Wednesday, March 7, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

KNPP, Government Hold Informal Talks on Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement

Posted: 07 Mar 2018 08:07 AM PST

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – To mark the sixth anniversary of the signing of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP)'s first bilateral ceasefire agreement at the state level, the group met Wednesday with the government's Peace Commission in Yangon to continue bilateral talks on signing the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

The talks were held at Yangon's National Reconciliation and Peace Center.

On Feb. 13, two members of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) — the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) — signed the NCA. At that time, government spokesman U Zaw Htay said the Peace Commission would continue bilateral talks with the KNPP to ensure that the group remained part of the current peace process.

The KNPP's signing of the NCA has been delayed, partly due to the extrajudicial killing of three of the group's soldiers while in the custody of the Tatmadaw's Loikaw Operation Command at Loikaw checkpoint in December.

Khu Oo Reh, the vice chairman of the KNPP and head of its Peace Implementation Committee, said the group seeks to remove "any obstacles to peace talks," referring to the case of the murdered KNPP soldiers. "Thus, negotiations are the only possible way to overcome the impediment."

Among the topics the KNPP seeks to raise in its discussions with the government is the implementation process for bilateral agreements signed with the state and union governments in 2012 and 2013 under then-President U Thein Sein.

Agreements on matters relating to liaison offices, joint ceasefire monitoring, troop deployment, and state development were reached but not implemented.

The KNPP has also followed the NCA discussions through its membership in the UNFC alliance.

After Wednesday's meeting, Khu Oo Reh said the KNPP is keen to see the bilateral agreements implemented.

"The agreement principles are not understood on the ground, as the talks are happening at a high level, while officers at the state level only act on the orders of their superiors," he said, adding that this made the participation of Kayah State executives crucial.

"We have proposed that formal talks with the government be held in Loikaw, the capital of Kayah [Karenni] State, not in Yangon," said Khu Oo Reh, "so that state and Union government officials and Tatmadaw commanders can take part in the talks — both listening and discussing — and stay updated. This would facilitate the implementation of agreements and they won't need to rely on go-betweens."

While no date has been agreed, said KNPP Peace Implementation Committee spokesperson Nei Neh Plo, it is likely that formal discussions will be held before the third session of the 21st-Century Panglong Peace Conference, tentatively scheduled to convene in early May.

Nei Neh Plo told The Irrawaddy that although the two sides discussed the NCA and the wider peace process, no specific commitments were made.

He said discussions centered on finding ways to move the peace process forward, particularly regarding the eight-point principles the UNFC is currently negotiating with the government.

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Tatmadaw Slams EU Council’s Call for Sanctions over Rohingya

Posted: 07 Mar 2018 06:21 AM PST

YANGON — The Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, on Tuesday slammed the European Union Foreign Affairs Council's recommendations announced late last month relating to the Rohingya issue, which included a call for sanctions.

In a statement released Tuesday, the council pushed Myanmar to allow a UN fact-finding mission and accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. It also recommended that the EU's high representative for foreign affairs draw up targeted sanctions against the country's senior military officers for human rights violations without delay.

The recommendations followed the council's meeting with EU foreign affairs ministers on Feb. 26.

In a statement, the military's information team claimed that the EU council's recommendations were made in response to a letter submitted by 102 British lawmakers, led by Rushanara Ali, to the country's foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, late last month.

The letter demanded that more pressure be exerted on Tatmadaw leaders — especially military chief Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing — for their security operations against the Rohingya. It said the operations had been described as ethnic cleansing and possibly genocide by the UN, and called on the EU Foreign Affairs Council to convene a meeting to discuss the issue.

The military statement slams the recommendations as reflecting the one-sided accusations of "British MPs who turn a blind eye to the real situation" that "will badly impact the Tatmadaw's implementation of rule of law process, state security and participation in the democracy transition in accord with the Rules of Engagement."

It adds: "Those accusations may create misunderstanding among international and local organizations which have helped the country's internal peace-building and peace-making process and general public."

