Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Public Service Media Bill rejected by Interim Press Council

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:12 AM PDT

A draft Public Service Media Law, intended to separate current government sponsored media sources from their political roots, is being discussed in Parliament.

The bill was drafted with assistance from UNESCO and submitted to parliament by Minister of Information Aung Kyi on Monday. On Tuesday the bill was rejected by the Interim Press Council (IPC), which has opposed the legislation since it was submitted to the drafting committee last year.

While the details of the bill have not yet been released, it is designed to transform government mouthpieces New Light of Myanmar and MRTV into a Public Service Media, which would be funded by the government but monitored by independent press and broadcast councils.

In a statement during the initial stages of the drafting project, UNESCO said that the bill was intended to establish the "independent Press Council and a Broadcast Council" as well as ensure "no a priori censorship, the adherence to principles of freedom of expression and the right to information, and a framework for new online media."

Critics argue that the bill is too vague, and that authorities are being secretive about how it will be implemented. Many also worry that the allocation of state budget to the media will make it difficult for private newspapers to compete.

Myint Kyaw of the Myanmar Journalists Network said that while the government claims that the law is intended to ensure impartiality, newspapers and broadcasts that have always been tightly controlled by the government cannot be immediately accredited simply by redirecting their revenues.

"The Ministry says it is concerned over the impartiality of the private media. That is why they have to do the Public Service Media.," he said. "But for decades of doing propaganda, it is also very doubtful that the government media will be impartial".

While the IPC has publicly condemned the current legislation, the council cannot prevent the bill being passed by parliament. The IPC likewise had concerns over the recently passed Printing and Publishing Enterprise Law, which was drafted by the Ministry of Information and moved through parliament in tandem with the council's Media Law.

Media freedom advocates, as well as the IPC, have taken issue with several aspects of the government-drafted law, which will soon come into effect. UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, stressed in his final report on Monday that Burma has retained many limitations on press freedom, and urged the Burmese government to allow a more integral and influential role for the Press Council.

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Aung San Suu Kyi on the move to Mogok, Pyin Oo Lwin

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:05 AM PDT

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is still making the rounds to assess support for Constitutional reform, with plans for a third trip to Mogok in Sagaing Division.

Suu Kyi will depart from Naypyidaw on 22 March, and is set to deliver a public address at the Aung Nan football stadium in Mogok, according to Kyi Toe, an information officer for Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Upon departure on 23 March, Suu Kyi will again address the public in Kyat Pyin, just outside of Mogok, before moving on to Pyin Oo Lwin, where she will meet with several writers from Mandalay.

Kyi Toe said that during her appearance at the Irrawaddy Literature Festival in February, Suu Kyi was not able to meet with very many local writers, so she has extended a special invitation for discussions during the Mandalay leg of her tour.

Suu Kyi has spent much of the past year travelling all over Burma with a delegation of NLD members to gauge public support and raise general awareness about procedures for changing Burma's 2008 Constitution, which has been heavily criticised by several foreign governments over clauses that prevent the opposition leader's possible bid for presidency.

The controversial charter also has nearly insurmountable hurdles for amendment, requiring 75 percent parliamentary approval. Some articles, notably the one that prevents Suu Kyi from seeking the presidency, additionally require majority vote by referendum.

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Burmese Islamic group issues census directives

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 02:30 AM PDT

As ethnic groups across the country continue to air concerns as to how census figures will shape racial and religious classification in Burma, the All Myanmar Islam Association (MIA) has issued census directives to the country's Islamic population.

In a statement on Monday, the MIA urged Burmese Muslims to cite themselves as "Islamic" when it comes to the census question on religion, as opposed to answering "Muslim" for the question on ethnic nationality. The MIA has instructed people to identify under their own ethnic nationality, as opposed to under the umbrella of "Muslim". This would see people identify as both Islamic and their respective ethnicity.

The directives come despite government and UNFPA joint protocol for trained census enumerators to fill out the questionnaire on behalf of participants. As census enumerators undergo multiple days of training ahead of their task, the overseeing government Department of Immigration and Population (DoP) is strictly telling them not to allow people to fill out the forms themselves. That has also been made clear to the general public through census information releases.

On Monday the MIA expressed their confidence that the census would be taken in accordance with UN standards.

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An independent commission, International Technical Advisory Board (ITAB) assessed the technical capacity of the DoP, as well as their level of compliance with international standards in preparation for the census. In a February statement ITAB declared it was "greatly satisfied and comfortable with the level of preparedness" in regards to the DoP's conducting of the March 2014 headcount.

As census forms will be counted by computer, multiple-choice questions are represented by checking boxes corresponding to codes. The MIA stressed the importance for the stateless Rohingya to check the box corresponding to 914 — "other" ethnic nationality.

Despite multiple statements from the DoP that all ethnic groups not featured on the current list of the 135 official ethnic nationalities will have to identify under box 914 — "other", thousands of people turned out in 13 centres in Arakan State over the weekend to pressure the government not to include the term "Rohingya" among nationality options in the census.

Protest organisers objected to the possibility of the 2014 census paving the way for Rohingya to be included as an official nationality should the current list of 135 be reviewed.

Shan land requisitioned for military golf course

Posted: 19 Mar 2014 01:40 AM PDT

Villagers of Kholam in southern Shan State have been told they will lose access to farmland at some point between this year and 2015. The construction of a military golf course on lands occupied by the Shan villagers has already resulted in the displacement of farmers.

Kyaung Wanna, a villager from Wan Pyhee tract in Khloam township said more than 100 families are threatened by the golf course intended for high ranking military officers. Kyaung Wanna himself has already been expelled from his land.

