Friday, November 25, 2016

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Malaysia to Summon Burmese Ambassador as Protests Mount Over Treatment of Rohingya

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 09:00 AM PST

Protesters across Southeast Asia demonstrate against the rising violence in Arakan State.

The post Malaysia to Summon Burmese Ambassador as Protests Mount Over Treatment of Rohingya appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Trade Between Maungdaw and Bangladesh Halted

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 08:36 AM PST

With the border trade gate between Maungdaw and Teknaf closed, merchants find themselves unable to sell their goods.

The post Trade Between Maungdaw and Bangladesh Halted appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Explosion Hits Rangoon Divisional Govt Office

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 07:14 AM PST

Sources say the blast was caused by glass energy drink bottles filled with chemical liquids; there were no casualties and no reported injuries.

The post Explosion Hits Rangoon Divisional Govt Office appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

In Maungdaw, a Solution to Ethnic Violence Remains Elusive

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 07:06 AM PST

The Irrawaddy visits Arakan State's Maungdaw Township to gain a better understanding of what has been happening since violence erupted in October.

The post In Maungdaw, a Solution to Ethnic Violence Remains Elusive appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Death Toll Rises in Shan State

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 06:29 AM PST

Three more civilian deaths occur as heavy fighting continues between the Burma Army and the 'Northern Alliance' in Shan State.

The post Death Toll Rises in Shan State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Women’s Rights Activists Kick Off 16-Day Campaign Against Gender-Based Violence

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 06:22 AM PST

'Now is an emergency situation. It's time to tackle these cases of violence,' says Ma Lwin Lwin Hlaing of Action Aid Myanmar.

The post Women's Rights Activists Kick Off 16-Day Campaign Against Gender-Based Violence appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NLD Leader Urges Patience with New Government

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 06:15 AM PST

Since riding to power on the slogan 'Vote the NLD for Change,' critics accuse the NLD of being slow to deliver on its promises.

The post NLD Leader Urges Patience with New Government appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Muse 105th Mile Trade Zone Abandoned

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 04:39 AM PST

Many truck drivers say they fear being stopped on the Lashio-Muse road and made to pay money to ethnic armed groups.

The post Muse 105th Mile Trade Zone Abandoned appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Police Investigating Rangoon Explosions

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 03:44 AM PST

'Homemade explosive' used in three recent similar incidents have not caused any injuries or deaths.

The post Police Investigating Rangoon Explosions appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Parliament Rejects Arakan MPs’ Proposal

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 03:26 AM PST

Arakan National Party parliamentarians air grievances after the Lower House rejects their urgent proposal on Arakan State violence.

The post Parliament Rejects Arakan MPs' Proposal appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Market Prices Increase Amid Shan State Clashes

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 02:44 AM PST

The retail prices of Chinese goods in Mandalay's Zay Cho Market increase 10 percent after clashes in northern Shan State disrupt trade.

The post Market Prices Increase Amid Shan State Clashes appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Malaysia Will Not Abandon Soccer Tournament

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 02:30 AM PST

Malaysia will not withdraw from a Burma co-hosted Asean tournament days after a minister threatened to leave in protest of Arakan State crackdowns.

The post Malaysia Will Not Abandon Soccer Tournament appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burmese and Chinese Officials Hold Talks Over Shan State Conflict

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 11:04 PM PST

The People's Liberation Army complains that 13 heavy artillery shells—fired from Burma—have landed and exploded in Chinese territory.

The post Burmese and Chinese Officials Hold Talks Over Shan State Conflict appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

West Voices Growing Concern Over Arakan State Violence

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 09:50 PM PST

Sources say Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is 'upset' over a meeting of top-level Western diplomats in Naypyidaw.

The post West Voices Growing Concern Over Arakan State Violence appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indonesians Protest Persecution of Rohingya Muslims

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 09:33 PM PST

Hundreds of Indonesians, angered over the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Burma, protest outside the Burmese Embassy in the Indonesian capital.

