Shan Herald Agency for News

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To Hopeland and Back The 18th voyage (Day 4-5) Posted: 20 Apr 2016 02:56 AM PDT Day Four. Monday, 11 April 2016 Peace is the fruit of love. To grow love requires hard work. It can also bring pain because it implies loss. Jean Vanier (1928-   ) Canadian Catholic philosopher Today we fly back early to Rangoon, and doing so, miss the merit sharing ceremony held at the Shan monastery of Weluwan, for our long and short departed. We arrive early enough in Rangoon to visit friends and discuss current affairs before our departure tomorrow. Here are some of the things I have learned: Sao Kiaomurng Mangrai, 96, former magistrate of Kenytung and a son of Sao Kawn Sao Kherh Hserh Kiao Inthaleng, the 40th ruling prince of Kengtung (1896-1935), passed away yesterday in England. His kids were all schoolmates (three of them classmates) with me Another is Sao Kherh Hserh, 90, whose pamphlets had been one of the driving forces of the Shan armed resistance in the 50's. He passes away today in Chiangmai's Doi Saket Both Japanese and Chinese diplomats are scrambling over each other to gain support for their respective countries and projects with local political parties (no details here for reasons obvious) Day Five. Tuesday, 12 April 2016 Odd how we focus on studying wars at school to form our education. No wonder we know so little about making and forging peace as adults. Rasheed Ogunlaru (1970-  ), author of Soul Trader This morning I take my son, who's never been to Rangoon, to the Shwe Dagon. The main reason: So he can prove to himself, if not to others, that he's been to Rangoon. As in my visit in 2013, we go through the usual interrogation by the pagoda's gatekeepers whether we have the (standard admission) fee (for foreigners) which is $10. As then, I reply to them with the question in Burmese: What for? And that stops them. The pagoda itself is full of devotees and snoopy visitors. My son, seeing it from a distance, thought at first it's as huge as the Jedi Luang in Chiangmai. But after a walk around it, he changes his mind. "This is a lot bigger," he says. We don't stay long, because, for one thing, my mind can never understand such things, such as visiting the place just to pray and meditate there. Nevertheless, I regard myself a true (but maybe not so good) follower of the Buddha. The other is that we need to get out of the hotel before the water splashings on the Pyay /Prome Road clog up the traffic. Sai Nyunt Lwin aka Sai Nood At 09:00, we are at Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) General Secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin's  home at 9th Mile, which is only a few minutes drive from Mingladon. What he has to tell me, I think, really clears up one of the ambiguities of Daw Suu's position on the non-signatories of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) which was signed by 8 ethnic organization (EAOs) in October. Until now, what we've learned from her is that she won't be dealing with the EAOs that have, for different reasons, refused to sign it. "When I urged her (on 10 March in Naypyitaw) to meet with the non-signatories, she replied without hesitation that she would. 'But only after the handover (of government) is complete,' she said. 'In the meanwhile, I don't want to provide the present government with any excuse for refusing to transfer power." Sai Nyunt Lwin, or Sai Nood to his Shan friends, nevertheless doesn't think this offer of the olive branch from The Lady, following the 30 March handover, is going to come anytime soon. "Not before May," he said. "There's the Thingyan (water splashing) holidays and the need for her and her administration to have time to make themselves at home with their job." Besides she has already declared she would like to change the rules of how the peace game is played. That may take some time too, before the next Union Peace Conference (due May, according to one of the resolutions of the UNFC#1) is to be held. He then drives me to the airport. At 13:15 (Burma Time) we leave for Chiangmai. At 14:45 (Thai Time, which is 30 minutes ahead) we are there.

