Saturday, May 3, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

On World Press Freedom Day, how free is the Burmese media?

Posted: 03 May 2014 12:15 AM PDT

UNESCO has proclaimed 3 May as World Press Freedom Day as a "reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom”. Yet the Burmese media landscape is blighted by the existence of six imprisoned media workers while the Ministry of Information (MoI) appears driven by an agenda seemingly at odds with a revitalised Burmese media community.

That's not to say there hasn't been any progress since the Thein Sein administration took office in March 2011.

US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel last week visited Naypyidaw where, according to a US Embassy statement, he affirmed that "the [Burmese] political space has opened significantly in the last three years, and the government has taken important steps to cultivate an environment conducive to free, fair and independent media, a critical element of a vibrant democracy."

Such steps have resulted in the eradication of prepublication censorship laws and a new willingness on the part of the Burmese government to work with independent media associations. Dialogue with the Myanmar Journalist's Association (MJA), Myanmar Journalist Network and Myanmar Journalists Union, through the 2012- established Interim Press Council (IPC), has contributed to Burma's ranking on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index jumping seven places in the last year alone. Burma now sits at 145th overall, ahead of five of its ASEAN counterparts, including Malaysia (147th) The Philippines (149th) and Singapore (150th). Under military rule, Burma had consistently been ranked the third most difficult country in the world to be a journalist.

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Yet “while press freedom conditions in Burma have generally improved, there are elements in government, including the Ministry of Information, that are uncomfortable with the more open reporting environment and are trying to reassert control over the press,” said Shawn Crispin, Southeast Asia representative to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Yae Khe, a reporter recently arrested in Prome, central Burma, has experienced this first hand.

"The government is still trying to block information to the public," said the journalist from Mizzima, one of a number of "exile media" organisations that have recently opened offices in Burma. That return was made possible by 2011 presidential edicts that relaxed prepublication censorship rules and lead to the establishment of the IPC.

"But it goes further than blocking information," Yae Khe said. "Media suppression is one element of a broader inability for the public to express themselves. The government is not only uninterested in the public will, but they are still going to great lengths to silence people."

Yae Khe was arrested on 26 April as the organiser of an unauthorised rally in Prome, officially known as Pyay. He now faces the prospect of three months in prison or a 30,000 kyat (US$30) fine, or both. On that occasion, over 100 demonstrators gathered to protest the jailing of DVB video journalist Zaw Pe, who last month was sentenced to serve one year in Thayet Prison, Magwe, for the crimes of "trespassing" and "disturbing a civil servant on duty" as he attempted to interview an education department official on the subject of a Japanese-funded scholarship program.

On top of this, six staffers from the local media journal Unity Weekly are currently imprisoned and face the charge of "exposing state secrets". The six could be sentenced to 14 years in prison after the cover story of the 24 January edition of Unity Weekly alleged the existence of a "secret chemical weapons facility" in central Burma.

"The authorities in Myanmar [Burma] must respect and protect the right to freedom of expression," Amnesty International said in a press release ahead of World Press Freedom Day, which highlighted the cases of Zaw Pe, Yae Khe and the Unity journalists. That right "is enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This includes the right to 'receive and impart information and ideas through any media' – journalists and other media workers must be able to carry out legitimate journalistic activities including sensitive investigations without fear of reprisal or arrest," Amnesty International insisted.

"Media suppression is one element of a broader inability for the public to express themselves. The government is not only uninterested in the public will, but they are still going to great lengths to silence people."

The IPC was instrumental in the drafting of a new media law, initially intended to remove impediments to reporting such as that encountered by Zaw Pe. The Media Law, passed in March, outlines journalistic codes of conduct and importantly guarantees press access to government information. The passing of the law also rescinded the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act, which carried heavy prison sentences for vague crimes such as "disrespecting the state."

However Thiha Saw, the MJA's representative to the IPC, believes that laws otherwise unrelated to the press are now being used to silence journalists.

"The authorities are trying to use other existing laws, for example civil laws and criminal codes – additional to the established media and publishing laws – to punish or deter journalists from doing their work.

"The [law] they use most often is defamation, against a person, or perhaps an office. We're also seeing authorities increasingly using the charge of trespassing for this same purpose."

Speaking to DVB shortly after Zaw Pe's sentencing, David Mathieson, Human Rights Watch's senior Burma researcher, suggested that the incident is an example of the Burmese government "pulling out military-era provisions to intimidate the media".

