Panty Power comes into play
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
October 26, 2007 - Women workers in Philippines today "attacked" the Burmese embassy in Makati by hurling panties in a demonstration against the junta's brutal crackdown on Burmese protesters in September.
The protest organized by Free Burma Coalition-Philippines and Alliance of Progressive Labor, had over 60 women activists on Friday pelting panties at the Burmese embassy condemning it for its brutality against its own people.
Burmese junta officials, are known to be highly superstitious and panties were deliberately thrown to condemn their actions, Jomar Bolo, spokesperson of the FBC, said.
"Some junta members believe that any contact with female undergarments - clean or dirty - will sap them of their power," Bolo told Mizzima.
Throwing panties at the Burmese Embassy is also to remind the junta of its brutal beating, killing in the crackdown last month on tens of thousands of peaceful protesters despite calls by the international community to exercise utmost restraint, the FBC said in its statement released today.
Marlene Sindayen, spokesperson of the Alliance of Progressive Labor, said, "Throwing women's underwear at the Burmese embassy is our way of telling the junta we want democracy in Burma now. Panties also symbolize women's liberation in Burma because the junta is also known for being the world's number one women rights abuser."
The protest called "Panty Power" joins activists' in several countries, including UK, Thailand, Australia and Singapore in sending panties to Burmese embassies.
The Lanna Action for Burma, which launched the "panties for peace" campaign, in its website encourages women to send their panties to the Burmese embassy saying, "This is your chance to use your 'Panty Power' to take away the power from the junta and support the people in Burma."
"You can post, deliver or fling your panties at the closest Burmese Embassy any day from today. Send early, send often!" added the group.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro will end his mission if Burmese Military doesn't act together with him
Pinheiro Says He’ll End Visit If Junta Doesn’t Cooperate
By Lalit K Jha/United Nations
October 25, 2007
UN human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro says that unless the Burmese junta cooperates fully with him when he visits Burma in November he will immediately leave the country.
The junta is allowing Pinheiro to visit Burma after refusing his repeated requests for a visa over the past four years. Burma’s ambassador at the UN, U Thaung Tun, has given an assurance that Pinheiro will be accorded full co-operation.
Pinheiro, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s special rapporteur on human rights, said that if he didn’t get full cooperation “I go to the plane and I go out [of the country],”
Speaking after a meeting with a UN General Assembly committee on Wednesday,
Pinheiro said he planned to visit Burma for five days. The visit will probably come immediately after one planned by Ban Ki-moon’s special envoy on Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, in the first week of November.
It is hoped that both envoys will be able to complete their visits before the start of an Asean summit meeting on November 17. Pinheiro said he planned to submit his report to the Human Rights Council on December 11.
Pinheiro’s visit was mandated by the Human Rights Council, which asked the envoy to assess the current human rights situation in Burma. It will be Pinheiro’s seventh visit to Burma as UN special rapporteur but his first for four years.
Pinheiro said he would gather information, collect testimonies and data and investigate allegations of ongoing human rights. “I will be particularly concerned to verify the numbers, whereabouts and conditions of those currently detained, as well as an accounting for the numbers killed during the protests,” he said.
“My task is to offer honest, complex and objective picture of the crisis, the origin of the crisis, the crisis itself, the excessive use of force and then what is happening in terms of detainees, deaths of people, those who are injured.”
Pinheiro said he wanted to visit prisons to meet detainees and monasteries for meetings with monks.
Referring to a statement by the Burmese Ambassador to the UN, U Thaung Tun ,that as many as 2,677 detainees have been freed and more releases would follow, Pinheiro said: “I think that the situation of fear prevails. I do not think that the repression has ceased.
“What annoys me that repression has not stopped even for a single moment, despite all this universal appeal by the Human Rights Council [and] the unanimous statement from the President of the Security Council,” he said.
Pinheiro told the UN committee: “I have continuously received worrying reports of death in custody, torture, disappearances, ill-treatment, and lack of access to food, water or medical treatment in overcrowded unsanitary detention facilities across the country.
“Reports are being received regarding night raids during curfew hours with the army and the militia going home by home searching for people and detaining participants in the demonstrations. Relatives of people in hiding have reportedly been taken hostage as a way of pressure.
“I have received reports that from September 26 to October 6, fifty two monasteries had been raided by security forces. I have also received reports of people who have already been charged and sentenced by special courts.”
Pinheiro said he has also received reports “that there have been selective killings aimed at decapitating the incipient movement.”
Asked later about a recent interview in which he was reported as saying the chances of the demonstrations succeeding in their aim were minimal, Pinheiro said he had meant that the situation in Burma could not be compared to the uprisings that overthrew regimes in Eastern Germany and the Ukraine.
“It is not the case here. I said that please do not have any illusion that the protest would have any regime change.
“There are several layers of the protest. The first was against the increase of oil prices. Then joined the common citizens and leaders of the 88 Generation. Then the monks just entered the protest when one of the monasteries was attacked and one of the monks was hurt.
“The first request of the monks was asking the government to apologize. The march of monks was not political. I refused to read the march of the monks as prelude to a revolution in Myanmar [Burma]. I think I was right.”
“Of course the government of Myanmar [Burma] made the terrible mistake by attacking the monks, because as you know the Burmese society, unlike any other society, is very much organized. Buddhism is something that organizes the entire life of people. Monks are interdependent on the society. They do not do anything. They are completely dependent on donations from the society
By Lalit K Jha/United Nations
October 25, 2007
UN human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro says that unless the Burmese junta cooperates fully with him when he visits Burma in November he will immediately leave the country.
The junta is allowing Pinheiro to visit Burma after refusing his repeated requests for a visa over the past four years. Burma’s ambassador at the UN, U Thaung Tun, has given an assurance that Pinheiro will be accorded full co-operation.
Pinheiro, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s special rapporteur on human rights, said that if he didn’t get full cooperation “I go to the plane and I go out [of the country],”
Speaking after a meeting with a UN General Assembly committee on Wednesday,
Pinheiro said he planned to visit Burma for five days. The visit will probably come immediately after one planned by Ban Ki-moon’s special envoy on Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, in the first week of November.
It is hoped that both envoys will be able to complete their visits before the start of an Asean summit meeting on November 17. Pinheiro said he planned to submit his report to the Human Rights Council on December 11.
