The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Burmese Army Accused of Torture as Kachin Conflict Enters Fourth Year
- Mergui Archipelago’s Kadan Island Slated for $4m Resort
- Growing Opium Makes Economic Sense for Kayan Farmers
- Cleaning Up Rangoon’s Streets for World Environment Day
- Telenor Blocked Facebook Access for Thai Junta: Report
- US Ambassador Concerned About Death Threats to Burmese Activists
- TNLA Kills Burma Army Major and 2 Soldiers
- Gap to Be 1st US Retailer to Enter Burmese Market
- China Talks Trade, Economic Potential on Visit to New India Government
- Thai Junta Security Forces Stay in Barracks as Protests Dwindle
- Scenic Pa-O Region Sets Hopes on Tourist Visits
- Govts Must Support Survivors of Sexual Violence
- The Search for a Buddha without Borders
| Burmese Army Accused of Torture as Kachin Conflict Enters Fourth Year Posted: 09 Jun 2014 06:08 AM PDT  An activist holds markers for people to sign a T-shirt at an event to mark the third anniversary of the Kachin conflict in Rangoon on Monday. (Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's military is responsible for "systematically" torturing ethnic Kachin civilians in what may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, a human rights group said on Monday, the three-year anniversary of renewed fighting between the Burmese Army and Kachin rebels in northern Burma. Bangkok-based Fortify Rights said such practices are ongoing in Kachin and northern Shan states, where fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burmese Army has flared on and off since June 9, 2011. In a 71-page report, the rights group said civilians suspected of having ties to the KIA were targeted by the army, police and military intelligence officers. The report, titled "I Thought They Would Kill Me," describes a variety of torture tactics employed, including beatings, sensory deprivation, and forcing victims to dig what they were told would be their own graves. Others were allegedly sexually assaulted, burned or forced to lick their own blood off the ground after being beaten, according to the report. "The authorities have tortured Kachin civilians with brutal and inhuman tactics, and those responsible for these crimes have acted with complete impunity for three years," Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, was quoted as saying in a press release. "The government must fulfill its duty to put a stop to these serious crimes and ensure accountability for abuses." Fortify Rights said the report was based on 78 interviews with victims of torture and their family members, witnesses, aid workers and KIA officials, from June 2011 to April 2014. The group said it collected evidence that more than 60 civilians were tortured over the period. Torture tactics were frequently tinged with an element of ethnic or religious discrimination against the majority-Christian Kachin, the report said, adding that several victims told of threats made to destroy the Kachin ethnic identity. The report said that while it had uncovered no use of torture tactics by the KIA, Fortify Rights "shares concerns expressed by UN officials and others regarding allegations of the KIA's ongoing use of child soldiers, forced labor, and antipersonnel landmines." The report's release on Monday coincided with the three-year anniversary of a breakdown in the ceasefire between the KIA and the government. More than 100,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since then, with casualties unknown but estimated in the thousands. The KIA remains one of two major ethnic armed groups in Burma that does not have a ceasefire with the government, despite several rounds of peace talks since fighting broke out three years ago. Also on Monday, the Kachin Women's Association Thailand said in a statement that recent fighting—which the group claimed was motivated by a Burmese Army campaign to secure economic gains in the region—"throw[s] strong doubt on the government's sincerity towards the peace process." The association added that at least 70 instances of sexual violence had been documented since 2011, with half of those victims killed as a result. "We deplore these continuing incidents of rape, and urge that the issue of military sexual violence be addressed as a matter of priority during peace negotiations," the association said. Fifty-five organizations worldwide, including Fortify Rights, on Monday issued a nine-point call for action, urging both sides in the conflict to cease hostilities, ensure access for humanitarian aid groups and grant women a voice in peace talks. Over the weekend, activists around Burma gathered to commemorate the grim three-year milestone, calling on the Burmese military to drop its guns. "If the army wants peace, [they] should not be fighting up until today. Looking back at the three years of battles, the ethnic army [KIA] has never initiated fighting with the Burmese Army. It is the Burmese Army that has occupied the ethnic army's posts one by one," Khon Ja, an activist with the Kachin Peace Network, told The Irrawaddy on Saturday. In April, presidential spokesman Ye Htut rejected such characterizations, telling The Irrawaddy that "the Tatmadaw [military] only fights to defend itself, and they have been instructed not to attack first." Events to mark the third anniversary were held in Rangoon beginning on Saturday. Youth groups in the former capital held signs reading "stop civil war now" amid the singing of songs urging peace, traditional dance performances and testimonies from civilians affected by the conflict. The anniversary was also marked in Mandalay and Myitkyina, the Kachin State capital, where activists marched 10 miles from the city center to Jaw Pone mountain. Kachin exile communities in countries including Malaysia, the United States, Japan and Australia also planned events. "Even though the president [Thein Sein] gave an order to stop the war in Kachin, the war is still happening, probably because the commander-in-chief has given the order [to fight]," Phyu Ei Thein, an aid worker who has been fundraising for displaced Kachin civilians over the past two and a half years, said in Rangoon. She added that soldiers on both sides did not necessarily want to fight, citing stories of Burmese Army and KIA soldiers communicating on friendly terms across the jungle streams that sometimes serve as battle lines. Despite those accounts, Phyu Ei Thein said