Burma Video: Show Trial of Aung San Suu Kyi begins in Rangoon

Aung San Suu Kyi -the Burmese opposition leader has remained under house arrest since 2003.

The law called the "Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts" ordains that the maximum period someone could be held without trial was five years. Accordingly it was assumed that she would be released in 2008. This was not to reckon with the malfeasance of the Burmese junta which simply extended her detention by another year on the pretext that the first year of detention did nor count. She was now due for release in 2009. Undoubtedly the Burmese junta would have manufactured a pretext to ensure that she was not released.

Enter John Yettaw-an American who swam across Inya Lake on 3 May to reach the opposition leader's house. Undoubtedly the authorities could have prevented this but failed to act. He remained at the house for two days pleading exhaustion. This offered the Junta the perfect pretext to deny Ms Suu Kyi her liberty. Ms Suu Kyi and her two assistants were arrested and taken to Insein prison, where they went on trial today. She has no prospects of a fair trial. This is a show trial designed to ensure a prison sentence which will keep her out of circulation in 2010 when elections are due to be held.

China, India and Russia have strong trading links with Burma. There is also close military cooperation between the Chinese and the Burmese junta. China and Russia have vetoed resolutions at the UN designed to bring the junta to heel. Consequently the Butchers of Rangoon are impervious to realism. They feel impregnable. World public opinion is of little concern to them.

Burma (Myanmar) jails cyclone Nargis journalist - 60 opposition activists jailed in last two weeks

The following report appears in Al Jazeera:
"A Myanmarese (Burmese) journalist has reportedly been sentenced to two years in prison for critical coverage of the military government's response to a devastating cyclone, according to colleagues. Dozens of critics of the country's ruling generals have been jailed in recent weeks, according to human rights organisations and legal sources.
Colleagues of Ein Khaing Oo told the Associated Press news agency on Saturday that she was sentenced the previous day after being convicted of "disturbing tranquility" in a closed-door trial.
Ein Khaing Oo, a reporter for the weekly Myanmar-language magazine Eco Vision, was arrested on June 10 while covering a demonstration by victims of the cyclone...."
".....Another 17 pro-democracy activists were jailed for between two and 16 years at hearings in yangon and Mandalay on Friday, according to legal sources"...
"...Up to 60 opposition activists are believed to have been jailed in the last two weeks.."

With media attention focused mainly the world economic crisis the Burmese junta has taken advantage of the situation and has begun a crack down on pro democracy activists. The Butchers of Rangoon have learned nothing.
Russia and China have vetoed efforts at the UN Security Council to bring Burma to heel. It is now time for both countries to alter course and to support US and EU efforts to cripple the Burmese regime.

The tyrants of Rangoon are impervious to realism and feel that their position is impregnable. This feeling is buttressed by the determination of the Chinese, Russians and Indians to continue trading with the junta. The world must not stand idly by.

Burma-Callous Regime is impervious to plight of victims of cyclone Nargis. It is time for international intervention

One week has elapsed since cyclone Nargis devastated the heavily populated Irrawaddy Delta and on up to the capital Rangoon. Little foreign aid has reached the country testimony to the obduracy and paranoia of a regime which fears that foreign aid workers might contaminate the minds of a cowed populace.

The death toll from the Cyclone is estimated at 60,000 to 140,000 lives. Oxfam, which has staff on the ground, has witnessed the early outbreak of disease amongst the displaced population. It estimates that the death toll could rise to 1,500,000 in the coming weeks if immediate action is not taken.

The border has been opened for one overland convoy, but the regime is still blocking the delivery of the bulk of desperately needed medical and food supplies.
The tyrants of Rangoon have systematically stymied efforts from the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the estimated two million cyclone victims.

China a staunch supporter of this discredited regime has behaved irresponsibly and has done little to ease the situation. Chinese influence could ensure an immediate policy change. Unfortunately Chinese foreign policy- in relation to countries such as Burma and Sudan- is governed by the need to advance Chinese economic interests at all costs. A death toll of 100,000 means little to China- a country whose foreign policy lacks a moral base. It is time to treat China as an international pariah unless it alters its policy in Burma and Sudan.

