Taiwanese rights activist home from China after five-year ‘subversion’ jail term

Taiwanese rights activist and NGO worker Lee Ming-cheh has arrived home on the democratic island following his release at the end of a five-year jail term for “subversion” in China. “After being improperly detained by China for more than 1,852 days, Lee Ming-cheh arrived at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport at around 10 a.m. today, April 15, 2022,” a coalition of rights groups that has campaigned for Lee’s release said in a statement. “Due to disease prevention regulations, neither the [coalition] nor family members were able to meet him at the airport,” it said, adding that a news conference would likely be held when Lee has completed his quarantine period. Lee was shown in local live TV footage arriving off a Xiamen Air flight to Taipei and being escorted to a car by two people in full personal protective gear. “When I finally returned to Taiwan, I saw Ching-yu, who was looking tired and wan but very excited, through the window,” Lee said in a joint statement issued with his wife, Lee Ching-yu. “I am still very tired and the world seems quite unfamiliar, although my current isolation is completely different from the isolation I experienced in China,” he said. “Now I am embraced by love, not besieged by terror.” The statement continued: “Our family’s suffering is over, but there are still countless people whose human rights are being violated in China. May they one day have their day of liberation, too.” “We know that freedom comes from oneself, just as the people of Taiwan traded blood and tears under martial law for freedom, democracy and human rights,” the letter said. “May the Chinese people know and learn from this.” Taiwan’s government said Lee’s incarceration was “unacceptable.” “Lee Ming-cheh … was tried by a Chinese court for ‘subversion of state power’ and imprisoned for five years, which is unacceptable to the people of Taiwan,” Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng told reporters on Friday. He called on the Chinese government to protect the rights of Taiwanese nationals in China. ‘Vilifying China’ Lee is a course director at Taiwan’s Wenshan Community College, and had volunteered with various NGOs for many years, the Free Lee Ming-cheh Coalition said in a statement posted on the Covenants Watch rights group’s Facebook page. “The Free Lee Ming-cheh Coalition has always believed that Lee Ming-cheh is innocent,” it said. “He has only ever concerned himself with commenting on human rights in China, civil society and other similar issues online.” “The treatment he received after being imprisoned was hardly in line with international human rights standards,” the group said. “Apart from being forced to eat bad food, to live in unheated quarters, and wear discarded clothes … Lee’s right to communicate was also restricted,” it said. “We will continue to monitor Ming-cheh’s physical and mental health following his return to Taiwan,” it said. His release comes after he was held for most of his sentence at Chishan Prison in the central Chinese province of Hunan, where authorities repeatedly refused to allow his wife to visit him. Lee was also barred from speaking to his wife on the phone, or from writing letters home, Amnesty International’s Taiwan branch has said. Lee applied to visit her husband at the prison 16 times during the past two years, but was refused every time, although the family members of other prisoners had visiting rights at the time, it said. A lifelong activist with Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is vilified by Beijing for refusing to accept its claim on the island, Lee was sentenced by Hunan’s Yueyang Intermediate People’s Court to five years in jail for “attempting to subvert state power” in November 2017. He was accused of setting up social media chat groups to “vilify China.” Cross-strait tensions According to statistics from Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), Lee Ming-cheh is among 149 Taiwan nationals to have gone missing in China since Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016. While the Chinese authorities had assisted in providing some information on 82 missing Taiwanese, some information on the remaining 67 had been withheld or was insufficient to draw any conclusion. Eeling Chiu, secretary general of Amnesty International’s Taiwan branch, warned that what happened to Lee could happen to citizens of any country, citing the case of Swedish national and Hong Kong-based publisher Gui Minhai, who remains behind bars in China after being arrested in Thailand for alleged “crimes” committed in Hong Kong. Taiwan was ruled as a Japanese colony in the 50 years prior to the end of World War II, but was handed back to the 1911 Republic of China under the Kuomintang (KMT) government as part of Tokyo’s post-war reparation deal. The KMT made its capital there after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists that led to the founding of the People’s Republic of China. While the Chinese Communist Party claims Taiwan as an “inalienable” part of its territory, Taiwan has never been ruled by the current regime in Beijing, nor has it ever formed part of the People’s Republic of China. The Republic of China has remained a sovereign and independent state since 1911, now ruling just four islands: Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. The island began a transition to democracy following the death of KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek’s son, President Chiang Ching-kuo, in January 1988, starting with direct elections to the legislature in the early 1990s and culminating in the first direct election of a president, Lee Teng-hui, in 1996. Taiwan’s national security agency has repeatedly warned of growing attempts to flood Taiwan with propaganda and disinformation, and to infiltrate its polity using Beijing-backed media and political groups. Lawmakers say the country is doing all it can to guard against growing attempts at political infiltration and influence by the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department in Taiwan. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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Rebel soldiers push back Myanmar forces from strategic town in Kayin state

