Friday, August 16, 2013

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Six Buddhists on Trial for Bus Slaying of Muslims in Arakan State

Posted: 16 Aug 2013 06:12 AM PDT

Displaced Arakanese taking shelter in Mrauk-U on Oct. 28, 2012. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

The trial of six Buddhists suspected of involvement in last year's killing of 10 Muslims in Taungup, Arakan State, began this week at the provincial court in Thandwe, a city in the state's south.

The accused were charged at their initial court appearance on Tuesday under two sections of Burma's Penal Code: Section 302 (murder) and Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention).

Members of Burma's national police force arrested them on July 17 at their homes in Taungup and the suspects have been detained since at the prison in Thandwe, a city about 70km southeast of Taungup. The arrests were made directly by police flown in from Naypyidaw, with local authorities left in the dark as the central government moved to detain the men.

Naypyidaw police officials are acting as plaintiffs in the case, with the next trial date scheduled for Monday of next week.

A source close to the court, who asked to remain anonymous, said family members of the suspects did not have a chance to meet with them prior to the trial, which they said came without notice. "We will have to see if they can meet with their family members on the next trial date on August 26," he told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

According to the courthouse, proceedings will be open for the family members to attend.

Kyaw Lin, another resident of Thandwe who is close to one of the victims' families, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that Tuesday's hearing was conducted under a heavy security presence.

"They were taken to the court from the prison under heavy security," said Kyaw Lin, adding that security arrangements in the city had been unusual for the last few days.

Two Muslims from Thandwe were among the 10 bus attack victims in Taungup on June 3, 2012. The killings were believed to be a reprisal for the rape of an Arakanese woman, allegedly by Muslim men on May 28 of that year.

The other victims were travelers from Taungdwingyi, a township in central Burma, and Myaungmya in Irrawaddy Division.

The case is considered one of the underlying reasons for the communal strife between Arakanese Buddhists and Muslims in western Burma last year. Due to that, the township police stations in both Taungup and Thandwe refused to register the complaints of the victims' families last year. The family members also submitted a letter to President Thein Sein calling for an investigation into the killings shortly after the incident, urging the president to ensure justice for the victims.

The government formed an investigation committee led by Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Brig-Gen Kyaw Zan Myint on June 7, 2012. Tuesday's trial comes some 14 months after the murders in Taungup.

Army MP Halts Talks on Military Land-Grabs in Burma’s Parliament

Posted: 16 Aug 2013 06:05 AM PDT

A woman points to land which, according to the sign, is now owned by the Burma Army. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — A discussion about military land confiscations was halted on Thursday in Burma's Parliament, after a representative from the army interrupted the proceedings and urged other lawmakers to move onto another topic.

Brig-Gen Kyaw Oo Lwin, who was appointed to the legislature and not elected by the people, interrupted a member of Parliament's Farmland Investigation Commission during a presentation of the commission's findings.

The military has forcibly seized about 250,000 acres of farmland in the country, according to a report by the commission in March. The report was divided into three parts, to be discussed separately in Parliament.

"The discussion has reached Part 3," Kyaw Oo Lwin told lawmakers, as quoted by the Daily Eleven newspaper. "I have been very tolerant, listening the past two times. But this part is not related to the issue of land confiscations. It is only about the issue of land settlement for development projects in the country."

"If there are any complaint letters about land confiscations by the Army, it would have been better to discuss them in the earlier two parts," he added. "Repeatedly saying that the Army confiscated land is creating a divide between the Army and the people."

Twenty-five percent of seats in Parliament are reserved for the military, according to Burma's 2008 Constitution.

Ba Shein, from the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), said the Army had much influence in the legislature.

"I stopped discussing the issue after he requested out of respect for the discipline of Parliament," he told The Irrawaddy by phone on Friday.

"He is wrong if he thinks I joined Parliament to fight his army. Being an MP is about serving for the benefit of the people. We should cooperate with each other to work for the people."

During the former military regime, the government allowed the Army to confiscate land to build barracks. However, the commission found that the Army abused its power by confiscating land and selling it back to others for a profit.

"The people are suffering a lot," Ba Shein said. "They should think about this. Actually, they are only permitted to take a little space of land to build barracks."

