Burma

22 August 2007 -- The United States Wednesday condemned Burma's arrest of at least 13 activists who staged rare public demonstrations this week against government-mandated fuel price increases. The State Department accuses the military government in Rangoon of a "blatant" attempt to silence peaceful protests.

Public protests are rare in Burma, where the military government brutally repressed pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and killed an estimated 3,000 people.    » read more »

28 June 2007 -- The International Committee of the Red Cross has strongly denounced the government of Burma for major and repeated violations of human rights committed against civilians and detainees. The group is asking Burma to end the infringements of international humanitarian law.

ICRC spokeswoman for Asia and the Pacific, Carla Haddad, tells VOA the organization has run out of patience with the government's stonewalling. Therefore, she says, the ICRC is taking the rare step of publicly condemning the abusive treatment of citizens by Burma, which it calls Myanmar.    » read more »

June 19, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on the ongoing detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, on her 62nd birthday:    » read more »

19 June 2007 -- The U.N. Human Rights Council has overcome last minute objections by China and set new rules for investigating some of the world's worst human rights offenders. The compromises agreed on do not totally satisfy all council members, but they allow the body to end its first year of existence with a mandate to continue its work as the U.N.'s principle guardian of human rights.    » read more »

McConnell, Feinstein call for Renewed Sanctions against Burmese Junta

June 14, 2007 -- WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on Thursday called on their colleagues to quickly approve their legislation to renew sanctions against the Burmese government. In addition to Senators McConnell and Feinstein, the bipartisan bill, “The Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act,” has 57 cosponsors.    » read more »

14 June 2007 -- Agricultural officials in Burma say they have detected a new outbreak of bird flu among poultry.

Officials say the H5N1 strain of the virus has been confirmed at a poultry farm in Bago, around 80 kilometers north of Rangoon. Around 1,000 birds have been culled to prevent the spread of the virus.

Burma has reported several outbreaks of bird flu among poultry, but has not reported any cases among humans.

The World Health Organization says 190 people have died from the virus since the outbreak began in 2003, mostly in Asian countries.    » read more »

15 May 2007 -- Burmese authorities have arrested at least 39 supporters of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi before they could reach temples to pray for her release.

A spokesman for the opposition National League for Democracy and witnesses say the activists were arrested Tuesday in different areas around the former capital, Rangoon.

Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters began holding weekly prayer vigils on May 1.

The Nobel peace laureate has spent most of the past 17 years under house arrest. Her most recent term ends on May 27.    » read more »

15 May 2007 -- More than 50 former world leaders, including three former U.S. presidents, have called on Burma to free pro-democracy leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

In a letter to Burma's military leader, General Than Shwe, the signatories appealed for Aung San Suu Kyi's release before her most recent term of house arrest ends on May 27.

The letter was released Monday by the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights. It pointed out that the United Nations, the European Union and many other groups from around the world have also demanded Aung San Suu Kyi's release.    » read more »

U.N. officials call on Burma to free political prisoners

10 May 2007 -- United Nations -- More than a dozen international human rights experts are calling on Burma to release Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners.

The 14 U.N. special rapporteurs May 10 joined to call for the release of Burma's more than 1,300 political prisoners as May 27 -- the end of the current term of detention for Aung San Suu Kyi -- approaches.    » read more »

03 May 2007 -- A Christian human rights organization says that the Burmese army has executed a humanitarian worker who was providing assistance in Burma's Karenni State.

The Christian Solidarity Worldwide says Saw Lee Reh Kyaw was captured by Burmese forces on April 8. It says the aid worker was taken to army headquarters, where the group claims he was tortured and interrogated before being shot on April 10.

The aid worker was part of the humanitarian group Free Burma Rangers.

Two others were also captured in Karenni State, but their whereabouts are not known.    » read more »