The Irrawaddy News Magazine [Covering Burma and Southeast Asia]

NEWS IN BRIEF
BRIEFLY NOTED

AUGUST, 2010 - VOL.18 NO.8

Arakan Abbot Arrested

Detained Abbot Ashin Pyinnya Sara teaches children at the monastery.(Photo: FREEDOM BURMA)

Authorities sealed the Mahamuni Buddha Vihara Monastery, which also serves as a shelter for orphans, in Kandawgyi ward in Sittwe in Arakan State in early August, and police say they will charge the abbot, Ashin Pyinnya Sara, with having sexual relations with a woman and inappropriate use of donations. A teacher at the monastery who spoke to the abbot at the police station, said the abbot was weak and looked like he had been tortured, which the police denied. The teacher also said: “Local people think that apart from sexual affairs there were other reasons behind the arrest of Ashin Pyinnya Sara, because the woman who he was accused of having sex with has never filed a complaint.”

Khmer Rouge Jailer Faces 19 Years for 16,000 Dead

A tourist looks at photos of victims on display at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.(Photo: AFP)

A war crimes tribunal in July sentenced the Khmer Rouge chief jailer to a prison term that will see him serve less than half a day for every person killed at the notorious torture center he commanded. Survivors expressed anger and disbelief that a key player in the genocide that wiped out a quarter of Cambodia’s population could one day walk free—despite being convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, was the first major Khmer Rouge figure to face trial more than three decades after the “killing fields” regime tried to turn the country into a vast agrarian society—leading to the deaths of 1.7 million people. As commander of the top secret Tuol Sleng prison—code named S-21—the 67-year-old Duch admitted to overseeing the torture and deaths of as many as 16,000 people.

Clinton Warns Burma on North Korea Cooperation

North Korea's Foreign Minister Pak Ul Chun, Left, viewers a jade Buddha at the Shwe dagon Pagoda in Rangoon.(Photo: AP)

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Burma’s military rulers against any cooperation with North Korea on a nuclear program. In Vietnam for regional security talks with senior officials from around Southeast Asia, Clinton said the US was concerned about reports that North Korea had delivered military equipment to Burma. Meanwhile, North Korea’s Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun’s visit to Burma in July was shrouded in secrecy. Burma did not officially announced the visit and few details have leaked out about the nature of the trip, which was Pak’s first since the two countries resumed diplomatic ties in 2007.

Leaked Document Reveals USDP Tactics

A leaked document from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) led by Thein Sein, the Burmese prime minister, has outlined a wide range of tactics—including the use of cadres of hardcore criminals—aimed at achieving a landslide victory in the upcoming election. The document describes the election as a “battle” and sketches plans for the party’s election campaign. “Criminals and thugs must be organized. Otherwise, they could be used by other political parties to bully, torture and extort from us,” the 10-page document said. The military regime created the USDP on April 29, when Thein Sein and 26 ministers and senior officials formed the party out of the regime’s mass civic organization called the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), which was disbanded. All USDA assets were transferred to the USDP in early July, raising complaints by political parties that it was a violation of the election laws.

When will an Interim Gov’t be Appointed?

The current Burmese government including Prime Minister Thein Sein reportedly is set to be replaced before the election with an interim government led by Lt-Gen Myint Swe, now chief of the Bureau of Special Operations (BSO)-5 which controls the Rangoon Regional Military Command and Naypyidaw Regional Military Command. Military sources said the move is required to allow the government-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) to campaign and to stem complaints across the country and the international community that the election can not be fair and free because the junta-backed USDP and cabinet members are still involved with the military government.

Boy Arrested With Banned Books

Police arrested a 14-year-old boy in Rangoon after finding him in possession of banned books written by Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleague, Win Tin, a National League for Democracy executive member. The boy was caught in a bus station with six copies of Suu Kyi’s “Freedom From Fear” and five copies of Win Tin’s recently released “What’s That? Human Hell?” The books, which are collections of political essays and articles, are banned in Burma. The boy remains in detention at an undisclosed location, according to Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

Junta Forms New Missile Force

The Burmese military junta formed a strategic missile force, the Directorate of Missiles, in September 2009 that will work with North Korean suppliers and report directly to Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, the commander-in-chief of the army, according to military sources who leaked classified information to The Irrawaddy. As part of the initiative, Burma has positioned a new air defense missile battalion close to the Thailand-Burma border, according to sources at the Coastal Regional Military Command in Mergui in southern Burma.

Hydro-power Electricity Erratic in Shan State

Electricity distribution from Burma’s Shweli hydro-power dam No. 1 in northern Shan State is intermittent and has not benefited local residents, according to business sources. A Muse resident told The Irrawaddy that locals in the China-Burma border towns of Muse, Nam Kham and Pang Sang used to acquire dependable and cheaper electricity from China, but after the completion of the Shweli hydro-power project in April they were instructed to use only electricity from the Shweli project. Local businessmen said the Shweli project does not provide reliable electricity for businesses.

Don’t Feed the Elephants in Bangkok

A tourist eats lunch as another takes a picture of himself next to an elephant holding a basket for money donations on Khaosan Road, a popular tourist area in Bangkok.(Photo: AFP)

You can still feed elephants in Thailand’s bustling capital—but it could cost you. Bangkok authorities said anyone caught handing bunches of bananas or sugar cane to the elephants—proffered by their handlers to make money—could face a US $320 (10,000 baht) fine. Previously, mahouts—as elephant handlers are known—and their accomplices were fined for bringing an elephant into Bangkok, but those feeding the animal escaped punishment. Typically a tourist would pay 20 baht ($0.62) for the privilege of giving fruit or vegetables to the elephants.

Thai Probe of Journalists’ Deaths Called Incomplete

Thailand’s government has failed to properly investigate the shooting deaths of two journalists killed while they covered recent political violence in Bangkok, a press freedom group said. The Committee to Protect Journalists concluded in a seven-page report that both the government and protesters during the March-May demonstrations “engaged in lethal recklessness that led to the deaths of two journalists” and injured nine other media members. The New York-based group alleged that initial government investigations and even the autopsies of the two men were “incomplete and opaque” and that investigations by embassies, victims’ relatives and news organizations had been obstructed.

Indonesia Pledges to Step Up Tiger Protection

Indonesia promised to impose stiffer penalties against poachers and illegal loggers as officials from 13 countries—Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, Indonesia, India, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam—gathered in Jakarta to try to save an estimated 3,200 tigers left in the wild from extinction. Indonesian Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said his country has 400 Sumatran tigers, a nearly 50 percent decline from 25 years ago. Under current laws, poachers and illegal loggers face a maximum of five years in jail and a fine of up to US $11,000, but Hasan vowed to come down harder on violators. Tiger parts are in demand for traditional medicine, health tonics, decoration and even fashion. The animals are also threatened by habitat loss and declining populations of their prey.