Monday, January 12, 2026
Monday, November 19, 2012
Obama in Buddhist Asia
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| Barry bathes the Buddha with sky-deva looking on and Hillary nosing in (Reuters). |
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| The Dalai Obama |
He worked for England's Indian Imperial Police in Burma, having been born in colonial India, now Buddhist Bihar state, the site of the Buddha's great enlightenment. B-SOb continues his epic tour through Thailand and the formerly devastated "killing fields" of Cambodia. |
| B-SOb with parinirvana Buddha |
- Pres. Obama on a historic visit to Burma (Myanmar)
- Partying in a Police State
- Police state? Who said anything about a police state?
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| Inside the Total Perspective Vortex |
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| The Lady Aung San Suu Kyi with Pres. Obama |
We love him (as a person). We just can't stand those he represents, which are the same secretive behind-the-scenes movers-and-shakers Dick Cheney and the Bush Dynasty represented.
Nice Words are Easy
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| Presidents Obama and Thein Sein during historic visit (zimbio) |
"The Rohingya...hold within themselves the same dignity as you do, and I do. National reconciliation will take time, but for the sake of our common humanity, and for the sake of this country's future, it's necessary to stop incitement and to stop violence."
Thein Sein, in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week, promised to tackle the root causes of the problem, and Obama said he welcomed "the government's commitment to address the issues of injustice, and accountability, and humanitarian access and citizenship."
PRISONERS RELEASED?
Some human rights groups objected to the Burma visit, saying Obama was rewarding the government of the former pariah state for a job that was incomplete. Speaking in Thailand on the eve of his visit, Obama denied he was going to offer his "endorsement" or that his trip was premature. More
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| Dictators hold fake elections (sjpaderborn) |
Friday, October 5, 2012
They Call It Myanmar: Lifting the Curtain (film)
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| The Saffron Revolution 2007-2012 (R.A.) |
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| FREE BURMA from police state oppression: Saffron Revolution (gawker.com) |
Told with stunning footage that was shot clandestinely over a two-year period by filmmaker Robert H. Lieberman, the film provides an astonishing and intimate look inside at what has become one of the most isolated countries on the planet. Lieberman lifts the curtain on the everyday life of the people in what was once the Golden Land now held hostage by a brutal and superstitious military regime for 48 years. |
| Aung San Suu Kyi freedom mural (AFP) |
The film, culled from over 120 hours of striking images, is an impressionistic journey that leads viewers across the vastness of Burma. It traces the history of Burma from its beginnings in the ancient city of Pagan (Bagan), through colonial times, the rule of Daw Suu Kyi's father, Aung San, recent uprisings by Theravada Buddhist monks called the Saffron Revolution after the color of their robes, the devastating Cyclone Nargis that killed 150,000 people, up to the present day. |
| Buddhist monk faces off with police (dvb.no) |
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Torture Continues, US Prison Strike Resumes
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity
These are not prisoner gangsters but prison guard gangsters, who soon become worse than the prisoners they torment, taking on much of the behavior they torture them over.But the issue here is torture for being labeled ("validated") as a gang member when one is not. This is not additional punishment. It is tormenting and inflicting unimaginable suffering. Many do not survive it intact, and the guards/police who inflict it become damaged personalities.
Damaged former guards stand ready to torture non-prisoners without a second thought. (Sheriffs in California must first be jail guards where they are desensitized to torturing "criminals," indoctrinated into a racist system, and taught to lie and cover it up conspiratorially as part of a "code of silence" that shields fellow jailers and officers).Simply being labeled a "gang member" for any reason whatsoever -- it is really at the sole discretion of guards and officials -- gets one sent without trial into isolation for years. There may, however, be an administrative hearing -- run by and for prison administrators.
An "indefinite" sentence means one is locked up 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and comes out of a miniature cell to "exercise" in a slightly larger cell. This is torture and leads to derangement.
The way out? Death by becoming an informant (prison "snitch") even when there is no information to reveal. Invent it, because that whatever names are given up in the process will lead to their torture and administrative relocation into "security" housing.This is the treatment Bradley Manning received to break him and have him falsely accuse Julian Assange so that his testimony could be used to convict the founder of WikiLeaks. Holding someone indefinitely for the purpose of extracting information is illegal by international standards.
