Five Generals and soldiers jailed for refusing to shoot monks

The Jakarta Post, 11 Oct.

Burma's ruling junta have detained five generals and more than 400 soldiers for disobeying orders to shoot and beat monks and other activists who took part in recent protests in Rangoon, an official said Monday.

The official, who asked for anonymity out of fear he would be punished by the junta, said it was the first sign of divisions in the country's secretive establishment.

"The five generals expressed their refusal to deploy their troops against the monks openly. They were then quickly put into detention by the junta.

"Some 400 soldiers of the Saigaing Division near Mandalay also put down their guns in front of the monks, and asked for their forgiveness as they fully realized they had committed the biggest sin," he told The Jakarta Post.

The official refused to disclose the names of the generals or give further details on where the generals and the soldiers were detained.

Following Burma's recent wave of anti-government demonstrations, which drew more than 100,000 protesters at its peak last week and saw the military shooting at civilians and monks, the Burmese administration announced that 10 people, including a Japanese photographer, had been killed during the protests.

Foreign diplomats and Burmese dissidents said the true death toll was much higher.

The official said that most civil servants like himself did not like what the junta had done to the monks but were too afraid too show their feelings.

"Monks are a symbol of our religion and our life. People are very angry that the military dared to shoot them. It is considered the biggest sin to kill monks," the official said.

He said that many civil servants and other workers were beginning to quietly express their dissatisfaction by staying at home and not working.

Shwe Myo Thant, secretary-general of the Chiang Mae-based Nationalities Youth Program, an organization of 12 ethnic groups working to empower Burmese people, agreed that many workers were boycotting the junta by staying home.

"They want to show the military that they disagree with the violent crackdown. By not working, we hope that they can put more pressure on the junta to open dialog. Beside the civil servants and the workers, the monks are also continuing their protest inside their monasteries by staying silent and refusing to pray for the government," he told the Post on Sunday at his office in Chiang Mae.

Analysts have speculated that the disobedience of some military generals could be the beginning of cracks inside the military establishment, leading to civilians taking power in a manner similar to the events in Indonesia during the May 1998 riots, which led to the fall of Soeharto.

Below are some excellent links for news regarding Burma:

Burma Project
A huge resource on Burma, funded by the Soros foundation. Hosts Burma News Update, an alternative news source, as well as reports, links and more on opposition groups and other current affairs.

Burma News Update

 

Democratic Voice of Burma
Norway-based radio station, broadcasting in Burmese. Has news updates in English.

 

Mizzima
Independent agency.

 

National coalition government of the union of Burma
Parliament in exile.

 

What Burma wants from the world

 

Tuesday 9^th October 2007

 

BBC News

 

The BBC News website's Kate McGeown has just returned from visiting Burma. Here she assesses what the Burmese people want from the international community.

 

In the wake of the military crackdown on unarmed monks in Burma, the world's leaders are once again discussing how to deal with the country's repressive regime.

After meeting the senior generals in their new capital, Naypyidaw, UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari warned that there could be "serious international repercussions" as a result of the recent bloodshed.

The US has already toughened its sanctions against Burma, and the EU is set to follow suit.

But far away from the world's debating chambers and boardrooms where their future is being discussed, the people of Burma have slightly different priorities.

"We would like to have democracy, but the most important thing for us is to have peace, and enough food on our plates," one woman said.

Sanction drawbacks

Burma is a country that is desperately poor. According to recent international estimates, 32% of the population live below the poverty line and, excluding a small rich elite, the rest are only just above it.

I saw signs of poverty everywhere in Rangoon - children with distended stomachs, people scavenging through rubbish and families buying coal to cook on open fires, owing to the intermittent and expensive electricity supply.

Outside the major cities, the situation is far worse.

Foreigners are rarely allowed into the northern and eastern states, but reports from refugees who have left these areas suggest conditions are on a par with the worst parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

Unsurprisingly, the main thing most Burmese people want is an improvement in their standard of living.

As a result, many Burmese are sceptical of sanctions, saying they have already made the country poor and will only make the situation worse if they are tightened further.

