Report: Myanmar troops commit atrocities
By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer – Wed Feb 24, 7:21 pm ET
BANGKOK – Myanmar troops have gang-raped, murdered and even crucified Karen women, or those in their charge, who took on the roles of village chiefs in hopes they would be less likely abused than traditional male leaders, a Karen group said Thursday.
The atrocities, which also include beheadings, torture, forced prostitution and slave labor, are often committed as the troops attempt to root out a 60-year-old insurgency by guerrillas of the Karen ethnic minority, the Karen Women Organization said in a report.
Although the United Nations and other organizations have documented similar atrocities against Myanmar's ethnic minorities, the government has consistently denied allegations of human rights abuses, saying its troops are only engaged in anti-terrorist operations.
The report said that the trend for Karen women to assume community leadership "has put women further into the front line of human rights abuses being committed by the Burma Army and their allies." Myanmar is also known as Burma.
"I was not happy being village chief. It is similar to digging my own grave," Daw Way Way, a 51-year-old woman who led her community for five years, was quoted as saying. Like a third of the 95 women interviewed for the report, Daw Way Way said she was tortured by soldiers during her tenure.
The abuse often reportedly occurred as soldiers questioned villagers about their suspected ties to insurgents of the Karen National Union.
"Some of the villagers were arrested whilst working on their farms, they were tied up, crucified and finally had their throats cut," said Naw Pee Sit, another village chief who was beaten after being accused of such connections.
Naw Chaw Chaw Kyi, who served as chief for five years because nobody else wanted the job, said the military in her village forced several people into a hole, covered it with earth up to their necks and them stomped on them.
"Then they took out the villagers and beat them and brutally tortured villagers for a month and after that they killed them," she said.
"Gender-based violence," ranging from rape of girls to forced labor and grueling interrogations for pregnant and nursing mothers, was especially widespread, the report said.
"When I was village chief and was forced to be a porter, they tied me up with ropes at night and pulled me from this side to the other side. I could not endure the torture any more and they raped me," said Naw Htu Pit. Other women, the report said, were used as "mine sweepers," walking ahead of soldiers into mine-strewn areas.
The women chiefs, the report said, were often caught between government troops who punished them on suspicion that they were supporting the guerrillas and insurgents who accused them of serving as officials of the regime.
"These women are unsung heroes," said Blooming Night Zan, a member of the organization based along the Thai-Myanmar border, where some 140,000 Karen, Shan and Karenni ethnic minority groups from Myanmar have sought refuge.
The Thai Burma Border Consortium, a key aid provider for the refugees, says that nearly 500,000 people have been displaced from their homes in eastern Myanmar during operations by the military against the die-hard insurgents.
The report, titled "Walking Amongst Sharp Knives," was compiled between 2005 and 2009. It said that a third of the women interviewed were still serving as village chiefs.
By DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer – Wed Feb 24, 7:21 pm ET
BANGKOK – Myanmar troops have gang-raped, murdered and even crucified Karen women, or those in their charge, who took on the roles of village chiefs in hopes they would be less likely abused than traditional male leaders, a Karen group said Thursday.
The atrocities, which also include beheadings, torture, forced prostitution and slave labor, are often committed as the troops attempt to root out a 60-year-old insurgency by guerrillas of the Karen ethnic minority, the Karen Women Organization said in a report.
Although the United Nations and other organizations have documented similar atrocities against Myanmar's ethnic minorities, the government has consistently denied allegations of human rights abuses, saying its troops are only engaged in anti-terrorist operations.
The report said that the trend for Karen women to assume community leadership "has put women further into the front line of human rights abuses being committed by the Burma Army and their allies." Myanmar is also known as Burma.
"I was not happy being village chief. It is similar to digging my own grave," Daw Way Way, a 51-year-old woman who led her community for five years, was quoted as saying. Like a third of the 95 women interviewed for the report, Daw Way Way said she was tortured by soldiers during her tenure.
The abuse often reportedly occurred as soldiers questioned villagers about their suspected ties to insurgents of the Karen National Union.
"Some of the villagers were arrested whilst working on their farms, they were tied up, crucified and finally had their throats cut," said Naw Pee Sit, another village chief who was beaten after being accused of such connections.
Naw Chaw Chaw Kyi, who served as chief for five years because nobody else wanted the job, said the military in her village forced several people into a hole, covered it with earth up to their necks and them stomped on them.
"Then they took out the villagers and beat them and brutally tortured villagers for a month and after that they killed them," she said.
"Gender-based violence," ranging from rape of girls to forced labor and grueling interrogations for pregnant and nursing mothers, was especially widespread, the report said.
"When I was village chief and was forced to be a porter, they tied me up with ropes at night and pulled me from this side to the other side. I could not endure the torture any more and they raped me," said Naw Htu Pit. Other women, the report said, were used as "mine sweepers," walking ahead of soldiers into mine-strewn areas.
The women chiefs, the report said, were often caught between government troops who punished them on suspicion that they were supporting the guerrillas and insurgents who accused them of serving as officials of the regime.
"These women are unsung heroes," said Blooming Night Zan, a member of the organization based along the Thai-Myanmar border, where some 140,000 Karen, Shan and Karenni ethnic minority groups from Myanmar have sought refuge.
The Thai Burma Border Consortium, a key aid provider for the refugees, says that nearly 500,000 people have been displaced from their homes in eastern Myanmar during operations by the military against the die-hard insurgents.
The report, titled "Walking Amongst Sharp Knives," was compiled between 2005 and 2009. It said that a third of the women interviewed were still serving as village chiefs.
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Lawyer for Myanmar's Suu Kyi optimistic on release
55 mins ago
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – A lawyer for detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Thursday he is optimistic that Myanmar's highest court will grant an appeal to free her.
Others believe the Supreme Court is more likely to reject the appeal Friday as legal rulings in the military controlled state rarely favor opposition activists. But Nyan Win, also a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, says he expects the court will accept her legal arguments.
Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years.
Her lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court in November last year after a lower court upheld a decision to sentence her to 18 months of house arrest. She was convicted in August last year of violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside home.
The 64-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate was initially sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor, in a trial that drew global condemnation, but that sentence was immediately commuted to 18 months of house arrest by junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
"We strongly believe that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be acquitted. We have presented strong legal points during our final argument last month," Nyan Win told The Associated Press. He said that if the court rules in her favor, "She will be a free person as soon as the warrant is read out to her." 'Daw' is a term of respect used for older women.
Others are more skeptical.
Aung Thein, a lawyer experienced in political cases, has cautioned that he didn't think the Supreme Court would overturn the lower court rulings. "Executive power supersedes the Supreme Court," he said.
The Supreme Court ruling comes nearly two weeks after the ruling junta released the 82-year-old Tin Oo, deputy leader of Suu Kyi's party, after nearly seven years in detention, and a week after a U.N. human rights envoy left the country, expressing disappointment that he was not allowed to meet the opposition leader.
Soon after his release Tin Oo said he was very hopeful that Suu Kyi would be released soon, noting that in 1995 he was released from an earlier stint in prison not long before Suu Kyi herself was freed.
During a meeting with her lawyers Thursday, Suu Kyi jokingly asked them if she had been behaving well, as junta chief Than Shwe had said she could receive amnesty if she serves her time according to the prescribed regulations.
55 mins ago
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – A lawyer for detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Thursday he is optimistic that Myanmar's highest court will grant an appeal to free her.
Others believe the Supreme Court is more likely to reject the appeal Friday as legal rulings in the military controlled state rarely favor opposition activists. But Nyan Win, also a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, says he expects the court will accept her legal arguments.
Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years.
Her lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court in November last year after a lower court upheld a decision to sentence her to 18 months of house arrest. She was convicted in August last year of violating the terms of her previous detention by briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her lakeside home.
The 64-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate was initially sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor, in a trial that drew global condemnation, but that sentence was immediately commuted to 18 months of house arrest by junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
"We strongly believe that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be acquitted. We have presented strong legal points during our final argument last month," Nyan Win told The Associated Press. He said that if the court rules in her favor, "She will be a free person as soon as the warrant is read out to her." 'Daw' is a term of respect used for older women.
Others are more skeptical.
Aung Thein, a lawyer experienced in political cases, has cautioned that he didn't think the Supreme Court would overturn the lower court rulings. "Executive power supersedes the Supreme Court," he said.
The Supreme Court ruling comes nearly two weeks after the ruling junta released the 82-year-old Tin Oo, deputy leader of Suu Kyi's party, after nearly seven years in detention, and a week after a U.N. human rights envoy left the country, expressing disappointment that he was not allowed to meet the opposition leader.
Soon after his release Tin Oo said he was very hopeful that Suu Kyi would be released soon, noting that in 1995 he was released from an earlier stint in prison not long before Suu Kyi herself was freed.
During a meeting with her lawyers Thursday, Suu Kyi jokingly asked them if she had been behaving well, as junta chief Than Shwe had said she could receive amnesty if she serves her time according to the prescribed regulations.
*************************************************************
Thai court to rule on seizing Thaksin's fortune
By JOCELYN GECKER, Associated Press Writer – Thu Feb 25, 5:27 am ET
BANGKOK (AP) – Thailand is bracing for "Judgment Day" on Friday — when the highest court decides whether to seize the $2.29 billion fortune of the country's divisive ex-leader, Thaksin Shinawatra.
The universal assumption is that the Supreme Court will confiscate at least part of Thaksin's fortune, which was frozen after his ouster in a 2006 coup that was staged because of his alleged corruption and abuse of power.
The big question is whether Thaksin supporters will react to the verdict with riots. That could usher in a painful new chapter in Thailand's political crisis after four years dominated by a bitter and sometimes violent rivalry between the allies and foes of the former telecommunications tycoon.
Thaksin won two landslide election victories and remains popular among Thailand's rural poor who benefited from his policies. But he is generally loathed by the urban elite, including in the military and bureaucracy, who contend he sought to usurp the power of the country's revered constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Ahead of Friday's verdict, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government has called in the troops. More than 20,000 soldiers and police will be on alert nationwide — with about 6,000 in Bangkok, the capital. Judges have been offered safe havens. Banks have been told to stock extra cash to accommodate panic withdrawals.
The verdict is timed to minimize the blow to Thailand's stock market, which like the economy and tourism industry have suffered through the instability. Judges will begin reading their ruling at 1 p.m. (0600 GMT) and are expected to finish after the market closes ahead of a three-day holiday weekend.
"If everybody remains calm and accepts the (ruling), Thailand will get through this situation," Abhisit said Wednesday.
Thaksin supporters say the talk about violence is government propaganda designed to discredit them. The pro-Thaksin Red Shirts, known formally as the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, say no protests are scheduled for Friday but a peaceful "million man march" will be held March 14 in Bangkok.
The 60-year-old Thaksin, who jumped bail and fled the country in 2008, is currently based in Dubai.
Thaksin plans to give a running commentary on Friday's proceedings by holding a live videolink as judges read the ruling, which will be broadcast to supporters from the headquarters of the opposition Puea Thai party, which is allied to him, the party said.
"If I don't receive justice, I will fight for it in every way," Thaksin told supporters earlier this week via videolink. "I am willing to negotiate. But if I am persecuted and bullied, I will not tolerate it."
Thaksin's served as Thailand's prime minister for five years until he was unseated by the September 2006 coup. Critics accused the tycoon-turned-politician of massive corruption and abusing his power by shaping government policy to enrich his family's telecommunications empire. He was convicted in absentia of conflict of interest in 2008 and sentenced to two years in prison.
A nine-judge panel at the court's special Criminal Division for Political Office Holders will determine if Thaksin concealed his assets after becoming prime minister and used his office to enrich himself. His 76.77 billion baht ($2.29 billion) fortune was frozen after the coup and is reportedly stashed in more than 100 bank accounts and other investments belonging to himself, his now ex-wife, his children and other relatives.
Judges will consider several cases of Thaksin's alleged policy abuse, including a multimillion dollar government loan to Myanmar in 2004. Thaksin is accused of endorsing the US$127 million low-interest loan in exchange for the junta's purchases of satellite services from Shin Satellite, then controlled by Thaksin's family.
The Supreme Court's decision technically cannot be appealed — it is the highest court — though defense lawyers have 30 days after the ruling to submit new evidence deemed significant to the case.
Thailand is talking about little else at the moment. The mostly anti-Thaksin national media have been counting down to the verdict for weeks, calling it "The Big Day," and "Judgment Day."
Thaksin supporters are demanding fresh elections and say their real mission is to end injustice in Thai society where the real power is held by the elite. They say Abhisit took power illegitimately after court rulings unseated two post-coup governments led by Thaksin allies.
"We can expect to see some assets — if not all — confiscated by the Supreme Court," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist and director of the Bangkok-based Institute of Security and International Studies. "But it would not put an end to Thailand's crisis, because now Thaksin's supporters the Red Shirts ... have evolved into their own force to be reckoned with."
"They are more than just Thaksin now, and Thailand's problem now is more than just Thaksin."
By JOCELYN GECKER, Associated Press Writer – Thu Feb 25, 5:27 am ET
BANGKOK (AP) – Thailand is bracing for "Judgment Day" on Friday — when the highest court decides whether to seize the $2.29 billion fortune of the country's divisive ex-leader, Thaksin Shinawatra.
The universal assumption is that the Supreme Court will confiscate at least part of Thaksin's fortune, which was frozen after his ouster in a 2006 coup that was staged because of his alleged corruption and abuse of power.
The big question is whether Thaksin supporters will react to the verdict with riots. That could usher in a painful new chapter in Thailand's political crisis after four years dominated by a bitter and sometimes violent rivalry between the allies and foes of the former telecommunications tycoon.
Thaksin won two landslide election victories and remains popular among Thailand's rural poor who benefited from his policies. But he is generally loathed by the urban elite, including in the military and bureaucracy, who contend he sought to usurp the power of the country's revered constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Ahead of Friday's verdict, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government has called in the troops. More than 20,000 soldiers and police will be on alert nationwide — with about 6,000 in Bangkok, the capital. Judges have been offered safe havens. Banks have been told to stock extra cash to accommodate panic withdrawals.
The verdict is timed to minimize the blow to Thailand's stock market, which like the economy and tourism industry have suffered through the instability. Judges will begin reading their ruling at 1 p.m. (0600 GMT) and are expected to finish after the market closes ahead of a three-day holiday weekend.
"If everybody remains calm and accepts the (ruling), Thailand will get through this situation," Abhisit said Wednesday.
Thaksin supporters say the talk about violence is government propaganda designed to discredit them. The pro-Thaksin Red Shirts, known formally as the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, say no protests are scheduled for Friday but a peaceful "million man march" will be held March 14 in Bangkok.
The 60-year-old Thaksin, who jumped bail and fled the country in 2008, is currently based in Dubai.