Karen rebels used heavy artillery to beat back a push by Myanmar junta forces to take Kayin state’s “peace town” of Lay Kay Kaw late Thursday and early Friday, with reports of heavy casualties among regime soldiers. Lay Kay Kaw was established as symbol of peace in 2017 through a partnership between Japan’s Nippon Foundation, the Myanmar government and the rebel group Karen National Union (KNU) to house ethnic Karen refugees who were returning home after decades of fighting between the military and armed ethnic groups. But in recent months, Lay Kay Kaw has been the site of fierce fighting among the junta troops and their opponents. More than 10,000 villagers have been displaced since clashes first broke out in the area on Dec. 15, 2021, as the sides pushed for advantage. Myo Thura Ko Ko, a spokesman for the Cobra Column, which is affiliated with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), an ethnic armed group, said Myanmar soldiers shelled the area before the assault. “They used a variety of heavy weapons, and the shells fell like rain in the area,” he told RFA. Fighting between the two sides began at about 3:30 a.m., with Myanmar soldiers retreating with heavy casualties after failing to capture a targeted hill, Myo Thura Ko Ko said. The number of soldiers wounded or killed is not known, however. “We were close to the fighting zone, only about 100 yards away, so we saw the enemy being injured or killed,” he said. “But it was hard to estimate the exact number of casualties because of the darkness.” KNLA and Cobra Column troops successfully defended the hills where they were stationed, and there were no casualties on their side, Myo Thura Ko Ko said. While clearing the area Friday morning, rebel soldiers found an intact rocket-propelled grenade, two mobile phones and some military equipment left by Myanmar forces, he said. Padoh Saw Tawney, the KNU’s foreign affairs officer, said junta forces attacked the rebels in the hills where the KNLA joint forces are based because they are in a strategic area near Lay Kay Kaw. “Their main goal is to get control of the area,” he said. “They are desperate for territorial control, and they have tried a couple of times. They also tried it last night and didn’t succeed, but they will do it again.” Myanmar soldiers launched air strikes on KNLA and anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) fighters in Lay Kay Kaw on April 10, suffering a loss of about 20 soldiers and a captured captain, according to the KNU. The air strikes damaged about 30 houses and a school in the town, residents told RFA in an earlier report. Some officers and soldiers were injured during an ambush while clearing the town’s sixth ward, said a statement issued by the junta on Apr. 13. It said necessary security measures would be taken to ensure stability and peace in Lay Kay Kaw because the Karen rebels had violated nationwide cease-fire agreements. Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment on the fighting. Civilians displaced by clashes are now sheltering along the banks of Thaungyin River near Myanmar’s border with Thailand. They said they were forced to flee to the Thai side as the fighting intensified but returned after it subsided because they were pushed back by Thai authorities. Myet Hman, who is now living in the P’lotapho refugee camp near the river because of the fighting near Lay Kay Kaw, told RFA that he wanted the armed conflict to end as soon as possible so he and other locals could return to their homes. “It would be better for us if the two sides killed each other and quickly found a resolution,” he said. “That would be good. But now, armed men from this side or that side come into the village, stop for a while, and then engage in clashes. Meanwhile we villagers have had to flee our homes because of their fighting.” Almost everything left in deserted houses in Lay Kay Kaw has been looted, he added. Reported by RFA Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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Myanmar anti-junta leader said to have been tortured to death

