#defence current affair 2017 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fearlessleaders23 · 1 year

Text

Regional Geopolitics by India’s Involvement in SCO

by Col (Dr) Shantonu Roy Introduction

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, or Shanghai Pact, an Eurasian political, economic, international security and defence organization established by China and Russia in 2001. The SCO currently comprises eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). It is the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographic scope and population, covering approximately 60% of the area of Eurasia, 40% of the world population. As of 2021, its combined GDP was around 20% of global GDP.

The SCO is the successor to the Shanghai Five, formed in 1996 between the People's Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, and Tajikistan. In June 2001, the leaders of these nations and Uzbekistan met in Shanghai to announce a new organization with deeper political and economic cooperation. In June 2017, it expanded to eight states, with India and Pakistan. Iran joined the group in July 2023. Several countries are engaged as observers or dialogue partners. The SCO is governed by the Heads of State Council (HSC), its supreme decision-making body, which meets once a year. The organization also contains the so-called Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).

In 2001, the annual summit returned to Shanghai and the group was institutionalized. The five member nations first admitted Uzbekistan in the Shanghai Five mechanism. On 15 June 2001, all six heads of state signed the Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, praising the role played thus far by the Shanghai Five mechanism and aiming to transform it to a higher level of cooperation. From 2001 to 2008, the SCO developed rapidly, establishing a number of permanent bodies and adhoc initiatives dealing with economic and security matters. In July 2015, in Ufa, Russia, the SCO decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members. In June 2016 in Tashkent, both signed the memorandum of obligations, thereby starting the process of joining the SCO. In June 2017, at a summit in Kazakhstan, India and Pakistan officially joined SCO as full members.

In 2004 the SCO established relations with the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2005, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2005, the Collective Security Treaty Organization in 2007, the Economic Cooperation Organization in 2007, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2011, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in 2014, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in 2015. in 2018, SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) has established relations with the African Union's African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT). The United States applied for observer status in the SCO, but was rejected in 2005.

Regional Dynamics

Basically, it was felt that China created the SCO for curbing Russia’s dominance in the area. But, the heads of the member states point out that, against the backdrop of a contradictory process of globalisation, multilateral cooperation, which is based on the principles of equal right and mutual respect, non-intervention in internal affairs of sovereign states, non-confrontational way of thinking and consecutive movement towards democratisation of international relations, contributes to overall peace and security, and they collectively call upon the international community, irrespective of its differences in ideology and social structure, to form a new concept of security based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and interaction. It is trying to provide an unique opportunity to take part in the process of forming a fundamentally new model of geopolitical integration. The SCO was not a platform for resolving bilateral issues, and its members were also reluctant to mediate disputes multilaterally. Due to the widely divergent agendas among member states, Indian commentators even called it the "Shanghai Contradiction Organisation".

The SCO's main achievement this far is to have offered its members a cooperative forum to balance their conflicting interests and to ease bilateral tensions. It has built up joint capabilities and has agreed on common approaches in the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism. However, major shortcomings, such as institutional weaknesses, a lack of common financial funds for the implementation of joint projects and conflicting national interests have prevented the SCO from achieving a higher level of regional cooperation in other areas.

India’s Involvement

India has steadfastly used its diplomatic capital to campaign for strengthening cooperation and used the SCO platform to collaborate with regional counterparts. In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Qingdao, China, coined the acronym SECURE to highlight the pressing regional challenges facing the SCO, where S stands for security of citizens, E – economic development for all, C – connecting the region, U – uniting the people, R – respect for sovereignty and integrity, and E for environmental protection.

India has been sensitising the influential members of SCO on Pakistan’s state-sponsored terrorism. The dreaded global and regional terror outfits, such as al-Qaeda, Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) to secure the SCO and greater Eurasian region from these radical extremist forces. The issue resonates with China, Russia and Central Asian Republics (CARs), which are facing increasing threats. Another common challenge to the SCO region is the illicit drug trade emanating from the Af-Pak region. In 2021, more than 80 per cent of opium and heroin supplies originated from Afghanistan via different routes to the global opium market. The greater involvement of terror outfits in the narcotic trade has sprung new geo-political challenges to the SCO. It has become a significant funding source for anti-state activities by the region’s dreaded terror groups and radical Islamists. India has been trying to garner support for putting an end to all these.

This year the summit which was held virtually at Delhi had the highlights

The New Delhi Declaration was signed by the member nations, which states that the international community must come together to "counter the activities of terrorist, separatist and extremist groups, paying special attention to preventing the spread of religious intolerance, aggressive nationalism, ethnic and racial discrimination, xenophobia, ideas of fascism and chauvinism."

Joint Statements:

The leaders adopted two thematic joint statements - one on cooperation in countering the radicalisation leading to separatism, extremism, and terrorism and the second one cooperation in the field of digital transformation.

New Pillars of Cooperation:

India has created five new pillars and focus area for cooperation in the SCO, which include,

Startups and Innovation

Traditional Medicine

Youth Empowerment

Digital Inclusion

Shared Buddhist Heritage

India's Reservations on BRI:

India refused to be part of the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) of the SCO members’ economic strategy statement, mentioning “interested member states’.India's opposition to the BRI stems from its inclusion of projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), which India considers a violation of its sovereignty.

Conclusion

Last but not least, there continues to be a perception in the West that SCO is an anti-West forum. However, India’s growing economic and political stature at the global level in the era of multi-vector foreign policy has made New Delhi a potential player in turning SCO into a development oriented organisation in Eurasia rather than an anti-west alliance. That is why New Delhi has been stressing maintaining peace and security based on UN Charter provisions to ensure the collective prosperity of the region.

India has advocated win-win cooperation within the SCO for regional or trans-regional connectivity, regional security and defence collaboration, combating state-sponsored terrorism, and a peaceful, prosperous Afghanistan with an inclusive government and peaceful global order without rival blocks. The challenge for New Delhi, going forward, will remain one of using its substantial diplomatic capital toward making the Eurasian region a driver of economic growth and prosperity within the ambit of SCO.

0 notes

ollie603 · 1 year

Text

Helen Clark - A deeper dive into her biography

Within her own website contains a biography of Helen Clark, listing pivotal moments in the politician's life.

Childhood

"Helen Clark was born on 26 February 1950 in the maternity wing of Waikato Hospital in Hamilton, the eldest child of Margaret and George Clark. She was brought up and spent much of her childhood on their farm in Te Pahu.

She went to Te Pahu Primary School, and then was sent by her parents to Auckland to attend Epsom Girls' Grammar School as a boarder."

Early political career

"In 1968 Helen Clark enrolled at the University of Auckland in a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in political studies and going on to a Masters. After graduating, she became a lecturer in the Department of Political Studies. In 1981 she was elected as the Member of Parliament for Mount Albert, an electorate she represented until retiring from Parliament in 2009.

1984–87, in the first term of the David Lange-led Fourth Labour Government, Helen Clark was Chair of both the Foreign Affairs and Defence Select Committee and the Disarmament and Arms Control Select Committee. In this role she played a major part in New Zealand’s validation of a nuclear-free policy, which the country endorses to this day.

From 1987 to 1990, in the second term of the Lange administration, Helen Clark was a Cabinet Minister. She held numerous portfolios including housing, health, and conservation. In 1989–90 she also served as Deputy Prime Minister. In 1990, she was appointed to the Privy Council, becoming the first woman in New Zealand to hold those offices.

After the Labour Government lost the 1990 election, Helen Clark was Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and of the Opposition until 1993, and then Leader of the Labour Party and of the Opposition until 1999. Following the 1999 election, the New Zealand Labour Party was able to form a governing coalition and Helen Clark was sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand."

Helen Clark as Prime Minister of NZ 1999-2008

"Helen Clark as Prime Minister also held the portfolio of Arts, Culture, and heritage. During her nine years as Prime Minister, New Zealand enjoyed strong economic growth, low unemployment, and notable investment in public services. Helen Clark set clear objectives for sustainable development and climate action, two areas she is still engaged in today."

Helen Clark as the Administrator for the UN development programme

"From 2009 to 2017 Helen Clark served two terms as Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, the first woman to do so.

She was also Chair of the United Nations Development Group, a committee consisting of the heads of all UN funds, programmes and departments in charge of development issues.

In 2013, after she was appointed to administer UNDP for a second term, Forbes named her the 21st most powerful woman in the world. She was the only New Zealander to make the list."

Helen Clark as a global leader in sustainable development and gender equality

"Helen Clark is currently involved in a range of international organisations. She is Patron of The Helen Clark Foundation, and chairs the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, The Global Leadership Foundation, and The Global Commission on Drug Policy, and other advisory boards and commissions.

In July 2020, Helen Clark was appointed by the Director-General of the World Health Organisation to co-chair the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. The Panel published its main report, COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic in May 2021.

Helen is one of the three Presidents of Chatham House, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Club de Madrid, the world's largest forum of former heads of state and government."

The Helen Clark Foundation

The Helen Clark Foundation was founded in 2019. It is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy think tank committed to generating and promoting policy research and debate in New Zealand. The organisation’s core values are inclusion, fairness, and sustainability, and the areas of research have included productivity, perinatal and maternal mental health, sustainable cities, and health equity. .

Anyone interested in a well-functioning democracy, and the future of effective public policy in New Zealand is invited to become a member and support The Helen Clark Foundation.

0 notes

joshjacksons · 3 years

Text

Joshua Jackson interview with “Irish Independent”

It was during a childhood visit to his granny’s house in Dublin’s Ballyfermot that Joshua Jackson smoked his first cigarette.

