Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Commission approves contract giving govt larger share of Laptadaung profits

Posted: 16 Jul 2013 04:59 AM PDT

The powerful Myanmar Investment Commission has approved a new draft contract that will give the government a greater share of the profits generated by the controversial Latpadaung copper mine, while reducing the amount of funds the project's Chinese partner will receive.

According to the new contract, 51 percent of the profits from the mine will be given to the government, while 30 percent will go to the Chinese-backed Wanbao Mining Company Limited. The military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings (UMEH) is set to receive the remaining 19 percent of the profits.

The previous agreement had allotted 4 percent to the state, while the Chinese mining outfit was set to receive 51 percent of the profits, with the final 45 percent going to UMEH.

The new contract follows recommendations etched out in a controversial report published in March by the Aung San Suu Kyi-led Latpadaung Investigation Commission.

The commission was tasked with investigating the social and environmental impacts of the project, along with a pre-dawn assault on 29 November where riot police dispersed demonstrators at the mine with water cannons and incendiary devices.

According to the new contract, US$ 2 million will be allocated annually to fund environmental preservation projects, while another US$1 million dollars will be used to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.

"The [new contact] includes an agreement to allocate one million USD for CSR and two million for environmental preservation in addition to increasing the amount of compensation based on the market price," said Myint Thein, media coordinator of the Myanmar Wanbao Mining Company Limited.

"According to the agreement, both (UMEH) and Wanbao will be gaining less percentage of the profits – as recommended in the [Latpadaung Investigation Commission] report."

Myint Thein said Wanbao is planning to hold a press conference soon where they will inform the public about the revisions made to the contract.

The new contract is set to be signed this month.

While the committee charged with implementing the investigation commission's recommendations claims to be working on the ground near the mine's location in Monywa, locals said that they have not been contacted.

Thwe Thwe Win, a local resident and well-known Latpadaung activist, said she was unaware of the provisions in the new contract and claimed the officials affiliated with the committee had yet to contact locals.

"They only acknowledged the villages that accepted relocation, but sent us – villagers who remained in the old village — a letter informing us that we are no longer recognised as a village."

More than 7,800 acres of farmland and 66 villages have been displaced by the copper mine in Monywa's Salingyi township.

Transgender women assaulted by police

Posted: 16 Jul 2013 03:39 AM PDT

Activists are planning on taking legal action against Mandalay's police force following reports that the department’s officers sexually humiliated and physically assaulted a group of transgender women last week.

Equality Myanmar's director Aung Myo Min said they were looking to consult with legal experts to determine whether the police had acted above the law and if that is the case they would file a report to the National Human Rights Commission as well as the regional government.

At a press conference in Mandalay victims spoke out about their ordeal.

Activists slam Thein Sein’s visit to Britain

Posted: 16 Jul 2013 02:07 AM PDT

Activists from global campaign group Avaaz erect a ‘graveyard’ outside the British parliament to warn David Cameron against Burma becoming another Rwanda as the Prime Minister welcomes President Thein Sein to London for trade talks.

Thein Sein pledges to free all political prisoners by end of year

Posted: 15 Jul 2013 09:22 PM PDT

Burma's President Thein Sein said Monday that all political prisoners would be freed by the end of the year and that a ceasefire with ethnic groups was possible within weeks.

The former junta general’s comments, made during his first visit to London, appear to be the latest stage in reforms that Thein Sein has made since he took office in 2011.

“I guarantee to you that by the end of this year there will be no prisoners of conscience in Myanmar [Burma],” Thein Sein told an audience at the Chatham House think-tank in London.

“We are aiming for nothing less than a transition from half a century of military rule and authoritarianism to democracy.”

He was also optimistic about ending decades of conflict that have raged between the government and more than a dozen ethnic groups since the country won independence from Britain in 1948.

“Very possibly over the coming weeks we will have a nationwide ceasefire and the guns will go silent everywhere in Myanmar [Burma] for the very first time in over 60 years,” he said.

“Difficult talks will follow and hard compromises will need to be made. But it must be done.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron earlier urged the president to defend human rights during talks.

Thein Sein promised to take a “zero tolerance approach” to people who “fuel ethnic hatreds” following attacks against Burma's Rohingya Muslim minority in which hundreds of people have been killed.

Welcoming the Burmese leader on the red carpet outside his 10 Downing Street office, Cameron said he was “very pleased” to see Thein Sein on his “historic visit”.

But Cameron, who last year became the first British prime minister to visit Burma, added: “As well as the continuation of your reform process, we are also very keen to see greater action in terms of promoting human rights and dealing with regional conflicts.

“We are particularly concerned about what has happened in Rakhine [Arakan] province and the Rohingya Muslims.”

Buddhist-Muslim clashes in the western state of Arakan last year left about 200 people dead, mostly Rohingya Muslims who are denied citizenship by Burma.

Further clashes have erupted in recent months.

Around a dozen protestors gathered outside Downing Street during Thein Sein’s visit calling for action to protect the Rohingya.

But Cameron followed the international community’s line on the need for economic development in particular to support reform in Burma.

“We believe there are many areas for Britain and your country to cooperate together, diplomatically, in terms of trade and investment, the aid and development relationship and also our growing links in terms of our militaries,” Cameron said.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond later met with Thein Sein, insisting that “reforming the Burmese military and pursuing a sustainable peace process” was key to Burma's progress.

“The focus of our defence engagement will be on developing democratic accountability in a modern armed forces, and we have offered training for the Burmese military to this end,” he added.

Development Secretary Justine Greening later announced £30 million ($45.2 million) in aid “to provide essential healthcare services, education and humanitarian aid to those affected by conflict.”

Since Thein Sein took the presidency two years ago, the ex-military man has freed hundreds of political prisoners and welcomed democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi and her political party into parliament.

The European Union has scrapped most sanctions, except for an arms embargo, and readmitted Burma to its trade preference scheme.

The United States 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.
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