The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Sexual Assault Victim’s Family Pressured to Drop Charges: Activist
• Hundreds Protest Outside Thai Embassy over Koh Tao Verdict
• Koh Tao Defense Lawyer: ‘It is a Saddening Verdict’
• NLD Lawmaker: ‘They Are Now Operating the Jade Mines Around the Clock’
• Activists Call For Witness Protection as Major Thai Human Trafficking Trial Begins
• Japan Cabinet OKs Record Defense Budget Amid China Concern

Sexual Assault Victim’s Family Pressured to Drop Charges: Activist Posted: 25 Dec 2015 02:18 AM PST Child rights activist Khin Than Htwe (black t-shirt) pictured with a family she is providing support to in Moulmein, Mon State. (Khin Than Htwe / Facebook) A child rights activist in Mon State has raised concerns that the family of a sexual assault victim is being intimidated to drop charges. In mid-July, a three-year-old old girl was allegedly sexually abused by a 70-year-old man in Moulmein, the Mon State capital, with medical records showing that the girl's vagina was internally damaged. The alleged perpetrator is a neighbor of the victim. The victim's family filed a complaint to the local court on July 16, but the court released the accused on bail at a hearing two weeks later. Supporters of the victim's family said the latter were being threatened with defamation by the accused for pursuing the case. No charges have yet been laid, with the court still determining whether to accept a rape charge against the accused. "At the 17th witness hearing on Dec. 22, the court still didn't decide on what charges the accused sexual abuser would be prosecuted under," said Khin Than Htwe, the chair of a community child rights awareness group, Mon State Women and Children Upgrade Conduct Team, who is supporting the victim's family. Cases of rape can be brought under Article 376 of Burma's antiquated Penal Code which stipulates punishment of up to 10 years imprisonment. Khin Than Htwe said she also shared information about the case with Mon State parliamentarians on Thursday, as there were reports the presiding judge may be moved to another town. The next witness hearing is due on January 5, 2016. "There are some cases in Mon State that were not continued when the judge of the respective court moved to another town," said Khin Than Htwe, who has over one year's experience working to promote child rights awareness. "Therefore, we must take on the case seriously as the girl was under 4 years old when it happened… and she is still in pain five months later." The community worker said every month her group provided support for around 40 cases related to sexual abuse, rape and violence against women across four Mon State townships: Moulmein, Kyaikmaraw, Chaungzon and Mudon. Around half are sexual abuse and rape cases related to young girls, often involving neighbors or family members, Khin Than Htwe said. The post Sexual Assault Victim's Family Pressured to Drop Charges: Activist appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Hundreds Protest Outside Thai Embassy over Koh Tao Verdict Posted: 25 Dec 2015 12:38 AM PST Click to view slideshow. RANGOON — Hundreds of people gathered outside the Thai Embassy in Rangoon on Friday to protest the sentencing of two Burmese migrant workers to death for the 2014 murder of two British backpackers on a Thai resort island. On Thursday, Koh Samui court found Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo guilty of the murder of David Miller and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge on Koh Tao in September last year, a verdict defense lawyers have vowed to appeal. The handling of the high-profile case by Thai police has drawn significant controversy, with the accused pair alleging they were tortured into a confession and the defense team contending key evidence was mishandled. Protesters, including Buddhist monks, congregated outside the Thai Embassy in Rangoon from around 10.30 am, with numbers swelling over the next few hours. Police erected barbed wire barricades on Thursday ahead of a smaller demonstration and on Friday, the road in front of the embassy was blocked where protesters gathered with placards and chants demanding justice. One protester told security police, "Let us get in front of the embassy. We will not do anything bad. We just want to kneel down and ask the Thai king to release our men." When police held firm, the man said, "Why are you guys blocking us? Why don't you care about your citizens?" Many protesters held hand-made signs saying "Release Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo." Others held up pictures of the two migrants and at least one demonstrator held aloft a photo of the Thai King and Queen. Some protesters cited the centuries-long history of bad blood between the two neighboring territories. "Thailand did bad things to our citizens for a long time," said Than Htike, a taxi driver who chaperoned protesters at a discounted rate to the embassy on Friday, which was officially closed for the Christmas holiday. "Our citizens try to avoid having problems with the Thais… But our country has a better political situation now and we can fight for our rights this time. Thailand needs to understand this." The two accused migrants are both Arakanese and many ethnic Arakanese joined the protest on Friday. One protester was overheard expressing concern that what he thought would