Future Music Release Highlighted: The Lady

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US Campaign for the people of Burma - Support Human Rights for Aung San Suu Kyi and the 53 Million People of Burma

On Friday May 2, Cyclone Nargis hit southwestern Burma with winds at speeds of 120 mph. 5 divisions in Burma have been declared national disaster areas - Pegu, Irrawaddy, Rangoon, Mon and Karen. The numbers of those affected continues to skyrocket. It has been hard to estimate the death toll because it has been impossible to get access to some of the worst hit areas- but as of right the numbers range from 22,000 to 60,000 dead, with tens of thousand missing and hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions displaced. Many older Burmese are saying this is the worst storm they have ever seen and international media is claiming this to be the worst natural disaster in Asia since the 2004 tsunami.

The Burmese government’s response has been atrocious. They were aware days in advance that the cyclone was coming, but chose not to warn the people know so that they could prepare. Furthermore, many reports came in that the government was giving minimal assistance to the destroyed areas, responding with guns instead of aid. Many countries and international organizations have offered assistance, but their efforts are being controlled and blocked by the paranoid Burmese government.

 

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Pressure Builds on Myanmar Regime as Aid Trickles In (Update2)

By Demian McLean and William Varner

May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Pressure built for Myanmar to open its doors wider for aid shipments as survivors become ``increasingly desperate'' in the aftermath of the cyclone that killed as many as 100,000.

The United Nations and Asian neighbors urged the military regime to issue travel visas and admit planes loaded with food. The U.S. said it may seek to air-drop supplies, helping more than 1 million people left homeless by the May 3 storm.

``Frustration has been growing that the humanitarian response is being held back,'' UN emergency relief coordinator John Holmes told reporters in New York. ``The situation is increasingly desperate.''

The country formerly known as Burma has rebuffed most aid since Tropical Cyclone Nargis struck, maintaining a strict border policy that bars almost all outsiders.

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Musicians Supporting Human Rights for Aung San Suu Kyi and the 53 Million People of Burma (Black Eyed Peas, Michael Stipe of REM, Jackson Browne)

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For international aid workers trying to reach cyclone survivors in Burma (Myanmar), it's a race against time to reach up to 1.5 million stricken people. To Burma's reclusive military rulers, though, the calculus of aid looks very different, and the goal remains to keep absolute control over a cowed population.

Capricious, unworldly, and often guided by soothsayers, Burma's aging clique of generals have centralized decisionmaking to such an extent that most civilian state agencies are empty shells. And decades of self-imposed isolation have bred an extreme suspicion of outsiders in a brittle, dysfunctional junta that clings to power by crushing all opposition, say Burmese and Western analysts who have studied the group for years.

That deep-seated distrust was reflected Sunday as the junta, while accepting aid, continued to bar most foreign aid workers with expertise in massive aid distribution. Burma's leaders said they wanted to manage the delivery of aid themselves, despite aid agencies' urgent warnings of escalating threats that could sharply increase the death toll.

The United Nations reported progress in getting some aid through, with roads being cleared and the piped water supply partly restored in Rangoon. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said three planes had delivered 14 tons of shelter material, and another seven flights were to arrive Monday with mosquito nets, jerry cans, and other equipment. A US cargo plane was scheduled to deliver aid on Monday, while France was set to deliver 1,500 tons of rice by midweek.

But thousands have yet to receive aid more than a week after the cyclone struck, killing as many as 100,000 people, according to some estimates.

By Simon Montlake | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

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From the AP,

Restrictions Hinder Myanmar Aid, Leaving Relief Agencies in Dark

The United Nations said Friday that severe restrictions by Myanmar's military junta have left aid agencies largely in the dark about the extent of survivors' suffering two weeks after a cyclone left up to 2.5 million people destitute.

The government says at least 43,318 people were killed and nearly 28,000 went missing when Cyclone Nargis turned the low-lying delta into a quagmire of shattered villages and squalid refugee camps ringed by fetid waters. The Red Cross fears the toll may be as high as 128,000; the U.N. estimates more than 100,000 died.

