burma - potential uprising?

[frogwoman]

Going to the Burmese protest in oxford today. i will write a report when I am back and post it on here, indymedia and facebook/myspace, and send a copy to my uni magazine.

fuck the junta, their supporters and all those who keep them in power ...

 

[gnoriac]

Interesting article here that seems to suggest a Singaporean govt body is helping the generals with their crackdown on the internet:

Even websites deemed to be political are required by the Media Development Authority to put up good behaviour bonds, forfeitable should content on those websites cross some invisible line. And guess who is helping the Myanmar generals implement controls for internet access these recent days?

Anyone know any more about this?

 

[purves grundy]

Interesting article here that seems to suggest a Singaporean govt body is helping the generals with their crackdown on the internet:

Anyone know any more about this?

Don't know anything about Singapore's link, but I do know that Bagan Cybertech, Burma's only interweb provider, uses, or used to use, software from US company Fortinet to censor the interweb. Fortinet said they didn't know anything about it http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2144178/fortinet-investigates-sanctions.

 

[purves grundy]

Going to the Burmese protest in oxford today. i will write a report when I am back and post it on here, indymedia and facebook/myspace, and send a copy to my uni magazine.

fuck the junta, their supporters and all those who keep them in power ...

Great. How was it?

 

[frogwoman]

it was really great, but my photo isn't on indymedia yet

was REALLY good though, good turnout, we managed to stop anyone buying petrol there for about an hour and most people drove away when we told them what was what

me and two others were like the last ones there, was brilliant and managed to win over a lot of people, got a lot of really positive responses and loads of people hooting

 

[frogwoman]

Im going to go out with my housemate in a few mins so not really gonna do any writing but will put together something tomorrow/when i come back

 

[purves grundy]

it was really great, but my photo isn't on indymedia yet

was REALLY good though, good turnout, we managed to stop anyone buying petrol there for about an hour and most people drove away when we told them what was what

me and two others were like the last ones there, was brilliant and managed to win over a lot of people, got a lot of really positive responses and loads of people hooting

Brilliant

 

[frogwoman]

yeah i thought so I brought home a placard from the protest someone randomly gave to me and had a conversation with some old men on a train

free burma

 

[ymu]

STATEMENT OF PROTEST TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE REPUBLIC OF CHINA

October 7, 2007

His Excellency Hu Jintao
The President of the People's Republic of China

Your Excellency


We the Joint Action Committee for Democracy in Burma, formed with the
concerned Burmese citizens residing Thailand who are totally against
unlawful and brutal ruling of the SPDC government of Burma (Myanmar),
would like to demand the government of China not to interfere our
nation's internal affairs by providing various forms of assistance
including selling arms and ammunition, doing business with the regime,
providing diplomatic support by using veto to protect the regime from
United Nations Security Council's action.

More: http://bbwob.blogspot.com/2007/10/statement-of-protest-to-government-of.html

 

[ymu]

Interesting long article (3 pages)

Ethnic minorities key to Burma's future

 

[purves grundy]

Interesting long article (3 pages)

Ethnic minorities key to Burma's future

Interesting that. If the ethnic armies struggling for independence now feel united by recent events that can only be a good thing. A big concern for the junta is that the Kachin Independence Organization - a very big, well-organised army that signed a ceasefire with the regime a few years back - are dissatisfied with the very limited autonomy granted to Kachin State in the new constitution. If they start fighting again, if the ethnic groups can unite in some way, that could cause big problems.

If anyone's interested in a decent history of Burma, you could do worse than The River of Lost Footsteps by the grandson of U Thant, the third UN Sec General. Yes, there was once a Burmese UN Sec General - that's how promising Burma's future once was.

 

[purves grundy]

Great article by wonderful person

Naomi asks whether it's the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning? I wonder if it might, big big might, be going somewhere. Gambari, given very low expectations, has done as well as he can. I don't think the regime were ready for all this world pressure, caught unawares - too focussed on the military task only, unaware of the changing context they were doing it in. Now they have to start something, and if it is to be meaningful it will require a third party, or some sort of structure to ensure it does go somewhere. The generals beyond the hardcore Than Shwe loyalists, and maybe within, know that something has to change. More UN participation. Dialogue begins; it's watched closely by the whole world, they're under pressure to deliver. Political prisoners start to be freed...

Allowing myself to get optimistic.

 

[frogwoman]

I am going to send this to my students' union newsletter:

Global Day of Action for Burma

The 6th of October was the global day of action for Burma (also known as Myanmar), and activists and supporters demonstrated around the world for an end to the appalling actions of the repressive and vicious military junta (group of army generals) that rules the country. If you watched the news recently you might remember images of thousands of monks marching on the streets, before the brutal military crackdown. There is little or no news getting out of Burma now because the government shut off the internet and has started to seize mobile phones and cameras so that images of violent repression cannot escape. The junta has banned protesting and the expression of any other view apart from their own, which is that they are creating a “discipline-flourishing democracy” and unusually for a democracy, all opposition must be crushed. Contradictory? It sure is, but it is no laughing matter for fifty million Burmese.

