Kachin Activists, Monks Begin 2-Month March | The Irrawaddy Magazine
LAWI WENG / THE IRRAWADDY, January 22, 2013
RANGOON—A group of activists and monks have embarked on a peace march from Rangoon to Kachin State, urging the government to stop the fighting between ethnic rebels and the national army in Burma’s northernmost state.
The march, which is expected to take two months, began on Monday morning from Rangoon’s city hall but was delayed after the 15 activists and five monks were stopped by local authorities.
“We plan to walk 30 miles every day, but we couldn’t do that today because the authorities blocked us for a while, so there has been a delay,” Aung Min Naing, one of the activists, told The Irrawaddy on Monday.
Authorities told the marchers they needed to apply for government permission, Aung Min Naing said, adding that the group had already shared their plans with the government’s peace center and ethnic affairs committee.
The activists are calling for an end to the conflict that has raged in Kachin State since a 17-year ceasefire between ethnic rebels and the government broke down in June 2011.
After weeks of heavy fighting this month, President Thein Sein said the government had ordered a ceasefire in the resource-rich northern state, but clashes continued on the ground.
The activists and monks are marching to Laiza, a town near the border with China where tens of thousands of civilians live and have taken shelter in camps for internally displaced persons (IDP). The town has been the target of recent air raids because it is where ethnic rebels from the Kachin Independence Army have established their headquarters.
The government has forbidden international aid groups from accessing the IDP camps in Laiza and other rebel-held areas.
In Rangoon, onlookers gave the marchers food and money for the displaced Kachin civilians.
“This is how they show us that they want to have peace,” Aung Min Naing said. “We’ll keep walking to reach Laiza unless the government puts us in prison.”
The activists reached Pegu Division, on the border with Rangoon Division, on Tuesday but were again restricted by local authorities.
“They told us not to hold up our flags,” said Yan Naing Tun, another activist on the march.
Like many ethnic groups in Burma, the KIA has long fought for basic rights and greater autonomy from the national government, and is calling for political dialogue to discuss a resolution.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Thai PM: Rohingya ‘might join southern insurgency’ | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent
Thai PM: Rohingya ‘might join southern insurgency’ | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Sinawatra indulged in some loaded conjecturing yesterday when she warned that the 840-plus Rohingya in detention in Thailand “might join the southern insurgency rather than seek asylum in a third country”. The men, women and children in question were found in Songkla’s Sadao district over the course of several raids last week on smuggling dens run by human trafficking rackets.
Their future is now the subject of a tussle between Thai authorities and the UN refugee agency, although Yingluck made clear her feelings that they are a threat to Thailand and should be deported back to Burma (a veritable lions’ den for the stateless Muslims). That had anyway seemed likely until the UN intervened and stalled the deportation, and Thailand now appears to be feeling the pressure of several years of international condemnation following other grisly episodes involving the Rohingya.
The Prime Minister’s statement, apparently unsubstantiated, is a reckless one, based mainly on the hackneyed assumption that any disenfranchised Muslim is automatically a terrorist threat. It risks directing anti-Muslim sentiment at the Rohingya, who are in Thailand in part to escape that branding.
Many of these people have suffered similar treatment in Burma, where Arakanese politicians and a worrying cross-section of the Burmese population brand them ‘terrorists’ and have embarked on a witch-hunt to expose Rohingya ‘sympathisers’ among Arakanese.
Thai media’s labeling of the group as “illegal migrants”, while technically true, also distorts the picture somewhat. Given the reasons why they are in Thailand – to escape abject poverty, racial and religious persecution, vicious ethno-religious violence, bans on accessing state education and healthcare, and much more – the line between ‘migrant’ and ‘refugee’ is heavily blurred. Deporting these ‘migrants’ could in fact amount to refoulement (international law-speak for returning a victim of persecution to a place of danger), which is illegal.
Close scrutiny of Thailand’s actions is now of the utmost importance, with the Thai navy having been placed on alert for signs of more boatloads of Rohingya. In 2008 the navy towed a boatload of Rohingya back out to sea and left many to dehydrate to death – the subsequent media coverage sparked international condemnation that shone a spotlight on Thailand’s apathetic attitude towards refugees (it is not a signatory of the UN convention on refugees). This focus must continue.
Among the 840 Rohingya was a 10-year-old boy: “According to his story, Nu Rahasim’s parents and siblings all were brutally killed by authorities,” said the Bangkok Post. “The orphaned Nu, who showed scars he said came from beatings and slashes by Myanmar troops, then joined a group of 140 Rohingya who sought help from an affluent man in the violence-plagued [Arakan] state, in the hope of getting out of the country.”
