Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Peace talks commence in Myitkyina

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 05:26 AM PDT

VIDEO: Kachin military and community leaders held a Christian prayer ceremony in Laiza shortly before the KIO delegation headed to Myitkyina for peace talks.

 

A fresh round of peace talks kicked off in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina on Tuesday between the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and a Burmese government delegation.

Hla Maung Swe of the Myanmar Peace Centre said the meeting focused on developments since the last round of negotiations in May and the formation of a group to monitor the peace process.

"The discussion today included a topic we called 'Developments'," he told DVB on Tuesday after the meeting. "The [Burmese government's] Union Peace-making Work Committee explained that 18 individuals with connections to the KIO were among the 56 political prisoners granted amnesty today, and 17 were included in the previous amnesty, following the president's pledge to free them."

With regard to military affairs, Hla Maung Swe said that since the last meeting there have been no cases of attacks on mines or railways, and that the number of clashes between the two armies has decreased greatly.

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National Democratic Force representative Thein Oo, who attended the talks as an observer, praised the transparency of the meeting and said that the potential exists to form a monitoring group.

More than 60 observers attended the Myitkyina meeting, including the UN's special envoy to Burma, Vijay Nambiar; and members of Shan and Karen armies, and representatives of the all Burma Students Democratic Front.

Nearly 60 representatives of the KIO were present at Tuesday's meeting, headed by the vice commander-in-chief of Kachin forces, Gen Sumlut Gun Maw.

The Union Peace-making Work Committee was led by chief negotiator Aung Min who was joined by Lt-Gen Myint Soe and other military officers, as well as 26 government officials. Notable among the delegation were: Kachin state Security and Border Affairs Minister Than Aung; Livestock Breeding and Fisheries Minister Ohn Myint; and Kachin state Chief Minister La John Ngan Sai.

Talks will continue on 9 and 10 October.

Two Arakan locals jailed for protesting Rohingya resettlement

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 05:12 AM PDT

Two locals from the Arakan capital Sittwe have been sentenced to three months in jail for staging an unauthorised protest against a Turkish government-backed plan to build housing for displaced Rohingyas.

"We learnt that Nyo Aye and Kyaw Soe were each sentenced to three months in prison by the court around noon today [Tuesday]," said Khine Pray Soe, general secretary of the Rakhine Nationalities Development, adding that they had repeatedly requested permission to stage a protest from the authorities.

"They sought permission with local authorities to demand that [the government] only build houses for those who are verified as citizens under the 1982 Citizenship Law," said Khine Pray Soe, referring to the legislation which renders most Muslim Rohingyas stateless.

It followed reports in March that the Turkish government had offered to help build 5,000 houses for Rohingya Muslims, who bore the brunt of two bouts of ethno-religious clashes with Arakanese Buddhists in 2012. Hundreds of Arakanese protested the move, which they said would provide permanent settlements for the Rohingya – who they view as illegal Bengali immigrants and want expelled from the state.

The government subsequently backed down and rejected the housing plan, with a government spokesperson accusing non-displaced Rohingyas of "sneaking" into camps at night in order to obtain housing assistance from Turkey.

But 22 Arakanese locals from Sittwe, Kyaukphyu and Buthidaung townships were later charged underArticle 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law for their role in leading the protests.

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International aid groups and foreign governments have been treated with suspicion by many Arakanese Buddhists, who believe they are biased in favour of the Rohingya, and have openly blocked the delivery of lifesaving aid to the Muslim minority.

The Turkish government has been seen as particularly controversial due to its links with the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which sparked nationwide protests last year after it offered to set up a humanitarian liaison office in Sittwe.

UN agencies also faced a furious backlash over plans to relocate Rohingya ahead of the rainy season, even though thousands of fragile settlements were at risk of being swept away by the tides. 

Some 150,000 people, mostly Muslim Rohingyas, were displaced during two bouts of sectarian riots in Arakan state last year, which exposed deep-rooted fissures in the restive state.

The 800,000 Rohingya Muslims, who have been described as one of the world's most persecuted minorities by the UN, were stripped of citizenship by the former military junta and are denied basic rights, including freedom to travel, marry and access education.

