Today Ashin Sopaka was able leave his village and go to Monywa city for the first time in three months.

Even though he was allowed to make the trip to Monywa and able to use the Internet, he was accompanied by two plainclothes police officers who followed him from Mandalay and are still staying in his hometown Thaphyay Aye, Sagaing Division. He is still under 24-hour surveillance by military intelligence.

He said he is doing well. He teaches English and has now developed a plan to build a library in his home town. We hope to be able to show some photos of the village soon.

For this library, Ashin Sopaka needs financial support. Every donation will be very helpful. If you would like to support the library project in Thaphyay Aye Village, please use the keyword “Ashin Sopaka”.

Ashin Sopaka and the four monks Ashin Candima, Ashin Magha, Ashin Bhindola and Ashin Jotipala were ordered by the Maha Nayaka (Sangha Council) to return to their home villages following a peaceful protest in October 2011 in Mandalay calling for the release of political prisoners, an end to the civil wars in Burma, and freedom of speech.

Up to 100,000 people in the south of Chin State, the poorest state in Burma, face starvation in renewed food shortages.

Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) has found evidence of renewed famine in Chin State following the Mawta famine which began in 2007. Chronic food shortages in parts of southern Chin State are particularly severe this year after a bad harvest. The populations of Kanpetlet, Matupi, Mindat and Paletwa townships are at risk of forced migration when food stores run out.

The Mawta Famine
The word ‘Mawta’ is a dialectical word of the Chin people to describe the flowering of bamboo; a natural occurrence that takes place every fifty years. Bamboo covers a fifth of the area in Chin State and its flower provides abundant food for rats. As their population explodes exponentially, an entire village’s food supply can be decimated overnight. The phenomenon occurred 3 times since 1862, each with disastrous effect on the local cultivation.

The impact of Mawta continues long after the bamboo flowers. The plants die after flowering, and the roots which hold the soil together begin a slow process of decay. This leads to excess soil leaching on the upland paddy; the only fields available in the mountainous Chin State. Continuous cultivation on the already weakened soil has proven disastrous to the land. The situation this year has been further worsened by adverse weather conditions. Seeds were scattered from the field by strong wind and what was left was further damaged by an extended rainy season which lasted until the end of September. The harvest this year has therefore been extremely poor.

Current food crisis
Chin Human Right Organisation (CHRO) has monitored the continuing effects of the Mawta famine. They report six villages in Palwtwa township are completely empty as of 2010. CHRO have also documented that Chin refugees to Dehli have doubled in the last year. In April 2011, a report from the United Nations OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) highlighted an increase in the cost of basic commodities, and seasonal water shortages.

Accurate information on the current situation in remote parts of Chin State is difficult to obtain. HART collected testimonial evidence from 9 village representatives in the affected areas, who stated that their villages harvested food supplies that are expected to last 3 months, running out between December 2011 and January 2012. The crisis faced by these villages is likely to be replicated across Chin State. The situation is particularly bleak for those villages which have no roads connecting them to the outside world.

Starvation and famine-forced migration were avoided in 2007 due to an emergency local relief effort that was supported by DfID, UNDP and various NGOs including HART. The international community should respond once again to help prevent further famine.

It is estimated that £100 will feed up to 9-10 families or 45-50 people for 1 month. Virtually all funds allocated can be spent on food as there are no administrative costs, and transportation costs are minimal.

Please help with a donation here >>
(please add a note “Matwa Emergency Appeal”.)

On Friday 13 January of this year, many (political) prisoners were released by the Burmese authorities. Among them Ma Thanda Tun and Ko Nyo. They were arrested by Special Branch police in August 2009 in Mandalay and accused of having traveled to Thailand (Mae Sot) to meet with members of an “outlawed organization”.

We spoke with them shortly after their release.

How are you and how is your health?
Ko Nyo: I  am fine. My health is in good condition. I feel very happy.
Thanda Tun: I am fine.

When did you hear you were going to be released?
Ko Nyo: I just  knew exactly that I was going to be released when one of the prison security guards told me to get ready to go home.
Thanda Tun: I did not know in advance, because I was in a meditation course. I knew only when the authorities took me out to be released.

