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Conflict between Myanmar’s proxy forces may outlast a political resolution

Editor011 mins

Pro-military Pyu Saw Htee militiamen and anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries are engaged in what will likely become a protracted conflict in Myanmar with no formal process in place to mediate between the two civilian proxy armies, an analyst said Wednesday. In September, Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) declared war on the junta and ordered allied PDF groups around the country — formed to protect civilians from the military in the aftermath of its Feb. 1, 2021, coup — to attack junta targets. In areas where the PDFs were the strongest, such as in Magway and Sagaing regions in the north and west, the junta armed and trained groups of citizens who support military rule, forming the militia groups now known as the Pyu Saw Htee. The militia — whose name is derived from Pyusawhti, the legendary founder of the first Burmese kingdom — was given carte blanche to make arrests, seize property, kill PDF members and destroy villages, sources have told RFA’s Myanmar Service. More than 15 months since the military takeover, the two proxy forces have grown substantially and regularly clash throughout the country, where many of their fighters live virtually side by side as residents of neighboring townships and villages that support either the NUG or the junta. Min Zaw Oo, executive director of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security (MIPS), said that even if the junta and the NUG hammer out a resolution to Myanmar’s political crisis, the conflict between the Pyu Saw Htee and the PDF may well continue far into the future. “These are conflicts that are not easily ended,” he said. “It’s different from dying in a battle — war can end if a ceasefire is agreed to by two armies. … But such killing between civilians is not easily forgotten. This is a problem that will remain for decades to come. The mistrust will fester and remain a black mark on our society.” Observers say that between 150 and 200 civilians are killed each month in Myanmar — not on the battlefield, but during violent raids on villages that have in some cases resulted in massacres. The Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP Myanmar), an independent research group, recently said it had documented the killing of at least 5,646 civilians across the country between the time of the coup and May 10, 2022. The current chaos is the result of the junta’s failure to control the violence, whether willingly or not, Min Zaw Oo said. A member of the People’s Defense Force in Kayah state’s Loikaw township. Credit: Loikaw PDF Forced recruitment Despite international pressure to defuse the situation through inclusive talks with all of Myanmar’s stakeholders, the junta has not only refused to meet with the NUG, which it calls a “terrorist organization,” it is forcibly “recruiting” Pyu Saw Htee fighters to battle the PDF in regions such as Sagaing and Magway, sources said Wednesday. Moe Gyi, a resident of Kan Doe village in Magway’s Gangaw township, told RFA that a joint force of junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee fighters entered the tract on May 13 and ordered people there to form a militia. “They told us to form a Pyu Saw Htee group within a week and said they would set the village on fire if we didn’t do so,” he said. According to Moe Gyi, a Buddhist monk from the village refused, and the junta forces promised to return in seven days. “There will be violence,” he said, adding that many residents have fled in fear of the military, which is “expanding their control to the south” of the township through the formation of Pyu Saw Htee militias. Other sources told RFA that the junta has provided training and weapons to the Pyu Saw Htee in Gangaw’s nearby Myauk Khin Yan and Han Thar Wa Di villages under the direction of “Bullet” Hla Swe, a former member of Parliament for the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). USDP spokesperson Nanda Hla Myint said that although the party has not instructed its members to attack the PDF, it would “not stop” those who do. “We don’t have a party policy directing members to take up arms,” he said. “But it is their right to participate in programs set down by the local authorities, depending on the security situation in their area, so we have nothing to say about it.” Reports of forced recruitment into pro-junta militias were echoed by a resident of Sagaing’s Pale township named Zaw Zaw, who told RFA on Wednesday that fighters from two Pyu Saw Htee camps in the villages of Imahtee and Zeebyugone have threatened to harm area inhabitants if they do not fight the PDF. “People were told that food and water supplies will be cut off if they do not take up arms,” he said, adding that the junta is “exploiting” them because it does not even bother to maintain lists of Pyu Saw Htee fighters killed in operations against the PDF. An aerial view of Chaung Oo village, in Sagaing region’s Pale township, where junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee fighters burned more than 300 homes, Dec. 18, 2022. Credit: RFA ‘Working for the peace of the community’ The junta has repeatedly denied reports that it is behind the expansion of the Pyu Saw Htee, insisting that villagers are willingly and independently forming militia units to protect themselves from the PDF. Junta deputy minister of information, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, on Wednesday denied reports that the military is forcing villagers to form militias. “If there is a real need, we will provide training,” he said. “During the training, we teach them not only how to shoot but also what rules to follow, as well as the duties and responsibilities that any ordinary soldier should know. We are working for the peace of the community in a systematic way.” Zaw Min Tun said PDF groups “often attack villages when they hear that a militia unit has been formed,” and…

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An uneasy truce is under threat in Myanmar’s Rakhine state

