Monday, May 21, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Myanmar’s Planning and Finance Minister Submits Resignation

Posted: 21 May 2018 04:23 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Planning and Finance Minister U Kyaw Win has submitted his resignation to the president amid reports that he is being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI), sources close to the matter told The Irrawaddy.

Since last week, news reports have circulated alleging that the minister and his son are being investigated for corruption by the commission and the BSI, which is under the Home Affairs Ministry. Their home in Yangon was searched, according to the reports.

After the news went viral, the Anti-Corruption Commission announced that it had created six teams to investigate 18 complaints, but declined to provide details of the cases. The commission has not officially denied the media reports.

At around 4 p.m. on Monday, the Planning and Finance Ministry's permanent secretary, U Tun Tun Naing, denied the minister had resigned, telling The Irrawaddy that the minister was still in his office as of 3:40 p.m.

In Naypyitaw, meanwhile, National Economic Coordination Committee member U Myo Myint has emerged as one of two likely candidates to take U Kyaw Win's place. U Myo Myint, who is also chairman of the Renaissance Institute, an independent policy think tank run by the ruling National League for Democracy, worked for the ministry for 21 years before retiring as deputy director due to his involvement in the pro-democracy movement in 1988.

Also tipped for the post is deputy planning and finance minister U Set Aung. He is chairman of the management committee for the Thilawa Special Economic Zone in Yangon.

Whether or not the investigations are real, the reports have stirred public interest and much talk about whether the commission is making good on its vow to go after "big fish."

In his meeting with the commission on April 11, President U Win Myint instructed its members not to be influenced by powerful figures in undertaking their duties and to carry them out decisively.

The Anti-Corruption Commission was the first governmental body to meet the new president after his inauguration on March 30.

In recent cases, Food and Drug Administration director general Dr. Than Htut was arrested and sued under Section 56 of the Anti-Corruption Law for allegedly demanding bribes from a construction company worth more than 15 million kyats, while an administrator in Mandalay's Pyin Oo Lwin Township and another local official were both sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for taking bribes from villagers in return for registering their land.

The Irrawaddy's senior reporter San Yamin Aung contributed to this report.

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Garbage and the City

Posted: 21 May 2018 04:20 AM PDT

Yangon produces 2,387.12 tons of waste every day, or 0.41 kg for every man, woman and child living in the city, according to the Yangon City Development Committee. But with rampant littering across the city, the municipal body says it collects and sorts only 2,057 tons of the total via garbage trucks before unsorted organic and plastic waste is dumped at four landfill sites on the outskirts of the town. Among them are Htein Bin in Hlaing Tharyar Township and Dawei Chaung in North Dagon Township, the two largest, with dumping areas of nearly 150 acres each, according to the YCDC.

The landfills drew attention late last month when a fire broke out at the Htein Bin dumpsite, spreading noxious smoke across the city for several weeks before firemen could bring it under control. Experts say the fire was due to combustion from biological decomposition of unsorted organic waste and prolonged by the mix of plastic waste as well.

Experts warn that the operating lives of the sites will last for only 10 more years. Meanwhile, they estimate that the city's waste generation will increase four-fold by 2025. Despite the warnings, the city of 7.3 million people has yet to identify other final disposal sites.

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Government Invites Expressions of Interest In Elevated Expressway Project

Posted: 21 May 2018 03:52 AM PDT

YANGON— The Union government has invited expressions of interest from local and foreign companies to develop Yangon's first elevated tollway.

The announcement stated that the Ministry of Construction together with the Yangon regional government would develop the 47.5km expressway through a public-private partnership (PPP).

The four-lane ring road is expected to connect downtown Yangon, Yangon Port, Yangon International Airport, Mingalardon Industrial Park and the Yangon-Mandalay Highway.

Local and foreign developers interested in bidding for the design, engineering, financing, constructing, operating and maintenance parts of the project are asked to submit expressions of interest before 5 p.m. on June 29, according to the Ministry of Construction.

A tender will commence later this year, it said in the announcement dated May 18.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has been appointed as the exclusive lead advisor for the project. It signed an advisory services agreement with the ministry on Jan. 11.

According to the IFC, the expressway project will facilitate about $350-$400 million of private investment in Yangon's road infrastructure.