“My memories of those visits to Ballyfermot are quite sweet really,” the Dawson’s Creek actor recalls. “I was always running around with the neighbourhood kids, getting into trouble. Not bad trouble, just little-kid trouble. Although, technically it’s where I smoked my first cigarette, so that in itself isn’t the sweetest memory.”

Jackson’s handsome face surges with deep laughter lines and quiet dimples at the mention of mum Fiona’s home turf. “She might prefer I’d say she was from Chapelizod”, he jokes, before proudly pinning his mum’s allegiance to “Ballyer”.

Was the young Canadian treated like a shiny, exotic object by the local kids? “I was a bit, but I became less exotic the older I got. Culturally, I was so far away from an Irish kid but in a little pack of children, everyone finds their level. It also helped that I had my own cousins, my own blood, around with us. I had that family connection so I never felt too exoticised.”

An entry on his IMDb profile suggests his late grandparents Rosemary and Patrick were opera singers in Dublin, indicating that performance runs in the genes. The actor seems unaware. “Mum tells me they used to sing to each other a lot. My grandparents lived in council housing with a little kitchen out the back, garden right outside, and they would sing to each other through the window as he was out pottering about while she was cooking.

“But he was known more as a snooker shark around Ballyfermot. And my grandmother, she was known as a sainted mother of seven.”

Having welcomed his first child, Janie, with his wife, the actor Jodie Turner-Smith, last year, it’s obvious family is paramount for 43-year-old Jackson, as he Zoom-calls from a rich hotel suite with dark wallpaper and plump cushions in the background. It stems from an evident bond with his mum, whose presence lovingly peppers our conversation. Just 16 when she left Dublin, Fiona Jackson travelled through Paris, Amsterdam and Geneva before embracing the vibrancy of London’s Swinging Sixties and ultimately making for Vancouver in her early twenties.

In an entry on her blog, she speaks of falling for “the spectacular beauty of snow-capped mountains and the Pacific Ocean” and ultimately scoring an entry-level position at a Canadian talent agency. It led to a career as a successful casting agent, working on film classics including Carnal Knowledge with Jack Nicholson and McCabe & Mrs Miller with Warren Beatty and Julie Christie.

She met and married Joshua’s father, John Carter, and the young family moved to Los Angeles. Sister Aisleagh was born shortly before John walked out on the family, leaving a profound effect.

“My father, unfortunately, was not a good father or husband and exited the scene,” the actor disclosed last year, before adding it’s something he “will never get over”.

Young infants in tow, Fiona returned to Vancouver and, having found early success in casting, helped contribute to the foundation of the burgeoning “Hollywood North” industry on the Canadian west coast.

Accompanying his mum on set, young Joshua’s interests were piqued. “She introduced me to this world and saw from a young age that I enjoyed performing in a way that kids do. She allowed me the opportunity to step into her work world, but it was also very clear that it was work.”

He appeared as an extra on MacGyver and as a child actor’s double in The Fly II, and Fiona could see her son’s talent and genuine desire to impress. So she allowed him to audition. However, permission came with strict caveats.

“I don’t think my mum would have ever put me anywhere near the entertainment industry if I didn’t have something to offer to it. And not just for myself; she’s a prideful woman and didn’t want to be embarrassed by her kid.”

Casting 1991 melodrama Crooked Hearts with ER’s Noah Wyle, Fiona gave Joshua a chance to shine. Impressing the filmmakers, the then-12-year-old secured the part, setting him not only on a path to stardom but away from the troubles of his teen years.

“My mother gave me the guard rails I needed at that time and also recognised, being a working single mum and with me a young boy, transitioning into a teenager, I needed structure in my life. I needed something that I was passionate about and had a respect for, because I was kind of a typical teenage disaster.

“I look back on those times in my life and the two parallel tracks I was running on. On the one hand, getting into all sorts of trouble and, on the other hand, my professional life, where I showed up and learned my lines and did my job in order to be respected by the adults I was around. If I hadn’t had that professional side of my life, the other side would have taken over, and Mum saw that. Who knows where I would have ended up?”

So Jackson was a full-on teen delinquent? “Yeah, I was, to a certain extent. It was relatively innocent — nobody died — but I was a teenage boy who didn’t have a father in the home, didn’t have a man to be scared of, frankly, and as a teenage boy, I think that helps. My mum had to work and she wasn’t always in the house so I learned to get into more and more trouble. I got into just enough trouble to have a good time and learn some lessons but if I hadn’t had my work life, I might have tipped over into the kind of trouble that you don’t come back from.”

Three decades in and Jackson remains one of the hardest-working, most recognisable actors in the game. Hitting pay dirt at 18 as Dawson’s Creek’s Pacey Witter — the wisecracking, teacher-bedding antithesis to James Van Der Beek’s beleaguered titular drip — the actor was a revelation: the soul and bite of a seasoned character performer in the guise of relatable poster-boy idol.

Teens swooned, so did the industry, and alongside Van Der Beek, Michelle Williams and Katie Holmes, Jackson had Hollywood at his feet.

A string of popcorn offerings followed — Cruel Intentions, Gossip, Shutter, Cursed — some quality, others derivative, with the small screen ultimately best utilising his skills. A five-season run on sci-fi series Fringe was followed by an outstanding turn on Showtime’s The Affair. Last year, he maintained a brooding presence opposite Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington in Little Fires Everywhere. And this year, he takes on arguably his darkest work yet in Dr Death.

The new miniseries is based on the non-fiction podcast of the same name, and Jackson portrays Christopher Duntsch, a former spinal surgeon who maimed 33 patients owing to gross malpractice while operating in hospitals in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Two of these patients lost their lives. Convicted in 2017, Duntsch is currently in prison and serving life imprisonment. He still maintains his innocence, with his defence arguing that he was merely a bad surgeon, not a criminal.

Exuding a simmering malevolence, the actor showcases Duntsch’s disturbing complexities and terrifying behaviour as a narcissist and sociopath with a keen insight. Did Jackson meet with Duntsch? “I wanted to, but that was going to be really difficult because he’s appealing his case and his lawyers would’ve advised against it. And as I got deeper into the materials and podcast, and got a better understanding of the man, I don’t think it would’ve helped because he still really believes he’s the victim of his own patients, and the lawyers and the legal system. I’m not sure asking a liar for the truth gets you any closer to the truth.”

When it came to the victims, Jackson wanted to maintain a respectful distance. “I didn’t need to drag them through those awful memories again and I’m always a little dubious about asking people to delve into the worst moments of their life just to satisfy my curiosity. The questions had already been asked thanks to the podcast.”

Dr Death came at the right time in the actor’s life. New baby daughter Janie offered a crucial respite from the intense, and often dark, six-month foray into Duntsch’s malignant psyche.

“Inhabiting Mr Duntsch was an ugly space to live in for six months. If I’d been coming home to an empty house every night, it would have been a pretty bleak existence. It was so much better to come back to a loving home. My one-year-old doesn’t give a damn what I was doing that day. She just wants to be loved and hugged and cuddled, and it was the perfect antidote when some days were particularly heavy.”

Recently Jackson confessed that the Dawson’s Creek cast won’t be returning for a retrospective reunion like the Friends stars did earlier this year. “If you put our mid-forties selves together on a couch now, with our creaking backs, it might shock people.”

Quizzed on an actual reboot of the drama, Joshua reckons he’s simply too old to replicate the iconic rapid exchanges of dialogue between the garrulous young characters. “We were like The West Wing for teenagers,” he laughs, referencing Aaron Sorkin’s hit political TV series, also infamous for speedy script delivery. “My 43-year-old brain couldn’t do a show at that pace. Back then, we were doing seven, 10 pages a day and, to deliver dialogue at that speed, you have to have a certain mental capacity for that, and I don’t have it anymore. That’s the real reason why we’re not doing a reunion — I’ve become too dumb to keep up with that script.”

He remains in touch with his DC co-stars, including Holmes, his one-time girlfriend of two years. There’s even a text chain. “It goes through spurts every once in a while. I’ll have a bunch of messages on it and then it’ll go dormant. We’re like college friends — there are moments we’re all in contact and then long, fallow periods as we get on with our lives.”

While maintaining a busy slate, Jackson’s overwhelming purpose continues to circle the women in his life. Turner-Smith is currently shooting a new movie with Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig, so he’s assuming full-time dad duties. It’s an equitable arrangement given the flexible needs of their individual commitments, and one he appears content with.

#joshua jackson #dr death #dawson's creek #fringe #the affair #jodie turner smith

8 notes · View notes

pineforphantompain · 4 years

Text

My 2020 in Asian dramas (+film)

Film: (most of these were for a class)

(Taiwanese) Beautiful Duckling (1965) Rating: 7/10

(Tw) Home Sweet Home (1970) Rating: 6.5/10

(Tw) My Summer at Grandpa’s (1984) Rating: 6/10

(Tw) Super Citizen Ko (1995)

(Tw) Cape No. 7 (2008) My favourite Taiwanese film of the year.

(Tw) Finding Sayun (2011)

(Tw) Forever Love (2013)

An Old Lady (2020) My fave of the year. Rating: 8.5/10

Currently watching:

Cheat On Me If You Dare (2020) 2/16 eps watched (yes, I’m very behind)

Royal Secret Inspector (2020) 4/16 eps

True Beauty (2020) 6/16 eps (I don’t like it that much, but somehow it’s my current favourite).