Shwe Mann, a former army general and the current Union House speaker, reportedly said during the session on Thursday that he understood why the former regime allowed land confiscations for development projects. However, he said the government's orders were not followed properly when the Army seized large plots of land from the people.

Shwe Mann, who has expressed ambitions to be Burma's next president, was the third-ranking general of the former regime.

Parliament on Thursday discussed ways of working to help farmers in the country. But during the session, Shwe Mann reportedly said it was also important to consider the authorities who currently control the land.

"We should also think about benefiting people who are taking responsibility for the land," he said, as quoted by the Daily Eleven. He added that lawmakers were investigating the issue of land confiscations in accordance with the law. "All of us need to be brave in working to benefit the people," he was quoted as saying.

The Farmland Investigation Commission's report said farmland had been confiscated to expand urban areas, industrial zones and military barracks, to construct state-owned factories, to implement state-run agricultural and animal husbandry projects and to allocate land to private companies with links to the military.

The commission recommended that underdeveloped land be returned to its owners or handed over to the state. In cases where land had been developed, it recommended that farmers receive adequate compensation from the military.

Sceptical British Firms ‘Staying Out of Burma Until After 2015’

Posted: 16 Aug 2013 05:57 AM PDT

Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi talks to reporters during her news conference at the World Economic Forum in Naypyidaw on June 6, 2013. In a cramped auditorium in Burma's capital, she told the world's business elite that her country is teeming with foreign investors scouting for opportunities, but not many are actually investing. (Photo: Reuters)

British firms are staying out of Burma because they are sceptical of President Thein Sein's reform process despite the end of EU sanctions and concerned about continuing military influences in business.

That's the conclusion of the human rights NGO Burma Campaign UK after talking to a number of companies in the manufacturing and retail sectors.

Although firms are being encouraged by the British government to invest in Burma, the consensus seems to be to stay out until after the 2015 elections, Mark Farmaner, a Burma Campaign UK director, told The Irrawaddy.

"Some of the British companies we have spoken to, especially retailers, have told us the risks outweigh the benefits," he said.

"Burma is not significantly cheaper to source from and it is very hard to be sure that any factory they are doing business with is not associated with cronies or the military, and that workers' rights will be respected."

He said some British firms that have visited Burma since the lifting of sanctions have decided that "they’ll take a look at Burma again after the 2015 elections."

"I have been surprised by how few British companies have gone into Burma, especially as the British government is actively lobbying them to," he said.

"They are also very aware that human rights problems have not gone away and that the future and direction of the reform process is uncertain."

These views seem to reflect recent studies by international business risks monitoring company Maplecroft warning of the potential problems of investing in Burma.

In its report on Burma for the third quarter of this year, Maplecroft said the lifting of additional international sanctions in mid-2013, and the continued opening of the economy to foreign direct investment (FDI), were positive trends.

"The country's underexploited oil and gas, mining, forestry and agro-commodities sectors combined with its geographic location near key Asian markets offer a range of investment opportunities," it said.

But it added, "Despite the country's significant growth potential, [Burma's] business environment is still fraught with risks, particularly given the still-changing nature of investment regulations.

"Although investors have welcomed the adoption of a new FDI law in November 2012 the continued discretionary powers of the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) is a concern.

"The MIC is dominated by officials close to the military who, in many cases, are likely to favour businesses owned by the military. Reformists amongst the political elite are keen to demonstrate improved governance to create a more favourable foreign investment climate for western investors. However, a sudden influx of capital and donor-financing is likely to increase the scope for corrupt practices, which will require consistent monitoring and risk mitigation mechanisms."

The Burma Campaign UK is one of a number of European human rights NGOs which have argued that improved trading relations with Burma should be conditional on improved human rights in the country.

The international NGO Avaaz recently raised more than 1 million names on a petition sent to both the French and British government leaders.

Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights International have both expressed concern about the lack of action by the Thein Sein government to deal with basic problems in Burma.

"[The British government] appears to believe that if people in Burma don't start to see economic benefits from the reforms then they won’t support the process," Farmaner told The Irrawaddy. "So as well as seeing Burma as a place where British companies can make a profit, they also think more trade and investment will increase public support for Thein Sein and his reforms.

