The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- MP, Author Charged with High Treason: Lawyer
- Pilgrims Flock to Nyaung Lay Pin Church for Annual Our Lady of Lourdes Procession
- Four Charged With Premeditated Murder in U Ko Ni Killing
- Escape the City Traffic — Relax at Ngwe Saung Beach
- Legal Action to be Taken Against Nationalist Supporters at U Ko Ni Trial
- Protest Calls for Death Sentence for Rapists
- How Should the US Engage Myanmar?
- Expelled Student Activists to Return to University Next Week
- Suu Kyi’s Rakhine Rehabilitation Enterprise Comes Under Fire
- Trump, Modi Discuss Afghanistan, Myanmar, Maldives, North Korea: White House
- How Myanmar Forces Burned, Looted and Killed in a Remote Village
- New KIO Chair Preaches Unity, Dialogue to Settle Civil War
- Maritime Patrol Aircraft Seen as Key in Asia, but Buyers Elusive
| MP, Author Charged with High Treason: Lawyer Posted: 09 Feb 2018 06:39 AM PST YANGON — Union lawmaker U Aye Maung and author Ko Wai Han Aung were charged with high treason by the Sittwe District Court on Friday, according to the author's lawyer, Daw Aye Nu Sein. The two were arrested in mid-January for allegedly promoting support for the outlawed Arakan Army in public speeches they had recently delivered in Rakhine State's Rathedaung Township. After his speech in Rathedaung, U Aye Maung was invited by a local charity to join a literature talk in the town of Mrauk-U on Jan. 16 to mark the 233rd anniversary of the fall of the Arakanese kingdom. When authorities abruptly banned the event, a protest broke out and seven civilians were shot dead in the police crackdown that followed. A few days later, the Ministry of Home Affairs released a lengthy statement accusing U Aye Maung and Ko Wai Han Aung of having destabilized the community with their recent remarks. A prominent ethnic Arakanese politician, U Aye Maung had recently resigned as chairman of the Arakan National Party. Sittwe residents said security was tight around the district court on Friday for the pair's appearance. Speaking with journalists outside the court, U Aye Maung denied wrongdoing. "I did not say that Bamar people regard the Rakhine [Arakan] as slaves and I am very upset when I see such terms in the newspaper. I just spoke about national unity and was not fueling anger between the Rakhine and Bamar," he said. U Aye Maung and Ko Wai Han Aung were both charged with unlawful association and defamation by the Rathedaung Township Court last week. U Ban Than, who organized the event at which the pair delivered their speeches, was still at large as of Friday. Ko Wai Han Aung's elder brother Ko Thein Win told The Irrawaddy by phone on Friday that the defendants were allowed to meet with their families for about 10 minutes. He said his brother told him that his arrest "was unjust." Their next appearance at the district court is scheduled for Feb. 21. High treason carries a possible death sentence or prison with hard labor for life. The post MP, Author Charged with High Treason: Lawyer appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Pilgrims Flock to Nyaung Lay Pin Church for Annual Our Lady of Lourdes Procession Posted: 09 Feb 2018 06:27 AM PST NYAUNG LAY PIN – The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes compound in Nyaung Lay Pin, Pegu Division, about 70 miles north of Yangon, has been abuzz with Catholic pilgrims from parts near and far for days. Those who had traveled a long way clutched suitcases and backpacks as they were shown to a line of temporary bamboo tents inside the church compound. In preparation for the Mass, nuns and laymen bustled about with flowers, decorating the grotto that enshrines the replica of the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. Pilgrims prayed before the shrine or under the grotto, while some drank and collected holy water from the small well nearby. Two young men helped small children reach the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes as their parents looked on, eager for them to touch the statue to receive its blessings. The two young men were kept busy, helping pilgrims who handed over their rosaries, small statues of the Virgin Mary, images of the Infant Jesus and St. Joseph, and bottles of olive oil and holy water to touch the statue with; they believe doing so will make these into holy things with the power to offer protection.  Pilgrims to the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes believe that praying the rosary, worshipping, drinking and washing with holy water, and receiving blessings by touching the statue, can heal illness and prevent disease. Back in 1892, when French Catholic missionaries arrived in the country, Father Michael Mignot settled down in Nyaung Lay Pin, bringing with him a replica statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. He spread the story of the Marian Apparitions — a reported supernatural appearance by the Virgin Mary — believed to have occurred in Lourdes, France, in 1858.  In 1929, a mentally unstable man toppled the statue from its perch in the grotto. It was smashed to bits and a replacement was put in. In 1942, Japanese troops occupied Nyaung Lay Pin and used the church compound as their headquarters. They too toppled the statue, causing the hands to snap off. In 1949, the hands were reattached; the cracks can still be seen to this day. The first procession of Our Lady of Lourdes, in which the statue was carried along a circular route around the town, was held in 1930 to promote the Catholic mission and commemorate the two reported Marian Apparitions in Lourdes, on Feb. 10 and 12, 1858. Since then, a procession has been held annually on Feb. 10-12.  In recent years, the three-day celebration and Mass have been extended into a more-than-weeklong event from Feb. 2-11, with a healing Mass and procession on Feb. 10. This year, Cardinal Charles Bo will lead the special Mass on Feb. 10, after the procession. "Since we are not able to go Lourdes, the mass here in Nyaung Lay Pin is the only hope we have of witnessing Mother Mary's miracles," said Daw Khin Kyi, 56, a cancer survivor from Hmawbi Township. Daw Khin Kyi said she was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago. However, she believed that Our Lady of Lourdes had answered her prayers and healed her.  "By the grace of Our Lady of Lourdes, I was healed and received enough money to buy medicine," she said. Apart from thousands of Catholics and other Christians, non-Christians also visit Nayung Lay Pin during the Holy Mass and celebration to pray for their health. Many of them were seen bringing their children to the grotto to touch the statue.  Although the majority of the population of Nayung Lay Pin is Buddhist, the local authorities and population seem to approve of the procession of the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. "Most of the locals love the procession, as they also believe Mother Mary is protecting them. We've never experienced any anger or disapproval; every celebration has gone peacefully," said U Saw Simon, 65, an elder of Nyaung Lay Pin. The post Pilgrims Flock to Nyaung Lay Pin Church for Annual Our Lady of Lourdes Procession appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Four Charged With Premeditated Murder in U Ko Ni Killing Posted: 09 Feb 2018 06:08 AM PST YANGON— Yangon's Northern District Court on Friday charged four men with premeditated murder in connection with the January 2017 killing of prominent Muslim lawyer U Ko Ni. If convicted, they face life sentences. U Ko Ni, a constitutional lawyer and legal adviser to the ruling National League for Democracy, was gunned down outside Yangon International Airport on Jan. 29 last year. Police have detained four people in connection with the crime: accused gunman Kyi Lin and three alleged co-conspirators Zeya Phyo, Aung Win Zaw and Aung Win Tun. The man they accuse of masterminding the murder, former Lieutenant-Colonel Aung Win Khaing, remains at large.; After hearing more than 10 months of witness testimony, the district court indicted three of the detained suspects and Aung Win Khaing under the Penal Code's Article 302 (1) (b). Aung Win Tun was indicted under the Penal Code's Article 212, which prohibits harboring an offender. The court also ordered the confiscation of the fugitive Aung Win Khaing's movable and immovable property under the Criminal Procedure's Article 88.; After the hearing, Aung Win Zaw and Zeya Phyo shouted that they were "innocent" and "not guilty" of U Ko Ni's murder as they were led away by police. "I am not guilty of anything," shouted Zeya Phyo, a former captain with the Military Intelligence unit. "There is no evidence to prove that I am," he yelled. Zeya Phyo was accused by the prosecutor of giving financial support to the alleged conspirators to carry out the murder. His name was first revealed at a press conference in February last year by the Home Affairs Ministry and police. Daw Pa Pa Win, a defense lawyer for Zeya Phyo, told The Irrawaddy after the hearing that there is no evidence or witness testimony showing that her client financed the murder. She added that none of the 72 witnesses who testified said Zeya Phyo was involved in planning the murder. However, "Since the court has indicted him, he must stand trial," she said. "While an indictment is not a sentence, [he] has to stand trial and is aggrieved by the court's decision," she added. Daw Pa Pa Win said she would assert her client's legal right to appeal to the divisional court. U Kyaw Kyaw Htike, a defense lawyer for accused gunman Kyi Lin, told The Irrawaddy that he had no comment to make on behalf of his client, adding only that the public would be satisfied with the court's decision and the indictment order. "If I make a good case at the trial, [Kyi Lin] will be acquitted. If I don't, he will get a life sentence—which you will all be satisfied with," he said. Kyi Lin and Aung Win Zaw were also indicted by the court under Article 19(c) and (f) of the 1878 Arms Act respectively for importing/exporting and possessing firearms. U Nay La, a lawyer representing the victim's family in court, told The Irrawaddy the court's decisions were in accordance with the law, regardless of the accused's denials. "What U Ko Ni's family wants is not revenge, but for the truth to be uncovered," he said. 