Completed 2020 dramas:

Flower of Evil 16/16 eps watched. Rating: 8.5/10 (favourite of the year)

Start Up 16/16 eps. Rating: 7.5/10

When I Was the Most Beautiful 16/16 eps. Rating: 6/10

Alice 16/16 eps. Rating: 6.5/10

Convenience Store Saetbyul/Backstreet Rookie 16/16 eps. Rating: 5/10 (least favourite of the year, and in general so far)

Watched in 2020 from previous years:

Sassy Go Go (2015) 12/12 eps watched. I’m obsessed with Kwon Soo Ah. She is now one of my top 3 fave second female leads. Rating: 7.5/10

School 2015 (2015) 16/16 eps watched. For years, I’d been meaning to get to this because it is supposed to be one of the ultimate sls dramas. Randomly watched the whole thing in like a week a half when I should have been doing other things. Underwhelming, but fine. Rating: 7.5/10

(Rewatch) My Lovely Girl (2014) 16/16 eps watched. Somehow even worse than I remembered, but I love Se Na and Shi Woo, as well as this era of kpop and dramas so I wanted to revisit it. Rating: 6.5/10

(Rewatch) Shut Up Flower Boy Band (2012) 3/16 eps watched (the best episodes). Rating: 6/10 (okay I was too harsh, but we have personal beef so...)

Completed in 2020 from the frightening on-hold backlog:

Oh Hae Young Again (2016) 15/18 eps previously watched. Rating: 6.5/10

100 Days Husband (2016) 12/16 eps previously watched (I think? Might have been 13/16) Rating: 7/10

Hope to watch:

Welcome/Meow: The Secret Boy (2020) Kim Myungsoo did a catboy drama just for me and I didn’t watch, disgraceful

18 Again (2020)

Extraordinary You (2019)

SKY Castle (2018)

Playful Kiss (2010)

Whatever Happened in Bali (2004) I’ve been planning to watch this since 2013 and haven’t, maybe this will be the year?

(Cdrama) Scarlet Heart (2011) I planned to watch this before the Korean adaptation aired... in 2016. Expectations of actually getting to this low.

(Rewatch) (Th) Kiss Me (2015) Watching the ItaKiss anime has made me miss this version. Rating: 7.5/10

(Rewatch) Nail Shop Paris (2013) I have never claimed to have good taste. Sometimes you need to rewatch the worst drama you’ve seen a dozen or more times and that’s okay. Rating: 4.5/10

(Rewatch) Judge vs Judge / Nothing to Lose (2017) Rating: 7/10

(Rewatch) (J) Hana Kimi (2007) Always a good time. Rating: 8.5/10

From on-hold dramas:

Whisper (2017) 13/17 eps watched. This was just the next closest to being finished, but I’m not looking forward to rest of it. Finished since I started writing this list. Rating: 6.5/10

White Christmas (2011) 4/8 eps watched. The other one with 4 episodes left. Update: now 7/8 watched.

Equator Man (2012) 14/20 eps watched. Ah the first drama to suffer the fate of indefinite on-hold. Since I’m doing so well finishing things lately, maybe it’s time to revisit this.

While You Were Sleeping (2017) 9/32 eps watched. Suzy, the sls, I really need to finish.

Love Affairs in the Afternoon (2019) 4/16 eps watched. I was supposed to finish this for a kdrama exchange in 2019, and didn’t, like a failure. (In my defence I hardly watched anything 2019 and most of 2020).

Madame Antoine (2016) 8/16 eps watched

Oh My Geumbi (2016) 5/16 eps watched. One of those dramas for which it’s a mystery how we ended up like this. I should return to it.

Memories of the Alhambra (2018) 8/16 eps watched. I must do it for my girl Park ShinHye.

Ruler (2017) 4/40 eps watched (a popular sls drama for the second female lead!! How could I not finish this?) I liked the beginning, but I think I was trying to watch too much at the time and then fell into a drama slump.

(J) Hana Kimi remake (2011) 4/11 eps watched. The last Hana Kimi I have to watch!

Golden Pouch (2016). 33/122 eps watched. I’d like to make some progress, but I’m not too concerned with actually completing soon.

I’m not too sure what all is coming in 2021, but I plan to watch Sisyphus: The Myth because I love psh and would watch almost anything for her (except that z****e film).

#long post #I’m aware no one else really cares but I guess I wanted to do this anyway #ignore me #if anyone would like to talk to me about dramas (any of these or your own) I wouldn’t complain though #drama recap #2020 drama recap #drama year in review

15 notes · View notes

antoine-roquentin · 5 years

Link

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger withstood intense pressure not to publish some of the Snowden revelations but agreed to Johnson taking a seat on the D-Notice Committee as a tactical sop to the security services. Throughout his tenure, The Guardian continued to publish some stories critical of the security services.

But in March 2015, the situation changed when the Guardian appointed a new editor, Katharine Viner, who had less experience than Rusbridger of dealing with the security services. Viner had started out on fashion and entertainment magazine Cosmopolitan and had no history in national security reporting. According to insiders, she showed much less leadership during the Snowden affair than Janine Gibson in the US (Gibson was another candidate to be Rusbridger’s successor).

Viner was then editor-in-chief of Guardian Australia, which was launched just two weeks before the first Snowden revelations were published. Australia and New Zealand comprise two-fifths of the so-called “Five Eyes” surveillance alliance exposed by Snowden.

This was an opportunity for the security services. It appears that their seduction began the following year.

In November 2016, The Guardian published an unprecedented “exclusive” with Andrew Parker, the head of MI5, Britain’s domestic security service. The article noted that this was the “first newspaper interview given by an incumbent MI5 chief in the service’s 107-year history”. It was co-written by deputy editor Paul Johnson, who had never written about the security services before and who was still sitting on the D-Notice Committee. This was not mentioned in the article.

The MI5 chief was given copious space to make claims about the national security threat posed by an “increasingly aggressive” Russia. Johnson and his co-author noted, “Parker said he was talking to The Guardian rather than any other newspaper despite the publication of the Snowden files.”

Parker told the two reporters, “We recognise that in a changing world we have to change too. We have a responsibility to talk about our work and explain it.”

Four months after the MI5 interview, in March 2017, the Guardian published another unprecedented “exclusive”, this time with Alex Younger, the sitting chief of MI6, Britain’s external intelligence agency. This exclusive was awarded by the Secret Intelligence Service to The Guardian’s investigations editor, Nick Hopkins, who had been appointed 14 months previously....

Amidst these spoon-fed intelligence exclusives, Viner also oversaw the breakup of The Guardian’s celebrated investigative team, whose muck-racking journalists were told to apply for other jobs outside of investigations.

One well-placed source told the Press Gazette at the time that journalists on the investigations team “have not felt backed by senior editors over the last year”, and that “some also feel the company has become more risk-averse in the same period”.

In the period since Snowden, The Guardian has lost many of its top investigative reporters who had covered national security issues, notably Shiv Malik, Nick Davies, David Leigh, Richard Norton-Taylor, Ewen MacAskill and Ian Cobain. The few journalists who were replaced were succeeded by less experienced reporters with apparently less commitment to exposing the security state. The current defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, started at The Guardian as head of media and technology and has no history of covering national security.

“It seems they’ve got rid of everyone who seemed to cover the security services and military in an adversarial way,” one current Guardian journalist told us.

Indeed, during the last two years of Rusbridger’s editorship, The Guardian published about 110 articles per year tagged as MI6 on its website. Since Viner took over, the average per year has halved and is decreasing year by year.

“Effective scrutiny of the security and intelligence agencies — epitomised by the Snowden scoops but also many other stories — appears to have been abandoned,” a former Guardian journalist told us. The former reporter added that, in recent years, it “sometimes seems The Guardian is worried about upsetting the spooks.”

A second former Guardian journalist added: “The Guardian no longer seems to have such a challenging relationship with the intelligence services, and is perhaps seeking to mend fences since Snowden. This is concerning, because spooks are always manipulative and not always to be trusted.”

48 notes · View notes

sodomyordeath · 5 years

Video

youtube

@lilytombstone if you got some time to kill give this a watch.

Bibliography:

Judith Jarvis Thomson, “A Defence of Abortion,” in Philosophy and Public Affairs 1971 https://eclass.uoa.gr/modules/documen...

John Finis, “The Rights and Wrongs of Abortion: A Reply to Judith Thomson,” in Philosophy and Public Affairs 2, 1973

Eric Wiland, “Unconscious Violinists and the Use of Analogies in Moral Argument,” in Journal of Medical Ethics 26, 2000

Jenavieve Hatch, A Black Abortion Rights Activist On White Women And The Myth Of 'Black Genocide,' in Huffpost https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entr...

Alice Walker, “One Child of One’s Own: A Meaningful Digression Within the Work(s) - An Excerpt” in But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women’s Studies ed. Hull et. al (City University Feminist Press, 1982).

Barbara Smith, “Racism and Women’s Studies,” in But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women’s Studies ed. Hull et. al (City University Feminist Press, 1982).

Dawn Porter, SCOTUS Abortion Ruling is a Victory for Black Women, in Essence https://www.essence.com/news/supreme-...

Dorothy Roberts, “Reproductive Justice, Not Just Rights” in Dissent https://www.dissentmagazine.org/artic...

Aisling McCrea, “The Magical Thinking of Guys Who Love Logic,” in The Outline https://theoutline.com/post/7083/the-...

Bethy Squires, “The Racist and Sexist History of Keeping Birth Control Side Effects Secret,” in Vice https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kz...

Jane Coaston, “Alabama Abortion Ban: Why Some Anti-Abortion Conservatives Think Alabama’s Abortion Law Goes Too Far,” in Vox https://www.vox.com/2019/5/17/1862796...

Randall Balmer, “The Real Origins of the Religious Right,” in Politico https://www.politico.com/magazine/sto...

Jessica Valenti, “Anti-Abortion Lawmakers Have No Idea How Women’s Bodies Work,” in Medium https://medium.com/s/jessica-valenti/...

