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Year: 2022

2 children among 6 Rohingya killed after escaping Malaysian detention center

Editor09 mins

Hundreds of Rohingya detained for two years in northern Malaysia escaped Wednesday following a pre-dawn riot, but six were killed by vehicles as they tried to cross a highway, in a tragic turn of events highlighting conditions at the country’s secretive immigrant detention centers. Close to 400 people had been recaptured by evening, officials said, while human rights groups called for a probe into what had provoked the unrest. They also demanded to know how many detention centers, where immigrants are held indefinitely and incommunicado, were operating across the country. “I have instructed the Royal Malaysia Police and the Immigration Department to conduct a detailed investigation of what caused them to act in such a way,” Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin said of the escapees late Wednesday. Multiple agencies from two states were working to track down more than 100 people still at large, he said. “All 528 detainees who escaped were ethnic Rohingya refugees transferred from a camp in Langkawi after being arrested for trespassing in Malaysian waters and violating the Immigration Act in 2020,” he said. Langkawi is an island group in the Strait of Malacca, off the coast of the northern Kedah state. Police in Bandar Baharu, Kedah were alerted to a riot and escape at the Sungai Bakap Temporary Immigration Depot at around 4 a.m., according to the state police chief, Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad. Prior to the riot, 664 people were housed there – 430 men, 97 women, and 137 children, he said. He told reporters that no serious injuries were reported during the riot and that its cause was under investigation. Detainees smashed a door and fence at the depot before making a run for it, he said, adding that the 23 security personnel on duty were quickly overwhelmed. “Because there were so many of detainees in a cramped space, things got out of control and the detainees took the opportunity to break out,” he told a press conference in Kedah. “The fatal accident involving the escapees happened about six to seven kilometers from the depot. Two men, two women, and two children (a boy, and a girl) were killed after being hit by vehicles when they tried to cross a highway while fleeing,” he said. Villagers living near the immigration facility said they were afraid to leave their homes with escapees still at large. “The detainees were everywhere, running out from the depot, and they headed to our village before they went into the bush,” a man who gave his name as Hashim told BenarNews. Another villager, Ahmad Husin, said they could be hiding in nearby palm oil plantations. Earlier, “some of them came to us looking for water because they were thirsty but no one dare to give them any because they were afraid of any untoward incident,” he told BenarNews. The Kedah police chief warned residents of nearby villages against helping the escapees, saying to do so was an offense punishable by law. ‘Traumatizing’ Tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and other countries to escape persecution in Myanmar, their home country, and dire living conditions in cramped refugee camps in Bangladesh. Malaysia, however, does not recognize refugee status. Since 2020, the country has rounded up thousands of refugees and housed them in crowded detention centers, in what the authorities say are measures to contain the spread of coronavirus. An estimated 180,000 UNHCR cardholders currently live in Malaysia, much higher than the estimated 38,000 in 2013. Jerald Joseph, a member of the Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), called on the country’s immigration authorities to allow representative from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to meet with the detainees. “The Immigration Department has to give access to UNHCR so they can determine whether the ones detained were really Rohingyas. If so, they should be freed like the 150,000 Rohingyas who are here in the country,” he said. For its part, Amnesty International Malaysia demanded the government fully and transparently investigate the events “including the desperate circumstances within Sungai Bakap immigration detention center that led to detainees trying to escape, resulting in the loss of six lives.” Suhakam should investigate how many temporary immigration detention centers are in existence across the country, Katrina Jorene Maliamauv, executive director of Amnesty International Malaysia, said in a statement. “Conditions at these immigration detention centers should be documented, given past incidences of human rights violations in immigration depots in Malaysia,” she said. She called indefinite detention “traumatizing.” “The government therefore needs to answer not only on the deaths of the six individuals but also why so many refugees, including children, are being detained,” she said. Yusof Ali, chairman of Kedah Rohingya Association, also appealed to the Malaysian government “to look into the Rohingya issue detained at the Immigration Depots in the country.” Asked why the breakout occurred, he said, “Maybe because they have been in there far too long. Some of them have temporary documents and UNHCR cards, but when they showed it to the authorities, the office in charge will arrest them and allege that the document or the card are fake. No other countries want to accept our ethnic group. It is now up to the Malaysian government’s discretion,” he said. Zul Suffian in Penang, Malaysia and Iskandar Zulkarnain in Kedah, Malaysia contributed to this report by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news service..

