Wednesday, February 7, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

AA Denies Involvement in Murder of Former Mrauk-U Official

Posted: 07 Feb 2018 05:14 AM PST

YANGON — The Arakan Army (AA) has denied responsibility for the Jan. 30 killing of a former official of Rakhine State's Mrauk-U Township, saying it has no association with the detained suspects.

"The accusations that the government made are totally untrue. We were not involved in U Bo Bo Min Theik's murder," AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha told The Irrawaddy.

The recently promoted Rakhine State government director was found dead with multiple stab wounds to the chest in Rakhine's Phonnagyun Township.

Earlier, U Bo Bo Min Theik had been summoned for questioning over a police crackdown on a Jan. 16 protest there that left seven civilians dead.

He was serving as an official in Mrauk-U at the time of the protest, which was sparked by the government's decision to ban events marking the anniversary of the fall of the Arakan kingdom some 200 years ago. A few days after the protest and crackdown, he was transferred to Sittwe, the state capital, over concerns for his safety.

On Jan. 31, police arrested four suspects in U Bo Bo Min Theik's murder. U Kyaw Myint and his son Ko Min Than Htay, wife Daw Kyi Kyi Win and daughter-in-law Ma Khin Zar Hlaing were arrested in Yangon and cases were opened against them for homicide, abetting and causing grievous harm.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement released Monday it had learned that the AA assassinated U Bo Bo Min Theik in retaliation for his role in blocking the anniversary commemoration.

It said U Kyaw Myint confessed to conspiring to kill U Bo Bo Min Theik with AA recruiter Ko Latt and three others — Sapaing, Zaw Myo Aung and Myo Chit Aung.

The statement also alleges that U Kyaw Myint and his son had been trafficking illicit drugs from Shan State to Rakhine for several years. It said they smuggled 4.4 million methamphetamine pills into Rakhine's Maungdaw District in 2016 and 2017 at a profit of almost 400 million kyats ($299,000) and confessed to buying M-16 assault rifles, pistols and ammunition for the AA. It added that U Kyaw Myint had kept one of the pistols.

AA spokesperson U Khaing Thukha described the government's statement as an attempt to frame the organization.

"The people named [in the statement] have no connection with us. Another thing that is completely wrong is the type of firearm mentioned. The Arakan Army doesn't use M-16s. That is totally wrong," he added.

The ministry adds in the statement that it will arrest and prosecute all conspirators.

"This is a complex case and it's hard to say who is responsible. But the AA doesn't need to do something like this; those who oppose injustice and oppression will do it," U Khaing Thukha said.

The post AA Denies Involvement in Murder of Former Mrauk-U Official appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rakhine State to Send Lawsuit Against Associated Press to Union Govt

Posted: 07 Feb 2018 03:22 AM PST

The Rakhine State government has submitted to the Attorney General of the Union a plan to sue The Associated Press over its reports claiming the existence of mass graves near Gutar Pyin village in Rakhine's Buthidaung Township.

At a meeting on Feb. 5, Rakhine government ministers agreed with remarks made by the state attorney general that the AP news report affected not only Rakhine State, but also the entire Union.

"I reported to the state government that the case has negative impacts not only on Rakhine State but also on the entire Union. They agreed with me. So we submitted the plan to the attorney general of the Union," Rakhine attorney general U Kyaw Hla Tun told the Irrawaddy.

The plan was submitted on Feb. 5, and Law Officer U Kyaw Maung from the Rakhine State Attorney General's Office has been tasked with working out the necessary legal procedures, according to U Kyaw Hla Tun.

On Feb. 1, the AP reported that hundreds of bodies had been found in five mass graves near Gutar Pyin village in Buthidaung, Rakhine State. It said the bodies had been burned with acid in an apparent attempt to destroy them.

The Union government ordered the Rakhine State government to investigate the claims.

The state government sent an investigation team led by the Buthidaung Township administrator to the site, but the team found the claims to be untrue, according to a statement released by the Union government on the evening of Feb. 2.

The AP responded to The Irrawaddy's request for comment that it stood by its reporting.

Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein.