Laurie Penny, “The Criminalization of Women’s Bodies is All About Conservative Male Power,” in The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/article/15394...

John Sciulli, “Watch Ben Shapiro Destroy Ben Shapiro in One Simple Sentence,” in GQ https://www.gq.com/story/ben-shapiro-...

Nathan J. Robinson, “The Cool Kid’s Philosopher” in Current Affairs https://static.currentaffairs.org/201...

Sabrina Tavernise, “Ben Shaprio, a Provocative ‘Gladiator,’ Battles to Win Young Conservatives” in The New York TImes https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/23/us...

#philosopytuebe #olly thorn #ben shapiro #abortion #bodily autonomy

6 notes · View notes

atlanticcanada · 3 years

Text

Trudeau unveils new Russia sanctions amid growing NATO pressure over defence spending

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau levied sanctions against dozens more Russian officials for their role in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, but offered only vague promises in the face of growing pressure to increase Canadian defence spending.

The prime minister announced the new sanctions against 160 members of the Russian Federation Council as well as a coming ban on the export of certain goods and technologies to Russia on Thursday, wrapping up a whirlwind trip to Brussels.

That trip included an address to the European Parliament as well as meetings with leaders from the G7 and the NATO military alliance, members of which pledged to draw up plans by June for boosting spending on their respective militaries.

Yet while Trudeau said Canada agreed to that commitment, he repeatedly sidestepped questions during a closing news conference about whether his government will in fact inject substantial new money into the Canadian Armed Forces.

The prime minister instead referred back to the Liberal government's previous promises through its 2017 defence policy to invest billions of dollars in the military in the form of new equipment and personnel.

WATCH: Joy Malbon on Ukraine taking back territory

Latest updates on the Russia-Ukraine war

Paul Workman: Has Ukraine pushed Russia to a stalemate?

"The good thing is over the past number of years, as a government, we have continued to step up," he said. "We've increased our investments in defence, we've increased our contributions to NATO. We'll continue to look at how we will continue to step up."

All NATO members pledged in 2014 to spend two per cent of their national gross domestic product in the next decade, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that allies had agreed to "redouble" those efforts.

Allies will submit additional plans on how to meet the pledge in time for their next meeting, slated for June in Madrid, Spain, he said. "And I welcome that a number of allies today announced plans for significant increases in defence spending."

Canada currently spends about 1.39 per cent of its GDP on defence. Even with the billions of new dollars promised by the Liberals' defence policy for new aircraft, ships and other equipment, the country is projected to fall short of NATO's target.

Yet the commitment to boost defence spending twists the arm of the minority Liberal government to invest billions of additional dollars, only days after committing to the NDP to introduce a bevy of new social programs in return for its support in Parliament.

Any new spending would have to muscle space alongside pharmacare and dental care inked into the new confidence and supply agreement with the NDP in exchange for the opposition party's backing on key votes.

Asked how the government can fulfil those promises while also increasing defence spending without affecting the country's long-term fiscal health, Trudeau again referenced the Liberals' 2017 defence policy.

"We have always been committed to doing more on defence, and we will continue to do that," he said.

"The agreement with the NDP is very much about delivering on specific things for Canadians, but doesn't in any way impact on the choices we make and areas not covered by that agreement. Canadians expect us to be fiscally responsible."

Defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute has estimated Canada would need to spend about $16 billion more per year on defence to meet NATO's target. It currently spends about $30 billion per year.

"There's no kind of easy, quick solution where the government waves a magic wand and we're at two per cent," Perry said.

A Scotiabank analysis suggests the current political landscape makes it hard to see how the Liberals could reach NATO's spending targets in the short term.

Defence spending was only one area of focus for NATO and G7 leaders, whose final communiques blasted Moscow and vowed further support for Ukraine.

NATO leaders called on Moscow to immediately instigate a ceasefire in Ukraine, and warned of "severe consequences" should Russia use chemical or biological weapons.

Their communique also took aim at recent comments by Chinese officials about the war in Ukraine and NATO, and called on Beijing to "cease amplifying the Kremlin's false narratives" and work toward a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Europe faces its biggest security threat since the Second World War due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an attack that has killed hundreds of civilians and thousands of soldiers, and displaced 10 million people since the fighting started one month ago.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered an urgent plea for military aid to NATO leaders, pointedly chastising them for failing to do everything possible to help his country.

Zelenskyy repeated his request for NATO to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukrainian airspace to protect his people from Russian bombs and missiles -- an ask that NATO's secretary general has ruled out.

In the text of his address posted to his official website, Zelenskyy also criticized NATO members for failing to provide a clear response to his previous plea, or to subsequent requests for fighter jets and tanks to bolster his forces.

Zelenskyy didn't blame NATO for the war in his country, but his remarks suggested deep frustration with the seeming lack of political will among alliance members to provide Ukraine all the weapons needed to fend of Putin's forces and prevent further deaths.

"Ukraine is very much waiting, awaiting real action, real security guarantees, from those whose word is trustworthy, and whose actions can keep the peace," reads Zelenskyy's posted remarks.

Trudeau indicated during his news conference that Canada is looking at buying and sending more weapons to Ukraine after Defence Minister Anita Anand indicated earlier this month that the Canadian Armed Forces' own stockpile has been tapped out.

"As President Zelenskyy has been asking for various new pieces of equipment, we're looking to see what we can send," he said.

"We're also committed to looking at procuring that equipment directly for the Ukrainians in other ways by working with allies and making investments necessary."

At NATO presser PM says Cda is: -Imposing sanctions on 160 members of Russian Federation Council & prohibitions on export of certain goods and technologies to Russia -Doling out more of the $100M humanitarian aid package -Giving $4.8M to UNESCO to protect Ukraine’s heritage sites

— Rachel Aiello (@rachaiello) March 24, 2022

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2022.

___

Get in touch

Do you have both Ukrainian and Russian family members? How are you handling the crisis? Email [email protected].

Please include your name, location, and contact information if you are willing to speak to a journalist with CTV News.

Your comments may be used in a CTVNews.ca story.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/u1M4vOj

#new brunswick #prince edward island #nova scotia #news #politics #canada #CTVAtlantic

0 notes

kayla1993-world · 3 years

Text

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travels to Brussels this evening for a meeting with NATO leaders to take stock of the war in Ukraine and discuss the next steps for the alliance.

An overseas trip follows a deal that will see the New Democrats support the Liberal government on confidence votes for the next three years, thereby preventing an early election.

NATO allies, including Germany, have publicly committed to increased defence spending due to the war in eastern Europe -- a policy that the NDP opposes in Canada.

On Tuesday, Trudeau said the government and its new political partners might disagree on some issues. According to the Prime Minister, "this agreement is about working together constructively in the areas where there is agreement. In the areas where there is disagreement, we will continue to do the things the Liberal Party was elected to do and will seek other parties' support as required as we move forward."

Following a meeting of alliance defence ministers, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance expects member nations to spend "a minimum of two percent" of their GDP on defence.

Some have speculated that the upcoming federal budget will propose an increase in defence spending beyond what the Liberal Party committed to in its 2017 defence policy document.

Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said Tuesday the government has many things to consider. "Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the world has changed," Joly said. "Taking stock of Germany's decision to increase military spending, we assess its importance."

Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet is reserving judgement about the new "Liberal-NDP government" before making any commitment to increase defence spending.

"It is clear Canada has responsibilities to fulfill, he said, adding that the country is at best a Peewee player in terms of military strength. As part of his trip to Europe, Trudeau will also address the European parliament, which is weighing further sanctions against Moscow and figuring out how to wean itself from Russian oil and natural gas.

He will also attend a G7 where "leaders will discuss the current situation in Ukraine and its wider global implications, including food security and energy supply," according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.

0 notes

trishuldefence20 · 3 years

Text

Best Air Force X & Y Group Coaching in Allahabad

Candidates who are willing to become Airman in Air Force have to qualify Air Force X or Either Y or X & Y both group.

Paper Patter: Online

X group: Those Candidates having Physics, Chemistry & Maths in 10+2 aggregate 50 % and Minimum 50 % Marks in Mathematics.

Y Group: Those Candidates with any stream say Bio, Arts, Commerce with minimum 50 % marks aggregate in 10 +2 and minimum 50 % marks in English.

X & Y Both: Those candidates having Physics, Chemistry, & Maths in 10+2 with minimum 50 % in aggregate and 50 % in English.

As an airman in the Non-Technical trades, the work involves assistance and support to the various functions from weather forecasting to maintenance of records and files of the Indian Air Force and all its branches. As an Airman, apart from your basic pay, you are also entitled to a number of perks and benefits.

Selection procedure:

The candidates will be selected on the basis of a written test, adaptability test-1, physical fitness test (PFT), adaptability test-2 and medical examination.

How to apply

The candidates interested in these posts are required to apply at the official website www.airmenselection.cdac.in

Important dates

Submission of online application will begin from December 15.

Selection Procedure Of Air Force X/Y(Best Airforce Coaching in Allahabad)

PHASE-I:

ONLINE TEST

In the Phase-I examination candidates will be appearing for online examination which is scheduled on 10th or 11th March 2017 at one of the examination centre chosen by the candidate. Earlier there was a written examination in place of online examination which used to take place at the selection centres of Indian Air Force.

