The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Authorities to Transfer Student Court Cases to Remote Tharawaddy District
- Union Parliament Passes Population Control Bill
- A Burmese Publisher Turns the Page on an Era of Repression
- Annual Drought Plagues Inle Lake
- Local Recruiters Suspended After Dalny Vostok Sinking
- ‘If We’re Going to Compete, We Need the Support of Our Regulator’
- ‘They Say It’s a Symbol of Prosperity!’
- How One Father’s Letters to the Government Got Him Convicted
- Police Arrest 14 Chaung Tha Beach Brawlers
- Six-Party Talks Due Late This Week
- Blackmail and Abuse: Gay Sex Ban in India Stirs Violence
- Fast-Growing Asian Aviation Confronts Safety Challenges
- One Reported Dead After Pollution Protest in Northern China
| Authorities to Transfer Student Court Cases to Remote Tharawaddy District Posted: 07 Apr 2015 07:16 AM PDT           LETPADAN, Pegu Division — Seventy students who have been detained since a brutal police crackdown last month appeared at Letpadan Township Court on Tuesday, where there were emotional scenes as friends and family saw their loved ones in handcuffs while they were being brought into the court building. Lawyers involved in the case said Tuesday's proceedings were related to a plan by authorities to transfer the case from Letpadan to a court in the more remote Tharawady District, where the detained have been kept in prison. They said it was likely that the students would face a string of criminal charges that would be brought by authorities in the various townships that they passed through during their protest march in recent months. "The [Tharawaddy] district attorney general submitted a letter [requesting] to transfer all these cases to Tharawaddy District Court," said Khin Moe Moe, of the Myanmar Lawyers' Network, adding that Letpadan Court would decide on Thursday whether or not the cases would be transferred. She said she believed the transfer was being requested because authorities were worried about popular support for the students and thought it would be easier to have them stand trial close to Tharawaddy Prison. "They are transferring the case for security reasons," said Khin Moe Moe, who represents 13 defendants. Robert San Aung, who leads the Myanmar Lawyers' Network team that is providing counsel to the students, said the court had yet to formally accept charges against the students. He said, however, that it was likely that authorities in each of the townships that the students passed through on their protest march would seek to push charges against the defendants—an approach that could result in lengthy court procedures. "Every township where students walked through during the march will charge them," Robert San Aung told reporters. The lawyer said he had visited the defendants in prison and found that some were struggling to recover from head wounds they sustained during the police crackdown. "Some specialist doctors should come from Yangon to volunteer and give them treatment," he said. On Tuesday morning, the students sang songs as they were trucked into the court compound and in the afternoon police let one family member spend about 30 minutes with each of the detainees as they waited during a break in the court proceedings. Khin Khin Yu, the mother of detained student Min Thwe Thhit, said she was worried about his well-being as she believed he was not receiving proper medical care for a broken hand that he sustained during the police crackdown. "I am worried for my son. I want to know whether he will have a chance to get an x-ray check at the hospital in prison, because they do not provide good treatment to them," she said. During the proceedings, Khin Khin Yu expressed her anger at authorities, shouting at the police, "Is there any transparency in this court? You guys are very brutal people. My son is not a rebel, why do you lock him up?" Ni Ni Htwe, the mother of detained student Thiha Win Tin, said, "Where is the 'good and clean government' of President Thein Sein? His speeches are sweet like a honey, but his government beat my son and other students. These students are just peaceful protesters." Later, journalists were allowed to briefly talk to some of the students and The Irrawaddy managed to speak with Nandar Sit Aung, a prominent student activist who was arrested in Rangoon on March 27 for his role in the Letpadan protest. "Today they added charges under articles 505(b) and 143 at the court in Letpadan. They have charged me with a lot of different charges," said the activist, who in 2004 was handed a 17-year prison sentence by the former military regime for his activism, a sentence that was later commuted by President Thein Sein as part of a broader political prisoner amnesty. Nandar Sit Aung said the Thein Sein government was "in the middle of the road from authoritarianism to democracy. Now, they can go towards democracy if they negotiate with our student movement—or they can go back to the past of the military regime and put us in prison." From Jan. 20 to early March, the group of more than 100 students and supporters marched from Mandalay to Rangoon to call for an overhaul of the Education Law. Authorities opposed the unauthorized march and stopped the main column of protestors at Letpadan, in southern Pegu Division, early last month. A tense standoff between authorities and students led to a confrontation on March 10 when a large deployment of riot police violently dispersed the demonstration by beating and detaining dozens. Lawyers have said the detained could face various charges including unlawful assembly, rioting, incitement and causing harm to a public servant. Some of the charges carry penalties of up to three years under articles 143, 145, 147, 332 and 505 (b) of Burma's Penal Code. On March 25, the court released 11 defendants on bail as they were Letpadan residents who had sought to coordinate logistics around the student protest when it was held up at the town for a week. Khin Moe Moe, of the Myanmar Lawyers' Network, said four underage students, including one 14-year-old defendant, were among the remaining detained. She said lawyers would request that authorities give them special treatment and transfer them from Tharawaddy Prison to a juvenile detention facility. "Underage [defendants] are involved in this case… According to laws for juveniles, you cannot handcuff them or put them in a [regular] prison," she said. The post Authorities to Transfer Student Court Cases to Remote Tharawaddy District appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Union Parliament Passes Population Control Bill Posted: 07 Apr 2015 05:50 AM PDT  Lawmakers stand as the parliamentary speaker, unseen, enters during a Union Parliament regular session in Naypyidaw on March 26, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — A bill that opponents say threatens to curb women's reproductive rights was passed by Burma's Union