BLASTS IN KOKANG!
MONGLA IN A BIND!
ASEAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION FORMED!
WHY DOES JUNTA HAVE TO USE THAILAND AND JAPAN TO SPEAK FOR IT?
Cartoon
Tips for the Senior General
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Think Piece
Reconciliation is more than just a word or concept. It must be practiced at the dialogue table.
Win Tin, NLD, speaking on PM Thein Sein’s comment that Aung San Suu Kyi has a role to play, Irrawaddy, 27 October 2009
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The World
24 October 2009
President Obama declares swine flu outbreak in 46 of the 50 US states a national emergency. So far 11 million vaccine does have gone to health departments, doctor’s offices and other providers. (AP)
25 October 2009
Twin car bombs kill at least 132 people wounding more than 500 in Baghdad. (Agencies)
26 October 2009
Therese Rein, PM Kevin Dudd’s wife, and Lucy Turnbull, opposition leader Malcom Turnbull’s wife, are among hundreds who turn out at the Stand for Freedom protest at Sydney Opera House. (The Age)
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International Relations
23 October 2009
The international community needs to have a common Burma policy, says Kraisak Choonhavan, president of Asean Interparliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), somewhere between that of the US-EU and the Asean countries. (Irrawaddy)
23 October 2009
Two former police officers Win Myaing and Sitt Aung attend Asean Civil Society meeting, which refuses to allow exiled activist Khin Ohmar to attend. Kyaw Tint Swe, former Burmese representative to the UN, has also been appointed as Human Rights Commissioner for Burma. (Irrawaddy)
23 October 2009
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, meeting his Burmese counterpart Thein Sein during the Asean-China summit, talks about stability and peace along the Sino-Burma border. (Irrawaddy)
24 October 2009
Japanese foreign ministry spokesperson Kazuo Kadama says PM Thein Sein told the Asean summit with Chinese, Japanese and South Korean counterparts that Naypyitaw will consider relaxing Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest terms if she “maintains a good attitude.” (Irrawaddy)
25 October 2009
Asean summit ended with just 3 lines to Burma in the a page declaration calling for “fair, free, inclusive and transparent” elections and making no mention of Aung San Suu Kyi. (AFP)
26 October 2009
Troika of the Community of Democracies, Portugal, Lithuania and Monggolia, appeals to Burma to end gross human rights abuses. (ISRIA.com)
27 October 2009
Junta supremo Than Shwe is reportedly leaving for Sri Lanka on a 6-day trip. (Mizzima)
28 October 2009
Three Burmese monks with refugee status in Utica, NY, share Saffron Revolution experiences, event hosted by Amnesty International: Venerable Agga, Gawsita and Panyazawta. “If the international community speaks with one voice, Burma will change,” says Gawsita. (The justice Online.com)
29 October 2009
Nobel laureates Jody Williams and Mairead Maguire say with Suu Kyi release, junta’s promises of reform would only be “sweet words of democracy.” (Mizzima)
29 October 2009
Chinese ambassador Zhang Xianyi, speaking at Dhaka’s Reporter Unity auditorium, says China keen to connect with Chittagong via Burma. (Gulf Times)
30 October 2009
Kurt Campbell will be in Burma 3-4 November, says a State Department official. (Bloomberg)
30 October 2009
2010 elects will be a recipe for continued conflict, says Alternative Asean on Burma. The constitution has given the military:
Immunity from prosecution and freedom from public accountability
Control over future constitutional amendments
Legitimacy to subjugate ethnic communities
(Press Release)
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Thai-Burma Relations
23 October 2009
Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva, speaking after a meeting with counterpart Thein Sein on the sidelines of the Asean Summit, says the latter told him the electoral law will be announced soon. (Irrawaddy)
27 October 2009
Thai security forces said 10 homes of KNU leaders. Naw Khila, wife of Col Nerda Mya, arrested after police find material for making explosives. (Irrawaddy)
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Politics/ Inside Burma
22 October 2009
Kyaw Zaw Lwin aka Nyi Nyi Aung appears before court. Junta witnesses say he was holding a Burmese ID card apart from his American passport. Lawyer Kyi Win complains his client is held in handcuffs throughout the hearing, in violation of Art 477 of the court manual. “(It) shows no rule of law exists,” he says. (DVB)
26 October 2009
Win Tin, NLD, and Aye Tha Aung, CRPP, says the constitution must be amended to allow all dissidents including Aung San Suu Kyi to be able to participate in the poll. (Mizzima)
27 October 2009
New Mon State Party (NMSP) leaders have been travelling in Mon State since mid September to meet people. The majority of their discussions centers around the party’s rejection of the Border Guarder Force offer. (IMNA)
29 October 2009
As many as 50 people arrested in the last month, mainly journalists and former political prisoners, says Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)’s Take Naing. (RFA)
29 October 2009
Lawyers Nyan Win and Kyi Win meet Suu Kyi for 90 minutes to discuss the appeal pending over her house arrest. (Irrawaddy)
29 October 2009
Aung San Suu Kyi says authorities are infurcing upon her rights. She asks lawyers Nyan Win and Kyi Win to send letter to allow all 4 lawyers and the architect to meet her. (AP)
30 October 2009
