Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

UN sec-gen urges Rohingya rights

Posted: 12 Nov 2014 06:31 AM PST

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke out in support of Rohingya rights to self-identification and dignified treatment on Wednesday, advising "the leaders of Myanmar [Burma] to uphold human rights, take a strong stance against incitement, and ensure humanitarian access to Rohingya [who] are living in vulnerable conditions."

At a press conference during the 25th ASEAN Summit, held this week in Burma's capital Naypyidaw, Ban warned that Burma's "process of democratisation is at a defining moment," noting that "an inclusive and transparent election next year will be crucial for the country's future."

He urged Burma's government to take a firm stance against the persecution of minorities, and to review rules and procedures – such as the ongoing citizenship verification programme in Arakan State – that are not in line with international best practices.

"At a time of rising extremism and intolerance in many countries, progress on this front in Myanmar would keep the country's transition on track, and send a positive message to the world," he said.

A comprehensive government plan for the development of Arakan State, leaked in late September, included worrying provisions that many fear will lead to permanent segregation between Buddhist and Muslim communities. A key component of the Rakhine Action Plan, as it has become known, is a program to “verify” the citizenship of hundreds of thousands across the state, with those failing to pass stringent requirements facing deportation.

Although the government is apparently working to modify the draft leaked to the public, an updated version has not yet been released.

"I also urge the authorities to avoid measures that could entrench the current segregation between communities," Ban warned. "Efforts must be made to [enforce] interfaith dialogue and harmony to bring communities closer together."

He added: "I am urging that the human rights and human dignity of people in Rakhine [Arakan] should be respected, as this process of granting citizenship is going on."

Ban's claim that "the United Nations uses that word [Rohingya] based on the rights of minorities" serves to defend the rights of the embattled minority to refer to themselves by any name they desire, despite the government's insistence to label them "Bengalis," a term most Rohingya find pejorative.

Related Stories

In recent months, UN agencies operating in Burma have tended to avoid saying the word. At a press conference before her departure from Burma in July, Yanghee Lee, the UN's Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma, claimed she had been discouraged from using the term in talks with the government.

In June, UNICEF country head Bertrand Bainvel apologised for a lack of "oversight" after a staffer used the term in a presentation. He claimed that terminology acted as a barrier to humanitarian access, telling DVB that "it does not help denominating children by one name or another."

Assistant UN Secretary-General Haoliang Xu told DVB in a September interview that, while the Rohingya have rights to self-identification currently denied them by prevailing Burmese laws, nomenclature was "probably an impediment to focus on the real issue that is citizenship."

Earlier in the day, Ban met with ASEAN heads of state as part of the 6th ASEAN-UN Summit, a formal interface between the Secretary-General and the leaders of the ten-country bloc.

Parliament votes unanimously to raise civil servants’ salaries

Posted: 12 Nov 2014 05:25 AM PST

Burma's bicameral parliament unanimously passed an emergency proposal on Wednesday to increase the salaries of civil servants.

The formal proposal, put forward in parliament without prior announcement by upper house MP Zaw Myint Pe, urged a salary increase for civil servants, including police officers and members of the armed forces, saying their current pay is not enough to live on.

Ye Tun, a lower house member from Hsipaw in Shan State, said that inadequate salaries are fueling corruption among government workers.

"The proposal opined that inadequate salaries are causing corruption to spread among civil servants,” he said. “Soldiers, police officers and government workers are not well paid, and parliament was urged to increase their wages ahead of the budget for the next fiscal year.”

Burma's minister of finance and the deputy minister of national planning both signaled their support for the pay rise, and also suggested raising pensions for retired civil servants, Ye Tun said.

How much the civil servant salaries will increase and the establishment of a timeline have yet to be discussed.

Related Stories

After ministers' comments, House Speaker Shwe Mann offered the opportunity for any lawmaker who opposed the pay rise to raise their objections, at which point opposition National League for Democracy chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi motioned to speak.

According to Ye Tun, Suu Kyi said she told the speaker she had no objection to the proposal but wanted to point out some irregularities. New National Democracy Party Chairman Thein Nyunt did likewise. However, Shwe Mann denied them permission to address the house unless they were opposing the proposal.

In the end, the motion to increase civil servants’ salaries was passed unanimously by the legislature.

Since parliament convened under the Thein Sein government in 2011, MPs have at least twice raised motions for increasing government workers’ salaries, however only minimal pay raises were awarded.

