Democratic Voice of Burma

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• Sedition charge brought against former religious affairs minister
• Burma’s businesses still lack transparency: MCRB
• Bullet Points: 23 July 2014
• Kachin family of 5 killed in landslide at IDP camp
• Ne Win’s grandson to buy into AGD Bank
• Crossing language barriers
• Wolfowitz received $75,000 for Burma work from anti-Beijing tycoon: leaks
• Bi-Midday Sun staffers on trial in Rangoon
• Heavy rain, flooding predicted for coastal areas

Sedition charge brought against former religious affairs minister Posted: 23 Jul 2014 05:46 AM PDT The government levied an additional charge of sedition on Tuesday against Hsan Hsint, the deposed religious affairs minister, who currently faces a host of allegations, including the misuse of state funds. Appearing at Dakhina Thiri district court in Naypyidaw on Tuesday, the one-time speaker of Irrawaddy Division parliament heard that prosecutors had added the charge under Article 124(a) of Burma's Penal Code, which carries a prison sentence of up to three years. Hsan Hsint had previously faced allegations of embezzling state funds, and had been charged with criminal breach of trust and abetting another individual to commit the same offence. The latter charge was dropped as the sedition charge was added. Outlined in Burma's penal code, the sedition charge is described as the crime of "excit[ing] disaffection towards the Government". These charges come after Hsan Hsint was arrested on 19 June, stripped of his position, and accused of mishandling the Mahasantisukha monastery raid. On 10 June, police and the State Sangha Maha Nayaka raided the Rangoon monastery and detained five monks, including prominent Buddhist leader Uttara, over a longstanding land dispute. The monks were subsequently defrocked and charged for insulting religion and inciting mutiny, a move widely denounced by the Burmese public and religious leaders. Allegations later emerged that Hsan Hsint had misused up to US$10,000 in state funds. Reporters were banned from court on Tuesday, a move that observers say indicates a lack of transparency by the government. Khin Maung Win, of Irrawaddy Division parliament, confirmed that media access was restricted. Related Stories Bullet Points: 22 July 2014 Sacked religious affairs minister swears he is innocent Bullet Points "There is no transparency, he said. "They are restricting access— this is not natural." Earlier this month, over 200 supporters turned out in the town of Pathien to protest against the trial. Hsan Hsint remains a popular figure in the delta region, where he was perceived as competent and honest in his leading parliamentary role

Burma’s businesses still lack transparency: MCRB Posted: 23 Jul 2014 05:44 AM PDT Probing Burma's largest businesses on their commitment to transparency, the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) has found that the majority of domestic firms are unwilling or unable to disclose information on their own human rights standards. In a report released on Tuesday, MCRB scored and ranked sixty firms by their online presence, which the centre insists is a defining element in a business' commitment to overall transparency. The report focused on firm's willingness to divulge information pertaining to anti-corruption initiatives and human rights, safety and environmental protection policy and records. MCRB found that on the whole, companies fared poorly in the human rights category. According to the report, even the top two overall ranked firms, Kanbawza Bank and Parami, a natural resources conglomerate, failed to provide detailed information on rights records. The 2015 opening of the Burmese stock exchange should be the crowning moment for a rapidly modernising business community. However, as the government reviews outmoded laws — such as the 1913 Companies Act — and encourages the development of Burmese businesses, serious procedural concerns remain over large-scale domestic enterprises. The report highlighted the general failure of firms to publicise any information in regards to land acquisition, resettlement and compensation plans. In fact, only the third overall ranked firm, Max Myanmar, was willing or able to disclose details of compensation payments made to displaced landholders. “…even if [businesses] talk the talk, do they walk the walk?” — Vicky Bowman Max Myanmar, a conglomerate owned by military "crony" Zaw Zaw, has been previously implicated in forced relocations in Rangoon's Dagon Seikkan Township. Max Myanmar is also a chief investor in the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, a combined highway and waterway project that will traverse Arakan and Chin states into India. A rights group called Kaladan Movement said that the 134 million dollar project "has been implemented without an adequate community consultation process, and with no efforts made to achieve the free, prior, informed consent of affected communities." "I think it's important not to refer to them [MCRB's highest ranked firms] as the top ethical companies. These are the most transparent companies," MCRB director Vicky Bowman told DVB. "What we haven't been able to do through the survey is check that even if they talk the talk, do they walk the walk," said Bowman, a former British ambassador to Burma. "However, the assumption is that if they are being transparent about the issues, then they are more likely to be practicing them on the ground." Only 13 of 60 Burmese companies surveyed showed improvement over similar assessments last year. Furthermore, MCRB considers 25 of those surveyed to be "not at all transparent", as they have no web presence. That list includes Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings, a military-owned firm that holds joint ownership of the controversial Latpadaung copper mine. Related Stories Ne Win's grandson to buy into AGD Bank Bullet Points: 22 July 2014 Bullet Points Such a poor level of accessible information remains of significant concern to international investors, particularly those based in countries such as the United States, which retains some  barriers for American businesses engaging in Burma. MCRB's report makes mention of the US Reporting Requirements for American firms investing in Burma. That document insists that a lack of information made publicly available by Burmese companies has led to foreign investment contributing to "corruption and the misuse of public funds" and "the erosion of public trust and social unrest… which has lead to further rights abuses and repression by the government and military." Dr Aung Thura, of Burma-based consultancy firm Thura Swiss, stressed that domestic businesses will need to conform to international best practices to attract foreign partners. "I think more and more companies that need to raise capital from foreign partners understand that they can't do it without being transparent," he said. "We're now seeing some companies who are very willing to display their accounts, for example, to investors. We're seeing this more and more from local companies." He added that companies do remain reluctant to provide detailed information beyond immediate commercial dealings. For Bowman and the MCRB, transparency must extend further than the business community. "We want to offer these companies a chance to interact with civil society organisations in particular," she said. "We want not to just be about company transparency and accountability, it has to be about how all of society works with companies to make them more responsible."

