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Category: ASEAN

After more firms quit, Myanmar junta claims Russia to enter energy industry

Editor010 mins

Russia will soon begin participating in Myanmar’s energy industry in place of international companies that quit, the Burmese junta said in response to the exit of three big Asian firms from a gas field in the coup-hit nation. Since April 29, the Malaysian and Thai state-owned oil firms and a Japanese energy conglomerate have withdrawn from Myanmar’s Yetagun gas field, with all three citing commercial reasons for pulling out. Japan’s ENEOS also mentioned Myanmar’s “current situation, including the social issues” as one of the reasons for quitting, referring to human rights excesses by the military where nearly 1,800 civilians have been killed since the February 2020 coup. The companies quit not because of political instability but because of declining economic benefits from the Yetagun project, Myanmar’s military spokesman told RFA’s Myanmar Service. “Our allies and friendly organizations are cooperating with us in the electricity and energy sectors. You will soon see Russia’s cooperation in the near future. We will expand our oil and gas operations as soon as possible,” Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said on Thursday. One political analyst said it would not be surprising if Russia entered Myanmar’s oil and gas industry. “When democratic countries sever relationships or slap sanctions against a military junta, countries that do not value human standards or rules and regulations will step in for their own benefit. This has happened in many countries,” analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe told RFA.. “There have been similar incidents in the history of Myanmar.” One economist, who requested anonymity, said it was unlikely that Myanmar could find a replacement so soon for the companies that have quit its energy sector. “Russia is a very powerful country in the oil world,” the economist said. “[E]fforts could be made with them [the Russians] but a sudden replacement is not so easy. It’s not going to work right away.” A logo of Petronas is seen at the Malaysian state-owned oil firm’s office in Kuala Lumpur, April 27, 2022. Credit: Reuters. Declining output While it is true that ENEOS, Malaysia’s Petronas, and Thailand’s PTTEP withdrew from a depleting gas field, the political situation did not help, analysts told BenarNews. Besides, said one Southeast Asia observer, the withdrawal of the firms representing two ASEAN nations, even from an unprofitable project, would have been a huge blow to the junta. It had bamboozled the regional bloc by reneging on a consensus among ASEAN members to put the country back on the democratic path. The three firms packed up from the Yetagun project because gas output had plummeted, Readul Islam, a Singapore-based energy research analyst, told BenarNews. “The Yetagun project produced roughly 3 percent of Myanmar’s 2020 gas output, which already was a steep decline from the project’s 6 percent of Myanmar’s 2019 output,” said Islam, an analyst for Rystad Energy, an independent energy research company, about a field where experts say output had been declining since 2013. “[S]o, while the politics certainly don’t help, the Yetagun exits appear to be purely economic decisions,” Islam said. BenarNews could not reach the chief executive of PTTEP for comment, nor did officials at Petronas immediately return phone calls or reply to emails. Human and civil rights activists have been pressing corporations, especially oil and gas companies, to quit post-coup Myanmar. Since the military took over, a slew of companies, not only oil firms, have left. They cited the coup or the subsequent abuses, and said they had also been hobbled by international sanctions imposed on the regime that makes it difficult to do business there. Among the international firms that quit Myanmar are British American Tobacco, Chevron, Coca-Cola, Posco, Telenor, TotalEnergy, and Woodside Petroleum. The ASEAN factor The departures of Petronas and PTTEP from the Yetagun project should be viewed in this context, according to Southeast Asia analyst Zachary Abuza. He agreed that Petronas and PTTEP may have left a dying field but, in his view – at least in the case of Malaysia’s Petronas – apart from the economics, others reasons motivated the decision. “My takeaway from this is that the Malaysians are frustrated and want to put pressure on the SAC,” said Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington, referring to the State Administration Council, the junta’s official name. It was different for Thailand’s PTTEP, which, in fact, announced they were taking over the stakes quit by Chevron and TotalEnergy in another Myanmar gas field, Yadana, Abuza acknowledged. And yet, “[i]t is a loss for the SAC. It doesn’t look good when your key cash cow, the MOGE (the Ministry of Oil and Gas Enterprises) is losing key investors even if [the oil] fields are not profitable. The optics are bad.” What makes it worse for Myanmar, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc, is that state-owned firms from fellow member-states were the ones that quit, Abuza said. “These [Malaysian and Thai companies] are ASEAN partners. For the junta, it is probably not a huge surprise that Western oil firms have pulled back, but for ASEAN partners to do so, that has got to sting a bit more,” Abuza said.  “Symbolism matters for a regime that craves international recognition.” Meanwhile, activist group Justice for Myanmar, told BenarNews that the withdrawal from the Yetagun gas project was a result of the “sustained pressure from the people of Myanmar and activists around the world.” According to the group, more pressure is needed to stop all oil payments to the junta so it cannot use the funds to buy the arms and ammunition it uses to gun down civilians in its brutal nationwide campaign against anyone who opposes the generals’ rule. “PTTEP now must go further and suspend payments to the Myanmar military junta from the Yadana and Zawtika projects, or withdraw,” Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice For Myanmar, told BenarNews by email. “These projects bankroll the Myanmar military junta, a terrorist organization, and PTTEP’s continued involvement aids and abets the junta’s … crimes. …We call on the Thai government to change…

