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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Re: [chottala.com] Bangladesh CTG could lose popular support: McKinnon/ Bush announces new US sanctions on Myanmar

Bush announces new US sanctions on Myanmar
 
 
Tue, Sep 25th, 2007 8:20 pm BdST
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 25 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - President George W Bush announced new U.S. sanctions against Myanmar's military rulers on Tuesday and urged other countries to follow suit amid Myanmar's biggest anti-government protests in 20 years.

"The United States will tighten economic sanctions on the leaders of the regime and their financial backers," Bush said in his annual address to the UN General Assembly.

"We will impose an expanded visa ban on those responsible for the most egregious violations of human rights," he added, declaring that Americans were "outraged" by rights abuses in Myanmar.

Bush's announcement came after 10,000 monks marched through the heart of Myanmar's main city on Tuesday in defiance of a threat by the ruling generals to send in troops to end the anti-junta demonstrations.

Accusing Myanmar's military government of a "19-year reign of fear," Bush said, "Basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship are severely restricted. Ethnic minorities are persecuted. Forced child labor, human trafficking and rape are common."

He urged "the United Nations and all nations to use their diplomatic and economic leverage to help the Burmese people reclaim their freedom."

Bush said new U.S. sanctions were intended "to help bring peaceful change to Burma," referring to the country by its previous name.

What began as anger at sudden steep fuel price rises last month has become a wider movement against Myanmar's generals.

The Security Council, however, has been divided about action against Myanmar. In January, China and Russia vetoed a resolution calling for Myanmar to stop persecuting minority and opposition groups and take concrete steps toward democracy.

They argued the council was exceeding its mandate by involving itself in a human rights issue handled by other bodies.

http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=1&id=22426
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On 9/25/07, Siraj uddowllah <uddowllahsiraj@yahoo.com> wrote:

They have told the same thing for Myanmar also. Aung Song Su Ki a democratically elected could not go out of house arrest uptill now. What these McKinnon gong did for her.
Dr. Siraj uddowllah, Windsor, Canada.


Syed Aslam <Syed.Aslam3@gmail.com> wrote:
 
 
Bangladesh govt may outstay welcome: McKinnon
 
 
Tue, Sep 25th, 2007 1:13 am BdST
Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon
Simon Denyer

NEW DELHI, Sept 24 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Bangladesh's caretaker government is playing with fire by delaying elections until the end of next year and could lose popular support, the Commonwealth's most senior official said on Monday.

"They should not take the electorate for granted. Don't believe that just because they want you now they will want you tomorrow," Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon told Reuters on a visit to the Indian capital, New Delhi.

"If you lose the confidence of the people, you are in big trouble," the New Zealander who heads the 53-member group of mostly ex-British Empire nations said in an interview.

Bangladesh has been under a state of emergency since January when an army-backed interim administration took power after months of political violence, cancelled elections and banned all political activity.

Normally an interim administration is supposed to be in place for just three months to supervise elections.

This government now says it will not hold elections until late next year, after preparing a new voters' list with photographs and completing a campaign against corruption and abuse of power.

McKinnon said the government, which enjoyed widespread support when it took power, needed to speed up preparations for elections and keep people properly informed of what it was doing. "It is pushing a constitutional issue to an absolute extreme to believe that a caretaker government, elected on the basis of about three months, should stay there for a couple of years."

"For Bangladesh to go for a couple of years without a parliament is asking a lot," he said, adding this could put the country in "quite a difficult situation".

Earlier this month Bangladesh's government lifted a ban on indoor political activities to let parties prepare for elections.

However, more than 170 political leaders, including two former prime ministers, Khaldea Zia and Sheikh Hasina, have been detained in the authority's drive to stamp out corruption.

McKinnon said he was concerned about "6-800 political detainees" and another 100,000 people who have been put in detention.

"You have got problems there that really have to resolved today," he said.

Last week the United States urged Bangladesh to take further steps to restore democracy but said it supported the government's plans to hold credible elections. McKinnon was in India for a meeting of parliamentarians from around the Commonwealth, which represents 1.8 billion people but has no formal decision-making powers.

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Read in Bangla at:
[Better if you have XP service pack 2]
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