Southeast Asia

UN: Burma election plans entrench repression

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned that the Burma military junta’s planned elections this month are a military-controlled process conducted in an environment “rife with threats and violence.” OHCHR stated: “Far from leading a political transition from crisis to stability or restoring democratic and civilian rule, this process will almost certainly deepen insecurity, fear, and polarization throughout the country.” (Photo: Burmese Border Guard officer with IDPs in Rakhine state. Credit: Daniel Schearf & Zinlat Aung/VOA via Wikimedia Commons)

Southeast Asia

ICC prosecutors bring charges against Duterte

International Criminal Court prosecutors brought charges against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for crimes against humanity, alleging he orchestrated thousands of murders during the grisly anti-drug campaign that has come to define his legacy. The prosecutors accuse Duterte of directing killings from 2011 to 2019, first as mayor of Davao City and later as president. They allege that as mayor he established “liquidation squads,” collectively known as the Davao Death Squad, and expanded such operations nationwide after taking office as president in 2016. (Photo: OSeveno/WikiMedia)

Southeast Asia

Thailand urged to drop charges against war objector

Amnesty International condemned the charges against Thai activist and conscientious objector Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, who is facing trial for refusing military conscription. The group demanded that Thailand’s government drop all charges, asserting that the prosecution violates international human rights law. Netiwit, a former Amnesty International Thailand board member, faces three years in prison under 1954 Military Conscription Act. (Photo: Khaosod. Signs read “Change Thailand” and “Change military conscription”)

Southeast Asia

Police automotive terror sparks Indonesia uprising

Days of popular protest in Indonesia exploded into violence after Affan Kurniawan, a motorbike delivery worker, was fatally struck by a police vehicle in Jakarta. The worker had not even been participating in the protest when armored vehicles ploughed into the crowd, mowing him down. Kurniawan’s helmet, lying in the rainy street after he was struck, has become an online viral image that fueled further demonstrations across the country. Six were killed and the army called to the streets before the protests were called off when the government agreed to revoke controversial perks for lawmakers, including lavish housing allowances. But the underlying grievances of unemployment and inflation remain. (Image via Twitter)

Southeast Asia

Vietnam: Khmer Krom people face escalating repression

UN human rights experts condemned what they described as escalating repression against the Khmer Krom people in Vietnam, urging authorities to cease targeting minority communities through security laws, and to release those detained for peaceful activity. The experts reported that Khmer Krom rights defenders, including Theravada Buddhist monks, face systematic harassment and criminalization for peaceful efforts to promote indigenous identity, cultural expression and religious freedom. The experts further condemned government claims that indigenous and minority cultural identity threaten national security and public order. (Image: Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organization-UNPO)

Watching the Shadows

Podcast: Trump for War-is-Peace Prize

In Donald Trump’s perverse ambition to win the Nobel Peace Prize, he is citing his supposed diplomatic victories in ending six conflicts: Armenia-Azerbaijan, Congo-Rwanda, Israel-Iran, India-Pakistan, Thailand-Cambodia and Egypt-Ethiopia. In Episode 292 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg examines each of these examples, and breaks down how claims to have won “peace” are either extremely overstated or (more often) total Orwellian jive. The implication that Russia-Ukraine will be next, as Putin escalates his aggression, puts a hideous crown on the irony. (Image via Twitter)

Southeast Asia

Orwell and the Thai-Cambodia conflict

Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Manet, nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize on Aug. 7, citing his “crucial role” in restoring peace after bloody border fighting with Thailand. The gushy statement praised Trump’s “extraordinary statesmanship” and “innovative diplomacy.” (NYT) Cambodia now… Read moreOrwell and the Thai-Cambodia conflict

Southeast Asia

Burma’s military accused of starving Rohingya

Dozens of internally displaced Rohingya in Burma’s Rakhine state have died of starvation this year, according to a report released by the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK). Nearly 150,000 Rohingya have been confined to internment camps in the state since 2012, relying on humanitarian assistance to survive. Tens of thousands are experiencing starvation as a result of a trade blockade and severe humanitarian access restrictions imposed by the ruling junta in response to escalating clashes with the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic Rakhine militia. The AA has also been accused of atrocities against Rohingya living in areas under its control. (Photo: BROUK)

Oceania

Fighting threatens indigenous civilians in West Papua

Escalating violence in Indonesia’s West Papua region is threatening the security of the largely indigenous population amid intensified clashes between Indonesian security forces and separatist rebels, Human Rights Watch warned. Military operations in the densely forested Central Highlands have resulted in the deaths and injuries of dozens of civilians due to drone strikes and the indiscriminate use of explosive munitions, forcing thousands of indigenous Papuans to flee their homes. (Photo: TPNPB-OPM via Tempo)

Southeast Asia

Burma: dictator thanks Russia for military support

Following his visit to Moscow for the Victory Day celebrations earlier this month, Burmese junta leader Min Aung Hlaing thanked Russia for the fighter jets and helicopters it has provided his military government. The junta, which came to power in the February 2021 coup, is currently facing an insurgency by a number of armed ethnic and opposition groups across Burma. Rights groups accuse the Tatmadaw, as the Burmese military is known, of routinely targeting civilian populations and infrastructure in its aerial attacks. While in Moscow, Min Aung Hlaing also met for the first time with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, another key patron of his regime. (Photo: Russia MoD via The Irrawaddy)

Southeast Asia

Burma: junta continues air-strikes after earthquake

Burma’s military junta has continued to bomb rebel-held areas following the major earthquake in the country, which has killed more than 1,600 people. The UN official for human rights in the country described the attacks as “completely outrageous and unacceptable.” Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews told the BBC that it was “nothing short of incredible” that the military is continuing to “drop bombs when you are trying to rescue people” after the quake. “I’m calling upon the junta to just stop, stop any of its military operations.” Strikes have been reported since the disaster in Shan state and in Sagaing region—the epicenter of the quake. (Photo of IDP camp in Rakhine state: DFID via Wikimedia Commons)

Inner Asia

Thailand deports Uyghur asylum seekers to China

After detaining them in squalid short-term holding facilities for more than a decade, Thailand deported 40 Uyghur asylum seekers to China. Human rights groups had been urging the Thai government for more than a month to halt any plans to deport the group—though senior officials denied there were any such plans. The removals were carried out in a pre-dawn operation using trucks with blacked-out windows, flanked by police. The Chinese embassy in Bangkok described the men as “illegal immigrants” and said they would “return to normal life.” But rights groups, as well as relatives of the asylum seekers living abroad, worry that the group will remain detained in China—or be sentenced to death. China has previously labelled anyone seeking asylum abroad as a “terrorist.” The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, said the deportations were “a clear violation of the principle of non-refoulement” and international law. (Photo: Jacob Goldberg/TNH)