"I lost all my 10 acres" Kyaung Wanna began. "It includes my farm, garden and paddy fields. I can't go to my farm. Soldiers are guarding the area. I have nowhere to work. Everybody is facing problems, all of in us the district," he said.

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Kyaung Wanna said that villagers in the area had been farming the land for the last 20 years. Now they are being told it belongs to the army. "It will be extremely difficult for the villagers to start from the beginning for a living again" he continued.

On 12 March, local authorities took villagers to the township administration office and asked them to sign declarations showing they understood they would be charged with trespassing should they return to the land once the army has claimed it and construction begins.

According to the Shan National Development Party (SNDP), the villagers refused to sign the declarations due to a lack of compensation for lost land. The villagers then sought SNDP advice.

Tun Lwin, chairman of the SNDP, told DVB that according to their interviews with villagers, 130 people have lost their share in a total of 80 acres seized. The SNDP submitted their information in a letter to the Chief Minister of Shan State on Monday.

Tun Lwin confirmed that among the now displaced villagers were people who had fled Narpwe in 1996, when the Burmese military first implemented the "four-cuts" strategy in Shan State. The strategy was designed to cut the food, information, communication and recruitment chains for ethnic armed rebel groups. The tactic was to scorch local villages.

Earlier this month the Shan Human Rights Foundation produced a document alleging locals had been tortured as villages were cleared out to be used as springboards for a Burmese army attack on a Shan State Army-North position.

ASEAN on the move

Posted: 18 Mar 2014 10:34 PM PDT

The ten nations that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) pledged to unite as a single regional market and production base in 2015.

The goal is to create a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor and the flow of capital.

Asia Calling, an Asia-wide television and radio programme, hosted a debate that brought together leaders from their fields across the region to discuss whether the union will benefit the people living in ASEAN.

On the panel was Danny Lee, the Director for Community Affairs Development at the ASEAN secretariat; Septania Kadir, the head of programmes at the ASEAN Foundation; migrant workers activist and the director of Tenaganita, Irene Fernandez; Debbie Stothard, the co-founder of Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma; and multi-media regional businessman and head of the committee for multimedia at KADIN – the Indonesia chamber of commerce and industry, Ardian Elkana.

DVB's executive director Aye Chan Naing was also involved in the discussion.

There are 600 million people in the ASEAN market and a combined GDP of US$2.4 trillion. Those who promote an ASEAN community say closer integration will increase job opportunities, improve market economies and create a sense of an ASEAN identity.

However, ideals of a people-orientated ASEAN are far from the reality for many people living and working in the region.

Fernandez, a migrant workers activist, said millions of migrant workers who move across the ASEAN countries to find work are among the most exploited people in the region.

"How can we claim to be people-oriented if we can't even provide or come to an understanding of basic labor rights, like a day off, or to recognise domestic workers' work? If we cannot come to understand that, a people-oriented ASEAN becomes a big question," she said.

Human rights abuses are ongoing throughout the region and for years the ASEAN governments refused to address the issue. Many people have stood up for human rights and have been persecuted for it.

"For many people in ASEAN, they saw ASEAN governments as not only oppressing their own citizens, but assisting other ASEAN governments to oppress their other citizens," said Stothard, from the Alternative ASEAN Network.

Stothard went on to say that it is important that people feel safe in their own countries and for many people, that isn't something they can enjoy.

"If you're a Muslim or Rohingya in Burma you're not safe. If you're an atheist in Indonesia, you are not safe. If you are a blogger in Vietnam, you are not safe. If you are a farmer in Cambodia, you are not safe. And if you're a refugee or an undocumented migrant, in any part of ASEAN, you are definitely not safe," she said.

However Lee, from the ASEAN secretariat, said there was progress in issues such as labour rights.

"Let's not forget that in a lot of our ASEAN members states people have the right to vote out their government if they are not happy with them. So in the end the people themselves will decide," he said.

But Stothard argued that fundamentally there was a huge gap in terms of political freedoms and standards of free and fair elections in many AEAN countries.

"This is not just about the political issue…there is also the fundamental problem of ASEAN economic integration in terms of the rules and regulations," she said.

Lee pointed out that an integrated ASEAN would mean more job opportunities for people.

"If I am a service company I will hire staff that can speak Bahasa, speak Tagalog, speak Thai and that's where the opportunities come in," he said. "Lower skilled labor anywhere in the world is always very challenging. It is challenging because it is not something that can be done overnight."

Stothard attacked governments, especially Burma, for spending so much of their national budget on the military and defense instead of investing in education.

"Last year the Burmese military received 57 percent more funding. This year they are receiving nearly 20 percent more funding," she said. "Why don't we spend it on education and training? Our whole region is rich enough to do that. There is no political will, that's the problem."

DVB's Aye Chan Naing said the ASEAN governments don't consult or represent their people when big decisions are made.

"Look at the EU (European Union), whenever they have a big decision, they have a referendum in their own country before the government decides to follow an EU rule. But we have the situation now where the decision is already made and there is really no consultation with the people," he said.

Aye Chan Naing went on to ask the panel whether they thought it was possible for governments to practice fair elections in their own country, whether they could consult the people on big issues, and respect their citizens' rights.

The panellists agreed that a unified ASEAN community wouldn't live up to an ideal dream – but a proactive approach by governments was needed to work through the problems.

"We need to be quite realistic and say let's get on with integration in the best way possible. We need commitment to rule of law…laws that benefit people, that are fair, that are consistent with human rights principles," said Stothard.

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