Prison officials get all the say, and prisoners get all the torture. Meanwhile, the American public is told:"Oh, these prisoners are complaining because they want more dessert, but we explained to them that they would have to do their homework first. Then they spit at us so, of course, we had to cripple, maim, and in some instances kill them and make it look like suicide. O, can you leave that last part out, you know, about the maiming and killing." And mainstream media and politicians are more than happy to oblige by keeping the deceptive message on point.
Why?
Why is it being done at the cost of hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars? It is being done because it is highly profitable (for guards, the guard union, corporations, and politicians who use it as a "getting tough on crime" campaign platform, the police state).Those who profit, particularly corporate interests, have been dubbed the "prison-industrial complex." There success leads to the US having the largest (and growing) per capita imprisonment rate in the world.
Almost all of them will get out. We are not safer for them having been tortured; we are imperiled now in terms of outrageous costs (it would actually be cheaper to send each outcast prisoner to an Ivy League college) going into the pockets of corporations and politicians and later in terms of recidivism (new crimes being committed in the future).
Stop the insanity. Stop the torture. Stop the mindbogglingly unfair (motivated by base desires for aversion, revenge, and ignorance) treatment of not only human beings but American citizens. Because we allow it here with members of our community -- and due to extreme sentencing -- our own friends and neighbors, we do not seem to think much of it when our military and CIA tortures in our name around the world.
Enlightened self-interest is the way to freedom. Torturing prisoners or anyone harms all of us.
California Prisoner Hunger Strike Resumes
Prisoners at Pelican Bay’s SHU (Security Housing Unit) and Calipatria’s ASU (Administrative Segregation Unit) resume their hunger strike. The strike this past July exposed the conditions and practices of Pelican Bay’s SHU. Referring to the first round of the hunger strike, Mutope Duguma (aka, James Crawford), a strike representative in Pelican Bay’s SHU writes:
- “This is far from over. And once again, hopefully for the last time, we will be risking our lives via a peaceful hunger strike [beginning] on Sept. 26, 2011 to force positive changes. For 21 1/2 years we have been quietly held in Pelican Bay State Prison solitary confinement under some of the most horrible conditions known to man. So we continue to struggle to be treated like decent human beings.”
Now over 100 hunger strikers at Calipatria State Prison -- in solidarity with the hunger strikers at Pelican Bay -- are risking their lives to expose the conditions of the ASU at Calipatria.
According to Calipatria ASU prisoners, roughly 80% of the prisoners in the ASU have been given indefinite SHU terms. They are placed in this isolation unit awaiting transfer to one of California’s three other SHU’s for men, namely Pelican Bay. Most of the prisoners currently in Calipatria’s ASU have been awaiting transfer for 3-4 years.
Treat 'em like slaves. That'll teach 'em to disobey! Hey, lock 'em up and throw away the key. And I don't care what they done. Maybe they ain't done nothing -- we gotta keep 'em down. Mercy for prisoners? Hell, I ain't got no mercy for no one, except we got a badge.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Burma's Lady receives A.I. Award
Demonstrators attach pictures of the Lady and yellow tape to railings of the Myanmar embassy during London protest, 6/19/09 (Reuters/Luke MacGregor).RANGOON, Burma – Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has won Amnesty International's highest award for her defense of human rights, underscoring international support for the Nobel laureate whose trial is ending today [7/28/09]. She is widely expected to be convicted of violating the terms of her house arrest and faces a possible five years in prison, although there has been speculation she may stay under house arrest rather than serve time in jail.
- Slideshow: Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi
- Updates: USCampaignForBurma.org
Neither international outrage nor offers of closer ties with the U.S. if Suu Kyi is freed appear to have deflected the ruling junta's determination to neutralize — if not imprison — the 64-year-old. The international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her behind bars through elections planned for next year.
Riot police officers stand guard at a checkpoint on the approach road leading to the main entrance of notorious Insein Prison where the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi is ongoing, Monday, July 27, 2009. The trial entered its final phase Monday, with the prosecution scheduled to deliver its closing arguments, a government official said (AP/Khin Maung Win).
Photo taken Friday, 7/24/09, of supporters of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party gather near the notorious Insein Prison as Suu Kyi's trial resumes in Rangoon, Burma (AP/Khin Maung Win).
Friday, June 19, 2009
Global campaign marks Suu Kyi's birthday
Members of the pro-democracy leader's National League for Democracy Party release balloons during a birthday for the detained leader at partys headquarters Friday, June 19, 2009, in Yangon, Burma (AP/Khin Maung Win).
