AllSBNews: 04/03/15

Friday, April 3, 2015

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Photo of the Week (April 03, 2015)
Air Mandalay to Return to Skies in May
Kachin Group Says Its Investigation Could Reveal Killers of Teachers
‘I Don’t Think it is Possible to Scrap the Entire System and Build a New One’
20 Burmese Feared Dead After Russian Trawler Sinking: Reports
Rights Activist Back to Insein on Peaceful Assembly Rap
Lawyers Network to Offer Advice, Representation for Journalists
Fishermen Rush to Be Rescued Amid Indonesian Slavery Probe
Three Indian Soldiers Killed in Ambush in Arunachal Pradesh
Chinese Influence in Cambodia Grows With Army School, Aid
North Korea Expels Chief of German Food Aid Organization: NGO
UN Rights Chief Slams Thai Junta’s Use of Repressive Law

Photo of the Week (April 03, 2015)

Posted: 03 Apr 2015 05:53 AM PDT

The post Photo of the Week (April 03, 2015) appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Air Mandalay to Return to Skies in May

Posted: 03 Apr 2015 05:39 AM PDT

A chartered Air Mandalay plane taxis on the runway at Thandwe Airport in Arakan State on Friday. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy)

Locally owned Air Mandalay expects to resume international flights later this year, following a resumption of domestic routes in May, according to Kham Park Pha, chief operations officer for the carrier.

The joint venture Air Mandalay suspended all flights in December 2014 due to unmet upgrade requirements and as it waited to receive new planes. Charter flights to some domestic destinations resumed last month.

"Scheduled domestic flights will resume on May 1 and we will resume international flights including Chiang Mai, Thailand, at the end of this year," Kham Park Pha told The Irrawaddy on Friday

The airline had operated a Chiang Mai-Rangoon route until mid-2014.

Air Mandalay is 70 percent privately owned, with the government holding a 30 percent stake. The carrier recently purchased two Embraer ERJ 145 jets to service domestic routes including Mandalay, Naypyidaw, Thandwe, Heho, Tachileik, Dawei, Sittwe, Kyaungtong and Nyaung Oo from May 1.

"More aircraft will arrive soon for new scheduled flights. We are happy to reenter the air industry," Kham Park Pha said.

Air Mandalay also signed an aircraft purchase agreement last year with Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation for at least additional five planes.

Air Mandalay said in a statement on Friday that the challenges it has faced in recent months had not deterred the company, which "remains committed to best serving both the local population of and visitors to Burma."

"We know that these past few months have been difficult but it has brought out the best in all of us," Kham Park Pha said in the statement.

Air Mandalay Limited was incorporated in 1994 to operate as Burma's first privately owned airline, based in Rangoon. Until it grounded its fleet late last year, it had serviced almost all major tourist destinations in Burma.

Currently, only two domestic airlines fly international routes out of Burma: state-owned Myanmar Airways International and Golden Myanmar Airlines.

The post Air Mandalay to Return to Skies in May appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Kachin Group Says Its Investigation Could Reveal Killers of Teachers

Posted: 03 Apr 2015 05:11 AM PDT

The bodies of two Kachin schoolteachers lie in wake in Muse, northern Shan State, in January. (Photo: Facebook / Maran Naw Di Awng)

RANGOON — The Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) said it has carried out an independent investigation into the killing of two ethnic Kachin schoolteachers in northern Shan State in January and found two people who could help reveal the identity of the killers.

KBC said it took the initiative because a police investigation into the double murder has so far yielded no suspects and raised fears among the Kachin community that possible involvement of government soldiers is being covered up.

"We are still carrying out an investigation into it, but we found some people who we think could tell the truth. In the case of the killing, they knew about it, but not as an eye witnesses," said Zau Ra, a KBC spokesperson based in Muse, a town on the Burma-China border.

Zau Ra declined to elaborate when asked about further details of the investigation results, saying KBC's lawyer had advised him not to discuss it. He added that KBC would discuss the results with Shan State police when it had completed its investigation.

