Day: March 22, 2009

London calling:27th March Anniversary of Resistance Day-We would like to invite you to a demonstration on 27/03/09.

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Burma Democratic Concern(BDC)
nld_flag
Dear All,

We would like to invite you to a demonstration on 27/03/09.

First Demonstration (Anniversary of Resistance Day):

Date: 27/03/09
Time: 12:00 – 13:30
Venue: In front of Burmese Military Regime
19a Charles Street London, W1J 5DX

PURPOSE:

to reject regime’s planned sham 2010 election

to work to realise 1990 election result.

————————————————————————————–

Second Demonstration (Europe-wide Day of Action):

Date: 27/03/09
Time: 14:00 – 15:30
Venue: In front of Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO)

Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH
Our key demands include:

the EU strengthens the Common Position, including banking and financial sanctions, and sanctions stopping European companies providing insurance in Burma,

the EU does more to pressure the military regime to free all political prisoners in Burma,

the EU rejects the military regime’s 2010 elections and sham 2008 constitution in the present form,

the EU does more to encourage reconciliation and tripartite dialogue without delay,

the EU does more to challenge the dictatorship to immediately stop all human rights abuses in Burma.

Please, do not let your voice silence for Free Burma. It is great chance to speak out your voice for Free Burma.

Please, do show your liberty to promote Crisis in Burma.

We are looking forward to seeing you soon. Please send it to your friends who want to support for Free Burma.

Media Contact Details: Dr. Win Naing – 07785568154 (Chairman of NLD-LA-UK)

Mr. Myo Thein – 07877882386 (Director of BDC)

In Solidarity,

FBE-UK, NLD-LA and Burma Democratic Concern (BDC). http://bdcburma.org/EventDetails.asp?msg_id=61

Amnesty International Free Burma’s Political Prisoners Demonstration In London Today and Thirty-Thousand Back Aung San Suu Kyi on Facebook

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21 Mar 2009
A demonstration will be held today outside Liverpool Street station to call for the release of political prisoners in Burma. The demonstration has been organised by Amnesty International and will be attended by Amnesty International student leaders from across the UK and members of the Burmese Community in London.

“The regime wants the world to forget these brave activists. They have locked them up and thrown away the key. But we will not forget these innocent prisoners, we will do everything we can to ensure the regime sets them free. ” said Wai Hnin, Political Prisoners Campaigner at the Burma Campaign UK. “These prisoners, like my father, have committed no crime. They just want freedom for the people of Burma.”

The protest comes shortly after a new global signature campaign was launched to draw attention to the plight of political prisoners in Burma. The petition calls on the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to make it his personal priority to secure the release of all political prisoners in Burma, as the essential first step towards national reconciliation and democratization in the country. The target symbolises 8.8.88, the day the junta massacred some 3,000 people who courageously protested in Burma’s largest democracy uprising. The global signature campaign will run from 13 March to 24 May.

Thirty-Thousand Back Aung San Suu Kyi on Facebook
19 Mar 2009
Thirty- thousand people are supporting Aung San Suu Kyi on the Facebook social networking website.

A Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aung-San-Suu-Kyi/9953503420?ref=pdb

more on http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/


South Africa has barred Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama from entering the country to take part in a peace conference, media reports and a lobby group said on Sunday.

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JOHANNESBURG, Sun Mar 22, (bdnews24.com/Reuters) – South Africa has barred Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama from entering the country to take part in a peace conference, media reports and a lobby group said on Sunday.

The Dalai Lama was to join fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureates Desmond Tutu, Martti Ahtisaari and FW de Klerk, as well as Norway’s Nobel Peace Committee, at the conference scheduled for March 27, the Sunday Independent reported.

The newspaper said his visa was refused due to pressure from the Chinese government, prompting Archbishop Tutu to threaten to pull out of the meeting and to demand an explanation from the authorities.

