Friday, December 25, 2015

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine


Sexual Assault Victim’s Family Pressured to Drop Charges: Activist

Posted: 25 Dec 2015 02:18 AM PST

Child rights activist Khin Than Htwe (black t-shirt) pictured with a family she is providing support to in Moulmein, Mon State. (Khin Than Htwe / Facebook)

Child rights activist Khin Than Htwe (black t-shirt) pictured with a family she is providing support to in Moulmein, Mon State. (Khin Than Htwe / Facebook)

A child rights activist in Mon State has raised concerns that the family of a sexual assault victim is being intimidated to drop charges.

In mid-July, a three-year-old old girl was allegedly sexually abused by a 70-year-old man in Moulmein, the Mon State capital, with medical records showing that the girl's vagina was internally damaged.

The alleged perpetrator is a neighbor of the victim.

The victim's family filed a complaint to the local court on July 16, but the court released the accused on bail at a hearing two weeks later. Supporters of the victim's family said the latter were being threatened with defamation by the accused for pursuing the case.

No charges have yet been laid, with the court still determining whether to accept a rape charge against the accused.

"At the 17th witness hearing on Dec. 22, the court still didn't decide on what charges the accused sexual abuser would be prosecuted under," said Khin Than Htwe, the chair of a community child rights awareness group, Mon State Women and Children Upgrade Conduct Team, who is supporting the victim's family.

Cases of rape can be brought under Article 376 of Burma's antiquated Penal Code which stipulates punishment of up to 10 years imprisonment.

Khin Than Htwe said she also shared information about the case with Mon State parliamentarians on Thursday, as there were reports the presiding judge may be moved to another town. The next witness hearing is due on January 5, 2016.

"There are some cases in Mon State that were not continued when the judge of the respective court moved to another town," said Khin Than Htwe, who has over one year's experience working to promote child rights awareness.

"Therefore, we must take on the case seriously as the girl was under 4 years old when it happened… and she is still in pain five months later."

The community worker said every month her group provided support for around 40 cases related to sexual abuse, rape and violence against women across four Mon State townships: Moulmein, Kyaikmaraw, Chaungzon and Mudon.

Around half are sexual abuse and rape cases related to young girls, often involving neighbors or family members, Khin Than Htwe said.

The post Sexual Assault Victim's Family Pressured to Drop Charges: Activist appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Hundreds Protest Outside Thai Embassy over Koh Tao Verdict

Posted: 25 Dec 2015 12:38 AM PST

Click to view slideshow.

RANGOON — Hundreds of people gathered outside the Thai Embassy in Rangoon on Friday to protest the sentencing of two Burmese migrant workers to death for the 2014 murder of two British backpackers on a Thai resort island.

On Thursday, Koh Samui court found Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo guilty of the murder of David Miller and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge on Koh Tao in September last year, a verdict defense lawyers have vowed to appeal.

The handling of the high-profile case by Thai police has drawn significant controversy, with the accused pair alleging they were tortured into a confession and the defense team contending key evidence was mishandled.

Protesters, including Buddhist monks, congregated outside the Thai Embassy in Rangoon from around 10.30 am, with numbers swelling over the next few hours.

Police erected barbed wire barricades on Thursday ahead of a smaller demonstration and on Friday, the road in front of the embassy was blocked where protesters gathered with placards and chants demanding justice.

One protester told security police, "Let us get in front of the embassy. We will not do anything bad. We just want to kneel down and ask the Thai king to release our men."

When police held firm, the man said, "Why are you guys blocking us? Why don't you care about your citizens?"

Many protesters held hand-made signs saying "Release Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo." Others held up pictures of the two migrants and at least one demonstrator held aloft a photo of the Thai King and Queen.

Some protesters cited the centuries-long history of bad blood between the two neighboring territories.

"Thailand did bad things to our citizens for a long time," said Than Htike, a taxi driver who chaperoned protesters at a discounted rate to the embassy on Friday, which was officially closed for the Christmas holiday.

"Our citizens try to avoid having problems with the Thais… But our country has a better political situation now and we can fight for our rights this time. Thailand needs to understand this."