Editor07 mins

Tensions between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army (AA) insurgent group are rising in the restive western state of Rakhine, although an uneasy ceasefire remains in effect for now, residents in the area told RFA. In late 2020, the AA agreed to end about two years of intense fighting with Myanmar’s military. The ceasefire was tested in February when the military attacked two AA bases in Rakhine, prompting new clashes in the area, sources told RFA at the time. Although the skirmishes did not lead to an all-out conflict, locals say tensions remain high and fighting could soon resume. The AA’s commander-in-chief, Maj. Gen. Tun Myat Naing, tweeted a warning to the leader of the junta’s Western Command, Htin Latt Oo, as the military and the AA work to establish a presence in towns like Minbya and Rathedaung. “We saw heavy security in Rathedaung Township since about a week ago,” Kyaw Min Khaing, a resident of Rathedaung, told RFA’s Myanmar Service. “It seems like both sides are ready for a full-scale battle. There are lots of them, in full force, both inside and outside the town. So, people are worried about a renewed fighting.” Soldiers from both sides are said to be facing each other in several Rathedaung villages, including Chaung, Aung Thar Si and Hteeswe. “Our people are worried because there are similar tensions in other areas,” said Annthar Gyee, a resident of Minbya, a town of 170,000 people where junta and AA forces have confronted one another. “There could be new fighting breaking out at any time. This time it could be bigger than before. What will happen if there is renewed fighting? We are worried about the consequences,” Annthar Gyee told RFA. On May 15, the AA said in a statement that the junta was deploying more forces in Rakhine, including areas controlled by the United League of Arakan (ULA), the AA’s parent political organization. The AA’s statement indicated that it viewed the junta’s activities to be a threat to the ULA’s administrative authority. Residents told RFA that junta soldiers are stationed in Taungup, Kyaukpyu, Ramree, Pauktaw and Ponnagyun to monitor AA activities in Rakhine, especially in Muslim villages. They also urge villagers not to support the AA and to inform them about the AA’s activities. The AA has called on the public to be vigilant in case tensions boil over and fighting erupts. Junta spokesman, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told RFA that the military is only trying to promote security in the region. “We have to do what is necessary for security. What we are seeing lately is the AA’s statements about the current worrisome situation and the possibility of renewed fighting,” he said. “So, the question we want to ask is, What kind of attitude did they have when they issued such statements? We have to think about whether they are asking for some fighting,” Zaw Min Tun said. AA spokesman Khaing Thukha said what happens next will be determined by the junta’s activities in Rakhine. “We will take necessary action, depending on the political or military moves of the Myanmar army,” Khaing Thukha said. Disruptive activities by the military have brought the people of Myebon township to the brink, Pe Than, a former member of Myebon’s People’s Assembly, told RFA. “If the Myanmar army continues to harass and arrest our people or disrupts our judiciary practices, as they have been doing, I don’t think it’ll be long until we see new fighting.,” Pe Than said. “Troops from both sides are in close proximity on the ground and if new fighting were to occur, it’d be quite intense,” he said. He said the current ceasefire in Rakhine was a matter of mutual agreement that could be undermined without clarity between the two sides. Despite a ceasefire between the AA and the military, there are tens of thousands of people that have been displaced by the fighting between December 2018 and November 2020 and are still unable to return to their homes. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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US government’s special coordinator for Tibetan issues to meet with Dalai Lama

Editor07 mins

A top U.S. official on Tibet will meet with the Dalai Lama on Thursday morning during a two-day official visit to Dharamsala, India, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Uzra Zeya, who was appointed as the State Department’s special coordinator for Tibetan issues in December 2021, will make the stop during trips to India and Nepal on May 17–22 to “deepen cooperation on human rights and democratic governance goals, and to advance humanitarian priorities,” the department said Monday. Zeya, who is also the undersecretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, arrived with her delegation at the seat of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) on Wednesday and will meet the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader at his residence the following day. The visit comes at a time when the Chinese government is stepping up repressive measures on some minority groups in the country, including Tibetans and Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The U.S. State Department’s 2022 human rights report, which covers 2021, cited significant human rights issues in Tibet perpetrated by authorities, including: arbitrary arrests; extrajudicial killings; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; and severe restrictions on religious freedom. Zeya is working to promote a substantive dialogue without preconditions between Beijing and the Dalai Lama and his representatives, or with democratically elected Tibetan leaders. She is also working to protect Tibetans’ linguistic, cultural and religious heritage. During the visit, Zeya plans to tour the Tibetan Children’s Villages school, the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, the Tibet Museum, the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, and a number of monasteries. Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the elected leader of Tibet’s exile government, welcomed Zeya upon her arrival in what is the first high-level contact between the U.S. and the Tibetan leadership during the Biden administration. “The Biden administration’s immediate appointment of the special coordinator after taking office is itself is a huge honor, and during her visit here in the Dharamsala she will be briefed on different management and the overall Tibetan administration, where she will also meet with the Dalai Lama,” said CTA spokesman Tenzin Lekshey. “So, this visit will facilitate the U.S. government to understand and further strengthen support for Tibet.” Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile, said the special coordinator’s visit to Dharamsala “sends a strong political message to China” of the need to work toward a negotiated agreement on Tibet. Bhuchung Tsering, interim president of International Campaign for Tibet, an advocacy group that promotes democratic freedoms for Tibetans, told RFA that Zeya’s meeting with CTA leaders is significant in two respects. “First, China has been under scrutiny lately with regard to various concerns, and Tibet is one of the most crucial, so we believe that this meeting with our Tibetan leaders is crucial for the Tibetan issue globally,” he said. Second, while campaigning in September 2020, President Biden and his administration promised to take a strong stand against China’s human rights abuses in Tibet and to support Tibetans’ cultural and religious rights, he said. “The special coordinator’s visit to India signifies his promise and his administration’s initiative to draw support for Tibet,” Tsering said. During his first official visit to the U.S. after being elected CTA leader, Tsering met with Zeya in Washington in April and with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders. In January 2000, Julia Taft, the late former U.S. assistant secretary of state for population, refugees, and migration, became the first special coordinator for Tibetan issues to visit Dharamasala. Sarah Sewell, former undersecretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, visited the city in 2014 and 2016 when she held the special coordinator position. At the time of Zeya’s appointment to the role in December 2021, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that her designation demonstrated the Biden administration’s “commitment to advance the human rights of Tibetans, help preserve their distinct heritage, address their humanitarian needs, and meet environmental and water resource challenges of the Tibetan plateau.” Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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Hong Kong could move to block Telegram app, citing ‘privacy violations’