"The fact that many people in Burma are sceptical about Thein Sein and his reforms because of ongoing human rights abuses, and issues like his spending five times more on the military than on health, don't seem to have occurred to the [British] Foreign Office."

However, companies in Asia now investing in Burma do not share the apparent concerns of British firms, nor do their governments subject them to the close scrutiny that US companies face from Washington.

Japan is at the forefront of seeking investment opportunities in Burma, although some big corporations have complained about the slowness of progress in obtaining approvals to start projects—notably the Thilawa special economic zone on the outskirts of Rangoon.

Japan's Trade Minister Toshimitsu Motegi is set to visit Naypyidaw and Rangoon on Wednesday and Thursday as part of his government's efforts to "encourage Japanese companies to move into [Burma]."

News of his visit comes days after the major Japanese technology conglomerate NEC Corporation formally opened offices in Rangoon and Naypyidaw.

"There is tremendous growth potential in [Burma] and this is an opportune moment for NEC to contribute to the country's IT needs," said NEC senior vice president Takayuki Morita.

But major oil and gas company PTTEP of Thailand has found itself embroiled in exactly the kind of controversy which Maplecroft has warned about.

PTTEP chief executive Tevin Vongvanich was this week obliged to issue a statement denying a Burmese media report alleging underhand practices in connection with the Thai government-owned company's acquisition of two offshore exploration blocks, the MD-7 and MD-8 in the Gulf of Martaban.

"PTTEP would like to deny the intransparency (sic) and bribery of the MD-7 and MD-8 acquisition and would like to clarify that the process of direct negotiation for both blocks started in early 2010 before the current Offshore Exploration Block Bidding Round," PTTEP said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The company has had a long-term relationship with the Government of Myanmar for more than 20 years. PTTEP is a state-owned and national oil company."

Complaints were reported in The Myanmar Times newspaper earlier this month that PTTEP had bypassed a competitive bidding process to acquire the two blocks, and that this had led to the sacking of Than Htay as minister of energy in July.

Whatever the rights or wrongs, the issue underlines the reputational problems foreign firms may face in Burma.

Tourism Industry Works to Educate as Foreign Visitors to Burma Rise

Posted: 16 Aug 2013 04:48 AM PDT

Two giant Buddhist statues from the Win Sein Taw Ya Monastery in Mon State's Mudon Township—an area that is still very much off the beaten track for visitors to Burma. (Lawi Weng / The Irrawaddy)

Tourism industry stakeholders say awareness is key if Burma is to handle an expected influx of tourists—and the environmental and social impacts that they will bring—in a way that preserves the country's rich natural and cultural heritage.

According to data compiled by Burma's Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, the number of tourists entering the country has risen from over 800,000 in 2011 to more than 900,000 last year. The ministry hopes to draw one million travelers to the country this year.

While upbeat about the added revenue the tourist influx will provide, local tour operators and tourism agencies say they do not want the country's cultural heritage to be spoiled or subsumed by outside influences as the industry develops.

"As we experience the many cultures brought in by tourists from around the world, we are widely aware of the negative impacts of tourism. There will be environmental impacts and cultural impacts as well," said Tin Htun Aung, who runs a tour company based in Rangoon.

"We don't want our country to be like our neighboring countries. The impacts are the concern of every citizen," he added, citing Thailand as an example of a tourism model in which rampant sex tourism and an international reputation for wild nightlife had spoiled the cultural values of the country's younger generations.

Government officials say the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism is working to educate citizens about tourism's darker side, but needs cooperation from civil society and local communities to get the message out.

"The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has had a lot of workshops on this but I think that it is still on a small scale. We need active participation from civil society as well as from locals," said Ye Htut, Burma's deputy information minister. Ye Htut said educating Burmese society was vital to limit the growth of sex tourism, and child and human rights abuses, as well as to preserve traditional cultural mores.

"For the culture, in the age of globalization, we cannot force the people; we cannot enact laws like some countries do to restrict the people. Our approach must not [focus] on law enforcement but must take a social awareness approach. That is the best way [to preserve culture]," he said.

This year the government made foreigners' access to Burma easier by allowing tourists to enter the country via overland border crossings with neighboring Thailand, China and India. The Ministry of Home Affairs also lifted a restriction on visits to the gemstone mining region of Mogok, Mandalay Division, in a move that has reportedly brought an increase in the number of gemstone traders and researchers to the area.

