Wednesday, December 20, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Myanmar, Bangladesh to Begin Repatriating Refugees in January

Posted: 20 Dec 2017 08:21 AM PST

YANGON — Social Welfare Union Minister U Win Myat Aye told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that Myanmar and Bangladesh have agreed to start repatriating Rohingya refugees before the end of January.

Bangladeshi news outlets reported that the country's foreign affairs minister, M Sahidul Haque, and U Myint, permanent secretary of Myanmar's own Foreign Affairs Ministry, signed off on the terms of reference for a Joint Working Group (JWG) in Dhaka. Each country will have at least 15 members on the JWG.

In late November, the two countries inked a memorandum of understanding and agreed to form the JWG within three weeks to work on repatriating the more than 620,000 Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh since the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked several police posts and an army base in northern Rakhine State in late August. The UN has called the clearance operations the Myanmar Army launched in response a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing."

According to a Dhaka Tribune report, the agreed terms of reference recognize the Rohingya refugees as displaced "Myanmar residents" and say official transfers will begin by Jan. 23.

The news reports say the Bangladeshi foreign minister will lead the JWC and that the body will include representatives from several government agencies from both Bangladesh and Myanmar, including disaster management, home affairs, immigration and national intelligence.

Minister U Win Myat Aye, who also chairs a special committee charged with overseeing implementation of recommendations by the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, said he did not know the composition of the JWC because he did not join Myanmar's delegation to Bangladesh for the signing.

The minister said Myanmar has already handed out application forms for the refugees to fill out with their background information. He said each completed form will be examined for accuracy and, once approved, sent back to Bangladesh to allow the refugee's return.

"We don't have a specific number of refugees [to repatriate] because it is voluntary repatriation. We told them to prioritize displaced Hindus but it needs official recognition by the Joint Working Group," U Win Myat Aye said.

Although Myanmar has been planning to resettle Rohingya refugees in Maungdaw Township, exactly where remains unclear. U Win Myat Aye suggested that the location of some Muslim villages might change.

"We re-drafted town plans and some things have changed. For instance, if a road expands a village will be located near where it used to be [before the clearance operations]. But some villages will be located in the same place," he said.

The international community and human rights groups have urged Myanmar to let the refugees return safely to their original home sites.

The post Myanmar, Bangladesh to Begin Repatriating Refugees in January appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Ends Cooperation with UN Rights Rapporteur

Posted: 20 Dec 2017 06:46 AM PST

The government of Myanmar has informed UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee that she has been barred from returning to the country and that cooperation will be withdrawn for the duration of her tenure, the UN reported today.

Ms. Lee had been due to visit Myanmar in January to assess the state of human rights countrywide, including reports of abuses against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.

"I am puzzled and disappointed by this decision by the Myanmar government," Ms. Lee said. "This declaration of non-cooperation with my mandate can only be viewed as a strong indication that there must be something terribly awful happening in Rakhine, as well as in the rest of the country."

The special rapporteur said she sincerely hoped Myanmar would revisit the decision.

However, U Zaw Htay, director of the Myanmar President's Office, said in a text message to the Irrawaddy that Ms. Lee was not impartial nor objective in her work.

"There is no trust on her. Therefore, we informed through Myanmar Permanent Mission in NY and Geneva UNSG Office in NY and OHCHR in Geneva," U Zaw Htay wrote in his text message.

Ms. Lee had previously been afforded cooperation and access to Myanmar, and had maintained a relationship of mutual respect with the government, according to the UN statement. But the government said it views her end-of-mission statement in July as biased and unfair.

The special rapporteur's mandate requires two visits to Myanmar a year, in order to report to the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly. Since taking up the mandate in June 2014, Ms. Lee has visited Myanmar six times.

"It is a shame that Myanmar has decided to take this route," Ms. Lee said.

The government has repeatedly denied human rights violations are occurring throughout Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine State. "They have said that they have nothing to hide, but their lack of cooperation with my mandate and the fact-finding mission suggests otherwise," Ms. Lee said in a statement.

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Press Council Offers to Mediate in Case of Arrested Reuters Reporters

Posted: 20 Dec 2017 06:16 AM PST

YANGON — The Myanmar Press Council (MPC) said today that it would like to mediate in the case of two Reuters reporters who have now spent more than a week in state custody without word of their location or contact with family or lawyers.

The MPC made the offer in a statement it released at the press conference in Yangon on Wednesday.

The council added that it would like to serve as an expert witness should the case go to trial and if the court allowed it. The MPC said it was also prepared to provide the reporters with legal assistance to ensure that justice was served.

The two Reuters journalists, Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo, have been detained at an undisclosed location since their arrest on Dec. 12 in Yangon, allegedly for possessing police reports containing detailed information about the fighting between government troops and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in late August. Two policemen were also arrested for allegedly providing the documents to the reporters.

The police opened the case under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act's Article 3, which allows for prison sentences of up to 14 years. The policemen were charged under both the Official Secrets Act and the Myanmar Police Force Maintenance of Discipline Law.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that President's Office spokesman U Zaw Htay said the police had nearly completed their investigation of the two journalists and that their case would head to court soon afterward.

At the press conference on Wednesday, local reporters criticized the MPC for not doing more to protect the Reuters journalists or denounce their arrest.

"We couldn't take to the streets or shout as soon as we knew about the arrest because we are not activists," countered U Aung Hla Tun, a vice chairman of the MPC.

He said the council has resolved more than 300 disputes in recent years, 97 percent of them before they went to court.

"We are not a journalists network or association. We have laws, but we aren't satisfied with them. But as a council we have to act in accordance with the existing laws," said U Thiha Saw, an MPC secretary. He added that the council was working to amend the country's News Media Law and encourage passage of a draft Right to Information Law so that journalists have more protection.

The council said that its chairman was an expert witness in the Unity Journal case in 2014.

Despite its intervention, the Union Journal's chief executive and four of its reporters were sentenced to 10-year jail terms with hard labor that July under the Official Secrets Act for reporting on a military chemical weapons factory in Magwe Region. The court reduced their sentence to seven years in October 2014 and released them courtesy of a presidential pardon in April 2016.

In 2017, 11 journalists were arrested and taken to court by either the military, police or nationalists on defamation charges or under various laws including the Official Secrets Act and the Unlawful Associations Act.

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UN Agency, Ministries Launch ‘Life and Love’ App Aimed at Young People

Posted: 20 Dec 2017 04:01 AM PST

YANGON – To help young people learn about their bodies and how to adopt a healthy lifestyle, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sports on Wednesday launched a mobile app to provide trustworthy information about love, sex and health.

The mobile app, Love Question, Life Answer, is designed to give young people the confidence to make decisions that are safe and that they will not regret.

