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Category: South Asia

Tibetan exile leader set to visit Washington in April

Editor04 mins

Tibetan exile leader Penpa Tsering will visit Washington D.C. from April 25 to 29 at the invitation of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Tsering confirmed to RFA in an interview on Tuesday. The Washington visit will be followed by visits to Canada and Germany, the Sikyong, or elected head of Tibet’s India-based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), added. “We have received an official invitation from the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who has been a strong supporter and advocate for Tibet,” Tsering told RFA. “We will also be meeting with the State Department’s special coordinator for Tibetan issues Uzra Zeya and with many other government and non-governmental officials.” “Over the last decades, and especially under the leadership and authoritarian policies of Chinese president Xi Jinping, we have seen Tibetans face more and more religious and cultural repression aimed at wiping out the Tibetan identity,” Tsering said. A CTA report detailing what Tsering called the “urgent issues” surrounding Tibet’s environment and language and human rights situation, and prepared for submission to Xi Jinping, is being temporarily held back for “a number of reasons,” the Sikyong said. “One of these of course is the ongoing concern over Russia and Ukraine,” he said. CTA departments and a Permanent Strategy Committee established by the Sikyong are now working together to push again for a resumption of a Sino-Tibetan dialogue on Tibet’s status under Chinese rule, Tsering said. Nine rounds of talks were previously held between envoys of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and high-level Chinese officials beginning in 2002, but stalled in 2010 and were never resumed. Divisions persist in the Tibetan exile community—about 150,000 people living in 40 countries—over how best to advance the rights of the 6.3 million Tibetans living in China, with some calling for a restoration of the independence lost when Chinese troops marched into Tibet in 1950. Penpa Tsering, a former speaker of Tibet’s exile parliament in Dharamsala, won a closely fought April 11, 2021 election to become Sikyong held in Tibetan communities worldwide. The fifth elected CTA leader, Tsering replaced Lobsang Sangay, a Harvard-trained scholar of law, who had served two consecutive five-year terms as Sikyong, an office filled since 2011 by popular vote. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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Hong Kong police arrest six for ‘sedition’ over courtroom protests, support

Editor07 mins

Hong Kong police on Wednesday arrested six people including a former labor leader on suspicion of “sedition” under a colonial-era law, as the city’s security chief — who is widely seen as Beijing’s preferred candidate — resigned to run for chief executive. Police said they had arrested four men and two women aged 32 to 67 on suspicion of “conducting acts with seditious intent.” Media reports said one of those arrested was Leo Tang, a former vice president of the now-disbanded Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU). The arrests were in connection with “nuisances” allegedly caused by the six as they attended court hearings between December 2021 and January 2022. Police said their actions had “severely affected jurisdictional dignity and court operations.” Police also searched the homes of the arrestees and seized various items in connection with the case. This arrests mark the first time that someone sitting in the public gallery of a Hong Kong court has been arrested for “actions with seditious intent,” a charge that carries a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment. The police statement said the six are accused of “incitement to hatred, contempt or betrayal of Hong Kong’s judiciary.” Previously, judges have responded to shouting and clapping from the public gallery by ignoring it or by ordering those responsible to leave the court. Any behavior in court that could distract judges from hearing evidence or making a judgement could be regarded as “an obstacle to the work of the court,” Hong Kong chief justice Andrew Cheung said in January. He said at the time that such incidents should be handled on a case-by-case basis by the judge concerned. Courtroom protests and vocal support for defendants has become increasingly common as Hong Kong continues with a citywide crackdown on public dissent and political opposition under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from July 1, 2020. In January 2018, supporters at the trial of pro-independence politician Edward Leung were ordered to leave the courtroom and to view the remainder of the trial via a video screen in the lobby. The arrests came as chief secretary John Lee — second-in-command to chief executive Carrie Lam — resigned from his post and announced he will run in an “election” for the city’s top job that is tightly controlled by Beijing. The successful candidate will be chosen on May 8 by a 1,500-strong Election Committee whose members have been hand-picked by Beijing. The arrests came after two U.K. Supreme Court judges resigned from Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal (CFA) last month, citing a recent crackdown on dissent under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by Beijing. Non-permanent CFA judges Lord Reed and Lord Hodge had sat on the court “for many years” under an agreement governing the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule, but Lam’s administration had “departed from values of political freedom, and freedom of expression,” Reed said in a statement. The national security law ushered in a citywide crackdown on public dissent and criticism of the authorities that has seen several senior journalists, pro-democracy media magnate Jimmy Lai and 47 former lawmakers and democracy activists charged with offenses from “collusion with a foreign power” to “subversion.” Extracts from Lai’s prison letters published by the Index on Censorship in late March 2022 quoted Lai as saying that “the muted anger of the Hong Kong people is not going away.” “This barbaric suppression [and] intimidation works,” Lai wrote. “Hong Kong people are all quieted down. But the muted anger they have is not going away. Even those emigrating will have it forever. Many people are emigrating or planning to.” “The more barbaric [the] treatment of Hong Kong people, [the] greater is their anger, and power of their potential resistance; [the] greater is the distrust of Beijing, of Hong Kong, [the] stricter is their rule to control,” Lai wrote. “The vicious circle of suppression-anger-and-distrust eventually will turn Hong Kong into a prison, a cage, like Xinjiang.” Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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Myanmar prison on lockdown after deadly response to inmate protest

