Among Burma's ethnic minorities, the Rohingya, a stateless population, stand out for their particularly harsh treatment by Burmese authorities and their invisibility as a persecuted minority. Despite decades of severe repression, there has been minimal international response to the needs of this extremely vulnerable population compared to other Burmese refugees. The United Nations and donor governments should integrate the Rohingya into their regional responses for Burmese refugees. Host…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 8, 2009 at 3:40pm —
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Dictatorships are not known for their sense of humour, nor do they appreciate being laughed at. It came as no surprise then when the ruling military regime in Burma recently sentenced the country’s best known comedian, named Zarganar, to 59 years in prison.
Zarganar (which means pliers in Burmese — he was a practising dentist) was arrested in June for staging private relief operations for survivors of Burma’s devastating cyclone in May, and for speaking out about the poor response by…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 8, 2009 at 3:37pm —
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88 generation leader’s brother sent to work camp Jan 7, 2009 (DVB)–Zaw Naing Htway, the brother of detained 88 generation student leader Kyaw Kyaw Htway, has been sent to a prison work camp in Taung-ngu, Bago division, according to a source close to imprisoned activists.
Zaw Naing Htway (also known as Kenneth), was sent to the camp earlier this week, the source said.
"He was sent to a prison work camp near Taung-ngu as he…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 8, 2009 at 1:37am —
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by Mungpi & Phanida
New Delhi (Mizzima) - Christians in Burma's former capital of Rangoon find themselves in a precarious state as local authorities on Monday banned the holding of regular church services and threatened to seal off churches if congregations failed to comply.
The Kyauktada Township Peace and Development Council on Monday summoned a meeting of local church pastors from leading downtown Rangoon churches and informed…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 8, 2009 at 1:06am —
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Couple marries in court after sentencing Jan 7, 2009 (DVB)–Activist Khin Maung Win was able to marry his fiancée Pan Wah in court on Monday immediately after being sentenced, despite having had permission for the marriage refused by authorities.
Khin Maung Win, a member of National League for Democracy (Liberated Area) in Malaysia, was arrested in Rangoon on 10 October last year.
At that time, working in an underground…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 8, 2009 at 1:00am —
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Jan 6, 2009 –Elected members of parliament Dr Tin Min Htut and Nyi Pu appeared before Insein prison special court yesterday charged with sedition and disrupting the national convention.
Nyi Pu is the elected representative for Gwa township and an Arakan National League for Democracy organising committee member, while Dr Tin Min Htut is an elected MP from Panatanaw township in Irrawaddy division.
The two men, who were arrested in August…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 6, 2009 at 4:21pm —
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RANGOON, BURMA (BosNewsLife)-- Villagers of the mainly Christian Karen minority in Burma on Monday, January 5, were mourning the death of a seven-year old girl who was raped and murdered by at least one government soldier, the latest in a series of sexual abuses of minorities in the country, investigators said.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a Britain-based rights group investigating the situation in the military-ruled Asian nation, said…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 6, 2009 at 4:03pm —
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HURFOM: Burmese Army troops in northern Tenesserim Division forced all residents of Amae village to abandon their homes and plantations in November. On the same day, the troops also raped a seventeen-year-old girl and severely beat a young boy.
Captain Pan Zar and 80 troops from Infantry Battalion (IB) No. 107 entered the village on November 11th. After accusing the residents of supporting an armed Mon rebel group in the area, the troops ordered…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 6, 2009 at 4:00pm —
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Jan 5, 2009 (DVB)–Burmese authorities last month extended the sentence of Taunggok township National League for Democracy chairman Min Aung, who had been serving a two-and-a-half-year jail term in Sagaing's Kalay prison.
NLD spokesperson and information wing member Nyan Win said Min Aung was sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison under the electronics act at a court hearing held in Sagaing division's Tamu township from 10 to 17…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 6, 2009 at 1:18am —
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Activist arrested for Independence Day salute Jan 5, 2009 (DVB)–Private tutor Aung Pe from Twan Tay township in Rangoon division was arrested on Burmese independence day yesterday after he saluted a national monument with his hands tied.
National League for Democracy spokesperson Nyan Win said Aung Pe had been arrested after making the gesture.
"He tied his own hands up and saluted the Independence monument. He was arrested…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 6, 2009 at 1:16am —
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by Than Htike Oo
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - A court inside Mandalay's Oh Bo prison has sentenced Kathy Aung, a woman activist, to 26 years in prison. She had been arrested on charges of unlawful association.
Kathy Aung, was handed a long prison term on November 24, 2008 on charges that she had attended training imparted by an exiled opposition group, Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB), based near the Thai- Burma border in…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 6, 2009 at 12:30am —
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The only leader of Burma's 2007 uprising known to have escaped custody says monks have been singled out for rough treatment.
NEW DELHI—The only leader of Burma’s 2007 Saffron Revolution to escape from a junta prison camp has described torture and backbreaking hard labor in custody.
Ashin Panna Siri spoke after arriving safely in New Delhi following his breakout from the Lin Dan prison camp in Burma’s Chin state on Sept. 15. He was a close associate of U Gambira, leader of…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 4, 2009 at 10:29pm —
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 4, 2009 at 10:04pm —
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For much of late September, the road to the eastern gateway of Rangoon's revered Shwedagon pagoda was a sea of maroon and saffron robes, as hundreds of Buddhist monks gathered to march in protest against Burma's military government.
Now, two weeks after the junta brutally cracked down on the pro-democracy demonstrations, the small monasteries that line both sides of the road are mostly locked and empty, while wooden barricades and bales of rusted…
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Added by Candle4Burma on January 4, 2009 at 10:00pm —
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