Monday, March 12, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Public Lacks Understanding of Gov’t Finances, Groups Say

Posted: 12 Mar 2018 07:57 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – The Myanmar public needs to be better educated about budget information, civil society organizations said, as such information plays a key role in their advocacy, development and humanitarian support work.

As part of this awareness campaign, the national development organization Local Resource Centre (LRC) and the international development organization Asia Foundation co-organized the State Budget Transparency Forum in Naypyitaw on March 10-11.

The forum was aimed at informing CSO workers, lawmakers and public servants about the need to increase budget transparency, boosting their knowledge of public financial management and strengthening cooperation among the various states and regions of Myanmar, the two groups said in a press release.

"The Public Accounts Committee also shared its view, developed at discussion forums we have held since last year, that state and regional lawmakers should work with CSOs to ensure transparency in budgeting," said U Nyi Nyi Aung, the LRC's programme director.

In recent years, Myanmar's reforms to improve fiscal transparency have led to the establishment of new institutions such as the Public Accounts Committee and the Treasury Department at the Union level, as well as new practices such as the publication of citizens' budgets at the state and regional levels and dissemination of the Union Budget Law on the Ministry of Finance website.

The Asia Foundation and the LRC have conducted a series of budget transparency forums at the state and regional levels since 2017. The first was held in Yangon in December of that year; over 50 people from CSOs in Bago and Magwe regions and Rakhine and Kayah states participated. They discussed the roles of CSOs in public finance management, ways to improve budget transparency and issues related to gender and disability.

In January, the second and third forums were conducted in Mandalay and Mawlamyine. In Mandalay, CSOs from Sagaing region, Shan, Chin and Kachin states participated, while the Mawlamyine event drew CSOs from Yangon and Tanintharyi regions and Mon and Karen states.

U Nyi Nyi Aung said the forums had raised the "awareness of the participants, including regional lawmakers and civil society representatives, about how to access the budget and about existing laws. It also made the CSOs aware of the process, and how to take part."

He said the goal is for the public and the CSOs to become conscious that "civic participation is the key to monitoring any abuses in the budget expenditures, so that we can help to decrease corruption and ensure the accountability of the government."

As the state budget is now based on taxation — despite tax receipts still being relatively rare — the public is becoming more interested in getting budget information, U Nyi Nyi Aung said.

"But there is so much more that needs to be done, because some state and regional governments have not been able to release citizens' budgets, while a few others [states/regions] have," he said. "The parliamentarians told us that the long process and time limitations are some of the challenges they are facing."

On Sunday, the forum saw the launch of two research reports: "Attitudes Towards Taxation in Myanmar: Insights from Urban Citizens" and "Budget Monitoring and Oversight System in Myanmar" by the Asia Foundation.

"Attitudes Towards Taxation in Myanmar" was based on the City Life Survey conducted in five urban areas in Yangon, Paan in Karen state and Taunggyi in Shan State in 2017. It found that people are "not strongly anti-tax" and that urban people, who are generally more knowledgeable than rural populations, consider paying income, commercial and property taxes as fair.

However, "Urban residents prefer a progressive tax system whereby the rich pay more of their income as tax than the poor," according to a summary of the study's findings. "At the same time, Myanmar's urban citizens have a poor understanding of the tax system," it adds.

The post Public Lacks Understanding of Gov't Finances, Groups Say appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Kachin Designers Stage Fashion Show for Charity

Posted: 12 Mar 2018 05:07 AM PDT

YANGON — Eight well-known Kachin designers will join the One1ness Kachin Charity Fashion Show later this month to raise money for people in Kachin and Shan states displaced by war and natural disasters.

The show is being organized by the Ma Naw Ah Hla Charity Group and will take place on March 25 at Taw Win Garden from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

"The Ma Naw Ah Hla Charity Group includes Kachin singers, models and fashion designers, and we intend to donate to all kinds of people who need help," said L Khun Yi, the group’s president.

"Yes, we are a Kachin charity group, but we are willing to help other ethnic groups as well. That's why this time we plan to go to Shan State and support the people who need help," she said.

Models sporting some of the creations of the designers in the show. / Supplied

The fashion designers joining the show include Y Stone (Yaw Bawn), Mr. Jet (Laiza), Ahlatt Lummuyang, Lazing Gamhtoi, Seng Latt (Maka), Htu Aung Gunhtang, Zau Send (Man Made) and Ah Put. Some 50 models will be sporting their creations.

Kachin singers L Sai Zi, L Loon War, N Kai Yar and others will also perform at the event.

"This is the second time I am participating in this event, and I'm so happy that I can help people with my design knowledge thanks to everyone who is helping us with this event," said Y Stone.

Tickets are 10,000 kyat and 20,000 kyat per person. The organizers will inform the public where to buy tickets later.

The post Kachin Designers Stage Fashion Show for Charity appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

U Win Tin’s Lasting Legacy

Posted: 12 Mar 2018 03:54 AM PDT

U Win Tin, who died four years ago, would have been 88 today. On his birthday, The Irrawaddy looks back on the enduring legacy of the beloved democracy activist, journalist and long-time political prisoner, who lives on as an emblem of persistence and bravery for those seeking true democratic change in Myanmar.

He spent 19 years in prison for his opposition to the former military regime, but his principles never wavered. With this article from The Irrawaddy archives, originally published on April 22, 2014, we revisit what it was he stood for and his relevance today.

Burma has much to learn from the life of veteran journalist and pro-democracy activist Win Tin, a man of courage and integrity who passed away on Monday morning while seeking care for several health ailments at a general hospital in Rangoon.

The 84-year-old was a founding member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. She called him "a man of courage and integrity" and said he was instrumental in spearheading the country's democracy movement.

But for any oppressive government, Win Tin was a great enemy. Due to his political activities, the former regime put him in jail for nearly two decades, tortured him, withheld medical treatment and confiscated his home. When they eventually released him in 2008, they demanded that he remain on parole. Still, despite their pressure, he never backed down from his principles.

While in prison, Win Tin created a motto, known in Burmese as Suu Hlut Twe, which laid out a simple and suitable path toward democracy. If Burma's ruling leaders are even remotely serious about their current reform process, they would do well to take his message to heart.

Suu stands for Suu Kyi and the release of all political prisoners. Hlut, a shortening of the Burmese word Hluttaw, or parliament, refers to the assembly of a national legislature with representatives who were chosen in the 1990 election, which the NLD won by landslide. Twe, the Burmese word for "meeting," refers to political dialogue between the ruling government and opposition groups.

This motto was quickly embraced by political prisoners and opposition politicians, but calls for Suu Hlut Twe fell on deaf ears within the former military regime, led by dictator Snr-Gen Than Shwe. Today under President Thein Sein, the dictator's hand-picked leader for a reformist government, some progress has been made on the first of Win Tin's three principles. Since 2011, nearly 2,000 political prisoners have been released from jail, although some remain behind bars.

The second principle, Hlut, has never fully come to fruition. The results of the 1990 election were nullified by Than Shwe's regime, which subsequently rigged the 2010 elections to ensure that the majority of seats in Parliament were filled by representatives of the ruling party. Still, free and fair by-elections in 2012 saw Suu Kyi and other NLD members earn 43 seats in the legislature, moving somewhat closer toward Win Tin's vision.

Political dialogue, the last principle, is the most important. Opposition groups have called repeatedly to negotiate with ruling leaders over the past two decades, with support from the United Nations and others in the international community, but political dialogue has yet to occur. In dealing with ethnic groups, Naypyidaw continues to delay substantive talks about political issues, saying it must first secure a nationwide ceasefire. Meanwhile, Suu Kyi's requests for four-way talks with Thein Sein, the army chief and the speaker of Parliament have been ignored, in an embarrassing show of the government's shaky commitment to reform.

Perhaps we should look elsewhere for advice on these matters. In particular, the Burmese today can learn from South Africa's struggle to dismantle the apartheid system. During a speech in 2012 at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, former South African President F.W. de Klerk shared how he and Nelson Mandela worked to adopt their country's first fully democratic constitution in late 1993. He offered five lessons for transitioning to democracy.

"First, if you want to break out of the cycle of violence, if you want to lay the foundations for a more prosperous society, if you want to democratize, then the departure point is that leaders must become convinced that fundamental change is necessary," he said.

The movement to end apartheid eventually won support from both black and white leaders in South Africa. But in Burma, despite some progress over the past three years, the government does not seem convinced that fundamental change is necessary, especially since limited reforms have already won praise from the international community.