Editor08 mins

A prison in Myanmar’s Sagaing region is under lockdown Tuesday after authorities opened fire on an inmate protest over the weekend, killing one prisoner and injuring as many as nine others, according to sources. A source close to the prison on the outskirts of Sagaing’s Monywa city who spoke on condition of anonymity told RFA’s Myanmar Service that junta troops have assumed control of security at the site and that all trials and family visits have been suspended indefinitely. “The army is still guarding the prison with military vehicles,” the source said. “Lawyers who usually attend special court proceedings [on site] are still not allowed inside. As families cannot enter the prison [for inmate visits], all information has been cut off.” Residents told RFA on Monday that gunfire was heard emanating from inside Monywa Prison the previous night and that authorities had opened fire on a group of inmates who were chanting anti-junta slogans in a rare display of opposition to military rule, killing one and injuring nine others. One source with ties to inmates involved in the incident said they had been protesting harsh conditions at the prison, including the use of torture during interrogations. “During the daily inspection, as inmates were out of their cells, someone started shouting, ‘Do we, the people, unite?’ Then, the others responded, saying, ‘Yes, we do!’ A big crowd gathered, and the protest began,” said the source, who also declined to be named. The protest started at around 5 p.m. A half an hour later, two military trucks entered the compound, and the shooting began. “According to our sources inside, we can confirm one person was shot dead and five were injured,” the source said. “The one who died was shot in the chest. One of the injured is in serious condition after losing a lot of blood from his thigh. But as far as we know, they have not been taken for medical treatment and were forced to help each other in the prison.” A member of the Monywa People’s Strike Steering Committee, whose leader Wai Moe Naing is among several political prisoners being held at the prison, said emergency vehicles were diverted from patrols of the city prior to the shooting, including military trucks and ambulances. Other sources said that as many as nine inmates had been injured in the crackdown. RFA was unable to independently verify the number of casualties. Attempts to contact Khin Shwe, the junta’s deputy director of the Department of Prisons, went unanswered Tuesday. Bombing campaign Following the unrest, several prodemocracy People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary groups issued a statement about the shooting and in retaliation carried out a joint bombing campaign against five junta targets in the city, according to Boh Dattha of the Monywa PDF. “We asked residents not to leave their houses beginning around 5:30 p.m.,” he said. “In response to what happened in Monywa Prison, we, and three allied groups, carried out bombings against the military regime.” The other groups involved in the bombings were Monywa Generation Tiger, Monywa Special Date Date Kyei, and “a third new group,” Boh Dattha said. He provided no further details about the targets of the bombings or whether they resulted in any casualties. A resident of the city confirmed to RFA that multiple explosions were heard in Monywa after the shooting on Sunday night. “We heard gunshots. Later, there were a lot of explosions in the city — in no less than 10 places,” the resident said. The junta has yet to issue a statement about the shooting incident or the explosions in Monywa, but sources described an increased presence of police and military troops since the weekend and said authorities have been conducting checks throughout the city. Since seizing power in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup, junta troops have killed at least 1,730 civilians and detained more than 10,000 political prisoners, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Last month, authorities in Sagaing’s Kalay township killed seven inmates and injured a dozen others after using live ammunition to quell what junta officials described as a prison “riot.” Sources told RFA the deaths were likely the result of a violent crackdown on a protest over ill-treatment at the facility.  According to the military, guards at the prison tried to disable the inmates by aiming below their waists. But residents noted that photos published by the junta on its online “Viber Group” platform to accompany its statement on the incident showed that at least some of those killed had been shot in the head and chest. Authorities have responded to earlier protests over ill-treatment by political prisoners in Yangon’s Insein Prison and Mandalay’s Obo Prison by beating protesters, denying them medical treatment, and putting them in solitary confinement.   Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Police detain over 300 Rohingya for venturing outside Cox’s Bazar refugee camps

