HUMAN RIGHTS-BURMA:

KANGAROO COURT IN BURMA:

The following story and appeal for solidarity is from the Asian Human Rights Commission.

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BURMA: Thirteen people wrongly convicted over alleged illegal organization:
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-002-2009

15 January 2009

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BURMA: Thirteen people wrongly convicted over alleged illegal organization

ISSUES: Rule of law; rights to liberty and security; military government; judicial system; illegal detention; freedom of expression.

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NEW WEBPAGE NEW WEBPAGE NEW WEBPAGE

DEFEND RIGHTS OF LAWYERS IN BURMA

http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/burma-lawyers/

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received detailed information on the case of 13 people who have been imprisoned for supposedly having set up and participated in an illegal organization that was involved in the September 2007 protests against the government in Burma. The group have been convicted even though a like charge against another 22 persons involved in the same activities was withdrawn from the court, and although a number of them in fact had no involvement in the alleged group. Furthermore, the group was never formally established in a manner envisaged in the law under which they were convicted.

CASE DETAILS:

The 13 people accused in this latest case arising from the massive anti-government protests in Burma during 2007 all, according to the police and government prosecutor, formed or participated in an illegal organisation that was formed among former student activists released from jail in 2005. According to the prosecution, the 88 Generation Students failed to apply to the appropriate ministry to get approval to operate the group.

In fact, originally 35 people were charged over this offence and two more after they were apprehended in October 2008. But at the end of October and in November this charge against the other accused was dropped, leaving only the 13 in this case. It is not clear why the charge against the others was withdrawn but not against this 13 because the allegations and evidence in each were the same. (To see some of their photos: Nobel Aye, Ko Ko Gyi, Lay Lay Mon, San San Tin, Thaw Zin Htun, Zaw Htet Ko Ko)

In court, the evidence of organisation activities that the prosecution presented was that the members had participated in religious and cultural events, and had marched on the road after the government suddenly multiplied fuel prices in August 2007. To the first, nothing presented showed anything other than any other people in Burma do, to get together to attend religious ceremonies and other important events. To the second, again there was nothing to constitute an offence under the law under which the group has been charged. Overall, the evidence and testimonies presented by both sides in court confirmed that there was no attempt among the group to establish an organisation with officers, a budget, articles of association, or other features.

Also, a number of the accused weren't involved in any of the activities described before the court in relation to the alleged organisation at all. The third accused, Chit Ko Lin did not participate in the religious and cultural or other events of the alleged organisation described before the court and only gave water, medicines and other small forms of support to the monks who marched in September 2007. Also, Tharaihpi Theint Theint Htun and Aye Thida (defendants 9 and 10) had merely typed some complaint letters (on corruption and other matters) to the state leadership as a part of their livelihood and for an income, and on an understanding that the state is now encouraging the making of such complaints.

Notwithstanding, the court found all of the accused guilty and sentenced them, together with three charges per person of upsetting public tranquillity, to nine to 11 years imprisonment.

There are grave concerns for the health and wellbeing of these detainees and others like them being kept in prisons in Burma, especially given that for the last few years the International Committee of the Red Cross has been unable to access inmates there. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The AHRC has been documenting cases of illegal arrest, detention and prosecution since the nationwide protests in Burma during September 2007 and a year after those events its sister organisation issued a special report, "Saffron Revolution imprisoned, law denied" (article 2, vol. 7, no. 3) detailing many of these cases. Since then, it has issued appeals on a number of other cases and made related statements at a time that a very large number of these cases were disposed of through the courts, including blogger Nay Phone Latt (AHRC-UAU-070-2008), monk U Gambira and ten others (AHRC-UAC-248-2008), political activist Daw Win Mya Mya and four others (AHRC-UAC-246-2008), Zaw Min, charged with sending news abroad (AHRC-UAC-223-2008) and the related case of comedian Zarganar (AHRC-UAU-061-2008).