"Secondly," de Klerk said, "any new dispensation will best succeed if it is based on agreements forged in inclusive negotiations. Why do I put the emphasis on 'inclusive' negotiations? In most conflicts there are many parties involved in the conflict, with different agendas, with different concerns, with different fears and different aspirations.

"And only if you reach an agreement based on a broad consensus—one that is inclusive of an overwhelming majority of the population, who then say, 'We take ownership of this new constitution, of the principles of this agreement reached in negotiations'—can you be sure that it will last."

In a third and related point, the former president said, "Such negotiations, and the agreements reached as the result of negotiation, must accommodate the reasonable concerns and aspirations of the parties to the conflict. This means sacrifice from all sides. It means that the negotiation process should not end with victor and vanquished. The point I want to make is the negotiations must be on a give-and-take basis. Everyone has to have some pain, but everyone also has to get some satisfaction out of the negotiations."

In Burma, inclusiveness is scant. There is no give and take in negotiations, as the government allows only limited input from opposition and ethnic groups.

Fourth, de Klerk said it was necessary to "strike a balance between unity and diversity."

"The challenge is how to accommodate diversity, how to manage diversity. And if you want to resolve the problems, if you want to bring peace to those countries in transition, you need to strike a balance between unity and diversity," he said. "Important minorities need to feel that they are not marginalized, that they are recognized as important constituent parts of the whole."

This is a complicated issue for Burma, a country comprising many ethnic minority groups which have fought against the government for several decades. The ruling party remains unwilling to establish a federal system, as ethnic groups have requested.

Finally, de Klerk spoke about finding a formula for dealing with past political crimes.

"In many countries there is one big stumbling block to successful negotiation. It is one that prevents leaders from taking initiative to change the situation, to move toward democracy, toward greater freedom. It can be summed up in two questions: 'But if I lose power, will I go to jail? Will there be retribution against me?'" he said.

Burma's former generals definitely live in a similar state of fear, as do the country's current military leaders, government officials and lawmakers from the ruling party. In this regard, the option of a mass amnesty might be discussed during political dialogue between the government and opposition groups, following in the footsteps of negotiations in South Africa. Opposition leaders here would likely be willing to let go of desires for retribution in exchange for full inclusion in a genuine reform process.

But again, this can only happen if political dialogue occurs, which brings us back to the third principle of Win Tin's motto: Twe. Without dialogue, this country will never reach democracy. And unless the ruling leaders, including military leaders, believe that fundamental change is necessary, dialogue will never take place.

Unfortunately, although the ruling leaders who viewed Win Tin as "hard-liner" might shed crocodile tears on his death, they will likely not take his political suggestions seriously. The past three years of reform have offered little indication that the country's military leaders believe in fundamental change.

As a pragmatist, Win Tin understood this, which is why he did not trust Thein Sein's government. During an interview at his home in 2012, the veteran journalist told me that leading members of the current government could be seen as "a bunch of thieves."

He added, "All of us, including journalists, are still in the tunnel. Journalists must break out if there is no exit."

Living alone for many years, even before his arrest, Win Tin seemed to have just one attachment in life: the fight for democracy. "I will try to dismantle the military dictatorship until my final breath, with all my remaining strength and power," he told The Irrawaddy before the 2010 elections.

Until the very end, he stayed true to that promise. With his passing, Burma has lost a great man.

The post U Win Tin’s Lasting Legacy appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

TNLA Claims 3 Kills in Latest Clash with Rival Armed Group

Posted: 12 Mar 2018 01:44 AM PDT

YANGON — The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) says its soldiers killed three members of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and seized some of the rival ethnic armed group’s weapons and ammunition during two days of fighting in northern Shan State.

TNLA spokesman Colonel Tar Aike Kyaw said the two groups clashed on Saturday and Sunday, first along the border between Kyaukme and Namhsan townships — where it says the RCSS was building a new base and its three soldiers were killed — and the next day in Namtu Township.

"They tried to establish a new base in our area of control, so we attacked them to make them leave our area," said Col. Tar Aike Kyaw.

"Some of our members were wounded, but no one was killed," he said.

The TNLA first attacked the RCSS base in January. But is says the Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, attacked its soldiers to help the RCSS and drove them back.

Col. Tar Aike Kyaw said Sunday’s fighting in Namtu broke out when TNLA and RCSS soldiers confronted each other in a local village.

"We told them not to enter our area of control, but they tried to get inside," the spokesman said.

A spokesman for the RCSS, Colonel Sai Oo, said he did not know about the fighting.

The TNLA and RCSS clashed repeatedly in northern Shan State last year, driving hundreds of villagers from their homes. Some have since returned home, but others remain in camps, mostly in Namtu.

The RCSS concentrates its forces mainly in the south of Shan State, near the Thai border. The TNLA accuses the group of deploying more of its soldiers in the north after it signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government and Tatmadaw in 2015, though the RCSS says it has always had soldiers in the area.

The TNLA has not signed the ceasefire agreement and occasionally clashes with the Tatmadaw as well.

The post TNLA Claims 3 Kills in Latest Clash with Rival Armed Group appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Police Arrest Elephant Poaching Ring in Irrawaddy Region

Posted: 12 Mar 2018 12:32 AM PDT

PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Region — The Forestry Police arrested an elephant poaching ring in Irrawaddy Region's Ngapudaw Township on March 9.

Acting on a tip, combined forces from the Forestry Police, Nga Yoke Kaung sub-township police department, the Forestry Department, village administrators and Elephant Emergency Response Units (EERU) cornered the ring in Myittayar Forest Reserve in Ngapudaw Township. Two poachers were arrested and one escaped, local village tract administrator U Kyaw Myint Tun told The Irrawaddy.

"We arrested two hunters with poaching equipment. Another poacher got away, but we are going after him. We are undertaking plans to prevent elephant poaching in our region," he said.

The two hunters who were arrested are respectively from Rakhine State's Taungup Township and Ngapudaw Township. The third poacher from Magwe Region is still at large.

Percussion firearms, metal bolts, iron rods, arrows, gunpowder and more were seized from the poachers, according to the Forestry Police.

"It is important to arrest poachers before they kill an elephant," said Ko Sai Zaw Oo, an official of a local elephant conservation group in Ngapudaw Township.

Equipment used in elephant poaching. / The Irrawaddy

Police have opened a case against the two poachers. Last year, 13 wild elephants were killed in Pathein, Ngapudaw and Thabaung, and Irrawaddy Region remains the main elephant poaching ground in Myanmar.

In February, the European Union urged the Myanmar government to strengthen efforts to protect its wild elephant population, warning that it is on the brink of extinction due to poaching to supply the illegal trade of ivory and skins.

EU ambassadors also urged the Myanmar government to end the open sale of elephant and other illegal wildlife parts in markets in its major cities, at popular tourist sites and along its borders.

According to WWF-Myanmar, at least one elephant is killed by hunters in Myanmar every week. Elephant skin, hair, teeth and ivory are sold at tourist sites such as the Golden Rock (Kyaiktiyo Pagoda in Bago Region), while ivory is sold in Yangon and Mandalay. Large markets also operate in the 'Golden Triangle' border area Myanmar shares with China, Laos and Thailand.

In mid-February, the government launched The Myanmar Elephant Conservation Action Plan (MECAP), a strategy for the next 10 years (2018–27) with the overall aim of securing viable and ecologically functional elephant populations in Myanmar for the next century and beyond with support from international and local organizations.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, 18 wild elephants were poached in 2016, and 30 were killed last year. The current population is estimated at just 1,400-2,000, compared to 10,000 in 1997.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Not Just Theater: US Officials Defend Trump-Kim Meeting

Posted: 11 Mar 2018 10:00 PM PDT

WASHINGTON — US officials on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s decision to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying the move was not just for show and not a gift to Pyongyang.

“President Trump isn’t doing this for theater. He’s going to solve a problem,” said Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo on the “Fox News Sunday” program.

The United States expects North Korea to halt all nuclear and missile testing in advance of any meeting, Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Sunday news shows.

The goal of the meeting remains denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, something Kim has agreed to discuss, they said. Pompeo said US military exercises in the region would continue in the lead-up to the talks.

The Republican president agreed on Thursday to accept an invitation from the North Korean leader to meet by May after months of escalating tensions over Pyongyang’s advancing nuclear and missile programs.

Trump would become the first sitting US president to meet with a leader of the reclusive country. The two men would face each other after a public volley of insults, with Trump calling Kim “Little Rocket Man” and Kim referring to Trump as a “dotard.”

No venue or date for the meeting has been determined, but Trump’s prompt acceptance set off a flurry of activity.

