Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Journalists remain in prison

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 03:36 AM PST

Five media workers are still being held inside Burma's notorious Pakokku and Insein prisons for reporting on an alleged chemical weapons facility in Magwe Division's Pauk Township.

Lu Maw Naing, reporter for Unity Weekly was arrested in Pauk on Friday following a 25 January report detailing the facility's location. The publication's Chief Executive Officer Tint San and three other reporters, Paing Thet Kyaw, Yazar Oo and Sithu Soe were arrested 1 February in their Rangoon offices without police warrants, according to the paper's staff.

Lu Maw Naing has been charged under article 3(1)A of the Official Secrets Act, which criminally implicates any citizen who "approaches, inspects, passes over or is in the vicinity of, or enters, any prohibited place" for any purpose "prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state". The colonial era law carries a maximum sentence of fourteen years prison for cases involving military installations.

Law Maw Niang's home was searched on Sunday, according to family members who were told by the police Special Intelligence Unit not to visit the reporter in custody in Pakokku prison.

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However Unity Weekly's Rangoon office coordinator Aung Win Tun said the families of the Tint San and the three Rangoon staff were informed on Monday evening that they could visit them inside Insein prison from then on.

Meanwhile, police across the country seized circulating copies of the 25 January edition, which claimed the facility covered more than 3,000 acres of land and had been visited by former Junta leader Than Shwe as well as current Tatmadaw chief Min Aung Hlaing.

"They came to my shop with a search warrant and seized the remaining copies of the journal, they also ask for my personal details," said Tut, a newspaper salesman in Gyobingauk, Pegu Divison.

The incident indicates a divergence from President Thein Sein's public stance on press freedom.

Shawn Crispin, senior South East Asia representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists noted “the fact that journalists can be charged with revealing state secrets shows how desperately Burma needs meaningful legal reform.“

“Weapons proliferation issues are central to Burma’s political narrative and journalists should not be threatened or arrested for reporting on topics of national and international importance”, said Crispin.

Communal tensions running high in Sittwe

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 02:45 AM PST

Some 3,000 local residents took to the streets of Arakan State capital Sittwe on Monday to voice their support for the regional police and to protest against rights for the Rohingya community and international organisations that they allege are biased in support of Muslims.

The demonstration, led by nationalist group Rakhine Social Network, was joined by Arakanese Buddhist residents and monks who chanted slogans and held placards. Their demands included: abolish voting rights for Rohingya "white card" holders (ie: non-Burmese citizens); the withdrawal from the area of the UN, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and other international relief groups; and for Arakanese police to be granted the right to use lethal force in "emergency situations".

"We would like to have the police armed with better and more modern weapons so they can defend themselves more effectively," said Nyo Aye, one of the protest organisers. "We are also demanding that the police be given 100 percent authority to shoot at their own discretion."

With regard to the UN and international aid groups, protestors called for their expulsion for allegedly offering "biased assistance" in terms of relief supplies to Rohingya Muslims as opposed to Arakanese Buddhists.

Some demonstrators carried placards which called for the closure of UN and MSF offices "within seven days" for "feeding Bengalis [Rohingyas]".

Neither the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) nor MSF would comment when contacted by DVB.

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Protest organiser Nyo Aye said the rally was staged with the approval of the local authorities, and that similar protests are planned for other towns in Arakan State, including Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Minbya and Maungdaw.

Meanwhile, DVB has been told by several sources in Sittwe that dozens of Rohingya families have left their homes and headed to IDP camps or to stay with relatives in other towns in fear of violence in the wake of recent incidents 100km north in Maungdaw.

Last month the UN announced it had found "credible evidence" that at least 48 Rohingya men, women and children were killed in the village of Duchira Dan [also written Du Char Yar Tan] in Maungdaw Township by Arakanese Buddhists. A local police officer is also alleged to have been killed by a mob of Rohingyas.

Since then, fear and tension has spread south. In the closed-off barrio of Aung Mingalar, the last remaining Rohingya neighbourhood in downtown Sittwe, several Muslim residents said they were contemplating evacuating or had sent family members away in case of renewed anti-Muslim rioting.

