Burma Ranked Second to Last in Internet Freedom

Just before Iran, Burma ranked second to last in Internet freedom in a report called Freedom on the Net 2011, released on Monday by information watchdog Freedom House.

“The regime always plays a zero sum game.”

In this conversation, two followers of the National League for Democracy (NLD) discuss the implications of the 2010 elections, the release of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and how the international community has responded to the junta’s refusal to make meaningful democratic reforms.

Burma’s Recent Events

The 2010 Burmese election, orchestrated by the military junta, has raised international awareness for Burma’s fight for democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

A Flawed Election Day

In 1990, a parliamentary government was fairly elected by the Burmese people with Aung San Suu Kyi at its head. Burma’s military junta ignored the election and placed Suu Kyi under house arrest. Since then, the military and its generals have ruled Burma with little regard for the freedoms its people deserve.

This flawed election day will be the first held in Burma in the last 20 years, but under the nation’s constitution and electoral laws there seems to be little hope for change.

Marking the 65th Birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi

Here on Sampsonia Way, City of Asylum writer-in-residence Khet Mar and her family marked the 65th birthday of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi by drawing and painting portraits of her. Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest due to her political involvement in the National League for Democracy in Burma. Following the publication of this post, she was release from house arrest in November 2010.