update on the rohingya in burma - november 2013

8/13/2019 Update on the Rohingya in Burma - November 2013

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LAST MONTH IN BURMANews from and about Burma

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Sentencing of activists highlights new tactics of intimidation

Two Kachin peace activists, May Sabe Phyuand Maran Jaw Gun, were ned 40,000 Kyat($40, 24) on 26 November for violating Section18 of Burmas Peaceful Assembly and PeacefulProcession Law. They had taken part in apeaceful protest in Rangoon on the InternationalDay of Peace 2012, highlighting how theBurmese government broke a cease re in KachinState, Burma, in 2011.

May Sabe Phyu and Maran Jaw Gun were madeto attend 140 different court hearings over aperiod of almost two years. The case highlightsthree tactics being used by the government ofBurma to try to suppress dissent and protest, but atthe same time give the appearance of change and avoid international pressure:

New laws billed as reforms but which dont meet international human rights standards Burmas Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law was hailed as a key reform of President TheinSein but has in fact been used to arrest hundreds of activists for peacefully protesting, with well over

100 brought to court, and dozens convicted. In addition to this law being used to arrest and intimidateactivists, almost every old repressive law remains in place, and other new laws brought in by Thein Seinalso fail to meet international human rights standards.

Multiple court hearings The 140 court appearances are due in part to the inef ciencies of Burmas justice system, and the factthat separate charges were made for each township the protest went through. However, the repeatedrefusal to consolidate cases into one, and the vast number of court hearings, some of which lasted onlyseconds, are part of a pattern of attempted intimidation designed to serve as a warning to others whomight consider publicly protesting against government policies.

Fines and shorter sentences Aware of the negative international impact of long prison sentences given to peaceful activists, shortersentences and nes and now being given to some activists, especially those cases where there is greaterattention from diplomats and media. In this way the government hopes to be able to continue intimidatingactivists while avoiding negative international attention.

Nationwide cease re talks fail to reachagreementIn November, talks between the military-backedgovernment and ethnic armed groups aimed atreaching a nationwide cease re ended without anagreement.

A meeting was held on 4-5 November in Myitkyina,

Kachin State between a government delegationled by Presidents Of ce Minister Aung Min andrepresentatives from 17 ethnic armed groups.

Special Adviser to the Secretary-General Special onBurma Vijay Nambiar and Chinas Special Envoy on

Asian Affairs Wang Yingfan were among those whoattended the meeting as observers.

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May Sabe Phyu and Maran Jaw Gun at a court hearing last yearin Rangoon, with members of the Kachin Peace Network,Burma Campaign UK and Ivan Lewis MP.


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The two sides exchanged their proposals for anationwide cease re and agreed to hold furtherdiscussions. These are now expected to take placein Hpa-an, Karen State in January.

President Thein Sein had wanted to announce anationwide cease re by the end of 2013 but has stillnot made a commitment to a genuine dialogue to

reach a political settlement. Ethnic groups want afederal system to allow for more autonomy and toprotect their rights.

Speaking to the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB),Kachin Independence Armys vice chief of staffGeneral Gun Maw said, the question is: what arewe going to do after signing the national cease reagreement?

When the Burmese government says peace, weremind them that this is a peace process. TheBurmese de ne peace by signing agreements. Theysay that once you sign an agreement then there willbe peace, but if you dont sign there is no peace that is the de nition of the Burmese government,and that is the problem.

More than 2,000 ee attacks in Kachin state

Despite the on-going cease re talks, the Burmese

Army continues its attacks in Kachin State. Attacks took place throughout much of November,with ghting reported in seven villages in MansiTownship.

On 16 November, Burmese Army soldiersoccupied Nam Lim Pa village. Last month manyof the villagers ed when over 1000 Burmese

Army soldiers attacked Nam Lim Pa village. TheFree Burma Rangers reported that soldiers heldhundreds of students at the Nam Lim Pa IDP school

compound.

Over 2,000 men, women and children shelteringin the Nam Lim Pa camp for internally displacedpeople (IDPs) were forced to ee again after

ghting between Burmese government forces andthe Kachin Independence Army (KIA) on 16-17November. Since the Burmese Army broke the 17-yearcease re in June 2011, at least 100,000 Kachinvillagers have been forced to ee their villages.

Political Prisoners released to coincide withClinton and EU delegtionsOn 15 November 69 political prisoners werereleased, including Aung Soe and Naw Ohn Hla,whose cases Burma Campaign UK highlighted inour No Political Prisoner Left Behind campaign inMarch and August 2013.

However, once again, the release of politicalprisoners is cynically timed with the visits of highpro le international delegations.

Political prisoner releases are used by PresidentThein Sein as a PR tool to persuade theinternational community that Burma is reforming.This recent release of political prisoners coincidedwith a high-level delegation from the EU and a visitby former US President Bill Clinton.

While hundreds of political prisoners have beenreleased since Thein Sein became President,more activists are being arrested for speaking out.In Kachin State and in Rakhine State, hundredsmore remain in jail or are awaiting trials. Almost allthe repressive laws which are used to jail politicalprisoners remain in place.

On the same day as the prisoner releases, twoethnic Kachin farmers Brang Yung and Lahpai Gamwere sentenced to 2 years in jail. Brang Yung andLahpai Gam are innocent Kachin farmers but theywere arrested in June 2012 under suspicion of beingsoldiers from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA),and carrying out bombing operations near Myitkyina.

They were brutally tortured during interrogation andforced to make false confessions.

Boat carrying 70 eeing Muslim Rohingyasinks off Burma

A boat carrying at least 70 ethnic Rohingya eeingviolence in Arakan State has sunk with only eightsurvivors found, only a day after the UN warned theannual exodus of Rohingya from Burma had begun.

At 3am, on 3 November, a wooden boat carryingmen, women and children from Ohn Taw Gyivillage left Arakan State in an attempt to make thedangerous sea journey across the Bay of Bengal toBangladesh. Four hours later, the boat sank, anddespite a desperate search by friends and family,only eight survivors have so far been found.

Villagers spend the night in the jungle after eeing theirvillage. Credit Free Burma Rangers.


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Only the day before, the UN High Commission forRefugees warned that with the seas calming afterthe annual monsoon, the yearly exodus of peopleeeing Arakan State appeared to have begun.

They reported that around 1,500 people had ed inthe past week alone, with a number of drowningsreported, and that due to the widespread violence

that has evolved into systematic attacks against theethnic Rohingya, the number of people eeing thecountry was expected to be the biggest on recordthis year.

Burma still actively using landminesThe International Campaign to Ban Landmines(ICBL) released its latest report on global use oflandmines in November. It found that Governmentforces in two states not party to the Mine Ban Treaty- Syria and Myanmar (Burma) - used antipersonnelmines in 2012 and 2013.

Speaking at a press conference on 26 Novemberin Rangoon, ICBL researcher Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan said, Myanmar has not yet joinedthe league of countries that have banned landmines,it makes use of them all too commonly.

ICBL reports that at least 3,300 people in Burmahave been killed or maimed by landmines since1999, which are used by both government forcesand ethnic groups.

In November 2012, President Thein Sein statedat the Association of South-East Asian Nations(ASEAN) summit, Myanmar has not signed OttawaConvention yet. But, Myanmar always opposes theexcessive use of land mines. Meanwhile, I believethat for defence purpose, we need to use landminesin order to safeguard the life and property of peopleand self-defence.

Police crack down on Letpadaung mine

protestorsIn November, demonstrations continued against theLetpadaung copper mine, near Monywa, centralBurma.

In early November, about 150 people, includingresidents, activists, and Buddhist monks, set upa protest camp near the copper mine. Protestorsdemanded that authorities allow them to inspecta historic Buddhist temple on the Letpadaungmountain range. The protestors believed that miningoperations had damaged the temple on 31 October.

Around 100 riot police of cers were sent to theprotest site and roadblocks were set up. On 14November police red rubber bullets at local

residents in order to prevent them from joining theprotestors. At least seven villagers were injured inthe crackdown.

The Letpadaung project is a venture betweenChinas Wan Bao Company, the military-ownedUnion of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd andthe Burmese government. It has resulted in land

con scations, environmental degradation, andthe implementation of a policy of arresting andharassing peaceful protestors.

Thein Sein rejects UN call for RohingyacitizenshipOn 19 November, the UN General Assemblys ThirdCommittee adopted a resolution on the situation ofhuman rights in Burma. The resolution, which wasless critical than previous resolutions, expressedconcern over human rights violations in the country,including arbitrary arrests of activists, forceddisplacement, land con scation, rape and sexualviolence and torture.

In addition, the resolution called on the governmentin Burma to give Rohingya equal access to fullcitizenship. It also urged the government to endviolence against Rohingya and other Muslims inBurma.

The military-backed government immediatelyrejected the UNs call to grant citizenship toRohingya. On 21 November, President TheinSeins spokesperson Ye Htut said The Myanmargovernments policy does not recognize the termRohingya, but Bengalis who live in [Arakan] State,if they are eligible under the 1982 Citizen Law, canbe allowed to become citizen.

The 1982 Citizenship Law denies the Rohingyacitizenship and underpins the persecution anddiscrimination they face.

EU-Burma task force launched A high level EU delegation, led by EU HighRepresentative for Foreign Affairs and SecurityPolicy Catherine Ashton, and including EUCommissioners, MEPs, and more than 100European business leaders, visited Burma from 13to 15 November to launch the EU-Myanmar (Burma)Task Force.

The Task Force aims to increase EU cooperation onpolitical and economic development, including anincrease in development aid to 90 million per year.

The EUs approach has been criticised forprioritising a partnership with the military-backedgovernment in Burma but failing to deliver on its


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Published by Burma Campaign UK, 28 Charles Square, London N1 6HTwww.burmacampaign.org.uk tel: 020 7324 4710 fax: +44 20 7324 4717

for Human Rights, Democracy& Development in Burma

commitment to support and include civil society or toeffectively challenge human rights abuses.

The EU also faced criticism for providing riotcontrol equipment and training to the Burmesepolice force. Given the historic role the police forcehas had of repressing and cracking down on thepeople of Burma, the EU is playing with re, Khin

Ohmar, Coordinator of Burma Partnership, told theDemocratic Voice of Burma.

New reports

Children For Hire: a portrait of child labor inMon areas

A report by the Woman and Child Rights Projecthttp://www.rehmonnya.org/reports/childrenforhire.pdf

Modern Slavery: A Study of Labour Conditionsin Yangons Industrial Zones

A report by Construction-based Labor Union,Cooperation Program of Independent Laborers,Labour Rights Clinic, Workers Support Group andother labour rights groups.http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/images/uploads/Modern-Slavery.pdf

Landmine Monitor 2013International Campaign to Ban Landmineshttp://www.the-monitor.org/lm/2013/resources/Landmine%20Monitor%202013.pdf

update on the rohingya in burma - november 2013

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