Maungdaw, Arakan State (RohingyaVision) — The Burmese Border Guard Police robbed a Rohingya woman while going through the check-post in Maungdaw Township on Sunday, according to eyewitnesses.
The victim is identified to be 39-year-old Kaneez Fatema Jamal Hussein hails from ‘Yedwin Chaung’ village in northern Maungdaw. She was on the way to ‘Myo Oo’ village when she got robbed.
“The victim was said to be visiting Myo Oo (Naitor Dael) village to see her sick relatives. The BGP at the check-post nearby ‘Shwe Zarr (Shujah)’ bridge stopped their bus for a (routine) check-up like they usually do to Rohingya passers-by. As she got off from bus, she took off her Gold-Chain weighed 16-gram off her neck and put inside her purse.
However, a BGP staff put his hand inside her purse on pretext of checking out what’s inside. After that, the BGP staff asked her to leave. As she found her gold-chain missing from before she left, she went back to the BGP camp and asked them to give her chain back.
The BGP declined and said that they didn’t find any such thing in her purse. So, she started crying for the chain as she had only that to call her valuable belonging. The BGP scolded her and threatened to beat her
So, she had to leave the place in desparity, ” said an eyewitness on the condition of anonymity.
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November 24, 2015
Rohingyas cry out for practical solutions
COUNTDOWN to Annihilation: Genocide in Myanmar, a report by the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI), Queen Mary University of London, has identified that Rohingyas in Myanmar are being subjected to genocide. The conventional definition of genocide usually involves mass killing committed by the state. However, ISCI investigation shows that the persecution of Rohingyas has developed into genocidal practice based on the historic and current conditions. In other words, the genocide is underway in Myanmar. This claim of genocide was supported by the Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School which found that there was strong evidence of state crimes committed against Rohingyas.
Most Rohingyas live in the state of Rakhine (formerly Arakan) in the northwestern part of Myanmar. Rakhine is the second poorest state in Myanmar. Rohingyas are often referred to as "illegal Bengali immigrants" who came from Bangladesh.
In the book, Genocide as Social Practice: Reorganising Society under the Nazis and Argentina's Military Juntas, Daniel Feierstein outlines six stages of genocide. ISCI identified that the first four stages have been and are still occurring to the Rohingyas. The four stages are 1) stigmatisation and dehumanisation; 2) harassment, violence and terror; 3) isolation and segregation; and 4) the systematic weakening of the target group. ISCI claimed that the Rohingyas potentially face the final two stages of genocide which are 5) mass annihilation and eventually 6) erasure of the group from Myanmar's history.
There are countless records and witnesses to prove the genocidal process. These include organised massacre in 2012 and systematic discriminatory policies. For example, Rohingyas need approval to leave their camps to get medical treatment and they need to pay a large amount of money to get approval from the authorities to get married. Due to the oppressive livelihoods, many Rohingyas flee their "home country".
For more information - Visit here.
Most Rohingyas live in the state of Rakhine (formerly Arakan) in the northwestern part of Myanmar. Rakhine is the second poorest state in Myanmar. Rohingyas are often referred to as "illegal Bengali immigrants" who came from Bangladesh.
In the book, Genocide as Social Practice: Reorganising Society under the Nazis and Argentina's Military Juntas, Daniel Feierstein outlines six stages of genocide. ISCI identified that the first four stages have been and are still occurring to the Rohingyas. The four stages are 1) stigmatisation and dehumanisation; 2) harassment, violence and terror; 3) isolation and segregation; and 4) the systematic weakening of the target group. ISCI claimed that the Rohingyas potentially face the final two stages of genocide which are 5) mass annihilation and eventually 6) erasure of the group from Myanmar's history.
There are countless records and witnesses to prove the genocidal process. These include organised massacre in 2012 and systematic discriminatory policies. For example, Rohingyas need approval to leave their camps to get medical treatment and they need to pay a large amount of money to get approval from the authorities to get married. Due to the oppressive livelihoods, many Rohingyas flee their "home country".
For more information - Visit here.