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 Four Charged With Premeditated Murder in U Ko Ni Killing appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Escape the City Traffic — Relax at Ngwe Saung Beach Posted: 09 Feb 2018 04:41 AM PST NGWE SAUNG BEACH, Irrawaddy Region — Ngwe Saung beach is one of Myanmar's most famous beaches, popular with foreigners and locals alike thanks to its silvery sandy, cleanliness and peaceful environment. It's also a good place to swim and take a long walk along the beautiful beach. Everybody loves the beach, and so do I. Last week, me and my friends went to Ngwe Saung beach to escape the city traffic for a while. This beautiful beach is in Irrawaddy Region, about 260 km from Yangon. The road is not straight, but it's better than before. The drive takes about five hours but depends on your mode of transportation. We rented a Toyota Alphard for 300,000 kyats ($226) for a two-day round trip. The minivan can hold up to eight people including the driver, more than enough for our group of five. The van picked us up at 4 a.m. and we left town still sleepy. At that early hour, Yangon was still quiet and cold. Old Myanmar classics were playing softly on the radio.  Amid the peace and quiet, we soon fell back to sleep. When I awake, it was about 8 a.m. and we were entering Pathein District. The thick mist on either side of the road gave the impression that we were riding through a cloud. Love it. We grabbed breakfast at a teashop in Pathein and got back on the road. An hour later we arrived and were at the Sunny Paradise Hotel by 10 a.m. Some guests were having breakfast in the dining area behind the reception and we could see the blue sea through the open lobby. We had booked a sea-view room. But the last guests hadn't checked out yet and we had to wait until noon. But we didn't mind because we couldn't wait to hit the pretty beach, so we left our luggage at the reception desk and were off. The hotel has an amazing infinity pool, as if it's connected to the sea. Some guests were swimming in the pool and I took a seat on the deck to gaze out at the blue sea. It's a breathtaking view I could never get tired of.  The place was quiet and the weather was good. At that hour, it was quiet enough to hear the sound of waves crashing on the shore. On one short stretch there are a lot of shops selling coconut milk and grilled seafood and others offering horse rides and renting scooters, so this part of the beach is a bit noisy and dirty. After checking into our room, we took a five-minute drive to a nearby village for lunch. There were plenty of good seafood restaurants and the prices don't vary much. We chose Sea King, placed our orders and waited a few minutes while they prepared our meals. The seafood was delicious, fresh and not very expensive. The beach is a place to relax and laze, so when we got back to the hotel we spent the afternoon sleeping. By about 4 p.m. the sun had begun its slow descent, a perfect time to swim and take a long walk on the beach. Walking along the beach without slippers was so comfortable and I found lots of beautiful seashells. Some tiny crabs were crawling in and out of their holes in the sand. How cute. At that moment, I had forgotten all about my problems and busy job and felt so relaxed. Watching the sunset from the hotel pool was superb. It was my favorite part of the trip. If you like water sports, there are some shops along the beach to serve your needs. You can also take boat tours to Bird Island or Lovers Island. But there's not much to do. So just chill on the beach, enjoy the view, sip some fresh coconut milk and fall asleep to the sounds of the sea. Between November and March is the best time to go. So if you want to get away from the city traffic for a while, book a room. The post Escape the City Traffic — Relax at Ngwe Saung Beach appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Legal Action to be Taken Against Nationalist Supporters at U Ko Ni Trial Posted: 09 Feb 2018 04:37 AM PST YANGON — Permanent secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs U Tin Myint said that legal action will be taken against the supporters of gunman Kyi Lin and alleged co-conspirators at last Friday's court hearing for slain prominent Muslim lawyer U Ko Ni. Before the hearing on Feb. 2 at Yangon's Northern District Court, a small group of nationalists appeared wearing t-shirts reading: "Eat Well!" to show their support for the four detained suspects accused of involvement in the assassination of U Ko Ni. The phrase in Burmese is used as a threat to show one's anger and to warn of impending revenge. The defendants also allegedly shouted the phrase "Eat well" at reporters and the plaintiff's lawyers outside the court last month. The phrase was used by the nationalists to show support for the detainees: gunman Kyi Lin and co-conspirators: Zeya Phyo, Aung Win Zaw and Aung Win Tun. Shortly after photos of the nationalists went viral, netizens heavily denounced their actions as undermining rule of law and the nation's stability. Lawyers organizations also released a statement condemning the behavior of the nationalists as "an insult to the whole judicial system" and a threat not only to the reporters who followed the case, but to the lawyers and the judge. The lawyers urged the government to take action. "It is a death threat. That's why we accepted the complaint and opened the case," the permanent secretary U Tin Myint said, adding that the case will be carried out in accordance with the law. Insein Township administrator U Aye Min filed the case against four men for intimidation inside the court compound directly to the Insein Township Court on Tuesday. The court issued arrest warrants for the four under the incitement charges of the Penal Code's Article 505 (b) and the threat of injury to public servant charges under Article 189. Two of the four: Myat Phone Moh and Tin Htay Aung, were also among those involved in a violent confrontation between Muslims and Buddhists in Yangon's Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township last May. They were arrested and sentenced for incitement to commit violence at that time. "We believe he [gunman Kyi Lin] did the right thing. That's why we support him. We have no other intention," Myat Phone Moh said at the court. The ultranationalist monk U Wirathu has also voiced his support for the accused nationalists in a video uploaded on Naing Wynn Tun's Facebook account on Wednesday. "Can't we even say 'Eat Well' in a democracy? What is the democracy and human rights that lobbyists are talking about? " the monk asked in the video. He also asked whether it is a democracy that bans those who write, preach and speak against the government. "I will say to those who insulted supporters 'eat well,' those who blame monks 'eat well' and those who block sermons 'eat well.' As you can't eat in hell," he said, during the seven-minute video. The infamous monk was banned from delivering sermons across the country for one year last March, due to his religious hate speech. His Facebook account was also temporarily shut down in last July. Translated from Burmese by San Yamin Aung. The post Legal Action to be Taken Against Nationalist Supporters at U Ko Ni Trial appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Protest Calls for Death Sentence for Rapists Posted: 09 Feb 2018 03:27 AM PST YANGON — The Association for the Protection of Myanmar Women called for the death sentence for rapists during a protest outside the North Dagon Township Court on Thursday. The group timed the protest to coincide with an appearance at the court by Myo Zaw Oo, 27, a taxi driver accused of raping and murdering Ma Shwe Yi Win in Yangon on the night of Jan. 20. About 15 women joined the protest, holding up vinyl placards reading "Death sentence for rapists," "Eliminate rapists to protect the lives of women" and "Take effective action against rape." "Today we officially call for the death sentence for rapists. Even amid our entreaties, more and more rape cases are being reported. This shows that current punishments are not enough to prevent rape. Therefore, we are speeding up our movement to call for the death sentence for rapists," said Daw Tin Swe Myint, information officer for the association. Protesters and reporters gathered at the court to await the arrival of Myo Zaw Oo on Thursday, but authorities had ushered him in secretly earlier that morning, according to police. Myo Zaw Oo was charged under sections 302 (murder), 392 (robbery) and 377 (unnatural offenses) of the Penal Code. The first hearing in the trial is scheduled for Feb. 22 at the Yangon East District Court. The Association for the Protection of Myanmar Women was founded on Jan. 24 and has launched a Facebook page, “Movement calling for the death sentence for rapists,” with the aim of preventing rape. The association hopes to meet with administrative, legislative and judicial officials to discuss effective measures to achieve its goal. Soon after the rape and murder of Ma Shwe Yi Win, a 4-year-old girl was attacked and raped beneath the Panhlaing railway overpass in Yangon. In 2017 Yangon Region recorded 270 rape cases and the highest number of juvenile rapes in the country, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein. The post Protest Calls for Death Sentence for Rapists appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| How Should the US Engage Myanmar? Posted: 09 Feb 2018 02:53 AM PST U.S. lawmakers have taken the moral high ground, demanding that Myanmar's armed forces be excluded from U.S.-led military exercises in neighboring Thailand next week due to atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims. "Simply put, militaries engaged in ethnic cleansing should not be honing their skills alongside U.S. troops," Senator John McCain, the Republican chair of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Associated Press. After Myanmar's political opening in 2012, with U.S. blessing, Myanmar officers were granted observer status for the Cobra Gold exercises. Earlier, when Myanmar was under Western sanctions, the generals worried about U.S. intentions, distrusted Thailand and viewed the exercises as a threat. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has passed legislation authored by McCain and Senator Ben Cardin authorizing sanctions and travel restrictions on more than a dozen senior Myanmar military officials responsible for human rights atrocities against the Rohingya, or Bengali, people. Last month, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Major-General Maung Maung Soe, former head of the Myanmar military's Western Command, but stopped short of imposing them on the other officers on the list. The official reason for limiting the sanctions to one officer was that U.S. officials were missing date of birth information on the other generals, required under the sanctions legislation. But it may indicate that the sanctions steps are largely symbolic. Will the U.S. consider imposing targeted sanctions on all top brass and their associates? An opinion piece purportedly written by a Myanmar analyst published in The Diplomat suggested that it was time for the U.S. to engage Myanmar's moderates after the imposition of the sanctions. But identifying these moderates and finding a way to engage them is a notion likely to draw laughter from many in Myanmar. Six years ago, then-U.S. President Barack Obama's administration — which along with other Western governments had been impressed to see Myanmar opening up politically — controversially initiated military-to-military engagement with the Tatmadaw, the country's armed forces. There was a feeling that Myanmar, once dubbed a client state of China, was moving away from Beijing. The U.S. and Myanmar embarked on a sophisticated feel-good circus, holding the U.S.-Burma Human Rights Dialogue in the new capital of Naypyitaw a month before Obama made his historic first visit. The pre-visit dialogue was a diplomatic coup for Obama as he prepared to jet in and lavish praise on the "reform". Lieutenant-General Francis Wiercinski, the head of the U.S. Armed Forces Pacific Command, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Vikram Singh also attended the meeting. In 2014, Lieutenant-General Anthony Crutchfield, the U.S. Pacific Command deputy commander, was invited to address his counterparts at the Myanmar National Defense College in Naypyitaw, which trains colonels and other high-ranking military officers. In his speech, the senior U.S. officer emphasized human rights and the need for civilian control.  (Photo: Mark Alvarez /U.S. Navy via Stars and Stripes) The aim of these exchanges, according to the U.S., was to promote human rights and the rule of law. But then what? How many more activists and journalists have been detained, and how many innocent people have lost their lives since then? Indeed, this shallow engagement has received a mixed reception in Myanmar, and failed to impress the country's long-oppressed ethnic minorities. Many in Myanmar were critical of the engagement, seeing it as premature and counseling caution. Some analysts warned that a slower, more measured approach was needed. Western scholars cranked out paper after paper urging the U.S. to engage the Tatmadaw. In a paper published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington was advised to "…recognize and encourage the Tatmadaw's cooperative role and foster its professionalization and speedy withdrawal from politics." Of course, we have seen no indication that the military plans any such withdrawal from politics. To the contrary, it has retained its constitutionally mandated role in national politics. In another CSIS report released in 2012, a scholar cooed: "If the military continues to support the transition to civilian rule and observes ceasefires in ethnic minority areas, the United States should begin to consider joint military exercises with the Myanmar armed forces and provide selected Myanmar officers access to U.S. international military education and training opportunities in U.S. defense academies." General Tin Oo, a former Tatmadaw commander-in-chief and co-founder of the National League for Democracy with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, supported U.S.-Myanmar military cooperation but cautioned that the main duty of the generals should be to protect the country and serve the people. He said he wanted to see Myanmar's armed forces stay away from politics. Achieving this has proven an impossible task. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was subsequently elected to Parliament, advocated that military officers receive overseas training. She once said, "After all it was my father [General Aung San] who founded the Burmese Army and I do have a sense of warmth towards the Burmese Army." But she has little control over what was once her father's Army. During a visit to the U.K. in 2013, she spoke at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where some past Myanmar military officers had studied, and advocated a resumption of overseas training. Then-U.K. Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said, "The focus of our future defense engagement with Burma will be on the creation of modern armed forces, subject to democratic accountability and compliance with international law." So what happened? In September last year, after the mass exodus in Rakhine State, Britain suspended its educational courses for Myanmar officers on democracy, leadership and the English language – the budget for which is said to be £305,000 (US$411,000). The reason cited — and the subject of the newspaper headlines — was of course the plight of the Rohingya, but the budget could also be a major issue. "We call on the Burmese Armed Forces to take immediate steps to stop the violence in Rakhine and ensure the protection of all civilians, to allow full access for humanitarian aid," a British government spokesperson said in a statement. As expected, the Myanmar Army responded quickly, "We will bring them [the trainees] back to Myanmar as quickly as possible and we will not send trainees to Britain anymore, including those under previous agreements." History shows that it was from British instructors that Myanmar Army officers picked up the notorious "four cuts" strategy — whether in London or in Malaysia, where British forces applied this brutal strategy to wipe out insurgents. The strategy involves the forced resettlement of entire communities and the confinement of villagers in special camps in order to cut off food, intelligence, recruitment and financial support to insurgents. Used by the British to suppress a local insurgency in Myanmar during the colonial period, and included in Myanmar military officers' in-house training, it is part of Britain's legacy in this country. Nor are Myanmar's generals strangers to the U.S. military establishment. Gen Kyaw Htin, commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw from 1977 to 1985, studied at the United States Army Command and General Staff College. Brig.-Gen Tin Oo (no relation to Gen. Tin Oo), the handpicked aide to former strongman Gen. Ne Win, was trained by the CIA on the Pacific island of Saipan and went on to run one of the most feared and effective military intelligence spy networks in Asia throughout the 1970s and '80s. Lt-Gen Tun Kyi and Gen Nyan Linn, both members of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, which staged a coup in 1988, and Col Aung Koe, who also once ran the Military Intelligence unit, all received U.S. military training. Before the 1988 uprising, Washington paid for more than 100 Myanmar officers to attend U.S. military schools. After the military's brutal suppression of the democracy uprising in 1988, the U.S. suspended military aid and training to Myanmar and downgraded diplomatic ties but maintained its military mission, with the defense attaché remaining in place. If less overtly ruthless, U.S.-trained generals have displayed greater efficiency and sophistication and played just as important a role as their locally trained colleagues in military campaigns against insurgents and crackdowns on dissidents. Who is on the targeted list? Whatever Washington's plans, the generals are growing increasingly assertive. They have control over the country — including its economy — and do not lack for allies in the region.  Last week, the armed forces completed a three-day major land-sea-air exercise east of Pathein (Bassein) city along the Bay of Bengal, under the Southwestern Command. It is believed that more than 8,000 troops were involved in live-fire drills backed by jet fighters and naval vessels. It was one of the largest military exercises in decades. Moreover, the military's procurement plans, strategy and budget, as well as its efforts to build alliances, have diversified. Myanmar recently bought six SU-30 advanced jet fighters from Russia. Moscow and New Delhi have provided training, and Myanmar's ties to regional armies including those of Thailand and Japan have strengthened. Just this week Indonesia agreed to provide counterterrorism training to Myanmar as threats in the region grow. Officers have been sent to study in Russia, and more recently in India and Japan. Recently, China and Myanmar agreed to increase military cooperation, though suspicion of China remains strong among Myanmar generals. Until last year, Tatmadaw chief Min Aung Hlaing was invited to the EU to deliver speeches, perhaps as part of efforts to give greater exposure to the "isolated senior general". He defended the Constitution and echoed his former bosses' policies, stating frankly that "people from Bengal"—a term also used to described self-identifying Rohingya in the region—were "not included" among Myanmar's ethnic minorities. It seemed he didn't give a damn about what the West was thinking. What about the U.S.? Obviously, Washington had been eager to expand military-to-military cooperation, as stated by its diplomats and officials. Since the political opening in Myanmar, military officers have attended the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii.  