Regional stability and Burma’s human rights situation

Monday, 28 February 2011 17:11 Thea Forbes (Mizzima) - The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, said last week that Burma’s lack of human rights is placing a heavy burden on regional neighbours who must deal with refugees. UN special envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana, right, held talks with Tin Oo, center, and six other senior leaders of the opposition party, the National...

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Writer Maung Pe Nge, imprisoned by Ne Win, dies

Monday, 28 February 2011 20:43 Ko Pauk New Delhi (Mizzima) – Funeral services for writer Maung Pe Nge, 67, who was imprisoned for writing about Burmese Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) Chairman Ne Win, were held on Sunday at Yeway Cemetery in Rangoon. The cover of 'Yanaung Maung Maung Toke', which led to writer Maung Pe Nge's torture and imprisonment. Maung Pe Nge aka Tin Pe suffered from hypertension,...

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Karen petition urges UN to take action against junta

Monday, 28 February 2011 17:43 Ko Wild Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A petition signed by 84,000 Karen has been sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to take action against the Burmese junta’s violation of human rights and military campaigns against the Karen people. Officials of the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army at the Karen National Day ceremony. The KNU, which has been fighting...

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Upper, Lower houses prepare for regular business

Monday, 28 February 2011 12:59 Ko Wild Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burmese lawmakers will begin the business of organizing the new Parliament’s separate houses on Tuesday, establishing committees, preparing to introduce bills and submitting proposals, according to lawmakers. Lawmakers and others gather before a meeting of the Burmese Union Parliament in Naypyidaw. The Parliament is in recess on Monday....

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Bomb blast in Insein injures eight people

Monday, 28 February 2011 12:40 Mizzima News Rangoon (Mizzima) – A bomb explosion in Insein Township, apparently accidentally set off on Sunday, injured eight people including two children, a police officer said. Aftermath of Insein Aungzeya bomb blast The bomb exploded in front of a betel nut shop in the Aungzeya Housing Complex on Strand Road in Insein Township in Rangoon Division at about 7 p.m. Police said a man identified as Zaw Min Than apparently carried a bomb and it exploded while he was buying betel nut. A second unexploded bomb was...

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Fighting intensifies between the regime and Shan

Monday, 28 February 2011 12:34 Jai Wan Mai (Mizzima) - Two armed clashes took place between the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) and Burmese troops along the Burmese-Thai border last week in the area of Mong Tone Township, part of a strategy to drive a wedge between the SSA-S and the United Wa State Army (UWSA), observers say. Shan State Army-South troops in formation for parade review. Photo : Mizzima During...

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Suu Kyi supports expansion of ILO in Burma

Friday, 25 February 2011 19:08 Myo Thant Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burma's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was briefed by an International Labour Organization (ILO) team in Rangoon on Friday led by Executive Director Guy Ryder. Guy Ryder, the deputy director general of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), meets with Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her home on University...

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Woman reportedly changes story in Dunkley case

Friday, 25 February 2011 16:48 Thea Forbes Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The facts surrounding the alleged assault case brought against the detained Australian co-owner of the Myanmar Times, Ross Dunkley, remain shrouded in rumour. After a hearing in the Kamayut Township Court in Rangoon, Australian journalist Ross Dunkley, the founder and co-owner of the Myanmar Times, is seen before he enters a car...

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A gambling-addicted family commits murder-suicide

Friday, 25 February 2011 13:38 Kyaw Kha Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A couple and their daughter who were all found dead on Tuesday in their home in Gyobingauk Township in Pegu Division were victims of a murder-suicide, according to authorities. A legal lottery vendor in Rangoon. Burmese love to gamble, and illegal lottery vendors are located throughout the country. Photo : Mizzima Ti Pwar, 39, and...

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UEC members nominated; Supreme Court judges approved

Friday, 25 February 2011 12:58 Ko Wild Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – President Thein Sein nominated six persons to be members of the Union Election Commission (UEC) on Thursday, during the 12th session of the joint Parliament in Naypyidaw. The massive new Parliament buildings and other government buildings in Naypyidaw. Photo : Mizzima The nominations include Aung Myint, Myint Naing, Dr. Myint Kyi, Thar...

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Junta sends more tanks to Kachin State

Friday, 25 February 2011 18:14 Phanida Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Burmese junta has sent at least 200 troops to Kachin State this week as reinforcements, said the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and local observers. Observers said that about a dozen junta tanks arrived at Infantry Battalion on No. 58 based in Bhamo in Kachin State on Tuesday, according to the KIO. The KIO, which is fighting for equality and self-determination, signed a cease-fire agreement with the junta in 1994. Recently, KIO rejected the junta’s Border Guard Force...

