Democratic Voice of Burma |
- Thousands march in Mogok to protect iconic lake
- DVB Bulletin: 14 January 2015
- NMSP accused of extortion in highway scheme
- Army major finally appears for Brang Shawng trial
- Political prisoners, Arakan violence hold US attention
- Two Rohingyas die in Thai police custody: DPA
- Latpadaung activists’ court hearing postponed
| Thousands march in Mogok to protect iconic lake Posted: 14 Jan 2015 05:12 AM PST Over three thousand protesters turned out in Mogok, northern Mandalay Division on Sunday. Deep concern has been felt in the community for the health of the iconic lake which sits in the centre of the historic ruby mining town. Protesters say they must act now, to save the lake from developers. The post Thousands march in Mogok to protect iconic lake appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group. |
| Posted: 14 Jan 2015 05:00 AM PST On tonight's bulletin:
You can watch DVB Bulletin every weeknight on DVB TV after the 7 o'clock news. The post DVB Bulletin: 14 January 2015 appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group. |
| NMSP accused of extortion in highway scheme Posted: 14 Jan 2015 02:33 AM PST A local family in the Thai-Burmese border town of Three Pagodas Pass have complained that Mon rebels are extorting them of payments from a construction company that is building a highway through their land. Mi Aye Khine told DVB on Tuesday that the Yamanya International firm had previously agreed to pay 120 Thai baht (US$4) to her family and 350 baht to the New Mon State Party (NMSP) per truckload of rocks excavated from her land as part of a project to build a four-lane highway connecting the area with Thailand. "The construction company has been mining rocks on our land, providing us with120 baht for each 10-wheel truckload," she said. "Now the NMSP have told us they will be taking all of our cut as well as their own." "The NMSP said the land does not belong to us. But in fact we bought it from another local in Payathonzu [Three Pagodas Pass] in 1996," she said. "My father has been longing to build a house on the land, but now the Mon army says he must seek permission from them to do so, because the land falls under its territory." Mi Aye Khine said she has complained directly and sent letters to local political parties. Nai Chan Tain Mon, the NMSP chairperson in Payathonzu, insisted the land belonged to the ethnic army as it falls under their demarcated territory, as do the natural resources on the land. "Kyandaw Hill is nearby and is very resource-rich," he said. "Such an area should only belong to the government or an armed group. We cannot allow private individuals to be making profits from it." He said farmers can make profits from growing crops on the land, but all natural resources – including rocks and pebbles – are property of the NMSP. Nai Thein Zaw, an official in the All Mon Region Democracy Party, confirmed that the party had received Mi Aye Khine's complaint. "It is hard to speak for the family as they have no land ownership paperwork," he said. "We explained the 2012 Farmland Law and asked them to make a list of plants and crops they have grown on the land, as well as providing any photographic evidence of their ownership." The NMSP is one of more than a dozen armed ethnic groups presently involved in ceasefire negotiations with the Burmese government. The post NMSP accused of extortion in highway scheme appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group. |
| Army major finally appears for Brang Shawng trial Posted: 14 Jan 2015 12:16 AM PST A Burmese army major who brought a case against the father of a girl who was allegedly killed by the army – accusing him of false accusation – has appeared in court after being absent from many hearings. Brang Shawng, a villager from Hpakant in Kachin State, filed a report to the government and Myanmar National Human Rights Commission regarding the death of his 14-year-old daughter Ja Seng Ing. He says that she was fatally shot by the Burmese army while on her way home from the school, amid clashes in the area in September 2012. Maj. Zarni Min Pike subsequently filed a lawsuit against him. The trial began in 2013 but stalled as the plaintiff was repeatedly absent from proceedings. The hearing was re-adjourned around 50 times. Zarni Min Pike finally made an appearance at Hpakant court on Monday. Brang Shawn told DVB on Tuesday that his lawyer “had continued cross examination on the outstanding issues." Prosecution witnesses and Brang Shawng also gave evidence in court on Tuesday. Various international human rights groups have called on the Burmese government to drop all charges against Brang Shawng. The post Army major finally appears for Brang Shawng trial appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group. |
| Political prisoners, Arakan violence hold US attention Posted: 13 Jan 2015 10:36 PM PST A US human rights delegation is meeting with Burmese government officials on Wednesday in Naypyidaw for the first of two days of talks, spearheading the continued scrutiny of the human rights situation in Burma by Washington. The delegation, led by Tom Malinowski, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour, will engage in talks with Thein Sein's government on "rule of law, freedom of speech, religious tension and conflict, protecting minorities, the situation in Rakhine [Arakan] State, and democratic and military reform," according to a statement from the US embassy in Rangoon. The discussions will "provide an opportunity to review progress, discuss challenges, and find ways to cooperate to improve the human rights situation in the country," the statement says. Malinowski is due to hold a press conference at the US embassy in Rangoon on Friday. Representatives from civil society groups focusing on political prisoners, human rights, women's rights and disabled rights issues met with the delegation on Tuesday in advance of the official talks for a fact-finding meeting, Aung Myo Min, executive director of Equality Myanmar, told DVB after attending the event. Related StoriesSpeaking about Tuesday's meeting, Aung Myo Min said, "We mainly discussed political prisoners and democratic transition. Most of the questions the delegation asked us were about prisoners of conscience. We talked about the Political Prisoner Affairs Committee, and also reviewed human rights issues in Burma." He characterised the meeting as "frank and open", saying that it saw the delegation seeking data and information from