Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Burma and N Korea continue to boost secret military ties: report

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 06:24 AM PDT

Burma continues to enjoy a furtive defence relationship with North Korea by using front companies and false flags to ship military cargo from Pyongyang to Rangoon, according to an investigation by NK News published on Wednesday.

The report accuses the Burmese military of endorsing Pyongyang as recently as June, several months after promising Washington that it would sever all defence ties with the Asian pariah.

The general director of the military-run firm Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Than Tun is cited by the state-run North Korean Central New Agency (KNCA) as backing Pyongyang in its fight against the "US imperialists" in an official dispatch dated 23 June.

"We extend full support and firm solidarity to the Korean people in their struggle for building a thriving nation and achieving the reunification of the country under the leadership of the dear respected Kim Jong Un," Than Tun said, according to KNCA.

"The US imperialists are now trying everything they can to lure Burma away from its alliance with North Korea. But the trade with North Korea is no doubt continuing."

NK News adds that North Korean ships have been told to be "more discreet" and not fly their own flag when entering Burmese waters, since relations with the west began to warm in 2011. The news group says that cargo ships now use "flags of convenience", usually from Central American countries, to conceal their passage to Burma.

The report also cites evidence of North Korean vessels disguising under Burmese flags to ship illicit materials into Rangoon, often in exchange for thousands of tonnes of rice. Many of theses transactions are reportedly handled through front companies registered in Singapore or Burma, ostensibly trading "cement" or other commercial goods.

The allegations back previous reports of North Korean vessels being caught flying foreign flags en route to Burma. In June 2011, the US navy intercepted a North Korean naval ship flying the Belize flag on the South China Sea. It was suspected of carrying arms exports and returned to port.

The author of Wednesday's report and renowned military analyst, Bertil Lintner, suggests that Burma is seeking to obtain advanced missile technology in a bid to establish its vision, or "delusions", of grandeur. He cites one intelligence source who describes the programme as a "phallic fantasy" intended to boost their annual Armed Forces Day celebrations.

"Just imagine how proud they would be to see a truck towing a big and impressive missile past the grandstand," the source told Lintner.

Another military source said that neither China nor Russia, who both enjoy military relationships with Burma, would be reliable suppliers of such technology.

Suspicions about Burma's relationship with Pyongyang have been an ongoing source of tension with the US, which recently vowed to strengthen its military ties with Naypyidaw.

In July, the US slapped sanctions on a senior Burmese general for reportedly purchasing military goods from North Korea, in what has been described by analysts as a warning to the central government.

But Burma has persistently refuted the allegations and denied any knowledge about suspected arms deals. Last week, the quasi-civilian regime agreed to give UN nuclear weapons inspectors full access to sites suspected of being used to develop nuclear technology – another programme linked to Pyongyang – in the latest effort to assuage western concerns about their military ambitions.

Mission to Burma’s tallest mountain

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 05:24 AM PDT

On 7 September a team of mountaineers successfully summited the snow-capped Gamlang Razi in Kachin state.

The joint Burmese-American expedition was made up of five Americans and two Burmese climbers and took 35 days to complete.

The team endured a 150-mile long hike through the jungle before making the ascent.

"We hiked for about seven days through the jungle to the foot of Gamlang Razi," said Pyi Phyoe, one of the Burmese expedition team members.

"It was a very tiring distance that left us exhausted before we even started climbing. Although the whole expedition took 35 days, the actual climbing took only about seven days and the rest was just hiking."

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The expedition team arrived back in Rangoon on 21 September and held a press conference to discuss their findings.

The team's mission was to accurately measure the height of nearby Hkakabo Razi, South East Asia's tallest mountain.

Using GPS and satellite the team found that Hkakabo Razi is actually lower than the commonly referenced 5881 metre summit height. Their data showed that in fact, Gamlang Razi, measuring at 5850 metres tall was higher than Hkakabo Razi.

But the team has come under fire from Kachin groups for making the climb while nearby in Putao district, the Burmese army and the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) are still fighting.

The Kachin News Group reported that hundreds of civilians have been displaced in Putao's Machyangbaw township and are living in dire conditions.