Parliament on Monday, with the controversial legislation now awaiting the president's signature before it goes into effect. The government-run Myanma Alinn newspaper reported on Tuesday that the so-called "Population Control Bill" was approved by lawmakers during the 12th parliamentary session in Naypyidaw. The bill contains a contested provision mandating that women wait three years between birthing children, with human rights activists and women's advocates saying the restriction is an assault on female reproductive rights. Deputy Attorney General Tun Tun Oo, whose office was involved in drafting the bill, told The Irrawaddy in February that the new legislation would help improve health care services for women in impoverished regions of the country. "The bill is aimed at providing full health care services and education [for women] in poor regions. It is only for those who want to observe [rules] out of their own volition," he said, adding: "The law carries no restrictions nor punitive actions against those do not want to obey [the birthing restriction]." Though there do not appear to be punitive measures in place if the 36-month birth spacing requirement is violated, a coalition of civil society groups in December warned that children born not in line with the rules of the bill might be at risk of not being registered by local authorities. Under the bill, divisional and state governments are granted the ability to request a presidential order limiting reproductive rates if it is determined that population growth, accelerating birth rates, or rising infant or maternal mortality rates are negatively impacting regional development. An "imbalance between population and resources, low socio-economic indicators and regional food insufficiency because of internal migration" can also be cited in invoking the law. The regional government, under such circumstances, is tasked with working with undefined "experts" to make such a determination. If the president approves the request, a "special region" is designated, triggering the law's provisions, including the birth spacing restriction and the formation of a "delivery services body" to administer health care in coordination with the Ministry of Health. The special region designation can be repealed if it is found to be no longer necessary. May Sabe Phyu, director of the Gender Equality Network, told The Irrawaddy that some of the measures in the bill would make a positive contribution to Burma's health care system, but she argued that those positive aspects—including education on family planning—should be applied nationwide and not on a selective basis. The birth spacing restriction, she added, was inappropriate. "It's not necessary to limit the regions [affected by the bill]. How many [children] and when a baby is conceived depend on personal choice and it is not necessary to enact the law," she said. Some activists believe the Population Control Bill could also be an attempt to control Muslim majority populations in areas of northern Arakan State, where approximately one million stateless Rohingya Muslims live. In 2013, local authorities in the area tried to introduce a two-child limit in Muslim-majority areas, claiming population growth rates were too high in the impoverished region. David Mathieson, a Burma researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch, told The Irrawaddy that the legislation "has the potential to seriously imperil women's rights and distort genuine measures of birth control." "The worrying undercurrent of the law, especially stemming from the 2012 violence in Rakhine [Arakan] State and the dreadful government commission report that was produced, seems to be measures aimed at reducing the Muslim population count and the Rohingya population in particular." The bill was approved by Parliament's Upper House in February and passed by the Lower House in March. With the Union Parliament signing off on it this week, the law will go to the desk of President Thein Sein. He can sign it into law as passed on Monday, or send the legislation back to Parliament with suggestions appended. The Population Control Bill is at the most advanced stage of the legislative process among a package of four pieces of legislation known as the "Race and Religion Protection Laws." The other three bills would ban polygamy; create administrative hurdles to a spouse's religious conversion; and require that couples in an interfaith relationship seek permission to marry from local authorities. The four bills have had the vocal backing of the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion (known in Burmese as Ma Ba Tha), a group of Buddhist nationalist monks that has been accused of spreading anti-Muslim hate speech and whipping up nationalist sentiment in the country. Mathieson said passage of the bill on Monday was indicative of a transition "going in the wrong direction in so many ways." "It is also demonstrates the almost complete absence of political leadership across the spectrum who is willing to take a principled stand and declare these race and religion laws to be a clear threat to Burma's stability and tolerance, so necessary in a plural and diverse society," he said. Additional reporting by The Irrawaddy's Paul Vrieze. The post Union Parliament Passes Population Control Bill appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| A Burmese Publisher Turns the Page on an Era of Repression Posted: 07 Apr 2015 04:40 AM PDT  Burmese publisher and author San Mon Aung at his Ngar Doe Sar Pay retail shop in Rangoon. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — School was a bust for San Mon Aung, a well-to-do kid growing up in the aftermath of Burma's 1988 uprising. It was all palm juice, card games and women, he said, not enough to satisfy his intellectual ambitions. At 17 years old, San Mon Aung dropped out of Thanlyin Government College and stumbled blindly into the world of publishing, a world still stifled by the country's strict censorship rules and trying economic circumstances. "I didn't like the education I was getting," he told The Irrawaddy during a recent interview at his retail shop in downtown Rangoon. "I read and I just knew I wanted to publish books." At the time he knew next to nothing about publishing—or business at all, really. The early years were full of mishaps; for some time he was accruing major losses and authors were often displeased by the quality of his bookmaking. Looking back on it now, he describes the physical quality of first book he published—an anthology of short stories by Burmese writers, including himself—as "embarrassingly bad." But what he lacked in experience and industry prowess, he made up for in other ways. "I know who is writing good books," he said matter-of-factly. San Mon Aung was also lucky, of course. He came from a rich family, and they supported him throughout the rocky start of what would later turn out to