Pinheiro’s visit was mandated by the Human Rights Council, which asked the envoy to assess the current human rights situation in Burma. It will be Pinheiro’s seventh visit to Burma as UN special rapporteur but his first for four years.
Pinheiro said he would gather information, collect testimonies and data and investigate allegations of ongoing human rights. “I will be particularly concerned to verify the numbers, whereabouts and conditions of those currently detained, as well as an accounting for the numbers killed during the protests,” he said.
“My task is to offer honest, complex and objective picture of the crisis, the origin of the crisis, the crisis itself, the excessive use of force and then what is happening in terms of detainees, deaths of people, those who are injured.”
Pinheiro said he wanted to visit prisons to meet detainees and monasteries for meetings with monks.
Referring to a statement by the Burmese Ambassador to the UN, U Thaung Tun ,that as many as 2,677 detainees have been freed and more releases would follow, Pinheiro said: “I think that the situation of fear prevails. I do not think that the repression has ceased.
“What annoys me that repression has not stopped even for a single moment, despite all this universal appeal by the Human Rights Council [and] the unanimous statement from the President of the Security Council,” he said.
Pinheiro told the UN committee: “I have continuously received worrying reports of death in custody, torture, disappearances, ill-treatment, and lack of access to food, water or medical treatment in overcrowded unsanitary detention facilities across the country.
“Reports are being received regarding night raids during curfew hours with the army and the militia going home by home searching for people and detaining participants in the demonstrations. Relatives of people in hiding have reportedly been taken hostage as a way of pressure.
“I have received reports that from September 26 to October 6, fifty two monasteries had been raided by security forces. I have also received reports of people who have already been charged and sentenced by special courts.”
Pinheiro said he has also received reports “that there have been selective killings aimed at decapitating the incipient movement.”
Asked later about a recent interview in which he was reported as saying the chances of the demonstrations succeeding in their aim were minimal, Pinheiro said he had meant that the situation in Burma could not be compared to the uprisings that overthrew regimes in Eastern Germany and the Ukraine.
“It is not the case here. I said that please do not have any illusion that the protest would have any regime change.
“There are several layers of the protest. The first was against the increase of oil prices. Then joined the common citizens and leaders of the 88 Generation. Then the monks just entered the protest when one of the monasteries was attacked and one of the monks was hurt.
“The first request of the monks was asking the government to apologize. The march of monks was not political. I refused to read the march of the monks as prelude to a revolution in Myanmar [Burma]. I think I was right.”
“Of course the government of Myanmar [Burma] made the terrible mistake by attacking the monks, because as you know the Burmese society, unlike any other society, is very much organized. Buddhism is something that organizes the entire life of people. Monks are interdependent on the society. They do not do anything. They are completely dependent on donations from the society
scape goat released process of Burmese Junta
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Junta showcases release of protesters, activists
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
October 24, 2007 - The Burmese military junta today released an aging dissident even as it released several other activists who were arrested for participating in last month's protests.
Kyaw Khaing (85), people's representative of the Taungup National League for Democracy in western Burma's Arakan state, was released by authorities from Thandwe jail, a local resident said.
Mr. Khaing, an elected member of parliament in the 1990 elections, was arrested in the last week of September and was sentenced to seven and- a-half years in prison along with the general secretary of Taungup NLD, Min Aung, local residents said.
The local told Mizzima that Kyaw Khaing was released on Wednesday after submitting an appeal to the court but Min Aung continues to be in detention.
Surprisingly, the local, who closely monitored the case of the NLD leader, said a township police official wrote the appeal and after making U Kyaw Khaing sign it, submitted it to the Thandwe township court, which ordered his release.
"On the day they were sentenced to seven and-a- half years, the township police officer himself wrote an appeal and got U Kyaw Khaing to sign it and send it to the township court," the local said.
Meanwhile, authorities in Pakhokku of Magwe division in central Burma on Tuesday night released nine protesters, who were arrested for actively participating in the recent monk-led protests.
"They were released last night at about 9 p.m. (local time). Authorities brought them back to their respective residences," a local resident of Pakhokku told Mizzima.
In a separate incident, authorities in Mingyan town of Mandalay division released three members of the NLD on Sunday.
Local residents said, the Mingyan township NLD secretary Paw Thein and party members Win Naing and Bo Win, were released from Palate prison, where they had been kept under detention.
While the Burmese junta claims that it has released most protestors and opposition party members, who were arrested and detained for actively participated in the monk-led protests, observers said the junta's is doing it to ease the mounting international pressure.
The recent release of several activists and opposition party members is part of the junta's preparation for the visit by United Nations Human Rights expert Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and the Secretary General's special advisor to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, a local observer in Mingyan said.
"By showing to Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and Gambari that it is releasing activists, the junta wants to ease international pressure. And they want to prove to the international community that Burma is back to normal and stable now," the local observer, who wished to remain anonymous, told Mizzima.
Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win in a letter addressed to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday formally invited UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, to visit Burma as requested earlier by the Human Rights Council.
Burmese junta's Foreign Minister requested the UN chief to make the rights expert's trip earlier than November 17.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim Gambari, who is currently in holding talks with Chinese officials in Beijing as part of a six-nation tour to consult on Burma, said he has been officially invited to re-visit Burma and expects to return to the Southeast Asian country in early November.
Junta showcases release of protesters, activists
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
October 24, 2007 - The Burmese military junta today released an aging dissident even as it released several other activists who were arrested for participating in last month's protests.
Kyaw Khaing (85), people's representative of the Taungup National League for Democracy in western Burma's Arakan state, was released by authorities from Thandwe jail, a local resident said.
Mr. Khaing, an elected member of parliament in the 1990 elections, was arrested in the last week of September and was sentenced to seven and- a-half years in prison along with the general secretary of Taungup NLD, Min Aung, local residents said.
The local told Mizzima that Kyaw Khaing was released on Wednesday after submitting an appeal to the court but Min Aung continues to be in detention.
Surprisingly, the local, who closely monitored the case of the NLD leader, said a township police official wrote the appeal and after making U Kyaw Khaing sign it, submitted it to the Thandwe township court, which ordered his release.
"On the day they were sentenced to seven and-a- half years, the township police officer himself wrote an appeal and got U Kyaw Khaing to sign it and send it to the township court," the local said.
