Democratic Voice of Burma

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• China defends human rights record at UN panel
• Suu Kyi receives Sakharov Prize – 23 years later
• The Sunlight weekly closes after cover story controversy
• Twenty more miners arrested over Moehti Moemi protest
• Income inequality in Burma

China defends human rights record at UN panel Posted: 22 Oct 2013 05:45 AM PDT China defended its human rights record before a panel of UN experts in Geneva on Tuesday, amid accusations of "systematic" abuses against minority populations, including refugees from Burma. A special envoy for China's foreign ministry, led by Wu Hailong, recognised shortcomings in rights protection, especially for minorities, but largely blamed "national conditions" and "practical" obstacles preventing progress in the populous country. "We are soberly aware that China still faces many difficulties and challenges in promoting and protecting human rights," said Wu, adding that the country "must strike a balance between reform, development and stability.” The delegation later denied any role in censoring the internet, persecuting human rights activists or minorities, insisting that China has rigorous laws in place to protect all its citizens. The panel highlighted China's economic and social achievements, before blaming Uighur "terrorists" and Tibetan "separatists" for ongoing problems in ethnic minority territories. It is the second time that China has addressed the UN's Human Rights Council (HRC) for a periodic review of its performance. The meeting follows days of pressure on the Asian superpower to publicly acknowledge its role in ongoing abuses, which experts say carries detrimental implications for neighbouring countries. In a statement released on Monday, the global watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticised China for prioritising economic development ahead of human rights, which they say has sparked land grabs and social unrest across the country. The group also called on China to respect the 1951 Refugee Convention, which obligates governments to protect foreigners fleeing persecution, and condemned its decision to repatriate some 4,000 ethnic Kachin into the conflict-torn northern Burma in August 2012. "China is good about signing human rights treaties but terrible about putting them into practice," said Sophie Richardson, China director at HRW. China has repeatedly called for a peaceful resolution to the Kachin conflict, which has displaced over 100,000 people since June 2011 when a ceasefire between ethnic minority rebels and the Burmese government broke down. But Richardson told DVB on Tuesday that if China was serious about addressing the Kachin war, the government should offer assistance and protection to civilians fleeing into their territory. "The Chinese government's insistence that it is devoted to a peaceful resolution is highly questionable when it is also forcing ethnic Kachin out of Yunnan and into a conflict zone, or refusing to allow them entry," she said. Related Stories Suu Kyi receives Sakharov Prize – 23 years later Burma and China affirm 'strategic partnership' What will a nationwide ceasefire really achieve? Richardson added that there is a direct relationship between China's domestic and foreign economic policies, including "lax enforcement of land rights, freedom of expression and access to information", which impacts resource-rich Burma, where Beijing-backed ventures account for the vast majority of investments. "HRW issued a report in 2011 about abuses by Chinese copper mines in Zambia, where we documented many of the same kinds of violations – highly problematic health and safety conditions, low pay, long hours, limitations on the freedom of assembly – that we often note inside China," she said. China's presentation to the HRC comes on the same week that the controversial Shwe Gas project, which connects Burma's Arakan state to western China's Yunnan province, became fully operational. The venture is deeply unpopular in rural Burma, where ethnic minority populations say it has fuelled abuses and caused widespread environmental destruction. Spokespersons for several governments questioned China over its treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, especially in Tibet and Xinjiang, where the Muslim Uighur minority lives. Both groups have been subject to decades of discrimination and repression, according to campaigners. Many countries also called on Beijing to protect human rights defenders, journalists, women, disabled people and convicted criminals, and pushed for judicial improvements including the abolition of the death penalty. The Burmese representative pressed Beijing on the issue of media freedom but made no mention of Kachin refugees or minority concerns. Burma and China continue to enjoy a cozy diplomatic relationship, despite Naypyidaw's decision to re-engage with the west after decades of military rule.

