Saffron Revolution... last update from the frontlines

It’s been strange returning to my work for Burma after being submersed in everything Tibetan for two weeks. And like the last time I took some time off work, I missed a lot of exciting news.

While I was away, I received an e-mail from my friend who had been detained in Rangoon, and thankfully released. He couldn’t write much about his experiences, but he said that he is okay. For the last 2 weeks I have been compiling a list of all the people who have been detained or killed since the protests began in August. It made my work a little easier knowing that some of those released are okay, despite being seriously shaken up. However, being aware of the horrible detention conditions, I know that my friend’s definition of “okay” is very different from my own. Nothing about being detained for expressing a peaceful political opinion is “okay”, let alone the inhumane treatment of men, women, children and monks in detention centers around the country. The Burmese people’s bravery to continue the struggle for democracy and human rights is an inspiration.

The Telegraph recently published a great article about the monks and activists inside Burma, who have not given up on their Saffron Revolution, but who are regrouping and planning the next protests. There have been stories that people have been hanging pictures of junta leader Than Shwe on street dogs – a serious dishonor to the general… and to the dogs!! People have been handing out political leaflets at markets, and painting anti-junta statements on trains. And on October 31st, 200 monks protested again in Pakokku. They have not given up!

Two UN envoys have visited Burma to gather information on the crackdown and to promote genuine negotiations between the SPDC and Aung San Suu Kyi. My colleagues are cautiously optimistic – this is a step in the right direction, however the junta is not to be trusted. This could all be a face saving effort. The junta is definitely still spewing out the same fantastically horrible propaganda on Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD party, meddling external agitators and “big countries”. For anyone with a cynical sense of humour, I highly recommend the state-run newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, for a good laugh at the junta’s ridiculous propaganda. It has become a good source of entertainment here at my office.

For all the Canadians reading this:
Today, our government imposed complete sanctions on Burma (the only exception being humanitarian aid). While our country’s trade with Burma is quite small it is a perfect gesture. The more countries do this, the more crippled the junta will be, and the quicker change will come to Burma. Today, I am very proud to be Canadian – more than usual, of course!

Knowing that so much is happening in Burma – and that so much more is bound to happen in the near future – makes it hard for me to leave at this point in time. Part of me will miss this work very much. It’s been a fantastic opportunity for me to strengthen my skills, and an immense source of inspiration that change is possible… and right in front of us all!

Friends Detained

On Saturday, we received news that 3 key activists with the 88 Generation Students were detained. One of my colleagues knew them personally, and my heart sank as I watched him place frantic phone calls to friends and media.

Since the initial crackdown that ended the protests in Rangoon, the SPDC continues to arrest people in the middle of the night. These 3 activists, Htay Kywe, Mie Mie, and Aung Htoo, had managed to stay hidden and avoid being detained for more than 2 weeks. However, they are now among the estimated more than 3,000 monks and civilians who have been detained. It has been confirmed that at least 134 protesters have been killed, including many monks and a Japanese photojournalist. But both numbers are believed to be much higher.

The SPDC’s violent reaction to the protests continues. Kyaukpadaung Township NLD member Ko Win Shwe, who was arrested on September 26, died as a result of torture while being interrogated in Plate Myot Police Center near Mandalay. Protesters who have been released from various detention centers throughout the country report of horrific detention conditions, with no sanitation, little food and drinking water and rooms crammed full of monks and civilians. Protesters are being tortured and interrogated at the hands of police, Special Branch and Military Intelligence officers. Monks have been forcibly disrobed, and given their only meal of the day in the afternoon, which goes against their Buddhist vows to only eat in the morning.

Today, I found out that one of the people I met in Rangoon has also been detained.

All the stories seem so much more real and horrible when I imagine my friend there. And there is nothing I can do.

The Saffron Revolution Continues

Today marks the International Day of Action for Burma. Protests have been held in over 30 cities all over the world and presumably still counting, since as I write this it’s only morning in most of North America.

The streets of Rangoon are no longer filled with protesting monks and civilians, however soldiers and barbed wire barricades remain. But the revolution does not stop here. The spectacular protests and violent crackdown that grabbed the world’s attention were the kick that got the ball rolling in the right direction.