Meanwhile, authorities in Pakhokku of Magwe division in central Burma on Tuesday night released nine protesters, who were arrested for actively participating in the recent monk-led protests.
"They were released last night at about 9 p.m. (local time). Authorities brought them back to their respective residences," a local resident of Pakhokku told Mizzima.
In a separate incident, authorities in Mingyan town of Mandalay division released three members of the NLD on Sunday.
Local residents said, the Mingyan township NLD secretary Paw Thein and party members Win Naing and Bo Win, were released from Palate prison, where they had been kept under detention.
While the Burmese junta claims that it has released most protestors and opposition party members, who were arrested and detained for actively participated in the monk-led protests, observers said the junta's is doing it to ease the mounting international pressure.
The recent release of several activists and opposition party members is part of the junta's preparation for the visit by United Nations Human Rights expert Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and the Secretary General's special advisor to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, a local observer in Mingyan said.
"By showing to Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and Gambari that it is releasing activists, the junta wants to ease international pressure. And they want to prove to the international community that Burma is back to normal and stable now," the local observer, who wished to remain anonymous, told Mizzima.
Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win in a letter addressed to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday formally invited UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, to visit Burma as requested earlier by the Human Rights Council.
Burmese junta's Foreign Minister requested the UN chief to make the rights expert's trip earlier than November 17.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim Gambari, who is currently in holding talks with Chinese officials in Beijing as part of a six-nation tour to consult on Burma, said he has been officially invited to re-visit Burma and expects to return to the Southeast Asian country in early November.
China and Russia refused to Myanmar Sanctions
Oct 25, 1:04 AM EDT
China, Russia: No to Myanmar Sanctions
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
Associated Press Writer
HARBIN, China (AP) -- China and Russia urged Myanmar's military rulers to talk with the country's opposition but said Wednesday that they opposed any U.N. sanctions against the junta.
The two veto-wielding countries on the U.N. Security Council say Myanmar's crushing of pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks was an internal issue, a position that has prevented discussions of sanctions.
Foreign Ministers Yang Jiechi of China and Sergey Lavrov of Russia said at a meeting with India's Pranab Mukherjee that, instead of punishment, they support efforts by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who was in China on Thursday talking to leaders about the issue, to open talks between the opposition and the ruling generals.
"The initiatives (Gambari) has taken, he should be encouraged," Mukherjee told reporters. "There should not be any sanctions at this stage."
Lavrov warned that sanctions, threats or other forms of pressure on the junta risked "aggravating the situation and generating a new crisis."
Yang echoed that, saying: "We hope that countries concerned will play a helping role instead of applying sanctions and applying pressure."
The junta has also agreed to allow Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the U.N.'s independent rights investigator on Myanmar, to visit the country next month for the first time since in four years. He said he'll arrive on the heels of Gambari's trip.
Pinheiro told reporters at the U.N. on Wednesday that he will demand access to prisons while in Myanmar, and that he'll try to determine the number of people killed and detained by the military during the crackdown.
"My task is to offer an honest, complex, objective picture of ... the immediate origins of the crisis, the crisis itself, the excessive use of force," Pinheiro said.
Meanwhile, activists wearing white prison garb and masks held small protests in cities around the world to mark pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's 12 years in detention in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
"I'm very angry, governments around the world know that people in Burma suffer - and have been suffering for so long," refugee Zoya Phan, 26, said in London. "They know the regime is brutal, but they have done almost nothing to help the people in Burma."
The meeting of China, India and Russia is part of the revival of a loose 1950s alliance against U.S. dominance of global affairs. A joint statement said, however, that the countries' third recent forum "was not targeted against any other country or organization."
India and China want to secure energy supplies and natural resources that Russia has in abundance. In addition, India wants to promote its bid for a permanent veto-wielding seat on the Security Council. The joint statement said China and Russia "support India's aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations."
China is one of Myanmar's leading trading partners and its communist government has frequent contacts with the junta and provides the military with much of its weaponry.
In Beijing, Gambari called on China to use its influence to help persuade the junta to stop its crackdown. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei told Gambari China backs his efforts, but made no new commitments.
Myanmar security forces crushed the recent wave of protests by shooting and beating demonstrators on Sept. 26-27. The regime said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the toll at up to 200 and say thousands of students, Buddhist monks and others were arrested. The crackdown ignited international outrage.
Myanmar state radio and television reported that a top leader of the ruling junta, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, had been appointed prime minister.
Thein Sein had been serving as acting prime minister since May, filling in for ailing Gen. Soe Win, who died Oct. 12.
The prime minister's job holds little independent power because the military controls the state through the junta, officially known as the State Peace and Development Council.
No change in policy is expected with the appointment, because policy is set by the top leaders of the junta, who - despite rumors of rivalries - act in concert, with no public disagreements.
The military regime alleged that "bogus" Buddhist monks connived with political activists they had previously met in prison to stage last month's mass anti-government protests.
The allegations were made by Religious Affairs Minister Brig. Gen. Thura Myint Aung during a Wednesday meeting with senior monks in Yangon, and reported by state-run radio and television.
Buddhist monks enjoy high respect among the country's population at large, and the violent suppression of their protests has seriously hurt the junta's reputation.
To counter the bad impression, state media have been filled with stories suggesting that the monks taking part in the recent protests were a tiny minority and not properly religious, and reporting virtually daily on junta members visiting monasteries to make donations.
China, Russia: No to Myanmar Sanctions
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
Associated Press Writer
HARBIN, China (AP) -- China and Russia urged Myanmar's military rulers to talk with the country's opposition but said Wednesday that they opposed any U.N. sanctions against the junta.
The two veto-wielding countries on the U.N. Security Council say Myanmar's crushing of pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks was an internal issue, a position that has prevented discussions of sanctions.
Foreign Ministers Yang Jiechi of China and Sergey Lavrov of Russia said at a meeting with India's Pranab Mukherjee that, instead of punishment, they support efforts by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who was in China on Thursday talking to leaders about the issue, to open talks between the opposition and the ruling generals.
"The initiatives (Gambari) has taken, he should be encouraged," Mukherjee told reporters. "There should not be any sanctions at this stage."
Lavrov warned that sanctions, threats or other forms of pressure on the junta risked "aggravating the situation and generating a new crisis."
Yang echoed that, saying: "We hope that countries concerned will play a helping role instead of applying sanctions and applying pressure."