In the absence of a clear picture, the U.N. estimates some 1.5 million to 2.5 million survivors are in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medical care. Aid groups have reached only 270,000 so far. The junta insists Myanmar nationals and government agencies, including the military, can handle relief operations, particularly aid distribution.

"We still have obstacles to relief workers getting to the delta region, which doesn't help," Ms. Pitt said. "We are concerned about the effects on the people. It is clear, from what everyone is saying, the aid effort is far from over."

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Musicians Supporting Human Rights for Aung San Suu Kyi and the 53 Million People of Burma ( Mana)

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The Red Cross estimates on the basis of reports from 22 organizations working in Burma that between 68,000 and 130,000 people have died.
U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes told reporters between 1.6 and 2.5 million people are "severely affected" by Cyclone Nargis and urgently need aid.

Burma's leaders have insisted that teams of foreign relief experts are not needed.





Jesse Cook with his band and Eliana Cuevas on guest vocals, performing at the Lula Lounge in Toronto as part of the Burma Cyclone Relief Concert on May 20th, 2008. Over $12,000 was raised.

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Hollywood celebrities urge human rights in Myanmar
Stars including Will Ferrell and Jennifer Aniston call for release of the Southeast Asian country's Nobel-winning Aung San Suu Kyi and establishment of democracy there.
By Richard C. Paddock, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 23, 2008
Dozens of Hollywood celebrities have joined together to call attention to the repressive military regime in Myanmar and the plight of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent more than a decade under house arrest.

In more than 30 public-service spots that are being released online daily this month, actors and artists including Will Ferrell, Sarah Silverman, Ellen Page and Sylvester Stallone call for Suu Kyi's release and the establishment of democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"A human rights crisis is happening right now in the Southeast Asian country of Burma," Ferrell says in the first of the series. "Every now and again a single person or event captures the imagination and inspiration of the world. This moment belongs to Burma and to Aung San Suu Kyi."

Myanmar has been ruled by military regimes for nearly all of the past 46 years. Suu Kyi's political party won a landslide victory in a 1990 election and she was slated to become the country's next leader, but the regime threw out the results and arrested her. Suu Kyi, who will turn 63 next month, is the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Most recently, the reclusive regime has come under harsh international criticism for refusing to accept foreign aid for victims of Cyclone Nargis, which killed at least 78,000 earlier this month and left hundreds of thousands more without adequate food, water or shelter.

The Web-based celebrity campaign, called "Burma: It Can't Wait," began May 1 but has been overshadowed by the cyclone, which struck Myanmar two days later. Organizers hope to raise Myanmar's profile in the same way that activists have put Chinese control of Tibet and the Darfur genocide on the map.

Another goal of the project is to sign up a million new members for the U.S. Campaign for Burma, a Washington-based organization that promotes democratic change in Myanmar.

The videos can be found at uscampaignforburma.org.

Some of the spots are sketches that try to draw attention to the troubled nation by injecting humor, such as one featuring Jennifer Aniston and a recalcitrant Woody Harrelson, who refuses to leave his trailer. "I'm not coming out until Burma is free," he shouts.

Others are serious, such as one directed by Anjelica Huston in which comedian Eddie Izzard praises the young people of Myanmar who led protests against the regime last year. "We must use our freedom to help them get theirs," he says.

Huston said in an interview that she took part in the project to highlight the injustices of the regime. "I am particularly drawn to the idea of this small, extraordinarily beautiful country that has been suppressed in this terrible way for so long and the fact that the leader of the democratic party has been shut up under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years," Huston said.

The campaign has attracted such celebrities as director Judd Apatow, Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona, actor Joseph Fiennes, singer Sheryl Crow, action star Steven Seagal, actress Felicity Huffman and producer Norman Lear.

One 90-second video features Iranian artist Davood, who is shown in time-elapsed photography painting a portrait of Suu Kyi. Only at the end does it become clear that she is wearing handcuffs.

