OFFICE OF THE SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
KAREN NATIONAL UNION
KAWTHOOLEI
www.karennationalunion.net
Karen National Union Not Responsible for Bomb Blast in Papun, Karen State
December 18, 2009
Once again the illegitimate dictatorship ruling Burma has accused the Karen Nation Union (KNU) of
responsibility for bombing that has happened in Papun, which killed 7 Karen civilians and injured 11
others during the celebration of the Karen New Year on December 16, 2009. KNU categorically denies
responsibility for these attacks. The KNU is not a terrorist organization. The KNU has a policy of not
targeting civilians. This is in contrast to the Burmese Army, which the United Nations has verified as
committing war crimes by deliberately targeting civilians in breach of the Geneva Conventions.
The KNU is deeply sadden and disturbed to hear of this explosion and it adds to the great concern for the
safety and security of the Karen population. We, the KNU express great grief and sorrow for the victims'
families and others, who have been affected by this tragedy.
The KNU deplores this action instigated by the Burmese military regime. It is further proof that the
regime continuously and systematically commits crimes against Karen civilians in rural areas. It clearly
shows there is no guaranteed security for the Karen people under the rule of the military regime not only
in the rural areas but also in towns.
In order to win the 2010 election, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has used military
tactics and strategy to create conflict and misunderstanding in order to fracture the Karen community and
also their relationship with other ethnic nationalities and to divide their unity and strength. The SPDC is
fixed on defaming the KNU and uses every excuse to bring our organization into ill repute. It has
constantly misappropriated blame for actions it is guilty of itself. The SPDC endeavours to defame other
ethnic groups caught up in the armed struggle against the oppressors. The military junta continues to snub
international condemnation of its actions and continues to persecute all those who threaten the junta’s
hold on the political power of Burma.
The struggle for democracy and human rights must continue. The people of Burma regardless of their
ethnic origins or beliefs must stand together and unite against the common enemy, the military junta, that
deprives citizens of their right to live freely and to elect their own leaders and to feel proud of their
nation.
The KNU conveys best wishes to all the Karen people throughout the world and wish them to celebrate
the Karen New Year in peace and happiness. The KNU expects and encourages the Karen people in
Burma, on the borders and abroad to organize and celebrate the Karen New Year in a spirit of friendship
and unity as it is one of the most important traditional and cultural celebrations of our nation.
The KNU is a democratic organization, representing the Karen people of Burma. Our goal is peace and
prosperity in a democratic federal Burma.
*********
Monday, 21 December 2009
Migrant protest ends in violence
Protests by Burmese migrant workers in western Thailand at the weekend ended in violence after security guards locked around 1500 demonstrators in a garment factory compound.
The protests were triggered after four factory security guards last Friday assaulted two Burmese nationals, Kalar Lay and Ko Waw, who had arrived at the factory in Mae Sot to collect their younger sister.
Kalar Lay was hospitalised after the beating. Ko Waw’s subsequent disappearance drew the demonstrators, mostly women, to the factory compounds.
After security guards locked them in the compound, the protestors then set alight to a car belonging to the factory owner, and damaged factory property.
After two days of protests, police on Sunday brought Ko Waw back from Myawaddy in Burma, across the border from Mae Sot.
“We protested because there has been a lot of disappointment,” said a female factory worker. “We can only go home from work after midnight, and no one pays attention when we get harassed or violated by someone.”
Another woman who joined the protest said the factory officials on Sunday urged the employees to return to work.
“The employer urged us to come back to work starting from [Monday] and promised that they would not take any action,” she said.
Workers said it was still unclear if they would have to pay compensation for the damage to factory property during the protest.
Negotiations between factory owners and workers, the majority of whom have not returned to work, are currently taking place.
Up to 80 percent of Mae Sot’s inhabitants are estimated to be Burmese, many of whom work in low-skilled industries such as construction or factories for little pay. In Thailand there are thought to be around two million Burmese migrants.
Last month around 500 Burmese migrant workers in Mae Sot filed a mass lawsuit against 12 factories which they claimed had failed to pay their salaries.
Although a programme to register migrants in Thailand is currently underway, many still struggle to gain any sort of legal status in the country, meaning that access to education and health service is restricted.
The protests were triggered after four factory security guards last Friday assaulted two Burmese nationals, Kalar Lay and Ko Waw, who had arrived at the factory in Mae Sot to collect their younger sister.