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ASEAN envoy says he will visit Myanmar in ‘the next few weeks’

Editor05 mins

The special envoy to Myanmar for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) aims to visit the strife torn-country in coming weeks, he said Friday in a statement following humanitarian relief talks with the U.N. and regional agencies. The visit, specific dates for which have not been announced, would be the second trip to Myanmar by the ASEAN envoy, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, following a trip in March. “I look forward to my second visit to Myanmar in the next few weeks,” the minister wrote on Facebook Friday, after hosting the Consultative Meeting on ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar. The meeting addressed plans to deliver humanitarian aid and administer Covid-19 vaccines to Myanmar, Cambodia’s foreign ministry said in statement. The country of 54 million people, ASEAN’s poorest per capita, has been engulfed in political turmoil as well as military conflict since the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup that overthrew the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi three moths after her party won re-election by a landslide. “Today we are taking another step forward in our collective endeavor to ensure that the people of Myanmar will have access to humanitarian assistance without discrimination,” Sokhonn wrote. “As the ASEAN Chair’s Special Envoy, I remain optimistic that our persistent efforts will genuinely benefit the people of Myanmar,” he added. Cambodia is the current rotating chair of the 10-member ASEAN. In a video conference on May 1, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen urged the Myanmar junta chief, Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, to allow the special envoy to visit and meet deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi and take other steps to implement a five-point agreement the military leader reached between ASEAN’s foreign ministers in April 2021. Although the military regime in Naypyidaw agreed with ASEAN on humanitarian aid and the creation of the special envoy, little concrete progress has been made on more challenging parts of the five-point agreement, including an end to violence, talks among all parties in Myanmar, and mediation by the envoy. The junta on May 3 poured cold water on calls from Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah last month for ASEAN talks with Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel, civilian administration formed of ousted lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party, prominent civil servants, and ethnic minority leaders. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper quoted the junta’s foreign ministry as saying it “protests and rejects” the Malaysian foreign minister’s remarks, because “they could abet terrorism and violence in the country, hampering the Myanmar Government’s anti-terrorism efforts and infringe international agreements related to combatting terrorism.” The junta has branded opponents of military rule as terrorists. The military regime has jailed Aung San Suu Kyi among thousands of political prisoners and killed 1,800 people, mostly anti-coup protesters. The 76-year-old Nobel laureate has been sentence to 11 years in jail on various charges, and faces other charges that could land her in prison for more than a century. Her supporters and human rights groups reject the charges as baseless and designed to end her political career. Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Written by Paul Eckert.

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Russian arms sales to Southeast Asia have tanked, report finds

