The Military's political role
Individual Documents
Description:
"At least 38 people were killed after Myanmar's security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters in towns and cities across the country Wednesday, in scenes that have been described as "a war zone."
Thousands of protesters across the Southeast Asian nation have taken to the streets over the past four weeks against a military coup on February 1. Security forces have intensified their response in recent days, opening live fire into crowds, and using tear gas, flash bangs and stun grenades on demonstrators.
The United Nations said the total death toll since the coup was now 50, though activists put that total as higher.
"Today was the bloodiest day since the coup happened," Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener told a briefing Wednesday. Around 1,200 people have been detained, while many relatives are unsure where they are being held, she said. "Every tool available is needed now to stop this situation," Burgener said. "We need a unity of the international community, so it's up to the member states to take the right measures."
CNN reached out to the ruling military regime via email but has not yet received a response. Protesters run from police firing tear gas during a pro-democracy demonstration in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Wednesday.
Protesters have for weeks been demanding the release of democratically elected officials, including the country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who are currently in detention. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party (NLD) won a landslide victory in November elections; military leaders allege voter fraud but have provided no proof for their claim.
Burgener said that in discussions with the military, she had warned that the UN Security Council and members states were likely to take strong measures. "The answer was: 'We are used to sanctions, and we survived those sanctions in the past'," she said.
"When I also warned they will go in an isolation, the answer was: 'We have to learn to walk with only few friends'."
Security forces -- which include members of the military's Light Infantry Divisions long documented to be engaged in human rights abuses in conflict zones throughout the country -- escalated their deadly crackdown on peaceful demonstrators this week. "Today, the country is like the Tiananmen Square in most of its major cities," the Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, said on Twitter.
In one brutal instance, Myanmar security forces were caught on camera beating emergency services with the butts of their guns, batons and kicking them in the head, according to activist group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
The AAPP released the video on Wednesday and said in a statement that the leaked video was from North Okkalapa, in Yangon. The video provides a glimpse into the brutal methods deployed the security forces..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Political role of the Tatmadaw, The Military's political role, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians
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Sub-title:
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has voiced “deep fears” of a violent crackdown on dissenting voices in Myanmar, where the military assumed all powers and declared a state of emergency after overthrowing the civilian government and arresting top political leaders, on Monday.
Description:
"“Given the security presence on the streets in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, as well as in other cities, there are deep fears of a violent crackdown on dissenting voices”, High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said in a statement on Monday.
“I remind the military leadership that Myanmar is bound by international human rights law, including to respect the right to peaceful assembly, and to refrain from using unnecessary or excessive force”, she added.
High Comissioner Bachelet also called on the international community to “stand in solidarity with the people” of Myanmar at this time. She also urged all nations with influence to take steps “to prevent the crumbling of the fragile democratic and human rights gains made by Myanmar during its transition from military rule.”..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The Military's political role, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
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"Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) secured a landslide victory in November’s 2020 general election. The NLD’s massive win was shocking even for close observers of Myanmar politics, who anticipated the party’s popularity to take a hit after five years of controversial rule. Since the NLD has been in power, Myanmar’s nascent democracy has not met expectations. The country’s human rights record has not improved, the peace process is stalled, and repression of government critics is continuing. Economic growth has slowed down due to the inefficient bureaucracy and volatile conflict situation. Pro-democracy activists are wary of Aung San Suu Kyi’s growing authoritarianism while the international community now calls her a pariah.
The NLD did poorly in its 2017 and 2018 by-elections, a downward trend that was expected to continue. What does the NLD’s electoral victory suggest about Myanmar’s road to democracy?
Myanmar’s democratic institutions are working relatively well. The Union Parliament (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) has been one of the most active government institutions since its birth in 2011, which implies that parliamentary democracy is functioning. General elections are held every five years and, while there is still room for improvement, no significant electoral fraud, violence or manipulation were reported in November. The voter turnout of 71.6 per cent is also an encouraging sign, up from 69 per cent in 2015.
But other aspects of Myanmar’s democratisation have regressed over the last five years. The government has tightened control over the media, causing overall freedom to decline and civil society space to shrink. Restrictive laws such as the Telecommunication Law, Unlawful Association Act and the defamation section in the Penal Code intimidate the media, while journalists have been detained for reporting on the conflict in Rakhine State. The COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the electoral landscape, with domestic and international observers criticising the Union Election Commission for introducing restrictions on election campaigns and cancelling the vote in some townships in Rakhine, Shan, Kachin and Kayin states.
Continued ethnic conflict presents another challenge. The violent situation in Rakhine State has not yet been contained. Although there was no visible political violence during the election period, following the election, a parliamentarian elected to the Amyotha Hluttaw (upper house) was killed in late November 2020. The Arakan Army, an insurgent group, and the Tatmadaw — the Myanmar military — agreed to hold a by-election in areas where the vote was cancelled, but the incident shows that national reconciliation will not be easy..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The Military's political role, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Human Rights Reporting (global, regional and Myanmar)
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"Eight villagers who are currently being detained at the Dhanyawadi Naval Base in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, are facing charges under Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law, according to the Kyaukphyu Myoma police station.
The Tatmadaw arrested nine people from Kat Thabyay village on June 26 and a 100-household head from Sai Chone Dwein village two days later.
The detainees were remanded into police custody at Kyaukphyu Myoma police station on July 5. Two out of the 10 detainees — identified as Khin Win Maung and Maung Than Hlaing from Kat Thabyay village — have been released and the remaining eight men were charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law, said Police Captain Kyaw Zaw, head of the Kyaukphyu Myoma police station.
“Two youths were handed over to their parents as they were linked to the case. The remaining eight men have been charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law,” the police captain confirmed..."
Source/publisher:
"Eurasia Review"
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role
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Description:
"Myanmar's military has been unlisted from recruitment and use of children as soldiers in military services since June 9 this year, an official from the Ministry of Defence told a press briefing on Monday.
"Myanmar's military has put efforts for ending the recruitment and use of children as soldiers in military services under a joint action plan since it was signed with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 2012," said Brigadier General Aung Kyaw Hoe, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Defence.
During the four-year period, a total of 3,802 officers were provided training courses to prevent recruiting and using children as soldiers in military services and 262 children were released from the military services, he said.