The two accused migrants are both Arakanese and many ethnic Arakanese joined the protest on Friday. One protester was overheard expressing concern that what he thought would be a demonstration to request justice from the Thai king would devolve into jingoistic rhetoric.

"I was worried this protest would turn into a nationalist protest and only focus on nationalism," the young man told his friend on the fringes of the demonstration. "We came here just to ask for justice, not for nationalist issues."

The Thai Embassy had earlier issued a warning letter to Thai citizens after many Burmese took to social media to express their outrage at Thursday's verdict.

"For your safety, we urge all to be extremely vigilant and to avoid identifying yourselves as Thai nationals if not necessary," the statement read, according to a translation by Thai newspaper The Nation.

On Thursday afternoon, a Thai official emerged to greet protesting monks.

Prominent Buddhist monk Rakha Wontha said a small group was granted a one-hour meeting with Thai officials in the embassy on Thursday, where they submitted a letter calling for a review of the "unjust judgment."

Rights Groups, Officials Respond

Following the court ruling on Thursday, international rights watchdog Amnesty International issued a statement calling on Thai authorities to investigate allegations the defendants were tortured by Thai police during their interrogation.

"Thai authorities must ensure that any alleged confession or other statement obtained as a result of torture is not admitted as evidence in court in any retrial of the case, unless against those accused of torture to prove that the statement has been taken," said Champa Patel, Amnesty International Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, in the statement.

British labor rights activist Andy Hall, who has been working with the defense team, counseled for calm in a Facebook post on Friday.

"I believe it's really important all our attention and energy is focused not on protests against Thailand/Thai people and/or emotional anger at the verdict," Hall wrote.

"But instead all our energy should be used in supporting the legal defense team to launch a credible and effective appeal to the Appeals Court and then even perhaps contesting a Supreme Court appeal in this case."

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were charged for seven crimes including theft, illegal entry into Thailand, murder and rape.

Burmese officials also took to social media following the verdict vowing ongoing support for the accused.

"There is a lot of work to do. It is not yet finished. We will keep supporting the Burmese Embassy and cooperate with Burmese rights groups and legal organizations," President's Office director Zaw Htay wrote on Facebook.

Information Minister and presidential spokesperson Ye Htut posted that the government would support the migrants' appeals process.

"We hope that we can review evidence and show proof that the two accused are not guilty," he wrote on his Facebook account.

Saw Yan Naing reported from Chiang Mai, Thailand

The post Hundreds Protest Outside Thai Embassy over Koh Tao Verdict appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Koh Tao Defense Lawyer: ‘It is a Saddening Verdict’

Posted: 24 Dec 2015 07:45 PM PST

Aung Myo Thant, a Burmese lawyer who was has been working with the defense team on the Koh Tao murder case. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

Aung Myo Thant, a Burmese lawyer who has been working with the defense team on the Koh Tao murder case. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — A Koh Samui Court on Thursday sentenced two Burmese migrants, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, to death over the killing of two British backpackers on a Thai resort island in September last year. The handling of the high-profile case by Thai police had attracted significant scrutiny amid allegations that the Burmese pair were tortured into a confession and that key evidence was mishandled. Aung Myo Thant, a Burmese lawyer who has been acting for the defendants, spoke with The Irrawaddy's Kyaw Kha on Thursday after the verdict.

Burmese migrants Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin were given the death penalty on Thursday. Legal experts have said the case was flawed. What's your view?

The court gave them separate penalties for seven charges. The maximum penalty for illegally entering Thailand is six months' imprisonment and the two were given the maximum penalty—six months. Again, the maximum penalty for illegally living in Thailand is also six months' imprisonment and they were given the maximum penalty for this charge too. I can't understand why. I was told while I was acting for them that we would not win the case because Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao islands are mafia islands, but at that time I didn't take it seriously. I can't understand why they were given maximum penalties.

The Thai Lawyers' Council and the Thai Human Rights Commission have helped the two Burmese migrants together with your team. What did they say about the death sentence and what will the Burmese authorities do?

