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Category: ASEAN

Hpa-an Prison inmates tortured and starved

Editor06 mins

At least 60 inmates of Hpa-An Prison, in Kayin State, have been injured in a series of violent incidents involving authorities after two political prisoners escaped over a wall on June 4, sources close to the prison told RFA on Wednesday. A source close to the prison, who declined to be named for security reasons, said young inmates were attacked from outside the cells.  “All the children were stabbed with long bamboo sticks from outside the cells at 10 a.m. today. There were a lot of injuries and a lot of blood. And food for the prisoners has not been provided for a whole day, no food at all,” the source said.  “Last night at about 8:30 p.m., while they were sleeping, the prison authorities got into the cell through the window and beat the inmates with electric sticks and shot them with iron nuts using slingshots. They also pointed guns from outside the cell.” On June 4, two of the more-than-200 political prisoners in the Gyo Gyar barracks at the prison escaped at noon by climbing a wall with a rope. A prison guard who witnessed the incident ordered the security guard in the tower to shoot, but no bullets were fired and the men escaped. Hla Shwe, the new head of Hpa-an Prison, arrived after the incident and told political prisoners to calm down. However, on Monday authorities threatened to move political prisoners from Gyo Gyar barracks to other barracks on orders from the military junta. The prisoners refused, which led to growing tension, which escalated according to sources close to the prison. “Political prisoners do not want to move elsewhere in the prison because there have been problems between the political prisoners and prisoners jailed for drug use,” said another source close to the prison who also declined to be named. “The drug offenders threaten the political prisoners, saying ‘We all have weapons and you all can be stabbed at any time. We will open your abdomens’ The political prisoners were moved to Gyo Gyar barracks by former prison authorities.” The source said soldiers arrived on Tuesday accompanied by prison authorities and forcibly dragged the political prisoners to an old barracks inside the prison where they had previously lived. At least 60 prisoners suffered broken arms and injuries to their foreheads and mouths. They were denied medical treatment and visits were banned on Wednesday according to sources close to the prison. Prison Department spokesman Khin Shwe denied the allegations and told RFA that prison conditions are normal. “There is no commotion in Hpa-an Prison,” he said. “Security, administration and discipline are normal.”  A source close to lawyers who were allowed to visit the prison said some prison staff had been detained and are being investigated over the prison break. “The day after the riot, officials came to check the prison and some prison staff were arrested. Action was taken at the prison. Court hearings were delayed yesterday and the police were in charge during the hearings. The situation in Hpan-an has now calmed down.” On May 8, more than 60 political prisoners in Hpan-an Prison were beaten by junta soldiers for singing the anti-regime song ‘Tway Thit Sar’ and banging metal cups and pans, according to another source close to the prison who spoke on condition of anonymity. He told RFA four inmates were injured and 17 were confined to their cells following the incident. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners a total of 10,962 people were arrested in Myanmar between Feb.1, 2021 and June 6, 2022, of which 1,117 were imprisoned.

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Kidnapping suspect fled to Vietnam to escape arrest

