News & Articles on Burma, Thursday, 28 May 2009
May 28th, 2009
NCGUB: News & Articles on Burma, Thursday, 28 May 2009
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End Burma’s System of Impunity
Solo protestor arrested outside Insein
Security ‘didn’t stop’ Yettaw visit
‘Saving Suu is saving Burma’
Burma Damages Asean’s Image: Surin Pitsuwan
Paramilitary Forces Beef Up Insein Prison Security
Burma: Suu Kyi trial won’t halt elections
Myanmar overshadows Europe-ASEAN meetings
Myanmar tells ASEAN, EU not to interfere in Suu Kyi trial
Burmese junta fears repeat of NLD’s 1990 triumph
British PM Gordon Brown and celebrities in online plea for Suu Kyi
Suu Kyi’s Party Says Myanmar Trial Verdict May Come in ‘Days’
One defence witness only
Burma rejects foreign criticism
Trial Against Aung San Suu Kyi Has No Political Impact
Trial of Myanmar opposition leader nears end
Suu Kyi witnesses dismissed
ASIA: Parliamentarians Turn Heat on Burma for Suu Kyi Trial
Asean Charter faces its first major crisis
Smart steps towards reversing the legacy of Myanmar vote
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Op-Ed Contributor
End Burma’s System of Impunity
By PAULO SERGIO PINHEIRO
Published: May 27, 2009
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has spent 13 years under house arrest in Myanmar. This week, the Burmese junta is likely to extend her detention for up to five years under the trumped-up charge of allowing a visitor into her compound.
During eight years as United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, I repeatedly called on the Burmese junta to release Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s 2,100 other political prisoners, to no avail. It is imperative that she be released immediately for the country’s process of reconciliation to move forward.
But while Suu Kyi has deservedly received a great deal of international attention over the past two decades, Myanmar’s ethnic minorities – more than one-third of the population – have suffered without international outcry. For Myanmar’s process of national reconciliation to be successful, the plight of the minorities must also be addressed.
Over the past 15 years, the Burmese Army has destroyed over 3,300 villages in a systematic and widespread campaign to subjugate ethnic groups. U.N. reports indicate that Burmese soldiers have frequently recruited child soldiers, used civilians as minesweepers and forced thousands of villagers into slave labor.
An official policy of impunity has empowered soldiers to rape and pillage. According to one account, in December 2008 a Burmese soldier marched into an ethnic Karen village in eastern Myanmar and abducted, raped and killed a 7-year old girl. Authorities refused to arrest the soldier; instead, officers threatened the parents with punishment if they did not accept a cash bribe to keep quiet.
In 2002, I received a report about 625 women who were systematically raped in Myanmar ’s Shan State over a five-year period. There was not a single account of successful prosecution.
I repeatedly documented the military’s many abuses in reports to the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. My work is only one example of U.N. efforts in Myanmar – since 1990, U.N. representatives have visited the country 37 times in an attempt to facilitate dialogue and promote human rights.
They have exhausted all domestic and diplomatic remedies without achieving human rights protection and national reconciliation in Myanmar. And while the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Human Rights Council have passed over 35 resolutions regarding Myanmar, the U.N. Security Council has yet to pass a single one. The United Nations will not be successful until the Security Council acts to directly address our stagnant efforts.
It is clear that the attacks in Myanmar will continue. It is equally evident that the country’s domestic legal system will not punish those perpetrating crimes against ethnic minorities.
It is time for the United Nations to take the next logical step: The Security Council must establish a commission of inquiry into crimes against humanity and impunity in Myanmar. The Security Council took similar steps with regard to Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. The situation in Myanmar is equally as critical.
Creating a commission of inquiry will accomplish three important goals:
First, it will make the junta accountable for its crimes with a potential indictment by the International Criminal Court. Second, it will address the widespread culture of impunity in Burma. Third, it has the potential to deter future crimes against humanity in Myanmar.
For two decades, ethnic minorities in Myanmar have suffered while our diplomatic efforts failed to bear fruit. The time has come for the Security Council to act.
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro was the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar from 2000 to 2008.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/
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Solo protestor arrested outside Insein
May 28, 2009 (DVB)-An elderly solo protestor demonstrating today outside of the prison courtroom where Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi is on trial was arrested by plain-clothed security officials and taken away.
Security has tightened outside of Rangoon’s Insein prison where Suu Kyi, her two caretakers and US citizen John Yettaw are on trial.
Observers say there is an increase in numbers of both uniformed and plain-clothed security officials, including members of the Swan Arr Shin militia group.
The man, said to be in his 50’s, was identified as retired army officer Zaw Nyunt, who is a member of activist group 88 Generation Workers. He held a banner saying ‘Release Mother Suu at once’.
“He had about less than a minute to protest and was quickly taken away by government officials nearby,” said an eye witness.
“He was seen being taken into Insein market located nearby the prison.”
An official on duty at Insein township police station said they heard about the protester but were unable to give out further detail as he didn’t arrive at the station.
“We don’t know where he was taken to or who took him,” said the official.
Reporting by Naw Say Phaw
http://english.dvb.no/news.
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Security ‘didn’t stop’ Yettaw visit
May 28, 2009 (DVB)-Soldiers guarding Aung San Suu Kyi’s house knew of John Yettaw entering the compound earlier this month and did little to prevent it, Yettaw told the courtroom yesterday.
Burma’s opposition leader is on trial for harbouring the US citizen who swam to her compound earlier this month where she is held under house arrest.
Suu Kyi told the courtroom yesterday that the breach of security that allowed Yettaw into the house was the fault of authorities charged with guarding her compound, and not Suu Kyi.
Yettaw yesterday added substance to this argument with claims that he had passed a number of soldiers en route to the compound.
“He said, on his second visit, he was seen by about four to five soldiers on his way into her compound,” said lawyer Nyan Win.
“They were carrying guns with them but they didn’t do anything to stop him from approaching the house, apart from throwing some stones at him.”
It was the second time Yettaw had visited Suu Kyi’s house, the last occasion being in November 2008 when he also swam across Lake Inya.
On both occasions he said he was “on a mission from God” to warn Suu Kyi and the Burmese government that a plot was being hatched by terrorists to assassinate Suu Kyi and pin the blame on the government.
“He said he was only here to warn us, as God told him to and that he loves Burmese people and has respect to the Burmese Police who are very well disciplined.
Reporting by Naw Say Phaw http://english.dvb.no/news.
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‘Saving Suu is saving Burma’
May 28 2009 at 11:33AM
Yangon – Myanmar/Burma on Thursday angrily rejected foreign “pressure and interference” over the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, denying that the trial was a political ploy to keep her locked up for elections in 2010.
