Day: June 16, 2022

As talk that Myanmar’s junta was set to hang veteran democracy activist Ko Jimmy and three other men went viral on social media Thursday, other junta opponents and analysts said carrying out the executions would backfire against the military regime that has ruled the country since a coup last year.

The rumored executions at dawn Thursday did not take place, but critics said carrying out death penalties handed down after brief, closed trials on terrorism charges would bring more international opprobrium and galvanize domestic opposition against the unpopular junta.

“There will be calls for more pressure against the junta in the international arena, and the junta will find it more difficult to impose their rule on young people across the country,” Aung Moe Zaw, chairman of the Democratic Party for New Society, told RFA.

“I think more people will be out on the streets,” he added.

On June 3, Ko Jimmy, lawmaker Phyo Zeyar Thaw of the National League for Democracy party that was banned after the military overthrew the country’s elected government on Feb. 1, 2021, and two other men lost appeals of their death sentences. The junta rejected the possibility of a pardon for the condemned men.

Ko Jimmy, whose real name is Kyaw Min Yu, was a prominent leader of the pro-democracy 88 Generation Students Group who fought military rule three decades ago.

The 53-year-old activist was arrested in October after spending eight months in hiding and was convicted by a military tribunal in January under the Counter-Terrorism Law. He was accused of contacting the National Unity Government (NUG), and People’s Defense Force (PDF), an opposition coalition and militia network formed by politicians ousted in the Feb. 1 coup that the junta has declared terrorist organizations.

In September, the NUG declared a nationwide state of emergency and called for open rebellion against junta rule, prompting an escalation of attacks on military targets by various allied pro-democracy militias and ethnic armed groups.

First judicial execution since 1988

Ko Jimmy was also accused of advising local militia groups in Yangon and ordering PDF groups to attack police, military targets, and government offices, and asking the NUG to buy a 3D printer to produce weapons for local PDFs.

The four death sentences, as well 111 others that have been handed down by junta courts between the military’s 2021 coup and May 19 this year, have drawn criticism from legal experts and rights groups, who say the regime is threatening the public with unfair executions.

The United Nations, Washington, Ottawa, and Paris have issued statements strongly condemning the decisions in the cases now proceeding to execution.

An appeal against carrying out what would be the first judicial execution in Myanmar since 1988 came from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who wrote junta leader Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on June 10, urging him to “reconsider the sentences and refrain from carrying out the death sentences.”

If carried out, the executions “would trigger a very strong and widespread negative reaction from the international community” and hurt efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Myanmar, wrote Hun Sen, in his capacity as 2022 rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member.

Thiha Win Tin, a former member of the All Burma Federation of Students’ Unions,

Said plans to execute the four would spark an angry reaction from many quarters of society which don’t accept the legitimacy of the junta or the military tribunals that meted out the death penalty.

“This is not a death penalty. They were simply arrested and ordered to be killed,” he said.

“It’s not just Phyo Zeyar Thaw and Ko Jimmy. Many of our comrades have been killed during interrogations, some killed on the streets–unarmed and peaceful protesters arrested late in the night,” added Thiha Win Tin.

Hatred of army will grow

Mar Kee (also known as Kyaw Kyaw Htwe), a political ally of Ko Jimmy since the 1980s, said “the consequences will not be good” if the executions were carried out.

“There were people in the country who accepted Jimmy and Zeyar Thaw and their work, and there were those who didn’t. Even those who didn’t accept them, as well as those in the middle, would be outraged if the death penalty were to be imposed on people for their political beliefs,” he told RFA.

“I think the hatred against [the army] will grow.”

Local anti-junta PDFs groups and other regime opponents have issued a series of warnings in recent days that they would retaliate if Ko Jimmy, Phyo Zeyar Thaw and the others were put to death.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, at a conference in Naypyidaw Thursday, defended the planned executions as a necessary measure by a sovereign country, but did not say when they would take place.

“Innocent people lost their lives because of these two’s encouragement [of anti-junta militias],” he said. “I just said innocent people. I am not talking about security personnel.”

“At least 50 lives were lost thanks to their support. So how can you say it’s not fair?” said Zaw Min Tun.

The junta has not provided evidence to support the allegations, and the spokesman did not elaborate.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Thai-based advocacy group, said that 1,958 people have been killed and 14,139 anti-regime activists across the country have been arrested in more than 16 months since the military coup. Of those, 11,081 are still in custody.  

Political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe said no one in Myanmar would believe in the multi-party elections the military has promised to hold in 2023 if the executions were carried out.

“When the elections are held in 2023, these guys, who were supposed to be contesting the elections but have been executed unfairly, would be absent,” he told RFA.

“People will ask how this election could be fair when those who have the right to take part in the elections have been executed. And how are they going to explain? They will never be able to justify it,” said Sai Kyi Zin Soe.