The junta has also agreed to allow Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the U.N.'s independent rights investigator on Myanmar, to visit the country next month for the first time since in four years. He said he'll arrive on the heels of Gambari's trip.
Pinheiro told reporters at the U.N. on Wednesday that he will demand access to prisons while in Myanmar, and that he'll try to determine the number of people killed and detained by the military during the crackdown.
"My task is to offer an honest, complex, objective picture of ... the immediate origins of the crisis, the crisis itself, the excessive use of force," Pinheiro said.
Meanwhile, activists wearing white prison garb and masks held small protests in cities around the world to mark pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's 12 years in detention in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
"I'm very angry, governments around the world know that people in Burma suffer - and have been suffering for so long," refugee Zoya Phan, 26, said in London. "They know the regime is brutal, but they have done almost nothing to help the people in Burma."
The meeting of China, India and Russia is part of the revival of a loose 1950s alliance against U.S. dominance of global affairs. A joint statement said, however, that the countries' third recent forum "was not targeted against any other country or organization."
India and China want to secure energy supplies and natural resources that Russia has in abundance. In addition, India wants to promote its bid for a permanent veto-wielding seat on the Security Council. The joint statement said China and Russia "support India's aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations."
China is one of Myanmar's leading trading partners and its communist government has frequent contacts with the junta and provides the military with much of its weaponry.
In Beijing, Gambari called on China to use its influence to help persuade the junta to stop its crackdown. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei told Gambari China backs his efforts, but made no new commitments.
Myanmar security forces crushed the recent wave of protests by shooting and beating demonstrators on Sept. 26-27. The regime said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the toll at up to 200 and say thousands of students, Buddhist monks and others were arrested. The crackdown ignited international outrage.
Myanmar state radio and television reported that a top leader of the ruling junta, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, had been appointed prime minister.
Thein Sein had been serving as acting prime minister since May, filling in for ailing Gen. Soe Win, who died Oct. 12.
The prime minister's job holds little independent power because the military controls the state through the junta, officially known as the State Peace and Development Council.
No change in policy is expected with the appointment, because policy is set by the top leaders of the junta, who - despite rumors of rivalries - act in concert, with no public disagreements.
The military regime alleged that "bogus" Buddhist monks connived with political activists they had previously met in prison to stage last month's mass anti-government protests.
The allegations were made by Religious Affairs Minister Brig. Gen. Thura Myint Aung during a Wednesday meeting with senior monks in Yangon, and reported by state-run radio and television.
Buddhist monks enjoy high respect among the country's population at large, and the violent suppression of their protests has seriously hurt the junta's reputation.
To counter the bad impression, state media have been filled with stories suggesting that the monks taking part in the recent protests were a tiny minority and not properly religious, and reporting virtually daily on junta members visiting monasteries to make donations.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
New Zealand base exile burmese people urged MP of New Zealand for help burmese issue
New Zealand to step up pressure on Burma
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
October 16, 2007 - Members of Parliament in New Zealand today decided to form a parliamentary caucus on Burma to exert pressure on the military junta for a peaceful transition to democracy in the Southeast Asian nation.
During a meeting with Burmese activists in New Zealand on Tuesday, Hon Chris Carter, MP of the Conservative Party and Minister of Housing said they would work in the parliament to form a caucus on Burma.
Naing Ko Ko, an activist living in New Zealand said, they held the meeting to seek the support of the New Zealand government by inviting members of Parliament, where the activists placed three requests.
The MP's complied to their request – to send an envoy to Burma bordering areas, to form a parliamentary caucus, and to pass a bill in Parliament to support Burmese democracy movement, said Naing Ko Ko.
"The MP told us that he will follow it up with a discussion at the parliament," Htike Htike, another Burmese activist attending the meeting, told mizzima.
New Zealand, maintaining its stance on the Burmese junta, has never allowed the junta to send a diplomatic mission to the country.
Earlier, New Zealand, a dialogue partner of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), refused talks with the grouping as a protest against the Burmese junta, which is a member of group.
Meanwhile, Parliamentarians from the Southeast Asian nations have called for greater international sanctions including an arms embargo.
In a press statement released today, the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) said, "a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution on an arms embargo will serve to protect civilians in conflict-stricken country [Burma]."
The group also urged the ASEAN governments to support a UNSC resolution that will call for an arms embargo to military-ruled Burma.
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
October 16, 2007 - Members of Parliament in New Zealand today decided to form a parliamentary caucus on Burma to exert pressure on the military junta for a peaceful transition to democracy in the Southeast Asian nation.
During a meeting with Burmese activists in New Zealand on Tuesday, Hon Chris Carter, MP of the Conservative Party and Minister of Housing said they would work in the parliament to form a caucus on Burma.
Naing Ko Ko, an activist living in New Zealand said, they held the meeting to seek the support of the New Zealand government by inviting members of Parliament, where the activists placed three requests.
The MP's complied to their request – to send an envoy to Burma bordering areas, to form a parliamentary caucus, and to pass a bill in Parliament to support Burmese democracy movement, said Naing Ko Ko.
"The MP told us that he will follow it up with a discussion at the parliament," Htike Htike, another Burmese activist attending the meeting, told mizzima.
New Zealand, maintaining its stance on the Burmese junta, has never allowed the junta to send a diplomatic mission to the country.
Earlier, New Zealand, a dialogue partner of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), refused talks with the grouping as a protest against the Burmese junta, which is a member of group.
Meanwhile, Parliamentarians from the Southeast Asian nations have called for greater international sanctions including an arms embargo.
In a press statement released today, the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) said, "a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution on an arms embargo will serve to protect civilians in conflict-stricken country [Burma]."
The group also urged the ASEAN governments to support a UNSC resolution that will call for an arms embargo to military-ruled Burma.
SPDC still hunting for Democracy and human rights activists
Oct 17, 6:28 AM EDT
Myanmar Junta: 3,000 Detained in Protest
AP News
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar's military junta acknowledged Wednesday that it detained nearly 3,000 people during a crackdown on recent pro-democracy protests, with hundreds still remaining in custody.
The official statement on the front-page of The New Light of Myanmar, a government mouthpiece, said authorities were still hunting for demonstrators who took part in the recent uprising.
"Those who led, got involved in and supported the unrest which broke out in September were called in and are being interrogated," the junta said. "Some are still being called in for questioning and those who should be released will be."
