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UN human rights chief issues damning report on Chinese abuses in Xinjiang

Editor017 mins

UPDATED at 9:29 p.m. EDT on 8-31-2022 China’s repression of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in its western Xinjiang province “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,” the U.N.’s human rights chief said Wednesday in a long-awaited report issued on her last day on the job.  The report issued by U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights Michelle Bachelet says that “serious human rights violations” have been committed in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in the context of the Chinese government’s application of counter-terrorism and counter-“extremism” strategies.  “The implementation of these strategies, and associated policies in XUAR has led to interlocking patterns of severe and undue restrictions on a wide range of human rights,” the report states. “These patterns of restrictions are characterized by a discriminatory component, as the underlying acts often directly or indirectly affect Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim communities.”  The 46-page report goes on to say that the human rights violations documented in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (OHCHR) assessment, flow from “a domestic ‘anti-terrorism law system’ that is deeply problematic from the perspective of international human rights norms and standards.” The system contains vague and open-ended concepts that give officials wide discretion to interpret and apply broad investigative, preventive and coercive powers, amid limited safeguards and little independent oversight, the report says. “This framework, which is vulnerable to discriminatory application, has in practice led to the large-scale arbitrary deprivation of liberty of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim communities in XUAR in so-called [vocational education and training centers] and other facilities, at least between 2017 and 2019,” it says. The OHCHR based its assessment in part on 40 in-depth interviews with individuals with direct and first-hand knowledge of the situation in Xinjiang, 26 of whom said they had been detained or had worked in various facilities across the region since 2016. In each case, OHCHR assessed the reliability and credibility of these persons, the report says. The report covers the period during which Chinese authorities arbitrarily detained up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in internment camps in Xinjiang, according to numerous investigative reports by rights groups, researchers, foreign media and think tanks.  The predominantly Muslim groups have also been subjected to torture, forced sterilizations and forced labor, as well as the eradication of their linguistic, cultural and religious traditions, in what the United States and several Western parliaments have called genocide and crimes against humanity. “Even if the [vocational education and training centers, or VETC] system has since been reduced in scope or wound up, as the government has claimed, the laws and policies that underpin it remain in place,” the report says. “There appears to be a parallel trend of an increased number and length of imprisonments occurring through criminal justice processes, suggesting that the focus of deprivation of liberty detentions has shifted towards imprisonment, on purported grounds of counter-terrorism and counter-‘extremism.’” The information available to OHCHR on implementation of the government’s stated drive against terrorism and ‘extremism’ in XUAR in the period 2017- 2019 and potentially thereafter, also raises concerns from the perspective of international criminal law, the report says.  “The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups, pursuant to law and policy, in context of restrictions and deprivation more generally of fundamental rights enjoyed individually and collectively, may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,” it states. OHCHR’s report makes 13 recommendations to the Chinese government, including promptly releasing those detained arbitrarily in VETCs, prisons or other detention facilities.  It also recommends that China release details about the location of Uyghurs in the XUAR who have been out of touch with relatives abroad, establish safe means of communication for them, and allow travel so families can be reunited. The report also recommends that China investigate allegations of human rights abuses in the VETCs, including allegations of torture, sexual violence, forced labor and deaths in custody. Quick response from China China’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. Office at Geneva was quick to dismiss Bachelet’s report. “This so-called ‘assessment’ runs counter to the mandate of the OHCHR, and ignores the human rights achievements made together by people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and the devastating damage caused by terrorism and extremism to the human rights of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang,” the mission said in a statement. “Based on the disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces and out of presumption of guilt, the so-called “assessment” distorts China’s laws and policies, wantonly smears and slanders China, and interferes in China’s internal affairs, which violates principles including dialogue and cooperation, and non-politicization in the field of human rights, and also undermines the credibility of the OHCHR,” the statement said. In response to the report’s release, Sophie Richardson, China director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said Bachelet’s “damning findings explain why the Chinese government fought tooth and nail to prevent the publication of her Xinjiang report, which lays bare China’s sweeping rights abuses.” “The United Nations Human Rights Council should use the report to initiate a comprehensive investigation into the Chinese government’s crimes against humanity targeting the Uyghurs and others – and hold those responsible to account,” she said in an emailed statement. Speaking in an interview with RFA Uyghur, Richardson said that Bachelet’s report is “not the report Xi Jinping wanted a month before the 20th Party Congress,” when the CCP leader will seek an unprecedented third term in office, following constitutional amendments in March 2018 removing presidential term limits. “But it’s the report that is essential, we think, to mobilizing international support for actual investigations and accountability,” she said. “This report obliges Human Rights Council member states, and indeed other states too, to urgently respond. This is a sober assessment of serious human rights violations committed by a powerful state and it is imperative that they respond to that the way they would to violations anywhere.” Adrian Zenz, a researcher at the Washington,…