Editor013 mins

A suspect in the kidnapping of Vietnamese oil executive Trinh Xuan Thanh returned to Vietnam to evade a European Union arrest warrant, according to a Berlin-based journalist covering the case, while another reporter claimed he could have avoided arrest if he had stayed away from Europe for a few more months. The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office said last week that a Vietnamese national, identified as Anh T.L., was arrested in Prague and handed over to German authorities on June 1. He is accused of “spying and assisting in deprivation of liberty,” in connection with the abduction of Thanh in a Berlin park in 2017. Journalist Le Trung Khoa told RFA the suspect is Le Anh Tu, a Vietnamese resident of the Czech Republic.   Khoa said the German prosecutor’s office issued an indictment against him during the trial of another suspect, Nguyen Hai Long, in 2018. The indictment said that Le Anh Tu drove the minibus used to kidnap Thanh on July 23, 2017 and then sought refuge at the Vietnamese Embassy in Berlin: “Clearly, he was directly involved in the kidnapping because he was the driver of the car that was used during the illegal detention of Trinh Xuan Thanh. He witnessed the entire process from the time the kidnapping team picked up Lieutenant General Duong Minh Hung and other Vietnamese officers at a nearby hotel,” said Khoa. German journalist Marina Mai, who has also been covering the case, told RFA that Le Anh Tu would not have been arrested if he had arrived in Europe more than four months later: “Secret operations in Germany have a five-year statute of limitations,” she said. “Because the arrest warrant for Mr. Anh was effective from August 10, 2017, as far as I know, it would expire on August 10, 2022. So if Mr. Anh came to Europe four months later, he may not have been arrested. Now it has happened, I think there will be a second trial related to Trinh Xuan Thanh’s abduction to try him.” Meetings at the Borik Hotel It is claimed that Le Anh Tu drove another vehicle from the Czech Republic to the Borik Hotel in the Slovakian capital Bratislava where he met with Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security, To Lam. Khoa said that because Le Anh Tu was involved in almost the entire process of abducting and taking Trinh Xuan Thanh from Germany to the Czech Republic a trial will help clarify To Lam’s role and reveal whether or not former Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák was also involved in the kidnapping.  “In [Nguyen Hai Long’s] sentencing they clearly stated that To Lam was the one who organized this kidnap in Europe. However, at present, there is not enough real evidence to prosecute To Lam so I think they will do it step by step. Le Anh Tu’s arrest and extradition to Germany was a very important step because he [took part in] the meeting of the former Slovak Minister of Interior and To Lam at the Borik Hotel in Slovakia.” Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security met with then-Slovak Republic Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák at the hotel on July 26, 2017. The government then lent a plane to the Vietnamese to fly to Moscow from Bratislava. Some German and Slovakian media outlets speculated that Vietnam might have used the plane to take Thanh back to Vietnam. Robert Kaliňák denies being involved in the kidnapping plan. In December 2018, Slovakia decided to suspend an investigation of officials suspected of aiding Thanh’s return to Vietnam. At the time of the kidnapping the German foreign ministry condemned Vietnam’s abduction on German soil as “a flagrant violation of German law and international law, which we will never tolerate.” It imposed sanctions, including the suspension of its strategic partnership with Vietnam and expelled four Vietnamese Embassy employees and their families. German economic groups who want to do business with Vietnam have criticized the sanctions, according to Mai. She said their pressure persuaded the government to begin normalizing relations with Vietnam at the end of 2018.  “This does not mean that Germany is no longer interested in the Trinh Xuan Thanh case,” Mai said.  “Germany has recognized Vietnam’s release of Nguyen Van Dai to Germany, and also acknowledged that Vietnam did not execute Trinh Xuan Thanh. But the German government is still demanding the release of Trinh Xuan Thanh and his return to Germany.” “Vietnamese diplomatic passport holders are still not allowed to travel to Germany without a visa and Germany has not allowed Vietnam to appoint a liaison officer with the police and secret service in the Vietnamese embassy in Berlin since the kidnapping happened,” she added. Trinh Xuan Thanh is led by policemen to the courtroom at Hanoi People’s Courthouse on January 8, 2018. CREDIT: AFP Germany will ‘pursue it to the end’ According to Le Trung Khoa, Germany’s independent judiciary means it will investigate this case to the end, as evidenced by the fact that Le Anh Tu was arrested as soon as he returned to Europe: “Germany must, and will, pursue it to the end according to the independent judiciary, no matter what they ignore or like in Vietnam or say it will take a long time to pass.” In 2017, the German side made three requests to Vietnam in order to re-establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. The first was to ask Vietnam to return the status quo by returning Trinh Xuan Thanh to Germany. The second was to apologize for violating the law and sovereignty of Germany. The third was to promise not to repeat the crime. However, Vietnam has not complied with these requests. Marina Mai said the likelihood of Thanh being returned to Germany depends on whether the Hanoi government wants to stop violating international law.   “That can only happen if Trinh Xuan Thanh is returned to Germany,” she said.  “Germany is ready to issue a passport to Trinh Xuan Thanh. His family is living here.”  Vietnam unlikely to return Thanh any time…

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Myanmar’s junta uses identity documents as tools of genocide against Rohingya: report

