Burma's military moves to silence all opposition
BURMA'S military rulers have revealed their intentions to eliminate anyone who opposes their authority in the lead-up to the planned elections in two years time. Anyone who poses a challenge to the regime is being targeted in what maybe the biggest crackdown on dissent in Burma since the massive pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 which brought the country to a standstill for months before the army seized power in a military coup.
The courts in Burma have been very busy in the last few weeks, as hundreds of dissidents have been put away for decades. In the latest case earlier this week, fourteen leading Burmese political activists, including five women, from the 88 Generation Students group were each sentenced to 65-years in jail for their involvement in the monk-led uprising in Burma last year.
These jail terms are only the latest in a series of harsh sentences the Burmese authorities have doled out to many artists, activists, bloggers, journalists and lawyers in the past few weeks.
"The Burmese junta is clearly conducting a major crack-down on all dissent in the country," Zin Linn, a leading Burmese dissident and former political prisoner based in Bangkok told the Daily Star. "They want to silence all opposition before the planned elections in 2010," he said.
A military-controlled court, inside the Insein prison compound, sentenced the fourteen key student leaders to long prison sentences for their support of last year's mass protests, dubbed the Saffron Revolt, against increased fuel prices and rising food costs. Most of them had been detained before the brutal crackdown on the demonstrators in September 2007.
The United Nations says at least 31 people were killed when the former Burma's military rulers sent in troops to end the mass demonstrations led by columns of saffron-clad, shaven-headed Buddhist monks -- the biggest challenge to the military since it seized power twenty years ago.
The fourteen included Ko Jimmy and his wife, Nilar Thein, who had to abandon her four-month-old daughter when she went into hiding during the September military crackdown on the protestors. Nilar Thein was eventually arrested two months ago after being on the run for more than a year.
The sentences were handed down behind closed doors -- members of their families and the groups' defence lawyers were barred from the court. "Is this [65 years] all you can do?" one of the activist, Min Zeya, reportedly shouted at the judge.
Nine other leaders of the group, including the top three -- Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kyew -- were recently sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court. They continuously interrupted the court proceedings by shouting down the judge. They refused to accept the court's authority and insisted they would continue to oppose the judicial system using Gandhian tactics of non-violent civil disobedience.
Since the contempt of court conviction, the nine have been moved to Maubin prison in the Irrawaddy Delta, west of Rangoon -- an area devastated by the cyclone in May. "We fear they will now face harsh treatment at the hands of the authorities there, because it is more isolated and family visits much more difficult," a Burmese actvist, Khin Omar, based in Chiang Mai told IPS. "The conditions in the prison for political prisoners are getting worse and worse," she warned.
The group faces more charges in the coming days, with a further 20 members likely to be also given heavy sentences for the activities during the protests. "These convictions are only the tip of the iceberg," Benjamin Zawacki, the Burma officer for the UK-based human rights organisation Amnesty International, told the Daily Star. Most of them have been held for more than twelve months without trial -- and in some cases without being charged, he added. "This is probably only the start of a season of trials and convictions," he said
Many of the group's members were at the forefront of the mass pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988, and were tortured and given lengthy prison terms after the military coup twenty years ago. The activists resumed political activities after they were freed in November 2004, and have spearheaded the protests against the junta -- usually focusing on the country's deteriorating economy.
Many analysts believe that the junta fears the students even more than the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, which convincingly won the 1990 elections but was never allowed to form a civilian government. Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the last twenty years under house arrest in her home in Rangoon.
"They think they can handle the NLD, but they know they cannot control the students," said a western diplomat in Bangkok who deals with Burma. These sentences will leave them in prison well past the election.
Burmese courts have also been handing out harsh sentence to other dissidents this week. The prominent labour rights activist, Su Su Nway, was sentenced to more than 12 years in jail for her political activities. She served nine months in prison more than two years ago for her work to stop forced labour. Ten members of the NLD from Bogalay in the Irrawaddy Delta were also sentenced to between eight to 24 years in prison, according to an NLD spokesman, Nyan Win.
"These sentences are a clear signal to everyone that the regime will not tolerate any opposition in the lead-up to the elections in 2010," said Mr Zawacki.
The sentences for the 88 group came the day after the jailing of Burma's best-known blogger, Nay Phone Latt, for more than twenty years for publishing a cartoon of the country's top military leader, General Than Shwe on his website. His trial was also held behind closed doors in Insein prison special court; a well-known poet, Saw Wai, was jailed for two years after he published a poem mocking Than Shwe. Titled "February 14," it was published in the Ah Chit [Love] Journal. The first words of each line of the poem spelled out "Power Crazy Senior General Than Shwe."
In recent weeks, there has also been a spate of lawyers being convicted for contempt of court. At least ten lawyers who tried to defend these dissidents have ended up in prison -- either for challenging the court on their clients' behalf or because their clients had dismissed them because they were clearly unable to do their job.
"It's complete intimidation," said Amnesty's Mr Zawacki. "Lawyers are being punished for being the messenger. The lawyers are clearly being warned -- you must play by our rules and not any accepted rules of procedure," he said.
There are more than fifteen journalists -- reporters and photographers -- still in detention awaiting trial, according to the Burma Media Association. Most of them are accused of publishing material on the conditions in the cyclone-devastated area, and pointing out inadequacies of the relief effort. Several other bloggers are also awaiting trial.
"The sentencing of the 88 activists and the further arrests in recent days -- of journalists, bloggers and forced labour complainants -- is further evidence of the extent to which conditions in this country are deteriorating in terms of basic political freedoms," a western diplomat based in Rangoon said on condition of anonymity. "It clearly shows what we can expect in 2010," he said.
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