The expedition was financed by Burmese billionaire and notorious crony Tay Za and his Htoo Foundation. Tay Za has extensive business interests in Putao district, including a vast area for logging.

He has also made attempts to control large amounts of land in the area for gold mining.

Burma to survey discrimination against children with HIV

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 04:26 AM PDT

The Burmese government is planning to conduct a survey to identify the prevalence of discrimination against HIV positive school children, according to a leading medical researcher.

It follows a study carried out by the Department of Medical Research last year, which revealed that over 4 percent  of children living in households affected by HIV had been expelled as a result of their families’ status.

According to a head researcher, who asked not to be named, the department is now conducting a new survey focusing on children.

"We are currently conducting a survey specifically on children living with HIV – the findings will be published in a report sometime next year," she told DVB.

"The previous survey focused on families living with HIV – we want to focus the current one on discrimination against children living with HIV in the education sector."

"The discrimination is especially bad in schools, often committed by teachers themselves and also parents of other students – we would like to promote understanding among the teachers about children living with HIV, and to allow them to continue their education."

She added that teachers should be given training on how to cope with HIV positive students.

According to the 2012 survey, over 40 percent of individuals living with HIV were forced to leave their jobs, while 22 percent have been denied jobs because of their status.

Burma has the third highest HIV infection rate in Asia, but spends less than 4 percent of its annual budget on health care. Campaigners estimate that between 15,000 and 20,000 HIV infected people die every year because of a lack of access to lifesaving anti-retroviral therapy.

The stigma associated with the disease presents an additional barrier to people living with HIV. Many people are shunned by their communities and families when their status is revealed.

"I used to live at my brother's house, but my brother's wife is very afraid of HIV. She used to check my skin to see if there were ulcers or pus discharge or something like that. And she told me to stay away from her children," an HIV positive man told the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières last year.

Child soldiers an ‘ongoing problem’ in Burma

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 03:39 AM PDT

In June 2012, the Burmese government signed a joint action plan with the United Nations to end the use of child soldiers. Since then, 166 underage recruits have been released from the military, but reports suggest that children continue to be forcibly enlisted and sent into combat.

Charu Lata from Child Soldiers International (CSI) spoke to Colin Hinshelwood from DVB about the current situation of child soldiers in Burma and what the next steps towards ending child recruitment should be.

What kind of traditional methods have been used to recruit children into the army?

Any recruitment of children into a military force under the age of 18 is regarded as coerced, unless it happens at the age of 16 and there is an obligation on the side of the force not to deploy the child. So any deployment of anyone under the age of 18 would be coercive. In the Burmese military we've noticed civilian brokers have been used to pick up children and present them to battalion commanders who in turn receive falsified documentation of age and then recruit the children.

In other instances, we have had examples where military officials have gone out to public spaces, including railway stations and bus stops, to identify separated and unaccompanied children; especially children who've come from villages looking for work in the city.

Often the children are given two options, either to produce their national registration card or go to prison. Obviously the children who don't have the card agree to go with the military official and that's when recruitment takes place.

What would the daily life be like for a child who finds himself in a conflict zone?

The level of information about children who serve in various roles in the Burmese military continues to be scarce. One important issue is that most of these children suffer from high levels of trauma so their narratives are not very reliable. But we know for a fact that children are trained along with the other soldiers for four and a half months in training centres.

They are then expected to perform all the duties of an adult soldier. Often children, depending on their capabilities, may be used as porters, messengers, spies, and cooks. They are also trained in military equipment and in firearms and are therefore often deployed in active combat.

When you say children, you are referring to all recruits under the age of 18 but in many other countries, you can join the army at 16 or 17. What percentage of these cases would be children aged 12, 13, 14 years old and how young does it get?

There is evidence with the UN of children as young as 12 and 13 being recruited in recent years. But recent information gathered by international organisations like the ILO [International Labour Organization] and other UN actors, indicates that the recruiting age is going up. Increasingly there are 15 and 16 year olds being recruited by the Tadmadaw [Burmese armed forces]. The kind of information we had ten years back on seven year olds being used, those cases are not being reported any more.