Data from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism indicates that most tourists from China and Thailand visit Burma on pilgrimages to the country's various sacred Buddhist sites, but cultural tourism is increasingly seen as a draw for Western adventurers. The country's largely unspoiled nature has the government and tour operators eager to promote ecotourism as well.

"Our county has diverse culture and scenic beauty unlike many other countries. As we move forward to integrate with Asean countries, we believe ecotourism could provide many benefits, not only to the industry but also to the country," said Tin Htun Aung.

Ecotourism operators believe Burma's relatively intact rainforests and remote mountainous regions—in which the cultures and traditions of ethnic inhabitants have remained largely unaffected by the homogenizing effects of globalization—are a particularly promising sell.

"If we move on to eco-tours, there will be impacts on that unspoiled nature and culture," Tin Htun Aung said. "We need help from the government to make sure and set standards and rules to preserve it and to monitor whether the responsible people are obeying the rules or not."

The flip side of the coin when it comes to Burma's underdeveloped tourism industry is in the many logistical challenges.

"For investing in ecotourism, there are many requirements, especially in financing, manpower and capacity building. Cooperation from the government and local communities is vital as well," Tin Htun Aung said.

Tour operators say they are not expecting ecotourism to be a major attraction for the Asian market and are putting the bulk of their hopes on the Western crowd.

"For the Asian market, it will be only for pilgrimages, so we are not hoping much for ecotourism. But in investment, I believe there will be more Asian investors coming to the country. However, these are always dependent on country's economy and policies," he added.

Although the number of tourists entering the country is on the rise, a lack of available accommodation in Burma remains a major challenge for tour companies.

Currently, Singapore is the biggest investor in Burma's hotel industry, follow by Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Britain.

With the hotel shortage and growing tourist arrivals to Burma, fellow Asean countries are eyeing investments in the sector.

"Since Myanmar has just opened to the international community, more tourists will come to the country. Unfortunately there's not enough accommodation," said Sebastianus Sumarsono, the Indonesian ambassador to Myanmar. "This is how Indonesian entrepreneurs can tap Myanmar's tourism market."

On the other hand, the push to fill the gap between supply and demand for hotels in Burma has some worried about the environmental repercussions of unchecked development.

Other concerns center on how to best manage the country's architectural heritage. The decision by the government to rent or sell some historical structures, like Rangoon's High Court and Secretariat buildings, have sparked debate among historians, politicians and average Burmese citizens.

"If we want to turn these places into museums, you have to spend a lot of money. Government cannot do it alone. There is no foreign organization that will invest to run this kind of building. That's why we have to give them to private investors. But, as with the Secretariat building, we will turn it over [to private investors] to make into a museum," said Ye Htut.

"If someone wants it to be a museum, we are happy to do that even if the Yangon Heritage Trust is not receiving enough funding from donors. But you need to submit very good and sound the proposals," he added.

If not handled properly, the majority of Burma's people risk losing out on the benefits of the anticipated tourism boom, according to Christoph Amthor, a project manager of Burma Center Prague, which is educating locals and foreign tourists about responsible tourism.

"The biggest challenges are currently market concentration," he added. "Small vendors and family businesses are pushed away by companies that seem to be backed by authorities. I think the situation reflects a general problem in Burmese society, namely a deep-rooted inequality of opportunities and a lack of ways that disenfranchised people can efficiently defend their rights."

Air Supply Rocks Rangoon

Posted: 16 Aug 2013 04:24 AM PDT

Graham Russell of Air Supply sings to a fan during the performance, which drew a crowd of thousands of people. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Air Supply, a 1980s Australian soft rock band, performed live on Thursday before several thousand fans in Rangoon. Iron Cross, a popular Burmese rock band, also played a warm-up set before the show.

An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people attended the concert at the Myanmar Convention Center. Bagan Entertainment, which organized the event, said it would donate all profits to an education fund for children in Burma's least developed areas.

Air Supply is the third international music group to perform in Burma, following earlier performances by Jason Mraz and Michael Learns To Rock, as the country transitions from military rule. A number of Burmese musicians have popularized Air Supply's oeuvre with covers of hits such as "Lonely is the Night" and "Making Love Out of Nothing at All."

