Word: myanmar
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...country's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, has called for Burmese voters to reject the draft. But given that Burma's generals (who prefer to call their country Myanmar) rejected a 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...
...ruled the nation since 1962 is among the most oppressive governments in the world, one regularly accused of human rights violations, and Washington maintains harsh economic sanctions against the regime. But for more than a decade Rabinowitz has traveled back and forth from Burma - which the junta now calls Myanmar - meeting with everyone from high-level generals in the former capital of Yangon to local rebels in jungle camps, all in a painstaking effort to create and preserve the Hukawng Valley Wildlife Sanctuary...
...targeted divestment bill aimed at putting pressure on the Sudanese government to cease the genocide in Darfur. In September, students marched through Harvard Square to urge the passage of a bill that would stop public pension funds from investing in companies that enable the military junta in Myanmar. These advocates apparently believe that they can make a difference by convincing financial institutions to stop investing in companies such as PetroChina and Chevron, which are linked to atrocities around the world. There is no question that the genocide in Darfur and the violent military crackdown in Myanmar are acts of brutality...
...September 1987, the superstitious General Ne Win who headed the military junta in Burma (renamed Myanmar soon thereafter) banned all high value banknotes that were not divisible by nine. People in a country blighted by years of the junta’s despotism and economic mismanagement lost their savings overnight. This triggered Burma’s first massive uprising, with its indelible image of saffron and red clad monks marching with overturned bowls—a refusal to take alms from the junta or its soldiers amounted to excommunication. On Sept. 18, 1988, the army opened gunfire on a crowd...
However, India’s response trumped all realpolitik. On Oct. 1, it merely expressed “concern” over the situation, and the chief of Indian Army, General Deepak Kapoor told reporters, “We have a good relationship going with Myanmar and I am sure we will try and maintain that,” and that what happened in Burma was “an internal matter...