Suu Kyi ally dies in Myanmar after torture, says rights group

As the UN Security Council- because of the Chinese opposition- has failed to ensure an adequate international response to the monsters of Rangoon, pro democracy groups are more and more dependent international news organs to highlight murder and torture. Unfortunately the media is now beginning to avert its gaze and move onto the next crisis. The brutal regime in Burma is busy subjugating the pro democracy groups by murder rape and torture happy in the knowledge that in general international attention is no longer sharply focused on the country.
Fortunately some media groups continue to expose the corrupt regime's activities. AFP carries the following story:
Win Shwe, a 42-year-old member of the opposition National League for Democracy, was arrested on September 26 near Myanmar's second city of Mandalay, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said in a statement.
He was held along with four other people for joining anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks in Mandalay.
"He died as a result of torture during interrogation. However, his body was not sent to his family and the interrogators indicated that they had cremated it instead," the Thailand-based watchdog said.
AAPP is run by former political prisoners who now live in exile in neighbouring Thailand. The group monitors conditions in Myanmar's notorious prisons.......

Burma-The People versus the Junta

Burma is a country whose junta has been at war with its people. It has not been slow to put down popular uprisings. In 1988 soldiers killed 3,000 people. Murder rape and torture are some of the weapons used by the military against the pro democracy movement.

Protests erupted on August 19th when the Government raised fuel prices. Since then demonstrations have gained momentum. Up to 10,000 Buddhist monks walked Mandalay (Saturday). It is estimated that there were several thousand onlookers on both sides of their route.

Thousands of Buddhist monks and their supporters marched in Rangoon today. This is the biggest show of defiance against Burma's ruling junta in almost 20 years.
At least 30,000 people led by about 15,000 monks marched through the streets of Burma's main city. Some estimates put the number involved as 100,000.

This has all the appearances of a popular uprising against a repressive regime. So far the junta has held back hoping that the protests will subside. However there are indications that this approach is about to change. The ruling junta has now threatened to take action against Burma's Buddhist monks.

It is believed that over 200 pro democracy activists have been arrested. Some have been tortured and ill-treated in custody.

The United States and EU countries are preparing to challenge Burma at the United Nations General Assembly this week. Dramatic change in the country's political situation remains unlikely, due to support for the junta from major powers such as India, Russia and China.

Essentially the UN is a toothless tiger.

Meanwhile Burma teeters on the brink of disaster. The junta may be about to declare all out war on its people. At some point this tyrannical regime corroded by injustice and corruption must inevitably collapse in a manner similar to the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe.

Aung San Suu Kyi appears at protest in Burma and prays with protesting monks

In 1990 the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won elections in Burma by a landslide. The military refused to accept the result.




Aung San Suu Kyi leads the pro-democracy movement against the repressive military regime. She is strongly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and is a strong believer in non violence. She has been detained at her home for 12 of the past 18 years. She has no telephone and little contact with the outside world.

She has said that "fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it." She has won the Nobel Peace Prize and The Sakharov Prize.

Protests erupted on August 19th when the Government raised fuel prices. Demonstrations have been gaining in momentum. In their biggest march yet, at least 5,000 Buddhist monks walked Mandalay today (Saturday). Some estimates put the marchers at nearly 10,000.
It is estimated that there were several thousand onlookers on both sides of their route.

Witnesses say Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest, came to the gates of her University Avenue compound, where the monks said prayers before leaving. The fact that the monks have been able to get through the barricades to pay Aung San Suu Kyi a visit is highly significant and indicates that the military regime is afraid to crack down too hard on the protesters for fear of triggering a massive popular revolt. In 1988 3,000 people were killed when soldiers fired on protesters. There are some 1,100 pro-democracy activists being held in jail or under house arrest throughout the country.

The following quotation from Aung San Suu Kyi gives an insight into her sufferings "Sometimes I didn't even have enough money to eat. I became so weak from malnourishment that my hair fell out, and I couldn't get out of bed." What a sad testimony to the barbarism of the military junta.

In his book, "Courage: Eight Portraits" (Bloomsbury), British Prime Minister Gordon Brown states:
"So Suu Kyi's courage is the courage to sacrifice her own happiness and a comfortable life so that, through her struggle, she might win the right of an entire nation to seek happy and comfortable lives. It is the absolute expression of selflessness. Paradoxically, in sacrificing her own liberty, she strengthens its cry and bolsters its claim for the people she represents."

Aung San Suu Kyi is a heroine extraordinaire.