Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Changes to Constitution must be made in time for 2015 elections: Shwe Mann

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 05:44 AM PST

Burma's parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann has instructed the Joint Committee for Reviewing the Constitution (JCRC) to explore the process by which amendments can be made.

Chapter 12, which deals with amending the Constitution, is to come under the scrutiny of the JCRC.

The chapter stipulates that 75 percent of MPs across both houses must vote in favour of any amendment. However for certain constitutional clauses, such as 59(f), which prevents Aung San Suu Kyi from being elected president, the added control of a referendum is required, a referendum in which 50 percent of all eligible voters must approve a change.

Article 436, found in Chapter 12, has long been slated as a direct attempt to preserve the non-democratic nature of the 2008 Constitution. It is that article which enshrines the 75 percent consensus rule — a rule that effectively blocks change without military approval — as 25 percent of parliamentary seats are reserved for the military.

In a letter to the JCRC Chairman, Shwe Mann insisted that any constitutional change must be legislated at least six months ahead of the 2015 general election.

In his letter to the Committee, Shwe Mann instructed: "Firstly, study, review and make suggestions on amending the clauses in the Constitution's Chapter-12; amend the Constitution to lighten the burden on the public; and promote the role of the Union Parliament in finding solutions and assist the committee's work in amending the Constitution."

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Speaking to DVB on Tuesday, Ko Ni, a lawyer representing the National League for Democracy (NLD), said he believes that the "burden" that should be lightened in this context is the logistical work of organising a nationwide referendum for any major constitutional change.

"Each time a referendum is held for a cause deemed significant, it basically needs everyone eligible to go to the polling station because the article specifically states that it requires a 'nation-wide referendum with the votes of more than half of those who are eligible to vote'," Ko Ni said. "It implies that if they don't come to vote, and then it will be same as voting 'No'.

Shwe Mann's instruction comes after the NLD and 88 Generation activists met to announce they would work together to try to alter Chapter 12.

However the 2015 deadline for proposed change does not come quickly enough for Ko Ni and the NLD.

"I appreciate the call to specify a timeframe for the reforms, but why not say earlier, in 2014, instead of just six months ahead of the elections," Ko Ni began.

"If someone is ill, it is best to give them treatment as soon as possible, otherwise it will prolong their suffering and make recovery more unlikely.

"Our country has been under military dictatorship. Now we have a theoretically 'democratic' constitution that centralises power to the military commander-in-chief. What we have is in fact an authoritarian constitution and there is no way we can establish a democratic union with it. The sooner we amend the constitution, the sooner we can reach the democracy that we long for."

Burma preps for tourist boom

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 03:49 AM PST

As cool season comes to a close across Burma, foreign tourists remain a common sight across the country, scaling temples at Bagan, taking longtail boat rides at Inle Lake, and soaking up the atmosphere of downtown Rangoon teashops.

Until recently, tourist masses were an all-but-unknown phenomenon; in 2010, just 300,000 tourists visited the country. Owing to political and economic reforms and Aung San Suu Kyi's public retraction of a longstanding informal travel embargo, numbers swelled to over a million just two years later.

Tourism is now the fifth-largest source of foreign direct investment in Burma, which, according to government statistics, amounts to nearly two billion dollars divided between 51 projects. In a bid to attract further foreign investment, a second iteration of the Myanmar Hospitality and Tourism Conference was held this week in Rangoon, attracting hospitality professionals from around the country, region and world.

"Myanmar [Burma] is speeding up its democratic and economic reforms, and the country has earned more and more international recognition and interest," U Htay Aung, Minister of Hotels and Tourism, said at the conference. "As a consequence, we received 2.04 million arrivals in 2013, with a growth of over 90 percent as compared to the previous year. This is the highest record ever in Myanmar's tourism industry."

It should be noted that the ministry’s projections may be somewhat inflated: the word “tourist” to the Burmese authorities can cover a multitude of foreign souls – Thai and Chinese truck drivers, gems dealers, border traders – anyone who touches Burmese soil without a professional visa. The true number of touring holidaymakers in Burma is likely less than half of the official figure.

Burma's tourism ministry currently lists 794 hotels licenced to accept foreigners, and supply is currently vastly outstripped by demand. A number of high-profile foreign-backed projects, such as a new Hilton Hotel in Yangon and a Novotel-branded development by Accor Hotels, are set for completion this year, bolstering Burma's paltry supply of international-standard hotel rooms.

