Democratic Voice of Burma

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• Kachins flee to displacement camps following military clashes in Bhamo
• MSF slams ‘politicisation’ of aid in Arakan state
• Nationwide ceasefire, political dialogue appear on the horizon
• Burma’s lower house passes media bill

Kachins flee to displacement camps following military clashes in Bhamo Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:44 AM PST A fresh wave of hostilities between the Burmese army and the Kachin Independence army (KIA) in the northern region's Bhamo district has forced hundreds of residents to flee to displacement camps in recent weeks. Locals from the villages of Moetainpar, Konja, Mahkonyang and Namhpu – each around 20 miles west of Mansi town in Bhamo – fled their homes to the safety of the Namhlinpar and Monghkon displacement camps when the Burmese army's Military Operations Command 21 reinforced its troop strength in the region following clashes with the KIA in mid-October. A member of Karuna Myanmar civil society group, which has been providing aid for the internally displaced persons (IDPs), said that more than 1,000 residents from Moetainpar alone had fled to seek refuge at local churches in the town of Bhamo and the Namhlinpar camp in Mansi after Burmese government forces shelled the area on 21 October. Related Stories Nationwide ceasefire, political dialogue appear on the horizon Ethnic groups sign accord aimed at nationwide ceasefire Burmese army abuses in Kachin ‘ongoing’ despite ceasefire "Four villages were affected by the fighting. Most of the residents fled to Bhamo while a smaller number went to Namhlinpar," said Karuna Myanmar member Nordin. He said there were already around 1,500 IDPs in Namhlinpar camp following the hostilities at the end of 2011 while new arrivals were estimated to be around 400. State-run media reported 478 people, including 137 students from Moetainpar village, arrived in Bhamo on 30 October. They were picked up in trucks by local authorities and provided shelter at two local churches, said the report. Nordin said the IDPs at Namhlinpar were surviving on rice porridge and tubers, and by foraging in the forest. A statement released by Kachin Women's Association- Thailand on 31 October claimed residents from the four villages were forced to flee after Burmese soldiers detained and tortured 10 of their fellow residents, accusing them of being KIA members. They also allegedly raped a local woman who is married. State media said the army has been deployed in the area to crack down on cattle and timber traffickers.

MSF slams ‘politicisation’ of aid in Arakan state Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:24 AM PST Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has slammed the "politicisation" of humanitarian aid in Burma's Arakan state, after an outburst of local protests reportedly forced the group to suspend some of its operations. It follows accusations that the NGO displayed "bias" by taking three injured Muslims to hospital during the latest eruption of communal clashes to grip the state, while three Buddhist women had to seek medical treatment on their own. The Burmese government subsequently gathered 18 leading international NGOs and UN agencies on Monday to remind them that all assistance must be distributed fairly. But a spokesperson for MSF on Tuesday denied allegations of bias, insisting all assistance is provided in coordination with the local authorities and based on patients' medical needs. “Since June last year, MSF and other humanitarian organisations have and continue to experience a great degree of hostility from elements within the local community," said Vickie Hawkins, MSF deputy-head for Burma. "MSF is outraged that healthcare in Rakhine [Arakan] is being politicised in this way." She explained that MSF had been contacted by leaders at the Sintatmaw Rohingya displacement camp in Pauktaw, two hours northeast of the state capital Sittwe, on Saturday after a confrontation between residents and local police left three people injured, one of whom later died in hospital. "With the approval of the state health authorities, MSF referred the patients," she said, adding that they later heard about another incident in which three Buddhist women, who had been among a group attacked by Muslims in Pauktaw, travelled to Sittwe hospital for treatment. "At no point was MSF contacted by leaders from the host community or local authorities to assist with the transfer of these patients," said Hawkins. "If we had been contacted, MSF would have been very ready to provide emergency medical care and referral services." The attack on the Buddhist women, which killed one, was reportedly carried out to avenge an earlier episode of violence, which claimed the life of at least one Rohingya man and sparked the confrontation at Sintatmaw camp. Arakan state has been gripped by several bouts of Muslim-Buddhist clashes since last year, uprooting over 140,000 people and claiming some 200 lives. Local Buddhists, many of whom regard the Muslim Rohingyas as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, have repeatedly accused aid groups of unfairly favouring the minority, even though the Rohingya community has borne the overwhelming brunt of the violence. A spokesperson for the UN in Rangoon told DVB that all humanitarian groups are guided by universal principles of "neutrality, impartiality and independence". Related Stories Burma minister warns Arakan NGOs against aid 'bias' Fifty Rohingya feared drowned as boat sinks off Arakan coast Anti-Muslim violence threatens Burma's reforms: UN "Humanitarian organisations provide assistance to vulnerable people in need wherever they are found regardless of social groupings such as ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender or class," said Aye Win. "In the current situation in Rakhine state, the unfortunate fact is that the people most in need tend to be from a certain ethnic group." Rohingya make up the majority of the displaced and have been confined to squalid camps, with limited access to food, healthcare and sanitation, which they are not allowed to leave, unlike Buddhists who can travel freely. "It would also be relevant to point out that in 2010, the same humanitarian organisations provided emergency assistance to Rakhine communities affected by Cyclone Giri," said Aye Win, referring to a natural disaster which devastated the region three years ago. Last month, the UN warned that vulnerable communities displaced by last year's violence would run out of food by the end of the year unless a US$13 million shortfall could be filled. But Buddhists have staged numerous protests against aid groups working with the Rohingya, sometimes forming physical blockades or threatening staff. According to a report in The Irrawaddy on Monday, MSF has been forced to suspend their medical operations in Sittwe following this week's incident. "MSF is ready to transfer any patient that needs hospital services and we call on community leaders and local authorities to seek our support for any emergency case that the government is not able to transfer themselves,” said Hawkins.

