Democratic Voice of Burma |
- Tawwin factory workers convicted under Article 18
- Ethnic autonomy is the only road to peace, says KIA
- Govt rejects NLD proposal for quadripartite meeting
- Additional US$1 million for development in Chin state – but is it enough?
- The battle for gay rights in Burma
| Tawwin factory workers convicted under Article 18 Posted: 29 Nov 2013 03:51 AM PST Six workers from Tawwin Wood Finished Products Factory who staged a protest demanding salary increases and labour rights in October 2012 were convicted by Sanchaung township court in Rangoon on Friday of staging an unauthorised demonstration and ordered to either pay fines of 10,000 kyat (US$10) each or serve one month in prison with labour. The six: Nay Lin Oo, Zin Myo Ko Ko, Tun Tun Win, Thida Aung, Zar Ei Phyu and Thin Thin Maw, were charged under Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law. Nay Lin Oo, speaking to DVB by phone on Friday after the verdict, said they paid the fines but almost had to accept the jail terms because they were so broke after losing their jobs at the factory. Fortunately, he said, the civic group Former Political Prisoners Society paid their fines. "We could not even afford to pay those fines as we are jobless and had to pay court fees over the last year while the trial went on," he said. The workers said they are preparing to appeal against the verdict, claiming they did not commit any crime. "We did not violate Article 18 and so we don't regard the verdict as fair. We are preparing to appeal to a higher court, and are prepared to take our case all the way to the Supreme Court," said Nay Lin Oo. After the Tawwin factory workers held a protest last year, a tribunal initially found in favour of the workers. However, a subsequent appeal by the factory owners to the Supreme Court saw the verdict overturned. In December, a brawl broke out between the workers and their supervisors, resulting in the filing of lawsuits from both parties. |
| Ethnic autonomy is the only road to peace, says KIA Posted: 29 Nov 2013 02:56 AM PST Soldiers of the Kachin Independence Army posted at the Lawa Yang frontline say the only way to achieve genuine peace in Burma is to grant the ethnic groups autonomy and self-determination. “We are dedicated to autonomy and self-determination, which we have been striving for relentlessly”, said a KIA soldier to DVB. “It is not that we prefer to make a living from the war but it is important that people have a right to autonomy and self-determination.” “Ethnic people from various regions in Burma deserve the right to autonomy and self-determination”, said a KIA commander. ”If the ethnic populations, following the political dialogue, can be granted the rights they deserve, I think that genuine peace will come.” The KIA commander said the group will have 'no problems' working together with the Burmese army for the sake of the country, as long as the ethnic people are treated fairly. |
| Govt rejects NLD proposal for quadripartite meeting Posted: 29 Nov 2013 01:21 AM PST Burmese presidential spokesman Ye Htut said a proposal by the National League for Democracy (NLD) calling for a quadripartite meeting to discuss constitutional reform between the president, the military, the parliament and itself as Burma's main opposition party should wait until the parliamentary Joint-Committee for Reviewing the Constitution releases its report. "Amending the constitution is a matter that concerns all the citizens of Burma and all 58 official political parties, not only the NLD," said Ye Htut. "Discussion of the matter should be all-inclusive. Related Stories"The Union Parliament's Joint-Committee for Reviewing the Constitution is set to present its report in December and debating the matter ahead of time through alternative means could lead to discord with the report's findings," he said. "I believe that the president and the commander-in-chief should wait until the report comes out before considering a meeting, not only with the NLD but with other parties." NLD spokesman Nyan Win hit back at Ye Htut's statement, claiming there were not sufficient grounds to reject the proposal, and saying that the party is yet to receive an official letter of response from the government. "We sent the proposal because we think the meeting can and should take place," said Nyan Win. "We don't think [Ye Htut's] answer was sufficient. We are aware of the existence of the Committee but amending the constitution is a political requirement but not a legal requirement. We all know what the legal requirements are – but just citing that alone is not a good enough reason." |
| Additional US$1 million for development in Chin state – but is it enough? Posted: 28 Nov 2013 10:24 PM PST An additional one billion kyat (US$1 million) budget was approved for development in Chin state at an emergency meeting of the regional parliament in Hakha on Tuesday. Hauk Khin Kham, speaker of the Chin state parliament, said the budget will mainly be targeted at improving transportation links and government buildings across the state but would also include development projects. "An appendix of one billion kyat has been added to the 2013-14 fiscal year budget [for Chin state] to build hospitals, medical centres, roads and bridges, as well as government buildings," said Hauk Khin Kham, adding that funds will also be set aside to build a road between the towns of Matupi and Kalewa. Related StoriesChin state Financial Minister Nan Zamon said the budget appendix was proposed to implement ongoing development projects in the region but not to start new ones. "The funds were proposed to make up for a shortage in the 2013-14 fiscal year budget, which is slated for road