The ruling junta handed down a stinging rebuttal to Asian and European ministers at a meeting in Cambodia, in its strongest reaction yet to the storm of international outrage over its treatment of the pro-democracy icon.
“It is not political, it is not a human rights issue. So we don’t accept pressure and interference from abroad,” Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint told counterparts in Phnom Penh.
Continues Below ?
He told the meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and EU ministers that Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial for allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest were an “internal legal issue”.
The comments came as the sole defence witness took the stand at the closed court in Yangon’s notorious Insein prison, with judges disqualifying the only other three people called to testify on behalf of the Nobel laureate.
ASEAN last week issued a rare condemnation of the most troublesome of its 10 member nations, while the EU has repeatedly called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and threatened to tighten sanctions against Myanmar.
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday described the proceedings as a “show trial”.
Separately, Myanmar’s state media carried a foreign ministry statement saying that the trial would “not have any political impact” and that it would continue to hold elections in 2010 under its “roadmap” to democracy.
Critics say the polls are a sham designed to entrench the regime’s hold on power.
Aung San Suu Kyi faces up to five years behind bars on charges of violating her house arrest, stemming from a bizarre incident in which an American swam to her home to warn her of a divine vision that her life was at risk.
Judges at the closed court on Thursday finished questioning legal expert Kyi Win, the only witness for the defence, said Nyan Win, who is on Aung San Suu Kyi’s legal team and is also the spokesman for her political party.
He said both sides would give their closing statements on Monday but it was not yet clear when a verdict would be reached.
The court had barred three out of four defence witnesses, including the detained deputy chairman of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, Tin Oo, and another senior party member, he added.
Outside the court security officials arrested a lone protester in his 50s holding a banner in Burmese and English said “Saving Suu is saving Burma”, referring to the country by its former name.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who turns 64 next month, has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention. The junta lifted the latest six-year period of her house arrest on Wednesday but she is in jail pending the verdict.
Yettaw, 53, a devout Mormon and US military veteran, took the stand on Wednesday for the first time and said that he was ordered by God to swim to Aung San Suu Kyi’s house after having a dream that she would be assassinated.
The military regime annulled elections in 1990 that the NLD won by a landslide. It has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1962. – AFP
http://www.iol.co.za/index.
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Burma Damages Asean’s Image: Surin Pitsuwan
By SAW YAN NAING Thursday, May 28, 2009
Burma’s treatment of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners has damaged the image of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), said Surin Pitsuwan, Asean secretary-general.
“The discussion in the room back there was that it [the issue of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners] …affects Asean’s image and Asean’s collective interests,” Surin told reporters, following an informal meeting of Asian and EU foreign ministers in Phnom Penh on Thursday.
Pitsuwan said that members of Asean do not wish to interfere in the internal affairs of any member of the regional grouping, but they have to express their feelings when an issue affects the efficiency, the image and the credibility of the organization.
Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win on Thursday warned European and Asean leaders meeting in Cambodia to not comment on the internal affairs of Burma and the ongoing trial of Suu Kyi, who is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest and could receive up to five years imprisonment.
Nyan Win was quoted by Deutsche Presse-Agentur as saying, “We understand that the international community has taken a great amount of interest in this trial, but in doing so it has overlooked the important issue of non-interference.”
“This is an internal legal issue, and it is not a human rights issue,” said Nyan Win.
On Tuesday, Asean released a short statement saying that Thailand, in its capacity as the current Asean chair “shall continue to pursue constructive dialogue with the Government of the Union of Myanmar [Burma].”
As the current chair of Asean, Thailand earlier had released a “chair statement” on Burma and the trial of Suu Kyi.
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said that the release of Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma was needed as a step toward national reconciliation and a credible national election in 2010.
On Thursday, a respected Thai political scientist, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, wrote in the English-language newspaper Bangkok Post, saying the Burmese regime was in “flagrant and fundamental violation of the Asean Charter’s Section 7 of Article 1 on democracy, good governance and the rule of law and the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
He said the more democratic Asean member countries should carry out “tangible punitive steps to redress Burma’s blatant violation of Charter provisions in order to restore the grouping’s credibility.”
Burma ignores all condemnations and international criticism, Pongsudhirak said, and statements of “concern” alone are not enough.
He called for a temporary suspension of Burma’s membership in Asean.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/
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Paramilitary Forces Beef Up Insein Prison Security
By KYI WAI Thursday, May 28, 2009
RANGOON – About 500 members of the paramilitary group Swan Arr Shin and the government-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) are reportedly being paid to strengthen security around Insein Prison, where Aung San Suu Kyi stands trial.
Crowds of members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and other activists gather daily near the prison to show solidarity with her, and the deployment of pro-regime forces is seen as an attempt to intimidate them.
The hired irregulars, who helped police break up price-rise protests in August 2007, are paid 2,000 kyat (US $2) a day and provided with lunch, according to a ward official from Insein Township’s West Ywa Ma quarter. The daily fee would rise to as much as 20,000 kyat ($20) if they were called upon to deal with any outbreak of trouble, the official said.
“They are from the outskirts of Rangoon, such as Daw Pon, Shwe Pyi Thar and Hlaing Thar Yar Townships, although some are also from Insein Township,” he said.
The hired force includes several women. “I came here because I will get 2,000 kyat and a free lunch,” said one 28-year-old woman from Shwe Lin Ban village in Hlaing Thar Yar Township. She was assigned by Swan Arr Shin to join other women in patrolling the Insein market area and watch for any outbreak of trouble there.
Other Swan Arr Shin groups are reportedly deployed at the NLD headquarters and places frequented by NLD members.
“The authorities usually deploy double the number of NLD members [at any gathering],” said a resident of Insein Township’s Pein Ne-Kone ward. “If the NLD assembles 200 activists, the authorities posts 400 of their own people, believing they can intimidate the NLD with sheer numbers.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/
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Burma: Suu Kyi trial won’t halt elections
Thursday, May 28, 2009 – 07:15 AM
Burma’s military government said today that its trial of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi would have no political impact.
Many have criticised the proceedings as a ploy to sideline Ms Suu Kyi during elections scheduled for 2010.
Highly popular Ms Suu Kyi, 63, whom the regime has sought to remove from the political arena through years of detention, is on trial accused of breaking the terms of her house arrest after an American swam to and sneaked into her lakeside home.
A foreign ministry statement carried in State-owned newspapers, said the trial was strictly related to the rule of law and “will not have any political impact”.
“The government, therefore, will hold multi-party general elections, fifth step of the Road Map, in 2010,” the statement said, referring to the junta’s “road map to democracy”, which critics say will merely extend the military’s decades-long rule under the guise of democracy.
