Vol. 8 Issue 7 - Public International Law & Policy Group
Vol. 8 Issue 7 - Public International Law & Policy Group Vol. 8 Issue 7 - Public International Law & Policy Group
The U.N. said Quintana has asked to meet government officials, political prisoners and leaders of political parties, a clear reference to Suu Kyi, whom he was not allowed to see on his last trip. He also requested to travel to three states Karen, Kayin and Kachin. It said Quintana would also bring up political prisoners, legislative reform to protect human rights, and independence of the judiciary in his meetings with government officials. Myanmar's current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy movement and killing as many as 3,000 people. It called elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results when Suu Kyi's party won overwhelmingly. US looks for better way to sway Burma Agence France Presse, 2/17/09 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday US President Barack Obama's administration is looking for a better way to bring change to military-ruled Myanmar and help the country's people. "We are conducting a review of our policy," Clinton told a Tokyo University student from Myanmar who asked whether there was an alternative to sanctions in order to promote economic and political freedom in the country. "We are looking at what steps we could take that might influence the current Burmese government and we are also looking for ways that we could more effectively help the Burmese people," she said. Clinton, speaking at a town-hall type meeting with students at Tokyo university, used the term Burma, the country's name before the military junta changed it to Myanmar. Recalling a speech she gave to the Asia Society in New York last week, Clinton said: "We want to see a time when the citizens of Burma and the Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi live freely in their own country." Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy party, has spent most of the past 19 years under house arrest by the junta that has ruled the country since 1962. "I've spoken with many people already who are strong supporters of the Burmese people who have said 'let's look to see if there's a better way', so we are doing that," the chief US diplomat said. "And I hope we will be able to arrive at a policy that can be more effective." A day after Obama took office a senior official in Yangon said Myanmar hoped that the new president would change Washington's tough policy towards its military regime and end the "misunderstandings" of the past.
Former US President George W. Bush's administration strengthened decade-old sanctions against Myanmar while his wife Laura was an outspoken critic of the country's ruling junta. Learn about PILPG’s work in Burma Return to Table of Contents Burundi Burundi parliament approves new electoral commission Agence France Presse, 2/13/09 Burundi's parliament on Friday approved the revised line-up of the electoral commission after rejecting an earlier proposal last month on the grounds that it was biased in favor of the president. "The list sent by the president has just been approved by 108 MPs for to four against," Pie Ntavyohanyuma, president of the national assembly, told AFP. The commission's five members were also approved by the senate, he said. On January 20, the senate rejected the proposed commission, arguing that its members had been cherry-picked by President Pierre Nkurunziza, who is widely expected to run for reelection in 2010. The main opposition party Frodebu said Friday it was "satisfied" that its concerns had been addressed in the new line-up. Return to Table of Contents Chechnya 4 police, 3 insurgents killed in Russia clash Sergei Venyavsky, Associated Press, 2/12/09 Four police officers and three insurgents were killed Thursday during and after a shootout in Russia's restive southern republic of Ingushetia, a regional Interior Ministry spokesman said. The clash in Nazran ended when the three rebels apparently committed suicide by detonating explosives in the house in which they had taken shelter, the spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity.
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Former US President George W. Bush's administration strengthened decade-old sanctions<br />
against Myanmar while his wife Laura was an outspoken critic of the country's ruling junta.<br />
Learn about PILPG’s work in Burma<br />
Return to Table of Contents<br />
Burundi<br />
Burundi parliament approves new electoral commission<br />
Agence France Presse, 2/13/09<br />
Burundi's parliament on Friday approved the revised line-up of the electoral commission<br />
after rejecting an earlier proposal last month on the grounds that it was biased in favor of the<br />
president.<br />
"The list sent by the president has just been approved by 108 MPs for to four against," Pie<br />
Ntavyohanyuma, president of the national assembly, told AFP.<br />
The commission's five members were also approved by the senate, he said.<br />
On January 20, the senate rejected the proposed commission, arguing that its members had<br />
been cherry-picked by President Pierre Nkurunziza, who is widely expected to run for reelection<br />
in 2010.<br />
The main opposition party Frodebu said Friday it was "satisfied" that its concerns had been<br />
addressed in the new line-up.<br />
Return to Table of Contents<br />
Chechnya<br />
4 police, 3 insurgents killed in Russia clash<br />
Sergei Venyavsky, Associated Press, 2/12/09<br />
Four police officers and three insurgents were killed Thursday during and after a shootout in<br />
Russia's restive southern republic of Ingushetia, a regional Interior Ministry spokesman said.<br />
The clash in Nazran ended when the three rebels apparently committed suicide by detonating<br />
explosives in the house in which they had taken shelter, the spokesman said on customary<br />
condition of anonymity.
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