September 2022 - Page 3 of 4 - Investigative Journalism Reportika

Newly arrived Rohingya refugees say hundreds want to leave Myanmar

Hundreds of people were waiting to cross into Bangladesh from Myanmar, a small group of newly arrived Rohingya told BenarNews, amid fierce fighting close to the border that has sparked diplomatic protests over reports of artillery and mortar shells landing in Bangladeshi territory. One of the new arrivals said he saw “several hundred” people clustered along a river that separates Cox’s Bazar district in southeastern Bangladesh from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, and who were trying to cross the frontier several days ago. It was not immediately clear what happened to those other people apparently displaced by intense clashes in recent weeks between Burmese junta forces and Arakan Army (AA) rebels. In Bangladesh, where the government has tightened security along the border amid the violence in Rakhine, authorities have not confirmed reports of any new refugee arrivals or influx into Cox’s Bazar. Meanwhile, a Rohingya leader said that at least five Rohingya fleeing Myanmar had arrived at a Cox’s Bazar camp in recent days. “Two Rohingya families of five people, including two infants, have taken shelter at the Lambasia camp in Ukhia,” Muhammed Jubair, secretary general of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), told BenarNews. The adults were identified as Abul Wafa, his wife, Minara, and another woman, Dildar Begum. Wafa said they fled from Buthidaung in Myanmar on Sept. 6 as junta and AA forces clashed. “The junta started torturing the Rohingya in Buthidaung,” he told BenarNews. “That’s why we came to Bangladesh to save our lives, but we are also hiding here.” “When we were entering Bangladesh, we saw several hundred Rohingya people, mostly women and children waiting to leave near the Naf River,” Wafa said. Two days earlier, on Sept. 4, the Foreign Ministry issued a news release expressing “deep concern” over mortars that reportedly landed on the Bangladeshi side of the frontier the day before. The release noted that Myanmar Ambassador U Aung Kyaw Moe was summoned regarding the incident, just as he had been summoned on Aug. 21 and 28. “During the meeting, the ambassador was also told that such activities are of grave threat to the safety and security of the peace-loving people, violation of the border agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar and contrary to the good neighborly relationship,” the ministry said. On Tuesday, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said he expected firing inside Myanmar along the border to end soon. “We heard that a group called Arakan Army was fighting with the government forces inside Myanmar. When the government forces attack the Arakan Army, some shells land inside our territory,” he told reporters. “Our Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), as well as Foreign Ministry, have strongly protested the incidents by calling the ambassador of Myanmar.” Refugees’ accounts Jubair said Wafa and the others sheltered with a relative after arriving in Bangladesh before moving into another camp. Wafa said his group gave a boatman a piece of gold jewelry to carry them across the Naf River because they had no money to pay him. Dildar Begum, 22, said her husband, Syed Ullah, was killed by the “Mogh army” a month ago. She was referring to the Arakan Army although “Mogh” is a term that Rohingya also often use to refer to the Burmese military. “I fled with Wafa’s family to Bangladesh as there was no other option for me,” she told BenarNews. In Rakhine state, an official with the AA rebels denied that the group was targeting members of the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority. “The allegations on AA targeting Muslims are not just wrong but baseless accusations, because the fighting [in the state between Arakan Army and junta troops] has been more than a month,” Khine Thu Kha, a spokesman for the rebel group, told RFA Burmese. “We want to question back, did you guys see or hear any report of a Muslim killed or injured by the fighting? Did you hear any report or see anyone saying there was a shell or a bullet from AA falling in a Muslim village so far? Otherwise, it is just an accusation with other intentions to defame our organization.” Despite the claims made by the Rohingya, Md. Shamsud Douza, Bangladesh’s commissioner for Refugee Relief and Repatriation, said there was no official information about any new arrivals from Rakhine state infiltrating Bangladesh territory. “Clashes are occurring between two groups in Myanmar. It is very normal that it will create some tension on our border as a neighboring country,” he told BenarNews. “Our decision is very clear – we cannot allow even a single Rohingya to enter Bangladesh.” Robiul Islam, additional superintendent of police, said his unit was “not sure about a fresh entry of Rohingya but we are looking into the matter.” Sheikh Khalid Mohammad Iftekhar, a senior official of Border Guard Bangladesh, said the border police force had tightened security at the frontier to prevent any attempts by refugees to enter the country. From January to June, 478 Rohingya were denied entry and four were arrested, according to the BGB. Repatriation hopes A Rohingya who lives in Maungdaw, Myanmar, and asked to not be named for security concerns, said that the increasing conflict in the state had dampened Rohingya hopes for repatriation. “It will be difficult for them to return in this situation. The current situation will not allow them to come here,” the resident told RFA. “The situation here is not very good. There is no security. People here are fleeing to other areas because fighting is going on. In this situation, they will not be able to come back.” Fighting between the military and the AA resumed in July. Oo Maung Ohn, a resident of Maungdaw Township, blamed the resurgence in Rakhine State after a nearly two-year ceasefire on the junta. “Do you know why all this fighting resumed? They (the junta) closed the roads and started the fighting and they arrested many innocent people,” he told RFA. “They arrested village administrators, questioned them and hit them.” Rakhine State Attorney General Hla…