How were you treated in prison?
Ko Nyo: I  was treated well as a prisoner of conscience.
Thanda Tun: I was given rice gruel for breakfast, and rice and sour tasting soup prepared with vegetables for lunch, sometime beans, and rice and an egg for dinner. On Wednesdays and Sundays we were given meat for dinner.

Were you interrogated and tortured?
Ko Nyo: I was not interrogated and tortured during my time in prison. But I was interrogated and tortured in a cell, at the investigation center(SB=special branch) before I was sent to Oldbo prison. After I was kept in a cell at the investigation center for 15 days there, I was sent to Oldbo prison. In Oldbo prison, I stayed in a cell for one and a half month.
Thanda Tun: I was not tortured physically because I am a girl. But I was interrogated for five days nonstop and I was not given enough food and sleep.

Did you stay in a prison cell alone?
Ko Nyo: I stayed in No. (3) ward (which consists of 8 rooms) in which there are 850 or 900 people.
Thanda Tun: Yes, I stayed in a cell alone.

Can you describe a normal day in prison, what would you do from the moment you woke up until you went to sleep again in the evening?
Ko Nyo: I woke up at 4:30 a.m. At 5 :00 everybody had to get up and then at 5:15 most of the people would pay homage to the Buddha and share Metta for all beings. At 5:30 everybody would sit in a line of five and prison security guards would come to check and count to check with the total number of people listed the day before. At 6:15 the doors were opened so we could get
out and wash our face and brush our teeth and take a bath. And then I would have a cup of coffee with a snack. After that, I would cook curry for lunch. In the morning I used to talk with my friends and read journals or books as I had a lot of free time. At 10:30 we ate the lunch with curry which I had cooked, with bean soup which was served by the prison. From 11:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. it was closing time for a rest or sleep. During day closing time I was usually outside the room reading or talking with friends or taking a nap. At 2:30 I would cook curry for dinner. We used to eat dinner at 4 p.m. At 6 :00 p.m. we all had to get back in the room. Before 9 :00 I would read books or watch TV news. At 9 :00 it was sleeping time so we all had to sleep.
Thanda Tun: I spent my days eating, sleeping, reading , praying and meditating.

How did you survive your time in prison?
Ko Nyo: I was supported by the NLD . I got a parcel every two weeks and got some money for food that I needed.
Thanda Tun: The NLD paid me a visit every two weeks and brought food. I thank them for this.

What do you plan to do now?
Ko Nyo: I have not planned to do anything yet. But want to say: Thank you all for helping us.
Thanda Tun: For the future I want to be a tourist guide and I want to share what I know, the teachings that I learned.

More on the background of their story can be read here.

The famous monk Ashin Virathu has been released from prison in Mandalay recently after spending nine years behind bars. He has since refused to wear his monk robe and is still wearing his prisoner uniform as a form of protest instead.

Ashin Virathu protest is aimed at the actions of the Maha Nayaka Sangha Council. He says that even though the Sangha Counsil has the responsibility to protect the monks, the Council restricts and disrobes monks and closes monasteries.

“If the Sangha Council will work for the monks, I will wear my robe again.”

In a Dhamma talk he explained “Why am I wearing a prisoners robe? Even though I want to wear my monk robe I am now stuck in a prisoner uniform. This is a Buddhist country and monks never break any laws but still monks are sent to jail. Why is that so, why are monks sent to jail?”

Venerable Ashin Virathu is a lecturer at Masoe Monastery with over 3.000 monks living there. He was arrested in 2003.

In 1998/1999 he published a book criticizing monks for working together with the military regime. He also pointed out that some monks are teaching mediation practices that had nothing to do with Buddha’s teachings. In one case he criticized a monk for teaching a practice were students are asked to meditate on which animal they have been in a past life and encouraging them to act like such an animal.

His book was banned and he was threatened with arrest. Because of the strong support among the people he could not be arrested at that time.

