Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Web presence a key indicator of corporate transparency: Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business

Posted: 30 Apr 2014 07:45 AM PDT

In countries where corporate governance rules are well defined, businesses are expected to adhere to a minimal standard of transparency about their activities. But in Burma, where companies are now in contact with global markets, and are attracting foreign partners after decades of mismanagement and isolation, such standards are few and far between.

In an attempt to remedy this, the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) launched the Transparency in Myanmar Enterprises (Pwint Thit Sa) project last month, which rates Burma's largest companies for their openness on efforts to promote "anti-corruption, organizational transparency, and human rights, health, safety and the environment."

"Our expectation is that, as more foreign companies come into Myanmar [Burma], looking for partners, the partners they will be looking for will be the ones who are transparent," said MCRB director Vicky Bowman, who was Britain's ambassador to Burma from 2002 to 2006. "If a company has good transparency policies, they are more likely to be invited by foreign companies to form partnerships."

At the project's core, it will rate companies' transparency based on the information they publish on their websites. Of the 61 companies MCRB surveyed, Bowman claimed that just 34 had websites at all. A company's web presence is a critical metric of its transparency in the Internet age, MCRB claims, as the Internet serves to facilitate the dissemination of up-to-date information about its activities.

Bowman asserts that, where Burma is concerned, the Internet will be crucial for stamping out corruption in other realms, as well. "In particular [the government] needs to develop more online processes on issues like paying tax [and] paying customs… the more governments go online, the more you remove the human factor and the more you reduce corruption," she said.

Companies subjected to scrutiny by the MCRB will be contacted over the next week about its draft findings, and will then be given a chance to improve their standing until July, when the final results will be published. The centre hopes to repeat the survey in 2015, in an attempt to gauge if online transparency has improved. The study is based on methodology formulated by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, which conducts a similar study every year of the corporate reporting practices of the world's largest multinationals.

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How much a company’s online transparency is reflective of truly responsible business practices, however, is up for debate, a point that Bowman concedes. "We're trying to raise awareness, and it's a gradual process," she said. "We're very aware that this is not a measurement of who the best companies are: it's the ones who have the most information on their websites."

But she feels the project's goal of imparting the importance of transparent practices to big Burmese businesses, and the assistance the MCRB offers them to achieve better transparency, may help attitudes to shift over time. "What we're looking at is, 'Have the companies even gone as far as thinking about it?'," she said.

Myanmar's overburdened parliament has passed hundreds of new laws at a break-neck pace over the past three years, many of which have been criticised as coming out of the gate incomplete or poorly thought-out. An anti-corruption law was passed last year, and in February President Thein Sein announced the formation of a 15-member anti-corruption commission, comprised almost entirely of former high-ranking military officials. Its independence and ability to tackle corrupt practices have yet to be tested.

While urging companies to be more transparent is an admirable goal, how far such efforts can go, given the pervasive corruption on all levels within the Burmese establishment, remains to be seen. "Civil society organizations like our own are not seeking to substitute for the state," said Phil Bloomer, the executive director of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, a founding partner of the MCRB. "The state has a fundamental role to set the standards and norms that are acceptable for the way companies operate in their markets."

If civil society and the media continue to highlight corporate malfeasance, this may promote better practices by the state, Bloomer claims. But he admits this will not be easy.

"Those pressures… eventually start to reform businesses but also, increasingly, [will make] states believe that citizens want supply chains that are clean, that don't have human rights abuses in them," he said. "It's a long, arduous struggle that we're in."

Ethnic alliance ‘cannot support’ 2008 Constitution

Posted: 30 Apr 2014 04:07 AM PDT

The Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) said it has agreed to four of the Burmese military's six requests, but that it cannot fully adhere to the existing laws of the country nor the current Constitution.

Speaking to DVB at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai, Nai Hongsa, vice-chairman of the 17-member ethnic alliance, said attendees discussed the nationwide ceasefire framework, including a six-point list of proposals put forward by Burma's Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing at a previous round of negotiations.

"The commander-in-chief has proposed a six-point wish list; however we cannot agree to two of the points," said Nai Hongsa.

