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[Farma]

PRO-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to three years' jail and hard labour by a Burma court today, but the head of the ruling junta commuted the punishment to 18 months' house arrest, a minister said.

The court sentenced her on charges of breaching the terms of her house arrest after a bizarre incident in which an American man, John Yettaw, 54, swam to her lakeside house in May.

Home Affairs minister General Maung Oo said outside the court that military ruler Than Shwe had signed a special order suspending the sentence and ordered that Suu Kyi should spend 18 months under house arrest.

The US co-defendant in the case was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment and hard labour.

He received three years for breaching security laws, three years for immigration violations and one year for a municipal charge of illegal swimming.

http://www.news.com....5003402,00.html

[Farma]

Quote

The US co-defendant in the case was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment and hard labour.

He received three years for breaching security laws, three years for immigration violations and one year for a municipal charge of illegal swimming.

  Serves him right.  

[NanLaew]

sunholidaysun1, on 2009-08-11 14:40:53, said:

I dont think she will ever be free. What she could say if given freedom isnt worth the Burmese military leaders releasing her. House arrest is better than the hard labour she could have got but I feel that no presure from any government will make the slightest bit of difference to her plight. Not even Billy -Boy Clinton cant wave his magic flute in that place.
All we can hope for is she lives healthy and one day be free ,what else can anyone say . Maybe they hope she will die of old age which is possible .

Nelson Mandela was also a 'lifer' wasn't he?

Other countries should and will persist with the pressure... apart from the Thai's who will cite their allegiance to the toothless ASEAN constitution as a reason to sit on their hands (but keep the natural gas coming please). And no useless 'sanctions' as Cuba and Zimbabwe and even North Korea are glowing examples of how effective a tool they are.

It's up to the Burmese people now at election time. I just pray that they don't roll over. If they only had an inkling of how the real world stands ready to help them but the junta makes sure that no uncensored news comes in or goes out.

"House arrest is better than hard labour...." Give me a friggin break!

[NovaBlue05]

It's like sitting in your jail cell minding your own biz and someone breaks in. Then, the authorities hold you responsible for their own inability to secure your jail cell .



How bizarre

[OriginalPoster]

NanLaew, on 2009-08-11 17:07:50, said:

Nelson Mandela was also a 'lifer' wasn't he?

Yes, but while white South Africans had an emotional need to be accepted by their white brethren in the West, the Burmese Junta does not.  International pressure means little to them.

[churchill]

Thailand to consult with Asean on Aung San Suu Kyi's trial


Thailand will consult with other Asean countries before deciding the next move following Burma's court sentenced democracy idol Aung San Suu Kyi to additional 18 months under house arrest.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said "We are well aware that the trial was done in line with Burma's legal process. However the case has drawn attention from the world communities," he said.

The ministry will wait for full verdict of the trial from the Thai embassy in Rangoon which will take about one or two days.

Suu Kyi, 64, was found guilty of breaking the terms of her detention by allowing a US national to swim into her lakeside compound-cum-prison on May 3.



http://www.nationmul...ung-San-Suu-Kyi
-- The Nation 11/08/09

[churchill]

Gordon Brown says world must act after Burma 'sham'

Gordon Brown expressed his outrage today at the conviction of the pro-democracy activist Aung Sang Suu Kyi and said that Britain would campaign for further sanctions and a total arms embargo against Burma's military regime.

Ms Suu Kyi will serve 18 months under house arrest after being found guilty of violating the terms of an earlier sentence by allowing an American supporter into her house after he swam to her lakeside home.

After what Mr Brown labelled a "sham trial", the court in Rangoon originally sentenced Ms Suu Kyi to three years’ hard labour. But after a five-minute recess, the country’s home minister entered the courtroom and read out a special order Senior General Than Shwe, head of the Burmese junta.

The order said he was cutting the sentence in half and that it could be served under house arrest. That sentence will prevent Ms Suu Kyi from campaigning in next year's elections.