The project is expected to foster economic development by improving connectivity in Yangon for goods and services, IFC said in the press release on Jan. 11, adding that it would also reduce costs caused by lower productivity and vehicle operating expenses due to heavy traffic congestion along the city's south-north routes.

The tender award to the winning bidder is expected to be granted by early 2019 and the road to be constructed over two to three years, IFC said.

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Myanmar Urges Rohingya to Leave ‘No-Man’s Land’ on Bangladesh Border

Posted: 21 May 2018 02:53 AM PDT

DHAKA — Myanmar authorities have resumed using loudspeakers to urge the nearly 4,000 Rohingya taking shelter on a sliver of land between the border fences of Bangladesh and Myanmar to leave, sparking fresh panic among the refugees over their imminent future.

Local officials in Bangladesh said Myanmar has blared the message before.

"On Saturday morning they started the announcements again, asking us to leave the no-man's land. The announcements come every hour," Dil Mohamed, a community leader of the refugees, told The Irrawaddy.

He said the announcements, by the Myanmar Border Guard Police, state that the land belongs to Myanmar’s Maungdaw Township and that it is illegal under international law for them to stay there.

Since they began, Dil Mohamed said, Bangladeshi Border Guard officials have visited the frontier and Bangladeshi troops have been on heightened alert.

A Bangladeshi security official said Myanmar has gathered additional security forces along the border as well.

Lieutenant-Colonel Manzurul Hassan Khan, however, commander of the Bangladesh Border Guard’s Nainkhanchhari Battalion, said the situation along the border was normal on Sunday.

The resumption of the announcements follows a meeting in Dhaka on Thursday of a joint working group charged with overseeing the repatriation of the nearly 700,000 mostly Rohingya who have fled Myanmar since late August, when militant Rohingya attacks on security posts in Rakhine State triggered a military response the UN and US have both described as ethnic cleansing. It was the group’s second meeting since the two countries signed a repatriation agreement in November.

Unlike most of the refugees living in camps in Bangladesh, however, those taking shelter between the border fences have not been registered with authorities and often rely on the generosity of local Bangladeshi residents for food. Bangladeshi officials have repeatedly said they do not need to be registered.

Citing Bangladeshi officials, the New Age, a Dhaka-based daily, reported on Sunday that Myanmar is reticent to let the refugees return to their original villages in Rakhine and instead plans to resettle them in new, segregated villages far from their original homes.

“The Myanmar government has given no assurance of taking back the Rohingyas to their respective places of residence and villages,” the New Age quoted a senior official as saying after the joint working group meeting.

Article 2 of the repatriation agreement the countries signed in November states that Myanmar would encourage the refugees “to return voluntarily and safely to their own households and original places of residence or to a safe and secure place nearest to it of their choice.”

To date Myanmar has approved for return 878 people from an initial list of 8,032 refugees willing to go back that Bangladesh handed over in February. None of them has yet to return.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has been preparing new shelters on Bhashanchar island to ease the congestion in the existing refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.

On Saturday, Bangladesh’s disaster management and relief secretary, Md Shah Kamal, said he expected about 100,000 refugees to be transferred to the island at the end of the rainy season in late June and that they would only be moved voluntarily.

The secretary was taking part in a drill to prepare refugees, aid agencies and authorities for the landslides and floods expected to hit the Cox’s Bazar camps until then.

On Sunday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced that it had also distributed more than 2 million Vetiver grass plants among the refugees over the past two weeks to help reduce landslides and soil erosion in the hilly camps. In a statement, it said another 2 million would be distributed to non-governmental organizations working in the camps by the end of May.

The IOM said a bundle of 200 plants costs just over $1.50 and that it has also helped to get some of the grass planted with a cash-for-work program for some of the refugees and their host communities.

"We drew on Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology studies to learn lessons from other projects involving Vetiver grass and apply them here. The illustrations helped share that knowledge with people in a very practical way," IOM site development coordinator Megan Genat said, according to the statement.

"It’s been really encouraging to see everyone getting involved,” she added. “The project has also helped in raising public awareness of the risks of soil erosion. We will be following up with a fuller analysis of the impact next month, but initial reports from our partners indicate it has been going very well and is proving popular with the refugee community."

In the same statement, the IOM said it was also helping lay roads and access routes, improve drainage and build bridges and working with both the government and other aid agencies to prepare for the rains and respond to emergencies.

