The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Ethnic Alliance Voices Support for Nationwide Ceasefire Plan
• EU Offers to Send Monitors to Burma’s 2015 Election
• Burma Takes Precautions to Avoid SEA Games Blackouts
• Kachin Clashes Continue as Ethnic Leaders Meet
• Burma Govt Approves Federal Union Party
• On Suu Kyi’s Sandhurst Visit, a General Conclusion
• Ex-Political Prisoner Win Tin Demands Apology From Junta Leaders
• In Burma, Hyundai Motor Basks in ‘Korean Wave,’ Dealer Says
• Competition and Hesitant Investors Put Brakes on Burma’s Rice Industry
• Fewer North Koreans Fleeing to South Korea, UN Rights Envoy Says
• Bangladesh Politics Focused on 2 Moms, and 2 Sons
• China Suspects Tiananmen Crash a Suicide Attack, Sources Say

Ethnic Alliance Voices Support for Nationwide Ceasefire Plan Posted: 30 Oct 2013 05:40 AM PDT A leader of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) speaks during a meeting of ethnic armed groups on Wednesday in Laiza, Kachin State. Ethnic armed groups from around the country are gathering for three days of talks this week in the town where the KIO has its headquarters. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) LAIZA — At the start of a three-day conference in Laiza on Wednesday, there were signs that Burma's most important alliance of ethnic rebel groups is supportive of a government proposal to sign a nationwide ceasefire agreement next month. Several ethnic leaders, nonetheless, urged representatives of the assembled 18 armed groups to push the Burmese government into accepting a federal union that guarantees political autonomy for their ethnic regions. Representatives of 18 ethnic groups are gathered in Laiza, a KIO stronghold in Kachin State located on the Burma-China border, where they will discuss taking a joint position on the government's proposal to hold a nationwide ceasefire conference in November. Following the meeting, the ethnic representatives will reportedly travel to the Kachin State capital Myitkyina to hold discussions with the government's chief peace negotiator Aung Min. Khun Okkar, general secretary 2 of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), told reporters on Wednesday evening that the UNFC had considered the government proposal and in principle agreed with its conditions. "We are fine with signing the NCA [nationwide ceasefire agreement]. However, it also depends on other individual ethnic groups. We need to negotiate with other ethnic groups," he said. "But, I want to emphasize here: The UNFC won’t sign the NCA alone. It will sign the NCA only when all individual groups agree to sign it." President Thein Sein's reformist government has earned much international praise after it signed ceasefire agreements with 14 groups since assuming office in 2011. It is now keen to cap this progress with a nationwide ceasefire agreement. The KIO and the Taaung National Liberation Army have not yet signed any ceasefires, however, and skirmishes with government troops continue. The remarks by Khun Okkar come as somewhat of surprise as talks between the UNFC and the government about the nationwide ceasefire proposal seemed to have stalled during a recent meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The UNFC is an alliance of 11 ethnic rebel groups and includes several major armed groups, such as the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the Karen National Union, the Karenni National Progressive Party and the Chin National Front. During opening remarks at the conference on Wednesday, UNFC chairman N'Ban La urged ethnic representatives to push Naypyidaw into accepting a federal union of Burma during the negotiations to end ethnic conflict. "We can no longer repeat the mistakes from the past. We must be brave. It is no longer possible to go along with a sham federal union," said N'Ban La, who is also vice-chairman of the KIO. "Establishing a real federal union with full equal rights for ethnic nationalities is the only solution." General secretary of the Arakan Liberation Party Khine Thu Kha also stressed that ethnic groups should demand federal autonomy for their regions. "We might have different ideas and approaches, but we generally have the common goal of federalism," he told the conference. Burma's ethnic regions have been wracked by conflicts that broke out soon after independence in 1948. The groups fought against the former military regime for decades in order to demand more political autonomy, control of natural resources in their areas and respect for basic human rights. After the regime's bloody crackdown on the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, it sought ceasefires with most ethnic rebels and 17 groups eventually signed such agreements. But many groups have complained of their "bitter experiences" during the ceasefires, as the Burma Army attempted to erode their military powers, while abusing ethnic populations and pillaging resources. Many of the ceasefires broke down and military conflicts resumed in 2010, after Naypyidaw demanded that the groups become Border Guard forces under Burma Army command. The post Ethnic Alliance Voices Support for Nationwide Ceasefire Plan appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

EU Offers to Send Monitors to Burma’s 2015 Election Posted: 30 Oct 2013 05:33 AM PDT An ethnic Shan woman casts her vote at a Naypyidaw polling station during Burma's October 2010 general election. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The European Union has offered to send a delegation of observers to Burma's eagerly awaited 2015 general election, the regional bloc's ambassador to the Southeast Asian nation said Wednesday. The EU has been enthusiastic in its response to reforms in Burma since the quasi-civilian government of President Thein Sein took power in March 2011. The 28-member union rapidly canceled economic sanctions against Burma and in July this year reinstated preferential trade terms for goods imported from the country. The first ever ambassador for the EU delegation in Burma, Roland Kobia, a Belgian, presented his credentials to the Burma government in September. At a press conference in Rangoon on Wednesday, Kobia said he was hopeful about the coming general election, at which democracy icon Aung San SuuKyi has said she plans to contest the presidency. "We are assured by the feedback that we receive—by what we hear from the government, also by the [Burmese] Union Election Commission—that there is a commitment, that the elections will be open, free, transparent, fair," he said. "We welcome all that, and we are ready to support all stakeholders in order to make this happen." He said an informal offer to monitor the polls, which he believes is the first from the international community, has already been made. "We have made an offer to the country that if they were interested in having an election monitoring mission—which gives, you know, a cloud of credibility to elections—we will be very happy to contribute," he said. "I'm sure other countries will be interested in doing so. I don't think there will be a lack of interest from the international community in this regard." SuuKyi, a co-founder of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, has called for the 2008 Constitution to be amended before the election. The document, drafted by the former military government of Snr-Gen Than Shwe, precludes Suu Kyi, who was married to and is the mother of foreign nationals, from the