Editor06 mins

Bangladesh authorities were holding more than 300 Rohingya in transit camps after police caught them working outside their refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, or while leaving their shelters for other purposes, officials said Tuesday. Human Rights Watch meanwhile renewed its call for the government to ease movement restrictions on Rohingya, saying that barring refugees from leaving the camps for work or shutting down their shops within the camps only compounds their misery. During raids in the Ukhia sub-district of Cox’s Bazar on Monday and Tuesday, police arrested 216 Rohingya refuges who had left the camps or were in the process of leaving them to go outside, Ahmed Sanjur Morhsed, officer-in-charge of the Ukhia police station, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. “The Rohingya people are not permitted to go out of the camps, but very often they get out of the camps [by] adopting different tactics,” he said. “Acting on a tip off, we conducted raids on Monday and Tuesday at different bazaars and detained Rohingya. We caught many Rohingya while they were heading out for various places [outside the refugee camps],” he said, adding that the operation was a “special drive.” He claimed that those arrested had admitted that they worked locally outside their refugee camps. After detaining them, police sent them to transit camps run by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Police in neighboring Teknaf, another sub-district of Cox’s Bazar, similarly arrested more than 100 Rohingya during the special drive on Monday and Tuesday. “The target of the special raids is to stop the Rohingya from getting out of the camps and to bar them from working in the local market,” Md. Hafizur Rahman, the officer-in-charge of the Teknaf sub-district police station, told BenarNews. All those Rohingya detained have been sent to the UNHCR transit camps ahead of their return to their respective refugee camps, he said. Separately, Ukhia police also arrested 48 Rohingya who were preparing to be trafficked to Malaysia illegally, by sea. Job competition Nur Amin, a resident of Kutupalong camp, was one of the Rohingya refugees rounded up by police on Tuesday from a bazar in Ukhia. “We were warned not to go out for work. I was passing my time idle,” Amin said. “So last month I took a job at a tea stall in return for 200 taka (U.S. $2.4) a day. The police arrested me from the stall,” he added. UNHCR has yet to confirm that the arrested Rohingya were handed over to the transit camp. “This is sort of incident would put stress on the Rohingya refugees. So the issue should be dealt with humanely,” Ziaur Karim, a Rohingya leader at Kutupalong camp, told BenarNews. Local Bangladeshis have voiced concerns about Rohingya refugees taking up jobs in Cox’s Bazar. “The local Bangladeshi workers have been losing their job opportunities while the Rohingya people have been offering menial work with cheap wages,” M. Gafur Uddin, chairman of Palongkhali union council, told BenarNews. Meanwhile, in a statement issued Monday, Human Rights Watch pointed to how Bangladeshi authorities, in recent months, had intensified their restrictions on Rohingya refugees’ livelihoods, movement, and education. “Bangladesh is understandably burdened with hosting nearly one million Rohingya refugees, but cutting them off from opportunities to work and study is only compounding their vulnerability and dependence on aid,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Bangladesh government should formalize and expand employment opportunities to bolster the Rohingya’s self-reliance and enable them to support their families and communities.” Local humanitarian groups are aware of the issues raised by New York-based HRW. Nur Khan Liton, a human rights activist, told BenarNews: “I don’t think there’s an easy solution to many of these issues until Bangladesh officially recognizes these Rohingya as refugees.”