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Military Urges Caution Cooperating With International Agencies

Posted: 21 May 2018 02:27 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Military representatives to Parliament have urged their civilian counterparts to approach cooperating with international agencies from a national security perspective.

They called for caution in cooperating with international agencies during a parliamentary debate of a presidential proposal to ratify International Labor Organization (ILO) Recommendation No. 205 concerning employment and decent work for peace and resilience on Friday.

Lieutenant-Colonel Hla Naing pointed out that the recommendation called for the provision of rehabilitation, social integration and training programs for those formerly associated with armed forces and groups.

These things should be considered only after the country achieves peace and the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) process is complete, he said.

"While our country is building lasting peace, we need to be especially careful with any matter that could negatively affect the peace process and handle it with serious consideration," he said.

Recommendation No. 205 is too broad as it includes rights, equality, non-discrimination, social protection, migrants affected by crisis situations, repatriation and reintegration of refugees and returnees, and international cooperation, he said, urging Parliament not to adopt the recommendation.

"It is especially important not to have national defense and security, as well as the ongoing internal peace process, affected under the wording of social justice," said Lt-Col Myint Han.

The multi-ethnic Tatmadaw or Myanmar Army is responsible for the protection of the state's territory, and is assisting in the democratization process in line with the 2008 Constitution, he said.

Lt-Col Myint Han said: "We have seen international media reports about powerful countries doing arrogantly as they wish recently. We have to stick to our national norms amid international norms," not clarifying which specific examples he was referring to.

Col Khin Maung Tun also called for extra caution with Section 7 (h) regarding the need to pay special attention to groups and individuals who have been made particularly vulnerable by the crisis including but not limited to children, people belonging to minority groups, indigenous and tribal persons, people with disabilities, internally displaced persons, migrants, refugees and other persons forcibly displaced across borders.

"If we do not restrict the entry of persons forcibly displaced across borders, it will harm state security and social security of the people, as proven by international examples," he said.

The recommendations are optional rather than compulsory, said Daw Pyone Cathy Naing, a member of the Lower House International Relations Committee.

"If we want to get out from under international pressures, we have to take very strategic action to be able to stand tall on the international diplomatic stage. I don't think Recommendation 205 is a trap or serious concern for security," she said.

"The scope of the ILO recommendation is too broad. And we must approach it from a national security perspective. That's what we have discussed," Col Myint Han told reporters after the parliamentary session.

Union Minister for Labor, Immigration and Population U Thein Swe also remarked during the parliamentary session that recommendations are not compulsory.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Myanmar Embassy in Pakistan Undergoes Emergency Security Upgrade

Posted: 21 May 2018 12:42 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Myanmar's Embassy in Pakistan has spent hundreds of millions of kyats on tightened security measures amid reports that the site has been targeted by terrorists due to the Rakhine issue.

The embassy has spent 319.66 million kyats, drawn from presidential emergency funds, to improve security amid the terror threat, according to Union Minister for Cooperation U Kyaw Tin.

Rallies against the Myanmar government's treatment of Rohingya Muslims were held in several places in Pakistan in the first week of September after the Pakistani Foreign Ministry summoned Myanmar's ambassador to protest alleged human rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims.

At one of the rallies, thousands of demonstrators gathered in the capital Islamabad and attempted to reach the Myanmar Embassy in the city's diplomatic zone, but were stopped by shipping containers placed across key streets.

Pakistan's national security adviser had informed the Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs about a possible terror attack, U Kyaw Tin said during Friday's parliamentary session.

"The National Counter Terrorism Authority of Pakistan told us that there could be terror attacks on our embassy," the minister said.

Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, host nations are responsible for providing security for foreign diplomats. The Myanmar Embassy in Islamabad has negotiated security measures to protect embassy staff with Pakistan's diplomatic police force, the minister added.

"The Pakistani police said they would make security arrangements and asked the Myanmar Embassy to make necessary alterations to its buildings and install the necessary equipment," the minister explained.

The Myanmar Embassy submitted to the Union government a detailed list of needed security measures, such as increasing the height of its walls and fitting a high-security gate. However, the Foreign Ministry has no funds for the security upgrade in its 2017-18 fiscal budget, so the money was allocated from presidential emergency funds in March.

Security will be improved over the next six months, the minister said.

"Host countries have a responsibility to provide security for foreign embassies according to international laws. But ultimately we must ensure security ourselves," said Buthidaung Township lawmaker U Aung Thaung Shwe.