Meanwhile, lawyers representing many of these persons have been prevented from doing their jobs and have themselves been imprisoned, including two who have been jailed for contempt of court, U Aung Thein and U Khin Maung Shein, whose case the AHRC has highlighted in a new campaign page: http://campaigns.ahrchk.net/burma-lawyers/

See also the comprehensive report on Burma: "Burma, political psychosis and legal dementia" issued by the AHRC’s sister organisation and the 2008 AHRC Human Rights Report chapter on Burma.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the persons listed below to call for the charges against the 13 persons to be reviewed and for them to be released without delay. Please note that for the purpose of the letter, the country should be referred to by its official title of Myanmar, rather than Burma.

Please be informed that the AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Myanmar and independence of judges and lawyers as well as the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, the UN Working Group on arbitrary detention and the regional human rights office for Southeast Asia, calling for interventions into this case.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

MYANMAR: Thirteen people wrongly convicted over alleged illegal organization

Accused persons:

1. Ko Ko Gyi (a.k.a. Thein Than Htun)

2. Zaw Htet Ko Ko

3. Chit Ko Lin

4. Thaw Zin Htun (a.k.a. Ko Thaw, Asheikyi)

5. Aung Kyi (a.k.a. Aung Htaik Soe)

6. Myat Than

7. Saw Myo Min Hlaing (a.k.a. James)

8. Nwet Hnin Yi (a.k.a. Noh Noh)

9. Tharahpi Theint Theint Htun

10. Aye Thida

11. San San Tin

12. Lay Lay Mon

13. Hnin May Aung (a.k.a. Nobel Aye)

Primary officials involved:

1. Police Lieutenant Colonel Zaw Min Aung

2. Police Major Hla Myint, Special Branch

3. Police Lieutenant Colonel Than Htun

4. Inspector Soe Naing

5. Inspector Soe Lwin

6. Inspector Kyaw Than (Investigation Officer)

Charge and trial:

Charged under sections 6 (defendants 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13) and 7 (defendants 4, 5, 6, 7, 11) of the Organization Act No. 6/88 with forming or participating in an illegal organization, and three counts per person under section 505(b) of the Penal Code with upsetting public tranquillity, Felony Case No. 52/2008; Yangon Southern District Court, Judges U Htay Win (Chairman), District Judge and U Win Myint, Deputy District Judge, presiding

I regret to have to inform you of another 13 persons in Myanmar wrongly accused and imprisoned over the turmoil of September 2007 and I am appealing to you for an immediate review of their case and release.

According to what I have learned, the 13 had according to the police and government prosecutor formed or participated in an illegal organisation, the 88 Generation Students, which was formed among former student activists released from jail in 2005. The prosecution alleged that they had not obtained approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs under section 3 of the Organisation Law 6/88 for this group and that the group was engaged in attempting to "instigate, incite, abet or commit acts that may in any way disrupt law and order, peace and tranquility, or safe and secure communications" in violation of the law.

In fact, originally 35 people were charged over this offence and two more after they were apprehended in October 2008. But at the end of October and in November this charge against the other accused was dropped under section 494(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code, leaving only the 13 in this case. It is not clear to me why the charge against the others was withdrawn but not against this 13 because the allegations and evidence in each were the same.

In court, the evidence of organisation activities that the prosecution presented was that the members had participated in religious and cultural events, and had marched on the road after the government suddenly multiplied fuel prices in August 2007. To the first, nothing presented showed anything other than any other people in Burma do, to get together to attend religious ceremonies and other important events. To the second, again there was nothing to constitute an offence under the law under which the group has been charged. Overall, the evidence and testimonies presented by both sides in court confirmed that there was no attempt among the group to establish an organisation with officers, a budget, articles of association, or other features.

Also, a number of the accused weren't involved in any of the activities described before the court in relation to the alleged organisation at all. The third accused, Chit Ko Lin did not participate in the religious and cultural or other events of the alleged organisation described before the court and only gave water, medicines and other small forms of support to the monks who marched in September 2007. Also, Tharaihpi Theint Theint Htun and Aye Thida (defendants 9 and 10) had merely typed some complaint letters (on corruption and other matters) to the state leadership as a part of their livelihood and for an income, and on an understanding that the state is now encouraging the making of such complaints.