Taking advantage of technological advances and the proliferation of mobile phones since Myanmar's transition to democracy in 2011, the UN agency and the ministries – the Ministry of Health and Sports with support from the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Social Welfare— along with the Myanmar Medical Association are targeting the app at younger people, who account for almost one-third, or 16 million, of Myanmar's total population of 52 million.

Dr. Hlaing Htaik Htar Khin, a program analyst at the UNFPA's Reproductive Health Department, said: "It is an awareness-raising app, which will allow young people to be able to access accurate information on reproductive health, which they need to know, from a trusted source, so they will not need to ask other people. And they can use it by themselves via their mobile phones during their free time."

The information on the app is provided in the Burmese language, and features topics such as safe sex and contraception, early marriage and unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and HIV, puberty and menstruation, gender and body dilemmas, drug abuse and alcohol problems, and last but not least, love and relationships.

The app can be used while offline, and requires only wifi access or mobile data to be downloaded from the Google Play Store or App Store. The app can also be shared from one mobile phone to another via file-sharing tools such as Zapya.

Daw Hlaing Htaik Htar Khin said the app was created based on data from the 2014 census and the 2015-16 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), which revealed many young girls and women aged between 15-19 fall pregnant even though they are not ready for this life-changing event.

"The mortality rate among young girls is also high, and when we asked about the causes of these deaths, we found many were the result of illegal abortions due to unwanted pregnancies or lives being lost during the delivery of the baby," she said.

The surveys indicated the root cause was a lack of knowledge among young people about reproductive health. Thus, the educators tried to think of a better approach to disseminate information about reproductive health to young people, who have wide access to mobile technology and who typically spend a lot of time in front of their screens.

As there is a taboo in Myanmar about openly discussing sexuality and the subject is not generally included in school curriculums, mobile phones were viewed as the best approach to reach young people, Daw Hlaing Htaik Htar Khin said.

The medical officer said the UNFPA would seek to raise public awareness about the app by using social media and multimedia platforms. It would also be able monitor the number of people who access the app to get information about the campaign's effectiveness.

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Shanni Businessman Fatally Shot in Hpakant

Posted: 20 Dec 2017 02:31 AM PST

YANGON — The chairman of the Hpakant Motor Vehicles Supervisory Committee in Kachin State's Hpakant Township was shot dead by a group of unidentified gunmen on Tuesday around noon.

Police from Hpakant Township police station confirmed the death but said they were "still collecting information to identify the suspects," a police officer on duty told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

U Khin Soe, who is also the owner of the Chan Myay Si Bus Line, was sitting at his own bus station in the ward of Mashi Kataung in Hpakant when four bikers came on two bikes and fatally shot him. He was shot one time in his head and three times in his abdomen, according to locals.

"He is an ethnic Shanni man. He was shot dead while he was at his bus station. I don't know why he was shot," said Hpakant local U Khin Maung Lwin, who was at the crime scene.

There have been frequent shootings in Hpakant, mostly targeted at ethnic Shanni (also known as Red Shan) politicians and businesspeople since 2015, according to locals. Five Shanni people were killed from the start of 2015 to Dec. 19, 2017, and the victims were either members of political parties or businesspeople.

The post Shanni Businessman Fatally Shot in Hpakant appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar to Bid to Add 88 Uprising to UNESCO Memory of the World Register

Posted: 20 Dec 2017 12:34 AM PST

YANGON — Myanmar will make a bid for the inclusion of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising in the Memory of the World Register, according to the committee for the establishment of the 8888 historical museum.

The committee has asked the Union minister for religious affairs and culture by letter in the last week of November to coordinate with UNESCO for the nomination.

"We committee members have agreed in principle to nominate it for inscription. The ministry however has not made an official reply. But the minister said that it would be better if we had made preparations. So, we are making preparations," U Ye Naing Aung, the spokesperson for the committee, told The Irrawaddy.

The committee is set to meet this week after consultation with historian Dr. Kyaw Win for the nomination, he said.

The1988 pro-democracy uprising was a series of nationwide protests that peaked on August 8, 1988 against the military dictatorship. The protests began as a student movement, but later were joined by people from all walks of life across the country.

If the uprising is inscribed in the Memory of the World Register, it will be an honor to all of the people who joined the 1988 pro-democracy movement, said U Ye Naing Aung.

"In addition, we can then get technical assistance from UNESCO to build the 8888 museum," he added.

"We want the world to recognize this movement so that no future governments can erase the history recorded in this museum," said one of the committee members U Ant Bwe Kyaw.

The nomination for the register has to be submitted to UNSECO before March, and will be put forward to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture around the last week of January or first week of February.

In November, Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein, the 88-Generation Peace and Open Society, and the organizing committee for the 8888 museum had a meeting, however, they were unable to reach an agreement regarding land acquisition for the museum.

The temporary 8888 Memorial Hall opened on Aug. 8, 2015 in Yangon's Thingangyun Township on the 27th anniversary of the uprising.

So far, Myanmar has four tangible objects inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register—the Kuthodaw Inscription Shrines in 2013, the Myazedi Quadrilingual Stone Inscription and the Golden Letter of King Alaungpaya to King George II of Great Britain in 2015, and the King Bayinnaung Bell Inscriptions in 2017.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Activist Says it’s Critical that More Women Participate in Myanmar’s Peace Process

Posted: 19 Dec 2017 06:00 PM PST

YANGON — Katherine Ronderos, director of LIMPAL Colombia, was invited by the Norwegian Embassy to participate in a Women, Peace and Security workshop in Yangon on Dec. 14-15, conducted in collaboration with Myanmar's Alliance for Gender Inclusion in the Peace Process.

LIMPAL Colombia is a branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and a member of the National Women and Peace Summit. It is also one of the leading organizations working to monitor implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which provides a framework for improving women's participation in the peace process.

She spoke with The Irrawaddy on Friday about her views on Myanmar's peace process and women's movement and about how important it is to include women in the peace process.

What do you think about the women's rights movement in Myanmar?

I am sure there are very strong movements and I am sure they are reaching a lot of women at grass-root level, and I think that's important to have. We discussed today how we reach those…women and men from other sectors that probably are not interested in the peace agreement or that are not interested in the political issues. But we need to get them interested because it's also important for them and for everybody.

How important is it for the peace process to be all-inclusive?

We need to include everybody because sometimes when people are in the cities they don't know much about what is happening in the conflict. That is related to them as well because it's [about the] future of the country. We need to get them involved, to get them interested in the political issues, to participate, to debate, because I am sure the differences here make a very rich country. But also we need to manage those differences in the different way.

What is important is to talk about reconciliation. It's about compromising, it's about tolerance, it's about respect, it's about inclusion and how we make our voices heard, how we dialogue with others who are different [from] us, how we resolve the problems in a very positive way without violence, without arms. So, understanding the other, recognizing the other.

