The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Divers Probe River’s Depths in Latest Search for Dhammazedi Bell
• Political Parties Pressure Burmese Govt to Wrap Up Nationwide Ceasefire
• Karen Martyrs Day Marked in Rangoon for the First Time
• Can Asean Play Ringmaster?
• Rangoon Tax Department Plans Annual Property Valuation
• John Kerry Stayed at US-Blacklisted Tycoon’s Hotel in Burma
• Family Concerned About Health of Burma’s Detained Ex-Religion Minister
• Watercolors Bring Clarity to Burma’s Everyday Struggles
• In Defense of Proportional Representation
• UN Chief Says Access Not a Must for Sri Lanka War Crimes Probe
• Philippine Ex-General in Kidnapping Case Captured 
• China Cracking Down on Christian Groups Along North Korea Border: Sources

Divers Probe River’s Depths in Latest Search for Dhammazedi Bell Posted: 12 Aug 2014 05:24 AM PDT Dredgers operate as part of a salvage team attempting to retrieve the Great Bell of Dhammazedi from the Rangoon River on Tuesday. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A salvage team is working to retrieve an ancient bell said to have sunk to the bottom of the Rangoon River more than 400 years ago. Win Myint, a leading member of the team, said the latest effort to find the Great Bell of Dhammazedi, believed to be the world's largest, began four days ago. "We believe we will find it. Today, we could dive only once as the current was quite strong. Ten divers are working on it," he said, adding that among the dive team are ethnic Moken, also known as "sea gypsies" who hail from Burma's Myeik archipelago and are famous for their deep-sea diving abilities. "We can't disclose more information right now," Win Myint said, without providing a reason for the scant details. The team received permission from the Rangoon Divisional government to attempt to retrieve the sunken bell last month. During a press conference on July 25, San Lin, the leader of the salvage team, said the project would last 45 days, and would cost 200 million kyats (US$250,000), with most of the funding coming from donations. San Lin added that he was involved in seven previous attempts to retrieve the bell, and claimed he had spotted the bell underwater in 1998. In the area where the bell is believed to have sunk, the team worked with dredgers on Tuesday to remove silt from the bottom of the river. The bell is believed to lie at the bottom of the muddy confluence of the Bago and Rangoon rivers, where it has remained for more than four centuries. A colonial governor of Syriam, now known as Thanlyin, stole it from Shwedagon Pagoda in 1608 to be melted down and made into cannons. Historical records say the bell fell from a raft and sank on its way across the river. From 1987 to 1998, the Burmese government and private individuals, including some foreigner prospectors, made several attempts to retrieve the bell in vain, with poor visibility, silting, nearby shipwrecks and 400 years of shifting currents stymying the efforts. In 2012, a Singaporean firm claimed to have a $10 million budget for the project and hoped to complete the search in about 18 months, but there has been no information about the planned project since. Last year, Khin Shwe, a well-known businessman and lawmaker from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), said he too had plans to salvage the Great Bell of Dhammazedi, even if the costs of the project rose to $10 million. The Irrawaddy's Htet Naing Zaw contributed reporting. The post Divers Probe River's Depths in Latest Search for Dhammazedi Bell appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Political Parties Pressure Burmese Govt to Wrap Up Nationwide Ceasefire Posted: 12 Aug 2014 05:09 AM PDT About 150 representatives from 66 political parties attended the meeting with President's Office Minister Aung Min and other members of the government's Union Peacemaking Working Committee (UPWC) at the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) on Monday. (Photo: Myanmar Peace Center / Facebook) RANGOON — Nearly all of Burma's political parties sent representatives to meet with the government's peace negotiation team on Monday in Rangoon, to push for a nationwide ceasefire accord and political dialogue with ethnic rebel groups as soon as possible. About 150 representatives from 66 of the country's 67 registered political parties attended the meeting with President's Office Minister Aung Min and other members of the government's Union Peacemaking Working Committee (UPWC) at the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC). The political party representatives said discussions about federalism or self-determination—important priorities for the country's ethnic minority groups—would be delayed until a ceasefire accord was inked and political dialogue began. "We urge all concerned parties to sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement as soon as possible for the sake of long and sustained peacebuilding in [Burma]," the parties said in a joint statement. "From that, without fail there should be a framework for political dialogue and the [start of] political dialogue, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement." The