Monday, July 2, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Govt Investment Body to Share Regulations for Companies Law Soon

Posted: 02 Jul 2018 06:03 AM PDT

YANGON — The Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) said it would release regulations relating to the new Companies Law before it takes effect on Aug. 1 with instructions on electronic registration, company constitutions and capital structures.

"We submitted the regulations to the [government’s] Economic Committee already; the cabinets will review it later," said DICA Director U Myo Min.

After the review, DICA will release the regulations on its website, via state-run media and by other means, he added.

The Companies Law is considered one of the major legislative achievements of the ruling National League for Democracy, replacing and incorporating elements of the 1914 Companies Act and 1950 Special Companies Act. DICA says it will make it easier for foreigners to invest in local companies and make business regulation more efficient and effective.

Once it takes effect, all companies will need to re-register electronically with Myanmar Companies Online within six months, or by Jan. 31.

A partial draft of the regulations says a company must ensure that all forms and documents lodged electronically are also kept as hard copies at its registered office. Copies of passports or other identity documents of those who register a company, and others prescribed by the regulations, will have to be kept with the company, as well.

The draft says registration may be rejected if the company fails to complete forms property, attach required documents, provide required information or pay the requisite fee. And if a company fails to re-register within the six months, it will be struck from the company registry and dissolved. Companies that miss the deadline can get back on the registry, but the fees and procedures for doing so have yet to be announced.

When they re-register, companies and corporations must provide the full name, date of birth, gender, nationality and address of every director and secretary, along with the address of the entity’s registered office.

DICA said a company or corporations that re-registers also has to provide a copy of its constitution, or a statement that it has adopted the model constitution.

"We will provide information of the whole process. Before registration, a company needs to review the model company constitution, decide whether to adopt it and whether to retain the business objectives of the company," U Myo Min said.

The DICA director said companies should also review the directors’ duties and liabilities under the new law and will have to update their lists of directors, members, mortgages and charges.

According to DICA, there are more than 50,000 local companies and 7,000 foreign companies currently registered in Myanmar.

 

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At Long Last, Mon Parties Agree to Merger

Posted: 02 Jul 2018 05:15 AM PDT

Mon State — Two ethnic Mon political parties have agreed to merge ahead of the next general elections after years of resisting calls from many of their constituents to join forces.

The Mon National Party (MNP) and All Mon Regions Democracy Part (AMDP) have agreed to form a single party and even settled on a basic leadership structure, MNP Vice Chairman Nai Soe Myint told The Irrawaddy on Monday.

He said the new party would have a central committee of 100 members and a central executive committee of 44 members, with each constituent party to fill half the seats of each, and that the new party would run in the 2020 poll.

In a joint statement issued June 24, the two parties said their leaders would next meet with their members in their communities to discuss how to all work together to bring the merger about.

They have given themselves until July 21 to come up with a name for the new party before trying to register it with the Union Election Commission.

In the 2015 elections the two parties won a total of only 4 seats in the state legislature, where the National League for Democracy is in the majority.

Some ethnic Mon protested against the two parties after that election for not heeding their calls to merge and asked them again to do so as soon as possible. Their critics added to the pressure by mooting the possibility of forming a third, alternative Mon party.

Nai Tala Nyi, who leads a group that had called for a third party, said he was glad to hear that the MNP and AMDP had finally agreed to merge and that his group would meet with them soon to discuss the plan.

"We will negotiate how to become one party. We will all become one strong political force as one party. It will benefit the Mon," he said.

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AAPP Launches Human Rights Education Program in Mon State High Schools

Posted: 02 Jul 2018 04:45 AM PDT

YANGON — The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) launched a human rights education program for high school students in Mon State on Monday.

During the program, which will be conducted from July 2 to October 7, teenage students from all 127 state high schools of Mon State will be introduced to the history and basics of human rights, respect for differences, the importance of rights and responsibilities, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Ko Aung Myo Kyaw of the AAPP, who is also one of the trainers, said the education program aims to stop human rights abuses experienced in past from being repeated.

"Our country has long faced human rights abuses. By understanding human rights, we hope that students – our future leaders – will protect the rights of others," he said.

AAPP was founded in 2000 by former political prisoners who were jailed for their political activities under the military regime that ruled the country for more than five decades following a coup in 1962.

Ko Aung Myo Kyaw said when the trainers introduced themselves at a school, students asked how [past] human rights violators would be punished.

"This question shocked us. It was unexpected," he said, replying to the students that instead of seeking revenge, the truth needed to be exposed.