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Myanmar junta forces said to have burned tens of thousands of homes

Editor09 mins

Myanmar’s military junta has burned nearly 30,000 homes across the country during the past 19 months following the coup that overthrew the elected government, according to data compiled by a domestic research group. In a report issued on Aug. 28, Data for Myanmar said soldiers had torched 28,434 houses since the ouster of the democratically elected government on Feb. 1, 2021, with 20,153 homes destroyed in Sagaing region alone. The Magway region has the second-largest number of destroyed houses at 5,418, followed by Chin state with 1,474 burned homes. Sagaing, Magway and Chin are hotbeds of civilian resistance to military rule by armed opposition People’s Defense Forces (PDF). Junta soldiers burned other homes and property in Kachin, Kayah and Mon regions, southern Shan state, and in Bago, Tanintharyi and Mandalay regions. U Aye, a resident of Magway’s Nga Ta Yaw village, told RFA that the military along with supporting Pyu Saw Htee militia groups, set fire to his village at least twice this month and that he suffered a personal loss of more than 100,000 kyats (U.S. $47) because his house, tractor, trailer and cow shed were damaged. “There are charity organizations helping us right now,” he said. “We are staying in the monastery. “We only have some food provided by the charity groups that come to the monastery,” he said. “We do not have any food or a place to live. That’s what is happening. We have a cow, and there’s no more food to feed him.” Soldiers burned Nga Ta Yaw village in Yesagyo township on Aug. 13-14, destroying about 830 houses, leaving only monasteries, a school and a dispensary standing, U Aye said. The arson followed a clash between the military and the local PDF outside the community. Similarly, Pan Ywar Village in Sagaing’s Pale township was set ablaze on Feb. 1, even though there were no armed clashes in the area. A village resident, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said the villagers now live in small huts where there used to be more than 150 large houses. “Let’s say we have now rebuilt the village, but we have these little huts with roofs made from palm leaves in place of the big houses,” she told RFA. “The villagers have returned since the army left. “Our Pan Ywar is on the crossroads between Myaing and Pale townships, so military columns come by often,” she added. Zaw Zaw, who is helping villagers displaced by armed conflict and arson in Sagaing region, told RFA that the parallel National Unity Government (NUG) has sent some assistance to area residents. Aid workers have collected bamboo and wood from a nearby forested area as an emergency measure for residents of Pale who lost their homes, while the NUG’s Humanitarian Affairs Ministry sent donations and emergency funds. In some areas of Sagaing, people who lost their homes to the arson have been living in forested areas since February. ‘War crime’ A legal analyst, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said the junta must try to minimize the harm to the rural population no matter how much it wants to suppress the armed resistance and that the burning of entire villages is a war crime. “They could have surrounded the entire village and blockaded each section and then searched the houses in each quarter or ward,” he said. “There’s no reason to shoot,” the attorney said. “There’s no reason for people to die. There’s no reason to destroy the lives of citizens. There are such options for them, and yet, they did all this just on account of suspicion, without having any factual information. By doing all this, we can say that they have committed a war crime.” Junta forces do not adhere to international law or the ethics of war, which clearly state that civilian property must not be encroached upon and that civilian targets should not be attacked, he said. Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun previously told RFA that it was not the military troops but the PDFs that were burning down villages. Noeleen Heyzer, the U.N.’s special envoy on Myanmar, told Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on Aug. 16 during a visit to the Southeast Asian nation to not burn down villages. The junta leader denied that his troops committed arson and said they were trying to protect civilians. Aung Myo Min, the NUG’s human rights minister, said that efforts must be made to prosecute soldiers who commit crimes against villagers. “We must not only investigate these crimes that are currently happening in the villages, but also take action against those who are burning tens of thousands of houses,” he said. “What we are seeing now are broken lives. We have a legal duty to prevent such things happening.” The NUG is documenting arson and other incidents committed by the military all over the country so that the perpetrators can be punished under the law, while remedial programs are carried out for those who have lost their homes, he said. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane for RFA Burmese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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Dissenting voices speak out against ongoing zero-COVID restrictions in China

