BANGKOK — Several journalists who cover Myanmar said Sunday that they had received warnings from Google that their e-mail accounts might have been hacked by “state-sponsored attackers.”

The warnings began appearing last week, said the journalists, who included employees of Eleven Media, one Myanmar’s leading news organizations; Bertil Lintner, a Thailand-based author and expert on Myanmar’s ethnic groups; and a Burmese correspondent for The Associated Press.

Taj Meadows, a Google spokesman in Tokyo, said that he could not immediately provide specifics about the warnings, but said that Google had begun the policy of notifying users of suspicious activity in June.

“I can certainly confirm that we send these types of notices to accounts that we suspect are the targets of state-sponsored attacks,” Mr. Meadows said.

Google has not said how it determines whether an attack is “state sponsored” and does not identify which government may be leading the attacks. Mr. Meadows referred a reporter to an announcement in June by Eric Grosse, the vice president for security engineering at Google, that said that the company could not provide details of its warnings “without giving away information that would be helpful to these bad actors.”

Ye Htut, a Myanmar government spokesman, and Zaw Htay, a director in the president’s office, could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

The news media in Myanmar were highly censored and restricted during five decades of military rule, but the government has lifted many of those restrictions since President Thein Sein came to power nearly two years ago.

The country, formerly known as Burma, now has thriving weekly publications that are beginning to report on subjects that were once considered taboo, like government corruption and the military’s battles with ethnic rebels.

But at least two leading private publications, Eleven Media and The Voice Weekly, a news journal, have suffered cyberattacks. Eleven Media’s Web site and Facebook page were shut down by hackers several times in the past month, said U Than Htut Aung, the chairman and chief executive of the group.

“This is a direct attack on the media and a step backward for democracy,” he said.

Eleven Media Group posted an article over the weekend saying that the editor of The Voice Weekly and the correspondent for the Japanese news agency Kyodo had also received warnings from Google.

Some journalists speculated that attempts to hack into e-mail accounts might be linked to the conflict in northern Myanmar, where ethnic Kachin rebels have engaged in fierce fighting with government troops in recent weeks for control over territory near the Chinese border.

Eleven Media was among the first publications to report that the Myanmar military was deploying aircraft to attack the Kachin rebels, a policy that the government denied until reports and photographs appeared in Eleven Media.

“It’s their most sensitive state security issue,” said Mr. Lintner, the expert on ethnic groups.

Mr. Than Htut Aung of Eleven Media said that he had heard reports from his staff that members of the Myanmar military were “very angry” with their reporting on the Kachin conflict, but he added that it was too early to say whether the military had a role in the cyberattacks.

The Myanmar military has received training on cyberwarfare from Russia, Mr. Lintner said.

Cyberattacks are not new to the Burmese news media. During military rule, news Web sites run by exiled Burmese activists in Thailand and elsewhere were attacked numerous times by hackers.

Wai Moe contributed reporting from Laiza, Myanmar.

Yangon, Feb 8 (IANS) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has vowed to assist in Myanmar’s infrastructural development in terms of technology, finance, communication and sustainable energy, official media reported Friday.

ADB made the offer when its President Haruhiko Kuroda met Myanmar President U Thein Sein in Nay Pyi Taw Thursday, reported Xinhua citing the New Light of Myanmar.

The talks between the pair also covered ADB’s assistance for development of Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries, development of Myanmar’s delta region vital for food production, utilization of fresh water from three major rivers of Myanmar and water courses conservation for hydropower generation and construction of India-Myanmar-Thailand motor road.

Myanmar could reduce international debt of over $6 billion including that with Norway and Japan after successfully coordinating with Paris Club main creditor countries in January.

As a follow-up, Myanmar has settled $512 million debt owed to the ADB and $430 million owed to the World Bank by taking out the amounts from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Jan 25 and paid back to the two creditors.

Obtaining new loans of the same amount from the two creditors on the same day, Myanmar finally settled the debt by paying off the bridge loan to JBIC.

According to Myanmar’s Ministry of Finance and Revenue, the World Bank will support Myanmar with $80 million in carrying out national community-driven development project for infrastructural development in agricultural sector, roads, health centres and schools of 640 villages across the country.

Both ADB and World Bank will resume social and economic assistance to help Myanmar build strong foundation for poverty alleviation scheme and positive reform process.

Yangon, Feb 9 (IANS) Myanmar Open will be held at Royal Mingalardon Golf and Country Club here Feb 21-24, attracting Asian Tour stars.

Over 150 golfers, including over 130 foreign golfers from 25 countries and regions, will participate in the event, reports Xinhua.

Hiratsuka, a three-time tour winner, is tipped to reclaim the Myanmar Open Trophy which he won in 2010. Others who will assemble at the $300,000 Asian Tour event include Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand and Rikard Karlberg of Sweden.

Mardan Mamat of Singapore, highly rated Arnond Vongvanik of Thailand and Himmat Rai of India will also be in the elite field.

Yangon, Feb 9 (IANS) Myanmar parliament has approved 66 billion yen ($704.28 million) loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), official media reported Saturday.

According to U Win Shein, minister of finance and revenue, JICA will grant an aid package including 17 billion yen for infrastructure projects, 20 billion yen for the first step of the development of infrastructure for the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, and 29 billion yen for infrastructures for power supply in Yangon and for upgrading the Kyangin cement plant, reported the New Light of Myanmar.

At present, Myanmar and Japan are jointly developing Thilawa Special Economic Zone with Myanmar holding 51 percent stake and Japan with 49 percent, reported Xinhua.

According to official statistics, trade between Myanmar and Japan amounted to $1,006.28 million in the first eight months (April-November) of the 2012-13 fiscal year.

Of the total, Myanmar’s export to Japan reached $257.2 million while its import from Japan was valued at $749.08 million.

Since Myanmar opened to foreign investment in late 1988, Japan’ s investment in Myanmar amounted to $246.84 million as of November 2012.

The cows roaming the runway at Kyaukpyu airport make way a few times a week for the small prop planes carrying passengers to and from the island of Ramree, just 20km off Myanmar’s west coast.

The sleepy seaside town of Kyaukpyu, home to a faded collection of rickety wooden houses and once grand mansions, is the modest trading hub of one of Myanmar’s poorest areas. Electricity and running water are severely limited, local industry is almost non-existent and many live on just over a dollar a day.

But this former colonial outpost could yet be transformed, and with it, the surrounding region. It is at the heart not just of China’s voracious drive for natural resources and new trade routes but also of Myanmar’s plan to create a “mini Singapore” – replicating the city state’s economic success – on the under-developed west coast.

Just 100km from rich gasfields in the Bay of Bengal, the town fronts a natural harbor more than 25m deep, offering a shipping route to the Indian Ocean and onwards to South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Already, it has attracted billions of dollars of Chinese and Korean investment in gas and oil.

Now Myanmar’s reformist government has drawn up an ambitious plan to develop a vast special economic zone, commercial deep seaport, power plant, an international airport, a highway and a railway linking Kyaukpyu with southwest China.

If successful, the plan could create about 250,000 jobs in the region, says U Myint Thein, deputy labour minister and head of the government’s new Kyaukpyu special economic zone agency. But he admits its success hinges not just on securing investor interest but also on avoiding mistakes made in the past – including a lack of government consultation with local people.

“We must take an inclusive approach,” he said.

Not far from town, nearly 2,000 workers are finalising one of Myanmar’s largest natural gas projects: the Shwe gas pipeline and onshore terminal, which is being built by South Korea’s Daewoo International in a consortium with state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and others.

From May this year, this pipeline will pump about 12bn cubic metres of gas annually, most of which will go to China via nearby Maday island. There CNPC, parent of publicly listed PetroChina, in a venture with MOGE have built dual oil and gas pipelines that run 800km to Kunming in Yunnan province as well as a tanker terminal to receive oil tankers from the Middle East.