The post Rakhine State to Send Lawsuit Against Associated Press to Union Govt appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Six Villagers Detained by Mrauk-U Authorities

Posted: 07 Feb 2018 03:12 AM PST

YANGON — Seven locals from Tain Nyo village in northern Rakhine State's Mrauk-U Township were summoned by authorities for questioning on Saturday and only one person had been released as of Wednesday, according to local sources.

Arakanese lawmaker U Tun Thar Sein of Mrauk-U constituency (1) told The Irrawaddy that police brought six men and one woman from Tain Nyo village—situated at least 10 miles from town, with a population of some 3,800—in for questioning.

He told The Irrawaddy over the phone on Wednesday that four villagers had been arrested and were in Mrauk-U police custody and two others were being held at the government administrative office. The reason for their detention is unclear. Speculation is that it is related to the recent murder of former Mrauk-U official Bo Bo Min Theik or for arms possession.

According to police procedure, cops are not to detain ordinary residents for more than 24 hours without charging them.

This week, police searched homes in Tain Nyo village and arrested former village administrator U Kyaw Myint and his son Min Than Htay in Yangon in connection with the murder of Bo Bo Min Theik.

Bo Bo Min Theik was stabbed to death on Jan. 30 in Rakhine's Ponnagyun Township while returning to state capital Sittwe from Mrauk-U, where he had been summoned for questioning over a police crackdown on a Jan. 16 protest there that left seven civilians dead.

Following the police crackdown in Mrauk-U, the Arakan Army (AA) issued a statement threatening to take "serious retaliatory measured against the culprits" including Rakhine State government officials and members of security forces involved in the killings.

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Feb. 5 accused the AA of the murder of Bo Bo Min Theik. AA spokesman U Khine Thu Kha denied that AA soldiers were involved on Tuesday and pointed out that its soldiers did not use M-16 assault rifles, as a government announcement had stated in connection with the crime. He criticized the police of trying to deliberately tarnish the AA's reputation.

The Irrawaddy phoned the Mrauk-U district police official on Tuesday in order to clarify the reason for the detention of seven villagers, but he declined to answer.

A schoolteacher from Mrauk-U said police have searched nearby villages since the police crackdown and that locals were frightened.

To look into the Mrauk-U crackdown, the Rakhine State Parliament established a nine-member investigation commission last month. It was expected to start the inquiry process on Feb. 3 but has been delayed due to regional instability.

U Tun Thar Sein said that regional legislators were holding legal consultations with law experts in order to avoid reaching beyond parliamentarians' legislative power in carrying out the investigation. The team hopes to collaborate with various government departments in Mrauk-U, he added.

The post Six Villagers Detained by Mrauk-U Authorities appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

LGBT Rights Advocates Encourage Sexual Minorities To Come Out

Posted: 07 Feb 2018 12:27 AM PST

YANGON — With a lack of accessible role models in Myanmar for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth to look up to and identify with, rights advocates stressed the need to empower sexual minorities to feel confident to come out and accept their gender identities.

Greater LGBT representation in different local contexts plays a crucial role in empowering community members and affirming that their sexuality is not a mistake, the advocates said.

When there are more LGBT people of different backgrounds coming out, there will be more diverse LGBT faces in society, which will eventually lead to less prejudice against them, said Hla Myat Tun, program director of the LGBT rights organization Colors Rainbow.

"Coming out helps LGBT individuals to have more self-esteem and visibility," he said.

In the meantime, he recognized the need for a safe environment where there is no discrimination, and emotional support for the community members in order to come out and not face social rejection.

Myanmar's biggest LGBT event &Proud Film Festival returned to Yangon for its fourth edition in the last week of January at the city's Thakin Mya Park, for its first public viewing. It was again celebrated at the French Institute from Feb. 1 through Sunday.

The six-day festival included films from Asian countries such as Taiwan, Philippines, Korea and Taiwan, human libraries where LGBT people shared their life stories with festival audiences, photo exhibitions that explored the struggles of LGBT members, drag Olympics and performances, an LGBT choir, and panel discussions. It also tackled the importance of coming out and its impact on not only the well-being and happiness of LGBT people but also the attitude of others toward them.