a far less fraternal dynamic was beginning to set in at the camps for internally displaced people (IDPs), some of whom have been without a permanent home since 2011. "All we can do is to urge them [the IDPs] not to nurture so much hatred toward the Burmese," she said, pointing out that two of the Burman Buddhist-dominated military's largest offensives coincided with the Christmas and Easter holidays. Ja Seng Pan, a Kachin woman who was involved in a performance on Saturday in Rangoon, said her participation was an expression of solidarity. "We couldn't help the IDPs financially, but we want to encourage them by showing our support," she said. With additional reporting from Nyein Nyein. The post Burmese Army Accused of Torture as Kachin Conflict Enters Fourth Year appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Mergui Archipelago’s Kadan Island Slated for $4m Resort Posted: 09 Jun 2014 03:14 AM PDT  A Google Maps screenshot shows Kadan Island (red marker) off the coast of mainland Burma's Tenasserim Division. (Photo: Google Maps) RANGOON — The Myeik Public Corporation plans to invest US$4 million in a resort on Kadan Island in the Mergui Archipelago next year, according to Kyaw Myo Paing, the manager of the firm. The company, which earlier this year disclosed that it would spearhead four new tourism projects in the largely untouched Mergui Archipelago, said this week that it was revising those plans. The first project, at Kadan, will break ground in March of next year, Kyaw Myo Paing told The Irrawaddy on Monday. Under its initial proposal, the Myeik Public Corporation was eyeing four islands—Khuntee (or Gabuza) Island, Eastern Sula Island, Langan Island and Tanintharyi Island—but the firm has since shifted its gaze toward Kadan, the archipelago's largest island. Kadan lies some 15 miles west of Myeik, a coastal town on the Burmese mainland that serves as the region's commercial hub. "Our latest plan is to start our project on Kadan Island. The local authority is now checking the details of our plan. We do expect they will allow us to build a resort on Kadan Island first," he said. He added that a second development was slated for Khuntee Island, as originally planned, and a third at Saw Mon Hla Island. The plan will see hotels, houses, golf courses and shops built on the three islands, which are largely deserted at present but could be ready to take in tourists by 2018. "We'll invest US$4 million just for Kadan Island, because it's the nearest island from Myeik, only a 45-minute boat ride there," Kyaw Myo Paing said, adding that the project was expected to take four years to complete. "We expect that many foreign tourists will come to relax in this area through Maw Daung [a border trading station with Thailand] in Tanintharyi [Tenasserim] Division," he said. Maw Daung is expected to be fully operational within the year, and some trading activities are already taking place on the Burma side of the border. The Mergui Archipelago consists of more than 800 islands across an area of 10,000 square miles in Burma's far south. While currently difficult and expensive to visit, the area, also known as the Myeik Archipelago, is tipped to become a major tourist destination as Burma welcomes more foreign tourist arrivals. The archipelago is listed as a priority area for development under a Tourism Master Plan put out by the government last year. Aung Myat Kyaw, the chairman of the Union of Myanmar Travel Association and an adviser to Burma's Tourism Marketing Committee, said he agreed that after the Maw Daung border station was operational, the archipelago was likely to see more tourists, especially divers traveling from neighboring Thailand. "Mostly, visitors go there through Ranong [Thailand]. There needs to be a better transportation system in place in that area, because if visitors go there via Rangoon, it takes time and a lot of money. A better transport system is needed—for example, regular flights there," he said. The post Mergui Archipelago's Kadan Island Slated for $4m Resort appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Growing Opium Makes Economic Sense for Kayan Farmers Posted: 09 Jun 2014 02:29 AM PDT  Raw opium on sale at a public market in Loi Wine village, Pekhon Township. (Photo: Kayan New Generation Youth) PEKHON TOWNSHIP, Shan State — During the dry season, ethnic Kayan people in Loi Wine village have access to water for crops thanks to a nearby irrigation dam. Letters posted in the village by local authorities order them that this water must be used to grow vegetables, rather than illegal opium poppies. But to locals here in the remote far south of Shan State, opium is just another crop, and one that makes them about 10 times more cash than licit produce. Risking the censure of authorities, they cultivate and harvest opium poppies in farmland away from main roads. The poppies are normally processed into heroin—either by farmers here or elsewhere—which is exported to international markets or feeds into the growing drug problems of Burma's ethnic border states. "I earned 3 million kyat [more than US$3,000] from growing opium this summer," declares Taung Chang, a Kayan farmer aged about 50. "Usually, I would only earn 300,000 kyat if I grew corn." During a visit last week, most of the opium in the village had been replaced with other crops for the rainy season, although some continue to grow opium, despite the unfavorable conditions. This village alone produces about 2 tons of opium a season, which all together would be worth more than $300,000, based on the current local price of 600,000 kyat (about $600) for 1 viss—a Burmese measurement equivalent to 1.63 kilograms. The price of land in Loi Wine village has gone up as space here has in recent years become sought after for the opium trade. Aung Ba, 35, another local farmer, said an acre of land now costs more than 2 million kyat ($2,000). "All of this area was recognized forest and belonged to no one before. But some people set up a village and they built houses and took ownership of the land, and that land has become valuable as they can grow opium," said Aung Ba. Despite the high price on offer, no one was keen to sell their land, he said. However, some other local farmers say the risks involved with growing opium are not worth taking. Aung Ba said that, in particular, opium poppies—which require more investment to plant than other crops—were vulnerable to being washed away by rains. "The location of the land where we grow it is very important. It is better to grow it on the flat land at the bottom of the mountain," said Aung Ba, adding that this location left the crop at risk of flooding. But, here and elsewhere in Burma, farmers are increasingly opting to plant poppies. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that about 58,000 hectares of the country was planted with opium last year, more than double the 24,000 hectares of poppy planted in 2006. A report published by the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute last week called for policy reform to address the underlying causes that leave farmers with few options but to plant poppies. The report said that bans on growing opium enforced by ethnic armed groups in more eastern parts of Shan State, like the Wa and Kokang rebels, had simply pushed production to areas with weaker law enforcement, like southern Shan State. "The opium bans did at first contribute to a decline in poppy cultivation in the region, but this also had the effect of pushing up the price of raw opium as well as its derivative, heroin," the Transnational Institute report said. "At the same time, the main incentive for communities to cultivate opium—poverty—had not been addressed. This in turn created the conditions for an increase in poppy cultivation, as there was no drop in the demand for opiates from the Golden Triangle, and probably even an increase over the same period." According to Kayan New Generation Youth, an NGO based in the Karenni State capital of Loikaw, 40 percent of Kayan, who are also known as Padaung, grow opium. The group's chairman, Bedu, said that drug addiction is a widespread problem in local communities, and many people end up in prison. "If we look at the lives of [the Kayan] generally, they are fine as they have some good businesses," said Bedu. "But, in my neighborhood, one guy in a family is addicted to drugs. Another guy from another family was detained and put in prison." The names of farmers interviewed for this story have been changed. The post Growing Opium Makes Economic Sense for Kayan Farmers appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Cleaning Up Rangoon’s Streets for World Environment Day Posted: 09 Jun 2014 02:21 AM PDT  200 volunteers hit the streets of Rangoon on Sunday to collect garbage as part of several activities to mark World Environment Day. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — More than 200 young volunteers hit the streets of Rangoon on Sunday to collect garbage around the former capital of Burma, as part of several activities to mark World Environment Day, which was held on June 4. The campaign was joined by young people from more than 20 environmental groups and civil society networks, who collected rubbish scattered along the streets of downtown Rangoon and delivered pamphlets to raise environmental awareness. Meanwhile, in the northern part of the city, members of Rangoon's Free Funeral Service Society also celebrated Environment Day by collecting garbage in North Dagon Township and placing garbage bins for local residents to use for disposal of household garbage. The post Cleaning Up Rangoon's Streets for World Environment Day appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Telenor Blocked Facebook Access for Thai Junta: Report Posted: 09 Jun 2014 12:11 AM PDT  Anti-coup protesters gather in Bangkok's Chatuchak district. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Norwegian firm Telenor, which operates the second-largest telecom network in Thailand and is building a network in Burma, said it had temporarily blocked access to Facebook last month on orders of the Thai military, Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reports. Tor Odland, head of communications at Telenor Asia, told the paper that Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission held a meeting with the country's major internet service providers following the May 22 coup. On May 28, Telenor-owned firm DTAC received instructions from the commission to block access to Facebook in Thailand for an hour in a measure that could potentially impact 10 million users, Odland was quoted as saying. Odland told Aftenposten that the firm "laments" the measure. He said Telenor had been put in a difficult situation by the demands of the military as it has to comply with its duties as a telecom license holder, while it also seeks to respect the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. A US campaign group called Access reportedly said that the measure had violated the Thai people's access to information and freedom of expression. The Bangkok Post previously reported that the Thai junta shut down more than 200 websites in the days following the coup in a bid to block access to information and clamp down on dissent. The military said it would also "ask cooperation" from Facebook and other social media for censorship measures. Telenor and Qatar's Ooredoo were awarded two lucrative licenses in Burma last year that allow the firms to operate mobile phone services and develop telecommunications infrastructure. Internet and mobile phone usage is expanding rapidly in Burma, which has an underdeveloped telecom sector after decades of isolation and mismanagement under the former military regime. Facebook is hugely popular in the country and increasingly being used for activism and political campaigning. Internet and mobile phone access, and social media are likely to play an influential role in next year's elections, which are supposed to be the country's first and free vote in decades. The post Telenor Blocked Facebook Access for Thai Junta: Report appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| US Ambassador Concerned About Death Threats to Burmese Activists Posted: 08 Jun 2014 11:32 PM PDT  US Ambassador to Burma Derek Mitchell talks to reporters at a news conference at Rangoon International Airport in 2011, when he had recently been appointed as a US special envoy to the country. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — The US ambassador to Burma has raised concerns over reports that women activists who publicly opposed a controversially interfaith marriage law have been threatened with violence. "It has been reported in several newspapers that women speaking up in opposition to proposed legislation affecting women's rights are receiving death threats and being called traitors. I have talked personally to some of these women," Derek Mitchell said Saturday in Rangoon. "Threats of violence to suppress speech and peaceful dissent are unconscionable and dangerous for the health of this nascent democracy, and should not be tolerated. Anyone favoring a new civil society of openness and dialogue should be standing up for these women, denouncing these threats, and not only protecting but encouraging the free expression of ideas and opinions without fear." The ambassador was speaking during a ceremony to announce that US retail company Gap will produce clothing in Burma and will partner with the NGO Care International to provide technical and educational training to female garment workers. At least four Burmese activists have been targeted by violent threats after listing their contact information in early May on a public statement backed by nearly 100 civil society groups that objected to the interfaith marriage bill. The bill calls for Buddhist women to receive permission from parents and local authorities before marrying a man of another faith, who would be forced to convert to Buddhism. Opponents have criticized the proposed legislation as undemocratic and discriminatory. Some say it prevents women from making their own choices, while others believe it is intended specifically to prevent conversions to Islam. Since signing the statement, four activists—Aung Myo Min of Equality Myanmar, Zin Mar Aung of the Rainfall Gender Study Group, May Sabe Phyu of the Gender Equality Network and Khon Ja of the Kachin Peace Network—say they have been harassed by anonymous phone callers and online messengers. One activist was forced to change her phone number after her original digits were posted on a Facebook page advertising prostitutes. The interfaith marriage bill is part of a package of proposed legislation to "protect race and religion." The package, promoted by a group of nationalist monks, also includes bills to ban polygamy, enact population control measures and restrict religious conversion. Khon Ja said some she has faced death threats since adding her phone number to the public statement in early May. Zin Mar Aung, founder of the Rainfall Gender Study Group, said she had received obscene messages on Viber, a phone application. She said one Viber group has been created with the name, "We will kill those who destroy the race." The post US Ambassador Concerned About Death Threats to Burmese Activists appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| TNLA Kills Burma Army Major and 2 Soldiers Posted: 08 Jun 2014 10:05 PM PDT  A TNLA soldier holds an improvised rocket-propelled grenade launcher during a patrol in the mountains of northern Shan State. (Photo: Kyaw Kha / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) said they were behind the killing of a Burmese battalion commander and two soldiers during an ambush on a vehicle in Kut Khaing Township, northern Shan State, last week. Ta Pan La, a deputy information officer from the TNLA, said the ethnic Palaung rebel group launched an attack on June 4 in Ta Moe Nye sub-township on a car carrying Maj. Kyaw Htin Aung, acting battalion commander of the Kut Khaing-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 241, and two soldiers. "Their car was destroyed by our heavy weapons attack. All officers inside the car were killed on the spot. As far as we know, all three people died," Tan Pa La told The Irrawaddy. An officer from the Burma Army's Northern Command confirmed the death of the 36-year-old major and said the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and TNLA had collaborated during the ambush. The officer declined to be named. The post TNLA Kills Burma Army Major and 2 Soldiers appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Gap to Be 1st US Retailer to Enter Burmese Market Posted: 08 Jun 2014 08:50 PM PDT  A Gap location in San Jose, California (Photo: Wikipedia) RANGOON — Gap Inc. has announced plans to produce clothing in Burma, the first American retailer to enter the market since the Southeast Asian country began its transition to democracy three years ago. Two factories in the commercial capital, Rangoon, are reportedly producing vests and jackets for the company's Old Navy and Banana Republic brands. They will be ready for sale in the US by this summer, according to a statement released Saturday by the US Embassy. While Asian nations have long had a strong presence in Burma, it's only in the last few years that companies from North America and Europe have started returning, thanks to the easing of sanctions imposed on the country during its half-century of military rule. There are plenty of obstacles in Burma, including electricity shortages and poor roads. But a cheap and abundant—though poorly trained—labor force makes the country especially attractive to retailers. "This is a historic moment for Myanmar," Wilma Wallace, a Gap vice president, said at a ceremony attended by the US ambassador. "By entering Myanmar, we hope to help accelerate economic and social growth in the country, and build on our track record of improving working conditions and building local capacity in garment factories around the world." Gap—which will produce its garments at factories owned by a South Korean company—told The Myanmar Times that the plant would produce vests and jackets for Old Navy and Banana Republic. The size of the investment was not announced, but the English-language newspaper said it had agreed to hire an additional 700 employees at one of the factories, bringing the total number of workers to around 2,000 at each site. Gap said in a statement that it was working with US Agency for International Development, CARE International and its PACE program to launch activities focused on technical and skills training for female workers. The post Gap to Be 1st US Retailer to Enter Burmese Market appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| China Talks Trade, Economic Potential on Visit to New India Government Posted: 08 Jun 2014 08:46 PM PDT  Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi , left, shakes hands with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj before their meeting in New Delhi on June 8, 2014. (Photo: Reuters/Adnan Abidi) NEW DELHI — China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi promised on Sunday to help India’s economic development and emphasized that the two countries