Notwithstanding, the court found all of the accused guilty and sentenced them, together with three charges per person under section 505(b) of the Penal Code to five years plus two years for each of the three counts to 11 years each for defendants 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13 and three years plus two years for each of three counts under section 505(b), totalling nine years for defendants 4, 5, 6, 7 and 11.

In view of the withdrawal of the charges against others involved in the alleged group and other patent flaws in this case, I call for the Minister of Home Affairs and the Attorney General and other concerned officials to review it promptly with a view to seeing the 13 persons released without delay.

Finally, I take this opportunity to remind the Government of Myanmar of the need to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross access to places of detention and not least of all, access to those persons and forcibly disrobed monks and nuns who have been held in violation of criminal procedure and without charge or trial since September 2007.

Yours sincerely

--- PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Maj-Gen. Maung Oo

Minister for Home Affairs

Ministry of Home Affairs

Office No. 10

Naypyitaw MYANMAR

Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663

Fax: +95 67 412 439

2. Lt-Gen. Thein Sein

Prime Minister

c/o Ministry of Defence

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR Tel: + 95 1 372 681

Fax: + 95 1 652 624

3. U Aung Toe

Chief Justice

Office of the Supreme Court

Office No. 24

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: + 95 67 404 080/ 071/ 078/ 067 or + 95 1 372 145

Fax: + 95 67 404 059

4. U Aye Maung

Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General

Office No. 25

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: +95 67 404 088/ 090/ 092/ 094/ 097

Fax: +95 67 404 146/ 106

5. Brig-Gen. Khin Yi

Director General

Myanmar Police Force

Ministry of Home Affairs

Office No. 10

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663

Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia )

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR:

COUNTING THE TOLL:

Here's an interesting item that Molly recently discovered on the AFL-CIO Blog. It's a story on the International Trade Union Confederation's Annual Survey of violations of Trade Union Rights. The article below concentrates on the murders of trade unions in the year 2007, but the report itself hardly restricts itself to this most grievous of employer crimes. Well worth looking at.

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91 Trade Unionists Murdered in 2007:

by James Parks, Dec 1, 2008
A total of 91 trade unionists were murdered for fighting for workers’ rights worldwide in 2007, according to the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC’s) Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights, released late last month.

Colombia, where 39 union members were killed in 2007, again tops the list of most dangerous countries to be a union member. While there was a slight reduction in killings in Colombia compared with the previous year, ITUC says many attempts to kill Colombian unionists failed, and there was a notable increase in forced removals, arbitrary arrests, illegal raids and threats, especially in agriculture, health and education.

In Guinea, 30 unionists were murdered. ITUC says the regime of President Lansana Conte was directly responsible for the killing of 30 unionists during the brutal repression of union-organized public demonstrations against corruption and violations of fundamental rights.
The survey also noted a disturbing increase in violence in Guatemala as trade unions were increasingly targeted, with four unionists murdered and a worsening climate of threats and harassment.

ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder says:

"Repression of legitimate trade union activities…continued unabated in every continent. Murder, violence and torture, along with harassment, dismissal and imprisonment, were all used to stop working people organising unions and bargaining collectively for decent pay and working conditions. Several governments were only too ready to openly or covertly support unscrupulous employers who deny fundamental rights to their employees.

Governments have failed to do enough to protect workers’ rights, either at home or in their international diplomatic, economic and trade relations. "

The survey also singled out the United States and Australia among industrialized nations for restricting workers’ freedom to form unions, citing court decisions in Australia and the Bush National Labor Relations Board rulings in this country.

Several disturbing trends emerged in the survey, which covers worker rights violations in 138 countries. Among those: collusion between some governments and employers to deprive workers of their legitimate rights to union membership and representation. Serious and systematic harassment and intimidation was reported in 63 countries.

Seventy-three unionists were sent to prison in 2007, including 40 in Iran, where systematic suppression of workers organizing in transportation and education continued. Fourteen unionists were jailed in Morocco and seven in Burma, where the junta targeted union activists as part of its brutal crackdown on any moves for democracy and human rights.