 

Bullet Points: 12 October 2014

Posted: 12 Nov 2014 04:14 AM PST

On tonight's edition:

  • ASEAN Summit opens in Naypidaw
  • 13 years for army rapist
  • ABFSU gathers students in Rangoon
  • Obama brings US Navy to Burma

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

MPs urge Malaysia to protect Burmese nationals

Posted: 12 Nov 2014 03:29 AM PST

The Burmese parliament's upper house has finished compiling a report on the targeted attacks and killings of Burmese migrant workers in Malaysia, and said it is planning to send the report to the Malaysian parliament.

The report, which urges the Malaysian government to curb the violence and protect Burmese nationals, was presented to MPs in Burma's upper house on Tuesday—the day after a report in the Straits Times said that another Burmese national was found dead in Malaysia.

The Straits Times report quoted a police chief from Penang, who said that local police officers had found a 34 year-old Burmese construction worker with his throat slit on a palm oil plantation.

During a parliamentary session in September, MP Khin Maung Latt from Arakan State put forward a question to the upper house seeking to know what action Burma's parliament should take to address violence against Burmese nationals in Malaysia.

In response, the upper house decided to look into the issue. After the resulting report was presented to parliament on Tuesday, upper house speaker Khin Aung Myint told MPs that it will be translated into English and sent to Malaysia's parliamentary speaker.

Related Stories

Khin Aung Myint also said that if Malaysia doesn't respond, Burma's parliament will raise the issue again during ASEAN's Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.

In 2013, Malaysian police detained more than 900 Burmese nationals in a security sweep after at least two Burmese individuals were killed in the country. Many believe that attacks against Burmese migrants in Malaysia are a response to the “inter-communal” violence between Buddhists and Muslims that has occurred intermittently in Burma since 2011.

Burmese soldier jailed for raping disabled Kachin girl

Posted: 12 Nov 2014 01:11 AM PST

A civil court in northern Shan State on Tuesday sentenced a Burmese government soldier to 13 years in prison for raping a minor.

Private Kaung Bo Bo of the 567th Infantry Battalion was found guilty by Muse District Court on two charges for the rape and kidnapping of a 14-year-old Kachin girl in Kutkai Township on 16 May.

Speaking to DVB by telephone on Tuesday, the victim’s lawyer, Roi Seng, said, "The defendant was given the maximum punishment of 10 years for rape and an additional three years for kidnapping by the court.”

The victim in the case is a mentally handicapped girl, she said, adding that her family originally filed charges at the Kutkai Township police office two days after the incident.

Related Stories

She said the military insisted on conducting its own tribunal to investigate the case and eventually sentenced Kaung Bo Bo to one year in prison – not for rape, but on charges of leaving his barracks without permission.

Pressure from family members and outrage from media and civil society organizations prompted the military court to agree to hand over jurisdiction to a civil court. The trial began on 19 September.

The family of the young woman is now demanding compensation, saying that she has been suffering mental trauma since the ordeal.

Lon Ngoi, a spokesperson for the Kachin Literature and Culture Body, which is based in northern Shan State and has been actively involved in the case on behalf of the rape victim, said, "It is not that we intend to ruin his [the soldier's] life, but that we believe passing effective punishments on these type of offenses will make other potential perpetrators reconsider their actions.”

Traditionally, servicemen in the Burmese armed forces who commit offences – even against civilians – are only ever tried in military courts. Lon Ngoi said the Muse case was transferred to a civilian court after the family and civic groups reached out to 567th Infantry Battalion officers and senior regional commanders.

According to the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand, 73 cases of rape have been documented in Kachin and northern Shan states since fighting broke out in 2011 between Burmese government forces and the Kachin Independence Army. However, it said, only three or four of these cases have reached trial, as the others were settled either with intimidation or a small amount of compensation.

World looks to Burma as ASEAN summit begins

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 11:54 PM PST

Talks between ASEAN leaders began in Naypyidaw on Wednesday.

Regional heavyweights were welcomed to Burma’s new capital in a glittering morning ceremony.

Talks are tipped to focus on  security issues, such as the South China Sea dispute and the Ebola virus.

Burmese puppeteers bring Bangkok alive

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 08:30 PM PST

The Rangoon-based marionette troupe Htwe Oo Myanmar Traditional Puppet Theater has swept the award for the Best Puppet Animation award at the Harmony World Puppet Carnival held in Bangkok. The Burmese puppeteers outshone the competition and emerged winners over 160 other puppetry troupes from almost 70 countries around the world. They were awarded a cash prize of US$1,000. The Harmony World Puppet Carnival hosted across venues in Bangkok took place from 1 to 10 November. The Burmese puppeteers presented the famed art of yoke thé at the carnival, bringing to life the story of the noble princess Thambula in their drama "Thawtithena Thambula".

