Thursday, November 21, 2013

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Gun Maw calls on public to help peace process

Posted: 21 Nov 2013 04:06 AM PST

Speaking at meeting with Kachin community members in Rangoon on Wednesday, the vice chief of staff of the Kachin Independence Army, Gun Maw Sumlat, stressed the importance of public participation in Burma's ongoing peace process.

"The KIO [Kachin Independence Organisation] has stressed how crucial it is to have the public involved in the peace process," he told an audience at a Baptist church in Sanchaung township. Peace between the government and the ethnic armed groups can only be achieved if the public endorses it."

"We are constantly working to bring about a nationwide ceasefire and political dialogue."

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The event was attended by around 500 people, essentially all Kachins, who posed several questions to Gun Maw regarding federalism in Burma, education, social work and drug problems.

Doi Hseng, a Kachin youth who attended the event, said he wishes to contribute to the peace effort.

"As a member of the general public, I am delighted and encouraged to hear clear answers about the meeting in Laiza, and the ethnic groups' stance," he said.

"I will do what I can to help."

Khon Ja of the Kachin Peace Network said the KIO leader's remarks were a "beacon of hope" for the Kachin people, and warned that the Burmese government needs to be genuine about their work on the peace process.

Gun Maw Sumlat was visiting Rangoon in his capacity as a member of the Negotiation Committee for the Nationwide Ceasefire. He then headed to Chiang Mai in Thailand to attend a meeting by ethnic armed groups and political parties on Friday and Saturday.

Copper mine protestors given one-month sentences in Rangoon

Posted: 21 Nov 2013 03:08 AM PST

Six activists who participated in a protest in Rangoon last year against the Latpadaung copper mine project were each sentenced to one month in prison with labour on Thursday by Kyimyindaing township court.

The six – Generation Wave's Moe Thway; 2007 Generation All Burma Federation of Student Unions leader D Nyein Linn; Aung Myo Oo; Myint Kyaw Oo; Soe Moe Htun; and Thandar – were charged by townships courts in Rangoon's Kyimyindaing, Sanchaung and Ahlone townships for demonstrating publicly in those districts without official permission on 2 December 2012.

Zaw Min, the father of D Nyein Linn and a member of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, criticised the court's decision to hand down such a harsh prison sentence rather than fining the six activists.

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"Article 18 [the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law] is a new legislation adopted by the current government," he said. "It is a new law but it is practiced under an old legal system.

Quoting a Burmese proverb, Zaw Min said, "Making a big case smaller and making a smaller case disappear – but in this instance, they are making a small case much bigger."

The six activists are still awaiting verdicts from Sanchaung and Ahlone township courts.

Min Thu Aung, the younger brother of D Nyein Linn, expressed concern for his brother amid rumours that he could also be made to serve the remaining 10 and half years of a jail term which was suspended under an amnesty.

Burma calls on UN to respect its sovereignty

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 11:34 PM PST

Responding to this week's UN resolution on Burma which urged Naypyidaw to grant citizenship to the country's Rohingya community, presidential spokesman Ye Htut hit back, calling on the world body to respect Burma's sovereignty.

Posting on Facebook on Thursday, Ye Htut said, "The government absolutely does not accept the word 'Rohingya'; however, it maintains that everyone – including the Bengalis in Arakan state – who meets the criteria provided in the 1982 Citizenship Law, should be granted Burmese citizenship.

"Those who don't meet the criteria will not be granted citizenship regardless of pressure from anyone, and this is our sovereign right. Democratic nations in the west, including the US and the UK, have their own specific rules and regulations regarding citizenship and will not grant citizenship to anyone who does not qualify under their laws regardless of calls by any international organisation, and we have the same principle."

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The presidential spokesman further called on the UN Human Rights Committee to note the conduct of many Bengalis [Rohingyas] in Burma who refuse to cooperate with the registration programme being undertaken by the Ministry of Immigration and Human Resources.

The UN General Assembly's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee (Third Committee) on Tuesday passed by consensus a resolution which called on Burma to grant citizenship to the Rohingya minority and to put an end to religious violence.

Addressing the General Assembly, Kyaw Tint, Burma's ambassador to the UN, said that Naypyidaw does not accept every point in the resolution and also objects to the use of the term "Rohingya". However he pledged to consider the potential for citizenship, freedom to travel and land ownership for the Rohingyas "under existing Burmese laws".

The Myanmar Human Rights Commission (MHRC) said this week that the situation between Rohingya Muslims and Arakanese Buddhists has recently improved following field-work in five townships of Arakan state.

While welcoming the reforms carried out by President Thein Sein and his government, the UN also expressed concern over the continued detention and imprisonment of political activists in the country, and it called on Burma to keep its promise to release all political prisoners by the end of this year.

Speaking to DVB, Sitt Myaing, the secretary of the MHRC, said: "It will take a lot of negotiation to accomplish this by the end of December."

Tuesday's UN resolution on Burma also cited concerns about the persecution of political and human rights activists, forced relocations, land confiscations and sexual violence against women.
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