UNGASS 2016: Watershed event or wasted opportunity? Posted: 19 Apr 2016 07:15 PM PDT The outcome of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) was a disappointing compromise, based on a non-inclusive process and one that fails to reflect the fractured global consensus on drug policy. At about two o'clock in the morning on March 23rd, after tense negotiations in Vienna, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) reached a disappointing compromise. The hard-bargained draft of the outcome document of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs taking place in New York from 19-21 April was adopted by 'consensus'. Although its key features areby no means a surprise the draft is disappointing nonetheless. A statement in the name of some 200 civil society organisations on the opening day of the CND warned that "the UNGASS is now perilously close to representing a serious systemic failure of the UN system … an expensive restatement of previous agreements and conventions". Will the UNGASS 2016 go down in history as another wasted opportunity or have the debates leading to it laid a solid groundwork for systemic changes in the near future? The preparatory process The General Assembly decided at the end of 2014 that the UNGASS "shall have an inclusive preparatory process that includes extensive substantive consultations, allowing organs, entities and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, relevant international and regional organizations, civil society and other relevant stakeholders to fully contribute to the process".[1] The resolution also encouraged "the participation of all Member States and the provision of assistance to the least developed countries in the preparatory work undertaken by the Commission in order to work actively towards the attainment of the objectives and goals of the special session, and invites Member States and other donors to provide extrabudgetary resources for this purpose".[2] After long negotiations in the CND on the modalities for the UNGASS, the decision was made that the CND should "lead this process" while the President of the General Assembly (PGA) was invited "to support, guide and stay involved in the process".[3] In order to "ensure an adequate, inclusive and effective preparatory process" in December 2014 the CND put an "UNGASS Board" in charge of all preparations, including drafting the UNGASS outcome document.[4] The Board, chaired by the Egyptian Ambassador Shamaa, requested inputs from regional groups for the drafting process, a request that was also used by a number of individual countries to submit position papers. Meanwhile, the Secretary General expanded the mandate of the New York based UN System Task Force on Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime, operating under the joint auspices of the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), to coordinate inputs for the UNGASS from all relevant UN entities. UNODC created a special website to collect all those inputs, plus those coming from civil society. In the course of the negotiations, however, most of those other inputs have been ignored and the ungass2016.org web depository, rather than serving as a source of inspiration for the drafting of the outcome document, became a sorry substitute for meaningful participation. In fact, the drafting and negotiations process became a rather obscure process tightly controlled by the UNGASS Board, lacking transparency and drawing much criticism from reform-orientated countries and civil society. The Board initially produced an "elements paper" and later several drafts of the outcome document, which were discussed in multiple informal meetings where countries expressed their views, only to be confronted at the next meeting with a new draft where many critical comments had again not been taken into account. The Board applied a strong filter, not allowing any language to enter the draft text that could complicate its main aim to avoid controversy as much as possible and to reach a political consensus well in advance of the UNGASS. Proposals for new paragraphs that were considered too problematic ended up in a "parking lot" that in the end proved to be the burial ground for any contentious language about new challenges, abolishing the death penalty, harm reduction, or the establishment of an expert advisory group. Political pressure to reach agreement on a draft of the outcome document was very high during the CND session of 14-22 March, where difficult negotiations took place over harm reduction, access to controlled medicines, the death penalty, proportionality of sentences, alternative development, traditional use and indigenous rights, and UN system-wide coherence. When negotiations got stuck, a package had to be bargained in which concessions on certain issues from one side were traded off against concessions from the other side of the drug policy spectrum. In the end that package deal allowed the adoption of a final draft outcome document that has now been "recommended for adoption" at the UNGASS. The adoption will apparently take place immediately after the opening ceremony on the first day out of fear that the fragile consensus could still break apart if its adoption happens only at the end of the three-day session, as would be usual and as scheduled in theprovisional agenda. The "appreciation for the inclusive, transparent and open-ended preparatory process for the special session" expressed in the draft outcome document (§8), is an embarrassing affront to the multiple complaints about how the "UNGASS Board" managed those preparations, coming not only from civil society but also from Caribbean and African countries. The mere fact that the small group of countries dominating the informal negotiations adopted such self-congratulatory language, while being aware of those