"We are still doing more investigation in order to get more evidence," he said. "KBC interviewed all villagers for the investigation. Our KBC may also interview some Burmese Army soldiers who were in the village during the time that the schoolteachers were killed."

KBC has been closely involved with local communities and authorities following the Jan. 20 killings of the two young women, who had been working for KBC in Kutkai Township as primary school teachers.

Col. San Lwin, who heads Taunggyi Police Station, told The Irrawaddy the police were continuing their investigation. Asked about the KBC investigation, he said, "We cannot arrest anyone on accusations of murder unless there is strong evidence."

"We have done an investigation among the villagers, but we continue to check more," San Lwin said.

Last month, the investigation, which is being carried out by a joint team of police, township authorities and members of the Burma Army, produced a group of suspects comprising both civilian villagers and soldiers. Results of post-mortem medical examinations on the victims and potential matches from DNA samples taken from the suspects have not been disclosed.

KBC and the wider Kachin community have voiced concern over the lack of a fair and independent investigation into the killings, which they believe are linked to members of the Burma Army's Light Infantry Battalion 503 that was sent to the area shortly before the murders.

The army remains powerful in Burma and has been accused in the past of influencing local authorities and the judicial system in order to cover up crimes by its soldiers against ethnic minority civilians.

The post Kachin Group Says Its Investigation Could Reveal Killers of Teachers appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘I Don’t Think it is Possible to Scrap the Entire System and Build a New One’

Posted: 03 Apr 2015 05:05 AM PDT

Political activist Aung Din. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

A former second vice-chairman of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, Aung Din was incarcerated from 1989 to 1993 for participating in the pro-democracy uprising in 1988. After traveling to the United States, he worked as executive director of the US Campaign for Burma between 2003 and 2012, and was also involved with the Free Burma Coalition for two years. In this interview with Kyaw Zwa Moe, editor of The Irrawaddy's English edition, Aung Din discusses recent reforms in the country, the evolution of the United States' foreign policy towards Burma, and the prospects of free and fair elections in the next decade.

How much has the foreign policy of the international community changed toward Burma since the new government took power?

Many years ago, the United States determined its policy on Burma would depend on the human rights situation in the country. But these days, the US takes three factors into consideration. Human rights is still an important factor, alongside economics and geopolitics. The US would like to have a government that is friendly towards it in Burma, while it is trying to counterbalance the rise of China in the Asia-Pacific region.

Considering these factors, they believe that their engagement policy is right. There may be unexpected difficulties and setbacks in pursuing this policy, but they will not reverse from it, they will only push ahead. At the same time, they are expecting a free and fair election in 2015. If the election were free and fair, the legislative landscape will be stronger in 2016. There will be larger democratic forces and ethnic forces in the parliament. Then the parliament will be stronger than it is in its current term—at least, I expect so. To make it happen, US administration is taking steps to support the 2015 election.

From Washington's point of view, what kind of country is Burma?

I recently talked with a senior figure in the US administration. He said they regard our country as a normal one. We have a government, opposition, government supporters and supporters of the opposition. There are conflicts, and sometimes violence and crackdowns, but that these are however quite normal for many countries of the world. That there are protests happening daily in his country. That they no longer regard our country as a failed state where there is conflict between the oppressed and the dictators. That they regard our country as a normal state because things happening in our country are not unusual. That the Burmese government now understands that they can't demonetize banknotes, use the army in dispersing demonstrations, and that the army can't launch a coup, and if they do not break these rules, the international community has no reason to interfere in the country's affairs.

At the same time, many student protesters have been arrested recently, with the government reacting in the same manner as it did 20 years ago.

The international community, including the US and UN, opposed this brutal crackdown. But, there is something we need to think about with regard to their choice of words. Their declarations only chose to use words like "regret" and "disappointment". No statement uses the words "condemn" or "denounce". In declarations, the choice of words expresses severity.

