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Category: Europe

Wife of Cambodian opposition supporter mulls compensation to drop murder case

Editor07 mins

The wife of a slain supporter of Cambodia’s Candlelight Party said Tuesday she has rejected a compensation offer of U.S. $7,000 from the alleged assailant in exchange for dropping the criminal case, but has said she would consider accepting a larger sum because she doesn’t have money for her husband’s funeral. Wen Kimyi also urged police to arrest the suspect who shot dead her husband, 49-year-old Po Hin Lean, early in the morning of Oct. 16 while he was on his way to go fishing. She told RFA that police in Ou Reang Ov district of Chak commune in Tbong Khmum province, where her family lives, summoned her to the police station and told her that the suspect offered to pay her if she would drop charges.  The widow said she wants the money, but that her family also wants justice. “The police said there were two suspects, one of whom had the gun that killed him,” Wen Kimyi said. “I didn’t get a chance to see the suspect to ask [the reasons]. I will accept the compensation because I don’t have money for the funeral. But I won’t accept $7,000; I will need $15,000.” Police told her that the suspect is a “security guard” or “neighborhood watchman” for the commune, but declined to disclose where he put the weapon or his motive for the shooting. Cambodia’s Ministry of the Interior established a network of such local guards to provide security to villagers in communes and districts, though they are not supposed to carry weapons.  RFA could not reach Vong Sophy, the police chief of Ou Reang Ov district, or On Sam On, police chief of Chak commune for comment on Tuesday. ‘Embarrassing for the authorities’ Leng Seng Han, a provincial coordinator for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, also known as ADHOC, said the murder cannot be resolved through compensation and that the suspect must be brought to justice. “It is wrong for [police] to be involved in meditation outside the court,” he said.   Eng Sroy, a Police Academy lecturer and president of the Candlelight Party​ working group in Tbong Khmum province, said he is dismayed that authorities have not yet apprehended the suspects and urged them to conduct a transparent investigation to show they are providing good security.  “It is embarrassing for the authorities if they can’t arrest the suspects,” he said. “The authorities must differentiate between black and white and remain neutral during the investigation.”  There have been numerous physical attacks this year on activists and supporters of the Candlelight Party, an opposition party that emerged from the ashes of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was banned and dissolved by Cambodia’s Supreme Court in November 2017. This April, Candlelight Party candidate Khorn Tun was attacked by unidentified men who threw rocks at her home in Tbong Khmum province during the campaign period for local elections held in June. Prak Seyha, a party youth leader for Phnom Penh’s Kamboul district, was attacked and beaten by a mob. Those incidents followed the death of Phnom Penh Candlelight candidate Choeun Sarim, who was attacked from behind and killed in traffic while riding a motorbike, following threats and assaults. The killing of the man in this case, Po Hin Lean, came a day before Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to arrest Sam Rainsy, head of the banned CNRP, who has lived in exile in France since 2015, if he returns to Cambodia.  Sam Rainsy, 73, was sentenced in absentia in March 2021 to 25 years in jail for what supporters say was a politically motivated charge of attempting to overthrow the government. Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since 1985, made the comment at a graduation ceremony where he spoke, in response to recent remarks by Sam Rainsy criticizing the strongman’s plans to appoint his son, Hun Manet, as his replacement. Translated by Samean Yun for RFA Khmer. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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Cambodia opposition supporter shot as Hun Sen threatens to jail opponent

