video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWboOM1j7WQ

Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has written a letter to the head of Burma’s ruling junta with suggestions about how to get Western sanctions lifted, according to her lawyer.

“Aung San Suu Kyi’s letter is her thinking on how to work together to lift the sanctions,” Nyan Win, Suu Kyi’s lawyer, told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

According to diplomatic sources, Suu Kyi also asked for permission to meet with her family and senior members of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and requested a meeting with the junta’s top general, Snr-Gen Than Shwe.

Suu Kyi said that she wants to know how many sanctions have been imposed on Burma and how many people are negatively impacted by them. She also said she wants to hear the opinions of other countries through their ambassadors based in Burma, according to Nyan Win.

“To implement the proposal for lifting sanctions, we need to know all things,” Suu Kyi told Nyan Win. The letter will be sent to Snr-Gen Than Shwe in a few days, he added.

News of Suu Kyi’s letter comes two days after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced plans for a major policy shift that will include engaging with Burma’s military junta as part of an effort to promote political reform in the country.

Suu Kyi last asked the Burmese junta to cooperate with her to lift sanctions in 2007.

She said that sanctions could be lifted for the benefit of the country and its citizens, but added that she could not end the sanctions herself because they were imposed by the West, not her.
Suu Kyi said she agreed with the Obama administration’s plans to engage in direct high-level talks with the junta, according to Nyan Win.

Clinton announced the new US approach on Wednesday at the United Nations after meeting with counterparts from a number of countries that are trying to convince Burma’s authoritarian regime to reform, allow dissent and release thousands of political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.

Clinton said US sanctions against members of Burma’s leadership would remain in place but that those measures would now be accompanied by outreach. Clinton had earlier stated that the sanctions alone were having little impact.

The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Burma due to its continued detention of Suu Kyi and its refusal to recognize the NLD’s victory in the country’s last election in 1990.

The junta sentenced the 64-year-old Suu Kyi to an extra 18 months in detention at her lakeside home in August after an incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her house.

Nyan Win, a spokesperson for the NLD, told The Irrawaddy today that Suu Kyi met with Aung Kyi, a retired major general who is also the regime’s labor minister, for nearly an hour at a government guesthouse near her lakeside home.

It was the first time the two have met since January 2008.“The meeting started at 1 pm and lasted about 45 minutes,” said Nyan Win, who is also Suu Kyi’s lawyer.

He added that it was unclear if the meeting was related to a letter she sent to regime leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe last week. “We still don’t know if they [Suu Kyi and Aung Kyi] discussed the letter because we haven’t heard any of the details of today’s meeting yet,” he said.

On Sept. 25, Suu Kyi sent a letter to the country’s top general to say she wanted to cooperate with the junta to lift sanctions on Burma. She also asked to meet with envoys from the United States, European Union and Australia to learn more about the sanctions.

NLD sources said that there has been no response to Suu Kyi’s letter so far.

According to Nyan Win, Suu Kyi’s family doctor, Tin Myo Win, was allowed to visit her on Friday from 2 pm to 4 pm. It was his first visit since Sept. 20, when he diagnosed Suu Kyi with low blood pressure.

“As far as I know, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is now well and in good sprits,” said Nyan Win.

Aung Kyi was appointed “Minister for Relations” to coordinate contacts with the detained democracy leader in October 2007, after the junta came under intense international condemnation for its brutal crackdown on Buddhist monk-led mass demonstrations the previous month.

At a press conference held in December 2007, Aung Gyi said his talks with Suu Kyi were proceeding well.

“I have met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi three times. We have made progress at the meetings. The first meeting was aimed at gaining understanding between us. The second meeting was to discuss frameworks for the future. The third meeting was to discuss the facts that should be included in the framework,” Aung Kyi said at the time.

Three more meetings were held after this, but the talks abruptly ended in January 2008, when Suu Kyi said that they were mostly spent discussing trivial subjects. She said that some of their hour-long meetings were almost entirely devoted to making semantic distinctions between words like “cooperation” and “collaboration.”

Meanwhile, Rangoon remains under tight security today, as the authorities moved to prevent protests by monks demanding an apology from the junta for an incident that sparked outrage two years ago.

The All Burma Monks’ Alliance set Oct. 3 as the deadline for the regime to apologize for violently suppressing a peaceful demonstration by monks in the city of Pakkoku in September 2007. It also demanded the release of all monks imprisoned since the crackdown on the massive uprising that grew out of the Pakokku protests, known as the Saffron Revolution.

“Riot police are position around Shwedagon Pagoda, all major monasteries and the downtown area,” said a Rangoon resident.

Without Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, There are no Negotiations

Posted in Asia with tags Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma, Burma Sanctions, China, Daewoo, Korea, Senator Jim Webb, Tata Motors on September 28, 2009 by buffalohair

Jim Webb’s Garage Sale As the western press goes hog wild with “new” news about Burma it is clear this is all a façade. Making a mountain out of a mole hill or simply stretching the truth about Aung San Suu Kyi’s position on sanctions, Than Shwe should thank Senator Jim “Garage Sale” Webb for promoting lies and misinformation. We might as well thank the corporate world for their manipulation of the press as well.

