[Kabar-indonesia] Myanmar Crackdown Defies Int'l Pressure [+Time Magazine/Thai Coup]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: Time Magazine: Viewpoint: Dictators' Delight
[Thailand's coup sends a dangerous message to 
Asia's enemies of democracy [incl: Indonesia and 
the Philippines]; and Ousted Thai PM resigns as 
party leader

Agence France-Presse
October 3, 2006

Myanmar crackdown defies international pressure

Myanmar's oppressive military government is cracking down hard on political 
dissent in a bid to crush any public support for possible UN action against 
the 
junta, analysts say.

In the past week, the authorities have arrested six pro-democracy activists, 
going to their homes, ordering them to pack a few personal belongings, and 
then marching them off without a word on their fate to family or colleagues.

The arrests came in the same week that Myanmar was discussed at the 
United Nations Security Council, with the United States vowing to introduce 
a draft resolution on human rights abuses in the country formerly known as 
Burma.

"The military is well aware of the impact that a UN resolution can have, so 
basically it seems the military prioritizes internal security ahead of 
international punishment," Myanmar analyst Aung Naing Oo told AFP.

Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kywe, former student leaders who led a 
bloody uprising in August 1988 to demand an end to the military dictatorship, were 
detained last Wednesday.

All three have already spent more than a decade in prison for their protests 
against the military government, but no reason was given for their re-arrest.

Then on Saturday the authorities detained three more activists, including 
student leaders Min Zeyya and Pyone Cho.

The third was Myint Aye, a human rights activist and a former local leader of 
the opposition National League for Democracy, the party led by detained nobel 
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar watchers say the junta is cracking down ahead of this month's 
National Convention, a meeting aimed at drafting the country's constitution and the 
first step on the military's so-called "road map" to democracy.

"The people who were arrested command a lot of respect," said Aung Naing Oo, 
adding that the activists had been trying to establish dialogue with the junta 
and express concerns about aspects of the National Convention.

Debbie Stothard, of advocacy group Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, said 
that a combination of international pressure, low morale in the armed forces 
and a lack of funds were worrying the junta.

"They are feeling fragile and brittle and under attack so they resort to 
knee-jerk reactions to do whatever they can to suppress any public support for the 
UN Security Council activities," she said.

"(The arrests) are part of the regime's efforts to coerce statements of 
support for the upcoming National Convention," she added.

Stothard said that the regime felt emboldened by the backing of China and 
Russia, key trading partners who would likely veto any UN resolution on Myanmar, 
which has been under military rule since 1962.

"It should be a source of concern for Russia and China that even as Burma is 
included on the formal agenda, the regime seems to be so complacent of (their) 
support that they are eagerly cracking down on any potential sources of 
dissent," she said.

The United States has been pushing for more punitive action by the UN, 
arguing that drug trafficking, mounting numbers of refugees, rights abuses and a 
growing AIDS problem in Myanmar represent a threat to international peace and 
security.

The secretive regime is regularly criticized by governments and human rights 
groups over the treatment of political opponents, particularly Aung San Suu 
Kyi, who has been under house arrest for most of the past 17 years.

The United Nations confirmed Monday that Ibrahim Gambari, under secretary 
general for political affairs, would go to Myanmar in early November for talks on 
human rights and political freedoms.

But analysts are not sure how much he can achieve in the current climate.

"I'm not sure if he will be able to secure the release of these activists," 
said Aung Naing Oo.

Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners 
-- Burma, said the fate of the activists remains firmly in the junta's hands.

"I do not believe that they brought these leaders for discussion but they 
will force them not to do something they dislike, especially, not to criticize 
National Convention," said Bo Kyi, himself a former political prisoner.

"If they cannot force them, they will be given imprisonment for at least 20 
years."

--------------------------------------

Time Magazine
Issue cover-dated 
October 9, 2006

Viewpoint

Dictators' Delight

Thailand's coup sends a dangerous message 
to Asia's enemies of democracy 
[incl: Indonesia and the Philippines]

By Andrew Marshall

photo: Young blood: Children with soldiers during Thailand's "Soft
Coup". Philip Blenkinshop/Agence Vu

It was Thailand's 18th coup d'etat since 1932, bloodless for a change,
and its leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin was at pains to present it
as the kindest, cuddliest one yet a "soft coup," it's being called.
While smiling Thais handed flowers to soldiers, their Asian neighbors
had more somber anniversaries to consider. Eighteen years to the day
before the Thai coup, Burmese soldiers shot dead hundreds of
prodemocracy protesters in Rangoon; 16 years before that, late
dictator Ferdinand Marcos put the Philippines under martial law; and
another seven years earlier, a general called Suharto seized power in
Indonesia. Burmese and Filipinos, in particular, know what it's like
to have tanks on their streets. Why, then, do so many of them support
the Thai military's overthrow of Thaksin Shinawatra? The answer says a
lot about the state of politics and democracy in many Asian
countries?not much of it good.

