Democratic Voice of Burma

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Roadshow recap: The mines of Mogok Posted: 30 Dec 2014 08:09 PM PST On this episode of DVB’s Doh Pyay Doh Myay Roadshow, the team was in Mogok in northern Mandalay Division. The name of the town has long been synonymous with rubies. As the team found out, mining in the area goes back generations. Rumour has it that the streets of Mogok are paved with jewels. But is it still possible to strike it rich? After watching our special feature on The mines of Mogok, follow the team’s journey at facebook.com/dvb.dpdm or visit the website dvbdpdm.com [DVB Bulletin will return on 5 January] The post Roadshow recap: The mines of Mogok appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group.

2014 in Review Posted: 30 Dec 2014 05:34 PM PST As 2014 comes to a close, DVB brings you highlights of some of the main stories to dominate Burma’s news throughout the previous year. Related Stories DVB to switch from shortwave radio to online broadcast Zaw Pe transferred to Thayet prison Surveillance of journalists steps up   The post 2014 in Review appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group.

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The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Letpadaung Shooting Changed the Game
• A Future for Horse Carts in Bagan? Signs Point to Neigh
• Protests Continue at Letpadaung Mine Site
• 2014 in Burma: Bells, Bills, Bombs and Ballots
• AirAsia Victim’s Life Jacket Raises New Questions About Crash
• 11 Muslims Get Prison for Mandalay Riots Killing
• Indian Court Drops Charges Against Modi Aide
• The Mainland’s Colonization of the Hong Kong Economy
• China Fires Officials Over Deadly Factory Blast
• Dozens Die as Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines Battered by Storms
• Keeping Burma’s ‘Reformers’ Honest in 2015

Letpadaung Shooting Changed the Game Posted: 31 Dec 2014 04:33 AM PST Police and protesters separated by a fence face off against each other near the Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Division on Oct. 17. 2013. (Photo: Han Win Aung) I was on my way back from northern Shan State, where I was engaged in pre-consultations of Burma's draft land use policy, when I learned about the fatal shooting of a villager near the Letpadaung copper mine. My first thought was: Blood has been spilled, this changes things for the worse. My second thought was: So much for the European Union's riot control training for the Myanmar police. A scathing cartoon that ran recently in a weekly journal says it all. It depicts a westerner standing at a podium, stating that millions of Euros had been provided for riot control training. It just so happened that he himself is dodging bullets. A good part of my present work is on land rights, so I cannot simply express my regret over this incident and move on as usual. It isn't going to be business as usual anymore. When the draft land use policy first surfaced, my colleagues and I tried to discern the possible outcomes of and responses to the policy. In some ways it seemed like throwing a life-raft to the land rights issue, which had been caught up in a whirlpool. We also considered the possibility of trying to ensure a fairer deal for the rural people. I don't mean to disparage the policy, but we felt that we were about to be overtaken by events. Efforts to de-radicalize land and land-related politics could be little more than a hope. Political moderation is in danger as land issues become radicalized, all because the ruling administration does not have the requisite political will to address land use issues equitably. Khin Zaw Win is the director of the Tampadipa Institute in Rangoon. The government's handling of land seizures and protests at Letpadaung has been a long series of wrong moves. From the outset, the government's choice of joint venture partners could not have been less endearing, and in its methods of project implementation, the government is simply asking for it. Nothing pushes rural people to extremes like the loss of land they have tilled for generations. Urbanites have joined the rally for this cause, and on Dec. 29 there was a protest marching to the Chinese Embassy in Rangoon. The city hasn't seen a demonstration like this one in decades. A similar protest took place in Mandalay on Dec. 27. The national education policy was another government gaff, sending newly-emergent students' unions and others up in arms. Minority grievances also simmer across the country, a tension that isn't helped by the protracted pursuit of genuine peace. Alleviation of poverty is nothing but a fantasy. On top of all of these woes sits the appalling extravagance of the Independence Day parade, an exercise in self-delusion at the public's expense. Is it bread and circuses, or no bread and only circuses? Pageants cannot make up for a report card clearly marked F. The administration can consider itself lucky that the mainstream opposition has shot its bolt. Courses in Democracy have become something of a fad in recent years, it's just too bad that such edification hasn't reached the upper echelons of government. Some people worry that there could come a point at which the government employs emergency powers sanctioned by the Constitution, such as a provision for the transfer of power to the military, which would make a coup unnecessary. I would say, however, that such a course of action would be risky for the Burmese military, which is far from what it was in 1962. If present-day Thailand is regarded as a model, well, that is a country that has always been comfortable with coups. For Myanmar, this transfer of power would be an extremely destructive step. The post Letpadaung Shooting Changed the Game appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

A Future for Horse Carts in Bagan? Signs Point to Neigh Posted: 31 Dec 2014 04:12 AM PST A lone horse-drawn wagon rides past a temple in Bagan. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The horse-drawn carts that have long been a trademark accessory to scenes of Bagan's pagoda-studded plain could soon go the way of the manual typewriter and rotary phone, facing increasing competition from a fellow two-wheeled rival: electric bicycles. Since electronic bicycles started arriving to the famed tourist attraction about two years ago, owners of horse-drawn carts say business has begun to dry up, even as Bagan sees record numbers of tourist arrivals. Where once queued lines of the carts—their drivers patiently waiting for passengers to return from temple exploration—now can be seen dozens of the so-called "e-bikes." Zaw Zaw, the owner of a horse-drawn wagon, told The Irrawaddy that "most of the tourists ride e-bikes and in the previous years during this [high] season we were full of customers, but now we are only hired at the time of sunset viewing." He added that some owners had sold their wagons and bought e-bikes. Still, the horse carts' market value has fallen from US$2,500 pre-electric bicycles, to about $1,500 today, Zaw Zaw said. That compares with about $300 for an e-bike. Pricewise, the competing modes of transport are comparable: A full-day trip by horse-drawn wagon averages $25 and can transport three people, while an e-bike runs tourists $8 per bike per day. Another wagon owner, Than Hlaing, confirmed that his industry had fallen on hard times. "The business of horse wagons is not as good as previous years. I am only able to be hired by customers once a week," he said. He added that there were about 240 horse-drawn wagons plying the trade in Bagan, but owners wanting to sell their carts are increasingly finding an unenthusiastic market for the obsolescing asset. With thousands of red- and brown-bricked pagodas scattered across Bagan, the wagons have proved a logical way for tourists to traverse the at times uneven terrain. E-bikes are equally adept at tackling the narrow paths and sandy topography, and have an added advantage, according to South Korean tourist Youngeun Jeong. "I choose e-bikes because it is cheap to travel and isn't dependent on others and can travel freely," he told The Irrawaddy earlier this month. The e-bikes are a modification of their low-tech pedal-powered predecessor, with a fully charged e-bike's battery able to power riders for an entire day on one charge. In the town centers of Naung-U, Old Bagan and New Bagan, e-bike rental shops have proliferated. Some locals estimate that there are now more than 50 e-bike rental shops, with each shop averaging 20 to 30 e-bikes. Hotels are also happy to arrange e-bike hires. Tin Soe, owner of Golden Bagan vehicle rental shop, told Irrawaddy that he was one of Bagan's pioneering purveyors of e-bikes. "In Bagan, the law does not allow foreigners to ride motorcycles, but they want to ride. … I tried out hiring e-bikes in 2013 and now it is very popular among visitors." Most of the tourists who ride e-bikes are individual tourists, with package tourists only infrequent users. Zaw Win Cho, president of the local tour guide association, told The Irrawaddy that 60 percent of Bagan's tourists are independent travelers, with the other 40 percent of foreigners arriving on package tours. By mid-December, Bagan had seen some 240,000 foreign visitors in 2014, compared to fewer than 200,000 for the whole of last year, according to Zaw Win Cho. While tourists have long been drawn to Bagan's Kodak-worthy, pastoral ancient charm, it looks like they may soon be resigned to cropping the modernity-imposing and increasingly ubiquitous e-bike from their vacation photos. The post A Future for Horse Carts in Bagan? Signs Point to Neigh appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Protests Continue at Letpadaung Mine Site Posted: 31 Dec 2014 03:47 AM PST A villager stands outside the fence being erected as part of the Letpadaung copper mining project. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — After a tense week which saw one woman killed and several others injured, villagers around the Letpadaung copper mining project in Sagaing Division have staged a sit-in protest for the third day running. Since Monday, more than 100 residents of Hse Tae, Moe Gyi Pyin and Ton villages have demonstrated against land seizures arising from the project, a joint venture between China's Wanbao mining company—a subsidiary of weapons manufacturer Norinco—and the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEHL), a Burmese military-owned conglomerate. "Last night, we had rumors that the police would raid us. We saw fire trucks and police in riot gear forming into position. But we can't say how many there were as some of them hid behind mounds," said Phyu Hnin Htwe, a resident of Hse Tae village. On Dec. 22, villagers clashed with police and company workers after the company began fencing areas—mostly farmland—outside the villages. During the row, a woman was shot dead in her head by the security forces. One week later, the villagers tore some of the fences down to make way for pastures and claim back their land that led police to fire some warning shots. "After that day, we have staged a sit-in to claim back our land," Win Mar, one of the protest's participants, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. Taikha Nyana, a Buddhist monk from Hse Tae village, told The Irrawaddy that a meeting on Tuesday with the government appointed liaison officer at Hse Tae village had no breakthrough. "I went out to the office when I heard the president of the liaison office was there. During the meeting, I requested him to stop the fencing. But he replied he was just a liaison officer and had no authority to decide," the monk said. Since last week's shooting, protests against the mine have been held in Rangoon and Mandalay. Three protesters were arrested after attempting to stage a protest in front of the Chinese embassy in Rangoon on Tuesday. In a press release on Tuesday, Wanbao said it is now following the recommendations of the Letpadaung Investigation Commission report, led by National League for Democracy chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi, while acting in accordance with the law and the wishes of the majority of local residents. "The company thinks some political organizations and activists are trying to make political profits by using the Letpadaung project to instigate social conflicts and anti-Chinese sentiment," the Burmese language version of the statement says. The English translation of the statement on the Wanbao Myanmar website redacts references to "anti-Chinese sentiment" while referencing comments made by President Thein Sein regarding the need for regional stability as a necessity for future economic growth. The post Protests Continue at Letpadaung Mine Site appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

