Tuesday, April 23, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Pregnant Rohingya Woman Struck by Stray Bullet, Loses Unborn Baby in N. Rakhine

Posted: 23 Apr 2019 06:29 AM PDT

YANGON—A pregnant Rohingya woman from a rural area of conflict-torn Rakhine State's Buthidaung Township lost her unborn child when she was struck in the abdomen by a stray bullet on Sunday, according to locals.

The victim was identified as Saynu Wara Begum, 32, from Sin Thay Pyin village, which was one of the villages spared when military clearance operation in 2017 sent more than 700,000 Rohingya fleeing into neighboring Bangladesh.

A Rohingya community leader told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity that residents heard the sound of shooting lasting for about half an hour coming from a nearby forest at about 2 p.m. on Sunday.

It was unclear whether a gunfight erupted between the Arakan Army (AA) and government troops, or if one side was just firing randomly in that region, he said. He believed the round that struck Saynu Wara Begum was a stray bullet, as the other homes in his village were untouched.

U Maung Aye Chan, an Arakanese resident of nearby San Goe Taung village, said he had not been given much information about the incident.

An unexploded 60 mm mortar round found in San Goe Taung village. / Ray Thein / Facebook

He said, "We have no idea whether there was an exchange of fire between two groups or if it was one-way. All we knew was we wanted to run away from the village when we heard shooting."

A Rohingya man said that Saynu Wara Begum is the mother of three children. She was transported from the village to Buthidaung Hospital in the afternoon by an emergency rescue team. Though she and the rescue team arrived safely, her infant was found to have died after emergency surgery.

A local resident who went to visit the patient at Buthidaung Hospital confirmed that the child she had been carrying was dead when it was removed from her womb, and that the woman was lying on a bed with a drip attached to her arm when he visited.

Sin Thay Pyin village is home to more than 1,800 Rohingya. Like many of their Arakanese neighbors, they have been experiencing financial and food shortages in the region as fighting has intensified between AA and government troops in recent weeks.

Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun of the Myanmar Military Commander-in-Chief's Office told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that there was a short burst of fighting between government troops and the AA on Sunday near Nwar Yon Taung village, an area close to Sin Thay Pyin village, where Saynu Wara Begum lives.

Asked about the victim, he said he didn't have any information about the incident as of Tuesday afternoon.

Last week, several hundred locals from five Arakanese villages in Buthidaung—Oo Yin Tha, San Goe Taung, Chit Shar Taung, Nant Thar Taung and Nwar Yon Taung—fled to safer locations as heavy mortar rounds, mostly 60 mm and 120 mm, landed near their villages.

On Friday, both AA spokesman U Khine Thukha and Colonel Win Zaw Oo of the Myanmar military's Western Command denied any clashes had occurred in rural Buthidaung, as had been reported by Radio Free Asia.

Despite Col. Win Zaw Oo denial, however, the National League for Democracy (NLD)'s Buthidaung Township chair U Ray Thein, who went to San Goe Taung village with an emergency rescue team to evacuate some elderly residents on Saturday, posted on Facebook that two unexploded 60 mm mortars could be seen sticking out of the ground in the village.

The post Pregnant Rohingya Woman Struck by Stray Bullet, Loses Unborn Baby in N. Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Scores Feared Dead in Mudslide at Disused Jade Mine in Hpakant

Posted: 23 Apr 2019 05:36 AM PDT

MANDALAY—Five bodies have been recovered and more than 50 people are missing following the collapse of a lake that formed on the site of a disused mine in Kachin State's Hpakant jade mining region.

The steep sides of the abandoned jade mine that formed the lake collapsed on Monday night, releasing a torrent of mud and water that destroyed or buried everything in its path, said the locals.

According to local lawmakers, at least 54 people are presumed dead and about 40 pieces of heavy machinery were buried under the mud.

"The machinery belonged to Nine Dragon Mining Co. and Myanmar Thura Co. Most of the men who died were drivers working the night shift," said U Tint Soe, a local member of Parliament representing Hpakant constituency.

"Fifty-four drivers were buried alive there, and the companies are searching for other missing persons," he added.

According to police at Hpakant Police Station, rescue work was underway and five bodies had been exhumed so far.

"The number of missing persons reported by the companies is over 50. There may be more; we are still investigating. The rescuers have found five bodies and the rescue work is still going on," said the duty officer at Hpakant Police Station.

According to the police, the excavation of a new jade mine right under the 5-acre-wide crater that formed the lake caused it to collapse.

KNDPC Mining Co., Nine Dragon Mining Co., Chung Brothers Mining Co. and Myanmar Thura Mining Co. all operate in the area affected by the mudslide.

Jade mine collapses and landslides are common in the Hpakant Jade mining area and claim numerous lives every year.

The post Scores Feared Dead in Mudslide at Disused Jade Mine in Hpakant appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Day Ex-Dictator Than Shwe’s Reign Began

Posted: 23 Apr 2019 05:12 AM PDT

Twenty-seven years ago today, state broadcaster Myanmar Radio and Television surprised the Myanmar public with its evening announcement of Senior General Saw Maung's resignation as chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the ruling body of the country's military dictatorship. The announcement of the forced resignation was signed by his deputy, General Than Shwe, and said the chairman had to retire for health reasons. However, there were rumors that the move was the result of a split between the other SLORC members and the senior general, who had openly announced prior to the 1990 general elections that the military would return to the barracks after the poll. It had been two years since the election, and the victory of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy hadn't been honored. The men in olive green were still in power.

In his 2015 autobiography "Lives I Have Been Through", SLORC Secretary 1 General Khin Nyunt writes that he had seen signs that the senior general's health was deteriorating, including such paranoid behavior as bringing a pistol to the office and placing it on the table—things he had not done in the past. Occasionally, he told General Khin Nyunt that people were not trustworthy or loyal.

The chairman's ouster was well planned by General Than Shwe and then Military Intelligence chief Brig-Gen. Khin Nyunt, according to U Tun Kyi, the ex-general and former Mandalay Region Commander. In his memoir "50 Years of Personal Experiences", he writes that all command and divisional commanders were summoned to the Yangon War Office on the morning of April 23 to be briefed by Gen. Than Shwe about his "temporary promotion" to chairman of the SLORC due to Sen-Gen. Saw Maung's ill health.

The family of the senior general, who lived mere meters away from the room where Gen. Than Shwe was holding his briefing, wasn't aware of the situation. When the senior general's retirement news was aired on the state broadcaster in the evening, a furious Daw Aye Aye Yi, the ailing chairman's wife, stormed into the meeting room, in which Gen. Than Shwe and the commanders were still present, to angrily complain that her husband had been mistreated, according to U Tun Kyi's autobiography.

Snr-Gen. Saw Maung

Some nervous commanders wondered aloud what would happen if Chairman Saw Maung came into the office brandishing his pistol. To their relief, the military spy chief Khin Nyunt assured them that the bullets in the chairman's gun were blanks, U Tun Kyi wrote.

After the April 23 forced retirement, Snr-Gen. Saw Maung was no longer in the public eye. Five years later in July 1997, people read his obituary in state-run newspapers. He was 69 years old.

The ousting of Snr-Gen. Saw Maung saw another announcement signed by Brig-Gen. Khin Nyunt appointing Gen. Than Shwe as SLORC chairman, prime minister and commander-in-chief of the Defense Services of Myanmar on the same day. The following year, the general was promoted to the senior general position.

Senior General Than Shwe ruled Myanmar for 19 years from 1992 to 2011. His tenure was a rocky period for Myanmar on every front. Prisons across the country were never short of political dissidents and activists. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was put under house arrest several times until 2010. He founded the Union Solidarity and Development Association in 1993. Despite his claim that the association was merely a social organization, people believed it was his pocket army when the Depayin massacre targeting Daw Aung San Suu Kyi occurred in 2003.

Businessmen greet U Than Shwe at a Union Day dinner in February 2011. / Khin Maung Win

Economically, sanctions were imposed by Western countries, leaving grassroots level people to suffer. Cronyism strengthened, with business concessions handed out, mostly in the country's lucrative extractive industries. Dependency on China increased, resulting in shady development deals with Chinese companies, including the Myitsone Dam project, which are still causing headaches for today's NLD government.

In 2005, he moved the administrative capital to Naypyitaw, a new capital founded on scrubland. Two years later, his international notoriety increased with the Army's deadly crackdown on Buddhist monks and protesters in the Saffron Revolution. He orchestrated the National Convention, which convened in 1993 to draft the 2008 Constitution; the charter was ratified in a controversial referendum held just days after Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar.

When his military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development party won the 2010 general election, which was seen locally and internationally as a sham, Sen-Gen. Than Shwe handed over power to a quasi-civilian government largely consisting of civilians who had been his military subordinates, creating a safe exit for him. Since then he has faded away from day-to-day politics, but many believe the betel-chewing old man is still the power behind the throne.

After winning the 2015 election, National League for Democracy chairperson Daw Aung San Suu Kyi paid a call on by-then retired Sen-Gen. Than Shwe. The visit was made possible by his favorite grandson Nay Shwe Thway Aung. He recently described his grandfather as someone patient, who can control his emotions, knows how to get things done and how to hand it over when the time comes.

