Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

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Democratic Voice of Burma

Football ref slapped in face by enraged club owner
Burma’s VP meets N Korean envoy in Naypyidaw
Literary repression violates basic rights: PEN
Karen NGO slams Japanese SEZ plan
Latpadaung locals air grievances to UN Rights Rapporteur
DVB Debate: Burma’s national identity
Not enough info about Salween dam, say Shans in eastern Burma

Football ref slapped in face by enraged club owner

Posted: 19 Feb 2014 03:59 AM PST

Zwegabin United Football Club owner Hla Htay may be prosecuted for assault after he slapped a referee in the face during a Burmese national league game last week.

The incident happened at the end of a tense match in Karen State between Zwegabin, who are based in state capital Hpa-an, and one of Burma's top teams, Mandalay heavyweights Yadanarbon FC.

The match finished 2-1 to the visitors courtesy of two penalty kicks awarded by referee Hla Min in the second half.

At the final whistle, distraught manager Hla Htay marched onto the pitch and – instead of shaking hands with the referee which is customary – slapped him across the face.

The following day, the Myanmar Football Federation's Referees Committee wrote up a letter of complaint to the federation's Disciplinary Committee, labelling the slap as an insult to not only Hla Min as an individual referee, but to the entire Referees Committee, and called for action to be taken against the Zwegabin club owner.

The Disciplinary Committee was expected to announce its decision on Wednesday.

The Referees Committee said that Hla Min, if unsatisfied with the Disciplinary Committee's decision, can press assault charges against Hla Htay.

"As for the Referees Committee, we cannot press charges against the club owner for what happened on the field, but the referee Hla Min, as an individual, can personally file a report to the police for physical assault," said Tun Hla Aung, director of the Referees Committee.

Zwegabin FC was leading match 1-0 at half time, but Yadanarbob turned the game around in the second half with two penalty strikes. Referee Hla Min defended his decisions in awarding the penalty kicks, saying they were correct calls. He said that the Zwegabin United owner should have made an official complaint if he thought the decisions were unfair.

"I decided to give the first penalty because the [Zwegabin FC] players were repeatedly fouling their opponents within the 18-yard box," said Hla Min. "Then once again they pulled back an opponent inside the box so I had no alternative but to blow for another penalty.

"If [Hla Htay] was unhappy with my decisions he should have followed official procedures. But to slap me in the face was out of order – it was also hurtful to my dignity."

He said he will wait for the Disciplinary Committee's decision to see whether it is necessary to press charges against the Zwegabin club owner.

Most media reports in Burma speculated Hla Htay may only receive a small fine. This was the first incident of its kind reported in Burmese football. However, in a well-publicised incident in 2012, popular actress Htet Htet Moe Oo, enraged by a reporter's question on why she had been married six times, slapped her in the face. She escaped with as 1,000 kyat (US$1) fine.

Burma’s VP meets N Korean envoy in Naypyidaw

Posted: 19 Feb 2014 03:44 AM PST

Vice-President Sai Mauk Kham met the North Korean ambassador to Burma Kim Sok Chol at the Presidential Palace in Naypyidaw on Wednesday. The meeting was focused on "mutual amity and development", according to state-run media outlet The New Light of Myanmar.

That sentiment comes as a contradiction to President Thein Sein's attempts to distance his government from Pyongyang since coming to power in 2011.

The issue of North Korea has been a sticking point amidst thawing relations between Burma and the US in particular, with Thein Sein predictably keen to play down any lingering ties.

Burma no longer exists as a pariah state, and much has changed since parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann visited the country in 2008. On that visit, an MoU was signed between the two outcast nations, promising Korean military aid for Burma as well as joint training exercises.

In 2010, a former military engineer turned whistle-blower, Sai Thein Win, leaked to DVB sensitive documents and photographs suggesting Burma was developing a nuclear weapons program. The documents indicated that North Korea was involved in the development of Burmese nuclear missiles, a revelation that shocked the US and other members of the international community.

Since then, the 2013 admission of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors into Burmese weapons sites has allayed nuclear tensions.

Thein Sein pledged that Burma would no longer purchase arms from North Korea in 2012 during a visit by the then South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, the first time a head of state from Seoul had visited the country since 1983.