be a successful publishing house called Ngar Doe Sar Pay, which translates to Our Literature. Now with more than a decade of experience, he has published about 150 books, many of which became best-sellers and potential classics of Burmese literature. Times Have Changed During the censorship era, San Mon Aung was drawn to creative writing, mostly novels by writers such as Min Luu and Tharyar Min Wai. A writer himself, San Mon Aung has published five of his own fictional works under the pen name Myay Hmone Lwin. His most famous work, "Stone Inscriptions Cannot Be Erased," was a recollection of the 2007 Saffron Revolution, a pivotal moment in Burma's modern history that was rarely captured in the arts. There are obvious reasons for that; at the time, freedom of expression was a term that simply didn't apply in Burma. Shortly after the book was published in 2012, Ngar Doe Sar Pay was temporarily shut down because the censorship board—which would be dismantled later that year—deemed it obscene and liable to provoke unrest. Much of the book's plot took place around real events of the Saffron Revolution that the government would have preferred to suppress to the general public. Other offending passages were sexual in nature, describing in an oblique way the rebellious, reckless spirit of some of Burma's [mostly male] pro-democracy figures. The narrative included scenes of rampant womanizing, which the censorship board and some readers found distasteful. These descriptions were not always explicit, and the board interpreted some passages as social metaphor. This led to speculation that the censors' harsh response was in reaction to what they viewed as politically subversive material. One of his peers, however, a well-known blogger named Nay Phone Latt, defended the work. "There is no reason for us to criticize him for this," he said, remarking that the book's detractors were mostly elders and perhaps unaccustomed to modern themes. "As young people, we understood." After the press scrutiny board was dissolved in August 2012, San Mon Aung enjoyed a bit more freedom. Ngar Doe Sar Pay went on to publish two seminal books reflecting on Burma's politics: "Saturday Born," by former Prime Minister U Nu; and "San Chaung, Insein, Harvard," the autobiography of renowned writer and former political prisoner Ma Thida. San Mon Aung said that he began publishing those books at a time "when no one dared," testing the limits of newly promised freedoms when the Burma's reform process had just begun. Those tests proved successful in many ways, he said. While censorship has eased, however, writers and publishers now face new dilemmas such as predatory laws and preferential subsidies that benefit the government and its affiliates. But ultimately, those early publications may have broken the ice for other publishers, and the local literary scene is inundated with political writing. So much so, he said, that his company is scaling back on the genre and focusing on broader trends in creative writing. Instead of advancing a political agenda or trying to cleverly skirt barriers installed by an oppressive government, San Mon Aung's mission is now much simpler. "I read it and I publish if I like it," he said of his newly liberated selection process. The Next Chapter The future for publishers in Burma may be plagued by the country's digital makeover, an oversaturated market and the expenses of print production, but San Mon Aung sees potential for certain types of books. He said he now has two priorities: translating foreign literature into Burmese; and reviving both local and foreign accounts of Burma's past. He's also attempting to reel in a younger generation of readers by publishing a series of graphic novels by Canadian artist Guy Delisle, including "Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea" (2003); "Burma Chronicles" (2007); and Jerusalem (2011). A translation of the international bestseller "The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared", by Swedish author Jonas Jonasson, is also in the works. But his pet project is bringing back books about Burma, so readers can enjoy literature about their home country that was once hard to find. Ngar Doe Sar Pay has begun publishing a special edition of three books from English to Burmese: "From the Land of Green Ghosts" by Pascal Khoo Htwe (2002); "Golden Parasol" by Wendy Law-Yone (2014); and "The King in Exile" by Sudha Sha (2012). The trilogy covers major historic events including the fall of the Burmese monarchy, a 1962 military coup d'état and the 1988 popular uprising, and was conceived to renew interest in the country's rich, complex and under-examined history. After all, he said, despite Burma's swift embrace of internationalism, "There are still a lot of things we don't know about our own country." The post A Burmese Publisher Turns the Page on an Era of Repression appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Annual Drought Plagues Inle Lake Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:00 AM PDT  A dried up channel linking A Lo Daw Pauk Pagoda to a monastery in Nan Pan village is seen on Friday. (Photo: Facebook / Thar Pu) MANDALAY — Southern Shan State's famed Inle Lake is again facing drought conditions that have seen many of the area's waterways dry up and access to clean water reduced. Though boating through the lake's central reservoir remains possible, water levels are significantly lower at the villages of Ywa Ma and Nant Huu, located on the southwest end of the lake near the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, and at the waterway south to Nang Pan village. "To restore the waterways, dredging the silt is urgently needed," said Thar Gyi, a resident of Thale Oo village. "Many of the waterways of the villages on the eastern and western banks are mostly dried up. The worst-hit villages are on the western bank." High temperatures and the failure of pre-monsoon rains to materialize this year are being blamed for the drought, which can cause particular headaches in an area that largely relies on water transport. Currently, water levels in the channel linking the lake to the tourist town of Nyaung Shwe and the entrance to Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, the lake's most famous shrine, are down considerably but motorized boats are still able to pass through. "We've informed the local authorities to dredge the waterway before summer. It was done only for the waterway to the pagoda and for the VIPs' waterway—the routes to major attractions and hotels," said a member of the pagoda's board of trustees. According to locals, many villagers are taking the channels on foot on water routes that are too shallow or have completely dried up and can no longer accommodate boats. "Climate change is affecting us a lot. Given the drought, we are now struggling to find clean water," said U Damadaza, an abbot from Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda. Many of the area's residents rely on lake water for cooking and other household tasks. "Those who can't afford bottled water have no choice," U Damadaza explained. "We hope that conservation of the forests around the lake will work as soon as possible to protect the lake." Unrelated to the drought, lake dwellers were told by local authorities through a letter of notice that water from the lake was not suitable to drink, especially during the summer months. The notice said the water's PH level, an indicator of acidity, was measured in February exceeding 8.2—a level beyond what is considered potable—and was likely to rise further in the summer. The notice also urged lake dwellers to reduce their use of chemical fertilizers on the many floating gardens that the lake hosts, with local authorities warning that consequences of unrestrained use of fertilizers included water toxicity and attendant negative impacts for the area's flora and fauna. In the summer of 2010, high temperatures and an irregular monsoon season blamed on climate change resulted in severe drought in the area, a popular tourism destination. Every year since, Inle Lake has been plagued by similar problems. "Support from authorities is needed for environmental protection of the lake. The lake dwellers also need to be educated about excessive use of chemicals on crops to protect clean water as well," said U Damadaza. "We hope the summer won't last long," he added. In Shan State, a bout of showers preceding the monsoon rains typically arrive in mid-March, with the rainy season fully setting in by June and lasting through September. The post Annual Drought Plagues Inle Lake appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Local Recruiters Suspended After Dalny Vostok Sinking Posted: 07 Apr 2015 02:27 AM PDT  Russian fishing trawler Dalny Vostok. (Photo: Itar-Tass) RANGOON — The Ministry of Transport has indefinitely suspended five local seafarer recruitment agencies that it alleged had sent Burmese nationals to work on the Russian fishing trawler Dalny Vostok, which sunk off Russia's far-eastern coast on Apr 2. Though the Department of Water Transport permits seafarer recruitment agencies, it does not allow them to send Burmese nationals to foreign fishing trawlers, and suspended the operators with immediate effect once news broke of the tragedy on Friday. "The ship to which they sent the sailors was not the one they said in their application," said Toe Myint, director of the department's Seafarers Division. "They failed to report this to us. Even if they sent them to another ship, they would have had to report this to us and seek our approval, as well as submit relevant documents to prove that the ship is recognized by us. They failed to do all these things and that's why we suspended them." A total of 161 seafarer recruitment agencies are registered with the ministry. The suspension of the five agencies is the first of its kind. Of the 42 Burmese nationals aboard the Dalny Vostok when it sank, 22 were rescued. One has been confirmed dead and nineteen others are missing. Of the suspended agencies, Sea Rider provided the vessel with 27 sailors, while the rest were recruited by Top Chance, Asia Wave, Light Oasis and Star Global. "Sailors have fewer job opportunities in our country, so we sent them there," said Soe Tint, a spokesman for Sea Rider. "Our company is trying to take follow-up actions and we are contacting all concerned authorities to ensure some redress for the sailors." According to Aung Kyaw Moe, an attaché with the Burmese Embassy in Russia, two rescue vessels will arrive at Korsakov Port in Sakhalin with the wreck's survivors on Tuesday. "Burmese survivors have recovered from their critical condition," he said. "With regard to the missing 19 sailors, we can only check when the rescue vessels arrive to confirm if they are dead or not. We can't tell at the moment." Russia's Ministry of Labor and Social Protection will reportedly provide US$17,500 in compensation for each victim of the trawler's sinking. The post Local Recruiters Suspended After Dalny Vostok Sinking appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| ‘If We’re Going to Compete, We Need the Support of Our Regulator’ Posted: 07 Apr 2015 01:45 AM PDT  Sai Kham Park Pha, chief executive officer of Air Mandalay. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) With the gradual introduction of the Asean open skies agreement, which will over time open domestic airlines to regional competition, local carriers are facing increasing competition and regulatory pressure. One temporary casualty of the rapidly evolving aviation market was the joint venture airline Air Mandalay, which suspended its chartered flight services in December last year due to unmet upgrade requirements and delays in receiving new aircraft from overseas suppliers. After reintroducing chartered flights in March, and with plans to resume scheduled flights after a nine-month hiatus at the beginning of May, Air Mandalay CEO Sai Kham Park Pha spoke with The Irrawaddy about the challenges facing the airline industry in Burma. What is the current state of Air Mandalay's operations? We suspended our domestic flight schedule in August last year and resumed charter flights in March this year. We're running charter flights to almost all tourist destinations here, including Mandalay, Bagan, Thandwe and Myitkyina. Our scheduled flights will resume on May 1. Why were flights suspended? It has taken time to import new aircraft. Two new aircraft that are coming now were supposed to arrive last year, but they were delayed. That's why we suspended all flights. What major challenges are domestic airlines facing at the moment? The major factors are competition, human resources and financial support. We have to wait two years to get new pilots, and then it's another six or seven years before they are fully professional. Then we have to train other employees for commercial operations, like ticketing and marketing. Capital injections are not that much of a concern, as we have had many investors even during the grounding. Competition is increasing as the Asean open skies policy is beginning here. Many domestic operators opposed this policy, but I agree with what the government is doing. We have been an underdeveloped industry, so we need to go into the real world to compete or we will stay like this. If we're going to compete, we require the support of our regulator [the Ministry of Transport] and other airline associations. It will be easy to compete with other regional operators if we start now. Do you think that other regional competitors might monopolize the domestic industry when the open skies policy is fully introduced? There will be many limitations placed on domestic airlines to comply with open skies regulations. For example, the regulator can limit the exact investment ratio and access to