The year when the people of Burma again lost patience with their military rulers

Without them, the people of Burma wouldn’t have achieved the present political momentum which seems to be building toward a chance of democratic reforms. Without them, the pro-democracy movement wouldn’t have achieved the current international pressure that’s pushing the ruling junta to engage in a dialogue with the opposition. Without them, there would be no hope for a better future in 2008.

Who are they? They are the freedom-loving, compassionate monks, the pro-democracy activists, and the protesters, all of whom bravely joined demonstrations in August and September.

Their efforts and sacrifices have given Burma a real chance to take a few steps forward on the long road to democracy.

The September demonstrations were led by a small band of anonymous monks.

The Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks put the revolution on the right track, calling for basic political and economic rights, national reconciliation, the release of all political prisoners and an improvement in the living standards of the people.

The alliance issued several statements that served as guidelines for behavior, before and during the demonstrations. The alliance’s true leadership remains a mystery, but four monks were being sought by authorities. One of the four, U Gambira, was arrested in November, while the others remain in hiding.

The key to the mass demonstrations was a series of earlier small demonstrations in August led by members of the 88 Generation Students group, that brave band of seasoned freedom fighters.

Without their early efforts, the civil uprising may not have occurred.

Since 1988, they have devoted their lives to achieving democracy and their small demonstrations kicked off the peaceful marches, organized in protest against the junta’s sharp increases in fuel prices. Thirteen leading members of the group, including Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, were swiftly arrested and are still being detained in the notorious Insein Prison.

Leaders of the student group who escaped arrest continued to play a leading role while in hiding. For example, Htay Kywe and Mie Mie, kept organizing and talking to the media—until they were arrested in their hiding places in October. Others, such as Nilar Thein, Tun Myint Aung and Soe Tun, continue to work while in hiding. The 88 Generation Students group has posed the greatest threat to the powerful junta.

The National League for Democracy leadership, decimated by the junta, was unable to play a significant role in the demonstrations. However, its rank-and-file members across the country came into their own, playing a major role in demonstrations, supporting the monks and carrying on the fight in their towns.

Among the NLD members who played major roles in Rangoon, Su Su Nway, HIV/AIDS activist Phyu Phyu Thin and Naw Ohn Hla stood out. Su Su Nway was arrested in November while she was trying to paste an anti-government message on a billboard during the visit of the UN special rapporteur on human rights. Phyu Phyu Thin still works with the movement and her HIV/AIDs patients from her hiding place. An estimated 200 NLD members across the country were arrested during the demonstrations.

Some ethnic leaders also played prominent roles in the demonstrations, including Cin Sian Thang of the Zomi National Congress and Thawng Kho Thang of the United Nationalities League for Democracy, who were detained for weeks.

A large crowd of Burmese pro-democracy supporters applaud during a rally, one of hundreds held across the country in September [Photo: Thierry Falise/The Irrawaddy]

Protesters received important support from social workers and celebrities, all of whom helped to energize the public consciousness and send people out into the streets in support of the monks. 

Among the celebrities, the prominent comedians Zarganar and Par Par Lay again stood out by offering support to the monks and demonstrators. Both were detained for more than one month.

Compared to the 1988 nationwide uprising when about 3,000 demonstrators were killed, the September demonstrations were small. But their worldwide impact was enormous, because of the Burmese people’s use of media technology.

The world’s largest media corporations, CNN, the BBC and Al Jazeera, in effect, linked up to citizen reporters, many of whom passed along information while taking part in demonstrations. Al Jazeera established itself as the most watched network for its Burma coverage.

In retrospect, it took weeks for the world to see a picture of the 1988 demonstrations. But in September, photographs and video clips arrived within minutes of the start of demonstrations in cities such as Rangoon and Mandalay and more and more updated information flowed in by the minute.

Meanwhile, Burmese exiled media groups went into high gear, updating information and images on a round-the-clock basis. Web sites were overloaded with people seeking the latest news.

The media served as the people’s link to politicians worldwide. The junta had its soldiers and guns. The people had the media and the truth in words and pictures.