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Thousands flee junta raid that torched 250 homes in Myanmar’s Sagaing region

Editor013 mins

A joint force of junta troops and pro-military militiamen set fire to a village in Myanmar’s embattled Sagaing region over the weekend, destroying around 250 homes and forcing more than 2,000 people to flee, residents said Tuesday. A resident of Khin-U township’s Ngar Tin Gyi village, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told RFA’s Myanmar Service that soldiers and Pyu Saw Htee fighters stormed the settlement at around 7 a.m. on Sunday “firing guns and heavy weapons.” “On hearing gunfire, many villagers fled with only the clothes on their backs. Some of them were able to carry some small items and food,” the resident said. “The soldiers set some houses on fire at about 10 a.m. They stopped for a while later for lunch and then they continued burning houses again at about 2 p.m. All we could do was watch the houses burning from a distance.” Junta forces left the next morning, he said, and residents returned to Ngar Tin Gyi to collect what was left of their belongings briefly before returning to makeshift camps in the jungle. Another resident of Ngar Tin Gyi, who also declined to be named, said that villagers are too frightened of another raid to return to the area and rebuild. “Smoke billowed up and I could see the flames. The terrifying sound of gunfire echoed through the air,” he said. “All the grain and farm equipment and cattle were lost. We have nothing left – no clothes, no [rice] paddy, no food, no oil. Not a brick was left to rebuild our houses. All that we have saved throughout the years is gone now. I don’t know what to do. I cannot understand why they must be so cruel.” Others said it would take “thirty or forty years” to rebuild everything that was destroyed over the weekend. It was not immediately clear why Ngar Tin Gyi was targeted. The area has seen frequent clashes between the military and anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary groups in recent weeks, and residents of other villages raided by junta forces have told RFA they were accused of providing haven to the armed opposition. Not long after leaving Ngar Tin Gyi on Monday, the convoy of junta troops triggered a landmine planted by the PDF near Khin-U township’s Sai Gaung village. Sources said the troops responded by setting fire to a school in the village, and on Tuesday burned down three homes in nearby Ohnbin Gone village. 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, 2022. Credit: RFA Scorched earth campaign Junta Deputy Information Minister Zaw Min Tun on Tuesday called the accusations of arson attacks baseless and instead blamed the PDF, which the military regime has labeled a terrorist organization. “[The PDF] set fire to the houses and fled and, as usual, say the army is responsible,” he said. “They are using the term ‘Pyu Saw Htee’ in their accusations, but there is no Pyu Saw Htee. There is only a people’s militia group formed by residents [to protect themselves against the PDF].” Since the military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup, security forces have killed at least 1,730 civilians and detained more than 10,000 political prisoners, mostly during peaceful anti-junta protests, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The junta has also launched several troop offensives against the PDF and armed ethnic groups in Myanmar’s remote border regions. On March 3, the military shut down internet access for several townships in Sagaing region before sending troops to the area two days later. Troops have encountered fierce resistance to military rule in the region and responded with a scorched earth campaign that reports say has included arson, looting, arbitrary arrests, rape, torture, and murder. According to an investigation by RFA, troops torched at least 447 houses in Khin-U township in the month of March alone in the villages of Dan-gone, Hmantaw, Kyunlei, Thet Pay, Tamote, Kala Lu, and Shar Lwin. The destruction since Sunday brought the total number of homes destroyed by fire in the township to nearly 700. Data For Myanmar, a group that researches the impact of conflict on communities, recently said that pro-junta forces had burned 7,973 houses across the country since last year’s the coup. Of those, 4954 houses were in Sagaing region. A former member of parliament from the deposed National League for Democracy party from Sagaing region told RFA that villages in Myanmar’s ethnic areas are no stranger to arson attacks by the military. “This is undeniable. In Rakhine [state] … and in other areas like Kachin state and Chin state they have done the same thing,” said the former lawmaker, who declined to be named. “Employing all of these horrible acts to keep the military dictatorship alive has become their tradition.” Chin refugees shelter near the Indian border after fleeing fighting in Northern Chin state’s Falam township, March 10, 2022. Credit: Citizen journalist Thousands at India border The reports of arson attacks in Sagaing came as sources in Northern Chin state said that intensifying clashes between the military and the Chin National Defense Force (CNDF) since early March had forced nearly all the 5,200 residents of Rikhawdar in Falam township to flee to Myanmar’s shared border with India. A resident of the town told RFA that fighting in the past week had become so bad, with junta troops indiscriminately firing mortars, that “only one percent of people remain.” “It’s all deserted. All that is left are the people guarding their houses and belongings that they can’t take with them,” he said. One refugee sheltering near the border said that many people had crossed into India’s Mizoram state, but “nearly 2,000” remain in makeshift camps on the Myanmar side and are running low on supplies. “Nearly 2,000 people who cannot afford rental fees over there have been living in tents along the border with India,” he said. “They have to find their own food and water. If the fighting continues, they will be…