Editor011 mins

Russia’s arms sales to Southeast Asia have plummeted due to international sanctions imposed since the start of the Ukraine crisis in 2014 and the ongoing war will likely lead to a further decline, creating market opportunities for countries like China, a new report says. An article in the bulletin ISEAS Perspective published by the ISEAS –Yusof Ishak Institute, a Singapore-based research institution, has found that Russia’s defense industry has been hit hard, with export values reduced from $1.2 billion in 2014 to just $89 million in 2021. Cumulatively Russia has been on top of the list of arms suppliers to Southeast Asia over the last two decades but the sales are likely to fall further and regional countries will look to divert their weapons contracts to other countries, the report says. Data provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) show that in 2021 alone, Russia has already slipped behind the United States and China. According to the article’s author, academic Ian Storey, the biggest reason behind the fall is sanctions and export controls that the U.S. and Europe imposed on Russia’s defense industry since its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Those restrictions haven’t necessarily prevented Southeast Asian nations from buying Russian arms, but there is less on offer as Russian manufacturers face difficulties in conducting financial transactions and accessing technologies and critical components. It’s also ended defense industry ties between Russia and Ukraine. “The conflict brought to an abrupt end longstanding and extensive cooperation between Ukrainian and Russian defense companies, especially in the production of engines for surface ships, helicopters and aircraft,” Storey said. Military visitors of Vietnam observe a Russian T-90MS tank during the International Military Technical Forum Army-2020 in Alabino, outside Moscow, Russia, Aug. 23, 2020. (AP Photo) Another factor is a pause in the military modernization program in Vietnam, Russia’s biggest customer in Southeast Asia. Hanoi began the program in the late 1990s and in the period 1995-2021, it bought $7.4 billion worth of weapons and military equipment from Russia. That accounted for more than 80 percent of Vietnam’s total arms imports. “Vietnam has put the military modernization program on hold because of concerns over Moscow’s ability to fulfill orders but also due to an anti-corruption drive,” Nguyen The Phuong, lecturer at the Faculty of International Relations, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance, wrote in July 2021 research paper. Hanoi will still have to rely on Moscow to maintain and operate its Russian-made arsenal of six Kilo-class submarines, 36 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 aircraft, four Gepard 3.9 class frigates and two Bastion mobile coastal defense missile systems, but experts say it has already been on the look-out for alternative supply sources including Israel, Belarus, the U.S. and the Netherlands. Downward trends In the light of the Ukraine war, the new report says will be difficult for Russia’s defense manufacturers to revive their sales due to “the imposition of tighter sanctions and export controls by a number of countries, the reputational damage caused by the poor performance of Russia’s armed forces in Ukraine, and its need to replenish battlefield losses.” Storey pointed out that the current sanctions on Russian banks, and their exclusion from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) international payment network, “will make it harder for the country’s defense industry to conduct financial transactions with overseas clients.” Export controls imposed on Russia will also restrict Russian manufacturers’ access to advanced technologies critical in modern military hardware and components that Russia doesn’t possess. “As a consequence, foreign buyers may decide to switch to more reliable sources of military hardware.” People walk past the headquarters of Russian Agricultural Bank in downtown Moscow, Russia, on July 30, 2014. It was one of the Russian banks hit by Western sanctions. (AP Photo) Furthermore, losses suffered by Russian forces in Ukraine this year may have seriously damaged Moscow’s reputation as a military equipment powerhouse. “The problems facing Russia’s defense-industrial sector will create market opportunities in Southeast Asia for other countries, including China,” the report says. According to SIPRI data, China’s arms exports to Southeast Asia in 2021 totaled $284 million, up from $53 million in 2020. So far, China has refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and as the war drags on Moscow’s dependence on Beijing may deepen. In return, “China will seek increased access to Russia’s most sensitive military technology and even pressure Moscow to reduce military sales to Vietnam,” Storey said. A medium range surface-to-air missile weapon system is displayed during the 12th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai city, south China’s Guangdong province, on Nov. 6, 2018. (AP Photo) Ukraine’s arms sales That would be a blow for Russian exporters but also for Vietnam, which has competing claims against China in the South China Sea. The situation in Ukraine also disrupted the Ukrainian arms supply to Hanoi which totaled $200 million during 2000-2021. Ukraine was part of the Soviet and then Russian defense industries even after proclaiming independence. It has been a major supplier of aircraft and spare parts, as well as armored vehicles and munitions. During 2009-2014, up until the annexation of Crimea, Ukraine was among world’s 10 largest arms exporters, according to SIPRI. In 2012, it was in fact the fourth-largest arms exporter. Kyiv sold $1.3 billion worth of conventional arms that year. Ukraine’s state-owned exporter Ukrspecexport had contracts with nearly 80 countries. In its heyday, the company ran 100 arms-producing plants and factories, and employed tens of thousands of workers. Besides Vietnam, in Southeast Asia Thailand and Myanmar were also big customers that spent $479 million and $111 million on Ukrainian weapons respectively during 2000-2021. In 2011, Bangkok ordered 49 T-84 Oplot battle tanks and 236 BTR-3E armored vehicles from Ukraine. However the delayed deliveries of the Oplots due to the Crimea crisis forced Thailand to buy VT-4 main battle tanks from China instead. Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia also bought weapons from Ukraine, though in much lesser quantities. A Bangladesh military officer, Brig (Rtd)…

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Junta forces kill 20 civilians in one day in Myanmar’s Sagaing region

Editor09 mins

A joint force of military troops and pro-junta militiamen killed 20 civilians earlier this week in Myanmar’s war-torn Sagaing region, according to sources, who said soldiers forced some of the victims to serve as human shields and executed several others as they lay face down in the dirt. The victims, who included men in their 70s and one young woman, were all killed on May 2 and included three people from Seikhun village and six from Nyaungbin Thar village; both in Shwebo township, nine from Butalin township’s Otpo village, one from Khin-Oo township’s Innpat village, and one from Ayardaw township’s Malae Thar village, sources told RFA’s Myanmar Service. A resident of Otpo village, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing fear of reprisal, said the victims were all civilians who had been hiding from the soldiers in an unoccupied Buddhist convent. “We heard the army was coming from Butalin … and the villagers fled in fear. Many went to the convent to take shelter and that’s when they met the soldiers head-on,” the resident said. “The detainees were told to lie on their bellies on the ground and were shot in the head. A child was ordered to go away from the site before they killed the victims.” The convent’s nuns, who might have served as a deterrent to the troops, had earlier fled the area after receiving reports of the advancing column, the source said. Troops also set fire to several vehicles in and around Otpo village, he said. On the same day, three villagers were killed, and six others were injured when troops engaged in a firefight with anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries near Seikhun and Zeebyugone villages and shelled the area, other sources told RFA. A resident of Seikhun, who also declined to be named, said the troops had come to the village from the seat of Shwebo township, around 7 miles to the north, “to clear the area.” “The soldiers entered the village, where there are monasteries. The people hiding in the monastery compounds were used as human shields,” he said. “But before entering the village, they opened fire with heavy weapons from all sides. Three people died and six others were injured because of the shelling.” Of the three dead, one 25-year-old man was “burned to death” by the troops, while the other two “died of gunshot wounds,” the source said. Residents told RFA that troops had come to Seikhun last year and destroyed village looms “because people didn’t pay their electricity bills.” A resident of Nyaungbin Thar said six villagers were shot dead on May 2 after the military raided the tract for the second time in a week. “They burned Kyar village earlier, stopped for a while in Panyan village, and then returned to Nyaungbin Thar. The local paramilitaries detonated a few landmines and held them off, so the troops withdrew and began shelling the area. Two villagers were wounded,” they said. “After that, the soldiers moved towards Khin-Oo, where they killed five villagers. One man was killed inside a house where he was captured. The troops brought along Pyu Saw Htee from [nearby] Khun Daung Gyi village.” In addition to the killings in Shwebo and Butalin townships on May 2, sources said that at least one man died when troops set fire to more than 300 houses in Khin-Oo’s Innpat village and a blind man perished in another arson attack on Ayardaw’s Malae Thar village that day. The aftermath of a May 2, 2022 military arson attack on Ayardaw township’s Malae Thar village. Credit: Citizen journalist ‘Completely inhuman’ Graphic photos obtained by RFA of the aftermath of the incidents showed several victims lying crumpled on the ground in their own viscera. In some cases, the subjects of the images were unrecognizable because of the trauma inflicted on their bodies. Attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Minister of Information Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the reported killings went unanswered. Previously, the deputy minister has rejected reports of troops killing civilians as “baseless accusations,” and blamed such incidents on the PDF, which the junta has labeled a terrorist group. The military cut off internet access to most townships in Sagaing region beginning in March this year when it launched a scorched earth campaign in the area. RFA has received frequent reports of arrests, looting, rape, torture, arson, and murder in the region. Aung Kyaw, a former Member of Parliament for the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) in Butalin township, said the military is targeting innocent civilians because it is unable to defeat the PDF. “The PDF groups have planted landmines in the area and when [the army] suffers casualties, they kill anyone they encounter as an act of revenge,” he said. “The military has become a band of terrorists, violating every law. They are completely inhuman.” Aung Kyaw said there are now daily protests in Sagaing against military persecution. According to Data for Myanmar, which monitors troop arson attacks, a total of 11,417 homes have been destroyed by fire across the country since the military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup. Sagaing saw the most arson attacks of any other state or region in Myanmar, with more than 7,500 homes burned. The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said security forces have killed 1,822 civilians since the coup and arrested some 10,535 others, mostly during peaceful anti-junta protests. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Vietnamese writer declines literature award due to government threats

