Harrowing accounts smuggled out of Burma reveal how a systematic campaign of physical punishment and psychological terror is being waged by the Burmese security forces as they take revenge on those suspected of involvement in last month’s pro-democracy uprising.
The first-hand accounts describe a campaign hidden from view, but even more sinister and terrifying than the open crackdown in which the regime’s soldiers turned their bullets and batons on unarmed demonstrators in the streets of Rangoon, killing at least 13. At least then, the world was watching.
Read all about it here.
4 comments:
I wasn't really expecting anything to come out of this "uprising". A military junta cannot be confronted by peaceful means.
It was important however in that it demonstrated the willingness of some parts of the population to organise against the regime.
The brutality of the suppression has probably already alienated some sections of the rank and file as well as some of the mid-ranking officers of the army.
That said, I do not predict that the regime will come crushing down tomorrow, or next year for that matter.
It's sad, but not surprising. This sort of thing happens on every conceivable level. We humans like to work in sececy best. It's almost as if it's part of our basic programming. I was fiercely happy to watch those people agree to fight for what they believe in. I agree with the commenter up above...there will need to be fiercer fights, probably over a long term.
As I wrote a few comments ago, I can't help think of South Africa and how that fight turned out.
Power always reasserts itself. We don't critique it in ways that would actually defeat it.
P.S., I wrote a post about gender binaries, Mary Crouch and lesbian separatists. Would you be interested in coming by to take a look?
It's truly disturbing about what is happening. I'm not sure if they could, but I'm surprised that the US hasn't tried to intervene in some way. I also haven't heard or seen much coverage of this situation. I think if more people knew, maybe more could be said or done.
P.S., I'm late as usual. I wrote something about Myanmar today. Feel free to come take a look.
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