Editor08 mins

Dissent against the Chinese government’s zero-COVID policy has been growing in recent days, with protests over restrictions in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing and calls from a Beijing-based think tank for changes to the policy of targeted lockdowns and ongoing compulsory mass testing. Hundreds of people came out in angry protest at a residential compound in Chongqing’s Shapingba district on Saturday night, with people complaining that the lockdown persisted despite not a single COVID-19 case having been found for 10 days straight. Local officials eventually lifted restrictions after hundreds of people gathered in Fangcao around roadblocks preventing traffic in and out of their area. Video footage posted to social media showed riot police deployed at the scene, with residents standing in the middle of the road arguing with police, while officials stood in a human chain to control them. “Lots of people are kicking up a fuss. the SWAT team is here,” one resident says on the video. “The government won’t ease the lockdown, which affects several thousand [households].” A local resident who gave only the surname Liu said nobody has tested positive in that community in 10 days, but thousands remain confined to their homes. “The residents met at the Fangcao traffic circle in Lianfang Street, demanding that they lift the restrictions,” Liu said. “The government has now agreed to the residents’ request and promised to lift restrictions.” But that wasn’t the end of the matter, she said, adding that she doesn’t live in the compound, but nearby. “There have been no positives in the whole street, but the lockdown has not been lifted and there has been no protest,” Liu said. The Chongqing Municipal Health Commission said on Monday that the city had added 10 new local confirmed cases and 18 local asymptomatic infections the day before, five of which were in Shapingba. A resident of Chongqing’s Gubei Shuicheng district who gave only the surname Dong said just one COVID-19 case will mean lockdown for an entire district. “Even if they just find one case, they will lock it down,” Dong said. “We were locked down here in Gubei Shuicheng 10 days ago for a week, and had to do PCR tests every day.”   Residents take to the streets demanding that authorities lift a lockdown in Chongqing, Aug. 27, 2022. Credit: Citizen journalist     Public transport suspended Meanwhile, authorities in the northern city of Shijiazhuang have stopped all public transportation links in and out of the city after a local COVID-19 outbreak of more than 25 asymptomatic cases, state media reported. Residents in four districts are required to work from home from 2:00 p.m. on Sunday to 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, the Global Times newspaper cited a government statement as saying. “During the same period, all places, excluding those necessary for city operation, market supply, public services, and disease prevention and control, are required to be shut down,” it said. It said the outbreak in Shijiazhuang, a city 180 miles (290 kilometers) from Beijing, had “increased the pressure on the capital.” A Hebei-based current affairs commentator surnamed Wang said the Shijiazhuang cases were likely brought in by passengers on trains leaving Tibet, where authorities have imposed draconian restrictions in the wake of an outbreak. “There was a train from Tibet that wasn’t allowed to enter Beijing, so all the passengers got out at Shijiazhuang,” Wang said. “The government is using a different control strategy now, which is not letting people into Beijing.” “This is because the [ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 20th National Congress] is coming up soon.” Restrictions reimposed In Shanghai, which underwent a citywide lockdown earlier this year, dozens of stores have shut down, and local restrictions have been reimposed in Xuhui, Yangpu and Pudong districts, a resident surnamed Feng. “There are only eight confirmed cases announced yesterday across Xuhui, Yangpu and Pudong, but they locked down as soon as they were found,” Feng said. “So many stores have shut down in Shanghai now — our local store … is shut; they’re all shut.” Beijing-based think tank Anbound recently issued a report calling on the government to prioritize economic recovery. It said the Omicron strain of COVID-19 was less pathogenic with a lower mortality rate that the Delta variant, citing the ending of all restrictions in most countries around the world, which are now enjoying modest growth. It warned that China’s economy had failed to bounce back when restrictions were eased earlier this year, with economic growth still weak, according to July’s figures. “If this situation continues, it will undoubtedly be very unfavorable for China’s economic stability,” the report warned. The report — titled “It’s Time for China to Adjust Its Virus Control and Prevention Policies” — said a stalled economy was likely a bigger threat to secure development than the pandemic. Analysts expect the zero-COVID policy to stay in place at least until the 20th party congress later this year, at which CCP leader Xi Jinping will seek an unprecedented third term in office. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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In Myanmar, Vietnamese firms learn the political risks of backing the junta

