CHINA

China shows off military might at 60th anniversary parade

Tanks and lorries roll through Beijing to mark 60th anniversary of communism in China

Nuclear missile carriers and rocket launchers rumbled past Beijing's Forbidden City today as the Chinese Communist party celebrated 60 years in power with its biggest display of military hardware and a weather-modification package.


With elements of both the cold war and the new economy, the spectacular parade was intended to showcase how China has modernised and opened up since Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.

But few of the people of Beijing were allowed anywhere near the event. While about 30,000 guests were invited, local residents were told to stay indoors and watch the two mile procession on television.



The parade was a mix of old-fashioned communist-realist kitsch and newfangled weaponry. From the Gate of Heavenly Peace, the politburo reviewed an array of unmanned drones, Long Sword cruise missiles and other modern weaponry, most of which was developed in China and being shown to the public for the first time.


The huge display of might combined with the ideological slogans and massed ranks of previous parades with unprecedented security levels and extraordinary choreography.

Events began with a 60-gun salute that set off nearby car alarms. The sound of the blasts took several seconds to catch up with the images broadcast on huge LED screens at the other end of a Tiananmen Square decked out in red flags.


Hu Jintao – chairman of the central military commission, general secretary of the Communist party and Chinese president – then reviewed the troops in a glide past. His rigid torso poked out of the roof of a Red Flag limousine that cruised along the ranks of infantry and tanks lined up on Chang'an avenue. Local residents were warned not to go on to their balconies.


"Hello comrades!" an almost motionless Hu shouted out at intervals. In unison, the troops replied: "Hello commander!" and "Serve the people!"


Later, standing on the Tiananmen rostrum, the spot where Mao proclaimed the creation of the new China, Hu declared in an eight-minute speech: "[We] have triumphed over all sorts of difficulties and setbacks and risks to gain the great achievements evident to the world. Today, a socialist China geared towards modernisation, the world and the future towers majestically in the east. We have realised the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."


Commentators on China's English-language TV channel repeatedly stressed the country's commitment to peace, describing its military as defensive and stressing its contribution to peacekeeping initiatives. "It sticks to the strategy of using nuclear power to defend and refuses to engage in the nuclear arms race," said the commentator as camouflage lorries bearing ballistic missiles rolled past the leaders and the air force roared overhead, leaving a rainbow of smoke-trails behind them.

Tens of thousands of schoolchildren, who had slept in Tiananmen Square overnight, formed a human screen, flipping over coloured cards to create slogans including "Loyalty to the party" and "Harmonious society" as tanks and amphibious landing craft, many painted in pixellated khaki, rolled past.


Soldiers had spent months practising. Most were arranged according to height, in part to ensure their steps were precisely the right length. The women's militia, all uniformly tall, marched in skirts and boots.

Compared with the spectacular Olympic opening ceremony last year, the parade was surprisingly old-fashioned. The veteran "model workers" waving to the crowd, and the floats with engines and giant wheatsheafs could have come straight from the China of the fifties.

Historical sections paid tribute to Mao Zedong thought, which state television commentators said had been "proved correct" and Deng Xiaoping theory, which mixed market economics with state intervention under the banner of "socialism with Chinese characteristics".


As displays of space rockets, high-speed railways and petrochemical plants rolled by, state media commentators noted that China was on course to overtake Japan as the world's second-biggest economy by the end of the year. They said the average daily income in China today was now more than the amount for a whole year in 1949.

There was an Olympic formation, with a model of the Bird's Nest stadium and an appearance from the Chinese astronaut who performed the country's first spacewalk last year. He must have sweltered in his spacesuit as despite the heavy fog of the last two days, blue skies appeared on cue early this morning. Officials had pledged to seed clouds if necessary to ensure good weather, and rain appeared abruptly at about midnight last night.

After the recent unrest in Tibet and Xinjiang, the parade tried to emphasise ethnic unity. "Look at all our ethnic groups holding hands and dancing together," gushed a commentator on the state's China Radio International. "They are a moving picture of harmonious unity."


The increasing priority placed by the government on "green issues" was apparent on the environmental protection float and the lauding of China's "beautiful rivers and mountains". There was no mention of pollution or melting glaciers on a day of celebration.

The most evident sign of change was in the wind turbines alongside oil derricks on an energy-themed float surrounded by marchers carrying photovoltaic panels.