The South Korean officials who carried Kim’s invitation to Washington will split up to visit the leaders of China and Japan this week to update them on the talks, a South Korean presidential official said on Sunday.

China, North Korea’s main ally, has encouraged dialogue over Pyongyang’s nuclear program, and its state media on Saturday credited Beijing for helping ease tensions.

“China continues to be helpful!” Trump tweeted on Saturday.

North Korea’s leaders have sought a face-to-face meeting with a US president for decades but have been rebuffed over human rights concerns as well as the nuclear ambitions.

US student Otto Warmbier died last summer shortly after his release from a 17-month detention. Three Americans remain detained in North Korea.

Many Democrats as well as Trump’s fellow Republicans said the United States should have demanded concessions before granting North Korea a meeting.

“Before they get that kind of prize, we should insist that they make some real changes, verifiable changes to their programs,” Democratic US Senator Elizabeth Warren said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Warren said she was worried the North would “take advantage” of Trump.

“Eyes Wide Open”

Pompeo and Mnuchin said the United States would make no concessions and would keep the pressure on North Korea by maintaining economic sanctions and a strong US defense posture before the meeting. They also dismissed criticism that Trump’s decision to meet elevated the North Korean leader on an international stage.

“This administration has its eyes wide open, and the whole time this conversation takes place the pressure will continue to mount on North Korea,” Pompeo said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

The United States slapped sanctions on individuals and groups in North Korea in October over “flagrant” human rights abuses and added sanctions in February.

Six Republican senators last week sent a letter asking Trump to share his plan to keep up pressure on “this heinous regime.”

One of them, Republican Cory Gardner, told CBS on Sunday it was important to see concrete steps from North Korea before the meeting. “After this meeting, there’s going to be very little left of that diplomatic runway,” he said.

Mnuchin addressed criticism that Trump has not used more diplomacy to contain Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. “So the president is going to sit down and see if he can cut a deal,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The prospect of doing something no American president has done — especially on such an intractable geopolitical problem — was irresistible to Trump, Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer said on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”

“So it’s the first. It’s incredible television. Clearly Trump wants to make this happen,” Bremmer said. “But that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.”

The post Not Just Theater: US Officials Defend Trump-Kim Meeting appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Chinese State Media Defends Removing Presidential Term Limits

Posted: 11 Mar 2018 09:53 PM PDT

BEIJING — Chinese state media on Monday attacked critics of ending presidential term limits, which effectively now allows President Xi Jinping to stay in office indefinitely, saying the key to China’s path was following the Communist Party.

China’s largely rubber stamp Parliament on Sunday overwhelmingly voted to amend the Constitution, scrapping term limits and adding clauses to further strengthen the party’s already dominating role in politics.

In the run-up to the vote, critics on Chinese social media attacked the move and drew parallels to North Korea or suggested a Mao Zedong-type cult of personality was forming. The party only announced the proposals last month.

In an editorial, widely read tabloid the Global Times said Western political theories were of no use to China.

“We are increasingly confident that the key to China’s path lies in upholding strong Party leadership and firmly following the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core,” it said.

“In these years we have seen the rise and decline of countries and particularly the harsh reality that the Western political system doesn’t apply to developing countries and produces dreadful results.”

The official China Daily reiterated a point previously made by the party’s People’s Daily that the amendment did not “imply lifetime tenure for any leader.”

“Yet some people in the West insist otherwise, even though it is only through specious speculation that they claim to know better,” the English-language paper said.

Such people — it did not name names — have a deep-rooted ideological bias against China and have made one failed prediction after another about China, it added.

“Their erroneous judgements are only a litany of short-sighted calumnies against the party and the nation.”

While social media accounts of major state media outlets either disabled their comments section or only made visible comments praising the party, some words of dissent did manage to make it past the censors.

“How is it that socialism which is praised has become a monarchy making law?” wrote one user on the Twitter-like Weibo micro-blogging site.

“Why have they not released the voting tally?” wrote another.

Only two “no” votes were cast, with three abstentions, from almost 3,000 delegates in Parliament.

The US-based group Human Rights in China said there were huge risks in allowing such a concentration of power.

“Ending the two-term limit ignores the painful lesson of the Mao era and exposes the Chinese people again to the massive human suffering, abuses and national catastrophe that could result from unaccountable power concentrated in the hands of one person,” Sharon Hom, the group’s executive director, said in a statement.

The post Chinese State Media Defends Removing Presidential Term Limits appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Sri Lankan Police Ask Who Promoted Violence Against Muslims

Posted: 11 Mar 2018 09:32 PM PDT

KANDY/COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan police said on Friday they were investigating whether 10 suspected ringleaders of a wave of attacks on Muslims by Sinhalese Buddhists had outside funding or foreign help.

The suspected leader of the group, Amith Jeewan Weerasinghe, and nine others were detained on Thursday on suspicion of involvement in attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned properties in the central Kandy district by nationalist crowds.

At least two people have been killed in the clashes, which began on Sunday.

“We are investigating who funded them, their future plans, and whether they have any local political leadership and whether there was any foreign involvement behind this,” police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara told reporters in Colombo.

He said all 10 suspects had been remanded in custody for 14 days and brought to Colombo for questioning. He said three were from Kandy and the other seven from outside the district.

In the 24 hours to 6 a.m. on Friday, six properties were reported to have been damaged while 65 people were arrested across Kandy, Gunasekara said.

A Reuters reporter saw a house in a suburb of the town of Kandy that had been gutted by fire after the owner and his family left in fear of an attack.

Cabinet spokesman Dayasiri Jayasekara said police in some places had failed to carry out orders to curb the violence.

Sri Lanka’s Muslims make up about 9 percent of its 21 million people and mostly live in the east and center of the island. Buddhist Sinhalese account for about 70 percent and ethnic Tamils, most of whom are Hindus, about 13 percent.

Some Buddhist nationalists have protested against the presence in Sri Lanka of Muslim Rohingya asylum-seekers from mostly Buddhist Myanmar, where Buddhist nationalism has also been on the rise.

However, in some areas, Sinhalese have helped Muslims to protect mosques, Muslim community leaders told Reuters.

Hundreds of Sinhalese including monks held a rally against the violence in Colombo on Friday, while many Muslim shopkeepers closed their doors in protest at the attacks.

Police reimposed a curfew in Kandy from 8 p.m. on Friday until 5 a.m. on Saturday.

However, foreign visitors to the town, a prime tourist destination, were to be allowed out in the curfew if they had their passports with them.

Sri Lanka was for decades plagued by war between government forces and Tamil separatists. The government defeated the rebels in 2009.

The post Sri Lankan Police Ask Who Promoted Violence Against Muslims appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Monk Returns to Preaching After Ban, Denies Fueling Rakhine Violence

Posted: 11 Mar 2018 09:24 PM PDT

YANGON — Myanmar Buddhist monk Wirathu said on Saturday his anti-Muslim rhetoric had nothing to do with violence in the western state of Rakhine, as he emerged from a one-year preaching ban.

Wirathu is the most prominent of Myanmar’s hard-line nationalist monks, who have emerged as a political force since the country’s transition from full military rule began in 2011.

Violence has hit Muslim communities across the Buddhist-majority country, but the nationalists’ sharpest vitriol is reserved for the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine, who many see as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, or 'Bengalis."

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since insurgents attacked police and army posts on Aug. 25, sparking a furious military-led response the United Nations has said constituted ethnic cleansing and possibly genocide.

Rakhine was experiencing "terrorism of Bengalis," Wirathu said on Saturday, dismissing claims he had “created” conflict there. He cited the relative peace of his hometown, Mandalay.

“If Wirathu creates conflict, Mandalay would become ash. The world doesn't know this truth,” the monk said, referring to himself at a ceremony in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, to celebrate his return to preaching.

The central Myanmar city of Mandalay was hit by communal riots that killed two people in 2014 after news spread of what turned out to be a false claim that Muslims had raped a Buddhist woman.

Wirathu traveled at least twice in the past year to the violence-hit northern part of Rakhine, despite Myanmar's highest religious authority imposing a one-year preaching ban in March 2017.

The state-linked body’s move was seen as an attempt by the government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to stifle nationalists who threaten to undermine the young administration. Another nationalist monk, Parmaukkha, was released from prison on Friday after serving three months for a 2016 protest against the US government’s use of the word “Rohingya”.

Wirathu reacted to his silencing by posting online photographs of himself with his mouth taped over, and by continuing to post videos and comments online. But his Facebook account has not been accessible in recent months.

Facebook suspends and sometimes removes anyone that "consistently shares content promoting hate," a spokesperson said in response to a question about Wirathu’s account.

