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Category: ASEAN

Split between opposition leaders could solidify Hun Sen’s rule in Cambodia

Editor011 mins

The split between Cambodian opposition leaders Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsy could help Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) hold power, sources in the country told RFA. Kem Sokha, while on trial Wednesday on unsubstantiated charges of treason, declared that his alliance with his Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) co-founder Sam Rainsy was over, seemingly confirming rumors that the country’s top opposition partnership of the past decade had ended. Sam Rainsy, who has been living in self-imposed exile in France since 2015, attributed Kem Sokha’s statement to the legal pressure he faces and said that there was no change in their relationship. Such a split, if genuine, could help the CPP in general elections next year, and all but ensure a smooth transition of power from Hun Sen to his son, Han Manet, exiled political analyst Kim Sok told RFA’s Khmer Service. Hun Sen has ruled the country since 1985. “Hun Sen will transfer power to his son because he has seen sign of split between the opposition leaders,” he said. Mey Chandara, coordinator for the Phnom Penh-based Cambodia Youth Network, told RFA that the split will cause a rift in supporters of the opposition at a time when they should be unified to challenge the ruling party. “We don’t want to see them separate. We want the opposition’s voices to demand justice in the upcoming election,” he said. Sam Rainsy founded the Candlelight Party under a different name in 1995. In 2012, supporters from his party and Kem Sokha’s Human Rights party merged to form the CNRP, which was dissolved by Cambodia’s Supreme Court five years later after it performed well in the country’s 2017 communal elections. Candlelight, as a separate party from the CNRP, was technically not affected by the ban and has risen to become the largest opposition party in the country. Sam Rainsy has thrown his support behind Candlelight, whereas Kem Sokha believes that its participation in what he viewed as a compromised election earlier this month only serves the CPP and its claims of winning the elections in a landslide. Seng Sary, a political analyst, said the divide between the two opposition leaders was real, and not initiated for strategic purposes. He said that the split was initiated by Kem Sokha, who did not support the opposition Candlelight Party in this year’s local commune elections.  CPP spokesman Chhim Phalvorun dismissed the idea that the CPP would benefit from the split between Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha. CPP will stay in power because it has the support of the people, he said. “When a wife and husband get a divorce, it is their issue. It has nothing to do with outsiders,” he said. If the rift in the opposition can be described as a divorce, it is not an amicable one, at least as far as Kem Sokha’s daughter, Kem Monovithya, is concerned. She wrote scathing criticism of Sam Rainsy on her Facebook account, accusing him of allowing Hun Sen and the CCP to use him to attack her father. “We think the ruling party wants to destroy the opposition party as a whole, especially the [Cambodia] National Rescue Party,” she wrote. “[The CPP] is doing two things. It is destroying Sam Rainsy through threats to arrest him, so he fled. At the same time, it is destroying Kem Sokha by using Sam Rainsy’s hands to attack him because he hasn’t fled,” Kem Monovithya wrote. “We think the ruling party and Sam Rainsy’s faction think that if Kem Sokha dares to defend himself or express any different ideas [from Sam Rainsy’s], his popularity will decline,” she said.   Kem Sokha is now more popular than when he started the Human Rights Party in 2007, Kem Monovithya added. “Kem Sokha has been the main leader since 2007, so we will continue our courage and speak the truth, even if the truth hurts Sam Rainsy’s faction or the ruling party,” she said. “In simple language, we will fight both.” Activist yet to meet lawyer Cambodian American activist Theary Seng, who on Tuesday was arrested while she protested a mass trial that convicted her and more than 50 other democracy advocates for their associations with the CNRP, has still not been allowed to meet with her lawyer in prison. By forbidding him to meet with his client, the lawyer, Choung Choy Ngy, told RFA that Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar Prison was breaking Cambodian law, which specify that prisoners be allowed to meet with legal counsel to discuss appeals. He said he was preparing a complaint to the Ministry of Interior, seeking intervention from Minister Sar Keng to allow him to meet Theary Seng. “Theary Seng wasn’t at the announcement of the court verdict, so she doesn’t [officially] know what the verdict is, so my intention was to inform her and explain her rights to appeal,” Choung Choy Ngy said. “I am sad that prison officials didn’t allow me to meet her.” Prison Department spokesman Nuth Savna told RFA that officials have designated her as a special case, so they have worked to ensure her safety, so for the time being the prison will not allow visitors. “We didn’t allow the visit due to safety and security factors,” he said, adding that prison officials received information that there is a plan by Theary Seng supporters to protest in front of the prison. The prison should allow her to meet with her lawyer, otherwise it is a violation of Theary Seng’s rights, Am Sam Ath of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights told RFA.  The U.S. State Department said it was “deeply concerned” about Tuesday’s verdict in a statement published Wednesday evening. “The sentencing of these opposition activists, many of whom are associated with the disbanded Cambodia National Rescue Party, is the latest instance in an alarming pattern of threats, intimidation, and persecution of opposition political leaders and parties. These actions undermine multiparty democracy and the rule of law,” department…