You mean that the international community has completely toned down its voice?

They have changed the way they think. They will engage constructively with the government. They will tell the government secretly that it is doing wrong, but they will not publicly condemn it.

What are the major achievements and the major failures of the reform process?

There has been the creation of institutional mechanisms. The government is responsible to the parliament, the judicial system is responsible to the president and the parliament. These institutions are not perfect, but they have a framework. This is a very good thing. The military regime in the past was responsible to nobody.

Political prisoners have been released and opposition forces including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi were able to join the political fold. There has been an emergence of civil society organizations. The government has admitted the need for internal peace and to fight poverty.

The bad things are there are opposing factions within the government and USDP, even as the top leaders wish for change. The president is not decisive. There are many bad guys in the cabinet. In fact, some of the cabinet members are tarnishing the president's dignity and he can't take decisive action against them. There are people who are corrupt or abuse their positions of power in the cabinet. Racial and religious tensions are very high and they may break out into riots.

Many have questioned that if the reform process has been stalled. Nepotism still thrives in these administrative mechanisms and the government fails to address it. Though the government admits that the country is in poverty, it has no economic policies to improve the lives of the poor.

In my view, reforms can't be completed in three or four years. It takes a longer period. During that period, it may go forward, reverse and stall from time to time. All players must take responsibility. What can we do if we want to remove the influence of evil forces acting upon the president? If civil society organizations view him as an enemy, he would respond in kind. We are calling for national reconciliation. How much the two sides are willing to bury the hatchet is questionable.

The political atmosphere today is in accord with what was set out by the military regime. In many ways it seems things will not change at all and those in charge have always maintained the upper hand.

It is difficult to say that. They have divided themselves. In the past, the military was a single entity. Now it has divided between the military and the USDP. The USDP has been divided in government. Under the constitution, the president and ministers are not allowed to discharge party duties once they join the cabinet. Even if the influence of former Snr-Gen Than Shwe still prevails, it is not that big. Now I see some USDP members who would like to listen to the voices of the people. We need to mobilize more of them. This is something we need to think about. We need to be prepared to cooperate with anyone, should they be the active generals or former military members in the USDP, if they have a desire for the development of the country.

You are a former political prisoner. During your time in the US, you were very critical of the Burmese government. How do you assess the government now?

As I became an individual activist, I took a look at both sides—the government and the democratic forces. And I found that there are both good and bad people in the government. Previously, I thought it was full of bad guys and I was surprised to see that there are also good guys. And this is welcoming. Then I take a look at the democratic forces, which I had joined with in the past. In the past, all of them were good guys. Now, there are shades of grey in both sides.

Now is the time we need to rebuild the country. If we went on like this with these tensions, it would only delay the rebuilding of the country. We are obliged to make things better, building on the current situation. We can't just be sitting, doing nothing but blaming. Now is the time we need to grasp any available opportunity out of current situation and make things better. We have got breathing space, which is beneficial to both sides.

Do you see any possibility of a true civilian government in the next five to ten years that will be elected through free and fair elections?

I think it is unlikely. We might need to wait 20 more years. I myself was a hardliner. I studied revolutions in Eastern Europe. In those cases, the dictators were toppled by public uprisings, then elected governments came into power. But, those elected governments are not competent and there are corrupt persons among them. The problems left by the former dictators grew larger and the expectations of people diminished. This was followed by economic decline. Finally, people overthrew the governments they had elected themselves and the country became unstable. Egypt is the closest example. I don't want our country to end like that. I don't think it is possible to scrap the entire system and build a new one. Even if the new system could be built, there is a high risk the system will return to dictatorship, like in the case of the Soviet Union.

The two sides must make compromises, coordinate and cooperate. There should not be a 'winner takes all' concept anymore.