“Our community standards prohibit organizations and people dedicated to promoting hatred and violence against others based on their protected characteristics,” the spokesperson said by email.

Wirathu said he would continue his "nationalist work."

“When Facebook shuts (me) off, I rely on YouTube. YouTube is not wide-reaching enough so I will use Twitter to continue the nationalist work,” he said.

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Saturday, March 10, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

This Week in Parliament (March 5-9)

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 10:02 PM PST

Monday (March 5)

In the Lower House, lawmaker U Maung Myint of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) raised an objection to the government's plan to resettle 55 Kaman Muslim households from refugee camps in Kyaukphyu, Pauktaw and Ramree townships in Rakhine State to Yangon. U Maung Myint argued that the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State only recommended that refugees be sent back to their original homes in Rakhine State, and not to Yangon. The Lower House approved debate of his proposal.

The Upper House debated the draft law to amend the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law, arguing that proposed changes would further restrict freedom of expression. Hundreds of political and human rights activists and members of civil society marched in Yangon against the draft law.

Tuesday (March 6)

The Union Parliament approved the president's proposal to sign the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects. Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture Thura U Aung Ko said signing the convention would help Myanmar recover its cultural artifacts that have been smuggled into neighboring countries over the border.

Wednesday (March 7)

The Lower House approved the proposal of lawmaker Dr. A Zin Latt of Shwebo Township, which urged concerned ministries including the Ministry of Health and Sports to adopt a long-term plan to promote health standards at schools in order to turn out healthy and strong youth.

The Upper House voted to approve a set of controversial amendments to the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law despite strong opposition from activists and rights groups that claim the changes would further restrict freedom of expression. The bill passed with 113 lawmakers voting in favor and 78 voting against.

Thursday (March 8)

In the Union Parliament, lawmakers discussed the 2018 Union Taxation Bill. U Soe Thane of Karenni State (9) called for a review of the proposed reduction of tax on tobacco, arguing that tax on alcohol and tobacco are levied not for financial benefit, but for health and social benefits of citizens.

Friday (March 9)

In the Upper House, lawmaker Zaw Lin Htut of Mon State (9) asked the Ministry of Health and Sports if it would train students in cane ball, the heritage sport of Myanmar, at schools, to turn out younger generations of cane ball players, and a training camp for selected Myanmar national cane ball players.

Union Minister for Health and Sports U Myint Htwe replied that his ministry and the Myanmar Chinlone Federation are working together to train students in cane ball at schools soon, and that there are camps for selected Myanmar national cane ball players at Aung San Stadium, Thuwunna Stadium and in Naypyitaw.

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There is a Problem with the Government’s Diplomacy

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 09:12 PM PST

Ye Ni: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week, we'll discuss the talk of the town on social media—R2P (Responsibility to Protect) and ICC (International Criminal Court). U Aung Moe Zaw, chairman of the Democratic Party for a New Society, and U Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners join me for the discussion. I'm Irrawaddy Burmese editor Ye Ni.

As everyone knows, R2P is a global political commitment that was endorsed by member states of the United Nations at the 2005 World Summit to prevent genocide, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing. France proposed, at the UN Security Council, applying R2P to intervene in Myanmar in the aftermath of Nargis in 2008. Now, R2P has become popular again as Myanmar came under the spotlight because of the Rohingya crisis. Ko Aung Moe Zaw, do you think R2P can pave the way for the UN Security Council to intervene in Myanmar's issue?

Aung Moe Zaw: In my opinion, it depends greatly on the political will of big countries, for example, if the United States wants to take the decisive step to handle Myanmar. According to my study, I think those countries don't have the will to conduct a military intervention. Though many countries apparently want to see improvements in human rights issues and [punishment for] war crimes in our country, I don't think they will intervene to that extent.

YN: People speculate on social media that UN peacekeeping troops will come into the country. Why are they speculating this? Is there any hidden agenda?

AMZ: Leaders of the country, important politicians and military leaders know the magnitude of the issue. But at the same time, there is nationalist instigation that is taking advantage of this [the Rohingya issue]. We've seen provocative posts on social media that could create problems in the country. Some prominent personalities argue that we may lose Rakhine because of R2P. I believe that UN peacekeeping troops will not come into Myanmar. So, it is an unrealistic assumption that we may lose Rakhine or other parts of the country.

The most important thing is we must try to restore communication and peace between different communities in the country. The major concern of the international community is…hundreds of thousands of people have left Rakhine State, and if they are forcibly brought back into Myanmar, they may continue to face human rights violations. The international community is greatly concerned about this. But, I want to reiterate that military intervention is absolutely unlikely.

YN: Ko Bo Kyi, there have been concerns about the human rights situation in Myanmar.  How do you assess the diplomacy of the Myanmar government and the international community's criticism about the human rights situation in Myanmar at present?

Bo Kyi: The international community still maintains the view that there are grave human rights violations in our country. We have to fix this within our country. When we think about protecting the sovereignty of the country, we must also try to protect the security of individuals living in the country. If there is no security for individuals living in the country, there will be no sovereignty. In other words, it is important that people are free from fear, that they should not be afraid when someone unfairly treats them. Also, individuals need personal development. The government has to take responsibility for that and give support, especially by creating jobs.

Law enforcement organizations like the Tatmadaw and police and ethnic armed organizations must take responsibility for the rule of law. As they fail to bear this responsibility, Myanmar has become the lowest-ranking country on the human rights index. And expected foreign investment inflow has stalled. Every year, countries made recommendations and resolutions at the UN to address human rights issues. We need to listen to them. In some cases, they provide technical support if necessary. If we cooperate that way, the human rights situation may improve gradually in our country. Then, we don't need to be afraid of R2P and ICC.

People tend to grow up with irrational fear in our country. We tend to fear the unknown from childhood, which is proven by childhood stories about Dae Waw [the rain deity]. Now, the stability of the country is threatened with R2P and there are reasons for us to worry about hearing again "saving the country from the brink of the abyss" [an excuse given by the military regime to take over control of the country amid armed revolution by ethnic groups]. We feel that circumstances are now being created for that to happen. It is a cause for concern for the future of both the country and the people.

I feel that certain people are doing certain things although they know clearly the consequences of their actions. If even people like us know that, most of those who have assumed top positions of the country know clearly what to do, and what not to do. So, there is a need to fundamentally reform diplomatic relations. We can't play a zero-sum game, and it is not a black and white issue. We need to open the door. Even if we can't open the door 100 percent, we should open the door a certain percent, and if we solve the problem through cooperation, things will gradually go in a positive direction.

YN: Talking of [the prosecution of Myanmar Army Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing] at the ICC in the Hague in the Netherlands, most of those brought there are dictators, from Sudan, Libya and Congo. But recently, news reports said that Philippine President Duterte would be brought to ICC as tens of thousands of people were killed in his anti-drug campaign. Talking of Myanmar military leaders, international news reports said that thousands of people including children were killed [in counter-insurgency military operations]. Suppose R2P won't happen. But what is the likelihood of prosecution at ICC, Ko Aung Moe Zaw?

AMZ: I think this also concerns neighboring countries. It will depend largely on the stance of Bangladesh. But international human rights activists, politicians and some countries might try for prosecution. It will depend mainly on neighboring countries, for example, it is directly concerned with Bangladesh. If Bangladesh wants to initiate prosecution, there are reasons for us to worry. Anyway, I think military intervention and prosecution at the ICC are fairly unlikely. It is quite unlikely to arrive at a broad consensus over prosecution.  Again, taking a look at geopolitics, both Bangladesh and Myanmar are under the influence of China. Under such circumstances, it will be difficult for Bangladesh to take an active part in initiating prosecution.

Anyway, the fact that such news spread around the world has a serious impact on our country. It negatively affects the economy, politics and image of the country. Even if R2P and ICC are not applied, at least renewed sanctions will be imposed for sure. It may further weaken the already fragile country. So, as Ko Bo Kyi has suggested, the government and authorities should change their tactics in international relations.

YN: Both R2P and ICC have to go through the UN Security Council. As China has veto power in the council, R2P and ICC are unlikely to be passed. I think the UN will not pass sanctions either, as China has veto power. Certain people may even think that they could endure a sanction period by relying on China, and that they will therefore be able to cope with targeted sanctions from the US and EU. Ko Bo Kyi, what do you think?

BK: The wealthy class that controls the country's economy may think like that. But for [ordinary] people, there are many things to lose when a country imposes economic sanctions. We have to use the banking system for trade. If financial transactions are frozen, money has to be transferred through the black market. This will deter potential foreign investors, and also cause market problems. Then, some investors will leave the country. Unemployment will increase in that case; there will be financial instability and market instability. These will directly affect the people.