The only witness the defence is allowed to call was due to appear at today court session as the proceedings seemed to be nearing their end.
One of Ms Suu Kyi’s lawyers, Nyan Win, said all but one of her witnesses had been disqualified, making it likely the verdict would come this week.
If convicted, Ms Suu Kyi could be sentenced to five years in prison. Burma’s courts operate under the influence of the military and usually deal harshly with political dissidents.
John Yettaw, 53, the American whose uninvited visit to Ms Suu Kyi’s home triggered the case against her, told the court yesterday that he was “sent by God” to make his night-time swim to her compound earlier this month, according to Mr Nyan Win.
The regime’s critics say the case against the Nobel Peace laureate – who has been in detention without trial for more than 13 of the past 19 years – was concocted to keep her detained during the elections planned for next year. She has pleaded not guilty.
Mr Nyan Win said legal expert Kyi Win would argue that harbouring Mr Yettaw did not constitute a violation of her house arrest and that it was the duty of government guards outside her property to prevent any intrusions.
Mr Kyi Win, a member of Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, was briefly arrested after the bloody 1988 pro-democracy uprising and two years later won a parliamentary seat in elections the regime has never recognised.
The rejected witnesses were another lawyer and two senior members of Ms Suu Kyi’s party.
The court said legal procedure allowed it to reject witnesses proposed “for the purpose of vexation or delay or for defeating the ends of justice”.
Mr Nyan Win told reporters it was unfair and inappropriate to reject witnesses in such an important case. He said the court had approved 23 prosecution witnesses, of whom 14 took the stand.
He said the court would hear Mr Kyi Win’s testimony today and judgment “is likely” to be made tomorrow.
Two female party members who live with Ms Suu Kyi, and 53-year-old Mr Yettaw face the same charge as Ms Suu Kyi and have also pleaded not guilty.
During three hours of prosecution questioning yesterday, Mr Yettaw, of Falcon, Missouri, spoke repeatedly of his plan to warn Ms Suu Kyi of his premonition that she would be killed, said Mr Nyan Win.
Many of Ms Suu Kyi’s supporters have criticised Mr Yettaw as a fool or dupe for getting her into trouble.
Mr Nyan Win said the defence had nothing to ask the man.
Ms Suu Kyi says she allowed him to stay for two days after he swam across a lake to enter her house and then said he was too tired and ill to leave immediately.
In a statement submitted to the court on Tuesday, she said she intended to report the visit through her doctor, Tin Myo Win, one of the few outside people allowed to see her.
But after the intrusion, Dr Tin Myo Win was not allowed into her house and was later held by authorities for more than a week. He has not appeared at the trial.
Mr Yettaw told the court that security staff observed him during both his visits to Ms Suu Kyi’s house, said Mr Nyan Win, but in neither case did they try to stop him.
The trial has sparked intense criticism worldwide of Burma’s military regime, even among the country’s Asian neighbours that normally refrain from commenting on its internal affairs.
Burma has been under military rule since 1962, even though Ms Suu Kyi’s party won the 1990 general election.
Read more: “Burma: Suu Kyi trial won’t halt elections | Irish Examiner” – http://www.irishexaminer.com/
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Myanmar overshadows Europe-ASEAN meetings
AFP
Myanmar overshadows Europe-ASEAN meetings AFP – Cambodian military police stand guard as a Buddhist monk walks past Chatomuk conference hall where the …
PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Talks between Southeast Asian and European ministers opened in the Cambodian capital Thursday with pledges to boost ties, but Myanmar’s controversial trial of Aung San Suu Kyi loomed over proceedings.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said in a speech that the meetings would “mark another milestone for expanding and deepening” relations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and European Union (EU).
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen echoed his sentiments during the opening ceremony, but officials however indicated Myanmar would likely take up much of the agenda.
Asked what the message would be to Myanmar, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, whose country is the current ASEAN chair, said: “I think you will see in the joint statement (at the end of the day).”
ASEAN ministers in an informal meeting Wednesday confronted Myanmar on its treatment of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who is on trial for violating her house arrest after an American man swam to her lakeside home.
The group traditionally refrains from interfering in the internal affairs of its members, but issued a rare rebuke to Myanmar last week over the detention of the Nobel peace prize winner.
“The discussion in the room back there was that it (the issue of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners)… affects ASEAN’s image and ASEAN’s collective interests,” ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan said late Wednesday.
Myanmar’s rights abuses, along with North Korea’s recent nuclear test, dominated much of the agenda earlier this week during similar meetings between Asian and EU ministers in Vietnam.
They issued a statement in Hanoi calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners in Myanmar.
The meetings in Phnom Penh were also set to cover issues ranging from the global financial crisis to energy and food security.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been in detention for 13 of the past 19 years since her National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in 1990 polls but was not allowed to take power.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
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Myanmar tells ASEAN, EU not to interfere in Suu Kyi trial
Asia-Pacific News
May 28, 2009, 5:24 GMT
Phnom Penh – Myanmar’s foreign minister Thursday warned a meeting of European and South-East Asian leaders in Cambodia not to interfere in the trial of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, currently under way in Yangon.
In his opening address to a meeting of European Union and Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers in Phnom Penh, Nyan Win said Suu Kyi’s trial was an internal legal matter and ‘international interference’ threatened Myanmar’s sovereignty.
‘We understand that the international community has taken a great amount of interest in this trial, but in doing so it has overlooked the important issue of non-interference,’ he said. ‘This is an internal legal issue and it is not a human rights issue.’
Nyan Win said last week’s statement by the Thailand-chaired ASEAN Secretariat, which criticized Myanmar’s actions, was an act of interference and threatened the military-ruled country’s democratization efforts.
‘The case of one person should not overshadow the process of democratization in Myanmar,’ he said. ‘This process in now entering its most important stage.’
Wednesday marked the sixth anniversary of Suu Kyi’s arrest on charges of undermining national security and the beginning of her most recent detention in her home-cum-prison.
Suu Kyi is currently on trial in Yangon for allegedly violating the terms of her detention by allowing US national John William Yettaw to swim to her lakeside compound on May 3 and stay there until May 6.
No formal discussions on the trial have been scheduled for the two-day meeting in Phnom Penh, but Cambodian Foreign Ministry officials said earlier this week that some delegates were likely to urge Myanmar to release Suu Kyi.
Dozens of protestors gathered outside the Myanmar embassy in Phnom Penh Wednesday and urged ASEAN leaders to expel Myanmar from the regional alliance unless it immediately released all political prisoners.
