Updates for Wed: Protest numbers were down to about 10,000 from 100,000 in Rangoon Wed. Riot police were set up at several points along the route, and they blocked off Shwedagon pagoda. Live rounds were fired over their heads. Many-monks and nuns-were beaten, tear gas was used, and between 100 and 300 of them were arrested. BBC is reporting one dead.
The monks strongly urged civilians not to march with them this day, though it is estimated that about 5,000 members of the NLD did. So....it could have been worse? However, the condition of the "bloody monks" is unknown, the general public is outraged that force was used against the Sangha, and the country is still far from freedom. The links below will take you to reports about yesterday's events. There are no videos of this, only pictures. There are no reporters in country right now, apparently. For this reason, it is still unknown what happened in Mandalay yesterday, and several other smaller towns where marchers numbered in the 10,000's, and crack down was expected. Regime violence will certainly be the most brutal where there aren't video cameras.
President Bush announced more severe sanctions against Burma today. Of course, sanctions have put factories and market places out of business, leaving tens of thousands to starve to death. The military is funded by China.AND it is rumored that Suu Kyi has been moved form her house to Insein prison. Insein can only be compared to , I don't know...hell.
Here is the copy of an AP article on http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/pm/weblog.php?id=P278
Burma regime planning to infiltrate demonstrations to spark violence
24 Sep 2007
Burma Campaign UK sources in Rangoon have reported that soldiers have been ordered to shave their heads, in possible preparation for infiltrating peaceful demonstrations. They would start rioting or attacking police, providing the regime with a pretext for a brutal crackdown on protestors. Sources indicate that soldiers from Light Battalion 77 in Rangoon have been given the order. Sources also report that the regime has ordered 3,000 monks’ robes from a factory in Rangoon. It is a tactic the regime has used in the past, including at the Depayin massacre in 2003, during which Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested. Regime militia dressed as monks were involved in the ambush which left up to 100 democracy activists dead. Despite the widespread expectations that the regime will use violence to suppress protest, the international community has been remarkably silent, with the French government being the only one to make a strong statement warning of consequences if the regime responds with violence. ASEAN has also expressed concern. “The regime has been held in check by the peoples’ respect for the monks andthe fact that the world is watching, but the scale of protests means they will be looking for options that allow them to justify a crackdown,”said Mark Farmaner. “The UN Secretary General and other world leaders must speakout and make it clear that a violent response in unacceptable. At the momentthe international community seems to be willing to watch from the side lines as the regime moves closer to a massacre. If the regime does attack protestors, this will have been one of the most widely predicted massacres in recent history, and makes a mockery any government’s claim to becommitted to human rights.”
1 comments:
pray, pray, pray, pray....
That is all that we can do now/
Mom
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