UN Passes Strong Resolution on Burma Human Rights Abuses

The UN General Assembly in session in New York. (Photo: AFP)

Thursday, December 25, 2008
By SAW YAN NAING
Irrawady

The UN General Assembly has adopted by a vote of nearly four to one a resolution calling on Burma to free all political prisoners, including detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and criticizing the human rights record of the Burmese regime.

The resolution, which addressed the issue of human rights in Burma, was carried on Wednesday by 80 votes to 25, with 45 abstentions.

It urged the Burmese government to halt arrests of political activists and expressed concern about incidents of torture and sexual abuse and the crackdown on peaceful protesters in September 2007.

The resolution also voiced concern over the process of the junta’s so-called “seven-step roadmap” toward democracy, including the planned general election, noting the failure of the regime to include other political parties, members of Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, and representatives of ethnic political organizations.

An unnamed Burmese UN representative later rejected the resolution and accused the UN Assembly of "blatant interference" in his country’s internal political affairs. He said that although Burma would not feel bound by the resolution it would nevertheless continue to cooperate with the UN and the Secretary-General’s good offices.

The Burmese representative maintained that his country had made major political strides and was now in the process of democratization by carrying out the so-called seven-step roadmap.

Four of Burma’s Asean partners—Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand—abstained in Wednesday’s vote, while Cambodia was not present. Brunei Darussalam, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam joined China, India and Russia, together with countries ranging from Algeria to Zimbabwe, in voting against the resolution.

Burma’s top diplomat at the UN, Kyaw Tint Swe, said in a recent confidential report to his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that international pressure on Burma would increase within the UN Security Council, particularly from Western members. The envoy said Western influence within the Security Council would increase when Japan and Uganda replace Indonesia and South Africa in January.

Japan voted in favor of the resolution on Wednesday, while Uganda was not present for the vote.

In late November, Burmese junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe said in the state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar that the seven-step roadmap is the only way to smooth the transition toward democratic reform in Burma.

The fifth stage of the seven-step roadmap will be the general election, scheduled for 2010.

According to human rights groups, Burma has more than 2,100 political prisoners. About 215 political activists were sentenced last month to prison terms of up to 68 years.

The Saffron Bloggers Strike Back [- A lesson for Cambodian and Khmer Krom Monks, and for all pro-democracy Cambodians]

Wednesday, October 3, 2007
By Joshua Hill
Canada Free Press

“Everything is bloggable” - Superman, a blogger from inside Burma

For the past two months or so we’ve watched with a sort of horrified fascination as the country of Myanmar (Burma) has deteriorated into a mess of bloody and fatal riots, and an oppression of its people akin to the horror stories from countries like North Korea and Cambodia.

The catalyst was the dramatic increase in the prices of everyday goods and fuel, with fuel jumping sometimes a massive 100%.

This led to the veteran democracy advocates of the country to once again make their voices known. They were soon followed by the saffron clothed Buddhist monks of the country, who in their tens of thousands marched on the nation’s military.

But as The Times have opined, there is a “third pillar” to this attempted revolution that is only now being recognized, but one that is indicative of the society in which we all now live.

Five bloggers—known only as Ko Latt, Arca, Eye, Sun and Superman-- have for the past year or so blogged from within their country. With the breach of peace though, they saw the chance to do more. As Superman said, “Everything is bloggable.”

So armed with digital cameras, and internet geekery fit to keep them one step ahead of the government, they set about showing the world what was happening. With the aid of internet applications helping them combat slow internet speeds and an intrusive government, they were able to upload their photos and video footage, along with their words, to the World Wide Web for the rest of the planet to witness.

In the span of a day or so, their blog hits soared from 100 a day to 1,000. They became the eyes and ears for the world, in a country where few reporters dare to tread, and only a few are known to be working undercover.

The country of Myanmar is not a ripe place for freedom of the press. A blogger who posted a photo she had taken of a protest found herself soon arrested, and her computer seized. And sadly, last Thursday, Kenji Nagai, a Japanese photographer, was shot dead.

“When things were hot on the streets, we were not the main worry,” Ko Latt says. “But as the situation cools down, they will follow us. They know who we are, they know we are bloggers, and I am afraid.”

The bloggers themselves have been halted, despite their best attempts, by a reaction from the government akin to taking a two-by-four to a spider. The ruling junta--the State Peace and Development Council--turned off the internet in Myanmar. Now, unless a website is hosted within the country of Myanmar, everything is off; that includes everything from Google to Amazon. By simply turning off the central line in to the country, the government has been able to effectively stop any unauthorized information leaking out.

So now the five intrepid bloggers who kept the world in the loop are now on the run. They are sleeping in a different location every night, and waiting to see whether the democratic movement has been crushed, or simply put on the back burner.

Myanmar has essentially been thrown back in to the digital version of the Stone Age, with no access to anything outside their own country. Let us hope that, when everything settles down, these five young geeks, typical in every sense of the word geek, manage to survive.