A recent visit by the Financial Times – the first by western media – showed that the complex is near completion. From early 2013, about 22m tonnes of crude oil annually will be piped to Kunming, helping China bypass the US controlled waters of the Strait of Malacca for its crude oil imports.

So far the Korean and Chinese projects have cost more than $3bn, about 20 per cent over budget, say local officials. But that pales compared with the investment that could come if Myanmar’s plans take shape.

Other plans for industrial zones elsewhere in Myanmar floundered due to lack of funding and local opposition, though the Japanese-backed Thilawa industrial zone near Yangon is still going head.

Kyaukpyu’s strategic location and access to resources makes it different, Mr Myint Thein noted, not least because the government is determined to consult with local people. Investors “will come, because the opportunities are so good – this will revolutionise trade and boost both Myanmar and the regional economy”.

Already, China has signed a preliminary agreement to construct a 1,215km railway and parallel highway linking Kunming with Kyaukpyu, transport links seen as crucial to the project’s success. Once a new SEZ law is enacted, there will be open tenders for parts of the project, Mr Myint Thein said. Land issues would be dealt with “fairly”, he said, a reference to disputes that have delayed other industrial zones.

But although all appear peaceful in Kyaukpyu, last year angry mobs burnt down a Muslim part of town. Concerns linger about the sectarian violence that erupted in the majority Buddhist Rakhine state, though local officials say the “crisis is over”.

Meanwhile, environmentalists have warned they will campaign against the development. “What is the government thinking, handing over our pristine coastlands to foreign companies to turn into a toxic industrial zone?” said Arakan Oil Watch.

Win Myint, a leading urban planner, said: “There will always be protests over developments but this government is on the right track. It is consulting locals and they are listening – and they seem determined to avoid mistakes of the past.”

The same could be said for Kyaukpyu’s early investors. CNPC says it has spent more than $10m to build local schools, hospitals and infrastructure including a reservoir and drinking water facilities for the island’s five main villages, and plans to spend more.

In one such village, several Chinese managers fielded questions about why they had not trained locals. Only about 400 of the 1,800 workers at the CNPC complex are from Myanmar, the rest are Chinese.

“We want to help local people,” one manager said. “Our project is for 30 years, we need a good relationship with society.”

Myanmar yesterday urged Thailand to speed up registration of migrant workers from the country, with 1 million of them and hundreds of thousands of their children still undocumented as the deadline nears.

Myint Thein, Myanmar’s deputy labour minister, was in Thailand yesterday to monitor progress of the government’s scheme to register millions of migrant workers.

Thailand, together with the Myanmar authorities, is in the process of collecting documents to verify the workers’ nationality. The deadline is in mid-March.

The original nationality-verification deadline for migrant workers expired last year, but the Cabinet extended the date, allowing them to submit documentation by March 16.

Thailand set up one-stop service centres in major cities throughout the country to facilitate the process. Myanmar has dispatched officials to 11 of the centres, Myint Thein told a press conference.

Some 1.2 million migrant workers from Myanmar have been registered so far. Myint Thein estimated that 1 million more have no documents.

The nationality-verification centres have the capacity to provide service to 500-1,000 migrant workers per day.

Myanmar wants Thai authorities to issue special entry visas for children who accompany or depend on parents working in Thailand. Officials say issuing such a visa for children could take weeks.

“We would like children who are dependent on parents working in Thailand to have documentation so that authorities can provide protection and social welfare for them,” Myint Thein said.

It is estimated that migrant workers in Thailand are accompanied by some 200,000 children, he said, noting that half of them are of school age.

“We want them to be able to continue their education. If they have documents, they will have a chance to be educated,” he said.

The Myanmar minister said the expense of obtaining documentation in Thailand was too high for Myanmar migrant workers. Many of them have to pay as much as Bt15,000, according to Myanmar Ambassador to Thailand Tin Win.

Basically, migrant workers have to pay Bt1,800 or Bt3,600 for a one-year or two-year work permit, respectively, according to the Department of Employment.

Thailand has opened one-stop service centres for registering migrant workers, collecting documents and contacting Myanmar authorities to verify nationality and obtain necessary documents, he said.

“This process is not expensive for the workers, but many of them have to pay private brokers,” he said. “We don’t know how private brokers intervene in the process and take such a large amount of money from the workers,” Tin Win said.

The ambassador urged the Thai authorities to monitor the process and find a solution to reduce workers’ expenses.

The Myanmar government’s decision to form a committee to review political prisoner cases is a step in the right direction but the review needs to have a much wider reach, Amnesty International said.

“We are heartened by this very important first step towards establishing a review mechanism. However, it is imperative to have assurances that the mandate of this new committee will extend to all prisoners who have been unfairly detained, not only political prisoners,” said Isabelle Arradon, Amnesty International’s Deputy-Director for the Asia-Pacific.

The government yesterday announced it would proceed with setting up the committee, which will look into granting amnesties to political prisoners. Many prisoners of conscience are still imprisoned in Myanmar, having been falsely charged or convicted of a serious offense, arbitrarily detained, or imprisoned solely for their peaceful political activities. .

“The commission should have a strong mandate in order to bring an end to arbitrary detentions and ensure human rights for prisoners and detainees in Myanmar.” Arradon added.

Activists, former political prisoners and some politicians in Myanmar as well as some regional and international NGOs, including Amnesty International, have been publicly pushing the Myanmar authorities since late 2011 to set up a body that would take on the country’s vast record of unjust imprisonment.

Amnesty International is calling for the review mechanism to identify all detainees and prisoners who were charged or convicted as a result of unfair trials and other proceedings that did not meet international human rights standards. This would include convictions that relied on confessions extracted under torture.

According to an announcement made by the President’s Office yesterday, the review committee will be comprised of members of the government ministries, civil society organizations and political parties.

“We are waiting for clear commitments that the commission will be independent, impartial, properly resourced, and their decisions based on international human rights standards,” said Arradon.

Amnesty International is calling for the government to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience, and to retry fairly any person found to have suffered an unfair trial.

BY Richard S. Ehrlich | February 08 2013 3:04 PM

BANGKOK, Thailand — In Myanmar, the regime’s helicopter gunships, mortars and rockets are successfully crippling a 52-year-long struggle for autonomy waged by mostly Christian, ethnic minority Kachin guerrillas, along the northernmost border with China.

The Kachin are unlikely to get outside help, despite having made in the past a very powerful friend: the United States. America befriended the Kachin during World War II, when the tough, jungle-savvy men helped U.S. troops infiltrate the region after Japan invaded and occupied mainland Southeast Asia’s biggest country — which was then known as Burma.

“In the Second World War, we the Kachin fought alongside the U.S. with the 101st [Airborne Division of the U.S. Army] against the Japanese…we want them to be with us in our time of need, when we are in struggle,” said Kachin Youth Development Organization activist Hsai Zin during a rally at the American Consulate in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, on January 25.

During the past few days, Myanmar’s superior forces steadily advanced against the 15,000-strong Kachin Independence Army (KIA), after fighting began at the end of December. The rebels wear uniforms and fight from trenches, foxholes and bunkers, laying landmines, carrying supplies on their backs or on animals, and treating injuries without anesthetics.

The force arrayed against them is vastly superior technologically, using fighter planes, possibly Chinese-built, and fearsome Russian-made Mi-35 helicopter gunships similar to the Mi-24 Hind “flying tanks” used by Soviet forces against Islamist guerrillas in Afghanistan during the 1980s.

Myanmar’s Buddhist-majority government said it attacked because the Kachin erected barbed wire barriers near the rebel-held town of Laiza, which stopped government forces from entering and occupying the area, purportedly to distribute food.

Laiza is set amid hills and boasts modern buildings, reliable electricity, a local TV station, and a thriving market fed by goods from Myanmar, China and elsewhere. Myanmar’s military wants to dominate Laiza’s border crossing with China, and pacify the entire Kachin state.

Still, there were no immediate predictions of a full-scale surrender by the Kachin. They apparently plan to melt into the forested mountains and try hit-and-run tactics during the next several months to regain lost ground.

The KIA is the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), which was created in 1961.

They fought on-and-off against the military before a 1994-2011 ceasefire allowed both sides to exploit the region’s natural resources, Then, competition grew over the mining of jade and gold, logging, agricultural businesses, hydropower, and other investments.

Today, the region’s one million Kachin are largely ignored by the outside world, as Myanmar emerges from decades of isolation. They have also been unable to gain practical support from Myanmar’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who said she hopes for a peaceful settlement but was unable to offer a solution.

In November, when U.S. President Barack Obama visited Myanmar, he hailed Suu Kyi as a pro-democracy icon, prompting expectations she would immerse herself in the bloody politics of the country’s rebel wars and ethnic discrimination. But that has not happened. “This case is being handled by the government at the moment,” Suu Kyi told Agence-France Presse in January.

During his visit, Mr. Obama also met President Thein Sein, who is now telling the international community that he will end the KIA’s fight.

“Our government will make genuine and lasting peace with the KIA,” Thein Sein said on January 19.

“We plan to hold a political dialogue in early 2013 after signing ceasefire agreements with 10 other armed groups,” the president said, referring to a total of 50,000 other ethnic-minority rebels scattered elsewhere in the nation.

Meanwhile, though, the military assault on the Kachin is apparently aimed at sending a message to other ethnic rebels not to break their delicate ease-fire deals or escalate their struggles for autonomy.

The Kachin are the last remaining big rebel force refusing to sign a peace deal with the regime. Many of them fear a political solution would mean subjugation and end their dream for autonomy in a proposed federal system.

Tens of thousands of residents in and around Laiza meanwhile have fled, attracting concern from international human rights groups and non-governmental organizations.

The Kachin struggle dates back to 1948, when Britain granted independence to their colonial possession of Burma, with its patchwork of ethnic groups. The British crafted the controversial Panglong Agreement, which was signed by various ethnic minorities in 1947. It would have allowed the Kachin, Chin, Karen, Karenni, Mon, Shan and other minorities to opt out of the new nation, or enjoy enhanced autonomy.

After independence, that deal collapsed. Ethnic groups have fought for autonomy ever since, mostly in the country’s eastern and northern zones bordering on China and Thailand.

On a recent trip to Washington D.C., Off The Grid News founder, Bill Heid, met with Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann and was told of a missionary by the name of Dave Eubank. Eubank is the founder of a Christian mission, multi-ethnic, humanitarian service group called the Free Burma Rangers.

Thomson, IL (PRWEB) February 08, 2013

This week’s Off The Grid News Radio is a very special episode. Bill Heid, founder of Off The Grid News, has an opportunity to hear from Dave Eubank, the founder of Free Burma Rangers, as he wades through the jungles of Burma. Eubank joins the radio show live on his satellite phone, describing the adventures and the mission of the Free Burma Rangers. Then to wrap up the show, Heid speaks with his longtime friend, Brian Brawdy, the day after his appearance on an episode of National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers.

On a recent trip to Washington D.C., Heid learned of Dave Eubank and the Free Burma Rangers through Tera Dahl, the personal assistant to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Dahl told Heid of the Free Burma Rangers’ mission and what Eubank has done to help a country full of internally displaced people residing within Burma.

During the show Eubank reveals the unbelievable story of what helped to anchor his works to Burma rather than take his mission around to other countries facing oppression. He regales of a medic he met in the jungle he called a “pirate angel” and how this man gave up saving his own family for a week to help treat a thousand patients.

One of the problems Eubank said they had in Burma was communications. Heid discusses the creation of some jungle camouflaged solar panels and solar generators that would help provide power for communications while keeping the solar panels out of sight of the enemy helicopters.

After Eubank’s satellite phone cuts out, Heid sits down to speak with his longtime friend, Brian Brawdy, less than 24 hours after Brawdy appeared on the National Geographic show Doomsday Preppers. Brawdy goes on to describe his experience during the filming and the message he was attempting to convey during his time on the show.

A point Brawdy attempts to make throughout the show is that there are various stages of “preppers.” He stated, “If you do an action now to forestall something painful happening to you in the future, you’re a prepper. No tin foil. No fourteen and a half inch Rambo knife. No .50 caliber with 100,000 rounds under your bed.” He continues, “If you lock your doors at night; you’re a prepper.”

February 10, 2013

BILLY TEA – In November 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was freed from years of house arrest amid a tightly choreographed transition from military to democratic rule. Eighteen months later, her NLD won 43 out of 45 seats up for grabs in parliament in democratic by-elections, winning Suu Kyi an elected seat in parliament after her party’s boycott of the 2010 polls.

The 2010 elections, widely derided as rigged and unfair, were won overwhelmingly by military-backed candidates. While Suu Kyi’s strong victory at the subsequent by-elections underscored her still strong popularity, the fact that she and her party were allowed to run after being officially banned reflected positively on President Thein Sein and his widely lauded democratic reform drive.

Suu Kyi was an inspirational opposition leader during the dark days of military rule, from which she emerged as a symbol of freedom and democracy. She spent 14 out of 20 years under house arrest over that period. But as the country begins to look towards new elections and greater democracy in 2015, questions previously unheard of are being raised about whether Suu Kyi would be well-suited to serve as president.

As national leader, Suu Kyi would have to manage more than 135 groups that are highly divided along ethnic and religious lines. Failure to meet persistent calls for greater autonomy in ethnic minority regions would undoubtedly undermine her historical legacy as a champion of national unity and reconciliation.

As the daughter of independence hero Aung San, Suu Kyi has long been associated with her country’s fight for freedom. Aung San’s interim post-independence government entered the Panglong Agreement in 1947 a deal that granted full autonomy to “frontier areas” occupied by ethnic minority groups. He was assassinated that same year and the agreement was never implemented, providing the initial spark for many of the ethnic insurgencies that have inflamed the country for decades.

Suu Kyi famously followed in her father’s footsteps by making her first potent political appearance in August 1988 in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar’s most sacred Buddhist shrine and the site where Aung San made a famous pro-independence speech in 1946. In the lead up to and after the military’s 1988 bloody crackdown on street demonstrators opposed to military rule, Suu Kyi emerged as a clarion voice in favour of democracy. She and her party swept 1990 elections, but the military annulled the results and maintained power through iron fist rule. Although Suu Kyi had the chance to leave and reunite with her family overseas, she stayed in Myanmar (or Burma, as it is also known) and endured years of harassment and detention while mounting a non-violent struggle for democracy.

When asked if she ever considered leaving, including after what was widely viewed as an assassination attempt on her motorcade in 2003, she responded in an interview, “I never thought there was a choice. I never thought of leaving Burma. I always thought that as long as there was one person who believed in democracy in Burma, I had to stay with that person.”

During her years under house arrest, Suu Kyi’s discourse always spoke in favour of change through peace and non-violence. In a 1996 interview, Suu Kyi described her views on politics through non-violence: “I do not believe in an armed struggle because it will perpetrate the tradition that he who is best at wielding arms, wields power… That will not help democracy.”

More recently, according to NLD spokesman Nyan Win, Suu Kyi “has remained a devoted Buddhist who from the beginning admired the principles of non-violence and civil disobedience espoused by India’s Mahatma Gandhi. [3] Her passion for non-violence won her a Nobel Peace prize in 1990, when her party won an election that was never recognized by the junta.”

For decades, Suu Kyi has symbolically and elegantly represented opposition to military rule and in the name of freedom support for the cause of persecuted ethnic minorities. She was named the “Lady” in part for her ability to win the trust of ethnic groups through her non-violent message and for speaking out forcefully against the human rights violations perpetuated by the military in conflict zones.

Yet if Suu Kyi wins the presidency in 2015, she will face huge challenges and obstacles in maintaining this exalted stature. As national leader, she will need to be seen as satisfying the demands of a multi-ethnic and divided population while simultaneously working with a parliament that reserves 25% of its seats for military officials who have strongly opposed autonomy for ethnic regions.

Rather than serving as a pro-democracy icon, as president she would head what would still most likely be a military-dominated political system. As a parliamentarian, she has already been perceived by some to compromise on principle by taking a more middle-of-the-road position on important national issues, including ethnic conflicts.

In recent months, Suu Kyi has been subjected to unusually sharp criticism for her perceived as limp response to conflict in Rakhine State, where Buddhist Rakhine’s have clashed violently with Muslim Rohingyas. In an interview with the New York Times in September 2012, Suu Kyi said, “I know that people want me to [speak on the issue], they want strong and colourful condemnation, which I won’t do, because I don’t think it helps.”

She said that “I’ve always spoken out against human rights abuses but not against a particular community…If you condemn one community that makes the other community more hostile towards that community.”

Suu Kyi said she believes that the solution to the conflict should be based on rule by law that promotes ethnic reconciliation. “It must be based on sound citizenship laws,” she said. [4]

Her reactions, or lack thereof, to the escalating Kachin State conflict have also sparked widespread criticism, including from among her once erstwhile supporters. Neng Seng, a Kachin human rights activist, wrote a recent article in the Huffington Post entitled “I Feel Betrayed by Aung San Suu Kyi”, in which she described her frustration and disappointment with the lack of action by her previous idol.

“She [Suu Kyi] remained silent over serious human rights violations committed by government army soldiers, including attacks against civilian populations, extrajudicial killings, sexual violence … Aung San Suu Kyi’s principled stance and moral example once inspired me…you cannot be neutral, cannot be silent, in the face of such terrible abuses, because silence and neutrality enables those abuses to continue… I feel angry, betrayed and sad.”

The Irrawaddy, one of Myanmar’s respected liberal newsmagazines that historically often portrayed Suu Kyi in a favourable light, recently wrote, “As long as Suu Kyi continues to avoid taking any meaningful stance on the very real issues that plague [Myanmar], the ‘democratically united’ country that she spoke of in her speech will remain as elusive as ever.”

As an elected politician, Suu Kyi will be unable to appease and please all constituencies in her sharply divided country. As a parliamentarian, she has already been required to make tough choices with limited budgets, undeveloped infrastructures, and restricted capacities. As in any democratic system, there have been sharp disagreements within her own party, with some feeling she has been too engaged with the military-dominated government and others feeling she has not done enough.

For Myanmar’s military and military-associated politicians, such criticism is less problematic after facing blame for decades of mismanagement and corrupt rule. But the once almost universally popular Suu Kyi has much more to lose when she fails to please her former backers and supporters, including in ethnic minority areas.

It should be remembered that responsibility for the assassination of Suu Kyi’s father, Aung San, was placed on a political rival, former prime minister U Saw. It was Aung San’s popularity and worldwide recognition for his leadership in ending British colonialism that led to the political divisions that motivated his death. Today, recognition for the exceptional democratic advances made under Thein Sein’s presidency have sparked similar political competition and jealousy, within both the military and opposition party.

Suu Kyi’s legacy as a great opposition leader is already secure, witnessed in the outpouring of sentiment and support she has received from the global community during recent overseas trips. But would she be able to achieve the same recognition as Myanmar’s national leader if elected as president in 2015?

To be sure, Suu Kyi faces major obstacles in her personal transition from pro-democracy icon and symbol of freedom amid oppression to mainstream politician in a quasi-civilian, military-dominated political order. How she handles that transition and manages her once spotless image over the next two years will largely determine her electability amid fast-changing expectations in a fast-changing Myanmar. –Asia Times Online

An unusual seminar on the “Rule of Law in Myanmar; Perspectives and Prospects” which was jointly organized by EU and the Union Attorney-Generals Office (UAGO) held in Thingaha Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw Hotel Zone Saturday, The new Light of Myanmar said Sunday. The seminar seemed to support the rule of law in Burma/Myanmar as it has been undertaking into implementing the rule of law in line with the policy of the President. The event was the first seminar of its kind in the country and it was organized by EU in collaboration with UAGO in Burma/Myanmar.

As Burma has been involved in political and economic reforms gradually, the rule of law is extremely vital to restructuring course. The rule of law is essential not only in the judicial sector but also in business and administrative sectors too. All stakeholders, of legislature, executive and judiciary have the obligation to put into service the rule of law, said Union Attorney-General Dr Tun Shin, at the opening of the seminar.

Dr Tun Shin also explained about the seven components of the rule of law as the most useful one for a politically stable and free society. These components are, in a nutshell, firstly, no person can be punished without a due process of law. Secondly, without undue delay. Sixthly, discretion in interpreting the law whether by officials of government or judges should be limited by law he said.

According to Attorney-General, a fair law is the vehicle of justice. It is indisputable that rule of law is one of the fundamentals to meet the ends of justice. Without the rule of law in society, there may not be stability, prosperity and democracy, he said.

Dr Tun Shin also mentioned President Thein Sein’s mission statement which emphasized the importance of good governance and clean government. Good governance means that authorized persons must have discipline and system in carrying out their duties. Clean government means that the responsible persons must respect the law, retain good moral character and refrain from corruption. The rule of law involves myriad of ambitions in transition to democracy he explained referring presidents mission statement.

Dr Tun Shin continued explaining the presidents mission statement that there is political will to eradicate and combat corruption. If there be corruption, rule of law will not prevail. As part of efforts for the emergence of good governance and clean government after the government took office, as Action Committee against Corruption headed by a Vice-President is formed and work of the committee have commenced to fight corruption and bribery. The Legislature on 8 August 2012, formed the Committee on Rule of Law and Tranquility of People’s Parliament to overview the rule of law.

Ambassador David Lipman said that EU highly praised the remarkable changes in the country and recognized the challenges ahead in terms of democratization, economic development, the situation of human rights and peace and national reconciliation, according to the NLM newspaper.

“We must empower those most vulnerable in society, especially the women and the children,” Lipman told the meeting.

Chairman of Peoples Parliament Rule of Law and Tranquility Committee, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi expressed in her keynote speech, satisfaction joining all participants in the unique seminar on the rule of law in Burma/Myanmar.

According to Suu Kyi, Burmese people did not have confidence with the court and did not trust in justice made by the court and that for decades the courts were not free from the executives, she told the meeting. She emphasized the important of amending the constitution should be everybody’s concern in the country so that it would meet the standard of a valid democratic society. At the same time, Suu Kyi said she wished for accomplishing it through negotiations and the establishment of reciprocal understanding concerning benefits for nation.

As published in the state-run media, Suu Kyi stated The rule of law, constitutional reforms, everything to do with democracy, justice and stability in our country is the concern and responsibility of every citizen in our country. She also said, We must put greater emphasis on administering and disseminating information so that our people not only know the legal rights but also know the provisions that exist to combat the violation of these rights. I would like to urge that our people must not only know their rights but also the responsibilities.

She also mentioned that if the courts are not provided with the basic necessary tools for law courts, citizens cannot expect the rule of law in the homeland.

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia is not hiding his disappointment at the way Myanmar is trying to run the 27th Southeast Asian Games.

The chief of the government sports agency said this early, Myanmar is trying to make sure that it ends up high in the standings in the Games set Dec. 11 to 22.

Garcia said the Philippines, which finished sixth overall and just ahead of Myanmar in the 2011 SEA Games Indonesia, is in great danger of falling down the ladder.

“I think we will definitely finish seventh and I hope not eighth,” said Garcia, who rued Myanmar’s inclusion of close to 60 events practically unknown to some countries.

Garcia also hit Myanmar’s decision to scrap Olympic events like badminton, lawn tennis and beach volleyball in favor of martial arts events like vovinam and kempo.

He said there’s nothing wrong with including traditional or indigenous sports in the calendar but not as many that it would have a great impact on the overall standings.

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Garcia said the Philippines should better consider sending just a token delegation. Of the 36 events the Filipinos won in 2011, 16 of them will not be played in Myanmar.

“Hindi puwede ito. We have to amend the rules and regulations. We should insist that Olympic sports should be included, and the others as demonstration sports that won’t reflect on the medal tally.

“They can put as many medals in vovinam as long as it will not reflect in the medal tally,” said Garcia, who sounded like he’s encouraging Philippine sports officials to make a formal protest.

“We must make a stand. If we get expelled by the (SEA Games) federation (by doing so) then so be it. It’s about time we make a clear stand,” said Garcia.

The PSC will fund the Philippine delegation, and Garcia feels there’s no use spending people’s money for athletes with no chances of winning the gold.

He was the first to bring up the idea of sending just a “token delegation” of around 50 or less athletes to Myanmar.

“We (can) just put a number of 50 athletes with good chances of winning the gold to show that we are in protest and to show that everything is not okay,” said Garcia.

“If we send a token delegation, we will be lucky to win 20 gold medals,” he added.

Shankari Sundararaman

This use of force to quell an ethnic conflict reflects the impunity of Burma’s military machinery and has undermined the pace of reform in Burma

The recent military crackdown on the Kachin Independence Army in Burma (KIA) is again drawing attention to the need for more focused political reforms in Burma. Since the end of the ceasefire in June 2011, approximately 700 Kachin fighters have been killed (government sources claim the figure to be 300).

While there have been conciliatory statements from the Centre and from President Thein Sein, and both sides have tried to arrive at a ceasefire with China trying to assist in the negotiation, the ground reality is serious — both sides seem to be gearing up for battle.

The use of force to quell an ethnic conflict reflects the impunity of Burma’s military machinery. It has also undermined the steps taken by the government to move on the path of national reconciliation and left little room for a negotiated settlement to the problems of ethnic minorities in Burma.

The reform process, still in its nascent stage, should seek to be more inclusive towards the minority ethnic groups and this current standoff will only widen the gap between the government and these groups.

Throughout December 2012 and January 2013, there has been a regular onslaught on the KIA along the borders with China, particularly in the border town of Laiza.

Of all the ethnic issues in Burma, the Kachin rebellion is the most protracted. The Kachins are spread across northern Burma and comprise several tribes. They are also found in the inland areas of Yunnan and in India’s north-eastern region. The Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) represents their political aspirations and their military wing is called the KIA.

The KIA was formed in 1962, in the aftermath of the coup led by General Ne Win. The formation of the KIA is linked to the fact that the military attempted to consolidate its control over all the ethnic groups in the country and centralise its authority vis-à-vis these groups. In fact, the KIA was part of the Burmese military forces till the 1962 coup, after which it separated to fight for independence from the Burmese state.

The KIA carried out a separatist war for more than three decades till 1994, though this grouping did not have much economic autonomy and most of its resources accrued from trade in narcotics and precious gems along the border areas with China. When the State Law and Order Restoration Council mobilised its forces after the 1988 pro-democracy movement, Burma began to move towards ceasefire agreements with ethnic minorities to tackle the smuggling of narcotics and gems. Following the ceasefire with the Kachins in 1994, the demand for a separate state was withdrawn and the KIO began to look for greater autonomy within the Burmese state.

While several explanations are being offered for the recent offensive against the Kachins, the breakdown of the 17-year ceasefire agreement in June 2011 is cited as the primary cause.

The bone of contention, it is argued, was the region around the Kachin state prized for hydro-electric projects and both the Centre and the KIO sought control over it.

Another viewpoint is that there are hardliners in the military who are involved in the current standoff in order to undermine the changes that have been initiated by the reform process. But this is not an acceptable explanation. The government under Thein Sein may not have been strong in its pronouncements on the crackdown against the Kachins, but even pro-democracy leaders like Aung San Suu Kyi responded to the conflict after severe media criticism about her silence. Considering that she is seen as a leader who supports ethnic minority groups, her passive response can push the Burmese government and other groups to greater intransigence.

The Kachins were one of the groups that participated in the reform process by being part of the draft constitution, a roadmap for Burma’s transition to democracy. The need to incorporate a federal structure that would give greater autonomy to the ethnic groups was a significant demand made by the Kachin minorities. In fact, the group reiterated that the plan for a federated Burmese state was laid out in the first Burmese Constitution (1947), drafted when the British were to grant the country independence. It envisaged a flexible power sharing arrangement between the Centre and the regions. But Burma evolved into a unitary state, ignoring power sharing and accommodation of minority rights.

There is an urgent need to work out a clear and pragmatic approach to the problems faced by several ethnic minorities and groups so that they can have real political space and identity. For over a year now the international community has been watching the reform process in Burma, all along exhibiting visible signs of support.

In fact, the suspension of sanctions by the West, the visit of US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron to Burma and the writing off of loans taken from financial institutions were clear indicators of the backing which the Burmese government was receiving for its willingness to bring about a change.

But to continue receiving Western support, the Burmese government will have to persist with the reforms process, which, among other things, means greater accommodation of minorities and ethnic groups within the national mainstream.

The writer is a professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

The Myanmar government and an ethnic federation will hold talks in Thailand this month, according to the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC).

The United Nationalities Federal Council –UNFC, a coalition of ethnic groups, replied to the government last Thursday to have the talk in Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Mai.

“We have to discuss a dialogue framework first. The UNFC said it was convenient for the meeting after February 16. The government’s union level peace-making group would be in the talk, said Dr Min Zaw Oo, director of the MPC.

“Some groups want to hold a dialogue individually while some want it with the whole federation. But some groups prefer subject-wise talks,” he said.

“So we are trying to develop a framework to ensure all-inclusive talks. We accept any kind of talks. In our ongoing peace efforts, we cannot sideline any ethnic armed groups,” he added.

The UNFC was formed in February 2011 by ethnic groups in Myanmar. Karen National Union, Kachin Independence Organisation, New Mon State Party, Karenni National Progressive Party, Chin National Front and Shan State Progressive Party are core members while its affiliate organisations include Pao National Liberation Organisation, Palaung State Liberation Front, Arakan National Council, Lahu Democratic Union, Wa National Organisation and Kachin National Organisation.

The Myanmar Peace Center is a government body funded by the European Union to serve as a platform for dialogues between all parties involved in Myanmar’s peace process.

By SIMON ROUGHNEEN / THE IRRAWADDY| February 8, 2013 |

SINGAPORE — Under increasing international criticism over the civil war in Kachin State, Burma’s government has sought to refocus attention on the reformist narrative that has dominated international coverage since President Thein Sein took office almost two years ago.

Recent moves such as pledging to allow international aid to civilians in territory held by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), acknowledging the existence of political prisoners and hinting that it is open to reforming the country’s Constitution, are being welcomed, despite seeming like belated concessions.

“Political prisoners should never have been in jail in the first place,” said lobby group Burma Campaign UK on Feb. 7.

It seems that the Burmese government has decided that it is in its best interests to make such concessions now.

Renewed peace talks between the government and the KIA came after the army advanced closer to KIA headquarters on the Burma-China border, meaning the government negotiated from a stronger military position. That said, some observers speculate that the military’s success has come at a high cost in terms of money and casualties—as well as heightened distrust of the government among other ethnic minority militias.

The government might want to quit while its ahead in Kachin State. Storming Laiza, the KIA base, would cost the Burmese army in lives and money and result in thousands of refugees fleeing to China, damaging relations with Beijing.

The government’s Feb. 7 announcement that it would set up a committee to examine how many political prisoners remain in prison was an equally pragmatic move, as President’s Office spokesperson Ye Htut told CNN.

“We cannot negotiate because of this term,” he said, referring to “political prisoners.” “That’s why President Thein Sein instructed to form this committee to find the definition.”

That admission suggests that if the stakes are high enough for the Burma government, it could relent on other human rights issues, though it is not clear if the political prisoner wording was in any way a hindrance to the negotiations that in late January saw Burma relieved of around US $6 billion in debt—60 percent of the money it owes—by Western countries and Japan.

During military rule, Burma held up to 2,000 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, but the government refused to acknowledge such a category, labeling all prisoners as criminals.

After acknowledging the existence of political prisoners, pressure could mount on Burma’s government to recognize the existence of the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship by a 1982 law and who human rights groups have long described as oppressed.

Doctors Without Borders, an international non-governmental organization that provides medical treatment to people affected by war or disaster, says that the Burmese government is blocking its work in Arakan State, effectively denying aid to tens of thousands of Rohingya displaced by violence in the region.

There are signs that other countries in the region are tiring of having to deal with the fall-out from human rights abuses in Burma.

The Thai government says over 6,000 Rohingya have fled to Thailand since a second round of ethnic and sectarian clashes in Arakan last October. Discussing the Rohingya influx, Dittaporn Sasamit, a spokesman for Thailand’s Internal Security Operations Command, said that “the Foreign Ministry is negotiating with other countries to take them on and is seeking [Burmese] citizenship papers for them so they can move on,” he said.

Pressure on Burma’s government to grant citizenship to at least some of the 800,000 or so Rohingyas has been increasing in recent months, though whether backing Naypyidaw into a corner over this issue would result in some sort of belated recognition of status, along the lines of political prisoners, is unclear.

Many of Burma’s political prisoners are regarded as heroes for standing up to the military regime, and have assumed prominent public profiles since their release, while the Rohingya are widely described as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

In another signal of regional distaste for Burmese government policy toward the Rohingya, Indonesian hackers briefly took down a government website earlier this week, saying “We call on the government of Myanmar to stop the violence and the expulsion against Rohingya based on humanitarian.”

By VINCENZO FLORAMO / THE IRRAWADDY| February 8, 2013 |

THAYET TOWNSHIP, Magway Division — In the scorching midday heat of central Burma, dozens of families are hard at work.

In the shade of tarpaulins and thatched-roof huts, workers operate makeshift wooden drills and old engine blocks to dig wells in order to bring up that most coveted of energy sources: oil.

The workers and their children collect the sticky crude oil — which covers much of their bodies — in order to sell it to local refineries that use it to produce petrol and diesel.

For some 250 impoverished families here at Bandua Pen village, a hilly site located on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, this dirty, backbreaking work is a key source of income.

Petroleum was first found in Thayet District in the 19th century and in 1883 the British sunk three oil wells that were later abandoned.

For several decades however, groups of poor families have come here to explore for oil and exploit any finds. If they can collect oil they are obliged to pay local landowners a concession fee, which is set at between US $500 to $2,000 for the use of a roughly 20 square-meter plot.

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Like in many developing countries, poor rural communities in Burma have found ways to exploit shallow sources of mineral and oil wealth in order to supplement their meager farming incomes.

On Ramree Island, located off the coast of Arakan State, there are 5,000 traditional wells, according to a 2008 report by Arakan Oil Watch. It said villagers use drilling methods they learned from a Canadian oil company that explored the region in the 1800s.

The report describes the traditional methods: “A tripod of tree trunks or bamboo about 40 to 50 meters high is constructed over the well. The tripod supports a pulley to which a drilling tool is attached. This method requires the workers to spend several hours vigorously pounding in order to reach and then extract oil.”

“The cost of drilling equipment is high, upwards from $400, and is shared by five to seven households,” according to the NGO, which says workers can only earn several dollars per day.

“Oil isn’t easy to come by… it typically takes two to three months of drilling of up to 500 feet before oil is discovered,” it says, adding that international oil companies, by comparison, drill to a depth of 10,000 meters.

After living for 24 years in exile, Pascal Khoo Thwe, a Burmese author known for his autobiography, “From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey,” is now visiting the country of his birth. He is an ethnic Karen and his 2002 book is about growing up in Burma under military rule. It was awarded the Kiriyama Prize, an international literary award given to books which will encourage greater understanding of and among the peoples and nations of the Pacific Rim and South Asia. He recently spoke to The Irrawaddy’s Kyaw Phyo Tha about his return to Burma.

Question: As a native Burmese returning after many years in exile, is there anything about what you’ve seen here that surprises you ?

Answer: I see freedom here but it’s only in its infancy. What makes me surprised is the media coverage of issues like the conflict in Kachin state. I have to say they report quite thoroughly on the issue by adding voices from both sides—the Kachin and the government. Even though we see that kind of good sign, we shouldn’t stay where we are now. We have to keep pushing the government for more freedom.

Q: Some people are cautiously optimistic about the current reform process in Burma. They are worried about the possibility of backsliding, like the war in Kachin State. Do you share these concerns?

A: I’m worried because we have many problems at all levels of society. I’m concerned not just because I’m an ethnic Karen. Based on what we’ve seen in other countries, we can assume that it will take some time for society to heal completely. I want the fighting in Burma to stop so that the rehabilitation can begin.

Take what happened under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia or during the Cultural Revolution in China. Those in positions of power abused those with less power. But when it was all over, those who committed atrocities said, “We didn’t realize that what we were doing was wrong.” What I mean is that both parties—those who committed the atrocities and their victims—will suffer psychologically. That’s why I’m worried.

Q: What was your first reaction to the reforms?

A: I didn’t believe it. Even now I hardly believe it. I mean it. Now reform is underway only where it is urgently needed, but not in sectors where it should be. The leader of the reforms isn’t making the most of his chance; instead he’s doing what he is asked to do. It’s not good enough.

Q: Tell me about your homecoming trip.

A: This is actually my second time back in the country. I first visited Burma in July of last year after 24 years in exile. I also went to my home village. I’m thinking about renovating my grandfather’s house.

Q: Has there been any change in your village?

A: Yes, it’s changed a lot physically. I came to realize that the people there have real stoic endurance. That’s how they survived all those years of government repression. Now they are being reborn, both physically and emotionally. I think that makes them unique. They have really earned my respect. I’m looking for some way to do something for them.

Q: Does that mean you plan to start a development project for the village?

A: I have a plan to be involved in development projects, not just for my village. I want to be engaged in other issues as best as I can. I’m not interested in taking any leadership role at this moment. I don’t even know what position I’m now in. Even if you have big ideas, they don’t always turn out as you plan. So I’m taking my time to contemplate it from every angle. You can say that this is my assessment trip.

Q: So no more writing?

A: I’ll continue to write, but I’m poor in time. I have lots of ideas. I’m thinking about working on a sequel of “From the Land of Green Ghosts.” Plus, I want to write about the food of the Burmese countryside—let’s say a kind of jungle cookbook. I also would like to pen a family saga, based on three generations. I will keep writing in English, because I’m not good at typing in Burmese. If I type in Burmese, I have to struggle to find the right key, and by the time I find it, the idea I was thinking about is gone.

I’m also interested in the hardships people face. Writing about this will be good for our future generations, as they can learn from the experiences of those who came before them. As for the sequel, I can’t say when it will be available. I still need to do some research, which will take time. Apart from doing research, there must be a publisher. Taking all of this into account, it could takes years to come out.

Q: Your autobiography is now freely available in Burma. How do you feel about that?

A: I’m thrilled and proud to see that my book is now for sale in bookshops [in Burma]. There was a time when people here could only read my book secretly, but now those days are over. Some of my readers have asked for a Burmese translation of the book. I want someone who knows both Burmese and English to translate it.

Sunday, 10 February 2013 14:00 Saw Zin Nyi

The UN should mediate the upcoming peace talks between the Myanmar government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO, said Kachin peace broker San Aung.

“The United Nations should strongly urge the Myanmar government to undertake practical peace efforts to prevent both sides from attacking each other under the pretext of self-defense,” he said. “The UN needs to give the negotiations an added impetus to ensure the peace process is practical and fruitful.”

According to San Aung, both sides are still launching military offensives in Kachin State despite calls for a truce.

On February 7, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that he welcomes the joint statement issued last week by Myanmar’s Peacemaking Committee and the delegation of the KIO in Ruili, China. The UN Secretary-General’s statement said he hopes that the latest developments will result in a “silencing of the guns in Myanmar for the first time since its independence.”

A delegation representing the Myanmar government met with the KIO for preliminary talks in Ruili on February 4.

Ban urged the two parties to continue their efforts towards genuine and sustainable peace in Kachin State.

However, despite the UN Secretary-General’s words of encouragement, broker San Aung said that the guns are anything but silent in Kachin State.

“Both sides are so close to each other on the battlefield, that assaults and counter-assaults are ongoing,” he said.

Sunday, 10 February 2013 14:21 Anne Chaon for AFP

(Commentary) – Companies that invest in land and resources in emerging economies risk financial and public relations disasters if local inhabitants feel they are getting ripped off, consultants warned in a report last week.

The report was released by a group known as the Munden Project and founder Lou Munden said: “When we looked at companies involved in international land acquisitions, we found that they experience an astonishing amount of financial damage.”

This ranged from “massively increased operating costs, as much as 29 times above a normal baseline scenario, to outright abandonment of functional operations when they ignore pre-existing or customary local land rights.”

The report was entitled “The Financial Risks of Insecure Land Tenure: An Investment View,” and Munden emphasised that the financial risks were many and varied from delays in construction timetables to the expropriation of assets “following the loss of insurance coverage.”

He commented that “even more troubling, the escalation of risk can be extremely rapid”, and that conventional techniques for managing risk were inadequate for coping with insecure local land tenure.

Projects go wrong when local people feel they have not been adequately compensated and are being deprived of their land, jobs, water and forests.

This can lead to disruption of many kinds, from roadblocks to frequent acts of sabotage and other forms of violence.

An investing company which then turns to local authorities to put down the resistance can find that its international image is badly damaged.

The report cited the case of Malaysian industrial group Sime Darby in Liberia which had to suspend the plantation of oil-bearing palm trees in the north of the country under pressure from local communities, and had to renegotiate the amounts paid for land.

Another example occurred in Chile where Chilean company SN Power had to abandon a hydroelectric project with the loss of $23 million already invested because it had not obtained approval from native populations.

An attempt by a biofuels company SEKAB to buy land in Tanzania for a huge plantation which would affect the environment ran into controversy and cost the company more than $20 million.

For Andy White, the coordinator of Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) in Washington, “the mining sector is the most exposed because it needs a lot of investments.”

He told AFP: “The mining sector is a ticking time bomb all across Africa and now in Myanmar.”

RRI said that “the pace of deforestation in the country (Myanmar)…has raced forward unabated.”

The project coordinator for the Center for People and Forests, Maung Maung Than, said that a conflict in the north of Myanmar “like so many around the world, has its roots in community forest rights and land tenure.”

White said: “It is hard to believe that national governments still embrace unfettered natural resource extraction, turning over valuable land to international investors and domestic elite.

“In this equation, long-term economic gain is often sacrificed for short-term cash.”

Referring to the example of Liberia, and to a failed venture in Orissa, India, by the mining firm Vedanta which damaged its credit rating, White told AFP: “we have a turning point…investors will have to go to London or New York to borrow money.”

He commented: “The financial sector will eventually understand that all this is unsound, it’s a house of cards.”

Saturday, 09 February 2013 22:11 Mark Farmaner

The announcement by the office of President Thein Sein that a committee will be formed to review political prisoner cases in Burma [Myanmar] could represent a major breakthrough in solving the issue of political prisoners. While hundreds of political prisoners have been released in the past two years, there have been disagreements about how many remain in jail. The figure is certainly in the hundreds, and could be much higher.

Much will depend on exactly how the committee is formed, who is on it, and what its mandate will be. This information will be critical in assessing whether this is a genuine attempt to resolve the issue of political prisoners or merely yet another half-measure designed to alleviate international pressure.

It is not unreasonable that there will be doubts about how genuine Thein Sein’s intentions are, given both the timings of the announcements and his track record. He is no stranger to using committees as a delaying tactic to alleviate international pressure. The most notorious example was chairing a committee to end the recruitment of child soldiers, starting back in 2004. This is an issue still not resolved today.

Thein Sein first announced this committee just ahead of President Obama’s visit. Now three key deadlines are coming up. The next Human Rights Council session is starting later this month and Thein Sein is trying to ensure the Special Rapporteur’s mandate is not renewed. He is also embarking on a tour of Europe later this month, and is well aware that by the end of April, the EU has to make a decision on whether to continue the suspension of sanctions.

Neutralising the issue of political prisoners is essential to him.

One of the key issues that will help in an assessment of how genuine Thein Sein is will be the composition of the committee. There must be independent international experts involved. Without this the credibility of the committee will be in doubt, both in terms of having genuinely independent members and in terms of its expertise. Civil society involvement is also crucial.

It is a good sign that organisations such as the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners–Burma, 88 Generation Students and National League for Democracy have been informally approached about joining the committee. Representatives of other civil society organisations, including ethnic representatives, must also be included.

The committee will decide on the definition of political prisoners. This definition will be critical. While some laws are obviously repressive and designed to target political activists, in other cases general laws are misapplied in order to jail activists. In addition, an essential but for some also controversial inclusion must be those political prisoners from Burma’s armed ethnic groups. This will be essential for building long-term peace in the country.

It is not yet clear how cases of people who could potentially be political prisoners will be chosen. The committee should have the freedom to independently take up any case it chooses. In addition, anyone who believes that they are in jail for political reasons should be allowed to submit their case to the committee. To ensure that there is no intimidation of political prisoners to prevent them submitting cases, the submission of cases by third parties, both domestic and international, should also be allowed.

Most political prisoners released so far have only been released conditionally. Any releases made as a result of this committee’s work must be full unconditional pardons, and this must also apply to those political prisoners who have already been released.

It is not clear if the committee is temporary and will close after submitting its report to the President. The committee needs to be permanent as almost every repressive law is still on the books, and people are now being arrested and jailed under new laws supposedly giving people more rights, such as the so-called right to protest law.

The repressive laws that are used to jail political prisoners must also be repealed as part of this process. Until all repressive laws are repealed, and until there is the rule of law, there will continue to be a need for this committee to review individual cases.

Many political prisoners suffer health problems, including mental health problems, as a result of being kept in appalling conditions and/or torture. The families of political prisoners also face severe financial problems. No political prisoners released so far have been offered any compensation and support for costs such as healthcare. Freed political prisoners should be entitled to free healthcare, and given compensation and support to rebuild their lives.

The release of political prisoners will naturally be part of a process, but it must not be forgotten that justice and accountability must be part of that process. Political prisoners should never have been in jail in the first place, and there must be some form of justice, accountability and reconciliation. To date, Thein Sein has never admitted that political prisoners should not have been jailed, and has never apologised.

If the mandate and composition of the committee allows it to address these critical issues, then this really will be a breakthrough. If these issues are not addressed, a real opportunity will have been lost, and we will have our answer about whether or not President Thein Sein genuinely wants to address this problem.

Kachin rebels and the Burmese military are continuing to clash in northern Burma after holding talks with government representatives earlier this week.

The Kachin Independent Organisation (KIO) reported that skirmishes are continuing to break out between the group’s armed wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burmese military after meeting with government negotiators in the Chinese border town of Ruili on Monday.

The KIO’s spokesperson La Nan said a small-scale firefight erupted in the KIA’s Brigade-4 territory in northern Shan state on Wednesday.

“It wasn’t a big fight, but the Burmese army columns have been constantly active. There are three Burmese army battalions, in different columns, that have been chasing our troops from Brigade 4’s Battalion 9 between 4pm and 6pm on [Wednesday]. We clashed with them,” said La Nan.

“We previously directed our troops to avoid clashing with government troops, but the [fight] was inevitable as they kept trailing us.”

He said another skirmish also broke out in the KIA Brigade-1’s area north of the rebel stronghold in Laiza on the same day.

“There was also one clash inside our Brigade-1’s territory when government forces came to attack a base belonging to Battalion-10. They withdrew after firing at the base so it wasn’t a very intense fight,” said the KIO spokesperson.

More clashes have reportedly erupted in Kachin state’s jade country near Hpakant, where looters have been running amok after KIA troops withdrew from the area in late January.

Min Zaw Oo, the director of the Myanmar Peace Centre, said the government’s Peace Making Committee proposed opening a direct channel of communication with the KIA to prevent fighting in the future during the talks in China on Monday.

“During the discussion [in Ruili], the [Committee] stressed that a lack of direct communication with the KIA was causing misunderstandings and proposed to open a channel. [Union Minister] Aung Min has officially assigned duties, with his signature, to several individuals to establish communication with the KIA, but the KIA has yet to respond,” said Min Zaw Oo.

Earlier this week, the KIA, accompanied by fellow United Nationalities Federal Council representatives, sat down with government negotiators; however, no ceasefire was officially inked.

The talks followed the fall of the final hill station on the outskirts of Lazia, which many analysts considered the last line of defense of the Kachin stronghold.

While no ceasefire was signed, the two sides agreed to hold further talks later this month, as China continues to exert pressure on both sides to end the escalating conflict.

The Upper House’s Public Complaints and Appeals Committee announced that punishments have been handed out to more than 17,000 civil servants.

During the Parliament’s Upper House session on Tuesday, the committee’s chairperson Aung Nyein read out a report concerning an investigation that looked at complaints that were filed against civil servants since the country’s new government took the reigns of power in April 2011.

The statement said 15,723 government workers and 1,229 Home Affairs Ministry personnel, including 689 police officers, have been disciplined in the wake of official complaints filed by the public.

Punishments varied from formal reprimands to salary cuts to delaying potential promotions, while others were handed jail time.

Min Oo, Upper House representative and member in the Public Complaints and Appeals Committee, said the parliamentary body is not satisfied as the government has only dealt with about one-fifth of the complaints filed.

“According to the report, the government has only responded to 104 of the 529 cases we passed on so that’s only about 19.66 percent of the overall cases and not very satisfactory,” said Min Oo.

“There are still 425 cases left to respond to.”

Under President Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government, the notoriously corrupt country appears to be making moves to shed its kleptocratic image.

In late January, the government launched a probe into alleged corruption in the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. The government is investigating the conduct of eight officials from the ministry who are set to go on trial soon, including the former minister Thein Tun.

Ye Htut, presidential spokesperson and deputy-information minister, said the Office of the Auditor General, following an inquiry into the ministry, filed complaints with the Ministry of Home Affairs against personnel suspected of partaking in corruption.

According to the state press, Thein Tun resigned in January on his own accord.

In early January, President Thein Sein announced the formation of a committee to tackle corruption in the country’s myriad government bodies.

The nine-member committee, which is being led by Vice-President Dr Sai Mauk Kham, will coordinate efforts to eliminate bribery and promote good governance, according to a report in The New Light of Myanmar.

Burma is currently ranked 172 out of 176 countries measured in Transparency International’s 2012 corruption perception index.

I’ve just returned from Rangoon last week, after being invited to speak at a training session for young politicians from Asia, which included representatives from Burma. My assignment was to give a lecture on political parties and democratisation in Asia. A number of Burma’s young politicians participated in the programme.

It had been more than a year since my last visit to Burma in late 2011. The country has changed tremendously following the general election in 2010, the first in 20 years. Subsequent positive developments, such as the release of the democratic icon and National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a series of political reforms, have rapidly transformed Burma from an isolated outpost of tyranny into an emerging democratic society.

During the training, it was evident that these young politicians from Burma were eager to learn about what was happening in the outside world. The attendees were from several Burmese political parties, including the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and smaller opposition and ethnic parties.

Burma had withered in stagnation following the introduction of military rule in 1962, which ended only when the junta realised that they needed to open up the country if they wished to maintain power. In this context, “democracy” is a relatively new concept to some of the young politicians who attended the course. They were excited to discuss ideas and debate about democracy’s role in their respective countries.

While young politicians from the ruling USDP reaffirmed their commitment to democratisation, representatives from Burmese opposition parties remained concerned about some of the government’s policies. Overall, the debate seemed to concentrate mainly on the pace of reconciliation between the government and opposition groups, the ongoing reforms, which must permit more room for critics of the regime, as well as the need to raise awareness regarding the protection of human rights.

But this kind of debate could obscure the fact that the crux of the problem facing Burma is the unending conflicts between the government and non-state armed groups. In recent weeks, the fatal clashes between the Tatmadaw (Burmese army) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have not only threatened Burma’s political reforms but also regional peace.

Yet, most analysts have misinterpreted the situation, often explaining away that peace and stability can be achieved only if the government and Suu Kyi can work in harmony. They tend to downplay the role of the ethnic minorities in the democratisation process.

Exactly on this point, a young politician from Rakhine state, formerly known as Arakan, gave a passionate speech about how the government might not be sincere in involving ethnic minorities in the political reform process.

The much-publicised conflict between the government and the NLD, which has largely overshadowed the real issue of inadequate political participation of minorities, demonstrates that the political change currently taking place may end up being just a new process of power redistribution among the elites. After all, Suu Kyi is herself an elite.

During my private conversation with the politician from Rakhine, he also begged the world to learn more about the plights of many Rohingyas who have been forced to abandon their homes in Burma to find an environment where they won’t be persecuted. The Rohingyas are stateless after their citizenship was stripped in 1982 by the Ne Win government. Because of this, the Rohingyas have not received any welfare, financial assistance or protection from the state. The government has even tolerated the ethno-religious conflict between Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas. The Rohingyas were brutally attacked, their houses burned down, yet the state refused to intervene in the atrocious attacks. Disappointingly, even Suu Kyi has remained silent on the issue.

A training programme like this would not have been possible just a few years ago. It can be seen as an upbeat signal that the Burmese government has given the green light to these kinds of activities, particularly in providing venues for young politicians from across different political spectrums to meet, mingle and debate. Hopefully, it would suggest that more reforms should be implemented to guarantee the continuity of political openness.

Indeed, the mood for political openness has begun to reshape new political ideas and cultures among Burma’s young politicians. They are getting more curious about how to strengthen democratic institutions, how to ensure the transparency of the political process, how to hold the g0vernment accountable for its actions and policies, and how to invite the public to engage more in politics.

And the curiosity does not limit itself within the realm of Burma’s domestic politics. They wanted to be informed about the democratisation processes in their neighbouring countries. In particular, they were interested in Thailand’s domestic politics. Some of their questions demonstrated that they have kept a watchful eye on what is going on with their Thai neighbour.

How has the process of reconciliation in Thailand worked? Has the Thai army already withdrawn from politics? Should Thaksin alone be held responsible for the country’s political crisis? Why has lèse-majesté law been politicised? And what is the situation regarding political prisoners in Thailand?

These questions and the answers seemed to be of equal importance. Thailand’s own imperfections served as reminders to the young politicians in Burma that democratic reform is a difficult and endless process.

Pavin Chachavalpongpun is an associate professor at Kyoto University’s Centre for Southeast Asian Studies.