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Since Friday, April 25, activists have been sticking up posters and passing out leaflets encouraging people to vote against the draft Constitution in the May 10 referendum. Activists say that resistance to the regime is gradually rising once again.
The military regime is stepping up its propaganda to vote "Yes" in the referendum. At the same time there are reports of arrests, intimidation and brutal beatings of democracy and human rights activists and main opposition leaders. Young musicians Zeyar Thaw and Yan Yan Chan have been arrested, and there are reports of young activists being detained and tortured harshly, but since they are not well-known they suffer in silence.
Some provincial and state military commanders have joined the "Yes" campaign and are promising mobile phones to the public if they vote in favor of the draft Constitution. At the same time, civil servants are warned that they will be sacked if they vote against the Constitution.
National League for Democracy member Tin Win was arrested for wearing a "No" message on his T-shirt, and another NLD party official was arrested in Rangoon for putting up a "No" poster.
A number of democracy and human rights activists faced attacks over the past ten days. Leading human rights activist Myint Aye and NLD member Tin Yu were attacked separately in Rangoon. At least five other NLD members were beaten up in separate incidents, one a 72-year-old man who had to be hospitalized.
Attacks and vandalism against the homes of opposition party members have increased dramatically; authorities raided the homes of NLD members in Mandalay and Rangoon. The attacks were carried out by assailants on motorbikes, which makes it clear who they were, as only members of the regime-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association can possess and ride motorbikes around town.
The regime is pursuing desperate tactics in its "Yes" campaign. All state-run media carry "Yes" messages. The regime has ordered government employees to sign a pledge that they would vote "Yes."
Meanwhile the regime is wooing rural people in Chibwe, northern Burma, by selling rice and salt at discounted prices. Local civilians and government servants can buy a sack of milled rice for 18,000 kyat (US$16) and a package of salt for 250 kyat. According to residents of Chibwe, these are being sold at 50 percent discount. The 10,000 people in Chibwe rely on the cultivation of rice or on government jobs for their survival.
Almost everyone in Burma is saying that no matter how you vote, the referendum will come out "Yes" anyway. Still, many are determined to express their feelings of discontent with the military regime, which cannot bring the country to a more prosperous society. Instead, it is poorer than ever. Many people are aware that the regime plans to rule not only until the 2010 elections, but far beyond.
People fear that the polling booths will not be secret ballot, and are concerned about repercussions if they vote "No." All results will be announced from the new capital, Naypyidaw. Critics fear that the purpose of this is to rig the votes, pointing out that in the 1990 elections results were announced at each polling station.
The United States has circulated a draft statement at the United Nations, using strong words against the regime in Burma for continuing to detain and to deny medical treatment to political prisoners. The statement includes regrets over the regime's slow progress in complying with the U.N. Security Council's demands for political dialogue and the release of all political prisoners.
The United States, Britain and France are expected to seek a U.N. Security Council presidential statement on Burma. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters that the statement was to send "a strong message to the regime but also to the people of Burma and to the world."
British Ambassador John Sawers said, "I think it's important that the Council express itself before the referendum." France's minister for human rights, RamaYade, said on April 25 during her three-day visit to Cambodia that she hoped Burma's referendum on a new Constitution would be held under clear and transparent conditions, while pointing out that the military regime had rejected U.N. Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari's offer of a team of foreign observers at the referendum.
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(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.)
