| Myitkyina Court Sends Four to Prison for Being KIA Members Posted: 15 Nov 2013 05:02 AM PST  A mother who fled from her home amid fighting between the government and ethnic Kachin rebels. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) Myanmar, KIA, ethnic conflict
RANGOON — Four ethnic Kachin men were each sentenced to 2 years imprisonment by a Myitkyina court on Friday, which punished them under a draconian law for being members of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). The convicts' lawyer said, however, that the men were innocent civilians displaced by the Kachin conflict in northern Burma, who had been arbitrarily arrested by police. Brang Yung, Lapai Gun, Daw Bauk and La Ring were each sentenced to 2-years prison terms on Friday afternoon, said Mar Khar, an ethnic Kachin lawyer who defended the men. He said police authorities and the court had failed to treat the defendants fairly. "I found that the judge has a bias in this case. He ignored rule of law because he said that the victims served with the KIA," Mar Khar said. "But it was not true because these victims were refugees and stayed at a camp at the time." He said the men were among a group of six Kachin defendants who were arrested in Myitkyina Township in June 2012, adding that two were released on Friday. The court sentenced the four men under article 17 of the 1908 Unlawful Associations Act, a controversial, draconian law that sets harsh punishment on contact with or supporting groups with political aims. Mar Khar said the convictions under the law would damage the much-needed trust between the government and the KIA, which remain in conflict despite several rounds of ceasefire talks. "This action could destroy peace talks with our Kachin rebels because they [the government] are talking about peace, but they did not respect rule of law," he said, adding, "These are human right abuses." Human rights groups have documented numerous cases of rights abuses through the use of the Unlawful Associations Act, which they say has been used to target ethnic rebels and harass the local population. The Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC) said in a report in February that it had examined 36 cases in 2012, in which police and military detained civilians. The center said the colonial-era law was part of a"system organized to deliberately capture, torture and imprison innocent persons." The law has been used many times after a long-standing ceasefire between Naypyidaw and the KIA broke down in June 2011. Two of the convicts, Lapai Gun, 52, and Brang Yung, 25, have claimed that they suffered horrendous abuse while in custody of the Burma Army's Infantry Battalion No. 37, which is based in Thar Lao Gyi, a village in Myitkyina Township. They said that they were forced to have sex with each other, perform traditional Kachin dancing while naked, and also to act as if they were being crucified—a crude allusion to their Christian faith. Their lawyer Mar Khar said the court had rejected the accusations. He added that 14 Kachin were currently being detained as political prisoners under charges in the Unlawful Associations Act. The post Myitkyina Court Sends Four to Prison for Being KIA Members appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Blair Follows in Clinton’s Footsteps at Myanmar Peace Center Posted: 15 Nov 2013 04:03 AM PST  Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks at the Myanmar Peace Center in Rangoon on Friday. (Photo: Myanmar Peace Center / Facebook) RANGOON – They were the late-1990s peacemakers–Third Way buddy-cops whose ready smiles, demonstrative hand gestures and varnished empathy helped broker deals in places as different as Kosovo and Northern Ireland. And as night follows day, on Friday Tony Blair trailed Bill Clinton to Rangoon's Myanmar Peace Center, with the former British Prime Minister giving a similar speech to the ex-US President—only 22 hours later and to a slightly smaller crowd. Echoing the geographic content of Clinton's Thursday talk, Blair's Friday foray mentioned the Middle East, Northern Ireland and Nigeria. And as Clinton gave a touching first-person anecdote about reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda, Blair recounted a meeting held right after the 1998 Omagh bombing, a terrorist act carried out by an Irish Republican Army (IRA) splinter group that ranks as the single deadliest atrocity of the thirty-year conflict in Northern Ireland. Blair recalled being told by one of the bereaved that "I just lost the two people dearest to me in the world. But I want you to go and work to make sure that no one suffers the way I am now."  Former US President Bill Clinton spoke at the Myanmar Peace Center in Rangoon on Thursday. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy) Blair and Clinton met for a while last night, and, said Blair, marveled at how it would have been unimaginable to both men, while they were in office, that they would in future cross paths in the former military-ruled Burma. It seems, however, that Blair might have slipped a copy of Clinton's speech into his briefcase before the two men parted ways. "You don't make peace with your friends, you make peace with your enemies," Blair intoned, the versatile truism almost word-for-word a fragment of Clinton's speech the day before. Like Clinton, Blair sought to allude to contemporary Burma by describing possible parallels elsewhere, but for the most part did not discuss Burma directly. Burma's government has signed 14 ceasefires with the country's ethnic militias—which the latter hope will lead to political negotiations about granting greater autonomy for Burma's minority regions. Blair gave his implicit backing to the Burma government's sequencing to date, saying "it is hard to make peace possible without achieving this [a ceasefire] first." But breaking with the tightly-controlled format of the Clinton event on Thursday, Blair fielded 10 questions—albeit queries pre-screened and pre-selected by the Myanmar Peace Centre. "How can a Burmese Muslim become a British?" the former British prime minister was asked, the question said to have come from a Muslim in strife-ridden Arakan State in Burma's west, and read aloud by Kyaw Yin Hlaing, an advisor to Burma's Government. "You have enough to do to get them into here," Blair replied, somewhat bemused. "And that's all I am going to say," he quickly concluded. Blair has made three previous visits to Burma in past year, as his international political and business consultancy projects have expanded into countries as far-flung as Albania, Brazil, Kazakhstan and Vietnam. Blair made no mention, nor was he asked, of whether this visit is linked to his lucrative advisory and consultancy work. The post Blair Follows in Clinton's Footsteps at Myanmar Peace Center appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Naypyidaw Authorities Block NLD Poll on Constitutional Reform Posted: 15 Nov 2013 04:01 AM PST  A view of Naypyidaw's large-scale road network. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Authorities in Burma's capital Naypyidaw are preventing Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) from conducting a public opinion poll on the need for constitutional reform, a NLD lawmaker said on Friday. The NLD is keen to amend the military-drafted Constitution and has been conducting public surveys at cities in the country, asking respondents whether they think the Constitution should be amended or redrafted. The NLD had planned to hold a survey in Naypyidaw on Monday and party leader Suu Kyi was supposed to deliver a public speech in one of the city's townships, after which NLD members would conduct a poll among those who attend the event. Authorities in Naypyidaw, Burma's political capital that was meticulously planned and built by the former military regime from 2002 to 2006, have, however, refused to grant permission for the event. "We've already got permission for the assembly from the township's police chief, but now the township administrator objects to it," said Sandar Win, a NLD lawmaker from Zabuthiri Township, where the survey event would be held. "They said the rally ground is close to some government offices and schools, so that a large public presence would cause traffic accidents and so on. They asked us to move another place," she added, "but there is no legal evidence for this in their request." A copy of a letter by Zabuthiri Township Police on Thursday explained that administrative officials decided not to grant permission for the event because "the NLD request for permission is incomplete," adding that the party should seek permission to hold the event at a different site. According to Burmese law, any planned peaceful assembly needs prior government permission. Zabuthiri Township administration officials could not be reached for comment on their decision. Sandar Min said the party has followed correct legal procedure to seek permission. She added that the venue would have ample space for nearly 20,000 people from the capital's eight townships, who would be invited to join the poll. "So now it's quite difficult for us to find another place at the last minute as there's nowhere else here in Naypyidaw," the lawmaker told The Irrawaddy on Friday afternoon. She said the party is trying to submit another request for permission for the event to the township administration office. "We have to explain them our difficulties, and that our activity is not against the law," said she. The NLD considers the current Constitution undemocratic because it gives the military 25 percent of parliamentary seats and makes NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi ineligible for president because she was married to a foreigner. Ethnic minority parties oppose a provision in the Constitution that requires chief ministers in their regions to be appointed by the central government. In October, Suu Kyi's party announced that it would hold public opinion polls on the question of whether to amend or totally scrap and rewrite Burma's Constitution. Since then, the NLD has held public talks on the Constitution and polling events. Last Sunday's survey in Rangoon drew nearly 20,000 attendants and 90 percent of them supported amending the Constitution, the NLD has said. The controversial charter was written by the former military regime and passed in a referendum in 2008 that was widely seen as a sham. It allows for amendments but does not include any provisions about redrawing a new document. Ethnic political parties and rebel groups that have reached ceasefire agreements with the central government have called in recent months for an opportunity to write a new Constitution, which they say would be faster and easier than separate amendments. Sandar Min said she thinks it's likely that Naypyidaw authorities are worried as they have never encountered such a large public rally in the capital. "They might feel afraid as they have never experienced anything like this," she said. "Even the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party still hasn't organized it." The post Naypyidaw Authorities Block NLD Poll on Constitutional Reform appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| OIC Delegation Met By Angry Protesters in Sittwe Posted: 15 Nov 2013 03:19 AM PST  Buddhist monks at Rangoon's Shwedagon Pagoda protest on Friday against an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) delegation that is currently visiting Burma's troubled Arakan State. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A high-level delegation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was greeted by an estimated 3,000 protestors Friday, when the group that includes foreign ministers from Islamic countries arrived in western Burma's troubled Arakan State. A group from the 57-member OIC arrived in Burma on Wednesday to meet with officials and investigate the situation of Rohingya Muslims, who make up the majority of the estimated 140,000 people displaced by two waves of violence in Arakan State last year. At least 192 people were killed in inter-communal violence between Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya, who the government of Burma does not recognize as citizens. Buddhists have staged demonstrations across the country this week accusing the OIC of trying to interfere in Burmese affairs. On Friday, the delegation landed at about noon at Sittwe Airport, where angry demonstrators held aloft