In another, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" star Eric Szmanda and alumna Jorja Fox play a card game called "Forced Labor," in which he holds the cards of a Burmese soldier and she is dealt the hand of a civilian, who suffers rape, torture and murder.

"I don't think I like this game," Fox says.

"No one does," Szmanda replies.

Szmanda, who visited refugees along the Thai border and briefly crossed into Myanmar last year, said he was stunned by the heart-wrenching accounts of civilians who escaped the regime.

"Something came over me while I was there. I didn't feel a sense of pity, I felt a sense of urgency," he said. "I had a chance to meet a lot of former political prisoners who are now living on the border of Thailand. It's unbelievable what some of them had to do endure for nine or 10 years."

Actress Rosanna Arquette, who appears in a spot condemning the destruction of 3,200 villages by the regime, said she was moved to participate in the project because of the plight of Suu Kyi.

"She has done so much and she is still a prisoner," Arquette said in an interview. "And the world doesn't really know. There are no Americans there to help. It's really like a creepy secret."

Jack Healey, the former head of Amnesty International who helped raise that group's profile through celebrity concerts, had a key role in organizing the Burma project. He said one of his goals is to give Suu Kyi the kind of profile that Nelson Mandela had while he was imprisoned in South Africa.

"We want her to be the Mandela of her time," he said. "Maybe by the end we will all know who she is."

Fanista, a new "social commerce" shopping website, underwrote and produced many of the spots and offers customers a 10% rebate that they can donate to the U.S. Campaign for Burma.

In his spot, Stallone talks about his fourth "Rambo" movie, which was released earlier this year and casts the Myanmar dictatorship as the villain. The film depicts "atrocity de-mining," in which civilians are forced to walk ahead of the army at gunpoint to uncover hidden land mines. The regime banned the movie.

"While it is flattering to be part of a movie that is giving the Burmese people hope and it is cool to say 'I'm banned in Burma,' these people need real hope," Stallone says in the 80-second spot. "Let's do something we can be proud about."

richard.paddock@latimes .com

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/celebrity/la-et-myanmar23...

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From The Sunday Times: May 25, 2008

Musicians help plug aid gap in stricken Burma

Harry McKenzie in Rangoon

PUNK singers, pianists and music students are among thousands of ordinary Burmese who have put aside everyday life to make up for the shortage of foreign aid teams to help the survivors of Cyclone Nargis.

Their private initiatives stand as an unspoken rebuke to the ruling junta, which has decreed that the military is in full command of the crisis.

There is hope this weekend that more international specialists will be allowed into the country after a promise by General Than Shwe, Burma’s ruler, to Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations secretary-general. It may prove too little too late.

In the meantime it has been left to unlikely figures such as Ying Ying Who Kham, a 26-year-old punk singer, and her friends to step into the breach.

Ying Ying, who is also a doctor, joined 100 staff and students from the Gitameit music school in Rangoon on the muddy roads to the south of the devastated Irrawaddy Delta. The school, like many civilian organisations, has turned itself into an aid agency and raised £50,000 in the wake of the disaster, which killed more than 150,000 people and left more than 2m in urgent need of aid and shelter.

Ying Ying and her team went to Labutta, one of the worst hit towns, where 25,000 people are confirmed dead and 34,000 live in makeshift refugee camps.

“Our greatest fear is the spread of cholera because there are not enough resources to deal with an epidemic,” she said.

Moe Naing, head of the music school’s choir, returned from Labutta with a grim eyewitness account. It was very different from the picture presented to the UN secretary-general on a brief helicopter tour restricted to dropping in on showpiece Burmese “Potemkin Villages”. They were filled with aid and featured neat, dry tents erected to impress foreign dignitaries. Some of the tents were empty.

Nothing prepared Moe for the hellish conditions he found in Labutta. “There were just 26 doctors there for 34,000 people,” he said. None of the 500 villages around the town survived the cyclone.

Of the 8,000 inhabitants of Pyinsalu, the worst hit village, “only six people and a dog are alive”, he said. “There are a lot of dead bodies. The army has sealed off piles of corpses which are being buried in a mass grave.”