Myanmar’s people, shadow govt mourn UK monarch amid junta silence

Editor2 years ago2 years ago011 mins

Citizens of Myanmar reacted to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, who died last week at age 96 after 70 years on the British throne, with sadness on Monday, remembering the monarch as a champion of democracy and a source of comfort in the face of national adversity. Elizabeth’s reign began in 1952, just four years after the end of more than a century of British rule in Myanmar, at a time of strong anti-British sentiment in the fledgling Southeast Asian nation. Myanmar did not join the Commonwealth after independence, like most other former colonies. However, many Burmese remember her as overseeing improved bilateral relations that culminated in substantial support from London for democratic reforms in Myanmar under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government of Aung San Suu Kyi, prior to its ousting by the military last year. “The queen was part of the ruling class of the country that has continuously supported the cause of Myanmar’s democracy,” Thet Oo, a resident of Salingyi township in northern Myanmar’s Sagaing region, told RFA Burmese. “I wish for her to rise into heaven.” Khin Maung Nyo, a Yangon-based writer who previously studied in the U.K., told RFA that while the queen’s role was largely ceremonial, she was seen as a steadying and unifying presence. “People saw her as their guardian angel watching from above as a loving mother would or as a good ruler should. That’s why her subjects from all the 15 Commonwealth realms loved and respected her,” he said. “During the time I was in England, the country was having economic problems but the people struggled hard in unity. Though there are a lot of problems at the Palace, I’m sure Prince Charles will be able to steer the country, as King Charles III, out of danger.” The Burmese people can empathize with the grief currently felt by Britons, a Mandalay resident who requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFA. “I can see the entire British population is in grief because she had done many good deeds during her 70 years of rule. It’s sad to see them like this. Stories about their grief made me remember the time when our people were similarly in grief when General Aung San was assassinated [in 1947],” the Mandalay resident said, referring to Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, who was a revolutionary hero that many consider to be the founder of modern Myanmar. “Nobody would be grieving for those leaders who didn’t do any good for the country. Just look at [previous military rulers] Gen. Ne Win and Senior Gen. Saw Maung. Nobody was moved or sorry for them. People only grieve for good rulers,” he said. Junta silence Though the junta has remained silent on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) made a point of publicly showing condolences both at home and abroad, a NUG spokesman told RFA. The NUG’s Acting President Duwa Lashi La sent his official message shortly after learning of the queen’s death on behalf of the shadow government, formed by former lawmakers who were ousted by the junta in the Feb. 1, 2021 coup. “The prime minister has also sent a similar message on behalf of the NUG government, and our representative in Britain has, in person, signed the Book of Condolences,” said NUG spokesman Kyaw Zaw. The British government and the royal family have continuously supported the democracy movement in Myanmar and the queen had been, according to Kyaw Zaw, a “good friend” of Aung San Suu Kyi, the most well-known figure in the movement who served as State Counselor prior to the coup. The junta’s official newspaper reported on the queen’s death in its Sept. 9 issue. RFA attempted to reach junta Deputy Minister of Information Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment on why the junta, which claims to be Myanmar’s legitimate government, had not sent a message of condolence to London, but received no reply. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing sent such a message to the government of Japan after the assassination of its former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July. Post-coup relations Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayningha Strategic Studies Institute, made up of former military officers, told RFA that the junta likely chose to stay silent because Britain and the international community have been putting pressure on Myanmar since the coup. “Diplomatic relations with countries like Britain … have not been very good since February 1 [2021],” said Thein Tun Oo. “As you know, former British ambassador Vicky Bowman was also recently arrested [by the junta] and punished for meddling in Myanmar politics. So, politically, especially diplomatically, relations are not very good.” Last week, former U.K. Ambassador to Myanmar Vicky Bowman and her Burmese husband, Htein Lin, were sentenced to one year in prison each on immigration violation charges, which activists said were concocted by the junta. Authorities arrested Bowman, who served as ambassador from 2002-2006, and her husband, an artist and former political prisoner, on Aug. 25 for allegedly violating immigration laws and jailed them in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison. The arrests came after the U.K. announced a new round of sanctions against the junta. Than Soe Naing, a political observer, said the snub was a result of political and economic sanctions on the junta. “The British royal family stands with the democratic forces of the world who are fighting against the military dictatorship today and so, they have no reason to send a message of condolences to the death of a state leader of England which is putting all kinds of political and economic sanctions on the junta,” Tan Soe Naing said. “That’s why their papers only announce the news of the death. They have not acknowledged and expressed sorrow in any way,” he said. The British government has consistently supported Myanmar’s democracy since the 1988 military coup. When Aung San Suu Kyi, whose late husband was a British national, was released from house…

Cambodian psychiatrist calls award reason ‘to work even harder’