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RMA Automotive (Cambodia), an authorised auto distributor in Cambodia, officially inaugurated its US$21-milion Ford vehicle assembly plant in Pursat province on June 16, announcing that the domestically-assembled vehicles are to supply local market. 

The inauguration ceremony was held at the factory located in Sna Ansa commune, Krakor district, Pursat province under the presidency of H.E. Lt. Gen. Hun Manet, high representative of Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia. 

Named RMA Automotive Cambodia Assembly Plant, the company will assemble 9,000 units a year of two models of Ford – Pickup and SUV – in the first phase of business plan. 

All the vehicles from the factory are for supply to domestic market, which currently sees new vehicle segment surge, the company said. 

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

Small mud carps or “Trey Riel” (Henicorhynchus entmema and H. siamensis) are the most commercially important keystone species in Cambodia, according to Wonders of the Mekong project. 

These two species are also very important to the ecology of the Mekong River basin and the food security for people living in the region, it underlined. 

A recent study by Wonders of the Mekong Researchers analysed the distribution of these two fish species across Cambodia from fish catch records collected at 22 sites from 2007-2015, said the same source, adding that the study found that the two species differed in the locations where they were most abundant, and also declined in some locations while remaining stable at others.

The study results have strong implications for how to manage these species to support ecosystems and food security in the region, it pointed out. 

Particularly, it continued, fisheries management and conservation planning should focus on those areas hosting high abundance for each species (e.g., some sites in the Tonle Sap River and Mekong mainstream for H. entmema, and some sites in the Mekong Delta and southern areas of the Tonle Sap Lake for H. siamensis), and should support important habitats, such as by maintaining seasonal and predictable water flow in the Lower Mekong Basin.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

The United Nations’ Committee on the Rights of the Child has issued its observations on the progress Cambodia has made towards meeting the legally-binding international Convention on the Rights of the Child. It recognises the progress made by the Royal Government of Cambodia between 2011 and 2022, while also highlighting areas of concern around issues such as education and child protection.

The Committee monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which is based on the key principles of the right to life, survival and development, non-discrimination, best interest of the child, and the right to be heard. As the most ratified international convention in the world, the CRC has inspired governments to change laws and policies to ensure the fulfilment, realisation and protection of children’s rights.

“The Committee welcomes the various legislative, institutional and policy measures to implement the Convention, including the adoption of the law on juvenile justice, the action plan to prevent and respond to violence against children, the action plan for improving childcare, and the policies on child protection in schools and on inclusive education,” states the Committee’s concluding observations. “[The Committee] notes with appreciation the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2012 and accession to the Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2013.”

However, the Committee also raised concerns in other areas, such as the lack of free compulsory education for children in Cambodia and a draft law which proposes segregated classes for children with disabilities. The Committee recommended that the Royal Government of Cambodia provide free and compulsory primary education for all children for at least nine years, and amend its draft law to guarantee the right of all children with disabilities to inclusive education. It also recommended that children whose schooling was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic should benefit from interventions to address learning losses during this period.

In addition, the Committee raised concerns about the high level of sexual exploitation and abuse of children. It urged Cambodia to ensure the effective investigation of and intervention in all cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of children in and outside the home, and in the digital environment, including grooming. It argued that progress towards prioritising family-based care for children should continue and efforts be increased, supported by a larger number of social workers in all provinces.

Guided by the Convention of the Rights of the Child, UNICEF is the United Nations agency mandated to safeguard the rights of every child, and works with partners including the Royal Government of Cambodia, to act on the CRC recommendations.

“We congratulate the Royal Government of Cambodia on the progress it has made in improving children’s lives in recent decades, but this report shows there are still areas of serious concern,” said Ms. Foroogh Foyouzat, UNICEF’s Representative in Cambodia. “Even in areas where solid progress has been made, COVID has caused serious setbacks. Now is the time to focus our efforts on overcoming those setbacks and tackling the challenges the CRC recommendations identify. In the next few weeks, UNICEF, together with the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, will consult with key stakeholders to act on these recommendations, with the ultimate goal of ensuring all Cambodian children’s rights are respected, realised, fulfilled and protected.”

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press

The annual Cambodia International Film Festival (CIFF) 2022, the 11th of its kind, will be held from June 28 to July 3.

Hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, the Cambodia International Film Festival event has been organised by the Cambodia Film Commission and the Bophana Centre, in partnership with major film industry players, theatres, sponsors and filmmakers.

Over 144 films from 26 countries, including short and feature films, documentaries and animations, will be shown at major screening venues in Phnom Penh, including Legend Cinema, Major Cineplex, Prime Cineplex, French Institute, Bophana Centre, Chaktomuk Theatre, Rosewood Hotel Phnom Penh, Java Creative Café, and Factory Phnom Penh.

The event is aimed not only to present other cultures, and exchange ideas, but also to be a crossroad for young and more experienced film professionals to expose their work.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press