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Month: May 2024

Landmine toll set to surpass previous years in eastern Myanmar

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Thirty people have been injured or killed by landmines in an eastern Myanmar state this year, officials there said, highlighting a problem that the U.N. children’s agency says has made Myanmar one of the world’s most heavily mined countries. Civilian officials in Kayah State have warned villagers wanting to go home in areas abandoned by the military junta to get the approval of anti-junta forces before venturing back because of the danger of mines. “Those who fled the war are now returning. It’s been a month or two and they are coming back,” Ba Nyar, secretary  of the Karenni Interim Executive Council, told Radio Free Asia. While the landmine toll has risen sharply this year,  Ba Nyar said Kayah State has had nearly 100 landmine victims since Myanmar’s conflict surged after a 2001 coup, when the military ousted an elected government triggering an intensifying campaign by fighters determined to end army rule. The council on Wednesday told residents not to go home without getting clearance from anti-junta forces and it appealed for residents to report any mines of unexploded ordnance in their neighborhoods. A 14-year-old boy was killed by a landmine in Demoso township’s Pu Hpar village while herding cattle on Sunday. The anti-junta Progressive Karenni People’s Force said civilian toll from mines had surged since anti-junta forces launched an offensive in November with a strategy aimed at seizing territory from junta control, a member of the anti-junta force said. Retreating junta forces had left a deadly legacy, he said. “There are many landmines planted,” said the insurgent group member, who declined to be identified. “Villagers have stepped on and been hit by landmines. Some have lost their legs and hands.” Karenni forces have captured seven towns – Kayah State’s Mese, Demoso, Ywar Thit, Shadaw, Mawchee, and Shan State’s Moe Bye and Nan Mei Khon – since launching their Operation 1111 offensive. The U.N. Children’s Fund said in a report last month that civilian deaths and injuries from landmines and unexploded ordnance throughout Myanmar had nearly tripled to 1,052 in 2023, from 390 the previous year. The humanitarian group said 118 people, including 59 children, were killed by mines in 20023 and it called on all sides in the conflict to protect civilians and “take immediate steps to halt the use of these indiscriminate weapons.”. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn. 

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Upbeat video casts Kim Jong Un as North Korea’s father figure

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An upbeat and unusually high quality propaganda music video coming out of North Korea purports to show a prosperous, modern society full of happy people who love their leader. Titled “Friendly Father,” the rousing song depicts soldiers, students, steel workers and others singing Kim Jong Un’s praises.  “He is holding his 10 million children in his arms and taking care of us with all his heart,” go the lyrics.  But the video also shows some equipment used to produce the song that may be in violation of international sanctions that have banned the import of luxury goods into North Korea since 2006. They include Korg and Roland synthesizers, headphones by Sony and a speaker from U.S.-based Harmon Kardon.  An analysis of the equipment appeared on a keyboard enthusiasts page on popular internet bulletin board Reddit, where the keyboards were identified as the Korg Kronos and the Roland FA-07. The synthesizers sell for between US$2,000 and $3,000 in the United States.  Luxury goods were defined by the U.N. Sanctions Committee on North Korea as those beyond the purchasing ability of ordinary North Korean residents. Japan therefore defines expensive musical instruments as luxury goods. RFA was not able to confirm how or when the equipment was imported to North Korea. A spokesperson from Roland stated in an email that the company has never sold any products to North Korea, adding that the Roland FA-07 was manufactured in 2014, but that no purchase records from that year were available. Evading sanctions North Korean media often shows the use of foreign goods that should be barred due to sanctions. According to NK news, a media specializing in North Korea, on April 28th, six Toyota SUVs  and a Land Cruiser 300 that had never been seen before, appeared in Kim Jong Un’s security procession. North Korea is flaunting its ability to evade sanctions by showcasing sanctioned items in media, Bruce Klingner, Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, explained in a phone call with RFA  “It just encourages the entity, whether it’s governments or businesses, to just continue violating the rule,” he said. “What we’ve seen is a number of nations, predominantly China and Russia, who blatantly violate the U.N. resolutions by assisting North Korea.” A Korg Kronos is displayed May 7, 2011. (synthfiend via Wikipedia) Though the video focuses on scenes of happy North Korean people, when it shows Kim Jong Un, it attempts to portray him as acting fatherly towards children.  In one shot he is hugging a small child while another looks on. In the next, he meets several young students who cry at his very presence.  A third shot shows several male members of the military embracing the smiling leader. “Let’s love Kim Jong Un, our friendly father,” the lyrics say. “We all trust and follow him with one heart.” Translated by Claire S. Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong.

