The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Govt eases some restrictions on Bagan locals
- Army Shelling Seen Signaling Start of New Offensive in Kachin, Shan States
- UN Chief Says Arrest of Reuters Journalists Shows Erosion of Press Freedom in Myanmar
- Settling Scores in Northern Rakhine
- The Crackdown on the Media Must Stop
- Equitable Dialogue Will Encourage Reconciliation: KNU Chairman
- Media Corps Calls for ‘Unconditional Release’ of 2 Reuters Reporters
- Indonesia Court Rejects Petition to Bar Consensual Sex Outside Marriage
- Red Cross Says Life Has Stopped in Myanmar’s Rakhine
| Govt eases some restrictions on Bagan locals Posted: 14 Dec 2017 07:51 AM PST YANGON—The government has eased some restrictions on locals living within the heritage monument zone around the Bagan archaeological site, while maintaining its plan to seek a Unesco World Heritage listing for the site. In late November, locals from five villages petitioned the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture demanding their villages be demarcated within a buffer zone instead of the current monument zone, which is also known as the "property zone". Locals have expressed concern that the many restrictions expected to be imposed on their villages in order to comply with Unesco's standards for World Heritage Site listing would hurt their livelihoods and businesses. The villages have existed in this area for generations and locals living there are known as "Bagan natives." The temples of Bagan, dating from between the 9th and 13th centuries—when the Kingdom of Bagan ruled over much of lowland Burma—are considered Myanmar's biggest tourist draw and on par with Cambodia's Angkor Wat. Despite its historical, archaeological and cultural value, the ancient capital has yet to be granted World Heritage Site status, reportedly due to officials' inability to present plans to deal with inauthentic restorations and controversial hotel developments in the archaeological site completed under previous governments.  The ministry submitted a draft nomination dossier to Unesco's World Heritage Site Committee in September and the final version is required to be delivered by Feb. 1, 2018. It has to provide thorough plans to fix previous mismanagement issues, including a master plan for the archaeological site in the dossier. "Regarding the locals' petition, the [ministry] will negotiate and make amendments giving serious consideration to locals' concerns," the ministry said in a statement Tuesday. It emphasized that the ancient villages would remain within the property zone since ancient temples surrounding the villages have high heritage value and need to be conserved. The ministry stated that traditional businesses, expansion and construction of locals' houses, and tourism businesses such as restaurants and homestays in the villages would be allowed. It also said that buildings in the villages would be permitted according to the same regulations as in the new Bagan and Nyaung-U cities. Construction and installation of telecommunications towers and satellite dishes would be allowed in accordance with the Heritage Impact Assessment if such infrastructure does not hinder the view of the heritage monuments, it added.  U Aung Aung Kyaw, director of the ministry's Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library in Bagan, told The Irrawaddy that collaboration between locals and authorities is an essential element in the process of listing Bagan as a Unesco World Heritage site, adding that the ministry would not sacrifice the interests of local residents in order to achieve heritage status. "I don't believe this will harm locals' livelihoods. We have taken employment opportunities for them into consideration," U Aung Aung Kyaw said. He also expressed concern that business people and hotel developers were encouraging local opposition in order to further their own plans for development projects within the archaeological site. U Aung Soe Linn, administrator of Myin Ka Bar, one of the five villages that petitioned the ministry, rejected this claim. "There are no cronies behind us," he told The Irrawaddy, insisting that local residents were just trying to protect their own interests. He explained that villagers' lifestyles and livelihoods would be affected over time. They are particularly concerned about restrictions inside the property zone and an increase in the number of people living in the area.  In the 1990s, one of the then-ruling military junta's most powerful leaders, Gen Khin Nyunt, oversaw the forced relocation of about 6,000 local residents of the old Bagan area away from the archaeological zone to make way for hotel projects. Local people are concerned that something similar will happen again, according to several Bagan residents The Irrawaddy talked to this week. Unesco's national project officer for Myanmar Ma Ohnmar Myo was not available to comment for this article. However, she told The Irrawaddy in late November that sustainable conservation of the Bagan archaeological site is not only about ancient temples and monuments, but also about the livelihoods of the local community. Authorities have to make sure that heritage properties are preserved while at the same time protecting the interests of local communities, she said. The post Govt eases some restrictions on Bagan locals appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Army Shelling Seen Signaling Start of New Offensive in Kachin, Shan States Posted: 14 Dec 2017 06:17 AM PST The Myanmar Army on