According to an article published in the Crime News Journal, performances sowing public hatred against the government are liable from 3 years to lifetime imprisonment or execution under Act 124 (A) of the penal code. (DVB)
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Shans/ Shan State
25-27 October 2009
Wa leaders Xiao Minliang, Bao Youri and Zhao Guo-ang visit Lashio to meet Maj-Gen Aung Than Tut who is due to be transferred to the Defense Ministry soon. The Wa will not discuss BGF until Burmese forces move out from their border, they say. Currently there is LID 99 with 10 battalions in Kunlong and Hopang. LID 33 is also in Kokang. (SHAN/NEJ)
28 October 2009
Mongla delegation led by Sai Leun meets Lt-Gen Ye Myint in Kengtung. Sai Leun told to resign himself to the Border Guard Force status. (SHAN)
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Economy/ Business
24 October 2009
Law Hsing Han
Ohn Myint, Minister of Mines, tells Gold Traders, Association meeting the junta has turned over the Namtu Bawdwin mines over to Asia World of Law Hsing Han. (Khit Pyaing)
28 October 2009
115 civil society groups from 20 countries submit open letter to President Hu Jintao calling for suspension of oil-gas pipelines through Burma. The petitions delivered at Chinese embassies across the globe including Thailand. (Shwe Gas Movement)
29 October 2009
New Delhi has allowed Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) to make an investment of up to $ 173.85 million in a hydrocarbon assets in Burma. Two state-owned firms OVL and GAIL will benefit from the award. (Sity News)
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Human Rights
24 October 2009
Kraisak Choonhavan
Asean charter must be implemented to address human rights violations in Burma, says Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of Asean Interparliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMIC). Long-held assertion that Burma’s political and human rights issues were internal is no longer applicable, since the problems in Burma have impacted all countries in the region. Operations against Kokang, for example, have resulted in a influx of thousands of refugees into China, adds Charm Tong of Shan Women’s Action Network. (Bangkok Post)
26 October 2009
US State Department’s 2009 International Religious Freedom Report accuses Burma’s junta of both propagating and favoring the views of state-sponsored Buddhism, while obstructing the practice of politically engaged Buddhism and other religions. (Mizzima)
26 October 2009
The US report on religion puts Burma along with China, Eritera, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan under the category of Counties of Particular Concern (CPC). (Irrawaddy)
26-27 October 2009
At least 7 Lin-let-kye (Shining Star) Cyclone Nargis volunteers detained in Rangoon. (Mizzima)
27 October 2009
In a report submitted to the US House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, Professor Chris Beyrer of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health says:
- More than 25% of families in Shan State forcibly relocated last year
- 9% of families had at least 1 member injured by landmine
- 24% had one member taken by Burmese troops for forced labor
Attacks on ethnic nationalities “are the second major cause for concern in Burma today,” he says. (DVB)
27 October 2009
Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) estimates that $6.70 per capita per year, or 0.3% of the GDP is channeled into the health sector in Burma. (Mizzima)
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Environment
27 October 2009
Kachin Development Networking Group sends open letter to China Power Investment (CPI) calling on it to stop construction of a series of 7 dams on the Irrawaddy. Construction of the 2,000 MW Chibwe Dam on the N’mai River has already begun. The majority of the power produced will be transmitted to China. (Burma Rivers Network)
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Drugs
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War
24 October 2009
Aung Kyaw Zaw
At least 10 bombs explode in Laogai damaging a TV station, gambling casinos and other businesses. They could have been the work of a disgruntled faction dissatisfied with the power-sharing arrangements within the group, says Sino-Burma affairs observer Aung Kyaw Zaw. (Irrawaddy/DVB) A source close to the Peng Jiasheng denies having to do with the blasts. Like those in Rangoon, they are only meant for effect not to destroy anything, he says – Editor
27 October 2009
Rohingya laborers are hard at work building a 230 km fence along the Bangladesh border. They are not paid for their work. So far the regime has fenced off 70 km. (Al Jazeera)
28 October 2009
Junta pushing for village defense forces in accordance with its People’s War Strategy (1 battalion per village tract) in Mon State. Its aims are two-fold:
To prevent opposition armed groups from coming to the villages
To exert influence on the people before the 2010 elections
(IMNA/SHAN)
29 October 2009
Recent influx of refugees into Thailand and monitoring reports from internally displaced communities indicate that violence and abuse in eastern Burma are increasing, says Jack Dunford, Executive Director of Thai-Burma Border Consortium. Over 3,500 villages have been destroyed since 1996, including 120 communities between August 2008 – July 2009, a scale comparable to Darfur. (TBBC)
30 October 2009
KNU and DKBA held ceasefire talks on 19 October for the first time:
DKBA - U Thuzana and Maw Tho
KNU - Aung Maung Aye, Gen Mutu Say Poe and Brig Gen Johnny
The two sides agreed for further talks. (Irrawaddy)
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