(No. 102 – March 11, 2010 - 6:30 p.m. ET) The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement expressing Canada’s concern about the new electoral laws promulgated by the Burmese regime:
“Canada is deeply concerned by the new election laws unveiled by the Burmese regime this week. While Canada continues to study the new laws carefully as they are promulgated, what we have seen to date suggests that the Burmese regime is resolutely failing to deliver on its promise of free and fair elections this year.
“Notably, elements of the laws point to a deliberate effort by Burmese military leaders to prevent legitimate democratic actors from participating in the promised elections. Reports suggest that the new laws may bar Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners from the democratic process by virtue of their current prison sentences, which Canada believes are unwarranted and politically motivated.
“Canada urges the Burmese regime to move forward with electoral laws that support a genuine democratic process, based on principles of transparency, fairness and inclusion.
“Canada again calls upon the regime to free all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to engage in a genuine dialogue with members of the democratic opposition and different ethnic groups in Burma.
“Canada has imposed the toughest sanctions of any country against the Burmese regime to protest its treatment of the Burmese people, and will continue to engage with all stakeholders working toward a democratic Burma.”
- 30 -
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Catherine Loubier
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
613-995-1851
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874
| By LALIT K. JHA | Tuesday, March 9, 2010 |
WASHINGTON — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has written a letter to Burmese Snr-Gen Than Shwe expressing concern over the lack of progress in restoration of democracy in Burma and emphasizing the need for a credible and transparent election later this year.
“I have sent, about ten days ago, a letter to Snr-Gen Than Shwe, first of all expressing my concern about the lack of progress and also emphasizing the importance of the election which will held this year to be in a most credible, inclusive and transparent manner,” Ban told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.
|
|
|
|
Ban said he had noted recent news report in the official Burmese media of the enactment of election laws.
“That is what I had been urging the Myanmar [Burma] authorities to do as soon as possible. First of all, I have been following up on that, and I will continue to follow this matter,” he said.
He also called for the release of all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, the popular Burmese democracy leader, which he said is essential for a successful election.
Most importantly, all political prisoners should be released as soon as possible, he said, so that all of them can take part in elections.
“That would make the elections inclusive and credible,” Ban said.
“I repeatedly emphasized that, without the participation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all key political prisoners, the elections would not be inclusive,” Ban said.
He said he is still looking for a replacement for Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy on Burma who has been moved to a new position on Darfur. Ban's chief de cabinet, Vijay Nambiar, is temporarily handling Burma affairs, Ban said.
Meanwhile, more than 50 Burmese organizations have expressed concern over the lack of national reconciliation and the credibility of the upcoming election.
“The 2010 election is not a solution and will not bring democracy to Burma,” according to a declaration issued by the Third Burma Forum Canada.
More than 50 organizations including ethnic nationalities recently met in Canada, including representatives of the National Coalition Government of Union of Burma, the Burmese government in exile; Ethnic Nationalities Council and Euro-Burma Office.
The declaration said that deteriorating political and human rights conditions in Burma are not favorable to hold a multi-party election.
“This is the time to work to resolve existing problems through a proper consultation with all the stake-holders in the nation,” it said.
“If the regime forcibly continues to go ahead without having a meaningful and inclusive dialogue with democratic and ethnic leaders inside the country, the election will not be internationally acceptable and credible,” the declaration said. “All Burmese citizens must be able to freely participate in the political process so that the elections can be considered credible, free and fair.”
Meanwhile, the Canadian government announced its continued support for Burmese refugees and displaced persons living in Burma's border areas by renewing funding of $15.9 million over five years.
Canada's support builds on significant funding over the past five years, in which health initiatives have treated nearly one million cases of malaria, acute respiratory infections, tuberculosis, severe malnutrition, provided food aid to approximately 145,000 refugees, and health care services to about 500,000 refugees, according to the government.
Media Advisory
March 5, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GOVERNMENT OF CANADA WILL ANNOUNCE RENEWED ASSISTANCE FOR BURMESE REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS
Saskatoon (Saskatchewan) – Kelly Block, Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, will meet with representatives from Canadian-Burmese communities at the 3rd Burma Forum Canada and make an announcement on international assistance to support Burmese refugees and displaced persons.
