The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Govt Committee to Settle All Land Grab Cases in Six Months
• Nationalists Protest Govt’s New Arakan State Terminology
• Ethnic Armed Groups to Meet Suu Kyi
• Killing Creativity
• BREAKING: Mob Burns Down Muslim Prayer Hall in Hpakant Township
• U Gambira Released From Prison, Charges Dropped
• Burma Army Accused of Killing Seven in Northern Shan State
• Thai Elephant Gets New Prosthetic Leg

Govt Committee to Settle All Land Grab Cases in Six Months Posted: 01 Jul 2016 08:47 AM PDT Confiscated lands were returned to local farmers in Naypyidaw's Zeyarthiri Township in a ceremony on June 30. (Photo: Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy) NAYPYIDAW — The Central Committee on Confiscated Farmlands and Other Lands will settle all land grabbing cases in Burma within "six months," said Naypyidaw Council Chairman Myo Aung. Myo Aung unveiled the ambitious plan to reporters after a ceremony marking the return of land to around 70 dispossessed farmers in Naypyidaw's Zeyarthiri Township. On Thursday they were given temporary farmland tenure permits for more than 200 acres confiscated between 2006 and 2013; the seized land had been used to house the newsrooms, printing press and staff quarters of state-run newspapers The Light of Myanmar (Myanma Alinn) and The Mirror (Kyemon). "The central committee decided in a meeting to resolve all [land grab cases] within six months," said Myo Aung. The committee chaired by Vice President Henry Van Thio is situated within Burma's executive branch and is distinct from existing parliamentary committees with similar portfolios. It is tasked with monitoring state and divisional governments' handling of land disputes, and enabling the return of land to dispossessed farmers from government ministries, state-owned enterprises and private companies. The committee has adopted a policy that adequate compensation should be provided to dispossessed farmers, many of whom had received only nominal sums, or nothing at all, after the confiscation of their land. The committee also maintains that government ministries, state-owned enterprises and private companies should disown confiscated lands which they no longer use. Land grab cases in Burma assumed prominence after the reformist administration of ex-President Thein Sein took office in 2011. In 2012, Burma's Union Parliament set up the Farmland Investigation Commission to probe land confiscation cases. In 2013, the Land Utilization Management Central Committee was established, chaired by then-Vice President Nyan Tun. It was charged with implementing the recommendations of the commission and facilitating the return of seized land. According to findings of the Farmers Affairs Committee in the Upper House of Parliament, as many as 2 million acres of land across Burma could be considered "confiscated." Naypyidaw Council Chairman Myo Aung told the media, "We gave the farmers Form-3, which allows them to use the farmland temporarily. We plan to give them Form-7 [a certificate of permanent tenure] within the year. With Form-7, farmers would be allowed to transfer, hand down, sell and put their farms up as collateral to receive bank loans." However, Myo Aung explained that, in order for farmers to receive Form-7 denoting full restitution, farmers would have to pay back in full whatever compensation they received from the government when their lands were seized. The council chairman remarked that many farmers would struggle to make the repayment in one go, and so the council was considering a scheme allowing the farmers to pay back the sum in installments. Khin Zaw, a farmer from Wegyi village who received temporary tenure rights for his confiscated land on Thursday, told The Irrawaddy they may be among those who have to return compensation to obtain Form-7. Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock Tun Win told the Irrawaddy that resolving land disputes was one of the priorities of the new government. "Our government wishes to give back land to the rightful owners," he said, referencing the smallholder farmers who still make up the bulk of Burma's population. However, the return is difficult in cases where lands were seized illegally by the government and re-sold "officially" to new owners, including cronies and foreign investors. Fully addressing such cases could result in confrontation with Burma's still-powerful military, which profited from many of these sales and continues to hold tracts of farmland across the country. "Government authorities at various levels, including township development committees and the military, have grabbed land on false 'public' pretexts and sold it off in plots," deputy minister Tun Win told the The Irrawaddy. Meanwhile, local farmers have demanded higher compensation for over 1,000 acres of land taken from them for a planned diplomatic zone in Naypyidaw's Dekkhinathiri Township. Min Thu, a member of the Naypyidaw City Development Committee—the capital city's municipal authority—said they could offer higher compensation if what farmers received does not match market rates. According to Min Thu, the government has already signed land lease agreements with the governments of Malaysia and Bangladesh. Regarding the military's substantial holdings in Naypyidaw, Naypyidaw Council member Aye Maung Sein said the military has yet to inform them of their intentions regarding the return of unused land in line with the new government's policy. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post Govt Committee to Settle All Land Grab Cases in Six Months appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Nationalists Protest Govt’s New Arakan State Terminology Posted: 01 Jul 2016 07:57 AM PDT A sign posted by nationalists in Arakan State that reads, 'Rakhine is Rakhine, Bengali is Bengali.' (Photo: Zaw Zaw Naing / The Rakhine Gazette) RANGOON — Arakanese nationalist groups from Sittwe, Arakan State, sent an open letter to President Htin Kyaw and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi objecting to the government's new terminology for those who self-identify as Rohingya prior to a protest they have planned for next week. About 500 residents and 70 Buddhist monks signed the letter, which objected to the administration's preferred "Muslims from Arakan State" jargon, which the government trotted out in hopes of easing tensions between the local Buddhist and Muslim communities. The statement was delivered to Burma Army Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, Upper and Lower House Speakers, the ministries of defense, home affairs, information, and labor, immigrations and population, as well as the Arakan State government. Last weekend, about 300 Arakanese nationalists, monks and civil society organizations (CSOs) in the state capital of Sittwe decided to launch a poster campaign for every Arakanese house with signs that said, "Rakhine is Rakhine, Bengali is Bengali," highlighting that they would continue to use the word "Bengali" to describe the self-identifying Rohingya—who they believe are interlopers from Bangladesh—instead of taking on the government's new nomenclature. A sign posted by nationalists in Arakan State that reads, 'Rakhine is Rakhine, Bengali is Bengali.' (Photo: Zaw Zaw Naing / The Rakhine Gazette) Two weeks ago, Burma's representative to the United Nations (UN), Thet Thinzar Htun, said that using "the Muslim community in Arakan State" instead of the contentious term "Rohingya" would help foster harmony and mutual trust between the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Arakan State. Days later, Yanghee Lee, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, visited Arakan State and met with both Buddhist and Muslim communities. During her time in the country, the Ministry of Information officially instructed state-owned publications to use the terms "the Muslim Community in Arakan State" and "the Buddhist Community of Arakan State." The National League for Democracy (NLD) government hoped to chart a neutral course with its new terminology, but both sides have rejected it and doubt that it will succeed. The open letter stated that if the Union government adopts the new labels, it is intentionally hiding the Muslim community's Bengali origins and will be viewed as an attempt to destroy the Arakan race. "We strongly object and will not accept any term except Bengali," stated the letter. Arakan nationalist Than Htun claimed that the groups have already obtained official permission to peacefully assemble in every township in Arakan State on July 3. Police chiefs in Sittwe, Buthidaung, Thandwe, Kyauktaw and Maungdaw townships all confirmed that they were aware of and would allow a massive protest. Khin Maung, Kyauktaw Township police chief, told The Irrawaddy that a demonstration with up to 1,000 protestors had been approved. On Friday, an invitation letter from the Arakan State government circulated on social media, requesting that influential nationalist monks who would join the rally first hold talks at the state government's offices on July 2. Arakan State Chief Minister Nyi Pu was unavailable to comment for this story. U Eainda Sakka, an abbot from Sittwe, was invited to the government meeting but said there was no specific information or explanation included in the letter. He said he assumed it was related to the upcoming rally, but that if the chief minister hoped that they would avoid emotive slogans [Suu Kyi previously labeled 'Rohingya' and 'Bengali' as emotive terms], they would not acquiesce, as they had already received permission in accordance with the law. "Maybe they will tell us to manage the rally and keep the situation calm," he added. The post Nationalists Protest Govt's New Arakan State Terminology appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ethnic Armed Groups to Meet Suu Kyi Posted: 01 Jul 2016 07:50 AM PDT Khu Oo Reh, general secretary of the UNFC, speaks to journalists after the meeting at NCPC branch office in Rangoon on Friday. (Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Representatives of the ethnic