Art knows no borders‬‬‬

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 03:16 AM PDT

As headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), the Sino-Burmese border town of Laiza has seen its share of conflict in recent years. The town has practically been under siege by Burmese government forces since 2011; and while Kachin refugees flooded in, humanitarian aid convoys were denied access. As recently as January, townsfolk were forced to run for cover as mortar shells rained down while fighter jets circled the skies.

It seems as unlikely a venue as you could imagine for an international arts studio to open. But that is exactly what happened on Tuesday just a couple of days ahead of peace talks between the KIO and the Burmese government in Kachin state capital Myitkyina.

Originally based in Chiang Mai, Documentary Arts Asia is a non-governmental organisation that supports and features the work of documentary-makers and artists in Asia. The new centre, located in the Laiza public library, will provide resources for those wishing to exhibit documentary art in Laiza – from front-line commanders recording the sorrow of war to NGOs striving to publicise human rights abuses, environmental devastation or human interest stories

"I hope this centre and its various programs will develop many Kachin who are very capable of and hungry to tell the amazing stories they see around them all the time with still and moving images", said founder Ryan Libre.

Laiza's new Documentary Arts Asia centre was inaugurated with a speech by Gen. Gam Shawng, the chief of staff of the Kachin Independence Army, who roused his audience by saying that "nowadays, media is more powerful than guns".

This centre is dedicated to Naw Ming, a Kachin film director and journalist who was shot and paralyzed while covering the conflict. The first exhibition at the centre will be “Nomads no more” by Taylor Weidman.

Newly formed Rakhine National Party appoints leadership

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 02:56 AM PDT

The two main Arakanese political parties, the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) and the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD), which merged in June into the Rakhine National Party (RNP), have formed a joint-committee with ALD chairman Aye Thar Aung as the new party's chair and RNDP chairman Aye Maung as deputy-chair.

Khine Pray Soe, the general-secretary of the RNDP, said the parties held a meeting last weekend in Rangoon to discuss and decide on the RNP's structure, policies and framework.

"We agreed that a true federal union should be a union based on national race and democracy," he said. "As these are the two top priorities for nations across the world, as well as the ethnic people of Burma, we decided to adopt this policy to ensure non-disintegration [of the Union] alongside the country's other ethnic people."

He said the new party officials will head to Naypyidaw in the coming week to apply for registration with the Union Election Commission.

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The ALP, formed in 1989, won a majority of votes in Arakan state in the 1990 elections, but was abolished shortly afterwards by then ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council. It re-registered again in April 2012 after the Thein Sein government came in power.

The RNDP, formed in 2010, won a majority 35 seats in Arakan state during a general election that year.

56 political activists to be released from Burma’s prisons on Tuesday

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 12:27 AM PDT

Fifty-six political prisoners are to be released on Tuesday, according to Bo Kyi of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

Many of those listed for release are Kachin and Shan detainees, Bo Kyi said, adding that he did not consider the amnesty to be "unconditional" because many of the detainees must sign Article 401 – which allows for their original sentence to be re-imposed if they are deemed to have violated the terms of their bail.

Early indications suggest that the detainees would be released from the following prisons: Bhamo, Myitkyina, Kale, Lashio, Moulmein, Bassein, Thayarwaddy and Insein.

"What we have called for time and time again is for these detainees to be recognised as political prisoners and for them to be released unconditionally," Bo Kyi told DVB soon after the news came through on Tuesday. "But we have not yet seen that happen today – they were not officially released as political prisoners nor were they released unconditionally – which is very disappointing.

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"I assume most of them have been made to sign Article 401," he added. "We appreciate that this is a necessary procedure, but nevertheless our demand for the unconditional release of political prisoners has not been met.

"Most of the 56 prisoners listed for release today are ethnic men affiliated with the Kachin Independence Army and the Shan State Army-South," he said.

According to the data compiled by the AAPP-B and other organisations, 167 political prisoners were behind bars in Burma prior to Tuesday's amnesty.

Bo Kyi said that around 232 individuals have been detained or are still facing charges under Article 18 [protest law] and Article 505(b) for waging ploughing campaigns against land seizures.