2014 in Burma: Bells, Bills, Bombs and Ballots Posted: 31 Dec 2014 03:27 AM PST Journalists at work in Rangoon on Dec. 29, 2014. Landmark media legislation was passed earlier this year, though critics claim it offers little protection. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON —Nearly a full four years after Burma's military regime ceded power and the nation embarked on a democratic reform process, an initial wave of optimism has slowly faded into a more nuanced reality. The closing year, 2014, could be characterized as one of tough and tedious politics as the country prepares for general elections late next year. But 2014 wasn't wholly without excitement; it was a year punctuated by surprising political maneuvers and bookended by tragedy. In January, when it seemed that ethno-religious tensions were beginning to calm, news emerged of an alleged massacre in Arakan State. As the year drew to a close, three other remarkable and deadly events took place, casting a somber tone as 2015 approaches. The past year was thematic, if not immediately coherent. Constitutional reform, tempering extremism, land and education reform, the role of the military in security and politics, and laying the groundwork for democratic elections were recurrent subjects in headlines this year. The Irrawaddy looks back on key events that will perhaps be better understood in retrospect. January On Jan. 1, Burma assumed its first chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). As is customary when marking key occasions, and in honor of the 66th anniversary of Burma's independence, President Thein Sein granted amnesty to hundreds of prisoners. While the move made international headlines and was generally welcomed, critics were quick to point out that Thein Sein had missed the mark on his promise to clear Burma's jails of political prisoners by the end of 2013. At the time of the pardon, the semi-governmental Political Prisoners Scrutinizing Committee said that scores of political prisoners remained in jail, and that more were being unfairly imprisoned on charges of unlawful assembly and incitement. Late in the month, reports began to surface that dozens of Rohingya Muslims had been killed by a Buddhist mob in northern Arakan State after a policeman patrolling Du Char Yar Tan village went missing. The government denied the alleged massacre despite credible evidence gathered by the United Nations. February Five employees of the Unity weekly journal were arrested for violating Burma's colonial-era Official Secrets Act after publishing an investigative report about an alleged chemical weapons factory in Pauk Township of Magwe Division. A parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing Burma's military-drafted 2008 Constitution published findings recommending that lawmakers uphold two controversial clauses: one prohibiting opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president and another guaranteeing military veto power over further amendments. In late February, tensions remained high in Arakan State after the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission concluded that the alleged massacre in Du Char Yar Tan could not be verified. The government suspended all operations of frontline health providers Médicine Sans Frontières (MSF) following disagreements over aid programs in Arakan State, where the group offered vital medical aid to Rohingya Muslims. The group was later allowed to resume work in some parts of the country. Thein Sein requested that Parliament consider a proposal to draft a legislative package now known as the "Protection of Race and Religion Bills," proposed by the nationalist group Ma Ba Tha that aims to preserve Burma's Buddhist identity by restricting interfaith marriage, religious conversion and other aspects of family life. March Thein Sein received Aung San Suu Kyi at his farm residence in Naypyidaw on March 9, the fourth face-to-face talks between the two since their initial meeting in 2011. In mid-March, the president signed two landmark press bills into law: the Media Law, drafted by industry professionals, and the government-drafted Printers and Publishers Registration Law. Days later, he joined Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing on an unprecedented visit to Kachin State, where government troops have been fighting with ethnic rebels since mid-2011. On March 26 and 27, mob violence again gripped Burma's western coast, when angry Buddhists ransacked the homes and offices of international aid workers in the Arakan State capital Sittwe. A 13-year-old Arakanese girl was killed by a stray bullet as police fired warning shots to disperse the crowd. In the wake of protests by Buddhist nationalists and amid fear that it risked inciting violence and under-representing several minorities, Burma began the rollout of its first national census in more than 30 years on March 30. April A nationwide ban on raw timber exports went into effect on April 1, in an attempt to rein in illicit cross-border trade to China and promote value-adding domestic processing industries. On April 7, a video journalist for the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Zaw Pe, was sentenced to one year in prison on charges of trespassing and disrupting a civil servant while conducting an interview for an investigative report about corruption. He was later released after serving three months in jail. Amid the chaos of a tumultuous first quarter, Suu Kyi made a visit to Europe, where she shored up international support for constitutional reform. Shortly after her return, Burma lost one of its most highly regarded intellectual figures. Win Tin, a revered journalist and co-founder of the National League for Democracy (NLD), passed away in Rangoon on April 21 at the age of 84. May In response to the incarceration of Zaw Pe and the detention of five Unity journal staffers, demonstrators took to the streets in Magwe Division to demand press freedom and protection for journalists. In an ironic twist, DVB reporter Angus Watson, an Australian national, was swiftly deported after covering the demonstration. South Korean Yanghee Lee was appointed as the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, succeeding Tomás Ojea Quintana after his six-year term. June Hsan Hsint was dismissed as Burma's minister of religious affairs in an unexpected political shuffle on June 19. He was later sentenced to 13 years in years in prison on charges of graft and sedition. The ancient city-states of Pyu became Burma's first entry into the Unesco World Heritage List. The trio of cities—Halin, Beikthano and Sri Ksetra—are located in central Burma and feature the walled remains of sites built by the now-extinct Pyu people from the first to ninth centuries AD. Late in the month, amendments were made to Burma's controversial Peaceful Assembly Law that cut punishments down to six months for participating in unpermitted demonstrations. July After the relative calm of previous months, inter-communal violence struck Burma's second largest city, Mandalay, amid rumors that a Buddhist woman was raped by a Muslim tea shop owner. Two nights of violence resulted in the deaths of two men—one Buddhist and one Muslim. Burma watchers were shocked again only about a week later, when Unity journal's CEO and four reporters were sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labor. Their sentences were later reduced to seven years. Ye Htut, who throughout the saga served as a presidential spokesperson, was nominated as Burma's new information minister on July 30. His promotion came amid mounting criticism of the government's treatment of the fourth estate. Communications improved, however, as Qatar-based Ooredoo began rolling out its nationwide telecoms network by launching cut-rate SIM cards in Mandalay. August On Aug. 9, a team of divers began the long and ultimately fruitless search for Burma's legendary Dhammazedi bell, which is believed to have been on the floor of the Rangoon River for more than 400 years. Whereabouts of the relic are still unknown despite the US$250,000 effort. After spending months courting domestic and international support for constitutional amendments, the NLD and the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society presented Parliament with a pro-reform petition signed by nearly 5 million people. Burma's news cycle took a turn for the absurd on Aug. 29, when a South Korean beauty pageant organizer of dubious pedigree dethroned this year's Burmese winner, May Myat Noe, accusing her of being rude and dishonest, and of running off with the tiara. In the transnational tiff that followed, May Myat Noe said she would not return the crown until the Miss Asia Pacific World pageant apologized for the defamation, as allegations emerged that she was underage and coaxed into getting breast augmentation by the competition's organizers. Preliminary results of Burma's national census, published on Aug. 30, revealed that Burma had a population of 51.4 million people, nearly 9 million less than a widely cited previous estimate of 60 million. Complete results of the census are expected to be published in May 2015. September Burma's Union Election Commission made an unexpected announcement that parliamentary by-elections slated for late 2014 would be cancelled, explaining that the polls could divert energy and resources from general elections to be held in 2015. Rangoon's Chief Minister Myint Swe revealed a divisive plan to expand the nation's commercial capital. A wave of criticism later foiled the expansion, as emerging details of the plan pointed to corruption. October October began with transnational intrigue when two Burmese migrant workers were arrested as suspects in a high-profile double murder in southern Thailand, where a pair of British tourists were found dead in mid-September. But it also began with big business news as the Central Bank of Myanmar announced that nine foreign banks—including the world's largest, Beijing-based Industrial & Commercial Bank of China—were awarded long-awaited licenses to operate with limited services in Burma. The month closed with another major business story as Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor launched its initial services. October was also an eventful month in politics, as Burma scrambled to prepare for the forthcoming Asean Summit. The government announced that general elections would be held in either late October or early November of 2015. On Oct. 31, Thein Sein, leaders of the military and parliamentary speakers held an unprecedented meeting with Suu Kyi and a few other political leaders, but the meeting failed to achieve a major breakthrough. That same day, ruling party parliamentarian and former minister Aung Thaung was added to the US Specially Designated Nationals list for undermining reform and "perpetuating violence" amid speculation that he helped fund an anti-Muslim nationalist movement. Perhaps the defining moment of the month, however, was Oct. 23, when the Burma Army informed members of the Interim Press Council that a missing journalist was shot dead while in military custody. The memo portrayed freelance reporter Aung Kyaw Naing, also known as Par Gyi, as a member of a rebel armed group, and claimed that he was shot dead while attempting to seize a weapon and flee. A subsequent investigation by the National Human Rights Commission failed to satisfy his widow and other observers who maintain that he was tortured. November In the lead-up to the 25th Asean Summit, Suu Kyi told reporters that democratic reforms had "stalled" since early 2013. The Nobel laureate and political darling urged the US government to "seriously think" about the country's stagnating reforms. US President Barack Obama made his second visit to Burma as head of state during the summit, which was held from Nov. 11-13 in Naypyidaw. The summit and other related conferences drew leaders from around the globe, but the event was largely closed off to observers. Not a week after world leaders packed up and left Burma, another military scandal ensued. Twenty-three cadets from several ethnic armed groups were killed on Nov. 19 when the Burma Army launched multiple rounds of artillery onto a rebel military academy near the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army in Laiza, Kachin State. The military said the deaths were "unintentional," and that the weapons were launched as a warning after skirmishes in the southern part of the state, an explanation that peace negotiators found lacking. December State media announced that the controversial "Protection of Race and Religion Bills" had been submitted for parliamentary debate. While the legislation had been tempered by a parliamentary drafting committee, the current drafts uphold some restrictions on interfaith marriage, religious conversion, monogamy and population control. In mid-December, nationalist Buddhist sentiment surfaced once again when a New Zealand national and two of his local business partners were arrested for insulting religion after marketing an event with an image of the Buddha wearing headphones. The trio is still being held in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison and could face up to four years in jail. The saddening news that a villager had been fatally shot by police while protesting an alleged land grab shocked the nation on Dec. 22. KhinWin, 56, died on the spot when she was shot in the forehead near the site of the Letpadaung copper mining project in Sagaing Division. The following day in Rangoon, the year's last round of peace negotiations ended without closure as government and ethnic leaders failed to meet an end-of-year goal of signing a nationwide ceasefire agreement. On Dec. 27, municipal elections were held in Rangoon. A 26 percent turnout—representing about 2 percent of the city's population—elected 115 representatives in the city's first polls in more than 60 years, though candidates and voters expressed concern that the elections were neither free nor fair. Research compiled by Wei Yan Aung, Thet Ko Ko and Feliz Solomon. The post 2014 in Burma: Bells, Bills, Bombs and Ballots appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

