Word: charterer
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...constitutional referendum, giving citizens a rare chance to participate in the political process. In the wake of global condemnation of crushed protests last year, Burma's secretive junta had apparently committed itself to a modicum of reform. Among the first steps would be a plebiscite on the army-drafted charter. (The previous constitution was torn up by the junta 18 years ago, and the country has operated without a basic law since then.) Then would come multi-party elections in 2010. The end result would be what Burma's generals refer to as "discipline-flourishing democracy...
...Burmese will have the opportunity to peruse the 194-page charter draft. Currently, official copies are available only at government-run bookstores - and they must be purchased. Samizdat versions are available, and some pro-democracy activists have been poring through the text to publicize what they contend are the myriad ways in which the constitution subverts true democratic principles. But even if the draft were widely available, the majority of Burma's 53 million mostly impoverished residents are hardly likely to sit down with a 15-chapter tome...
...plea by the United Nations to allow international monitoring of the referendum, no outside observer will be able to indicate whether voting irregularities take place. Furthermore, a February law has made criticizing the referendum a crime punishable by imprisonment - hardly an ideal environment for open debate on the charter draft. Amnesty International estimates 700 political prisoners still crowd the country's jails as a result of last year's protest movement...
...communicate concerns about Chinese financial links to Sudan; highlighting the dark side of Chinese political activity to potential commercial parties; dispersing information about human rights violations as widely as possible; strategizing means for fans and athletes (whose ability to express political opinions is limited, the result of Olympic charter and U.S. Olympic policy) to participate in activist efforts—these and other tactics can be steps in the direction of protesters’ underlying goals. As the opening ceremonies draw ever closer, we wish athletes and activists alike the best in chasing their Beijing goals...
...While Serb officials expressed regret over the incident, and some have criticized Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica for inciting violence, their focus remains on challenging Kosovo's secession. Branislav Ristivojevic, spokesman for Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia, accused the U.S. of violating the U.N. Charter and Resolution 1244 (which ended the Kosovo war but stipulated that Kosovo was still part of Serbia) by recognizing Kosovo's unilateral independence declaration, calling that, rather than the events at the embassy, "the deepest violation of international law". And U.N. troops used teargas to disperse some 5,000 Serb demonstrators trying to cross into...