Tutu’s office said on Sunday he had no further comment and was waiting for a response from the presidency.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 and set up a Tibetan government-in-exile in India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Rioting broke out last March 14 in Tibet’s main city of Lhasa after several days of peaceful protests by monks against Beijing’s rule, killing 19 people and sparking a wave of protests across Tibetan areas. Exile groups say more than 200 people died in the crackdown.

The Sunday Independent said the Chinese embassy in South Africa had confirmed its government had appealed to South Africa not to allow the Dalai Lama into the country.

Lobby group Friends of Tibet said in a statement the South African High Commission in India had requested the Dalai Lama “postpone” the visit.

“We believe that the barring of his holiness to attend the peace conference makes a mockery of the intentions of this conference,” it said.

Asked for comment on whether the government had refused the visa, South Africa’s foreign affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said: “The South African government has not extended any invitation to the Dalai Lama to come to South Africa.”

The Dalai Lama was invited to participate in the conference by Tutu, De Klerk and former South African President Nelson Mandela.
http://world.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=79519&cid=7&us=#tp79519

SHAME ON SOUTH AFRICA!! When you had Apartheid, Democrats have been fighting for your rights…. Now you vote against Burma ,Tibet? Shame on you!

South Africa’s Sunday Independent quoted an angry Tutu as saying: ‘If His Holiness’s visa is refused, then I won’t take part in the upcoming 2010 World Cup-related peace conference.’
The Nobel Peace Prize winner accused South Africa, which has close ties with China, of ‘shamelessly succumbing to Chinese pressure’ and said he was ‘ashamed.’

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1466075.php/Report_Tutu_outrage_as_Dalai_Lama_deni

Border fence is not a solution to Save the Rohingyas!

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Sun, 2009-03-22 16:59
Bangkok, 22 March, (Asiantribune.com): While dismissing the border fencing move by Burmese military regime ‘a foolish idea,’ Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand has rebuked that ‘The solution is not fencing the border but restoring the Rohingyas citizenship rights.’

In a statement released to the press, Enayet Ullah, General Secretary Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand pointed out that ‘State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) military junta thinks that by fencing ‘they can silence the world showing that they care about the suffering Rohingyas not to flee from Arakan which caused the neighboring countries a headache.’

He further added that the more the SPDC invents new ways to further tighten their grips on Rohingyas to suffocate them, the situation will be more worsened and the world public opinion and the attitudes of ASEAN will go against the Burmese military junta.

“So, it is the responsibility of the neighboring countries, ASEAN and UN to seek a durable solution for the suffering Rohingya people in Burma, instead of a temporary solution of halting the Rohingyas who are risking their lives through ocean to find a safe place of shelter,” – said Enayet Ullah,

He castigated the junta for accelerating the exterminating campaign and killing the innocent Rohingyas by Nasaka as reported by the Kaladan Press network on fabricated and false accusations.

General Secretary Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand expressed his grave concern on the worsening situation of Rohingyas in Arakan and urged the international NGOs and all Governments to exert pressure on the SPDC Government to cease all inhuman activities against innocent Rohingya civilians in northern Arakan State.

Enayet Ullah, General Secretary of the Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand said “We also urge the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission to Arakan so as to bring the real facts happening in Arakan as the SPDC military junta is distorting the reality of the Rohingyas condition compelling them to confess the Bengali ethnicity instead of Rohingya identity and ethnicity.

– Asian Tribune –

Timber inspection inflames merchant

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By: An enraged timber trader attacked a police officer on Friday in a row over the inspection of his goods.
Published: 22/03/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
The incident took place at the Ban Huay Pueng border pass in Mae Hong Son when a lorry loaded with processed teak was intercepted by police on suspicion it was bringing in smuggled Burmese wood.

However, a request to inspect the load was met with a point-blank refusal from the timber traders, sparking a heated exchange of words.

Things escalated when Sujin Chatisirisopon, president of Bangkok Raja Timber Industries, attacked Pol Sgt-Maj Sompong Sonkham, who ran off and managed to escape serious injury.

Later, following a thorough inspection, all 2,326 pieces of teak were found to be legal.