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Vietnam court jails 12 on subversion charges in trial described by lawyer as ‘flawed’

Editor05 mins

A court in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City on Monday sentenced 12 Vietnamese to prison terms of from three to 13 years on charges of supporting an exile group accused of attempting to overthrow the government in a trial described by defense attorneys as violating legal principles. Nine of the cases were drawn from separate parts of the country, jeopardizing standards of fairness in the trial, defense attorney Nguyen Van Mieng told RFA in an interview after the sentences were handed down. “This trial violated legal procedures, as it gathered nine cases from different provinces and cities and then combined them in a single trial,” Mieng said. “These 12 people had no relationships or links with each other,” he added. Defendant Tran Thi Ngoc Xuan, who received a 13-year prison term and was described by prosecutors as the most active member of the alleged plot, was acquainted with only two of the others brought to trial, Mieng said. “However, she had no close ties with either of them. They simply knew each other and did not work together as members of a team,” he said. Prosecutors had charged the group with “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the government” under Article 109 of Vietnam’s Penal Code and with recruiting others to join the Provisional Government of Vietnam, a U.S.-based opposition group described by Vietnamese authorities as a terrorist organization. Speaking to RFA, Mieng said however that the defendants had only thought they were joining projects aimed at helping the country’s poor. “In general, these 12 defendants are all poor and not well-educated,” Mieng said. “Therefore, when hearing from an online source about 18 programs providing land and houses carried out by the U.N. in cooperation with an ‘interim government,’ they registered their names and encouraged others to participate.” “And then they were arrested,” he said. Only Xuan declared her innocence at trial, with the others pleading guilty and asking for leniency from the court, Mieng said. Only Xuan had been able to hire a lawyer, while the other defendants were represented by lawyers assigned by the court, he added. Xuan, who has already spent two years in pre-trial detention, will now consider filing an appeal of her sentence, which must be filed within 15 days, Mieng said. Based in Orange County, California, the Provisional Government of Vietnam was founded in 1991 by former soldiers and refugees loyal to the South Vietnamese government that existed before the country’s takeover by North Vietnam in 1975. The group was designated a terrorist organization by Vietnamese authorities in January 2018 after group members in Vietnam were charged with a plot to attack Tan Son Nhat International Airport with petrol bombs ahead of a major holiday the year before. At least 18 Vietnamese have been jailed in recent years for alleged involvement with the group. Repeated attempts by RFA to contact representatives of the Provisional Government of Vietnam for comment have gone unanswered. Translated by Anna Vu for RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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I’ll never let go, Vlad

Editor01 mins

The sinking of the Moskva, Russia’s Black Sea fleet flagship, was the biggest wartime loss of a naval ship in 40 years. Despite the major embarrassment for Vladimir Putin and the vaunted Russian military, China’s Xi Jinping has maintained his embrace of his fellow strongman. Beyond the reputational damage to China from his alliance with Putin, analysts question whether Xi is getting accurate information about Russian battlefield failures, which may offer lessons for China’s military.

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Chinese police order residents to hand over passports ‘until after the pandemic’

