Six Young Arakanese Politicians Languish
Narinjara News , 13.07.2005 - 07:58

Six young Arakanese politicians have been languishing in Cox’s bazaar jail, a southern district town of Bangladesh near Burma, for four years, said an Arakanese democratic activist living in Bangladesh.
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Troops deploy in Karen state
03.06.2005 - 06:44

Burma's military are currently dispatching immense numbers of troops to northern Karen State. The military regime's intention is to invade areas with large numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs), which are under the administration of the Karen National Union (KNU).

Saw Wah (not his real name), who was recently staying in Kho Kay, said he was informed by a friend in a "free fire zone" (a rural Karen village under the Burmese military control), that the army had ordered it troops to invade Karen villages in KNU's Brigade Five

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Signature campaign to oppose the Salween Dam
03.06.2005 - 06:33

Calling for a halt to the Salween Dam project along the Thai-Burma border, the local people have embarked on a mass petition campaign under the banner of Karen social and environment groups.

Karen Rivers Watch (KRW), a coalition of Karen social and community organisations, has been collecting signatures of individuals since April one, opposing construction of the dam. Already more than 3,000 people have put their signatures down in support of the campaign, which will continue till September, a KRW activist said.

The move by KRW is "to prove the Karen people's concern and to show solidarity with the Thai movement against the Salween dam project," the activist said.

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Shwe Gas Movement and the exploitation of Arakan State
Aung Marm Oo , 27.05.2005 - 09:35

Shwe Gas Movement was born out of the total urgency to thwart the military junta's plans to extract and export Arakan Natural Gas in search of financial backup to perpetuate itself in power. In thus doing, unconditionally denied is the right to public participation of the affected people in Western Burma in decision making processes regarding the use of their local resources and related infrastructure development.

Since Burmese invasion into Arakan in 1784 AD, Arakanese people have been indiscriminately subjugated and their natural resources continuously exploited. The ordeals of the Arakanese people culminated in the reign of the present military regime whose unquenchable thirst for power has triggered horrific human rights abuses nationwide.

Despite economic embargo imposed by the United States, the regime has been able to survive on the revenues derived from exporting the country's inexhaustible natural resources to countries in its favor, and offering slave or cheap labor to foreign companies and enterprises.

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The First Free and Independent Burmese-language TV channel
DVB , 23.05.2005 - 12:29

Oslo, Norway - 23 May 2005 - The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) will start broadcasting satellite TV into Burma from 28th May, 2005. This will be the first ever free and independent Burmese-language TV channel.

The Burmese people will finally be able to watch television programmes that have bypassed the all-pervasive system of control and draconian censorship enforced by the military dictatorship inside Burma. DVB television programmes will be based on information, education and entertainment.
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Acts of Desperation
DICTATOR WATCH , 19.05.2005 - 14:16

On May 7th, terrorist bombs exploded at three locations in Rangoon. The military junta of Burma, the SPDC, immediately blamed the democracy resistance. This was absurd. The pro-democracy groups are not able to
carry out such a sophisticated assault. More importantly, they wouldn't. They are striving for a lawful, free and democratic Burma, and refuse to resort to the criminal tactics of the regime.

Many commentators suggested that the attacks were perpetrated by supporters of Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt. While this is possible, it also seems unlikely. One would expect such an attack to target Than Shwe
or Maung Aye directly, either through an assassination attempt or the launching of a coup.
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Opposition groups deny accusations by junta
Narinjara News , 10.05.2005 - 04:57

Ethnic insurgent groups and exiled opposition groups strongly denied any role in Saturday's bomb blast in Rangoon via Burmese radio programs based overseas.

In a junta radio announcement the junta blamed four groups for the bomb blast, accusing of them of wanting to destabilize Burma. Last Saturday, Rangoon witnessed three bomb blasts that resulted in at least 11 dead and 162 injured.

KNU, KNPP, SSA (South) and NCGUB are the organizations that are being accused of involvement in the bomb blasts.
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Burma Border Fighting Hits New Pitch
Shah Paung , 08.05.2005 - 14:02

Fighting between United Wa State Army forces and the Shan State Army-South reached a new pitch on Tuesday, claiming the lives of five Shan soldiers and an unconfirmed number of Wa troops.

Thirteen other SSA-S soldiers were injured in the clashes, the most serious since the current fighting broke out early this month, SSA-S spokeswoman Nam Khur Hsen reported. She claimed more than 100 UWSA troops had died and a similar number had been wounded in the fighting, but no confirmation came from the Wa side.

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Police harassment at Mae Sot checkpoint
Sophie Kraus , 08.05.2005 - 13:57

The roads leading out of the Thai-Burma border town, Mae Sot, are always a risk for people from Burma. Police and immigration checkpoints are dotted along the way, although not always operational. On the lucky days, Burmese with identification papers of some sort and those without are able to travel freely to areas outside of Mae Sot. On the unlucky days, both those with and without documents may be subject to harsh treatment by the police, arrest, and deportation. On 25 April, people from Burma traveling from Mae Sot on the road to Umpang were greeted by a police/immigration checkpoint in Mae Ku
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Villagers pray to stop Salween Dams
14.04.2005 - 08:29

On a hot April morning, wearing rich traditional costumes, over 160 villagers from a village called Weigyi on the Thai-Burma border, gathered at the Salween River bank to conduct the annual traditional land veneration ceremony.

They chose the ceremonial site opposite the point where the Thailand electrical power organization, Electric Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), plan to construct the dam wall for the Upper Salween Dam, in order to supply electricity to Thailand and other ASEAN countries.

For more information:
| Saleen Dam background documents
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