banners saying "Get Out OIC," and "We Don't Want OIC." "Our people arrived here at 7 am. We have over 3,000 people," Tun Hlaing, an organizer of the protest, told The Irrawaddy. "We all shouted to them that we do not want them to come here." The Burmese government has approved the visit and reportedly guaranteed the security of delegates, who include OIC Secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Malaysian, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian, Djiboutian and Bangladeshi officials. Tun Hlaing said the group did not leave the airport, but was taken by Burmese military helicopters to parts of Arakan State where the population is majority Rohingya. "They stayed about 15 minutes and then flew to Maungdaw and Buthitaung," he said. "We did not get permission to meet them, but we could see them from the distance, and they could even see us shouting at them." Arakanese Buddhists also held smaller protests Maungdaw and Buthitaung, as well as other townships in Arakan State like Toungup and Mrauk-U. About 1,000 people in Rangoon, mostly Buddhist monks, also marched from Shwedagon Pagoda to Sule Pagoda to demonstrate once again against the OIC visit on Friday. An additional protest was planned at Rangoon International Airport on Saturday to see off the OIC delegation. Tun Kyi, a protester in Toungup Township, said it was his duty to oppose the OIC visit. "We are worried that they [the Rohingya] will get more support from the OIC and they will create more problems for our people," he said. Tun Kyi claimed the conflict between Buddhists and Muslims in Arakan State is stirred up by international involvement. Arakanese Buddhists in Maungdaw protested when the delegation landed in the town at about 1 pm, one protester said. "It is very simple: If we have to say why we protest, it's because we do not want them to come," said the female protester. Protests against the visit of an OIC delegation were also held in Meiktila, Mandalay Division, and Lashio, northern Shan State, on Thursday. Both towns have seen violence targeting Muslim communities since last year. Rights groups have accused Burma's authorities of allowing, or even facilitating, violence against Muslims. Authorities have granted permission or allowed all of the anti-OIC protests to take place, in contrast to protest for land rights in Burma, for instance, for which permission is notoriously difficult to obtain. Tun Hlaing, the protest organizer in Sittwe, said he had no trouble getting the demonstration approved after applying on Monday. Regulations, which are usually strictly applied when it comes to most protests, demand that permission is sought a week ahead of a demonstration. Many activists fighting for other causes have found themselves sentenced to three months in prison after going ahead with a protest when permission was not forthcoming in time. Although an attempt to visit Burma earlier this year by the OIC was rebuffed, the central government has openly supported the current trip. According to the state-owned New Light of Myanmar, the delegation met with Burma's Vice President Sai Mauk Kham on Thursday evening in Naypyidaw. The newspaper reported they discussed peace and stability in Arakan State, and rehabilitation efforts in the region. The post OIC Delegation Met By Angry Protesters in Sittwe appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Gen Aung San to Once Again Feature on Burma’s Bank Notes Posted: 15 Nov 2013 02:04 AM PST  A stack of 5 kyat notes featuring the image of Gen Aun San is pictured. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) NAYPYIDAW — The vice chairman of the Central Bank confirmed this week that the financial institution will work with the government to issue bank notes featuring the image of Burma's independence hero, Gen Aung San. Khin Saw Oo told lawmakers at a meeting of the Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday that revamped currency designs would go into circulation following consultations between the Central Bank and the government. The new-look bank notes will include pictures of well-known political leaders, and prominent buildings and landscapes in Burma. Thein Nyunt, a Lower House member representing Rangoon's Thingangyun Township, said he was pleased with the outcome of his proposal to reinstate Aung San's image on the country's currency. "I have gone through a number of Parliament sessions in which I couldn't gain any result from my proposals, so I am relieved this time," Thein Nyunt told The Irrawaddy. On Wednesday, Thein Nyunt submitted a motion to the Lower House proposing that the image of a lion, currently imprinted on several different bank note denominations and a shared symbol of Burma's ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), should be removed from the currency. The lawmaker said it was inappropriate for national bank notes to feature the same image as a political party. Than Lwin, a former central bank vice chairman and the current deputy chairman of Kanbawza Bank, told The Irrawaddy that there should be a clause in the Central Bank's bylaws requiring that the image of Aung San and other portraits of respected national leaders be imprinted on future bank notes. Burma's currency previously featured Aung San, but those bills gradually disappeared after 1988, the year of a crackdown by the ruling military regime on pro-democracy protestors. Bank notes with Aung San's image can still be found for sale by street vendors in Rangoon as novelty items, in denominations as low as 1 kyat. Than Lwin added that the printing of nations' prominent former leaders on bank notes was a well-established precedent, practiced by other governments in honor of the individuals' efforts in service of country. India's Mohandas Gandhi, Pakistan's Muhammad Ali Jinnah and China's Mao Zedong are all featured on bank notes in their respective countries. On Feb. 13 this year, the day Aung San was born, Rangoon-based youth groups called on the government to once again imprint their late hero's picture on bank notes. Aung San and six members of his cabinet were assassinated on July 19, 1947, six months before Burma gained independence from Britain. The post Gen Aung San to Once Again Feature on Burma's