Bullet Points: 23 July 2014 Posted: 23 Jul 2014 05:14 AM PDT On today’s edition of Bullet Points: The speaker of Burma’s union parliament, Shwe Mann, has called on the government to take a more considered approach when dealing with the press. Five refugees from the Je Yang IDP camp were killed in a landslide on Tuesday, as heavy rain continues to lash Kachin State. More than 100 experts from Burma are attending the International AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne. Leaked documents reveal that Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai Chee-Ying paid US$75,000 to US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz for work in Burma. Some 200 education representatives from ethnic regions met in Rangoon on Monday to begin drafting an ethnic language curriculum.   You can watch Bullet Points live on DVB TV after the 7 o’clock news.    Correction: DVB would like to correct an inaccuracy. In the video piece our reporter says Shwe Mann is speaker of parliament’s lower house, when in fact he is speaker of the union parliament.       Related Stories Kachin family of 5 killed in landslide at IDP camp Wolfowitz received $75,000 for Burma work from anti-Beijing tycoon: leaks Bullet Points: 22 July 2014

Kachin family of 5 killed in landslide at IDP camp Posted: 23 Jul 2014 04:57 AM PDT A family of five, including three children, were killed in a landslide triggered by a flood after several days of heavy rain in Kachin State. Doi Pyi Sa, head of the Refugee Relief Committee for the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), said the family were internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the Je Yang displacement camp, and that their house was buried under debris when an overhanging hillside gave way and crashed down upon them on Tuesday morning. "The family was killed in the incident when a landslide hit their house at 6:40am," he said. "Two bodies were found buried under two feet of earth. It took about another three hours to recover the other bodies. The incident took place while the children were getting ready to go to school – they were having breakfast." The funeral for the family – three boys aged four, 13 and 15, their mother and 70-year-old grandmother – was held later that day. The camp officials, citing fears of further disasters while heavy rains continue, relocated the rest of the IDPs into the camp's main building. Related Stories Bullet Points: 23 July 2014 Bullet Points Tragedy in Mrauk-U as two family members killed in landslide Doi Pyi Sa said the road connecting Je Yang and Lajayang displacement camps was also buried under mud, effectively disrupting transportation between the two camps, which are situated near the Sino-Burmese border. Je Yang IDP camp is home to some 8,000 refugees forced out of their villages due to fighting between the KIO and Burmese government forces. Some have been at the camp for three years. Burma's state-run Myanma Ahlin also reported that the road connecting Myitkyina and Bhamo has been cut by a landslide that took place between Dawhpumyang, about 10 miles from Je Yang, and Lajayang. Meanwhile, flooding from the Ruili River, at the Sino-Burmese border town of Muse, has inundated residential areas and farmland on both sides of the border. A local villager said the cross-border route from Muse to Ruili and areas around nearby Namhkam have been submerged by floods, hampering transportation and daily life for the local population.

