Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Burma publishing bill to reintroduce censorship: activists

Posted: 10 Jul 2013 04:35 AM PDT

Free speech advocates have slammed Burma's controversial publishing bill, which was passed by the lower house of parliament last week, amid concerns that it will reintroduce censorship in the former military dictatorship.

The draft bill has attracted criticisms for prohibiting the media from criticising Burma's 2008 constitution, "inciting" social unrest, or "insulting" religion, while empowering the government to ban publications deemed to violate these rules.

"If Myanmar [Burma] is serious about democratisation, it must not adopt this bill," warned Dr Agnes Callamard, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, on Wednesday. "It falls far, far below international standards and if it were adopted would, in effect, retain a system of full government control over the media."

Earlier this week, members of Burma's interim press council threatened to resign if the draft Printing and Publishing Enterprise Bill were passed in its current format. Council member, Zaw Thet Htwe, told DVB that he was "astonished" at the parliament's decision to approve the law without addressing their concerns.

Journalists say the new law would mandate a similar function to the junta-era censorship board by creating a "registration official" who is in charge of issuing licences and banning controversial publications. The press council has insisted that this role must be abolished.

But instead the parliament opted to introduce a minor amendment, which allows banned publications to appeal the decision at a regional court.

"We don't like that anyone has to apply for permission in order to publish something in a democratic era — it is same as the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law," said Zaw Thet Htwe, referring to the draconian legislation used by the military to silence dissent for nearly five decades.

He added that the Ministry of Information (MOI) had initially agreed to this amendment, yet the provision was still included in the draft submitted to parliament. "This signifies that the MoI still wants to have power over the media."

Another press council member accused the government of willfully deceiving them. "What they have done is damaging to the trust-building between the two parties,” said Kyaw Min Swe, Chief Editor of the Voice Weekly.

The draft bill, which is set to replace the 1962 law, requires all publications to register with the government or risk spending six months in jail if they are unable to pay a 10 million kyat (US$11,621) fine. It will still need approval from the upper house of parliament, before being signed into law by President Thein Sein.

The press council has also drafted a new press law, which outlines Burma's legal framework for its nascent media sector and is set to be discussed in the lower house during this parliamentary session. But even this legislation has been criticised for preserving "unjustified" and "undemocratic" state powers, despite recognising the universal right to free expression.

Burma has been lauded by western governments for introducing a series of democratic reforms in the past two years, including easing media restrictions and freeing political prisoners. But a June report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) warned that many politically sensitive topics, including ethnic conflicts and religious violence, are still considered off-limits, while cyber-attacks and coercive censorship are on the rise.

"Some reporters said they felt that authorities have allowed just enough freedom to relieve international pressure, while at the same time bidding to impose new, less obtrusive modes of censorship and control," said the report.

Last month, arrest warrants were issued against a group of activists, who publicly criticised the government's policy for a controversial copper mine project in central Burma. Meanwhile, the parliament invested several months of time and resources in the hopes of prosecuting a blogger, known as Dr Seik Phwa, for questioning their influence over the judiciary.

In March, the government admitted to "restructuring" its censorship board without consulting parliament, ahead of the introduction of daily newspapers.

Additional reporting provided by Shwe Aung. 

Burma to give central bank more autonomy

Posted: 10 Jul 2013 04:01 AM PDT

Burma is set to enact a new law in the coming days giving greater independence to its central bank, officials said Wednesday, in the latest economic reform aimed at enticing foreign investors.

The new legislation was approved by lawmakers on Monday and is expected to be signed into law by President Thein Sein by this weekend, although the details have not yet been made public.

“The significant thing is that the central bank will be an independent body and will not be under the finance and revenue ministry anymore,” a central bank official who did not want to be named told AFP.

“The central bank’s mandate will be in line with international standards,” the official said, adding that the president would appoint a governor and three deputy governors with the approval of parliament.

An official in Thein Sein’s office said the former general would sign the bill before he leaves on a visit to Europe on Sunday.

Burma’s quasi-civilian government has announced a series of political and economic reforms since coming to power more than two years ago following the end of nearly half a century of military rule.

In April of last year it began to overhaul the country’s complex foreign exchange system in a bid to facilitate trade and investment.

An independent monetary policy is seen as a hallmark of a modern free-market economy, but it is unclear how much freedom the Central Bank of Myanmar (CMB) will enjoy.

Its main role up to now, experts say, has been to print money to fund the government’s budget deficit.

Unlike independent central banks such as the US Federal Reserve or the European Central Bank, the CBM does not increase or reduce official borrowing costs as a way of preventing the economy overheating or cooling too rapidly.

“It would be very hard for the CBM to conduct an effective anti-inflation monetary policy if it simultaneously had to lend to the government through bond purchases to finance the budget deficit,” said Sean Turnell, a Burmese economic expert at Australia’s Macquarie University.

“In other words, government spending and taxation matter too,” he added.

A lack of technical expertise is seen as another hurdle for the central bank.

Farmers call on leaders to return land as officials target ‘plough protestors’

Posted: 10 Jul 2013 03:15 AM PDT

Around 200 farmers from Rangoon, Pegu and Irrawaddy divisions called on President Thein Sein and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to return the vast swathes of land that have been confiscated across the country, during a protest in front of Rangoon's City Hall on Tuesday.