Myanmar's military has released 1,006 children from the military services and 65 officials have been charged for recruiting and using children as soldiers in military services since a joint action plan started in 2012..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, The Military's political role
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Description:
"In 2014, a court-martial stripped former Tatmadaw major Kyaw Swar Win of his rank and sentenced him to two years in prison for supporting an amendment to the country’s 2008 military-drafted constitution.
The amendment targeted article 436, which itself makes amending the constitution virtually impossible without unanimous military support in parliament. It was sponsored by the then-opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
After his release in a July 2015 presidential pardon, Kyaw Swar Win tried running as an NLD candidate but missed the deadline to enter the race. He is trying again this year for a seat in the upper house.
The incumbent NLD is yet to select candidates, but the 43-year-old former military engineer is hopeful. He’s happy to support the party even if he’s not chosen as a candidate, he told Myanmar Now, and he believes the military’s rank-and-file will too.
Myanmar Now interviewed Kyaw Swar Win earlier in June in Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay region - the district he hopes to represent.
MN: What was the charge you faced after signing the petition in support of amending article 436 of the constitution?
KSW: Breach of military order, under section 41e of the 1959 Defence Services Act, which stipulates punishment for a soldier that “neglects to obey any general, local or other order.” … It doesn’t specify particular orders, just any orders in general that a soldier is expected to follow. [Kyaw Swar Win’s charge says he disobeyed an order to “safeguard the constitution.”] I was also charged under section 65. In the army, we call that amyinkat podma [arbitrary charge] - they can use it against you when they want to punish you..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, The Military's political role, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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Description:
"Four years into the five-year term of the NLD-led
government, the issue of political prisoners remains
one of the main problems in the country. Almost
all the repressive laws that the military dictatorship
used to jail activists remain in place. State media
controlled by the NLD government has even carried
propaganda features defending and promoting the
usefulness of repressive laws, and new repressive
laws have been proposed.
On the sixth anniversary of the death of U Win
Tin, almost 200 political prisoners remain in jail,
and almost 400 more activists and journalists are
awaiting trial and possible detention.
Aung San Suu Kyi, as de facto leader of the NLDled government, has the power through Presidential
pardons to order the release of all political prisoners.
Her party has the majority in Parliament needed to
repeal all repressive laws.
Instead of the compassionate and principled
stance you would expect of her as a former political
prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi denies that there are
political prisoners in the country and has made a
deliberate decision to keep those political prisoners
behind bars. This is not an issue where it can be claimed that
she lacks the power to act or is constrained by the
military. The military handed the power regarding
political prisoners to the civilian government.
Constitutionally there is no obstacle, and politically
Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly acted on issues
which she considers important despite potentially
upsetting the military, including making herself defacto President by creating the State Counsellor
position for herself..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, About Aung San Suu Kyi
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Sub-title:
The Arakan Army (AA) has released an interview with a captive Tatmadaw (military) officer who claimed to have killed three Muslim men suspected of belonging to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) during the Tatmadaw’s massive crackdown in northern Rakhine State in 2017.
Description:
"ARSA launched deadly attacks on more than 30 military outposts in northern Rakhine in August 2017, sparking the crackdown and the exodus of more than 740,000 Muslims across the border to Bangladesh, where they continue to live in crowded refugee camps.
International organisations accused the Tatmadaw of killing thousands of Muslims and committing mass rape and other human rights abuses during the crackdown, and Gambia, acting on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, filed a genocide lawsuit against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice last November. In the interview, the Tatmadaw officer, identified as Captain Nyi Nyi Zaw, said Tatmadaw troops shot dead three Muslim men suspected of belonging to ARSA near Zin Pai Nyar village in Maungdaw townsCapt Nyi Nyi Zaw, of the 345th Light Infantry Battalion under the 15th Military Operation Command in Buthidaung township, was among several people the AA seized aboard a passenger ferry in October 2019.
AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha denied that the AA forced the officer to make the accusations.hip in September 2017.
Tatmadaw spokesperson Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun denied the claims and accused the AA of forcing the officer to make the confession..."
“He has been held captive for months, so he will have to do as the AA tells him,” he said. “It’s untrue. We carry out all our missions according to military rules.”
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, The Military's political role
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Description:
"Board members of a military conglomerate with sweeping export and import operations have served as top customs and port authority officials for decades, a former company director has told Myanmar Now.
The President’s Office last week said it would investigate the appointment of two directors from Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) to lead the government’s customs department and the Myanma Port Authority.
But the practice, which appears to be a clear conflict of interest, has been going on since the military junta founded MEHL in 1990, retired lieutenant colonel Kyaw Zay Ya told Myanmar Now.
“The director-general of customs and the managing director of the port authority have always been on MEHL’s board of directors,” said the former director, who ran the conglomerate’s shares department for 10 years.
“But times are different now that this is an elected government … it’s not right,” he added.
A panel of United Nations experts has alleged that the military uses MEHL and other companies to enrich itself without civilian oversight and to fund operations that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Having MEHL board members in charge of customs and the country’s shipping ports allows the conglomerate to operate with less government interference.
“Things go much more smoothly for the company’s import and export businesses,” said Kyaw Zay Ya, who has also served as a regional MP representing the NLD and is now vice chair of the newly formed People’s Pioneer Party..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role
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Description:
"The majority of lawmakers voted on Monday to defeat a bid by Myanmar’s military-backed former ruling party and military-appointed lawmakers’ to impeach the Parliament’s house speaker over his handling of the constitutional reform process.
A total of 243 members of the Lower House (62 percent of those in attendance) voted down the proposal by the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and military appointees to remove Union Parliament Speaker U T Khun Myat. The accusation alleged that he violated the Constitution and parliamentary laws by favoring Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in its Charter reforms attempts, launched last year, and also on several other occasions. Military-appointed lawmaker Lieutenant Colonel Myo Htet Win said that the speaker broke the law by allowing the National League for Democracy (NLD) to submit an urgent proposal to form the Constitutional Amendment Committee in January 2019 and by blocking full parliamentary debate on charter amendment proposals submitted by military lawmakers and the USDP.
“The head of the legislative body’s failure to abide by the law harms the Parliament’s image,” the lieutenant colonel said.
In addition to accusing the speaker of thwarting debate on their charter-amendment proposals, the USDP and military-appointed lawmakers also accused U T Khun Myat of misusing his power to deny some of their motions on Monday during debate over their impeachment proposal..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to the judiciary (commentaries), Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role
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Sub-title:
Military conglomerate holds majority stake in Ever Flow River port project while its board members regulate ports, customs
Description:
"A new listing on the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) Thursday morning risks further funding public corruption and supporting the military’s “ongoing war crimes,” experts and rights group warn.
