Dealing with the Opposition & Security

DEALING WITH THE OPPOSITION

Releasing Political Prisoners (notably Aung San Suu Kyi) and Negotiating with the opposition as efforts in response to criticisms

SECURITY MEASURES

Censorship, Restrictions on public gatherings, Military actions against ethnic armed groups, Strengthening the Police Force, Restricting Visas for Foreign Aid workers and Interrogation

Date	Type	Details of the event
2010.11.23	ASSK	The Press Scrutiny and Registration Divisions (PSRD) suspended the prominent First Eleven sports and Hot News journals for two weeks, and Myanmar Newsweek, Snapshot News, Myanmar Post, 7 Day News, Venus News, People’s Era and The Voice, for a week over their coverage of the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s release, editors said.
2010.11.15	ASSK	The state-controlled censorship board in Burma, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), has ordered domestic media to carry limited news about Aung San Suu Kyi, according to sources.
2010.10.28	Opposition	The New Light of Myanmar published an editorial criticizing the opposition parties, armed ethnic groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and Burmese media in exile.
2010.10.26	Terrorist	The New Light of Myanmar published an article revealing the investigations into recent terrorist attacks targeting upcoming elections. It claims that suspects responsible for the bombing of an election commission office in Bago on Sept 29 had connections with the armed opposition group ABSDF and KNU
2010.10.20	ASSK	Burma’s highest court agreed to hear final appeals from opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi regarding her continuing house arrest on October 29.
2010.10.11	Prisoners	Myanmar's military government is planning the early release of 3,000 prisoners to allow them to vote in next month's long-awaited election, a prison department official said
2010.10.08	NLD	Myanmar's Supreme Court will hear a special appeal lodged by Aung San Suu Kyi against her house arrest for a security breach last year, it said in an announcement
2010.10.08	Prisoners	Myanmar's military regime plans to release about 11,000 prisoners ahead of November elections, enabling them to vote in the rare polls, officials said
2010.09.24	ASSK	Aung San Suu Kyi is allowed to vote in the Nov.7 election, according to the voter list posted in the ward Election Commission (EC) office in Bahan Township where she lives despite the election law that bans detainees from voting.
2010.09.20	ASSK	Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to vote in the military-ruled country's first election in two decades
2010.09.12	NLD	Burmese state media warned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party to drop protests against its dissolution, and threatened jail for anyone impeding the November vote.
2010.08.31	Human Rights	Ministry of Home Affairs met at the ministry for the fifteenth time to compile reports on human rights in Myanmar.
2010.05.12	NLD	The New Light of Myanmar publishes an article criticising the NLD in relation to US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell's visit to Burma
2010.01.21	ASSK	Burmese Home Minister Maj-Gen Maung Oo told a meeting of local officials in central Burma’s Kyaukpadaung town that Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi would be released in November when her house arrest period is over
2010.01.15	NLD	Aung San Suu Kyi had a 25-minute meeting with the SPDC Liaison Minister, Aung Kyi, at her house
2009.11.08	Government	Before attending the US-Asean summit, Min Lwin, a senior Burmese diplomat, told AP that there was a plan to release Suu Kyi soon in order for her to organize her party.
2009.10.7	ASSK	Aung San Suu Kyi met with the SPDC Liaison Minister, Aung Kyi
2009.10.3	ASSK	Aung San Suu Kyi met with the SPDC Liaison Minister, Aung Kyi
2009.09.17	Prisoners	The Junta granted amnesty to 7,114 convicts at prisons across the country, however only 127 are political prisoners
2009.08.19	Government	The Burmese military regime praised itself as an advocate of human rights by releasing the American intruder, John W Yettaw, and is promoting bilateral relations with the US by hosting Senator Jim Webb, in an editorial titled “Constructive attitude in the area of international relations"
2009.08.02	ASSK	A report in the New Light of Myanmar accused "power-craving" opportunists of using Aung San Suu Kyi's trial to incite riots as it condemned the uprising 21 years ago that made her a heroine.
2009.07.30	ASSK	The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, in a comment piece ahead of Aung San Suu Kyi's judgement due 31 July, cautioned against anti-government factions, saying that "we have to ward off subversive elements and disruptions".
2009.07.24	ASSK	The demand to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners is “nonsense and unreasonable,” said Burma’s state-run newspaper the ‘New Light of Myanmar’ in its issues
2009.06.25	ASSK	The junta said that a US man John Yettaw on trial for swimming to the house of Aung San Suu Kyi had links with exile groups in Thailand. Burma's police chief, for the first time, named top dissidents with whom Yettaw had allegedly met before making the first of two visits to the democracy icon's lakeside residence.
2009.06.25	ASSK	Burma’s Chief of Police, Khin Yi, at a press briefing accused opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for having not adequately informed police of the details of the first visit by American John William Yettaw, who is currently standing trial for his visits to the detained pro-democracy leader's Rangoon residence.
2009.06.05	ASSK	The military government has accused officials of the US and British embassies in Rangoon of allegedly dropping into the office of the Opposition party – the National League for Democracy – 25 times in May alone.
2009.05.26	ASSK	A top police official Brig-Gen Myint Thein said Burma considered releasing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, but canceled the decision after an American stayed at her house in violation of the country's security law.
2009.05.24	ASSK	Burmese government lodged a strong protest over a statement of the alternate chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over a lawsuit against detained political party leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying that the statement is an interference in the country's internal affairs.
2009.04.07	ASSK	The “Anti Sanctions Campaign at Home and Abroad 2009,” held a press conference at the City Star Hotel in Rangoon, in which it blamed Suu Kyi for the economic sanctions on Burma, according to a source at the press conference
2009.02.21	Prisoners	Burma's military rulers began releasing prisoners from prisons, across the country, as part of its amnesty to 6,313 prisoners, who the junta said had shown 'Good Conduct and Discipline'.
2009.02.20	Prisoners	Junta announced that 6313 prisoners would be released "on humanitarian grounds and as a gesture of showing sympathy towards their family," and "to enable them to serve the interests of the nation and to participate in the fair elections to be held in the year 2010."

