Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Hearing set for Ann arson suspects

Posted: 05 Feb 2014 01:43 AM PST

Fourteen ethnic workers in Arakan State's Ann Township will be charged on 10 February for alleged involvement in a fire at a fuel relay station along the Shwe gas pipeline route.

Thwe Thwe Soe, local member of the Rakhine [Arakan] Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), told DVB that 14 of the 23 workers detained after the incident will face charges related to arson. The RNDP is seeking assistance from the Arakan Lawyers Network to represent the charged.

The accused allegedly set fire to a fuel storage container on 26 January following a dispute between Chinese and ethnic workers at the fuel transit station in Singondai village.

Varying accounts circulated as to the cause of the quarrel, prompting a response from the site's managing Southeast Asia Gas Pipeline (SEAGP) Co, who said in a press conference that reports of racial conflict among workers were completely unfounded, adding that the incident did not threaten the safety or security of the pipeline.

Local police have estimated damages around 170 million kyat (US$170,000).

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Unapologetic Minister will ‘dare slap anyone’

Posted: 05 Feb 2014 01:07 AM PST

Burma's Minister of Livestock Breeding, Fisheries and Rural Development, Ohn Myint, is under fire in Parliament for vile threats to rural residents in Tenasserim and Magwe divisions. An emergency proposal has been submitted for the government to take immediate action.

The former military general and current MP for the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party met with residents of Magwe's Thityargauk village on 28 January, where he became irate over complaints about access to water. Locals questioned him about ministry plans for assistance to the remote village, which led to the outspoken minister's tirade.

"I am General Ohn Myint and I'll dare to slap anyone in the face," he said. "I will attack anyone who insults the ruling government and if I cannot attack them verbally, I will throw them in jail – this is how it's done internationally – if you oppose the government, you go to jail and only come out when we're out of office."

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A 15-minute video of the minister making the remarks quickly went viral among Burmese netizens, who are now calling for his immediate resignation.

"This is my catchphrase: I don't give a f–k about anyone," the minister exclaimed in the clip, "remember my name".

On 3 February, around 30 people gathered in protest at Rangoon's City Hall imploring the minister to slap them.

The National League for Democracy's lower house member Aung Soe on 4 February submitted an emergency proposal calling for government action against the minister for the Magwe remarks, as well as a similar rant in Tenasserim's Kawthaung Township in 25 October last year.

"The minister insulted and threatened to slap villagers at Putonelone village in Tenasserim's Kawthaung [Township] on 25 October 2013 and again in Magwe on 28 January this year," Aung Soe told DVB. "He also insulted the Parliament, politicians and parties… this is not a one-time mistake."

Information Minister Aung Kyi told Parliament that the government will conduct a "fair and thorough" review, which will require "enough time".

"It's true that he excessively used words he shouldn't have, but we assume that his intention was to address the needs of the rural public," said the minister. "It's important to consider whether he made the remarks in good faith or in bad."

The lower house has expressed commitment to monitor the case.

Ohn Myint returned to Thityargauk on Tuesday, where villagers – expecting a public apology – were shocked to find that he was just in town for a meeting.

Latpadaung talks continue with ESIA review

Posted: 05 Feb 2014 12:57 AM PST

A recently drafted Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) will provide the focus for renewed discussions for a committee in Naypyidaw on the controversial Latpadaung copper mine on Wednesday.

The ESIA has been compiled as a key recommendation of the Aung San Suu Kyi-led commission into both the impact of the mine and the brutal crackdown of 29 November 2012 which saw over 100 unarmed protesters injured, some severely burned by white phosphorous bombs.

The ESIA states that members of the four communities to be relocated are "potentially highly impacted" and acknowledges the process could "threaten their ability to survive".

Key to the ESIA proposed mitigation plan is the market-value compensation for land lost to the project. This follows the previous earmarking of funds for regional development projects, which have had some success in the supply of electricity and potable water.

However local residents have refused to accept compensation en masse, as continual protests calling for the complete abandonment of the mining project have been staged.

Intense community dissatisfaction with the mining project has drawn the ire of the government and Chinese firm Wanbao alike, with arrests damaging the reputation of Thein Sein's reformist government.

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August 2013 saw the arrest and conviction of anti-mine activist Naw Ohn Hla, who received a sentence of two years prison with labour under the charge of "upsetting public tranquility". Released on a Presidential Amnesty in November, the veteran activist was subsequently charged with "disturbing religious assembly" in regards to a vigil held in 2007 in support of Suu Kyi, who was then under house arrest.

In spite of local dissatisfaction, Minister Hla Tun has asserted that "local cooperation was a key factor to attract foreign investment".

According to Than Tun Aung, Deputy Minister for Mining, the findings of the "expert team" sitting in Naypyidaw today will "seek and represent the voices of local people".

MSF, OCHA hit back at ‘anti-aid worker sentiment’ in Arakan State

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 11:45 PM PST

International aid agencies Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have hit back at allegations of bias in the distribution of aid in Arakan State.

Their statements come after a rally on Monday in state capital Sittwe where some 3,000 protestors called for the international agencies to be expelled from the region 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]".

"MSF regrets that some people in Rakhine [Arakan] do not seem to tolerate the provision of basic services to people who otherwise would have none," said MSF Myanmar Head of Mission Peter-Paul de Groote. "We are humanitarian medical workers, working closely with the Myanmar Ministry of Health to deliver health care in Rakhine, as well as hundreds of thousands of people all over the country, including Shan and Kachin states, as well as Yangon and Thanintharyi regions.

