Daniel Pedersen

Mae Sot, Thailand

May 1, 2009

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) today released a report to mark the anniversary of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma a year ago. The report highlights the cases of 21 volunteers who are currently facing between 2 and 35 years in prison for their efforts to assist in the aftermath of the cyclone, including gathering dead bodies and burying them.

At least eight of the volunteers had been in hiding since their participation in September 2007’s Saffron Revolution, but came out of hiding to co-ordinate relief efforts after the cyclone devastated the Irrawaddy Delta. Five of the volunteers are former political prisoners, who have already spent many years in jail.

AAPP Secretary Tate Naing said, “Their punishment is completely unacceptable. Their ‘crimes’ were to help people and tell the truth about the situation. We call on ASEAN and UN to press the military regime to release the Cyclone Nargis volunteers – and all political prisoners – immediately.”

The organisation renewed its calls for support for its campaign petition Free Burma’s Political Prisoners Now!

“Political prisoners – including Cyclone Nargis volunteers – must not be forgotten. Ordinary people everywhere can sign the petition,” added Tate Naing.

The campaign aims to collect 888,888 petition signatures before 24 May. This is the date that the military junta claims that Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should be released from house arrest, despite the fact that the United Nations has recently declared that this consecutive sixth year of house arrest contravenes the regime’s own laws. The petition can be signed at www.fbppn.net

ENDS

Download reports

AAPP Cyclone Nargis anniversary report [449 KB]

Cyclone Nargis list of 21 people arrested [27.9 KB]

Cyclone Nargis list of volunteers still in prison [17 KB]

AAPP

For more information, please contact:

Tate Naing at +66-(0)81-2878751

Bo Kyi at +66-(0)81-3248935

Notes to editors:

1. The campaign is led by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) and Forum for Democracy in Burma.
2. 199 organizations worldwide have endorsed the campaign. For the full list, please click here

Karen National Union

OFFICE OF THE SUPREME HEADQUARTERS

KAREN NATIONAL UNION

KAWTHOOLEI

May 17, 2009

1. The US citizen, John W. Yettaw, who swam across Inya Lake and entered Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s (Daw Suu) residence, is clearly a mentally unbalanced person. He should have been sent to a mental hospital for treatment and the security for Daw Suu should have been enhanced. Instead, the SPDC military dictatorship is accusing Daw Suu of protecting a criminal and preparing to subject her to a criminal trial, in the notorious Insein Jail.
2. For her activism to free the people of Burma from tyrannical and arbitrary rule, for winning the Nobel Peace laureate for her peace effort and for leading her party to win a landslide victory in the 1990 elections, Daw Suu has been unlawfully detained by the dictatorship, time and again, for 11 of the past 19 years. It is clear that the vengeful and hate-laden SPDC dictators are plotting to further extend the detention of her beyond the 2010 elections, they are preparing to hold.
3. Obviously, the SPDC is using the incident as an opportunity to cause even more harm to Daw Suu, similar to the attack on her and her entourage, at Depeyin. It is clear that under influence of the perverted ideology of total control, the SPDC dictators have no sense yet for national reconciliation, peace and justice.
4. We, the KNU, strongly condemn this vengeful and confrontational act by the SPDC dictatorship against the people’s leader, Daw Suu, and call upon it to release her and all the political prisoners immediately.
5. It is our perception that the dictatorship has been emboldened to the extent of committing crimes tantamount to crimes against humanity, time and again, by the policy of appeasement and pseudo-national reconciliation process promoted by some wooly-headed Burma experts, INGOs and opportunist groups.
6. In conclusion, we call upon justice and peace loving leaders of the world to concertedly push the SPDC military dictatorship onto the right tract of meaningful dialogue, with leaders of democratic and ethnic forces, for genuine national reconciliation, lasting peace and progress.

The Executive Committee
Karen National Union

ENDS

Htaw told ‘this is the last time’

Daniel Pedersen

Mae Sot, Thailand

May 11, 2009

The late KNLA General Bo Mya —  Photo by Steve Sandford.

Karen National Union executive committee member David Htaw is treading on thin ice after an executive meeting called him to task last week in Karen State’s north.

A wide-ranging interview he gave to The Irrawaddy in March was at the base of complaints, but it is understood concerns about his behaviour run much deeper.

Htaw was told he had broken ranks in the March interview and was not a Karen National Union spokesman.