Kachin Democratic Party was the only registered political party in the country not included in the statement. Party members could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. The government has signed bilateral ceasefire accords with 14 of 16 major ethnic armed groups. It is now seeking to consolidate those agreements into a nationwide ceasefire accord, and has agreed with ethnic groups to finish drafting a framework for political dialogue within 60 days of the signing, with the dialogue itself beginning no more than 30 days after that. The discussions would likely last several years and cover the issue of political autonomy for Burma's various ethnic regions, control over natural resources in these areas, and whether Burma will have one single, federal army. Aung Min said he hoped political dialogue would begin early next year. "We don't have much time since 2015 is an election year," he said in an opening speech. He said the government-affiliated MPC hoped to secure a meeting with members of ethnic armed groups and ethnic political parties on Aug. 18 to discuss the framework for political dialogue. "Official political parties like yours could not directly participate in these discussions in the past. Now you can start to participate—you can take responsibility and accountability in the process of drawing up the framework," he said. "President [Thein Sein] has also stated in his speeches that the door is open for free discussion in political dialogue, except for talk of seceding from the union or infringement of sovereignty," he added. Sai Nyunt Lwin, secretary of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), said all 66 political parties at the meeting agreed to push for a quick nationwide ceasefire, but that he was concerned about rushing ethnic groups into a premature accord. "We are afraid that we may be pressuring groups like the NCCT or the KIO," he told The Irrawaddy. The NCCT, or the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team, is the alliance of ethnic armed groups negotiating the nationwide ceasefire. The KIO, or the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), is one of two ethnic rebel groups that have not signed a bilateral ceasefire. MPC representatives met in June with a group of 11 ethnic political parties and opposition parties known as the Federal Democratic Alliance (FDA) to discuss drafting a framework for political dialogue. However, the meeting with the UPWC on Monday was the largest meeting of political party members with the government's ceasefire negotiation team thus far. The post Political Parties Pressure Burmese Govt to Wrap Up Nationwide Ceasefire appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Karen Martyrs Day Marked in Rangoon for the First Time Posted: 12 Aug 2014 05:00 AM PDT   Some 200 members of the ethnic Karen community in Rangoon held a public ceremony to mark the 64th Karen Martyrs' Day on Tuesday. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Some 200 members of the ethnic Karen community in Rangoon held a ceremony in Kamayut Township on Tuesday to mark the 64th Karen Martyrs' Day. It was the first time since the start of the political reform process in 2011 that the event was held in public in Rangoon. Community leaders of the Karen in Rangoon and Irrawaddy divisions, which are home to hundreds of thousands of Karen, and representatives of the Karen National Party and armed groups the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) attended the event. Karen Martyrs Day marks the day that Saw Ba U Gyi, the first KNU president, was killed in a Burma Army ambush on Aug 12, 1950, together with eight of his comrades in a remote village of Hto Kaw Koe in Kawkareik Township, Karen State. The carefully planned assassination is a key moment in the Karen's more than 60-year-long struggle for political autonomy and Karen Martyrs Day is held to remember all Karen fighters who have fallen in resistance to Burmese rule. The KNU liaison office organized an event in the Karen State capital Hpa-an, while the armed groups held military parades in their areas of control to mark Martyrs Day. The Karen leaders gathered at Judson Hall on Tuesday and laid wreaths and bouquets of flowers in front of the portraits of the slain men. "We marked our Martyrs Day because we intended for our new Karen generation to remember their leaders and because the new generation needs to carry on the unfinished political movements of their leaders," said Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe, director of the Karen Women’s Action Group. "This celebration was for the first time hosted in Rangoon. Before we only celebrated our Martyrs Day in the liberated area," she said. Naw Ohn Hla, a Karen rights activist, said, "We want our new generation to know why our Karen leaders sacrificed their lives. "Our leaders want to have a federal system in our country, and this was why they struggled in the revolution and paid with their lives for this ideal. Until today, we still could not see [the beginnings of] a federal system," she said. Armed groups representing the Karen ethnic minority, which numbers around 6 million, have fought against the Burman-dominated government since 1947. During successive military regimes, the Karen rebels were driven out of Irrawaddy Delta and into small mountainous areas on the border with Thailand. Some 130,000 refugees, most of them Karen, fled southeastern Burma and continue to live in camps on the Thai-Burma border. The KNU signed a bilateral ceasefire with the President Thein Sein's nominally civilian, reformist government in 2012 and there have been relatively few armed clashes between the sides since.   