More protest marches break out in Burma
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what else can they do? its a civil war. the best they can do is to impose sanctions, and even that they have to consider the political implicationsOriginally posted by Croaking_Toad:It has started.... Have to see how good are bodies against bullets. It's a perverted state of affairs when the military takes action against it's own population.
ASEAN seems to have its hands tied, with its non-meddling-in-other's-affair policy. I managed to catch Malaysia's foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar's interview on tv. Felt like smacking the guy
WTH was this guy trying to say? No sanctions, no nothing, so what can he offer? Just hot air? Depending on how ASEAN handles the situation, the organisation may be viewed as a weakling.
Where's US in the picture anyway? Aren't they going to be the US-comes-to-save-the-day action hero? -
We do have UN interference in areas savaged by civil wars... eg: Africa.Maybe there's no economical value / benefits in upholding human rights / values in Myanmar?Originally posted by hisoka:what else can they do? its a civil war. the best they can do is to impose sanctions, and even that they have to consider the political implications
All these talks of condemnation and sanctions are more of a bark than bite to the junta..
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Myanmar tightens grip with mass arrests
1 hour, 6 minutes ago
YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar security forces raided a monastery and arrested at least 100 Buddhist monks on Thursday, tightening their grip after a violent crackdown on mass protests that left at least four people dead.
The country's ruling generals reasserted their control after a string of demonstrations led by the revered monks, whose presence helped bring as many as 100,000 people onto the streets to rally against the junta.
Witnesses said security forces stormed a monastery overnight in the eastern part of Yangon, the country's main city. Windows were smashed and bullet casings littered the ground, they said.
At least 100 monks were believed taken. Some who avoided arrest returned after daybreak, bleeding from wounds to their shaven heads. A few said they had got away by climbing into trees around the monastery.
Witnesses said a second monastery nearby was also raided, but there were no other details.
The raid came just hours after the regime, facing the biggest wave of public anger in 20 years, made good on its vow to end the demonstrations that have erupted in cities across this poor and isolated nation.
Defying calls from the international community to pull back its troops, police and security forces beat protesters and opened fire to halt the rolling wave of demonstrations in Yangon.
Two monks were beaten to death and a third was shot dead while wrestling with a soldier to try to take away his weapon, senior Myanmar officials told AFP. A fourth person was shot dead, a hospital source said.
It was the first time the generals have used violence since the protests began, although there was no mass crackdown like that in 1988, when at least 3,000 people were killed to put down demonstrations.
But the international community voiced outrage at the junta, who have ruled the nation formerly known as Burma in one form or another since 1962.
"France will not accept the gagging of Myanmar's opposition," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after meeting the head of Myanmar's self-proclaimed government in exile, Sein Win, in Paris.
The European Union and the United States said they were "deeply troubled" by the crackdown. The UN Security Council urged the junta to allow a UN envoy to visit.
There were several calls for China, Myanmar's main trading partner and chief ally, to use its influence with the secretive regime. China has publicly said it will not intervene but that it wants stability in the country.
Yangon and the second city Mandalay remain under a dusk-to-dawn curfew. Yangon's streets were deserted on Thursday morning, and commuter buses avoided passing by the site where Wednesday's clashes occurred.
Shop doors were closed, but inside people could be seen huddling around short-wave radios, hoping to catch some news from foreign media about the clampdown.
The unrest began last month when the junta drastically raised the price of fuel overnight. The move left many here unable to afford even transport to their jobs.
The initial protests -- rare enough in a country where the military quickly crushes any show of dissent -- began with only a handful of demonstrators.
But hundreds of people lined the streets to cheer them on. After the monks joined the movement, numbers swelled and around 100,000 people have marched in Yangon daily since Monday. -
interference will always have to be seriously considered and normally as a last alternative.Originally posted by linchiling:We do have UN interference in areas savaged by civil wars... eg: Africa.Maybe there's no economical value / benefits in upholding human rights / values in Myanmar?
All these talks of condemnation and sanctions are more of a bark than bite to the junta..
A simple reason for it. no politician wants other countries to interfere as and when they wish in their country's affairs.
of course benefits will have to be involved. no one does anything without a resulting benefit or prevention of loss of benefits -
The UN security council is incapable of passing any resolution so long as US and PRC, Russia don't see eye 2 eye nothing can be done.