This week we learned that in addition to the monks and protesters who were arrested during the demonstrations, the military has been arresting people from their houses in the middle of the night for participating in the protests, even for as little as standing on the street when it happened or clapping as monks and people walked by. Close to 3,000 people have been arrested, and it is believed that night time arrests continue. With the first night time raids and abductions of monks from their monasteries, people began to organize sentry duty to protect their clergy. Civilians are reportedly still guarding monasteries all over the country, armed only with homemade weapons, such as slingshots and arrows made out of spokes from the wheels of bicycles.

While the news emerging from Burma this past week may have slowed to a trickle, more will come. The junta’s shutdown of internet and phone lines has stopped a lot of information from getting out, but it will come out eventually. The SPDC cannot afford to keep communication lines cut indefinitely, journalists are finding ways into the country and there will undoubtedly be more people fleeing the country with stories to tell.

The media focus has shifted towards the next steps. Ibrahim Gambari returned from his visit to Burma, where he met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and then junta leader Than Shwe and then Daw Suu again, suggesting that he might have been carrying messages between the two. And most recently, Than Shwe announced that he would meet Daw Suu if she abandons her “confrontation attitude” and stops calling for international sanctions. Sounds like China’s demands that the Dalai Lama give up his desire to split up the motherland! I’m not sure that Than Shwe would meet with her even if she did agree to the ridiculous demands. It seems more like an attempt to show the world that he made an effort at reconciliation. Then he can blame Daw Suu when they never meet.

There are many theories about what could contribute constructively at this stage, mainly China stepping up and playing a key role. Personally, I don’t see that happening. If China were to take a leading role in Burma, it would be opening itself up for more criticism about its track record with the Falung Gong, Tibet, and even it’s involvement in the Sudan. At the same time, with the Olympics approaching, China may be more willing to participate in international action so as to avoid such criticism. Other possibilities include Singapore which has a lot of investments in Burma, and the Malaysian gas company, Petronas, who supposedly supplies the junta with all of its diesel fuel. If Petronas were to temporarily halt its shipments of gas, the SPDC would be crippled and completely unable to function! One company with that much influence in this situation!!

Burmese exiles and activists here say that people inside have not given up. They are hunkered down, trying to avoid being arrested, and waiting for the chance to regroup. The Saffron Revolution continues!!

The Tipping Point?

“It’s been a long time coming, but I know a change is gonna come…”

Otis Redding’s “Change is Gonna Come” has been running through my head for the week, as I have watched the events unfolding in Burma with amazement. What began as small scattered protests in mid-August against the military regime’s economic mismanagement and the population’s increasing poverty, have built into an all out confrontation between the people of Burma and the military junta. The monks’ initiatives have drawn more and more civilians out into the streets, initially to protect the monks and then as a defiant show of opposition to the junta. On September 22, the protesters even marched past blockades to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, where she appeared at her fence for the first time in 2 years.

News early last week that hospital and prison wings had been emptied was a warning of the impending violence. Police and soldiers wielding riot shields and guns filed into the street and fired bullets and tear gas into the crowds of protesters. Official reports say that only 10 people have been killed, but most assume that the number is over 200, including monks, children, innocent bystanders, and a Japanese journalist. Monasteries have been raided and looted with hundreds of monks being arrested in the middle of the night. There are stories of bodies being thrown in the river, and of cremations where even those still alive are being burned.

The international community has responded calling for the SPDC to be more respectful of the protesters and for the junta to engage in genuine dialogue for democracy – obviously some countries and regional organizations have been much more vocal and critical than others. Interestingly, China who has been a staunch backer of the junta has even taken a stance against further violent repression of the protesters. In another interesting development, the UN Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, was permitted to visit with Aung San Suu Kyi for almost an hour today.

I’ve been on vacation with my mum for the last week, planned months ago and much needed, but which fell at such a bizarre time. For more detailed information, here are some links to recent publications:

BURMA BULLETIN - ISSUE 9 - SEPTEMBER 2007

FACE OFF IN BURMA: MONKS VS. SPDC

FUEL PRICE HIKES INFLAME BURMESE PEOPLE

From my overworked colleagues and everyone here, it really feels like this will be a tipping point in the history of Burma. Protests on this scale have not happened since 1988, when 3,000 people were brutally killed. Despite the junta’s efforts to block phone and internet communications, the world is watching this time and will not idly stand by.

