Tuesday, December 26, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Fighting in Northeast Picks Up at Year’s End

Posted: 26 Dec 2017 05:04 AM PST

YANGON — Reports of deaths and injuries from artillery attacks and landmine blasts in Kachin and Shan states picked up during the past week and included three children.

On Christmas Eve, a teacher was injured in the neck and had her jaw and teeth shattered from shelling by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) on Woi Chyai village, near Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

Laphai Kai Nan, 29, a volunteer teacher at the Munglai Hkyet camp for internally displaced people (IDP), was hit while walking home from the camp. "She is currently at the Laiza hospital and we heard that she will soon be transferred to the Man Shi hospital in China," said Lamai Mai Mai, an ethnic Kachin activist.

KIO spokesman Colonel Naw Bu said the Tatmadaw was shelling near Laiza even though there was no fighting along the frontlines over the weekend. He told The Irrawaddy on Sunday that the attack, which came at about 9 p.m., was timed intentionally for Christmas Eve but said celebrations went ahead regardless. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the armed wing of KIO, faced a similar attack in 2012.

Those in the IDP camp "were extremely terrified and very anxious throughout the night and packed their belongings to be ready to flee at any moment," according to a Christmas Day statement from the Joint Strategy Team, a group of local civil society groups.

The Tatmadaw had also fired a few shells near the camp, which hosts about 6,000 IDPs, on Dec. 14.

Fighting between the KIA and Tatmadaw has continued in Bamao, Mansi, Moemauk and Tanai townships in Kachin State and in Namkham, Muse and Mang Ton townships in northern Shan State.

But the recent attacks were more akin to "blind firing and planting landmines with no disciplines," said Lamai Mai Mai. "If they had followed the rules of war, we would have fewer civilian fatalities."

U Maung Maung Soe, a political and ethnic affairs analyst, said it showed that the government's efforts to build peace and the Tatmadaw's tactics were "not harmonious."

The government has said it wanted to see peace in 2017. Instead, the fighting has intensified. The ethnic armed groups of the country's northeast have also acquired more arms and fighters over the year than ever before, according to data by the independent Myanmar Peace Monitor.

In November, the joint forces of the KIA, TNLA, AA and MNDAA — the four members of the Northern Alliance at the time — launched an attack near the Muse trading zone and took control of a part of Mongko Township for about a week. The Tatmadaw retaliated with its air force, destroying a church and several homes.

"Clashes will not be avoided as long as there is no ceasefire because in Myanmar politics every armed group believes it needs arms to reach its goal, and as long as they cannot change their thinking military engagement is unavoidable. So we have to think of a way to find a solution," said U Maung Maung Soe.

Each side has accused the other of attacking civilians.

On Dec. 23, a 12-year-old boy died from injuries to his abdomen after artillery shells fell on Maiyu village in Muse, northern Shan State. The artillery fire also injured three others — two men and a 3-year-old boy who lost his right leg.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, the Ministry of Home Affairs said an unidentified ethnic armed group launched the artillery attack on an area where the ethnic Shan Lon Htan militia was conducting security operations. It said the group also attacked an area about 5 miles south of Nant Phat Kar village, also in Muse.

The office of the commander-in-chief blamed the attacks on the KIA and TNLA. Both groups have denied the accusation.

Northern Shan State is home to several armed forces, including the Tatmadaw, TNLA, KIA and local militias.

Also on the 23rd, a man was injured by a landmine in Wara Zut village, Hpakant Township, in Kachin State. The Tatmadaw accused the KIA of planting the mine.

On Dec. 19, in Shan State, a primary school student died in Mong Paw Township and four others were hospitalized in Muse in landmine blasts the military blamed on the KIA and TNLA.

U Maung Maung Soe said the source of the shelling at least should not be a mystery.

"Whoever fired the artillery can be found out by a study of the shell fragments, especially in the case of Maiyu in Muse, but the government has not done anything about it," he said.

The post Fighting in Northeast Picks Up at Year's End appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

KNPP Claims Member Saw Army Execute 4 of His Colleagues Before Escaping

Posted: 26 Dec 2017 04:29 AM PST

The Myanmar Army ordered Karenni National Progressive Party members who were detained during a raid on the group's base in Loikaw, Kayah State on Dec. 20 to dress in Army uniforms and line up, saying they were going to be photographed, before executing them, according to a Karenni fighter who said he escaped after realizing he was about to be killed.