New Japanese Light for Burma’s State-Backed Mouthpiece

Posted: 16 Aug 2013 03:37 AM PDT

The state-run New Light of Myanmar daily will be revamped next year. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Staff from The New Light of Myanmar will visit the Tokyo headquarters of Kyodo News, a Japanese news agency, for training in advance of the projected launch of a revamped newspaper next year.

"The new version of The New Light of Myanmar will appear in early 2014," said Ye Naing, general manager of the News and Periodicals section of Burma's Information Ministry, though other officials, such as Ye Htut, spokesman for President Thein Sein, have suggested that the new-look publication could be ready in time for the Southeast Asia Games, a regional athletics competition to be staged in Naypyidaw in December.

In June, The New Light of Myanmar was partially privatized in a deal that saw Global Direct Link, a hitherto unknown media company, gain a 49 percent stake in the newspaper, with the Burma government retaining 51 percent under the News and Periodicals wing of the Ministry of Information. Kyodo News signed a memorandum of understanding with the Information Ministry in February and will work with Global Direct Link to help restyle The New Light of Myanmar.

The agency's Rangoon bureau chief Hidenori Tajima told The Irrawaddy that under the terms of the deal with the Information Ministry, Kyodo News will train journalists and technical staff.

"Kyodo has already invited several staff of The New Light of Myanmar to our headquarters, they are going to Tokyo within this month," he said.

Ye Naing told The Irrawaddy that there will be reciprocal visits by Kyodo News staff to Burma later this year. "Foreigner editors serving at Kyodo News will come to Myanmar and train the staff from The New Light of Myanmar in layout, editing, printing, pre-press works and provide other necessary assistance," he said.

Backing from the globally recognized Japanese news agency should help improve journalism standards at The New Light of Myanmar—a publication long-scorned as a poorly written and often unintentionally humorous propaganda vehicle for Burma's military regime and, since 2011, for the Thein Sein government.

"Given the history of The New Light of Myanmar, I would think training by Kyodo could only help with issues like sourcing, understanding the role of journalism in a democratic society," Yuki Akimoto, director of BurmaInfo Japan, which lobbies the Japanese government on Burma policy, told The Irrawaddy.

But Win Tin, a former journalist and long-time political prisoner, said that technical training would not be enough to improve journalistic standards at The New Light of Myanmar.

"They will have to change their editorial policy and direction to be more like an independent newspaper," he told The Irrawaddy. "But many media here in Burma are getting this kind of training, and this is needed for many journalists and newspapers, not just New Light of Myanmar," added Win Tin, a long-time ally of Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Japan's government and Japanese companies have shown a keen interest in Burma since the establishment of a formally civilian government in March 2011. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Burma earlier this year, accompanied by a high-powered delegation of Japanese corporate bosses, writing off almost US$2 billion in Burmese debt to Japan and pledging half a billion dollars' worth of loans, some which will be used to improve Burma's dilapidated infrastructure. Next week Japan's Trade Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will visit Burma as part of a regional tour ahead of an October Asia-Pacific summit to be held in Brunei.

The burgeoning ties between the two governments helped smooth out the new media partnership, it seems. "Coming out from the meeting between two leaders of Myanmar and Japan that focused on the friendship between the two countries, Japan will help Myanmar, and in the media sector also Japan will help Myanmar. In accord with the result, Kyodo will help develop The New Light of Myanmar," Ye Naing told The Irrawaddy.

Land Prices Soar in Pegu Division With News of Major Airport Project

Posted: 16 Aug 2013 03:19 AM PDT

The new Hanthawaddy International Airport will be built in Pegu Division, northeast of Rangoon.

RANGOON — Land prices have skyrocketed in Pegu Division, northeast of Rangoon, following the recent awarding of a contract to build a major new international airport there.

After an announcement last weekend that South Korea's Incheon International Airport Corp. had been selected to build the Hanthawaddy International Airport, which is expected to be Burma's biggest international airport, the price of land near the town of Pegu rose overnight.

"Within a week of the announcement of the airport project, the buying and selling of land here has become brisk," a real estate agent in Pegu's Shin Saw Pu Quarter told The Irrawaddy. "Despite the soaring prices, a lot of people are ready to buy land here."