In a statement released by Downing Street, he said that he was "both saddened and angry" at today's verdict which showed that "military regime in Burma is determined to act with total disregard for accepted standards of the rule of law and in defiance of international opinion".

The Prime Minister added: “This is a purely political sentence designed to prevent her from taking part in the regime’s planned elections next year. So long as Aung San Suu Kyi and all those political opponents imprisoned in Burma remain in detention and are prevented from playing their full part in the political process, the planned elections in 2010 will have no credibility or legitimacy.

Mr Brown went on: “I have always made clear that the United Kingdom would respond positively to any signs of progress on democratic reform in Burma. But with the generals explicitly rejecting that course today, the international community must take action.”

"The EU has agreed to impose tough new sanctions targeting the economic interests of the regime. I also believe that the UN Security Council - whose will has been flouted - must also now respond resolutely and impose a worldwide ban on the sale of arms to the regime."

A Foreign Office minister, Ivan Lewis, said that Britain's ambassador in Rangoon, Andrew Heyn, was in the court as Ms Suu Kyi was sentenced.

"He commented on the amazing, characteristic stoicism, dignity and courage of Augn San Suu Kyi as she responded to the sentence," Mr Lewis told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"She walked across to international diplomats and said. 'I look forward to working with you for the future peace and prosperity of my country and the world.'"

Mr Lewis added: "What we must do now - and Britain will lead on this - is ensure that the international community will finally act firmly."

He said that the UK would push for further EU sanctions targetting the economic interests of the military regime.

Meanwhile Mr Brown - who is currently on holiday in the Lake District - would be writing today to Ban Ki Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and to the other permanent members of the security council, of which Britain is currently president.

The minister added: "We will urge further international sanctions. Specifically, we now want to see an arms embargo against this regime and Burma's neighbours - the Asean countries such as China, Japan and Thailand, applying maximum pressure on this Burmese regime."

http://www.timesonli...icle6791080.ece

[OriginalPoster]

churchill, on 2009-08-11 18:59:47, said:

Gordon Brown says world must act after Burma 'sham'

Gordon Brown expressed his outrage today at the conviction of the pro-democracy activist Aung Sang Suu Kyi and said that Britain would campaign for further sanctions and a total arms embargo against Burma's military regime.

Ms Suu Kyi will serve 18 months under house arrest after being found guilty of violating the terms of an earlier sentence by allowing an American supporter into her house after he swam to her lakeside home.

After what Mr Brown labelled a "sham trial", the court in Rangoon originally sentenced Ms Suu Kyi to three years' hard labour. But after a five-minute recess, the country's home minister entered the courtroom and read out a special order Senior General Than Shwe, head of the Burmese junta.

The order said he was cutting the sentence in half and that it could be served under house arrest. That sentence will prevent Ms Suu Kyi from campaigning in next year's elections.

In a statement released by Downing Street, he said that he was "both saddened and angry" at today's verdict which showed that "military regime in Burma is determined to act with total disregard for accepted standards of the rule of law and in defiance of international opinion".

The Prime Minister added: "This is a purely political sentence designed to prevent her from taking part in the regime's planned elections next year. So long as Aung San Suu Kyi and all those political opponents imprisoned in Burma remain in detention and are prevented from playing their full part in the political process, the planned elections in 2010 will have no credibility or legitimacy.

Mr Brown went on: "I have always made clear that the United Kingdom would respond positively to any signs of progress on democratic reform in Burma. But with the generals explicitly rejecting that course today, the international community must take action."

"The EU has agreed to impose tough new sanctions targeting the economic interests of the regime. I also believe that the UN Security Council - whose will has been flouted - must also now respond resolutely and impose a worldwide ban on the sale of arms to the regime."

A Foreign Office minister, Ivan Lewis, said that Britain's ambassador in Rangoon, Andrew Heyn, was in the court as Ms Suu Kyi was sentenced.