We've reported it to the Burmese Ambassador to Thailand. We will appeal to Thailand's Appeals Court in Bangkok. The Thai Lawyers' Council has the same idea. We have copied the [court] order and we'll write an appeal based on the court order and dossier and submit it to the Bangkok Appeals Court.

What can you expect from doing so?

If the appeal is granted, the penalty will not be more than ten years. I am 80 percent sure of this.

Are you disappointed that they were given the death penalty though they seemed to have had a good chance of acquittal?

I have no comment about the jurisdiction. But it saddens me… It is a saddening verdict.

Though the Burmese government was helping the pair, they were given the maximum penalty even for lesser offences. Doesn't this mean no regard was paid to the Burmese government?

I have no comment about the jurisdiction of Thailand. After the two were sentenced despite the Burmese government's special attention to the case, I think it would be better if the Burmese government could better assist Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. Because I have almost never seen the accused given the death penalty when there were no eyewitnesses.

There are many cases of Burmese migrant workers being wrongly accused in Thailand. So, will the death penalty heighten the concerns of Burmese migrant workers?

I see that much needs to be done for Burmese migrant workers to receive fair hearings.

The post Koh Tao Defense Lawyer: 'It is a Saddening Verdict' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NLD Lawmaker: ‘They Are Now Operating the Jade Mines Around the Clock’

Posted: 24 Dec 2015 07:00 PM PST

An area of jade mining in Hpakant in Kachin State. (Photo: Swe Win / Myanmar Now)

An area of jade mining in Hpakant in Kachin State. (Photo: Swe Win / Myanmar Now)

During the Nov. 8 elections, Khin Maung Myint, 65, won an upper house parliament seat for the National League for Democracy in Kachin State's Hpakant District, an area that has long been famous for its jade mines. The newly elected MP spoke with Myanmar Now about the industry's heavy social and environmental impacts, and how these should be addressed.

The jade trade is highly profitable but who controls it has been shrouded in secrecy, while most raw jade flows across Burma's northern border, untaxed, to China. In November, an investigation by international resource exploitation watchdog Global Witness revealed the trade could be worth as much as US$31 billion per year. The family of former military supremo Than Shwe was said to have a large stake in the trade, along with members of the old army elite and an ethnic Wa drug lord.

Well-connected companies hold mining concessions, while thousands of small-scale, individual miners scour the edges of the mines in search of gems. This unregulated mining is dangerous; in November, more than 100 miners were killed when a huge waste heap caused a landslide. The rapacious operations have left Kachin State's environment deeply scared.

Some reports say there has been a sharp increase in mining activity after the opposition's election victory on Nov. 8. Are companies speeding up mining?

Yes, many heavy machinery vehicles have been coming into Hpakant since the start of this month [December]. The companies are getting worried that the new government may restrict the jade mining. So they are now operating at the jade mines in Hpakant around the clock.

Particularly, the companies related to the Wa ethnic group, such as Ever Winner, Myanma Tagaung, 111, Yarza Htarni and so on. There are also other companies owned by former Kachin rebel groups that signed ceasefire agreements with the government and transformed into border guard forces [under army control]. They have dramatically stepped up the mining work in Hpakant.

There are also reports that some locals in Hpakant are trying to block these activities. What are they concerned about?

You have rules and regulations to follow when you apply for a jade mining license. For example, you cannot transfer your mining area to someone else. You also have to make sure that the mining work is carried out without causing much damage to the environment. But these rules are not enforced at all on the ground. The companies are dumping waste on the banks of the Uru River. That's why the river is blocked during the rainy season and this causes flooding of riverside vegetable plantations of the locals.

Now, the companies are working around the clock, using heavy vehicles such as dump trucks, backhoes and excavators that are two or three stories high with a capacity to destroy mountains within a matter of days. The mining activities also leave behind huge craters, as big as 40 to 50 acres wide. So these craters become lakes during the rainy season. They can be very dangerous for the locals because these craters tend to break open under the pressure of water and cause flash floods.

The Global Witness report estimated the value of jade production last year alone exceeded $30 billion, but it is only hundreds of millions of dollars, according to official data. What does this tell us about jade smuggling?