In 2001/03 the authorities created a conflict between Buddhist monks and Moslems in his home town. A house of a Moslem was burned and people injured. Ashin Virathu’s old teacher was accused, arrested and sentenced to 27 years in jail. Virathu went to visit his teacher and was arrested too.

The Maha Nayaka Sangha Council today ordered Shwe Nya Wah Sayadaw to leave his monastery within one month. Ashin Gambira, Ashin Issariya (aka Daung Dsaw) and several monks protested against this decision.

U Gambira said: “It is a human right to express your will freely and to demonstrate. This decision of the Maha Nayaka Sangha Council is against the Vinaya (which is the monastic rules). It is an abuse of human rights. This is why I protest against the decision of the Sangha Council.

During the protest police was present but did not interfere.

Shwe Nya Wah Sayadaw said “I don’t want to be a reason for dispute. I would like to request all monks and everyone not to fight about my case as this may affect national reconciliation.” (Irrawaddy)

Shwe Nya Wah Sayadaw has been living in Sardu Pariyatti Monastery since he was 10 years old. He agreed to leave the monastery according to the order of the Sangha Council, even though he doesn’t believe that he really did anything wrong. He just gave a Dhamma talk to NLD members in Mandalay.

Comment from Ashin Kovida: The decision given to this monk today is negative for our Burmese political situation. It shows that Burma is not really on a genuine way to democratization.

Shwe Nya Wah Sayadaw was accused of giving a sermon at the Mandalay headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD) on November 20, 2011. The Maha Nayaka Sangha Council refused his apology letter with more than 10,000 signatures.

Since their release from prison late last week, Ashin Gambira and Ashin Issariya (aka Daung Dsaw) have moved in to Meggin Monsatery in Rangoon. They plan to rebuild and reopen this monastery that was destroyed by the Burmese regime following the Saffron Revolution of 2007. Both monks are now joined by the abbot of the monastery, Ashin Win Deka. Shortly after the monks started working in the disheveled monastery, authorities arrived and questioned them. U Gambira and U Issariya told them that this is their monastery, and they can not to go another monastery — they do not have any other place to go.

Meggin Monastery was demolished by soldiers during the brutal crackdown on the monks’ uprising in 2007. Most monks were arrested, and the monastery locked. It had been closed ever since. Meggin Monastery is one of the more than 60 monasteries that were raided, closed, and destroyed during the crackdown.

Ashin Gambira insisted in a recent interview that the military regime still needs to apologize to the Buddhist Sangha.

“The government has transformed its external appearance into a civilian one, but their efforts to implement democracy are still rather weak, while many cases of human rights violations continue,” he told DVB. The alms boycott (Pattanikkujjana) is still in place.

Ashin Issariya (aka King Zero) says the pressure on monks is still very strong. There is no freedom of speech. Shwe Nya Wah Sayadaw, for example, was recently banned from giving Dhamma talks for one year, and was threatened with closure of his monstery.

He was accused of giving a sermon at the Mandalay headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD) on November 20, 2011. The Maha Nayaka Sangha Council refused his apology letter with more than 10,000 signatures and asked him to appear in front of the council on January 19.

U Gambira said, “People are talking about change in Burma, but I never see any change. It still is the same as before.”

“We want to see a real change,” adds Ashin Issariya aka King Zero.

Thirty monks have had a re-ordination ceremony in Rangoon since being released recently from prison. However, it is difficult to find out how many monks are still incarcerated.

“The monks from our network have been released,” says Ashin Issariya. “But there is no reliable data of how many other monks still remain in prison.”

This is due to the fact that Burmese leaders waver on even acknowledging that Burma has political prisoners. If people are arrested, they are often charged with criminal offenses, such as the Electronics Act. Ashin Pannasiri was arrested shortly after the Saffron Revolution and indicted not for his anti-military and pro-democracy activities, but for holding foreign currency.

When asked about going back to Burma, Ashin Issariya answers: “We don’t know if it is safe to go back now for those who had to flee Burma. I will go back one day. But that needs preparation and will take time.”

Ashin Sopaka remains under village arrest at this time. We have not been able to make contact with him for several weeks now. The only way of contact is through the village phone, but the villagers can’t give us any detailed information. We only know that he is still in the monastery in his home village.