The statement said that 2,927 people had been arrested since the crackdown started and nearly 500 were still in custody.
In their last tally of arrests, the junta said that nearly 2,100 had been detained.
Everyone released from custody was required to sign "pledges" the statement said, without elaborating.
The announcement came a day after Japan canceled a multimillion dollar grant to protest the bloody crackdown and U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari pressed Asian nations Tuesday to take the lead in resolving the crisis.
China, which has been uncooperative in past efforts to pressure Myanmar's military rulers, said it supported Gambari's mission. As Myanmar's closest ally and a permanent member of the Security Council, China is considered key in pushing for change in the Southeast Asian nation.
Japan had already said it would suspend some assistance in response to the death of Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai, among at least 10 people killed when troops fired into crowds of peaceful protesters during the Sept. 26-27 crackdown. Video footage of Nagai's death appeared to show a soldier shooting the journalist at close range on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city.
In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Tuesday that the government was canceling a grant worth $4.7 million for a business education center slated for the Yangon University campus.
In fiscal year 2006, Japan provided grants and technical assistance totaling $26.1 million to Myanmar, according to the latest ministry figures.
Machimura said the decision was in response to the crackdown and followed a U.N. statement condemning the violence. The U.N. Security Council issued its first-ever statement on Myanmar last week, condemning the junta's actions and calling for the release of all political prisoners.
Gambari was in Malaysia seeking help from Asian nations to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. The U.N. wants the junta to start negotiations with Suu Kyi.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Yang told reporters at the 17th congress of the ruling communist party that Myanmar's recent calm after last month's violence was "the result of hard work and cooperation from all sides."
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations would fully support Gambari's negotiation efforts. But he ruled out sanctions.
Christopher Hill, one of Washington's top diplomats on Asia, said that China and the ASEAN should use their influence to help fix the "atrocious situation" in Myanmar.
Earlier this month, Gambari met with the junta's leader, Gen. Than Shwe, to convey the world's outrage. He also met twice with Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.
But Myanmar's military leaders have rebuffed calls for reforms, saying the only way to bring change is to follow the junta's seven-step "road map" to democracy, which is supposed to culminate with elections at an unspecified date.
So far, only the plan's first stage - drawing up guidelines for a new constitution - has been completed, and that took more than a decade. Critics say the road map is a ruse to allow the military to stay in power.
Myanmar Junta: 3,000 Detained in Protest
AP News
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar's military junta acknowledged Wednesday that it detained nearly 3,000 people during a crackdown on recent pro-democracy protests, with hundreds still remaining in custody.
The official statement on the front-page of The New Light of Myanmar, a government mouthpiece, said authorities were still hunting for demonstrators who took part in the recent uprising.
"Those who led, got involved in and supported the unrest which broke out in September were called in and are being interrogated," the junta said. "Some are still being called in for questioning and those who should be released will be."
The statement said that 2,927 people had been arrested since the crackdown started and nearly 500 were still in custody.
In their last tally of arrests, the junta said that nearly 2,100 had been detained.
Everyone released from custody was required to sign "pledges" the statement said, without elaborating.
The announcement came a day after Japan canceled a multimillion dollar grant to protest the bloody crackdown and U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari pressed Asian nations Tuesday to take the lead in resolving the crisis.
China, which has been uncooperative in past efforts to pressure Myanmar's military rulers, said it supported Gambari's mission. As Myanmar's closest ally and a permanent member of the Security Council, China is considered key in pushing for change in the Southeast Asian nation.
Japan had already said it would suspend some assistance in response to the death of Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai, among at least 10 people killed when troops fired into crowds of peaceful protesters during the Sept. 26-27 crackdown. Video footage of Nagai's death appeared to show a soldier shooting the journalist at close range on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city.
In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Tuesday that the government was canceling a grant worth $4.7 million for a business education center slated for the Yangon University campus.
In fiscal year 2006, Japan provided grants and technical assistance totaling $26.1 million to Myanmar, according to the latest ministry figures.
Machimura said the decision was in response to the crackdown and followed a U.N. statement condemning the violence. The U.N. Security Council issued its first-ever statement on Myanmar last week, condemning the junta's actions and calling for the release of all political prisoners.
Gambari was in Malaysia seeking help from Asian nations to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. The U.N. wants the junta to start negotiations with Suu Kyi.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Yang told reporters at the 17th congress of the ruling communist party that Myanmar's recent calm after last month's violence was "the result of hard work and cooperation from all sides."
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations would fully support Gambari's negotiation efforts. But he ruled out sanctions.
Christopher Hill, one of Washington's top diplomats on Asia, said that China and the ASEAN should use their influence to help fix the "atrocious situation" in Myanmar.
Earlier this month, Gambari met with the junta's leader, Gen. Than Shwe, to convey the world's outrage. He also met twice with Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.
But Myanmar's military leaders have rebuffed calls for reforms, saying the only way to bring change is to follow the junta's seven-step "road map" to democracy, which is supposed to culminate with elections at an unspecified date.
So far, only the plan's first stage - drawing up guidelines for a new constitution - has been completed, and that took more than a decade. Critics say the road map is a ruse to allow the military to stay in power.
Friday, October 12, 2007
International Trade Union Confederation try suspect business links with burma
INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ITUC)
ITUC Online
174/111007
ITUC calls on Companies to End Business Links with Burma
Burmese Trade Union Federation Asks Companies to Disinvest
Brussels, 11 October 2007 (ITUC OnLine): The ITUC is currently writing
to
430 companies
worldwide
which have or are suspected to have business links with Burma, calling
on
them to end their business links. The action is in support of the ITUC
associated organisation the Federation of Trade Unions – Burma (FTUB),
which
today renewed its call
for
companies to disinvest in the country. In the letter, ITUC General
Secretary underlines that in spite of the growing number of companies
doing
business there, economic conditions for the vast majority of Burmese
are
deteriorating, while it is the military junta and its small coterie of
supporters which are benefiting.
“The Burmese junta, responsible for years of murder, torture, massive
forced
labour and absolute repression of the population, is ripping off
billions of
dollars and every single business deal which is done helps line the
pockets
of the generals. This corrupt and incompetent regime is responsible
for a
catastrophic fall in living standards across the country. , Foreign
investment has done nothing to stop that. On the contrary, it fuels
repression by enabling the regime to purchase weapons used against
defenceless civilians: the army’s share in the national budget is 40%.