Forget the nonviolent reputation: Buddhism can be lethal
Buddhist fundamentalism, sometimes with deadly results, is on the rise in three Asian countries — Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand — where Theravada Buddhism is the main branch of the religion and monks have been behind growing hard-line pressure.
Hard-line Buddhism has emerged in ethnically and religiously diverse Myanmar. Ironically, this has taken place under newfound freedoms of speech and expression, which have blossomed in the country since its generals swapped their military uniforms for the business attire of white shirts and traditional longyis after a reform process that began in 2010.
Across the Buddhist-majority country, long-standing anti-Muslim sentiment has also triggered conflict, particularly in the western state of Rakhine. Violence in 2012 left more than 200 people dead and forced tens of thousands — mostly Rohingya Muslims — to flee their homes. An estimated 150,000 people in the state have been trapped in temporary camps for displaced people, stripped of their rights to vote or even leave the camps.
Subsequently, anti-Muslim sentiment, mainly fomented by the radical movement known as Ma Ba Tha, which claims half of Myanmar's 400,000 monks as adherents, spread across the country with violence erupting in Meikhtila, in the center, to Lashio in northern Shan State near China, as well as the nation's second-largest city, Mandalay.
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Hard-line Buddhism has emerged in ethnically and religiously diverse Myanmar. Ironically, this has taken place under newfound freedoms of speech and expression, which have blossomed in the country since its generals swapped their military uniforms for the business attire of white shirts and traditional longyis after a reform process that began in 2010.
Across the Buddhist-majority country, long-standing anti-Muslim sentiment has also triggered conflict, particularly in the western state of Rakhine. Violence in 2012 left more than 200 people dead and forced tens of thousands — mostly Rohingya Muslims — to flee their homes. An estimated 150,000 people in the state have been trapped in temporary camps for displaced people, stripped of their rights to vote or even leave the camps.
Subsequently, anti-Muslim sentiment, mainly fomented by the radical movement known as Ma Ba Tha, which claims half of Myanmar's 400,000 monks as adherents, spread across the country with violence erupting in Meikhtila, in the center, to Lashio in northern Shan State near China, as well as the nation's second-largest city, Mandalay.
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Myanmar government rebuffs calls for Rohingya citizenship
Myanmar's military-backed government has rejected calls for granting citizenship to the country’s most persecuted ethnic Rohingya Muslims.
Myanmar’s presidential spokesman and Information Minister Ye Htut said on Saturday that the administration would not grant the right of citizenship to the Rohingya Muslim community.
“Our government’s stance is that we wholly reject use of the term Rohingya,” the minister wrote on his Facebook page, rejecting calls that the Muslims be granted a path to citizenship.
The comments came in the wake of the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review, which examines the human rights situation in all UN member states.
Myanmar’s government snubbed over half of the review’s 281 recommendations, including all those related to civil and political rights of the Southeast Asian country’s Rohingya Muslims.
Myanmarese officials categorize most of the 1.3 million Rohingyas as Bengalis, implying they are illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh.
Myanmar’s Rohingyas, currently living in the western state of Rakhine, have been subject to systematic repression by extremist Buddhists since the country’s independence in 1948.
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Myanmar’s presidential spokesman and Information Minister Ye Htut said on Saturday that the administration would not grant the right of citizenship to the Rohingya Muslim community.
“Our government’s stance is that we wholly reject use of the term Rohingya,” the minister wrote on his Facebook page, rejecting calls that the Muslims be granted a path to citizenship.
The comments came in the wake of the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review, which examines the human rights situation in all UN member states.
Myanmar’s government snubbed over half of the review’s 281 recommendations, including all those related to civil and political rights of the Southeast Asian country’s Rohingya Muslims.
Myanmarese officials categorize most of the 1.3 million Rohingyas as Bengalis, implying they are illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh.
Myanmar’s Rohingyas, currently living in the western state of Rakhine, have been subject to systematic repression by extremist Buddhists since the country’s independence in 1948.
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5 Myanmar Men Fined for Printing 'Rohingya Calendar’
YANGON — A Yangon court has used a printing and publishing law to fine five men USD$800 each for their involvement in printing a calendar that stated that Rohingya Muslims are an ethnic-religious minority living in Myanmar.