Editor07 mins

A supporter of Cambodia’s Candlelight Party was shot dead in Tbong Khmum province over the weekend, the latest in a series of attacks on the opposition in a year of local elections and campaigning for 2023 parliamentary voting, his wife and supporters said Monday. Candlelight Party’s vice-chairman Thach Setha told RFA that he could not yet conclude whether the killing Sunday of Po Hin Lean, a 49-year-old father of three, was a political assassination. He urged authorities in the province’s Orang Ov district to conduct a prompt investigation. “A clear investigation must be conducted to catch the perpetrators and bring them to justice, to stop such killing whether it happens to political activists or [ordinary] people,” said Thach Setha. Police chief On Sam On of Chak commune, where Po Hin Lean lived,  refused to provide any details on the case when contacted by RFA Khmer. Orang Ov authorities were not available and provincial police chief Mon Meakara hung up the phone after receiving a call from RFA. “Who shot my husband?” asked Wen Kimyi, the victim’s wife.  “The police officer said the village security guard was the shooter. I said it was not the village security guard who fired, because the village security guard did not have a gun. The policeman said he had a gun, so he did not talk to me further,” she added. This year has seen a rise in violent attacks targeting activists and supporters of the Candlelight Party, an opposition party that emerged this year from the ashes of the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was banned and dissolved by the country’s supreme court in 2017. In April, during campaigning for June local elections, Candlelight Party candidate Khorn Tun was attacked by unidentified men who threw rocks at her home in Tabaung Khmom province, while Prak Seyha — a party youth leader for Phnom Penh’s Kambol district — was attacked and beaten by a mob. Those incidents followed the death of Phnom Penh Candlelight candidate Choeun Sarim, who was attacked from behind and killed in traffic while traveling by motorbike, following threats and assaults. The latest attack came a day before Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to arrest opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who has lived in exile in France since 2015, the moment he returns to Cambodia. Sam Rainsy, 73, was sentenced in absentia in March 2021  to 25 years in jail for what supporters say was a politically motivated charge of attempting to overthrow the government. Speaking at a graduation ceremony for students at a university in Phnom Penh on October 17. Hun Sun said he would “eliminate the three generations of the ideology of the contemptible traitor [Sam Rainsy]…but I will not kill you.”  Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since 1985, was responding to recent remarks by Sam Rainsy  criticizing the strongman’s plans to appoint his son, Hun Manet, as his replacement. “I believe there will be strong opposition to Hun Sen’s transfer of power to his dynasty. We want a succession of young Cambodians who are capable and accomplished, but we do not want a succession of clans in a family that is above everyone else and that has the right to rule Cambodia forever, ” Sam Rainsy said in a video. Sam Rainsy and other exiled members of the CNRP have tried to return to Cambodia on several occasions.  The acting CNRP leader tried to return on Nov. 9, 2019 to lead nonviolent protests against Hun Sen, urging Cambodian migrant workers abroad and members of the military to join him. However, his plan to enter Cambodia from Thailand was thwarted when he was refused permission to board a Thai Airways plane in Paris. Score of CNRP activists were arrested and jailed in the aftermath. “The CNRP is still determined to return to Cambodia as long as there is an opening from Hun Sen, but in fact he does not dare to open up the way for Sam Rainsy and CNRP leaders to return to Cambodia as he did in the past,” said Oum Sam An, a former CNRP lawmaker. Translated by Sok-Ry Som. Written by Nawar Nemeh.

