Excerpts from Burmese bloggers

After about 200 deaths and 6,000 political detainess, it might be harder now for the world to see through the tinted windows encasing Burma, but thanks to Burmese bloggers, we have a record of their stories that we can re-tell.

Dawn 109, Rangoon… I just saw with my own eyes that more than 500 monks... They were chanting: "To the uncountable living beings living in uncountable universes to the east, May they be free of danger, May they be free of anger, May they be free of sufferings, and May their hearts be calm and peaceful. May there be peace on earth."

Kto Hike… On 26 September, a Buddhist monk was beaten to death by plain-clothed thugs while he was praying at the Shwe Dagon Pagoda in the centre of Rangoon. The dead body was carried back to the Sadu Monastery in Kyee Myindine. My part-time duty is working on Emergency YGH... at about 2 pm, 5 patients were coming to our Emergency... for gun shot wounds... 1 patient died on spot on arriving at hospital... 4 r still bad in Diagnosis... The patient's attendant said he was not in d line of protest... they were chatting and watching d protest line and sitting on Cafe Bar near Shawe Dagon Pagoda... Government military car was crossing to d protest line and randomly shot all of them...

Sein Khaloke
Buddhist monks are chanting: "All humans be free from killing and torturing, Our compassion and love spread all over country" and "Peace on earth".

Mya, Rangoon
A monk who took part in the protests came to us and told us about his experiences. He said: "We are not afraid, we haven't committed a crime, we just say prayers and take part in the protests. We haven't accepted money from onlookers although they offered us a lot. We just accept water. People clapped, smiled and cheered us." The monk seemed very happy, excited and proud. But I'm worried for them. They care for us and we pray for them not to get harmed.

Thila, Rangoon
Riot police and soldiers are beating monks and protesters at the east gate of Shwedagon Pagoda. They are starting a crackdown by all means. Regardless of this, just after noon, about 1,000 monks from a nearby monastery started a march to Shwedagon Pagoda.

Yi, Rangoon
I saw a truck full of police with guns, which looked like AK47. The military junta has been making us miserable for nearly two decades.

Eyewitness, Rangoon
Riot police started to chase the monks and beat them up. Then about 200 were hauled off onto the trucks and driven away. About 80 monks were taken away.

Source:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3001622.ece

SCARY

The unbridled extrajudicial killings of journalists and activists raging the country is beginning to attract the attention of the international community. To save face, the Philippine government has said that it is open to receiving help in order to resolve this issue. Last week, an EU delegation invited by the governemnt arrived to help provide technical assistance to strengthen the capability of Philippine institutions to address the intensifying pattern of extrajudicial killings. The EU Needs Assessment Mission (EU-NAM), headed by Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, met with various government agenices and civil society organisations during its 10-day mission.

So what did Ambassador Alistair MacDonald have to say about the Philippine Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police?

"...(T)here is a great need for more awareness of human rights laws, of international humanitarian laws, of the law of armed conflict, of how to deal with civilians who are not bearing arms caught up in the conflict or the counterinsurgency campaign." (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=74005)

WOH. My father (Bayani Alcala) is probably turning in his grave right now and saying he knew that since Marcos' time, but that it would happen again under a so-called democratic regime -- he didn't see that one coming. That there have been more than 800 victims since Arroyo assumed power in 2001, as what the human rights group Karapatan declares, is simply mind-boggling.

This 'gap analysis' was welcomed by police and military officials -- a very different reaction to what United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston received, when he described the AFP as being in a 'state of denial' over the issue in his scathing report on the extrajudicial killings.

Scary. That's my reaction. This conclusion only substantiates the claims made by the Left that blames the military and the government's counter-insurgency policy as the cause of the extrajudicial killings.

Soldiers and police are supposed to protect the people, but if they have the vaguest notions of human rights and are in dire need of 'training', then I fear the worst. Governments are supposed to take the people in its wings -- opposition or not -- but if it turns away when those that disagree with it are murdered, then it ceases to be my government.

Scary.