Editor09 mins

Myanmar’s junta is using identity documents to carry out a genocide of the ethnic Rohingya community, much like the perpetrators of the Holocaust and Rwandan genocide, according to a new report, which calls on the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The 63-page report entitled “Genocide by Attrition: The Role of Identity Documents in the Holocaust and the Genocides of Rwanda and Myanmar” and published Tuesday by the Southeast Asian rights group Fortify Rights, details how the junta is forcing Rohingya to obtain National Verification Cards (NVCs) that its authors say effectively strip them of access to full citizenship rights and protections. It also draws on case studies from the Holocaust and Rwandan genocides to demonstrate how authoritarian regimes use such documents to “systematically identify, persecute, and kill targeted populations on a widespread and massive scale.” “Perpetrators have long used identification documents in the commission of genocide,” said Ken MacLean, co-author of the report, senior advisor to Fortify Rights, and Clark University Professor at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, in a statement accompanying the release of the report. “Evidence from the Holocaust and Rwandan genocides show striking similarities with the ongoing erasure of the Rohingya identity in Myanmar by the junta.” The report found that identification cards such as those used during the Holocaust and Rwandan genocides contributed to “genocide by attrition,” which it defined as “the gradual destruction of a protected group by reducing their strength through sustained, indirect methods of destruction.” Such policies have long been in use in Myanmar and continue to play a role in the ongoing genocide of the Rohingyas, the report said, citing interviews with more than 20 Rohingya-genocide survivors, leaked junta documents, and a media analysis of junta-backed news outlets since the military’s Feb. 1, 2021 coup. It said that Rohingya in Western Myanmar’s Rakhine state described how the junta forces them to carry NVCs to prevent them from identifying as “Rohingya,” restrict their movement, and curtail their ability to earn a living, “creating conditions of life designed to be destructive.” Instead, they are made to identify as “Bengali” immigrants from Bangladesh in what the report said is a bid by authorities to exclude them from citizenship and ethnicity within Myanmar. The report cited the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention’s findings that increased politicization of identity and discriminatory measures targeting protected groups are indicators in creating “an environment conducive to the commission of atrocity crimes,” noting that similar legal and administrative tools were used to facilitate the destruction of the Jewish and Tutsi populations, and are now being used against the Rohingya. “Rohingya continue to face existential threats under the military junta, an illegitimate regime responsible for far-reaching atrocities,” said John Quinley, senior human rights specialist at Fortify Rights and co-author of the report. “The ongoing denial of Rohingya ethnicity and citizenship are indicators of genocide. The [shadow] National Unity Government has committed to ensuring Rohingya citizenship and inclusion. The junta, however, is still using coercive measures to force Rohingya to identify as foreigners, erasing records of their existence.” Myanmar immigration officials hand over an identification document to a Rohingya woman at the Taungpyoletwei town repatriation camp in Rakhine state’s Maungdaw township, near the Bangladesh border, in a file photo. Credit: AFP Holding the junta accountable Fortify Rights said that while the connection between identification documents and international crimes is well-recognized, some U.N. officials, embassies, and others in Myanmar have failed to condemn the use of NVCs in targeting Rohingya. In some cases, the group said, they have even endorsed the documents as a solution to the group’s “statelessness.” The report’s findings demonstrate links between the NVC process and acts of genocide and should be a focus of investigations and legal proceedings, Fortify Rights said. The violations documented in Genocide by Attrition demonstrate links between the NVC process and genocidal acts and should be a focus of ongoing investigations and legal proceedings, said Fortify Rights. It called on U.N. member states to cut Myanmar’s junta off from access to arms, finances, and political legitimacy, and urged the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation in the country to the International Criminal Court (ICC). “The Myanmar military junta poses an undeniable threat to international peace and security,” said Fortify’s Quinley. “U.N. member states must wake up and act now to deny the junta the resources it craves and to hold it accountable for all of its crimes including genocide.” In 2016, a military crackdown forced some 90,000 Rohingya to flee Rakhine state and cross into neighboring Bangladesh, while a larger one in 2017 in response to insurgent attacks, killed thousands of members of the ethnic minority and led to an exodus of more than 740,000 across the border.  Human rights groups have produced a trove of credible reports based on commercial satellite imagery and extensive interviews with Rohingya about the operations in Rakhine state in 2017, including arbitrary killings, torture, and mass rape. Gambia has accused Myanmar’s military leadership of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention in Rohingya areas in a case it brought to the Hague-based International Court of Justice. The court is holding hearings to determine whether it has jurisdiction to judge if atrocities committed there constituted a genocide.

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Chinese Ambassador attends ceremony at controversial Cambodian base

Editor05 mins

A ground-breaking ceremony got underway on Wednesday morning at the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia for a Chinese-assisted development project that is causing grave concerns to the U.S. and allies. Pro-government site Fresh News, which broadcast the event live, said Cambodian defense minister Tea Banh and Chinese Ambassador Wang Wentian presided over the ceremony. According to the publicly announced plan, China will help Cambodia to renovate and upgrade some facilities at Ream, including constructing two new piers, a dry dock and a slipway, a hospital and several other buildings. China will also assist the Cambodian Royal Navy to repair some of its old ships and dredge navigation lanes to allow medium-sized vessels to access the base. It is unclear how much the project will cost but it is understood that the Chinese government will foot the whole bill. Ream Naval Base is located in Sihanoukville province on the Gulf of Thailand. Dredging work being carried out at the Ream Naval Base in Sihanoukville province. CREDIT: Fresh News ‘Not a secret base’ The project has attracted much attention from Western governments after the Wall Street Journal reported in 2019 that Phnom Penh and Beijing had signed a secret deal to allow the Chinese military to use part of the base for 30 years—with automatic renewals every 10 years after that—and to post army personnel, store weapons and berth warships. The reported deal would provide China with its first naval staging facility in Southeast Asia, the second in the world after a base in Djibouti, and allow it to significantly expand patrols across the South China Sea. Cambodia has repeatedly denied the information, saying permitting a foreign military base on Cambodia’s soil would be in complete contradiction to the country’s constitution. Phnom Penh argued that it had organized several visits for foreign diplomats to Ream, proving it was “not a secret base.” Chinese government officials also denied a later report that said the Chinese military “will have exclusive use of parts” of the base. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday that “the renovation of the base serves solely to strengthen the Cambodian naval capacities to protect its maritime integrity and combat maritime crimes.” Cambodian and Chinese official statements however did little to calm international concerns. On Tuesday, during a courtesy call with Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhon, the new Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong pressed the Cambodian official about the base.  Earlier, the new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was concerned about the implications of a Chinese naval base being built in Cambodia. “We’ve been aware of Beijing’s activity at Ream for some time and we encourage Beijing to be transparent about its intent and to ensure its activities support regional security and stability,” Albanese was quoted by news agencies as saying.

