By Shah Paung
January 28, 2008
Three monks died in last September’s demonstrations and nine are still missing, according to the Alliance of All Burma Buddhist Monks (AABBM).
Novice monks stand with their alms bowls in Rangoon [Photo: Reuters]
U Thilavantha was a teacher at the Myitkina monastery, which was raided by security forces on September 25. He was beaten and tortured and died in Myitkyina Hospital
The Alliance said 54 monks and seven nuns were arrested by Burmese authorities during last September’s demonstrations. The list of those killed, missing or arrested is not complete, however, the Alliance stressed.
Figures collected by the exile-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) state that 95 monks and 10 nuns were arrested.
During September’s demonstrations, more than 50 monasteries across the country were raided and searched by Burmese troops and security forces, who often plundered the premises. Two Rangoon monasteries were closed down, the Alliance said.
Apart for the arrests, about 10 monks were dismissed from their university studies. Some 15 fled the country.
One of the arrested monks, 29-year-old U Gambira, a leader of the AABBM group, has been charged with high treason, a capital offence carrying the death sentence or life imprisonment. He was seized from his hiding place in Kyaukse, central Burma, in early November.
Anti-regime Poster Campaign in Arakan State
By Saw Yan Naing
January 28, 2008
Despite tightened security, dissident activists in Arakan State’s Taunggok Township launched an anti-government poster campaign early on Monday, according to local sources.
A pro-democracy activist told The Irrawaddy that the campaigners affixed posters in the city’s downtown hospitals, markets and crowded places, calling for the release of all political prisoners, Buddhist monks and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The posters also urged the military junta to stop arresting dissidents and to start a dialogue with opposition groups for national reconciliation in Burma, according to the activist. They also demanded respect for human rights.
The authorities were now busy removing the posters, the activist said.
The poster campaign was launched despite the presence over the past week of about 30 armed security guards around pagodas and markets.
Moe Naing Soe, a member of the National League for Democracy, said security forces had also been reinforced near highways and city tea shops.
Uniformed police and security forces equipped with batons and other weapons were also being beefed up in Sittwe, capital of Arakan State, a local resident reported. The security presence was particularly strong around the city’s monasteries.
Thousands of Buddhist monks demonstrated in Sittwe in September against the sharp increases in the price of fuel and other commodities.
Two men arrested in Taunggok Township on January 22 for holding a demonstration calling for democracy and the release of Suu Kyi will go on trial on February 5, local sources said. The two were identified as Kalar Shwe, aka Than Htay, and Zaw Naing.
Detained Activists Charged under Printing and Publishing Act
By Shah Paung
January 25, 2008
About 10 leading members of the 88 Generation Students group who were arrested in August were charged on Wednesday under Section 17/20 of Burma’s Printing and Publishing Act. Meanwhile Amnesty International condemned the Burmese military government for the continued imprisonment of political activists and expressed concern for the detainees’ health.
The pro-democracy leaders are being held at notorious Insein prison while they await trial.
Win Maung, the father of Pyone Cho, a leader who is being detained, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that they do not know the details of who was charged, but they heard it included well-known leaders of 88 Generation Students group Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Min Zeya.
According to various family members who have recently visited detainees, the student leaders were charged under Section 17/20 of Burma’s Printing and Publishing Act at Insein Prison where they have been detained since their arrests during the protests against the hike in fuel prices in August.
Speaking alongside the sister of arrested student leader Panniek Tun, Win Maung said that they last visited Panniek Tun and Pyone Cho on Monday, but at that time the students said nothing about any formal charges.
The Burmese authorities arrested 13 leading members of the 88 Generation Students group on August 21 after they led a march protesting increased fuel prices.
On Tuesday, the Burmese authorities tried a member of the National League for Democracy, Mya Than Htike, who was arrested at a hospital while receiving medical treatment for a gunshot wound. He is currently being detained in Insein Prison.
According to Aung Thein, a lawyer in Rangoon, the police accused Mya Than Htike of being a prominent activist in September’s demonstrations. The trial was held at a court in Kyauktada Township in Rangoon.
Aung Thein said that Mya Than Htike was shot from behind on September 27 at the junction of Sule and Anawrahta roads by Burmese soldiers. On January 22 he was charged under sections 143 and 505(b) of the penal code, relating to involvement in the demonstrations.
Section 143 of the penal code carries a maximum sentence of two years, while 505(b) carries up to six months imprisonment. Mya Than Htike is now being detained at Insein Prison. His trial is due on January 29, the lawyer said.
Meanwhile, many of the detained political prisoners are in poor and deteriorating health, according to NLD spokesman Nyan Win, including: Win Mya Mya, an organizer of the Mandalay branch of the NLD; Than Lwin, vice-chairman of the NLD’s Mandalay Division and an elected candidate for Madaya Township in the 1990 elections; and Shwe Maung, a member of the NLD. All are currently being detained in Mandalay Prison.
International human rights group Amnesty International on Friday condemned the Burmese military government for its continued imprisonment of political activists and expressed its concern for the health of the detainees. In a statement released on January 25, AI said that since November 1, 2007, the military authorities had arrested no less than 96 activists.
“Four months on from the violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, rather than stop its unlawful arrests, the Myanmar [Burma] government has actually accelerated them,” said Catherine Baber, director of Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific programme.
She added: “Such prosecutions are politically motivated, imposed after proceedings that flagrantly abuse people’s rights to a free and fair trial and contravene international human rights standards.”
The group also urged the international community to press the Burmese military government to immediately invite Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the United Nations human rights envoy to Burma, to return to Burma “to conduct the full-fledged fact-finding mission he has requested.”
AI said that 1,850 political prisoners are currently detained in Burmese prisons while more than 80 persons remain unaccounted for since the September demonstrations.
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