At this juncture it must be stated that there are no negotiations about lifting sanctions without Daw Aung Suu Kyi present. How could anyone other than a moron even consider discussing Burma’s fate without the duly elected leader of that nation anyway? Since Jim Webb opened the flood gates of miss-information the media has gone wild with speculation and bold faced lies about Burma. Why hasn’t the media given equal coverage about the continued brutality, rape and murder that has increased since Jim Webb’s first lie?

Without Aung San Suu Kyi at the table these actions by senators, presidents and the spineless United Nations are meaningless at best. The only thing accomplished; another attempt to sugar coat the presents of a myriad of international corporations already invested in Burma. Sanctions? Give me a break; through the art of triangulation international corporations have managed to side step sanctions. *Lee Seung Woo, of The Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI), revealed that Korea already had approximately 30 textile factories operating in Burma. Further Woo boasted that labor was cheap, about $35 a month average wage and the KOFOTI had plans for more. Small wonder Ban Ki-moon has been so impotent in dealing with Burma. It would be a conflict of interest if Ban Ki-moon were invested in these firms or firms who are directly benefiting from Burma’s repression. So I wonder what Ban’s excuse would be why Korea does not have to comply with international sanctions. Dare we mention the totality of investments by Daewoo in Burma? Take a long hard look at the electronics section of your local store. Daewoo is lining the shelves across America.

The list goes on and on. **Tata Motors, the parent company of Land Rover and Jaguar, is investing throughout the UK making British subjects inadvertent violators of sanctions. Why? Don’t forget the truck building facility being built in Burma to build trucks for the junta under India’s “Look East Policy”. The frosting on the cake is U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s involvement in this game of charades. This sends chills down my spine since it was her husband Bill Clinton who sold America and the free world to China making her a favored nation. Clinton’s position on economics over humanity must not be forgotten for it will weigh heavily on the final “diplomatic” outcome in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi MUST be at the table of negotiations for any dialogue to be legitimate. Anything less is a sham and a fraud. Sadly the U.S. State Department has been in negotiations for months already proving there is more at stake than the needs of the Burmese people. Without Aung San Suu Kyi at these critical meetings they are meaningless at the very best.

Daw Aung Suu Kyi had always promoted “engagement” with the junta so this is not a news flash as inept politicians boast of this achievement. I only see greedy politicians backed by corporations who want to join China and other Asian nations in the grab for Burma’s natural resources. Sanctions were nothing more than a feel good word since they were never enforced as the corporate world lined the pockets of murderers and rapists. Money laundering has become an art form as billions in profits were hidden for both the junta’s sake and the international corporate world. Now the World is “concerned” about the fate of Burma only after China scored the mother load in the oil and gas fields of this impoverished land. Torture, rape and genocide have no place in this equation, just the corporate bottom line.

Outrage over Aung San Suu Kyi’s Conviction

Posted in Asia with tags 2010 Elections, Burma, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Than Shwe on August 11, 2009 by buffalohair

The world is outraged over Daw Aung Suu Kyi’s conviction. Here we go again with lofty speeches and more letters of sanction. My question is where was the outrage when Aung Suu Kyi won a landslide victory in the first place? Where was the outrage when she and her cabinet were arrested for winning the election? And where was the outrage when it was discovered ethnic minorities were being systematically raped and murdered? It would appear the world is more concerned with talking points than any actual solution to Burma’s plight.

Though the trial had a multitude of questionable facts involved it was clear John William Yettaw invaded Aung Suu Kyi’s compound. Whether John was dropped of at the compound in a cab or actually swam does not escape the fact he was there. Revelations on both sides of the ocean also showed he was there once before. We can all speculate all we want to and possibly come up with more heinous conclusions but it’s not going to amount to a hill of beans. I’ve heard this dialogue over and over adnauseum with absolutely no results other than fell good speeches and a push for more cash donations. But I do see a window of opportunity in this verdict though.

People are missing the boat I fear since Sr. Gen Than Shwe did something rather peculiar. After the verdict was read, Burmese Home Minister Maung Oo entered the fray with a prepared order by Than Shwe reducing the sentence from 3 years to 18 months. Daw Aung Suu Kyi was not remanded to Insein Prison like originally planed. The junta did not sell off Aung Suu Kyi’s compound and she was given TV access and news papers to read. Toss in the option of possible early release and you have a verdict that was much less than expected. It also showed a glimmer of hope in the reconciliation process. So I am very thankful for the results since it was much better than I expected by a long shot.

For Than Shwe to make such a bold statement about General Aung San and to commute part of the sentence was unheard of according to political exiles. Call it intentional and calculated or simply a change of heart, this could have been a much worse ending and we would still have been powerless to stop it. The United Nations has proven to be just as much talk as the rest of the world when addressing Burma. Ban “I’m a man of action” Ki-moon still has done nothing. The United Nations needs a warehouse to store all the statements and eye witness accounts of genocide and human rights violations within Burma. Yet they will conduct another meeting; propose more fruitless sanctions and fire off another nasty letter of concern to the regime. Politicians will stand on their soap boxes and denounce the verdict while looking good in the press’s eye but they will offer no solutions.