Before the announcement, an acre of farmland near Pegu sold for about 500,000 kyats (US$510,000). Now, one acre is going for between 20 million and 50 million kyats, while plots near the airport project area—which currently comprises an industrial zone, an agricultural zone and some orchards—are selling for about 80 million kyats per acre.

The land plots are being eyed by businesspeople seeking to invest near the airport or those in the estate industry.

"Before, only farmers from Nyaung Yin villages owned the farmland surrounding the airport project area," said Myint Soe, owner of the Pegu-based Zarchi Real Estate. "With news of the project, giants from the real estate industry are offering high prices to buy the land from farmers, and now they are selling the land back for lucrative prices."

"A plot from Phaya Gyi, which is near Pegu, with the length and width being 200 and 100 feet, respectively, was sold recently at the price of 470 million kyats," he added. "The price of plots beside Phaya Gyi Street are above 1.8 billion kyats now. That is all because of the airport project. Before it wasn't like this."

The Hanthawaddy project is expected to cover 9,000 acres, and the government is reportedly relocating residents in the area to housing in other locations.

Win Swe Tun, deputy director general of Burma's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), told The Irrawaddy that negotiations were still under way but he believed Incheon International Airport Corp. would sign a contract by the end of the month.

The new transport hub is expected to handle 12 million passengers annually after it is finished in 2018, according to South Korea's transport ministry.

‘Burmese Python’ to Take on ‘Chocolate Thunder’ in US Cage Fighting Match

Posted: 16 Aug 2013 12:23 AM PDT

Aung La N Sang defeated his opponent Casey Manrique in the second round of a fight in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2011. (Photo: http:www.aunglansang.com)

RANGOON — Ethnic Kachin cage fighter Aung La N Sang, also known as the "Burmese Python," is set to face off against Shedrick Goodridge on Saturday in the United States.

The fight will take place in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the Borgata hotel and casino, according to Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC), a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter. For fans in Burma, pay-per-view will air the fight live at 8 am local time on Sunday.

Sang, who lives in Maryland, was quoted by CFFC as saying, "For the first time in CFFC history, my fight will be available to people in Asia and Myanmar on live broadcast."

"I am excited that my friends, family and fans in Myanmar can view this event online and cheer me on via Internet pay-per-view," he said.

The Burmese Python defeated his opponent Jason Louck in October last year with a first-round knockout. Many of his fans in Burma watched the fight online.

He described Shedrick Goodridge, known as "Chocolate Thunder," as a "young and hungry 6’2” fighter … an exciting striker and a good wrestler."

"I have prepared really hard for this match," he told CFCC. "I trained six days a week, multiple sessions a day on boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling and Brazilian Jiu jitsu. I know I'm going to be ready and comfortable wherever the fight goes. Don't blink because my style is always action packed and I always fight for the finish."

He said he aimed to become the best welterweight MMA fighter in the world.

"My priority in life is in achieving this dream," he was quoted as saying. "It doesn't matter how many speed bumps or falls I take down the road, I am going to soldier on. I may not be the most talented or athletic fighter but with a great team and hard work, I will achieve what many talented athletes can't achieve."

Patience Fading for Nepali Judge Turned Premier

Posted: 15 Aug 2013 10:12 PM PDT

Newly-appointed Prime Minister Khil Raj Regmi sits in his chair while assuming post at his office at Singha Durbar in Kathmandu on March 14, 2013. Nepal’s chief justice took over as the head of an interim unity government that month. (Photo: Reuters)

KATMANDU — When Nepal's chief justice was named head of an interim government in March, he promised he would serve only as a caretaker until he could oversee elections in June that were supposed to usher the country into an era of political stability.

Those elections never happened, and newly scheduled November polls are in doubt as well.

Meanwhile, the South Asian country—known to most outsiders for its majestic mountains and exotic, ancient culture—remains mired in political deadlock, still looking for a transition from a bloody civil war and repressive monarchy to peace and democracy.

The chief justice and interim government chief, Khilraj Regmi, has shocked even some of his supporters by proposing an extensive budget, making sweeping bureaucratic changes and exercising the full power of a prime minister.

The country's top politicians never envisaged that Regmi would take such strong actions when they named him to the post in March as a compromise candidate they hoped could bring orderly elections to a country trying to gain normalcy.