The interview raised eyebrows and gave birth to wild rumours among KNU watchers, with many believing his antagonistic stance towards the current leadership was steeped in bitterness at his standing among his peers.

The KNU executive committee yesterday said Htaw had deliberately misled The Irrawaddy, the public and systematically gone about attempting to destroy the KNU’s public image and had interfered with its political structure.

Some went as far to suggest he was playing power games to undermine stability.

He was given a “last warning” and will now be further isolated from the main body of the central executive, where he has always been considered something of an outsider.

He criticised the KNU leadership, newly-elected in October last year, for operating from Thailand.

Htaw said KNU leaders should live with their commanders or face dissipating morale among the KNU rank and file.

Htaw lives in Chiang Mai and has done so for years.

He also singled out the Karen National Liberation Army’s Special Battalions for criticism, saying because they were led only by the late General Bo Mya’s sons, it gave the appearance of a “family army”.

He said this did not sit well with soldiers and commanders alike.

A senior member of one of the special battalions was left perplexed by Htaw’s statements, saying: “So where does that leave the special battalions, are we outlaws now?”

While a senior KNU figure said Htaw was “not a strong man [in the KNU]” and he did not have the support to wreak havoc, any suggestion of yet another split would be damaging at a time the KNU could ill-afford.

But the new administration’s mistrust of Htaw runs far deeper.

An office-holder of the central executive was furious about the March interview, saying Htaw “had to be expelled” before last week’s meeting, which ended on May 4.

He said Htaw was currently building three houses in Chiang Mai and had been taking spurious advice and money from a non-governmental organisation with open political affiliations.

“I told him not to listen to them, but he did not take may advice,” said the KNU heavyweight.

Others said Htaw had been a problem ever since the KNU jungle stronghold of Mannerplaw fell in 1995.

Htaw also said the KNLA had no more than 3,000 soldiers, a figure hotly disputed by the KNU.

The new leadership of the KNU, elected after the death of former chairman Pado Ba Thin Sein last year, is considered by some in the Karen rank and file to be hard line.

But others say they have been elected because they will not compromise on principles and, at a time when serious rifts and defections have weakened the KNU and its image, such leadership is much needed.

Said one EC member: “You can compromise on many things, and I believe in compromise, but you cannot compromise on a principle.”

It is understood only the KNU’s constitution saved Htaw from immediate expulsion.

ENDS

SPDC cannot be negotiated with: Colonel Nerdah

Daniel Pedersen

Mae Sot, Thailand

May 11, 2009

Rumours that another two sons of the late Karen National Union stalwart General Bo Mya, Nerdah and Tu Lu, are about to enter talks with Burma’s ruling military junta have been angrily dispelled by Nerdah.

“I mean, where are these rumours coming from? Are they beginning with NGOs? [Non-governmental Organisations]”

“Is it necessary to organise a meeting with them all? Perhaps then they might be satisfied, if I sit down in front of all of them and directly tell them that I am not changing sides,” he said, furious at once again having been questioned as to where his allegiances lay.

Rumours that Nerdah and Tu Lu, both commanders in the KNU’s armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, were about to defect have been circulating since last year, when their youngest brother Tay Lay traveled to Nay Pi Daw to discuss lucrative terms upon which to shift camps.

He did so early this year, relocating inside Burma, at the behest of his uncle, former KNLA Brigadier General Htin Maung and the shadowy figure “Pastor Timothy”.

Htin Maung is alleged to have stolen money from the KNLA’s Seventh Brigade, of which he was commander.
While Burma’s junta, the State Peace and Development Council, trumpeted Tay Lay’s defection as a huge blow to their enemies, senior KNU figures have played down its significance.

Some executive office holders said he was not even a particularly valuable soldier, never having undergone basic training.

Nerdah, a KNLA Colonel, said the persistent rumours were undermining the Karen struggle and he would do everything in his power to discount them.

He said he questioned the motivations of some NGOs, who appeared intent on fomenting rumours of dissension.
“With the enemy so close, this is not what we need, surely that is obvious to anyone,” he said.

“It is absurd to think the SPDC can be negotiated with in any manner,” he said.

In whose interests would it be then, Nerdah asked rhetorically, to continually question KNLA commanders’ alliances?

The KNU leadership harbours deep concerns about some NGOs operating in the Karen theatre of war, suggesting they are doing their best to undermine and isolate them from their ethnic minority allies.

