Update: On the Hunt for Karen Leader's Killers

According Mizzima News, Thai Police are one step closer to finding the assassins of Mahn Sha, sectary general of the KNU. Mahn Sha was gunned down at his home in Mae Sot Thailand earlier this month. It is believed that the gunmen were members of the DKBA ( Democratic Karen Buddhist Army). The DKBA split from the KNLA in 1994.

Link to full article.
http://www.mizzima.com/MizzimaNews/News/2008/Feb/46-Feb-2008.html

Darfur x3

I'm not sure where I was when I saw it or read it or glanced it in an email, but it really made me mad. It was another Hollywood star talking about Darfur this and Darfur that. He/She/It was spouting off the horrors of Darfur and the evil China. I'm not disputing what they said was wrong. I more than agree the situation in Darfur is horrible, but it is not the only living hell in this world.

Imagine...
A situation like Darfur only 3x in size...
3x the rape, murder, famine and abuse. 3x the burnings, broken family's and IDPs.
And all this killing and destruction is done by an evil ruthless military junta backed by and large Communist country named China. Oh no!! Why, you would say," that's something that should be on the news." or "that's a terrible thing! I wonder what Bill O'Reilly is going say about that."

Well folks this is a real story and it's been going on for 60 years! There's been few Hollywood stars, prancing around the globe telling you how it can end. Few news stories in Time or Newsweek. Fox News doesn't even know where it is on the map.

How can a story like this go unseen and unheard? Easy. There's no 5 star hotels and nightclubs on the Thai/Burma border, just a few guest houses. You can't hop a helicopter and visit a village. One has too trek in on foot or cross the river, both are very dangerous.

Sadly, this is how media and world works. They only want to be concerned and help if it's convenient.

For the news groups that will travel and the NGO's ( I work for one) and Hollywood stars that have gone into
Burma and spoken out. Kudos. You've proved your better than your colleagues and actual might be human.

From the Irrawaddy

Thai Army Raids Burmese Opposition Groups in Mae Sot
By VIOLET CHO
Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Thai security forces raided the homes of three top Karen National Union leaders and the office of one Burmese student group on Tuesday in Mae Sot. The purpose of the early morning raid was not clear.

Thai soldiers and police, arriving in four vehicles, entered the homes of KNU leaders Padoh Myat Maung, an administrator; Lt-Col Paw Doh; and KNU Commander in Chief Mu Tu.
They also raided the office of the Karen University Student Group on the outskirts of Mae Sot, a center of exiled Burmese opposition groups since 1988. None of the leaders or officers of the student group were arrested.

Gen Mu Tu is believed to be on a hit list, following the assassination of Mahn Sha, the general secretary of the KNU, who was shot in his office in Mae Sot by unknown gunmen in February.
Following the raid, security forces took away more than 20 people who had no refugee documentation. They were released a short while later after negotiations with the authorities.

Rumors spread through Mae Sot following the raid, causing many KNU leaders and others to speculate if there was a connection between the raid and the recent visit of Thai government leaders with junta Snr-Gen Than Shwe in Naypyidaw, the Burmese capital.

Burmese analyst Aung Naing Oo, who is based in Chiang Mai, said the raid was “suspicious” and could be linked to recent actions by exiled groups opposing the upcoming referendum on the Burmese constitution.

Many exiled groups and community organizations in Mae Sot began closing their offices for security reasons. Rumors circulated that there would be more raids.
Opposition group leaders in Mae Sot had predicted that security conditions would deteriorate prior to the referendum.

“The condition of the Burmese people in Mae Sot is getting more unstable now,” said one leader.
The raid occurred about two weeks after Thai premier Samak Sundaravej and a high ranking delegation made a “goodwill” visit to Burma which appeared to renew a cooperative policy that had been pursued by former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
After the visit, Thai Foreign Minister Nappadon Pattama offered to assist the regime in the May constitutional referendum process, if asked.

Later, Noppadon told a forum of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, “Quietly though slowly, we aim to turn this burden of proximity [with Burma] into a pragmatic opportunity for the sake of the people of Myanmar, our next door neighbor.”

Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group www.irrawaddy.org

Karen In Canada

Tormented Karen people trying to find peace
TheStar.com

Tormented Karen people trying to find peace



RICHARD LAUTENS/TORONTO STAR
Eh Wah, 19, lives in Toronto with her husband and their child.
March 12, 2008 Emily MathieuStaff reporter
For decades the Karen people, the largest ethnic minority in Burma, have been fighting for independence. During that time, they have been subjected to brutal violence by Burmese soldiers.
Thousands have fled into the jungle and as many as 140,000 have relocated to nine refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border. Many were born and spent their entire lives in the camps.
The total Karen population is estimated at 6 million to 7 million in Burma and about 400,000 in Thailand, according to karenpeople.org. Their roots are primarily in Karen State, an area of Burma demarcated into seven townships by the government, according to Human Rights Watch.
In 2006, in recognition of World Refugee Day, Ottawa started relocating about 800 Karen to Canada. In Toronto, community organizations have banded together to ease their transition.
About 200 have settled in the GTA, with many forming a community in an apartment complex on Jane St. near Steeles Ave. W. At least 200 more are expected to arrive this year.
With the interview arrangements and translation help of Wah Paw Lah, an outreach worker for Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services who studied at the University of Thailand and lived and taught school in a refugee camp, several Karen refugees talked about the lives they left behind and what they think about their new home and future. Access Alliance is one of several Toronto community groups that have banded together, dubbed the Karen Project Partnership Group, to ease their transition.

Eh Wah is 19 and spent most of her life inside a refugee camp.
She arrived in Toronto on June 18, 2007 and lives with her husband Moo Ray, 22, and their child Sae Kaen Kwee Pwai, about 16 months. Her husband received some schooling in the camp and both want to get more education in Toronto.

Eh Wah
Q: What has been the most surprising thing you have seen?
A: "The first time I went to a bank I was really surprised to see women working in an office just like men. ...
"When I first see them I think most are very sophisticated and have confidence in themselves....
"The women are very high tech and all use computers....
"When I see women who are educated I feel they are free women. If I have the opportunity to study child psychology and child minding that is what I would like to do."

Ma San Htoo
From age 7 to 14, Ma San Htoo hid with her family in the Burmese jungle, their only food whatever they could raise or catch. Her older sister, then 18, was killed by a land mine while trying to find her family. Her father had to bury her body in the jungle.
Now 46, she raised eight children in several camps, losing two more to malaria. She has been in Toronto since Nov 7, 2006.
Q: What is it like living at Jane and Finch?
A: "This area is infamous for killing but compared to my life before it's much, much better. So it's no problem for me.
"The jungle it was very dangerous so we were always moving place to place. We have to run all the time, looking around all the time for (Burmese) soldiers. ... If the Burmese soldiers see smoke they came.
"Everything is different for me here. ... Here I don't have to worry.
"The different things I like here is the snow. As long as there is no wind chill. So the snow is beautiful to me."

Ter Ri Say
Ter Ri Say, 23, was born in a refugee camp on the border of Burma and Thailand. He and his wife Ter Kaw Paw, 19, and child Htoo Htoo Paw Say (about 22 months) moved to Toronto on June 18, 2007.
Q: What are the biggest changes in your life?
A: "In the camp we have three seasons, rainy, summer and winter. Even in the winter we do not see the snow. ... In the camp it is really expensive to buy ice, but here it is everywhere."
"In the camp, we grow our own food. Here we have no space to grow the plants. ... Here there are many varieties of products. Most I have not seen before. It is really amazing. ...
"Chocolate is very strange for me. I never tasted it in the camp."
"In the camp when I look around I just see leaves and trees. Here when I look around I see electric lights and buildings."
"In our community and culture we are very friendly. Even if we don't know each other we can spend time with each other.
"But in this city, I dare not even visit my neighbour and they have not visited me."

New Logo for 2008 Games

Source: The Irrawaddy

www.irrawaddy.org

Fire on the River

March 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese military scorches border island – Maung Too

Burmese military troops set fire to an island in the Thaung Yin river
between Burma and Thailand yesterday, clearing huts built by illegal
settlers, locals said.

The mid-river island is located between the Burmese town of Myawaddy in
Karen state and Thailand's Mae Sot district.

A Myawaddy resident who watched the scorching of the island said Burmese
army soldiers, accompanied by the township police, burnt down huts built
by illegal settlers on the island at around 7am yesterday.

"The Burmese military personnel and the police went on to the island at
around 7am and cleared it by burning down the huts," said the Myawaddy
resident.

"They did not give any advance warning of the clearing to the settlers on
the island."