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Riverboat ferrying students home from school in Cambodia sinks, killing 10

Editor04 mins

Ten students drowned and another remains missing after a boat ferrying them home from school sank Thursday in the Khouk River in Cambodia’s southern Kandal province, sources in the country told RFA. The Kandal police confirmed Friday that authorities rescued four students from the Khouk, a tributary of the Mekong River, and are still searching for the missing student. They found the bodies of the other 10 students who drowned and estimated that they were all about 10 years old. Kandal Provincial Police Commissioner Chhoeun Socheat told RFA’s Khmer Service that the boat was very small and that it sank at around 7 p.m. on October 13. According to preliminary conclusions, the boat likely sank due to overcrowding, he said. Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed his condolences over the incident on Facebook, but stopped short of calling for an investigation. “The relevant authorities must continue to search for the victims and help with the victims’ funerals and offer services needed,” he said.  “To those who live along the rivers, please be vigilant, especially during flooding.” Cambodia is in the final weeks of its rainy season, which lasts from May to October. Coffin of a child, a victim of a boat accident, is transported in a ferry during a funeral procession in Koh Chamroeun village, east of Phnom Penh, Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. Ten students drowned and another remains missing after a boat ferrying them to school sunk in a river in Cambodia’s southern Kandal province, sources in the country told RFA. Photo:AP Kandal Provincial Governor Kong Sophoan told RFA that as of Friday night, the missing victim has not yet been found. He blamed the boat operators for their carelessness and said the boat was very old. “The boat operators lack experience, he said. “Authorities are investigating the incident.” Though authorities must ensure a boat is in good condition in order for owners to legally operate it, he acknowledged that loopholes exist. The 10 students were kind, smart and diligent, and were working hard to learn both in Khmer and English, Rong Chhun, the former president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association and president of the Cambodian Trade Union Confederation, told RFA.  “Those were active children who really paid attention to their studies. They had to cross the river from their houses to study on the other side,” he said. “They were dedicated hard-working kids. I am deeply saddened.” UNICEF wrote a message of condolence on Facebook that also called on the public to refrain from sharing pictures and video of the incident on social media because it could cause distress for friends and family. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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More than 200,000 children displaced in three states since Myanmar coup