Kalar Lay was hospitalised after the beating. Ko Waw’s subsequent disappearance drew the demonstrators, mostly women, to the factory compounds.
After security guards locked them in the compound, the protestors then set alight to a car belonging to the factory owner, and damaged factory property.
After two days of protests, police on Sunday brought Ko Waw back from Myawaddy in Burma, across the border from Mae Sot.
“We protested because there has been a lot of disappointment,” said a female factory worker. “We can only go home from work after midnight, and no one pays attention when we get harassed or violated by someone.”
Another woman who joined the protest said the factory officials on Sunday urged the employees to return to work.
“The employer urged us to come back to work starting from [Monday] and promised that they would not take any action,” she said.
Workers said it was still unclear if they would have to pay compensation for the damage to factory property during the protest.
Negotiations between factory owners and workers, the majority of whom have not returned to work, are currently taking place.
Up to 80 percent of Mae Sot’s inhabitants are estimated to be Burmese, many of whom work in low-skilled industries such as construction or factories for little pay. In Thailand there are thought to be around two million Burmese migrants.
Last month around 500 Burmese migrant workers in Mae Sot filed a mass lawsuit against 12 factories which they claimed had failed to pay their salaries.
Although a programme to register migrants in Thailand is currently underway, many still struggle to gain any sort of legal status in the country, meaning that access to education and health service is restricted.
Suu Kyi lawyers appeal sentence at top Burma court
Lawyers for Burma's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi argued an appeal against her extended house arrest sentence on Monday at the country's supreme court.
The 64-year-old democracy icon was ordered to spend another 18 months in detention in August after being convicted over an incident in which a US man swam to her house. A lower court rejected an initial appeal in October.
During the morning hearing in Rangoon, which lasted roughly one-and-a-half hours, Suu Kyi's legal team argued that her conviction was legally unsound, according to her main lawyer Kyi Win.
The judges said they would decide later Monday whether to allow the case to proceed further, he told AFP. If they do allow it, the prosecution team will be called to argue against the appeal at a later date.
"As lawyers we have to hope for the best. We are always hoping," Kyi Win said. If the case is thrown out, it is thought that they would have to appeal directly to the military government to try and get the conviction overturned.
Suu Kyi, who is detained at her lakeside mansion in Rangoon, did not attend the hearing while journalists were also barred. Witnesses said security was tight at the court, with plain-clothed policemen patrolling the area.
Burma's military rulers have kept the Nobel peace prize winner in detention for 14 of the last 20 years, since they refused to recognise the NLD's landslide victory in the country's last democratic elections in 1990.
The extension of her detention after a prison trial sparked international outrage as it effectively keeps her off the stage for elections promised by the regime some time in 2010.
But in recent months the United States, followed by the European Union, has shifted towards a policy of greater engagement with Burma - which has been under military rule since 1962 - as sanctions have failed to bear fruit.
Suu Kyi has also changed tack after years of favouring harsh measures, writing twice to junta chief Than Shwe since September offering her cooperation in getting Western sanctions lifted.
She has since met three times with the government liaison officer and last week she was granted a meeting with three elderly senior NLD members, at which she asked for their approval to reorganise the party leadership committee.
But the junta has not yet granted her requests to meet with the rest of the committee and to hold talks with Than Shwe himself.
In November the regime allowed her to make a rare appearance in front of the media after meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the highest level official from Washington to visit Burma for 14 years.
A visit by US senator Jim Webb in August secured the release of John Yettaw, the American man who swam across a lake to Suu Kyi's home in May and sparked the case that led to her detention being prolonged.
The 64-year-old democracy icon was ordered to spend another 18 months in detention in August after being convicted over an incident in which a US man swam to her house. A lower court rejected an initial appeal in October.
During the morning hearing in Rangoon, which lasted roughly one-and-a-half hours, Suu Kyi's legal team argued that her conviction was legally unsound, according to her main lawyer Kyi Win.
The judges said they would decide later Monday whether to allow the case to proceed further, he told AFP. If they do allow it, the prosecution team will be called to argue against the appeal at a later date.
"As lawyers we have to hope for the best. We are always hoping," Kyi Win said. If the case is thrown out, it is thought that they would have to appeal directly to the military government to try and get the conviction overturned.