This week, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, chief of Myanmar's armed forces, flew to Singapore to attend the Singapore Airshow 2018. Some have speculated that his real ambition is to travel to Washington, visit the Pentagon and have his picture taken aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier. Indeed, before the bloody crackdown in Rakhine State, U.S. officials had intended to invite some senior generals to Washington. Like many U.S. officials, Senator McCain had been in favor of closer military cooperation, but he appears to have changed his position. Last year, Min Aung Hlaing was also in Israel for an arms "shopping trip", and Israel was selling. Myanmar and Israel have enjoyed long-lasting relations for decades and Israel openly agreed to provide security equipment to Myanmar. At home, meanwhile, the war machine grinds on. In the North, over 100,000 people have been displaced from their homes since a 17-year ceasefire between the central government and Kachin insurgents collapsed in 2011. Tensions there have only increased of late. At a recent meeting in China, the military asked the Kachin Independence Army to withdraw from its bases in Kachin State's Tanai Township, where the two sides have engaged in intense fighting in recent weeks. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says the Tatmadaw has restricted humanitarian access to Tanai and that it remains concerned about the area's civilian population. The war in the north is likely to escalate. In Rakhine, countless reports of mass graves and tales of human rights violations have emerged. In his 2014 speech to the Defense College in Naypyitaw, Lt-Gen Crutchfield, the U.S. Pacific Command deputy commander, said — according to the U.S. Embassy — "My presence here is indicative of the new chapter in our countries' relationship." Did the more than 100 military officers Crutchfield was addressing suffer from Alzheimer's disease or have collective hearing problems? Probably not. A few years ago, when self-appointed Myanmar analysts were trying to debate how to engage the military, one scholar suggested trying to convince future generations of military leaders that the proper place for generals is the barracks, not politics. The idea that "moderates" should be engaged is absurd at a time when the military is seeking to modernize its forces, and sees its mission as holding the country together, keeping insurgents at bay and safeguarding the country's sovereignty. Flanked by powerful neighbors, Myanmar's military leaders are focused on building an Army, Navy and Air Force with modern and advanced hardware to deter threats. So, when it comes to engagement, who was the first to drink the Kool-Aid? The post How Should the US Engage Myanmar? appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Expelled Student Activists to Return to University Next Week Posted: 09 Feb 2018 01:30 AM PST MANDALAY — Student activists expelled from their universities were allowed to return to classes on Friday. The decision of the Ministry of Education to allow the expelled students to return to classes followed a meeting of the chief minister of Magwe Region, regional government officials and student leaders in Magwe on Thursday. "After the meeting, the chief minister, Dr. Aung Moe Nyo, issued an appeal to the Union minister of education to allow the students to return to classes," said Ye Myo Swe, a law student from Yadanabon University. The student leaders said they received an assurance from the minister of education that they would be permitted to return to their respective universities from Friday. The expelled students were previously told to sign a petition stating that they would not participate in future protests if they wished to return to classes. The students refused, stating that signing would oppress their rights and freedom of expression. According to the students, agreements to consult with the student unions when drafting university rules and regulations in the future were also received during the meeting. "We thank the Magwe regional government for its negotiation efforts," said Kyaw Thiha Ye Kyaw, president of the Yadanabon University student union. "Now, all of us can return to our classes without signing the petitions and without harming our dignity" he added. The student activists said the expelled students will return to their classes next week and will continue their movement to push for an increase in the education budget. For the first time under the new government, led by the Yadanabon University student union, students across the country gathered at Mandalay's Yadanabon University and urged the government to increase the national education budget in January. Seventy-two protesters, including 13 female students were briefly detained on January 25 and escorted back home. Later they were dismissed from their respecting universities. The post Expelled Student Activists to Return to University Next Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Suu Kyi’s Rakhine Rehabilitation Enterprise Comes Under Fire Posted: 08 Feb 2018 11:16 PM PST The Union Enterprise For Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticized by representatives of Parliament for its lack of cooperation with Arakanese members, lack of transparency and its centralization in Naypyitaw. "Local people have never heard of the implementation of work by the UEHRD. Everything they want to do is controlled by Naypyitaw. We want it to allow local people to participate together with political parties and local organizations to find better ways to implement projects," U Aung Thaung Shwe, a Lower House representative from Buthidaung Township, told reporters in Naypyitaw. The UEHRD was founded on Oct. 15, 2017. Dr. Win Myat Aye is the vice chairman and Dr. Aung Tun Thet acts as the coordinator. U Kyaw Myaing is the information officer. Daw Khin Saw Wai, a representative of Parliament from Rathedaung Township, told the Irrawaddy that no Arakanese member had been appointed to the enterprise, although it was necessary to include locals along with parliamentarians, elders, academics and experts for successful outcomes. "They never tell us what they are doing. For the interest of the local people, they need to work together with us and other local stakeholders," said Daw Khin Saw Wai. At a Lower House session on Wednesday, Representative U Aung Thaung Shwe tabled a motion calling for transparency and effective implementation of long and short-term projects for rehabilitation in Rakhine State, which was seconded by Representative Daw Khin Saw Wai. Both representatives are Arakanese. However, Vice Chairman Dr. Win Myat Aye of the UEHRD told The Irrawaddy that he had been too busy to attend the Lower House session and had had to send a deputy minister instead. He also said he would respond to the motion as necessary when it is discussed and that people from across the country can participate in the UEHRD. "People from the entire country are working together on it," Dr. Win Myat Aye said. He added that he had explained the work of the UEHRD to Rakhine State Parliament and CSOs and was willing to explain it again if there were still people who did not know how it works or who was involved. However, Representative U Aung Thaung Shwe said the UEHRD was controlled by Naypyitaw and that Dr. Win Myat Aye only carried out the field work. He continued to say that he had tabled the motion, as there were no Arakanese members involved and that Naypyitaw had centralized the work. As rehabilitation and resettlement in northern Rakhine State are linked with sovereignty and national unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty can be protected only when local people have a chance to enjoy security, the representative told the session. Representative Daw Khin Saw Wai said that a rehabilitation project being carried out by the UEHRD planned to relocate 'Bengalis,' by a motor road, which would give them the upper hand in the event of a conflict. "I have never gotten the chance to personally participate in the affairs of Rakhine State," Representative Daw Khin Saw Wai told Parliament. A similar motion calling for transparency in the rehabilitation of Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships in northern Rakhine was also tabled at Rakhine State Parliament in November 2017 and the motion was approved. Apart from the UEHRD, there are the Rakhine State Stability and Development Central Committee led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Rakhine State Advisory Commission led by Kofi Annan, the Rakhine State Investigation Commission led by a vice president and the Commission for the Implementation of Recommendations for Rakhine State led by Dr. Win Myat Aye. "The acronym UEHRD is known by many people although they may not know it in its full form. People also have known the principles of it and what it is doing as its news reports are in print and broadcast media," Dr. Win Myat Aye said. Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein. The post Suu Kyi's Rakhine Rehabilitation Enterprise Comes Under Fire appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Trump, Modi Discuss Afghanistan, Myanmar, Maldives, North Korea: White House Posted: 08 Feb 2018 09:32 PM PST WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke by phone on Thursday, discussing topics including the political crisis in the Maldives, the war in Afghanistan and the plight of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, the White House said. The Trump administration has launched an effort to deepen military and economic ties with India as a way to balance China’s assertive posture across Asia. The Maldives, best known for luxury tourist resorts, has become another arena of contest for India and China after it signed up to Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative to build trade and transport links across Asia and beyond. The embattled president of the Indian Ocean nation has sent envoys to friendly nations such as China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to brief them on a political crisis that spurred the imposition of a state of emergency. Trump and Modi “expressed concern about the political crisis in the Maldives and the importance of respect for democratic institutions and rule of law,” the White House said in a statement. They repeated their commitment to Afghanistan’s security, the statement added. Washington recently cut aid to Pakistan, India’s nuclear-armed neighbor and arch rival, over accusations it failed to root out Taliban and Haqqani network militants that have contributed to the long-running war in Afghanistan. India has increased aid to Afghanistan in recent years and promised in 2016 to ship more arms, aggravating fears in Pakistan it will become wedged between two hostile nations. The two leaders also addressed the plight of more than 680,000 Muslim Rohingya who have fled Myanmar since last year to Bangladesh after the Myanmar military cracked down in northern Rakhine State, amid witness reports of killings, looting and rape, in response to militant attacks on security forces. Trump and Modi also addressed North Korea, the White House said. Washington has been leading diplomatic efforts to ramp up international pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons and missile programs, out of concern they may eventually enable North Korea to attack the United States. Although India and North Korea maintain diplomatic offices in each other’s capitals, New Delhi has banned trade of most goods with the country, except for food and medicine. Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj met with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in October in New Delhi and defended India’s ties with Pyongyang, saying some level of diplomatic presence was necessary to keep open channels of communication. The post Trump, Modi Discuss Afghanistan, Myanmar, Maldives, North Korea: White House appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| How Myanmar Forces Burned, Looted and Killed in a Remote Village Posted: 08 Feb 2018 09:17 PM PST INN DIN, Myanmar — Bound together, the 10 Rohingya Muslim captives watched their Buddhist neighbors dig a shallow grave. Soon afterwards, on the morning of Sept. 2, all 10 lay dead. At least two were hacked to death by Buddhist villagers. The rest were shot by Myanmar troops, two of the gravediggers said. "One grave for 10 people," said Soe Chay, 55, a retired soldier from Inn Din's Rakhine Buddhist community who said he helped dig the pit and saw the killings. The soldiers shot each man two or three times, he said. "When they were being buried, some were still making noises. Others were already dead." The killings in the coastal village of Inn Din marked another bloody episode in the ethnic violence sweeping northern Rakhine State, on Myanmar's western fringe. Nearly 690,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled their villages and crossed the border into Bangladesh since August. None of Inn Din's 6,000 Rohingya remained in the village as of October. The Rohingya accuse the army of arson, rapes and killings aimed at rubbing them out of existence in this mainly Buddhist nation of 53 million. The United Nations has said the army may have committed genocide; the United States has called the action ethnic cleansing. Myanmar says its "clearance operation" is a legitimate response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents. Rohingya trace their presence in Rakhine back centuries. But most Burmese consider them to be unwanted immigrants from Bangladesh; the army refers to the Rohingya as "Bengalis." In recent years, sectarian tensions have risen and the government has confined more than 100,000 Rohingya in camps where they have limited access to food, medicine and education. Reuters has pieced together what happened in Inn Din in the days leading up to the killing of the 10 Rohingya – eight men and two high school students in their late teens. Until now, accounts of the violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine State have been provided only by its victims. The Reuters reconstruction draws for the first time on interviews with Buddhist villagers who confessed to torching Rohingya homes, burying bodies and killing Muslims. This account also marks the first time soldiers and paramilitary police have been implicated by testimony from security personnel themselves. Members of the paramilitary police gave Reuters insider descriptions of the operation to drive out the Rohingya from Inn Din, confirming that the military played the lead role in the campaign. Photographs from a Massacre The slain men's families, now sheltering in Bangladesh refugee camps, identified the victims through photographs shown to them by Reuters. The dead men were fishermen, shopkeepers, the two teenage students and an Islamic teacher. Three photographs, provided to Reuters by a Buddhist village elder, capture key moments in the massacre at Inn Din, from the Rohingya men's detention by soldiers in the early evening of Sept. 1 to their execution shortly after 10 a.m. on Sept. 2. Two photos – one taken the first day, the other on the day of the killings – show the 10 captives lined up in a row, kneeling. The final photograph shows the men's bloodied bodies piled in the shallow grave. The Reuters investigation of the Inn Din massacre was what prompted Myanmar police authorities to arrest two of the news agency's reporters. The reporters, Burmese citizens Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were detained on Dec. 12 for allegedly obtaining confidential documents relating to Rakhine. Then, on Jan. 10, the military issued a statement that confirmed portions of what Wa Lone, Kyaw Soe Oo and their colleagues were preparing to report, acknowledging that 10 Rohingya men were massacred in the village. It confirmed that Buddhist villagers attacked some of the men with swords and soldiers shot the others dead. The statement coincided with an application to the court by prosecutors to charge Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo under Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act, which dates back to the time of colonial British rule. The charges carry a maximum 14-year prison sentence. But the military's version of events is contradicted in important respects by accounts given to Reuters by Rakhine Buddhist and Rohingya Muslim witnesses. The military said the 10 men belonged to a group of 200 "terrorists" that attacked security forces. Soldiers decided to kill the men, the army said, because intense fighting in the area made it impossible to transfer them to police custody. The army said it would take action against those involved. Buddhist villagers interviewed for this article reported no attack by a large number of insurgents on security forces in Inn Din. And Rohingya witnesses told Reuters that soldiers plucked the 10 from among hundreds of men, women and children who had sought safety on a nearby beach. Scores of interviews with Rakhine Buddhist villagers, soldiers, paramilitary police, Rohingya Muslims and local administrators further revealed: – The military and paramilitary police organized Buddhist residents of Inn Din and at least two other villages to torch Rohingya homes, more than a dozen Buddhist villagers said. Eleven Buddhist villagers said Buddhists committed acts of violence, including killings. The government and army have repeatedly blamed Rohingya insurgents for burning villages and homes. – An order to "clear" Inn Din's Rohingya hamlets was passed down the command chain from the military, said three paramilitary police officers speaking on condition of anonymity and a fourth police officer at an intelligence unit in the regional capital Sittwe. Security forces wore civilian clothes to avoid detection during raids, one of the paramilitary police officers said. – Some members of the paramilitary police looted Rohingya property, including cows and motorcycles, in order to sell it, according to village administrator Maung Thein Chay and one of the paramilitary police officers. – Operations in Inn Din were led by the army’s 33rd Light Infantry Division, supported by the paramilitary 8th Security Police Battalion, according to four police officers, all of them members of the battalion. Potential Criminal Cases Michael G. Karnavas, a US lawyer based in The Hague who has worked on cases at international criminal tribunals, said evidence that the military had organized Buddhist civilians to commit violence against Rohingya "would be the closest thing to a smoking gun in establishing not just intent, but even specific genocidal intent, since the attacks seem designed to destroy the Rohingya or at least a significant part of them." Evidence of the execution of men in government custody also could be used to build a case of crimes against humanity against military commanders, Karnavas said, if it could be shown that it was part of a "widespread or systematic" campaign targeting the Rohingya population. Kevin Jon Heller, a University of London law professor who served as a legal associate for convicted war criminal and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, said an order to clear villages by military command was "unequivocally the crime against humanity of forcible transfer." In December, the United States imposed sanctions on the army officer who had been in charge of Western Command troops in Rakhine, Major General Maung Maung Soe. So far, however, Myanmar has not faced international sanctions over the violence. Myanmar's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has disappointed many former supporters in the West by not speaking out against the army's actions. They had hoped the election of her National League for Democracy party in 2015 would bring democratic reform and an opening of the country. Instead, critics say, Suu Kyi is in thrall to the generals who freed her from house arrest in 2010. Asked about the evidence Reuters has uncovered about the massacre, government spokesman Zaw Htay said, "We are not denying the allegations about violations of human rights. And we are not giving blanket denials." If there was "strong and reliable primary evidence" of abuses, the government would investigate, he said. "And then if we found the evidence is true and the violations are there, we will take the necessary action according to our existing law." When told that paramilitary police officers had said they received orders to "clear" Inn Din's Rohingya hamlets, he replied, "We have to verify. We have to ask the Ministry of Home Affairs and Myanmar police forces." Asked about the allegations of looting by paramilitary police officers, he said the police would investigate. He expressed surprise when told that Buddhist villagers had confessed to burning Rohingya homes, then added, "We recognize that many, many different allegations are there, but we need to verify who did it. It is very difficult in the current situation." Zaw Htay defended the military