The country's first female fighter pilots were among those flying the 151 jets, "reminders of our heroines in history". But more than half a century after Mao declared that "women hold up half the sky", the frequent shots of leaders on the Tiananmen rostrum were a reminder that no women serve in the Politburo select committee.

Hu and his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, watched as huge portraits of themselves were carried past, part of a lengthy section celebrating China's leaders since 1949, but omitting Hua Guofeng, Mao's immediate successor. As Mao's portrait passed, a loudspeaker blared out a recording of him announcing the founding of the republic.


At times, the parade was more reminiscent of North Korea's mass games than a modern global economy. The parade finished with a moment of choreographed joy as hundreds of cheering schoolchildren rushed towards the rostrum to wave at the politburo as tens of thousands of white and brown doves were released.

A 2,000-strong military band played martial tunes throughout the procession.


Minxin Pei, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna college in California, said of the parade: "For more than 15 years [Chinese leaders] have been denouncing those who call China's rise a threat. Now they put on this display of military hardware, with goose-stepping soldiers to match. Aren't they confirming the China threat?"

Geremie Barmé, of the Australian National University, who has studied past National Day parades, said the displays were typically aimed at the domestic audience which comprised Communist party officials and ordinary Chinese.

"It is meant to educate, excite, unite and entertain," he told Associated Press. "If a tad of 'shock and awe' is delivered around the world, all well and good."

BURMA

Monks’ Struggle Continues Behind Bars


Two years after the Saffron Revolution, Burma’s ruling regime is showing no signs of relenting in its efforts to suppress dissent among the country’s 400,000 Buddhist monks.

Although the Burmese junta released 7,114 prisoners in an amnesty last week, it included only 128 political prisoners—and just four out of more than 200 monks now behind bars.

Meanwhile, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), a human rights group based in Thailand, the junta continues to round up monks suspected of subversive activities.

“About 20 monks were arrested in September. We are still in the process of identifying them,” said AAPP Joint Secretary Bo Kyi, adding that the Burmese authorities are still keeping a close eye on monks.

Thousands of monks were arrested following the crackdown on the mass protests of September 2007, known as the Saffron Revolution because they were led by saffron-robed monks demanding political reforms.

Most were released after a brief period of detention, but at least 237 monks remain in prison, some serving sentences of more than 60 years.

Although Burma’s ruling generals are avowed Buddhists, this has not prevented them from coming down hard on the monks, who are traditionally revered in Burma’s predominantly Buddhist society.

“The junta doesn’t treat the detained monks with respect. They tortured and abused them when they raided the monasteries, and have continued to mistreat them in the prisons,” said Bo Kyi. “Their only thought is that anyone who challenges them is their enemy.”

Former political prisoners interviewed by The Irrawaddy said that prison life is especially hard on monks.


“After they arrested me, I suffered many humiliations. The first was when they disrobed me by force,” said Pyinnya Jota, one of the leaders of the Saffron Revolution, who was imprisoned twice and later fled to Thailand.

Although the monks are stripped of their status when they are put in prison, most try to continue to observe monastic rules. This includes eating only twice a day, both times before noon.


However, the monks’ first meal of the day, normally eaten shortly after the dawn alms round, when food is collected from devout laypeople, is not available in prison. This means that monks can eat only once a day, at midday, resulting in malnutrition and other health problems.


Some monks try to solve this problem by setting aside their afternoon meals for the following morning. However, under prison regulations, prisoners are forbidden to refuse food when it is given to them.

“Some prison officials will let us hold on to our dinner so we can eat it the next morning. But others punish us for keeping food in our cells,” said a monk in Rangoon who is a former prisoner.

“If that happens, they try to force-feed us. This is why it is so difficult to keep our monastic vows in prison,” said the monk, speaking on condition of anonymity.


Some monks also complained that their jailers refused to address them by their monastic names—an act of disrespect that they saw as more than just a personal affront.


“This is an insult to the entire Buddhist community, like referring to the Buddha by his lay name,” said a young monk in Rangoon who was briefly detained during the crackdown on the Saffron Revolution.


Another monastic practice—shaving the head as a symbol of severing worldly ties—is also forbidden in prison, effectively denying the monks of any recognizable sign of their religious identity.