Editor08 mins

Police in the central Chinese province of Hunan have ordered local residents to hand over their passports to police, promising to return them “when the pandemic is over,” amid a massive surge in people looking for ways to leave China or obtain overseas immigration status. A March 31 notice from the Baisha police department in the central province of Hunan posted to social media ordered employers to hand over the passports of all employees and family members to police, “to be returned after the pandemic.” An officer who answered the phone at the Baisha police department confirmed the report, and said the measure is being rolled out nationwide. “According to official requirements, [passports] must be handed over because of the pandemic,” the officer said. “It’s everywhere, not just Hunan. It’s across the whole country,” they said. “Anyone with a passport has to hand it over, not just people who have an employer.” “If people don’t hand them over … then they have to expect to be investigated,” the officer said. China’s zero-COVID policy of mass compulsory testing, stringent lockdowns and digital health codes has sparked an emigration wave fueled by “shocked” middle-classes fed up with food shortages, confinement at home, and amid broader safety concerns. The number of keyword searches on social media platform WeChat and search engine Baidu for “criteria for emigrating to Canada” has skyrocketed by nearly 3,000 percent in the past month, with most queries clustered in cities and provinces under tough, zero-COVID restrictions, including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Beijing. Immigration consultancies in Shanghai confirmed they have also been seeing a huge spike in emigration inquiries in recent weeks. Many clients are now looking for “a green card from a big country and a passport from a small country” to supplement their Chinese passports, a consultant who gave only the surname Liu told RFA. “Some clients also need a favorable exchange rate [with their destination country],” he said. “We have had nearly four times as many inquiries this year as this time last year.” He said most people are looking for a one-step process to achieve permanent residency, and don’t mind spending more of their savings to achieve it. “There are many who are applying to Turkey, because [you need to] buy a house for at least U.S. $250,000, which is between one and two million yuan,” Liu said. “There are rumors this will go up to U.S. $400,000 in May, so a lot of people are trying jump aboard the last bus before the price hike.” A Shanghai-based immigration consultant surnamed Shen said more and more people are applying now, as there is scant sign that the government will ease up on the zero-COVID policy. “You could maybe start by applying for permanent residency of another country, in case this escalates in future,” Shen said, referring to the order to hand over passports. Mao Runzhi The wave of interest in leaving the country has sparked memes around the Chinese characters “runzhi,” a satirical reference both to late supreme leader Mao Zedong and the English word “run.” “Mao Zedong’s [birth] name was Mao Runzhi, and he ran away at the most critical moment,” Xia Ming, professor of political science at New York’s City University, told RFA. “There is also the word run in English, as in run away.” Xia sees the current exodus as the peak of a wave of migration that began around five years ago, and cited recent news events like the woman found chained by the neck in the eastern province of Jiangsu as catalysts, along with the pandemic. “There are constantly cases of abduction and trafficking and missing persons,” Xia said. “Anyone could become that chained woman; it’s so random.” “Women and children are kidnapped and sold as sex slaves or for organ donations, and this has had a big impact on China’s middle classes,” he said. He said the Shanghai lockdown had also come as a huge shock to some of the most privileged people in Chinese society. “These people who used to live more comfortable lives than everyone else suddenly found themselves facing starvation overnight, and lost any sense of personal dignity,” Xia said. “This was a huge shock to the quietly successful middle class.” Taiwan-based Hong Kong commentator Sang Pu said people from Shanghai aren’t fleeing COVID-19 so much as their government’s draconian disease control restrictions. “Emigration is being driven by the CCP’s authoritarian approach to disease control and prevention, not by the virus,” Sang said. “The reason is a political one.” “But do their politics accord with those of the countries they are moving to? Not necessarily,” he said. “These people aren’t just refugees; they are looking for some kind of paradise where they can live freely, but they bring with them the legacy of authoritarian rule. We should stay vigilant.” He said if rich Chinese businesspeople and senior officials are allowed to flee overseas with money, this would effectively set up a tried-and-tested channel for money-laundering, as well as providing the CCP with a growing foothold overseas. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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China, Solomon Islands confirm they have signed security pact

