Tuesday, November 6, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

KNU Leadership Gathers to Firm Up Position on Peace Process

Posted: 06 Nov 2018 06:41 AM PST

CHIANG MAI, Thailand—The Karen National Union (KNU) convened an emergency meeting of its Central Standing Committee to review the state of the peace process at its headquarters in Lay Wah in Karen State's Paan district on Tuesday.

The KNU leadership will consult with members to find ways to overcome deadlocks in negotiations with the government on the implementation of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). The ethnic armed organization (EAO) temporarily suspended its participation in all peace negotiations late last month.

It said it would hold internal discussions to reach a "consensus" on its implementation mechanisms, framework and decision-making process regarding the peace process.

KNU leaders attended a high-level summit between EAO, government and military leaders in mid-October in Naypyitaw held to commemorate the third anniversary of the NCA signing. They decided that the group should hold internal discussions before proceeding with further peace talks, however.

In a brief press advisory posted on a KNU social media page on Tuesday, senior leaders said the Nov. 6-10 Central Standing Committee meeting will focus on finding ways to overcome the deadlocks, as well as ways to improve trust building. It added that the negotiating parties needed to find a means to bridge the gap of understanding between the EAOs and the government over setting basic principles for the establishment of a democratic federal union.

The majority of the 55 Central Standing Committee members are attending this week's discussions, together with the EAO's top military officers led by commander-in-chief General Saw Johnny and his deputy, Lieutenant-General Baw Kyaw Heh.

According to KNU sources, Tuesday's discussion went well.

Naw Zipporah Sein, a former vice chairwoman of the KNU, said the meeting was important, as it would review the peace process and path to implementation of the NCA.

Though she is not currently a member of the committee, Naw Zipporah Sein said the leaders were working to find "ways to build a federal union through political dialogue."

She said many KNU members were concerned that the NCA had drifted from its original purpose, as Myanmar's military (or Tatmadaw) was increasingly asserting that the route to ending armed conflict was via disarmament, and not through meaningful political dialogue.

"Our concern is whether the parties, especially the Tatmadaw, to the peace process are willing to achieve peace," she told The Irrawaddy.

Observers of the peace process follow the KNU leadership's views closely, as the group has been a key player in moving the process forward.

The KNU's decision to momentarily suspend participation in peace negotiations has resulted in a postponement of the EAOs' peace discussions.

The post KNU Leadership Gathers to Firm Up Position on Peace Process appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lawmaker Complains of ‘Shoddy’ Bridge Construction in Kachin

Posted: 06 Nov 2018 05:03 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — Two bridges and an embankment in Kachin State's Hsawlaw Township built at a cost of several hundred thousand US dollars have fallen into disrepair only seven months after going into service due to substandard construction, a Lower House lawmaker told The Irrawaddy.

Lan Se bridge and Htan Tan bridge were built with money from the 2017-18 fiscal year budget at an expense of 500 million kyats ($315,000) and 300 million kyats ($189,000), respectively.

Seven months after they opened to the public, they are tilting and can no longer cope with heavy traffic.

"Construction [of Lan Se bridge] started in December last year, and [the bridge] was damaged seven months after it was built. Now only small vehicles can cross it; trucks, 12-wheel vehicles and backhoes can't," said lawmaker U Lar Mar Lay, who represents Hsawlaw Township.

He said Htan Tan bridge was so poorly built that it can no longer handle even motorbikes and can only be crossed on foot.

The lawmaker said an embankment built for 40 million kyats ($25,000) was exhibiting poor workmanship as well.

"It is because of the negligence of the companies that built them. They did shoddy work and used inferior materials," U Lar Mar Lay said.

"I will ask a question about it when Parliament resumes," he said. "If [the contractors] didn't comply with the standards, the quality control teams have to take responsibility. [The contractors] have already handed over the structures. I want action to be taken against the quality control teams as well."

The Irrawaddy could not reach the spokesperson of the Construction Ministry’s bridge department for comment.

