Daily News- September 21- 2002- Saturday

  • Suu Kyi attends funeral of jailed member of Myanmar's democracy party
  • Briton, Burmese seized for giving illegal phone service in Thailand
  • U.S Lawmaker Remembers Burma's Slaughter of Democracy Advocates


  • Suu Kyi attends funeral of jailed member of Myanmar's democracy party

    YANGON, Sept 20 (AFP) - Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has attended the funeral of a jailed member of her party after he died in a Yangon hospital, party sources said Friday.

    The funeral of Aung May Thu, 60, was held on Tuesday after he died from peritonitis despite an eight-hour operation at Yangon's General Hospital, according to a statement released by the ruling military junta Friday.

    He had been a prisoner at the Tharawaddy Correctional Facility, and was examined by a physician on September 15 after suffering from digestive problems, the statement said.He was admitted to Tharawaddy General Hospital on the same day, but the following day he was transferred to Yangon General Hospital, where he was immediately operated on, it said.

    The deceased was the chairman of the Min Hla township branch of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD). Min Hla is in Bago division, which lies north of the capital, Yangon.

    NLD sources said Aung May Thu was jailed in 1989 on criminal charges after he was accused of being an underground communist by the military junta.

    Aung San Suu Kyi has been active in giving support to the families of NLD prisoners since her own release from house arrest by the junta in May this year.

    Myanmar is frequently criticised by international rights groups over its poor treatment of prisoners, and a lack of medical assistance provided to prisoners who are sick.Hundreds of NLD members have been jailed by the junta merely for their association with the party.Although some have been freed since the beginning of 2001 in goodwill gestures linked with talks between the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi, some 1,500 are believed to be still incarcerated.

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    Briton, Burmese seized for giving illegal phone service in Thailand

    Source : Bangkok Post

    Phuket police have arrested a British and a Burmese man for allegedly providing an illegal phone service which allowed Burmese people living in Malaysia to talk to friends and relatives in Burma.

    Krazer Jaba, a 35-year-old Briton, and Lux Chumun, 18, a Burmese national, were arrested in a house in tambon Vichit of Muang district at 5pm on Thursday. Police say they seized 13 mobile phones, nine amplifiers, five loudspeakers, a notebook computer and other electronic items to link up with telecommunication networks.

    Police said the men used cellphones registered to other names to offer international phone services to Burmese people living in Malaysia.

    They said the illegal phone service had started two years ago and cost the state about 50,000 baht a day.

    Mr Krazer reportedly paid Mr Lux 3,500 baht a month to be his operator while he managed to acquire illegally-tuned phones and SIM cards.

    The suspects have been charged with using communication radios without a licence, embezzlement and illegal immigration. Police said they had admitted the offences.

    Muang district police chief Pol Col Paveena Pongsirin said there were many foreign gangs in Phuket offering phone services with illegally-tuned cellphones.

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    U.S Lawmaker Remembers Burma's Slaughter of Democracy Advocates

    Source : U.S State Department

    Representative Dennis Kucinich (Democrat of Ohio) criticized Burma's military rulers in a September 18 speech to the House of Representatives on the 14th anniversary of the slaughter of up to 10,000 Burmese who marched in the streets to call for democracy in that country.

    "To this day, the 50 million people of Burma still suffer gross human rights abuses," said Kucinich, a member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

    Burma's military regime, he added, "is so fearful of its own people that it has established a military intelligence service to squash free thinking and prevent even the discussion of ideas like freedom and democracy."

    The Ohio Democrat praised Nobel Peace Prize recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for leading her country's freedom movement. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts to bring democracy to Burma.

    "The United States has always supported the struggle for freedom in Burma," Kucinich said. "Now, at this critical time, we must do all that is in our power to increase international pressure on this regime."

    Following is the text of Representative Dennis Kucinich's remarks from the Congressional Record:

    RECOGNIZING 14 YEARS OF STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM IN BURMA
    HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH
    September 18, 2002

    HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH OF OHIO
    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
    Wednesday, September 18, 2002

    Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember September 18th, 1988, a day fourteen years ago that a totalitarian military regime in Burma brutally shot, stabbed, and tortured its way to control. The regime killed an estimated 10,000 innocent people who marched on the streets and called for democracy, including women, children, students, Buddhist monks, teachers and others from all walks of life.

    To this day, the 50 million people of Burma still suffer gross human rights abuses. According to credible organizations including the United Nations, U.S. State Department, and Amnesty International, the Burmese regime presses millions of persons into forced labor, holds over a thousand political prisoners, and organizes systematic, mass rapes in the Shan state. Evidence shows that Burma's military regime is among the world's most brutal.

    In fact, the regime is so fearful of its own people that it has established a military intelligence service to squash free thinking and prevent even the discussion of ideas like freedom and democracy. On August 17th and 18th of this year, 15 students from the Rangoon University and Rangoon Institute of Technology, all under age 21, were arrested by the regime. Thirteen were arrested simply for forming a literary study group without permission of the authorities. Two others, Thet Naung Soe and Khin Maung Win, were arrested in front of Rangoon City Hall for handing out leaflets calling for the realization of democracy. It is expected that they will be sentenced to long prison terms where they are likely to be in serious danger of torture.

    In July, two youth members of the rightfully elected National League for Democracy were arrested for possessing a secretive pro-democracy journal. They were beaten severely by the police and later sentenced to seven years imprisonment in a summary trial held in the infamous Insein prison.

    At the same time the regime has abused its own people, it has initiated an international diplomatic charm offensive to curry favor with the United States and other countries. The regime announced to the world on May 6, 2002, "We shall recommit ourselves to allowing all of our citizens to participate freely in the life of our political process."

    The United States should not be fooled by false propaganda of the regime while the people of Burma sacrifice for the freedom and democracy I believe in. The United States has always supported the struggle for freedom in Burma. Now, at this critical time, we must do all that is in our power to increase international pressure on this regime.

    1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has courageously held together her country's freedom movement for the past 14 years, and she and the people of Burma deserve our ongoing support. Fourteen years into the struggle for freedom and Burma, I commend the courageous people of Burma who have never allowed their call for freedom to be crushed. Freedom united their cause. Courage gave it life. Tyranny tried to crush it. But to this day, hope inspires the people of Burma to continue in their struggle for democracy..

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