armed alliance the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) have agreed with the Burmese government peace delegation to hold a meeting with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in mid-July. The agreement was reached during a meeting between the UNFC and the Burmese delegation led by Dr. Tin Myo Win at an office of the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) in Rangoon on Friday. "We agreed to work on a meeting between State Counselor and UNFC leaders including its chairman [N Ban La]," said Hla Maung Shwe, a spokesperson for the Burmese peace negotiation delegation. Khu Oo Reh, general secretary of the UNFC, however, said, "It is not time yet to answer whether we will attend it [the Union Peace Conference]. We still have procedures which must be followed, including the Mai Ja Yang summit. We can only decide how we will participate after the summit. We have to find an answer in Mai Ja Yang." The UNFC members and other armed groups are planning to meet in Mai Ja Yang, Kachin State later this month to discuss August's Union Peace Conference, which being compared to the 1947 Panglong Conference that guaranteed several of Burma's major ethnicities autonomy and equal rights after independence from Britain. The UNFC is made up of nine ethnic armed groups that did not sign last year's nationwide ceasefire agreement, a cessation of hostilities forged between eight armed groups and ex-president Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government. The post Ethnic Armed Groups to Meet Suu Kyi appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Killing Creativity Posted: 01 Jul 2016 07:26 AM PDT A passer-by in front of downtown Rangoon's Thamada Cinema in May 2016. (Photo: Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Wyne is an award-winning director famous for his films depicting relationship drama; the movies are popular among young audiences and the film censorship board alike. But when he tried to test out a new genre, he had no idea how hard it would be. In 2014, Wyne submitted the synopsis of his planned feature film "Letter to the President" to the censorship board. The plot does not seem particularly inflammatory: A young man is accused of a murder that was really committed by the son of a government minister. His grandmother tries to help him but later dies under mysterious circumstances. Then, her spirit writes a letter to the president and tries to enlist the help of various people to deliver it. Ultimately, the letter ends up in the president's hands. The censors were not happy. First, they tried to convince Wyne to change the name of the film. He refused. Then they suggested he change the character of the minister's son to the "son of a crony." "It was impossible for me to change the character I created," Wyne said. "It took me about two to three years to work on this script! It was just disappointing," he said, adding that he wanted his character to portray people who abuse authority. To date, the censorship board has refused to grant approval for the film. The film censorship board, officially known as Motion Picture Classification Board, is chaired by the director-general of the Ministry of Information's Motion Picture Development Branch (MPDB) and made up of 15 representatives from different associations including the Myanmar Motion Picture Organization (MMPO), the Myanmar Music Association, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture, the Attorney General's Office and the military-controlled Ministry of Home Affairs. Before 2011, the regulations that were used to scrutinize the content of films and movies covered 10 principles, ranging from politics, religion, and goodwill among ethnicities to "good" personal morals. The national film censorship board aggressively controlled the whole industry until the end of 2011 when four themes—promotion of good personal morals, an emphasis on crime reduction, the exclusion of obscene presentations and a prohibition on the portrayal of child abuse—were removed. Moviegoers wait inside Thamada Cinema in downtown Rangoon. (Photo: Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy) Regulations 'Killed' Creativity Burmese director Wyne argues that filmmakers who have long worked under the country's strict censorship practices can not help but continue to self-censor while  making films; these regulations, he claims, have "killed" their creativity. "Most of the time, I try to make romantic movies that are within the bounds of censorship regulations and avoid controversies," he said. "But when I try to make one film that reflects the realities in our society, I didn't get approval from the censorship board." There is no need for any filter between filmmakers and the audience, he said. "The audience will punish us if we make bad films. We will face failure when the audience stops supporting us. We can't forget that the audience is always judging our films," Wyne told The Irrawaddy. Wyne publicly criticized the long-standing film censorship system in his 2011 30-minute film entitled "Ban That Scene," which portrays censorship board members cutting movie scenes about corruption, poverty and street fights. “If foreigners watch this film, they’ll think [Burma] has beggars. Beggars may exist in real life, but not in this movie," explained one character who played the role of such a board member in the short film. "When we want our films to reflect actual things that are happening in our society, censorship is something we can not overcome," Wyne explained.  "Art must be independent. There shouldn't be any boundaries." A poster of the classic Burmese movie "Maung Mu Baing Shin" released in 1970. Dictatorship and Bell-Bottoms While it would be easy to lay the entirely of the blame for censorship on the military regimes that ruled Burma for nearly half a century, the history of censorship in Burmese cinema actually dates back to the colonial era. Some films dealing with social ills and corruptions were banned by the British administration, but Burmese cinema culture continued to address political themes after World War II and the country's 1948 independence from the British empire. Political repression, however, took a sharp turn for the worse after the 1962 coup as the country suffered under Gen Ne Win's so-called "Burmese Road to Socialism." From then on, the entire film industry was forced to make movies that not only obscured reality, but also praised the military government. A booklet issued in 1974 for the Burmese Academy Awards (1972-73) included a list of censored scenes from films that were produced during those two years. Scenes in which an actor sporting long hair sang, an actress was singing in a dress and an actor was wearing bell-bottoms were described as being "against the Burmese culture" and were cut. Couples touching cheek-to-cheek on camera were deemed "shameless." Five-time Burmese academy award winner Kyi Soe Tun told The Irrawaddy about how a film from the 1980s fell victim to the censorship board's "cultural standards." "Thingyan Moe," directed by Maung Tin Oo, is about two generations of love stories in Mandalay, centered around the city's water festival—Thingyan in Burmese. The problem, however, was not with the plot or the movie's message. In standard Burmese, the word for "I" is gender-specific—men say kyadaw and women say kyama. But in the Mandalay dialect, women and men both say kyadaw. And that was a problem. "They banned the usage of kyadaw in the film and told the director that girls should not say things like that," Kyi Soe Tun said. "But it's a part of the local identity. I think it's great for a film to have such an identity. That makes it authentic." Busts at Burma's movie museum of, from left, pioneering actor U Nyi Pu (1900-1996), the "father of Burmese film" U Ohn Maung (1892-1964), and noteworthy cameraman U Maung Maung (1896-1989). (Photo: The Irrawaddy) Fear and Freedom of Art The censorship regulations in Burma today are based on those established following the pro-democracy movement of 1988, when the military government issued censorship principles and regulations to make sure films did not harm "the image of the state." The government—through the Ministry of Information—attempted to use film as one of the tools to propagate its own ideas and to obstruct the spreading of opposing ideologies. A synopsis or brief screenplay of every feature film must be submitted to the board in order to gain permission to film, and a full version of the film has to be submitted again before it hits the box office; direct-to-DVD movies, however, need no pre-filming submission. Phone Maw, a member of the film censorship board and the secretary of the Myanmar Motion Picture Organization (MMPO), said all board members have to check every film and video for the sake of the audience. He said Burmese audiences are still not ready to consume products directly from filmmakers, as some filmmakers are still creating films that are unsuitable to watch with one's family or are religiously and culturally inappropriate. "We can't create whatever we want in the name of freedom. We must take responsibility for our art," he said. "We will no longer need the censorship board when our country changes from all of its old systems, gets used to democracy, and has responsibility and accountability." A retired director from the Motion Picture Development Branch (previously known as Myanmar Motion Picture Enterprise) and a former secretary at the then-Film and Video Censorship Board, Myint Thein Pe, told The Irrawaddy that board members come from diverse backgrounds and few have a comprehensive understanding of art and films. "The policies were good, but the people who practiced these policies were dreadful," Myint Thein Pe said. "They were not independent thinkers. They were controlled by fear, and that was the biggest problem," he explained, referring to how some former board members were driven largely by a desire to neutralize content that could be perceived as harming the dignity of the country, without understanding which scenes were necessary to a film's story. "That fear will not disappear until the next generation," Myint Thein Pe said. He also explained the struggle of fostering a freer film culture in Burma, where religious and traditional beliefs are strong enough to easily censor a film. "Film is a type of culture. But when this culture is fenced in by censorship principles like religion, tradition and ethnic solidarity, things can become very difficult for filmmakers to escape from the shadow of censorship," he said. Old filmmaking equipment pictured at the Movie Museum. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) Lack of Creativity Myint Thein Pe, however, is not optimistic about the impact of relaxing some censorship regulations since 2011. "Since censorship has eased, I have not noticed any marked improvement in the creative process. Technological improvement is an exception. But the industry keeps spinning its wheels and just does what is trendy," he said. Industry observers point out that the country's current market is saturated with pirated South Korean, Thai, Chinese, and American DVDs, and that many local filmmakers simply adapt stories from foreign films rather than create original content. Despite the sometimes-bizarre rulings—like banning bell-bottoms—the period from the 1950s to the 1970s is still viewed by many as the industry's golden age with local filmmakers producing nearly 100 original films each year on average. The country now makes less than twenty feature films annually, and releases between 800 and 1,000 direct-to-video DVDs. Award-winning director Kyi Soe Tun said censorship should not receive the entirety of the blame for the industry's downfall. "I don't like blaming censorship. I don't believe that films can't be artistic within the boundaries [of censorship]," he told The Irrawaddy. "We can create art no matter what rules and regulations exist. All we need is basic critical thinking and a conscience." He cited the film "Thingyan Moe"—the movie that saw its Mandalay dialect censored. Produced in 1985 under a strict censorship regime, the movie later became an iconic representation of the Burmese water festival; shown on TV every year, its significance during Burma's biggest festival is arguably similar to the place that films like "It's a Wonderful Life" hold during the American Christmas season. "Despite the censors, we all know that [Thingyan Moe] is still a good film more than three decades later," Kyi Soe Tun said. "But I have to say that I don't like censorship interferences in that film." Htoo Paing Zaw Oo agrees. A newcomer in the mainstream film industry, his movie "Night" was praised by the censorship board as "artistically and technically good yet made within the boundaries [of censorship]." The director told The Irrawaddy that the censorship board is not an impassable barrier to creating quality art but it does pose difficulties for filmmakers. "If a filmmaker has to think about the potential of censorship while he or she is making a film, it restricts his or her artistic inspiration," he said. "I personally think the major problem of the film industry of this country today is a lack of creativity rather than strict censorship." Myat Noe, a film critic and a cinematic analyst, told The Irrawaddy that any amount of censorship will inevitably impact an artist's creative process, but it is the job of artists to figure out how to address a banned issue in an indirect, oblique and subtle way. "The impact of [censorship] easing is apparent," he said. "Sadly, the quality of films, especially in terms of the script, storytelling techniques and style, has not improved much." "If you don’t get a good script, you don’t get a good film," he said. Adapting to a Ratings System Thu Thu Shein, co-founder of Burma's first independent film festival, the Wathann Film Festival (WFF), said that the censorship board should be reformed to function as a ratings board, to limit the negative effect on filmmakers' creativity. It could also bar underage audience members from watching violent and sexually explicit movies, she said. "They should allow filmmakers to create art independently, and their movies can be controlled with the ratings system," she said. But the censorship board members disagree with the idea of a ratings system. Thein Naing, the director of the Ministry of Information's MPDB and the secretary of the censorship board, said that the audience is not mature enough for a ratings system. "We can't implement the ratings system yet," he said. "How are we going to monitor the age of the audience? We don't have such a monitoring mechanism in cinemas." However, Wyne said the government should develop a ratings system so that the audience can begin to adapt to the new labels. Without developing such a practice, the audience will never be ready, he said. "It could be done if they wanted to do it. But they don't want to do it so they are just making excuses," he said. Wyne also re-submitted his film, "Letter to the President," to the censorship board in April, in the hopes that that the new