The demonstration comes as officials struggle to respond to one of the most turbulent issues facing the reformist government amid growing concern that authorities are cracking down on farmers engaged in a widely popular form of public defiance known as plough protests.

Protest organiser Win Cho said the government must address the direst cases first.

"Everyone faces hardship, but I would like to urge [the government] to prioritise assisting those who are in the worst situation," said Win Cho.

Farmer Htun Htun Win, from Rangoon's Hlaing Tharyar township who participated in Tuesday's demonstration, said a small amount of farmers have been able to reach settlements over land disputes with the assistance of a parliament-backed land commission. However, the farmer said more negotiations were needed to address the growing scourge.

"There have been examples with some cases where settlements were reached between farmers and companies in disputes following negotiations assisted by the [parliament-back Land Grab Investigation] Commission," said Htun Htun Win.

"We are here to call for negotiations, but are not trying to claim back all the land."

According to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP-B), more than 100 farmers and activists were slapped with charges in June.

"We learnt that 149 activists were pressed with charges in the month of June with around 70 already on trial," said AAPP-B spokesperson Khin Cho Win during an interview with DVB this week.

"There were far too many farmers pressed with charges [in June] as well as activists who provide them assistance."

The news follows reports that police arrested the National League for Democracy (NLD)’s executive officer, Min Swe, in Pegu division's Taungoo over the weekend for participating in a plough protest in Mandalay division's Tharsi township last April.

On Sunday, Min Swe was sent to a detention centre in Tharsi township, where farmers have called for the return of more than 7,000 acres of farmland that was confiscated 25 years ago.

According to Thandaw resident U Lin, a local farmer who visited Min Swe in detention has also been arrested.

"Min Swe was arrested on [7 July] in Taungoo and sent to Tharsi overnight where he is now incarcerated," said U Lin. "The next day, residents in Thandaw went to see him in custody to bring him food and blankets, and police arrested one of them."

Following April's plough protests in Tharsi, authorities arrested activist Thandar Aung from Moehti Moemi Civil Society Network for aiding the farmers and issued warrants for two other activists – All Burma Federation of Student Union members Aye Min Myat and San Ei Phyu. Fifteen local farmers were also hit with charges in Tharsi, including trespassing and sedition.

According to a report published by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, about 1.9 million acres of land have been illegally transferred to private businesses in the past two decades in Burma, "even though 70 percent of that land has never been developed and is still used for farming by the original owners".

While Burma’s farmers have been feeling increasingly empowered during the two years of quasi-civilian rule in the country, the growing crisis over land issues only made international headlines after authorities launched a pre-dawn assault on a protest camp at Latpadaung Copper Mine in Sagaing division last November.

Locals and activists have been calling for the closure of the mine – a joint venture between the military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings and Wanbao, a subsidiary to a Chinese arms manufacturer, which they claim is responsible for the confiscation of about 7,800 acres of farmland in total and displaced farmers from 66 villages.

In June, civil society groups sent an open letter to President Thein Sein demanding the release Aung Soe, Ko Soe Thu and U Maung San who were arrested in April for organising popular protests opposing the mine.

According to the letter, the activists have been subjected to myriad human rights violations "including prolonged incommunicado detention and denial of due process of law, in addition to their initial arbitrary arrest".

-Additional reporting provided by Su Su Hlaing and Naw Noreen.

Thein Sein headed to Europe this week: official

Posted: 09 Jul 2013 10:46 PM PDT

Burma’s President Thein Sein will embark on a four-day visit to Britain and France within days, an official said Tuesday, as the international community continues to welcome reforms in the former junta-ruled country.

“The president will go to Britain and France from July 14 to 18,” a presidential office official told AFP on condition of anonymity without giving further details of the visit – Thein Sein’s second trip to Europe in months.

The president’s spokesman Ye Htut was unable to confirm the dates.

Thein Sein visited several European countries in March – although not Britain or France – to seek support for reforms that he has overseen since taking the presidency in 2011.

Those changes include freeing some political prisoners and welcoming democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi and her political party into parliament.

The European Union last month readmitted Burma to its trade preference scheme, saying it wanted to support reform in the once-pariah state through economic development.

The EU had already ditched most sanctions against the country, although an arms embargo remains.

Washington has also lifted most embargoes and foreign companies are now eager to enter the resource-rich nation, with its perceived frontier market of some 60 million potential consumers.

Barack Obama paid a first-ever US presidential visit to Burma last November, and Thein Sein visited Washington in May.

Veteran journalist recounts massacre

Posted: 09 Jul 2013 05:04 AM PDT

On 7 July 1962 students at Rangoon University staged a peaceful demonstration to protest the institution's lackluster education standards and unfair university regulations imposed by president Ne Win.

The protest was violently suppressed by the newly installed military junta, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 students.

The next day the army blew up the Students Union building, where students were taking refugee. The day would go down in history as the 7th of July Students massacre.

Veteran journalist Khin Maung Lay, who wrote under the name Pho Thauk Kyar, was covering the events at the university 51 years ago. He witnessed the students' peaceful protest and saw the army tanks heading towards the university.

This is his account.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)