The post 'I Don't Think it is Possible to Scrap the Entire System and Build a New One' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

20 Burmese Feared Dead After Russian Trawler Sinking: Reports

Posted: 03 Apr 2015 03:37 AM PDT

Russian Emergencies Ministry members help survivors from the Dalny Vostok fishing vessel on Friday. (Photo: Alexander Krylov / Reuters)

RANGOON — 20 Burmese nationals are believed dead after a fishing trawler sunk off Russia's eastern coast on Thursday morning, according to reports from the Burmese embassy in Moscow.

Phone Lin Kyaing, the Burmese ambassador to Russia, said the embassy was still working with Russian authorities in order to provide assistance to survivors.

The embassy has provided a full list of the names and passport numbers of the 42 Burmese citizens aboard the vessel, and will speak to the press on Monday to advise which crewmembers had died in the sinking.

The Dalny Vostok trawler sank at around 4am local time off the Kamchatka Peninsula with a crew of 132, including 78 Russian nationals. The remaining 12 crewmembers were citizens of Latvia, Ukraine and Vanuatu. Investigators believe the ship sank in less than 15 minutes after colliding with drifting ice.

Rescue efforts are ongoing.

The post 20 Burmese Feared Dead After Russian Trawler Sinking: Reports appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rights Activist Back to Insein on Peaceful Assembly Rap

Posted: 03 Apr 2015 03:11 AM PDT

Naw Ohn Hla at a Dec. 29 protest against the Letpadaung copper mining project, held at Rangoon's Maha Bandoola Park. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Naw Ohn Hla was sentenced to four months in prison on Thursday, after the Bahan Township court found her guilty of violating the Peaceful Assembly Law during a Sept. 29 protest.

The long-time activist, a prominent advocate for land rights and political prisoners, has been in and out of prison for the last decade for her role in leading several protests.

"The court sentenced her to four months for a protest calling for the release of political prisoners, including the student Phyu Hnin Htwe and slain freelance journalist Par Gyi," prominent lawyer Robert San Aung, who has represented Naw Ohn Hla both during the trial and earlier proceedings, told The Irrawaddy.

Phyu Hnin Htwe, a young member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, was detained for over a month for her alleged role in the kidnapping of two Wanbao contractors at the company's Letpadaung copper mining project, before the company dropped charges against her in October. Par Gyi was shot to death in the same month while in military custody.

Robert San Aung said his client, who has been in detention since Dec. 30, is still facing upcoming trials in five different township courts across Rangoon.

Naw Ohn Hla and five other activists were arrested late last year for a demonstration held outside the Chinese embassy in Rangoon, urging an investigation into the shooting death of Letpadaung farmer Daw Khin Win by local police during a protest against the mining project.

The six defendants will face charges of violating the Peaceful Assembly Law at the Pabedan, Kyauktada, Latha and Lanmadaw Township courts in relation to the embassy protest. The Dagon Township court will also charge Naw Ohn Hla for violating Penal Code articles 505(b), which prohibits statements likely to harm "public tranquility" and 353, which covers the use of "assault or criminal force" to hinder a public servant. Both charges carry a maximum prison term of two years.

She will appear at Dagon Township court next Tuesday, according to her lawyer.

In August 2013, Naw Ohn Hla was sentenced to two years imprisonment for her involvement in a protest at Letpadaung. Her sentence was commuted after a presidential pardon four months later, which also dropped 33 pending charges against her.

In early 2014 she was again brought before the courts, this time in relation to a prayer service held for Aung San Suu Kyi while the opposition leader was under house arrest in 2007.

Naw Ohn Hla had repeatedly been subjected to brief periods of detention under the previous military regime. According to her colleague Ma Thandar, herself a former political prisoner and widow of Par Gyi, the activist was imprisoned for two years in 2009 after she delivered a document to a monastery condemning the crackdown on the Saffron Revolution, on the date of the uprising's one-year anniversary.

The Rangoon-based Democracy and Peace Women Network, co-founded by Naw Ohn Hla and Ma Thandar in 2012, has been internationally recognized for its work in raising awareness of land rights among farmers and its campaigns against domestic violence.