One of Moe’s friends in Labutta survived by floating ona petrol drum for 18 hours. “When the storm died down and the waters receded he saw thousands of dead bodies. One corpse was hanging from a branch by her hair,” he said.

Survivors hung on to the topmost branches or rooftops. In the darkness Myo Lin, a young father, clung to a tree with his wife and two children for eight hours. When dawn broke his wife and nine-year-old daughter had been swept away.

Half the 700 people who lived in Myo’s village have died or disappeared.

“There is only one child with us who has not lost one or both parents,” he said. “In some cases they saw their parents swept away in front of their eyes.”

The survivors collected small amounts of rice that had not been ruined by the flood waters and drank juice from coconuts floating in the water. After a few days they ran out of food. When nobody came to rescue them, they decided to seek help in a small boat.

Those who reached safety are too horrified to return. “They are afraid to go back,” said a worker for Christian Aid in Labutta. “The whole place is flattened.” The charity’s Burmese staff have given them clothes, shelter, clean water and food but they face a bleak future.

Despite such misery, the junta was still pressing ahead with a political gesture that appeared as surreal as it was cruel. Villagers struggling to rebuild their lives were forced to leave the wreckage of their homes yesterday and vote in the second round of a national referendum on Burma’s new constitution, drawn up on the orders of the generals.

There were signs of potential unrest in Rangoon, the former capital, as the official media, which had failed to warn of the cyclone’s approach, proclaimed their support for the referendum. Some 7,000 students were seen congregating on a university campus on Thursday in a rare sign of defiance reminiscent of the pro-democracy gatherings last September.

On Friday night foreign residents reported seeing six lorry-loads of armed riot police moving through the centre of Rangoon in an apparent deployment to deter further protests.

“There is a simmering atmosphere of anger and anything could happen,” said a foreign observer.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3999057.ece

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Myanmar keeps activist confined
With West's eye on aid, house arrest stands
By Amy Kazmin

The Washington Post

May 28, 2008





BANGKOK — Myanmar's military junta on Tuesday extended the house arrest of Nobel Peace Prize-winning democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi for another year, drawing softer criticism than usual from foreign governments that are now focused on aiding survivors of Tropical Cyclone Nargis.

The news came as UN officials said they expected to rapidly scale up delivery of much-needed food aid in coming days. In Geneva, the United Nations said only 42 percent of an estimated 2.4 million victims have received outside aid more than three weeks after the disaster.

Suu Kyi is the daughter of Myanmar's revered independence hero, Aung San, and leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, which won a landslide election victory in 1990 but has not been permitted to take power.

A symbol of hope for millions, she has spent approximately 12 of the past 18 years under house arrest, including an unbroken stretch since May 2003, after her convoy was violently attacked during a political tour that drew rapturous crowds.

The government's decision to confine her to her dilapidated lakeside bungalow for another year had been widely predicted. It was conveyed to her by officials during a 10-minute visit to her home. Earlier, 30 of her supporters tried to march from the NLD headquarters to her home, but their protest was quickly broken up, with about 16 people arrested.

Western governments have traditionally been vociferous in calling for Suu Kyi's freedom. Over the last decade, the United Nations has repeatedly sought to broker real dialogue between her and the generals.

But since Nargis struck, many of those governments and the United Nations have been preoccupied with the struggle to deliver emergency relief and long-term recovery assistance to survivors.

Visiting Myanmar, also called Burma, last week, Ban Ki Moon, the UN secretary general, spent two hours with Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the military and government chief, without mentioning Suu Kyi. At an extraordinary donor meeting Sunday, more than 50 governments promised greater financial aid for cyclone survivors if the government gave foreign aid workers "unhindered access" to the cyclone zone. But the donors laid down no political conditions for the help.

Still, President George W. Bush issued a statement saying he was "deeply troubled" by the house arrest extension, which he noted dated this time from "the murderous assault by regime-sponsored thugs on her motorcade."