Thaksin plans to give a running commentary on Friday's proceedings by holding a live videolink as judges read the ruling, which will be broadcast to supporters from the headquarters of the opposition Puea Thai party, which is allied to him, the party said.
"If I don't receive justice, I will fight for it in every way," Thaksin told supporters earlier this week via videolink. "I am willing to negotiate. But if I am persecuted and bullied, I will not tolerate it."
Thaksin's served as Thailand's prime minister for five years until he was unseated by the September 2006 coup. Critics accused the tycoon-turned-politician of massive corruption and abusing his power by shaping government policy to enrich his family's telecommunications empire. He was convicted in absentia of conflict of interest in 2008 and sentenced to two years in prison.
A nine-judge panel at the court's special Criminal Division for Political Office Holders will determine if Thaksin concealed his assets after becoming prime minister and used his office to enrich himself. His 76.77 billion baht ($2.29 billion) fortune was frozen after the coup and is reportedly stashed in more than 100 bank accounts and other investments belonging to himself, his now ex-wife, his children and other relatives.
Judges will consider several cases of Thaksin's alleged policy abuse, including a multimillion dollar government loan to Myanmar in 2004. Thaksin is accused of endorsing the US$127 million low-interest loan in exchange for the junta's purchases of satellite services from Shin Satellite, then controlled by Thaksin's family.
The Supreme Court's decision technically cannot be appealed — it is the highest court — though defense lawyers have 30 days after the ruling to submit new evidence deemed significant to the case.
Thailand is talking about little else at the moment. The mostly anti-Thaksin national media have been counting down to the verdict for weeks, calling it "The Big Day," and "Judgment Day."
Thaksin supporters are demanding fresh elections and say their real mission is to end injustice in Thai society where the real power is held by the elite. They say Abhisit took power illegitimately after court rulings unseated two post-coup governments led by Thaksin allies.
"We can expect to see some assets — if not all — confiscated by the Supreme Court," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist and director of the Bangkok-based Institute of Security and International Studies. "But it would not put an end to Thailand's crisis, because now Thaksin's supporters the Red Shirts ... have evolved into their own force to be reckoned with."
"They are more than just Thaksin now, and Thailand's problem now is more than just Thaksin."
*************************************************************
Myanmar court to rule Friday on Suu Kyi appeal
30 mins ago
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's Supreme Court will rule Friday on detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's appeal against an 18-month extension to her house arrest, a court notice said.
The 64-year-old Suu Kyi had her detention extended in August after being convicted over a bizarre incident in which an American man swam to her house, while a lower court rejected an initial appeal in October.
The court will issue its verdict at 10:00 am (0330 GMT), said the notice posted outside the court building in Yangon on Thursday.
If the Supreme Court turns down her case, Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi can make a final appeal to Myanmar's chief justice. She has already spent most of the last 20 years in jail or under house arrest.
"I just heard about the court notice. I do not want to guess what the Supreme Court's verdict will be, but she is clearly not guilty," said Nyan Win, one of her lawyers and the spokesman for her National League for Democracy.
During a meeting on Wednesday, Nyan Win said that Suu Kyi had jokingly asked if he thought she had behaved well enough to be released early by Myanmar's ruling junta.
But she has previously dismissed comments by Home Affairs Minister Maung Oo, who reportedly said she would be released in November, as "unfair" in preempting any court decision.
The NLD won elections in 1990 by a landslide but the military government never allowed it to take power.
The junta has promised to hold elections some time this year but has refused to so far set a date and critics say they are aimed at simply entrenching the generals' power.
Suu Kyi is effectively barred from standing in the promised polls and a quarter of the parliamentary seats up for grabs are reserved for the military.
She has said it is too early for her party to decide whether to participate in the elections while freedom of expression remains elusive.
At least 2,100 other political prisoners remain behind bars in Myanmar, according to UN figures.
The verdict comes a week after UN human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana visited the country, saying as he departed that he "deeply regretted" being refused access to Suu Kyi during his five-day trip.
Myanmar's government has given out mixed signals ahead of the polls, in mid-February releasing deputy NLD leader Tin Oo after seven years, but days later jailing a US activist for three years.
The administration of US President Barack Obama has been pursuing greater engagement with the Myanmar regime after deciding that sanctions alone were not working.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.
30 mins ago
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's Supreme Court will rule Friday on detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's appeal against an 18-month extension to her house arrest, a court notice said.
The 64-year-old Suu Kyi had her detention extended in August after being convicted over a bizarre incident in which an American man swam to her house, while a lower court rejected an initial appeal in October.
The court will issue its verdict at 10:00 am (0330 GMT), said the notice posted outside the court building in Yangon on Thursday.
If the Supreme Court turns down her case, Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi can make a final appeal to Myanmar's chief justice. She has already spent most of the last 20 years in jail or under house arrest.
"I just heard about the court notice. I do not want to guess what the Supreme Court's verdict will be, but she is clearly not guilty," said Nyan Win, one of her lawyers and the spokesman for her National League for Democracy.
During a meeting on Wednesday, Nyan Win said that Suu Kyi had jokingly asked if he thought she had behaved well enough to be released early by Myanmar's ruling junta.
But she has previously dismissed comments by Home Affairs Minister Maung Oo, who reportedly said she would be released in November, as "unfair" in preempting any court decision.
The NLD won elections in 1990 by a landslide but the military government never allowed it to take power.
The junta has promised to hold elections some time this year but has refused to so far set a date and critics say they are aimed at simply entrenching the generals' power.
Suu Kyi is effectively barred from standing in the promised polls and a quarter of the parliamentary seats up for grabs are reserved for the military.
She has said it is too early for her party to decide whether to participate in the elections while freedom of expression remains elusive.
At least 2,100 other political prisoners remain behind bars in Myanmar, according to UN figures.
The verdict comes a week after UN human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana visited the country, saying as he departed that he "deeply regretted" being refused access to Suu Kyi during his five-day trip.
Myanmar's government has given out mixed signals ahead of the polls, in mid-February releasing deputy NLD leader Tin Oo after seven years, but days later jailing a US activist for three years.
The administration of US President Barack Obama has been pursuing greater engagement with the Myanmar regime after deciding that sanctions alone were not working.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.
*************************************************************
Thai troops shoot dead Myanmar migrants - police
25 Feb 2010 12:25:39 GMT
BANGKOK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Three people were killed and five wounded on Thursday when Thai troops opened fire on a pickup truck smuggling Burmese migrants in a southwestern province bordering Myanmar, police said.
Troops in Ranong, 580 km (360 miles) from Bangkok fired shots to try to bring the truck to a halt as it sped towards them, but eight of the 13 migrants were hit, three fatally, Police Colonel Veerasin Kwangseng told Reuters by telephone. "Initial reports showed the vehicle was heading toward them and they shot at the tyres in self defence when it failed to stop," Veerasin said.
The Thai driver of the truck would likely be charged with attempted murder for his failure to stop, and with smuggling illegal aliens, Veerasin said. The survivors would also be charged with illegal entry into Thailand.
The incident came two days after the New York-based Human Rights Watch released a report criticising Thailand for its poor treatment of migrants, many from neighbouring Myanmar.
The report said migrants from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, were subjected to extortion, arbitrary detention, forced labour and physical abuse, often at the hands of state officials operating with impunity.
Ranong, a 30-minute boat ride from the Myanmar port town of Kawthaung, is a major entry point for Burmese migrants, of which more than 1 million work in Thailand, many illegally, in tourism, construction and manufacturing sectors.
25 Feb 2010 12:25:39 GMT
BANGKOK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Three people were killed and five wounded on Thursday when Thai troops opened fire on a pickup truck smuggling Burmese migrants in a southwestern province bordering Myanmar, police said.
Troops in Ranong, 580 km (360 miles) from Bangkok fired shots to try to bring the truck to a halt as it sped towards them, but eight of the 13 migrants were hit, three fatally, Police Colonel Veerasin Kwangseng told Reuters by telephone. "Initial reports showed the vehicle was heading toward them and they shot at the tyres in self defence when it failed to stop," Veerasin said.
The Thai driver of the truck would likely be charged with attempted murder for his failure to stop, and with smuggling illegal aliens, Veerasin said. The survivors would also be charged with illegal entry into Thailand.
The incident came two days after the New York-based Human Rights Watch released a report criticising Thailand for its poor treatment of migrants, many from neighbouring Myanmar.
The report said migrants from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, were subjected to extortion, arbitrary detention, forced labour and physical abuse, often at the hands of state officials operating with impunity.
Ranong, a 30-minute boat ride from the Myanmar port town of Kawthaung, is a major entry point for Burmese migrants, of which more than 1 million work in Thailand, many illegally, in tourism, construction and manufacturing sectors.
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The Huffington Post - RED ALERT: Civil War Looms in Burma
Jeff Schneider
Posted: February 25, 2010 12:23 AM
They have been preparing for this crisis since 1994. They have built a disciplined, equipped, determined force not of hundreds, not of thousands, but of tens of thousands.
They are the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and they are not alone. They stand with the United Wa State Army and the Shan State Army, each able to field tens of thousands of fighters in their own right, and with whom the KIA has held extensive joint military training exercises in the past years.
Kachin news networks have been featuring stories of oppression and persecution of their ethnic group by Burmese Junta Soldiers. The BBC reports that:
On the car radio are freedom songs, and at one of the training camps a course in traditional dance is being run - cultural nationalism and propaganda is strong.
The Kachin stand against the Junta in charge of Burma, and, as you read this, they are digging trenches, fortifying their artillery positions, and mobilizing their reservists.
The Burmese Junta has ordered these autonomous ethnic armies undertake a Sophie's choice of sorts: disarm, or merge with the Burmese Army before the upcoming 2010 'elections'. The ethnic armies of Burma seem unwilling to comply. the KIA's Chief of Staff, Maj Gen Gam Shawng today told the BBC that:
"I can't say if there will be war for sure, but the government wants us to become a border guard force for them by the end of the month. We will not do that, or disarm, until they have given us a place in a federal union and ethnic rights as was agreed in 1947."
The Kachin, Shan, Wa, and Karen have faced marginalization, oppression, and the occasional ethnic cleansing since the beginning of the Myanmarese Junta; and, in the current security climate of Burma, they see their security ensured only through the maintaining of their arms.
This past Friday, Kachin News reported that all Burmese forces stationed in the north had been told to prepare for combat.
Crisis has come to Kachin, a corner of South East Asia rarely in the news. The outcome of this crisis, however, may have far reaching consequences. The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) may be mobilizing the KIA in the hopes of entering into a very dangerous game of coercive diplomacy with the Burmese Junta. While they have little hope of military victory against the incredibly strong Burmese Army, they can threaten constant instability through protracted guerrilla combat in the jungles of northern Burma -- something that China (the Junta's biggest supporter) cannot tolerate, and the Chinese have already begun to attempt a de-escalation in the region. China has approximately $600 Billion dollars of investments and interests tied up in Burma, and they could stand to lose much of it should the looming threat of conflict blossom into civil war.
Don't count on China to be the champion of de-escalation.
The Kachin should not look to China as a possible stabilizer of this situation. Should armed revolt break out in the region, expect a rapid deployment of PLA troops to the region. China has already begun plans for the massive Myitsone Dam of the Irrawaddi River in the Kachin region -- which would flood approximately 300 square miles, and displace thousands of locals -- while providing massive amounts of power to Yunnan Province. The dam is to be constructed by Junta forces, and ground is scheduled to be broken this year. I would not expect any delays in construction to be welcome news to Beijing or Yangon.
There are also transnational issues at play here. While the KIA/KIO has banned the production of opium in their region -- and have embarked on radical eradication campaigns to enforce their ban, the neighboring Shan state has seen a 300% increase in opium production in their region. Should combat break out in the region, criminal groups, narcotic funded insurgents, and those seeking to profit from a decline in the rule of law will profit -- and those profits may radically protract any conflict.
War may be inevitable in Kachin.
The bottom line? Civil War is likely in Burma, and soon. Any war will involve tens of thousands of soldiers. It will be protracted, messy, and will involve high civilian casualties. Chinese involvement is ensured. Furthermore, the Kachin dyaspora is spread from China to India, and comprises approximately 1.5 million people. With the outbreak of violence, Indian, Burmese, and Thai involvement is possible. Western power involvement is possible. Regional destabilization is ensured. Keep your eyes on northern Burma -- and hold your breath. This will be the first time we at Demagogues and Dictators have predicted an outbreak of armed conflict, and we hope it will be our last.
Jeff Schneider
Posted: February 25, 2010 12:23 AM
They have been preparing for this crisis since 1994. They have built a disciplined, equipped, determined force not of hundreds, not of thousands, but of tens of thousands.
They are the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and they are not alone. They stand with the United Wa State Army and the Shan State Army, each able to field tens of thousands of fighters in their own right, and with whom the KIA has held extensive joint military training exercises in the past years.
Kachin news networks have been featuring stories of oppression and persecution of their ethnic group by Burmese Junta Soldiers. The BBC reports that:
On the car radio are freedom songs, and at one of the training camps a course in traditional dance is being run - cultural nationalism and propaganda is strong.
The Kachin stand against the Junta in charge of Burma, and, as you read this, they are digging trenches, fortifying their artillery positions, and mobilizing their reservists.
The Burmese Junta has ordered these autonomous ethnic armies undertake a Sophie's choice of sorts: disarm, or merge with the Burmese Army before the upcoming 2010 'elections'. The ethnic armies of Burma seem unwilling to comply. the KIA's Chief of Staff, Maj Gen Gam Shawng today told the BBC that:
"I can't say if there will be war for sure, but the government wants us to become a border guard force for them by the end of the month. We will not do that, or disarm, until they have given us a place in a federal union and ethnic rights as was agreed in 1947."
The Kachin, Shan, Wa, and Karen have faced marginalization, oppression, and the occasional ethnic cleansing since the beginning of the Myanmarese Junta; and, in the current security climate of Burma, they see their security ensured only through the maintaining of their arms.
This past Friday, Kachin News reported that all Burmese forces stationed in the north had been told to prepare for combat.
Crisis has come to Kachin, a corner of South East Asia rarely in the news. The outcome of this crisis, however, may have far reaching consequences. The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) may be mobilizing the KIA in the hopes of entering into a very dangerous game of coercive diplomacy with the Burmese Junta. While they have little hope of military victory against the incredibly strong Burmese Army, they can threaten constant instability through protracted guerrilla combat in the jungles of northern Burma -- something that China (the Junta's biggest supporter) cannot tolerate, and the Chinese have already begun to attempt a de-escalation in the region. China has approximately $600 Billion dollars of investments and interests tied up in Burma, and they could stand to lose much of it should the looming threat of conflict blossom into civil war.
Don't count on China to be the champion of de-escalation.
