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Karen group urge end to international support of junta

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Apr 28, 2009 (DVB), Burma's main armed opposition group has urged the international community not to support the military government after denouncing the junta for pursuing the proposed 2010 election.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Karen National Union labeled the elections unfair due to the number of political prisoners, lack of press freedom and lack of freedom of expression in Burma.

The government had ignored pleas from the United Nations and pro-democracy groups and will go ahead with the election, it said.

"Twenty-five per cent of the representatives of the army will be in the parliament," said KNU vice-chairman David Thackrabaw.

"Moreover, the army’s puppet organizations and political parties will be representatives."

He added that the judicial department would have no freedom under the new constitution.

"As the constitution itself is wrong, the emerging government will be a military government wearing the skin of civilians," he said.

"Human rights violations and injustices will continue to exist like that of a dictatorial system."

The KNU have denounced the rash ratification of the new constitution by the military government, which was signed last year only a few weeks after cyclone Nargis hit.

The statement also pointed out the fact that the constitution does not allow the traditions and customs of ethnic national groups.

Reporting by Nay Htoo

Music piracy now ‘out of control’

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Staff Reporter
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Apr 27, 2009 (DVB), Music piracy in Burma is now so widespread that counterfeit albums are easier to obtain than originals and musicians are reluctant to produce albums for fear that no profit will be made, said a well-known musician.

Speaking to DVB following World Book and Copyright Day last week, musician Saung Oo Hlaing, who has been out of work for nearly three years, said the situation was now bad.

"The whole market has been dominated by pirated materials," he said.

"The counterfeiters are doing a very good job with a very large distribution flow and they also have established a very wide network among the audience.

"They are even more easily accessible to the consumer than the original materials." Renowned Burmese disk-jockey, Thax Soe, said that piracy was now out of control, and despite complaints from people in the music industry the government has ignored the problem.

"We are now producing music only with an intention to serve our audience and we are doing it with money out of our own pockets," he said.

"Before, you could only find about one or two pirate vendors in across the town but now, you see about 15 of them when you go to the top of your street and the people have the responsibility to handle it are simply ignoring them."

Meanwhile, a film producer said problem was now seeping into the film industry.

"Now our buyer demands are dropping while the same amount of people are watching our movies," said Maung Myo Min.

"When we want to report a piracy offence to the authorities we have to make contact with five different offices, including the police and the immigration.

"That process takes a long time and the offenders will be gone by the time when they start the action."

Reporting by Htet Aung Kyaw

EU sanctions only ‘a symbol of punishment’

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Staff Reporter
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Apr 27, 2009 (DVB), The European Union's plans to continue sanctions against Burma seem more like a symbol of punishment rather than a political solution, said an exiled Burmese political organization.

Earlier today the EU announced it would be continuing with its policy of sanctions against Burma in light of the ruling junta's failure to change track on its human rights record.

The move was criticized by exiled Burmese political party, the National League for Democracy (Liberated Areas).

"Sanctions are not the pressure or the solution to change the political diversity or political dynamics of Burma," said Nyo Ohn Myint, chairman of the NLD-LA Foreign Affairs Committee.

"Sanctions are a notion of how [the EU] is unhappy with the regime."

Planned sanctions are to include an arms embargo, travel bans for senior officials and the freezing of Burmese assets in Europe.

In case of "genuine progress" the EU would be ready to hold high level talks and loosen sanctions.

"The problem is, what do you call a genuine progress?" said Burmese political analyst, Aung Naing Oo.

"To me the EU will continue a policy that has been proven ineffective. Sanctions and isolation have not worked."

Instead, he said, a policy of greater engagement with the regime rather than just sanctions would likely prove more effective.

"[Sanctions] are just keeping the military isolated," he said. "I'm not saying the situation is easy to resolve though."

The announcement comes at a time when the United States, who historically has led the international community on sanctions, appears to be reconsidering its stance.

In February, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged that the path the US had taken on Burma had failed to influence the military government.

Then came a rare meeting in March between a US official and senior government officials in the Burmese capital, although the US have so far publicly denied there will be a change in sanctions policy.

Reporting by Rosalie Smith

Indian rebels forcing Burmese villagers to flee

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Staff Reporter
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Apr 27, 2009 (DVB), Indian separatist rebels who have taken up base in Burma's Chin state are now forcibly moving into locals' houses and causing them to flee their village, say a Chin human rights group.

The rebel group, from India's Manipur region which borders western Burma, entered Hai Kyin village in Tonzang township, northern Chin state, on 13 April and stationed themselves in locals' houses, said Min Htan Nga, coordinator of Zomi Human Rights Foundation.

