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Category: World

Vietnam arrests 3 disgraced Communist Party officials for corruption

Editor09 mins

Vietnamese authorities on Tuesday arrested three disgraced former Communist Party officials for a kick-back scheme involving COVID test kits, as part of an anti-graft campaign some observers think has been too slow to punish high-level government offenders. Police at the Ministry of Public Security arrested former Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, former Hanoi Mayor Chu Ngoc Anh and former Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Cong Tac, all of whom were expelled from the Communist Party and removed from their positions Monday. The three were implicated in a U.S. $172 million scandal in which the Viet A Technologies Company bribed officials to get its test kits made and distributed nationwide at inflated prices. They are the latest casualties of the one-party state’s years-long crackdown on corruption, referred to as “furnace burning” by its architect, Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong. The crackdown, intended to restore public confidence in the Communist Party, has seen several high-profile arrests of government and private sector officials over the past few months. But it has drawn mixed reviews among observers of the government. Le Hoa, a lawyer based in Hanoi, praised the effort in an interview with RFA’s Vietnamese Service. “This is a very positive signal giving ordinary people more faith in the Communist Party of Vietnam’s fight against corruption,” he said. “The fight, led by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, is on the right track and is bearing fruit. Those are my thoughts, and I believe many others would have the same view.” Hoa said that he hoped authorities don’t declare this the end of the Viet A scandal. He said that if police investigate further and bring in even higher ranking party officials, it would show that the party is serious about its tough stance on corruption. Throwing mud in a pond Justice is happening too slowly, Pham Dinh Long, a former officer in Vietnam’s military who cancelled his membership in the Communist Party in 2009, told RFA via text message. “If the law is really strict and transparent and for the sake of justice, they should have been arrested right at the beginning of the Viet A scandal,” said Long, who lives in the central highland province of Lam Dong. “It’s not only too late, but it is a disregard for justice that these two ringleaders weren’t arrested until this stage,” he said. Nguyen Thong, a blogger, wrote on his Facebook account that it had taken too long for Vietnam to discipline Long and Anh. He said that a democratic regime that respects for the rule of law would have been quicker to act and that the furnace burning campaign was largely a public relations effort to boost confidence in government and downplayed the campaign’s effectiveness. “Some praise this anti-corruption furnace, but I despise it. It can’t undo the rottening nature of this country’s system,” he said. “Arresting a thousand guys then replacing them with a thousand of the same kind of guys is just throwing stones, throwing mud to the pond.” A Hanoi lawyer, who spoke with RFA under condition of annonymity for security reasons, wondered whether the replacements to the three arrested officials would be any better. The lawyer also noted that party leaders, including Nguyen Phu Trong, supported the re-election of Long and Anh to the Central Committee at last year’s 13th Party Congress. More arrests to come? Uncovering corruption can be a tool for those hoping to discredit political rivals, but Vo Van Tao, a journalist from the coastal city of Nha Trang, told RFA that he doubted the arrests were political infighting. He expects further arrests. “There are a lot of rumors on social media, saying that [Long and Anh] might not be the last catch. Perhaps even higher ranking leaders [could be arrested],” he said. Vietnam’s agreements to buy Chinese vaccines at a higher price than Pfizer’s during the height of the pandemic last September looked suspicious, he said. “As you may recall, the first batch consisted of 20 million doses of Pfizer vaccine and each dose cost 127,000 dong [U.S. $5.50]. However, just more than 10 days later, the prime minister agreed to the Ministry of Health’s proposal to import 20 million doses of Chinese Verocell vaccine and the price for each dose was 160,000 dong (around $7). I think something’s abnormal here.” Hospital official implicated As part of the same scandal, police in the northwestern province of Son La arrested Lo Van Chien, the head of the Son La General Hospital’s Pharmaceutical Department, for accepting bribes from the Viet A Technologies Company, state media reported. According to the police investigation, Chien received kickbacks from Viet A when the hospital signed contracts worth 1.05 billion dong (about $45,000) to buy COVID-19 test kits. Son La General bought each test kit for between 185,000 and 200,000 dong (around $8-9), considerably higher than similar test kits sold for about 140,000 dong ($6) to hospitals and medical facilities in other provinces and Ho Chi Minh City. The State Audit of Vietnam recently announced that among the 32 provinces and cities it audited, 30 had purchased Viet A’s test kits. Vietnam has 63 provinces and centrally administered cities. The 30 audited provinces and cities that bought Viet A test kits spent well over 2.1 trillion dong ($91.3 million) in total. In early January this year, Lt. Gen. To An Xo, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security, said that Viet A Director Phan Quoc Viet had admitted to inflating the price of a COVID-19 test kit by 45% and sending almost 800 billion dong ($35.2 million) in kickbacks to the company’s partners. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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Nearly 600 properties seized by junta over alleged ties to armed resistance