Robert San Aung told The Irrawaddy he had no hope that her trials would conclude before the general election, slated for October or November this year.

"It looks like the authorities want strong activists to stay behind bars as the election approaches," he said.

The post Rights Activist Back to Insein on Peaceful Assembly Rap appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lawyers Network to Offer Advice, Representation for Journalists

Posted: 03 Apr 2015 03:03 AM PDT

A protester disrupts the International Press Institute World Congress in Rangoon on March 27, 2015. (Photo: Khaung Htet / Facebook)

MANDALAY – Lawyers from across Burma have teamed up to create a network offering legal assistance to journalists and media agencies, in response to a surge in suits filed against members of the fourth estate.

The new Lawyers Network for Journalists and Media, officially launched in Rangoon on Wednesday, comprises about 80 lawyers working in various parts of the country, and plans to extend initial services to Irrawaddy, Magwe, Mandalay, Pegu and Rangoon divisions.

"There has been an increase in legal charges against journalists and media agencies, and there is still a lack of legal protection for them," said Than Zaw Aung, a lawyer and secretary of the network. He said the new association will be there to provide legal advice and, in some cases, representation.

The group also plans to carry out educational discussions for media workers and lawyers to promote awareness of Burma's legislative framework regarding the media, he said.

A member of Burma's interim Press Council, Myint Kyaw, welcomed the network, saying that it could offer much-needed services at a time when press freedom is under threat.

"We really need that kind of group," Myint Kyaw said. "Since legal cases against media professionals, this kind of legal group can help advise them in legal matters or even to write news related to the Media Law."

Since President Thein Sein's quasi-civilian reformist government assumed power in 2011, at least 20 journalists have been arrested, and one has been killed.

Twelve media are workers are currently serving prison sentences, while several others are awaiting trial. Many were arrested under legal provisions that experts call outdated and unjust, such as colonial-era laws covering state secrecy, defamation and incitement.

The post Lawyers Network to Offer Advice, Representation for Journalists appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Fishermen Rush to Be Rescued Amid Indonesian Slavery Probe

Posted: 03 Apr 2015 02:52 AM PDT

Migrant workers from Burma unload fish as a Thai buyer takes notes at the port of Mahachai near Bangkok Feb. 23, 2010. (Photo: Reuters)

BENJINA, Indonesia — Hundreds of foreign fishermen on Friday rushed at the chance to be rescued from an isolated island where an Associated Press report revealed slavery runs rampant in the industry. Indonesian officials investigating abuses offered to take them out of concern for the men’s safety.

The men, from countries including Burma and Cambodia, began getting the news as a downpour started, and some ran through the rain. They sprinted back to their boats, jumping over the rails and throwing themselves through windows. They stuffed their meager belongings into plastic bags and rushed back to the dock, not wanting to be left behind.

A small boat went from trawler to trawler picking up men who wanted to go and was soon loaded down with about 30 men.

The director general of Indonesia’s Marine Resources and Fisheries Surveillance initially told about 20 men from Burma that he would move them from Benjina village to neighboring Tual island for their safety following interviews with officials on Friday. However, as news spread that men were getting to leave the island, dozens of others started filing in from all over and sitting on the floor.

When the official, Asep Burhundun, was asked if others hiding in the jungle could come as well, he said, "They can all come. We don’t want to leave a single person behind."

Fishermen who are Thai nationals will remain on the island. Most of the boat captains are from Thailand.

The Indonesian delegation began interviewing men on boats and assessing the situation on the island this week, and have heard of the same abuses fishermen told The Associated Press in a story published last week. They described being abused at sea, including being kicked and whipped with stingray tails and given Taser-like electric shocks. Some said they fell ill and were not given medicine; others said had been promised jobs in Thailand and then were taken to Indonesia where they were made to work long hours with little or no pay.