“I am sure if Ashin Sopaka had a chance to leave his village, he would go back to Mandalay to connect with others. He is in a very small village, far away from the city. He can not do anything there. So the fact that he hasn’t come back yet means that he is still under village arrest,” said Ashin Issariya.

Ashin Zaw Latt, a prominent Mon Buddhist monk, was arrested by the Burmese authorities on January 7, 2010. He was incarcerated as a political prisoner after launching a poster campaign in Mon State encouraging people to oppose the 2010 elections. The military regime sentenced him to 15 years in prison, but he was released on January 13 as part of the government’s amnesty for 651 political prisoners. He is currently 30 years old, and hails from Mudon Village, Chaungzone Township, Mon State.

Question: Are you still wearing your Buddhist robes?

Ashin Zaw Latt: I am still a Buddhist monk. But in prison I was not allowed to wear my monks’ robes. I will wear my robes again when I get to my village.

What are your future plans now that you are out from prison?

Ashin Zaw Latt: My aim is to be a good journalist. I need to study hard in order to be prepared. The reason why I want to be a good journalist is that our Mon media is very weak. Regarding news in our community, there is no big space for freedom. In order to have a developed Mon media, I believe that we all need to join hands to work for it.

Do you have any plans to be politically active again?

Ashin Zaw Latt: Yes. I want to tell all of our Mon people to be active in politics. We still do not have our freedom yet. I will continue to fight for our people’s freedom, and I believe I will be joined by other people. To have our freedom, we must all fight together.

How can you be eager to continue to be active in media and politics, as these were the things that got you sent to prison for over three years?

Ashin Zaw Latt: I need to continue to be active with these things, even if they put me in prison again. This is my straight decision. Media put me in prison for ten years [sentence]. Politics got me one year in prison. For distributing the Guiding Star newspaper, they [sentenced me] to four years in prison. They [the military government] charged me for three different charges, and sentenced me to fifteen years in prison total.

How did you feel while you were in prison?

Ashin Zaw Latt: They transferred me from Insein Prison to Pathein Prison [in the Irrawaddy Division]. I saluted and sang the Mon national song every day after I arrived in Pathein, as I love our Mon people, and I also want our Mon people to struggle for our freedom, according to the song.

What do you want to say about the fact that two other prominent Mon political prisoners, Min Nay Win and Min Myo Thwe, were not released in the recent amnesty, and remain behind bars?

Ashin Zaw Latt: I thought all three of us would be released at the same time when I heard about the amnesty. We all will work together again after they are released. But, even without them, I am not discouraged. I will do everything that I can do.

Akar, an editor of Kaowao News, spoke with Ashin Zaw Latt after he arrived in Rangoon on his way back home to Mon State. Photos courtesy of Kaowao News.

The Best Friend warmly welcomes the release of political prisoners, including many of our friends such as U Gambira, U Ghosita, and U Kheminda, and members of The Best Friend including Ma Thanda Tun and Ko Nyo, as a significant step forward. However, we still have to continue the struggle for complete and irreversible democratic progress, and we ask the international community to continue to support genuine democratization in Burma.

We must be watchful that the government and military do not turn backwards again. We know that the changes we have seen have been the results of the struggle of the people. That is why we have to continue to support the people who are struggling for real democracy. We can not only sit back now and expect an honest change to come from the government.

Many prisoners yesterday were released under the agreement number 401, which they were asked to sign in exchange for their release. Law 401 means that if they are rearrested, they must stay in prison for the remaining time of their original prison term. In a real amnesty there should not be any conditions for freedom, and all political prisoners should be released unconditionally. As long as there are laws and conditions like this, we can not say Burma has true freedom.

In addition, many political prisoners remain behind bars. Rather than releasing all of the political prisoners who have worked for genuine democracy and peace, relatives of former dictator Ne Win, who created a lot of problems for the people, and former spy chief Khin Nyunt and his cronies have been released. Khin Nyunt was the former head of military intelligence and prime minister who was accused and sued for corruption. If the government is ready to forgive corruption at a national level, they should also be ready to forgive all the people who hold different opinions and are still incarcerated as political prisoners.

