After eight years, Myanmar’s opposition leader will be able to travel around Yangon province to promote her campaign in favour of democracy and human rights. The Nobel Prize winner hopes to see the United States renew its sanctions against Myanmar because there has not been "sufficient improvement" in the country.” The government’s recent release of a small number of dissidents is not an amnesty but an act of “clemency”.
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Aung San Suu Kyi could soon be travelling to areas outside Yangon to campaign on behalf of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). The Nobel Prize laureate made the announcement today during a meeting with reporters. For now, she will limit her movements to areas around the former Burmese capital, and avoid the rest of the country.
Burma’s main opposition leader has spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest. The terms of her detention ended in November, a few days after the country’s parliamentary elections.
Right after her release, Ms Suu Kyi stressed her desire to continue her struggle for democracy and human rights in Myanmar. However, she chose not to leave the city fearing possible attacks (see “Junta to jail people who complain about election fraud, warns Aung San Suu Kyi,” in AsiaNews 17 November 2010).
In the past, Burmese authorities prevented Aung San Suu Kyi from travelling around the country fearing her popularity might spur dissent against its military rulers.
The last legal action taken against the NLD leader came in May 2003, in the wake of an attack against her motorcade in Depayin, northern Burma. She did not suffer any injuries in the incident, but dozens of NLD sympathisers lost their lives.
After a meeting with US diplomat Joseph Yun, Ms Suu Kyi talked about US economic sanctions against Myanmar. She said that she hoped US President Barack Obama would renew them because there has not been "sufficient improvement" in the country.
Commenting on the recent release of about 17,000 prisoners, Suu Kyi said that she would not call it an amnesty, but rather an act of "clemency” (see “Release of 36 Burmese activists a “pathetic response” to demands for democracy,” in AsiaNews 18 May 2011).
Jampa Pelsang was arrested in 1996 during a “re-education campaign” ordered by Chinese authorities against Tibetan monks. He was arrested for resisting the campaign along with dozens of other monks, many of whom died during their years in prison.
Dharamsala (AsiaNews) – Monk Jampa Pelsang aka Puloe died on 23 May. He had been released from Chushul prison on 6 May in very serious conditions. He had spent 15 years in prison for opposing a “re-education campaign” launched by Chinese authorities in May 1996 against the monasteries of Sera, Gaden and Drepung in Lhasa, Tibet.
In May 1996, Chinese authorities began their campaign by banning all photos of the Dalai Lama (it is still a criminal offence to have one) and preventing monks from praying in order to force them to take part in indoctrination meetings.
Monks reacted by staging a protest, telling government officials to leave. The military responded by taking over the monasteries and violently crushing the protest. Two monks, Gelek Jinpa and Dorjee, were wounded, and more than 100 were thrown out.
Dozens were arrested between 5 and 7 May. Jampa was taken into custody on 6 May 1996, along with another 62 monks. Thirty-two were handed down sentences ranging from one to 15 years in prison, whilst the others were sent to “re-education-through-labour” camps, i.e. forced labour camps.
Viewed as the leader of the protest movement, Jampa received 15 years, which he purged in the prisons of Lhasa, Drapchi and Chushul.
Born in Dri-gung, Meldro Gungkar County (Lhasa), he had entered the Gaden Monastery at an early age.
Tenzin Yeshi was convicted along with Jampa. He too died soon after his release.
Lobsang Wangchuk, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison, died in Drapchi prison on 4 May 1998, shot by a guard during a peaceful protest.
Congress gives Hu Jintao a hostile reception
In his visit to the Capitol, the Chinese president is challenged by members of Congress, who ask him to account for China’s human rights situation and free Liu Xiaobo. Things are better in Chicago, where Hu tells the mayor that despite the distance, they are “linked by friendship”.