Date	Type	Details of the event
2010.11.05	Restrictions	The Military Affairs Security Unit directed all townships in Mon state to shut down the phone lines from 3 p.m. Saturday and all day Sunday.
2010.11.04	Censorship	An ongoing computer attack has knocked Burma off the internet. The attack started on the 25th of October but has grown in the last few days to overwhelm the nation's link to the net, said security firm Arbor Networks.
2010.11.02	Restrictions	The Burmese Army imposed a curfew on the town of Loikaw in Karenni State over the weekend in a response suspected to be founded in at least two attacks by Karenni fighters on military outposts near the town last month.
2010.11.02	Restrictions	Internet services in Karenni State capital Loikaw are being cut off frequently
2010.10.11	Restrictions	The Burmese authorities are to ban all public stage performances during the social and religious celebrations associated held in October and November due to the upcoming Nov. 7 election date
2010.10.05	Restrictions	Naypyitaw has set three months before the elections and three months after the elections as state of emergency period, according to informed sources from the border
2010.10.04	Military	Two Burmese army officers and one soldier have been detained for prosecution for the killing of two young men in Pegu on Sept. 4
2010.10.04	Censorship	Burma’s censorship board suspended the Rangoon-based weekly, The Favourite Journalfrom publication for two weeks for publishing a cartoon the censorship board alleges was joking about the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
2010.10.01	Censorship	Burma's press censors have barred domestic news agencies from reporting about pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's name appearing on the electoral role in the November election
2010.10.01	Restrictions	The Mudon Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) has announced that all villages in the township are prohibited from holding festivals before the Burmese elections this November.
2010.09.30	Police	Courts in Burma have given long prison sentences to 13 people, including a Buddhist monk, who were accused of planning bombings and other activities to disrupt upcoming elections. The sentencing is the first major crackdown on dissent since campaigning officially began last week for the Nov. 7 general elections
2010.09.30	Ethnic	Two more Burmese battalions have arrived in the Three Pagodas Pass area to increase pressure on ethnic armed groups and to prepare for a possible offensive, according to local sources.
2010.09.30	Censorship	Burma's Union Election Commission (EC) has censored campaign ads submitted by ethnic political parties that make reference to a federal union in Burma
2010.09.28	Ethnic	Two battalions under Military Operation Management Command (MOMC) No.19 are expected to arrive and establish themselves at Three Pagodas Pass Town (TPP) on the Thai – Burma border.
2010.09.27-29	Military	Burma's Chief of Military Affairs Security Maj-Gen Kyaw Swe warned his staff about leaking military documents and has ordered tighter surveillance within military offices and government ministries during his first staff briefing
2010.09.27	Police	Monk Oakkan Tha was sentenced to 15 years for breaching the Electronic Act and the Publication Act, and for disturbing the security and peace of the state. He was accused of sending information to the Mon News Agency after they found anti-election documents from him on January 7, 2010.
2010.09.14	Investigation	Wiretapping by the authorities has reportedly been on the rise, prominent politicians say
2010.09.07	Ethnic	The Burmese military government has mobilized hundreds of soldiers into areas near the Sino-Burmese border controlled by armed ethnic groups.
2010.08.23	Restrictions	Burma has suspended visas on arrival for tourists from September ahead of elections in November
2010.08.20	Restrictions	The Burmese government has banned Nargis-related visas for humanitarian relief workers ahead the general election
2010.08.04	Police	Burma's state-run press warned "subversives" that anyone who disrupts the country's first elections in two decades could face up to 20 years in prison.
2010.07.21	Censorship	The Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) closed “The Voice Weekly” in Rangoon for two week following the publication of an article on the constitution by Aung Htut, a pseudonym of Dr Nay Win Maung the editor
2010.07.21	Censorship	The Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) closed “The Voice Weekly” in Rangoon for two week following the publication of an article on the constitution by Aung Htut, a pseudonym of Dr Nay Win Maung the editor
2010.07.17	Police	“Over the past 3-4 months, township police forces in Rangoon have been ordered to improve investigation and reporting of crimes to divisional police headquarters,” an official from the Myanmar Police Force’s Department Against Transnational Crime said.