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Three people killed as troops target villages in Chin State

Editor03 mins

Three people died Thursday after junta forces fired artillery shells at a farm in Mui Tui village in Chin State’s Mindat township, residents told RFA. Yaw Man, an official from Mindat People’s Administration which is engaged in armed resistance, said a man and two women died when shells exploded. He said the military council’s Infantry Battalion No. 274 started shelling villages in the northern part of the city on Thursday morning. Mui Tai village is located 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) from Mindat. “A 70-year-old man, a 60-year-old woman and a 30-year-old woman working on the farm died on the spot. Another was wounded by bullets. The shells also landed in the village. Three houses were destroyed there,” said Yaw Man, adding the the injured man was being treated at a charity clinic near Mindat Township.  Residents told RFA that Infantry Battalion No. 274, which is based in Mindat, fired shells seven times targeting villages, including Mui Tui, in the north of Mindat city from around 9:30 a.m. Locals said the army was not targeting local People’s Defense Forces (PDFs), but deliberately aiming at the villages. Calls to a military council spokesman by RFA on Thursday morning went unanswered. In the past, the spokesman has said the army had to open fire to destroy villages where local PDFs were sheltering and conducting military training. On May 23, heavy artillery fired by Infantry Battalion No. 274 hit a house in Madat village critically injuring an 11-year-old boy whose right leg had to be amputated. Chin State was one of the first regions in Myanmar to form militias to fight the military following the coup in February last year. More than 200 people have been killed in the state since then according to the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), which monitors human rights abuses. At least 10 civilians have been killed in Mindat City and Mindat Township since February 1, 2021. Fighting between junta troops and local militias has forced nearly 90,000 locals to flee their homes in Chin State.

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Former Cambodian opposition chief Kem Sokha claims end to alliance with Sam Rainsy