Jade smuggling is an open secret. Companies bribe military officers in charge of border checkpoints in areas of Kachin State, such as Kampaiti and Nam Sanyam, and have been openly smuggling jade to China.

Most of the best jade stones are smuggled out to China, while only a few of them go to the jade emporium in Naypyidaw. This would be very clear if you visit Chinese cities such as Guangzhou [where jade is traded].

To what extent are Chinese businessmen involved in the jade mining? Government records indicate there is no foreign involvement in mining in Hpakant.

No foreigners are directly involved in the industry on the ground, but there is a lot of foreign investment from China. The family members of high-ranking Chinese government officials are shareholders in companies such as Ever Winner and other companies related to the Wa ethnic group. There are some others also who are investing in the industry to launder the black money gained from the drug trafficking.

Hundreds of small miners have been killed in landslides in Hpakant over the years. Why do these accidents continue to happen?

We are seeing excessive use of heavy machinery at the jade mines. Small-time jade stone pickers sometimes are not aware that vehicles are nearing when they are competing with each other to get jade stone. That's when they are run over by the heavy trucks. Some of these people are high on drugs and mindlessly wandering at the jade mines.

The drivers of heavy machinery cannot properly check whether there are people near them or not, because these vehicles are 25 feet long. The diameter of a wheel of a heavy machinery vehicle can be about eight feet high. So if a man was run over, his body will be completely flattened.

You are a native of Hpakant. How much has the town and its surroundings changed because of mining in past decades?

Jades were manually extracted about 25 years ago. There was no heavy machinery at that time. We could drink the water of Uru River that flows through Hpakant. We could use its water to cook rice. We could also get vegetables that naturally grew there. But now forests have completely been destroyed, so much so that we cannot get firewood anymore. So many natural mountains have been wiped out, in their places sprang up piles of dumped waste from the mining areas that are as high as mountains.

Some jade companies such as the Yadana Taung Tann Company owned by Tun Myint Naing [aka Steven Law, owner of Asia World], the son of the late drug lord Lo Hsing-Han, dynamited the mountains at their jade mining sites. These giant mountains would explode and collapse like the World Trade Centre during the 9/11 attack, sending off storms of dust. Mountains as high as 500 or 1,000 feet were obliterated in a matter of days.

In violation of the license rules, the companies dumped the soil near the Uru River. This soil later flowed into the Chindwin River, causing high sandbanks there during the rainy season. Given the negative environmental consequences the jade mining has caused, we think it's time to stop this industry.

Since you were recently elected as an MP for Hpakant, what laws will you propose to the parliament to address jade mining issues?

Transparency is the most crucial issue. We would need to find out if the money invested in the industry is coming from the drug trade, and if companies are following the rules and regulations of their mining licenses. With all these data compiled, we could regulate the industry.

If we found that the industry should be shut down, then we would have to shut it down. Actually, many countries do not have this resource, jade. So we can sell it any time we want. Since we are now producing and selling it like vegetables, we don't get a proper price.

This interview first appeared on Myanmar Now.

The post NLD Lawmaker: 'They Are Now Operating the Jade Mines Around the Clock' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Activists Call For Witness Protection as Major Thai Human Trafficking Trial Begins

Posted: 24 Dec 2015 05:43 PM PST

Human trafficking suspects arrive at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand, November 10, 2015. Eighty-eight human trafficking suspects arrested as part of a crackdown on Thailand's lucrative smuggling and trafficking syndicates were brought before a Bangkok court on Tuesday to start examination of evidence and witnesses ahead of a trial. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

Human trafficking suspects arrive at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand, November 10, 2015. (Photo: Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters)

BANGKOK — Thai authorities must step up witness protection for a major human trafficking trial with the accused including an army general and one investigator fleeing the country fearing for his life, activists said on Thursday as the first witnesses gave evidence.

The case includes 88 defendants allegedly involved with lucrative smuggling gangs that were trafficking Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Burma, holding them for ransom in jungle camps before granting onward passage to Malaysia.

The investigation and arrests followed the grisly discovery in May of 30 bodies in a mass grave near a human trafficking camp close to the Thailand-Malaysia border.