Mr Sujin said he did everything by the book, especially with regards to the payment of import duty.

He said he could not control his temper as he was unhappy with the unjustified interception of his timber.

Mr Sujin threatened to lodge a legal complaint with a Lower House standing committee on border affairs and file legal action against Pol Maj-Gen Chalit Kingnet, the Mae Hong Son provincial police chief, and governor Thongchai Wongrienthong, saying they unfairly singled out his company for inspection.

Provincial authorities and timber traders have been at odds since permission was granted for local cooperatives to import Burmese timber to be made into carvings and souvenirs for the tourist market.

A source said some businesses had dominated the cooperatives and bribed authorities so they could bring in the timber under the woodwork quota. But it was found the wood was not used for souvenirs but sold to buyers in Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan.

A dispute was reported after border inspectors zeroed in on some timber traders but not others. Owners had cried foul and accused the border authorities of adopting a double standard in checking the timber consignments, according to the source.

The House standing committee on border affairs visited the Ban Huay Pueng border pass on Friday and said trade was hampered by too many commerce-related laws.

Committee chairman Sitthidech Kaewluang said he would raise the problem in the House of Representatives.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/13792/timber-inspection-inflames-merchant

Monk kills self in Ragya, residents protest

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Dharamsala, March 21 – A Tibetan monk of Amdo Golok Ragya monastery in Gyulgho township (Ch: Lajong), Machen county, Qinghai, committed suicide by jumping into Machu river today around 3.30 PM (Beijing time), a source residing here with contacts in Tibet told the Voice of Tibet radio service.

The monk was identified as Tashi Sangpo, aged 28, the source said.

Machu river, into which Tashi Sangpo threw himself earlier today. The Ragya monastery is seen in the background, March 21, 2009/photo/wokar.net
The monastery has remained sealed and been under constant patrol of Chinese forces since March 10 this year when leaflets containing political messages were circulated and a huge Tibetan national flag hoisted atop the main prayer hall of the monastery. Several monks of the monastery were detained in the monastery which has since been completely locked down. Continue reading “Monk kills self in Ragya, residents protest” →

Meanwhile, sources told phayul that Chinese authorities had arrested one more Tibetan named Golok Kunga Tsangyang along with Golog Jigme, the monk who assisted the filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen of “leaving fear behind”, on the night of March 17. (Phayul earlier reported the arrest only of Golok Jigme)

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Thousands protest in Ragya, monastery prefect among 5 arrested
Phayul[Sunday, March 22, 2009 16:36]
Kalsang Rinchen

Dharamsala March 22 – Monastery prefect (Tib:Gekoe) of Ragya monastery, Palden Gyatso, and 4 others have been arrested today by Chinese authorities, sources said.

Around two thousand Tibetans came out on the streets of Ragya yesterday immediately after the news of a Tibetan monk’s death spread among the residents. Protest demonstrations were carried out in front of the local police station and government offices. The angry protesters managed to snatch from police the Tibetan national flag that was earlier confiscated by the Chinese officials. click here for a poor quality video of the protest taken from a cellphone

The protest was sparked by the death of Tashi Sangpo, aged 28, who took his own life by jumping into Machu river yesterday after authorities allegedly found leaflets and the banned Tibetan flag from his room. Tashi was a monk of Ragya monastery which has remained under complete lockdown since March 10 when leaflets containing political messages were circulated in the monastery and the banned Tibetan national flag was hoisted atop the monastery’s main prayer hall.

Voice of Tibet radio reported, citing sources in exile with contacts there, that seven military trucks of troops have arrived in Ragya from Golok and more troops have been called from Xining.

Meanwhile, sources told phayul that Chinese authorities had arrested one more Tibetan named Golok Kunga Tsangyang along with Golog Jigme, the monk who assisted the filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen of “leaving fear behind”, on the night of March 17. (Phayul earlier reported the arrest only of Golok Jigme)

The two were Tibetan writers who allegedly wrote politically sensitive writings, according to sources. http://www.phayul.com/index.aspx