Ne Win’s grandson to buy into AGD Bank Posted: 23 Jul 2014 04:53 AM PDT The grandson of late Burmese dictator Ne Win revealed on Tuesday that he plans to purchase the majority of shares of Asian Green Development Bank (AGD Bank), which is owned by Tay Za, a well-known tycoon with links to Burma's former military junta. Kyaw Ne Win, the oldest grandson of the former president, told DVB that he has bought up 60 percent of the AGD Bank's shares, and plans to purchase more – up to 85 percent. His purchase of AGD Bank shares comes as the bank is looking to list on the Rangoon Stock Exchange, which is expected to be launched in late 2015. Earlier this year, the bank signed an advisory agreement with Japan-based Daiwa Security Group – part of a joint venture with state-owned Myanmar Economic Bank to create the Myanmar Securities Exchange Centre. Both AGD Bank and its owner, Tay Za, remain on the US list of Specially Designated Nationals, which subjects both the company and Tay Za to US economic sanctions should the Burmese government be deemed to be backsliding on its reforms. AGD executive director Thet Linn Swe declined to confirm the exact amount of shares that Kyaw Ne Win currently holds, though he said that the amount is substantial. "From what I know, some shareholders of the bank are selling their shares and the buyer [Kyaw Ne Win] is looking to buy as many as are available," Thet Linn Swe said. "It is not clear how high a percentage of the shares he will buy, but based on what he said, we assume it will be a considerably large percentage." He added that the AGD Bank has not yet opened the sale of its shares to the public, but has limited options to its staff and original shareholders. Details of Kyaw Ne Win's move were made murky by a seemingly contradictory report in a Burmese national daily that cited AGD Bank's deputy-executive director Wai Linn Oo saying that the bank had sold only 15 percent of its shares to Kyaw Ne Win and three other businessmen, including the owner of the Mikko Food Marketing Company. Related Stories Burma's businesses still lack transparency: MCRB Bullet Points Student massacre remembered at Rangoon University However, Kyaw Ne Win maintained that this mistake was due to the fact that AGD's staff "cannot know everything [that is happening] at their different working levels". Gen. Ne Win was in power for more than 20 years until 1988, and was believed to exercise influence over subsequent military regimes. Kyaw Ne Win, along with his two brothers Zwe Ne Win and Aye Ne Win, and their father, were jailed and sentenced to death for masterminding a plot to overthrow a junta led by Snr-Gen Than Shwe. They were released under an amnesty announced by the nominally civilian government of President Thein Sein in November 2013.

Crossing language barriers Posted: 23 Jul 2014 03:05 AM PDT More than 200 ethnic representatives are convening in Rangoon to brainstorm an ethnic language curriculum, based on a modern communicative approach rather than traditional teaching methods. The move comes after the Thein Sein government gave the green light last year to minority languages being introduced in ethnic state schools, which until now taught exclusively in Burmese. Some 40 percent of the nation's population are ethnic minorities. On Monday, representatives from 18 different ethnicities – including Kachin, Karenni, Karen, Chin, Mon, Naga, Pa-O, Palaung, Danu and Ka-Yun educators – came together for a 21- 24 July workshop at Rangoon's Summit Parkview Hotel, co-hosted by the Ministry of Education's Basic Education Curriculum, Syllabus and Textbook Committee and UNICEF. Related Stories Burma's Fledgling Contemporary Art Market Bullet Points Teashop kids get second chance in class Sai Naw Hkay, chairman of the Shan Literature and Culture Association, said representatives are discussing the introduction of curricula and syllabi that incorporate interactive lessons, as opposed to the much-maligned traditional system of textbook repetition. He said the new plan would be aimed at ethnic children aged five to eight, and that such an approach would strengthen pupils' physical, intellectual and character development. "The conference aims to discuss the drafting of an ethnic language-based curriculum, beginning next year under a new education policy," said Sai Naw Hkay. "Rather than sticking to conventional teaching methods, we are debating the benefits of using pictures, reciting ethnic poetry and songs, and other tasks that will open children's minds." He said it had yet to be decided which ethnic areas will carry the new curriculum. Naga representative Annu Sai Nyi, from the Naga Self-Administered Zone in Sagaing Division, said local schools in the region have long employed an unofficial Naga language curriculum, but being able to share experiences with other ethnic educators would prepare them better for the future. Naw Shee La, a Karen representative at the event, said she believed an ethnic curriculum, jointly-drafted by the various nationalities, will help restore pride and identity to their respective cultures and traditions.