Editor05 mins

A Vietnamese literary critic who won an award from a group of her peers has declined to publicly accept it due to what she said were threats from authorities.  Vietnam’s communist government has stepped up widespread crackdowns of those it considers its opponents, including independent journalists, bloggers and writers. The country was ranked 174th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2022 World Press Freedom Index. Nguyen Thi Thinh Thy’s book “Dare to Look Back” won for the category of research-criticism at the 7th Van Viet Literature Awards. Van Viet is a forum created by authors who support free literature and the Vietnam Independent Writers’ Association (VIWA). Van Viet published a letter from Thy, in which she declined to accept the prize. “How much longer will we suffer?” Thy wrote. “Is there anyone on earth, throughout the ancient and modern eras, in both eastern and western literature who has had to write a letter like this? One that asks for the award organizer to PLEASE KEEP THE AWARD FOR ME?” She wrote that she was honored to have won but could not accept the honor due to harassment from security officers. She said they told her, “You should not go and receive the award to avoid undermining public security.” “If you want to receive the prize, there should be no award presentation ceremony, no filming, and no posts on social media so that you can avoid getting into unnecessary trouble,” she said the authorities told her. RFA’s Vietnamese Service requested an interview with Thy but she said she had written all what she wanted to say in the letter posted on Van Viet. It was not the first time that authorities have threatened or assaulted writers over literature awards, Hoang Dung, a member of Van Viet’s judging panel told RFA.  “Creating pressure to force this person or that person to withdraw their article or refuse to accept an award, or even physical attacks, is nothing new,” Dung said. Another Van Viet Literature Awards recipient, Thai Hao, was beaten by plainclothes security officers in March while he was on the way to a different award presentation ceremony held by VIWA’s Campaign Committee. Dung said that the government efforts to ban independent literature shows the weakness within the political system.  “Please note that Ms. Tinh Thy’s incident is among a series of government reactions to Van Viet in particular and non-mainstream literature in general. They are always afraid,” Hoang Dung said. “They see enemies everywhere.” The Communist Party has long sought to control what gets written, but intellectuals and writers would persevere despite those efforts, he said. “I want to let our fellow compatriots know that there are still intellectuals with a conscience who have the courage to deal with government crackdowns. And I wish one day our country would be more open in terms of ideological issues,” Hoang Dung said. “The most important thing right now is to make people see how things really are and raise their voices and join hands toghether to make our country a better place.”  The Vietnamese International Writers’ Association was established in 2014 by more than 60 prominent Vietnamese writers who support freedom of literature. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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More than 200 arrested for social media posts supporting Myanmar opposition

