Looking back, looking forwards

By Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

The beginning of the year is a time for renewal, reinvigoration, resolutions and remembrance of things past.

I look back on 2010 and find that parts of the year were so little memorable as to have disappeared wholly into the lost wastes of time. How did I spend the first day of 2010? I cannot remember.

I can say, however, that it could not have been comfortable. Renovations to my house had been started in December 2009 and stopped a few weeks later by order of the municipal authorities.

While my lawyers worked to get the order reversed, I spent several months living in the midst of cardboard boxes, thick woven blankets wrapped around unidentifiable objects, assorted suitcases and leaning towers of books.

Looking up from my bed, which was wedged between a high bookshelf, odd tables and a number of lumpy bundles, I had a good view of a peeling chunk of ceiling that afforded me many moments of contemplation on the nature of decrepitude and decay […]

Review on the Flawed Election

[…] A review of the 2010 elections and the flawed results by 10 activist organizations inside Burma. The organizations conclude that the military system will continue to prevail in Burma because the post-election parliament will be dominated by the military and the junta-backed USDP. They propose tasks for the incoming parliament, pledge to continue to improve their coordination and cooperation to work in unity, and express their support for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy and the Committee Representing People Parliament […]

Clarification

In the morning news of November 25, 2010, broadcast by Radio Free Asia, it was stated that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not endorse the attempts made overseas to bring the Generals of the Junta to the international criminal court for crimes against humanity by quoting the November 23 issue of the New York Times […]

“The Military Regime’s Merciless Act of Making the People Living with HIV/AIDS in Burma Helpless and Homeless Denounced”

The U.S. Campaign for Burma (USCB), a Washington DC-based organization campaigning for freedom, justice and democracy in the Southeast Asian country of Burma, denounced today the military regime for its threat to drive out the people living with HIV/AIDS from the shelter provided to them by members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi […]

PFOB Chair Decries Absurd Election Complaint Fees and Calls on the Military and its Proxy Party to Protect Aung San Suu Kyi

It is absurdly difficult to make a complaint about the recent sham elections in Burma orchestrated by the military and their party USDP. To make a single complaint costs about 5 times your annual income. And if the complaint is determined to be unfounded, you can be fined about 15 times your annual salary. “This is absurd” said PFOB Chair the Honourable Larry Bagnell M.P. Yukon […]

Democracy Leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Finally Free; Supporters Celebrate and Call for Guarantees of her Safety

Today marked the end of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s most recent term of seven years under house arrest as Burma’s military regime finally released the democracy leader upon the expiration of her sentence. Thousands of National League for Democracy (NLD) members and her supporters gathered outside of her house to catch a glimpse of their beloved leader on this historic day. The crowd cheered elatedly as she emerged from her house. People wept for joy, danced and celebrated to long awaited release of the democracy leader. “We must work together in unison to achieve our goal,” she said, reiterating her timeless commitment to unity and peace.

‘The Lady’ retains potent political role

Tomorrow, Aung San Suu Kyi will have spent a total of 15 years and 20 days in detention. Under Burmese law, she should be released, and it is looking increasingly likely that she will be. Although the regime has a poor track record of keeping its word or upholding its own laws, the regime will want to divert attention away from last Sunday’s sham elections which perpetuate military rule, and give the international community a fig leaf.
The regime has played it well from their point of view – legally they should have released her when her period of house arrest expired last year, but then, conveniently, American Mormon John Yettaw came to the junta’s aid, swam across the lake, and landed Suu Kyi with three years’ hard labour. In an act designed to appear compassionate, Than Shwe reduced this to 18 months’ house arrest – conveniently timing her release for six days after the sham elections.[…]

Week 34: 2010 Election Watch (26 October – 1 November)

Developments

• NLD members distributed election boycott leaflets in Rangoon’s Insein and Mingaladon Townships. Riot police in Rangoon’s North Okkalapa Township surrounded “no-vote” campaigners as they attempted to distribute election boycott leaflets.
• Around 1,200 people from over 150 villages protested the elections in Ye and Thanbyuzayat Townships in Mon State and Kyainnseikyi Township in Karen State […]

Week 31: 2010 Election Watch (5-11 October)

Developments

• Youth activists posted signs that urged people to boycott the upcoming elections in 15 Villages across Arakan State.
• Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) organizers told residents of Shweza Village, Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, that if they did not vote for USDP candidates, they could be fined up to 100,000 kyat (about US$1,000) and serve one year in prison […]

An Election Not Worthy of Support

Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, recently said the world must exercise “utmost vigilance” to ensure the approaching elections in Myanmar (Burma) are free and fair.

We are disappointed in such comments, which focus on the election as something important for our country, as something worth waiting and watching for, although this election is not the solution for Burma.

The elections, scheduled for Nov. 7, are designed to legalize military rule in Burma under the 2008 constitution, which was written to create a permanent military dictatorship in our country […]