Editor08 mins

Myanmar’s junta has confiscated nearly 600 homes and other buildings owned by people it claims are members or supporters of the armed resistance, according to a report by independent research group the Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP Myanmar). The report found that, between the military’s Feb. 1, 2021, coup and May 20 this year, authorities seized 586 properties, mostly from people who have alleged ties to the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Committee of Representatives (CRPH), and anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary group — all of which the regime considers “terrorist organizations.” Several other confiscated properties belonged to people the military regime said had a role in bombings of junta targets, anti-coup protests, and the nationwide anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). Among the seizures were the homes of NUG acting President Duwa Lashi La and Prime Minister Mahn Winn Khaing Thann, the report said. The largest number of properties, 159, were confiscated from owners in embattled Sagaing region, where the military has faced some of the strongest resistance to date. Myint Htwe, a former lawmaker for the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) party representing Ye-U township in the Sagaing Regional Parliament, called the military’s seizures “arbitrary” and illegal. “These confiscations are entirely arbitrary, according to the law,” the former MP, whose home was among those confiscated, told RFA’s Burmese Service. “The junta is a terrorist organization that has violated all the ethics of how soldiers should act and how civilians should be treated. I know they will never abide by the laws, and I don’t expect anything different.” According to ISP Myanmar’s findings, 373 properties, or nearly two-thirds of those seized, belonged to civilians. Another 147 properties belonged to lawmakers, while 66 were owned by the NLD or its members. Kyaw Htet Aung, senior researcher at ISP Myanmar, said the confiscations had taken an emotional, social and economic toll on the victims. “Especially, the family members and victims of home confiscations have had their lives disrupted and ruined,” he said. “When someone loses their home, they can live with relatives or shelter at a camp for internally displaced people,” he added. “But often it becomes difficult to maintain one’s regular social, economic, educational and medical activities after a home is lost. Owning a home is central part of one’s life.” Attempts by RFA to contact junta deputy information minister, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, for comment on the confiscations went unanswered Wednesday. A photo shows the exterior of the home of Moe Ma Kha, a former NLD lawmaker for the Bago Regional Parliament, which was sealed off by junta authorities in Taungoo city on Feb. 12, 2022. Credit: Citizen journalist Targeting the NLD NLD Central Committee member Kyaw Htwe said the junta is illegally targeting members of his party. “The military regime is jealous of the NLD party for achieving landslide victories in every free and fair election. They know they cannot achieve a monopoly on power while the NLD is around, and that’s why they are targeting the party,” he said. “They destroyed the party headquarters, sealed party member’s homes, and arrested the party members. They even arrest and intimidate the family members of NLD members and supporters. They are taking away the rights of the people.” The junta says voter fraud led to the NLD’s landslide victory in the country’s November 2020 election but has yet to provide evidence for its claims. It has instead violently suppressed nationwide protests calling for a return to civilian rule, killing 1,909 people and arresting 14,046 in the 16 months since, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Most detainees from the NLD were charged for alleged crimes that carry heavy sentences, including rebellion, corruption, unlawful association and incitement. The NLD said in January that more than three-quarters of its members arrested by the junta remained in detention more than 11 months after the military seized power. Since the Feb. 1 coup, junta security forces have arrested hundreds of NLD members, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi and former President Win Myint. Political Analyst Than Soe Naing said the junta is using every means at its disposal to crush the resistance movement and drive away its supporters. “They intend to make NLD supporters and proponents of the NUG suffer and become homeless,” he said. “There are no laws or constitutional provisions that support such actions. The junta is now using unprecedented and inhumane tactics to suppress the resistance and its supporters.” Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Filipino fishermen, boat owner ‘compensated’ for South China Sea ramming incident