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North Korea cracks down on private fuel sales during shortage

Editor06 mins

Authorities in North Korea are cracking down on citizens who privately sell gasoline as fuel shortages spread across the country, sources in the country told RFA. Private ownership and sale of fuel reserves is technically illegal in North Korea but is tolerated under normal circumstances. Now that fuel is hard to come by the government is finding the private sellers and seizing their fuel. The crackdown began at the beginning of the month, a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. “This investigation is a move to confiscate privately owned fuel in the country as it faces a fuel shortage,” he said. “These days in North Korea, the economic sectors including transportation, agriculture and fisheries are experiencing a severe shortage of gasoline and diesel fuel.” Demand is higher this time of year with the start of the farming season, but fuel reserves are lower than normal because of a two-year trade moratorium with China due to coronavirus concerns. Though the ban ended at the start of 2022, trade has not yet reached its former volume, so stocks have not yet been fully replenished. Global prices are also high right now due to sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. “At the beginning of this year, the price of fuel at the gas station operated by a trading company was 9,800 won per liter of gasoline [U.S. $6.17/gallon], 7,500 for diesel ($4.72/gallon),” the source said. “No one expected that gasoline would rise to 17,000 won per liter [$10.71/gallon] or 12,000 won per liter [$7.56/gallon] for diesel by the end of March,” he said. Prices of gas sold by individuals also shot up but is still 1,000 won cheaper per liter ($0.60 cheaper per gallon) than the government price, according to the source. “People began to prefer trading with the individual sellers. Also, everyone knows that the fuel sold at gas stations is of inferior quality to that of private individual sellers,” the source said. Gas stations are known to mix gasoline with cheaper fuels, such as naphtha (lighter fluid), during times of shortage. Though it stretches the gas reserves further, the adulterated gas can damage vehicles or machines intended to run on gasoline. It was this very practice that drove people in the northwestern province of North Pyongan to flock to the individual sellers, a resident there told RFA. “As the individual traders started selling fuels more actively, authorities began to take preliminary measures to take away their business,” the second source said. “Residents of the city of Sinuiju believe that the reason the price of fuel is soaring these days is because of the government’s series of missile test launches. … These continuous missile launches are preventing the smooth phase-in of fuel,” she said. She said the government tried to put price controls on gas in the city on the Chinese border, but it still has risen to unbelievable highs. Despite its proximity to China, gasoline in Sinuiju costs $7.10 per gallon and diesel costs $4.26. “Food and other necessities are skyrocketing right now as well,” she said. “Residents are very unhappy with the police department’s crackdown on … the private sellers.” “In springtime gas is in high demand for farming, fishing and transportation, but the authorities’ crackdown is making it difficult to get fuel because the private sellers are hiding so they don’t get caught. It is causing a major disruption to our daily lives,” the second source said. RFA reported last month that people were trying to cash in on the fuel shortage by buying fuel vouchers in one part of the country and selling them in other parts where gas was more expensive. Fuel vouchers, however, can only be redeemed at gas stations. Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Vietnam approves 17 religious texts for use in prisons