The Kachin should not look to China as a possible stabilizer of this situation. Should armed revolt break out in the region, expect a rapid deployment of PLA troops to the region. China has already begun plans for the massive Myitsone Dam of the Irrawaddi River in the Kachin region -- which would flood approximately 300 square miles, and displace thousands of locals -- while providing massive amounts of power to Yunnan Province. The dam is to be constructed by Junta forces, and ground is scheduled to be broken this year. I would not expect any delays in construction to be welcome news to Beijing or Yangon.
There are also transnational issues at play here. While the KIA/KIO has banned the production of opium in their region -- and have embarked on radical eradication campaigns to enforce their ban, the neighboring Shan state has seen a 300% increase in opium production in their region. Should combat break out in the region, criminal groups, narcotic funded insurgents, and those seeking to profit from a decline in the rule of law will profit -- and those profits may radically protract any conflict.
War may be inevitable in Kachin.
The bottom line? Civil War is likely in Burma, and soon. Any war will involve tens of thousands of soldiers. It will be protracted, messy, and will involve high civilian casualties. Chinese involvement is ensured. Furthermore, the Kachin dyaspora is spread from China to India, and comprises approximately 1.5 million people. With the outbreak of violence, Indian, Burmese, and Thai involvement is possible. Western power involvement is possible. Regional destabilization is ensured. Keep your eyes on northern Burma -- and hold your breath. This will be the first time we at Demagogues and Dictators have predicted an outbreak of armed conflict, and we hope it will be our last.
*************************************************************
E-Pao.net News - AR arrests two Myanmar nationals
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 24, 2010: Troops of 17 Assam Rifles of 10 Sector have apprehended two Myanmar Nationals this morning from whom 130 kgs of raw material for making explosives have also been recovered, said a PRO IGAR (S) release.
Identifying the arrested duo as Khongo (24) s/o Ahong and Ngapho (30) s/o Zeland, both from Somra, the PRO informed that the AR troops launched an operation at Rajai area based on inputs about movement of Myanmar national with contraband materials.
On the otherhand, troops of 8 AR of 26 Sector along with personnel of State's Narcotics and Affairs of Border carried out poppy plantation destruction campaigns from February 14 till 22 in remote and inaccessible areas of various mountain ridges along the Indo-Myanmar border, said a release.
The troops reportedly burned and hacked down poppy cultivations in the area of Khaikual and Houpi in Churachandpur, and Khongtal, Chahjol and Thingbajao in Chakpikarong sub-division of Chandel district during which poppy cultivation amounting to Rs 5,12,00,000 (approx) had been destroyed.
As per Narcotics representative, the net value of the poppy destroyed was 15-20 times more in the international markets.
Integration camp: In connection with the 175th raising day of Assam Rifles, the 17th Assam Rifles of 10 Sector organised a national integration camp in collaboration with Nehru Yuva Kendra at Somsai from February 22 wherein youth teams from Salvasa, Katihar, Jalpaiguri, Jowai, Diphu and all the districts of Manipur are taking part.
A PRO IGAR (S) release said the Camp would continue till February 28 and is being implemented under the aegis of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt of India.
The weeklong programme would include various cultural events, educational lectures, meetings and guest lectures, it informed adding that HQs 10 Sector AR would conduct adventure tours and lectures besides screening of a patriotic movie.
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 24, 2010: Troops of 17 Assam Rifles of 10 Sector have apprehended two Myanmar Nationals this morning from whom 130 kgs of raw material for making explosives have also been recovered, said a PRO IGAR (S) release.
Identifying the arrested duo as Khongo (24) s/o Ahong and Ngapho (30) s/o Zeland, both from Somra, the PRO informed that the AR troops launched an operation at Rajai area based on inputs about movement of Myanmar national with contraband materials.
On the otherhand, troops of 8 AR of 26 Sector along with personnel of State's Narcotics and Affairs of Border carried out poppy plantation destruction campaigns from February 14 till 22 in remote and inaccessible areas of various mountain ridges along the Indo-Myanmar border, said a release.
The troops reportedly burned and hacked down poppy cultivations in the area of Khaikual and Houpi in Churachandpur, and Khongtal, Chahjol and Thingbajao in Chakpikarong sub-division of Chandel district during which poppy cultivation amounting to Rs 5,12,00,000 (approx) had been destroyed.
As per Narcotics representative, the net value of the poppy destroyed was 15-20 times more in the international markets.
Integration camp: In connection with the 175th raising day of Assam Rifles, the 17th Assam Rifles of 10 Sector organised a national integration camp in collaboration with Nehru Yuva Kendra at Somsai from February 22 wherein youth teams from Salvasa, Katihar, Jalpaiguri, Jowai, Diphu and all the districts of Manipur are taking part.
A PRO IGAR (S) release said the Camp would continue till February 28 and is being implemented under the aegis of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt of India.
The weeklong programme would include various cultural events, educational lectures, meetings and guest lectures, it informed adding that HQs 10 Sector AR would conduct adventure tours and lectures besides screening of a patriotic movie.
*************************************************************
Australia Network News - Thai soldiers shoot dead three Burmese migrant children
Last Updated: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:16:00 +1100
Police in Thailand say Thai soldiers shot dead three migrant children from Burma who were travelling in a pick-up truck when their driver failed to stop at a checkpoint.
They say a three year old girl and two boys, aged six and 16, were killed instantly and four other Burmese nationals said to be migrant workers, were wounded in the shooting.
The incident occurred in Ranong province around 550 kilometres, south of Bangkok.
Police say the soldiers opened fire when the driver of the vehicle, carrying 14 people, did not stop as requested.
The area is under martial law along with all Thai border provinces.
Police say three of the wounded remain in hospital.
Last Updated: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:16:00 +1100
Police in Thailand say Thai soldiers shot dead three migrant children from Burma who were travelling in a pick-up truck when their driver failed to stop at a checkpoint.
They say a three year old girl and two boys, aged six and 16, were killed instantly and four other Burmese nationals said to be migrant workers, were wounded in the shooting.
The incident occurred in Ranong province around 550 kilometres, south of Bangkok.
Police say the soldiers opened fire when the driver of the vehicle, carrying 14 people, did not stop as requested.
The area is under martial law along with all Thai border provinces.
Police say three of the wounded remain in hospital.
*************************************************************
The Economist - Migrant workers in Thailand
Inhospitality
Life gets harder for Thailand’s guest-workers
Feb 25th 2010 | BANGKOK | From The Economist print edition
THEY sew bras, peel shrimps, build blocks of flats and haul fishing-nets. In return, migrant workers in Thailand are paid poorly, if at all, and face exploitation and abuse at the hands of employers and the security forces. Up to 3m migrants, many undocumented and mostly from Myanmar, fall into this category. So a scheme to start registering this workforce and bring it into the legal fold sounds like a step forward. Migrants have been ordered to apply to their home countries for special passports so that they can work legally in Thailand and, in theory, enjoy access to public services, such as health care.
But the plan has run into practical and political difficulties, mostly among workers from Myanmar, who rightly fear their awful government and do not want to return home, even temporarily. Many are unaware of the registration drive. So the first applicants have come mostly from migrants from Laos and Cambodia, where the authorities are more willing to help.
The Thai government says 400,000 Myanmar nationals have so far joined the process. Under pressure, the Thai government has reportedly modified its original deadline of February 28th for filing papers. Now that is the deadline only for migrants to fill in a form agreeing to go through the “nationality verification” process. They have until the end of March to submit forms to their home government.
But Thailand has not lifted its threat to arrest and deport migrants who do not comply by the new deadline. The government apparently believes that unregistered foreigners are a security threat. This raises the spectre of mass expulsions on a scale not seen since the 1990s. Jorge Bustamante, a United Nations official in Geneva dealing with migrant rights, has said that this would breach Thailand’s human-rights obligations, since workers might also be asylum-seekers.
This argument is unlikely to sway a government that shows increasing contempt for refugees. In December it expelled more than 4,000 Hmong to Laos, including 158 refugees recognised as such by the UN. Most were packed off to a remote camp. A Thai-government spokesman has claimed that the 158 refugees were happy to be in Laos.
Foreign diplomats in Bangkok, still fuming over the expulsion, doubt it.
Kicking out millions of migrants who do dirty, low-paid jobs would be unpopular with Thai companies. Too few locals are willing to take their place. Garment factories in Thai-Myanmar border towns such as Mae Sot would probably go bankrupt if they had to offer decent wages and benefits. Fisheries and plantations also depend on imported labour. The government, however, believes that deported workers would soon be replaced by others eager to escape misery in Myanmar.
Not all foreign workers are under the radar; over 1.3m migrants registered in 2009 for work permits under the old system. These are the workers whose nationality Thailand wants to verify first, before tackling the rest. But being a legal migrant in Thailand confers few benefits. Workers are still at the mercy of employers who can cheat them of their wages and dismiss them summarily. Complaining can be futile or worse. Workers face extortion, rape and even murder by the very officials supposed to be protecting them, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), a watchdog that this week released a report on the abuses suffered by migrants. It noted that officials treat them like “walking ATMs”.
There is little reason to believe that holding a special passport would protect migrants from rapacious cops and stingy employers, says HRW’s Phil Robertson. Migrants will still be unable to travel freely or organise into unions. In some provinces it is illegal for them to use mobile phones. Labour-inspectors pay little heed.
Employers have the upper hand and can keep down labour costs, but at a price to Thailand’s competitiveness. Surveys of Thai workers show a steady decline in their productivity, says Pracha Vasuprasat, an expert on migration at the International Labour Organisation. An abundance of poorly paid migrants means less incentive to upgrade to a more skilled workforce. Thailand’s is not the only Asian economy hooked on cheap labour. Neighbouring Malaysia also depends on millions of guest-workers. So much so that its home minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, has suggested that, to lessen the dependence, political refugees be allowed to work.
Inhospitality
Life gets harder for Thailand’s guest-workers
Feb 25th 2010 | BANGKOK | From The Economist print edition
THEY sew bras, peel shrimps, build blocks of flats and haul fishing-nets. In return, migrant workers in Thailand are paid poorly, if at all, and face exploitation and abuse at the hands of employers and the security forces. Up to 3m migrants, many undocumented and mostly from Myanmar, fall into this category. So a scheme to start registering this workforce and bring it into the legal fold sounds like a step forward. Migrants have been ordered to apply to their home countries for special passports so that they can work legally in Thailand and, in theory, enjoy access to public services, such as health care.
But the plan has run into practical and political difficulties, mostly among workers from Myanmar, who rightly fear their awful government and do not want to return home, even temporarily. Many are unaware of the registration drive. So the first applicants have come mostly from migrants from Laos and Cambodia, where the authorities are more willing to help.
The Thai government says 400,000 Myanmar nationals have so far joined the process. Under pressure, the Thai government has reportedly modified its original deadline of February 28th for filing papers. Now that is the deadline only for migrants to fill in a form agreeing to go through the “nationality verification” process. They have until the end of March to submit forms to their home government.
But Thailand has not lifted its threat to arrest and deport migrants who do not comply by the new deadline. The government apparently believes that unregistered foreigners are a security threat. This raises the spectre of mass expulsions on a scale not seen since the 1990s. Jorge Bustamante, a United Nations official in Geneva dealing with migrant rights, has said that this would breach Thailand’s human-rights obligations, since workers might also be asylum-seekers.
This argument is unlikely to sway a government that shows increasing contempt for refugees. In December it expelled more than 4,000 Hmong to Laos, including 158 refugees recognised as such by the UN. Most were packed off to a remote camp. A Thai-government spokesman has claimed that the 158 refugees were happy to be in Laos.
Foreign diplomats in Bangkok, still fuming over the expulsion, doubt it.
Kicking out millions of migrants who do dirty, low-paid jobs would be unpopular with Thai companies. Too few locals are willing to take their place. Garment factories in Thai-Myanmar border towns such as Mae Sot would probably go bankrupt if they had to offer decent wages and benefits. Fisheries and plantations also depend on imported labour. The government, however, believes that deported workers would soon be replaced by others eager to escape misery in Myanmar.
Not all foreign workers are under the radar; over 1.3m migrants registered in 2009 for work permits under the old system. These are the workers whose nationality Thailand wants to verify first, before tackling the rest. But being a legal migrant in Thailand confers few benefits. Workers are still at the mercy of employers who can cheat them of their wages and dismiss them summarily. Complaining can be futile or worse. Workers face extortion, rape and even murder by the very officials supposed to be protecting them, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), a watchdog that this week released a report on the abuses suffered by migrants. It noted that officials treat them like “walking ATMs”.
There is little reason to believe that holding a special passport would protect migrants from rapacious cops and stingy employers, says HRW’s Phil Robertson. Migrants will still be unable to travel freely or organise into unions. In some provinces it is illegal for them to use mobile phones. Labour-inspectors pay little heed.
Employers have the upper hand and can keep down labour costs, but at a price to Thailand’s competitiveness. Surveys of Thai workers show a steady decline in their productivity, says Pracha Vasuprasat, an expert on migration at the International Labour Organisation. An abundance of poorly paid migrants means less incentive to upgrade to a more skilled workforce. Thailand’s is not the only Asian economy hooked on cheap labour. Neighbouring Malaysia also depends on millions of guest-workers. So much so that its home minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, has suggested that, to lessen the dependence, political refugees be allowed to work.
*************************************************************
ReliefWeb - MYANMAR/BURMA: Effects of endemic corruption in Myanmar's courts on rights of citizens
Source: Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR)
Date: 25 Feb 2010
ALRC-CWS-13-08-2010
Language(s): English only
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Thirteenth session, Agenda Item 4, Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar
A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status
MYANMAR/BURMA: Effects of endemic corruption in Myanmar's courts on rights of citizens
1. For years the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) has learned of the profound level of corruption in the police and courts of Burma. Practically every step in an ordinary criminal case can be accompanied by payments of one kind or another, which have a profound effect on the already extraordinarily limited avenues that citizens have available to them for redress of wrongs. Payments occur to get a case registered, to get it lodged in court, to get it heard as scheduled, to receive copies of documents, to secure a conviction or acquittal, to get the case accepted on appeal, and so on.
