBC, he described the crackdown on the September protesters as "horrible".

"I have never seen such a scenario in the whole of my life. The government is arresting and beating the peaceful Buddhist monks."

He said he had hoped that the protests would force the generals to come to an agreement with the opposition.

"This revolution, this incident seemed to be the decisive factor that could persuade the government to go to the negotiation table.

"But actually the government ignored the reality," he said.

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said that sanctions against Myanmar will be counter-productive.

He also stressed that ASEAN alone cannot solve the problem in Myanmar, and called on the international community to weigh in as well.

Mr Lee said this in an interview with the CNN, which was aired on Friday evening.

He was responding to the presenter who asked if ASEAN could do more besides issuing strong statements against the unrest in Myanmar.

ASEAN has to take a clear stand on Myanmar because what happens there affects the group's reputation, said PM Lee.

What ASEAN wishes to see is developments that will lead progressively to a Myanmar government that has more legitimacy at home and greater acceptance internationally, added Mr Lee.

But ASEAN, he stressed, does not have the leverage to solve the problems in Myanmar.

Mr Lee also explained why economic sanctions against the military-ruled country may not be productive.
..........
Mr Lee also responded to a question on whether Singapore should prevent members of the Myanmar government from coming to Singapore for medical treatment.

Read more on Sanctions against Myanmar will be counter-productive: PM Lee.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- A member of Myanmar's besieged opposition party has died under interrogation by security forces, an exile group said Wednesday.

The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners also said that security officers had been threatening dissidents' relatives and neighbors to find information on the whereabouts of those involved in recent mass protests against 45 years of military rule.

"The security forces have become more severe in raiding houses of, and searching for, anyone whom they suspect to have been involved in the protests," it said.

The Myanmar exile group, made up of former political prisoners, said authorities had recently informed the family of NLD member Win Shwe, 42, that he had died under interrogation in the central Myanmar region of Sagaing. He and five colleagues were arrested on Sept. 26.

Read more on Myanmar Dissident Dies Under Questioning.

An Internet group backing the monk-led protests in Myanmar has attracted more than 100,000 members in less than 10 days as people around the world try to harness the power of the Web to support the resistance movement.

The Internet has become a battleground in the wave of protests that erupted a month ago against 45 years of repressive military rule in Myanmar. It has played a crucial role in coaxing information out of the reclusive Southeast Asian nation, where few foreign journalists are allowed to operate and media freedom is severely restricted.

For days, the world has been watching television and still images transmitted over the Internet, and many journalism and dissident Web sites and blogs are packed with images documenting the military crackdown on the pro-democracy protests. The pictures have drawn global condemnation of the ruling junta.

On Friday, military rulers cut off the country's two Internet service providers in a bid to stop the accounts and images from reaching the outside world. They also cut some phone landlines and intensified cell phones confiscations.

The tight restrictions mean "citizen journalist" accounts have been vital for the media. Reporters have relied on social networking sites such as Facebook and bloggers such as London- based Burmese Ko Htike for firsthand accounts and images.

By Friday, more than 110,000 people had joined the "Support the Monks' Protest in Burma" group, which was set up on Facebook nine days ago. The group has become a repository of eyewitness accounts, photos and video footage of the protests.

British organizer Johnny Chatterton, 23, said that until Internet links to Myanmar were cut, the group had been receiving images, video and reports from sources with contacts in Myanmar. He said much of it - including the report of a monk killed by soldiers - had turned out to be accurate.

From Protesters in Myanmar Get Support on Internet.

(CNN) -- U.S. first lady Laura Bush -- in a rare foray into foreign policy -- called on Myanmar's military junta to "step aside," give up the "terror campaigns" against its people and allow for a democratic Myanmar in a commentary published in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal.

"Gen. Than Shwe and his deputies are a friendless regime," Bush said. "They should step aside to make way for a unified Burma [Myanmar] governed by legitimate leaders.

"The rest of the armed forces should not fear this transition -- there is room for a professional military in a democratic Burma," Bush said.

The humanitarian rights situation in Myanmar has been a cause for the first lady in the past few months as the crisis there has worsened.

Read more on First lady calls on Myanmar's ruling junta to 'step aside'.

9th Oct, 2007, Yangon, Myanmar - Soldiers did not take off their shoes to go up to Shwedagon Pagoda, the famous holy shrine in Myanmar. It has also happened in 1988 riot. Burmese people do not like going into the holy compound without taking off the shoes. We even warn foreigners to follow the rules. Right now, soldiers are violating the rules. Please inform that to others. Let's protect our race, religions and Buddhism.

From niknayman's chatbox. Translation - BetterMyanmar.

Photos of what happened in Myanmar(Burma).

[edit on 10-10-2007 by BetterMyanmar]

Admin: An army officer in Myanmar military said that those who joined the army soon after 1988 are being watched carefully by the seniors as the seniors do not really trust them.

