Under the watchful eye of the regime's security services, Zimbabweans Friday voted in a single-candidate presidential "runoff" that will almost certainly extend Robert Mugabe's rule until 2014. Despite reports of a low turnout, the decision by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to withdraw last Sunday makes Mugabe's victory inevitable. In Zimbabwe, presidential terms last six years, so by the time he faces reelection again, Mugabe will be 90 and will have ruled his country for 34 years. Nevertheless, expectations are that after six more years of hyper-inflation, mass unemployment and brutal repression, the President will be in better shape than his country.

This month, the United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization listed Zimbabwe as one of four countries (the others being Lesotho, Swaziland and Somalia) worst affected by the world food crisis. Relief agencies say close to half the resident population now supplement their diets with food aid and, with an economy that has collapsed, there is little hope of improvement. Running parallel to Zimbabwe's worsening humanitarian crisis in the coming years will be a deepening political one, analysts predict. Pretoria-based Zimbabwe expert Chris Maroleng, of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, describes the three months since the first round of voting on March 29 — in which Tsvangirai came out ahead, but without the outright majority that would have ruled out a runoff — as a creeping military coup. The army, police and government-sponsored militias have fanned out across the country, killing, beating and displacing opposition supporters, wresting control of the media, electoral bodies and the judiciary and refusing to cede power even if the second vote were to somehow go against Mugabe.

That campaign of state intimidation will continue in the months ahead, says Maroleng. "After the poll, we will see a consolidation of the military junta's control of the organs of state. They have seized the state, and now they will want to stamp out any opposition to their rule." Facing a future of worsening poverty and harassment, millions more Zimbabweans are expected to flee their homeland. An estimated fifth to a quarter of the original population of 13 million are now refugees.

The world will express outrage at Zimbabweans' fate, and likely draw up stringent economic and diplomatic sanctions. But neither is likely to save Zimbabweans from their government — and that is proof of the end of an era. In 1999, the U.N. launched successful military interventions to stem bloodshed in Kosovo, East Timor and Sierra Leone. That was in keeping with a declaration the year before by then U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan hailing a "new century of human rights." "No government has the right to hide behind national sovereignty in order to violate the human rights or fundamental freedoms of its peoples," he proclaimed. This collective world "responsibility to protect," as Annan's vision came to be known, fitted the mood of the age.

But several things happened since that have forced a retreat from those heady days: the U.S. war on terror gave intervention a bad name by associating it with big-power unilateralism; the crises got bigger — genocide in Darfur, famine in North Korea, a cyclone in Burma. Global competition also worked against global unity: China, for instance, blocked U.N. Security Council action against Sudan over Darfur to protect is oil concessions. Zimbabwe may have repugnant rulers, but it also has a consistent and grateful ally in South African President Thabo Mbeki and his fight against Western hegemony. Additionally, Harare has the world's second largest deposits of platinum, which assists its friendship with China. Kofi Annan's "responsibility to protect" was always a daring and ambitious idea. Six more years for Mugabe suggests it might also be as alive as Zimbabwean democracy.

source:TIME

Dr Win Naing said the argument broke out while prison officials were conductinf a search of Su Su Nway's belongings in her cell.

"They said the search was a regular procedure in the prison every month after detainees have received items sent in by their families so that they can seize things that are prohibited by prison regulations," he said.

"They criticised Su Su Nway for not keeping her things tidy in the cell and she argued with them. Then they put her in solitary confinement."

Dr Win Naing said it was wrong for prison officials to treat Su Su Nway like a criminal when she had not yet been sentenced for any crime.

"But now in Burma, it is becoming common for prison officials to treat detainees rudely as if they were all criminals," the NLD member said.

"Some of them really don't know such treatment towards the detainees is not according to the law," he said.

"But some are doing it knowing it's not right."

Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet

 source:DVB

This year's VBS program is markedly different from previous years - we've had several recent refugees, generally with minimal English skills, who have started coming. Plus, a number of these kids new to the country are Muslim or Buddhist. It's made for some interesting dynamics, but these families have been the best at inviting their friends, even though we make sure their parents know that we're a Christian church. Until today, though, I wasn't too sure how well our non-English speakers recognized the difference between our faith and theirs.

One of the shots for the slideshow involved a group of kids on their knees, hands together, as if they were praying. I had a few kids get together and drop to their knees, but when I showed them how to fold their hands, one of our Muslim Burmese kids wouldn't do it. Not knowing how to tell me "no", she just gave a shy little shake of her head. I wasn't sure if she understood what I meant, so I showed her again and gestured for her to do it. This time she shook her head very adamantly. She knew.

