Nov 21, 2010

Irrawaddy: Internet cafes ordered to install CCTV – Zarni Mann

Rangoon authorities have instructed Internet cafe owners to install CCTV cameras within three days in order to monitor Internet users.
The order was issued after explosive devices were found on Wednesday in the Sky Net Internet Cafe, located near Rangoon City Hall.
“We were invited to the township peace and development council office and told that we must follow their instructions or our shop will have to close down. They will even do a surprise check,” said an Internet cafe owner from Alone Township.
“They said it is because of the bomb found on Wednesday,” he said.
The owners were told to keep the CCTV footage and report weekly to the township office.
“The township officer said we must be aware of people who are using proxy servers to surf the restricted websites, such as exile media and blogs. If we find someone doing this, we must take the user’s identity numbers and inform the authorities,” said the Internet cafe owner.
He said the Internet cafe owners did not want to follow the order because it will affect the privacy of their users and their relationship with customers.
“But we will have to install the CCTV, because we don’t want to be in trouble with the authorities,” he said.
Since the military government banned access to exile media websites and blogs which are reporting on human rights abuses, people inside Burma are using proxy servers to view the sites.
“Sometimes we also have to use the proxy to surf other foreign sites. For example, when doing a thesis on some topic, we need to look at the Internet. With CCTV cameras, we will not have any privacy when surfing in the net cafes,” said a student in Rangoon.
The military government has viewed Internet users as a threat to military control of information since the international community learned of the junta’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in 2008 through reports from private citizens posted on the Internet.
In Burma, surprise checks of Internet cafes and the issuance of orders to report on customers reportedly take place.
The authorities also post notices in Internet shops warning customers that accessing banned websites is against the law.

 This is not surprising that SPDC is now starting to make havoc at their own territory in order to take another a so called law of their own pocket's and they blame it on their rival politics so ashamed on their part in the other hand lets just pray that the democratic movement will not be blamed on this king of false accusation by the ever good for nothing junta.

Nov 19, 2010

Filipino solidarity activists urge Burmese junta to start genuine dialogue with opposition; reiterate rejection of 2010 polls

Filipino solidarity activists under the Free Burma Coalition – Philippines (FBC-Phils) held a rally in front of the Burma (Myanmar) Embassy (#152 Amorsolo St, Makati City, at the back of Makati Cinema Square) on wednesday, Nov. 17, 10:30am to welcome the release from house arrest of Burma's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and to reiterate rejection of the recently held national elections in Burma.

While joyful that the Burmese military regime has finally released Aung San Suu Kyi who has been kept under house arrest for 15 of the last 20 years, the FBC-Phils is quick in challenging the military junta to immediately start genuine dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition groups.

Egoy Bans, spokesperson of the FBC-Phils says, “we welcome the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, and indeed this is a positive development for the peoples of Burma. However, the junta must assure that this move is not just a ploy to ease away the international criticisms over their recently held national elections which we see as an utterly undemoractic practice because the junta obviously maneuvered all the electoral processes.”

He adds, “we challenge the junta to accept Aung San Suu Kyi's call for genuine political dialogue—a political dialogue where winners of the 1990 elections and the ethnic nationalities will be given equal powers, opportunities and freedoms to articulate their demands for the achievement of genuine national reconcilliation in Burma.”

Obviously, according to the group, the recently held Burma elections, the first in 20 years, is not the key in resolving Burma's complicated problems.

This election is just a cheap attempt to legitimize the military regime and institutionalize dictatorship in Burma, period. For us, unless the junta concedes to the demands for democracy, their reign to power will be forever conceived as illegitimate, “ explains the FBC-Phils spokesperson.

What the free burma coalition philippines is true  that the past election is full of fraud and it should not be recognize by the people of burma and the international communtiy

Nov 3, 2010

Activists urge ASEAN, UN to quickly act on Burma; see ‘zero democratic integrity’ on 2010 polls

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – With only 15 days to go before the scheduled November 7 multi-party elections in Burma, solidarity activists under the Free Burma Coalition – Philippines (FBC-Phils) today staged a rally in front of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) as part of the Global Day of Action denouncing what they call Burma's “military elections”.

To signify support to the broader movement of Burma activists calling to boycott the upcoming elections, activists brought a giant “X” mark to symbolise their opposition not only against the elections but also on the continued injustices still being committed by the ruling-military junta. The group likewise paraded flags of the ASEAN member-states urging them to support the call on the creation of a UN Commission of Inquiry to crimes against humanity in Burma.

FBC-Phils said that despite mounting international criticisms, the military regime of Burma until now is not showing significant indications that the elections will become free, fair and credible. Instead, according to the group, arbitrary arrests, harassment and continued detention of activists and ordinary people supportive of democracy including journalists are happening right now in Burma.

Earler this year, democracy groups around the world launched an international campaign calling for a UN Commission of Inquiry to crimes against humanity in Burma and challenged the regime to (3) three political demands that include the immediate release of all political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, cessation of hostilities against ethnic nationalities and an all-inclusive review of the 2008 Nargis-Constitution.

The Burmese junta has already ensured its victory by manipulating the processes of the elections from the drafting of the new Constitution, unfair provisions and restrictions of the election laws, and even through party registration and de-registration. This election, we can say has no democratic integrity and will not address the perennial problems of undemocracy, economic mismanagement and human rights violations in Burma,” Egoy Bans, FBC-Phils spokesperson said.

It’s time for the ASEAN and the UN to step up and send a clear message to the generals in Burma before this election becomes a political disaster. They should go beyond their usual rhetorics of diplomacy and constructive engagement and must do all things necessary to compel the military regime to democratize, “ Bans added.

Bans explained, “We denounce this election as undemocratic and an outright insult to democracy and justice. With more than 2,000 political prisoners still languishing in Burma's detention centers, military attacks against ethnic nationalities, a military constitution that doesn't reflect the genuine aspirations of the people for democracy and a 24/7 human rights violations in Burma, it is not so hard to assume that the sole interest of the ruling junta is to maintain its grasp to power.”

For inquiries, kindly refer to:
Gani Abunda: (+63)929-4109647, Egoy N. Bans (+63)920 9132472 c/o Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) +632 435 2900; +632 9110205