"He commented on the amazing, characteristic stoicism, dignity and courage of Augn San Suu Kyi as she responded to the sentence," Mr Lewis told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"She walked across to international diplomats and said. 'I look forward to working with you for the future peace and prosperity of my country and the world.'"

Mr Lewis added: "What we must do now - and Britain will lead on this - is ensure that the international community will finally act firmly."

He said that the UK would push for further EU sanctions targetting the economic interests of the military regime.

Meanwhile Mr Brown - who is currently on holiday in the Lake District - would be writing today to Ban Ki Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and to the other permanent members of the security council, of which Britain is currently president.

The minister added: "We will urge further international sanctions. Specifically, we now want to see an arms embargo against this regime and Burma's neighbours - the Asean countries such as China, Japan and Thailand, applying maximum pressure on this Burmese regime."

http://www.timesonli...icle6791080.ece

No doubt Brown and the EU will follow through with stern words that will leave Burma's generals shaking in thier boots.  If they couldn't take care of Bosnia, how can these clowns even pretend that they are going to have anything to do with a solution in Burma?

[Farma]

Skynews : UN chief demands the immediate release of  Aung San Suu Kyi

[ucantbeserious]

quote
"So long as Aung San Suu Kyi and all those political opponents imprisoned in Burma remain in detention and are prevented from playing their full part in the political process, the planned elections in 2010 will have no credibility or legitimacy."
endquote
a stupid thing to say.
if the lady is released then the elections are credible?
when she can't be a candidate (for having married a foreigner).
when how many seats in the parliament are reserved for the military.
when the military have an effective veto on anything the parliament passes.
when its all based on the new junta created constitution.

the only reason the junta keep up the sham of "the road to democracy" is to give their trading nations (especially Thailand),
a "way out" so they don't appear so completely morally corrupted.
China couldn't care less and prefers a good reliable junta to a democracy.

What could other countries do apart fron useless condemnations?
Thailand could stop buying gas until the junta quits.(sorry you will only have candle light in your favourite bar for a while).
the US could threaten China with trade sanctions (privately) to make China cut off the money supply to the junta.
these two things would kill the junta inside 6 months, no money = no army.

But the Thailand powers that be do not care about morals and ethics and human rights.
How can anyone have respect for a country that allows such abuse of people (Hmong, Rohinga, Burmese refugees),
Completely corrupt form top to bottom, socially, morally and ethically.
Imagine how good Thailand could look if they actually did something real to destroy the junta.
But they don't care, its all about business as usual.

[david96]

No, do not target Burma with sanctions.

Target China, which is a communist country and has no interest in democracy.
China uses its economic power to increase its influence over other countries.

China needs the West, but the West does not need China.

China is going to be a problem in the future.

China backs Burma, North Korea and any country that is heavily Socialist.

China aspires to be a superpower and one should see China in the same light as
Japan in 1931, the difference is that China will use economic power instead of
military power.

They are already promoting their system is superior to Western capitalism.

And so called business leaders and politicians are falling for it.

Australia for one has got itself into a position of having to rely on a Communist
country to survive, The US borrows heavily from China.

But we should in criticism of China, seperate the mass of common people from
the Chinese government and its state agencies.

[Mosha]

I have trouble understanding how a totally capitalist country has got itself into such a hole owing billions of USD to a communist country. Meanwhile back to topic. I can't help thinking this whole thing was set up, the guy was a dupe. BBC described him as having mental problems. Just sounds too convenient to me.

[sunnymarky]

david96, on 2009-08-12 06:36:14, said:

No, do not target Burma with sanctions.

Target China, which is a communist country and has no interest in democracy.
China uses its economic power to increase its influence over other countries.

China needs the West, but the West does not need China.

China is going to be a problem in the future.

China backs Burma, North Korea and any country that is heavily Socialist.

China aspires to be a superpower and one should see China in the same light as
Japan in 1931, the difference is that China will use economic power instead of
military power.