Nationwide ceasefire, political dialogue appear on the horizon Posted: 05 Nov 2013 01:13 AM PST More than a dozen of Burma's ethnic leaders reached an agreement with a government delegation on Tuesday that all sides would proceed with plans to establish political dialogue and work towards a nationwide ceasefire. The agreement was reached after two days of talks in Kachin state capital Myitkyina between the Burmese government's Union Peace-making Work Committee headed by President's Office Minister Aung Min and a loose coalition of ethnic armed groups including the Arakan Liberation Party, the Chin National Front, the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, the Kachin Independence Organisation, the Karen National Union, the Karenni National Progressive Party, the New Mon State Party and the coalition United Nationalities Federal Council. Related Stories Kachins flee to displacement camps following military clashes in Bhamo Ethnic groups sign accord aimed at nationwide ceasefire Tuja's bid to establish political party is finally approved A press release following the meeting on Tuesday afternoon stated that the ethnic groups' Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) presented its internal list of accords reached during last week's ethnic summit in Laiza where 18 groups discussed their intended steps towards a nationwide ceasefire. The Union Peace Making Work Committee in return handed over copies of the government's own version of ceasefire procedures, the joint statement said. Both the NCCT and the government delegation agreed that steps should proceed towards establishing: a nationwide ceasefire; a framework for political dialogue; and the facilitation of political dialogue. It was also agreed that a follow-up meeting would take place next month in Karen state capital Hpa-an. DVB reporter Aye Nai, who attended the two-day summit, said the negotiations proceeded in a friendly and cordial manner. He said the delegation from Naypyidaw was headed on Monday by the government's lead negotiator Minister Aung Min and Lt-Gen Myint Soe of the Ministry of Defence. Their ethnic counterparts included: Kachin Independence Organisation chief Sumlut Gam and vice chief of staff Gen Gun Maw Sumlat; the New Mon State Party's Nai Hongsa; Gen Mutu Say Poe representing the Karen National Union; and other leaders from Karenni, Shan, Chin and Pa-O armed groups. Observers included Chinese officials and UN special adviser Vijay Nambiar. Minister Aung Min told attendees at the conference on Monday that this meeting was one of the most historic events in Burma in the past 60 years.

Burma’s lower house passes media bill Posted: 05 Nov 2013 12:05 AM PST Burma's lower house of parliament on Monday passed a new media bill, drafted by the Interim Press Council, though with some amendments. Ye Htun, a lower house bill committee member, told DVB that a clause was excluded from the bill because it appeared to give special privileges to media employees that were "unequal with other citizens". The media bill, which is considered a blueprint for the rights and obligations of the country's media and the running of such enterprises, has now been passed by both Burma's lower and upper houses of parliament, and will now go before the bicameral assembly in Naypyidaw. Khaing Maung Ye, MP for Ahlon constituency in Rangoon, was quoted by state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar on Tuesday as saying: "There is a need for professional accountability in the online media and I hope that it will run in future in accordance with these rules and regulations. We discussed 'accountability and responsibility’ many times at the lower house today." Related Stories Burmese journalism group criticises Sunlight Weekly for personal attacks The Sunlight weekly closes after cover story controversy DVB Debate: Is Burma ready for total press freedom? The Interim Press Council had previously offered Thingangyun township MP Thein Nyunt the opportunity to raise issues over the media bill on Monday; however Thein Nyunt told DVB he was denied the floor as the matter was taken directly to a vote. "There might be another reason for it, however today the lower house decided to vote on the bill amendments," he said. "I had prepared to speak and provide a detailed explanation on several issues, such as: what status does the Press Council have and what criteria did it pursue when drafting the Media Bill?" He said he still hopes to discuss the bill in the union parliament [bicameral assembly]. Even if it is approved, the media bill must finally be presented before President Thein Sein who may suggest changes before signing it into law. The Burmese government initiated a programme of press reform in June 2011, and some 18 months later lifted censorship on domestic publications, an issue that was symbolic of the country's draconian media culture under military rule. Following the dissolution of the censorship board, Burma announced in December 2012 that private daily newspapers could be published for the first time since the 1960s. Thirty-one private dailies have since been granted publishing permits. In a 2013 index of media freedom around the world, Reporters Without Borders rated Burma as 151st out of 179 nations, sandwiched between Iraq and Gambia. However the authors provided grounds for optimism, stating that Burma had previously "been in the bottom 15 every year since 2002; but now, thanks to the Burmese spring's unprecedented reforms, it has reached its best-ever position." For more background: http://www.dvb.no/news/press-council-meets-with-nld-to-discuss-disputed-draft-media-bill/31526 http://www.dvb.no/news/media-law-unresolved-in-parliament/31678

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The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Myitkyina Talks Show Obstacles on the Path of Peace Process
• In Burma, Children With Disabilities Struggle to Access Schools
• Fear of Pagoda Damage Draws Protests at Letpadaung Mine
• Burmese Script to Make iDebut With Travelogue
• Police Torture Leaves Teenage Boy Severely Injured
• No Sign of More Survivors in Rohingya Boat Sinking
• China Berates Foreign Media for Tiananmen Attack Doubts
• Thousands Protest in Thai Capital Over Amnesty Bill
• India Vies for Elite Role in Space With Mars Trip