Talkback
Read more: “Myanmar tells ASEAN, EU not to interfere in Suu Kyi trial – Monsters and Critics” – http://www.monstersandcritics.
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Burmese junta fears repeat of NLD’s 1990 triumph
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation (Thailand)
Publication Date: 28-05-2009
The Burmese military junta is challenging the credibility of Thailand, Asean and the international community over the on-going trial of opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, which might extend her detention for another five years.
Statement after statement from Thailand as chair of Asean, the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and the Asia-Europe Meeting calling for her immediate release were unlikely heard in Nay Pyi Taw and Rangoon.
Leaders and officials of many countries and regional groupings worked very hard to find words which could hit hard directly to the junta. They called on the generals to take responsibility as a member of the international community.
US President Barack Obama in his latest statement said Suu Kyi’s continued detention, isolation and “show trial based on spurious charges” cast serious doubt on the Burmese government’s willingness to be a responsible member of the international community.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva as chairman of Asean, stressed clearly that with the eyes of the international community on Burma, the honour and credibility of its government were at stake.
The Asia-Europe Meeting’s statement after a gathering of foreign ministers in Hanoi on Tuesday called for the early release of those under detention and the lifting of restrictions placed on political parties.
The Burmese junta reacted to these statements negatively and regarded them as interference in its domestic affairs. Perhaps the international community does not really exist in the junta’s imagination. Sense of isolation is still strong among the generals whose military regime has run this country continuously for nearly half a century.
A counter statement from Burma’s Foreign Ministry said Thailand, as the chair, had “failed to preserve the dignity of Asean, the dignity of Burma and the dignity of Thailand” since Bangkok had commented on a member’s internal affairs.
The Burmese authorities continued the trial of Suu Kyi as usual. The presence of some foreign diplomats and journalists in the courtroom in the Insein prison was a single indicator that the international support existed, although the foreign attendance was on and off.
Many observers said the trial was a pretext to keep Aung San Suu Kyi, secretary-general of the National League for Democracy, away from the planned general election next year.
Lessons from the previous election nearly 20 years ago taught the junta that Aung San Suu Kyi’s freedom is a grave danger to them. The military-backed National Unity Party won only 10 seats or about 2 per cent of the total 485 seats in the parliament while the NLD swallowed 392 seats in the 1990 election.
That is the reason why Aung San Suu Kyi has had to spend most of her time under house arrest since returning to her home country shortly before the 1988 uprising.
Her current term of house arrest since the bloodshed incident in May 2003 had already ended, on Wednesday 27 May, but Police Brigadier-General Myint Thein, head of the Police Special Branch said the term of Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest could be legally extended for another six months, from now until November 27.
According to the police, the authorities considered releasing her, until the May 4 incident when American John Yettaw swam across the Inya Lake to her residence and spent overnight there with Aung San Suu Kyi’s acknowledgement.
The junta charged her of breaching the authorities’ “Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts” by accommodating the American. If convicted she might be punished with a maximum five years’ imprisonment.
Asean and the international community needs to do more to get Aung San Suu Kyi released. Statements alone do not work. Even sanctions imposed by the US and EU did not seriously hurt the junta, since trade and investment from neighbouring countries like Thailand and China helped release the pressure.
http://www.asianewsnet.net/
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British PM Gordon Brown and celebrities in online plea for Suu Kyi
* May 29, 2009 – 8:31AM
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and celebrities including actor George Clooney have added their voices to an online petition to call for the freeing of Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
The “64 for Aung San Suu Kyi” campaign wants her 64th birthday on June 19 to be the last she spends under house arrest.
The campaign has been launched in Britain as Aung San Suu Kyi is on trial behind closed doors on charges of violating the conditions of her house arrest after a US man, John Yettaw, swam across a lake to her home.
It also comes as her supporters marked on Wednesday the 19th anniversary of the National League for Democracy election win which was annulled by the military regime, leading to party leader Aung San Suu Kyi being placed under house arrest in 2003.
Brown’s message, released by his office on Wednesday, says: “I add my voice to the growing chorus of those demanding your release. For too long the world has failed to act in the face of this intolerable injustice. That is now changing.
“The clamour for your release is growing across Europe, Asia, and the entire world. We must do all we can to make this birthday the last you spend without your freedom.”
The website also includes a letter signed by members of the “Not on Our Watch” campaign, including Clooney and U2 frontman Bono.
They say: “Nineteen years ago, the Burmese people chose Aung San Suu Kyi as their next leader.
“For most of those 19 years she has been kept under house arrest by the military junta that runs the country.
“We must not stand by as she is silenced again. Now is the time for the international community to speak with one voice: Free Aung San Suu Kyi.”
Her trial has sparked international outrage, with US President Barack Obama on Tuesday calling on Burma’s military rulers to “immediately and unconditionally” release her.
Aung San Suu Kyi told the trial judges on Tuesday she had not breached the terms of her house arrest, saying that she had only offered “temporary shelter” to Yettaw.
AFP
http://www.smh.com.au/world/
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Suu Kyi’s Party Says Myanmar Trial Verdict May Come in ‘Days’
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By Daniel Ten Kate and Michael Heath
May 28 (Bloomberg) — Members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party in Myanmar say they expect a verdict in her case within “days” as the regime seeks to wrap up a trial that may see her jailed for five years.
The court will allow only one of four defense witnesses to testify when the trial resumes today, said Nyo Ohn Myint, a Thailand-based spokesman for her National League for Democracy party. Opposition groups say the process is a charade aimed at keeping Suu Kyi in detention during next year’s election.
“The regime wants to end the trial as soon as possible because there are a lot of negatives for the military if it’s prolonged, as international concern is growing,” Nyo Ohn Myint said by telephone today after being briefed on the hearing. “A verdict could come very soon, maybe in the next few days.”
Pro-democracy activists say a guilty verdict is almost inevitable in a country where more than 2,000 political prisoners are held. The court yesterday refused to allow three defense witnesses to appear, including NLD Vice-Chairman Tin Oo, who was detained in 2003 and is Myanmar’s longest serving political prisoner, and senior party member Win Tin.
The court will allow lawyer Kyi Win to address it today.
“The defense wanted to call more witnesses but the judge advised that they only needed a few critical witnesses,” Nyo Ohn Myint said.
Suu Kyi, 63, is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest order by allowing an American intruder to stay for two days after he swam to her lakeside home in the former capital, Yangon, earlier this month.
Charges Denied
The Nobel Peace Prize winner is being tried in Yangon’s Insein prison. She denies the charges and says the regime is responsible for guarding her residence.
The case is “biased” as “no action is taken against those responsible for security,” Suu Kyi, said in a written statement to the court released yesterday by the NLD.