YANGON, Burma – Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi shared rice and chocolate cake with her prison guards to celebrate her 64th birthday Friday, as global condemnation of her trial galvanized rallies in capitals around the world.
Several miles from the prison, hundreds of supporters released 64 sparrows and 10 doves at the headquarters of her National League for Democracy party and sang "Happy Birthday." Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win, took cakes, orchids, and "birthday messages from her friends and the international community" to her at the prison along with 50 lunch boxes of rice to share with the prison staff.
"She really appreciates the efforts and said she was sorry she wasn't able to thank everyone individually," he said. Suu Kyi has now spent 14 birthdays in detention. Friday's birthday stirred an outpouring of support from Hollywood stars including Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, celebrities Madonna and David Beckham, and many Western governments. More>>
Friday, June 5, 2009
Burmese dictators get a free pass
Every time we become distracted, the generals in Burma manage to jolt us back to attention. The world’s most despotic regime is alive and well, inflicting suffering on its people after five decades in power, while the world does little more than issue an occasional statement of outrage.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Burma rejects foreign criticism
(Above) Burma's hardline generals form dictatorship that has put Suu Kyi on trial. (Right) the trial has drawn international condemnation leading to worldwide protests.
The Burmese government has rejected foreign criticism of the charges against opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as interference from abroad.Speaking at a meeting of EU and South East Asian ministers in Cambodia, the deputy fo-reign minister insisted that her trial was not a human rights issue. US President Obama has called Ms. Suu Kyi's hearing a "show trial."
The regional group ASEAN recently warned Burma that its honor and credibility were at stake. The trial entered its ninth day on Thursday, with more testimony from the American who swam to Ms. Suu Kyi's house. More>>
Interactive map: Life in some of the areas worst-hit by last year's cyclone
Monday, May 18, 2009
Trial begins: Burma's democracy leader
Protesters in support of Burma's detained opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, hold a rally calling for her release outside the Myanmar embassy in Tokyo May 18, 2009 (Reuters/Michael Caronna).
- Video: Activists slam UN on Suu Kyi (Reuters)
VIDEO: Pro-democracy opposition leader on trial
Win Tin, a senior member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) and the country's longest-serving political prisoner until his release last year, led 200 NLD members in a protest outside Insein Central Prison.
They were watched by armed police manning barbed-wire barricades and members of a pro-junta militia. Plain-clothes officers kept busy snapping photographs of the protest. Businesses in the area were ordered to close.
One leader of the NLD youth wing was arrested near the prison, but party officials did not have more details.
The government has called 22 witnesses against Suu Kyi and a verdict in the closed-door trial was not expected on Monday. If convicted, she faces three to five years in jail.
"She is ready to tell the truth that she never broke the law," her lawyer Kyi Win said.
Critics have accused the regime of trying to sabotage her defense by revoking the law license of Aung Thein, a prominent activist lawyer, at the weekend.
U.S. diplomats were seen entering the prison where John Yettaw, the American intruder who triggered the case against Suu Kyi by sneaking into her lakeside villa earlier this month, faces trial on several charges.
CLAMPDOWN
Critics say the trial is aimed at keeping the charismatic opposition leader in detention ahead of multi-party elections in 2010, derided by the West as a sham aimed at entrenching more than four decades of military rule in the former Burma.
The generals have not forgotten the NLD's landslide election victory in 1990, which the military rejected.
"The trial is all about keeping any voices of dissent silent in the run-up to rigged elections next year," said Zoya Phan of the Burma Campaign UK, which said demonstrations would be held at Myanmar embassies in 20 cities around the world on Monday.
The military has detained Suu Kyi for more than 13 of the past 19 years, much of that time at her Yangon home guarded by police, with her phone line cut and visitors restricted.
Yettaw, a 53-year-old Missouri resident who used homemade flippers to swim to Suu Kyi's home this month, is charged with immigration violations, encouraging others to break the law and entering a restricted area.
His motives are unclear. He swam to her home before, on November 30 last year, and left a copy of the Book of Mormon after she refused to see him, according to a copy of the police complaint translated by the U.S. Campaign for Burma, a pro-democracy group.
He tried again on the night of May 3.
"This time, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi allowed him to stay at her residence until the night of May 5, 2009, spoke with him and provided him food and drinks," the police complaint said.
Kyi Win said Suu Kyi had told Yettaw to leave, but he refused. She did not report him to authorities because "she did not want anybody to get into trouble because of her," he said.