The post Karen Martyrs Day Marked in Rangoon for the First Time appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Can Asean Play Ringmaster? Posted: 12 Aug 2014 03:27 AM PDT Can Asean Play Ringmaster? The post Can Asean Play Ringmaster? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Rangoon Tax Department Plans Annual Property Valuation Posted: 12 Aug 2014 03:22 AM PDT A bank and office buildings are seen in downtown Rangoon. Companies are struggling to find affordable office space in Burma's biggest city, with property in short supply and rental prices high. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Rangoon Division's Internal Revenue Department plans to conduct an annual evaluation of real estate prices as part of its new property sales tax system, a department official said on Tuesday. Aung Kyaw Tint, deputy head of Rangoon Division's Internal Revenue Department, said that in October valuation of properties in the division's 33 townships would take place in order to get an updated picture of the real estate market. "We're planning to carry out property valuation to collect tax every year. This system began last year, so we're going to introduce new valuation estimates this year," he said, adding that officials would value property street by street. He said he expected real estate value will have risen in most areas, a development that would result in higher tax rates for property sales. "For example, the lowest value you can find is in North Dagon Township, where it is 10,000 kyat [about US$10] per square feet. We fixed the valuation at that rate last year, so it will probably have increased to 15,000 kyat per square feet this year," Aung Kyaw Tint said. He added that the plan to carry out an annual update of property valuation would still have to be approved by the union government. In October 2013, the government introduced an improved property valuation method in order to estimate the value of sales on Rangoon's booming property market and tighten tax controls. The government also reformed and lowered its property sales tax in order to encourage more buyers and sellers to register transactions. Previously, many buyers and sellers agreed not to register the change of property ownership to avoid taxes. The new system, introduced on April 1, sets a 3 percent tax rate for buyers of property valued at less than 50 million kyat (about US$51,000), 10 percent for properties under 150 million kyat and a 30 percent tax rate for real estate worth more than 300 million kyat (about $306,000). Sellers of property pay a flat 10 percent tax rate. In addition, property sales in Burma are subject to so-called stamp duty for buyers, set at 5 percent of value in Rangoon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw, and 3 percent in other cities. As a result of the improved property tax system, Rangoon's booming property market has cooled significantly and sales have dropped in recent months, while lower-value property sales are increasingly getting registered. Aung Kyaw Tint said the number of property sales being registered with his department had sharply increased following the introduction of the new tax system, adding that between 250 and 300 property sales were being registered weekly. "We're trying to control estate prices in Rangoon as much as we can, we believe that we can keep control on such soaring prices in the future," he said. Zaw Zaw, a manager at Unity real estate agency, said although the market had cooled off because of the new tax system, real estate prices had not fallen. He said demand on the rental market had become stronger following the tax measures, adding, "The rental market is bigger than high-end properties sales at the moment because of the tax system." The value of properties, especially high-end properties, has been skyrocketing prices across Rangoon, Burma's commercial capital, since President Thein Sein introduced a raft of reform measures and after international sanctions against Burma were dropped. Last year, the revenue department estimated that the highest property rates are in Rangoon's Bahan Township—known locally as the Golden Valley, where many wealthy Burmese own homes—with an average value of 325,000 kyat ($331) per square foot. The post Rangoon Tax Department Plans Annual Property Valuation appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