In return, South Korea offered development-aid packages in a move that promised not only to shore up Burma's relationship with the South but with the US as well.

However the unwelcome spectre of North Korea has since revisited the Burmese-US relationship.

In 2013, The general director of the military-run firm Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Than Tun was cited by North Korean state news as saying that, "The US imperialists are now trying everything they can to lure Burma away from its alliance with North Korea. But the trade with North Korea is no doubt continuing."

Again in 2013, the US Treasury added three Burmese corporations and a military staff official to its Specially Designated Nationals List after finding evidence that Lt-Col Kyaw Nyunt Oo, Asia Metal Company Ltd, Soe Min Htike Co Ltd and Excellence Mineral Manufacturing Co Ltd had facilitated arms trading with Pyongyang.

US nationals are forbidden to do business with those who appear on the blacklist.

The motion may point to lingering military ties between Burma and North Korea, despite the US insisting that it was a case of private individuals and companies being punished, not the Burmese government.

Military analyst and Burma expert, Bertil Lintner, told DVB last year that it would be "absolutely impossible" for arms deals to be carried out without state authorisation. "[One] would have to answer to the commander-in-chief, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and President Thein Sein."

No details were released as to the matters that were discussed at Burma's presidential palace meeting on Wednesday.

Literary repression violates basic rights: PEN

Posted: 19 Feb 2014 02:16 AM PST

In response to the disruption of two literary events last week, PEN Myanmar, the newly established Burmese chapter of an international writer's rights alliance, has publicly condemned the Burmese authorities and religious extremists for harassment and restrictions on literary gatherings.

At two separate events last week, one in Rangoon and one in Mandalay, crowds of Buddhist monks threatened to physically remove speakers from the literature conferences on the basis that they were Muslims. In Mandalay, Buddhist writer Ma Thida, widely admired across Burma for her writing and her work as a surgeon and activist, was also targeted because of her affiliation with Muslims.

PEN said in a statement on Monday that prohibiting certain individuals from making scheduled public appearances was a clear violation of their basic right to freedom speech, granted by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enshrined in Article 354 of Burma's Constitution.

The statement called the episodes "alarming" and "authoritarian-like behaviour", denouncing the harassment by ordained religious leaders and the subsequent complacency of authorities.

"We have been seeing local authorities in some townships barring literature events, as well as members of certain communities objecting to and denying the rights of some individuals … this is damaging to the very principle of literary events, and to the freedoms of speech and expression which are among our goals," said Myo Myint Nyein, director of PEN Myanmar.

A literature talk, organised by the National League for Democracy (NLD) and meant to mark Burma's 67^th Union Day on 12 February in Rangoon, was pressured into last-minute cancellation when several truckloads of Buddhist monks arrived, demanding that two Muslim speakers – NLD lawyer Ko Ni and 88 Generation Peace and Open Society's Mya Aye – be removed from the event's roster. Some of the monks reportedly threatened that they would physically drag them off the stage if the event proceeded as planned.

On 15 February, another event in central Burma's Mandalay, also featuring Mya Aye, was hounded in a similar fashion by a group of local monks who were documented expounding views that the event was an insult to the Buddhist religion.

In January of this year, writer and former political prison Ma Thida, a known Buddhist, was prevented from speaking at an event in Paungde, Pegu Division, on the grounds that she used to volunteer in a Muslim hospital, one widely known among Burma's democracy activists for its charity and hospitality towards dissidents during the years of oppressive military rule.

"Harassing such events is damaging to the public – it doesn't stop the writer from doing what they do – writing – but prevents the public from gaining knowledge from the writers they admire," said Myo Myint Nyein.

Coinciding with PEN's reproach, the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society has made a similar move. In an open letter dated 19 February, the group declared that the right to speak and write freely is "an essential right for every citizen, which for many years the people had strived for, and thus signifies a strong culture in the country," chiding the prohibition of literary gatherings as "acts against democracy."