complaints, is the ultimate proof of the shortcomings and exclusive nature of the preparatory process. The outcome document The final draft of the UNGASS outcome document reaffirms "the goals and objectives of the three international drug control conventions", the commitment to implement the provisions of the 2009 Political Declaration and the determination to "actively promote a society free of drug abuse". It also underscores that the three drug conventions "and other relevant international instruments" (a long-debated nuance) "constitute the cornerstone of the international drug control system". It applauds that "tangible progress has been achieved" and that "persistent, new and evolving challenges ... should be addressed in conformity with the three international drug control conventions, which allow for sufficient flexibility for States parties to design and implement national drug policies according to their priorities and needs".[5] On the positive side, the issue of access to controlled medicines received significant attention for the first time, and some other more minor steps forward have been made with regard to specific references to naloxone and overdose prevention, "medication-assisted therapy programmes" and "injecting equipment programmes". The latter two representing compromise language agreed in the last hours for opioid substitution therapy and needle and syringe programmes, which were already at an earlier stage meant to be substitute language for explicit mention of "harm reduction". Compared to previous declarations, progress has also been made with regard to the mention of "proportional sentencing". A broad group of countries, however, expressed their disappointment at the end over the omission of any reference to abolishing the death penalty. Some progress can also be detected in references to the need to address the socio-economic issues behind not only illicit cultivation but also production and trafficking, and that the focus should be on "alleviating poverty and strengthening the rule of law". Drawing specific attention to the policy objective to counter "drug-related crime and violence" in addition to the traditional target of eliminating drug markets, could even be seen as a first tentative step towards accepting a harm reduction approach to the market as a whole and not just to the consumption side. These were issues that Mexico especially fought hard for during the negotiations. Still, last week, Mexican President Peña Nieto cancelled his scheduled presence at the UNGASS, which could be interpreted as a sign of Mexican dissatisfaction with the outcomes of the negotiations in Vienna. The draft outcome document fails to acknowledge even the existence of many of the key drug-related challenges of the world today, let alone offer any operational recommendations to address them. The text reaffirms the targets of the 2009 Political Declaration, claiming "tangible progress" in the absence of any evidence or clear indicators for measuring that. Meanwhile, illicit drug markets are flourishing and the Panama Papers have demonstrated once again that countering money laundering requires the identification of the ultimate beneficial owners of anonymous shell companies, an issue the UNGASS outcome document avoids, casting doubt on the political commitment to really address the issue. The outcome document includes multiple general references to full respect for human rights in implementing drug control, which is of course positive, but it fails to spell out what that really means and to take into account the recommendations coming from the competent UN agencies with regard to the right to health or indigenous rights. The conclusions that full respect for human rights requires, for example, decriminalization of drug use and respecting indigenous practices with psychoactive plants were easily negotiated away in Vienna. The EU, often claiming a moral high ground on human rights when it comes to issues such as the death penalty, then agrees, without blinking an eye, a common EU position to "maintain a strong and unequivocal commitment to the UN conventions", which require the prohibition of the indigenous practice of coca chewing. Conclusions As Lisa Sánchez of México Unido contra la Delincuencia (MUCD) and member of the Mexican delegation at the negotiations in Vienna wrote in Nexos, "unless a miracle happens the sad conclusion of UNGASS 2016 will surely be that the international drug control system will remain for some more years a paradigmatic case of multilateral immobilism" and the outcomes "will demonstrate the inability of the UN to adapt to the current context and give itself consistency". The elephant in the room during all these months of negotiations has been the issue of cannabis regulation and the fear that it could blow apart the very foundations of the global drug control system. "As a starting point, it is essential that Member States use the UNGASS to reaffirm support for the three UN drug-control conventions", was the first point the U.S. put on the table in its non-paper for UNGASS (June 2015) and any discussion about the treaties was blocked early on in the process. Tensions over cannabis regulations and treaty non-compliance are likely to spread quickly and widely, when several other U.S. states, including California, will follow in November this year. At the national level, after Uruguay, Canada's new government has also pledged to regulate cannabisand, with varying levels of political support, legislative proposals for cannabis regulation are already under consideration in Guatemala, Mexico, Italy and Morocco. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon could still show leadership to "conduct a wide-ranging and open debate that considers all options" by announcing at the UNGASS the formation of an independent expert group to advise on system-wide coherence, SDGs, human rights and treaty tensions in the lead-up to 2019, as has been proposed by Colombia, Uruguay, Ecuador, Jamaica and Panama andmany civil society organisations, including recent endorsements in The Lancet and by theInternational Crisis Group and Amnesty International. According to Alex Wodak, president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, "it's clear now that international consensus is irretrievably broken and the fractures are multiple, deep, severe and irreparable. We can't go back to pretending there is some kind of international agreement." And without doubt, the intensive UNGASS process with its hundreds of events and contributions more than ever before demonstrated and documented the growing doubts and divergence. The outcome document itself may be very disappointing, but the UNGASS process altogether has firmly set the stage for fundamental changes in the years to come. Notes [1] A/RES/69/200, Special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem to be held in 2016, Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 2014, paragraph 6. [2] Ibid, paragraph 9. [3] A/RES/70/181, Special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem to be held in 2016, Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 2015, paragraph 7. [4] E/CN.7/2014/16/Add.1, Decision 57/2, Preparations for the special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem to be held in 2016, Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Report on the reconvened fifty-seventh session (3- 5 December 2014). [5] E/CN.7/2016/L.12/Rev.1, Our joint commitment to effectively addressing and countering the world drug problem, draft outcome document, 22 March 2016. by Martin Jelsma

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The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Burma Celebrates First Pulitzer Prize-Winning Female Journalist
• Thingyan Deaths Double in 2016
• Arakan Army: Clashes With Govt Forces Threaten Peace Prospects
• Avian Flu Strikes Poultry Farms in Sagaing Division
• Traditional Typists Persevere in 21st Century Burma
• Indonesia Takes Step Toward Reckoning with ‘65-66 Atrocities
• Thailand Says Songkran Holiday Road Deaths Rose 21 Percent
• Suu Kyi Vows to Amend Junta-Era Constitution

Burma Celebrates First Pulitzer Prize-Winning Female Journalist Posted: 19 Apr 2016 04:41 AM PDT Esther Htusan, Associated Press journalist and member of Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting team. (Photo: Esther Htusan / Facebook) RANGOON — An ethnic Kachin journalist from the Associated Press (AP) is the first woman from Burma to be among those awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for her reporting. Esther Htusan, 29, is one of four AP journalists who worked on an investigation into severe labor abuses within the Southeast Asian fishing industry, a sector which supplies seafood to supermarkets and restaurants abroad. The team's reporting contributed to the freeing of approximately 2,000 slaves; their work also brought perpetrators of trafficking and enslavement to justice and inspired reforms in the industry. From March until December of 2015, Esther Htusan, Margie Mason, Robin McDowell and Martha Mendoza broke the story of fishing industry atrocities in nine installments. On Monday, it was announced that the series had earned the AP team the award for excellence in journalism in the category of Public Service. Aye Aye Win, a former AP reporter from Burma, said she was very proud of the AP journalists for their service to those who would have otherwise remained trapped at sea. "Their reporting saved fishermen stuck abroad. Their efforts deserve the prize," she said. This is one case, she continued, where "reporting has given not only information, but also liberation." Myint Kyaw, a member of the Myanmar Press Council, said Esther Htusan's involvement in the investigation had an impact on the whole country. "Consequently, those who were forced to work in slave-like conditions were saved, and Burmese citizens also got rescued," he said. The AP team's success "is also beneficial to Myanmar," he added. The post Burma Celebrates First Pulitzer Prize-Winning Female Journalist appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thingyan Deaths Double in 2016 Posted: 19 Apr 2016 01:18 AM PDT Revelers of Burma's Thingyan water festival, April 2016. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The number of deaths during Burma's five-day water festival, Thingyan, has more than doubled since last year, according to the Myanmar Police Force. The announcement on Monday said that a total of 35 people died and another 316 were injured between April 12 and 16, when millions of people across the country welcomed the Burmese New Year with wild street parties, ceremonies and water-throwing. Last year, a total of 16 people died and 356 others were injured because of traffic accidents and crimes that occurred during the Thingyan festivities. Fourteen of the reported deaths in 2016 were due to traffic accidents, while three were victims of murder. The other 18 deaths during the celebratory period were due to various other unnamed causes. Of the 235 people injured in traffic accidents, 73 were considered serious injuries. In Rangoon, however, statistics revealed lower numbers than 2015. There was one death in the commercial capital this year—the result of a murder—and 24 reported injuries, compared to three deaths and 69 injuries last year, Police Major Pyae Zone told The Irrawaddy. He added that the decrease in deaths and injuries this year was "mainly because of fewer traffic accidents in Rangoon compared to 2015." The post Thingyan Deaths Double in 2016 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Arakan Army: Clashes With Govt Forces Threaten Peace Prospects Posted: 19 Apr 