Thursday, July 3, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Curfew in place after deadly riots in Mandalay

Posted: 03 Jul 2014 07:40 AM PDT

Authorities in Mandalay have instituted a curfew, effective on Thursday, for six townships following two nights of riots that left two people dead and more than a dozen injured. Residents have been ordered to remain indoors between 9pm and 5am until further notice.

On Tuesday night, crowds amassed in Mandalay's Chan Aye Tharzan Township, a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood in Burma's second-largest city. Police had been deployed to the area following tips that a group of monks planned to seek out a Muslim tea-shop owner accused of raping a Buddhist woman.

Despite the deployment of hundreds of police officers, the situation soon turned hostile. Crowds had swelled to more than 300 people by 11pm, including about 30 monks, according to Mandalay police. Though officers set up barricades and fired rubber bullets into the air to disperse the mob, they were unable to prevent the rioters from throwing bricks, bottles and stones at surrounding homes, businesses and cars.

Crowds were eventually broken up by 4am, and reports of five injuries were announced on Wednesday morning during a police press briefing. Tensions remained high on Wednesday as additional security forces took to the streets, but no state of emergency had yet been declared.

On Wednesday night, crowds returned to Chan Aye Tharzan. Kyaw San, a teacher at a nearby Islamic education centre, told DVB on Thursday that "Last night, many people came on motorbikes. Police saw them but didn't try to arrest them."

Kyaw San, who has evacuated the area with his family, said that the crowd was led by a group of monks that have planned nightly demonstrations in the area. Fearing their return, some of the neighbourhood's residents left the area in the daytime.

"Many people ran away," he said.

Early on Thursday morning, Kyaw San was informed that a close friend, 51-year-old Soe Min, had been beaten to death while walking to a mosque for morning prayers.

Soe Min was one of two men confirmed to have died during the second night of violence. Police verified on Thursday that the other victim was a Buddhist man that succumbed to injuries on Wednesday night.

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Bouts of often deadly communal conflict have swept the country since June 2012, when violence broke out between Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in western Burma. Two rounds of rioting ultimately left hundreds dead and more than 140,000 displaced, almost all of them Muslims. Most of the displaced still live in isolated camps where aid is heavily restricted and mobility is tightly controlled. International observers, including the United Nations, have concluded that crimes against humanity may have been committed against the stateless Rohingya minority.

The following year saw an overall rise in a more general anti-Islamic trend; while Burma's Rohingya population has suffered most of the damages, Kaman and other Muslim groups have also been affected, and many say they still live in fear and wish to leave the country.

 

Burmese army plans to return only a quarter of seized land nationwide

Posted: 03 Jul 2014 05:05 AM PDT

The Burmese army plans to return less than 125,000 acres of farmland to its original owners, making up only less than a quarter of land seized across the country during decades of military rule, a Ministry of Defence official said on Wednesday.

Speaking to DVB on Wednesday, member of parliament Pe Than said that Brig-Gen Kyaw Nyunt, the deputy defence minister, told parliament that out of the total 473,979 acres of farmland seized across the country in 699 separate cases, the army intends to hold on to about 351,733 acres.

"According to the Ministry of Defence statement, the military commander-in-chief has adopted a policy that the army will only hold on to a specific amount of land required for military use, such as boot camps, and the rest will be returned," Pe Than said.

Parliamentarians expressed disbelief over whether the 120,000 acres of land the army plans to return will end up with the original owners, given that they have, in the past, rented it out to private companies or charged original landowners a "tax" to use the land, said Pe Than.

"There were cases where some land was designated for return by government departments in rural areas, but handed over to false owners who have connections with officials," he said. "We highlighted the fact that the land return programme is not being properly implemented on the ground despite promises from senior officials."

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The parliamentarians also urged the Burmese army to return land that was confiscated under a pretext of agricultural and livestock breeding projects.