Pazundaung Township police chief Maj. Khin Maung Lat informed Myanmar Now of the sentence, handed down Monday evening, adding that police charged the men Saturday. A sixth suspect remains at large.
The 2016 calendar mentions the word Rohingya and contains a statement that there used to be a “Rohingya radio channel” in the 1950s Burma of Prime Minister U Nu. It said U Nu himself had publicly used the word Rohingya.
“This is an activity that threatens the law and order of the country,” Khin Maung Lat said in an interview at his office. He added that an investigation was started after police heard about the calendar “on Facebook.”
The men were charged with breaking Article 4 of the 2014 Printing and Publishing Law, which bars individuals from publishing materials that could damage national security and law and order. It stipulates a fine of between $800 and $2,400.
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Pazundaung Township police chief Maj. Khin Maung Lat informed Myanmar Now of the sentence, handed down Monday evening, adding that police charged the men Saturday. A sixth suspect remains at large.
The 2016 calendar mentions the word Rohingya and contains a statement that there used to be a “Rohingya radio channel” in the 1950s Burma of Prime Minister U Nu. It said U Nu himself had publicly used the word Rohingya.
“This is an activity that threatens the law and order of the country,” Khin Maung Lat said in an interview at his office. He added that an investigation was started after police heard about the calendar “on Facebook.”
The men were charged with breaking Article 4 of the 2014 Printing and Publishing Law, which bars individuals from publishing materials that could damage national security and law and order. It stipulates a fine of between $800 and $2,400.
For more information - Visit here.
United States urges Myanmar to change constitution barring Suu Kyi rule
In each house under the constitution, the military automatically receives 25 percent of the seats. Frequently under house arrest several times, her Nobel Prize was awarded in absentia.
She has already vowed to govern from “above the president” saying she will circumnavigate the charter ban by appointing a proxy for the top office.
That control will now be tested.
The NLD has won 256 of the 299 seats declared so far in the country’s parliament, the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw. Elections weren’t held in seven constituencies, which means a effortless majority might be reached at 329 seats. Now the ruling party is expected to cooperate. The NLD has won more than 80 percent of the seats contested, enough to overcome the one-quarter of parliamentary seats that are reserved for the military.
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She has already vowed to govern from “above the president” saying she will circumnavigate the charter ban by appointing a proxy for the top office.
That control will now be tested.
The NLD has won 256 of the 299 seats declared so far in the country’s parliament, the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw. Elections weren’t held in seven constituencies, which means a effortless majority might be reached at 329 seats. Now the ruling party is expected to cooperate. The NLD has won more than 80 percent of the seats contested, enough to overcome the one-quarter of parliamentary seats that are reserved for the military.
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Where there is sunshine, there are also shadows
Those results are now clear. The National League for Democracy trounced its opponents across the Bamar heartland, and managed to score a surprising number of big wins in ethnic areas, particularly in Mon, Kayin, Kayah and Kachin states.
This resounding endorsement of the party of democratic struggle has given the country an undeniable glow.
At the November 8 election, a relatively open and transparent process was implemented by officials who struggled with inevitable logistical, administrative and political challenges. The thumping NLD victory over a military-political machine that enjoyed more than five decades of incumbency is cause for celebration.
But where there is sunshine there are usually shadows. Without being too gloomy about some of the problems, it makes sense to ask: Who missed out and what does their exclusion mean for Myanmar’s future?
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This resounding endorsement of the party of democratic struggle has given the country an undeniable glow.
At the November 8 election, a relatively open and transparent process was implemented by officials who struggled with inevitable logistical, administrative and political challenges. The thumping NLD victory over a military-political machine that enjoyed more than five decades of incumbency is cause for celebration.
But where there is sunshine there are usually shadows. Without being too gloomy about some of the problems, it makes sense to ask: Who missed out and what does their exclusion mean for Myanmar’s future?
For more information - Visit here.
Six dead as explosion rocks Myanmar town
YANGON - Six people were killed when an explosion tore through a house in the Myanmar town of Hakha, police said Monday.