Yesterday was the anniversary of the NLD’s landslide victory in a 1990 election, a result rejected by the military.
It was also the sixth anniversary of Suu Kyi’s latest period of detention in the nation formerly known as Burma. She has spent a total of 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest or in prison.
Myanmar’s generals, the latest in a line of military rulers over almost 50 years, say Suu Kyi’s detention and trial are “in accordance with the normal practice in every state.”
The regime earlier this week “strongly rejected” a statement from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations calling on Myanmar to release Suu Kyi immediately. Myanmar is a member of the 10-nation bloc.
Asean chairman Thailand violated the bloc’s protocol and was “incorrect in facts,” the junta said in a statement published in the state-run New Light of Myanmar.
To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net; Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/
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May 28, 2009
TRIAL OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI
One defence witness only
YANGON (Myanmar) – THE sole defense witness was scheduled to appear Thursday at the trial of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for violating the terms of her house arrest, as the proceedings seemed to be nearing their end.
One of Suu Kyi’s lawyers, Nyan Win, said that all but one of her witnesses had been disqualified, making it likely that the verdict will come this week.
The American whose uninvited visit to Suu Kyi’s home triggered the case against her testified Wednesday that he was ’sent by God’ to make his nighttime swim to her compound earlier this month, according to Mr Nyan Win.
Ms Suu Kyi is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest by sheltering the visitor, John W. Yettaw of Falcon, Missouri.
If convicted, the 63-year-old Suu Kyi could be sentenced to five years in prison. Myanmar’s courts operate under the influence of the military and usually deal harshly with political dissidents.
The regime’s critics charge that the case against the Nobel Peace laureate was concocted to keep her detained during elections the government has planned for next year. She pleaded not guilty Friday.
Mr Nyan Win said Wednesday that only a legal expert, Mr Kyi Win, would be allowed to testify in her defense. Suu Kyi’s side is seeking to prove that her harbouring Yettaw did not constitute a violation of her house arrest and that it was the duty of government guards outside her property to prevent any intrusions.
The rejected witnesses were another lawyer and two senior members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party.
The court said legal procedure allows it to reject witnesses who are proposed ‘for the purpose of vexation or delay or for defeating the ends of justice.’
Mr Nyan Win told reporters it was unfair and inappropriate to reject witnesses in such an important case. He said the court had approved 23 prosecution witnesses, of whom 14 took the stand.
He said the court would hear Kyi Win’s testimony on Thursday and judgment ‘is likely’ to be made on Friday.
Two female party members who live with Ms Suu Kyi, and the 53-year-old Yettaw, face the same charge as Ms Suu Kyi and have also pleaded not guilty. — AP
http://www.straitstimes.com/
==============================
Burma rejects foreign criticism
By Jonathan Head
BBC South East Asia correspondent
People Demand Release of Aung San Suu Kyi in Japan on 25 May
Ms Suu Kyi’s trial has drawn international condemnation
The Burmese government has rejected foreign criticism of the charges against opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as interference from abroad.
Speaking at a meeting of EU and South East Asian ministers in Cambodia, the deputy foreign minister insisted that her trial was not a human rights issue.
US President Barack Obama has called Ms Suu Kyi’s hearing a show trial.
The regional group Asean recently warned Burma that its honour and credibility were at stake.
The trial entered its ninth day on Thursday, with more testimony from the American who swam to Ms Suu Kyi’s house.
‘Internal issue’
Faced with a barrage of criticism over their prosecution of the country’s most popular politician, the Burmese authorities have made small concessions – for example allowing journalists and diplomats to observe two days of the mainly closed trial.
But their determination to produce a guilty verdict against Aung San Suu Kyi has never been in doubt.
Now the military government has lashed back at its critics. “We don’t accept pressure and interference from abroad,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint.
“The case against Aung San Suu Kyi is an internal legal issue,” he said.
Ms Suu Kyi is being charged with violating house arrest regulations, because an American man who said he had been instructed by God to save her, managed to swim to her house across a lake.
She faces a prison sentence of between three and five years if found guilty, a near-certain outcome, according to diplomats in the country.
When that happens there will be more outrage from around the world, and probably plenty in Burma too, although that is unlikely to be expressed openly.
But Burma’s rulers will press grimly on with their plans for an election next year – an election in which the opposition will be allowed to play only a marginal role, if any.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
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May 28, 2009 12:12 PM
Trial Against Aung San Suu Kyi Has No Political Impact
YANGON, May 28 (Bernama) — Myanmar has said that the current trial against Aung San Suu Kyi has no political impact but is a matter of rule of law, according to a press statement of the Foreign Ministry carried in state media Thursday in response to that on Myanmar of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) issued on May 22.
Trial against Aung San Suu Kyi has been underway at a special court in Yangon’s Insein Prison on charge of breaching the authorities’ political “Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts” by accommodating an American man, John William Yettaw, and speaking to him who sneaked into her restricted house illegally for three days from May 3 to 5 when she was then under house arrest, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.
“Myanmar firmly accepts the affirmation by the members of the Security Council of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Myanmar and that the future of Myanmar lies in the hands of all of her people,” the Myanmar statement said, adding that “The government will, therefore, hold multi-party general election, 5th step of the roadmap, in 2010″.
Wednesday was the first day Aung San Suu Kyi was facing the ongoing legal trial involving the American after she was lifted on Tuesday five and a half years’ house arrest imposed on her out of 2003 Dabayin incident but still under detention due to the current legal case charged on her.
On Wednesday, Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed for the first time to meet her lawyers for an hour before the trial began on the day, according to the court sources.
Wednesday’s trial also covered that on Aung San Suu Kyi’s two female housemates — Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, and Yettaw, while among her four defendant witnesses, only one will be expected to appear for examination on Thursday, the ninth day of the trial.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s two maids and Yettaw were also charged with supporting her acts and moreover, Yettaw was separately charged with breaking immigration rules and Yangon Municipal Acts for swimming across the Inya Lake to enter Aung San Suu Kyi’s house.
– BERNAMA http://www.bernama.com/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
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Trial of Myanmar opposition leader nears end
AP
YANGON, Myanmar – The sole defense witness was scheduled to appear Thursday at the trial of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for violating the terms of her house arrest, as the proceedings seemed to be nearing their end.
One of Suu Kyi’s lawyers, Nyan Win, said that all but one of her witnesses had been disqualified, making it likely that the verdict will come this week.
The American whose uninvited visit to Suu Kyi’s home triggered the case against her testified Wednesday that he was “sent by God” to make his nighttime swim to her compound earlier this month, according to Nyan Win.
