Myanmar's roadmap to undemocratic polls
By Larry Jagan
BANGKOK - Myanmar's military rulers have renewed efforts to eliminate all
opposition to their authority in the leadup to planned elections in 2010.
On Tuesday, 14 leading political activists, including five women from the
so-called "88 Generation" students group, were each sentenced to 65 years in
jail for their involvement in last year’s Buddhist monk-led uprising, which
became known around the world as the "Saffron" revolution.
The jail terms are only the latest in a series of harsh sentences
that Myanmar's authorities have handed down to artists, activists, bloggers,
journalists and lawyers in recent weeks.
"The junta is clearly conducting a major crackdown on all dissent in the
country," Zin Linn, a leading Myanmar dissident and former political prisoner
based in Bangkok, said. "They want to silence all opposition before the planned
elections in 2010."
A military-controlled court, held inside Yangon's notorious Insein prison,
sentenced the 14 student leaders to long prison sentences for involvement in
the August 2007 mass protests, which were sparked by a hike in fuel prices and
rising food costs.
The United Nations has said that at least 31 people were killed when troops
were sent in to repress the mass demonstrations, which were led by columns of
saffron-clad, shaven-headed Buddhist monks. The protests were the biggest
challenge to the State Peace and Development Council since it seized power from
another military-run regime 20 years ago.
The 14 convicted included Ko Jimmy and his wife, Nilar Thein, who had to
abandon her four-month-old daughter when she went into hiding during the
post-demonstration military crackdown in September. Nilar Thein was arrested
two months ago after being on the run for more than a year.
The sentences were handed down behind closed doors, while family members and
lawyers were barred from the court. "Is this [65 years] all you can do?" one of
the activists, Min Zeya, reportedly shouted at the judge.
Nine other leaders of the opposition group, including the top three - Min Ko
Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kyew - were recently sentenced to six months in
prison for contempt of court.
According to news reports, they continuously interrupted court proceedings by
trying to shout down the judge and refused to accept the court's authority.
They vowed to continue opposing the judicial system by using Gandhian tactics
of non-violent civil disobedience.
Since the contempt of court conviction, the nine have been moved to Maubin
prison in the Irrawaddy Delta, west of the old capital Yangon - an area
devastated by Cyclone Nargis in May.
"We fear they will now face harsh treatment at the hands of the authorities
there, because it is more isolated and family visits much more difficult,"
Myanmar activist Khin Omar, who is based in the northern Thai town of Chiang
Mai, said. "The conditions in prison for political prisoners are getting worse
and worse," she warned.
Pro-democracy forefront
Many of the group's members, who were at the forefront of the mass
pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988, were tortured and given lengthy prison
terms after the military coup 20 years ago. The activists resumed political
activities after they were freed in November 2004, and had spearheaded protests
against the junta, usually focusing on the country's deteriorating economy.
Many analysts believe that the junta fears the students even more than the
National League for Democracy (NLD), now led by detained opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi. The NLD convincingly won 1990 democratic elections, but was never
allowed to form a civilian government. Suu Kyi has spent much of the past 20
years under house arrest in her home in Yangon.
"They think they can handle the NLD, but they know they cannot control the
students," said a Western diplomat who deals with Myanmar. The sentences will
leave them in prison well past the election.
Prominent labor rights activist, Su Su Nway, was sentenced to more than 12
years in jail for her political activities. She served nine months in prison
more than two years ago for her work to stop forced labor. Ten members of the
NLD from Bogalay in the Irrawaddy Delta were also sentenced to between eight
and 24 years in prison.
"These sentences are a clear signal to everyone that the regime will not
tolerate any opposition in the lead up to the elections in 2010," Benjamin
Zawacki, the Myanmar officer for the Britain-based human-rights organization
Amnesty International said.
Tuesday's sentences follow the arrest 10 months ago of one of Myanmar's
best-known bloggers, Nay Phone Latt, for publishing a cartoon of the country's
top military leader, General Than Shwe, on his website. His trial was also held
behind closed doors in Insein prison.
The 28-year-old blogger, a former NLD member, was a major source of accurate
and detailed information on the events of August and September 2007, both
inside and outside the country, according to exiled Myanmar journalists working
abroad. He was handed down 20 years and six months in jail.
A well-known poet, Saw Wai, was also recently sentenced to two years
imprisonment for "inciting crimes against public tranquility". He was first
arrested in January after his poem which mocked Than Shwe, entitled "February
14", was published in the Ah Chit (Love) Journal.
The discrepancy between the sentences given to the blogger and the poet for
essentially the same crime - denigrating Than Shwe - suggests that the regime
is particularly worried about the opposition's use of technology, especially
the Internet.
Reports, pictures and videos transmitted through the Internet and mobile phones
during the "Saffron" revolution, and in the aftermath of the cyclone,
apparently had the generals worried.
"They [the junta] are extremely worried about things they don't understand and
cannot control," said Zawacki. "The blogger's sentence reflects the greater
level of threat they see in postings on the Internet compared to poetry."
Before Nay Phone Latt was sentenced, his defense counsel, Aung Thein, and
another lawyer, Khin Maung Shein, were sentenced to four months in prison for
contempt of the court. Their crime, Aung Thein told journalists, was attempting
to defend their clients in court.
More than 15 journalists are also still in detention awaiting trial, according
to the Burma Media Association. Most of them are accused of publishing material
on conditions in the cyclone-devastated areas and pointing out inadequacies in
the government’s relief effort.
"The sentencing of the 88 group activists and the further arrests in recent
days - of journalists, bloggers and forced labor complainants - is further
evidence of the extent to which conditions in this country are deteriorating in
terms of basic political freedoms," a Western diplomat based in Yangon said.
"It clearly shows what we can expect in 2010," he said.
Everyone who is opposed to the regime's roadmap to democracy and the
constitution - foisted on the people through a referendum marked by
intimidation and manipulation - is being targeted. "It's business as usual,"
said Zawacki. "They are using draconian prison sentences to warn people not to
stand up to the regime. All that's changed is their rhetoric - there's no
roadmap to political change," he said.
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