NDF chairman speaks out on ethnic resurgence
NDF chairman David Tharkabaw
In our latest video offering National Democratic Front chairman and Karen National Union vice president David Tharkabaw speaks out about Burma’s ethnic resurgence.
Once distinctly separated nationalities Tharkabaw describes a newfound unity:
- Announces a new overriding ethnic body that will lead the fight into the future
- Says a parallel government will soon be declared
- Calls on US President Barack Obama to help the people of Burma achieve justice
- Laments the European Union’s lack of support for Burma’s people
- Says more refugees will soon be heading for the Thai and Chinese borders
- Describes the SPDC’s latest military offensives and says the Wa are next in line
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Ethnic politics in Burma: the time for solutions
TNI-BCN Burma policy briefing No. 5
February 2011
Following the shake-up of Burmese politics last year, the country’s military leaders now face the challenge of introducing a new system while ethnic tensions and exclusions remain.
Burma remains a land in ethnic crisis and political transition. In 2010 the military State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) laid out the landscape for a new era of parliamentary government. In 2011 the authorities face the challenge of introducing the new political system. Ethnic divisions and political exclusions, however, are emerging in national politics, threatening a new cycle of impasse and conflict.
A critical moment is approaching. A new political system is being introduced, and progressive decisions can yet be made. But uncertainty is increasing. Will the new government be the SPDC in new guise or will it be a platform from which ethnic peace and multi-party democracy can truly spread? The stakes could not be higher. The decisions made by Burma’s leaders in the coming year could well decide the country’s future for a generation Ethnic Politics in Burma >>> Read the report
Business before democracy
Thai officials order relief organisations not to support forces fighting Burma’s junta
Daniel Pedersen
Mae Sot
The United Nations and organisations working along the Thai-Burma border providing relief for refugees from Burma’s grinding civil conflict have been ordered not to support forces fighting for democracy.
At a meeting between Thai provincial governors, the UNHCR and non-governmental organisations, provincial authorities made it clear that any support for the democracy movement would upset bilateral relations with Burma’s ruling generals.
They said this could not be tolerated >>> Read the report
Myawaddy remains flashpoint
Restaurant bombing kills two
Daniel Pedersen
Mae Sot
Burma’s Myawaddy has again become an urban theatre of war, with two people killed in a bomb blast on Wednesday night near the Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge.
And witnesses said throughout the day on Tuesday they had heard sporadic gunfire from the Rim Moei Market, nestled on the riverbank directly opposite Myawaddy.
The Burmese frontier trading town became famous overnight on election day – November 7 – when soldiers of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army revolted against their Burma Army overseers, sparking pitched battles in the town’s streets.
Since then, the situation has deteriorated along the border as the junta’s troops seek retribution >>> Read the report
Life under the Junta
Evidence of crimes against humanity in Burma’s Chin State
PHR report reveals Burma authorities have committed crimes against humanity.
No nation has the right to oppress its people, but to the extent that we abandon those people, we allow the crimes to continue.
Physicians for Human Rights has revealed that authorities in Burma’s Chin State have perpetrated human rights violations. Although PHR researchers have posited that a prima facie case exists for crimes against humanity in Burma, a study conducted by PHR provides the first quantitative data on these alleged crimes. At least eight of the violations that PHR surveyed fall within the purview of the International Criminal Court and may constitute crimes against humanity.
PHR’s research demonstrates that the human rights violations surveyed in Chin State meet these necessary ICC elements. While PHR’s data implies knowledge that would satisfy the ICC definition, further evidence is needed to establish individual culpability. This evidence would likely stem from a UN Commission of Inquiry or another thorough investigation.
PHR calls for an official Commission of Inquiry on Burma, whose mandate should be to investigate violations of human rights and humanitarian law and to identify perpetrators of such abuses. A full investigation into alleged crimes against humanity would lay the groundwork not only for future prosecution of offenders, but also for the creation of a legal and judicial system well-equipped to ensure accountability domestically. Institutional reform is essential to replacing impunity with accountability and to bringing justice and stability to the people of Burma >>> Read the report
Read about beyond section ten
Sex, lies and denial – peddling people in Thailand
Daniel Pedersen
Journalist
Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva
In a city that has been described as the world’s largest brothel, Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Saturday told an audience in Pattaya that Mae Sot in northern Thailand would become a “special economic zone”.
This “zone” will combine Mae Sot and Tha Sai Luad (Mae Tao to the Moei River) municipalities.
The merged administration will be vested with powers to create laws that override national laws and regulations.
On the same day Abhisit made his announcement in Pattaya, human rights organisations marked anti child-trafficking day in Mae Sot >>> more
Interview with KNU vice president
DKBA outpost 20
KNLA colonel Nerdah sends message to the people
"Secret Genocide is a scholarly book on the plight of the Karen of Burma. Author Daniel Pedersen writes about the secret genocide of the Karen people at the hands of the Burmese junta, who use murder, rape, forced labour and torture to quell their enemies. Decades after the Karen took up arms against Rangoon; there is no telling when - or if - their struggle for a secure homeland will finally be accomplished"
Read and add comments at the book's blog
Secret Genocide by publisher Maverick House. >>> Read prologue.