An anti-regime People’s Defense Force leader in Yangon was allegedly tortured to death by members of the Myanmar military and pro-junta groups, one of the man’s colleagues told RFA on Friday. Chan Min Naung, a former aid worker who became an anti-junta militia leader in Yangon’s Kyauktan township following the February 2021 coup, was captured after a group he was leading assassinated a local junta administrator on April 2. Before he was killed, Chan Min Naung was repeatedly cut with a knife, pinned down while his legs and hands were broken, and then beheaded, members of the Kyauktan People’s Defense Force (PDF) said. The PDF is the armed wing of the National Unity Government (NUG), a body of democratically-elected legislators and officials that is widely accepted by Myanmar’s civilian population to be the legitimate government of the Southeast Asian nation. RFA could not independently confirm the report about Chan Min Naung’s death or reach his family. Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun was not available for comment. Chan Min Naung’s alleged killing followed the murder of Soe Moe, who was the administrator of the township’s San-gyein-hmi ward. He was shot dead on April 2 by an anti-junta group that calls itself Che Guevara and works under the Kyauktan PDF. Soe Moe had been accused of being an informer to the regime and selling public land for personal gain. The Kyauktan PDF said it assigned a group of hitmen to kill Soe Moe after he did not heed a warning to stop his activities. In an attack led by Chan Min Naung, Soe Moe was shot and died as he arrived at a hospital. A deputy administrator was also killed. But colleagues of Soe Moe were able to detain Chan Min Naung, Kyauktan PDF leader Dee Par said. “The main guy who got him was a city development worker in our town known as James Bond,” he said. “The ward administrator’s thugs also stabbed Chan Min Naung and later dragged him by a rope from the rear of a car. That must have been about 1,500 yards from San-gyein-hmi’s Sixth Street to Shwe Hmaw Wun Hall.” Chan Min Naung was later tortured to death by military intelligence personnel and other local councilors at Shwe Hmaw Wun Hall, he said. “They stabbed him in the back of his left palm,” Dee Par said. “They sliced his hands and ears and pulled his hair out. They also broke his legs and arms and left him in the rain tied to a post. They kicked him in the groin and carried on with their questioning. “We later learned that Chan Min Aung was decapitated and cut into pieces and buried,” he said. Chan Min Naung’s body was not turned over to his family, though authorities told them that the man had been buried, he said. A photo obtained by RFA shows a stab wound in Chan Min Naung’s left palm and facial injuries. Dee Par said the photo was taken by one of the questioners while Chan Min Naung was being interrogated at Shwe Hmaw Wun Hall. The photo was later leaked to the local PDF. Chan Min Naung’s relatives have been threatened by the military, Dee Par said. The PDF leader, who was divorced and had a five-year-old daughter, was active in his community and in charity events before the coup. Lin Thant, the NUG’s representative to the Czech Republic, said the shadow government would take steps to address Chan Min Naung’s murder. “We have seen many evidence of such brutal torture committed by the junta’s forces,” he said. “When their officers and troops are captured on the front lines by our units, the NUG has a policy to treat them well as prisoners of war and to give medical attention if needed.” “Comparatively, the inhuman acts of the military against the detainees were so brutal they could be seen as war crimes,” he said. “We are collecting evidence and preparing work on many things so that we can submit the cases to the international courts.” Translated by Khin Maung Nyane for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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Former Myanmar army officer calls Rohingya crackdown ‘genocide,’ offers to testify

Captain Nay Myo Thet served in Myanmar’s military for nearly six years in Rakhine state but defected in December and relocated to an area under the control of anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) forces. 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 around 700,000 across the border. The former transportation officer told RFA’s Myanmar Service in an interview that the military’s clearance operations amounted to “a genocide” and said he is willing testify as a prosecution witness in a case that was brought against the military to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague. RFA: Can you first tell us about your background? Nay Myo Thet: I first attended the Pyin-Oo-Lwin Defense Services Academy in 2006. I finished training in 2008 and served with units in the Division 5 and Division 6 areas in Kayin and Kachin states, as well as northern Shan state. I was sent to Rakhine state in 2015 to serve with the No. 233 Infantry Battalion in Buthidaung and was stationed there until I joined the CDM in November 2021. RFA: Can you tell us more about the operations that drove the Rohingya people out of Rakhine State? Nay Myo Thet: I was a captain in the Supply and Transport Battalion in 2015, serving with the No. 1 Border Police Force Strategic Command. A clearance operation was launched for the first time in 2016 following a terror attack in Kyi-Gan-Byin and another one in 2017 after the [Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) insurgent] raid on three Border Police posts in the same area. When we went there the second time, we noticed there was nothing much left behind. The locals had taken away almost everything. RFA: Did the troops really commit the atrocities against the Rohingya people as accused by international rights groups? What’s your take?  Nay Myo Thet: I can tell you only some things I’d learned about the units I served with. There was one officer who wanted to make a search for deadly weapons, like knives, and he asked the girls in the village to go into one room, lined them up and stripped them naked. And then, I heard from one soldier who was talking about his colleague who had raped a Rohingya woman. I cannot remember his name. Another incident I remember was about a young boy being thrown into a well. These incidents happened while I was serving with the No. 233 Infantry. And then, there were incidents that were spread by word of mouth about some soldiers committing brutal acts. Villagers were driven out of their houses and those who ran away were shot to death. Most of the bodies were buried in the fields beside the villages. As you may have seen in the photos, people left their villages in hordes – some carrying elderly people who could not walk in makeshift stretchers. Many who couldn’t cross the border were forced to live in the jungle and mountains. ‘This amounted to a genocide’ All these things should not have happened. Everything that happened was unacceptable. I tried to sound out my colleagues. Most of them had the idea that these people must be driven out – that they could not stay – because the [insurgents] who raided and attacked the police posts were of their same ethnicity. These villagers were giving support to the [insurgents] and they believed there would be no peace unless they were got rid of. These were their views. So, this wasn’t even like an ordinary military operation which would never be so brutal. They just wanted to get rid of the entire community without bothering to find out who [the insurgents that attacked the police posts] were. I agree with the international charges that all of this amounted to a genocide. RFA: What do you think of [deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) leader] Aung San Suu Kyi going to The Hague [in 2019] to defend the military against the charges made in the case brought by The Gambia? Nay Myo Thet: It seems like the military was waiting for a scapegoat, waiting for the NLD to come into power, to defend them because they could have done this [themselves] a long time ago and they didn’t … I think she went there with two goals – to defend the country’s integrity with a nationalist spirit as well as to defend the military. She seemed to feel responsible for the military. But I think it was wrong for her to do that. She shouldn’t have gone there. She wasn’t responsible at all for what happened and she didn’t commit the crimes. The military was responsible [for the crimes] … for creating the division between the [ethnic] Rakhines and the Rohingyas. Even for sowing hatred between the Rakhines and the [majority ethnic] Bamar. If I were to be summoned [to the ICJ], I’d surely go and disclose all I know. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane.

