Burma gets hit, hard

As if enough bad things haven't already happened to the Burmese people...

BBC News

More than 10,000 people were killed in a devastating cyclone that hit western Burma on Saturday, Foreign Minister Nyan Win has said on state TV.

This is one of the worst storms of its kind in years.

With disasters like this, the death toll usually rises rapidly. From 350 Saturday to 2,000 on Sunday then 10,000 today. It may continue to rise as more evidence of the cyclone's destruction is found. If only the Burmese government didn't block large amounts of aid meant to assist the disaster-ravaged people within its borders. It is also preventing people who aim to survey the effects of Cyclone Nargis from coming to Burma (aka Myanmar).

Dreary Burmese days

China may have finally joined much of the world in condemning Burma's brutal regime for its recent actions, but the move is too little, too late. Is most hope already lost for the pro-democracy movement in the nation also known as Myanmar?

Following protests by monks and others, the military government jailed many religious figures and participants in the uprising. Now, nearly all major democracy activists have been arrested. Virtually no progress has been made in the area of human rights.

Sadly, it seems that mass protests don't always spark revolution, or even minor political change; but, if the protests are large enough, they do alert the world to the cause of the protesters. Protests can also be countered by pro-government rallies — there was a government-created rally held earlier today, in which tens of thousands participated.

Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, the special UN envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, who visited Burma after protests heated up in September, is due to visit the country later this year. The nation's rich natural resources, especially its energy deposits, has allowed it to escape much pressure from international behemoths like China and India. The ASEAN bloc has been overly lax in its condemnation of the military junta, just as south African nations haven't put enough pressure on the deplorable state of Zimbabwe. The least that can be done internationally is ceasing the selling of arms to the nation.

Burma's march for freedom continues

Following a dawn-till-dusk curfew yesterday, Burmese protesters braved bullets, tear gas, and police force as they continued their push for democracy today. 10,000 people — many of them monks — demonstrated that they aren't going to stop what looks to be the largest uprising in nearly two decades (see previous post).

As the international community gets more and more concerned and unsure, China, one of Burma's only allies, remains silent. America is urging China to talk some sense into the illegitimate, despotic government of Burma, also known as Myanmar. The UN is leading the campaign for talks on the issue, and has already sent an envoy to Burma — although it is not known whether he will be allowed into the nation.

Why are we so unsure about what will happen next in Burma? The military junta rules the country in secrecy; few know its workings and even fewer know its plans. These protests could result in positive change — but what will probably come out of them is either a brutal crackdown like the one in 1988 where thousands were killed, or a less extreme but still hostile response from the government. I doubt they would move to the negotiating table.

As far as international pressure goes, Russia and China are still insisting the events in Burma are internal matters. Interesting how two nations who intervene and meddle so much in other nation's affairs — mostly for their profit and often resulting in disastrous consequences — would be against using diplomatic force against the regime in Burma. I can understand the impulse some have against intervention, I often share those views, but not only would upholding human rights diplomatically not be a rash measure that disrespects national sovereignty; in today's globalized and interdependent world — where one collapsed state in one far region of the globe can affect the affairs of a nation a hemisphere away — nations need to insure that their neighbors don't collapse... for their own good! That is why we finally saw China move forward with North Korea. If they were too extreme in their punishment of their 'friend', there could be collapse; but if they let the regime go mad with nukes and provoke some of the world's largest powers, instability could also be imminent.

Self-interest aside, it is important to at least acknowledge the human rights struggle in Burma. China and Russia, two veto-welding members of the UN Security Council, are wreaking of hypocrisy, as we have also seen on the Iran issue and a medley of other geopolitical matters. The need for stability, but also human rights and political legitimacy, should be rallying cries for those who call for change in Burma, and the need for states like China to push for change. Perhaps if Russia and China were more democratic and free, their people could force their governments to not be so stubborn. Alas, the freedom of one nation's people can so easily affect the freedom of another's.

Burma protests for democracy

In a rare, albeit impressive, show of unity, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Burma (aka Myanmar) over the weekend. One of the reasons these protests — a special occurrence in a state under such a despotic regime — took place is because many monks and nuns were among, leading in some cases, the march for democracy.More and more are joining in on the protests, as the number of people who feel they can finally display their discontent with the group — bringing less reprisal than it would if they acted alone — increases.