U Myint Zaw, deputy director general of the ministry’s building department, said contractors are responsible for damage that occurs to their projects within a set period of time.

"If the contracts were given through bidding, the companies have to make repairs if the structures are damaged before the period — for example, two years — agreed in the contracts. They have to take responsibility," he told The Irrawaddy.

The Lower House Transportation, Communications and Construction Committee said it had not yet received a formal complaint from U Lar Mar Lay but would take action if and when it did.

"It is not easy for ethnic [minority] regions to get a budget [for roads and bridges]. Even if we get it, it seems that it is useless," U Lar Mar Lay said.

In August, the Construction Ministry came under fire in Parliament from lawmakers who accused it of poor oversight of build-operate-transfer road projects.

Lawmakers called on the ministry to stick closely to the tender procedures laid out by the President's Office, inspect construction sites, prepare contracts properly and take harsh action against corrupt officials and companies that break their contracts.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Lawmaker Complains of ‘Shoddy’ Bridge Construction in Kachin appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Officials Still Using Telecom Law to Silence Critics Despite Amendments

Posted: 06 Nov 2018 04:40 AM PST

YANGON—Changes to the Telecommunications Law have done little to halt its use by politicians and officials to silence their critics, with 62 legal cases having been filed under Article 66 (d) of the controversial legislation since it was amended in 2017.

Of those cases, 20 were filed against perceived critics by lawmakers from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) and government officials, and one similar case was filed by the military, according to Athan, an organization that advocates for freedom of expression.

The changes to the law were introduced in August last year following months of outcry over the growing number of defamation cases opened under the legislation.

Dozens of civil society organizations and free-speech advocates called on the government to repeal Article 66 (d), the most controversial provision of the law, but it remains in place despite the amendments.

Article 66 (d) has been used in recent years to prosecute individuals for "online defamation", including members of the media, some of whom have been detained and jailed. According to Athan, 29 reporters are currently on trial for Article 66 (d)-related offenses.

In the year and four months between the time the NLD came to power and the passage of the amendments, 90 cases were filed under the legislation. This compares to 11 cases under former President U Thein Sein's government from the time the law was enacted in 2013 until early 2016.

Maung Saungkha, founder and executive director at Athan, said the government chose to ignore civil society groups' recommendations to scrap Article 66 (d). As a result, he said, the number of cases filed under the provision had grown despite the amendments, with lawmakers and authorities abusing the article to stifle dissent.

A perceived backsliding on freedom of expression has been one of the major criticisms leveled at the NLD-led government since it came to power in 2016 amid high public expectations that it would take significant steps to advance such freedoms.

In a recent case, the Yangon Regional Government led by Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein filed a controversial lawsuit against three journalists from Eleven Media under Article 505 (b) of the Penal Code for publishing a story it claimed included incorrect information about the government. The article accused the Yangon government of wasting public money through mismanagement.

Given that the Eleven Media story was based on lawmakers' discussions of the city budget in the Yangon Parliament, the lawsuit attracted serious criticism as an inappropriately harsh reaction for a democratic government, and was interpreted as a threat to all those seeking to scrutinize the government's activities, and to freedom of expression in general.

Maung Saungkha said the fact that the NLD lost seats in Saturday's by-election was evidence of the public's dissatisfaction with the party, adding that the government needed to implement further legislative reforms.

"The NLD government should learn the lesson of the by-election results and amend repressive laws during the remainder of its tenure," he said.

The post Officials Still Using Telecom Law to Silence Critics Despite Amendments appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

3 Arakanese Accused of Involvement in Army Officer Shooting Released

Posted: 05 Nov 2018 11:14 PM PST

SITTWE, Rakhine State — Three Arakanese men detained in connection with the fatal shooting of a Myanmar Army corporal were released on Monday.

The three were released when no concrete evidence was found linking them to the crime while they were in custody for 30 days at Sittwe Township police station.