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Parliament takes a one-day recess

Friday, 25 February 2011 16:07 Ko Wild Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Union Election Commission nominees Aung Myint, Myint Naing, Dr. Myint Kyi, Tha Oo, Win Kyi and Nyunt Tin were approved by a joint session of Parliament on Friday. A file photo of the new Burmese Parliament complex in Naypyidaw, the capital. Photo : Mizzima After a 20-minute session, the Parliament announced a recess, according to members...

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Tay Za, injured, arrives back to Rangoon

Thursday, 24 February 2011 20:02 Phanida Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burmese business tycoon Tay Za, who was stranded on ice-covered Fukanrazi Mountain in northern Kachin State for three days, arrived back home in Rangoon on Thursday, said a source close to his family. Burmese Business tycoon Tay Za in front of a Bagan Airways craft in Rangoon. Along with five associates, he was stranded on a snow-capped...

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Former publisher, appearing healthy, attends court hearing

Thursday, 24 February 2011 18:10 Te Te New Delhi (Mizzima) – Ross Dunkley, the Australian founder and a co-owner of the Myanmar Times, appeared in Kamayut Township Court in Rangoon on Thursday on charges of violating immigration laws and reportedly assaulting a Burmese woman. Ross Dunkley, the founder of The Myanmar Times, is seen here before he entered Kamaryut township court on Thursday. Dunkley...

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Fleeing forced recruitment, young Kachin head to KIO bases

Thursday, 24 February 2011 14:08 Phanida Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Because of  the Burmese junta’s forced military recruitment, about 100 young Kachin sought refuge in a military base of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) this week, according to a KIO officer. The Kachin Independence Army is reinforcing its militia and its army is preparing for battle with the Burmese military regime....

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Five given prison terms in Water Festival bombings

Thursday, 24 February 2011 11:59 Myint Maung New Delhi (Mizzima) – The Ahlone and Kamayut township courts have handed down prison terms ranging from two to 11 years to five people arrested following the bomb explosions during the Water Festival in Rangoon in April 2010, sources said. A series of three bomb explosions at the Water Festival in Rangoon killed eight people and wounded 94 others in April...

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Tay Za group rescued from mountain

Thursday, 24 February 2011 13:01 Mizzima News Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – After three days of exposure to the elements on a snow-capped mountain, Burmese business tycoon Tay Za and five companions were rescued by a special military team on Thursday. Burmese businessman and junta associate Tay Za. Photo : Mizzima There were reportedly no injuries, and the group was in good condition. The party was...

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Film director arrested for alleged drug possession

Wednesday, 23 February 2011 15:02 Tun Tun New Delhi (Mizzima) – Nyo Min Lwin, a Burmese film director, was arrested in Bahan Township in  Rangoon on Wednesday, reportedly after police found amphetamine pills in his possession, according to Bahan Township police authorities. A police officer in the Bahan Township Police Station told Mizzima that Nyo Min Lwin had been transferred to the Ahlone Township Police Station. However, Nyo Min Lwin’s wife denied that her husband had been arrested. She said that he has been on a trip. When Mizzima...

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Burmese tycoon Tay Za stranded on mountain

Wednesday, 23 February 2011 15:00 Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A major rescue effort has been mounted to aid Burmese businessman Tay Za, a close associate of key junta generals, who is stranded along with as many as eight other people on top of a snow-capped mountain. Burmese tycoon Tay Za, who is a business associate of Senior General Than Shwe and the owner of the private airline Air...

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Thailand tightens control of Burmese groups on border

Wednesday, 23 February 2011 13:09 Kyaw Kha Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The BBC Burmese Service has reported that the Thai government is clamping down on armed Burmese ethnic groups and political opposition groups in Tak Province, Thailand. Burmese float across the Moei River near the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge at the border of Mae Sot, Thailand, and Myawaddy, Burma. The bridge has been closed since July...

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US diplomat, Suu Kyi talk about US aid

Wednesday, 23 February 2011 18:48 Mizzima News Chiang Mai (Mizzima) —  The New York Times reported on Wednesday evening that the top U.S. diplomat in Burma has begun to explore what kind of aid the US could give the military-ruled nation in talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met on Tuesday with Larry M. Dinger, the US charge d’affaires...

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Nai Htar Wa Ra, Mon leader, dies at 55

Tuesday, 22 February 2011 21:02 Kun Chan    Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Nai Htar Wa Ra, 55, a leader of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) who suffered from diabetes and hypertension, died suddenly on Tuesday morning. A central executive committee member, party officials said he died at party headquarters in southern Mon State. ‘His heart was also weak. In the early morning, he could not breathe well, and he died about 2 a.m.’, said Nai Tala Nyi, a NMSP central executive committee member. On Sunday, Nai Htar Wa Ra presided at a ceremony...