According to the United Nations, some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine State after an attack by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on police outposts in Maungdaw in August prompted counter-insurgency operations by the Myanmar Army.

When communal violence first broke out in northern Rakhine State in 2012, the Taliban demanded that the Pakistani government close the Myanmar Embassy.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Yangon Residents Oppose $93M Development Plan, Cite Environmental Threats

Posted: 21 May 2018 12:12 AM PDT

YANGON — Lawmakers and residents opposed the Yangon government's proposed development plan in the city's Mayangone Township, citing that the more than US$93 million project would pose environmental threats to the neighborhood.

The Yangon regional government proposed 'Mayangon Villa,' a commercial and mixed development project in the township, to the regional Parliament early this month. The project is part of the government's Urban Development Master Plan (Yangon Region) 2018-21, which was submitted to the regional Parliament on May 3.

The plan is made up of 12 projects including infrastructure, transportation, housing and economic development projects in the commercial capital totaling more than 1.3 trillion kyats to be carried out with local and international investment.

But the Parliament hasn't approved it yet, as lawmakers complained that the entire plan lacked transparency.

The government proposed that the Mayangone Villa project – to be located a few minute drive from the Yangon International Airport – is slated to be carried out in 2018-19 on an eight-acre plot of land near the 8 Mile junction with an estimated investment of more than $93 million, according to the master plan viewed by The Irrawaddy. The project also includes a building for the Hydro Informatics Center for the National Water Resources Committee led by the country's Vice President U Henry Van Thio.

The aims of the project are, the document says, "effective land use, to use the benefit from the project as a 'cross subsidy' in other public housing projects and to facelift Yangon's development image" among others.

But lawmakers and residents from the project area were not impressed by the objectives. They were concerned that the project would destroy three lakes that have been serving as retention ponds for rainwater and all drain water from the nearby area to protect the low-lying neighborhood from severe flooding.

Residents of Mayangone's 5th Quarter said they were already suffering floods when the rains come, and were worried that if the lakes were earth-filled to make way for the project, their neighborhood would be prone to even more flooding.

Daw Khin Pyone Cho, one of the residents, told The Irrawaddy that even with the existence of the lakes, floodwaters sometimes invade her garage when it rains heavily.

"If there are no lakes, our neighborhood will suffer more. That's why we reject the project," she said.

The National League for Democracy lawmaker of the township Daw Moe Moe Suu Kyi urged the Parliament last week on behalf of the residents to leave the lakes alone.

"The proposed eight-acre project area will be met only when you keep the three lakes. Any filling of the lakes for the project will mean more trouble for the residents. I oppose any plan that would damage the lakes," she said.

Daw Nilar Kyaw, Yangon's Minister of Electricity, Industry, Transport and Communication, admitted to the Parliament that the lakes are in the project area and pledged that there would be no harm done to them.

"The government's water management committee will take care of them for better and more useful means," she said, without elaborating.

Lawmaker Daw Moe Moe Suu Kyi told The Irrawaddy that whatever the government's plan was, the existence of the lakes was more important.

"They are not only retention ponds but water resources as well, as they are recharging the underground water," she said.

Another resident said he didn't believe in development that would put the lives of the residents and the neighborhood's environment in peril.

"Their predecessors made mistakes. If the current government follows their footsteps, it will get worse," he said.

U Myint Swe, a former deputy director from the Department of Urban and Housing Development, said the lakes should be left alone, as they are the retention basins of the area.

He explained that contrary to how it is now, downtown Yangon in the past rarely suffered from flooding in rainy season due to a large retention pond that held rainwater before releasing it into Yangon River. But the pond in Botahtaung Township was earth-filled for a housing project under the previous military regime.

"It would be the same [for the Mayangone Villa project]. Without the ponds, more floods will be taken for granted, and residents will be the ones who suffer."

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China Calls for Ceasefire in Myanmar Border Fighting

Posted: 20 May 2018 10:08 PM PDT

SHANGHAI — China's defense ministry has called on armed groups in northern Myanmar to show restraint and declare an immediate ceasefire after conflicts in the region killed three Chinese citizens.

Three rockets and some stray bullets have also landed in Chinese territory as a result of the fighting, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement on its official Weibo social media account late on Friday.

The ministry said it was paying close attention to the matter and had strengthened patrols and security measures along the China-Myanmar border.