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Myanmar ethnic army secures 2 bases after month-long battle

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An ethnic minority insurgent force in Myanmar has captured two strategic positions near the junta’s regional military headquarters in Rakhine State, residents told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday. The Arakan Army (AA), which has gained control of eight townships in Rakhine State from the military following a 2021 coup, seized another two camps on Saturday, they said. The junta positions at Chaung Byu Har hill and Taw Hein Taung Byu Har in Ann township are now under the control of the rebel group, the residents said. Arakan Army fighters began attacking the two camps on March 24, said one woman in Ann township. The positions are near the headquarters of the Western Regional Command, one of at least a dozen regional commands across the country. “Casualties among junta troops are high but the exact number is not known. Some say it’s about 150,” said the woman, who declined to be identified for security reasons.  “But it can be confirmed that those two strategic hills have been seized,” she said, adding that hundreds of junta troops were believed to have been stationed at the camps.  RFA tried to contact the  junta spokesperson in Rakhine State, Hla Thein for more information but he did not respond. The AA has not released any information about the latest fighting. Forces opposed to military rule, including various ethnic minority insurgent groups seeking self-determination and pro-democracy activists who took up arms after the 2021 coup, have made significant gains since allied forces launched an offensive in October last year. A person close to the Arakan Army told RFA that retreating junta troops had fled towards the Western Regional Command headquarters in Ann. “The battle is continuing,” said the source, who also declined to be identified. The junta had in recent days been sending reinforcements and weapons to beef up defenses at the headquarters, he said. The Arakan Army has also been attacking the junta’s operations command headquarters in Rakhine State’s Buthidaung township and captured three outposts there on Tuesday, residents said.  Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn. 

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Uyghur spy turns to religion and lands in Xinjiang prison

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A Uyghur official who spied on fellow Uyghurs in Xinjiang is serving a seven-year prison sentence on the charge of religious extremism after he was moved by Muslim sermons and gave up smoking and drinking alcohol, area authorities said. The change of heart in Yasin Tursun, a Chinese Communist Party member and secretary of Terim village in southern Xinjiang’s Peyziwat county, pleased his family but upset authorities, the sources said, insisting they not be identified for security reasons.  After struggling to find a reason to arrest and convict him, authorities accused him of being “two-faced” and sentenced him to prison in October 2019, two policemen and a county official told Radio Free Asia. He is estimated to be about 55 now. Tursun’s case highlights how Beijing has clamped down harshly on the mostly Muslim Uyghurs, and their religious practices — including prayer and abstaining from alcohol and fasting during the month of Ramadan — in the far-western region of Xinjiang in the name of suppressing religious extremism and terrorism.  It also shows how Chinese authorities have enlisted Uyghurs to spy on their own people.  ‘Two-faced’ When Tursun ended up embracing Muslim practices, authorities in 2017 fell back on the common accusation of being “two-faced” — used by the Chinese Communist Party to describe officials or party members who are either corrupt or ideologically disloyal to the party.  Among Uyghurs, it is applied to those who show an interest in carrying on their cultural and religious traditions. In Tursun’s case, authorities were upset that he gave up alcohol and tobacco, promoted their abstinence and listened to Muslim sermons, the sources said. Tursun was handed over to the authorities, and following an investigation was sentenced to seven years in prison, they said.   Some village cadres — including Tursun — who worked as spies had unexpectedly inspiring experiences at secret and public religious events, said an official from Peyziwat county, called Jiashi in Chinese. They were moved by the orderliness and kindness at these gatherings, as well as by the eloquent speeches of religious leaders and their insightful interpretations of the world, humanity and life, said the official, asking not to be identified. This caused some of the Uyghur cadres to disengage from their work activities, and even resign, he said. ‘Swayed’ by religion One police officer from Terim village said all former Uyghur cadres from the the second sub-village had been arrested.  “We had 10-16 cadres, but now there are none left,” he told RFA. The security director of Terim’s fifth sub-village said two “two-faced” Uyghur cadres, including Tursun, had been influenced by “religious extremism.”  Tursun was arrested for his association with religious individuals, while the other cadre, Rahman Ghopur, about 33 years old, was arrested for promoting the idea of not crying at funerals, he said. Tursun was removed from his role because of “bad habits” such as abstaining from alcohol, the security director said. “Yasin Tursun was removed from his position because he made his wife wear modest clothes and he himself grew a beard,” he told RFA. “The investigation indicated that he had been influenced by religious individuals. I heard he was swayed while working at religious events.” The security director said he was in the courtroom when Tursun was sentenced for “religious extremism,” and that others who were listed among his mobile phone contacts faced similar circumstances. A second officer from the police station in Terim said Tursun’s previous lifestyle of spying had nearly destroyed his family, but after he embraced religion, his relationships with his wife and children improved. Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

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