Editor07 mins

Authorities in Myanmar have arrested more than 200 people for incitement and terrorism since late January in connection with posts they made to social media in support of opposition groups the junta has labeled terrorist organizations, according to official statements. On Jan. 25, the junta announced that anyone posting content in support of the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), or prodemocracy People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries — intentionally or not — would face lengthy prison terms as well as the loss of their homes and other property. In a statement on Thursday, the junta said that it had arrested 229 users for violating the country’s Anti-Terrorism Law and a section of the Electronic Communications Law that prohibits distribution of anti-junta propaganda online since authorities began to monitor Facebook for such posts on Jan. 27. Among those arrested was well-known comedian Kaung Kyaw, who was taken into custody on April 19 from his home in Yangon’s Thaketa township. A source close to Kaung Kyaw, who spoke to RFA’s Myanmar Service on condition of anonymity, questioned why he was arrested. “Kaung Kyaw just wrote some posts on Facebook, nothing like they accused him of,” he said. Kay Jay, a close relative to residents of Sagaing region’s Shwebo township who were arrested in the crackdown, told RFA authorities had no right to target people for using social media. “People were arrested for their online activities — writing or sharing posts and political news or using the NUG logo as their profile pictures. But, when they were taken to court after interrogations, some were also charged with anti-terrorism laws,” he said. “These people were just writing and campaigning online. As a citizen, I strongly condemn such arrests.” Others detained in the roundup include celebrities, politicians, businesspeople and doctors from Yangon, Mandalay, Naypyidaw, Lashio, Pakokku, Kawthaung and Hpa-an. Their ages range from 17 to 64. Of the 229 people mentioned by the military, some have been released, while others remain in detention. When asked about the arrests, junta deputy information minister, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told RFA they had been carried out “in accordance with the law.” “The NUG, CRPH and PDF groups are committing acts of terrorism in Myanmar,” he said. “We have said previously that they are subject to punishment under the Anti-Terrorism Act. People who support them or help them financially are also in violation of the Terrorism Act.” Arrested comedian Kaung Kyaw in an undated photo. Stripped of rights and legal protection An IT technician from Yangon, who declined to be named for security reasons, said conversations on social media sites are traceable and warned users against posting politically sensitive content. “A digital footprint is always left on social media,” he said. “If an excerpt from a text you wrote on Facebook or Twitter is searched on Google, your digital footsteps can be tracked, and nothing can be done to prevent it.” Aung Myo Min, the NUG’s human rights minister, said arrests over online content are in violation of the rights of freedom of expression and access to information. “It is deplorable that one could be arrested and face long prison terms for writing his or her beliefs on social media. People cannot print newspapers, bulletins or journals like before, and so they rely on social media to write their ideas, and share news and information,” he said.  “Now, [authorities] are not just repressing the media, but also punishing those who write on social media, and this is a serious violation of fundamental rights.” In addition to arresting social media users who post content in support of the opposition, the junta is also drafting a cybersecurity law that carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison for anyone using a VPN, or virtual private network, to cloak their IP address and access restricted websites. A lawyer told RFA on condition of anonymity that the people of Myanmar have been stripped of their rights and legal protections. “I see this as a very worrying situation in which the rights and freedoms that a citizen deserves are truly gone,” he said. “Citizens now have zero protection under the law.” People who spoke to RFA said that despite the threat of arrest, netizens in Myanmar are still posting their ideas and sharing information on Facebook and Twitter. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Myanmar Bank missive suggests junta seeks more than financial ties with Russia

