A Stitch in Haste

It is a crime to complain to the outside world about Burma's military junta, punishable by prison or even death:

A [Burma] court has sentenced a lawyer to seven years in prison for advising a group of farmers to file grievances with the International Labor Organization, the world labor body said.

A court in Daik-U, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of the capital [Rangoon], sentenced Aye Myint on Oct. 31 for "spreading false information," according to an ILO statement received Wednesday.

The statement said Aye Myint was charged because he advised farmers whose land was confiscated by authorities to report the matter to the ILO liaison officer in [Rangoon], Richard Horsey.

[Burma's] junta recently said it would withdraw from the ILO to protest the agency's criticism of the country.

Aye Myint has been jailed before. He was given a death sentence for treason in 2003 because of his alleged contacts with Horsey, but was released in January 2005 following international pressure.

Of course, if this had happened in China (and it does), some apologists would say it was no big deal.

I guess all it takes to make violating human rights a "relative concept" is a nuclear arsenal and some "neat-o" skyscrapers.

Burma's brutal military junta -- arguably the most oppressive government on Earth -- has shut down the Red Cross and forbidden all prison visits:

While the Red Cross had not been entirely ejected from Burma, [a spokesperson] said she feared the organisation's presence in the country could soon be confined to an office in the capital.

Meanwhile the US ambassador at the UN, John Bolton, said he would table a resolution on Burma in the Security Council in the next few days.

He said Burmese government policies of repression and human rights violations had contributed to instability in the region, and were a threat to international peace.

Funny, wasn't "bringing democracy in order to stabilize the region" one of the reasons we invaded Iraq? So remind me again why we aren't invading Burma? What does Iraq have that Burma doesn't?

Oh right, WMDs. Silly me.

Well, silly somebody.