Health and education combined amount to less than 7%! ‘Business as
usual’ in
Burma will only make the junta stronger”, said Ryder.
The Global Unionspublic database
listing
companies with actual or suspected business relations with Burma is
updated
on an ongoing basis, and companies which show that they no longer have
business links are removed from the list. Companies which do not
withdraw
will be the subject of further pressure in their home countries from
ITUC
national affiliates and also by the Global Union Federations in the
different economic sectors.
The company-based action is taking place alongside trade union campaign
action to get governments, the European Union and other
intergovernmental
bodies to strengthen and deepen economic and financial sanctions and
cut off
military and security supplies to the regime. ITUC and European TUC
affiliates are currently pressing the European governments to ensure
that EU
sanctions
which
will be reviewed on Monday, include a comprehensive ban on EU trade
with
Burma covering all strategic sectors, including in particular oil and
gas,
gemstones, and tropical wood.
Founded on 1 November 2006, the ITUC represents 168 million workers in
153
countries and territories and has 305 national affiliates.
For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32
2 224
0204 or +32 476 621 018.
ITUC Online
174/111007
ITUC calls on Companies to End Business Links with Burma
Burmese Trade Union Federation Asks Companies to Disinvest
Brussels, 11 October 2007 (ITUC OnLine): The ITUC is currently writing
to
430 companies
worldwide
which have or are suspected to have business links with Burma, calling
on
them to end their business links. The action is in support of the ITUC
associated organisation the Federation of Trade Unions – Burma (FTUB),
which
today renewed its call
for
companies to disinvest in the country. In the letter, ITUC General
Secretary underlines that in spite of the growing number of companies
doing
business there, economic conditions for the vast majority of Burmese
are
deteriorating, while it is the military junta and its small coterie of
supporters which are benefiting.
“The Burmese junta, responsible for years of murder, torture, massive
forced
labour and absolute repression of the population, is ripping off
billions of
dollars and every single business deal which is done helps line the
pockets
of the generals. This corrupt and incompetent regime is responsible
for a
catastrophic fall in living standards across the country. , Foreign
investment has done nothing to stop that. On the contrary, it fuels
repression by enabling the regime to purchase weapons used against
defenceless civilians: the army’s share in the national budget is 40%.
Health and education combined amount to less than 7%! ‘Business as
usual’ in
Burma will only make the junta stronger”, said Ryder.
The Global Unionspublic database
listing
companies with actual or suspected business relations with Burma is
updated
on an ongoing basis, and companies which show that they no longer have
business links are removed from the list. Companies which do not
withdraw
will be the subject of further pressure in their home countries from
ITUC
national affiliates and also by the Global Union Federations in the
different economic sectors.
The company-based action is taking place alongside trade union campaign
action to get governments, the European Union and other
intergovernmental
bodies to strengthen and deepen economic and financial sanctions and
cut off
military and security supplies to the regime. ITUC and European TUC
affiliates are currently pressing the European governments to ensure
that EU
sanctions
which
will be reviewed on Monday, include a comprehensive ban on EU trade
with
Burma covering all strategic sectors, including in particular oil and
gas,
gemstones, and tropical wood.
Founded on 1 November 2006, the ITUC represents 168 million workers in
153
countries and territories and has 305 national affiliates.
For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32
2 224
0204 or +32 476 621 018.
Burmese Junta Torture over detainees
Detainees Suffering the Effects of Torture
By Aye Lae
October 12, 2007
Email Article Print Article
A member of the 88 Generation Students’ Group, Hla Myo Naung, suffered nerve damage during an unsuccessful operation while in detention, according to his colleague Soe Tun.
Hla Myo Naung
Hla Myo Naung was arrested on Wednesday morning when he emerged from hiding to be treated in a Rangoon clinic. According to his doctor, he was suffering from a ruptured cornea and required surgery to save his sight.
Soe Tun, also a member of the 88 Generation Students’ Group, told The Irrawaddy, “A policeman informed his wife that Hla Myo Naung had some kind of injury to his nervous system, although we don’t know exactly what happened.”
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) secretary Tate Naing said, “We are concerned for him. We suspected that the authorities wouldn’t operate on his eye, because he was only arrested on Wednesday and needed the operation the following day.”
Meanwhile, activists, pro-democracy supporters and suspected protesters are being arrested by authorities.
On Wednesday, 17-year-old Ye Myat Hein, a student at the United States Information Service in Rangoon, was arrested for involvement in the pro-democracy demonstrations.
His mother San Aye cried when she told The Irrawaddy by telephone: “My heart is breaking for my son. At the same time, I believe that other mothers are also suffering like me in this country.”
Hla Myo Naung, aged 39, played a leading role in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and spent five years in prison during the early 1990s. Thirteen of his fellow activists, including the most prominent, Min Ko Naing, were arrested on August 21 following a peaceful march against the government’s sharp increase in fuel prices.
On the same day Hla Myo Naung was arrested, 42-year-old Win Shwe died. An NLD member in Kyaukpadaung Township in Mandalay Division, Win Shwe had been arrested on September 26. Hla Myo Naung is also from Kyaukpadaung Township.
On Tuesday, the AAPP reported that two university students who were arrested on September 27 died while being interrogated in Rangoon’s Kyaikkasan interrogation center.
The AAPP said it is concerned about the risk of torture to more than 2,000 monks, activists and members of the public now in detention centers. “Numerous prisoners are being subjected to torture,” said the group.
By Aye Lae
October 12, 2007
Email Article Print Article
A member of the 88 Generation Students’ Group, Hla Myo Naung, suffered nerve damage during an unsuccessful operation while in detention, according to his colleague Soe Tun.
Hla Myo Naung
Hla Myo Naung was arrested on Wednesday morning when he emerged from hiding to be treated in a Rangoon clinic. According to his doctor, he was suffering from a ruptured cornea and required surgery to save his sight.
Soe Tun, also a member of the 88 Generation Students’ Group, told The Irrawaddy, “A policeman informed his wife that Hla Myo Naung had some kind of injury to his nervous system, although we don’t know exactly what happened.”
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) secretary Tate Naing said, “We are concerned for him. We suspected that the authorities wouldn’t operate on his eye, because he was only arrested on Wednesday and needed the operation the following day.”