see eye-to-eye of most issues, playing down difference over a trade deficit and a festering border dispute. Wang was visiting India as a special envoy of China’s president on a two-day trip designed to show Beijing’s interest in improving cooperation between the world’s two most populated nations on issues including regional security. The trip came two weeks after India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a resounding majority in a general election on promises of reviving a flagging economy. "China stands by your side throughout your efforts of reform and development," Wang told the Hindu newspaper. "No country can choose its neighbor, but friendship may be fostered," he said, calling for innovative solutions to resolve the two country's vastly differing perception of where large stretches of their shared Himalayan border lies. Modi is seeking to strengthen India's armed forces and economy, in part to enable him to react more decisively in foreign relations than his predecessor, the mild-mannered Manmohan Singh. Wang met his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on Sunday for talks that lasted more than three hours, the first high-level meeting between the two countries since Modi assumed office. "Both leaders felt that there was tremendous untapped potential for the growth of economic ties," Syed Akbaruddin, spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, told a media briefing following the talks. Akbaruddin said China and India are looking to have at least six more visits at ministerial level or above this year, a significant intensification of bilateral meetings. China dealt India a humiliating defeat in a short border war in 1962, an event that has cast a shadow over relations ever since, with occasional flare ups along disputed patches of the border to this day. India runs a US$40 billion trade deficit with China, and when Modi meets Wang on Monday he is expected to renew India’s demands for greater market access to reduce that gap. China's own embrace of an export-led model has helped its economy outgrow India's fourfold since 1980. At the meeting on Sunday, Swaraj and Wang raised the possibility of China investing in industrial parks in India, a move that could help rebalance trade. 'Deception' The foreign minister's trip was met with small street protests in New Delhi by Tibetan exiles who called on Modi to challenge Wang about ongoing repression in the restive Chinese region that shares deep cultural ties with India. Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama last week angered Beijing by praying for the "martyrs" of the Tiananmen Square massacre by Chinese forces 25 years ago. He called on China to embrace democracy. Lobsang Sangay, the political leader of Tibetans in exile also stirred things up by reviving a campaign to bring about a government in Tibet with more autonomy. Wang's trip is a precursor to an expected visit to India by Xi Jinping later this year, on Modi's invitation. Since assuming power on May 26, Modi, from the nationalistic Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has moved quickly to assert India with neighboring countries. He invited regional leaders including the prime minister of traditional rival Pakistan to his inauguration. But despite the bonhomie, many of Modi’s allies have a hawkish view of China, arguing that overtures by India’s largest neighbor should not be taken at face value. "Diplomacy, for them, is an art of deception," wrote Ram Madhav, a senior leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a hardline Hindu nationalist organization that has close ties to the BJP. Most government ministers, including Modi, are long-term activists in the RSS and its offshoots. "The Modi government should realize that the real foreign policy challenge comes not from Pakistan but from China," he said in a column in the Indian Express newspaper on Sunday. Modi’s national security advisor, Ajit Doval, a daring former spy chief, also harbors doubts about China’s motives, writing a series of papers in recent years alleging that Chinese agents have provided money and arms to insurgent groups in India's remote and troubled northeast. Both the RSS and Doval are seen as sympathetic to the cause of autonomy in Tibet. Wang is due to meet Doval on Monday. The post China Talks Trade, Economic Potential on Visit to New India Government appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Thai Junta Security Forces Stay in Barracks as Protests Dwindle Posted: 08 Jun 2014 08:42 PM PDT  Police officers stand guard at a shopping mall in Bangkok on June 8, 2014. (Photo: Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha) BANGKOK — Thailand's junta kept many of the thousands of troops and police it readied to deal with protests in Bangkok on Sunday off the streets as the number of people making a public show of dissent to the May 22 coup dwindled. The military has cracked down hard on pro-democracy dissidents and supporters since it ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra last month, seeking to mute criticism and nip protests in the bud. A heavy security force presence at potential flashpoints in Thailand's largest cities has limited protesters to small gatherings, which are often coordinated through social media and mostly located around shopping malls. On Sunday, few protests took place and the security presence was lighter. Half a dozen women outside a mall gave the three-fingered salute that has become a symbol of defiance to the coup. Protesters posted photographs on social media of small groups at Bangkok's main international airport making the same salute, which was inspired by the film "The Hunger Games." Police detained four protesters, deputy national police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said. Since the coup, authorities have forced detainees to sign statements declaring they will desist from political activity as a condition of release. "Those four people will be brought to the army camp to tune their political attitude later," Somyot told Reuters. "We did not use the full capacity of the forces. The protest was peaceful and it has ended now." The force on Sunday ready for deployment numbered more than 6,000, Somyot said. Army chief and coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha had instructed security forces to avoid confrontation, he said. Police would photograph protesters, identify them and