The delegation said security in Benjina is limited, with only two people from the Indonesian navy stationed there. Out of security concerns they decided to move the fishermen to Tual — a 12-hour boat ride away — where they will stay at a Ministry of Fisheries compound where their identities can be verified.

"I’m really happy, but I’m confused," said Nay Hle Win, 32. "I don’t know what my future is in Myanmar."

Win Win Ko, who ended up in Indonesia four years ago after leaving Burma, opened his mouth to smile and revealed four missing teeth. The 42-year-old said they were kicked out by a boat captain’s military boots because he was not moving fish fast enough from the deck to the freezer hold.

"I will go see my parents," he said. "They haven’t heard from me, and I haven’t heard from them since I left."

The post Fishermen Rush to Be Rescued Amid Indonesian Slavery Probe appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Three Indian Soldiers Killed in Ambush in Arunachal Pradesh

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 10:56 PM PDT

A security personnel stands guard as people line up to cast their vote outside a polling station in Nakhrai village in Tinsukia district in the northeastern Indian state of Assam April 7, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

NEW DELHI — Three Indian soldiers were killed and four wounded in an attack by suspected separatist militants in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday, military and police officials said.

The soldiers died when suspected rebels of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) opened fire on a military convoy traveling in the remote Tirap district, said a senior military official, who declined to be named.

India’s mountainous northeast is home to dozens of ethnic groups, many of whom are campaigning for greater autonomy, statehood or even secession.

But attacks on the Indian military are rare in the area, intelligence sources told Reuters.

The National Socialist Council of Nagaland has been fighting for decades for an independent ethnic Naga homeland in parts of India’s northeast and Burma, where it runs a government-in-exile.

New Delhi has deployed troops in the area, which shares borders with China, Burma and Bangladesh.

China does not recognize Indian sovereignty in the region, and calls it “south Tibet”.

In February, Beijing was irked when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the region to mark the anniversary of its foundation as a state and inaugurate a train line and power station.

Modi has repeatedly emphasized the need to develop the far-flung state, easing restrictions on building roads and military facilities as a counter to the infrastructure boost China has made in recent years on the other side of the border.

Separately, one soldier and one special police officer were killed in a gunfight between Indian troops and militants in Kashmir on Thursday. Two soldiers and one civilian were injured in the fighting.

The post Three Indian Soldiers Killed in Ambush in Arunachal Pradesh appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Chinese Influence in Cambodia Grows With Army School, Aid

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 09:51 PM PDT

A Chinese army advisor, center, puts rank on Cambodian army graduates during a graduation ceremony at Army Institute in Kampong Speu province on March 12, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

THLOK TASEK, Cambodia — When Defense Minister Tea Banh addressed graduates last month at Cambodia's prestigious Army Institute, he directed his thanks to the guests who made it all possible: a group of crisply dressed officers from China's People's Liberation Army (PLA).

The institute, established in 1999 around 80 km (50 miles) from Phnom Penh, is part of China's rising military aid to Cambodia. Interviews with serving officers and a senior Cambodian government official shed light on how far the school's influence has grown in recent years.

Military aid, alongside arms sales and billions of dollars of investment, have strengthened China's ties with Cambodia, and analysts see it as part of a push to extend regional influence, including in the disputed South China Sea.

During his speech at the institute in Kampong Speu province, Tea lavished praise on the "luxurious" facilities—a rarity for Cambodia's often ramshackle armed forces.

Addressing the Chinese, he added: "We are grateful to them for understanding our difficulties."

Since 2009, roughly 200 cadets have been admitted annually to four-year courses devised by China's Defense Ministry and Chinese advisers who oversee a local teaching staff, three officers said.

This includes compulsory six month stints at military academies in China.

The 190 students who graduated in March were the third such cohort from the school.

"Graduates have already been put into influential positions, including the head of army brigades," said the senior government official, who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.

"They're in fighting forces in positions where they can make decisions."

The school also admits about 200 students a year for a shorter six-month course.

The official said China paid for the majority of the institute's construction and covers most of the operating costs.

