The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Amidst Ancient Temples, Golf Grows in Burma
• Freedom on the Brink
• NLD Rejects ‘False’ Report on Suu Kyi Ditching 2015 Presidential Push
• Govt Denies Failing to Implement Suu Kyi’s Letpadaung Report
• Flawed Scrutiny Process Leaves Political Prisoners Languishing
• The Message Behind the Grand Parade
• Finland Defends Controversial Aid Project in Karenni State
• Thailand Begins Impeachment Hearing of Ousted PM
• No Living in Fear: ‘I Am Charlie’ Rallies Back Free Speech 
• Indonesia Says Pings Detected in Search for AirAsia Jet’s Black Box
• Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa Concedes Defeat in Presidential Vote
• The Kola of Cambodia

Amidst Ancient Temples, Golf Grows in Burma Posted: 09 Jan 2015 05:59 AM PST A man tees off at a floating golf club at Myakyuntha Park in Rangoon. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) BAGAN, Mandalay Division — Two Buddhist temples act as book ends to the small waterway where my golf ball has just landed, instead of dropping as it should have onto the 12th fairway. Despite my gestures of protest, my caddie rolls up her lime-green uniform and wades in to retrieve the ball. I was playing golf amid the ancient pagodas of Bagan in central Burma. It wasn't an intentional game. An exploratory bike ride had taken us to the course, which lay almost incidentally around the 11th century temples built by past kings. The club house was rudimentary, there were no ladies tees and the fairways were bits of grass here and there. But they rented out clubs and insisted on caddies and a buggy, which seemed incongruous against the backdrop of ancient temples. The female caddies, common in Asia, wore distinctive, yellow thanaka paste on their faces and spoke no English except "good shot." They showed no sign they knew how to play. But they would hunt for a ball under barbed wire, in cow-covered regions, out-of-bounds and in tributaries of the Irrawaddy River. This was no Augusta, but it's doubtful whether anywhere else in the world you'd be lining up your putts with reference to ancient pagodas. Golf is a popular game in Burma, first played when the country was under British rule. The sport suffered from lack of investment under military rule, but that is changing as foreign funds flow in. The country now has 127 courses, according to the R&A, one of golf's governing bodies. Rangoon has numerous golf shops, rumored to be stocked with gear that generals are trying to flog—gifts from visiting businessman who knew of their liking for either golf or Johnnie Walker Blue Label. It also has the Pun Hlaing Golf Estate, the country's leading course, host to the 2015 Myanmar Open. The drive to the course is lined with signs soliciting drivers to view the latest housing showrooms—Florida-style villas and apartments with rents starting at US$3,500 a month. They are homes for the local rich, who have made their fortune in teak or timber, and for expatriates arriving to make theirs. A new bridge from the city has recently been built, halving the time to the Gary Player-designed course eight miles (13 km) from downtown Rangoon. The private course opened in 2002 and transformed land that previously served as rice paddies. With its din of development, it couldn't be more different from the course at Bagan. It's set between two rivers, the Pun and the Hlaing, and 18 lakes. The fairways are manicured, the greens pristine, and there are plenty of American-style amenities—more Florida than Burma. Glimpses of another world make surprise appearances, however. Walking between the fifth hole and a temporary sixth takes you along the river where Burmese fishing boats bob and the signs of river life take you back to reality. As you tee off for the sixth hole, the Shwedagon Pagoda looms in the distance. The post Amidst Ancient Temples, Golf Grows in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Freedom on the Brink Posted: 09 Jan 2015 05:49 AM PST The post Freedom on the Brink appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NLD Rejects ‘False’ Report on Suu Kyi Ditching 2015 Presidential Push Posted: 09 Jan 2015 04:32 AM PST Aung San Suu Kyi waits to speak at a rally for constitutional reform in Loikaw, Karenni State, on Nov. 8, 2014. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A spokesperson for the National League for Democracy (NLD) has vehemently denied that party chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi has dropped her presidential ambitions, after a local media outlet reported that the opposition leader would instead focus her efforts on securing the parliamentary speakership. "The news is absolutely false," Nyan Win, the NLD spokesman, told The Irrawaddy on Friday. "The [NLD] member who was quoted also denied having said that." A local Burmese journal, the Trade Times, reported on Thursday that Suu Kyi would not seek the presidency following national elections late this year. The weekly quoted a member of the NLD's central information team, Monywa Aung Shin, as saying the reason for Suu Kyi's shift in strategy was because there was not enough time to make a required constitutional change that would make her eligible for the presidency. Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday in the aftermath of the Trade Times article's publication, Monywa Aung Shin also denied the report. "I never said she would not run for the presidency and would run for speakership of the Parliament," he said. Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann said at the press conference in November that any changes to the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, which bars Suu Kyi from contesting the presidency under Article 59(f), could only be enacted after this year's general election. The Trade Times article quoted Monywa Aung Shin as saying: "The Constitution can't be amended in time, but Aung San Suu Kyi would be happy with being the head of the Parliament." The story was subsequently picked up by at least one foreign media outlet, with that report citing the Trade Times. The NLD central information team member said he had merely told the Trade Times that the likelihood of a Suu Kyi presidency would diminish if the Constitution is not amended before the elections. "They are saying they will do the constitutional amendments only after the 2015 elections. But I said we will keep trying for the presidency and also we will work to win in the 2015 elections absolutely," he said. Monywa Aung Shin acknowledged that if the Constitution was not amended before the 2015 elections, the NLD would have to wait until 2020 for a potential Suu Kyi presidency. "We, the NLD, will continue doing everything that a political party should do, and we will try by all means, until the end, for amendments to the Constitution," party spokesperson Nyan Win said. The post NLD Rejects 'False' Report on Suu Kyi Ditching 2015 Presidential Push appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Govt Denies Failing to Implement Suu Kyi’s Letpadaung Report Posted: 09 Jan 2015 04:08 AM PST A farmer walks along a barbed wire fence erected last month at the Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Division. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — A government committee tasked with implementing parliamentary recommendations for resolving problems with the Letpadaung copper mine has rejected criticism that it has mishandled the project and contributed to recent unrest in Sagaing Division. The committee's secretary Tin Myint told Burmese-language state media outlets that it had properly implemented the recommendations of the parliamentary committee chaired by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who presented a report on the Chinese-backed copper mine in early 2013. "It is not true that the committee is poorly implementing the report's recommendations. The committee has implemented the report and is also working for the development of the region and the locals," he was quoted as saying by Myanma Alin newspaper on Friday. The official went on to blame "outsiders" for the ongoing unrest near the mine. "We are trying to investigate who are these outsiders, organizations and activists that are inciting the villagers; the authorities are preparing a lawsuit against them. The recent incident at Letpadaung was caused by these outsiders," Tin Myint claimed. On Dec. 22, violence flared up near the mine when protesting farmers tried to stop company workers and police from seizing and fencing off farmlands. A 56-year-old woman named Khin Win was shot dead by police. Last week, Suu Kyi criticized the committee for failing to properly implement her report's recommendations, saying, "The committee did carry out some recommendations, but it has not fully implemented the recommendations. It has not followed the recommendations to the letter." Following a violent raid by police on a protest camp in November 2012, Suu Kyi's committee recommended that China's Wanbao and authorities ensure adequate compensation for villagers, address environmental impacts of the project and increase benefits for local communities and the Burmese government. Wanbao then drew up a new agreement with the government and the Burmese military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holding Ltd (UMEHL) to match the report's recommendations and greatly increase government revenues from the mine. However, the mining project—a joint venture between Wanbao and UMEHL—remains a source of conflict between farmers and the firm, whose operations are being protected by local authorities. Hundreds of farmers have rejected compensation offers for their land and have been angered by forced land seizures and the removal of a Buddhist monastery. Tin Myint, who spoke during a press conference in Naypyidaw on Thursday, said the land seizures had been legal and that adequate compensation had been offered to villagers. "Whether [people] take the compensation or not, this land is project land that was lawfully obtained through an industrial land leasing permit," he said, adding that 6,782 acres had been confiscated since the project began in 2011. Tensions remain high near the mine in Salingyi Township and villagers said on Friday that land seizures and protests were ongoing. Win Htay from Hse Tae village denied that outside organizations were inciting villagers to protest. "What they [the committee] said are lies. We are on our own to fight for our rights. There's no one behind us or stirring up the problem," he said. Dozens of local villagers are facing charges in relation to the recent violence and their resistance against the mine's expansion, according to the Burma Lawyers' Network, which is providing legal counsel to local communities affected by the project. "Locals were charged with stealing barbed wire and undermining [Wanbao's] interests. The complaint was filed against 50 people," lawyer Thein Than Oo said, adding that only one of the accused had so far been officially informed of the charges. Thein Than Oo said the family of the victim of the recent unrest was still waiting to hear whether the police would begin an investigation into her death. The family of Khin Win filed a first information report to the Salingyi Police Station on Jan. 3. Additional reporting by Thuzar. The post Govt Denies Failing to Implement Suu Kyi's Letpadaung Report appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Flawed Scrutiny Process Leaves Political Prisoners Languishing Posted: 09 Jan 2015 03:49 AM PST Prisoners come out from Insein Prison after authorities released them, while their families wait outside, in Rangoon on Jan. 3, 2012. (Photo: Reuters) The government-initiated Committee for Scrutinizing the Remaining Political Prisoners has come to an end. With 159 remaining political prisoners and an entirely unfulfilled mandate, the government has seen fit this week to create a new body, the Prisoners of Conscience Affairs Committee, to handle the urgent problem of political prisoners in our country. However, this body excludes my organization, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma (AAPPB), one of the main organizations working to resolve the issue of political prisoners. Whether or not AAPPB has been included is not the most pressing concern, but it does hint at the attitude of the government toward this issue. AAPPB was an active member of the previous committee and, where necessary, highlighted problems that were preventing the committee from fulfilling its mandate. We were also eager to suggest positive changes that might be made to the process of political prisoners' scrutiny. Despite high hopes from many in Burma, the process fell drastically short of expectations and never came close to fulfilling the initial mandate. The committee never held the legitimacy it should have, and members were unable to gain any real foothold in the process. The issues that caused the first committee process to founder are more fundamental than simply being about the inclusion or exclusion of AAPPB. The failure was due to the government approach to this committee and the insurmountable barriers that prevented committee members from working freely and