airports. We know that we have to open proper international airports at Naypyidaw, Rangoon and Mandalay. But I think the government will not open space for regional competitors at crowded domestic airports like Nyaung-U, Heho and Thandwe. Other ways to protect local carriers should also be considered by the government. Which regional budget carriers would be your major competitors? All would be competitors, small or big. How to compete would be a different story. I mean how they will differentiate themselves, as a budget carrier, legacy airline or hybrid, depending on their target market. What do you think the government needs to do to support the local aviation industry? To say would be like drafting a shopping list, there are many things needed. I realise the government can't do many things at the same time, not only in the case of airlines but other industries as well. Things will gradually develop, what we need is to survive during this transition period. The post 'If We're Going to Compete, We Need the Support of Our Regulator' appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| ‘They Say It’s a Symbol of Prosperity!’ Posted: 07 Apr 2015 12:59 AM PDT  “They say it’s a symbol of prosperity!” The post ‘They Say It’s a Symbol of Prosperity!’ appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| How One Father’s Letters to the Government Got Him Convicted Posted: 07 Apr 2015 12:37 AM PDT  Brang Shawng, pictured, was found guilty on Feb. 13 of defamation under Article 211 of the Penal Code. Shortly after his daughter's death, Brang Shawng sat down to write the first of two letters that would eventually get him convicted. He wrote to the president of Myanmar first, and then to the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, wanting to know what had happened to his daughter, whom he believed had been shot by the Myanmar military. "A submission is made with great respect," he wrote to the president, "to find out the truth in connection with the killing, without a reason, of an innocent student, my daughter Ma Ja Seng Ing, who wore a white and green school uniform." In the letter, he recalled the day in his village clearly. It was Sept. 13, 2012, in an area of conflict between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar military in the north of the country. A column of Myanmar Army soldiers had been in the village since before dawn. Late that afternoon, as the column was preparing to leave, there was a loud bomb blast. Then suddenly, soldiers shooting, and the sound of shouting and crying as villagers tried to take cover. "It was just like the end of the world," Brang Shawng wrote. He hid with his wife and two children in their home. But one of their children was not with them: his 14-year-old daughter, Ja Seng Ing. She had been on her way home from school with friends when the bomb went off and shooting ensued. She and a few others, including a teacher, took shelter, crouching in a nearby ditch behind a thin, hanging tarpaulin. According to eyewitness accounts, two soldiers approached the hiding place, screaming for the group to come out. Shots were fired. In the moments after, the teacher found Ja Seng Ing bleeding so heavily that the blood stained the ground. When soldiers brought Brang Shawng to his daughter, she was pale in her green and white school uniform. Three hours would pass before they reached the hospital; Ja Seng Ing died on the operating table. Two independent investigations—one by a coalition of Kachin community-based organizations called the Truth Finding Committee and another by Fortify Rights—support Brang Shawng's conclusion that the military killed his daughter. The military, however, alleges in its own investigation that a mine laid by the Kachin Independence Army killed Ja Seng Ing. Almost five months after writing his letters, Brang Shawng received a response. The Myanmar military was bringing a criminal case against him for making "false charges." Over the course of two years, according to Fortify Rights, Brang Shawng appeared in court 45 times to face those charges. Many hearings were canceled because the charging military officer failed to appear. Finally, on Feb. 13, 2015, there was a ruling. The Hpakant Township Court convicted Brang Shawng, giving him the option to serve a six-month prison term or pay a 50,000 kyats (US$50) fine. Brang Shawng is appealing his conviction. As he said in one of his letters, he wishes for an army that "is not the army that shoots at a student and the people, but gives protection to the people." And as he wrote in the other, he does not want other parents to experience the suffering that he has endured. Even before Brang Shawng's conviction, we at the International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC) at Harvard Law School had been following this case closely. In December 2014, the IHRC, along with Amnesty International, Fortify Rights, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists and Physicians for Human Rights, addressed an open letter to President Thein Sein calling for the charges against Brang Shawng to be dropped. This case and recent events highlight the need for action to prevent military intimidation of rights defenders and to ensure an environment in which individuals and communities can safely speak out about rights abuses. Tyler Giannini is co-director of the International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC) at Harvard Law School, and Matthew Thiman and Courtney Svoboda are students in the IHRC. The post How One Father's Letters to the Government Got Him Convicted appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Police Arrest 14 Chaung Tha Beach Brawlers Posted: 07 Apr 2015 12:26 AM PDT  A bicycle rental business on the beach at Chaung Tha. (Photo: Salai Thant Zin) PATHEIN — Police have arrested 14 people after a brawl between vendors and local officials at Irrawaddy Division's Chaung Tha beach on Sunday. A team of locals and municipal workers were clearing vendors set up on the beach on Sunday evening when some of the sellers became unruly, assaulting village administrator Tay Zar Aung and ward administrator Win Bo, according to the local police force. "This was the third day we were doing this duty," said Tay Zar Aung. "We were explaining to the unlawful vendors that we had to seize their stalls, and they came out holding sticks and threatened to beat us. As we were asking them to not attack us, a group of female vendors began taking seized goods from our vehicle. We grabbed things back from them and then they attacked us." Tay Zar Aung filed a complaint with the local police station, which has charged vendor Myint Kyi and 13 others for attacking the public servants. "Vendors hit the beach regulation enforcement team as they were clearing the beach, doing their duty," police officer Ohn Kyaw told The Irrawaddy. "Fourteen defendants including Daw Myint Kyi have been