ENDS

Statement on 33rd anniversary of NDF foundation

The ethnic national leaders have established the NDF with the aim of realizing the noble objectives of equality, self-determination and the establishment of federal union of Burma based on democracy. They have been struggling on for more than 3 decades and the 33rd Anniversary of foundation of the NDF falls on today, May 10, 2009. We, the NDF, always pay great respect and place on record the sacrifice of lives and limbs made by many heroic members of ethnic populations, resistance leaders and comrades in the course of 33 years of struggle.

In spite of pressure by the ethnic, democratic and international forces for dialogue and change through peaceful means, the SPDC military clique continues to perpetrate heinous crimes of using large scale military offensives against the innocent ethnic civilians, sowing dissension among us by various means, giving long prison terms to political, human rights and humanitarian activists, and siphoning off aid given to Cyclone Nargis victims.

We will never accept attempt by the SPDC military clique to hold election in 2010 based on the 2008 constitution, which was drafted and adopted by force in order to perpetuate the rule of evil fascist military dictatorship. On the other hand, we will continue to struggle on with higher momentum definitely, in accordance with programs, laid down at the NDF 7th Congress, of opposing the 2008 constitution and the military clique’s elections, consolidating ethnic unity and national reconciliation, and raising momentum of the just war of resistance.

It is especially necessary for us to note that the SPDC military clique is trying to disarm nefariously the ceasefire groups by pressuring them to reduce their armed strength and transform into border police force, even when there is still no political guarantee for the rights of the ethnic nationalities.

We will support politically the “Shwegondaing Statement” issued by the NLD recently as it contains a process in which the two sides can participate for finding solutions to the problems. We again call on the SPDC military clique to establish nationwide ceasefire, to unconditionally release all political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Tin Oo and Khun Tun Oo, and to enter into dialogue with all political forces of the country.

In conclusion, we solemnly issue this statement and make a pledge, on the occasion of the 33rd Anniversary of the foundation of NDF, to struggle on in unity with other revolutionary and democratic forces, until the fruit of national democratic revolution is gained.

“Victory through Alliance”

The Central Executive Committee

National Democratic Front

May 10, 2009

Media contact

Chairman: (66) 087 207 9296

General Secretary: (66) 086 206 4045

ENDS

The Courier Mail

February 25, 2006

By Daniel Pedersen

Bangkok

PRIME Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, facing a mounting campaign to force him to quit, last night said he would call an early general election, three years before it was due.

"I dissolve Parliament," he told reporters after an audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

"No reshuffle," he added after a senior official had said a cabinet change was "very likely".

Mr Thaksin’s announcement came as protesters pledged to take their people-power campaign against Mr Thaksin to another level this weekend.

Organisers say they will bring at least 100,000 people on to the streets of central Bangkok tomorrow and stay there until Mr Thaksin goes.

The flashpoint that made such a gathering possible was Mr Thaksin’s tax-free sale of his Shin Corporation to an investment arm of the Singapore Government.

The public outcry over claims that Mr Thaksin had sold the country down the drain drove a group of senators to petition the Constitution Court for his impeachment. Last week he narrowly escaped their first attempt.

Mr Thaksin came to power on a promise to give every village a one-million-baht revolving fund in a bid to reduce poverty.

The plan was that villagers could borrow from the fund, repay it and then other villagers in turn could borrow, in effect giving people a chance to lift themselves from the mire of poverty. But critics say the scheme fell at the first hurdle, and villagers instead bought new mobile phones and motor vehicles with the money and then failed to pay it back.

Many of the new phones were bought from AIS, a division of Shin Corp, until recently owned by Mr Thaksin’s family.

English-language daily The Nation has described Mr Thaksin’s election promises as vote-buying.

But the residents in poor neighbourhoods and rural areas still support Mr Thaksin despite the failure of his populist policies.

In a bid to hold on, Mr Thaksin is promising debt-relief schemes. He recently starred in a reality television program in which he visited the impoverished rural village of At Samat and handed out money.

Political observers believe Mr Thaksin’s only hope of survival is a snap election.

More than 130 universities have called for him to be ousted — unprecedented in a country where educational institutions are traditionally split along ideological lines.

And Mr Thaksin’s former mentor, Major-General Chamlong Srimuang, who introduced him to politics in 1996, has vowed to hound him until he steps down.

