Activist grabs torch, 25 busted in street battles with cops
Guardian (UK) Apr 6, 08 7:55 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Despite massive security, London erupted today in a series of protests along the route of the Olympic flame relay, and a "free Tibet" protester managed to grab the torch before police wrestled him to the ground, reports the Guardian . At least 25 protesters were busted as scores of police grappled with activists demonstrating against China's human rights abuses.
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OPINION
Oppressed Chinese, Tibetans demand no less, French philosopher says
New Republic Mar 27, 08 6:33 PM CDT
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The West must take a stand against China's human-rights abuses by boycotting the Summer Olympics, French philosopher Bernard-Henry Levy insists in the New Republic . Otherwise, athletes will compete in “stadiums stained with blood.” China was supposed to cease its worst behavior, but it’s done the opposite: A pre-Games cleanup has meant expelling the urban poor, demolishing working-class neighborhoods, and jailing even more dissidents.
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April 6 stop in London will test police readiness, set tone for rest of tour
Times (UK) Mar 21, 08 2:38 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The Olympic torch will pass through London on April 6, meeting major protests over China's human-rights abuses in Tibet and other causes. The visit will test how disruptive political forces could be on the Summer Games—and how well British security forces are preparing for the 2012 London Olympics, the Times of London reports.
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State Dept. report drops China from top 10 worst abusers despite poor record
New York Times Mar 12, 08 10:26 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The State Department has taken China off its list of the world's 10 worst human rights abusers, the New York Time s reports. China's human rights record "remained poor," the department's annual report said, with abuses including "extrajudicial killings, torture, and coerced confessions of prisoners." Officials declined to explain why the country was dropped from the list or whether it had anything to do with the Beijing Olympics.
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Suspicion falls on military junta, allies
Reuters Feb 14, 08 11:51 AM CST
(Newser)
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One of Myanmar's top rebel leaders was shot dead in his home in Thailand today, Reuters reports. Mahn Sha Lar Phan was the secretary-general of the Karen National Unit, the largest rebel group in the former Burma. His son, another senior leader, immediately blamed the attack on a splinter group allied with Burma's ruling junta.
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Info-starved population gets creative to bypass government's gags
Christian Science Monitor Feb 13, 08 1:17 PM CST
(Newser)
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Never shy about censorship, Burma has cracked down even more since September's monk uprising—no small event in a country that ranks 164th out of 168 on the Press Freedom Index. But information-starved citizens are finding creative ways to circumvent an extreme government that bans even benign news about soccer team losses, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
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Opposition leaders dismiss move as 'public relations spin'
Reuters Feb 9, 08 4:00 PM CST
(Newser)
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The military junta in Burma said today the nation will have multiparty, democratic elections in 2010, Reuters reports. Opposition leaders greeted the decision with a heavy dose of skepticism and charged that even if the vote goes through, the military will not release its grip on power. The regime has been under heavy international pressure for reform since its violent crackdown on protesters in the fall.
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Offensives in remote ethnic areas 'far worse' than urban crackdown
Associated Press Jan 4, 08 5:56 AM CST
(Newser)
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Tensions have eased in Burma's cities since the September crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, but aid groups and rebels say brutal atrocities continue in remote areas far from media scrutiny, AP reports. Government forces are murdering, raping and burning their way through ethnic minority areas, according to reports. Villages have been destroyed and many thousands of people displaced.
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OPINION
Congress closing loophole as a first step
New Republic Dec 18, 07 7:24 PM CST
(Newser)
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Congress is moving to close a loophole in a law that forbids the sale of rubies from Burma, but the measure comes too late for the holiday shopping season, writes Marin Cogan of the New Republic . That means US shoppers—unless they take pains to question their jewelry shop's policy—will be helping prop up the military junta that only months ago brutally cracked down on protesting monks.
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Government 'lying,' rights group says
CNN Dec 7, 07 1:30 PM CST
(Newser)
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The quashing of pro-democracy demonstrations in September was significantly bloodier than the Burmese junta claims, says a Human Rights Watch report released today. Although the government acknowledges only 10 deaths during the suppression of the protests, 20 killings have been verified by eyewitnesses in Yangon alone, and the rights group projects a much higher total, CNN reports.
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Amnesty frees over 8,500, though uncertain if they include protesters
Associated Press Dec 4, 07 3:29 AM CST
(Newser)
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Burma's military junta has freed 8,585 prisoners but it's not clear if any of those arrested in September's crackdown are among them, AP reports. Burmese state media said the amnesty was to mark progress on drafting a new constitution, and a gesture to the United Nations. Similar amnesties in the past have freed common criminals rather than political prisoners.
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US official calls junta's progress 'demonstrably inadequate'
Guardian (UK) Nov 14, 07 2:00 PM CST
(Newser)
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Burma's military junta has continued to detain protesters even as a UN human-rights investigator visits to probe September's crushed uprising, the Guardian reports. Three men distributing pro-democracy leaflets in a Rangoon market were arrested today; a leading female activist was detained yesterday as she posted fliers near the investigator's hotel—raising doubts about progress reported by a previous UN visitor.
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Demands 'full cooperation' from
junta or 'I'll go out'
Associated Press Nov 11, 07 6:19 PM CST
(Newser)
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A UN inspector landed in Burma today to tally the junta's detained and dead protesters, the AP reports. And he vowed to leave if officials don't give him "full cooperation." So far, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro has met with officials and visited a town where the junta targeted monks in its September crackdown. He also plans to visit prisons and detention centers in his first visit to Burma in four years.
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