Wednesday shelled at least four positions held by the Kachin Independence Army in northern parts of the country in a move rebel leaders are interpreting as a signal that fighting will soon escalate in areas under their control. Col. Naw Bu, a KIA spokesperson, told The Irrawaddy today that the four places were in Laiza, Mansi and Tanai townships. "Looking at their shelling, we understand that they are preparing to do something to us," he said, suggesting a military escalation was imminent. Col. Naw Bu said the Myanmar Army fired three artillery shells at a forward security post for a KIA base in Mung Lai Hkyet at 2 pm local time, adding there had been "no fighting in the area on previous days." Clashes have also broken out around Tanai township where the Myanmar Army has blocked public roads out of the town. The army has also shelled nearby mining villages and dropped leaflets from helicopters ordering people to move out of these areas before May. "They block all the roads. No one dares travel back to their villages. They have even shelled amber mining areas," said Yui Che Le, a member of the Kachin Baptist Convention in Tanai township, which provides help to Kachin IDPs. In its account of the hostilities, the Ministry of Defence said there had been landmine incidents on an almost daily basis around Kachin state with a dozen people being wounded by devices it said were planted by the KIA. The ministry said there had been landmine explosions in at least five places: Bhamo, Karmine, Hpakant, Mohnyin and Tanai townships. The Myanmar Army had had taken people wounded by the landmine blasts to hospital for treatment and has posted photos of the victims on the Ministry of Defence's Facebook account to support its version of events. As for three small blasts in Hpakant yesterday, Col. Naw Bu denied army charges that the shells came from the KIA. "The Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) said the bombs were from us. But, we stand by our accusation that the bombs were from them. There are Tatmadaw, KIA, and even Red Shan militia based in the areas," he said. Military Offensive The Burmese Army typically launches its military offensives against rebels groups in October with the onset of the dry season in Kachin and northern Shan states, but their offensive started late this year. Some observers believe the Army is seeking to keep a lower profile after coming under intense pressure from the international community after it launched a sweep in Rakhine state in August that forced more than 620,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. As a result, they have delayed their annual military offensive in Kachin and northern Shan states. The Myanmar Army launched a heavy offensive last year at about this time in Kachin state and northern Shan. Claiming they had no place to hide in the jungle, the rebels launched a counter offensive, attacking army bases in a number of places in northern Shan state including Muse, Kutkai, and Mongko townships and forcing hundreds of IDPs to flee to China. Kachin State is rich in of natural resources and the Myanmar Army has a keen interest in grabbing control of these areas, according to the rebels. Earlier this year, an army lawmaker in the Lower House proposed the army be given approval to launch military operations to take over mining areas. But, Parliament rejected the proposal. Also, a military MP in Kachin asked the state Parliament to authorize curfews in some parts of the state, but the state parliament voted that plan down too. Many Hpakant jade mining areas are already under the control of the army, while mining areas in Tanai are controlled by the KIA. Refugee Situation in Kachin The Myanmar Army has not allowed humanitarian agencies from the UN to deliver aid to Kachin IDPs. UN officers reported that they have asked the Myanmar Army several times for permission but they have not been denied on each occasion. Local Kachin rights activists and international rights groups have called the blocking of humanitarian aid deliveries to the IDPs a war crime, but the army has ignored the criticism. It apparently believes the KIA will able to resist a long offensive if it lets international humanitarian aid cross into KIA-controlled areas. The Myanmar Army has deployed a "four cuts" counter-insurgency strategy that aims to cut off food, funds, intelligence and popular support for the KIA's armed resistance. A 17-year-long ceasefire between the KIA and Myanmar Army broke down in 2011. The resulting fighting has caused 120,000 people to flee from their homes and they are now living in 167 IDP camps in Kachin State. They have not been able to go back home since the fighting erupted. The post Army Shelling Seen Signaling Start of New Offensive in Kachin, Shan States appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| UN Chief Says Arrest of Reuters Journalists Shows Erosion of Press Freedom in Myanmar Posted: 14 Dec 2017 06:09 AM PST TOKYO/YANGON — The arrest of two Reuters journalists in Yangon this week was a signal that press freedom is shrinking in Myanmar and the international community must do all it can to get them released, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday. Guterres said his main concern over Myanmar was the "dramatic violations of human rights" during a military crackdown in Rakhine State that forced more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee the country for southern Bangladesh, and the arrest of the journalists was probably related. "It is clearly a concern