Date: March 6, 2010
Time: 10:00am (CST)
Location: Royal Conference Room
Sandman Hotel
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- 30 -
Information:
Jessica Fletcher
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of International Cooperation
Telephone: 819-953-6238
Media Relations Office
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
Telephone: 819-953-6534
E-mail: media@acdi-cida.gc.ca
Jessica Fletcher
Press Secretary / Attachée de presse
Office of the Minister of International Cooperation |
Cabinet de la ministre de la Coopération internationale
Tel: (819) 953-6238 | Fax: (819) 997-6918
Email: jessica.fletcher@acdi-cida.gc.
200 Promenade du Portage
Gatineau, QC K1A 0G4
NEW YORK
Wed Mar 3, 2010 4:24pm EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rutha was pregnant when she was forced to serve as a porter at a military camp in Myanmar. There, she was raped nightly and her father killed when he refused to allow soldiers to take his 22-year-old daughter.
Rutha's story was told to Nobel Peace Prize winners and rights campaigners, who meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday to push for Myanmar's leaders to be referred to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
"The soldiers raped me at night after I portered for them during the day," said Rutha, whose family has since left Myanmar. "A soldier came to get me and took me to a room. I told him I was pregnant and begged him not to do any harm, but he did not listen. ... I could only cry."
Rutha's story was one of 12 heard by the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women of Burma, a panel formed by the Nobel Women's Initiative -- a group created by six female Nobel Peace Prize Winners -- and the Women's League of Burma.
Along with acts of sexual violence and forced labor, there were stories of imprisonment, torture and forced relocation.
The panel of Jody Williams, who won the 1997 Peace Prize for her work to ban land mines, Shirin Ebadi, who won the prize in 2003 for promoting rights in Iran, and rights campaigners Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand and Heisoo Shin of South Korea, said the world needs to increase pressure on Myanmar.
"Your searing testimonies of unimaginable brutalities, including sexual violence, break the silence on behalf of thousands upon thousands of Burmese women," Williams told a news conference on Wednesday. "You all cry out for justice but have been met with impunity."
Myanmar has signed international conventions and treaties but has consistently failed to honor pledges to improve its human rights record or carry out democratic reforms.
The Myanmar mission to the United Nations was not immediately available to comment.
MINORITIES PERSECUTED
Myanmar has long been the focus of global pressure for holding pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Rights groups say there are more than 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar, but the country's regime says they are not political.
The Myanmar junta has also been accused of persecution of the country's ethnic minorities, sparking a continuing exodus. Some 140,000 refugees live in camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
The full list of recommendations made by the panel to Myanmar, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations can be seen a www.nobelwomensinitiative.org.
Myanmar was formerly known as Burma and has been under military rule since 1962.
Another story heard by the panel was that of Chang Chang, who was 17 when she was practicing songs at a local karaoke shop with three of her friends and a group of soldiers forced them to leave and took them to a military base.
"They came in one by one to rape me. I begged the soldiers not to rape me and I pushed them back to protect myself. But, they forced themselves on me and took off my clothes and they raped me all night," she said in a statement to the tribunal.
"It was very dark, so it was hard to know exactly how many soldiers raped us. I remembered seven of them. ... Seven raped me. There were many of them," she said. "I could only cry."
| By THE IRRAWADDY | Tuesday, March 2, 2010 |
The documentary “Burma VJ” is in the running for an Oscar for best feature-documentary at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards show which will be broadcast worldwide on Sunday night in the United States.
“If “Burma VJ” receives the Oscar, it will be the first time in history that a whole nation's population will receive the Oscar,” said Jan Krogsgaard, the originator and scriptwriter of the film. “I think even the generals of Burma would like to see this happen, deep inside themselves, and find peace within their own life.”
“Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country” tells the story of how Burmese video journalists took to the streets and filmed the September 2007 mass demonstrations in Rangoon. It is among five documentaries nominated this year.