Politicians will stand on their soap boxes and denounce the verdict while looking good in the press’s eye but they will offer no solutions.

If ever there was a time Sr. Gen. Than Shwe had an opportunity to show face, it is now. With the verdict in, Than Shwe can make true reconciliation a reality if he chooses to. The lightened sentence also had a provision for early release. Possibly we can squeeze this into the reconciliation process if we look at what we got rather than what we did not.

Your Devil’s Advocate
 Bufalohair

 Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, GUILTY

Posted in Asia with tags 2010 Election, Burma, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, John William Yettaw on August 11, 2009 by buffalohair

The trial of Daw Aung Suu Kyi has come to a dramatic conclusion. Predictably Daw Aung San Suu Kyi along with her live in companions was found guilty of allowing John William Yettaw to stay in her home. 3 years was the initial decision then lowered to 18 months in the dramatic final moments of the trial.

In an unusually open atmosphere, foreign journalists were allowed into the court room for the reading of the verdict. After the 3 year verdict was read Burmese Home Minister Maung Oo entered the courtroom and read a signed order by Snr-Gen Than Shwe. Within the statement Than Shwe made full recognition of Daw Aung Suu Kyi being the daughter of a national hero, General Aung San. He also made reference to Aung San being the architect of Burma’s Independence from British rule. Then the order suggested that the 3 year sentence be commuted to 18 months with provisions she be released even earlier if she shows good moral behavior. The order shared this decision with Aung Suu Kyi’s companions as well. She will be returned to her family compound under house arrest. She will be allowed guests if she goes through the proper channels and given access to TV and daily news papers for the duration of her time under house arrest. The verdict could have been much worse, there is no question.

On the other hand John William Yettaw, the perpetrator of this whole fiasco, did not fare as well. He got 7 years of hard labor for his intrusion into Aung San Suu Kyi’s compound, 3 years immigration violation, 3 years security violation and 1 year for his casual swim. But if I read my South Asian play book correctly I see John Yettaw as bargaining tool in light of North Korea’s recent behind the scenes jack pot from the negotiations for the two American journalists. Since John Yettaw had a series of medical emergencies in recent days his health is definitely in question. It would appear John’s swim will soon cost more than he bargained for since he will become the subject of future negotiations.

If he remains in custody there is no doubt he will not survive in the brutal Burmese prison system. When Burmese courts say hard labor, they mean hard labor. His merry little adventure was not appreciated by the Burmese people. With prisons teaming with political prisoners who revere Daw Aung San Suu Kyi he could possibly pay an unexpected price for his folly. Diplomacy and Burmese Law, Criminal Procedure Section 401, are his only options at this juncture. CPS 401 states; “suspend the execution of a sentence or remit the whole or any part of the punishment to which one has been sentenced”. The price for his freedom now rests in the hands of our diplomatic community and ultimately the American taxpayers.

Whether or not John William Yettaw was purposely allowed to swim to Daw Aung Suu Kyi’s home is of no consequence at this time. This intrusion has cost the pro democracy movement dearly since now Aung Suu Kyi will be under house arrest during the proposed election of 2010. I do give Gen. Than Shwe credit for commuting part of the sentence though. Now the ball is in his court and if he truly wants reconciliation he has a multitude of options at his disposal. He has the power to alter the course of Burma’s history and change his legacy. It will be interesting to see how the course of history unfolds.

Your Devil’s Advocate

Bufalohair

NLD spokesman Khin Maung Swe told The Irrawaddy that the verdict was delivered at 11:50 a.m. Suu Kyi was initially sentenced to three years imprisonment, but later the court changed her sentence to 18 months to be served under house arrest.

Journalists were unexpectedly allowed to be present in the court when the verdict was announced.

According to journalists, Burmese Home Minister Maung Oo entered the courtroom after the three-year sentence was announced and read aloud a special order from junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe stating that as Suu Kyi is the daughter of national hero Gen Aung San, her sentence should be reduced to 18 months and that the sentence should be suspended.

The same terms of suspended sentence were applied to the verdict on Suu Kyi’s two companions, Win Ma Ma and Khin Khin Win.

The Burmese state-run radio also announced the verdict on Tuesday afternoon.

The verdict was read under tightened security inside the Insein Prison compound. The trial had been held in the prison since May following the intrusion into her house of an American, John W Yettaw.

At a simultaneous trial, Yettaw was on Tuesday sentenced to seven years imprisonment with hard labor. According to Agence France-Presse, the seven-year term included three years for breaking immigration laws, three years for breeching security laws and one year for swimming unauthorized in Inya Lake.

Suu Kyi has been detained for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, mostly under house arrest. Analysts generally concur that the trial was a political showcase and that the military junta want to keep her under arrest ahead of the elections in 2010.

“We believe Suu Kyi is being imprisoned to stop her speaking and to limit her effect on
next year’s elections,” Oliver Spencer, Burma Program Officer of the London-based Article 19 told The Irrawaddy in an e-mail.

By WAI MOE Tuesday, August 11, 2009