in relation to the erosion of press freedom in the country," he told a news conference in Tokyo, referring to the detention of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who had been working on stories about the strife in Rakhine State. "And probably the reason why these journalists were arrested is because they were reporting on what they have seen in relation to this massive human tragedy," he added. Myanmar's Ministry of Information said in a statement on Wednesday that the Reuters journalists and two policemen faced charges under the British colonial-era Official Secrets Act. The 1923 law carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. The reporters "illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media," the ministry said in its statement, which was accompanied by a photo of the two reporters in handcuffs. Reuters President and Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler said in a statement on Wednesday: "We are outraged by this blatant attack on press freedom. We call for authorities to release them immediately." Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo went missing on Tuesday evening after they had been invited to meet police officials over dinner on the outskirts of Yangon. The authorities have not confirmed where the journalists are being held and, as of Thursday morning, Reuters had not been formally contacted by officials about their detention. Britain Raises Concern The British Embassy in Yangon expressed deep concern about the arrests, and said in a statement that journalists "must be allowed to work freely and without intimidation." "We have raised our concerns with the Burmese government, urging them to explain these arrests and allow immediate access to the two journalists," it said. Myanmar is also known as Burma. The Foreign Correspondents Club of Myanmar said it was "appalled" by the arrests and "gravely concerned" about the state of press freedom in the country. In a statement, it called on the authorities to ensure the safety of the reporters and allow their families to see them. The Foreign Correspondents Club in neighboring Thailand said it was "alarmed by the use of this draconian law with its heavy penalties against journalists simply doing their jobs." "Wielding such a blunt legal instrument has an intimidating effect on other journalists, and poses a real threat to media freedom," the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand said in a statement, calling for the journalists to be released. It said journalists should be given access to Rakhine State so that they can report accurately on developments there. Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh say their exodus from the mainly Buddhist nation was triggered by a military offensive in response to Rohingya militant attacks on security forces at the end of August. The United Nations has branded the military's campaign "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing" of the minority Rohingya. Guterres said the international community should do everything possible to secure the journalists' release and freedom of the press in Myanmar. He called for aid to be delivered, violence contained and reconciliation promoted in Rakhine State, and for the Rohingyas' right of return to be fully respected and implemented. The post UN Chief Says Arrest of Reuters Journalists Shows Erosion of Press Freedom in Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Settling Scores in Northern Rakhine Posted: 14 Dec 2017 04:24 AM PST YANGON — In order to implement the recommendations of the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, the President's Office announced the creation of a ten-member implementation committee on Monday including international and local experts alike. The country's de facto leader, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, had already formed the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine (UEHRD). Dozens of businesspeople have separately formed yet another group to accelerate infrastructure development in the state's north. However, there appears to be little collaboration between the Union government and local civil society groups or the Rakhine State Parliament. And as the central government works out a strategy to deal with the crisis, those groups and lawmakers have already begun trying to permanently reshape local demographics by drawing in ethnic Arakanese from elsewhere. Not long after armed clashes broke out on Aug. 25 in the state's Maungdaw Township, Arakanese historian Aye Chan, a professor at Japan's Kanda University of International Studies, joined nationalists and a few lawmakers to establish the Ancillary Committee for Reconstruction of Rakhine National Territory in the Western Frontier (ACRRNT), known locally as the CRR. Searching for Settlers In its counter-offensive against the militant Muslim group the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which sparked the Aug. 25 clashes, government security forces have driven more than 620,000 Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh with clearance operations UN officials have called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing." Nearly 30,000 non-Muslims were also displaced, though most of them have now returned to Maungdaw. Independent Rakhine State lawmaker Than Maung Oo revealed that over the weekend the CRR brought in 13 families from Thandwe Township's Sin Khaung village and about 40 people from Ramree and Manaung islands, each located hundreds of kilometers