The ultimate responsibility lies with the rulers of the country and those who say they will protect the country to prevent this. The Tatmadaw leaders have experienced the consequences of sanctions. I would suggest that there are things they can do to prevent other countries from imposing similar sanctions. I don't want to see one trouble after another. Civil society and every citizen in the country have citizenship duties. We should think about how we can cooperate to pull our country out of trouble. We have the responsibility as citizens, and we'll think and make suggestions.

AMZ: There is a problem with the government's diplomacy. I think the government is too rigid even to cooperate with the UN in Rakhine and on consequential issues. It needs to cooperate at least with the UN. We need to show clearly that we have transparency, and responsibility and accountability for things that happened on the ground. The [authorities] know that only then cooperation will be smoother, and the calls for ICC and R2P will become faint. It is not that the country's leaders do not know this fact. They know it clearly. Taking an uncompromising attitude will invite more problems and it will be the people who bear the brunt. There will be a negative impact on the economy. Our country is quite poor now. The majority of people are in grinding poverty and sanctions will be a crushing blow to the people.

YN: Ko Aung Moe Zaw, Ko Bo Kyi, thank you for your contributions!

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Friday, March 9, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

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New Luxury Resort Offers Stunning Views of Inle Lake

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 07:28 AM PST

The country's newest luxury boutique resort, the 5-star Sofitel Inle Lake Myat Min, opened its doors on March 5.

Located near Thale Oo village in Nyaung Shwe, Shan State, and operated by Accor Hotels Group, the resort sits on the shore of picturesque Inle Lake amid 20 acres of rice fields and floating gardens with gorgeous views of the Shan Mountains.

The hotel is on the central eastern shore of Inle Lake, 45 minutes drive from Nyaung Shwe and 70 minutes from Heho Airport.

The resort's design mixes local and Western styles, and its suites are furnished with authentic local art and craft works.

Swimming pool and exterior of the all-day dining room(Photo: Supplied)

There are a total of 101 suites and villas in five different room types: 36 Luxury rooms, 25 Junior suites, 12 Prestige suites, 27 Opera suites and one Imperial Suite. I spent one night in a bungalow-style Luxury room. All the rooms of this type are located on land, and have more of a garden view.

The room was really spacious and clean, with a luxurious feel and facilities. The furniture was top-class and the room was equipped with the latest technology including high-speed Internet, Bluetooth speakers and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television).

The room came with a comfortable twin bed and the bathroom was equipped with both an oversized soaking bathtub and a rain shower, creating a serene feeling of wellbeing.

From the balcony I got a stunning panoramic view of the Shan Mountains; it feels like you're waking up in the middle of the mountains. The room was positioned to receive warm sunlight  — I loved it.

All the other suites face onto the hotel's floating organic tomato garden, the mountains or Inle Lake. The rooms are all spacious, varying in size from 70sqm to 250sqm.

The pool at Sofitel Inle Lake Myat Min (Photo: Supplied)

At Sofitel Inle Lake Myat Min, guests are immersed in the Shan way of life thanks to the resort's sustainability initiatives, which offer opportunities to experience the local culture, said David Daguise, cluster general manager at Sofitel and Novotel Inle Lake Myat Min.

"At every turn, they will experience the richness of the surroundings, from the vibrant sunset to the reflections of the mountains on the water at dusk and the fragrant scent of the vegetation," he said.

After placing my bags in my room, I checked out the hotel compound, which was clean, green and pretty. The compound is spacious and if you love to take walks in the evenings and mornings, Sofitel is perfect for you.

The hotel has its own organic garden, and I'd been told they used the vegetables as ingredients in the dishes served in the hotel's restaurants. So I was eager to taste them.

I ate dinner in the signature dining room beside the lake. If you sit down to eat at sunset, you'll be treated to the perfect romantic setting.

Infinity Pool and Sunset Bar facing Inle Lake (Photo: Supplied)

I had a really tasty dinner. The restaurant staff were friendly and helpful, listing the ingredients in each dish and explaining how it would be prepared.

The hotel has two restaurants offering a selection of international and local cuisines. Buffet and à la carte options are available for lunch and dinner.

The resort has two bars and two swimming pools. One is near the all-day dining room and the other Infinity Pool is right on Inle Lake; at sunset, the view from the pool is breathtaking.

The breakfast menu is extensive and delicious. The wait staff are never far away and always ready to offer friendly service.

A spa service, and fitness and wellness center, are also available. The hotel also provides private and enclosed outdoor parking.

Fast Wi-Fi connections were available in both the lobby areas and in the rooms.

Hotel room interior(Photo: Supplied)

The hotel area is quiet and there's only one grocery. Staffs will arrange both road and water transport upon request.

Sofitel Inle Lake Myat Min is opening with special rate starting at $130 per night. The offer includes accommodation in a Luxury Room inclusive of breakfast for two and a 10-percent discount on spa treatments. Normal rates for a Luxury Room start at $198. This offer is available for bookings until June 30.

Overall, the service at the Sofitel was perfect and the staff were wonderful. So, if you want to relax in a quiet place with stunning views of world famous Inle Lake, I thoroughly recommended this hotel.

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Suspects in NLD Lawyer’s Killing Will Ask to Review Indictment at Divisional Court

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 06:57 AM PST

YANGON—The defense lawyers for the four suspects in the killing of prominent lawyer U Ko Ni will present a criminal revision petition to the Yangon Division High Court next week, requesting that the judge reconsider the indictment order issued by the Northern District Court.

U Kyaw Kyaw Htike, the defense lawyer for accused gunman Kyi Lin, told The Irrawaddy after the 48th court hearing for U Ko Ni's murder trial on Friday that he will present the criminal revision to the divisional court on March 16 on behalf of all of the defendants.

U Ko Ni, a constitutional lawyer and legal adviser to the ruling National League for Democracy party, was gunned down outside Yangon International Airport on Jan. 29 last year. Police detained four suspects in connection with the crime: accused gunman Kyi Lin and three alleged co-conspirators Zeya Phyo, Aung Win Zaw and Aung Win Tun.

After nearly a year of preliminary hearings, the court charged Aung Win Tun under the Penal Code's Article 212, which prohibits harboring an offender but allowed him to stand trial on bail last month after he deposited 50 million kyats (about US$37,300) for his release from custody. The other three suspects were indicted for premeditated murder, which carries life sentences.

The man accused of masterminding the murder, former Lieutenant-Colonel Aung Win Khaing, remains at large. The court also ordered the confiscation of the fugitive Aung Win Khaing's movable and immovable property under the Criminal Procedure's Article 88.

Until this week's hearings on Thursday and Friday, the court had finished examining 28 out of 40 witnesses who were called to re-testify. Daw Pa Pa Win, the defense lawyer for Zeya Phyo, tried to cross-examine the witnesses to prove that there is not enough evidence showing that her client financed the murder or was involved in planning the murder.

U Khin Maung Htay, one of the lawyers who represents U Ko Ni's family, in court raised questions over controversial video footage that had been presented by the prosecutor's side. The footage—similar to a viral video of U Ko Ni's murder outside the airport but shot from a different place—was never revealed on social media. Reporters were unable to see the video on Friday.

Yangon International Airport's CCTV control room officers testified that it was not footage obtained by their security cameras when the defense asked about the video. The police had presented the footage to the court since the beginning but the defense had never questioned it before, U Khin Maung Htay said.

"An individual or an organization might have already known about the crime even before Kyi Lin shot U Ko Ni," he said.

The video was shot from a place where the general public did not have access, according to U Khin Maung Htay. He added that the real question was who had access to such a place, who knew about the killing even before Kyi Lin fired, and why the defense asked about the video just now.

The next hearing will be on March 15.

Tin Htet Paing is a freelance journalist and photographer based in Yangon. She previously worked at The Irrawaddy as a reporter for three years.

The post Suspects in NLD Lawyer's Killing Will Ask to Review Indictment at Divisional Court appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Uncertainty on the Waterfront

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 06:47 AM PST

In recent years, downtown Yangon has become a cool place to hang out, its history written on the walls of its picturesque old buildings, its streets filled with hipster cafes and trendy boutiques. Photographers often turn this area into their sets, posing models on trishaws against the backdrop of the Yangon River at sunset. Some people take budget cruises, floating along the river to see the sights or take in some fresh air. Few, however, venture across to the other shore.