In Africa, employers in several countries used lax labor laws to encourage splits in trade unions and create employer-controlled groups to replace independent trade unions. Conditions were especially bad in Zimbabwe and Swaziland, which also appeared on a list of countries where Chinese-owned and -funded projects were cited for poor working conditions and exploitation of the workforce.

In the Middle East and Asia:
**Saudi employers beat four female Indonesian domestic workers so badly that two died, and police forcibly removed the other two from the hospital.
**Two trade unionists, one of whom was abducted and tortured, were killed due to their union activities in Iraq.
**Murders of trade unionists were once again reported in Cambodia and the Philippines.

BURMA:

THE EYE IN THE SKY THAT WATCHES THE BURMESE JUNTA:

One of the sidebars to the recent events in Burma was the news that the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) had been able to use satellite imaging to document some of the ongoing human rights abuses in that country. This was carried out by the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program in association with various organizations concerned about human rights in Burma. Satellite images were provided by two private firms, GeoEye Inc. and DigitalGlobe. The Science and Human Rights program has previously used such technology to document government atrocities in Zimbabwe and Darfur. This data analysis focused on the eastern regions of Burma where the military has had a longstanding genocidal policy of attempting to clear the area of various ethnic minorities. The AAAS found substantial evidence of village destruction, military activities, forced relocation and refugee migration to neighbouring Thailand. Read THIS PRESS RELEASE for the full story as well as a link to the full (17Mb-shudder) report in pdf format. There are also links to previous reports on Darfur and Zimbabwe.

It is at least a small comfort that satellite technology means that it has become harder and harder for governments to hide their atrocities.

CANADA/BURMA:

HARPER GOVERNMENT TWO-FACED ON BURMESE DICTATORSHIP:

As Molly has posted previously on this page there is substantial Canadian investment in the country of Burma, investment that helps to prop up the dictatorship ruling there. The Harper Index has recently published an article about the "actions" of the Harper government and how little they match the resolution that was passed in Parliament back in 2005. Back in 2004 and 2005 the Bloc Quebecois obtained the support of the then opposition Conservatives for a motion calling for far more concrete actions than have been taken so far by Canada. Nowadays this motion contrasts with the largely rhetorical response of the Conservatives to the present repression in Burma. What is missing are concrete actions such as:

*provide tangible support to the legitimate authorities in Burma, specifically the government in exile.

*impose more comprehensive economic measures on Burma.

*bring pressure to bear on the United nations Secretary General and the international community to bring the military junta to negotiate a peaceful transition towards democracy

*call upon the authorities in Burma to include the National League for Democracy (NLD) and other political parties.

In a speech at a rally on Parliament Hill Tin Maung Htoo of the Canadian Friends of Burma said that he was "very,very disappointed in the government of Canada. such statements have been made since 1988 at the time of the first uprising in Burma, but we haven't seen any concrete action against Burma".

Htoo called on the Canadian government to expel Myanmar's mission from Ottawa. Others are organizing to continue the pressure on the Burmese junta. One is web activist Alex Bookbinder who has organized a Facebook group that has attracted over 300,000 visitors. The group is devoted to promoting further solidarity actions across the world. For more information go to Facebook and search on "support the monks' protest in Burma".

To read the complete article at the Harper Index go to http://www.harperindex.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00101

BURMA:

MORE ON THE CANADIAN CORPORATE CONNECTIONS:

It seems like no regime. no matter how vile, is without its legions of business associates willing to make a quick buck from human misery. The junta in Burma is no different. Molly has come upon a site that has the most up-to-date listing of foreign corporations doing business with the Burmese dictatorship. The Global Unions site has a list entitled 'Companies Linked With Burma'. This lists 427 companies as of October 10th. The list is searchable by country, and many Canadian corporations are listed. What is missing is the most recently discovered offender, 'Power Corp', based in Quebec and linked to the political elite of all three major federal parties. The story was broken by the Sun Media network, and the details can be seen HERE. So far Power Corp has refused to respond to the allegations about its Burmese connections.