Ironically, monks detained for political reasons were treated much better during the British colonial era than they are today. At that time, monks were separated from other prisoners so they could maintain their vows.


This changed under the dictatorship of Ne Win, whose Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) abolished the separation of lay and monastic prisoners, declaring that “socialism treats all people equally.”

The BSPP also made it a rule to forcibly disrobe monks arrested for political offenses—a practice the current regime applies zealously in its efforts to deprive its monastic critics of their moral authority.


Besides their unique status, another reason the junta is especially fearful of monks is that the monastic community, the sangha, is the only institution that rivals the military in size and organization.


There are estimated to be around 400,000 monks in Burma, compared to 350,000 soldiers. Apart from performing religious duties, they also play a key role in education, social work and disaster relief efforts, as witnessed during the aftermath of last year’s Cyclone Nargis.

“Monks are highly respected by Burmese people, for many reasons,” said Bo Kyi. “But the regime thinks that by arresting, disrobing, torturing and mistreating them, it can reduce them to something less than they are.”

CAMBODIA & THAILAND

Hun Sen orders army to shoot Thai trespassers

Phnom Penh - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered his troops on Monday to shoot any trespassers in a simmering border dispute with Thailand and angrily blasted the neighbouring nation's territorial claims.


His remarks came a little over a week after Thai protesters rallied at the disputed border area near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, the site of clashes that have killed seven soldiers since tensions flared last year.


"If they enter again, they will be shot," Mr Hun Sen told officials who applauded as he publicly ordered troops along the border to fire against civilian or military "invader enemies" who illegally enter Cambodia.


"Troops, police and all armed forces must adhere to the order... for invaders, shields are not used but bullets are used," Mr Hun Sen said in the speech at the opening ceremony for Cambodia's new Ministry of Tourism building.


Mr Hun Sen also lambasted Thailand's claim to the disputed 4.6 square kilometres of land around Preah Vihear, saying he may raise it at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting next month.


"This is a unilateral claim with the ambition of occupying Cambodian territory... If the Thai prime minister put the (unilaterally-drawn) map in front of me, I would tear it," Mr Hun Sen told the audience.


"Cambodia does not want war, but Cambodia deserves the right to destroy enemies in its territory," he said, adding that he would take the issue to the UN Security Council in the case of any aggressive action by Thailand.



Cambodia and Thailand have been at loggerheads over the land around the Preah Vihear temple for decades, but tensions spilled over into violence last July when the temple was granted UN World Heritage status.


Although the World Court ruled in 1962 that it belonged to Cambodia, the most accessible entrance to the ancient Khmer temple with its crumbling stone staircases and elegant carvings is in northeastern Thailand.


Soldiers from Cambodia and Thailand continue to patrol the area, with the last gunbattle near the temple area in April leaving three people dead. The border between the two countries has never been fully demarcated, in part because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.

BURMA

New 5,000 Kyat Note Sparks Inflation Fears


The Burmese regime is to issue a new 5,000 kyat currency note on October 1, raising fears of an increase in consumer prices as more paper money goes into circulation.


Following an official announcement on Thursday evening of the new issue, the price of gold increased on Friday and the value of the kyat fell on currency markets.


Sean Turnell, an economist at Australia's Macquarie University, who produces a regular Burma Economic Watch report, said: "There will be a scramble into hard currencies, gold, and any other 'store of value' medium that cannot be touched by the regime. We should expect a short sharp decline in the value of the kyat as a consequence."


The price of gold rose on Friday from 590,000 kyat ($530) for one tical of 24-carat of the precious metal to 600,000 kyat ($538) per tical. One tical is equal to 0.525 troy ounces.


The black market value of the kyat fell from 1,060 to 1,140 kyat to the US dollar.


Uncertainty over the implications of the introduction of a 5,000 kyat note caused most currency and gold traders to suspend business until Monday, a Rangoon trader told The Irrawaddy.


Money changers at the Thai-Burmese border also suspended transactions in kyat.


The new note—red in color and with an elephant as motif—will join the 1,000, 500, 200 and 50 kyat notes now in circulation. They will remain legal tender, the official media reports said.


Turnell warned that the issue of the new note could lead to a rise in inflation.


"A big outstanding issue is whether the issue of these notes is in addition to the existing stock of notes or not," he said. "If there is a net addition to the money stock because of this, then the issue of the new 5,000 kyat note will add to Burma's inflation problem. It will, after all, simply be yet more 'money printing."


