Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Bullet Points

Posted: 09 Jul 2014 04:45 AM PDT

On today’s edition of Bullet Points:

A man found guilty of bombing of a guesthouse in Bago’s Taungoo last year has been sentenced to ten years in prison.

Thailand's authorities have banned Burmese refugees living on the Thai border from leaving their camps.

Facebook has announced it will work with Burma's government to help curb hate speech on the popular social network.

The Interim Press Council has urged the government to ensure the safety of journalists reporting on civil unrest in Mandalay.

 

You can watch Bullet Points on DVB TV after the 7 o’clock news.

Thein Sein warns press against ‘endangering’ national security

Posted: 09 Jul 2014 03:36 AM PDT

Media workers lambasted Burmese President Thein Sein's recent radio address about the Mandalay riots, during which he said that members of the press will face legal punishments if they "endanger" national security with their reports.

According to Thein Sein's speech on Monday, he singled out recent media reform in Burma as an achievement that makes the country "one of the freest in Southeast Asia". Yet this supposed freedom comes with certain conditions, he said.

"Amid the political reforms undertaken by the government, there is now freedom of expression in Burma, and the media in this country has become one of the freest in Southeast Asia," Thein Sein said.

"However, I would like to warn that those who use press freedom to endanger the national security instead of reporting constructively for the country will face effective action under existing laws," he continued.

This part of Thein Sein's speech was omitted from the English translation of the president's speech that appeared in the state-run newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar.

Members of the Burmese press mocked Thein Sein's speech, and pointed out that such punishments should also be directed at the perpetrators of the Mandalay riots and the authorities who did not stop the violence.

"I would like to ask the president if he also plans to take action against those who are actually instigating the violence," Wai Phyo, chief editor of the Eleven Daily private newspaper, said, adding: "It doesn't even require an investigation; you can find out who they are just by looking on Facebook."

Pho Thaukkyar, a veteran reporter and committee member of the Myanmar Journalists Association, pointed at a recent 7 July statement from the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party that said security forces did nothing to stop the instigators of the Mandalay riots.

Comparing this inaction to the recent interrogation of staff from Bi Mon Tae Nay weekly news journal who reported that NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic leaders had installed a new government, Pho Thaukkyar questioned this double standard.

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"The government only seeks action against certain groups or individuals – like the Bi Mon Tae Nay journal's staff – but turns a blind eye to others," he said.

The riots in Mandalay broke on 1 July after rumours circulated in Chan Aye Tharzan Township that two Muslim teashop owners raped a Buddhist woman – a claim that has so far gone unsubstantiated.

Local journalists reporting on the riots have attested to being harassed by the public, and thus unable to perform their jobs. This action is a "blatant threat" to Burma's democratic transition and its press freedom, said a statement by the Interim Press Council on Tuesday.

The Press Council urged the government to ensure the impartiality of its security forces for the safety of all citizens and media workers, and reiterated that it is imperative to take legal action against the perpetrators of last week's riots.

Burmese refugees banned from leaving camps in Thailand

Posted: 09 Jul 2014 03:25 AM PDT

Thailand's authorities have banned Burmese refugees living on the Thai-Burmese border from leaving their camps, while they conduct a census to determine the exact number of refugees living in the country. There are nine refugee camps along the border and aid agencies say they provide relief to no less than 120,000 people.

Saw Honest, leader of Mae La, the biggest refugee camp in Thailand, said authorities have strictly warned its residents not to leave the camp and said they would punish those who do.

Anyone found in violation of the travel ban may face a series of punishments ranging from a week of labour or ration cuts to having their refugee status revoked, he said.

Residents who are staying outside their camps, including students and those working in nearby towns, have been ordered to return for the population count.

On Tuesday, a team of military officials and police officers began the census in the Umpiem refugee camp, which lies 90 kilometres south of Mae Sot.

