Friday, September 28, 2007

Burma - they are killing Buddhist monks!!!

Lifted this from Susan at EBC It's just a disgusting situation.
Buddhist monks have been leading protest marches in Burma against the military government's approach to human rights and democracy - ie., they don't allow either. Aung San Suu Kyi is still under house arrest despite being elected to lead a democratic government in 1990.
The monks leading this current protest are now being killed by police and military. At least two have been beaten to death and another shot. How many will be killed before this is over will probably never be known because.....

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association are outraged by the measures adopted by the military junta to prevent journalists and activists covering the on-going crackdown on protests. Most of the country’s mobile phone lines have been cut and the Internet network has been drastically reduced. Charges by police and troops on demonstrators in Rangoon, especially near the Shwedagon pagoda, have left several dead, while dozens of people have been arrested and injured.

"The generals have not hesitated to use force to repress peaceful demonstrations widely reported in the international press," the two organisations said. "Knowing it is protected by China and the international community’s impotence, the junta has cut the country off from the rest of the world in order to better crush the nascent saffron revolution. We appeal to the international press to step up its coverage by trying to get journalists into the country so that this dramatic situation is not played out behind closed doors."

At 3 p.m. today, the military authorities disconnected most of the country’s mobile phone lines, preventing journalists and demonstrators from reporting on the crackdown launched by the security forces in the heart of Rangoon. Several journalists have been injured today, including Than Lwin Zaung Htet of the magazine The Voice.

The authorities have closed Internet cafés in Rangoon while the government-controlled Internet Service Provider, Bagan Cyber, reduced Internet traffic speed. It is getting harder and harder to send or receive photos and videos sent from Burma. Dozens of foreign journalists have been refused tourist visas by the Burmese embassy in Bangkok.

Burmese blogs, websites and Internet cafés have been closed for the past few days, while it is becoming increasingly difficult to call Burmese mobile phones from abroad, especially to Ba Maw, Mandalay and Myitkyina.

1 comment:

Sudeaux Lux said...

The whole Suu Kyi, monks protesting problems in Burma absolutely breaks my heart.