The Global Unions site above, by the way, has contact information for the corporations involved if you wish to send protest letters. As another by the way Eugene Plawiuk has blogged extensively on the situation in Burma. See his Le Revue Gauche blog. How extensively you may ask ? Molly tried to print out one of his posts on the matter. She set it up and went on to other things. Looking at the printout she noticed in a panic that the page said "page 3 of 131". Stop, stop, stop. very good to read, but watch out on printing out the full details. Still...an obviously invaluable source of information.

BURMA:

CANADIAN COMPLICITY WITH THE BURMESE JUNTA:

Burma is rich in natural resources even though its people are poor, living as they do under a brutal kleptocracy whose official ideology 'Burmese Socialism' is an example of degenerate Maoism under military control. The junta, however, lives on the complicity of international business. International observers may not have been able to enter the country to access the effects of the 2001 tsunami, but "development' agents from many international corporations are more than welcome to take advantage of Burma's "socialist" slave labour regime.

Let's open with a statement from the Canadian Labour Congress via its president Ken Georgetti, on the recent events and Canadian government policy:

"The people of Burma need our vocal and active solidarity. If the demonstrations were triggered by a rise in fuel prices that has left this oil-importing nation devastated, they mostly express a collective frustration with the junta's continued refusal to respond to the cares of its own people.

Over the last eighteen years the Canadian Labour Congress has worked closely with our colleagues from the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma and the National Coalition of the Union of Burma, particularly regarding the use of forced labour. We have called for an end to this criminal policy. With the generous support of a number of our affiliated unions, we have supported FTUB activities inside Burma in the border areas and have been involved with union training on human and workers' rights issues.

The military junta has made Burma the only country ever to be expelled from the International Labour Organization because of its responsibility in the ongoing use of forced labour, a practice that the ILO equates to a crime against humanity. indeed the military has closed and isolated the country with complete disregard for no less than twenty eight UN General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights resolutions calling for national reconciliation and an end to the crisis.

In Canada, Parliament unanimously passed a motion in May 2005 in support of comprehensive economic measures against the military regime. The government has not gone beyond statements discouraging Canadians from doing business there.

While the Canadian Labour Congress acknowledges what has been done in parliament and the steps taken by the government, we much deplore the lack of rigour in preventing the continuous presence in Burma of a number of high-profile Canadian corporations. Their activities there only feed the military regime and aggravate the people's poverty.

There is urgency for strong voices on the side of the people in Burma. Today, as Canadians, we must call for peace and democracy in Burma if we want to remain credible when we make the same call anywhere else."

Despite previous Canadian parliamentary resolutions calling on Canadian business to cease trading with the junta many Canadian corporations continue to deal with the murderers in the junta and help to prop them up. It is not impossible for public pressure to prevent such support from flowing to the junta. In the past few years Sears Canada and the Hudson Bay Corporation have been forced to cease sourcing materials from Burma. Yet far too many Canadian corporations continue to help prop up the regime. The most prominent is Ivanhoe Mines Limited, incorporated in the Yukon for tax and incentive purposes. A visit to their website will show the reader that they claim to have divested themselves of their holdings in Burma, but the reality is merely that they have turned their investments over to the sort of "third party trust" that a politician does when elected to (wink,wink,nudge,nudge) make it seem that they are disinterested. Read the fine print. Ivanhoe Mines is the largest foreign mining corporation active in Burma. Their operations have been implicated in numerous human rights violations. In addition to Ivanhoe Mines here is a Molly list of other Canadian corporations active in Burma despite the pronouncements of our government:

*Aeroground Group services

*Cavern International Industries

*East Asia Gold Corporation

*First Dynasty Mines

*International Bio-Recovery

*Leeward capital Corp

*Marshall Macklin Monaghan

*Northrock Resources

*Prime Resources Management

*Suzuki Canada

Those who wish to question Ivanhoe Mines can access their corporate website above. Molly will try to give the addresses for protest letters for the other corporate actors later.