and bridge construction projects as well as providing electricity and water access," said Nan Zamon. Lian Mong Zon, an MP from Htantalan township, said that during parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann's visit to Chin state on 17 November, he pledged to provide 100 million kyat ($100,000) for development to every township in Chin state. But Lian Mong Zon insisted that the amount promised was "rather insignificant" for all the projects it was needed for in Chin state, the poorest of all administrative regions in Burma. "Just 100 million kyat will not alleviate any of the poverty in this region," he said. "There are 90 villages in Htantalan township, so each of them will get only one million kyat ($1,000) and that is basically not much to spend on any project." However, he said, although the amount was small, the money would be used to solve transportation and water shortage woes in his area where about 40 villages have limited access to drinking water. |
| The battle for gay rights in Burma Posted: 28 Nov 2013 09:09 PM PST Loud dance music, strobe lights, vodka shots and cocktails: the fare at Rangoon's Flamingo Club doesn't stand out from what's on offer at any number of nightlife spots around the city. But on the last Saturday of the month, things are slightly different. As of this month, FAB, the "the first party for lesbians, gays and friends in Yangon," will call Flamingo Club home. Since its inception in January, FAB has become a fixture on Rangoon's burgeoning expat social calendar and a destination for well-heeled locals of all sexual preferences. "For a long time we were discussing how frustrating it was that there were no open events for LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] folk to attend," an organizer told DVB. "At that time we were unaware that there were low-key events taking place around the country … but none that openly targeted the LGBT community. As three of us are expats, we decided to take the risk and see whether the authorities would intervene." It would have been unthinkable to throw a queer-friendly club night in Rangoon as little as two years ago. But its existence is largely a function of the Burma's economic opening to the outside world, and does not reflect the reality for most of the country's sexual minorities. There is no legal protection for LGBT people in Burma, who face widespread social discrimination and police persecution. Homosexuality is de facto outlawed under Section 377 of the country's penal code, and LGBT individuals are routinely harassed by the police under other statutes. Section 377 mandates punishments for anyone who "voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal," including fines and imprisonment for up to 10 years. It does not explicitly mention homosexuality, meaning that other "unnatural" acts, such as heterosexual anal and oral sex, also fall under its purview. Even though it has historically been employed against consenting, adult homosexuals, this has become exceedingly rare, with its main use today being to prosecute child molesters and rapists. Like most of Burma's criminal laws, it is a direct holdover from the Indian Penal Code of 1860. Roughly 80 countries still have similar laws on the books, and at least half of those – across Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia – are direct legacies of British rule. The penalty for same sex activity is 10 years to life. Even if homosexual relations cannot be proved, a litany of other charges may be leveled at LGBT Burmese: negligently spreading sexual disease (Sections 269 and 270); committing a public nuisance (Section 290); or the vaguely worded Emergency Provisions Act (section 5j) which bans any activity that may "affect the morality" of an individual or society in a negative way. The Myanmar LGBT Rights Network, a collection of individuals and activist groups, formed an alliance a year ago to push for the law's elimination, but they have an uphill battle ahead of them. "Whenever we talk about abolishing 377, the response we get is, 'we need to maintain the law, because condoning homosexuality is not a part of Burmese culture'," said Hla Myat Tun, a program officer at activist group Colors Rainbow, which leads the network. As part of its outreach activities, Colors Rainbow publishes a Burmese-language LGBT-themed magazine, operates an online TV channel, and conducts outreach activities and trainings across the country. "But in reality, the law isn't our law – it was imported from the British, and they don't practice it in their law anymore." England and Wales did away with their sodomy laws in 1967, and India modified its Section 377 in 2009 to exclude sex between consenting adults, including homosexual activity. Its continued presence in Burma is curious, as "sodomy" in the colonial legal sense, has never been particularly taboo. "[Section 377] comes from the European notion that sodomy is sin," said David Gilbert, a PhD candidate at the Australian National University whose research looks at LGBT politics in Burma. "That played very messily on local queer cultures. It doesn't fit very well, because in Burma there isn't a clear sense that sodomy is sin." Gender roles and identity in Burma have been heavily influenced by Theravada Buddhism, whose cosmological hierarchy privileges gender-normative men. "A lot of the discrimination transgender people face follows similar patterns in the broader patriarchal culture within Burma, where women are also discriminated against," Gilbert told DVB. "One area we can see this in is the Buddhist concept of karma and rebirth, where a transgender individual, a male born with a female consciousness, is explained as the result of