2. The following examples from research conducted by the ALRC show something of the mechanics of corruption in Myanmar and how all parts of the system work to defeat the interests of justice and undermine human rights.
a. In 2007 a police special drug squad arrested a notorious dealer in possession of a small amount of amphetamines. The immediate concern of the local police was to help get the accused out of custody. They nominated a lawyer for him. This is a common practice in all types of ordinary criminal cases in Myanmar, in which there is also a standard commission of 30 per cent that goes back to the police station chief. After being hired, the lawyer went to meet with the judge and prosecutor handling the case. His main function was to act as a broker. This is why the lawyer in such cases needs to be nominated by the police or another official. Judges will only bargain with a lawyer whom they can trust. In this case, the judge explained to the lawyer that the problem was because of the notoriety of his client, there was local and official interest in the case and the judge could not just let the client off without risking accusations of corruption and loosing face in the local community. So they arranged the case in a way that would get the client off, give the judge credibility and make everyone money. Payments were made both to the judge and the prosecutor. During the hearings, they deliberately botched the case. The judge admitted evidence that cast doubt on the allegations, and the prosecutor asked questions that supported the defence. Some prosecution witnesses were made hostile and their evidence recorded fully in the judgement. The judge convicted the accused, and public interest in the case ceased. But the verdict was flawed. The case was appealed to the district court. Here there were no public hearings and no knowledge of what was going on. The judge in the court of first instance had already contacted the judge in the higher court, and had given money to him. The higher court acquitted the accused.
b. A government car driver living with his son in modest conditions, a few years from retirement was in 2007 approached by a group of men, who asked to rent his house. The amount they offered was far above the market value. The occupant consulted with local government administrators whom he knew as friends. They advised him that the group apparently wanted the house for gambling, but that there was nothing to worry about and that he should do it. He rented the house and received a year's payment in advance. After two months a group of special vice squad police arrested the gang. The manager of the gambling operation used his contacts with the police to have the house owner pose as the key accused, securing bail for himself and his men. He told the owner that if he went along with the scheme then he wouldn't have to repay the year's rent, and that he would also get him released after a short time. He also threatened him that if he didn't cooperate then the gang would implicate his son. In the end, the house owner and two junior members of the gang faced court, with the owner in jail and the others on remand. In 2008 the court convicted the owner and freed the other two for lack of evidence. On appeal the elderly man was conditionally released, taking into account time served, but without his knowing the prosecutor appealed to a higher court and the original sentence was re-imposed; the police again arrested him and he is serving the remaining time. The gang has moved elsewhere.
c. The son of an army officer posted to a regional command in 2008 allegedly attempted to rape a classmate together with a companion. The family of the victim took the unusual step of strongly supporting her complaint against the two accused. The case attracted local interest because of the status of the alleged perpetrator as a family member of the ruling military class. At first the charge against the two was attempted rape. They were held as VIP detainees in a room next to the police station chief's own office that the police normally use for playing cards and drinking. The army officer's son received bail on the basis of a supposed health problem that required medical treatment; his companion was held in remand, but in the same room as before. After preliminary hearings and payment of money, the judge ordered that the charge be altered to assault on a woman, which is a much lower offence for which bail is habitually given, and the second accused also was released. Finally both accused were acquitted of that charge on the benefit of the doubt, the judge implying that the victim had misled the two accused and at first consented to sex.
3. Among the most important parts of the profit-making process in Burma's legal system is the granting of bail. Like in those cases described above, the methods of using and manipulating bail involve all parties in the system, including the police, prosecutor and judge, who at various stages have different important roles to play.
a. In the beginning, the police are the most important persons for an arrestee. The police will initially lodge--or threaten to lodge--a non-bailable charge against the accused. In some cases an accused may be able to negotiate with the police to switch to a bailable charge. This depends in part on whether or not the police have taken the initiative to lodge the charge, or whether someone has paid them to do it, in which case they may take money only not to maltreat the detainee, but will not take money to alter or drop the charge, depending on the amount paid by the other party. Where a detainee cannot get the police to alter the charge, the matter goes to the prosecutor. The prosecutor, or law officer, is responsible for lodging the charge in court. If the accused is able to negotiate effectively with the prosecutor, through his lawyer, then the prosecutor will agree to lodge a bailable offence in court.
b. Whether the decision to lodge a bailable offence is made by the police or by the prosecutor, the decision to finally grant bail or not lies with the judge, and at this stage the detainee must again have made arrangements through the lawyer to ensure that bail is granted. In fact, it is in the interests of the judge and of all parties not only that the threat of remand is used to identify detainees with the means to pay their way out of custody, but that those detainees who do have the means are given bail. The reason is that once a price is fixed the detainee will usually make a down payment but then have to raise the rest of the money. This is not easy to do while in custody. Therefore, bail is granted so that the defendant can raise the rest of the money.
4. One of the ways in which the institutionalisation of corruption can be identified in Myanmar is through the standardization of its practices. For instance, fairly standard amounts are paid for certain services, such as the 30 per cent commission from police-nominated lawyers back to the police, and fixed payments per time per person to deliver food to a detainee. Another feature is the itemization of payments. Thus, it is reportedly common for appeal judges to receive payment per annum for imposition or reduction of a sentence. The appellant in a case before the Supreme Court, the plaintiff, paid a judge the equivalent of USD 10,000 to get his opponent imprisoned for five years, calculated not as a lump sum but at the rate of USD2000/year of imprisonment.
5. An attendant feature of systemic corruption is the failure of procedures on which the system is dependent. When the failure reaches the proportions found in Myanmar, it ceases to be a justice system at all. Virtually every case that the ALRC has studied in recent years at some point speaks to this type of procedural failure. Charges are argued even though patently in violation of the law. Judges take up cases involving minors that should be handled by juvenile courts. Sometimes judges are paid to falsify records so that minors appear as adults. This has been a special problem in the delta region since Cyclone Nargis of 2008, as many survivors lost all their documents and proof of age is difficult. Search and seizure forms also are invariably incomplete or wrongly recorded. Under the law, they must be filled out at the place searched and where the items are seized. In fact, police collect items at the site of an incident and bring them back to the police station where they complete the records. They use standard witnesses instead of those at the scene of the search as required by law. And in court, it is a requirement that a witness testimony be read out before he or she sign it; however, very often this requirement is dispensed with and a witness simply told to sign after they have spoken and the written record is ready. This allows both the judge and the clerk to change the contents of the record to suit one party or another. These methods defeat the whole purpose of these records, as there is no longer any accurate picture of what has happened during the police, prosecution or court work.
6. While the incidence of corruption in the police and courts of some countries in Asia is a subject of close interest and documentation, in Myanmar despite the widespread view that the courts are corrupt, it has obtained little attention. This is due both to the difficulty of reliably documenting its incidence--which is problematic by virtue of the nature of corruption even in relatively open societies--as well as to the low priority that it has been given in research on the country, as against documentation merely of military abuses and attendant corrupt practices. Notwithstanding, the Asian Legal Resource Centre urges that all agencies concerned with the situation of human rights and the justice system in Myanmar, including the Special Rapporteur assigned to the country and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, as well as human rights research and advocacy organisations at the international, regional and local levels undertake special detailed research into corruption in the country with which a partial picture can be assembled over time of its extent and characteristics, and their implications for human rights, from which it will be possible to enter into an informed discussion of what needs to be done about it.
# # #
About the ALRC: The Asian Legal Resource Centre is an independent regional non-governmental organisation holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission. The Hong Kong-based group seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on legal and human rights issues at the local and national levels throughout Asia.
Source: Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR)
Date: 25 Feb 2010
ALRC-CWS-13-08-2010
Language(s): English only
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Thirteenth session, Agenda Item 4, Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar
A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status
MYANMAR/BURMA: Effects of endemic corruption in Myanmar's courts on rights of citizens
1. For years the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) has learned of the profound level of corruption in the police and courts of Burma. Practically every step in an ordinary criminal case can be accompanied by payments of one kind or another, which have a profound effect on the already extraordinarily limited avenues that citizens have available to them for redress of wrongs. Payments occur to get a case registered, to get it lodged in court, to get it heard as scheduled, to receive copies of documents, to secure a conviction or acquittal, to get the case accepted on appeal, and so on.
2. The following examples from research conducted by the ALRC show something of the mechanics of corruption in Myanmar and how all parts of the system work to defeat the interests of justice and undermine human rights.
a. In 2007 a police special drug squad arrested a notorious dealer in possession of a small amount of amphetamines. The immediate concern of the local police was to help get the accused out of custody. They nominated a lawyer for him. This is a common practice in all types of ordinary criminal cases in Myanmar, in which there is also a standard commission of 30 per cent that goes back to the police station chief. After being hired, the lawyer went to meet with the judge and prosecutor handling the case. His main function was to act as a broker. This is why the lawyer in such cases needs to be nominated by the police or another official. Judges will only bargain with a lawyer whom they can trust. In this case, the judge explained to the lawyer that the problem was because of the notoriety of his client, there was local and official interest in the case and the judge could not just let the client off without risking accusations of corruption and loosing face in the local community. So they arranged the case in a way that would get the client off, give the judge credibility and make everyone money. Payments were made both to the judge and the prosecutor. During the hearings, they deliberately botched the case. The judge admitted evidence that cast doubt on the allegations, and the prosecutor asked questions that supported the defence. Some prosecution witnesses were made hostile and their evidence recorded fully in the judgement. The judge convicted the accused, and public interest in the case ceased. But the verdict was flawed. The case was appealed to the district court. Here there were no public hearings and no knowledge of what was going on. The judge in the court of first instance had already contacted the judge in the higher court, and had given money to him. The higher court acquitted the accused.
b. A government car driver living with his son in modest conditions, a few years from retirement was in 2007 approached by a group of men, who asked to rent his house. The amount they offered was far above the market value. The occupant consulted with local government administrators whom he knew as friends. They advised him that the group apparently wanted the house for gambling, but that there was nothing to worry about and that he should do it. He rented the house and received a year's payment in advance. After two months a group of special vice squad police arrested the gang. The manager of the gambling operation used his contacts with the police to have the house owner pose as the key accused, securing bail for himself and his men. He told the owner that if he went along with the scheme then he wouldn't have to repay the year's rent, and that he would also get him released after a short time. He also threatened him that if he didn't cooperate then the gang would implicate his son. In the end, the house owner and two junior members of the gang faced court, with the owner in jail and the others on remand. In 2008 the court convicted the owner and freed the other two for lack of evidence. On appeal the elderly man was conditionally released, taking into account time served, but without his knowing the prosecutor appealed to a higher court and the original sentence was re-imposed; the police again arrested him and he is serving the remaining time. The gang has moved elsewhere.
c. The son of an army officer posted to a regional command in 2008 allegedly attempted to rape a classmate together with a companion. The family of the victim took the unusual step of strongly supporting her complaint against the two accused. The case attracted local interest because of the status of the alleged perpetrator as a family member of the ruling military class. At first the charge against the two was attempted rape. They were held as VIP detainees in a room next to the police station chief's own office that the police normally use for playing cards and drinking. The army officer's son received bail on the basis of a supposed health problem that required medical treatment; his companion was held in remand, but in the same room as before. After preliminary hearings and payment of money, the judge ordered that the charge be altered to assault on a woman, which is a much lower offence for which bail is habitually given, and the second accused also was released. Finally both accused were acquitted of that charge on the benefit of the doubt, the judge implying that the victim had misled the two accused and at first consented to sex.
3. Among the most important parts of the profit-making process in Burma's legal system is the granting of bail. Like in those cases described above, the methods of using and manipulating bail involve all parties in the system, including the police, prosecutor and judge, who at various stages have different important roles to play.
a. In the beginning, the police are the most important persons for an arrestee. The police will initially lodge--or threaten to lodge--a non-bailable charge against the accused. In some cases an accused may be able to negotiate with the police to switch to a bailable charge. This depends in part on whether or not the police have taken the initiative to lodge the charge, or whether someone has paid them to do it, in which case they may take money only not to maltreat the detainee, but will not take money to alter or drop the charge, depending on the amount paid by the other party. Where a detainee cannot get the police to alter the charge, the matter goes to the prosecutor. The prosecutor, or law officer, is responsible for lodging the charge in court. If the accused is able to negotiate effectively with the prosecutor, through his lawyer, then the prosecutor will agree to lodge a bailable offence in court.
b. Whether the decision to lodge a bailable offence is made by the police or by the prosecutor, the decision to finally grant bail or not lies with the judge, and at this stage the detainee must again have made arrangements through the lawyer to ensure that bail is granted. In fact, it is in the interests of the judge and of all parties not only that the threat of remand is used to identify detainees with the means to pay their way out of custody, but that those detainees who do have the means are given bail. The reason is that once a price is fixed the detainee will usually make a down payment but then have to raise the rest of the money. This is not easy to do while in custody. Therefore, bail is granted so that the defendant can raise the rest of the money.
4. One of the ways in which the institutionalisation of corruption can be identified in Myanmar is through the standardization of its practices. For instance, fairly standard amounts are paid for certain services, such as the 30 per cent commission from police-nominated lawyers back to the police, and fixed payments per time per person to deliver food to a detainee. Another feature is the itemization of payments. Thus, it is reportedly common for appeal judges to receive payment per annum for imposition or reduction of a sentence. The appellant in a case before the Supreme Court, the plaintiff, paid a judge the equivalent of USD 10,000 to get his opponent imprisoned for five years, calculated not as a lump sum but at the rate of USD2000/year of imprisonment.
5. An attendant feature of systemic corruption is the failure of procedures on which the system is dependent. When the failure reaches the proportions found in Myanmar, it ceases to be a justice system at all. Virtually every case that the ALRC has studied in recent years at some point speaks to this type of procedural failure. Charges are argued even though patently in violation of the law. Judges take up cases involving minors that should be handled by juvenile courts. Sometimes judges are paid to falsify records so that minors appear as adults. This has been a special problem in the delta region since Cyclone Nargis of 2008, as many survivors lost all their documents and proof of age is difficult. Search and seizure forms also are invariably incomplete or wrongly recorded. Under the law, they must be filled out at the place searched and where the items are seized. In fact, police collect items at the site of an incident and bring them back to the police station where they complete the records. They use standard witnesses instead of those at the scene of the search as required by law. And in court, it is a requirement that a witness testimony be read out before he or she sign it; however, very often this requirement is dispensed with and a witness simply told to sign after they have spoken and the written record is ready. This allows both the judge and the clerk to change the contents of the record to suit one party or another. These methods defeat the whole purpose of these records, as there is no longer any accurate picture of what has happened during the police, prosecution or court work.
6. While the incidence of corruption in the police and courts of some countries in Asia is a subject of close interest and documentation, in Myanmar despite the widespread view that the courts are corrupt, it has obtained little attention. This is due both to the difficulty of reliably documenting its incidence--which is problematic by virtue of the nature of corruption even in relatively open societies--as well as to the low priority that it has been given in research on the country, as against documentation merely of military abuses and attendant corrupt practices. Notwithstanding, the Asian Legal Resource Centre urges that all agencies concerned with the situation of human rights and the justice system in Myanmar, including the Special Rapporteur assigned to the country and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, as well as human rights research and advocacy organisations at the international, regional and local levels undertake special detailed research into corruption in the country with which a partial picture can be assembled over time of its extent and characteristics, and their implications for human rights, from which it will be possible to enter into an informed discussion of what needs to be done about it.
# # #
About the ALRC: The Asian Legal Resource Centre is an independent regional non-governmental organisation holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission. The Hong Kong-based group seeks to strengthen and encourage positive action on legal and human rights issues at the local and national levels throughout Asia.