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Myanmar’s junta vows to proceed with high-profile executions

Editor010 mins

The court-ordered executions of four Burmese prisoners, including a deposed lawmaker and a prominent former activist sentenced to death for “terrorism,” will be carried out despite widespread international criticism, a junta official said Tuesday. Junta deputy information minister, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, rejected the possibility for pardons in the four cases, which are part of a surge in death sentences under martial law in Myanmar. Since taking over in a coup last year, the military has transferred the authority to try cases of civilians to special or existing military tribunals, resulting in what rights groups say are summary proceedings with no chance of appeal. Former National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker Phyo Zeyar Thaw and 88 Generation leader Ko Jimmy were sentenced to death for violating the country’s Anti-Terrorism Law. Two other men — Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw — were sentenced to death in Yangon region’s Hlaing Tharyar township on charges of murder. All four lost appeals of their cases last week. “The death penalty will be implemented,” Zaw Min Tun told RFA’s Burmese Service. “They will not be pardoned. We have finished the process all the way up through the appeals,” he added, when asked whether junta chief, Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, would consider staying their executions. Zaw Min Tun said the four men had been transferred to the custody of the junta’s Prison Department, which is now responsible for their cases. According to the junta, Phyo Zeyar Thaw and Ko Jimmy maintained contact with Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), and other organizations labeled “terrorist groups” by the military regime and had carried out “acts of violence.” The two men were sentenced to death by a military tribunal on Jan. 21. The four death sentences, as well 111 others that have been handed down by junta courts between the military’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup, and May 19 this year, have drawn criticism from legal experts and rights groups, who say the regime is threatening the public with unfair executions. The United Nations, Washington, Ottawa, and Paris have issued statements strongly condemning the decisions in the cases now proceeding to execution, although the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — of which Myanmar is a member state — has yet to respond. Thailand-based rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), which claims junta security forces have arrested 14,032 people between the start of the coup and June 7 this year – 10,976 of whom it says remain in detention – issued a statement Monday calling on the U.N., ASEAN, and the rest of the international community to intervene in the cases. The junta’s Foreign Affairs Ministry recently responded to the statements by the U.N. and Western governments, accusing their authors of “condoning acts of terrorism.” Waging ‘psychological warfare’ Kyaw Htwe, a member of the NLD’s Central Executive Committee, echoed concerns that the junta is using the sentences as a warning to its opponents in an interview with RFA on Tuesday. But he said proceeding with the executions could ultimately harm the regime itself. “I think the junta is using the [threat of the] death penalty of the four men, including Ko Jimmy and Ko Phyo Zeyar Thaw, to wage psychological warfare against the armed resistance and the people,” he said. “They are testing the limits. They have crossed the line and made an irrational decision, which required presidential orders and involved several steps of appeal. If they stupidly implement this decision, they will face a strong response from the domestic and international communities.” Kyaw Htwe said the junta’s administrative, legislative and judicial decisions are all “illegal,” because it is an illegitimate government that seized power through force. However, he didn’t provide clarification on how the NLD intends to respond to the death sentences. NUG Human Rights Minister Aung Myo Min said the junta lacks the judicial authority to issue execution orders, which require an in-depth and transparent process to avoid wrongful convictions. “We cannot trust the junta’s tribunal, courts, and sentencing. They are murdering innocent civilians and view all democracy activists as the enemy,” he said. “[Proceeding with execution] is the wrong decision, both in terms of human rights and rule of law.” High-stakes bluff A Yangon-based attorney, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity, said he believes the execution orders are a bluff by the military regime as part of a bid to extract some sort of concession from the international community. “After reviewing all factors, I conclude that it is very unlikely they will carry out the execution order,” he said, adding that it is likely the junta wants to use the cases “as a bargaining chip for political reasons.” “Given the fact that the world is protesting these orders, and that the decisions are in violation of international and domestic laws, they will face severe consequences if they proceed.” However, political analyst Than Soe Naing told RFA that the junta, which the AAPP says has killed more than 1,900 civilians since the coup, has demonstrated over the past 16 months that it has little regard for the sanctity of human life. “They might reconsider if the international community appeals to them courteously,” he said. “Otherwise, I think they would actually hang Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeyar Thaw, as they are little more than a group of thugs.” In its latest annual report covering the judicial use of the death penalty for the period January to December 2021, London-based rights group Amnesty International found that dozens of people were “arbitrarily sentenced to death” by Myanmar’s military tribunals, “several without the defendants being present, in what was widely perceived as a way to target political opponents and protestors.” The group said that prior to February 2021, Myanmar’s known death sentences were sporadically imposed for murder and usually commuted through mass pardons. However, the yearly average for the years 2017-2020 had remained lower than 10. The last execution in Myanmar — that of student leader Salai Tin Maung…

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Cambodia and China deny that Beijing is building secret facility at Ream Naval Base