Demonstrators marched in countries as varied as Thailand, France, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as many more. One of the biggest protests in this country was in London, but they took place in every major city in the country. One of the less publicised, but nonetheless very well attended protests was in Oxford, where protesters managed to successfully stop almost everyone filling up at a Total garage from doing so for over two and a half hours.

On the face of it this action might seem to have little to do with Burma, since Total is a jointly owned French and American company. However, Total has a contract with the Burmese government, signed in 1992, and is the sole company operating in the country. Two oil pipelines have already been built, one to Thailand and one across Burma, and a third one is on its way, despite the fact that new investments from French companies in Burma were banned in 2004. The pipelines have been associated with serious human rights abuses for those working on them, such as forced labour, the use of civilians as human minesweepers, the use of children, and systematic rape of women. Total has been said to be the single biggest company propping up the junta’s regime.

Total is one of the five biggest oil companies in the UK and therefore wields an enormous influence both here and abroad. The French government has blocked measures such as sanctions against the junta due to the fact that Total has such heavy involvement there.

With all this in mind I went to a demonstration close by to Reading, by a Total garage in Oxford. A huge banner reading “Fuelling Oppression in Burma” left people in no doubt as to what the protest was about. Volunteers handed out leaflets showing a brief summary of the injustice of the military’s rule, and Total’s role in it, as well as petitions that concerned citizens could sign. The turnout was excellent, considering that the demonstration had not been as well publicised as other, larger ones in cities such as Birmingham and Manchester. In two hours we managed to stop the majority of people filling up at Total. The workers at the garage were understandably not very pleased but we gave them leaflets too and let them know that we have nothing against them since they are only doing their job. Many people did not have any idea of the things which this company is involved in and once they were informed most of them chose to fill up at one of two nearby petrol stations further along the road.

The atmosphere was very jolly and everyone was eager to meet new people and help each other out. The good weather helped with this as did the fact that most people were very friendly. We had support both from the local police who were assigned to watch the demonstration, and from passers-by, many of whom honked their horns at us as they drove past. Many people who had filled up promised not to do so again. The protest began at 2:30, and although most people had gone by half past four, three of us chose to stay until five, handing out leaflets to drivers.

We do accept that some people have no choice but to fill up there and we have nothing against people who do so, but I feel it is important that people have an informed choice about what it is that they are supporting when they fill up at a Total garage. At a time when many oil companies are regarded as unethical the idea that a company would openly fund one of the world’s most despicable regimes produces bad publicity and a lack of trust, so it is in Total’s best interest to pull out of Burma and in so doing, increase their profits due to winning back respect from people who have lost it for them. They should see that in the long term, due to the situation in Burma (with some states having had a civil war for over 20 years) staying in the country is unsustainable and bad for their business as well as for human rights.

Should you wish to find out more about Total and their involvement in Burma, please visit www.burmacampaign.org.uk/total_report.html. Please also sign the petition to help the Burmese protesters, which will be presented to the president of China after it receives a million signatures, at www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma .

 

[frogwoman]

Sent

 

[frogwoman]

on indymedia now too

 

[purves grundy]

top stuff

 

[frogwoman]

thanks xx

 

[ymu]

Good job frogster.

 

[frogwoman]

now i can't see it on indymedia any more ... wtf??

 

[ymu]

now i can't see it on indymedia any more ... wtf??

It's there

https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/10/382985.html



Can anyone make head or tail of this? Burma: once again the same lies! It mostly seems to be an article from 1988.

 

[frogwoman]

it seems to be propaganda about how middle class people like monks marching and how the burma thing is actually a class struggle and we shoudln't support it because we'd be supporting the bourgeousie

or something

 

[ymu]

Great innit. The rightwing ideologues go about exploiting everyone whilst the leftwing ideologues go about making sure the exploitees cannot unite to defend themselves.

ZOMG!!! Don't support the democratic revolution! They might let the IMF in! Erm...yeah, the IMF are already in there and Western oil companies have it all sewn up, but you keep supporting the junta and their business cronies until the Burmese are enlightened and ready for the right sort of revolution (because obviously the monks only got involved because they want a theocracy and Da Suu Kyi is simply a dictator in waiting).

 

[purves grundy]

Can anyone make head or tail of this? Burma: once again the same lies! It mostly seems to be an article from 1988.

exhausting

 

[ymu]

The lack of paragraphs makes it unreadable. Be grateful for small mercies.


E2A: I need to chill out. My partner has taken to screaming "numpty scum!" every time summat stupid comes on the telly.

 

[frogwoman]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-howley6oct06,0,4844004.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail

Interesting article here about China and the isolationist position of the Burmese junta.

