Democratic Voice of Burma

---

• Award-winning Burmese journalist dies, aged 91
• Security beefed up in Rangoon following bombings
• Burma and China affirm ‘strategic partnership’
• Western military engagement with Burma ‘deeply’ concerning
• One killed in Shan state bombing

Award-winning Burmese journalist dies, aged 91 Posted: 17 Oct 2013 05:16 AM PDT Sein Win, a renowned journalist in Burma who championed press freedom and endured three stints in prison as he chronicled several decades of his country’s turbulent history, died Thursday at age 91. His family said he died in a Rangoon hospital after a long period of ill health. His work won him international honors, but in his own country his accomplishments were rewarded with jail time and a quarter-century ban on foreign travel. Sein Win was The Associated Press’ correspondent in Rangoon, Burma’s largest city, from 1969 to 1989. His daughter Aye Aye Win has held the job since then. Sein Win began his journalism career after the 1942 Japanese invasion of what was then called Burma. He started as an unpaid translator at a Burmese-language newspaper, and later worked as an apprentice reporter, editor, publisher and foreign correspondent. He worked under Japanese occupation, British colonialism, parliamentary democracy and military rule. He lived long enough to see censorship lifted, and the return this year of private daily newspapers under the elected government that took over from the military in 2011. “In my experience as a journalist for over 40 years under various types of governments, I always find the independent press as a suspect and victim of the governments,” he said in a 1989 speech to the International Press Institute in Berlin. “The colonial government regarded the independent press as a rebel. The national democratic governments treated us like their rival and the national autocratic regimes branded the free press as enemy.” The son of a junior civil servant, Sein Win was born Feb. 12, 1922, in Kyaunggon, a town west of Rangoon. As the Japanese were defeated and the British returned, Sein Win was part of a tiny circle of educated Burmese that included the country’s independence leaders. Most belonged to the Anti-Fascist Peoples Freedom League, the party of Gen. Aung San, father of the country’s current opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Sein Win recounted in a 2002 interview that he was one of the few reporters with a motorbike, and all but the top independence leaders would grab rides with him. Because he wore a respectable-looking U.S. Army surplus uniform, police waved him through checkpoints, so the AFPFL used him to carry sensitive material such as documents. On July 19, 1947, as Britain was preparing to grant Burma independence, Aung San and six ministers in his transitional Cabinet were assassinated. Sein Win mused later that if a heavy rain had not forced him to turn back and let another reporter cover the meeting, he might also have been killed. Related Stories Appeal lodged for jailed DVB reporter Burma’s double-edged sword Burmese reporter receives 20-year sentence Independence came in 1948, but repressive colonial-era press laws remained in place under the parliamentary government of Prime Minister U Nu. “Heavy security deposits were demanded from critical newspapers, and editors and newsmen were arrested on flimsiest charges,” Sein Win said in his Berlin speech. Sein Win became editor and publisher of the Burmese newspaper The Guardian in 1958. He was jailed for nearly a month in 1960, though the charges were eventually dropped. The dark ages of Burmese journalism began after a military coup ousted the parliamentary government in March 1962. The Guardian and other daily newspapers were nationalized. In 1963, Sein Win earned a seat on the International Press Institute’s board and the Golden Pen of Freedom award from the International Federation of Newspaper Publishers. It was another quarter-century before was he allowed to travel abroad to meet IPI colleagues and collect his award. Strongman Gen. Ne Win tossed thousands of real or imagined opponents into jail. “I was one of them, spending three years under ‘protective custody’ without interrogation or trial,” Sein Win recounted later. Sein Win joined the AP in 1969 and became one of the few sources for news from the isolated country. “Without him, we would have been lost,” said Denis Gray, who oversaw Burma coverage as the news agency’s bureau chief in neighboring Thailand from 1976 to 2011. He called Sein Win “an absolute gold mine of knowledge.” A pro-democracy uprising challenged Ne Win’s erratic and despotic rule in 1988. Its first wave was crushed, and although Ne Win formally ceded power, the shadow government he installed rounded up people he felt had betrayed him. One of the alleged plotters was a news source and a friend of Sein Win. On the night of July 28, 1988, AP’s bureau in Bangkok received a telex from his family. “Daddy has been taken away,” it read. “He won’t be available to answer your queries.” Sein Win was held for 28 days in Rangoon’s Insein prison, but when he was released, he later wrote, supporters of democracy appeared to be gaining the advantage. “For the first time in a quarter-century, people — thousands and thousands of them — were chanting, crying for democracy, and there were no secret police, no soldiers with bayonets fixed and with fingers on the triggers to stop the demonstrators,” he wrote. But the army soon reasserted its authority. In 1989, Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest, where she would remain for about 15 of the next 20 years. Her party won elections in 1990, but the military government refused to step aside. Sein Win gave up his AP job in 1989 and was succeeded by Aye Aye Win. He worked for Japan’s Kyodo News Service before retiring. More than two decades later, in 2011, a semblance of democracy was restored when a military-backed but elected government took power. Some of the most notable reforms initiated since then by President Thein Sein have improved freedom of the press.