Burma's Ministry of Hotels and Tourism unveiled a draft tourism master plan in June of last year, which will guide tourism policy for the next six years. Prepared with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank and the Norwegian Government, the plan earmarks $486.6 million dollars towards tourism development from 2013 to 2020. "We have developed a responsible tourism policy to make Myanmar a better place to live in and a better place to visit," U Htay Aung said.

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U Htay Aung stressed the government's commitment to bring tourist dollars to disadvantaged and remote communities through the development of "community-based tourism schemes." Three remote areas – Kengtung in Shan State, Karenni State capital Loikaw, and Mount Victoria in Chin State – are designated in the master plan as potential pilot sites for community-based tourism programs, which "will develop practical approaches for community involvement in tourism with special consideration given to the participation of women, ethnic groups, and the poor."

Human resources are another problem area the government hopes to tackle, as Burma currently suffers from a dearth of tourism professionals familiar with best practices in the global hospitality industry. A number of vocational schools around the country, both public and private, have launched hospitality training courses over the past two years, and in December 2012, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism introduced Burma's first four-year bachelors' degree in tourism studies.

Improving air connectivity with neighbouring countries is a crucial part of the master plan, which sets projections of 3.01 million tourist arrivals by 2015 and 7.48 million by 2020. "The government of Myanmar will continue to encourage direct international flights into Naypyidaw and Mandalay," said Daw Khin Than Win, a spokesperson for the Ministry's international relations department. "In addition, direct international flights to Bagan and Heho [the main air gateway to Inle Lake] will be considered."

An 'open skies' policy between ASEAN member states is set to go into effect in 2015, which will give carriers from the region unfettered access to Burma's airports. Increased competition will bring the cost of flights down, and low-cost carriers have already had a transformative effect on travel across the rest of Southeast Asia. According to Bill Barnett, CEO of Phuket-based hospitality consultancy C9 Hotelworks, low-cost air travel will greatly improve Burma's attractiveness as a tourist destination. "The landscape [in Vietnam] has changed because of one thing: low cost carriers, which didn't exist in the early times when Vietnam was emerging," he said.

Asian arrivals to Burma have steadily outpaced their Western counterparts in recent years, and making Burma attractive to Asian travelers will be crucial for the development of Burma's tourism sector. "Depending on Europeans or Americans for tourism, that's a false promise because that's not going to happen," Barnett said. "Five years ago, there were five cities with direct flights to Phuket. Today, there's twenty-two. One in every four tourists who go to… Phuket are from Mainland China. The market has changed."

But even though tourism in Burma is already a significant source of revenue, the sector has a long way to go to match the competitiveness of neighbouring states. "Although we are now experiencing a glimmer of hope for the tourism sector, we faced many hardships and challenges over the past years," U Htay Aung said. "I acknowledge that we still have many challenges in terms of infrastructure, tourism knowledge, and awareness of positive and negative impacts of tourism."

 

Arakanese monk makes pilgrimage to Mrauk U for peace, development

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 01:56 AM PST

Ashin Sekeina, a Buddhist monk from Arakan State capital Sittwe, has just completed his pilgrimage to Mrauk U, a 100-plus mile journey by foot in the name of peace and regional development.

He arrived at the gates of Chittaung Temple in Mrauk U on Sunday, after a six-day trek from Sittwe's Ye Kyaw Thu Monastery. The monk deliberately forged his path through some of the area's poorest and least developed villages, and he made stops in several Arakan towns including Ponnagyun and Kyauktaw.

Ashin Sekeina said he wants peace and ethnic harmony for Burma.

"I call for the very essential," he said from his destination, "ethnic reconciliation in the country."

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Ashin Sekeina says he also has hopes for development of the resource-rich state, which is ironically one of the country's poorest regions, second only to neighbouring Chin State.

"Despite our region having natural resources, such as gas and oil, we are a very impoverished state," he said.

Ashin Sekeina walked parts of the route via rural roads connecting villages, to study the condition of education and health infrastructure. After reaching Ponnagyun, he continued to Mrauk-U along the Rangoon-Sittwe highway.

The walk was slow, he said, due to a recent operation, and upon his arrival Sekeina immediately checked into Mrauk U's public hospital. While he is currently recovering from exhaustion, the monk said that he is preparing to write up a report on his observations of health and education in the villages he visited along the way.