Why is it important for women to participate in the peace process?

Women's participation is very important because we are citizens of this country. We have the right to participate. Nobody should discriminate [against] our participation just because we are women. Secondly, women are the center of the family, are the center of the society, are the ones holding families together, are the ones holding communities together, and they are the ones who know how to reconstruct the social fabric of the society.

Researches show when women participate in peace negotiations there is a better chance that peace is sustainable, that it will last longer.  So we need to make sure that every effort has women's voices and women's participation to make sure that it will be sustainable. Because they know the risk society faces when conflicts happen, and we have the right to decide what we want for our country.

What differences do you see between the peace processes in Colombia and in Myanmar?

I think there are a lot of differences. Because although we have been in conflict for sixty years, similar [to] Myanmar, but here in Myanmar it is ethnic-based conflict. It's been about exclusion [of] some groups to decide and to participate. In Columbia we don't have [a] variety of ethnic groups. But the conflict is about exclusion of the poor, of the rural people, no opportunity for them, no health, no education, and no job. That's why, for example, the armed actors and the armed groups in Colombia are requesting political participation. And I guess that could be a similar issue here. We need to start talking about political representation for those representatives of ethnic groups.

You may know that Myanmar has not yet met the target of 30 percent female participation in the peace process, as called for by women's rights groups. The share has increased slightly but it's still only 17 percent. How would you suggest raising it further?

There are many ways. One is preparing women to access political spaces. For example, we don't feel like we are ready to participate politically. You will need to get them education. We need to get prepared to get them knowledge. Two is to have other women's support. We need our constituency, we need our support groups for women to decide to do that step, to enter the political arena. Three, we need also generous support. We need to break that mindset that women are only able to be in the house, to cook, to look after the children.  We need to break that in the society and to tell the society that women are intelligent.

What advice do you have for men?

I think it is important for men to understand that it is important for the society as a whole to talk about gender equality because in the end the beneficiaries are the [societies] in general. We need men to stop thinking women are not good, women are useless, and start thinking women bring new ideas and new perspectives and new views on how to resolve the problems. Then they will have [a] better society, better family, and children with better education. So we need to start with the family as well.

The post Activist Says it's Critical that More Women Participate in Myanmar's Peace Process appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Tuesday, December 19, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

88 Generation Student Activists Register ‘Four Eights Party’

Posted: 19 Dec 2017 07:30 AM PST

NAYPYITAW—Members of the 88-Generation student community on Tuesday registered a new political party, the Four Eights Party, with the Union Election Commission (UEC) in Naypyitaw.

U Ko Ko Gyi, a leading figure in the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society and a senior member of its committee tasked with establishing the party, said the new bloc's aim is to take "political responsibility", rather than power.

He said there was a mistaken notion among Myanmar's political class that the sole objective of political parties is to gain power. He emphasized that he and his colleagues were setting up the party as a mechanism for taking responsibility for their political views.

"We engage in politics with the attitude that we will shoulder the responsibility that falls on us; nobody needs to ask us or assign us [to do this or that]. We'll continue engaging in politics with a sense of responsibility," he added.

Political activists involved in the student-led 8888 Uprising have organized multiple stakeholder consultations since early 2017. The name of the party was confirmed on Sunday, after a majority of the committee's representatives from different regions of the country voted in favor of it on Sunday.

The party's policy platform and structure will be unveiled after the UEC gives the green light to its registration, U Ko Ko Gyi added.

Prominent 88 Generation Peace and Open Society members such as U Min Ko Naing, U Jimmy and recently resigned leader U Mya Aye were not involved the party's formation. Another leading figure in the group, U Min Zeyar, is a member, however.

In the meantime, some have criticized the party's choice of name, saying that the designation "8888" does not belong to a particular group of people, but to the entire country and its struggle for democracy.

He called the 8888 Uprising the backbone of Myanmar's political system, and claimed that all of the recent political and economic changes the country has seen have their origins in nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations in August 1988.

"Our party name is much more than a number. It has deep political significance and connotes serious objectives and goals," he said, highlighting the "broadness and inclusion" the name impies.

"We will be resolute on our main objective, which is to continue pushing the demands made during the public uprising, which we highly value and respect," U Ko Ko Gyi said.

The Four Eights Party, or 8888, written in Burmese digits. (Photo: Myo Min Soe/ The Irrawaddy)

The 88-Generation student leaders' relationship with the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) is not as warm as it once was.

In 2014, they worked together on a nationwide petition campaign that attracted about five million signatures in support of an amendment to Section 436 of the military-drafted 2008 Constitution. Amending the charter requires the support of more than 75 percent of the national legislature.

However, when selecting candidates for the 2015 general election, the NLD chose from within in its own ranks, and did not appoint any members of the 88 Generation student group to the government.

Translated from the Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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10 Bodies Found at Mass Grave in Rakhine village visited by detained Reuters reporters

Posted: 19 Dec 2017 07:17 AM PST

YANGON – Local authorities unearthed 10 bodies near a graveyard in Inn Din village in southern Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State on Tuesday, according to government officials.

Local authorities have formed a temporary investigation team comprising officials from several agencies, including the Health Department.

A team member told The Irrawaddy that 10 heads and skeletons had been unearthed at the burial site. The team had concluded the remains belonged to victims of homicides that could have occurred as long as a year ago. All of the victims are adults. It was unclear whether the remains were those of Rohingya or Arakanese villagers.

"The killings did not happen recently; the remains have decomposed and we do not know if the victims are Rakhine or Muslim," he said.

Security was tightened in the area as government troops started digging at the burial site. Locals were unable to say exactly how many bodies had been found or whether they were those of Rohingya Muslims.

A Maungdaw resident who had visited Inn Din village and who has close ties with military intelligence told The Irrawaddy that Arakanese villagers, local police and government security forces had killed Rohingya villagers in Inn Din in recent months, and that locals had taken photographs of the incidents leading up to the killing. Later, some residents disclosed the killings to Reuters reporters who visited the village, the source said. He said the reporters were the same pair who were later arrested on Dec. 12 under the Official Secrets Act.

He claimed that the two reporters had secretly given some of the photographs to the UN, rather than using them in their reports. He said intelligence officers followed the two reporters and arrested them in Yangon's Htauk Kyant Township. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify his claims.

He said that Myanmar authorities had arrested the pair of journalists for leaking controversial photos to the UN which could bring a strong international reaction against the government and authorities had also started arresting lower-ranking members of the security forces as suspects in the killing of Rohingya villagers, in anticipation of an international condemnation of the scenes in the photos.

In a statement released on Dec. 18, the Office of the Commander-in-Chief said a person had informed government security forces of the discovery of unidentified bodies near Inn Din graveyard. The statement did not mention the number of bodies found, citing the ongoing investigation.