Bank Notes appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Ne Win’s Grandsons Among 69 Released Political Prisoners Posted: 15 Nov 2013 01:23 AM PST  From left to right: Zwae Ne Win, Kyaw Ne Win and Aye Ne Win, grandsons of the late dictator Ne Win, at their Rangoon home. The latter two were released from prison on Friday. (Photo: Khin Maung Win / Shwe Inn Thar) President Thein Sein pardoned 69 political prisoners and they are being released from 18 prisons on Friday. Two grandsons of the late Burmese dictator General Ne Win are among those who are set free, a human rights group said. An announcement by the President's Office said that "the released prisoners were suggested by the Political Prisoners Assessment Committee." This government-appointed committee, comprising cabinet members and rights activists, is tasked with determining which prisoners are being held for political reasons. Kyaw Ne Win and Aye Ne Win, two grandsons of former dictator Ne Win, are being released from Rangoon's Insein prison on Friday, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). They were charged with high treason for plotting to overthrow the then military regime and sentenced to a suspended death sentence in 2002, shortly after Ne Win died while under house arrest on Dec. 5, 2002. Four family members of Ne Win were arrested at the time in relation to a coup d'état plot. Ne Win's son-in-law Aye Zaw Win and another grandson, Zwae Ne Win, were released from prison in January 2012. Ne Win's daughter Sandar Win was released from house arrest in 2008. AAPP Secretary Bo Kyi said Kyaw Ne Win and Aye Ne Win had been put on the committee's list of political prisoners following a letter of their family, requesting their release. Friday's prisoners release also includes about two dozen people sentenced under article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Act, which sets a maximum sentence of one year imprisonment for organizing a protest without a government permit.
Naw Ohn Hla, a female activist who had organized protests against the Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Division, was released from Mandalay Prison on Friday, along with two other local activists. They had been sentenced to prison terms of up to two years under article 18 and the Penal Code's article 505 b, which sets penalties for inciting public unrest.
In Arakan State, a total of 21 Arakanese activists were set free. Nine activists, who had been sentenced under article 18 for leading unauthorized protests against aid support plans for the Rohingya Muslim community, were released, according to Htun Naing, a member of Arakan Social Network. Women's activist Nyo Aye was among them. Another 12 Arakanese community activists were set free in Kyaukphyu and Thandwe townships, where they had been imprisoned for organizing protests against the Shwe oil and gas pipeline. Civil society groups in Burma recently begun a campaign calling for amendments to article 18, as they argue it is being used to stifle public dissent and peaceful protests. Fifteen ethnic prisoners, from Shan and Kachin states, were also released on Friday. They were serving lengthy prison terms after they were sentenced under article 17 of the Unlawful Association Act, a draconian junta-era law often used to apprehend suspected ethnic rebels and activists. Bo Kyi, of AAPP, welcomed the release of the 69 political prisoners, but said that the government had stopped short of acknowledging that they had been held as prisoners of conscience. "All those released people need to be recognized as political prisoners, but the government now releases them without recognizing them as such," he said. According to AAPP, 60 political prisoners remain behind bars in Burma, while 265 political activists are currently on trial and potentially facing imprisonment. "We want all the remaining political prisoners to be freed without any condition," said Bo Kyi. Since assuming office in 2011, Thein Sein's reformist, nominally-civilian government has released hundreds of political prisoners, most of who were detained by the previous military regime.
Last month, 56 political prisoners were released. Thein Sein has said that before the end of this year all prisoners of conscience will be released. In its statement on Friday, the President's Office said the Political Prisoners Assessing Committee is "working to be able to free all the political prisoners before the end of December." The post Ne Win's Grandsons Among 69 Released Political Prisoners appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Private Insurance Industry Finds its Feet Posted: 14 Nov 2013 11:49 PM PST  A woman walks past a newly opened IKBZ Insurance Company office in Yangon. (Photo: Reuters) YANGON — Private insurance in Myanmar is still in its infancy and will need time to fully develop after more than half a century of domination by a government-owned company, say some of those now hoping to transform the industry. Earlier this year, Myanma Insurance, the sole insurer in the country since 1952, took the dramatic step of ending its monopoly by allowing private companies to enter the market. Since then, 12 companies have been authorized to sell insurance, including some owned by the country's biggest banks and conglomerates. Under the new rules, which are due to be enacted as legislation later in the year, private companies can offer nine categories of life and general insurance, out of 48 categories recognized by the government. These include life insurance policies for athletes and victims of snake bite, and general insurance covering fire damage to property and comprehensive vehicle insurance. Insurers are also required to show six billion kyat (US $6.2 million) in capital before they are allowed to offer life insurance policies and 40 billion kyat ($41.5 million) if they want to provide general insurance. In effect, this means that only the largest companies in the country are able to enter the industry. AIA, Asia's third-largest insurer, is the only international company to establish a presence in Myanmar so far, although others are expected to follow. However, Mark Tucker, the company's chief executive, said in February that AIA's operations in the