Seeing tens of thousands of both LGBT and non-LGBT people enjoy the event comfortably and without having to worry about being intimidated by anyone, organizers were inspired to continue creating this safe environment with additional activities in the future, the festival's co-director and Colors Rainbow's Hla Myat Tun said.

The festival crowd made LGBT members feel proud of their sexual orientation and helped them realize they were not alone or invisible, he added.

"[The event] was held for a limited time in a limited space," he said. "They should be entitled to a safe environment every day no matter where they are in this country," he explained, highlighting that it is the ultimate goal of LGBT rights movement.

Human rights trainer and lesbian filmmaker Hnin Pa Pa Soe screened a short video called "It Gets Better" at the festival, which told the coming out stories of four LGBT individuals in an effort to encourage other LGBT members to accept their gender identities.

"When people are able to accept who they really are, they feel no restraint in doing what they want and are able to push boundaries," she said.

She was also finally able to screen her award-winning documentary "A Simple Love Story" for the public at the festival. Her film won the best documentary film prize at last year's Wathann Film Festival, which showcases local independent film. Refusing to bow to the Censorship Board's demand to change the film's ending line—"Does love recognize 'man', 'woman', 'tomboy' or 'shemale'?" she decided not to show it at Wathann.

Despite the effort of LGBT rights advocacy groups, Section 377 of the colonial-era Penal Code that criminalizes “unnatural” sex and carries life imprisonment has yet to be abolished in Myanmar. Although it is rarely enforced, it has been used to target and harass LGBT people.

According to Aung Myo Min, an openly gay activist and executive director at human rights advocacy organization Equality Myanmar, there is still a huge social stigma surrounding homosexuality in the country and no local politician or legislator is promoting the issue.

If there were lawmakers who recognized the rights of LGBT people or capable LGBT lawmakers in Parliament, the issue would be destigmatized more quickly, he explained. He also stressed the role of civil society organizations in building the capacity of LGBT individuals so that the public would recognize their abilities regardless of their gender identities.

"At the same time, the [LGBT] issue must be accepted among the public," U Aung Myo Min said.

The fact that the local government allowed &Proud organizers to use a public space for the celebration was a big step forward in an effort for social acceptance, which he said was the "start of attitude change" at an administrative level.

It engaged with more people, including non-LGBT people, than in previous years, and created an opportunity for people to understand different gender identities, he said.

"If there is more dialogue [among the public,] they will become more open-minded."

Tin Htet Paing is a freelance journalist and photographer based in Yangon. She previously worked at The Irrawaddy as a reporter for three years.

The post LGBT Rights Advocates Encourage Sexual Minorities To Come Out appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Farmers Lose Lengthy Court Battle Against Thai, Govt Mine

Posted: 07 Feb 2018 12:06 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — Nine farmers from Tenasserim Region's Dawei Township have lost their lawsuit against state-owned Mining Enterprise 2 and Thailand's Myanmar Pongpipat Co. asking for 300 million kyats ($227,000) in damages.

A nine-member appeals board at the Supreme Court of Myanmar in Naypyitaw rejected the suit in a final ruling on Monday because it had failed to comply with the Limitation Act, said their lawyer U Maung Maung Soe.

The act imposes various time limits on court cases.

"The Supreme Court of Myanmar rejected the appeal of the case against Heinda mine and there is no higher court to go to. I am sad for the local farmers," U Maung Maung Soe said.

The lawsuit was first filed with the Dawei District Court in 2012 by locals who blamed years of flooding, crop damage and property losses on the soil the companies were dumping into the Myaung Pyo Creek.

After the district court ruled in favor of the companies, the Tenasserim Division Appeals Court overturned the decision, prompting the defendants to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court then overturned the decisions of the division court in June 2016, acquitting the defendants and requiring them only to pay all legal expenses. Dissatisfied, the plaintiffs took their case to a special two-member appeals board at the Supreme Court, which sent it to a nine-member board for a final decision.

In 2012, ethnic Dawei villagers told The Irrawaddy that their properties were being damaged by rising levels of wastewater ever since Myanmar Pongpipat took over the Heinda mine.  They said the company had filled the Myaung Pyo Creek with waste and sediment from the mine, causing more flooding that was damaging their homes, farms and water supplies.