The last thing he needs is for a world leader to suggest he may become a terrorist – it could happen, but no more so than any other disenfranchised youth, whether they be white, black, Muslim or Christian. People aren’t born with extremist tendencies. The 10-year-old probably thought he was one of the lucky ones when he made it to Thailand. Now he is in detention, slandered by a prime minister, and awaits possible return to the country he risked death to flee.
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Sinawatra indulged in some loaded conjecturing yesterday when she warned that the 840-plus Rohingya in detention in Thailand “might join the southern insurgency rather than seek asylum in a third country”. The men, women and children in question were found in Songkla’s Sadao district over the course of several raids last week on smuggling dens run by human trafficking rackets.
Their future is now the subject of a tussle between Thai authorities and the UN refugee agency, although Yingluck made clear her feelings that they are a threat to Thailand and should be deported back to Burma (a veritable lions’ den for the stateless Muslims). That had anyway seemed likely until the UN intervened and stalled the deportation, and Thailand now appears to be feeling the pressure of several years of international condemnation following other grisly episodes involving the Rohingya.
The Prime Minister’s statement, apparently unsubstantiated, is a reckless one, based mainly on the hackneyed assumption that any disenfranchised Muslim is automatically a terrorist threat. It risks directing anti-Muslim sentiment at the Rohingya, who are in Thailand in part to escape that branding.
Many of these people have suffered similar treatment in Burma, where Arakanese politicians and a worrying cross-section of the Burmese population brand them ‘terrorists’ and have embarked on a witch-hunt to expose Rohingya ‘sympathisers’ among Arakanese.
Thai media’s labeling of the group as “illegal migrants”, while technically true, also distorts the picture somewhat. Given the reasons why they are in Thailand – to escape abject poverty, racial and religious persecution, vicious ethno-religious violence, bans on accessing state education and healthcare, and much more – the line between ‘migrant’ and ‘refugee’ is heavily blurred. Deporting these ‘migrants’ could in fact amount to refoulement (international law-speak for returning a victim of persecution to a place of danger), which is illegal.
Close scrutiny of Thailand’s actions is now of the utmost importance, with the Thai navy having been placed on alert for signs of more boatloads of Rohingya. In 2008 the navy towed a boatload of Rohingya back out to sea and left many to dehydrate to death – the subsequent media coverage sparked international condemnation that shone a spotlight on Thailand’s apathetic attitude towards refugees (it is not a signatory of the UN convention on refugees). This focus must continue.
Among the 840 Rohingya was a 10-year-old boy: “According to his story, Nu Rahasim’s parents and siblings all were brutally killed by authorities,” said the Bangkok Post. “The orphaned Nu, who showed scars he said came from beatings and slashes by Myanmar troops, then joined a group of 140 Rohingya who sought help from an affluent man in the violence-plagued [Arakan] state, in the hope of getting out of the country.”
The last thing he needs is for a world leader to suggest he may become a terrorist – it could happen, but no more so than any other disenfranchised youth, whether they be white, black, Muslim or Christian. People aren’t born with extremist tendencies. The 10-year-old probably thought he was one of the lucky ones when he made it to Thailand. Now he is in detention, slandered by a prime minister, and awaits possible return to the country he risked death to flee.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Somyot subject of Amnesty International appeal | Prachatai English
Somyot subject of Amnesty International appeal | Prachatai English
Amnesty Internationa, January 13, 2013
Amnesty International has issued an Urgent Action alert for Somyot Prueksakasemsuk ahead of the verdict in his lèse majesté trial scheduled for 23 January.
The appeal, which can be expected to trigger a deluge of messages to the Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and National Human Rights Commission from Amnesty International members around the world, names Somyot as a Prisoner of Conscience. It also notes that Article 112 of the Criminal Code violates the right to freedom of expression under international human rights law and contravenes Thailand’s obligations as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
URGENT ACTION
EDITOR AT RISK OF UNJUST SENTENCE IN THAILAND
Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a labour activist and editor of the Voice of Taksin, is a prisoner of conscience. He has been detained since April 2011, having been charged in relation to publishing articles deemed critical of Thailand’s monarchy. Authorities have repeatedly turned down his requests for bail.
In May 2012, Somyot Prueksakasemsuk's trial ended; he is still awaiting the verdict. The court has rescheduled the date for announcing the verdict three times, most recently from 19 December to 23 January 2013.
He was arrested on 30 April 2011, shortly after launching a campaign to gather support for a parliamentary review of Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. He was charged and tried under Article 112 which prohibits any word or act which “defames, insults, or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent, or the Regent”. The charge carries a sentence of up to 15 years’ imprisonment for each offence.
Since 2006, authorities in Thailand have increasingly used Article 112 to silence peaceful dissent. Article 112 violates the right to freedom of expression under international human rights law, as it goes far beyond permissible restrictions of this right. Thailand is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and is legally bound to uphold the right to freedom of expression.