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Nearly 100 arrested ahead of Thingyan in Myanmar’s Yangon, Mandalay

Authorities in Myanmar arrested nearly 100 people in the country’s two largest cities and the Myawaddy township in Kayin state in the first 10 days of April as part of a pre-Thingyan crackdown, according to data compiled by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Of the 99 people arrested in the lead up to the April 13-16 New Year Water Festival, 47 were from the commercial capital, Yangon, 43 from Myanmar’s second city, Mandalay, and nine from Myawaddy on the country’s border with Thailand, an investigation found. Some of those detained had joined anti-coup protests, while others were accused of being members of Yangon-based anti-junta paramilitary groups, including the People’s Defense Force (PDF). A total of 15 people, including Thiri Wai — the mother of 3-year-old Thant Phone Wai Yan, who was taken by security forces from a kindergarten in Yangon’s Ahlone township on April 5 — were arrested “in possession of explosives,” pro-junta dailies reported on Wednesday. A member of the Pazundaung and Botahtaung Townships Youth Strike Committee, a Yangon-based anti-junta group, told RFA that city authorities had tightened security and stepped up arrests in response to increased activities by the armed opposition ahead of Thingyan. “In the past, if one of your comrades was arrested, you still had time to escape or go into hiding. But now it’s becoming very difficult,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. “Now, if a close contact is arrested, you must be extra careful. People who normally want to hide us are also becoming reluctant because if the military finds out, these people will get into big trouble. The security situation is becoming very difficult.” In Mandalay, Nyein Chan Aung, a member of another anti-junta group known as the Mandalay Strike Committee, told RFA that security forces had arrested several young protesters during a pre-Thingyan campaign that he likened to “a military operation.” “They are making arrests in a crackdown just like a military operation, locking down the towns as soon as they get information about us,” he said. “If they catch a person, he is immediately interrogated. If they don’t get what they want to know, they beat and torture him, before continuing their interrogation. Once they get information, they immediately move to a new location and begin making more arrests.”                          Nyein Chan Aung said the junta has employed a variety of new tactics to sweep Mandalay and tighten security ahead of other recent holidays, including Union Day on Feb. 12 and Armed Forces Day on March 27. One such tactic is to increase the presence of army informants and pro-junta militia forces to monitor for any would-be protesters and in areas where urban resistance groups are believed to be operating, he said. 9 killed in Myawaddy Meanwhile, sources reported that on April 6, a combined force of junta Border Guard Forces (BGF) and military troops in Kayin state’s Myawaddy township shot dead nine youths who were sending supplies to a PDF group in the area. A spokesman for the Kayin State PDF, who declined to be named, said that since the incident, the military has placed Myawaddy under a state of near-total lockdown. “We know that they have sentries hiding in all parts of the township. Some of them are in civilian clothes — mostly BGF members,” he said. “The BGF and other [pro-junta] groups are also patrolling around. The military is now in control of most areas in and around the township.” Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesman, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, went unanswered on Thursday. Nan Lin, a spokesman of the University Old Students Association veteran activist group, said no number of arrests would stop the people from working to unseat the military regime. “Taking advantage of Thingyan, the junta is making more arrests and killing people unnecessarily,” he said. “Our conviction has become stronger, and we will try harder in every way.” According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, junta troops have killed at least 1,751 civilians and arrested more than 10,200 others since the Feb. 1, 2021, power grab — mostly during peaceful anti-coup protests. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Vietnam arrests Facebook user for discussing high-profile financial crimes