AirAsia Victim’s Life Jacket Raises New Questions About Crash Posted: 31 Dec 2014 02:02 AM PST Search and rescue team members run as they carry the body of a passenger onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 at Iskandar airbase in Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia on Dec. 31, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) PANGKALAN BUN / SURABAYA, Indonesia — A body recovered on Wednesday from the crashed AirAsia plane was wearing a life jacket, an Indonesian search and rescue official said, raising new questions about how the disaster unfolded. Rescuers believe they have found the plane on the ocean floor off Borneo, after sonar detected a large, dark object beneath waters near where debris and bodies were found on the surface. Ships and planes had been scouring the Java Sea for Flight QZ8501 since Sunday, when it lost contact during bad weather about 40 minutes into its flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. Seven bodies have been recovered from the sea, some fully clothed, which could indicate the Airbus A320-200 was intact when it hit the water. That would support a theory that it suffered an aerodynamic stall. The fact that one person put on a life jacket suggests those on board had time before the aircraft hit the water, or before it sank. And yet the pilots did not issue a distress signal. The plane disappeared after it asked for permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather. "This morning, we recovered a total of four bodies and one of them was wearing a life jacket," Tatang Zaenudin, an official with the search and rescue agency, told Reuters. He declined to speculate on what the find might mean. A pilot who works for a Gulf carrier said the life jacket indicated the cause of the crash was not "catastrophic failure." Instead, the plane could have stalled and then come down, possibly because its instruments iced up and gave the pilots inaccurate readings. "There was time. It means the thing didn't just fall out of the sky," said the pilot, who declined to be identified. He said it could take a minute for a plane to come down from 30,000 feet and the pilots could have experienced "tunnel vision … too overloaded" to send a distress call. "The first train of thought when you get into a situation like that is to fly the aircraft." Most of those on board were Indonesians. No survivors have been found. Hernanto, head of the search and rescue agency in Surabaya, said rescuers believed they had found the plane on the sea bed with a sonar scan in water 30-50 metres (100-165 feet) deep. The black box flight data and cockpit voice recorder has yet to be found. Authorities in Surabaya were making preparations to receive and identify bodies, including arranging 130 ambulances to take victims to a police hospital and collecting DNA from relatives. "We are praying it is the plane so the evacuation can be done quickly," Hernanto said. Strong wind and waves hampered the search and with visibility at less than a kilometer (half a mile), the air operation was called off in the afternoon. "We are all standing by," Dwi Putranto, heading the air force search effort in Pangkalan Bun on Borneo, told Reuters. "If we want to evacuate bodies from the water, it's too difficult. The waves are huge and it's raining." Indonesian President Joko Widodo said his priority was retrieving the bodies. Relatives, many of whom collapsed in grief when they saw the first grim television pictures confirming their fears on Tuesday, held prayers at a crisis center at Surabaya airport. AirAsia Chief Executive Tony Fernandes has described the crash as his "worst nightmare". The plane was travelling at 32,000 feet (9,753 metres) and had asked to fly at 38,000 feet. When air traffic controllers granted permission for a rise to 34,000 feet a few minutes later, they received no response. Online discussion among pilots has centered on unconfirmed secondary radar data from Malaysia that suggested the aircraft was climbing at a speed of 353 knots, about 100 knots too slow, and that it might have stalled. Investigators are focusing initially on whether the crew took too long to request permission to climb, or could have ascended on their own initiative earlier, said a source close to the inquiry, adding that poor weather could have played a part as well. The Indonesian captain, a former air force fighter pilot, had 6,100 flying hours under his belt and the plane last underwent maintenance in mid-November, said the airline, which is 49 percent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia . Three airline disasters involving Malaysian-affiliated carriers in less than a year have dented confidence in the country's aviation industry and spooked travelers. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing in March on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew and has not been found. On July 17, the same airline's Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. On board Flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain. The co-pilot was French. The AirAsia group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, had not suffered a crash since its Malaysian budget operations began in 2002. The post AirAsia Victim's Life Jacket Raises New Questions About Crash appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