They are already promoting their system is superior to Western capitalism.

And so called business leaders and politicians are falling for it.

Australia for one has got itself into a position of having to rely on a Communist
country to survive, The US borrows heavily from China.

But we should in criticism of China, seperate the mass of common people from
the Chinese government and its state agencies.

China , ruled by a Corrupt party machine and it supports similar governments in the region, Burma, N Korea etc.
China has this line everytime a country murderers and tortures its own citizens' It's an internal affair and nothing to do with China"
One can imagine that line during the WW!! during the holocaust. China wants to have economic power and influence outside its borders but human rights can go to hel_l. The West should be ashamed when it cozies up to the Evil Red empire for economic reasons but ignores the Chinese Communist doctrine that "party control comes before any individual rights"
(I lived in China 2 years)

Edited by sunnymarky, 2009-08-12 08:59:44.

[churchill]

French energy giant accused of profiting as new testimony gives shocking insight into junta's labour regime

By Rajeshree Sisodia and Andrew Buncombe, Asia correspondent


Friday, 14 August 2009

Protest groups such as Burma Campaign UK believe Total should cut its links with the Burmese regime


The French energy giant Total is at the centre of allegations that Burmese villagers are being used as forced labour to help support a huge gas pipeline that is earning the country's military regime hundreds of millions of dollars.


Testimony from villagers and former soldiers gathered by human rights workers suggests that Burmese soldiers, who provide security for the Yadana pipeline on behalf of Total, are forcing thousands of people to work portering, carrying wood and repairing roads in the pipeline area. They have also been forced to build police stations and barracks.

One villager, identified pseudonymously as Htay Win Oo, told researchers from the Thailand-based human rights group EarthRights International (ERI): "Since early 2009 I've [witnessed] Burmese soldiers ... that are stationed near our village ask our village to build a new police camp. The soldiers ordered villagers to build a new camp in late March. The land where they set up the new camp belongs to local villagers ... the soldiers ordered villagers to help build it. Villagers had to cut bamboo, wood, and leaves for the building and at the same time they had to build it."

Burma's junta, the State Peace and Development Council, officially outlawed the use of forced labour in 1999. However, campaigners say troops routinely force civilians to work for them and those who refuse are often beaten, tortured or sometimes killed.

Total insists that forced labour is not used around the pipeline. On its website, the company states: "The local inhabitants around the Yadana pipeline say that they are happy to have us there. They are, above all, grateful that there is no forced labour in the area around our pipeline."

Yet such claims are not supported by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the UN agency that works in Burma to try and stop forced labour.

Steve Marshall, an ILO spokesman, said: "It would be unfair and inaccurate to say that the pipeline area is forced-labour free. Total does not control the area, it operates it. In terms of the pipeline area, there are big areas that are outside its control. As we understand it, forced labour is still being used there by other entities, though to a much lesser extent [than in some areas]."

The evidence collected by ERI and due to be published next month suggests that villagers are routinely forced to work in various guises. One former soldier from the 273 battalion said: "We were told it was a 30-year project and the country got half and the foreigners got half of the benefit ... We ask [the villagers] to carry shell ammunition, food and supplies.

"During the portering the soldiers treat porters not so good. I do not want to mention about these bad things so much since I myself I have done it to these people as well at that time." Matthew Smith, of the ERI, said that Total was misleading the public, shareholders and investors about its impact in Burma and said the company was responsible for the abuses committed by troops guarding its project. "The evidence is unassailable that the Yadana project ushered in the Burmese army and that the Burmese army continues to provide security for the companies and the project," he said. "The company has been complicit in abuses."

The question of whether foreign companies, with an eye on Burma's riches of oil and gas, should invest in one of the world's most repressive regimes, has come into sharper focus following this week's decision by the regime to detain opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for a further 18 months under house arrest and the subsequent demand for tougher sanctions from campaigners.