Editor09 mins

China and the Solomon Islands have both confirmed they signed a controversial security pact that has sparked concerns about China’s rising influence in the Pacific region. The confirmation came as a U.S. delegation led by the National Security Council Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell was heading to Honiara to discuss regional security issues. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told parliament on Wednesday that the agreement with China was to help with the country’s “internal security situation,” referring to recent unrest that saw businesses and buildings burned and looted. The prime minister said the decision “will not adversely impact or undermine the peace and harmony of our region.” Hours before that, a Chinese government spokesman said that the pact is “part of normal exchanges and cooperation between two sovereign and independent countries” and does not target any third party. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters in Beijing that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Solomon Islands counterpart Jeremiah Manele officially signed the document “the other day.” China did not offer an explanation about whether the signed document is the final agreement. Neither party has revealed any details of the deal, with Sogavare saying it would be disclosed after a “process.” Kurt M. Campbell, the Biden administration’s coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, pictured official at the China Development Forum in Beijing, China March 23, 2019. At the time, Campbell was chairman and CEO of a consultancy, the Asia Group. Credit: Reuters. Lack of transparency Solomon Islands’ neighbors Australia and New Zealand have repeatedly voiced concerns since a copy of the draft agreement was leaked online in March. On Tuesday, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Pacific Minister Zed Seselja issued a joint statement saying “Australia is deeply disappointed by the signing” of the pact. “We are concerned about the lack of transparency with which this agreement has been developed, noting its potential to undermine stability in our region,” the statement reads. Seselja traveled to Honiara last week to urge the Solomon Islands prime Mminister not to sign the deal with Beijing, without success.  New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said her country was “saddened” that the Solomon Islands had made the pact. The U.S. also expressed concern over “the lack of transparency” in China’s security pact with the Solomon Islands, calling it part of a pattern of Beijing offering “shadowy” deals to countries, Reuters news agency reported. Two top U.S. officials for the Indo-Pacific region – Kurt Campbell and Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs – are currently in Fiji before traveling to Honiara to meet with the island nation’s leaders. Campbell said in January that the U.S. has “enormous moral, strategic, historical interests” in the Pacific but had not done enough to assist the region. Their trip has been criticized by China as having “ulterior motives.” “Several senior U.S. officials now fancy a visit to some Pacific island countries all of a sudden after all these years,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Wang Wenbin, pointing out that the U.S. Embassy in Solomon Islands has been closed for 29 years. This February, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Fiji to meet with Pacific island leaders, and announced that the embassy in Honiara would be reopened. The Chinese national flag flies outside the Chinese Embassy in Honiara, Solomon Islands, April 1, 2022. Credit: AP. Military presence China has maintained that Pacific island countries need to diversify their cooperation with other countries and “have the right to independently choose their cooperation partners.” “China is always a builder of peace and a promoter of stability in the South Pacific region,” Wang said. A draft copy of the security pact leaked onto social media in late March suggested there would be Chinese logistical hubs or bases in the island nation. One of the clauses says: “China may, according to its own needs and with the consent of Solomon Islands, make ship visits to, carry out logistical replenishment in, and have stopover and transition in Solomon Islands.” David Capie, director of the Centre for Strategic Studies at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, told RFA that the security pact would allow Beijing to set up military bases and deploy troops in the Pacific island nation, “marking the start of a much sharper military competition than anything we’ve seen in the region for decades.” Capie said that the agreement “would allow the People’s Republic of China to deploy police and military personnel to Solomon Islands with the consent of the host government, and potentially provide for refueling and support of Chinese ships.” U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said earlier this week that the U.S. is concerned that the agreement “leaves the door open for the deployment of Chinese forces on the Solomon Islands.” “We believe that signing such an agreement could increase destabilization within the Solomon Islands and will set a concerning precedent for the wider Pacific island region,” Price added. Analysts say a presence of Chinese troops in the Solomon Islands could raise the risk of confrontation between China and the U.S. and its allies, as well as challenge the U.S.-led vision of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific.”

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Bangladesh extends road near Myanmar, NE India to combat cross-border smuggling