BURMA:

SECOND DAY OF GLOBAL DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST REPRESSION:

As the Burmese military junta continues its vicious crackdown on democratic dissent in that country supporters of the Burmese people worldwide continue to demonstrate demanding an end to the attacks on the protesters, a release of all political prisoners and for the UN to take strong action now. This Saturday, October 6th, Amnesty International and other organization such as the Australian Confederation of Trade Unions. will be organizing protests across the world. To see what has been planned so far go to http://web.amnesty.org/pages/mmr-011007-news-eng#demo . Amnesty has also started an email protest to the government of Burma for the same demands. You can see this and join at http://web.amnesty.org/pages/mmr-270907-action-eng

BURMA NOTES:

BURMA:

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES:

A few more notes on the events in Burma and international solidarity with its people:

ONLINE PETITION IN SUPPORT OF BURMESE PEOPLE:

The Building and Woodworkers' International Union has launched an online petition in support of the struggle for democracy in Burma. To read details and join this campaign go to http://www.bwint.org/default.asp?Index=1111&Language=EN .

SIGNS OF DISSENT IN BURMESE MILITARY:

The Mizzima News, a magazine on Burmese-related news, reports that Rangoon Commander Major General Hla Htay Win was "permitted to retire" as of yesterday. He reportedly was reluctant to issue orders to shoot to kill against demonstrators, as are possibly several other commanders. The Burmese strongman General Than Shwe blamed the shooting of a Japanese journalist in Rangoon on General Win, and obviously hopes to make this man a scapegoat. To read more about this go to http://www.mizzima.com/MizzimaNews/News/2007/Oct/Oct-1-2007.html

COUNTING THE DEAD:

Various groups are trying to pierce Burma's veil of secrecy to ascertain the death toll in the recent military crackdown. So far the authorities acknowledge only 9 dead demonstrators and the murdered Japanese journalist who was shot by troops in Rangoon. Unofficial sources put the toll far higher. The conservative estimate by one organization, 'The Democratic Voice of Burma' gives a toll of 138, all with the names of victims. This is almost certain to be accurate as far as it goes. Other sources report deaths in the hundreds, including reports of massacres of over 100 people at a time. The 'Democratic Voice of Burma' has received reports of prisoners being burnt alive at the Yae Way cemetery crematorium on the outskirts of Rangoon. What is certain is that at least several thousand people, monks and others, are now being held in various centres across the country. To read more about attempts to estimate the toll go to http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-myanmar-dead-missing,0,1324999.story .

BURMA:

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES:

POSSIBLE GENERAL STRIKE:

As previously reported here on Molly's Blog while the Burmese military rulers have achieved at least part of their goals by preventing large demonstrations in Rangoon (Yangun) people in that city are resorting to "guerrilla demonstrations" made up of small numbers of people who melt away when confronted by the soldiers and reappear at different places. An article in MSNBC gives more information on this. Their reporter managed to get through to Rangoon by a long distance phone call to a veteran of Burma's pro-democracy movement. In addition to this the opposition is apparently making plans for a hoped for general strike. A steering committee to coordinate this action which the the opposition hopes will be joined by civil servants and technical personnel has been formed. Demonstrations also continue in places outside of the larger cities. The article cited in the link above also mentions that some of the opposition are hoping that a split may be developing between the high ranking rulers of the junta and middle and lower level officers who resent both the regimes corruption and its use of force. This sort of split is crucial if the movement for democracy in Burma is ever to succeed. For more on these recent developments see the link above.

BURMA:

ANTI-REGIME PROTESTS CONTINUE IN BURMA:

If you read or listen only to the mass media in article such as this you may be under the impression that the recent uprising of the people of Burma has already been thoroughly crushed by the military rulers. Protests in Rangoon (Yangon) have indeed diminished as the military exercises brutal repression against anyone foolhardy enough to confront them and moves to restrict the monks who have been leading the most recent protests to their monasteries. Yet protests continue in other cities and outlying areas. If you believe mass media reports such as the one linked above then you would think that the Burmese people have surrendered to despair and have taken refuge in a fantasy of American intervention. The reporters for the Associated Press based in neighbouring Bangkok, Thailand actually managed to find 3rd or 4th hand "quote", transmitted by rumour, to back up their assertions. Yet, in the same country in which they are based there is a website/magazine run by Burmese exiles that continues to provide up to date information of what is actually happening within Burma.