Karen NGO slams Japanese SEZ plan

Posted: 19 Feb 2014 02:09 AM PST

A report by Japanese foreign development agency, the Japan International Cooperation Association (JICA), into regional development in southeast Burma, has come under heavy criticism from the Karen Environmental & Social Action Network (KESAN), a prominent NGO based in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

Dated October 2013, the 593-page "Preparatory Survey for the Integrated Regional Development for Ethnic Minorities in the South-East Myanmar" report by JICA makes recommendations as to the creation of further Special Economic Zones (SEZs) across southeast Burma, designed to link the Dawei deep-sea port project, already housed within a planned SEZ on the coast of Tenasserim division, to Rangoon via "clusters" of deregulated infrastructure hubs.

Central to this project, JICA says, is the integration of displaced minority groups into the SEZs, which have been proposed across Burma in order to stimulate growth via the localised deregulation of industry and tax incentives for businesses.

KESAN alleged in a statement on Wednesday that the local communities have in fact been frozen out of the economic fact-finding process and now risk exploitation as foreign businesses are encouraged to take advantage of the low wages on offer at the SEZs.

A contrast in earning potential between Burma and Thailand is noted by the JICA as a crucial element of the development of Mon and Karen states.

JICA proposes that the Burmese government take advantage of a recent minimum wage increase in Thailand, in order to attract labour-intensive jobs across the border. JICA estimates that 200,000 jobs could be created in the Burmese towns of Myawaddy and Hpa-an, to be filled by resettling IDPs and refugees returning home across the border from refugee camps and the area surrounding the Thai town of Mae Sot.

In its 19 February statement, KESAN noted a lack of focus on the potential vulnerabilities of under-represented groups, particularly women. Other rights issues were also raised, including the "increasing epidemic of farm land confiscation to make way for the new roads and special economic zones".

KESAN said it believes that these issues stem from a lack of understanding as to the inadequate level of ethnic or local representation in current government structures – structures KESAN suggests are mired in "administrative, financial and political inadequacy".

The JICA proposal focuses heavily on engagement with the Burmese central government. A "Grand Plan" established under the former military junta provides the crux of Burma's centralised long-term development strategy.

The JICA report states that "the existing 'Grand Plan' for long-term development of Myanmar [Burma] provides a basic reference in planning for the regional development of Southeast Myanmar."

The 'Grand Plan' instructs regional governments, such as those of Karen, officially known as Kayin, and Mon States, to develop their own five-year plans. The Karen NGO suggests that these plans fail to "build on existing local capacity and agency, particularly in terms of self-reliance and sustainable management of resources."

The JICA report itself notes that, "Since [the Grand Plan] was prepared during the previous administration, some modifications may be necessary to reflect the liberalization and democratization policies of the new administration."

And that: "The Union Government of Myanmar is promoting localization of development administration, but how to realise it is not necessarily clear yet."

The notion of further centrally designed SEZs amidst rural ethnic populations may indeed be worrying for rights activists. The Dawei deep-sea port project, which falls in the territory of a proposed SEZ, has been at the root of land-grab claims and health complaints on the part of local residents.

Latpadaung locals air grievances to UN Rights Rapporteur

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 10:39 PM PST

United Nations' Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, arrived in Monywa, Sagaing Division, on Monday to meet with villagers living near the controversial Latpadaung Copper Mine.

The area has seen several rounds of protest over the China-backed mining project, several of which turned violent and resulted in an investigation led by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. While the investigation concluded that the project was fit to continue, locals have maintained opposition to the development on the grounds that they are losing their lands and suffering mistreatment at the hands of project operators.

Wet Hmey villager Thwe Thwe Win, well known across Burma as an anti-mine activist, was among invitees to the high-profile meeting, held in Monywa's Winyu Nadi Hotel.

"Locals at the meeting informed Quintana of human rights violations committed by the Wanbao Mining Company and the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings – our children didn't get to study in 2011 and the village monastery was shut down and demolished late that year," she said.

"Moreover, the [project operators] have been abusing their authority and laying fences upon our farmland without negotiating with us."

Thwe Thwe Win said she showed the UN official a photo she took with Aung San Suu Kyi, chairperson of the Latpadaung Investigation Commission, when she came to town last year. She said that he expressed belief that Suu Kyi will not neglect the villagers.

Locals said the conference lasted about 30 minutes. Quintana also met with Sagaing Division government officials before heading back to Naypyidaw to conclude his ninth and final visit to Burma as Special Rapporteur.