Editor010 mins

Cambodia’s top opposition partnership of the past decade is no more, one half of the duo said Wednesday, confirming rumors of a split within the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and raising questions over who can mount a legitimate political challenge to strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen. Speaking during proceedings for his trial on unsubstantiated charges of treason at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, former CNRP President Kem Sokha announced that his relationship with the party’s acting President Sam Rainsy had ended, although Sam Rainsy was quick to dismiss the comments as the result of legal pressure. “I am using this platform to speak about politics [to put an end to speculation]. Sam Rainsy and I are done. I would like to inform you that this is true. It’s no longer ‘Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha as one,’” Kem Sokha said in a rare courtroom audio recording that was later published by the pro-ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) Fresh News media outlet. “Before, Samdech [Hun Sen] maintained a culture of dialogue with Sam Rainsy, but now there is none. He [Sam Rainsy] led the Candlelight Party to join the [commune] election and in doing so, he left us and attacked me. I want to clarify this during the trial.” Sam Rainsy, who founded the Candlelight Party in 2005 before joining forces with the CNRP, has been living in self-imposed exile in France since late 2015. The opposition leader tried to return in November 2019 to lead a peaceful uprising against Hun Sen’s CPP, but his plan to enter Cambodia from Thailand was thwarted when he was refused permission to board a Thai Airways plane in Paris. Kem Sokha told the court on Wednesday that he had “never supported” his former ally’s plan to return, which has subsequently been used by authorities to try and convict several opposition members on charges of incitement to overthrow the government. His comments came after being pressed by the court prosecutor to explain his connection to the events of 2019. “I didn’t support him. I asked my supporters not to join. If I were granted political rights by the judge, I would have held a press conference to explain this,” Kem Sokha said, referring to a court-ordered ban on his political activities during his trial. “I’ve decided that Cambodia is my homeland and I have no other place that I belong. I have no interest in bringing foreigners into the country to provoke chaos.” Speaking to RFA Khmer following Wednesday’s hearing, Kem Sokha’s lawyer Pheng Heng confirmed his client’s statement. “This is real audio recorded during the trial. He responded to the same questions [asked by the prosecutor] who accused him of assisting with Sam Rainsy’s repatriation,” he said. “Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha ended their alliance when Sam Rainsy threw his support behind the Candlelight Party.” Pheng Heng added that he was “surprised” that the court had allowed Kem Sokha’s statement to be taped during the trial, as reporters are normally banned from making audio or video recordings during hearings and said that he will discuss with his client whether he intends to file a complaint. Kem Sokha leaves the Phnom Penh Municipal Court following a hearing in his case, June 15, 2022. Credit: citizen journalist Rumors of a split Kem Sokha’s claim to have ended his relationship with Sam Rainsy appear to confirm pervasive rumors of a schism within Cambodia’s opposition that were reignited following a four-hour meeting last month between the former CNRP president and Hun Sen at a funeral for the latter’s brother, during which the two discussed national policy issues. CNRP supporters had dismissed the rumors as part of a bid by the CPP to fracture the opposition ahead of nationwide elections for local councils held earlier this month but had urged party leaders to issue a statement clarifying the status of their relationship. The CPP claimed a sweeping victory in the commune polls last week — a contest that rights watchdogs said was heavily slanted toward the ruling party and marred by intimidation and obstruction of the opposition. The official election results will be announced on June 26. On Wednesday, Sam Rainsy told RFA that Kem Sokha had lied about the nature of their alliance, insisting that “nothing has changed.” “We must look at the circumstance. Is he speaking his mind or is he being pressured? He spoke before the court that charged him,” he said. “I don’t change my stance. Kem Sokha is a hostage of Hun Sen. He can’t say what he wants. Hun Sen has threatened Kem Sokha that he will send him back to prison.” Sam Rainsy also alleged that the leak of the courtroom audio is “part of a plot” organized by Hun Sen. “This is a plot to show that Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha are splitting,” he said. “If Cambodia’s democrats remain united, it will mean the end for Hun Sen. So, I’m not interested in what Kem Sokha said in this circumstance.” Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017, two months after the arrest of Kem Sokha for his role in an alleged scheme to topple Hun Sen with the help of the U.S. government — charges he denies. The former CNRP president, who faces up to 30 years in jail, declined to vote in this month’s election and was joined by many of his followers. Sam Rainsy told RFA that amid efforts to return the CNRP to legal status, the best way forward for Cambodia’s opposition supporters is to rally behind the Candlelight Party. “While we are in the jungle, we need candlelight until the sun rises,” he said. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Russia, Ukraine turn Indonesia into diplomatic battlefield