without restrictions. This government approach appears unchanged with the new committee. At the outset, the creation of the review committee was a positive move and could have strengthened civil society's relationships with the government. AAPPB saw the committee as a welcome step that would ensure political prisoner issues were kept on the agenda. The year 2013 was the year the government spoke of its commitment to a free Burma, a commitment that recognized the role that the release of political prisoners would play in the national reconciliation process. While visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron in London in mid-2013, President U Thein Sein made the commitment we had been all waiting for: "By the end of the year there will be no prisoners of conscience in Myanmar," he said. For the first time in many decades, the end of 2013 was supposed to see a complete absence of political prisoners from Burma's jails. Indeed the end of 2013 and the start of 2014 did see a number of releases and the termination of many political activists' trials that had been ongoing. The government claimed to have fulfilled its promise to the outside world by releasing all political prisoners. However, this statement was simply not true—30 political prisoners were still in jail. The 30 prisoners who remained behind bars had been continually discussed throughout the meetings in 2013. The committee members had established a working definition of political prisoners and those 30 people qualified for release under that definition. Responding to concerns raised about these remaining prisoners, a government minister simply stated in November 2014 that: "It was found that three of the prisoners have been released and the remaining 27 prisoners committed other crimes. Their sentences for political activities have been annulled under [an] order of the President's Office dated 30 December 2013." President U Thein Sein's government statement explaining their continued imprisonment revealed the attitude that still exists toward freeing political activists. These remaining 27 were deemed criminals and not "prisoners of conscience" as his administration chooses to term them. The government chooses to persist with the prisoners of conscience title because it causes confusion with civil society terminology and helps the government avoid recognizing the political nature of these prisoners. Their statement did not recognize the political motivations for their actions or the torture and mistreatment some have suffered during their wrongful imprisonment. Their status as political detainees is never fully acknowledged and their freedom after prison is greatly restricted as a result. There is no acceptance that they should never have been jailed, no apology, no full pardon, and no compensation. Without the government fully respecting the definition of a political prisoner, this process is unlikely to ever function smoothly. According to the government position at the beginning of 2014, their international commitment to free all political prisoners were satisfied and no more political prisoners remained. The international community in turn relaxed pressure. For the government, the need to commit time and energy to a process was not as urgent as it was in 2013. Even getting a committee meeting organized in 2014 became a challenge, with only three taking place the entire year. As 2015 begins, the failings of the first committee are there for all to see. During 2014, the number of political prisoners steadily rose back up, and has now reached 160. Many more are awaiting trial. Many activists imprisoned during the past year were not first-time prisoners, with those brave enough to continue their political work constantly facing harassment and the likelihood of being rearrested. Sadly though, the new committee is highly unlikely to be able to resolve the problems faced by its predecessor. The committee itself still falls under the management of the Home Affairs Ministry, the very same ministry that is responsible for the continuing arrests and imprisonments. The same lack of transparency, accountability and openness that dogged the Scrutinizing Committee will almost certainly hamper the success of this latest process. Without freedom and independence from government influence, the new committee will not be able to work effectively, and the crisis of political prisoners in our jails will continue. For those on the committee to be able to do their jobs effectively, significant changes to the mandate and structure of the committee must be made. As a starting point, four practical steps should be taken. There should be a commitment to abide by international human rights law, covenants, treaties and declarations. The committee must genuinely involve civil society representatives. The committee must have the power to proactively choose to investigate cases of those in detention. The committee must also have the power to compel the police, security forces, military, prison authorities and government departments to cooperate with investigations. The new committee must not simply be a mechanism that the government uses to deflect criticism about political prisoners, claiming there is a process in place and it is up to the committee, not the government itself. The committee must have the independence and power to investigate cases and ensure all political prisoners are released. As long as political prisoners remain in jail, we cannot achieve genuine reform and reconciliation in our country. Bo Kyi is a former political prisoner and cofounder and joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma. Follow AAPPB on Twitter at: @aapp_burma The post Flawed Scrutiny Process Leaves Political Prisoners Languishing appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Message Behind the Grand Parade Posted: 09 Jan 2015 03:35 AM PST   A column of tanks in Naypyidaw participate in an Independence Day military parade on Sunday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) Last weekend's Independence Day was heralded by an unusual display of military might, the first of its kind in many years. As the country's political leaders looked on, columns of soldiers marched and tanks rumbled down one of Naypyidaw's many wide boulevards, barren and empty any other day of the year. Jet fighters flew overhead as Burma's "reformist" president stood in a black sedan, inspecting the procession while an artillery unit fired a deafening 21-gun salute to the leader. This year's celebrations, held on the 67th anniversary of Burma's independence, were quite out of the ordinary, even for a country that has spent decades under the thumb of the armed forces. The grand parade (known in Burmese as "Bo Shu Gan") had not been staged since 1962, the year the military under Ne Win seized power. The revival of old tradition is something for Burmese political observers several points of interest to ruminate upon—not least after the Minister for Construction announced that more than US$6 million would be spent to build a "Bo Shu Gan" building in Naypyidaw while the rest of the country languishes in poverty. Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at aungzaw@irrawaddy.org. First, the show of force demonstrates that President Thein Sein retains the confidence and support of the powerful armed forces. Second, extending an invitation to some ethnic armed group leaders for both the ceremony and official meetings with Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing showed the government's desperation to conclude a nationwide ceasefire agreement in the near future, despite lingering doubts and reservations on both sides. Third, Aung San Suu Kyi, an erstwhile supporter of Thein Sein's political reform program who has since grown distant from the president, did not attend the parade. Some ethnic leaders also stayed away. Despite the absence of some of his political rivals, it seems that Thein Sein is determined to achieve a peace agreement with the ethnic armed groups still fighting the government. Before his term is over this year, the president and his team are eager to show that they have achieved some kind of substantial political agreement with ethnic forces. But will that happen? The first Independence Day military parade in more than 50 years has also fuelled persistent suggestions that Thein Sein will seek a second presidential term after this year's general election. Was this parade part of a green light issued from the current leaders of the military and the junta old guard, including Snr-Gen Than Shwe? Government insiders and senior ministers bitterly say that Suu Kyi's political alliance with parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann (a former general with presidential ambitions) has created more tension between the government and parliament, deepening political divisions. The speaker, once number three in the regime, has lost military support and officers loyal to him in the armed forces have been removed, lending credibility to speculation that Thein Sein may be consolidating his ties to the military establishment in order to secure his re-election to the presidency. If an independent survey of voter opinion is ever conducted, it will show that the government's popularity is low. Expectations are high, and the government, seen as an extension of the previous regime, is unable to satisfy public expectations. At the same time, while Suu Kyi has conceded that constitutional restrictions will prevent her from contesting the presidency, she is definitely not out of the game. She remains popular, despite her leadership and her numerous shortcomings being the subject of heavy criticism among political analysts and the wide circle of Burmese dissidents. What the Independence Day march heralds for the year ahead remains unclear, aside from more frantic political jockeying ahead of the election. But it is safe to say that the new year has started just as the last year ended: with more political division and polarization.   The post The Message Behind the Grand Parade appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Finland Defends Controversial Aid Project in Karenni State Posted: 09 Jan 2015 01:05 AM PST A child collects water in Karenni’s State’s Shadaw Township. (Photo: KCSN) Finland’s government has defended a project it funded in a conflict-affected part of eastern Burma as "successful" in assisting both villagers and government officials "to make positive changes." The project, which came under the umbrella of the Norway-backed Myanmar Peace Support Initiative (MPSI), was heavily criticized in a report released last month by the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN), an NGO based in Burma’s smallest state. In the report titled "Where is Genuine Peace?" KCSN accused the Finnish-funded program of encouraging internally displaced people (IDP) to return to an area controlled by Burma’s army where "their safety cannot be guaranteed." Karenni State was until very recently home to a long running insurgency waged by the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP). Since the KNPP signed a ceasefire with the government in early 2012, a number of foreign funded aid projects have begun in the state where such work was previously restricted. KCSN maintains, however, that Finland, Norway and other foreign donors have misinterpreted the KNPP's ceasefire to justify supporting flashy peace-related development projects that overlook the still very precarious security situation on the ground. "Instead of encouraging IDPs to return home before it is safe, international donors should be trying to ensure that the rights of conflict-affected villagers are protected," KCSN said in a statement accompanying the release of their report. The Finnish government disputes KCSN's criticism. "[T]he project has not encouraged IDPs to return.  The project was initiated in support of the needs of IDPs who had already spontaneously returned," said Juha Peltonen, a spokesperson for Finland’s Development Minister Sirpa Paatero, a claim contradicting a description of the project by the MPSI’s own personnel. A paper published in March of last year by Ashley South, an academic who serves as a senior adviser to the MPSI, described the project in Karenni's Shadaw Township as being "specifically designed to help 'resettlement site' residents return to their previous villages." The US$79,000 project, which ran from September 2013 to June 2014, was implemented by the Kainayah Rural Social Development, a local NGO described by MPSI as being experienced with "participatory development approaches." A report produced by MPSI described its own role in the project as one that brought together the donor—in this case Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs—with the implementing partner, and helping that partner to "formulate actions and budgets in terms required by funders." According to MPSI, the project supported those returning IDPs "to recover traditional land and livelihoods, emphasizing the empowerment of local people." This was done through vocational trainings and the introduction of collective rice and seed banks. The MPSI's project summary—available on the group's