As we know that there are three options while applying. There are various exam patterns for Air Force X & Y & Both group. The examination pattern of these groups is following-

For Group X

SUBJECTS QUESTIONS

Physics 25 70 questions in 60 minutes

Maths 25

English 20

For Group Y

SUBJECTS QUESTIONS

Reasoning & General Awareness (RAGA) 30 50 questions in 45 minutes

English 20

For Group X& Y Both

SUBJECTS QUESTIONS

Physics 25

100 questions in 85 minutes

Maths 25

English 20

Reasoning & General Awareness (RAGA) 30

PHASE-II:

Physical Fitness Test (PFT)

As it is discussed earlier defence forces demands certain level of physical fitness. For ensuring this Indian Air Force has formulated a physical fitness test which is given following-

6 Km run in 6 minutes 30 seconds,

20 squat ups (Uthak Baithak)

10 sit ups

10 Push-ups.

Adaptability Test-1:

Adaptability Test-I is basically the test of Situation Reaction which takes place just after the PFT if a candidate qualifies PFT. In this test decision making ability, Problem solving attitude, right mind set up is assessed. There will be 45 SRTs which a candidate has to complete within 30 minutes. These SRTs will be objective type and bilingual.

Adaptability Test-2:

Once the candidate clears the Adaptability test-I he goes through the next test which is known as Adaptability test-II which is basically the test of Group discussion. In this discussion a group comprises of some 10-15 candidates who are made to sit in a semi-circle and assigned a topic which is of basic in nature. The topics range from current affairs to social events. This test is basically to check the knowledge, communication skill, interpersonal Skillsand convincing power of the candidate. A little bit of preparation and practice proves very handy for doing well in this test.

After all these above examinations candidates are given green cards with the dates and venue of the medical examination which generally takes place after 2 months.

Preparation in Trishul Defence Academy-Best Airforce X/Y Coaching in Allahabad

Schedule of the Class:-

Trishul Defence Academy is the Best Airforce X/Y Coaching in Allahabad.The Course Duration will be of 6 Months/1 Year depending upon the Course Opted.

Monday to Saturday 4 Hrs Classes

Sundays is dedicated to Physical Fitness Trainings

Regular Doubt Clearing Classes are Set up on Sundays

30 Students Per Batch Only

Personality Development by Retired officers.

Adaptability Test Preparation is done by Wing Commander Anoop Mehrotra personally after class.

Motivational Videos & Motivational Speech by- Retired Officer & Academic Director.

Students have to wear formal clothes in their respective Classes.

Since the Course is Run in Organized Manner,Trishul is The Best Airforce X/Y Coaching in Allahabad.

0 notes

southeastasianists · 6 years

Link

When Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) triumphed at Myanmar’s 2015 general election she was riding high, supported by millions of hopeful citizens eager for change. Her party swept away its opponents from the former military regime and also garnered much approval from the country’s many minority groups. This groundswell of electoral support pulled together old-style socialists, ethnic subnationalists, tech-savvy youngsters, and millions of people simply fed up with government mismanagement.

For the first time in two generations, the Myanmar people could proudly claim a government as their own. Their votes, tallied up from tens of thousands of booths around the nation, would shape the next government in Naypyitaw. Pragmatists cautioned that the armed forces would still drive the overall agenda and that they would prove reluctant to share decisions about hefty matters of defence, security or strategy. The 2008 constitution, many warned, anticipated a democratically elected government that needed tutelage from uniformed military men.

Foreign commentators and analysts often overlooked such hesitations, preferring an optimistic model of democratic consolidation, which, they seemingly forgot, had failed almost everywhere else in Southeast Asia. In capitals around the world, the NLD victory was overwhelmingly understood as a positive development and one that would unleash Myanmar’s immense potential, in economic, cultural and political terms. Foreign leaders, including some who had been reluctant to endorse the semi-civilian government that ruled from 2011 to 2015, offered warm words of praise and recognition.

Even back then, however, analysts made regular warnings about the NLD’s capacity to manage a fractious society and sputtering economy. One prominent area of concern was the lack of administrative talent within its ranks and the overbearing demeanour and lack of government experience of Aung San Suu Kyi. It was also abundantly clear that her government would struggle to find space for the country’s most vulnerable minority, the Muslim Rohingya.

Muslim-Buddhist faultline

Nobody knows for sure how many Muslims live in Myanmar, a consequence of generations of purposeful neglect of this sensitive number. Official estimates drawn from the 2014 census put the total at 2.3%, roughly 1.2 million people, down from 3.9% at the 1983 census. The reason the number is so sensitive is simple: if the government announced that, for instance, 6% of the population is Muslim then long decades of fiction-making about the official numbers of Muslims would need to be re-done. Of course, the Rohingya were not counted in 2014. If they were, the question—regardless of how big a proper count revealed the Muslim population to be—would quickly become: how has Myanmar become so Islamic and how can this trend be reversed.

Assertive and well-resourced organisations in Myanmar are already committed to defending their Buddhist civilisation against those they consider foreign invaders. Muslim groups, under current conditions, are an easy target for hate, with a wide-ranging consensus now among Myanmar people that the government needs to enforce hard-line policies towards them. The hardest responses have been focused, since mid-2017, on the borderlands where Myanmar rubs against Bangladesh. Since mid-year, almost 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh to escape a vicious campaign of communal and state-sanctioned violence. The Myanmar government presents its actions as a justified response to increasing Rohingya militancy, including attacks on government security outposts. Myanmar has also sought to obstruct independent investigations.

Yet what has emerged has shocked even hardened humanitarian agencies, with allegations of horrifying inhumanity. A senior United Nations representative, Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, has called it a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” while the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, has labelled the Myanmar government’s action “genocide”. In the aftermath, Bangladesh and international agencies are struggling to provide adequate food, sanitation and shelter to the newly displaced people. They seek refuge among earlier waves of Rohingya, who have left their homes in Myanmar since the 1970s. With the 2018 monsoon bearing down on Bangladesh’s coastal areas, further woe and hardship is a near certainty.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s tragedy

International condemnation, meanwhile, has only served to bolster the resolve of the Myanmar side, with outpourings of support for the government. At protests, in Myanmar and around the world, thousands of people have pledged their loyalty to Aung San Suu Kyi and their support for her policies. Some Myanmar democrats also seek common cause with dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin or China’s Xi Jinping. It is a peculiar turn of events. Aung San Suu Kyi’s most ardent boosters caution against attributing responsibility for the violence to the NLD. They quietly blame the armed forces—which, under the 2008 constitution, control the Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs and Border Affairs—for all operational indiscretions.

What this analysis ignores are the positions that Aung San Suu Kyi holds, as State Counsellor and Foreign Minister, and the potential for influence these offices afford her on important aspects of policy in Rakhine State. For instance, she could have set a very different tone in terms of international access, humanitarian response, journalistic reporting and military impunity. Among her supporters, Aung San Suu Kyi’s emphatic unwillingness to publicly engage on the subject matter is excused as a strategic calculation to maintain the current coalition government in power. They argue that without careful phrasing, and fancy footwork, she could provoke the military into decisive action that ends any hope of democratic progress. But Aung San Suu Kyi, they tend to forget, has already toppled from her perch as an icon for democratic principles and human rights. The main question remaining is how far she will fall.

It is a tragedy. Aung San Suu Kyi has the unenviable job of managing Myanmar’s sad legacy of communal, ethnic and religious conflicts. There is no denying the scope or intensity of the problems: even an experienced and well-functioning administration would struggle with the confluence of Buddhist chauvinism, Rohingya militancy and long-term strategic predicaments, including handling Chinese assertiveness.

By any measure, however, the NLD has endorsed some bad decisions that made it more likely the festering wound of Rohingya grievances would explode into full-blown humanitarian disaster. For a start, the NLD high command decided to endorse no Muslims as candidates at the 2015 election. The decision was based, as such cowardly ones usually are, on a determination of short-term electoral need. They were worried that looking cosy with even one Muslim politician would alienate Buddhist voters. The same set of concerns emerged after the assassination of Ko Ni, a long-time activist lawyer and occasional NLD advisor, killed at Yangon airport in early 2017. Aung San Suu Kyi took a month before she spoke publicly about his death.

Apologists seek explanations for these decisions in the rough-and-tumble of Myanmar political deal-making. But by prioritising short term political expediency over the longer term goal of intercommunal cohesion, the NLD has helped shape both the social conditions leading to the dehumanisation of the Rohingya, and the widespread support for military action that has purged them from long-term residence on Myanmar soil. In practice, and much to the dismay of some former supporters, Aung San Suu Kyi and her team of key advisors have found themselves in alignment, on the key questions, with the military and with Buddhist chauvinists. While the world still proclaims that such crimes will “never again” tear at our shared humanity, the further tragedy for Myanmar is that a democratic transition has ended in the sprawling misery of the world’s newest refugee camps.

International responses

While the government and Aung San Suu Kyi have announced their willingness to accept investigations, these were slow to start and will take much time to gather the appropriate evidence.

Testimonials from the Rohingya now sheltering in Bangladesh will take time to evaluate. In some places, the Myanmar army and police and local Buddhist vigilantes have enjoyed plenty of opportunities to cover their tracks. Sadly, by the time comprehensive assessments are available, the world’s attention will have moved on. The possibility of high-level prosecutions, potentially through an international tribunal, are for now only theoretical. Experience elsewhere in Southeast Asia, whether in Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge regime, or Indonesia since the 1965 anti-Communist pogrom, indicates that it may take many decades before any reckoning begins. It is most likely, on recent trends, and given the geopolitical landscape, that perpetrators of human rights outrages will never be held accountable. Foreign governments, therefore, may need to accept that engaging with Myanmar in years to come requires dealing with decision makers whom they regard to be individually or collectively culpable for the atrocities witnessed in Rakhine State.