"Police have submitted our testimony to the Advocate General's Office [of Rakhine State]. But the office has not yet commented. So, police granted us bail according to police procedure and released us," Khine Bo Bo, one of the three Arakanese men, told the media.

The other two men are Ko Aung Che from Buthidaung Township and Ko May Yu Tun of the Arakan National Party (ANP). The ANP put up bail of 10 million kyats for each.

"The remand period ends today (Monday) and they would have had to be put on trial. But there is not enough evidence so they were released," said Daw Aye Nu Sein, the lawyer acting for the three men.

When asked by The Irrawaddy, police lieutenant Aye Kyaw of the Sittwe Township police station said, "The case was transferred to the CID [Criminal Investigation Department] on Oct. 11."

Win Htike (aka) Poe Lone, a corporal with the Military Security Affairs Office of the Myanmar Army, was fatally shot while he visited a fair with his family at Wingabar Grounds in the state capital Sittwe on Sept. 25.

Ko Aung Che, a university student, was arrested on Oct. 9, and two others, the following day.

ANP member Ko May Yu Tun was with Lower House lawmaker Daw Khin Saw Wai and other ANP members on an election campaign in Rathedaung Township the day the corporal was killed.

Ko Khaing Bo Bo told the media that he also had an alibi for the time of the fatal shooting.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post 3 Arakanese Accused of Involvement in Army Officer Shooting Released appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 05 Nov 2018 10:04 PM PST

 

Si Thu Lwin: A Part of Me

Celebrated singer Si Thu Lwin will perform.

Nov. 10, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Hexagon Complex, East Horse Race Course. Tickets 30,000 kyats to 100,000 kyats at 09-445 151 010

G Fatt: One Man Show

Chart-topping singer G Fatt will sing for his fans.

Nov. 11, 7 p.m. Kandawgyi Hmawsinkyun. Tickets 10,000 kyats at 09-445 151 010

Waterzonic Myanmar

One of the biggest music festivals in Southeast Asia.

Nov. 10, 6 p.m. till late. The ONE Entertainment Park, Paw San Hmwe Street. Tickets 25,000 kyats to 60,000 kyats at 09-258-835-886.

Memory Film Festival

The Cameraman (1928) directed by Buster Keaton and Edward Sedgwick will be screened with a live accompaniment performed under the supervision of U Kyi Soe Tun.

Nov. 9, 6 p.m. Waziya Cinema. Free entry

FAB #77

A party of pop, dance and all-time gay favorites by DJ Mike; two drag performances and loads of fun.

Nov. 9, 10 p.m. till late. Club Pyrite, near Inya Lake Hotel. 5,000 kyats.

Open-Air Percussion Concert

Myanmar, Asian and European percussionists will perform together.

Nov. 8, 6.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. Maha Bandula Park. Free entry

 

&PROUD Photo and Art

This exhibition showcases a photography project on Yangon's transgender community by photographer Grace Baey as well as the winners of the &Proud Photo competition.

Nov. 8-18, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Myanm/art, No. 98, 3rd floor, Bogalay Zay St.  

 

There Are No Homosexuals in Iran

Laurence Rasti's photos feature the life of gay Iranians in Denizli, a city in Turkey.

Nov. 8-18, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Myanm/art, No. 98, 3rd floor, Bogalay Zay St.

Seik Soup Yar II By KK(BK)

Artist Kyaw Kyaw showcases his works.

Nov. 9-12. 43 Art Gallery, No. 101, 2nd floor, 43rd Street, between Mahabandula & Merchant streets.

U Thu Kha Centenary

Paintings will be showcased to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of late painter U Thu Kha.

Nov. 13-15, The Strand Hotel.

The post Ten Things to do in Yangon This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indonesia Jet Had Damaged Airspeed Indicator on Last Four Flights: Official

Posted: 05 Nov 2018 08:52 PM PST

JAKARTA/WASHINGTON — Indonesian accident investigators said an airspeed indicator of a Boeing Co 737 MAX plane that crashed last week was damaged for its last four flights, but US authorities responded cautiously to suggestions of fleet-wide checks.