Traditionally, the Burmese junta has never announced how much money is in circulation.


The International Monetary Fund, however, estimates it to be 2,651.1 billion kyat at the official exchange rate. Calculated at Friday’s black market exchange rate, however, only about $2.4 billion is in circulation.

USA BY PROXY [THAILAND]

Doing dirty laundry in public


The issue of race has reared its ugly head in the US once more; Americans should not be afraid now to talk about it openly.

The race issue in America is resurfacing again, with some commentators claiming that many Americans who oppose President Barack Obama's reformist policies, do so simply because he's black.

Perhaps it's time for America to discuss the matter more openly, and some of the American media are now slowly beginning to do just that.

"Democrats see race factor for Barack Obama foes" was the headline of an article posted last Monday on politico.com, a popular political news and commentary website based in Washington DC.

"White racism's convenient target: Our president" shouted a headline on page 7A of USA Today on August 18.

When you talk to liberal or open-minded Americans, you will likely hear from them some form of admission that race is indeed still an issue, and that some white Americans are having a hard time coping with the fact that the man who occupies the White House is black - or half black and half white, to be more accurate.

"As far as African-Americans are concerned, we think most of it is[about race]," said Democrat House Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas.

He was quoted by politico.com in response to whether he thinks the growing protests against the president have to do with racism. "And we think it's very unfortunate. We, as African-American people, of course are very sensitive to it," Johnson went on.

"With some, I think it is [about race]," said Democrat House Representative Mike Hondo of California in the same article.

"Black people have lived under white presidents since day one," said another commentator, this time a Democrat activist, Gwen Dawkins. "So would you give him a chance?"

The politico.com article elicited more than 1,500 comments from readers online, even before the day's end.

The August 18 article in USA Today is even more disturbing as it claims that white supremacist militia groups are growing as a result of the Obama presidency. It quotes a source as saying that at least 50 new anti-government militia groups have been discovered.

"One of them is made up of present and former police officers and soldiers.

Their creation has been spurred by the presence of a black man in the White House," the article stated.

"One militia near Atlanta created its own grand jury, a kangaroo court that indicted Obama for fraud and treason. His crime, it said, was that he wasn't born in the United States, and is illegally occupying the presidency."

Some anonymous online posters are very straightforward about the matter:

"The hysteria has to do with a threat to a deeply-held belief in superiority and birthright being threatened. It is symbolism. It is about black and white and what America means.

Stand up and say it people. Don't hide behind healthcare and some silly issue about a birth certificate. Say what is really in your minds. You want the order of things restored, where a black man could not become the leader of the free world.

"Don't be cowards. Say it! Get it out. What you have believed to be true isn't true, and it hurts. It hurts bad. But it's going to be all right. Everything is going to be all right," wrote one poster on politico.com last month, using the nom de plume of "Ohio Citizen".

Whether things will be all right or not will depend on how Americans deal with the issue. More open discussion is inevitable, but the recent, and now deep-rooted, culture of political correctness has ironically caused restraint, or even stopped Americans, especially white Americans, from discussing the matter openly.

It's unlikely that the matter will ever be resolved by having everyone keep silent, however.

Perhaps it's time that America opened up and dealt with the matter in a straightforward manner, now that the country has its first black president.

Race issues continue to be America's dirty laundry, but some non-profit groups such as the Washington DC-based International Institute for Sustained Dialogue are working hard to try to improve race relations amongst university students, including those at elite universities like Princeton, by enlisting students to come and discuss the matter in a multiracial setting.

America can never truly be called a racially plural society as long as it continues to be mired in racial hatred and prejudice.

It is time for America to confront the evil of racism in a manner that goes beyond the lame belief that problems will simply disappear by merely not talking about them.

Obama himself may be in a delicate position. He must be careful about conflicts of interest, and must not be seen to be unduly favouring Americans of colour. But this shouldn't stop others from tackling the issue in an open and earnest fashion.

CAMBODIA

Khmer Rouge Tribunal Ends Testimony

PHNOM PENH — After 72 days of hearings, the first international trial of a Khmer Rouge regime member has wrapped up its often horrific testimony in the Cambodian capital.