Meanwhile, activists, pro-democracy supporters and suspected protesters are being arrested by authorities.
On Wednesday, 17-year-old Ye Myat Hein, a student at the United States Information Service in Rangoon, was arrested for involvement in the pro-democracy demonstrations.
His mother San Aye cried when she told The Irrawaddy by telephone: “My heart is breaking for my son. At the same time, I believe that other mothers are also suffering like me in this country.”
Hla Myo Naung, aged 39, played a leading role in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and spent five years in prison during the early 1990s. Thirteen of his fellow activists, including the most prominent, Min Ko Naing, were arrested on August 21 following a peaceful march against the government’s sharp increase in fuel prices.
On the same day Hla Myo Naung was arrested, 42-year-old Win Shwe died. An NLD member in Kyaukpadaung Township in Mandalay Division, Win Shwe had been arrested on September 26. Hla Myo Naung is also from Kyaukpadaung Township.
On Tuesday, the AAPP reported that two university students who were arrested on September 27 died while being interrogated in Rangoon’s Kyaikkasan interrogation center.
The AAPP said it is concerned about the risk of torture to more than 2,000 monks, activists and members of the public now in detention centers. “Numerous prisoners are being subjected to torture,” said the group.
2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner
Oct 12, 6:49 AM EDT
Gore, U.N. Body Win Nobel Peace Prize
By DOUG MELLGREN
Associated Press Writer
Nobel Prize Winners
Nobel News
Gore, U.N. Body Win Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize Winners Since 1975
Nobel Peace Prize Excerpts
Works of Doris Lessing
Doris Lessing Wins Nobel for Literature
Buy AP Photo Reprints
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it.
"I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize," Gore said. "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary on global warming, won an Academy Award this year and he had been widely expected to win the prize.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said global warming, "may induce large-scale migration and lead to greater competition for the earth's resources. Such changes will place particularly heavy burdens on the world's most vulnerable countries. There may be increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states."
Gore said he would donate his share of the $1.5 million that accompanies the prize to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan nonprofit organization devoted to conveying the urgency of solving the climate crisis.
"His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change," the Nobel citation said. "He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted."
Gore supporters have been raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for petition drives and advertising in an effort to lure him into the Democratic presidential primaries. One group, Draftgore.com, ran a full-page open letter to Gore in Wednesday's New York Times, imploring him to get into the race.
Gore, 59, has been coy, saying repeatedly he's not running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, without ever closing that door completely.
He was the Democratic nominee in 2000 and won the general election popular vote. However, Gore lost the electoral vote to George W. Bush after a legal challenge to the Florida result that was decided by the Supreme Court.
Peace Prize committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes said a possible Gore presidential run was not his concern.
"I want this prize to have everyone ... every human being, asking what they should do," Mjoes said. "What he (Gore) decides to do from here is his personal decision."
However, when asked about the 2008 U.S. elections, he said: "I am very much in support for all who support changes."
The last American to win the prize or share it was former President Carter in 2002.
The Nobel committee cited the Panel on Climate Change for two decades of scientific reports that have "created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming."
Members of the panel, a network of 2,000 scientists, were surprised that it was chosen to share the honor with Gore, a spokeswoman said.
"We would have been happy even if he had received it alone because it is a recognition of the importance of this issue," spokeswoman Carola Traverso Saibante said.
The panel forecast this year that all regions of the world will be affected by climate warming and that a third of the Earth's species will vanish if global temperatures continue to rise until they are 3.6 degrees above the average temperature in the 1980s and '90s.
"Decisive action in the next decade can still avoid some of the most catastrophic scenarios the IPCC has forecast," said Yvo de Boer, the U.N.'s top climate official.
He urged consensus among the United States and other countries on attacking the problem.
Climate change has moved high on the international agenda this year. The U.N. climate panel has been releasing reports, talks on a replacement for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate are set to resume and on Europe's northern fringe, where the awards committee works, there is growing concern about the melting Arctic.
Jan Egeland, a Norwegian peace mediator and former U.N. undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, also called climate change more than an environmental issue.
"It is a question of war and peace," said Egeland, now director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs in Oslo. "We're already seeing the first climate wars, in the Sahel belt of Africa." He said nomads and herders are in conflict with farmers because the changing climate has brought drought and a shortage of fertile lands.
The committee often uses the coveted prize to cast the global spotlight on a relatively little-known person or cause. Since Gore already has a high profile some had doubted that the committee would bestow the prize on him "because he does not need it."
Gore's climate change effort has had its share of criticism.
A British judge said in a ruling published Wednesday that some assertions in his documentary were not supported by scientific evidence. The case involved a challenge from a school official who did not want the film shown to students.
The ruling detailed High Court Judge Michael Burton's decision this month to allow screenings of the film in English secondary schools. The judge said that written guidance to teachers, designed to ensure Gore's views are not presented uncritically, must accompany the screenings.
In recent years, the Nobel committee has broadened the interpretation of peacemaking and disarmament efforts outlined by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel in creating the prize with his 1895 will. The prize now often also recognizes human rights, democracy, elimination of poverty, sharing resources and the environment.
Two of the past three prizes have been untraditional, with the 2004 award to Kenya environmentalist Wangari Maathai and last year's award to Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank, which makes to micro-loans to the country's poor.
The prize also includes a gold medal and a diploma.
The prize for economics will be announced Monday.
Gore, U.N. Body Win Nobel Peace Prize
By DOUG MELLGREN
Associated Press Writer
Nobel Prize Winners
Nobel News
Gore, U.N. Body Win Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize Winners Since 1975
Nobel Peace Prize Excerpts
Works of Doris Lessing
Doris Lessing Wins Nobel for Literature
Buy AP Photo Reprints
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it.
"I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize," Gore said. "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary on global warming, won an Academy Award this year and he had been widely expected to win the prize.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said global warming, "may induce large-scale migration and lead to greater competition for the earth's resources. Such changes will place particularly heavy burdens on the world's most vulnerable countries. There may be increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states."
Gore said he would donate his share of the $1.5 million that accompanies the prize to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan nonprofit organization devoted to conveying the urgency of solving the climate crisis.
"His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change," the Nobel citation said. "He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted."