Editor010 mins

Recent moves by the Central Bank of Myanmar to promote cooperation between military-owned lenders and their Russian counterparts suggest the junta is seeking more than financial ties to the Kremlin and may be brokering a back channel for arms deals, analysts said Wednesday. In an April 25 letter, the Central Bank of Myanmar told the Myanmar Banking Association that five Russian banks will hold talks this month with local lenders, including the military backed Innwa and Myawaddy banks. The letter, which did not say which banks would be involved in the talks, may signal that the two junta-linked lenders plan to act as conduits for military purchases of Russian weaponry, economic and political analysts said. A Myanmar-based economist, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing security concerns, told RFA’s Myanmar Service the junta’s plan to link with Russian banks was part of a bid to show that its ties to Russia run “beyond economic ones.” He said establishing political and military ties to other larger nations is key to the junta’s survival at a time when the military leadership is being ostracized by the international community over its Feb. 1, 2021, coup and subsequent violent repression of opponents to its rule. According to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, security forces have killed at least 1,821 civilians and arrested 10,526 more in the 15 months since the military seized power from the democratically elected National League for Democracy government, mostly during peaceful anti-coup protests. An arrangement to procure arms via the two banks stands to benefit both Russia, which has been increasingly cut off from the global financial system in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine, and the junta, whose arms suppliers have faced criticism for providing the regime with weaponry used to repress opponents to its rule. In March, the rights group Justice For Myanmar said in a statement that as a major supplier of arms and dual use goods to Myanmar’s military, Russia is “aiding and abetting the military’s genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity,” and called for international action to stop the trade. It called for sanctions against 19 companies that it said have supplied Myanmar since 2018, including multiple subsidiaries of the Russian state-owned arms giant, Rostec, as well as manufacturers of missile systems, radar and police equipment. The group said many of the companies it identified have exported to Myanmar since the coup. A branch of the Myawaddy Bank in Yangon’s Yanken township, in a file photo. Credit: RFA ‘Boosting trade’ When asked for comment, junta deputy minister of information, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told RFA that last week’s letter to the Myanmar Banking Association was related to boosting trade between Russia and Myanmar and had “nothing to do with arms.” “Russia wants to increase links in the trade and energy sectors, and [cooperation in] other sectors will follow,” he said. “[Myanmar’s] banking sector must be upgraded so businesses can grow. Foreign currency is not based on U.S. dollars alone.” Zaw Min Tun noted that recent inter-governmental initiatives between Beijing and Naypyidaw had established a system for trade through the direct exchange of Chinese yuan for Myanmar kyats. He said the junta is working to create a comparable system for trade with Myanmar’s neighbors Thailand and India. “Similarly, we are now working to facilitate trade between [Russia and Myanmar] with a direct exchange of the ruble and the kyat,” he said. The minister said that all purchases of arms are made on a government-to-government basis, adding that the need to establish banking links stems from junta plans to purchase energy from Russia, as well as import fertilizer from and export agricultural products to its Republic of Tatarstan. An official with a private bank in Myanmar, who declined to be named, told RFA that the Central Bank’s letter could indicate a strategy shift in line with Zaw Min Tun’s stated goals for the junta. “Before this Russian issue, there was the China Initiative … and you can now transfer money to China by going to the nearest Myanmar bank,” they said. “Now they are planning the same thing with Russia for a direct exchange between kyats and rubles. … So, there will be more countries that can use rubles as well as Myanmar’s currency. There will be more channels for all countries close to China and Russia to make their monetary system easier.” In October 2021, a delegation of the Russia-Myanmar Friendship and Cooperation Association visited Myanmar and met with Than Nyein, the governor of the Central Bank of Myanmar. Observers have said that the meeting could set the stage for linking the two countries’ banking systems as part of a bid by the junta to improve Myanmar’s banking sector. Ties beyond banking However, another official with a private lender in Myanmar, who also spoke anonymously, said that the junta is better off looking for other countries to work with, both because of Russia’s relatively poor economy and the stigma associated with its invasion of Ukraine. “I don’t think any private banks will get involved in this [initiative]. Myawaddy and Innwa are half-owned by the government, so I think only those banks will be involved,” they said. “Linking with these Russian banks is not going to bring much benefit. Other countries would have already done so if that was the case.” Myanmar-based businessman Nay Lin Zin told RFA that, despite Zaw Min Tun’s comments, he believes the Central Bank’s letter is about more than building links between banking systems. “I don’t think Innwa and Myawaddy Banks can accomplish much just by opening an account in Russia, but it might benefit them if they could open branch offices there or the Russians opened a branch office here,” he said. “There may be other purposes at play. Of course, it is better to have more channels to choose from than to rely on [the U.S. dollar] alone. But we can’t just ignore the dollar, which is accepted all over the world. We can’t demote…

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Cambodia’s Supreme Court upholds 7-year sentence for opposition party activist

Editor07 mins

Cambodia’s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s verdict to sentence a 70-year-old activist affiliated with a dissolved political opposition party to jail for seven years for treason, the man’s lawyer and relatives said. Kong Sam An was arrested in September 2020 for an alleged plan to bring Sam Rainsy, the exiled former leader of the now-banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), back to Cambodia. The Tboung Khmum Provincial Court handed down the original sentence to Kong Sam An, who was the CNRP chief for Memot district. He has been detained in Prey Sar Prison in Phnom Penh since 2020. Critics said Kong Sam An’s sentence is part of the government’s efforts to stifle opposition before local elections on June 5 and the general election in 2023 to ensure that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s party remains in power. Sam Sok Kong, the activist’s lawyer, called the Supreme Court’s verdict unjust. “I am very saddened by the Supreme Court’s decision,” he told RFA about presiding Judge Kong Srim’s ruling. Kong Sam An’s daughter, Kong Moly, told RFA that her father did not commit any crime. She called for the charge against him to be dropped. “I urge the government to talk and don’t regard us as enemy,” she said. “He is a gentle man, [and] he shouldn’t be unjustly detained. Please release him.” In April, Eap Suor, Kong Sam An’s wife, visited her husband in prison and later told RFA that he is very ill from confinement in a crowded prison cell and from malnourishment. Soeung Sengkaruna, spokesman for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc), said the court’s verdict was politically motivated intended to persecute the opposition party. “Justice has not been given to Kong Sam An,” Soeung Sengkaruna told RFA. “NGOs urge the ruling party, which is leading the government, to decrease the tension to avoid international criticism and open up the political space and human rights.” The Tboung Khmum Provincial Court sentenced six other activists along with Kong Sam An on treason charges. They all received sentences of five to seven years in jail in February 2020, though some were released on bail, while others fled. The Supreme Court banned the CNRP in November 2017 for its supposed role in an alleged plot to overthrow the government. Key party figures were arrested as others fled into exile as part of a crackdown by Cambodia Hun Sen on his political opposition, NGOs and independent media outlets. Hun Sen’s CPP went on to win all 125 seats in the country’s July 2018 general election. Since then, the government has continued to target activists associated with the CNRP, arresting them on arbitrary charges and placing them in pretrial detention in overcrowded jails with harsh conditions. Meanwhile, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court postponed the hearing of former CNRP leader Kem Sokha, who is accused of conspiring with a foreign power to topple the government, for one week. The new date for the hearing is May 11. The former CNRP president was arrested in September 2017 over an alleged plot purportedly backed by the United States to overthrow the government of Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than 35 years. The country’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP two months after his arrest. Kem Sokha’s trial resumed in January after two years of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Judge Koy Sao granted the delay based on a request from government attorney Cheng Penghap, who cited a previous business commitment as the reason. NGOs criticized the court’s move saying the postponement would also delay the deliverance of justice to Kem Sokha. Soeung Sengkaruna of Adhoc said the government lawyer did not provide details about his request for the delay, and that if the trial continues to drag on, Kem Sokha will not be able to participate in the upcoming commune elections. “The delay has caused concerns over his right to get justice and political rights,” he said. “It will affect Kem Sokha’s freedom as a politician.” Am San Ath of the Cambodian rights group Licadho urged a political solution though national reconciliation. “If politicians have goodwill, then they can seek a way out of this deadlock to end political crisis for the sake of the country,” he said. Translated by Samean Yun for RFA’s Khmer Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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Interview: ‘I couldn’t go on working for them,’ says Myanmar military nurse