This decision from the ministry comes after the parliament's Land Grab Investigation Commission recommended the return of farmland to curb the rising number of protests. Over the past year, local farmers across the country have began demanding the return of their land by staging "plough protests", a form of demonstration whereby farmers start working on disputed land to show that they were the original owners.

Bullet Points

Posted: 03 Jul 2014 04:17 AM PDT

Today on Bullet Points:

DVB video-journalist Zaw Pe to be released from prison on Friday.

Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, meets President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw.

All Burma Monks' Union say Buddhist monks were not involved in Tuesday night’s violence in Mandalay, but were helping to diffuse it.

Deposed Religious Affairs minister, Hsan Hsint, declares his innocence as he faces his first day in court.

 

 

Watch Bullet Points on DVB TV after the 7 o’clock news.

 

Press Council to probe parliament on investigation into media firms’ finances

Posted: 03 Jul 2014 02:40 AM PDT

The Interim Press Council, a media panel in Burma, will formally question the Union Parliament regarding the recent inquisition on financial details of private daily newspapers and weekly journals by the police's Special Intelligence Department, a move the press body believes serves as a threat to its freedom.

The Special Intelligence Department, commonly known as the Special Branch, started visiting various media companies last week, including the Voice Daily, Myanmar Post, People Era Weekly, The Irrawaddy, and the now-shuttered Unity Weekly, to interrogate staff on the financial details of how their paper is run.

Zaw Thet Htwe, Interim Press Council member, said that the press panel is now collecting signatures from media workers in order to submit a request to formally question the Union Parliament about the Special Branch's actions.

"The Special Branch conducting investigations into media publications is indication of a threat to press freedom," he said. "We feel that it is a form of harassment and very disturbing."

"We would like to urge the authorities to only act within the jurisdiction of the law."

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David Mathieson, Human Rights Watch's senior researcher on Burma, said in a statement that the Special Branch's actions were a "subtle form of pressure to curb the confidence of the Burmese media" and added that this was an indication of the government backsliding on the media reforms touted early in the country's opening.

"The Burmese government needs to cease sinister threats, release imprisoned journalists, and permit the media to do their crucial work to report without state interference on fast-moving developments in the nation's politics, society, and economy," he said.

DVB's Rangoon bureau chief, Toe Zaw Latt, said in an email on Tuesday that the Special Branch has not visited DVB's offices, adding that he believes the Special Branch is "focusing on print publications at this stage."

Burma a ‘candidate country’ for EITI-compliant status

Posted: 03 Jul 2014 12:51 AM PDT

Burma's application to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a set of voluntary reporting standards pertaining to revenue transparency and resource governance, has been accepted.

The announcement came on Wednesday at an annual meeting of the EITI Board, held this year in Mexico City. Burma is the 45th country worldwide to seek EITI compliance.

Burma will have 18 months to produce its first report, and a decision on whether or not its efforts have been sufficient to grant the country "compliant" status will occur within three years.

EITI standards aim to promote revenue transparency by ensuring that payments from companies operating in extractive industries – namely mining and oil and gas – match revenues received by governments. By making this information public, EITI standards are intended to reduce opportunities for public sector graft. Tripartite "multi-stakeholder groups" in EITI countries – comprised of representatives from industry, government, and civil society – are responsible for implementing EITI standards by producing reports, which are then verified through an independent auditing process.

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Requirements pertaining licence transparency and the disclosure of the beneficial ownership – the entities that directly profit from extractive projects – are also part of the latest EITI Standard. The multi-stakeholder group determines what sectors are subject to EITI rules, and it remains to be seen if Burma, officially known as Myanmar, will apply EITI standards to forestry or hydroelectricity.

According to a statement on EITI's website, Zaw Oo, the national coordinator of Myanmar EITI, said that being a part of the initiative could be a catalyst for ongoing reforms.

"We deeply appreciate the decision of the EITI Board, which recognizes our determination to transform Myanmar to [a] democratic and peaceful country," Zaw Oo said in the press release. "EITI gives us a useful tool to design our escape from the resource curse."