11 Muslims Get Prison for Mandalay Riots Killing Posted: 31 Dec 2014 12:31 AM PST Some of the accused are seen outside the Mandalay district court. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A Mandalay district court on Tuesday handed down prison sentences with hard labor for 11 Muslims implicated in the killing of a Buddhist man in a bout of interreligious violence that hit Mandalay earlier this year. "The 11 accused of involvement in the case were given 10 to 13 years' imprisonment, respectively. Some of them were charged with aiding and abetting the killing and some with carrying weapons, but they were not charged with murder," said Thein Than Oo, a lawyer who represented one of the defendants, Myint Oo. Five of the accused were wrongfully sentenced to prison, the lawyer claimed, adding that he would appeal their verdicts. Thein Than Oo told The Irrawaddy that seven prime suspects in the murder case were still at large and arrest warrants have been issued for them. Early July's violence came after erroneous rumors circulated on Facebook claiming that a Buddhist maid had been raped by her Muslim employers. The woman later confessed to having falsely accused her employers, but not before two days of rioting in Burma's second largest city that saw two men killed, one Buddhist and one Muslim. "My father and brother were not involved in the crime. My brother Naing Lin Tun was still in Yangon when the violence broke out on July 2. He only arrived in Mandalay on July 3," Ko Phyo, the son of Myint Oo, told The Irrawaddy. "My father was summoned by the police on July 27 and my brother Naing Lin Tun accompanied him to the police station and both of them were arrested," he said. Mawlawi Kham Lay, Aung Zaw Tun and Than Win were given 12 years and six months' imprisonment. Aung Khant, Tun Tun, Thiha, Myint Oo, Naing Lin Tun, Aung Myat Oo and Ye Htet Aung all received 10-year sentences, and Zaw Htwe was given 13 years. The Buddhist victim, Tun Tun, was 36 years old. In October, four Buddhists accused of complicity in the killing of Soe Min Htwe, the Muslim man, during the Mandalay violence were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. Tun Tun and Soe Min Htwe were just the latest victims of interreligious violence in Burma, which has flared periodically since 2012, when more than 100 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in Arakan State. The post 11 Muslims Get Prison for Mandalay Riots Killing appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indian Court Drops Charges Against Modi Aide Posted: 30 Dec 2014 09:49 PM PST Amit Shah (center), the president of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, is congratulated by former BJP president Rajnath Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a ceremony in July. (Photo: Anindito Mukherjee / Reuters) NEW DELHI — A special Indian court on Tuesday dropped criminal charges against Amit Shah, the president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who was accused of ordering three extra-judicial killings by police nearly a decade ago. The court in India’s Central Bureau of Investigation said there was little evidence to prove that Shah, a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, directed police to abduct and kill a small-time criminal and his wife in Gujarat state in 2005 and a witness to their abduction. Jubilant party supporters showered Shah with flower petals and set off firecrackers outside the party’s offices in New Delhi. Shah served as junior home minister of Gujarat when Modi was the state’s chief minister. He resigned and spent three months in jail in 2010. Shah, who denied the accusations, was then released on bail. A sharp political strategist, Shah is widely credited for his party’s spectacular electoral victory in national elections in May. He was appointed to the top post in the Hindu nationalist ruling party in July despite the continuing investigation into the deaths. Since then he has guided the party to a series of wins in state elections across the country. The Central Bureau of Investigation, the country’s top investigative agency, had accused Shah of running an extortion racket with police. It said the dead criminal was involved in the racket but had a falling out with Shah, who allegedly ordered police to kidnap him and wife in 2005. It said the two were later killed in a staged gunbattle, as was the witness to their abductions. The bureau said it had records of telephone calls between Shah and police officers involved in the shootings. The officers remain on trial. It was not immediately clear whether the bureau will appeal the court ruling. The post Indian Court Drops Charges Against Modi Aide appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Mainland’s Colonization of the Hong Kong Economy Posted: 30 Dec 2014 09:32 PM PST A Chinese national flag flies in front of the China Construction Bank (CCB) Tower at Hong Kong's business Central district on Dec. 26, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) HONG KONG — When Xi Jinping wanted to deliver a political message to Hong Kong as protesters demanding free elections were threatening to take to the streets, he summoned the tycoons who dominate the city's economy. The words from the Chinese leader at the Sept. 22 meeting in Beijing were uncompromising but not surprising. He would not entertain any demand for full universal suffrage in Hong Kong, according to two people who attended. Just six days later, pro-democracy activists made good on their threat, unleashing more than two months of street demonstrations. But while Xi's message that day in the Great Hall of the People failed to deter the protesters, in speaking directly to the city's business and professional elite he was showing where Beijing believes real power in Hong Kong resides. And it is here, in the city's business sector, that China is inexorably tightening its grip on the former British colony. Even as Beijing struggles to tame Hong Kong politically, Chinese companies are consuming ever bigger chunks of the city's key sectors including real estate, finance, power, construction and the stock market. Many of these industries have for decades been dominated by the business titans who attended the meeting with Xi. Men like Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man, casino and hospitality billionaire Lui Che-woo and palm oil magnate Robert Kuok. Now they are witnessing a mainland business invasion of the city. One of the most telling signs of change is the space mainland Chinese companies lease in Central district, the heart of Hong Kong's financial center. These firms now account for over 50 percent of new leases signed for offices there, according to a September report from Hong Kong-based brokerage CLSA. That's up from 20 percent in 2012, the report said. The trend is the same in all major business districts. Mainland occupancy of 25 key Grade A office buildings, or prime office space, in the districts of Central, Admiralty, Sheung Wan and Wan Chai increased from 13 percent in 2008 to 21 percent earlier this year, according to commercial real estate services firm CBRE. "We do expect more mainland financial firms moving into Hong Kong," said Simon Smith, senior director of research and consultancy at real estate services provider Savills Plc in Hong Kong. "They like landmark properties, high-profile buildings. They often like naming rights if it's available." 'Price Is Not an Issue' The office directory at Hong Kong's 88-floor International Finance Center has a growing number of mainland companies on the list. Among them is China Development Bank International Holdings Ltd, which held its opening ceremony in 2011 and serves as the offshore investment firm of China Development Bank, the country's biggest policy lender. "If you go to the International Finance Center now and compare it to five years ago, it's very easy to see that there are many more Chinese enterprises represented," property analyst Nicole Wong, an author of the CLSA report, told Reuters. In a market accustomed to stratospheric land prices, state-owned Chinese developers this year stunned long-established local property giants with winning bids exceeding auction forecasts by up to 20 percent. Of the six available plots sold since the middle of last year in Kai Tak district, one of Hong Kong's largest developments of residential and commercial complexes, two went to China Overseas Land & Investment (COLI) and one to Poly Property Group. "Price is not an issue for them," said a former senior executive of a Hong Kong-listed developer who was responsible for bidding at land auctions before he left the company in June. "That's why they offered prices that surprised everyone." A spokesperson for Poly said the company had no comment. COLI did not respond to questions sent by email. While it was predictable business ties would expand after the 1997 handover, Beijing has made it clear that economic integration is central to reinforcing its sovereignty over Hong Kong, which is ruled under the one country, two systems model that affords the city's 7.2 million residents broad personal freedoms. Part of Beijing's vision is to draw Hong Kong into a Pearl River Delta mega-economy that would also include the giant southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou just across the border. In 2011, a chapter was dedicated to Hong Kong for the first time in China's five-year blueprint for national economic development. The 12th Five-Year plan, covering the years from 2011 to 2015, lays out how Beijing wants to connect Hong Kong with the Pearl River Delta's increasingly prosperous middle class consumers. 'It Will Be Like New York' Under the plan, Hong Kong would be a leader for the region in shipping, trade, services and distribution. In finance, Hong Kong would serve as an offshore market for the mainland currency, the renminbi. New transport links from Hong Kong now under construction, including a high speed rail to Guangzhou and a bridge across the Pearl River Delta to the mainland city of Zhuhai near Macau, would allow the rapid movement of commuters and visitors. "It will be like New York where you have people working in Manhattan and living on Long Island or in New Jersey and commuting in to work every day," said Hong Kong entrepreneur Allan Zeman, who developed the Lan Kwai Fong pub and restaurant area popular with expatriates. "People who can't have a home here [in Hong Kong] will live in Shenzhen and be able to come here in 10 minutes." The mainland's construction behemoths, including state-owned China State Construction International Holdings Ltd, are also grabbing market share. Hong Kong's permanent secretary for Development (Works), Wai Chi-sing, said in an interview that while mainland firms accounted for less than 15 percent of public works contracts by value in the mid-1990s, they now accounted for more than a third. While mainland Chinese companies are rapidly expanding into Hong Kong, Western banking and financial institutions still have a strong presence in the city. Global bank HSBC Holdings, for instance, employed more than 28,000 people in Hong Kong at the end of 2013. For Beijing, growing economic clout has not been mirrored by increased popular support. Frustrated by Hong Kong residents' lack of identification with the mainland 17 years after the handover, China has at times resorted to covert means to bolster its control. Earlier this month, for instance, Reuters reported that retired Hong Kong policemen were part of a mainland-led surveillance operation to tail leading pro-democracy figures in the city. Although the street protests ultimately petered out, at their height they drew tens of thousands, presenting Xi Jinping with his most serious popular challenge since he took power two years ago. While the protesters have demanded full universal suffrage, the mainland authorities insist that only a handful of Beijing-vetted candidates can stand in the next elections for the city's political leader in 2017. Hong Kong's current chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, got the backing of Xi and Premier Li Keqiang during a visit to Beijing last Friday, according to reports in China's state-run media. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing and Leung's office did not respond to questions sent by Reuters. Not Always Amicable Rather than foster understanding, growing economic integration has at times raised tensions. One source of friction is the real estate market where wealthy mainland Chinese have bought up property in Hong Kong, helping to push up home prices that are already out of reach for many of the city's residents. "One might have assumed that the inflow of mainland money and companies and people here, and the favorable economic policies of the mainland should have increased emotional integration rather than just economic integration but it hasn't," said David Zweig, chair professor of social science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. "For the rich people here, the heart has followed the dollar but for the middle class and for students it hasn't." That's been evident, at times, on the streets of Hong Kong. While the growing influx of mainland tourists has been good news for the city's retailers—the number of Chinese visitors catapulted from 28 million in 2011 to 40.7 million last year—interactions between mainlanders and Hong Kong residents are not always amicable. In one incident that made headlines earlier this year, locals got into a scuffle with a mainland couple who had allowed their toddler to urinate in the street. "Hong Kong without the mainlanders would be a very small city," says Allan Zeman, explaining the business elite's attitude to the growth in tourism. "Ocean Park and Disney without the mainlanders would be nowhere. They'd be losing money." Zeman developed Ocean Park, one of the city's main amusement parks. When Xi met the delegation of tycoons and professionals on the eve of the demonstrations, he gave no indication he was worried, according to one delegation member who gave Reuters an account of the Chinese leader's remarks. Instead, Xi appeared to signal that the city's troubles were relatively minor compared to other problems in his in-tray. Before commenting on Hong Kong, Xi gave some of the richest men on earth a tour of China's foreign policy challenges. He told the tycoons that China was now a major force in the world and most of his attention would be focused on ties with bigger nations including the United States and Russia, the delegate said. When he eventually turned to Hong Kong, Xi said Beijing had no intention of altering any of its policies and urged the tycoons to support the city's chief executive. He also said the Hong Kong economy was falling behind those of Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. Li Ka-shing, Lui Che-woo and Robert Kuok, three of the tycoons who were part of the delegation that met Xi, did not respond to questions from Reuters. Downplaying the Protests In an interview earlier this month, another delegate, former Hong Kong Law Society president Ambrose Lam said Xi had ruled out any departure from the guidelines already laid out for the city's political future. Without citing the Chinese leader directly, Lam said he didn't think the protests were a big issue for the Chinese leadership. It would have been different, he said, if they had happened 30 years ago when Hong Kong's economy was more important to China. But the city's gross domestic product is now only 3 percent of China's, he added. At the time of the handover in 1997, it was almost a fifth. Still, summoning the city's business leaders suggests Beijing may be more concerned than it is prepared to acknowledge. The city's business leaders were also called to the capital in the aftermath of a 500,000-strong protest in 2003 when China attempted to introduce controversial new security laws. The proposed laws were withdrawn and the then chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, was eventually forced to resign. As the mainland ponders how to contain demands for political change, its economic footprint in Hong Kong continues to expand. In retail banking, subsidiaries of mainland banks operate nearly 500 branches in Hong Kong, accounting for about 40 percent of the total number of branches, according to figures from SNL Financial, a financial service research company. Hong Kong's financial system has also become more intertwined with the mainland, especially as it has emerged as the premier hub for offshore renminbi business. The market in so-called dim sum bonds, bonds denominated in renminbi but issued outside the mainland, is rapidly closing on its Hong Kong dollar counterpart. The bonds, named after a popular Hong Kong cuisine, were first issued in 2007. Since then, the outstanding value of dim sum bonds has soared to around 700 billion renminbi, according to industry estimates. That's nearly 60 percent of the value of Hong Kong dollar bonds, according to data compiled by the Asian Development Bank. And mainland companies have long been making inroads into the local stock market. They now account for 54 percent of the companies traded on the Hang Seng Index. Mainland Giants Make Inroads As part of Beijing's plan for the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong and Hong Kong will seek to integrate their transport, energy and power grid infrastructure. For its part, the Hong Kong government is pushing to boost electricity imports from mainland China to reduce pollution and the dominance of two local utilities backed by powerful families, say industry experts who have been involved in consultations with the government. Hong Kong's grid is not interconnected with China Southern Power Grid, which supplies electricity to Guangdong and four other southern provinces. Plugging Hong Kong into the Chinese grid would create competition for the city's dominant local utilities—CLP Holdings, backed by the wealthy Kadoorie family, and billionaire Li Ka-shing's Power Assets Holdings—and further strengthen Hong Kong's ties with mainland China. The two local firms have enjoyed guaranteed returns for decades under what is known as the Scheme of Control. But the mainland grid giants are making inroads. China Southern Power Grid last year bought a 30 percent stake in CLP's power unit Castle Peak for US$1.6 billion, while State Grid Corporation of China spent about $1.2 billion to buy into the local initial public offering of HK Electric Investments, a spinoff of Power Assets, early this year. Hong Kong's Environment Bureau said in an email response that importing electricity from mainland China was one of two options under consideration. CLP and Power Assets did not respond to questions sent by email. One area where mainlanders have yet to make headway is the city's elite clubs. With the exception of some clubs like the Aberdeen Marina Club and the Jockey Club, which offer hefty debentures, it is difficult for newcomers like mainland Chinese to get membership as some of these establishments have waiting lists that can be as long as 20 years. But at places like the Ladies Recreation Club (LRC) and the Hong Kong Golf Club, members say there is definitely more Mandarin being spoken. "Mainlanders haven't quite got in any meaningful way into the clubs," says a Hong Kong resident who is a member of three clubs. "But it is only a matter of time." The post The Mainland's Colonization of the Hong Kong Economy appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Fires Officials Over Deadly Factory Blast Posted: 30 Dec 2014 08:53 PM PST Medical personnel transport a victim of the Zhongrong Metal Products factory explosion in Kunshan. (Photo: Aly Song / Reuters) BEIJING — China’s Cabinet announced on Tuesday the firing of the top two officials in an eastern city where an explosion at an auto parts factory in August killed 146 people in the country’s worst industrial accident since 2005. The State Council also issued disciplinary demerits against a deputy provincial governor and the director of the provincial work safety bureau, and 18 other people — including factory executives and several safety and fire officials—were placed under judicial review for possible indictment, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The dust explosion at Zhongrong Metal Products Co. Ltd. in the city of Kunshan killed 75 people immediately. The death toll climbed to 146 when other workers died in the hospital. The factory supplied parts to General Motors. Dust explosions can occur when tiny metal particles—in this case powdered aluminum—are suspended in air in an enclosed space. The accident was China’s worst industrial disaster in nine years and highlighted continuing problems with workplace safety. A 2005 mine accident in northeastern China killed 171 people. Last June, a poultry plant fire killed 121 and injured 76 others in northeastern China. On Friday, courts sentenced two fire chiefs and two poultry farm bosses to prison terms of up to nine years for the deadly blaze. Beijing has been holding local government officials and company executives accountable by meting out harsh penalties for work accidents with high casualties. In Kunshan, a national investigation team found that local officials were negligent in enforcing safety regulations and that plant management failed to provide safety training for workers and ignored rules on building spacing, density in manufacturing lines, dust cleanup, and use of anti-explosion equipment. The post China Fires Officials Over Deadly Factory Blast appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Dozens Die as Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines Battered by Storms Posted: 30 Dec 2014 08:48 PM PST An aerial view of flooded streets of the National Park in Malaysia's Kuala Tahan, Pahang, on Dec. 24, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia, southern Thailand and parts of the Philippines have been battered by heavy rain and flash floods in recent days, killing dozens, officials said on Tuesday. Malaysia's worst flooding in a decade forced nearly a quarter of a million people from their homes, officials said, with the government coming under renewed fire for its perceived slow response. The National Security Council said that "exceptionally high" water levels had cut off rescuers from relief centers as the death toll rose to 21 across the northeast. Fifteen people have been killed in neighboring southern Thailand. Most criticism was directed at Prime Minister Najib Razak for his absence as the disaster unfolded after being photographed playing golf with President Barack Obama in Hawaii. "No matter how prepared we are, there will always be a bigger and more devastating disaster that tests the capability and resources of the country," the council said in a statement to the online news portal, the Malaysian Insider. Opposition member Tony Pua denounced the government's reluctance to declare a state of emergency and its "complete lack of urgency" in calling a council meeting. "We are running a headless government with no urgent, cohesive and proactive response to the arising chaos," Pua said in a statement. Northeastern Malaysia and southern Thailand are hit by flooding during the annual northeast monsoon but this year the rain has been particularly heavy. Malaysia's eastern states are home to many rice fields but officials have not provided an initial estimate of damage. Five southern Thai provinces—Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani, Phatthalung and Songkhla—were still flooded. Nearly 10,000 people have been evacuated. A tropical storm has dumped heavy rains and brought flash floods and mudslides to the central and southern Philippines, parts of which were battered by two recent strong typhoons, killing 16 people. Five people died when a mudslide buried a house in Tanauan town in Leyte, the province hardest hit by super typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,000 dead or missing in November last year. Indonesian rescuers searching for a missing AirAsia plane carrying 162 people pulled bodies and wreckage from the sea off the coast of Borneo on Tuesday after the plane went missing in bad weather on Sunday on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. The post Dozens Die as Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines Battered by Storms appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Keeping Burma’s ‘Reformers’ Honest in 2015 Posted: 30 Dec 2014 08:30 PM PST Shwe Mann, left, and President Thein Sein have positioned themselves at the forefront of Burma's reforms. (Photo: Reuters) Looking back at 2014, developments in Burma at times felt like watching a shoddily produced Hollywood science fiction film, with a poor script, meandering plot and bad acting to boot. The rise of communal violence, a clampdown on media freedoms, renewed fighting in ethnic regions and intense political jockeying dominated the year. To many Burmese, who had looked to 2014 with hope and cautious optimism 12 months ago, the year has hardly been an inspiring one, leading many minds to question: Where are we heading? Will we see a repeat of 2014 in the year ahead? Is the country destined for a brighter future or bleak redux to the days of dictatorship? In pondering these questions, what we need is a healthy balance of optimism and skepticism. Everyone knows that the military continues to control power and wealth in Burma, a country that is ruled by ex-generals whose predecessor still lurks behind the scenes. To be fair, change has come to Burma, albeit more slowly than some would hope. Mobile phones and SIM cards are selling like hotcakes, and new restaurants, shops and hotels are popping up cities nationwide. The Burmese people have enjoyed newfound freedoms, allowing for intense debate on whether the reform is only skin-deep, which plays out in teashop conversations, comedians' jokes and Facebook. Naturally, many Burmese who lived under the generals' repressive rule for decades have a more skeptical take on the reform process, which Aung San Suu Kyi has acknowledged has hit a "bumpy patch." At a year-end press conference on Tuesday, Suu Kyi said that for the "great majority" of Burmese people, the last year has not brought improvements to their lives. "I don't think 2014 is exactly the kind of year that you can be particularly proud of. We have to work a lot harder in 2015," the democracy leader said. There is no way of knowing how bumpy things will get on Burma's road to democracy. It is safe to assume, however, that it will be a slow, painful and long haul. Indeed, with high-stakes elections slated for late next year, we should expect more political shenanigans and even potentially more violence on the horizon. With 2015 just a day away, we can be confident that Burma will see more meaningful changes, but only if its people remain clear-eyed. The majority want further reform and in the end it is the people of Burma who will decide where this country is going, and how we'll get there. The post Keeping Burma's 'Reformers' Honest in 2015 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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National News