Editor013 mins

Vietnamese firms are confronting political risk from overseas investments as the price of doing business with Myanmar’s brutal military regime, a less predictable partner than the authoritarians they are accustomed to. Vietnam’s largest venture in Myanmar is by VietTel, Vietnam’s largest cellular provider. The military-owned company has a major stake in Myanmar’s MyTel, which is also military-owned and has been hemorrhaging customers since the Feb. 1, 2021, coup d’etat that ousted Myanmar’s elected government. In the past year-and-a-half, Vietnam has been one of the most consistent diplomatic supporters of the junta that seized power from the National League for Democracy-led administration. In part, this is simply one authoritarian state sticking up for another; each uses the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ policy of non-interference as a cloak to hide behind. Hanoi has worked within ASEAN to blunt criticism of Naypyidaw and has been critical of Malaysian-led attempts to disinvite the junta’s leadership from the bloc’s meetings. But Vietnam’s support for the junta is also rooted in its growing economic interests. While there’s little trade between the two countries, Myanmar has been an important destination for capital as Vietnamese firms have begun investing abroad, and, in particular, have sought a place in the 5G marketplace, especially in markets where there is residual fear of China’s communications giant Huawei. Post-coup exposure  Vietnam’s investments in Myanmar have gained less attention than the nation’s higher-profile push into the United States. In July, VinFast announced that it had secured U.S. $4 billion in funding for an electric vehicle plant in North Carolina. How that project pans out remains to be seen, but Vietnamese conglomerates are now getting their fingers burned after pursuing ventures closer to home. In Myanmar, where the ruling junta faces a popular resistance movement, the risk has been at all levels. In one instance, a division of a Vietnamese conglomerate THADICO, which has invested in Myanmar Plaza, the largest modern mall and office space in Yangon, ran afoul of the local population when the plaza’s security attacked civil disobedience protesters in November 2021. This led to a sustained boycott that hit the plaza’s 200 retail units hard, compelling the firm to publicly apologize. Since then, consumers have returned, albeit in lower numbers, also arguably due to Covid and an economic downturn. But Vietnam’s largest investment by far in Myanmar is in telecommunications. Mytel is a 2017 joint venture between VietTel, the military-owned Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), and a number of smaller investors. The venture has been in operation since June 2018. It’s one of VietTel’s 10 overseas joint ventures. VietTel with 49 percent is the largest shareholder, followed by 28 percent owned by Star High, a subsidiary of MEC, which reports directly to the military’s Quartermaster Office. That office is responsible for arming, equipping and feeding Myanmar’s military, as well as running its array of more than 100 firms. Mytel is a military-to-military investment. VietTel is wholly owned by the Vietnamese People’s Army, though managed by civilians, and it’s hard to overstate its power in Vietnam. Its CEO sits on the Communist Party’s elite Central Committee, the highest decision-making body in the country, while its former CEO is the minister of telecommunications. MEC is one of the two military-owned conglomerates that dominate the Myanmar economy. There are some reports that MEC and its subsidiaries now own 39 percent of MyTel. The daughter of coup leader Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing directed the firm Pinnacle Asia, which had the contract for building Mytel’s towers, until the firm was sanctioned and she was removed. A bomb blast topples a Mytel tower in Paletwa township in western Myanmar’s Chin state, in an undated photo. Credit: Citizen journalist Mytel claims to be the largest telecoms provider in the country with 32 percent of market share and with the largest network of towers, ground stations and fiber optic cable. It was the first provider of 5G internet. It claimed to have 10,000 subscribers by the end of 2020, earning roughly U.S. $25 million in quarterly profits. Their revenue was thought to have increased to U.S. $270 million in 2021, with the expansion of their 5G network, and increasing had the coup not occurred. But Mytel has incurred the wrath of the Myanmar public and armed opposition groups more than any other foreign investment. There has been a public boycott of the firm. In the first quarter of 2021, immediately following the coup, it lost 2 million subscribers and suffered estimated losses of U.S. $25 million. As a result of the coup, Coda, a Singapore-based payments firm, cut Mytel from its mobile payments platform in March 2021, another factor in the loss of subscribers. The red ink has not let up; Mytel has lost money for seven quarters in a row. VietTel has been coy regarding its Myanmar financials. And perhaps with good reason. Neither loss of subscribers nor decline in revenue has subsided. In the countryside, anti-junta militias take down Mytel towers, while switching stations are frequently bombed or set on fire. By the end of 2021, People’s Defense Force militias had claimed to destroy 359 Mytel towers. Indeed, in a one-month period, between Sept. 4 and Oct. 7, PDFs felled 120 Mytel towers, causing additional losses of 20 billion kyats (U.S. $10.3 million). Though that’s just a fraction of the firm’s 12,000 towers, it’s a clear sign of popular enmity toward them. PDFs publicly delight in the fact that the scrap metal from downed towers is melted down and used to produce mortars and grenade launchers. A tweet by Myanmar’s Chindwin News Agency But PDFs have gone after more than Mytel’s infrastructure. In November 2021, a Yangon urban guerrilla group assassinated Mytel’s chief financial officer, Thein Aung, within his gated community and critically wounded his wife. Previously, Thein Aung had been a senior executive with MEC. More executives are likely to be targeted.  In April 2021, two men threw a bomb into Mytel’s Bago office. In August 2022, gunmen opened fire on a Mytel office…

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Interview: Chip magnate Robert Tsao comes home to Taiwan to fight the communists