Editor08 mins

Authorities in Hong Kong could move to block the popular Telegram messaging app, amid fears that the city could gradually be moving towards mainland China-style internet censorship. Privacy Commissioner Ada Chung told a Legislative Council (LegCo) committee on Monday that the government remains concerned about doxxing and other violations of personal data privacy, and that her office is looking at blocking Telegram to address the issue. Chung’s office issued 227 takedown orders to 12 online platforms between Oct. 8, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2021, requesting the removal of posts that revealed people’s personal details, something that was criminalized in an amended Privacy Ordinance last October. She said around 80 percent of the 1,111 posts had been removed. Chung said her office had also been involved in having people arrested for posting information about LegCo members — all of whom were elected from a slate of candidates strictly vetted for their loyalty to the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — and their family members online. Such information, if it led to knowledge of lawmakers’ business interests and political connections, might be considered in the public interest elsewhere. Chung said her office was fighting an ongoing battle to prevent personal information being posted online, as people often repost the information after the takedown order has been implemented. She said it was much harder to enforce the law when it came to online platforms headquartered overseas. Chung said the newly amended law gives her office the power to restrict access to platforms that don’t comply with the city’s privacy laws, adding that her officials are compiling a blacklist of non-compliant platforms. Forum for social activism The pro-China Singtao Daily newspaper identified Telegram — which was widely used to coordinate civil disobedience and other actions during the 2019 protest movement — as the chief area of concern for the government. “Since 2019, the Privacy Commissioner has noticed that many of the messages that originated in Hong Kong were sent from a few groups on Telegram, and that most of them were political in nature, or involved the continuation of social activism,” the paper said. “Those targeted included government officials, LegCo members and even regular citizens.” Telegram said on Wednesday it was “surprised” by the claims of doxxing made by Hong Kong officials. “Doxxing content is forbidden on Telegram and our moderators routinely remove such content from around the world,” spokesperson Remi Vaughn said in a statement emailed to RFA. It said that while doxxing, illegal pornography or calls to violence would be deleted, the company wouldn’t carry out political censorship. “Any requests related to political censorship or limiting human rights such as the rights to free speech or assembly are not and will not be considered,” the statement said. Meanwhile, exiled Hongkongers in the U.K. are using public spaces to evade political censorship that would be meted out to them at home under a draconion national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the CCP, banning public dissent and political opposition. Art curator and former pro-democracy district councilor Clara Cheung moved to the U.K. with her family after it became clear that opposition politicians were increasingly being targeted under the national security law, which took effect from July 1, 2020. Now in Manchester, Cheung has put together an exhibit titled “The 24901-mile-wide Red Line,” showcasing works from Hong Kong artists that can no longer be publicly displayed in their home city. Milk Tea Alliance She also invited artists from Thailand and Myanmar, whose own protest movements were supported by Hong Kong protesters as part of the Milk Tea Alliance, to exhibit. The 24,901 miles refers to the earth’s circumference, and Beijing’s attempts to extend censorship far beyond China’s borders to the entire planet. Many of the works in the show would have been entirely unproblematic in Hong Kong just a few years ago, Cheung said. She said the exhibit was intended to encourage Hong Kong artists to keep testing the limits of government censorship. “Otherwise, the creative space will get smaller and smaller, and the red line will be more and more entrenched,” Cheung said. “Everyone will get squeezed tighter and tighter by the white terror,” she said, using a term that originated in Taiwan to describe political crackdowns on dissent under the authoritarian rule of the Kuomintang, which ended in the 1990s. “The people in charge of Hong Kong are giving us the impression … that curbs are actually more severe than those in mainland China,” Cheung said. “It’s as if the different departments in the Hong Kong government, like the state security police, prosecution service, etc, are fighting among themselves to see who is more loyal [to Beijing].” A Hongkonger viewing the exhibit who gave only the nickname A Chin said dissidents in Myanmar appear to have it still worse, however. “One artist in Myanmar died after being tortured for 12 hours … I don’t even know what to say to that; it weighs heavily on me,” A Chin said. “But it’s important for those of us who are still alive to see what we can do … you can’t stay in the pain of the past forever.” Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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Report tracks China’s assertiveness at sea over the decades