Comrade Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has sat placidly in the dock since proceedings began in late March, as the court unraveled his meticulous supervision of at least 15,000 murders while he headed the main Khmer Rouge torture centre, known as S-21, in the 1970s.

Though Duch has repeatedly apologized to victims, many Cambodians do not believe his expressions of remorse are genuine. Despite that he did so again on the penultimate day of testimony.

"I would like to apologize," he told the court. "I would like to seek forgiveness from the families of the victims."

But while Duch admits to the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, he has also continually pleaded that he was a mere functionary in a much bigger system.

He said he had no choice but to follow the orders handed down from his superiors to execute S-21's inmates by sending them to the Killing Fields at Chhoeung Ek outside Phnom Penh.

"The only way to survive was to fulfill the duties assigned to us—so I tried to survive on a daily basis," Duch told the court during the final week of testimony.

Duch has repeatedly insisted he did not personally arrest, torture or kill anyone, and told the court that suspected "enemies" of the revolution simply had to be killed. Anyone who was arrested was by default guilty, and the function of prisons like S-21 was to extract a confession before killing them.

Many people have expressed hope that the trial will offer some relief and answers to the events that consumed Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. Two million people are thought to have died from execution, starvation and overwork in the brutal four years of Khmer Rouge rule.

Prosecutors used the proceedings to accuse him of operating S-21, one of nearly 200 detention centers around the country, with uncommonly ruthless efficiency.

Powerful testimony from witnesses, recounting their harrowing experiences, has echoed those of the many more who were enslaved around the country.

Bou Meng, 68, told the court how he became one of the prisoners who survived S-21. Duch had heard Bou Meng was an artist, so he put him to work painting huge propaganda portraits of Pol Pot and other senior Khmer Rouge leaders.

The former prisoner's wife, who was arrested with him, disappeared and was killed at S-21. His emotional testimony described how he was beaten with sticks by S-21 interrogators, who accused him of spying for America and the Soviet Union, common charges under an increasingly paranoid regime.

"Every time they beat me, they asked me questions: 'Who introduced you into the CIA (the US's Central Intelligence Agency)? What was their name?'" Bou Meng told the court in July, breaking down in tears. "I responded that I did not know—I gave the same response.”

"I could not think of any mistakes I had made," he said. "I did not know of any KGB (Russia's former national security agency) or CIA network. They just kept beating me up."

Duch admitted to the tribunal that most confessions, which were extracted from each prisoner through beatings, electrocution and even the removal of toenails, were untrue.

He told the court a number of times that in ordering the executions, he was simply following orders.

"The decision of the Party was overwhelming," he told the court on the penultimate day of testimony on Sep. 16 as he described how he had his brother-in-law arrested, tortured and then executed. "Nobody could stand in its way. . . . I was an ordinary party member. I had no right to protest."

The damage wrought by the Khmer Rouge was felt mainly in Cambodia, but the trial also showed how the effects of the regime's murders rippled around the world to terrible effect.

The court heard from a French woman whose Cambodian diplomat husband returned to the country in 1977 and was murdered at S-21, and a New Zealand sportsman whose brother was taken from his yacht, which had strayed into Cambodian waters, and eventually killed.

Duch's guilt is not in question—the key unknown is what sentence will be levied on him. (Cambodia does not have the death penalty.)

Final arguments in the trial will take place at the end of November, and judges are expected to hand down their verdict in 2010.

Duch's defense has indicated its belief that judges should take into account his numerous apologies and admissions of guilt, as well as the fact that he spent a decade in detention before his trial.

But whether Duch's remorse is genuine—which many Cambodians doubt—the fact that he has apologized is important to some, such as former S-21 survivor Chum Mey, 79.

Chum Mey told the court during his testimony in June that five of his children died under the Khmer Rouge. When he finally returned to his village, just two relatives were still alive there. Despite being tortured at S-21, Chum Mey said—in a video recorded before the trial began and shown by the defense on the penultimate day of the trial—that he bears no grudge against Duch.

"Before I was not free to speak out as I am doing now," he said in the video, which was filmed at S-21 in February 2008 when Duch, who broke down in tears at the prison, returned there and apologized to the nation. "I thank Duch for coming to give testimony. . . . I would ask him to speak the truth before the court."

Duch claims to have done that despite some significant inconsistencies in his statements such as refuting the testimony of some parties who said they saw him torture or kill people. But even he admits that saving himself by carrying out the killings of so many thousands of others was fundamentally dishonorable.