In an operation to restore stability in the region after a series of attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), government troops conducted counterattacks starting on Aug. 25, the statement reads. It adds that if any security forces are found to have committed violations, or if crimes at Inn Din are linked with government troops, those responsible will be punished in line with the law.

The Army clearance operations drove out more than 620,000 Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh. The UN's human rights council described the Army operation as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".

Independent regional lawmaker Than Maung Oo, who visited the village, said Inn Din was home to a mixed population of about 700 Muslim families and 170 Arakanese homes. He said Inn Din saw heavy clashes between ARSA and government troops in southern Maungdaw. Muslim villagers and ARSA supporters fled to neighboring Bangladesh.

The government has not released an estimate of how many Muslim militants were killed during the heavy fighting in Inn Din. Some locals speculated that dozens of people were killed in the clashes.

It's unclear whether the bodies found on Monday are linked to the clashes between the Army and ARSA militants, or if the deaths occurred more recently. The Irrawaddy phoned Rakhine State Border Affairs Minister Col. Phone Tint and Maungdaw district administrator Ye Htut to ask for further information about the bodies found in the graveyard, but no one answered the calls.

On the evening of Dec. 12, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who had visited Inn Din village in recent months, were arrested by police in Htauk Kyant for allegedly possessing classified police reports. The pair have been charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

On Dec. 16, four schoolteachers and a resident of Inn Din village who had spoken to the reporters before the pair's arrest were themselves detained by military intelligence. Two of the teachers were later released and the other two were taken to Rakhine's capital, Sittwe, for further questioning.

On Monday, Maung Win Phyu, an Arakanese resident of Inn Din village, was arrested by police, according to the suspect's wife, Aye Naw. She said her husband had spoken to a reporter whose name she could not recall. She could not say for sure whether the arrest was related to her husband's conversation with the reporter.

"I have no details regarding his detention," she said.

Regional legislator Than Maung Oo said one of the currently detained teachers was Maung Thein Phyu, who is head of Inn Din Kwa Son Primary School. Maung Thein Phyu, a former government soldier, actively campaigned for the Arakan National Party (ANP) during the 2015 elections. However, ANP lawmakers had no further details on the teacher's detention.

Local publications reported that the two school teachers were being held at No. 1 Sittwe Police Station. The head of the Sittwe District Police, Win Naung, declined to comment.

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Shan National Dialogue to Continue Despite Myanmar Army Obstruction

Posted: 19 Dec 2017 03:42 AM PST

YANGON — The Committee for Shan State Unity (CSSU) stated that it would continue its public consultations for the ethnic Shan national-level dialogue in Shan State, despite the Myanmar Army deterring the first attempt in Panglong Township, southern Shan State on Sunday.

The public gathering in Panglong was forced to stop when some 60 Tatmadaw troops arrived and said it was not allowed.

The organizers expressed disappointment, as they had planned for the discussions in agreement with the UPDJC and in accordance with the permission of the Shan State government.

Nang Ying, a representative for the social sector discussion group representing the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), said the Tatmadaw's actions "were unacceptable" as they came in with the weapons among the public.

The public consultations prior to the national-level dialogue (ND) are necessary to be able to include public concerns and suggestions. According to the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) text, the signatories of the NCA can hold NDs based on three themes: region, theme and ethnicity. Prior to the second session of the 21st century Panglong union peace conference (UPC), the Karen, Pa-O, Chin and Burman NCA signatories were able to conduct their ethnic NDs (Shan and Rakhine were unable to), while the government conducted the regional and thematic NDs.

"We will move forward with our plan," said Sai Kyaw Nyunt, a secretary of the CSSU and of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), as the plan to hold the consultations was agreed to at the Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting (JICM) in late November.

Sai Kyaw Nyunt is also a secretary at the UPDJC, one of the highest decision-making bodies in the implementation of peace building.

He said that the case was shared with the UPDJC, which is led by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and peace commission members.

The CSSU formed the five separate teams last week in Taunggyi, to conduct consultations across 20 townships in southern, northern and eastern Shan State and in the Shan communities outside of Shan State in Mandalay, Kachin and Karenni states. Each group started discussions on Dec. 17.

The CSSU teams had completed consultations in Muse, northern Shan State, and Langkho (Linkhay), southern Shan State, on Monday and Namkham on Tuesday, according to the organizers. A consultation team was then to return to Panglong after it completed its lists of towns.

The RCSS is a member of the CSSU and the ethnic-based national level dialogues led by the group were stalled early this year as the Tatmadaw did not agree on the venue; Taunggyi, for the dialogue. But in November, the RCSS agreed to hold the Shan ethnic ND in Langkho in January 2018.

In 2016, the CSSU held its pre-consultations in 45 townships in preparation for the Shan-led ND and drafted recommendations in regards to the political, economic, social, land and environment, and security sectors to be discussed at the Union Peace Conference.

Sai Kyaw Nyunt said: "We will bring all of the public suggestions and combine them into our draft recommendations. We aim to complete this national-level dialogue prior to the third session of the 21st century Panglong UPC," planned to be held in late January.

Chit Min Tun contributed to this report.

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Arrested Reuters Reporters Were ‘Set Up,’ Says NLD Spokesman

Posted: 19 Dec 2017 03:35 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — Two Reuters journalists arrested last week were deliberately "set up," according to National League for Democracy spokesperson U Win Htein, who added that he felt sorry for the pair.

Thet Oo Maung (aka Wa Lone) and Moe Aung (aka Kyaw Soe Oo) were detained by police in Yangon's Mingalardon Township on Dec. 12 after allegedly receiving reports from police officers containing detailed information about fighting between government troops and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in late August 2017. The pair is accused of attempting to illegally acquire information for the purposes of sharing it with foreign media.

The reporters were detained by the Home Affairs Ministry under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which dates to 1923. Conviction carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

A week after their arrest, the pair's whereabouts is still unclear. The Ministry of Information issued a report the day after the arrest, saying the reporters had "illegally acquired information with the intention of sharing it with foreign media."

"They were arrested red-handed with documents. I heard they obtained the documents from police officials with whom they had dinner. They weren't arrested until after they had left the company of those officers," U Win Htein said in Naypyitaw on Monday.

"Looking at the choice of charge, it is easy to see that this was planned. The charge concerns state security, so it has become a big case," he said.

However, the leading NLD member said the reporters had been "naïve" to allow themselves to be trapped.

"How could they be so naïve? They should have been smarter. They should have gotten rid of the documents as soon as they saw them," he added.

"If you choose to be a journalist, you can't be naïve. Otherwise you'll be at a disadvantage."

Information Minister Dr. Pe Myint said it was too early to say what the ministry's response would be, as he had no information about the proceedings that were being brought against the pair.

