Vietnamese prisoner of conscience Phan Van Thu, who founded an independent sect of Buddhism that later became outlawed by the communist government, died Sunday in prison, the wife of another prisoner of conscience in the same jail said.
Thu, 74, founder of the An Dan Dai Dao religious group, was serving a life sentence in Gia Trung Detention Center in the southern province of Gia Lai.
Thu complained Friday of feeling ill to fellow prisoner of conscience, Luu Van Vinh, who told his wife, Nguyen Thi Thap.
Vinh escorted Thu back to his cell and asked prison health workers to check on the man’s condition, but they did not, Thap told Radio Free Asia.
“My husband requested that the nurses pay extra attention to him, but they seemed not to care,” she said, adding that Thu’s condition became critical later that day, and his fellow inmates asked that he be sent to a hospital for emergency care.
“But it was too late. He passed away at 9:30 a.m.” on Sunday, Thap said.
It was unclear exactly what Thu died from, but in 2019 Thu’s family told RFA that they were concerned about his health because of his history of diabetes, arthritis and cardiovascular problems. His wife, Vo Thi Thanh Thuy, said the family sent written requests to prison officials allowing Thu to go to a hospital for checkups and treatment, but he only received approval to do so once.
RFA could not reach prison officials at Gia Trung Detention Center to verify information about Thu’s death.
Bui Ngoc Dien, Thu’s daughter-in-law, confirmed that Thu had died and that the family was preparing for his funeral.
Established in 1969, An Dan Dai Dao operated legally under the Republic of Vietnam, but was prohibited and its members persecuted after the communist government takeover in 1975.
Its followers wanted to create a new utopia in which science, nature and humankind would be harmoniously balanced, and organized conferences and produced leaflets to disseminate their beliefs, according to The 88 Project, which advocates for free speech and civil liberties in Vietnam.
At its height, the Buddhist sect had a network of 14 temples, hundreds of monks, and thousands of followers until the government expropriated its properties and forced its followers into hiding.
Under Thu, also known as Tran Cong, An Dan Dai Dao built the Da Bia Ecotourism Area in Phu Yen province in the south central region.
In February 2012, police raided the ecotourism site and arrested Thu and two dozen others on charges of “conducting activities to overthrow the government” and “illegal possession, use and sale of explosives.”
Thu was sentenced to life in prison in 2013, while 21 others each received sentences ranging from 10 to 17 years.
Thu was the second member of the Buddhist sect to die in prison. Doan Dinh Nam died at the age of 68 at Xuyen Moc Detention Center in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, where he was serving a 16-year sentence.
Vietnam’s one-party communist government restricts independent religious groups in terms of their right to practice religion freely by requiring them to register to do so.
Even though many religious organizations have a long history in the country, the government makes it difficult for them to practice their religion, and local police often monitor their followers and events.
Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Negotiations by Indonesia to purchase U.S.-made fighter-jets were “in advanced stages,” the country’s defense minister said Monday after he met in Jakarta with his American counterpart.
In February, the U.S. State Department had approved the potential sale of F-15ID aircraft and related equipment for up to $13.9 billion.
“The F-15 negotiations are continuing and we are in advanced stages,” Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto told reporters after his meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
“I think now it will be dependent on the government to finally decide,” he said.
Austin expressed support for Indonesia’s efforts to modernize its military, saying the jets would complement the Indonesia’s fleet of F-16 fighters. The Indonesian Air Force has 33 F-16s.
“We certainly support the minister’s efforts to continue to modernize [the military],” Austin told reporters. “The United States is proud to partner with you as we work together to advance our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) previously said Indonesia had requested purchasing 36 F-15s.
The meeting with Austin follows Prabowo’s visit to China on Friday where he met with Defense Minister Wei Fenghe to thank Beijing for its support during the pandemic and for providing new security technologies, according to a statement released by the Indonesian Defense Ministry.
China’s Defense Ministry said the two ministers agreed to resume joint exercises suspended during the COVID-19 epidemic.
After meeting with Austin, Prabowo hailed Indonesia’s friendly ties with China and the United States.
“I like to emphasize that Indonesia always takes the position of trying to maintain the best relationships with all nations, especially all the major powers,” he said. “I have openly declared many times that we consider China to be a friendly nation.”