John Kerry Stayed at US-Blacklisted Tycoon’s Hotel in Burma Posted: 12 Aug 2014 01:38 AM PDT Zaw Zaw, one of Burma's youngest but best-connected tycoons, in his Rangoon office in March 2012. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — The US said Tuesday that Secretary of State John Kerry wasn't breaking any rules when he stayed in a hotel owned by a tycoon blacklisted by the US because of ties with Burma's former military regime. In a country where cronies own almost all the biggest and best-known firms—including hotels in the capital Naypyidaw—Kerry would have been hard-pressed to find anywhere else to stay as he attended a weekend gathering of Southeast Asian foreign ministers. But the move illustrates the conundrum of American policies. Washington is eager to engage Burma's new nominally civilian government, but does not want to be accused of engaging in bad business practices. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Kerry did nothing wrong. She said Burma's Foreign Ministry assigned Kerry and members of his delegation to the Lake Garden Hotel, owned by blacklisted Zaw Zaw's Max Myanmar group. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which outlines dealings with "specially designated" or "blacklisted" nationals, "includes an exemption for activities related to travel, including hotel accommodations," she added. Though most economic US sanctions imposed on Burma during its days of dictatorship have been lifted, American companies are still barred from doing business with individuals and entities perceived as having profited from past or current military ties. The post John Kerry Stayed at US-Blacklisted Tycoon's Hotel in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Family Concerned About Health of Burma’s Detained Ex-Religion Minister Posted: 12 Aug 2014 12:53 AM PDT Hsan Hsint at Dhakhinathiri District Court on the first day of his trial. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's former Religious Affairs Minister Hsan Hsint has become seriously ill while in custody facing corruption charges, according to his family. Hsan Hsint has been detained at Ramaethin Prison in Mandalay Division since his arrest on June 19, when he was forced from his position amid allegations of misusing funds from the national budget and sedition. Hsan Myint, the former minister's brother, told The Irrawaddy that Hsan Hsint has been suffering from heart disease for the past 10 years, and his health had deteriorated since he was arrested. "A normal person has a heart rate of 70 to 80 bpm [beats per minute]. My brother has only 56 bpm. He doesn't have a normal heart rate. A heart stroke could occur at any time," said Hsan Myint, adding that he was seeking permission to have his brother treated outside of jail. "The prison has its own doctor, but this kind of disease should be treated by specialists. So, I applied for a medical pledge at Datkhinathiri District Court, but they did not approve my proposal. Now, I will try proposing again at Mandalay Region Supreme Court." The Datkhinathiri court, in Naypyidaw, rejected the appeal, made on July 30, on the grounds that prison doctors could provide sufficient treatment to Hsan Hsint, he said. "The doctors and physicians who are treating Hsan Hsint wrote recommendation letters saying that he needs to be hospitalized," said another relative, Hla Soe. "But he cannot go to hospital since he did not manage to get the pledge. If he gets a heart attack all of a sudden in Ramaethin Prison, it takes at least two hours to get to the hospital in Naypyidaw. All his family members are worrying about it." Hsan Hsint has been charged under Article 409 of Burma's Penal Code—criminal breach of trust by a public servant—by Htay Lwin, the deputy director from Special Investigation Department at Phayagone Police Station in Naypyidaw's Otetarathiri Township. The former minister has also been accused of breaching Article 124(A) of the Sedition Act by Police Major Khin Htay. Hsan Hsint used to be the speaker of Irrawaddy Divisional Parliament, and supporters in the division's capital, Pathein, staged a demonstration last month calling for his trial to be transparent and free. However, the trial is being heard in a closed court, with only family members allowed into the court room. Despite his ailing health, the former minister has been called to appear at the court in Datkhinathiri District for the seventh time on Tuesday. The plaintiffs and witnesses in the case include Soe Win, the new religious affairs minister and Hsan Hsint's former deputy. The post Family Concerned About Health of Burma's Detained Ex-Religion Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Watercolors Bring Clarity to Burma’s Everyday Struggles Posted: 11 Aug 2014 05:30 PM PDT Watercolor paintings on display this week at Lokanat Gallery in Rangoon. (Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Rising above the hustle and bustle of the city center, the watercolor art exhibition "To the Sea" is tucked away peacefully on the upper level of one of downtown Rangoon's many surviving colonial-era buildings. Organized by Hla Htun Aung, a watercolor artist who is one of the Burmese representatives at Global Network of Watercolor Painters' Association, the show is the sixth annual watercolor painting exhibition to showcase the works of Burmese artists. "There has been a decrease in the number of watercolor artists in Burma. In large part, this is because watercolor drawings not only are hard to maintain, but also