Editor08 mins

China is the source of destabilization in the South China Sea and has been for the last couple decades, but Beijing’s assertiveness has less to do with its rivalry with the United States than is commonly assumed, a new report says. In the report “Dynamics of Assertiveness in the South China Sea” published by the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR), an U.S. non-profit research institution, U.K.-based academic Andrew Chubb examines maritime disputes and the changes in state behavior of the most active claimants including the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Philippines and Vietnam. The report is based on based on data that measures the year-on-year changes in assertive behavior by the three countries between 1970 and 2015. Chubb identified four types of assertiveness which states are demonstrating while pursuing their interests in the South China Sea, ranging from verbal claim assertions via statements and diplomatic notes to threats of punishment and the use of force. One of the findings is that increasing Chinese assertiveness has been continuous in the South China Sea, with the PRC making assertive moves in most years since 1970. Furthermore, the PRC’s coercive actions, or those that involve the threat or use of punishment, became much more frequent after 2007, the year that marked the beginning of a rapid expansion of Chinese patrols and massive land reclamation efforts. China’s assertive actions have most frequently targeted the Philippines and Vietnam, the study found, and were generally not driven by dynamics in Sino-U.S. relations – although Washington, which is not a claimant in the South China Sea, has in the past decade become increasingly vocal about China’s behavior. More recently, it has also stepped up freedom of navigation operations and military drills in those waters. Deterrence strategy The study also draws conclusions about the stance of the China’s rival claimants. On Vietnam, it finds that as early as the 1990s, virtually every assertive move by Hanoi in the South China Sea concerned its disputes with China. Meanwhile, Vietnam remained a target for around 80 percent of PRC assertive actions through the 2000s. But by 2010, after three years of sustained Chinese advancements, Vietnam could no longer keep up with the PRC and from mid-2011 on, new Vietnamese assertive activities were mostly verbal declarations, as Hanoi switched its focus toward diplomacy, according to the study. Manila’s behavior in the South China Sea, on the other hand, has been more sporadic and inconsistent than that of the other claimants, and more likely to be one-off incidents rather than ongoing actions. The confrontation between Chinese maritime militia and the USNS Impeccable in the South China Sea in 2009. (Center for Strategic and International Studies). Serious U.S. concerns only started in March 2009 when the U.S. surveillance ship USNS Impeccable, believed to have been conducting hydrographic surveys, was harassed by Chinese maritime militia while operating near Hainan island in the South China Sea.  The study finds that PRC’s assertive policy in the South China Sea has not been driven by its great-power competition with the U.S. China’s policy gathered steam about a decade before the sharp downturn in Sino-U.S. relations from 2017. The author says it is challenging for Washington to formulate a response to Bejing’s assertiveness while continuing to be seen as a stabilizing force in the region. “Given the protracted nature of the PRC build-up, it definitely means that the U.S. has a lot of challenges if it wants to use policy tools to try to deter the PRC from engaging assertive moves,” Chubb said. The author looked into “the idea of trying to counter the PRC’s strategy by deliberately raising the risk of escalation … that has been advocated by a number of influential policy thinkers over the years.” Chubb advised against it, saying that one of the greatest strengths of the U.S. in the region is being seen as a stabilizing force. “Looking at the situation over the past couple decades, it’s quite clear that the PRC is the source of destabilization and the U.S. presence has been by and large a stabilizing one.” “Deterrence strategy should focus on economic measures such as trade negotiations rather than actions that raise the risk of military escalation,” he said. ASEAN countries could also do more to send a “subtle but loud deterrence signal” that will force Beijing to make concessions or at least give it incentives for moderation. “Over the past couple decades, the intra-ASEAN disputes have been neutralized, ASEAN countries are no longer advancing claims against each other in an active manner,” Chubb said. But he noted that even “symbolic gestures would be taken very seriously by the PRC as a sign that countries in the region are forming a united front against China.”  