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• Dismal turnout for first municipal elections
• Supreme Court clears doctor of malpractice
• EITI fallout looms over Letpadaung clashes

Dismal turnout for first municipal elections Posted: 26 Dec 2014 07:33 PM PST As he slowly emerged from the polling station on Mahabandoola Garden Street in Kyauktada township, U Maung Ni, 80, shielded his eyes from the midday sun.

Supreme Court clears doctor of malpractice Posted: 26 Dec 2014 06:42 PM PST Mother of child who died after being delivered two months premature says she will appeal Supreme Court ruling.

EITI fallout looms over Letpadaung clashes Posted: 26 Dec 2014 06:40 PM PST Civil society groups have accused the government of breaching its Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative commitments as a result of recent clashes between demonstrators and police at the Letpadaung copper mine in which one person was killed and nine injured.

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The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• The Results Are In: Rangoon Polls Not Up to Scratch
• Three Activists Arrested for Anti-Mine Protest in Rangoon
• Realtors Predict Rangoon Property Market Slowdown in 2015
• Burma Landmine Casualty Rate Among World’s Worst: Report
• Bodies Found in Indonesian Waters Where Plane Disappeared
• Suu Kyi Says NLD Not Yet Committed to 2015 Election
• Water Woes for Residents of Chin State Capital
• Taungup Residents Demand Marble Quarry Closure
• UN Urges Burma to Give Citizenship to Rohingya Muslims
• Chinese Access to Gmail Cut, Regulators Blamed
• Indonesia Expands Search for Missing AirAsia Jet, US Sends Warship
• Pakistan Court Suspends Detention of Mumbai Attack Planner