presidency. The Constitution also guarantees a quarter of parliamentary seats to the military. Although he declined to go into details about changes to the Constitution, Kobia said, "It's a good thing that the Constitution is being looked at to see if it can be improved to match with the new history of Myanmar [Burma] since 2011." The European Union has been a supporter of the peace process in Burma and has provided start-up funding for the Myanmar Peace Center, a government-associated organization. Although the government hasyet to secure full support among ethnic armed groups for a nationwide ceasefire, and while fighting continues in Kachin State, Kobia said ceasefires already signed with 14 rebel groups showed progress. "For the time being we believe that we have put our money in something where things are happening," he said. The ambassador said that although he was the first in his role as head of a fully-fledged EU mission to Burma, the regional group had been giving assistance to the country, mainly in the form of humanitarian aid, since 1996. A total of 300 million euros (US$413 million) has been given in that time, and 70 million euros of EU-backed projects are ongoing, he said. He said other projects the European Union is interested in backing in Burma include an investment protection agreement to safeguard foreign businesses coming into the country and training for Burma's police force. "The police is the body in a country that should be to help people, to protect the people, and not, you know, to bother the people," he said. "So we have proposed to the government to have training for the police to our own international standards and so forth." Kobia also said that the European Union's top diplomat, Catherine Ashton, would attend twodays of meetings next month as part of the "EU-Myanmar Task Force," with events to be held in Rangoon on Nov. 14 and in Naypyidaw on Nov. 15. The post EU Offers to Send Monitors to Burma's 2015 Election appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma Takes Precautions to Avoid SEA Games Blackouts Posted: 30 Oct 2013 05:12 AM PDT Burmese runners practice at Wunna Theikdi Stadium in Naypyidaw in preparation of the 27th SEA Games. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Lacking confidence in the national power supply system, Burma's Ministry of Sports will use generators for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Southeast Asian Games in Naypyidaw in December. The director of the ministry's Public Affairs and Education Department said a sudden blackout during the regional sporting event would be a disgrace to the country's dignity, as it hosts the Games for the first time in decades. "We won't use the national grid because there may be blackouts during the opening and closing ceremonies. We will use generators," Htay Aung told The Irrawaddy, adding that nearly 20 generators would be online one hour in advance of the ceremonies. Burmese Vice President Sai Mauk Kham, who supervises the SEA Games Organizing Committee, reportedly ordered the ministries to be flawless during the Games, saying that if an error occurred to stain the country's image, the highest ranking official and others from the responsible ministry would lose their jobs. "The vice president has ordered us not to give the county a bad name during the Games," an official from the Ministry of Sports said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "If something bad happens, a series of ministers will be fired." Apart from the Ministry of Sports, the ministries of hotels and tourism, home affairs, transport, electric power and others are organizing the Games With 42 days to go before the event kicks off, a nationwide one-hour power cut occurred on Tuesday evening. The Yangon City Electricity Supply Board (YESB) said a fault in the national grid had caused the power outage. The SEA Games will be held in Naypyidaw, Rangoon, Mandalay and Ngwe Saung. Each location has reportedly been stocked with generators. The chief engineer of YESB, Nyan Lin, said four stadiums in Rangoon had been prioritized to receive regular electricity during the Games, and in the event of a power cut generators would come online automatically. "We have prepared the generators," he said. Recently during a pre-SEA Games international hockey competition in Rangoon, a blackout left players and attendees in darkness for five minutes. The post Burma Takes Precautions to Avoid SEA Games Blackouts appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Kachin Clashes Continue as Ethnic Leaders Meet Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:25 AM PDT A woman carries her child at a camp for internally displaced persons in the suburbs of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, on July 7, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) Clashes between government troops and the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) continued on Wednesday, local sources said, even as ethnic leaders gathered in the KIO stronghold of Laiza to prepare for nationwide peace talks. The Kachin Peace Creation Group (PCG), based in the state capital Myitkyina, confirmed that there has been no break in the fighting since it started last Tuesday, trapping thousands of local villagers and forcing hundreds more to flee. Maran Seng Aung, a member of the PCG, said the group's leaders and Kachin Baptist Church ministers contacted the Burmese army's Northern Regional Command on Oct. 23, the day after the fighting started, to inform them of the situation facing civilians in Mansi Township, where the clashes are taking place. "We have heard that the government troops are now being ordered to let the villagers leave," Maran Seng Aung told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. Meanwhile, local residents in Lashio and Bhamo townships said that some 2,000 troops from 20 government army battalions had been deployed in Mansi. Last week, fighting near Mungding Pa and other villages in the area left one woman dead and the village head of Nam Phu injured. According to a report last week by the state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar, the army was carrying out operations against illegal timber loggers in the area. The clashes come after the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the armed wing of the KIO, eased its control in the area following peace talks with the government on Oct. 8-10, said La Mai Gum Ja, a PCG leader. "I urge the government army commanders to ease their fire while ethnic leaders are holding an important meeting in Laiza, the KIO headquarters," La Mai Gum Ja said by phone on Wednesday, warning that the fighting could harm plans to reach a nationwide peace accord next month. According to relief workers, hundreds of civilians have been forced to flee the latest clashes. Around 400 from the villages of Nam Phu and Ma Khon Yum are currently taking shelter in Mai Hkaung, a village under government control, while another 500 have been travelling to Bhamo on foot since Monday. "The displaced Mungding Pa villagers will arrive this evening," Naw Din, the manager of the Karuna Myanmar Social Service Relief Team in Bhamo, said on Wednesday. Relief workers are also on their way to provide food for displaced villagers in Nam Lim Pa, where around 2,000 people have been trapped by the fighting since last week. The post Kachin Clashes Continue as Ethnic Leaders Meet appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma Govt Approves Federal Union Party Posted: 30 Oct 2013 04:20 AM PDT President Thein Sein, right, meets ethnic minority party leaders in Naypyidaw last year in July. (Photo: Hmuu Zaw / Facebook) RANGOON — Burma's newest ethnic political party, the Federal Union Party (FUP), will hold a meeting of central committee members next week in Rangoon, after the government approved the party's registration on Tuesday, allowing its members to run in the 2015 elections. The FUP comprises former members of 16 ethnic political parties from around the country, and party leaders say they hope to challenge the nation's two biggest political parties—the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD)—at the polls. Saw Than Myint, one of the FUP founders, told The Irrawaddy that his party would run in nationwide elections to represent all ethnic minorities in Burma, and to push for a federalist political system that would offer more power to ethnic minority states. "Our party policy is, firstly, to have a federal union in our country, and second to have equal rights. This is mainly what we are working on," he said. "Without a federal union, our country cannot have peace. All our ethnic armed groups and ethnic political parties want a federal union system." The FUP consists of parties from the Nationalities Brotherhood Federation (NBF)—an ethnic alliance initially formed after the 2010 elections by the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), the Chin National Party (CNP), the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), the All Mon Region Democracy Party (AMRDP) and the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party. The NBF now has a core group of seven parties, with six parties as observers. Aye Maung, chairman of the RNDP, said the USDP and the NLD had ethnic members but did not represent the ethnic minority people, who make up 40 percent of Burma's 60 million or so population. "We need to find a way to beat the USDP and the NLD," he said. "Ethnic people live in different areas of the country. We will find out more about where the biggest populations of ethnic minorities are, after Burma finishes its nationwide census. Then we plan to place our candidates." FUP leaders say they will only contest elections in constituencies with no other ethnic parties, including in Rangoon and Mandalay. Party co-founder Saw Than Myint said the census could identify an even larger percentage of ethnic minorities in the population. "In the election, we can beat the USDP and the NLD by looking at the strong force of ethnic people," he said. "Our party's strength is that we are an ethnic party, and hopefully all ethnic people will trust us." The FUP is not a coalition party, and its members have resigned from their former political parties. The post Burma Govt Approves Federal Union Party appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

On Suu Kyi’s Sandhurst Visit, a General Conclusion Posted: 30 Oct 2013 02:29 AM PDT The presence of Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at Britain's Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where she met with cadets and delivered a speech last Friday, surprised many activists at home and abroad. The visit has come under fire from some quarters, with the harshest critics blasting the democracy icon for spurning activists there who had sought her audience. Those who count themselves among the disappointed might rightly wonder why the civilian parliamentarian, who for nearly two decades was placed under house arrest by her own country's armed forces, would prioritize this stop on her latest European tour. The answer may lie in Suu Kyi's complicated relationship with the brass back home. Could it be that Suu Kyi's visit to Sandhurst—which once received and trained several Burmese military officers—was an attempt to win the hearts and minds of the generals in Naypyidaw? Just before Suu Kyi arrived in London on her second visit to Europe in a year, Britain was finalizing the details of a military assistance program that will see 30 high-ranking officers in the Burma Army receive specially tailored training, including instruction on how to operate within the rule of law. Suu Kyi, it just so happens, was the one who asked Britain to provide education to security forces in Burma. The Irrawaddy reported earlier this month that the course has been designed for army decision-makers, and so is only open to officers of the rank of lieutenant colonel and brigadier or equivalent. A team of academics and serving British Army officers will be involved in teaching senior Burmese officers. Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at aungzaw@irrawaddy.org. The woman in charge of the course told The Irrawaddy that the training would be "political, not tactical," meaning "we are not teaching people how to fire a rifle or drive a tank. We are seeking to help them better understand when military force is appropriate and when it is absolutely not appropriate." This is all part of the United Kingdom's renewed engagement with Burma's most powerful institution. As an eager but calculating Britain ramps up its military ties with Burma, it should not come as a surprise if top generals including Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing receive formal invites to London in the near future. The backdrop to the tricky balance that human rights-conscious Western nations must strike is China. Min Aung Hlaing recently paid a visit to Burma's at times overbearing neighbor to the north, where he received red carpet treatment and met Chinese President Xi Jinping. Since the late 1980s, China has been a reliable arms supplier to Burma, providing military hardware at a time when much of the rest of the world would have nothing to do with the oppressive regime. Western governments' engagement with Burma's armed forces will be cautious and gradual, but they also don't want to see the Burmese generals slipping back into China's sphere of influence. And the historical ties are there. Since 1952, Burma, a former colony of Britain, has sent several army officers to receive training at Sandhurst and other military institutions abroad. From 1952-56, the country sent 65 military officers to Sandhurst. In fact, officers were also sent to the US Army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth and Australia's Fort Queenscliff. But it would be naïve to think that military training from the West will make Burma's armed forces more humane and professional. The Thai army, as a cautionary tale, is a strong ally of the United States and continues to enjoy a robust military-to-military relationship with the United States, but has staged numerous coups in the kingdom, the last one taking place just seven years ago. History has shown that Burma's talented army officers picked up their infamous "four cuts" strategy in London during informal meetings with their instructors while studying there. The four cuts strategy—involving forced resettlement of entire communities and confinement of villagers in special camps and cutting intelligence, recruitment and financial support to insurgents—was used to great effect by the British during their colonial days, and would later prove to be another unfortunate legacy of that country's Burma ties. In a memoir published several years back, Col Tun Tin, who became prime minister in 1988, wrote that soon after returning from London in the early 1960s, forces under his command staged