do not sell well in the market," said Hla Htun Aung, a watercolor artist for more than 30 years. "We've organized this exhibition to showcase the beauty of watercolors," he added. The exhibition—which opened on Monday—features the work of 13 artists, with styles ranging from realism to cubism. The paintings, by artists struggling to reestablish the importance of their specialization, show ordinary people in their own everyday struggles: a woman going out very early in the morning to sell breakfast snacks; a trishaw driver waiting for a passenger in heavy rain. The nature of the medium is, however, contradictory to these subjects, who are lost in their everyday lives. "Water has a clear nature. It clears your mind and soul. That's why watercolor artists like water," said Hla Htun Aung. The artist went on to explain that the show's name, "To the Sea," relates to the fact that all waterways end up in the ocean—just as, he believes, all watercolor artists, with their different styles, have a common endpoint. So what is the destination, the "sea" that the artists of this watercolor exhibition come to? It is left for the viewer to decide. Perhaps attempting to see the muddled reality with a clear mind will help. "To the Sea" is at the Lokanat Gallery of Art on Pansodan Street from Aug. 11-16 (9am to 5pm every day). The post Watercolors Bring Clarity to Burma's Everyday Struggles appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

In Defense of Proportional Representation Posted: 11 Aug 2014 05:00 PM PDT People peer through voter lists as votes are being counted at a polling station in central Yangon on April 1, 2012. (Photo: Reuters / Damir Sagolj) I see that proportional representation (PR) has touched a nerve in this country. I had been an early proponent in proposing PR, but altogether awareness-raising has been less than adequate. So now, as the introduction of PR in Myanmar's elections has become a very real prospect, it has turned into an emotive and even reflexive issue. Myanmar is coming to a turning point in its elections system and we are a little short on time. Therefore I think it is important to present non-party views that are specific to Myanmar's situation, in an effort to defuse feelings which are running high and to allay suspicions, and thereby alleviate the divisiveness. It is not going to be a case of PR being forced upon the country: A parliamentary process has been set in motion, committees on PR have been formed in both Houses, and debates have taken place. It was an occasion for joy and celebration when multi-party democracy returned to Myanmar. Let us not forget that it has come at great cost—the anniversary of the Four Eights that was marked in front of Yangon's City Hall is a poignant reminder of that. There are more parties now and more political stakeholders than in the past. We have to ensure that this revived multi-party system works well, and fairly and equitably. With Myanmar's diversity, special attention has to be given to having breadth, inclusion and equitable representation in politics. Moreover, preparing for federalism and the long-deferred need for nation-building cannot be left out. The first-past-the-post (FPTP) system that Burma/Myanmar has practiced from independence is of course simple and easy to understand and implement. But it comes with certain drawbacks. It is a case of winner-takes-all and therefore exclusionary. The notion of a loyal opposition has not registered well in Myanmar, and coalition politics remains an untested uncertainty. Much that is decried about electoral democracies would stem from the sequelae of FPTP. Khin Zaw Win is the director of the Tampadipa Institute in Rangoon. One might ask: Why are you lobbying so much for PR? It has never been tried here and who knows whether it will work? The reply would be that of a parent of a child with cerebral malaria where all the standard treatments have failed. If someone were to come up and offer a new drug that has passed the experimental stage and found to be effective, what would that parent say? National Politics and Government Simply put, PR means that the runners-up parties in an election will be within Parliament and even government, instead of outside. This lessens the chances for an adversarial opposition attacking the government and party in power at every turn. Policy changes, even critical ones, can be agreed upon and effected without having to change the entire government—either by bringing down the incumbent or waiting for the next elections. It can be said that coalitions are built into the system. Ethnic Nationalities It is ironic—in light of the fervent opposition being displayed—that PR had been originally intended with the ethnic nationalities in mind. The ethnic parties are terrified of losing their present number of seats and it is natural to want to win more seats. Since virtually all our ethnics vote along ethnic lines, the party representing the largest ethnicity in a constituency is assured of winning in a FPTP. However the majority of the constituencies in the seven states are composed of two or more ethnic groups. What happens to the smaller ethnicities whose parties do not win? Even