Weekly Diary, No. 267 (15 – 21 September 2007)

Weekly Diary, No. 267 (15 – 21 September 2007)
 
·         MONKS ENTER THE FRAY!
·         GAMBARI BRIEFS SECURITY COUNCIL!
·         NEWS BLACKOUT DON’T WORK!
 
Think Piece
It's not human rights we are concerned about; we just want them (the military government to stop treating us like animals.
_{A protest organizer, reported by Larry Jagan in Bangkok Post, 21 Sep 2007}

 
The World
16 September 2007

The One-Two-Go budget airline crashes on landing at Thailand's Phuket killing 89 and injuring 41. (Bangkok Post)
 
18 September 2007
Crude oil prices jump to a new all time high of more than $ 81 a barrel. Analysts say they may jump to $ 85 by the end of the year. (Bangkok Post)

18 September 2007

Typhoon Wipha whips into Shanghai. (AFP)

 
International Relations
18 September 2007
UNHCR in India suspends registration of newcomers from Burma beginning today. (Khonumthung)
 
19 September 2007
_{Jim Carrey}
Hollywood actor and comedian Jim Carrey calls for UN Security Council action against Burma, as Ibrahim Gambari, UN special advisor on Burma, prepares to brief the Council on Burma's situation. (Mizzima)
 
20 September 2007
Asian Human Rights Commission urges the Buddhist community worldwide to boycott anybody from or associated with its military regime. (Statement)
 
20 September 2007
_{Ibrahim Gambari}
UN Security Council briefing Gambari focuses on "urgency to step up our efforts to find solutions to the challenges facing the country."

 
Thai-Burma Relations

Politics/ Inside Burma
18 September 2007
Rangoon. Journalists are being prevented from taking pictures. The Voice, Kyodo and TV Asahi journalists harassed. (SEAPA)
 
Protests and Arrests
6 September 2007
Police department issues a state of emergency. (Irrawaddy)
 
17 September 2007

• Chauk. About 300 monks stage a protest march, reciting the Paritta (prayer for protection).
• Kyaukpadaung. More than 300 monks stage protest march, reciting the Metta Sutta (Loving Kindness)

 
18 September 2007

• Monks begin threatened boycott across Burma by peaceful marches:
• Sittwe. 3-4 monks arrested as authorities use tear gas to break up the demonstration. Protestors are hit.
• Other towns include Rangoon, Pegu, Chauk, Pakokku, Gyobingauk, Aunglan, Zigon and Kyaukpadaung.
• Rangoon. Some 400 monks descend on Shwe Dagon.
• Myitkyina. Monks are under virtual house arrest here.
• Chauk. U Withuda, a monk, gets hit in the head by a stone after a group throw rocks over the temple wall.
• Rangoon. Naw Ohn Hla, prominent activist on her way to pray at the Shwe Dagon, arrested.
• The clergy announces refusal of donations from and preaching to the SPDC. (Asian Human Rights Commission)
• Pauktaw, Arakan. Township cooperative shop destroyed by strange monks, believed to be fakes. (Kaladan)

19 September 2007

• Rangoon. Hundreds march through the city in rain. Turned back from Shwe Dagon, they take over Sule Pagoda temporarily.
• Mandalay. 500 monks.
• Sittwe. More than 1,000 stage a sit-in outside a police station calling for release of 3 monks arrested yesterday. They temporarily occupy state council office.
• Prome. Another group of about 500 monks stage protest.
• Kalay. 200 monks stage protest.
• Junta media. Admitting using tear gas, the monks are described as "bogus", "violent" and "disrespectful".
• Blogger by the name of Moezack, who posts images of the monks' protests, joins the country's wanted list. He is wanted not only by authorities but also by a public eager for latest information.

20 September 2007

• Rangoon. More than 1,000 monks march past foreign embassies in downtown
•  Rangoon amid heavy rain.
• About 200 monks from the South Dagon Nikaya Nga Yat temple, sponsored by Daw Kyaing Kyaing, Burma's First Lady, join the protests. (DVB)
• Hundreds of students and young people join hands as a human chain to protect the marching monks. Several foreigners also follow the procession, with a car believed to be from one of the embassies. (Irrawaddy)
• Pegu. Authorities disconnect train coach carrying 130 monks on their way to Rangoon to join the protests. (Mizzima)
• Mongywa. About 400 monks, defying warnings from local authorities, march through the town for an hour demanding an end to crackdowns. (DVB)
• Rangoon. No security personnel in sight, although dozens in plainclothes stand by without interfering. Rumors that a state of emergency has been declared are denied by junta spokesman Ye Htut in an email.
• We will stage our marches every Sabbath day, says a monk. The next Sabbath falls on 26 September. (AP)
• The Federation of All Burma Young Monks Unions issues statement calling on students and civilians "to work with monks and courageously demonstrate their genuine aspirations." (Irrawaddy)