Wolfowitz received $75,000 for Burma work from anti-Beijing tycoon: leaks Posted: 23 Jul 2014 12:51 AM PDT Media and garment mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-Ying, well-known for his anti-Beijing sympathies and support of the Hong Kong democracy movement, paid former World Bank president and US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz US$75,000 last year for "services in regards to Myanmar," leaked documents show. The nature of the services provided by Wolfowitz to Lai in Burma are unclear. Wolfowitz currently works for the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank, and is the chairman of the US-Taiwan Business Council. Some 900 files – believed to have been extracted from the computer of Lai's assistant, Mark Simon – were distributed anonymously to media outlets, detailing Lai's donations to pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong. The leaks also included photographs and documents detailing two visits Lai made to Burma in January and June 2013, the latter of which he was accompanied by Wolfowitz. He met with a number of cabinet ministers, as well as the head of the armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and President Thein Sein. Related Stories Bullet Points: 23 July 2014 Bullet Points: 22 July 2014 China demands hygiene standards on Burmese rice to legalise trade The leaked documents include records of transfers totalling  $213,00 made by Lai to Yuzana Ma Htoon and Phone Win, the operators of Mingalar Myanmar, a Rangoon-based social enterprise NGO. Phone Win confirmed to the media that Lai is supporting Mingalar Myanmar's Free to Start Small campaign, intended to promote the development of small-and-medium enterprises in the country. The leaks also detail Lai's interest in property development in Burma, alluding to two proposed hotel developments in partnership with Phone Win, who characterised Lai as a close friend of the couple. Ties between Lai and Jade King and Queen Service, a conglomerate chaired by Sai Myo Win, an ethnic Shan businessman from Myitkyina in Kachin State, were also revealed in the documents. In recent months, anti-Beijing sentiment in Hong Kong has become increasingly palpable. On 1 July, marking the 17th anniversary of the transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of the city's financial district to protest political interference and demand the right to elect their own chief executive. From 1986 to 1989, Wolfowitz served as the American ambassador to Indonesia, before joining the George H.W. Bush administration in 1989. He later became one of the principal architects of the "war on terror" and the foreign policy of George W. Bush.

Bi-Midday Sun staffers on trial in Rangoon Posted: 22 Jul 2014 11:04 PM PDT Four staff members of the Bi-Mon Te Nay news journal stood trial on Monday for charges of causing public alarm and undermining state security. Seven employees of Bi-Mon Te Nay news journal (literally Bi-Midday Sun journal) – editors Ye Min Aung and Win Tin, editor-in-chief Aung Thant, owner Kyaw Min Khine, his wife Ei Ei San, office manager Yin Min Tun and reporter Kyaw Zaw Hein — faced charges after the publication falsely reported earlier this month that opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi and prominent ethnic leaders had formed an interim government in place of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party government. A member of activist group Movement for Democracy Current Force, Naung Naung, was also charged for the organisation's claims of the interim government, which sparked Bi-Mon Te Nay's report. While the three news journal editors were detained by Rangoon's police the day after the 7 July report was published, the owner, his wife and the office manager were arrested 16 July in the Thai border town of Mae Sot with the assistance of Thai officials. Robert San Aung, the defence lawyer for the Bi-Mon Te Nay staff, said that four of his clients, including the editors, were brought to a hearing in Rangoon's Padeban Township on Monday. The court granted an additional two weeks of remand to the three editors, and it also conditionally discharged Ei Ei San, the owner's wife, under Article 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as there was a lack of evidence, Robert San Aung said. He also expressed concern over the recent prosecution and incarceration of media workers. Related Stories US, UK express concerns on jailing of Burmese journalists Burmese newspaper publisher arrested in Thailand Irrawaddy journalists hold mass prayer for reporters facing legal action "Now that we have the Media Law in place and a Press Council, it would be ideal for the government to deal with media issues through the council first and to only seek legal action if that didn't work," said Robert San Aung. "I am concerned that arresting press workers like this will encourage further oppression of the media." The next hearing for the editors will be on 4 August. If found guilty, the seven people may face consecutive prison terms of up to 14 years in total. After their editors were arrested and office equipment seized by the police, the Bi-Mon Te Nay news journal has suspended publication.

Heavy rain, flooding predicted for coastal areas Posted: 22 Jul 2014 08:53 PM PDT Many areas in lower Burma, including Rangoon, will experience heavy rains and flooding in the week ahead due to the seasonal monsoon, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology. The department's deputy-director, Kyaw Lwin Oo, said the formation of low pressure zones in the Bay of Bengal will bring heavy rainstorms to Burma's coastal regions – Rangoon, Irrawaddy and Tenasserim divisions, and Arakan, Mon and Karen states – in the next few days. "Until now, the country has not experienced extraordinary rainfall this year. But usually the monsoon gets stronger around the second and third weeks of July, fuelled by westerly tropical storms," he said. The office predicted the monsoon will weaken around 23 July, followed by a succession of low pressure zones in the following days. Rainstorms throughout July caused flooding in several areas including the Arakanese beach resort of Sandoway, officially known as Thandwe. A family of seven, including three children, were killed in a landslide caused by heavy rain in the Shan border town Tachilek on 13 July. Related Stories Rain dampens relief efforts as fighting continues in northern Burma Fresh drinking water for drought-ridden Dala Forecast improves for Burmese meteorologists

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