Editor08 mins

China is not secretly building a military facility for its exclusive use inside a naval base Cambodia, a government spokesman said, dismissing a new report that detailed how both countries have been concealing a project that first gained U.S. attention in 2019. The Washington Post reported on Monday that China is building a new facility­–its second overseas military installation after a base in Djibouti–on the northern part of Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand, where Cambodia will host a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday. The newspaper quoted a Chinese official in Beijing as saying that “a portion of the base” will be used by “the Chinese military.” The official denied it was for “exclusive” military use, telling the Post that scientists would also use the facility. Cambodian government spokesperson Phay Siphan echoed the Beijing official’s denial that it would be for exclusive Chinese military use. “There is no agreement or law saying that the construction is reserved for Chinese benefit exclusively,” he told RFA’s Khmer Service. He said the base remains open for visits from other countries, including the United States, but the Post report said Cambodian and Chinese authorities have worked hard to hide the Chinese presence in Ream, keeping the Chinese areas off limits to third-country visitors and altering their dress to avoid scrutiny. Ream base became the center of controversy in July 2019 after The Wall Street Journal cited U.S. and allied officials as confirming a secret deal to allow the Chinese to use part of the base for 30 years—with automatic renewals every 10 years after that—and to post military personnel, store weapons and berth warships. The reported deal, which would provide China with its first naval staging facility in Southeast Asia and allow it to significantly expand patrols on the South China Sea, was vehemently denied by Hun Sen, who said permitting foreign use of a military base in the country would “be in full contradiction to Cambodia’s constitution.” Last year, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman voiced concern about the Chinese military presence at Ream Naval Base during a visit to the country, citing Cambodia’s razing of two U.S.-constructed buildings on the base in 2020. After meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen, she arranged for the U.S. Embassy to send its defense attaché for regular visits. Ten days later, the attaché arrived at the base, but he cut the tour short when he was not allowed full access, including to the sites of the two buildings. The U.S. had offered to renovate one of them, and the choice to destroy it suggested that Cambodia had accepted Chinese assistance to develop the base, a Pentagon report released last year said. A Cambodian official told RFA at that time that Cambodia never agreed to give the attaché a full tour, and that the U.S. had committed a breach of trust for asking more than what was agreed upon. Exiled political analyst Kim Sok told RFA that Cambodia and China are hiding the truth with their denials. “If any suspicions about the Chinese naval base are not resolved, Cambodia could face serious consequences—not only a diplomatic crisis in the form of pressure from the U.S.—but also it will lead to a security crisis. This will affect regional issues if there is no solution,” Kim Sok said. The base will bring more Chinese into Cambodia for purposes other than tourism or business, Cambodian-American rights activist and legal expert Theary Seng told RFA. “The Cambodian political situation is fragile, especially in terms of building good communication with the free world, because the ruling party dissolved its competitors to bolster the dictatorial regime. This has enabled China to [pounce on] the opportunity to increase its influence [in the region],” she said. Australia-based political scientist Carl Thayer said the semantics don’t change the situation. “Ream Naval Base is a Cambodian base on its own territory. Are they allocating a section that China can use? And if so, can Cambodians gain access to it without seeking prior permission?” he asked. “So Hun Sen says it’s not a base, it is a facility, and it’s still a base. Or [as] Shakespeare [said], ‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,’” added Thayer, an emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia. “A Chinese navy base in Cambodia, if it’s called a facility, it’s still a Chinese navy base,” he said. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Refugees in Myanmar’s Chin state excluded from ASEAN humanitarian assistance plan

Editor08 mins

Nearly 100,000 internally displaced ethnic Chins in western Myanmar have called for help from civil society groups to avoid allowing the military junta to control distribution of humanitarian aid from Southeast Asian countries, saying their strife-torn region is not receiving assistance. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — a regional grouping that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its 10 member states, including Myanmar — announced on Sunday that it would work with the military regime to distribute humanitarian aid to Myanmar. The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Myanmar topped 1 million as of May 30 amid fighting and armed clashes across the country since the February 2021 military coup overthrew the democratically elected government, triggering civilian displacement and a humanitarian crisis, according to the U.N.’s refugee agency (UNHCR). Residents of Chin state have been strong opponents of the military since the takeover, turning the 36,000-square-kilometer (13,900-square-mile) territory into a battlefield. Nearly 90,000 local residents have been forced by the fighting to flee the area. In Chin state and Magway and Sagaing regions in Myanmar’s northwest, indiscriminate attacks by junta forces against civilians have resulted in numerous deaths and casualties, the torching of homes and villages, house searches, arbitrary arrests and detentions, UNHCR said. Restrictions on movement and transportation has led to shortages of food and goods in among IDPs and host communities in the region, the U.N. agency said. ASEAN’s promised aid will bypass ethnic Chin IDPs, according to the interim Chin National Consultative Council, Chin state’s leading political group, and the national Unity Government (NUG), the government in exile formed elected lawmakers and members of parliament ousted in the coup. ASEAN will provide assistance to Kayah and Kayin states, as well as to Magway, Sagaing and Bago regions, allowing a military junta-led task force to make decisions on how aid is delivered through the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management, said Salai Isaac Khin, chairman of the Interim Chin National Consultative Council (ICNCC). “We wonder if they had ignored us because they didn’t know the ground conditions,” he told RFA. “What’s the meaning of this? This is questionable. It’s like the people of Chin state, the most vulnerable people, have had their rights ignored.” ‘We’re so disappointed’ The states and regions that will receive the humanitarian aid have 50,000 IDPs due to post-coup fighting and violence, about 45% of the number of displaced people in Chin state, said the ICNCC and the NUG in a statement issued Sunday. Furthermore, over 30,000 IDPs from Chin state have fled over the border into India. RFA called ASEAN’s office in Yangon to ask why Chin IDPs were not included in the aid program, but no one responded. A spokesman for the Chin State Joint Defense Committee (CJDC) said it was disappointing that the state is being excluded from receiving ASEAN humanitarian assistance. “Almost the entire town of Thantlang in Chin state was burned down during the fighting,” he said. “In Falam, about 93 houses were turned into ashes. Thirty percent of the Chin people are war refugees. We’re so disappointed that our people have been left out of the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Program. It isn’t fair. We strongly oppose that this entire aid program is coming through the junta.” An aid worker assisting the Chin IDPs, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said ongoing fighting has made it difficult to travel between Thantlang and Hakha, and food and medical aid are badly needed. “Chin state is a mountainous region, and it’s very difficult to bring rice from the mainland,” he said. “We want to ask ASEAN whether it has ignored us because it doesn’t think that Chin state is involved in Myanmar politics,” the aid worker added. “Another thing is that ASEAN should meet and work with NGOs and international NGOs instead of with the junta.” Salai Charlie, who helps Chin refugees in Mizoram, India, told RFA that Christian groups and NGOs in India provided initial assistance to those fleeing the fighting but now have stopped. “Currently we are not receiving foreign aid,” he told RFA. “The Mizoram government is not helping us. The church in Mizoram, the NGOs and the wealthy in Mizoram have donated everything they could to help us. No one is helping us anymore. The rains have come, and we cannot work.” RFA could not reach junta spokesman, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, for comment. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane for RFA Burmese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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COVID test scandal topples two Vietnam Communist Party high officials