Myitkyina Talks Show Obstacles on the Path of Peace Process Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:43 AM PST Lt-Gen Myint Soe, commander of a government's bureau of special operations that oversees military operations in Kachin State, speaks during negotiations with ethnic armed groups in Myitkyina on Tuesday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) MYITKYINA, Kachin State — Leaders of Burma's ethnic armed groups and the government's negotiating team have agreed to the common goal of signing a national ceasefire agreement, according to a joint statement released Tuesday. But the two sides differing demands show obstacles lying ahead in the peace process. On the final day of talks in the Kachin State capital, the government told ethnic armed groups to end their armed resistance, while ethnic minorities proposed a federal army for the Southeast Asian nation. The two-day meeting between the government delegation and ethnic leaders in Myitkyina ended on Tuesday without a press conference, despite the presence of international and local media. However, the two parties released a joint statement after the meeting saying they had agreed to sign a nationwide ceasefire agreement, draw up a framework for political dialogue and then hold a political dialogue. At the meeting, the two sides also exchanged their draft proposals for continuing negotiations. The two parties have agreed to hold another meeting in the Karen State capital of Pa-an in December, said Lt-Gen Myint Soe, commander of the government bureau of special operations for Kachin State, who attended the two-day meeting. But he conceded that a nationwide ceasefire agreement this month, as had been targeted by the government, will not happen. A 15-point proposal drafted by the government urged the armed groups to "give up the policy of armed struggle that damages the livelihood of civilians, does not provide safety for civilians and endangers the civilians." Instead, ethnic groups should build trust through the negotiating process, the proposal says. It also warns the armed groups against antagonism with each other, encouraging an inclusive approach to peace talks. Ethnic leaders said a national ceasefire agreement would still take some time because ethnic leaders need more time to look at the government's draft proposal. "We will need to take the government draft proposal to our respective regions and brief our fellows about it," said Col Sai La, a spokesperson for the Restoration Council of Shan State. "It will take time to study it." For their part, the ethnic leaders proposed that the government form an army based on a federalist system, combining all Burma's ethnic groups, including those who have been engaged in conflict with the Burman-dominated government army for more than six decades. Saw Kwe Htoo Win, general secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), said details of the proposal for a federal army had not yet been worked out. "We have various ethnic armed groups in the country. This is what we need to discuss in the future. We haven't discussed in detail how to form the federal army," Saw Kwe Htoo Win said. "There are different federal army structures. But, this is what we have to discuss—which country will be our role model? America, Switzerland or whoever? We haven't talked about it yet." Sources inside the meeting said that the government peace delegation disagreed with the proposal. Burma's current Constitution, drawn up in 2008 under military rule, dictates a "one nation, one national armed forces" policy, and reserves a quarter of Parliamentary seats for the military. Ethnic groups want the Constitution revised or completely rewritten reflect a federalist system. Burma still has 18 different armed rebel groups, including major groups the Karen, Kachin, Shan, Wa and Mon, who each control parcels of territory of various sizes in the country's border territories. Although the government estimates the ethnic rebels have 200,000 fighters in total, independent estimates suggest only about 100,000. The government says it has 400,000 troops. A government effort to create a combined military in 2009, which involved the ethnic armed groups being partly absorbed into the government army as Border Guard Forces, was largely rejected by rebel leaders. The post Myitkyina Talks Show Obstacles on the Path of Peace Process appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

In Burma, Children With Disabilities Struggle to Access Schools Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:30 AM PST A girl with a hearing aid practices writing at the Mary Chapman School for the Deaf in Rangoon. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Near the downtown area of Burma's commercial capital, 22-year-old Thu Ta Tun works as a Shiatsu massage therapist. She is deaf, and massage was one of the few trades she could pursue with her limited education. "I didn't go to school until I was 11 years old," she says through sign language. She is not alone in Burma, where more than 60 percent of deaf people never go to school, according to a national survey conducted by the government. After decades of neglect to the education system, Burma has a low overall attendance rate, with about 10 percent of all school-aged children never starting school, according to the United Nations. But the figures for children with disabilities are significantly worse: The government survey showed that 50 percent of all people with disabilities, including physical and intellectual disabilities, had never attended school, largely because they were denied entrance at the government's mainstream public schools. The high school graduation rate for people with disabilities was just 2 percent. Outside mainstream schools, disabled students have few options, with just 15 special education schools in the entire country for the deaf, blind, physically disabled and intellectually disabled, including those with autism or mental retardation. There are also seven vocational training schools for people with physical disabilities. Some of these special education schools are run by the government, but the majority were established by NGOs. About half of them are in Rangoon, and almost all the rest are in other urban centers, making it nearly impossible for disabled students in rural areas to pursue an education. J Nyi Nyi, a Rangoon resident, says his 17-year-old son suffers from autism and attends the only government-run school in the country for intellectually disabled children. He finds the ratio of students to teachers worrisome. "They try so hard, but they can't look after all the children," he says of the teachers in his son's class. "There are 35 children and only two teachers. The numbers are so different." Asked if the school was a good option, he laughs and says, "It's the only one." Burma's National Disability Survey from 2010, a joint effort between the government and the Leprosy Mission International charity, indicates that about 1.2 million people in Burma live with a disability, and about 460,000 of them are school-aged children. But according to figures last year from the Ministry of Education, only about 2,250 students with disabilities were enrolled at the government's mainstreams schools or its special schools for the blind and deaf. Limited Options In Burma, people with disabilities often lead difficult lives. They are more likely than non-disabled people to be poor, unemployed and landless, with 85 percent reporting unemployment in the national survey. More than three-quarters reported no access to public information, including event postings, disaster warnings and public health messages, while less than a quarter had ever heard of government services to help disabled people. At the village level, if a child is blind, deaf