Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Rights activist Andy Hall released on bail

Posted: 18 Jun 2014 06:29 AM PDT

British researcher Andy Hall returned to court in Thailand on Wednesday to hear the fourth charge brought against him by Natural Fruit, a Thai pineapple processing company.

Hall, who lives in Rangoon, was charged with criminal defamation for revealing labour abuses allegedly committed by the company during an Al Jazeera video report produced in the former Burmese capital.

After being escorted by police to the Prakanong public prosecutor's office in Bangkok, Hall was arraigned and taken into custody, but was released on bail after two hours in a detention cell. Hall told DVB from the prosecutor's office that no certified translator was available to assist the hearing.

His British passport was seized by Thai authorities and he is not allowed to leave the country until the case has been resolved through trial, which he estimates could take several years given the nature of the charges.

As requested by Hall, two of Thailand's leading food-processing associations – the Thai Frozen Foods Association and Thai Tuna Industry Association – paid the 50,000 baht (US$1,500) bail on his behalf. Hall appealed for the groups' assistance, "to send a message to the international community that this is just one company that's going the wrong way".

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A total of four charges have now been brought against Hall, who has long been a vocal advocate for migrants' rights in Thailand. He has worked in Southeast Asia for about ten years as a researcher and activist.

In 2013, Hall served as a lead researcher for a report published by Finnwatch, a non-governmental organisation that campaigns for corporate responsibility. The report examined three Thai companies that were found to have committed various abuses against migrant labourers, including the employment of trafficked workers, unlawfully low pay and extremely unsafe working conditions.

Of the three companies investigated — Natural Fruit, Thai Union Manufacturing and Unicord — Natural Fruit was the only one to pursue legal action against Hall. Over the course of the past year, they have hit him with two counts of criminal and one count of civil defamation, claiming damages of $10 million. He also faces an additional charge of violating Thailand's controversial Computer Crimes Act.

A lawyer representing Natural Fruit told DVB in May that the company refutes all allegations made by Finnwatch and plans to proceed with the case as planned.

Thailand has come under enormous international pressure over migrant labour issues in recent months, particularly in food-processing industries. The US State Department is due to release an annual assessment on Friday that could result in sanctions; for the past four years, Thailand has idled on a "watchlist", which means that exemptions to a downgrade in the rankings have all been exhausted.

Downgrade to a "Tier 3" ranking would automatically subject the country to financial restrictions affecting commerce and non-humanitarian programmes supported by the US.

Thailand is struggling to quickly remedy its public image after a months-long political stalemate ended with a military coup on 22 May. The new ruling junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order, has spent several days denying a systemic "crackdown" on undocumented migrants from Burma, Cambodia and Laos.

Unity Weekly trial continues, media workers emphasising press freedom

Posted: 18 Jun 2014 05:27 AM PDT

The trial of five media workers of Burmese news journal Unity Weekly accused of revealing state secrets continued on Tuesday, with members of the media testifying to the court about the importance of press freedom.

Unity Weekly's reporters Lu Maw Naing, Sithu Soe, Aung Thura and Yazar Oo were arrested on 30 and 31 January, along with the news journal's CEO Tint Hsan. Charged under Article 3 of the Official Secrets Act, the group was accused of revealing state secrets after publishing a report five days earlier about a government facility being constructed in Magwe's Pauk Township by the Burmese military, which they alleged to be a chemical weapons factory.

Veteran journalist Pho Thaukkyar, a sitting member of Myanmar Journalists Association, and Eleven Media Group's CEO Than Htut Aung testified as witnesses in defence of the five journalists during a hearing at the Pakokku District Court.

"I testified in court that Unity Weekly published their report as news coverage, but had no deliberate intention to divulge state secrets, and the government should not be too harsh upon media workers," Pho Thaukkyar told DVB, adding that prosecuting the journalists for covering sensitive topics would violatepress freedom.

"We believe that the public needs to be informed about the facility," he continued. "And I suggested that the government – even if they should see otherwise – should take into consideration the motives of the publication, which is whether their intention was to just report the news or if they meant to jeopardise the country."

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Theingi Tun, the wife of Yazar Oo, worried that her husband's long detention would cause his health to deteriorate. The five are currently being held in Pakokku Prison and have been there since February.

"My husband suffers from Hepatitis-B. He keeps saying he's doing fine in prison, but I can tell by his appearance that that is not the case," Theingi Tun said, adding that prison officials have not allowed her to bring him medication.

"They denied us permission to bring him medication, citing a regulation that the medicines need to be checked by prison doctors before he is allowed to take them," she said.

The arrest of the Unity Weekly's CEO and reporters has brought condemnation from both local and international press groups, with the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists denouncing the Burmese government's actions and the country's need for "meaningful legal reform." If the court finds them guilty, the five face a maximum prison term of up to 14 years.

Rober San Aung, the group's defence lawyer, said the trial will continue on 30 June.