So what is left will be ASEAN as a grouping shield the impact of PRC. I think at the end of the day ASEAN can help and it has to be carrot and stick.
make the reform now. -
Is this a civil war? It's more like an oppressed population lashing out at a junta which seized the country after its democratic processes were carried out. To annouce that the election results, in which Aung Sang Suu Kyi was elected, as nulled, is a matter of fact to impose an iron grip on the country, where the corrupted generals are getting richer by the day and the people, poorer.Originally posted by StarPuppy:This is a internal civil war...no other country should step in unless to offer diplomacy advice
I doubt a junta works with diplomacy. -
from a blogger inside burma
http://www.ko-htike.blogspot.com/
today.... 26/9/07 my duty time part is working on Emergency YGH... at about 2:00 pm 5 patients was coming to our Emergency ... for Gun Shot from Government militaries... 1 patients died on d spot on arriving Hospital... ( shot on Bladder ) 4 r still bad in Diagnosis... The patient's attendant said " the patient r not in d line of protest... they ( victims ) are just chatting and watching d protest line and sitting on Cafe Bar near Shawe Dagon Pagoda , some r pedestrians" when they watching....
Government military Car was crossing to d protest line and randomly shot all of them ... what the insanity and inhumanity of their mind don't they have self-mind.. that can desire to do or shouldn't do? don't they have Family? don't they have Brain? i was very sorry for victims ( pateints ) and victims' relatives really insanity , really inhumanity, really selfish to get holding their stupid military Government... really unintelligence .. how to manage the country like in this situation ... i always ready to support Protest Monks and People... and wanna treat whenever they get injuries ... and all my friends ... u also wanna see like that or not ....
This PROTEST is our chance to get improving our country among neighbours ... -
sign the petition
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/
Hello, I thought you should know about this:
Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the world. For decades the Burmese regime has fought off pressure--imprisoning elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and democracy activists, wiping out thousands of villages, imposing forced labour, creating refugees-
But last Tuesday Buddhist monks and nuns, revered in Burma, began marching and chanting prayers. The protests spread as hundreds of thousands of ordinary people and public figures joined in, finding the hope they’d lost. Now they’re facing crackdown – so please, show your solidarity to this movement towards reconciliation and democracy and sign the emergency petition supporting the Burmese people -- it'll be delivered to United Nations Security Council members and international media all week:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/tf.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK
In the past, Burma's military rulers have massacred the demonstrators and crushed democracy. The world must stand with the Burmese people at this time, to show the military rulers that the world will not tolerate repression and violence.
Right now, global leaders are gathering in New York for the annual United Nations summit. In speeches, press interviews but also in real actions, we need them to show Burma's military junta that the global community is willing to act in solidarity with the protesters.
Show your solidarity to this movement for peace and democracy and sign the emergency petition supporting the Burmese people. It'll be delivered to UN Security Council members and the UN press corps all week:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/tf.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK
Thank you for your help! -
Till today, the EU/US embargoes still stay as the Burmese military rulers have not improve itÂ’s human rights records or help curb drug trafficking in their country.
However some greedy companies in the region saw loopholes in the embargoes and violated it for economic gain.
One such company, the Chartered Industries Of Singapore, was reported by foreign media to have climbed onto the bandwagon - from initially supplying arms and ammunitions in the late 80s to building small arms factories later in the 90s.
The MFA stated that Singapore is ‘deeply troubled and concerned’ by reports that the demonstrations in Yangon have been suppressed by force. Shed crocodile tears over the plight of the peaceful protesters. Human rights issues has never been a priority in ASEAN. -
Business is business. All we care about are material gains. Ethics and morals? 2nd on the list (or lower)Originally posted by googoomuck:Till today, the EU/US embargoes still stay as the Burmese military rulers have not improve itÂ’s human rights records or help curb drug trafficking in their country.
However some greedy companies in the region saw loopholes in the embargoes and violated it for economic gain.
One such company, the Chartered Industries Of Singapore, was reported by foreign media to have climbed onto the bandwagon - from initially supplying arms and ammunitions in the late 80s to building small arms factories later in the 90s.
The MFA stated that Singapore is ‘deeply troubled and concerned’ by reports that the demonstrations in Yangon have been suppressed by force. Shed crocodile tears over the plight of the peaceful protesters. Human rights issues has never been a priority in ASEAN. -
Singapore regime is quite pragmatic when it comes to foreign policy.
Democracy, human rights etc, these are not the main motivations when cultivating ties with foreign countries.
Good example is the close ties between Singapore and Israel.
Israel is an aggressive regime that continues to occupy Palestinian territory and kill Palestinians yet Singapore regime does not care.
Even worse, Singapore usually parrots the USA regime's policies, which I find disgusting.