If General Chamlong succeeds it will not be the first time. He organised the 1992 Black May protests, which ousted military dictator Suchinda Krapayoon.

The military powerbroker said Mr Thaksin’s sale of Shin Corp for 73 billion baht (more than $24 million) was the straw that broke the camel’s back for him.

The sale went through on January 23, just three days after new foreign ownership rules relating to telecommunications companies came into force. The new rules permit 49 per cent foreign ownership and Mr Thaksin’s family sold 49 per cent of Shin Corp.

The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday said Mr Thaksin’s son Phantongtae violated share ownership reporting rules by failing to report indirect holdings in Shin Corp via an offshore company in 2000 and 2002, and also violated a mandatory tender offer rule.

The commission’s secretary-general, Theerachai Phuwanartnaranubal, said Mr Thaksin himself and his daughter had not violated any reporting requirements. Mr Theerachai said Mr Phantongtae could face a fine and as long as two years’ jail.

Security forces were last night preparing for the weekend rallies, with Defence Minister Thammarak Isarangura saying he feared a repeat of bloody protests of three decades ago that left dozens of students dead and triggered a coup.

ENDS

p class=”mediareportage”>The Courier Mail

February 25, 2006

By Daniel Pedersen

Bangkok

PRIME Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, facing a mounting campaign to force him to quit, last night said he would call an early general election, three years before it was due.

"I dissolve Parliament," he told reporters after an audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

"No reshuffle," he added after a senior official had said a cabinet change was "very likely".

Mr Thaksin’s announcement came as protesters pledged to take their people-power campaign against Mr Thaksin to another level this weekend.

Organisers say they will bring at least 100,000 people on to the streets of central Bangkok tomorrow and stay there until Mr Thaksin goes.

The flashpoint that made such a gathering possible was Mr Thaksin’s tax-free sale of his Shin Corporation to an investment arm of the Singapore Government.

The public outcry over claims that Mr Thaksin had sold the country down the drain drove a group of senators to petition the Constitution Court for his impeachment. Last week he narrowly escaped their first attempt.

Mr Thaksin came to power on a promise to give every village a one-million-baht revolving fund in a bid to reduce poverty.

The plan was that villagers could borrow from the fund, repay it and then other villagers in turn could borrow, in effect giving people a chance to lift themselves from the mire of poverty. But critics say the scheme fell at the first hurdle, and villagers instead bought new mobile phones and motor vehicles with the money and then failed to pay it back.

Many of the new phones were bought from AIS, a division of Shin Corp, until recently owned by Mr Thaksin’s family.

English-language daily The Nation has described Mr Thaksin’s election promises as vote-buying.

But the residents in poor neighbourhoods and rural areas still support Mr Thaksin despite the failure of his populist policies.

In a bid to hold on, Mr Thaksin is promising debt-relief schemes. He recently starred in a reality television program in which he visited the impoverished rural village of At Samat and handed out money.

Political observers believe Mr Thaksin’s only hope of survival is a snap election.

More than 130 universities have called for him to be ousted — unprecedented in a country where educational institutions are traditionally split along ideological lines.

And Mr Thaksin’s former mentor, Major-General Chamlong Srimuang, who introduced him to politics in 1996, has vowed to hound him until he steps down.

If General Chamlong succeeds it will not be the first time. He organised the 1992 Black May protests, which ousted military dictator Suchinda Krapayoon.

The military powerbroker said Mr Thaksin’s sale of Shin Corp for 73 billion baht (more than $24 million) was the straw that broke the camel’s back for him.

The sale went through on January 23, just three days after new foreign ownership rules relating to telecommunications companies came into force. The new rules permit 49 per cent foreign ownership and Mr Thaksin’s family sold 49 per cent of Shin Corp.

The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday said Mr Thaksin’s son Phantongtae violated share ownership reporting rules by failing to report indirect holdings in Shin Corp via an offshore company in 2000 and 2002, and also violated a mandatory tender offer rule.

The commission’s secretary-general, Theerachai Phuwanartnaranubal, said Mr Thaksin himself and his daughter had not violated any reporting requirements. Mr Theerachai said Mr Phantongtae could face a fine and as long as two years’ jail.

Security forces were last night preparing for the weekend rallies, with Defence Minister Thammarak Isarangura saying he feared a repeat of bloody protests of three decades ago that left dozens of students dead and triggered a coup.

ENDS