Experts sound alarm on new Rohingya crackdown in Myanmar

Experts sound alarm on new Rohingya crackdown in Myanmar
Hundreds of Rohingyas gather to demand safe return to Myanmar’s Rakhine state as they mark the seventh anniversary of their exile from Myanmar at their refugee camp at Kutupalong in Cox’s Bazar district, Bangladesh. (AP)
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Updated 27 August 2024
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Experts sound alarm on new Rohingya crackdown in Myanmar

Experts sound alarm on new Rohingya crackdown in Myanmar
  • Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh in 2017 during a crackdown by the military

Cox’s Bazar: The persecuted and stateless Rohingya minority is caught in a new violent crackdown in Myanmar, with children among those killed, two reports from influential expert groups warned Tuesday.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh in 2017 during a crackdown by the military that is now the subject of a United Nations genocide court case.
But around 600,000 remain in the country’s western state of Rakhine, where they have found themselves in the middle of an escalating conflict between junta-run Myanmar’s armed forces and the rebel Arakan Army.
The situation has been inflamed further by the Myanmar military’s forced recruitment of Rohingya to battle the rebel group, including reportedly more than 2,000 from Bangladeshi refugee camps.
Watchdog Fortify Rights said its interviews with eyewitnesses established that the Arakan Army had this month launched a drone and mortar attack on Rohingya civilians.
The bombardment killed more than 100 Rohingya men, women and children on the border with Bangladesh, Fortify Rights said.
“The fact that the AA first sent a surveillance drone before launching the massive attack shows clearly that the group intentionally attacked a civilian crowd,” the group said.
The Arakan Army denied responsibility for the assault in an August 7 statement and again through its political wing 10 days later.
The International Crisis Group think tank said that many Rohingya on the ground blamed the rebel group for the attack, along with other acts of violence and persecution.
“The combination of words and alleged deeds have fueled polarization and driven greater numbers of Rohingya to volunteer for the military or armed groups,” it said.
The reports come days after the UN Human Rights Office said it had information showing the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army had both committed serious abuses against the Rohingya.
They included extrajudicial killings, abductions, forced recruitment, indiscriminate bombardments of villages and arson attacks.
“Recurrence of the crimes and horrors of the past must be prevented as a moral duty,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said.
The Arakan Army, which says it is fighting for more autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine population in Myanmar, has made steady territorial advances this year near the Bangladeshi border.
Bangladesh is home to around one million Rohingya refugees, most of whom fled the 2017 crackdown.
Further complicating the security situation for Rohingya there was the ousting this month of autocratic ruler Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India.
Hasina was replaced by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who is leading an interim government ahead of expected elections.
He pledged to continue to support Bangladesh’s population of Rohingya refugees, but said his country needed “the sustained efforts of the international community” to do so.


US bans new types of goods from China over allegations of forced labor against Muslim minorities

US bans new types of goods from China over allegations of forced labor against Muslim minorities
Updated 03 October 2024
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US bans new types of goods from China over allegations of forced labor against Muslim minorities

US bans new types of goods from China over allegations of forced labor against Muslim minorities
  • Ban covers products of Chinese steel manufacturer and a maker of artificial sweetener accused of using forced labor from China’s far-west region of Xinjiang
  • Despite China's denial that it was using force labor, the entity list has grown since 2022 to a total of 75 companies accused of using forced labor

WASHINGTON: The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that it would ban the import of goods from a Chinese steel manufacturer and a Chinese maker of artificial sweetener, accusing both of being involved in the use of forced labor from China’s far-west region of Xinjiang.
The action broadens the scope of the US effort to counter products from entering the country that the government says are tied to human rights abuses.
The additions to the entity list under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act marks the first time a China-based steel company or aspartame sweetener business have been targeted by US law enforcement, DHS said.
“Today’s actions reaffirm our commitment to eliminating forced labor from US supply chains and upholding our values of human rights for all,” said Robert Silvers, undersecretary of Homeland Security for policy. “No sector is off-limits. We will continue to identify entities across industries and hold accountable those who seek to profit from exploitation and abuse.”
The federal law that President Joe Biden signed at the end of 2021 followed allegations of human rights abuses by Beijing against members of the ethnic Uyghur group and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. The Chinese government has refuted the claims as lies and defended its practice and policy in Xinjiang as fighting terror and ensuring stability.
The new approach marked a shift in the US trade relationship with China to increasingly take into account national security and human rights. Beijing has accused the US of using human rights as a pretext to suppress China’s economic growth.
Enforcement of the law initially targeted solar products, tomatoes, cotton and apparel, but over the last several months, the US government has identified new sectors for enforcement, including aluminum and seafood.
“That’s just a reflection of the fact that sadly, forced labor continues to taint all too many supply chains,” Silvers told a trade group in June when marking the two-year anniversary of the creation of the entity list. “So our enforcement net has actually been quite wide from an industry-sector perspective.”
He said the law “changed the dynamic in terms of putting the onus on importers to know their own supply chains” and that its enforcement had showed that the US could “do the right thing” without halting normal trade.
Since June 2022, the entity list has grown to a total of 75 companies accused of using forced labor in Xinjiang or sourcing materials tied to that forced labor, Homeland Security said.
Baowu Group Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. and Changzhou Guanghui Food Ingredients Co. Ltd. were the Chinese companies newly added to the list.