2016 12:41 AM PDT Arakan Army soldiers conduct a military exercise in Laiza, Kachin State, where the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is headquartered. (Photo: Thaw Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON – The Burma Army engaged in two ambush attacks against the Arakan Army (AA) during the country's New Year water festival on April 16 in northern Arakan State, according to AA communications officer Khine Thukha. The clashes reportedly occurred in Ponnagyun and Rathedaung townships. Khine Thukha claimed that at least 30 government soldiers were killed or injured in the fighting, but denied that AA had suffered any casualties. The Irrawaddy made contact by phone with residents in Rathedaung Township on April 18, who said that the situation had calmed, but locals in nearby Kyauktaw Township reported the reinforcement of government troops in the area since the clashes. Arakan State residents told The Irrawaddy that they sensed growing tension between ethnic Burmese and Arakanese communities due to what they describe as "hate speech" on social media, including inflammatory written posts and unverified photos depicting violent acts. Before the most recent clashes, Burma's Ministry of Information (MOI) stated on April 13 that government troops would try to remove ''AA insurgencies'' from Arakan State's Kyauktaw Township; military officials also acknowledged in state media that the army had suffered casualties in recent armed clashes with the AA. The AA commemorated its seventh anniversary on April 10 with the armed group's commander-in-chief Tun Myat Naing stating hopes of restarting a political dialogue with Burma's new National League for Democracy-led (NLD) government, which took power at the beginning of April. Under the previous administration of President Thein Sein, the AA—along with ethnic Palaung (Ta'ang), Wa and Kokang armies—was excluded from signing Burma's so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) in October 2015. Eight armed organizations—out of more than 20—inked the accord, but some larger groups, like the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), withheld their signatures. Khine Thukha described the NCA as a "failed" agreement. "If the new government continues in the same way as Thein Sein, [the outcome] will be the same," he said in reference to the previous administration's approach to the peace process, which has yet to bring an end to armed conflict in Burma's six decades of civil war. He added that the AA would participate in talks with the government only if the other excluded groups were also invited. Ponnagyun constituency's Arakan National Party (ANP) lawmaker in the Lower House, Tun Maung, urged the NLD government to bring the AA into a political dialogue when they re-start the national peace process. "I believe that the NLD will carry out that matter for national reconciliation," he said. The post Arakan Army: Clashes With Govt Forces Threaten Peace Prospects appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Avian Flu Strikes Poultry Farms in Sagaing Division Posted: 18 Apr 2016 11:59 PM PDT A farm worker feeds chickens in a poultry farm in Hmawbi Township, north of Rangoon, March 29, 2007. (Photo: Sukree Sukplang / Reuters) MANDALAY — Surveillance of the poultry trade in Sagaing Division's Monywa Township has been ramped up after an avian flu outbreak over the past several weeks. Some 500 chickens from Monywa poultry farms have died since March 31, after being infected with the H9N2 strain of avian flu. Local authorities have since killed over 20,000 chickens and restricted poultry trade from farms in the area. "With the help of the police and fire brigades, we have been able to control the avian flu [outbreak in Monywa] and have killed the infected animals and restricted poultry trade," said Myint Naing, chief minister of Sagaing Division. There are 250 poultry farms in Monywa's livestock farming zone, about six of which have reported cases of avian flu since the end of March. The Ministry of Health said in a statement on Saturday that there have been no reports of humans having contracted avian flu in the area. "We can't control the entire poultry market in the division, but we plan to investigate nearby villages and towns and will prohibit trade with poultry farms in Monywa," Myint Naing said. "Though H9N2 is not as severe as H5N1, and there have been no reports of human infection, it is important to take precautions. I ask poultry farmers and traders to inform the authorities of any chicken deaths without delay." In particular, the chief minister urged poultry farmers not to hide the deaths of potentially infected animals for fear of losing their farm. "Once a chicken is infected, it is necessary to destroy almost every animal from that farm, since we have no vaccine here to prevent the spread of the [avian] flu," he said. "The divisional government is taking data on farmers' losses and will work with the central government for possible compensation for loss due to avian flu," Myint Naing added. Poultry farms in the same livestock farming zone in Monywa were also struck by an avian flu outbreak in early 2015, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of chickens. The post Avian Flu Strikes Poultry Farms in Sagaing Division appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Traditional Typists Persevere in 21st Century Burma Posted: 18 Apr 2016 11:30 PM PDT RANGOON — On most afternoons, Tin Zaw Htet sits in front of a Cold War-era typewriter surrounded by satin-and-gauze portfolios and legal certificates hanging in the unrelenting Rangoon sun. On the lower block of Maha Bandoola Park Road, several typists are dutifully stationed in individual makeshift stalls alongside him. They earn their living within a bureaucracy that demands typed forms over handwritten ones, but