website—did not include a description of military presence in the area. According to KCSN, a heavily fortified military checkpoint is located at the entrance to Shadaw on the road from Loikaw. KCSN says that army personnel stationed at the checkpoint routinely compel civilian vehicles to carry soldiers, one of the more blatant examples of how the army presence in the area affects local civilians. According to KCSN, the checkpoint is manned by soldiers affiliated with the Army Battalion 552 Strategic Command Office, which is based nearby at a temple that has been commandeered by the army. A smaller police checkpoint is located further down the road. The Finnish government's spokesperson acknowledges the existence of the army checkpoint but says that when Finnish foreign affairs envoys visited the area it appeared unmanned. "We went by that fortified military check point… it seemed to be empty. We did not get any information from the local people who we met that there was any difficulties with any of the armed forces," says Peltonen in a statement emailed to The Irrawaddy. A KCSN spokesperson tells The Irrawaddy that despite the Finnish diplomats not seeing troops at the checkpoint, it is still manned by armed troops at all times. Since the KCSN report was published last month, the army has also established a large checkpoint on the eastern side of Shadaw close to the Salween River, according to KCSN. KCSN says that the army has used the ceasefire with the KNPP to beef up its presence in Shadaw reinforcing and enlarging army posts and other related military infrastructure. The continued presence of the army in these areas remains a major concern for local villagers, according to KCSN. Shadaw was once home to many more villages than are currently there, but in 1996—following the collapse of a previous ceasefire between the KNPP and the government—army units carried out what KCSN describes "a mass forced relocation program." Many of those forcibly relocated now reside in two Karenni camps located on the Thai-Burma border while others have been resettled from these camps to the United States. KCSN claims that the MPSI's assessment of the project was problematic and incorrectly claimed that the project assisted 1,431 IDPs to return to their villages in Shadaw, when KCSN's research in the area found that the real figure was only about one third of that. Peltonen denied claims that the figures were inflated. "One factor behind this discrepancy might be that in the project area, families have their plantation gardens in the hills and therefore people may not spend much time in the villages as they are occupied with cultivating the plantations," Peltonen explained. According to Peltonen, both the KSCN report and an article on the report published by the Karen News website "make claims that grossly misrepresent the project in question. For example the title of the project is incorrect. It is not, as stated in the report, a 'Model Village Project' but 'Community-led Recovery of Traditional Land and Livelihood of IDPs in Shadaw, Kayah State.'  Also, the project covers ten villages, but not all of the villages listed in the report are the correct villages," he told The Irrawaddy. KCSN spokesperson Ko Reh told The Irrawaddy that contrary to what Peltonen suggested, KCSN did visit and investigate all ten of the villages involved in the project. According to Ko Reh, there were discrepancies in village names because the KCSN report used local Karenni names for the villages instead of the official names used by the government. Ko Reh said that MPSI and Finland must do more to consult with local people and civil society before they launch projects in contested areas like Shadaw, where the army has a major presence. Ko Reh pointed to the report's other findings, which detailed a wave of large-scale land grabbing by the Burma Army across Karenni State, to support KCSN's claim that the army has continued to trample on the rights of Karenni villagers since a March 2012 ceasefire was reached with the KNPP. According to KCSN, more than 3,000 acres of land were confiscated from farmers in Pruso Township so the Burma Army could build a training school. Construction on the school began several months after the ceasefire was reached and the deeply unpopular project has continued with both the army and local government officials rejecting local villagers' efforts to get their land back. The continued army presence in Karenni State is a stark reminder to locals of who holds ultimate power in Burma today. "When I see soldiers everywhere, it reminds me our country is still under the military instead of being a democracy," the KCSN report quotes one young villager from Shadaw as saying, a view that is unlikely to change no matter how much money Western donors pour into his state. The post Finland Defends Controversial Aid Project in Karenni State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thailand Begins Impeachment Hearing of Ousted PM Posted: 08 Jan 2015 11:48 PM PST Ousted former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra gestures as she arrives at Parliament before the National Legislative Assembly meeting in Bangkok on Jan. 9, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — Thailand's military-appointed legislature began impeachment hearings Friday against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a move analysts say is aimed at ensuring the ousted leader stays out of politics for the foreseeable future. The charges, dismissed by Yingluck's supporters as politically motivated, relate to her alleged role in a disastrous government rice subsidy scheme. The lawmakers are expected to vote on their verdict by the end of the month. If impeached, Yingluck could be banned from politics for five years. Yingluck was forced from office in early May by a court verdict that declared she had illegally transferred the nation's security chief. That verdict came one day before Thailand's anti-graft commission indicted her on charges of dereliction of duty in overseeing a widely criticized rice subsidy program. Yingluck, who came to power in a landslide election in 2011, had insisted for months that the Southeast Asian nation's fragile democracy was under attack from protesters, the courts, and finally the army, which staged a May 22 coup that wiped out the remnants of her administration. Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was also ousted by the army in a 2006 coup. Analysts say Friday's hearing is more about curbing the power of the Shinawatra family and keeping them out of politics. The junta has spoken of holding elections in 2015, but no date has been set. "The impeachment is geared to keep Yingluck at bay. If she's allowed to run in the next election, there's a good chance that she might win," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, the director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. If Yingluck is prosecuted, however, the government "could risk incurring the wrath of the pro-Thaksin camp. At the same time, it would also deepen the polarization and divisions that we have seen in Thailand." The National Legislative Assembly, hand-picked by the junta and dominated by active and retired military officers, will deliberate on whether Yingluck neglected her duty and failed to halt the rice subsidy program, which accumulated losses of at least US$4 billion and temporarily cost Thailand its position as the world's leading rice exporter. The scheme, under which the government paid farmers double the market price, was a flagship policy that helped Yingluck's government win votes in the 2011 general election. Arriving at Parliament early Friday, Yingluck told reporters she was "confident" she would be exonerated and said she was "ready to clarify in every charge." Last year, Yingluck said the anti-graft commission's deliberations in the case against her were unfairly rushed. On Thursday, the legislature began separate impeachment hearings against a former house speaker and a former senate speaker for allegedly trying to amend the constitution, which the army suspended when it seized power. The post Thailand Begins Impeachment Hearing of Ousted PM appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

No Living in Fear: ‘I Am Charlie’ Rallies Back Free Speech  Posted: 08 Jan 2015 10:04 PM PST Amandine Marbach from Strasbourg, France, takes part in a vigil to pay tribute to the victims of a shooting, by gunmen at the offices of weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, in the Manhattan borough of New York January 7, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) LONDON — From Berlin to Bangkok, tens of thousands took a stand against living in fear, as rallies defended the freedom of expression and honored the victims of a Paris newspaper attack. Viewing the Paris killings as a cold-blooded assault on democracy, people from all walks of life—journalists and police officers, politicians and students—turned out in cities around the world Thursday, holding up pens and joining hands in an outpouring of silent solidarity. Many held placards proclaiming "Je Suis Charlie"—"I am Charlie"—a slogan that went viral on social media within hours of Wednesday's terror attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead. Germany's biggest-selling daily, Bild, filled the top half of its front page with the headline "Cowardly Murderers!" and printed a black back page with the words "Je suis Charlie." "The only thing we can do against this is to live fearlessly," editor-in-chief Kai Diekmann said in an editorial. "Our colleagues in Paris have paid the ultimate price for freedom. We bow before them." Peter Neumann, a security expert at King's College London, said the attack has won widespread attention on the Internet because it reflects an assault on values—unlike other recent terror incidents, such as those at a cafe in Sydney or outside parliament in Ottawa, which were seen as attacks directed at local targets. Many people are stepping forward to defend their principles because they see their basic rights threatened. "It has been framed as an attack on a principle, rather than a specific target," said Neumann, director of the university's International Center for the Study of Radicalization. Across Britain, police forces paused for two minutes at 10:30am Thursday—24 hours after the shootings—to remember the 12 victims in Paris, who included two French police officers. "Every single person, other than the people manning the emergency lines, came out to show their support," said Mike Barton, Chief Constable at Durham Police. European capitals including Madrid, London and Brussels and cities in the United States saw large demonstrations and candlelit vigils late Wednesday. More rallies were held Thursday from Sarajevo to Athens, where some formed a line and held up a letter each spelling out in Greek: "I do not hate, I am not afraid." In Rome, several thousand people attended a candle-lit vigil in front of the French Embassy. Rome's municipal government also decided to light up the facade of city hall with red, white and blue lights in honor of the French flag. Smaller gatherings took place even further afield, from Delhi, India, to the Tunisian capital, Tunis. In Tunisia, the birthplace of one of the slain cartoonists, Georges Wolinski, dozens paid homage to Charlie Hebdo in a candlelight vigil outside the French ambassador's residence. "These people were executed at point-blank range just because of drawings—drawings that didn't please everyone and provoked anger and controversy but still were just drawings," said journalist Marouen Achouri. In Prague, visitors to the National Theater and elsewhere were being asked to mark a minute of silence before each performance on Thursday to honor the victims. In Italy, seven general managers and artistic directors of Milan's major theaters and orchestras, including La Scala, put out a joint statement defending "all the values that are an achievement of our civilization." Editors at newspapers around the world expressed support by featuring subversive cartoons or reprinting some of the Paris weekly's provocative covers. Dozens declared "We are Charlie Hebdo" on their front pages. The Danish paper Jyllands-Posten, which has faced numerous threats and foiled attacks for publishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005, issued a black front page with a caption that said the free world has a responsibility to protect democracy against "religious frenzy." In Spain, the Madrid suburb of Rivas Vaciamadrid announced Thursday it planned to name a street, plaza or public space "Charlie Hebdo" in honor of the victims and the freedom of expression. The weekly performed a public service because "a society without satire and criticism is a society in a vegetative state," Mayor Pedro del Cura said. The post No Living in Fear: 'I Am Charlie' Rallies Back Free Speech  appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indonesia Says Pings Detected in Search for AirAsia Jet’s Black Box Posted: 08 Jan 2015 09:08 PM PST An Indonesian Air Force soldier (C) and Russian search team members look out the windows of a Super Puma helicopter during a search operation for passengers onboard AirAsia Flight QZ8501, off the Java sea, in Indonesia January 7, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) JAKARTA/PANGKALAN BUN — Indonesia search and rescue teams hunting for the wreck of an AirAsia passenger jet detected pings in their efforts to find the black box recorders on Friday, 12 days after the plane went missing with 162 people on board, an official said. Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 vanished from radar screens on Dec. 28, less than half way into a two-hour flight from Indonesia’s second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore. There were no survivors. The Airbus A320-200 carries the black box cockpit voice and flight data recorders near the tail section. Officials had warned, however, that they could have become separated from the tail. Santoso Sayogo, an investigator at the National Transportation Safety Committee, said it appeared that the black box was no longer in the tail. "We received an update from the field that the pinger locator already detected pings," he told Reuters. "We have our fingers crossed it is the black box. Divers need to confirm. Unfortunately it seems it’s off from the tail. But the divers need to confirm the position." The tail was found on Wednesday, upturned on the sea bed about 30 km (20 miles) from the plane’s last known location at a depth of around 30 meters. Indonesian search teams loaded lifting balloons on to helicopters on Friday ahead of an operation to raise the tail. Relatives of the victims have urged authorities to make finding the remains of their loved ones the priority. Forty-six bodies and debris from the plane have been plucked from the surface of the waters off Borneo, but strong winds and high waves have hampered efforts to reach larger pieces of suspected wreckage detected by sonar on the sea floor. Indonesia AirAsia, 49 percent owned by the Malaysia-based AirAsia budget group, has come under pressure from the authorities in Jakarta since the crash. The transport ministry has suspended the carrier’s Surabaya-Singapore license, saying it only had permission to fly the route on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Flight QZ8501 took off on a Sunday, though the ministry said this had no bearing on the accident. While the cause of the crash is not known, the national weather bureau has said seasonal tropical storms common in the area were likely to be a factor. The post Indonesia Says Pings Detected in Search for AirAsia Jet’s Black Box appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa Concedes Defeat in Presidential Vote Posted: 08 Jan 2015 08:35 PM PST Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa greets supporters after casting his vote for the presidential election on Thursday. (Photo: Dinuka Liyanawatte / Reuters) COLOMBO — Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has conceded defeat in his bid for a third term in office, his spokesman said Friday. Rajapaska has bowed to the people’s decision and left Temple Trees, his official residence, said Wijeyanda Herath, his media secretary. In a result unthinkable just weeks ago, Rajapaksa lost to his former friend and health minister, Maithripala Sirisena, who defected from the ruling party and turned the election into a referendum on the president and the enormous power he wields over the island nation of 21 million. Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said the election was peaceful, although some voters were prevented from casting ballots in the Tamil-dominated north, according to the Center for Monitoring Election Violence. Until just a few weeks ago, Rajapaksa was widely expected to easily win his third term in office. But that changed suddenly in November when Sirisena split from him, and gathered the support of other defecting lawmakers and many of the country’s ethnic minorities, making the election a fierce political battle. Rajapaksa was still thought to be tough to beat because he controlled the state media, has immense financial resources and is still popular among the Sinhala majority, some of whom see him as a savior for destroying Tamil Tiger rebels and ending a decades-long civil war in 2009. But polling was notably strong Thursday in Tamil-dominated areas, where voting had been poor in previous elections. The results highlighted the ethnic polarization in the country, with Tamils and Muslims, the second-largest ethnic minority, both voting against Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa was accused of backing ultranationalist Buddhist groups and turning a blind eye on anti-Muslim violence last June. Many Tamils have felt abandoned since the war’s end, when Rajapaksa largely ignored Tamil demands to heal the wounds of the fighting and years of ethnic divisions. They were thought to have voted heavily for Sirisena. Both Sirisena and Rajapaksa are ethnic Sinhalese, who make up about three-quarters of the country. Neither has done much to reach out to Tamils, who account for about nine percent of the population, but Rajapaksa is deeply unpopular in the Tamil community. The wider world was watching to see if the election was carried out fairly, especially since Pope Francis is scheduled to arrive in the country on Tuesday. While Rajapaksa’s campaign centered around his victory over the Tamils and his work rebuilding the country’s infrastructure and economy, Sirisena’s focused on reining in the president’s expanding powers. He also accused Rajapaksa of corruption, a charge the president denies. The economy has grown quickly in recent years, fed by enormous construction projects, many built with Chinese investment money. But Sri Lanka still has a large underclass, many of whom are increasingly frustrated at being left out. Rajapaksa’s power grew immensely after he defeated the Tigers. Following his victory in the last election in 2010 he jailed his opponent and used his parliamentary majority to scrap a constitutional two-term limit for the president and give himself the power to appoint judges, top bureaucrats, police officials and military chiefs. He also orchestrated the impeachment of the country’s chief justice. He also installed numerous relatives in top government positions. One brother is a Cabinet minister, another is the speaker of Parliament and a third is the defense secretary. His older son is a member of Parliament and a nephew is a provincial chief minister. The post Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa Concedes Defeat in Presidential Vote appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Kola of Cambodia Posted: 08 Jan 2015 04:00 PM