Security beefed up in Rangoon following bombings Posted: 17 Oct 2013 04:42 AM PDT Security has been stepped up in townships across Rangoon following the recent spate of bomb attacks across the country. Police are searching vehicles in the city at night for anything suspicious. Meanwhile, private security companies have been hired at bridge construction projects in the former Burmese capital. The security supervisor at Raja Thana private security firm, Yan Naing, said they are coordinating with local authorities to ensure the public's safety. "Following the bomb blasts, we were advised by the local police to beef up security," he said. "Due to the nature of our work, we have been assigned to several large projects." Related Stories One killed in Shan state bombing Suu Kyi calls for ‘cool heads’ in wake of bombings One suspect detained after Rangoon hotel blast He went on to say that the company had been put on alert to ensure a swift response if something untoward happens. "We have alerted our staff to be on the lookout for bombers trying to enter our sites. Since our personnel are trained, they will immediately notice if something unusual is happening," he said. During the past week, a series of explosions have gone off around Burma, killing three people. In the most recent incidents, on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, three bomb explosions went off in in the northern Shan state town of Namhkam which lies close to the Chinese border. One person was reported dead and one injured. Police are still investigating who is behind the attacks but one suspect has already been detained. President's office Minister Ye Htut said on Thursday that a press conference would be held on Friday to address the situation.

Burma and China affirm ‘strategic partnership’ Posted: 17 Oct 2013 03:47 AM PDT Burma and China reaffirmed their strong bilateral relationship during a meeting between the head of Burma's armed forces, Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday. According to a report in Chinese state media, the two countries hailed their relationship as ”good neighbors, good friends and good partners". President Xi Jinping underscored the need to promote peace and stability throughout the region by cementing a "comprehensive strategic partnership". China also stressed the "great importance" of ensuring peace and stability along its border with Burma where a two-year civil conflict with ethnic Kachin rebels has raged, forcing thousands of refugees over the Chinese border. China has played a key role in peace negotiations between the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and the Burmese government, even hosting talks in its border town Ruili in a bid to stem the fighting. Related Stories China's Li cherishes 'fraternal friendship' with Burma Shwe Gas project sets 'bad example' for investment in Burma Ten jailed for protesting Shwe Gas project China has vast natural resource interests in Burma, including Kachin state which is rich in hydropower, timber, jade and minerals. China and Burma reportedly also agreed to strengthen their military-to-military ties during their talks on Wednesday. The news comes amid reports that violence has again flared between the KIO's armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army, and government troops. According to a report by Kachin News Group, the Burmese army attacked rebel positions in northern Shan state's Mabein township on Tuesday, five days after the two sides inked a fresh peace deal in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina, which was attended by both UN and Chinese observers. The KIO and the government had agreed to lay the foundations for political dialogue, re-open roads across the conflict-torn state, establish a joint-monitoring committee and develop a plan for the voluntary return of internally displaced persons. But the latest bout of fighting casts doubt on the durability of the peace deal, possibly raising concerns within the Chinese leadership. As Burma continues to emerge from decades of military rule and economic isolation, its leaders have taken care not to upset China, which remains the country's biggest sole investor and strategic ally. But a number of China-backed natural resource projects have provoked a furious backlash among locals in Burma, especially in its resource-rich ethnic minority territories.