On Thursday, Ever Flow River Group (EFRG) will become the YSX’s sixth publicly-listed company.
EFRG operates a joint venture company with Lann Pyi Marine - a subsidiary of the military conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings (MEHL) - called Hlaing Inland Terminal and Logistics (HITLC).
HITLC is building a $43m inland port in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar township between the Aung Zeya and Shwe Pyi Thar bridges. The site is still under construction and not generating income for EFRG or its partners yet, but capital raised at the exchange may speed up that process. EFRG is financing the project and will hold 49% equity in HITLC while Lann Pyi Marine is providing land for 51% equity.
According to disclosure documents EFRG provided to YSX, the project will include customs clearance and customs-bonded facilities.
Retired brigadier-general and MEHL director Kyaw Htin is the director general of Myanmar’s customs department and retired major Ni Aung, another MEHL director, is the managing director of the Myanma Port Authority, the federal port regulatory body.
Kyaw Htin and Ni Aung “will be directly profiting from their public positions through MEHL’s business” with EFRG, the rights group Justice for Myanmar said in a statement Monday. “The inclusion of a customs-bonded warehouse, customs clearance and port services within the project adds heightened corruption risk.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Corruption, The Military's political role
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Sub-title:
Suu Kyi is now close to old adversary China while long-ruling military is skeptical of Beijing's intent ahead of pivotal polls
Description:
"Elections are scheduled for November in Myanmar, and there is no indication so far that the polls will be postponed due to the Covid-19 crisis. Neither is there much doubt about the outcome.
Most political observers believe that State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) will win again, though not in the same landslide fashion as in 2015 as recent by-elections show she and her party have lost significant support in ethnic areas.
But the bigger electoral question is how her party’s delicate relationship with the autonomous military will play out and in that context how her government’s ties to its powerful northern neighbor China will be portrayed and potentially politicized on the campaign trail.
An entirely new paradigm has emerged in Myanmar, one where Suu Kyi is now seen as a trusted ally of Beijing and the military as a nationalistic bulwark against China’s strong advances. That’s a significant reversal, one that could have implications for stability in the lead-up to polls.
When Suu Kyi was under house arrest during military rule or active in non-parliamentary politics, China viewed the long-time pro-democracy icon with suspicion. That was at least in part because her late British husband, a Tibetologist, maintained ties with many Tibetans in exile..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), “One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations
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"In Rangoon’s Drug Elimination Museum, a sprawling hall of half-truths and hilarious fantasy, there are subtle clues to past power plays within the Defence Services, or Tatmadaw. In a section of the museum extolling the questionable commitments to drug eradication of the previous military regimes, displays of drug burnings and press conferences have full pages of the now-defunct Working People’s Daily. But one key figure in this record has been airbrushed from history, almost Soviet style. Except in clumsier form. A thin sheet of brown paper and tape covers several entire photographs. But the revisionists failed to conceal the photo captions underneath, including the name of the senior official depicted: General Khin Nyunt, the Chief of Military Intelligence (MI) and principal protector of some of Burma’s biggest drug dealers.
The scholar Andrew Selth’s latest book is an examination of one of Burma’s most powerful and feared figures of the past forty years. Since his purge in late 2004, Khin Nyunt has been eclipsed by history, ostracized from the military, largely unknown to the outside world since the ‘transition’ to democracy in 2011, and remembered only by his many victims. Selth’s study, Secrets and Power in Myanmar, is less a political biography of Khin Nyunt, and more a technical examination of the intelligence services, producing skilful navigation through the maze of the opaque world of intelligence gathering by one of the most esteemed chroniclers of modern Burma.
The book’s introduction outlines the fearsome place MI and other intelligence agencies, notably the Special Branch (SB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, have played in generations of military rule starting from the Tatmadaw’s coup d’etat of March 1962, through nearly three decades of Socialist military rule, and the corresponding culture of a surveillance apparatus. Selth could have explored further the devastating impacts on the psyche of Burmese society during this period, but he wisely draws from Christina Fink’s 2001 book Living Silence to support his claims..."
Source/publisher:
"Teacircleoxford" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The Military's political role
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Sub-title:
explores the reasons behind the Tatmadaw’s stronghold over Myanmar politics.
Description:
"Having endured more than a half-century of military rule, Myanmar appeared to be the least likely candidate for democratic transition in Southeast Asia. Although the prospects for Myanmar’s democratization resurged with the landslide victory of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in the 2015 election, this political change has been a top-down transition in the system–-from military rule to electoral authoritarianism–-not in the military’s dominance in politics. The military’s continued dominance was institutionalized by the “roadmap to democracy” engineered by the military regime in 2003. Most notably, this included the drafting of a new constitution in 2008 which allots a quarter of the seats in both houses of Parliament to the military. As the civilian control of the military is a necessary precondition for a democracy, the persistence and entrenchment of Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, has led to a late and limited democratic transition.
Myanmar’s continued military dominance despite its recent transition is not only a divergent pattern in the world, but also in Southeast Asia, as the Tatmadaw has outlasted its Filipino and Indonesian counterparts. This raises the following question: how can the enduring strength of the Tatmadaw be explained? The essay argues that Tatmadaw’s persistent hold on power results from its continuous elimination of democratic forces, its substantive involvement in the national economy, and its management of longstanding centre-periphery conflicts over the course of a half century of military rule; this has established the Tatmadaw as the country’s predominant political, economic, and even cultural elites, overshadowing any other contending force. Today, other than the Sangha, the military is the most deeply embedded institution in Myanmar’s politics, economy and society..."
Source/publisher:
"Teacircleoxford" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role
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Description:
"After 58 years of military rule, Myanmar’s parliament will today close debate on how to amend its third and current constitution, which was written in 2008.
In a lightly reported step, on February 20, the Burmese parliament approved a joint military-civilian committee to debate constitutional changes. The negotiations arise from the barring of Myanmar’s powerful National League for Democracy’s Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency due to foreign family ties.
Myanmar’s constitution privileges the military with a special status by reserving 25% of parliament and several key national executive appointments for military officers. The Burmese military had curtailed foreign influence in the domestic economy and political statecraft with six decades of absolute power, but as the country transitions to civilian rule, the ruling officers do not want to see their influence over Myanmar’s future dissipate. Having already stated their acceptance of a reduced role in Burmese politics, the military is looking to maintain a say in Myanmar’s statecraft.