The mine sits about 100 km east of Dawei near the Myitta sub-township next to an area linking the Dawei deep sea port and Kanchanaburi in Thailand.

The Thai company signed a production-sharing deal with Mining Enterprise 2 in 1999 to extract tin and tungsten from a 2,000-acre area and reportedly holds rights to 65 percent of produced, which is exported to Thailand and Singapore for processing. Mining Enterprise 2 holds the remaining rights to the mine

The Irrawaddy tried to meet with Myanmar Pongpipat officials at the mine in 2012, but they refused to speak without the government's permission and told the reporters to leave.

Myanmar Pongpipat was granted permission to operate the mine for a 10-year term in 1999 and continues to operate it today despite the negative impacts on the environment and public health.

The mine sits in an area controlled by the Karen National Union, which has ordered Myanmar Pongpipat to halt its mining operations because of the harm it was doing locals, but to no avail.

Myaung Pyo village, downstream from the mine, was founded in the early 1980s and is home to more than 500 ethnic Dawei. Most are farmers and ranchers, though a few mine for lead.

Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein.

The post Farmers Lose Lengthy Court Battle Against Thai, Govt Mine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Scale, Complexity of Terror Threat to Southeast Asia Growing: ASEAN

Posted: 06 Feb 2018 09:13 PM PST

SINGAPORE — The terrorist threat facing Southeast Asia is growing as foreign fighters return to the region, Southeast Asian defense ministers said in a joint statement on Tuesday in which they pledged to improve cooperation to tackle militancy.

Six Southeast Asian nations launched an intelligence pact last month aimed at combating Islamist militants and improving co-operation on security threats, overcoming what analysts described as a high level of distrust. They also pledged to increase cooperation in July.

"We, the defense ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), note with grave concern the rise of terrorism in our region, perpetrated by individuals and groups with increasingly sophisticated and deadly tactics and weapons," they said at the conclusion of their two-day meeting in Singapore.

"The scale and complexity of the terrorist threat faced by our region continues to grow with the influx of returning foreign terrorist fighters and cross border movement of terrorists."

The ministers said they would also improve cooperation with external partners.

The push for further regional cooperation comes after insurgents aligned to Islamic State laid siege to the southern Philippine city of Marawi last year.

That battle sparked alarm that as Islamic State suffered reversals in Iraq and Syria, it was seeking to create a stronghold in Southeast Asia, buttressed by fighters returning from the Middle East.

ASEAN consists of Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population, and mostly Muslim Malaysia alongside Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Singapore, ranked one of the safest countries in the world, has also been stepping up efforts to deter terrorism in recent years.

 

The post Scale, Complexity of Terror Threat to Southeast Asia Growing: ASEAN appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

At Least Four Killed, 145 Missing After Quake Rocks Taiwan

Posted: 06 Feb 2018 08:55 PM PST

HUALIEN, Taiwan — Rescuers combed through the rubble of collapsed buildings on Wednesday, some using their hands as they searched for about 145 people missing after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck near the popular Taiwanese tourist city of Hualien overnight.

At least four people were killed and 225 injured in the quake that hit near the coastal city just before midnight on Tuesday, officials said. The latest figures from government data indicated 145 people were missing.

Many of those were believed to be still trapped inside buildings, including a military hospital, after the quake hit about 22 km northeast of Hualien on Taiwan's east coast.

Aftershocks with a magnitude of at least 5.0 could rock the island in the next two weeks, the government said. Japanese, Czech and mainland Chinese nationals were among the injured.

Residents waited and watched anxiously as emergency workers dressed in fluorescent orange and red suits and wearing helmets searched for residents trapped in apartment blocks.

Hualien is home to about 100,000 people. Its streets were buckled by the force of the quake, with around 40,000 homes left without water and around 1,900 without power.

Emergency workers surrounded a damaged military hospital in the area. Windows had collapsed and the building was wedged into the ground at a 40-degree angle.

Rescuers worked their way around and through the building while residents looked on from behind cordoned-off roads.

"We were still open when it happened," said Lin Ching-wen, who operates a restaurant near the military hospital.

