Pro-junta rally camoflages arrests

The ruling junta organized a rally in support of itself yesterday according to Reuters;

Burma’s junta staged a massive pro-government rally in its main city yesterday and arrested a top dissident as its relentless and ruthless response to last month’s pro-democracy uprising showed no signs of easing.

Htay Kywe, a prominent student activist from an uprising in 1988, was detained overnight with three others in one of the many raids still being conducted by police more than two weeks after soldiers were sent in to crush demonstrations.

The 39-year-old, a leading light in the so-called “88 Generation Students Group,” had managed to remain at large since 13 of his comrades were arrested in a series of midnight swoops on Aug. 21.

“They had felt the net closing in for several days,” a close friend, now in exile, said in Bangkok, the capital of neighboring Thailand.

But not to worry, the UN’s envoy is enroute to coordinate a local response, according to another Reuters story;

U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari was flying into Bangkok ahead of Monday talks with Thailand’s leaders. He was then to travel to Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China and Japan before returning to Myanmar, where the junta faces growing pressure to halt its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters and open talks with the democratic opposition.

And the junta is very receptive to discussions with pro-democracy elements within the country as evidenced by this quote;

“There will emerge a peaceful, modern and developed democratic nation — according to the state’s seven-step road map,” a newspaper editorial said. It added that citizens “who are shouting at full-blast” for U.N. intervention were traitors “trying to hand over their motherland to alien countries.”

“Such national traitors will soon meet their tragic ends,” the editorial said.

Sounds like they’re caving, huh? Well, as long as there’s nothing to threaten China’s commerce in the area, what do the members of the junta have to fear with China and Russia running a screen play for them in the Security Council. I guess no one’s going to complain about President Bush’s unilateral actions against Burma are they?

The junta has restored internet access, but you can be sure that it’s not without a monitoring system in place;

“The Internet connection was restored on Saturday afternoon, but we still haven’t decided whether or not to reopen our internet cafe yet,” a Yangon Internet cafe owner said.

There had been intermittent access to the Internet over the past week, mostly during a curfew first imposed as the junta sent the army in to end protests led by thousands of Buddhist monks.

They’re still rounding up dissidents;

Security forces on Saturday arrested four prominent political activists who went into hiding to escape a government manhunt after leading some of the first major marches against the government several weeks ago, Amnesty International said.

Among those detained was one of Myanmar’s most famous dissidents, Htay Kywe. Others arrested were Aung Htoo and Thin Thin Aye, also known as Mie Mie.

The three were believed to be the last remaining activists at large from the 88 Generation Students’ Group — the country’s boldest dissident group — which was at the forefront of a 1988 democracy uprising and one of the main forces behind the protests that started in August.

A fourth activist, Ko Ko, was also arrested, the London-based rights group said. All four were believed to have been rounded up in Yangon, the country’s main city.

Gateway Pundit posted the shooting of a Burmese boy on Friday. Cheap Flights Asia blog reports that a London-based insurer has pulled coverage from Myanmar International Airways – the Burmese airline – effectively grounding flights from Burma. Agam’s Gecko posted a video of a multi-faith show of support for the Burmese people in northern Thailand. Five-Year.com has al-Jazeera video of interviews with Burmese dissidents in Thailand.

Pseudonymity reports that the Butcher of Depayin (from the 2003 uprising in Burma) has died. Warrior Lawyer writes that without an internal uprising among the Burmese military, the movement is probably doomed without international pressure.

Spanish Pundit reports that Burmese have been tortured to death;

Members of the 88 Generation Students and other detainees who have been arrested by authorities are now being tortured in Insein interrogation center and other detention facilities.Some have been tortured to death and others have been hospitalized in serious condition, according to sources.
A source close to authorities in Insein prison told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that many prisoners are tortured and some are now hospitalized in serious condition, including Min Ko Naing, a prominent student leader. The source requested anonymity for his safety. 

She also writes that India, North Korea, China and Russia are still selling weapons to the Myanmar Junta.

But it’ll end at any minute, now – the UN has issued an extremely tepid condemnation;

“Amnesty International believes that these high-profile opposition figures are at grave risk of torture and mistreatment,” said Daniel Alberman, an Amnesty spokesman. “The eyes of the world are on Myanmar, and the authorities will be judged by how all those who have been detained in recent weeks are treated.”

The United Nations has spearheaded an international effort to push the military, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, to halt its crackdown and enter negotiations with detained National League for Democracy party leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The U.N. Security Council issued its first statement on Myanmar on Thursday, condemning the violence against protesters and emphasizing “the importance of the early release of all political prisoners and remaining detainees.” It also called for a “genuine dialogue” between the country’s military rulers and the pro-democracy opposition.

Yeah, a “genuine dialogue”, I guess that’s not up for interpretation, is it? This has been going on since 1962 and this is the first time the UN has bothered itself enough to issue a statement? Yet how many statements has it issued against Israel and the US?

Why isn’t the UN getting ahead of impending refugee crisis? Reports of refugees being mugged at the Thai border (by the Thai military) are rampant – why isn’t the UN setting up refugee camps if they can’t drag their bloated asses into action to prevent the exodus? Well, the easy answer is; it’s easier to ask for money from UN members when there are pictures of grisly scenes. That’s what the UN is waiting for – propaganda to hold a telethon. You’d think that people whose only job is to provide for refugees would be on top of this, wouldn’t you? (I’m assuming my readers are rational people – not UN beaurocrats)

Just like in Darfur where hundreds of thousands are dead and millions displaced – it’s been going on for twelve years but now everyone is getting exercised over it as a fundraising tool. So let’s have a genocide conference and beg someone else to do it.

Category: Foreign Policy