International actors are confronted with little opportunity to avoid such a scenario. Boycotts and sanctions offer a further avenue for international pressure, but it will take significant shifts in existing practice for these to have any real effect. The primary outcome of sanctions, if applied, would see China reinforce its dominant position in the Myanmar economy. Geopolitics is, therefore, a primary consideration.

ASEAN also finds itself unable to respond cohesively. Its authoritarian governments, in places like Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei, have too many vulnerabilities of their own to allow countries like Malaysia and Indonesia to push an active agenda on accountability in Myanmar. Instead, ASEAN will take the predictable path of least resistance, at least in public. Such lacklustre responses will frustrate progressive voices concerned that ASEAN’s impotence undermines its standing around the world.

Within the Muslim-majority societies of ASEAN, there is a further complication in domestic political terms. Both Indonesia and Malaysia have large and vocal Islamic political movements that seek justice for the Rohingya—typically marked by appeals to religious solidarity rather than universal rights norms. Protests in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur could build, under the right political conditions, to exert pressure on national governments, and therefore on ASEAN.

ASEAN solidarity is a fragile concept at the best of times, and further stresses will emerge from the Bangladesh–Myanmar borderlands before long. Whether such stresses come in the form of additional violent outbreaks or irregular people movements, ASEAN would struggle to build collaborative and meaningful initiatives. One of the grouping’s relatively recent successes, the response to Myanmar’s 2008 Cyclone Nargis, was made possible by the astute brokering of a pan-regional alliance, which saw the military allow international humanitarian aid into the country. No comparable diplomatic coalition has emerged to help the Rohingya, and Myanmar has no appetite whatsoever for any ASEAN “intervention”. The “ASEAN Way” of diplomacy, often held up as a more effective alternative to the so-called megaphone diplomacy of some western actors, has not borne fruit, with the “five plus one” plan proposed by Indonesia gaining no traction. The gentle pressure brought to bear on Aung San Suu Kyi at the Australia-ASEAN Special Summit in March 2018 also had no discernible effect.

By stonewalling in the face of quiet, good-faith diplomatic appeals, Myanmar’s leaders have ensured that over the years ahead their country’s position on the global stage will weaken further. Already, Myanmar has been forced back into the embrace of China’s Communist leaders, who will seek to maximise their own advantage form this latest crisis. Beijing’s self-declared disinterest in the human rights dimensions of Rohingya suffering help to keep the conversation with Naypyitaw on topics of comfortable, mutual concern, like economic development and countering Islamic violence. The Chinese will, no doubt, offer up “lessons” from battling Uighur militants in their restive Xinjiang province. Other dictatorial regimes, such as Russia and North Korea, will also huddle around, eager to make sure that Myanmar is not left alone.

While western democracies, including Japan, will continue to offer a range of responses, some robust and others quite meek, it makes sense that the general tone of these relationships will cool in the years ahead. Even without formal sanctions and boycotts, many people will think twice before committing significant resources to Myanmar. In part, this is a pragmatic response to instability and uncertainty, and to the broader recognition that the NLD government remains ill-equipped to handle major issues and to steward positive social and economic development.

Such a response will also be informed by wariness and anxiety, of a much less precise form, around doing business with a government and people that have accepted or quietly endorsed such suffering. Shareholder activism against companies involved with Myanmar could return as a factor for investors. Within democratic societies there are many different ways that pressure on Myanmar can be exerted, and governments in liberal systems often have only modest influence over the direction taken by society at-large.

Humanitarian priorities

With so much hardship, providing support for the Rohingya in Bangladesh will need to be a global priority for the very long term. Making sense of the scale of the dislocation, trauma and damage has been difficult to do as the numbers of people involved swelled so quickly. Naturally enough, most of the initial attention and effort has dealt with the near-term humanitarian crisis.

Of all the possible outcomes of the refugee crisis sparked by the Rakhine violence, the most likely is that most of the people who fled Myanmar in 2017 will end up stuck on the Bangladesh side of the border for years to come. Reports suggest the Bangladesh government is hastily constructing an off-shore residential facility. The only likely effect of this plan would be to reinforce the vulnerability of the Rohingya, and to cut them off from what sources of social and economic support and sustenance they have in Bangladesh.

In this dire situation, the refugees themselves have no good options. As recently as 2015, tens of thousands of Rohingya set out by sea for sanctuary elsewhere in Southeast Asia, mostly in Thai- land, Malaysia and Indonesia. Australia’s unflinching responses to that crisis, encapsulated in then prime minister Tony Abbott’s blunt rejection of resettlement pathways, means that large numbers of people are currently waiting, especially in Indonesia, for opportunities to move elsewhere.

In the aftermath of the 2017 crisis, secondary movement has been much more limited. It may be that the recently displaced simply have no energy and few resources to invest in ambitious and costly sea journeys. For all the rhetorical displays of solidarity made by Malaysian and Indonesian politicians, there seems to be little serious consideration in Southeast Asia’s two large Muslim-majority countries of allowing Rohingya to access legal, long-term sanctuary there.

The possibility of further violence also preoccupies security planners in Myanmar and across the region. Attacks on Myanmar interests, especially from Muslim fighters from outside the country, could spark significant re-escalation within Myanmar. The Rohingya have become a lightning rod for dissent across the Muslim world, with groups like Al-Qaeda reportedly pledging future support.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s end-game

Under these conditions, and whatever happens next, the NLD-led coalition government has exhausted the tolerance of many former friends. Harsh criticism will now punctuate its interactions with overseas actors, as it seeks to manage what was an avoidable conflict and a dreadful waste of Myanmar’s enormous potential. Those wasted opportunities are most apparent in Aung San Suu Kyi’s personal failures and missteps. When she was still under house arrest, many activists, in Myanmar and abroad, could not have conceived of how comprehensively the pro-democracy leader has endorsed and re-fortified the ideology of national races. She may have once imagined that she could escape the limitations of Myanmar’s ideology around belonging and exclusion, and yet her performance as State Counsellor has only re-entrenched the sharpest delineation—between the Rohingya and the rest. It is one reason that progressive supporters have abandoned Aung San Suu Kyi; they feel betrayed.

Where she once appeared brave, principled and dignified, she now hides away in Naypyitaw, the custom-built dictators’ capital. The physical separation also implies an intellectual and informational one; drawing on an increasingly exclusive and insular circle of close confidants, she is exposed to little of the robust and public discussion of the issues that will define her legacy.

We also should not forget that Aung San Suu Kyi is, at the same time, the leader the Myanmar public want and voted for. In crude electoral terms Aung San Suu Kyi’s team cannot afford to look cosy with Islamic interests, not least, ironically, because of the atmosphere of anti-Islamic hysteria the administration has allowed to develop.

With every recent step, the National League for Democracy has sought to stomp on any suggestion that it welcomes Muslims or is soft on national security. Under these conditions, the execution in good faith of plans to repatriate any significant number of Rohingya look unlikely. With a deteriorating security situation in Rakhine State between government forces and the Arakan Army, a Buddhist ethnic militia whose bloody insurgency has generated little international media coverage, there is little appetite for re-introducing complicating factors, such as the Rohingya.

Perhaps Myanmar will surprise the doubters by making the most of the support it could receive if it opens up to international investigators and helps to facilitate a wide-ranging reconciliation process. Yet such an outcome remains improbable while the coalition government uses the suffering of the Rohingya as a point of unity and temporary strength. Aung San Suu Kyi needs the army to stay in power, and has sought to compromise all of her reputed values in the interests of staying in charge.

Despite the understandable preoccupation by many observers with questions of Aung San Suu Kyi’s culpability, our analysis needs to move past the heavy emphasis on her personal and political ambitions. It has become clear that she will not offer a timely or satisfactory response to the Rohingya crisis. Myanmar will, one day, need to adjust to government after her long shadow has receded.

What will end up replacing Aung San Suu Kyi’s fragile coalition will draw its strength from the groups that have prospered during the recent crisis: the military, Buddhist chauvinists, and the conservative bureaucratic elite. These groups are all well-positioned ahead of the expected 2020 election. Aung San Suu Kyi’s team may still end up victorious at future polls, but the NLD will never again be considered a substantial alternative to the worst aspects of Myanmar governance. It has now become an active contributor to a series of desperately sad political and social outcomes. The terrible conclusion is that, for all the recent suffering in Myanmar, things could still get worse.

#Southeast Asia #Burma #Myanmar #Rohingya People #Aung San Suu Kyi

6 notes · View notes

atlanticcanada · 3 years

Text

Canada under the gun as NATO allies to present defence spending plans by June

Canada faces fresh pressure to increase its defence spending as the head of the NATO military alliance says leaders have agreed to present plans by June on investing billions of additional dollars into their respective militaries.

WATCH LIVE @ 12:30 p.m. EDT: Prime Minister Trudeau speaks in Brussels

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg revealed the new pledge at the end of an extraordinary meeting in Brussels, where leaders from across the alliance had gathered for the second time in a month to discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

While all NATO members pledged in 2014 to spend two per cent of their national gross domestic product in the next decade, Stoltenberg told reporters after the meeting that allies have now agreed to "redouble" those efforts.

The commitment to boost defence spending twists the arm of the minority Liberal government to invest billions of additional dollars, only days after committing to the NDP to introduce a bevy of new social programs in return for its support in Parliament.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was scheduled to hold a news conference later Thursday, has previously sidestepped questions about whether Canada will meet the two-per-cent target. Canada currently spends about 1.39 per cent of its GDP on defence.

WATCH: Joy Malbon on Ukraine taking back territory

Latest updates on the Russia-Ukraine war

Paul Workman: Has Ukraine pushed Russia to a stalemate?

On Wednesday, Defence Minister Anita Anand made no mention of aggressive spending options during testimony before a House of Commons committee, instead pointing to planned increases included in the government's 2017 defence policy.

