Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Electoral commission seeks assistance for political parties

Posted: 28 May 2014 03:18 AM PDT

The Union Election Commission (UEC) has asked President Thein Sein to support Burma's political parties by offering land and transport assistance. The UEC proposed grants of government land for office space and the provision of import permits for motor vehicles.

The electoral body, in a letter to the president's office dated 22 May, proposed to grant each of Burma's 65 political parties five vehicle import permits. An allotment of government-owned land was also suggested. The action follows a series of requests from smaller political parties, many of which have raised financial concerns to the commission.

One such organisation is the Democratic Party-Myanmar (DPM). Thu Wei, the party chairman, said they had to move three times in 2010 because landowners were afraid to rent to them.

"We will have to move out from our current location in August and are yet to find a new place," he said. "We also lack transportation and other necessary assistance. Our members have to pay out of pocket to keep the party in operation."

The Nationalities Brotherhood Federation, an alliance of 15 ethnic political parties, echoed their difficulties. The group's spokesperson, Saw Than Myint, said the grants, if approved, would be of major assistance to smaller parties.

"We think this would be a great deal of help to non-major and ethnic-based parties, as we are not financially strong and usually don't get much assistance from cronies like the major parties do," he said.

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"If this does really happen, we would be very grateful to the government because it's something we really need."

But all that glitters may not be gold, warned Burma's largest opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). The party's central committee member Win Htein said that the NLD has doubts about the UEC's motives, insinuating that the proposed assistance may spring from something other than genuine goodwill.

Sixty-five political parties are currently registered with the UEC.

Farmers plough on in Karenni land grab case

Posted: 28 May 2014 02:25 AM PDT

More than 200 farmers staged a protest on Tuesday in the town of Hpruso in Karenni State against land grabs by the Burmese military by marching to the confiscated farmland in question to plough it.

Over 1,200 acres of farmland were allegedly confiscated about 10 years ago from 109 residents in Sokyaku village by the Burmese army's 531st Light Infantry Battalion. Local villagers said they went to plough the land on Tuesday morning to express their frustration that calls to government authorities to return the land have been repeatedly ignored.

"The army said they'd allow us to work on the farmland if we signed an acknowledgement that they own the land. We refused to do that and now they have been threatening to 'take action' against us," said one villager.

"This year, we decided to come here together and start ploughing our fields to see if they would try to stop us," he added.

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A spokesman for the villagers said some of them had previously attempted to return to work on the land but were harassed and threatened by the army. However, he said, this time they are determined not to back down and have vowed to return on Wednesday to continue the cultivating protest.

The demonstration was observed by about 10 officers from a local police station, but no arrests were made.

The farmers, in their capacity as original landowners, say they have contacted local MPs and the state-level Land Grab Investigation Commission, as well as the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), but have received no response.

Khu Plu Reh, coordinator at the KNPP liaison office in Karenni State capital Loikaw, said the Sokyaku villagers had called on the state government to assist them reclaiming ownership of the land.

He added that Burmese military authorities had last year pledged to the Union Parliament that they would return over 150,000 of some 300,000 acres of farmland confiscated across the country during the era of the military junta. "However, implementation has been slow on the ground," he said.

Burma invites public to review faith conversion bill

Posted: 28 May 2014 01:29 AM PDT

Burma's Religious Conversion bill was released by state media for public review on Tuesday. The bill's drafting committee will field recommendations until 20 June before seeking parliamentary approval.

The committee was tasked in March to draft two of four bills belonging to a "National Race and Religion Protection" package, which was initially proposed by a coalition of nationalist monks in June 2013.

Other bills proposed in the package are the Marriage Act, the Population Control Act and the Monogamy Act. Full text of the other bills has not yet been made publicly available.

The seven-chapter conversion bill would establish township-level "registration" boards and grant them powers to examine and approve religious conversions. The draft states that "every person has the freedom to convert", but requires that applicants must be over the age of 18.

Those wishing to change their religion must submit an application providing personal details such as family members' names and faiths, and a reason for wishing to convert. The registration board would then interview the applicant to determine the sincerity of their faith and assess whether the conversion is voluntary.

Registration board members will be culled from existing township officials; immigration, administrative, religious and women's affairs officials will be appointed to the board and will select two community leaders to serve beside them. At least four board members must be present for interviews.

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Following board approval, applicants will be issued a certificate and must report changes to local immigration authorities.

The draft details punishment for violations, which include conversion with intent to insult or damage any other religion, forced or coerced conversion and harassment meant to influence choice of faith.

The pretext of protecting civilians against involuntary conversion has been called into question by several rights and legal experts, who see the bill as little more than a supplement to the other laws in the package. The age limit in particular is seen by some as an indicator that the conversion law is meant to cause further obstacle to interfaith couples.

"There is no clear indication as to the point of this law, but we can guess what they're aiming for," said Aung Thein, a distinguished Burmese lawyer. "The 18-year age limit is relevant to the Marriage Law."

Aung Thein argues that while the age regulation would fortify curbs on interfaith marriage, the bill creates excessive restrictions by requiring citizens to adhere to whatever faith they were born into until they reach the age of 18. Others have taken issue with the collection of personal information, which some see as overly intrusive.

"Every individual has their right to personal freedom," said Maung Maung Lay, a board member of the Human Rights Defenders and Protectors (HRDP) network. "What religion I follow is my personal choice, and adopting laws to oversee faith and religious conversion is inappropriate from a human rights perspective."

That the government would require declaring and registering such a personal and apolitical fact contradicts international norms, according to Al Haj Aye Lwin, chief convener of the Islamic Centre of Burma.

"Freedom of faith is a fundamental human right. It is a rare thing in the world to adopt laws on religious conversion and I believe the government should weigh the pros and cons," he said.

Burma's government has invited the public to do so by submitting suggestions directly to the drafting committee. They have not, however, responded to requests by opponents for a sit-down discussion of the proposed laws and their repercussions.

 

China loan suspensions hurt Mandalay jade market

Posted: 27 May 2014 08:34 PM PDT

A recent change in policy by the Chinese government, to stop giving loans to jade merchants, has affected trade at the world-famous jade market in Mandalay frequented by Chinese jewellers and tourists.

Sein Win, a jade merchant and chairman of the market's Philanthropist Association, said the market has been quiet since the loan suspension was imposed.

"Usually, merchants from China buy jade here but they've recently stopped coming," he told DVB. "The only deals taking place in the market are between Burmese merchants. If this continues long-term, the jade sellers will stop coming too."

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He said the market, which is a popular tourist attraction and is thought to be the largest jade market in the world, is slowly dying due to a shortage of raw jade shipments from the country's major jade mine, Hpakant, due to continued armed conflicted between Burmese government forces and the Kachin Independence Army.

"These days, we are receiving fewer shipments of raw jade as operations in Hpakant have been suspended for so long due to the fighting," he said. "We are currently dealing only in low-quality rocks from small-scale operations."

Another jade merchant, Thein Win, seconded Sein Win's comment.

"Business is much slower than last year," he said.

The jade merchants said they hope for better market access to trade jade with countries such as Thailand, Macau and Europe rather than having to rely upon Chinese buyers.
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