Wednesday, May 30, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Survivors Mark 15th Anniversary of Depayin Massacre

Posted: 30 May 2018 05:00 AM PDT

MANDALAY — Survivors marked the 15th anniversary of the Depayin Massacre on Wednesday with a ceremony in Sagaing Division's Depayin Township to remember the scores of National League for Democracy members and supporters killed in the deadly ambush.

About 100 locals and survivors gathered at the monastery in Kyi village, where they offered donations to Buddhist monks and laid wreaths at the site of the 2003 massacre.

On May 30, 2003, a convoy transporting a group National League for Democracy officials and supporters, including party leader and current State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was attacked by a group of thugs who killed at least 70 people.

Many more NLD members and supporters were seriously injured during the attack, with some later being jailed for many years, their families threatened and their businesses forced to close.

"We hold this ceremony to ensure that the past is not forgotten and the people who died and were hurt during the massacre are remembered," said U Ko Lay, a vice president of Mandalay District NLD office and an organizer of the ceremony.

During the commemoration ceremony on Wednesday, survivors recalled their memories of the bloodbath.

"We remind the public of how we were attacked. But we do not recall these vicious memories in order to seek vengeance," said Ma Thandar Soe, a member of the youth wing from Mandalay District which was responsible for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's security on the day.

Ma Thandar Soe was among the injured during the Depayin massacre, but managed to escape from the scene.

The military regime of the time and the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA)—the military-backed organization that later transformed into the Union Solidary and Development Party (USDP)—has often been implicated in the massacre, though no legal action has been taken so far.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly said that for the sake of stability and national reconciliation, she will not seek vengeance for the incident, of which she was the main target.

"We believe in our leader and will follow her example; we will not seek vengeance either," Ma Thandar Soe said.

"However, we are the ones whose lives were destroyed, so we want the perpetrators to face justice if the opportunity arises," she said.

While many politicians have accepted Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's view, there are many others who believe the truth about the incident must be revealed.

"There is one step that is necessary before we can forgive and forget. It is to reveal the truth. In the case of the Depayin massacre, the victims can forgive the culprits, but they will not be able to forget how they've suffered," said lawyer U Thein Than Oo, who was a political prisoner under the military regime.

The lawyer said that when it came to acts of violence in Myanmar, finding the truth and delivering justice often take a back seat, as perpetrators take advantage of the moral goodness of the Burmese people and their forgiving and sympathetic nature.

"If avoiding vengeance really is good for the reconciliation and stability of the country, then we will follow her [Daw Aung San Suu Kyi] example. But if not, then legal action must be taken against the culprits," he said.

"It would be wonderful if the perpetrators confessed; if we had a truth commission which could both uncover the truth and hold the perpetrators accountable, not only for the Depayin massacre but for all brutal incidents in the past. This would be great for everyone and there would be no need to take vengeance," he said.

The post Survivors Mark 15th Anniversary of Depayin Massacre appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘To Kill and Mutilate Was Their Purpose’: A Survivor of the Depayin Massacre

Posted: 30 May 2018 04:10 AM PDT

Wednesday marks the 15th anniversary of the notorious Depayin Massacre. On May 30, 2003, at least 70 people were killed after a mob directed by elements of Myanmar's former military regime attacked a National League for Democracy (NLD) convoy, which included pro-democracy leader and current State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, traveling through Sagaing Region in northwest Myanmar.

No action has been taken against the perpetrators to date. The Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA)—the military-backed mass organization that would later transform into the Union Solidary and Development Party (USDP)—is said to have been implicated in the massacre.

In this interview published June 13, 2003, Zaw Zaw Aung—a survivor of the massacre who was head of the NLD's youth wing for Mandalay Region at the time, and was part of the NLD convoy—describes the incident.

How many people greeted the NLD motorcade at Kyi village? Did you hear any opposition voices in the crowd that came to welcome you?

I estimate about 3,000. It could have been 4,000 or 5,000. People were on the road, and we spoke to them. I did not hear any opposition voices.

So Daw Aung San Suu Kyi addressed the people, for how long?

About 10 minutes.

Where did you go after Kyi village?