A five-minute boat ride away, the river's south side is far less sophisticated, teeming with motorcycles, teashops blaring music from loudspeakers, and small huts offering betel nut and snacks. Known as Dala Township, this area offers a reminder of a less developed era, despite being just minutes from the heart of the country's commercial capital.

Since the country embarked on its transition to democracy, former and current government leaders have vowed that a bridge will be built to allow the city to expand and to improve the lives of the people in south Yangon. In February 2017, Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein announced a master plan including a Special Economic Zone (SZE) in Dala and a 590-meter, four-lane bridge. According to state media, construction of the Yangon-Dala Bridge will begin in April 2018 and is expected to be complete in 2021. In January, the Ministry of Construction released a video explaining that the bridge will start from the clock tower at Bo Min Yaung Road in Dala and end at the junction of Phone Gyi and Bogyoke Aung San roads.

Passengers board a ferry at a terminal on the Dala side. ( Photo: Theingi Lynn)

For the time being, such headlines don't particularly bother U Manchu, who has been helming ferries to-and-from from Hmaw Sat jetty, one of the 10 jetties in Dala and located across from Lanmaddaw Township.

"We'll be fine as long as the villages on the riverbank remain," U Manchu said.

He is one of approximately 400 ferry operators working at the 10 jetties located from Thamada Beach to the Kyaung Su area in Dala Township. Although three commuter ferries provided by JICA ply the waterway, smaller boats like U Manchu's are still an important means of transport for the large number of commuters who cross the river on a daily basis.

He serves an average of 200 passengers daily; most are blue-collar or office workers, but some are traders moving goods. After Hmaw Sat Ferry Cooperative Ltd gets its 30-percent cut and fuel is paid for, his average daily income is around 8,000-9,000 kyats. That would just about cover the cost of a cocktail at one the overpriced, extravagantly decorated bars across the river.

"Even if they build the bridge, this is an occupation that feeds both my family and my soul," said U Han Shwe, one of the members of Hmaw Sat Ferry Cooperative.

Hmaw Sat Ferry Cooperative Ltd, one of five such cooperatives, is based in Hmaw Sat ward of Dala Township. Its 38 members operate 31 vessels. As a country that has struggled with the transition to democracy, Myanmar could learn a thing or two from the cooperative's democratic ways; it elects a new chairman and secretary every five years. Its main responsibility is to assign boats and schedules to members — who take turns operating the service — and to remind boat owners to prepare for maintenance when Inland Water Transport officials show up.

U Kyin Hla, chairman of Hmaw Sat Ferry Cooperative Limited and a veteran ferry captain, reckons there will always be a certain number of people who prefer to cross the river by boat.

Ferries stand by during rush hour on the Dala side. ( Photo: Theingi Lynn)

He said, "I heard there will be a bus service that will go around Dala in a loop to pick up passengers. The question is how long this bus service will take to get to the other side, when it only takes our ferries five minutes. We can't predict anything, but the duration of the river crossing is what we should consider." He concedes that there will likely be a drop in the number of passengers at his jetty, however.

Daw Kyaing, who runs a bike-storage shed near the jetty, plans to continue riding ferries, which she said are the most convenient option for her.

"I'd still use boats to cross the river. They're closer and faster," she said.

On the other hand, Ei Phyo Thwe, a Dala resident who crosses the river on a daily basis for her job in Pazundaung Township, is looking forward to traveling via the new bridge. She can't swim, and lives in fear of a boating accident.

"I'd rather use the bridge. I am always hesitant to take ferries but now I have to, even when it rains, and even when I don't want to," Ei Phyo Thwe said as she returned from the city on a full moon day that saw the water level rise to its highest, with choppy swells coming in from the Andaman Sea.

Currently, the jetties along the Yangon River serve as a major mode of transport not only for people from Hmaw Sat ward in Dala Township, but also for people from townships further afield such as Pyawbwe and Kawhmu, as well as small towns in Ayeyarwaddy Region such as Bogalay and Pyapon.

People from these delta region towns usually take the bus to Dala to trade their rice and fish products in Yangon. The Dala-Yangon Bridge would make their journey easier, faster and cheaper.

With a bridge from Yangon's Central Business District in the works, Dala now has the potential to develop into a major urban center housing businesses and tourist attractions. The Dala riverfront could become a place resembling Bangkok's Asiatique, offering opportunities for retailers and other small businesses, as well as jobs for its residents. The much-anticipated construction of the bridge will enhance trading activity in nearby townships and improve the lives of Dala's residents. Consequently, Dala will finally be able to grow to its full potential as a port city situated one bridge away from the country's commercial capital.

Inevitably, some people will be asked to make sacrifices in the name of development. While the Yangon-Dala Bridge will be beneficial in many ways, ferry captains will definitely face a drop in their daily income.

U Kyin Hla said, "We haven't thought about what our next step is, but we will figure something out as an alternative to maintain our income."

For the time being, all the ferry captains and owners can do is to try to save some money, as the bridge construction will take at least three years. While continuing their routine of connecting lives on the two sides of the river, the men at Hmaw Sat Jetty hope their decades-old vocations will be allowed to continue.

"I think our jetty will remain in business," said U Kyin Hla confidently.

The post Uncertainty on the Waterfront appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NLD Lawmakers Debate Pros, Cons of Proposed Protest Law Amendments

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 05:45 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — The Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law needs to be amended because it does not comply with the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, said lawmaker U Tun Tun Hein, a Central Executive Committee member of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD).

"This law is fine for people who want to stage a protest with good intentions. But if it is applied for destructive purposes, we have to do what it takes in the interests of the country," U Tun Tun Hein told reporters in Naypyitaw.

Activists and rights groups have protested against the bill in recent weeks, complaining that proposed amendments contain broad and vague terms they worry could be exploited to stifle political dissent. On Friday, the Bill Committee presented its report on the bill to the Lower House, which is scheduled to discuss the amendments next week.

The bill amending the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law was passed by the Upper House on Wednesday with 113 lawmakers voting in favor and 78 voting against, despite the fact that some NLD lawmakers argued against the changes. Representatives of Myanmar’s military, which is guaranteed 25 percent of parliamentary seats by the Constitution, also opposed the changes.

Though Article 354 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and assembly, hiring people to stage a demonstration with bad intents was not acceptable, argued U Tun Tun Hein, who represents Nawnghkio Township in Shan State.

The proposed amendment was identical to Article 354, he said, adding that existing laws had to comply with the Constitution or would otherwise be invalid.

"We heard that there are cases of people being hired for demonstrations. What we want is that citizens express their real wishes," he said.

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

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

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

"The Constitution of the United States says that no law shall be enacted to restrict liberty and individual expression. The original Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law already restricts the freedom of an individual, and the new changes restrict it further," Lower House NLD lawmaker U Aung Hlaing Win told The Irrawaddy.

U Ye Htun, a former lawmaker who represented Shan State’s Hsipaw Township, said the proposed amendments would also make it legal to fund demonstrations. He argued that funding should not be allowed at all and that demonstrations should be staged by people on their own accord.

"In Ukraine, demonstrators were paid through NGOs by foreign agencies. As a result, many took to the streets, and finally the president was toppled. That's what we should restrict, but not the instigation [of protests] if it is not for violence."

The NLD made amending the military-drafted Constitution one of its top priorities while campaigning for the 2015 election. Since winning the election, however, the party has made almost no effort to reform it in Parliament.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Mandalay Police Find Over 28 M Meth Tablets Inside Abandoned Car

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 04:26 AM PST

MANDALAY — Police in Mandalay found more than 28 million methamphetamine tablets and other drugs inside an abandoned car on Friday.

According to police, the Toyota Crown Royal Saloon was abandoned on 73rd Street, between Khing Shwe War Street and Zalatwar Street, about four days ago.

"We received the information that the car was there for about four days and, suspecting something illegal, we checked it and found the drugs," said police Captain T Khaung Lwan.

The police said the initial count included 28 million methamphetamine tablets packed inside pet food bags, 4.7 kg of heroin and about 1 kg of crystal methamphetamine packed inside soap boxes. Police also found 0.15 kg of Sodium hydroxide, which they suspect was to be used to make more drugs, and some sex toys.

"We are still counting the drugs and calculating the value because there is so much. The police have opened a case under the National Drug Law and we are still investigating to find the owner of the car and related drug abuse cases," the police captain said.

According to Mandalay Region’s counter-narcotics unit, Friday’s drug seizure may have been the largest this year.

The largest drug seizure of all, in Mandalay Region’s Pyigyidagun Township in July 2017, netted a haul estimated at over 60 billion kyats ($44.7 million).

