Burma’s military regime has forced our party, the National League for Democracy, to make a tough decision on whether we will continue to operate legally. (more…)

Burma’s generals are embracing democracy this year—”discipline-flourishing democracy,” as they like to put it—and some of the junta’s friends are buying in to the program. “There is a new beginning after the elections,” said Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretary General Surin Pitsawan last month, calling them “a step forward.” (more…)

Yangon – The withdrawal of the National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party from an election planned this year has added to the perception that the polls would bring no change to Myanmar’s political landscape, other than in the clothing of the generals who run the country. (more…)

At Bernard Kouchner’s request, human rights ambassador François Zimeray will be visiting Burma and Thailand from March 28 to April 2. (more…)

Yangon, Myanmar — The party of Myanmar’s detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi decided Monday to boycott the military-ruled country’s first election in two decades after the Nobel laureate blasted new electoral rules as “undemocratic.” (more…)

Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar – The leader of Myanmar’s military junta on Saturday warned against foreign meddling in upcoming elections and said “divisive acts” could spark anarchy and derail the transition to democracy. (more…)

The detained leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party has said that civilians and soldiers in Burma should unite in order to develop the country. (more…)

A bus company in military-ruled Burma has been told to stop caning drivers and conductors for letting too many passengers on buses, a local newspaper reported Monday. (more…)

Burma’s junta chief warned Saturday against “divisive” and “slanderous” election campaigning as a senior official said the controversial polls would be held by early November. (more…)

French Firm Secretly Worked on Junta Internet System

Paris-based international telecommunications giant Alcatel-Lucent has admitted it has been secretly helping the Burmese junta build a telecommunications infrastructure that allows it to monitor Internet traffic, according to a French news magazine report. (more…)

Tokyo will not expand economic aid to Myanmar as earlier proposed unless the junta ensures the participation of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others in the country’s general election this year, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said. (more…)

Washington – The United States on Monday blamed Myanmar’s junta for the opposition’s decision to boycott upcoming elections, saying the regime missed an opportunity to move forward. (more…)

THE MESSAGE could not have been clearer. On Armed Forces day, as soldiers marched through Naypyidaw, Burma’s Senior General Than Shwe set out his vision for “disciplined democracy”. A moment that could have been cause for celebration is instead a cause for concern and regret. (more…)

The call by Tomas Quintana, the United Nation’s human rights monitor to Burma, to consider the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into possible crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma is welcome, if long overdue. But just how probable is a high-level UN inquiry into serious international crimes in Burma, an investigation that could potentially result in a recommendation for a Security Council referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to initiate an investigation? (more…)

The new election laws passed just a few weeks ago appear to have been the final straw for the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, writes Kate Allen. (more…)

Today at Jakarta, the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission for Human Rights (AICHR) rejected the request of civil society organisations from the Solidarity for Asian Peoples Advocacy Taskforce on ASEAN Human Rights (SAPA TFAHR) to meet with them. The purpose of the requested meeting was to present the civil society proposal for the AICHR Rules of Procedures (RoP) as AICHR meets to draft the RoP. Representatives of civil society organizations from Cambodia, Indonesia, Burma, Malaysia and Thailand went to the ASEAN Secretariat to present the civil society proposal but were disappointed to be informed that the AICHR would not be meeting them. (more…)

An ostentatious parade by Myanmar’s ruling generals on Saturday is being cast by the junta as a swansong, but the military looks set to remain the dominant political force even after handing power to a civilian government after elections later this year. (more…)

National League for Democracy (NLD) youth leaders decided today to reject party registration for this year’s planned election, according to members of the NLD’s youth wing who attended a meeting at the party’s headquarters in Rangoon on Friday. (more…)

Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar — A reporter for the U.S. television network CNN has been ordered deported from Myanmar for the second time in two years. (more…)

Ruili, China —Thi Thi Win reminisces about a time when she wore traditional Burmese clothes and walked around her village at sunset. For the best part of her childhood, she considered herself to be lucky—she had two loving parents and food was plentiful. (more…)