The blast struck late Sunday in the town which is the capital of Chin, a mountainous western state that borders both Bangladesh and India and is one of Myanmar's poorest.
"Six people died and seven are in the Hakha hospital," Than Kyaw Htay, an officer at the town's police station, told AFP by telephone.
He said the cause of the blast was unknown but gunpowder or some sort of explosive was suspected.
Eyewitness Ko Ko arrived on the scene shortly afterwards.
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The blast struck late Sunday in the town which is the capital of Chin, a mountainous western state that borders both Bangladesh and India and is one of Myanmar's poorest.
"Six people died and seven are in the Hakha hospital," Than Kyaw Htay, an officer at the town's police station, told AFP by telephone.
He said the cause of the blast was unknown but gunpowder or some sort of explosive was suspected.
Eyewitness Ko Ko arrived on the scene shortly afterwards.
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Myanmar Mine Disaster Highlights Challenge to Suu Kyi
YANGON, Myanmar—The worst mining disaster in Myanmar in a decade has renewed calls for scrutiny around the secretive jade trade and highlighted entrenched economic interests linked to the long-ruling military confronting the incoming government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
Search-and-rescue operations had recovered 113 bodies as of Monday evening from the site of a collapsed hill of waste soil near jade mines in Hpakant in northern Myanmar, witnesses and local authorities said, two days after a landslide buried almost an entire village at the base. Relief workers said that more than 100 people were missing and expected the toll would keep climbing.
The disaster comes two weeks after Ms. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won a huge victory in national elections that will enable the party to select Myanmar’s next president after a new parliament meets in January. But the tragedy shows how far her party, which is still finding its feet after the election, has to go to regulate an industry in a remote area near China intermittently contested by rebel groups and the army.
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Search-and-rescue operations had recovered 113 bodies as of Monday evening from the site of a collapsed hill of waste soil near jade mines in Hpakant in northern Myanmar, witnesses and local authorities said, two days after a landslide buried almost an entire village at the base. Relief workers said that more than 100 people were missing and expected the toll would keep climbing.
The disaster comes two weeks after Ms. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won a huge victory in national elections that will enable the party to select Myanmar’s next president after a new parliament meets in January. But the tragedy shows how far her party, which is still finding its feet after the election, has to go to regulate an industry in a remote area near China intermittently contested by rebel groups and the army.
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Myanmar Leader Thanked for Move Toward Democracy
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Ten Southeast Asian heads of state and nine world leaders, including President Barack Obama, are meeting in Malaysia to discuss trade and economic issues. Terrorism and disputes over the South China Sea are also on the agenda. (All times local.)
8:25 p.m.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has thanked Myanmar President Thein Sein for steering his country in its transition to a "new democratic Myanmar."
Thein Sein's military-backed party was overwhelmingly voted out of office in a general election this month. Myanmar's military had taken power in a 1962 coup and transferred power to Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government in 2011.
Despite being hand-picked by the military junta, Thein Sein is regarded as a reformist who has overseen a gradual democratization process.
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8:25 p.m.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has thanked Myanmar President Thein Sein for steering his country in its transition to a "new democratic Myanmar."
Thein Sein's military-backed party was overwhelmingly voted out of office in a general election this month. Myanmar's military had taken power in a 1962 coup and transferred power to Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government in 2011.
Despite being hand-picked by the military junta, Thein Sein is regarded as a reformist who has overseen a gradual democratization process.
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Tallying the Triumph: NLD’s Appeal Knows Almost No Bounds
RANGOON — With final results announced late last week, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has won 886 out of 1,150 seats at play in Burma’s Nov. 8 general election, including a commanding 59.3 percent of all seats in the Union Parliament, even when 166 military appointees across both houses are factored in.
The final results announced by the country’s electoral body on Friday gave the NLD a total of 255, or 78.9 percent, of 323 elected seats in the Lower House, where seven seats were not contested due to active conflict or, in the Wa Special Region, a failure to secure cooperation with relevant authorities in the semi-autonomous zone. In the Upper House, the NLD won 135, or 80.4 percent, of 168 elected seats.