Admin: Internet is said to be available in Yangon today from 12 noon - 4pm.

From niknayman's chatbox.

The head of the U.N. Human Rights Council appealed to the Myanmar government Tuesday to permit an urgent visit by the council's specialist on the country.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro (photo), who was appointed as the U.N's independent expert on human rights in Myanmar seven years ago, has been barred from entering the country since 2003.

Romanian Ambassador Doru-Romulus Costea, who chairs the 47-nation rights council, told the government it had instructed Pinheiro to go as soon as possible to Myanmar - also known as Burma - to assess the human rights situation after the military junta's crackdown on protests there.

In an emergency session last week, the council deplored the junta's actions and urged an immediate investigation by Pinheiro, a human rights specialist from Brazil.

The council resolution cited "continued violent repression of peaceful demonstrators in Myanmar, including through beatings, killings, arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances."

Read more on Red Capitalism's Pinheiro should be admitted to Burma ASAP.

The Earth Times reports that India will continue its policy of realistic engagement with the junta in Myanmar, and readied to finalise an agreement on the crucial multi-modal Kaladan project that could act as the country's bridge to the entire Southeast Asia.

The agreement on the Kaladan project could be finalised in the next few weeks. Detailed work on this crucial project is going on,' said an official source who did not wish to be named.

The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transport Project, estimated to cost $100 million, will be a huge leap in connecting India to Southeast Asia and provide an alternative route for transport of goods to the northeast.

It is meant to link Sittwe port in Myanmar via Paletwa to Mizoram in India by road and inland water. The project is expected to be completed by 2010.

From Red Capitalism. Full article can be found HERE.

Protest leader blasts U.N

An organiser of the protest movement in Rangoon has blasted UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari for bowing to the Burmese regime and achieving nothing in his visit to Burma.

Surinder Karkar Singh, also known as Ayea Myint and U Pancha (the Punjabi), helped organise the civilian protection circles that ringed the monks as they marched through the streets of Rangoon for eight days.

"Nothing was achieved. I am fed up," the Sikh Burmese man said.

"He (Mr Gambari) plans to come again in November. Whatever the regime told him, he did. While he was there, we were being shot, we were being detained. After he left, there was more rounding up of people.

"He saw Aung San Suu Kyi (the detained pro-democracy leader) but gave no press conference. He should announce what she said. This regime is full of lies. Gambari reports to the UN what the regime says, not what Aung San Suu Kyi says."

more at the link above

IPU demands release of members

The Inter-Parliamentary Union is calling for the release of 26 parliament members jailed in Burma. The Inter-Parliamentary Union says the Burmese lawmakers include people who have been imprisoned for a long time as well as some who were jailed during the recent military crackdown of peaceful protesters. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

Members of the Human Rights Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union have been dealing with problems relating to Burmese Members of Parliament since 1990.

They say some of the MP's have served their complete sentences. But, before they were released, the Burmese authorities added two more years without any trial or due process.

More at link above

Activist tortured to death

A member of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy has been tortured to death.

Ko Win Shwe, 42, "died as a result of torture during interrogation," the Thailand-based exile group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said Oct. 10 on its website.

AAPP said it has learned that authorities from Kyaukpandawn Township informed the family of Win Shwe on Oct. 9 that he died while in interrogation.

Win Shwe and other four others were arrested on Sept. 26, the first day of the crackdown against activists who supported and participated in demonstrations by monks against Burma's ruling junta.

The five were detained at the Plate Myot Police Center near Mandalay, in the central region of Sagaing, said the AAPP, an exile group composed of former political prisoners. Win Shwe's body was not sent to his family because it has been cremated, it said.

More at link above

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council agreed on Thursday on a statement deploring the Myanmar government's crushing of pro-democracy demonstrations, a Western diplomat said.

Western countries and China had resolved differences over the wording of the statement, first drafted by the United States, Britain and France on Friday, the diplomat told Reuters on condition he was not identified. The statement was expected to be issued shortly, he added.

It would be the first time the council had taken any action over Myanmar and mark a shift of position by China, which had previously used its veto to stop the 15-nation body voicing criticism of Myanmar's ruling military junta.

More to come.

Read more on UN council agrees on statement condemning Myanmar: diplomat.

11 October 2007 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced that he is sending his Special Adviser on Myanmar back to the region this weekend to meet with regional partners about the situation in the troubled South-East Asian nation.

Ibrahim Gambari recently returned from a visit to Myanmar, where the Government used force – what the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro characterized as a “brutal crackdown” – against peaceful demonstrations led by monks.

According to a statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson, the Special Adviser will start his consultations in Thailand next Monday morning before visiting Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and Japan, with a view to returning to Myanmar shortly thereafter.

In a related development, the Security Council issued a presidential statement today strongly deploring the Government’s use of force against the demonstrators. The 15-member body urged authorities to take major steps towards inclusive national reconciliation and underscored the importance of dialogue between the Government and the opposition figure and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Source.