Editor05 mins

Filipino fishermen whose boat sank in 2019 after a Chinese trawler rammed into it in disputed South China Sea waters have received six million Philippine pesos (U.S $113,421) in compensation, the Department of Justice said Wednesday. However, a fishers’ association criticized the settlement for the 22 fishermen and the owner as too little and coming too late. Justice Undersecretary Adrian Sugay told reporters that the owner of the F/B Gem-Ver 1 boat and the fishermen had received the compensation on May 16, with officials adding that the settlement amount was half of what the victims sought. “Full compensation has already been made in favor of the vessel owner and the fishermen,” Sugay said in his message. The original amount demanded by the fishermen represented repair costs, other damages, and income lost due to the incident. Fernando Hicap, head of Pamalakaya, a fisherman’s group, called the compensation to the 22 fishermen and the owner of the boat that sank “long overdue and insufficient.” “The 22 victimized fishermen have been enduring the loss of their traditional livelihood after the tragic incident in Recto Bank. It took three years before they were improperly compensated.” Hicap told BenarNews. “Our demand is that the compensation should cover not only the cost of the fishing vessel and their supposed income on the night of the incident, but also the aftermath wherein their livelihood activities have not returned to normal.” Hicap also demanded an “immediate end to Chinese aggression” in the sea region. “The government should give full justice to all the Filipino fisherfolk who are victims of Chinese harassment and hostility in our territorial waters,” he said. The incident occurred on June 9, 2019 in an area within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). After their boat sank, the 22 Filipino fishermen were left floating at sea until a Vietnamese boat rescued them. On June 15, the Chinese embassy in Manila confirmed that a Chinese trawler, Yuemaobinyu 42212, “bumped into” the Filipino fishing boat, but denied that it was a “hit and run” incident, as Philippine officials claimed. The incident came mid-way into the term of President Rodrigo Duterte, who had taken steps to appease Chinese leader Xi Jinping, whose government has ignored a 2016 international arbitral verdict on the South China Sea that ruled against Beijing in favor of Manila. At the time, Duterte played down the incident as a “little maritime accident” that should not get in the way of friendly bilateral relations. China and five other governments – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam – have territorial claims in the disputed waterway. While Indonesia does not regard itself as a party to the South China Sea dispute, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of the sea overlapping Indonesia’s EEZ. Duterte’s friendly policy towards Beijing is expected to be tested when President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumes office at the end of June. Two weeks ago, Marcos said he would implement the arbitral ruling and assert the Philippines’ territorial rights in the sea region. “Our sovereignty is sacred and we will not compromise it in any way,” he said. “We are a sovereign nation with a functioning government, so we do not need to be told by anyone how to run our country.” BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.

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Lao police seize major haul of drugs, arrest 2

Editor05 mins

Police in northern Laos have seized 12 million methamphetamine pills and arrested two suspects in the fourth major drug haul in the region this year, Lao sources say. The June 4 operation in Bokeo province’s Huayxi district blocked delivery of the drugs to the Lao capital Vientiane, with police also seizing guns and cell phones from the suspects, police sources told RFA on Tuesday. Arrested were a member of the Lao Hmong ethnic group, age 30 and a resident of Bokeo, and a 29-year-old Lao resident of the northern province of Luang Namtha, one source told RFA, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. Both are citizens of Laos and told police they had been hired by a dealer in Bokeo’s Tonpheung district to move the drugs for around $70,000 U.S. dollars in cash, RFA’s source said. “Everything is now being handled by officials, and we are carrying out an investigation to find out where these drugs came from. Nothing is clear at the moment,” he said. Also declining to be named, a second police official in Bokeo said the suspects’ attempt to take the drugs to Vientiane in pickup trucks had failed because of the many police checkpoints set up along the road. “Most of the drugs we seize come from the northern part of Laos, but we can’t say for sure yet whether these drugs also came from the north. This is still under investigation,” he said. “The suspects are Lao citizens and will be punished according to the law.” Methamphetamine pills seized in Bokeo province in northern Laos are shown in a June 4, 2022 photo. Photo: Lao Security News A villager in Bokeo’s Tonpheung district told RFA on Tuesday that police have been unable to end the drug trade in the area, where many young people become addicted and then turn to selling drugs themselves, he said. “If the police let things go on like this, our own children and grandchildren will also become bad people someday. I want the authorities to crack down on this problem,” he said. Police involvement with drugs has also slowed efforts to control the trade, another Tonpheung villager said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “If the police were really serious about solving this problem, all of it would be gone,” he said. “The problem still exists because sometimes the police will get drugs from the dealers and then sell them themselves.” The June 4 seizure of drugs in Bokeo was the fourth major haul reported in the province this year, with large quantities of amphetamine pills also seized in January and March, according to Lao media sources. On May 30, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that the trade in synthetic drugs continues to expand in East and Southeast Asia, “with production and trafficking hitting record levels in 2021.” Drug labs in the Golden Triangle area of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar are the major sources of production, “and the supply continues to surge,” the UNODC said. Translated by Phouvong for RFA’s Lao Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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Shanghai, Beijing residents give lie to claims that COVID-19 lockdowns have eased

