88 Generation Students (Exile): REGIME FREE PRISONERS, BUT FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS

Saturday, February 21, 2009

REGIME FREE PRISONERS, BUT FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS

Myanmar starts releasing prisoners , but for political prisoners
Myanmar
authorities Saturday began to free prisoners from Yangon's notorious Insein jail, including some political prisoners, under a government amnesty for 6,313 inmates nationwide.
Eyewitnesses saw scores of prisoners leaving Insein Saturday evening. Among them were Thet Wai, a member of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, and five other low-ranking opposition members.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her deputy Tin Oo have apparently been excluded from the amnesty. Suu Kyi and Tin Oo have been under house arrest since mid-2003.

Tin Oo's detention was extended by a year on the eve of the arrival of UN Rapporteur on Human Rights Tomas Ojea Quintana Feb 14 for a six-day visit.

Quintana's mission aimed at persuading Myanmar's ruling junta to release an estimated 2,100 political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, before its planned election in 2010.

Quintana concluded his visit Thursday, noting at the airport upon his departure that 'the human rights situation in Myanmar is still challenging'.

The regime has now granted an amnesty for prisoners, but not necessarily the ones Quintana was concerned about.

The government said in a statement that the release of the 6,313 prisoners was being made on humanitarian grounds and as a 'gesture' of sympathy towards their families.

Those released would be able 'to serve the interests of the regions and their own, the nation, and to participate in the fair election to be held in the year 2010 together with the people after realising the government's compassion and goodwill,' the statement said.

The amnesty, which comes days before Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein will attend the 14th Summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Thailand
next week, has met with scepticism from abroad.

France and Britain Friday strongly criticised Myanmar's military regime for failing to implement democratic reform and freeing political prisoners, even though the government has announced the amnesty for 6,313 prisoners.

France's UN Ambassador Jean Maurice Ripert said in New York that Ibrahim Gambari, the special envoy of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, had not obtained progress demanded by the international community
.

Gambari, who was in Myanmar in January, met the 15-nation UN Security Council to report on his trip. But Ripert said progress in the talks presented by Gambari were 'very thin and disappointing'.

Gambari spoke to reporters following the closed-door session with the council, saying that he had not seen 'tangible outcomes' from his visit. He said the UN secretary general's good offices role is appreciated by the government of Myanmar as well as the people there, including opposition leader Suu Kyi.

The UN had demanded the junta to implement democratic reform and meet benchmarks like the release of all political prisoners and institute

national reconciliation and democratic elections.

In particular it has called for the release of Suu Kyi, leader of the NLD, who has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years.

British Ambassador John Sawers said Gambari had 'better access' in his last visit.

'We regret that there was no real progress,' Sawers told reporters. 'In fact, the situation has gone backwards.'

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I am disappointed by the unwillingness of the government of Burma to deliver on its promises for democratic dialogue and the release of political prisoners."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I would like to make an appeal to President Bush: Please take pride as a President who has worked hard for Burma to achieve something before his term expires.”

-U Gambira, a leader of the All-Burma Monks’ Alliance that spearheaded nationwide protests in Burma in September---

—

U WIN TIN

Because we refuse to bow to these unjust election 'laws,' our party will be abolished by the regime soon. Still, the NLD will not disappear. We will be among the people, with the people. We will continue to fight for democracy, human rights and equality among all ethnic nationalities, by peaceful means. —

Win Tin, a member of NLD Central Executive Committee

From Stalin to Burma, a history lesson

They may wear different cloaks, but under the surface all dictators are similar. As the memory of dictators like Joseph Stalin fades, mistakes of the past repeat themselves with a vengeance in forgotten places like Burma.One writer said of Stalin: “He had found Russia working with wooden ploughs and left it equipped with atomic [stock]piles.” But perhaps the true question doesn’t regard Stalin’s undisputable impact on humanity, but whether the legacy justified all the human sacrifice. To Stalin, the millions killed as a consequence of his ambitious drive were simply stepping stones along the road to national prosperity. However, such a Machiavellian frame of mind can neither be justifiable nor ethical.Stalin utilized numerous harsh methods in attempting to meet his ‘utopian’ goals. Collective farms were prevalent, while each Five Year Plan sought to leapfrog Russia ahead of competing nations and systems. Toward this end, virtually every industry fell under the direct control of the government and its de facto and shackled workforce. And the sad truth, more often than not, was results never met by an increasingly impoverished population.Stalin’s principle instrument for maintaining control over his country was his secret police. Through this institution, fear was instilled in the hearts of the people. The final death toll from Stalin’s regime is indeed staggering, with estimates ranging from 10 to 20 million people having perished.Stalin was under the belief that all his actions, extreme or otherwise, were necessary in order to pull Russia into the industrial age. Yet, ultimately, the major flaw in Stalin’s reasoning was that he claimed all sacrifices were necessary and for the future of Russia. “Life has improved, comrades. Life has become more joyous,” he once remarked. And while he was thinking about the future of the country and the generations to come, the standard of living within Russia had plummeted.Today, forgetting that dictatorship is a self inflicted wound, some intellectuals and humanitarians reason that simply sending more aid and increasing engagement are starting points to improving the political situation in Burma. But when they begin to regard the active opposition, as symbolized by Aung San Suu Kyi, as increasingly irrelevant, the time has come to refresh their memory about Joseph Stalin and the enormous price of dictatorship. It is one thing to want to bring Burma into the international community, but it is another to coddle and nurture tyrants without speaking out against their inhumane acts.So far, newly elected U.S. President Barack Obama and Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton have taken a cautious and slow approach toward Burma. But in a world of competing interests and ideology, it will be a great tragedy if they fail to take a firm stand against the dictators in Burma.After all, the United States and its allies helped reform the militaries in Indonesia and Turkey within democratic transitions and transformations. Now, the U.S., United Nations, ASEAN and the European Union need decisive and effective leadership to help Burma. Obama and Clinton have a great chance to seize this mantle…if they are willing to seriously take on the leadership role.Today, even as Burma’s generals tragically act more and more like Stalin, could it not be that the army as an institution in Burma was originally inspired by similar beliefs to those of countries such as Indonesia and Turkey? This should offer an important clue as to where to begin with Burma.

88 Generation Students (Exile)

Saturday, February 21, 2009

REGIME FREE PRISONERS, BUT FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS

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