Authorities in Vietnam arrested Hanoi resident Dang Nhu Quynh for allegedly posting information on Facebook about the arrest of a business leader, which they said violated state interests, state media reported. Quynh was arrested Tuesday for posting “unverified information” about several people and companies in the finance and real estate sectors, Lt. Gen. To An Xo of the Ministry of Public Security said Thursday. Quynh’s posts violated the rights and interests of those individuals and companies and may have negatively affected the country’s stock market, the agency said. Over the past few weeks, Quynh posted on Facebook assessments of how the ministry was handling the cases of finance mogul Trinh Van Quyet, chairman of FLC Group who had been arrested for stock market manipulation, and Do Anh Dung, the chairman of property developer Tan Hoang Minh Group who was arrested for bond-issuance fraud. In the posts, Quynh said that the Ministry of Public Security would continue prosecuting people and companies that are guilty of similar crimes in the near future. Quynh was previously summoned to the ministry for 200 Facebook posts he penned in 2020 about COVID-19 developments in Vietnam. Authorities commonly arrest people for spreading sensitive information on the pretext of stopping false rumors from spreading, even if what the people targeted have said or written is true, Dang Dinh Manh, a Vietnam-based lawyer, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. “After the arrest of Mr. Quyet, people started talking about other big players who could be the next,” he said. “On the one hand, false information negatively affects these businessmen and their companies’ shareholders. But on the other hand, some information flagged as false rumors later turned out to be true,” said Manh, adding that a better way to eliminate rumors would be for the government to provide information to the media in an honest and timely manner. Tran Ngoc Tuan, a journalist based in the Czech Republic, told RFA that Vietnamese spread rumors because they do not trust state media. “Perhaps every citizen in an authoritarian regime does the job of journalists because they want to learn about the truth, which is often hidden and covered. They often reach out to many sources, including insiders who are leaders,” he said. “The government believes that this type of information undermines the state, the authorities and executive agencies. However, people often say that you should go to the internet to get information that is true and turn on Vietnam Televison or read the People’s Newspaper to hear untruths.” Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Cambodian officials move against opposition activists ahead of June elections