operation in Rakhine. "The international community needs to understand who did the first terrorist attacks. If that kind of terrorist attack took place in European countries, in the United States, in London, New York, Washington, what would the media say?" Neighbor Turns on Neighbor Inn Din lies between the Mayu mountain range and the Bay of Bengal, about 50 km (30 miles) north of Rakhine's state capital Sittwe. The settlement is made up of a scattering of hamlets around a school, clinic and Buddhist monastery. Buddhist homes cluster in the northern part of the village. For many years there had been tensions between the Buddhists and their Muslim neighbors, who accounted for almost 90 percent of the roughly 7,000 people in the village. But the two communities had managed to co-exist, fishing the coastal waters and cultivating rice in the paddies. In October 2016, Rohingya militants attacked three police posts in northern Rakhine – the beginning of a new insurgency. After the attacks, Rohingya in Inn Din said many Buddhists stopped hiring them as farmhands and home help. The Buddhists said the Rohingya stopped showing up for work. On Aug. 25 last year, the rebels struck again, hitting 30 police posts and an army base. The closest attack was just 4 km to the north. In Inn Din, several hundred fearful Buddhists took refuge in the monastery in the center of the village, more than a dozen of their number said. Inn Din's Buddhist night watchman San Thein, 36, said Buddhist villagers feared being "swallowed up" by their Muslim neighbors. A Buddhist elder said all Rohingya, "including children," were part of the insurgency and therefore "terrorists." On Aug. 27, about 80 troops from Myanmar's 33rd Light Infantry Division arrived in Inn Din, nine Buddhist villagers said. Two paramilitary police officers and Soe Chay, the retired soldier, said the troops belonged to the 11th infantry regiment of this division. The army officer in charge told villagers they must cook for the soldiers and act as lookouts at night, Soe Chay said. The officer promised his troops would protect Buddhist villagers from their Rohingya neighbors. Five Buddhist villagers said the officer told them they could volunteer to join security operations. Young volunteers would need their parents' permission to join the troops, however. The army found willing participants among Inn Din's Buddhist "security group," nine members of the organization and two other villagers said. This informal militia was formed after violence broke out in 2012 between Rakhine's Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, sparked by reports of the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman by three Muslim men. Myanmar media reported at the time that the three were sentenced to death by a district court. Inn Din's security group built watch huts around the Buddhist part of the village, and its members took turns to stand guard. Its ranks included Buddhist firefighters, school teachers, students and unemployed young men. They were useful to the military because they knew the local geography, said Inn Din's Buddhist administrator, Maung Thein Chay. Most of the group's 80 to 100 men armed themselves with machetes and sticks. They also had a handful of guns, according to one member. Some wore green fatigue-style clothing they called "militia suits." Organizing the Arson Attacks In the days that followed the 33rd Light Infantry's arrival, soldiers, police and Buddhist villagers burned most of the homes of Inn Din's Rohingya Muslims, a dozen Buddhist residents said. Two of the paramilitary police officers, both members of the 8th Security Police Battalion, said their battalion raided Rohingya hamlets with soldiers from the newly arrived 33rd Light Infantry. One of the police officers said he received verbal orders from his commander to "go and clear" areas where Rohingya lived, which he took to mean to burn them. The second police officer described taking part in several raids on villages north of Inn Din. The raids involved at least 20 soldiers and between five and seven police, he said. A military captain or major led the soldiers, while a police captain oversaw the police team. The purpose of the raids was to deter the Rohingya from returning. "If they have a place to live, if they have food to eat, they can carry out more attacks," he said. "That’s why we burned their houses, mainly for security reasons." Soldiers and paramilitary police wore civilian shirts and shorts to blend in with the villagers, according to the second police officer and Inn Din's Buddhist administrator, Maung Thein Chay. If the media identified the involvement of security personnel, the police officer explained, "we would have very big problems." A police spokesman, Colonel Myo Thu Soe, said he knew of no instances of security forces torching villages or wearing civilian clothing. Nor was there any order to "go and clear" or "set fire" to villages. "This is very much impossible," he told Reuters. "If there are things like that, it should be reported officially, and it has to be investigated officially." "As you've told me about these matters now, we will scrutinize and check back," he added. "What I want to say for now is that as for the security forces, there are orders and instructions and step-by-step management, and they have to follow them. So, I don’t think these things happened." The army did not respond to a request for comment. A medical assistant at the Inn Din village clinic, Aung Myat Tun, 20, said he took part in several raids. "Muslim houses were easy to burn because of the thatched roofs. You just light the edge of the roof," he said. "The village elders put monks' robes on the end of sticks to make the torches and soaked them with kerosene. We couldn’t bring phones. The police said they will shoot and kill us if they see any of us taking photos." The night watchman San Thein, a leading member of the village security group, said troops first swept through the Muslim hamlets. Then, he said, the military sent in Buddhist villagers to burn the houses. "We got the kerosene for free from the village market after the kalars ran away," he said, using a Burmese slur for people from South Asia. A Rakhine Buddhist youth said he thought he heard the sound of a child inside one Rohingya home that was burned. A second villager said he participated in burning a Rohingya home that was occupied. "I Started Hacking Him With a Sword" Soe Chay, the retired soldier who was to dig the grave for the 10 Rohingya men, said he participated in one killing. He told Reuters that troops discovered three Rohingya men and a woman hiding beside a haystack in Inn Din on Aug. 28. One of the men had a smartphone that could be used to take incriminating pictures. The soldiers told Soe Chay to "do whatever you want to them," he said. They pointed out the man with the phone and told him to stand up. "I started hacking him with a sword, and a soldier shot him when he fell down." Similar violence was playing out across a large part of northern Rakhine, dozens of Buddhist and Rohingya residents said. Data from the UN Operational Satellite Applications Program shows scores of Rohingya villages in Rakhine state burned in an area stretching 110 km. New York-based Human Rights Watch says more than 350 villages were torched over the three months from Aug. 25, according to an analysis of satellite imagery. In the village of Laungdon, some 65 km north of Inn Din, Thar Nge, 38, said he was asked by police and local officials to join a Buddhist security group. "The army invited us to burn the kalar village at Hpaw Ti Kaung," he said, adding that four villagers and nearly 20 soldiers and police were involved in the operation. "Police shot inside the village so all the villagers fled and then we set fire to it. Their village was burned because police believed the villagers supported Rohingya militants – that's why they cleaned it with fire." A Buddhist student from Ta Man Tha village, 15 km north of Laungdon, said he too participated in the burning of Rohingya homes. An army officer sought 30 volunteers to burn "kalar" villages, said the student. Nearly 50 volunteered and gathered fuel from motorbikes and from a market. "They separated us into several groups. We were not allowed to enter the village directly. We had to surround it and approach the village that way. The army would shoot gunfire ahead of us and then the army asked us to enter," he said. After the Rohingya had fled Inn Din, Buddhist villagers took their property, including chickens and goats, Buddhist residents told Reuters. But the most valuable goods, mostly motorcycles and cattle, were collected by members of the 8th Security Police Battalion and sold, said the first police officer and Inn Din village administrator Maung Thein Chay. Maung Thein Chay said the commander of the 8th Battalion, Thant Zin Oo, struck a deal with Buddhist businessmen from other parts of Rakhine state and sold them cattle. The police officer said he had stolen four cows from Rohingya villagers, only for Thant Zin Oo to snatch them away. Reached by phone, Thant Zin Oo did not comment. Colonel Myo Thu Soe, the police spokesman, said the police would investigate the allegations of looting. The Victims are Chosen By Sept. 1, several hundred Rohingya from Inn Din were sheltering at a makeshift camp on a nearby beach. They erected tarpaulin shelters to shield themselves from heavy rain. Among this group were the 10 Rohingya men who would be killed the next morning. Reuters has identified all of the 10 by speaking to witnesses among Inn Din's Buddhist community and Rohingya relatives and witnesses tracked down in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Five of the men, Dil Mohammed, 35, Nur Mohammed, 29, Shoket Ullah, 35, Habizu, 40, and Shaker Ahmed, 45, were fishermen or fish sellers. The wealthiest of the group, Abul Hashim, 25, ran a store selling nets and machine parts to fishermen and farmers. Abdul Majid, a 45-year-old father of eight, ran a small shop selling areca nut wrapped in betel leaves, commonly chewed like tobacco. Abulu, 17, and Rashid Ahmed, 18, were high school students. Abdul Malik, 30, was an Islamic teacher. According to the statement released by the army on Jan. 10, security forces had gone to a coastal area