Maung Lar said he spent two days in the jungle before making it back to his KNPP camp on Dec. 22.

"He just ran when [the Army] opened fire on them. Two people tried to run, but only he escaped," said Khu Daniel, a KNPP central committee member.

"He has minor injuries to his foot, sustained while he was in the jungle, but he wasn't shot," Khu Daniel said.

Three KNPP members and one civilian were detained on Dec. 20 when the Regional Operation Command based in Loikaw raided the Karenni Army base in Loikaw Township, according to the KNPP. They were killed at the base, but Myanmar Army personnel took the bodies back to their base and later burned them, the ethnic group claimed.

Khu Daniel said that as a witness to the killings, Maung Lar, 50, will be targeted by the Army, so they are hiding him at an undisclosed location.

He said the KNPP would hold a press conference soon to present all the information it has about how the Myanmar Army murdered four of its personnel.

The Army has denied the accusation. In a statement, it said the four were killed during a firefight between the two sides.

The KNPP has asked the Army to launch an official investigation into the killings, but it has yet to respond.

The Army's Regional Operation Command issued a statement saying the incident began when military vehicles transporting supplies to the Army base were stopped by 15 members of the KNPP, who found timber among the supplies.

According to a Myanmar Army a statement published in the Kantarawaddy Times, the timber was to be used to build enclosures for pigs kept by Army families. It claimed that the KNPP threatened to burn Army cars if it discovered that the soldiers were transporting illegal timber again. The KNPP also illegally collected taxes from local people, according to the statement. The Army also accused the KNPP of building a base in the area controlled by the Army, in violation of a ceasefire agreement.

The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) issued a statement today saying that the Army's actions would disrupt the peace process and damage trust in the institution.

The KNPP signed a ceasefire agreement with the Myanmar government and the military in March 2012, but has not yet inked the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). The KNPP is a member of the UNFC and is involved in negotiations to sign the NCA.

The post KNPP Claims Member Saw Army Execute 4 of His Colleagues Before Escaping appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Additional charges dropped against Turkish TV crew

Posted: 26 Dec 2017 02:57 AM PST

Naypyitaw—Police have withdrawn additional charges against the journalists who were sentenced to two months in prison for attempting to fly a drone near Myanmar's Parliament in October.

Turkish state broadcaster TRT World producer Mok Choy Lin, from Malaysia, freelance camera operator Lau Hon Meng, from Singapore, and two Myanmar citizens — their interpreter Ko Aung Naing Soe and driver U Hla Tin — were detained by the police on Oct. 27 for attempting to fly a drone near Myanmar's Parliament in the administrative capital of Naypyitaw. The local court in Naypyitaw sentenced the four to two months in prison each on Nov.10 under the 1934 colonial-era Myanmar Aircraft Act.

The four were also charged under the 2012 Export and Import Law for illegally bringing the drone into the country. The two foreign journalists were further charged with violating Section 13 (1) of the 1947 Immigration Act on Nov. 27, after their visas expired while in custody. At Tuesday's court hearing, these two latter charges were withdrawn by the plaintiffs, police officer Tun Tun Win and immigration Official U Htay Win, which they said was done so that Myanmar could maintain good relations with Malaysia and Singapore and because authorities didn’t find any intent on the part of the accused to harm the country’s security.

The court will hold a final hearing on Dec. 28 to announce the official withdrawal of the charges against the four. Their two-month prison terms for violating the Aircraft Act are due to be served by Jan. 9 but they are expected to be released on Jan. 5 as they were given four days of remission, according to the defendants' lawyer U Khin Maung Zaw.

Translated from the Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Additional charges dropped against Turkish TV crew appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Gov’t Newspapers Refuse to Publish Open Letter in Support of Detained Reuters Reporters

Posted: 26 Dec 2017 02:17 AM PST

NAYPYITAW—The agency in charge of publishing advertisements in state-run newspapers have refused to print a statement of support for two detained Reuters journalists written by a group of their Naypyitaw-based colleagues.