or intellectually disabled, mainstream public schools will not allow him or her to enroll, says Sai Kyi Zin Soe, who advocates on behalf of disabled students at ActionAid, an international anti-poverty NGO. In some cases, schools reject even children with physical disabilities. "It's the decision of the headmaster," he says. "When we do manage to convince the headmaster, they have trouble accommodating most children who are blind, deaf or have intellectual disabilities." As an example, he recalled a young girl who suffered from polio in Dala Township, across the river from Rangoon. ActionAid says it convinced the principal of a primary school there to accept the girl, and then built ramps for her wheelchair and adjusted the toilets so she could use them. But at the end of fourth grade, she ran into a problem: The fifth grade classroom was located on the second floor, and the principal refused to move it downstairs. "She dropped out," Sai Kyi Zin Soe says, adding that the principal's decision was based on a desire to promote education for the greater student population. In Burma, many students stop attending classes after primary school, and the second-floor classroom was intended to promote a sense of prestige for other students who continued on to secondary school. In addition to physical infrastructure problems, it can be a challenge convincing students to attend class if they have a disability, says Myat Thu Winn, president of the Shwe Minn Tha Foundation, a Burma-based nonprofit that provides education grants and other assistance for disabled students. "We have to persuade them, the disabled children, because most of us dare not go into the community, most of us dare not go to school," says the activist, a Rangoon native with cerebral palsy. "Parents are also very important. Families of disabled people are very poor, so most families think we have no need to go to school. We are just a burden for them. It's very delicate to persuade the family members that their disabled child should go to school." "And how will they go to school regularly, every day?" he adds. "If their residence is far away, the road is not accessible for us. There are so many problems." The government has more than 41,000 basic education schools around the country, but it runs only four of the 15 special education schools for people with disabilities and only three of the seven special vocational training schools, according to ActionAid. Space is also limited, with the government school for intellectual disabilities only able to accept about 300 students per year. School for the Deaf Speech, lip reading, finger spelling and sign language are all on the curriculum at the Mary Chapman School for the Deaf in Rangoon, one of two schools for the deaf in the entire country. The private boarding school cares for 385 students, with different levels of kindergarten classrooms to accommodate students who do not begin their education until up to age 12. Students pay 10,000 kyats (US$10) monthly for boarding and meals, and 1,000 kyats to attend classes, which follow the same syllabus as the government's mainstream schools. Naw Hsar Phaw, 48, teaches sewing as part of a vocational training program. Originally from Irrawaddy Division, she says her hometown has 10 deaf children, some of whom she has brought to Rangoon for schooling. "Normal schools in my village won't accept them," she says with sign language. "Three of the 10 children have never attended any school." In addition to vocational training in sewing and handicrafts, students can learn massage therapy. The principal, Nyunt Nyunt Thein, plans to expand training options in the future, perhaps by opening a floral service or a snack shop. "They are also very strong in computer and math. And I'm thinking of a hair salon, too, because they can see very well. So many options," she says. She adds that most of the students rarely leave the school compound, with safety concerns or fears of discrimination in the city. After Grade 6, they go to a mainstream school down the street. Earlier this year the principal attended an education conference in Hong Kong that offered some inspiration. "I saw there were many deaf colleges and deaf universities outside Myanmar [Burma]. I didn't know before," she says. "Now I'm encouraging them to go. Starting next year I will increase the class levels at our school, to 10th Standard. I want to teach my children English so they can apply for universities outside." Inclusive Education There is debate not only in Burma, but around the world, on the best way to educate students with disabilities. With special education, disabled children can attend separate schools that cater to their needs. Another option is inclusive education, whereby mainstream schools adapt the physical infrastructure and train teachers with a capacity to assist them. Proponents of special education say children with disabilities are at risk of being bullied in mainstream schools, and that inclusive education would not offer the necessary specialized support. Others say inclusive education can help overcome discriminatory attitudes and increase acceptance of diversity, while being a more financially viable option in some poorer countries. With a tight education budget, the Burma government lacks the resources to establish a much larger network of special education schools and has turned to the idea of inclusive education, aiming to build up the capacity in existing schools so children with special needs can access education in their own villages. This would be a major task, as about 70 percent of the country's 60 million or so population lives in a rural area. "To enable every citizen to complete basic education, the Inclusive Education Program was initiated," the Ministry of Education wrote in its "Education for All" report last year. "Children with mental/physical handicaps, those being deficient in sight and hearing, those having difficulty to attend school, those who are members of socially excluded families, and those who dropped out before completion of primary education are accepted in basic education schools." In some cases, disabled students are welcomed. May Zin Aung, 25, attended mainstream schools in Irrawaddy Division as a child. "I've been missing both arms since I was born," says the Rangoon-based Web designer, picking up a cup of coffee with her foot before taking a sip. "I went to a normal school." As part of education reform, the government is currently undertaking a two-year review of the public school system, and officials involved say inclusive education is being discussed. But critics say much work remains. "Education Ministry officials say they are implementing inclusive education. But whenever I meet with them, I tell them that this is only so-called inclusive education," says Myat Thu Winn of the Shwe Minn Tha Foundation. "The policy says we have the right to go to school, but at the practical level, they never try to accommodate us. For example, it could be very difficult for a disabled child to attend school because of problems