Gani Ahmed, who owns a teashop in nearby Bumay District, said he sent his two sons to an IDP camp because of rumours of more violence. He added that other people have left Bumay since the incidents on 13 January and 28 January in Maungdaw, and that fewer customers were frequenting his teashop.

Some spoke of selling their belongings to afford the short trip to the camps. Yusouf Ali said he moved from his home in Aung Mingalar to the Rubber Garden IDP Camp where he met up with several other Aung Mingalar neighbours.

"We came here for two reasons," he told a DVB reporter. "One is because we fear for our lives since the killings in Maungdaw. The other is because life has become unsustainable in Aung Mingalar and people have no jobs and no money."

Noor Mohamed, the chairman of the Rubber Garden camp, said that he thinks at least 25 people are now arriving every day to shelter at the camp, and that many cite fear of more violence as the reason.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division for Human Rights Watch, told DVB that Aung Mingalar is "surrounded by hostile Rakhine [Arakanese] who have made clear their intention to push the Rohingya out."

However, a central committee member for the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, Shwe Maung, denied that there have been any threats against the Rohingyas. "We are peaceful people," he told DVB.

He suggested that "the Bengalis may have left their homes because they feared being discovered as illegal immigrants amid the increased security presence in Sittwe following the Maungdaw violence."

 

Reporting in Sittwe for DVB by Joshua Carroll

DVB talks to British Ambassador to Burma

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 01:17 AM PST

DVB Interview International sat down with British Ambassador to Burma, Andrew Patrick, at the British Embassy in Rangoon to talk about British military training in Burma, constitutional reform, the Rohingya crisis, and British business interests.

Patrick said the military training, called, "Managing defense in the wider world", was about how an army behaves and not about combat operations.

"It is about human rights, it is about accountability, about legal framework, about things like child soldiers," said Patrick.

"It wasn't about helping the army fight more capably."

Patrick went on to say that, "Like it or not, the army is a central part of Burmese society," and it was "better to engage" with the army than to isolate them.

“I just want to assure people, in this interview, that international aid goes to those who need it”

The ambassador said Britain was campaigning for constitutional reform, but was not necessarily backing Aung San Suu Kyi for the presidency.

"That is what being a modern democratic country is all about – people should have a free choice of who they want to lead them," said Patrick, "We're not talking about supporting individuals, we're talking about supporting a process."

Patrick said Britain has played an active role in the peace process in Burma and would continue to do so.

"We see the peace process as one of our real priorities. We've said for a long time we are prepared to play any role which both sides would like us to play."

The peace process, said Patrick, was essential for Burma's democratic future.

Last month, violence broke out in Maungdaw, Arakan state. The British government has been vocal about the situation in western Burma and the ambassador urged the government to grant humanitarian access to those who need it.

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"I think there's a misunderstanding that we are favouring one community over another," said Patrick. "I just want to assure people, in this interview, that international aid goes to those who need it. That's why it's going into the camps where people are unable to work."

He went on to say that responsibility lay with the government to ensure security is provided.

"The first and most important step is security – that these violent incidents no longer happen," said Patrick.

"We've called on the government to mount a full investigation."

 

EITI: Getting Burma rigged for extractive surge

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 12:23 AM PST

Just weeks before open tender for 18 onshore petroleum blocks, Burma's President Thein Sein announced the country's intention to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The December 2012 announcement fulfilled the first, easiest requirement for candidacy: government decree.

The EITI, a G8-endorsed protocol for revenue reporting, is overseen by a non-governmental secretariat based in Oslo, Norway, which assists the standard's implementation and effectiveness in resource-rich developing countries. The protocol is designed to help emerging extractive sectors create better revenue transparency habits, the ideal result being the elimination or reduction of corruption and ensuing problems.

Implementation differs by country, but invariably requires the creation of a tripartite working group comprising civil society, governmental and private sector stakeholders. Next week Burma's multi-stakeholder group will convene for the first time to establish a work-plan for the project's initial phases.

At its best, the relatively young initiative could temper irresponsible partners and federal misuse of funds. It could also add legitimacy to a windfall of investments in places and economies that many think are unprepared for rapid change.

