Myanmar mine protesters reject official report

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Opponents of a nearly $1 billion copper mine in northwestern Myanmar expressed outrage Tuesday over a government-ordered report that said the project should continue and that refrained from demanding punishment for police involved in a violent crackdown on protesters.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi chaired the investigation commission that produced the report, which was released Monday night. It could pose a problem for Suu Kyi by identifying her with the pro-growth policies of the government against the interests of grassroots people's movements.

President Thein Sein appointed the commission after police cracked down on protesters at the Letpadaung mine Nov. 29, leaving scores hospitalized with serious burns. Most of the people burned were Buddhist monks. Thwe Thwe Win, a protest leader, said Tuesday that demonstrations will resume.

"I am very dissatisfied, and it is unacceptable," she said. "There is no clause that will punish anyone who had ordered the violent crackdown. Action should be taken against the person who gave the order."

Suu Kyi is scheduled to travel to the mine area, in Monywa township, 760 kilometers (450 miles) north of Yangon, to talk with the protesting villagers Wednesday.

Protesters say the mine, a joint venture between China's Wan Bao mining company and a Myanmar military conglomerate, causes environmental, social and health problems and should be shut down.

The report said the operation should not be halted, even as it acknowledged that the mine lacked strong environmental protection measures and would not create more jobs for local people. The report said scrapping the mine could create tension with China and could discourage badly needed foreign investment.

Those seeking to stop the project contend that the $997 million joint venture deal, signed in May 2010, did not undergo parliamentary scrutiny because it was concluded under the previous military regime.

Many in Myanmar remain suspicious of the military and regard China as an aggressive and exploitative investor that helped support its rule.

"The commission should think about the welfare of their own people, poor local villagers, rather than good relations with China," Thwe Thwe said.

Aung Thein, an activist lawyer who works with the protesters, said the assertion that the contract should be honored to maintain good relations was "meaningless."

"Some people are afraid of China, but the people in general are not, and they don't feel any obligation toward China," he said.

The November crackdown was the biggest use of force against protesters in Myanmar since Thein Sein's reformist government took office in March 2011. The military junta that led Myanmar for the previous five decades frequently crushed political dissent.

The use of incendiary devices by the police in the middle of the night to break up the 11-day occupation of mine property had outraged many people, especially because most of the burned were Buddhist monks.

The authorities had said they used water cannon, tear gas and smoke grenades to break up the protest.

A separate, independent report released last month by a Myanmar lawyers network and an international human rights group said police dispersed the protesters by using white phosphorous, an incendiary agent generally used in war to create smokescreens.

The report released Monday acknowledged that smoke bombs containing phosphorous were used. It said the smoke bombs do not generally create a flame but the phosphorus in them can sometimes burn flammable materials within an 8-meter (8-yard) radius.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Tuesday the U.S. opposes the use of phosphorus to control crowds, and it has urged the government to ensure that its security forces exercise maximum restraint and protect the freedom of assembly in accordance with international standards.

Asked about how the incident reflects on the country's reforms, Nuland told reporters: "It's not secret that this is a work in progress in Burma." She said the U.S. would continue a "rigorous" dialogue on human rights with Myanmar, including on police conduct.

Senior police told the commission that they used the same smoke bombs during monk-led protests in 2007 — the demonstrations known as the Saffron Revolution — and they didn't cause any burns then. The commission faulted the police force for failing to understand how the smoke bombs worked and recommended that police receive riot-control training.

Aung Thein, who helped prepare the earlier independent report, said that police should have known the bombs could cause fires. "There is no excuse for ignorance," he said.

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Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.

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Christian protesters, police clash in Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Hundreds of Christians clashed with police across Pakistan on Sunday, a day after a Muslim mob burned dozens of homes owned by members of the minority religious group in retaliation for alleged insults against Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

Christians are often the target of Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws, which rights activists say are frequently used to persecute religious minorities or settle personal disputes. Politicians have been reluctant to reform the laws for fear of being attacked by religious radicals, as has happened in the past.

The plight of Pakistan's other religious minorities, such as Shiite Muslims, Hindus and Ahmadis, has also deepened in recent years as hard-line interpretations of Islam have gained ground and militants have stepped up attacks against groups they oppose. Most Pakistanis are Sunni Muslims.

The latest incident began Friday after a Muslim in the eastern city of Lahore accused a Christian man of blasphemy — an offense punishable by life in prison or even death. A day later, hundreds of angry Muslims rampaged through the Christian neighborhood, burning about 170 houses.

Authorities have arrested 160 suspected members of the mob, many of whom were identified through TV footage and photos published in newspapers, said police officer Abdur Rehman.

But it remains to be seen whether anyone will be held to account. Mob violence is not uncommon following blasphemy allegations, and police often round up large numbers of suspects. However, these arrests rarely result in actual convictions.

There have been no convictions related to a deadly attack on Christians in 2009 in the eastern city of Gojra that was also sparked by blasphemy allegations, the Express Tribune newspaper reported Sunday. Angry Muslims burned dozens of houses in Gojra, killing eight Christians — seven of them from one family trapped in a burning home.