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Capt. Khin Pa Pa Tun, a nursing captain at the Myanmar Military Medical Academy, and her husband, retired doctor Capt. Thin Aung Htwe, left the military, took their two children and fled to an opposition-controlled area of Myanmar recently to join the pro-democracy movement.  Thin Aung Htwe retired from a 500-bed military hospital in Meikhtila in 2009 because he no longer liked the military. The couple spoke to Khin Maung Soe of RFA’s Myanmar Service from an undisclosed about their motives and experiences in the army that overthrew their country’s elected government on Feb. 1, 2021. RFA:  Please tell me why you joined the anti-junta movement? Khin Pa Pa Tun: I was serving in the hospital when the coup was staged. I knew that the coup was wrong but I had to continue my work because of family reasons.  RFA: Can you further explain why you left now, over a year after the coup? Khin Pa Pa Tun: The reasons they gave for the coup were not logical and I was not happy about the violence in the crackdowns and the atrocities that followed. I couldn’t help shedding tears every time I saw in the news young protesters beaten up and killed. But I had to carry on with my work because it was not easy to leave and I have a family to think of. Finally, I couldn’t go on working for them. RFA: How do you see the current situation of the country? Khin Pa Pa Tun: I have to say our country has become a failed state. Everything is falling apart in the health, education and economic sectors.  People are being arrested unlawfully and there have been extrajudicial killings.  RFA: How many other people like you are in the military? Khin Pa Pa Tun: There is a lot of discrimination in the army. Lieutenant Colonels and higher ranks have a lot more benefits than officers below them. They have become ‘specially privileged’ people. They have abused authority for their own benefit and we in the lower ranks are being used as their pawns. RFA: How many officers like you think the junta is doing wrong? Khin Pa Pa Tun: There are many who pretend not to see the reality and there are some who keep on working in the interests of their families. RFA: Who do you think are greater in number: those who oppose or those who support the junta? Khin Pa Pa Tun: I think there are more officers who do not like the junta than those who support them, though they do not express their views openly. RFA: What are your future plans? Khin Pa Pa Tun: I feel a lot better now as my conscience is clear. I was quite unhappy then wearing that uniform because my conscience was not clear. RFA: Why do you think the coup was launched and what do you think of the reasons they gave for their act? Khin Pa Pa Tun: I think it was carried out in the interests of one person. And the excuse they gave was not logical. I have been in the military service for over 20 years and I have never voted in elections. I realized they fixed votes in advance because officers added in the lists names of those who are not even in the camp. That’s why I cannot accept the (junta’s) excuse that the voting lists were erratic. I know their wrongdoings.  RFA: You must have heard about the burning of villages and the killings of innocent people in several regions and states. Who do you think is responsible for all these atrocities? Khin Pa Pa Tun: It’s the leaders who gave the orders as well as those who committed the acts. The perpetrators had a choice. They didn’t have to follow the orders to the letter. RFA… Do you have anything to say to your fellow officers and colleagues? Khin Pa Pa Tun: Among the Four Oaths we have to say aloud at roll call every morning, there’s one that says ‘we will always be loyal to the country and our citizens’. I refused to say that aloud later because my conscience was not clear. I don’t think we should be saying this oath if we are wearing these uniforms and serving these leaders.  RFA: Can you tell me why you left the military service? Thin Aung Htwe: There are many reasons I left the service. To be honest, I am more interested in the politics of the country. I always ask myself why our country is so poor and backward. Is it because our people are not intelligent or is it because of the system? Our country has been suffering for the past 70 years because of mismanagement of a group of people. These people have not managed well. Frankly speaking they do not have the management skills. They don’t have the education or experience or goodwill for the country. They only made us work for them and their families. Our education levels have gone down so badly. Our universities and colleges were once among the top in Southeast Asia but now we, even doctors, cannot get a proper job in a country like Singapore. Our local degrees are useless and we need more college degrees to be able to work there. We got into this situation due to mismanagement. RFA: What would you like to say about your decision to leave the military? Thin Aung Htwe: To speak frankly, we are very happy now. First, because we can now participate in the struggle for democracy, and second, because of the knowledge that we are no longer on the opposite side of the people. We will do whatever we can to help the people’s cause. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. 

