Burma and Sanctions

President George W. Bush threatened on Monday to impose further U.S. sanctions on Myanmar's military rulers over their crackdown on protests, "But sanctions don't mean anything if we're the only sanctioner," Bush said. Japan is halting $5.5m (£2.7m) in funding for a human resources center in Burma as economic pressure builds on the military government there. While things have calmed down some, at least in front of the media, people are asking "Freedom in Burma’s Future: Is It Possible?"

So what exactly are the rights of the people of Burma? On March 28th of this year, the IOL (International Labor Organization) chose to postpone the case of Burmese citizens against the military dictatorship, on the grounds that the dictatorship had made some concessions. [snip]

The question is … Can General Than Shwe, current dictator of Burma, be held responsible for the humanitarian crisis that he has brought upon the populace? One would think so, based on recent history when Slobodan Milosevic, president of Serbia and Yugoslavia, was charged with crimes against humanity by the U.N.’s International Criminal Tribunal. (continue reading at Family Security Matters)

On the European Union:

European Union foreign ministers had agreed earlier on Monday to strengthen sanctions against Myanmar's junta and warned they could go further and ban all new investment. [snip]

Two weeks ago, pro-democracy protests in Myanmar, formerly Burma, were crushed by the Asian nation's military leaders. Many protesters were arrested, and some killed, and police are still raiding homes and arresting activists. (Reuters)

On Japan:

A Japanese journalist was among those killed by Burmese troops during the bloody suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations last month.

Earlier, the EU approved an embargo on wood and metal products from Burma.

US President George W Bush has urged the world to take "consequential" action against the junta.

The Japanese funding, promised in 2005, was to have been used for the centre at Rangoon University, where courses in economics, management and Japanese would have been taught. (BBC)

Other Burma articles:

ACCOUNTS OF CONTINUING TERROR; BURMESE JOKERS PROVIDE CONTINUING INSPIRATION IN BURMA, Agam's Gecko

AP: The rape of Burma…Myanmar’s junta liquidating its environmental legacy, Knight Science Journal Tracker
Junta holds rally and detains activists in Burma, Myanmar, Peace and Freedom II

Silent India must speak out against Myanmar, Burma Digest

"The Imprisoned Soul Of Burma (Myanmar)" Video and commentary, "mo"thanskin

new junta post stamp, Burma - Myanmar News
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Comments

[Carl]

Awww….once again my trackbacks aren’t properly getting to several of the blogs to which I attempted trackbacks. Either they only show the part where I list the trackbacked blogs (which is at the bottom of my blog entry — the text of the entry seems to get skipped) or the trackback does not show up at all. So once again I’m leaving a comment with the information for whatever it’s worth. My latest blog entry is entitled:

Tin Men — Freaks For Industry!
and can be read at
http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/?p=1175