Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Bullet Points: 14 October 2014

Posted: 14 Oct 2014 05:17 AM PDT

On today's edition of Bullet Points:

You can watch Bullet Points every weeknight on DVB TV after the 7 o'clock news.

Karen refugees pushed back from Thailand

Posted: 14 Oct 2014 05:08 AM PDT

Karen villagers are again in limbo on the Thai-Burmese border, having fled conflict in eastern Burma.

Boatloads of villagers were turned back by Thai police on the Moei River over the weekend.

They remain displaced, unsure of whether they can return to their homes, anxiously trying to avoid being swept up in the fighting.

World Bank, Australia pledge $100m in education for Burma

Posted: 14 Oct 2014 04:38 AM PDT

The World Bank and Australia have pledged US$100 million in assistance to improve education for millions of Burmese students.

Representatives from the World Bank signed an agreement on 11 October with Burmese government representatives at the World Bank's annual meeting in Washington to initiate a project that will provide schooling to some 8.2 million students from poor backgrounds and rural areas in Burma.

The World Bank is to fund some $80 million of the programme, via its International Development Association arm, while Canberra has pledged to make up the remaining $20 million through its Myanmar Partnership Multi-Donor Trust Fund.

Kyaw Soe Lin, the World Bank's Myanmar information officer told DVB that the funding is geared towards helping schools most in need. "The programme has two parts – the first is to generate more budget for schools, while the second is to provide grants to students to allow them to continue their education," he said.

"For the first part, all schools under the Ministry of Education will be allocated a higher budget than they currently receive," he added. "For the second part of the programme, student grants will be implemented in 40 townships, and we intend on selecting those townships with the highest rates of poverty and school drop outs."

Burma's Education Minister, Dr Khin San Yi, announced during an education workshop at Rangoon University last month that the government is looking to spend over 110 billion kyat (over $100 million) for education reforms in the 2015-16 fiscal year. According to the minister funding will go towards a variety of areas including mandatory kindergarten, pre-school courses in rural areas, the upgrading of school facilities in border regions, and the introduction of e-libraries.

During his visit to Burma at the beginning of the year, bank President Jim Yong Kim announced plans for a $2 billion dollar funding package for the country.

The World Bank’s activities in Burma have come under scrutiny from human rights groups who are concerned that the organization is not doing enough to address ongoing abuses in the country and failing to ensure proper oversight of the bank’s Burma focused development and infrastructure projects.

"The World Bank has an important role to play in advancing access to education, health, and electricity in Burma. But for it to really advance development, it needs to have its eyes wide open to Burma's ongoing rights problems and actively work to address them," said Human Rights Watch’s Jessica Evans in a statement released by the rights watchdog last week on the eve of the banks annual meeting.

NLD, 88GPOS activists’ trial postponed again in Magwe

Posted: 14 Oct 2014 03:28 AM PDT

A group of 11 activists in Magwe Division, who are being sued in connection with a rally they held in favour of changing Burma’s constitution, had their hearing postponed again on Monday when the plaintiff failed to appear in court.

The defendants in the case, from the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society group (88GPOS), are being sued by Magwe Division’s Religious Affairs Director Thaung Shwe allegedly because they trespassed on the grounds of a local Buddhist temple in June when they held their rally.

The constitutional clause in question – Article 436 – is a controversial edict that stipulates changes to the constitution must have the support of 75 percent of MPs, effectively giving military parliamentarians, who are appointed to 25 percent of both houses, a veto over any constitutional change.

The hearing was initially scheduled for 29 September, but this was changed to 13 October when Thaung Shwe failed to appear. As he failed again to show up for the hearing on Monday, the case has been postponed again.

Related Stories

Htay Oo, a local lawyer who is defending the activists, said his clients are frustrated by the delay. "Eleven people are being sued, but as they are not residents of Magwe, but from elsewhere in the region, they have to travel all the way here to attend the hearing which is a huge burden for them. This also applies for us lawyers," explained Htay Oo, during an interview conducted in front of the courthouse on Monday.