Ethnic groups resist census, object to question of ethnicity

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 01:17 AM PST

More than 30 ethnic-based political parties and civil society organisations have released a statement calling on the Burmese government to revise the details and number of ethnic groups in the country before initiating the national census planned for next month.

The announcement came following a meeting between ethnic representatives and the government's Central Census Commission on Monday.

Khon Ja, a renowned Kachin activist who is a member of the Kachin Network, has vowed to obstruct the census if it goes ahead without consultation with civic groups representing the various ethnic populations.

"We are prepared to ensure that the census does not go ahead as it stands. That much is clear," she said. "However, I cannot tell you right now how far we will go [in impeding the census] because we have not yet discussed that. Suffice to say, we will resist it as best we can."

She went on to say that it was unethical for the government, the donors and the census commission to put such pressure on 40 percent of the country's population.

Twenty-three Kachin civic organisations sent letters recently to President Thein Sein and Parliamentary Speaker Shwe Mann calling for the postponement of the census, which is scheduled to be conducted from 23 March to 10 April.

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The main complaint of the Kachin groups is the designation of 135 ethnic groups and sub-groups on the questionnaire, which they say is an inaccurate portrayal of Kachin State's diversity. They claim there is no such thing as a particular tribe known as the "Kachin" – rather, they say, 12 different sub-groups make up the Kachin race.

Many ethnic Chin leaders have also been outspoken in their opposition to the 135 ethnicities that were identified in the 19th century under British colonial rule.

Salai Izak Khin of the Chin National Committee said there were inconsistencies with ethnic sub-groups listed in Chin State.

"There are 53 code numbers in the census specified for the Chin population – from 401 to 453 – and we have a concern that this may cause more division among the Chin groups," he said.

"We consider that this problem has been by a lack of transparent debate and communication between the census commission and the ethnic groups."

Karen Women's Action Group co-ordinator Susana Hla Hla Soe said that Burma's ethnic groups will reach out to international donors to complain about the census procedures which she said were "damaging" for the majority of the ethnic nationalities.

"The Census Commission said they planned an extra-thorough procedure, but how could they possibly plan this census without our input?" she questioned.

Another source of discontent is among the roughly 600,000 Palaung people in eastern Burma who are listed on the proposed census as one of the 33 sub-groups of the Shan. However, the Palaung  contend that they are Mon-Khmer descendants and not Shan-Tai, who were originally migrants from southern China.

Despite the dissension among ethnic groups across the country, Naypyidaw continues to appear content that everything is going to plan.

Dr Nyi Nyi, director general of Burma's Department of Population, said last month that each person in the country shall be given the opportunity to refer to themselves by whatever ethnicity they choose.

And last week, Minister for Immigration and Population Khin Yi stated that "all armed groups were ready to cooperate" with the government.

The proposed 2014 nationwide census forms contains 41 questions which the government says are intended to survey basic data for policymaking and development. Each person will be required to specify his or her ethnicity on the questionnaire as per a three-digit code which will apply to the 135 listed ethnic groups. However, a space is allocated alongside the code box where a person might presumably be able to write the race or ethnicity of their choice if it is not included in the codes.

In addition to details about family members, ethnicity and place of birth, Burmese will also be asked their occupation, any physical disabilities, and what facilities are available to their household, such as electricity, water and sanitation.

Making ‘Rule of Law’ a Reality in Burma

Posted: 18 Feb 2014 12:03 AM PST

"Everybody talks about the rule of law but they don't talk about how to support the judicial system to provide the rule of law," a senior member of Burma's judiciary told the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) during a meeting in the capital Naypyidaw recently.

Four decades of brutal authoritarian rule systematically weakened the independence and integrity of the legal system. With reforms underway, judges in Burma are facing demands to provide justice, accountability, and stability — virtually overnight.

Burma’s judiciary, however, simply does not have the resources to meet this demand at present.

As the country prepares for a groundbreaking general election next year, it is important for all political parties and candidates to make clear how they would strengthen the judiciary's ability to carry out its responsibilities.

It is also crucial for the international community to provide all the help it can.

Everyone in the so-called New Burma is calling for the rule of law, including President Thein Sein, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi – who is Chair of the Parliamentary Rule of Law and Tranquility Committee — ethnic and religious minority groups, civil society and business people.