While the announcement was well received and highly publicised, the government and private sector don't seem to be waiting for the EITI. Burma's onshore blocks have already been awarded, and industry news site Platts reported Wednesday that another 30 offshore blocks will be granted within weeks. Once awards are announced and licences granted, several international energy companies, many of which have never before operated in the former pariah, can begin harvesting the country's proven 283.2 billion-cubic-metre natural gas reserves and 50 million barrels of known crude, of which there is thought to be much more. Rare earth, gemstones, woods and water-driven energy are also among Burma's many extractable assets, long untouched through decades of isolation.

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Many of those assets are, perhaps without coincidence, found in volatile regions prone to civil and ethnic conflicts, which continue despite progress towards a nationwide ceasefire. Conflicts are occurring, it seems, near major industrial zones. So are human rights abuses, a leading justification for sanctions, which have largely been removed over the past three years of Burma's political makeover.

While the EITI could offer evidence towards political recommendations, civil society has argued that it has led to a dangerous and popular misconception.

"Some seem to believe that the EITI alone is enough to make extractive projects in Burma ethical or beneficial," said Catherine Martin, Climate Change Advisor for Burma Environmental Working Group, an alliance of ethnic and environmental rights advocates working in exile. "EITI only covers revenue transparency. It does not address the social and environmental costs of extractive projects, or the need for the free, prior, and informed consent of affected communities before such projects begin."

The EITI has a specific and important function; it doesn't create policy and it can't regulate. The initiative solely applies to the creation of a public document – an annual EITI report – that shows where money came from and where it went. Clare Short, former British MP and current Chairwoman of the EITI board, told DVB that the protocol is "designed to use transparency to drive reform and improve the management of Extractive Industries for the benefit of the people."

What the project does is this: the EITI board maintains a set of status requirements for membership, which includes strict rules about how to achieve acceptable levels of fiscal transparency. The main requirement is annual publication of an EITI report, which details money paid to governments, by companies, for extractive projects, often including tax revenues, production volumes and social allocation of revenues. Governments disclose what they received for extractive projects, companies disclose what they've paid to governments, the figures are then reconciled by independent auditors.

Another core rule for membership is required civil society participation in decision-making about what kind of information must be made public, by whom and with regard to what industries. This is done by establishing the multi-stakeholder group (MSG), which Burma has just recently accomplished.

A given country may opt to make complete contract disclosure a hard and fast requirement for all extractive projects, as has been encouraged for Burma by EITI technical advisors. The MSG also decides which industries must report (Burma is currently committed to the inclusion of gas, oil and mining in its reporting, with other industries like hydropower and fisheries likely to be included later).

"Civil society plays a crucial role as an equal member of the tripartite MSG structure" – Emma Irwin, MEITI Technical Advisor

The MSG will also decide when reporting starts, i.e., whether major extractive projects such as the Shwe pipelines and the Latpadaung copper mine will be obliged to report how much money was exchanged with the Burmese government before the reform process began.

"Civil society plays a crucial role as an equal member of the tripartite MSG structure," said Emma Irwin, Technical Advisor to Myanmar EITI, "acting as a kind of monitor and providing a scrutinising eye – which ensures that the system is implemented in the best possible way for the benefit of the country and its people."

In theory, the EITI process is uncontroversial. In practice, the question is still: Does Burma's civil society have enough freedom to meaningfully participate in reform?

Wong Aung, one of the nine appointed members of Burma's EITI civil society steering committee (CSSC), has been involved in the process from the start. As the Coordinator of Shwe Gas Movement, an exile organisation that campaigns for fairness in the gas and oil sector, particularly regarding a dual pipeline project that runs from the Arakan coast to Yunnan, China, he at first opposed the initiative, but has since taken up an active role.

"Optimistically," he said, "this is a good process, but I'm very cautiously taking part. I still have some scepticism."

Burma's activists, many just returning to their homeland after decades of exile, are still testing the waters in what is currently an experimental realm for alternative political ideas, according to Matthew Smith, Executive Director of Bangkok-based advocacy body Fortify Rights.

"Despite significant obstacles," said Smith, "civil society has been extremely well prepared for the process leading up to EITI candidacy and should be commended. They should maintain their well-informed engagement and keep pushing the envelope."

Wong Aung said that Burma's civil society is ready to take a place in politics, while aknowledging that it may prove extremely challenging. "Since there are a lot of problems related to foreign investment, land confiscation and labour issues, people are very much willing to know about how the EITI will be able to handle it. However, I don't think we've yet heard enough answers," he said.