Students attending the human rights education program at No. 3 Basic Education High School in Mawlamyine. / AAPP

AAPP began teaching human rights classes in high schools in 2016 in Yangon and Bago. In 2017-18, the group conducted the program in 73 schools and a university in Bago and 27 schools in Shan State's Taunggyi district.

On Monday, about 500 students from No. 6 Basic Education High School in Mawlamyine attended the morning program and 300 students from No. 3 Basic Education High School in Mawlamyine attended the afternoon session at their schools.

The group's goal is to include human rights lessons as a subject in government's educational curriculum.

"We will keep pushing to reach this goal together with lawmakers," he said, adding that until they reach the goal, they will try to continue conducting the program.

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Prosecutors, Defense Make Final Arguments in Reuters Reporters’ Case

Posted: 02 Jul 2018 04:35 AM PDT

YANGON — A court will rule next week on whether to charge two Reuters reporters accused of obtaining secret documents, after prosecutors and defense lawyers delivered final arguments on Monday in the pre-trial phase of the landmark case.

The court in Yangon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, and Wa Lone, 32, should be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act. A conviction under the act carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

At the time of their arrest in December, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in Rakhine State. The killings took place during a military crackdown that UN agencies say led to more than 700,000 Rohingya fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh.

Defense lawyers asked the judge to throw out the case, arguing the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the charges. They said the reporters were arrested in a sting operation by the police that was aimed at blocking their reporting.

"Journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were the victims of an orchestrated scheme by some members of the security forces to trap them and silence truthful reporting. Their six-month imprisonment is an ongoing miscarriage of justice that violates Myanmar's stated commitment to the rule of law," defense lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told judge Ye Lwin.

The defense lawyer said the prosecution has neither established how the alleged documents had come into the reporters' possession, nor showed how they posed a threat to national security.

It also did not name the "enemy" the reporters were allegedly aiming to support, Khin Maung Zaw said. The information in the documents had already been made public and therefore was not secret, he said.

Burned Notes

Lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung urged the judge to charge the reporters. He said the documents found on them pertained to the movement of the security forces, while those found on their mobile phones ranged from confidential to top secret.

"The information in the documents could be used to attack Myanmar security forces and the reporters knew it better than other people," Kyaw Min Aung said.

He also argued the prosecution did not have to prove the reporters aimed to harm national security and that it could be inferred from the fact that they possessed secret documents.

Judge Ye Lwin said he would announce his ruling at the next hearing, on July 9.

"At this critical juncture, we hope that the court will decline to charge Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo and order their prompt release," said Reuters president and editor-in-chief Stephen Adler in a statement.

"Freedom of the press is essential in any democracy, and to charge Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo under these circumstances, without any proof of their having done anything unlawful, would seriously undermine Myanmar's constitutional guarantee of free speech."

Kyaw Min Aung, the prosecutor, declined comment after the hearing.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay has declined to comment throughout the proceedings, saying the courts are independent and the case will be conducted according to the law.

Throughout Monday's hearing, Kyaw Soe Oo's 2-year-old daughter kept grabbing her father's collar as he hugged and kissed her. Pan Ei Mon, Wa Lone's wife who is expecting their first child, sat closely behind him during the proceedings and held his arm.

December Arrests

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.

"The reporters' unintentional, momentary possession of papers, wrongfully planted on them by police as part of an orchestrated trap, and without any knowledge of their contents, cannot be a basis for criminal charges under the Official Secrets Act," defense lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told the court.

In April, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing testified that a senior officer had ordered his subordinates to plant secret documents on Wa Lone to "trap" the reporter.

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.

Senior police officials have dismissed the testimony as untruthful.

Wa Lone said after the hearing that the prosecution had not been able to show that he and Kyaw Soe Oo had broken the law.

"We believe that the court will make a fair decision for our nation, for law and order, and for justice," he told reporters.

Writers, press freedom and human rights activists around the world have rallied on behalf of the imprisoned reporters, with the United Nations and several Western countries calling for their release.

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Tatmadaw Objects to Discussion of Ethnic Rights at Peace Conference

Posted: 02 Jul 2018 02:24 AM PDT

YANGON — The third session of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference scheduled to be held from July 11 to 16 will not discuss the rights of ethnic minorities due to the objection of the Tatmadaw.

Ethnic signatories of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) proposed during the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) meeting in Naypyitaw on Friday the discussion of the rights of ethnic minorities and gender equality at the third session, but the Tatmadaw, or Myanmar Army, only agreed to discuss the topic of gender equality.

"The Tatmadaw says that citizens' rights cover ethnic rights. But ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) insist that there must be ethnic rights and minority rights. The two sides could not reach an agreement," said Dr. Tu Ja, the chairman of the Kachin Democracy Party and a member of the secretarial board of the UPDJC.