Suu Kyi receives Sakharov Prize – 23 years later Posted: 22 Oct 2013 05:12 AM PDT Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was on Tuesday presented with the European Union’s Sakharov Prize – an award she won in 1990 but was unable to collect as she was placed under house arrest by the previous ruling military junta. The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organisations who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought. The Burmese pro-democracy icon was the third winner of the award, joining Nelson Mandela and Soviet leader Anatoly Marchenko in 1988, and Czechoslovak leader of the "Velvet Revolution" Alexander Dubček in 1989. "Twenty-three years later, we welcome you here and it is a great moment," said European Parliament President Martin Schulz. Suu Kyi accepted the prize to a standing ovation. She began her speech by thanking her hosts for the support she has received during her long fight for democracy in Burma, and she talked briefly about how under military rule in 1990, people in Burma were afraid of asking too many questions. "It was taken for granted that those who had power and authority could do exactly as they pleased," she said. "This was something that we [the pro-democracy movement] could not accept." Related Stories China defends human rights record at UN panel Suu Kyi reiterates call for constitutional amendments Suu Kyi calls for ‘cool heads’ in wake of bombings The main focus of Suu Kyi's speech was freedom of thought, and how the countries of the European Union have given Burma the strength to carry on in their quest for democracy and freedom. "We are in the age of globalization, which has its drawbacks, which has its problems, but it also has great advantages in that nowhere in the world, can people ignore what other people think," she said. "He [Professor Sakharov] would have wished us to be in a place, where freedom of thought was the birth right of every single citizen of our country." At a short question and answer session after her speech, Suu Kyi was asked if China would fill the EU's place if aid and development funding were not available from her European ally. "China is our neighbour and will always be our neighbour," she responded, adding that she wished to continue "good friendly relations" and a "very healthy foreign policy" with China. She said Burma wishes to maintain and improve relations with all neighbors and friends, including Western countries. Suu Kyi was also awarded in absentia the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. After spending more than 15 of 21 years under house arrest she was finally released in November 2010. She won a parliamentary seat at a Rangoon by-election in 2011 and now sits in Burma's lower house where she has been involved with various issues including chairing the inquiry committee on the controversial Latpadaung copper mine project earlier this year. Speaking in Brussels at the weekend, she said that the 2015 general election could not take place in a free and fair manner unless certain constitutional changes were made, one of which is a provision that would allow her to seek the presidency.

The Sunlight weekly closes after cover story controversy Posted: 22 Oct 2013 03:40 AM PDT The publisher of The Sunlight weekly news journal, Yu Naing, has confirmed that the publication has been permanently closed down following a dispute over its editorial integrity. Yu Naing said he decided to pull the plug on the journal, known in Burmese as Thuriya Ahlin, because the publication's chief executive officer, Moe Hein, continued to publish articles attacking public individuals despite opposition from the publisher and the editorial team. A recent controversy resulted over a Sunlight cover story, the metaphorical title of which loosely translates as "The full moon is always followed by a black moon: Full moon in Moscow", which many observers took as a veiled gibe aimed at a well-known Rangoon socialite and a Burmese beauty queen. "Both myself and our senior editors warned the CEO not to publish articles that are deemed as personal attacks aimed at discrediting certain individuals, and we decided to suspend the publication as he would not take heed," said Yu Naing. Related Stories Burma's draft broadcasting law fuels censorship concerns Comedians enjoy new-found freedom DVB Debate: Is Burma ready for total press freedom? The announcement by the publisher came after the journal's CEO Moe Hein spoke out about an alleged incident last weekend when 15 men supposedly raided The Sunlight's main office, seizing computers and shutting down CCTV cameras. Speaking to DVB, Yu Naing maintained it was his own decision to shut down the office, not the decision of anyone associated with the alleged intruders. He said he acted to shut down the publication abruptly at a late hour to prevent the latest issue being circulated the following morning. On Monday, The Sunlight published an apology in state media. "The publisher and editorial board of Thuriya Ahlin would like to extend a sincere apology to those offended by the articles published through the journal's issues 1 to 12 despite repeated objections by the publisher and editorial board to the chief executive officer to stop commissioning articles that contained personal attacks on individuals; and we would like to inform the public that publication of the Thuriya Ahlin journal has been permanently suspended.

