Democratic Voice of Burma

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• Karen refugee becomes cop in US
• Drug protests spread to Moenyin
• Burma listed in Top 10 for jailing journalists
• Manau festival will go on despite calls to cancel

Karen refugee becomes cop in US Posted: 19 Dec 2014 11:04 PM PST Saw Lar Htoo has become the first Karen refugee to graduate as a police officer in the United States. Born in Burma, he fled with his family to a refugee camp along the Thai border when he was three years of age. He spent the next 15 years there. He and his family took resettlement to the US in 2009 when they moved to St. Paul in Minnesota. Following high school, the young Karen graduated from Hennepin County Technical College, specialising in law enforcement. Expressing a strong desire to become a police officer, he joined the training programme at St. Paul's Police Force. Saw Lar Htoo was all smiles at his graduation ceremony on 18 December. He will now accompany a senior officer in the field for 16 weeks before he takes on crime in Minneapolis. Related Stories Buddha Bar storm: lawyers refuse to represent Blackwood Rangoon minister vows tough action against massage parlours Rangoon death sparks allegations of police brutality The post Karen refugee becomes cop in US appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group.

Drug protests spread to Moenyin Posted: 19 Dec 2014 10:36 PM PST Local residents of Moenyin in southern Kachin State took to the streets on Saturday morning to protest against local authorities who, they say, have failed to tackle serious drug problems in the area, which is rife with heroin and methamphetamine use. The demonstration was also targeting the local ethnic people who seem to regard drugs as a pastime rather than a social evil," said Seng Naw, the information officer of the civic group that organised the event. Related Stories Manau festival will go on despite calls to cancel UNOCHA announces $190m budget Mekong bloc unites to fight drug trafficking "Almost every household in this town suffers from some form of drug-related problem," she told DVB on Saturday. "People have turned out in numbers to protest. We can say that the local authorities have taken some action, but not enough." Drug users in Moenyin are mostly young people, he said, but older people are also prone. He said organisers had obtained official permission to stage the rally, and estimated that 250 locals would turn up. He said the protestors marched between two of the town's main churches. Most of the local population in Moenyin are ethnic Shan, though Kachins are also represented. In October, protestors also took to the streets of Banmauk in Sagaing Division, calling for official measures to tackle rampant drug problems in that region. Last month, DVB published a controversial video documentary showing some of the shattered lives that have resulted from drug addiction in northern Shan State. *WARNING: graphic images of drug use. The post Drug protests spread to Moenyin appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group.

Burma listed in Top 10 for jailing journalists Posted: 19 Dec 2014 09:41 PM PST The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has identified 220 journalists imprisoned around the world in 2014, a slight increase from the year before. The Burmese government is currently ranked as the eighth most repressive regime for jailing reporters; with ten media workers listed behind bars, it is surpassed only by China, Iran, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Egypt and Syria. “The fact that Burma is among the ten worst global jailers of journalists underscores the abrupt reversal of President Thein Sein’s earlier press freedom promises. Reporters in Burma now face the same level of threat they did under the previous military junta,” said Shawn Crispin, the senior Southeast Asia representative for CPJ, speaking to DVB on Friday. “With ten journalists now languishing behind bars, proponents of the country’s supposed democratic progress should wake up and take notice of the authoritarian reality that still governs the country. The use of anti-state charges to jail journalists has restored the culture of fear and self-censorship that was pervasive under the previous ruling junta. “If Western governments based their decisions to lift or suspend sanctions on previous progress on press freedom, they should now consider reimposing those punitive measures in response to the jailing of journalists,” he added. According to the report by the international journalists’ watchdog, on the date of the CPJ census, at least 10 journalists were imprisoned in Burma, officially known as Myanmar, all on anti-state charges. "In July, five staff members of the Unity weekly news journal were sentenced to 10 years in prison each under the 1923 Official Secrets Act. Rather than reforming draconian and outdated security laws, President Thein Sein's government is using the laws to imprison journalists," the report by CPJ news editor Shazdeh Omari said. The five were found guilty of exposing state secrets after a January report in Unity alleged the existence of a secret chemical weapons factory in Magwe Division, central Burma. On 2 October, the regional court reduced the sentences of the five Unity personnel to seven years following an appeal. In July, more than 50 journalists and their supporters were charged under the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Act for participating in an unauthorised demonstration where they taped their mouths and held a vigil outside the government-backed Myanmar Peace Centre in Rangoon. The charges were later dropped. In October, five staff members of the now defunct Bi-Mon Te Nay weekly news journal were found guilty of sedition charges and sentenced to two years each. Related Stories Rights groups urge justice for Ja Seng Ing, Brang Shawng Suu Kyi still negotiating China visit Child-trafficking protest forces local officials into action The five – two editors, one reporter and two publishers – were sentenced under Article 505(b) of the penal code for "defamation of the state" after the journal had published a report in July repeating an activist group's claims that Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi had teamed up with several ethnic politicians to form an interim government. The conviction of the ten Unity and Bi-Mon Te Nay journalists prompted a domestic and international outcry, with warnings that the country could be backsliding on promises of press freedom. While major media reforms, such as the disbandment of Burma's notorious pre-publication censorship board in August 2012, caused a wave of early optimism, disputes over new regulations and an apparent targeting of reporters began to cast doubt on Naypyidaw's commitment to establishing a free media. According to the CPJ report, 44 journalists languish behind bars in China, a jump from 32 the previous year. Almost half of those jailed are either Tibetan or Uighur. The increased imprisonment of journalists in China "reflects the pressure that President Xi Jinping has exerted on media, lawyers, dissidents and academics to toe the government line," said CPJ. "In addition to jailing journalists, Beijing has issued restrictive new rules about what can be covered and denied visas to international journalists." Iran is second worst offender, according to CPJ, although its record continues to improve. Thirty media workers are currently recorded in Iranian prisons, down from 35 in 2013, and a record high of 45 in 2012. According to international watchdog Reporters Without Borders, 66 journalists were killed around the world in 2014, 15 of who were in Syria. One slain reporter was recorded in Burma – Par Gyi, who was killed by the Burmese army in September under opaque circumstances.   The post Burma listed in Top 10 for jailing journalists appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group.

Manau festival will go on despite calls to cancel Posted: 19 Dec 2014 07:20 PM PST The chief minister of Kachin State has said the state government will continue to hold its traditional Manau festival despite calls for it to be cancelled from many in the local community. The Myitkyina-based assembly said it plans to stage celebrations from 5 to 11 January, at the same time marking Kachin State Day. However, more than 8,000 people have signed a petition asking the chief minister to call off the ceremony due to instability in the region as clashes continue between Burmese government forces and the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO). The state Manau Festival Committee met protesters earlier this week when they explained to them the reasons for maintaining the festivities. Related Stories Drug protests spread to Moenyin UNOCHA announces $190m budget Kachin, Palaung, Kokang forces clash with govt units in Muse According to Gum Jah Naw, a leading protestor and organiser of the petition; "The committee said they would hold the festival because they had distributed invitation letters, and invited embassy representatives and dignitaries from near and far." The celebration of the Kachin State Day and Manau Dance Festival was not promoted by the Union Government in Naypyidaw but only by state authorities, he said. Officials in Myitkyina were unavailable for comment. The last time the Manau festival was held in Kachin State was in 2011. It was halted thereafter when a 17-ceasefire ended between government forces and the KIO. The post Manau festival will go on despite calls to cancel appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group.

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