Please write immediately in Thai, English or your own language:
Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra
Government House
Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District
Bangkok 10300, Thailand
Fax: +662 280 0858; +66 2 288 4016
Email opm@opm.go.th
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister
Minister of Justice
Pracha Promnok
Ministry of Justice
22/f Software Park Building,
Chaeng Wattana Road,
Pakkred Nonthaburi 11120, Thailand
Fax: +662 502 6699; +662 502 6734; +662 502 6884 Email: om@moj.go.th
Salutation: Dear Minister
And copies to:
National Human Rights Commission
120 Chaengwattana Road
Laksi District
Bangkok 10210
E-mail : info@nhrc.or.th
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.
Amnesty Internationa, January 13, 2013
Amnesty International has issued an Urgent Action alert for Somyot Prueksakasemsuk ahead of the verdict in his lèse majesté trial scheduled for 23 January.
The appeal, which can be expected to trigger a deluge of messages to the Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and National Human Rights Commission from Amnesty International members around the world, names Somyot as a Prisoner of Conscience. It also notes that Article 112 of the Criminal Code violates the right to freedom of expression under international human rights law and contravenes Thailand’s obligations as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
URGENT ACTION
EDITOR AT RISK OF UNJUST SENTENCE IN THAILAND
Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a labour activist and editor of the Voice of Taksin, is a prisoner of conscience. He has been detained since April 2011, having been charged in relation to publishing articles deemed critical of Thailand’s monarchy. Authorities have repeatedly turned down his requests for bail.
In May 2012, Somyot Prueksakasemsuk's trial ended; he is still awaiting the verdict. The court has rescheduled the date for announcing the verdict three times, most recently from 19 December to 23 January 2013.
He was arrested on 30 April 2011, shortly after launching a campaign to gather support for a parliamentary review of Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. He was charged and tried under Article 112 which prohibits any word or act which “defames, insults, or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent, or the Regent”. The charge carries a sentence of up to 15 years’ imprisonment for each offence.
Since 2006, authorities in Thailand have increasingly used Article 112 to silence peaceful dissent. Article 112 violates the right to freedom of expression under international human rights law, as it goes far beyond permissible restrictions of this right. Thailand is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and is legally bound to uphold the right to freedom of expression.
Please write immediately in Thai, English or your own language:
- Expressing concern that Somyot Prueksakasemsuk has been detained on account of his peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression;
- Calling for charges against him to be dropped, and for him to be immediately and unconditionally released from detention;
- Calling for him to be given redress for the months he has spent in detention and for the authorities to amend Article 112 so that it complies with Thailand’s obligations under international human rights law, and to suspend its use until it has been amended in such a way.
Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra
Government House
Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District
Bangkok 10300, Thailand
Fax: +662 280 0858; +66 2 288 4016
Email opm@opm.go.th
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister
Minister of Justice
Pracha Promnok
Ministry of Justice
22/f Software Park Building,
Chaeng Wattana Road,
Pakkred Nonthaburi 11120, Thailand
Fax: +662 502 6699; +662 502 6734; +662 502 6884 Email: om@moj.go.th
Salutation: Dear Minister
And copies to:
National Human Rights Commission
120 Chaengwattana Road
Laksi District
Bangkok 10210
E-mail : info@nhrc.or.th
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Turning on Burma’s Lights | The Irrawaddy Magazine
Turning on Burma’s Lights | The Irrawaddy Magazine
DAVID FULLBROOK / ASIA SENTINEL, January 10, 2013
Burma, thanks to the polish of political reforms, has taken on a golden sheen in the eyes of investors and analysts. The realities on the ground are sobering, however, not least for electricity. Factory owners in Rangoon have begun the year with daily power cuts which may worsen as the dry season drags on.
Supply can only meet half of anticipated demand, according to the Ministry of Electric Power. The national connection rate is 26 percent for a population estimated at about 60 million by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In the countryside, home to 40 million people, only 16 percent are connected to the power grid.
The shortage of power is probably the biggest single impediment to development. It is also an incredible opportunity which should be the envy of countries which have marched ahead of Burma. The lack of infrastructure leaves the door open to developing an electricity system which leverages advances in community power production using clean energy resources such as sunlight, farm wastes, biomass and geothermal.
The distributed power approach is gaining ground fast in developed and developing countries. Upfront costs can be high and subsidies are often provided, but then prices for carbon power are also shaped by subsidies, too. For example, from Germany to California rooftop solar is booming. So much so that the Institute for Local Self-Reliance estimates almost 10 percent of electricity in the US could be produced by unsubsidized distributed solar generation, mostly on rooftops, by 2022.