"The government's strategy and objective should have been only elections, but it is diverting from the main objective and focusing on governing the nation," said Bhojraj Pokhrel, who conducted Nepal's last election in 2008.

"They are more occupied with the administration rather than proceeding with elections," Pokhrel said.

The fate of this nation of 29 million, which has been frozen by political paralysis, might rest with Regmi.

Maoist rebels in Nepal fought government troops between 1996 and 2006 until they gave up their armed revolt and joined a peace process that evolved after the country abolished its longstanding monarchy in 2008.

A constituent assembly elected to a two-year term in 2008 failed in its task of writing a constitution for the country because of bitter fighting between the main parties. With no political framework in place, the assembly's term was repeatedly extended until it expired in May 2012, plunging the nation into a governing crisis. Baburam Bhattarai, a leader of the main Maoist party, led a controversial caretaker administration, but rival parties demanded he step down before new elections for a second constituent assembly could be held.

They turned to Regmi to guide Nepal through quick elections.

But Regmi failed to hold June polls. He then appointed a controversial official, Lokman Singh Karki, to head a powerful government watchdog that investigates and prosecutes politicians and officials. Karki is accused of corruption himself when he served as the chief of the customs department, and of abusing his powers to crush pro-democracy demonstrations while serving under then-King Gyanendra's autocratic rule.

Regmi's government also announced by fiat the fiscal budget for the whole year in July, without a parliament to question it or debate it. Critics say he should have presented a budget for only a few months and allow the next elected government to fulfill the task.

His government also granted contracts to upgrade Nepal's international airport to foreign contractors and promoted and transferred officials by the hundreds.

Dilendra Badhu of the Nepali Congress, the nation's second-largest party and a supporter of Regmi's appointment, said the government should not be making long-term programs and policies.

"This has not helped create the environment for elections," Badhu said.

Regmi's biggest hurdle has been the alliance of 33 small opposition parties led by the Communist Party of Nepal Maoist, a small breakaway Maoist group that has been threatening to disrupt elections scheduled for Nov. 19.

"We will not allow elections under this government," said Pampha Bhusal, of the breakaway Maoist group. "First, this government has to be disbanded and a new one led by political parties that represent all the political forces needs to be formed to hold the polls."

Shanker Pokhrel, of Nepal's Marxist-Leninist party, also questioned Regmi's rule, which his party initially supported as the only path to elections.

"The chief justice has failed in maintaining good governance by making controversial appointments, has made little progress and failed to bring the opposition parties on board for elections," Pokhrel said.

Regmi addressed some of the criticism in a June speech, where he insisted he was working to ensure the elections were free and fair and that voter turnout was high.

"I continue to remain unbiased," he said.

Regmi's refusal to resign as chief justice has also been criticized, especially because several Supreme Court cases challenging his appointment as prime minister keep getting postponed.

Regmi said he has stayed away from the courts since his appointment.

"I have kept myself separate from the judiciary and my role as the chief justice and I am focused on my role as the executive head," Regmi said in a speech broadcast in June. "I have always believed that the judiciary should be independent and want to assure everyone that they should not worry or be concerned."

Business leaders are also losing patience with Regmi.

"The government should fulfill its responsibility and the head of the government should concentrate all his efforts in holding the election," Saurabh Jyoti of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries. "There is no other way out."

But for many Nepalese, he is the only hope of ending the political deadlock in the country.

"For me it does not matter who is the head of the government as long as he gets the job done," said Sudarshan Giri, a local businessman. "The politicians could not agree on the election, and now the chief justice appears to be the only option."

China Upholds Nobel Winner’s Relative’s Sentence

Posted: 15 Aug 2013 10:01 PM PDT

Liu Xia, wife of jailed Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, talks to journalists after a trial outside a court in the Huairou district of Beijing on June 9, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

BEIJING — A Chinese court on Friday upheld the 11-year prison sentence handed down to the brother-in-law of jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, the man's lawyer said.

Relatives have denounced Liu Hui's conviction on fraud charges in a real estate dispute as political payback for the strong pro-democracy stance taken by Liu Xiaobo, who was imprisoned on subversion charges in 2009.

Lawyer Shang Baojun said the court in suburban Beijing's Huairou district turned down Liu Hui's appeal.