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NGO: Video shows Thai military destroying footbridge used by Myanmar refugees

Editor011 mins

The Thai army in March destroyed a footbridge used by refugees fleeing attacks in eastern Myanmar, a human rights group alleged this week, but the military claimed Wednesday that it had dismantled the structure to stop cross-border crime. On Tuesday, Fortify Rights released video footage that shows uniformed soldiers dismantling the small footbridge made of bamboo over the Wa Le (also known as the Waw Lay) River, a tributary of the Moei River, at the Thai-Myanmar frontier. The makeshift walkway connected Thailand’s Tak Province with Myanmar’s Karen State, where the junta’s forces have allegedly killed civilians in recent months amid nationwide post-coup turmoil. In a statement, the Bangkok-based group called on the Thai government “to investigate the recent destruction by its soldiers of a makeshift cross-border footbridge used by refugees fleeing deadly attacks in eastern Myanmar.” Thai authorities should also “ensure any investigation into the situation on the border is aimed at protecting refugee rights, not further violating them,” said Amy Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights. “Arbitrary arrests and the destruction of this footbridge demand urgent attention.” The group confirmed that the video was filmed two months ago, adding it had obtained the 16-minute clip filed from the Myanmar side of the border and uploaded a shorter clip to YouTube. In the video, people speaking a Karen language and a crying infant child can be heard off-camera. In another clip from the video, a soldier asks, “What are you filming, [Expletive]. You want to die?” The exact date and time for when the footage was filmed were on file with Fortify Rights, the group said.  “Sources familiar with the bridge and the area told Fortify Rights that Myanmar refugees, especially children and older people, used the bridge to flee violence and persecution and that informal humanitarian workers used it to transport lifesaving aid from Thailand to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myanmar,” it said. On Wednesday, the Thai army’s regional command, the 3rd Army Area, responded to the allegations made by Fortify Rights and the video, which the group had circulated through social media. “The video clip depicting Thai soldiers breaking off a cross-border bamboo bridge was taken before the fighting inside of Myanmar flared up, and the bridge was illegal,” the army’s regional command said in a statement. “The bridge demolition has nothing to do with the migration of displaced persons … it was conducted following an order by the Tak border authorities to prevent illegal groups from doing their criminal activities,” the statement said, without saying what these criminal activities were. The statement claimed that the bamboo bridge had been illegally constructed and was destroyed before fighting with Karen rebels flared. “At that time, there was no fighting between Myanmar soldiers and ethnic minority force, and there were no displaced people,” it said. Long frontier Thailand shares a long history and 2,400-km (1,500-mile) border with Myanmar. The military said Thailand was delivering humanitarian aid to more than 1,500 Myanmar displaced people in four camps in Um Phang district. The Karen have been crossing the border since the Feb. 1, 2021, coup when Burmese Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing toppled the country’s democratically elected government, threw its civilian leaders in jail, and then turned military forces and police on his own people who have been protesting the junta’s actions. The Myanmar military has launched attacks throughout the country, including regions along the Thai frontier. Government security forces have killed at least 1,821 civilians – many of them pro-democracy protesters – throughout Myanmar since the coup happened, according to a tally compiled by the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Across the border, Thai authorities have been accused of forcing thousands of refugees to return to Myanmar after Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha ordered them to prevent “illegal immigration.” Additional video Fortify Rights said it obtained other video footage from Jan. 25, before the Thai soldiers allegedly destroyed the footbridge. The video shows at least 45 people, including women and children using the footbridge or lining up to cross the river. The group also alleged that Thai authorities had arbitrarily arrested and extorted refugees in the border town of Mae Sot. Fortify Rights described how refugees were forced to pay officials to avoid being arrested. “Since February 2022, Fortify Rights interviewed 15 Myanmar refugees on the Thailand-Myanmar border, including seven women, as well as three U.N. officials and four humanitarian aid workers in Thailand,” the statement said. “[F]irsthand testimonies collected by Fortify Rights reveal how Thai authorities have arbitrarily arrested, detained, and allegedly extorted money from Myanmar refugees within the last year.” It also noted that on April 8, the Associated Press reported that “police cards” were sold in Mae Sot through middlemen for an average monthly cost of 350 baht (U.S. $10). The refugees made the purchases under the belief the cards would “help them avoid arrest.” “The Thai government should create a formal nationwide system to issue identification cards to refugees that provide genuine protection,” Smith said in the release. “Such a process would help prevent extortion and other abuses and provide critical information on new arrivals to Thailand.” On Wednesday, Thai government authorities did not immediately respond to BenarNews’ request for comment – but Thai police announced last month that they would investigate the scheme. Activists’ concerns Activists, meanwhile, said Thailand should treat the refugees with respect. The Thai military should be more responsible for the refugees, said the person who coordinates the Burma Concern Project at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand. “I feel bad that the military is giving a terrible reason like this. We have seen this happen again and again,” said Thanawat, who goes by one name. “Even though we see some attempt to aid the refugees, behind the scenes, they are also pushing them back the refugees by not welcoming them like this.” According to another activist, the Thai government did not implement United Nations-supported procedures to deal with the refugees. “They have always let the security agencies take care of the refugees…

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