Now 86, the military strongman spends most of his time in a large mansion in Naypyitaw.

The post The Day Ex-Dictator Than Shwe's Reign Began appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

KIA, Myanmar Army Clash for Several Days in N. Shan State

Posted: 23 Apr 2019 04:25 AM PDT

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar Army have engaged in a series of clashes since late last week in northern Shan State's Muse Township as the end of the military's self-imposed four-month truce nears, sources on both sides said.

The Myanmar military confirmed the clashes to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, saying the two sides had clashed three times in northern Shan State between the end of Thingyan and April 22.

However, Colonel Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the KIA, told The Irrawaddy that the fighting continued through Tuesday. He said the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw)'s Infantry Division No. 99 had attacked the KIA's Battalion No. 36, which is under the control of KIA Brigade No. 6, in the Mungbaw area of northern Shan State.

"The fighting broke out on April 18 … in the area of KIA Battalion No. 36. The fighting began as skirmishes [before intensifying]," he said.

The Myanmar Army has also deployed more troops in the area of KIA Battalion No. 9, under the control of its Brigade No. 6, in Kutkai Township, where tensions are high, according to the KIA.

The KIA believes the Myanmar Army deployed more troops and launched military operations because it wants to take over the areas currently under the control of the two KIA battalions.

The Myanmar Army used both infantry and artillery units to attack KIA Battalion No. 36, according to Col. Naw Bu. He said a Myanmar Army artillery unit based in the 105-Mile Economic Zone in Muse, on the Chinese border, had shelled the area from a distance to aid the ground troops.

"They launched a military offensive in a bid to control our area," he said.

Tatmadaw spokesman Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the Myanmar military clashed on three occasions with a combined force of KIA and Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) fighters in an area under the Tatmadaw's Northeast Command in northern Shan State between April 18 and 22.

However, Brigadier-General Tar Phone Kyaw of the TNLA yesterday denied that his troops were involved in the latest fighting, telling The Irrawaddy that the Tatmadaw's claim to have been attacked by a joint force was untrue.

The Tatmadaw's Brig-Gen. Zaw Min Tun said the clashes happened while “the Tatmadaw troops were just doing their administrative work and conducting regular movements in the area in northern Shan State." He added that there had been no engagements in Kachin State.

“Our troops are there already and doing their regular tasks; they are neither [newly deployed] columns nor battalions,” he said.

The engagements have raised concerns among residents that tensions will increase as the end of the Tatmadaw’s unilateral ceasefire approaches.

The KIA engaged in heavy fighting with the Myanmar Army last year, causing thousands of Kachin people to flee their homes and become IDPs. But the Myanmar Army did not launch a military offensive in Kachin this year, so the region has been more peaceful than last year. However, all Kachin IDPs want to go home, and Kachin leaders are in ongoing negotiations with the Tatmadaw to allow them to return.

Col. Naw Bu said that the resumption of fighting before the official end of the Tatmadaw's four-month ceasefire was not a good sign.

The government's National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) and the KIA have agreed to meet on April 29 and 30 in Muse. The KIA wants a bilateral ceasefire agreement in place before it enters a political dialogue.

Asked whether the Kachin group will sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), Col. Naw Bu said the KIA will continue to discuss those points that require further negotiation before it can sign the agreement.

General Gun Maw, the vice chairman of the Kachin Independence Organization, told The Irrawaddy two weeks ago that there were 35 points relating to the NCA that his organization still wants to discuss with the Myanmar government.

He said his organization seeks to perfect the NCA so that once groups have signed it there will be no need for further fighting. Once this condition has been met, his organization will sign the NCA, he said.

The Tatmadaw's Brig-Gen. Zaw Min Tun said that “[Negotiations through] the NRPC path are the best option to reduce the tension” when the government negotiators meet the KIA next week. He did not elaborate on whether the Tatmadaw would be meeting with anyone from the KIA after the group's representatives meet with the NRPC.

The post KIA, Myanmar Army Clash for Several Days in N. Shan State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

ANP Calls for National Defense and Security Council(NDSC) to Be Scrapped

Posted: 23 Apr 2019 02:47 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW—The Arakan National Party (ANP) on Monday proposed abolishing the National Defense and Security Council(NDSC) at a meeting of the joint committee to draft amendments to the 2008 Constitution.

The aim of the proposal is to grant the President greater power, said the ANP's U Aung Kyaw Zan, who attended the meeting.

"The abolition would give the [council's] powers to the President. If there is a need to discuss security and defense matters, the President could summon the concerned agencies; there wouldn't be a designated defense and security council. The President would be the top leader of the country," U Aung Kyaw Zan told reporters.

In line with its recommendation, the ANP submitted a proposal to scrap Article 201 of the Constitution, which provides for the establishment of the NDSC, an 11-member body established in March 2011 with responsibility for security and defense affairs in Myanmar.

The Army chief appoints five of the council's members and controls six votes, as the council comprises the president, Myanmar army chief, two vice presidents, foreign affairs minister, the speakers of the upper and lower houses of the Union Parliament, the deputy military chief and the military-appointed ministers of home affairs, defense and border affairs.

At Monday's meeting, some committee members suggested axing the seats held by the three ministries controlled by the Myanmar Army. Some suggested creating one more seat to be held by the ethnic affairs minister.

The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) proposed creating two more seats to be held by the deputy speakers of the two houses of Parliament with the purpose of strengthening civilian representation on the council, a committee member told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity.

"Our discussion of the provisions in the opening chapters [of the 2008 Constitution] is not aimed at driving the Tatmadaw out of Parliament once and for all. We will go bit by bit. As the NDSC is connected with the earlier provisions, we won't do it recklessly," he said.

While the NLD prefers a gradual reduction in the military presence in Parliament, the ANP last month proposed removing the military-appointed lawmakers in one fell swoop.

"We think there should be no permanent defense and security body. We would prefer that the President exercise [his or her] power and coordinate with concerned ministries and departments to decide military and security issues," U Aung Kyaw Zan said.

The NLD-led government, which took office in 2016, has yet to convene an official NDSC meeting. It has only held two high-level meetings that were attended by key members of the NDSC to discuss the Rakhine issue.

The NLD-led government seems to have avoided calling NDSC meetings because it does not want to officially acknowledge the role granted to the Myanmar Amy by the 2008 Constitution, said Institute for Strategy and Policy director U Aung Thu Nyein.

"I think the Tatmadaw created the NDSC as a platform to discuss political and security issues. The NDSC is important to the Tatmadaw. In my view, the platform for discussion will be lost if it is abolished completely," he said.

The NDSC is constitutionally empowered to recommend candidates for a presidential pardon,  approve the President's decision to sever diplomatic relations with a country, approve the President's nomination for commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw, and coordinate with the President in declaring a state of emergency.

The 45-member committee to draft amendments to the 2008 Constitution, which was established in February over the opposition of the Union Solidarity and Development Party and the military, resumed meeting on Monday. It has so far discussed 235 provisions in the first five chapters of the Constitution.

The post ANP Calls for National Defense and Security Council(NDSC) to Be Scrapped appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Police Officer Injured in ARSA Ambush in N. Rakhine

Posted: 23 Apr 2019 01:10 AM PDT

YANGON—In the latest in a string of attacks this year, a Myanmar police officer was injured when the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked a police van transporting officers at the junction of Zeepin Chaung and Leikra villages in Maungdaw Township, northern Rakhine State, on Monday morning.

The state-run newspaper said two teams of ARSA insurgents attacked the police vehicle traveling from the Taungpyo (Yar) police regiment to Kyein Chaung police regiment with anti-vehicle improvised explosive devices (IEDs) before firing on the van from both sides of the road. Police then returned fire at the ARSA members.

Lance Corporal Shine Htet Aung, the van driver, was injured in his right eye, but the state-run newspaper said the wound was minor. Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) troops are active in the area, it said.

This is the third time this year ARSA has ambushed police officers. Six police officers including a police colonel were wounded in the first attack near Wat Kyein village in Maungdaw in January.  In the second attack five days later, three officers were wounded in an artillery assault on police outposts near Wai Lar Taung village.

The government has denounced ARSA, a Rohingya insurgent group that launched a series of attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine State in August 2017, as a terrorist organization. Those attacks led to military clearance operations against the insurgents that resulted in the mass exodus of the local populations of Maungdaw, Buthetaung and Rathaetaung townships in Rakhine State across the Bangladesh border. The return of some 700,000 Rohingya has been hampered partly due to ongoing fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army in the area.

On Monday evening, the group claimed responsibility for the ambush in a short video bearing ARSA's logo that went viral on Facebook. The video has since been deleted.

Subtitled in English, the video showed armed ARSA militants waiting for the police van to trigger the IED explosion, which is immediately followed by gunshots. The armed militants cheer the attack, and can be heard saying the "genocidal Burmese military's van is very near its final destination". They also vow "to continue their struggle" until their "legitimate demands" are met.