I kept her in the picture, with everyone else around her seemingly in prayer. Afterwards, I put her in another significantly less religious shot by herself, to make sure she knew I still liked her and wanted her photo.

I'm sad that she had to make that stand against that kind of Christian symbolism, but it makes me glad that she realizes the importance of staying true to her faith. I can only hope when I have kids, that when they're 10 they'll be able to set clear boundaries, even when surrounded by a bunch of people who's language they can't even speak.

I was very proud of my friend today.

Nowhere Man Lennon/McCartney

He's a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobodyDoesn't have a point of view
knows not where he's going to

Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man please listen
You don't know what you're missing
Nowhere man, The world is at your command

He's as blind as he can be
Just sees what he wants to see
Nowhere man, can you see me at all
Nowhere man don't worry
Take your time, don't hurry
Leave it all till somebody else
Lends you a hand
Ah, la, la, la, la

Doesn't have a point of view
knows not where he's going to
Isn't he a bit like you and me?
Nowhere man please listen
You don't know what you're missing
Nowhere man, The world is at your command
Ah, la, la, la, la

He's a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody

Since Tuesday’s incident at the USDA office in Shwe Pyi Thar Township in the northern outskirts of Rangoon—in which no one was killed—military authorities have increased nighttime patrols in army trucks and have set up checkpoints around the city, as well as urging the public through state-run media to remain alert and to report any suspicious activity, said the sources.

Source

Ludu Sein Win, a close friend and colleague of U Win Tin, paid tribute to his friend’s integrity and commitment.

"I want to see him freed as he is my co-worker and he is like a brother to me. Also, prison life is not suitable for someone of his age," Ludu Sein Win said.

"He is a man with high moral values – he has never in his life looked for personal gain. He devoted his whole life to his country and to journalism," he said.

"There has been no one else as good and as clever as him in his lifetime. I'm only worried that I will never see him alive again."

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association issued a statement last week urging the military regime to release U Win Tin to allow him to seek medical treatment.

"The government, which has a responsibility to protect the life of its citizens, should now release him," the groups said.

"He should be moved to a hospital as soon as possible."

U Win Tin was born on 12 March 1931 in Kyo Pin Hout township, Bago division, to U Tu and Daw Ahmar, and is the nephew of Bo Min Khaung, one of the 30 comrades.

After graduating from Rangoon University, he was sent to Amsterdam as a scholar as part of a Burmese encyclopedia project.

In October 1969 U Win Tin became chief editor of Mandalay’s Hantharwaddy newspaper, and was jailed when the newspaper was shut down by the government.

He was jailed again by the State Law and Order Restoration Council in 1989, and has been sentenced to three, ten and seven years’ imprisonment by successive secret tribunals held inside Insein prison.

He has suffered heart problems during his time in prison, and underwent a hernia operation earlier this year.

He is currently having difficulties eating and sleeping due to lung problems and severe asthma attacks.

U Win Tin has been the recipient of press freedom awards from UNESCO in 2001 and from Reporters Without Borders in 2006.

souurce:DVB

Background History

U Nu born in Born in the Irrawaddy Delta town of Wakema on 25 May 1907 (and passed away in 14 February 1995) was the first Prime Minister of Union of Burma according to the 1047 Constitution from 4 January 1948 to 12 June 1956, again from 28 February 1957 to 28 October 1958 and finally from 4 April 1960 to 2 March 1962. He had to deal with armed rebellion from various groups, especially the communist factions including certain regiments in the Army.

U Nu's democracy

U Nu voluntarily relinquished the Prime Ministerial position in 1956 for one year from June 1956 to June 1957. He put AFPFL member U Ba Swe as PM. Even U Nu's temporary transfer of Prime Minister-ship to U Ba Swe and touring of the country to reorganize his party and meeting the grassroots people to campaign and to clean up his party was a great show of democracy. One of the reasons U Nu had given was that if he stayed as the PM while touring the country, there might be conflict of interest in his use of the government vehicles and expenses. His declaration that he did not wish to be seen as corrupted in that way could shame the present day great ASEAN Democracy leaders who regularly use the government budget for many of the election campaigns. They even bribe the electorate with the gifts of development and promise of projects. 