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Supreme Court judges nominated; Lun Maung new auditor general

Tuesday, 22 February 2011 18:50 Myo Thant Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burmese President Thein Sein nominated six people as judges of the Union Supreme Court in a joint session of Parliament on Tuesday. The Burmese Parliament in Naypyidaw will take a rare break on Wednesday to allow lawmakers more time to study nominees, according to lawmakers. The Parliament has met each day in a process to form new...

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Lack of information, short sessions upset lawmakers

Tuesday, 22 February 2011 12:56 Ko Wild Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The latest round of Parliament sessions, devoted to forming the new government, have each lasted only a matter of minutes, and some lawmakers are asking, ‘What’s going on?’. The Burmese Union Parliament is rushing through the formation of a new government in short, 15-minute sessions, leaving many lawmakers with what they say is incomplete...

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KIO, preparing for war, urges people to join militia

Tuesday, 22 February 2011 12:50 Phanida Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Young people, adults and ex-servicemen were asked to serve in the Kachin People’s Militia during a meeting of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) on Monday. A lone Kachin soldier stands guard. Since October last year, Burma has been moving toward a state of civil war, with fighting between the regime and armed ethnic rebels...

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Chief Justice, High Court of Rangoon, approved

Monday, 21 February 2011 19:49 Mizzima News New Delhi (Mizzima) – The chief justice and a panel of six member judges of the High Court of the Rangoon Region were nominated  and approved on Monday by the Rangoon Regional Assembly. The old parliament building in Rangoon on Pyay Road, which is used to hold the Rangoon Division Assembly. (Photo: Mizzima) Chief Minister Myint Swe asked...

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Burmese, Thai activists March for gay, lesbian rights

Monday, 21 February 2011 20:31 Kyaw Kha Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – About 500 Burmese and Thai homosexual activists staged a protest against discrimination against gays and lesbians in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Sunday. Gay, lesbian and transgender people from Burma and Thailand demonstrated for their human rights on Sunday in Chiang Mai, Thailand. (Photo: Mizzima) The demonstration, organised by Thai...

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KIO arrests nearly 1,000 people in anti-drug campaign

Monday, 21 February 2011 21:45 Phanida Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Under a wide ranging anti-drug round-up and campaign, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) has arrested 981 drug users, according to a KIO officer. Opium poppy growing in a cultivated field in Tanai Township in southern Kachin State. (Photo: Mizzima) The drug eradication campaign started in October and most of those arrested were...

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Lun Maung nominated as auditor general; Tun Shin is new attorney general

Monday, 21 February 2011 18:10 Myo Thant Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burmese President Than Sein nominated military auditor general Major General Lun Maung as Union Auditor General on Monday, in another government-building session of Parliament. In other business, Than Sein’s nomination on Friday of Dr. Tun Shin as Union Attorney General was approved in a joint session of Parliament. MP Khin Shwe, a United Solidarity and Development Party member, told Mizzima that Lun Maung, 62, is a native of Bamo in Kachin State. He won a Lower House seat in Bamo...

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Quintana meets Chief Justice in Naypyitaw

Thursday, 19 February 2009 00:07 Mizzima News New Delhi (Mizzima) – United Nations human rights envoy, Tomas Ojea Quintana, who travelled to Naypyitaw, Burma's new capital, on Wednesday met several Junta officials including the Chief Justice. An official at the Chief Justice's office said the meeting was on for about an hour from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. But, the official declined to give further details on the meeting. According to the UN office in Rangoon, Quintana also met Burma's Attorney General, Minister for Labour, Aung Kyi, Minister for Foreign...

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Rangoon Regional Assembly elects advocate-general, auditor general

Friday, 18 February 2011 21:56 Mizzima News New Delhi (Mizzima) – After nominations were made by Rangoon Regional Assembly Chief Minister Myint Swe, Kyaw Moe Naing was approved as advocate-general and Myint Aung was approved as auditor general, in unanimous votes. The new Burmese Parliament building in Naypyidaw. Photo : MRTV Kyaw Moe Naing is from Thingangyun Township, and Myint Aung is from...

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Tin Aye is EC chairman; Tun Shin nominated For Atty-Gen.

Friday, 18 February 2011 21:35 Myo Thant Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Retired Lieutenant General Tin Aye was unanimously approved as the chairman of the Union Election Commission by a joint session of the Burmese Parliament on Friday. In other business, President Thein Sein nominated Dr. Tun Shin to be Union Attorney General. The nomination must be approved by a joint session of the upper and lower houses. Tun Shin now serves as a deputy attorney general. He was a member of 2008 constitutional referendum commission, and he is on the European Union...

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