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Supreme Court Rejects Reuters Reporters’ Final Appeal

Posted: 22 Apr 2019 11:03 PM PDT

NAYPYITAW—Myanmar's top court on Tuesday rejected the appeal of two Reuters reporters sentenced to seven years in jail for breaking the Official Secrets Act, in a landmark case that has raised questions about the country's transition to democracy.

"They were sentenced for seven years and this decision stands, and the appeal is rejected," Supreme Court Justice Soe Naing told the court in the capital, Naypyitaw, without elaborating.

Ko Wa Lone, 33, and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, have spent more than 16 months in detention since they were arrested in December 2017 while working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys.

Lawyers for the reporters had appealed to the Supreme Court citing lack of proof of a crime and evidence that the pair were set up by police. A policeman told a lower court last year that officers had planted secret documents on the two reporters.

A district court judge in Yangon found the two journalists guilty under the Official Secrets Act last September and sentenced them to seven years in prison. The Yangon High Court rejected an earlier appeal in January.

The reporters' imprisonment has sparked an outcry from press freedom advocates, Western diplomats and world leaders, adding to pressure on State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate who took power in 2016 amid a transition to military rule.

UN investigators have called for high-ranking military officials to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity and genocide over a 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya in response to militant attacks in Rakhine State.

The investigation that the journalists were working on, which uncovered security forces’ involvement in killings, arson and looting, was completed by colleagues and published in 2018. Last week it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting.

Both men are being held at Yangon’s Insein Prison, separated from young families. Wa Lone's wife, Panei Mon, gave birth to their first child last year.

The post Supreme Court Rejects Reuters Reporters' Final Appeal appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Sri Lanka Imposes Emergency Law after Bombing Attacks

Posted: 22 Apr 2019 11:02 PM PDT

COLOMBO—Sri Lankans woke to emergency law on Tuesday as authorities searched for those behind suicide bomb attacks on churches and luxury hotels that killed 290 people at the weekend, with the focus turning to militants with links to foreign groups.

No group has yet to claim responsibility for Easter Sunday's attacks on three churches and four luxury hotels that also wounded about 500 people.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said the number of people arrested since Sunday had risen from 24 to 40. They are mainly Sri Lankans, although Gunasekera said police were investigating whether foreigners were involved in the attacks carried out by seven suicide bombers.

The president's office declared that emergency law would come into effect from midnight, giving police extensive powers to detain and interrogate suspects without court orders. An overnight curfew was also put into effect.

The declaration came after nerves were frayed even further in the seaside capital Colombo when explosives went off on Monday near one of the churches hit in Sunday’s attacks while bomb squad officers were working to defuse a device.

CNN reported the blast was a controlled detonation.

Tuesday was also declared a national day of mourning.

The attacks brought a shattering end to a relative calm that had existed in the Indian Ocean island since a bitter civil war fought by Tamil separatists ended 10 years ago, and raised fears of a return to sectarian violence.

It also underlined concerns over fractures in the Sri Lankan government, with questions raised over whether an intelligence tip-off was shared at the appropriate levels.

A government spokesman has said an international network was involved in the bombings but suspicion has focused on Islamist militants in the Buddhist-majority South Asian country. The nation of about 22 million people also has significant numbers of Hindus, Muslims and Christians.

The Washington Post quoted an unidentified law enforcement official as saying U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents were being sent to Sri Lanka to assist in the investigation.

The FBI has also offered laboratory expertise to test evidence and analysts were scouring databases for information that might shed light on the attacks, the Post said.

U.S. intelligence sources said the attacks carried some of the hallmarks of the Islamic State extremist group, although they were cautious because the group had not claimed responsibility.

Islamic State is usually quick to claim responsibility for, or links to, attacks against foreign targets or religious groups whether they were involved or not.

Internal Feud

A document seen by Reuters showed that police had received a tip-off of a possible attack on churches by a little-known domestic Islamist group this month.

The intelligence report, dated April 11, said a foreign intelligence agency had warned authorities of possible attacks on churches by the National Thawheed Jama’ut group. It was not immediately clear what action, if any, was taken in response.

Questions over why the intelligence warning was not acted upon could feed into a feud between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena.

Sirisena fired Wickremesinghe last year only to be forced to reinstate him under pressure from the Supreme Court and their relationship is reported to be fraught.

International experts said that even if a Sri Lankan group had carried out the attacks, it was likely that al-Qaeda or Islamic State were involved given the level of sophistication of the apparently coordinated bombings.

Footage on CNN showed what it said was one of the bombers wearing a heavy backpack. The man patted a young child on the head before entering the Gothic-style St. Sebastian church in Katuwapitiya, north of Colombo. Dozens were killed there.

Most of the dead and wounded were Sri Lankans, although government officials said 32 foreigners were killed. They included British, U.S., Australian, Turkish, Indian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch and Portuguese nationals.

China’s embassy in Sri Lanka warned Chinese nationals on Tuesday against travelling to Sri Lanka in the near term because of “huge security risks”.

China is a major investor in Sri Lanka. The embassy said one Chinese national was killed, five were wounded and another five were missing.

Among the victims were three of the four children of Anders Holch Povlsen, Denmark’s richest man.

Eight Britons were also killed, including Anita Nicholson, her 14-year-old son and her 11-year-old daughter. Nicholson’s husband survived the attack on the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo.

The post Sri Lanka Imposes Emergency Law after Bombing Attacks appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Protected by China, Wa Is Now a de Facto Independent State

Posted: 22 Apr 2019 07:22 PM PDT

In May 2017, I wrote that the United Wa State Army (UWSA) could potentially create unprecedented political risk in the country through the intensified pursuit of its interests—claiming its territory as a state and rejecting the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) through its alliance with other ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) while strengthening its military capability.

Two years on, the UWSA continues to insist on pursuing its interests, which are now more visible. On April 17, the UWSA marked its 30th anniversary, flexing its muscles with a grand military parade. The UWSA's armed forces displayed sophisticated weapons including heavy artillery, drones and helicopters.

In the past two years it has formed the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) comprising seven EAOs: the Arakan Army, Kachin Independence Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Ta'ang National Liberation Army, Shan State Army, National Democratic Alliance Army and the UWSA itself.

Forming an alliance with other EAOs and building up its own military strength could make it easier for the UWSA to chase its goals. The UWSA now has an estimated 30,000 active military personnel, who are specially trained by Chinese military officers. It produces ammunition developed by Chinese technicians. Furthermore, it has modern weaponry such as tanks, 105-mm howitzers, sniper rifles, anti-tank weapons and helicopters from China. The UWSA is the only group that owns the helicopters, which are armed with TY-90 air-to-air missiles.

A State Under China's Protection

China appears to have protected the "Wa" territory from any enemies, particularly the Tatmadaw (Myanmar's military). The Chinese government needs the UWSA in order to play its political game in Myanmar. C. S. Kuppuswamy wrote that "China has been a longtime patron of the UWSA and considers the UWSA as its key ally in its relations with the Myanmar government. It has been supporting the UWSA both economically and militarily as a pressure tactic against the Myanmar government."

It has become more publicly visible that the UWSA is obtaining modern military equipment and weaponry from China. In 2013, China sent helicopters equipped with missiles, which could provide a "serious deterrent" to the Tatmadaw. It appears that China started pushing its investment in the UWSA after Myanmar veered toward the West by, for instance, accepting a visit from a U.S. warship in April 2017.

A banner reading 'Wa State's 30 years of peace-building efforts' is seen at an event to mark the UWSA's 30th anniversary in Panghsang on April 17, 2019. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

Besides, China's regional rival, India, made a deal with the Tatmadaw to supply unprecedented torpedoes to Myanmar's Navy in March 2017. The contract was worth US$37.9 million (57.67 billion kyats) and was a major turning point for the Tatmadaw, which began to look toward other countries after depending on China for many decades. India also provides night-vision devices, Bailey bridges, rocket launchers, mortars, rifles, communications and Inmarsat sets to the Myanmar Army.

China does not want Myanmar to drift out of its orbit. If Myanmar were ever to fully abandon China and throw its lot in with the West, or should the Myanmar government fail to fulfil its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects and act against Beijing's geopolitical and geo-economic interests, China will use its protected UWSA to enforce a "carrot and stick" approach to both the Myanmar government and the Tatmadaw.

The UWSA continues to claim state status for its territory, though it is located in Shan State. It also firmly rejects signing the NCA despite State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi having urged them to sign it.

The UWSA controls the territories referred to by the government as "Special Region No. 2 in Shan State," while the UWSA itself refers to them as Wa State. The 2008 Constitution officially classifies this territory as the Wa Self-Administered Division, but the UWSA referred to its territory as the Wa State Government Special Administrative Region on January 1, 2009.

Undeniably, the "Wa" enclave now has de facto independence from Myanmar, operating outside the sphere of national sovereignty.

Joe Kumbun is the pseudonym of an analyst based in Kachin State.