Yet projects such as the Yadana pipeline, which transports gas from fields in the Andaman Sea through south-east Burma into Thailand, are hugely attractive to both the investors and the junta. Research suggests the regime earned $969m (£585m) from the Yadana project in 2007. Total has declined to say how much it earns.

It is not the first time Total has been at the centre of forced labour allegations in Burma. In 2005 it paid $6.12m in an out-of-court settlement after a group of villagers living near the Yadana pipeline alleged the company was involved in human rights abuses.

Last night a spokeswoman for Total said: "We are reviewing [ERI's allegations] and intend to adjust our website in the coming weeks so that it can publicly address the issues, whenever possible. It should also be noted that people in the villages around the pipeline are grateful for the fact that systematic recourse to forced labour in the area where Total operates has stopped. Such acknowledgements have been consistently repeated in front of independent experts commissioned to periodically evaluate the impact of our activities."
http://www.independe...ne-1771876.html

[edwinchester]

http://www.bangkokpo...kyi-call-vetoed

See Vietnam and Laos want to veto Thailands suggested pardon of Suu Kyi.
Absoulutely shameful and an indictment of the self interest present in ASEAN.

[sabaijai]

The governments of Vietnam and Laos can't allow political censure of the kind Thailand is proposing, otherwise they themselves might be censured for their treatment of political dissidents, who generally face worse fates than ASSK has in Myanmar.

[LaoPo]

Amazing news !


US senator Jim Webb meets Aung San Suu Kyi in landmark visit to Burma

American congressman's 40-minute meeting is democracy campaigner's first with foreign official since latest sentence

US Senator Jim Webb met Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi today, the first foreign official allowed to see her since she was sentenced to 18 months of detention by the regime.

The 64-year-old Nobel Peace laureate was driven from her home, where she is under house arrest, to a nearby government guest house for a 40-minute meeting with Webb. She was then taken back to her residence by car.

Webb's visit, the first by a member of the US Congress in more than a decade, has drawn criticism from activists who say it confers legitimacy on the regime, but the Obama administration gave the Virginia Democrat its blessing.

The regime's decision to grant him permission to meet Suu Kyi may have been intended to mitigate international criticism following her trial. In July, authorities barred the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, from meeting her during a two-day visit.

Webb arrived in Burma yesterday, just days after the world condemned the ruling generals for sentencing Suu Kyi to more house arrest. Earlier, he was reportedly on his way to see an American man who was sentenced to seven years in prison in the same trial, but that visit was apparently cancelled or postponed.

Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention. Her latest sentence came after the American, John Yettaw, secretly swam to her house and spent two days there. She was convicted of violating the terms of her house arrest.

There has been speculation that authorities might hand Yettaw to Webb for deportation to the United States. But Yettaw's lawyer said this was unlikely, although he hoped the ailing American might be deported at a later date.

Webb flew to Rangoon today after an apparent meeting with the country's leader, Senior General Than Shwe, his first with a senior US official. The meeting has not been officially confirmed.

Suggestions that the Obama administration may be about to relax sanctions introduced in 1990 – the year the junta ignored the opposition's election victory – prompted an angry response from several prominent US politicians earlier this year.

In a letter to the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, 17 congressmen said Than Shwe's regime "continues to perpetuate crimes against humanity and war crimes so severe that Burma has been called 'South-east Asia's Darfur'."

But Webb, who chairs the Senate foreign relations sub-committee on East Asia and Pacific affairs, replied that years of sanctions and condemnation had failed.

He said: "What I think we should be doing in Burma is trying to open up diplomatic avenues where you can have confidence builders … and through that process work toward some way where you can remove sanctions."

Last month, Clinton suggested that the US might be willing to soften its stance in return for Suu Kyi's freedom. "If she were released, that would open up opportunities … for my country to expand our relationship with Burma, including investments in Burma," she said.

On Thursday the UN security council voiced "serious concern" over Suu Kyi's sentence and called for her immediate release, while the EU said it was preparing fresh sanctions.