be a demonstration to request justice from the Thai king would devolve into jingoistic rhetoric. "I was worried this protest would turn into a nationalist protest and only focus on nationalism," the young man told his friend on the fringes of the demonstration. "We came here just to ask for justice, not for nationalist issues." The Thai Embassy had earlier issued a warning letter to Thai citizens after many Burmese took to social media to express their outrage at Thursday's verdict. "For your safety, we urge all to be extremely vigilant and to avoid identifying yourselves as Thai nationals if not necessary," the statement read, according to a translation by Thai newspaper The Nation. On Thursday afternoon, a Thai official emerged to greet protesting monks. Prominent Buddhist monk Rakha Wontha said a small group was granted a one-hour meeting with Thai officials in the embassy on Thursday, where they submitted a letter calling for a review of the "unjust judgment." Rights Groups, Officials Respond Following the court ruling on Thursday, international rights watchdog Amnesty International issued a statement calling on Thai authorities to investigate allegations the defendants were tortured by Thai police during their interrogation. "Thai authorities must ensure that any alleged confession or other statement obtained as a result of torture is not admitted as evidence in court in any retrial of the case, unless against those accused of torture to prove that the statement has been taken," said Champa Patel, Amnesty International Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, in the statement. British labor rights activist Andy Hall, who has been working with the defense team, counseled for calm in a Facebook post on Friday. "I believe it's really important all our attention and energy is focused not on protests against Thailand/Thai people and/or emotional anger at the verdict," Hall wrote. "But instead all our energy should be used in supporting the legal defense team to launch a credible and effective appeal to the Appeals Court and then even perhaps contesting a Supreme Court appeal in this case." Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were charged for seven crimes including theft, illegal entry into Thailand, murder and rape. Burmese officials also took to social media following the verdict vowing ongoing support for the accused. "There is a lot of work to do. It is not yet finished. We will keep supporting the Burmese Embassy and cooperate with Burmese rights groups and legal organizations," President's Office director Zaw Htay wrote on Facebook. Information Minister and presidential spokesperson Ye Htut posted that the government would support the migrants' appeals process. "We hope that we can review evidence and show proof that the two accused are not guilty," he wrote on his Facebook account. Saw Yan Naing reported from Chiang Mai, Thailand The post Hundreds Protest Outside Thai Embassy over Koh Tao Verdict appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Koh Tao Defense Lawyer: ‘It is a Saddening Verdict’ Posted: 24 Dec 2015 07:45 PM PST Aung Myo Thant, a Burmese lawyer who has been working with the defense team on the Koh Tao murder case. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A Koh Samui Court on Thursday sentenced two Burmese migrants, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, to death over the killing of two British backpackers on a Thai resort island in September last year. The handling of the high-profile case by Thai police had attracted significant scrutiny amid allegations that the Burmese pair were tortured into a confession and that key evidence was mishandled. Aung Myo Thant, a Burmese lawyer who has been acting for the defendants, spoke with The Irrawaddy's Kyaw Kha on Thursday after the verdict. Burmese migrants Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin were given the death penalty on Thursday. Legal experts have said the case was flawed. What's your view? The court gave them separate penalties for seven charges. The maximum penalty for illegally entering Thailand is six months' imprisonment and the two were given the maximum penalty—six months. Again, the maximum penalty for illegally living in Thailand is also six months' imprisonment and they were given the maximum penalty for this charge too. I can't understand why. I was told while I was acting for them that we would not win the case because Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao islands are mafia islands, but at that time I didn't take it seriously. I can't understand why they were given maximum penalties. The Thai Lawyers' Council and the Thai Human Rights Commission have helped the two Burmese migrants together with your team. What did they say about the death sentence and what will the Burmese authorities do? We've reported it to the Burmese Ambassador to Thailand. We will appeal to Thailand's Appeals Court in Bangkok. The Thai Lawyers' Council has the same idea. We have copied the [court] order and we'll write an appeal based on the court order and dossier and submit it to the Bangkok Appeals Court. What can you expect from doing so? If the appeal is granted, the penalty will not be more than ten years. I am 80 percent sure of this. Are you disappointed that they were given the death penalty though they seemed to have had a good chance of acquittal? I