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Monday, April 22, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Military Sues The Irrawaddy for ‘Unfair’ Coverage of Rakhine Conflict

Posted: 22 Apr 2019 05:39 AM PDT

YANGON—The Myanmar military has sued The Irrawaddy News under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law for its coverage of recent clashes between the Army and the Arakan Army ethnic armed group in the ancient town of Mrauk-U in Rakhine State.

The military's Yangon Region Command filed the case against the news agency's Burmese edition editor U Ye Ni on April 12 at Kyauktada Police Station. It is the second time the military has taken legal action against The Irrawaddy in the past three years. In June 2017 a reporter from the news organization and two others from Democratic Voice of Burma were detained by the military and charged under Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Association Act during a reporting trip to northern Shan State.

Kyauktada Police Station chief Po Htun told The Irrawaddy on Monday that Lieutenant Colonel Zaw Min Tun of the Yangon Region Command filed the case on behalf of Yangon military commander Major General Thet Pone. The editor was granted bail on the same day.

The secretary of the military's True News Information Team, Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun, told The Irrawaddy on Sunday that media coverage of the Rakhine conflict, including The Irrawaddy's, had not been fair, prompting it to take legal action.

Clashes between the AA, which seeks autonomy for the Arakanese people in Rakhine State, and the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) intensified early this year following the rebels' attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine State on Jan. 4. The government announced that there had been 103 incidents of fighting between the Tatmadaw and the AA since January, resulting in the deaths of 12 civilians. The Myanmar Army admitted there had been casualties on both sides.

Since mid-March, the two sides have accused each other of opening fire on civilians. The Tatmadaw claims such incidents occur because AA troops try to mingle with local residents.

The civilian casualties have dominated the headlines of local publications.

The Irrawaddy has reported extensively on fighting between the AA and government troops since the outbreak of clashes in January, presenting views from both sides, as well as follow-ups on local people displaced by the fighting.

The Irrawaddy's U Ye Ni said the agency has exercised its journalistic rights and ethics as stated in the country's Media Law.

"I feel sorry about the military's misunderstanding of us. Journalism dictates that we reveal the suffering of people in a conflict area. Our intention behind the coverage is to push those concerned to solve the problems by understanding the sufferings of the people," he said.

The editor said he had informed the Myanmar Press Council about the charge and requested its intervention.

Meanwhile, the military's ire has not been limited to the news media. It recently charged an activist, a human-rights film director and student activists with public mischief. In 2017, the military sued the editor and a writer from local paper The Voice over a satirical piece.

The post Military Sues The Irrawaddy for 'Unfair' Coverage of Rakhine Conflict appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Five Members of Thangyat Troupe Jailed for Criticizing Military

Posted: 22 Apr 2019 03:20 AM PDT

YANGON—Five members of the Peacock Generation Thangyat troupe were denied bail and sent to Insein Prison on Monday afternoon for criticizing the military during a performance.

Lieutenant-Colonel Than Tun Myint opened cases against the five members of the Peacock Generation satirical performance group—Ko Zeyar Lwin, Ko Paing Phyo Min, Ko Paing Ye Thu, Ko Phoe Thar and Ma Kay Khine Tun—under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code.

Article 505 (a) makes it a crime to engage in activity that is seen to undermine the military. It carries a maximum two-year prison sentence.

During the Myanmar New Year celebrations, the troupe performed a number of Thangyat songs that criticized the military's role in politics. Thangyat is a traditional Burmese performing art in which a group of performers sing satirical songs criticizing the government and the situation in the country, as well as highlighting the difficulties and suffering of the people.

Defamation cases under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law were also opened against the members of Peacock Generation relating to the same event in Yangon, as well as for their livestreaming of a video of their performance in Irrawaddy Region.

Since the second week of this month, senior military officials have opened cases against several critics. On April 12, prominent filmmaker and human rights activist Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi was arrested for a series of Facebook posts criticizing the military-drafted 2008 Constitution and the political role that it grants to the Army. And on April 19, ex-Army Captain Ko Nay Myo Zin was arrested for giving a speech against the military.

The post Five Members of Thangyat Troupe Jailed for Criticizing Military appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thousands of Downstream Villagers Protest Against Myitsone Dam

Posted: 22 Apr 2019 03:05 AM PDT

YANGON—Thousands of residents of Waimaw Township in Kachin State staged a protest on Monday calling for the suspension of Myitsone Dam and other dams upstream of the Irrawaddy River.

The protest was staged just days before State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is due to travel to Beijing for the 2nd Belt and Road Forum, where Chinese investment projects, including the proposed dams on the Irrawaddy River, are expected to be discussed. The public has raised concerns that a resumption of the suspended dam project, which is worth US$3.6 billion (5.4 trillion kyats), would destroy the country's mighty lifeline river and disrupt the water flow downstream.

The organizers of the protest told The Irrawaddy on Monday that they would continue their opposition to the project until the government announced its termination. They also called for an end to all dams on the Irrawaddy River. Waimaw Township, located some 19 km from the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, is one of the most vulnerable areas downstream. The public has been alarmed over reports that the dam, if it broke, could flood an area the size of Singapore, which would destroy livelihoods and displace more than 10,000 people.

Bawm Sau, who led the protest, told The Irrawaddy the protesters shouted "No Myitsone Dam!" and "Completely halt the Myitsone dam and other dams upstream!" during the demonstration.

As they marched, the protesters also held up signs with slogans such as "The people totally reject Myitsone Dam" and "Let the Irrawaddy flow freely forever."

Some 8,000 to 10,000 local residents joined the march, according to the organizers.

Like people all around the country, local residents are eagerly awaiting the government's decision on whether the project should be resumed or terminated. A meeting of environmentalists, academics, politicians and artists in Yangon on Saturday also called for a halt to the dams, announcing a campaign to raise money from the public to compensate China for the scrapping of the project.

"There shouldn't be any dams on the Irrawaddy River and we are waiting for the government's response. We will keep raising our voices until they announce a permanent halt," said U Waw Lay, a Waimaw resident who took part in Monday's protest.

The post Thousands of Downstream Villagers Protest Against Myitsone Dam appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Anti-Myitsone Campaign to Ask Citizens to Pay $1 Each to Compensate China

Posted: 21 Apr 2019 11:51 PM PDT

YANGON—Prominent civil society leaders, environmentalists and film stars have announced a "One Dollar" campaign to collect money from the public to compensate China in exchange for scrapping the controversial Myitsone Dam project planned for Myanmar's lifeline, the Irrawaddy River. The campaign was announced at a forum on Saturday with the aim of giving State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi a message to convey to Beijing from the Myanmar public, and was backed up by an open letter to the Chinese president.

Four days before the State Counselor's scheduled departure for Beijing to attend the 2nd Belt and Road Forum, a panel discussion under the title "Save the Irrawaddy by Offering Compensation" was held on Saturday at the Novotel Hotel in Yangon. The panel discussion was organized by three of the country's most prominent civil society organizations: the Metta Development Foundation, Paung Ku and the Tharthi Myay Foundation.

In an open letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping, participants said that a dam on the Irrawaddy River is unacceptable to the people of Myanmar.

"So, in line with the [Myitsone project's] contract, the Myanmar people wish to dutifully offer compensation for the official expenditure you have spent on the project," the letter reads.

During her trip, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to discuss a number of controversial Chinese projects in Myanmar, particularly the Myitsone Dam project.

The proposed US$3.6-billion (5.4 trillion kyats) dam on Myanmar's lifeline Irrawaddy River in Kachin State has been suspended since 2011 due to nationwide opposition amid warnings that the project would disrupt the flow of sediment in the country's main waterway, harming agricultural livelihoods, while potentially flooding an area twice the size of Singapore and displacing thousands of people if it collapsed. The then military junta signed a contract on the project with China in 2006, before handing power to a quasi-civilian government in 2011.

However, Beijing's recent efforts to revive the dam have fueled negative sentiment among the Myanmar public. Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang's claim, after a visit to Kachin State in December, that the Kachin people were not opposed to the dam's resumption, prompted a series of protests in major cities calling for the project to be scrapped. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's government hasn't made public its view on whether the dam should be resumed or terminated. But recent remarks by the State Counselor suggesting that governments ought to respect the deals made by their predecessors have raised public concerns that the dam project is back on the track.

The Chinese company behind the project says Myanmar will owe it US$800 million in compensation if the government cancels the dam, but could earn US$500 million a year in revenue if it goes head.

Attended by around 700 people, Saturday's forum in Yangon was the latest event called to protest against the project. Panelists included prominent academics, politicians, civil society leaders, environmentalists and film stars. They requested that Myanmar citizens contribute one dollar each to cover the compensation required to scrap the Myitsone Dam. They also plan to send a letter to Xi appealing to him to accept the compensation instead of reviving the dam. A majority of attendees endorsed the idea of offering compensation to China.

It was not the first effort to raise a collective voice against the Myitsone Dam. Prominent environmentalists, writers and civil society leaders on April 1 formed a nationwide committee calling for the total abolition of the project, and warned the government it would face severe resistance from the public across the country if it made the wrong decision.

"There is no time for hesitation. This is the time to make an effort to stop the Myitsone Dam completely," Lahpai Seng Raw, founder of the Metta Development Foundation and a 2013 recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, said on Saturday.