The Irrawaddy magazine/website is run by exiled Burmese from a base in Thailand. It continues to transmit news despite cyber attacks from the Burmese government. According to what they report from day to day the protests are still continuing, and there are signs of weakness in Burma's military junta. How far this will go is still anybody's guess, but it is far cry from what the American media have tried to portray. Perhaps there is indeed a few demented souls in Burma, enough to count on the fingers of one hand, who believe that their only hope is some white knight riding to the rescue from that pure and is interested country, the USA. Hardly anybody outside of the USA believes such nonsense, and only a minority within the USA believe it.

The Irrawaddy came under cyber attack from persons unknown, undoubtedly connected to the military rulers, who flooded their original site with viruses. They have established a backup site at http://irrawaddymedia.com . Molly actually has to tell a story here in connection with the reliability of the mass media. I had more than a little trouble finding this site because I began from references in the mass media who referred to the site with a DOT.ORG tag. Stop and ponder for a minute. These "news" organizations have hundreds of employees, some of which are supposed to be "fact checkers". They "check" what they publish so "thoroughly" that they can't even catch web connections that don't work. Molly is one person who works a 60 hour week at other matters. These people are supposed to have verification as their real and true job. If they can't catch simple mistakes how reliable are they in terms of other "news" that may be pure and simple fantasy, written on a napkin at a bar in Bangkok ?

In other news the Burmese junta has engaged in an act of what can only be described as pure and simple childish malevolence. They have stopped or restricted the delivery of UN food aid to half a million people, many of them children. This is an act of petty spite, probably connected to the arrival of the UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari in the country today. The envoy was whisked from Rangoon to the military's new "show capital" at the remote town/fortress of Naypitaw soon after he arrived. It's more than possible that the willingness of the military to let their own people starve is a show of force to the UN.

Also in other news the internet within Burma came on briefly for a few hours today despite the military's blackout. The window of opportunity lasted only a few hours. hard to say what happened there. Sabotage from dissident members of the military ? Simple incompetence ? Who knows.

In addition to the Irrawaddymedia.com site that Molly mentioned, which has apparently received 22 million hits in the last two weeks, here are a few more sources for information from Burma and the international solidarity movement with its people.

Burma Forum Canada

http://www.burmaforum.org

Canadian Friends of Burma

http://www.cfob.org (has information on solidarity actions in Canada)

Federation of Trade Unions-Burma

http://www.ftub.org

Prospect Burma

http://www.prospectburma.org (student oriented)

See also the links provided here on Molly's Blog a few days ago when I last blogged on this subject .

BURMA:

WATCHING BURMA:

ANOTHER SOURCE OF INFORMATION:

As mentioned on Molly's Blog the other day the protests in Burma are ongoing, and the military is beginning to move against the people. The online labour solidarity site Labour Start has an extensive online coverage of the events as they unfold as well as the international response to the government's actions. The emphasis is on union rights and the actions of Burma's workers, but other up to date information is also included. To follow the story tune in the the Labour Start page on Burma at:

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/shiw_news.pl?country=Burma

WATCHING BURMA:

ANTI-REGIME PROTESTS GROW AND SPREAD:

The latest news from Burma, renamed in their own version of political correctness as 'Myanmar' by the brutal military ruling class of that country, is that ongoing protest have continued to grow in size and spread to many other cities in the country. The latest round of demonstrations actually began back in August, but it is only recently that it has become headline news. The trigger for the protest was plan by the ruling junta to double fuel prices, and the initiators were the country's Buddhist monks. Both the actors and the issues have grown considerably since the beginning of these events, and what will happen next is anybody's guess. There have been numerous other protests against the junta in the decades that they have held power, some of them even mass movements like the present one. All have been suppressed. Some Burmese dissidents suggest that the death toll from the military's actions over the years may have been in the hundreds of thousands. For those interested in following these developments closer than the mass media does Molly suggests the following sources:

1)Burma News

2)Burma Digest (has good photos of the demonstrations)

3)Burma-Net

4)Burma Underground (mostly about ethnic minorities in Burma)

A FEW RANDOM MOLLY NOTES ON THESE EVENTS:

*When a hollow regime does collapse there is always some "trigger", sometimes great and sometimes small. This may be as large as a defeat in a foreign war. This has happened often enough in history. It may be as small as a minor change in government regulations that finally touches the majority of the population enough to make them rebel. These triggers come more or less at random and attempts by would be revolutionaries to hasten "regime change" in their absence are harmless busywork at best. At their worst, as with individual terrorism, they prolong the life of the regime in question by both increasing its public support and by "waking up the snake" and provoking it to act against much more serious forces of opposition than the terrorists.

*A regime is likely to be most successfully challenged where there is a sphere of civil society outside of the control of the state where opposition can be more or less freely organized. In recent years this has often been religious in nature. Poland, the Philippines and now Burma come to mind. Actions on the part of the state to eliminate this free public sphere are dangerous because they may provoke the sort of "trigger" discussed above. The state is thus forced to tolerate its mortal enemy within its territory. The actions of the Chinese government today to try and eliminate the Falong Gong cult are evidence of a ruling class that recognizes such a danger and hopes to eliminate it before it becomes so powerful that it has to be tolerated. Such independent public spheres don't have to be religious in nature, but in most countries it is the churches/religions that have a base of public support to begin with that makes them difficult to challenge in their early growth. If independent public spheres do not exist there is NO magical shortcut to bring about regime change short of depending upon a "revolution from above" such as what happened in the ex-Soviet Union when it fell apart. No amount of "militance" will substitute for a mass movement, and the larger and more firmly established the movement is before a "final confrontation"the more likely it is that the end result will be an improvement for the majority of the population that carry out such a "revolution without revolutionaries". The overriding goal of any movement for social change should be to build such independent social spheres- not to engage in spectacular actions.

*"Revolution From Above" is always a possibility as a regime becomes more desperate and less popular. Such "revolutions" are most likely to result in merely superficial changes that better the life of the average person hardly at all- except where they open the field for developing an independent civil society. The sort of divisions and hesitations that lead to such events are, however, a necessary condition for "revolution from below". No regime will fall until it becomes rotten enough so that at least a minority of its soldiers, police, guards,etc are willing to desert. This has to be thoroughly understood,and any actions by so-called "militants" which only serve to increase the solidarity of the armed force opposing the people should be thoroughly discouraged by more sensible opponents of the regime. The Burmese military ruling class have been challenged repeatedly, often by mass movements, over the last few decades, but they kept on soldiering. Whether the present movement wins or loses will depend upon whether the regime is rotten enough so that the soldiers become unreliable. Sensible ruling classes-China, the USA, Cuba are examples- try their best to make at least their military into a closed subculture isolated from the general population. They can hardly ever succeed in doing this 100%. The degree to which they succeed is the degree to which their regime is safe from any change short of that imposed by foreign troops.

*The Burmese people have chosen the path of non-violent resistance. This is a sensible and logical choice. Their strength is not in the number of guns that they can bring onto the street-always a minuscule part of 1 percent of what the military can bring to bear. Their strength is political and emotional. They hope to make the ruling class waver and their armed forces hesitate. Nobody knows better than people in Burma that "all ruling classes will fight violently to keep their position". That's a given. Such truisms are used by the decadent remains of the "New" Left in the USA and those under their influence in other western countries to justify whatever stupid and counterproductive wild schemes they may have to try and bypass the long and hard work of organizing "within the people". Burmese people know this truism far better than any leftist militants do, far, far, far better. But they draw sensible conclusions from this fact. To fight on their own terrain with tactics that have at least a chance of success. perhaps this is because they actually want to win rather than to "prove themselves". everybody should fight to win and not to show off.