Twenty-six journalists based in Naypyitaw went to the Information Ministry on Dec. 21 and asked to purchase advertising space in order to publish an open letter in which they expressed solidarity with Ko Wa Lone and Ko Moe Aung, who were detained by police in Yangon on Dec. 12.

The unpublished statement calls for a fair trial for the two journalists and insists they were doing their professional duty by supporting the public's right to information. It also urges concerned ministries to explain the situation publicly, and calls for the pair to be released as soon as possible.

A few days after the letter was submitted, however, the ministry's advertising department said that it would not publish the statement.

"The [state-run newspapers] said the ad would not be allowed for the time being. We asked why, but an official in the department said he was not authorized to speak," said Ko Nyan Hline Lin, chief of Frontier Myanmar's Naypyitaw Bureau.

"We cannot allow the open letter to be published for the time being. We ask for your understanding," ministry deputy director U Thet Paing Htoo, who is in charge of the advertising department, told The Irrawaddy.

"The ad request was rejected on the authority of the ad department, not the Information Ministry," he said.

According to U Thet Paing Htoo, the state-run newspapers' editorial board scrutinizes all advertisements and decided not to run the statement because the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission has already released statements about the two journalists, he said.

The two Reuters journalists were arrested for allegedly violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act by illegally acquiring information about the conflict in northern Rakhine State. They were detained while returning from a dinner to which they had been invited by police in Yangon's Mingalardon Township. Family members have not yet been allowed to see the two.

The post Gov't Newspapers Refuse to Publish Open Letter in Support of Detained Reuters Reporters appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 26 Dec 2017 01:26 AM PST

Iron Cross: New Year Countdown | Dec. 31

Myanmar's most famous rock band will rock the Minder Ground to usher in the New Year. The show will be broadcast live on MRTV.

Dec. 31, 9.30 pm. Minder Ground, Dagon Tsp. Free Show.

Hninzi Anyeint | Dec. 30

Star actors perform satirical comedy routines.

Dec. 30, 7 pm. Royal Garden Hotel. Tickets 30,000 to 100,000 kyats at Taw Win Center, Mann Thiri Recording, Nobody Fashion (Yankin Center).

Capital Hypermarket New Year Countdown | Dec. 30

Famous singers including L Lun Wa, Aung Htet and Nin Zi May will perform.

Dec. 30, 6 pm-12 pm. Minnandar Road, Dawbon Tsp. Free Show.

Human Rights Human Dignity Film Festival | Dec. 30

More than 10 films that have won awards or that have been shortlisted will be screened.

Dec. 30, 6 pm-9 pm. Maha Bandoola Park, Sule Road, Kyauktada Tsp. Free Show.

Chatrium New Year's Eve Masquerade Party | Dec. 31

Wai La, May Sweet, Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein, Here & Now Dance Group and Immortal Band will perform. International buffet dinner including wine, beer and soft drinks included.

Dec. 31, 7 pm-12 pm. Chatrium Hotel. Tickets $140-160. Limited booking.

Charity Circus | Jan. 2-5

Arzarni San San Circus and magicians will perform at this charitable show at Botatung Pagoda Festival.

Jan. 2-5. 9 pm-12 pm. Botatung Pagoda. Tickets at 09-73203508

People's Square Night Market | Dec. 29-31

Music, fun, food and a lucky draw will be featured at this event.

Dec. 29-31. Myanmar Culture Valley, People's Square.

New Year Countdown Party | Dec. 31

Singers Mary and Youn Ni Ko and various DJs will perform.

Dec. 31, 7 pm. Vista Bar, No. 168, corner of Yedashae Street and Shwegondain Road, Bahan Tsp. Admission 10,000 kyats. Tickets at 09-73228586

Art Exhibition: Planet of Color | Dec. 31-Jan. 2

Nine painters will showcase their modern paintings at this group exhibit.

Dec. 31-Jan. 2, 43 Art Gallery, 43rd Street.

Deadly Rhyme | Dec. 29-Jan. 11

Khit Bhone Mo portrays death and the pain of human life, and the truth "beneath the skin of earthlings" to the accompaniment of rhymes in this solo show.

Dec. 29-Jan.11, New Zero Art Space, No 202, 2nd Floor, United Condo, Alanpya Pagoda Road, Dagon Tsp.

The post Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)