IMF: Burma’s economy is growing fast, but fiscal risks abound

Posted: 18 Jun 2014 05:17 AM PDT

Burma can expect continued strong economic growth over the next fiscal year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday, but the organisation warned that structural frailties threaten prospects for long-term growth, and urged the government to implement a "broad range of policy and structural reforms."

An IMF delegation visited Burma between 4-17 June as part of the annual Article IV consultation process, which is intended to assess member states' financial health and provide guidance on correcting economic problems.

In a statement, the IMF's chief of mission in Burma, Matt Davies, said that the real GDP is expected to rise to 8.5 percent in fiscal year 2014-2015, a slight improvement over the previous fiscal year and a full two percent higher than in 2012-2013. Burma's economy has been among the fastest-growing in the world since political and economic reforms got underway in 2011, fuelled largely by extractive industries.

Burma needs to increase tax revenues in order to service existing debts and finance government spending, the statement said. Davis claimed that fiscal risks are on the rise, despite a relatively stable fiscal deficit from the previous year. So far, the shortfall has been masked "in part due to large one-off revenues from telecom licences."

He also warned that oversight of financial institutions needed to improve significantly, especially as foreign banks will be allowed to commence operations in the near future.

International interest in Burma's emerging economy will pose challenges for its archaic financial system, which is in dire need of modernisation after decades of economic stagnation and isolation. Davis said that "demand-side pressures on inflation and large capital inflows will strain the [country's] still-infant macroeconomic management tools."

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The IMF's mission in Burma has provided the government with technical assistance to draft a number of new pieces of legislation, including a revamped law governing financial institutions, a new securities and exchange law, and a central banking law passed last year.

Until the government introduces a number of associated guidelines, however, governance of the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) will continue to fall under Burma's outgoing central banking law, which dates to 1990. Once the new law – intended to enshrine the bank's independence – is fully implemented, it is hoped that the bank will, over time, be able to set interest rates in response to prevailing macroeconomic conditions, which it is currently unable to do.

"Completing the CBM's transition to an autonomous institution… will underpin continued macroeconomic stability," the statement read. "This transition requires continued growth in CBM's international reserves, while maintaining a flexible exchange rate regime."

Farmers hold massive march in Mandalay over land grab

Posted: 18 Jun 2014 04:48 AM PDT

Around 1,500 farmers from Mandalay Division's Pyin Oo Lwin participated in a march on Monday to demand the return of 300,000 acres of farmland allegedly confiscated by the government and private companies.

Marching from Nyantaw festival grounds to the city's government offices, the protestors — organised by the Farmers Union Organising Committee — also publicly condemned an incident in May when five farmers from Htonbo village, who were involved in a land dispute, were tied up and allegedly assaulted by hired thugs.

The protestors were then stopped by the police, who informed the rally's organisers that they had not sought permission for the event and were therefore in violation of Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law.

Su Su Nway, a labour activist and coordinator for the Famers Union Organising Committee, argued that it was no longer necessary to obtain permission to hold a rally, as a bill amending Article 18 had just been passed by both the upper and lower houses of the Union parliament.

"According to the parliament, it is no longer required to seek permission. We did inform the authorities about the rally but we did not seek permission," she said.

Despite police resistance, the farmers continued marching to demand the return of the land, which they said was left mostly fallow. They called on the government to mediate land disputes and to take legal action against the alleged perpetrator who ordered the attack on the five farmers.

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Khin Maung Than, a resident of Kyaukphyadoe village, added that the farmers were also angry because the government had reneged on a promise to return all confiscated land that remains unused.

"Defence Minister Gen. Wai Lwin pledged to return land that had been left unused after it was confiscated, and President Thein Sein and military Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing have also promised the same," Khin Maung Than said. "But no work has been done on the ground to implement this."

According to Su Su Nway, the police have filed a case against her for organising the demonstration without obtaining permission in advance.

Level of suffering in Arakan ‘never seen before’: UN

Posted: 18 Jun 2014 04:39 AM PDT

A senior UN official has referred to the humanitarian situation in western Burma's Arakan State as "appalling", upon concluding a four-day visit to the country.

Kyung-wha Kang, UN assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told reporters in New York on Tuesday that she witnessed "a level of human suffering in IDP [internally displaced persons] camps that I have personally never seen before".

The UN delegate visited Arakan and Kachin states, both areas fraught with conflict in the years since Burma's transition from military rule to a quasi-civilian government.

In Arakan State, where two years of communal violence have left hundreds dead and displaced more than 140,000 people – most of them stateless Rohingya Muslims – Kyung-wha Kang said that "severe" restrictions on movement have led to "wholly inadequate access to basic services including health, education, water and sanitation".

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Those living in Arakan IDP camps are not allowed to leave, and premises are typically guarded by state police. While camp-dwellers become increasingly dependent on humanitarian aid because of restrictions on movement, state and national policies have been said to deliberately undermine assistance to IDPs.

Following the government's expulsion of frontline health responders Médecins Sans Frontières in February, attacks on aid-worker offices in Arakan State capital Sittwe in late March dealt an enormous blow to healthcare and water distribution in the camps and isolated villages.

