Comments Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma's ruling junta has revealed. Posted on 09/30/2007 5:24:00 PM PDT by Stoat
Comments Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma's ruling junta has revealed.
The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: 'Many more people have been killed in recent days than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand.'
Mr Win, who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said he fled when he was ordered to take part in a massacre of holy men. He has now reached the border with Thailand.
Scroll down for more...
hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle and been beaten
Reports from other exiles along the frontier confirmed that hundreds of monks had simply ' disappeared' as 20,000 troops swarmed around Rangoon yesterday to prevent further demonstrations by religious groups and civilians.
Word reaching dissidents hiding out on the border suggested that as well as executions, some 2,000 monks are being held in the notorious Insein Prison or in university rooms which have been turned into cells.
There were reports that many were savagely beaten at a sports ground on the outskirts of Rangoon, where they were heard crying for help.
Others who had failed to escape disguised as civilians were locked in their bloodstained temples.
There, troops abandoned religious beliefs, propped their rifles against statues of Buddha and began cooking meals on stoves set up in shrines.
In stark contrast, the streets of Rangoon and Mandalay - centres of the attempted saffron revolution last week - were virtually deserted yesterday.
A Swedish diplomat who visited Burma during the protests said last night that in her opinion the revolution has failed.
Liselotte Agerlid, who is now in Thailand, said that the Burmese people now face possibly decades of repression. 'The Burma revolt is over,' she added.
'The military regime won and a new generation has been violently repressed and violently denied democracy. The people in the street were young people, monks and civilians who were not participating during the 1988 revolt.
'Now the military has cracked down the revolt, and the result may very well be that the regime will enjoy another 20 years of silence, ruling by fear.'
Mrs Agerlid said Rangoon is heavily guarded by soldiers.
'There are extremely high numbers of soldiers in Rangoon's streets,' she added. 'Anyone can see it is absolutely impossible for any demonstration to gather, or for anyone to do anything.
'People are scared and the general assessment is that the fight is over. We were informed from one of the largest embassies in Burma that 40 monks in the Insein prison were beaten to death today and subsequently burned.'
The diplomat also said that three monasteries were raided yesterday afternoon and are now totally abandoned. At his border hideout last night, 42-year-old Mr Win said he hopes to cross into Thailand and seek asylum at the Norwegian Embassy.
The 42-year-old chief of military intelligence in Rangoon's northern region, added: 'I decided to desert when I was ordered to raid two monasteries and force several hundred monks onto trucks.
'They were to be killed and their bodies dumped deep inside the jungle. I refused to participate in this.'
With his teenage son, he made his escape from Rangoon, leaving behind his wife and two other sons.
He had no fears for their safety because his brother is a powerful general who, he believes, will defend the family.
Mr Win's defection will raise a faint hope among tens of thousands of Burmese who have fled to villages along the Thai border.
They will feel others in the army may follow him and turn on their ageing leaders, Senior General Than Shwe and his deputy, Vice Senior General Maung Aye.
UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is still trying to set up a meeting with General Shwe.
In response to your question, the Myanmar embassy is an interesting FReep idea. Certainly, the govt. there is outrageous.
DC Chapter (DCC) co-leaders Angelwood and kristinn would normally make the decision whether we should initially consider FReeping. (Also, I’ll defer to them as to whether this should be pinged to the full DCC list. They would probably only ping the list if they want a FReep and/or want to gauge interest.)
Whether a possible FReep like this would be conducted ultimately depends on how many FReepers are available and willing. Remembering that DCC is running a weekly Walter Reed FReep (see, e.g., http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1903815/posts) and participating in 2 to 5 other troop support rallies per year (such as Gathering of Eagles), this limits the ability to get attendance at other events.
Thanks for making your kind suggestion.
I understand the UN is going to give the “government” of Myanmar a firm talking to. That should fix everything.
The Drudge Report has linked to this article in red, so hopefully that will bring more exposure to this massacre.
The Daily Mail has also updated the article with new pictures and a slight change in parts of the text, including the title. I'll post the entire updated article here:
Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma's ruling junta has revealed.
The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: "Many more people have been killed in recent days than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand."
Mr Win, who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said he fled when he was ordered to take part in a massacre of holy men. He has now reached the border with Thailand.
Scroll down for more...
Slaughter: Executed monks have been dumped in the jungle
Meanwhile, the United Nations special envoy was in Burma's new capital today seeking meetings with the ruling military junta.
Ibrahim Gambari met detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon yesterday. But he has yet to meet the country's senior generals as he attempts to halt violence against monks and pro-democracy activists.
It is anticipated the meeting will happen tomorrow.
Heavily-armed troops and police flooded the streets of Rangoon during Mr Ibrahim's visit to prevent new protests.
Mr Gambari met some of the country's military leaders in Naypyidaw yesterday and has returned there for further talks. But he did not meet senior general Than Shwe or his deputy Maung Aye - and they have issued no comment.
Scroll down for more ...
Tensions: People gather outside a temple after a police raid today
Reports from exiles along the frontier confirmed that hundreds of monks had simply "disappeared" as 20,000 troops swarmed around Rangoon yesterday to prevent further demonstrations by religious groups and civilians.
Word reaching dissidents hiding out on the border suggested that as well as executions, some 2,000 monks are being held in the notorious Insein Prison or in university rooms which have been turned into cells.