"Rather than the Tatmadaw raising an objection to discussion of the topic, it argued over the terminology of the topic," said U Sai Kyaw Nyunt of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, who participated in the meeting.

"The Tatmadaw said that ethnic minorities are covered as citizens. So, we halted discussing this. We will be able to talk about other things although we still could not discuss federalism, which is an important issue," he said.

The preliminary political talks prior to the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference were held from June 25 to 28 in order to identify basic principles for the discussion of five topics—politics, the economy, social affairs, the environment and farmland, and security—at the peace conference.

The talks failed to reach an agreement over the basic principles and discussion will continue at the work committees of the UPDJC from July 4 to 6.

"We were not able to reach an agreement in some sectors. But I think we will be able to work out an agreement if we discuss it further," said Dr. Salai Lian Hmung Sakhong, vice chairman of the Chin National Front.

Ethnic groups will continue demanding self-determination until they obtain it, said Salai Lian Hmung Sakhong in his address to the UPDJC meeting. Citing Gen Aung San's promise in the historic Panglong Agreement, he said "the right to secede" is a right of the ethnic groups.

Eight ethnic armed groups have signed the NCA with the belief that they would achieve democracy, national equality and self-determination by signing the agreement. But whenever ethnic leaders press for those three demands, the peace talk reaches an impasse, he said.

Tatmadaw leaders are not happy with Salai Lian Hmung Sakhong's comments, said U Sai Kyaw Nyunt, who is also a member of the secretarial board of the UPDJC.

"But this is the reality if we can't hold talks regarding those demands," he said.

The UPDJC will also invite all of the ethnic armed groups that have not yet signed the NCA as well as family members of ethnic signatories to the 1947 Panglong Agreement to the peace conference, he said.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Yangon Hospital Officials Say Vendors Out of Control, Will be Removed

Posted: 02 Jul 2018 02:14 AM PDT

YANGON — Officials at the Yangon People’s Hospital, the largest public hospital in Myanmar, say hawkers and vendors are posing serious problems to their operations and would be removed in line with a regional security and sanitation plan.

They claim that the peddlers have disobeyed their instructions for some time and that the situation has gotten worse recently with hawkers and vendors acting in blatant defiance of the rules.

"They don't even make way for ambulances and emergency vehicles now, so the situation has gotten worse," Dr. Thein Myint, who heads the hospital’s gastrointestinal department, told reporters on Saturday.

Hospital officials have given permission to only 70 vendors to sell their goods inside the hospital compound, but more than 100 are selling there without permission and causing a nuisance, he said.

The vendors and hawkers sell tobacco and betel quid even though it is banned by the hospital. Some also squat on the hospital grounds, drink alcohol in public and fight with each other, Dr. Thein Myint said.

And although food vendors are only allowed to sell pre-cooked items, many of them do their cooking in the compound and even wander the inpatient wards to make a sale. Female doctors and hospital staff have also reported sexual harassment by male vendors.

Dr. Thein Myint said the litter the hawkers and vendors leave behind was also causing problems and that they have been warned repeatedly to clean up after themselves but to no avail.

"We can't give hawkers space. We'll design a plan to remove them, but I don't know exactly how long it will take," said Dr. Khin Maung Gyi, an assistant director of the hospital.

"If they sold with discipline, it would affect no one and we would not have to take action against them," he said.

According to hospital officials, the hospital receives approximately 1,800 inpatients and about 1,500 outpatients daily and has more than 1,000 staff.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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ASEAN’s Role in the US Indo-Pacific Strategy

Posted: 01 Jul 2018 11:39 PM PDT

Ever since US President Donald Trump announced the Indo-Pacific strategy at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting in November, 2017, in Danang, Vietnam, the leaders from the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have been anxiously trying to figure out what it really means and to understand the possible long-term regional implications.

Eight months have elapsed and the US has not yet come out with detailed strategic and operational plans, except for some outlines. The US State Department views the Indo-Pacific strategy in an all-encompassing way, which includes security, economic, and social aspects. The Defense Department's version, however, puts more emphasis on strategic matters. Both share key commonalities of an ideal Indo-Pacific region that must be free from any coercion, open for free and competitive trade, and abide by rules of law and universal principles. Emphasis is also placed by both on commercial governance as well as high-quality investment in infrastructure and connectivity.