The US, UK and France amongst others must use whatever means are necessary to ensure humanitarian aid reaches the affected areas. If military intervention is deemed necessary so be it. To hell with the junta. Is the world prepared to stand by and allow 1,500,000 people to perish?

Burma -Massacre Of The Monks

The following is an excerpt from a shocking report which appears in Australia's largest selling daily newspaper the Herald Sun:
A SENIOR Burmese intelligence official claims thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle.
After defecting from the military junta and fleeing to the Thai border, Hla Win told a reporter from London's Daily Mail: "Many more people have been killed in recent days than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand."
The horrific details emerged as Burma's top general continued to snub the UN's peace envoy, who is in Rangoon on a mission to convey the world's outrage to the junta.
With protests quashed and many monasteries empty, fears are growing for those who have disappeared into Burma's grim jails.
Observers say many detainees have been taken to the city's notorious Insein prison, the Government Technological Institute, the police battalion number seven compound, the Kyaikkasan racetrack and possibly elsewhere.
Mr Win said he fled when he was ordered to help massacre holy men.
Other exiles along the frontier confirmed that hundreds of monks had simply "disappeared".
Pro-democracy campaigners inside Burma yesterday released a graphic video showing the semi-naked body of a badly bruised monk, floating face down in a Rangoon river.
Mr Win, 42, a former chief of military intelligence in Rangoon's northern region, said: "I decided to desert when I was ordered to raid two monasteries and force several hundred monks on to trucks.
"They were to be killed and their bodies dumped deep inside the jungle. I refused to participate in this," he said.
Dissidents hiding along the Burma border said thousands of monks had been locked up and were being beaten inside blood-stained temples.
A Swedish diplomat told the Daily Mail of more reports that monks had been tortured and killed in large numbers. .................

It appears likely that the Burmese Monsters are guilty of more crimes against humanity. The full report indicates a level of barbarism on a par with the atrocities perpetrated by Pol Pot in Cambodia. Bloggers have been silenced. There is a strong suspicion that some have been tortured and may even have been murdered. Burmese leaders who sanction atrocities must be tried for war crimes.
Voters in democracies throughout the world must flood their Departments of Foreign Affairs with demands for coherent International Action. Meaningful sanctions must be imposed. The time for pious platitudes is over. The international community stands indicted for its relative lack of activity in relation to the crisis.
The following is a message from Radio Netherlands:
Hello, People can send messages of support to the demonstrators in Burma via our web page and radio broadcasts. We are Radio Netherlands Dutch international broadcaster and we have Short Wave transmissions into the country our homepage www.radionetherlands.nlbest regards Andy Clark - head English department Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Burma-Military Crackdown continues as junta declares war on its people.

The military crackdown which has been instituted against the pro democracy demonstrators in Burma emphasises clearly the relative powerlessness of the UN Security Council. Once more China as-in Darfur- is a major stumbling block. China will at best pay lip service. The International Community must pressurise China by withdrawing from the Beijing Olympics now. The juntas stranglehold on power must be smashed by stronger sanctions than are at present proposed. The UN must be reformed so that the veto can no longer be used in a cynical manner-by powers such as China. Chinese foreign policy is devoid of morality.
The International Community stands indicted on its failure to act meaningfully

Police and soldiers in Burma's main city opened fire for a second day to disperse demonstrators. A Japanese journalist is among the victims of the violence in Rangoon. Earlier, security forces raided monasteries and took away scores of monks accused of leading the protests, which analysts say are the biggest challenge the military government has faced in decades.
VOA's Luis Ramirez reports from our Southeast Asia bureau in Bangkok.
Protesters' sandals are scattered on the ground as Burmese soldiers look on after firing automatic weapons into a crowd in Rangoon, 27 Sep 2007 (Mandalay Gazette photo)There were conflicting news reports throughout the day on the number of people killed or injured in clashes with security forces on Rangoon's main thoroughfares. Thousands of people defied orders from soldiers and police to get off the streets.
Witnesses say demonstrators chanted their demands for peace, democracy, and an end to poverty. The slogans summed up the yearnings of people in a country ruled by the military since 1962, where per-capita income is less than $200 a year.......
The true death toll so far is unknown.

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.