Editor08 mins

  The founder of a major Taiwanese chip-founder has reapplied for nationality of the democratic island after naturalizing as a citizen of Singapore, saying he wants to help in the fight against the military threat from Beijing. Billionaire Robert Tsao, who founded the United Microelectronics Corp (UMC), told that he has reapplied to hold the passport of the Republic of China, which has controlled Taiwan since it stopped being a Japanese dependency after World War II, saying he hopes everyone will defend the island against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Tsao, 75, joked that he could envision three ways in which he might die, but that he never wants to see Taiwan meet the same fate as Hong Kong, where the CCP has presided over a citywide crackdown on public dissent and political opposition under a draconian national security law, that has seen hundreds of thousands leave the city for good. “I will once more be a citizen of the Republic of China,” Tsao said. “I had to come back; if I’m telling everyone to oppose the CCP, I can hardly skulk overseas myself.” He added: “The people of Taiwan need a morale boost … so I gave up my Singaporean citizenship, and came back here to be with everyone.” Tsao, who was once worth U.S. $2.7 billion, and was among the top 50 richest people in Taiwan, said he has decided he wants to die on the island, which has never been ruled by the CCP, nor formed part of the People’s Republic of China. “The first way [I could die] is illness, which is beyond my control,” Tsao said. “The second is dying laughing while watching the fall of the CCP.” “The third also involves laughing, because I never lived to see Taiwan become another Hong Kong,” he said. “I decided I will die in Taiwan.”   Screen grab taken from video showing a mob of men in white T-shirts attacking pro-democracy protesters at Yuen Long subway station in Hong Kong, July 21, 2019. Credit: RFA     Position change Tsao was once seen as a pro-Beijing figure who once called for a referendum on whether people supported “peaceful unification” with China, although repeated public opinion polls show that Taiwan’s 23 million people have no wish to give up their sovereignty or democratic way of life. Tsao said his position changed radically after witnessing the July 21, 2019 attacks on protesters and passengers at Hong Kong Yuen Long MTR station by pro-CCP thugs in white T-shirts, while police stood by for 39 minutes and did nothing to stop the attackers, despite hundreds of calls for emergency assistance. Tsao had also watched in 2014 as the Occupy Central pro-democracy movement pushed back against Beijing’s ruling out of fully democratic elections, despite promises that the city would keep its traditional freedoms for at least 50 years after the 1997 handover. The 2019 protest movement, which began as a mass popular movement against plans to allow extradition to mainland China and broadened to include calls for full democracy and greater official accountability, also made a deep impression on Tsao. “On July 21, a group of underworld thugs started blatantly attacking ordinary citizens in Yuen Long,” Tsao said. “I said, no! I’m going to oppose the CCP. No going back. I will cut off all ties with Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.” Defense donation On Aug. 5, Tsao called a news conference in Taipei to call on everyone to unite against the “evil nature of the CCP,” and announced he would donate U.S. $100 million to the country’s ministry of defense to boost defenses against a possible Chinese invasion, and to “safeguard freedom, democracy and human rights.” His gesture came in the wake of days of Chinese war games in the air and waters surrounding Taiwan in the wake of the Aug. 2-3 visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which Beijing said was a “provocation.” He described the CCP as “a gang of outlaws,” and called on Taiwanese voters to boycott pro-unification candidates at forthcoming local elections. Tsao’s two sons hold Taiwan citizenship, and will complete their military training in the course of this year, he told journalists at the time. Tsao said Pelosi’s visit demonstrated that Taiwan doesn’t belong to the People’s Republic of China, and that Beijing’s criticisms showed its “cognitive confusion.” Tsao said the presence of the U.S. 7th Fleet near Taiwan during the Korean War (1950-1953) showed the U.S. was a reliable ally that could be trusted to help defend the island in the event of an invasion by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). He said democratic systems need to be constantly maintained and improved, if they are to flourish and bear fruit. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. This story has been updated to correct the name of Robert Tsao.

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UN official says Cambodia faces ‘severe’ human rights issues