Of 500 witnesses scheduled to testify, only 12 are receiving protection, while two have gone into hiding because of threats and others may follow suit, said Fortify Rights, a non-governmental organization advocacy group.

"Witnesses are key to ensuring justice is served in this case. Their security should be the utmost concern to the Thai authorities," Fortify Rights Executive Director Amy Smith said in a statement.

Prayuth Porsuttayaruk, deputy director-general of the human trafficking office in the Attorney-General's Office, refuted the Fortify Rights' number of protected witnesses.

"I don't know where they got their numbers from. Eighty of the witnesses are victims, and they are foreigners, and they are under the protection of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security," Prayuth told Reuters by telephone.

He added that more than 200 witnesses are police officers, and the rest are investigators, bank office workers and "Thai people who do not need the protection programme."

One Rohingya man, a longtime legal resident of Thailand, went into hiding after receiving threats, while Police Major General Praween Pongsirin, chief investigator on the case, went into exile and is seeking asylum in Australia.

"The fact that the top policeman investigating these cases fled Thailand because of a lack of protection afforded to him and his family shows just how poor government protection schemes have been," said Phil Robertson, deputy director for Human Rights Watch's Asia division.

Two prison buses brought the defendants to court on Thursday, including the army general and a suspected kingpin.

The defendants crowded into a seventh floor courtroom and heard testimony from two Bangladeshis who were held for two years in a trafficking camp in Songkhla, near the Malaysia border, said Prayuth of the attorney-general's office.

The court allowed journalists to observe the proceedings by video but barred them from reporting the witness testimony to prevent other witnesses from being influenced.

Committed to Crackdown or Not?

A court official said last month that hearing testimony from the 500 witnesses could take up to two years.

Thailand has come under fire in recent years for the trafficking of migrants, many of them Rohingya Muslims from eastern Myanmar and Bangladesh facing religious and ethnic persecution. Some migrants faced torture and starvation in the jungle camps.

The country's reputation further suffered after reports of labor violations and slave labor in its huge seafood industry.

Despite the current crackdown and trial, the United States' annual Trafficking in Persons report kept Thailand for a second year on Tier 3—the lowest tier—for failing to comply with the minimum US standards for the elimination of trafficking.

"The Thai government needs to show its sincerity about prosecuting traffickers by seriously stepping up efforts to protect witnesses who will point fingers at the corrupt officials and Rohingya trafficking gangs," said Robertson.

The post Activists Call For Witness Protection as Major Thai Human Trafficking Trial Begins appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Japan Cabinet OKs Record Defense Budget Amid China Concern

Posted: 24 Dec 2015 05:23 PM PST

From left, Indonesia's Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, Indonesia Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani attend a meeting at prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Friday, December 18, 2015. REUTERS/Eugene Hoshiko/Pool

From left, Indonesia’s Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, Indonesia Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani attend a meeting at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo, Friday, December 18, 2015. (Photo: Eugene Hoshiko / Reuters)

TOKYO — Japan's Cabinet approved a record-high military spending plan Thursday, endorsing proposals to purchase pricey U.S. surveillance drones and F-35 fighter jets as Tokyo steps up cooperation with Washington amid China's increasingly assertive activity in regional seas.

The 5.1 trillion yen ($42.1 billion) proposal is part of a 96.7 trillion yen ($800 billion) national budget plan for the year beginning April 2016, also an all-time high. The entire package requires parliamentary approval.

Military spending would rise 1.5 percent from this year, the fourth annual increase under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who ended a decade of defense budget cuts.

The defense budget is the first since Japan enacted new security legislation in September enhancing the country's military role and since Japan revised its bilateral defense guidelines with the US earlier in the year to allow broader cooperation between the two allies.

The new security law divided Japanese public opinion, with opponents saying it would increase the possibility of Japan becoming embroiled in a US-led war.

Japan is bolstering defense of its southern islands, where it has a territorial dispute with China. The budget plan also includes the purchase of an advanced Aegis radar-equipped destroyer with missile defense capability, submarine construction and sonar development.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei urged Japan to "draw lessons from history, adhere to the path of peaceful development, and play a constructive role in safeguarding regional peace and stability." He said Chinese defense policy is "defensive in nature," and its military spending is kept at "a reasonable level."