We did not go very far. About 200 feet from the villagers. The cars behind had not caught up with us yet. We could see the villagers and they had not dispersed. Then, two monks and three laymen stood in front of Dqw Aung San Suu Kyi's car, stopping it from proceeding. They asked her to speak to the people.

They were not where the other people had assembled?

They could have joined them if they wanted. Instead, they stood and waited at a distance.

Stood and waited, then asked for a speech?

Yes, they asked her to step out and speak. It was late. We had to go on to Depayin also. So, the NLD member who was in Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's car said, "Honorable monk, it is very late and there is no time. Please excuse your disciples." But the monks did not leave.

They were looking back and said that the people in our gang were useless. We got out of the car and stood around to protect Daw aung San Suu Kyi. Then the monk said, "My people will be following up. Listen to a monk's words. Try your best to preach to them." We requested them to let us pass but they insisted that we stay. Then, the place was lit up by car headlights and we saw about seven cars.

What sort of cars?

All sorts. Trucks that carry goods and earth, Dina cars. People descended from those cars and without saying anything they beat up the villagers. Because the headlights were on we could see all that was happening. There were a lot of monks who did the beating up. A lot of [lay] men too.

So monks came out of those cars?

When people were being beaten up some of the villagers screamed and fled. They were chased by some of the monks. Others came around to our side, surrounded us and without saying anything just thrashed at us. We noticed that these monks had pieces of white cloth tied around their right hands.

Can we accept them as genuine monks?

How can that be? When they beat up the villagers and our party who were acting peacefully? We heard and we saw for ourselves how they continued thrashing even those who were dead on the ground. Innocent people were beaten to death. Genuine monks will not do that.

So, they beat up the villagers first, then went between the villagers and the NLD party and proceeded to beat them up?

Yes, they beat up NLD members. The villagers fled and some could have fallen in with the NLD members. Our numbers were small. But whether our numbers were small or large, no one had any weapons. Our leaders gave strict instructions that even if attacked we were not to respond with violence.

So they continued to brutally beat up all the NLD members who were in the motorcade?

To kill and mutilate was their purpose. So much so that if they saw a body moving they went for it saying, 'There is still sign of life—beat, beat.' Not with just one stick. They went through the crowd with two or three sticks in hand and thrashed at fallen bodies.

They responded to groans or pleas for mercy with more severe thrashings. At that time we were very afraid for our lives. So we lay very still and did not move. At that time these were the words they uttered: "We have built roads, we have built bridges. You do not talk about these things. What has your Aung San Suu Kyi done for the country? You want to be under the authority of the Kala's [foreigner's] wife."

What about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's car?

Very soon after all this started, five cars—including hers and U Tin Oo's vehicle—drove off to the front. The Youth Wing security car and our Mandalay Region car did too.

So they escaped from Kyi village and you were left behind? And the beatings took place for how long after they had driven off?

More than two hours.

We have heard that women also accompanied Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. What happened to them?

Yes, the women wore pinni [home spun material associated with Burma's independence struggle and later the NLD]. The men also wore pinni. They [the thugs] announced that they did not want to see any pinni and ordered all to remove their pinni clothing. They snatched and pulled off the pinni clothing from the fallen bodies and those within their reach.

The girls asked not to have their clothes pulled off but they forced them and grabbed and tugged and removed their clothes. Some of them had their gold chains snatched. I saw this with my own eyes. Not satisfied with this, they grabbed and took away their handbags also.

So Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's car got away. Then again at Depayin the same thing happened?

Yes. The young people from Depayin fled and I met them. They were beaten up with spears, wooden, bamboo and iron rods. They saw students with hands tied being led away and having their cycles confiscated.

Our information is that gunshots were heard at Depayin.

Yes. We heard the gunshots. It was between midnight and 1 a.m. We were deeply worried for our Aunty Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Uncle U Tin Oo. Without any shooting here [in Kyi village] about 20 or so died and sustained injuries. With shooting it could have been worse. More could have died.

How did you escape? After you escaped what did the USDA do?

I was lucky. I escaped without any injury. I fled and crossed the paddy fields to Monywa. Though I was not hurt, I was shaken and very distressed. It was about 10:30 p.m. [when I returned]. I saw a person on a cycle. Looked like he came to see the spectacle.