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Child Soldiers International does cover the ethnic armies as well, to what extent are they just as culpable as the Burmese army in the recruitment of children?

Like the state, the non-state armed groups also bear a responsibility to end underage recruitment and prevent underage recruitment into their ranks. However the state is a signatory to the convention on the rights of the child. The Burmese government has also signed the joint action plan on ending underage recruitment and use within its ranks. So therefore its commitments are far more reflected on paper than with the non-state armed groups.

That does not mean that the non-state armed groups have no obligation to prevent and end the recruitment of children. Certainly, in the joint action plan, there is a commitment on the part of the Burmese government to open up a dialogue with the groups and with the UN, especially the groups that are in the ceasefire fold.

Some of the non-state armed groups have made independent commitments to other organisations. We know that the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) have signed deeds of commitment with organisations like Geneva Call, which indicate at least their desire to end this practice. What is needed is full and unimpeded access by the UN to these groups, in order to encourage and develop dialogues, which would lead to action plans and end this practice for good.

You've mentioned the steps that are being taken but are you satisfied that the Burmese government is doing enough?

Certain steps that have been taken, particularly the signing of the action plan, the recent releases, the increased access the UN is getting, the increased receptiveness of the Burmese government to listen to this issue, are all very positive signs.

But our fear is that not enough is being done in terms of the prevention of the recruitment agenda – it is not sufficient just to identify and release children who are currently present. It is important to initiate steps that actually prevent the future recruitment of children and these would require immediate transformation and reform of the Burmese military.

The steps would be in terms of reduction in troop size and a modernisation of recruitment procedures and processes, oversight and monitoring of these processes, and most of all enough accountability to ensure that deterrents are created so that people are too fearful to recruit.

To what extent do you think the prevention of child recruitment lays hand in hand with the ceasefire agreements around the country with the various ethnic armies?

It has been proven the world over that child soldiers and child protection issues need to be embedded at the start of the peace talks and peace process, rather than be linked up to the issue of demobilisation at a later stage.

Children need immediate protection, and as we have seen in conflicts across the world and indeed in Burma, the level of trauma of children who have been living for decades in situations of armed conflicts, whether in the ethnic areas or within the Burmese military, is very high.

What visible and practical steps is the government taking to abide by its pledge to abolish child recruitment?

After five years of intense negotiations, the government agreed to sign the joint action plan with the UN in June last year. They have been liaising closely with the UN's country task force in the implementation of this action plan and they are gradually opening up access to their military sites. The government is also opening up to the idea of the UN accessing the non-state armies. They are also releasing child soldiers – the number may be low but these are visible steps and a sign of commitment towards this issue.

Finally, what does the Burmese government need to do to fulfill its end of the bargain?

It needs to stop all recruitment of children, which is continuing to happen and is an ongoing problem. Though the numbers are far less than in the past, even one child recruited is a violation of the government's commitment under the international convention and under the joint action plan.

Secondly the government needs to provide full and unimpeded access to the UN task force and to the military sites so the UN can verify that the government is taking all the adequate steps to end child recruitment.

Thirdly, the government has to ensure that underage recruitment and child protection is made an integral part of all peace agreements that are signed.

And finally, it needs to take effective steps to prevent underage recruitment in the future, it needs to reform the way it recruits, it needs to ensure that age verification is completed and conducted and ages of recruits are not falsified.

And lastly I would add that accountability is going to be the final deterrent to end underage recruitment.

 

Charu Lata is the Asia Program Manager for Child Soldiers International

NUP calls for constitution to be amended, not re-written

Posted: 25 Sep 2013 12:34 AM PDT

The National Unity Party (NUP), which was formed by the military junta in 1988, insisted on Tuesday that Burma does not need to draft a new constitution, although some provisions could be amended to satisfy the ethnic populations.

The announcement follows months of heated debate over whether Burma should re-write or amend its controversial 2008 constitution, which grants the military 25 percent of seats in parliament and excludes opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency.

Speaking to DVB after an event marking the party's 25th anniversary, Central Executive Committee member Thein Htun defended the legislation and dismissed suggestions that it should be scrapped.