He added: "The national-level parliament is failing to repeal these petty provisions utilized by capricious local officials and is instead drafting laws that will intimidate the press and curtail their ability to investigate corruption and malfeasance."

Those intimidatory clauses are housed in the Printers and Publishers Registration Law, passed by parliament alongside the Media Law in March. The law was drafted in secret by the MoI and contains, what HRW's Mathieson calls, "vaguely worded and generalised provisions that give substantial leeway for authorities to intimidate editors and owners of newspapers through the threat of legal action."

The Printers and Publishers Registration Law enables the MoI to declare publications illegal should they broadly "incite unrest", "insult religion" or "violate the Constitution". What the secretive drafting of the law by the MoI has also seen is the further tarnishing of the relationship between the government and the IPC.

"We totally object to the Ministry's law," Thiha Saw told DVB on Friday. "We know the trick, it is about the centralised control of licensing and registration, the same way the 1962 act was. The MoI are still able to revoke licenses at any moment. We're worried that they'll come up with some sort of licensing restrictions."

Despite the restrictive environment, the streets of Rangoon are now dotted with newspaper stands selling a range of daily and weekly journals, including conspicuous publications such as the Irrawaddy, which is often critical of the government, as well as magazines with titles such as Democracy Journal. Yet financial pressure is already forcing some papers off the stands. Last month, well-respected English-language journal Myanma Freedom Daily was forced to go on a temporary hiatus, due to a financial shortfall.

Zaw Thet Htwe is a member of the IPC and a former political prisoner. In 2004, a military court sentenced him to death after he filed reports critical of the military. He was released in a presidential amnesty in 2012. According to the respected media advocate, diversity in the media landscape is crucial ahead of the 2015 elections.

"We may face further oppression in the lead-up to 2015, as a multiplicity of media laws, some yet to be passed, make it a more rigid and difficult place for journalists to operate," Zaw Thet Htwe said shortly after appearing as a panelist on Friday's DVB Debate on press freedom.

"We at the Press Council want to focus on ethnic media in particular," he said, adding that a diverse media community will make Burmese press freedom stronger.

 

New Karen party to register in Irrawaddy delta

Posted: 02 May 2014 11:28 PM PDT

A new party aimed at representing ethnic Karens in the Irrawaddy Delta has been formed. The Karen National Party (KNP) announced last week its intention to register with the Union Election Commission at the end of this month and to contest the 2015 general elections.

"Our primary aim is to reflect the voices of Karen nationals," said president of the new party, Mahn Thein Shwe. "Our next objective is to participate in the building of a federal democratic country."

He said that 15 members had been elected to the central committee and that a party flag and seal had been chosen for the KNP.

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Meanwhile, a Karen National Union (KNU) delegation led by Vice-Chairperson Naw Zipporah Sein has been making a public tour of the Irrawaddy region.

The delegation met with more than 100 delta Karens including religious leaders in Pantanaw Township where they held a meeting to explain the KNU's position on the current peace process and negotiations with the Burmese government, said a Pantanaw source.

The Irrawaddy Delta has an estimated population of about 3.5 million, about half of whom are ethnic Karens.

Winds destroy 100 IDP homes in southern Shan State

Posted: 02 May 2014 11:04 PM PDT

Strong winds destroyed about 100 houses belonging to resettled villagers in the Pinlaung area of southern Shan State, about 100km northeast of Burma's capital Naypyidaw.

Strong winds struck twice, on 27 and 29 April, destroying 65 and 33 houses respectively in the village of Leinli.

The villagers had been relocated to Leinli six months ago due to the construction of the Upper Paunglaung Dam project.

Most of the houses were made with bamboo walls and corrugated iron roofs, said community leader Sein Htun. "It’s a new village. These people were moved there as their previous village was to be flooded by the dam construction."

He said many of the roofs were torn from the houses and about 20 homes were blown down completely.

Soldiers from a local military training school were on hand to help retrieve housing materials and repair the damage, he said. About 60 people were taking refuge with relatives or friends. Meanwhile, community leaders are seeking donations for the affected villagers, the majority of whom are farmers, said Sein Htun.

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Suu Kyi, 88 Gen leaders join for Constitution rally

Posted: 02 May 2014 10:31 PM PDT

Aung San Suu Kyi will team up with leaders of the 88 Generation Students group at rallies in Rangoon and Mandalay as part of a long-standing bid to amend Burma's 2008 Constitution.