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Shanghai residents take issue with ‘fake’ propaganda claims about reopening

Editor08 mins

Residents of Shanghai have been reporting their city government to a national fraud hotline after claims of fully stocked, open supermarkets and eateries were posted by a ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) newspaper. Shanghai officials say the city has been free from any new COVID-19 infections for four days straight, as some shops have been allowed to open and public transport will likely resume at the weekend. Residents of housing compounds are now being allowed out on a limited basis, one person at a time, and with ongoing restrictions on their movements in the local area. Some 790,000 people remain under total lockdown, while 2.71 million are still subject to strict controls on their movements and 19.8 million are now in “prevention” areas requiring a green health code to travel or access goods and services outside the home. Citywide testing and contract-tracing will continue, hoping to close in fast on any new infections to contain outbreaks before they can spread, municipal health commission spokesman Zhao Dandan told journalists on Wednesday. Infected people and close contacts will continue to be sent to isolation facilities, Zhao said. Since the city government claimed it had achieved zero-COVID on Monday, officials have ramped up local visits and inspections, with municipal party secretary Li Qiang visiting Fengxian district and mayor Gong Zheng visiting Songjiang district on Tuesday, to encourage ongoing testing and tracing efforts. CCP newspaper the People’s Daily also published a graphic based on the Shanghai government’s plans to reopen food and beverage businesses from May 16, describing breakfast and dim sum bars, fast food joints, hair salons, supermarkets and farmers’ markets as opening up gradually. A delivery worker is seen delivering orders to residents next to a checkpoint on a closed street during a Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown in the Jing’an district in Shanghai, May 17, 2022. Credit: AFP Fraud hotline report Social media users hit out at the graphic, with some people posting screenshots showing they had reported the municipal authorities to a national fraud hotline. “Sort this account out,” one comment read, referencing the Shanghai government’s official Weibo account, while another wrote: “Sort out the Shanghai government, stop them talking rubbish with their eyes open.” “Please sort out @shanghaifabu,” another tip-off says, referencing the same account. The People’s Daily account later removed the graphic. A Xuhui district resident surnamed Zhou said senior officials appear to be ramping up public appearances as part of their “celebration” of zero-COVID. “The leaders will be putting on a show, including appearing under the Oriental Pearl tower,” Zhou said. “They have already begun rehearsals, and they seem to be getting ready to celebrate.” Zhou said the compound he lives in remains locked down, and he can’t go out even to buy daily necessities. “A lot of stores are still closed right now, so there’s no point in going out anyway,” Zhou told RFA. “Even if the stores are open, they have nothing in stock, nothing to buy.” “If you want to buy stuff, you still have to rely on group buying,” he said. Fresh fruit highly sought after Zhou said one of the most sought-after items is fresh fruit, with even apples currently selling for prices 50 percent higher than before lockdown. In a video clip posted to social media, a member of a neighborhood committee in Xuhui accused local residents of breaking disease control regulations by buying in fruit, and stop them from collecting their order. “All we want is to eat some fruit,” a woman says in the video. “It was banned until May 15, but we’re still not allowed to order it on May 16.” “Now there are several people dragging me away,” she says. “This is such bullshit. Don’t ordinary people have a right to live as well?” Current affairs commentator Zhang Jianping said many people are angry over what they say is fake news stories being peddled by the authorities. “Of course they’re going to be angry, if they’re living through hell in Shanghai right now,” Zhang said. “We should take seriously these accusations of fake news coming from the people of Shanghai.” “They should take a good look at their content. The police lied and released false information, so this post was bound to cause offense to people,” he said. Meanwhile, police detained a man surnamed Lu on Tuesday at the China Resources Vanguard supermarket in Global Harbor on suspicion of “conjuring up rumors from thin air,” the Shanghai government said. Lu had allegedly claimed that the supermarket was being forced to operate by the government under chaotic management and in filthy conditions. Lu was jailed on an administrative punishment by police in Shanghai’s Putuo district for “disturbing public order with made-up allegations,” it said. Administrative sentences of up to 15 days can be handed down by police to perceived troublemakers without trial. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

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New civilian death toll since coup ‘unprecedented’ in Myanmar’s history