Meanwhile, people in villages across Bangladesh and India are finally switching on LED lights and more after decades of waiting in vain for the electricity grid. While they waited, technology and business changed. Locally produced electricity from clean energy resources is now cheaper than candles, batteries or kerosene.
In India, Gram Power, Mera Gao Power and Omnigrid Micropower are developing village microgrids. Initially a few solar panels or biomass digesters are set up as a village power plant. Because the systems are modular, more power sources can be added as demand grows from basic needs to developing livelihoods, using machinery to increase production and add value. Microgrids also power mobile phone base stations which formerly relied on diesel generators.
Simpa Networks takes a different approach, turning homes into power plants in India. Simpa sells solar home systems on flexible installment plans. In Bangladesh, aid donors led by the World Bank have provided financing of US $370 million for Grameen Shakti to apply the approach at scale. Over a million solar home systems have been installed. A thousand more are added each day.
The economics of these models look favorable for Burma. Electricity from Gram Power in India, for example, costs $1.37 a month, whereas previously households were spending $3.66 on kerosene. In Burma, the European Union Energy Initiative (EUEI) and Mercy Corps, in separate field studies, found solar lanterns and solar home systems, sold in markets for $10 to $300. The return on that investment can work out to savings of 80 percent over 10 years, given mean monthly spending of about $10 on candles and batteries.
Upfront cost is beyond the reach of many in Burma, where one of every four people lives below the poverty line and mean annual GDP per capita is $859, according to the ADB. Therefore, one limit on opportunity in Burma will be the availability of finance to provide systems on credit at a price no more than what would otherwise be spent on candles and batteries. While that is unlikely to be straightforward, experience in Bangladesh and India shows household or village power systems can be financed.
The opportunity may be as promising if not more so among customers who are suffering unreliable supply from the grid. Distributed power, particularly solar, could be a competitive alternative to diesel generators widely used for power backup by households and firms connected to the grid.
Experiences in Bangladesh and India prove that distributed power can be fast, affordable and simple to deploy in contrast to centralized power generation in developing countries. Granted, the volume of power from household power systems or village power plants is a trickle relative to what large power plants can deliver. But for people with zero electricity just a little makes a huge difference. Electric lights are better for reading and studying. Electricity connects people via the media and telephones to information and opportunities.
Distributed power produced from clean energy resources also provides several collateral benefits. One, the damage and costs of environmental, social, health and security externalities arising from centralized large hydro or carbon power systems can be reduced. Two, generating and buying power locally may mean less money leaks out of the local economy. Three, a reduction in vulnerability to the supply risks associated with carbon energy plus the impacts of global decarbonisation measures.
So what does the growing global trend for distributed power mean for Burma? First, it demonstrates that a few distributed power pilots plus dozens of local commercial initiatives in Burma are onto something. Second, electricity could expand further and faster than it has in other countries which developed earlier, conferring considerable economic, environmental and social advantages. Third, government policy and aid donors have a model to follow and adapt. Finally, commercial or social investors should be able to reduce their risks because they can learn from experiences elsewhere.
Whether Burma grasps the opportunity or continues with existing plans to continue to develop centralized power only remains to be seen. However, there are reasons to think distributed power could take off. One, distributed electricity matches the government’s goals for power self-sufficiency, renewability and diversity. Two, preliminary assessments by the EUEI and United Nations Development Program during 2012 suggest aid donors are evaluating options for assisting distributed power in Burma. Three, the ADB and Norway are providing technical assistance for an electricity bill which would among other things provide a legal basis for distributed power generation. Finally, investment and banking reforms will in due course make doing business a little easier.
As in any underdeveloped country, investment and development are going to face obstacles, though some of those obstacles may fall were the government to actively promote the approach with a targeted policy. Nevertheless, the opportunity to deploy tried-and-tested models at scale may be enough for pioneer investors, particularly people strongly motivated to deliver social impact, to make a move on the power frontier. The prospects for power have never been brighter.
David Fullbrook is a sustainability analyst and regular contributor to Asia Sentinel.
DAVID FULLBROOK / ASIA SENTINEL, January 10, 2013
Burma, thanks to the polish of political reforms, has taken on a golden sheen in the eyes of investors and analysts. The realities on the ground are sobering, however, not least for electricity. Factory owners in Rangoon have begun the year with daily power cuts which may worsen as the dry season drags on.
Supply can only meet half of anticipated demand, according to the Ministry of Electric Power. The national connection rate is 26 percent for a population estimated at about 60 million by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In the countryside, home to 40 million people, only 16 percent are connected to the power grid.