Burmese famous journalist U Thaung remarked_

"In 1948, when Burma was freed, 56 newspapers of many kinds leaped up, all battling for development of democratic principles in the new republic. In the earlier time of independent Burma, the people were so united behind the party that brought freedom to them, that there was no large opposition crowd in the parliament. At that time, the "golden age" in the 1950s, the Burmese newspapers constructively played the role of "loyal opposition" to the government by sharply analyzing and questioning the official policies and activities. As the result of a loyal free press, Burma became a union, successful in economic, political and social fields."  

Although under U Nu's democracy some of the opposition politicians were occasionally arrested with the "Poke Ma Nga" Emergency Act, they all were put into the special B class prisons. No need to work, but to enjoy good food, health care, newspapers, books and radios inside the prison. They were allowed to meet families, given exercise facilities and allowed to even write books.

Economy dreams of U Nu

During the Korean war, the prices of rice shoot up and as Burma was the major exporter of rice, Burma got the windfall foreign-exchange earnings and U Nu had even attempted to create a Welfare State.

In 1952 U Nu promised Pyidawtha Plan  _ One day every family would own a house and an automobile and have good average minimum income.

In August of 1952 he also convened the Pyidawtha (Happy Land) Conference at which further elements of the proposed welfare state were announced. Also announced was an eight-year plan for industrial development. And a five-year plan for agricultural development.

Populist U Nu

In October of 1948 the Burmese legislature passed the Land Nationalization Act and U Nu asserted that co-operative farming was the ultimate objective of this legislation. Already, before independence, land rents were limited through the Rent Standardization Act of 1947. The Land Nationalization Act of 1948 allowed the State to take possession of all land that was not being tilled by the owner. But this was at that time a popular step because approximately two-thirds of the rice land was owned by non-resident landlords many of whom were Indian money lenders who acquired the land through foreclosure for debts owed by Burmese farmers. The Land Nationalization Act limited the size of land holdings to 50 acres.

As a devout Buddhist in a majority Buddhist country, U Nu was also popular also in spiritual aspects of his country. He had the Kaba Aye (World Peace) pagoda and the Maha Pasana Guha (Great Cave) built in 1952 in preparation for the Sixth Buddhist Synod that he convened and hosted in 1954-1956 as prime minister.

U Nu's Neutrality

In the mid-1950s, U Nu together with other democratically elected regional leaders like Indian Prime Minister Nehru and Indonesian President Sukarno, co-founded the Movement of Non-Aligned States, a loose association of nations that accepted aid but refused alliance with either the Western bloc of nations led by the United States or the Communist bloc led by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Not a Utopian Dream

So there really was democracy in the Union of Burma, albeit short-lived. And so our struggle for the restoration of Democracy is not just a daydream of a distant utopia. As the saying goes_ if there is a will, there is a way.

Monday, July 7,2008

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Der amerikanische Journalist Michael Yon wollte nach Myanmar um zu berichten, wie das Regime das Land nach dem verheerenden Sturm vor die Hunde gehen lässt. Zwar wurde ihm die Einreise verweigert, doch einem weiteren Amerikaner gelang die heimliche Reise. Mit dem Boot fuhr er über den Fluss Irrawaddy in die verwüsteten Gebiete und machte Bilder von der Zerstörung und den Leichen, die nicht begraben werden können.

Der Anblick der verwesenden Leichen ist geradeheraus abstoßend. Überraschend kommt es nicht, dass die Militärdiktatur ein Protégé Rotchinas ist, das sich schon durch die Unterstützung des Genozids in Darfur hervortut und auch sonst für alles Barbarische zu haben ist.

There has been a significant escalation in fighting between units of Burma’s State Peace and Development Council and soldiers of the KNLA opposite the northern Thailand province of Tak.

Source

Two months after a cyclone savaged the fertile Irrawaddy Delta, in Burma's southwest, the bones of drowning victims still clutter the muddy banks of waterways.

One bamboo stick at a time, survivors in hundreds of flattened villages are struggling to rebuild their lives. For shelter, they squeeze several families into a single tent. For drinking water, they collect monsoon rains that trickle off tarpaulin roof coverings into buckets or salvaged ceramic vases. For food, they cook communal meals with rice, beans and oil from handouts. Sometimes it is spoiled.

On a recent visit, one village looked as if it had been carpet-bombed, a cratered landscape of muddy pools, debris and the remains of water buffaloes. A few hundred feet away, villagers sawed and hammered at planks salvaged from the wreckage. A teenage boy in an oversize shirt donated by a Buddhist monastery picked through piles of smashed wood.