"We try to help as much as we can when journalists have problems," he said at Karen New Year Celebrations in Naypyitaw on Monday.

Presidential spokesperson U Zaw Htay confirmed to The Irrawaddy over the weekend that the President's Office backed the charging of the reporters.

The Information Ministry's initial online and print reporting of the incident featured photos of the two journalists in handcuffs standing behind a table with their faces visible, provoking the ire of non-state media. It is customary to obscure the faces of criminal suspects in photographs.

Ministry Permanent Secretary U Myo Myint Maung said the news report came directly from the Home Affairs Ministry, and the Information Ministry did not have the authority to change it.

"Rather than arguing about whether the publication of the photo was right or wrong, I think it is best to reduce the negative impacts of it by following media ethics," U Myo Myint Maung said.

Ko Thalun Zaung Htet from the Yangon-based Protection Committee for Journalists (Myanmar) accused the Information Ministry of aiding and abetting the Home Affairs Ministry in its suppression of media freedoms by speaking up for it.

"What help can we expect from the Information Ministry since they didn't even obscure the faces of the journalists?" he asked, adding that even the faces of murder suspects are obscured in reports.

To protest the reporters' detention, the committee on Saturday announced it was launching a campaign to symbolically support the pair by having journalists wear black while performing their duties.

"Reporters will wear black when reporting and producing news to symbolically represent the suppression of press freedom and the blacking out of information," the committee said.

The Myanmar Press Council will issue its response to the arrests this week, said U Thiha Saw, a spokesperson for the council.

"Access to information is very limited here. It's because this is case relating to information gathering. We'll wait and see," said former Reuters journalist U Aung Hla Tun. The two journalists have been detained incommunicado.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week that the arrests were a sign that press freedom is being eroded in Myanmar. He urged the international community to do all it can to get them released. Their families have been denied access to the duo. Reuters president and editor-in-chief Stephen J. Adler insisted the two are "innocent of any wrongdoing."

"Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are journalists who perform a crucial role in shedding light on news of global interest, and they are innocent of any wrongdoing," he said in a statement. "We are grateful for the widespread expressions of support and we call for their immediate release."

According to sources from Rakhine State, police are investigating four teachers and a villager in Maungdaw who allegedly spoke to the Reuters reporters.

In August, Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein lodged a complaint with the Myanmar Press Council over a Reuters report questioning the cost of the minister's deals with Chinese automaker Yutong to purchase buses for Yangon Bus Service (YBS) as part of his public transport reform initiatives.

The Union government has also questioned Reuters' coverage of the Rakhine issue, accusing it of deliberately failing to include the government's views in its reports.

"Only international pressure and clever lawyers will be able to save the reporters," U Win Htein said.

Translated from the Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The Irrawaddy's Tin Htet Paing contributed reporting.

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Fighting in Kachin State Heats Up

Posted: 19 Dec 2017 02:31 AM PST

YANGON — Fighting in Kachin State between the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, has intensified in recent days, according to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

The latest round of clashes erupted in late November.

Colonel Naw Bu, spokesman for the KIA, said he did not know how many people have been killed or injured in the latest fighting but added that there have been daily clashes with regular shelling by the Tatmadaw in the townships of Bhamo, Mansi and Tanai.

He said the Tatmadaw was shelling near Laiza, the headquarters of the KIO, on Dec. 14 and 15 and that it deployed fighter jets against KIA sites in Mansi a few days ago.

The fighting has driven many local villagers from their homes, especially in Tanai, forcing them to stay with relatives or to seek shelter in churches and monasteries, as local government officials have blocked the creation of more camps for displaced families since August.

"The continuous fighting has made travel for locals difficult," added Lamai Gum Ja, spokesman for the non-government Peace Creation Group in Myitkyina, the state capital.

Col Naw Bu said the latest fighting cast further doubt on the prospects of peace talks between the KIO and government.

"Our aims are different even though high-level officers on both sides are talking about peace, so we cannot move forward with negotiations," he said.

Before the NLD took power early last year, the Peace Creation Group helped prevent clashes by providing each side with advance notice of the other's troop movements.

"But now the path to negotiate for both sides is disappearing," said Lamai Gum Ja,

Since hostilities between the Tatmadaw and KIA resumed in 2011, he said, fighting has typically intensified every December.

Last week, police raided the offices of the KIO's Technical Assistance Team in Myitkyina in connection with the seizure of more than 1,000 bullets earlier this month at a private residence in Karen State. The couple renting the residence was arrested in Myitkyina, where they live.

Spokesmen for the Tatmadaw could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

However, in a Facebook post on Friday, the Office of the Commander-in-Chief said the army had to continue operations in the area because of recent activity it blamed on the KIA, including a landmine blast on Dec. 14 that injured one man at an amber mine and the burning of nine trucks transporting dirt near Dun Bum village on Dec. 15 for allegedly failing to pay the KIA extortion money.

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Endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin Found Dead

Posted: 19 Dec 2017 02:26 AM PST

MANDALAY — An endangered Irrawaddy dolphin was found dead near Katha Township, Sagaing Region by local fishermen on Sunday.

The female dolphin had cuts on her abdomen. She was found washed up on a riverbank near Kyauk Pone village.

"Her organs spilled out from the cuts. It did not look like a propeller injury. The cuts looked intentional, whether they killed her or happened after she was already dead," said U Kyaw, one of the locals that discovered the body.

The Irrawaddy dolphin measured 7'6" and is the third one to have died this year.

In April, a male dolphin was found dead with injuries on his fins believed to have been caused by a boat's propeller. In June, a 30-year-old female was found dead with no injuries, the cause of death thought to be natural causes.

Although the cause of the latest death is unknown, local environmental activists point to electric-shock fishing, a major threat to this endangered species.

Electric-shock fishing, especially in the Irrawaddy River's protective zone, is prohibited by the Freshwater Fisheries Law enacted by the Department of Fisheries. Violators face three years in prison or a 300,000 kyats fine.

"The government and responsible authorities need a strict law, rules and regulation that can protect these endangered species effectively," said U Mg Mg Oo, a member of the local environmental activist group Green Activity.

"Fishermen who use electric-shock fishing do not care about the law and they even attack those who report or arrest them. Apart from electric-shock fishing, we also need an effective law to prevent pollution of the river," he added.

According to statistics from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), in 2012 there were only 86 Irrawaddy dolphins. By 2014, the population was just 63. In 2015, 58 were counted in the protective zone, which spans from Mandalay to Bhamo.

The population of dolphins was counted as 65 in 2016, despite three dolphins, including a pregnant female, being found dead that year.

According to the WCS's survey in February this year, 69 dolphins were found in the protective zone. That number now stands at 66 after the three deaths this year.