Editor2 years ago06 mins

Cambodian psychiatrist Chhim Sotheara, one of four winners of this year’s prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, was surprised to learn he had won the award and didn’t know he had been nominated to receive it, he told RFA in an interview this week. “At first, I didn’t believe it, because I hadn’t applied for it,” Sotheara said. “I thought at first it was an online scam,” he said. “This is a valuable award. Only a few people in Asia have received it, and it is an honor for our country, as Cambodia will be recognized through the award,” Sotheara said. The award also acknowledges the efforts he and his NGO have made over the last two decades to help the people of Cambodia, he said. “All our employees are so happy, and this will encourage us now to work even harder to deserve having received the award,” he added. Established in 1958 and named after the Philippines’ seventh president who died in a plane crash a year earlier, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is considered Asia’s most prestigious prize. It honors people across the region who have done groundbreaking work in their fields. Also receiving the award this year are Filipina pediatrician Bernadette J. Madrid, French anti-pollution activist Gary Bencheghib, and Japanese ophthalmologist Tadashi Hattori. All four are expected to attend an awards ceremony in Manila Nov. 30. Sotheara, 54, was among the first generation of psychiatrists to graduate in Cambodia after the 1975-79 period of Khmer Rouge rule that killed an estimated 1.7 million people and left many thousands of survivors deeply traumatized, many of them living in remote rural areas of the country. Now executive director of Cambodia’s Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO), Sotheara developed the concept of baksbat, or “broken courage” — a post-traumatic state of fear, passivity and avoidance considered more relevant and particular to the Cambodian experience. Sotheara Chhim meets with a patient in a rural area of Cambodia, in an undated photo. Credit: Sotheara Chhim Underserved rural areas Switching to clinical psychiatry after working for a time as a surgeon, Sotheara later quit his job at a state hospital after he was approached for help by a patient coming from a remote community and became aware of the needs going unmet in Cambodia’s countryside. Sotheara’s NGO now delivers treatment directly to people’s homes and communities, he said. “When I help one patient, I also help his family and community, because when one person experiences mental issues, we need to treat the whole family.” Many Cambodians experience mental health problems, and Sotheara’s TPO has not been able to respond to all their requests for help, he said. “But since we started, we’ve improved a lot.” There were only 10 psychiatrists at Sotheara’s own graduation, he said. “Now we have around 100 psychiatrists, but we can’t answer all the demands made of us because many of those experts like working in the city, and not many work out in the communities.” Around 80% of Cambodia’s population live in rural areas, and service must be provided to those people, he added. Also speaking to RFA, TPO employee Taing Sopheap said she has worked with Chhim Sotheara for the past 15 years and has seen him sacrifice himself both physically and financially to carry out his NGO’s work. “If a case is urgent and important, he will work on it regardless of the cost in time to his team or to other cases,” she said. Translated by Samean Yun for RFA Khmer. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Weeks after tropical storm Ma-On batters northern Laos, residents struggle to recover