2010.07.17	Police	“Over the past 3-4 months, township police forces in Rangoon have been ordered to improve investigation and reporting of crimes to divisional police headquarters,” an official from the Myanmar Police Force’s Department Against Transnational Crime said.
2010.07.04	Police	Myanmar Police Force coordination meeting was held at its headquarters
2010.06.04	Police	Speaking at a press conference, Khin Yi said that Burma's police force has developed nine crime prevention task forces aimed at reducing the crime rate.
2010.05.06	Police	The Burmese junta revealed it had arrested a construction engineer on suspicion of carrying out the water-festival bombings. The police report said that three members of the secretive Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors (VBSW) hurled three bombs into the crowd on April 15
2010.05.01	Police	Security has been tightened on the Bangladesh Border 1 following a military report that some 40 terrorists have been entering Burmese territories from the Bangladesh side to sabotage government buildings, roads, a crowded public places in Buthidaung and Maungdaw
2010.04.29	Police	Rangoon authorities issued bomb alerts warning its residents that attacks similar to the April 15 water festival bombings could be immanent and asking people to report suspicious activity.
2010.04.19	Police	According to a description provided by army and police sources explosions in Rangoon on Thursday appear to have targeted Nay Shwe Thway Aung, the grandson of junta chief Sr-Gen Than Shwe
2010.04.18	Police	A commentary in a state-run newspaper The Mirror said exiled Burmese opposition groups were responsible for the bombing of a pavilion in Rangoon.
2010.02.18	Ethnic	The New Light of Myanmar wrote that the Burmese regime put the responsibility for the Laokai bombs on defeated MNDAA leader Peng Jiasheng and his associates. It also reported that an additional six bombs were discovered in Laogai.
2009.10	Police	Scores of police from Central Burma have been transferred to Rangoon and Mandalay in an alleged attempt to contain possible protests before elections next year. Police sources have said that since October at least 74 people from 10 townships in Bago Division have been deployed to Police Battalions, the term the government coined for Riot Police following the 1988 uprising.
2009.07.02	Police	Burmese police uncover a bomb plot ahead of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's visit
2009.06.02	Police	Authorities in Arakan State in western Burma alerted government offices of possible bomb attacks by foreign-based armed groups
2010.02.20	Community	Burmese-language newspaper Myanma Ahlin reported that Ashin Kumara, the chairman of Junta-backed State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, said he planned to call a meeting of all senior abbots to discuss new regulations that aim improve monastic discipline.
2010.09.06	Ethnic	Brig-Gen Zeyar Aung the new commander of the Burmese Army’s Northern Regional Command in Kachin State visited Bhamo
2010.06.25	Investigation	The Burmese military junta has been interrogating political prisoners since early June about their opinions of the upcoming election and their intentions for future political activity, according to the families of political prisoners.
2010.03-04	Investigation	The Burmese junta is collecting registered lists of family members in Rangoon and Irrawaddy Division to ensure it has the name and location of potential voters prior to the election.
2010.01.04	Investigation	The Burmese junta has begun taking a census and collecting personal details of retired government servants in the education sector in Sittwe and Taung-gok townships in Rakhine State for the elections.
2009.12.21	Investigation	Opposition party members in Burma are being forced to divulge personal details about their families and jobs to intelligence officers, reportedly on instruction from senior government officials.
2009.12.21	Investigation	Military Affairs Security (MAS) authorities in Lashio, capital of Shan State North, have ordered local authorities to collect lists of members of political parties in Lashio who contested in the 1990 elections, according to reliable sources from the town. The MAS has demanded that the list be compiled with the names of the political parties, their current membership and details of existing members.
2009.01.23	Investigation	Officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs contacted several political organizations inquiring about their status in terms of preparation and organizing for the ensuing 2010 general elections.

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Dealing with the Opposition & Security