The post Indonesians Protest Persecution of Rohingya Muslims appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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National News

National News

Explosions target South Dagon township immigration office

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 12:58 AM PST

Four explosions detonated at the South Dagon township immigration office yesterday afternoon appear to have been caused by homemade water bottle bombs. The immigration office was the third location to be targeted in similar attacks occurring over the past week, after two retail outlets in Yangon reported similar incidents.

Truck passenger is latest casualty in northern Shan fighting

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 11:46 PM PST

A passenger in a truck loaded with fruits en route to Muse was shot dead on the highway connecting the border town to Kutkai yesterday, according to a statement from the State Counsellor's Office.

New taskforce to be formed to investigate Rakhine violence

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 11:45 PM PST

A national-level committee will be formed to investigate conditions in northern Rakhine State after an upsurge in violence following October 9 attacks on Border Guard posts, a government spokesperson has announced.

Officials talk education, reconciliation on National Day

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 11:44 PM PST

The National League for Democracy's patron championed the importance of education while acknowledging that some are eager for more rapid improvements to the system at a ceremony marking the 96th anniversary of National Day at the party's headquarters yesterday.

ADB loan targets health infrastructure

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 11:41 PM PST

Myanmar is set to receive a portion of a US$117 million Asian Development Bank loan aimed at combating emerging infectious diseases.

Forestry dept offers assurances, admits flaws in wake of lawsuit

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 11:36 PM PST

The Forestry Department has broken its silence after a Swedish court last week penalised an importer of Myanmar teak, dramatically calling into question the country's documenting processes for timber sourcing.

JICA ODA loan projects slated for 2017 completion

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 11:28 PM PST

All of the projects under a poverty-reduction development loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency are set to be completed by June 2017, the Japanese government aid agency says.

Positive change in relations between CSOs and government

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 11:25 PM PST

Representatives from more than 150 civil society organisations gathered in Yangon over this past week to discuss Myanmar's health system and the role that local organisations can play in improving it.

Magwe chief minister donates lunch to those in custody

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 11:24 PM PST

A former political prisoner himself, Magwe Region Chief Minister U Aung Moe Nyo kept inmates and defendants in mind on his birthday yesterday.

State counsellor advocates rights for the disabled

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 11:12 PM PST

State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi voiced support this week for equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities.
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Shan Herald Agency for News

Shan Herald Agency for News

New Year called off in Northern Shan due to ongoing conflict

Posted: 25 Nov 2016 06:15 AM PST

Townships in northern Shan State, including Muse, Hsenwi and Namkham, have said that they will not hold Shan New Year celebrations next week due to security concerns.


Sai Myat Aung, the general secretary of the Shan Literature and Culture Association in Muse, said that due to intensified fighting between Burmese armed forces and ethnic armed groups in the area, they have decided to cancel all festivities.

Muse Township traditionally hosts one of the grandest Shan New Year's celebrations with stage performances featuring music and dance. This year, Shan New Year falls on November 30.
"Right now, the situation is uncertain," Sai Myat Aung told Shan Herald today. "No one can take responsibility for security. If anything happens, innocent people could suffer. That's why we decided not to hold it."

He said that, last year, two residents were arrested by an ethnic armed group during Shan New Year but no one took responsibility for the incident.

Clashes broke out on November 20 between the Burmese army and an ethnic alliance – the Arakan Army (AA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) – an armed coalition that has named itself the "Northern Alliance". Since then, thousands of people from Muse Township have fled their homes, with more than 3,000 seeking refuge across the border in China.

On November 22, Shan Herald reported that following rumors that renewed fighting would erupt, many business owners closed their shops and joined the exodus, leaving the town of Muse – one of Burma's major border trading points – eerily quiet.

Fighting continues. Clashes have broken out not only in Muse but also in other areas, including Namkham and Kutkai townships. The attacks are generally targeted at police stations and Burmese army outposts. According to Burma's State Counselor's Office, at least 10 civilians are among the dead, with more than 30 injured.