The release came after the deputy military chief, Vice Snr-Gen. Soe Win, met with the EU's special representative for human rights, Stavros Limbrinidis, on Monday evening in Naypyitaw to discuss the Rakhine issue.

According to the UN, more than 688,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since the Tatmadaw began clearance operations in Rohingya-majority northern Rakhine State in August 2017. The operations were launched following attacks on government security forces by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in the area.

Those who made it to camps on the Bangladeshi side reported being subject to arbitrary killings, rapes and torching of property by the Army. The UN labeled the actions as ethnic cleansing.

In December, the U.S. imposed sanctions against Major-General Maung Maung Soe for his alleged role in the Army's abuse of Rohingya. Maj-Gen. Maung Maung Soe was in charge of the Western Command, which oversees Rakhine State, at the time the operation was launched.

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Upper House Approves Controversial Amendments to Protest Law

Posted: 07 Mar 2018 06:13 AM PST

YANGON — Myanmar's Upper House of Parliament approved a set of controversial amendments to the country’s protest law on Wednesday despite strong opposition from activists and rights groups who claim the changes would further restrict the freedom of expression.

Thirteen lawmakers discussed the bill amending the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law on Monday and Wednesday, with all but one of them — including some from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) — arguing against the changes.

"We have vowed to get rid of authoritarian acts and suppression of the people in Myanmar. The provisions [in the bill] go against those objectives," NLD lawmaker U Htay Oo told reporters after Monday’s session.

Yet the bill passed with 113 lawmakers voting in favor and 78 voting against.

The Upper House Bill Committee submitted the bill on Feb. 19.

The amendments are being viewed as the latest attempt by the NLD-dominated Parliament to deter those with hidden agendas from masterminding protests and to reduce the risk of racial and religious violence.

If the changes are fully approved, Article 4 (d) of the law will require would-be protesters planning peaceful assemblies and processions to inform police in advance of not only their agenda and estimated numbers, but also the estimated cost of the event and the identities of the people or organizations paying for it.

The most controversial part of the bill would stipulate jail terms for those convicted of provoking or exhorting others to organize or participate in demonstrations by bribing or paying them or doing anything else with the intention of harming the stability, rule of law, peace and tranquility of the community.

The provision was criticized as being too broadly written; activists warn it could be exploited to stifle political dissent.

The bill will return to the Lower House where, barring any objections, it will be sent to President U Htin Kyaw to be signed into law.

The post Upper House Approves Controversial Amendments to Protest Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Top Taxpayers Honored for Contribution to Nation

Posted: 07 Mar 2018 04:38 AM PST

YANGON — Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw has honored the nation's highest income and commercial taxpayers for 2016-17 in Naypyitaw, praising them for "supporting and assisting the nation consciously and dutifully during the country's transition period."

Ten businesspersons were invited to the Presidential Palace on Tuesday to receive the President's Honorary Award and certificates of honor for outstanding performance in tax payments. Among them were U Aung Ko Win, chairman of KBZ Bank, who paid 20 billion kyats in income tax in 2016-17, making him the highest income taxpayer for a sixth year in a row stretching back to 2011-2012.

The other highest taxpayers included Diamond Star Co., Myawaddy Bank, Shwe Taung Development Co., Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited, Myawaddy Trading Ltd., PT Power Trading Co., Thilawa Special Economic Zone Management Committee, Jing Hpaw Aung Jade & Jewellery Co., Ltd, and Myanmar Awba Group.

"Paying tax is the duty of each citizen, especially business owners, who are in contact with foreign countries and are believed to be more aware of tax and paying tax. This habit and culture of paying tax is still weak in our country, and thus the taxpayers are being thanked," the president said during the award ceremony.

The highest commercial taxpayers for 2016-2017 included Dagon Beverages Co., Myawaddy Trading, Denko Trading Co., PT Power Trading, Shwe Byain Phyu Co., International Beverages Trading Co., Asia Energy Co., Royal Myawaddy Distillery Group, City Mart Holding Co. and Regency Material Trading Co.