He stood and looked at the dead and after some time he departed. Then about 12:45 a.m., three Hino buses arrived without any passengers. They saw the injured and fallen, some dead and the line of cars. They turned back and left.

So those injured and the dead were left lying there?

Yes, I saw some being taken away in cars.

In the end what happened?

We were not steady on our feet. I looked on. At about 12:45 a.m.—I had my watch on so I knew the time—members of the police force, the fire brigade, and local authorities put the injured and dead bodies into motor vehicles.

Then what astonished me most was that our car, which was heading west for Depayin, was pushed so that it appeared to be heading south and shoved down the ditch. Another car was pushed into the ditch. This was a deliberate act to fabricate a different scenario. I witnessed this with my own eyes.

To make it look like two cars collided? These were the cars in which NLD members traveled?

Yes, to appear that way. I couldn't believe my eyes. I remember this very clearly. Then some of the cars with injured people drove off towards Depayin. Some cars went in the other direction. About 30 people remained. I cannot say definitely if they were the police or the USDA members because they all were in the same uniform.

The post 'To Kill and Mutilate Was Their Purpose': A Survivor of the Depayin Massacre appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Armed Group Leader Blames Panglong Delay on Military’s Demands

Posted: 30 May 2018 04:02 AM PDT

YANGON — A precise date for the third session of the 21st Century Panglong Union Peace Conference still has yet to be fixed due to persistent disagreements between Myanmar’s military and ethnic armed groups, according to a leader of one group.

The third session was tentatively scheduled for May after multiple delays.

Nai Hong Sar, vice chairman of the New Mon State Party, said the military wants the armed groups to promise in advance not to secede, but the armed groups see no need to make such a pledge if the military agrees to a federal system.

He said armed groups met with military and government representatives in Naypyitaw on May 18 for preliminary talks. "They told us at the meeting that we cannot secede from the Union," said Nai Hong Sar, who attended the talks.

He said the armed groups came away from the meeting with the impression that the military was still determined to defeat them in battle and had no interest in accommodating them in a federal system.

"If our ethnic groups get real federalism, with self-determination and equal rights, none of us would talk about seceding from the Union," Nai Hong Sar said.

Otherwise, he said, the armed groups believe they need to retain the option to secede in case the military continues to attack them and abuse their people.

But if the armed groups did not agree to give up the option, he added, “the military said at the meeting that it would not accept self-determination for ethnic groups in their regions or a state Constitution for each state.”

Nai Hong Sar said the military also brought up the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of armed groups and security sector reform at the May 17 talks.

"This is just their wish. But the ethnic groups cannot trust the current military because it is not based on democratic standards," he said.

Myanmar’s military does not take orders from a civilian government and in addition to the Defense Ministry runs the Ministry of Border Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs, which controls the police.

"Our ethnic groups do not have equal rights yet. Our ethnic rights have not been granted yet. So we cannot destroy our armies," Nai Hong Sar said.

The armed groups met among themselves in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Sunday and Monday and decided to seek more preliminary talks with the military and government to try to resolve the impasse.

The Union Peace Conference is supposed to be held once every six months, but the last session was in May 2017.

At a press conference in Naypyitaw on Tuesday, Defense Ministry Permanent Secretary Brigadier-General Aung Kyaw Hoe blamed the delay of the third session on the armed groups.

The post Armed Group Leader Blames Panglong Delay on Military’s Demands appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Heavy Winds Whip Yangon, Damaging Hundreds of Homes

Posted: 29 May 2018 11:52 PM PDT

YANGON — Nearly 400 houses were damaged in Yangon's Shwepyithar Township by storm winds during the early hours of Tuesday.

"This is just an estimate; we will make a list," Shwepyithar lawmaker U Yan Aung Min told The Irrawaddy, adding that a team of department officials and lawmakers has been formed to compile the list of damaged houses.

"Those whose houses were completely damaged are staying at monasteries. And a relief camp has been opened in the religious hall in Ward 20, but nobody has come yet," the lawmaker said.