According to Htay Oo, the prosecutors' repeated failure to appear without explanation has created a situation that is "unfavourable to us on legal grounds".

"If [it is proven] the prosecutors are deliberately doing this with dubious intentions, then the court may issue an arrest warrant to summon them to the hearing. I hope the court will do what is necessary," he said.

One of those being sued, Maung Maung Soe of the 88GPOS, told DVB that he and his colleagues have questions about the prosecutors intentions. "We are making our presence here along with our lawyer to signify our respect for the law but the prosecutors for the second time have failed to show up. Why?" he asked.

"When it happened the first time, we could accept this. But they are absent again and now we must assume they are doing this intentionally to play a trick. As government officials, they are supposed to respect and abide by the existing law otherwise we will need to question whether they are really advocates of justice and the rule of law," added the veteran opposition activist.

The hearing has been rescheduled for 27 October. The trespassing charges were introduced in the Magwe Township Court on 18 September.

Hearing gets under way in Koh Tao murder case

Posted: 13 Oct 2014 11:24 PM PDT

The case against Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, suspects in the Koh Tao murder investigation, got under way in Koh Samui on Tuesday morning with a Thai judge turning down a request by defence lawyers that the hearing be postponed for a month due to a lack of preparation time.

Speaking to DVB by phone during a court recess, Andy Hall, a British activist who campaigns for Burmese migrant rights, said, "It is really disappointing. We believe this will impede the trial."

Earlier, Hall tweeted from the Samui courthouse: "Appointed defence lawyers had 30 minutes with the accused yesterday and arrived late last night. Right to fair trial means adequate [preparation] time."

He said that prosecutors argued that witnesses may "run away" if the hearing is delayed.

Three Burmese witnesses are due to testify at the hearing: Maung Maung, identified as the "third Burmese" on the beach on the night of the rape and murder of two British tourists, and two others, Lin Lin and Ni Ni Aung, whose roles are as yet unknown.

Suspects Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun were in court to confirm their legal representation, Hall said.

Related Stories

Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both 21 years of age from Kyaukphyu in Arakan State, are being detained pending charges relating to the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and the murder of David Miller, 24, both from England. The British couple were bludgeoned to death on 15 September on the Thai island resort of Koh Tao.

Burmese, Thai and British officials were due to meet in Bangkok on Tuesday morning to discuss the case, according to Zaw Htay, director of the Burmese President's Office.

"This case concerns all three countries as the murder victims were British, the suspects are Burmese, and it took place in Thailand," said Zaw Htay. "The Thai police have assured us that details of their investigation will be explained to the concerned embassies on behalf of their governments.

"We are looking to ensure transparency in the investigation and legal rights for the suspects."

Meanwhile, on Monday, a motion calling for Burma's bicameral parliament to appeal to the Thai government to ensure the human rights and legal protection of the two Burmese suspects was unanimously approved by MPs.

Upper House MP Hla Swe of the ruling USDP said, "We would like to inform the Thai assembly that Burma's parliament, government and media are watching this case, so that they will be more attentive. We believe justice will prevail. We want to ensure justice and a fair trial as we heard the youngsters were subjected to torture and punched by the translators."

Meanwhile in London, the British government on Monday summoned Thailand’s top diplomatic representative to lay out its “real concern” about the murder investigation.

In Rangoon, family members of Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun are reportedly awaiting passports to travel to Thailand.

Speaking to DVB on Monday, Htun Htun Htike, the father of Win Zaw Htun, said, "I would like to request that Interpol help in finding out the truth and exposing the real murderers."

Thin Shwe Aung, the uncle of Zaw Lin, said, "My nephew left to work in a foreign land to work hard and earn money. I am angry that he is being made a scapegoat like this in a foreign land."
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)