Here are some online petitions that only take a moment to sign:

US Campaign for Burma

Amnesty International

Avaaz.org

More Protests… in Burma and Tibet!

Monks have been protesting in cities all around Burma since September 18. In Sittwe, there were reports that the junta used tear gas to disperse the monks.

This photo is from Rangoon, where they marched through the streets after being blocked from entering the main Shwedagon Pagoda.

There have also been two cases of Tibetans speaking out about politics in Tibet in the last two months. On August 1, Tibetan nomad from Lithang, Runggye Adak, was arrested after standing on stage at a ceremony for the 80th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (also the annual horse racing festival). This is an inspiring letter from his son and nephew, explaining what happened and calling for his release:

Lithang Rongye Adak: the man who spoke up for freedom

If he had not spoken up, the news wouldn’t have been made, but the suppression would have continued silently, the pain in the heart of every individual would have remained buried deep in the hearts and never spoken about, and everything would have been “normal”.

Lithang Rongye Adak, a deeply religious man at 53, broke the silence by speaking the truth, the truth that remained suppressed in the hearts of his fellow countrymen. Rongye Adak is a father who besides running his nomadic family acts as a social worker in his local community in Yunru Kha-shul area in Lithang, eastern Tibet.

Tibet, the country that has been invaded, occupied and colonized by China is today being ruled by a military regime and a set of law that dictates upon the native people the orders of the colonial Government of Han Chinese majority from Beijing. The sophistication of governance and the interpretation of it are such that the country is now being transformed from a land of virgin pastures and untouched fresh water and glaciers into a hugely urbanized and industrial area with rampant mining, damming and deforestation. Networks of roads and bridges built are now crisscrossing the country destroying traditional lives of the Tibetans, and all these are done in the name of “development”.

It happened recently on the 1st August, in Lithang where the annual horse racing festival had started and thousands of Tibetans had gathered from all over Kham region to witness the traditional Tibetan festival.

As the government officials sat in chairs in a big ceremony, Rongye Adak, a tall sturdy man from Khampa Lithang stepped on to the stage paying his respects to the local Lama, grabbed the mike and gave a surprise speech.

He began by asking fellow Tibetans to stop getting into petty fights among themselves for land and gathering yartsa gunbo, and asked all Tibetans to unite. And when he had the full attention of the crowd he asked whether they want His Holiness the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet. The audience that consisted mostly of nomads responded in unison that they all want their leader to return to Tibet. And everybody cheered, clapping and whistling.

He went on to ask for the release of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the XI Panchen Lama who is in Chinese Government’s custody from 1995, ever since he was taken away at the age of six. The fire of truth raged and there is no stopping. He even demanded the release of Tulku Tenzin Delek who has been sentence for life for an alleged case of bomb blast in Sichuan.

And when the Chinese authorities sitting on the stage slowly realized what Adak was saying, Adak had already made his speech. The police grabbed him and took him away. This provoked the audience who was already agitated and moved by the powerful speech by their new found hero.

A strong crowd of six to seven thousand Tibetans demanded that Adak be released immediately. And when police reached for guns, hundreds of nomads took off their shirts and showing their bare chest challenged the police to shoot them. They said what Adak did was only an expression of dissatisfaction which the Chinese law permits as right to free expression.

The stand-off with the police authorities has been going on ever since the incident of 1st August. As the news of Adak’s courageous act of speaking up spread to other villages and towns, more and more people started pouring in to show their support. The police in Lithang are now barring people from traveling in order to control public mobility. Tension is only growing as more and more people are heading towards one destination.

The soft-spoken man, a father of eleven children who lived a simple nomadic life has suddenly become a political prisoner. With his wife taking ill and being hospitalized, his family is suffering. Three of his children are presently studying in different schools and monasteries in India.

This is an appeal to you to spread the message of freedom and justice and also to ask you to appeal to Chinese Government to release Lithang Adak immediately and unconditionally. We also request you to ask your Government and the United Nations to help.