issue arrest warrants later. The military coup in May was the latest convulsion in a decade-long conflict between the Bangkok-based royalist establishment and the rural-based supporters of Yingluck and her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and has lived in self-exile since a 2008 corruption conviction, won the loyalty of the rural poor with populist policies and was the real power behind the deposed government of his sister. Yingluck was prime minister until May 7, when a court found her guilty of abuse of power and she stepped down. The army toppled the remnants of her government on May 22, saying it needed to restore order after six months of sometimes violent anti-government protests that had brought the economy to the brink of recession. Thailand has been without a properly functioning government since December, when Yingluck dissolved Parliament and called a February election in a bid to end anti-government protests. But protesters disrupted the vote, the election was annulled, and her caretaker government limped on until Prayuth seized power. Coup Leader Heads Investment Board The military has moved swiftly to revive the economy, and has given itself two months to clear a backlog of applications from local and foreign investors to spend more than US$21 billion on projects in Thailand. The backlog arose because Yingluck’s caretaker government lacked the power to appoint a new team to run the Board of Investment to replace executives whose term ended in October. Prayuth on Saturday declared himself the head of the body considering the investment applications, a position typically held by the prime minister. Quick approval would bring longer-term stimulus to the economy and follow the payment of billions of dollars in subsidy arrears to rice farmers that has already lifted consumer sentiment. The military's move to pay debts to farmers quickly after seizing power contributed to the first rise in consumer sentiment in 14 months in May. Political turmoil had sunk consumer confidence to a 12-month low in April. The junta is reviewing infrastructure projects planned by the previous government but delayed during the protests and will press ahead with some. Among those under review are several In the face of international condemnation of the coup, Prayuth has asked for patience for at least a year while the military engineers reforms that he says the country needs before democracy can be reinstated. Andrew Marshall and Amy Lefevre contributed reporting. The post Thai Junta Security Forces Stay in Barracks as Protests Dwindle appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Scenic Pa-O Region Sets Hopes on Tourist Visits Posted: 08 Jun 2014 06:00 PM PDT  Ethnic Pa-O in traditional dress walk in a valley near Mae Nae mountain in Ho-pong Township, Shan State. Click on the box below to see more photos. (Photo: Kyaw Hsu Mon / The Irrawaddy) HO-PONG TOWNSHIP — Mae Nae mountain, or Indigo mountain in English, is named after the predominantly Pa-O ethnic villagers that inhabit its slopes. Their traditional dress consists of indigo-colored trousers and shirt, topped with a bright colored turban, often red or orange. The area in the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone is located south of Lashio and some 40 miles north of Ho-Pong Township. The gentle rolling hills in the remote area in central Shan State give way to lush valleys dotted with Pa-O villages, as well as ethnic Danu, Lisu and Shan settlements. Once an area of ethnic conflict and extensive opium cultivation, the verdant Mae Nae mountain and its surroundings are much quieter these days. "This area was unsafe before the PNO and the government had a ceasefire agreement, and many opium farms boomed in this area. But now almost all are destroyed and residents moved to cultivate other crops," said Moe Si Thu, a liaison officer of Pa-O National Organization (PNO) chairman Khun San Lwin, who administers the zone. The PNO signed a ceasefire agreement with Burma's then-military government in 1991 and were granted limited power to administer a zone in the heart of Shan State, which is home to some 400,000 Pa-O, as well as other ethnic minority groups. The PNO renewed their ceasefire with Naypyidaw in 2012, and is allowed to keep several hundred armed fighters under its command. Mae Nae mountain is surrounded by fertile valleys where farmers grow mostly cheroot leaf, along with avocado, onion, sesame and other crops. Ensconced by farms and patches of mountainside pine forest, the 100-year-old Nant Hoke Monastery is the spiritual center for the Buddhist Pa-O and Palaung in the region. Located in Kyauk Chayar village, the 200-feet wooden space is supported by 125 wooden pillars, and inside monks and villagers come to worship at the feet of large, old wooden Buddha statues covered with gold leaf. The PNO's Mae Nae area administrator Khun Aung Kyaw, who like other PNO members carries a weapon on his hip, said he hoped that the area's scenic beauty and the presence of the beautiful old monastery could soon begin to attract foreign tourists. "This old monastery has one of the only monastery schools in this region, it's very old and it's interesting to learn how this region developed its own culture," he said, adding that around 3,000 people lived in his area. Moe Si Thu said, "The Pa-O region chairman U Khun San Lwin expects to develop this region for tourism, he wants to promote this region as a tourist destination next year. That's why he is trying to construct roads through the Mae Nae range." These days the area remains difficult to reach and a recent trip to Mae Nae range on the Taunggyi-Tachileik road through central Shan State revealed a poor road network, with bumpy and winding roads. Armed PNO troops could be seen patrolling along the road. Any foreign visitors to the area would also have to seek travel permission from the Pa-O Self-Administered zone head office. Khun Aung Kyaw believes, however, that such restrictions and the presence of PNO soldiers should not prevent any foreign tourist from visiting—rather he thinks that a lack of tourist facilities will deter overseas travelers from coming to Mae Nae. "We know that we need to build up hotels, guest houses and public toilets in this region when visitors come. So I hope that will be improved soon," he said. The post Scenic Pa-O Region Sets Hopes on Tourist Visits appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Govts