Any misunderstandings, differences in views of opinions and territorial matters will be resolved with “dialogue, a friendly attitude and with a friendly relationship,” Prabowo said.
Still, “Indonesia will defend its sovereignty, will defend our independence,” he said.
While Indonesia is not a territorial claimant in the South China Sea its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) overlaps Beijing’s claims. Chinese fishing boats and Coast Guard ships have encroached on Indonesia’s EEZ, sparking diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
China has demanded that Indonesia stop drilling for oil and gas, alleging in an unprecedented diplomatic note last year that these activities were occurring in South China Sea waters it claims, an Indonesian lawmaker said in December 2021.
Race against time
Khairul Fahmi, a security analyst at the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies, said Indonesia was “racing against time” to secure the F-15 deal as the U.S. offer could expire soon.
“It seems that the Ministry of Finance has yet to give the green light for the acquisition plan to be realized using a foreign loan scheme,” Khairul told BenarNews.
The defense and finance ministries may still need more time to discuss the F-15 purchase plan, he said.
“I am still optimistic that the United States will understand,” said Khairul.
Ramdhan Muhaimin, a defense analyst at Al Azhar University Indonesia, said a stronger Indonesia would contribute to regional stability.
“Because Indonesia is the backbone of the region and ASEAN. This region has seen divisions caused by big power rivalries,” Ramdhan told BenarNews.
In February, Indonesia signed a deal to acquire six of French Rafale fighter-jets. It also signed a preliminary agreement for joint production and assembly of French Scorpene submarines.
In December 2021, Indonesia’s air force commander, Air Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo, announced that Jakarta had abandoned a deal to purchase Russian Sukhoi Su-35 jets and instead set its sights on the U.S- and French-made fighters.
Such purchases are in line with a pledge by Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to modernize the country’s military. According to a draft presidential decree circulated in June 2021, the Indonesian government planned to spend U.S. $125 billion during the next three years to upgrade and modernize its military arsenal.
The government proposed spending $79.1 billion on military equipment, $13.4 billion in interest on 25-year loans from foreign sources, and $32.5 billion on contingencies and maintenance.
Many Indonesians criticized the plan to spend billions on the military during the pandemic when people had lost their jobs or had seen their salaries slashed. The status of the decree is not known.
Since becoming defense minister in 2019, Prabowo has visited weapons-producing countries including the U.S., Russia, China and France to secure defense deals.
The ministry last year announced plans to acquire 15 C-130J transport aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin in the U.S., and two French Airbus 330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) planes.
In addition, Indonesia ordered two Airbus A400M transport aircraft in an agreement signed on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshow in 2021.
Cambodia’s government used the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse for busting unions by jailing union members, preventing new unions from being formed, and stopping strikes and protests, a new report by Human Rights Watch said.
The report said that in addition to abusing coronavirus restrictions to crack down on workers asserting their rights, authorities also allowed employers to ignore labor regulations and treat workers unfairly in violation of Cambodian labor laws.
“The Cambodian government and unscrupulous employers used the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to further restrict independent unions instead of protecting worker welfare and rights at a desperate time,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Robertson said labor rights in the Southeast Asian kingdom were backsliding and urged the international community to pressure the country’s authoritarian government to comply with labor rights obligations.
The report documented five examples of unfair dismissals and mass layoffs that targeted union leaders and activists, including the high-profile NagaWorld Casino controversy.
In December 2021, thousands of NagaWorld workers walked off their jobs, demanding higher wages and the reinstatement of eight jailed union leaders, three other jailed workers and many others they say were unjustly fired from the hotel and casino. The complex is owned by a Hong Kong-based company believed to have connections to family members of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Cambodian authorities called the strike illegal and alleged that it is supported by foreign donors as a plot to topple the government, and then repeatedly arrested protesters en masse for “violating pandemic health regulations.”
The Human Rights Watch report also documented Cambodian companies’ use of fixed-duration contracts to restrict workers’ rights. Employers were able to discontinue the contracts on a whim to target union leaders and activists, and get out of paying severance payments as required by law.
Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training issued an order to allow fixed-duration contracts to extend beyond two years, which the organization said was an “apparent violation of Cambodian labor law.”
Government entities that are supposed to protect labor are not acting, Human Rights Watch said. The Arbitration Council, which interprets labor law to settle disputes “has increasingly refused to rule against the ministry,” the report said.
Accurate reporting
The report accurately reflects the situation on the ground, sources in Cambodia told Radio Free Asia’s Khmer Service.
Cambodia’s court system has been complicit in restricting labor rights, said Chhan Bora, who participated in the NagaWorld strike and is a member of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees.
She said the court has summoned her after NagaWorld Casino’s owner sued strikers, whom she said were trying to demand that the owner complies with Cambodian labor laws.
Having “government authorities as arbitrator in charge of solving this labor dispute are not independent,” said Chhan Bora.
“The labor dispute has been protracted, and they cannot solve it,” she said. “Yet, they turn to support the [foreign] employer’s side and treat our Cambodian workers badly.”
Even though Cambodia is party to International Labor Organization conventions that protect the rights of association, organization and collective bargaining, newly created Cambodian laws go against these conventions, said Ou Tep Phallin, president of the Cambodian Food and Service Workers Federation.
“Cambodian workers face difficulties in forming their unions, in registering their unions. They are subject to government pressure,” said Ou Tep Phallin.
“I think the whole system of the government is not to promote civic rights, but to promote the employers’ wealth to arbitrarily do anything [against workers],” she said.
RFA attempted to contact government spokespeople from the government, the labor ministry, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, and the government-aligned Cambodian Human Rights Committee, but none could be reached as of Monday.
Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Three years after protesters at Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University fought pitched battles with columns of riot police and armored cars, many supporters of the city’s vanishing freedoms are now in exile.
The 11-day siege of PolyU began on Nov. 18, 2019, after around 1,000 protesters occupied the university as part of an ongoing series of actions to achieve the movement’s key demands: fully democratic elections; the withdrawal of plans to allow extradition to mainland China; greater official and police accountability; and an amnesty for detained protesters.
The protesters were then trapped on campus as riot police encircled the area, prompting nearly 100,000 people to turn out to battle riot police across Tsim Sha Tsui, Jordan, Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok and other parts of the Kowloon peninsula.
Some, like the U.K.-based group Stand With Hong Kong, are using evidence of human rights violations during the siege and elsewhere to put pressure on the British government to impose sanctions on Hong Kong officials responsible for police violence against protesters, including a number of British nationals serving as high-ranking officers in the Hong Kong police force at the time.
Others, like documentary filmmaker Chan Tze-woon, remember the protest movement through film. Chan’s latest film “Blue Island” is a retrospective on the protest movement and, in the director’s words, represents “a desperate attempt to capture the final moments of a sinking island.”
Chan’s film was nominated at Taiwan’s Golden Horse awards at the weekend, but can’t be screened in Hong Kong under citywide crackdown on dissent, including any public reference to the protest movement.
Water cannon and tear gas
Around 1,300 people were arrested during the siege of PolyU, which saw around 300 people sent to different hospitals for injuries related to water cannon blast, tear gas, and rubber bullets, as protesters wielding Molotov cocktails, catapults and other makeshift weapons from behind barricades beat back repeated attempts by riot police to advance into the university campus.
Small groups of protesters continued to make desperate bids for freedom throughout the siege, many of them only to end up being arrested and beaten bloody by police.
Police also deployed tear gas, water cannon, and rubber bullets against a crowd of thousands trying to push through towards Poly U from Jordan district, with hundreds forming human chains to pass bricks, umbrellas, and other supplies to front-line fighters.
Rights groups hit out at the Hong Kong police for ‘fanning the flames’ of violence, as desperate protesters were trapped for several days inside the campus, while hundreds more waged pitched battles with riot police on the streets of Kowloon.
Call for sanctions
The U.S.-based group Human Rights in China condemned police action in and around Poly U as “trapping students, journalists, and first aiders, and reportedly handcuffing the latter group.”
A former protester who gave only the nickname Venus for fear of reprisals against friends and family said she was a 17-year-old high school student who volunteered to extinguish live tear gas rounds on the barricades.
