A Myanmar human rights defender beaten by a pro-government mob was sentenced to eight years in prison for inciting unrest, activists said Wednesday.
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Four family members of National League for Democracy member U Than Lwin, who was brutally bashed by a man wearing a knuckle duster, faced court on Tuesday after being charged with threatening the Union Solidarity and Development Association.
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Akyab, Arakan State: Prisoners incarcerated in Sittwe Jail, Arakan State are being forced into hard labor by the Burmese Army since July 22, said a source close to the army in Kyaktaw.
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The Rangoon municipality has imposed a ban on smoking and chewing betel leaves around the platform of the famous Shwedagon Pagoda as part of hygiene. It is also an image building exercise.
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The Human Rights Defenders and Promoters yesterday condemned the sentencing of six Irrawaddy activists to between four and eight years in prison after they were accused of inciting unrest.
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Burmese government censors have reportedly banned international advertising in the country’s media following the appearance in the semi-official weekly The Myanmar Times of an ad containing hidden anti-regime messages.
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The United Wa State Army (UWSA), despite pressure by the Burma Army to vacate their mountain bases on the Thai-Burma border, has resolved to hang tough, according to sources who were informed of the recent biannual meeting held in Panghsang, 19-22 July.
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Burma’s private banks, struggling to survive in Burma’s ailing economy, are placing limits on the amount of money deposited weekly by their customers.
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Burmese authorities arrested hundreds of gold miners and mine operators near Indawgyi Lake, one of the Southeast Asia’s biggest and oldest lakes, in Kachin State early this month for conducting unauthorized operations, according to local sources.
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The number of children suffering from deadly hemorrhagic dengue fever in Bago division’s Min Hla township has escalated dramatically in the past few weeks, according to residents.
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Prisoners in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State in northern Burma have largely been discovered to have TB and HIV/AIDS infection, local sources said.
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The Philippines appealed Thursday for Myanmar to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by November, when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations marks its founding anniversary.
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France has set its sights on negotiating the release of Burmese pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, according to French Deputy Minister of Human Rights Rama Yade.
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The latest report from the House of Commons International Development Committee calls Burma the “forgotten crisis”. (more…)

The people of Burma endure human rights abuses on an unimaginable scale. Rape, torture and forced labour are facts of their lives. So why does the world refuse to act? A cross-party group of MPs has returned shocked by what they discovered there.
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Nearly 20 years ago, Burma, the hermit of south-east Asia, and under military rule since 1962, almost experienced a revolution.
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