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Vietnamese authorities announced plans to deliver thousands of religious books to the country’s prisons, but former inmates and activists told RFA that prisoners are still likely to be prohibited from freely practicing their faith behind bars. Several government ministries collaborated to approve a list of 17 books, including the Bible, and distribute 4,400 copies to 54 prisons. The books include religious and theology texts, books on the history of religions, and analyses of Vietnamese laws regarding religion, state media reported. Maj. Gen. Thuong Van Nghiem, deputy director of the Ministry of Public Security’s Department of Homeland Security, said that the plan demonstrates Vietnam’s commitment to ensuring religious freedom, and conveys a message about the country’s efforts to support civil, political and human rights. But distributing the books is just a public relations move, Tran Minh Nhat, a Catholic who was jailed from 2011 to 2015 on charges of “attempting to overthrow the government,” told RFA’s Vietnamese Service. “The important thing is what books they are, who the author is, who published them, where they are placed and how they are managed,” said Nhat. “In most cases, their inclusion of scriptures or religious publications is mainly for embellishment purposes. The government or the Ministry of Public Security review and provide religious publications mainly to deceive public opinion and cover the public’s eyes, not to meet the needs of those who are serving jail sentences. It’s just for the sake of doing it,” he said. Nhat spent time at six different prisoners during his five-year sentence. In each, prisoners were prohibited from having their own Bibles, Buddhist scriptures or any kind of religious publication, even items that had been licensed by the government. Prisoners of any faith are prohibited from praying in groups, he said. “The practice of religious rites is prohibited. This is not only applied to Catholics but also Buddhists and Protestants. Because of such a ban, many people do not ask for the right to practice their religion,” said Nhat.  “There can be exceptions though, for example, when I myself went on a hunger strike for almost a month, then they finally gave me a Bible to read.” The Vietnamese government has never cared about religious, political or ethnic rights, Siu Wiu, who spent 13 years in prison for “disturbing security” by performing Protestant rituals in public, told RFA. “As far as I know, the Communists never tell the truth. They say one thing but do another. I’m living proof, there’s no such thing,” he said.  During his years in prison, Wiu was only able to pray alone and quietly, as the prisoners were not allowed to pray publicly. Punishments for practicing his religion were severe. “One time my wife visited me and smuggled a Bible in an instant noodle packet for me. When prison staff spotted the Bible, they chained me up for seven days,” said Siu. “Prior to that, I was disciplined and shackled for two weeks and then put in solitary confinement for six months because one time, when I called home, I asked the people in the village to pray for me on Sundays,” he said. Allowing religious texts in prison should raise awareness about the Communist Party’s guidelines and governmental policies and laws on beliefs and religions as well as the values and influences of religion on social life, Maj. Gen. Nguyen Viet Hung, deputy director of the Police Department of Prisons, Correction Centers, and Juvenile Reformatory Management, told RFA. RFA confirmed that 17 approved texts include the Bible, Ho Chi Minh’s “Viewpoints on Mobilizing Religious Followers,” and “Study on Religions and Beliefs” by Do Lan Hien, who is the director of the Institute of Religion and Belief at the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics.  RFA did not have access to the latter two books to verify their content. The latest report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, released on Feb. 7, 2021, marked the 15th consecutive year that Vietnam was included by the U.S. on its list of “countries of particular concern” on religious freedom because of its repression on independent religious groups not recognized by the government. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.  

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More than 130 journalists arrested in Myanmar, media group says

Editor07 mins

A total of 135 journalists have been arrested in Myanmar since the Feb. 1, 2021, military coup that overthrew civilian rule in that country, according to a local press freedoms group. Among those arrested, 109 were men and 26 were women, while three other journalists were killed in the course of their work, said Han Zaw, a spokesman for Detained Journalists Information Myanmar, speaking to RFA. “Right now, 55 journalists — 42 men and 13 women — are being held in detention, 22 of whom have now been convicted, and another six were given jail sentences in March,” Han Zaw said. The detentions and arrests of journalists in Myanmar are still ongoing, he added. Jailed in March were Han Thar Nyein, managing editor of Kamaryut Media; Than Htkine Aung, editor of Mizzima News; Neyin Chan Wai, a correspondent for the Bago Weekly Journal; Aung Zaw Zaw, editor-in-chief of the Mandalay Free Press; Ye Yint Tun, a correspondent for the Myanmar Herald; and freelance journalist Naung Yoe. All were charged with defamation and obstruction of the country’s military and were given sentences ranging from one-and-a-half years to 11 years in jail, with Han Thar Thein also charged with violations of Myanmar’s Electronic Communications Act. Conditions in Myanmar are now unsafe for journalists working for independent media groups, said veteran reporter Myint Kyaw, speaking to RFA from Myanmar’s commercial center and former capital Yangon. “There have been cases of torture,” Myint Kyaw said. “Not for everyone arrested, but there have been victims, and Myanmar has the second highest number of arrests after China, which means the second largest number of journalists arrested around the world,” he said. “It’s dangerous now to work for independent media, and it’s dangerous to report on any of the incidents now happening in the ongoing conflict,” he said. Veteran lawyer Khin Maung Myint told RFA that journalists arrested before June 2021 were charged only with defamation. But since June 30, charges under anti-terrorism and explosives statutes that allow for as long as 20 years have also been added, he said. And though most of the journalists arrested were able to prove in court that they were simply carrying out their professional work when detained, none were released following their conviction at trial, he said. ‘Enemies of the country’ Speaking to RFA, junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said however that no journalists were arrested in Myanmar for doing their work but only for instigating violence. “On Armed Forces Day [March 27], more than 40 local media outlets and 26 local reporters working for overseas media attended the event, and they were able to work and write freely. Even RFA has reporters in Myanmar,” Zaw Min Tun said. “If a journalist is doing the work of a journalist, we have no reason to arrest him. But if a journalist commits crimes and incites others to violence, we will arrest him not as a journalist but as a supporter of terrorism and a source of false news,” he said. Also speaking to RFA, Aung Kyaw — a senior correspondent for the Democratic Voice of Burma who was arrested and released in March last year — said that Myanmar’s military members hate the journalists held in interrogation camps and treat them as enemies of the country. “While I was being questioned, they would read news reports, and if they found something they didn’t like, they’d hit me and torture me, even though those reports were published by other media,” he said. “I told them that we were not a foreign news agency, that our news agency was officially registered in Myanmar, that we paid taxes to the country, and that we were paid only in kyats, not in dollars. But they wouldn’t listen.” Soe Ya, editor-in-chief of the Delta News Agency, said that journalists are now fleeing Myanmar due to junta suppression, causing a loss of human resources in the country’s media. “Many journalists are leaving and moving to other countries to pursue their livelihood and because of the lack of security in Myanmar,” he said. “Our media world is now suffering a big loss because experienced people have to leave, as they cannot continue to survive in the present situation.” Translated by Khin Maung Nyane for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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Philippine, Chinese foreign ministers hold talks amid South China Sea tensions