Editor012 mins

More than 5,600 civilians have been killed in Myanmar since the military seized power last year, according to a new estimate by an independent research institute, which called the death toll “unprecedented” in the country’s history. The Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP Myanmar) said in a report last week that it had documented at least 5,646 civilian deaths between the Feb. 1, 2021, coup and May 10, including people killed by security forces during anti-junta protests, in clashes between the military and pro-democracy paramilitaries or ethnic armies, while held in detention, and in revenge attacks, including against informers for the regime. At least 1,831 civilians were killed in shooting deaths, the largest number of which occurred in war-torn Sagaing region, where junta troops have faced some of the toughest resistance to military rule in clashes with People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries that have displaced tens of thousands of residents since the coup. The numbers are largely in line with reporting by RFA’s Myanmar Service, which had documented at least 5,683 civilian deaths between the military takeover and May 12. On May 10 alone, junta troops slaughtered 29 civilians in Mon Taing Pin village, in Sagaing region’s Ye Oo township, sources recently told RFA, saying the victims appeared to have been “killed and burned intentionally” by soldiers targeting residents in retaliation for alleged ties to the PDF. ISP Myanmar said at least 3,107 civilians were killed after being named “Dalans,” or military informants, based on statements issued by the junta on Jan. 14 and by the chairman of the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party, Than Htay. A member of the PDF in Sagaing region told RFA on condition of anonymity that those who report paramilitary movements to the military have been targeted because the armed opposition is “handicapped in manpower and weapons.” “If these pillars supporting the junta are not removed in time, they will report every movement of ours to the military,” he said. “If the military finds out about our movements, they can easily crush our defenses on the ground. The military would always have the upper hand.” A similar form of revenge killing is on the rise with the emergence of the pro-junta Thway Thauk, or Blood Comrades, militia, whose members have killed at least 18 people — mostly members of the deposed National League for Democracy party and their relatives — in Mandalay region. The daughter of Zwee Htet Soe, a protester who died during a demonstration against the military coup, cries during her father’s funeral in Yangon, March 5, 2021. AFP ‘Unprecedented’ death toll Kyaw Htet Aung, a senior researcher at ISP Myanmar, called the death toll since the coup “unprecedented” in the history of Myanmar. “We are seeing pressures and reactions that are unprecedented in Myanmar’s history. As clashes between the two sides increased, so did civilian casualties. I think that’s the main reason why civilian deaths are the highest that have ever been in the post-independence era [beginning in January 1948],” he said. “One side is operating under the belief that the junta cannot be allowed to rule at all. But the junta is determined to work towards stability and dominance at all costs. So, I think the civilian casualties have increased because of these clashing ideologies.” Peace and security in Myanmar have been shattered, Kyaw Htet Aung said, and “people are living in fear.” When asked for comment on the estimated death toll, junta deputy minister of information, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, called ISP Myanmar’s numbers “baseless.” “These groups rarely provide true and accurate information,” he said. “We are publishing daily updates on what is happening. We can just ignore [the estimated death toll]. We don’t need to respond to them.” Spokesperson for the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) Nanda Hla Myint told RFA the civilian deaths do not bode well for the country’s future. “It’s unfortunate that our fellow citizens are being killed in such ways,” he said. “Instead of carefully trying to understand the cause of why all this is happening, people have become accustomed to arming themselves and killing at will. It’s not right to say, ‘You’re my enemy if you’re not with us.’ It’s a matter of grave concern for the future of our country.” Nanda Hla Myint urged both sides to “use wisdom to think and act correctly” before resorting to bloodshed. “The main thing is to be able to think carefully. We need to have the wisdom to think and see correctly.” Political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe said Myanmar’s political crisis will only be resolved “when all parties concerned act in good faith.” “People are suffering,” he said. “[But] if all stakeholders with the power to make decisions operate under this kind of mindset, there is nothing that is unresolvable.” The bullet-pierced motorbike helmet of Mya Thwe Thwe Khine, the first protester to die in demonstrations against the Myanmar military coup, at her funeral in Naypyidaw, Feb. 21, 2021. US-ASEAN Summit The latest death toll statistics came as Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) called the decision not to invite junta representatives to last week’s U.S.-ASEAN Summit in Washington, while allowing NUG officials to engage with their counterparts there, “a major setback” for the military regime’s international standing and “a win for the people of Myanmar.” “Arranging a meeting with senior government officials is … a very good step for the NUG [and] a great result for the people of Myanmar,” said NUG President’s Office spokesperson Kyaw Zaw. “This makes the military regime even more isolated. It’s a big diplomatic defeat and a source of shame for them.” Myanmar was one of only two ASEAN countries whose rulers were not at the May 12-13 summit. The Philippines was represented at the summit by its foreign minister as it wrapped up a presidential election, while Myanmar’s junta chief, Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, was barred from the gathering for the brutal crackdown on opponents of his regime. While absent…

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North Korea prioritizes vaccines for border soldiers as COVID wave hits