The Results Are In: Rangoon Polls Not Up to Scratch Posted: 30 Dec 2014 04:48 AM PST   A voter marks her ballot in a polling booth in Insein Township, Rangoon, on Dec. 27, 2014. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — At around 4pm on Saturday, the doors were closing at 1,086 polling stations across Burma's commercial capital, Rangoon, wrapping up what was expected to be a "landmark" day in a city that had not seen elected municipal leaders in more than 60 years. Poll workers in each station—mostly teachers and other civil servants—peeled the tape around seven giant Tupperware-like bins and began to count the color-coded cards inside. The starkest proof of the failure of Saturday's elections was the turnout. Rangoon is Burma's largest city, home to roughly 5 million people. Of those, only 409,889 people were eligible to vote because of a one vote per household limit. That's about 8 percent of the total population, and only 26 percent of that fraction of the city turned up at the booths. About 2 percent of Rangoon voted. Those 106,089 voters placed 115 people in seats at the central, district and township levels of the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), a municipal governing body that manages water distribution, waste management, road construction and other services. The YCDC has never been fully elected, instead being steered by government-appointed officials. Saturday's vote created 115 seats for leaders chosen by the people, but reserved an appointed majority presence of YCDC's ultimate authority, the Central Committee. The Central Committee has nine members, including the mayor, four of whom are newly elected. One of the winners, Aye Min of Rangoon's southern district, acknowledged shortly after his victory that while he will try to "do my best," the committee's non-elected bloc "will make the decisions." Aye Min, a 53-year-old doctor, was among the four big winners, and the only one of them who is not known as a distinguished businessman. Even they—the handful of men who benefitted from their privileged status of facial familiarity and financial resource—admitted that the system is flawed. Khin Maung Tint, a cement company owner who will soon serve as the Central Committee's representative for Rangoon's northern district, said that although the polls ultimately favored him, campaign guidelines were not up to code. "We didn't have enough time to raise public awareness about election," he told The Irrawaddy, when pressed on how the elections played out. "The time was too short." 'They Put the Blame on Us' The Irrawaddy canvassed much of the city on Saturday, speaking with voters, candidates, poll workers and township administrators. After visiting polling stations in four townships, our reporters were struck by one recurrent comment: "I don't know." In every township, turnout was low. In every township, voters showed a general lack of awareness about the candidates. Many people voted for candidates they nothing about, while others simply abstained because they didn't know how to decide. Not only did most people know nothing about the candidates, many were completely unaware of the complex procedures of getting their vote counted: step one, determine your eligibility and register one name per household; step two, show up at a polling station that may or may not have been arbitrarily relocated without notice; step three, wind through a labyrinthine polling place to cast seven ballots for three new kinds of representatives. Eyebrows were raised when the YCDC Election Commission introduced campaign regulations that limited voter eligibility, excluded candidates with criminal records, cropped campaign periods and banned the use of flyers and posters picturing candidates. The effects of the regulations, however, were not fully felt until after the polls were over. Soe Thaung thought he was an eligible voter in Sanchaung Township, but when he arrived at his polling place in the Shan Lann Buddhist Function Hall he didn't see his name on the dozen-or-so A-1 printouts taped to a board outside. When he asked the site administrators why his name wasn't there, they told him he had missed his chance. "We declared [that residents should check our voter lists] with a loudspeaker in the ward," said administrator Aung Lwin, which explained that voters had a five day window in which to register. On Saturday, he said, many people turned up at the polling station claiming that they didn't hear the announcement, "and now they are complaining because their names are not included." Soe Thaung was not allowed to cast his vote on Saturday, even though he has been a homeowner in the ward for five years and is the head of a registered household. "They put the blame on us, saying that we didn't check ahead. I didn't even notice their announcement, or when they made the voting list," he said. Low voter turnout is a strong testament to claims that the voter registration process was problematic, but those who did vote revealed even more kinks. Yin Than, a 72-year-old former civil servant, arrived at a polling station in Insein Township at midday with a friend on each arm to help her walk. As the only available member of her household (her children were out of town), she said she came to vote "as a duty" despite not knowing who the candidates were. "I just looked at their photos [on the ballot] and voted for who I think is a good person. I did not know any of them," said Yin Than. Winners and Losers Win Cho is known not for owning one of Rangoon's highest buildings—as one of Saturday's winners is—but for his political activism. He has been jailed several times on charges of unlawful assembly and incitement for participating in public demonstrations over issues such as land rights and utilities prices. When he applied for candidacy as a Central Committee member, the YCDC quickly struck him down. The YCDC election rules prohibit convicted criminals from seeking office, and the Election Commission argued that Win Cho had misrepresented himself by not disclosing his time in jail, during which he was considered a political prisoner. The commission eventually allowed him to run, but other candidates had a head start on campaigning. Win Cho was up early on Saturday at a Dagon Township polling station, waiting with pride to cast a vote for himself. Although his name appeared on the voters list, he was denied a vote because of his "criminal record," an issue that he thought was no longer relevant, considering that he was allowed to run for office. While his wife was ultimately able to cast a vote in his favor, it wasn't enough to secure him a win. "Since the beginning, when [the YCDC] issued the rules, it hasn't been fair," Win Cho said. "We all knew it, but we vowed to run because we thought that we may be able to see what was wrong, complain about it and get them to take action when the rules were violated." He wasn't alone in his opinion that the election's restrictive policies were being unfairly enforced. Susanna Hla Hla Soe, another well known activist and unsuccessful candidate for a Central Committee post, remarked that while the pair of them were subject to particular scrutiny, other candidates proved the campaign rules to be more flexible. After the polls closed, Susanna Hla Hla Soe joined Win Cho and Aye Min—who won a seat representing the southern district—at a press conference on Sunday to alert the media of irregularities in the election. One of their concerns was that authorities had "turned a blind eye" to certain candidates who broke the rules by plastering city buildings with their image and handing out campaign materials near polling sites on the day of the election. "When we reported violations to the township administrators, they just blamed the YCDC, and vice versa," she said. Win Cho had a similar experience in his ward, where he found that other candidates had acted against a Dec. 16 order to remove campaign posters out of concern that they might "make the city look bad." "I still found them in the downtown area," said Win Cho, "but the commission failed to take action. Is it nepotism? If so, this will be very bad for 2015." Reporting by Lawi Weng, San Yamin Aung and Kyaw Phyo Tha. The post The Results Are In: Rangoon Polls Not Up to Scratch appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Three Activists Arrested for Anti-Mine Protest in Rangoon Posted: 30 Dec 2014 04:15 AM PST Activist Naw Ohn Hla speaks to reporters during a protest in Rangoon against the shooting death of a protestor at the Letpadaung mine project site on Dec. 22. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Police in Rangoon arrested at least three protestors on Tuesday who led a demonstration outside the Chinese Embassy the previous day against the killing of 56-year-old Khin Win at the site of the controversial Letpadaung copper mine last week. Khin Win was shot dead by police during a protest at the site of the Chinese-backed project on Dec. 22. Nearly 100 protestors attempted to lay wreaths for Khin Win in front of the Chinese Embassy in Rangoon on Monday but were blocked by police from accessing the street where the embassy is situated. After negotiations between the two sides failed, the protestors finally laid the wreaths in front of the security forces and left the area. Police arrested three activists involved in the protest, Naw Ohn Hla, Nay Myo Zin and Sein Htwe, in Dagon Township on Tuesday morning, according to Ma Thandar, who co-founded the Democracy and Peace Women Network with Naw Ohn Hla. "The police have detained them. We still can't meet with them," Ma Thandar said, adding that it was not clear on what charges, and for how long, the activists would be detained. "We arrested them because they protested near the Chinese Embassy without permission and disgraced the government," said Thaung Sein, a police lieutenant from Dagon Township. He said police had opened a case against seven protestors who led the demonstration on Monday, including the three detained activists, under Article 353 of the Penal Code for committing assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from the discharge of his duties, and Article 505(b) of the same code—a broadly defined charge punishing those who spread or make statements that can "alarm the public" or incite offenses against the state. "We will show the Chinese Embassy that we, the public, don't want the project and want the Chinese company Wanbao to leave. If they leave, the military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings will stop [the project] too," Naw Ohn Hla told The Irrawaddy during the demonstration on Monday. Last week, the Chinese Embassy in Rangoon issued a statement on the unrest at the Letpadaung mine project site, expressing its "deep condolence" over the death of Khin Win and concern for Chinese citizens injured in the protests. The embassy expressed support for the ongoing, peaceful implementation of the project and stressed that overseas Chinese enterprises were required "to abide by the laws and regulations in the host countries, while carrying out social responsibility and obligations and focusing on environment protection." The Letpadaung copper mining project is a joint venture between Wanbao and the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings (UMEHL). It attracted widespread notoriety in November 2012 when police used incendiary devices against demonstrators, including Buddhist monks, during a brutal crackdown at a protest camp. The Irrawaddy's Bone Myat contributed reporting. The post Three Activists Arrested for Anti-Mine Protest in Rangoon appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Realtors Predict Rangoon Property Market Slowdown in 2015 Posted: 30 Dec 2014 04:09 AM PST The Sakura Tower on Sule Pagoda Road, downtown Rangoon. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The city's hitherto skyrocketing property prices are expected to taper off next year while the continuing impact of high land costs will sustain an upward trend in residential and commercial rental costs, real estate experts have said. Land values in Rangoon have risen dramatically since the former military regime lowered the property tax sales rate to 15 percent in 2007, with a significant boost since 2011 as a result of successive economic and political reforms instigated by the nominally civilian government. Median prices for properties situated on Rangoon's main roads have reached unprecedented highs ranging between 700,000 and one million kyats (US$680-970) per square foot, with Pyay Rd and Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd the most lucrative areas in the city. "The highest land prices in Yangon reached about one million [kyats per square foot] in 2013, so I expect that they won't be able to increase more than that in the next year," said a senior manager from Unity Real Estate Services. "Prices will not fall but the market will cool down because landowners will wait until after the general election." A steep rise in the property tax to 37 percent last year failed to slow down meteoric rises, as buyers and sellers widely rorted the system by under-declaring land values. In an attempt to prevent landowners from sidestepping their tax obligations, since Oct. 1 the Rangoon Division government has applied fixed values on property transactions based on official assessments of property values, with annual revaluations to start from next year. Developers have made calls for higher rental prices for apartments across the city to match the property boom, including proposals for setting a floor price of 200,000 kyats ($US194) per month in downtown areas. Increased foreign investment and a shortage of suitable commercial space is also driving up the cost of commercial tenancies, particularly in highly-sought after areas of Rangoon such as Sanchaung, Kamayut and Mayangone Townships. The Su Mon, manager of the Rangoon office for John W Hancock & Associates, said that increased rental costs are becoming a burden for foreigners seeking to invest in Burma and may eventually crowd out potential foreign residents. "Some medium income foreigners are reducing spending because of rental costs. If a day comes when they can't pay or there is not enough space for them, the real estate bubble will burst," she said. Maung Aung, an economist and consultant to the Ministry of Commerce, said it was imperative that the government solved land issues immediately before they became a substantial drag on the broader economy. "Land prices in Burma are among the highest in Asia. This is a major issue for the government," he said. "There will be trouble as more foreign businesses come into the country if the government doesn't start solving this problem right now." The post Realtors Predict Rangoon Property Market Slowdown in 2015 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma Landmine Casualty Rate Among World’s Worst: Report Posted: 30 Dec 2014 03:36 AM PST Nay Min Aung, who lost his sight after being injured by a landmine, sits with his daughter at his home in Bago Division. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON —Burma has the third-highest landmine-related casualty rates in the entire world, has edged away from international forums focused to eradicate the munitions, and is one of the only countries in the world still actively deploying mines in conflict areas, according to the latest report from the research arm of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). The 2014 Landmine Monitor report documents 3,450 casualties between 1999 and the end of 2013, resulting in at least 348 deaths. The recorded landmine casualty rate in the six years from 2006 is surpassed only by Colombia, a nation that has spent five decades fighting a Marxist insurgency financed by drug trafficking, and Afghanistan, a country ravaged by seemingly interminable war for most of the last 35 years. Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, the Landmine Monitor researcher for Burma, told a press conference yesterday that the country's refusal to ratify the Mine Ban Treaty and allow direct inspection of conflict flashpoints made it difficult to compile an accurate number of casualties, but the ICBL's official estimates over the period were almost certainly understated. He added that despite a request from President Thein Sein for European Union assistance in establishing clearance programs in 2012, international organizations had been prevented from traveling to areas contaminated with landmines, with the military and the government blaming each other for the refusal of access. According to Landmine Monitor, there has been no mine clearance by accredited organizations in the last two years, although some ethnic armed groups and organizations such as the Free Burma Rangers have engaged in some local demining programs. The Landmine Monitor report found "credible allegations" of anti-personnel mine use by the Burma Army over the last two years in Kachin and Arakan States, including a stretch of land less than 100 meters from the country's border with Bangladesh. While the report was unable to corroborate any accounts of landmines being used over the same period by ethnic armed groups, it noted that none of these groups had renounced the use of landmines since negotiations toward a nationwide ceasefire agreement began in 2011. 162 countries are signatories to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which accounts for more than 80 percent of the world's governments. Burma has repeatedly abstained on United Nations General Assembly resolutions to prohibit the use, stockpiling and production of anti-personnel mines, and President Thein Sein told an audience at the 2012 Asean Summit in Phnom Penh that the country's continued use of landmines was necessary "in order to safeguard the life and property of people." While Burma has participated in several recent international forums established by the Mine Ban Treaty, the government declined to field representatives for the most recent review conference, held in Mozambique in June. Myo Myint Aung, a former military doctor who lost his eyesight and sustained 86 separate shrapnel wounds in a landmine injury at the age of 25, told The Irrawaddy that all landmines in Burma should be eliminated. "I want to say solemnly that landmines should not available," he said. "When people fire guns, you are aware of the danger in front of you, but with landmines you can never know when you will be hurt." The post Burma Landmine Casualty Rate Among World's Worst: Report appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bodies Found in Indonesian Waters Where Plane Disappeared Posted: 30 Dec 2014 02:29 AM PST Family members of passengers onboard missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 cry at a waiting area in Juanda International Airport in Surabaya on Dec. 30, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia — Six bloated bodies and debris seen floating in Indonesian waters Tuesday painfully ended the mystery of AirAsia Flight 8501, which crashed into the Java Sea with 162 people aboard and was lost to searchers for more than two days. The bodies were found about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from land and 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the plane's last known coordinates. The plane vanished Sunday on its way from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore after encountering storm clouds. The six bodies were recovered, swollen but intact, and taken to an Indonesian navy ship, First Adm. Sigit Setiayanta, the Naval Aviation Center commander at the Surabaya air force base, told reporters. The corpses did not have life jackets on. Search and rescue teams were lowered on ropes from a hovering helicopter to retrieve the corpses, their efforts hindered by 2-meter-high (6-foot) waves and strong winds, National Search and Rescue Director SB Supriyadi told The Associated Press. The discovery came after several pieces of red, white and black debris were spotted in the Java Sea near Borneo island. AirAsia planes are red and white. Supriyadi said that from an aircraft above, he said he saw what appeared to be a life jacket and an emergency exit door. More wreckage could be seen beneath the water. Indonesian television showed a half-naked bloated body of a man whose shirt partially covered his head. The images sent a spasm of pain through family members watching together in a waiting room at the Surabaya airport. Many screamed and wailed uncontrollably, breaking down into tears while they squeezed each other. One middle-aged man collapsed and had to be taken out on a stretcher. AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes tweeted, "My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501. On behalf of AirAsia my condolences to all. Words cannot express how sorry I am." Ifan Joko, 54, said he was still hoping for a miracle. His brother, Charlie Gunawan, along with his wife, their three children and two other family members, were traveling to Singapore on the plane to ring in the New Year. "I know the plane has crashed, but I cannot believe my brother and his family are dead," he said, wiping a tear. "… We still pray they are alive." The post Bodies Found in Indonesian Waters Where Plane Disappeared appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Suu Kyi Says NLD Not Yet Committed to 2015 Election Posted: 30 Dec 2014 01:05 AM PST Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks during a press conference at the headquarters of the National League for Democracy in Rangoon on Tuesday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has indicated that it's too early to say whether her party will contest national elections slated for late next year, when the Southeast Asian country expects to hold its first democratic poll in more than two decades. "When they officially announce the exact date for the general election, we will tell you whether we will join it or not. But for now we can't reveal this," said she during a press conference at the headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party on Tuesday. "We have no idea about the rules and regulations of the elections so far. We have to wait for them and decide," she said, adding that the Burmese public would have to work together to ensure that the elections are inclusive, transparent and fair. "And that they are held on time, on schedule," she said. The Union Election Commission chairman, Tin Aye, has said that Burma will see general elections held in the last week of October or the first week of November. During an hour-long press conference, Suu Kyi said that for the "great majority" of Burmese people, the last year had not brought improvements to their lives. "I don't think 2014 is exactly the kind of year that you can be particularly proud of. We have to work a lot harder in 2015," the democracy leader added. With regard to the controversial Letpadaung copper mine project, she referred to a report published by a parliamentary commission she led, saying "the report was prepared in the interests of both parties." The mine was the site of a fatal shooting last week after protesting villagers clashed with police over efforts by the project's operators to fence in disputed lands. "If you strictly follow the suggestions in the report, I believe everything will be alright. But I think they failed to follow them so that they have problems," she explained. Asked about four interfaith draft bills, which have been widely panned by human rights and women's groups and are likely to be discussed in Parliament next month, Suu Kyi said the NLD's legal support team and parliamentarians would thoroughly review the legislation. "After that we will release an assessment. I can't give comments on them recklessly as they are complicated and sensitive." The post Suu Kyi Says NLD Not Yet Committed to 2015 Election appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Water Woes for Residents of Chin State Capital Posted: 30 Dec 2014 12:37 AM PST Workers broaden roads in Hakha, the Chin State capital. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) Local residents in the Chin State capital Hakha are facing a potable water shortage amid a partial suspension of the township's water supply that has lasted more than three months. "It is about three months now that the municipality has stopped supplying water, which has caused a lot of trouble for people. I have to buy water for my shop, for which I have to spend around 20,000 [US$20] or 30,000 kyats monthly from my profits," the owner of an eatery in Hakha told The Irrawaddy. The municipality stopped providing water after underground water pipes were damaged during the expansion of roads in Hakha, the administrative seat of the Chin State government. More than half of Hakha's 15,000 residents have been affected by the water crisis and have had to rely on private water sellers, according to locals. The majority of the town's pain has been gain for some entrepreneurial spirits, however, who have taken to fetching water from the nearby Thee River and selling it to needy residents. A bucket of water is sold for 200 kyats and an entire car's load worth of water goes for 12,000 kyats, locals said. The head of Hakha township municipality, Aung Tun Lin, told The Irrawaddy that efforts were underway to restore the town's piped water system. "Pipelines in certain areas were damaged as roads in downtown Hakha were broadened. Therefore, we cannot supply water to those areas. We plan to repair the pipes and resume water supply by January 15 [of 2015]." While some locals have relied on buying water from private sellers, others drive to the Thee River, some seven miles from Hakha. "Those who can afford it buy water. Those who can't afford it go to Thee River by motorbike and fetch water. They take their clothes and wash them there. I have to buy water, 200 kyats per bucket, when I don't have time to go to the Thee River," said a departmental staffer. The system used by the Hakha municipality sees piped water supplied from eight watersheds in areas surrounding the town, and the late 2014 water woes likely will not be the town's last. The surrounding watersheds have been decreasingly productive since 2000, due to deforestation and hillside cultivation, making water shortages in the months of March through May an annual occurrence, said Aung Tun Lin. "The watersheds produce less water and creeks are drying up year by year, mainly because of cutting down trees for fuel or crop cultivation," he said. "Now, we only get 65 percent of water from those sources. Therefore, Hakha is always confronted with a water shortage in March, April and May every year," he added. In an effort to resolve Hakha's water scarcity, the Chin State government started building a dam on the Thee River in April of this year. The project comes at an estimated cost of 8 billion kyats. The post Water Woes for Residents of Chin State Capital appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Taungup Residents Demand Marble Quarry Closure Posted: 30 Dec 2014 12:31 AM PST Locals protesting against the Mt. Naypu marble quarry. (Photo: Arakan Social Network / Facebook) RANGOON — Residents of Taungup in Arakan State's south have demanded an immediate end to marble quarrying at nearby Mt. Naypu, saying that the project is tantamount to environmental vandalism and operates contrary to the wishes of the local community. Representatives from civil society organizations and hundreds of locals from Taungup and surrounding townships staged a protest on Sunday against the quarry, operated in a joint venture by Vietnamese firms Simco and Song Da, and expected to export up to 7850 metric tons of marble each year for the next two decades. Zeya Kyaw, a representative of the Arakan Social Network's Taungup chapter, told The Irrawaddy that the project had failed to deliver benefits to local people and damaged the area's delicate ecological balance. "Rather than exporting these valuable, scarce resources as raw materials, we'd like [the government] to develop ecotourism," he said. The protesters are planning to petition the state and Union governments and the Vietnamese Embassy in Rangoon within the next month, and said they will stage protests across Arakan State if a formal response is not forthcoming. Simco and Song Da signed a deal with the Union government in 2012 granting mineral rights over the Mt. Naypu concession until 2033. Arakan State Industry Minister Aung Than Tin told The Irrawaddy he expects a new deal will be signed with the company upon the conclusion of the original lease. State lawmaker Aung Mya Kyaw told a session of the Arakan parliament in Mar. 2013 that locals had no prior knowledge of the project, which had been negotiated and approved without any semblance of transparency. The post Taungup Residents Demand Marble Quarry Closure appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

