Democratic Voice of Burma

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• Bullet Points
• Journalists sentenced to 10 years for revealing ‘state secrets’
• Burmese maids in Singapore need more protection, migrant worker group says
• Ethnic Karen sentenced to 10 years for Taungoo bombing
• Mandalay’s parliament discusses tattoos of Burma’s map

Bullet Points Posted: 10 Jul 2014 05:12 AM PDT On today’s edition of Bullet Points: Five staffers from the Unity Weekly journal have been sentenced to ten years in prison with hard labour. Several US lawmakers have slammed the deteriorating state of human rights in Burma, call to re-impose restrictions on Burmese government. Two Burmese men have been murdered in Malaysia.   You can watch Bullet Points on DVB TV after the 7 o’clock news

Journalists sentenced to 10 years for revealing ‘state secrets’ Posted: 10 Jul 2014 03:20 AM PDT Five employees of the now-defunct Unity Weekly journal have each been sentenced to ten years in prison with hard labour after being convicted of revealing state secrets. Four reporters and the journal's CEO were sentenced on Thursday afternoon under charges of trespassing and violating Burma's colonial-era Official Secrets Act. Their charges were levied shortly after they published an investigative report in January alleging that a military facility was used for the production of chemical weapons. "All five [Unity] staffs have been sentenced to ten years in prison each with labour," said the defendants' lawyer, Wah Win Maung. "The KaPaSa [Myanmar Defence Industries] facility-24 was never designated as a prohibited area by the President," he continued. "On those grounds, we argued that the five defendants should not be liable for charge under the State Secrets Act." At their final hearing on 2 July, Wah Win Maung requested during his closing comments that the charges be reassessed in light of the country's new media law, which was approved after the five were arraigned. All five defendants – reporters Lu Maw Naing, Sithu Soe, Aung Thura, Yazar Oo, and Unity Weekly's CEO Tint Hsan – remained in custody throughout the trial, which proceeded despite several appeals by the group's lawyer and immense criticism from Burma and beyond. The case has often been used as a particularly egregious example of what some call a "backslide" on press freedoms in Burma. Related Stories Bullet Points Thein Sein warns press against 'endangering' national security Editors detained after Suu Kyi takeover report "The verdict on the Unity staff has created a lot of concern about the authenticity of freedoms provided to the fourth estate amid the democratic reform process," said Zaw Thet Htwe, a member of Burma's Interim Press Council. Since the transition from military rule to a nominally civilian government in early 2011, Burma has been commended for huge steps towards a free press; a pre-publishing censorship board was abolished in August 2012, and many media workers exiled for decades have begun their cautious return to the country. Despite advances, new media legislation has been heavily criticised and claims persist that other laws are regularly manipulated to imprison or inhibit journalists. Zaw Thet Htwe sees the Unity case as a clear illustration of that possibility, remarking that the verdict "suggests that daily newspapers, weekly journals, online and broadcast media are at the risk of government prosecution at any time." Earlier this week, Burma's President Thein Sein claimed that the country's press was "one of the freest in Southeast Asia", then proceeded to "warn" against using that freedom to "endanger the national security". The government is also currently restricting some social media platforms after claims that "hate speech" played a role in a deadly bout of violence in Mandalay.