"Yes, you can say I am a coward," Duch told the court in the final week of testimony.

BURMA

Release of Prisoners a Token Gesture

Last week, the Burmese military regime announced it was granting amnesty to 7,114 prisoners. But among the thousands of hardened criminals was no more than a handful of political prisoners—127 to be precise. And among that group, no major players were released.

Looking back at the junta’s policy of granting amnesty over the years, we can see that political prisoners are always a very small minority of those released.

In 2004, out of 14,318 prisoners freed in an amnesty, 60 were political dissidents. In 2005, however, a sizeable proportion of those released—341 out of 400—were political prisoners.After 2005, the percentages returned to normal: in 2007, only 20 political detainees out of 8,585 convicted prisoners were released; in 2008, nine out of 9,002; and in February this year, just 31 political prisoners were released along with 6,293 convicted criminals.

Indeed, the actual number of political prisoners released under the amnesties can never be independently confirmed—the figure is usually exaggerated and, in some cases, according to former senior intelligence officers, the numbers are related to the junta leaders’ obsession with astrology and numerology. 

On top of the regime’s refusal to release leading political dissidents is the blatant timing of amnesties to coincide with outside events.In February 2009, the junta announced an amnesty for prisoners just after UN Human Rights Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana left Burma following an official visit.This month, the Burmese prison authorities declared that about 250 political detainees would be among 7,114 freed detainees.

This announcement came three days before Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein flew to New York to attend the UN General Assembly. Another indication of the regime’s current leaning is that it usually sends foreign ministers to New York. As the regime prepares for the election in 2010, its leaders are taking steps to convince the UN and the international community about the merits of their “road map to a disciplined democracy,” including, of course, the “democratic” process they are undertaking via the 2010 election.

Bo Kyi, the joint secretary of Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), said that the regime only released prisoners with the aim of easing international pressure.

However, he said, key dissident leaders such as Aung San Suu Kyi, Min Ko Naing and ethnic Shan leader Khun Htun Oo remained in detention.

A member of the underground All Burma Federation of Student Unions, Aung Tun, who was released after serving 11 years in prison, said that the regime only released political prisoners whenever it was facing an international crisis.

Commenting on the junta’s recent amnesty, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, repeated his call for the Burmese government to take further steps to ensure the release of the remaining 2,100 political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, as a necessary step toward a credible process of national reconciliation and democratic transition.As part of the recent amnesty, 127 political prisoners have been released, including four monks, four journalists and one lawyer.

Observers note that the junta mainly freed those who were charged under certain criminal codes, including 5(j) of the Emergency Provisions Act, and Section 17/1 of the Illegal Organization Act.

It has been confirmed by sources that Burmese intelligence officers who have been detained since the removal of intelligence chief Gen Khin Nyunt were among those released on Friday. Bodaw Than Hla, the former chief astrologer to Khin Nyunt, was released, and The Irrawaddy also learnt that Maj Myo Nyunt Aung, a former intelligence officer, was among those freed from Mandalay Prison. Several former intelligence officers, most of whom were charged under Section 5(j) of the Emergency Provisions Act, were also released. 

But high-ranking officials charged with treason remain imprisoned.

Debbie Stothard, the coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network (Altsean) said, “This is a common trick of the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council], to release political prisoners when there is a lot of international pressure. But, the problem is that they keep re-arresting them in the future.

So, we have to be very clear that these political prisoners are released unconditionally,” she said. Some observers also pointed out that the junta deliberately ignored the major issue of releasing Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic political leaders. They said that the regime wanted to keep Suu Kyi out of the picture ahead the 2010 election.

“Of course, for the individual political prisoners and their families, they are happy that they [the prisoners] are released. But for the future of the country, the SPDC should release all the political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the ethnic leaders,” said Stothard. A veteran journalist based in Rangoon said that the release is very welcome news for family members who were waiting to see their loved ones.

“They are unjustly charged and detained,” he said. When asked whether the move will win hearts and minds in the international community, the senior reporter replied bluntly that only the governments in the West, Asean and the UN “will be fooled into welcoming the regime’s gestures, because they are naïve.”

While the Burmese regime holds more than 2,000 political prisoners, it shows no sign of loosening its grip.