Editor08 mins

The Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors have turned Indonesia – this year’s G20 chair – into a diplomatic battlefield by holding tit-for-tat press briefings, becoming regulars at local newsrooms and giving interviews to present their versions of what’s happening in the actual warzone.  Take the case of an in-person press conference last week by Lyudmila Vorebieva, Russia’s envoy here. During the interaction with reporters, she claimed that her country’s forces did not target civilians in Ukraine and the Western media had published fake news. When asked to respond, Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Hamianin shot back. He called Vorebieva a liar and war criminal who had “reserved a place in hell.”  The reason for this diplomatic battle is Indonesia’s position as holder of the 2022 presidency of the Group of Twenty leading economies, said Radityo Dharmaputra, an international relations lecturer at Airlangga University in Surabaya.  “For Russia, Indonesia is important because they need to show that not all countries support Ukraine,” Radityo told BenarNews.  “For Ukraine, they need support from countries other than Europe and the United States.” And Indonesia? It does not have an incentive to support either side, partly because its citizens have no affinity with Russians or Ukrainians, Radityo said.  “Indonesia’s foreign policy tradition in such a situation is to play it safe,” he said. Indonesia voted for a United Nations General Assembly resolution in March that condemned Moscow’s military strike on Ukraine. But, at the same time, Jakarta has not ever directly criticized Russia or used the word “invasion.”  And still, Indonesia has been drawn into a tug of war between the United States and the European Union on one side and Russia and China on the other, by virtue of being this year’s G20 president.  The U.S. and other Western countries wanted Russia expelled from the group, while China said no member had the right to expel another country. U.S. President Joe Biden said Ukraine should be able to participate in the G20 summit, which is scheduled for mid-November in Bali, if Russia is not expelled. Indonesia has been reluctant to disinvite Russia, but has asked Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, which is not a G20 member, as a guest.  The Ukrainian government has said that Zelenskyy’s attendance at the G20 summit would “depend mainly on the situation in the battlefield.”  In April, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said that Russian President Vladimir Putin would attend the summit,  although the Kremlin had not confirmed his participation. Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Vorobieva gestures while talking to journalists as Defense Attache Sergey Zhevnovatyi listens during a news conference at the Russian Embassy in Jakarta, March 23, 2022. Credit: Reuters Meanwhile, Moscow’s and Kyiv’s ambassadors to Jakarta launched dueling diplomatic offensives to court Indonesia and its people. In March, both Vorobieva and Hamianin visited the headquarters of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization that boasts 80 million followers, only a day apart. They met with NU’s new chairman, Yahya Cholil Staquf, a former advisor to Jokowi.   The two have also given “exclusive” interviews to various Indonesian media outlets. At last week’s press conference, Vorobieva repeated Moscow’s assertions that what happened in Ukraine was the result of the West’s “anti-Russian project.”  “They’re actually spreading terror, people were fearing and are still fearing. You will not see that in the Western media, but we see it every day,” she said.  Hamianin laughed off Vorobieva’s allegations.  “She doesn’t look ignorant. That’s why she’s just a liar, right?” Hamianin told BenarNews in a phone interview.  “The oppression Russia committed over Ukraine during the last 30 years, the non-stop blackmailing, nonstop humiliation, like territorial attacks and all that, especially the last eight years … is what turned Ukraine into anti-Russia,” he said.  “Because we don’t accept the aggressors. We don’t accept liars, murderers, and rapists.” He described Vorobieva’s claim that Ukraine’s government backed Nazis as “disgusting.”  “I’m absolutely sure that by saying this, she booked her personal seat on the bench of war criminals in The Hague tribunal, and definitely reserved a place in hell,” he said, referring to the International Court of Justice, based in the Netherlands.  Hikmahanto Juwana, an international law professor at the University of Indonesia, said winning the hearts and minds of people in the world’s fourth most populous country was important for Russia and Ukraine.  “The Indonesian public needs to be propagandized so that the government takes a position that is in line with public aspirations,” Hikmahanto told BenarNews.  Alvin Prasetyo in Jakarta contributed to this report by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

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Laos to sell $350 million in high-interest bonds to combat inflation

Editor05 mins

The Lao government is so desperate for cash that it is offering about U.S. $340 million in bonds with a six-month interest rate of 20 percent, terms that sources told RFA sounded too good to be true. The Lao economy is struggling with rampant inflation, a severe lack of foreign currency, and shortages of food and gas. While all the problems are interconnected, the government has taken to blaming the devalued kip on black market moneychangers and has introduced measures to maintain the value of its currency. To that end, the Bank of Lao P.D.R. said on Tuesday it would start selling bonds worth 5 trillion kip. Buyers will receive a certificate from the central bank. “We’re selling bonds to everyone except commercial banks and financial institutions,” a central bank employee told RFA’s Lao Service on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “Even foreigners who have lived in Laos for only one year are eligible to buy bonds.” But Laotians contacted by RFA said that the 20 percent rate over six months sounded too good to be true. They say they do not have confidence that their cash-strapped government will be able to honor the commitment. “I’m not interested in buying bonds like that because they are too risky,” said the owner of a rubber-processing plant in northern Laos, who like the rest of the unnamed sources in this report declined to be named for safety reasons. “I’m going to lose money on those bonds. Nobody is going to buy them. The government is broke right now, so how can it pay us back when the bonds mature?” he told RFA. A Lao financial expert said the interest rate will make it hard for the government to repay the notes. “The government won’t be able to pay that much. I heard yesterday from the Lao National Assembly meeting that the government wanted to sell 5 trillion kip worth of bonds to tackle inflation and divert more foreign currency into the system. The question is, who is going to buy them?” the expert told RFA. “My impression is that most people are concerned, not confident. They are afraid that the government won’t have money to pay it back,” said the expert. An import-export business owner from Vientiane also told RFA he won’t be buying any bonds. “I don’t have much kip. Most of the time I use Thai baht because I import products from Thailand, and pay in baht. Most of the big businesses in Laos use either dollars or baht,” he said. The owner of a business in the southern province of Savannakhet told RFA that she was surprised when she heard the interest rate on the bonds was set at 20 percent. “The government will pay that high interest? 20 percent! Usually, we get a little more than 6 percent a year for stocks or bonds, but we’ll get 20 percent for government bonds? That’s much too high,” she said. According to a report by the Lao Statistics Bureau, the country’s inflation rate climbed to 12.8 percent on the year in May, its highest rate in 18 years.  This continued a trend of increasing on year inflation rates since January. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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More than 40 anti-regime protesters arrested in Yangon in two days