country wouldn't be allowed to conduct business until 2015, and wouldn't "become material for at least five to 15 years." So far, three of the 12 newly formed insurance companies—IKBZ Insurance Public Company (owned by Kanbawza Bank), Grand Guardian Insurance Public Company (owned by the Shwe Taung Group of Companies), and Citizen Business Company (owned by the Co-Operative Bank)—have taken the lead in promoting their services through advertising campaigns that started in June. Most agree, however, that attracting customers will be an uphill battle. "There hasn't been private insurance in Myanmar for more than 50 years, so most people have no idea of what its advantages are. That's why interest is still very low," said a spokesperson for Grand Guardian who asked not to be identified. Even the former general manager of Myanma Insurance, Deputy Finance Minister Dr. Maung Mg Thein, has acknowledged that few people in the country have any understanding of how insurance works. Many, he said, are averse to it because they believe that it will invite ill fortune. But superstition aside, many in the industry believe that it has a real future as the economy grows and more people begin to feel a greater need to protect themselves and their assets. So far, the strongest demand in Yangon has been for fire insurance—reflecting, perhaps, fears about the shoddy electrical wiring in many of the city's buildings. Comprehensive vehicle insurance has also shown steady growth, as the number of cars on the road continues to climb since import licenses were made easier to get two years ago. Even as demand looks set to expand, however, other market forces remain constrained by the government's continuing role in the industry. According to U Aung Soe Oo, the general manager of IKBZ, premium, commission and compensation rates are all set by Myanma Insurance. "For example for a snake-bite insurance, we can only charge 500 kyat per policy, and if the policyholder dies of a snake bite, we have to pay 500,000 kyat in compensation," he said, adding that the government appeared intent on preventing competition among private insurers. Meanwhile, other rules seem designed to ensure that Myanma Insurance retains its competitive edge. Unlike the private insurers, which will only be allowed to issue kyat-denominated policies, the state-run insurance company will be allowed to sell policies that provide compensation in foreign currencies to investors from overseas. Far from feeling that this would give the state insurer an unfair advantage, U Aung Soe Oo accepted the measure as necessary until the private companies were ready to play in the big leagues. "I think that the government can be allowed to take the foreign-currency business while the private insurance sector has a chance to grow," he said. Other private insurers appeared to share this sentiment, accepting restrictions as the price that had to be paid for stable growth of the industry. "By following the regulations, we will be able to improve our industry instead of fighting each other," said the Grand Guardian spokesperson. While acknowledging that many challenges lie ahead—not the least being that few people in Myanmar can afford insurance—he added that the future still holds immense promise. "I believe that the private insurance companies can be very optimistic about our long-term prospects, but for now we have to be patient and give the industry time to develop," he said. This story was first published in the November 2013 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Private Insurance Industry Finds its Feet appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| As Fractious Nepal Drifts, Regional Rivals Step In Posted: 14 Nov 2013 10:17 PM PST  Police escort Yasin Bhatkal, head covered, the key operative of the Indian Mujahideen militant group, outside a court in New Delhi on Aug. 30, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Anindito Mukherjee) KATHMANDU — In August, Indian security officials tracked down one of their most-wanted militants in a mountain town in Nepal where he had told neighbors he was a traditional healer. That same month, Indian agents picked up a man they suspected was a top bomb-maker for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, this time in Nepal's southern plain. To the north, the Chinese are busy too, trying to choke off an exodus of disaffected Tibetans into Nepal and leaning on it to clamp down on the 20,000 already there. They have even offered cash awards to Nepali border guards who send back Tibetans trying to flee. While Nepal's leaders argue and the country drifts in a prolonged state of political limbo, its giant neighbors India and China are not waiting for it to sort itself out. They're stepping in, operating more brazenly than ever in Nepal to protect their interests, taking on Islamist militants, crime gangs and even kidney racketeers who take refuge there. Next week, Nepal holds elections for a second constituent assembly, five years after a first one failed to agree a post-war, post-monarchy constitution. Few expect the new assembly to be more successful in bringing stability, which means the impoverished nation of 27 million people is unlikely to see a quick end to its leadership vacuum. India's main interests in Nepal are to curb Chinese influence and to deny a base to militants, some backed by old rival Pakistan, intent on infiltrating into India across an open border. Officials in Kathmandu and New Delhi say China's focus has broadened from Tibetan issues to establishing a stronger foothold in countries around India. "Our concerns in Nepal are two. Pakistan trying to stir trouble from there, push their people in, do a bit of counterfeit currency," said an Indian intelligence officer. "The bigger challenge is from the Chinese and their financial power. There, we are on the back foot." Landlocked Nepal traditionally depends on India for food and fuel and hundreds of people crisscross the border every day for work. India also funds extensive aid programs and plans to build road and rail links in the flat, fertile Terai region straddling the two countries. China is now wading in too. It nearly doubled its aid to US$52 million last year, including help