In his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in June 2018 in Singapore, Defense Secretary General James Mattis highlighted four pivotal elements of this strategy. First, it has to do with the maritime commons, which requires capacity and capabilities building in naval and law enforcement. It is aimed at improving monitoring and projection of maritime borders and interests within the region. Second, it is about expanding interoperability and establishing a network of allies and partners working together to increase mutual trust between militaries and economies. Third, it aims at strengthening the rule of law, civil society and transparent governance, promoting sustainable economic development. Finally, it foresees an increasing role of the private sector in promoting development and finance institutions to be "better, more responsive partners." Transfer of knowledge and technology with end-to-end solutions would also be front and center to this approach without abandoning economic sovereignty of recipient nations.

The essence of US Indo-Pacific strategy has been aptly summarized by General Mattis, who called it a subset of the US broader security strategy: "Make no mistake: America is in the Indo-Pacific to stay. This is our priority theater," he declared. Indeed, the Pacific Command, which oversees security stretching both the Indian and Pacific Oceans, has changed its name to the Indo-Pacific Command. During the informal meeting with ASEAN defense minister on the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue, Gen Mattis praised the group's consensus-making process, which aims to avoid confrontation. He reiterated that ASEAN centrality remains vital to the success of the Indo-Pacific strategy.

Over the past months, Australia, Japan, and India, which are democratic allies of the United States, have also put forward their visions of Indo-Pacific strategy. They comprise similar features to the US concept, emphasizing an international rules-based order and norms, transparency, governance, maritime security, and infrastructure. Furthermore, they also pinpointed ASEAN centrality as a driving force for forging closer cooperation in the region.

However, Japan and India also have broadened the Indo-Pacific's geographic footprints to include not only the two oceans — Indian and Pacific — but also the two continents of Asia and Africa. Obviously, as major Asian economies, they would like to connect the Asian continent and business opportunities with Africa, which has enjoyed impressive growth over the past two decades.

As ASEAN has been accorded a higher profile by major powers, the 10 member-states are also under constant pressure to respond to their clarion calls and prove their mettle. Given the rapid shifts of the regional and international environment, ASEAN has to be more proactive and adopt forward-looking positions on key transnational issues such as the North Korean nuclear crisis, extremism, and cyber security. Most importantly, it must ensure that no one nation should be allowed to dominate the region. This appeal comes at the time when ASEAN is building up its regional security architecture, reliance on its existing security mechanism, and security partnerships.

For the time being, only three countries — Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam — have expressed their individual opinions about the perceived role of ASEAN in the overall Indo-Pacific scheme. Obviously, as the group's biggest economy, Indonesia has been the leading voice on the Indo-Pacific concept. In 2013, former foreign minister Marty Natalegawa proposed that ASEAN and its dialogue partners commit to peacebuilding and the non-use of force to further prevent conflicts in the region, but received lukewarm support. However, the government under President Joko Widodo has decided to revive the idea again after Trump's announcement of Indo-Pacific strategy with a new emphasis that rebranded Indonesia as a maritime power.

To ensure continuity, Jakarta is working closely with Thailand, the upcoming chair of ASEAN. Bangkok will coordinate all ASEAN positions and prepare a report for the members next year. At the 32nd ASEAN summit, the leaders discussed the Indo-Pacific concept but did not come up with any position. In the chairman's statement, it simply said that ASEAN looked forward to further discussing the new concept.

Granted the lack of details from Washington, ASEAN senior officials quickly filled the gap. They have already discussed and exchanged notes on points of convergence that need to be included in the ASEAN Indo-Pacific version. These are some of the elements: free and open, rules-based, complementary, ASEAN-led mechanism, ASEAN centrality, connectivity, infrastructure, inclusiveness, and not involving a third party.

Meanwhile, the Washington-based ASEAN diplomats have been informed by the US State Department that the details of US Indo-Pacific strategy would soon be available. President Donald Trump is scheduled to take part in the 13th East Asian Summit in early November in Singapore. He expects to outline the contour of the Indo-Pacific strategy himself.

Despite President Trump's decisions to revoke several of the international commitments and cooperative frameworks of his predecessor Barack Obama, including the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), he has maintained existing programs and activities related to US-ASEAN bilateral cooperation. With continued strong bipartisan support, Trump's Indo-Pacific strategy will be value-added to further strengthening the US interoperability and networks of security partners in the region.

All in all, it is incumbent on ASEAN to reach out to the United States, Japan, India, and Australia to ascertain that all proposed elements are synergized and most importantly, that the emerging broader strategy would place ASEAN in the center.

This article has been republished from the Asia Pacific Bulletin produced by the East-West Center.

Kavi Chongkittavorn is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Security and International Studies, Chulalongkorn University. He can be contacted at Chongkik@eastwestcenter.org.