from Maungdaw in southern Rakhine. CRR members say they have been looking for potential settlers for months among poor families both within Rakhine and farther away among Arakanese communities in the Irrawaddy delta. On social media, some CRR members have been offering to shower settlers with cash and set them up with new homes, fishing nets and land, celebrating them as Rakhine's "western gate keepers." Aye Chan said the CRR would loan them the cash, nets, boats and other supplies but expects to be repaid in regular installments once the new arrivals have settled in. He said his group has not received any financial support from abroad, drawing instead on both Arakanese and non-Arakanese private businesses in Myanmar. Some of the recent arrivals have already raised modest houses within Arakanese villages in southern Maungdaw. It is unclear whether the state government has officially granted them land. The Irrawaddy's Sittwe correspondent interviewed some settlers who were stopped briefly at a jetty on the way to Maungdaw on Sunday. They said they would have to learn how the locals make a living in order to get by. Sin Khaung villager Shwe Thein Maung said, "The group [CRR] organized us and we will work on land that belonged to the Rakhine, but I don't know exactly what kind of business we will do yet."  Yearning for the Past The group says its aim is to return the numbers of Buddhist and Muslim villages in Maungdaw to pre-World War II proportions. In May 1942 Japan invaded Myanmar, then under British control. In response the British organized Muslims communities into an armed V Force to sabotage and attack the Japanese. But the force attacked Arakanese communities, killing many and burning villages to the ground. Only 60 Arakanese villages have been rebuilt in the region since, according to former Information Minister Ye Htut, who spoke on the history of the Rohingya crisis in Singapore in October. In 1947, after the Japanese were defeated, Aye Chan writes in his book on Rakhine history, the Muslim Liberation Organization, led by the Chittagonian Zaffa Kawal, asked Myanmar to recognize what is today Mayu district in Rakhine as a territory of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The request was denied. The CRR believes that rebalancing the Muslim and Buddhist populations could prevent further attacks. "There are many abandoned Arakanese villages that were ruined by the mujahedeen before the independence of Myanmar," Aye Chan said, referring to the V Force. "We want to relocate our people in all of those areas." He said his group has already informed the state government of its activities and has not been told to stop. According to Myanmar's land laws, farming, building housing on or otherwise using virgin, fellow and vacant land requires a permit from authorities. "If there is any contradiction with existing laws, then we have to negotiate with authorities," Aye Chan said. Repeating History The CRR's plans are reminiscent of the Development of Border Areas and National Races — or Natala — village project set up in the early 1990s under the regime of former General Than Shwe. The project provided housing, land and cattle to those who moved from Yangon and other regions to Maungdaw under the protection of the Nasaka, Myanmar's border security force, but was terminate under President Thein Sein. Although the project established dozens of villages, locals complained that many of them vanished almost immediately as the settlers sold their new farm plots to Muslims and returned to where they came from, said lawmaker U Than Maung Oo. Aye Chan insists the CRR's plans are different. The professor said the Natala project merely provided land and housing to squatters and vagrants from Yangon who knew little about farming. He explained that the CRR was promoting both farming and fishing as southern Maungdaw's coastline has many fishing areas. U Than Maung Oo said some fishing families from Thandwe tried to settle in the region about a decade ago but left because they were threatened by Rohingya villagers.  More Segregation? The Irrawaddy asked Aye Chan whether the CRR was promoting segregation, but he declined to comment. The Rakhine Parliament has urged the Union government to set up a "Bengali Free Zone" in Maungdaw. Most people in Myanmar refer to the Rohingya as 'Bengali,' implying that they are illegal immigrants. During a meeting between state legislators and the UEHRD last week, lawmakers suggested splitting the township, reserving the north for Muslims and the south for everyone else. The previous government enacted a similar plan. When communal riots between Muslims and Arakanese erupted in 2012, authorities evacuated thousands of Rohingya from their quarters in Sittwe Township to Muslim villages on the outskirts of town. The rest of those displaced by the violence have spent the past five years in camps and are yet to be allowed back. Than Maung Oo has repeatedly urged the government to ignore pressure from international aid groups in dealing with the latest crisis. "We don't care at all if they boycott us. We expect nothing because we have learned enough about their activities over the years", he said. U Mg Tun, a primary school teacher, lives in southern Maungdaw's Kin Chaung village. He said there were about 50 Muslim villages in the region before the Aug. 25 attacks and that only 10 remain intact. He said both Arakan and Muslim villagers are not harvesting their rice paddy for fear of more clashes. He said local civil society groups support the CPP's plan and a call among many Arakanese for the government not to resettle Muslims in southern Maungdaw. "If the government allows Muslims in the southern part, all of us Arakanese will leave this region forever," U Mg Tun said.  