with how the toilet was built. If they cannot solve this toilet problem, the child cannot go to school. In this way, we have so many challenges to overcome." Globally, an estimated 70 percent of children with disabilities can attend regular schools, so long as the school environment is designed for accessibility and the institution is willing to accommodate them, according to Unicef, the UN agency for children. Changing the Law Activists in Burma are now drafting a new law for people with disabilities that they hope will ensure that children with special needs have the right to attend mainstream schools. Another decades-old law for people with disabilities is currently on the books. "But that law was especially for ex-army members," says Myat Thu Winn, giving the example of soldiers who were injured during combat. "It wasn't for local disabled people. But this new draft law is not only for the military—it would cover the entire country." He says disabled persons organizations have finished a draft and are negotiating with the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement before sending it to Parliament. Yu Yu Swe, assistant director of the ministry's Department of Social Welfare, confirms that negotiations are under way. "We have to expand IE [inclusive education]," she says. "We are drafting the PwD's [persons with disabilities] rights law, and after enacting that law we will implement it." In addition to calling for inclusive education, the draft law could help establish the overall rights of disabled people, prevent job discrimination and fight against stigma in local communities. "The traditional belief is that autism is a psychological problem," says Dr. Myint Lwin, chairman of the Myanmar Autism Association, who says intellectual disabilities are often the most misunderstood. "They do not value autistic children, they don't realize that we can teach autistic children and that they can live as normal people." If passed, the draft law could be crucial for parents like J Nyi Nyi, whose autistic son will soon be an adult. The government's school for the intellectually disabled only accepts students until the age of 18, and he says no vocational training is provided. "My son is now 17 years old," he says, adding that job prospects are slim. "He can't speak properly. He can't dress himself. He can't clean himself. He's very sensitive. "Next year he is 18. I'm so worried for that." The post In Burma, Children With Disabilities Struggle to Access Schools appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Fear of Pagoda Damage Draws Protests at Letpadaung Mine Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:15 AM PST Buddhist monks lead copper mine protesters up a mountain near the Letpadaung mining project last year. (Photo: Aung Nay Myo / Facebook) RANGOON — At least 150 rights activists and local residents are urging authorities in northwest Burma to allow them to visit a historic Buddhist pagoda that was allegedly damaged by a blast at the Letpadaung copper mine project last week. Amid rumors that the pagoda was damaged in a blast last Thursday, protests have been ongoing near the offices of Chinese mining company Wanbao. The Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Division is highly controversial among local residents. In November last year, protests led by Buddhist monks opposed to the project's potential environmental and social impact on local communities were violently stopped by the police, with dozens of people injured. "We heard the site of a pagoda and house were cracked by the mining blast," Win Naing, a protester, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. "We asked them to let us see the site. If we find that it was damaged, we will bring this information to the public and ask the government to take action." The protesters say they fear other religious buildings in the mining area could be at risk if operations at the mine proceed. A Buddhist monk, U Vimala, said he would continue to protest until authorities allowed the group to visit the pagoda. "We are going to investigate the site damage," he told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. "Then we will ask for action against those who blasted the site. It is our holy place, with an ordination hall and temple." The Letpadaung mining project restarted in September, after operations were temporarily suspended following the crackdown on protesters last year. With the resumption of mining activities, about 50 farmers and activists marched from Mandalay to Sagaing Division, calling for greater protection to preserve the ordination hall and temple that was established by an influential monk, Ledi Sayadaw. The mining project is a joint venture between Wanbao and the Burmese government, which signed a new contract in July that gave the government a greater share of profits. Wanbao pledged in the new contract to meet international environmental standards and to give jobs to local people, while also investing in education, health care and community development. Burma's deputy minister of religious affairs, Soe Win, said the project would affect local Buddhist sites during a press conference in Naypyidaw in July. "All pagodas at the mining site need to be relocated because it is not suitable to keep them in the mining area," he told reporters. "We have already talked to other senior monks about this." However, U Vimala said monks would not agree to move the ordination hall and temple. "We will not let them move this Buddhist site, not even one foot," he said. The post Fear of Pagoda Damage Draws Protests at Letpadaung Mine appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burmese Script to Make iDebut With Travelogue Posted: 05 Nov 2013 03:03 AM PST Khin Maung Cho, left, and Zin Min Swe hold up Burma's national flag with the summit of Mount Everest in the background. (Photo: Facebook / Zin Min Swe) RANGOON — The publisher of a travelogue detailing four Burmese nationals' trek up Mount Everest is hoping to make their tale the first e-book published in the Burmese script when it goes on sale through the iTunes Store early next year. The book, "Journey to the Third Axis With the Third Eye," will be available for purchase online in a digital format beginning in February, publisher Zin Min Swe told The Irrawaddy this week. The four Mandalay-based businessmen, Zin Min Swe included, set off on their 19-day expedition to Nepal and Tibet in April 2011, documenting the experience in a 269-page book that includes both English- and Burmese-language texts and dozens of photographs. Zin Min Swe, director of a construction firm in Mandalay, said he hoped the book would make both English and Burmese readers feel as though they have been transported to the exotic Himalayan locales they documented. He was joined by Khin Maung Cho, Kyaw Lin Oo and Phyo Wai Aung on the expedition. "As far as I'm aware, there were no Burmese travelers who had previously trekked the Mt. Everest region. We were pioneers, we stepped very close to the summit of Mt. Everest," Zin Min