"I grabbed my wife and children and we ran out and tried to rescue people," he said.

A Reuters video showed large cracks in the road, while police and emergency services tried to help anxious people roaming the streets.

President Tsai Ing-wen went to the scene of the quake early on Wednesday to help direct rescue operations.

"The president has asked the cabinet and related ministries to immediately launch the 'disaster mechanism' and to work at the fastest rate on disaster relief work," Tsai's office said in a statement.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest contract chipmaker and major Apple supplier, said initial assessments indicated no impact from the earthquake.

Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China considers part of its territory, lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes. An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 struck nearby on Sunday.

More than 100 were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, and some Taiwanese remain scarred by a 7.6 magnitude quake that was felt across the island and killed more than 2,000 people in 1999.

The post At Least Four Killed, 145 Missing After Quake Rocks Taiwan appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Policeman Who Arrested Reuters Reporters Tells Court He Burned His Notes

Posted: 06 Feb 2018 08:47 PM PST

YANGON — A Myanmar police officer who was part of the team that arrested two Reuters journalists in December told a court on Tuesday that he had burned the notes he made at the time, but gave no reason why he had done so.

Police Second Lieutenant Tin Htwe Oo was the latest prosecution witness to give evidence at the Insein district court in Yangon, which will decide whether reporters Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, should be charged under Myanmar's colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

Tin Htwe Oo read from a notebook to recount details of the arrest, which he said was based on notes written at the time. Under cross-examination by the defense, he said he had burned his original notes, but had not been instructed to do so.

"Only the police will know the reason for that," defense lawyer Than Zaw Aung told reporters after the hearing.

Dozens of reporters and diplomats were present when the Reuters journalists were brought in handcuffs from prison to the crowded courtroom.

They had worked on Reuters coverage of a crisis in Rakhine State, where an army crackdown on insurgents since the end of August has triggered the flight of 688,000 Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh, according to the United Nations.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were detained on Dec. 12 after they had been invited to meet police officers over dinner in Yangon. They have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some documents at a restaurant by two officers they had not met before.

Tin Htwe Oo made no reference to the restaurant meeting, saying police stopped the two reporters as they walked along a road. He said after stopping them, police discovered secret documents relating to the Rakhine conflict.

The arresting officers made an inventory of around 20 items in their possession – including their cell phone numbers and details of ATM and library cards – on the spot within 10-15 minutes, he said.

Defense lawyer Than Zaw Aung said he had asked Tin Htwe Oo repeatedly in cross-examination how they had been able to do this so quickly, but said he did not give a clear response.

"They were saying that it only took 10 to 15 minutes but items found from the reporters were phones and cards and it will take around 30 minutes to record those," Than Zaw Aung said.

Calls for Release

At the last court hearing on Thursday, another prosecution witness, Police Major Min Thant, agreed during cross-examination by the defense that the information in documents that Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were holding in their hands at the time of their arrest had already been published in newspaper reports.

"Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are journalists who perform a crucial role in shedding light on issues of global interest," Reuters said in a statement after the proceedings ended for the day.

"We believe that the ongoing court proceedings will demonstrate their innocence and they will be able to return to their jobs reporting on events in Myanmar. We are grateful for the expressions of support for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo and continue to call for their prompt release."

The two reporters, whose application for bail was declined at the last hearing, have now been in detention for eight weeks, first in police custody and then in Yangon's notorious Insein prison.

"We feel there's no justice," Wa Lone shouted as he and Kyaw Soe Oo were led to a police truck after the hearing. "The testimonies from the police officers are far from the truth."

Spokesmen for the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Yangon police chief were not immediately available for comment. In the past they have declined to comment on a case that is before the courts.

The Official Secrets Act dates back to 1923 – when Myanmar, then known as Burma, was under British rule – and carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

The two journalists have been accused under Section 3.1 (c) of the act, which covers entering prohibited places, and taking images or obtaining secret official documents that "might be or is intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy."

Government officials from some of the world's major nations, including the United States, Britain and Canada, as well as top UN officials, have called for the reporters to be freed.

The date of the next hearing was set for Feb. 14.

The post Myanmar Policeman Who Arrested Reuters Reporters Tells Court He Burned His Notes appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)