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Searching for Missing Boys, Thai Divers Grope Way Through Flooded Cave

Posted: 01 Jul 2018 09:39 PM PDT

CHIANG RAI, Thailand — Thai navy divers had still to navigate their way through three km (nearly 2 miles) of dark, flooded cave passages on Sunday to reach the spot rescuers believe would give 12 missing boys and their soccer coach a better chance of survival.

Eight days into the search, there has still been no contact with the boys, aged between 11 to 16, or their 25-year-old coach since they went off after soccer practice to explore the vast Tham Luang cave complex in Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Rai.

With the boys’ way out blocked by flood waters from the heavy rains, rescuers are hoping that they made it through to an elevated rock mound in one of the underground chambers far under the mountain. Cavers have nicknamed the potential safety spot “Pattaya Beach” after one of Thailand’s best-known tourist destinations.

Rear Admiral Apakorn Yuukongkaew, commander of Thailand’s elite navy SEAL unit said divers had reached ‘chamber three’, having been driven back by rising floodwaters when they reached the same point earlier in the week. “From chamber three to the intersection and then onto Pattaya Beach, this area is all flooded and dark,” Apakorn told reporters. “It’s about 3 kilometers from chamber 3 to Pattaya Beach.”

The race to save the boys has dominated news bulletins, gripping the nation, and relatives of the missing children have kept up a long vigil at the mouth of the cave.

Dr. Somsak Akkasilp, director-general of the Medical Services Department, said the group’s survival depended on whether they found fresh drinking water, but he was concerned about the risk of infection from unclean water, or contact with some animal inside the cave.

“They should be okay without food for eight days,” he said.

Rescue teams have also been scouring thick jungle on the mountainside for alternative routes into the cave.

Helicopters were seen flying over the cave complex on Sunday morning dropping supplies to police and other rescue teams that camped there overnight.

On Saturday, members of a police search team were lowered down a 50-meter shaft drilled from the surface to the cave, but it was unclear what progress they had made.

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Red Cross Chief Says Myanmar Not Ready for Rohingya Returns

Posted: 01 Jul 2018 09:15 PM PDT

CHAKMARKUL REFUGEE CAMP, Bangladesh — Conditions in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State are not ready yet for the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled a military crackdown, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Sunday after a visit to the region.

Myanmar has said it is ready to take back the more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees who have fled Bangladesh since last August, and has set up two reception centers and what it says is a temporary camp near the border in Rakhine to receive the first arrivals.

But Red Cross President Peter Maurer said he did not believe returns should start any time soon based on what he saw during his visit.

“I think there is still a lot of work to do till large-scale repatriation is a realistic possibility," Maurer said.

“Much more has to happen in terms of reception structure, preparations, also preparation of the communities to receive again those who came [to Bangladesh] from Myanmar.”

Maurer’s comments, made at the refugee camps on Bangladesh's southeastern coast, followed his visit to Myanmar, where he said he saw abandoned villages and destroyed houses.

The Myanmar government spokesman was not immediately available for comment on Maurer’s remarks.

The exodus of Rohingya came after militant attacks on Myanmar security posts triggered a military offensive that the United Nations has called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”

Myanmar has denied the allegations and stated it waged a legitimate counter-insurgency operation.

Red Cross has become the main provider of humanitarian aid to Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State since the United Nations had to suspend its operations there in September, following government accusations that its agency had supported Rohingya insurgents.

Rohingya who have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar have reported mass killings, arson and rape by security forces there. The country does not recognize the Rohingya as an indigenous ethnic group and denies them citizenship.

The United Nations struck an outline deal with Myanmar at the end of May aimed at eventually allowing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims sheltering in Bangladesh to return safely and by choice.

But Rohingya will have no explicit guarantees of citizenship or freedom of movement in Myanmar, according to details of the agreement Reuters reported on Friday.

Many Rohingya living at the refugee camps in Bangladesh have said they will not return until Myanmar recognizes them as citizens and their safety is guaranteed.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay and Social Welfare Minister Win Myat Aye did not answer multiple phone calls seeking comment about the agreement. The director of the Ministry of Labor, Immigration, and Population said he was not authorized to comment and directed inquiries to the permanent secretary, who did not answer the phone.

Maurer said he met senior government officials in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw, to seek approvals to scale up the Red Cross operations in Rakhine State.

He said he was satisfied with the cooperation from the security forces as well as the government to reach people in need at the present moment.

The office of Myanmar’s leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, said the meetings were on “humanitarian assistance and helping the affected communities to create independent sources of income.”

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Thailand’s Political Tough-Guy Back in the Fray to Support Military as Vote Nears

Posted: 01 Jul 2018 09:08 PM PDT

BANGKOK — The last time most Thais saw politician Suthep Thaugsuban was in 2015 when he entered the Buddhist monkhood and announced his retirement after spearheading protests that culminated in a military coup against a government he detested.