The villagers, who feared they might get caught between the rebels and the Indian army's long range weapon attacks from across the border, had fled the village and were hiding nearby.

"The rebels just came into the village and started staying in villagers' houses without even asking for their permission," said Min Htan Nga.

"They were keeping their weapons and ammunition in the houses as well so people started fleeing the village fearing they would be caught in the crossfire with the Indian army."

This is the second time Hai Kyin villagers have fled their homes. In February this year, a clash broke out near the village between the Manipur rebels and Burmese opposition group, the Zomi Revolutionary Army.

Continued ignorance from the Burmese military regarding the Manipur rebels have led locals in northern Chin state to think the government is assisting them in their fight against the Indian government.

According to reports from locals in the area, the Manipur fighters have been seen carrying out joint border patrols with the Burmese army.

Reporting by Khin Maung Soe Min

Armed groups rebutt child soldier report

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Staff Reporter
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Apr 27, 2009 (DVB), Two of Burma's main armed ethnic groups have said that accusations in a United Nations report that they continue to recruit child soldiers are wrong and damage the credibility of the report.

In March the UN Secretary General released a report that listed Burma as one of 10 countries guilty of the use of child soldiers. The Karen National Union and Karenni National Progressive Party were accused in the report.

On Saturday the KNU released a statement refuting the accusations and inviting the UN to visit areas where they are active.

"Since 2003, the KNU has not only banned the use of child soldiers under the age of 18, but has also strengthened the ban by instructing the [KNU armed wing Karen National Liberation Army] officers at all levels to follow the directive precisely and to verify and enforce the ban," said the statement.

"The mention in UNSG's current report of discovery of 'one case of a child recruited by the Karen National Union (KNU)' is probably a case of mistaken identity," it said, adding that they will launch an investigation and publish the findings.

The UN claim they have been unable to establish contact with the KNU as of December last year.

Last week Human Rights Watch slammed the report for apparently praising the Burmese government's policy on child solider recruitment, claiming it failed to highlight their continued use by the army.

"They talk about non-state armed groups, and they should, but it puts a far more positive spin on the military government's cooperation than we think they deserve," said David Mathieson, Burma researcher at HRW.

In 2002, Human Rights Watch published a report that accused Burma of being the world's leading recruiter of child soldiers.

The Karenni National Progressive Party released a statement on 18 April arguing that there was no justification for their inclusion in the report and requesting to be removed from the list.

"We, the KNPP reiterate that our armed group, the Karenni Army (KA), no longer recruit child soldiers and we do not have any under-age soldiers in our ranks," it said, adding that it had issued numerous statements in the past to that effect and had invited monitoring bodies to investigate.

The report had said that in June 2008 the parents of a 16-year-old boy who travelled to a KNPP base to become a soldier were refused his release, adding that they had sighted approximately 20 other children when they visited there.

"We are willing to offer monitoring team logistic assistance and open access to our army bases and the front line so they can monitor the situation," it said.

"We are also willing to have dialogue at any time."

Reporting by Francis Wade

Workers sacked after speaking to foreign media

By
Staff Reporter
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Apr 27, 2009 (DVB), Ten garment factory workers in Bago division were sacked last week without reason after speaking to foreign media about mistreatment in the workplace.

The workers at Pho Shwe La garment factory in Bago's Maha Myaing ward said they were informed by the factory's manager last Friday that they had been made redundant.

No reason was given, but they claim the factory's manager, Nweni Oak, was reacting to an interview with the BBC's Burmese service the previous week about salary cuts of 20 per cent.

"On Friday, they paid us our month's salary and told us we were being made redundant," said one of the factory workers.

"They said they will pay us our compensation on 5 May."

She said she would be satisfied if the compensation is paid, although another worker said that compensation would not suffice given her commitment to the work.

"I did my best at work without complaining about extra tasks they asked me to do and now they are sacking me for getting involved in the news," she said.

"I think this is too personal."

The group had asked for assistance from Bago-based Guiding Star legal advocacy group which is well known for providing help for farmers and workers regarding rights abuses.

Aye Myint, head of Guiding Star, said this was another incident that highlighted the lack of rights for manual workers in Burma.

"There are not many groups to help them when they are mistreated and abused by their managers," he said.

"The government's labour office is only a dummy to pretend that they are actually doing something to help.

"The lives of farmers and worker in Burma are going downhill," he added.

Reporting by Aye Nai

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