"We aim to work for the development of our nation within a political framework based on the 2008 constitution," he said. "We don't see that it is necessary to completely rewrite the constitution to improve it but should only amend certain points prioritising the interests of the ethnic nationalities and the public."

At the event, which was held at the NUP's headquarters in Rangoon on 24 September, the party also released a statement calling for Burma to become a "peaceful and developed" democratic nation based on the 2008 constitution.

Earlier this week, Suu Kyi slammed the 2008 legislation as "undemocratic" and insisted that it must be amended ahead of the 2015 general elections. However, she has yet to clarify whether the National League for Democracy (NLD) will back a complete overhaul of the document or focus on specific sections.

In the past, she has focused her criticisms on the military's dominant role in politics, as well as a section which excludes those with foreign marital ties from leading the country – a provision many say was drafted to exclude Suu Kyi, who had a British husband, from becoming president.

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Meanwhile, the United Nationalities Federal Council, an umbrella group made up of major ethnic armed groups, has already outlined plans to completely re-write the constitution in the coming months. Ethnic rebels, who have fought the government for decades, insist the legislation must be guarantee greater ethnic autonomy and rights under a genuine federal framework.

Thein Htun said that although the NUP objects to drafting a new constitution, they support plans to make changes that allow greater self-determination for Burma's ethnic peoples, which make up roughly 40 percent of the population.

"We see that it is necessary to allow more power for ethnic regions, to decrease power centralisation, to promote regional governance and socio-economic development. In order to do that, chapters 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the 2008 constitution should be reviewed," said Thein Htun, referring to sections addressing the basic principles of the union, the structure of the state, the head of state and the executive branch.

But the military is guaranteed 25 percent of seats in parliament under chapter 4.

The NUP was created by former dictator Ne Win as a new political front for his Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) — which seized power through a military coup in 1962 — to contest the 1990 elections. But Suu Kyi's party the NLD won by a land-slide and the elections were subsequently annulled by the junta.

The NUP came second, securing only 10 seats. It later won 64 seats in the heavily disputed 2010 general elections, which brought Thein Sein to power.

The NUP event on Tuesday was joined by over 700 guests including representatives from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party and the Democratic Party-Myanmar. The NLD, although apparently invited to the event, did not turn up.

World Bank approves US$140 million electricity loan for Burma

Posted: 24 Sep 2013 10:25 PM PDT

The World Bank on Tuesday approved a US$140 million interest-free loan to boost electricity access in Burma, where over 70 percent of the population live in darkness.

The project, which will replace aging gas turbines in Mon state, is expected to produce 250 percent more electricity by developing a sustainable, modern and efficient power plant, according to the Bank.

"Delivering reliable energy services to those in need will be essential to end extreme poverty and build shared prosperity," said Axel van Trotsenburg, the Bank's East Asia Pacific Regional Vice President.

The World Bank has continued to step up its economic engagement with Burma's quasi-civilian regime, which has introduced a series of reforms since taking power in 2011 and formally ending decades of military rule.

The new loan comes from the International Development Association, which is the Bank's fund for the poorest countries in the world, and aims to bring "good practices" into Burma's energy sector.

Power cuts are common throughout Burma, including its commercial capital Rangoon, where fury over electricity shortages unleashed a wave of protests last year. The current power plant in Mon state uses technology that is almost 40 years old.

In January, the Bank announced that it would clear Burma's outstanding debt of some US$440 million, with the help of a bridge loan from Japan, allowing the country to reapply for grants and loans from international institutions.

The World Bank has vowed to push ahead with "people-centered" reforms in Burma, focusing on improving the lives of the rural poor, where only 16 percent have access to the electricity grid.

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Burma is the poorest country in Southeast Asia, despite its vast reserves of natural wealth, including hydropower and natural gas reserves estimated at 10 trillion cubic feet. Most of its electricity is currently exported to its neighbouring countries, notably Thailand and China.

"Myanmar's [Burma's] transition has tremendous potential to reduce poverty. A more reliable electricity supply will create jobs and improve lives," said Kanthan Shankar, the Bank's country manager for Burma.

The Bank also emphasised the need for Burma to develop "long term" solutions, including diversifying its energy sources and introducing regulatory reforms in its natural resource sector.
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