The military, after taking power, clamped a tight lid on politics, and the rivalry between the military-royalist establishment and new upstart political forces that had roiled the country for a decade was stifled.

But now a long-promised general election is on the horizon – due sometime between February and May – and old animosities are stirring and veteran political brawler Suthep, 68, is back.

Suthep, a one-time deputy prime minister in a pro-establishment government, has said he will contest the election under the banner of a new party he set up to sustain the work of the military government and to campaign for its leader, Prayuth Chan-ocha, to be prime minister of a civilian administration.

The return of Suthep, who has a record of mobilizing crowds on the streets in support of the establishment, could be a big asset for the military, which has made no secret of its aim to retain a grip over politics after the election.

The military and Suthep have common cause in their burning desire to rid the country of the influence of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his family, whose supporters have been biding their time and pinning their hopes on the election.

Suthep makes no secret of his support for former army chief Prayuth and his wish to see him return as prime minister after the vote, but says he must defer to his new party, the Action Coalition for Thailand, which has yet to spell out its position.

“He’s a good guy, not corrupt, determined, and he has the trust of his people and is loyal to the monarchy,” Suthep told Reuters in a recent interview.

“So I cheer him on, the more he can succeed, the better for the country,” Suthep said, while adding he had no desire to take on any leadership role in a new government.

Suthep, for years known as a pugnacious dealmaker, has been a central figure in well over a decade of turmoil that began in 2000, when former telecommunications tycoon Thaksin became prime minister for the first time.

Thaksin fired up support in the provinces with pro-poor policies, and shook up politics with his brash, election-winning ways.

In the process, he made enemies in the Bangkok-based, military-dominated establishment, which accused him of corruption and buying election victories.

Suthep, a former shrimp and palm-oil magnate from Thailand’s south, served as deputy prime minister in a pro-establishment government after Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup, and which oversaw a bloody crackdown on Thaksin’s “red-shirt” supporters occupying Bangkok streets in 2010.

Suthep expects his party’s support to come from Thaksin’s main enemies, the Bangkok middle class, and he’s keen to see that the party sets an example with transparent funding and the inclusion of women, to bolster that support.

"Leaders Gone"

Suthep lead protests against a government formed in 2011 by Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, rallying pro-establishment crowds who tried to march on the government’s offices to shut it down.

The turmoil eventually triggered the coup by then army chief Prayuth. Suthep and his allies celebrated the fall of another government loyal to their enemy, Thaksin.

Suthep said he expected Thaksin’s party to see its support whittled down in its northern and northeastern heartlands in the next election, though the Shinawatras still commanded a significant block of votes.

But the people were slowly seeing the truth about them, he said.

“All their leaders are gone,” Suthep said of the voters who have loyally stuck with Thaksin’s parties.

“People can see that the brother and sister have fled, deserting those that served them, who are in jail, from cabinet ministers to ordinary folk,” he said.

Thaksin has been living in exile since 2008 to avoid a graft conviction he said was politically motivated. Yingluck fled from the country last August during a criminal negligence trial that eventually sentenced her to five years in jail.

She also denied wrongdoing.

Suthep praised the military government for overseeing the introduction of a constitution that critics say enshrines the military’s sway over civilian governments.

But he said the military government had not completed its work and he wanted his party to ensure the country would stay on the course the military had set, with no sliding back to what he described as the dangerous old ways.

A political rival said Suthep was making a fatal mistake by nailing his colors to the military’s mast.

“This will be Suthep’s last role,” said Nattawut Saikua, a deputy prime minister in Yingluck’s cabinet, who, like Suthep, is known as a fiery orator, though for the opposite side in Thailand’s drawn-out political battle.

“Politicians who walk away from the democratic system and stand with a dictator have never been able to come back or be accepted by the people.”

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Myanmar Court to Hear Arguments on Charging Jailed Reuters Reporters

Posted: 01 Jul 2018 09:00 PM PDT

YANGON — Prosecutors and defense lawyers will present arguments on Monday whether two Reuters reporters accused of obtaining secret documents in Myanmar should be charged, after the six-month pre-trial phase of the landmark case ended last month.

After hearing the arguments, the court in Yangon will rule on 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.

The decision is likely later in July, legal experts say.

The pre-trial hearings, which began in January, finished last month. The two reporters have been denied bail and have been held in Yangon’s Insein jail since being arrested in December.

Defense lawyers Khin Maung Zaw and Than Zaw Aung filed a petition in April asking district judge Ye Lwin to dismiss the case, arguing there was insufficient evidence to support charges of obtaining secret government papers. The judge rejected the motion.