Editor010 mins

More than 200,000 children have been displaced by fighting in Myanmar’s war-torn states of Kayin, Kayah and Rakhine since the military took control of the country in a February 2021 coup, according to data compiled by rights groups, NGOs, and anti-junta forces. Beyond the psychological trauma they experience, children are vulnerable to military airstrikes and at risk of capture by junta troops, who press them into forced labor, use them as human shields and sell them as sex slaves to human trafficking rings, the Karen Human Rights Group, or KHRG, said in a report released Tuesday. Pregnant women and babies are also caught up in the conflict. “Pregnant women fleeing the war have no choice but to give birth in caves in the forest, unsheltered from the elements out in the open, or along riverbanks,” said Saw Nanda Soo, a spokesperson for the group. “Since they are on the run, they are entirely deprived of health care and supplies such as diapers, baby formula and medicine,” she said. All told, the fighting between junta military forces and various rebel groups has created more than 350,000 people who are internally displaced, more than half of them under the age of 18, the group said. And of those minors, more than half are girls. The vast majority of the displaced children, or about 175,000 of them, have fled their homes in Kayin state, which borders Thailand in southeastern Myanmar, the KHRG report said. Aid groups said that a combined 50,000 children have been displaced in Kayah, just north of Kayin state, and in Rakhine, in the west, near Bangladesh. No concrete numbers have been provided for the number of children displaced since the coup in Sagaing region in the northwest, which has seen some of the worst fighting between the military and anti-junta groups. The United Nations recently announced that at least 500,000 people have fled conflict in Sagaing in the past 20 months. ‘Running and Learning’ A member of the Kayah State Basic Education Teachers Union told RFA that more than 30,000 children have become displaced in the region since the military takeover, and are forced to study in makeshift camps or while sheltering in the jungle. “Artillery shells hit us every day and you never know when another one will come,” the union member said. “Our children were denied [proper] education for an entire year due to COVID-19 [school closures] and then another because of the [insecurity following the] coup. We can’t just stop learning, so we must teach them on the run.” The union member said that they are constantly on the move, and when they reach somewhere deemed temporarily safe, they resume teaching. “We’re stuck in a cycle of running and learning.” In the western state of Rakhine, the rebel group Arakan Army reports similar numbers. In just the past two months, at least 20,000 children have become displaced since fighting resumed with the military after a two-year lull. That’s on top of the 82,000 children who had already been driven from their homes. The rebel group said that the internally displaced people in Rakhine are housed in more than 150 different camps, where some 10,000 children attempt to continue their studies despite the regional violence. Two refugee children are seen in Taungoo, Bago region, Myanmar, on Sept. 25, 2022. Credit: RFA ‘Biggest loss in our children’s education’ Zaw Zaw Tun, a humanitarian volunteer in Rakhine, said the junta soldiers fire artillery into their villages and then sweep into the villages, arresting residents. “Many of us are constantly on the run due to regional insecurity, rather than any specific battle,” the volunteer said. “The biggest loss is our children’s education. Meanwhile, food is scarce and we are dealing with health issues such as the seasonal flu now that it is turning to winter.” Regional support groups say it has become increasingly difficult to gather accurate statistics for the number of people displaced by fighting throughout the country since the coup because the junta is actively blocking international humanitarian groups from assisting them. The junta has yet to respond to reports of the scale of displaced children and the risks they face while on the run. On Oct. 10, Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, told the U.N. General Assembly that since the coup, the junta has killed at least 2,338 civilians, including 91 children under the age of 14 and 209 children between the ages of 15 and 18.  He said that children in Myanmar have been particularly affected by the conflict under military rule and are regularly deprived of their rights. According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, there are 89 million refugees worldwide, 36 million of whom are children. In Myanmar, the refugee agency said, at least 1.3 million children have been displaced since the coup, compared to around 300,000 beforehand. Meanwhile, in the central Bago region, 2,000 people have fled the conflict between the military and Karen National Union (KNU) since this February. The physical and mental health of those who are displaced are rapidly deteriorating, said Saw Maung Maung, a volunteer in Taungoo, adding that aid groups are facing shortages as donations dry up. “The donors are running out of patience,” he said. “There is a scarcity of food and other necessities needed for the refugees. We are in a difficult situation and have had to find ways to connect with other organizations to meet our long-term needs,” he said. Saw Htoo Htoo, a displaced 9-year-old in Taungoo, said he was forced to flee his village in Kyaukkyi and take shelter in the jungle for about a week after “fighter jets roared overhead, shooting at us repeatedly.” “I was barefoot from the start… In the rain, I was nearly eaten alive by the mosquitoes … Soldiers were always hunting us as we ran and we were constantly shaking with fear,” he said. “We had to run for our lives, but at least now…