"We're very disappointed by this outcome," Shang told The Associated Press.

Liu Hui's sister, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest since her husband was awarded the Nobel prize in 2010. Shang said that Liu Xia, who has protested her extra-legal detention, did not attend Friday's hearing because she wasn't feeling well.

Foreign diplomats and journalists who sought to attend the trial were denied entry to the courthouse.

Liu Xiaobo's Nobel prize incensed China's leaders, who adamantly rejected his calls for sweeping changes to Beijing's one-party communist political system contained in a document titled called Charter '08. A court dismissed his appeal in early 2010.

China also has retaliated against Norway, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, freezing the country's diplomats out of meetings, halting trade talks, and blocking salmon imports.

Liu Hui's lawyers have said his dispute over a development deal in Beijing had already been resolved, with the disputed 3 million yuan ($500,000) handed over to partners in the transaction, before the case went to trial.

North Korean Defectors to Testify on Torture and Executions

Posted: 15 Aug 2013 09:49 PM PDT

North Korean defector Shin Dong-hyuk poses after an interview with Reuters in Geneva on June 5, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Denis Balibouse)

GENEVA — North Korean defectors and prison camp survivors will start testifying at UN hearings in Asia next week about alleged rights abuses, including torture and executions, for which they hope their country's leaders may one day face trial.

Three independent investigators, backed by 10 UN staff, have convened the hearings in Seoul and Tokyo to document alleged abuses, also including food deprivation and arbitrary detentions, in the country of 23 million people.

North Korea is under sweeping United Nations sanctions over its banned nuclear and ballistic missile programs, but this will mark the first time its human rights record has been examined by international experts with a mandate to establish accountability for possible crimes against humanity.

Activists and alleged victims hope that the evidence gathered by the commission of inquiry, led by former Australian judge Michael Kirby, will begin building a criminal case for prosecuting its leaders.

North Korean officials have denied repeatedly that there are serious human rights violations in their isolated country, a Communist dynasty ruled by Kim Jong-un.

"Given that we will have five days or so in Seoul we expect about 40 people to testify," Giuseppe Calandruccio, coordinator of the UN human rights office secretariat supporting the inquiry, told Reuters before departing for South Korea.

Julie de Rivero of Human Rights Watch welcomed the unprecedented hearings, which she expects to produce "dramatic stories."

"It is a way of acknowledging the victims' suffering as well as an evidence-gathering exercise," de Rivero said. "North Korea has denied most allegations of human rights violations are taking place and this will set the record straight."

South Korea, which says it is home to 25,000 North Korean defectors, will host the first set of hearings at Seoul National University from Aug. 20-24.

UN staff there have begun screening potential witnesses, including former North Korean prison guards, who may prefer to give testimony in private, diplomatic sources said.

North Korea's best-known defector, Shin Dong-hyuk, and Kim Hye-Sook, another political prison camp survivor, are expected to publicly testify about hardships endured and executions witnessed during their decades of captivity, they said.

Shin told Reuters in June he would bear witness to the horrors of his life in Camp 14 to help build an eventual criminal case against North Korea's leadership.

"This is something I should do, let the whole world know the situation in order to help get rid of those camps," said Shin, 30, the only defector known to have been born in a prison camp and escaped.

The commission of inquiry has sought Pyongyang's permission to gather first-hand information in the reclusive state, where international rights groups estimate some 200,000 people are forced to work in mines, farms and factories as part of a vast system of labor camps.

A US Christian missionary, Kenneth Bae, was sentenced in May to 15 years' hard labor after being convicted of state subversion. His sister said earlier this month he had been transferred to hospital.

The independent probe was set up by the UN Human Rights Council in March at the request of Japan and the European Union, with the backing of countries including the United States.

North Korea is ignoring it.

"For the time being there is no sign of cooperation from their side," said Calandruccio, declining further comment.

A diplomatic source told Reuters: "Their policy is not to recognize the mandate. They treat it as if it did not exist."

At the Tokyo hearings on Aug. 29-30, the UN team is due to interview relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents over the years, diplomats said.

"It is a huge task, establishing the facts on crimes against humanity and accountability of the regime. It will increase international awareness of atrocities being committed in the 21st century which are systematic," the diplomatic source said.
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