With a population expected to reach 65 million by 2050 and an economy quadrupling to $200 billion by 2030, the constitutional negotiations will determine whether Myanmar will transition to a stable civilian rule or retain an outsized military influence.
Wake up smarter with an assessment of the stories that will make headlines in the next 24 hours. Download The Daily Brief..."
Source/publisher:
"Foreign Brief"
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National and State constitutions, draft constitutions and amendments (commentary), Burma/Myanmar's political parties, The Military's political role, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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Sub-title:
The United Wa State Party (UWSP) will cooperate with the Union Election Commission (UEC) to ensure the success of the November elections in the four townships in the Wa self-administered division, a party spokesperson said.
Description:
"A UEC delegation led by its chair, U Hla Thein, came to Panghsang, the capital of the Wa region in Shan State, to meet with Wa leaders on the elections last week, said U Nyi Rang, UWSP spokesperson.
“In the poll, we will help the UEC, though we cannot say yet whether voting would be held in the four townships. We need to hold more talks,” he added.
Of the six townships in the Wa region, four are controlled by the UWSP and two by the government. In the 2010 and 2015 general elections, the UEC did not hold voting in the Wa-controlled townships of Pangwaing, Mine Maw, Panghsang and Narhpan.
U Hla Thein urged the leaders of the Wa state government to work together with the poll body in the 2020 elections. He talked about the right to vote and to elect poll representatives.
The UWSP submitted eight demands to the UEC, but U Nyi Rang refused to provide details.
Xiao Mingliang, vice chair of the UWSP, said the Wa government hopes Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would visit the Wa region, which has often invited the State Counsellor to visit..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties, The Military's political role, Wa (cultural, political, economic)
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Sub-title:
Members of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw are preparing to vote on a series of amendments to the constitution but it is unlikely that any of them will be approved.
Description:
"PROPOSALS to amend the 2008 Constitution are finally being discussed in the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw and the debate has been lively. There have been heated exchanges between members of the politically dominant National League for Democracy and unelected military MPs and lawmakers from the Union Solidarity and Development Party, who oppose the NLD’s proposals for charter reform. Debate has been so robust at times that the speaker has directed that some outbursts be expunged from the parliamentary record.
After its landslide victory in 2015, the NLD waited until January 2019 – almost three years after taking office – to begin implementing its election campaign pledge to reform the constitution. The NLD took a similar approach to that adopted by Thura U Shwe Mann in his capacity as speaker of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw during the USDP government, and appointed a constitutional amendment joint committee, which was tasked to prepare a draft bill to amend the charter.
The unelected Tatmadaw MPs objected to the 45-member committee as being unlawful. While the NLD was trying to draft a constitutional amendment bill that incorporated the opinions of all parties in the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, USDP and Tatmadaw MPs submitted five of their own amendment bills. In early February, the NLD-controlled joint bill committee finalised two amendment bills and sent them to parliament for debate alongside the five USDP and military bills. One bill contains changes that would also require approval at a national referendum, while the other contains those changes that only require Pyidaungsu Hluttaw approval. We can learn from these seven bills about the changes sought to the constitution by the NLD and ethnic parties on one side, and by the Tatmadaw and USDP lawmakers, on the other..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National and State constitutions, draft constitutions and amendments (commentary), Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties, The Military's political role
Language:
Local URL:
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Summary:
"In 2010, the first elections were held in Myanmar after 22 years of direct military rule.
Most Western observers had decided in advance that the polls would be a travesty. The
regime had been...
Description:
"In 2010, the first elections were held in Myanmar after 22 years of direct military rule.
Most Western observers had decided in advance that the polls would be a travesty. The
regime had been sanctioned and isolated following its refusal to transfer power to the
winner of elections held in 1990, the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung
San Suu Kyi. Instead the regime had pursued its own, visibly flawed “roadmap to
democracy.” The 2008 constitution was largely designed by the military and was imposed
through an implausible “referendum” – a 93.8% “yes” vote on a 98% turnout – in the
middle of a major natural disaster, Cyclone Nargis. The NLD boycotted the 2010
elections, though smaller opposition parties did participate. Unsurprisingly, the militarybacked Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) secured approximately 60% of
the seats in both houses of parliament and captured all but one of the regional assemblies,
while the military took 25% of the seats in both national-level assemblies and one-third in
all the regional assemblies, as mandated by the constitution. Little change was expected
from what appeared to be a purely superficial exercise.
Yet, one year later, major reform was underway. The NLD had triumphed in byelections in April 2012, bringing Aung San Suu Kyi into parliament. Peace talks had begun with ethnic-minority insurgents. Peaceful gatherings and trade unions had been
legalised. Internet censorship eased..."
Source/publisher:
Journal of Contemporary Asia
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties, The Military's political role, The Burmese military's role in the economy
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
174.47 KB (27 pages)
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Description:
"Scholars at the University of Oslo (Norway) and Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia) have
since 2012 conducted collaborative research on “Power, Welfare and Democracy (PWD)”,
based on previous studies with research organisations in civil society, and funded by the Royal
Norwegian Embassy in Jakarta. The PWD project has examined the character and challenges
of democratisation in Indonesia, and how it relates to power relations and social welfare in
society. The project has included a baseline survey on the development of democracy; a
thematic study on politics of citizenship; a thematic study on welfare regimes; a thematic study
on local regimes; and comparative anthropological studies of UN-REDD+ (Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). As this research project comes to an
end in 2017, a two-days conference will be held at the University of Oslo to summarise major
findings and to discuss the implications for domestic and international policy making..."
Source/publisher:
University of Oslo (Norway)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
700.88 KB (164 pages)
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Description:
"Myanmar’s history has been intertwined with the issues of postcolonial state building
since it gained independence from British colonialism in January 1948. The policies and
administration pursued by the British proved instrumental in deterioration of contact and
cooperation between the diverse ethnic peoples of Myanmar while ethnic conflict was
fostered.
1
The historical struggles of ethnic minorities for recognition and representation
are vital to understanding the current transition to democracy and struggles for
legitimacy in Myanmar.
Undoubtedly, the initial phase of independent Myanmar, following the assassination of
General Aung San on the eve of independence, was characterized by unstable but
occasionally democratic governments punctuated by interventions by the Myanmar
military. The last significant bid for democracy ended, however, following a military
coup by General Ne Win on 2 March 1962.