The party’s election victory saw it exceed by nearly 10 percentage points the 329-seat majority that is required to choose the country’s next president out of 657 votes in the Union Parliament.
The NLD also won big in most regional parliaments, taking 75.3 percent of all 659 elected seats, including 21 out of 29 ethnic affairs minister posts, though the party did not secure majorities in the Shan and Arakan state legislatures, losing 70 out of 93 seats it contested in Shan State and 23 out of 32 in Arakan State.
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The final results announced by the country’s electoral body on Friday gave the NLD a total of 255, or 78.9 percent, of 323 elected seats in the Lower House, where seven seats were not contested due to active conflict or, in the Wa Special Region, a failure to secure cooperation with relevant authorities in the semi-autonomous zone. In the Upper House, the NLD won 135, or 80.4 percent, of 168 elected seats.
The party’s election victory saw it exceed by nearly 10 percentage points the 329-seat majority that is required to choose the country’s next president out of 657 votes in the Union Parliament.
The NLD also won big in most regional parliaments, taking 75.3 percent of all 659 elected seats, including 21 out of 29 ethnic affairs minister posts, though the party did not secure majorities in the Shan and Arakan state legislatures, losing 70 out of 93 seats it contested in Shan State and 23 out of 32 in Arakan State.
For more information - Visit here.
Genocide against Rohingya - the Holocaust is recurring
The recent report entitled Countdown to Annihilation: Genocide in Myanmar by the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI), Queen Mary University of London, has identified that Rohingya in the Rakhine state of Myanmar have been subjected to genocide based on Nazism ideology.
The term ‘genocide’ sounds very controversial and many parties may be reluctant to make such a strong and serious allegation. The conventional definition of genocide usually involves mass killing committed by the state. However, ISCI investigation shows that the persecution of Rohingya has developed into genocidal practice based on the historic and current conditions. In other words, the genocide is underway in Myanmar.
This claim of genocide was also supported by a Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School which found that there was strong evidence of state crimes committed against Rohingya.
Who are the Rohingya?
The Rohingya community mostly live in the state of Rakhine or its former name Arakan in the north-western part of Myanmar. Rakhine state, which is inhabited by mainly Buddhist community and Rohingya Muslims, is the second poorest state in Myanmar. Rohingya are often referred to as ‘illegal Bengali immigrants’ who came from Bangladesh by the state and in public discourse.
For more information - Visit here.
The term ‘genocide’ sounds very controversial and many parties may be reluctant to make such a strong and serious allegation. The conventional definition of genocide usually involves mass killing committed by the state. However, ISCI investigation shows that the persecution of Rohingya has developed into genocidal practice based on the historic and current conditions. In other words, the genocide is underway in Myanmar.
This claim of genocide was also supported by a Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School which found that there was strong evidence of state crimes committed against Rohingya.
Who are the Rohingya?
The Rohingya community mostly live in the state of Rakhine or its former name Arakan in the north-western part of Myanmar. Rakhine state, which is inhabited by mainly Buddhist community and Rohingya Muslims, is the second poorest state in Myanmar. Rohingya are often referred to as ‘illegal Bengali immigrants’ who came from Bangladesh by the state and in public discourse.
For more information - Visit here.
A new generation comes out to beg
THE sight of children knocking on the windows of cars stopped at traffic light junctions to beg for money is common on the streets near the North Klang bus terminal in Klang.
StarMetro checks revealed there were about 20 Rohingya child beggars in the area.
They were seen moving along Jalan Pos, Jalan Raja Hassan and the Bulatan Seratus roundabout in Persiaran Sultan Ibrahim and the five-foot ways of those streets.
The high volume of traffic and congestion along the streets had led the children to base themselves in the area.
Some of the children could be spotted as early as 8am on weekdays while others would make their appearance much later.
They would walk from car to car, working the whole line of vehicles that were waiting for the traffic light to turn green.
“Tolong, encik, saya orang susah. Tolong bagi duit, saya nak duit untuk makan (Please, sir, I am in distress! Please give me money, I want money for food).” This is their common appeal.
