Reporters Without Borders condemns the way the Burmese military government has paralysed the Internet, silencing online dissidents and carrying out regular raids on Internet cafés, while hacker attacks have blocked access to the leading websites with news and information about Burma for the past few weeks.
Showing all posts tagged Burma
Despotism fought
A new generation of activists in Burma are starting to challenge the brutal junta: “Now we want to get weapons,” said a monk known to other dissidents by the nom de guerre “Zero” for his ability to organize and vanish without a trace. “The Buddhist way is lovingkindness. But we lost. So now we want…
No such thing as humanitarian intervention
My latest New Matilda column is about the myth of “humanitarian intervention”: Last week’s Australian withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq saw a flurry of establishment commentary on the rights and wrongs of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s decision. Former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer wrote that, “despite the problems” in the war-torn country, “Australians should be…
Freedoms wanted
Democracy is craved, but not at the barrel of a gun (such as the recent call for an invasion of Burma): A WorldPublicOpinion.org poll of 19 nations conducted around the world finds that, in every nation polled, publics support the principles of democracy. At the same time, in nearly every nation, majorities are dissatisfied with…
In bed with Mugabe
My following article appears in today’s ABC Unleashed: The recent rigged election in Zimbabwe has highlighted the impotence of the international community. Bloggers and activists continue to emphasise the need for President Robert Mugabe to relinquish his hold on power, a position shared by Washington. But not unlike the Burmese uprising in 2007 that saw…
Easy solidarity
John Pilger, speaking this week to a PEN meeting in London to honour the dissidents in Burma: The news is no more from Burma. The young monks are quiet in their cells, or they are dead. But words have escaped: the defiant, beautiful poetry of Aung Than and Zeya Aung; and we know of the…
Just try and stop us
The recent crackdown in Burma continues to reverberate around the world. The bravery of the monks and the general population is a testament to the will of the human spirit. The internet was a key factor in the dissemination of information. A new report from OpenNet Initiative, a leading group tasked to monitor web filtering…
Cutting the flow
The situation in Burma remains tense. Western journalists are also paying a price, according to this Haaretz reporter: Despite the Burmese junta’s efforts to return the country to normal after its crackdown on anti-government protests last week, it has not relaxed its decision to close the country to the media. The government is denying entry…