Last week, resource governance watchdog Global Witness released the results of a survey it conducted of the winning firms in Burma's recently-concluded oil and gas tendering process. Of the 47 companies contacted by the organisation, just 11 produced information detailing their beneficial ownership. While the oil and gas tendering process marked an improvement over past practices, it drew negative comparisons to a parallel telecommunications tender by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology that concluded last year.

Although Burma's Ministry of Energy released the names of the winning firms at the time, it did not publicly detail those companies' beneficial ownership or provide licencing details, such as the fees companies will be required to pay once contracts are signed. Burma must retroactively disclose these details as EITI implementation gets under way.

"As part of Myanmar’s EITI, the government has also committed to map and identify beneficial ownership of the companies operating in Myanmar, disclose details of the 2013-14 oil and gas bidding round, and explore the methodology and extent of contract transparency," former British MP Clare Short, the chair of the EITI, said in a statement.

President Thein Sein announced his intention to have Burma join the EITI in December 2012, and the first meeting of the multi-stakeholder group responsible for implementation occurred in February. Burma formally submitted its application for candidate status in May.

Burma joins the Philippines and Indonesia among ASEAN states that have begun the process of achieving EITI compliance; both of those states are currently candidate countries.

 

Monks helped defuse riot, not enflame it: ABMU

Posted: 03 Jul 2014 12:42 AM PDT

The All Burma Monks' Union (ABMU) said at a press conference on Wednesday that Buddhist monks at the scene of riots in Mandalay on Tuesday night had helped diffuse the situation, not enflame it, and that the anti-Muslim violence had taken place because of "weak action" by the government authorities.

Galone Ni Sayadaw of the ABMU-Upper Burma denied allegations that Buddhist monks were involved in the riots on Tuesday night when a Buddhist mob attacked Muslim properties and smashed up cars. He insisted they were visible at the scene to quall the unrest and help contain the situation.

An uneasy calm has returned to the streets of Mandalay on Wednesday following a riot the previous night when a Buddhist mob attacked Muslim properties and smashed up cars.

A police spokesman said on Wednesday said that cars and vehicles parked in the street around 26th and 80th streets in Chan Aye Tharzan Township had been damaged while properties belonging to Muslims had been targeted following an unsubstantiated rumour that circulated on social media saying that two local Muslim tea shop owners had raped their Buddhist maid.

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On Thursday, international news agencies AFP and Reuters cited police sources saying that two people had been killed in the violence. Reuters said a Buddhist and a Muslim were killed while 14 people were injured, according to Aung Kyaw Oo, an army colonel in charge of security in the Mandalay region.

Much of the focus of the unrest has surrounded nationalist monk Wirathu who circulated the original rumour about the alleged rape and continued the following day by claiming to have to proof that Buddhists had been killed by Muslims that day in the central Burmese city. He stated on his Facebook page, which has thousands of followers, on Thursday morning that Muslims "armed to teeth with swords and spears" were preparing a jihad against local Buddhists.

Zaw Pe to be freed this weekend

Posted: 02 Jul 2014 11:52 PM PDT

DVB video-journalist Zaw Pe will be released from Thayat Prison on 6 July, after Magwe Divisional court on Thursday reduced his sentence from one year to three months.

The "special order" comes after Zaw Pe's lawyer lodged an appeal at the court last week.

The DVB video-journalist was arrested in August 2012 and charged with  "trespassing" and "disturbing a civil servant on duty" as he attempted to conduct an interview at Magwe Education Office, accompanied by the parent of a student, Win Myint Hlaing. The pair were investigating irregularities in the awarding of local scholarships funded by Japanese aid. Zaw Pe began filming as Win Myint Hlaing, whose child had applied for a scholarship, questioned a local education official.

Win Myint Hlaing was also arrested and charged.

On 7 April, Zaw Pe and Win Myint Hlaing were found guilty on both counts and sentenced to serve two one-year sentences concurrently.