Rongye Jamyang, son of Rongye Adak
Atuk Tseten, nephew of Rongye Adak
Drepung Gomang Monastery,
Mundgod, South India

In response to Rongye Adak’s speech, there has been an intense religious crackdown. Chinese authorities in Lithang (Eastern Tibet) have ordered local residents, including monks at the Lithang monastery, to attend a 'patriotic education' meeting on September 21st to denounce the Dalai Lama. Sign the online petition.

On September 7, Chinese authorities arrested around 40 students in Labrang county of Tibet for writing graffiti on police station walls calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and a free Tibet. Seven students aged 14 and 15 are still under arrest in an unknown location, and one boy was reportedly severely beaten.

To the people of Tibet, keep it up! There is a strong international movement backing you, and in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics, the whole world is watching. Now is your chance to tell the Chinese government that enough is enough.

Go Monks Go!

Protests erupted in Burma following the SPDC’s overnight hike of fuel prices on August 15, leading to a drastic increase in the price of essential commodities such as rice. While the protesters are from all walks of life, Buddhist monks are taking incredibly powerful actions.

One of the most impressive stories of courage and action to emerge started in the first week of September when several hundred monks protesting in Pakokku, central Burma, and were fired upon by SPDC Army soldiers. In the crackdown, some of the monks were severely beaten and three were arrested. The next day, a group of monks angered by the cruel treatment held about 20 SPDC officials hostage, calling for the release of the detained monks. The standoff ended that afternoon with both the SPDC officials and the monks being released.

This week a message came from the All Burma Monks Alliance, threatening to excommunicate SPDC personnel and their families if the SPDC does not meet a series of demands by mid-day today. The monks demanded that the SPDC apologize for the incident in Pakokku, immediately reduce commodity prices, release all political prisoners, and enter into dialogue with pro-democracy groups. Excommunication – the refusal to accept alms or provide spiritual services – would mean serious public embarrassment for the junta personnel. It could also increase internal pressure on the SPDC, since personnel are already resentful over the huge income gap between themselves and the military leaders.

Monks all over the country have said that they will march to the biggest temples in their hometowns beginning today – which also marks the 19^th anniversary of the Burmese military coup.

Since the protests began, I have been more encouraged and excited than I have been in months. As activists on the outside, sometimes I feel that there is only so much advocacy and protesting and writing op-eds we can do. It comes to a point when action is needed by the very people we are fighting for; the price hike and ensuing protests in Burma are one such moment. Every day I hope that the Burmese people continue to have the strength and the courage to persevere. To the people of Burma, we stand behind you and will fight to make your voices heard all over the world.

The One Year Count-down Begins

Today marks an important day for two movements that have their own places in my heart and my consciousness.

August 8, 2008 (an auspicious Buddhist date) is an important date for the Burmese: it will be 20 years since the national uprising that lead to the killing of thousands of people and the imprisonment of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The time I’ve spent with the Burmese human rights group here in Bangkok has been very interesting and has given me the opportunity to grow personally and as an activist. The bravery of the Burmese people – of those who continue to protest inside their country despite definite detention, and of those who have left their lives and families behind to campaign for democracy in exile – has inspired me.

August 8, 2008 is also the opening day of the Olympics in Beijing. Today Tibetans and their supporters have intensified their campaign against the Beijing Olympics, with only 365 days to go (www.studentsforafreetibet.org and www.beijingwideopen.org). Since Beijing put in its bid to host the 2008 games, human rights groups around the world have been vocal that such a country as China should not be given the honour because of its human rights record. The promises made by the IOC or Beijing have not yet been seen. The air quality is horrible in the capital, media reporting is not free, and millions of “ethnic nationalities” continue to live under the yoke of oppression. As my friends gather around the world to mark this important date, I wish I was there with them. I’m thinking of them and waiting anxiously for news that the “Great Wall 6”, and Lhadon and Paul, have been safely released from detention in Beijing.

One More Year

The news came out tonight that Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest has been extended by another year. I'm angry and disappointed and frustrated and sad all at once:

… thinking of this amazingly smart and spiritual and powerful woman, who means so much to so many people, but who is stuck in a house all by herself.

… wondering how long we will keep calling her detention “house arrest” when, even in jail, one is allowed to receive visitors.

… questioning when the time is going to come for the Burmese, and for the Tibetans too.

… hoping that we all have enough passion to keep fighting.