Swe said. He added that in the book offered a Burmese perspective on the breathtaking scenery and traditional lifestyles and customs of the people of Nepal and Tibetan China. "I believe that we can be pioneers for those who want to get to the top of Mt. Everest and stake our Burmese national flag there in the future," he said. The bilingual book is printed in Thailand, and was released last year in Burma and on the international market. Local state broadcaster MRTV-4 has been periodically broadcasting a documentary of the four men's journey since last year. "There will also be short video clips included," Zin Min Swe said of the e-book offering. "I expect that it will cost US$9.99." He said he hopes to return to Mt. Everest someday soon to attempt to reach the summit. The post Burmese Script to Make iDebut With Travelogue appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Police Torture Leaves Teenage Boy Severely Injured Posted: 05 Nov 2013 12:27 AM PST Soe Lin is being supported by his family. The 14-year-old boy says he was tortured by local police and he has been unable to walk since his release from custody. (Photo: Salai Thant Sin / The Irrawaddy) MYAUNG MYA TOWN— The family of a 14-year-old boy who was detained by police in Myaung Mya Town, Irrawaddy Division, says that he was tortured so badly while in custody that he has been unable to walk since his release more than a month ago. Khin Shwe, the mother of Soe Lin, said police arrested her son as a suspect in the murder of their neighbor Kyaw Wai, who was killed on July 23. During his detention, she said that he was charged with murder at Myaung Mya Township Court and severely tortured during police interrogation. After spending about four months in police custody he was released on bail in mid-October. By then, Soe Lin's health conditions had severely deteriorated, his mother said. "My child cannot walk at all," Khin Shwe told The Irrawaddy. "Someone has to put him on his back and transport him if he needs to go somewhere. He has been like this since the day he was released from the police station. He can't stand up and someone has to help him to do so." She added, "He says he can't breathe properly. He said he felt like this after policemen put his head under water as part of torture in custody." Khin Shwe said the family had been unable to speak to Soe Lin for one month while he was in custody, adding that she and nine-year old daughter were also detained for questioning for two days following the killing of their neighbor. Soe Lin told The Irrawaddy by phone that police had subjected him to violent torture, burning off his eyebrows, holding his head under water, pushing burning cigarettes on his skin, forcing him to kneel for long periods of time, and depriving him of food and water. "I told them [police] that I was not friends with Kyaw Wai and didn't even talk to him, and didn't kill him," the boy told The Irrawaddy. "I also told them that I had never been to his house but they kept telling me that I had been there. They kept asking the same question and I kept denying, so they started beating me after three days of investigation. They burned my eyebrows; they touched my eyes with a gas lighter, slapped my cheeks, and beat my ears until blood came out." Police reportedly charged Soe Lin at Myaung Mya Township Court and told the judge that he was 16 years old. Later, the headmaster of his primary school informed the court that he was in fact 13 years and 10 months old. After that, he was transferred to a juvenile court in Ein-me Township and eventually released on bail. A doctor in a hospital in Pathein, the Irrawaddy Division capital, said he had examined Soe Lin's health condition and confirmed that he was unable to walk, or even stand, by himself. "His waist bone and pelvis seem to be very painful when he tries to stand up," said the physician. "He can move them but it hurts him. He should be given a medical check-up, including X-ray scans, and treated properly at a government hospital," he said. The Irrawaddy repeatedly contacted Myaung Mya police station seeking commentary on the accusations, but was told several times that the station chief "is out." According to Aung Thura, a legal counsel in Pathein who supports Soe Lin, a minor cannot be held in custody during trial under Burmese law, even if he is accused of serious crime. "Policemen are not allowed to put on handcuffs when they arrest a child, even if they are certain that he is the culprit. They can neither put him in custody," he said. "But, this boy was tortured and it was an act of lawlessness. Those policemen involved in such lawless activities should be held accountable," Aung Thura said, adding that he would investigate the torture allegations and counsel the parents on submitting a formal complaint against the police. Burma's police force is notorious for its use of torture as a means of interrogating suspects. The Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC) said in a statement in February that the police force needs to be reformed, as it relies on the "systemic" practice of "extreme" torture of people held on criminal charges. ALRC said confessions gained through torture were commonly used by Burmese police so that they could present offenders in their criminal investigations. Senior police officers, the courts and administrative officials are all "aware of its occurrence, are involved actively or are complicit," the group said. The post Police Torture Leaves Teenage Boy Severely Injured appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

No Sign of More Survivors in Rohingya Boat Sinking Posted: 04 Nov 2013 09:37 PM PST Rohingya people perennially leave their homes and families in Burma and Bangladesh, where they face extreme discrimination and are denied citizenship. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Family members were scouring the coastline off Arakan State, western Burma, on Monday, a day after a boat carrying at least 70 Muslim Rohingya capsized, but there were no new signs of survivors, a community leader said. Only eight people have been plucked from the waters alive. The overloaded boat was in the Bay of Bengal and headed for Bangladesh when it sank early Sunday, just four hours after leaving shore, said Aung Win, a Rohingya Muslim community leader. He was speaking from Sittwe, the Arakan State capital. "There were many, many women and children on board," Aung Win said, as he prepared to go to the beach to check on efforts by loved ones to search for bodies. "Some were hoping to continue on to Malaysia, Indonesia or other third countries." Burma, a predominantly Buddhist nation, has been gripped by sectarian violence in the last year. Many of the 240 people killed and 240,000 others forced to flee their homes have been Rohingya, described by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted religious minorities in the world. Dan McNorton, a spokesman for the UN High Commission for Refugees, warned that this year’s exodus of desperate people from Arakan could be one of the biggest ever. Around 1,500 people are believed to have fled, just in the last week, he said. The agency had received several reports of drownings and was seeking details from authorities. The post No Sign of More Survivors in Rohingya Boat Sinking appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