The small island, which occasionally provokes argument between Thai and
Burmese authorities because of questions over its ownership, is inhabited
for much of the year by smugglers of drugs and other illegal goods.

Sources from Mae Sot said that Thai officials went to the island after it
was cleared yesterday to check on its status, but that the Burmese
military’s actions did not seem to have caused any tension between the
authorities of the two countries.

Massacre in Karen State

Youtube video I put together with some pictures provided by KNLA and my CFI co-worker in Thailand, whom keeps me informed of news on the border and inside Karen State.

Beginning to See the Light

March 12, Independent Mon News Agency
Four Burmese soldiers defect to KNU - Mon Son

Discrimination, lack of promotion opportunities and employment benefits in
the Burmese Army has caused desertions and defection to the Karen National
Union (KNU), said four deserters.

Four Burmese soldiers deserted the Infantry Battalion IB No. 410 because
they were discriminated against in the military camp, said the soldiers.
They could not tolerate the maltreatment so they escaped from the military
camp, they added.

The four soldiers arrived at KNU brigade No. 6 wearing Burmese Army
uniforms on February 26, said KNU Captain Htat Nay in Three Pagoda Pass
(TPP).

According to the Captain, the defectors are from IB No. 410, Zaw Min Tun
(27) military identity 309279 with a MA4+79, Corporal Soe Tie Ha (24) MI
81887 with a MA1, Corporal Zan Tun Hlang (24) MI 127495 with a MA3 and
solider Tein Min Hike (25) MI 321642 with a MAG-420 and a M79.

Corporal Soe Tie Ha was arrested and recruited by the army when he was
only 14 years old and has been a soldier for 10 years.

"I think the soldiers look honest, they don't seem suspicious to us. Also,
we gave 30,000 kyat to each solider because they joined the KNU," KNU Army
Captain Htat Nay said.

The Captain said that the soldiers joined the KNU and wanted to fight the
Burmese military government. Nine Burmese soldiers defected to the KNU
last year while five soldiers joined this year.

"Many Burmese soldiers have been joining the KNU; however they have not
betrayed the KNU," he added.

The Wicked Witch is Dead??!!

March 12, Mizzima News
Than Shwe rumored to be hospitalized

Burma's Ministry of Information has brushed aside rumors that Head of
State Senior General Than Shwe's health is failing and that he is
currently hospitalized.

Rumors have been circulating Rangoon and among exile Burmese communities
that Than Shwe's health is deteriorating and that he is receiving medical
treatment at Rangoon's No. 2 Military Hospital.

A source close to the military establishment in Rangoon said, "I heard
that his health has been deteriorating for about a week."

Similarly, rumors are spreading among the Burmese exile community that
Than Shwe is suffering from colon cancer for which he is currently
receiving treatment.

The rumor is spreading rapidly via blogs operated by Burmese bloggers both
inside and outside the country.

Burmese bloggers have posted several messages claiming that Than Shwe has
undergone medical treatment for colon cancer at the No. 2 Military
Hospital in Rangoon.

While the information could not be independently verified, an official at
the Burmese Ministry of Information dismissed the rumor, saying, "No, he
is not hospitalized and he is in good health."

However Burma's military strongman has long been reported to be suffering
from ill-health and several important meetings, including the junta's
quarterly meetings, had been previously postponed due to speculation of
his fragile condition.

Another Award for the Junta

US Say Burma’s Human Rights Record Getting Worse
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Burma’s already bad human rights record got worse last year, the United States said Tuesday.

The Burmese military government committed extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, rape and torture, the US State Department said in an annual report on human rights practices around the world.

The report also said that Vietnam's crackdown on dissent has constrained civil society. In Thailand, the report said, the government was working to return to elected government after a 2006 coup and to investigate extrajudicial killings and disappearances.

The report said that unlawful killings in the Philippines "by elements of the security services and political killings, including killings of journalists, by a variety of actors, continued to be a major problem."

The government stepped up efforts to investigate cases, the report said, but "many went unsolved and unpunished. Concerns about impunity persisted."

Burma's military-run government killed and arrested pro-democracy protesters in September, drawing international criticism.

The report said that despite promises of dialogue, the government "did not honor its commitment to begin a genuine discussion with the democratic opposition and ethnic minority groups."

Burma has been military-ruled since 1962. The current junta seized power in 1988 and refused to honor the results of a 1990 general election won by the opposition.