But 'rule of law' evidently means different things to different people.

Some in Burma seem to equate it with 'greater security.' Others view rule of law as important for different reasons, as the country proceeds down the rocky path of reforms: law and order; economic growth and development; fighting corruption; and fostering good governance.

What is clear is that strengthening the rule of law, regardless of why people invoke the concept, requires an independent judiciary. Whether it's for fighting corruption, fostering good governance or attracting foreign investment, Burma needs judges and lawyers who are able to operate independently and impartially to provide proper jurisprudence and, importantly, change the public's poor perception of the system.

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A crucial point to remember is that an independent judiciary is not just an instrument for achieving desired social ends. An independent judiciary is the law.

Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal. The United Nations General Assembly has for its part unanimously affirmed that ‘human rights, the rule of law and democracy are interlinked and mutually reinforcing'.

International laws and standards also state that governments must prioritize the provision of sufficient resources to ensure the judiciary's ability to provide independent and impartial tribunals.

Burma's judiciary desperately needs these resources.

Many courthouses lack the most basic facilities. Some are too small to accommodate public audiences, despite the 2008 Constitution guaranteeing the right to a public trial. At present, judges in Burma do not have full access to the necessary cases, laws and international standards.

Furthermore, they are underpaid and treated as basic civil servants instead of as an independent and equal branch of government. Those in remote areas still face pressure from the military, government officials and powerful local interests.

In its December report “Right To Counsel: The independence of lawyers in Myanmar [Burma]", the ICJ found that corruption, which is widespread in almost every sector of the country, also plagues the legal system. Significantly, it also erodes the public's perception of judicial integrity.

Add to this the unprecedented scrutiny and criticism from a newly liberated and emboldened media, and it is easy to understand why Burma judges feel that they are being asked to do the impossible.

There is no question—even inside the judiciary—that there is a lot of room for improvement in the recruitment, training, conduct and integrity of the system. To its credit, the Burma judiciary is now trying to adapt to its new environment and the increasing demands placed upon it.

But improving the independence of the judiciary and bolstering the rule of law requires a systematic and concerted effort from the entire government and in particular from the powerful executive and legislative branches of the administration.

The executive and legislature must assist the judiciary to become a proper, equal branch of government, able to regulate its own affairs and be accountable for satisfying the public's demands.

Amidst competing clamor for attention, it is crucial for the Burmese government, and the many international supporters eager now to assist, to ensure that the judiciary is granted the independence and resources necessary to improve the rule of law in Burma.

The task is daunting, the challenges enormous. But this is the only way to strengthen 'rule of law' in the evolving 'New Burma' and improve the dire human rights situation for everyone living in the country.

 

Sam Zarifi is the International Commission of Jurists' Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.

Burmese military seeks stronger ties with Indonesia

Posted: 17 Feb 2014 10:59 PM PST

Burmese military Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing is in Jakarta for bilateral talks with Indonesian military counterparts. According to state-run The New Light of Myanmar, his delegation met with Gen. Moeldoko, head of the Indonesian military on Monday.

Min Aung Hlaing, in Indonesia for the first time, said he is looking to strengthen military ties with Southeast Asia's largest nation. A relationship promising joint military exercises and reciprocal visits was suggested at the meeting, with the first such invitation being for Burmese involvement in a peacekeeping training course to be held in Indonesia.

The meeting of the two military chiefs comes at a time when Burma's relationship with Indonesia has been tested.

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Last year Indonesian police foiled a plot to bomb the Burmese embassy in Jakarta, as the plight of the stateless Rohingya has drawn a dissenting reaction in the world's most populous Muslim country. Eight suspects were killed and 20 arrested when Indonesian police launched a counter-terrorism operation in the wake of the plot.

Also in 2013, an explosion at a Buddhist temple in Jakarta caused damage and inflicted minor injuries to one worshipper. Again, the Rohingya issue provided the motive. A note on the bomb's package read: "We are responding to the screams of the Rohingya."

But despite the cultural friction, bilateral trade and investment between the two countries has improved since Burma's admission to ASEAN in 1997, their application heavily backed by Indonesia. This month, Indonesia mining corporation PT Timah was granted a 10,000-acre tin-exploration concession in Tenasserim Division.

Burma is set to host an ASEAN military forces summit beginning next month.
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