2
The new military ruler led the country, first
under his Revolutionary Council and then under his Burma Socialist Programme Party
(BSPP), into a 26-year era of isolation following his ‘Burmese way to socialism’, an
admixture of Buddhist, Marxist and nationalist principles that ethnic minorities in the
country interpreted as ‘Burmanization’, which saw Myanmar decline “from a country
once regarded as amongst the most fertile and mineral rich in Asia to one of the world’s
10 poorest nations.”3..."
Source/publisher:
Southeast Asia Research Centre (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
692.19 KB (27 pages)
more
Description:
"The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has expanded its senior management in a move the party says will facilitate its preparations for the 2020 general election.
The military proxy opposition party has appointed two vice-chairs and three additional members to its central executive committee, the party said at a press conference on Friday. “The election is drawing near, and as we need to campaign on a wide scale, we have reinforced with two vice-chairpersons,” said USDP spokesperson Dr. Nanda Hla Myint.
The new vice-chairs are former national police chief U Khin Yi and former Minister of the President’s Office U Hla Tun.
U Hla Tun facilitated the transfer of power from the previous government, led by the USDP, to the current National League for Democracy (NLD) government following the 2015 election. Dr. Nanda Hla Myint said the USDP has appointed U Hla Tun as vice-chair in the hope that he will facilitate the process again if the USDP wins the election.
U Hla Tun is also a retired major general and served as an ordnance director before the USDP government leadership appointed him minister of the President’s Office. U Khin Yi was the chief of the Myanmar Police Force and is a retired brigadier general of the Myanmar military. He served as the Union minister for immigration and population in the USDP government..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties, The Military's political role, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Military enterprises, ostensibly set up to feed and supply soldiers,were some of the earliest and largest Burmese commercialconglomerates, established in the 1950s. Union Myanmar EconomicHoldings Limited (UMEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation
(MEC) are two profit-seeking military enterprises established by
the military after the dissolution of the Burma Socialist Programme Party in 1988, which remain central players in Myanmar’s post-2011 economy.• Military conglomerates are a major source of off-budget revenuefor the military and a main employer of retired soldiers. Yet
few veterans receive more than a small piece of the profits
from UMEHL. The vast bulk of formal dividends instead
disproportionately benefit higher ranking officers and institutions
within the Tatmadaw. Military capitalism entrenches the autonomy of the Tatmadawfrom civilian oversight. Despite this, obligatory or semi-coerced
contributions from active-duty soldiers are a source of cash fow for
UMEHL, effectively constituting a transfer from the government
budget to the military’s off-budget entities. The most significant
source of livelihoods support for most veterans is the service pension dispersed by the Ministry of Finance and Planning (MoPF).• Despite delivering suboptimal welfare outcomes for most soldiers
and veterans while eroding the legitimacy of ceasefires, successive
governments since 1988, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s NationalLeague for Democracy (NLD) administration, have entrenched military capitalism by encouraging commercial activities of armed
groups that enter into ceasefire agreements..."
Source/publisher:
Yusof Ishak Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.55 MB (49 pages)
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Sub-title:
Nation building processes in tumultuous times
Description:
"The study of the role historiography and public memory play within nation-building processes in
Southeast Asia continues to see a steady rise of interest with scholars, governments and in
growing numbers also the public eye. In face of continuous local resistance towards national
integration, the struggle to define a national identity by converting multiple pasts into a single
national narrative remains crucial to authoritarian and post-authoritarian regimes alike. The
question of belonging to one nation has yet to be resolved by various communities throughout
the region (Aung-Thwin M. , 2012). Especially Myanmar’s challenged government tries hard to
create a general Myanmar identity that includes not only the Bamar majority, but also all of the
people living on Myanmar territory – with the current exclusion of the Muslim Rohingyas.
1 This
nation-building attempt is naturally on terms of the government. The streamlining of regional or
ethnic histories and narratives poses new threats and worries to the already suspicious minorities
amidst the pacification and reconciliation attempts of Naypyitaw. Successive regimes and leaders
have tried to both exploit the ideological groundwork laid in the dynastic, colonial and
independence eras and to develop innovative new strategies to convince Myanmar’s inhabitants
to overlook what divides them and prioritize what they have in common (Metro & SalemGervais, 2012)..."
Source/publisher:
Dr. Martin Großheim
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties, The Military's political role, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.21 MB (47 pages)
more
Description:
"Myanmar President Win Myint on Thursday warned the country’s powerful military to limit its involvement in politics, citing a mandate issued decades ago by independence hero General Aung San, during a ceremony inaugurating a new statue of the general and father of leader Ang San Suu Kyi in the capital Naypyidaw.
Touching on a sensitive fault line in Myanmar politics as the country prepares for year-end elections, Win Myint said that Aung San issued a directive that members of the armed forces should refrain from participation in government administration, politics, and political party activities.
“I have read that he issued guidelines for the Burmese revolutionary military that they were not to interfere in the administration or in politics, while the military officers and soldiers were not to interfere in political parties and administrative activities,” he said in a speech marking what would have been Aung San’s 105th birthday.
“They are to work on the unity of the state,” Win Myint added.
Myanmar’s military known as the Tatmadaw, ran the country for five decades after a 1962 coup. Its political power is enshrined in the 2008 constitution drafted by the then ruling military junta, and efforts to amend the charter remain an uphill battle.
Military lawmakers who are appointed, not elected, control a quarter of the seats in parliament and retain a critical veto over proposed constitutional amendments. The military also controls three security and defense ministries..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, Burma/Myanmar's political parties, Panglong Peace Conference
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The current government, led by the National League for Democracy (NLD), is not the first to attempt to amend the undemocratic 2008 Constitution. In 2013, its predecessor, led by the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), gave it a try. But the USDP’s two-year attempt—widely viewed as lacking the will for genuine reform—ultimately proved fruitless, failing to amend even a single article of the Constitution.
Since it was launched early last year, the NLD’s push for constitutional reform has faced strong resistance from unelected military lawmakers and their allies in the USDP. Despite strong public support for charter change, the success of the NLD’s effort is far from guaranteed. The main hurdle for constitutional reform is the effective veto wielded by the military, for which the Constitution reserves 25 percent of Parliament seats. Under Article 436, proposed changes to the charter require the support of more than 75 percent of lawmakers, meaning no change is possible without military approval.