U Aung Ko Win of KBZ was the recipient of the Legacy Award, conferred by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council-ABAC, in 2017.

The former schoolteacher also leads the Brighter Future Myanmar Foundation, one of Myanmar's best-known philanthropic organizations, which has spent more than 138 billion kyats on regional development and disaster relief.

Highlights of his assistance efforts include a donation of more than 6 billion kyats to the Daw Aung San Suu Kyi-led Rakhine State rehabilitation program-UEHRD, as well as 300 million kyats for the country's peace process.

The post Top Taxpayers Honored for Contribution to Nation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Wa Armed Group Halts Tatmadaw Road Project

Posted: 07 Mar 2018 04:13 AM PST

YANGON — The United Wa State Army (UWSA), Myanmar’s largest ethnic armed group, says its fighters stopped a group of Myanmar army soldiers from continuing work on a new road through contested territory on Monday in southern Shan State.

The Myanmar army, or Tatmadaw, arrived with a bulldozer to clear a path for the road through the forest near Mong Toom village but were blocked by UWSA fighters, a spokesman for the armed group told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

"Two battalions [one each from the UWSA and Tatmadaw] were close to each other. Our troops blocked their work as it approached our battalion," said Nyi Rang, a spokesman for the UWSA in Lashio, in northern Shan State.

He said tensions rose as the two sides faced off but added that the Tatmadaw soldiers eventually left without any fighting.

"This was not the first time. They have done like this in the past, but we solved it," he said.

Nyi Rang said a 1989 ceasefire agreement between the Tatmadaw and UWSA stipulates that each side inform the other in advance of development projects in contested areas, though similar tensions have flared over roadwork in the past. The UWSA accuses the Tatmadaw of building the roads in preparation for future offensives.

"In my opinion they should inform our troops well before they go to build a road. But they did not inform us. We have agreed to inform each other," the spokesman said.

Video of the standoff spread through social media on Tuesday.

“You should say who is your senior officer who gave this order to stop us. You should not say all of your leaders block this road construction,” a Tatmadaw officer tells a UWSA fighter.

"I can't do anything. This was the order from the top officers," the UWSA fighter replies.

After a few more moments of conversation, a Tatmadaw soldier grabs a UWSA fighter standing in front of the bulldozer and pushes him aside. A Tatmadaw officer tells the UWSA fighters to leave the site, but they refuse, and the officer tells his soldiers to stop pushing the UWSA fighters away.

"You can't act like this because it will destroy our relationship,” the Tatmadaw officer then says. “Both of us are organizations. You guys are rude."

The UWSA — the largest armed group in the country with some 40,000 fighters — chairs the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee, which is in off-and-on peace talks with the government and military. The committee’s seven members have yet to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.

Nyi Rang said the Tatmadaw was also continuing to block ethnic Wa civilians from traveling freely in northern Shan State since last month. A pair of Wa political parties has asked the government to have the travel restrictions lifted.

Spokesmen for the Tatmadaw could not be reached for comment.

The post Wa Armed Group Halts Tatmadaw Road Project appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

KNU, Tatmadaw on Alert After Recent Clash

Posted: 07 Mar 2018 01:56 AM PST

YANGON — The Karen National Union (KNU) has put its troops on alert after Karen militias clashed with Tatmadaw troops in areas controlled by KNU Brigade (5).

Home Guards, formed by local Karen ethnic villagers, clashed with Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) troops after the latter allegedly trespassed in Lu Thaw Township, Papun District, Karen State on Monday evening, said official Saw Eh Kalel of KNU Brigade (5).

"It is not a [military] tension, but they (Tatmadaw) have apparently raised alert. So, we assume that we also need to make preparations," he told The Irrawaddy.

Tatmadaw troops allegedly deployed security patrols to rebuild an old road in Lel Mu Palaw village tract in Lu Thaw Township on March 5, which resulted in an exchange of fire with the local militia.