Suu Kyi is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest by sheltering the visitor, John W. Yettaw of Falcon, Missouri.
If convicted, the 63-year-old Suu Kyi could be sentenced to five years in prison. Myanmar’s courts operate under the influence of the military and usually deal harshly with political dissidents.
The regime’s critics charge that the case against the Nobel Peace laureate was concocted to keep her detained during elections the government has planned for next year. She pleaded not guilty Friday.
Nyan Win said Wednesday that only a legal expert, Kyi Win, would be allowed to testify in her defense. Suu Kyi’s side is seeking to prove that her harboring Yettaw did not constitute a violation of her house arrest and that it was the duty of government guards outside her property to prevent any intrusions.
The rejected witnesses were another lawyer and two senior members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party.
The court said legal procedure allows it to reject witnesses who are proposed “for the purpose of vexation or delay or for defeating the ends of justice.”
Nyan Win told reporters it was unfair and inappropriate to reject witnesses in such an important case. He said the court had approved 23 prosecution witnesses, of whom 14 took the stand.
He said the court would hear Kyi Win’s testimony on Thursday and judgment “is likely” to be made on Friday.
Two female party members who live with Suu Kyi, and the 53-year-old Yettaw, face the same charge as Suu Kyi and have also pleaded not guilty.
During three hours of prosecution questioning on Wednesday, Yettaw spoke repeatedly of his plan to warn Suu Kyi of his premonition that she would be killed, said Nyan Win, who added that he said he had been sent by God.
Yettaw, who also secretly visited the house late last year without meeting Suu Kyi, said he visited because “in his vision, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would be assassinated by terrorists and the terrorists would put the blame on the government. So he came to warn both the government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” according to Nyan Win. ‘Daw’ is a term of respect used for older women.
Many of Suu Kyi’s supporters have criticized Yettaw as a fool or dupe for getting her into trouble.
But Nyan Win said the democracy leader scolded people in the courtroom who mocked Yettaw for his testimony. Nyan Win declined to say who had mocked the American.
Nyan Win said the defense had nothing to ask Yettaw.
Suu Kyi acknowledges that she allowed him to stay for two days this month after he swam across a lake to enter her house and then said he was too tired and ill to leave immediately.
In a statement submitted to the court Tuesday, she said when Yettaw first tried to visit her house in November 2008 she reported the incident to authorities through her personal doctor, one of the few outside people she was permitted to meet, but that no action was taken.
Suu Kyi said she also intended to report the visit this month through the doctor, Tin Myo Win, but that he was not allowed into her house and was later held by authorities for more than a week. He has not appeared at the trial.
During less than half-an-hour of questioning by the judges on Tuesday, a pale and weak looking Suu Kyi insisted that she did not violate the law.
“This incident occurred because of a security breach (by authorities). However, until now no action has been taken on security,” Suu Kyi said in her statement, released Wednesday by her party.
Yettaw testified that security personnel observed him during both his visits to Suu Kyi’s house, said Nyan Win. He said a soldier pointed a gun at him on the first occasion, and a group of soldiers threw stones at him the second time, but in neither case did they try to stop him.
The trial has sparked intense criticism worldwide of Myanmar’s military regime, even among the country’s Asian neighbors that normally refrain from commenting on its internal affairs.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Suu Kyi’s party won a 1990 general election, but the military refused to honor the results. She has been in detention without trial for more than 13 of the past 19 years.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
=========================
Suu Kyi witnesses dismissed
Last updated 12:50 28/05/2009
SUU KYI TRIAL: Members of the National League for Democracy release birds as a gesture of freedom for their leader, during a ceremony marking the 19th anniversary of election victory, which the junta has never recognised.
photo
IN THE DOCK: Aung San Suu Kyi has been in detention, without trial, for more than 13 of the past 19 years.
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The court trying Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for violating the terms of her house arrest, has disqualified all but one witness in her defense.
Meanwhile, the American whose uninvited visit to her home triggered the case against her has testified that he was “sent by God” to make his night-time swim to sneak into her compound.
Suu Kyi is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest by sheltering the visitor, John W Yettaw of Falcon, Missouri.
If convicted, the 63-year-old Suu Kyi could be sentenced to five years in prison. Myanmar’s courts operate under the influence of the military and almost always deal harshly with political dissidents.
The regime’s critics charge that the case against the Nobel Peace laureate was concocted to keep her detained during elections the government has planned for next year. She pleaded not guilty Friday.
Her lawyer, Nyan Win, said only a legal expert, Kyi Win, would be allowed to testify in her defense.
Suu Kyi’s side is seeking to prove that her harbouring Yettaw did not constitute a violation and that it was the duty of government guards outside her property to prevent any intrusions.
The rejected witnesses were another lawyer and two senior members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party.
The court said legal procedure allows it to reject witnesses who are proposed “for the purpose of vexation or delay or for defeating the ends of justice.”
Nyan Win told reporters it was unfair and inappropriate to reject witnesses in such an important case. He said the court had approved 23 prosecution witnesses, of whom 14 had testified.
He said the court would hear Kyi Win’s testimony on Thursday and judgment “is likely” to be made on Friday.
Two female party members who live with Suu Kyi, and the 53-year-old Yettaw, face the same charge as Suu Kyi and have also pleaded not guilty.
AMERICAN INTRUDER
During three hours of prosecution questioning on Wednesday, Yettaw spoke repeatedly of his plan to warn Suu Kyi of his premonition that she would be killed, said Nyan Win, who added that he said he had been sent by God.
Yettaw, who also secretly visited the house late last year without meeting Suu Kyi, said he visited because “in his vision, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would be assassinated by terrorists and the terrorists would put the blame on the government. So he came to warn both the government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” according to Nyan Win.
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‘Daw’ is a term of respect used for older women.
Many of Suu Kyi’s supporters have criticised Yettaw as a fool or dupe for getting her into trouble.
But Nyan Win said the democracy leader scolded people in the courtroom who mocked Yettaw for his testimony.
“This is such despicable behavior. It is very rude,” she told her lawyers. She said Yettaw should not be laughed at, because “he was telling what he believes.” Nyan Win declined to say who had mocked the American.
Nyan Win said the defense had nothing to ask Yettaw.
Suu Kyi acknowledges that she allowed him to stay for two days this month after he swam across a lake to enter her house and then said he was too tired and ill to leave immediately.
In a statement submitted to the court Tuesday, she said when Yettaw first tried to visit her house in November 2008 she reported the incident to authorities through her personal doctor, one of the few outside people she was permitted to meet, but that no action was taken.