for the military. It is also cultivating politicians and business people, just as India has done for years. "The geostrategic rivalry between India and China in Nepal has heated up and the world is watching," said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a Nepal specialist at the Brookings Institution. "India has been deeply involved in Nepal for decades. China's arrival is more recent, but they have quickly covered a lot of ground. If the Indians are building a hydro-electric dam, the Chinese will offer to build another in another part of the country." Zhao Gancheng, director of South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said China's influence had been overstated and, unlike India, it played no role in Nepal's internal affairs. "China has no way of competing with India's influence in Nepal. If you look at it in terms of percentage points, India's influence in Nepal would exceed 80 percent." But he said Nepal was important for China because of the long border with its Tibetan regions as well as the number of Tibetans living in Nepal. "Of course this is an issue which involves China. On this question, China and Nepal have close communication and cooperation." India's security agencies have notched up a series of quiet successes in Nepal, reducing the threat from militant groups using it as a haven, not least the capture of the founder of the Indian Mujahideen group, Yasin Bhatkal. Bhatkal's family in old Delhi was under watch for some time and several months ago intelligence agents tracked down a money transfer from Nepal for his wife and son, one official said, recounting the investigation that led to the arrest. Separately, agents got a tip-off from a source in the eastern Indian state of Bihar that Bhatkal was in the Nepali tourist town of Pokhara. They then watched for days from a house next to the one he was suspected to be in, matched the man there with pictures they had and finally a Nepali team went in to pick him up. He was bundled into a car and driven five hours to the border with India, where he was arrested. "The message has been clear for some time now. The terrorists are not safe there, we are getting to them," the Indian officer said. Nepal's Foreign and Interior Minister Madhav Prasad Ghimire said his country was doing all it could to prevent Nepali soil being used by forces with designs against its neighbors. But Bharat G.C., a former deputy inspector general of police, said Nepal must address the security concerns of India and China more resolutely. "What we are doing right now is ad hoc, acting on the information provided by them. This is not enough. Militants and underworld elements are operating in a sophisticated way. Nepal must step up its intelligence and modernize its techniques." Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing. The post As Fractious Nepal Drifts, Regional Rivals Step In appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Police Open Fire, Injure 7 Protesters at Burma’s Letpadaung Mine Posted: 14 Nov 2013 09:47 PM PST  Protesters stop trucks during a previous protest at the site of the Letpadaung copper mining project in Sagaing Division. (Photo: Han Win Aung) RANGOON — Seven protesting farmers were injured Thursday evening as police opened fire into a crowd at the controversial Chinese-backed copper mining project in Letpadaung, Sagaing division, witnesses said. Villagers say they were attempting to set up a second protest camp to oppose the restarted mining project, which they fear will cause damage a Buddhist structure in the same area. Ko Myat, a villager from Southern Moe Gyo Pyin village, told The Irrawaddy that on Thursday evening, police trying to disperse the protest fired indiscriminately into a crowd of demonstrators and hit seven people. "We do not know whether they used live rounds or rubber bullets. They just fired into the crowd," he said. "[One protester] Soe Pyae Aung, who was seriously injured in his chest, is now unconscious. The others were injured on their arms and legs." Images posted on social media show at least two protesters with large bleeding bullet wounds. An official account claimed that villagers attacked police with makeshift weapons, and that nine police had been injured in the clash. Buddhist monks had established a protest camp a week ago near Leikkun and Ingyin Mountains in the heart of the mining area. They claim, contrary a report in state media, that a controlled explosion at the restarted mine has damaged a nearby Buddhist pagoda. Police have barricaded a road to prevent villagers reaching the monks' camp, so about 30 farmers tried set a new camp at the entrance to Southern Moe Gyo Pyin village, Ko Myat said. Before Thursday's violent clash, police ordered the villagers to return to their homes, and three farmers were reportedly detained. Ko Myat said the injured were fearful that they would be arrested if they go to the hospital for treatment. "Now they are just using some antiseptic lotion to cure their wounds," he said. "All the villagers were very afraid and of course angry with the police for not protecting us, but hurting us." Villagers also said police forced journalists who were present to delete photographs and video files of the incident. "There still are many police and police cars guarding around here. We do not know what has happened to the protesters who are at the other camp yet," said another villager from Southern Moe Gyo Pyin. According an account of the clash published on the Ministry of Information's Facebook page, villagers first attacked a police outpost, throwing stones and using slingshots, at about 7:30 pm yesterday. It said nine police, including two officers, were injured in the attack. The account said police used riot gear to disperse the crowd and did not mention police firing ammunition of any kind. The injured police are now being treated at Monywa General Hospital, it said. The controversial Letpadaung project was stalled last year and investigated by a parliamentary commission after protests about its impacts on the local environment and compensation for displaced villagers. Mining has recently resumed after new terms were agreed to give the Burmese government a larger share of the project's