a "collection of the voices of civil society." Aung Myo Min said that that the increasing human rights violations, particularly the detention of peaceful protestors, needs to be prioritised, telling DVB, "The main issue is the misuse of both old and new laws." He highlighted the abuse of Article 505(b) (defamation of the state) and Article 18 (peaceful assembly law) as particularly problematic, adding, "We want to abolish this kind of law and make sure everyone has the right to enjoy and practice freedom of association and freedom of assembly, as mentioned in our own Constitution." The group of US representatives have also visited Internally Displaced People camps in Burma's northern Kachin State. In remarks made at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, USA, earlier this week, the Obama administration's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Samantha Power said that while the US has gone some way to ease sanctions and reintroduce diplomacy, Burma is "still a long way away from being a rights-respecting democracy," adding that "the civilian government is still subordinate to the military." She highlighted the continued constitutional bias towards the military. Power paid particular attention in her comments to the ongoing conflict in Arakan State and the plight of the Muslim Rohingya community, denouncing the lack of accountability for the violence and acknowledging the role of "extremist monks" in exacerbating tensions. She was especially critical of newly proposed legislation that would see Rohingyas being made to renounce their ethnic identity in order to receive recognition as Burmese citizens. Power identified the role of the US in encouraging reform as incentivising progress; "Shining a bright light on the government's shortcomings"; and targeting individuals such as Aung Thaung, the Burmese businessman who has been on the receiving end of US business sanctions. She said that the US "still have great hope for Burma's future", mentioning the country's youth who, having now experienced the freedom to talk about the hardships they have encountered, are "not likely to give that right up without a struggle." The post Political prisoners, Arakan violence hold US attention appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group. |
| Two Rohingyas die in Thai police custody: DPA Posted: 13 Jan 2015 09:43 PM PST Two Rohingya men from Burma have died in police custody in Thailand, DPA has reported, citing local authorities on Wednesday. One man died from dehydration and another from an infection, Pol Capt Suwit Nuansoong is reported saying. The victims were among 98 ethnic Rohingya migrants crammed into the back of five pickup trucks which were stopped at a checkpoint by police early Monday in the southern Thai province of Nakhon Sri Thammarat. A woman was found crushed to death at the scene, while the rest of the group was detained. Early reports indicate that the migrants may be part of a trafficking ring and were en route to find work in Malaysia. Related StoriesThe post Two Rohingyas die in Thai police custody: DPA appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group. |
| Latpadaung activists’ court hearing postponed Posted: 13 Jan 2015 09:19 PM PST A court hearing for Latpadaung activists Naw Ohn Hla, Nay Myo Zin, Sein Htay and Tin Htut Paing was postponed on Tuesday on the grounds that not all defendants were present. "The hearing was reappointed for 20 January as only four of the seven defendants in this case had been detained to date," said defence lawyer Robert San Aung. "Then, following the judge's decision to postpone the hearing, a fifth defendant, San San Win, turned herself in." He said two other defendants, Thant Zin and Mya Nyunt, are still at large. The activists have been charged with: defamation of the state; and disturbing officials on duty. As supporters and media gathered in a scrum outside the Dagon Township courthouse, Naw Ohn Hla told reporters that "none of this would be happening if police had not closed the road that demonstrators [against the Latpadaung copper mine project] were marching on." On 29 December, hundreds of protestors held a rally in Rangoon and attempted to lay a wreath in front of the Chinese embassy to condemn the death of Latpadaung villager Khin Win who was fatally shot in a confrontation with riot police at the site of the Chinese-backed copper mine project near Monywa in Sagaing Division. The Chinese embassy in Rangoon released a statement on 25 December, expressing its "deep condolences" over the death of villager Khin Win, who was shot in the head on 22 December while protesting the laying of fences around disputed plots of land at the copper mine site. The embassy further remarked that Chinese workers have been attacked at the site while peacefully implementing the project. "The Letpadaung mining project is an important joint [venture] between China and Myanmar, and we support the Letpadaung project [being] implemented in a peaceful and secure manner, and oppose any kind of violence," the statement said. Hundreds of local villagers and their supporters have been protesting the Latpadaung copper mine since its inception more than 10 years ago. Many have been displaced to make way for the project, which was originally contracted to a Canadian firm, Ivanhoe Mines. The controversial mine was temporarily suspended when activists and Buddhist monks staged a mass sit-in protest in 2012. The protest was broken up brutally by riot police on 29 November that year when some 80 protestors were injured, including several monks, many with horrific burns that experts have attributed to white phosphorous. A subsequent investigation headed by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi failed to pronounce anyone guilty for the violent crackdown, and to many villagers' dismay, recommended to the government that the project be resumed. Since Khin Win's killing, Suu Kyi has blamed the violence on the Latpadaung Working Committee, accusing it of failing to implement the suggestions of her investigative commission. Tin Myint, secretary of the committee, rejected Suu Kyi's remarks and told reporters on 8 January that his committee is seriously evaluating and implementing the suggestions of the commission. The post Latpadaung activists' court hearing postponed appeared first on DVB Multimedia Group. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from DVB Multimedia Group | DVB Multimedia Group To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.