Editor04 mins

Myanmar’s military junta is targeting younger protesters in the country’s business capital, Yangon, arresting more than 40 men and women on Monday and Tuesday. Witnesses said those arrested were aged between 18 and 30.  An activist told RFA the military council tracked down the remaining members of an anti-regime group after rounding up protestors in Yangon’s Kyee Myin Daing township on Monday  “Seven or eight people in one house have been arrested. The junta forces are able to find the location of the rest of protesters and arrest them under the pretext of checking household guest lists. Most of the detainees were UGs [underground], supporters of anti-regime leaders and protesters on the ground,” said the person, who declined to be named for safety reasons. Most of those arrested are from Kyee Myin Daing, San Chaung, Tamwe, Kyauktadar and Yan Kin townships. Junta forces raided their houses day and night under the pretext of checking household lists and forcefully arrested them, sources told RFA. Protesters still at liberty and their families said the exact whereabouts of the more than 40 detainees are not yet known. Witnesses and protesters who are currently in hiding said the police and army arrested activists and beat them at their homes, forced them to kneel in the road and tortured them to discover the whereabouts of remaining members. Calls to a military council spokesman by RFA on Wednesday remain unanswered. Anti-regime protesters in Yangon on June 3, 2022. CREDIT: Yangon People’s Strike Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said Tuesday that a total of 14,110 Anti-regime activists across the country have been arrested in more than 16 months since the military coup. Of those, 11,053 are still in custody.  Even younger opponents of the regime are being systematically targeted by police and troops according to a report by the United Nations. UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews called on world leaders to “take immediate coordinated action to address an escalating political, economic and humanitarian crisis that is putting Myanmar’s children at risk of becoming a lost generation.” “During my fact-finding for this report, I received information about children who were beaten, stabbed, burned with cigarettes, and subjected to mock executions, and who had their fingernails and teeth pulled out during lengthy interrogation sessions,” Andrews said, describing the junta’s actions as “war crimes.” The UN report said at least 142 children have been killed, more than 250,000 have been displaced by the military’s attacks and over 1,400 have been arbitrarily detained since the coup in February, 2021. It said at least 61 children, including several under 3-years-old, are reportedly being held as hostages, while the UN has documented the torture of 142 children since the coup.

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Membership of a political party ‘cannot be grounds for arrest’ UN group says