Russian guided bomb hits apartment building in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, injures 10

Russian guided bomb hits apartment building in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, injures 10
Updated 03 October 2024
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Russian guided bomb hits apartment building in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, injures 10

Russian guided bomb hits apartment building in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, injures 10
  • President Zelensky said the strike underscored the need for more help from Ukraine’s Western backers
  • Russia denies targeting civilians, but has regularly struck towns and cities behind the front line

A Russian guided bomb struck a five-story apartment block in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, late on Wednesday, starting fires and injuring at least 10 people, local officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strike, the latest in a long series of attacks on the city, underscored the need for more help from Ukraine’s Western backers. He pointed to Iran’s strike on Israel as an example of allies working together.
He said that in order to stop Russian strikes, “Ukraine must receive the necessary, and most importantly, sufficient help from the world, from our partners.
“Every leader knows exactly what needs to be done. It’s important to be decisive,” Zelensky said in a posting on the Telegram messaging app.
Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said the bomb hit between the third and fourth floors of the building in the city’s Saltivka district.
“Several floors have been destroyed. An apartment by apartment search is under way. People could be under the rubble,” Syniehubov said in a video posted online.
Pictures posted online showed cars ablaze outside the apartment block and firefighters making their way through smoke rubble to get inside the building.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov put the injury toll at 10, including a three-year-old child. He said guided bombs had struck two city districts.
Located 30 km (18 miles) from the Russian border, Kharkiv has been a frequent target of Russian forces throughout the more than 2-1/2-year-old war.
In Kyiv, the head of the capital’s military administration said fragments from a downed Russian drone damaged an apartment building in one of the capital’s eastern districts. There was no indication of any casualties.
Russia denies targeting civilians, but has regularly struck towns and cities behind the front line.
In his nightly video address, Zelensky referred to the help the United States and other partners provide Israel to fend off attacks.
“Every time in the Middle East, during criminal Iranian strikes, we see how the international coalition acts together,” he said, echoing comments he made during an April raid launched by Iran on Israel.
Zelensky also issued the latest of a series of calls for more help to be agreed at a meeting this month in Germany devoted to providing Ukraine with military assistance. US President Joe Biden is to attend the meeting.


Mexican soldiers open fire on migrants, killing six

Mexican soldiers open fire on migrants, killing six
Updated 03 October 2024
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Mexican soldiers open fire on migrants, killing six

Mexican soldiers open fire on migrants, killing six

MEXICO CITY: Mexican soldiers killed six migrants when they opened fire on a group of 33 migrants traveling in a pick-up truck that had tried to evade a military patrol, the defense ministry announced in a statement on Wednesday.

Another 10 migrants were injured in the incident on Tuesday evening, the ministry added, from the group which included Egyptian, Nepalese, Cuban, Indian and Pakistani nationals.

The ministry said in a statement the incident took place just before 9 p.m. on Tuesday while the patrol traveled on a highway near the town of Huixtla, some 40 km (25 miles) from Tapachula, by the Guatemalan border.

The pick-up truck was followed by two vehicles similar to those used by criminal groups in the area, it said, and soldiers reported hearing explosions after which two officers opened fire.

In its statement, the defense ministry said the two soldiers were removed from their posts and reported to the federal prosecutors for corresponding legal actions, while a military tribunal carries out its own investigation.

It said it reaffirmed “its commitment to act in strict accordance with the rule of law, under a policy of zero-impunity, and is ready to help the civil authorities to shed light on the facts,” the statement said.

The ministry added that it was coordinating with the foreign ministry to coordinate with the corresponding embassies.

Tapachula, in southern Chiapas state, is an entry point into Mexico for many migrants making the arduous journey toward the United States, many fleeing violence and poverty.

Chiapas has also seen clashes this year between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and Sinaloa Cartel. In July, the turf wars sent some 600 people fleeing across the border into Guatemala.


Thousands rally in Armenia, demanding PM’s resignation over his handling of standoff with Azerbaijan

Thousands rally in Armenia, demanding PM’s resignation over his handling of standoff with Azerbaijan
Updated 03 October 2024
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Thousands rally in Armenia, demanding PM’s resignation over his handling of standoff with Azerbaijan

Thousands rally in Armenia, demanding PM’s resignation over his handling of standoff with Azerbaijan
  • Protesters accused PM Pashinyan of making unnecessary territorial concessions to Baku
  • Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two wars — in 2020 and the 1990s — over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region

YEREVAN: Thousands rallied on Wednesday in Armenia’s capital, demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation over his handling of the decades-long standoff with Azerbaijan.
Despite a weeks-long wave of protests led in the spring by the charismatic Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Pashinyan’s position held firm.
Chanting “Nikol (Pashinyan) traitor!” several thousand anti-government protesters rallied Wednesday in Yerevan’s central Republic Square, outside government headquarters, watched by a heavy police presence, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
The rally was held days after Galstanyan vowed to renew street protests, which he promised would “guarantee” Pashinyan’s departure.