past sins, such as adultery in a past life." There is little to no social stigma attached to being a "dominant" gay male, and female-female pairings tend to attract less negative attention than their male counterparts. But "feminine" men and transgender women are particularly singled out for abuse and discrimination. In July, the arrest of 12 men and transgender women at a popular cruising spot near Mandalay Palace made national headlines. Media reports recounted the indignities they were subject to, including having to strip bare in front of the police and play leapfrog over one another. They were allegedly forced to sign statements promising not to dress like women, and steer clear of the area where they were arrested. LGBT people mistreated by the police have few resources at their disposal to fight abuses. To combat this, EQUAL, a Rangoon-based advocacy and legal aid organisation, offers them free legal services, and works in the interests of intravenous drug users and sex workers as well. "The three populations we work with are very vulnerable in front of the law," said Zar Li Aye, EQUAL's only full-time lawyer. "MSM [men who have sex with men] people don't have rights to a lawyer. Some MSM people have HIV, and need ART [anti-retroviral treatment], which they are not given access to in custody." "Whenever we talk about abolishing 377, the response we get is, 'we need to maintain the law, because condoning homosexuality is not a part of Burmese culture'."One transwoman caught in the Mandalay dragnet was charged under Section 35C of the Police Act, another piece of colonial legislation dating to 1899, and sentenced to a week in prison. EQUAL has launched an appeal to have her retroactively pardoned, and are expecting a ruling next week. Section 35C and its counterpart in the Police Act that covers Rangoon, 30C, allow for the summary arrest of "any person found between sunset and sunrise having his face covered or otherwise disguised, who is unable to give a satisfactory account himself" – giving the police carte blanche to round up gay men and transwomen on the grounds that, by wearing women's clothing, they are attempting to conceal their identity. "A lot of the everyday persecution against sexual minorities, especially transwomen, falls under the Police Act,” said Lynette Chua, an assistant professor of Law at the National University of Singapore and an expert on LGBT issues and social change. "Police persecution is a particularly important issue, because it reflects the larger problems with law enforcement institutions." Despite its campaign to have it taken off the books, the Myanmar LGBT Rights Network is aware of only one individual currently incarcerated under Section 377 – a transwoman arrested on 20 December 2010, outside a public toilet near Theingyi Market in downtown Rangoon. In May 2011, she was sentenced to five years in prison by the East Yangon District Court. One important avenue for the network's activism is through the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, a quasi-governmental body comprised of retired academics and bureaucrats. But while Hla Myat Tun claims his group has forged strong links with some of its members, there is no consensus among its members that LGBT rights need to be protected. On November 18 this year, a same-sex wedding occurred in the town of Kyaiktiyo in Mon State. While it is not uncommon in Burma for same-sex couples to live openly as "husband" and "wife", the ceremony attracted an unusual amount of media attention, owing to the fact that the couple chose to make it a public event. In response, Sit Myaing, the commissioner of the Myanmar Human Rights Commission, told reporters that same-sex marriage is against Burmese traditions, and is generally frowned upon internationally. While Burma is generally tolerant of same-sex couples, he claimed, the Kyaiktiyo pair had crossed a line. "The way people understand sexuality and gender identity is different in Burma," Chua said, "in that they don't necessarily think about those issues in relation to human rights."
Much like her deafening silence on the issue of abuse against Muslims in Burma, it's likely that Suu Kyi is wary of speaking out too strongly in favour of LGBT rights before the 2015 elections. "The NLD is now in the [legislature], but there are very few of them," said Zar Li Aye. "The NLD is an opposition party, and so they don't want any negative feedback. Most people in Myanmar are very traditional, and don't like same-sex relations." In India, the changes to Section 377 came about through repeated appeals to the Supreme Court. But Burma's highest court of appeal still isn't truly independent, making the justice system an unlikely avenue for pursuing change. "When they [activists] talk about legal reform, the judiciary is not really in their consciousness. They always talk about pursuing change through parliament," said Chua. "It just shows how legal change has to be pursued based on the local context." Even though it's rarely employed nowadays against consenting adults, the Myanmar LGBT Rights Network has decided to focus on repealing Section 377 because doing so would send a strong signal to the police and society at large that the discrimination and harassment facilitated by other laws would no longer be acceptable. While the barriers to ridding Burma of institutionalized homophobia are high, Hla Myat Tun is optimistic that it will eventually happen. "It takes time, for sure, but according to our experiences after working in Burma for a year, it is very positive and people are very open-minded," he said. "We have a lot of allies… and we can move really fast." |
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