"Sanctions don't work - they're not the solution," one elderly man said to me in a Rangoon teashop, as we discussed Burma's future.

Walking around the city, watching the Japanese and Chinese cars go by, and looking at the plethora of Chinese and Indian goods on sale, it is easy to see how he has drawn this conclusion.

The US and EU sanctions that are already in place have undoubtedly affected Burma's overall economy, but they do not seem to have done much harm to the rich military generals, who are busy making deals with the rest of Asia.

Let down?

While they might not favour sanctions, the people of Burma definitely want the international community's help in other ways.

Many of those who telephoned the UN during the crackdown asked why no-one was sending a peacekeeping force.

I was faced with a similar question when I was in Burma last year. "Why have the US and the UK invaded Iraq, and not done the same here?" one man asked me at the time.

After the events of recent weeks, some Burmese people feel let down by the outside world.

"The international community did nothing to stop a three-day killing spree," one woman said. "That was when I realised we were on our own."

Click here for more

 

Untold story: how Burma brutalised its monks

Connie Levett in Rangoon

Sydney Morning Herald
October 8, 2007

 

THE mystery of what happened to Burma's saffron army, the thousands of monks who inspired a nation to rise up against a brutal regime, then vanished overnight, has been unlocked.

Taken from their monasteries in a wave of midnight raids, they have been held in primitive, humiliating conditions designed to break them down physically, emotionally and spiritually.

The account of an 18-year-old novice, who was taken from the Mingalar Rama monastery in Rangoon, reveals that while the military may be in physical control, the monks still wield a powerful spiritual weapon.

He said soldiers at the Government Technical Institute in Insein, one of four detention centres set up to handle the thousands of people arrested, broke down in tears when monks warned them they would go to hell for the way they had treated the detainees.

The treatment that has angered the monks includes lack of medical care, lack of sanitation, brutality in detention and disrespect for the Buddhist robes.

In seven days of detention, monks and civilians who were injured during the fighting received no medical attention, the young monk said.

"One monk from Nywe Kyar Yan monastery, you could see the bone in his arm but they never treated it," he said.

Another monk who had hurt an eye in fighting had now lost it. Three civilians who did not receive medical attention died at the technical institute, the young monk said.

The monk was taken by the junta at 4am on September 27. "The soldiers invited us to come and have breakfast with them. We knew it was not breakfast, but we did not fight them like they did at Nywe Kyar Yan," he said. The monastery's 99 monks were put in canvas-covered army trucks and taken straight to the Government Technical Institute, close to Insein prison, where political prisoners are detained for decades at a time.

Once there, the monks were put in rooms where they had to sit in lines, cross-legged without moving, hands clasped at the back of their necks, heads bowed in the submission pose.

They were beaten if they looked up or, as they became weaker, if they toppled over.

"Some soldiers were told by the monks, 'you are committing a very serious crime, serious enough to go to hell'. Some of them were crying, saying they were just doing what they were told," the young monk said.

On day two of the detention, the monks were ordered to take off their robes and wear the traditional Burmese dress of shirt and longyi, a type of sarong. For a monk to change to civilian clothes is to break faith with Buddha.

Click on title to read the complete article

A message from fellow VOXer  ed-infinitum

Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither was it brought down in one.  Gandhi didn’t manage to evict the British from India by a single day of fast and prayer.  It took a concerted and consistent effort. 

 

A single day of action basically enables the powers-that-allow-the-Burmese-Junta-to-be to turn the apathetic cheek for a period of 24 hours from bloggers in the expectation that they would go on to mind their own business thereafter.  Let’s not rely solely on the initiatives of official organizations.  Bloggers must have a sense of their own cosmopolitan significance to initiate their own efforts to complement that of organizations.  Hence, a 7 Day Strike Action for a Free Burma by all Bloggers would go a long way in catching the attention of the media and generate a life of its own in various forms after the period.   

 

Thus, I call for a 7 Day Bloggers Strike for Burma commencing this Sunday – 7^th to 13th October 2007.