"This is not the time to fear any pressure or threats. The future of our citizens depends on the Irrawaddy River," Lahpai Seng Raw said.

"By offering compensation to the Chinese government from the public, we can save our country's dignity and sovereignty," she said.

U Tun Lwin, the country's best-known meteorologist and founder of Myanmar Climate Change Watch, said, "I cannot accept any dam project on the Irrawaddy River."

In late January, U Thaung Tun, the minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, said the government and a commission were holding serious discussions and considering all possibilities, including downsizing the dam or relocating it.

"The catchment area of the dam is 65 percent to 70 percent of the country. There is no doubt that our sovereignty would be totally surrendered to the Chinese government if we let them build the dam," said U Tun Lwin.

After taking office, the National League for Democracy-led government set up a 20-member commission to review the dam and its likely impacts on the environment and local communities. The commission has produced two reports to date, but the government has yet to make either of them public.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi promised during the 2015 elections that she would make public the project contract signed by the military dictatorship, but has maintained a long silence on her own stance on the dam project.

One of the panelists at Saturday's discussion, Shan Nationalities League for Democracy Secretary U Sai Nyunt Lwin, said, "We all know that the government is facing a crisis. If they make the wrong decision, they will face severe resistance and consequences from the public."

He said, "On Myitsone, we need to be unified. We cannot think about what ethnicity we are, which party we come from. We are just citizens of the Union of Myanmar."

"It is time to protect Myitsone together. I would like to invite all citizens of Myanmar to join the campaign," he added.

Prominent writer Juu said that while manmade monuments can be recreated, natural gifts cannot.

"I want to take back Myitsone no matter what," she said.

Regarding the planned "One Dollar" campaign, the panelists did not reveal how they planned to collect the money from the public.

"We will wait and see how China responds. We will make a move depending on how they react,"

U Sai Nyunt Lwin said.

"Myitsone is under our sovereignty. There is nothing China can do without our [Myanmar citizens'] consent," he said.

Meanwhile, in Waimaw Township, about 19 km from Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, more than 4,000 local people planned to stage a major protest against the dam on Monday. The township is one of the most vulnerable areas should the dam break. Residential areas of the township, which lies downstream of the dam, would be wiped out.

The post Anti-Myitsone Campaign to Ask Citizens to Pay $1 Each to Compensate China appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Day a Pioneer of Care for the Elderly Was Honored

Posted: 21 Apr 2019 09:37 PM PDT

On this day 93 years ago, Daw Oo Zun, the very first Buddhist founder of homes for the aged in Myanmar, was awarded the TPS (Taing Kyo Pyi Kyo Saung), an award for promoting the welfare of the country, by the governor of British India.

Drawing inspiration from Christian homes for the aged in Yangon, the Mandalay-born silk merchant founded her first home for the aged in Mingun, Sagaing Region in 1915 with money she raised by selling her own property. The home for the aged, the first of its kind established by a Myanmar citizen, is located near the historic Mingun Bell.

Between 1915 and 1937 she founded another four such homes in Mon State's Thaton, Bago Region's Paungde, Yangon, and Magwe Region's Pakokku. She herself personally took care of elderly residents of the homes.

In recognition of her endeavors to improve the public welfare, the British government presented Daw Oo Zun with documents allowing her free, lifelong first-class travel via rail or vessel anywhere in the country.

At the age of 62, she renounced the worldly life to become a nun of the Buddhist Order at the Paungde Home for the Aged.

After devoting herself to caring for the elderly for 28 years, she died at her cherished Mingun Buddhist Home for the Aged in May 1944 at the age of 76.

The post The Day a Pioneer of Care for the Elderly Was Honored appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement No Panacea For What Ails Myanmar

Posted: 21 Apr 2019 08:44 PM PDT

Some people, government officials and foreign diplomats in particular, seem to believe that decades of civil war in Myanmar would come to an end if all armed groups were to only sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). They believe that development will make the groups abandon their quest for self-determination.

The international community has spent a great deal of money supporting development and peace talks in Myanmar, though it has been hard to keep track of just how that money has been spent and the peace process has nearly collapsed.

Let’s look at Catalonia in Spain. The region is well developed, yet its people still want independence from Madrid and staged a mass protest last year. What the people want most is to preserve their identity, something development cannot deliver. Development will not help the ethnic minorities of Myanmar preserve their identities either, which is why they need to be able to govern themselves.

The Wa region in northern Shan State shares some similarities with Catalonia and is a good example. Naypyitaw has no influence in the region, which the Wa control themselves and have developed significantly over the past 30 years. Yet they continue to urge Naypyitaw to recognize the region as an autonomous state.

It is time to think about why most ethnic armed groups do not want to sign the NCA, and why the Karen National Union halted formal peace talks with the government.

According to the framework for the peace talks, any important decisions at a Union Peace Conference needs at least 75 percent approval from voting delegates. That makes major decisions hard to approve, one of the reasons the process has stalled.

Some ethnic armed groups complain that their votes do not carry equal weight to those of the government and military on the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee. The committee consists of 48 members — 16 each from ethnic armed groups, political parties and the government, in this case meaning the military and Parliament, so the ethnic armed groups feel outnumbered.

The military and executive often disagree, yet they always find common cause when negotiating with the armed groups.

The government and military want the ethnic armed groups to sign the NCA. Some people criticize the Kachin Independence Army for refusing to sign the NCA, even looking down on its leaders as warlords. They say it is time for the group to join now that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in power.

But some groups are also refusing to sign the NCA because they first want to address security sector reform while the military first wants to settle the matters of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. The groups are negotiating for deals what would let them keep their arms and rule themselves.

Nai Hong Sar, vice chairman of the New Mon State Party, says the Constitution offers only the facade of a federal system and places control firmly with the central government.

In Rakhine State, for example, the Arakan National Party won the majority of votes in the last election yet the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led central government still got to appoint the region’s chief minister. Although the central government has the constitutional prerogative to appoint the chief minister, its decision to install an NLD member upset many ethnic Rakhine.

But under the Constitution, minorities will never get to run their state even if their parties do win. That is why the Arakan Army (AA) enjoys popular support in Rakhine State and why hundreds of young Rakhine have decided to join the rebel group instead of a political party; they believe freedom will only come from the gun.

Some ethnic leaders believe the prospects for democracy in Myanmar are fading and are losing faith in Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who promised equal rights for minorities when her party took power. Instead, it has cooperated with the military to try to put down the AA.

But the AA will be difficult to wipe out, and the military has never once defeated an ethnic armed group for good. The military forced the Palaung State Liberation Front to disarm in 2005, but the Ta’ang National Liberation Army soon took its place. The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army has had a similar experience.

Understanding ethnic politics in Myanmar means understanding how to solve the country’s armed conflicts. But Myanmar has yet to see a leader who understands ethnic history. And so, as AA chief Tun Myat Naing told The Irrawaddy last week, democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has become not part of the solution but part of the problem.

The post Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement No Panacea For What Ails Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

From Coronation to Commoners, Astrology Everywhere in Thailand

Posted: 21 Apr 2019 08:38 PM PDT

BANGKOK—Pondering whether her job is the right fit and whether her romantic relationship is meant to be, Jarunun Sangjun, 27, does what any typical Thai would do: seek out a fortune-teller for advice.

The fortune-teller, who has a table set up on the side of the road near a temple in Bangkok, asks for the date and time of her birth before drawing up horoscope charts.

"The stars are saying this year you'll change jobs, start a new relationship," says the fortune-teller known as Ajarn Jamras, who said he has been practicing for 30 years.

The roadside divination is a world away from Thailand's elaborate preparations for the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn on May 4.

But astrology plays a key role in the coronation ceremonies this week when the monarch, too, will have his horoscope cast.

The main coronation events from May 4 to 6 will be the first the country has seen since Vajiralongkorn's father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was crowned on May 5, 1950. He reigned for seven decades before he passed away in October 2016.

Thai culture is steeped in astrology and other forms of divination, such as palm reading, tarot cards and Feng Shui, which all sit comfortably in the country’s brand of Buddhism.

Many Thais, like Jaranun, go to fortune-tellers for everything from guidance on career and love to setting dates for important life events like weddings and business ventures.

On Tuesday, royal astrologers will inscribe the king's new name and the horoscope for the new reign on a golden plate. Court astrologers traditionally make predictions about the future at every important transition in the nation's history.

"By showing the horoscope, you’re really showing to those who can read it that this is a legitimate king and this will be a prosperous reign," said Edoardo Siani, a Thai astrology expert and Thailand anthropologist at Kyoto University in Japan.

Thai astrology derives from Brahmanic practices in the royal court and unlike in the West, it is not strictly about planetary alignments but also concerns numerology and omens.

Thais have been urged to wear yellow from May to July, or from the king's coronation to his birthday. Yellow carries a significance in Thailand as it is the color of Monday, the day the king and his father were born on, and also the color of the Sun, which represents the monarch in the cosmos.