Japan's Defense Ministry plans to spend 14.8 billion yen ($118 million) next year for part of a multibillion-dollar, multi-year purchase of three "Global Hawk" unmanned drones, as well as 138 billion yen ($1.1 billion) for six F-35 fighter jets and 23 billion yen ($190 million) for a Boeing KC-46A midair refueling aircraft.

"We believe the budget includes items that would contribute to enhancing Japan-US cooperation in the area of ISR (information, surveillance and reconnaissance)," Defense Ministry official Tomoki Matsuo said.

Japan also pays 193 billion yen ($1.6 billion) a year for about 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan under a bilateral security treaty, more than half of them on Okinawa—a major source of friction between the central government and residents of the southern island frustrated with the decades-long burden.

The cost of moving some of them to Guam and a contentious plan to move a US Marine air base from the crowded Futenma area to a less-populated part of Okinawa was also added to the budget.

Japan is constructing a Soryu-class submarine, among the world's largest, and developing a new sonar system. It is competing against Germany and France to jointly develop Australia's next-generation submarine fleet.

In a bid to step up its island defense, Japan is also purchasing 17 SH-60K helicopters and 36 combat tanks as well as amphibious vehicles.

The post Japan Cabinet OKs Record Defense Budget Amid China Concern appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Shan Herald Agency for News

Shan Herald Agency for News


IDP hangs himself in Mong Hsu Township camp

Posted: 25 Dec 2015 01:07 AM PST

An internally displaced man in Hai Pa IDP camp hanged himself on Saturday, according to a local aid worker in Mong Hsu Township.


Aik Nub, also known as Yi Mon, was 48 years old and came from Koong Nim village. He was found dead at about 12 p.m. on December 19 on a tree in the camp compound.

"He looked depressed every day…Aik Nub was stressed because he had to flee from his home and was unable to go back," said Nang Jing, an assistant to the IDPs in Mong Hsu and one of the local witnesses who discovered Aik Nub's body. "He didn't have job and couldn't feed his family."

She speculated that this situation could have contributed to his suicide. 

"He has one son and now his wife is also pregnant," Nang Jing added.

An ethnic Ta'ang (Palaung), Aik Nub was one of 10,000 people who fled their homes during the conflict between the government military and the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-N), which began on October 6.

On December 15, SHAN reported that some of villagers from Koong Nim village returned to their homes on December 13, where they were forced by the Burma Army to go back to IDP camps in Hai Pa village.

On Wednesday, a coalition of Shan community-based organizations (CBOs) released a statement demanding the Burma government withdraw their troops and allow over 3,000 displaced civilians in central Shan State to return to their villages.

BY SAI AW / Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N)


To Hopeland and Back: The bare bones for peace talks—Day 4

Posted: 25 Dec 2015 12:49 AM PST

Day Four: Wednesday, December 16, 2015

All wars represent a failure of diplomacy.

Tony Benn

The third Joint Implementation Coordinating Meeting (JICM) begins earlier than usual at 8:00 a.m. instead of 9:00 a.m. as some of the ministers are needed at a ministerial level meeting later in the day.

Leaders of political parties, government and EAOs present the approved Framework for Political Dialogue to the President on December 16. (Photo: Myanmar President's Office)

The main purpose of the day is to approve or dismiss the final draft of the Framework for Political Dialogue (FPD) submitted by the UPDJC. It is of course approved with a few recommendations from the JICM participants, made up of eight from each side.

One thing memorable from the JICM is the speech made by U Aung Min in which he talks about the NCA which was passed by the Union Legislature on December 8. He tells us how he and U Thein Zaw had spent ten days lobbying the lawmakers.

Concerning the NCA being a law, he puts it this way:
"There are three degrees of law: The first degree law requires more than 75 percent of votes and a referendum to amend it. The second degree law requires more than 75 percent of votes but not a referendum to amend it. The third degree law on the other hand requires only a simple majority to amend it. The NCA is a third degree law."