Twenty more miners arrested over Moehti Moemi protest Posted: 22 Oct 2013 01:29 AM PDT Twenty more miners have been charged after staging a protest against the suspension of the Moehti Moemi gold mine in Mandalay and for resisting security guards who came to remove equipment from the dig sites. Myo Tin, one of the miners facing a lawsuit, said: "They [security guards] came armed with sticks and swords and surrounded us like a bunch of criminals, so we confronted them. There was no physical altercation, we just told them we would not accept violence and should negotiate like gentlemen." An official at Yamethin's Tugon police station said the 20 miners were handed down a variety of charges on 20 October for obscenity, criminal intimidation, causing harm, and assaulting public servants. Related Stories Karenni ceasefire fuels mining exploitation: NGOs Commission approves contract giving govt larger share of Laptadaung profits Burmese migrants killed in landslide Previously on 5 October, five miners were charged by police after the Myanmar National Prosperity Co Ltd (MNPC) complained that they were involved in a confrontation with security officers who came to the site to dismantle their accommodation huts. The protesting miners left the site on 8 October when the five initially charged were summoned by Yamethin police. However, soon after they decided to open a rally camp at the nearby Shwemyintin Pagoda after failing to reach a settlement with MNPC representatives. Sources said around 100 protestors remain at the rally site including women and children, although they were originally told to leave the premises by 21 October by the pagoda's trustee committee. Zaw Naing Win, one of the protestors, said the sit-in group has issued three demands. "We are requesting the company [MNPC] to: allow us to continue working at the gold mines as before; to amend the strict regulations laid down by the company; and to allow vendors and motorbike taxis free access to the mines," he said. Read more: http://www.dvb.no/news/thousands-of-miners-protest-government-order/22287

Income inequality in Burma Posted: 21 Oct 2013 10:58 PM PDT There can be no doubt that the recent economic reform policies of Burma will significantly impact output, productivity and, hopefully, improve the standard of living for the vast majority of citizens. The country has already made strides in opening and liberalizing the economy, but will face considerable challenges as it emerges from decades of isolation. Statistical measures put growth at an annual rate of over six percent with the expectation that a surge in foreign investment will make a substantial contribution to the economy in the future. Although the conventional wisdom is that the market and political reforms are a significant positive step, Burma's current level of development continues to trail all of its neighbors and income disparity is already becoming an emerging issue. The construction boon in the cities and tourist areas can be readily observed, but take a ride to the countryside and a different story emerges. Much of the farming methods of small landowners are not only noticeably similar to those of the pre-reform period, in some remote areas little has changed in the past thousand years. A significant factor contributing to the urban versus rural income inequality is that the vast majority of investment in Burma is concentrated in the urban sector, despite the fact that only one-third of the population lives in these areas. The construction of five-star hotels and office space continues to receive investment priority and tends to continue even if a glut occurs. Overseas development aid has too often placed emphasis on providing opportunities for companies associated with the aid-provider rather than the recipient. Related Stories Burma's elders forced onto the streets DVB Debate: Should women lead? Rangoon property boom leaves hundreds homeless While Burma's endowment in natural resources may bode well for advances in agricultural production, a major cause of poverty among Burma's rural people, both individuals and communities, is lack of access to productive assets and financial resources. This population is characterized by high levels of illiteracy, inadequate health care and extremely limited access to transportation and social interaction. As the World Bank has reported, the 60 million people of Burma have literally been in the dark for too long with three out of four living without reliable electricity. Roughly 30 percent of Burmese do not have access to safe water and the rural poor face harsh environmental conditions and frequent natural disasters. As the level of income disparity increases, it is feared that it may portend social unrest down the road, perhaps resulting in a return to a more controlled economy and populace. The inability to gauge the extent to which the government may react to this situation creates an environment of uncertainty that may negatively impact the rate of economic growth that is necessary to move Burma significantly forward in the development process. It is only natural that the transition to a market economy results in changes in income distribution. This phenomenon is certainly not unique to Burma. The unleashing of the forces of competition and the entrepreneurial spirit, for example, gives incentive to individuals and firms to improve their economic standing. The allure of profits provides the catalyst for innovation and encourages new investment both from within the country and from abroad. Those willing to take risks and possessing specific skills should be rewarded accordingly. Theoretically, these benefits should significantly contribute to economic growth and in the long-run spread to all sectors of the economy. The standard model of the market economy, however, generally does not factor in such variables as corruption and influence peddling, factors that give certain groups special privileges and unfair access to resources. Such phenomena, often labeled as crony capitalism, are not unique to developing countries, but are a growing trend in the developed countries as well. These elements distort the market mechanism enabling some to gain substantially at the expense of many segments of the population. Being told that in the long-run benefits of the market will trickle down to everyone is little consolation for the malnourished peasant or unemployed factory worker who places precedence on obtaining a subsistence standard of living in the present. Addressing this trend before it becomes severe and expanding the benefits of the market economy to all is an issue Burma policymakers must address now and in the future. If not, the social costs of the emerging inequitable distribution of income may come to haunt all sectors of the economy.   Dr. Dennis McCornac is an economist specializing in economic development and the economies of East Asia. He is currently the Interim Director of Global Studies at Loyola University Maryland in the USA. dcmccornac@loyola.edu www.loyola.edu/sellinger

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