Cambodian authorities moved this month to block members of political opposition groups from challenging the country’s ruling party in local elections set for June, arresting some on contested charges and disqualifying others from running, Cambodian sources say. Barred now from participating in the vote are more than 100 candidates from the Candlelight Party, formerly called the Sam Rainsy Party, which merged with other groups in 2012 to form the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017, allowing the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) led by long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen to win all 125 seats in Parliament in a July 2018 election. Other opposition activists have meanwhile been arrested, denied release from jail in time to contest the polls, or injured or killed in apparently targeted physical attacks, sources said. One Candlelight Party activist and his son were arrested in western Cambodia’s Pursat province on Thursday and sent to prison to await trial on charges of illegal fishing, with other party members calling the charges a ploy to restrict their political activities. Hem Chhil, 35, a commune council candidate for the Kandieng district’s Syva commune, and Pim Dara, 15, were arrested while pumping water from a pond behind their house and catching fish to cook for a holiday celebration, provincial party leader Phan Bunsoth told RFA on Thursday. “Around five local village guards and police officers arrested them after saying they had used electricity to stun the fish in order to catch them,” Phan Bunsoth said. A tool used for that purpose had been found around 100 meters from the house, he added. Hem Chhil had earlier been warned by authorities not to set up a party sign outside his home, said Candlelight Party Vice President Thach Setha. “It is as if they arrested him to keep him from installing a party sign for others to see. And then they also arrested a 15-year-old minor. This is such an extreme act for the authorities to take,” he said. “The authorities are doing everything they can in order to win,” agreed Sam Chankear, provincial coordinator the Cambodian rights group ADHOC. “But this will affect the image of the government and the ruling party as a whole,” he added. Requests for comment from Pursat provincial prosecution office spokesperson Long Cheap, provincial court spokesperson Heng Donin, and provincial Police Commissioner Sarun Chanthy were unanswered on Thursday. Physical attacks On Monday, another Candlelight Party activist — Khorn Tun, a commune candidate in Tabaung Khmom province’s Ponhea Krek district — was attacked by unidentified men who threw rocks at her home, while on April 9, Prak Seyha — a party youth leader for Phnom Penh’s Kambol district — was attacked and beaten by a mob. Also on April 9, a party candidate for Phnom Penh’s Chhbar Ampov district, Choeun Sarim, was killed in traffic while traveling by motorbike from southern Cambodia’s Takeo province to the capital, Phnom Penh. Speaking to RFA, Choeun Sarim’s wife Satik Srey Touch said her husband’s skull had been crushed by a blow from behind. He had also been threatened and assaulted in the past, she said. Meanwhile, a Phnom Penh court on Tuesday denied bail to ailing 63-year-old Yok Neang who is on trial for “conspiracy” in connection with a plan to bring Sam Rainsy, acting chief of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party, back to Cambodia to challenge CPP rule. Speaking to RFA, Am Sam Ath of the Cambodian rights group Licadho said that Cambodian courts have no grounds to prosecute Yok Neang and other opposition activists, calling the legal moves against them politically motivated. “The domestic and international community have seen that these cases are motivated more by politics than by concern for upholding Cambodian law,” he said. Cambodia is set to hold its fifth commune council election on June 5, with 17 parties competing for a total of 11,622 seats in communes nationwide. Over 9.2 million Cambodians are registered to vote, according to the country’s National Election Committee. Translated by Samean Yun, Sok Ry Sum, and Sovannarith Keo for RFA’s Khmer Service. Written in English by Richard Finney, Joshua Lipes, and Nawar Nemeh.

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Japan PM set to visit SE Asia in late April

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is planning a visit to Southeast Asia later this month to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the region, according to news reports and a government official. Kyodo, a Japanese news agency, said Kishida’s trip would take place during the so-called Golden Week holidays and includes stops in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. The report cited unnamed diplomatic sources. Golden Week 2022 runs from April 29 to May 5. It starts with Showa Day and ends on Children’s Day, with a five-day consecutive holiday between May 1–5. It also reported that Kishida may consider a visit to Europe during the holiday period. A previously proposed meeting between ministers of defense and foreign affairs from Japan and India in mid- to late-April may therefore have been postponed as usually foreign ministers accompany the prime minister on his foreign trips. RFA has approached the Japanese Foreign Ministry for confirmation. In Jakarta, the Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah on Thursday confirmed to BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news agency, that Kishida would visit Indonesia “at the end of April.” He said the exact date would be announced later. Kyodo reported that in Southeast Asia, the Japanese prime minister is expected to “underscore cooperation toward realizing the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific amid China’s rise.” Thailand and Indonesia are this year’s chairs of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) and the Group of 20 respectively. Vietnam meanwhile shares interest with Japan in safeguarding maritime security in the South China Sea where China holds expansive claims and has been militarizing reclaimed islands. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel on the destroyers JS Suzutsuki (L) and JS Inazuma (R) after arriving as part of an Indo-Pacific tour at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia, in a file photo. Credit: Reuters Free and open Indo-Pacific “China is the principal geopolitical threat, be it for India, Japan or Southeast Asian countries,” said Pratnashree Basu, associate fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, an Indian think tank. “Pooling resources and strengthening capacities is therefore an ongoing process for almost all countries in the Indo-Pacific in order to be in positions of stronger pushback in the face of China’s aggression,” she said. Japan last year joined a growing list of countries that are challenging China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea. Tokyo sent a diplomatic note to the United Nations rejecting China’s baseline claims and denouncing what it described as efforts to limit the freedom of navigation and overflight. Japan is not a South China Sea claimant, but Tokyo has deepened security ties with several Southeast Asia nations with claims or interests there. The Japanese Navy and Coastguard have conducted joint exercises with Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Stephen Nagy, senior associate professor at the Department of Politics and International Studies, International Christian University in Tokyo, said that Japan prioritizes maintaining stability and a rules-based approach to governing the South China Sea as its sea lanes are critical arteries for the Japanese economy. Tokyo has also been playing an important role in supporting the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy. Leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, including Japan, the U.S., Australia and India are meeting in person later in May in Tokyo for a summit. The Quad is widely seen as countering China’s weight in the region. Kishida visited India and Cambodia in March, his first bilateral trips since taking office in October 2021. Cambodia is the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