"[Karen] villagers formed groups, on their own, which they call Home Guards, for the security of their villages. They have improvised firearms and maintain regular patrols around their villages. I think the Tatmadaw troops opened fire on them for their security," said Saw Eh Kalel, adding that the Tatmadaw entered the area with a large force.

The KNU objects to rebuilding the road, he said, expressing his suspicion that the Tatmadaw's real intention is to control the area for military gain and not to repair the road.

Local villagers including Home Guard members fled after the clash, according to the KNU.

Karen State minister for security and border affairs Col Min Naung told The Irrawaddy that he was unclear about the clashes, the state of alert and the road construction.

"I've just asked the command about those cases. I don't know the situation exactly," he said.

The conflict between the KNU and Tatmadaw may worsen if the Tatmadaw continues deploying its troops into areas controlled by KNU Brigade (5), said one of its top officials.

Vice Chairman-1 of the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee and KNU top leader General Saw Isaac Po also said he did not know about the clash.

"I am currently in Yangon. I don't know exactly what happened. If there was shooting, I will tell the [KNU] to halt," he told The Irrawaddy.

According to the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), the Tatmadaw and NCA signatories need prior approval to go into each other's territories.

"While trust is still being built, one side must respect the regulations of the other side. Otherwise, bad things can happen," said Saw Eh Kalel.

After the KNU signed the NCA in 2015, there were at least three engagements with the Tatmadaw in the areas of KNU Brigade (5), and the KNU claimed that in all three cases, it only fired warning shots after Tatmadaw troops trespassed in its areas.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Man Who Confessed to Girl’s Rape, Murder Commits Suicide in Custody

Posted: 07 Mar 2018 01:12 AM PST

YANGON — A man who confessed to raping a 12-year-old girl in Kachin State's Mogaung Township in February hanged himself in his prison cell early Tuesday morning, according to a Mohnyin Prison official.

"He arrived at the prison on Monday evening. He confessed to his crime at the court, and we therefore kept him separately. We found out about his death at around 3:45 a.m.," prison official U Aung Than Oo told The Irrawaddy.

Khin Maung Htay, 37, used his vest and longyi to hang himself. He told the court that he raped and murdered the girl after finding her foraging for firewood in the woods near her village on Feb. 25. Police have opened a case into his death.

Police have also arrested another suspect in the girl’s rape and murder identified as Maung Yi, who arrived at Mohnyin Prison on Tuesday.

The Home Affairs Ministry recorded 897 rape cases involving children under the age of 16 nationwide in 2017, up from 671 cases the year before. In Kachin State there were 14 cases of child rape in 2016 and 21 cases last year.

The ministry also recorded 1,405 rape cases involving women over 16 in 2017 across the country.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Chin State to Develop Tourism

Posted: 06 Mar 2018 11:19 PM PST

YANGON — A three-year project will be implemented for the development of tourism in Chin State with the assistance of the Dutch government, said the trade promotion department under the Ministry of Commerce.

"We've tentatively selected Chin State for the project. But, a final decision has not been made. We have also surveyed some other states [for the project]. Chin State has the potential for development. But, we have yet to improve transportation there," said director-general U Aung Soe of the trade promotion department.

The project will be jointly implemented by the Netherlands Center for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI), Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, and Ministry of Commerce of Myanmar. CBI will open an office and provide financial and technical support for three years.

"This year, we expect a minimum 50 percent increase in the number of foreign visitors and a 60 percent increase in local visitors compared to 2017," said official U Aung Phyo of the Chin State hotels and tourism ministry.

A three-year US$1.9 million tourism development project was implemented in Karenni State with the assistance of the Dutch government from 2014 to 2017.

Well-known tourist attractions in Chin State include heart-shaped Reh Lake, which lies on a hill at an altitude of 2,966 feet in Reh Khaw Da in Falam Township near the Myanmar-India border.

