Font size: 
Democracy and human rights activists and Buddhist monks who protested in September are still being sought, arrested, detained, and tortured in prisons. Some are on the run or in hiding and unable to return to their homes.
One such person is Aung Zaw Oo, a member of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters, who was arrested on Nov. 26 in Rangoon as he was planning for the celebration of International Human Rights Day. No doubt he, as well as the 88 Generation Students -- those who supported the pro-democracy uprising of 1988 -- and other activists who are in detention will try to mark this special day in their own way, even while locked away in prisons where their basic rights are being violated.
Since September, a number of monasteries in cities like Rangoon and Mandalay have been empty. Monks from the countryside have been banned from entering Rangoon unless they can present, at train stations and bus terminals, a doctor's note stating they need medical treatment, the name of the monastery where they intend to stay and a document confirming the credentials of the monks at that monastery.
If the documents are incomplete, the monks are not allowed to enter the city and are sent back in the bus by which they came. A local news group, the Independent Mon News Agency, reported last month that about 50 monks from Arakan state were turned back after the authorities checked their recommendations at the Rangoon station.
Meanwhile, more than half a million people from Burma's ethnic minorities continue to live in hiding in remote areas of Karen, Karenni and Shan states. They lack the most basic necessities and fear for their lives, as they are the constant targets of Burmese army raids. The Free Burma Rangers reported that in the last three weeks the Burmese army has killed three people and forced hundreds more into hiding in separate attacks in the northeastern Karen state.
On Nov.15 in Kyauk Kyi township of Nyaunglebin district, Saw Ler Gay, 28, was shot and killed near his village. Three days later in Papun district, army troops shot and killed Saw Bo Wah, an 18-year-old villager from Ta Baw Ko Der.
On Dec. 1 in Mon township of Nyaunglebin district, troops shot dead Saw Blu Nay Moo, 23, after burning down a farm hut belonging to his father. Hundreds of people from more than 12 villages fled into the jungle to escape these attacks.
Those who manage to flee the country fare little better. An estimated 150,000 people are living in refugee camps while another estimated 2 million Burmese struggle to survive as undocumented migrant workers in countries like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Most live in harsh conditions without security or protection.
As the people of Burma continue to face an extremely difficult situation under the military regime, their fellow Burmese and friends of Burma around the world are organizing various activities in their respective countries on International Human Rights Day. They are raising their voices in support of those who live under the boot of the military.
Demonstrations and other events have been organized by local Burmese and human rights groups in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, India, Australia, Europe and the United States. These activists are determined to remind the world that the people who came out into the streets of Burmese cities to protest so bravely in September are still suffering, though temporarily silenced.
--
(Khin Ohmar is coordinator of the Asia Pacific Peoples' Partnership on Burma, based in Thailand. She can be contacted at appartnership@gmail.com. Her blog may be found at http://apppb.blogspot.com.)