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Myanmar’s largest cities empty amid call to boycott Thingyan festivities

Yangon and Mandalay were eerily quiet on Wednesday despite the start of the three-day Thingyan holiday in Myanmar, as residents chose to boycott junta-led festivities and heed warnings by armed opposition forces that the cities could become the target of attacks. On the eve of the April 13-16 New Year Water Festival, the main pavilion in front of Yangon’s City Hall — traditionally bustling with revelers on the holiday — was empty. Dozens of police and soldiers were seen guarding the area, and the military blocked off access to the pavilion as well as the mayor’s office. Trucks were seen ferrying people in uniforms to the venue. While the junta has sought to promote this year’s Thingyan as a time to unwind and have fun, members of the public told RFA’s Myanmar Service they have little interest in participating. One resident of Yangon said he would not join celebrations out of respect for those who sacrificed their lives while protesting the military’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup. “There are many children, young people and adults who have given their lives for the country and for justice. I sympathize with them. I feel sorry for them, and I won’t go out at all,” said the young man, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Also, there have been warnings against participating in the festivities. It’s up to you to take the risks.” A woman from Yangon’s Pazundaung area who gave her name as Rati told RFA she would not attend Thingyan, or any other festivals held under the military regime. One of the few places in Yangon where people congregated on Wednesday was at the city’s holy Shwedagon Pagoda, where religious pilgrims said they hoped to perform good deeds and gain merit during Thingyan, while also praying for those who are in prison or have otherwise suffered under junta rule. Separately, sources told RFA that at least one deliveryman was killed, and others arrested amid heightened security and roadblocks in Yangon. Workers said that three young delivery men from the Food Panda restaurant on Po Sein Road were talking in front of the shop Wednesday morning when junta troops arrived, causing them to panic and flee. They said troops opened fire as the men ran away, killing Hein Htet Naing, while the other two workers, identified as Tin Tun Aung and Kyi Thar, were taken into custody. Other sources said that around eight delivery men were arrested in the city on Wednesday. RFA was not able to independently confirm the incidents. ‘Like a ghost town’ In Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, the military tightened security around the Palace Moat, which is traditionally the center of Thingyan celebrations each year, and blocked the entrance to the city’s main pavilion. A resident of Mandalay, who also declined to be named for security reasons, said people “understand the current situation” and would heed the call to boycott the festivities. “Thingyan is a period for us to celebrate. We all know we can only enjoy it once a year. But today, people are all united,” she said. “The city is like a ghost town. No one is celebrating or partying. They obey the requests of the revolutionary forces.” A photo of the Thingyan celebration in Yangon in 2019 shows children spraying water at revelers. Credit: AFP Warnings to the public On Monday, various armed resistance groups told RFA that they had launched a dozen attacks on military-held areas of Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon over the weekend as part of a bid to dispel junta claims that the situation in the country had “returned to normal.” Anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary groups had announced that they plan to launch attacks on the military during Thingyan and warned members of the public to stay away from the brightly colored pandal platforms that the government typically erects as performance stages and water-spraying stations for the holiday. On Tuesday, a body of opposition stakeholders known as the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) called on artists and celebrities to boycott junta-led Thingyan festivities, condemning what it said was a bid by the military regime to make political gains while the nation is embroiled in post-coup violence. In a statement, the NUCC said that authorities are “conducting raids, making arbitrary arrests, and committing murder” around the country, and suggested the junta may take advantage of the festival to “launch more attacks.” “Many, including the urban anti-junta forces and the PDFs, are urging people not to participate in the celebrations sponsored by the junta,” NUCC member Toe Kyaw Hlaing said. “We also condemn the military’s attempt to make political gains, and therefore we have issued this statement in support of both the opposition and the PDFs.” Formed in April last year, the NUCC is one of Myanmar’s most inclusive political dialogue platforms, consisting of a range of stakeholders with varied interests and long-standing grievances. The body includes representatives from Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), the deposed Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CPRH), rights groups, civil society organizations, activist networks, and ethnic parties and armies. Attempts by RFA’s Myanmar Service to contact actors and musicians for comment went mostly unanswered, although well-known singer May Khalar said that she will not be performing at any of this year’s Thingyan pandals. Empty streets in Mandalay on the first day of the Thingyan festival, April 13, 2022. Credit: RFA ‘A cultural tradition’ Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the junta’s deputy minister of information, told RFA on Tuesday that Thingyan festivities will be held “in safe places across the country,” including cities such as Yangon, Mandalay and the capital Naypyidaw. He dismissed the boycott, saying that Thingyan celebrations should not be politicized. “The Thingyan festival is celebrated every year. It has nothing to do with whether you support the government,” he said. “Celebrating Thingyan is a Myanmar cultural tradition. Using threats to stop people from celebrating is an act of terrorism.” Zaw Min Tun noted that armed attacks and bomb blasts had “become more frequent” as Thingyan…