Editor08 mins

Bangladesh officials on Tuesday announced an extension until 2024 for a road-building project in the remote Chittagong Hill Tracts and Cox’s Bazar, saying the improved infrastructure would help combat illegal smuggling across the nearby frontiers with Myanmar and India, among other uses. An army-run initiative, which was to have wrapped up in June 2021, is being extended to June 2024 and will more than double in price, to 38.6 billion taka (U.S. $448 million), they said. Bangladesh’s southeast has 210 km (130 miles) of land border with Myanmar and 330 km (205 miles) with India. Insurgents, such as the Arakan Army from Myanmar, have slipped across the porous borders, according to an analyst, even attacking Bangladeshi border guards on at least one occasion.    On Tuesday, the National Economic Council Executive Committee, headed by the prime minister, approved the updated proposal for the road system in the hilly and largely inaccessible southeastern region, Shahedur Rahman, the planning ministry’s spokesman, told BenarNews. He said the project, approved at an earlier committee meeting, was supposed to finish by 2021, but would end in June 2024 after the extension approval. The system is to connect all roads along the bordering areas of four southeastern districts and ultimately link with the region’s existing road system. According to a copy of the updated proposal obtained by BenarNews, the roads and highways department is to build a 317-km (197-mile) border road in three districts in the Chittagong Hill Tracts – Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban – and Cox’s Bazar district along its frontiers with Myanmar and northeastern Indian states. The hills and dense forest in the region hamper Border Guard Bangladesh efforts. In 2020, the government for the first time acquired two helicopters for the BGB along the southeastern border. “There is no road in this highly inaccessible and hilly region; our soldiers need to walk at least eight hours to cross 1 km. The distance between two BGB border outposts in this region ranges between 4 and 6 km, depending on terrain,” Lt Col. Foyzur Rahman, the BGB operations director, told BenarNews. “Construction of the border road would enable our soldiers to reach one outpost to another very easily and quickly, making guarding the border[s] an easier task. The smuggling of arms and narcotics would stop,” he said. ‘Many security considerations’ The original timeline for the road ran from January 2018 to June 2021 and set the project cost at nearly 17 billion taka ($197 million), according to the document. But that deadline passed before the project was finished – the government estimates more than 30 percent of the project has been completed. The new timeline runs through June 2024 and increases the cost. A.K.M. Manir Hossain Pathan, chief engineer of the roads and highways department, said his department had been constructing the border road system with assistance from the army’s engineering corps. “The border road involved many security considerations which the roads and highways department engineers are not supposed to be involved with. Therefore, we have been implementing the project through the Bangladesh Army,” he told BenarNews. “The inaccessible hilly terrain has slowed the implementation of the border road project. Getting machines, construction materials and the engineers and workers [to] the site is a herculean task so the project’s deadline has been extended to June 2024,” he said. In addition to the road project, the proposal calls for establishing improved communication links in Rangamati, Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Cox’s Bazar districts and “establishing government control in the bordering areas through heightening security measures.” Such measures would be used to combat the smuggling of illegal arms, narcotics and human trafficking at the border, it said. The proposal also says construction of helipads and security enclosures have been added to the original project. Cross-border infiltration Separatist groups have taken advantage of the rugged and remote terrain. On Aug. 25, 2015, a group of Arakan Army insurgents from the other side of the Myanmar border attacked BGB in Bandarban district, injuring two soldiers. The border road would benefit Bangladesh, said retired Maj. Gen. K. Mohammad Ali Sikder, a security analyst. “The terrain along the border in Chittagong Hill Tracts and Cox’s Bazar has been very tough and inaccessible. Exploiting this tough hilly terrain, the cross-border criminal syndicates carry out smuggling of arms, narcotics and other contraband while different separatist groups move freely between countries,” he told BenarNews. “The members of the Arakan Army very often enter Bangladesh territory from Myanmar as the BGB members cannot guard all the time, and the anti-Bangladesh groups easily cross into Myanmar,” he said. “After completion of the road, the movement of the criminals and separatist groups would stop.” BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.

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Rewards for jets, helicopters will test loyalty of Myanmar military: former soldiers