There were reports that many were savagely beaten at a sports ground on the outskirts of Rangoon, where they were heard crying for help.
Others who had failed to escape disguised as civilians were locked in their bloodstained temples.
There, troops abandoned religious beliefs, propped their rifles against statues of Buddha and began cooking meals on stoves set up in shrines.
In stark contrast, the streets of Rangoon and Mandalay - centres of the attempted saffron revolution last week - were virtually deserted.
Scroll down for more ...
Checkpoint: Police outside the house of opposition leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi today
Executed: The body of a Buddhist monk floats in a river
A Swedish diplomat who visited Burma during the protests said last night that in her opinion the revolution has failed.
Liselotte Agerlid, who is now in Thailand, said that the Burmese people now face possibly decades of repression. "The Burma revolt is over," she added.
"The military regime won and a new generation has been violently repressed and violently denied democracy. The people in the street were young people, monks and civilians who were not participating during the 1988 revolt.
"Now the military has cracked down the revolt, and the result may very well be that the regime will enjoy another 20 years of silence, ruling by fear."
Mrs Agerlid said Rangoon is heavily guarded by soldiers.
"There are extremely high numbers of soldiers in Rangoon's streets," she added. "Anyone can see it is absolutely impossible for any demonstration to gather, or for anyone to do anything.
"People are scared and the general assessment is that the fight is over. We were informed from one of the largest embassies in Burma that 40 monks in the Insein prison were beaten to death today and subsequently burned."
The diplomat also said that three monasteries were raided yesterday afternoon and are now totally abandoned.
At his border hideout last night, 42-year-old Mr Win said he hopes to cross into Thailand and seek asylum at the Norwegian Embassy.
The 42-year-old chief of military intelligence in Rangoon's northern region, added: "I decided to desert when I was ordered to raid two monasteries and force several hundred monks onto trucks.
"They were to be killed and their bodies dumped deep inside the jungle. I refused to participate in this."
With his teenage son, he made his escape from Rangoon, leaving behind his wife and two other sons.
He had no fears for their safety because his brother is a powerful general who, he believes, will defend the family.
Scroll down for more ...
Protests: But the situation inside Burma remains unclear
Mr Win's defection will raise a faint hope among tens of thousands of Burmese who have fled to villages along the Thai border.
They will feel others in the army may follow him and turn on their ageing leaders, Senior General Than Shwe and his deputy, Vice Senior General Maung Aye.
Hello,
The Daily Mail has changed the title of this article, and I’m wondering if you would be so kind as to change the title here as well, in order to minimize the number of duplicate posts and to help people find this thread?
The updated title is “Burma: Thousands dead in massacre of the monks dumped in the jungle”
Thank you :-)
Never bring a peaceful demonstration to a gunfight!
The Buddha would not have wanted that.
Thank you very much for your reply, and I appreciate the consideration. It seems that you already have a great deal going on and I of course understand that there are only so many hours in the day. Thanks very much for all that you do and best wishes to you and yours :-)
“Pretty cold comfort to the families of the dead.”
Sometimes the only justice you can find is the justice you make for yourself. That’ll certainly be the case for us if HRC does a Hugo Chavez on us and becomes President For Life.
Is this a factual story.....the Government killed HUNDREDS of MONKS and THOUSANDS of Protestors??? It almost doesn't seem like it could be true.
It was published yesterday and given a few minor updates today, none of which diminish or change the central themes of the story in any way. the Drudge Report has linked to it and highlighted the link in red, but I still haven't seen any additional media attention given to the scale of this.
As of this moment, the latest headlines pertaining to Myanmar all deal with the junta's leader stalling the UN ambassador and the Japanese 'considering' a protest over the murder of a journalist there, but no other headlines as yet pertaining to the scale of it....the Daily Mail appears to be way out in front on this one, and they have been for over 24 hours at this point.
The New York Times is referencing this Daily Mail article as "an unconfirmed report" in one of their staffer's blogs, not even in a main news section, and this published seven hours ago.
Hints of a Vast, Grim Toll in Myanmar - The Lede - Breaking News - New York Times Blog
Now comes an unconfirmed report in The Daily Mail in Britain with a staggering claim of mass slaughter. The paper quotes Hla Win, described as a Burmese general who has deserted his post in protest of the regime’s harsh tactics.
Oh no, the UN is treating this much much much much much more seriously than that. They are so concerned they are trying to set up a MEETING!
By that logic, Hitler was a Christian.
Whenever anyone gets to this point they are no longer the true member of any religion.
Although this sort of thing is discouraged, all that happens in Buddhism is that your time on the wheel of life gets extended ~ that’s considered a bad thing.
UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is still trying to set up a meeting with General Shwe.
Perhaps the UN should be relocated to Myanmar / Burma, as so many of the member ‘nations’ appear to be in solidarity with the murderous junta ‘government’ there.
As long as our pals in the CIA and our good friends in the British MI5 / MI6 can get the bugging apparatus installed as the new building is going up, I say send them anywhere else on the planet, as their continued presence on American soil is a monumental insult to our great country.
I wonder how many innocent people all over the world have been murdered as a direct result of UN inaction, corruption or just plain incompetence?
“sigh”
Airdrop AK-47s to the civilians so they're armed against the thugs running their country.
I believe we have an excellent source for low cost AKs on line right now.
L
Sounds good to me.
I should add, though, that unfortunately, the monks they killed are pacifists.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.