Editor06 mins

Despite the government’s claims that a two-month lockdown in Shanghai has been relaxed, residents of some districts of the city said they have yet to regain their freedom, amid ongoing shortages of food and other daily necessities. A resident of Shanghai’s Jing’an district surnamed Feng said some residential areas of her district, as well as some of Xuhui and Huangpu districts, remain under “closed-loop” management, while the lockdown in Yangpu district has yet to ease at all. “We are still locked down due to the pandemic,” Feng said. “Anywhere that somebody tests positive is still being locked down.” “The lockdown never ended in Yangpu district, where they were still installing barriers on May 29,” she said. Shanghai resident Wang Ning many factories are now unable to operate due to shortages of supplies and road closures, while many restaurants are still only offering takeout. “Some people are back at work one day, then take three days off,” Wang said. “We are doing PCR tests nearly every day.” “There are rumors that there will be another lockdown from June 20, so we laid in a lot of supplies yesterday, so as to be prepared if that happens,” Wang said. A worker padlocks fencing securing a residential area under Covid-19 lockdown in the Xuhui district of Shanghai on June 8, 2022. Credit: AFP PCR tests But any trip outside one’s home, even in districts where this is now allowed, must be preceded by hours of lining up to get a PCR test, Wang said. “There are PCR testing booths at the entrance of our community, saying that we need to show a negative test from the past 48 hours to leave,” Wang said. “I did one last night, so I can go run a few errands today.” A resident surnamed Ma said that standing in line for PCR tests is the bane of people’s existence now in Shanghai. “It’s a constant sword hanging over people’s heads … because you can’t go anywhere without a negative PCR test from the past 48 or 72 hours,” she said. “The fact that the results don’t usually come out till the next day is very troublesome for people, and creates anxiety,” Ma said. “We are constantly lining up to do PCR tests,” she said. “Anyone who tests positive will be put in isolation or lockdown at home.” “All of this is a disaster for ordinary people … these tests cost 20 yuan a time, and they have to do one every couple of days, so how will they afford it?” Residents line up for COVID-19 tests outside the Sihang Warehouse War Memorial Hall in Shanghai, June 7, 2022. Credit: Reuter Limits in Beijing A Shanghai resident surnamed Chang said the city isn’t back to normal yet. “You can only say that the lockdown has been partially lifted,” Chang said. “Some places haven’t gotten back to normal yet.” While authorities in Beijing also announced the easing of weeks of restrictions in the early hours of Tuesday, public transportation in the city remains suspended, and people are being told to work from home. A resident of Beijing’s Fangshan district surnamed Guo said people without private cars can’t easily get around. “We can only walk around the Fangshan area, as we don’t have a car,” Guo said. “There are parts of the subway where the trains aren’t stopping, and Fengtai district is still under lockdown.” Guo said people are being asked to pay high fees for documentation allowing them to leave their residential compounds. “It costs 240 yuan to get an exit pass in our compound now,” she said. A man surnamed Guo from Haidian district said parts of the district remain under tight restrictions, with several PCR tests required from residents ever week. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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China navy facility in Cambodia raises eyebrows in Vietnam and beyond