Other nominees are “The Cove,” about a hidden dolphin slaughter in a Japanese town; “Food, Inc.,” a story of the horrors of factory farms, slaughterhouses and meat plants in the US; “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” the story of a high-level Pentagon official and Vietnam War strategist who in 1971 concluded that the war was based on decades of lies and leaked top secret documents to The New York Times; and “Which Way Home,” a film that follows unaccompanied child migrants on their journey through Mexico as they try to reach the United States.
“Burma VJ” has already won 33 awards—including World Cinema Documentary Film Editing and Golden Gate Persistence of Vision prizes.
Most of the material for the film was shot by Burmese video journalists at great personal risk and smuggled out of the country to the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). A Danish professional film-maker, Anders Østergaard, directed the film, which was released to wide acclaim this year.
In an interview on the Oscar official Web site, producer Lise Lens-Moller said: “Burma had almost vanished from the global consciousness when we started working on the film in 2004 and the VJ's main motivation for risking their lives and their freedom everyday was to try and bring attention to their situation. I hope the Oscar nomination will keep the Burmese people's struggle alive and supported around the world.”
The live announcement of the Oscar winner will attract Burmese communities around the world.
“It must be a historical milestone,” said Khin Maung Win, the deputy executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma. “Even if Burma VJ does not win the prize, the film will bring attention to our democracy movement.”
Related article: Behind the Lens
(No. 84 - February 26, 2010 - 1:40 p.m. ET) The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement expressing Canada’s disappointment over the Burmese Supreme Court’s decision to reject the appeal of pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi:
“Canada is deeply disappointed that the Burmese Supreme Court has rejected Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest appeal of her detention. Neither her original trial nor the appeal process has met international standards of due process, demonstrating a complete disregard for the rule of law. Canada maintains its position that her continued detention is unwarranted, unjustified and politically motivated.
“The Burmese regime has missed yet another opportunity to prove its commitment to hold inclusive, free and fair elections. The elections planned for 2010 will only be credible if the Burmese regime allows all citizens, including opposition groups, to participate freely in a transparent electoral process.
“Since December 2007, Canada has imposed the toughest sanctions of any country against the Burmese regime to protest its treatment of its people. These sanctions include a ban on goods exported to and imported from Burma. Canada again calls upon the Burmese regime to free all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to engage in a genuine dialogue with members of the democratic opposition and different ethnic groups of Burma.
“In 2007, the Parliament of Canada granted Aung San Suu Kyi honourary Canadian citizenship for her tireless work for democracy in Burma.”
- 30 -
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Catherine Loubier
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
613-995-1851
| By SAW YAN NAING | Thursday, February 4, 2010 |
|
|
| |
| Beauty queen and rebel Naw Louisa (Photo: Karen Museum) |
The Nobel Women’s Initiative and Women’s League of Burma are to convene a high profile “International Tribunal on Crimes against Women of Burma” in New York on March 2nd, 2010. The tribunal will provide a powerful spotlight on the oppressions and human right abuses in Burma in order to support a development of just and peaceful Burma.
The coordinator has requested me to forward the attached invitation to the supporters of human rights in Burma. Please distribute it widely. I hope some of you or your friends will able to attend the tribunal.
Some important Info
Judges: Well known 5 Tribunal Judges. They are Nobel Laureates Shirin Ebadi (2003 Nobel Peace), Jody Williams (1997 Nobel Peace), and Adolpho Esquivel (1980 Nobel Peace), as well as Thai Human Rights Professor Vitit Mutarbhorn, and South Korean expert Dr. Heisoo Shin, a former expert UN CEDAW. They have coordinated with Archbishop Tutu’s office on the video statement he is preparing for the Tribunal since he is unable to attend.
Experts and moderator: They have invited legal, democracy movement, human rights and gender justice experts to introduce the Tribunal’s four main categories of violations. These experts will include 1 or 2 members of the Women’s League of Burma.
Testifiers: Members of this broadly representative group will testify in person or by video from Thailand, Bangladesh, and possibly China. Other testifiers will come from the US, and Canada. The group of testifiers will share individual testimonies about violations including: rape, trafficking, political persecution, including arbitrary arrest and detention, forced labour, portering, and relocation.
Media: Nobel Women’s Initiative’s Manager of Media & Communications is responsible for the comprehensive media and communications for the Tribunal.
Best Regards,
|