More:

Sunday, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), leader Morgan Tsvangirai called a press conference in his home in Harare's central suburbs and announced that his party was pulling out of the presidential run-off scheduled for Friday.

He said the incidents of violence and murder against his supporters were so widespread, that he had to do something. Tsvangirai said,"It would be irresponsible to ask people to vote when voting could cost them their lives."

In the week preceding this announcement, the city had become numbed by the ongoing violence and ruling party Zanu-PF's brand of aggressive campaigning.

Whole constituencies comfortably won in the 29 March poll were being overrun by Zanu-PF's youth militias. Mob rule reigned in the townships. Those affiliated with the opposition - elected MPs, councillors, organising secretaries, activists - were being systematically targeted.

Sources inside estimate the body count at between 70 and 85 and it's feared this will become much higher as Mugabe's thugs go about consolidating their gains. Individuals were brazenly dragged from their homes in broad daylight and murdered by Mugabe's youth gangs. In order to ram home the message, this was usually done in front of their families and neighbours.

No one was surprised Sunday when, at the government-approved opposition rally, hundreds of Zanu-PF youth militia showed up at the appointed location to pre-empt the MDC demo. Backing them up and already in occupation of part of the allocated area, police riot squads in full fighting gear. The cancellation of the rally did nothing to pacify the Zanu-PF gangs. It seemed to inflame them and they turned their fury on anyone in the centre of the city. Beneath a pall of tear gas, the thugs beat people, stoned cars and forced property, seemingly allowed free rein with police by standing for almost an hour

Mr Tsvangirai listed many reasons for his decision, not the least being that his campaign has been frustrated at every turn, with zero access to the state broadcaster, his only means to speak to the country.

Here's where the generals and their denial of media access to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi come to mind. It's almost as if the old tyrant has adopted the generals of Burma as mentors. Like them, he's managed to make Zimbabwe a pariah nation while showing zero regard for international opinion. including that of the African Union and UN.

Mr Tsvangirai said three-quarters of the country is no longer accessible to its election agents and campaigners, "war veterans" having set up bases and roadblocks which make it impossible for anyone from the opposition to move freely and 200,000 people displaced amid appalling levels of violence.

The decision has shocked and saddened many MDC supporters but it's slowly sinking in that it was the right call. Although if the violence continues despite the MDC having conceded the election, it will be difficult for Tsvangirai to control his militants.

The Burma parallel surfaced about a decade ago, when it became obvious government mismanagement had Zimbabwe going from being a food producer to a food importer. Mugabe's reaction was to Implement the Land Reform Act, ratcheting up the speed and level of violence with which white owned farms were occupied and their owners drive off or killed.

Compensation was just another word for nothing left to lose.

The disaster really took hold during the "redistribution" phase, with the best bits going to Zanu supporters, irrespective of their farming skills As many were earmarked for veterans of the civil war, large prosperous operations were turned over to folk whose only farming experience was burning and looting them.

In this phase, the country went from food importer to food beggar and inflation was in the thousands of percent. Mugabe showed his true colour is 2004 when, as the country faced its third straight year of crop failures amid agricultural mayhem, a coalition of white farmers offered to manage the seized properties until they could train black Zimbabweans to properly take over.

Mugabe branded this a plot to retake their property by the white elite, backed by Britain and the US, and briefly imprisoned the spokesmen.

As in Burma, at this point we're looking at a leader complicit in the impoverishment of his own people as a means of asserting control. Another way of doing that is to nullify the opposition and the parallels are getting scary. When the generals dared call an election and had their asses handed to them by Aung San Suu Kyi's democratic party, they announced the elections had been rigged, arrested the top rank of the party and placed Kyi under house arrest, where she still remains.

Tsvangirai's situation could get as dire very soon. There are doubts the government would allow him to leave at this point, and the five times he's been arrested before signals his lot isn't about to get any easier.

At press time, unconfirmed reports say Tsvangirai has already gone into hiding and Mugabe is spinning that by saying Tsvangirai's decision not to participate in the election, he's the one who is denying Zimbabweans their democratic rights. In an ominous sign, there has been no statement from the group of foreign observers in Zimbabwe to report on the fairness of the election.

Nor has the African Union, including South Africa's Mbeki, the closest thing Mugabe has to a friend, shown any inclination to put the heat on Mugabe.

It seems that strictly as a side effect, the crisis in Zimbabwe is forcing the African Union to check itself out in that process may lie the key to turning off Mugabe.

- Lenny Stoute