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["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@intrex.net>]

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7026259.stm>
Last Updated: Wednesday, 3 October 2007, 16:13 GMT 17:13 UK
Burmese struggle goes underground
By Andrew Harding
BBC News, Bangkok

On the telephone from Rangoon, the businessman sounded desperate.

Street market in Rangoon
For some Burmese, life appears to be returning to normal...

"I have looked everywhere," he said.

"The soldiers took my daughter off the street last week. I don't know if she is injured or what has happened to her. She 
is 18."

As Burma's military authorities continue to hunt down and arrest those suspected of involvement in last week's massive 
street protests, the fate of an unknown number of detained monks and civilians remains unclear.

"I have heard that 6,000 people may be missing - that sounds plausible," said one Western diplomat, on condition of 
anonymity.

A local United Nations official said his office was still looking for several 
staff members and their families.

Satellite map of area

The businessman hunting for his daughter had already visited two places widely thought to have been turned into 
makeshift detention centres - a sports complex at Rangoon's old race course, and a technical institute in the north of 
the city.

"The soldiers outside the institute told me it was empty," said the businessman, "but a friend in the neighbourhood told 
me two buildings were being used - one for female prisoners, and the other mainly for monks. I am at a loss as to what 
to do now."

"It's frightening to even think about the fate of those monks," said Shari 
Villarosa, the senior US diplomat in Rangoon.

She said conditions in Burmese prisons were "very grim, with reports of 
torture".

"The message has to get to the generals that this is not how a legitimate 
government acts in the 21st Century," she added.

'Sleep deprivation'

But the Burmese authorities have shown no signs of responding to 
international pressure.

Military vehicles patrol Rangoon's streets before dawn, with loudspeakers announcing: "We have photographs. We are going 
to make arrests."

Protests in Rangoon on 27 September
... but the anger that erupted last week is bubbling under the surface

A former Burmese political prisoner, who spent a decade in jail for criticising the regime, said it was safe to assume 
from his own experiences that many of those detained would be tortured.

"The monks will have a very hard time," he said.

"I was blindfolded and subjected to sleep deprivation. They interrogated me in 
shifts for 11 days."

The man, who lives in Rangoon, wanted to remain anonymous for his own safety but urged the outside world to put pressure 
on the authorities by publicising the names of those arrested.

"That has to happen now. Not next week or next month."

Military plea

Although the Burmese military has forced the protesters off Rangoon's streets, this does not appear to have broken the 
resolve of democracy campaigners.

Nilar Thein has been in hiding since the very first street protests, triggered by abrupt fuel price rises, were broken 
up by police and hired government thugs last month.

Although her husband and many other leading activists from the "88 Generation" (named after the last student uprising of 
1988) are now in prison, Nilar Thein is still on the run with a handful of other activists.

Reached by telephone, she broke away from a planning meeting to declare: "There will be more sacrifices ahead. We must 
find a way to win this battle by joining hands with the monks and the public."

She urged members of the Burmese armed forces to stop fighting for "generals with 
blood on their hands".

Nilar, 35, left her five-month-old daughter with her mother-in-law when she went into hiding. Police are now guarding 
the house.

Asked when she thought she would see her child again, Nilar replied: "I hope when we are finally victorious that all our 
families will be reunited.

"I can't predict how long that will take."

Satellite map of the part of Rangoon where many of the protesting monks are 
believed to be being held

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What are these?
                
BURMA PROTESTS

KEY STORIES
Monks 'trying to escape Rangoon'
UN envoy holds key talks
Burmese monks 'to be sent away'
In pictures: Burma crackdown

FEATURES
A man prays at Shwedagon pagoda in Rangoon, Burma Waiting game
Tension is high in Rangoon as the Burmese fear more violence

Daily hardship
Desperate exiles
Into the unknown
Sanctions' limited effect
Suu Kyi: Silent symbol
Junta tightens media screw
China's role in the crisis

BACKGROUND
monk Q&A: Protests
The background to the protests against the Burmese military
Where the world stands
Burma v Myanmar
Aung San Suu Kyi
Burma's hardline generals
Who are Burma's monks?
Burma's 1988 protests

WATCH/LISTEN
watch Fleeing to Thailand
watch Monks lead revolt
watch World watches on

HAVE YOUR SAY
How will the crisis end?


RELATED BBC LINKS
BBC Burmese

--
Lawrence F. London, Jr.
lflj@intrex.net
Venaura Farm http://venaurafarm.blogspot.com
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