A Home for the Rohingya But there is no guarantee the Rohingya who fled their homes will return any time soon. Abdul Wahid (not his real name), from Zay De Pyin village in Rathedaung Township, said his family was currently sheltering in southern Buthidaung Township because his village was destroyed during the security forces' clearance operations. He has asked authorities to let him visit his village to assess the damage to his property. "We told the authorities that we did not betray the nation, and we did not join those fleeing to Bangladesh, but our requested was ignored," he said. According Abdul Wahid, about 40 families from Zay De Pyin have sought refuge in Buthidaung's Du Oo Thayma village and have yet to receive any humanitarian assistance from either the government or international aid groups. He said they were running short of food and have been forced to beg from neighbors. He said their century-old mosque in Rathedaung, built in 1910 during British control, was destroyed with a local business owner's bulldozer and that their entire village was reduced to ashes in front of government security forces. He said their plantations were ruined. "No one stopped it," Abdul Wahid said. "It's deliberate torture, a tactic to prevent us from returning." The Irrawaddy could not independently verify his claims. The post Settling Scores in Northern Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| The Crackdown on the Media Must Stop Posted: 14 Dec 2017 03:40 AM PST The detention of two reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo from Reuters, is a reminder that much praised reform and the democratic transition in Myanmar are still a distant dream. What is worrying now is that the media is being targeted. The two reporters were arrested under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly possessing internal security reports related to fighting between border guard forces and Muslim militants the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in August and if found guilty, the reporters could be imprisoned for up to 14 years. The Ministry of Information said in a statement the reporters "illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media." The military's brutal response to ARSA militants and Muslim villagers in the area received international condemnation and the United Nations held several UN Security Council meetings and called on the government to allow an independent investigation. Moreover, the media should be allowed to visit these areas and operate freely, urged the authorities. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson criticized the Myanmar government’s actions against the Rohingya Muslim population in the country, labeling its actions "ethnic cleansing" after he visited the country in November. The United States is considering imposing targeted sanctions on the Myanmar military and has asked countries not to sell arms to Myanmar. The US embassy in Yangon issued a statement that read: "We are deeply concerned by the highly irregular arrests of two Reuters reporters after they were invited to meet with police officials in Yangon last night. For a democracy to succeed, journalists need to be able to do their jobs freely. We urge the government to explain these arrests and allow immediate access to the journalists." In the wake of the arrest, Reuters' editor-in-chief Stephen J. Adler said: "We are outraged by this blatant attack on press freedom. We call for authorities to release them immediately," in a statement. It is an outrage to see the Ministry of Information release a police record photo of reporters handcuffed – as police normally do to criminals – on its website soon after the detention. It is chilling to see that MOI has suddenly brought us back to the olden days of a repressive regime. The reporters are not criminals nor should they be charged under any laws or acts. Newsgathering and investigation are meant to seek the truth but these arrests indicate that government is now clearly curtailing those practices. The arrest demonstrates an attack on press freedom and the work of journalists. There is no way to justify the arrest and detention. We ask the government to free Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo immediately. The post The Crackdown on the Media Must Stop appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Equitable Dialogue Will Encourage Reconciliation: KNU Chairman Posted: 14 Dec 2017 12:56 AM PST CHIANG MAI, Thailand — An equitable platform for political dialogue and successful negotiation would encourage other ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), said the chairman of the Karen National Union this week. KNU chairman General Saw Mutu Say Poe noted during his opening speech to his peace partners at a meeting on Thursday the importance of the negotiation process, as it could change sway non-signatories despite their differing political opinions. He said, "The political dialogue must be genuine and equitable and we have to prepare so that the basic principles that we raise reflect democracy and federalism. Our discussions need to take into account both current and future issues. The KNU is one of the eight EAOs that signed the NCA in Oct. 2015 and has participated in the political dialogue process