About half of all Cambodia's officer trainees now come through the institute, according to an officer with close knowledge of the school, who also declined to be named.

The institute appears to be China's first attempt to build a large-scale facility of this kind in Southeast Asia, said Carl Thayer, a Southeast Asia security expert at the Australian Defense Force Academy.

"For China, it's the beginning of a long-term strategy of winning influence in the Cambodian military by cultivating these people. And China keeps very, very deep intelligence files on everybody," he said.

"Nowhere in Southeast Asia is the Chinese influence as great as what you're talking about."

The growth of the school comes amid a significant rise in Chinese arms sales and military aid to Cambodia. China also invests billions into the country's economy.

In 2013, Cambodia took delivery of 12 Harbin Z-9 helicopters using a US$195 million Chinese loan. The next year, it received a donation of 26 Chinese trucks and 30,000 military uniforms.

Chinese-funded construction at the school has proceeded apace. Since an infusion of funds in 2002, more than 70 buildings have been erected on the roughly 148 hectare (366 acre) site, according to an institute document seen by Reuters.

Officials at Cambodia's Defense Ministry did not respond to requests from Reuters for comment for this article.

China's Defense Ministry said in a statement responding to questions from Reuters that it would "continue to increase its level of support for the institute, to help the Cambodian side raise its teaching abilities and level of personnel training."

"This aid has no political conditions attached, and will not harm the interests of any third party," it said.

Splitting Asean?

According to Lao Mong Hay, an analyst and adviser to Cambodia's opposition, China's military largesse contributed to Cambodia, as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 2012, playing spoiler in efforts by Southeast Asian states to create a maritime "code of conduct" with Beijing.

"The strategic interest of China is also to split Asean, and Cambodia is used for this purpose," he said.

Military aid also counterbalances the influence of Vietnam, Lao added.

Vietnam, embroiled in a row with China last year over an oil rig Beijing parked in disputed waters, has long provided training to Cambodian soldiers and police, as well as military equipment. The neighbors' navies conduct regular joint patrols.

Chinese aid dwarfs that of the United States, which canceled delivery of 200 surplus military vehicles in 2010 after Cambodia deported a group of Uighur asylum seekers to China in late 2009.

Two days after that deportation, China and Cambodia signed deals worth an estimated $850 million.

In 2013, Cambodia announced the suspension of some military cooperation with the United States after criticism by American lawmakers of Cambodia's elections.

Washington made available around $1 million for military financing and training in Cambodia in 2014, according to the State Department, and 12 Cambodian military personnel received training in the United States on human rights and "maritime capacity building."

Meanwhile, graduates of the Chinese-funded Army Institute are moving up the ranks.

"They want us to see China as a superpower that helps Cambodia in times of crisis," said an officer graduate, posted on Cambodia's volatile border with Thailand.

The post Chinese Influence in Cambodia Grows With Army School, Aid appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

North Korea Expels Chief of German Food Aid Organization: NGO

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 09:25 PM PDT

A North Korean boy works in a field of a collective farm in an area damaged by summer floods and typhoons in South Hwanghae Province on Sept. 30, 2011. (Photo: Reuters)

SEOUL — North Korea has expelled the country director of Welthungerhilfe, one of the few foreign aid groups to operate in the isolated country, the German organization told Reuters on Thursday.

A devastating famine in the 1990s left hundreds of thousands of North Koreans dead or dying from starvation. The food situation has improved since, but Pyongyang still relies on support from foreign aid organizations.

Without warning or saying why, North Korea asked Welthungerhilfe country director Regina Feindt to leave the country in late February, the non-government body said in a statement.

Feindt's colleague Karl Fall, who had worked in the country for 12 years, left of his own volition the next month, it said.

"Welthungerhilfe does not see anything in Mrs Feindt's behavior that would have justified an expulsion," it said in the statement.

It said Feindt left North Korea on Feb 26 and that Fall left on March 19. Feindt and Fall were not available to comment, Welthungerhilfe said.