“The Chinese military will continue to strengthen border controls and adopt necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, the stability of the border and the safety of citizens and property,” the statement said.

Tensions in northern Myanmar, which borders southwest China’s Yunnan province, have escalated in the past month, with local ethnic groups demanding greater autonomy in the region, which is an important foreign trade hub for Myanmar.

A Myanmar government spokesman said last Saturday that ethnic insurgents had killed 19 people, including four members of the security forces, in an attack near the main border gate with China.

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US Aid Chief to Myanmar: Take ‘Concrete Steps’ on Rohingya Rights

Posted: 20 May 2018 10:00 PM PDT

THET KAE PYIN CAMP, Myanmar — The US government’s aid chief urged Myanmar on Sunday to take “concrete steps” to guarantee the rights of Rohingya Muslims and to show sincerity in that endeavor in order to encourage hundreds of thousands who have fled the country to return.

Mark Green, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), ended his three-day visit to Myanmar touring Rohingya and Rakhine communities in western Rakhine State, including a camp for displaced Rohingya people.

Green said the refugees, whom he met during the previous leg of the trip in camps in Bangladesh, are fearful and while they want to return, they are asking for their rights and security to be guaranteed before making the decision to come back.

“That reinforces the importance here of clear signs of sincerity of the government’s stated position of welcoming back Rohingya in a safe, secure and dignified manner,” Green told reporters.

“We would strongly encourage the government to take those concrete steps which are a demonstration of the ability for Rohingya to return under those conditions,” Green said.

He said the government could show the refugees in Bangladesh it is sincere by taking “clear actions” with the tens of thousands of Rohingya displaced in previous bouts of violence now stuck in crowded camps in squalid conditions in Rakhine.

Green said he was “struck by the sense of hopelessness that so many Muslims nearby feel – the lack of access to healthcare, education, ability to move, access to livelihoods … that kind of hopelessness is obviously disturbing – it’s also something that has to be addressed.”

Green has said the United States would provide $44 million in additional aid for the Rohingya and vulnerable populations in Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh from Myanmar to escape an army crackdown since August, launched in response to Rohingya insurgent attacks. Refugees have reported murder, rape and arson by Myanmar troops.

Washington has called the army response "ethnic cleansing" – a charge Myanmar denies, saying its security forces have been waging a legitimate counter-insurgency operation against "Bengali terrorists."

After meeting Myanmar’s de-facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the administrative capital Naypyitaw and civil society leaders in the main city Yangon on Friday and Saturday, Green met local government officials in Rakhine and toured villages and camps over the weekend.

On Sunday, he went to Muslim and Buddhist villages in the Rathedaung Township in the north of the violence-torn state. He then met camp leaders in Thet Kae Pyin camp for nearly 6,000 Rohingya, a short drive from state capital Sittwe.

“We don’t have the luxury of time. We really do need all of us to see positive steps forward and we stand ready to help,” Green said.

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Multiple Bomb Attacks Hit Thailand’s Deep South, Injure Three People

Posted: 20 May 2018 09:51 PM PDT

BANGKOK — Multiple bomb attacks by suspected separatist insurgents injured at least three people in Thailand’s far south on Sunday, the military said.

A decades-old separatist insurgency in predominantly Buddhist Thailand’s largely ethnic Malay, Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat has claimed the lives of nearly 7,000 people since 2004, according to the Deep South Watch group, which monitors the violence.

Successive governments have held talks with rebel groups aimed at bringing peace but the discussions have largely stalled, including under the current, military government.

In Sunday’s attacks, explosives were placed near ATM machines and bank branches in at least 14 locations across four southern provinces, including Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, as well as Songkhla Province, the military said.

“There is violence every year during the period of Ramadan,” Colonel Pramote Prom-in, a regional security spokesman, told Reuters.

Muslims around the world marked the start of the fasting month of Ramadan last week.

As with most attacks in Thailand’s deep south, there was no claim of responsibility.

Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat were part of an independent Malay Muslim sultanate before Thailand annexed them in 1909.

Some rebel groups in the south have said they are fighting to establish an independent state.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told local media in April that his government has made “major headway” in talks with insurgents, which have been mediated by neighboring Malaysia since 2015.

But a spokesman for Mara Patani, one of the insurgent groups talking to the government, told Reuters that progress has been slow and blamed the Thai government for dragging out the talks.