Editor2 years ago010 mins

Two weeks after tropical storm Ma-On battered Southeast Asia, northern Laos is digging itself out of the devastation, as authorities contend with damaged infrastructure, inundated farmland, and hundreds of displaced people at risk of disease from lack of access to clean water. The ninth named storm of the 2022 Pacific monsoon season, Ma-On formed over the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 18 and became a severe tropical storm by Aug. 23, before slamming into Mainland Southeast Asia on Aug. 25. The storm brought heavy winds and rain to the region, and triggered flash floods in Vietnam and Laos. While the storm had mostly dissipated by Aug. 26, its impact on impoverished Laos – with its limited capacity to rebuild in the aftermath of natural disasters – was profound. Among the worst hit areas in northern Laos was Oudomxay province, where on Thursday, Provincial Governor Bounkhong Lachiemphone described the destruction as “massive” in an interview with the official Lao National Radio. “The most devastated area is La district, followed by Nomor district and Xay district, where a lot of basic infrastructure such as roads, bridges, the power grid, hospitals, health clinics, schools, farms, and irrigation systems are damaged or destroyed,” he said. “Our residents’ livelihoods are severely affected, especially in La district where more than 100 homes were swept away, and more than 500 others were damaged. Livestock are dead. Farmland – especially rice and produce fields – are covered with mud and debris.” Residents of Oudomxay province watch recovery efforts in the aftermath of Ma-On tropical storm. Credit: Radio and Television of Oudomxay province Bounkhong said damage from the storm in the three hardest hit districts had surpassed 150 billion Lao kip (U.S. $10 million) and that resources have been stretched thin as authorities continue with recovery efforts. “Right now, we have employed 300 soldiers to help build shelters and repair damaged homes for the displaced,” he said. “We’ve had to rely on donations from domestic and international organizations.” Khamseng Ali, the head of the Public Works and Transportation Department of Oudomxay province, estimated that repairs to 49 roads and 44 bridges damaged in flooding caused by Ma-On would cost at least 60 billion Lao kip (U.S. $3.8 million). “This is the worst flood in 37 years in our province,” he said. An official with the Public Works and Transportation Department in Xay district, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told RFA Lao that National Route 13 North, which cuts across northern Oudomxay from the border with Luang Namtha province in the west to the border with Luang Prabang province in the east, had been severed in several places. Highway 2E, which runs from the capital of Oudomxay to the border with Phongsaly province to the northeast, is also damaged in multiple stretches as the result of landslides and flooding, he said. “Many sections of the highways have become impassable,” he said, adding that recovery crews are “repairing them as we speak.” Humanitarian efforts hampered The devastation has severely hampered humanitarian efforts, according to health workers in the province, who told RFA that people displaced by the storm lack access to clean water and are vulnerable to disease. “More than 1,000 people flocked to our hospital from Aug. 31 to Sept. 8,” said a health worker in Oudomxay’s Namor district. “These sick people are from the 13 worst-affected villages … in Namor district. Most of them are children who are suffering from high fevers and diarrhea. Our health workers have also traveled to the affected villages and advised residents to only drink boiled water, eat thoroughly cooked food, sleep under mosquito nets, and wear masks.” The health worker told RFA that many victims of the storm are also suffering from the flu, which has spread quickly within displaced communities. “Our hospital spent 200 million kip (U.S. $12,700) to buy medicine, but much of it was damaged by flooding,” he said. “Now, the hospital has run out of money and medicine, so we’ve had to request more funding from the provincial government.” A resident of Namor’s Tangdoo village told RFA that there is no longer running water in the area and said at least 20 residents are sick from flu and diarrhea. “Those whose toilets weren’t washed away by flooding must use water from wells or creeks to flush them,” said the resident, who declined to be named. “When our village was flooded, there was a landslide too. The irrigation system is broken. Now we must fetch water for cooking and sewage.” Motorists traverse a road inundated by flooding in Oudomxay province. Credit: Radio and Television of Oudomxay province Displaced at risk A health worker in Oudomxay’s La district told RFA that the flu is rampant. “For treatment of flu, our district hospital and health centers in affected villages have run out of medicine,” the worker said. “The sick who come to the hospital have to buy their own medicine at the private pharmacy. We haven’t received any additional funding for extra medicine despite the increasing demand.” An official with the Oudomxay Provincial Health Department said authorities are scrambling to assist those in need, but acknowledged that recovery efforts are slow-going. “Several areas were buried by landslides during the flooding and all of the water networks – including the irrigation systems – in Namor and La districts are damaged and in need of substantial repairs,” the official said. Ma-On’s impact on northern Laos came days after authorities released water from nine upstream dams in the provinces of Phongsaly, Luang Prabang, Xayaburi, and Vientiane. Residents told RFA at the time that the release flooded their homes, places of work, and farms, forcing many to escape to higher ground. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Residents of Oudomxay province avoid a large sinkhole caused by heavy rains. Credit: Radio and Television of Oudomxay province

Safety violations likely caused high death toll in Vietnam karaoke bar blaze

Editor2 years ago08 mins

The death toll resulting from a fire at a karaoke parlor in southern Vietnam that claimed 33 lives earlier this week was likely made worse due to the owner’s disregard for safety standards and the failure of clientele to follow orders to flee the building, sources said Friday. The blaze broke out on Tuesday evening at the An Phu karaoke parlor in Binh Duong province’s Thuan An city while as many as 70 people were inside the four-story building, according to state media reports, which said firefighters were able to bring the fire under control within an hour. Several people jumped from the building to escape the flames, injuring themselves in the process, while others were able to descend rescue ladders, the reports said. Parts of the building collapsed during the fire, which killed 17 men, 15 women, and an unidentified person who sustained injuries during the incident and later died in the hospital, officials said at a news conference on Thursday. VnExpress quoted Provincial Police Director Col. Trinh Ngoc Quyen as saying that customers had ignored employees who entered the rooms where they were singing and ordered them to flee. Most of the clientele had been drinking alcohol, he said, and most of the rooms were locked from the inside. Officials said that the building had passed a safety inspection and that the cause of the fire had yet to be determined. On Friday, a resident of the area told RFA Vietnamese that while intoxication likely contributed to the high number of deaths, the owners of karaoke parlors and other similar establishments often ignore safety codes. “It’s frightening, everyone is scared of dying in case of a fire at the karaoke bars,” said the resident, who asked to be identified as “Mr. T.” “All permits granted to the karaoke bars require that fire safety requirements be met. But in reality, the owners build as many rooms as they can in multi-storied buildings because space isn’t cheap in the city. If a fire starts higher up there’s a chance to get out, but if it starts on the ground floor and rises, there are no exits to escape.” Mr. T said that the confusing layout at the An Phu karaoke parlor caused customers to panic. “The lack of exits is why the number of deaths was so high,” he said. “It is a natural reaction to run into a hiding place when you see fire, and that also led to some deaths. Some of them died because they locked the door to their room, while others ran up to a higher floor and jumped. I learned that some of those who jumped were hospitalized, but died in the hospital.” Fire department trucks line up outside a karaoke parlor following a fire in Thuan An city, Vietnam, Sept. 7, 2022. Credit: VNA via AP Violations likely Nguyen Van Hau, a Ho Chi Minh City-based attorney with the Vietnam Lawyers’ Association, agreed that safety violations were likely to blame for many of the deaths at An Phu. “The central government has issued a number of decrees about fire issues,” he said, suggesting that local authorities have failed in implementing them. He acknowledged that the customers at the karaoke parlor likely ignored warnings to flee, but said the establishment’s owner and city officials bear responsibility for the tragedy. “The fire authority should regularly carry out inspections after granting permits, especially when any new construction is done,” he said. “Furthermore, the management was not trained in how to react in case of a fire. The right to run a karaoke bar is contingent on making safety preparations.” The manager of a store that sells fire equipment in Ho Chi Minh City, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity, said that fires at karaoke parlors and other venues that use significant amounts of power are typically caused by an electrical short. He said that while officials had yet to conclude their investigation of the An Phu blaze, the chain of events suggests safety protocols had been skirted. “The preliminary report about the fire by the Binh Duong Police said that the An Phu karaoke bar met all fire prevention requirements, but the guests continued to sing after the fire started,” he said. “This suggests the building did not automatically cut off the electricity and there is a question of whether the fire alarm system even worked or not. There are a number of things to be examined, including whether there were lights at the exits and an emergency sprinkler system in the rooms and hallways.” In 2016, a fire at an eight-story karaoke parlor in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi killed 13 people after spreading to several nearby buildings. Translated by An Nguyen. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