Singapore mainstream propaganda media also spreads a lot of pro-Israel, pro-USA propaganda.
This results in a lot of Singaporeans having a very distorted and naive view about USA and Israel. -
"Peaceful protest" always start peacefully.
But along the way, things always get a bit hetic.
Push will always come to shove.
And if the situation is not kept under control.
All hell will break lose.
The puppets are genuinely peaceful.
The puppet masters want some shooting.
For the world's media. -
The Junta is very smart.
Looking for the Burmese Junta? Sorry, It's Gone Into Hiding, by SETH MYDANS
Published: November 14, 2005
read more
note the location of new capital -
BurmaÂ’s junta generals may have already sent their families out of the country.
Apparently, they are frightened of the massive demonstrations occurring across 25 cities in the country.
According to one foreign media, the wife and other family members of BurmaÂ’s Junta leader Than Shwe are already in Singapore. -
Is their money in Singapore too.Originally posted by googoomuck:BurmaÂ’s junta generals may have already sent their families out of the country.
Apparently, they are frightened of the massive demonstrations occurring across 25 cities in the country.
According to one foreign media, the wife and other family members of BurmaÂ’s Junta leader Than Shwe are already in Singapore. -
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Singapore's govt has a very pragmatic view on money.Originally posted by mancha:Is their money in Singapore too.
There's no clean money. There's no dirty money. There's just money. -
Sorry, please don't infect the rest of ASEAN with our mentality.Originally posted by googoomuck:Singapore's govt has a very pragmatic view on money.
There's no clean money. There's no dirty money. There's just money. -
military junta only understand the language of force with their violent / fatal crackdown. Peaceful change got to wait 500 years maybe ! Their illgitimate power is obtained from the barrel of the guns afterall.
Because of livelihood these soldiers shoot at their own people?
Anyway the Thais military also had a bloody crackdown in 1973, 1577 Thais were killed junta fallen but wat happens today to Thailand. Nobody in Thailand is taking democracy for granted, u dun sustain u lose it.
Its the call of the Burmese, whether they want to be trampled under the mlitary regime of fear or they want the prosperity of the Thailand for the future generation. -
The military junta in Myanmar is implementing our P4P's ban on gathering of 5 or more people in Myanmar.
".....The Myanmar authorities issued on Tuesday night a curfew order, banning the gathering of more than five persons in the country's biggest city of Yangon, according to the Yangon Division Administrative Department...... "
Does this mean that before the recent protest, Myanmar was more democratic than Singapore?
Did our local media whitewash this information because they were afraid that the citizens will draw parallel between Singapore and Myanmar?
At least the military junta smart to implement our P4P's repressive laws. -
Archbishop of Yangon tear-gassed (Extra)
By DPA
Sep 27, 2007, 13:33 GMT
Yangon - The Catholic archbishop of Yangon was tear-gassed Thursday as Myanmar troops dispersed a mob of people outraged at the regime's mistreatment of Buddhist monks.
Archbishop Charles Bo, his eyes streaming, was forced to flee from Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon when troops guarding the access road to the temple fired tear gas on the crowds in an attempt to disperse them.
'I fear a bloodbath,' Bo told Deustche Presse-Agentur dpa at his nearby home.
'But the people welcome an escalation of the violence so the situation will turn into something similar to East Timor, when the United Nations had to intervene,' the archbishop said.
He added that he had urged his parish to join the protests that have shook Yangon, Myanmar's former capital, since September 18.
The initially peaceful protests were kicked off by marching monks, who chanted mantras as they walked the streets to draw government attention to the county's growing economic woes, exacerbated by a surprise doubling of fuel prices last month.
After allowing the monks to march for a week, unmolested, Myanmar's ruling junta cracked down on the movement Wednesday by barricading the city's two most popular pagodas and beating the monks back with batons and tear gas.
Security personnel raided Buddhist monasteries before dawn Thursday, rounding up an estimated 100 monks and leaving one senior abbot badly beaten.
The crackdown on the Buddhist clergy has outraged many laymen, who took to the streets Thursday while the monks stayed in their temples.
Clashes between people and troops were reported throughout the city Thursday, drawing gunfire and tear gas from the troops that claimed an unknown number of casualties including two foreigners, believed to be photo-journalists.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/news/printer_1360335.php -
Wah .. even Catholics also join in?Originally posted by LazerLordz:Archbishop of Yangon tear-gassed (Extra)
By DPA
He added that he had urged his parish to join the protests that have shook Yangon, Myanmar's former capital, since September 18.