"MSF is non-political – we are an independent medical humanitarian non-government organization that provides life-saving services to millions of people in 60 countries around the world that do not have access to health care. Our support for people in all of the countries we work in is solely based on medical need only, regardless of race, religion, gender, ethnicity or any other factor."

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Writing for the Myanmar Times in November, de Groote noted that MSF works in Arakan State at the request of the Burmese government, and that it provides healthcare to communities that the Ministry of Health finds difficult to reach.

"These challenges are largely a result of the intimidation and hostility that is directed towards their own staff, who are threatened when they try to provide services to Muslim patients," he wrote.

The MSF head of mission in Burma also pointed out that Arakan is one of the poorest states in the country and that "rural communities in particular remain extremely impoverished, with increasing concerns over food insecurity due to the disruptions in agriculture, trade and the local economy."

Similarly, OCHA's Public Information and Advocacy Officer Pierre Peron told DVB: "Humanitarian workers are fully committed to assisting vulnerable people in need wherever they are found, regardless of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender or class.

"Community resistance against international organisations working in Rakhine State has increased in the past months. The rising anti-aid worker sentiment has created a difficult environment for humanitarian work and in some areas it is affecting the ability of international actors to provide assistance to both Rakhine and Muslim IDPs and vulnerable communities.

"Muslim IDPs are not the only ones who need help in Rakhine State: many ethnic Rakhine people are also extremely poor and suffer from the chronic under-development of Rakhine State: their needs are different, but equally important.

"Humanitarian and development agencies are working with all levels of government in Myanmar to ensure humanitarian and development assistance is delivered to all communities in need of assistance in Rakhine State."

In addition to the closure of international relief agencies' offices, protestors in Sittwe on Tuesday also called for non-citizen Rohingya Muslims to be denied voting rights, and for local police to be given powers to use deadly force in emergency situations.

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.

Shwe Maung may be ‘responsible for defamation’ over police allegations, says Ye Htut

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:40 PM PST

Burmese Presidential Spokesman Ye Htut said on Wednesday that MP Shwe Maung may be "responsible for defamation and provoking tension" between Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims over his comments in a DVB interview that accused local Maungdaw police of involvement or complicity in a 28 January fire in the village of Duchira Dan.

"Police need to know about this evidence, and if he [U Shwe Maung] can provide strong evidence, they will take legal action on them [the culprits]. If not, he will be held responsible for defamation and provoking tension between the two communities," said Ye Htut in a statement to DVB.

Buthidaung MP U Shwe Maung sent an open letter via social media on Tuesday saying that he had been summoned to two meetings with Parliamentary Speaker Shwe Mann the day before in which he was presented with a letter from the President accusing him of "defaming the state and Myanmar police force" and of instigating conflict.

The reprimand follows an interview Shwe Maung conducted with DVB last week in which he claimed local Muangdaw police were involved or complicit in a fire which razed about 20 Rohingya homes in the village of Duchira Dan [also written Du Char Yar Tan] on 28 January.

Tin Aye, the deputy-superintendent at Maungdaw Township Police Battalions Command, subsequently rejected the allegation, saying that police involvement in the blaze was "completely impossible".

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In his open message on Tuesday, Shwe Maung said, "I never do anything to defame the State and Myanmar Police Force. What I do is for the good of my nation and people according to [the] Constitution and Pyithu Hluttaw [Parliamentary] law. I always emphasize on stability, peaceful existence, development, rule of law, justice and equal rights."

Shwe Maung added that he has been cooperating with the concerned ministries and local authorities as requested.

Speaking to DVB on Monday, the Rohingya MP said he was repeating only what his constituents had told him.

Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, said that her group's sources in Maungdaw could not confirm one way or the other who started the fire on 28 January in Duchira Dan-West.

Speaking to DVB on Wednesday, she said that the blaze was "definitely not accidental", as the fire broke out in several places at the same time.

Burma's Vice-president Nyan Tun visited the region on Tuesday, according to state-run The New Light of Myanmar, which said he was accompanied by Minister Htay Aung, Arakan [Rakhine] State Chief Minister Hla Maung Tin, and deputy ministers.

The vice-president reportedly met in Maungdaw with departmental officials, members of social organisations and town elders of the "two communities".

Following a town hall meeting, Nyan Tun "observed the peace and tranquility and development of the township on a motorcade" the report said.

Media Bill stuck in Parliament

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 07:31 PM PST

Burma's new Media Bill is currently stalled in Parliament due to dispute over an article that defers press office search and seizure to the Code of Criminal Procedures.

Upper house MP Aung Kyi Nyunt told DVB that the bill, drafted by the Interim Press Council, was approved by the upper house but stalled upon reaching the lower house, which has requested that Article 32 be removed.

"Originally, there was an article in the bill that said media office search and confiscation of equipment must be conducted in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedures, but the clause was removed by the lower house," he said. "It is necessary to include the article as most of the offences described in the bill are out of police jurisdiction, so it will be more suitable to follow the Code of Criminal Procedure."

Kyaw Min Swe, Interim Press Council secretary, said the clause is important because it creates a protocol for search and seizure; without it, he contends, police could take liberties when dealing with media offences.

"[Under the procedural code] authorities must obtain a warrant to search, not only press offices but any type of business, for any type of offence," he said. "Under the previous government, authorities searched and sealed media offices without warrant, allowing them to seize equipment without record and later sell it.

"By removing the clause, the lower house is advocating lawlessness – we would like these searches to be conducted in accordance with the law, not in the manner of robbery."

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