in a locale where computers and printers remain luxuries and electricity is still unreliable. Tin Zaw Htet shares a laminated certificate verifying his completion of a one-month typing course at a vocational training center five years earlier. Upon graduation, he left a job selling pet fish and joined his aunt, also a typist, in opening their own kiosk. "I only want to work in my own business, even if I have to run it on roadsides," he said. The 28-year-old earns 1,000 kyats (US$0.83) per page filling out marriage certificates, power of attorney forms and other legal contracts with Burmese or English typescript; on an average day, he gets between 10 and 15 pages of work. Small plaques engraved with the phrase "Made in Western Germany" betray the age of the typewriters that propel this small sector. Fifty-year-old Win Htay, who restores the machines, is nearly as old as the typewriters he has been repairing since he was 13 years old. He claims that they were first imported for Burmese civil servants under either U Nu or Ne Win's government in the early 1960s. Auctioned, refurbished and resold through the decades, the sturdy metal structures have yet to render themselves obsolete in Burma, even as the government offices that originally bought them now largely rely on computers, and lie 200 miles north in purpose-built Naypyidaw, no less. From a modest workshop in downtown Rangoon's 35th Street, Win Htay still sells them, fully restored, for around 100,000 kyats (US$83). "I have a close attachment to these typewriters," he said. "This is all I know how to do. I don't even know how to touch a computer." When government offices began to move from Rangoon to Naypyidaw in 2005, Win Htay lamented how many ambitious typists and repairmen also relocated their businesses—and their typewriters—to the remote new capital. He is defensive when asked about the machine's place among an increasing selection of more modern gadgets, foreseeing a continued reliance on typewriters in courts, schools and government offices particularly in rural parts of the country. About 70 percent of Burma's population still has no access to the electricity needed to run more updated apparatuses. "All they need is ink," he pointed out, a testament to the typewriter's sustainability. Tin Zaw Htet acknowledges that one day he may have to adapt his work to accommodate changing technology, but says that he is lucky: He also knows how to use a computer. However, it is not a shift he will wholly welcome. "[Typewriters] challenge us to be more efficient, to see our errors on paper, so we are more careful not to make mistakes," Tin Zaw Htet explained. He also describes a satisfaction in working with the older machines. "The feeling of using typewriters and using computers is different. We can feel a lot of feedback from a typewriter's keys," he said, imitating the continuous clack-clack-clack of the metal buttons. "It makes noise. I kind of like it." Typewriters brought to Burma during an earlier era will likely continue to maintain a value beyond nostalgia and, for now, a function on the country's technological spectrum. The post Traditional Typists Persevere in 21st Century Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indonesia Takes Step Toward Reckoning with ‘65-66 Atrocities Posted: 18 Apr 2016 10:35 PM PDT People watch "The Act of Killing," a chilling about the 1965-66 anti-communist atrocities, in Jakarta, February 6, 2013. (Photo: Beawiharta / Reuters) JAKARTA — Indonesia on Monday convened an unprecedented discussion of anti-communist massacres in 1965-66 that brought together survivors and representatives of the military that orchestrated the atrocities. Protesters who say the two-day conference will help revive communism scuffled with police outside the tightly guarded venue, in a sign of the deep divisions within Indonesia over what rights groups say was one of the worst atrocities of the last century. Researchers estimate that the military and religious groups killed half a million people in the attacks on communists and sympathizers that ushered in the 32-year rule of the dictator Suharto. Conference organizer Agus Widjojo, a retired general, said at the meeting that Indonesia is "torn apart" by the massacres and called for the government to establish a commission for truth and reconciliation. Within Indonesia, widely accepted accounts of the era gloss over the deaths, and descendants of Communist Party members are stigmatized and face legal discrimination that prevents them from holding government jobs. But the conference, being held at a hotel in Jakarta, the capital, has the backing of government figures and was opened by the Cabinet minister in charge of security and political affairs, Luhut Pandjaitan. Indonesia's attorney general, police chief and justice minister also attended. The killings began in October 1965, shortly after an apparent abortive coup in which six right-wing generals were killed. Suharto, an unknown major general at the time, filled the power vacuum and blamed the assassinations on Indonesia's Communist Party, which was then the largest outside the Soviet Union and China, with 3 million members. "Let's open this history together so we can all find out what has been wrong in our national system, why this nation could have the ability to commit mass killings," said Widjojo, whose father was one of the generals killed. Abdul Rashid, 71, was one of the thousands who escaped death but suffered years of imprisonment without trial or exile in remote corners of Indonesia because of a tenuous connection to the Communist Party. Rashid's crime was joining a youth group in South Sulawesi province that didn't advertise its links to communists. Four years later, when he was 21, he was seized by troops while teaching an elementary school class, and lost more than a decade of his life to