Editor09 mins

North Korea’s border patrol soldiers have been among the first to receive shots of the Sinovac vaccine hastily procured from China as the isolated country struggles to contain a wave of COVID-19 infections, North Korean sources said. The Korean Central News Agency reported that more than 1.2 million had fallen ill with an unspecified “fever” believed to be the highly contagious respiratory virus from the end of April until May 15. The announcement came only two days after North Korea first admitted that some of its citizens had COVID-19. Of the people who fell ill, more than 50 later died, the country said. Ryu Yong Chol, an official of the National Emergency Quarantine Command Center, said on Korean Central TV that there were 42 confirmed cases of the virus in Pyongyang and a total of 168 confirmed cases in seven cities and provinces. Leader Kim Jong Un has mobilized military forces to distribute vaccines in the nation of nearly 26 million people, many of whom have weakened immune systems from chronic malnourishment and a lack medical supplies. “The National Emergency Quarantine Command started administering Chinese vaccines to soldiers of the 31st Border Security Bureau brigade,” a military official from North Pyongan province told RFA on Sunday. Though vaccinations also have been given to Border Security Bureau and armistice units stationed in North Pyongan and Chagang provinces, which border China, the vaccination rate remains less than 1%, said the source, who declined to be named for safety reasons. News of COVID-19 infections surfaced after soldiers who had participated in a military parade on April 25 reported high fevers and respiratory symptoms and later tested positive for the disease. As of the beginning of May, the coronavirus has been spreading among members of the Border Security Bureau and soldiers stationed along the entire border region, the source said. Because of this, a delegation of the National Emergency Quarantine Command was urgently dispatched to China to obtain doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, he said. “The delegation of the National Emergency Quarantine Command went to China, contacted the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac with the cooperation of the trade representative in China, and requested support for the COVID-19 vaccine,” the source told RFA. Sinovac provided that vaccines for free, he said, adding that it was likely that Chinese authorities ordered the company to give the doses to North Korea. “The vaccines from China were immediately brought in by sea and the Border Security Bureau patrols and soldiers stationed on the border were vaccinated first,” the source said. “It’s a state secret how many people can be vaccinated with Chinese vaccines, which have just now come in for the first time.” ‘Death toll will increase’ A trader from North Pyongan province told RFA on Sunday that the National Emergency Quarantine Command initially announced that there were 296,180 of “fever” cases nationwide as of May 14. “In fact, the published figures show fever and respiratory symptoms are being reported at rates more than a few times greater than that,” he said. North Korean officials requested COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Sinovac because they can be stored and transported at normal refrigeration temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (36-46 degrees Fahrenheit), the trader said. “If sufficient amount of vaccines are imported in the future, Pyongyang citizens and all military personnel across the country will be vaccinated,” he said. North Korean citizens, however, are going untreated due to lack of access to medicines, including those to treat common cold symptoms, a medical source and a resident of North Pyongan province told RFA. As COVID-19 cases soar, hospitals are quickly becoming overrun, said the medical source, who declined to be named in order to speak freely. “It looks like that the death toll will increase because they will not receive any medicine to alleviate their symptoms,” she said on Sunday. Cold and fever medicines were not available after the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the country’s ruling party, began operating the emergency quarantine system at a maximum level, she said. The medical professional warned that people who are able to get their hand on cold medicines must be careful of fake product that could harm them. “Sometimes, pharmacists and drug dealers sell cold medicines, but most of them are fake,” she told RFA. “In fact, a patient with a high fever from Sunam district in Chongjin [North Hamgyong province] died of side effects after taking a cold medicine manufactured by the Pyongyang pharmaceutical factory.” But a resident in North Pyongan province told RFA that all cold medicines manufactured in neighboring China are gone, as are the counterfeit drugs made by state-owned pharmaceutical companies. “As the number of coronavirus patients rapidly increases these days, fever and cold medicines have become unavailable,” said the resident, who declined to be named for safety reasons. Meanwhile, the cost of herbal medicines unrelated to coronavirus treatment has skyrocketed, with the price of uhwang-cheongsimhwan, a pill made from about 30 herbs used to treat various symptoms such as numb limbs, apoplexy and epilepsy in traditional Korean medicine, more than doubling to 25,000 North Korean won (U.S. $4.16) from 10,000 won (U.S. $1.66). The price of uhwang-angunghwan, another herbal medicine, has risen to 35,000 won from 15,000 won, and the price of sochewan is up to 8,000 won, the source added. Neighborhood monitors have stepped in to try to prevent the number of infections from growing by instructing residents to perform basic hygiene. “The head of the neighborhood watch unit visits each household in the morning and evening, emphasizing that washing hands and gargling with salt water is an effective way to prevent coronavirus,” said the resident of North Pyongan province. Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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Uyghur university lecturer confirmed detained in China’s Xinjiang region