outlined by the agreement. Non-signatories include the five-member bloc the United Nationalities Federal Council based in the southeast and led by the New Mon State Party (NMSP), and the seven-member alliance the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), based in the northeast and led by the United Wa State Army (UWSA). The Shan State Progressive Party/Shan State Army-North has been a member of both blocs. The eight signatories of the NCA gathered in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand for a five-day preparatory meeting starting on Dec. 14, 2017, before the third session of the 21st Century Panglong Union Peace Conference (UPC) slated to be held in late January next year. The members from five sectors: political, economic, social, security, and land and environment – and the senior leaders of each signatory group will review each issue. Saw Mutu Say Poe said everyone's effort is needed to have substantive political negotiations. He urged his fellow men and peace partners to prepare strong arguments and learn technical skills regarding the negotiations. The political dialogue process has to be implemented based on "mutual respect, thorough discussion as well as an adequate timeframe," so that these dialogues can lead to national reconciliation. He said that as they have been pushing to solve political problems through political means, and as they now can participate in these political dialogues after more than 60 years of civil war, the opportunity for dialogue should not be underestimated or given little regard. The post Equitable Dialogue Will Encourage Reconciliation: KNU Chairman appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Media Corps Calls for ‘Unconditional Release’ of 2 Reuters Reporters Posted: 13 Dec 2017 10:16 PM PST YANGON – A dozen Myanmar news organizations demanded the government immediately release two Reuters journalists who have been detained by police in Htauk Kyant since Tuesday after being found in possession of classified reports related to the conflict in northern Rakhine State. The two journalists, Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone, were charged under the Official Secrets Act Article 3 – which was enacted during the British colonial era to oppress Myanmar citizens for political purposes — for possessing police reports containing detailed information about the fighting between government troops and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in late August 2017. If found guilty, the reporters could be imprisoned for up to 14 years. Both journalists had been covering the flight of about 620,000 Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh triggered by a military "clearance operations," which the UN has characterized as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing." Two policemen were also arrested for allegedly providing the documents to the reporters. The 12 organizations, including the Myanmar Journalist Network (MJN), Myanmar Journalist Association (MJA), Myanmar Journalists Union (MJU), Burma News International (BNI), Myanmar Media Lawyers' Network (MML), and the Myanmar Women Journalists Society (MWJS), which are based in Yangon, and other regional organizations such as the Arakan Journalist Association and Taunggyi Journalist Association, issued a joint statement regarding the detention of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo and urged the government to process the case transparently. "We journalists absolutely believe that journalists have the right to travel to conflict zones as well as gather information from relevant sources in order to produce accurate reports," the joint statement from the journalist groups states. Further, it says that while the media corps can accept it was possible the two reporters were in possession of important information that may not have been suitable for general publication because of its potential to damage the state's dignity or for security reasons, accusing the journalists of violating the state secrets act for possessing police reports should be regarded as "threatening the freedom of the press." The groups' letter said that applying an outdated law to prosecute journalists could harm the reputation of the country's fragile elected government, while the arrest of the journalists could fuel growing international criticism of Myanmar, especially with regard to those who are covering the Rohingya crisis. "We are deeply concerned about the citizen's rights of the detained journalists as their family members have not been allowed to meet them since they were seized," the statement said. Earlier today, Reuters President and Editor-in-Chief, Stephen J. Adler, issued a statement via the Reuters Press Blog, calling on the authorities to release the two reporters without delay. "Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been reporting on events of global importance in Myanmar, and we learned today that they have been arrested in connection with their work. We are outraged by this blatant attack on press freedom. We call for authorities to release them immediately," Adler said. The US Embassy also expressed its concern about the detained journalists in a statement released shortly after news of the arrests broke on social media. "We are deeply concerned by the highly irregular arrests of two Reuters reporters after they were invited to meet with police officials in Yangon last (Tuesday) night," the embassy said in a statement. The Committee to Protect Journalists and U.S. embassy