Editor04 mins

The top diplomats of the Philippines and China met over the weekend in a Chinese district and exchanged views on the South China Sea, Beijing said, amid fresh accusations from Manila over alleged Chinese aggression in the disputed waterway. Filipino Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held talks on Sunday in Tunxi, Anhui province, days after Manila and Washington launched one of their biggest joint military exercises in years that observers described as a show of force. “On April 3, 2022, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with visiting Philippine Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin in Tunxi, Anhui province,” said a statement on the meeting posted on the Chinese foreign ministry’s website. The two sides believe “that maritime issues should be put in a proper place in bilateral relations,” the statement added, without giving details. Also without naming any nations or parties, Wang said Manila and Beijing “should eliminate interference, and calmly and properly manage differences, so as to prevent the overall China-Philippines relations from being affected.” Wang added that China was willing to fast track key infrastructure projects in the Philippines and continue providing COVID-19 vaccine assistance, the Chinese foreign ministry statement said. Attempts by the RFA-affiliated Benar News service to contact Locsin’s office for comment on the meeting went unanswered Monday. The talks came amid this year’s joint Balikatan military exercises between the Philippines and the United States that involve about 9,000 troops from both sides. The exercises in the Philippines will go till April 8. Wang and Locsin’s meeting comes after the Philippines in late March lodged a new diplomatic protest against China alleging that a Chinese coast guard ship maneuvered dangerously close to a Filipino vessel in the contested Scarborough Shoal earlier last month. China’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, insisted that it was within its rights when its ship allegedly engaged in what the Philippine Coast Guard described as “close distance maneuvering” in South China Sea waters. China’s envoy to Manila, Huang Xilian, did not say whether the issue of the Chinese coast guard ship was discussed at Sunday’s talks, but noted that the meeting of the two nations’ top diplomats produced “fruitful results.” “The talks included China’s reaffirmation of its priority neighborhood diplomacy with the Philippines, the maintenance of amicable policies for continued and stable bilateral relations, and the peaceful and proper resolution of differences,” Huang said. “China also reiterated its readiness to streamline key infrastructure projects’ construction with the Philippines.”