21 September 2007

• Shwebo. At least 1,000 monks take to the streets. (Mizzima)
• Rangoon. Light Infantry Division 77 has reportedly taken up positions.
• Rathidaung, Arakan. About 20 people march peacefully in support of the monks in protests. (Narinjara)
• Rangoon. Monks continue march protest under heavy downpour.
• Daike Oo, Pegu. At least 200 monks stage protest march.
• Mongywa. At least 1,500 monks take to the streets chanting suttas. (Mizzima)

 
Comments
20 September 2007

• Bangkok. "UN reaction has been disappointing", says Sunai Phasuk, Human Rights Watch's Thailand representative.
• The Burmese military may have more restraint than in 1988 because the international community has focused more on Burma, says Pornpimol Trichote, a scholar with Asian Studies Institute at Chulalongkorn University.
• Both say there is concern over the impact of refugees fleeing to the Thai border and bilateral relations. (Irrawaddy)
• The technology of rapid communication is spreading films and photographs of demonstrations and the junta can no longer operate in the shadows as it had in the past. (New York Times)
• The patam nikkujana kamma boycott is similar to the Christian notion of excommunication. (Reuters)
• A nationwide upraising will soon follow if the junta does not engage in dialogue, say veteran politicians Chan Tun, Aye Tha Aung and Cin Shin Thang. (Irrawaddy)

21 September 2007

• Last week China summoned FM Nyan Win to Beijing where the Burmese military was advised to treat the protests seriously and do nothing to endanger regional stability. The junta was also told to push forward with democratic reforms in order to ensure peace and stability.
• On the weekend, another delegation was dispatched to Moscow to muster support for the military at the UN.
• Monasteries in many towns were shut down earlier this week and the monks were told to return to their homes. A key monastic university in Rangoon has also been closed. (Bangkok Post)
• Censors prove powerless to stop the outflow of information and images over the internet to the outside world. (Asia Times)
• The regime cannot afford to be too confident. Its heavy handed actions against protestors and resulting turmoil are not in China's interests. Ethnic armed groups can also exploit the situation, spilling instability over Burma's borders with neighboring countries. (Irrawaddy)
• We need generals like Fidel Ramos of the Philippines, whose rebellion during public unrest, had brought down the Marcos regime. (Network for Democracy and Development)

 
Shans/ Shan State
13 September 2007
Rice transportation to Shan State South suspended without official explanation. Permission to transport rice to Shan State North long halted. Official clarification at that time said it was to stop illegal exporting to China. (New Era Journal)
 
21 September 2007
_{Col Yawdserk}
Col Yawdserk, leader of Shan State Army (SSA) South, voices support for the protesting monks. (SHAN)

 
Economy/ Business
16 September 2007
Amidst anxiety about political instability, depositors in Mandalay are withdrawing their savings. (Mizzima)

 
Human Rights
17 September 2007
Muslim residents in Rangoon and Mandalay say they have been banned from praying in large groups and airing the daily call to prayer on loud speakers during the holy month of Ramadan. (DVB)

 
Environment
10 September 2007
The Mekong River today(Time)

 
Drugs
15 September 2007
Between 2003-2006, there were 5,700 rehabilitation centers and camps across the kingdom to treat 405,000 drug addicts. (Bangkok Post)
 
16 September 2007
Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy, specialist at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, questions the success story in Southeast Asia: In Laos and Burma, we've had a very quick decrease. Is it going to last?"
_{Kon Jern}
Shan State Amry commander Kon Jern says farmers are finding it difficult to switch crops. "If they change and grow other kinds of plants, nobody comes to buy their products--- the transportation is not good. (New York Times)
 
17 September 2007
_{Christy McCampbell}
Burma and Venezuela have 'failed demonstrably' to do enough to fight illegal drugs for a third straight year, says US report. Washington however determines to maintain US programs that aid Venezuela's democratic institution. In Burma, its "declining poppy cultivation" has been matched by a sharp meth increase, says State Department's top drug diplomat Christy McCampbell. (Reuters)

 
War
20 September 2007
The military has postponed its tri-annual meeting scheduled to be held on 24 September. (Mizzima)

 
Obituary
19 September 2007
PM Soe Win's twin brother Maj-Gen Tin Tun passes away. (Mizzima/DVB)