PST Images of the storied Kola matriarch Yeay Yat. (Photo: Simon Lewis / The Irrawaddy) PAILIN PROVINCE, Cambodia — "When I was growing up, everyone around here was Kola," said Chhoeum Davy, sitting beneath the Buddhist pagoda of Wat Phnom Yat. The golden tower is in the style of those found all over Myanmar, but it sits atop a hill overlooking Pailin in northwest Cambodia. It is almost all that's left here of the Kola, the group of migrants from Myanmar who built it. The precise origins of the people and their name, sometimes spelt Kula, are unclear. They are thought to have journeyed here in caravans from somewhere in Shan State and came to control the local gem-mining industry. Cambodian accounts suggest they first arrived in 1876, while the area was part of Siam. "They were very rich. They had bowls full of gold and gems," said Ms. Davy, a 59-year-old Khmer woman who looks after the pagoda. Kola middlemen would carry a bell to ring as they were coming around the villages, telling gem miners to bring out their wares, she recalled. At Wat Phnom Yat, statues depict Kola men wearing a garment like a longyi, hinting at the group's ancestral homeland. "The men dressed like Khmer men, but they wore sarongs. The women had a traditional double-breasted blouse, with platinum or gems for buttons, and beautifully embroidered sleeves," said Ms. Davy. "They used umbrellas, chewed betel nut and kept their hair very long." Among the painted names identifying those who have donated to the pagoda and a nearby monastery are Myanmar names, since some have come to see Wat Phnom Yat as a site of pilgrimage. Brand-new gold plating and gold leaf for the pagoda were donated by people from Myanmar last year, Ms. Davy said. Around the pagoda are gruesome scenes from Buddhist purgatory, a tall standing Buddha, and—attracting the most Cambodian visitors—statues of a Kola woman, Yeay Yat, after whom the hill and the pagoda are named. Her story is recorded in a Khmer-language collection of folk tales compiled by the country's Institut Bouddhique. It recounts that Grandmother and Grandfather Yat—Yeay Yat and Ta Yat—were gemstone traders in Pailin. Due to the lucrative gems business in the area, the story goes, many locals had firearms to protect their property. But they also used the guns to hunt animals in the then-thick forests surrounding the town of Pailin—a practice that scared local spirits. One day, the most powerful spirit in the area visited Yeay Yat and Ta Yat and offered them a bargain: If they got the people to stop hunting, the spirit would see to it that the people would find more gemstones. The hunting ceased and the people grew richer, repaying the spirit by donating generously to build Wat Phnom Yat and performing a "peacock dance" atop the hill for the spirit. Local people now believe that Yeay Yat's spirit can grant wishes in return for offerings. The spirit of Yeay Yat is known to possess people in Pailin from time to time, said Ms. Davy, who sells laminated images of the Kola matriarch at the pagoda. "Whenever her spirit enters somebody's body, they speak in Kola [language]," she said. Like most of the precious gemstones and forests that once enriched this area, the Kola fell victim to the Khmer Rouge, the ultra-Maoist group that ravaged Cambodia from 1975-79. After fleeing Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge retreated to Pailin and other redoubts near the Thai border to wage an insurgency that lasted through to the late 1990s, largely funded by sales of gems and timber to Thai merchants. While in power, the Khmer Rouge abolished money and confiscated all property for the state, forcing the Cambodian people into collective work camps and especially victimizing those who were considered wealthy or educated. More than 1.7 million people are thought to have died in just over three years before a Vietnamese invasion ousted the regime. But among the reams of literature about the country's killing fields, little mention is given to the fate of the Kola. "They tried to run away to Thailand, but I don't think many made it," said Ms. Davy. The pre-civil war population of Kola in Pailin would have been tens of thousands, she said, but it now stands at just one, an elderly woman widely known as Yeay Kola. The frail 77-year-old, whose real name is Sein Tin, visits the pagoda most days. "Whatever you ask from Yeay Yat, you will get it. She was a woman who took care of the people," Sein Tin told The Irrawaddy at her home, only meters from Wat Phnom Yat. "All were Kola around here," Sein Tin said sadly, indicating the hilly surrounds and the monastery opposite, built in the Myanmar style using wood with metal roofing. "The Khmer Rouge kicked all the Kola out. … They mistreated them. They had to exchange all their property for rice, so they were poor. Then, if they stole, they were killed." Sein Tin fled the area and hid in the nearby town of Battambang, returning later to find that all the Kola had gone. "I survived only by luck. But I am the only one left here," she said. Local officials in Pailin are almost all former Khmer Rouge soldiers, since Pailin was only carved out as an administrative area, for the benefit of former cadres, in 1996 after a massive defection that presaged the group's demise. Sao Sarat, the deputy governor of the province and a former Khmer Rouge fighter, denied that any Kola had been killed by the communist army. "The war came and they ran away," said Mr. Sarat, insisting that the entire former population of the area was safely living in Thailand. "Some of them have even come back to visit." The Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Phnom Penh is now trying two former regime leaders for crimes that include genocide against the Muslim Cham and the Vietnamese minority in Cambodia. Youk Chhang, executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, said that it did not appear the Kola were specifically targeted by the Khmer Rouge, as were the Cham and the Vietnamese. As well as settling across the border in Thailand, he said, some were known to have migrated to Phnom Penh and to the United States. However, others likely died from starvation, overwork or during the purges that wracked Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge era. "They [Kola] look like Khmers, so many probably died along with everyone else," Mr. Chhang said. This story first appeared in the January 2015 print edition of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post The Kola of Cambodia appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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