Consider Burma, a dictatorship for almost half a century now. Ordinary
Burmese have long despised Thaksin as an enemy of democracy. He 
cozied up to the generals, and once famously described the detention 
of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as "reasonable enough." But 
ironically (tragically, really) ordinary Burmese who rejoice at Thaksin's
departure will share a sentiment with their own oppressive rulers.
Burma's generals will celebrate the Thai military's takeover, and the
months of political deadlock that preceded it, because it proves what
they've insisted all along: democracies don't work and civilians can't
run countries. Burma is a large, ethnically diverse nation scarred by
civil war, and the military has always presented itself as the only
guarantee of national unity (while simultaneously running the country
into the ground). The Thai coup will bolster its case.

Even in the region's democracies, General Sonthi's coup is widely
welcomed. Filipinos, who endured 14 years of authoritarian rule under
Marcos, see Thaksin's military ouster as a portent of embattled
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's own political demise. Arroyo was a
big Thaksin fan. She applauded "Thaksinomics," as his pump-priming
policies were termed, and even vowed to "do a Thaksin" on her
country's drug dealers after he unleashed a killing spree in which
more than 2,500 drug suspects died. But Arroyo's popularity slumped to
record lows amid allegations that she cheated in the 2004 election.
After the Thai coup, protesters in Manila waved placards showing
Arroyo's face beside Thaksin's, with the message, "You're next."

But is she? With her rock-bottom popularity, Arroyo is now so
dependent on the support of the Philippine military that many
Filipinos might argue that a "soft coup" has already taken place in
their country. Earlier this year Arroyo declared a brief state of
emergency after supposedly foiling the latest in a series of plots to
overthrow her. But a pro-Arroyo senator interviewed by TIME suggests
the President is more likely to "do a Marcos" and declare martial law.
"That's the only way for her to stay in power," he says.

With an ex-general as its first directly elected president, Indonesia
is also a democracy where the military has immense influence. "The
fact that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono repeatedly warns the
military not to get involved in politics implies that the possibility
and the worry are still there," wrote Rizal Sukma of Jakarta's Centre
for Strategic and International Studies in the Jakarta Post recently.

The worry is real. Indonesia faces many of the same problems, such as
rampant corruption, cited by Thailand's coupmakers as pretexts for
seizing power. And like their Burmese counterparts, the Indonesian
armed forces present themselves as the only institution that can hold
a nation together, in this case, a fractious archipelago of 220 million
people. Despite reforms designed to keep it out of politics, the
Indonesian military remains highly resistant to the principle of
civilian control.

That soldiers now run Thailand, and are powerful political players in
Indonesia and the Philippines, doesn't prove (as Burma's generals might
gloat) that democracy is dead, but that many Asian democracies are
immature and fragile, with political systems incapable of guaranteeing
smooth and legitimate transfers of power. Even if General Sonthi keeps
his promise and returns power to civilian hands, the damage is done.
Neither the dictatorial style of Thaksin's rule, nor the manner of his
departure, are worth celebration. Sukma believes the Thai coup will
embolden "antidemocratic forces" across the region. "They are all
laughing at democracy now," he warns. Democracy might yet have the
last laugh, but in much of Asia that day remains a long way off.

With reporting by Nelly Sindayen/Manila and Jason Tedjasukmana/Jakarta

---------------------------------------

Agence France-Presse
October 3, 2006

Ousted Thai PM resigns as party leader

Thailand's deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra has resigned as leader of his 
Thai Rak Thai party, the nation's most powerful political force until last 
month's coup, a top party official has said.

"I must resign because of the new environment. I have to do this to keep the 
party alive," Thaksin said in a handwritten letter read out by the official at 
a press conference.

"I would like to thank everyone, including the party committee and all the 
staff for building our party and making it strong enough to become a party for 
the people, with more than 14 million members who had confidence in us to form 
a government for two terms," the letter said.

The party official, Pongthep Thepkanjana, told reporters that the letter was 
dated October 2 and sent from London, where Thaksin has been living since the 
military ousted him in a bloodless coup two weeks ago.

Thaksin created Thai Rak Thai, or "Thais Love Thais", in 1998 and transformed 
it into a political machine that won widespread popularity, especially in 
mainly rural northern Thailand.

His party was the first to lavish attention and resources on the rural poor, 
whose incomes rose dramatically during his five years in office.

Scores of top-level party members including Thaksin's former deputy premier 
Surakiart Sathirathai resigned on Monday, as the country's junta stepped up 
investigations into alleged corruption under Thaksin's government.

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