"The United States will continue to help the people of Burma recover from the devastation of Cyclone Nargis and will continue to support the Burmese people's long-term struggle for freedom," Bush said.

Pro-democracy activists accused international leaders of betraying Suu Kyi. Mark Farmaner, director of the Burma Campaign UK, said, "The UN is crawling on its knees before the regime, afraid to speak the truth in case it affects aid access deals."

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Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is gravely concerned for the well-being of leading Burmese musician Win Maw, who was arrested on 27 November 2007 and is said to be seriously ill as a result of torture in detention.

International PEN seeks immediate assurances of Win Maw’s well being and guarantees that he is receiving all necessary medical treatment. PEN calls for his immediate and unconditional release, as well as of all those currently detained in Myanmar in violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Crackdown on pro-democracy activists
According to PEN’s information, popular Burmese musician Win Maw was arrested on 27 November 2007 and is held in Insein Prison, Yangon, under article 5 (j) of the penal code with threatening national security. News of his arrest has become known to PEN only in recent days. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison. His arrest is thought to be part of the wider crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

Previously imprisoned
Win Maw is lead guitarist in the music group Shwe Thansin, which was one of the top bands in Burma in the 1990’s. He was previously imprisoned from 1997-2003 for writing songs in support of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). It is thought that his current detention may also be linked to his song writing, although confirmation is needed.

Water torture
It was reported on 7 May 2008 that Win Maw had been transferred to the prison hospital after a series of interrogation sessions carried out by officials of the Military Security Affairs. He is said to have suffered suspected collapsed lungs as a result of ‘water torture’, and to have now contracted pneumonia. His family have been denied access to him for over three weeks, and there are grave concerns for his welfare.

Background
A major crackdown in Burma has been underway since early September 2007, following demonstrations led by monks and pro-democracy activists which began on 19 August 2007. Writers and journalists are among the scores of people to have been detained. All of those arrested in the crackdown in September 2007 are now thought to have been freed, but many remain under heavy restriction and the authorities are continuing to crackdown on any expressions of dissent.


Appeals to Myanmar (Burma) Embassies
While the situation in Burma is still critical, letters sent to the country may not be received or taken as a priority. It is therefore recommended that appeals be sent to the diplomatic representative of Myanmar (Burma) in your own country:

• protesting the detention of leading musician Win Maw, and expressing grave concern for his well-being;

• demanding his immediate and unconditional release and that of all those currently detained in Myanmar in violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Letters to the press
PEN members may consider writing letters to their national newspapers expressing alarm at events in Burma, and highlighting Win Maw’s case to illustrate the many years of repression in the country.


From FREEMUSE – THE WORLD FORUM ON MUSIC AND CENSORSHIP is an independent international organisation which advocates freedom of expression for musicians and composers worldwide.

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Sheryl Crow, Damian Marley and Brett Dennen add to the voices of Burma It Can't Wait.

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'Burma: It Can't Wait' Campaign Extends into June in Wake of Myanmar Cyclone Tragedy


WASHINGTON and BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The Human Rights Action Center, the U.S. Campaign for Burma (Myanmar) and the social-shopping site Fanista are extending their campaign to free Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi and raise awareness of the human rights violations against the people ofBurma waged by the country's brutal military regime. The campaign entitled "Burma: It Can't Wait" and featuring provocative short films starring actors, filmmakers and musicians including Sylvester Stallone, Felicity Huffman, Tila Tequila, James Cameron, Sheryl Crow, Eva Longoria Parker, and Anjelica Houston, was to end May 31st, but in light of the tragic cyclone that ravaged the country and the junta's slow response to accept foreign aid, the campaign will continue throughout the month of June. On June 19th, Aung San Suu Kyi's 63rd birthday, "Burma: It Can't Wait" will work with social networking sites and websites to post images of Aung San Suu Kyi with the slogan "ASSK WHY IT CAN'T WAIT." Users will then be directed to information about the imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner and how they and their friends can help join, and donate to the campaign promoting the idea that freedom is the best birthday present.