Without the constant media coverage, the pressure on the junta would not have been as strong.

Immediately after the junta’s troops opened fire on the protesters, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urgently dispatched special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Burma to seek talks between the generals and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. His second visit made small breakthroughs that may yet yield significant steps forward.

Also, prominent people like US first lady Laura Bush and Hollywood star Jim Carrey voluntarily made public appeals for support, helping to raise people’s awareness.

The world’s largest countries and political groups, including the UN, the EU and Asean, all spoke out calling for reconciliation and democracy. Some countries, including traditional junta allies, such as China and Singapore, took noticeably harder stands against the regime.     

Without international pressure, the junta would not have appointed a liaison officer to deal with detained opposition leader Suu Kyi and allowed her to meet the UN envoy and her party’s senior leaders for the first time in three years.      

Without democratic icon Suu Kyi, any talks involving a path to democratic compromise would appear half-hearted. Her stature extends beyond Burma’s domestic politics, and she has become the property of democracy movements worldwide.

Throughout the bloodshed and arrests, another important message came through: that the public anger was largely directed against the 11 members of the ruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council.

In accordance with the hierarchy of the military, Than Shwe is the man who called the shots. Without his green light, no one would have ordered the troops to open fire.

Because of the regime’s intransigence, new, tougher sanctions were imposed by the US, the EU, Australia and other countries, directed at business tycoons such as Tay Za and others who help keep the junta in power.   

Really, it all comes down to one man: Than Shwe is the junta; the junta is Than Shwe.

Than Shwe is the key. He is the only person who can open up the dialogue process. For now, he seems perfectly comfortable in his new capital, Naypyidaw, where he seldom sees the daily suffering of the people of Burma.

At least this time, the people’s suffering and anger were witnessed throughout the world, thanks to many brave citizens. The Irrawaddy acknowledges all the people who made sacrifices for freedom. They are all heroes of Burma’s 2007 uprising and many of them are featured on the following pages. 

Without them, there would be no hope at all.

Pro-Democracy advocates

The Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks

Describing themselves as The Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist Monks, the author of a widely distributed leaflet gave the military government until September 17 to issue an apology for its brutal suppression of demonstrating monks in Pakkoku by police, soldiers and pro-government paramilitary thugs. When the junta failed to apologize, the alliance urged all Buddhist monks in the country to hold a “patam nikkujjana kamma”—a boycott of alms from members of the military regime and its supporters. The call prompted tens of thousands of monks and civilians around Burma to stage the largest protest marches against the military government in nearly 20 years, calling for better living conditions for the people and national reconciliation.

Columns of monks and their supporters stage a march in September [Photo: Thierry Falise/The Irrawaddy]

When the protests began, no one knew the identity of the leaders of the monks’ alliance. However, the Burmese people heard from some of the leaders of the underground network when they gave telephone interviews to overseas radio stations. U Gambira, U Obhasa, U Khemeinda and U Zakada are now household names. All went into hiding when the crackdown began.

Unfortunately, in early November U Gambira was arrested at his hiding place in Kyaukse in central Burma. His brother and father were taken hostage in October in an exchange for U Gambira turning himself in. However, his brother and father have yet to be freed. The 29-year-old leading monk has been charged with treason by the Burmese junta, according to his family. The punishment for treason is a life sentence or death.

88 Generation Students Group

With Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, in a crippled condition, and with its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, still under house arrest, the junta appears now to regard the 88 Generation Students group as its greatest threat.

From the left: leaders of 88 Generation Students group Ko Ko Gyi, Min Ko Naing and Htay Kywe [Photo: AFP]

The group—led by outspoken activists like Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Min Zeya—is not a political party but a movement uniting the former students who were active in the mass uprising of 1988.

In the years since then, they have been harassed, imprisoned, tortured and denied a return to the studies so brutally interrupted in 1988. Yet their commitment to the task of creating a free and democratic society remains as strong as ever, to the anger of a regime determined to destroy their growing influence in Burmese life.

In the months leading up to the September demonstrations, they organized several popular civil rights campaigns that directly challenged military rule.