have no comment about the jurisdiction. But it saddens me… It is a saddening verdict. Though the Burmese government was helping the pair, they were given the maximum penalty even for lesser offences. Doesn't this mean no regard was paid to the Burmese government? I have no comment about the jurisdiction of Thailand. After the two were sentenced despite the Burmese government's special attention to the case, I think it would be better if the Burmese government could better assist Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. Because I have almost never seen the accused given the death penalty when there were no eyewitnesses. There are many cases of Burmese migrant workers being wrongly accused in Thailand. So, will the death penalty heighten the concerns of Burmese migrant workers? I see that much needs to be done for Burmese migrant workers to receive fair hearings. The post Koh Tao Defense Lawyer: 'It is a Saddening Verdict' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NLD Lawmaker: ‘They Are Now Operating the Jade Mines Around the Clock’ Posted: 24 Dec 2015 07:00 PM PST An area of jade mining in Hpakant in Kachin State. (Photo: Swe Win / Myanmar Now) During the Nov. 8 elections, Khin Maung Myint, 65, won an upper house parliament seat for the National League for Democracy in Kachin State's Hpakant District, an area that has long been famous for its jade mines. The newly elected MP spoke with Myanmar Now about the industry's heavy social and environmental impacts, and how these should be addressed. The jade trade is highly profitable but who controls it has been shrouded in secrecy, while most raw jade flows across Burma's northern border, untaxed, to China. In November, an investigation by international resource exploitation watchdog Global Witness revealed the trade could be worth as much as US$31 billion per year. The family of former military supremo Than Shwe was said to have a large stake in the trade, along with members of the old army elite and an ethnic Wa drug lord. Well-connected companies hold mining concessions, while thousands of small-scale, individual miners scour the edges of the mines in search of gems. This unregulated mining is dangerous; in November, more than 100 miners were killed when a huge waste heap caused a landslide. The rapacious operations have left Kachin State's environment deeply scared. Some reports say there has been a sharp increase in mining activity after the opposition's election victory on Nov. 8. Are companies speeding up mining? Yes, many heavy machinery vehicles have been coming into Hpakant since the start of this month [December]. The companies are getting worried that the new government may restrict the jade mining. So they are now operating at the jade mines in Hpakant around the clock. Particularly, the companies related to the Wa ethnic group, such as Ever Winner, Myanma Tagaung, 111, Yarza Htarni and so on. There are also other companies owned by former Kachin rebel groups that signed ceasefire agreements with the government and transformed into border guard forces [under army control]. They have dramatically stepped up the mining work in Hpakant. There are also reports that some locals in Hpakant are trying to block these activities. What are they concerned about? You have rules and regulations to follow when you apply for a jade mining license. For example, you cannot transfer your mining area to someone else. You also have to make sure that the mining work is carried out without causing much damage to the environment. But these rules are not enforced at all on the ground. The companies are dumping waste on the banks of the Uru River. That's why the river is blocked during the rainy season and this causes flooding of riverside vegetable plantations of the locals. Now, the companies are working around the clock, using heavy vehicles such as dump trucks, backhoes and excavators that are two or three stories high with a capacity to destroy mountains within a matter of days. The mining activities also leave behind huge craters, as big as 40 to 50 acres wide. So these craters become lakes during the rainy season. They can be very dangerous for the locals because these craters tend to break open under the pressure of water and cause flash floods. The Global Witness report estimated the value of jade production last year alone exceeded $30 billion, but it is only hundreds of millions of dollars, according to official data. What does this tell us about jade smuggling? Jade smuggling is an open secret. Companies bribe military officers in charge of border checkpoints in areas of Kachin State, such as Kampaiti and Nam Sanyam, and have been openly smuggling jade to China. Most of the best jade stones are smuggled out to China, while only a few of them go to the jade emporium in Naypyidaw. This would be very clear if you visit Chinese cities such as Guangzhou [where jade is traded]. To what extent are Chinese businessmen involved in the jade mining? Government records indicate there is no foreign involvement in mining in Hpakant. No foreigners are directly involved in the industry on the ground, but there is a lot of foreign investment from China. The family members of high-ranking Chinese government officials are shareholders in companies such as Ever Winner and other companies related to the Wa ethnic group. There are some others also who are