Editor07 mins

Cambodia’s government should remove restrictions on political participation and introduce other democratic reforms to address “severe human rights challenges,” a U.N. rights monitor said Friday, following his first official visit to the country. Vitit Muntarbhorn, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Cambodia, credited Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government for having ratified several human rights treaties in a statement at the end of his 11-day trip, but slammed what he said were moves by Phnom Penh to create a political atmosphere of de facto one-party rule in the Southeast Asian nation. “Cambodia is faced with a pervasive paradox. Since 2017, when the main opposition party was disbanded unjustly by judicial order, the country has effectively been under single-party rule, with all seats of the National Assembly in the hands of that monopoly,” Muntarbhorn said, referring to the Supreme Court’s decision in that year to dissolve the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Muntarbhorn visited with key government officials and met striking workers, residents displaced by development, and opposition party members who face legal trouble or have been harassed by supporters of the ruling party, the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). He also discussed human trafficking with local leaders in Sihanoukville, a coastal city that has become a gambling haven backed by Chinese investors.  “I am pleased to have met with and learned from all those who generously shared their time, thoughts and experiences with me with characteristic Cambodian warmth. This is a country with a bright future, but it faces a number of severe human rights challenges in the lead up to next year’s general election,” he said. Muntarbhorn called on the Cambodian government to adopt his plan “expeditiously and effectively.” It calls for opening up “civic and political space, by suspending and reforming draconian laws, ensuring election-related personnel are separated from political parties and ending prosecution of political opposition and human rights defenders,” a U.N. news release states. The rapporteur also recommended “releasing all those currently in prison and dropping charges against those who are seen as adversaries by the authorities and improving the quality of law enforcers by proper selection and incentivisation and distance from political authority.” Kata Orn,  spokesman for the government-aligned Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC), noted in an interview with RFA’s Khmer Service that the special rapporteur did not specifically condemn the Cambodian government. “He was concerned, but he didn’t accuse the government of violating human rights,” Kata Orn said. “The government welcomes any recommendations not from the special rapporteurs but from others to review those recommendations to see if they are politically motivated or untrue recommendations. We will accept constructive feedback to improve the government’s loopholes to make sure we are implementing the law and human rights better,’ he said. The special rapporteur’s recommendations on elections are welcomed, but are beyond the scope of the country’s official election monitoring body, Hang Puthea, a spokesman for the National Election Committee (NEC), told RFA.  “We will consider any good recommendations. We are working to improve our shortcomings for the sake of the country and people,’ he said.  After the dissolution of the CNRP in 2017, three members of the opposition quit their positions on the NEC, leaving the organization controlled by members of the ruling party, the Cambodian People’s Party. In a screengrab from a public Zoom video call on Aug. 1, 2022, Migrant Care activist Anis Hidayah [right] shows images of injured and shackled workers who were among Indonesian employees allegedly abused and held against their will after being trafficked to Cambodia to work as cyber scammers. Credit: BenarNews The special rapporteur’s visit also focused on human trafficking, which Muntarbhorn said had “mutated” in the era of cybercrimes. “It’s a different sort of human trafficking and human forced labor too sometimes, some of us say slavery even,” he said. “This situation is pervasive and it’s both local and cross frontier and is rendered more complicated by cyberspace, which is borderless.” Muntarbhorn said Cambodia has become a destination country for human trafficking, and should cooperate with its neighbors to address the problem.   “So on that basis, prevention is better than cure, meaning that we need cooperation between this country and all the various countries, big and small, in the Asian region,” he said.  Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. 

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Junta arrests former UK ambassador to Myanmar on immigration charges

Editor07 mins

Junta authorities have arrested former U.K. Ambassador to Myanmar Vicky Bowman and her husband, a Burmese former political prisoner, for allegedly violating the country’s immigration laws, according to the military regime and a source with close ties to the couple. Bowman, who served as the U.K.’s top diplomat to Myanmar for four years ending in 2006, and her husband, artist Htein Lin, were taken into custody from their home in Yangon’s Dagon township at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday and initially held at an area police station, a person close to their family told RFA Burmese. The pair were transferred to Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison on Thursday afternoon and will be held there pending a court hearing scheduled for Sept. 6, the family friend said, speaking on condition of anonymity. According to a statement by the junta, Bowman had obtained a residence permit to stay in Yangon, where she runs the nonprofit organization Myanmar Center for Responsible Business, but relocated to her husband’s home in Shan state’s Kalaw township between May 4, 2021, and Aug. 9, 2022, without informing authorities of her change in address. Htein Lin abetted her by failing to report the move, the statement said. They face up to five years in prison. The source close to Bowman’s family told RFA that she and her husband had “not violated any laws,” as alleged by authorities. The arrests came as the U.K. announced new sanctions against “military-linked companies” that it said was part of a bid to “target the military’s access to arms and revenue” amid a crackdown by the junta on opponents to its rule. The British Embassy in Myanmar confirmed the arrests to RFA by email and said it is providing the pair with consular assistance. Calls for release Rights groups on Thursday called on the junta to drop the charges against Bowman and Htein Lin, a former activist with the All Burma Students Democratic Front who spent more than six years in prison between 1998 and 2004 for speaking out against military rule. Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for New York-based Human Rights Watch, slammed the decision to arrest the couple as an “absurd, ridiculous & vengeful action” in a post to his Twitter account and called for their immediate and unconditional release. “[Junta chief] Gen. Min Aung Hlaing & #Tatmadaw just making things up to strike back at critics any way they can,” Robertson wrote. The arrests also drew condemnation in a statement from PEN America, an NGO that campaigns for writers’ freedom of expression. “The arbitrary and sudden arrests of Vicky Bowman and Htein Lin are yet more examples of the sweeping and abusive power that the military junta has wielded since its violent and illegal seizure of power in February 2021,” said Julie Trébault, director of the Artists at Risk Connection at PEN America. “We are deeply concerned for the safety of Vicky Bowman and Htein Lin and call for their immediate release.” ‘Revenge’ arrests Friends of Bowman and Htein Lin told RFA they believe the junta had fabricated charges against the couple as a form of “revenge” for Htein Lin’s activism and the fresh U.K. sanctions. Artist Zaw Gyi said Bowman was within her rights to stay at her husband’s home, which should be seen as part of the couple’s collective assets. “This is just an example of trying to find fault to cause a problem,” he said. “How could Htein Lin stay out of this when his wife is being arrested?”  Writer Wai Hmuu Thwin called the arrests “a case of tit for tat by the junta.” “[In other countries] if you enter through immigration legally, there are no problems, regardless of where you stay,” he said. “I see this as a form of revenge because the British government announced sanctions … recently. Since Vicky Bowman was a former British ambassador, she and her husband got caught in the middle.” Authorities in Myanmar have killed nearly 2,250 civilians and arrested more than 15,200 others since the Feb. 1, 2021, coup, mostly during peaceful anti-junta protests, according to Thailand’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Bank shake-up seen as bid by junta to control Myanmar’s financial sector: experts