"Officials have begun work to verify the number of people living in the Umpiem camp," said camp chairman Saw Wahtee. "They came there at around 7am on Tuesday and gathered residents in one area together. Then they issued some papers to each person and told them to walk through a gate to another zone."

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Saw Wahtee told DVB the official count found 12,401 people living in Umpiem camp.

"The Thai authorities said they just wanted to know the exact number of refugees in the country," he said.

Recently, donor funding to the refugees has been cut and resettlement programmes terminated.

In June, a meeting was held in Mae Sot between the Thai army's Internal Security Operations Command, regional commanders of border provinces, and NGOs that provide assistance to the refugees, to discuss whether it is time to begin preparing for the refugees to be repatriated.

No official decision was made.

 

Rape case unrelated to Mandalay riots, alleged victim says

Posted: 09 Jul 2014 02:38 AM PDT

A young Muslim woman who claims she was raped by a court official has dispelled reports that her case is linked to recent riots in Mandalay.

Contrary to local media reports citing her testimony, 17-year-old Hay Mar Kyaw told DVB that she believes her case is unrelated to communal conflict in Burma's second-largest city last week.

Hay Mar Kyaw clarified that there are two entirely separate rape allegations at play: one case, which she filed in May against a court clerk; and another case against two tea-shop owners, which has not been verified.

The latter incident is largely believed to have been the catalyst for two days of turmoil in a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood, Chan Aye Tharzan, that left at least two people dead and more than a dozen injured.

Reports of Hay Mar Kyaw's case, which surfaced on Thursday, cast public doubt on the allegations against Nay Win and San Maung, two Muslim brothers accused of raping their Buddhist maid. The brothers and the maid all remain at large and existence of any legal case involving them could not be independently verified.

Hay Mar Kyaw, who claims to know the brothers personally, said that although she is aware of legal charges against them, she does not know if the crime was committed, adding that allegations against the brothers have nothing to do with her case, which remains unresolved.

“It’s not related to my case,” she told DVB on Monday.

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Earlier this year, Hay Mar Kyaw's brother was brought to trial on drug-related charges in Mandalay regional court. She claims to have become acquainted with a clerk, 58-year-old Tin Maung Win, during her regular attendance at his proceedings.

The plaintiff said that on 7 March, 2014, Tin Maung Win offered to help her broker a deal with higher court officials to lessen her brother's forthcoming sentence. She said that he advised her to travel with him to Pyin Oo Lwin to meet with his peers.

According to her testimony and a letter submitted to the Pyin Oo Lwin police department on 20 May, Tin Maung Win allegedly drugged and raped her on 8 March in a guesthouse. She said she returned to Mandalay a few hours later. An officer at Pyin Oo Lwin's Myoma police station confirmed that the case has been filed and is under the charge of the station's chief, Kan Hlaing, who was unavailable for comment.

The accused court official, Tin Maung Win, speaking to DVB by phone on Tuesday, said that he is not acquainted with Hay Mar Kyaw, but that he is aware of the allegations and spoke with Police Chief Kan Hlaing on 21 May regarding the matter. Tin Maung Win has denied all claims of sexual relations with the plaintiff.

While the incident was said to have occurred in early March, police were not immediately notified.

On 10 April, Hay Mar Kyaw's brother was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Tin Maung Win said that upon hearing the ruling, the boy's mother, Mar Lar, became irate and threatened the judge, who then asked Tin Maung Win to serve as plaintiff in a case against Mar Lar. Charges against Hay Mar Kyaw's mother, which included contempt of court and use of taboo language, were filed on 11 April, he said.

Mar Lar countered with corruption charges against Tin Maung Win.

Allegations of rape were registered on 20 May. No arrest was made and no trial date was set.

On the morning of 1 July, Mar Lar said she went to Chan Aye Tharzan Township Court to face the charges against her. She said that a crowd of monks were present at the courthouse upon her arrival, and claimed that they harassed her.