Related Stories

The performance also included choreographed dances that complimented the ballad. The troupe cut short the yoke thé performance at the carnival to limit it to an hour, even as the original format of  a yoke the recital runs through the night. The director of the Htwe Oo theatre,  Khin Maung Htwe, had told DVB earlier in October that they shortened the puppet show to fit the time slots and that taking into account the multicultural audience. Yoke thé, which is often referred to as poetry in motion, has once again started gaining popularity in Burma after a waning spell in the past. This art of marionette puppetry, nurtured by royal patronage, emerged as a popular form of entertainment for a wider audience in Burma connecting them with some of the most treasured folklores passed on through generations. Yoke thé, which literally translates into "miniatures," embellishes intricately designed miniature puppets, employed by 18 (for male characters) or 19 (for female characters) wires with each puppet controlled only by one puppeteer. The Burmese art of puppetry, said to have been the preserved form of entertainment for royalty once upon a time, is often known to bring to life the fables and themes from Hindu and Buddhist mythology as also the captivating love stories.

World leaders gather in Burma for ASEAN summit

Posted: 11 Nov 2014 07:13 PM PST

Southeast Asian heads of state and prominent world leaders have begun gathering in the Burmese capital, Naypyidaw, for the 25th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia Summit, held concurrently on 12-13 November.

The summit is Burma’s swan song as chair of the economic bloc, marking a year of conferences that have largely focused on the South China Sea islands dispute and preparations for launching the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, an initiative that is intended to greatly deepen regional economic integration.

One of the first to arrive on Tuesday was India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was given a guard of honour before being hosted for bilateral talks at the presidential palace by Burma’s President, Thein Sein.

“We had extensive discussions covering various aspects of our bilateral relations,” Modi told Indian media. “We talked about strengthening ties in the fields of culture, commerce and enhancing connectivity.”

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was next to arrive to a red carpet welcome. Vietnam is one of four ASEAN member states – along with Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei — that is involved in an ongoing territorial dispute with China and Taiwan over the Paracel and Spratly island groups in the South China Sea.

The issue has strained relations between ASEAN states in recent years, and almost led to an embarrassing breakdown of a summit in Cambodia in 2012.

The 24th ASEAN Summit, held in Naypyidaw in May, was almost derailed by acrimony over Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over the islands. Only a week ahead of the conference, China positioned an oil rig in an area also claimed by Vietnam, with Hanoi and Beijing accusing the other of provocations towards the other's ships in the region close to the disputed Paracel Islands.

Related Stories

Following the May summit, Southeast Asian heads of state released a statement saying they are working to establish a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea. Without mentioning the ongoing naval confrontations between China and both the Philippines and Vietnam, the bloc said it will "work towards an early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea," calling on all parties to "exercise self-restraint and non-use of force."

Arriving on Wednesday is a who’s who of heads of state from around the globe. Australia’s Prime Minister, Tony Abbot, arrives in the Burmese capital at 10:30am, while Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev touches down half an hour later. Shinzo Abe, the Japanese Prime Minister, will arrive shortly before South Korean President Park Geun-Hye. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is due in the early evening ahead of US President Barack Obama and his entourage.

With many high-profile dignitaries in town, some 40,000 security personnel, including 10,000 police officers, have been positioned at the airport, at summit venues and in other areas of the city.

Burmese military intelligence officer Khin Maung Tun said both police and military officers were being deployed to ensure safety.

“Security measures have been taken both inside and outside security lines, including police and soldiers,” he told Reuters.

Ubiquitous police roadblocks have been set up around Naypyidaw, and several routes have been sealed off as alerts circulated that police were on the lookout for four wanted members of the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO).

Officials claim the alleged insurgents may pose a threat to the city, but security experts say that there is no evidence to support such claims as there have not been any attacks by the RSO in over a decade.

Noting the significance of Burma’s chairmanship ahead of the launch of the AEC next year, the bloc’s Secretary-General Le Luong Minh said, “Myanmar has played an important role in accelerating the implementation of the remaining action lines” for the Southeast Asian single market. He added: “Myanmar’s chairmanship has also set the stage for the ASEAN Community’s post-2015 vision.”

The AEC, which is set to come into effect on January 1, 2015, envisions the creation of an ASEAN-wide common market. However the deadline has been met with widespread skepticism, as deep non-tariff barriers to trade prevail across the ten-country bloc. Some provisions, such as a measure to recognise professional accreditations region-wide and improve skilled labour mobility, will be enacted before more controversial measures that will threaten protected industries across the region.

The two-day summit will conclude on Thursday evening following a ceremony that will hand the ASEAN chair to Malaysia for 2015.

ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration, or Bangkok Declaration, by the "founding fathers" of the bloc, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Burma in 1997, and finally Cambodia in 1999.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

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

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)