The September demonstrations grew from protests by members of the 88 Generation Students group and their supporters against sharp increases in the price of fuel and other essentials.

Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Min Zeya were arrested, and there were reports that they were suffering brutal interrogation in prison. Others fled—including Htay Kywe, Nilar Thein, Mie Mie and Tun Myint Aung—and carried on the struggle from their hiding places, encouraging the protesters through reports and interviews carried by international media.

A massive manhunt was launched by the authorities, and in October Htay Kywe and Mie Mie were seized. Human rights groups are concerrned about their fate.

Leading Activists

The September uprising was not a fight between Burman and Burman—it also involved ethnic people.

Zomi Chairman Cin Sian Thang [Illustration: Harn Lay/The Irrawaddy]

With little support from the leaders of the National League for Democracy, the September protests were mainly led by rank-and-file members of the NLD across the country. More than 200 NLD members were arrested nationwide, including elected representatives. Well-known women NLD members, Su Su Nway, Phyu Phyu Thin and Naw Ohn Hla played leading roles in the demonstrations.

The leader of the Myanmar [Burma] Development committee, Htin Kyaw, 44, was beaten by the military government’s hired thugs and arrested on August 25 after staging a protest in front of Theingyi Market in downtown Rangoon. Authorities had offered a reward of 500,000 kyat (nearly US $400) for his arrest.

Women activists play a large role in public demonstrations

Aware of the deterioration in the country’s socioeconomic situation, an independent politician, Amyotheryei Win Naing, 70, along with several friends, began distributing rice to poor communities in South Dagon, Rangoon. He was arrested on September 25 after offering food to monks before they set out to march. He spent one month in detention.

Celebrities

Comedian Zarganar

The musician Ye Lwin was also arrested. A leading personality from the cultural scene, poet Aung Way, escaped to neighboring Thailand.

Another well-known comedian and a former movie star, Par Par Lay, leader of Mandalay’s “Moustache Brothers” comedy troupe, was arrested after presenting alms to monks at a local monastery. He spent one month in Mandalay’s Ohbo prison before being freed. Zarganar, Kyaw Thu and Ye Lwin were also eventually released.

Comedian Par Par Lay

Around 25 American stars of stage and screen put their names to an appeal for UN action on Burma. Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson, Susan Sarandon, Dustin Hoffman and other leading actors followed the lead of actor Jim Carrey, who posted a message on the video-sharing Web site YouTube urging people to join a global campaign on behalf of detained Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Media

Firsthand news, photographs and video footage of the September demonstrations reached the world’s media almost instantaneously thanks to the work of a new breed of journalist—the “citizen reporters.”

They, in turn, had state-of-the-art technology to thank for getting the news out of Burma so rapidly. Even many demonstrators joined in the task.

Without their efforts, the repressive Burmese regime would have been able to carry out their bloody handiwork with greater confidence that the atrocities could be largely hidden from the outside world, as happened in the 1988 uprising.

Two pioneers in this new form of journalism were blog sites, Moezack and Ko Htike blogs. They provided a wealth of photos and video clips to the international media, especially Al Jazeera, which has now become a favored source of news in Burmese households.

International media picked up many stories and images from The Irrawaddy and the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). DVB’s TV broadcasts, launched on May 28, 2005, can be received via satellite in Burma.

News of the events in Rangoon and elsewhere was also beamed back into Burma via the shortwave broadcasts of the BBC, Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Voice of America (VOA). Their effectiveness was confirmed by the accolades handed out by an angry regime, which described the radios as “killers on the air waves,” and “saboteurs” who were “airing a skyful of lies.”

Reporting from Burma had a tragic side. Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai of the video agency APF News paid with his life.

In 1988, his death might have at first gone unnoticed. In September 2007 a “citizen reporter” caught it on film—showing Kenji shot at pointblank range and providing immediate evidence to the world of the brutality of the troops and police in suppressing the demonstrations.

UN, Asean, the International Community

The brutal suppression of peaceful demonstrations in Burma in September shook the world, unleashing outrage and condemnation by every government that cherishes freedom and democracy. In the US, the president’s wife, Laura Bush, joined the international campaign for democratic change in Burma, making personal telephone calls to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to tell him of the dismay felt by all Americans over the events in Burma.