 

[frogwoman]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/burma/story/0,,2185561,00.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/burma/story/0,,2185778,00.html <--- the indian government has accused burmese separatists of being gun runners ... there is quite a bit of information about India's stance in favour of the junta

 

[ymu]

How Burma brutalised its monks

Note at the bottom of this piece: Dateline Rangoon: why our team worked in secret

FOR eight days, Herald writer Connie Levett and photographer Andrew Meares have filed reports from the Burmese capital, Rangoon.

For their safety, and for the protection of the people who have risked their lives to share their stories, the Herald, like other media outlets, has not identified its journalists by name, instead using the byline Special Correspondent. Levett and Meares have now left Burma.

Today, we are able to publish their words and pictures under their own names.

 

[frogwoman]

Apparently the junta has been distributing rice and toothpaste to monasteries, and its been accepted by the monks, oh but they also supposedly found pornography (oh noez!) and weapons ... More here, under the heading "Burmese junta or shameless liars" http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/

 

[nino_savatte]

Apparently the junta has been distributing rice and toothpaste to monasteries, and its been accepted by the monks, oh but they also supposedly found pornography (oh noez!) and weapons ... More here, under the heading "Burmese junta or shameless liars" http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/

Ah, the auld bribery and smears schtick. Is there no depth these thugs will stoop to?

 

[frogwoman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7032759.stm

As my plane touched down in rain-soaked Rangoon, I was unsure of what to expect.

The military government had just done the unthinkable: opened fire at a protest led by unarmed monks, and no-one was quite sure what they would do next.

I arrived into a city in shock. "No-one can believe what has just happened here," an American woman said to me, soon after I arrived at my hotel.

To add to the sense of uncertainty, I was also unsure how many locals would actually want to talk to me.

Foreign media, including the BBC, is banned from reporting in Burma, and I was aware that anyone I spoke to would face a stiff jail term if military intelligence officials discovered what I was doing.

Some people just stared at me with sad, frightened eyes. But I found that others were willing to talk, despite the risks, because they wanted to let the world know what they were going through.

The overriding impression these people gave me was that they were very frightened about the future, but they were also determined to push for change.

Deserted temples

I had last visited Rangoon in mid-2006, and in some ways not much has altered since then.

Other than the brand new airport, there has been no improvement to the badly decaying buildings or the potholed roads.

There are still shocking levels of poverty in some of the city's poorer districts, public transport is overcrowded, and for most of the population, electricity remains intermittent at best.

But in other ways, the city is completely different in the aftermath of the protests. There is an extremely heavy military presence in the main downtown area, and barricades have been constructed around key police and military buildings.

There may be far more soldiers on the streets, but there are decidedly fewer monks. In fact, many of the monasteries are practically deserted, because their inhabitants have either been detained by the military, or returned home, or gone into hiding.

To make my cover story as a tourist seem convincing to any prying military intelligence officials, I visited many of the city's temples and pagodas, especially those recommended in guidebooks.

But because of their links with the monks, I found these sites were also empty, with local people afraid to go there in case they, too, became a target of government repression.

When I visited Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma's main Buddhist site and one of the focal points of the protests, there were only about 20 people there - usually there are hundreds.

It is not surprising that people are afraid of being picked up by the military. All week, I kept hearing stories of people whose friends and relatives had last been seen before the crackdown, and who are now assumed to be in detention somewhere.

One man said he had several of these "lost" friends, and he was afraid he might soon follow them.

"I don't want to be the next one to get a knock on the door from the soldiers in the middle of the night," he said.

Show of normality

When you are in Burma, it becomes obvious how blatantly the government is trying to persuade people that all is back to normal - with acres of media coverage showing mass rallies in which hundreds of people proclaim support for the ruling junta.

The government is also trying to play down the scale of the protests and the ensuing crackdown, saying they were the result of a few "destructive elements" fomented with the help of outside broadcasters such as the BBC Burmese Service and Voice of America.

But I did not meet anyone in Rangoon who actually believed this. The people I spoke to said unanimously that the protest marches were part of a popular movement borne out of grinding poverty, and that most of those who took part were not active members of pro-democracy or opposition groups - they were just monks and ordinary civilians.

The current situation is undoubtedly dividing friends and relatives, because many families include both monks and soldiers.

But these divisions are something the Burmese know a lot about. Burma is a country where fear has been part of everyday life for so long that people, even young children, have learnt to trust no-one but their closest friends.

Courage

One woman told me that, for her, the most amazing thing about taking part in the protests was that everyone there trusted each other - something she had not experienced for a long time.

Fear is endemic in Burma, but then so too is bravery.

Each person taking part in the protests knew they were putting their lives at risk, yet they did so anyway.

Each person we telephoned on often-tapped phone lines, who then agreed to help us, knew the risks and took them anyway.

In fact, some even took risks without being asked. One day, a man who spoke very little English tapped me on the shoulder as I sat in front of him on a crowded ferry going over the river.

After checking no-one was looking at us, he mimed a gun shooting people, then shook his head, saying simply: "I hate government."

That, to me, is a sign of hope. I have now left the people of Rangoon to a still uncertain future, but I know that, whatever happens, these people are not ready to give up on their fight for a better life.