Day: January 25, 2023

An exiled Cambodian opposition activist is in hot water for allegedly impersonating a Cambodian military officer after he dressed up like a three-star general and mocked the son of Prime Minister Hun Sen in a social media video that has gone viral.

In the video, Long Sokunthearak, who lives in Ohio, said that Hun Sen’s son Hun Manet was only able to rise to a position of power because of his father’s influence, and that the elder Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since 1985, has been targeting opposition party politicians to make it easier for his son to one day take his place.

“I wanted to tell the public that my fake uniform has no value, just like the uniform given to Hun Manet by Hun Sen,” Long Sokunthearak told RFA’s Khmer Service.

Hun Manet is Cambodia’s Deputy Commander in Chief of the army, with a rank of infantry commander. 

Supporters of Hun Sen called for action against Long Sokunthearak over the video.

“The individual’s actions, through incitement by illegally impersonating as a military officer, affected the national security and dignity of the Royal Army,” Cambodian Defense Ministry Spokesman Chum Socheat said in a statement.  “It is a serious breach of law that can’t be forgiven.”

Chum Socheat also said that the video insulted the prime minister and the dignity of Hun Manet.

 Hun Manet’s brother Hun Many took to Facebook to condemn the video, saying, “This is an insult that can’t be accepted.” 

“This is baseless and derogatory speech and it has affected me as a family member,” Hun Many said. “I appeal to the authorities to take actions that impersonate a military officer.”

Long Sokunthearak said that he had no intention to pass himself off as a Cambodian military officer, and that the government was only targeting him because it wants to link him to the Candlelight Party, which is the current main opposition party, to justify action against that party ahead of this year’s general elections, scheduled for July.

Long Sokunthearak is affiliated with the Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP, which was once the country’s main opposition party until Cambodia’s Supreme Court dissolved it in 2017 after the party performed well in communal elections that year.

He distanced himself from the Candlelight party, saying he only had ties to the CNRP.

“I am a supporter of the victim,” he said.

Political commentator Em Sovannara said that Long Sokunthearak’s stunt was an example of “bad culture” that he does not support.

He said that  politicians should be mature and ethical so people can trust them and urged them to compete on the issues rather than attacking each other.

 Translated  by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

North Koreans forced to study supreme leader Kim Jong Un’s newly published “master plan” for 2023 say it is a rehash of old tropes and offers nothing on how to address the most pressing concern on people’s minds: overcoming the country’s chronic food shortage, sources tell Radio Free Asia.

Instead, it focuses on strengthening the military and the country’s missile and nuclear capabilities, and authorities are forcing citizens to study the highly-touted proposal in educational sessions this month.

“This year’s party policy … is a repeat of the same old themes that have been repeatedly emphasized for decades,” an official from the northern province of Ryanggang told RFA on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

Authorities published the booklet as a nojak, meaning it is among the county’s masterpieces of published materials, and therefore an “immortal classic work.” The only other authors of nojak are Kim Jong Un’s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il, and grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung.

The master plan did in fact discuss some current concerns, according to the source, but none dealt directly with providing a steady food supply for the impoverished country that has been isolated by sanctions over its nuclear program.

“They covered forestry projects, developments in science and technology, and projects to eradicate non-socialist behavior,” he said. “But unless we change our current policy of emphasizing national defense and increasing the military’s capabilities, how will we ever come up with a policy that addresses the problems directly related to how the people are struggling to live?”

Part of the educational materials discussion of Kim Jong Un’s “heroic accomplishments,” but the people scoff at these, a source in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

“The general secretary boasts about the nuclear force policy as a great achievement completed under extremely adverse conditions,” the second source said. “But this policy has been a fatal blow to the lives of the residents.”

“They say, ‘Why do we need to do these kinds of ideological studies when nothing has changed after decades of studying?’” he said. “This is presented as a 100-year plan to create a rich and strong country, but nobody actually believes that.” 