"'Burma: It Can't Wait' has taken on a more urgent meaning given the tragedy inBurma," said Jack Healey, founder of the Human Rights Action Center and former director of the Peace Corps inLesotho and Amnesty International USA. "There is a direct connection between the junta's policies of censorship, imprisonment of political activists and torture to the government's recent failure to allow foreign aid to save the lives of those affected by the cyclone. The press is continuously reporting that the proper aid is not reaching the victims. But what the public may not yet understand is why. We need to continue to drive home the point that this government is the problem."

More artists continue to join the effort, including legendary television producer and activist Norman Lear and popular recording artist Matisyahu, who's known for his unique blending of Jewish stylings with reggae, hip-hop, and rock. Matisyahu is appearing in a short video featuring "I Will Be Light," an unreleased song from his upcoming album. The campaign has also caught the attention of artists Brett Dennen and Damian Marley who also showcase exclusive songs in their spots. "Burma: It Can't Wait" highlights the Burmese struggle for liberty, democracy, and human rights. In addition to the public awareness campaign, "Burma: It Can't Wait" is helping to raise funds for those affected by the cyclone. Thus far, it has raised more than $260,000 in aid from a combination of donations and also from contributions resulting from Fanista's charitable Rewards program. Thanks to "Burma: It Can't Wait," The U.S. Campaign For Burma has had nearly 20,000 new members join the campaign during the month of May. These numbers are startling when you consider the effort has attracted 35,000 members over the past six years. At least as importantly, the campaign has far exceeded its initial goal of reaching a million people and making them aware of the situation inBurma.

According to the Burmese government, more than 134,000 people died or are missing as a result of the cyclone. The United Nations estimates that 2.4 million people were affected by the cyclone and more than 1.4 million people remain in desperate need of food, clean water, shelter and medical care. International relief agencies have complained that the junta's slow response in accepting aid has further endangered the lives of the survivors.

The urgent need for humanitarian relief in the region has pushed the other human rights violations of the Burmese government off the front pages. The government (who changed the country's name to Myanmar in 1989, against the will of the Burmese people) has been responsible for recruiting more child soldiers than any other country in the world, has coordinated programs of ethnic cleansing that rely on rape as a weapon of terror, and practiced policies of forced labor, censorship, and imprisonment of political activists. The government imprisoned Aung San Suu Kyi, currently the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient, after her political party won more than 82 percent of the seats in parliament in Burma's last election.Burma's military junta placed her under house arrest, where she has remained for 12 of the past 18 years. (On May 27th, the military junta chose to extend her house arrest by another year, rather than to release her, as had been scheduled.) Because of her peaceful fight for human rights and democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi has been forced from her children and family. On April 24th, the U.S. Senate awarded Aung San Suu Kyi with the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress' highest civilian honor; President Bush signed the legislation in a White House ceremony on May 6th. Suu Kyi is the first person in history to be awarded this medal while under arrest. Past winners include George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela.

"Just as the world came together twenty years ago to free Nelson Mandela andSouth Africa, we can do so again for Aung San Suu Kyi andBurma," said Jeremy Woodrum, co-founder of U.S. Campaign forBurma. "Our goal is to mobilize people to join the U.S. Campaign forBurma and become agents for change inBurma."

"We are proud of the ground-breaking work this campaign represents," said Dan Adler, Founder & CEO of Fanista.com, which underwrote the entire campaign. "The military junta's unconscionable behavior in response to the tragic cyclone just drives home all of the issues we wanted to raise through these spots. This was one of those rare cases where many of our culture's most respected icons joined forces with some of the most talented and committed behind-the-camera talent to produce unconventional spots which have moved and inspired millions."

The short films will be available through as many video websites as possible, though the full campaign will live within Fanista at www.burmaitcantwait.org. Please visit www.uscampaignforburma.org and www.fanista.com for more information.

from http://newsblaze.com/story/2008060903030500025.pnw/topstory.html