Thais already actively wear certain colors on certain days to align with the planets they represent, believing it will bring good luck. They also look for numbers in obscure places like tree trunks and clouds, believed to be signs from the universe, before buying lottery tickets.

Divination in Thailand is also heavily infused with the Buddhist concept of karma, which dictates that when people do good or bad deeds, the universe will treat them back in kind. This makes fortune telling in Thai culture more than just about seeing the future, but also having agency to change it, Siani said.

"Everything depends on positive or negative karma, and by engaging in practices like merit-making, you may always hope to change a negative forecast," he said.

"Seeing the future is just the first part. The services of a specialist are also about providing techniques for dealing with a problematic fortune, or with enhancing good luck."

Some fortune-tellers such as Ajarn Jamras say that is why they are in the business, as helping people is their calling. "Ajarn" in Thai means "teacher" and is used as a title to convey respect.

After Jarunun asked how to make her current relationship last, changing the outcome he previously forecast, Jamras told her to pray at a shrine for Guan Yu—a Chinese god—in Chinatown, and to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays, the day of her birth.

"I'm here to show people the way out of misery so they can make their lives better," Jamras said.

The post From Coronation to Commoners, Astrology Everywhere in Thailand appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Sri Lanka Lifts Curfew after Bomb Attacks Kill 290, Wound 500

Posted: 21 Apr 2019 08:37 PM PDT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—Authorities lifted a curfew in Sri Lanka on Monday, a day after 290 people were killed and about 500 wounded in a string of bombings that tore through churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday.

There was still no claim of responsibility for the attacks on two churches and four hotels in and around Colombo, the capital of predominantly Buddhist Sri Lanka, and a third church on the country's northeast coast.

A government source said President Maithripala Sirisena, who was abroad when the attacks happened, had called a meeting of the National Security Council early on Monday. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would attend the meeting, the source said.

There were fears the attacks could spark a renewal of communal violence, with police reporting late on Sunday there had been a petrol bomb attack on a mosque in the northwest and arson attacks on two shops owned by Muslims in the west.

Sri Lanka was at war for decades with Tamil separatists but extremist violence had been on the wane since the civil war ended 10 years ago.

The South Asian nation of about 22 million people has Christian, Muslim and Hindu populations of between about 8 and 12 percent.

The island-wide curfew imposed by the government was lifted early on Monday, although there was uncharacteristically thin traffic in the normally bustling capital.

Soldiers armed with automatic weapons stood guard outside major hotels and the World Trade Center in the business district, where the four hotels were targeted on Easter Sunday, according to a Reuters witness.

Scores of people who were stranded overnight at the main airport began making their way home as restrictions were lifted.

The government also blocked access to social media and messaging sites, including Facebook and WhatsApp, making information hard to come by.

Wickremsinghe acknowledged on Sunday that the government had some prior information about possible attacks on churches involving a little-known Islamist group, but said ministers had not been told.

Sri Lankans accounted for the bulk of the 290 people killed and 500 wounded, although government officials said 32 foreigners were also killed. These included British, U.S., Turkish, Indian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch and Portuguese nationals.

A British mother and son eating breakfast at the luxury Shangri-La hotel were among those killed, Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper reported.

One Australian survivor, identified only as Sam, told Australia’s 3AW radio the hotel was a scene of “absolute carnage”.

He said he and a travel partner were also having breakfast at the Shangri-La when two blasts went off. He said he had seen two men wearing backpacks seconds before the blasts.

“There were people screaming and dead bodies all around,” he said. “Kids crying, kids on the ground, I don’t know if they were dead or not, just crazy.”

There were similar scenes of carnage at two churches in or near Colombo, and a third church in the northeast town of Batticaloa, where worshippers had gathered for Easter Sunday services. Pictures from the scene showed bodies on the ground and blood-spattered pews and statues.

Dozens were killed in one of the blasts at the Gothic-style St. Sebastian church in Katuwapitiya, north of Colombo. Police said they suspected that blast was a suicide attack.

Three police officers were also killed when security forces raided a house in Colombo several hours after the attacks. Police reported an explosion at the house.

The post Sri Lanka Lifts Curfew after Bomb Attacks Kill 290, Wound 500 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Saturday, April 20, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Day the Radio Advertising Jingles Disappeared

Posted: 19 Apr 2019 07:51 PM PDT

On this day in 1964, the Union Revolutionary Council discontinued a popular program of radio commercials, which had been a source of income for the government. The program had earned nearly 200,000 kyats in the two years since its launch, but the council, led by General Ne Win, scrapped the program as it moved to nationalize all industries as part of its socialist agenda.

The program, which aired commercials for a wide variety of products ranging from food and drinks to household goods and clothing, had attracted a large audience due to the entertaining and creative advertisements and catchy jingles it featured.

Commercials did not reappear on television and radio until the military government came to power through a coup in 1988.

The post The Day the Radio Advertising Jingles Disappeared appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Friday, April 19, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Bangladesh Gov’t to Hold Jobs Fair for Cox’s Bazar Youth Following Protests

Posted: 19 Apr 2019 07:44 AM PDT

DHAKA—Bangladesh will hold the first-ever employment skills fair in Cox's Bazar district on May 4 following recent protests by host community youths demanding better access to jobs with the many non-government organizations providing relief to Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Ukhia and Tekhnaf sub-districts.

District administration officials believe the job fair, at which the NGOs will offer job-seeking youth technical assistance, will create awareness among the job seekers and help them to compete in local job markets, which have reportedly begun to shrink in response to a funding crunch.

Cox's Bazar district deputy commissioner Kamal Hossain said that the day-long  “employment skills fair” would be held in Ukhia sub-district, with local and international NGOs and UN agencies setting up stalls.

According to the district administration, the Cox's Bazar-based Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG), which led the coordination of the humanitarian response to the influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar on behalf of the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, will provide technical assistance.

The ICSG's national coordination officer, Saikat Biswas, said the employment skills fair would create opportunities for local job seekers, helping them to develop their CVs and post them online.

Jobseekers who register at the fair will receive automatic alerts when employment opportunities appropriate to their skill sets arise.

According to the office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission in Cox’s Bazar, over 17,000 people are working for more than 120 local and international NGOs and UN agencies in jobs related to the Rohingya crisis.

While there is no available data on how many employment opportunities currently exist in Cox's Bazar, various groups have in recent months mobilized local youths to protest alleged job discrimination and termination by the NGOs.

At the end of January, Adhikar Bastabayan Committee Ukhiya, which bills itself as a rights-implementation committee, organized hundreds of local job seekers in Cox's Bazar's Ukhiya demanding employment by local and international charities working in the district's Rohingya camps. Their 14-point list of demands, issued to the local administration, included taking steps to halt “planned” job cuts within the host community by the NGOs.

Committee leader Imrul Kayes Chowdhury, also a local correspondent for Jamuna television, said the decision to hold the jobs fair was the result of their activities over the past few months.

Imrul Kayes alleged that over 2,500 people were fired from different local and international NGOs in the name of job cuts, when in fact they were let go to make room for more internal hiring.

“We want accountability and transparency in employment,” he said.

He accused the NGOs of nepotism and said hardly any locals were getting senior-level job opportunities.

“Employers are providing jobs to their relatives, compromising equality in the employment process, which made us angry. Finally, we took to the streets,” Imrul told The Irrawaddy.

He also said locals were going without jobs while outsiders were being employed.

The campaigners said 70 per cent of total employment in Rohingya response activities should be from the host community, and called for a reduction of the salary disparity between local and international employees.

Following the protests, the Cox's Bazar-based Rohingya response NGO Platform on Feb. 3 issued a statement saying it had conducted a survey of 102 local and international NGOs that employed 17,275 people in various posts.

Sixty-six percent of the employees were from Cox's Bazar while 34 percent were from elsewhere, but only 2.4 per cent were foreigners.

A number of senior and mid-ranking NGO workers said that a few people were using the jobs campaign for their own ends, and in many cases were pushing for the reinstatement of locals who had been fired for failing to perform their duties or after being disqualified.

Many NGO officials were unwilling to comment formally because they wanted to avoid further escalation of the tension, but said the so-called movement really aimed to drive a wedge between the host community and Rohingya refugees. They accused the campaigners of spreading hate-speech on social media.

Imrul said the campaign sought only to create awareness among the host community. His critics however, told The Irrawaddy he wanted to exploit the movement for his own political purposes.

The Cox's Bazar deputy commissioner said he hoped that the jobs fair would ease concerns among the local job seekers, as it would include a technical workshop and would also try to recruit people on the spot, if suitably qualified candidates were found.

The post Bangladesh Gov't to Hold Jobs Fair for Cox's Bazar Youth Following Protests appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myitsone Dam Roundup

Posted: 19 Apr 2019 07:03 AM PDT

The controversy over whether to resume work on the Beijing-backed Myitsone Dam has intensified since China's ambassador to Myanmar attempted to pressure Kachin political and religious leaders to support the project late last year. But the people of Myanmar are still in the dark on their government's plans for the dam—construction of which was suspended in 2011 by the previous government following a nationwide public outcry—as their leader, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has been silent on the issue. The public is concerned that the US$3.6-billion (5.4 trillion kyats) project will destroy the country's lifeline Irrawaddy River and disrupt its water flow downstream, and are worried about the project's potential to flood an area the size of Singapore, destroy livelihoods and displace more than 10,000 people. Currently, anti-dam sentiment is running high in the country, with prominent environmentalists, academics, writers and artists rolling up their sleeves to save the Irrawaddy by saying no to the dam. At the same time, people are interested to see what the State Counselor will say on the issue when she meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week.