UN Urges Burma to Give Citizenship to Rohingya Muslims Posted: 29 Dec 2014 10:39 PM PST Rohingya children study in a government primary school in Byuhar Kone village on Nov. 10, 2014, in northern Arakan State's Maungdaw Township. (Photo: Minzayar / Reuters) UNITED NATIONS — The UN General Assembly approved a resolution Monday urging Burma to provide "full citizenship" to its Rohingya Muslim minority and to allow them to move freely throughout the country. The 1.3 million Rohingyas are denied citizenship under national law and are effectively stateless and have almost no rights. Burmese authorities want to officially categorize them as "Bengalis," implying they are illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh. After Burma started a transition from dictatorship to democracy in 2011, newfound freedom of expression fanned the flames of hatred against the Rohingyas by the Buddhist majority. Violence by Buddhist mobs left up to 280 people dead—most of them members of the religious minority—and chased another 140,000 from their homes. The Rohingyas now live under apartheid-like conditions in camps or in restricted villages in Arakan State. The resolution, adopted by consensus, stressed the assembly's "serious concern" about the government's treatment of the Rohingya, sending a strong message from the 193-member world body that the international community is united in wanting change in Burma's treatment of its minorities. The General Assembly urged the government to allow the Muslim minority to call itself Rohingya. It urged Burma to ensure that the Rohingyas have equal access to services such as health and education, and to address the root causes of violence and discrimination against them. It also called on the government to take measures to ensure that the Rohingya can safely return to their communities, to conduct independent investigations into rights abuses, "and to promote peaceful coexistence." While the assembly welcomed continuing positive developments in Burma toward political and economic reform, democratization, national reconciliation and promotion of human rights, it urged the government "to step up its efforts to end remaining human rights violations and abuses, including arbitrary arrest and detention, forced displacement, rape and other forms of sexual violence." The European Union-drafted, non-binding resolution also urged the Burmese government to accelerate efforts to address discrimination, "violence, hate speech, displacement and economic deprivation affecting various ethnic and religious minorities, and attacks against Muslims and other religious minorities." The resolution also addressed international concerns over next year's presidential election, saying Burma should ensure that it is "credible, inclusive and transparent," and allow "all candidates to fairly contest" the vote. There has been uncertainty over whether opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi could hold the presidency. A clause in the Constitution bars anyone whose spouse or children are loyal to foreign countries from becoming president or vice president. Suu Kyi's two sons are British citizens, as was her late husband. The post UN Urges Burma to Give Citizenship to Rohingya Muslims appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Chinese Access to Gmail Cut, Regulators Blamed Posted: 29 Dec 2014 09:10 PM PST An employee walks past the logo of Google in front of its former headquarters in Beijing, June 2, 2011. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — Chinese access to Google Inc.'s email service has been blocked amid government efforts to limit or possibly ban access to the US company's services, which are popular among Chinese seeking to avoid government monitoring. Data from Google's Transparency Report show online traffic from China to Gmail fell precipitously on Friday and dropped to nearly zero on Saturday, although there was a tiny pickup on Monday. Taj Meadows, a spokesman for Google Asia Pacific, said Google has checked its email service and "there's nothing technically wrong on our end." In a Tuesday editorial, the Chinese Communist Party-run Global Times newspaper raised the possibility, without confirmation, that the government had cut access to Gmail. "If the China side indeed blocked Gmail, the decision must have been prompted by newly emerged security reasons," the editorial read. "If that is the case, Gmail users need to accept the reality of Gmail being suspended in China. But we hope it is not the case." Earl Zmijewski, vice president of data analytics at US-based Internet analysis firm Dyn Research, said his tests showed that China's government had blocked Google IP addresses in Hong Kong used by people on the mainland to access Gmail services. Calls to the government regulator, the China Internet Information Office, were unanswered Monday. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she did not know about any blockage. US State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said in a statement that the development was troubling. "We continue to be concerned by efforts in China to undermine freedom of expression, including on the Internet, and we believe Chinese authorities' censorship of the media and of certain Web sites is incompatible with China's aspirations to build a modern information-based economy and society," he said. Google closed its mainland China search engine in 2009, saying it would no longer cooperate with the country's censors. That followed hacking attacks traced to China aimed at stealing the company's operating code and breaking into email accounts. Since then, access to Google services has been periodically limited or blocked, possibly in an effort to pressure Chinese users into abandoning Google products and shifting to services from domestic companies willing to cooperate with the government. The Global Times editorial pointed a finger at Google, saying "China welcomes the company to do business on the prerequisite that it obeys Chinese law; however, Google values more its reluctance to be restricted by Chinese law, resulting in conflict." Google products are popular among Chinese young people and activists who do not want their email communications to be monitored or intercepted by the Chinese government. Web access in China to Gmail has been blocked since June, according to Greatfire.org, a China-based advocacy group for Internet freedom, but users had been able to access the mail service through mobile apps or third-party email software such as Microsoft Outlook and Apple Mail until the current block. It was not immediately clear what prompted the complete ban at this time. The post Chinese Access to Gmail Cut, Regulators Blamed appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indonesia Expands Search for Missing AirAsia Jet, US Sends Warship Posted: 29 Dec 2014 09:05 PM PST The pilot of Navy airplane CN235 M. Naim holds a map to co-pilot Rahmad while flying over the Java Sea during joint search operations of AirAsia flight QZ8501 on Dec. 29, 2014, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo: Reuters / Antara) JAKARTA — Countries around Asia on Tuesday stepped up the search for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that is presumed to have crashed in shallow waters off the Indonesian coast, with Washington also sending a warship to help find the missing jet. Soelistyo, head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told local television the search area between the islands of Sumatra and Borneo would be expanded. Authorities would also begin scouring nearby islands as well as coastal land on Indonesia's side of Borneo. So far the focus of the search has been the Java Sea. There have been no confirmed signs of wreckage from the Airbus A320-200 operated by Indonesia AirAsia, which disappeared in poor weather on Sunday morning during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. The missing plane, which was carrying mainly Indonesians, could be at the bottom of the sea, Soelistyo said on Monday. The Java Sea is relatively shallow, making it easier to spot wreckage in the water, say oceanographers, but strong currents and winds in the area mean any debris would be drifting up to 50 km (31 miles) a day east, away from the impact zone. "The lesson that should be learned from MH370 is that you need to move quickly," said Charitha Pattiaratchi, an oceanographer at the University of Western Australia, referring to the Malaysia Airlines flight that went missing on March 8 during a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew and which has not been found. Around 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea would search up to 10,000 square nautical miles on Tuesday, officials said. Indonesian Air Force spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto said authorities would investigate an oil spill sighted on Monday, although a separate possible slick turned out to be a reef. Searchers had investigated several areas where possible debris had been sighted in the water but had found nothing connected to the missing plane, Tjahjanto told Reuters. Authorities would also investigate reports by local fishermen of an explosion on Sunday morning off an island in the area, Tjahjanto added, although dynamite fishing is common in Indonesian waters. The US military said the USS Sampson, a guided missile destroyer, would be on the scene later on Tuesday. "We stand ready to assist in any way possible," Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright said. Could Plane Have Stalled? What happened to Flight QZ8501, which had sought permission from Indonesian air traffic control to ascend to avoid clouds, is still a mystery. Online discussions among pilots have centered on unconfirmed secondary radar data from Malaysia that suggested the aircraft was climbing at a speed of 353 knots, about 100 knots too slow in poor weather, and that it might have stalled. While searchers had picked up an emergency locator signal off the south of Borneo, no subsequent signal was found, officials said. The plane, whose engines were made by CFM International, co-owned by General Electric and Safran of France, lacked real-time engine diagnostics or monitoring, a GE spokesman said. Such systems are mainly used on long-haul flights and can provide clues to airlines and investigators when things go wrong. Officials said the sea in the general search area was only 50 to 100 (150 to 300 feet) meters deep, which would be a help in finding the plane. "The Java Sea area where they are now searching isn't even an ocean, it's more of an inland sea," Erik van Sebille, a physical oceanographer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney told Reuters. "It's so shallow that they may just be able to spot the plane," said van Sebille, noting that sunlight travels through water up to about 100 meters. Oceanographer Pattiaratchi said debris would normally be expected to float on the surface for around 18 days before sinking. Three airline disasters involving Malaysian-affiliated carriers in less than a year have dented confidence in the country's aviation industry and spooked air travelers across the region. In the third incident, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 people on board. No Foul Play Seen On board Flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain. The co-pilot was French. US law enforcement and security officials said passenger and crew lists were being closely examined but so far nothing significant had turned up and that the incident was still regarded as an unexplained accident. The plane, which did not issue a distress signal, disappeared after its pilot failed to get permission to fly higher because of heavy air traffic, officials said. Pilots and aviation experts said thunderstorms, and requests to gain altitude to avoid them, were not unusual in that area. The Indonesian pilot was experienced and the plane last underwent maintenance in mid-November, the airline said. Indonesia AirAsia is 49 percent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia. The AirAsia group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, had not suffered a crash since its Malaysian budget operations began in 2002. The plane's disappearance comes at a sensitive time for Jakarta's aviation authorities, as they strive to improve the country's safety reputation to match its status as one of the airline industry's fastest growing markets. The post Indonesia Expands Search for Missing AirAsia Jet, US Sends Warship appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Pakistan Court Suspends Detention of Mumbai Attack Planner Posted: 29 Dec 2014 08:26 PM PST A reporter outside Mumbai's Taj Hotel on Nov. 27, 2008, one of the locations of a series of coordinated attacks which claimed the lives of 164 people. (Photo: Arko Datta / Reuters) ISLAMABAD— A Pakistani court Monday suspended a detention order keeping the alleged planner of the Mumbai terror attacks in jail, possibly paving the way for his release, officials said. The prospect of Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi going free presents an embarrassing turn of events for the Pakistani government that has vowed to crack down hard on militancy following the Dec. 16 Taliban school attack in Peshawar that left at least 148 people dead, mostly schoolchildren. It also raises the prospect of a serious political conflict with India, which has long-accused Islamabad of being soft on its homegrown militants. Lakhvi is one of seven men on trial in Pakistan in connection with the 2008 attack in the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people. Lakhvi is still in prison, pending the posting of his bail money, and Pakistani officials could try to fight the court’s decision. An immediate condemnation by neighboring India, calling the development "extremely disturbing," underscored how contentious the issue remains. The ruling came at a hearing in the capital of Islamabad, said prosecutor Jahanagir Jadoon. Monday’s developments stemmed from a surprise Dec. 18 ruling in which the judge in a Pakistani anti-terrorism court hearing Lakhvi’s case granted him bail, saying there was not enough evidence to hold him. The government immediately ordered his detention for 30 days under a law giving them leeway to detain certain suspects. Lakhvi then appealed the detention order. Monday’s hearing in a separate court was to hear that appeal. Judge Noorul Haq Qureshi said no grounds were provided Monday to continue Lakhvi’s detention, according to Jadoon. The judge set another hearing date for Jan. 15 and said that if the Interior Ministry provides evidence to justify Lakhvi’s continued detention, he could reverse the Monday order, Jadoon said. A spokesman for the prime minister could not be reached for comment Monday, and Pakistani television reported that senior officials were meeting at the Interior Ministry to discuss the case. News of Lakhvi’s possible release puts a spotlight on Pakistan’s policies toward militancy just as it is pledging to get tough on terrorism following the Peshawar attack. "The optics are simply atrocious," said Michael Kugelman, the Woodrow Wilson Center’s senior program associate for South and Southeast Asia. "This whole incident has really indicated a level of wishy-washiness in the Pakistan judicial system … that gives the lie to the notion that the country is going to be much more strong in how it goes after militants." India has long charged that a Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out the Mumbai attack with the help of Pakistan’s intelligence agency and called on Pakistan to do more to fight militancy. Pakistan vehemently denied any connection with the attack, and indicted Lakhvi and six others in Nov. 2009. But the case has proceeded slowly. All court proceedings are closed to the media and held in a high-security prison in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad. So far the court has heard 50 witnesses in the case, said a lawyer for Lakhvi, Rizwan Abbasi. India has already reacted angrily to any suggestion that Lakhvi might be released. India summoned Pakistan’s high commissioner to their Foreign Ministry Monday to voice their displeasure. "It was once again conveyed that we expect the Government of Pakistan to abide by the commitment conveyed to us, including at the highest level, that expeditious steps would be taken to bring all those responsible for the heinous acts of terrorism in Mumbai to justice," the ministry said in a statement. "It was extremely disturbing that despite the assurances we have been receiving over the last six years, and the recent tragedies in Pakistan, there seems to be no end in sight to Pakistan remaining a safe-haven for well-known terror groups." The bail announcement also puts a spotlight on Pakistan’s troubled court system, which has a shoddy record of prosecuting terrorism suspects. The system suffers from poor investigations by police, and intimidation of judges and witnesses. Anti-terrorism courts like the one trying Lakhvi were supposed to speed up trials but even they have become bogged down. In the wake of the Peshawar attack the government has taken a number of legal steps to crack down on terrorists. The prime minister lifted a moratorium on the death penalty and announced that terrorism suspects would be tried by military courts as a way to speed up such trials. The post Pakistan Court Suspends Detention of Mumbai Attack Planner appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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