if inter-ethnic tensions are discounted, the present FPTP system will entrench what can be called "enclave democracy"—that is, a country dotted with ethno-political enclaves that do little to build a multi-ethnic nation. I would also like to remind our ethnic nationality brethren that even now they have an advantage in that Myanmar's electoral constituencies are co-extant with administrative townships. (This is an expediency practiced since 1990). This being so, all the ethnic nationalities have more seats in legislatures in proportion to their populations. Flexibility of PR PR is not a hard-and-fast system; indeed there is an inexhaustible list of variations, hybrids and custom-tailored versions. Combinations with FPTP are commonly employed. And that is why an en bloc dismissal of PR can only come from incomplete understanding and vested/parochial interests. In retrospect, Myanmar should have started looking to PR around the time of the 1990 elections. It is safe to conclude that nobody did, including this writer. There had been an earlier elections commission but sadly, it had been composed of persons who had looked to the past rather than to the future. Now, PR is being debated all over, which is to the good. Some of the reactions are highly strung, which is still OK in a democracy. PR is not to be regarded as a panacea and a cure-all. Let me put it this way—it is a means to be kinder to ourselves, to our fellow citizens and non-citizens, and to our troublous country. Ten years from now, we could look back and feel grateful that PR was adopted. The post In Defense of Proportional Representation appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

UN Chief Says Access Not a Must for Sri Lanka War Crimes Probe Posted: 11 Aug 2014 10:09 PM PDT UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay. (Photo: Reuters) NEW DELHI — The United Nations can conduct an effective investigation into reports of war crimes in Sri Lanka without visiting the country, said UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay, reacting to a government decision to deny investigators entry. Sri Lankan government forces have been accused of widespread human rights violations in the final stages of a 26-year civil war against ethnic Tamil separatists which ended in May 2009. The United Nations estimated in a 2011 report that about 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final weeks of the war, mostly by the army. Sri Lanka has rejected the allegation. In March, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) voted to investigate reports of abuses during the war, during which 100,000 people were killed, saying the Sri Lankan government had failed to investigate properly. The vote angered the government, which says it will not cooperate or grant visas to UN investigators. "There is a wealth of information outside of Sri Lanka which can be tapped into," Pillay told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an email response to questions. "The credibility of the report will depend on it reflecting proper standards of corroboration of evidence, whether the team is allowed into the country or not." Pillay cited Syria and North Korea as examples where, despite no access, investigations were carried out. "Hardly anyone, apart from the Syrian and Democratic People's Republic of Korea governments, are questioning the credibility of these two inquiries, so I don't see why it should be any different in the case of Sri Lanka," she said. The Sri Lanka investigation, which began on July 1, has increased tension between the government and the United Nations. Some non-government groups have accused authorities of trying to discourage war survivors from giving evidence. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government says an external investigation is unnecessary and Sri Lanka can conduct its own. Last month, Rajapaksa appointed three foreign experts to a commission investigating disappearances during the war. Misinformation, Personal Attacks Pillay—a South African of Tamil descent who has been accused of bias in favor of Tamils by the Sri Lankan media and government—said false information was being spread to discredit the inquiry. "Regrettably, there has been some serious misinformation and distortion," she said. Media reports that investigators were denied visas by India and Thailand were false, said Pillay, adding that no one had applied for a visa for Sri Lanka or any other country. The investigation's coordinator and members of the advisory board had been "subjected to personal attacks in some Sri Lankan media that were both distorted and inaccurate," she said. The 12-member team is based in Geneva but will travel to other countries when necessary. They will collect information, including testimonies, and verify allegations of atrocities. The findings will be presented to the UNHRC in March. Pillay said the investigation was essential to establishing who was responsible for violations and to hold them to account. "It is important to understand that this investigation was set up for the benefit of all Sri Lankans, as an avenue to achieve lasting peace and reconciliation," she said. "It is in this context that the Human Rights Council-mandated investigation should be viewed, rather than being seen as a confrontation." The post UN Chief Says Access Not a Must for Sri Lanka War Crimes Probe appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Philippine Ex-General in Kidnapping Case Captured  Posted: 11 Aug 2014 10:03 PM PDT Filipino activists burn a picture of Philippine army Major Genenal Jovito Palparan in a protest against disappearances and political murders during a rally in 2006. (Photo: Reuters) MANILA — Philippine security forces on Tuesday captured a fugitive former army general wanted in the kidnapping of two students, fulfilling a promise by President Benigno Aquinio III to bring high-profile criminal suspects to justice, official said. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said military intelligence and National Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Jovito Palparan in a hideout in a district of Manila. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the arrest of Palparan shows that the Aquino government is determined to "end the culture of impunity" characterized by rampant human rights violations under Aquino’s predecessor, Gloria Arroyo. Palparan, 63, has been on the run since December 2011 after a court issued a warrant for his arrest in the kidnapping and disappearance of two female left-wing activists in Bulacan province north of Manila in 2006. The two remain missing. The retired major general, who was in charge of a regional army unit, has denied any involvement. Human rights groups and a U.N. investigator have blamed security forces for the deaths and disappearances of about 1,000 activists between 2001 and 2010 under Arroyo. The former president gave the military a free hand in what it called an all-out war against communist rebels. Aquino’s government has said it wants justice for the missing students, Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan, to improve the Philippines’ human rights record after a decade of abuses under the Arroyo administration. "The human rights community, domestic and international community, has long waited for this," de Lima told reporters. She said an arraignment date will be set by a court in Bulacan’s provincial capital of Malolos. A breakthrough in the case came late Monday when naval intelligence agents checked a tipoff from an informant and spotted Palparan in the crowded suburban Manila neighborhood, said military intelligence service chief Maj. Gen. Eduardo Ano, who headed a task force assigned to capture the fugitive general. In 2012, Aquino doubled the reward for the capture of Palparan, along with a former governor wanted in the killing of an environmentalist and a former congressman convicted of murdering his wife, to 2 million pesos ($45,600), with officials saying the president was unhappy at the lack of progress in arresting high-profile fugitives. The post Philippine Ex-General in Kidnapping Case Captured  appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

China Cracking Down on Christian Groups Along North Korea Border: Sources Posted: 11 Aug 2014 09:58 PM PDT The entrance to a vocational school run by Peter Hahn, a 74-year-old Korean-American who is being investigated by Chinese authorities according to sources, is seen in the Chinese border city of Tumen on Aug. 8, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Megha Rajagopalan) TUMEN, China / SEOUL — China is cracking down on Christian charity groups near its border with North Korea, missionaries and aid groups say, with hundreds of members of the community forced to leave the country and some who remain describing an atmosphere of fear. The sweep along the frontier is believed to be aimed at closing off support to North Koreans who flee persecution and poverty in their homeland and illegally enter China before going on to other nations, usually ending up in South Korea. The South says the number of such defections is showing signs of a slight slowdown this year. Beijing has not charged anyone with any crime, but two sources with direct knowledge say a Korean-American man who ran a vocational school in the border town of Tumen was being investigated by Chinese authorities. Earlier this month, China said it was investigating a Canadian couple who ran a coffee shop in Dandong city on suspicion of stealing state secrets. As many as one third of the 3,000 South Korean missionaries working in China, largely near the North Korean border, have been forced out, most by having their visas refused, said Simon Suh, a Christian pastor who runs an orphanage in Yanji, a city near Tumen. Many South Korean churches have been shut down, he said, quoting information he had received from several Christian groups in the region. "Peter [Hahn]'s school in Tumen and Kevin Garratt's coffee shop were two organizations that were really well known," said Suh. "Both of them being cracked down on is a huge blow to everyone, to every activist who is involved with North Korea." The missionaries in the remote and mountainous region are usually reserved, but during a recent visit by a Reuters reporter, they seemed especially fearful of speaking to outsiders and appeared