Let’s look at the differences between the USDP and the NLD’s approaches to charter change. On July 25, 2013, the then-ruling USDP established a joint committee with 109 members from all parties in Parliament to examine the country’s Constitution and consider changes to it..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties, The Military's political role
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Hundreds of Myanmar nationalists rallied in the country’s commercial capital on Sunday in a show of support for the military, amid tensions between the civilian government and the army ahead of elections expected later this year. Around a thousand protesters marched from Yangon’s famed Shwedagon pagoda to City Hall downtown to accuse the administration of Aung San Suu Kyi of allegedly failing to protect the country’s Buddhist majority and for proposing constitutional amendments that would reduce the power of the military.
The proposed reforms have led to tensions between Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and military lawmakers, who hold a veto over amendments. Speaking at the rally, nationalist activist Win Ko Ko Latt criticized those planning to push through the reforms, comparing them to the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China.
“We can see how deadly the Wuhan virus is,” he said, referring to the Chinese city where the outbreak was believed to have originated. “I declare from here that those people who are trying to change (the constitution) are more frightening than the Wuhan virus.”
Government spokesman Zaw Htay and NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt did not respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, Campaigns, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Exiled Activists in Myanmar's Political Reforms
Description:
"Myanmar’s tumultuous post-colonial history has been characterized by
decades of direct and indirect military rule and corresponding political
mobilizations that have ranged from armed ethnic and ideological
insurgencies to mass protests, student movements, and non-violent
pro-democracy uprisings. The nationalization and mismanagement of
the economy, the militarization of the state, political surveillance and
oppression, and the closure of universities are all factors that have triggered
the flight from Burma of millions of Burmese. Several main waves of exit
can be distinguished, following major political events—(1) the 1962 military
coup; (2) the installation of direct rule by the Burma Socialist Programme
Party in 1974 and the U Thant funeral crisis; (3) the 1988 mass uprisings;
and (4) the 2007 “Saffron Revolution” protests, respectively. The largest o the extreme sensitivity surrounding this subject, in the past very few
organizations inside Myanmar were able to operate openly on human rights
issues. Exile organizations based in Thailand and India are widening the
scope of their existing capacity-building initiatives for the documentation
of local human rights issues and improving the knowledge and skills of
those who defend human rights, while also expanding their (underground
and above-ground) networks across the country..."
Source/publisher:
Kerstin Duell
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
213.52 KB (15 pages)
more
Summary:
"The political landscape of Myanmar has changed signifcantly since
former dictator Than Shwe paved the way for a series of wide‐ranging
reforms in 2011. A nominally civilian government was sworn in...
Description:
"The political landscape of Myanmar has changed signifcantly since
former dictator Than Shwe paved the way for a series of wide‐ranging
reforms in 2011. A nominally civilian government was sworn in and
political prisoners were freed. Most visibly, long‐term opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi has ascended to power after her long‐banned
opposition party – the National League of Democracy (NLD) – won
the historic elections of 2015 by a wide margin. The country’s vibrant
civil society also benefted from the lifting of restrictive laws on media
and public mobilisation. Despite these remarkable transformations,
Myanmar’s transition has seemingly slowed down and the space for
progressive social and political action has contracted once again.
Particularly worrying is the situation in the country’s borderlands, where long‐running sectarian conficts have escalated since 2011. In
order to understand the challenges that persisting authoritarianism,
state violence, and civil war pose to civil society in Myanmar, this article
situates contemporary social and political action within a historical
analysis of political transition. It asks about: (a) the nature of political
transition in Myanmar, (b) the challenges that the trajectory of political
transition poses for civil society actors, and (c) the implications for
international development and peace‐building initiatives.
This article argues that Myanmar’s political transition should not
be understood as a process of democratisation that is driven by
pro‐democratic forces and which might eventually lead to liberal
democracy. Viewing the country’s transition through the lens of
democratisation is not only misleading but deeply problematic.
Political reforms were planned and executed by the country’s military:
the Tatmadaw. The emergent hybrid civil–military order safeguards
authoritarian rule and military dominance. This top‐down nature
of political transition poses signifcant challenges for civil society. In
combination with fragility and confict, liberalising the public sphere
has not only benefted progressive social and political action but has also
enabled the growth of uncivil society,3 whose pursuit of exclusionary
identity politics fuels sectarian violence..."
Source/publisher:
IDS Bulletin
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Sustainable/alternative development in and for Burma, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
222.04 KB (22 pages)
more
Summary:
"There are about 3 million migrant workers from Myanmar in Thailand, with perhaps an additional million dependent family members. Some 2 million of these people are officially registered with the...
Description:
"There are about 3 million migrant workers from Myanmar in Thailand, with perhaps an additional million dependent family members. Some 2 million of these people are officially registered with the Thai authorities. A large proportion are from ethnic nationality communities, such as the Mon, Karen, Karenni and Shan, who have suffered disproportionately from decades of conflict and violence in Myanmar. In many cases, they fled to neighboring Thailand in desperation, because their livelihoods and basic security were threatened at home.
In the 2015 elections, only 20,000 overseas Myanmar citizens voted—of whom 19,000 were living in Singapore; only 600 people voted in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, where there is a Myanmar consulate. Myanmar overseas workers were effectively disenfranchised. In 2015 this fact was little noted, amid the euphoria of a National League for Democracy (NLD) win after decades of military rule in Myanmar. In the interests of equity, and to ensure that the 2020 election results are deemed credible by minority communities, it is crucial that the forthcoming polls are seen to be free and fair.
Therefore, the Union Election Commission (UEC) should establish procedures for overseas-based Myanmar citizens to vote. At a minimum, arrangements should be made for them to vote at Myanmar embassies abroad. In order that the elections are seen as just and inclusive, such an initiative should be broader and permit migrant workers to vote in or near their place of work, as it is expensive and potentially illegal and risky for migrant workers in Thailand (for example) to travel to Bangkok, if they are not based there..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, The Military's political role, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Legislation under consideration, adopted, amended or repealed
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The military-appointed home affairs minister, Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, will resign from government and return to the army pending approval from the president, government spokesperson Zaw Htay said Friday.
“The president has been informed of his resignation,” Zaw Htay said at a press conference in Naypyitaw. “He will proceed according to the constitution.”