remanded in custody. They are being detained because they can't be bailed under the charge they are facing." Eight of those detained are female vendors. Of the other six, three were visitors to the beach. The Pathein General Administration Department issued an order last year which banned vendors, the use of motorized vehicles and littering along the beach. The beach regulations enforcement team takes periodic action against lawbreakers, which includes the seizure of stalls and goods from vendors. Local vendor Aye Sandar said that beach sellers had suffered from frequent seizures by the enforcement team. "They have not allocated us us a proper place on the beach to sell, in spite of our request. Then they have seized our things, which makes a lot of trouble for those of us who have to make a living from selling things here," she said. Administrator Tay Zar Aung told The Irrawaddy that hawkers were allowed to sell things on the beach, and it was only vendors running stalls who were banned from the area. "Hawkers are allowed on the beach," he said. "But when vendors put up stalls on the beach in a disorderly way, the beach is full of them, and beachgoers don't even have a place to relax. They sleep, cook, litter and relieve themselves on the beach. In the long run, this would damage the beach. That's why we enforce the regulations, to ensure the beauty and sustainability of the beach." Chaung Tha beach has seen an increasing number of visitors in recent years and mostly caters to local travelers. There are at least 70 vendors and 250 hawkers working on the beach. The post Police Arrest 14 Chaung Tha Beach Brawlers appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Six-Party Talks Due Late This Week Posted: 06 Apr 2015 10:32 PM PDT  People buy copies of a proposed draft Constitution for Burma at a bookstore in Rangoon on April 10, 2008. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Discussions on constitutional reform involving leaders from the government, military, Parliament, political opposition and an ethnic minority representative have been scheduled for Friday, according to an ethnic politician who will join the so-called "six-party talks" this week. Aye Maung, the Arakan National Party chairman selected to represent ethnic minorities' interests at the dialogue, told The Irrawaddy that Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann announced the April 10 sit-down during a meeting with representatives from political parties at Parliament on Monday. "He announced the date and told us to make preparations for the talks that will be held in Naypyidaw at noon on April 10, while providing no other details," Aye Maung said. The Arakanese leader said it was the first time the government had revealed the exact date of talks to discuss reform of the military-drafted 2008 Constitution since the Union Parliament passed a resolution in November that urged the convening of a six-party dialogue. Parliament's proposal, apparently to be realized this week, sought a meeting involving President Thein Sein, Burma Army commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing, parliamentary speakers Shwe Mann and Khin Aung Myint, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Aye Maung. In another resolution by Parliament, Thein Sein was urged on Jan. 22 to initiate the proposed six-party discussion as soon as possible. Last month, the Lower House leader Shwe Mann told political leaders in Naypyidaw that six-party talks pushed for by lawmakers would be held within days, after holding a private meeting with the National League for Democracy (NLD) chairwoman Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi has been advocating for four-party talks between the president, the army commander in chief, Shwe Mann and herself, a proposal rejected by the government as "not all-inclusive." To date, Thein Sein has held two meetings involving 14 and 48 political leaders, respectively, for constitutional talks that have yielded little in the way of tangible progress on the matter. Legislation on holding a public referendum concerning constitutional reform is due to be finalized during the current parliamentary session. "They seem to realize that they have to talk," Aye Maung said. "Without the six-party talks, the bill for amending the Constitution can't be submitted to the Union Parliament, they all know. If not, there will be chaos in the Union Parliament with pro- and anti-factions on amending the Constitution." The post Six-Party Talks Due Late This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Blackmail and Abuse: Gay Sex Ban in India Stirs Violence Posted: 06 Apr 2015 10:24 PM PDT  Gay activists dressed as newlywed grooms attend a gay pride parade, which is promoting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights, in Mumbai, January 31, 2015. NEW DELHI — When Rajan was followed by two men into a public toilet in Mumbai and forced to perform oral sex on them, the 31-year-old gay marketing professional realized this was the beginning of the end of his short-lived sexual freedom. "They knew I was gay. They were watching me and waiting. They filmed the whole thing and threatened to tell the police," Rajan, who did not want to disclose his full name, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Then they took me to an ATM and made me withdraw all the money I had which was 15,000 rupees ($240)… Even though society has not fully accepted us, the law was there to protect us. But now we are scared." Rajan is one of thousands of people from India’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT) who have faced persecution after the world’s largest democracy in December 2013 reinstated a colonial-era law banning gay sex, say activists. They are campaigning to reverse this ruling by the Supreme Court, arguing the reinstated law has led to a surge in reports of gangs, as well as the police, intimidating, harassing, raping, blackmailing and extorting money from LGBT people. Gay sex is punishable by up to 10 years jail under this law. "What is becoming increasingly common are gangs whose modus operandi is to befriend victims on gay dating sites, meet them in a hotel room, get them naked and take compromising pictures of them," said Sonal Giani, advocacy manager at the Humsafar Trust, a Mumbai-based charity which works for LGBT rights. "These gangs threaten to report them to the police if they don’t give them money. They often beat and sexually abuse the victims … but the victims are so scared that they generally don’t tell anyone." 