Must Support Survivors of Sexual Violence Posted: 08 Jun 2014 05:30 PM PDT  The logo for the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, hosted in London this week. (Photo: British Embassy in Rangoon) Throughout the world, the use of sexual violence in war is one of the great injustices of our lifetime. It is hard to document, let alone investigate. Perpetrators do not discriminate, because it's not about sex, but violence, terror, power and control. When rape is committed during conflict, it has often been seen as an inevitable part of war, and so it has been allowed to go unpunished. But even war has rules. So just as the world could agree that land mines have no place on the battlefield, the world must agree to end sexual violence in conflict. In London between June 10-13, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague and UN special envoy Angelina Jolie will co-host the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. Representatives of governments, civil society, the military and the judiciary will all take part. So too will the public. Events will also take place around the world, including in Rangoon. It will be a summit like no other, because sexual violence is a crime like no other. Women and men are made to suffer its horrors in conflicts around the world, and shocking as it may seem, many victims are very young girls and boys. Sexual violence carries a corrosive after-effect that lasts a lifetime: an unjust and destructive shame for the victims and their families.  Andrew Patrick is the British ambassador to Burma. (Photo: British Embassy in Rangoon) But we firmly believe that this can—and must—change. The appalling truth is that only a tiny number of perpetrators of these crimes have ever been brought to trial, let alone convicted. That is why at the summit we will launch the first international Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict. The Protocol will help investigators preserve information and evidence in the aftermath of an attack, improve the changes of someone being successfully prosecuted later, and protect victims and survivors from further trauma. At the summit this week, we want governments to announce their support for the Protocol and to encourage local activists, lawyers, police personnel and doctors to use it. We also want governments to make sure their national laws on rape and sexual violence are in line with international standards, so that there's a great chance of securing successful prosecutions for war crimes in their own courts. The summit will also look at the role that the military in each of our countries can play. When sexual violence occurs in conflict zones, soldiers are often the first people on the scene, but are not always properly equipped or trained to deal with this sensitive problem. This needs to change. And armies are often responsible for carrying out these abhorrent acts. This must stop. Finally, we hope the governments of the world's wealthiest nations will announce new funding support, including to local grass-roots organizations which often work at the heart of the most affected communities. But government action alone is not enough. We need every family and community to change the culture that stigmatizes survivors and to be united in their abhorrence for these crimes, so that any man with a gun will think twice before ordering or committing rape. Will you add your voice to the global call for decisive action? Show your support by visiting www.facebook.com/fcoburma. It is time to support survivors, shatter the culture of impunity and ensure that justice is done, both now and in the future. It is #TimeToAct. Andrew Patrick is the British ambassador to Burma. The post Govts Must Support Survivors of Sexual Violence appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| The Search for a Buddha without Borders Posted: 08 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT  A pillar erected by the great Buddhist emperor Ashoka (304-232 BCE) stands among ancient ruins in Tilaurakot, Nepal, where Prince Siddhartha Gautama is believed to have lived until he set off on his journey to become the Buddha. (Photo: Wikimedia) KATHMANDU — The first sign I had that the "Buddha was born in Nepal" controversy was taking a serious turn was when I saw an ID card, modeled after the Nepali citizenship card, which listed "Gautama Buddha" as a citizen. This image was floated on Facebook and had received thousands of "likes" by the time I saw it. As a cosmopolitan Nepali, this card discomfited me. Surely, I thought, Buddha is a transcendental figure that cannot be located in space and time, and everyone has the right to claim him as their own. The modern parochial politics of national boundaries, I thought, wasn’t fit for the Buddha. So I commented that neither the contemporary nation state of Nepal, nor India, existed 2,600 years ago. The historic prince Siddhartha Gautama was born in Lumbini, which now falls within the contemporary nation state of Nepal. But then he went over to Varanasi, where almost all truth-seekers of his day and age went, and then he became enlightened in Bodh Gaya, and then he gave his first teachings at Sarnath. So both Nepal, as land of birth, and India, as land of education, had claims to the historic Buddha, I said. This argument didn’t impress the Nepalis, who tend to be an impassioned crowd about these matters. It occurred to me that "Buddha was born in Nepal" issue was getting heated, and acrimonious. What, I wondered, was triggering this controversy? And on a recent visit to modern Kapilvastu—a poor, broken-down regional urban center of Nepal—I had the chance to find out. I hired a Bolero (a jeep made in India) to take us around. The woman guiding me was of a Dalit (formerly known as "untouchable") caste, and she took me to some of the poorest and most marginalized villages in the district. Child marriage, exorbitant dowries, expensive weddings that bankrupted parents, child rapes, bribery, corruption and police collusion—all of this was apparent in the district. There was almost nothing to indicate we were in the birthplace of one of the world's greatest historic figures. Except for the name of our hotel, which proclaimed itself to be the "Gautama Buddha Party Hotel," there was almost nothing in the town to tell the casual visitor they were in the heartland of Buddhist history. That week, we visited several sites. One