Suu Kyi, who is detained at her lakeside mansion in Rangoon, did not attend the hearing while journalists were also barred. Witnesses said security was tight at the court, with plain-clothed policemen patrolling the area.
Burma's military rulers have kept the Nobel peace prize winner in detention for 14 of the last 20 years, since they refused to recognise the NLD's landslide victory in the country's last democratic elections in 1990.
The extension of her detention after a prison trial sparked international outrage as it effectively keeps her off the stage for elections promised by the regime some time in 2010.
But in recent months the United States, followed by the European Union, has shifted towards a policy of greater engagement with Burma - which has been under military rule since 1962 - as sanctions have failed to bear fruit.
Suu Kyi has also changed tack after years of favouring harsh measures, writing twice to junta chief Than Shwe since September offering her cooperation in getting Western sanctions lifted.
She has since met three times with the government liaison officer and last week she was granted a meeting with three elderly senior NLD members, at which she asked for their approval to reorganise the party leadership committee.
But the junta has not yet granted her requests to meet with the rest of the committee and to hold talks with Than Shwe himself.
In November the regime allowed her to make a rare appearance in front of the media after meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the highest level official from Washington to visit Burma for 14 years.
A visit by US senator Jim Webb in August secured the release of John Yettaw, the American man who swam across a lake to Suu Kyi's home in May and sparked the case that led to her detention being prolonged.
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Wa army may install SPDC official
Burma’s largest ceasefire group will not bow to government pressure and transform into a border guard force, but may install a Burmese army official within its senior rank.
Members of the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), based in the Wa region of Burma’s northeastern Shan state, met at the end of last month and drew up a nine-point proposal in response to the government.
Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has been pressuring the country’s 18 ceasefire groups to transform into border guard forces and thus return to what it calls the ‘legal fold’, but only two have so far complied.
In the proposal, the UWSA tabled the idea of forming two military regions in the area controlled by the Wa, in Panghsang and Wang Hong. Panghsang, based on the China-Burma border, is the unofficial capital of Wa state.
“We propose to have a UWSA official take role of the regional military commander [in Wang Hong], and to have one person each from the UWSA and the Tatmadaw [Burmese army] to take the role of deputy military commander,” said the proposal.
The structure would be the same for Panghsang, except that there would be four deputy regional military commanders, one of whom would be from the Burmese army.
“The Tatmadaw is to take responsibility for regional assistance, health insurance and military training with the UWSA’s cooperation,” it added.
Wa leaders have warned however that if the government refuses to accept the proposal, and continues pressuring it to transform, then fighting could break out.
“We do not wish for a fight; it only depends on the SPDC,” said UWSA commander Jia Goh Eng. “We don’t know whether they will attack us or not because they are the one who has a problem.”
“But if they refuse to consider any of the points [in the proposal] and start attacking us, we will be left with no choice [but to fight back].”
A Burmese military analyst on the China-Burma border, Aung Kyaw Zaw, told DVB that the UWSA had also announced that it will cooperate with Chinese and Thai governments to curb the region’s drug market.
The UWSA are the main producers of heroin Burma, which ranks behind Afghanistan as the world’s second largest heroin source.
He also echoed the Wa commander’s warning about the potential for violence to break out the region. Government pressure on a Shan-based Kokang rebel group in August triggered fighting which forced some 37,000 civilians to flee into China.
“If the government stubbornly goes ahead with their plan without negotiating, we are likely to see a huge bloodbath involving the Wa, the Shan nationals and also the SPDC soldiers,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw.
Members of the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), based in the Wa region of Burma’s northeastern Shan state, met at the end of last month and drew up a nine-point proposal in response to the government.
Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has been pressuring the country’s 18 ceasefire groups to transform into border guard forces and thus return to what it calls the ‘legal fold’, but only two have so far complied.
In the proposal, the UWSA tabled the idea of forming two military regions in the area controlled by the Wa, in Panghsang and Wang Hong. Panghsang, based on the China-Burma border, is the unofficial capital of Wa state.
“We propose to have a UWSA official take role of the regional military commander [in Wang Hong], and to have one person each from the UWSA and the Tatmadaw [Burmese army] to take the role of deputy military commander,” said the proposal.
The structure would be the same for Panghsang, except that there would be four deputy regional military commanders, one of whom would be from the Burmese army.