For genuine change, the government must welcome free speech, include the participation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the ethnic people of Burma, and establish the rule of law. This will require changes to the current constitution. The 2008 Constitution is deeply undemocratic. According to this constitution, the president of Burma must have military experience. In other words, the president most likely can not be a woman.

The people of Burma need the right to choose their own leaders. Only when the people have the right to choose their own leaders freely can we say that Burma is on an irreversible path to genuine democratization and freedom.

On January 4th, Zarganar – who had been banned from performing on stage for many years – took to the stage again at the Prize-Giving Ceremony of The Art of Freedom Film Festival at Taw Won Center, Yangon.

Together with Zarganar other well-known comedians like A Yaine, Kin Kaung, Nget Pyaw Kyaw and Thee Lay Thee A Nyeint Group (Sein Thee, Kyae Thee, Zee Thee, Pann Thee, Chaw Su Myo, Mya Sabai Ngon and Thit Thit Lwin) performed at the event.

Here are two of Zarganar’s jokes from his Independance day performance:

Joke one:

In my dream I was a security guard with a gun. A very old man came to me and asked me with a trembling voice “Hello my son, I am here to meet with general Than Shwe”.
So I answered, Oh General Than Shwe is completely retired, he is not here anymore.
The old man went away but a few minutes later he came back again and asked the same question: “Hello my dear son, I am here to meet with general Than Shwe. Am I allowed to meet him?”
I raised my voice and answered “Hey I just told you, General Than Shwe is retired, he is not here any more.” The old man said “Oh” and went back.
A few minutes later he came back again and asked the same question “Hello, can I meet with General Than Shwe?”
I shouted “How many times must I tell you!! He is not here any more, he is completely retired. Should I shoot you, kill you or what? I can not tell you anything else. Why do you ask me that question again and again?”
The old man answered “well it is not enough to hear that answer only one time. It is a treat to my ear that Than Shwe is retired completely, I need to hear that again and again.”

Zarganar continued to another joke:

Then I lost my job, I was not a security guard anymore. I started to work as a Bank Manager. One man came to me and told me he wanted to put 100 million Kyat on the bank account. He said “I want to put all my money here in the bank, 100 million Kyat.”
I told him, “Ok no problem, I will take care of your money.”
He asked me “But if you are not here anymore, who will be responsible to take care of all my money?”
I answered, “Well if I am not here anymore, the chairman of the bank will be responsible and take care of your money.”
He kept asking “But if there is no chairman of the bank anymore who will be responsible for my money?”
I told him “Don’t worry if there is no chairman of the bank anymore, the President of Burma himself will take responsibility for your money.”
He continued his question “But if there is no President of Burma anymore, who will take responsibility for my money?”
I told him, “If that should happen, then forget your money and be happy. Your 100 million is worth to loose the president!”

Zarganar is Burma’s most famous artist and a former political prisoner. He was released on October 12, 2011 in an amnesty.
After cyclone Nargis in late 2008, a Yangon court sentenced the prominent comedian, actor and director to 59 years in jail – a sentence later reduced to 35 years – for disbursing relief aid and talking to the international media about the government’s failure to assist victims of cyclone Nargis.

This year Ashin Issairya aka King Zero, U Nai Minda and members of the Best Friend Library Mae Sot celebrated Independence day with the residents of the rubbish dump of Mae Sot.

Independence Day remembers the 4 January 1948, when Burma became an independent republic, named the Union of Burma, with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu as its first Prime Minister. It is a national holiday in Burma marked by sport activities and fairs in most Burmese cities.

It was a fun day for children and adults. With tug-of-wars, sack race and fun games with balloons. Afterwards all together enjoyed the Burmese national dish Mohinga (Rice noodles in fish soup).

The people living on the rubbish dump are illegal refugees from Burma, earning a meager income by collecting plastic trash on the dump. Living conditions are bleak for many families.

In response, the The Best Friend has been working with the people on the dump since 2007.