Gore supporters have been raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for petition drives and advertising in an effort to lure him into the Democratic presidential primaries. One group, Draftgore.com, ran a full-page open letter to Gore in Wednesday's New York Times, imploring him to get into the race.
Gore, 59, has been coy, saying repeatedly he's not running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, without ever closing that door completely.
He was the Democratic nominee in 2000 and won the general election popular vote. However, Gore lost the electoral vote to George W. Bush after a legal challenge to the Florida result that was decided by the Supreme Court.
Peace Prize committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes said a possible Gore presidential run was not his concern.
"I want this prize to have everyone ... every human being, asking what they should do," Mjoes said. "What he (Gore) decides to do from here is his personal decision."
However, when asked about the 2008 U.S. elections, he said: "I am very much in support for all who support changes."
The last American to win the prize or share it was former President Carter in 2002.
The Nobel committee cited the Panel on Climate Change for two decades of scientific reports that have "created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming."
Members of the panel, a network of 2,000 scientists, were surprised that it was chosen to share the honor with Gore, a spokeswoman said.
"We would have been happy even if he had received it alone because it is a recognition of the importance of this issue," spokeswoman Carola Traverso Saibante said.
The panel forecast this year that all regions of the world will be affected by climate warming and that a third of the Earth's species will vanish if global temperatures continue to rise until they are 3.6 degrees above the average temperature in the 1980s and '90s.
"Decisive action in the next decade can still avoid some of the most catastrophic scenarios the IPCC has forecast," said Yvo de Boer, the U.N.'s top climate official.
He urged consensus among the United States and other countries on attacking the problem.
Climate change has moved high on the international agenda this year. The U.N. climate panel has been releasing reports, talks on a replacement for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate are set to resume and on Europe's northern fringe, where the awards committee works, there is growing concern about the melting Arctic.
Jan Egeland, a Norwegian peace mediator and former U.N. undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, also called climate change more than an environmental issue.
"It is a question of war and peace," said Egeland, now director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs in Oslo. "We're already seeing the first climate wars, in the Sahel belt of Africa." He said nomads and herders are in conflict with farmers because the changing climate has brought drought and a shortage of fertile lands.
The committee often uses the coveted prize to cast the global spotlight on a relatively little-known person or cause. Since Gore already has a high profile some had doubted that the committee would bestow the prize on him "because he does not need it."
Gore's climate change effort has had its share of criticism.
A British judge said in a ruling published Wednesday that some assertions in his documentary were not supported by scientific evidence. The case involved a challenge from a school official who did not want the film shown to students.
The ruling detailed High Court Judge Michael Burton's decision this month to allow screenings of the film in English secondary schools. The judge said that written guidance to teachers, designed to ensure Gore's views are not presented uncritically, must accompany the screenings.
In recent years, the Nobel committee has broadened the interpretation of peacemaking and disarmament efforts outlined by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel in creating the prize with his 1895 will. The prize now often also recognizes human rights, democracy, elimination of poverty, sharing resources and the environment.
Two of the past three prizes have been untraditional, with the 2004 award to Kenya environmentalist Wangari Maathai and last year's award to Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank, which makes to micro-loans to the country's poor.
The prize also includes a gold medal and a diploma.
The prize for economics will be announced Monday.
Indian envoy meets detained Burmese democracy icon
Indian envoy meets detained Burmese democracy icon
Syed Ali Mujtaba
Mizzima News ( www.mizzima.com)
October 11, 2007 - The Indian ambassador to Burma met pro democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi a couple of weeks ago and there are indications that talks could take place between the military junta and pro democracy groups soon.
India's Ambassador met Suu Kyi once and the Foreign Secretary met her twice. The generals and the Nobel Laureate have made some reconciliatory gestures and indications are that dialogue will soon begin between the junta and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, India's External Affairs spokesman said here on Tuesday.
"India has been both privately and publicly seeking release of Suu Kyi and pressing the junta to hold talks with her to make her inclusive in all processes," he said.
New Delhi notes that the present military regime in the neighbouring country has reached agreements with 17 ethnic groups. "Myanmar's [Burma's] process of national reconciliation initiated by the authorities should be expedited," sources said.
New Delhi was hopeful that the UN Special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari's endeavour would bear fruit. "We are ready to work with like-minded countries on Burma and have been extending support to Special UN Envoy Ibrahim Gambari," the official said.
India has also asked the military regime to hold an inquiry into the recent bloodshed. It is of the opinion that military crackdown this time was not as severe as in 1988-89 and feels that there should be a 'credible inquiry' in the recent incidents and report should be published, a Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson said.
"We are concerned at the situation in Burma and are monitoring it closely. It is our hope that all sides will resolve their issues peacefully through dialogue." he said.
"As a close and friendly neighbour, India hopes to see a peaceful, stable and prosperous Burma, where all sections of people will be included in a broad-based process of national reconciliation and political reform," he added.
Syed Ali Mujtaba
Mizzima News ( www.mizzima.com)
October 11, 2007 - The Indian ambassador to Burma met pro democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi a couple of weeks ago and there are indications that talks could take place between the military junta and pro democracy groups soon.
India's Ambassador met Suu Kyi once and the Foreign Secretary met her twice. The generals and the Nobel Laureate have made some reconciliatory gestures and indications are that dialogue will soon begin between the junta and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, India's External Affairs spokesman said here on Tuesday.
"India has been both privately and publicly seeking release of Suu Kyi and pressing the junta to hold talks with her to make her inclusive in all processes," he said.
New Delhi notes that the present military regime in the neighbouring country has reached agreements with 17 ethnic groups. "Myanmar's [Burma's] process of national reconciliation initiated by the authorities should be expedited," sources said.
New Delhi was hopeful that the UN Special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari's endeavour would bear fruit. "We are ready to work with like-minded countries on Burma and have been extending support to Special UN Envoy Ibrahim Gambari," the official said.
India has also asked the military regime to hold an inquiry into the recent bloodshed. It is of the opinion that military crackdown this time was not as severe as in 1988-89 and feels that there should be a 'credible inquiry' in the recent incidents and report should be published, a Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson said.
"We are concerned at the situation in Burma and are monitoring it closely. It is our hope that all sides will resolve their issues peacefully through dialogue." he said.
"As a close and friendly neighbour, India hopes to see a peaceful, stable and prosperous Burma, where all sections of people will be included in a broad-based process of national reconciliation and political reform," he added.
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