Fake Referendum, Real Blight

by jordan | May 11, 2008 at 12:33 pm | 228 views | 1 comment

Unfiltered images of Burma's plight are finally reaching the rest of the world, even as the ruling military junta congratulates itself on a referendum well done.

The link in the quoted article below leads to a photo of floating corpses, including those of children.

For Burma's generals it was a weekend to celebrate as theycounted the votes in a constitutional referendum no one but theywill take seriously. For the 1.5 million Burmese seeking shelter inthe aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, without clean water or sanitation,the sham referendum was another meaningless charade.

As the generals were photographed parading through neat refugeetentsites with groomed pathways, shockingimages of bloated corpses in the Irrawaddy delta have beenpublished by the Democratic Voice of Burma, a dissident websitebased in Norway. They reinforce the need for urgent action toprevent outbreak of disease.

With cholera, dysentery, dengue and malaria epidemics amongsurvivors a frightening possibility, state-run television playedimages of young women singing, "Let's go voting" and "Come alongfor voting".