where they "were attacked by about 200 Bengalis with sticks and swords." The statement said that "as the security forces opened fire into the sky, the Bengalis dispersed and ran away. Ten of them were arrested." Three Buddhist and more than a dozen Rohingya witnesses contradict this version of events. Their accounts differ from one another in some details. The Buddhists spoke of a confrontation between a small group of Rohingya men and some soldiers near the beach. But there is unanimity on a crucial point: None said the military had come under a large-scale attack in Inn Din. Government spokesman Zaw Htay referred Reuters to the army's statement of Jan. 10 and declined to elaborate further. The army did not respond to a request for comment. The Rohingya witnesses, who were on or near the beach, said Islamic teacher Abdul Malik had gone back to his hamlet with his sons to collect food and bamboo for shelter. When he returned, a group of at least seven soldiers and armed Buddhist villagers were following him, these witnesses said. Abdul Malik walked towards the watching Rohingya Muslims unsteadily, with blood dripping from his head. Some witnesses said they had seen one of the armed men strike the back of Abdul Malik’s head with a knife. Then the military beckoned with their guns to the crowd of roughly 300 Rohingya to assemble in the paddies, these witnesses said. The soldiers and the Rohingya, hailing from different parts of Myanmar, spoke different languages. Educated villagers translated for their fellow Rohingya. "I could not hear much, but they pointed toward my husband and some other men to get up and come forward," said Rehana Khatun, 22, the wife of Nur Mohammed, one of the 10 who were later slain. "We heard they wanted the men for a meeting. The military asked the rest of us to return to the beach." Fresh Clothes and a Last Meal Soldiers held and questioned the 10 men in a building at Inn Din's school for a night, the military said. Rashid Ahmed and Abulu had studied there alongside Rakhine Buddhist students until the attacks by Rohingya rebels in October 2016. Schools were shut temporarily, disrupting the pair's final year. "I just remember him sitting there and studying, and it was always amazing to me because I am not educated," said Rashid Ahmed’s father, farmer Abdu Shakur, 50. "I would look at him reading. He would be the first one in the family to be educated." A photograph, taken on the evening the men were detained, shows the two Rohingya students and the eight older men kneeling on a path beside the village clinic, most of them shirtless. They were stripped when first detained, a dozen Rohingya witnesses said. It isn't clear why. That evening, Buddhist villagers said, the men were "treated" to a last meal of beef. They were provided with fresh clothing. On Sept. 2, the men were taken to scrubland north of the village, near a graveyard for Buddhist residents, six Buddhist villagers said. The spot is backed by a hill crested with trees. There, on their knees, the 10 were photographed again and questioned by security personnel about the disappearance of a local Buddhist farmer named Maung Ni, according to a Rakhine elder who said he witnessed the interrogation. Reuters was not able to establish what happened to Maung Ni. According to Buddhist neighbors, the farmer went missing after leaving home early on Aug. 25 to tend his cattle. Several Rakhine Buddhist and Rohingya villagers told Reuters they believed he had been killed, but they knew of no evidence connecting any of the 10 men to his disappearance. The army said in its Jan. 10 statement that "Bengali terrorists" had killed Maung Ni, but did not identify the perpetrators. Two of the men pictured behind the Rohingya prisoners in the photograph taken on the morning of Sept. 2 belong to the 8th Security Police Battalion. Reuters confirmed the identities of the two men from their Facebook pages and by visiting them in person. One of the two officers, Aung Min, a police recruit from Yangon, stands directly behind the captives. He looks at the camera as he holds a weapon. The other officer, police Captain Moe Yan Naing, is the figure on the top right. He walks with his rifle over his shoulder. The day after the two Reuters reporters were arrested in December, Myanmar’s government also announced that Moe Yan Naing had been arrested and was being investigated under the 1923 Official Secrets Act. Aung Min, who is not facing legal action, declined to speak to Reuters. Vengeance for a Missing Farmer Three Buddhist youths said they watched from a hut as the 10 Rohingya captives were led up a hill by soldiers towards the site of their deaths. One of the gravediggers, retired soldier Soe Chay, said Maung Ni's sons were invited by the army officer in charge of the squad to strike the first blows. The first son beheaded the Islamic teacher, Abdul Malik, according to Soe Chay. The second son hacked another of the men in the neck. "After the brothers sliced them both with swords, the squad fired with guns. Two to three shots to one person," said Soe Chay. A second gravedigger, who declined to be identified, confirmed that soldiers had shot some of the men. In its Jan. 10 statement, the military said the two brothers and a third villager had "cut the Bengali terrorists" with swords and then, in the chaos, four members of the security forces had shot the captives. "Action will be taken against the villagers who participated in the case and the members of security forces who broke the Rules of Engagement under the law," the statement said. It didn’t spell out those rules. Tun Aye, one of the sons of Maung Ni, has been detained on murder charges, his lawyer said on Jan. 13. Contacted by Reuters on Feb. 8, the lawyer declined to comment further. Reuters was unable to reach the other brother. In October, Inn Din locals pointed two Reuters reporters towards an area of brush behind the hill where they said the killings took place. The reporters discovered a newly cut trail leading to soft, recently disturbed earth littered with bones. Some of the bones were entangled with scraps of clothing and string that appeared to match the cord that is seen binding the captives' wrists in the photographs. The immediate area was marked by the smell of death. Reuters showed photographs of the site to three forensic experts: Homer Venters, director of programs at Physicians for Human Rights; Derrick Pounder, a pathologist who has consulted for Amnesty International and the United Nations; and Luis Fondebrider, president of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, who investigated the graves of those killed under Argentina’s military junta in the 1970s and 1980s. All observed human remains, including the thoracic part of a spinal column, ribs, scapula, femur and tibia. Pounder said he couldn't rule out the presence of animal bones as well. The Rakhine Buddhist elder provided Reuters reporters with a photograph which shows the aftermath of the execution. In it, the 10 Rohingya men are wearing the same clothing as in the previous photo and are tied to each other with the same yellow cord, piled into a small hole in the earth, blood pooling around them. Abdul Malik, the Islamic teacher, appears to have been beheaded. Abulu, the student, has a gaping wound in his neck. Both injuries appear consistent with Soe Chay's account. Forensic pathologist Fondebrider reviewed this picture. He said injuries visible on two of the bodies were consistent with "the action of a machete or something sharp that was applied on the throat." Some family members did not know for sure that the men had been killed until Reuters returned to their shelters in Bangladesh in January. "I can't explain what I feel inside. My husband is dead," said Rehana Khatun, wife of Nur Mohammed. "My husband is gone forever. I don't want anything else, but I want justice for his death." In Inn Din, the Buddhist elder explained why he chose to share evidence of the killings with Reuters. "I want to be transparent on this case. I don’t want it to happen like that in future." The post How Myanmar Forces Burned, Looted and Killed in a Remote Village appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| New KIO Chair Preaches Unity, Dialogue to Settle Civil War Posted: 08 Feb 2018 08:55 PM PST Studying the speech of the chairman of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) delivered every Feb. 5 to mark Kachin Revolution Day is a good way to gauge the group's official policy. The format, theme and tone of the speech tends to mirror the particular political environment the KIO and its armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), are in at the time — as well as the personality of the incumbent chairman. This year's speech was delivered amid the backdrop of a stalled peace process and a change in KIO/KIA leadership. The new chairman, General N'Ban La, is known for his wit and unrefined character, a straight shooter and astute speaker. The tone of the speech duly reflected his uncanny personal traits. As a whole his style was lucid and definitive, as if he were poised for political action. The speech started with a short introduction from the new chairman, the KIO's sixth, who also serves as president of the Kachin Independence Council and commander-in-chief of the KIA. He then launched into his main messages. The Meaning of Revolution, and its Goals He defined revolution in pragmatic and impersonal terms. He said, "The success of the revolution is not based on the might of the weapons but on the support of the people." He said that oppression, inequality and the broken promises of the 1947 Panglong agreement were the reasons for the Kachin rebellion and its demand for independence. But he said the Kachin people were not yet ready for total independence for eight reasons: disunity among the six Kachin sub-tribes; disunity among Kachin culture and literature associations; disunity among religious denominations and the emergence of para-churches; disunity among Kachin political parties; disunity within the armed struggle; emigration to foreign countries; the large number of drug addicts; and narrow-mindedness and an all-talk-no-action mentality. He said the goal of total independence was therefore unrealistic and that the Kachin needed to assess their actual