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ENVIRONMENT-CHINA: Dam Plans Open Gates to Tough Choices Ahead
By Gordon Ross
NU RIVER VALLEY, China, Feb 25, 2010 (IPS) - The Nu River flows from the Tibetan highlands through China’s western Yunnan province, cutting between two mountain ranges before rushing through Burma into the Andaman Sea. It is home to a third of the country’s ethnic groups and a diverse ecosystem of 7,000 species of plants and 80 rare or endangered animals and fish.
It was here that Christian missionaries from Burma first entered China, and today communities of ethnic Nu and Tibetans remain passionately Catholic, attending mass in small churches and chanting under pictures of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
It is one of the country’s most remote and fascinating places, and one of only two major rivers in China yet to be dammed.
But that may not last.
In 2003, a consortium of power companies proposed building 13 dams along the Nu (the name means "angry", referring to the river’s spring surge), a project that would produce more electricity than the Three Gorges Dam, which spans the Yangtze in Hubei province. The move brought together China’s fledgling environmental movement, which launched a vocal campaign to keep the Nu free-flowing.
National and international press picked up the story, and in 2004 Premier Wen Jiabao ordered a halt to the project and a full environmental assessment – a crucial victory for China’s environmentalists.
The victory was shortlived. The environmental assessment was never released to the public. The government claimed that because the Nu is an international river – known outside of China as the Salween – development plans fell under state secrecy law.
The project was scaled down from 13 dams to four, and preliminary work went ahead despite Wen’s edict. In March 2008, the State Development and Reform Commission published its five-year plan for energy development, which listed dams on the Nu as key projects.
Today, the construction of a small dam on a tributary to the Nu, just south of the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), is nearly complete.
In 2007, residents of Xiaoshaba, a village of some 120 families upstream from the city of Liuku, were relocated into newly-built apartment blocks to make way for a power station. Meanwhile, in Burma to the south a planned dam project will produce electricity that will be sold back to China.
Last May, Premier Wen once again stopped the projects until a full environmental assessment is completed. But observers say that when the 67-year-old premier steps down in 2012, the projects will resume.
While environmentalists remain staunchly opposed to damming the Nu, the controversy is not black and white. China is hungry for energy and 80 percent of the country’s electrical supply is currently provided by dirty coal-fired plants. Hydropower, which accounts for just 15 percent of China’s electricity, is seen as a cleaner – albeit controversial – alternative.
The dams could also bring much needed jobs to the impoverished Nu region. The local government has estimated that just 20 percent of residents in the region have electricity, something the dams could remedy.
Along the Nu, opinion varies. Kristen McDonald, an American who interviewed 200 villagers along the river for her graduate thesis, found that roughly one third support the project, one third opposes and one third are undecided.
In Xiaoshaba, the relocated village made up primarily of Lisu people, residents said they are generally happy with their new homes – rows of spacious two-storey apartments a few kilometres from the old village.
"The old village and the new one are pretty much the same," says Li Yu Xin, a 40-year-old mini-bus driver who receives a monthly relocation subsidy of 800 renminbi (117 U.S. dollars) along with his apartment. "The only problem is we can’t keep animals – there’s no room for them. But I like the new one fine. I support the central government’s decision."
Further upstream, near the town of Bingzhongluo, one villager, a Tibetan trekking guide, is less certain about the benefits of damming the Nu. The villager, who requested anonymity out of fear of reprisals, is in the fifth year of what he hopes will be a 20-year video documentary project chronicling the impact of the dams.
"People are more and more aware of the changes that would come from the dam, and they know they’re not good," he says. "I worry about how we’re going to keep these villages alive."
Indeed, local culture will be jeopardised should the project go ahead, says Wang Yongchen, a journalist and co-founder of the Beijing-based NGO Green Earth Volunteers, a group that was actively involved in the initial fight to save the Nu. Many villagers will have to be relocated from their traditional homes to cities up- and downstream. In one area near Liuku, a traditional Lisu bathing site will be washed away.
"If you dam the river, their culture, their tradition, disappears," Wang says.
Dam opponents are hoping that an ongoing public awareness campaign will rally increasingly environmentally-conscious Chinese to call upon their government to protect the Nu and other areas like it.
Travis Winn, a 26-year-old American who, with McDonald, co-founded China Rivers Project, a non-profit that aims to protect China’s river heritage, hosts rafting trips to the Nu and other rivers with influential and wealthy Chinese who are in a position to take action.
"The science is there – the dams don’t make a lot of sense. But unless there’s a more personal aspect to this, the science isn’t very useful. That’s what we’re trying to do, make a personal connection," Winn says. "The universal response is, ‘I’ve never had this experience before. I never thought China had such beautiful places.’ It’s the time of their lives."
By Gordon Ross
NU RIVER VALLEY, China, Feb 25, 2010 (IPS) - The Nu River flows from the Tibetan highlands through China’s western Yunnan province, cutting between two mountain ranges before rushing through Burma into the Andaman Sea. It is home to a third of the country’s ethnic groups and a diverse ecosystem of 7,000 species of plants and 80 rare or endangered animals and fish.
It was here that Christian missionaries from Burma first entered China, and today communities of ethnic Nu and Tibetans remain passionately Catholic, attending mass in small churches and chanting under pictures of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
It is one of the country’s most remote and fascinating places, and one of only two major rivers in China yet to be dammed.
But that may not last.
In 2003, a consortium of power companies proposed building 13 dams along the Nu (the name means "angry", referring to the river’s spring surge), a project that would produce more electricity than the Three Gorges Dam, which spans the Yangtze in Hubei province. The move brought together China’s fledgling environmental movement, which launched a vocal campaign to keep the Nu free-flowing.
National and international press picked up the story, and in 2004 Premier Wen Jiabao ordered a halt to the project and a full environmental assessment – a crucial victory for China’s environmentalists.
The victory was shortlived. The environmental assessment was never released to the public. The government claimed that because the Nu is an international river – known outside of China as the Salween – development plans fell under state secrecy law.
The project was scaled down from 13 dams to four, and preliminary work went ahead despite Wen’s edict. In March 2008, the State Development and Reform Commission published its five-year plan for energy development, which listed dams on the Nu as key projects.
Today, the construction of a small dam on a tributary to the Nu, just south of the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), is nearly complete.
In 2007, residents of Xiaoshaba, a village of some 120 families upstream from the city of Liuku, were relocated into newly-built apartment blocks to make way for a power station. Meanwhile, in Burma to the south a planned dam project will produce electricity that will be sold back to China.
Last May, Premier Wen once again stopped the projects until a full environmental assessment is completed. But observers say that when the 67-year-old premier steps down in 2012, the projects will resume.
While environmentalists remain staunchly opposed to damming the Nu, the controversy is not black and white. China is hungry for energy and 80 percent of the country’s electrical supply is currently provided by dirty coal-fired plants. Hydropower, which accounts for just 15 percent of China’s electricity, is seen as a cleaner – albeit controversial – alternative.
The dams could also bring much needed jobs to the impoverished Nu region. The local government has estimated that just 20 percent of residents in the region have electricity, something the dams could remedy.
Along the Nu, opinion varies. Kristen McDonald, an American who interviewed 200 villagers along the river for her graduate thesis, found that roughly one third support the project, one third opposes and one third are undecided.
In Xiaoshaba, the relocated village made up primarily of Lisu people, residents said they are generally happy with their new homes – rows of spacious two-storey apartments a few kilometres from the old village.
"The old village and the new one are pretty much the same," says Li Yu Xin, a 40-year-old mini-bus driver who receives a monthly relocation subsidy of 800 renminbi (117 U.S. dollars) along with his apartment. "The only problem is we can’t keep animals – there’s no room for them. But I like the new one fine. I support the central government’s decision."
Further upstream, near the town of Bingzhongluo, one villager, a Tibetan trekking guide, is less certain about the benefits of damming the Nu. The villager, who requested anonymity out of fear of reprisals, is in the fifth year of what he hopes will be a 20-year video documentary project chronicling the impact of the dams.
"People are more and more aware of the changes that would come from the dam, and they know they’re not good," he says. "I worry about how we’re going to keep these villages alive."
Indeed, local culture will be jeopardised should the project go ahead, says Wang Yongchen, a journalist and co-founder of the Beijing-based NGO Green Earth Volunteers, a group that was actively involved in the initial fight to save the Nu. Many villagers will have to be relocated from their traditional homes to cities up- and downstream. In one area near Liuku, a traditional Lisu bathing site will be washed away.
"If you dam the river, their culture, their tradition, disappears," Wang says.
Dam opponents are hoping that an ongoing public awareness campaign will rally increasingly environmentally-conscious Chinese to call upon their government to protect the Nu and other areas like it.
Travis Winn, a 26-year-old American who, with McDonald, co-founded China Rivers Project, a non-profit that aims to protect China’s river heritage, hosts rafting trips to the Nu and other rivers with influential and wealthy Chinese who are in a position to take action.
"The science is there – the dams don’t make a lot of sense. But unless there’s a more personal aspect to this, the science isn’t very useful. That’s what we’re trying to do, make a personal connection," Winn says. "The universal response is, ‘I’ve never had this experience before. I never thought China had such beautiful places.’ It’s the time of their lives."
*************************************************************
The Examiner - 5K run for Burma relief
February 24, 11:07 AMSeattle Women's Fitness ExaminerLetitia Harmon
7th Annual Run for Relief-Burma
Run/Walk 5K
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Burma (also known as Myanmar) has long been a country in conflict. Minority ethnic groups have been the victims of genocide, and there are many internally displaced peoples and refugees looking for safety and freedom. You may have heard the the beautiful Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi who has spent most of her life under house arrest for protesting the government's treatment of minority groups. Chapel Hill Missions is sponsoring a walk/run to benefit Burma. If you like to combine fitness with philanthropy, consider participating in this 5K and contributing to a wonderful cause.
There is a new course this year. It is an out and back route going out the Skansie Ave entrance and turning left (north), then right (east) onto Rosedale, then left (north) onto the new section of the Cushman trail. The route is hilly and challenging, but not as difficult as running through the jungles of Burma.
Run or walk with us to increase awareness about the situation in Burma and raise funds to support relief efforts.The kid's dash for children under 5 years old will be short before the race at 1pm. Children in strollers are welcomed during the race as well. Award ceremony for top three male and female will follow immediately after race.
12:15 pm to 12:45 pm - Race Day Registration and Packet Pick-Up for Pre-registered Participants (Church gym – Entrance H, lower level). Parking available in upper lots.
12:45pm – Kid’s Dash (for children 5 and under)
1:00pm – 5k event begins
2:00pm - Awards and program (in the gym)
Register Today online! Lunch is included in the price of registration. Food will be available for purchase for those not participating in the run/walk. Register by March 1 and guarantee your t-shirt order.
For questions please contact Emily Jacobsen at 253.853.0238
February 24, 11:07 AMSeattle Women's Fitness ExaminerLetitia Harmon
7th Annual Run for Relief-Burma
Run/Walk 5K
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Burma (also known as Myanmar) has long been a country in conflict. Minority ethnic groups have been the victims of genocide, and there are many internally displaced peoples and refugees looking for safety and freedom. You may have heard the the beautiful Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi who has spent most of her life under house arrest for protesting the government's treatment of minority groups. Chapel Hill Missions is sponsoring a walk/run to benefit Burma. If you like to combine fitness with philanthropy, consider participating in this 5K and contributing to a wonderful cause.
There is a new course this year. It is an out and back route going out the Skansie Ave entrance and turning left (north), then right (east) onto Rosedale, then left (north) onto the new section of the Cushman trail. The route is hilly and challenging, but not as difficult as running through the jungles of Burma.
Run or walk with us to increase awareness about the situation in Burma and raise funds to support relief efforts.The kid's dash for children under 5 years old will be short before the race at 1pm. Children in strollers are welcomed during the race as well. Award ceremony for top three male and female will follow immediately after race.
12:15 pm to 12:45 pm - Race Day Registration and Packet Pick-Up for Pre-registered Participants (Church gym – Entrance H, lower level). Parking available in upper lots.
12:45pm – Kid’s Dash (for children 5 and under)
1:00pm – 5k event begins
2:00pm - Awards and program (in the gym)
Register Today online! Lunch is included in the price of registration. Food will be available for purchase for those not participating in the run/walk. Register by March 1 and guarantee your t-shirt order.
For questions please contact Emily Jacobsen at 253.853.0238
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KANSAI&WEST /
The Yomiuri Shimbun - Photojournalist's book lifts veil off Myanmar
Kenichi Okumura / Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
(Feb. 25, 2010)
The Yomiuri Shimbun - Photojournalist's book lifts veil off Myanmar
Kenichi Okumura / Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
(Feb. 25, 2010)
OSAKA--A freelance photojournalist based in Kobe has recently published a comprehensive book on Myanmar, vividly illustrating in words and pictures the lives of people under a military dictatorship.
Formerly a middle school English teacher, Yuzo Uda, 46, became interested in photography when he began taking pictures at school athletic meets. Eventually his hobby grew into a passion, and he left his teaching job and moved to Boston in 1990 to study photography at a vocational school.
Uda's first steps as a photojournalist took him to El Salvador and Guatemala in 1992 and '93, where he covered internal conflicts and human rights abuses by the military governments.
Later, Uda began covering Myanmar, where he was initially interested in the Karen ethnic minority living along both sides of the 2,000-kilometer Thai-Myanmar border.
The Karen people, who live in the eastern mountainous area of Karen State and also in the southern delta area, have struggled in the jungle against the ruling military for more than 60 years. It is arguably one of the longest internal conflicts in the world.
"I wanted to see firsthand what they were trying to pursue despite the massive hardships," Uda said.
In January 2001, after a difficult journey by car, boat and on foot, Uda was guided to one of the headquarters of the Karen National Liberation Army in Karen State. The KNLA faced financial difficulties, and the people were tired of the long struggle.
Uda interviewed Bo Kyaw, a young brigade commander of the KNLA. A quiet man of the same age as Uda, Bo Kyaw was at a loss for how to get the Karen people out of the deadlock.
He said he had never really been happy during his 16 years of fighting, adding that the military would destroy the KNLA if they laid down their weapons.
While later covering Karen people who had been internally displaced within Myanmar, Uda only had boiled frog on rice to eat as he journeyed several days to their camp. The people were desperate and only wanted to cultivate their own soil and live peaceful lives.
Uda has visited the nation 29 times, including all of its 14 states and divisions. This in itself is an achievement considering the military government's tight grip on the country and the extreme difficulty of obtaining visas.
He has often been asked to reveal his knack for getting the visa. But he says: "I've done nothing special. All I do is apply in accordance with normal procedures. I've never paid a bribe. I have no idea about the reason."