government will not object to its plot. Revolutionary Road For director Htoo Paing Zaw Oo, there are other reasons behind the failure to produce  films of a higher storytelling and artistic standard—the majority of movies are market-oriented and only focus on featuring famous stars rather than developing authentic stories. Moreover, he said, production companies tend to not invest significant amounts of time in the films and instead focus on simply releasing as many movies as they can. A willingness to welcome directors from younger generations is also lacking in the Burmese film industry, according to film critic Myat Noe. "Famous actors who have great influence in decision-making processes and financiers who produce films do not want to welcome a new generation of young, film school-educated directors," he said. Producers simply do not trust them, he added, pointing out that these burgeoning filmmakers often understand modern and international industry trends and could potentially create different types of films. "To my knowledge, nobody’s hiring them to make films," Myat Noe said. Myint Thein Pe agreed. He said the film industry needs rebels—a new generation of filmmakers with fresh ideas and concepts—to change the culture of moviemaking. "There must be a film revolution and we have to make rebels for this revolution to happen." The post Killing Creativity appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

BREAKING: Mob Burns Down Muslim Prayer Hall in Hpakant Township Posted: 01 Jul 2016 06:08 AM PDT The smoldering Muslim prayer hall in Lone Khin village, Hpakant Township, Kachin State (Photo: Citizen journalist) MANDALAY — A Muslim prayer hall in Lone Khin village of Hpakant Township, Kachin State was burned down by a mob on Friday afternoon. Nearly 30 Muslim families in the village have fled since the outbreak of the riot. According to residents of the village, the Muslim community had received an ultimatum from local Buddhist nationalists to demolish by Thursday what they claimed was an illegal extension to the Muslim prayer hall. However, residents have claimed that the disputed structure was in fact an abandoned storeroom that had been used by the Ministry of Construction while building a bridge connecting the village some months ago. After local Muslims dismantled the structure, the Buddhist nationalists then demanded that they demolish the actual prayer hall, claiming it had been constructed illegally. "The Muslim community refused to demolish their prayer hall. Their religious leader said they would only do so if the government declared it illegal," one of the local residents told the Irrawaddy. "That's why the mob came to burn it." "When three fire engines came to put out the fire, they were obstructed by the mob," he said. He added that the mob was mostly made up of outsiders, numbering several hundred. The police and army have now blocked the bridge on the road to Lone Khin village from Hpakant town. A duty officer at the Mohnyin District police station confirmed the incident but refused to give detailed information because "the case is now under investigation." "We have no idea who was behind the incident. At the moment, state and district-level security forces are on the scene," the officer said. The incident comes after anti-Muslim rioting far away from Hpakant in Pegu Division's Thuye Thamain village in Waw Township on June 23, which resulted in the destruction of a mosque, a Muslim cemetery, and a house and storeroom belonging to a Muslim family. Authorities chose not to take action against any of the perpetrators there. The post BREAKING: Mob Burns Down Muslim Prayer Hall in Hpakant Township appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

U Gambira Released From Prison, Charges Dropped Posted: 01 Jul 2016 12:25 AM PDT Former monk U Gambira was released from prison on Friday after his additional charges were dropped. (Photo: Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — Nyi Nyi Lwin, the former monk and Saffron Revolution leader also known as U Gambira, was released from prison on Friday when all additional criminal charges against him were dropped. Gambira, who served six months imprisonment at Mandalay's Ohbo prison on an immigration conviction, was moved earlier this week to Rangoon's Insein prison to face additional criminal charges in Bahan and Thanlyin township courts. "The plaintiffs dropped all of the charges against me and now I am a free man," he said, after appearing in Thanlyin court on Friday morning. The additional charges could have put him behind bars for an additional two to 10 years, and the former monk was happy to hear that township officials and police had decided to drop the charges. "Their actions went against the new government's rule of law and the national reconciliation process. I hope there won't be anymore cases like this against other citizens in the future," he added. Nyi Nyi Lwin was transferred from Mandalay to Rangoon this week to face charges for trespassing and destroying public property, which he allegedly