China Berates Foreign Media for Tiananmen Attack Doubts Posted: 04 Nov 2013 09:31 PM PST People walk along the sidewalk of Chang'an Avenue as smoke rises in front of the main entrance of the Forbidden City at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Oct. 28, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — China's Foreign Ministry on Monday took a swipe at foreign media for suggesting there may have been social or ethnic motivations behind last week's incident involving a car driven into pedestrians on Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Last Monday, a car plowed through bystanders on the edge of Tiananmen Square and burst into flames, killing the three people in the car and two bystanders. The government called the incident a "terrorist attack" carried out by Islamist militants from the far western region of Xinjiang. More than 40 people were hurt, and the police have detained five people in connection with the attack. But Uighur exiles, rights groups and some experts have cast doubt on the official accounts. Foreign reporting of the incident has discussed whether punitive action against Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang was behind the incident. China has long said it grants all its ethnic minorities broad freedoms. "Some people have linked the violent terrorist act of crashing into innocent civilians and tourists with China's ethnic and religious policy and have even slandered China's ethnic and religious policy," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a news briefing. "This is connivance with terrorists." "We express our strong disapproval," he said, when asked about media reports disputing the police's account of the incident. State-run media have only reported the government line, as is standard for sensitive stories. "China consistently opposes any form of terrorism and opposes double standards on this issue," Hong added. He urged the media to take an "objective and fair" stance, adding that "any person with a conscience should condemn" the incident. Hong's comments follow commentaries by state media, including broadcaster CCTV and the Global Times, a popular tabloid owned by the Communist Party's People's Daily, both of which accused US news network CNN of distorting the facts. "The article may reflect the opinion and attitude of a certain number of Americans. But it is of a vile nature to present such a view at the mainstream media," the Global Times said in an editorial on Monday. CNN published an op-ed last week, questioning whether the incident "was a well-prepared terrorist act or a hastily assembled cry of desperation from a people on the extreme margins of the Chinese state's monstrous development machine." CNN, in a statement, said the article was simply an opinion piece. "As with all opinion pieces that appear on cnn.com, the views expressed are solely those of the author and do not in any way reflect the position of CNN," it said. A website was set up on Monday to "support the Xinjiang terrorists, CNN, getting out of China." As of Monday evening, more than 20,000 people signed the petition. China keeps Xinjiang, strategically located on the borders of Central Asia, Pakistan and India, under tight security, making it difficult to make an independent assessment of the situation there. Armed police last week prevented Reuters reporters from entering Lukqun, the home town of one of the detained suspects, sending them back to the nearby city of Turpan. The post China Berates Foreign Media for Tiananmen Attack Doubts appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thousands Protest in Thai Capital Over Amnesty Bill Posted: 04 Nov 2013 08:48 PM PST A protester waves a Thai national flag atop a truck at the Democracy Monument in central Bangkok Nov. 4, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — Thousands of people marched in Thailand's capital and blocked a major road on Monday to protest an amnesty bill they said is designed to bring former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra back from overseas exile. More than 5,000 people blew whistles and temporarily halted traffic in Bangkok's financial district of Silom at lunchtime to protest the legislation, which was approved by the lower house of Parliament on Friday. About 15,000 others joined a peaceful march by the opposition Democrat Party through another part of the city, police said. The party had staged a rally that drew thousands of supporters since Thursday. The bill would grant amnesties to those involved in the sometimes-violent political conflict that has sharply divided the country for almost a decade. The Democrat Party says the ruling party-proposed legislation is intended to whitewash Thaksin's alleged crimes and allow his return. "We will keep on fighting against the amnesty bill and pursue those who are corrupt to the fullest, until the bill is doomed and canceled," said Democrat Party lawmaker Suthep Thaugsuban, who led the march. The lawmakers "didn't listen to the voice of the people. Just because they have power in Parliament, they thought they could make anything happen," said 30-year-old protester Awat Utchawong. "We have to come out to make the people's voice louder." After being overthrown in a 2006 military coup, Thaksin fled into exile in 2008 to avoid serving a two-year prison sentence on a corruption conviction. Thaksin, whose sister Yingluck Shinawatra is now prime minister, won large electoral majorities, especially from rural voters who benefited from his populist policies. But he remains highly polarizing seven years after being ousted over allegations of corruption and disrespect for King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Debate over his return arouses fierce passions that sometimes have erupted into violence. More than 90 people were killed in 2010 during a crackdown by a Democrat-led government on rallies by pro-Thaksin "Red Shirts" in the heart of Bangkok. The amnesty bill must be approved by the Senate and then be formally endorsed by the king before becoming law. Senators have 60 days to vote on the legislation. The Democrats say they will also seek a ruling by the Constitutional Court on the bill's legality. The original draft of the bill, approved in principle by the lower house in August, did not extend amnesty to the leaders of the pro-Thaksin and anti-Thaksin groups, but a House committee in mid-October changed the bill to include them. The constitution stipulates that the committee can "add new articles, deduct or amend the existing articles, as long as they do not contradict the principles of the bill." Since its amendment, the legislation has been criticized by various groups, including international rights organizations, critics of Thaksin, and members of the Red Shirt movement who oppose immunity for those involved in the 2010 crackdown, including former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his then-deputy, Suthep. The post Thousands Protest in Thai Capital Over Amnesty Bill appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