She told a recent news conference in London that she is still living with the psychological trauma of the siege, and called on the government to use “the sacrifices of our Hong Kong brothers and sisters as ammunition.”
“A number of countries, such as the United States, have sanctioned Hong Kong officials,” Venus said. “We believe the U.K. should also implement Magnitsky-style sanctions,” a reference to laws that impose governmental sanctions on foreigners who have committed human rights abuses or been involved in significant corruption.
In its submission to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on Nov. 14, the group said: “Over 12 days of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University siege, [police] fired 1,458 tear gas canisters and arrested many leaving the university or the vicinity thereof in an event widely referred to as ‘The Siege of PolyU.'”
“Thousands of tear gas canisters and rubber bullets were fired at trapped students, first aiders, and unrelated members of the public [with] water cannons, sonic weapons, and armored [vehicles] deployed against citizens,” the report said.
“Trapped Hongkongers desperate to escape the blockage turned to dangerous and life-threatening methods and potential routes as attempts to leave by safe routes were met with projectiles from the Hong Kong Police Force and indiscriminate arrests,” it said.
“Despite the [police] promise to not arrest medical workers, in reality many were arrested upon their departure from the premises of PolyU and subsequently charged.”
Many were charged with “rioting,” punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment, and some with “illegal assembly,” which carries a maximum of five years in jail.
The group is calling for sanctions on then chief executive Carrie Lam, current chief executive John Lee, who was security chief at the time, and current security chief Chris Tang, who was chief of police at the time of protests.
The list also included British nationals Rupert Dover and David Jordan, who were serving as assistant police commissioners at the time of the protest movement, and two police officers suspected of colluding with gang members who attacked people in Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2019.
“Blue Island”
In Chan’s film “Blue Island,” chaotic scenes of pitched battles between police and protesters wielding makeshift weapons are intercut with interviews and docudrama sequences about people who swam to Hong Kong to escape the political turmoil of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in mainland China.
But the focus on the protests has made it impossible to show the film to people “who decide to stay and share the fate of the city regardless,” in the words of one interviewee.
In this Nov. 18, 2019 photo, riot police storm into Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong. Three years after the siege of the city’s Polytechnic University by riot police, some Hong Kongers campaign from exile for sanctions on government officials, while others remember the movement through film-making.(Vincent Yu/AP)
Many of his interviewees are now serving jail terms, or awaiting trial, either as former protesters or as former opposition politicians and activists charged under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the Chinese Communist Party from July 1, 2020.
“Since 2019, it seems that everyone has lost their freedom of speech, and can’t express themselves freely,” Chan told RFA in a recent interview. “Given that Hong Kong has changed so much, what even is Hong Kong?”
“I hope that we can examine our own values in the eyes of a generation who have been through an important part of history, and wonder along with them what Hong Kong means to us,” he said.
Trapped
A former protester who gave only the nickname Shue Tzai for fear of reprisals, said he is only now about to stand trial for “rioting” after being trapped in a narrow subway exit in Yaumatei, where protesters were crushed together after being herded into a too-small space by riot police.
“A lot of people were injured due to the sudden police roundup, passers by and protesters alike,” said Shue Tzai, who says he still suffers post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms linked to the incident.
“People were injured before they even had time to react — there were a lot of different sounds, maybe rubber bullets or flash-grenades,” he said. “The alleyway at Exit A1 of the Yaumatei MTR is very narrow, and 100, 200 people couldn’t fit into it.”
“Even now, the police won’t admit it was a crush incident.”
Shue Tzai said some of the evidence brought against protesters for “rioting” was entirely circumstantial, and involved the fact that they were wearing black, a ubiquitous color during the protest movement.
“Everyone has lost their freedom over the past three years,” he said. “We [who are facing jail] are only a special case of that.”
Chan, who financed “Blue Island” through crowdfunding, said filmmakers, teachers and journalists are all under increasing pressure not to run afoul of the national security law.
“But I don’t let those kinds of worries or fears grow too big, because I know if I allow these emotions to direct my thinking, I won’t be able to make the next film,” Chan said. “I think we need to be vigilant, but I’m not afraid.”
“I will carry on making films, even if there seems to be no space left to do that,” he said.
Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
In her first official visit to Manila, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris promised on Monday that Washington would invoke a decades-old mutual defense treaty if Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea came under attack.
Harris made the pledge as the Philippine Navy accused China’s coast guard of “forcibly retrieving” space debris from a Chinese rocket in contested waters near the Spratly Islands.
“In particular as it relates to the Philippines, I will say that we must reiterate always that we stand with you in defense of international rules and norms as it relates to the South China Sea,” Harris said while meeting with Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the Malacañang presidential palace here.
She said ties between Manila and Washington were based on mutual security concerns in the Indo-Pacific, including the South China Sea, a mineral-rich waterway that Beijing claims almost in its entirety on historical grounds. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan also have their own territorial claims.
“An armed attack on the Philippines, armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. Mutual Defense commitments. And that is an unwavering commitment that we have to the Philippines,” Harris said.
She was referring to a 1951 bilateral treaty that binds both countries to send troops and aid in each other’s military defense in the event of an attack from an external power.
Harris is the highest-ranking Biden administration official to visit the longtime U.S. ally in Southeast Asia, where the United States and rival superpower China are competing for influence.
Harris is scheduled on Tuesday to visit Palawan, a Philippine island on the frontline of Manila’s maritime dispute with Beijing. She is expected to board one of the Philippine Coast Guard ships that patrol the South China Sea and give a speech after a briefing on maritime security operations.
Marcos, who was elected president in May, thanked Harris for “the very strong commitment” and assured her of stronger ties between the two nations.
“The situation is rapidly changing. We must evolve to be properly responsive to that situation, but – and so that is why it is very important that we continue to progress, that we continue to strengthen and we – as we redefine those relationships,” Marcos said.
Under his immediate predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, Manila developed warmer ties with Beijing and drifted away from its traditional alliance with Washington.
“I have said many times: I do not see a future for the Philippines that does not include the United States. And that really has – that really has come from the very long relationship that we have had with the U.S.,” he said.
As the two met at the presidential palace in Manila, almost 100 protesters took to the streets of the Philippine capital to oppose Harris’ visit and “reject U.S. attempts to establish more military facilities in the Philippines.”
Police blocked them from advancing.
Police hold back Filipino activists protesting in Manila against the visit by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Nov. 21, 2022. [Jojo Riñoza/BenarNews]
Also on Monday, the Philippine Navy’s Western Command and the Chinese embassy issued competing statements about the incident on Sunday near Manila-occupied Pag-asa (Thitu), an island in the Spratly chain.
A China Coast Guard ship twice blocked a Philippine naval boat before deploying a rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB), Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos said.
“The … RHIB forcefully retrieved [the] floating object by cutting the towing line attached to the [Philippine Navy] rubber boat,” Carlos said in a statement, adding that the debris was towed back to the China Coast Guard ship.
“The [Philippine] team decided to return to Pag-asa island,” Carlos said.
No Filipino sailor was injured in the incident.
Carlos said the navy reported the incident to the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea “for appropriate action.”
The West Philippine Sea is how Filipinos refer to territories claimed by Manila in the South China Sea.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it is “aware of the incident and awaits the detailed reports from maritime law enforcement agencies.”
The Chinese Embassy, meanwhile, challenged the statement from Carlos.
“Relevant reports are inconsistent with facts,” the embassy said in a statement.
It said the China Coast Guard found the wreckage from a recently launched rocket, at around 8 a.m. Sunday.
“Before the China Coast Guard found the said floating object, some Philippine Navy personnel [had] already retrieved and towed it. After friendly consultation the Philippine side returned the floating object to the Chinese side on the spot,” the embassy said.
“The Chinese side expressed gratitude to the Philippine side. There was no so-called blocking of the course of a Philippine Navy boat and forcefully retrieving the object at the scene.”
Marcos and Harris met days after the Philippine leader discussed maritime disputes with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting in Bangkok last week, their first face-to-face meeting.
The Filipino and Chinese presidents highlighted the need to finish negotiations on a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea to “help manage differences and regional tensions,” according to the DFA.