admitted to after his release from prison in 2012. He allegedly broke into monasteries sealed by the government after a crackdown on monks protesting during the Saffron Revolution in 2007. The post U Gambira Released From Prison, Charges Dropped appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma Army Accused of Killing Seven in Northern Shan State Posted: 30 Jun 2016 11:56 PM PDT Residents of Mong Yaw village in northern Shan State's Lashio Township carry the body of one of the deceased back to their village on Wednesday in preparation for the funeral. (Photo: Khun Myo Satt / Facebook) RANGOON — Seven rural residents of northern Shan State's Lashio Township were killed this week, with victim's families and local villagers blaming the Burma Army. On Tuesday, two young men were reportedly shot dead while riding motorcycles through a rural area of the township. Local sources said that Burma Army soldiers had ordered them to stop, and opened fire when they refused to do so. However, the victims have not been identified. Also on Tuesday, five residents of Mong Yaw village were arrested from their fields and taken to an unknown location by soldiers from Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion 362, according to the victim's families, who found their bodies the next day buried by a corn field at the bottom of a nearby mountain. It is not known exactly where, how or when the five were killed. The families held their funerals in the village on Thursday. Four were ethnic Ta'ang (Palaung) and one ethnic Shan. They were aged between 20 and 39. "They were taken by the Burma Army. Their families have accused the Burma Army of killing them. They were arrested while working in their fields," said Sai Wann Lern Kham, a lawmaker in the Upper House of the Union Parliament from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), who represents Lashio and other nearby townships (Shan State constituency 3). He said, "We do not know how the five [detained] people were killed, but the two youth were shot and died on the road." He said he was waiting for the victim's families to take legal action against the Burma Army. He had collected information in preparation to help them. However, he said, "Our local people do not dare to take action against the Burma Army. If they asked, I would help them to file charges at the police station." Lashio is home to the Burma Army's Northeast Regional Command Center. There is a heavy concentration of army personnel in the town, with bases in the surrounding countryside. Northern Shan State has Burma's highest concentration of ethnic armed groups in conflict with the Burma Army. The last year has seen fighting involving the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, the Shan State Army-North, the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army. In its counter insurgency campaigns, the Burma Army has been accused of detaining, torturing and murdering civilians accused of supporting rebel groups, and forcing others to work as porters. This week, the Ta'ang Women's Organization issued a report entitled "Trained to Torture," featuring accounts from ethnic Ta'ang victims of torture by the Burma Army from 2012-2016. Ethnic armed groups have also been accused of abuses against civilians in northern Shan State in recent months, which has reportedly heightened inter-ethnic tensions in some townships. The post Burma Army Accused of Killing Seven in Northern Shan State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thai Elephant Gets New Prosthetic Leg Posted: 30 Jun 2016 10:58 PM PDT Mosha, the elephant that was injured by a landmine, wears her prosthetic leg at the Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation in Lampang, Thailand, June 29, 2016. (Photo: Athit Perawongmetha / REUTERS) LAMPANG, Thailand — Mosha the elephant, who stepped on a landmine along the Thai-Burma border 10 years ago, received her ninth prosthetic leg on Wednesday. Mosha was just seven months old when the accident happened and she was rushed to an elephant hospital run by the Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation in Lampang province in northern Thailand. Two years later, surgeon Therdchai Jivacate gave her a new leg and a new life. As she has grown, he has designed new, longer and stronger legs for her. "The way she walked was unbalanced and her spine was going to bend," Therdchai, 72, said of Mosha before receiving her latest leg. "She would have died." Mosha, who weighed only 600 kg (1,300 lbs) when she was given her first artificial limb, now weighs over 2,000 kg. Founded in 1993, the Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation hospital was the world’s first elephant hospital and currently has 17 patients. The Thai-Myanmar border is still dotted with landmines left over from clashes between ethnic-minority rebels and the Myanmar army dating back decades. The post Thai Elephant Gets New Prosthetic Leg appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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