 

Let’s resolve, for a period of 7 days,

 

• to publish nothing but ‘Free Burma’ related articles

 

Or

 

• to republish the post with our choice of ‘Free Burma’ graphics once every single day so that the directories, media, governments, will take note of bloggers’ strike action for a Free Burma.

 

Or

 

• To refrain from publishing anything and allow the post with the ‘Free Burma’ icon to stand as the first article on our respective sites for the strike period.

 

Please spread the word with virus-like tenacity to your friends, colleagues, ‘blogger neighbourhood’.  Those suffering under the Burmese regime deserve your effort.

 

                         FREE BURMA!

 

ed-infinitum

Below are some modified images for the 7 day strike courtesy of Ed, please feel free to copy them and use them on your own blog or website.  To copy right click over the image and Save Image As .........

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2007-10-03

Larry Jagan previously covered Myanmar politics for the BBC. He is currently a freelance journalist based in Bangkok.

Dear friends,

Burma's generals have brought their brutal iron hand down on peaceful monks and protesters -- but in response, a massive global outcry is gathering pace. The roar of global public opinion is being heard in hundreds of protests outside Chinese and Burmese embassies, people round the world wearing the monks' color red, and on the internet-- where our petition has exploded to over 200,000 signers in just 72 hours.

People power can win this. Burma's powerful sponsor China can halt the crackdown, if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government and other key countries, Avaaz is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign on Wednesday, including full page ads in the Financial Times and other newspapers, that will deliver our message and the number of signers. We need 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China's attention. If every one of us forwards this email to just 20 friends, we'll reach our target in the next 72 hours. Please sign the petition at the link below -if you haven't already- and forward this email to everyone you care about:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/t.php

The pressure is working - already, there are signs of splits in the Burmese Army, as some soldiers refuse to attack their own people. The brutal top General, Than Shwe, has reportedly moved his family out of the country – he must fear his rule may crumble.

The Burmese people are showing incredible courage in the face of horror. We're broadcasting updates on our effort over the radio into Burma itself – telling the people that growing numbers of us stand with them. Let's do everything we can to help them – we have hours, not days, to do it. Please sign the petition and forward this email to at least 20 friends right now. Scroll down our petition page for details of times and events to join in the massive wave of demonstrations happening around the world at Burmese and Chinese embassies.

With hope and determination,

Ricken, Paul, Pascal, Graziela, Galit, Ben, Milena and the whole Avaaz Team

Free Burma! - International Bloggers Day

International bloggers are preparing an action to support the peaceful revolution in Burma. We want to set a sign for freedom and show our sympathy for these people who are fighting their cruel regime without weapons. These Bloggers are planning to refrain from posting to their blogs on October 4 and just put up one Banner then, underlined with the words "Free Burma!“. For more information go to: Free Burma

Well what a time it has been, the world is in chaos. 

The Iranian President has been visiting New York and that has caused quite a stir. 

The Burmese people are taking to the streets and peacefully protesting and are facing possible massacres at the hands of their country’s military.  You can show them your support at this link and I urge you to do so.  I also have posted some more information about the situation at the end of this rant.  Please feel free to skip the rant and head to some real news - about the Burmese people at the end of this post.

 
Another stir has been the Sally Field Emmy Award’s speech.  Not real news really just another storm in a tea cup, put out there to dumb us down and ignore the really important stuff.  So why even bother commenting, well I have my reasons mainly to do with hypocrisy.  But seriously I don't expect you to read my rant I would rather that you concentrate on what is really important in this world. But if you want to read my rant about hypocrisy, go for it.

Some are up in arms because FOX cut some of her speech and see it as censorship and there is the question as to why it was cut.  Was it cut because she said, “G…..n” or was it cut because she was making an anti-war statement and many see FOX as the pro-war media outlet?  Others are upset that Sally used the G-word in vain.  Others are upset that she made an anti-war speech at the Emmy’s and she should make her anti-war statements some where else or not at all because actresses should just act and not voice an opinion.

 

The official view by FOX is:

"Some language during the live broadcast may have been considered inappropriate by some viewers. As a result, FOX's broadcast standards executives determined it appropriate to drop sound and picture during those portions of the show."

 

FOX it appears was worried about facing fines if the FCC determined that words of profanity were used during the broadcast.  Could they have just bleated out the “G…..n word and left the rest of the speech some say yes and others say no?

I am not going to get into the argument of whether FOX had a hidden agenda and wanted to block the last bit of Sally’s speech we could argue about that all day and night and still be running around in circles.

I am not even going to get into whether Sally should or should not have said her anti-war speech, however if you look closely there was a connection between the Emmy she was accepting and the speech that she made.  The character she plays is a mother of a son going to war.

 

In her series Brothers and Sisters, there is an emblematic moment between Field and one of her sons who chooses the military. She referred to this scene earlier in her acceptance speech: "At the heart of [her character] Nora Walker, she is a mother," Field said. "May they be seen, may their work be valued and raised ... especially the mothers who stand with an open heart and wait -- wait for their children to come home from danger, from harm's way and from war." As the music began to swell, signaling she should wrap-up her remarks, she exclaimed, "I'm not finished. I have to finish talking ... if the mothers ruled the world there would be no god . . ." The rest was silenced. Afterwards, informed that she had been cut off, she seemed to take it well: "I've been there before," she said. "If [mothers] ruled the world we wouldn't be sending our children off to be slaughtered. I shouldn't have said the 'god' before the damn."(Source)

I want to look at the issue of whether “G…..n” should have been cut from the speech in the first place.  Many Christians will not be happy with Sally’s use of God’s name in vain and I respect that.  In fact as you see in the above quote Sally has actually apologised for saying it.

Well according to the FCC g.....n is not profane and therefore it didn’t have to be censored, it was FOX’s decision. 

A 2004 FCC ruling specifically stated no objection to the use of "g.....n" on TV when making a judgement on the uproar over Bono swearing at the Golden Globes in 2003 where he used more colourful language.

 

See, e.g., Raycom, Inc, 18 FCC Rcd 4186 (2003) (referring to God as a “sonofabitch” not profane under section 1464) (citing Gagliardo v. United States, 366 F.2d 720, 725 (9th Cir. 1966) (“God damn it” not profane under section 1464) and Warren B. Appleton, 28 FCC 2d 36 (B’cast Bur. 1971) (“damn” not profane under section 1464) (also citing Gagliardo)  (Source)

 

Maybe FOX was just making absolutely sure that they didn’t offend anyone, although they have offended some by deleting Field’s comments, as some see it as censorship.  Possibly they were wary because E! Network editors had already bowed to pressure from Catholic activists who demanded that a section of a pre taped segment done by Kathy Griffin’s be removed due to Kathy Griffin’s allegedly blasphemous use of Jesus.  Her speech was supposedly an amusing rant which notably concluded with the remark:

 

“A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this. But he had nothing to do with this. … …… …, this award is my God now!”

 

It isn’t as if FOX never allows the G-Bomb to be used as it allows it to be used on its cable network at a later timeslot.  An example from the Red Eye 12^th September 2007.

 

 

It is quite interesting scouring the opinions of people on various articles about this ‘incident’, especially those of a Republican persuasion and how they are citing their reason for being upset is because Sally used God’s name in vain. They have also been very quick to condemn Sally.  Not much room for forgiveness in some people’s eyes even though she regrets saying it.  Oh I know that they are Republicans or conservatives, because they also do not like liberal minded people speaking out against the war.  It seems it is okay to kill people but one should never use God’s name in vain.  For me personally I will respect the wishes of those who do not wish people to use God’s name in vain and I am sorry if I am upsetting some when I leave the full word in, but I am only doing so when used as a quote from a souce.

 

Now these same Republican’s or conservatives who are condemning Sally for using God’s name in vain most likely did not even raise an eye brow when George W Bush said the following words:

 

GOP leaders told Bush that his hardcore push to renew the more onerous provisions of the act could further alienate conservatives still mad at the President from his botched attempt to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.