However they will walk free on Sunday, after lawyer Thein Tun put to Magwe divisional court that the two went to the office in 2012 as "journalists to simply enquire about a scholarship programme, but did not commit the offences the township court found them guilty of."

Thein Tun told DVB on Thursday that he hopes their release could be further expedited.

"Magwe District Court revised the prison term of the DVB reporter and Win Myint Hlaing from one-year imprisonment to three months, said the lawyer.

"Magwe Region court issued a special order for Zaw Pe today. The sentence has been revised to three months and he will be released on time already served. He will therefore be released on the sixth. As the sixth is a Sunday, I'm hoping the pair will be released before the weekend."

The news spells an end to Zaw Pe's second stint in prison for reporting. In 2010, he was sentenced to three years in prison under the 1996 Television and Video Law for shooting video without a license. He was then reporting from Nat Mauk in central Burma, where residents were suffering from a water shortage. He served two years and five months, also in Thayat Prison, before being released on a good behaviour bond.

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Zaw Pe's April sentencing came as a sharp reversion to previous gains for media freedom in Burma. The eradication of prepublication censorship and the organisation of independent press associations had revitalised the Burmese media community. However Zaw Pe's imprisonment cast a dim light on Thein Sein's promises of continuing media reform and set a series of local and international campaigns for press freedom in motion.

Now Zaw Pe will be reunited with his wife and young son.

Aung Thu Nyein, a close friend and working partner of Zaw Pe said he was elated by the news.

"I'm visiting Zaw Pe's wife this afternoon to celebrate," he said.  "We just can't wait to see him."

Thilawa villagers remain in the dark as impact assessment is pledged

Posted: 02 Jul 2014 09:02 PM PDT

An environmental and social impact assessment will be completed before construction on the second phase of a controversial industrial zone in Rangoon continues, according to project stakeholders speaking at a meeting held on Monday with affected locals.

While the first phase of the planned Thilawa Special Economic Zone is almost complete, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) – which is leading the project's development – has faced a maelstrom of criticism from locals saying that JICA has defaulted on its responsibility to ensure good living standards for the people impacted.

On Monday, consulting firm Environmental Resources Management Japan and EGuard, a local firm, met with local community representatives to discuss conducting an environmental and social impact assessment for the second phase, which will house industrial manufacturers.

Ten times the size of the project's first phase, it will likely affect roughly 4,500 people, who will need to be relocated. The community representatives raised their concerns about job creation for the locals, healthcare and environmental conservation.

Than Than Thwe, a representative of the Thilawa Management Committee, assured them that the social and environmental assessments would be inclusive of "the local population who reside here, as well as the decision-makers and the investors."

The committee's secretary, Lin Ko, said that the project's operators have dispatched into the area to conduct a survey on the terrain, such as the lakes and creeks, as well as the wildlife and flora and fauna.

Lin Ko also said that the committee had redrafted a plan for the second phase so that the impact on the environment, including the local mangroves forests, would be reduced.

Villagers attending the meeting remained worried that they will not be compensated for the losses, especially those who are deemed squatters who said they have been issued an eviction ultimatum.

One Thilawa resident said that she was given insufficient prior notice about her eviction.

"They are giving us a deadline to leave within seven days. We just want to know what we need to do to get to stay," she said. "Seven days is too short for this notice, which is why we came to this meeting to see if we can have a voice."

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Another Thilawa resident, U Kalar, said that there is a lack of information provided to them, and they do not fully understand the relocation and the compensation process.

"We are here because they summoned us to acknowledge a land substitution plan. That's pretty much it," U Kalar said. "I don't understand it."

Last month, three Thilawa residents travelled to Tokyo with the help of Japanese monitoring group Mekong Watch to submit a formal complaint to JICA's headquarters about the deteriorating conditions the project has inflicted on the locals and the lack of information provided to those most impacted. A representative accepted the complaint and the Thilawa residents were also able to meet with Japanese parliamentarians to discuss these issues.
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