The shortage of power is probably the biggest single impediment to development. It is also an incredible opportunity which should be the envy of countries which have marched ahead of Burma. The lack of infrastructure leaves the door open to developing an electricity system which leverages advances in community power production using clean energy resources such as sunlight, farm wastes, biomass and geothermal.
The distributed power approach is gaining ground fast in developed and developing countries. Upfront costs can be high and subsidies are often provided, but then prices for carbon power are also shaped by subsidies, too. For example, from Germany to California rooftop solar is booming. So much so that the Institute for Local Self-Reliance estimates almost 10 percent of electricity in the US could be produced by unsubsidized distributed solar generation, mostly on rooftops, by 2022.
Meanwhile, people in villages across Bangladesh and India are finally switching on LED lights and more after decades of waiting in vain for the electricity grid. While they waited, technology and business changed. Locally produced electricity from clean energy resources is now cheaper than candles, batteries or kerosene.
In India, Gram Power, Mera Gao Power and Omnigrid Micropower are developing village microgrids. Initially a few solar panels or biomass digesters are set up as a village power plant. Because the systems are modular, more power sources can be added as demand grows from basic needs to developing livelihoods, using machinery to increase production and add value. Microgrids also power mobile phone base stations which formerly relied on diesel generators.
Simpa Networks takes a different approach, turning homes into power plants in India. Simpa sells solar home systems on flexible installment plans. In Bangladesh, aid donors led by the World Bank have provided financing of US $370 million for Grameen Shakti to apply the approach at scale. Over a million solar home systems have been installed. A thousand more are added each day.
The economics of these models look favorable for Burma. Electricity from Gram Power in India, for example, costs $1.37 a month, whereas previously households were spending $3.66 on kerosene. In Burma, the European Union Energy Initiative (EUEI) and Mercy Corps, in separate field studies, found solar lanterns and solar home systems, sold in markets for $10 to $300. The return on that investment can work out to savings of 80 percent over 10 years, given mean monthly spending of about $10 on candles and batteries.
Upfront cost is beyond the reach of many in Burma, where one of every four people lives below the poverty line and mean annual GDP per capita is $859, according to the ADB. Therefore, one limit on opportunity in Burma will be the availability of finance to provide systems on credit at a price no more than what would otherwise be spent on candles and batteries. While that is unlikely to be straightforward, experience in Bangladesh and India shows household or village power systems can be financed.
The opportunity may be as promising if not more so among customers who are suffering unreliable supply from the grid. Distributed power, particularly solar, could be a competitive alternative to diesel generators widely used for power backup by households and firms connected to the grid.
Experiences in Bangladesh and India prove that distributed power can be fast, affordable and simple to deploy in contrast to centralized power generation in developing countries. Granted, the volume of power from household power systems or village power plants is a trickle relative to what large power plants can deliver. But for people with zero electricity just a little makes a huge difference. Electric lights are better for reading and studying. Electricity connects people via the media and telephones to information and opportunities.
Distributed power produced from clean energy resources also provides several collateral benefits. One, the damage and costs of environmental, social, health and security externalities arising from centralized large hydro or carbon power systems can be reduced. Two, generating and buying power locally may mean less money leaks out of the local economy. Three, a reduction in vulnerability to the supply risks associated with carbon energy plus the impacts of global decarbonisation measures.
So what does the growing global trend for distributed power mean for Burma? First, it demonstrates that a few distributed power pilots plus dozens of local commercial initiatives in Burma are onto something. Second, electricity could expand further and faster than it has in other countries which developed earlier, conferring considerable economic, environmental and social advantages. Third, government policy and aid donors have a model to follow and adapt. Finally, commercial or social investors should be able to reduce their risks because they can learn from experiences elsewhere.
Whether Burma grasps the opportunity or continues with existing plans to continue to develop centralized power only remains to be seen. However, there are reasons to think distributed power could take off. One, distributed electricity matches the government’s goals for power self-sufficiency, renewability and diversity. Two, preliminary assessments by the EUEI and United Nations Development Program during 2012 suggest aid donors are evaluating options for assisting distributed power in Burma. Three, the ADB and Norway are providing technical assistance for an electricity bill which would among other things provide a legal basis for distributed power generation. Finally, investment and banking reforms will in due course make doing business a little easier.
As in any underdeveloped country, investment and development are going to face obstacles, though some of those obstacles may fall were the government to actively promote the approach with a targeted policy. Nevertheless, the opportunity to deploy tried-and-tested models at scale may be enough for pioneer investors, particularly people strongly motivated to deliver social impact, to make a move on the power frontier. The prospects for power have never been brighter.
David Fullbrook is a sustainability analyst and regular contributor to Asia Sentinel.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Vietnam puts 14 activists on trial | AP News
Vietnam puts 14 activists on trial | AP News
Associated Press , January 8th, 2013
HANOI, Vientam (AP) — Vietnam has put on trial 14 activists it accuses of carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the communist government amid an intensifying crackdown on dissent.
Associated Press , January 8th, 2013
HANOI, Vientam (AP) — Vietnam has put on trial 14 activists it accuses of carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the communist government amid an intensifying crackdown on dissent.
Defense lawyer Tran Thu Nam said the trial opened Tuesday in the central province of Nghe An amid tight security.
Nam said the defendants, 12 of them Catholics, are accused of working with the Viet Tan, or Vietnam Reform Party, in exile in the United States to carry out “activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration.” Four of them could face the death penalty if convicted.
The Vietnamese government has labeled Viet Tan as a terrorist group, but the U.S. government has said it has seen no evidence that the California-based group is a terrorist group.
Nam said the defendants, who were arrested in late 2011, are accused of attending Viet Tan’s overseas training courses on nonviolent struggle and computer and Internet security. Some of them are also accused of participating anti-China protests and instigating others to join the protests.
People took to the streets in Hanoi for unprecedented weekly anti-China demonstrations in the summer of 2011 after Hanoi accused Beijing of interfering with its oil exploration activities in the South China Sea.
The verdicts are expected Wednesday.
International human rights groups have said Vietnam jails people for peacefully expressing their views, but Hanoi maintains that only lawbreakers are punished.
Nam said the defendants, 12 of them Catholics, are accused of working with the Viet Tan, or Vietnam Reform Party, in exile in the United States to carry out “activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration.” Four of them could face the death penalty if convicted.
The Vietnamese government has labeled Viet Tan as a terrorist group, but the U.S. government has said it has seen no evidence that the California-based group is a terrorist group.
Nam said the defendants, who were arrested in late 2011, are accused of attending Viet Tan’s overseas training courses on nonviolent struggle and computer and Internet security. Some of them are also accused of participating anti-China protests and instigating others to join the protests.
People took to the streets in Hanoi for unprecedented weekly anti-China demonstrations in the summer of 2011 after Hanoi accused Beijing of interfering with its oil exploration activities in the South China Sea.
The verdicts are expected Wednesday.
International human rights groups have said Vietnam jails people for peacefully expressing their views, but Hanoi maintains that only lawbreakers are punished.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Burma: Karen leaders urge President to cease Kachin war | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent
Burma: Karen leaders urge President to cease Kachin war | Asia News – Politics, Media, Education | Asian Correspondent
Zin Linn, Jan 07, 2013
Zin Linn, Jan 07, 2013
President U Thein Sein met the Chairman of Karen National Union (KNU) General Mutu Sae Phoe in Pobbathiri Township in Nay Pyi Taw Council Area Saturday, The New Light of Myanmar reported Sunday.
Thein Sein said that he is committed to creating lifelong peace during his term and expressed his confidence on the KNU’s pledge on the peace deal, a sentiment echoed by the KNU chairman.
However, General Mutu Sae Phoe did raise concerns about the government’s assault on Kachin ethnic rebels in northern Burma. He said the KNU is considering how it can help stop hostilities in Kachin State. Participants from both sides discussed the continuation of peace talks, ceasefire, liaison offices and regional development programs, according to the state-run media.
Burma’s President said his government has been trying to agree a ceasefire with the KIA, adding that the government does not want to pass on the conflict to the next generations and wishes to end it in its time. He expressed these sentiments as reports emerged of artillery strikes by government forces on Kachin HQ Laiza.
President U Thein Sein met Chairman of Karen National Union (KNU) General Mutu Sae Phoe and party in Nay-Pyi-Taw on 5 January 2013. (http://www.president-office.gov.mm)
Thein Sein Government has signed ceasefire with the Karen National Union in order to take advantage of the Dawei development project since Thailand’s Italian-Thai Development Co. Ltd. (ITD) reached an agreement with the KNU. The multi-billion-dollar Dawei deep sea port project includes a cross border road to Thailand that passes through an area controlled by the KNU’s armed troops. Some people think peace deal with KNU is actually based on the business benefits rather than national reconciliation.
On 17 December 2012, President Thein Sein and the Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra held talks on the Dawei project, accessibility of communication channels and electricity, maintenance of environment, capitals and investments, invitation of investments from third countries and data compilation about the development project.
On 24 December 2012, President Thein Sein received a Chinese delegation led by Zhang Guoqing, who is the President of China North Industries Corporation- NORINCO, at the Presidential Palace in Nay-Pyi-Taw, according to The New Light of Myanmar. Some analysts say the war against the Kachin rebels is closely related with the natural resources in the region, which China is keen to exploit.
The most important Chinese project is the 771-kilometer-long gas-and-oil pipeline across Kyaukphru in Rakhine state to Ruili on the China border. Besides, heavy fighting took place often all along KIO-controlled territory between Namtu and Mandong townships where the twin oil-and-gas pipelines go across.
Successive Burmese regimes have dismissed the Kachin rebels’ demand for equality while robbing the state of its precious natural resources. Most of the natural resources are exploited by the neighboring China which manipulates Burma’s domestic crisis.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
I Write Just to Be ‘A Good Citizen,’ Says Ma Thida | The Irrawaddy Magazine
I Write Just to Be ‘A Good Citizen,’ Says Ma Thida | The Irrawaddy Magazine
KYAW PHYO THA / THE IRRAWADDY, January 5, 2013
RANGOON—During an interrogation session at Rangoon’s Insein Prison in 1995, a military intelligence officer asked a 29-year-old woman sitting in front of him what her political aspirations were.
“To be a good citizen,” a weakened and pale-looking Ma Thida answered without hesitation. She had just fallen seriously ill in the infamous prison, where she was being held for her political activism.
Nearly two decades later, the Burmese writer and former prisoner of conscience said she remains concerned about politics for the same reason: because she wants to be a responsible and active citizen. For Ma Thida this means that one should be aware of what is happening in Burma and help tackle its numerous problems.
“I want to prove I have the ability to work for my country as a citizen. There are many things to do,” she said during an interview with The Irrawaddy. “It may not fit into other people’s definition of politics. But in Burma, everything is politics—environment, education, health, and so on.”
Ma Thida leads a busy life that covers these different spheres of work. She has a job as an editor at a monthly youth magazine and a weekly newspaper, while also volunteering as a general practitioner at a charity clinic (besides being a well-respected writer, she is also a trained physician). But in Burma she is perhaps best known as a leading intellectual, whose books deal with the country’s difficult political situation.
At 46 years of age, she has published nine books in Burmese and English, including two fictional works of and a prison memoir. Her latest English-language book, “The Roadmap,” a fictional story based on events in Burmese politics from 1988 to 2009, was released last year. From 2008 to 2009 she lived in the US as an International Writers Project Fellow at Brown University and a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University.
Ma Thida studied medicine in the early 1980s and also took up writing at a young age, quickly gaining a reputation as a talented and progressive young writer. “I wanted to become a writer because I want to share what I observe around me, like poverty,” she said, adding her interest in health care developed after falling ill as a child.
Although her writing talents were recognized early on, she had to work hard to achieve success, recalled Myo Myint Nyein, a former editor at Pe Pu Hlwa magazine, where Ma Thida first honed her literary skills almost 30 years ago.
“She was very persevering. If we said: ‘Sorry, we can’t use the story you sent,’ she was always ready to give us a new one,” he said.
Soon after her writing career took off she became involved in Burma’s turbulent politics, taking up a job as a campaign assistant to Aung San Suu Kyi during the 1990 general election. The NLD won the election but its results were canceled by the military regime.
This association with the NLD leader resulted in her first book, “The Sunflower” (which only appeared in Burma 1999 as it was banned upon release in the early 1990s). The book argues that the Burmese people have towering expectations of Suu Kyi that made the democracy icon “a prisoner of applause.”
This concern is still relevant in today’s politics, according to Ma Thida. “I see no way for someone to shoulder the burden of so many people. It’s very unfair,” she said. “Asking and waiting for her leadership alone doesn’t make sense. People should cooperate and do what they can for their country by themselves.”
Still, she is hopeful for Burma’s future. “We now see the flickers of light at the end of the tunnel, but we still need transparency everywhere,” she said.
Two decades ago, her political writing made her a target for the oppressive regime and in 1993 she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for unlawful association and distribution of “unlawful literature.”
She spent six years locked up in terrible conditions, suffering from various health ailments for which she was denied medical care (at one stage, she experienced a six-month spell of fever after contracting tuberculosis). During this time, she was awarded several international human rights awards, including the PEN/ Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.
“Were it not for vipassana [Buddhist meditation], I would not have overcome the untold hardships I faced in prison,” said Ma Thida, adding that meditation helped her during long periods of solitary confinement and continues to be important in her life.
Ma Thida graduated as a general practitioner in 1993 and was about to study abroad to become a surgeon when she was arrested. “Being a qualified surgeon was my dream, but it didn’t happen,” she said. Yet, she holds no grudge towards the regime as her prison experience taught her much about life and helped her writing—and through it the plight of the Burmese people—gain recognition.
“If I hadn’t been arrested, some of my ambitions would not have been realized,” she said, adding that the mix of work she now does is satisfying. “As a doctor I do scientific work, but as a writer and editor I do an artist’s work. I feel I’m useful to the Burmese people by using two different professional skills.”
Despite her various achievements, the tireless writer and health worker said she still has dreams left, such as founding a free hospital boat to help communities along the Irrawaddy River, or setting up a publishing house for critical academic papers.
“I’m still thinking about how to make these [goals] come true. I’m ready to work with anyone or any organization that shares my interests,” she said.
KYAW PHYO THA / THE IRRAWADDY, January 5, 2013
RANGOON—During an interrogation session at Rangoon’s Insein Prison in 1995, a military intelligence officer asked a 29-year-old woman sitting in front of him what her political aspirations were.
“To be a good citizen,” a weakened and pale-looking Ma Thida answered without hesitation. She had just fallen seriously ill in the infamous prison, where she was being held for her political activism.
Nearly two decades later, the Burmese writer and former prisoner of conscience said she remains concerned about politics for the same reason: because she wants to be a responsible and active citizen. For Ma Thida this means that one should be aware of what is happening in Burma and help tackle its numerous problems.
“I want to prove I have the ability to work for my country as a citizen. There are many things to do,” she said during an interview with The Irrawaddy. “It may not fit into other people’s definition of politics. But in Burma, everything is politics—environment, education, health, and so on.”
Ma Thida leads a busy life that covers these different spheres of work. She has a job as an editor at a monthly youth magazine and a weekly newspaper, while also volunteering as a general practitioner at a charity clinic (besides being a well-respected writer, she is also a trained physician). But in Burma she is perhaps best known as a leading intellectual, whose books deal with the country’s difficult political situation.
At 46 years of age, she has published nine books in Burmese and English, including two fictional works of and a prison memoir. Her latest English-language book, “The Roadmap,” a fictional story based on events in Burmese politics from 1988 to 2009, was released last year. From 2008 to 2009 she lived in the US as an International Writers Project Fellow at Brown University and a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University.
Ma Thida studied medicine in the early 1980s and also took up writing at a young age, quickly gaining a reputation as a talented and progressive young writer. “I wanted to become a writer because I want to share what I observe around me, like poverty,” she said, adding her interest in health care developed after falling ill as a child.
Although her writing talents were recognized early on, she had to work hard to achieve success, recalled Myo Myint Nyein, a former editor at Pe Pu Hlwa magazine, where Ma Thida first honed her literary skills almost 30 years ago.
“She was very persevering. If we said: ‘Sorry, we can’t use the story you sent,’ she was always ready to give us a new one,” he said.
Soon after her writing career took off she became involved in Burma’s turbulent politics, taking up a job as a campaign assistant to Aung San Suu Kyi during the 1990 general election. The NLD won the election but its results were canceled by the military regime.
This association with the NLD leader resulted in her first book, “The Sunflower” (which only appeared in Burma 1999 as it was banned upon release in the early 1990s). The book argues that the Burmese people have towering expectations of Suu Kyi that made the democracy icon “a prisoner of applause.”
This concern is still relevant in today’s politics, according to Ma Thida. “I see no way for someone to shoulder the burden of so many people. It’s very unfair,” she said. “Asking and waiting for her leadership alone doesn’t make sense. People should cooperate and do what they can for their country by themselves.”
Still, she is hopeful for Burma’s future. “We now see the flickers of light at the end of the tunnel, but we still need transparency everywhere,” she said.
Two decades ago, her political writing made her a target for the oppressive regime and in 1993 she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for unlawful association and distribution of “unlawful literature.”
She spent six years locked up in terrible conditions, suffering from various health ailments for which she was denied medical care (at one stage, she experienced a six-month spell of fever after contracting tuberculosis). During this time, she was awarded several international human rights awards, including the PEN/ Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.
“Were it not for vipassana [Buddhist meditation], I would not have overcome the untold hardships I faced in prison,” said Ma Thida, adding that meditation helped her during long periods of solitary confinement and continues to be important in her life.
Ma Thida graduated as a general practitioner in 1993 and was about to study abroad to become a surgeon when she was arrested. “Being a qualified surgeon was my dream, but it didn’t happen,” she said. Yet, she holds no grudge towards the regime as her prison experience taught her much about life and helped her writing—and through it the plight of the Burmese people—gain recognition.
“If I hadn’t been arrested, some of my ambitions would not have been realized,” she said, adding that the mix of work she now does is satisfying. “As a doctor I do scientific work, but as a writer and editor I do an artist’s work. I feel I’m useful to the Burmese people by using two different professional skills.”
Despite her various achievements, the tireless writer and health worker said she still has dreams left, such as founding a free hospital boat to help communities along the Irrawaddy River, or setting up a publishing house for critical academic papers.
“I’m still thinking about how to make these [goals] come true. I’m ready to work with anyone or any organization that shares my interests,” she said.
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