Burma: News Updates
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April 2008 Update
compiled by BPF staff member Margaret Howe
Arrests and detentions of monks and activists continue in Burma. U Gambira, one of the lead monks in the Saffron Revolution, has been put into solitary confinement. He says the monks who remain in prison are still chanting the metta sutta as they did on the streets last autumn. Monasteries in and around Rangoon and Mandalay currently house only a small percentage of the monks that were once there.
Monks at a number of monasteries in Burma have taken part in the boycott against the government, with some refusing alms donations from regime officials or passing them on to the poor, and others opting out of
government-run monk exams.
The UN Envoy’s trip this month failed miserably to make any movement with the regime. Other activists continue to be arrested and sentenced to long terms, as they bravely continue to do short protest marches and political postering throughout the country.
Amnesty International has made the call for an international arms embargo against Burma. BPF takes up this call. Please see our Burma Action Page for suggestions; one is to write a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon asking him instigate an embargo.
China is a specific pressure point for the situation in Burma because it is the largest supplier of arms to Burma. As the host of the 2008 Olympics, China has the opportunity to rise to their highest good by joining the international call for justice in Burma. There are many campaigns around the Olympics. Write a letter to the head of the International Olympic Committee or a corporate sponsor, and join the pledge to turn off your TV the first day of the Olympics.
February 2008 Update
compiled by BPF staff member Margaret Howe
Burma activists continue to be bold, and they continue being arrested. 700 who were arrested in fall 2007 remain in jail. The military has tightened the screws on political dissidents, arresting a popular blogger, intensifying pressure on the media, and bringing charges against 10 prominent protest leaders. More are slated to be sentenced this month. China and India continue doing business with Burma, making deals to build dams and ports that will increase business flow into Burma. While India is not now selling arms to Burma, they will not declare so publicly.
And while Aung San Suu Kyi has met with the regime multiple times in the last months, she is not satisfied with the talks. "So far we have not received any clear message from the government," she said in a statement released on January 30. "We have to be patient, as we have sacrificed for many years. I don't want to give false hopes to the people. I will tell the people more when the time comes."
Then she quoted her father, saying, "Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst."
The international community is keeping up pressure, with the U.S. State Department, the EU, and other world bodies issuing statements against the regime’s actions. The UN attempted to send its ambassador U Gambiri back to Burma, but the Burmese have pushed off his visit until April.
If you would like to receive regular updates of news from Burma please write to margaret@bpf.org.
Please visit our Burma Action Alert Page and take an action today to support them. No action is too small. Host a movie, discussion or talk about Burma at your sangha or home. Print out the letters and have sangha members sign and mail them. And thank you from BPF for all you do.
January 2008 Update
compiled by BPF staff member Margaret Howe
Behind the scenes in Burma and on the international front, we see encouraging signs:
- The Burmese continue to take risks in speaking out. On December 10, Human Rights Day was celebrated in private homes in Burma and in hundreds of locales around the world in support of the democracy movement.
- On January 2, the All-Burmese Monks Alliance called on the people of Burma to support their struggle against the regime, and urged monks to continue with their boycott of the Burmese regime. They vowed “to continue with the boycott until every monk and political prisoner is released.”
- Reports have recently surfaced that four Burmese generals and more than 400 soldiers reportedly refused orders to beat and shoot monks during last September’s street marches.
- India has reportedly halted all arms sales to Burma.
- In late December, a bipartisan group of 48 U.S. Senators, led by Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), signed a letter to President Bush urging him to support an international arms embargo against Burma, in the form of a U.N. Security Council resolution. The U.S. National Security Council is working to convince other countries to support the arms embargo.
Unfortunately, the repression and oppression also continue.
Of the thousands of monastics and civilians arrested in fall 2007, at least 700 remain behind bars, along with 1,150 political prisoners already in detention (source: Amnesty International). At least six members of the ‘88 Generation Students, a leading pro-democracy group, were recently arrested. U Gambira, the lead monk of the September demonstrations, most surely faces life imprisonment if not death. The junta continues to intimidate journalists, activists, and others.
Many of the monasteries in Rangoon are closed and the monks gone: no one is sure where to. Once full of monks walking on their alms rounds, the cities are quietly bereft of the flowing saffron and maroon robes.
BPF encourages you to keep Burma alive in your sanghas and communities. With the graphic photos of monks lying in pools of blood no longer being splashed across our newspapers and screens, we must keep our light shining on the Burmese struggle for democracy. The importance of keeping Burma alive as an issue cannot be over-stated. They are depending on support from the international community to turn the tide towards democracy.
December 15, 2007: Buddhist Delegation from BPF Finds Burma Cloaked in Fear
A delegation organized by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) has returned from an eight-day visit with Burmese activists, monks, students, orphans, and citizens in Rangoon, Burma, and along the Thai-Burma border. Click here to read full story and see photos.
Links to News Sources
Blogs
* Asia-Pacific Peoples' Partnership on Burma Blog
Facebook "Support the Monks of Burma" blog:
To join, log into your Facebook account and search on 'Support the Monks' protest in Burma' or try this link
* Photoblog from The Buddhist Channel: http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/myanmar270907/
* "Atrocity News," a blog about Indian support for freedom and democracy in Burma: http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/
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