Editor011 mins

It’s always a sign when the Vietnam Communist Party (VCP) calls for an emergency session of its Central Committee. Following a late May report by the Central Inspection Discipline Commission that detailed the wrong doing and bribe taking by the country’s Minister of Health and the Chairman of the Hanoi Party Committee, the Central Committee voted to expel the two men from the communist party. A third individual, the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, but not a member of the Central Committee, was also expelled from the party. Expulsion from the party is in itself a major deal. Party investigators have four levels of discipline: reprimand, warning, demotion and expulsion. No longer protected by their elite party status, their legal jeopardy just went up a few notches. Now that the party’s inspection has concluded, they will now be passed on the prosecutors for trial and an almost certain conviction. While the investigation of Central Committee members is not unheard of (indeed two members of the 12th Politburo were expelled), this is an incredibly elite body of 180 members and 20 alternate members in a country of 100 million people. So what was the scandal about? This was no run of the mill corruption scandal involving payments to regulators or misuse of public funds. This was a through, year-long  investigation, a sign of how importantly the VCP is taking the scandal. One has to recall that in the first year of the pandemic, Vietnam was the international gold standard or response. They sealed their borders, imposed quarantines, waged a public health campaign, and rallied the population. But Vietnam soon faltered. The Delta and Omicron variants hit the country hard. Vietnam had been so successful in containing the virus that they failed to secure vaccines. Vietnam tried to develop four separate vaccines rather than concentrating its efforts on one or partnering with foreign firms. And following the 13th Party Congress in January 2021, a new leadership team was slow to find its footing. By May 2021, Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s economic engine was in lockdown. In February 2020, the elite Military Academy of Medicine and Viet-A received an $830,000 grant for a pilot project to produce. In a significant breakthrough, they developed an effective, accurate, and cost-effective test within a month and then quickly moved into commercial production. The Ministry of Health authorized the purchase of the kits at $21 apiece. But then the dodginess began. In April 2020, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced that the World Health Organizations had authorized the Viet-A test kit, with the expectation of massive sales overseas. Communist Party Chief Nguyen Phu Trong publicly awarded the company with a medal for its achievements in March 2021. Not only did the WHO not recognize the Viet-A test, they rejected it. That should have set off some alarm bells, but Viet-A made up for the loss of overseas sales by inflating the price at home. A 45 percent markup netted the firm some $175 million. Calls for investigations mounted in the latter half of 2021. And perhaps with the walls closing in, the company’s Chairman, Phan Quoc Viet, increased the bribes and kickbacks. By the time of his arrest in December 2021, he acknowledged paying bribes of over VND500 billion, roughly $22 million. His arrest was just the beginning: 21 people have been investigated and VND1.6 trillion in assets were seized. In March 2022, two senior colonels from the Military Medical Academy were arrested. The director of the Military Medical research Institute was arrested for embezzlement and abuse of power, while the head of the Equipment and Supplies Department was investigated for “violating regulations on bidding, causing serious consequences.” Both were expelled from the party.   In April, Lieutenant-General Do Quyet, director of Vietnam Military Medical University and his deputy, Major General Hoang Van Luong, were investigated for their institution’s role in the scandal. In May, authorities arrested the deputy head of the price management division of the Drug Administration of Vietnam. That month, the Central Committee’s Central Inspection Committee released their report that culminated with a recommendation for disciplinary actions against the Hanoi party chief Chu Ngoc Anh, who had previously been the Minister of Science and Technology, and current Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long for their lax oversight and corruption within their ministries. A health worker waits amidst empty stools at a Covid-19 coronavirus vaccination centre for youths between the age of 12 to 17 in Hanoi, Nov. 23, 2021. Credit: AFP Does it Matter? Vietnam is a $271 billion economy, and growing quickly. Even by Vietnamese corruption scandals, the Viet-A scandal wasn’t that large. Yes, bribes were paid, but bribes are paid every day in Vietnam. But this scandal seems to have stung the leadership a little bit more. In part there was the direct link between the firm and the senior leadership. General Secretary Nguyen Pho Trong had egg on his face. But more importantly, Vietnam’s response to the pandemic was really quite exemplary. Even after the omicron wave rocked the country in mid-2021, they handled it well, and more importantly, had an extremely effective vaccine rollout. Vietnam’s handling of the pandemic was critical in keeping the economy humming. In 2020 as every other economy in Southeast Asia contracted, Vietnam,’s economy grew, though at a modest 2.9 percent. Growth slowed to 2.58 percent in 2021, but is set to grow rapidly in 2022. Public health is seen as essential to economic growth, especially as Vietnam seeks to benefit from decoupling from China and supply chain diversification. The scandal has also hit the vaunted Vietnam People’s Army, an institution that enjoys the highest levels of trust in the country. Vietnam has largely avoided the major kickback procurement scandals in their military modernization program that plagues many other countries. But it is far from immune to corruption. And one only has to look to Russia to see how pervasive corruption can hollow out a fighting force even after two decades of concerted…