“I don’t give a goddamn,” Bush retorted. “I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.”

“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”

“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

I’ve talked to three people present for the meeting that day and they all confirm that the President of the United States called the Constitution “a goddamned piece of paper.” (Source)

 

But who knows maybe Bush never said those words after all, maybe it is just liberal propaganda.

If he didn’t say the G - Bomb then he certainly was well known for his use of other some what offensive language.  While deciding to run for the 2000 election, GW Bush had one of many issues to overcome.

 

For a man whose language when relaxed has always had a salty tinge, it was a burden to expunge four-letter words from his daily vocabulary. But he made the sacrifice.

When a right-wing friend reproached Mr. Bush for supposedly having said ''God damn,'' Mr. Bush erupted in a string of expletives. As the friend remembers it, Mr. Bush finally cooled down and gave examples of the obscenities and vulgarities he uses, but added fiercely that he does not take God's name in vain.  (Source)

Once again who knows if he did say the G–Bomb but his father certainly knew how to say it.

Mr. Mulroney said he advised Mr. Bush on how to deal with rumors during the 1992 presidential campaign that he had had an extramarital affair -- accusations Mr. Bush denied.

Bush said, ''Isn't that the goddamnedest bit of trash you've ever seen? Can you goddamn well believe it?'' This is the way he talks, you know. (Source)

 

But do I really care if any of the Bush’s have or do say the G–Bomb, well no because “Frankly my dear I don’t give a damn” because I am an Australian. 

I just get a bit sick of the hypocrisy of some people.  It is okay for the President of the United States to stammer and get his words mixed up and say some rather interesting things, it is okay for him to possibly use the G – Bomb and it is also okay for him to send a country to war and say so over and over again why it should be at war, but it is not okay for Sally Field to do the same with one exception, she is against the war and she said so.

 

A fellow blogger made an interesting point these same right winged Christians always seem to be quite prepared to condemn Muslims when Muslims are outraged at some one treading on their Islamic religion.  I wonder how many of these Christians understood the outrage felt by Muslims when there were cartoons posted in the Danish press of the Prophet Mohammed? 

 

Twelve cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten daily September 2005 and reprinted in a Norwegian magazine January 2006, sparked uproar in the Muslim world where images of the prophet are considered blasphemous.

Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet, even respectful ones, out of concern that such images could lead to idolatry.

Officials in Muslim countries and various religious bodies expressed anger at the cartoons, while the editors of the newspapers defended their publication on the grounds of freedom of expression and refused to apologize, but said they did not mean to insult Islam.

Denmark, citing freedom of expression, also defended Jyllands-Posten’s right to publish the satirical drawings that seemed to portray the prophet as a terrorist.

One major difference in this case the cartoons were not removed, while in the case of the G –Bomb and the Kathy Griffin’s case, the network did remove the offending words so as not to supposedly upset some viewers.

 

End of rant.

 

Now for some real news

 

Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the world. For decades the Burmese regime has fought off pressure--imprisoning elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and democracy activists, wiping out thousands of villages, imposing forced labour, creating refugees.

But last Tuesday Buddhist monks and nuns, revered in Burma, began marching and chanting prayers. The protests spread as hundreds of thousands of ordinary people and public figures joined in, finding the hope they’d lost. Now they’re facing crackdown – so please, show your solidarity to this movement towards reconciliation and democracy and sign the emergency petition supporting the Burmese people -- it'll be delivered to United Nations Security Council members and international media all week:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/tf.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

In the past, Burma's military rulers have massacred the demonstrators and crushed democracy. The world must stand with the Burmese people at this time, to show the military rulers that the world will not tolerate repression and violence.

Right now, global leaders are gathering in New York for the annual United Nations summit. In speeches, press interviews but also in real actions, we need them to show Burma's military junta that the global community is willing to act in solidarity with the protesters.

Show your solidarity to this movement for peace and democracy and sign the emergency petition supporting the Burmese people. It'll be delivered to UN Security Council members and the UN press corps all week:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/tf.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Thank you for your help!