The damage on a Lion Air jet that crashed into the sea, killing all 189 aboard, was revealed after data had been downloaded from the plane’s flight data recorder, Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) chief Soerjanto Tjahjono told reporters on Monday.

His agency was asking Boeing and US authorities what action to take to prevent similar problems on this type of plane around the world, he added.

“We are formulating, with NTSB and Boeing, detailed inspections regarding the airspeed indicator,” he said, referring to the US National Transportation Safety Board.

The acting administrator of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Dan Elwell, said the FAA and NTSB had teams of experts in Indonesia at the government’s request.

“Any action the FAA would take regarding that incident would have to wait until we have findings, until we have information,” Elwell said in Washington.

Indonesia has not formally requested fleet-wide checks on 737 MAX jets and none are planned pending more data, a person familiar with matter said, on condition of anonymity.

Investigators have not disclosed any reports of other airspeed failures on the aircraft.

The FAA, which regulates the US aviation industry, has not received any reports of airspeed issues with the model in the United States, said a person familiar with its reviews, who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak.

It was not immediately clear whether the problem with the crashed jet stemmed from a mechanical or maintenance issue.

“We don’t know yet where the problem lies, what repair has been done, what their reference books are, what components have been removed,” said Nurcahyo Utomo, the KNKT sub-committee head for air accidents.

“These are the things we are trying to find out: what was the damage and how it was fixed.”

Safety experts say it is too early to determine the cause of the crash on Monday last week of the flight from Jakarta to the tin-mining town of Pangkal Pinang.

Authorities have yet to recover the jet’s cockpit voice recorder from the sea floor, just northeast of Jakarta, where the plane crashed 13 minutes into its flight.

Boeing declined to comment. The US manufacturer has delivered 219 737 MAX jets to customers globally, its website shows, with 4,564 orders for jets yet to be delivered.

The Boeing 737 MAX is a more fuel-efficient version of the manufacturer’s popular single-aisle jet.

The Lion Air crash was the first involving the type of plane, which airlines introduced into service last year.

The post Indonesia Jet Had Damaged Airspeed Indicator on Last Four Flights: Official appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Says Ready for US Talks, Sees No Winners in Trade War

Posted: 05 Nov 2018 08:30 PM PST

SINGAPORE — China is ready to hold discussions and work with the United States to resolve trade disputes because the world’s two largest economies stand to lose from confrontation, Vice President Wang Qishan said on Tuesday.

Beijing and Washington have imposed tit-for-tat duties on each other’s goods over recent months, with neither side backing down from an increasingly bitter trade dispute that has jolted financial markets and cast a pall over the global economy.

The focus is now on US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the month. Trump has threatened to impose further tariffs on $267 billion of Chinese imports into the United States if the two countries cannot reach a deal on trade.

“Both China and the US would love to see greater trade and economic cooperation,” Wang told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore.

“The Chinese side is ready to have discussions with the US on issues of mutual concern and work for a solution on trade acceptable to both sides,” he said.

“The world today faces many major problems that require close cooperation between China and the United States,” he said. “It is our firm belief that China and the US will both gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation.”

Wang echoed comments by President Xi on Monday at a major trade expo that Beijing will embrace greater openness, amid mounting frictions with the United States.

Trump has railed against China for what he sees as intellectual property theft, entry barriers to US business and a gaping trade deficit.

“Negativity and anger are not the way to address the problems that have emerged in economic globalization, nor will barriers or disputes help solve one’s own problems,” Wang said. “Instead they would only exacerbate global market turbulence.”

Beijing supports the settlement of international disputes via rules and consensus and stands against unilateralism and protectionism, he added.

“Trade and economic cooperation remain the anchor and propeller of a steady and healthy China-US relationship which is in essence mutually beneficial. China will stay calm and sober-minded, embrace greater openness and work for mutual benefit.”

The United States and China will hold the top-level diplomatic and security dialogue in Washington on Friday, the US State Department said.