Protest leader Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan addresses demonstrators in Yerevan's Republic Square on Oct. 2, 2024 to demand Prime Minister Pashinyan's resignation. (AFP)

The cleric has accused Pashinyan of making unnecessary territorial concessions to Baku.
“Our struggle will continue as long as evil remains in power in Armenia,” he told the crowd.
“I call on all political forces to join us, as new disasters, new losses lie ahead.”
Protesters then marched toward the offices of Armenia’s public broadcaster, to demand live air time.
Armenia’s interior ministry said in a statement it would use force against protesters should they attempt to break into the broadcaster’s offices.
“It’s not easy getting rid of Pashinyan’s government, but we can’t give up hope,” said one demonstrator, 64-year-old Sveta Sargsyan. “We need a government that will defend every centimeter of Armenian soil.”
Another protester, Karen Hovhannisyan, 55, said: “We can’t put up with Pashinyan’s rule any longer, he is flat-out pushing anti-Armenian policies.”

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two wars — in 2020 and the 1990s — over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Baku recaptured last year from Armenian separatists who had controlled it for three decades.
Nearly all its ethnic Armenians — more than 100,000 people — fled Karabakh in the aftermath and in May Pashinyan returned to Azerbaijan control over four border villages that it had seized decades earlier.
Galstanyan has previously sought to launch an impeachment process against Pashinyan, and even temporarily stepped down from his religious post to run for prime minister.
But he is not eligible to hold the office under Armenian law because he has dual citizenship — Armenian and Canadian — and opposition parties do not have enough seats in parliament to launch impeachment procedures.
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have said a comprehensive peace deal to end their long-standing animosity is within reach, but the talks have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough.
 


Prosecutors lay out new evidence in Trump election case, accuse him of having ‘resorted to crimes’

Prosecutors lay out new evidence in Trump election case, accuse him of having ‘resorted to crimes’
Updated 03 October 2024
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Prosecutors lay out new evidence in Trump election case, accuse him of having ‘resorted to crimes’

Prosecutors lay out new evidence in Trump election case, accuse him of having ‘resorted to crimes’
  • New filing seeks to convince judge that the offenses charged in the indictment are private, rather than official, acts
  • It narrows the scope of the prosecution charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the results of the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden
  • New filing follows Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents for official acts they take in office

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump laid the groundwork to try to overturn the 2020 election even before he lost, knowingly pushed false claims of voter fraud and “resorted to crimes” in his failed bid to cling to power, according to a newly unsealed court filing from prosecutors that lays out fresh details from the landmark criminal case against the former president.
The filing from special counsel Jack Smith’s team offers the most comprehensive view to date of what prosecutors intend to prove if the case charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the election reaches trial. Though a months-long congressional investigation and the indictment itself have chronicled in stark detail Trump’s efforts to undo the election, the new filing cites previously unknown accounts offered by Trump’s closest aides to paint a portrait of an “increasingly desperate” president who while losing his grip on the White House “used deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.”
“So what?” the filing quotes Trump as telling an aide after being alerted that his vice president, Mike Pence, was in potential danger after a crowd of violent supporters stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The details don’t matter,” Trump said, when told by an adviser that a lawyer who was mounting his legal challenges wouldn’t be able to prove the false allegations in court, the filing states.
The filing was submitted, initially under seal, following a Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents for official acts they take in office, narrowing the scope of the prosecution charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the results of the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
The purpose of the brief is to convince US District Judge Tanya Chutkan that the offenses charged in the indictment are private, rather than official, acts and can therefore remain part of the indictment as the case moves forward. Chutkan permitted a redacted version to be made public.
“Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one,” Smith’s team wrote, adding, “When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called the brief “falsehood-ridden” and “unconstitutional” and repeated oft-stated allegations that Smith and Democrats were “hell-bent on weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power.”
“The release of the falsehood-ridden, Unconstitutional J6 brief immediately following Tim Walz’s disastrous debate performance is another obvious attempt by the Harris-Biden regime to undermine American Democracy and interfere in this election.”
The filing includes details of conversations between Trump and Pence, including a private lunch the two had on Nov. 12, 2020, in which Pence “reiterated a face-saving option” for Trump, telling him, “don’t concede but recognize the process is over,” according to prosecutors.
In another private lunch days later, Pence urged Trump to accept the results of the election and run again in 2024.
“I don’t know, 2024 is so far off,” Trump told him, according to the filing.
But Trump “disregarded” Pence “in the same way he disregarded dozens of court decisions that unanimously rejected his and his allies’ legal claims, and that he disregarded officials in the targeted states — including those in his own party — who stated publicly that he had lost and that his specific fraud allegations were false,” prosecutors wrote.
Trump’s “steady stream of disinformation” in the weeks after the election culminated in his speech at the Ellipse on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, in which Trump “used these lies to inflame and motivate the large and angry crowd of his supporters to march to the Capitol and disrupt the certification proceeding,” prosecutors wrote.