MEITI and the MSG members are still working on it, and only time will tell what role the initiative will play in Burma's extractive governance, which is currently among the world's worst.  Just after a December 2013 visit to Burma to meet with President Thein Sein and potential MSG members, EITI Chairwoman Clare Short told DVB that, "I urged all parties to maintain an ambitious long-term EITI agenda, but also pointed out that implementation will not be easy."

Fire destroys homes in Umphien refugee camp

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 10:21 PM PST

Eleven homes were set ablaze in a fire at Umphein refugee camp on the Thai border on Monday. Residents were forced to dismantle a further 50 homes to prevent the fire spreading, according to the camp's security coordinator, who said the fire had been sparked by a child playing with matches.

A temporary shelter was erected to house the 60 people affected by the complete destruction of nine homes and damage to a further two. No residents were injured.

Umphien — with an estimated population of 17,000 — is the second largest of the refugee camps on the Thai border after the nearby Mae La, where fire claimed the homes of 120 people and injured three in December 2013.  That same month saw accidental fire ravage a Rohingya refugee camp in Pauktaw, Arakan state. The people of Umphien themselves are no strangers to fire, 1,000 homes having been destroyed in a February 2012 blaze.

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The Art of Resistance

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 08:45 PM PST

Pe Thein, self-portrait.

Pe Thein, self-portrait.

Over nearly five decades of censorship, critics of Burma's successive military governments were left with precious few avenues to voice dissatisfaction with the status quo. U Pe Thein was among the most prominent and influential Burmese cartoonists of the latter half of the 20th century, passing away in 2009 at the age of 85. To mark what would have been his 90th birthday, Rangoon's Gallery 65 hosted a retrospective of his life's work from 1- 3 February, his oeuvre having been meticulously catalogued and preserved by his widow, Daw Khin Lay Nwe.

Cartooning offered dissident artists a way of disseminating criticism that was at once ambiguous and seditious, and the work they left behind serves as important documentation of a paranoid era. Sneaking denunciations of the government past the censors was at once a point of pride, an act of duty, and a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with a regime singular in its desire to stamp out dissent.

Born in 1924, Pe Thein grew up in the politically tumultuous 1930s, enrolling at Rangoon University just before Burma achieved independence. He first gained professional recognition in the 1940s for his politically charged drawings in O-Way (The Peacock's Call), the university's student newspaper. During the socialist era ushered in after Ne Win's coup of 1962, he was a regular contributor to Kyemon (The Mirror), the government's daily newspaper, and designed its iconic red logo. He also illustrated comic books about Buddhism throughout his life.

Pe Thein and his socialist-era cohort were not the progenitors of cartooning in Burma. Early in life, he studied the craft under U Ba Galay, who is generally considered to be the "father" of Burmese cartooning. Ba Galay also was a noted comedian and actor in the nascent film industry of 1920s Burma, and among his most enduring creations is the minstrel character Shwe Yoe, which has retained popularity to this day across rural Burma.

In homage to his mentor, Pe Thein regularly incorporated Shwe Yoe into his works, employing him as a metaphor for cartooning, press freedom and political life under military rule. One of the larger pieces on display at the exhibition, a six-panel drawing of Shwe Yoe dating to 1971, serves as a case in point. It's a prime example of how symbolism and allusion formed the foundation for cartoons as vehicles for criticism in a repressive political climate.

"As for Shwe Yoe" (1971)

“As for Shwe Yoe” (1971)

In the first frame, Shwe Yoe doesn't appear to have a care in the world. He dances around merrily, swinging about his signature Pathein umbrella and clutching his chequered paso, a smile peeking out from beneath his bushy yellow moustache. As the images progress, he's rendered totally immobile and his expression turns decidedly less content, seated in resignation as the red walls of the frame close in around him.

Pe Thein's critical cartoons landed him in hot water with the authorities in the aftermath of the failed 1988 uprising against military rule. Burma's reconstituted military junta slapped him with an eight-year publication ban, barring him from putting any new work into the public domain. According to his widow, his family barely scraped by on sales of Buddhist-themed comic books he had written and illustrated prior to 1988, as he was not allowed to publish anything new, politically-oriented or otherwise, following the publication ban.