Editor010 mins

A reward program offered by Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) to junta soldiers who defect with jets, helicopters and other vehicles is likely to test the loyalty of the military’s lower ranks, according to former servicemen. Earlier this month, the NUG announced that it was offering cash rewards of up to U.S. $300,000 equivalent to any soldier who destroys an army, navy or air force assault vehicle or aircraft, or up to U.S. $500,000 to anyone who defects to the opposition along with one. Naing Htoo Aung, the permanent secretary of NUG’s Defense Ministry, said at the time that the rewards program is intended to provide “guarantees in life” for those soldiers who turn against the junta. “We have learned that there are many soldiers who want to defect from their units and join the people’s forces,” he said, adding that the military vehicles are being used to “attack the public.” “We hope this announcement will encourage them to defect more. We believe the rate of defection will increase every day.” Capt. Kaung Thu Win, a military officer who joined the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), agreed that rank and file soldiers are likely to jump at such an opportunity, although he acknowledged that it would be difficult for them to abscond with the vehicles intact. “It could be challenging to bring aircraft or fighter jets to another location. For example, fighter jets need a [special] landing strip. The helicopters are also limited in their range, depending on their capacity. Even tanks are difficult to take long distances,” he told RFA. “It is more realistic to expect them to destroy them. And they should only receive the rewards if they can show evidence that they have destroyed the vehicles and defected.” According to the NUG announcement, soldiers are eligible for cash rewards equal to U.S. $100,000 for destroying fighter jet fuel tanks, as well as weapon factories and storage facilities. Repeated calls to junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the rewards program went unanswered. Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayninga Institute of Strategic Studies, a group of former military officers from Myanmar, called the offer impractical and unrealistic. “There are several measures in place that make it difficult to steal military vehicles, let alone destroy them. There are hierarchies of command that monitor the members of each unit,” he told RFA. “To be frank, this announcement is just for propaganda purposes. When the opposition forces take up arms to fight, they will do anything to defeat the enemy, regardless of whether it is right or wrong. As for whether these tactics will work or not, it depends on their purpose and the impact they have.” Capt. Lin Htet Aung said that regardless of its impact on the outcome of the conflict, the NUG’s reward offer will cause soldiers from all levels of the military to question their loyalty to the junta. “This announcement could stir up the members of elite forces. Those who are operating the vehicles will have thoughts to consider. It will also stir up distrust among the members of the military,” he said. “The military is already facing a moral crisis and losing loyalty among its members. The top ranking officers will strictly punish any infraction that occurs after this announcement.” According to Pyithu Yinkwin (People’s Embrace), a group of CDM members made up of former military personnel, nearly 3,000 soldiers have joined the CDM since the Feb. 1, 2021, coup that saw the junta seize power from the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) party.  Junta tanks take part in an Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2022. AFP Misuse of public property In a recent interview, NUG Defense Minister Yee Mon told RFA that the announcement of the rewards program was justified under Myanmar’s Public Property Act of 1947, which prevents against the “misuse of public property.” “The junta is currently misusing military facilities, which are public property, to wage violence against and kill the people,” he said, adding that the president of a new civilian government would put new laws into place to ensure such violations do not happen again. Yee Mon responded to critics who doubt the feasibility of NUG’s announcement by noting that “helicopters don’t need landing strips,” and suggesting “airports will be under PDF control sooner or later” to accommodate any stolen fighter jets. In the meantime, opposition forces — comprised largely of People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries — are being armed with “factory-made standard arms and IEDs that we made ourselves,” as well as weapons bought using a budget of U.S. $34 million, and others seized from junta troops. “We have enough weapons to meet the minimum requirements for the PDF forces,” he said, without providing further details. Yee Mon said that the armed opposition now numbers “between 50,000 and 100,000” soldiers from the PDF and other allied anti-junta groups formed into 259 military battalions, as well as fighting units based in 250 townships across the country. RFA was unable to independently verify the minister’s claims. “The majority of these groups are working with NUG … and we are ready to defeat the military junta,” he said. “Now we are working on the next step in terms of surrounding and controlling some towns.  The defense minister said that the NUG has no plans to negotiate with the junta, “as long as it upholds an authoritarian system and mindset.” “With regards to the future of the military, which is under its control, it is up to their soldiers to decide,” he said. “They can choose either to completely disband the military or reform it into forces that comply with the command of a civilian government. If the latter, the window for negotiations remains open.” Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Cambodian minor party leader on the run, wanted on fraud charges