According to 88 Generation spokesperson Ko Jimmy, the public events were agreed at a meeting last month between opposition leader Suu Kyi and 88 Generation members Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi.

"Together, they will address the public about constitutional reform in Rangoon on 17 May and in Mandalay on 18 May," he said, adding that details of the events will be released on Monday.

He told DVB that the main focus of the rallies would be to grow support for amending Article 436, which states that for a bill to pass it has to have the approval of 75 percent of parliament. However, as the army holds 25 percent of seats in both houses, it has the power to veto any motion that is not in their interests.

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National League for Democracy (NLD) party chairperson Suu Kyi has conducted a nationwide campaign aimed at garnering support for her proposal to amend certain points of the Constitution, notably Article 436, but also Article 59(f) which effectively bars her from becoming president because her husband and children have held foreign citizenship and she does not have military experience.

Speaking on the topic of the military veto in Mogok in Mandalay Division on 23 March, the NLD leader said the army should be proud to be as one with the public, instead of isolated.

"If the Tatmadaw [Burmese armed forces] is not of the same blood as the people and stands separately, it is not good for the Tatmadaw or for our country," she said. "That is why I say that we all should try to amend the constitution that isolates the standing of army."

Suu Kyi went on to say that amending the Constitution would bring stability to the country, but any reform would have to happen gradually.

Last month, the Burmese pro-democracy icon visited Germany and France, her third visit to Europe since 2012, where she canvassed international support for her agenda of constitutional change in Burma.

Standing alongside French President François Hollande, Suu Kyi called on France and the EU to help Burma to "move forward in a process that will ensure democratic values and democratic rights."

She reminded the international audience that "Burma is not yet a democracy", a process, she affirmed, that involves national reconciliation and a curtailing of military influence in politics, both to be achieved via constitutional reform.

Sagaing farmers say insect infestation stipends were misappropriated

Posted: 02 May 2014 08:31 PM PDT

Farmers in Ayadaw, Sagaing Division, said that authorities have unfairly disbursed agricultural stipends after insects ravaged the paddies of around 160 people.

They claim the Department of Agriculture pledged to pay farmers 46,500 kyat (US$46.50) for each acre destroyed in Nayarkhin village, though locals have reported that only those who are close with officials have received payments.

The Ayadaw representative of the National League for Democracy, Khin Maung Thin, met with farmers after they appealed to him for assistance.

Speaking to the press, Khin Maung Thin said, "It is evident that the officials are biased in distributing the stipend and not following regulations. They handed out large sums of money to those who are close to them — even though they only had a few acres damaged by bugs — while giving only a little to those who suffered more damage."

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A local farmer who did not receive compensation told DVB: "About 150 to 160 farmers were affected, but 123 of us didn't get the stipend." He added that those who were compensated received much less than they were allocated. He also said that those who did not receive the stipend were warned not to complain.

The Agriculture Development Bank, tasked with providing the stipend, deflected the accusations. Tin Sein, the bank's manager, told DVB that they had a list of damages and dispensed the funds to local authorities accordingly.

"Distribution was carried out by local officials, who personally handed out the money in the villages," he said.

Ayadaw's agriculture administrator, Ba Htay, said the government only supplied funds for some 569 acres of the paddy fields – much less than the area affected by the infestation – and so some farmers had to be prioritised over others.

Those whose crops were damaged by the insects are now worried that they will be unable to repay the season's agricultural loans without the stipend.

In pictures: Kachin IDPs seek shelter in China

Posted: 02 May 2014 08:04 PM PDT

Hka Hkye Zup refugee camp, the makeshift home of more than 1,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), is located along the Burma-China border in Kachin State's Mansi Township.

Renewed combat between the Burmese army and the Kachin Independence Army in early April has forced many of the IDPs to flee once again, this time seeking sanctuary in neighbouring China.

Across a narrow creek that serves as a border, Lung Kawk, China, is now accommodating about 109 ethnic IDPs. While the displaced still do not feel safe enough to return, they face a severe shortage of supplies like clean water, food and shelter.

While Chinese authorities have tolerated the settlement of IDPs, they are not granting access to humanitarian aid agencies delivering what could be life-saving aid.

These photos were taken from the Chinese side of the border, illustrating just how close the settlements are to each other, while still so critically disconnected.

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