revenues—which is a joint venture between China's Wanbao mining firm and the Burmese military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. The post Police Open Fire, Injure 7 Protesters at Burma's Letpadaung Mine appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Friction Over Sri Lanka Shows at Commonwealth Meet Posted: 14 Nov 2013 09:31 PM PST  Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa speaks during a pre-CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) news conference in Colombo Nov. 14, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's president lashed out at criticisms of his nation's human rights record, saying Thursday that the government deals with any complaints of abuses committed during or after its bloody 27-year civil war. Pro-government protesters, meanwhile, attacked the headquarters of the main opposition party. President Mahinda Rajapaksa was speaking on the sidelines of a summit for the 53 nations in the Commonwealth of Britain and its former territories. The group has been accused of making a mockery of its core values of democracy and human rights by holding this year's summit in the seaside capital of Colombo. "We are open. We have nothing to hide," Rajapaska said, despite so far refusing demands by world governments and the United Nations for an independent investigation into alleged wartime atrocities committed by both rebels and government soldiers, as well as reports of media harassment and of thousands of people who went missing during and after the final months of the war in 2009. "If anyone who wants to complain about human rights violations in Sri Lanka, whether it's torture, whether it is rape, we have a system," Rajapaksa told a news conference. "If there is any violations, we will take actions against anybody, anybody. I am ready to do that." A court on Thursday banned protests in Colombo until the end of the Commonwealth summit, police spokesman Ajith Rohana said, explaining that the move was intended to prevent traffic jams. But hundreds of pro-government protesters attacked the headquarters of the main opposition United National Party. Police stopped the protesters from throwing stones at the building, but did not disperse the crowd. Inside the building, dozens of ethnic Tamil parents had gathered quietly with photographs of missing children they believe were abducted by army soldiers after the war ended in 2009. Siva Madi, clutching a portrait of her 22-year-old son, said he vanished from a bus stop on his way to get a driver's license. "When I inquired, the army denied arresting him. I informed the police, the human rights commission, the Red Cross and took part in many protests, but got no result." She said several hundred other Tamils wanted to come from the north for the protest, but were blocked by police. Since the war ended with Sri Lanka's Sinhalese-dominated armed forces smashing a sustained Tamil rebellion for an independent homeland, the government has denied that its side committed any rights abuses. It accuses journalists of fabricating allegations of atrocities, and rejects criticism of nepotism, even though five ministries are controlled by Rajapaksa and his three brothers. The Parliament is also dominated by Rajapaksa's coalition. Rajapaksa lauded the war victory, saying "people were getting killed for 30 years. At least after 2009 we have stopped it." Yet postwar reconciliation remains a far-off goal. Troops are still heavily deployed throughout the northern Tamil heartland in the teardrop-shaped island off southwest India, and local journalists still regularly report harassment. Provincial elections in September were seen as a step toward granting Tamils more autonomy, but also drew criticism for falling far below what is needed for reconciliation. The leaders of Canada, India and Mauritius have stayed away from the summit. Other leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, have been pressured by rights groups to justify their attendance by promising to call Sri Lanka to task. Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma defended having the summit in Colombo by saying it allows Sri Lanka to meet with leaders who have dealt with issues of human rights, rule of law and judicial independence in their countries. He said "it shows the Commonwealth in action." But the friction over Sri Lanka's rights record was showing Thursday among summit participants, with civic leaders angry with a senior British official for using his speech at this week's People's Forum to press Sri Lanka to investigate people's disappearances, guarantee freedom of expression and "stamp out intimidation of journalists and human rights defenders." Some the 350 or so international civil society members said Hugo Swire, a minister of state for the Foreign Office, had violated a Commonwealth understanding and agreement to work on global solutions rather than attack individual member countries. "Britishers are the people who taught us manners, fair play, democracy," said L.P. Chandradasa, chairman of this year's People's Forum, adding that Swire's comments may have jeopardized tentative progress that had been made during the summit between civic leaders and Sri Lanka's government. "We don't deny that the relationship between the civil society and Sri Lankan government is strained. But now it is worse. The government is saying "how did this happen? It means you are not genuine, you are trying to attack us." The post Friction Over Sri Lanka Shows at Commonwealth Meet appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Philippine Typhoon Death Toll Jumps; US Helicopters Boost Aid Effort Posted: 14 Nov 2013 09:26 PM PST  Policemen and volunteers carry a body bag to a mass grave for burial in the aftermath of super typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban city, central Philippines, on Nov. 14, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Edgar Su) TACLOBAN, Philippines — The death toll from a powerful typhoon doubled overnight in one Philippine city alone, reaching 4,000, as helicopters from a US aircraft carrier and other naval ships began flying food, water and medical teams to ravaged regions on Friday. President Benigno Aquino has faced mounting