Western governments, the United Nations, human rights groups and fellow Nobel laureates have condemned the charges against Suu Kyi and called for her immediate release.
U.S. President Barack Obama renewed sanctions against the military government on Friday, saying its actions and policies, including the jailing of more than 2,000 political prisoners, continued to pose a serious threat to U.S. interests.
The reaction from Asian neighbors, which have an eye on Myanmar's rich timber, gas and mineral reserves, has been mixed.
China and India have been silent, but the Philippine government said it was "deeply troubled and outraged over the filing of trumped-up charges" against Suu Kyi and worried about her health in the country's most notorious jail.
"These recent incidents will surely impede the process of national reconciliation and the roadmap to democracy in Myanmar," Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo said.
Asian governments have favored a policy of engagement, but neither it nor sanctions imposed by the West have coaxed meaningful reforms from junta leader Senior General Than Shwe, widely believed to loathe Suu Kyi.
He is pressing ahead with a seven-step "roadmap to democracy" expected to culminate in the elections in 2010. Source
(Writing by Darren Schuettler; editing by Alan Raybould)
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Security tight at Suu Kyi trial in Burma
RANGOON, Burma – Riot police behind barbed wire barricades ringed a notorious prison where pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was to go on trial Monday [5/18/09] for allegedly harboring an American man who swam to her lakeside home.The tight security came as activist groups, which spearheaded an uprising against Burma's military rulers in 2007, called for peaceful protest rallies in front of Rangoon's Insein [pronounced "insane"] prison until Suu Kyi is freed.
Defense lawyers said the trial was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. (0300 GMT), but it was not immediately known whether it had begun.
The ambassadors of Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy as well as an Australian diplomat were barred from entering the prison, but an American embassy official was allowed in since a U.S. citizen is on trial.
On the eve of Suu Kyi's trial, her defense lawyer said she was innocent of the charges, which could put her into prison for up to five years.
"We call all political forces for Free Aung San Suu Kyi to mobilize all over Burma, by holding praying sessions in homes, places of worship...and holding silent, peaceful rallies in front of Insein prison," said a statement from three activist groups. Burma is the old name for Myanmar and preferred by the military regime's opponents.
The groups included an organization of Buddhist monks, who were at the forefront of the 2007 protests, which were brutally crushed by the regime. More>>
• India election paves way for economic reform
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Trial for Aung San over American intruder
Supporters accused the military government of using the incident to keep her in detention ahead of general elections scheduled next year.
Suu Kyi, whose detention was set to end May 27, could face a prison term of up to five years if convicted, said lawyer Hla Myo Myint. The trial is scheduled to start Monday at a special court at Yangon's notorious Insein Prison, where she was arraigned Thursday.
She is accused of breaking the terms of her detention by harboring the visitor for two days, even though another of Suu Kyi's lawyers said she told the man to leave her home.
"Everyone is very angry with this wretched American [John William Yeattaw, 53]. He is the cause of all these problems," lawyer Kyi Win told reporters. "He's a fool." [Of course, Yeattaw is just an excuse being used by the military junta, who are using him as a pretext for extending Suu Kyi's detention after the maximum length of an untenable house arrest was exhausted]. More>>
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi Imprisoned
- Pro-democracy leader taken to prison; trial to begin Monday
- Lawyer blames her detention on American John W. Yeattaw
- She allegedly let him stay in violation of house-arrest terms
- Supporters say action an excuse to extend restrictions on her
WARNING: Gratuitious use of the word "foctor" -- Sarah Silverman Burma: It Can't Wait
- In depth: Myanmar: Two days, two tragedies
Thirty Days for a Million Voices Join us in a renewed month-long campaign highlighting the Burmese struggle for liberty, democracy, and human rights. Each day, hear from celebrities who are raising their voices to build one million voices of support for Burma. Go to burmaitcantwait.org to see bonus footage, view more videos, and join the effort.
BREAKING NEWS: Aung San Taken to Prison
RANGOON, Burma – A lawyer for Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she has been charged with violating terms of her house arrest and could face a prison term of up to five years.
Lawyer Hla Myo Myint told reporters that Suu Kyi's trial was scheduled to start next Monday.The lawyer says Suu Kyi is being tried in connection with an American man's stealthy entry into her home last week. The lawyer says the American man has been charged with entering a restricted zone, and breaking immigration laws.
The lawyer spoke to reporters after coming out of Insein Prison, where Suu Kyi and the American man were being held.