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French court acquits Cambodian opposition leader in defamation cases

Editor011 mins

A court in France has dismissed two defamation cases brought against Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy by Prime Minister Hun Sen and a senior police official, but both sides were quick to claim victory in the proceedings, citing elements that advanced their own narrative. The Paris tribunal judiciaire ruled on Monday that Sam Rainsy – a dual citizen of France and head of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) – was guilty of defamation against Hun Sen when he posted a message to social media in 2019 claiming that the prime minister had ordered the assassination of Cambodia’s former National Police Chief Hok Lundy. However, the court found that Sam Rainsy’s right to freedom of expression trumped the ruling and granted him clemency. Hok Lundy died in 2008 when his helicopter crashed in Svay Rieng province during bad weather, but Sam Rainsy maintains that the aircraft was downed in an explosion. “The correlative factual basis for this imputation [that Hun Sen is responsible for Hok Lundy’s death] is tenuous,” the court said, adding that Sam Rainsy’s statements were made “in a context of denunciation of violations of human rights by a political opponent who … cannot go to Cambodia in order to continue its investigations” of the incident. “Under these conditions, it appears that a criminal conviction would undermine manifestly disproportionate to the right to freedom of expression protected by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.” The court also ruled that an allegation in Sam Rainsy’s social media post that Hok Lundy’s son, Deputy Commissioner General of the National Police Dy Vichea, was aware of Hun Sen’s involvement in his father’s death and planned to take “revenge” on the prime minister, did not meet the legal definition of defamation. Dy Vichea is also Hun Sen’s son-in-law. “The reference to a political opponent who could have other reasons to dismiss Hun Sen from power does not necessarily refer to recourse to violence but may as well refer to an alliance of a political nature,” the ruling said, noting that Sam Rainsy provided no details in his comments about the details of the alleged revenge plot and its status. “Therefore, in the absence of precision on the projects thus imputed to Dy Vichea making it possible to establish their illegal nature and even to discern their exact content, the remarks do not undermine his honor and his consideration.” In addition to granting clemency to Sam Rainsy, the court dismissed a countersuit by the opposition leader that Hun Sen pay for his expenses related to the proceedings. In a June 2019 Facebook post that prompted the lawsuits against him, Sam Rainsy wrote that “Hun Sen killed Hok Lundy using a bomb placed inside his helicopter … because he knew too much about Hun Sen’s misdeeds.” He also claimed that Dy Vichea “knows well the cause of his father’s assassination” and is “hatching a plan to avenge his father’s death.” The Paris tribunal judiciaire heard both defamation cases against Sam Rainsy in a five-hour session on Sept. 1 before delivering its verdict Monday. Ruling reactions In a statement that followed the verdict, Sam Rainsy’s legal team welcomed the two acquittals, saying that “the French justice system has solemnly confirmed the legitimacy of his actions and defended his freedom of expression.” “For our client, this judgment is much more than a personal victory, but is a ray of hope for defenders of freedom and justice in Cambodia and elsewhere.” Sam Rainsy said Monday that he had won the case, despite the court’s ruling that he was guilty of defamation and then spared. “[The] French court rules that Sam Rainsy wins the case against Prime Minister Hun Sen and his son-in-law,” he said in a post to the Telegram social media network, referring to Dy Vichea. On Facebook, Sam Rainsy characterized the court’s decision as “good news.”. Hun Sen also jumped on the ruling as proof of his “innocence” in Hok Lundy’s death during a speech he made to a university graduation ceremony in the capital Phnom Penh on Tuesday, saying the court found Sam Rainsy’s accusations “baseless and unwarranted” because they lacked evidence to support them. He said Sam Rainsy had failed to provide direct evidence or any testimony through witness affidavits to prove the crash was due to an explosion, and no autopsy report was available to provide the court. “It means that [Sam Rainsy] just made these accusations without having any evidence to submit to court. So the court said that this had nothing to do with Hun Sen,” he said, referring to himself in the third-person, according to a report by the Phnom Penh Post. “What did Hun Sen want from this that prompted him to trouble Rainsy at his home? Hun Sen wants innocence and nothing else. [Rainsy] claimed that they won the case somehow and I don’t know how they can possibly say this.” Hun Sen said he has no intention of appealing the court decision, but would follow along if Sam Rainsy does. Hun Sen’s comments follow those of his lawyer, Ky Tech, who told local media in France on Monday that the court’s ruling showed Sam Rainsy had provided “no clear evidence or confirmation” of the prime minister’s involvement in Hok Lundy’s death. Ky Tech also claimed that the court “also gave another reason to confirm that Sam Rainsy did indeed defame [Hun Sen], which cannot be denied,” without providing further details. Cambodia case The French court’s ruling follows Sam Rainsy’s December 2021 trial in absentia by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for “falsifying information” regarding the death of Hok Lundy. Sam Rainsy has lived in France since 2015 to avoid what he says are a string of politically motivated charges and convictions against him. The acting CNRP leader tried to return on Nov. 9, 2019 to lead nonviolent protests against Hun Sen, urging Cambodian migrant workers abroad and members of the military to join him. However, his plan to enter Cambodia from…

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Laos put on edge by two recent brutal killings of Chinese nationals