to be worried about being followed by security forces. South Korean and Western missionary groups run schools, orphanages and cafes in the region and channel food and other aid into North Korea. But some of them have also been caught up in helping North Koreans who have fled their isolated country. There was no firm evidence, however, that Hahn or the Garratts were involved in the so-called underground railroad, helping people escape from North Korea and clandestinely facilitating their journey to the South, usually through a third country. Statistics released by South Korea's Ministry of Unification show the number of North Korean refugees to defect to the South has slightly decreased to about 700 in the first six months of the year, although it would be too soon for the crackdown to take full effect. In the last two years, about 1,500 people have successfully made the journey each year. "They have built more fencing, re-organized the border guards, increased punishments for failed escapees and have increased cooperation with the Chinese authorities to disrupt networks helping those who manage to escape," said Sokeel Park of LiNK, an NGO that works with North Korean defectors. "Obviously, the screw is tightening all along the border," said a Christian activist in South Korea, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. "There has been a concerted effort to break up the network of people who help North Koreans—on either side of the border." Another source working in the region said: "I believe that the D-Day has come or is coming soon for individuals, businesses and schools who have set up fronts to do North Korea-related humanitarian and refugee works." China's Help It was not immediately clear why China, North Korea's main ally and economic benefactor, was cracking down on missionaries in the region, but experts said it had cooperated with North Korea in the past along the border. China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. While China can be suspicious of Christian groups and President Xi Jinping has launched a wide crackdown on underground churches, foreign missionaries usually operate without too much harassment. Suh said a South Korean pastor who ran another orphanage for children of North Korean defectors had been detained and interrogated for weeks before being forced to leave the country this month. Chinese staff employed by the pastor, who Suh asked Reuters not to name due to the sensitivity of the issue, had gone into hiding after threats from authorities. Suh added he himself had been interrogated by authorities during a recent visit to the neighboring town of Hunchun. The crackdown on the groups, many of which had been established in the region for years, has taken place over the last six months, foreign Christian sources working near the border told Reuters. "There has been a mass exodus of South Korean missionaries," said the owner of a Christian group business in Yanji. "Many organizations are pulling people out because they're scared, and certain blocks of people have just disappeared." Hahn, 74, runs a Christian NGO that sits a few blocks from the Tumen river, which faces the North Korean border town of Namyang. Chinese authorities have been interrogating him for weeks, and he has not been allowed to leave the country, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Marie Harf, a spokeswoman for the US State Department in Washington, said she was aware of the reports about Hahn's questioning but could not comment further for reasons of privacy. The issue could come up during a three-day visit to China by Robert King, the US special envoy on human rights in North Korea. King's visit starts on Monday. Hahn also co-owns a coffee shop called the Green Apple next door to the school, said Bob Grainger, his British business partner at the cafe. Grainger said the cafe, which sells sweet buns and plays light South Korean pop songs, is functioning as normal, but that he did not know whether authorities would allow him to maintain his visa, up for renewal later this month. "The Canadian case will tell us a lot about what to expect, we're looking to that," Grainger said. "It's not directly related to us but it tells us about the attitude of the authorities." Grainger added that despite police visits, he regularly sees Hahn coming and going and that teachers and students are going about their business at the school, although there are no classes during summer. Hahn had also visited the hospital to be treated for stress, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. Administrators were at work last week at the airy school, decorated with potted plants next to big windows, but Hahn was nowhere to be found. "We're sorry, but the police will not allow the head of the school to see anybody," a school administrator said. "Things are extremely tense at the moment." She said Hahn and other employees of the school could not answer further questions without seeking permission from the police. The post China Cracking Down on Christian Groups Along North Korea Border: Sources appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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