Trump, who is expected to meet Xi at the G20 summit in Argentina later this month, said on Monday China wants to make a deal.

“If we can make the right deal, a deal that’s fair, we’ll do that. Otherwise we won't do it.”

The post China Says Ready for US Talks, Sees No Winners in Trade War appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

For Trump Supporters, Elections a Battle to Protect a Leader Under Siege

Posted: 05 Nov 2018 08:26 PM PST

CLEVELAND — For many Americans, Tuesday’s congressional midterm elections are a referendum on Republican President Donald Trump's divisive persona, hardline policies and pugnacious politics.

But on the eve of the election, in a packed airport hangar in Cleveland and at other Trump rallies across the nation, the stakes are different: a vote to protect a leader they see as under siege, whose inflammatory rhetoric is a necessary price for a norm-shattering era of change.

“You think we’re letting that caravan come into this country?” Trump asked the crowd on Monday, referring to a group of Central American migrants moving through Mexico toward the US border.

“No!” his supporters shouted.

At rallies overflowing with red-hatted, mostly white supporters in conservative pockets of the country, those backing Trump say they hope to make his ideas the dominant force in American political life for decades to come.

They face strong headwinds. Nationally, about 52 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s performance. More people say they would vote for a Democratic candidate than a Republican in Tuesday’s congressional elections, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows.

But pro-Trump Republicans are eager to defy expectations, just as the president did with his 2016 victory.

In Grand Rapids, Michigan, pro-Trump activist Ben Hirschmann, 23, sees Tuesday’s elections as decisive for Trump's vision of America.

"Trump's not on the ballot, but he is on the ballot,” he said at a phone-bank event to get out the vote at the local Republican headquarters. “Everything we voted for in 2016 is on the line in 2018."

‘Now We're Living Good'

Trump embarked on a three-state tour in the Midwest on Monday, holding rallies in Ohio, Indiana and Missouri.

He has a clear strategy: drive Republican turnout by painting a dark, apocalyptic vision of life in America under Democrats, while fanning fears over illegal immigration. He casts his rivals as an angry, liberal and dangerous “mob” and plays up gains in the economy.

“Democrats produce mobs. Republicans produce jobs,” Trump said in Cleveland, repeating a familiar line from his rallies.

But as the frequency of his speeches and rallies increases, so too have his distortions and falsehoods, according to the Washington Post’s “Fact Checker” database. In the seven weeks before Tuesday’s elections, Trump averaged 30 false or misleading claims a day, up from an average of five a day during his first nine months in office.

Trump frequently denies that he misleads the public and instead blames the media for what he describes as distortions of his words.

It is unclear whether Trump’s campaign strategy will work.

Republicans are expected to keep control of the Senate. But Democrats are widely favored to win the 23 seats they need to assume control of the House of Representatives. The Republican Party is defending dozens of seats in largely suburban districts where Trump's popularity has languished and Democrats have performed well in presidential races.

Trump’s rallies have focused mostly on Senate and gubernatorial battles in states he won in the 2016 White House race – from Florida and Missouri to West Virginia and Ohio. A Trump adviser, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters: "These are places where data and polling information tells us that the president is of best use."

At a rally in Johnson City, Tennessee, in early October, Jessica Lotz, 33, and her fiancé, Chad Lavery, 49, said Trump's immigration policies resonated with them. During the 2008 economic downturn, Lotz and Lavery said they saw construction, landscaping and house-painting jobs go to illegal immigrants while they struggled financially.

As the economy rebounded, so, too, did their fortunes.

"Now we’re living good," Lavery said, crediting their ability to find work and better wages to Trump, who inherited an economy that was already in one of its longest recoveries and gave it an additional boost with tax cuts.

‘Frustrated'

After a Trump rally in September in Springfield, Missouri, pro-Trump activist Brenda Webb, 64, sat for a late dinner at a restaurant with five friends who had driven to the rally from the St. Louis suburbs.