Laura Bush, the US first lady [Photo: AFP]

The US Chargé d’Affaires in Burma, Shari Villarosa, added her outspoken views on the regime’s brutality in interviews with CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera TV, while Britain’s new ambassador, Mark Canning, took on the role of a reporter himself, informing outside media on the scenes of carnage he was witnessing in Rangoon.

Burma’s partners within Asean weren’t silent. Singapore’s elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew spoke for many within the group when he expressed his outrage at how the regime was suppressing dissent. He predicted the junta would not be long in power, citing not only its unpopularity but also its management of the economy, which he described as “rather dumb.”

Even China was unusually outspoken. It urged the junta to accelerate democratic reform and expressed support for the UN’s mediating role.

The UN’s role involved dispatching Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s personal envoy Ibrahim Gambari on two successive missions to Burma, preceded by a tour of several Asian capitals.

UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari [Photo: AFP]

Gambari did manage to retrieve something from otherwise fruitless trips—a statement by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, expressing her readiness to cooperate with the regime in bringing about a dialogue.

While the junta triumvirate gave Gambari the cold shoulder, his colleague who heads the United Nations Development Programme office in Rangoon, Charles Petrie, got the boot—ordered to leave Burma when his accreditation expires. His offence? His office had dared to issue a UN Day statement drawing attention to the “deteriorating humanitarian situation” in Burma.

It was a cruelly ironic end to Petrie’s time in Burma. Once accused of being too soft on the regime, the inoffensive, mild-mannered official was now an unwanted persona non grata. Gambari had been royally received in Burma in comparison to Petrie’s treatment.
 
Anti-junta Advocates

One unusual campaign attracted special attention—the “Panties for Peace” initiative launched by the Lanna Action for Burma, based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The organizers pointed out that Burma’s superstitious rulers believed that contact with women’s undergarments robbed a man of his powers. Women around the world rose to the challenge, dropped their drawers in the post and inundated Burmese embassies with parcels of feminine underwear.

Aung San Suu Kyi

Although some of her critics and Burma’s regime leaders maintain that Aung San Suu Kyi is no longer a relevant force in the country’s politics, she is still a symbol of political struggle in Burma and the generals cannot afford to ignore her. Governments may differ in their policy on Burma, but they all call for the release of Suu Kyi.

A portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi [Artist: Khin Maung Yin]

Burma’s military rulers, however, ignore her repeated calls for genuine dialogue. Yet the generals still find her useful when they want to showcase meetings they hope will deceive the outside world into believing progress towards dialogue is being made.

When Suu Kyi, daughter of Burma’s independence hero Aung San, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, members of her party declared that its leader and spokeswoman had become almost instantaneously the property of all the world’s pro-democracy movements and human rights organizations.

After 18 years, 12 of them spent under house arrest, she still has that iconic role, representing—like her fellow Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela—the strength behind an undying commitment to freedom and democracy.

Anti-democratic Forces and Their Associates

The Junta

Artist caricature of Than Shwe [Artist: Jim McNalis]

This fear of losing power, combined with advancing age, drives him to become more reclusive and out of touch with reality. Even his friends and overseas allies who are close to him now say the dictator (official age: 74) has become unpredictable and irrational. It’s just too bad that he still calls the shots and remains the nation’s figurehead.

Two years ago, Than Shwe made headlines internationally by relocating the capital to remote Naypyidaw in central Burma without informing the country.

During September’s bloody crackdown, the junta No 1 and commander-in-chief of the armed forces lived in his secluded Naypyidaw mansion, running the command center, enabling him to test his strength and the loyalty of the armed forces. Meanwhile, blood ran in the streets of faraway Rangoon.

The former psychological warfare officer might well be pleased that he made a timely decision to move the capital to central Burma in 2005, ahead of the uprising in Rangoon. It’s rumored that the decision followed a warning by Than Shwe’s astrologer that chaos loomed in 2007.