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Vietnam’s religious groups face state persecution, church leaders say

Editor09 mins

Church leaders in Vietnam say freedom to practice their religion, enshrined in the Constitution, is being undermined by the 2016 Law on Belief-Religion. Their comments support U.S. claims that the law allows the government to tighten control over religious activities. The U.S. State Department’s annual report on International Religious Freedom 2021, released last week, included Vietnam on a list of countries where religious practices are being curtailed by the state. The report, by the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, found that:  “Some religious leaders, particularly those representing groups that either did not request or receive official recognition or certificates of registration, reported various forms of government harassment, including physical assaults, detentions, prosecutions, monitoring, and denials of, or no response to, requests for registration and other permissions.” RFA interviewed several religious dignitaries, who agreed with the State Department’s findings. ‘“The current Law on Belief-Religion 2016 significantly controls religion,” said Catholic priest Dinh Huu Thoai of the Redemptorist Church, which has been operating in Vietnam since 1925.  “Specifically, when registering or changing the place of religious activities we have trouble with the concept of ‘religious organization.’ In the regulations it requires ‘written approval of the religious organization,’ which is required by law. The definition of religious organization varies from place to place.” There are almost 7 million Catholics in Vietnam, according to Union of Catholic Asia News, making up 6.6 percent of the population. Even so, Father Dinh said the Catholic Church of Vietnam is still not considered a religious group in some parts of the country.  “Some places consider parishes to be religious organizations or at least ‘affiliated religious organizations.’ They consider the registration or change of places of concentrated religious activities under the jurisdiction of the parish priest. And, if they are rigid considering only the diocese as a religious organization, they ask for the bishop’s text even if he is at the bishop’s house, not in the locality.” Unregistered religious groups ‘persecuted’ Unregistered religious groups find it even harder to navigate the religious law, Father Dinh said. “For example, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, Pure Hoa Hao Buddhism, Cao Dai Chan Truyen or Protestant groups that do not accept government intervention, are persecuted in all their religious activities.” The U.S. State Department report also mentioned the Vietnamese government’s refusal to return hospitals, clinics and schools that local authorities took from the Catholic Church many years ago. When asked about this, Father Dinh said:  “Properties of the Catholic Church and [other] religious orders in Vietnam have been confiscated, appropriated, borrowed by the Vietnamese communist government; borrowed but not returned. Hundreds of facilities including monasteries, schools, hospitals, orphanages, etcetera from 1954 in the North and from 1975 in the South. The owners of these establishments repeatedly demand their return in accordance with fair and civilized law, but the number of establishments returned is very small.”  “There is a paradox going on today,” Father Dinh said. “The authorities give themselves the right to grant land to religious institutions, even though that land was bought by the religions themselves a long time ago, but they have to carry out procedures to return the right to use that land.” “Why doesn’t the state use its rights to give the requisitioned religious facilities back to the owner rather than letting this problem drag on without knowing when it will be settled?” Banned from traveling or meeting overseas visitors The Redemptorist priest said the U.S. State Department report is lacking in that it omits to mention the issue of freedom of movement for many religious leaders. “Some religious dignitaries, including myself, are arbitrarily banned from leaving the country. These dignitaries are not protected by the law but are arbitrarily banned by the police from leaving for an indefinite period.”  “I myself have been banned from leaving the country since 2010 until now, which is almost 12 years, without any sign of them returning my passport along with my freedom of movement,” Father Dinh said. Hua Phi, a high-ranking member of the independent religious group Cao Dai Chan Truyen, said his passport was confiscated in 2014 and is yet to be reissued, making it impossible for him to go abroad to attend a religious freedom conference in Southeast Asia. Hua said all independent religious groups are restricted by the Vietnamese government in terms of their right to practice religion freely, with the government requiring groups to register in order to do so. He said even though many groups have a long history the government still makes it difficult for them to practice their religion. Many religious organizations and followers are persecuted during religious holidays, according to Hua. He said local police keep a close eye on his movements during Cao Dai religious events, making him unable to travel to some parts of the country to practice his religion. Hua said many dignitaries of the Interfaith Council of Vietnam, himself included, have been prevented from contacting foreign diplomatic missions when they come to learn about religious freedom in the region. The U.S. State Department report states that representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and the Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City regularly raise concerns about religious freedom in Vietnam with local government officials and the Communist Party of Vietnam. Father Dinh called on the international community and governments of ‘civilized countries’ to use economic leverage to put pressure on Hanoi to respect religious freedom. RFA emailed Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vietnam Government Committee for Religious Affairs with a request for comment on the U.S. report but received no response.