investing in the industry to launder the black money gained from the drug trafficking. Hundreds of small miners have been killed in landslides in Hpakant over the years. Why do these accidents continue to happen? We are seeing excessive use of heavy machinery at the jade mines. Small-time jade stone pickers sometimes are not aware that vehicles are nearing when they are competing with each other to get jade stone. That's when they are run over by the heavy trucks. Some of these people are high on drugs and mindlessly wandering at the jade mines. The drivers of heavy machinery cannot properly check whether there are people near them or not, because these vehicles are 25 feet long. The diameter of a wheel of a heavy machinery vehicle can be about eight feet high. So if a man was run over, his body will be completely flattened. You are a native of Hpakant. How much has the town and its surroundings changed because of mining in past decades? Jades were manually extracted about 25 years ago. There was no heavy machinery at that time. We could drink the water of Uru River that flows through Hpakant. We could use its water to cook rice. We could also get vegetables that naturally grew there. But now forests have completely been destroyed, so much so that we cannot get firewood anymore. So many natural mountains have been wiped out, in their places sprang up piles of dumped waste from the mining areas that are as high as mountains. Some jade companies such as the Yadana Taung Tann Company owned by Tun Myint Naing [aka Steven Law, owner of Asia World], the son of the late drug lord Lo Hsing-Han, dynamited the mountains at their jade mining sites. These giant mountains would explode and collapse like the World Trade Centre during the 9/11 attack, sending off storms of dust. Mountains as high as 500 or 1,000 feet were obliterated in a matter of days. In violation of the license rules, the companies dumped the soil near the Uru River. This soil later flowed into the Chindwin River, causing high sandbanks there during the rainy season. Given the negative environmental consequences the jade mining has caused, we think it's time to stop this industry. Since you were recently elected as an MP for Hpakant, what laws will you propose to the parliament to address jade mining issues? Transparency is the most crucial issue. We would need to find out if the money invested in the industry is coming from the drug trade, and if companies are following the rules and regulations of their mining licenses. With all these data compiled, we could regulate the industry. If we found that the industry should be shut down, then we would have to shut it down. Actually, many countries do not have this resource, jade. So we can sell it any time we want. Since we are now producing and selling it like vegetables, we don't get a proper price. This interview first appeared on Myanmar Now. The post NLD Lawmaker: 'They Are Now Operating the Jade Mines Around the Clock' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Activists Call For Witness Protection as Major Thai Human Trafficking Trial Begins Posted: 24 Dec 2015 05:43 PM PST Human trafficking suspects arrive at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand, November 10, 2015. (Photo: Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters) BANGKOK — Thai authorities must step up witness protection for a major human trafficking trial with the accused including an army general and one investigator fleeing the country fearing for his life, activists said on Thursday as the first witnesses gave evidence. The case includes 88 defendants allegedly involved with lucrative smuggling gangs that were trafficking Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Burma, holding them for ransom in jungle camps before granting onward passage to Malaysia. The investigation and arrests followed the grisly discovery in May of 30 bodies in a mass grave near a human trafficking camp close to the Thailand-Malaysia border. Of 500 witnesses scheduled to testify, only 12 are receiving protection, while two have gone into hiding because of threats and others may follow suit, said Fortify Rights, a non-governmental organization advocacy group. "Witnesses are key to ensuring justice is served in this case. Their security should be the utmost concern to the Thai authorities," Fortify Rights Executive Director Amy Smith said in a statement. Prayuth Porsuttayaruk, deputy director-general of the human trafficking office in the Attorney-General's Office, refuted the Fortify Rights' number of protected witnesses. "I don't know where they got their numbers from. Eighty of the witnesses are victims, and they are foreigners, and they are under the protection of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security," Prayuth told Reuters by telephone. He added that more than 200 witnesses are police officers, and the rest are investigators, bank office workers and "Thai people who do not need the protection programme." One Rohingya man, a longtime legal resident of Thailand, went into hiding after receiving threats, while Police Major General Praween Pongsirin, chief investigator on the case, went into exile and is seeking asylum in Australia. "The fact that the top policeman investigating these cases fled Thailand because of a lack of protection afforded to him and his family shows just how poor government