Tin Maung Win confirmed the presence of several monks affiliated with the Committee for the Protection of Nationality and Religion, or "Ma Ba Tha", a well-known clan of nationalist monks, but he denied that they harassed Mar Lar. "Four, five, maybe six monks," he said.

"They targeted me, that's why some of my monks went to Wirathu and asked for help. Because my monks are angry,” said Tin Maung Win

DVB inquired, based on previous reports, whether Tin Maung Win had solicited protection or assistance from Wirathu, a Mandalay-based monk whose name has become synonymous with anti-Muslim rhetoric and who is affiliated with the Ma Ba Tha and the ultra-nationalist group 969.

"Some monks asked him to help me because this [case] seems to be bullshit," he said. "They targeted me, that's why some of my monks went to Wirathu and asked for help. Because my monks are angry, because my morality is clean and my reputation is great, they don't want me to be a victim in this case."

Mar Lar said she left the court by noon last Tuesday, and this was verified by Tin Maung Win. She said that she went to a mosque near her home, and then she went to work.

Mar Lar and Hay Mar Kyaw identify themselves as Muslims. They work as vendors on 27th street in Mandalay's Chan Aye Tharzan Township. Both attested that after leaving the mosque on 1 July, they set up their stall in the afternoon before the neighbourhood's mostly Muslim population were to break their daily fast at sundown.

At 4:39pm, Wirathu created a Facebook post sharing a blog entry accusing the two Muslim brothers of raping their Buddhist maid. The Facebook post, which contained the phone numbers of the accused, has since been removed. The original blog entry, which was published on 30 June, has also been redacted.

By 8pm on 1 July, Mar Lar and Hay Mar Kyaw both said that police, monks and many lay Buddhists were present on 27th street. By that time, violence had already ensued, and they had closed up shop to seek shelter. They remained in hiding on 27th street throughout the night. Their family was not specifically targeted, they said.

At least five people were injured that night. Riots resumed the following evening, resulting in at least two deaths — one Buddhist, one Muslim, both male.

When the violence subsided, Hay Mar Kyaw and her mother were brought to Rangoon by an activist affiliated with the Myanmar Trade Union Federation, who publicised her story. Reports soon circulated that the alleged victim was claiming to be the impetus for the unrest, and that allegations against the tea shop owners had been fabricated.

When DVB spoke privately with them on Monday night, they both said that those reports were untrue.

"This case wasn't related to us, it's just what happened that night," said Mar Lar.

 

 

Shan State Army-North and govt discuss troop clashes

Posted: 09 Jul 2014 01:44 AM PDT

A Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) delegation met with Burmese government officials in Naypyidaw on Tuesday to discuss how to prevent future clashes from happening between the ethnic armed group and the Burmese army in Shan State.

Khun Hseng, secretary general of the SSA-N, said that these clashes were happening in Kensi Mansam Township, home to the ethnic armed group's Wanhai headquarters. He added that the mobilisation and reinforcement of government troops have led to heightened tensions between the two sides.

"We discussed how we can reduce tensions in the area — to prevent exacerbation of the issues and to keep clashes from breaking out – by demarcating territories from each side," Khun Hseng said. "We believe that for now, the withdrawal of troops from both sides will relieve the situation."

The establishment of a joint committee to monitor clashes was also proposed during the meeting, he said, adding that "delicate" issues such as the withdrawal of troops or demarcation of territory would take further negotiation.

According to the SSA-N, roughly seven Burmese army battalions entered the area and took positions across the town last week, causing locals to flee their homes in fear of renewed fighting. The SSA-N reiterated the need for the Burmese government to control their troops and their actions.

Union Minister Aung Min, deputy chairman of the government's Internal Peace-making Work Committee and the government's chief negotiator, joined the meeting, along with Union Minister Thein Zaw and deputy attorney-general Tun Tun Oo.

Although the SSA-N reached a union-level ceasefire agreement in 2012 with the government, more than 100 clashes have erupted between both sides since then.

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