Monks protest military government during the Saffron Revolution against the hardships imposed by junta and the continued house arrest of the rightful head of state.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story follows:YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was taken by armed escort Thursday to a prison compound where she will be tried in connection with an American man's stealthy entry into her home last week, her lawyer said.
Lawyer Kyi Win said that Suu Kyi did not invite the man to her compound where she was under house arrest, and it was not immediately clear what accusation she faced. However, Myanmar exile groups said she was likely to be charged under a catchall public security law and could face a prison term of up to seven years.
Such a trial could justify another extension of Suu Kyi's yearslong detention, which officially ends May 27. In the past the junta — which regards the Nobel Peace laureate as the biggest threat to their rule — has found reasons to extend her periods of house arrest, which international jurors say is illegal even under Myanmar's own law.
The American man, John William Yettaw, was arrested last week for allegedly swimming a lake to secretly enter Suu Kyi's home and stay there for two days. His motives remain unclear.
"Everyone is very angry with this wretched American. He is the cause of all these problems," Suu Kyi's lawyer Kyi Win told reporters. "He's a fool."
Kyi Win quoted Suu Kyi as saying she told the American man to leave her home. The lawyer said that the incident was merely a breach of security in the lakeside area where authorities normally keep close watch over Suu Kyi and her household.One of many strict rules the junta imposes on citizens is that they must notify local officials about any overnight visitor who is not a family member. The law also states that foreigners are not allowed to spend the night at a local's home.
Some members of Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, have been jailed for about two weeks for violating that law.
Earlier Thursday, a motorcade accompanied by armed police, drove Suu Kyi and two women who live with her from their lakeside villa to Insein Prison. They were escorted into the closely guarded prison through a side gate.
Kyi Win said that Suu Kyi will be held in a house inside the Insein Prison compound so she could be close to the courtroom. The notorious prison holds both common criminals and political prisoners, with international human rights groups alleging that torture and mistreatment of prisoners are common.
American and British diplomats were seen outside the prison gates.
Also to be tried are Suu Kyi's two helpers — Khin Khin Win, 65, and her daughter Win Ma Ma, 41 — who have lived with her since she was last detained in 2003.
Suu Kyi, 63, has already spent more than 13 of the last 19 years — including the past six — in detention without trial for her nonviolent promotion of democracy, despite international pressure for her release.
She has recently been ill, suffering from dehydration and low blood pressure. Her condition improved this week after a visit from a doctor who administered an intravenous drip, Nyan Win said on Tuesday.
"Please tell them (reporters) I am well," the lawyer quoted Suu Kyi as saying. But he added: "I am very concerned about Suu Kyi's health, even though she said she is well."
The doctor was arrested without explanation last week, a day after Yettaw was taken into custody.
In an e-mailed statement, it said they would they would be charged with violating a section of the Emergency Provision Act on public order and security, which is often used against political dissidents. The charge would carry a maximum prison term of seven years.
The lobbying group did not say where it got its information.
"This is the cunning plan of the regime to put Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in continuous detention beyond the six years allowed by the law they used to justify the detention of her," the group said. Daw is a term of respect used for older women.
"This also shows total defiance of the regime to the United Nations and the international community who have been consistently and repeatedly calling for the regime to release all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the group said.
A U.S. diplomat was allowed to visit Yettaw on Wednesday. Myanmar state television showed a still photo of Yettaw meeting with consular chief Colin Furst. A U.S. diplomat said the meeting lasted 30 minutes and that Yettaw said he had been treated well.
Wednesday's TV report said the meeting took place at the Aung Tha-byay police station in Yangon, which in the past has been used for detention and interrogation of suspected political dissidents.
"Mr. Yettaw has not been charged, nor have the Burmese authorities provided information on the next step in this case," said a U.S. State Department statement seen Thursday. "The Embassy has stressed to Burmese authorities the U.S. government's strong interest in Mr. Yettaw's case and our concerns for his health, welfare and fair treatment."
Myanmar's state-run newspapers reported last week that Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, swam on the night of May 3 to Suu Kyi's lakeside home and departed by swimming a longer 1 1/4-mile (2-kilometer) route on the night of May 5, before being arrested the next morning.
The report said his motive was under investigation.
There are no known previous cases of anyone sneaking into Suu Kyi's home, though an account earlier this week on a pro-government Web site said Yettaw admitted to making a similar secret visit late last year.