“The Tatmadaw is to take responsibility for regional assistance, health insurance and military training with the UWSA’s cooperation,” it added.
Wa leaders have warned however that if the government refuses to accept the proposal, and continues pressuring it to transform, then fighting could break out.
“We do not wish for a fight; it only depends on the SPDC,” said UWSA commander Jia Goh Eng. “We don’t know whether they will attack us or not because they are the one who has a problem.”
“But if they refuse to consider any of the points [in the proposal] and start attacking us, we will be left with no choice [but to fight back].”
A Burmese military analyst on the China-Burma border, Aung Kyaw Zaw, told DVB that the UWSA had also announced that it will cooperate with Chinese and Thai governments to curb the region’s drug market.
The UWSA are the main producers of heroin Burma, which ranks behind Afghanistan as the world’s second largest heroin source.
He also echoed the Wa commander’s warning about the potential for violence to break out the region. Government pressure on a Shan-based Kokang rebel group in August triggered fighting which forced some 37,000 civilians to flee into China.
“If the government stubbornly goes ahead with their plan without negotiating, we are likely to see a huge bloodbath involving the Wa, the Shan nationals and also the SPDC soldiers,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw.
Detained US citizen on hunger strike
he Burmese-born US citizen currently detained in a Rangoon prison on charges of fraud is staging a hunger strike, his aunt has said.
Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, has met with his family on several occasions since he was arrested upon arrival at Rangoon International Airport on 3 September.
He is being charged with carrying false identification and excessive amounts of the Burmese currency, the kyat.
His aunt told DVB yesterday that he had begun a hunger strike in his cell in Insein prison.
“He looked very weak and pale when I saw him so I asked if he was OK and he told me he was on hunger strike,” said Su Su Kyi.
“He said he was doing it in a protest against the government’s imprisoning of many young people under various unfair charges, and oppressing them with no rights.
She added that he was also protesting the Burmese junta’s failure to initiate dialogue with the opposition, and for an end the military dictatorship.
“I think he stopped eating last Friday [4 December] evening because he looked fine when I saw him in a court hearing earlier that day,” said Su Su Kyi. “He is also suffering from bedsores as he has been sleeping on a hard floor in his prison cell.”
There had been initial speculation following his arrest that the government were implicating him in a series of bomb plots that hit Rangoon in mid-September, although these were executed a fortnight after he had been arrested.
Kyaw Zaw Lwin, himself an activist and former member of the All Burma Student Democratic Front (ABSDF), has two relatives serving sentences in Burmese prisons for involvement with anti-junta groups.
Both his cousin and mother were imprisoned on charges related to the September 2007 monk-led uprising.
Officials at the US embassy in Rangoon, which has been monitoring Kyaw Zaw Lwin’s case, were unable to comment on the hunger strike.
Kyaw Zaw Lwin, also known as Nyi Nyi Aung, has met with his family on several occasions since he was arrested upon arrival at Rangoon International Airport on 3 September.
He is being charged with carrying false identification and excessive amounts of the Burmese currency, the kyat.
His aunt told DVB yesterday that he had begun a hunger strike in his cell in Insein prison.
“He looked very weak and pale when I saw him so I asked if he was OK and he told me he was on hunger strike,” said Su Su Kyi.
“He said he was doing it in a protest against the government’s imprisoning of many young people under various unfair charges, and oppressing them with no rights.
She added that he was also protesting the Burmese junta’s failure to initiate dialogue with the opposition, and for an end the military dictatorship.
“I think he stopped eating last Friday [4 December] evening because he looked fine when I saw him in a court hearing earlier that day,” said Su Su Kyi. “He is also suffering from bedsores as he has been sleeping on a hard floor in his prison cell.”
There had been initial speculation following his arrest that the government were implicating him in a series of bomb plots that hit Rangoon in mid-September, although these were executed a fortnight after he had been arrested.
Kyaw Zaw Lwin, himself an activist and former member of the All Burma Student Democratic Front (ABSDF), has two relatives serving sentences in Burmese prisons for involvement with anti-junta groups.
Both his cousin and mother were imprisoned on charges related to the September 2007 monk-led uprising.
Officials at the US embassy in Rangoon, which has been monitoring Kyaw Zaw Lwin’s case, were unable to comment on the hunger strike.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)