was Kodan, where the Buddha’s father came to see him after he returned after his enlightenment. The modest structure, shaped like a mound, was made of ornate bricks. It reminded me of ancient Ayutthaya in Thailand. In Gotihawa we saw the remains of a long pillar—which an Italian archeological team has identified as being one of "Ashoka's pillars." The next day we visited Tilaurakot. A poorly written signboard put up by the Nepali government identified the site as "ancient Kapilvastu." Tilaurakot is thought to be—despite various murky academic controversies involving competing site Pipprahawa in neighboring India—the main archaeological site of King Suddhodhana’s palace. We entered the fenced site. Inside, a few low brick structures could be seen. They were the foundations of the complex. Tilaurakot is overgrown with weeds. I enjoyed myself looking at the mango trees and a hospitable dog that decided to accompany us on our journey—the scenery, I felt, couldn’t be that different from what Prince Siddhartha saw during his day. We toured through the entire site, including a pond at the back, overgrown with lotuses. At the back of the site, a board identified a gate as the one through which Siddhartha was thought to have left the kingdom in search of enlightenment. For a brief moment, as I stood there and looked out at the fields, with the sound of the wind rushing through the crops, I could feel the same sense of longing for liberation that Prince Siddhartha must have felt, stifled in the small and cloistered world of his day. On our last day, our wonderful Dalit activist said she'd take us across the Indian border. I had to see what the Indian government was up to, she said. Not only does the Indian government teach in its schoolbooks that Buddha was born in India, but they even use these schoolbooks in the Modern Indian School in Kathmandu, she said indignantly. In addition, the Indian government runs a pilgrimage tour of four major Buddhist pilgrimage sites, and they take groups of Nepalis and keep them at Piprihawa, which is across the border from Kapilvastu, Nepal. This is an outrage, said another man in our team. "Why so?" I asked. "They take all the foreign tourists across the border and tell them that this is Kapilvastu!" the man said. "They don’t tell them that the real site is in Nepal! And they also earn heaps of foreign exchange from doing this!" Here was a chance to explore the fault-lines of the controversy. I seized the opportunity and said that we must go. Across the Indian border, all is quiet. The border has been closed for three days for the Indian elections. "Look!" my guide says, pointing excitedly. "They’ve even put a sign saying Kapilvastu!" And indeed a big sign saying "Kapilvastu" comes into view. The site has a brick wall around it, flowering with pink bougainvillea. A few men are resting below trees. The site is very clean and well kept. A board containing detailed information, placed by the Indian government, says that this is Piprahawa, Kapilvastu. The mound is excavated further down, unlike Tilaurakot which lies buried underground, and much of it is visible to the naked eye. In the blistering heat, we walk around the mound, and admire the institutional gardens. Only after I return to Kathmandu and read up on the archeological history, which goes back to the nineteenth century, do I realize that Piprahawa's claims are charged with murky intrigue, including a bone-faking art trader called Dr Alois Anton Führer, who was engaged in a trade in fake relics. Archaeologist K.M. Srivastava of India claimed Piprahawa was the site where the Buddha's ashes were delivered to his Sakya clan, but archeologists and historians past and present seem uncertain about his claims. According to some observers, the fortified grandeur of Tilaurakot, along with the abundance of pottery, toys, beads and other signs of human settlement, were not found in the stupa site in Piprahawa. Tilaurakot is surrounded by the remains of palaces and settlements which litter Nepal's Kapilvastu district, whereas Piprahawa is quite a distance off, standing alone on the edge of this larger, denser settlement. The academic debates rage on, with the Indian government steering pilgrims towards alternate sites in India with tourist dollars in mind. The most recent controversy was a scholar in Orissa claiming Buddha was born in Orissa, on the grounds that Pali was spoken in Orissa, but never in Nepal. It occurs to me the discontent of my Nepali friends seems to stem from the economic inequality between the two countries. The Nepali government, mired in bitter political fights and weakened by kleptocratic bureaucrats, hasn't been able to afford the basic care such an important historical site needs. On our last day in modern Kapilvastu, we zip by Lumbini on our way to the Bhairahawa airport. We can see cyclists going by, carrying various colorful flags of all countries for Buddha Jayanti, Buddha's birthday. Lumbini, needless to say, falls on Nepal’s side of the border. I would have liked to have stopped and met a nun friend of mine, but we have no time. In a way, I am glad to avoid what looks like a politicized event. It occurs to me then that Lumbini is hours away from Tilaurakot, where King Suddhodhana had his palace. Queen Mayadevi must have been in the last stages of her pregnancy when she departed for her parents' house in Devdaha. Her pains must have been intense when she stopped in Lumbini to give birth to Prince Siddhartha. Why would people send off a heavily pregnant woman in the draining May heat on a long journey to her parents’ house? There is no explanation, 2,600 years later, other than this: Traditions are very strong in this part of the world. If tradition dictated that a woman give birth in her natal home, then she would have to be sent off there, even if it was clear she would lose her life. And that may be the simple reason why Prince Siddhartha lost his mother, filling him with the knowledge of transience from the day of his birth. The loss of a parent is a defining moment. For the young prince, this may have been the moment that propelled him onto a journey that would question tradition and make him find an entirely new path. Sushma Joshi is a writer and filmmaker based in Kathmandu. The post The Search for a Buddha without Borders appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
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