Meanwhile, a crackdown on dissidents is continuing.

Last week, seven Burmese activists and five Buddhist monks were detained in Myingyan Township in Mandalay by Burmese military authorities.

As Buddhist monks called for peaceful marches in the coming weeks, the regime increased its security around Rangoon.

Many of the political prisoners who have been released vowed to continue to fight injustice even though they were locked up for years. It seems no matter how often the regime offers amnesties, Burma’s jails will never be empty of political dissidents. 

THAILAND

PAD protest ends in bloodshed


GOVT DECLARES MARTIAL LAW AS VILLAGERS, POLICE CLASH WITH PAD; YELLOW SHIRTS TO READ SOVEREIGNTY DECLARATION

Dozens of protesters, police and villagers were injured in fiery clashes near the border with Cambodia yesterday as a protest by the People's Alliance for Democracy spun out of control.

The government declared martial law as PAD supporters, in a protest over sovereignty, met unexpected resistance from hundreds of Si Sa Ket villagers who blocked their path.

The PAD was trying to march to a disputed border area close to Preah Vihear temple. Stick-wielding protesters clashed repeatedly with riot police and villagers who were trying to keep them out.

Nearby, soldiers set up barricades to stop the PAD reaching the border area disputed with Cambodia.

They reinforced the Khao Phra Viharn national park office in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket.
But the government was forced to declare martial law after protesters were able to break through barricades to reach the military-controlled area.

The clashes between PAD protesters and villagers left scores of people on both sides injured, including two people in a critical condition.

Sert Piewkhao, 26, a local villager, was shot in the neck while PAD supporter Promsak Ritkraikul, 44, was hit in the eye by slingshots.

To ease the crisis, the government agreed to let 76 PAD representatives read aloud a prepared statement today at Pha Mor E Daeng, which is close to the disputed area.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said giving the PAD its say could help restore peace. Anyone who broke the law at the gathering would be punished, he said.

The government's concession capped a day of drama which started when PAD member Veera Somkwamkid and Charoen Muphankhachorn led about 2,000 supporters on a protest to assert Thai sovereignty over disputed territory near Preah Vihear temple.

They planned to march to the temple entrance to protest against Cambodia's decision to build new houses in a nearby 4.6 square kilometre area not settled by the two countries. The World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962.

Accompanied by so-called PAD guards, the demonstrators arrived in the province in cars, buses and vans. They were stopped by hundreds of villagers at Ban Phumsarol in Kantharalak district.
The residents blockaded the road to the park near the temple.

Crowd control riot police in full gear were on standby.

Residents opposed the PAD protest, fearing it would aggravate the border situation and harm their livelihood.

"They [PAD protesters] are here for just a couple of days. But we and the Cambodian people are here for life so we do not want any complications.

"The temple dispute has been going for years. Why protest now?" said Boonreum Khobutr, a village head.

Si Sa Ket governor Rapi Pongbuppakij and Si Sa Ket deputy police chief Amnuay Mahapol asked both sides to back off, but to no avail.

After hours of trading insults, clashes broke out about 1.20pm. Slingshots, wooden stakes, rocks and blades were used as weapons.

The PAD guards broke through the barricades, taking protesters to a forest fire control station where they were prepared to spend the night.

Mr Veera and Suranaree Task Force commander Maj-Gen Chavalit Choonhasarn held talks for two hours after which the protesters retreated to the Sisa Asoke Buddhist community, which is a branch of Santi Asoke with close affiliations to the PAD.

Speaking while the negotiations were underway, Second Army Region commander Lt Gen Wibulsak Neepal said the army could not guarantee the safety of protesters.

He had proposed to army commander Anupong Paojinda that a group of 20 PAD representatives be allowed to enter the restricted area to make a declaration.

"The army chief has agreed. The PAD demonstrators have to leave the area as soon as they finish reading their statement," he said.

PAD leader Chamlong Srimuang yesterday distanced all five PAD leaders from the Preah Vihear campaign.

"Mr Veera is leading the campaign so any talks should be conducted with him," he said after the clashes.

Earlier, Gen Anupong said he doubted the PAD's campaign to enter the restricted area would do any good to themselves or the country.

"They will put themselves in danger if they sneak into areas which are not yet clear of landmines. And if they are arrested, Cambodia will accuse us of encroachment," he said.