Editor06 mins

The president of an unrecognized Cambodian political party who is on the run, facing an arrest warrant for forgery of documents for June local elections, is in a safe location, his lawyer told RFA Tuesday.  Critics said his charges were trumped up amid a government crackdown on the opposition. Seam Pluk, president of the National Heart Party, is in hiding in an undisclosed place, his lawyer Sam Sok Kong told RFA’s Khmer Service. His flight was revealed Monday, the same day a prominent activist fled to safety after receiving a death threat for joining street protests. Sam Sok Kong said his client is willing to appear before the court but fled because he didn’t have time to prepare for a hearing by April 25. He is waiting for the warrant to expire and the court to issue a new one. “He is planning to consult with lawyers about his legal issues and he is seeking to testify before the court. When he has a date, he will make it public so we can clarify before the court against the charge,” Sam Sok Kong said. Phnom Penh Municipal Court Investigative Judge Li Sokha on April 4 ordered police to bring Seam Pluk in for questioning over allegations of the use of fraudulent documents to register his party for local elections. If he is convicted, he could face up to three years in jail. RFA was not able to reach Seam Pluk for comment but previously he said the court’s warrant is political intimidation against non-ruling party politicians and has nothing to do with enforcing the law. Soeung Sengkaruna of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc) said Seam Pluk was targeted for political reasons, the latest in a series of such cases. “The court is being criticized for lacking independence over politically motivated cases. It is rare that politicians and conscience activists are spared. They are charged and convicted,” he told RFA. Thach Setha, the spokesperson of a small party called the Candlelight Party, told said Seam Pluk was targeted because of his previous support for Candlelight, which has recently been gaining steam. Its leaders believe it could challenge Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party in the upcoming elections. After  the Ministry of Interior banned Seam Pluk’s party, Thach Setha urged all its members to join the Candlelight Party.  “Since he supported [the Candlelight Party] he was charged. This case is politically motivated more than being about the law,” Thach Setha told RFA. RFA reported Monday that Seam Pluk joined the Candlelight party after the Ministry of the Interior refused to recognize the Cambodian National Heart party but Thanch Setha said Seam Pluk never joined. The Candlelight Party, formerly known as the Sam Rainsy Party and the Khmer Nation party, was founded in 1995. It merged with other opposition forces to form the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in 2012. All opponents of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) have been targeted in a five-year-old crackdown that has sent CNRP leaders and landed scores of supporters in prison. Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017 in a move that allowed the CPP to win all 125 seats in Parliament in a July 2018 election. Sam Rainsy, 72, has lived in exile in France since 2015 and was sentenced in absentia last year to 25 years for what supporters say was a politically motivated charge of attempting to overthrow the government. CPP spokesman Sok Ey San told RFA recently that Seam Pluk received thousands of dollars from Sam Rainsy, but Seam Pluk has denied the allegation. Translate by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Authorities free 3 Tibetans jailed for running ‘illegal’ land rights group