The Irrawaddy has been covering the Myitsone Dam issue since the late 2000s. Here we present some of our recent stories dating back to January of this year, when the dam issue was put back on the table by the Chinese side.

Cardinal Charles Bo Asks Myanmar, Chinese Leaders to Scrap Myitsone Dam

Statement issued Monday is the cardinal's second on the topic this year.

Myitsone—Decision Time for the 'People's Leader'

For State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, saving the Irrawaddy River means saving herself.

Myitsone Dam Is Now a Sovereignty Issue

As the State Counselor prepares to attend the BRI summit in Beijing, the likely political cost of yielding to China is becoming impossible to ignore.

Prominent Activists, Writers Form Group to Oppose Myitsone Dam

More than 200 environmentalists, writers and civil society leaders formed the national committee on Monday to urge the government to cancel the Chinese-backed project.

As China Pushes, Opposition to Myitsone Dam Builds

Politicians, Kachin activists, environmentalists join displaced villagers in taking a stand against the BRI project on the Irrawaddy River.

Suu Kyi Repeats Call for 'Wider Perspective' on Myitsone Dam

She vows a transparent decision that will be socially, environmentally sustainable, but does not offer a personal view or a timeline.

Chinese Company Lobbies Locals on Reboot of Suspended Myitsone Dam Project

Kachin State locals and officials say China’s State Power Investment Corporation is urging them to back the dam, which the government suspended under public pressure in 2011.

Analysis: Behind the Threats and Warnings of Chinese Ambassador's Kachin Visit

During meetings with Ambassador Hong Liang, Kachin leaders felt he pressured them on westerns relations and Belt and Road Initiative projects.

Why Is China In a Hurry to Revive the Myitsone Dam Projects?

The reasons are many. For one, Myanmar’s falling out with the West over the Rohingya crisis gives China leverage to insist on a project neither Naypyitaw nor locals want.

Gov't Working on Final Decision for Myitsone Dam, Minister Says

Minister U Thaung Tun acknowledges 'misguided' project has many environmental, social challenges and is deeply unpopular

Myitsone Dam 'Must Be Stopped': Cardinal Bo

'Mother Irrawaddy' in danger of being lost to the 'greed of a superpower', he warns

Military Chief Discusses IDPs, Peace, Myitsone Dam with Kachin Religious Leaders

He says Tatmadaw wants to get peace talks on track and facilitate IDPs' return; Myitsone Dam 'in Parliament's hands'

One Year On, No Response on Myitsone Impact Assessment

A commission tasked with assessing impacts of hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River submitted their findings one year ago, but a response is yet to come from the government.

Say No to Myitsone

As the government equivocates, public outrage against the dam project is building.

Police Open Case Against Anti-Myitsone Dam Protest Leader

Ja Hkawn faces lawsuit over 'unauthorized' loudspeakers, headbands at huge rally in Myitkyina

Chinese Officials Again Pressure Kachin Leaders to Back Myitsone Dam

Yunnan officials insist dam will benefit Myanmar, Kachin religious leaders say after meeting in Ruili

The post Myitsone Dam Roundup appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Shelling Injures Two Civilians in N. Rakhine, Villagers Say

Posted: 19 Apr 2019 05:53 AM PDT

YANGON — Two civilians in northern Rakhine State’s Mrauk-U Township were wounded by shrapnel from artillery fire after the Myanmar Army began shooting and shelling in the area on Wednesday night and into Thursday, according to locals.

Mrauk-U resident Ko Than Tun said about 460 people fled Baungdwat Village, about 3 km south of the township’s urban center, on Thursday and have taken shelter at the Myothit monastery in central Mrauk-U.

Daw Khine Sein Hla, one of the villagers who fled, said two light infantry battalions stationed near Baungdwat on Dataw hill, No. 377 and No. 388, began shooting heavily at about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

She said a shell hit a home and injured a man, U Maung Tun Aye, in the face and his daughter, Ma Htay Htay Aung, 14, in the arm. The shooting and shelling prevented emergency rescue teams from taking them to the general hospital in the center of Mrauk-U right away, she added.

Daw Khine Sein Hla said other homes were also hit by bullets and shells but no one died. Having gone through a similar experience on Saturday, she said, they were quick to head for makeshift bomb shelters.

On the previous occasion one man, U Maung Kyaw Sein, 60, was killed and another man, U Kyaw Thein, was injured. Residents of Baungdwat said U Kyaw Thein was first taken to the general hospital in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, but later transferred to Yangon.

One resident, U Kyaw Hla Sein, said the army has build more than a dozen positions on Dataw hill and claimed that soldiers have periodically been firing randomly and unprovoked into the air since early this month.

The locations of Baungdwat Village and the No. 377 and No. 388 light infantry battalion positions on Dataw hill are show on this Google Earth map. / Google Earth / The Irrawaddy

"The Light Infantry Battalion 377 compound is situated a stone’s throw from my village. Although we did not catch them red-handed, we can sense it," said U Kyaw Hla Sein, referring to the shooting and shelling.

In a statement about the shooting near Baungdwat, the Office of the Commander-in-Chief claimed that the rebel Arakan Army (AA) had ambushed a military base in the area from a government-run school on Wednesday night. It made no mention of any injuries to villagers or damage to homes.

The statement said military officials met with the villagers who stayed behind in Baungdwat, urging them to not support the AA, to inform security forces if the group tried to make contact with them, and to cooperate with authorities to promote peace and stability.

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Zaw Min Tun could not be reached on Friday afternoon for further comment.

Separately, residents of three villages in Buthidaung Township also fled their homes when the army started shelling in the area on Friday.

The Rakhine Ethnic Congress, a non-government groups, says more than 10,000 people displaced by the fighting between the military and AA are now taking shelter in Mrauk-U alone. The group estimates that more than 32,000 displaced people are taking shelters across northern Rakhine.

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Thangyat Troupe Member Arrested over Performance Satirizing Military

Posted: 19 Apr 2019 04:54 AM PDT

MANDALAY—A member of the Peacock Generation Thangyat ensemble was arrested on Friday for participating in a performance that criticized the Myanmar military, the group said.

Mayangone Township police arrested Ma Kay Khine Tun at the Central Children's Hospital, where she works as a nurse, in the morning.

"The police said she was being charged under Section 505(a) [of the Penal Code] in connection with her performance with Peacock Generation," said Ko Zeyar Lwin, one of the group's leaders.

Section 505(a) makes it a crime to engage in activity seen to undermine the military.

Four other group members—Ko Zeyar Lwin, Ko Paing Phyo Min, Ko Paing Ye Thu and Ma Su Yadana Myint—were sued by Lieutenant-Colonel Than Tun Myint under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Acts in Mayangone Township on Monday for their participation in the same event.

They were briefly detained at Mayangone Township Police Station on Monday and released on bail.

At an event during the Thingyan New Year festival in Yangon, the group performed a number of Thangyat songs that criticized the military. Thangyat is a traditional Burmese performing art in which a group of performers sing satirical songs criticizing the situation in the country, and the government, and highlighting the difficulties and suffering of the people. It is mainly performed during Thingyan.

Some members of the Peacock Generation group wore military uniforms during their satirical performance, which featured Thangyat songs critical of the military and government, and of the country's political and economic situation.

"We were told we were sued because we used the military uniform and we criticized the military," Ko Zeyar Lwin said.

"Freedom of speech and expression in our country is declining dramatically and the military has become more sensitive to criticism. The government can't do anything regarding this matter because the 2008 Constitution bars it from doing so," he said.

The Peacock Generation group comprises current and former members of the Student Union and has been performing for nine years.

The group said that while they have had performances banned and disrupted in the past, this was the first time any of its members had been arrested.

"Last year, we were forced to stop our performances and some pavilions did not allow us to perform. But this year we've faced many kinds of disturbance. We've been forced to stop performances, arrested and sued, so this year is the worst year for us, as we have not been able to perform freely," Ko Zeyar Lwin said.

According to officers at Mayangone Police Station, the police were preparing to release Ma Kay Khine Tun on bail. Her first trial hearing has been scheduled for April 22.

"We are finished questioning her and she will be bailed out soon," said the duty officer, who refused to provide further information.

The Peacock Generation members said they were astonished that their friend was to be allowed bail under Section 505, when other activists detained under the law, such as filmmaker U Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, had been denied it.

"If our friend can be bailed under Section 505, we wonder why the courts are not considering allowing bail for U Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, who is sick and needs medical attention," Ko Zeyar Lwin said.

A military spokesperson could not be reached for comment on the Peacock Generation case.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday urged authorities to drop the charges against the members of the Peacock Generation Thangyat group.