Editor08 mins

The grisly killings of two Chinese nationals, whose bodies were found stuffed into bags and floating in rivers within two weeks of each other, have put residents of Laos on edge. No connection between the two killings has been confirmed, but authorities say both may have been involved in business deals gone sour, sources in Laos told Radio Free Asia.  On Sept. 15, villagers from Vientiane Province’s Phon Hong district found a body floating near a dam that was identified as belonging to Chinese businessman Yang Youhai, 37, who had operated an iron bar manufacturer. The body was found in a plastic bag with his hands and feet bound, a police official said. “They are still investigating and the cause is unknown,” a police official from Vientiane’s Naxaythong district told RFA’s Lao Service. “There is no closed-circuit camera at the location where they dumped the body. They don’t know where it came from, what direction. They know only that this body is of the person from the iron bar company.” Yang was a “big boss” at his company, and had come to Laos three months prior, another police official from the capital said. The body was cremated in Vientiane, and some of the bones are to be sent to China for further investigation. The suspected motive is a business-related conflict, the second police official said. Dismembered body Two weeks later, Thai police on Sept. 29 discovered a suitcase floating in the Mekong River containing the dismembered body of Viphaphone Kongsy, 36, chairwoman of the Lao VIP investment company. A dual citizen of Laos and China, the woman also went by the name Lì Jūn Vp. She had been missing since Sept. 10. The Lao Ministry of Public Security set up a special committee to investigate, but hasn’t released any statements or information about evidence.  An official from the rescue team in Thailand’s That Phnom district, where the body was found, told RFA he went to pick up the body bag and found evidence that suggested murder.  “Her face was beaten by something strong like an iron bar,” he said. “The right side of her stomach has been torn out. She might have been beaten hard with an iron bar before she died.” A couple days later, residents in Vientiane spotted what turned out to be her car floating in the Mekong River. Her decomposing body parts are being kept at the Nakhon Phanom hospital in Thailand, a Thai police official said. “They have to test her relatives’ DNA before they can return her body to Laos,” the official said.  The two killings are the latest in a string of similar incidents involving Chinese nationals engaged in business in Laos, where China has invested heavily in infrastructure and manufacturing projects. ‘Very Afraid’  With the news of each case, the Lao public has grown ever more fearful, sources told RFA, sparking fears of growing lawlessness. “News of the murder is making villagers very afraid. They want local officials, police and soldiers to patrol all the time, and the villagers want to take part to be the eyes and ears helping them as well,” said a villager from Phon Hong, where Yang’s body was found. Soldiers patrol the dam where the body was found 24 hours a day, he said. “This was a murder with the intent to kill this guy without mercy,” a police official said, asking not to be identified.  “There have been killings in many provinces in Laos in the past mostly from drug trafficking and drug trades or robbery and stealing, conflict in the family, or among friends, but not as harsh as this one.”  Reports of such killings have increased in recent years of growing resentment in Laos over Chinese business presence in the country, over Chinese casinos and special economic zones which have been linked to human trafficking and crime.  Viphaphone’s investigation should be handled in a transparent way to ease the fears of the people, a Lao source who has been following the case told RFA. “They should announce what they know to the public, what’s going on, right now,” he said.  Another Lao source who is following the case said that it was likely a business-related killing. “Based on observation, this case of murder looks like it stems from business conflict. But the police have not revealed anything yet,” the second source said. “We never dreamed that anything like this would happen in Laos.” A former Lao government official with knowledge of cases like these also believes the deaths are a result of business conflicts, “perhaps with Laotian, Vietnamese or Chinese who invested money and had a conflict with her and lost,” he said. A Lao expert on criminal law declined to express an opinion on the case or speculate on its outcome. “But I believe that related sectors must urgently solve this case because it is a horrible case for the public to think about,” the expert said. Translated by Sidney Khotpanya and Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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France exit from NATO

France wants exit from NATO and Frexit

Editor02 mins

A giant crowd of protesters paraded through the center of Paris demanding that France radically alter its stance on NATO and the EU.The march was organized by the Les Patriotes (The Patriots) party led by Florian Philippot, (the former deputy head of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and ex member of the European Parliament between 2014 and 2019). Anointed “the national meeting of resistance,” the rally attracted thousands of people, according to Philippot. The demonstrators were holding a large banner reading ‘RESISTANCE’ and more miniature placards that read ‘FREXIT’ – a reference to a demand that France leaves the EU. Many protesters were also waving the national flag. Media sources also reported that people protested in the streets primarily against the recession, the sharp increase in the cost of living, and chaos in the world. A group of French intellectuals including Nobel literature prize winner Annie Ernaux on Sunday urged people to join protests next week against President Emmanuel Macron of not doing enough to support the impoverished cope with high prices while some private companies make windfall profits. “Emmanuel Macron is using inflation to widen the wealth gap, to boost capital income at the expense of the rest”, the group of 69 signatories, including writers, film directors, and university teachers, said in a text published in the Journal Du Dimanche. A major power like France leaving NATO will create a void in it and will change the world order significantly.!!