a three-day war game exercise attended by senior officers, including then commander-in-chief Gen Ne Win. The plan demonstrated "four cuts operations" in practice—resettling villagers, and cutting the war game enemy off from supplies, intelligence gathering, recruitment and fund-raising. The four cuts strategy was indeed useful: In the next few years, several military commanders applied the tactics in successful and ruthless military campaigns against ethnic insurgents and communists. During Suu Kyi's visit to London last week, UK Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said, "The focus of our future defense engagement with Burma will be on the creation of modern armed forces, subject to democratic accountability and compliance with international law. "I am delighted to see that Aung San Suu Kyi has chosen to look at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as an example of how to train professional soldiers to cope with the many challenges we face in the modern world." As the daughter Burma's independence hero Gen Aung San, founder of the country's armed forces, and as a politician who has openly expressed her desire to become president of Burma, Suu Kyi has every right to visit Sandhurst. But within the context of those presidential ambitions (lest we forget Suu Kyi is still constitutionally ineligible to run for the office, and will need to win over at least a few of the generals sitting in Parliament to change that), it is not difficult to conclude that we are witnessing a courting of the generals, whose grip on the country remains strong. This year, for the first time, Burma's democracy icon appeared at the Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyidaw. There are rumors that Suu Kyi has sought a meeting with Min Aung Hlaing, but has not yet been able to sit down with the general. It is unclear whether this is a snub or simply a benign inability to align busy schedules. Certainly it is notable that the democracy icon turned opposition parliamentarian has not yet met the country's commander-in-chief, given that Min Aung Hlaing has seen fit to meet with leaders of the Karen National Union, an ethnic armed group formerly labeled "terrorist insurgents." For many who remember the brutality of the former military regime, Suu Kyi's cozying up to the generals is a dance with the devil, but the presidential aspirant clearly feels she has no other choice. The post On Suu Kyi's Sandhurst Visit, a General Conclusion appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Ex-Political Prisoner Win Tin Demands Apology From Junta Leaders Posted: 30 Oct 2013 02:19 AM PDT Win Tin, a co-founder of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and a former political prisoner, speaks at a ceremony on Wednesday in Rangoon to honor a group of political prisoners who died during a hunger strike at the now-shuttered Great Coco Island detention facility. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Approaching what is sometimes considered one's "golden years," it would seem that Win Tin was, ironically, destined to suffer in the latter years of his accomplished life. When he turned 60 in 1989, the seasoned journalist was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his senior position in Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), as well as for his attempt to inform the United Nations of ongoing human rights violations in the country's prisons. When his 75th birthday came 15 years later, torture, inadequate access to medical treatment, and deprivation of food and water were the presents he received from his jailer—Burma's ex-military regime. Now, five years after his release from prison, the 84-year-old wants something from his former captors to make up for his 19 years of suffering: an apology. "They have to admit what they did to us because many people died," the ex-political prisoner told The Irrawaddy. "It's not only for me but for all political prisoners mistreated by the country's military dictatorship since 1988." Calling the decades of heavy-handed oppression "crimes against humanity," Win Tin warned those responsible that they would face future consequences if repentance was not forthcoming. "Given the extent of the destruction they wrought on the country and people since 1988, they will surely have bad names in history unless they admit their wrongdoings," he explained. He added that an apology alone would not be sufficient, owing to the many repercussions stemming from the former regime's transgressions. "They need to reform the government as well, because today's government is a sort of semi-military regime," he said. "Many people who are responsible for the abuses are now in higher positions in the government. "Thirdly, they have to take responsibility for rehabilitation of the former political prisoners' lives that they destroyed.If they meet all these three points, I'll forgive them." For more than 20 years, Burma's military regime was a reliable perpetrator of human rights abuses against its own people. Among the list of violations was the government's penchant for locking up political dissenters. After the failed nationwide popular uprising in 1988, prisons across Burma saw a sharp increase in the number of inmates as the government scoured the country for opposition voices. As of December 2011, less than a year after the current quasi-civilian came to power, there were 1,572 political prisoners in Burma, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). In 2010, human rights violations in the country were so rampant that the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tómas Ojea Quintana, called for a UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country. The formation of a Commission of Inquiry has been publicly supported most recently by the United States, as well as the United Kingdom, Australia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Calls for a truth commission seem to have lost steam, however, with a shifting political landscape in Burma that has included the handover of power to President Thein Sein's nominally civilian government, the release of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, and a sweeping parliamentary by-election victory for Suu Kyi's NLD. Hundreds of political prisoners have been released since Thein Sein took office in March 2011. The president promised during a trip to Britain in July that all prisoners of conscience would be freed by the end of this year. With a reformist message being pushed by the government and embraced by the West, there has been little recent discussion about crimes committed by the former military junta, nor of seeking justice for those deeds. Most of the men believed to have held powerful positions in the former military regime remain unpunished—either leaving the public eye quietly or taking up "civilian" posts in the current government. The regime's former supremo Snr-Gen Than Shwe ceded power in 2011 and by all accounts enjoys a peaceful life in retirement, while the former spy chief Khin Nyunt, who ran the fearsome Military Intelligence Unit that arrested and interrogated countless political activists, now owns an art gallery in Rangoon. During a recent chance meeting at a funeral, Win Tin said Khin Nyunt told him to "let bygones be bygones." "I told him I had no grudge but if he wants us to forget what they did, they have to do something." Many ex-political prisoners have expressed fears that any attempt