There were no deaths, but a 57-year-old man suffered a broken leg when a tree fell on his house and sent to Insein Hospital for treatment. A 53-year-old woman was also slightly injured when a wooden beam inside her house fell on her head.

The strong winds swept through six wards, damaging houses, trees and lamp posts. Residents of Ward 20 said they were hit hardest.

One resident, Ma Myat Noe Thu, said 53 houses collapsed and another 175 houses had their roofs partly blown away.

U Yan Aung Min said the Yangon municipality, Yangon City Electricity Supply Corporation, Red Cross Society and firefighters all helped to clear away debris.

The Department of Meteorology and Hydrology announced on Tuesday evening that a depression in the Bay of Bengal had made landfall in Myanmar and that isolated heavy rains and strong winds, bringing with them landslides and flash floods, were expected in many areas across the country until Thursday.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Tatmadaw Will Cease Operations in Kachin on Govt’s Order: Defense Secretary

Posted: 29 May 2018 11:28 PM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Tatmadaw is ready to obey if President U Win Myint orders a stop to military operations in Kachin State in line with the law, said permanent secretary of the Defense Ministry Brigadier-General Aung Kyaw Hoe.

The Brig-Gen said so in response to The Irrawaddy's question during a press conference of the Defense Ministry on Tuesday in Naypyitaw.

The Irrawaddy said the Tatmadaw, or Myanmar Army, stopped military operations in Kachin State under President U Thein Sein's order and asked if it would do the same if the current President U Win Myint ordered it to do so.

"The Tatmadaw is under the leadership of the state. The President is the head of the country. If he gives an executive order, we are ready to obey. There is no reason we won't obey it," said the Brig-Gen.

He blamed ethnic armed organizations for the ongoing clashes, saying that fighting continues because those groups attack Tatmadaw commands and headquarters.

"They extort money on the Union Highway. They commit killings and attacks, and conduct mine attacks and other destructive acts. These activities pose great danger to the administrative mechanism of the government and we, therefore, have to respond," said Brig-Gen Aung Kyaw Hoe.

The Irrawaddy phoned the spokesperson of the President's Office for comment but was told he was busy and was unable to respond.

U Lin Lin Oo, a Lower House lawmaker representing Kachin State's Tanai Township where clashes are ongoing, said that it takes two to stop the armed clashes. As the government has to take responsibility for the consequences of the clashes, it will be difficult for it to continue dialogue with ethnic armed groups if the fighting does not cease.

"It is not a good idea to solve problems with military means. The government should mediate in clashes. Otherwise, there will be serious problems such as internally displaced persons, which will fall on the government," said U Lin Lin Oo, a National League for Democracy lawmaker.

Anti-war protests in Yangon in the second week of May ended with a crackdown on protesters, some of who were detained under the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law.

The country is now led by a democratic government and has a Parliament, and ethnic armed groups can now make their demands democratically without bearing arms, said Brig-Gen Aung Kyaw Hoe.

"They don't want to relinquish the power that they have gained from bearing arms. Peace will never be achieved if they cling to arms. I would say that peace can be achieved only through the path of the NCA [Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement]," he added.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Tatmadaw Will Cease Operations in Kachin on Govt's Order: Defense Secretary appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rural Poor Squeezed by Land Concessions in Mekong Region: Report

Posted: 29 May 2018 09:36 PM PDT

BANGKOK — Companies acquired concessions amounting to the size of a small European country, while rural residents of Southeast Asia’s Mekong region saw their landholdings shrink or disappear over the past two decades, according to researchers.

More than 5.1 million hectares of land — an area larger than Slovakia — were granted for mining and agricultural concessions in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, according to a report by the non-profit Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG).

At the same time, forest areas have declined, said the report, released on Monday by MRLG, which is based in Laos’ capital, Vientiane, and promotes better land use policies.

“While agricultural output and exports are growing in the Mekong as a result of the concessions, the benefits have not reached smallholders and indigenous people,” said Micah Ingalls at the Center for Development and Environment in Vientiane.

“They are being undermined by policies that fail to ensure their rights or enable them to benefit,” said Ingalls, an author of the report.

Across the five countries that host the Mekong River watershed, governments have lured large-scale investments in land thought to be under-utilized to generate jobs and incomes.