After the ban was rescinded in 1996, he was once again allowed to publish in private journals, but was never again allowed to publish cartoons in the newspapers. He remained productive throughout this period, which means that many of the pieces on display at the exhibition had never before been seen in public.

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Telecom investments threaten privacy rights in Burma

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 08:41 PM PST

The World Bank may be dangling the prospect of affordable cell phones in Burma at the expense of freedom of expression and privacy rights. Foreign investment in Burma's underdeveloped telecommunications sector is about to boom – as of this week, Qatar's Ooredoo and Norway's Telenor have received licenses to develop Burma's networks. To support growing investment, the World Bank – which pledged $2 billion in development aid to Burma on 26 January – will approve a Telecom Sector Reform project on 6 February. But the World Bank, perhaps eager to rapidly develop Burma's telecom sector without vexing the Burmese government, is failing to support crucial privacy and data protection reforms.

Burma's telecom sector cannot easily sustain responsible investment. A repressive legal framework that allows for security, privacy, and human rights abuses governs the sector. These laws permit the government to engage in surveillance, censorship, cyber-attacks, collect and store user data, and disrupt communications. The passing of the 2013 Telecommunications Act did not weaken the government's ability to wield these abusive powers.

It is in this muddy legal context that the World Bank has chosen to invest. But the Bank's Telecom Sector Reform project chooses to ignore the basic legal reforms, risk assessments, and safeguards that are imperative to an ethical telecom investment in Burma.

The World Bank will purportedly help implement a "high-quality policy and regulatory environment." Yet despite acknowledging that Burma has no explicit privacy, right to information, or cybercrime legislation, the Bank makes no mention of the privacy and security implications of telecom expansion. And the Bank's partner – the long abusive Ministry of Communications and Information Technology– is the very same agency that completely shut down the internet in 2007 during democratic uprisings.

The World Bank has failed to consult with those whose rights are threatened by telecom expansion – the people of Burma. Recognising that increased telecom capacity may enable privacy intrusions and stifle expression, 61 Burmese and ethnic civil society organisations wrote to the World Bank in January expressing extensive concerns, recommendations, and disappointment in the Bank's failure to consult with civil society.

Civil society urged the World Bank to press the Burmese government to develop laws and regulations that control how the state and service operators are able to collect, process, and share data in line with international human rights standards.

Civil society organisations also expressed concerns regarding grievance mechanisms, public and private service operators, and land, labor, environmental rights. They stressed that user trust and privacy regulation are crucial components of the Bank's objectives to support a liberalised telecom sector, increase connectivity in rural areas, and promote adoption of ICTs.

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People and businesses in Burma – still subject to many restrictions on basic freedoms – should be able to trust that their personal data will be safe and secure from state surveillance and collection. During the course of the telecom project, the World Bank will provide funding to help establish an eGovernment national portal that will allegedly support "accountability, transparency, and progress." But without privacy regulations, people and businesses will not be able to safely use the national platform or share information online.

World Bank goals to support "accountability, transparency, and progress" are meaningless without steps to establish user trust in Burma, a country where the government has squandered the public trust.

The World Bank is not prioritising public trust either. In mid-November 2013, the Bank attested that it had received "broad support" from civil society for the telecom project – before it had hosted a single civil society consultation. The project's one consultation held on 28 November was scheduled mere days in advance and did not allow civil society participants enough time to review the lengthy project documents or translate them into ethnic languages. Civil society organisations reprimanded the Bank: it is unacceptable practice for the Bank to publish that its projects have received broad support from civil society without actually consulting with civil society.

The World Bank should be the leader – not the resistance – in designing investments that reflect public priorities and uphold international human rights standards. Burma's people welcome telecom development, but not at the cost of empowering the government to further violate basic rights. International investors, particularly the World Bank, have the responsibility to hold the Burmese government accountable to implementing essential legal reforms in order to pragmatically and ethically advance Burma's goal to develop a world-class telecom sector.

Rachel Wagley is a graduate of Harvard University, and a 2011-2012 Fulbright grantee to Thailand. She is Campaigns Director at US Campaign for Burma, an advocacy group based in Washington, DC. Contact at Rachel@uscampaignforburma.org

 

 
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