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Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 18 Dec 2017 11:06 PM PST

Golden Oldies | Dec. 23

Myanmar's veteran male singers including Soe Paing, J Maung Maung, Khin Maung Htoo, and Jack Mya Thaung will perform at this show.

Dec. 23, 6 pm. National Theater, Myoma Kyaung Street. Tickets 7,000 to 20,000 kyats at Mann Thiri Recording and Call Center 1876.

Wyne Su Khine Thein: Birthday Show | Dec. 24

Wyne Su Khine Thein will perform along with other singers to celebrate her birthday.

Dec. 24, 7 pm. Thuwunnabhumi Event Park, Upper Pazundaung Street, Thuwunna Tsp. Tickets between 10,000 and 100,000 kyats at City Mart and Ocean shopping centers.

Myanmar Writers Club Fundraising Concert | Dec. 24

More than a dozen of Myanmar's celebrated singers including Mar Mar Aye, Than Myat Soe, Cho Pyone, Shwe Yi Thein Tan, Soe Sandar Tun, A Yoe, and Phyo Pyae Sone will perform at this event.

Dec. 24, 6 pm. National Theater, Myoma Kyaung Street. Tickets 5,000 to 30,000 kyats at City Mart Marketplaces. 

Musical Show | Dec. 22

Myanmar traditional musicians will perform at this event.

Dec. 22, 6 pm. IBC Grand Ballroom, Pyay Road, Tickets 10,000 to 30,000 kyats at 09-965113035.

Colorful NUAC | Dec. 20-28

Students of the National University of Arts and Culture will showcase their paintings.

Dec. 20-28. Ayerwon Art Gallery, No. 903/904, U Ba Kyi Street, 58 Ward, Dagon Seikkan Tsp.

Building a Successful Career in the Retail Industry | Dec. 24

Successful businessmen will talk about trends and job opportunities in the retail industry at this event.

Dec. 24, 1 pm to 5:30 pm. UMFCCI Building, Min Ye Kyaw Swa Road, Lanmadaw Tsp.

Cosmetic Festival | Dec. 23-25

Various brands of cosmetics will be on sale with up to 70 percent discounts.

Dec. 23-25. 9 am to 6 pm. Tatmadaw Hall, U Wisara Road.

Artistic Touch II | Dec. 22-25

The group art exhibition of 14 artists features various subjects.

Dec. 22-25, 43rd Art Gallery, 43rd Street, Botahtaung Tsp.

A Tale of Family | Dec 15-24

The art exhibition features modern paintings of three artists.

Dec. 15-24, Junction City.

Pages Art Exhibition | Dec. 20-24

This is a group art exhibition of painters from South Okkalapa Township.

Dec. 20-24. Myanmar Artists and Artisans Organization (Central), Bogyoke Market.

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Monday, December 18, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

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Despite High Operating Costs, CEO of Yangon’s New Bus System Remains Optimistic

Posted: 18 Dec 2017 12:34 AM PST

YANGON— Dubbed one of the first big reforms made by the National League for Democracy government in Myanmar's financial hub Yangon, a new public transport system known as the Yangon Bus System (YBS) will turn one next month.

The new system was aimed at replacing the former capital's old bus service—the Rangoon Motor Vehicles Supervisory Committee, also known as Ma Hta Tha—notorious for its worn-out fleets, unruly drivers, and conductors known for verbally and physically challenging any passengers who dared complain about their services.

Blessed by Yangon Regional Government head Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein, YBS was heartily welcomed by the city's commuters who had grown weary of Ma Hta Tha's poor services despite its successor's bumpy start. The early days of YBS saw an insufficient number of buses traversing the routes, resulting in overcrowding at bus stops, as some buses scheduled to start on the first day of the service were not ready due to insufficient planning.

Nearly 12 months later, with newly imported yellow and red city buses plying the busy roads of Yangon, the regional government seems committed to making the new system a success.

At the helm of YBS is its CEO, Saw Bo Bo. A former cooperate banker at Citi and KBZ banks, the 35-year old has more than 10 years of international business experience. At Citibank, he closely followed Myanmar's economic and political transformation as part of his job grading the country's credit rating in 2014 and 2015. One of his areas of expertise is mergers and acquisitions, an aspect of strategic management that involves combining companies and unlocking synergies to help the new entity grow in a sustainable manner—making Saw Bo Bo a good choice for YBS, a public company made up of 15 units, including government firms.

On the eve of YBS's first anniversary, Saw Bo Bo responds to The Irrawaddy's questions about the bus system that is currently used by the city's 2.5 million commuters on a daily basis.

What is your assessment of YBS today?

The most visible thing is commuters are enjoying the new buses. You can say our bus fare—200 kyats—is probably the cheapest in the world. The government has imported 1,000 new buses. Another 1,000 will join the fleet next year. We have also taken serious action against those (drivers, bus owners, operators) who violate our regulations. As we have opened a diverse range of complaint channels—social media, call center and a mobile reporting app—passengers can now file their complaints much more easily than before. As a result, we have had some 5,000 reports. We take action on those complaints—in a real time manner if needed—lest we disappoint our passengers. Mobile teams are now in action to check to see if bus operators follow the regulations.

How many buses are running under YBS? Please tell me in detail how the government invests money in the system.

So far, there are 95 lines. The number of buses approved by the government is nearly 3,000. Under YBS, there are 15 bus companies and 17 individual operators. The Yangon Regional Government has provided 80 percent of the needed investment, or 35 billion kyats each in Yangon Urban Public Transportation Public Co., Ltd (YUPT) and Yangon Bus Public Co., Ltd. (YBPC). We imported 1,000 yellow buses—500 for each company—at a cost of US$56 million from China. Currently, both companies are running fleets of 700 buses. Another 300 will hit the road soon.

Why Chinese buses? There has been criticism that those buses are about half the price of international rivals and they will wear out and need to be replaced sooner than international standard vehicles.

We had to think holistically before the purchase. The price gap is true. On the other hand, we also had to think how much we could invest and the number of buses we would need. Whether they wear out sooner depends on the road conditions as well as the maintenance they get. If we reach breakeven in the next five or six years and manage to turn a net profit in another four years, I think we'll have a sustainable business with those buses.

The grandson of former dictator Ne Win is also an operator of YBS. There are also reports that another tycoon, U Zaw Zaw of Max Myanmar, is joining in. Please explain their involvement?

Omni Focus Company run by U Kyaw Ne Win has applied to run 500 red buses. So far, more than 100 buses owned by the company are on the road. Max Myanmar will operate as Ludu Mateswe (People's Friend) in cooperation with Power Eleven Company. They will run 500 red buses as well soon.

What are the challenges YBS is facing?

Bus operators still can't manage the operational cost. It has impacted their profit margins as 75 percent of the revenue goes to covering costs. If we could raise operational efficiency, it would be OK. With the guidance of the chief minister and cooperation from the operators, this problem can be overcome.