to call for justice might derail the government's ongoing reform process, which includes national reconciliation, constitutional amendments and peace negotiations with ethnic armed groups. "We can't forget what they did to us," said Tun Kyi from the Rangoon-based Former Political Prisoners Group. "But we should be more focused on what is happening now for the good of the country rather than on our personal interests." With many former generals still in positions of power, or thought to be keeping a watchful and influential eye on the reform process, some are daunted by the prospect of seeking justice. "Even if we wanted justice for my daughter's killing, we are not sure it's possible and don't know how long it would take," said Khin Htay Win, the mother of Win Maw Oo, who was killed by the Burmese military as one of the 1988 uprising's participants. Instead of seeking justice, the family blames the killing of the 16-year-old schoolgirl on destiny. "We no longer hold a grudge," her father Win Kyu said. Others are in firm agreement with Win Tin's demands. "We have already forgiven them and never thought about revenge," said Ko Shell, also a former political prisoner. "But if they want us to forget what we suffered, we surely deserve their apologies." Tun Kyi said he wanted the government to assist ex-political prisoners and their families. "They should enact a law like in other countries, for the welfare of former political prisoners. They are the only ones who could do that," he said. Though government leaders have said Burma's democratization is "irreversible," not a word has been uttered about past abuses, and the leadership appears far from ready to demand accountability for the country's checkered human rights record. "That has shown that they are still under the influence of the former military dictatorship," Win Tin said. "If they don't own up, we must pressure them," he added. The winner of the Unesco / Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize and the World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award acknowledged that the sought-after apology was not as important as amending the 2008 Constitution and peace negotiations with ethnic armed groups. Still, the veteran journalist said only a concerted push could see his three conditions met. "If people press more, they [the government] will surely have to find ways to settle it. If not, they won't bother to think about it." The post Ex-Political Prisoner Win Tin Demands Apology From Junta Leaders appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

In Burma, Hyundai Motor Basks in ‘Korean Wave,’ Dealer Says Posted: 30 Oct 2013 02:14 AM PDT A man rides his motorbike past parked Hyundai cars ready for shipment at a port in the southern Indian city of Chennai. (Photo: Reuters / Babu) Hyundai Motor aims to raise its market share in Burma to over 15 percent in the next three or four years, basking in the huge popularity of South Korean culture, the sole dealer for the automaker in the country said on Tuesday. Hyundai Motor, which opened its first showroom in Rangoon in August, plans to set up 14 dealerships in major cities by 2018 as it seeks to crack into the small, but growing market dominated by Japanese carmakers, Kolao Holdings said. "Young people in Myanmar who watch Korean dramas visit our showroom and look for cars that were shown in the dramas," Oh Sei-young, chief executive of Kolao Holdings, said at a media briefing. "Hyundai is really keen on the Myanmar market." South Korean culture, known as the "Korean Wave" or Hallyu, has swept through Asia in recent years, generating billions of dollars in revenue from drama and pop music. Burma's car market started to bloom around 2011, after the quasi-civilian government of President Thein Sein took over from the military government, allowing some old cars to be swapped for permits to import newer models. Burma will have a total of 331,468 passenger cars registered this year, up 24 percent from a year earlier, according to Kolao, adding only six out of 1,000 people own cars there. Most of the cars are Japanese, which dominate most Southeast Asian auto markets such as Indonesia. The likes of Nissan Motor and Ford Motor have raced to gain a foothold in the Burma market, spurred by the government's loosening of import regulations on new cars in 2011. Hyundai Motor, which sells the Starex van and Elantra small sedan in Burma, targets sales of 1,500 cars next year in the country, Oh said. In neighboring Laos, Kolao Holdings imports and sells new cars from Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors and China's Chery, and assembles knock-down kits of second-hand imported cars, controlling 37 percent of the country's imported car market. Kolao Holdings said in a filing on Monday that it plans to raise about $150 million through share sales in Singapore to help boost auto financing business in Laos, Burma and Cambodia. The post In Burma, Hyundai Motor Basks in 'Korean Wave,' Dealer Says appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Competition and Hesitant Investors Put Brakes on Burma’s Rice Industry Posted: 30 Oct 2013 02:00 AM PDT Rice farmers sow their crops in western Burma's Arakan State. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) Burma's ambition to become a major rice exporter again is facing numerous hurdles, not least of which is the problem of oversupply in the world market. Domestic media reported last week that Burma's export earnings have already slumped about US$100 million so far in this financial year because of weaker harvests caused by poor weather. But a bigger problem is an export market bloated with better-quality rice than Burmese growers can produce, said Samarendu Mohanty, an economist with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). "Global rice prices continue their downward spiral in the face of excess supply from the major exporting countries. The good-looking wet-season rice crop in the fields of most rice-growing countries in Asia is also putting additional pressure on the market," Mohanty said in an IRRI October study. Burma's rice exports for the first seven months of the current financial year, April-October, were only 450,000 tons compared with 730,000 tons in the same period of 2012, according to the Yangon Times. The Ministry of Commerce said in September the country was still on target to achieve exports of 1.5 million tons for the full 2013-14 financial year to the end of March—a long way from optimistic Burmese industry forecasts made at the beginning of the year for a target of 3 million tons. However, a recent report by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecast that Burma's total rice production for the current financial year would most likely leave only 750,000 tons available for export after domestic consumption demand is met. The US government agency estimated a national harvest of 11 million tons, with local demand touching 10.25 million tons. The IRRI is helping Burma to develop and use commercially new rice varieties which can grow better and more productively in areas of the country that suffer drought, regular flooding and sea inundations which bring damaging salt water. But efforts by the Burma's Rice Industry Association to attract investment, especially from major rice growing neighbor Thailand, have so far had only limited success. One of the major problems faced by Burma's rice industry is old and inefficient milling plants and it