'Against the Order of Nature' There are no official figures on the number of cases. Most go unreported as victims are too scared to report crimes to the police fearing the newly reinstated law is used against them. One case study in a report by the Coalition for Sex Workers and Sexuality Minority Rights documented a doctor duped into a relationship with two men who filmed him having sex and extorted 1.3 million rupees ($20,775) from him. The police were tipped off about extortion – but charged the victim. In another incident, a woman who suspected her husband was having an affair installed a webcam in their bedroom and discovered he was sleeping with men. She took the footage to police who arrested her husband. Charities like the Humsafar Trust say reports of abuse have almost trebled in the last year, with Giani documenting 500 reports of abuse of LGBT people in the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat in 2014. India has a rich history of eunuchs and male-to-female transgender people known as "hijras" who were respected and considered close confidants of emperors in the Mughal empire. But British colonizers in 1860 introduced Section 377 to legislation that prohibited "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" which was widely interpreted to refer to homosexual sex. Over the years, the country’s sexual minorities—especially transgender people who are more visible—have been driven to the fringes of society, into sex work, and face discrimination in jobs and basic services such as health and education. In 2009, however, the Delhi High Court ruled Section 377 violated constitutional guarantees for equality, privacy and freedom of expression, ending the ban on same sex relationships. Persecution and Prosecution Sachin Awasthy, advocacy officer for Pehchan, a group which provides healthcare to sexual minorities, said this watershed moment for the LGBT rights movement led to a new openness. Annual gay pride marches emerged in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), newspapers and TV stations increased coverage of LGBT issues, and India’s usually formulaic film industry introduced the issue of homosexuality. "There was more coverage of the issue in the media, in schools and colleges. People started talking about their sexuality and coming out," said Awasthy. So it came as a shock to human rights groups when the Supreme Court recriminalized gay sex 15 months ago, saying only India’s parliament could decide on Section 377. "The ruling has turned the clock back," said Amitava Sarkar, a transgender and activist from the India’s HIV/AIDS Alliance. "Britain, the country that imposed the law in India, has moved on and now permits same sex marriage, yet we in India are still living with this archaic law." She said even though the Supreme Court has since recognized transgender people as a third gender and called on the government to ensure their equal rights, it does not recognize their right to have sexual relationships. In the past year, activists say their worst fears have been realized with LGBT people harassed and now scared to come out and express their sexuality. Home Ministry figures show there were 778 cases registered under Section 377 from January to September last year, from which 587 people were arrested. There is, however, no break-up of how many of those charged were heterosexual or LGBT people. Activists say LGBT people do not hold out hope that the country’s right-wing government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will change the law in parliament. Last month India was among 43 countries in the United Nations to vote unsuccessfully to stop benefits to same-sex partners of U.N. staff. "This shows how homophobic the politicians in our country are," said Anjali Gopalan, director of the Naz Foundation, which has appealed against the Supreme Court decision. "The Indian government could have shown that they are progressive and that they support equality, but they did not. Our hopes now lie with the courts." The post Blackmail and Abuse: Gay Sex Ban in India Stirs Violence appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Fast-Growing Asian Aviation Confronts Safety Challenges Posted: 06 Apr 2015 10:20 PM PDT  An Indigo Airlines' cabin crew member goes over safety guidelines during a flight from New Delhi to Srinagar city on Nov. 21, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) HONG KONG — For Asia's aviation industry, the growing pains have just begun. A year of disasters, the disappearance of Flight 370 and financial turbulence highlight the challenges confronting the world's biggest air travel market, where governments, regulators and airlines are struggling to keep up after a decade of astonishing growth. A UN agency's warning about airline safety in Thailand, one of the world's top tourist destinations, is just the latest sign of ferment in the industry. The boom has been driven by the region's explosive economic growth and market liberalizations that have allowed dozens of new discount carriers to flourish, turning the airline business on its head. The strains are also showing in recurring pilot shortages and shortcomings in air traffic control systems and airport infrastructure that countries are scrambling to upgrade, especially in big Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia. "We're in uncharted waters," said Desmond Ross, principal at DRA International aviation consultants and former head of the Pacific Aviation Safety Office, which oversees airline safety for South Pacific islands. "I don't think the world has seen this sort of growth before." A third of airplane accidents in the Asia-Pacific region from 2008 to 2012 "involved deficiencies in regulatory oversight," the International Civil Aviation Organization said in a report this year. Another 27 percent involved "deficiencies in safety management." Meanwhile, the agency's recent audit of Thailand has produced disquieting revelations about what lies below the surface of a country that has marketed itself to the world as a safe and welcoming destination. The agency informed governments in March of "significant safety concerns," prompting several Asian nations to step up inspections of Thai airlines or block them from launching new flights and modifying schedules. The leader of Thailand's military government, which ousted its civilian predecessor in a coup last year, blamed years of neglect for allowing problems to accumulate to a critical mass. He said the civil aviation department has only 12 inspectors, a figure unchanged for years despite huge growth in tourism. The dictator has vowed to use his authoritarian powers to overhaul aviation, but it's unclear whether sweeping changes can be implemented fast enough to avoid a damaging downgrade of Thailand's safety rating. Ross said Thailand's problems are not unique and stem from the "superfast expansion that's been taking place over the last 10 years." Aside from hurting tourism, the ICAO warning could also prompt insurance companies to raise their rates for airlines operating in Thailand. Passenger numbers in Asia-Pacific have risen by a third over the past five years to 1.1 billion, and the region now accounts for 33 percent of global air passenger traffic, according to the International Air