Listening to him, one may be persuaded to start worrying about the feebleness of the NCA. But there is no question from anybody.
Some of the participants also want to discuss the deterioration of the Tripartite Dialogue into a Pentapartite Dialogue. But others advise to leave it until the fourth JICM.

Closing speeches are then delivered. When his turn comes, U Aung Min says, "We have so far made the impossible possible. We have also managed to break several deadlocks despite a lot of stresses while undergoing them. For myself, there is only one more thing left to do: the first Union Peace Conference."

What's next for him, afterward? He says nothing about it. But friends hope that having started on the long road to peace, he should want to come to the end of it.

The ceremony held at the MICC II to present the FPD to the President lasts 20 minutes, 14:00 – 14:20. There is not much to report except the announcement made by him that the UPC will be convened in January as is required by the terms of the NCA.

The rest of the day is spent talking to friends and comparing notes with them.

Then back to the Shan Legends (not Shan Folk Tales, apologies). Do you know that Shans also have their own Robin Hood—two  of them, in fact—who steals from the rich and give it to the poor?

By SAI KHUENSAI / Director of Pyidaungsu Institute and Founder of Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N)

All views expressed are the author's own.


To Hopeland and Back: The bare bones for peace talks—Day 3

Posted: 24 Dec 2015 11:14 PM PST

Day 3: Tuesday, December 15, 2015

UPDJC meeting. Photo: Nyo Ohn Myint / Facebook

In war, we join hands with friends to fight against enemies
In peace, we join hands with friends to talk with friends

Anonymous

Yesterday's UPDJC session found the NLD siding with the military's call for a bloc separate from the soon-to-be NLD-dominated government and parliament, against its own former demand for a tripartite arrangement, which would have appeared as follows:

·        Government, Parliament and the Tatmadaw together forming a bloc
·        The eight EAOs forming another group
·        The political parties in yet another bloc

One EAO representative is still teeming with what he regards as its backtracking.

"I recall the agreement made between the ruling party AFPFL (Anti-Fascist  People's Freedom League) and the SPFL (Shan State People's Freedom League) before Independence," he said at the meeting. "It was that the two would work together to overthrow feudalism in Shan State. However, the AFPFL government went back on its own pledge, and instead joined hands with the Shan State's ruling princes to suppress the SPFL. I hope we won't have to worry about the NLD and the military working together to crush the EAOs."

What in heaven? I ask myself.  On the one hand, the military thinks the eight EAOs are working with the NLD against it. But on the other hand, the eight EAOs think it's the other way round.

The EAOs then present their counter proposal on the composition:

Government                   75                representatives
Parliament            75                representatives
Military                150              representatives    
EAOs                             150              representatives    
Political parties    150              representatives


The military representatives are quick to object it. "It won't look good for the military to have more representatives than either the government or the parliament," one says.

I won't go into details, but by lunch break the two sides are at loggerheads over the question. It looks like the Union Peace Conference (UPC) in January—while so near—is still out of reach.

At 13:00, when the meeting resumes, U Nyan Win, the NLD's chief delegate, requests that he be allowed to speak first. The emcee responds he goes ahead. He then breaks the suspense by saying, "In order that the peace process may proceed smoothly, the NLD has decided to withdraw its opposition to the EAOs' proposal. On the contrary, I wish to announce that it is accepted."

The rest of the day is like a walk in the park after this.  Two more significant resolutions are passed:

16 December 2015         JICM in the morning to approve the FPD. Formal presentation of the FPD to the president in the afternoon

17 December 2015                   The UPDJC meets again to plan for the UPC


The EAOs then meet again in the evening to review the day's work. Some are worried that the Tripartite Dialogue design, which the UN has adopted since 1994, is going down the drain and with it the non-Burmans' chance of winning their full rights. However, others say three-way or five-way, not to lose sight of the goal for federal democracy.

But Tripartite Dialogue and Federal Democracy both have long been deemed interrelated.

Are they?

Or are they not?            

By SAI KHUENSAI / Director of Pyidaungsu Institute and Founder of Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N)


All views expressed are the author's own.