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Kachin Finally Allowed to Retrieve Two Missing IDPs

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 03:59 AM PST

The Myanmar Army on Friday evening allowed a group of people to retrieve the bodies of two Kachin internally displaced persons who had disappeared in January, after local people reported discovering their bodies in a grave in Mansi Township. Army personnel had prevented the group from heading to the site for several hours earlier in the day.

The two IDPs disappeared on Jan. 31 while trying to return to their village from the Maing Hkawng IDP camp, and were reportedly last seen being detained by military personnel.

"They have all left the camp, as the army finally allowed them to go," said Naw Mai, a community leader at the camp.

Some local people told The Irrawaddy that the Myanmar Army's Infantry Battalion 206 had earlier blocked the group.

According to Naw Mai, an army captain was behind the original decision to prevent the group from leaving. "He said he was waiting for orders from his superiors. So, he did not let us go."

However, the captain relented at 2 p.m. local time and allowed the group to travel the approximately 6 miles from the camp to the village where the two men were apparently killed, according to community leaders.

"The army said they would accompany the group part of the way, but would not make the entire trip," Naw Mai said.

Hpaugan Yaw, 65, and Nhkum Naw San, 31, were last seen being detained at their village on Jan. 31 by Battalion 206 personnel, according to the IDPs' families.

The group traveling to retrieve the bodies comprised more than 20 people including police, doctors with expertise in forensic medicine and community leaders from the IDP camp.

The gravesite was being guarded by 24 people, according to local sources. Police and medical specialists had instructed them not to disturb the bodies so that an investigation could be carried out.

Initially, the army refused to allow people from the camp even to search for the missing men, who had returned to their home village from the IDP camp to tend to their animals. They were among residents who were forced to flee the village to avoid fighting between the Myanmar Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

A group of people from the IDP camp went to search for the missing men on Friday without informing the army or telling them where they had found the bodies.

"We searched for them based on witness accounts. We found the two bodies just outside the village," said Ann Kham, an IDP from the camp who was part of Friday's search party.

"[The original discoverers of the bodies] cut down a small tree and put it on the grave. We weren't sure about it, so we dug into the grave, and found the two bodies," he said.

The grave contained two bodies — an older one underneath, and a younger one on top, he said.

Relatives of the two victims opened charges over the disappearance of the two persons at the police station in Mansi town, according to Hkun Nawng, a lawyer and Kachin Legal Aid Network official based in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, who was helping to locate the missing pair.

"We will monitor how the police will build this case to charge the persons responsible for this murder. We are ready to help the police, too, if they need help with the investigation," Hkun Nawng said.

Right abuses are a common occurrence in Kachin and northern Shan, which has been the scene of ongoing fighting between the Myanmar Army and ethnic rebels. There have been instances in the past of the army detaining, torturing and killing villagers suspected of being rebels.

The army has even blocked humanitarian aid from UN agencies intended for Kachin IDPs. Most IDPs rely on aid from local Kachin religious groups such as the Kachin Baptist Convention.

The Maing Hkawng IDP camp houses about 2,500 IDPs. Fighting broke out in the area in 2011, causing many people to flee their homes. Last year, about 50 IDPs attempted to return to their homes, but they were forced to return when fighting flared in January.

In January, six Myanmar Army soldiers were each sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment with hard labor for killing three IDPs from Maing Hkawng last year. The IDPs had been foraging for firewood in the forest.

The Kachin Independence Army has two bases in the area, housing its Battalion 12 and Battalion 27. The Tatmadaw has ordered the KIA to withdraw from these areas but it has refused, fueling the tension.

The post Kachin Finally Allowed to Retrieve Two Missing IDPs appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Yangon Govt to Curb Fuel Prices

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 11:44 PM PST

YANGON — The Yangon regional government will curb fuel price hikes as of this year, said Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein.

The minister made the remark at a monthly meeting between Vice-President 1 U Myint Swe and businessmen at the office of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) on Wednesday.

"We can stockpile millions of tons of fuel; we will be able to control fuel prices. But currently, it is under the control of licensed importers. The regional government is taking steps to control this. We are trying to establish companies."

The chief minister agreed that the price of diesel and petrol is fairly high in Myanmar, while it is essential for commodity flow.

The chief minister suggested that prices could be controlled if enough fuel were stockpiled to last six months.

"It is not a commodity for which we need to calculate the price on a daily basis. We can buy fuel for a year's time while prices are lowest and then send it to Yangon. But, we need a place to store it," said U Phyo Min Thein.

"In case of an emergency in the country, we will be able to control political stability if we have fuel for long-term use stored. So, we are taking steps to bring down the price," said the chief minister.

Myanmar Fuel Importer and Distributor Association secretary U Win Myint said that the current market price of fuel is reasonable.

"Our interest is just 1 to 2 percent," he said.

U Win Myint added that he welcomed the regional government's plan to enter the fuel import and distribution business, but that permission should be given to all eligible companies rather than favoring a particular company.

The wholesale price of diesel per liter in Yangon as of Wednesday was 750 kyats, RON 91, 758 kyats, RON 95, 750 kyats, and the retail prices vary at filing stations depending on costs for storage and transportation.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Trump Agreed to Meet Kim Because He Is North Korea’s Decision-maker: Official

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 11:36 PM PST

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump agreed to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un because Kim is the ultimate decision-maker in his country, a senior administration official said on Thursday.

“President Trump has made his reputation on making deals,” the official said in a briefing with reporters after Trump’s agreement to meet Kim at a time and place to be chosen in what would be the first-ever US-North Korea summit.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the message from Kim was relayed orally to Trump by a South Korean delegation in the Oval Office. There was no letter from Kim, the official said.

“Kim Jong Un is the one person who is able to make decisions under their authoritarian, uniquely authoritarian, or totalitarian system, and so it made sense to accept an invitation to met with the one person who can actually make decisions instead of repeating the sort of long slog of the past,” said the official.

The United States will settle for nothing less than permanent denuclearization of North Korea, the official said.

Trump spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the development, the official added.

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Yearlong Preaching Ban on Firebrand Monk Almost Up

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 11:03 PM PST

YANGON — U Wirathu, the firebrand nationalist monk who in 2017 was banned from preaching for one year, will be free to resume his sermons on Saturday.

The State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, the highest Buddhist authority of Myanmar, better known by its Burmese acronym Ma Ha Na, banned U Wirathu from preaching for one year on March 9, 2017, for spreading hate speech, which it said could lead to religious conflict.

"There is no new instruction from Ma Ha Na about U Wirathu," U Tun Nyunt, director of the Religious Affairs Department, told The Irrawaddy.

Ma Ha Na's annual meeting in February did not see any discussion related to U Wirathu, he added.

U Wirathu declined The Irrawaddy's request for an interview about the expiry of the ban.

"I've boycotted both local and foreign media as I have no trust in them, so I have no comment," he said.

The monk, who is notorious for his anti-Muslim rhetoric since communal violence broke out in Rakhine State in 2012, has made the cover of Time Magazine as the “Face of Buddhist Terror.”

Despite the ban, U Wirathu has shared a number of videos on social media over the past year in which he claimed to be the mentor of Kyi Lin, the accused assassin of prominent Muslim lawyer U Ko Ni, and thanked the gunman and other alleged co-conspirators. In another video, he asked the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, which he has continuously accused of favoring Muslims over Buddhists, to step down.

In late February, AFP reported that Facebook had removed U Wirathu’s page because of his incendiary posts about Muslims as it faces pressure to clamp down on hate speech.

But his videos have continued to spread on Facebook. In a Feb. 7 video he criticized the government and the lawyer prosecuting Kyi Lin, telling them to "Eat Well."

The phrase in Burmese is used as a threat to show one's anger and to warn of impending revenge.

Calling himself the mentor of Kyi Lin, he said in the video: "Those who insult good people, eat well. Those who disrespect monks, eat well. Those who ban preaching, eat well. Those who disturb (preaching), eat well. When you go to hell, you don't even have time to eat. So eat well now."

His open support for Kyi Lin has drawn strong criticism from both monks and laypeople, with some monks calling for legal action against him.

During Ma Ha Na’s annual meeting in late February, Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture Thura U Aung Ko urged the committee to take action against monks who disgrace Buddhism through their activities or speech.

The minister said a lack of consensus in society about the proper political role for Buddhist monks had made it difficult for the government to take action against rowdy monks even as some of them were becoming increasingly reckless.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Sri Lanka Arrests 10 for Anti-Muslim Violence as Towns Smolder

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 09:27 PM PST

KANDY, Sri Lanka — Police in Sri Lanka said on Thursday that they had arrested the suspected leader and nine other suspects behind a wave of anti-Muslim attacks by Sinhalese Buddhist hardliners in a central highlands region this week.