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Peaceful Protests, Civilian Thugs, and How to Move Forward In Line With the Law

Posted: 18 May 2018 07:51 PM PDT

Kyaw Kha: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week, we'll discuss if civilian thugs are back after we saw the use of them to arrest anti-war protesters in Yangon's Tamwe Township on Saturday. I'm The Irrawaddy chief reporter Kyaw Kha and I am joined by the chairman of the Anti-Injustice Committee Ko Myat Kyaw and legal advisor U Khin Maung Myint.

Ko Myat Kyaw, you said you saw a protester beaten and arrested by the police as well as people in ordinary clothes. Does this remind you of something, as we saw the same situation [the use of civilian thugs in a crackdown on student protesters against the National Education Law] in 2015?

Myat Kyaw: This reminds me of the time that one of the men wearing red armbands gripped a girl by her neck during the student protests. Speaking of the protest on Saturday, I was there. I greeted protesters and was talking with my guests near them. Then, I heard someone say that the protest had been called off to avoid trouble. Protesters stood up and prepared to leave.

About 10 to 15 seconds later, some 60 police with shields pushed through the crowd and blocked a man—I think it was Ko Aung Myin from the ACDC [Action Committee for Democracy Development]—on a corner outside Ocean Center. Others fled. I was on the opposite side of the road. I crossed the road and stood on the traffic island. There were no policemen there. Then, a man came and grasped my arms, and glared at me threateningly. I struggled. Then, another four or five men arrived, grabbed me and punched me several times. They called me the protest leader. There were no police near me at that time.

KK: Were you the protest leader?

MK: No, I just went there to support and help the protesters. What they said was a lie. I was not the protest leader. But they called me the protest leader and pulled me to the other side of the road. There another four or five men beat me. Then, a few policemen came and perhaps stopped them from beating me. I didn't hear the police say: "You get lost. It is our duty. We'll handle him." None of the policemen ordered them to stop. Then, I was taken to a prisoner transport vehicle.

I feel like there was no rule of law at all. The police force failed to act in accordance with the law. As far as I know, they have received [crowd management] training conducted by the EU. But they didn't bother to negotiate with protesters. Again, according to the law, there must be three circles of police cordon and police can take action only when protesters break into the last cordon. I don't want to call it a crackdown, but I'd say force was used on protesters near the end of the protest.

KK: Ko Myat Kyaw said the police didn't act in line with the law. U Khin Maung Myint, was the dispersal in line with legal procedures or not?

Khin Maung Myint: We had heated discussions on the same matter around March 2015. Police used civilian thugs in dispersing crowds that gathered against the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law. There are legal provisions regarding this. Section 128 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows the use of force in dispersing crowds, and the Police Manual 1058 and riot management laws specify the circumstances under which force can be used. Police are allowed to seek the assistance of male civilians in dispersing a crowd only when the number of police is fewer than that of the unlawful assembly.

In the Tamwe case, the police outnumbered protesters. So, it was not necessary for the police to use civilians. If civilians are to be used, a list of their complete names must be submitted and approved by a magistrate prior to the dispersal. It is still unclear who those civilians were and if a magistrate had approved their use. Unless it were clear, I'd say the use of civilians was against the law.

The law states that if police are to use auxiliary police or civilians to disperse protesters, they shall use those who are respected by or those who have influence over the protesters. In the Tamwe case, when protesters said they were about to stop their protest and disperse and asked the police to provide security, the civilians used by the police were not the ones who were respected by the protesters.

What's more, their behaviors appeared to disperse the crowd with force rather than through peaceful negotiations. So, I'd say it was against the law. Finally, the law does not allow auxiliary police or vigilantes to use violence. They are only allowed to negotiate with and calm protesters. As everyone witnessed the crackdown, police merely blocked the protesters and arrests and beatings were mainly carried out by civilian thugs. From a legal point of view, those actions were against the law.

KK: So, should legal action be taken against them?

KMM: An extensive investigation must be conducted to find out who they are and who orchestrated them, if prior approval from a judge was sought and given, and if the civilian thugs were deliberately ordered to forcibly disperse the protesters or if they used force without such an order. Such an investigation should be made.

KK: Ko Myat Kyaw, who do you think those civilian thugs are?

