BURMA: CENSORSHIP AND SOLITARY, BUT NO CONSTITUTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000208

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP AND IO; PACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA: CENSORSHIP AND SOLITARY, BUT NO CONSTITUTION

REF: RANGOON 195

Classified By: Pol Officer Sean O'Neill for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)

SUMMARY
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1. (C) Detained monk U Gambira has been placed in solitary
confinement, apparently as punishment for his recent
statements urging Burmese to reject the draft constitution.
The All Burma Monks Alliance issued a statement urging monks
to boycott upcoming state-sponsored religious exams but did
not call for a boycott of the referendum as some media have
reported. Authorities have charged another eleven people,
including five monks, with crimes that could result in up to
five years imprisonment. All eleven were arrested for their
alleged participation in September's demonstrations. Last
night, police raided the offices of a weekly newspaper in
retaliation for a recent article which made light of one of
the police's more unorthodox criminal investigation
techniques.

U GAMBIRA
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2. (C) On March 14, authorities placed detained monk U
Gambira in solitary confinement although family members
reported that he remains in good health. Supporters
speculated officials placed him in solitary confinement in
retaliation for his recent statements urging Burmese to vote
against the regime's constitution (reftel). U Gambira has
been charged with three offenses, although so far authorities
have only proceeded with one of the three, violations of the
Emergency Provisions Act. Family members are scheduled to
visit him again on March 24 and hope to know more about his
legal situation then.

MONKS' STATEMENT
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3. (C) The All Burmese Monks Alliance released a statement
on March 18 urging Buddhist monks to boycott upcoming
state-sponsored religious exams. The statement also reminded
monks of September's crackdown and called for a continuation
of a boycott against alms-giving from the regime. We have
obtained and translated a copy of the Burmese-language
statement. Contrary to some media reports it does not call
on citizens to boycott the May referendum.

MONKS, ACTIVISTS CHARGED
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4. (C) Opposition lawyer U Aung Thein reported that on March
17, authorities charged five monks and six laymen with public
mischief, unlawful assembly, and sale of obscene materials.
If convicted, the eleven people could receive as much as five
years in prison. The five monks were members of the Sasana
Theik Pan monastery in Rangoon and were arrested along with
the six laymen last fall for their alleged role in
September's pro-democracy protests.

PRESS HARASSMENT
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5. (C) Police raided the offices of the "7 Daily News
Weekly" last night and threatened to arrest one of its
reporters, Ma Nyein Nyein Naing, a 2007 Jefferson Fellow.
Additionally the Press Scrutiny Board has banned the
publication of the paper for at least one week. The Deputy
Editor in Chief believed authorities were retaliating for a
recent article that made light of some of the more unorthodox
investigatory techniques the police have used to investigate
the recent multiple homicide on University Avenue, near the
U.S. Embassy. In particular, the article poked fun at the
fact that detectives attended the funeral of one of the
victims and read aloud an order instructing her soul to help
them solve the crime, as is apparently common practice in
murder investigations.

RANGOON 00000208 002 OF 002



COMMENT
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6. (C) More of the same from the Than Shwe regime. While
the international community and the Burmese people wait to
finally see a copy of the draft constitution, authorities
busy themselves with retaliating against an imprisoned monk
and a weekly tabloid. We are not surprised by the
overwhelming pessimism of most of our Burmese contacts that
political reform is likely soon.
VILLAROSA