Transport Association. That proportion is forecast to grow to 42 percent within the next two decades as an extra 1.8 billion passengers take to the skies. Another big source of concern is Indonesia, where in December an AirAsia jet carrying 162 people plummeted into the sea as it ran into stormy weather on its way from Surabaya to Singapore. The disaster, which was the first ever fatal plane crash for the popular budget operator, was one of five suffered by Asian carriers in a 12-month span. The flight itself was unauthorized by Indonesian authorities, showing up laxness in its aviation oversight. Flying is often the easiest travel option in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of 17,000 islands that's home to 250 million people. IATA is worried that regulations and infrastructure aren't being updated fast enough to keep pace with Indonesia's expansion. The Southeast Asian country's air travel market is forecast to triple over the next 20 years to 270 million passengers, making it the world's sixth biggest. "I am very concerned about safety in Indonesia," IATA director general and former Cathay Pacific Airways CEO Tony Tyler said in a speech to Indonesian aviation officials in Jakarta last month. He noted the country has had at least one crash in which a plane has been written off every year since 2010. "There is a safety problem here," he said. "It's not going to solve itself." Tyler pointed out that the country needs to upgrade its air traffic management system to cope with the rising number of aircraft in the skies and future increases. Airlines have more than 800 new aircraft on order. Despite the high profile of airline disasters in 2014, stemming in part from the double Malaysia Airlines tragedies, the airline industry asserts it was a relatively safe year for flying. The total of 12 fatal accidents was below the five-year average of 19 and so called "hull losses," the write-off of airplanes from accidents fatal or nonfatal, was its lowest ever. From another perspective, however, it was a particularly tragic year. Including Flight 17 shot down over Ukraine which isn't included in the industry's accident tally, 939 people were killed in planes last year compared with 210 the previous year. But what experts say is most relevant is whether safety will be compromised as air travel expands relentlessly in a region where countries range from advanced to among the world's poorest with huge differences in capacity to manage the safety of their air space. "I think we're at a turning point where we either maintain this relatively good level of safety" in Asia "or it declines," said Ross. Discount carriers account for about 60 percent of Asia's passenger capacity, up from nearly nothing a decade ago, according to CAPA-Center For Aviation. Asian airlines have about 1,600 aircraft on order, more than are in operation, according to the group, including more than 500 ordered by Indonesia's Lion Air, which is barred from flying into European Union airspace. The surge in jet numbers is also choking major air corridors and taxing air traffic controllers. The recent disasters have led to renewed calls for reforms to unify fragmented safety regulations in Southeast Asia. The official report on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 released in March illustrated the need to bring standards in line, said Shukor Yusof, founder of Malaysia-based aviation research firm Endau Analytics. The transcript of the chatter reveals confusion between air traffic controllers in two countries as they struggle over several hours to deal with the plane's unexpected disappearance. At one point five hours after the last transmission from the Boeing 777, Malaysian and Vietnamese air traffic controllers misunderstand each other as they try to establish if search and rescue operations have been launched. The transcript shows how the miscommunications "contributed to the chaos," said Shukor. There's now "more urgency" to have a single Southeast Asian safety framework given that so many more airplanes are crossing between national air control zones. "The airspace is getting congested," he said. The post Fast-Growing Asian Aviation Confronts Safety Challenges appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| One Reported Dead After Pollution Protest in Northern China Posted: 06 Apr 2015 10:15 PM PDT  An ethnic Mongol herds a flock of sheep on the grasslands of Right Ujumchin Banner in the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, September 5, 2012. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — One person died and 50 were arrested after some 2,000 police, using rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons, put down a protest by villagers against pollution from a chemical plant in China’s Inner Mongolia, an overseas human rights group said. Inner Mongolia has seen sporadic unrest since 2011 when the vast northern region was rocked by protests after an ethnic Mongol herder was killed by a truck after taking part in demonstrations against pollution caused by a coal mine. Ethnic Mongols, who make up less than 20 percent of Inner Mongolia’s 24 million population, say their grazing lands have been ruined by mining and desertification and that the government has tried to resettle them in permanent houses. Coal rich Inner Mongolia is supposed to enjoy a high degree of self-rule, but many Mongols say the Han Chinese majority has been the main beneficiaries of economic development. In the latest incident, villagers in Naiman Banner took to the streets to protest against a chemical processing zone they said was polluting farmland and grazing land, the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre said in a statement late on Monday. The group quoted a witness as saying police used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators, leading to one death. An official who picked up the telephone at the local government said he was unable to confirm any deaths and declined to comment further. However the government posted on its official microblog on Monday that it had ordered the chemical zone to close and shift to another undisclosed location and that it would punish any rule breaking by the companies there. The government also said that it would go after protesters who blocked roads, smashed up vehicles, stoked tension or spread rumors. About 90,000 “mass incidents”—a euphemism for protests—occur each year in China, triggered by corruption, pollution, illegal land grabs and other grievances. Aware at the anger over environmental problems, the Chinese government has declared a war on pollution, vowing to abandon a decades-old growth-at-all-costs economic model that has spoiled much of China’s water, skies and soil. The post One Reported Dead After Pollution Protest in Northern China appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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