On Saturday, 1,000 monks visited the house of Burma's should-be leader and key democratic figure, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for years. Burma is one of those authoritarian states, unlike North Korea and Zimbabwe, that doesn't get much coverage.

With the world finally taking notice of what is happening in Burma, activists inside the country believe the international community must act if change is to come about. They have long called for the UN Security Council to take up the cause of the country's pro-democracy movement, calls that have been blocked by Russia and China.

These protests deserve news coverage. The military regime is much weaker than it was in 1988, when the last major uprising occurred. 20 years ago, the protesters were mainly students; the protests quickly quelled with excessive force. However, now the democracy movement has the weight of the nation's spiritual leaders — brave enough to stand up to the military junta and walk through rain-soaked streets to demand freedom for Burma's millions of impoverished people. As a Washington Post editorial stated,

The global response thus far has been lackadaisical. The U.N. Security Council held a briefing Thursday, but the U.S. representative emerged with no message of particular urgency. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy has yet to announce a date to visit Burma.

As with other cases involving democracy, but not related to the 'war on terror', the Bush administration has been firm in its rhetoric against Burma — and rightly so. However, it needs to act, particularly in the area of pressuring China. China has influence on Burma, as it does on North Korea, a card it played well when diplomatic sessions over that country's nuclear problems were stalled.

The fact that these protests took place and are continuing is amazing. However, things might turn ugly.

Burma's ruling military junta has warned it is ready to "take action" against Buddhist monks leading mounting protests, state media have reported.
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Our correspondent says Monday's marches are a show of defiance unthinkable just a few weeks ago.

Increased fuel prices and anger over the military harming monks may have been the main causes of the protests, but this series of events has light shed on the freedom movement in the country (of course, another source of the protests) makes these protests all the more important. What started with the pro-democracy protests of hundreds in mid-August, which were quickly halted, eventually snowballed into a spectacular show of solidarity among the clergy and a way for the voices of the Burmese people to be heard, if only for a few days.

Burmese protests crushed as usual

The tyrannical, isolated authoritarian state of Myanmar, aka Burma, has finally made its way into the headlines. As usual, the news is not entirely positive. Following a rare rally against the government in relation to soaring energy costs and low-as-usual standards of living, the military-led government cracked down on protests led by several participants of a 1988 student uprising.

Myanmar's military junta arrested 13 prominent dissidents and put gangs of spade-wielding supporters on the streets of Yangon on Wednesday to halt protests against soaring fuel prices and falling living standards.
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Despite the clampdown and the overnight arrest of the activists, 100 people staged an hour-long march before being dispersed. Five women and a man were arrested, although there was no violence, witnesses told Reuters.

"Onlookers applauded but failed to join the march," one said.

In a rare announcement in all state-run newspapers, the junta said the 13 dissidents were arrested for "agitation to cause civil unrest" and "undermining peace and security of the state" -- charges that could put them in jail for up to 20 years.

It's time for the world to be serious with Myanmar's military junta and stop bending the embargoes (e.g. India may be supplying the Rangoon regime with military helicopters) put in place to harm the government — though not the people.

The south-east Asian state is home to one of the most brutal regimes in the world and its tens of millions of people have suffered for years. Perhaps their plight would be the subject of more public and political attention if Myanmar was lucky enough to have vast oil resources. Nevertheless, Myanmar has one of the worst human rights records and any dissent to its authoritarian rulers is met with oppression. It's time for the state that holds Aung San Suu Kyi and many other political prisoners to be shown for what it is to the international community: a regime more than worthy of the label repressive.

A look at a repressed democratic activist: Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi — democratic activist continually detained by her military state

Her name is known worldwide as a woman who stands for democracy in the face of brutal authoritarian oppression. She is a Nobel Peace Prize winner (1991) — the only currently imprisoned one in fact — and an enemy of the military junta that rules Myanmar, known also as Burma. Her party rightly won the election in 1990, but the ruthless military set in. Suu Kyi has been detained for over a decade, and her detention has just been extended. The only reason she isn't dead is because she is one of the most popular and notable figures from Burma, a state that is odd in itself (see secret and mysterious capital change).

Burma is among one of the most human rights abusive countries on the planet, and is often ignored as authoritarian nations like North Korea and Sudan take center stage. In fact, the news about Suu Kyi was barely covered in the western media, even for a person who the United States, European Union, and others, as well as a UN official, have spoken recently in support of. General Than Shwe and his military thugs govern the country, with no respect for the people.

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