Myanmar’s military authorities are failing to arrest and charge perpetrators of violent crimes like armed robbery and murder, say crime victims and regime opponents, who accuse the junta of fighting political foes instead of crime.
Violent offenses across the country–including the largest two cities, Yangon and Mandalay–have largely gone unpunished in the wake of the junta’s recent amnesty, during which more criminals than political dissidents were freed, they said.
The regime, formally called the State Administration Council, said last week it had released 5,774prisoners, including 712 political prisoners, to mark a national holiday.
That brought the total number of amnesty grantees to 62,865 prisoners since the military seized power from the democratically elected government in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021. The Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar and other research groups noted that only 5,268 of them were political prisoners arrested for participating in anti-coup protests and movements.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs, which was controlled by the military even before the coup, has not updated its public crime statistics since 2018.
A statement issued by the military regime in November did not specify the crimes of the inmates who were freed. A July 2021 amnesty dismissed criminal cases pending before the courts filed prior to the coup for 11 types of offenses, including theft; larceny; arrests made without a warrant; and violations of gambling, excise and forestry laws.
More recently, Monywa District People’s Defense Army, a militia group in Sagaing region’s largest city, issued a statement in September, saying that criminals freed from prison under junta amnesties included those sentenced during the previous civilian-led government for violent crimes such as rape, murders and theft, as well as members of criminal gangs who committed new crimes.
As of Monday, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thailand-based rights group, recorded 6,316 arrests for political reasons since the coup and 3,371 releases, suggesting that others freed by the junta had been imprisoned for other crimes.
In urban centers in the country of 54 million people, women and elderly have become targets of robbers and muggers who commit crimes in gangs.
Yangon resident Myo Aye said he was robbed of the equivalent of about U.S. $72 by muggers on an Indian-made motorbike while standing at a crowded bus stop in Yangon on Nov. 1.
The following day, three men with knives robbed a hardware store in the city’s Pabedan township in downtown and stabbed the owner before they stole his car, his cell phone and some cash.
Similarly, there was a gang robbery in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city by population, on the same day. Nwe Ni, who was robbed of her motorbike and necklace in the incident, said residents must live amid the lawlessness.
“I didn’t even have time to scream,” she said. “It was in broad daylight while many people were going to the market. The robbers were a group of young men. It was very scary.”
‘State of anarchy’
On Oct. 30, award-winning author College Star, 70, and his wife, a retired schoolteacher, were stabbed to death during a robbery at their home in Yangon’s Mingalar Taung Nyunt township.
“The authorities cannot find the murderers,” said neighbor Mying Oo. “If the authorities want to restore law and order, they should try to take action to catch the perpetrators. Now, we are now living in a state of anarchy.”
Bo Bo Oo, a former parliamentarian for Yangon’s Sanchaung township, said the junta was responsible for the increased threats to people’s lives and property.
“The protections under the law are totally gone now,” he told RFA. “There is no guarantee for individual citizens. The ruling regime is arresting and killing people at will and for no reason, so it is not surprising that the security condition has deteriorated under such a regime.”
Bo Bo Oo said that military regime leaders who seized power from Myanmar’s elected government in a February 2021 coup have shown no capacity to restore law and order.
Minh Zaw Oo, executive director of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security, said security conditions for civilians in Myanmar are now the worst since the military coup.
“Now, we are witnessing an increasing number of crimes like bank robberies or robbery- homicide cases,” he said. “It’s true that the security condition of civilians has gone down vastly.”
Junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said during a regime meeting on Nov. 1 that a country cannot be stable without law and order, especially if people live in fear of getting mugged.
An attorney, who declined to be identified for safety reasons, said despite Min Aung Hlaing’s comments, the military has prioritized strengthening its rule over cracking down on criminals.
“The activities of the police forces, which are controlled by the military council, are now almost at a standstill,” he said. “They are doing nothing concerning crime prevention, investigations or prosecutions.”
Instead, authorities are mainly focused on cracking down on sympathizers of the parallel National Unity Government and members of People’s Defense Force, the NUG’s armed wing and have abandoned ensuring the safety of citizens.
“Under these circumstances, there are increased crimes, instability and lawlessness around the country,” he said.
Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung for RFA Burmese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Edited by Paul Eckert.