Has Daw Aung San Suu Kyi made any comments about YBS?

I just met her on Friday at a Karen New Year Day celebration event. She told me to make YBS successful. Given the system's outreach—2.5 million commuters mostly at the grass root level— all of Myanmar's leadership will surely want to see it as a success story.

YBS is under the Yangon Region Transport Authority (YRTA), an umbrella organization for transportation in Yangon. We learned that an YRTA law has been drafted. Any updates?

Yes, it's now underway with input from JICA (the Japan International Cooperation Agency) and the ADB (Asian Development Bank) based on models other countries are using. It will lay a foundation for self-sustainability for the future of Yangon's transportation as it will include organizational structures, roles and responsibilities in detail. For YBS, for example, the law will help provide a more systematic approach when it comes to job scopes and contract terms for the operators.

How is it running currently in absence of the law?

The YRTA is chaired by Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein. The president is Electricity, Industry and Transportation Minister Daw Nilar Kyaw. For YBS policies, they are discussed at YRTA meetings and implemented with the endorsement by the Yangon Region Government.

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Young Filmmaker Counters LGBT Stereotypes

Posted: 17 Dec 2017 08:17 PM PST

Hnin Pa Pa Soe was about 12 when she realized she was more interested in girls than boys. But it would be more than 10 years before she would come out to anyone.

Social norms surrounding female behavior were so strong that, even as a child, she sensed that telling anyone about her feelings could have negative consequences.

"I kept it to myself to avoid mockery," she said, referring to the most common reaction in Myanmar toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, whose image tends to be shaped by the stereotyped characters in comedy shows and movies.

These days the 26-year-old uses documentary film as a tool to tell the stories of people who have shared her struggle. Her films counter the mischaracterization of LGBT people in mainstream entertainment in Myanmar.

"I want to show that LGBT people everywhere contribute to society," she said.

Social Outcast

Transgender women and gay men in particular are usually portrayed as wacky and flamboyantly dressed characters who shamelessly hit on men and use vulgar language. Lesbians are shown as relentless pursuers of women, Hnin Pa Pa Soe said.

In Hnin Pa Pa Soe's hometown in Mon State, movies and traditional dance shows were the mediums through which most people encountered LGBT "people." Growing up, she feared being lumped in with these characters and called a "dyke."

She had very few friends at school. Her childhood memories are mostly of discrimination and being left out.

"Teachers told us that tomboys dressed like boys and hung out with boys, but that eventually they all fall pregnant and 'turn into' girls," Hnin Pa Pa Soe said. She recalled how tomboys, too, were generally viewed through the prism of movies. "I hid my feelings," she said.

Her boyish taste in clothing saw her singled out. "I was constantly being called 'tomboy' and 'bull dyke'. After a while I withdrew," she said.

During school fairs or ceremonies, her teachers told her that there was no role or place for her and left her to take care of the empty classroom.

Panel discussion about freedom of expression at Wathann Film Festival in September. Left to right: Festival co-founder Thaid Dhi, director Hnin Pa Pa Soe, Hla Myat Tun of Colors Rainbow and writer Han San. (Photo: Tin Htet Paing/ The Irrawaddy)

Journey of Self-Discovery

Nearly two years ago she came out—but only to a few trusted people. Most importantly, she took an important step on her journey of self-discovery when she found a way to tell "a simple love story" about two transgender friends.

In 2016, having realized she was an LGBT person while interning for Equality Myanmar, a human rights advocacy group, she felt a desire to show the public that LGBT people are not the way they are portrayed in comedies.

Thanks to documentary filmmaking workshops organized by Colors Rainbow, the biggest LGBT organization in Myanmar, Hnin Pa Pa Soe was able to make her debut short film, "A Simple Love Story." The piece won the Best Documentary Film prize at the Wathann Film Festival, which showcases local independent film, in September. Despite the award, however, the film was not screened at the festival because Hnin Pa Pa Soe refused to bow to the Censorship Board's demand that the ending be changed.
At the center of the film is a love story between a transgender woman and a transgender man that challenges norms surrounding gender identity and love. The censor was unhappy with the final line of the film: "Does love recognize 'man', 'woman', 'tomboy' or 'shemale'?"

The censor advised that the closing line be re-edited for screening at the festival, but Hnin Pa Pa Soe decided that if it were not her version, she would rather not show it.

"The Censorship Board's demand really upset me," she said. "The line [the board] wanted me to modify does not involve vulgar language of the kind they routinely allow in comedies," she said.

Being LGBT herself, she said, she would never insult her own community and was willing to accept full responsibility for her portrayal of LGBT people.

"My stance was firm," she said. "I won't show it if [the original version] is not allowed. I won't modify it."

Hnin Pa Pa Soe is currently making a documentary about the struggles of LGBT people in the workplace. She said LGBT employees are left out of the conversation whenever gender disparity in the workplace is discussed, because they don't conform to gender norms.

Hnin Pa Pa Soe said her goal now is to try to represent the many diverse faces of the LGBT community in Myanmar, to show that they exist in places where many people wouldn't expect to find them.

Hnin Pa Pa Soe poses for a portrait. (Photo: Tin Htet Paing/ The Irrawaddy)

Coming Out to Parents Is Something Very Different

Asked what she would have done with her life if she had not become a human rights trainer and filmmaker, Hnin Pa Pa Soe said she might have continued her studies to obtain a master's degree or become a teacher, which is what her parents wanted her to do. The only reason she didn't do these things was the regulation that female students must wear the traditional female garment, the longyi, at high schools and universities—something she was very uncomfortable with.

As a young woman who liked to wear T-shirts and pants, Hnin Pa Pa Soe struggled with the issue of clothing throughout high school and university.

"When I wore longyi at university, I would try to stay seated," she said. "All day I was just waiting for class to finish. I couldn't concentrate on my lessons."

She tried to alter her clothing, but it was impossible, and she ended up transferring into a distance-learning program that didn't require her to attend daily classes. Importantly, she could wear what she liked during the rest of the time.

"When I am wearing something I don't feel comfortable with, I withdraw, feeling inconsequential," she said.
She rarely visits her hometown, which she left in 2016 to participate in an internship program at Equality Myanmar's office in Mandalay.

"There is no place for me there," she said.

While she has come out to colleagues and a few liberal-minded people, she remains emotionally distant from her family. Her parents just think that she likes wearing boys' clothing; they don't know that she likes women.

Hnin Pa Pa Soe wants her parents to understand her gender identity, but also thinks it's better not to tell them at this time, as she knows how hard it would be for them to accept her.

"There would be conflict if I told them who I am," she said. "I am not necessarily hiding it from them; they will know when they know."