had been hoped that Thai millers would see opportunities in Burma's production sector. The Thai Rice Millers' Association told Reuters recently that potential investors remained hesitant to move into Burma because of continuing logistical problems such as inadequate electricity supply and poor transport infrastructure to move rice to ports and other dispatch centers. Higher export hopes have also been dented by new competition from India. "Burma's exports have slowed due to the re-emergence of India in the non-basmati trade and [Burma] is losing market share in its traditional markets of Bangladesh, the Philippines, and West Africa," said an industry study by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service earlier this year. It warned that the new competition would afflict Burma's 2013-14 financial year and possibly beyond. There are other competition problems too. "The lack of [Burmese] government support has put Burmese farmers at a competitive disadvantage with some of its ASEAN counterparts, such as Thai and Vietnamese farmers who receive government support to compensate for lower prices," said the USDA study. "The decline in global rice prices has hit Burmese farmers hard as they are currently selling rice at or below production cost," it said. However, Burma could benefit from Thailand pricing itself out of some markets because of higher prices demanded to cover the generous state subsidy to Thai farmers, said the IRRI. "Chinese purchases of rice primarily from Vietnam, Pakistan, and [Burma] have supported the market in the past few months," Mohanty said in his market assessment for the IRRI. "China is well on its way to claiming the top spot in 2013 with 3 million tons of imports, with nearly half already imported in the first half of the year. Chinese imports may go even higher if global rice prices continue their downward spiral for the remainder of the year." Burma's rice producers are already adapting to this potentially large new customer by expanding acreage under cultivation to include summer rice varieties that are "better suited for the dry season and also meet Chinese consumer demands," the study noted. But if Thai investors are hesitant Taiwanese might yet step in to help. A business delegation from Taipei led by Taiwan's International Economic Cooperation Association is scheduled to visit Rangoon in November. And although it will be a wide-based delegation embracing heavy industry and pharmaceuticals, the focus is expected to be in Burma's rice industry, the Taipei Times reported. "Although the growth of rice yield has been highly uneven in [Burma], it has a large potential to produce more rice. We will work with [Burma] to develop rice varieties that can boost its food supplies under its climate conditions," the Taiwan association's secretary-general, Tao Wen-lung, was quoted by the newspaper as saying. Towards the end of the British colonial era in the 1930s, Burma became the world's biggest rice exporter, dispatching up to 7 million tonnes a year and winning the epithet "rice bowl of the world." It has a long way to go to reclaim that crown, but as the IRRI's director-general Robert Zeigler has said, there is "huge potential to grow." The post Competition and Hesitant Investors Put Brakes on Burma's Rice Industry appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Fewer North Koreans Fleeing to South Korea, UN Rights Envoy Says Posted: 29 Oct 2013 10:48 PM PDT A North Korean boy works in a field of a collective farm in an area damaged by summer floods and typhoons in South Hwanghae Province on Sept. 30, 2011. (Photo: Reuters) UNITED NATIONS — Fewer North Koreans are fleeing to South Korea, possibly due to tighter border control and cases of asylum seekers being returned home by China, a UN rights envoy said on Tuesday. Marzuki Darusman, the UN special rapporteur on the situation in North Korea, said that in the first nine months of this year 1,041 North Koreans arrived in South Korea, compared to 1,509 people for all of 2012 and 2,706 people in 2011. "This represents a reversal of the trend of steady increase in the number of annual arrivals since 1998, possibly due to recently tightened border control and increased incidents of refoulement," Darusman wrote in a statement presented to a U.N. General Assembly human rights committee. Darusman said the international law principle of non-refoulement – an obligation not to return asylum seekers or refugees to a place where their life or liberty would be at risk – clearly applies to North Koreans who have left without permission. Communist North Korea is one of the world’s most reclusive and repressive nations, accused of starving and torturing thousands of people in a network of prison camps while taking extraordinary steps to prevent its citizens from fleeing to South Korea or other nations. In late May, nine North Koreans, mostly children and reportedly all orphans, were repatriated from Laos through China to North Korea, while in February of last year the United Nations raised concerns about the possibility of 31 North Koreans being returned to Pyongyang after they were arrested in China. "All countries where escapees from the Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) are seeking refuge or transiting must protect them, treat them humanely and abstain from returning them," Darusman said in his statement. A representative of the Chinese U.N. mission said that the nine North Koreans who came from Laos had valid visas to enter China and had been released. The Chinese representative said that Beijing had not received a request for them to be returned home. The Chinese representative also said that North Koreans illegally entering China were not refugees because "they enter China for economic reasons, therefore we have the right to deal with these people according to our law because they are illegally entering." 'Gross Human Rights Violations' The Laos UN mission told the world body’s human rights committee it had addressed the issue of the North Korean defectors in accordance with international law and had worked with the Chinese and North Korean embassies on the issue. Darusman said there has been no improvement in the dire situation of human rights in North Korea and that the government has continued to pursue "a belligerent military policy," while the majority of North Koreans are being denied food. Darusman is also a member of a U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea along with Sonja Biserko of Serbia and Justice Michael Kirby of Australia, who chairs the inquiry. They are due to deliver a final report in March 2014. "The entire body of evidence gathered so far points to what appear to be large-scale patterns of systematic and gross human rights violations," Kirby told the General Assembly’s human rights committee on Tuesday, adding that Pyongyang had refused to cooperate with the inquiry. North Korea has dismissed the inquiry as a "political plot" to force a leadership change in Pyongyang. Inmates in North Korea’s prison camps suffered starvation and torture and described "unspeakable atrocities" comparable to Nazi abuses uncovered after World War Two, the U.N. inquiry said in a preliminary report in September. The inquiry was established in March, following pressure by Japan, South Korea and Western powers to begin building a case for possible criminal prosecution. North Korea is not a member of the International Criminal Court, but the Security Council