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Vietnam promotes ‘problematic’ bid for UN Human Rights Council membership

Editor013 mins

Vietnam is mounting an assertive campaign to win a seat on the United National Human Rights Council in an Oct. 11 vote, but critics say Hanoi’s poor record at home and diplomatic support for major rights violators abroad disqualify the one-party state. Fourteen seats on the 47-member Council will be filled by the U.N. General Assembly full-member vote. The highest human rights body has long faced criticism that countries seen as major rights abusers are members who team up to shield each other from scrutiny. Critics say Hanoi’s record of cracking down on journalists, activists and social media commentators makes it a poor choice for the Council. And they say Vietnam would join the bloc of countries that block Council action on major crises, as it did in its previous  2014-16 term. “There is little doubt that Vietnam will be a problematic, highly negative influence on the Human Rights Council if it is elected to the 2023-2025 term,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division at Human Rights Watch (HRW).  “In fact, at every opportunity, Vietnam does not hesitate to show its contempt for international human rights law, and if they get a seat, it’s highly likely they will seek to undermine meaningful actions by the Council,” he told RFA. Tuesday’s vote in New York comes days after China and its allies on the 47-member Council defeated a U.S. proposal that the Council hold a debate on a recent report by the body’s rights chief on abuses in China’s Xinjiang region. Vietnam has conducted an intense propaganda and lobbying drive to support its effort to be elected to the Council. On Sept. 30, Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Binh Minh approved a huge public relations campaign intended to boost the country’s reputation in the human rights field. Under the project, all Vietnamese state agencies will regularly provide human rights information to the media by 2028, while state officials working in the field will receive communications training. Over the past month, state media have touted what they say are Vietnam’s human rights achievements and criticized the international community’s accusations of rights violations in the Southeast Asian country. Vietnamplus, an online newspaper, recently ran two stories titled “Vietnam attaches importance to international cooperation in human rights protection” and “Vietnam ready to contribute further to UN affairs.”  The Voice of Vietnam online newspaper, meanwhile, ran a story titled “Vietnam pledges to make active contributions when becoming member of the UN Human Rights Council.”  ‘Unworthy’ candidate Human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, a former political prisoner who now lives in Germany, said Vietnam was seeking Council membership for the 2023-25 term to boost its standing. “Authoritarian governments often try their best to join the United Nations agencies, including the Human Rights Council, so that they can use it to tell people inside their country that accusations of their human rights violations are inaccurate,” he told RFA. “The fact that the Vietnamese Communist government has made every effort to become a member of the Human Rights Council is for political purposes only,” he told RFA. “They will not make any contributions to protect the human rights of their own people as well as of other peoples in the world.” In April, a coalition of eight organizations from inside and outside Vietnam, including the Vietnam Human Rights Network, Human Rights Defenders, Dai Viet Quoc Dang and the Vietnam Independent Journalists Association, sent an open letter to the U.N. calling on it to reject Vietnam as a Council member for the next term.  They said the country was “unworthy” because of its poor human rights record and support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On Oct. 3, three NGOs — UN Watch, Human Rights Foundation and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights — jointly issued a report on rights abuses by the 14 candidate countries, including Vietnam, to circulate to U.N. diplomats.  The report says that the rights situation inside Vietnam has not improved. It noted that when Vietnam served on Council from 2014-16, it opposed resolutions supporting rights victims in Belarus and Iran and failed to support resolutions on behalf of rights victims in Burundi and Syria.   Another coalition of rights NGOs groups from Europe, the U.S. and Canada has called on U.N. member states to oppose the election of Vietnam, Afghanistan, Algeria, Sudan and Venezuela, countries deemed “unqualified” because of their grim human rights records and voting records on U.N. resolutions concerning human rights. London-based Amnesty International said Vietnam’s efforts to be elected to the Council flew in the face of the facts on the ground. “Vietnamese authorities should show that they are willing to uphold international human rights standards, but nothing could be further from the reality on the ground, where the government continues to pass laws that restrict freedom of expression and association while promoting a climate of fear among people who dare to speak out,” an Amnesty spokesperson told RFA. Getting worse in Vietnam Nguyen Dinh Thang said human rights in Vietnam had worsened since the country’s nomination as a Council member in April 2021. A further stain on the country’s human rights record was its vote against a resolution to dismiss Russia from the Council for invading Ukraine, he said. Vietnam does not deserve membership after years of rounding up its critics, said attorney Nguyen Van Dai.   “Over the past four years, Vietnam has arrested many political dissidents who only had exercised their freedom of expression and press freedom,” he said. There are more than 100 political dissidents in jail, most of whom openly criticized the government for wrongdoings, including corruption and rights violations, though none of them opposed the state, Dai said. “They only raised social issues which were completely true,” he said. “Almost all of them only commented on and analyzed the issues raised by state media. They did not collect the information from somewhere or provide inaccurate information about the Communist government of Vietnam.” Vietnam is currently detaining 253 prisoners of conscience, according to the rights group Defend…