MK: I recognized a man who staged a protest against the [National League for Democracy] government, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued. We are really shocked by the law of the country that allows a fugitive to beat a civilian in front of police. A protest march in which protesters marched from Sule to Tamwe in support of the clashes and the Tatmadaw was held the same day and finished at 4 p.m. They were not blocked or arrested.  But anti-war protesters were.

The Myanmar Police Force under the Home Affairs Ministry should be very ashamed, if they even know what shame is. They should apply the law equally. If they wanted to bar the protest because of other problems facing the country, they should have barred both protests. They should act fairly. I would question the dignity of a police force that allowed a fugitive to commit violence freely in front of many police majors and a hundred policemen with armored police cars. Our country doesn't accept the culture of supporting violence. We oppose it. That's why we staged the protest. To answer your question, I saw people who have participated in anti-government protests and there is photographic evidence.

KK: While laws are issued for the public, law enforcement officers must also respect and obey the law. As you have pointed out, police went against procedure in the Tamwe case. In previous cases, we've witnessed photos of civilian thugs with red armbands arresting protestors in front of Yangon's City Hall, and in Letpadan and Hlaing Tharyar. Thus far, no action has been taken against them. What will happen if they remain uncontrolled?

KMM: Considering what happened in Tamwe, the regional and Union governments and parliaments need to seriously consider this. Our country is lacking in two concepts. One is that the police, who are authorized to enforce the law, are only authorized to act according to existing laws and not authorized to overstep the law. Another concept that is missing is that even if joining an unlawful assembly is against the law, protestors still should enjoy legal protection under existing laws. As these two concepts are missing in our country, unnecessary violence happens. We need to fix this.

There will continue to be public assembly in all countries, democratic or not. In our country, the constitution provides for peaceful assembly and procession. According to the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law, protesters only need to inform and need not seek permission to stage a protest. The government must find an answer as to how to prevent the unlawful use of civilian thugs in crackdowns in the future and how to comply with the law when it is necessary to use civilians.

KK: Ko Myat Kyaw, can you explain what happened after the arrest?

MK: We were arrested and brought to Yankin Police Station around 6 p.m. After 20 minutes of interrogation there, we were brought to the South Okkalapa Police Station in a prisoner transport vehicle. We were interrogated there and then brought to Mingalar Taung Nyunt Police Station. There we stayed overnight. Within 24 hours, Bahan Police Station, as the Ocean Center [near where protesters assembled] is in Bahan Township, charged us with Article 20 [of the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law], and asked us to apply for bail. We guaranteed to attend trial when summoned and were released. The rule of law is very disappointing in Myanmar as you can see in the case of Thilawa [special economic zone in Yangon] in which police shot recklessly [during their eviction of local farmers on Saturday]. Anti-war protesters were arrested in the cases of Tamwe, Mandalay and Paungde, and at a peace poem recitation event [on Monday]. It seems that we have to ask more loudly why we are afraid of peace. I think we need to engage in more pro-peace activities.

KK: Peace marches were held and anti-war protesters were arrested in Mandalay. In Yangon, there was even a confrontation. What would be the best way to avoid confrontation?

KMM: The two sides should negotiate to minimize confrontation, as the Constitution provides citizens the right to peaceful assembly and procession for any reason. Protesters should not think that they don't need permission from authorities just because they have good intent and a good purpose. They should work within the legal framework.

Law enforcement personnel have a greater responsibility. In the Tamwe case, there were ways to avoid confrontation. Authorities could negotiate with protesters and persuade them to reduce their numbers. For example, if there were 100 protesters, authorities could ask them to reduce their numbers, saying that such a large crowd could impact the public order. They could also ask protesters to change their route, saying that the chosen route could impact community peace and tranquility. Or authorities could ask them to change the way they protest. For example, instead of marching, they could ask them to gather somewhere or change the venue. Confrontation should have been avoided through such negotiations.

In the Tamwe case, the anti-war protesters clung to their intention and purpose and administrative authorities including the police, who are obliged to enforce the law, focused on how to disperse and take action against the protesters rather than negotiate with them ahead of the protest. This is wrong. We need to find a solution for future cases, learning from this case. You can always find an answer through negotiation for peace or any issue. We saw a counterintuitive result in Tamwe because of weak negotiation or resistance to negotiation. I would suggest that the two sides find a solution according to the law through negotiation.

KK: Thank you for your contributions!

The post Peaceful Protests, Civilian Thugs, and How to Move Forward In Line With the Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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