Even with those expected increases, the government projected it would fall short of NATO's target. Successive Canadian governments have instead pointed to Canada's numerous other contributions to NATO as a better measure of its commitment to the alliance.

"I will say that our government has been making critical smart investments into our forces," Anand said, adding that spending increases are aimed at ensuring the military has "the right people, equipment, training and culture."

"There's no kind of easy, quick solution where the government waves a magic wand and we're at two per cent," Perry said.

A Scotiabank analysis suggests the current political landscape makes it hard to see how the Liberals could reach NATO's spending targets in the short term.

Defence spending was only one area of focus for the leaders, whose final communique called on Moscow to immediately instigate a ceasefire in Ukraine, and warned of "severe consequences" should Russia use chemical or biological weapons.

The communique also took aim at recent comments by Chinese officials about the war in Ukraine and NATO, and called on Beijing to "cease amplifying the Kremlin's false narratives" and work toward a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Zelenskyy repeated his request for NATO to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukrainian airspace to protect his people from Russian bombs and missiles -- an ask that NATO's secretary general has ruled out.

"Ukraine is very much waiting, awaiting real action, real security guarantees, from those whose word is trustworthy, and whose actions can keep the peace," reads Zelenskyy's posted remarks.

The comments coloured a day-long event in the Belgium capital that saw Trudeau meet with NATO allies, as well as G7 leaders. Both meetings were focused on finding a path toward ending the fighting in Ukraine.

Arriving at the alliance's glassed-in headquarters Thursday morning, Trudeau said NATO members were united in their condemnation of the "illegal, brutal invasion of a friendly democracy" in Ukraine.

Trudeau also said alliance members were equally united in their support for Ukrainians who are fighting for the values that underpin democracies.

Canada has provided military equipment and lethal aid to Ukraine, as well as economic sanctions targeted at allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2022.

___

Get in touch

Do you have both Ukrainian and Russian family members? How are you handling the crisis? Email [email protected].

Please include your name, location, and contact information if you are willing to speak to a journalist with CTV News.

Your comments may be used in a CTVNews.ca story.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/RLOmfbs

#new brunswick #prince edward island #nova scotia #news #politics #canada #CTVAtlantic

0 notes

breathinwordsbreathoutknowledge · 4 years

Text

Merafong’s Theatre Griot, a master of the craft!

By: Morena Maboe

Recently I had the liberty of sitting down with a gentleman making serious strides in the theatre industry, and as a custodian of arts, sports and culture in Merafong I could not let such talent, consistency and shear tenacity go unrecognized and undocumented. Thabo “Mahavater” Ramaine of Mythology arts foundation is a formidable force to be reckoned with. As I sat down with him, taking all of this down, I saw what remarkable human beings we could all be, by just being passionate with what we do regardless of the obstacles we face.

Thabo’s story with the arts started way back in the year 2000 when he started doing gumboots dancing as an introduction to introduce himself into the arts, in the following year he joined a dance crew that was doing Sbotjwa and drama named Mazibuye Theatre productions based in Khutsong, this is where he also got his acting influence. With Mazibuye, Thabo or “Mahavatar” as he is mysteriously known by his fans and disciples, went on to compete in the North West Cultural Calabash, which was the first competitive theatre and dance festival he attended. The crew went on to compete in the Achimotar Festival that was hosted in Zamdela in Sasolburg, for two years in a row. T, in the same place they also took part in the Bill Cosby arts Festival, here the focus for Thabo was more on Theatre and perfecting the craft. They won the first trophy in the preliminary rounds and also went on to win the ultimate trophy in the finals.

As part of the festival, they had a social which was separated from theatre, named the candlelight poetry session, where each crew had to pick one group member to recite a poem that is not from their original plays. Mahavatar was the lucky guy, but despite trying hard he could only jot down 4 lines, when he got to the stage he dropped 4 lines. Unaware that in poetry there is a category for a 4 stanza poems, he went on to write more of those and his writing skill improved.

Mahavatar went on to join a group named T.K Cultural group and after that Simunye Cultural group, which influenced his love for dancing, they did categories ranging from street dance, Sbotjwa and gumboots dancing.

Upon joining what S’thibo terms as “the best school” in Joburg when it comes to theatre, the Afrika Cultural Centre (A.C.C) in Newtown, falling in the ever so capable hands of Benjy Francis, the Khutsong raised lad fall in love with a new style of dancing termed as contemporary.

His first professional production was done in 2008, at the A.C.C. written by renowned play writer Zakes Mofokeng produced and directed by Benjy Francis named “the Train”. Other plays he took part in include “The Vicious circle” by Benjy Francis which was part of the annual student production at A.C.C, “the calling” written & directed by Sello Modisadife, “Visions” also by Modisadife and “The Cult” played at the Cultural Calabash also from the same writer. Upon leaving at A.C.C he played in a production while residing in Soweto, Protea North called “Sa Mme”. Thabo later learned was selected to go for training in Denmark but he had already returned home and had phone problems, so he could not be reached.

When he explains it he describes contemporary as breaking the rules of classical ballet but still keeping to the underlying philosophy of classical ballet dancing, however he was more fascinated by the feeling that came with contemporary style of dance. Under the mentorship of Benjyi Francis, he became more aware of the physical side of theatre, which includes basic techniques, understanding how the body moves and blending that with self-expression. On a second level, in he came in contact with the depth that came with theatre that is using your imagination and feelings. This is where he transitioned as an actor and also developed his own signature style.

Mahavatar’s recent work include Komeng by the legendary Sello Maake Ka-Ncube that they played in all 9 provinces for a period of 8 months in 2018. After auditioning at the Market Theater in November of 2018, hosted by the Luthando Arts Academy, he played in Amawethu dance theatre production in 2019 produced by Luyanda Sediya. One of the highlights of S’thibo’s career was playing in “Buwa” a musical written by the iconic South African composer and musician Caiphas Semenya in 1986 about the injustices of apartheid. Directed by Sello Maake Ka-Ncube and music director Tshepo Mngoma the music extravaganza celebrated Mr Semenya’s 80th birthday in style at the Market Theatre. Mahavatar exclaims that the experience was great as he got a chance to work with some of the best actors and musicians in the country, the likes of Sipho “Hotsticks” Mabuza, Zwai Bala and the legendary Tshepo Tshola, ‘the experience was great because once you work with the greats it means you are great, and you catch impartations from observing how they do things, how they produce and to see the whole process’ Thabo explained.

He played a pivotal role in the play because of the character he was portraying. Thabo played Paulus De Villiers, the minister of Defence during the apartheid era, from the National Party (NP) government, he had to portray a hardcore apartheid white man role, played in a Boar accent. The play takes setting in a conference room scene. Thabo explains that he had to bring his A-game as the show reeked in audiences from across the country, including the likes of politician Julius Malema, it was sold out three days before the actual musical.

Mahavatar’s own productions include the award winning “Mount Havilla” piece which won both Best Actor award and Best Production, in 2015 and 2016 respectively, at the Spear Arts Festival hosted in Ekhurhuleni. Thabo says the play was inspired by the journey of spiritual growth, it came from also reading and researching a lot about different spiritual leaders and being introduced to meditation and dealing with himself. He also started writing about the key to self-transcendence and spiritual searching everywhere only to find the key within yourself. The path to “Mount Havila” is not to be taken as a physical journey but a raw metaphor, its abstract theater mixed with experimental theater.

His Own productions

In 2017 he produced a play called “Black Smith” which started out as a one man show, he later decided to franchise and create and extended version of the paly and called it “the Archives” which was a 4 hander piece that was set in nice library setting. He performed it in 2018, there was more demand for it outside of Merafong. He was approached by The Archives center in Krugersdorp to render the play there, at the center people around the Gauteng area can track their family lineage, and it also keeps records and archives from apartheid land dispositions, upon opening Gauteng Premier, David Makhura was quoted saying “The facility will help us preserve societal memorabilia of historical value of Gauteng and its people. It will store official public documents that are 20 years or older from various entities including government, NGOs, and learning and research institutions. This will eliminate cases of distorted history told by different people from different angles,” The center has been in operation since 2017 and has already received records and information from departments like the Sedibeng District Municipality, Emfuleni Municipality, City of Johannesburg, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Transport, Sport, Arts and Culture, and Recreation https://krugersdorpnews.co.za/368190/new-archives-centre-will-keep-our-history-safe/ As a result he had to display an industrial theater piece that was more educational .

Mahavatar went on to write “The Proposal”, which he feels is very different from his signature style of theater. The play was about the plight against Gender Based Violence, the lack of ‘mental hygiene’ from guys. In the play he portrays this guy that uses a marriage proposal to control his woman and keep them obedient, traits he learned from his father. The piece aims to focus more on men, the journey to violence, how men perceive themselves and their emotional intelligence. Tackles how we can cleanse ourselves and to redefine ourselves, standing up to our demons as men.

Beyond Clandestine which Mahavatar explained as meaning an “inner core truth” is a YouTube film series that was born during the corona lockdown with all the news and conspiracy theories and seeing people’s response, also seeing how the systems has us under their thrall and manipulates us. In the series the lead actor goes on a journey to uncover the truth beyond what we are given and uses a militant approach, but later realizes there are other ways to fight the system.