Webb and her friends had joined protests against Democratic then-President Barack Obama in St. Louis in 2009 that were part of a broader conservative "Tea Party" movement centered on calls for smaller government, lower taxes and fewer regulations.

But the energy fizzled, she said. The group became animated talking about how Trump had given new focus to those early Tea Party goals of reclaiming government for ordinary citizens, not just the “elites” in Washington.

"We feel like he’s working to resolve all the problems that we are so frustrated by," Webb said.

At the Springfield rally, Brian Whorton, who drove a few hours to see the president, said he voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012 before becoming a Republican. “I was not politically aware and awake. I thought, ‘Oh he’s cool and he’s a good speaker and an African-American guy,'” said Whorton, who is white.

Trump's policies, he said, were making a difference for him: He said his manager at an aluminum electrical wire factory had credited Trump tariffs with raising their profits.

“He is putting people back to work,” said retired postal worker Barbara Peacock, 58, as she leafed through Trump 2020 re-election merchandise at his rally in Macon, Georgia, on Sunday. “He is telling it like it is.”

In Ohio, Republican National Committee spokeswoman Mandi Merritt referred to pro-Trump enthusiasts as a "grassroots army" that could be harnessed and dispatched to boost Republican voter turnout.

On a sunny day in October, Trump supporter Kimmy Kolkovich, 46, joined a friend on the sidewalk at a busy intersection near the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus to urge people to register and vote.

"Even if I'm registering people who are going to vote for the other party, they're seeing us out here in our hats, and that's what's important, all the little interactions and conversations we're having," Kolkovich said.

The post For Trump Supporters, Elections a Battle to Protect a Leader Under Siege appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Facebook Says Human Rights Report Shows It Should Do More in Myanmar

Posted: 05 Nov 2018 08:24 PM PST

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook Inc on Monday said a human rights report it commissioned on its presence in Myanmar showed it had not done enough to prevent its social network from being used to incite violence.

The report by San Francisco-based nonprofit Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) recommended that Facebook more strictly enforce its content policies, increase engagement with both Myanmar officials and civil society groups and regularly release additional data about its progress in the country.

“The report concludes that, prior to this year, we weren’t doing enough to help prevent our platform from being used to foment division and incite offline violence. We agree that we can and should do more,” Alex Warofka, a Facebook product policy manager, said in a blog post.

BSR also warned that Facebook must be prepared to handle a likely onslaught of misinformation during Myanmar’s 2020 elections, and new problems as use of its WhatsApp grows in Myanmar, according to the report, which Facebook released.

A Reuters special report in August found that Facebook failed to promptly heed numerous warnings from organizations in Myanmar about social media posts fueling attacks on minority groups such as the Rohingya.

In August 2017 the military led a crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine State in response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents, pushing more than 700,000 Muslims to neighboring Bangladesh, according to UN agencies.

The social media website in August removed several Myanmar military officials from the platform to prevent the spread of “hate and misinformation,” for the first time banning a country’s military or political leaders.

It also removed dozens of accounts for engaging in a campaign that “used seemingly independent news and opinion pages to covertly push the messages of the Myanmar military.”

The move came hours after United Nations investigators said the army carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with "genocidal intent."

Facebook said it has begun correcting shortcomings.

Facebook said that it now has 99 Myanmar language specialists reviewing potentially questionable content. In addition, it has expanded use of automated tools to reduce distribution of violent and dehumanizing posts while they undergo review.

In the third quarter, the company said it “took action” on about 64,000 pieces of content that violated its hate speech policies. About 63 percent were identified by automated software, up from 52 percent in the prior quarter.

Facebook has roughly 20 million users in Myanmar, according to BSR, which warned Facebook faces several unresolved challenges in Myanmar.

BSR said locating staff there, for example, could aid in Facebook’s understanding of how its services are used locally but said its workers could be targeted by the country’s military, which has been accused by the UN of ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya.

The post Facebook Says Human Rights Report Shows It Should Do More in Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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