Violent Raid Breaks Up Myanmar Mine Protest
By THOMAS FULLER
Published: November 29, 2012
BANGKOK — Security forces in Myanmar
mounted a violent raid on Thursday against Buddhist monks and villagers
who have been protesting the expansion of a copper mine. The crackdown
was the largest since the civilian government of President Thein Sein came to power 20 months ago.
Gemunu Amarasinghe/Associated Press
A Buddhist monk was burned in the crackdown on a protest of a copper mine project. More Photos »
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Witnesses said dozens of monks and other protesters were injured when
the security forces used incendiary devices that set fire to protesters’
encampments outside the offices of the Chinese company in charge of the
project. The company has a partnership with the powerful military in
Myanmar, formerly Burma.
Photos from Burmese online news sites showed monks, who are highly
revered in the country and are often involved in political causes, with
singed robes stuck to their badly seared skin.
The raid came hours before Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate and leader of the opposition in Parliament, visited the city of Monywa, near the mine.
Her visit underlined the widespread support the protests had engendered across the country before the raid.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi told a crowd that she would try to find compromise
in the dispute. “I want to meet with both sides and negotiate,” she
said, according to The Associated Press.
Analysts said the brutal way that the crackdown was carried out could
hamper Mr. Thein Sein’s efforts to convince the country that his
government has made a clean break from the military governments that
ruled the country for five decades.
“There will be political consequences,” said U Thiha Saw, the editor of
Open News Journal and Myanma Danna magazine. “This may be the start of
an uglier phase for the government. Things may get a little more
complicated.”
The crackdown was conducted by security forces who have little
experience using modern crowd-control methods that are meant to minimize
casualties. During military rule, dissent was brutally repressed and
protesters on several occasions were shot to death in the streets.
In Thursday’s raid, security forces fired what one witness described to
The Associated Press as “black balls that exploded into fire” to
disperse the protesters, who had overstayed a Wednesday deadline set by
the government to leave the area.
Factory workers and villagers, both ethnic Burmese and members of
minorities, have taken advantage of new freedom under Mr. Thein Sein’s
government to carry out limited demonstrations and strikes in recent
months. The protests at the copper mine were by far the largest to
appear since the former military junta ceded power to civilians in March
2011.
By dealing so forcefully with the mine protests, the government risks
appearing to defend the vested interests of the old government. The
project is typical of the kinds of opaque deals often struck during
military rule that have enriched many of the country’s generals. The
military has been so deeply involved in business that it has its own
company, the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings, that is listed as a
part owner of the copper mine.
The deal between the military and the Chinese company, a subsidiary of a
state-owned Chinese arms manufacturer, to expand the mine was signed
two years ago when Mr. Thein Sein was prime minister under the military
junta.
According to an American diplomatic cable
made public by WikiLeaks, the deal was brokered by U Tay Za, a tycoon
who became rich through his connections to the military government,
especially the country’s former dictator, Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
The crackdown may also complicate the investment picture for China,
which has struggled with the perception that it is mainly interested in
extracting natural resources from Myanmar, not in aiding its
development.
The Global Times, a state-owned Chinese newspaper, published an article
Thursday, before the crackdown, that accused the West and advocacy
groups of instigating the protests against the mine project, and said
that shutting it down would be “a lose-lose situation” for the two
countries.
“Chinese companies’ investments in Myanmar are facing huge challenges,”
the article said. “What we see in the country is the inevitable impact
of its democratization.”
Anti-Chinese sentiment was a major factor in the cancellation of a hydroelectric dam project last year in northern Myanmar that would have exported electricity to China. The project was suspended after an outcry.
The raid on Thursday occurred in the predawn hours. Ashin Visara, a
28-year-old monk who was injured in the crackdown, said security forces
threw “explosive devices” into the areas where protesters were camped
out.
“That started fires at the protest sites,” he said. “And then they attacked us.”
U Nway Oo, a student activist from Monywa who assisted the injured, said
many protesters fled into the surrounding villages or the jungle.
“There were no medical personnel or ambulances around before the crackdown,” he said.
The mine, which is often referred to as Letpadaung, for the mountains
from which the copper is extracted, was initially operated by a joint
venture between the Myanmar government and a Canadian company, Ivanhoe
Mines. The Chinese company became involved two years ago. The expansion
project would displace inhabitants of two dozen villages.
The protests have been led in part by two young women, Aye Net and Thwe Thwe Win, who reportedly escaped arrest.
The crackdown is a setback for advocacy groups that focus on the crucial
question of land rights, an issue that is likely to become more
contentious as economic growth makes villagers’ land more attractive to
companies and property developers.
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