Source:

http://www.guardian....m-webb-burma-us


LaoPo

[apetley]

Doesn't the stench just get even worse.
The nutcase who caused the whole affair gets pardoned and deported whilst Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.
Strange how a toadying US senator gets to meet with the lady whist the Secretary General of the UN is previously given the runaround.

[NovaBlue05]

apetley, on 2009-08-15 22:27:42, said:

Doesn't the stench just get even worse.
The nutcase who caused the whole affair gets pardoned and deported whilst Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.
Strange how a toadying US senator gets to meet with the lady whist the Secretary General of the UN is previously given the runaround.

The UN doesn't carry any influence.  I'm surprised he didn't demand a visit from Bubba Clinton though. He should have ask him to swing by on his way back from Pyongyang.

[abdulrahman]

apetley, on 2009-08-16 10:27:42, said:

Doesn't the stench just get even worse.
The nutcase who caused the whole affair gets pardoned and deported whilst Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.
Strange how a toadying US senator gets to meet with the lady whist the Secretary General of the UN is previously given the runaround.

Very strange development,for sure.
It adds strongly to the bad smell!

[brahmburgers]

The US senator got decent service and got to see "the lady" because he's against sanctions against Burma, and the Burmese chief thugs see that as a glimmer of light for them, coming from the US.

[Mosha]

The only problem is the plonker got the wrong person released.  

[churchill]

Shan leader: Stop junta from killing spree before more refugees flock to Thailand

Sao Yawdserk, the leader of the Shan State (SSA) South that has been fighting against Burma’s military rulers, has warned Thailand of more asylum seekers unless the regional grouping Asean gives a down-to-earth interpretation of its cardinal policy of non-interference.

He was speaking in connection to the Burma Army’s 5-day scorched earth campaign, 27 July – 1 August, that had left more than 10,000 people homeless in southern Shan State, according to the statement by Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) and Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) on 13 August.

His own statement issued today also put the loss of the villagers at K 936 million ($ 850,000).

“The RCSS (Restoration Council of Shan State, the political arm of the SSA) calls on Asean, in spite of its non interference in the internal affairs of a member state, and the UN to investigate and help resolve the problems of the Union of Burma,” he said. “We beg of you not to allow the Burmese military regime continue killing its own people and engaging in ethnic cleansing. Otherwise more and more refugees will be flocking to Thailand.”

The SSA leader also accused the regime of instigating a racial war. “We have never killed ordinary Burmese civilians because we regarded them as human beings,” he said. “What the Burma Army is doing is tantamount to inciting an inter-racial conflict.”

Sai La, son of Long Kham and Pa Sway, Mongkeung, for instance, was shot while he was begging the soldiers not to burn his house and his body thrown into a latrine pit, reads the statement.

Even Lahu villagers, whom the Burma Army is using as anti-insurgency militias, are not spared, it says. Many of them in Mong Leum village, Mongnawng sub-township, Kehsi township, were reportedly detained and tortured during the campaign.

According to the latest information, the Burma Army has allowed the villagers who were forcibly relocated to Laikha, Namlan and Mongnawng to return to their villages, many of which had been razed to the ground. “They are also checking and stopping the people from fleeing to Thailand and telling the international media of what’s happening back home,” said a young Shan activist to SHAN.
http://www.shanland....c...&Itemid=285

[churchill]

Myanmar's elections an "opportunity for change"
BANGKOK: Myanmar's elections next year are set to alter the political landscape despite not being free and fair, with a chance that leaders of the ruling government could step aside, a think tank said Friday.

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in a report that the polls will give local and international stakeholders an opportunity to push for change, despite a constitution that entrenches the military's political role.

Myanmar's generals have vowed to hold the elections some time in 2010, the first national vote since 1990, when they refused to recognise an overwhelming victory by the party of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The ICG report said that the recent extension of Suu Kyi's house arrest by 18 months, after a bizarre incident in which an American man swam to her home, had returned attention to repression in Myanmar.