India Vies for Elite Role in Space With Mars Trip Posted: 04 Nov 2013 08:38 PM PST India's Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft is set to be launched on Tuesday. (Photo: Indian Space Research Organisation) NEW DELHI — India is aiming to join the world's deep-space pioneers with a journey to Mars that it hopes will showcase its technological ability to explore the solar system while seeking solutions for everyday problems on Earth. With a Tuesday launch planned for Mangalyaan, which means "Mars craft" in Hindi, India will attempt to become only the fourth country or group of countries to reach the red planet, after the Soviet Union, United States and Europe. "We have a lot to understand about the universe, the solar system where we live in, and it has been humankind's quest from the beginning," said K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Indian Space and Research Organization. India sees its Mars mission primarily as a "technology demonstration," Radhakrishnan said. "We want to use the first opportunity to put a spacecraft and orbit it around Mars and, once it is there safely, then conduct a few meaningful experiments and energize the scientific community." Radhakrishnan admits the aim is high. This is India's first Mars mission, and no country has been fully successful on its first try. More than half the world's attempts to reach Earth's planetary neighbor—23 out of 40 missions—have failed, including missions by Japan in 1999 and China in 2011. If India can pull it off, it will demonstrate a highly capable space program that belongs within an elite club of governments exploring outer space. Mangalyaan is scheduled to blast off Tuesday from the Indian space center on the southeastern island of Shriharikota, the start of a 300-day, 780 million-kilometer (485 million-mile) journey to orbit Mars and survey its geology and atmosphere. Five solar-powered instruments aboard Mangalyaan will gather data to help determine how Martian weather systems work and what happened to the water that is believed to have once existed on Mars in large quantities. It also will search Mars for methane, a key chemical in life processes on Earth that could also come from geological processes. None of the instruments will send back enough data to answer these questions definitively, but experts say the data are key to better understanding how planets form, what conditions might make life possible and where else in the universe it might exist. Some of the data will complement research expected to be conducted with a spacecraft NASA will launch later this month, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, nicknamed MAVEN. "We're pulling for India," said Bruce Jakosky, project leader for the US spacecraft. "The more players we have in space exploration the better." If successful, the two new orbiters would join three already circling Mars—NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey, and the European Space Agency's Mars Express. On the Martian surface, NASA's Curiosity and Opportunity rovers are rolling across rocky terrain. Radhakrishnan said that although sending a spacecraft to Mars would bring India immense prestige, "we are doing this for ourselves. The main thrust of space science in India has always been people-centric, to benefit the common man and society." India, as well known for its endemic poverty and hunger as for its technological prowess, has used research in space and elsewhere to help solve problems at home, from gauging water levels in underground aquifers to predicting cataclysmic storms and floods. India's US$1 billion-a-year space program has helped develop satellite, communication and remote sensing technologies that are being used to measure coastal soil erosion, assess the extent of remote flooding and manage forest cover for wildlife sanctuaries. They are giving fishermen real-time data on where to find fish and helping to predict natural disasters such as a cyclone that barreled into India's eastern coast last month. Early warning information allowed Indian officials to evacuate nearly a million people from the massive storm's path. Indian scientists also have led at least 30 research missions to Antarctica, despite being nearly 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) from the icy continent. They are working to expand mineral mining in the deep sea, designating that as a priority area for scientific research. And in 2008, the Indian Space and Research Organization successfully launched a lunar orbiter, Chandrayaan-1, which discovered evidence of water on the Moon. Its advances have helped raise the international profile of the world's largest democracy of 1.2 billion people. India is lobbying for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, a move it says would better reflect new realities in a fast-changing world needing more technological solutions. Mangalyaan was developed from technology tested during the recent lunar orbiter mission. An evolved version of India's domestically developed Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, with extended rockets, will take Mangalyaan into an elliptical arc around the Earth. The satellite's thrusters will then begin a series of six small fuel burns, moving it into higher orbit before it slingshots toward the red planet. The 1,350-kilogram orbiter is expected to reach its designated orbit Sept. 24, 2014, and will be joined above Mars by MAVEN. "I know I'm an absolute wreck with ours coming up in two weeks," Jakosky said. "There are 10,000 things that need to go right in order for it to succeed, and it can take only one thing going wrong for it to fail." Mangalyaan is expected to have at least six months to investigate the planet's landscape and atmosphere. At its closest point it will be 365 kilometers (227 miles) from the planet's surface, and at its furthest—80,000 kilometers (49,700 miles). India's space enthusiasts say the $73 million Mars mission will be a step toward understanding the natural world, inspiring children to go into research science and advancing science and technology in ways that help common people cope with a changing environment. Learning more about alien weather systems, for example, might reveal more about our own. "To visit another planet is a fantastic thing, the biggest thing," said space scientist Yash Pal, a former chairman of the country's University Grants Commission who was not involved in developing the Mars mission. "If you can afford airplanes and war machines you can certainly spend something to fulfill the dreams of young people." The post India Vies for Elite Role in Space With Mars Trip appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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