Nat Ma Taung (also called Mount Victoria or Khaw-Nu-Soum), the highest mountain in Chin State, is also a popular tourist destination. Chin State is also known for its Rhododendron flowers, which bloom in December and January.

The Chin State government in February imposed a ban on picking Rhododendron flowers and hunting wildlife across the state.

In 2017, Chin State received 11,047 local visitors and 2,495 foreign visitors, most of them French.

The tourism industry is one of the economic priorities of the Chin State government, said U Aung Phyo, adding that the government has been developing tourist destinations in the state, along with organizing training in hotels and tourism and helping to form hotelier and tour guide associations.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Myanmar’s ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of Rohingya Continues, UN Rights Official Says

Posted: 06 Mar 2018 09:08 PM PST

YANGON — Myanmar’s “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya Muslims is continuing, a senior UN human rights official said on Tuesday, more than six months after insurgent attacks sparked a security response that has driven nearly 700,000 people into Bangladesh.

Andrew Gilmour, the UN assistant secretary-general for human rights, made the comment after a four-day visit to the Cox’s Bazar district in neighboring Bangladesh, where he met people who have fled from Myanmar recently.

“I don’t think we can draw any other conclusion from what I have seen and heard in Cox’s Bazar,” Gilmour said in a statement.

After Rohingya insurgents attacked 30 police posts and an army base on Aug. 25, Myanmar soldiers and police swept through villages in what the government says was a legitimate operation to root out “terrorists.”

Rohingya who sought shelter in Bangladesh have reported rape, killings and arson by security forces. The United Nations and United States have concluded the campaign amounted to ethnic cleansing.

Gilmour spoke to refugees who recounted abductions by security forces and at least one apparent death of a Rohingya man in custody in February, the statement said.

“It appears that widespread and systematic violence against the Rohingya persists,” Gilmour said.

“The nature of the violence has changed from the frenzied blood-letting and mass rape of last year to a lower intensity campaign of terror and forced starvation that seems to be designed to drive the remaining Rohingya from their homes and into Bangladesh.”

Despite Myanmar saying it was ready to accept back refugees under a pact signed with Bangladesh in November, he added, “Safe, dignified and sustainable returns are, of course, impossible under current conditions.”

Myanmar government spokesman U Zaw Htay said he had not seen the UN statement published on Tuesday, but that Myanmar was not committing ethnic cleansing.

“We don’t drive out the refugees,” he said.

‘Ordered to Vacate’

Separately, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said it was concerned about people living just inside Myanmar at its border with Bangladesh.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is monitoring developments after several thousand people living in a makeshift camp “were reportedly ordered to vacate the area by the Myanmar authorities,” the agency said.

Residents of what is called “no-man’s land,” as it sits outside Myanmar’s border fence but on its side of a creek that separates the two countries, say Myanmar officials have warned them on loudspeakers that their presence on the border line is illegal.

“UNHCR underscores that everyone has the right to seek asylum, just as they also have the right to return home when they deem the time and circumstances right,” it said in a statement late on Monday.

“People who have fled violence in their country must be granted safety and protection and any decision to return must be voluntary and based upon a free and informed choice.”

Zaw Htay said Myanmar had the right to move people from its territory and part of an agreed “buffer zone” with Bangladesh. Authorities had received information that “terrorists” linked to the August attacks on Myanmar’s security posts were sheltering there, he added.

“According to procedure, security forces have to clear the area for security reasons,” he said.

Zaw Htay said he believed the people were staying on the border to “trap” Myanmar into conducting a “clearance operation,” which he said media and the United Nations would label as ethnic cleansing.

Bangladesh last week protested to Myanmar’s ambassador in Dhaka after Myanmar security personnel, estimated to number more than 200, gathered near the border.

“Troop movements so close to them are making things even worse,” said Major Iqbal Ahmed of Bangladesh’s border guard. “They are now even more reluctant to go back to their homeland.”