urged the government to explain the arrests and demanded the unconditional release of the detainees. The post Media Corps Calls for 'Unconditional Release' of 2 Reuters Reporters appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Indonesia Court Rejects Petition to Bar Consensual Sex Outside Marriage Posted: 13 Dec 2017 09:22 PM PST JAKARTA — Indonesia's constitutional court on Thursday narrowly rejected a controversial petition to bar all consensual sex outside of marriage in the world's biggest Muslim-majority country. Five of nine judges voted for the case to be thrown out, in a victory for rights activists who had feared the petition brought by a conservative group would spur moral policing and further discrimination, particularly targeting the gay community in Indonesia. Chief justice Arief Hidayat said existing laws on adultery did not conflict with the constitution and that it was not the authority of the constitutional court to create a new policy. "The plaintiff should submit their petition to lawmakers, and there it should be an important input in the ongoing revision of the national criminal code," Hidayat said. "Based on that view, the constitutional court is of the opinion that the petition is not legally sound." Indonesia's parliament is currently deliberating revisions to the national criminal code. The Southeast Asian country has seen a rise of a hardline, politicized Islam in recent years, which until recently had stayed on the fringe of the nation's politics. The petition put forward by the Family Love Alliance (AILA), a group of conservative academics and activists, called for the definition of adultery to apply not just to married couples but to anyone in a marriage or outside it – effectively making all sex outside of marriage a crime. In their complaint, AILA said certain articles in the national criminal code "threaten the resilience of families and therefore of Indonesia itself." Some rights activists said the petition was partially aimed at criminalizing gay sex, which is currently not regulated by the law, except in the ultra-conservative province of Aceh and in cases of child abuse. The post Indonesia Court Rejects Petition to Bar Consensual Sex Outside Marriage appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Red Cross Says Life Has Stopped in Myanmar’s Rakhine Posted: 13 Dec 2017 09:12 PM PST GENEVA — Life has stopped in its tracks in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State where an estimated 180,000 Rohingya remain, fearful after violence drove 650,000 to flee to Bangladesh, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday. Dominik Stillhart, ICRC director of operations, speaking after a three-day mission to the remote area, said continuing tensions in the Muslim and dominant Buddhist communities were preventing Muslim traders from reopening shops and markets. The ICRC is one of the only aid agencies to operate in northern Rakhine after Myanmar's military waged a campaign the United Nations has called "ethnic cleansing" in response to Aug. 25 attacks by Rohingya militants on security posts. "The situation in the northern Rakhine has definitely stabilized, there are very sporadic incidents, but tensions are huge between the communities," Stillhart told reporters. "You get a sense, especially of the two main communities being deeply scared of each other. What surprised me is the fact that not only the Muslim communities are scared, but that the others are actually scared as well," he said. Stillhart went to Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung in northern Rakhine, where the ICRC is providing food, water and other aid 150,000 people. By year-end, it hopes to reach all of the 180,000 Rohingya it estimates remain in the "politically-sensitive" region, among 300,000 throughout Rakhine, he said. "You travel through the countryside and you really see on both sides of the road, villages that are completely destroyed. It just gives you a bit of a sense of the scale of destruction. There is also this pervasive sense of absence." "It is as if life has stopped in its tracks, people do not move, markets are closed in Maungdaw town," Stillhart said. Myanmar's army released a report last month denying all allegations of rapes and killings by security forces. No Significant Returns "The main problem for the Muslim communities today is not that they are being attacked, or that there are incidents," Stillhart said. Rather it is fear and uncertainty, and "the very limited possibilities for them to access their own livelihoods like fields, and especially markets and services," he said. Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement last month for the voluntary repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya within several months. The returns must be voluntary and safe, Stillhart said. "But for now we really don’t see a significant return movement and I'm also not expecting that we will see massive return anytime soon," he said. About 300 Muslims still flee daily, he added, citing UN figures. The ICRC visits detainees held in Rakhine, including Rohingya arrested since Aug 25, he said. "What I can tell you is there are very few people who have been rounded up, surprisingly few people have been rounded up." "So it’s not as if we met like hundreds or thousands of people rounded up in these detention centers." The post Red Cross Says Life Has Stopped in Myanmar's Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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