"But while the elections will not be free and fair... the constitution and elections together will fundamentally change the political landscape in a way the government may not be able to control," the report said.

The influential think tank said government leader Than Shwe, 76, and his ageing deputy Maung Aye "may soon step down or move to ceremonial roles, making way for a younger military generation" after the polls.

"All stakeholders should be alert to opportunities that may arise to push the new government toward reform and reconciliation," the group said.

The report said that the military government must make the electoral process "more credible" by freeing all political prisoners including Suu Kyi and by bringing in key electoral legislation as soon as possible.

But it also warned that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy -- which has said it will take part in the elections only if the constitution is changed -- that a boycott "could play into the hands of the military government."

The constitution, approved in a controversial referendum in May 2008 just days after a devastating cyclone hit Myanmar, prevents Suu Kyi from standing for president, even if she were not imprisoned.

It also gives the military a dominant political role, with a quarter of the seats in the upper and lower houses of parliament to be appointed by the army's commander-in-chief.

The military has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since 1962, launching bloody crackdowns on pro-democracy protests in 1988 and 2007 to preserve its rule and jailing dozens of its opponents over the last year.

But the new presidential system of government was "the most wide-ranging shake-up in a generation," the report said.

The report said the international community, including Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbours, must continue to press the government to make the vote as fair as possible "while looking for opportunities that the elections may bring."

The report comes just days after visiting US Senator Jim Webb held the first ever talks between a senior American official and Than Shwe, leading to the release of John Yettaw, the US man jailed for swimming to Suu Kyi's house.

Webb said his visit could lead to a "new approach" in US-Myanmar ties, including a rethink on sanctions, while Myanmar's government-controlled media said the trip had been a "success" for both sides.

http://www.channelne.../450216/1/.html

[churchill]

Thai citizenship to grant stateless near Burma border        
by Usa Pichai    
Tuesday, 25 August 2009 12:36  

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Citizenship will be granted by Thailand to displaced Thai villagers, who were in Burma, during demarcation by the British a hundred years ago.

Surapong Kongchantuek of the Committee to amend the Thailand Citizenship Act told Mizzima that “the committee will finalize the law that would grant citizenship to Thai villagers near Thailand and the southern Burma border, who became stateless during demarcation.”

The Act formulated would provide an opportunity for the stateless group near the Thailand–Cambodia border for more than 4,000 people that share the same problem.

The 20,000 or so villagers live in Thailand’s Ranong and Prachoub Kirikhan and Chumporn provinces, bordering southern Burma. They are descendants of ethnic Thais who found themselves marooned in Burma by a British colonial demarcation package in 1868. Burma’s rulers would have nothing to do with them. They also face discrimination by the Burmese government.

According to the group some had to contend with land confiscation by the Burmese military without any compensation and some were forced to work as porters for the army.

Gradually whole communities moved from Tavoy and Taninsari south of Burma to neighbouring Siam, now Thailand. But Siam also shunned them, and subsequent Thai governments refused to recognize them as Thai citizens. The stateless status has caused them to lose their rights to access education, medical and other facilities.  In addition they also face arrest because they have no ID cards.

Pakawin Saengkong, the representative of the group, who lives in Ranong Province, said that the process of granting citizenship has progressed. He added that they had fought for their rights for nearly a decade together with rights groups and academics.

“Currently, the registered members of the group are in the process of being verified along with the family. The committee consists of representatives from the group and Thai authorities. About 3,800 have been verified as a first step.  The group is expected to seek cabinet approval by the end of this year or early 2010,” he said.  

In October 2006, about 500 of the group travelled to Bangkok and submitted a letter addressed to the British Embassy in Bangkok, pleading for support in their efforts to get Thai citizenship, which they said resulted from the 19th century British colonial carve-up of a border region of Burma and Siam making them stateless.


http://www.mizzima.c...ma-border-.html