The home affairs ministry is one of three whose ministers are nominated by the commander-in-chief, rather than the President. The other two ministries are border affairs and defense.
Zaw Htay declined to say who would replace Kyaw Swe. “You will know when it is announced,” he said..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The Military's political role, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant General Kyaw Swe will retire from his post, an anonymous government source confirmed to The Irrawaddy.
The source told The Irrawaddy that there will be a change...
Description:
"Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant General Kyaw Swe will retire from his post, an anonymous government source confirmed to The Irrawaddy.
The source told The Irrawaddy that there will be a change in the home affairs minister position and that the order will be issued soon. Lt-Gen. Kyaw Swe turned 60 in November 2019 and has reached the retiring age for civil servants in Myanmar. He will have to submit a request for retirement to the President and then seek the approval of the Union Parliament.
Under the 2008 Constitution, three ministries—Defense, Home Affairs and Border Affairs—are controlled by the Myanmar military, known as the Tatmadaw. The heads of the three ministries are nominated by the military chief and the President appoints them with the approval of the national legislature.
Chief of Military Security Affairs Lieutenant General Soe Htut and Chief of Bureau of Special Operations Lieutenant General Aung Soe are both possible nominees to become the next home affairs minister..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
The Military's political role, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Increasing conflict between Myanmar’s ethnic armed groups and government forces during the last year has increased civilian casualties amid mounting allegations of war crimes.
With the U.N.’s International Court of Justice order that the country "take all measures within its power" to prevent any acts of genocide against ethnic Rohingya Muslims, who fled the country amid a bloody military crackdown in 2017, other ethnic minorities that have been fighting for decades over control of resource-rich territory are coming forward to voice their concerns over past documented atrocities, also carried out by the Myanmar military. The mountainside village of Pain Lone in Shan State was the site of such conflict last fall between government forces and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, an armed ethnic group based in the region, panicking students scrambling for cover as their afternoon classes were ending.
"The sound of the helicopters was very terrifying and the loud explosions falling around the village were terrible,” recalls local instructor U Maung Chone, who teaches in the remote mountain settlement.“
It doesn’t matter if they are falling in the town or just in the area. The explosions were very frightening for the kids,” the 45-year-old said, adding that he’d never seen army helicopters in more than two decades of teaching..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The Military's political role, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Burma/Myanmar's Foreign relations, general
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s military continued to carry out serious human rights violations in 2019, while the government made no progress addressing the pervasive impunity of soldiers who committed abuses, London-based Amnesty International said Thursday in a new report on repression in Asia.
The military’s violations included war crimes in Kachin, Rakhine, and Shan states where government forces have been engaged in armed conflict with ethnic armed groups, the rights organization said.
Civilians, state lawmakers, and local officials have reported soldiers detaining and sometimes torturing villagers suspected of aiding the enemy or of being rebel fighters themselves in the conflict zones, especially in northern Rakhine state.
“The military committed serious violations against civilians, including unlawful attacks, arbitrary arrests, torture and other illtreatment, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and forced labor” in Rakhine state, where government forces have fought the rebel Arakan Army (AA) in heightened hostilities over the past year, the report said.
“Many of them constituted war crimes,” it said..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, The Military's political role, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Organizing a national-level political dialogue before the next peace conference will be one of the key issues to discuss during next week’s meeting between the government and the ethnic armed...
Description:
"Organizing a national-level political dialogue before the next peace conference will be one of the key issues to discuss during next week’s meeting between the government and the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) that signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA).
The national dialogue began in 2017 but not all the signatories were able to convene. These included the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) because of objections from the Tatmadaw (military) about the location and the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) in Rakhine State, citing security concerns. The RCSS and ALP were missing from the dialogue in 2017 and 2018 and their input was therefore missing from the process to establish a federation.
With the formal peace process stalled, the national political dialogue has been abandoned for nearly two years.
Sai Ngern, the head of the EAOs’ negotiation team on the political dialogue framework and a secretary of the RCSS, said every NCA signatory “must be able to organize the national-level political dialogue under a new framework”.
“We tentatively plan it to be able to hold talks in late March. It will be on the agenda of the talks with the government on Jan. 28-29,” he told reporters after the 10 NCA signatories’ Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) meeting in Chiang Mai on Saturday..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, The Military's political role, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Myanmar’s parliamentary committee tasked with proposing changes to the 2008 Constitution has finished drafting two amendment bills.
Nearly 30 members from the National League for Democracy (NLD)...
Description:
"Myanmar’s parliamentary committee tasked with proposing changes to the 2008 Constitution has finished drafting two amendment bills.
Nearly 30 members from the National League for Democracy (NLD) and various ethnic parties on the committee approved the amendment bills on Monday. But all military representatives on the committee were absent from the meeting, said the committee’s secretary U Myat Nyana Soe, an Upper House lawmaker from the NLD. The Constitution Amendment Committee — the mechanism that the NLD and ethnic parties chose for reforming the military-drafted Constitution — was formed last February with 45 members from 14 political parties, independent representatives and members of the military bloc in Parliament.
The NLD holds 18 seats on the committee, the military has eight and the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) was given two.
The USDP, Arakan National Party and the National United Democratic Party quit the committee late last year. The military rejected the existence of the committee and its works as unconstitutional. Meanwhile, the military members submitted two amendment bills and three bills jointly with the USDP to the Parliament last year..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National and State constitutions, draft constitutions and amendments (commentary), Legislation under consideration, adopted, amended or repealed, The Military's political role, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"January 4 marked the 72nd anniversary of Myanmar’s independence from Britain. The civil war in which the country – a patchwork of diverse ethnic regions, with mutually incomprehensible languages,...
Description:
"January 4 marked the 72nd anniversary of Myanmar’s independence from Britain. The civil war in which the country – a patchwork of diverse ethnic regions, with mutually incomprehensible languages, unerasable regional identities and distinct political histories – was born has come a full circle.
It is noteworthy that modern Myanmar was not the creation of nationalists. It was born out of the external shock of the Second World War and the dissolution of external colonial powers. Few Myanmar nationalist historians have acknowledged this historical fact, for it fundamentally and effectively undermines the nationalist historiography that typically glorifies and exaggerates the contributions of the ethnic-Burmese (Bama) nationalists – particularly State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s father and the Tatmadaw (military), originally a fascist proxy created by Japan as part of its wartime design against British rule in colonial Burma. Today, being an important site of the geopolitical rivalries among external powers, including China, India, the US and Japan, coupled with multiple domestic ethnic fault lines, Myanmar faces the very real prospect of another external shock, more than at any point in the country’s seven-decade post-independence history..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Kachin State, The Military's political role, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"Tthere have been demonstrations in Yangon, Mandalay and other cities amid public disgust at a Myanmar Police Force news conference held after charges were dismissed against the defendant in the “...