Editor06 mins

A Uyghur lecturer from a university in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region has been sentenced to prison for “disregarding the national language,” by failing to teach in Chinese, a Uyghur source in the town of Ghulja and local officials told RFA. Dilmurat Awut, 65, was a senior literature teacher at Ili Pedagogical University in Ghulja (in Chinese, Yining) and was deputy Chinese Communist Party secretary of the school’s Marxism Institute, said a source in the city who has knowledge of the situation. Awut is among a group of more than 20 educators at the university that an earlier RFA report said have been detained. Not all of the names of the educators have been publicly released. Awut held administrative positions in the school’s institutes of political education and philology until his abduction in 2017. He was well respected but at times clashed with the Chinese administrators at the school, said the source, who declined to be named for safety reasons. When government authorities banned of the usage of Uyghur language at the university, Awut sometimes continued to use his native tongue whenever his students had difficulty mastering the course material when presented in Mandarin Chinese, the official language. In 2017, Awut was investigated on allegations that he taught in the Uyghur language and was sentenced to prison for the transgression, local education officials said. When RFA called the university to inquire about the “crimes” of teachers there, including Awut, an official in the Education Department said he could not provide information because it was a “state secret.” A disciplinary officer at the university, however, confirmed that Awut was among the teachers who had been detained. The officer did not know the length of Awut’s sentence. “I heard that Dilmurat was abducted; that’s what I know,” he said. “The rest I don’t have the authority to know. I don’t know how many years [he was sentenced to]. I don’t know this information since I’m not a member of law enforcement.” Behtiyar Nasir, a student of Awut’s in the 1980s who now lives in the Netherlands, recalled his former teacher as being an outspoken, cheerful and active person. “Dilmurat taught us philology,” said Behtiyar Nasir, who is now the deputy inspector general of the World Uyghur Congress. “He was medium height and white faced. A friendly teacher.” A former Ghulja educator named Yasinjan, who now lives in Turkey, recalled that Awut had been questioned several times on suspicion of “opposing the national language.” “Dilmurat Awut was investigated a few times by the Chinese authorities for not speaking in Chinese in school,” he said. One of Awut’s former students who now lives overseas told RFA that the university lecturer has two children, and that his son, Dilyar, is living in the United States. RFA has been unable to locate the son. Before 2017, Chinese authorities sought to arrest Uyghurs in Xinjiang who were known to have anti-China sentiments, the source in Ghulja said. Since then, however, officials have abducted Uyghurs simply considered “likely to resist,” including the university teachers, because of their social influence and personal character even if they have not actively shown resistance to the China’s repressive policies, the source said. Some of the detainees ended up in prison, while others were interned in China’s vast network of “re-education” camps in Xinjiang, he said. Translated by RFA’s Uyghur Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

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PM Hun Sen threatens Cambodian opposition after shoe-throwing incident in Washington

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Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen blasted a man who threw a shoe at him last week in Washington, saying that if the U.S. fails to condemn him, then similar attacks against his political opponents in Cambodia would be justified. “If the U.S considers shoe-throwing as freedom of expression, it is encouraging [the practice] in other countries,” said Hun Sen, a strongman who has ruled Cambodia since 1985 and who allows little opposition or criticism. “Now I am concerned for the safety of the opposition party leaders,” he said. “Here we can also throw shoes at opposition party leaders’ heads in Cambodia,” he said. As the 69-year-old Hun Sen prepared to meet supporters in Washington last week on the eve of a summit of U.S.-Southeast Asian leaders, a retired Cambodian soldier, Ouk Touch, flung a shoe that whizzed by his head and missed him. The incident at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel on May 11 was caught on video and went viral on social media. Ouk Touch, 72, a resident of California, last week told RFA that he had been planning the attack for quite some time and he hoped that Hun Sen would be humiliated.  He said family members died in a 1997 grenade attack on rival politicians in Hun Sen’s governing coalition that has been widely attributed to the prime minister’s supporters. He was able to talk his way into the group of Hun Sen supporters outside the hotel. He said Hun Sen’s bodyguards jumped toward him and attempted to beat him, but U.S. security officials intervened and urged him to leave the scene. Scene of an incident in which former Cambodian soldier Ouk Touch threw a shoe at visiting Prime Minister Hun Sen in Washington, D.C., May 11, 2022. Credit: Screengrab of official TV. Upon his return to Cambodia from the U.S. summit with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Hun Sen lashed out at Ouk Touch, saying the attack was premeditated. He said he would not be sending a diplomatic note to the U.S. over the issue, but promised that Ouk Touch would be prosecuted if he were to return to Cambodia. In February opposition activist Sam Sokha was released after serving a four-year prison term for throwing her shoe at a poster of Hun Sen and sharing it on social media. She is among scores of activist jailed in a sweeping crackdown on opponents of Hun Sen, the media and civic society groups that begin in 2017. Sam Sokha told RFA’s Khmer Service that Hun Sen “should be more patient and should not imprison people without finding out the reason” they protest, she said. “Pertaining to my case, [he] should have asked me why I did it. He should have tried to find out what the cause of the dissatisfaction is.” Throwing a shoe is nothing compared to the suffering of innocent people under Hun Sen’s rule, Khmer-American human rights lawyer Seng Theary told RFA’s Khmer Service. “It is an individual’s frustration, but the incident represents many people’s feelings,” she said. Exiled political analyst Kim Sok told RFA he is saddened that Hun Sen is taking the incident seriously and has allowed it to incite hatred among people and dilute Cambodia’s diplomatic relationships. The analyst, who took asylum in Finland to avoid arrest in the 2017 crackdown, said he feared concern Hun Sen’s supporters would start attacking opposition leaders. Many opposition figures are in hiding, exile or prison. “Any comment from Hun Sen should not be taken for granted. It is incitement. It will happen because Hun Sen is an influential figure managing all issues in the country,” he said.  Translate by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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