Democratic Voice of Burma |
- I beg your pardon – amnesty for political prisoners?
- Women lead protest against ‘discriminatory’ articles in constitution
- Burma to repatriate workers from Borneo shipyard drama
| I beg your pardon – amnesty for political prisoners? Posted: 03 Jan 2014 04:16 AM PST President Thein Sein promised amnesty to all political prisoners before the end of 2013, but three days into the new year, only a handful have actually been released. Khin Cho Myint from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners – Burma shares her view on the presidential pardon. "They said they would release all the political prisoners, but they haven't", she said. "But we would still say it's good to release a few – better than to release none". "According to our statistics, about 100 political activists still await trial. But they have been charged with other allegations, such as disturbing government servants' duties, land seizures and defamation". Former political prisoner Ko Tin Aye is dissatisfied with the result of the amnesty. "The government say they are transforming Burma from a dictatorship into a democratic country at the same time as they're arresting the people who are helping transform the country", he said. "It's all a contradiction! Every political prisoner should be released". "If they continue arresting these people and throwing them in prison, the policy of offering amnesty will be totally undermined. It is not enough to simply release these activists – they must be allowed to continue participating in the political process. And no more arrests of this kind should happen in the future". However, former prisoner Kyaw Soe Win sees a more positive outcome on the horizon. "As I was a political prisoner myself, I am heartily delighted with the release of our fellow political prisoners. But we will have to make sure all the political prisoners are released". "The point is that the government has not officially defined the term 'political prisoner'. That's the thing. I think we have different perceptions of who is and who is not a political detainee". |
| Women lead protest against ‘discriminatory’ articles in constitution Posted: 03 Jan 2014 03:32 AM PST An Arakanese women's network organised a demonstration at 10am on Friday in front of Rangoon City Hall where protestors held placards demanding the removal of Articles 59(d) and 59(f) from the Burmese constitution. Under Chapter III (Head of State), Article 59(d) dictates that any person running for the presidency or vice-presidency of Burma must "have a vision of politics, economics, public administration and military". As Burma's military does not recruit women as soldiers, many activists across the country have derided the clause as sexist and unfair, as it prevents women from seeking such high positions within the government, they say. Related Stories"This clause is discriminatory," said Mu Ya from Shan state. "They think that women should just stay home and do housework and take care of their children." Article 59(f) has been the source of much controversy since it was first introduced in 2008. It denies the right to run for the presidency or vice-presidency to anyone whose spouse or children are citizens of a foreign country. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi maintains that the clause was written specifically to deny her the right to lead the country; many of her supporters agree. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) said last week that the party had prepared about 150 points or clauses that it would present as suggested amendments to the 2008 constitution. The NLD claims that their opinion polls show that 99 percent of 20,000 Rangoon voters interviewed said they favoured amending the constitution. Meanwhile, the NLD announced that Aung San Suu Kyi is preparing to visit Chin state next week.
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| Burma to repatriate workers from Borneo shipyard drama Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:24 AM PST Twenty-one of the 97 Burmese migrant workers who had locked themselves in a warehouse at a Borneo shipyard after being set upon by a rival gang of workers are due to be flown home this weekend. The 21 will be the first of several groups to be repatriated, according to Soe Win, the labour attaché at the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur, who said he engaged in two days of negotiations in order to guarantee the Burmese workers' safety. Soe Win told DVB that he had spoken to Malaysian authorities, the owner of the shipping firm, and representatives of the employment agency that originally sent the Burmese to Sabah-Sarawak to work at the Shin Yang Shipyard in the port of Miri. The Burmese labour attaché further said that the two Indonesian workers who allegedly instigated the mass brawl on 23 December have been charged by the Miri police after the shipping company filed a complaint. "Now we are preparing to send 21 workers home on 4- 5 January," said Soe Win. "We have already booked their air tickets." He said that nine Burmese workers have requested continuing working in Borneo because they need the money to support their families; however those workers will be transferred to a different shipyard owned by the same company. The other 67 workers [conflicting testimony says 68] are to be provided shelter and food rations by the company until they are all repatriated group by group. Related StoriesNaw Naw, one of the Burmese workers currently sheltering in Miri, said the process of repatriation was being hampered because the shipping firm was requesting compensation for the loss of labour it has suffered. "They are asking compensation from us," he said. "But we quit this job not because we don't want to work, but because our lives were in danger." Some 300,000 Burmese are officially working in Malaysia at the present time, with another 40,000 thought to be living and working there illegally.
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