Humanitarian access to Arakan State has since hovered around "50 percent" of its reach before the incident, according to Pierre Peron, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Peron told DVB last week that many aid workers, who were ordered to leave after the attacks, have still not returned for various reasons, including the reluctance of Arakanese landowners to lease property to foreign aid organisations.

Some property owners have reportedly been threatened by Arakanese locals who believe that aid workers have pro-Muslim biases.

Kyung-wha Kang fielded several questions after the press briefing, admitting that during her stay in Arakan she was "strongly advised not to use the term [Rohingya] publicly… both by government authorities and UN colleagues on the ground", owing to the "very, very tense" situation regarding Muslim identity and citizenship.

The comments follow a recent controversy in which the UN's children's welfare agency apologised to Arakanese authorities for using the term "Rohingya" in reference to the stateless Muslim minority that makes up nearly all of Arakan State's IDPs. Administrators were reportedly outraged by use of the term because many Burmese nationals refer to the group as "Bengalis", which implies that they are illegal immigrants.

While in-country UNICEF officials could not comment at the time regarding the agency's official policy about the term, Kyung-wha Kang reiterated the UN's position that they will continue to refer to the group as Rohingya because that is how they self-identify.

Thai officials meet on repatriation of refugees

Posted: 18 Jun 2014 01:37 AM PDT

Thai security officials are meeting this week in Mae Sot to discuss how refugees from Burma living in camps by the Thai-Burmese border can be repatriated.

Organised by the Royal Thai Army's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), the three-day event was attended by representatives of the UNHCR and regional military commanders of four border provinces where refugee camps are located.

Col. Trasan Saengsiriran, an ISOC official and chief-of-staff of the Royal Thai Army's Naresuan Taskforce, said that the meeting will include a discussion about means of assisting refugees who have been living in Thailand for almost three decades.

Officials are expected to come to a decision by Thursday as to whether the refugees will be repatriated in the near future — a prospect that NGOs working to assist refugees say could be likely as this meeting was urgently convened.

Thailand is not a signatory of the UN Convention on the Rights and Status of Refugees, but has allowed the camps to operate within the country's borders for decades. More than 60,000 refugees from Burma have been resettled in third countries with assistance from the UNHCR in Thailand.

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Resettlement options have been reduced considerably since Burma's reform period began in 2011; the United States, which has accepted more refugees from Burma than any other country by far, officially ended its resettlement programme in January of this year.

Currently, there are about 120,000 refugees living in Thailand's nine refugee camps in the four western border provinces. Decades of systemic violence and disenfranchisement of Burma's ethnic minorities, as well as conflict between ethnic armed groups and the Burmese military, have driven hundreds of thousands of people to neighbouring countries, including Thailand, China, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Tenasserim govt orders KNU to stop collecting ‘taxes’

Posted: 17 Jun 2014 10:43 PM PDT

The government of Tenasserim Division ordered the Karen National Union (KNU) to stop letting their police force collect "taxes" from locals in Tavoy [Dawei] district and to keep its armed forces in check.

In a confidential letter sent to the KNU on 4 June, the divisional government said that the newly established Karen National Police Force (KNPF) has been "unofficially" assuming responsibilities — such as collecting taxes — in the Myeik-Tavoy district, which is under the authority of the divisional government. The divisional government demanded that the KNPF be disbanded as it could lead to confusion among locals and be detrimental to the region's stability.

The letter also instructed the KNU to control its armed forces in the area — such as the Karen National Liberation Army's (KNLA) 4th Brigade – to prevent them from assuming government duties.

"We have to reach out to the KNU as their members have been collecting money in local villages and wearing armbands that read 'police', which could be confused with the divisional government's officials," said Tin Thein, the secretary of the Tenasserim Division who had signed the 4 June letter to the KNU.

Myeik-Tavoy district – referred to simply as Tavoy by the divisional government — was the site of fierce fighting in the past between the Burmese Army and the KNU, who say it falls under their armed group's 4th Brigade. Since the KNU came to a ceasefire agreement with the government in 2012, the KNU has been operating in the area in an official capacity.

The KNU's regional chairman Pado Bee Leh defended the KNPF's tax collection, saying that it is in accordance with their own regulations, and that these types of letters from the government are frequent.

"We have our policies and adopted procedures which we must follow," Pado Bee Leh said. "It is necessary to seek assistance from the public before the nationwide ceasefire is implemented, and we use diplomatic means when collecting money from the locals. Violence has never been our practice."

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He added that the KNPF has been in operation since 1998 though the government was not aware of it. This police force is also operational in areas that the KNLA's brigades are active in, including Karen state, and have received cooperation from the police of divisional governments.

Despite the ceasefire, there are still skirmishes between the KNLA and the Burmese Army. The KNU most recently reported that two of its 4th Brigade members were shot dead by the Burmese Army's 552nd Light Infantry Battalion on 13 June when they were returning from picking corn in a field in Tavoy.

Pado Bee Leh said the KNU and government officials were still addressing this incident.
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