Sri Lanka’s Kandy district has been rocked by communal clashes since Sunday following attacks on members of the minority Muslim community by nationalist crowds from the Sinhalese majority. At least two people have been killed.

President Maithripala Sirisena decreed a state of emergency in Kandy on Wednesday but crowds carried out more attacks targeting mosques and businesses belonging to Muslims overnight, residents told Reuters.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said all 10 people arrested belonged to a hardline Buddhist group. He named the suspected leader as Amith Jeewan Weerasinghe and said he belonged to a group called Mahason Balakaya.

He said this group had published videos of hate speech directed against Muslims.

Most of Sri Lanka’s Muslims live in the east and center of the island and make up about 9 percent of its 21 million people. Buddhists make up about 70 percent and ethnic Tamils, most of whom are Hindus, about 13 percent.

Residents in Kandy district said the death of a Buddhist youth after an altercation with a group of Muslims had triggered the violence.

Two days after the death, a large crowd of Buddhists brought a symbolic coffin to protest against the death of the driver in Digana town, where most of the shops are either owned or rented by Muslims, residents said.

“First they burnt the mosque. There were even women among the attackers. Then they started to burn all the Muslim shops,” said 30-year-old Mohamed Shifan. He said he had 3.7 million rupees ($23,817) lying in his car that he had collected to start a new electric goods business.

But a crowd set fire to his car and beat him up before he could escape.

Nationalists

Some Buddhist nationalists have protested against the presence in Sri Lanka of Muslim Rohingya asylum-seekers from mostly Buddhist Myanmar, where Buddhist nationalism has also been on the rise.

“An upsurge of attacks against Muslims by Sinhala Buddhist militants in Sri Lanka has raised fears of a new round of communal violence,” the International Crisis Group said in a report.

On Thursday, shops were still smoldering in Katugasthota town, where also mobs went on a rampage picking on the small stores and eateries run by Muslims. Groceries were strewn on the street.

Soldiers stood guard outside mosques in the area.

“The situation is improving and there have been no major incidents of violence reported in the last 12 hours,” said Major General Rukman Dias, the army commander in the area.

But he said the curfew would be re-imposed in Kandy as a measure of precaution.

President Sirisena appointed Public Administration Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara as the new law and order minister, a portfolio temporarily held by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe after public criticism over the government’s inaction to curb violence.

The Tourism Ministry said it did not expect any major impact of the seven-day emergency on the $4 billion industry.

Kandy is a prime destination for foreign travellers, famous for its Tooth temple in honor of Buddha, tea gardens and natural beauty.

“For tourists, this is not the ideal situation,” Henry Venturini, a 51-year-old Italian tourist told Reuters. “There was nobody on the street when we went out in the evening.”

Sri Lanka was for decades plagued by war between government forces and Tamil separatists. The government defeated the rebels in 2009.

EU ambassadors said in a statement that the latest attacks were “very worrying” and that it was important that the government bring the perpetrators to justice.

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China Resources Beer in Talks to Acquire Heineken’s China Business: Sources

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 08:39 PM PST

HONG KONG — China Resources Beer (Holdings) Co Ltd is in talks to acquire Heineken NV's China business in a deal that could be worth more than $1 billion, as the country’s largest brewer seeks new growth from premium brands, five people close to the discussions said. The negotiations come as global beer giants such as Heineken, AB InBev (ABI.BR) and Carlsberg (CARLb.CO) are facing fierce competition from local rivals and each other in emerging markets, which have been touted as the growth engine for the world’s biggest brewers.

China is the world’s largest beer market by volume. CR Beer’s biggest brand, Snow, is the world’s top-selling beer, but is almost exclusively sold in China.

One of the sources said the deal between CR Beer and Heineken would most likely include three breweries – in Guangdong, Hainan and Zhejiang provinces – Heineken’s distribution operation and its brands in China.

The two brewers have discussed a share-swap as part of the transaction, the source said.

Details have not been finalized and talks could yet fall apart, the sources said. They declined to be identified, as the information is not public.

CR Beer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Heineken declined to comment.

Shares of CR Beer jumped as much as 14.4 percent Friday to an all-time high of HK$35.30. Heineken’s stock price went up 3 percent on Thursday.

Heineken, which entered China in 1983, has struggled to set up a strong distribution network and to make a mark with its flagship Heineken lager, which lags far behind AB InBev’s Budweiser in the premium market, industry analysts say.

The Dutch brewer had a 0.5 percent share of the China market by volume in 2016, according to research firm Euromonitor International, while CR Beer accounted for more than a quarter.

Heineken sells its premium lagers Heineken, Tiger and Sol in China, along with cheaper local brands Anchor and Hainan Beer.

The company has invested millions of dollars in promoting Heineken as the global lager of choice, predominantly through sports, including soccer and Formula One. Next month will mark its second time as prime sponsor of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Beer sales volume in China has been declining since 2013 and is forecast to continue to fall, according to Euromonitor. Sales of higher-margin premium beers, however, have been growing at a double-digit rate each year during the same period.

“CR Beer doesn't have super-premium lagers, while Heineken has high-end brands but lacks scale in China,” said one source. “Heineken is a natural target for CR Beer.”

Heineken’s eponymous brand sells for three times the price of Snow in China. Chinese beer drinkers are overwhelmingly consumers of low-margin inexpensive beer, which makes up 80 percent of the market by volume, compared with an average of 18 percent in big developed markets, according to Nomura analysts.

Last year Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings sold its 19.9 percent stake in Tsingtao Brewery Co – CR Beer’s biggest domestic rival – for $937 million as it decided to focus on Europe and elsewhere in Asia.

CR Beer’s interest in Heineken’s China unit follows its takeover in 2016 of SABMiller’s 49 percent stake in its CR Snow venture for $1.6 billion.

That acquisition helped the Chinese brewer turn around its business. In 2016 it reported its first annual profit in three years after a renewed focus on the Snow brand and expanded sales in key Chinese cities.

Heineken trades on an enterprise value – market capitalization plus debt – of 12 times its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization in the last year. That is above Carlsberg’s multiple of 10 but far short of CR Beer’s 23.

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Myanmar Says it Would Like to See ‘Clear Evidence’ of Genocide

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 08:30 PM PST

GENEVA — Myanmar wants to see clear evidence to support accusations that ethnic cleansing or genocide has been perpetrated against its Muslim minority in Rakhine State, National Security Adviser Thaung Tun said on Thursday.

“The vast majority of the Muslim community that was living in Rakhine remain,” he told reporters in Geneva. “If it was a genocide, they would all be driven out."

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine into neighboring Bangladesh since insurgent attacks sparked a security crackdown in August, joining 200,000 refugees from a previous exodus.

On Wednesday, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said he strongly suspected “acts of genocide”, while Myanmar’s military published a lengthy response to widespread allegations over its campaign in Rakhine, saying its investigations had cleared troops of almost all alleged abuses.

Zeid told the UN Human Rights Council that reports of bulldozing of alleged mass graves were a “deliberate attempt by the authorities to destroy evidence of potential international crimes, including possible crimes against humanity."

Thaung Tun said charges of ethnic cleansing and genocide were very serious and should not be bandied about lightly.

“We have often heard many accusations that there is ethnic cleansing or even genocide in Myanmar. And I've said it before and I'll say it again – it is not the policy of the government, and this we can assure you. Although there are accusations, we would like to have clear evidence,” he said.

“We should look into that before making a pronouncement on whether there is ethnic cleansing or genocide.”

Myanmar has not allowed UN investigators into the country to investigate. A UN fact-finding mission is due to report on Monday on its initial findings, based on interviews with victims and survivors in Bangladesh and other countries.

Thaung Tun added that Myanmar was willing to accept back people who had fled and provide safety and dignity for them, showing that it did not want them out of the country, and that only a minority of Rakhine’s population of 3 million had left.

He said the Muslims who fled largely did so because the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) armed group had sowed fear. He accused ARSA of having forced villagers to join their attacks on the security forces and had insisted on a scorched earth policy, burning villages in retreat.

Rohingya trace their presence in Rakhine back centuries. But most people in majority-Buddhist Myanmar consider them to be unwanted Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh. The army refers to the Rohingya as “Bengalis,” and most lack citizenship.

Thaung Tun said former residents would be welcomed back if they were willing to “participate in the life of the nation," for example by learning the Burmese language.

“Those who want to become citizens of Myanmar, we are happy to welcome them, but they have to go through a process. There cannot be automatic citizenship,” he said.

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