For more information - Visit here.
StarMetro checks revealed there were about 20 Rohingya child beggars in the area.
They were seen moving along Jalan Pos, Jalan Raja Hassan and the Bulatan Seratus roundabout in Persiaran Sultan Ibrahim and the five-foot ways of those streets.
The high volume of traffic and congestion along the streets had led the children to base themselves in the area.
Some of the children could be spotted as early as 8am on weekdays while others would make their appearance much later.
They would walk from car to car, working the whole line of vehicles that were waiting for the traffic light to turn green.
“Tolong, encik, saya orang susah. Tolong bagi duit, saya nak duit untuk makan (Please, sir, I am in distress! Please give me money, I want money for food).” This is their common appeal.
For more information - Visit here.
Nationalism defeated at the ballot box
Why did self-proclaimed nationalist parties fare so badly in the election? Though the absence of opinion polls and comparable electoral data made it difficult in advance to gauge the extent of support for any party, nationalist candidates appeared to be well-organised and amply funded. The hardline nationalist Buddhist Committee for the Protection of Nationalism and Religion, known by its Myanmar acronym Ma Ba Tha, seemed to be enjoying nationwide support, whipping up crowds tens of thousands strong in its tour of the country during campaign season.
Before the election, the hardliners fomented anti-Muslim sentiment, sparred with the National League for Democracy and attempted to castigate the largest opposition as soft on Muslims while also throwing support behind President U Thein Sein. Rights groups and political analysts kept a wary eye on what was deemed a growing tide of radical Buddhist nationalism, warning that it could stymie the NLD in its goal to sweep the majority and provoke unrest.
Yet not a single candidate identifying as a nationalist was elected.
“In a profoundly Buddhist society which generally supported the four ‘race and religion’ bills promoted by Ma Ba Tha, voters have sent a quiet but clear message that political choice is their personal concern and that they are not influenced by Ma Ba Tha’s posturing,” said Derek Tonkin, former British ambassador to Thailand and chair of the non-profit Network Myanmar.
For more information - Visit here.
Before the election, the hardliners fomented anti-Muslim sentiment, sparred with the National League for Democracy and attempted to castigate the largest opposition as soft on Muslims while also throwing support behind President U Thein Sein. Rights groups and political analysts kept a wary eye on what was deemed a growing tide of radical Buddhist nationalism, warning that it could stymie the NLD in its goal to sweep the majority and provoke unrest.
Yet not a single candidate identifying as a nationalist was elected.
“In a profoundly Buddhist society which generally supported the four ‘race and religion’ bills promoted by Ma Ba Tha, voters have sent a quiet but clear message that political choice is their personal concern and that they are not influenced by Ma Ba Tha’s posturing,” said Derek Tonkin, former British ambassador to Thailand and chair of the non-profit Network Myanmar.
For more information - Visit here.
Parties wrangle over dialogue representatives
Despite a walkout by disgruntled members of smaller parties who complained of discrimination, the selection of 16 political party representatives for preparing the nationwide ceasefire agreement dialogue was completed on November 21.
The representatives will take part in the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee, a 48-member body established as part of the ceasefire process, in accordance with the agreement signed on October 15 by the government and eight ethnic armed groups.
The government has already nominated 16 members of the tripartite group, and the signatory armed groups have selected another 16. The third group of 16 members was to be selected by the 91 parties that contested the November 8 election.
The Union Peacemaking Work Committee, led by U Aung Min, convened the parties on November 21 at the Yangon Region parliament building to make the selection.
Representatives of 86 parties that answered the invitation wrangled, however, over the mechanics of the selection process.
U Aung Min proposed that the two major parties elected to hluttaw last week – the National League for Democracy and the Union Solidarity and Development Party – should nominate two each, with one each from the Arakan National Party, the Shan National League for Democracy, the Federal Democratic Alliance, the Nationalities Brotherhood Federation and the United Nationalities Alliance. The remaining seven should then be elected by a vote.
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The representatives will take part in the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee, a 48-member body established as part of the ceasefire process, in accordance with the agreement signed on October 15 by the government and eight ethnic armed groups.