can ask the court to investigate non-signatories. The post Fewer North Koreans Fleeing to South Korea, UN Rights Envoy Says appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Bangladesh Politics Focused on 2 Moms, and 2 Sons Posted: 29 Oct 2013 10:42 PM PDT Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's (pictured) ruling Awami League will take on the Bangladesh National Party in parliamentary elections by early next year. (Photo: Reuters) DHAKA — The future of Bangladesh depends on two men who don't live there, both heirs apparent to the South Asian nation's most powerful political dynasties. One is a technology consultant who lives in the US with his American wife and young daughter. The other is reportedly studying for a law degree in London, living in self-imposed exile because he faces corruption charges at home. The consultant has been traveling the small towns of Bangladesh in recent weeks, stumping for his mother's re-election. The law student is meeting with powerful political aides in Saudi Arabia, helping plan his family's return to power. But give them a few years, and political observers here say either could become prime minister of Bangladesh, which has been ruled by their two families since the country's 1971 independence from Pakistan. Sajeeb Wazed Joy, 42, the son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and Tarique Rahman, the 46-year-old son of opposition leader Khaleda Zia, have emerged as the country's most powerful political heirs. "Their influence is huge," said Hassan Shahriar, a political analyst in Bangladesh. "It's almost impossible to rise to the top coming from outside these families in the current context." With national parliamentary elections due by early next year, Joy and Rahman are key figures in early campaigning for their mothers, and are earning serious publicity for themselves. By all indications, the men are headed for powerful roles in the country's two major political parties—Hasina's Bangladesh Awami League and Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The seeming inevitability of the sons' rise rankles some in Bangladesh, who see it as fundamentally undemocratic. "This is not a kingdom, why would they come after their mothers?" asks college student Mazharul Islam. "Are there no other people with brains and guts to rule us? This is ridiculous." But political dynasties are a fact of life in South Asia. Families of independence leaders, first presidents or descendants of longtime leaders often have immense influence in politics. In Bangladesh, Hasina and Zia have headed their parties for decades without any open challenges. "Look at India, Sri Lanka or Pakistan," Shahriar said. "Bangladesh is no different. Cronies surround these families, back them and strengthen their hands to get slices of power." In Bangladesh—a nation struggling to overcome extreme poverty, vicious politics and a recent string of horrific accidents linked to the garment industry—photos of Joy and Rahman regularly feature on party posters along with their mothers. In recent weeks, Joy has toured the country, earning a rock-star welcome in towns where supporters lined up along highways and chanted party slogans. Scrums of reporters followed his motorcade. "You are the future [of the country]. You are the future leaders of this nation. I will always be with you," Joy, who lives in the US state of Virginia, told a crowd of cheering students during the tour, aimed at boosting support for his mother. "One day he will be prime minister. Why not?" said Mahbubul Haque Shakil, an aide to Hasina. "This is a democracy. If people want, he will surely be." Rahman, though he lives in Britain, plays a major role in deciding who will get nominations for the country's 300 parliamentary constituencies. Rahman—whose mother was prime minister from 2001 to 2006 before becoming an opposition leader—has campaigned for her in the past and reportedly hand-picked several Cabinet members. Rahman left the country in 2008 with permission from a court on medical ground after his mother's five-year term expired amid chaos on the streets over elections. A caretaker government backed by the military arrested him and allegedly tortured him in custody. He holds the title of senior vice president of Bangladesh Nationalist Party. His rise comes despite allegations of corruption that could lead to his arrest if he returns to Bangladesh. A special court indicted Rahman in absentia along with one of his businessman friends in 2011. Prosecutors say Rahman and his friend received US$2.73 million in bribes while his mother was prime minister. Another court issued an arrest warrant against Rahman accusing him of masterminding grenade attacks on a rally of Hasina when she was the opposition leader in 2004. At least 24 people died in that attack in Dhaka and Hasina narrowly escaped unhurt. Hasina's party says the attack was designed to eliminate political opponents. Zia's opposition party has denied all charges against Rahman, saying they are aimed at destroying her family's reputation. If Zia returns to power, it would pave the way for her son's return to Bangladesh. For now, he is working closely with his mother, but from a distance. He recently addressed some party meetings in London and visited Saudi Arabia to attend another. "It's just a matter of time. He will return as a hero," said Jamilur Qadir, one of his supporters. "He is the son of a former president. He is the son of a mother who did a lot for the nation as prime minister. I am sure he will come out clean and change things with good judgment." Zia entered the political fray after her husband, President Ziaur Rahman, was killed in a coup in 1981. Hasina, the elder daughter of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, entered politics several years after her father and most of her family were assassinated in a 1975 coup. Together, the women overthrew former president and military dictator H.M. Ershad and restored democracy in 1990. Each has served as prime minister since then. Now, the two are bitter rivals with their eyes toward the future—both their country's and their sons'. Dynasties are not necessarily bad, the political analyst Shahriar said—as long as good leadership emerges. In any case, other candidates for power have little hope of rising to the top. "There are talented people, they have potential," Shahriar said. "But they don't have family connections." The post Bangladesh Politics Focused on 2 Moms, and 2 Sons appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