WeChat warns users their likes, comments and histories are being sent to China

Editor2 years ago2 years ago09 mins

The Chinese social media platform WeChat is warning users outside China that their data will be stored on servers inside the country, RFA has learned. A number of overseas WeChat users received a notification on Sept. 6, warning that “personal data [including] likes, comments, browsing and search history, content uploads, etc.” will be transmitted to China. The notification also reminds users that their behavior while using the app is subject to WeChat’s licensing agreement and privacy policy. A YouTuber living in France who gave only the pseudonym Miss Crook said she was shocked to receive a French translation of the same message. “I clicked through and … this message popped up, so I automatically clicked cancel,” she said. “It’s becoming clear what the difference is between a democracy and a dictatorship.” She said the move would likely affect large numbers of Chinese nationals and emigres living overseas. “Overseas Chinese have become very dependent on WeChat, but is it really that important?” she said. “We can actually stop using it completely, so we shouldn’t let them confuse us. It’s really not that important.” Faced with mounting international concern over privacy protection, WeChat said in September 2021 that it had “separated” its data storage facilities for domestic and international users, asking overseas users to re-sign the terms and conditions to keep using the app, which many people rely on to send money to people in China, make purchases in Chinese yuan, and stay in touch with friends and family. Former Sina Weibo censor Liu Lipeng said the move was largely a cosmetic one, however. “Last year … WeChat re-signed its agreements with all overseas users, but everything on there except for one-to-one chats have to use WeChat protocols,” Liu said. “So the moment you click OK, you are back in [the Chinese version] again.” “Everything you write is still available [to the Chinese authorities], so it’s basically sleight of hand. Nothing has changed,” he said. “You are a still a WeChat user.” U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao said WeChat’s parent company Tencent is already required under China’s Cybersecurity Law to assist the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with any data it says it needs, as are all of the other internet service providers and social media platforms in China. “The Chinese government has always used WeChat inside China as a tool to control society and censor speech, which is part and parcel its program of high-tech totalitarian control,” Teng told RFA. “It has also always used WeChat as a way to export its censorship beyond its borders, to the United States and other countries,” he said. “Western countries should consider re-evaluating WeChat as a threat to national security, data security, personal privacy and so on,” Teng said. “[They] cannot allow China’s censorship system to extend into the West and all around the world.” Growing concerns Concerns have been growing for some time over overseas censorship and surveillance via WeChat, with the U.S. banning any U.S.-based individuals or entities from doing business with Tencent, and rights activists describing it as a “prison” that keeps overseas users within reach of CCP law enforcement operations. Launched by Tencent in 2011, WeChat now has more than 1.1 billion users, second only to WhatsApp and Facebook, but the company keeps users behind China’s complex system of blocks, filters and human censorship known as the Great Firewall, even when they are physically in another country. The app is also used by China’s state security police to carry out surveillance and harassment of dissidents and activists in exile who speak out about human rights abuses in the country, or campaign for democratic reform. And it’s not just Chinese nationals who are being targeted. In May 2020, researchers at CitizenLab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto warned that anyone using WeChat, even if they have lived their whole lives outside China, is “subject to pervasive content surveillance that was previously thought to be exclusively reserved for China-registered accounts.” Documents and images transmitted entirely among non-China-registered accounts undergo content surveillance wherein these files are analyzed for content that is politically sensitive in China, the report, titled “We Chat, They Watch,” said. The report warned of “very serious” security and privacy issues associated with WeChat and other Chinese apps, and called on app stores to highlight risks to users before they download such apps. And a recent report detailing massive amounts of user data collected by TikTok also sparked privacy concerns around the hugely popular video app, which is owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance. In a technical analysis of TikTok’s source code, security research firm Internet 2-0 found the app, which is the sixth most-used globally with forecast advertising revenues of U.S. $12 billion in 2022, was “overly intrusive” and data collection was “excessive.” While TikTok claims user data is stored in the U.S. and Singapore, the report found evidence of “many subdomains in the iOS app scattered around the world,” including Baishan, China. As of September 2021 TikTok had more than one billion active users globally, 142.2 million of whom are in North America. The report found that TikTok makes use of a number of permissions considered “dangerous” by industry experts. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