After completing a 6 weeks course in filming in Cape Town, he used his skills to produce these series, set up in his garage is a large green screen which is used to create the location in the background of the videos, and he uses Computer generated images (C.G.I) to edit and not an actual tangible location. With the training budget from the company he is currently working for he did this digital film, the vision with this project going forward is to grow, cast more actors, gather more resources and take the work mainstream while creating a profile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzywGzaMWgk

The production of the Nomads was not planned, it was a default film born from the 48 hour film project 2020. It is an adrenalin race for who can produce a film in 48 hours with the given directives from the competition hosts. You are provided with certain elements that you should add in your film, like a prop, a character name, and a line that must be said somewhere in the film from 2 genres either a silent film or action. They were nominated for best costume, best produced film, best musical composition as the music used in the film was self-produced by them, and lastly best cinematography. All this work that was to be produced in 48 hours was submitted 12 hours before deadline meeting all requirements.

It was screened at Sterkinekor Theater at mall of Africa on the 23rd of October 2020 to a full house. They plan to reshoot for a 2021 screening, with the aim to later merge it with “Beyond Clandestine”

Beyond Clandestine, an “inner core truth”

Mahavatar aims to finish season 1 of “Beyond Clandestine” with episode six, and start season 2 with a bit more resources. In theater he plans to do “The Archives” and a new version of Mount Havila done in a musical fashion named “Lere la Moya”.

The Nomads; a “race for time” film

0 notes

expatimes · 4 years

Photo

In Myanmar’s Rakhine, families of the disappeared seek answers | Conflict News

One evening, as Ma Nway* and her family were having dinner, soldiers from Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, came to her house and asked for her husband. According to her account, they blindfolded him, took out their guns and beat him in front of her.

“At the time, I could only cry,” said Ma Nway, an ethnic Arakanese from Myanmar’s westernmost Rakhine State, who prefers not to reveal her identity for fear of reprisals. “I feared they would shoot me, so I held my tongue … I felt like they were the most brutal people in the world.”

It was March 16 2020 and the last time she saw her husband. He is among 18 people from the neighbouring villages of Tinma Thit and Tinma Gyi in Rakhine State’s northern Kyauktaw township who were arrested in March and have not been seen since. Their families’ relentless search for information has been met with silence, rejection and threats. Ten months later, they are still looking for answers – and justice.

Three witnesses, whose testimonies align with those published by other media, told Al Jazeera that on March 13 and 16, uniformed soldiers wearing the badge of the Tatmadaw’s Light Infantry Division No. 55 went door to door arresting dozens of men it suspected of having ties to the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group seeking autonomy.

Most of those arrested were released the same day, but 18 were not. The missing include a 16 year old, three people over the age of 65 and one person who is deaf. Al Jazeera has used pseudonyms for the three witnesses to protect them from possible reprisals.

On March 18, four bodies were seen floating in the Kaladan River near the villages. One of the bodies was identified by family members as among the missing villagers. The family told local media that soldiers shot at them when they approached the body, which the US-government funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia reported was riddled with bullet holes. The three other bodies were never identified.

The villages of Tinma Gyi and Tinma Thit are along the Kaladan River. Four bodies were found floating down the river last March

All of the missing are Arakanese, also called Rakhine, a predominantly Buddhist ethnic group thought to make up the majority in the state. Frustrated with political marginalisation and perceived domination under Myanmar’s ethnic Bamar majority, increasing numbers of Arakanese have in recent years joined the Arakan Army (AA). Since conflict escalated in late 2018, nearly 1,000 civilians have been killed or seriously injured in violence including indiscriminate air raids, gunfire, and landmines and more than 230,000 have fled their homes.

‘House to house’

The arrests in Tinma Gyi and Tinma Thit occurred following two weeks of intense clashes near the villages. “Tatmadaw soldiers went house to house, calling the men,” said Tun Hla,* who was among those arrested and released. “I don’t know why we were arrested by the Tatmadaw. At the time, the soldiers didn’t give any reason … 10 people were tied and beaten with guns in front of me.”

Days later, the villagers fled.

Zaw Win, a local advocate helping the families of the missing to seek justice, told Al Jazeera that three elderly men stayed in Tinma Gyi to watch over the monastery and have also not been seen since. Shortly after the villages were deserted, the houses were razed. Villagers blame the Tatmadaw, which has denied responsibility.

Myanmar’s police forces sit under the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is under the jurisdiction of the Tatmadaw. On March 23, a group of family members of the missing, now scattered in different displacement camps, filed a case regarding the disappearances with township police. Letters were also sent to the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission and the offices of the commander-in-chief, president, and state counsellor, calling for an investigation.

No updates came until June, when a Tatmadaw spokesperson denied anyone had been arrested in the two villages. Five more months of silence followed. On November 27, the Tatmadaw spokesperson announced that the families could open a case at the relevant police station and that if the police reported any suspicious information, the Tatmadaw would decide whether to conduct its own investigation.

The families returned to the township police station on December 8, but Ma Nway told Al Jazeera the officers on duty warned them against opening a case. “Regarding the initial case, the police told us their paperwork disappeared,” she said. “Then, they threatened us several times that we could be detained and sent to jail.”

“They said this case doesn’t concern them, and we should go to the Tatmadaw station to inquire,” added Zaw Win, who accompanied the villagers to the police station. “When we replied that the police had a responsibility to seek justice, they said they could immediately detain and send us to jail.”

A woman whose husband and two family members have been missing since they were arrested in March. She now lives in a displacement camp on a monastery compound in the Rakhine State capital

The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, which has faced criticism for not intervening in other high-profile cases, has also done little to support the Tinma villagers.

Kyauktaw township legislator Tun Win, who submitted the request to investigate the case, told Al Jazeera the commission responded in November that the Tinma villagers were not detained by the Tatmadaw. Its chairperson told local media on December 30 that the pandemic prevented an on-site investigation and that the commission had closed the case after inquiring with the defence ministry, which denied the Tatmadaw’s involvement.

A police investigation finally began on December 29, when district police in the nearby town of Mrauk-U called the villagers in for questioning. Ma Nway stayed behind out of fear. “I feel like my children and I are not safe since my husband disappeared. I am really worried we could be attacked because we filed charges,” she said. According to Radio Free Asia, the police took statements from 15 people.

The next day, the Tatmadaw spokesperson stated that concerned persons could file reports and present credible evidence with the local military division office or regional military commanders.

Al Jazeera’s calls to the Tatmadaw spokesperson, township and district police stations, Myanmar National Human Rights Commission and Rakhine State government spokesperson went unanswered. Media are only allowed to report from Rakhine with permission and official escorts and the government has restricted mobile internet services across conflict-affected townships including Kyauktaw since June 2019.

Local lawyer Zaw Win told Al Jazeera he was frustrated by an apparent lack of political will to address the case. “All authorities have to take responsibility,” he said. “Those in power need to know the situation, follow human rights standards and seek justice.”

History of impunity

The Tatmadaw is notorious for committing rights abuses with impunity, most notably following a brutal 2017 crackdown on Rakhine State’s mostly Muslim Rohingya that sent 740,000 fleeing to Bangladesh. A UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission stated in a September 2019 report that Myanmar was failing in its obligation to prevent, investigate or enact effective legislation criminalising and punishing genocide in relation to its treatment of the Rohingya.

The Fact-Finding mission also, in an August 2018 report, identified enforced disappearances among crimes against humanity committed in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan States for which Myanmar’s top military generals must be investigated and prosecuted.

Yanghee Lee detailed a pattern of military abuses including crimes against humanity and enforced disappearances during her tenure as the UN special rapporteur on Myanmar

The Tinma villagers’ cases are not the only enforced disappearances to have occurred in Rakhine State since the report was released. Between January and June 2020, at least 30 civilians disappeared in the state after being arrested by the Tatmadaw, according to a tally by the Rakhine-based Development Media Group. As of October, Radio Free Asia counted 32 more who died after being taken into Tatmadaw custody from the start of 2019 to October 12.

In April 2020, UN human rights expert Yanghee Lee said accountability was critical to ending the conflict between the AA and Tatmadaw. “Having faced no accountability, the Tatmadaw continues to operate with impunity,” she said in a statement. “They are now targeting all civilians in the conflict area …Their alleged crimes must be investigated in accordance with international standards, with perpetrators being held accountable.”

Myo Myat Hein, the chair of the Arakan Lawyers Council which is providing legal aid to the families of the missing Tinma villagers, also emphasised the importance of accountability. “It isn’t acceptable just to say the villagers are missing, because several people saw the Tatmadaw detain them,” he told Al Jazeera. “Conflict actors need to build trust beyond just talking about the national peace process.”

Since mid-November, fighting between the AA and Tatmadaw has eased and an informal ceasefire is in place.

Women who were forced from their homes by fighting in Tinma have taken shelter in the railway station at Kyauktaw

Dialogue is now taking place for the first time since December 2019. Tun Win, the Kyauktaw township legislator, emphasises the urgency of achieving justice for the Tinma villagers and others affected by human rights abuses in the state. “I welcome peace negotiations,” he said. “But if the perpetrators have impunity, it will be difficult to achieve sustainable peace.”

For the families of the missing, the current absence of clashes offers little solace. “Although the AA and Tatmadaw have stopped fighting for two months, we haven’t heard anything about our villagers’ case,” said Bo Aung,* whose son is among the missing.

Ma Nway said she lies sleepless at night, worrying about her husband and fearing for her and her children’s safety and survival. They were unable to harvest their paddy fields this season, and are living on 15,000 kyats ($11) a month in food aid. Ma Nway wants to go home but still fears the soldiers stationed near her village. “As long as they are staying there, we won’t be safe,” she said.

*Pseudonyms have been used to protect the security of witnesses.

#humanrights Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=17067&feed_id=29754 #asiapacific #conflict #features #humanrights #myanmar #news

#AsiaPacific #Conflict #Features #HumanRights #Myanmar #News

0 notes