Throughout, the defense has said the prosecution has failed to establish how the alleged documents had come into the reporters’ possession.

“In the law, in the Official Secrets Act, it is said that these documents, those official secret documents, must be obtained,” Khin Maung Zaw said in a June 18 hearing. “They cannot prove that they were obtained.”

The defense has also said prosecution failed to show how the reporters posed a threat to national security or name the “enemy” they were allegedly aiming to support. In addition, they have argued that the information included in the documents had already been made public and therefore was not secret.

During previous hearings, one of the police witnesses told the court he had burned his notes made at the time of the arrests. A civilian witness had the location where police say the arrests was made – which emerged as a key point of contention during the proceedings – written on his hand.

Lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung, arguing in April against the dismissal of the case, said the documents the reporters had in their possession were secret and that the court could assume they intended to harm the security of the country.

In his ruling at the time, Judge Ye Lwin said there was “a proper reason” for the accusations against the two reporters and therefore “they should not be released.”

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay has declined to comment throughout the proceedings, saying Myanmar courts were independent and the case will be conducted according to the law.

December Arrests

At the time of their arrest in December, 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 UN agencies say sent more than 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.

In April, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing testified that a senior officer had ordered his subordinates to plant secret documents on Wa Lone to “trap” the reporter.

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.

Senior police officials have dismissed the testimony as untruthful.

Writers, press freedom and human rights activists around the world have rallied on behalf of the imprisoned reporters, with the United Nations and several Western countries calling for their release.

The post Myanmar Court to Hear Arguments on Charging Jailed Reuters Reporters appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘The Govt and Military Should Be United Against Sanctions’

Posted: 29 Jun 2018 09:52 PM PDT

Ye Ni: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! Recently, the EU has imposed sanctions on seven high-ranking officials of the Myanmar Army. Political analyst Dr. Aung Myo will join me for the discussion. I'm The Irrawaddy Burmese editor Ye Ni.

The EU has imposed sanctions against seven high-ranking officials of the Myanmar Army including commander of the Western Command Major-General Maung Maung Soe, commander of the Bureau of Special Operations Lieutenant-General Aung Kyaw Zaw, and commanders of divisions 33 and 99 regarding the Rohingya issue in northern Rakhine State.  Soon after the EU's imposition of sanctions, the Tatmadaw announced that it had sacked Lt-Gen Aung Kyaw Zaw and Maj-Gen Maung Maung Soe. What is your assessment of those developments?

Aung Myo: Some of the actions [of the army] went beyond the limits. That's why sanctions were imposed. But their actions are somewhat understandable. If somebody else were in their shoes, the same thing could have happened. The EU doesn't know what happened exactly. The mob attacked [police] outposts with swords, spears, sticks, mines and arms. It is the procedure of the military to conduct clearance operations in the villages where attackers came from. But the attackers were not wearing uniforms and it was very difficult to differentiate [between attackers and civilians].

As hundreds of people came and attacked the outposts, it is understandable that the military might think all of them are insurgents. Therefore, the Tatmadaw conducted intensive clearance operations for five days and then they stopped. Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing ordered them to stop to avoid going too far. Clearance operations were an inevitable consequence.  And it is difficult for them to explain what happened.  They had to do their military duties. So, we can only blame fate for them being sanctioned. If I were in their shoes, the same thing would have happened no matter how much I heed human rights. I do think it was the right move for the Tatmadaw to sack those officials though to show that it does not accept human rights violations.

YN: In his address on Armed Forces Day, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing said that action would be taken against anyone who violated the Rules of Engagement (RoE). Then, subsequent actions followed. Despite the Tatmadaw's dismissal of the officials, international pressures are still growing—there is the possible prosecution by the ICC (International Criminal Court) and sanctions by the United States and EU. It is likely that international pressures will keep growing. There are reports that the Tatmadaw has threatened to stage a coup because it is not satisfied with the measures of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government to reduce those pressures. A journalist named Larry Jagan wrote this in the Bangkok Post. What is your assessment of the tense civil-military relations?

AM: Citing the [2008] Constitution, people say that the civilian government has no influence over the Tatmadaw. This is not true. According to the Constitution, the president can order military actions in coordination with the National Defense and Security Council. But neither the president nor the military can order a war with a foreign country. They need the approval of Parliament to wage a war. The Constitution does not deny the government's intervention in military affairs. But the Tatmadaw has some degree of power. One of the provisions says that the Tatmadaw shall assist [the government] as necessary in the case of a threat to the country.