Burma’s ancient temple city faces modern danger

Posted: 07 Oct 2013 10:47 PM PDT

The spires of Bagan have survived wars, earthquakes and centuries of tropical sun, but in recent years Burma's ancient capital has faced a distinctly modern threat – scaffolding and cement.

The temples, some of which are around 1,000 years old, are one of the country’s most treasured religious sites and a top attraction for foreign tourists flocking to the country as it emerges from decades of military rule.

While many have largely withstood the ravages of man and nature, haphazard renovation work has also seen new temples built on the foundations of crumbling structures, and experts say they bear little resemblance to the originals.

“Several hundred monuments have been completely rebuilt. It has obviously damaged the historical landscape,” architect Pierre Pichard, a former UNESCO consultant, told AFP.

“It is totally contrary to what is accepted internationally in terms of good practice.”

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Pichard helped restore the temples after a huge earthquake struck the region in central Burma in 1975, but was forced to leave the site in the early 1990s when the rulers effectively closed the country to the outside world.

After asking Buddhists for donations, the junta then started rebuilding the temples, many of which were just piles of bricks.

Around 2,000 have so far been renovated, many with hastily done stone and plaster work, using bright orange bricks and other modern materials.

A huge number of trees have also been planted across the vast plain dotted with pagodas and temples.

“One of the characteristics of Bagan in the past was to be able to see hundreds of monuments in the middle of fields, and now we see them less,” said Pichard.

“These trees are an aberration in terms of the environment because the climate is very dry and they need to be watered during the dry season.”

Today new building works have been halted, but some structures are still being renovated, and archaeologists have been allowed back into the country to oversee the work.

Experts warn that much of the damage cannot be reversed, and could threaten Bagan’s chances of winning World Heritage status.

‘Waiting for the next earthquake’ 

One engineer who worked at the site after the 1975 earthquake, but stopped when the foreign experts left, said a lot of the restoration work was done quickly and cheaply to maximise the profits of local building firms.

“People donated to get a close relationship to the generals,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“Most of the new reconstructions are by the road where they can be easily seen. Those in the centre have been badly reconstructed, as no one visits them.”

“We are waiting for the next earthquake. The new ones will fall down as they used very poor mortar.”

Over the centuries, the buildings have deteriorated in the tropical weather, been damaged by successive earthquakes and looted by light fingered visitors.

“These pagodas were built a long time ago, and the rain water has managed to get between the bricks and damage them, so we are filling up the holes,” said U Kyain, who is overseeing restoration work on the roof of the Dhammayazika Pagoda.

In its heyday Bagan was one of the most important centres for learning in Asia, if not the world.

The Burmese kings and rulers built thousands of temples, more than 3,000 of which are still standing today.

The structures are mostly built from brick, and over the years gold leaf roofs have been added to some.

Renovations ‘a tribute to Buddha’

Constructed in 1197 by King Narapatisithu, after he received four holy relics from the king of Sri Lanka, the Dhammayazika pagoda is one of the most impressive in the whole of Bagan, and survived largely unscathed in the 1975 earthquake.

Since that fateful July day, U Kyain has helped rebuild many of the temples.

“The people of the world might see the renovations as us destroying the original form of the ancient monuments. As a Buddhist in Myanmar, seeing these old piles of brick it is not graceful or respectful to Buddhism.

The temples, he added, are still in use by pilgrims who come to pray.

“The new generation of Buddhist people in Burma renovate and rebuilt the pagoda to show their respect to the old people who built these pagodas and to express their emotion to Lord Buddha.”

The restoration work does not seem to put off visitors, who start arriving early each day as haze rises from the spires of thousands of temples against a backdrop of distant hills bathed in the morning sunlight.

More and more foreigners are coming every year, often passing the newly built structures to visit their more ancient neighbours.

And despite the controversial renovations, Bagan could still win World Heritage status one day, said Tim Curtis, head of the culture unit at UNESCO’s office in Bangkok.

“Quite a bit of the restoration would not have been what we would have recommended,” he told AFP.

But it was also important to recognise that Bagan – which is on a tentative list to be considered for the coveted status – is a living heritage site, he said.

“These temples are places of worship. They are not just heritage sites or archaeological sites – they are living cultural expressions.”

 
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