Some leaders of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party are reported to have made a visit to family members of different imprisoned ethnic leaders at the home of a Shan ethnic leader in Rangoon yesterday. (more…)

The All Burma Youth Union, ABYU, which was formed today, has urged all Burmese voters to collectively boycott the junta’s 2010 election. The ABYU calls for the election boycott because the Burmese people have suffered poverty, hunger, and low standard since 1962 under successive military regimes in Burma and the 2010 election is nothing but the military clique’s preparation to prolong their hold on power. ABYU spokesman Ko Aung Myint said the group was formed with youths from all parts of the country with the aim to rid the country of servitude and to build a democratic State. (more…)

Washington — A community-based maternal health delivery program has dramatically increased access to maternal health care for internally displaced women in eastern Burma, say American researchers. (more…)

Chiang Mai – Myanmar Ivanhoe Copper, the blacklisted joint venture that runs Burma’s largest mine, uses Singaporean bankers to evade Western sanctions against Burma when it receives payments for copper from the controversial Monywa mine, a copy of a copper sales contract reveals. (more…)

Chiang Mai – HIV-positive prevalence rates in areas controlled by cease-fire groups in the northern Burmese state of Kachin are more than 16 times the average for the country, resulting in concerns a disaster is imminent if the region fails to receive sufficient help, an NGO said of its quarter-long survey of the problem. (more…)

United Nations – Facing questions of what the UN has accomplished on Myanmar through its “Good Offices” mandate, since Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s chief of staff Vijay Nambiar has filled the post, the Good Offices are being offered to a variety of Japanese officials, sources tell Inner City Press. (more…)

New Delhi — Last week’s visit to India by Burma’s military ruler, Gen. Than Shwe, during which several bilateral agreements and treaties were signed, highlighted the tensions in New Delhi’s policy toward the isolated Southeast Asian country. The red carpet welcome that New Delhi accorded to Than sparked protests by Burmese refugees, who in addition to denouncing Than as a murderer and dictator, argued that a democratic Burma would better serve India’s strategic interests. (more…)

In a recent letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a bipartisan group of 32 senators urged the White House to increase the effectiveness of its Burma policy. The letter called on the US government to “support the establishment of a United Nations Commission of Inquiry to investigate whether crimes against humanity and war crimes took place” in military-controlled Burma. (more…)

After taking office in 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama decided to use Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) as his Asian experiment in reversing Bush administration policy. As it did with Iran and Sudan, the Obama administration engaged with Myanmar’s junta, although it did not push to end sanctions Congress passed in the late 1990s in response to massive human rights abuses. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell has made two trips to Myanmar over the past year to try to spur dialogue about critical issues like the upcoming national elections, which will probably take place in late fall. They would be Myanmar’s first since the 1990 polls won by the party of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, though the military never allowed that party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), to take its seats. (more…)

Washington, D.C. – The Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program at the Washington, D.C.-based National Endowment for Democracy invites applications for fellowships in 2011-2012. The program enables democracy activists, practitioners, scholars, and journalists from around the world to deepen their understanding of democracy and enhance their ability to promote democratic change. Dedicated to international exchange, this five-month, residential program offers a collegial environment for fellows to reflect on their experiences; consider best practices and lessons learned; conduct research and writing; engage with counterparts; and develop professional relationships within a global network of democracy advocates. (more…)