protection schemes have been," said Phil Robertson, deputy director for Human Rights Watch's Asia division. Two prison buses brought the defendants to court on Thursday, including the army general and a suspected kingpin. The defendants crowded into a seventh floor courtroom and heard testimony from two Bangladeshis who were held for two years in a trafficking camp in Songkhla, near the Malaysia border, said Prayuth of the attorney-general's office. The court allowed journalists to observe the proceedings by video but barred them from reporting the witness testimony to prevent other witnesses from being influenced. Committed to Crackdown or Not? A court official said last month that hearing testimony from the 500 witnesses could take up to two years. Thailand has come under fire in recent years for the trafficking of migrants, many of them Rohingya Muslims from eastern Myanmar and Bangladesh facing religious and ethnic persecution. Some migrants faced torture and starvation in the jungle camps. The country's reputation further suffered after reports of labor violations and slave labor in its huge seafood industry. Despite the current crackdown and trial, the United States' annual Trafficking in Persons report kept Thailand for a second year on Tier 3—the lowest tier—for failing to comply with the minimum US standards for the elimination of trafficking. "The Thai government needs to show its sincerity about prosecuting traffickers by seriously stepping up efforts to protect witnesses who will point fingers at the corrupt officials and Rohingya trafficking gangs," said Robertson. The post Activists Call For Witness Protection as Major Thai Human Trafficking Trial Begins appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Japan Cabinet OKs Record Defense Budget Amid China Concern Posted: 24 Dec 2015 05:23 PM PST From left, Indonesia’s Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, Indonesia Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani attend a meeting at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo, Friday, December 18, 2015. (Photo: Eugene Hoshiko / Reuters) TOKYO — Japan's Cabinet approved a record-high military spending plan Thursday, endorsing proposals to purchase pricey U.S. surveillance drones and F-35 fighter jets as Tokyo steps up cooperation with Washington amid China's increasingly assertive activity in regional seas. The 5.1 trillion yen ($42.1 billion) proposal is part of a 96.7 trillion yen ($800 billion) national budget plan for the year beginning April 2016, also an all-time high. The entire package requires parliamentary approval. Military spending would rise 1.5 percent from this year, the fourth annual increase under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who ended a decade of defense budget cuts. The defense budget is the first since Japan enacted new security legislation in September enhancing the country's military role and since Japan revised its bilateral defense guidelines with the US earlier in the year to allow broader cooperation between the two allies. The new security law divided Japanese public opinion, with opponents saying it would increase the possibility of Japan becoming embroiled in a US-led war. Japan is bolstering defense of its southern islands, where it has a territorial dispute with China. The budget plan also includes the purchase of an advanced Aegis radar-equipped destroyer with missile defense capability, submarine construction and sonar development. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei urged Japan to "draw lessons from history, adhere to the path of peaceful development, and play a constructive role in safeguarding regional peace and stability." He said Chinese defense policy is "defensive in nature," and its military spending is kept at "a reasonable level." Japan's Defense Ministry plans to spend 14.8 billion yen ($118 million) next year for part of a multibillion-dollar, multi-year purchase of three "Global Hawk" unmanned drones, as well as 138 billion yen ($1.1 billion) for six F-35 fighter jets and 23 billion yen ($190 million) for a Boeing KC-46A midair refueling aircraft. "We believe the budget includes items that would contribute to enhancing Japan-US cooperation in the area of ISR (information, surveillance and reconnaissance)," Defense Ministry official Tomoki Matsuo said. Japan also pays 193 billion yen ($1.6 billion) a year for about 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan under a bilateral security treaty, more than half of them on Okinawa—a major source of friction between the central government and residents of the southern island frustrated with the decades-long burden. The cost of moving some of them to Guam and a contentious plan to move a US Marine air base from the crowded Futenma area to a less-populated part of Okinawa was also added to the budget. Japan is constructing a Soryu-class submarine, among the world's largest, and developing a new sonar system. It is competing against Germany and France to jointly develop Australia's next-generation submarine fleet. In a bid to step up its island defense, Japan is also purchasing 17 SH-60K helicopters and 36 combat tanks as well as amphibious vehicles. The post Japan Cabinet OKs Record Defense Budget Amid China Concern appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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