"Point five was that we, the ethnic armed groups, would pledge to fully adhere to the existing laws of the country. This effectively means we would be surrendering, politically, to Naypyidaw," he said. "The sixth point, that we recognise the 2008 Constitution – we cannot agree with that either."

Nai Hongsa, who is also New Mon State Party vice-chairman, said that the NCCT views the 2008 charter as undemocratic and unrepresentative of ethnic rights.

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The other four points on Min Aung Hlaing's "wish-list" are: "a genuine will for peace; adhering to all agreements; not to exploit the agreements; and not to cause a burden to the public."

Recent clashes between government forces and Kachin, Shan and Palaung [Ta'ang] armed groups in Kachin and northern Shan states were also discussed at the Chiang Mai meeting on Monday and Tuesday, said Nai Hongsa, adding that such conflict damages the trust built during the recent peace talks, and that a continuation of hostilities could further delay any ceasefire agreement.

Solomon, deputy-chairman of the Lahu Democratic Union and a senior member in the NCCT, said, "We are seeing a lot of inconsistencies between the Burmese government, the military and parliament during this peace-building effort.

"The Burmese military seems to be keen on achieving a nationwide ceasefire but they do not want to get involved in political dialogue," he said. "They also have issues with the terminology – for example, they don't like to refer to 'civil war' or 'resistance' or 'federalism', which are terms we [NCCT] regularly employ when discussing a framework for the ceasefire."

Nai Hongsa said the government's ambition of reaching a nationwide ceasefire agreement by August may be somewhat "over-ambitious".

He told DVB that the next round of negotiations with government representatives will take place in the third week of May when the focus of the meeting will be further drafting of a single-text ceasefire agreement that was outlined in March.

Staff suspected in macabre school poisoning

Posted: 30 Apr 2014 03:12 AM PDT

Parents at a primary school in Irrawaddy Division's Myanaung Township are refusing to send their children back to the school after authorities failed to prosecute anyone for poisoning drinking water supplies last year.

In 2013, there were three separate cases of the school's water supply being poisoned. The school's head teacher filed a report with authorities but after an inspection, no tangible action was taken.

Parents were left frustrated and scared for their children's safety.

"We are afraid to send our children back to school because the poisoning took place not just once but three times," said a parent, San Aye.

"We reported the case to a range of authorities from the village to regional level. But they only came for an inspection and did not take any further action," she said.

Parents suspected that a feud between members of staff led to one of them contaminating the water. However, this claim was never proven.

Of 48 students studying at Taungpatlae village primary school, 19 will not be returning this year.

Parents said they would rather their children miss a school year than risk being poisoned again.

"The authorities did nothing to solve the case. They don't care about the students who are missing school this year," said Myo Win, another parent.

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Though the truth about who the culprit was never came to light, the finger is still being pointed at four of the school's staff members.

School committee member Soe Win said that as the police failed to investigate properly, the school board should take matters into their own hands.

"We would like the school's four staff members to be transferred. As the authorities are not willing to solve the case, this would be more convenient," he said.

Myanaung Township's deputy education minister, Ohn Tien, was one of the officials who inspected the school. He said he recommended that the township's education administrator reprimand staff members at the school. However, he reminded school board members that responsibility to take action ultimately lies with the police.

There were no serious injuries resulting from the contaminated drinking water but five children suffered from stomach pains and several others had headaches.

The school term resumes on 1 June.

 

KNU, UWSA slam conflict in northern Burma

Posted: 29 Apr 2014 11:56 PM PDT

In the lead-up to nationwide peace negotiations, two ethnic armed groups have denounced the hostile approach to conflict resolution being pursued in northern Burma.

The United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Karen National Union (KNU) released a joint-statement on Tuesday chastising the use of military force by Burmese government troops and several ethnic armed groups in Kachin and Shan states during an ongoing offensive that has displaced thousands of ethnic civilians in recent weeks.

The statement, issued shortly after a meeting between the groups’ leaders in Panghsang, capital of the Wa Self-Administered Division in eastern Burma, demanded that all parties do more to find a political solution to the conflict as the current exchanges risk damaging nationwide reconciliation efforts.