Editor09 mins

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has criticized the case against a Vietnamese Australian facing a 12-year sentence as lacking grounds for arrest. The comments came in a report released in the first week of June, concerning the case of Chau Van Kham, an Australian resident and member of the banned U.S.-based Viet Tan opposition party. WGAD also released a report on Nguyen Bao Tien, a driver who volunteered for a publishing house founded by a jailed activist. According to documents No. 13/2022 and No. 35/2022, approved by WGAD during its 93rd session from March 30 to April 8, 2022, the agency considers the arrests of Tien and Kham to be arbitrary. WGAD called on Vietnam’s government to take the necessary steps to remedy their situation immediately and in accordance with relevant international conventions, including those set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Chau Van Kham, 72, was arrested on January 13, 2019 on charges of “operating to overthrow the people’s administration.” He was later sentenced to 12 years in prison on another charge of “terrorism aimed at opposing the people’s administration,” because he was a member of Viet Tan, labeled a “terrorist” organization by Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security. Viet Tan was described by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as a moderate activist group advocating for democratic reform. WGAD said it was not the general rule to arrest Chau Van Kham without a warrant in violation of Article 9 of ICCPR. The agency said the deprivation of his liberty was arbitrary because he was only exercising the freedoms of conscience and belief as well as the right of expression enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR. It said Kham’s connection to Viet Tan could not be considered grounds for arrest. WGAD also criticized Kham’s limited consular access from the Australian Mission in Vietnam and inadequate legal assistance.  In an interview with Radio Free Asia this week, Viet Tan chairman Do Hoang Diem said: “Right now we are in Australia and the purpose of our trip is to meet Australian politicians and elected officials to campaign for Mr. Chau Van Kham.” “This UN ruling is very timely. With this verdict, it is clear that Mr. Chau Van Kham is innocent … We will fight for Mr. Kham to be free and return to his family.” In March the Vietnamese government responded to criticism by saying Kham was arrested for violating Vietnamese law, not for his democratic views. The government said his arrest and sentencing were carried out in accordance with Vietnamese law, consistent with international conventions that Vietnam has ratified. Hanoi said it had announced that Viet Tan was a terrorist organization with the aim of overthrowing the government by methods such as armed activity, directly threatening national security and social order, and recruiting and training members in the use of weapons and explosives. The government said Kham illegally entered Vietnam on January 11, 2019, under the direction of Viet Tan, to organize recruitment and training for sabotage and terrorist activities. Since his arrest, many civic groups and parliamentarians in Australia have called on the government in Canberra to put pressure on the Vietnamese government to secure his release. However, he is still detained and forced to do hard labor in a Vietnamese prison. In a separate report the working group commented on 36-year-old Nguyen Bao Tien, a book courier and voluntary worker for Liberal Publishing House. The publishing house was founded by imprisoned activist Pham Doan Trang and is not registered with the Vietnamese government,  Tien was arrested on May 5, 2021 on charges of “conducting propaganda against the state” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison on January 21 this year. WGAD said Tien was punished only for peacefully exercising the right to freedom of expression and association as provided for in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR. It noted that during his detention and trial Tien was deprived of the right to a defense attorney. In March the Vietnamese government said Tien was arrested for violating national law and that during his arrest and trial, his rights were guaranteed. The government said Tien owned and distributed 108 books containing content defaming the regime’s policies in order to call for the overthrow of the people’s government.  WGAD operates under the auspices of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), with the mandate to “investigate cases of deprivation of liberty imposed arbitrarily or inconsistently with the international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or the international legal instruments accepted by the States concerned.” In the last five years it has released documents criticizing the arbitrary arrest and conviction of dozens of prisoners of conscience, including Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy, Pham Doan Trang, Nguyen Thuy Hanh and Le Van Dung. It has called on the Vietnamese government to release them. However, Vietnam has sentenced them to lengthy prison terms and placed them in prisons with harsh living conditions.

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North Korean doctors in Laos ordered to pay ‘loyalty funds’ to Pyongyang