Earlier on his tour, Quintana made stops in Arakan State, Kachin State and the Thilawa Special Economic Zone in Rangoon.

The Rapporteur is expected to publish his report on the human rights situation in Burma on 17 March.

DVB Debate: Burma’s national identity

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 07:30 PM PST

On the 12 February Burma celebrated Union day, one of its biggest national holidays. However, for many people in the country, unity still seems far from reality. Civil war continues in Burma's border regions and many ethnic political and armed groups are still calling for more independence from central government.

On DVB Debate’s panel this week: Dr. Banya Aung Moe, from the All Mon Regions Democracy Party; Ying Harn Fah from Shan Women's Action Network; Than Than Nu, Secretary General of the Democratic Party (Myanmar); and writer Naing Oo.

Panellists discussed whether an ethnically diverse country like Burma can really have one unified national identity. Academic Naing Oo, who has written extensively on the subject of national identity says that the notion of identity has changed to adapt to modern times.

"Identities are gradually being eroded because of globalisation and modernity," he said. "If we hold onto only one identity, we will lose it".

Ying Harn Fah agrees that trying to create a single identity in a diverse country like Burma would be difficult.

"The identity of all our ethnic groups should be promoted and then a new national identity should be formed," she said.

Cartoon: DVB Debate

Mon leader Banyar Aung Moe said that until ethnic groups have equal rights it will be difficult for many to feel truly part of the nation.

"Give the ethnic s full rights. Implement federalism. And persuade to promote the spirit of union," he said.

The Burmese government lists 135 official distinct ethnic groups in the country. However, there are several other unrecognised major ethnicities in the country, including Burmese Indians, Burmese Chinese, and Rohingya.

Community leaders say that in order to find a national identity all those who live in Burma must accept it.

"If we are talking about the national identity it must be an identity which is accepted by all the ethnics and all the citizens of the country," said 88 Generation Peace and Open Society leader Ko Ko Kyi.

Both the names Burma and Myanmar derive from the majority Burmese ethnic group- which accounted for 69 percent of the population at the last census. The former military government have been accused of a campaign of so called "Burmanisation"–an attempt to destroy the language and culture of ethnic minorities in the country.

“For the ethnic people, our identities have been wiped out for so many years,” said Ying Harn Fah, insisting that the Burmese government systematically attempted to destroy the Shan culture.

“In our Shan state, we are arrested if we want to learn Shan literature. We have to learn Shan literature secretly”, she said.

However, Daw Than Than Nu disagrees, saying that all people in the country suffered under the military.

“The suppression of the military did not just affect the ethnic groups,” she said. “The majority in the military is Burman, so what happened was people thought the Burmese are no good, and the Burman suppress and restrict ethnic minorities. But actually,  Burman were also being suppressed”.

But ethnic minorities in the audience said they did not feel represented by the Burmese-dominated national celebrations and symbols and felt they continued to be treated unequally.

Kayan youth Khun Bernard said he does not feel part of Burma on Union day. “In our spirit, there is only one day we feel is a true national day in Burma. It’s Martyrs day”.

Zomi leader Pu Cin Suan Mang said that even non-citizens have more rights than some ethnic groups. “We want to celebrate our national day, but we have to ask permission. But non-citizen Chinese don’t need any permission. So, this is suppression,” he said.

Decades of civil war and persecution in ethnic areas have forced thousands to flee over the border to Thailand where they settle in refugee camps or become migrant workers. Panellists raised concerns about how people like this can be part of the national identity.

“Those people don’t have ID cards and family registration cards; they have no homes. Now, they are living in a foreign country, and they don’t have any documents. They are stateless,” said Ying Harn Fah.

With such a complicated mixture of different groups most people agreed that for Burma, national identity should mean celebrating diversity. But until all ethnicities are given equal rights it may be difficult for some ethnic groups to truly identify themselves as part of a united nation.

You can join the debate and watch the full programme in Burmese at dvbdebate.com

Or share your views with us by commenting on our website at dvb.no

Not enough info about Salween dam, say Shans in eastern Burma

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 07:25 PM PST

Farmers from more than 60 villages in Kunlong township, northern Shan State, didn't know what to expect when Asia World Group began bringing "big trucks" into the area in 2012. They soon deduced that one of six mega-dams slated for Burma's Salween river was being built to usher 1,200 megawatts of energy to neighbouring China.

The Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF), an advocacy group representing the ethnic minority, has called for the immediate suspension of the project, which they say has led to massive uncompensated land seizures, human rights abuse and military occupation.

"We would like the government to immediately stop this kind of big project and listen to the local people's voices," said Sai Hor Hseng, spokesperson for SHRF, speaking to DVB by phone.

Last week SHRF published the findings of field research conducted between April and December 2013 in a report documenting the effects of the Kunlong hydropower project in dozens of villages, some located downstream from the dam site, and some in the way of a 100 km highway connecting northern Shan State to China via the border town of Chin Shwe Haw.

Villagers told SHRF that a 50-ft wide stretch of land was confiscated reaching from Hsenwi to Chin Shwe Haw; farms, shops and homes, they say, are being indiscriminately removed.

"Since they built the road, our house shakes when the big trucks pass by," said one villager cited in the publication, who went on to explain that during construction, dirt was dumped en masse by the roadside. When it rains, the villager said, the dirt gets swept into farmlands and waterways, leaving them "destroyed".

SHRF observed some of the damages along the highway route, but could not swing a visit to the dam site just upstream from Kunlong town. Sai Hor Hseng explained that, "We tried to go to the dams, but, unfortunately, the fighting occurred and we could not enter."

Kunlong, near the northern edge of Burma's eastern Shan State, sits at the convergence of Shan, Kokang and Wa administrative boundaries, and is home to a variety of ethnic militias that — despite the nation's progress towards signing a nationwide ceasefire — are still engaged in combat with the Burmese armed forces, according to local reporters and aid workers.

In December 2013, local police verified that a bomb blew up a bulldozer and killed three people in Kunlong along the Hsenwi-Chin Shwe Haw highway, though the act has not yet been attributed to any individual or army.

SHRF contends that conflicts are made worse by the erection of new military structures and the installation of additional troops in the area for project security, a familiar accusation by locals near several of Burma's biggest development projects. In this particular region, the SHRF report said, not only does the presence of Burma Army soldiers cause extreme anxiety among ethnic villagers, but soldiers are still "seizing lands" to build new bases.

"They hold guns," one villager told SHRF. "They can do anything they like."

Upon contacting Burma's Ministry of Defence on Monday, DVB was informed that the ministry's Principal Officer was unauthorised to comment on whether more troops had been deployed to the area over the past two years, nor did he have the authority to respond to claims that lands had been seized or destroyed.

"They hold guns," one villager told SHRF. "They can do anything they like."

The Salween River is one of the longest free-flowing rivers in the world — stretching about 2,800 km from Tibet to the Andaman Sea — and is thought to support the livelihoods of nearly ten million people. The Kunlong dam is among the largest of six hydro projects planned for the Salween within Burma alone. Further upstream, an additional 13 dams are set to be built in China.

In 2010 the Burmese government and China's Hanergy Holdings Group, a private corporation based in Beijing, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of the Kunlong dam. A public partnership announcement, found on the company's website, said that it was "the largest project to date for the Myanmar [Burma] government with a Chinese private company." Hanergy's spokesperson, currently out of office, has yet to respond to SHRF's allegations or media inquiries.

SHRF reported that Hanergy contracted Burmese firm Asia World Group to construct the 100 km highway and other related infrastructure. The group expects that the project will be complete and operational by 2018, though neither firm has responded to DVB‘s requests for confirmation.

According to environmental group Salween Watch, an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) has been conducted but was never made public, adding that "Construction has started in secrecy". Little information about the Salween dams exists in the public realm, and Asia World representatives have thus far been unresponsive to press inquiries and allegations made by rights groups.

This dearth of information, said Sai Hor Hseng, is really at the heart of the matter. "The project lacks transparency. We don't have any contact with them," he said. DVB asked him whether either Asia World or Hanergy have responded to SHRF's claims that locals are being abused and displaced, which the group has been saying for years.

"No, not yet. We haven't heard anything yet," he said.

AllSBNews

Wednesday, February 19, 2014