Thursday, 24 July 2008
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
HRW Urges Donors to Ensure Burma's Rulers Do Not Divert Cyclone Aid
Human Rights Watch is urging international donors to ensure that Burma's military rulers do not divert humanitarian aid intended for victims of Cyclone Nargis.
The U.S.-based rights group said Wednesday that aid efforts in Burma should be monitored by an independent body co-managed by donors and the United Nations. It says such a body would boost the transparency and accountability of the aid process.
The group says that since the cyclone struck in May, Burmese leaders have restricted travel by foreign aid workers and arrested some locals involved in relief efforts.
Human Rights Watch says international donors should pressure Burma to adhere to basic principles on the provision of aid.
World Health Organization official, Richard Garfield, who recently visited Burma has said that Burma's government is providing more help to cyclone victims than he previously thought.
Cyclone Nargis left almost 140,000 people dead or missing when it tore through Burma's Irrawaddy Delta region on May 3.
The United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations said Monday that Burma needs more than $1 billion in aid over the next three years to recover.
The U.S.-based rights group said Wednesday that aid efforts in Burma should be monitored by an independent body co-managed by donors and the United Nations. It says such a body would boost the transparency and accountability of the aid process.
The group says that since the cyclone struck in May, Burmese leaders have restricted travel by foreign aid workers and arrested some locals involved in relief efforts.
Human Rights Watch says international donors should pressure Burma to adhere to basic principles on the provision of aid.
World Health Organization official, Richard Garfield, who recently visited Burma has said that Burma's government is providing more help to cyclone victims than he previously thought.
Cyclone Nargis left almost 140,000 people dead or missing when it tore through Burma's Irrawaddy Delta region on May 3.
The United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations said Monday that Burma needs more than $1 billion in aid over the next three years to recover.
Thursday, 3 July 2008
Mandalay NLD member dies of heart attack
The National League for Democracy’s Mandalay division Organising Committee member U Aung Soe, 61, died of a heart attack on Tuesday morning.
U Aung Soe was a former political prisoner and used to provide security for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in her lakeside compound together with other NLD youth members.
U Myo Naing, another Organising Committee member told DVB that the death of U Aung Soe was not only a loss for the pro-democracy party but also for the democracy movement as a whole, and praised U Aung Soe’s loyalty to his party and bravery in carrying out his duties.
U Soe Naing had been constantly involved in politics since 1988. During the 1990 election in Burma, he led campaigns for his party in Mandalay.
In 1996, U Aung Soe was arrested and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for arranging a performance by the famous comedian Par Par Lay of the Moustache Brothers inside Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s compound. He was held in Myitkyinar prison in Kachin State from 1996 to 2001.
U Aung Soe was the driver for U Tin Oo, NLD’s vice chairperson, when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s entourage was attacked by junta-backed militias in Depayin township, Sagaing Division, in May 2003. He was arrested again in the incident.
U Aung Soe was detained for nine months following his second arrest and continued working for the Mandalay Organising Committee after his release until he passed away.
U Aung Soe was a former political prisoner and used to provide security for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in her lakeside compound together with other NLD youth members.
U Myo Naing, another Organising Committee member told DVB that the death of U Aung Soe was not only a loss for the pro-democracy party but also for the democracy movement as a whole, and praised U Aung Soe’s loyalty to his party and bravery in carrying out his duties.
U Soe Naing had been constantly involved in politics since 1988. During the 1990 election in Burma, he led campaigns for his party in Mandalay.
In 1996, U Aung Soe was arrested and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for arranging a performance by the famous comedian Par Par Lay of the Moustache Brothers inside Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s compound. He was held in Myitkyinar prison in Kachin State from 1996 to 2001.
U Aung Soe was the driver for U Tin Oo, NLD’s vice chairperson, when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s entourage was attacked by junta-backed militias in Depayin township, Sagaing Division, in May 2003. He was arrested again in the incident.
U Aung Soe was detained for nine months following his second arrest and continued working for the Mandalay Organising Committee after his release until he passed away.
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Magazine editor fired over Depayin poem
Htay Aung, the poetry editor of the Rangoon-based Cherry monthly magazine, was fired for carrying a poem in the June issue which dissatisfied authorities.
Censors from the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division ordered Cherry to sack Htay Aung two weeks after the magazine was published.
“The censors were not pleased with one of the poems, so they wanted him out because he was responsible for Cherry’s poetry section,” an editor of the magazine told DVB.
Written by Kyi Maung Than, the poem that offended the authorities, ‘Depa Ringa’, is about the ancient town of Depayin in Sagaing Division where heroic warriors and figures in Burma’s history were born. It reveals that there were also traitors and the town experienced unforgettable incident in the past.
“The poem is about a town and what happened there, that’s all,” continued the editor.
“Well…as you know, readers can interpret the poem from whatever angle they want,” he said.
“The thing is that the problem came later, after it had been passed by the censors.”
Depayin was the scene of the 2003 attack on pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and a convoy of her supporters by regime-backed militias.
DVB was told that the writer of the offending poem had not been pressured and the magazine could continue to publish. However, Cherry had to submit a request letter to the censors to form a new editorial board.
In January this year, authorities arrested poet Saw Wai for criticizing junta leader senior general Than Shwe as ‘power crazy’ in a hidden message in his poem entitled ‘February the Fourteenth’ that appeared in the magazine Love Journal.
Censors from the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division ordered Cherry to sack Htay Aung two weeks after the magazine was published.
“The censors were not pleased with one of the poems, so they wanted him out because he was responsible for Cherry’s poetry section,” an editor of the magazine told DVB.
Written by Kyi Maung Than, the poem that offended the authorities, ‘Depa Ringa’, is about the ancient town of Depayin in Sagaing Division where heroic warriors and figures in Burma’s history were born. It reveals that there were also traitors and the town experienced unforgettable incident in the past.
“The poem is about a town and what happened there, that’s all,” continued the editor.
“Well…as you know, readers can interpret the poem from whatever angle they want,” he said.
“The thing is that the problem came later, after it had been passed by the censors.”
Depayin was the scene of the 2003 attack on pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and a convoy of her supporters by regime-backed militias.
DVB was told that the writer of the offending poem had not been pressured and the magazine could continue to publish. However, Cherry had to submit a request letter to the censors to form a new editorial board.
In January this year, authorities arrested poet Saw Wai for criticizing junta leader senior general Than Shwe as ‘power crazy’ in a hidden message in his poem entitled ‘February the Fourteenth’ that appeared in the magazine Love Journal.
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