Murder in the Markets of Mae Sot

March 5, Bangkok Post

Security beef-up after cop shot - Supamart KasemSecurity has been stepped up after a policeman was shot on Monday night onthe 10-rai of no-man's land on an island underneath the Thai-BurmeseFriendship Bridge in Mae Sot district.

A gang of illegal Burmese occupyingthe island are believed to be behind the attack on Pol Sgt Ake-kachaiBiewnoi. He was shot in the torso by a shotgun, who has not been found.The gang also threatened to burn Rim Moei, a Thai border market along theMoei river where the island is located, if authorities attempted to arrestanyone staying on the island.It was the third violent attack in less than 10 days on the island.

LastTuesday a forestry officer was abducted, robbed and physically assaultedby the Burmese gang. No one was hurt in a bomb attack on Friday night.In response to the calls by market vendors, Tak governor Chumporn Polarakyesterday met the provincial police chief, deputy commander of theNaresuan Task Force, the tambon Tah Sailuad mayor and market vendors towork out ways to ensure safety for tourists, vendors and locals.'

'We agreed to deploy more police, soldiers and village securityvolunteers to provide round-the-clock security on the island,'' said MrChumporn.A total of 250 security volunteers were recruited from border villages andreceived training from the military based in Tak.

Ten volunteers would bedeployed to provide security daily, he said.Security cameras and spotlights would be installed to cover all areasvulnerable to attack on the island and border areas. Security spotlightsare equipped with motion sensors which turn on when intruders try to slipacross the Thai border.The tambon municipality would also reinforce fences along the border

Photos From Freedom Clinic

Freedom Clinic

This is a photo of myself at one of CFI's Freedom Clinic inside Burma. I and few others brought in needed food and supplies. While I was there, I meet a family staying at the clinic who had traveled two days to get there. The man had lost his wife on the way. He and his two daughters were sick with marleria. I believe his wife died of the same on the way. There were many other patients there as well, and many waiting to get in.

The clinic is surprisely well equipped. It is powered by a generator fueled by solar power. I was told they can treat almost anything, outside of an organ transplant. Bullet and landmine injuries are common. Marleria and other jungle diseases are most prevalent. But more is needed.

The Karen Lose a Leader

Mahn Sha: The Compassionate Revolutionary
By Violet Cho

When news of the assassination of the Karen leader Mahn Sha broke, I was reminded of the advice he had once given me: “Use your journalistic skill to help poor people.”


Two years ago, I visited Mahn Sha at his office in Mae Sot on the Thai-Burmese border. In our conversation, his left-wing enthusiasm was evident. It was an enthusiasm that he wanted to pass on to a younger generation—“We want more young people who will work for the sake of their country and people,” he told me.

Mahn Sha was born in a small village in Pan Ta Naw Township, Irrawaddy Division, in 1943, son of a poor farmer. At that time, Irrawaddy Division had a very strong revolutionary movement, in which the Communist Party of Burma and the independent Karen National United Party (KNUP), vanguard wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), were prominent.

“This movement in Mahn Sha’s area influenced him to believe in leftist revolutionary politics,” according to Thamein Tun, a close associate from the early 1960s. “This could also have set his defining beliefs in building alliances across ethnic lines, his empathy with oppressed communities and his deep understanding of the daily suffering of poor farmers.”

A local KNUP leader noticed his potential and intellectual curiosity and helped him enter university in Rangoon, where he studied history.

During his university years, Mahn Sha became active in underground politics, distributing KNU statements and giving speeches. He was also involved in the student protests of July 1962, when Ne Win took power.

Mahn Sha joined the KNU in the jungle in the mid-1960s, working at first in media and public relations, areas where he showed talent. He was known as a man who believed in “criticism and achievement,” challenging the work and ideas of several Karen leaders.

In 1974 and 1986, Mahn Sha and other ethnic leaders travelled to the Chinese border to establish a joint military agreement with the Burmese communists.

On his return, he was demoted and sent to the frontlines by Gen Saw Bo Mya, a right-wing, anti-communist.

In 1988, Mahn Sha became personal assistant to KNU leader Gen Bo Mya, playing a key role in advising students who fled from the cities to the jungle after the 1988 crackdown, instructing them how to organize themselves and fight guerilla warfare. He was a key supporter of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF).