Sub-title:
The “Victoria” child rape case has laid bare the institutional failings of the Myanmar Police Force at a time when the government is also asking questions about the force’s conduct.
Description:
"Tthere have been demonstrations in Yangon, Mandalay and other cities amid public disgust at a Myanmar Police Force news conference held after charges were dismissed against the defendant in the “Victoria” toddler rape case.
The case concerns the rape of a two-year-old girl at a private nursery school in Nay Pyi Taw last year, who was later dubbed Victoria as part of a social media campaign.
There has been dissatisfaction over the way the police had handled the case since it came to light last May, but this turned to anger when senior officers revealed at the December 19 news conference the name and address of the victim and her parents, in apparent breach of the Child Rights Law.
The news conference came a day after the Dekkhina District Court in Nay Pyi Taw dismissed charges against Ko Aung Kyaw Myo (aka Aung Gyi), a driver employed by the supervisor at the school the girl attended, because of a lack of evidence. There was also public anger that documents relating to the case were posted on the MPF’s “Ye Zarni” Facebook page on the day of the news conference, before being taken down.
The public protests against the MPF came after State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi met senior MPF officers in Nay Pyi Taw on December 18 and urged them to be loyal to the government. In a wide-ranging speech, Aung San Suu Kyi also spoke about the deterioration of law and order in Rakhine State, the different roles of the MPF and the Tatmadaw, corruption within the MPF, narcotics trafficking, and the need for the MPF to take steps to build public confidence in its ability to provide security and peace..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Rule of Law - global and regional, Rule of Law - Burma/Myanmar-specific, The Military's political role
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Rohingya rebels who had been holding him for weeks said he died during military attacks on Christmas Day
Description:
"An official from Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party was killed in Rakhine state after planning a show of support for the leader’s defense of Myanmar against genocide allegations at The Hague, a spokesman said Thursday.
The National League for Democracy’s Ye Thein, party chairman in Buthidaung township, had been held for weeks by the Arakan Army, insurgents fighting for more autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.
The rebels said he was killed in military attacks on Christmas Day but the claim could not be verified and NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt said the group bore responsibility. Ye Thein was detained on December 11 ahead of demonstrations backing Suu Kyi’s high-profile opening statements at the UN’s top court the same day.
“We, all members of NLD, are very sorry for the loss,” Myo Nyunt told AFP. “His gathering to support her was righteous and it was not a crime.”
The Arakan Army has carried out a series of daring kidnappings, bombings and raids against the army and local officials in Rakhine state.
Myanmar’s military has hit back hard, deploying thousands of additional soldiers to the western state and carrying out what Amnesty International called enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial executions..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Discrimination against the Rakhine, The Military's political role
Language:
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Description:
"With its ubiquitous presence, expansive mandate and long history within the military-led Ministry of Home Affairs, the General Administration Department (GAD) has been Myanmar’s paramount government agency, acting as the backbone of public administration. News of its removal from Home Affairs and placement into the Ministry of the Office of the Union Government last December shocked many — widespread belief prevailed that the reassignment of GAD was a red line that the military would not tolerate an elected government crossing. Removing a key department from a military-led ministry is notable, but there is more to be done. The National League for Democracy (NLD) government should think critically about how governance can be reformed to steer the country towards its goals of peace and full democracy.
For the NLD government, the GAD’s transition represents the most important public sector reform since democratic transition began in 2011. For State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, the removal of the GAD from Home Affairs demonstrates that significant structural reform can be achieved under an NLD tenure, even reform that demilitarises the state apparatus by placing key departments under full civilian control.
The GAD’s power within government derives from its role in convening, communicating and coordinating across ministries rather than through its own executive decision-making power. Essentially, it is the ‘process manager’ over a large swathe of the country’s public administration. With the GAD transfer, the Office of the Union Government now has full control of the country’s paramount agency of administration..."
Source/publisher:
"East Asia Forum" (Australia)
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The Military's political role, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
37.34 KB (3 pages)
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Description:
''Two years since Myanmar’s most prominent constitutional and human rights lawyer Ko Ni was assassinated in broad daylight and still there is no justice in sight.
The lack of closure is all the more telling considering Ko Ni had high-level ties to the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party and was working from behind the scenes to amend a constitution that gives disproportionate political and administrative powers to the military. Ko Ni was shot and killed on January 29, 2017 while leaving a terminal building at Yangon’s international airport upon his return from a trip overseas. Kyi Lin, the gunman, was captured at the scene after a struggle in which he also shot and killed a taxi driver, Nay Win, who heroically ran after the assailant.
Ko Ni’s burial in accordance with Muslim rituals, was carried out within 24 hours of his death. At his funeral, the road to the Muslim cemetery in Yangon’s North Okkalapa suburb was lined with cars, minivans and buses as thousands of people came to pay their last respects....''
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Popular participation rights: reports of violations in Burma, National and State constitutions, draft constitutions and amendments (commentary), Rule of Law - Burma/Myanmar-specific, The Military's political role
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''“This brazen killing of a prominent democracy advocate demands a rigorous State response to show this type of crime will be fully punished,” said Frederick Rawski, the ICJ’s Director for Asia and the Pacific.
Despite an official investigation and reports of more than 100 court hearings, nobody has been held accountable for U Ko Ni’s death – criminally or otherwise – and the circumstances have not yet been satisfactorily explained.
“Myanmar simply cannot satisfy its international law obligations without conducting an impartial and independent investigation that is free of military influence. Such an investigation is a pre-requisite for conducting an effective prosecution in a fair trial setting,” added Rawski.
U Ko Ni was well known as a vocal advocate for human rights and democratic reform in Myanmar. As an adviser to the National Legal of Democracy party, he was involved in creating the position of State Counselor, which formalized a leadership role for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, despite a constitutional provision barring her from the Presidency...''
Source/publisher:
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Date of publication:
2019-01-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National and State constitutions, draft constitutions and amendments (commentary), Rule of Law - Burma/Myanmar-specific, The Military's political role, Popular participation rights: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
Local URL:
more