Editor08 mins

A junta shake-up of Myanmar’s Central Bank leadership announced last week is part of a bid by the military regime to assume control of the country’s financial sector and extend its grip on power, experts warned Wednesday. On Aug. 19, the junta issued a statement saying that it had replaced Central Bank Chairman Than Nyein and Vice Chairman Win Thaw with Central Bank Vice Chairman Than Than Swe and Director General of the junta Defense Ministry’s Accounts Office Maj. Gen. Zaw Myint Naing, respectively. The announcement of the reshuffle comes two months after the junta appointed six lieutenant colonels to the Central Bank as deputy directors and ensures that all key positions at the financial institution are held by either military generals or those close to the regime. A Myanmar-based economist, who did not want to be identified for security reasons, told RFA Burmese that the shake-up is part of a bid by the junta to gain control of the country’s economy. “[Than Than Swe] who became the chairman is quite strong, but as far as we know, there aren’t many people who will support her,” the economist said. Than Than Swe, widely seen as pro-military, was the target of an unsuccessful assassination attempt in April, when unknown assailants shot her at her apartment complex in Yangon amid a public outcry over a new Central Bank directive ordering the sale of all U.S. dollars and other foreign currency at a fixed rate to licensed banks. The 55-year-old was sworn in as deputy governor of the Central Bank after the military seized power from Myanmar’s democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup. Believed to be the most senior junta official to be shot since the takeover, she is known to have led efforts to reduce the cash flow in the banking and financial system under the NLD, according to a report by The Irrawaddy online news agency. An official with a private domestic bank in Myanmar told RFA on condition of anonymity that the replacements announced last week and appointment of six military officers to deputy director positions in June indicate that the junta is working to assume total control of the country’s Central Bank. “It’s a matter of placing your own people [in key positions] to extend your power … because the flow of money is the most important thing in the world, regardless of whether it’s for good or bad,” the official said. “They must assume that they will learn more about the accounts of the people, including local businessmen, by controlling a key body such as the Central Bank.” The bank official said it is too early to say whether the appointments will have a beneficial impact on Myanmar’s economy, which has been devastated by political instability in the wake of the coup, prompting businesses to fold and foreign investors to flee. Poorly planned policies Public trust in Myanmar’s banks has eroded since the military takeover, as indicated by a growing number of savings withdrawals, while global trade has been reduced to a trickle amid various Central Bank restrictions placed on the U.S. dollar, sources told RFA. A Mandalay-based trader, who also declined to be named, told RFA that importing and exporting goods had become nearly impossible due to the Central Bank’s constant shifting of policies. “I’m so tired of making adjustments in accordance with the bank’s directives. It’s not easy. I follow their instructions, but it is extremely inconvenient,” he said. “When you have to operate your businesses according to endlessly changing monetary policies, you will suffer losses due to fluctuations in rates, and this is what has happened to us.” The attack on Than Than Swe came days after an unpopular April 3 Central Bank directive ordering all foreign currency, including the U.S. dollar, to be resold within one day of entering the country to licensed banks at a fixed rate of 1,850 kyats to the dollar. Earlier this month, the rate was raised to 2,100 kyats, while the current market price is nearly 3,000 kyats. According to government records, there have been a total of 2,525 employees — including 494 officers — at the Central Bank since 2012, working in seven key departments. People with knowledge of bank operations say many of the employees are former military officials who were transferred to their current positions. On the day of last year’s coup, the military removed NLD-appointee Kyaw Kyaw Maung from his position as Central Bank chairman and arrested bank Vice Chairman Bobo Nge – also an NLD supporter. In their places, the junta reappointed Chairman Than Nyein, who had served in the role under successive junta regimes, and promoted Than Than Swe and Win Thaw, then directors-general at the bank, to vice chairman positions. The changes announced last week follow nearly 17 months of policies widely seen as poorly planned and damaging to the country’s economy. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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UN faces heat over envoy’s trip to Myanmar