options. "The Bamar people are not the enemy of the Kachin people, and vice versa," the chairman said. "We all live on the same land and drink the same water…. There is a historic legacy of fighting together against foreign invasions. Likewise, if it happens again in the future we will fight along with the country's federal army." But the chairman defined the true enemy as the repressive ruling clique in the top echelons of power. Though few in number, they have the law, army and police to protect themselves and their interests. Therefore, it was extremely difficult to fight and eliminate them. The oppressed were not only the Kachin but all ethnic groups including the Bamar and the lower ranks of the Tatmadaw. It was therefore the duty of everyone to unite, rebel and uproot the oppressive system. The chairman said the true Kachin revolutionary cause was not confined to Kachin interests and Kachin emancipation alone; it was meant for all ethnic groups, hence the focus on the system. Real Solutions to Myanmar's Prolonged Conflict Throughout the speech the chairman highlighted potential solutions. He emphasized the importance of pragmatism; the primacy of political negotiation; the establishment of a federal system based on the Panglong agreement; the principles of equality, self-determination, self-autonomy and self-defense; and the importance of unity among ethnic groups. Direct Messages Message for the Tatmadaw The chairman asked the Tatmadaw "not to fight the KIO/KIA as they fight foreign invaders but to solve the problem at the table since it is a political problem" and warned it not to use "divide and rule" tactics. Message for Both the Government and Tatmadaw The chairman said that "since all the ethnic groups are trying to solve the problem at the table, stop using a policy of discrimination against ethnic armed groups and parties, accepting some and rejecting others…. A durable peace is possible only when all the ethnic groups are included in the negotiations and achieve the right of self-determination, self-autonomy and self-defense for their respective states." Message for Militias and Border Guard Forces He said it was acceptable to establish militias to defend villages and native land from theft and robbery. But it will not be acceptable for the Tatmadaw to use them as an instrument of war against the KIO/KIA. Message for Kachin Political Parties He asked the Kachin not to create many political parties and risk dividing their people. Kachin parties should be united, work toward a single goal and speak with one voice. Message for Both Kachin Political Parties and Civil Society Organizations He asks Kachin political parties and civil society organizations in Kachin State to assist in developing a constitution for a Kachin State that would include rights for non-Kachin. Message for KIO Splinter Groups He said past splits occurred because of the policy mistakes of some leaders. He said now was not the time for more splits, but for reconciliation and cooperation so that they could focus on uprooting the oppressive system. Message for Internal Migrants He said it was fair for people to migrate to Kachin State in search of work, but not to settle for good, grab the land of native residents and get involved in the political and administrative affairs of the state. "When you have earned enough, go back to your homeland and work for its development," he said, addressing migrants. "In that way you show your love for the country." Concluding Remarks The chairman ended his speech by emphasizing the primacy of negotiation in ending the conflict. But he warned that talks could not involve only one or two ethnic groups and stressed that all of them had to act in unison and speak with one voice. Only then could they succeed, he said. The overarching message of the new KIO chairman was one of peace and for a negotiated settlement. The message was loud and clear. An olive branch has been extended. The speech also beckoned to the ethnic armed groups to unite. It was ingrained with the vision of a peaceful Myanmar and echoed the well-known aphorism of former German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck: "Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best." A solution to Myanmar's civil strife has remained out of reach because conflicting parties have been chasing the desirable. Will 2018 be the year that mindset is broken and the threshold to a lasting peace for Myanmar? Dan Seng Lawn is director of the Kachinland Research Center. The post New KIO Chair Preaches Unity, Dialogue to Settle Civil War appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Maritime Patrol Aircraft Seen as Key in Asia, but Buyers Elusive Posted: 08 Feb 2018 08:50 PM PST SINGAPORE — When Boeing's P-8A Poseidon first arrived at the Singapore Airshow two years ago, it caused a stir. Defense buyers around the region were intrigued by the new aircraft, which was touted as reliable, capable and absolutely necessary in a region abundant with naval tension, both above and below the water. In 2018, the need has grown. China has spent the last few years building up military installations around the South China Sea and its submarines are prowling farther afield, stoking Asian interest in planes that can sweep large swathes of ocean. The number of offerings on the market has grown too, but the cost of such specialized aircraft has kept the purchases relatively small for now. "Special-mission aircraft are a strategic asset," said Avishai Izhakian, Israel Aerospace Industry's (IAI) deputy general manager for airborne systems and radars, explaining why sales of such planes have remained elusive. "As such, the procurement process is very lengthy." Among those joining Boeing in trying to address the market are Saab's Swordfish Maritime Patrol Aircraft, based on the Bombardier Global 6000 business jet; the Kawasaki P-1; the Airbus C295 MPA and proposed maritime patrol variant of its A320neo; Leonardo’s ATR 72MP; and IAI’s ELI-3360 Maritime Patrol Aircraft, based on the Bombardier Global 5000 business jet. The Swordfish is not yet in production, however, and the Japanese Self-Defense Force is the sole customer for the P-1. India and Australia are so far the only Asia-region buyers of the $175 million P-8. No big sales of maritime patrol aircraft were announced at this week's Singapore Airshow, the biggest regional aerospace and defense event. Still, planemakers at the airshow said that Asia remained a promising market. "There is a requirement need out here in the Asian region for P-8s," Matt Carreon of Boeing said at a media briefing on Tuesday. He cited the large volume of shipping traffic, the amount of piracy and the "current political climate" as reasons why maritime patrol would be important to Asian militaries. Two P-8s were on display at the airshow, one flown by the U.S. Navy – the aircraft’s biggest customer by far, with 98 ordered and 64 delivered – and the other by the Royal Australian Air Force, which has ordered 12. Britain and Norway are the only other two announced buyers. Gene Cunningham, Boeing’s vice president of global sales for defense, space and security, said the company was in advanced discussions with South Korea over a P-8 sale. There might be a decision by the end of 2018, he added. On Thursday, South Korea’s defense procurement agency confirmed it would buy a maritime patrol aircraft from a foreign company. The Yonhap news agency, citing an unnamed military source, said the decision would be between the P-8 and Saab’s Swordfish for a deal expected to be worth about $1.75 billion. Target Market The moneymaking potential for sales in the Asia-Pacific region is clear. The US State Department gave permission last year for a nearly $1.5 billion P-8 sale to New Zealand, although no deal has been announced. Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and South Korea are among others in the region shopping for maritime patrol aircraft, several planemakers said. "If they are concerned about the proliferation of submarines, we are talking to them," said Robert Hewson, Saab’s head of communications for Asia Pacific. Hewson suggested the Swordfish would be as little as half the cost of the P-8 over its lifetime. IAI’s Izhakian, speaking on the sidelines of the airshow, said the P-8 was better suited for large militaries with bigger budgets than for most potential Asian countries, leaving an opening for smaller aircraft with advanced sensors. "This is our niche, to provide a more affordable solution with more capability," he said. Like Saab and IAI, Boeing designed its aircraft around the bones of a civilian plane, in this case the ubiquitous 737 passenger jet. Carreon said the aircraft's familiarity, plus the ability add in third-party or local systems, made it attractive to even smaller customers. "They are shocked at the value they're getting," he said. Defense Spending Rising Boeing is marketing its jet as a natural upgrade of the older, propeller-driven Lockheed P-3 Orion, which performs the same mission. Only one buyer, India, had not flown P-3s before purchasing P-8s. Kawasaki was displaying a model of its four-engine P-1 jet, which replaced Japanese P-3s, but Hideki Yamaoka, associate officer and project manager of the company’s Advanced Aircraft Export Project, said it was generally "too high-end for the requirements" of Asian customers. Unmanned drones are another option. Joseph Song, vice president for international strategic development at General Atomics Aeronautical, which makes the MQ-9 Reaper, said he saw potential for growth in Asia. "I think the maritime mission is going to be as big as the land mission in the future, driven by Asian customers like Australia, India, Japan, Korea, and I think Singapore and other countries will certainly play a role," he said. After a meeting of Southeast Asian defense ministers this week, Singapore defense minister Ng Eng Hen said the country was spending more all around, including on ways to keep an eye on the seas around the island city-state. "Defense spending on the whole, not only maritime surveillance, has gone up," he said. "That’s a fact." The post Maritime Patrol Aircraft Seen as Key in Asia, but Buyers Elusive appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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