Although the nation's dictator, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, is not well-known outside Myanmar, almost everyone knows Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is general secretary of the National League for Democracy, an opponent of military rule and a pro-democracy movement advocate.
In May 2003, a bloody clash between her supporters and apparently pro-government forces took place in Depeyin, Sagaing Division, in northern Myanmar, while Suu Kyi was on a campaign tour.
For the next three months her whereabouts were unknown. She was finally discovered in a Yangon hospital in September.
When Uda went to the hospital, he found about 20 of her supporters standing out front with flowers and placards in their hands, quietly praying for her safety.
"Approaching the hospital, my heart was pounding. I was afraid of being detained," Uda said. "But I was determined to take photos of these brave people."
After leaving the hospital, Suu Kyi was again put under house arrest.
In August 2007, people took to the streets to protest a hike in oil prices across the nation.
A total of 100,000 people, including Buddhist priests, followed suit the next month in Yangon.
The demonstration was named the "Saffron Revolution" after the color of the monks' robes. The military government eventually crushed the demonstration with force. In this incident Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai, who had been covering the protest, was shot dead.
A few days after the incident, Uda visited the site of the tragedy, where people were beginning to return to normal life.
"The hope for the democratization of Burma [Myanmar] is fading and is ignored by the international community, including Southeast Asia and Japan. I have no idea when the international community will focus on Burma again, as the military rule continues," Uda said.
Digital cameras have become commonplace in big cities like Yangon, so it is no longer only foreign photojournalists who can disseminate images from Myanmar to the outside world.
However, Uda remains committed to photojournalism, saying: "If my photos capture precious moments in people's lives as seen through the lens of a foreigner, they'll move viewers' hearts, I hope."
Uda says that on the surface, nothing has changed in Myanmar in 17 years. But in reality, hope for change has been crushed day by day.
"It is hard to freely express your opinion in Burma," Uda said. "I sense that Japan has gradually become a society where minorities are excluded like Burma. I'm worried about the future of Japan."
Uda's book, "Tozasareta Kuni Biruma" (Sealed Country Burma), is now on sale nationwide.
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Opinion
Bangkok Post - COMMENTARY: And we still call ourselves Buddhists?
Sanitsuda Ekachai
Published: 25/02/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
It says a lot about our country when the day we chose to expel millions of destitute migrant workers to face violent oppression back in Burma is the same day as Macha Bucha Day.
Macha Bucha is the day the Lord Buddha set forth the fundamental principles of his teachings: abstain from all evil, cultivate good, and cleanse our mind of impurities.
Being human, we stray. But on Macha Bucha Day, we should at least try to abstain from all forms of violence, give to the needy, and meditate on the laws of impermanence to let go of our egoistic attachment - if we still consider ourselves Buddhists, that is.
The first Macha Bucha occurred on the full-moon day of the third lunar month, nine months after the Buddha's enlightenment. This year, it falls on Feb 28, the day when the government ends its reprieve for those who desperately need help - the migrant workers who fled harsh poverty and violent persecution in Burma.
I am talking about Thailand's harsh policy to deport all migrant workers who still do not have nationality verification papers from their governments by Feb 28. About 2-3 million migrant workers will be affected. Most of them are ethnic minorities such as the Mon, Karen, and the Shan who are severely persecuted by the Burmese military junta.
Many are Rohingya, who have zero chance of getting any citizenship consideration from Burma.
In response to petitions from rights groups, the Abhisit administration issued an about-face measure last month by making Feb 28 the deadline for just the nationality verification application, and by allowing migrant workers another two years to finish the process.
The softened approach still cannot untie Thailand's Gordian knot of foreign migrant labour because it is based on many false assumptions.
For example, it assumes that migrant workers are well-informed about nationality verification policy and procedures. A survey by the Migrant Working Group shows they are not: 20% say they've never heard about it, 54% say their information from unofficial sources is not clear, and 25% say they believe nationality verification is not mandatory.
The assumption that the workers are willing to enter the process is also challenged. The survey shows 50% of the respondents fear arrest, 57% fear danger for families back home, 48% cannot afford the fee, 46% are at a loss about the procedures, 29% do not have any legal documents in Burma, and 20% fear political persecution. Meanwhile, 26% are certain their applications will not be approved, 56% are uncertain. But approved or not, 68% insist they will not return home.
Another assumption is that the Thai and Burmese bureaucracies can deal with 1.4 million applications within the extended deadline.
But can they?
Last year, only 200,000 applied. Yet, Burma could process only 6,000 applications. Even with Burma's promise to speed things up, we are fooling ourselves if we believe all 1.4 million registered workers will have their nationalities verified and passports issued within the two-year deadline.
So expect another deadline extension, and another, and another. The Labour Ministry has already extended the nationality verification application deadline from Feb 28 to March 31.
While registered workers struggle with policy uncertainty, it is certain that life for some two million underground workers will become even more hellish after Feb 28, given the mass arrests and deportation threats that plunge them deeper into slavery.
Face it. The problem is not only a matter of red-tape. It is a matter of heartlessness. It is not that we do not know about the plight of migrant workers. It is because we do not care. More importantly, it is because many people are making money from this inhumanity.
Who we are is largely determined by how we relate to others, and to our ideals. If we have no second thoughts about hurting the weak even on Buddhist holy days, we should use the upcoming Macha Bucha Day to seriously consider whether we can still call ourselves Buddhists.Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor (Outlook), Bangkok Post.
Bangkok Post - COMMENTARY: And we still call ourselves Buddhists?
Sanitsuda Ekachai
Published: 25/02/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
It says a lot about our country when the day we chose to expel millions of destitute migrant workers to face violent oppression back in Burma is the same day as Macha Bucha Day.
Macha Bucha is the day the Lord Buddha set forth the fundamental principles of his teachings: abstain from all evil, cultivate good, and cleanse our mind of impurities.
Being human, we stray. But on Macha Bucha Day, we should at least try to abstain from all forms of violence, give to the needy, and meditate on the laws of impermanence to let go of our egoistic attachment - if we still consider ourselves Buddhists, that is.
The first Macha Bucha occurred on the full-moon day of the third lunar month, nine months after the Buddha's enlightenment. This year, it falls on Feb 28, the day when the government ends its reprieve for those who desperately need help - the migrant workers who fled harsh poverty and violent persecution in Burma.
I am talking about Thailand's harsh policy to deport all migrant workers who still do not have nationality verification papers from their governments by Feb 28. About 2-3 million migrant workers will be affected. Most of them are ethnic minorities such as the Mon, Karen, and the Shan who are severely persecuted by the Burmese military junta.
Many are Rohingya, who have zero chance of getting any citizenship consideration from Burma.
In response to petitions from rights groups, the Abhisit administration issued an about-face measure last month by making Feb 28 the deadline for just the nationality verification application, and by allowing migrant workers another two years to finish the process.
The softened approach still cannot untie Thailand's Gordian knot of foreign migrant labour because it is based on many false assumptions.
For example, it assumes that migrant workers are well-informed about nationality verification policy and procedures. A survey by the Migrant Working Group shows they are not: 20% say they've never heard about it, 54% say their information from unofficial sources is not clear, and 25% say they believe nationality verification is not mandatory.
The assumption that the workers are willing to enter the process is also challenged. The survey shows 50% of the respondents fear arrest, 57% fear danger for families back home, 48% cannot afford the fee, 46% are at a loss about the procedures, 29% do not have any legal documents in Burma, and 20% fear political persecution. Meanwhile, 26% are certain their applications will not be approved, 56% are uncertain. But approved or not, 68% insist they will not return home.
Another assumption is that the Thai and Burmese bureaucracies can deal with 1.4 million applications within the extended deadline.
But can they?
Last year, only 200,000 applied. Yet, Burma could process only 6,000 applications. Even with Burma's promise to speed things up, we are fooling ourselves if we believe all 1.4 million registered workers will have their nationalities verified and passports issued within the two-year deadline.
So expect another deadline extension, and another, and another. The Labour Ministry has already extended the nationality verification application deadline from Feb 28 to March 31.
While registered workers struggle with policy uncertainty, it is certain that life for some two million underground workers will become even more hellish after Feb 28, given the mass arrests and deportation threats that plunge them deeper into slavery.
Face it. The problem is not only a matter of red-tape. It is a matter of heartlessness. It is not that we do not know about the plight of migrant workers. It is because we do not care. More importantly, it is because many people are making money from this inhumanity.
Who we are is largely determined by how we relate to others, and to our ideals. If we have no second thoughts about hurting the weak even on Buddhist holy days, we should use the upcoming Macha Bucha Day to seriously consider whether we can still call ourselves Buddhists.Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor (Outlook), Bangkok Post.
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The Nation - No arbitrary expulsion of Burmese labourers
Published on February 26, 2010
Thailand needs migrant workers; it's time we protected them from exploitation here and persecution in their own countries
Thailand is in the headlines again for all the wrong reasons. The world is now watching the government closely over the future of several hundred thousand migrant workers from neighbouring countries who may well be expelled from the country.
Of course, the main focus in this issue is Burmese migrant workers, whose verification process has now been extended until next month. The earlier, and still lingering, fear is that when the deadline expires, those Burmese workers who have not registered with the Thai authorities as migrant employees wild be sent back across the border.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has been quite adamant that all migrant workers must respect the rule of law if they want to continue to work in Thailand. His firm stand on the recent repatriation to Laos of Hmong refugees surprised and disappointed the international community. But his repatriation policy has to some extent been vindicated because the Lao government has so far stood by its pledge given to the Thai government and the international community that the Hmong returnees would not be prosecuted.
They have now apparently been resettled in various part of Thailand's landlocked neighbour.
The country's tough implementation of immigration procedures has caused comment throughout the world. Over the past three or four decades, Thailand has been quite open toward refugees and itinerant labourers, who have relied on the country's tacit policy of welcoming migrant workers. There are no accurate statistics on the number of migrant workers in Thailand, but it is generally thought that at least three million - mainly from Burma, Laos, Cambodia and the Indian subcontinent - are working in various parts of the country. They have diligently contributed to the country's economic progress and overall development in the past few decades. They still receive low wages and do not benefit from any kind of social safety net.
Officially, a total of 382,541 migrant workers were registered three years ago. The Thai government has called on illegal migrant workers - another 933,391 of them - to register their names before the end of this month to avoid any future expulsion. Lao and Cambodian workers have fewer problems working in Thailand because their countries' political conditions are stable. Nobody in Laos or Cambodia faces sustained and regular persecution from their government, as do thousands upon thousands of Burmese at the hands of the military junta there. In the case of Burmese migrant workers, many have sought political refuge and a livelihood inside Thailand. For whatever reasons, including political, if they are sent back, their lives could be in jeopardy.
The Abhisit government, which has prided itself on upholding respect for human rights, must not diminish the hopes and dreams of these Burmese workers. Everybody knows that the nationality verification process inside Burma - which they will be subject to upon their return - will not be fair or just. This is especially true for those who are vocal against the military junta.
The Abhisit government should be patient and allow more time to process Burmese migrant workers. The one-month extension is a good move, but the government also has to be realistic to ensure that all migrant workers are properly registered. After all, they are vital to the Thai economy. This is the least we can do for these workers at a most difficult and worrying time for them. All concerned authorities must also follow the government's guidelines, without abusing their power. They should by now have learned lessons from the past that despite Thailand's generous policy of accepting refugees and migrant workers, the international community will not hesitate to criticise when Thailand metes out harsh treatment.
The time has come for us to give the people who do our dirty work opportunity, respect and hope.
Published on February 26, 2010
Thailand needs migrant workers; it's time we protected them from exploitation here and persecution in their own countries
Thailand is in the headlines again for all the wrong reasons. The world is now watching the government closely over the future of several hundred thousand migrant workers from neighbouring countries who may well be expelled from the country.
Of course, the main focus in this issue is Burmese migrant workers, whose verification process has now been extended until next month. The earlier, and still lingering, fear is that when the deadline expires, those Burmese workers who have not registered with the Thai authorities as migrant employees wild be sent back across the border.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has been quite adamant that all migrant workers must respect the rule of law if they want to continue to work in Thailand. His firm stand on the recent repatriation to Laos of Hmong refugees surprised and disappointed the international community. But his repatriation policy has to some extent been vindicated because the Lao government has so far stood by its pledge given to the Thai government and the international community that the Hmong returnees would not be prosecuted.
They have now apparently been resettled in various part of Thailand's landlocked neighbour.
The country's tough implementation of immigration procedures has caused comment throughout the world. Over the past three or four decades, Thailand has been quite open toward refugees and itinerant labourers, who have relied on the country's tacit policy of welcoming migrant workers. There are no accurate statistics on the number of migrant workers in Thailand, but it is generally thought that at least three million - mainly from Burma, Laos, Cambodia and the Indian subcontinent - are working in various parts of the country. They have diligently contributed to the country's economic progress and overall development in the past few decades. They still receive low wages and do not benefit from any kind of social safety net.
Officially, a total of 382,541 migrant workers were registered three years ago. The Thai government has called on illegal migrant workers - another 933,391 of them - to register their names before the end of this month to avoid any future expulsion. Lao and Cambodian workers have fewer problems working in Thailand because their countries' political conditions are stable. Nobody in Laos or Cambodia faces sustained and regular persecution from their government, as do thousands upon thousands of Burmese at the hands of the military junta there. In the case of Burmese migrant workers, many have sought political refuge and a livelihood inside Thailand. For whatever reasons, including political, if they are sent back, their lives could be in jeopardy.
The Abhisit government, which has prided itself on upholding respect for human rights, must not diminish the hopes and dreams of these Burmese workers. Everybody knows that the nationality verification process inside Burma - which they will be subject to upon their return - will not be fair or just. This is especially true for those who are vocal against the military junta.
The Abhisit government should be patient and allow more time to process Burmese migrant workers. The one-month extension is a good move, but the government also has to be realistic to ensure that all migrant workers are properly registered. After all, they are vital to the Thai economy. This is the least we can do for these workers at a most difficult and worrying time for them. All concerned authorities must also follow the government's guidelines, without abusing their power. They should by now have learned lessons from the past that despite Thailand's generous policy of accepting refugees and migrant workers, the international community will not hesitate to criticise when Thailand metes out harsh treatment.
The time has come for us to give the people who do our dirty work opportunity, respect and hope.
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Aung San Suu Kyi happy with reorganization of NLD’s CC
Thursday, 25 February 2010 12:26 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Aung San Suu Kyi, general secretary of the National League for Democracy has expressed her happiness with the reorganization of the party Central Committee (CC).
The pro-democracy leader also conveyed her thanks to party Vice-Chairman Tin Oo for carrying out party duties soon after he was released from house arrest. She spoke to her lawyers Nyan Win and Kyi Win. They visited her home on University Avenue yesterday between 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. for monitoring the renovation of her residence.