Suu Kyi said she also intended to report the visit this month through the doctor, Tin Myo Win, but that he was not allowed into her house and was later held by authorities for more than a week. He has not appeared at the trial.
During less than half-an-hour of questioning by the judges on Tuesday, a pale and weak looking Suu Kyi insisted that she did not violate the law.
“This incident occurred because of a security breach (by authorities). However, until now no action has been taken on security,” Suu Kyi said in her statement, released Wednesday by her party.
Yettaw claimed in his testimony that security personnel observed him during both his visits to Suu Kyi’s house, said Nyan Win. He said a soldier pointed a gun at him on the first occasion, and a group of soldiers threw stones at him the second time, but in neither case did they try to stop him.
The trial has sparked intense criticism worldwide of Myanmar’s military regime, even among the country’s Asian neighbors who normally refrain from commenting on its internal affairs.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry said Suu Kyi’s trial would have no political impact and that the elections would go ahead next year as planned, state television reported.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Suu Kyi’s party won a 1990 general election, but the military refused to honor the results. She has been in detention without trial for more than 13 of the past 19 years.
==============================
ASIA: Parliamentarians Turn Heat on Burma for Suu Kyi Trial
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, May 28 (IPS) – In a move reflecting growing anger towards Burma, parliamentarians from across Southeast Asia want the military-ruled country suspended from a 10-member regional bloc for the unjust treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s pro-democracy leader.
The comments made in Singapore’s legislature during the current parliamentary session offers a window onto the growing pressure that Burma, or Myanmar, is up against from the countries that belong to the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“There have been calls in Singapore’s parliament for Myanmar’s membership [in ASEAN] to be suspended,” says Charles Chong, who has been a legislator for 21 years in the ruling People’s Action Party. “This reflects a growing frustration with Myanmar.”
Chong personally feels that the 42-year-old regional bloc, which has just transformed itself into a rules-based entity, should even consider more punitive measures. “ASEAN should also consider doing more. We should not rule out targeted sanctions,” he said during a press conference this week in the Thai capital.
A fellow legislator from neighbouring Malaysia echoes Chong’s sentiments. “ASEAN should seriously consider the issue of sanctions,” says Lim Kit Siang, of Malaysia’s opposition Democratic Action Party.
Both lawmakers are members of a regional caucus of parliamentarians created in 2004 to lobby for political reform and democracy in military-ruled Burma. And the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) has not shied away from strong language as a means of applying pressure on the region’s governments to achieve concrete change within the pariah in their midst.
“AIPMC parliamentarians strongly call on ASEAN to stop protecting Myanmar’s regime and instead remove them from the grouping until and unless Aung San Suu Kyi is free and genuine efforts to begin national reconciliation are underway,” the caucus declared this week in a statement.
“The AIPMC further urges ASEAN member states to consider imposing targeted sanctions on the military regime generals, and its administration, should they still fail to respect the ASEAN Charter and continue to oppress its people,” it added.
AIPMC’s members come from parliaments in six ASEAN countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The other countries in the regional bloc are Brunei, under an absolute monarchy; Laos and Vietnam, ruled by communist regimes; and Burma.
The parliamentarians’ call to suspend Burma from ASEAN stems from the on-going trial that Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi has been subject to since May 18 in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison.
The regime has accused the 63-year-old opposition leader of violating the terms of her house arrest – now in its 13th year. If found guilty in this largely secret trial, Suu Kyi could be sentenced to a further five-year jail term.
The junta’s charge followed revelations of a bizarre tale involving a U.S. citizen who had entered Suu Kyi’s house on the banks of a lake in Burma’s former capital and stayed there for a few days as an uninvited guest earlier this month. John William Yettaw, the 53-year-old former Vietnam War veteran, had crept in by swimming across the lake.
Yettaw, a Mormon who had gone on this mission reportedly out of religious zeal, is also facing charges in the on-going trial. So are two female housekeepers of Suu Kyi.
The junta’s latest effort to oppress Suu Kyi is viewed by Burma watchers as an attempt to keep the widely popular pro-democracy icon from playing a pivotal role in a planned general election in 2010.
The junta has billed next year’s poll as a part of its “roadmap to democracy,” even though restrictive measures have already been put into place through a new constitution approved last year under questionable circumstances, including blatant reports of fraud.
It is of little wonder why such an attempt at political reform has failed to convince a growing number of concerned countries in the international community. Foreign ministers from Asia and Europe gathered Tuesday in Hanoi for the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) issued a statement that gave the Burmese junta little room to manoeuvre.
A joint press statement by ASEM members – which happen to include Burma – appealed to the junta to lift all restrictions placed on political parties, free Suu Kyi, and release the over 2,100 political prisoners languishing in the many jails that dot the country.
For its part, the U.S. government announced that it would extend the harsh economic sanctions Washington has imposed on Burma for another year. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also stepped into the fray, announcing plans to visit Burma, which has been under successive military regimes since a 1962 coup.
“The military regime is aware of the growing pressure and it is feeling the heat,” says Soe Aung, spokesman for the Forum for Democracy in Burma, a group of Burmese political activists living in exile. “And it is pressure of the regime’s own making, nobody else.”
“[This] has happened when the U.S. government was talking of reviewing its sanctions policy towards Burma,” Soe Aung added during an interview. “There is also a debate in the European Union about the sanctions… the European Union may strengthen its sanctions on Burma.”
(END/2009) http://www.ipsnews.net/news.
============================
BURMA’S CONDUCT
Asean Charter faces its first major crisis
By: THITINAN PONGSUDHIRAK
Published: 28/05/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Just as international sanctions have practically been exhausted to no avail, expressions and reactions of outrage from the international community appear to go nowhere in the face of Burma’s military dictatorship and its latest charade to keep Aung San Suu Kyi in confinement.
By subjecting Mrs Suu Kyi to yet another dubious criminal trial, Burma’s junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has shown yet again that its regime maintenance remains paramount in complete disregard for international norms and regional rules.
The SPDC’s latest charge against Mrs Suu Kyi smells typically fishy.
A lone intruder named John Yettaw swam a long distance to enter her lakefront residence uninvited while she was still under house arrest. Whatever was behind his motives and her willingness to allow his entry, the ultimate accountability for the intrusion should have rested on the authorities who supervised her house arrest.
That Mrs Suu Kyi has been put on trial in a prison compound for this murky misadventure to face another long period of incarceration defies common sense.
That her previous long spell under house arrest was due to expire around the same time raises widespread suspicions of the junta’s fabricated pretext to keep her locked up indefinitely.
As elections loom next year after a two-decade hiatus, the SPDC’s latest gambit to prevent Mrs Suu Kyi from playing a role as leader of the opposition National League for Democracy is all the more appalling.