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China, Russia say North Korea launch provoked by US military drills

Editor06 mins

A U.S.-led push to condemn North Korea’s launch of a missile across Japan was blocked by China and Russia in the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, with the veto powers saying Pyongyang was provoked by recent U.S. military drills. The meeting of the 15-member council was called by the United States after North Korea fired a missile across Japanese territory into the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, violating council resolutions banning Pyongyang from such tests. The test missile launch was condemned by the 12 other members of the U.N. Security Council – Albania, France, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom, India, the United Arab Emirates, Ghana, Mexico, Kenya, Brazil and Gabon. Each called for a return to “dialogue” between countries in the region. But Russia and China – who had opposed a public council meeting and in May vetoed a resolution to impose new sanctions against North Korea for its new program of test launches – both said the United States was also at fault. Russia’s deputy representative to the United Nations, Anna Evstigneeva, defended the test launches, and blamed the context of what she termed America’s “unilateral security doctrine in the Asia-Pacific region.” She noted that the United States, Japan and South Korea last month carried out military exercises in the Sea of Japan using a nuclear aircraft carrier that she said focused training on hitting key targets in North Korea. “It is obvious that the missile launches by Pyongyang are a consequence of a short-sighted confrontational military activity surrounding this country conducted by the United States, which hurts their own partners in the region and also hurts the situation in Northeast Asia as a whole,” Evstigneeva said. China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Geng Shuang, mirrored the comments, also blaming U.S.-led drills for Pyongyang’s launch. “We have also noticed the multiple joint military exercises held by the U.S. and other countries recently in the region,” Geng told the Security Council. “A brief examination will reveal that [North Korea’s] launch activities took place either before or after such military activities and did not exist in isolation.” Pedestrians walk under a large video screen showing images of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un during a news update in Tokyo on Oct. 4, 2022, after North Korea launched a missile prompting an evacuation alert when it flew over northeastern Japan. Credit: AFP ‘Blaming others’ However, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, speaking for a second time after first making a case to condemn North Korea’s actions, said the explanation from China and Russia made little sense. “As we expected, instead of putting the blame where the blame lies,” Thomas-Greenfield said, “Russia and China want to blame others for their actions.” She said that U.S.-led drills with South Korea and Japan were carried out “responsibly and consistent with international law” and that there was “no equivalency” with the “unlawful, reckless” missile launches by North Korea. Japan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ishikane Kimihiro, who is not currently sitting on the council but was invited to address it, called on the council to enforce “unanimously adopted” resolutions banning such tests. “This council should be mindful that it is being tested and that its credibility is at stake. Silence is not an option,” Ishikane said. “North Korea has violated multiple Security Council resolutions and this council should act and provide an outcome that restores its credibility and fulfills its responsibilities.” The North Korean missile test was the first to pass through Japanese territory in five years, and flew 2,800 miles at 17 times the speed of sound. The United States and South Korea conducted their own missile tests in response earlier on Wednesday, with a malfunctioning South Korean missile crashing into an air force base on the outskirts of the coastal city of Gangneung.

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