Editor08 mins

North Korea is forcing two doctors who set up a highly profitable ward in a hospital in Laos to send their earnings back home as so-called “loyalty funds,” North Korean sources in Laos told RFA. The North Korean doctors, a physician and a surgeon, were dispatched to the Southeast Asian country to set up a practice on one floor of the Lao-Asean Hospital in the capital Vientiane, an upscale medical facility that offers a higher standard of care than an average Lao hospital. The hospital caters to wealthy foreigners who live in Laos, as well as tourists. Under the normal terms for North Korean workers dispatched to other countries, the doctors had to give their government a percentage of their earnings. In most cases, the money these workers keep is still several times what they could hope to earn at home. But the COVID-19 pandemic caused revenue at the hospital to decline, as there were fewer wealthy foreign patients. The ward operated by the North Korean doctors was forced to suspend operations until the Lao government lifted restrictions in May. As the money started rolling in, Pyongyang ordered the two doctors to resume payments, only in greater amounts that cut sharply into their incomes. “I heard from an acquaintance, who is close to the doctors from Pyongyang, that the North Korean authorities have demanded excessive loyalty funds from the doctors,” a North Korean source in Laos told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “Their operations have barely become normalized. But they look particularly depressed and disappointed because they owe more in loyalty money than they earn,” she said. The doctors started their practice in Vientiane to capitalize on the tourism industry centered there. “Since there are many tourists, they expected that [opening a ward] in that hospital would be able to earn a lot of foreign currency,” said the source. “They designated [their ward] as [part of the] international hospital rather than a North Korean one,” she said. “Most foreign tourists and residents recognize it as [part of] an international hospital that offers better treatment than the local Lao hospitals, and they visit a lot.” Prices can be up to 10 times higher, and must be paid in U.S. dollars, cash only, according to the source. She said she was aware of a Chinese businessman who paid $20 for an abdominal pain diagnosis that would cost $2 in a typical Lao hospital. “Since May, the hospital has been making a good profit as the Lao government completely lifted the COVID-19 lockdown,” she said. Another North Korean in Laos said the hospital ward was established a few years ago, before the worst of the pandemic had reached Laos. “It was founded and operated by two doctors in their 40s who were dispatched from Pyongyang a few years ago. They diagnose, treat and perform surgeries on patients regardless of their nationalities, and get a lot in foreign currency,” she told RFA on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely. “The Lao government closed the border and banned movement between regions in 2020. As the entry and movement of foreigners was suspended, the North Korean hospital [ward] started seeing fewer patients,” the second source said. Eventually the ward had to suspend operations as the steady flow of patients dwindled. “The [ward] has emerged from operational difficulties caused by the COVID-19 crisis, and it is making significant profits,” she said. Sources told RFA that the North Korean ward is able to earn between $100 and $200 per day on average, but has been asked to send to Pyongyang $3,000 per month. After factoring in overhead, very little remains for the two doctors. An employee of the Lao-Asean hospital confirmed to RFA’s Lao Service that two North Korean doctors have been working at the hospital for the past two years, but could not elaborate on how they came to work for the hospital or what their exact positions were. A Lao health official, meanwhile, told RFA that the hospital is privately owned by a domestic company, Lao Medical Service Co., but that it was common for hospitals to hire doctors from abroad. “Many private hospitals in Laos employ many foreign doctors and medical experts including Chinese and Vietnamese because these foreigners have great knowledge in the field,” the official said. “As for the Lao-Asean Hospital, I know that the owner is a Lao investor who has hired several Chinese doctors to work with Lao counterparts and at least one of them is the head of a treatment department, but I don’t know whether the hospital has any North Korean doctors,” he said. Additional reporting by RFA Lao. Translated by Claire Lee, Leejin J. Chung and Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Police report: ARSA rebel chief ordered Rohingya leader Muhib Ullah gunned down

Editor06 mins

The leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army rebel group ordered the killing of Rohingya activist Muhib Ullah at a Bangladeshi refugee camp last year, police in the South Asian country said in recommending murder charges against 29 suspects, although the insurgent group denied being involved. Muhib Ullah was more popular than Ataullah Abu Ahmmar Jununi, the head of ARSA, and that displeased him, according to an investigation report that police submitted to a court in Cox’s Bazar district on Monday. Seen by BenarNews, the police report says the 29 suspects were members of ARSA and that they acted at the orders of Ataullah and were involved in Muhib Ullah’s murder at various stages.  Fifteen of the 29 suspects have been arrested since the killing last September and the remaining 14 are absconding, police said. The report says that four of the 15 persons confessed to their involvement in Muhib Ullah’s murder. According to one of them, ARSA leaders organized a meeting at one of the refugee camps two days before the murder, the police report says. “At the meeting, [one suspect] and others said ‘our leader Ataullah Jununi told us that Muhib Ullah is emerging as a bigger leader. The Rohingya are giving him more support. He must be killed’ said accused Azizul Haque who was guarding the meeting venue,” according to a portion of the police report. “All of the persons having involvement with the murder are the members of the so called ARSA/Al-Yaaqin,” reads the report, adding that the accused persons had reportedly been involved in theft, robbery, murder, rape, mugging, human trafficking and smuggling of illegal narcotics. “All of them are rogues,” says the report, stating that ARSA and Al-Yaaqin were the same organization. This is the first official admission by Bangladeshi authorities on the presence of ARSA at the refugee camps. Until now, the Bangladesh government has strenuously denied that ARSA exists on Bangladesh soil. Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, an additional superintendent of police in Cox’s Bazar district, confirmed to BenarNews that police submitted the investigation report to the local court on Monday, but he declined to comment further. “The investigation report says it all. We have no comments beyond the investigation report,” he told BenarNews. On the night of Sept. 29, 2021, unidentified gunman burst in and fatally shot Muhib Ullah, a refugee and internationally known Rohingya activist, in his office at the Kutupalong camp while he was meeting with other refugees. ARSA is a Rohingya insurgent group whose 2017 attack on government outposts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state led to a brutal military crackdown against the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, causing about 740,000 of them to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. ARSA is also blamed for criminal activities at the Rohingya camps in Ukhia and Teknaf, two sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar, a southeastern district near the border with Rakhine state in Myanmar. The police report says that ARSA was against the repatriation of the Rohingya to Myanmar but it did not elaborate on the reason. “Ataullah Abu Ahmmar Jununi could not accept the leadership of Muhib Ullah. He asked Muhib Ullah to stop the operation of his organization to promote the repatriation of the Rohingya. But he did not listen,” the report says. Without going into detail, the report also says that the popularity of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, Muhib Ullah’s organization, would stand in the way of ARSA’s operations. In addition, according to the report, Ataullah asked Muhib Ullah to join ARSA but he rejected the offer. Sunil Barua in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, contributed to this report. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