Aung Myint, secretary to head office of the United Wa State Party, the UWSA’s political wing, said that while the Wa have enjoyed a peaceful relationship with the government for 25 years, they remain attentive to the overall peace process.

"We have been at peace [with the government] for 25 years, but we now have cause to denounce the use of military action as a solution to problems. There is fighting in certain areas while they are signing peace agreements," he said.

The UWSA and KNU leaders also agreed to propose amendments to the 2008 Constitution when the peace process reaches the stage of political dialogue. The UWSA also expressed its intention to demand a fully autonomous Wa State at the appropriate stage of negotiation.

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Both parties reiterated that ethnic discrimination and political inequality are core contributors to Burma's decades of civil war and unrest.

The UWSA was the first ethnic armed group to sign a fresh ceasefire with the new government in 2011. It is the largest of Burma's ethnic armed groups, with some 20-25,000 troops, and has kept a relative distance from nationwide ceasefire talks between the National Ceasefire Coordination Team and government negotiators.

UWSA leaders have said that they will increase their involvement once both parties are nearing the stage of political dialogue.

Both the UWSA and the KNU are currently in Union-level discussions with the government, as both have secured regional peace pacts, but remain united in their condemnation of the government's actions towards the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), all of which are affected by the recent fighting.

Despite the conflict, the SSA-N is currently under ceasefire with the central government, while the KIA and the TNLA both maintain combatant status and have yet to enter state-level negotiations.

KIA Deputy Commander-in Chief Maj-Gen Gun Maw on Tuesday extended an invitation to the central government to resume state-level peace talks in Kachin State capital Myitkyina in early May, so as to precede Union-level talks scheduled later in the month.

The NCCT and government negotiators reached a preliminary draft for a nationwide ceasefire in March, which is currently under review for bilateral revision. The two sides have stated the ambition to approve a final peace pact by August 2014, though many ethnic leaders have voiced concern that the recent conflict could undo much of their progress to date.

Jailed DVB reporter included in ‘100 Heroes’ list for 2014

Posted: 29 Apr 2014 10:29 PM PDT

DVB video journalist Zaw Pe, who was sentenced to one year in prison on 7 April,  has been included in a list of "100 information heroes" compiled by international watchdog Reporters Without Borders ahead of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May.

"Zaw Phay [Zaw Pe] is an experienced journalist who started out as a clandestine video reporter for Democratic Voice of Burma [DVB] during the Saffron Revolution in 2007," Reporters Without Borders said. "He is also a former political prisoner who was given a three-year jail sentence in 2010 for filming 'without permission' while investigating a water shortage in Nat Mauk, in the central Magwe region.

"Released in a January 2012 amnesty, he went back to work at once. His journalistic dedication got him into trouble a few months later when he investigated a Japanese-funded scholarship programme in Magwe. A local education department official filed a complaint accusing him of trespassing on government property and disturbing a civil servant in the course of his duties. In April 2014, almost two years after the complaint, Zaw Phay was sentenced to a year in prison under articles 448 and 353 of the penal code."

Since his sentencing, colleagues and international media groups have flocked to support Zaw Pe, and he is now the focus of campaigns organised by Amnesty International, Burma Campaign UK, and US Campaign for Burma.

According to DVB Rangoon bureau chief Toe Zaw Latt, "DVB is confident that reporter Zaw Pe was fulfilling his responsibility as a news reporter to inquire about a scholarship programme at the Magwe Township Education Department, which was in the public interest and therefore we completely denounce his sentencing.

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"Despite all the government officials' pledges of press reform, we believe the jailing of Zaw Pe is an obstacle to media freedom in the country, and we call for the unconditional release of the reporter and his co-defendant."

Others included in the "100 information heroes" list were Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, the US journalists responsible for revealing mass electronic surveillance methods used by the US and British intelligence.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders said, "Through their courageous work or activism, these '100 heroes' help to promote the freedom enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the freedom to 'seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers'. They put their ideals in the service of the common good. They serve as examples."
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