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Myanmar military forcibly recruits villagers into pro-junta militias

Editor011 mins

Myanmar’s military is sending troops to villages in war-torn Sagaing region where the armed resistance is strong and forcibly recruiting residents into pro-junta militias, according to sources in the area. Residents of Sagaing told RFA’s Burmese Service on condition of anonymity that troops have offered them money to join and train with the pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia and threatened to burn down their villages if they don’t comply. A source from Kyunhla township’s Magyi Inn village wrote in a letter to RFA that one military unit visited the area last week and demanded that 30 residents join the Pyu Saw Htee. Troops said that if the recruits didn’t show up for training within a few days, they would return and torch the entire tract. RFA attempted to confirm the incident with residents of the village by phone, but they refused to comment, citing fear of reprisal. A resident of Taze township told RFA that troops recently armed villagers in the area and paid them to recruit others in the fight against pro-democracy People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries. “Pyu Saw Htee groups have been set up in many villages of Kanbalu and Taze townships, as well as those in the Mu River valley,” he said. “In those villages, people joined them because they were paid and provided weapons. When they were sent elsewhere, they acted abusively because they had received armed training. In some places, they ended up extorting money from people and now are more like bandits.” RFA was unable to independently confirm the resident’s claim that villagers were being paid to join the Pyu Saw Htee. Residents of Taze told RFA that there are “about 400 Pyu Saw Htee fighters” based in the eastern part of their township and neighboring Kanbalu. Around 500 homes in Taze’s Ywah Shay village were set on fire by a joint force of military troops and Pyu Saw Htee militiamen on June 1, they said, although it was not immediately clear whether the arson was connected to a recruitment campaign. An aerial view of Chaung Oo village, in Sagaing region’s Pale township, where junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee fighters burned more than 300 homes, Dec. 18, 2021. Credit: RFA Targeting two regions Data for Myanmar, a research group that studies the impact of conflict on communities, also said the burning of villages in Sagaing and neighboring Magway region are the work of the military and Pyu Saw Htee. More than 11,400 homes have been destroyed in the regions since the military’s Feb. 1, 2021 coup, the group said. Residents in Sagaing and Magway regions claim that the military pays Pyu Saw Htee members 7,000 kyats (U.S. $4) a day. A spokesman for the PDF in Magway’s Yezagyo township told RFA that the military is using Pyu Saw Htee units “to oppress the people.” “To say it bluntly, Pyu Saw Htees are asked to do the dirty work because the military doesn’t want their name tarnished,” he said. “These Pyu Saw Htees are mostly supporters of the military. They are given training and armed and are sent to the head of troop columns. It’s dangerous. In other words, they are being used as human shields.” A resident of Sagaing, who also declined to be named, told RFA that he had seen Pyu Saw Htees carrying military-grade weaponry, including automatic rifles and carbines and even grenade launchers. Asked about the reports, junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told RFA last week that there “are no such thing” as Pyu Saw Htees and claimed the military is forming militia groups so that residents can protect their own villages from the PDF, which the military has labeled a terrorist group. “If there is a real need, we will provide training first. During the training, they learned how to shoot,” he said. “But it is not just a matter of armed training. There are duties and responsibilities to be assumed. There are rules to be followed, just like a soldier does. We are working for peace in the community in a systematic way.” He did not comment on allegations that members of the Pyu Saw Htee are paid by the military. Forming a proxy force After the military coup, Pyu Saw Htee militias were formed in villages which formerly supported the military and the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Observers say the Pyu Saw Htee act as a proxy force for the military and are responsible for some of the junta’s worst abuses against civilians, including looting and arson, arbitrary arrests, torture, and execution. RFA documented at least 74 civilian deaths linked to pro-military groups such as the Pyu Saw Htee in Myanmar in May alone. USDP spokesman Nanda Hla Myint has told RFA that although party members had not been instructed to take up arms against the opposition, the party leadership will not stop them from doing so. Zaw Zaw, a resident of Sagaing’s Pale township said that although not every USDP member is Pyu Saw Htee, Pyu Saw Htee units are mainly comprised of USDP members. “Some of them, mostly hardliners, go to Pyu Saw Htee training. In some villages, people who were accused as ‘Dalans’ (military informers) flee and join them,” he said. “These kinds of people have been involved in election campaigns for years. They are not actually USDP members but most of them are very supportive of the USDP.” Min Zaw Oo, executive director of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security (MIPS), said the formation of proxy armed groups like the Pyu Saw Htee is a military strategy with a long history in the country. “It seems junta leaders were hesitant in the beginning, as they weren’t sure whether they could trust the villagers not to turn against them when they were given weapons,” he said. “In the beginning, there were no guns, but later – especially in 2022 – more groups were armed.” According to a recent report by the Institute for Strategic…

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