Chicago (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The third day of Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States was his toughest. Unlike President Barack Obama at the White House, the Congress received the Chinese leader with open hostility. Even before that, House Speaker, Republican John Boehner, had breached protocol by refusing to attend the state dinner in honour of the foreign guest. After Hu’s visit to the Capitol, Boehner released a statement that said, “We raised our strong, ongoing concerns with reports of human rights violations in China, including the denial of religious freedom and the use of coercive abortion as a consequence of the ‘one child’ policy. When it comes to guaranteeing the freedom and dignity of all her citizens, including and especially the unborn, Chinese leaders have a responsibility to do better, and the United States has a responsibility to hold them to account.”
Democratic house leader, Nancy Pelosi, criticised China’s treatment of Liu Xiaobo in front of Hu. Liu, who is serving an 11-year sentence, won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize but was unable to pick it up in person in Oslo.
Almost 90 members of Congress signed a letter pressing Hu on China’s "persistent violation of trade law", which “harm our workers by putting U.S. companies out of business and impeding our economic recovery efforts.”
For his part, Hu said, "China-U.S. relations have reached unprecedented breadth and depth”. However, for them to improve, “We should keep our relations on the path of equality, [and] mutual respect”. In addition, he warned “relations will suffer constant trouble or even tension” if the US gets itself involved in “Taiwan and Tibet-related issues”.
Hu described China’s economy, which is no longer socialist and even less communist, as a “socialist market economy”, a term that encompasses both capitalism and state dirigisme.
He stressed that China’s goal is to “develop [a] socialist democracy and build a socialist country under the rule of law”, and that Beijing is not engaged “in an arms race,” nor does it “seek hegemony or pursue an expansionist policy.”
In Congress, most assessments of Hu’s visit were negative however. For Texas Republican Kevin Brady, Hu came to the Capitol just speechify rather than listen, whilst Michigan Democrat Sander Levin said that members “were not given a chance” to speak to the Chinese leader.
Things were somewhat better in Chicago, where Hu met leaders of US industry. In the windy city, the Chinese president praised Mayor Richard Daley, who has been in office for 22 years, and visited China four times since 2004. “Despite the great distance between Chicago and China, our hearts are linked together by friendship,” Hu said.
Saul Pradhan, a Pentecostal pastor, was a courteous man, but firm in defence of his faith. His bloodied body was found last week near a pond. Police claim he died from the "bitter cold". However, autopsy and determined action of the district authorities expected.
Raikia (AsiaNews) - The Orissa police have arrested two persons suspected of being the killers of a Pentecostal pastor in the district of Kandhamal. The area has become notorious for anti-Christian pogrom in 2008. The two arrested are Marda Pradhan and Baiju Mallick members of a radical Hindu group. They were the last to be seen together with the pastor Saul Pradhan.
Fr. Probodha Kumar Pradhan, a Catholic priest of the church of the Rosary of Rikia confirmed to AsiaNews that pastor Saul was found dead on 11 January, near a pond in the village of Pakal. According to his family, rev. Saul had gone to work in Nahadsoru, a nearby village, on 9 January and never returned home. When his wife Nimata and others searched for him they were told Saul was in the company of Marda and Baiju, already implicated in the pogrom of 2008. Family members immediately denounced the two. Only a few days later, faced with legal threats from the family, Marda and Baiju led them to where they found the bloodied body of Pastor Saul.
An autopsy was performed, but its results have not yet beenpublished. At first the police had said that the minister had died of the "bitter cold".
Fr. Augustine Singh, who visited the area, told AsiaNews that the pastor was a very polite man, but strongly defended his Christian faith.
Kiku Parichha Sagar, a human rights activist, who visited the village said: "We thought that the persecution against Christians was over, but it's still going on."
Parichha has also asked the district administration to carry out a detailed investigation. Also Fr. Bijay Kumar Pradhan, vicar general of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar diocese urged the authorities to decisive action against the killers and their sponsors.
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Aung San Suu Kyi could soon be travelling to areas outside Yangon to campaign on behalf of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). The Nobel Prize laureate made the announcement today during a meeting with reporters. For now, she will limit her movements to areas around the former Burmese capital, and avoid the rest of the country. 