Burmese maids in Singapore need more protection, migrant worker group says Posted: 10 Jul 2014 02:15 AM PDT With more than 35,000 Burmese domestic workers in Singapore, the Singaporean and Burmese governments must do more to ensure that these women do not face abusive conditions in homes, a representative from a migrant worker advocacy group said. The small city-state has long held a spotty record when it comes to its citizens' treatment of domestic workers, with the workers complaining of long hours, bad pay, and – at times – even abuse. A recent report by Al Jazeera highlighted a practice by certain maid agencies that displayed the young women of various nationalities – Burmese, Indonesian and Philippine — in shopping malls under galleries titled "Budget Maid" with posters and signs advertising "special discounts". The Philippine government reportedly reacted by barring two maid agencies – Homekeeper Agency and Budget Maid Agency — in Singapore from recruiting Filipinos after publication of the Al Jazeera report. According to a state-run newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, the Burmese embassy in Singapore will lodge an official complaint with the Singaporean Ministry of Manpower over this practice. Aye Nar Nar, the founder of Helping Hands for Migrant Workers – a Singapore-based group that assists migrants who have been abused by their employers – told DVB that while recruitment agencies may have questionable practices in attracting clients to hire domestic workers, the government must also be stricter in ensuring the safety of workers after they have been placed within families. According to Aye Nar Nar, her group has received more than 20 cases of abuse against Burmese domestic workers since the start of this year. As the majority of Singaporean households require the foreign domestic workers to live in their homes, abuses can happen behind closed doors, and also make it difficult for women to leave. "It's mostly abuse cases, like physical abuse. Like they would slap the girls, and they throw hot water on their bodies," she said. Other common complaints include working long hours – sometimes from 5am to midnight everyday – being cut off from the outside world with no phone privileges, and not being provided with adequate meals, Aye Nar Nar said. "The Singapore government has to enforce the rules, and the punishment must be strong, so that all the employers will be scared and won't do abuse if there is a big punishment," Aye Nar Nar said. A statement issued by the Singaporean Embassy in Rangoon to DVB said that displaying foreign domestic workers as being "'available for hire at cheap or discounted prices' are unacceptable practices." "MOM [the Ministry of Manpower] requires EAs [employment agencies] to be responsible and accord basic respect in their practice to both their clients – the employer and the FDW [foreign domestic worker] – and expects them to exercise sensitivity when marketing their fees or services," the statement said, with their emphasis. Related Stories Yingluck backs out of SEA Games opening ceremony Burmese firms look to list on Singapore Exchange Suu Kyi: “Reconciliation needed between all groups” The statement added that agencies "found to have acted in a manner detrimental to the interest" of foreign domestic workers will face legal action. Agencies are also not allowed "to restrict" the movements of foreign workers, it said. Khin Pyo Nwe, a Burmese woman who has worked as a domestic worker in Singapore for six years, said her first two years was spent toiling in the home of a Singaporean-Chinese family who did not feed her proper meals. Her pay was also docked whenever she took a day off, typically once every two months. She added that the Al Jazeera report was not the first time she had heard about domestic workers being treated like commodities. Advertisements in the newspapers would show a "low fee" maid babysitting while another one ironed clothes, she said. "I am a university graduate and I was a teacher back in Burma," Khin Pyo Nwe said. "Every time I see an advertisement in the newspapers for housemaids with discounts, it is always Burmese and Indonesian nationals." "It makes me sad to realise that this is how we are seen in this country and I feel ashamed."

Ethnic Karen sentenced to 10 years for Taungoo bombing Posted: 10 Jul 2014 12:41 AM PDT An ethnic Karen man accused of the bombing of a guesthouse in Pegu Division's Taungoo last October, which left two dead, has been sentenced to ten years in prison with hard labour by a district court. On 11 October, a bomb went off in Chan Myae guesthouse in Taungoo district, killing two people including a railway police officer. The incident was just one in a spate of bomb attacks. That week, explosions were felt in Rangoon, Mandalay and Sagaing cities, as well as Shan State's Namhkam. Saw Htun Htun, 34, an ethnic Karen resident of nearby Kyaukkyi, was sentenced under the Explosives Act by the Taungoo district court on Wednesday, said a district police officer. Related Stories Bullet Points Rape case unrelated to Mandalay riots, alleged victim says Mandalay riots reveal splintered community, complex agendas About a month after the bombing, Saw Htun Htun was detained by local police, with the assistance of the Karen National Union, and subsequently charged under the Explosives Act. Police said that he confessed during interrogation that he had left a bag containing explosives at the guesthouse because he was instructed to do so by a man named Saw Tawah, who is currently still at large.

Mandalay’s parliament discusses tattoos of Burma’s map Posted: 09 Jul 2014 09:27 PM PDT Mandalay Division's parliament convened an emergency session on Tuesday to discuss how individuals who have tattooed the map of Burma on the lower part of the body should be punished, as such an inking is a disgrace to the country's image. Thein Lwin, a parliamentarian of the divisional body, requested the government to pursue legal action against individuals who have the map of Burma inked on "inappropriate parts" of the body. "Nowadays, we are seeing this trend of Burma map tattoos. The map of Burma, while an inanimate object, is a symbol of dignity and some individuals have it tattooed on inappropriate parts of the body, which is disgraceful," Thein Lwin said during the session. "I would like to know the government's plan to prohibit disgracing the map of Burma by having it tattooed on inappropriate parts of the body, and I urge the government to enact laws if it is necessary," he continued. Thein Lwin did not specify the exact parts of the body that such a tattoo should be prohibited from appearing on. Ye Aung Myint, Mandalay Division's chief justice, threw his support behind Thein Lwin, and singled out the leg as a particularly offensive site for a Burma tattoo. "Tattooing the map of Burma on the lower body, such as on the leg, can be deemed as defacing a part of the whole of a national symbol," Ye Aung Myint said. "According to the State Seal Law, this offence can be punishable with up to three years in prison or offenders can face a fine of up to 300,000 kyat – or both." This emergency session of the divisional parliament comes a week after Mandalay Division's Chan Aye Tharzan Township was rocked with communal violence for about two nights after hundreds began rioting based on a rumour that two Muslim teashop owners had raped a Buddhist woman. The riots left at least two dead and several others injured. Related Stories Rape case unrelated to Mandalay riots, alleged victim says Mandalay riots reveal splintered community, complex agendas Rangoon abbot evicted from Dala monastery over ownership dispute

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