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UN official urges action to prevent a lost generation of children in Myanmar

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The international community must “reengage and refocus” on Myanmar to head off a looming crisis that may leave a “lost generation” of children, who have already suffered incredible deprivation since the country’s February 2021 military coup, a United Nations human rights official said on Tuesday. In a 40-page report titled “Losing a Generation: How the military junta is attacking Myanmar’s children and stealing their future,” Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, says the military regime has systematically abused children since taking power. Soldiers, police officers and military-backed militias have murdered, abducted, detained and tortured children in a campaign of violence across the Southeast Asian nation, the report says. Military attacks have displaced more than 250,000 children, the report says. More than 1,400 youths have been detained and at least 61 are currently being held hostage. The report says that 142 children have been tortured — beaten, cut, stabbed, burned with cigarettes, deprived of food and water — since the military seized power from the democratically elected government. “The junta’s relentless attacks on children underscore the generals’ depravity and willingness to inflict immense suffering on innocent victims in its attempt to subjugate the people of Myanmar,” said Andrews, a former member of the U.S. Congress from Maine from 1991 to 1995, in a statement. He was appointed to his U.N. role in May 2020. An estimated 7.8 million children remain out of school because of the conflict. As many as 33,000 minors could die preventable deaths this year because they have not received routine immunizations, according to the report. Andrews called on U.N. member states, regional organizations, the U.N. Security Council and other U.N. agencies to significantly increase humanitarian assistance and regional support for refugees. Countries should also implement stronger economic sanctions and coordinated financial investigations to diminish the military’s ability to remain in power. The parties must “respond to the crisis in Myanmar with the same urgency they have responded to the crisis in Ukraine,” the special rapporteur said. “The junta’s attacks on children constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes,” Andrews said. “Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and other architects of the violence in Myanmar must be held accountable for their crimes against children.” There was no immediate response from the State Administration Council, the formal name for the junta regime. In Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged member states to step up pressure on the Myanmar junta amid ongoing reports of violence and human rights violations. “[T]here are reasonable grounds to believe the commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes,” Bachelet said. “What we are witnessing today is the systematic and widespread use of tactics against civilians in respect of which there are reasonable grounds to believe the commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes,” she told the current session of the Human Rights Council. Bachelet called on U.N. member states to take sustained and concrete action to end the violence against civilians and minority groups. “I urge all member states, particularly those with the highest-level access and influence, to intensify the pressure on the military leadership,” she said, citing measures such as increased restrictions on the regime’s financial holdings and business interests and limiting its access to foreign currencies to restrict the purchase of military equipment and supplies. “I also call for continued support to the efforts underway to pursue accountability for the ongoing and past serious human rights violations, as well as alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity through all available tracks,” she said. “Myanmar’s future depends on addressing the root cause of this crisis.”

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