Hnin Pa Pa Soe plans to keep advocating human rights and LGBT issues. She believes that the more people she reaches out to, the fewer people will have to experience the kind of resistance she has.

"When people are able to accept their own identities, they are empowered to improve their lives," she said.

The post Young Filmmaker Counters LGBT Stereotypes appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Wields Colonial-era Law Against Reuters Journalists

Posted: 17 Dec 2017 08:04 PM PST

Myanmar has accused Reuters reporters Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, of breaching the country’s Official Secrets Act, a little-used hangover from colonial rule. Sam Zarifi, secretary general of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), said the law can ensnare working journalists “at any time”.

The two reporters were arrested on Tuesday evening after they were invited to meet police officers for dinner in the north of Yangon.

The Ministry of Information said they had “illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media”, and published a photo of the pair in handcuffs standing behind a table with documents laid on it.

ORIGINS OF THE OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT

The law dates back to 1923, when Myanmar, then known as Burma, was a province of British India. At the time British administrators worried that rival powers could seek to exploit anti-colonial unrest in its South Asian empire.

The act, which amended earlier anti-spying legislation, was controversial in India even at the time, according to a history published in 2009 by the United Service Institution of India, a New Delhi-based think tank.

British military officers pushed for the stronger law over concerns about an “increase in Bolshevik activity”, along with geopolitical threats including “the possibility of racial war between Japan and the USA affecting India”, the history said.

WHAT THE ACT SAYS

The Official Secrets Act covers trespassing in prohibited areas, handling documents deemed secret and communicating with “foreign agents”. It carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Zarifi of the Geneva-based ICJ – a human rights group made up of 60 senior international judges, lawyers and legal academics – said the definition of an official secret in the act is “incredibly broad”.

“Just about anyone in possession of unpublished government documents could find themselves facing prosecution and the harsh penalties a conviction may carry,” Zarifi said. “Under this law many good journalists could be prosecuted at any time.”

In India, where the same law also remains on the statute book, courts have ruled that it even applies to parliamentary papers such as budget proposals if they are leaked before they are presented in the legislature.

USE OF THE ACT

Legal experts say prosecutions under the act have been rare in Myanmar in recent decades.

The military junta that ruled until 2011 frequently used other laws or the Penal Code – also inherited from the colonial era – to lock up its critics alongside common criminals. The sprawling code was drafted in 1860, and gives magistrates more than 500 sections under which to charge alleged offenders.

In 1990, a military court sentenced two leaders of the then opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) to 10 years in prison under the Official Secrets Act after they passed an official letter to foreign embassies. The prosecution was part of a broad crackdown following an election won by the NLD that the junta ignored.

They were freed in 1992, in an amnesty, according to a New York Times report at the time.

Reports of at least two other cases brought under the act are recorded in the online archives of the Asian Human Rights Commission in 2009 and 2010.

The first case involved a man jailed for trespassing on military land and recording video footage to allegedly send abroad. He had been helping a farmer file a land grab complaint against the military. The second concerned a former army officer who was jailed in 2010 for allegedly having secret information on his laptop that he passed to foreign news agencies.

The most well-documented recent case involving the Official Secrets Act came in January of 2014, when the Yangon-based weekly, Unity Journal, published a front page article it said exposed a secret chemical weapons factory run by the military in central Myanmar.

Police arrested the newspaper’s CEO and four journalists involved in publishing the story, raided its offices, and attempted to seize all copies of the edition from newsstands.

A civilian court in Pakkoku, near the alleged factory, sentenced them in July 2014 to 10 years in prison with hard labour – later reduced to seven years. The case was widely seen by the domestic media as a warning that military affairs remained off-limits even though direct military rule had ended.

The Unity five were released in an amnesty in April 2016, soon after the NLD, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, had come to power following an election in 2015.

The Unity Journal subsequently closed.

Reuters was unable to reach government legal officials over the weekend to request details of any other past cases in which the Official Secrets Act was used.

THE LATEST CASE

Little is known of the allegations against the two Reuters journalists, other than that police said they were “arrested for possessing important and secret government documents related to Rakhine State and security forces” and are charged under Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act.

Two policemen are also being investigated in the case, according to police.

Section 3 covers entering prohibited places, taking images or handling secret official documents that “might be or is intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy”.

Human Rights Watch in 2016 said Section 3 “defines the offence of 'spying' extremely broadly”.

“Where a military establishment is involved, section 3(2) of the statute effectively places the burden on the defendant to prove that they are not guilty,” the group said.

The post Myanmar Wields Colonial-era Law Against Reuters Journalists appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

UN Human Rights Official Toughens Warning of “Genocide” in Myanmar

Posted: 17 Dec 2017 07:55 PM PST

GENEVA — The top U.N. human rights official has said he would not be surprised if a court one day ruled that acts of genocide had been committed against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar, according to a television interview to be shown on Monday.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein told the BBC that attacks on the Rohingya had been “well thought out and planned” and he had asked Myanmar’s leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to do more to stop the military action.

Zeid has already called the campaign “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” and asked rhetorically if anyone could rule out “elements of genocide”, but his latest remarks put the case plainly, toughening his stance.

"The elements suggest you cannot rule out the possibility that acts of genocide have been committed," he said, according to excerpts of his interview provided in advance by the BBC.

"It's very hard to establish because the thresholds are high," he said. "But it wouldn't surprise me in the future if the court were to make such a finding on the basis of what we see."

Myanmar denies committing atrocities against the Rohingya and has previously rejected U.N. criticism for its “politicisation and partiality”. The Myanmar military says the crackdown is a legitimate counter-insurgency operation.

Zeid said Myanmar’s “flippant” response to the serious concerns of the international community made him fear the current crisis "could just be the opening phases of something much worse".

He told the BBC he feared jihadi groups could form in the huge refugee camps in Bangladesh and even launch attacks in Myanmar, perhaps targeting Buddhist temples there.

He did not say, in the excerpts provided, which court could prosecute suspected atrocities. Myanmar is not a member of the International Criminal Court, so referral to that court could be done only by the U.N. Security Council. But Myanmar’s ally China could veto such a referral.

The United Nations defines genocide as acts meant to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group in whole or in part. Such a designation is rare under international law, but has been used in contexts including Bosnia, Sudan and an Islamic State campaign against the Yazidi communities in Iraq and Syria.

Almost 870,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh, including about 660,000 who arrived after Aug. 25, when Rohingya militants attacked security posts and the Myanmar army launched a counter-offensive.

U.N. investigators have heard Rohingya testimony of a “consistent, methodical pattern of killings, torture, rape and arson”.

Zeid said he had phoned Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in January, asking her in vain to stop the the military operation.

The Nobel peace laureate's less than two-year old civilian government has faced heavy international criticism for its response to the crisis, though it has no control over the generals it has to share power with under Myanmar's transition after decades of military rule.

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