China Suspects Tiananmen Crash a Suicide Attack, Sources Say Posted: 29 Oct 2013 10:27 PM PDT A paramilitary policeman detains a woman who threw papers believed to be her petition papers near the main entrance of the Forbidden City, where the car incident happened on Monday. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — Chinese authorities investigating what could be Beijing’s first major suicide attack searched on Tuesday for two men from Muslim-dominated Xinjiang, after three people suspected to be from the restive region drove an SUV into a crowd at Tiananmen Square and set it on fire. They killed themselves and two tourists on Monday in the square, the heart of China’s power structure and the focal point of the mass 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations brutally crushed the military. Police have spread a dragnet across the capital, checking hotels and vehicles, seeking two people suspected to be ethnic Uighurs, a Muslim minority from Xinjiang in China’s far west, on the borders of former Soviet Central Asia. Two senior sources said on Tuesday the crash, which also injured 38 bystanders at perhaps the most closely guarded location in China, was suspected of being a suicide attack carried out by people from Xinjiang. It was initially believed to be an accident. The sources did not specifically say the occupants were Uighurs, many of whom chafe at Chinese controls on their culture and religion. "It looks like a pre-meditated suicide attack," said a source with direct knowledge of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid repercussions for talking to the foreign media. There have been suicide bombings before in China, and in Beijing, mostly by people with personal grievances, but none have targeted the very heart of China’s government like this appears to have. China has blamed Uighur separatists and religious extremists for a series of attacks in Xinjiang, saying they want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan. Rights groups and exiles say China massively overstates the threat. In 2009, nearly 200 people were killed in clashes between Uighurs and ethnic Chinese in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. But the unrest has never before spilled over into China’s capital despite speculation in 1997 that Uighurs were to blame for a Beijing bus bomb that killed at least two people. Uighurs are also not known to have previously carried out suicide attacks. Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who is based in Washington, said in a statement that she was worried that Monday’s crash would bring a fierce crackdown on her people. Kadeer, who left China in 2005, heads an international Uighur exile organization called the World Uighur Congress, based in Germany. Her group urged calm and voiced concern that Chinese censorship would stop facts from coming out. "The Chinese government will not hesitate to concoct a version of the incident in Beijing so as to further impose repressive measures on the Uighur people," she said. Kadeer said China has used the international fight against terrorism launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States as a pretext for a crackdown on the Uighurs in Xinjiang. "There is no sign we will see anything different this time, even though evidence of what really happened yesterday is thin on the ground," she said in the statement from Washington. 'No Accident' China’s government has given no official word on whether the incident was an accident or an attack. State media has mostly kept to reporting brief statements from the police and official Xinhua news agency giving a bare bones account of what happened, as is common for such sensitive events. Police are still investigating and have yet to determine the identities of the three people in the sport utility vehicle but suspect they are from Xinjiang, according to the sources. The other dead were a Chinese man and a woman from the Philippines, both tourists. However, Beijing police said late on Monday they were looking for two suspects from Xinjiang in connection with a "major incident" – though it was unclear if these were the people in the vehicle or accomplices still at large. The sources said that the occupants were suspected of lighting a flammable substance in the vehicle. "It was no accident. The jeep knocked down barricades and rammed into pedestrians. The three men had no plans to flee from the scene," said a source who has ties to the leadership. A Reuters reporter at the scene at the time said he did not hear any gunshots. On Monday night, hours after the fire, Beijing police issued a notice asking local hotels about suspicious guests who had checked in since Oct. 1 and named two suspects it said were from Xinjiang. Four hotels told Reuters they had received the notice. Judging by their names, the suspects appeared to be ethnic Uighurs. "To prevent the suspected persons and vehicles from committing further crimes … please notify law enforcement of any discovery of clues regarding these suspects and the vehicles," said the notice, which was widely circulated on Chinese microblogs. Beijing police, contacted by telephone, declined to comment. On Monday, the police said on their official microblog only that they were investigating the accident, and did not say if they thought it was an attack. Calls to the Xinjiang government went unanswered. Barry Sautman, a political scientist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology who has studied Xinjiang, said if it were confirmed as a suicide attack by Uighurs, it would be a first. "Certainly there have been a lot of bombings carried out by Uighur groups, but none of them as far as I know have involved suicide," he said. Ilham Tohti, a China-based ethnic Uighur economist and longtime critic of Chinese policy in Xinjiang, said Uighurs had been driven to take extreme measures by China’s repression. "The use of violent means happens because all other outlets for expression are gone. Uighurs do not have any representation, they have no means of self-expression," he told Reuters. China denies mistreating any of its minority groups, saying they are guaranteed wide-ranging religious and cultural freedoms. Many rights groups say China has overplayed the threat posed to justify its tough controls in energy-rich Xinjiang, which lies strategically on the borders of Central Asia, India and Pakistan. In Front of Mao's Portrait Police said on Monday the sport utility vehicle veered off the road at the north of the square, crossed the barriers and caught fire almost directly in front of the main entrance of the Forbidden City, in front of a huge portrait of the founder of Communist China, Mao Zedong. Pictures seen by Reuters showed that the vehicle appeared to have driven several hundred meters (yards) along the pedestrian pavement in front of the Forbidden City entrance before bursting into flames, knocking down people as it went. One eyewitness, who asked not to be identified due to the incident’s sensitive nature, said she saw the vehicle knock down three or four people, and that it had a white banner with black lettering on it streaming from the back. "People started to panic, and all ran to hide in the toilet," she said. "Three or four minutes later I came out and could see black smoke, and the police had begun to clear people out." While censors moved quickly to remove pictures of the incident from the popular Twitter-like service Sina Weibo, as often happens in stability-obsessed China, many images and accounts are still viewable a day after the event. Beijing police stepped up checks on cars around the city in response to the incident, one police officer at a checkpoint on the border between Beijing and Hebei province told Reuters. A state newspaper reported in July that the government suspected Syrian opposition forces were training extremists from Xinjiang to carry out attacks in China. "They have been known to carry out attacks outside of Xinjiang," said Yang Shu, a terrorism expert at China’s Lanzhou University. "There have also been reports that East Turkestan elements have received training in Syria, so I would say the possibility does exist of a Xinjiang connection," he added. The post China Suspects Tiananmen Crash a Suicide Attack, Sources Say appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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