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Indonesia Says it Blocks Services on Blogging Site Tumblr over Pornography

Posted: 06 Mar 2018 09:03 PM PST

JAKARTA — Indonesia has blocked microblogging site Tumblr after complaints about pornographic content on hundreds of accounts, the communications ministry said on Tuesday.

The world’s most populous Muslim-majority country has stepped up efforts to police online content after a rise in hoax stories and hate speech, and because of anti-pornography laws pushed by Islamic parties.

The ministry sent an email to Tumblr on Feb. 28 asking it to “clean its platform” of pornographic content within two days, Noor Iza, a spokesman for the ministry, said in a text message.

It then blocked eight Tumblr domain names on Monday after he said it had not received a response.

Indonesia has tough anti-pornography laws and the ministry said it had received complaints about pornographic contents on more than 360 accounts.

Tumblr, which is part of Verizon’s Oath business, which also includes Yahoo and AOL, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

According to the site’s community guidelines, any sexual or adult-oriented content should be flagged as “Not Suitable for Work” to warn users of the material.

Indonesia blocked more than 70,000 sites displaying “negative” content such as pornography or militant ideology in January with a system using 44 computer servers to help purge the internet of material deemed harmful, the communications minister said in an interview last month.

Authorities also threatened last year to block Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp Messenger, which is widely used in the country, unless graphics interchange format (GIF) images provided by third parties were removed.

Authorities had blocked access to some channels on encrypted messaging service Telegram last year, saying it had several forums that were “full of radical and terrorist propaganda."

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Malaysia’s Najib Pushes to Outlaw ‘Fake News’ Before Election

Posted: 06 Mar 2018 08:56 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s scandal-haunted government pushed plans for legislation outlawing “fake news” on Monday as Parliament convened for the last time before an election due by August.

During the coming election campaign, Najib’s foes are expected to fan suspicions of corruption over billions of dollars that have gone missing from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the state fund founded by the prime minister, and whose advisory board he had chaired until mid-2016.

Malaysia’s King, Sultan Muhammad V, told Parliament at the opening sitting on Monday that he “greatly supported” the government’s efforts to introduce a law to deal with “the spread of fake news and lies on social media."

“Currently social media is very influential in forming the values and culture of a society,” the King said in a traditional royal address at the opening of Parliament.

The final draft of the bill is expected to be presented for cabinet approval “in a couple of weeks time” before being tabled in Parliament, state run Bernama news agency quoted Azalina Othman Said, the minister in charge of law and parliament, as saying.

However, Azalina said cabinet will consider if there would be enough time to table the bill in the month-long parliamentary meeting, which would predominantly debate the King’s address.

First exposed in 2015 by foreign media and news blogs, the 1MDB scandal has refused to die down despite Najib’s consistent denials of any wrongdoing and his government’s firm grip on the mainstream media in the country.

At least six countries are investigating transactions related to 1MDB, including the United States, where the Department of Justice has mounted its biggest investigation under an anti-kleptocracy initiative, and has launched civil cases to recover assets linked to the fund.

But the government has cowed independent media inside the country. In the early stages of the 1MDB saga, the authorities suspended one newspaper, The Edge, and blocked other websites for publishing stories critical of Najib’s role, including widely read local news website The Malaysian Insider, which was later closed due to lack of funds.

Governments elsewhere in Southeast Asia, including Singapore and the Philippines, have proposed laws aimed at clamping down on the spread of ‘fake news,' while media rights advocates have decried the trend in the region.

Opposition lawmakers questioned the need for such a law in Malaysia, arguing that the government already had broad powers.

“There are many other laws that are already in existence which can deal with these issues, so the only reason for a new law to come in is to make the severity [of punishments] even higher,” said Tony Pua, a lawmaker from the Democratic Action Party (DAP).

Abdul Rahman Dahlan, minister in charge of economic planning, said the bill could be broad enough to cover anything that could potentially damage the country.

“Even spreading [bad] news about the economy is bad. [Fake news would be] anything that is not substantive, and dangerous to the economy and security of the nation,” Abdul Rahman told Reuters outside Parliament.

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