By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)

To Hopeland and Back: The 23rd trip

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 10:55 PM PST

Day Six. Thursday, 10 November 2016

It's just a military rule under democratic cover.
One EAO leader, 9 November 2016

The Parami Hotel
(Photo: Trip Advisor)
Today, the 5 day workshop of the signatory EAOs begins at the Parami Hotel in Mayangon in preparation for the National level Political Dialogues (ND) due to be launched by the end of the month. And I'm there to talk with the participants, 5 from each EAO, each individual participant responsible for one of the dialogue topics: Politics, Security and Defense, Social, Economic and Land and Natural Resources Management.

 I'm therefore present at the meeting between some foreign busy bodies and two of the EAO representatives there. Here are some extracts from their talks:

·         At the top we are friendly to each other. But at the ground level, things haven't changed much more than before we signed the NCA.

·         Our basic difference is in our outlooks:

To the government, we are rebels (Thaung Gyan Thu, meaning rampagers, in Burmese)
To us, the government and the military are invaders.
These need to be overcome by both sides.

·         The 6 point principles of the Tatmadaw? # 1-4 are okay, but #5-6 are against the NCA, confusing even its own officers and men

·         The State Counselor has strangely been silent on continuing offensives against  the non-signatories

·         (On development projects) it's not that we are against development. The problem with these government initiated projects is that they come together with the oppressive system we've been fighting against for more than 60 years. The people want development, but not in this way.

Green Hill Hotel
(Photo: chiangdao.com)
I later have an hour of reunion with my childhood schoolmates at Sanchaung's Loi Hserm Hsip restaurant near the Winsor Hotel. Then to Green Hill Hotel to attend an CT-DPN pre-meeting on the Joint Coordination Body (JCB) for Peace Funding.

There is nothing new to report on the discussion on JCB, but I learn a few things about the 9-10 November meeting between the DPN and the government's PC which adjourned this afternoon:

·         The first day was generally okay. We listened to the government's explanations on the military CoC (Code of Conduct) and the ToR (Terms of Reference) for JMC (that was jointly drafted by the government and the signatories)

·         It was today when we were scheduled to discuss the remaining points of our 9-point proposal that the tone changed
(Photo: mizzima)


·         There were two questions put forward by the DPN members, which, though not included in the 9 points, are relevant to our negotiations: It said an appeal had been sent to the government via the PC for direct KIO-Naypyitaw negotiations for the de-escalation of the ongoing fighting more than a month ago. "Isn't it about time we get the response?" There was still none. That was the first thing that soured the meeting's atmosphere. (According to General Gun Maw's written note which appeared in the Mizzima article yesterday, it took place on 9 November, and not 10th, as I'm reporting here. Of course, It's more than likely I must have been wrong about the date.)

Such things never happen during the previous government. The answers might be "Yes" or "No", but they were, almost without exceptions, prompt.

·         One problem is that the present government is too set on formal meetings, and not on informal meetings, unlike its predecessor.
Another may be that since the matter is a military one, the KIO should have sent its appeal to the military directly and copying it to the SC (or vice versa). It would then have a better chance of a quicker response.

·         Another thing which shook the meeting's atmosphere related to the DPN's inquiry on the Commander-in-Chief's 8 November speech delivered to the EU (which is best not recounted here).

·         The end result was we reached only token agreement on the 9 points, which was better than nothing. We also agreed to meet again before the end of the month. (This planned meeting has yet to take place at the time of this reporting. The PC is reportedly due to visit China, 26 November-2 December.)

At 22:00, I'm back at my hotel.


TNLA issued ‘fake news’ about seizing outposts: RCSS/SSA

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 10:31 PM PST

Following a statement by the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), claiming that it had seized bases belonging to the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), the RCSS has responded, denying the claim and labeling it "fake news."


The TNLA's News and Information Department published on its Facebook page on November 24 a report that it had captured RCSS/SSA mountain outposts in Mantong Township in the Palaung [Ta'ang] Self-Administered Zone.

"There were nine remaining RCSS outposts in Montong," read the TNLA statement. "At about 6pm on November 23, those remaining bases were captured, including the outposts at Mawnoe, Namhai and Mawni."