pressure to speed up the distribution of aid and also come under criticism over unclear estimates of casualties, especially in Tacloban, capital of hardest-hit Leyte province. A notice board in Tacloban City Hall estimated the deaths at 4,000, up from 2,000 a day before. The toll, written in blue marker on a whiteboard easel, is compiled by local officials who started burying bodies in a mass grave on Thursday. Tacloban mayor Alfred Romualdez said some people may have been swept out to sea and their bodies lost after a tsunami-like wall of seawater slammed into coastal areas. One neighborhood had a population of between 10,000 and 12,000, and now was completely deserted, he said. The City Hall toll is the first public acknowledgement that the number of fatalities would likely far exceed an estimate given this week by Aquino, who said the loss of life from Typhoon Haiyan would be closer to 2,000 or 2,500. Official confirmed deaths nationwide stood at 2,357 on Friday after the typhoon, one of the strongest ever recorded, roared across the central Philippines a week ago. Adding to the confusion, the United Nations, citing government figures, put the latest overall death toll at 4,460. On Tuesday, Aquino said estimates of 10,000 dead by local officials were overstated and caused by "emotional trauma." Elmer Soria, a regional police chief who made that estimate to media, was removed from his post on Thursday. A police spokesman said Soria was due to be transferred to headquarters in Manila. But a senior police official told Reuters he believed Soria was re-assigned because of his unauthorized casualty estimate. Survivors have grown increasingly desperate and angry over the pace of aid distribution, which has been hindered by paralyzed local governments, widespread looting, a lack of fuel for rescue vehicles and debris-choked roads. The dead are still being buried. Many corpses remain uncovered on roadsides or under splintered homes. Foreign aid officials have called the disaster unprecedented for the Philippines. "There is utter devastation. People are desperate for food, water, shelter, supplies and information about their loved ones," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters on Thursday during a visit to Latvia. "We are doing everything possible to rush assistance to those who need it. Now is the time for the international community to stand with the people of the Philippines." The nuclear-powered USS George Washington aircraft carrier and accompanying ships arrived off eastern Samar province on Thursday evening, carrying 5,000 crew and more than 80 aircraft. The carrier moved some fixed-wing aircraft ashore to make more room for the helicopters on its flight deck. "One of the best capabilities the strike group brings is our 21 helicopters," commander Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery said in a statement. "These helicopters represent a good deal of lift to move emergency supplies around." US sailors have brought food and water ashore in Tacloban and the town of Guiuan. The carrier is moored near where US General Douglas MacArthur's force of 174,000 men landed on Oct. 20, 1944, in one of the biggest Allied victories of World War II. Another US aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, led a massive aid operation off Indonesia's Aceh province after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. Aquino has been on the defensive over his handling of the storm, given warnings of its projected strength and the risk of a storm surge, and now the pace of relief efforts. He has said the death toll might have been higher had it not been for the evacuation of people and the readying of relief supplies, but survivors say they had little warning of any seawater surge. Tacloban city administrator Tecson John Lim, who on Sunday also estimated 10,000 likely died, said Aquino may be deliberately downplaying casualties. "Of course he doesn't want to create too much panic. Perhaps he is grappling with whether he wants to reduce the panic so that life goes on," he said. The preliminary number of missing as of Thursday, according to the Red Cross, remained at 22,000. That could include people who have since been located, it has said. 'Who Is in Charge?' Tacloban's main convention center, the Astrodome, has become a temporary home for hundreds of people living in squalor. Families cooked meals amid the stench of garbage and urine. Debris was strewn along rows of seats rising from dark pools of stagnant water. "We went into the Astrodome and asked who is in charge and just got blank stares," said Joe Lowry, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, which is setting up camps for the displaced. Survivors formed long lines under searing sunshine, and then torrential rain, to charge mobile phones from the only power source available—a city hall generator. Others started to repair motorbikes and homes. A rescue worker cleared debris near a wall with the spray-painted words: "We need food." Outside Tacloban, burials began for about 300 bodies in a mass grave on Thursday. A larger grave will be dug for 1,000, Lim said. The city government remains paralyzed, with an average of just 70 workers on duty, compared with 2,500 normally, he added. Many were killed, injured, lost family or were too overcome with grief to work. More than 920,000 people have been displaced, the United Nations said. But many areas still have not received aid. "It's true, there are still areas that we have not been able to get to where people are in desperate need," UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos told reporters in Manila. "I very much hope that in the next 48 hours, that will change significantly. "Yes, I do feel that we have let people down because we have not been able to get in more quickly." Additional reporting by Rosemarie Francisco and Eric dela Cruz in Manila, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Phil Stewart in Washington, Greg Torode in Hong Kong and Aija Krtaine in Latvia. The post Philippine Typhoon Death Toll Jumps; US Helicopters Boost Aid Effort appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund with Ministe of Immigration and Population U Khin Yi on 29 August 2012 (Photo: UNFPA)