Editor011 mins

Latest developments at the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia, where China is building a facility that its military can use, have raised quiet concerns in neighboring Vietnam, where military strategists have been closely following events across the border. Diplomatic sources say the base and China’s involvement in strategic projects in Cambodia are likely to be on the agenda of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s meetings when she visits Vietnam at the weekend. Sherman is scheduled to visit Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi from June 10-13 and meet with Vietnamese officials including Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and Vice Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc. The U.S. deputy secretary is not meeting Vietnamese defense officials because of conflicting schedules but on a similar trip in 2014 Sherman met with then Lt. General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Vice-Minister of National Defense and Vietnam’s chief strategist on Cambodia.  She was Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs at that time. Cambodian Navy personnel are seen walking along a jetty during a government-organized media tour to the Ream naval base in Preah Sihanouk province, July 26, 2019. Credit: AFP Historical ties Vietnam is not only a neighbor but also Cambodia’s historical “brother from Indochina” and traditional ally. The current government in Phnom Penh was installed in power by Hanoi after Vietnamese troops defeated the Khmer Rouge in 1979. Prime Minister Hun Sen, a fluent Vietnamese speaker, used to be called by critics a “Vietnam’s puppet” at the beginning of his political career. The news about the Chinese-assisted development project, under which China will help Cambodia to renovate and upgrade naval facilities at Ream, reveals how much leverage Vietnam has lost in Cambodia in recent years.  “Vietnam is of course worried because Ream is extremely close to Vietnam’s own naval base in Phu Quoc island,” said a Vietnamese analyst who doesn’t want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. The Ream Naval Base is situated in Preah Sihanouk province in southwest Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand, less than 30 km (18 miles) from Phu Quoc, known as Koh Tral in Khmer. It was the Vietnamese Navy who in January 1979 seized the base from Pol Pot troops and transferred it from the Khmer Rouge regime to the new Cambodian government. But the Vietnamese Navy was invited to visit the Ream Naval Base only a couple times and recently the “Joint Vietnamese Friendship” building, a facility built by the Vietnamese, was relocated from the base, reportedly to avoid conflicts with Chinese personnel. “There is also a sense of great disappointment,” said the Vietnamese analyst. “However I don’t think the Chinese involvement here is targeting Vietnam but more for the Cambodian government to give a message of defiance and a warning signal to the U.S.,” he added. In July 1982, Hanoi and Phnom Penh signed an agreement on “historical waters” between the two countries to define the sea border and the legal sovereignty of the islands in the Gulf of Thailand, in order to minimize misunderstanding and prevent potential conflicts. Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen (C) cuts a ceremonial ribbon as Chinese ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian (3rd R) looks on during the opening ceremony of the Morodok Techo National Stadium, funded by China’s grant aid under its Belt and Road Initiative, in Phnom Penh, Dec. 18, 2021. Credit: AFP Security dilemma Beijing’s involvement in Ream has nevertheless sparked controversy in the West as the U.S. sees the danger of China gaining its first naval staging facility in mainland Southeast Asia that could allow it to significantly expand patrols across the South China Sea. Concerns about Ream go back as far as 2019, when the Wall Street Journal reported a secret deal allowing China to post army personnel, store weapons and dock warships there. Cambodia and China have repeatedly denied the information, saying “the renovation of the base serves solely to strengthen the Cambodian naval capacities to protect its maritime integrity and combat maritime crimes.” Washington has complained “about the lack of transparency on the intent, the nature, the scope of this project, as well as the role that the PRC military is playing in its construction and in its post-construction use of the facility.” “The latest news report about the Ream Naval Base is a further indication that the U.S. has not accepted the fact that Cambodia and China have already been close partners in Southeast Asia,” said Sovinda Po, a research fellow at the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace. “The main reason behind the U.S.’s constant accusations is to warn the Cambodian government against aligning so closely with China,” Po said. “Vietnam is also not happy to see China moving closer towards its own territory as it and China have ongoing sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea and the overall trust between the two countries is low,” the Cambodian analyst said. The naval base and its development therefore have become a major security dilemma for Cambodia, Vietnam, the U.S. and China, according to Sovinda Po. ‘The new normal’ China already has the biggest maritime force in the world, with 355 ships and is projected to have 460 by 2030, according to the latest U.S. Defense Department report on Chinese military. The U.S. has 297 battle-force ships but operates more than 800 military bases overseas. “This is our normal now, China will seek overseas bases, just like we do,” said Blake Herzinger, a Singapore-based defense policy specialist and U.S. Navy Reserve officer. “If we think freezing out countries that do elect to cooperate with the Chinese does anything other than make us look like them, we are sorely mistaken,” Herzinger wrote on Twitter. U.S.-Cambodia relations have been strained over recent years due to many factors including differences in geopolitical and strategic interests, human rights, democracy and China’s role in the region. In contrast, during the last decade under the so-called Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has been pumping investment into important…

