Top members of the Karen National Union, or KNU, Burma’s largest ethnic insurgency group, will conclude a three-day meeting today. KNU executive committee members and key military officers gathered on Wednesday in the Thai border town of Mae Sot to assess the merits of the months-long
ceasefire negotiations with Burma?s military government and to appoint delegates to the next round of talks.
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SPDC officials continue to rape and murder women with impunity, says the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) in its latest report, “System of Impunity”, released yesterday.
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Two Lahu “spokespersons” who recently crossed the border into Thailand told S.H.A.N. the majority of their people who had been resettled in southern Shan State 5 years earlier “have had enough of” the Burmese military authorities’ broken promises, reports Hawkeye from Chiangrai:
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Thai police officers arrested a former Burmese lieutenant and his Thai spouse on Thursday, in the Thai border town Mae Sot. Lt Kyaw Mya Tun, 34, and his wife Phimpar Dootsadin, 38, were arrested today for possession of 1,158 methamphetamine pills, locally known as yaba, said Police Capt Sivichaing Mangkong, of the Mae Sot deputy crime suppression unit.
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Myanmar’s opium output declined nearly 40 percent in 2004, recording an eighth consecutive annual decline since 1997, the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Thursday.
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September 16: With world oil prices having jumped amid continued instability in the Middle East, Thailand’s PTT is expanding aggressively at home and abroad.
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The first meeting of senior officials from countries in the seven-member BIMST-EC group ended in Bangkok yesterday with a tentative agreement to determine the general scope of the trade negotiating committee’s roles.
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September 4: Thirty-six travel companies have been placed on a “dirty list” by the Burma Campaign, which promotes human rights and democracy in the country.
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Lately, a few commentaries have been published on sanctions imposed on Myanmar by the United States and the European Union. Those against sanctions are convinced that they are punishing and hurting the population, rather than the ruling State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), also known as Myanmar’s military junta. But one pro-sanctions commentary that was recently published argues that while those against sanctions have roundly rejected the use of sanctions as ineffective and inhumane, they have failed to come up with a genuine alternative.
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Myanmar, long considered a thorn in Asean’s side, has now grown to become an intractable sticking point in an inter-regional agenda. With barely a month before the fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) starts in Hanoi, the military-ruled country seems to be causing a bellicose outlook which may stall the whole process.
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September 7: The sole aim of Burma Strategy Group for Democracy is to promote and realize Democratic Principles, practices and systems in Burma where a free and democratic society is much needed. Many patriots have given their lives for the struggle to freedom and the people have suffered for more than 40 years under successive dictatorial regimes and 16 years under this unlawful military regime known as State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
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September 4: The Women’s League of Burma has released a new report System of Impunity exposing ongoing sexual violence by the regime’s armed forces throughout Burma, as they continue to build up their military infrastructure and
consolidate control in every part of the country.
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