But according to Lt-Col Sai Nguen, the RCSS/SSA spokesperson, the information published by the TNLA was incorrect. He said that his group had not been active in that area for a long time, and that no fighting was currently taking place.

"It's fake news," he said. "How can our group fight with them when we are no longer active in the area?"

The Shan rebel spokesman added: "We moved out of that area because we wanted to avoid confrontations with them [TNLA]."

Following a series of clashes between two ethnic militias, other armed groups have urged them to hold talks and find peaceful ways to end the fighting. However, no such meeting has yet been held.
Clashes between the RCSS/SSA and the TNLA (also referred to as the Palaung Army) first broke out in November 2015, only a month after eight ethnic armed groups including the RCSS/SSA signed a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the Burmese government. The TNLA was excluded from the accord by Naypyidaw.

Earlier this week, the TNLA, in a joint operation alongside its allies the Arakan Army (AA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), launched offensives against Burmese government forcesin northern parts of Shan State, including Muse, Namkham and Kutkai townships.

"As they [TNLA] are currently engaged against the Burmese army, it is not true to say that they are fighting with us," said the RCSS/SSA Peace Team Secretary Lt-Col Sai Nguen. "They cannot launch an offensive against us at the same time."

Shan Herald attempted to reach TNLA for comment, but has yet to receive a response.

INVESTIGATE AUNG SAN SUU KYI FOR THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE

Posted: 24 Nov 2016 07:35 PM PST

Genocide is being perpetrated in Burma, against the Rohingya ethnic group. Other crimes against humanity are also being perpetrated, against other ethnic nationalities who live in the country's active war zones.

In response to these crises, the United Nations Security Council must take action. An Emergency Meeting should be called. The world must intervene to stop the persecution.

The culprit for all of these crimes is the nation's military dictatorship, as implemented through the Burma Army, the police, other security organs, and affiliated organizations. The regime's ideological foundation is a racist/ultranationalist belief that the Burman ethnic group is superior to all of the country's other peoples, and that it should dominate - if need be by force. For the genocide, the dictatorship has both incited the widespread attitude that the Rohingya people should be exterminated, and led the way in attacking their communities. The other ethnic nationalities in turn have been attacked as part of regime offensives into their homelands.

The crime of genocide is covered by an International Convention. Crimes against humanity are covered under the Rome Statute (genocide is included here as well). They are prosecuted in international tribunals (Yugoslavia, Rwanda) and the International Criminal Court.

The genocide convention extends the crime to individuals who bear complicity. Similarly, the Rome Statute extends criminal responsibility to an individual who "In any other way contributes to the commission or the attempted commission of such a crime by a group of persons acting with a common purpose."

Member states of the ICC have the power to refer to the Court situations where there is evidence that genocide and other crimes against humanity are being perpetrated. The ICC then appoints a Prosecutor, who decides if the evidence warrants a formal investigation, out of which indictments, trial, and punishment may follow.

Legal experts at Queen Mary University of London's International State Crime Initiative have completed their own investigation for Burma and concluded that the Rohingya are being subjected to genocide, and that State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has entrenched their persecution. She has refused to speak about the genocide, and instead uses "the tactics of blanket denial, an absolute ban on international observation, severe limitations on humanitarian access within the region, the muzzling of the press, and the 'blacklisting' and deportation of human rights activists."

In the other ethnic nationality areas, where the Burma Army is acting as an invading, conquering force, she has also refused to mention, much less condemn, the Army's atrocities. Instead, she is demanding that the ethnic pro-democracy forces that defend the people in these areas stop their defense and instead sign the so-called Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, which is in fact a fake ceasefire since it in no way limits the Army's aggression.

Suu Kyi's actions have empowered the military dictatorship and its racist followers. For all intents and purposes she has granted them immunity. She is complicit - intentionally complicit - in their crimes. She must be held responsible. Members of the ICC should be lobbied to initiate an investigation. As part of this, the Burma Army, starting with its leading generals, as well as the leaders of other parties which are involved in the crimes (Buddhist monks, Rakhine groups), must be investigated - and indicted - as well.

Link Story : http://www.dictatorwatch.org/prSuuKyigenocide.html
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