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China bans tattoos for minors, forbidding anyone from offering the service to teens

Editor06 mins

China’s State Council has issued a ban on tattoos for minors, banning any business, individual or organization from providing such services or encouraging young people to get tattoos. “No enterprise, organization or individual shall provide tattoo services to minors, and shall not coerce, induce or instigate minors to tattoo,” the June 6 directive, which takes immediate legal effect, said. “For immature minors, tattoos may be just a whim, something they do in pursuit of individuality, but the harm done is enormous and long-lasting,” the document said. It said that while similar bans already exist in some parts of China, including Shanghai and Jiangsu, different local authorities have different attitudes when it comes to regulating the behavior of children and teenagers. The directive overrules local law-making, requiring judicial and law enforcement agencies to comply with its provisions without exception. “Families and schools must actively guide minors to increase their awareness of tattoos and their adverse effects, so that minors can consciously and rationally refuse tattoos,” the directive said. “Service providers must improve their sense of responsibility and resolutely refrain from offering tattoo services to minors,” it said. Taiwanese youth worker Yeh Ta-hwa said teenagers typically get tattoos as a form of self-expression, and the new rules are a bid to exert greater control over young people’s freedom of expression in China. “Xi Jinping has been curbing people’s freedom of expression since he took office,” Yeh told RFA. “He has done so much to restrict the freedom of young people, including banning them from any form of religion under the age of 18, limiting their online gaming time and what content they can view.” “[All of this] shows that China’s control and monitoring of its citizens’ free will is getting tighter and tighter.” In some other countries, including the U.S., some European countries and democratic Taiwan, tattoo parlors are allowed to tattoo minors with parental consent. Paternalistic overreach? Yeh said tattoos were previously stigmatized in Taiwan, where they are closely linked in people’s minds with organized crime, but under the influence of indigenous peoples’ culture, they are now increasingly seen as an expression of culture, art and personal freedom. U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao said the law is highly paternalistic, putting the state in loco parentis. “This is an overreach, a paternalistic approach in which the government takes the place of the parents,” Teng said. “Tattoos aren’t particularly harmful, so the government is going too far, trying to control them.” “It would be better coming from the parents, through education and persuasion.” Taiwan-based dissident Zhou Shuguang said the Chinese government could fear that people will use tattoos to show allegiance to something other than the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), or use it as a form of political protest. “They probably fear that minors’ bodies will become taken over by various cultural symbols, making it harder for the CCP to brainwash them,” Zhou told RFA. “Cultural icons, cartoon characters and writing are all carriers of culture.” “Minors could be branded for life, with the symbols hard to erase,” he said. “The other thing they could be worried about is that people will use tattoos as tokens of recognition when forming groups, the thing that the CCP fears most, and has to break up.” Teng agreed. “For example, if someone gets the numbers 8964 tattooed on their body [a covert reference to the 1989 Tiananmen massacre], just putting those numbers together is going to be trouble,” he said. “China won’t allow those numbers to be posted online.” He said the move was part and parcel of China’s “patriotic education” program in schools. “Chinese education is actually a form of brainwashing, and these controls on minors’ freedom of speech by the entire education system is doing great harm to their minds,” Teng said. “There may be no bloodshed involved, but a lifetime of [psychological] harm instead.” Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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Hpa-an Prison inmates tortured and starved

Editor06 mins

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

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Kidnapping suspect fled to Vietnam to escape arrest

Editor013 mins

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

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

Editor09 mins

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

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