detention and exile. "I still remember how a dozen military troops pushed into my class," he said in an interview. "They pushed in and pointed their rifles at me in front of my students." After being freed, a special stamp in his identity card made life difficult, stigmatizing Rashid and his family and making it hard to find work. "This stigma is a too heavy burden," he said. "There are so many innocent people who became victims of a black history. I want this stigma to be ended." Despite government backing for the conference, Pandjaitan, the security minister, said there would be no government apology to victims and also questioned whether estimates of the death toll were accurate. "I believe that this meeting will produce positive results to build our nation in the future," he said. "We must be able to create peace with our past. But don't ever think that the government will offer any apology." Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the two-day symposium by itself is not sufficient to come to terms with a buried past. "At the least, what the government can do is stop discrimination against the victims—the survivors and their children and their grandchildren," he said. Millions of people are affected by a 1981 presidential decree barring communists and their descendants from serving in the police, military or civil service. Before the conference, rights groups urged the United States to release all of its secret files on the massacres, which could help reveal facts about the period. Declassified documents held at the National Security Archive of George Washington University show that the US Embassy in Jakarta was aware of extensive killings in Java and other parts of Indonesia and passed lists of communists it had compiled to Indonesia's military. It also organized the supply of radios to the military and secretly gave money to a military-linked group involved in the repression. At the time, the US viewed Indonesia as a bulwark in its efforts to thwart the influence of the Soviet Union and China in Southeast Asia. An embassy communication to the Department of State on April 15, 1966, about the number of deaths said: "We frankly do not know whether the real figure is closer to 100,000 or 1,000,000 but believe it wiser to err on the side of the lower estimates, especially when questioned by the press." The post Indonesia Takes Step Toward Reckoning with '65-66 Atrocities appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thailand Says Songkran Holiday Road Deaths Rose 21 Percent Posted: 18 Apr 2016 10:29 PM PDT Revelers react during a water fight at Songkran Festival celebrations in Bangkok, April 13, 2016.  (Photo: Jorge Silva / Reuters) BANGKOK — Authorities in Thailand said Monday that 442 people died in traffic accidents during the just concluded traditional New Year holiday—a 21 percent rise over the same period last year despite stern efforts to curb drunken and unsafe driving. It was the highest number of Songkran holiday deaths since 476 were reported in 2006. The weeklong holiday has been dubbed the "Seven Days of Death," though Thailand has the second-worst record in the world for annual traffic fatalities. There were 3,337 accidents during the week ending Sunday, with motorcycles accounting for more than 81 percent of the total, followed by pickup trucks, the Road Safety Directing Centre announced. Drunken driving was blamed for just over one-third of the accidents, and speeding for just under another third. Road injuries for the week totaled 3,656. The government had sought to curb accidents during the holiday by deploying 20,000 officials to checkpoints and ordering drunken drivers' vehicles to be impounded and their licenses revoked. Rewards were also offered to police making the most number of drunken-driving arrests. Deputy Government Spokesman Weerachon Sukondhapatipak blamed the high accident rate on unsafe road design and lack of discipline among Thai drivers. "Not only villagers, but educated people, who have been to developed countries, they obey laws in those countries but they don't do it here no matter how strict the laws are, how many officers were patrolling or doing their jobs at checkpoints," he said. The post Thailand Says Songkran Holiday Road Deaths Rose 21 Percent appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Suu Kyi Vows to Amend Junta-Era Constitution Posted: 18 Apr 2016 09:58 PM PDT Aung San Suu Kyi and second Vice President Henry Van Thio attend the handover ceremony from outgoing President Thein Sein and Burma's new President Htin Kyaw at the presidential palace in Naypyidaw, March 30, 2016.  (Photo: Nyein Chan Naing / Reuters) RANGOON — Burma's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi vowed Monday to push for constitutional amendments to build a true democracy in the Southeast Asian country as it emerges from decades of military control. Suu Kyi made the comments in a nationally televised address to mark the start of the Buddhist new year, highlighting her hopes for the future and also the difficult tasks ahead for her new government. "Our policies and principles are to ensure national reconciliation, internal peace, the rule of law, amendments to the constitution and keeping the democratic system dynamic," she said. "The constitution needs to be one that will give birth to a genuine democratic union," she said. "We need constitutional amendments." Suu Kyi's power to change the constitution remains hamstrung by the military, which still retains considerable power in government and parliament. But she has repeatedly said the current constitution—written during the era of military rule—must be revised so the country can move forward. The constitution reserves key ministerial posts in the Cabinet for the military, which heads the Home Ministry, the Defense Ministry and the Border Affairs Ministry. It also allots 25 percent of the seats in parliament for military officers, ensuring that no government can amend the constitution without the army's approval. Suu Kyi has been working to build alliances with the military but has reportedly angered the military with her government's initial acts since taking power two weeks ago. Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide victory in November elections, ushering in the country's first civilian government after 54 years of direct and indirect military rule. Suu Kyi is the country's most popular political figure but was unable to become president because of a clause in the constitution that bars anyone with a foreign spouse or child from holding the job. Her two sons are British, as was her late husband. To get around that clause, Suu Kyi selected her longtime confidant, Htin Kyaw, to become president. One of his government's first acts after taking power at the end of March was to give Suu Kyi a newly created position called "state counselor" which is akin to that of prime minister. Htin Kyaw's government has made it a priority to release political prisoners detained during military rule. Prior to the New Year, his administration freed more than 100 political detainees and on Sunday granted amnesty to another 83. "We will continue to try to release political prisoners, political activists, and students facing trials related to politics," he said in televised comments Sunday to mark the new year. The post Suu Kyi Vows to Amend Junta-Era Constitution appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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To Hopeland and Back The 18th voyage (Day 3) Posted: 18 Apr 2016 09:42 PM PDT Third Day. Saturday, 10 April 2016 Wu Zixu (died BC 484), the "first ancestor" from my paternal grandfather's side (Photo:cultural- A mill does not run with the water that is past. Louis L'Amour, (1915-1985) The Walking Drum The most famous of all the Wu-s (伍) was General Wu Zixu aka Wu Yun, who was a confederate of Sun Zi who wrote The Art of War , more than 2,500 years ago They have a shrine for him at Suzhou, Jiangsu province. All Wu branches consider him as their "First Ancestor." Hso Khan Fa (1291-1364), the "first ancestor" from my paternal  On my paternal grandmother's side is Hso Khan Fa (1291-1364) of Zelan, whose suzerainty was said to have stretched from Dali in the northeast to Assam in the northwest, and almost all of today's Burma/Myanmar, except maybe Chin, according to J.G. Scott. "The sad thing," I tell my relatives, "is that the glory of the past do not carry us forward. We learn from it, and from it we choose the path to follow. But we have to walk it by ourselves, not depending on the glory of our ancestors to do  it for us,"  quoting Louis L'Amour (another one!): A ship does not sail with yesterday's wind. The Shans also have a saying for this: "Only a tiger can succeed a tiger, that passes a way." Hotel Royal Taunggyi (Photo:www.booking.com) We have a roaring party in the afternoon at Hotel Royal Taunggyi, and another at the Mawk Zarm Hawm restaurant in the evening. My generation, about 20 of us in all,  were quite close to each other. But for most of the third and fourth, it is the first introduction to each other. I hope what we have done yesterday and today sets a precedent for the future.

To Hopeland and Back The 18th voyage (Day 2) Posted: 18 Apr 2016 09:20 PM PDT Day Two. Friday, 9 April 2016 People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors. Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Irish political philosopher My paternal grand parents Heho, where our plane Air KBZ, touches down at 09:00 used to be "Haiwo" which means a district assigned to present cows to the ruling prince of Yawnghwe as tributes. Nowadays, even Shans, let alone non-Shans, know little or not what it means. However, there are still many places in Shan Shate, whose names begin with "Hai" (tribute): Hai Nang: assigned to present women to serve princesses Hai Niang: assigned to present tea Hai Pa: assigned to present fish Hai Phak: assigned to present meat Hai Kerh: assigned to present salt Hai Ya: assigned to present tobacco The first thing we do after lunch is to visit the Cantonese cemetery which is located southwest of The city. There we find the last resting-place of our paternal grandfather Wu Guangxuo, 1885-1983, better known as A Ping Kung to his neighbors. According to the papers in English he had kept, he came from Canton aka Guangdong in 1909, got married to our paternal grandmother Nang Hseng Gam and had 5 sons, from whom some 200 offspring have descended in successive generations. Actually, Ching Ming, or Ancestor's Day, for this year was already past, 5 April. But had my nieces who are the organizers decided on that day, only a few of us would be able to make it. But thanks to these nieces who live in Taunggyi, some 80 have already confirmed their participation. The problem with us is that most of us, brought up as Shans, have little inkling about the Chinese ritual. But we are lucky to have Sai Win Aung, 58, my youngest brother, who is the only one among us to be know at home with Chinese customs, presides over the brief ceremony. We then visit the hotel, Royal Taunggyi, one that was reportedly opened only 4 months ago, where the gathering is to take place tomorrow. It is said to be owned by one of the former ministers of Shan State government, together with two others from Rangoon. Their names are not mentioned. The hotel clerk is obviously feeling uncomfortable about it. But I just know I'm going to find out sooner or later. And no one should be unduly worried, because the hunting season, since 2011, when the peace process began, is over for me. Well, almost. It's hard to get rid of one's habit, isn't it?

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