The concessions have changed traditional cropping, with 80 percent of all agricultural land now given over to six export-focused crops: rice, cassava, maize, sugarcane, rubber and oil palm.

Meanwhile, the average landholding per rural household has declined over the last 10 years, while some have been pushed from their land entirely, according to the report.

Revenues generated by the concessions have been less than anticipated, and the social and environmental costs have largely been borne by the rural poor, Ingalls said.

While governments have formulated policies for land titles and land-use certificates, “there is a gap between policy and practice,” he said.

Ingalls explained that such policies often fail to provide ownership rights to people who have been using land, and they ignore groups who have traditionally lived in areas granted as concessions.

“Indigenous people, forest dwellers and other ethnic minorities have very little protection,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Land concessions in Cambodia have displaced more than 770,000 people since 2000, human rights lawyers say.

Following protests and pressure from rights groups, Cambodia and Laos both announced moratoriums on new land concessions in 2012.

Other governments have improved environmental and social impact assessments, but rural communities are largely excluded from the processes, said Jean-Christophe Diepart, a co-author of the report.

“The Mekong is in the midst of substantial, far-reaching transformations with regard to land. Robust, inclusive and accountable decision-making are urgently needed,” he said.

The post Rural Poor Squeezed by Land Concessions in Mekong Region: Report appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Lawyer Says Evidence from Reuters Reporters’ Phones May Be ‘Tainted’

Posted: 29 May 2018 09:28 PM PDT

YANGON — Evidence Myanmar police say they obtained from the mobile phones of two Reuters reporters accused of possessing secret documents might be "tainted," a defense lawyer said on Tuesday, because at least one phone was used after it was confiscated.

A WhatsApp message was sent from the mobile phone of journalist Wa Lone after he and Reuters colleague Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested on Dec. 12 and held incommunicado on suspicion of violating the Official Secrets Act, the defense told the court.

Prosecution witness Police Major Aung Kyaw San, who said he and other police had examined the phones, told the court he was not aware of the exchange on WhatsApp and did not know who else used the phones before their delivery to investigators on Dec 14.

In what has become a landmark press freedom case, the court in Yangon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Defense lawyer Than Zaw Aung said the one-word text message – “OK” – was sent via WhatsApp in reply to a question from Reuters’ bureau chief in Myanmar at about 10 p.m., after Wa Lone’s phone was taken from him by police shortly after the two reporters were arrested around 9:10 p.m.

“That means anyone could have access to the phones, so anything could happen to the phones,” a second defense lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told Reuters after Tuesday’s proceedings. “All those messages they said were found in the phones may not be genuine or the phones may be tainted.”

Lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung declined to comment.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately available for comment. Previously, he has declined to discuss details of the proceedings or the police investigation, saying Myanmar’s courts were independent and the case would be conducted according to the law.

Judge Ye Lwin last week accepted as evidence printed copies of documents that Major Aung Kyaw San, a police IT expert, said were found on the reporters’ phones. The documents included alleged confidential government letters and plans for the development of an island off Myanmar’s west coast for tourism.

Some of the documents came from the Facebook Messenger app, the defense has said. Defense lawyers say this means the documents could have been sent by anyone and it was not clear the reporters themselves had even looked at them.

At the time of their arrest, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

The killings took place during a military crackdown that United Nations agencies say sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

The reporters have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Yangon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.

Last month, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing, who Myanmar’s information ministry said was arrested at the same time as the journalists in connection with the case, testified that a senior officer had ordered his subordinates to plant secret documents on Wa Lone to “trap” the reporter.

At a news conference on May 15, Police Director General Aung Win Oo dismissed the testimony as untruthful.

After his court appearance, Moe Yan Naing was sentenced to a year in jail for violating police discipline and his family was evicted from police housing. Police have said the eviction and his sentencing were not related to his testimony.

Global advocates for press freedom, human rights activists, as well the United Nations and several Western countries, have called for the release of the Reuters journalists.

On Tuesday, diplomats from Denmark and the European Union – as well as others – observed the proceedings.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday.

The post Myanmar Lawyer Says Evidence from Reuters Reporters' Phones May Be 'Tainted' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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