No Christians were hurt in Saturday's attack in Lahore because they fled the area overnight before the mob arrived. But police were criticized for failing to prevent the mob from attacking the Christians' homes.

The largest demonstrations on Sunday were in Lahore and the southern city of Karachi. About 1,000 people protested in both places, and smaller demonstrations were held in the capital, Islamabad, and the adjoining city of Rawalpindi.

In Lahore, hundreds of protesters, some carrying large crucifixes, blocked a main highway as they pressed their demands for better compensation payments from the government, said police official Malik Awais. Police fired tear gas canisters and used batons to disperse the demonstrators and took six of them into custody, he said.

The protesters damaged several vehicles, uprooted a fence along the road and burned an electricity generator, Awais said. They also pelted police with stones, injuring seven of them, he said.

Government spokesman Pervaiz Rasheed promised the government would help the Christians rebuild their houses, but the protesters expressed dissatisfaction with the way the government was handling the incident.

"I have been robbed of all of my life's savings," said Yousuf Masih, standing outside his burned home. He said the government's announcement that it would give 200,000 rupees ($2,000) compensation to each family was a joke.

Awais said the protesters were demanding the government raise the compensation amount from 200,000 rupees ($2,000) to 1 million rupees ($10,000).

In Karachi, protesters blocked a road in a main market and damaged about 25 vehicles, said police officer Ali Raza. Some of the demonstrators also attacked 10 shops and looted valuables and cash, he said. Police beat back the protesters and fired tear gas to disperse them. At least two protesters were taken into custody, Raza said.

Police have taken the Christian man accused of blasphemy into custody pending an investigation. Those who attacked the Christian neighborhood are also being investigated for a range of offenses, including arson, robbery and insulting the feelings of the Christian community, said Rehman, the police officer.

Akram Gill, a local bishop in the Lahore Christian community, said the incident had more to do with personal enmity between the two men involved than blasphemy. He said the men got into a brawl after drinking late one night, and in the morning the Muslim man made up the blasphemy story as payback.

Once an accusation is made, it's difficult to get it reversed, partly because law enforcement officials and politicians do not want to be seen as being soft on blasphemers.

Two prominent politicians were assassinated in 2011 for urging reform of the law. The killer of one of the politicians was hailed as a hero, and lawyers at his legal appearances showered him with rose petals.

According to Human Rights Watch, there are at least 16 people on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy and another 20 are serving life sentences.

While Muslims are frequently accused of blasphemy, members of Pakistan's small Christian community are especially vulnerable to the accusations. Christians make up less than 5 percent of Pakistan's 180 million people and many hold low-paying jobs, such as cleaning and street sweeping.

Last year, there was a rare reversal of a blasphemy case against A teenage Christian girl with suspected mental disabilities who was accused of burning pages of the Quran. She was released after a huge domestic and international outcry about her treatment. A local Muslim cleric was arrested and accused of planting the pages in her bag to incriminate her, a rare example of the accuser facing legal consequences. However, he was later freed on bail.

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Associated Press Writer Rasool Dawar in Peshawar and Adil Jawad in Karachi, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

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2 killed as Bangladesh police, protesters clash

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Police across Bangladesh clashed Friday with protesters from Islamic political parties denouncing war crimes trials linked to the country's 1971 independence war, killing two demonstrators and injuring dozens of people, police and witnesses said.

The nationwide protests were held separately by Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamic party, and an alliance of 12 other smaller Islamic parties. Jamaat called the demonstrations to denounce the war crimes trials of its top leaders.

Earlier this month, a special tribunal convicted Jamaat's assistant secretary, Abdul Quader Mollah, of mass killings during the independence war against Pakistan and sentenced him to life in prison. Another eight leaders of the party are on trial on charges of atrocities during the nine-month war.

The alliance of 12 parties accuses the government of plotting to ban Islamic parties, an allegation denied by the government.

Even though the alliance does not back Jamaat, protesters from both sides mingled Friday in the capital, Dhaka, according to an Associated Press reporter and photographer at the scene.

In Jhenaidah town, 128 kilometers (80 miles) west of Dhaka, clashes between Jamaat activists and police killed one protester, said local police official Hasan-uz Zaman. He provided no further details.

Another protester was killed in Sylhet city, 192 kilometers (120 miles) northeast of Dhaka, when police opened fire on several hundred activists from the Islamic party alliance, a policeman said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the media. Dulal Chandra, a doctor at the state-run Sylhet Medical College Hospital, said a man arrived there dead from the scene of the violence.

In central Dhaka, police fired tear gas when about 2,000 stone-throwing members and supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami took to the streets and tried to overrun police barricades, witnesses said.

About 40 people, including 12 journalists, were injured in the Dhaka clashes, private television station Ekattor TV and ATN News reported.

The alliance of Islamic parties called a nationwide general strike for Sunday, accusing police of foiling their protests.

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