"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she was pleased with our work relating to selecting CC nominees. She is aware that U Tin Oo began performing party duties immediately after his release from house arrest and asked us to convey her thanks to him, which has been done,” lawyer Nyan Win said.
All her four lawyers - Kyi Win, Nyan Win, Hla Myo Myint and Khin Htay Kywe - sought permission from the regime to meet their client but only two were given the go ahead.
They discussed the temporary injunction filed by her elder brother Aung San Oo against renovating her residence at the Rangoon Divisional Court and made insertions and additions in their application.
Aung San Suu Kyi felt the injunction is contrary to the law as the renovation is not causing damage to the disputed property.
The All Burma Monks Alliance (ABMA) had imposed their ex-communicative boycott on Aung San OO and his wife Le Le Nwe Thein for obstructing the work of people, who are making sacrifices for the pro-democracy struggle.
The party Central Executive Committee (CEC) has begun the selection of CC nominees submitted by States and Divisions party branches by making additions, deletions, alterations and insertion in the nominees' list since February 22 at the party head office in Rangoon.
Thursday, 25 February 2010 12:26 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Aung San Suu Kyi, general secretary of the National League for Democracy has expressed her happiness with the reorganization of the party Central Committee (CC).
The pro-democracy leader also conveyed her thanks to party Vice-Chairman Tin Oo for carrying out party duties soon after he was released from house arrest. She spoke to her lawyers Nyan Win and Kyi Win. They visited her home on University Avenue yesterday between 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. for monitoring the renovation of her residence.
"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she was pleased with our work relating to selecting CC nominees. She is aware that U Tin Oo began performing party duties immediately after his release from house arrest and asked us to convey her thanks to him, which has been done,” lawyer Nyan Win said.
All her four lawyers - Kyi Win, Nyan Win, Hla Myo Myint and Khin Htay Kywe - sought permission from the regime to meet their client but only two were given the go ahead.
They discussed the temporary injunction filed by her elder brother Aung San Oo against renovating her residence at the Rangoon Divisional Court and made insertions and additions in their application.
Aung San Suu Kyi felt the injunction is contrary to the law as the renovation is not causing damage to the disputed property.
The All Burma Monks Alliance (ABMA) had imposed their ex-communicative boycott on Aung San OO and his wife Le Le Nwe Thein for obstructing the work of people, who are making sacrifices for the pro-democracy struggle.
The party Central Executive Committee (CEC) has begun the selection of CC nominees submitted by States and Divisions party branches by making additions, deletions, alterations and insertion in the nominees' list since February 22 at the party head office in Rangoon.
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KWO’s report on horrifying abuse of women village chiefs
Thursday, 25 February 2010 19:23 Usa Pichai
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Horrifying abuses heaped on ethnic Karen women in Burma, who became village chiefs because male village heads were at greater risk of being killed, has been revealed by an ethnic women’s organization in its latest report released on Thursday.
The Karen Women’s Organization’s (KWO) latest report “Walking Amongst Sharp Knives” is based on interviews of 95 Karen women from 2005 to 2009 on their experience of being village heads and being targeted for systematic abuse by Burmese Army troops across Eastern Burma.
The report states that in lowland Karen areas in Eastern Burma women are increasingly taking up the role of village chief, as male village chiefs are more likely to be killed by the Burmese Army. It exposes for the first time the impact of this dramatic cultural shift.
“This change, overturning deeply engrained tradition, has put women further into the front line of human rights abuses being committed by the Burmese Army and their allies,” the report said.
The abuses experienced or witnessed by the women chiefs documented in the report include: crucifixion, people burnt alive, rape, many forms of torture and slave labour.
The practice of electing women as village chiefs has spread through lowland Karen areas of Eastern Burma since the 1980s, as Burma’s military regime has expanded control and increased persecution of these war-torn communities. With men increasingly reluctant to risk their lives as chiefs, women have stepped in to assume leadership in the hope of mitigating abuses. However, testimonies of women chiefs show that, far from being exempt from the brutality of the Burmese Army, they have faced ongoing systematic abuse, including gender-based violence, according to the report.
The source of information is based on interviews with current and former women chiefs from five districts of Eastern Burma: Papun (Mutraw), Dooplaya, Thaton (Doo Tha Htu), Nyaunglebin (Kler Lwee Htu), and Pa-an. They are of the ages between 25 to 82. About one third are still serving as chiefs of their communities.
“Apart from being witness to numerous instances of abuse and murder of fellow-villagers, the chiefs themselves have suffered brutal punishment for alleged non-cooperation. One third of the women interviewed had been physically beaten or tortured. The women also testify to ongoing sexual violence. They also describe being forced to provide “comfort women” for the Burmese Army troops,” the report added.
Many of the abuses described in the report would appear to be in breach of international law, including five articles of the Rome Statute, of the International Criminal Court.
KWO is urgently calling on the United Nations Security Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by the Burmese military dictatorship. It also urges the Royal Thai Government to grant continued protection to those refugees, who have fled military attacks and human rights abuses. In addition, the Thai Government should suspend investment in projects such as dams and infrastructure, which is fuelling militarization and abuses, and increasing refugee flow into Thailand
Thursday, 25 February 2010 19:23 Usa Pichai
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Horrifying abuses heaped on ethnic Karen women in Burma, who became village chiefs because male village heads were at greater risk of being killed, has been revealed by an ethnic women’s organization in its latest report released on Thursday.
The Karen Women’s Organization’s (KWO) latest report “Walking Amongst Sharp Knives” is based on interviews of 95 Karen women from 2005 to 2009 on their experience of being village heads and being targeted for systematic abuse by Burmese Army troops across Eastern Burma.
The report states that in lowland Karen areas in Eastern Burma women are increasingly taking up the role of village chief, as male village chiefs are more likely to be killed by the Burmese Army. It exposes for the first time the impact of this dramatic cultural shift.
“This change, overturning deeply engrained tradition, has put women further into the front line of human rights abuses being committed by the Burmese Army and their allies,” the report said.
The abuses experienced or witnessed by the women chiefs documented in the report include: crucifixion, people burnt alive, rape, many forms of torture and slave labour.
The practice of electing women as village chiefs has spread through lowland Karen areas of Eastern Burma since the 1980s, as Burma’s military regime has expanded control and increased persecution of these war-torn communities. With men increasingly reluctant to risk their lives as chiefs, women have stepped in to assume leadership in the hope of mitigating abuses. However, testimonies of women chiefs show that, far from being exempt from the brutality of the Burmese Army, they have faced ongoing systematic abuse, including gender-based violence, according to the report.
The source of information is based on interviews with current and former women chiefs from five districts of Eastern Burma: Papun (Mutraw), Dooplaya, Thaton (Doo Tha Htu), Nyaunglebin (Kler Lwee Htu), and Pa-an. They are of the ages between 25 to 82. About one third are still serving as chiefs of their communities.
“Apart from being witness to numerous instances of abuse and murder of fellow-villagers, the chiefs themselves have suffered brutal punishment for alleged non-cooperation. One third of the women interviewed had been physically beaten or tortured. The women also testify to ongoing sexual violence. They also describe being forced to provide “comfort women” for the Burmese Army troops,” the report added.
Many of the abuses described in the report would appear to be in breach of international law, including five articles of the Rome Statute, of the International Criminal Court.
KWO is urgently calling on the United Nations Security Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by the Burmese military dictatorship. It also urges the Royal Thai Government to grant continued protection to those refugees, who have fled military attacks and human rights abuses. In addition, the Thai Government should suspend investment in projects such as dams and infrastructure, which is fuelling militarization and abuses, and increasing refugee flow into Thailand
*************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - US Chargé d'Affaires Meets NLD
By KO HTWE - Thursday, February 25, 2010
The United States' Chargé d'Affaires in Rangoon has met Central Executive Committee (CEC) members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) to discuss the opposition party's political stance and whether it will participate in this year's election.
Chargé d'Affaires Larry Dinger, accompanied by the embassy's Political/ Economic Chief Jennifer Harhigh, met with five members of the NLD's CEC––Vice President Tin Oo, Win Tin, Khin Maung Swe, Nyunt Wai and Than Htun.
The meeting took place at 1 p.m. On Wednesday at the Rangoon headquarters of the NLD and lasted nearly one hour, Win Tin told The Irrawaddy.
“They asked about the reorganizing of our Central Committee and the party's participation in the election,” said NLD spokesman Khin Maung Swe, adding that the CEC representatives had told the US chargé d'affairs that the NLD had not yet decided if it would participate in the election.
The current NLD position is based on its Shwegondaing Declaration, released in April last year, which calls for a review of the controversial constitution, political dialogue and the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. It also called on the military junta to recognize the results of the 1990 election and for an all-inclusive dialogue.
Dinger stated clearly that the US did not want to make any comment on whether the NLD should take part in the election, nor whether there should be a review of the 2008 constitution, said Win Tin.
“However, the US official said they would urge dialogue between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Snr-Gen Than Shwe ahead of the election,” added Win Tin.
The US embassy in Rangoon confirmed the meeting, but would not give further details about the discussions.
The US has called for a national dialogue involving the regime, the NLD, other opposition parties and ethnic minority groups ahead of the election, but has not urged the junta to review the Constitution, which will facilitate continued military rule.
In September, the US announced it will pursue a policy of “engagement” and sanctions simultaneously with the regime.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, who led a US fact-finding mission to Burma in early November, held meetings with junta officials including Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein, opposition leader Suu Kyi and ethnic leaders.
Campbell and his deputy, Scot Marciel, were the highest-ranking American officials to visit Burma since 1995, when former US Congressman Bill Richardson and then US ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright traveled to the country in a bid to push for democratic reforms.
According to diplomatic sources, Campbell is planning another trip to Burma but has not yet fixed a date.
Meanwhile, the NLD on Thursday selected 100 candidates and eight auxiliary members for the opposition party's central committee.
The selection of candidates for the party's second-tier leadership has come in for criticism from some members, particularly in Pegu Division, for its centralized control. However, CEC member Dr. Win Naing said the party would solve the problem.
In its most significant move to reorganize the party since the 1990s, the NLD has chosen 108 members for the reconstituted central committee, which was abolished by the regime in 1991.
In January, the NLD reformed the CEC by electing nine new members, whereas it formerly had 11 members.
By KO HTWE - Thursday, February 25, 2010
The United States' Chargé d'Affaires in Rangoon has met Central Executive Committee (CEC) members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) to discuss the opposition party's political stance and whether it will participate in this year's election.
Chargé d'Affaires Larry Dinger, accompanied by the embassy's Political/ Economic Chief Jennifer Harhigh, met with five members of the NLD's CEC––Vice President Tin Oo, Win Tin, Khin Maung Swe, Nyunt Wai and Than Htun.
The meeting took place at 1 p.m. On Wednesday at the Rangoon headquarters of the NLD and lasted nearly one hour, Win Tin told The Irrawaddy.
“They asked about the reorganizing of our Central Committee and the party's participation in the election,” said NLD spokesman Khin Maung Swe, adding that the CEC representatives had told the US chargé d'affairs that the NLD had not yet decided if it would participate in the election.
The current NLD position is based on its Shwegondaing Declaration, released in April last year, which calls for a review of the controversial constitution, political dialogue and the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. It also called on the military junta to recognize the results of the 1990 election and for an all-inclusive dialogue.
Dinger stated clearly that the US did not want to make any comment on whether the NLD should take part in the election, nor whether there should be a review of the 2008 constitution, said Win Tin.
“However, the US official said they would urge dialogue between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Snr-Gen Than Shwe ahead of the election,” added Win Tin.
The US embassy in Rangoon confirmed the meeting, but would not give further details about the discussions.
The US has called for a national dialogue involving the regime, the NLD, other opposition parties and ethnic minority groups ahead of the election, but has not urged the junta to review the Constitution, which will facilitate continued military rule.
In September, the US announced it will pursue a policy of “engagement” and sanctions simultaneously with the regime.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, who led a US fact-finding mission to Burma in early November, held meetings with junta officials including Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein, opposition leader Suu Kyi and ethnic leaders.
Campbell and his deputy, Scot Marciel, were the highest-ranking American officials to visit Burma since 1995, when former US Congressman Bill Richardson and then US ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright traveled to the country in a bid to push for democratic reforms.
According to diplomatic sources, Campbell is planning another trip to Burma but has not yet fixed a date.
Meanwhile, the NLD on Thursday selected 100 candidates and eight auxiliary members for the opposition party's central committee.
The selection of candidates for the party's second-tier leadership has come in for criticism from some members, particularly in Pegu Division, for its centralized control. However, CEC member Dr. Win Naing said the party would solve the problem.
In its most significant move to reorganize the party since the 1990s, the NLD has chosen 108 members for the reconstituted central committee, which was abolished by the regime in 1991.
In January, the NLD reformed the CEC by electing nine new members, whereas it formerly had 11 members.
*************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - In the Hands of Human Traffickers
By KYAW THEIN KHA - Thursday, February 25, 2010
A phone call from a terrified person in the middle of the night often awakens Min Thant (not his real name). He dares not ignore the call out of fear that someone may lose their life.
Because of his 13 years of experience as an overstayed “guest” in Malaysia, many Burmese migrants in Kuala Lumpur and throughout the country know to call Min Thant when they're in desperate straits.
He has heard many pleas from victims of human trafficking: “Min Thant, please rescue me,” “Min Thant, please save the life of my friend,” “Min Thant, please buy me from the hands of the brokers.”
If he hears that a Burmese migrant is being trafficked and is being held on the Malaysia-Thai border, he jumps into action, contacting friends to borrow money so he can buy the victim's freedom from the hands of a broker.
Sometimes ventures out in the middle of the night for an emergency rescue, even though he knows it is dangerous to go outside at night with a large sum of money.
Nevertheless, Min Thant said he doesn't worry about himself. Instead, he worries about the victims, who are pleading to be rescued from the human trafficking market. The victims are Burmese migrants who come to Malaysia because of economic hardship in their country. Others are political refugees seeking safety. While others still are war refugees whose lands were confiscated by the Burmese regime.
The illegal migrants seek greener pastures abroad in Thailand, Malaysia, India or Bangladesh, where they can easily cross the borders illegally.
In Malaysia, many migrants pass their daily life as undocumented workers without legal papers. When Malaysian police arrest illegal migrants, they are placed in detention centers. Then many will are trafficked by corrupt police or immigration officers into the hands of brokers on the Malaysia-Thai border.
According to Malaysia's Bernama News Agency, on July 20, 2009, “Nine people, including five Johor Immigration Department officers, were arrested in several locations for alleged involvement in an international human trafficking syndicate.”
Before many detainees are released into the hands of traffickers, Min Thant said many are given a cane whipping in the detention centers.