UN experts urge action on findings of Uyghur abuse in China

Editor2 years ago09 mins

A collection of human rights officials on Wednesday said the international community must not ignore the systematic abuses allegedly perpetrated against Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and repeated a call for the U.N. Human Rights Council to review the charges. The more than 40 experts, comprising U.N. special rapporteurs, independent experts and members of working groups under the U.N. Human Rights Council, issued their call in response to a damning report issued on Aug. 31 by former U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, finding that China’s repression of the predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.” Bachelet, who traveled to Xinjiang in May, issued the overdue report on rights abuses in the region on the day she concluded her four-year mandate as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. The report states that “serious human rights violations” have been committed in Xinjiang in the context of the Chinese government’s application of counter-terrorism and counter-“extremism” policies and practices. China’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. Office at Geneva dismissed the report, saying it ignored the human rights achievements by people from all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and the damage caused by terrorism and extremism to the human rights of all ethnic groups there. But the U.N. experts supported the report’s conclusions on abuses in Xinjiang, highlighting the finding that “the extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim minorities … may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,” according to a news release issued by U.N. Human Rights Special Procedures in Geneva. The experts also drew attention to the report’s finding of “credible allegations of patterns of torture or ill-treatment, including forced medical treatment and adverse conditions of detention, as well as incidents of sexual and gender-based violence including invasive gynecological exams, and indications of coercive enforcement of family planning and birth control policies,” the news release said. The experts, who have mandates to report and advise on human rights issues, also repeated a call from June 2020 for the Human Rights Council to convene a special session on China to address allegations of arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and restrictions on movement, freedom of religion and freedom of expression on the premise of national security. The Human Rights Council should consider establishing a panel of experts to closely monitor, analyze and report annually on the human rights situation in China, the group of U.N. experts said. They also recommended that the U.N. General Assembly or secretary-general consider the creation of a special envoy. U.N. member states, U.N. agencies and businesses should demand that China fulfills its human rights obligations, the experts said. Since 2017, Chinese authorities have ramped up their repression of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities, arbitrarily detaining up to 1.8 million people in internment camps and committing severe human rights abuses. Credible reports by rights groups and the media documenting the widespread abuse and repression have prompted the United States and some parliaments of Western countries to declare that the Chinese government’s action amount to a genocide and crimes against humanity. ‘We have to name it’ When asked for comment on the experts’ remarks, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, told RFA that he had nothing to add to what he said about Bachelet’s report during a regular press briefing on Sept. 1. At the news conference, Dujarric said Guterres had read the report and that it confirmed what the secretary-general’s position that the Uyghur community in Xinjiang must be respected without discrimination. “The secretary-general very much hopes that the government of China will take on board the recommendations put forward in the assessment by the high commissioner for human rights,” he said at the time. Nury Turkel, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan and independent federal government body, said he was “thankful” that the U.N. experts are acknowledging an obligation to address the Uyghur issue. “This comes years too late, but is a good step forward,” he told RFA. “No member state can say that they didn’t know or can escape the brutal reality of active genocide in China.” Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, called the U.N. experts’ calls “highly timely as the U.N. has no excuse not to act in light of the release of the Uyghur report by the U.N Human Rights High Commissioner.” Alexis Brunnelle-Duceppe, a member of Canada’s Parliament, said he wanted the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take a stand for human rights and condemn China for its maltreatment of Uyghurs. “What I’m asking from this government, the Canadian government, is to … ask the U.N. to send a special envoy to Xinjiang and to stop being weak in front of China when it comes to crimes against humanity, when it comes to genocide,” he told RFA. Though Canada’s House of Commons voted overwhelmingly in February 2021 to declare China’s repression of the Uyghurs a genocide, the country’s government has not issued that determination. “This is a problem. If you want to solve a problem, you have to name it, and we’re in front of a genocide right now. We have to name it,” he said. Translated by Alim Seytoff for RFA Uyghur. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Court charges 4 Thai ex-park officials in Karen activist’s 2014 murder