The government has already nominated 16 members of the tripartite group, and the signatory armed groups have selected another 16. The third group of 16 members was to be selected by the 91 parties that contested the November 8 election.
The Union Peacemaking Work Committee, led by U Aung Min, convened the parties on November 21 at the Yangon Region parliament building to make the selection.
Representatives of 86 parties that answered the invitation wrangled, however, over the mechanics of the selection process.
U Aung Min proposed that the two major parties elected to hluttaw last week – the National League for Democracy and the Union Solidarity and Development Party – should nominate two each, with one each from the Arakan National Party, the Shan National League for Democracy, the Federal Democratic Alliance, the Nationalities Brotherhood Federation and the United Nationalities Alliance. The remaining seven should then be elected by a vote.
For more information - Visit here.
Myanmar and UN again at odds over human rights, constitution
Myanmar has strongly rejected criticism of its human rights record by the United Nations, slamming the world body for its interference and “intrusive language“.
The third committee of the United Nations General Assembly in New York released its evaluation of Myanmar’s human rights record on November 18.
The UN criticised Myanmar on numerous counts, among them the adoption of the controversial “protection of race and religion laws” which discriminate against women and ethnic minorities.
The UN also called for a fully elected parliament to lead the democratic transition, effectively taking issue with the 2008 constitution which guarantees the military 25 percent of seats.
U Kyaw Tin, Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN, responded in a written statement saying it was none of the UN’s business to interfere in Myanmar’s legislative process. “Those laws fall within the domestic jurisdiction and are not contrary to international legal obligation,” he said.
“Every sovereign state has the right to choose its own political system in accordance with history, traditions, values, realities and its constitution,” U Kyaw Tin said. He also complained about the UN using “intrusive language”.
For more information - Visit here.
The third committee of the United Nations General Assembly in New York released its evaluation of Myanmar’s human rights record on November 18.
The UN criticised Myanmar on numerous counts, among them the adoption of the controversial “protection of race and religion laws” which discriminate against women and ethnic minorities.
The UN also called for a fully elected parliament to lead the democratic transition, effectively taking issue with the 2008 constitution which guarantees the military 25 percent of seats.
U Kyaw Tin, Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN, responded in a written statement saying it was none of the UN’s business to interfere in Myanmar’s legislative process. “Those laws fall within the domestic jurisdiction and are not contrary to international legal obligation,” he said.
“Every sovereign state has the right to choose its own political system in accordance with history, traditions, values, realities and its constitution,” U Kyaw Tin said. He also complained about the UN using “intrusive language”.
For more information - Visit here.
NLD believes Suu Kyi can be president
Myanmar's opposition leader is planning to be the country's next president after her party overwhelmingly won this month's polls. Although the constitution bars Aung San Suu Kyi from the position -- because she was married to a foreigner and her two children are foreign nationals -- she and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), are preparing to nominate her when parliament convenes at the end of January.
In the meantime the party leader is trying to arrange face-to-face meetings with the country's current top leaders -- President Thein Sein, the parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann and the commander-in-chief, Snr Gen Min Aung Hlaing -- to discuss the transfer of power and national reconciliation.
Despite 59(F) (the constitutional clause which governs presidency requirements), the NLD is looking for a way for Ms Suu Kyi to become president. The party's senior leader and patron, Tin Oo, told the Bangkok Post: "We need to find a way to make that happen." Party insiders refer to Plan Zero, which seems to mean a road map to make her president.
For more information - Visit here.
In the meantime the party leader is trying to arrange face-to-face meetings with the country's current top leaders -- President Thein Sein, the parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann and the commander-in-chief, Snr Gen Min Aung Hlaing -- to discuss the transfer of power and national reconciliation.
Despite 59(F) (the constitutional clause which governs presidency requirements), the NLD is looking for a way for Ms Suu Kyi to become president. The party's senior leader and patron, Tin Oo, told the Bangkok Post: "We need to find a way to make that happen." Party insiders refer to Plan Zero, which seems to mean a road map to make her president.
For more information - Visit here.
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