“A very important thing he did was to act as a bridge between Burmese democracy groups, translating and explaining the positions of KNU leaders,” said former ABSDF leader Naing Aung. “He would also spend a lot of time helping KNU leaders understand the political position of the democracy groups.”

Mahn Sha became general secretary of the KNU in 2000. He strongly promoted the idea of a federal constitution and supported the drafting process. He tried to practice democratic ideals, supporting independent media and free debate within community organizations.

Paul Sein Htwa, director of the Karen Environment Social Action Network, an independent environmental organization based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said Mahn Sha was “a model leader for the next generation.”

Sein Htwa said: “He always tried to give us time for suggestions and encouragement for the development of our work.” Many community and nongovernmental organizations felt the same way.

Win Min, an exiled political analyst, said: “He could have been a great future leader in a Burma with a federal government, as he was fully aware of ethnic and democracy issues. It was believed he could bring peace and understanding between democracy forces and ethnic nationalities.”

Mahn Sha was often uncompromising in his beliefs, particularly in his dealings with the regime and was frequently criticized for his strong positions on various political issues.

He could not stop the breakup of the KNU or unify the Karen movement. It must be remembered, however, that he was one of three KNU leaders.

The death of Mahn Sha is a great loss for the Karen and democracy movement. They can learn from the lessons of his life and his model of activism: building alliances, showing solidarity with other groups, his many small acts of kindness and his toleration of a civil society and debate.


Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org



-I was in Mae Sot a few weeks before he was shot. Mae Sot is a wild west town. It is truely a great loss for the Karen.

BackPack Medic

CFI Backpack Medic Fights to Save the Life a Karen IDP.

A Response to Hollywood's Burma

Christian Freedom International Calls for Universal Attention on Burma

Written by Melane Bower
Thursday, 07 February 2008 13:40

Rambo IV Portrays Burma’s Violence as Organization Delivers Aid in War-Torn Region

MYAWADDY, BURMA – Christian Freedom International (CFI), a U.S.-based humanitarian organization, is urging the global community to call on Burma’s government to end the ethnic cleansing violence that has caused the deaths of thousands of its own citizens, with thousands more swarming into refugee camps.

The challenge comes as one of Hollywood’s latest films, Rambo IV, is being released in theaters around the world -- a movie where its writer, producer, and leading actor, Sylvester Stallone, began work on the script shortly after the devastation of the September 11, 2001 U.S. terrorist attacks. In the early stages of the script’s development, Stallone consulted with Soldiers of Fortune magazine and asked one crucial question: where is the one place on earth where the worst atrocities are taking place and getting the least amount of attention?

The answer was Burma.

In the latest installment of the 20-year-old Rambo movie franchise, Stallone attempts to revive his protagonist character, John Rambo, where the Vietnam veteran is living a solitary, peaceful life in Bangkok, Thailand -- until the day he’s summoned to escort a group of Christian missionaries up the Salween River to deliver relief aid to war-weary refugees in Burma. When the missionaries fail to return from their trip nearly two weeks later, the veteran is once again approached by the missionaries’ pastor, who pleads for his help in locating the aid workers that have been kidnapped by the vicious Burmese army.

CFI anticipates that the movie’s recent release will draw more attention to the grim reality of the world’s oldest civil war, in a country where Karen and Karenni Christians have been especially suffering for decades. Since 1996, Christian Freedom International has built schools, orphanages and field hospitals, as well as provided food, medicine and Bibles for thousands of suffering Christians in Burma.
The organization has also remained as an active voice in the political arena on behalf of Burma’s refugees, and in recent months worked closely with the U.S. State Department to assist with the resettlement effort that is allowing many of the country’s exiles to begin new lives in the United States.

Although thousands of refugees are now living safely on American soil, thousands more remain in grave danger as they continue to flee from the Burmese army. CFI president Jim Jacobson is currently on location in Burma, delivering Bibles and urgently needed medical supplies to Karen and Karenni refugees.

Jim Jacobson, a former White House policy analyst during the Reagan administration, has frequently visited Burma to personally deliver aid -- and encouragement -- to displaced Christians in the region.

Rambo Trailer Below



After having been to Burma and talking with the KNU and others in the area and with my background with CFI, Stallone got it right. The situation in Karen State is aweful. Kudos to Sly for having the courage to make this film.

Life on the Run

Photos Taking by the KNU on the Burma side of the Moei River.