Editor2 years ago09 mins

A Thai court formally charged a former senior park ranger and three subordinates suspected of killing an ethnic Karen activist eight years ago before it released them on bail, a move that human rights defenders criticized on Tuesday. Former chief ranger Chaiwat Limlikhit-akson and his former staffers at Kaeng Krachan National Park pleaded not guilty to five charges on Monday in connection with the 2014 disappearance and death of Porlajee Rakchongcharoen (also known as Billy), a member of the Karen tribal community that is stateless in Thailand. The Bangkok Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases then released each of the four on 800,000 baht (U.S. $21,815), according to Prayuth Petchkoon, a spokesman for the prosecution. The justice ministry’s Department of Special Investigation brought the charges against the former officials who had worked at the park in Phetchaburi province near the Thai-Myanmar border. “For this case, we prepared the indictment as suggested by the DSI,” the spokesman told reporters after the four suspects appeared before the court. The charges are premeditated murder, unlawful detention, concealment of a corpse, intimidating the victim using weapons and misconduct, Prayuth said. The court specializes in prosecuting state officials and others implicated in offenses related to bribery, intimidation, coercion and other malfeasance. Chaiwat, who now works as a senior conservation administrator for the government in Ubon Ratchathani province, denied all allegations. Bunthaen Butsarakham, Thanaset Chaemthet and Kritsanaphong Chitthet are the others who were charged and released. “I have never arrested any ethnic suspects. I affirm my innocence,” Chaiwat told reporters outside the court. “I have never conducted any acts as accused. “At first, I felt disheartened, but I knew it was better to get justice [through the court]. … It will be good to get a clear answer for the community.” BenarNews could not immediately reach Billy’s widow, Pinnapha Phrueksapan, for comment. It is important to keep a public spotlight on the case so the Thai judicial system has integrity and the DSI and the Attorney General’s Office can bring out the truth in court, a human rights activist said. “This is the first trial of an enforced disappearance case in Thai history,” Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, director of the Cross-Cultural Foundation, a local human rights organization, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news service, on Tuesday. Another rights advocate questioned the decision to grant bail. “Government investigators and civil society groups have repeatedly expressed serious concerns that former park chief Chaiwat Limlikhit-akson and his associates have both the power and influence to intimidate witnesses, so it’s extremely worrisome these four suspects have been released on bail,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch. Authorities must protect witnesses and monitor Chaiwat and his accomplices, Robertson told BenarNews, adding that Thai officials should recognize “the importance of ensuring a free and fair trial that holds accountable those found responsible, regardless of their position or status.” In a news release posted on its website last month, the New York-based global watchdog group alleged that the investigation into Billy’s killing had “suffered from a cover-up.” The four defendants are expected to return to court for arraignment on Sept. 26. This week’s court action follows the approval by the Thai legislature last month of a bill to criminalize state-sanctioned acts of torture and enforced disappearance. It must be published in the Royal Gazette before taking effect in December. Karen activists hold signs and pictures during a rally calling on Thai authorities to speed up the investigation into their missing colleague, Porlajee Rakchongcharoen outside the governor’s office in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, April 22, 2014. Credit: AP Photo Disappearance Billy, who fought for land rights after Chaiwat allegedly sought to move ethnic people from Kaeng Krachan National Park, went missing on April 17, 2014, after park officers stopped him at a checkpoint while he was traveling to meet Karen villagers. Billy was to testify the next day in a case filed by Karen farmers against Chaiwat, the chief park officer at the time, and others. The locals alleged that the park officials had ransacked and burned their homes and properties in nearby Pongluek-Bangkloy in 2011. Kaeng Krachan, Thailand’s largest national park, is home to ethnic Bwa G’Naw people, also known as Karen, Kariang or Yang, who are members of a hill tribe scattered across Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. HRW said Billy was carrying case files and related documents when he was detained, adding those files were never recovered. Chaiwat was acquitted over insufficient evidence in 2014. Billy’s family sued Chaiwat for the disappearance, but the case was dismissed after a judge ruled there that there was not enough evidence to prosecute. The park ranger and his aides had told police they released Billy after questioning him for illegally gathering wild honey. Later, with the help of rights advocates, Billy’s widow lodged a new complaint asking DSI to reopen the case. In September 2019, DSI members found bone fragments in an oil tank submerged inside the national park reservoir. After DNA analysis confirmed the missing activist’s remains, officials issued arrest warrants two months later. The four turned themselves in to authorities in Bangkok. Citing a lack of evidence, a Thai public prosecutor in January 2020 announced that the charges against the four, including murder, were dropped. The case took a new turn when the current leader of the DSI assumed office. The Thai Attorney General’s Office announced last month that it would indict Chaiwat, leading to Monday’s court action. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.

Forged Gender Reports or Finland’s Hidden Misogyny?