Despite ill health, the general continues to consolidate his grip on power and is outliving many of his contemporaries—notably one of his favorites, Prime Minister Gen Soe Win, who died in October. Than Shwe gave him a state funeral, a rare honor for a premier who served only a few years and who was reputedly behind the Depayin massacre in 2003.

Soe Win was succeeded by soft-spoken Gen Thein Sein, whose position as secretary-1 was taken over by Lt-Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo. The appointment of this battle-hardened, hard-line general is not good news.

Liaison officer Aung Kyi [Photo: AFP]

A retired major general, Aung Kyi found himself with new duties after Than Shwe appointed him to act as liaison minister in contacts with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi—a clever move to create breathing space and buy more time for his regime.

Gen Shwe Mann, tipped to take over the armed forces, remained joint coordinator of the army, navy and air force. Maung Aye, officially No 2 in the junta, is probably on his way out. His removal as head of the Myanmar Trade Council was a harbinger of his future fate.

Several loyalists continued faithfully to serve Than Shwe and his regime, including minister Aung Thaung, who was believed to have directed the actions of armed thugs and Swan Arr Shin forces during the August and September crisis.

Than Shwe himself is secure and probably doesn’t have many sleepless nights in his Naypyidaw fastness, even while his Fourth Burmese Empire sinks further into the abyss.

Hired ‘Hit Men’

The hired thugs who helped police and troops break up the September demonstrations were mostly members of two regime-backed organizations, the Union Solidarity and Development Association, or USDA, and the Swan Ah Shin, whose name means “Capable Powerful People.” Capable? Certainly capable of appalling brutality. And certainly powerful, thanks to the support of the regime, which calls the two groups “social organizations.”

A security officer tries to arrest Su Su Nway, in blue, during a Rangoon demonstration in August [Photo: DVB]

The USDA was founded in September 1993 by top military leaders of the State Peace and Development Council. Swan Ah Shin first came to prominence in 2003, when it was linked to the attack on democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a convoy of her supporters in Daypayin.

Hitler’s storm troopers wore brown shirts, the militant supporters of Italy’s Mussolini turned out in black shirts. The Burmese regime’s equivalent of these fascist thugs wear white shirts, above dark green sarongs.

Otherwise, there’s not much difference between them. Their aim was, and is, the same—to enforce obedience to the state through violence and intimidation.

There’s no shortage of recruits, who receive between 2,000 and 2,500 kyat (US $1.50 and $1.88) per day and food, a very attractive proposition for the ex-cons and other criminal elements who eagerly joined up when the regime rooted around for help to smash the September demonstrations.

Business Cronies

After the junta’s brutal crackdowns on peaceful demonstrators in September, Western democracies—the US, EU, Canada and Australia—clamped sanctions on Burmese military officials, their family members and business cronies. 

Tay Za, CEO of Htoo Trading Co Ltd [Photo: AFP]

After the US imposed its targeted sanctions—including freezing bank assets—on September 27 and October 19, one of the junta’s cronies in particular, Tay Za, has seen his businesses suffer economically. His airline, Air Bagan, has been forced to suspend its flights from Rangoon to Singapore since November 4. An official of Air Bagan said in a statement to partners that the flights had been grounded due to the US sanctions. 

Although the US has stepped up its sanctions on the Burmese regime by targeting businesspeople known to have close links with the junta, several of the generals’ friends and accomplices avoided sanctions. 

Business cronies not on the list of US-targeted sanctions include the following:

Tun Myint Naing, CEO of Asia World [Illustration: Harn Lay/The Irrawaddy]

Zaw Zaw of Max Myanmar Co, agent for construction projects at Naypyidaw

IGE Co Ltd’s Nay Aung and Pyi Aung, sons of Industry-1 Minister Aung Thaung

Chit Khine, founder and managing director of Eden Group Co Ltd

Aung Myat of Mother Trading

Win Lwin of Kyaw Tha Company

Win Aung of Woodland Co Ltd

“Dagon” Win Aung of Dagon International Co Ltd

Nay Win Tun, CEO of Ruby Dragon Jade & Gems Co Ltd

All profiles were written by The Irrawaddy reporters