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Bangladesh home minister: Rohingya have babies to get more food aid

The way food aid is distributed to Rohingya needs to be adjusted because it is driving population growth in the country’s sprawling refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, a senior Bangladesh government official said. Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, the home minister, suggested that because the food rations encourage Rohingya to have more babies, as he put it, the government intends to reduce food aid destined to the refugees. “The Rohingya, irrespective of age, get the same amount of food. One adult man and a newborn baby get the same amount of food. Therefore, they give birth to more babies – 35,000 babies are born every year,” he told the RFA-affliated BenarNews agency on Monday, a day after he led a meeting of a government committee that coordinates and manages law and order at the southeastern camps along the Myanmar border that house about 1 million Rohingya refugees from nearby Rakhine state. The committee discussed food allocation and other issues related to security, according to Khan. “The Rohingya have more babies for more food,” he said. “We have decided that the quantity of food will be reduced. Our relevant agencies will work out a fresh standard of ration.” The number of babies at the camps is about half of what Khan claimed, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Responding to a BenarNews request for details, the office released a spreadsheet that showed there were 18,858 children younger than 1 in the Rohingya camps as of Feb. 28. Md. Shamsud Douza, an additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner under the Ministry of Disaster Management, told BenarNews that food allocations for Rohingya refugees are fixed in coordination with the World Food Program (WFP), a U.N. agency. “Every Rohingya family gets a monthly food card with per-head allocations of 980 taka (U.S. $11.40) to 1,030 taka ($11.97). They collect rice and 19 other essentials from some designated shops fixed by the WFP, according to their requirements,” Douza told BenarNews on Tuesday. He said his office had not received any directive about changing the allocations. Officials at the WFP and UNHCR, the U.N.’s refugee agency, did not immediately respond to BenarNews multiple requests for comment on Khan’s proposal. Criticism Human rights activists, meanwhile, criticized the government, saying that cutting food allocations would not reduce the birth rate among Rohingya and such efforts could cause malnutrition and food insecurity. Md. Jubair, the secretary of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, said the allocations already fall short. “We get a maximum 1,030 taka per person per month. With this small amount we buy 13 kilograms of rice, pulses, fish, salt, edible oil, vegetable and other essentials. It is very hard to run a family with this allocation,” he said. Another activist said such cuts would have a negative impact. “The amount of food aid given to each Rohingya family helps them live with minimum requirements. Further cutting it down is not acceptable because it would spell a disastrous impact on the health and food security of the entire Rohingya population, especially on the women and children,” Professor Mizanur Rahman, former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, told BenarNews. “If the government reduces food rations, then women would not reduce food allocations for their male family members and cut it for themselves and the children. In that case, the women and children will face malnutrition and food scarcity,” he said. He added: “Everywhere in the world, poor people think of having more children for more food or more income and Rohingya must not be singled out in this regard.” Nur Khan, a former executive director of Ain-O-Salish Kendra (ASK), a Bangladeshi human rights group, also challenged Khan’s comments. “This is really unfortunate that we hear such an unfair comment about the food intake of the Rohingya. Talking about someone’s food is not decent,” he told BenarNews. “There is no correlation between increased food allocation and a population boom: cutting food allocation would in no way reduce the birth rate. I would strongly oppose any move to cut food allocation for the Rohingya in the pretext of reducing birth rates,” he said. Birth control efforts According to Dr. Pintu Kanti Bhattacharya, deputy director at the department of family planning in Cox’s Bazar district, the higher birth rate among the Rohingya stems from superstition, religious bigotry and a lack of education. “The local and international NGOs and the government’s family planning department have been working to motivate the Rohingya to adopt birth control measures,” he told BenarNews. “The family planning workers visit door-to-door twice a week at camps and conduct counseling so they do understand the benefits of family planning,” Bhattacharya said, adding that agencies provide contraceptives including pills, injections and condoms. “Compared to the situation in 2017 and 2018, the Rohingya people are friendlier to family planning,” he said. Bangladesh has seen an influx of about 740,000 Rohingya since a Myanmar military crackdown against the stateless Muslim minority group in August 2017.

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