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee and Leejin J. Chung

Southeast Asian rights group Fortify Rights and 16 Myanmar nationals have filed a criminal complaint with Germany’s federal public prosecutor general against Myanmar’s junta for atrocities committed against ethnic Rohingya and other groups.

The 215-page complaint, with more than 1,000 pages of annexes, was filed on Jan. 20 under the principle of “universal jurisdiction” and calls for an investigation and prosecution of individuals responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

A brutal military offensive in their home state of Rakhine from 2016 to 2017 drove some 740,000 people across the border to Bangladesh, where they remain in squalid refugee camps.

The complaint also calls for accountability for atrocity crimes committed by the junta against various other groups in the nearly two years since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup.

Matthew Smith, chief executive officer for Fortify Rights, said that the objective of the complaint is for German authorities to initiate an investigation, collect and preserve evidence for future cases, and ultimately issue arrest warrants for those responsible.

“In the event that happens, things such as extradition to Germany become very real,” Smith said Tuesday during an event held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand in Bangkok by Fortify Rights to announce the filing of its complaint.

“Of course, there are a lot of unknowns at this moment, but certainly this will send a message to members of the Myanmar military junta and others that are responsible for crimes in Myanmar that they’re not safe,” he said. “They’re not safe to travel in our world.”

Universal jurisdiction

Fortify Rights’ complaint is the latest international effort to hold the junta accountable for atrocity crimes. Others include cases at the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and a universal jurisdiction case in Argentina for crimes committed against the Rohingya – all brought in 2019.

However, Fortify Rights said its filing would not duplicate any of the efforts currently underway and would add to what it called “mounting evidence” of the junta’s crimes. The ongoing efforts either fail to encompass the scope of crimes alleged in the new filing or would not hold individuals criminally accountable for atrocity crimes, it said.

“German authorities are well-placed to fill present gaps left by the currently pending accountability mechanisms,” the group said in a statement.

There are more than 100 investigations into universal jurisdiction cases currently underway in Germany, suggesting that the prosecutor may be willing to take up the complaint, although a timeline for the process remains unclear.

Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle enabling a state to prosecute individuals responsible for mass atrocity crimes regardless of where they were committed or the nationality of the perpetrator or victims. The principle is typically applied for crimes deemed so severe that they represent offenses against the entire international community.

Investigations by German authorities into international crimes can also potentially be used in prosecutions in venues and jurisdictions outside Germany, Fortify noted.

‘Relief for the suffering of Myanmar’s people’

Of the 16 complainants, nearly half are survivors of military-led “clearance operations” of the Rohingya in Rakhine state in 2016 and 2017, while the other half have survived post-coup atrocities throughout the country in 2021 and 2022.

They include six women and 10 men who represent ethnicities including Rakhine, Burman, Chin, Karen, Kerenni, Mon and Rohingya from different backgrounds including students, farmers, rights campaigners, businesspersons, former village chiefs, and homemakers.

All survived or witnessed crimes in Myanmar and many have since fled the country.

Together, they allege that the military systematically killed, raped, tortured, imprisoned, disappeared, persecuted, and committed other acts that amount to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in violation of German law. 

Their complaint includes evidence that senior junta officials exercised responsibility over subordinates who committed crimes, knew about such crimes, and failed to take any action to prevent the crimes and punish the perpetrators.

Fortify Right’s Smith told RFA that German authorities had confirmed receipt of the complaint and said prosecutors are “likely to wait for further developments,” including the submission of additional complaints, until making a determination on whether to proceed with the case.

Speaking to RFA Burmese, veteran human rights lawyer Kyee Myint welcomed the international support “for things we cannot do domestically” under military rule.

“This lawsuit is encouraging for our people … It is also a form of relief for the physical and mental suffering of Myanmar’s people who are oppressed, burned to death, robbed, raped, and whose houses were torched and destroyed.”

In July, the ICJ rejected all of Myanmar’s objections to a case brought against it by Gambia that accuses the country of genocide against the Rohingya, clearing the way for the court to move on to the merits phase of the process and consider the factual evidence against Myanmar, a process that could take years.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.