The international community regards Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a champion of human rights. And she is the de facto leader of the government. These two roles are contrary. The roles of statesman and human rights activist can't stand together. She must choose one decisively. Lately, [NLD senior member Monywa U Aung Shin] said that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would not defend [human rights] violators.  She should not say that publicly, only privately. Her statement will be understood as she will not take responsibility. By saying so, she has taken the perspective of a human rights activist, not a statesman.

If she understood the actions of the military and cooperated from the perspective of a statesman, [we would be able to overcome] sanctions. I don't like sanctions. Both the people and the government suffer from sanctions. But when sanctions are imposed, the two siblings [the government and the military] should face them with unity. The army does not want to seize power. Everyone knows the trouble of holding power. But the army has a limit in its relationship with the civilian government. We don't want that limit to be reached. If the army has to seize power because that limit is reached, it can tell the international community that it will hold a free and fair election in 2019 or 2020; and that it will form an interim government for the time being, and support that government from behind. Then, there will not be such much pressure from the international community. It will not seize power like the Revolutionary Council did. It will not seize power like it did in 1988. Everyone has limits. The army also has limits. I don't want that limit to be reached because the Tatmadaw does not want to seize power; it knows the trouble of seizing power.

YN: Now, sanctions have been imposed. It is likely that the ICC will open a case against Myanmar. Bangladesh is cooperating with the ICC. The ICC has asked Myanmar to respond to its request. What further steps do you think the ICC will take and how can we respond?

AM: We have not made any agreement with the ICC. Our country is not a member. So, we can neglect this. For example, [the international community] said that it is impossible that [the Rohingya] burned their homes and villages. In fact, when they decided to leave this country or when they thought they could no longer live in this country, it was impossible for them to take their homes along with them. They could only take their clothes and belongings. So, why should they leave their homes for those who they hate? They would burn them down. It is the scorched-earth policy. Russia exercised it when Napoleon attacked. Even the British destroyed oil fields in our country so that Japan could not use them. They practiced a scorched-earth policy. [The Rohingya] may have also practiced it.

I am not sure if they did. But it doesn't matter what evidence is provided; the ICC can give a verdict in absentia to blame the government. The nature of a court is that the longer we refuse to respond, the faster the court reaches a verdict. No matter what verdict it gives, the most important thing is for Myanmar to overcome international sanctions. Ours is not a military junta but a democratic government. Things are different from those of the past. Why can't we attract foreign direct investment? Some individuals came to invest in Myanmar even during the time of the military junta. The main problem is that we ourselves have tightened our rules and regulations. The trade policies of the junta were no different from self-imposed sanctions. However, it was able to survive. Why can't we now? Our local banking system, the government and the current finance minister have never thought of using public savings as an investment. We can respond to sanctions in various ways. We don't need to worry about them. We can neglect the ICC.

YN: You said you would neglect the ICC but the proceedings of the court will continue. As a result, negative media coverage will persist and the country will continue to earn a bad name. Therefore, it will be very difficult to get loans required for the reconstruction of the country and tourists will not come to Myanmar. We need to break such a cycle. How can the military and the government cooperate to overcome this?

AM: What the government can do is form an independent commission as proposed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. There is a foreigner on the commission. The military and others have been criticizing the formation of the commission. In my opinion, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is right in forming the commission. Findings of the commission will be accepted by the international community only when there is a foreigner on it. We need to make sure the world accepts the findings of the commission. The military should exercise caution and restraint from now own.

I read a slogan in the Tatmadaw Newsletter that said: "Respond to enemies like fire, like the sun." I can’t remember the wording exactly but we need to change our attitude. Leadership in the military should also remember this, and they need to treat enemies who surrender accordingly. If it is difficult to distinguish someone whether he is a member of armed organization or a civilian, we must treat him accordingly. Care should be taken in such situations as it is difficult. Currently, we have failed to do so. In the past, our country was isolated and did not possess information technology. Now it has become clear that whatever we do will be known by the world immediately and we can no longer do as we like. Therefore, military laws and ROE should be widely taught to officers and other ranks in the army. We can understand what happened [in Rakhine State].

As Rakhine people were being attacked and killed, security forces responded with force when their outposts also came under attack. I can understand that. Everyone would be like that in such a situation. Therefore, I never look down and condemn the officers against whom action was taken. They were in a very difficult situation. Those positions – commanders of infantry divisions and regional commands left vacant by them – will be filled by others. Nobody knows if they will face the same situation. Therefore, both the government and the army should have sympathy and understanding for them. If the military has already shown them understanding, the government should commiserate with them. I want the military and the government to be united and share what they have with each other no matter what problems arise. It would be better for the country.

YN: Thanks for your contributions!

The post 'The Govt and Military Should Be United Against Sanctions' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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