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North Korea tries to cover up failed ICBM launch

Editor010 mins

North Korea is attempting to discredit reports of a failed intercontinental ballistic missile launch, dismissing the accounts as hearsay even though many people in Pyongyang saw the rocket explode over the city, sources in the capital told RFA. North Korean media reported on March 24 that it successfully completed tests of the new Hwasong-17 ICBM, attributing its success to leader Kim Jong Un’s bravery. South Korean military authorities, however, reported Tuesday that the Hwasong-17 was involved in an earlier failed test launch on March 16. The March 24 launch was actually the older Hwasong-15 missile, they said. The North Korean government is now denying “rumors” of loud sounds and flashes that could be heard and seen over Pyongyang on March 16. “I have heard on various occasions through meetings and gatherings that there have been baseless rumors circulating about missile explosions. These rumors undermine the defense technology of our republic,” a Pyongyang city official told RFA’s Korean Service March 30. “There is an emphasis from higher ups that we should not believe or get involved in these false rumors spread by hostile forces, and evil people who hold a grudge against our way of life,” said the official, who requested anonymity for security reasons. The official admitted that the so-called rumors were in fact true. “On the morning of March 16th, people in the districts of Sunan, Hyongjesan and Ryongsong heard a loud roar that seemed to pierce the sky and a ‘bang’ sound and witnessed pieces of debris falling and smoking,” he said. “I heard from a friend in the same department who has a house in Sunan … that his wife went outside to hang clothes and heard a big airplane passing by and heard a ‘bang.’ After a while, she saw small pieces of shards falling nearby while smoking,” the official said. The official said that others in Ryongsong and Hyongjesan districts saw similar events unfold. “I even heard from a friend who lives in Ryongsong district that two people in Chungi-dong were struck by large pieces of debris falling,” he said. “About a week after these testimonies, there was a report that the launch of new intercontinental ballistic missile ‘Hwasong-17’ on March 24th was a great success under the direct guidance of Kim Jong Un,” said the official. Pyongyang has not only been trying to pass off the launch on the 24th as the Hwasong-17, it is also trying to use the event to lionize Kim. “People say that Kim Jong Un seems like an actor in a well-produced music video on the TV reports he appears in. The missile launch failed, but I don’t understand the government’s effort to hide it,” he said. North Korea has sent agents into the provinces for damage control, a resident of South Pyongan province, north of Pyongyang, told RFA. “Last week, an executive appeared at the morning assembly at my company, saying there were rumors that a missile launch failed. He emphasized that we were not to believe the false rumors spread by evil forces intent on internally breaking us down,” said the resident, who requested anonymity to speak freely. “But people are acknowledging the missile explosion as a fact. In Pyongyang as well as here, people saw flashing lights and smoke from the sky, and small fragments of debris fell here and there,” she said. The resident said others, including her cousin who lives in another South Pyongan town, saw flashing lights and heard bangs in the sky. “Although the incident has been witnessed by many, the authorities are dismissing it as a rumor spread by evildoers. There are many citizens who directly witnessed the explosion in the air, but I don’t know what the authorities are afraid of that they would hide the truth,” she said. More sanctions The U.S. Treasury Department Friday sanctioned five North Korean entities for their involvement in ballistic missile development programs in violation of several United Nations Security Council resolutions. In a statement, the Treasury Department said the sanctions target a North Korean organization that conducts research and development of weapons of mass destruction and four of its revenue-generating subsidiaries. “The DPRK’s provocative ballistic missile tests represent a clear threat to regional and global security and are in blatant violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in the statement. “The United States is committed to using our sanctions authorities to respond to the DPRK’s continued development of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. I also commend Japan for their actions today against the DPRK, and stand ready to continue to work together to counter the DPRK’s continued threatening behavior,” she said. Analysts applauded the move. “It’s a positive sign, in that the U.S. is taking action against North Korea’s weapons development and testing,” Soo Kim of the RAND Corporation told RFA. “But I would underscore that the latest designations are subsidiaries of organizations that should probably have been designated. So it’s unclear whether this will have teeth in terms of impact,” she said.  Bruce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation, a group that promotes free enterprise and limited government, that there are any remaining North Korean entities to sanction, given its long and expansive history of violations of U.N. resolutions and U.S. laws. “It raises the question as to why Washington chose not to [sanction them] until now and how many other North Korean and other country entities the US could sanction but has not done so,” Klingner told RFA. “Each U.S. administration has claimed to be tough on North Korea and other violators but chose not to fully enforce U.S. laws. Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ was never maximum. Indeed, he announced he was not sanctioning 300 North Korean entities and 12 Chinese banks that had violated US laws. Sanctions, like diplomacy, are a tool that should be used in conjunction with other tools of international power,” he said.  Translated by Claire Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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