Nyunt Win, 33, shared his story:
“We could say nothing as the court had already decided we would be detained in the camp, including cane whipping as a punishment. They have big men to whip the detainees. The men get paid 100 ringgit ($28) for whipping each person.
While I was being taken for a medical check-up before being whipped, the men were beating the leather boards, testing the canes to see if they were good enough to beat us.
The terrible noise scared me. Then, I was dragged to the place for the cane whipping as if I were about to be crucified. I thought about God and prayed to him, making up my mind to be patient being whipped.”
According to the “Malaysia Civil and Political Rights Report 2009 Overview” of Suaram, a human rights group in Malaysia, the Malaysian government announced that it had sentenced 47,914 migrants to be caned for immigration offenses since amendments to its Immigration Act came into force in 2002.
At least 34,923 migrants have so far been caned between 2002 and 2008, according to Prison Department records.
Tamme Lee, a refugee coordinator of Suaram, said, “Of those 34,923 migrants, 3.9 percent (1,362 migrants) were from Myanmar [Burma].”
Nyunt Win continued: “Some detainees who have been caned are withdrawn from the camp by the corrupt police and immigration officers and trafficked into the hands of Thai brokers. Burmese minority groups, including Burmese-Muslim brokers, work under the control of the Thai brokers, sharing profits. Human trafficking is a profession for all of them.”
Investigations have established that corrupt officers take many Burmese migrants—who lived in Malaysia without valid travel documents—to Malaysia's northern border with Thailand and pass them on to human traffickers in exchange for up to 600 Malaysian ringgits (US $170) each. The traffickers reportedly take the migrants into Thailand and tell them to pay 2,000 ringgit ($570) each for their freedom or they will be forced to work in the fishing industry.
A Burmese migrant who was trafficked said, “One of the trafficking victims from our group said that he’d like to meet the head broker.” The men who work for broker Hamid Naung (not his real name), reportedly one of the harshest brokers in the business, told their boss, who came and beat and kicked the man who asked to meet him, saying, “Are you the one who wants to meet me?”
According to one Burmese migrant who was trafficked to the Malaysian-Thai border, Hamid Naung is the leader in the human trafficking market together with his partner, Hassein, a Malaysian. Corrupt Malaysian police tell Hassein how many detainees will be deported to the Malaysia-Thai border. He then buys the deportees from the corrupt officers.
Htun Aung, 32, who was able to buy his freedom, said: “Twenty-seven people who did not have money were trafficked into Thai fishing boats for 35,000 Thai baht ($1,000) per victim. They were bought by the boatmen to use as slaves.”
Even while trying to help trafficking victims, Min Thant said he worries if he is doing the right thing: “I wonder if I am encouraging the brokers to abuse trafficking victims by transferring money into their bank accounts in exchange for the victims. If I said to the brokers that I don’t have enough money to buy the victims, brokers let the victims talk to me on the phone. While the victims are talking, the broker’s men beat and punch them. I can hear the noise of beating and punching. Then, I have to decide.”
Thai and Malaysian authorities and the international community are aware of human trafficking, but they are unable to eliminate the brokers and the corrupt officials. Brokers in human trafficking continue to reap sizable profits.
“I don’t want to deal with the brokers, but I have to,” Min Thant said. “The Burmese government doesn’t have sympathy for its people. The Malaysian government hasn't weeded out corruption. There is also discrimination against poor foreigners.”
By KYAW THEIN KHA - Thursday, February 25, 2010
A phone call from a terrified person in the middle of the night often awakens Min Thant (not his real name). He dares not ignore the call out of fear that someone may lose their life.
Because of his 13 years of experience as an overstayed “guest” in Malaysia, many Burmese migrants in Kuala Lumpur and throughout the country know to call Min Thant when they're in desperate straits.
He has heard many pleas from victims of human trafficking: “Min Thant, please rescue me,” “Min Thant, please save the life of my friend,” “Min Thant, please buy me from the hands of the brokers.”
If he hears that a Burmese migrant is being trafficked and is being held on the Malaysia-Thai border, he jumps into action, contacting friends to borrow money so he can buy the victim's freedom from the hands of a broker.
Sometimes ventures out in the middle of the night for an emergency rescue, even though he knows it is dangerous to go outside at night with a large sum of money.
Nevertheless, Min Thant said he doesn't worry about himself. Instead, he worries about the victims, who are pleading to be rescued from the human trafficking market. The victims are Burmese migrants who come to Malaysia because of economic hardship in their country. Others are political refugees seeking safety. While others still are war refugees whose lands were confiscated by the Burmese regime.
The illegal migrants seek greener pastures abroad in Thailand, Malaysia, India or Bangladesh, where they can easily cross the borders illegally.
In Malaysia, many migrants pass their daily life as undocumented workers without legal papers. When Malaysian police arrest illegal migrants, they are placed in detention centers. Then many will are trafficked by corrupt police or immigration officers into the hands of brokers on the Malaysia-Thai border.
According to Malaysia's Bernama News Agency, on July 20, 2009, “Nine people, including five Johor Immigration Department officers, were arrested in several locations for alleged involvement in an international human trafficking syndicate.”
Before many detainees are released into the hands of traffickers, Min Thant said many are given a cane whipping in the detention centers.
Nyunt Win, 33, shared his story:
“We could say nothing as the court had already decided we would be detained in the camp, including cane whipping as a punishment. They have big men to whip the detainees. The men get paid 100 ringgit ($28) for whipping each person.
While I was being taken for a medical check-up before being whipped, the men were beating the leather boards, testing the canes to see if they were good enough to beat us.
The terrible noise scared me. Then, I was dragged to the place for the cane whipping as if I were about to be crucified. I thought about God and prayed to him, making up my mind to be patient being whipped.”
According to the “Malaysia Civil and Political Rights Report 2009 Overview” of Suaram, a human rights group in Malaysia, the Malaysian government announced that it had sentenced 47,914 migrants to be caned for immigration offenses since amendments to its Immigration Act came into force in 2002.
At least 34,923 migrants have so far been caned between 2002 and 2008, according to Prison Department records.
Tamme Lee, a refugee coordinator of Suaram, said, “Of those 34,923 migrants, 3.9 percent (1,362 migrants) were from Myanmar [Burma].”
Nyunt Win continued: “Some detainees who have been caned are withdrawn from the camp by the corrupt police and immigration officers and trafficked into the hands of Thai brokers. Burmese minority groups, including Burmese-Muslim brokers, work under the control of the Thai brokers, sharing profits. Human trafficking is a profession for all of them.”
Investigations have established that corrupt officers take many Burmese migrants—who lived in Malaysia without valid travel documents—to Malaysia's northern border with Thailand and pass them on to human traffickers in exchange for up to 600 Malaysian ringgits (US $170) each. The traffickers reportedly take the migrants into Thailand and tell them to pay 2,000 ringgit ($570) each for their freedom or they will be forced to work in the fishing industry.
A Burmese migrant who was trafficked said, “One of the trafficking victims from our group said that he’d like to meet the head broker.” The men who work for broker Hamid Naung (not his real name), reportedly one of the harshest brokers in the business, told their boss, who came and beat and kicked the man who asked to meet him, saying, “Are you the one who wants to meet me?”
According to one Burmese migrant who was trafficked to the Malaysian-Thai border, Hamid Naung is the leader in the human trafficking market together with his partner, Hassein, a Malaysian. Corrupt Malaysian police tell Hassein how many detainees will be deported to the Malaysia-Thai border. He then buys the deportees from the corrupt officers.
Htun Aung, 32, who was able to buy his freedom, said: “Twenty-seven people who did not have money were trafficked into Thai fishing boats for 35,000 Thai baht ($1,000) per victim. They were bought by the boatmen to use as slaves.”
Even while trying to help trafficking victims, Min Thant said he worries if he is doing the right thing: “I wonder if I am encouraging the brokers to abuse trafficking victims by transferring money into their bank accounts in exchange for the victims. If I said to the brokers that I don’t have enough money to buy the victims, brokers let the victims talk to me on the phone. While the victims are talking, the broker’s men beat and punch them. I can hear the noise of beating and punching. Then, I have to decide.”
Thai and Malaysian authorities and the international community are aware of human trafficking, but they are unable to eliminate the brokers and the corrupt officials. Brokers in human trafficking continue to reap sizable profits.
“I don’t want to deal with the brokers, but I have to,” Min Thant said. “The Burmese government doesn’t have sympathy for its people. The Malaysian government hasn't weeded out corruption. There is also discrimination against poor foreigners.”
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Imprisoned NLD staff ‘must not be omitted’
Feb 25, 2010 (DVB)–Detained opposition party members who deserve to be in the party’s central committee must be included, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has announced.
The pledge was made following the release last week of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party deputy, Tin Oo, who had been kept under house arrest since 2003.
His and Suu Kyi’s imprisonment, as well as crippling restrictions placed on the party by the Burmese junta, has led observers to complain that progress by the party has been slow. Around 430 NLD members are currently behind bars.
A recent reshuffling of the senior-level Central Executive Committee (CEC), whose members rank above the central committee, included the addition of younger members to dilute the ageing leadership and was seen as the first step in reinvigorating the NLD.
“A person who deserves to be a [central committee member], even if currently imprisoned, must not be omitted purely because their imprisonment stops them from working,” lawyer Nyan Win quoted Suu Kyi as saying.
Lawyers met with Suu Kyi yesterday at her Rangoon house-cum-compound where she has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years.
He added that party members who are carry out valuable social work should also be included in committee dialogue. “The CEC is now working within the boundary of this policy,” he said.
The announcement of the formation of the central committee is due to be made tomorrow, NLD spokesman Khin Maung Swe said.
“[Suu Kyi] especially thanked U Tin Oo for carrying out the NLD duties as soon as he was released from house arrest, and she thanked him for talking to the media about his political standing,” Nyan Win added.
After being released on 13 February, Tin Oo told reporters that he was “very hopeful” that Suu Kyi would also be released, having had her house arrest extended by 18 months in August last year.
Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet
Feb 25, 2010 (DVB)–Detained opposition party members who deserve to be in the party’s central committee must be included, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has announced.
The pledge was made following the release last week of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party deputy, Tin Oo, who had been kept under house arrest since 2003.
His and Suu Kyi’s imprisonment, as well as crippling restrictions placed on the party by the Burmese junta, has led observers to complain that progress by the party has been slow. Around 430 NLD members are currently behind bars.
A recent reshuffling of the senior-level Central Executive Committee (CEC), whose members rank above the central committee, included the addition of younger members to dilute the ageing leadership and was seen as the first step in reinvigorating the NLD.
“A person who deserves to be a [central committee member], even if currently imprisoned, must not be omitted purely because their imprisonment stops them from working,” lawyer Nyan Win quoted Suu Kyi as saying.
Lawyers met with Suu Kyi yesterday at her Rangoon house-cum-compound where she has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years.
He added that party members who are carry out valuable social work should also be included in committee dialogue. “The CEC is now working within the boundary of this policy,” he said.
The announcement of the formation of the central committee is due to be made tomorrow, NLD spokesman Khin Maung Swe said.
“[Suu Kyi] especially thanked U Tin Oo for carrying out the NLD duties as soon as he was released from house arrest, and she thanked him for talking to the media about his political standing,” Nyan Win added.
After being released on 13 February, Tin Oo told reporters that he was “very hopeful” that Suu Kyi would also be released, having had her house arrest extended by 18 months in August last year.
Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet
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Thai migrant permit deadline extended
Feb 25, 2010 (DVB)–The Thai government has extended to the end of March the deadline for Burmese migrant workers in the country to apply for temporary passports.
The deadline had previously been set for 28 February. The Thai government announced that migrant workers who do not apply for passports by then would no longer be legally allowed to stay in Thailand, and would face immediate deportation.
The process, known as National Verification, requires that migrants return to their home country to begin the registration. It has however drawn the ire of rights groups who
protest that Burmese migrants will face intimidation from authorities when they cross back into Burma to register.
The majority of Burmese migrants have been reluctant to comply, and until a police crackdown this week on Burmese living in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, few had begun the process.
Despite the announcement of the extension, made public yesterday, the scheme continues to draw complaints.
The process required to apply for permits is “not suitable for the current situation,” said Sein Htay, from the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF).
“[The process] is one subject the migrants don’t have knowledge of and forcing them to take part has caused confusion. We think that’s the reason why the Thai authorities extended the deadline.”
The HRDF has urged authorities in Thailand to release details of the passports in languages the migrants can understand. Sein Htay said also that the migrants themselves should learn about the process and make clear to the Thais whether it is suitable for them or not.
“The pros are that [the migrants] will be able to travel around and a bit of a backbone when calling for their rights,” he said.
“In the past, the migrants were unable to stand up to anything because they had entered Thailand illegally. But [with the passports,] they will have legal entry to the country.
“The cons are more to do with personal issues. Some people may feel unsafe as they have to give personal details [to Burmese authorities.]”
There are more that two million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, but only 27,000 of them have acquired temporary passports, while 20,000 more are applying.
The National Verification process, agreed between the Thai and Burmese governments, began in June last year in the Burmese border towns of Kaw Thaung, Tachilek and Myawaddy.
Reporting by Naw Noreen
Feb 25, 2010 (DVB)–The Thai government has extended to the end of March the deadline for Burmese migrant workers in the country to apply for temporary passports.
The deadline had previously been set for 28 February. The Thai government announced that migrant workers who do not apply for passports by then would no longer be legally allowed to stay in Thailand, and would face immediate deportation.
The process, known as National Verification, requires that migrants return to their home country to begin the registration. It has however drawn the ire of rights groups who
protest that Burmese migrants will face intimidation from authorities when they cross back into Burma to register.
The majority of Burmese migrants have been reluctant to comply, and until a police crackdown this week on Burmese living in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, few had begun the process.
Despite the announcement of the extension, made public yesterday, the scheme continues to draw complaints.
The process required to apply for permits is “not suitable for the current situation,” said Sein Htay, from the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF).
“[The process] is one subject the migrants don’t have knowledge of and forcing them to take part has caused confusion. We think that’s the reason why the Thai authorities extended the deadline.”
The HRDF has urged authorities in Thailand to release details of the passports in languages the migrants can understand. Sein Htay said also that the migrants themselves should learn about the process and make clear to the Thais whether it is suitable for them or not.
“The pros are that [the migrants] will be able to travel around and a bit of a backbone when calling for their rights,” he said.
“In the past, the migrants were unable to stand up to anything because they had entered Thailand illegally. But [with the passports,] they will have legal entry to the country.
“The cons are more to do with personal issues. Some people may feel unsafe as they have to give personal details [to Burmese authorities.]”
There are more that two million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, but only 27,000 of them have acquired temporary passports, while 20,000 more are applying.
The National Verification process, agreed between the Thai and Burmese governments, began in June last year in the Burmese border towns of Kaw Thaung, Tachilek and Myawaddy.
Reporting by Naw Noreen