Editor07 mins

Authorities in China’s Qinghai province have released three of the nine Tibetans who received prison terms in 2018 for running an “illegal organization” promoting land rights. Three more from the group are due to be released in June, according to Tibetan sources in exile. Sonam Gyal and two others, who were not immediately identified, completed their terms and were freed earlier this year, a source living in India told RFA’s Tibetan Service, speaking on condition of anonymity. “In January this year, Sonam Gyal and two others were released after serving their prison term,” said the source. “Tashi Tsering and two others are scheduled to be released in June, also after completing their prison terms,” the source added. The names of the other two who are expected to be freed are also unconfirmed. While the source said that the terms of the second trio are set to expire in June, “it is also uncertain if [they] will be released accordingly.” According to the source, the remaining three had their cases “sent back for retrial and were sentenced to seven years again.” “The prison time they had already served until now was invalidated,” they said. In April 2019, RFA reported that the nine Tibetans, all residents of Horgyal village in Qinghai’s Rebgong (in Chinese, Tongren) county, were handed terms of from three to seven years by the County People’s Court for running an “illegal organization,” citing information from the Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). Authorities had additionally accused the men — Gendun Soepa, Drukbum Tsering, Bende Dorje, Tashi Tsering, Sonam Gyal, Dargye, Shawo Tsering, Khajam Gyal and Choesang — of usurping the duties of already established village committees, “extortion,” and “gathering people to disturb social order,” the group said at the time. Detained in July 2018, the nine men were formally arrested in August, and were serving their sentences at a large prison facility in Rebgong, a second Tibetan source in exile told RFA. “Though the prison is very close to Horgyal village, their families and relatives were never allowed to meet them over the last several years,” said the source, who also declined to be named. “Sonam Gyal’s health was not in a good state for a long time while in prison, but we don’t know much about his current health status, even though he is released. … People in the region were all too scared to talk about it and tried to avoid the conversation.” The second source said that the health conditions of the six still in prison are also uncertain. Petition to reclaim land In a petition signed on Feb, 21, 2017, the nine, part of a larger group of 24, had mobilized village support to demand the return of Horgyal village land handed over for use by three brick factories in exchange for lease payments to the village that ended when the works were closed down by government order in 2011. For the next seven years, authorities compensated the factories annually for their loss of business, though payments to the Horgyal village government then stopped, TCHRD said in its statement at the time of their sentencing, adding that villagers had called since then for the land’s return. Two years before, a Tibetan monastery in Rebgong had appealed for the return of property formerly leased to a teacher’s college but seized by local officials as the college moved to a new location, Tibetan sources told RFA in an earlier report. The property, comprising one third of the total estate of Rongwo monastery, was confiscated in 2016, and monks had petitioned ever since for its return, sources said. Chinese development projects in Tibetan areas have led to frequent standoffs with Tibetans, who accuse Chinese firms and local officials of improperly seizing land and disrupting the lives of local people. Many projects result in violent suppression, the detention of protest organizers, and intense pressure on the local population to comply with the government’s wishes. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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North Korea stops public transit for 3 days on founder’s birth holiday

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North Korea ordered all public transportation to stop for three days in observance of the April 15 birth anniversary of the country’s late founder, angering some citizens who rely on buses and other services to get around and conduct business, sources in North Korea told RFA. “From the day before the Day of the Sun through yesterday, authorities in Unsan county completely restricted the operation of state-owned transportation, including buses, taxis and motorcycles,” a resident of South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “With every major national anniversary, the authorities will do things like strengthening security and holding political events and lectures, but this is the first time they are trying to control the people by shutting off public transit,” she said. Kim Il Sung (1912-1994), the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un, was born on April 15, and his birthday is celebrated every year as a major holiday called the “Day of the Sun.” Kim Il Sung’s son and successor, Kim Jong Il (1942-2011), was born on Feb. 16, the “Day of the Shining Star.” The two holidays solidify the cult of personality surrounding the Kim family, which has now ruled North Korea for three generations. April 15 this year would have been Kim Il Sung’s 110th birthday, and authorities stopped all buses and taxis nationwide for three days to try to encourage citizens to attend political events to celebrate the day, sources said. Authorities wanted to push residents to attend a people’s rally to show support for the party ideology and to rededicate their loyalty to the leadership, but North Koreans have responded coolly to the measure, the source said. “Public transportation services completely stopped for political events to commemorate the Day of the Sun, but the merchants who rely on public transit to transport goods from one market to another had no avenue to complain about their difficulties,” she said. The stoppage of public transit in the northwestern province of North Pyongan was designed to reduce the risks anyone would attempt to disrupt political events there, a resident of the province told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “Residents who are unable to travel for three days had no choice but to go to the political events, starting with the special assembly on the day before the Day of the Sun,” she said. On the Day of the Sun, the people laid flowers in offering to Kim Il Sung at the Tower of Eternal Life, a landmark in the border city of Sinuiju, after which they celebrated with a public dance ceremony, the second source said. The following day, they attended a political event where they rededicated their allegiance to Kim Jong Un. “The people were exhausted from going to these events, and it took them away from their jobs, which they need to put food on the table,” she said. In addition to turning off public transit, authorities cut civilian phone communications between North Pyongan and the capital Pyongyang during the three-day period, the second source said. She tried to call the cell phone of her acquaintance in Pyongyang, but could not get through until April 17. Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Investigative Journalism Reportika © March 2022 by Ij-Reportika is licensed under CC BY 4.0