The abrupt departures came as a surprise to members of the small foreign community in Pyongyang, according to a regular visitor to the North Korean capital who wished to remain anonymous, citing the sensitive nature of working there.

Welthungerhilfe would not comment on the events leading up to Feindt's deportation.

"We don't know why this has happened," spokeswoman Simone Pott told Reuters by telephone.

The NGO is one of a handful of foreign aid groups to operate within the isolated country.

Welthungerhilfe, whose name means "World Hunger Aid", is one of Germany's largest non-governmental aid organizations and has been working in North Korea since 1997, spending more than 60 million euros (US$65 million) on projects designed to improve food, sanitation and water supply.

The NGO, previously known as German Agro Action, still has a skeleton presence in North Korea, despite the expulsion of its country director. According to its statement, activities to improve water and sewage systems in cities were unaffected.

"At the moment we are in discussions with the North Korean authorities to secure a basis for continuing our development work in the country for the benefit of the people of North Korea," the group said in the statement.

The post North Korea Expels Chief of German Food Aid Organization: NGO appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

UN Rights Chief Slams Thai Junta’s Use of Repressive Law

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 09:17 PM PDT

Thailand’s PM Prayuth Chan-ocha gets in his car after the merit-making ceremony in Bangkok on Thursday. (Photo: Damir Sagolj / Reuters) REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

BANGKOK— The United Nations joined international rights groups Thursday in criticizing a decision by Thailand’s military government to invoke a law that gives the junta chief near-absolute authority without any accountability.

Junta chief and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Wednesday lifted martial law, which he imposed shortly before taking power in a coup last year, and instead invoked Article 44 of a junta-imposed interim constitution, which allows him to take any measures to promote public order and unity. Thai officials said martial law was lifted because of foreign pressure.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said giving Prayuth unfettered authority "clearly leaves the door wide open to serious violations of fundamental human rights." His statement, issued in Geneva, noted that Article 44 not only effectively allows Prayuth to issue any legislative, executive or judicial order, but "also annihilates freedom of expression" by giving him extensive censorship powers.

"In effect, this means the sweeping away of all checks and balances on the power of the government, rendering the lifting of martial law meaningless," he said.

Both martial law and Article 44 provide legal underpinnings for actions taken in the name of law and order. But while martial law defines acceptable actions, such as arrests without warrants, censorship and bans on public gatherings, Article 44 is vaguer and more broadly worded, allowing the junta chief to take any action he deems necessary not only to maintain order but also "for the benefit of reform in any field and to strengthen public unity and harmony."

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, a legal expert, said at a news conference Thursday that the junta, called the National Council for Peace and Order, will use Article 44 for three purposes: unity and reconciliation, reforms or preparation for reforms, and prevention of plans to harm the country’s security.

"If the normal measures to create unity and reconciliation are slow or ineffective, and there is a need to create unity and reconciliation, the head of the NCPO might invoke Article 44 to issue an order to make unity and reconciliation happen," he said. "But how will he order, I don’t know, because the situation has not happened yet."

The junta’s efforts at reconciliation so far have gone little beyond holding street fairs in the early days of its rule. It summons critics for what it calls "attitude adjustment" and has a handpicked committee secretly drafting a new constitution.

Wissanu explained that the junta considered employing less draconian statutes than martial law, including the country’s International Security Act and a declaration of a state of emergency, but they also sounded severe to foreign observers. Thailand’s tourism industry has been especially concerned about the image such terms evoke, even though military rule has had little day-to-day effect on tourists.

The London-based human rights group Amnesty International called the replacement of martial law with Article 44 "little more than a cynical exercise in the preservation of military power."

"Nothing has changed — this is an attempt to cast a veil over its determination to continue using military might to crush dissent," Richard Bennett, the group’s Asia-Pacific director, said in a statement Thursday.

The post UN Rights Chief Slams Thai Junta’s Use of Repressive Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy.