Weekly Diary, No.628 (16-26 April 2013)
- MEDIA HOLDS CONFERENCE ON ETHNIC ROLE!
- PRESIDENT GETS PEACE PRIZE!
- FPTP OR PR? DEBATE GETS HOTTER!
- EU LIFT OF SANCTIONS CONDEMNED!
- AMNESTY TO CELEBRATE PEACE PRIZE?
Tips for late Picasso! Were you sending the same message?
Think Piece
President Thein Sein is sincere in trying to end the conflict but he’s facing all sorts of interests from all sides that push in the opposite direction.
Mael Raynaud, independent analyst, AFP, 16 April 2013
Than Shwe, if you want to take power again, please take it, and stop these killings.
An old woman, quoted by U Win Tin, Asia Correspondent, 18 April 2013
One has to wonder how the International Crisis Group (ICG) can sleep at night when they’re giving an award to a gaggle of generals who actively, cynically deny that their troops commit war crimes. It is disgraceful that the ICG calls for an investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka and not in Burma.
Bertil Lintner, veteran journalist, on the awarding of Pursuit of Peace Prize to President Thein Sein on 22 April 2013, Irrawaddy
We need to talk about this (dollars from illicit activities in the region that can buy property / companies and corrupt “anywhere”), and organize a coordinated response now. It takes a network to defeat a network.
Jeremy Douglas, UNODC regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Mizzima News, 19 April 2013
If we don’t take care of (the drought), Inle Lake – its scenic beauty, its dwellers and floating gardens – will just be a story to tell the next generation.
U Ohn, General Secretary of Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation Association (FREDA), Irrawaddy, 22 April 2013
During a recent visit to Mon State, young Burmese were seen waving Nazi flags and sporting T-shirts with swastikas. I (also) saw 969 stickers plastered on cars, shop windows and buildings.
Kyaw Zwa Moe, The Irrawaddy, 23 April 2013
The EU has abandoned its own benchmarks made last year by deciding to lift all sanctions on Burma:
- All political prisoners should be released
- An end to conflict
- Substantially improved humanitarian access
- Improvements in the welfare and status of the Rohingya
The World
11 April 2013
EU document saying Cyprus has plan to sell its 14 ton gold reserve sends gold price downhill. (Agencies)
15 April 2013
Twin explosions kill 3 and wound at least 180 at the finish line of Boston Marathon. (Agencies)
25 April 2013
China and 15 other Asia-Pacific nations, meeting in Brunei, resolve to form Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, arival pact to the US led Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). (Bangkok Post)
International Relations
9-27 April 2013
U Aung Min’s trip to the West. (Agencies)
16 April 2013
Chief negotiator U Aung Min arrives in London at the invitation of the UK government. He is accompanied by U Khin Yi, minister for immigration and population, and Myanmar Peace Center’s Hla Maung Shwe and Dr Kyaw Yin Hlaing. (Irrawaddy)
17 April 2013
11 athletes and coaches head for China for targeted training. According to the aid program, there will be ten groups totaling 176 athletes, officials and team leaders will be visiting China for training. (Xinhua/China Radio International)
17 April 2013
Aung San Suu Kyi voted most influential person of the decade by Time. (Mizzima)
18 April 2013
U Aung Min goes to Ireland to learn about peace process there. (Irrawaddy)
18 April 2013
Ye Htut, government spokesman, in response to media reports that the OIC would send a delegation to discuss the anti-Muslim violence, says recent conflicts are the country’s internal affairs and no reason for an international organization to intervene. (Irrawaddy)
18 April 2013
Aung San Suu Kyi meets PM Shinzo Abe for 35 minute talk. (Japan Times)
22 April 2013
Lower House speaker Shwe Mann leaves Rangoon for South Korea at the invitation of host country’s speaker of legislature Kang Chang-hee. (New Light of Myanmar)
22 April 2013
President Office Minister U Aung Min accepts Pursuit of Peace Award by the International Crisis Group (ICG) in New York on behalf of President Thein Sein. He shares the prize with former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. (Mizzima)
22 April 2013
EU foreign ministers agree to lift the last of the bloc’s trade, economic and individual sanctions “in response to the changes that have taken place and in the expectation that they will continue.” Human Rights Watch says it is “premature and regrettable” warning that the move lessens leverage over Burma. (Mizzima)
23-24 April 2013
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on a visit to Burma. He witnesses signing of agreements on trade and investments. No meeting with Burmese Muslims on agenda. (Irrawaddy)
26 April 2013
Chinese petrochemical giant Sinopec has agreed to sell 30% of its share in Block D, covering 12,000 sq km near the city of Mandalay to Taiwan’s CPC Corp, according to T & B Petroleum magazine and Reuters. (Mizzima)
26 April 2013
RFA reports U Aung Min has told the Burmese community in US that the 2008 constitution will be amended to allow Aung San Suu Kyi to become a presidential candidate in 2015. Meanwhile, USDP vice chairman Htay Oo says the party has yet to consider reviewing the constitution. “We cannot do it even if we wish to do it.” (Irrawaddy)
Thai-Burma Relations
18 April 2013
Thaksin Shinawatra’s Facebook says he met Commander in Chief Min Aung Hlaing on 15 April in Maymyo. According to British journalist Larry Jagan, he had purchased property there. Thai former PM, he believes, had also met former strongman Than Shwe. (Irrawaddy)
25 April 2013
Thailand and Burma agree to open 3 more permanent border checkpoints:
- Three Pagoda Pass-Phayathonzu
- Ban Namphuron (Kanchanaburi)-Tiki
- Singkhorn (Prachuab Kirikhan)-Mawthong
Politics/ Inside Burma
10 April 2013
Outdated laws designed to protect previous military-led regimes need to be revoked to ensure continuity of reform and democratization, says Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann. There are 1,382 laws enacted since Independence up to April 2012. Current laws in use are 834, according to MP Than Maung of Sittwe. (Eleven Media Group)
15 April 2013
Meeting with Burmese families in Tokyo, Aung San Suu Kyi says if the 1982 citizenship law does not meet international standards, it must be revised. President Thein Sein, speaking to DVB last month, said “the government has no plans to revise” the legislation, which he claimed was drafted with “input from experts.” (DVB)
17 April 2013
Leaders of key religions in Burma say they are stepping up their meetings to encourage interaction and friendship among people from different religions. They include:
- Aung Naing, Inter Faith
- Saw Shwe Lin, Myanmar Council of Churches
- Pannasiha, Sitagu International Buddhist Academy
22 April 2013
First Past The Post (FPTP) or Proportional Representation (PR)?
- Small parties like NDF and NUP:PR
- NLD and ethnic parties: FPTP
Ethnic Affairs
2 April 2013
United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) says EU removal of sanctions “will reduce its ability to work to promote, peace, democracy and human rights.” It points out failures by the government to take “meaningful steps to achieve peace:
- Continued fighting
- No comprehensive ceasefire agreement yet
- Acts of war (strengthening frontline positions, building military roads etc, continue
- Yet to enter genuine political dialogue
- Restrictive laws such as Section 17/1 of Unlawful Association Act (1908), still remain
20 April 2013
Delegates from Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP), All Mon Regions Democracy Party (AMRDP), Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), National Unity party (NUP) leave for China at the invitation of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The visit will last until 29 April. (Narinjara)
23 April 2013
Environmental Conservation and Forestry Ministry announces: out of 160 species of wood and timber, states and regions will be allowed to levy tax on 104 of them. The rest including teakwood are in the Union government’s province. (Kyemon)
25-27 April 2013
100 journalists gather in Moulmein to hold conference titled Strengthening of Ethnic Voices. Deputy information minister says there will be no restrictions on media. The government has planned 3 more TV channels: Union, Hluttaw and Farmers. (SHAN)
Shans/ Shan State
22 April 2013
Government announces amnesty for 93 prisoners, 59 political prisoners among them, including 40 Shan rebel soldiers. (Irrawaddy)
23 April 2013
Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) holds meeting to discuss framework for political dialogue. The movement will be launching a new trip inside Shan State to hold public consultations for the purpose. (SHAN)
25 April 2013
Both Shan State Army (SSA) factions say 40 Shan armed group members who were released two days ago do not belong to their groups. They are from the Shan State National Army (SSNA) disbanded by the Burma Army in 2005. (DVB)
25 April 2013
Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) and Shan State Progress Party / Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) issue joint communiqué welcoming recent amnesty as “a boost to national reconciliation and national solidarity”. It demands release of remaining political prisoners and immediate cessation of offensives in ethnic areas. “Lasting peace can be built only through political negotiation and not through force.” (Statement)
Economy/ Business
8 April 2013
EU is poised to invest in Thilawa Special Economic Zone together with companies from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and US, according to a recent meeting at township administrative office. Class A project (automobile factory, electronic factory, housing, schools, hospitals and recreation) will be completed by 2015. Class B will be have garment and food factories. (Eleven Media Group)
17 April 2013
Speaking at the University of Tokyo, Aung San Suu Kyi says foreign investment is increasing more in theory than in actual fact, because many are waiting to see how investment laws are going to be like and studying the infrastructure which is very poor. (Bloomberg)
18 April 2013
Due to last week announcement by Burma’s Ministry of Energy that it was putting up 30 offshore block licenses in an auction, Bangladesh is hurriedly redrafting terms of its licenses to compete against its neighbor, according to Bangladeshi media. The two countries had confronted each other in 2008 over a disputed area of the bay until peacefully resolved by the UN in 2012. (Irrawaddy)
19 April 2013
Gold down, dollar up:
12 April - Gold K 739,500 ($ 840) per tical
Kyat K 877/ dollar
18 April - Gold K 691,000 per tical
Kyat K 897/ dollar (0.576 ounce)
(Eleven Media Group)24 April 2013
Acting US Trade representative Demetrius Marantis heads to Burma to begin talks on a framework agreement covering trade and investment. (Bangkok Post)
Human Rights
18 April 2013
800 Maday Island residents in Kyaukphyu township turn out to protest against gas-oil project. They demand compensation for confiscated lands, development and guarantee that no more lands will be seized. No arrests made. (Irrawaddy)
22 April 2013
Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) condemns a 9-battalion campaign launched by the Burma Army on 15 April that had used 50 youth as human shields, shelled two villages and displaced 2,000 people in northern Shan State. (Statement)
23 April 2013
10 protesters against oil-gas pipeline projects in Maday Island, Kyaukphyu township, charged for protesting without official permission. 800 locals had demonstrated on 18 April after failure to receive permission, according to the protesters. (Mizzima)
23 April 2013
Kyodo becomes third wire service to open, joining NHK and Associated Press. (Mizzima)
24 April 2013
New SIM cards being sold for K 1,500 ($ 1.70) in Rangoon. They were priced as high as $ 3,000 in the past, falling in recent years to around $ 250. Network problem however still remains. There are only 1,500 transmission towers compared to Thailand that has about 20,000, according to a computer technician. (Irrawaddy)
25 April 2013
5 farmers and an activist arrested near the Letpadaung copper mine, beaten and shot at. They had refused compensation and began plowing their former fields. A doctor says some of the injured had gunshot wounds. (Irrawaddy)
25 April 2013
42 year old Muslim, Armin aka Soe Lwin, Kyaukkyi township, sentenced this week to two years in prison for “insulting” religion, after he removed a 969 sticker from a betel nut shop’s window on 19 April. (DVB)
25 April 2013
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB) and 88 Generation Peace and Open Society speak out against Human Rights Watch report about “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” against Rohingyas and other Muslims. (Mizzima)
26 April 2013
Authorities were defending against protesters using “handmade fire (petrol) bombs and throwing stones at the security forces” in Letpadaung yesterday, reports state media. (Bangkok Post)
Environment
22 April 2013
Drought affecting local access to clean water and inhibiting transportation to tourist attractions in Shan State’s Inlay Lake. Water level around famed Phaung Daw Oo pagoda was at least 10 ft in the past, but only 1-3 ft now. Climate change and deforestation blamed. (Irrawaddy)
Drugs
16 April 2013
UNODC report on illicit trade in East Asia and the Pacific:
Counterfeit goods $ 24.4 billion
Illegal wood product $ 17 billion
Heroin $ 16.3 billion
Methamphetamines $15 billion
Fake medicines $ 5 billion
Illegal “e waste” $ 3.75 billion
(Mizzima)
16 April 2013
UNODC launches report on Transnational Organized Crime in East Asia and the Pacific region. According to it, an estimated 65 metric tons of heroin worth $ 16.3 billion flowed within the region in 2011, two thirds of which were produced in Shan State. Significant proportion of $ 15 billion worth of methamphetamine within the region is manufactured in the region itself, although notable amounts are entering from West Africa and the Middle East. (Statement) It also says organized crime in the Asia-Pacific region is $ 90 billion a year business, twice the GDP of Burma. (Mizzima)
19 April 2013
Ceremony to mark opening of office to control joint anti-drugs operations on the Mekong held in Xixuangbanna. Liaison officers from the 4 countries will be posted there. (Xinhua)
War
25 April 2013
Burma Army attacks Loi Kangmong, Kachin Independence Army (KIA)’s 4th Brigade HQ. Rangoon-based Light Infantry Division # 11 takes part in the fight. (SHAN)
25 April 2013
Acting Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Yun tells Congress the US is looking at ways to support nascent military engagement with Burma, as a way of encouraging further political reforms. US is eager to expose the country’s military to human rights standards and international humanitarian law, while pressing for a clear end to military ties with North Korea. US officials argue that by strengthening commercial and military links, American can encourage reform and better influence policy. (Irrawaddy)
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