Western military engagement with Burma ‘deeply’ concerning Posted: 17 Oct 2013 03:12 AM PDT The decisions by several western governments, including the US, the UK and Australia, to re-engage with the Burmese military has dismayed ethnic rights activists, who say it could fuel abuses in the country's border regions. In an open letter published on Thursday, a coalition of 133 ethnic NGOs urged western governments to consider their concerns before increasing military-to-military ties with the former dictatorship. "They have destroyed our villages, stolen our land, forced us to serve as their slave labor, to carry their equipment as they hunt down, torture, kill, and enslave our fellow ethnic brothers and sisters, and rape, gang-rape, and sexually assault our women and girls," said the letter. "There is not a family amongst us who has not lost a loved one or survived an atrocity committed by the Burmese military," it continued. The UK, the US and Australia have all pledged to step up military cooperation with Burma as part of their diplomatic re-engagement with the former pariah state. But they have stressed that this engagement will focus on human rights training and efforts to transform the Burmese army into a professional and law-abiding defence force. But activists insist that it is not a lack of knowledge about human rights norms that is driving abuses against ethnic minorities, which make up roughly 40 percent of the population and have suffered decades of oppression at the hands of the government. "Burmese military leadership orders their officers and soldiers to violate our human rights precisely because that is the objective they aim to achieve," warned the letter. "The Burmese military wants to control our land and resources but more so they want to destroy our culture, break our spirit, break our desire for self-determination, demoralise us, and wear down our resistance until we break and agree to their rule." Related Stories Karen rebels reject Rangoon bomb plot 'allegation' Thailand must suspend Salween River dams, warn activists What will a nationwide ceasefire really achieve? Armed ethnic groups have been fighting the central government for greater autonomy and rights since independence from the British in 1948. The armed forces, or Tatmadaw, have been implicated in serious human rights abuses amounting to war crimes and ethnic cleansing in some parts of the country. President Thein Sein has been credited for introducing a series of democratic reforms in Burma since taking office in March 2011, including inking peace deals with 10 major ethnic armed groups. But conflict continues to flare around the country's volatile borders, and civil war resumed in northern Kachin state in June 2011, displacing over 100,000 people. Thein Sein has yet to acknowledge that human rights abuses have been perpetrated by the Burmese army nor has he indicated that the government is interested in pursuing any measures for transitional justice. Under Burma's 2008 constitution, the army is also granted blanket immunity for any crimes committed in warfare. Activists say this failure demonstrates the government's disinterest in genuine democratic reform and reconciliation. The group called on western governments to demand that Burma amend its 2008 constitution, which is considered deeply undemocratic and grants the military 25 percent of seats in parliament, as well as to introduce a meaningful accountability mechanism for past abuses.

One killed in Shan state bombing Posted: 17 Oct 2013 01:28 AM PDT Burma woke up this morning to news that yet another bomb blast had taken a life, this time in the northern Shan state town of Namhkam which lies close to the Chinese border. Local police confirmed to DVB that three bombs were detonated in the centre of the town: one at 10:45pm on Wednesday; one at 7am on Thursday; and at 7:30am. One person was reported dead and one injured. Staff at Namhkam hospital confirmed by phone that seven people were admitted for treatment following the bombings, while another source told DVB that a further person was admitted to hospital in nearby Muse. The Namhkam bombings follow a spate of recent explosions and defused bombs in Rangoon, Mandalay, Taungoo and Sagaing. A total of three persons have now been killed in the attacks. No group has claimed responsibility, however at least one suspect is in custody. Related Stories Security beefed up in Rangoon following bombings Suu Kyi calls for ‘cool heads’ in wake of bombings One suspect detained after Rangoon hotel blast President's office Minister Ye Htut said on Thursday that a press conference would be held on Friday to address the incident. Ahead of flying to Europe, Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi spoke out over the bombings. "The public may be worried, but I believe that our people know how to keep a cool head," she told reporters in Naypyidaw following Tuesday's parliamentary session. "These [bombings] are deliberate attempts to cause public panic and it is important for people not to fall into the trap."

You are subscribed to email updates from DVB Multimedia Group | DVB Multimedia Group To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610