Yet the SPDC under the leadership of Senior General Than Shwe has hardly sprung surprises over the years. It has repeatedly jailed thousands of political opponents, occasionally shot and killed an untold number of civilians who included Buddhist monks, presided over the impoverishment and systematic oppression of its own citizens, and privately pocketed the gains from Burma’s extractive industries under its control.
This is a heinous regime out of reach of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principles, enough only as a thorn in the side of the international community but not enough for regime change as has been the case where international terrorism posed a global threat.
The SPDC remains adept at playing off the major powers from near and far, and exploiting its place in Asean for maximum international legitimacy.
While not much has changed in the pariah state for nearly two decades since pro-democracy street protests led to elections won overwhelmingly by Mrs Suu Kyi’s NLD in 1990, what is new is Burma’s place in Asean’s ostensible regional community as enshrined in the just-implemented Asean Charter.
Burma is currently in flagrant and fundamental violation of the Asean Charter’s Section 7 of Article 1 on democracy, good governance and the rule of law and the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Failure to redress this violation will render the Charter a travesty of regional community objectives and dilute Asean’s relevance on the broader international stage.
Thailand, as the current Asean chair, has issued a strongly-worded rebuke for the SPDC’s dubious charge against Mrs Suu Kyi, calling for her release. US President Barack Obama has joined the growing chorus of international demands for her unconditional release from the great and the good of international society, including Nobel laureates and prominent international luminaries. But the SPDC has unsurprisingly shrugged off all such criticisms.
As far as the Asean Charter is concerned, the current round of Burma’s crisis represents the first major blow to Asean’s vaunted objectives of forging an integrated community by 2015 based on the three pillars of political-security, economic and socio-cultural. This lofty objective was already set for revision and postponement due to recent setbacks to the Asean-related summits.
Now with Mrs Suu Kyi’s seemingly imminent detention for another three to five years, the Asean Charter is in shambles.
To restore the grouping’s credibility, the more democratic members of Asean should undertake concrete punitive steps to redress the SPDC’s blatant violation of Charter provisions. These would have to extend beyond worded documents of concern and criticism to tangible measures that may have to include temporary suspension of Burma’s membership, lest the Charter would end up a global laughing stock.
Beyond Asean, the geopolitical equation that surrounds Burma may benefit from newly emerging dynamics. Fresh from a successful election that returned the incumbent Congress Party-led government to office, India may be in a position to transcend its short-term interests in favour of showcasing its solid democratic credentials.
China came out early to insist that Mrs Suu Kyi’s scandalous trial is for the Burmese people to decide, but it also may be more amendable to international pleas to apply pressure on the SPDC, an international role commensurate with Beijing’s global leadership aspirations.
Yet the ultimate change will have to come from inside Burma, and probably post-Than Shwe. Here, unlike geopolitical alignments and international pressure, continued engagement in small ways with civil society elements inside Burma, partaken by Burmese in the diaspora, is still the way ahead. Through sheer resilience and personification of the aspirations of her people, Mrs Suu Kyi has said time and again that a power-sharing arrangement with the junta through dialogue is always on the table. This option, which could be worked out through the elections next year, remains the best potential outcome for a workable transition from military to popular rule.
But it requires Mrs Suu Kyi to be released in order to play a role. Otherwise the election results will be illegitimate. The ball is in the SPDC’s court.
The writer is Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/
=======================
Smart steps towards reversing the legacy of Myanmar vote
NICOLE FRITZ
Published: 2009/05/28 06:39:26 AM
LAST week, Minister for International Relations and Co-operation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane condemned the trial of Myanmar’s Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, and called for her unconditional release.
LAST week, Minister for International Relations and Co-operation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane condemned the trial of Myanmar’s Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, and called for her unconditional release. Then this week, the minister’s deputy, Ebrahim Ebrahim, met the Myanmar ambassador to convey the government’s concern and mooted the idea of sending a delegation to facilitate negotiations between political parties.
Many will see in these actions a welcome change in SA’s policy towards Myanmar and will hope that this bodes well for the weight given human rights considerations in SA’s foreign policy formulation. No one need fear that such an approach will entail the diminishment of a long-time foreign policy objective – securing more equitable reform of multilateral institutions. In fact, contrary to what the previous administration implied, a more human rights- weighted foreign policy may best secure this objective.
Ever since SA cast its vote, together with China and Russia, in one of its first actions on the United Nations Security Council, to defeat a resolution condemning the situation in Myanmar, the government has been perceived as having protected the military junta and sold out its human rights commitments in foreign affairs. SA’s explanation that the security council was not the appropriate forum in which to determine these matters, that they were best decided in the human rights council, did little to silence the outcry. SA appeared to approach the Myanmar vote less as a time to debate how best to improve Myanmar’s human rights record and more as an opportunity to advance its agenda of more equitable global governance: promoting the human rights council as a more representative body than the security council but also thwarting the US and its double standards approach to the condemnation of human rights violations.
But it overplayed its hand here . SA would have known that the Chinese and Russian veto votes were sufficient to defeat the resolution, rendering its own negative vote meaningless but for a symbolic effect. It might simply have abstained from the vote, as did Indonesia. In casting a negative vote, SA implied, even on its own terms, that given a choice between condemning human rights violations and securing institutional reform, it would always choose the latter. That was a tactical blunder.
If SA is serious about leading reform of multilateral institutions and securing more equitable participation, it will have to build a constituency, not only among like-minded states but also among the populations of those large powers most likely to resist such efforts – populations of European and North American states. The sections of the population in countries such as France or the US most likely to care about greater equality in institutions such as the UN are exactly the same sections likely to care about human rights violations in Myanmar.
Moreover, if SA is to lead such efforts, it cannot afford to restrict its voice solely to a regional sphere. It needs to play a visible role in respect of situations warranting global concern when its voice carries weight. We’re unlikely to be much heeded on developments such as those in Pakistan, but the similarities of our histories make SA’s voice relevant to the situation in Myanmar. In carving out a leadership role for itself, SA also needs to be creative and take the initiative. It might have learnt better from the US’s role on the security council. Even knowing it would be defeated, the US forced a vote on the Myanmar resolution because it would require those opposing it to do so publicly and face the public fall-out.
SA might similarly have played offensive in respect of situations unlikely to earn the big powers’ reproof. It did not.
But the department’s approach of this week and last – involving creative proposals, and action and utterances conveying obvious protest – suggests that the legacy of SA’s Myanmar vote may now be clearly and cleverly reversed.
n Fritz is the director of the Southern Africa Litigation Centre.
http://www.businessday.co.za/
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