Editor2 years ago2 years ago09 mins

Forged Gender Reports or Finland’s Hidden Misogyny? The world was divided in its opinion of Finland’s sitting Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s party photographs which took the internet by a storm a few weeks ago. A video of her got viral where she was seen drinking and dancing at a private party held in her official residence. She was widely criticized by one section of the society for indulging in behavior considered inappropriate for a public figure, particularly a Prime minister, while another section vehemently supported her right to have a private life and to enjoy with her friends in a manner than does not influence her work. The fact that a discussion such as this is taking place with regard to behavior considered appropriate for a woman, raises questions on Finland’s otherwise immaculate image as a feminist haven. Finland has always been seen as a country that sets the trend for women rights. As early as 1906, it was the first country to extend voting rights to its female population, going as far as allowing them to contest elections, as long as they are not economically dependent on anyone else, a rule that was gender-neutral and applied to everyone. During the winter war, Finland’s military conflict with Russia (1939-1940), women entered the work force in large numbers to help pay of its massive war debts to Russia and they have not looked back since. Year-on-year, Finland is amongst the top scorers in various internationally published gender reports and indices. It ranks 5th in the EU on the Gender Equality Index. This year, Finland ranked second in the World Economic Forum published Global Gender Gap Report 2022. According to the report, it was the first in the world in educational attainment, second in political empowerment. Quite ironically, Prime Minister Sanna Marin in a speech to the UN in 2020 famously said, “Finland was the first country in the world to grant women full political rights, both the right to vote and the right to run for office”, giving her own example as the youngest woman head of government ever. Little did she know that she was soon to be the victim of Finland’s hidden but persistent misogyny that might be masked but is not eradicated as the country would have the world believe! These textbook examples that recommend Finland as a feminist country might not seem so convincing once one begins to scratch below the surface and analyze how lives remain largely gendered in both public and private spheres. In the work sphere, there still exists a segregation of fields considered to be either masculine or feminine. Even within fields that are considered to gender-balanced, there is witnessed considerable pay gap between men and women. According to the government’s own statistics, in all main levels of education, be it upper-level comprehensive to doctorate level, ‘the median pay of men exceeds the median pay of women by around 10 to 30 per cent’. The primary reason for this lower pay is linked to the fact that men and women complete their education in different fields, as discussed above. Other factors influencing this pay pattern are the lengths of careers, or the extra compensation given for overtime related to working hours. ‘Violence against women: an EU-wide survey’ conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2015) reported that Finland is the second-most violent country in Europe. The range of partner violence against women in Finland stood as high as 30-32% in 2015. It also falls in the category of countries with high rate of sexual and cyber harassment. During the #MeToo trend, there were a string of accusations that came from the country, confirming the normalization of violence and harassment against women in the Finnish society. According to a conference conducted by the government of Finland in 2019, it accepted the presence of ‘rigid gender-related conceptions, stereotypes, in all spheres of society, including working life, politics and the media’. These stereotypes are inherent within the Finnish society, coming out of deeply rooted attitudes, values, norms and prejudices. It quoted the Finnish Gender Equality Barometer 2017 that asserted that only half of the Finns were of the opinion that gender was irrelevant to the field of politics that is being addressed. These stereotypes invariably affect all aspects of life, be it job recruitment, education, or media. Gender issues within Finland also share a complimentary relation with other intersectionality including sexual orientation and ethnicity, creating a social environment that is non-inclusive. Finland is without doubt one of the better placed countries in terms of gender equality and providing a good life for women. The question is whether we want to be satisfied with ‘better’, and do we demand a world that is truly equal. At a time when the actions of a woman Prime Minister are so easily judged for misogynist reasons, what hope can one have for the common women citizens of Finland? Sources: https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2022/ https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2020/country/FI https://www.stat.fi/til/pra/2020/pra_2020_2021-10-11_tie_001_en.html https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2014-vaw-survey-main-results-apr14_en.pdf

UK will ‘bear consequences’ of new leader’s hard line on China: Chinese state media

Editor2 years ago2 years ago05 mins

Chinese state media hit out at newly elected Conservative Party leader Liz Truss over her statement that China represents a major threat to national security, as polling showed Truss will soon take over from outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Truss was announced as the party’s new leader amid a cost-of-living crisis after she beat former chancellor Rishi Sunak in a weeks-long internal contest for the ruling party’s top job, and the post of prime minister that comes with it. “Another statement of Truss during the campaign [was that] she might declare China a ‘national security threat’ to the UK,” the English-language China Daily said in an editorial on Monday. “Trying to divert domestic attention by exaggerating the ‘China threat’ and slamming other countries is like an old meme played by lame political talk show actors, which serves no purpose other than to expose the incapacity of such politicians in terms of their governance,” the paper said. “The easiest way is to pander to populism, but this will only bring about a more difficult fate for their countries,” the paper said. The two-month leadership contest left a power vacuum at the heart of the British government as incumbent Boris Johnson jetted off on at least two overseas vacations, having resigned in the wake of a cascade of ministerial resignations calling on him to go. Inflation is above 10 percent, with tens of thousands of workers currently striking for pay and conditions to keep up. Foreign secretary Truss, who has spoken of her admiration for late former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, summoned China’s ambassador to the U.K. for crisis talks over Beijing’s military aggression targeting Taiwan during the Aug. 2-3 visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “We have seen increasingly aggressive behavior and rhetoric from Beijing in recent months, which threaten peace and stability in the region,” Truss said in a statement at the time. She reportedly vowed to declare China “a threat to national security” if she won the leadership race. Improved ties unlikely The nationalistic Global Times newspaper, which has close ties to CCP mouthpiece the People’s Daily, said there was little reason to believe relations between London and Beijing would improve under Truss’ premiership. “With the country effectively drifting aimlessly without a government since former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced to resign after caroming from one scandal after another and subsequently going AWOL, the country needs pragmatism and practical policies, not outdated ideology,” the paper said. “Having designated China as a threat to the U.K.’s national security … holding to that stance when in office will not be in the U.K.’s best interests,” the editorial warned. It said plenty has changed since the Conservative government heralded a “golden age” in Sino-British relations in 2015. “In the hope of securing a trade deal with the U.S. to help extricate the U.K. from the jaws of the monstrous Brexit mess the country brought upon itself, being tough on China was seen as a way to curry favor with Washington,” the article said. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Month: September 2022