HRW also urged that the charges be dropped against U Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, who was arrested and sued under Section 505(a) of the penal code for posting comments criticizing the 2008 Constitution on his Facebook page.

The court denied bail for U Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, who is suffering from liver cancer.

Meanwhile, in a separate case, ex-Army Captain Ko Nay Myo Zin was arrested Friday and presented to Tike Gyi Township Court to face a lawsuit under Section 505. He is being sued for giving a speech against the military at an event in Aphyuk Township calling for the amendment of the 2008 Constitution. He was denied bail and sent to Insein Prison immediately following the court session.

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Wa Rebel Group Resists Govt Push to Sign its Ceasefire Deal

Posted: 19 Apr 2019 03:57 AM PDT

PANGHSANG, Wa Self-Administered Zone — The vice chairman of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) criticized the government of the National League for Democracy for pushing the ethnic armed group to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

At a press conference in Panghsang on Wednesday, Zhao Guo An blamed the current administration for not implementing the deal the UWSA, Myanmar’s largest rebel group, struck with the administration that preceded it under U Thein Sein.

“Contradiction is not our problem. It is the problem of the government. There is a contradiction between U Thein Sein's government and [State Counselor] Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's government. The Wa group has nothing to do with the NCA regarding the implementation of the peace process," he said.

He claimed that the UWSA agreed with U Thein Sein's government to enter into ceasefire deals at the state and union levels but not to sign the NCA, which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's government is urging it to do.

The UWSA struck a truce with the military regime running Myanmar in 1989 and signed two ceasefire agreements with U Thein Sein's government in 2011, one in Panghsang and later another in Lashio.

"We have signed agreements at two levels. Why doesn't the government continue with them? We are being asked to sign the NCA, which we have nothing to do with. We reached many agreements with the previous government. We signed state and union level agreements," Zhao Guo An said.

The vice chairman said he was doubtful the truces the UWSA has signed with the government will remain in effect after the next general election in 2020.

“The NCA was discussed [by the government] with other ethnic armed groups, but the Wa group did not participate," he said.

The UWSA held its own peace talks with the government in the past. But in 2017 it allied with the Kachin Independence Army, National Democratic Alliance Army, Shan State Progress Party, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Ta'ang National Liberation Army and Arakan Army to establish the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC). Since then it has demanded to hold talks with the government as a bloc.

The FPNCC refuses to sign the government’s NCA and has drafted an alternative.

“I don't know what he meant, but I have not heard such remarks from signatories or non-signatories to the NCA," U Hla Maung Shwe, an adviser to the government’s Peace Commission and secretary for the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee, told The Irrawaddy.

UWSA Commander-in-Chief Bao Youxiang demanded autonomy for his region at a celebration marking the group's 30th anniversary on Wednesday, vowing that ethnic Wa "will fight for their lives" to make it happen.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing were invited to the event but did not attend.

Analysts speculated that they did not attend because the invitation letter referred to the “Wa State people’s government.” The Union government considers the Wa Self-Administered Zone a part of Shan State.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did send the Wa a message to mark the event in which she urged the group to sign the NCA, adding that the agreement was a step toward the creation of a democratic federal union that would grant ethnic minorities equal rights and self-determination.

"We have offered to hold talks with Wa Special Region 2," said government spokesperson U Zaw Htay.

Article 56 (f) of the Constitution grants the Wa a self-administered zone covering six townships split between two districts. Although such zones are supposed to be under the control of the central government, the Wa effectively exercise total control over the area with their own government and administration.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Runaway Saudi Sisters Get Help Offer From Georgia

Posted: 18 Apr 2019 09:46 PM PDT

TBILISI, Georgia — Two Saudi sisters who fled their country and appealed for international protection earlier this week saying their lives would be at risk if they were to return to the conservative kingdom got an offer of help from Georgia on Thursday.

Immigration authorities in the former Soviet republic visited the siblings in their temporary apartment in Tbilisi, providing them with information on how to apply for asylum in the country, the Georgian Interior Ministry said.

“The purpose of the visit of law enforcement officers was to offer assistance and security guarantees to the women,” the ministry said in a statement.

The sisters, identified as Maha al-Subaie, 28, and Wafaa al-Subaie, 25, were later taken to the Interior Ministry’s Immigration Office aboard a security van, local media footage showed.

They had taken to Twitter on Wednesday saying they had arrived in Georgia and needed help from the international community to find a new country to call home.

The case is the latest to draw attention to Saudi Arabia’s strict social rules, which force women to obtain the permission of a male “guardian” if they want to work, marry or travel.

Rights groups say the system can trap women and girls as prisoners of abusive families, and the sisters are not the first Saudi women to seek urgent refuge outside their homeland.

“Women and girls in Saudi Arabia who attempt to flee from the control of their families can face very grave consequences,” said Suad Abu-Dayyeh, Middle East consultant for women’s rights group Equality Now.

“They are in danger of being locked at home for the rest of their lives, severely punished, and may even be killed,” he said.

Earlier this year, a Saudi teen who had holed up in a Thai airport hotel to escape her family won asylum in Canada.

And in 2017, a Saudi woman who had sought asylum in Australia, saying she feared violence from relatives, was stopped on a layover in the Philippines and returned to Riyadh.

The sisters said they had become stranded in Georgia after the Saudi government suspended their passports and they feared for their lives, as members of their family had come looking for them.

“We are in danger. We need your support to deliver our voice. We want protection. … Please help us,” Maha said in a Twitter video in which both sisters appeared without the head-covering veil imposed by Saudi social norms.

But on Thursday the Interior Ministry said there were no relatives in the country who posed a danger to them.

And the Saudi Embassy in Tbilisi said the women’s passports were still in effect.

“In reference to what has been said about the cancellation of the passports of the citizens Maha and Wafaa Zayed who are present in Georgia, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia confirms that their passports are still in force, and there is no truth to the circulated allegations that they have been cancelled,” the embassy said in a written statement.

Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Georgian authorities to keep the two women safe.

“By interviewing the sisters, the Georgian authorities have made a positive first step,” Giorgi Gogia, HRW associate director for Europe and Central Asia, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“The rest depends on the sisters’ wishes. If they file an asylum request, we hope that this request will be granted quickly,” he said.

The post Runaway Saudi Sisters Get Help Offer From Georgia appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rights Group Urges Myanmar to Drop Charges Against Satirical Performers, Filmmaker

Posted: 18 Apr 2019 09:18 PM PDT

YANGON — Human Rights Watch urged Myanmar on Thursday to drop charges against four satirical performers and a filmmaker arrested after criticizing the military, as an army spokesman defended “rules and limits” on freedom of expression.

Police arrested four members of the Peacock Generation “thangyat” troupe on Monday after they broadcasted a live show on Facebook during traditional New Year celebrations. Thangyat is a centuries-old tradition of performance that often lampoons ruling powers and social foibles.

“Myanmar's authorities are demonstrating once again their intolerance of criticism, even in satirical form," Linda Lakhdhir, Asia legal adviser at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

During their performance, the troupe criticized the military's role in politics, chanting "it's time to say goodbye."

The military ruled Myanmar for nearly 50 years — tolerating little dissent — until democratic reforms began in 2011. The Constitution still reserves 25 percent of seats in Parliament, and control of several important ministries, for the military.

The troupe members were charged under Section 66 (d) of the Telecommunications Act, which outlaws "defaming, disturbing, causing undue influence or threatening any person using a telecommunications network," and later released on bail.

A military spokesman told Reuters authorities planned to bring further charges under Section 505 of the Penal Code, covering public statements, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and does not permit bail.

The arrests follow criticism of authorities over restrictions imposed on thangyat during this year's New Year festivities.

Performers in Yangon, the commercial capital, were required to submit their lyrics to a censorship board, with a spokesman for the ruling National League for Democracy telling Reuters the restrictions were "temporary" as the country moved towards democracy.

“Two governments”

Members of the Peacock Generation did not submit their lyrics to the board before performing under streetlights on a dusty Yangon road on Monday night.

“In my opinion, the military has taken action against us…because the government didn't take action," said Paing Ye Thu, one of the members of the troupe and a youth leader for the NLD, adding that there were "two governments," referring to the army and civilian authorities.

“They are not protecting the interest of the people, they are protecting their own interest," he said, referring to the military. “Whoever pokes them, they will sue and threaten."

Defending the charges, Army spokesman Zaw Min Tun told Reuters freedom of expression was enshrined in the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, but there were "rules and limits."

"Everyone has the right to express themselves but not to insult or disgrace individuals or organizations," he said.

In a separate case, a prominent filmmaker named Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi was arrested last week after posting criticism of the Constitution on Facebook.

He has liver cancer and recently had surgery, his lawyer, Robert San Aung, told Reuters by telephone.

“For his case, the highest punishment is two years in prison," he said. “His family are crying seeing his bad health, with that severe punishment."

President Win Myint pardoned more than 9,000 prisoners in an amnesty to mark the first day of the New Year on Wednesday, but most were convicted of drug offenses and only two were political prisoners, according to a group that helps political prisoners.

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