Editor010 mins

Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and more than 850 civil society groups called on the United Nations to remove its appointed envoy to the country after her visit last week and demonstrate a “serious commitment” to resolving the nation’s worsening humanitarian crisis. U.N. Special Envoy on Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer traveled to Myanmar from Aug. 17-18 and met with junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyidaw. She urged him to end violence against the country’s civilian population, stop imposing the death sentence and release the country’s political prisoners, according to a statement from the U.N. But opponents of the regime expressed doubt that the visit would change conditions in Myanmar and warned that it risked giving legitimacy to the regime, which ousted the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup. On Tuesday, Kyaw Zaw, the spokesperson for the office of NUG President Duwa Lashi La, told RFA Burmese that the U.N. should have presented the junta with a list of consequences if it fails to implement Heyzer’s demands. “[Her demands were] nothing unusual, but she should have told [Min Aung Hlaing] what kind of action would be taken or what was planned if he didn’t comply,” he said. “Only then would it be viewed as a meaningful meeting.” Junta troops resumed setting fire to homes and carrying out various human rights violations — including conducting airstrikes and shelling attacks on civilian targets — immediately after Heyzer’s visit, Kyaw Zaw noted. He called for “immediate and effective action” in response. Kyaw Zaw’s comments came a day after 864 civil society groups issued a joint statement urging the U.N. General Assembly to remove Heyzer ahead of its session next month. “We … call on the U.N. General Assembly to withdraw the mandate of the special envoy on Myanmar,” said the statement, the signatories of which included hundreds of pro-democracy organizations both inside the country and abroad. “We also call on the U.N. Secretary-General [António Guterres] to show his serious commitment to resolving the devastating human rights and humanitarian crises in Myanmar by assuming a personal role on Myanmar and taking decisive action.” The civil society groups called Heyzer’s visit the “latest evidence of the historical ineffectualness of the mandate over a decades-long approach that has continually failed” and demanded that the U.N. “immediately end its business-as-usual approach” toward Myanmar. “The long history of the U.N.’s attempts at peace-brokering with Myanmar’s military through special envoys has never catalyzed into meaningful results, but has instead lent legitimacy to perpetrators of international atrocity crimes — and has permitted worsening human rights and humanitarian crises,” the statement said. The groups urged the U.N. to transfer the issue of Myanmar from the Security Council to the International Criminal Court and called for the formation of a special tribunal to carry out an investigation of the situation in the country. This handout from Myanmar’s military information team taken and released on Aug. 17, 2022 shows Myanmar’s armed forces chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing [right] meeting with United Nations Special Envoy on Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer [left] in Naypyidaw. Credit: Myanmar’s Military Information Team/AFP ‘Additional action’ needed In a statement issued after her trip to Myanmar, Heyzer detailed the demands she made during her talks with Min Aung Hlaing and dismissed claims that her trip would lend legitimacy to the junta. The junta called Heyzer’s statement “one-sided” for having failed to include Min Aung Hlaing’s comments during their discussion. Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thaningha Strategic Studies Institute, a Myanmar think tank composed of former military officers, called the U.N.’s demands of the junta “unacceptable.” “[The U.N.] may have hopes for some progress — a discussion has been held — but the U.N. was not very positive, and the way the U.N. approached the talks was not very acceptable to the junta,” he said. “We will have to wait and see if there will be further discussions. Political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe said the U.N. should take more effective measures if the military regime continues to ignore the demands of the international community. “The U.N. Security Council should take additional action, especially through punitive measures, if the junta fails to [comply],” he said. Sai Kyi Zin Soe also proposed that Heyzer engage with the NUG government to apply additional pressure on the military regime. ASEAN efforts The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member state, has also repeatedly tried and failed to bring the junta to heel since last year’s coup. At an emergency meeting on the situation in Myanmar convened by ASEAN in April 2021, Min Aung Hlaing agreed to implement the conditions of the so-called “Five-Point Consensus (5PC),” which calls for an end to violence in the country, constructive dialogue among all parties, and the mediation of such talks by a special ASEAN envoy. The 5PC also calls for the provision of ASEAN-coordinated humanitarian assistance and a visit to Myanmar by an ASEAN delegation to meet with all parties. Even Min Aung Hlaing acknowledged that the junta had failed to hold up its end of the bargain on the consensus in a televised speech earlier this month, which he blamed on the coronavirus pandemic and “political instability.” He promised to implement “what we can” from the 5PC this year, provided it does not “jeopardize the country’s sovereignty.” At ASEAN’s 55th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Phnom Penh from July 31 to Aug. 6, most member states criticized the junta for failing to adhere to the 5PC and for its July 25 execution of four democracy activists, including former student leader Ko Jimmy and a former NLD lawmaker. However, the country’s opposition groups have criticized the bloc for what they say is its failure to adopt stronger measures in its dealing with the junta. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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